When Lanqi felt the surroundings brighten again and his vision gradually focused.
He found himself sitting in the back row of a classroom as spacious as a theater.
In the dim space, the only light source was the faint glow from a few oil lamps hanging on the walls, dim and almost tangible golden yellow.
They flickered constantly, like the pulse of life, ensuring a certain visibility while adding a mysterious theatrical feel to this place. Under the dim lamplight, the shadows of desks and chairs twisted and elongated, rustling silently with some swaying dark shadows.
Although what Lanqi could see at this moment did indeed look like a classroom - long tables covered with red tablecloths arranged neatly, a brand new black and gold blackboard standing on the stage at the far front of the classroom, and the window frames and carvings looking antique and luxurious.
But this space, estimated to be about 300 square meters, which should give a sense of spaciousness, was somehow completely absent, replaced by an inexplicable eerie feeling accompanied by a rich bloody smell that shouldn't be there.
For a moment, it made Lanqi doubt if he had arrived in the underworld.
His gaze lowered, only to see a piece of rough and ancient parchment placed on the red tablecloth, with an ink bottle and a quill pen resting beside it.
The surface of the parchment was imprinted with mysterious text different from human language, but through the translation spell inherent to the Shadow World, Lanqi roughly determined that this was a demonic script magic exam paper with test questions.
How come it's still a school?
Lanqi was incredibly shocked inside.
He thought he had finally escaped from school, only to find that he had just escaped to another school!
Even worse.
Originally at Icerite Academy, he was just attending classes, but now in this demon school, it seemed he was about to start an exam directly!
With a feeling of visiting a grave, Lanqi slightly raised his head to scan around, only to feel an abrupt sense of alienation suddenly surging in the air.
The students in this classroom had diverse appearances, each stranger than the last.
Each bore some indescribable features, most with sharp horns, bizarre patterns and exoskeletons on their skin, and some even had long black tails.
In the aisles of the classroom, two figures resembling examiners were wandering in an orderly manner. They wore classical attire similar to suits, neat and somber.
But surrounded by the smell of blood and evil aura, they looked particularly gloomy and terrifying.
It looked very ominous at first glance.
Compared to the previously experienced artificial Shadow Worlds with seemingly milder themes like [Hidden Flame of Winter] and [Infinite Phantom Valley], this real Shadow World was obviously not on the same level!
Soon, the relevant information about the Shadow World also appeared in Lanqi's vision.
This was a prompt that only Shadow World challengers could see -
[Shadow World: Inferno Corridor Academy]
[Level: 4th Rank]
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
[Number of Challengers: 6]
[Historical Background: This was once the darkest era for humans. Humans could only have the day, while nights were entirely dominated by vampire servants. However, some people, for the sake of human dignity, were willing to shatter their own dignity. To reclaim the south covered by the blood moon, the only possibility of creating a miracle was to obtain the power of demons. Thus, a crazy plan was born - a group of humans disguised themselves as demons through forbidden surgeries in the imperial experimental field, crossed the extreme cold dangers of the north to enter the demon realm, and attempted to integrate into demon society to learn demon magic...]
[Mission Overview: You are infiltrating a demon realm academy that is too absurd for human civilization to gather intelligence, and tonight will be the most dangerous night. You need to strive to survive safely.]
[Time Remaining: 11 hours 59 minutes]
[Mission Objective 1: Academy exploration rate exceeds 60%, current progress 3%]
[Mission Objective 2: Investigate and clarify the source of danger tonight]
[Mission Objective 3: At least 1 person survives until the time limit ends, currently 6/6 surviving]
[Challengers Lanqi & Huberrian are in the exam scenario, exam time is 2 hours, subject: Demonic Magic Script]
[Any form of cheating during the exam, once discovered by the invigilator, will give the invigilator the right to eliminate the examinee]
[If judged to have a score below 50 at the end of the exam, it will be considered a fail, and the invigilator will immediately execute elimination]
[Can hand in the paper early, can raise hand to seek help from invigilator for any needs]
[Remaining exam time: 1 hour 59 minutes]
As Lanqi's thoughts receded, these information panels similar to artificial Shadow Worlds could be hidden or displayed again.
But after understanding the content of his first real Shadow World, he frowned deeply.
Fourth rank, what the hell?
Lanqi didn't even want to comment on the nightmare scenario of starting with an "exam".
He was second rank, Huberrian was third rank, if the Shadow World had learned any math, they shouldn't have been matched into a fourth-rank Shadow World no matter what?
However, what Lanqi cared more about was that according to the Shadow World's prompt information, he should now be temporarily disguised as a demon by the Shadow World's mechanism.
Would it damage his image?
Lanqi looked down at himself, apart from wearing the deep black uniform of this Inferno Corridor Academy, he had exoskeletons like white jade crystals at his joints, emitting a faint glow.
Touching his head, sure enough, there were two horns, and from the faint light reflected in the ink bottle, his black hair and green eyes hadn't changed, while the horns and facial patterns were pure white.
......
Meanwhile, on the Icerite campus.
At 5 pm, the academy was immersed in a deep tranquility. At this moment, the setting sun had begun to slowly sink below the western horizon, spreading its last golden-red color over every corner of the campus.
Not far from the academy entrance, on Gela Memorial Square, a group of passing students had already begun to enjoy their after-class time, discussing dinner choices, and many students were sitting on the steps of the square, watching the campus news broadcast projected on the giant open-air screen in the center of the square.
Often, this open-air giant screen would broadcast live footage of Shadow World challenges currently being undertaken by students in the academy.
Since the Shadow World itself is a projection of a historical period, the live footage of Shadow World challenges is often no less than a wonderful and unique movie.
Students often gather here to watch clips of live Shadow World footage.
It's both a form of entertainment and enjoyment of life, as well as a learning process.
Of course, there were also many students sitting on the steps in front of the giant screen, casually discussing the just-ended classes with friends, or quietly reading books, immersed in their own worlds.
"Hmm? A new fourth-rank Shadow World?"
"It's actually a rare demon history Shadow World..."
On the steps, a student suddenly said, as if talking to himself.
This made many students raise their heads and look towards the screen.
Since not many students challenge Shadow Worlds on the first day of school, a newly opened challenge was immediately noticeable.
Moreover, it was a deep-toned screen with an extremely distinctive thematic feature.
"Wait, aren't these two new students?"
Soon, a student noticed the [Challenger Information] column below this Shadow World live broadcast and exclaimed in surprise!!