Chapter Summaries

Jia Xiu entered the trial as a teacher named Hannas and explored the academy’s library while waiting for his teammates. The Iris Kingdom’s military representative was shocked to learn that the sinister-looking teacher was actually a student named Jia Xiu.

• Military representatives watched the trial through fixed cameras to assess its value as a training scenario.
• Jia Xiu drew the last entry slot, then entered the Phantom World with Mia and Ram after the other teams chose their factions.
• Jia Xiu chose the academy faction and created a stern-looking teacher identity named Hannas, while Mia and Ram planned to take student and janitor roles.
• After learning he had no classes that day, Jia Xiu went to the library and gathered books on low-level Demonfolk spells.
• Jia Xiu began writing a research plan for studying and modifying Demonfolk spells, excited by how many papers the work might produce.
• An Iris Kingdom representative mistook Jia Xiu for a designed character until academy staff explained that he was a student from the kingdom.

Jia Xiu prepared to identify disguised Demonfolk by imposing a punishing study schedule on his class, while the Algma Brotherhood planned how to find rival teams and start a riot. Before dawn, Jia Xiu began waking students himself, and Jeff mistook him for a devil in disguise.

• Mia reported that most Demonfolk students in her class appeared to be devils, while Ram said he had mapped the school routes for eavesdropping and tailing.
• Jia Xiu told Mia to attend his class and prepare for his strict study plan, then instructed Ram to continue his surveillance work.
• The Algma Brotherhood shared intelligence, and Jeff assigned three members to search for rival teams, two to prepare a riot, and Karlov to watch the teachers.
• At five in the morning, Jia Xiu went from dorm to dorm, waking his students for exercises and ordering them to attend morning reading by six.
• Jia Xiu yanked Jeff's blanket away and struck him with a teaching baton, prompting Jeff to hurry out of bed and suspect that Jia Xiu was a devil disguised as a teacher.

Jeff concluded that Hannas was a Demonfolk mole after enduring the brutal class schedule and set off to report his suspicions. Meanwhile, Jia Xiu planned to pressure suspected Demonfolk players into withdrawing, then attracted the attention of Ammit and a mysterious Ukmak Empire delegate.

• Jeff endured the class’s punishing schedule and decided Hannas was a disguised Demonfolk teacher helping to trigger a rebellion.
• Jeff headed to the Jia Xiu Squad’s meeting to share his theory about Hannas.
• Jia Xiu identified three suspicious students, including Jeff, and told Ram to follow them and learn where they met.
• Jia Xiu revealed that he had created an Intensified Anxiety and Pressure Spell to make the suspicious students withdraw from the trial.
• Jia Xiu attracted Ammit’s attention, while military representatives discussed his extreme class rules and a Ukmak Empire delegate watched him with interest.

Jia Xiu learned the Demonfolk faction’s mission requirements from Ammit and planned to use that knowledge against the other squads. As the Algma Brotherhood gathered, Jeff withdrew from the trial and was eliminated, with Jia Xiu credited for it.

• Jia Xiu met Ammit in the Phantom World, earned its approval through the Path of Pain, and received a spellbook explaining how the Demonfolk could summon the Flame Demon.
• Jia Xiu told Ram and Mia that he knew the Demonfolk mission steps and had obtained their corruption spells.
• Jeff grew increasingly distressed by the class’s pressure and the homeroom teacher’s unsettling attention.
• The Algma Brotherhood gathered after eleven and discussed Jia Xiu’s squad while a cleaner secretly watched them.
• The Devil faction received a notice that Jeff had voluntarily withdrawn and been eliminated, with Jia Xiu credited for the elimination.

Jia Xiu used an anxiety spell to make Demonfolk faction members withdraw, then planned to turn their remaining squads against each other by staging demonic summons. He, Ram, and Mia infiltrated the squads’ meeting places and began posing as agents of the Demon of Judgment.

• The Algma Squad panicked after Jeff, Collins, and Florence were eliminated through Jia Xiu’s contributions, all after voluntarily withdrawing from the trial.
• Jia Xiu recorded that his Intensified Anxiety and Pressure Spell had pushed its targets past their limits, while Ram located the three Demonfolk squads’ meeting places.
• Jia Xiu and Ram prepared red Light Spell scrolls and altered Demonfolk spells so they could impersonate the Demon of Judgment and provoke conflict among the squads.
• The next day, Jia Xiu addressed the Algma Squad, Ram addressed the Tatu Squad, and Mia addressed the Cape Squad, telling each group they had been chosen as qualified devils in the first squad.

The Tatu Squad mistook Ram for the Demon of Judgment and studied the spell he left behind, believing it represented the Way of Sloth. After the captain cast it on a classroom and then himself, he discovered the illusion featured a succubus who made him want to work hard, and he accused the Cape Squad of setting them up.

• The Tatu Squad captain asked Ram if he was the Demon of Judgment, and Ram silently handed him a page before leaving the gymnasium.
• The squad studied the spell and concluded it created an illusion that made people slothful, then drew lots to choose who would cast it.
• The captain cast the spell on a classroom, but the students woke from the illusion and began studying diligently.
• The captain cast the spell on himself and found an idyllic grassland where a succubus threatened to punish him for relaxing.
• The young man in glasses woke the captain, who realized the spell was from the Way of Lust and blamed the Cape Squad for the deception.

The Cape Squad used Mia's spellbook page on the men's dormitory, only for Carol and his teammates to discover that the illusion subjected them to horrifying encounters instead of tempting them into Lust. They concluded that the Algma Brotherhood had deceived them and planned revenge.

• The Cape Squad decided to use Mia's spell on sleeping students and sent Carol to cast it in the men's dormitory.
• After putting his roommates under the illusion, Carol cast it on himself and encountered a terrifying troll called Bogang.
• Carol escaped the illusion shaken and sleepless, then met a teammate who had also used the spell on herself and suffered a similar ordeal.
• The squad's five members gathered, concluded that the Algma Brotherhood had tricked them into finding sacrifices for the Path of Pain, and vowed revenge.

The Algma Squad tested an illusion spell and mistakenly believed it would drive students to follow the Path of Pain. When Karlov discovered the spell instead convinced people that hard work was futile, the squad blamed the Tatu Squad and turned against them, completing the loop among the three Demon-aligned squads.

• After mourning Jeff, the Algma Squad studied the illusion spell, and Karlov volunteered to test it.
• Karlov experienced a bleak life in which he achieved little and concluded that the spell would push students toward the Path of Pain.
• The Algma Squad cast the spell over Hannas's classroom and returned hours later, expecting the students to be working harder.
• Seeing the relaxed students, Karlov tested the spell again and emerged convinced that hard work could not improve his prospects.
• The captain realized the spell encouraged the Path of Sloth, blamed the Tatu Squad, and led the Algma Squad toward a confrontation with them.

Jia Xiu watched the Algma, Tatu, and Kappa squads clash, then secretly used his Basic Healing Spell to keep the fight balanced while he and his companions waited to strike. An Iris Kingdom representative decided Jia Xiu would make a better spy than soldier, while a Demonfolk infiltrator prepared to recommend recruiting him to Belial.

• The Algma Squad tracked the Tatu Squad to the gym and planned an ambush, while the Tatu Squad prepared to attack the Kappa Sorority.
• The Algma Squad ambushed the Tatu Squad, but the Kappa Sorority arrived and joined the chaotic fight against both groups.
• Jia Xiu, Ram, and Mia waited outside the gym, and Jia Xiu used his Basic Healing Spell to even out the battle.
• The Iris Kingdom representative considered Jia Xiu unsuitable for the army but ideal as a spy, and his assistant agreed.
• The Demonfolk infiltrator decided Jia Xiu was too talented to overlook and began preparing a recruitment proposal for Belial.

Jia Xiu’s plan came to light as the battered Demonfolk captains realized they had been manipulated into fighting one another. They summoned Ammit, the Demon of Judgment, but were stunned when it appeared on Jia Xiu’s side.

• Karlov revealed that Jia Xiu had orchestrated the conflict by using fake spells and a mind-affecting spell in the classroom.
• The three captains stopped fighting and agreed to unite and summon the Flame Demon, but none of them knew the ritual.
• Jia Xiu Squad entered with the real spellbook, and Ram knocked Karlov unconscious with a small hammer despite Jia Xiu calling out “Hypnosis.”
• The Tatu captain seized the spellbook, protected the other two captains, and spent his last magic so they could complete the ritual.
• The two captains summoned Ammit, the Demon of Judgment, and watched in disbelief as it stood on Jia Xiu’s side.

Jia Xiu claimed the Flame Demon through the rules of the trial, summoned the demons for the spectacle, then dispelled them and earned a perfect score. Back at Saint Dero Academy, Mentor Margaret worried that his trial antics had made him enemies, and an old mage arrived asking for Jia Xiu.

• Jia Xiu explained that his spell made him the provider of the sacrifices, so the Flame Demon belonged to him, and Captain Algma realized the captains had already lost.
• Jia Xiu summoned the Flame Demons to admire them, then persuaded the last two captains to withdraw.
• Jia Xiu used a Dispel circle to banish the Flame Demons, completing the trial with all objectives fulfilled and a score of 100.
• Jia Xiu Squad returned to reality and waited in observation, where Mentor Margaret warned that the Brotherhood students might pick a fight with Jia Xiu.
• Several students shuddered when Jia Xiu greeted them, and an old mage hurried in asking where Jia Xiu was.

Margaret tried to keep Professor Tanshur and a military recruiter from poaching Jia Xiu, who declined military service but accepted a magical bracelet. As a third visitor from the Ukmak Empire arrived, Margaret grew wary of his insincere smile.

• Margaret intercepted Professor Tanshur, who praised Jia Xiu's performance in the Phantom World trial and invited him to study the subject.
• Jia Xiu said his main research concerned the uniqueness of magic, while expressing interest in taking a Phantom World elective and accepting Tanshur's Message Card.
• Newt introduced himself as a former servant of Margaret's father working for the Iris Kingdom's military and offered Jia Xiu a chance to join.
• Jia Xiu declined military service but accepted Newt's Ring of Demon Breaking, and Newt warned that the Demonfolk threatened the wider continent.
• A visitor from the Ukmak Empire arrived, and Margaret became suspicious of his insincere smile.

Johann von Wolfgang, an undercover Lust Demon, tried to recruit Jia Xiu by giving him a Mimic that secretly contained a mind-corrupting ghost. Margaret distrusted the gift, but that night the Mimic began its attack on Jia Xiu’s consciousness.

• Margaret challenged Johann when he sought to meet Jia Xiu, and Johann introduced himself as an envoy from the Ukmak Empire.
• Johann teased Margaret about acting like Jia Xiu’s mother, while Mia eagerly watched their exchange.
• Jia Xiu politely ended the meeting, but Johann summoned a Mimic and insisted that Jia Xiu accept it as a gift.
• Margaret examined the Mimic and warned Jia Xiu to be careful, though she found nothing unusual about it.
• Johann revealed that the Mimic concealed a stealthy ghost meant to erode Jia Xiu’s mind and magnify his desires.
• Late that night, the Mimic moved to Jia Xiu’s bedside and began channeling magic into his consciousness.

A ghost inside a Mimic tried to probe Jia Xiu’s mind, but an unseen power took control of it and changed its contract to make Jia Xiu its master. The next morning, Jia Xiu discovered the Mimic enjoyed being kicked, while John realized his contract had vanished and decided to flee and report to Belial.

• The ghost entered Jia Xiu’s mind to awaken his greed but found his thoughts disturbingly dark and chaotic.
• An unseen power threatened the ghost with obedience or erasure, then altered its contract so Jia Xiu became its master.
• Jia Xiu woke and accidentally kicked the Mimic, which bounced back and appeared to ask him to kick it again.
• John noticed the ghost’s contract had disappeared, abandoned his plan to lure Jia Xiu alone, and decided to report to Belial.

Jia Xiu brought the Mimic Da Huang to Margaret's Laboratory, where it helped Bubu carry dragon feed, and presented the bacteria research he and Mia had completed. Margaret briefly left the group meeting to celebrate that their paper would be submitted to Nature, then returned to continue.

• Jia Xiu named the Mimic Da Huang and let Bubu take it to work as a storage helper, chaining it up for campus rules.
• Da Huang quickly swallowed and sorted the Sub-Dragons' feed when Jia Xiu and Bubu arrived at the laboratory.
• Juan explained the group's meeting habits to Jia Xiu and showed him how to use the Eavesdropping Rune.
• Mia presented her and Jia Xiu's bacteria research, and Margaret praised her work before stepping out of the meeting.
• Margaret celebrated privately over the Eavesdropping Rune that a first-year student had a paper going to Nature with her as corresponding author, then returned to resume the meeting.

Juan presented Mage Armor products designed for sexual entertainment, shocking Margaret and embarrassing Jia Xiu, while Jia Xiu gained experience because the research became finished products. Juan revealed plans for additional products, bringing Jia Xiu close to leveling up.

• Margaret returned to the meeting and called Juan forward, while Jia Xiu struggled to suppress his laughter.
• Juan credited Jia Xiu for inspiring his vibrating, heated Mage Armor and offered to share the patent with him.
• Juan demonstrated the product, and Jia Xiu received 500 experience when the Sect Master recognized the research as a finished product.
• Margaret realized the product’s potential market and asked Juan how he planned to develop it further.
• Juan described two more products based on Mage Armor, triggering additional experience notifications that left Jia Xiu at 6400 out of 6500 experience.

Jia Xiu considered whether his low-circle Demonfolk mental spells could ease anxiety and stress, then arranged to test the idea on traumatized veterans cared for by the Church of Light. He arrived at Larven’s grand cathedral with Bubu and Da Huang, ready to begin the trial.

• Margaret asked Jia Xiu whether his spells could reduce negative mental states as well as cause them, drawing on her concern for traumatized soldiers.
• Jia Xiu checked the runes in his Magic Grimoire and concluded that the spells could theoretically be adjusted to reduce anxiety and stress, though they still needed testing.
• Margaret said the Church of Light cared for veterans with poor mental health and could provide someone to test the spells on.
• The next day, Jia Xiu brought Bubu and Da Huang to Larven’s largest Church of Light cathedral, with Da Huang as a gift for the people there.

Jia Xiu and Bubu tested a method for easing the war trauma of Undead soldiers at a church in Larven. After Morris agreed to trigger a flashback, the treatment let him remain rational, and he thanked Jia Xiu.

• Jia Xiu explained to Priest Milo that his group had come from Saint Delro Academy to test a treatment for war-related psychological trauma, and Milo warned them to avoid anything that might remind the patients of the Demonfolk or weapons.
• Jia Xiu met the volunteer patients, and Morris asked to be treated first so he could return to the battlefield.
• Jia Xiu and Bubu used an illusion to trigger Morris's flashback, then Jia Xiu cast magic to reduce his stress.
• Morris saw Jia Xiu as a Pit Fiend but remained rational, declared the treatment had worked, and thanked him.

Jia Xiu tested a desensitization spell on veterans suffering from traumatic memories and shared the treatment with Father Milo. After receiving the Holy Light's blessing, Jia Xiu discovered that Garbled Patron had apparently inspected and approved it first.

• Jia Xiu repeated the hallucination experiment with Morris and found that repeated exposure gradually eased his symptoms.
• Jia Xiu tested the approach with other veterans and concluded that his desensitization therapy could improve their conditions.
• Jia Xiu explained the treatment to Father Milo and shared his revised spell so Milo could continue the experiments and record the results.
• Father Milo promised to publish a letter of thanks in Larven newspapers and send a copy to Saint Delro Academy.
• Jia Xiu received the Holy Light's blessing, which increased his resistance to poison, illness, dizziness, and confusion after Garbled Patron's verification.

Jia Xiu wrote a paper on treating trauma-stress-disorder and tested the limits of his Holy Light-granted disease resistance by deliberately catching a cold. After submitting the paper, he leveled up to Warlock LV.5 and gained access to third-circle spells, an upgraded Detection Spell, a new blessing, and a new trait.

• Priest Milo reported that desensitization therapy had expanded across the diocese, though Jia Xiu might wait years for an honorary title.
• Jia Xiu named the condition trauma-stress-disorder and worked on a paper about treating it with mental spells and desensitization therapy.
• Jia Xiu asked Mia to infect him with bacteria, caught a cold, and concluded that his Holy Light-granted resistance to disease had limits.
• Jia Xiu suggested Mia look for useful bacteria on moldy oranges and share her research with Ram, and Mia decided to buy oranges.
• Jia Xiu submitted the paper and received 240 experience points, leveling up from Warlock LV.4 to LV.5.