Spirit Vine University's academic exchange conference had been scheduled for the end of December. Once it was over, the New Year holiday would begin, making it a convenient point in time for the visiting professors attending the event.
Jiade City lay in the subtropics, humid and warm throughout the year. Even in the depths of winter, there was no biting chill in the air. Only when the evening wind swept through the treetops did it occasionally carry a hint of desolation.
With little time left in this dream, on the night before the academic exchange conference, she dressed in a black robe and pressed herself against the outer wall of Spirit Vine University like a dark shadow slowly solidifying.
This institution did not welcome outsiders. Its walls were covered in sensing runes, warning networks, and all kinds of invisible magical plants, but she had long grown used to such things.
Like a drop of ink blending into the night, she nimbly slipped past the surveillance blind spots and entered the campus.
The campus was unsettlingly empty.
Ivette walked farther in and saw that the football field was brightly lit. That was where the academic exchange conference was being held. She approached like a shadow, puzzled as she went.
Shouldn't a normal exchange conference be held indoors? Why choose an outdoor venue? Although winter on the Emerald Continent was not particularly cold, she did not think too much about it. As long as it did not interfere with her auditing classes, it was fine. She then arrived directly outside the venue.
But the moment she stepped inside, a faint sense that something was wrong made her abruptly stop.
She began inspecting the venue and the bustling crowd more closely. Sure enough, from the expressions and movements of the passersby, she detected