Dekan checked the current exploration progress again.
[Task Objective 1: Explore more than 50% of the Academy; current progress: 26.4%] [Time remaining: 6 hours 22 minutes]
About 7% of the exploration progress had come from him and Cornelia.
If their teammates could keep working without trouble, they would probably reach the target an hour or two ahead of schedule.
But now, it was hard to say how much time they would have left.
They had to consider whether their other teammates might send one or two more people their way.
At this rate, their pool party might end up going down the drain.
"Sigh. Back to work. Hopefully we can find some information about the boss room."
Life was hard. Dekan sighed.
If they chose a route that didn't involve fighting the boss, they would miss out on the boss room's substantial exploration progress.
Under those circumstances, they would have to clear more ordinary rooms than usual to complete Task Objective 1—explore the map—and make up for the exploration progress they missed by skipping the boss room.
But if they could clear the boss room, Dekan and Cornelia might not have to waste so much time painstakingly fighting their way through a large number of ordinary rooms.
"This exploration-type Shadow World is pretty cozy and healing, but there's no predicting what our wild teammates will do..."
Dekan sighed.
Even a story-based or escape-type Shadow World would be better.
The wildly varying skill levels of the other challengers wouldn't add such a tangible workload for Dekan.
"If you're going to make me work overtime, you might as well match us with a competitive-type Shadow World..."
The most straightforward kind of Shadow World was the competitive type.
Forget PvE. It was time for PvP.
They just had to wipe out all the enemy challengers.
However, these Shadow Worlds appeared less often and had extremely high death rates.
They might even face enemy challengers who wielded otherworldly Magic Cards of unimaginable power.
Dekan and Cornelia left the broadcast room, sealed the door shut, and prepared to get back to work.
"Dekan, listen. Do you hear something?"
Cornelia suddenly stared in a certain direction.
"...Let's check it out. But first, let's dismiss the whole school."
Dekan trusted Cornelia's senses.
Her hearing and eyesight were far better than his.
It was class time. If there was noise in the hallway, it was probably related to the other challengers.
The Demon Students had no tasks to do, and they generally didn't wander the halls during class unless someone had kicked them out of a classroom.
There was a good chance another challenger was trying to avoid The Dean.
Perhaps The Dean was even chasing them, which would explain the noise.
If so, they could just shut The Dean down first.
In a spacious hallway, The Dean was pursuing a challenger who had been severely injured.
The challenger could only hold The Dean off for a little while by desperately using control-type Spell Cards and summoned creatures.
He staggered along, swaying with every step.
He seemed to be at the end of his rope.
He had originally failed a challenge in the classroom, triggering the teacher's killing mechanism, but had managed to escape by sheer luck.
Then, on his way out, he had run into The Dean.
Even if he made it into a classroom now, in his condition he would struggle to handle the teacher's test.
He had to find the infirmary as soon as possible.
Though he hadn't given up hope of surviving, he was getting slower and slower.
The Dean had also finished off his summoned creatures, and was only seconds away from catching up to him.
He knew his fate was sealed.
From the moment he'd run into The Dean in the hallway, he'd been as good as dead.
No matter how he tried to evade him, it was pointless.
In the end, he wouldn't escape the fate of having The Dean's bloody hand pierce his chest.
Everything was over.
So he thought.
Just as he closed his eyes, preparing for death...
The school's dismissal music suddenly began to play!
The Dean: "¿"
The Dean's hand froze in midair, his expression utterly baffled.
Something felt off. Hadn't class been way too short?
And had the bell really rung just as he was about to kill this truant?
But there was nothing he could do.
By the rules, it was now break time, and he couldn't attack students anymore.
The challenger was even more bewildered.
He could see the timer on the task screen!
It wasn't time for dismissal yet.
Why had the dismissal music started?!
This was beyond good luck. It was a miracle!
Just then, two figures appeared at the far end of the hallway.
They walked with steady, unhurried steps.
They didn't look like students at all, but like administrators there to inspect the school.
As though they hadn't even noticed The Dean, they strode toward the challenger.
"My friend, you're safe now!"
Dekan said with a smile.
He recognized the challenger's face from the exam hall.
The challenger hesitated, glancing back at The Dean.
The Dean still seemed to be frozen.
Once he was sure The Dean wouldn't attack him again, the challenger hurriedly staggered toward Dekan.
"The Dean's acting like this... Did you two do it?"
The challenger recognized Dekan and Cornelia.
They were the two who had cleared the exam hall.
When he'd seen the strange "Rescue Humans 101/3" on the task list, they had been the first people who came to mind.
They had to be veteran high-level challengers!
Whatever the case, he was saved!
"Who knows?"
Dekan only smiled, then asked, "You're headed to the infirmary, right?"
The challenger replied, "...Yes."
"Then let's go."
Dekan took a small bottle of potion from his pocket—the one he'd swiped from the infirmary—and handed it to him.
Then he helped the challenger up by the arm.
The potion could only ease his injuries. He would still need to go to the infirmary and get bandaged up.
If he could save someone along the way, Dekan was willing to lend a hand.
After all, he was a kind-hearted young man.
"Thank you for helping me!"
The challenger thanked him, then quickly drank the potion. His complexion improved at once.
"Have you two been to the infirmary?"
The challenger asked right away.
Dekan replied, "We have. Five stars."
The infirmary did have proper medical supplies. It was just that the Demon School Doctor had a seriously twisted sense of humor and generally refused to treat patients properly.
Even after Baron Batchelor's destruction, there were still some supplies left.
The three of them walked down the hallway.
Dekan asked the challenger, "How did you get so badly hurt?"
"My companion and I failed the challenge in the fourth-tier classroom. When we were fighting that teacher, my companion created a chance for me to escape... But he... He probably died in the Music Classroom... That damned classroom! It was like hell!"
The challenger's expression grew pained and bitter, tears glimmering in his eyes.
Dekan nodded. He had a pretty good idea why "Task Objective 3" had earlier shown "Disguises Intact: 5/6."
All six of them had been well disguised.
If they hadn't encountered a demon with special abilities, they probably wouldn't have been exposed until they were killed and turned into corpses.
But when he heard the challenger call it "a classroom like hell,"
Dekan couldn't help growing curious.
Was there really a place in this school that could be called hell?
Before you continue