Shadow World

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Shadow World
Original Name	影世界
Type	Historical-projection challenge system; described in academic theory as a miraculous barrier created by the gods before their disappearance 20
Role	Projects historical fragments into dangerous challenge environments, assigning challengers identities, missions, and settlement rewards 14 45
Access Point	Void Gates, including fixed, random, large managed gates and temporary unstable wilderness gates 14 44 731
First Appearance	Chapter 14

Nature and Function

Shadow Worlds are projections of fragments from the history of the current world or other worlds. Their timelines, settings, and danger levels vary widely; after entering, challengers receive unpredictable identities and reenact parts of the projected history. 14

According to Introduction to the Shadow World, they record and preserve key historical nodes. When a world becomes sufficiently strong through cycles of destruction and rebirth, it connects to the Shadow World and its inhabitants can enter these projections under the guidance of the Shadow World's core. 20

• Shadow Worlds can open without warning at fixed or random entrances. 14
• Ordinary weapons, clothing, and magical tools cannot be brought inside; only soul-bound Magic Cards accompany challengers. 14
• Magic Cards and Shadow Worlds are mutually dependent: Shadow Worlds provide card-making materials and naturally formed cards, while Magic Cards make challenges more manageable. 14
• Missions can include survival, investigation, combat, political strategy, or altering a historical projection's outcome. 45 123 540
• Large Shadow Worlds may contain a main storyline alongside hidden storylines that progress independently over time. 130

Consequences and Rewards

Outcome	Effect
Successful clearance	Grants power, wealth, Magic Card materials, and potentially naturally formed Magic Cards stronger than ordinary human-made cards. 14
Failure or abandonment	Can trigger a natural disaster in the Real World. A Shadow World that closes after being left unresolved still permits the disaster to occur. 14
High-tier clearance	Produces valuable historical data in addition to preventing disasters; Tier 7 and higher worlds can theoretically involve Tier 9 entities. 536
Historical discovery	Ancient projections can reveal otherwise lost eras, allowing scholars to infer missing history and develop methods against other races. 86 130

Entry and Matching

Challengers normally enter through Void Gates. Managed gates require registration and can verify a challenger's use of a Shadow World Recording Program before matching. 44 122

• The Shadow World automatically matches difficulty according to the participating challengers' overall Tier. 38
• Teams with a Tier gap greater than two are restricted from substantially raising challenge difficulty for safety reasons. 38
• The Shadow World Synergy Program is a Team-Up Card that matches holders of the same numbered card into one Shadow World. 44
• Research indicates that carried Magic Cards also affect difficulty assessment; stronger and higher-tier cards raise the system's judgment of a challenger's strength. 537
• Small unstable Void Gates may appear in the wilderness and are used by illegal challengers, including criminals who enter lower-tier worlds to kill or loot. 81 731

Artificial Shadow Worlds

Artificial Shadow Worlds are simulations created with technical support from the Magic Engineering Institute. They replicate challenge conditions without permanent lethal risk: failed or killed examinees are automatically ejected, though they can still experience pain and simulated death. 17

Shadow World	Tier	Type / Conditions
Infinite Phantom Canyon	Tier 2	Artificial combat-training world developed by the Magic Engineering Institute; challengers face a Tier 4 examiner-controlled Hunter. 22
Purgatory Corridor Academy	Tier 4	Real Demon Realm historical projection in which infiltrators disguised as demons gather intelligence while surviving a hostile academy. 45
Sanctuary Villain's Banquet	Tier 5	Castle-based traitor game involving twelve guests, Blood Race-aligned traitors, and a 120-hour survival limit. 123
Eclipse Demon Realm	Tier 7	Open-world strategic challenge set across the Plant Empire and Demon Realm, with a 45-day limit. 540
Eternal Punishment Undead Endgame	Eighth Rank	Final Blood Moon Ruined World node; nine challengers enter a timeline twelve years after the previous node. 787

Challenge Interface

The Shadow World provides challengers with visible information panels containing its title, level, challenger count, historical background, mission objectives, time limit, and role-specific information. 22 45 123 540

• Non-traitor and traitor roles may receive different objective panels, preventing one side from viewing the other's mission. 123
• Some roles are assigned according to a challenger's apparent suitability, such as Detective, Lawyer, or Actress. 123
• Objectives may update after hidden information is discovered or a storyline changes. 161
• Challenger starting positions can be separated according to their assigned historical roles. 540
• Non-standard events can delay a real Shadow World's settlement process. 84

Observation and Records

The Shadow World Recording Program is a Tier 1 Purple Rare Spell Card issued by the Southern Continent Shadow World Management Association. It records a challenger's experience and can be turned on or off. 91

• Public Magic Screens can broadcast live challenge footage, which audiences use for both entertainment and study. 45
• Challengers may disable recording before settlement to avoid revealing newly obtained cards or sensitive intelligence. 86
• Recordings can preserve historical information unavailable through public broadcasts. 52 91

Blood Moon Ruined World Series

The Blood Moon Ruined World is a hidden series of connected historical projections from a lost era. Clearing a node at a sufficiently high evaluation anchors its historical coordinates and increases the challengers' likelihood of entering the next node. 86

No one was known to have completed a series Shadow World mission within the previous thousand years before Lanchi's group encountered this series. Its historical intelligence is valuable enough to attract institutional attention, while also making challengers targets of the modern Blood Race. 86

Node	Shadow World	Rank	Documented Progression
1/4	Purgatory Corridor Academy	Tier 4	The series coordinates were anchored after its clearance; completion reached 1/4. 45 86
2/4	Sanctuary Villain's Banquet	Tier 5	Entered as the “Beginning of the Rite” projection; the series completion advanced to 2/4. 122 123 174
3/4	Eclipse Demon Realm / Darkest Eclipse Demon Realm	Tier 7	Set sixteen years after the banquet; the challengers raised humanity's projected chance of victory to 32.6434% and advanced the series to 3/4. 540 614 619
4/4	Eternal Punishment Undead Endgame	Eighth Rank	Identified as the final node, “Tear Rain Eternal World”; its settlement followed the conclusion of the Blood Moon era. 779 787 821

Historical Divergence

Unlike fixed recordings, the Blood Moon Ruined World series responds to earlier clearances. Saving figures who died in the original history caused later nodes to deviate from their original historical development. 540

• In the original history, the Witch and Werewolf died during the Sanctuary Villain's Banquet, leaving the Sun Child alone. 540 616
• Their survival altered the third node's timeline, allowing the Witch's projected counterpart to remain active and changing later political and military possibilities. 540 543
• The open-map structure and long duration of Eclipse Demon Realm made its changes especially consequential for the final node. 602
• By the final node, the accumulated advantages had produced an unusually peaceful projected world rather than a return to the original tragic course. 781