Dekan Was Ready for His Debut

At the center of the academy.

Right in the middle, surrounded by the dormitories of the four major academies.

There stood a massive building.

Its style was somewhat unusual.

Compared to the other school buildings that exuded an academic atmosphere, this place looked more like a military stronghold.

High-level barriers surrounded the building, and Kingdom Knights stood guard.

Because within this building was a "gate" leading to the Shadow World.

The Norton Kingdom, where Dekan lived, had three Shadow World Interfaces, one of which was located within Heavenlyte Magic Academy.

After entering the "gate," the other side of the Shadow World would automatically begin matching challengers with suitable existing Shadow Worlds. Usually, it did not take long to find a match.

People from other locations around the world could also be matched together.

The lower a challenger's rank, the easier it was to find a match, because low-rank Shadow Worlds appeared frequently and had many challengers.

High-rank Shadow Worlds, however, appeared less often. Even if people were willing to challenge them, there were sometimes no instances available.

If a Shadow World of rank seven or above appeared, it would prompt multiple nations within the Kingdom Council to negotiate and send their strongest candidates or teams.

The higher the rank of a Shadow World, the more terrifying the disaster caused by failure became.

If second- and third-rank Shadow Worlds were merely minor incidents, then failure in a rank-seven-or-higher Shadow World would result in a true large-scale natural disaster.

Every nation treated them with extreme caution.

There were two ways to form a party. For challengers of ranks seven and eight, because their numbers were scarce and high-rank Shadow Worlds were also rare, they would usually be matched together as long as they entered at the same time.

The other method was to carry a "Party Card."

[Party Card]

[Category: Spell Card]

[Quality: White Common]

[Rank: 1]

[Passive Effect: Will be matched into the same Shadow World as companions carrying Party Cards with the same serial number]

[Note: Serial number 948957812]

Dekan and Cornelia had brought matching Party Cards, ensuring that they would enter the same Shadow World.

The cost was sacrificing a tiny bit of card capacity.

Dekan and Cornelia arrived at the building early, twenty minutes before their appointed time.

They both seemed like the sort who did not want to keep the other waiting.

Dekan: "Ready?"

Cornelia: "Yes."

Since they had arrived early, they might as well enter ahead of schedule.

After exchanging a glance, they no longer needed to say anything.

Just as they were preparing to pass security and enter the next layer of defenses—

"Wait!"

A dry voice sounded from behind them.

They turned around and saw an old man hurrying toward them.

The two looked at the old man in slight confusion.

His robes bore the yellow of the Alchemy Academy, so he appeared to be one of its professors.

"Student Dekan, Student Cornelia, I am Professor Morgut, the Alchemy Academy professor responsible for managing the broadcast hall. If possible, I hope you will accept these cards!"

Professor Morgut walked up to them and took two cards from the document bag in his hand, offering them to the pair.

The card surfaces glimmered with a faint purple light. They clearly were not ordinary items.

"What are these?"

Dekan did not take the cards rashly, asking with some confusion.

"Shadow World Spectator Program. Rank-one magic cards. Their purple quality is because they are the ultra-high-definition version."

Professor Morgut explained.

Like Party Cards, they were Spell Cards with passive effects.

After carrying them, even if Dekan entered a non-Artificial Shadow World, the Alchemy Academy would be able to obtain real-time footage of his Shadow World challenge.

The most notable technological developments of the past decade or so had been Artificial Shadow Worlds and the Shadow World Spectator Program.

Artificial Shadow Worlds could create harmless worlds for training purposes.

Meanwhile, the Shadow World Spectator Program allowed logistical personnel outside the battlefield to gather intelligence from within Shadow Worlds more efficiently.

For example, Shadow World intelligence acquired in some Shadow Worlds might be useful in other Shadow Worlds!

As a result, Otherworld Intelligence Studies had become a popular subject.

The development of Magic Engineering had also steadily increased the success rate of conquering Shadow Worlds.

"But won't this take up our card capacity?"

Dekan did not particularly enjoy the feeling of being watched by a crowd, either.

"It will indeed slightly affect your combat strength, but there will be a share of the broadcast revenue. The specific contract is here. Whether you accept is entirely up to you, so don't feel pressured."

Professor Morgut smiled warmly and handed the two documents from his bag to Dekan.

Cornelia symbolically flipped through the documents, then looked at Dekan.

She did not understand them. She would follow Dekan's lead.

Dekan hesitated for a moment before accepting the two Spectator Program cards, but he handed the contracts back to Professor Morgut.

"Professor Morgut, we will carry the Spectator Programs into this Shadow World without requiring any compensation. After we finish conquering this Shadow World, how about we discuss the specific contract then?"

Although the revenue share was quite generous, Dekan did not choose to sign immediately.

If they performed exceptionally well in this Shadow World, they might be able to negotiate better contract terms upon their return.

Besides, after this Shadow World ended, Dekan wanted to go home and thoroughly inspect these two [Shadow World Spectator Program] cards for any hidden effects.

So signing a contract now due to the temptation of profit was not the best decision.

It would be better to treat this as a collaboration where both sides could confirm each other's value.

Ever since that shady merchant had taught him a lesson, he had become exceptionally cautious when it came to business.

"No problem, no problem."

Professor Morgut readily agreed.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Professor Morgut left.

As Dekan explained the situation to Cornelia, the two passed through security.

At the very end of the passage, they arrived in a grand hall that emitted a deep azure glow.

Several enormous magical devices in the center of the hall guarded a Void Gate.

It somewhat resembled the scene they had seen during the entrance examination, except this "gate" was dozens of times larger than the gate to an Artificial Shadow World.

It could not help but inspire awe toward the mysterious unknown.

However, they were still quite some distance from the gigantic natural Void Gate. The space in between served as a buffer zone and service area for challengers.

"Take these."

Dekan handed a stack of cards to Cornelia.

It included three identical blue equipment cards, one purple equipment card, several blue and white cards, and the Spectator Program cards from earlier.

"No, I can't!"

When Cornelia noticed the quality of those cards, she hurriedly waved her hands in refusal.

She could not afford such expensive cards for the time being.

"I'm not charging you."

"No..."

"Consider them loaned to you."

"I-I-I might break them..."

Cornelia was worried that she would damage the weapons Dekan had given her.

"I can repair them, so don't worry. Your combat strength in the Shadow World is what matters most. Think of it as protecting me—you need to be stronger too."

Dekan's words made Cornelia hesitate for a moment before she took the stack of cards.

Since Dekan had put it that way, she had nothing left to refuse.

"Okay."

Filled with gratitude, she unbound her previous equipment cards and stored them at the counter, then bound all the cards Dekan had given her.

There were not many warriors who could repair equipment cards themselves.

It seemed Dekan was even more versatile than she had imagined.