Dekan was about to fall asleep waiting when an examiner finally called him to enter the Shadow World.
Dekan undone the first button on his shirt, twisted his neck and loosened his shoulders before following the examiner to the Void Gate.
The moment he stepped into the Void Gate, what appeared before him was a pitch-black space. He was unable to see anything at all.
His surroundings became extremely quiet. He could even hear the sound of his own breathing.
All the other sounds seemed to have been blocked.
Soon, his surroundings brightened up. He found himself in a strange dimensional space like a space-time tunnel.
Words appeared before his eyes.
[Welcome to the Artificial Shadow World ‘Phantom Valley.’]
[The content of your exam will be ‘Battle Simulation.’ You will not suffer any danger to your life.]
[The terrain will be random. Sense of pain will be ¼ of reality.]
[If you are killed or end up losing your consciousness completely in the Phantom Valley, you will be teleported out of the Phantom Valley.]
[You are also able to choose to give up and leave the Shadow World.]
[The examiner is the ‘hunter’ and you are the ‘prey.’ The examiner’s strength will be limited to tier 4. They will also be given White Common tier 4 equipment cards.]
[Examiner and examinee will start 500 meters from each other.]
[If you are able to last for 10 minutes in the Phantom Valley, you pass the exam. At the end of the exam, you will be teleported out from the Shadow World and your score will be calculated.]
[The longer you last and the more damage you dealt to your examiner, the more bonus score you shall receive.]
[The time limit is 30 minutes. At the 30 minutes mark, the Shadow World will close.]
[The rules above are the same for all other examinees.]
[Your examiner is: Arnold Zerlett]
[Your exam will begin in 30 seconds. Please prepare yourself.]
After the final notification message, the surroundings started to transform.
Dekan felt that he had arrived at an all-new world!
This must be what it was like to enter the Shadow World!
Dekan looked around.
It was a prairie as far as the eye can see.
“Is someone messing with me?”
Dekan rubbed his head.
The terrain was random. Yet, I got a flat plain.
Furthermore, the examiner was the Associate Dean.
I can even see the figure standing afar!
Whatever, there’s not much difference.
“Non turn-based card games are quite scary indeed.”
Dekan sighed. He took out two equipment cards, poured his magic power into them and equipped them.
Based on his previous life’s memories, Dekan felt that even though playing cards might endanger one’s life, it should be turn-based.
The people of this world viewed magic cards as weapons, scrolls and summons. It was truly too dangerous.
Two cards turned into flashes of light before gathering on Dekan’s body.
When the light dimmed, one transformed into a thorny crown of cold iron and was emitting a dark light.
As for the other, it was a cute looking gothic lolita hand doll that emitted an ominous aura.
……
Outside. A lot of spectators seemed to have taken note of Dekan’s exam.
“That kid’s truly unlucky! The other examinees’ terrains are all ravines or forests but he’s on a plain!”
“How is he supposed to hide on a plain? Is he going to have a run and chase against a tier 4 examiner? Ahahaha!”
“No other examinee had encountered Professor Arnold as their examiner either!”
“It’s all because of that accident from last year… It’s extremely obvious that the Knight College is not planning to let people like him pass the exam this year.”
“It’s obvious that they’re trying to teach those arrogant fellows a lesson. No matter how talented they are, their recklessness will lead to their death in the Shadow Worlds. Furthermore, their death would even implicate their teammates.”
“Holy shit, that kid took out two Purple Equipment Cards?!”
Seemingly because a lot of people were paying attention to Dekan, the broadcast screen also switched over to Dekan. It even deliberately showed the Equipment Cards Dekan was using on the screen.
[Cursed Doll]
[Category: Equipment Card]
[Rarity: Purple Rare]
[Tier: 2]
[Attack +0]
[Effect: Return 0.5% damage taken. Return 200% pain taken.]
[Note: I love big brother card maker the most!”]
……
[Crown of Suffering]
[Category: Equipment Card]
[Rarity: Purple Rare]
[Tier: 2]
[Defense +0]
[Effect: Receive 300% pain. Triggers invulnerability once. Cooldown period: 720hours.]
[Note: Oshiete oshiete yo.]
Someone like this is a fucking martial artist?
That fucker is most definitely a cultist that came out of nowhere!
That said, the audience were used to this sort of thing. After all, there were weirdos every year.
One couldn’t complain that Dekan was violating the rules either. He was acting strictly within the rules.
Based on the registry, it showed that he was only carrying with him two equipment cards and one summoning card.
“Is he a damage reflection type tank? But if that’s the case, why isn’t he using any armor or shield?”
“He doesn’t have the physique of a heavy armored martial artist either…”
“So he’s using those equipment cards that no one will bother using. I bet they’re not that much more expensive than Blue Uncommon cards.”
“The advantage of Purple Rare cards is that their special effects could greatly assist the performance of one’s deck type. But those two cards of his, they’ve both sacrificed their common attribute to focus their performance on their strange effects.”
“Yeah, it’s like the person who created that first equipment had something wrong with their head. It’s obvious that damage reflection is more important than anything but the creator of that card focused all of its usage on the reflection of pain.”
“The second equipment’s invulnerability effect is great but the cooldown period is simply too long and the side effect is too serious. Who would possibly be willing to wear something that would increase the sense of pain by three times just so that they can trigger invulnerability once? Before that invulnerability even triggers, you might’ve already fainted from the pain. Furthermore, what sort of accessory would have no additional defense…”
“Wait, how exactly does one add ‘pain’ to one’s equipment properties? Do any of you guys know?”
A couple students from the College of Alchemy started analyzing the two pieces of equipment.
“If those two pieces of equipment are used together, it can return six times the pain to one’s opponent. He must be using them deliberately.”
“Disgusting! I wouldn’t want to fight someone like him!”
“It’s a pity. The Phantom Valley only has ¼ the sense of pain. He’s unable to devastate the examiner.”
Theresia was watching Dekan’s exam via the College of Alchemy’s broadcast.
When she saw Dekan’s equipment, her eyes started twitching involuntarily.
Were you only planning to appall your opponent?
At this moment, she finally understood what Dekan meant when he used the words ‘human’ and ‘inhuman.’
But, little Dekan, do your best!
I’m still waiting for you to make cards for me!
