Chapter 6. Dekan Began to Bare His Fangs

By the time I was almost dozing off, the examiner finally reminded me it was my turn to enter the Shadow World.

I loosened the first button on my shirt collar, twisted my neck, rolled my shoulders, and followed the examiner to the void gate.

The moment I stepped through, everything turned pitch-black. I couldn’t see anything.

It was eerily quiet here—aside from my own breathing, every other sound seemed completely cut off.

Soon, light returned. I felt as though I were inside some kind of space-time tunnel.

At the same time, prompt text appeared before my eyes.

【Welcome to the Artificial Shadow World “Phantom Canyon.”】

【This test is a simulated duel. No life-threatening danger.】

【Terrain is random. Pain is set at 1/4 reality.】

【If you are killed in Phantom Canyon or fall into complete unconsciousness without recovery, you will be ejected.】

【Candidates may voluntarily withdraw.】

【Examiner is the “Hunter,” candidate is the “Prey.” Examiner’s strength restricted to tier four with standardized tier-four blue common equipment cards.】

【Starting distance between candidate and examiner: 500 meters.】

【If a candidate endures for over 10 minutes, it will be deemed a pass. At that time, you may directly exit Phantom Canyon and receive your results.】

【Longer survival and inflicting damage on the examiner will be counted as bonus points.】

【At 30 minutes, the Shadow World will close automatically.】

【These are the standardized exam settings.】

【Examiner for this session: Arno Sleret.】

【Your test begins in 30 seconds. Prepare yourself.】

As the final prompt ended, the environment around me shifted. I suddenly stood in a brand new world.

This must be the Shadow World!

I looked around. All that stretched out was endless plains.

“Is someone messing with me?” I scratched my head.

Random terrain, and I got plains. And the examiner just happened to be the vice dean.

I could even spot his figure off in the distance!

Forget it. Doesn’t make much difference anyway.

“Non-turn-based card battles are really pretty terrifying.”

I sighed, pulling out two equipment cards and channeling magic into them to bind them to myself.

In my past impressions, card battles—even if life-threatening—were at least turn-based. But in this world, people used magic cards as weapons, scrolls, summons... far too dangerous.

The two cards shimmered and condensed into reality, attaching themselves to me.

A crown woven of cold iron thorns, glowing with a gloomy luster. And a gothic loli doll glove puppet that looked cute, yet radiated ominous energy.

......

Outside the field, plenty of spectators had already noticed my situation.

“This kid’s unlucky! Others got valleys, jungles, islands—he got plains?”

“How’s he gonna hide on plains, run track with a tier-four examiner? Hahaha!”

“And none of the earlier candidates had Arno himself as examiner!”

“Of course, because of last year’s incident... It’s obvious. The Knight Academy doesn’t want this kind of person passing this year.”

“Basically, they want to teach arrogant geniuses a lesson. Talent’s nothing if you get cocky—you’ll die in the Shadow World and drag your teammates down.”

“Holy crap, that kid just pulled out two purple equipment cards?”

As more people focused on me, the broadcast director switched the main screen to my match, even displaying detailed identification of my equipment cards.

【Cursed Doll】

【Category: Equipment Card】

【Grade: Purple Rare】

【Tier: 2】

【Attack Bonus: 0】

【Effect: Reflect 0.5% of damage received back to the opponent, and transfer 200% of actual pain felt to the opponent.】

【Note: Big brother cardmaker is my favorite!】

......

【Crown of Agony】

【Category: Equipment Card】

【Grade: Purple Rare】

【Tier: 2】

【Defense Bonus: 0】

【Effect: Pain felt is multiplied by 300% while equipped. Gain one “undying at 1 HP” effect. Cooldown: 720 hours.】

【Note: O-shi-hey-te-yo, shi-hey-te-yo.】

Was this a warrior? He looked more like some kind of cult priest!

But the audience wasn’t surprised. Every year, a few oddballs pop up.

And you couldn’t even call it a violation—he was following the rules exactly.

The registry showed he’d only brought two equipment cards and one summon card.

“Is he trying to be some kind of damage-reflecting tank warrior? But why no armor or shield?”

“And he doesn’t even look like a heavy-built fighter...”

“So it’s just niche equipment. Probably not much more expensive than blue cards.”

“The advantage of purple cards is the stat pool for stronger special effects. But his two cards sacrificed all the usual attributes to stack into bizarre gimmicks.”

“Exactly. That first piece is insane. Instead of stacking the reflect rate, he went all-in on feeding back pain?”

“And the second—sure, lock-blood is useful, but the cooldown’s absurd, and the side effect’s brutal. Who’d want to wear something that makes you feel triple pain? You’d faint from the pain long before lock-blood even triggers. And no defense stats on a crown?!”

“Wait, how the hell do you even construct ‘pain’ as an attribute line...? Do any of you know?”

Alchemy Academy students were analyzing.

“But look—combine them, and in practice he could feed back six times the pain to his opponent. He must’ve built it that way on purpose.”

“Disgusting! I’d never want to fight him!”

“Too bad Phantom Canyon only transmits 1/4 of real pain. He won’t gross out the examiner at all.”

In the Alchemy Academy broadcast hall, Teresia was also watching my exam. When she saw my equipment, she twitched at the corner of her eye.

You’re just trying to gross out your opponent, aren’t you? At that moment, she finally understood what I meant by “underworld” and “surface world.”

But still—little Dekan, hang in there!

I’m counting on you to make me cards!

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