Dekan Stops Pretending

The atmosphere in the Demon Classroom was unusually oppressive.

It was practically comparable to the examination halls of Dekan's high school in his previous life.

Dekan did not start answering the questions right away. Instead, he secretly observed the people who were likely challengers. Some had begun to grow anxious, while others remained completely unruffled.

Since even Dekan could not solve the questions, the method for clearing this examination definitely could not be based on academic ability.

Otherwise, it would make no sense. For most people, it would be a dead end.

Then the method of clearing it was obvious: the challengers needed to copy the demon examinees' answers.

After all, these questions were not meant for humans. They were examination questions designed for Demon Students.

The first Proctor followed a relatively fixed pattern. He made a round every fifty seconds or so, then remained at the podium for ten seconds.

The second Proctor made a round roughly every forty seconds, then stayed at the back of the classroom for five seconds.

There was an error margin of one or two seconds.

From Dekan's seat, there would be a blind spot where neither Proctor could see him about once every three minutes, lasting around two or three seconds.

During that time, they could make relatively larger movements to exchange information or try to peek at the demon examinees' papers.

But clearing the examination according to those rules would be torturous.

They might not even have enough time to copy everything, and the Demon Students would not obediently let them copy.

They might also need to cooperate with the other challengers.

Dekan glanced at his good teammate.

Cornelia, seated to his left, had already begun trembling. She looked as if she might snap the pen in her hand.

Even through the air between them, he could sense the despair of someone on the verge of breaking down.

She had not analyzed the game mechanics at all.

Because she could not even tell how difficult the questions were.

She thought everyone else could answer them, and only she could not.

Cornelia took a deep breath and gently placed her pen on the desk.

She seemed to have given up.

Then she clenched her fists.

From the look of her...

It seemed she was planning to fight her way out?

Dekan's expression shifted slightly.

If Cornelia chose to blow up the examination hall, setting aside whether she could defeat those two Proctors—

Even if they managed to escape the examination hall, they would likely be hunted through the academy by endless demons afterward.

But before making a move, she still glanced at Dekan.

Perhaps it had become a habit.

Whenever she encountered a problem related to studying, she would look at Dekan.

It was a budding tacit understanding cultivated during their brief time together.

Dekan let out a breath of relief. Thankfully, Cornelia had not charged in headfirst.

He gave Cornelia a look, telling her not to worry.

Cornelia understood immediately and gave a tiny nod, seeming to calm down.

Dekan could not help feeling fortunate that the two of them had a strange talent for communication. Sometimes, they could convey information without needing many words.

It seemed Cornelia was not someone he could rely on.

Not only did he need to pass himself, he also had to make sure Cornelia passed.

Dekan rubbed his brow.

He did have an idea that might let him take out both Proctors in one go, but the risk was too great. He still needed to confirm the examination hall's mechanics.

In truth, they had to end this examination as quickly as possible.

Of the three mission requirements, the seemingly easiest one—"Demon Academy exploration progress reaches 50%"—might actually be the hardest.

The "1% completed" displayed after that condition might mean that this classroom accounted for only 1% of the exploration progress.

That meant they would likely need to explore roughly ten thousand square meters within twelve hours.

Aside from easily explored places like corridors and empty classrooms, some other rooms might contain mandatory games like the Demon Examination Hall.

If the rules in the other rooms were also like those of the Demon Examination Hall, then the entire major mission would obviously be impossible to complete.

This meant the difficulty of the other rooms might vary wildly and depend heavily on luck.

They might encounter rules that could be cleared quickly, or they might run into high-difficulty, time-consuming rules.

If they spent the full two and a half hours in the Demon Examination Hall, they would start at a disadvantage.

Dekan.

He had not wanted to use cheats.

But for his and Cornelia's safety, and to clear the Shadow World smoothly, he had decided to stop pretending.

He was a cheater.

"Master, help me!"

Dekan called out in his heart.

"...Where is this?"

A slightly puzzled voice, as if she had just woken up, sounded in Dekan's mind.

But she did not have any morning temper. Her voice was very gentle.

"I entered a Shadow World. This Shadow World requires answering questions. Please take a look and see whether you know any of them."

"..."

The other party seemed to fall silent for a while.

"For the first question, choose C."

"For the second question, choose A."

"For the sixteenth question, write in order: slave, vessel, attraction, ※※※※, inferiority, abuse, suffering, misery, mental dissolution, thought information..."

Dekan's frantic scribbling naturally drew the astonishment of the other challengers.

This guy looked like he was copying answers! Did he not need to think at all?!

After writing with his head down for nearly ten minutes, Dekan finally finished the questions.

"Thanks for your hard work, Master. Go back to sleep."

"Be careful. I can't stay awake for now."

His Master gave him a reminder, then seemed to fall back into sleep.

Dekan let out a breath of relief.

Thankfully, his Master knew how to answer these questions.

There was only one reason Dekan could bring his Master into the Shadow World.

His Master was in his card deck.

An examination?

Could it stump me?

I have a private tutor with me.

Dekan looked at the timer, then observed the Proctors' positions again.

According to his deduction, there were still several dozen seconds before the next blind spot in the Proctors' vision appeared.

He waited quietly and gave Cornelia a subtle look, telling her to cooperate with him shortly.

The Proctors were about to enter their visual blind spot.

Now.

With lightning speed, Dekan hurriedly spread his own paper across Cornelia's desk, then pulled her paper over.

At the same time, he mouthed to Cornelia, "Submit. Wait."

She could hand in her paper now, then wait for him outside.

Next, Dekan took the blank examination paper he had pulled from Cornelia and began writing furiously again.

Cornelia stared at the already filled examination paper in utter surprise.

There was something this good?

She had never felt such an overwhelming sense of security in an examination hall.

The Observation Hall was packed to the brim by then, with quite a few people standing in the aisles and watching the projected screen from afar.

Many students were closely following the first battle of the two oddball Knight Academy freshmen.

After learning that the two had been matched into a fourth-rank Shadow World, many students had run straight from their classrooms to the Observation Hall.

Even teachers had come to watch.

"What is Dekan doing? He can't just write randomly! He'll get Cornelia killed!"

"Didn't he properly analyze the mechanics and rules?"

"Obviously not. They're newcomers, so it's normal that they failed to notice something like this."

For two dumb martial artists from the Knight Academy to team up and face an intelligence test at the very start was simply a nightmare.

"If they insist on answering, even professors from the Alchemy Academy would need to spend half a day researching reference materials before solving these questions."

"There's nothing to be done. Encountering a fourth-rank Shadow World on their first time in a Shadow World and making such a mistake is truly unfortunate!"

"It's over, it's over! Cornelia handed in her paper!"

"Is he going to use his teammate's life to test for mistakes?"

Some freshmen who did not fully understand the mechanics thought so. After all, judging from the entrance examination, Dekan was not stupid—he was an extremely cunning person!

"Damn it, this guy really is a priest of the Resurrection Church, isn't he?!"

Some students clutched their heads and cried out in disappointment, while others began roaring in anger.

Some teachers covered their faces and sighed.

In their eyes, Cornelia was about to trigger the Proctors' killing mode.

They could only pray that she would be able to force her way out alive from the Proctors' hands.

But in the very next second.

Cries of shock began rising one after another throughout the Observation Hall.

It was like a pot of water that had just boiled over. Even people still on their way outside the Observation Hall could hear the shouting from within.

"Huh?"

"What happened?"

"Cornelia handed in her paper, and then... she passed?"

"Did we misunderstand him?"

"How does he know how to answer them??"

"Could he really be a demon?!"

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