When Lanqi followed the exam room rules and stepped into the giant void gate under the guidance of the examiner, he suddenly felt like he was thrown into a dark room where he lost his five senses.
It was completely dark. I couldn't see anything, not even the sound of my own heartbeat.
Gradually, like a singularity in the darkness, a single point of light dotted the field of vision, followed by understandable characters that emerged like meteors—
Welcome to the artificially created and simulated shadow world supported by the technology of Magic Engineering Institute.
Note: The content of this assessment is a practical simulation of the shadow world. There will be no life-threatening danger in the simulated shadow world.
After failing in the shadow world or the candidate dies, he/she will be automatically ejected from the shadow world.
However, you will likely experience death and pain, not limited to more horrifying scenes such as falling off a cliff and beheading.
…
Have you read the above and agree to enter the artificial shadow world
Continue/Exit
Lanqi didn't swipe at all.
Instead, he read the entire instruction manual of the artificial shadow world startup terminal carefully.
Then he moved his finger to the continue side.
He remembered reading in a book that if one died in the real shadow world, the challenger would also die for real.
Therefore, in Lanqi's understanding, the real shadow world is an extremely dangerous place, which is completely different from this artificial shadow world with a protection mechanism.
Moreover, the laws of the Kingdom of Hutton clearly state that newcomers often need to practice more in the artificially developed simulated shadow world, get extremely high evaluations, and pass the assessment of the Kingdom Alliance Council before they can get permission to challenge the real shadow world.
Even so, the death rate in the real shadow world remains high.
It can be seen what a dangerous place the shadow world is.
Fortunately, the artificial shadow world used for the exam is equivalent to the practice mode and is quite safe.
"The examiner mentioned that the main theme of the exam is 'wisdom and character'..."
"Then I will naturally have to use my wisdom and character to the fullest, so as to avoid experiencing the feeling of death in the artificial shadow world."
Lanqi thought secretly in his heart.
As he continued to touch, ripples appeared on the silver-white light screen, quickly spreading at his fingertips, disappearing under the text and seeming to emerge with new content.
Before he could see it, it was as if he was falling rapidly from the sky above the world.
Accompanied by a feeling of weightlessness, Lanqi felt as if his whole body and mind were suddenly immersed in a whole new world!
soon.
The surroundings quickly lit up.
The scene filled Lanqi's vision in an instant.
It was also at this moment that the biting chill came over me, like a ruthless blade, piercing my heart.
He felt the temperature drop suddenly and the whole world was frozen.
The blood seemed to solidify, and the frost could easily penetrate the skin.
"Huha! What the hell is this place!"
The breath Lanqi exhaled almost condensed into ice crystals in an instant.
He could only grit his teeth to resist the piercing pain in the cold wind.
He found himself standing on a snowy field.
The vast expanse of white snow covered the earth, and the sound of howling wind and snow filled the air between heaven and earth, making his brain buzz!
At first glance, the sky was leaden gray, and thick clouds blocked the sunlight.
The cold wind blew up snowflakes all over the sky, flying in the air, sometimes gathering and sometimes scattering, making the whole white world look psychedelic and harsh.
"Sir, we'll be at their house soon!"
It seemed like an old voice shouting hysterically, fighting against the wind and snow.
Lanqi turned around and looked at the voice. Behind him, there was an old man in a cotton coat and a heavy knight in silver-white armor who were also walking hard in the snow and fog.
Although Lanqi didn't know what the old man meant for the time being.
But he soon saw that there was a small village standing in the snow.
It is like a gem lost in the vast snow.
And I am in this village.
At the same time, information about the shadow world also appeared before his eyes—
Shadowworld: The Hidden Flame of Winter
Level: First level
The number of challengers is 1
The gap between the desire to do good and the ability to do good is called benevolence and righteousness. It is foolish to force benevolence and righteousness, but there are always people who are willing to carry it through to the end.
Winter is coming. As a noble on the northern border, your territory is currently facing a fiscal deficit and you have very little money left.
When you stopped by this village to rest, you heard the village chief say that a magic furnace theft occurred in the village today.
There have been severe snowstorms recently. If the magic furnace is not retrieved, the three people in this family might freeze to death tonight.
Mission objective: Please help this family solve their difficulties before dark (within 1 hour) so that they can safely spend this cold winter.
Note: As a noble of the Holy Kingdom and a believer of the Holy Rite Church, your bottom line is that you must never break the law, never harm civilians, and never defraud civilians. Otherwise, the church executioner who knows your background well will execute you.
Note: Correspondingly, if a criminal act is discovered, the executioner will also assist you in giving the criminal the appropriate punishment.
After understanding the requirements of this exam, Lanqi looked forward.
Not far away, there was indeed a house built of wood. Its roof was covered with thick white snow, as if it was hidden in this pure white world.
Then the old man behind him must be the village chief, and the knight in silver-white armor is the executioner.
Lanqi did not rush to the house in front, but analyzed the current situation briefly.
Since I am now a noble of this inexplicable country with strict restrictions, some of the simplest and most brutal methods of passing the customs will definitely not work.
For example, you cannot directly steal supplies from other families to help this one family.
Unless you have the confidence that you can defeat this executioner who looks scary at first glance.
Maybe you’ll die if you try.
As for taking this family to squeeze in at the village chief's house, they can only survive tonight, but not the entire cold winter.
Obviously, it does not meet the mission objectives.
If any household was forced to take in this family for the entire winter.
This kind of abuse of power to allow someone else to take over someone else's position is most likely illegal.
"Sure enough, ordinary cleverness doesn't work in this shadow world. All shortcuts are blocked."
Lanqi muttered to himself in the snow.
In a short while, his cheeks turned red from the cold and a thin layer of frost formed.
When he was about to move again, he felt the joints of his limbs stiffen in the severe cold, and movement became increasingly difficult.
Even wearing thick aristocratic winter clothes cannot block the biting cold.
Suddenly, Lanqi also realized that according to the physical fitness of the candidates, the time for activities outdoors in the snow was actually very limited.
Aimless searching will inevitably lead to one's burial in the snow and wind.
"Let's go to this one first to investigate the clues."
He quickly quickened his pace and walked towards the wooden house in front.
…
In a spacious and bright conference room in the main building of Sage Institute, chairs and tables are arranged in a round table format, with several large round tables surrounding the central projection screen.
Sitting at each table were five or six teachers from a group, some of them staring at the magic screen seriously, while others were actively communicating with others.
This was more like a seminar or critique than a meeting.
They are carefully recording the highlights and details of each candidate in this exam, and exchanging opinions with other teachers from time to time.
The screen clearly shows the scene of the candidates after entering the artificial shadow world.
All candidates, without exception, made slow progress.
After they went to that house, they learned from the couple that there were strange noises outside the window on the night of the theft, and then the door of the house was blown open as if by a snowstorm, and the temperature in the house dropped sharply.
When the couple walked out of the bedroom tremblingly, they found that the magic furnace had disappeared, and there were some footprints left outside the house, which should belong to a tall adult male, but they were soon covered by snow.
As for asking the little girl at home, the couple's adopted niece, she seemed to know something, but no matter how they talked to her, she wouldn't speak.
So some candidates chose to go to other villagers to investigate clues, while others tried to find ways to start with the abnormality of the little girl.
Of course, there were also candidates who did not examine the questions carefully and were too clever, and died inexplicably under the sword of the executioner.
He promised the village chief a favor and asked him to take in this family for the entire winter.
But given the current state of the territory, the lord could not guarantee to pay the money, which constituted fraud. The executioner, who knew the lord well, immediately saw that the lord was lying and executed him.
"People like this who think they are very smart often fail to notice logical omissions and die the fastest in the shadow world."
As he crossed out the names of the eliminated candidates, Vice Dean Ron sighed.
“This is the lack of wisdom.”
In fact, the correct idea is to pay attention to the most basic clue "the abnormality of the little girl" and collect some key information from other villagers. The problem will be solved after decrypting the information, uncovering the truth and subduing the criminal.
"The film world requires both wisdom and talent, and sometimes noble character is also required, so as to gain the favor of the characters and solve the clues."
While they were discussing.
Another teacher saw an excellent wizard who used wind magic to cut down trees directly and then used magic to quickly dry the firewood.
Some people even tried to make fire-attribute magic props that could be used to replace magic furnaces.
It can be said that everyone showed off their magical powers.
However.
These seemingly eye-catching operations have not been favored by many teachers.
"Sometimes the Shadow World can indeed take shortcuts through its own characteristics, but sometimes it can also fall into traps..."
"I remember this original version of the first-order shadow world being very disgusting, because in the end, it was discovered that this evil couple deliberately hid the magic furnace in order to freeze the little girl to death in the snowstorm, so as to defraud the high funeral subsidies stipulated in the northern border regulations."
"Even if you give them dry firewood or a magic stove, it won't save the little girl, because what's cold is actually the twisted human heart."
"Sometimes being too arrogant and trying to skip the Shadow World's mechanism may lead to unexpected failures. This is because you are not calm and steady enough."
A group of teachers discussed the core of this entrance examination with sighs.
For most of the candidates who are at the second or third level, this first-level shadow world does not have any combat elements that require the use of force.
It is just the most basic and simplest shadow world mode.
But it can also fundamentally examine whether the candidates have the suitability to challenge the world of film.
"Hey, what's wrong with this guy?!"
An exclamation suddenly attracted the attention of all the teachers.
The teachers at each table looked toward the corner of the split screen.
It turned out to be a candidate from the Academy of Knights.
The style of his shots is completely different from that of other candidates.
He was not wearing a noble long coat, but only a pair of trousers. His muscles were clearly defined, and he stood in the cold wind with his arms folded.
Even though his messy gray hair was covered with snowflakes, he didn't seem to be afraid of the cold at all, and his deep purple pupils were as tough as a lone wolf.
"What is this guy doing?"
"Wait! Actually, as a noble, the clothes the examinee is wearing are worth some money. It is enough to cover the cost of asking the village chief to take in a family for the entire winter. In this way, the little girl will be protected by the village chief."
It is impossible for ordinary people to be so cruel to themselves, as if they have never considered their own life or death.
However, this shadow world does not require the challenger to survive to the end.
Sacrificing oneself and practicing benevolence and righteousness is also an option.
"The reckless men in the Knights' Court are like this. Occasionally, one or two of them will appear with a dull mind."
"But this candidate from the Knight Academy named Frey... you say he's stupid, but he seems pretty smart..."
Although Frey completely violated the purpose of the exam, he did meet the requirements with his noble character and extraordinary physical fitness.
“Perhaps completely abandoning wisdom and mind is also a manifestation of wisdom and mind?”
"You have to admit that he does embody many of the virtues of a knight, including honesty, compassion, bravery, and sacrifice... He just completely deviated from our original inspection goal. The Knight Academy has found a treasure this year."
Gradually, even though the teachers found it difficult to give a fair evaluation of Frey's approach to the game, they couldn't help but admire him in the end.
At least as a knight, he deserves it.
"etc."
Vice Dean Ron, who was looking through the candidates' materials, suddenly lowered his head and said in a deep voice,
"… I found that this guy seems to be addicted to gambling. He often loses everything except his pants, so he is used to pawning his clothes… So he may have formed muscle memory. Whenever he arrives in this shadow world, he will first pawn his clothes to solve the problem."
"… "
"… "
After blowing for a long time, the flute got distorted and everyone felt embarrassed. The conference room suddenly became unusually quiet.
After a while.
Vice President Ron finally broke the oppressive silence, coughed lightly, and tried to get the meeting back on track.
"Look at it in a positive way. This guy is a candidate for the Knight Academy, so the Knight Academy should be the one to worry about."
"really."
"Our students are obviously much more normal."
The teachers nodded one after another and couldn't help feeling fortunate.
Not long after.
Gradually, more teachers discovered this.
This is the candidate from the Sage Academy.
There seems to be a guy who is not quite normal.
In the picture, there is a young man with black hair and green eyes.
Not only did he not rush to investigate.
Instead, he rushed back to the village chief's house as soon as possible.
After obtaining the consent of the village chief, he began to find several books on the bookshelf.
Then he leaned leisurely on the sofa and read a book by the fireplace.
He even took a sip of hot tea from time to time, looking extremely comfortable.
Apparently, his strange behavior attracted the attention of the teachers.
"What is this guy doing? Is he enjoying himself?"
The teachers who noticed Lanqi began to ask each other.
Soon, a young teacher sneered, then shook his head and said:
"Generally, students who give up the exam halfway will do this and stay in a safe place. I've never seen anyone give up the exam as decisively as him."
Other teachers heard this.
They all nodded.
I was almost fooled by this guy's relaxed and comfortable temperament.
"Lanqi Wilford... This guy's attribute test results are not ideal. His family is a well-known wealthy businessman in the border area of South Wantina. As the eldest son of the Wilford family, is he here to experience life?"
The vice principal found Lanqi's admission information and sighed helplessly.
After the teachers learned about his situation, they began to lose interest in this rich boy with a relaxed attitude.
…
Just as the professors' attention gradually shifted away from Lanqi.
He finally closed the book in his hands.
Taking the book with him, he and the executioner decisively went to the family where the theft had occurred again.
Knock knock.
Lanqi knocked on the door gently.
Then there was a faint sound of footsteps coming from inside the door, accompanied by the howling of wind and snow.
As soon as the door was opened, he saw a middle-aged man who came to greet him, shivering with cold.
"My Lord, have you made any progress in your investigation?"
The middle-aged man asked with a hint of expectation on his face.
But he was actually laughing secretly in his heart.
This foolish noble's investigation was completely misguided.
All that was left was to trick this shabby lord away from his home again, and let him continue wandering around in the snow with his foolish sense of righteousness.
However.
Lanqi just stared at the middle-aged man with sharp eyes, as if he was finally convinced of one thing.
"The investigation has not made any progress. But when you saw me before, and just now, didn't you bow to me?"
Lanqi slowly raised his hand and pointed at the middle-aged man in the house and asked.
"I'm sorry, Lord. I heard that you are always very kind and don't care about these details. It's our negligence..."
The sudden question made the middle-aged man feel very nervous. He and his wife quickly held the little girl's head, bowed to Lanqi and whispered.
He didn't understand what went wrong that caused the nobleman to suddenly change his attitude.
Obviously, this good-natured lord didn't conduct any investigation in his own home, so how could he have noticed the slightest clue!
Lanqi sneered:
"According to the etiquette of the Northern Border Territory, you and your wife should bow to me, but you failed to show me due respect twice. I think your attitude towards me is extremely contemptuous, which insults me."
He opened the code in his hand and rebuked loudly,
"According to page 719, line 3 of the Holy Kingdom Code, the crime of insulting the nobility, I will arrest your entire family. Children under the age of 12 are exempt from this crime. According to the regulations on custody on page 134, this girl has lost her guardian and will be taken back to the town by me to be taken care of by the church. This is in compliance with the regulations."
After saying this, Lanqi turned around and looked at the executioner, raised the open book in his hand, and showed the executioner the page of the code that read "Insulting the Nobility".
It's clearly written above.
As for the etiquette of the northern border, Lanqi had just asked the village chief and the executioner for confirmation in detail.
The executioner was slightly stunned.
After a moment of hesitation, he finally stepped forward and controlled the three confused people.
"You will be detained at the village chief's house for the time being. When the snowstorm is over, you will all follow me back to town. Those who need to go to jail will go to jail, and those who need to go to church will go to church."
Lanqi stared at the code and spoke word by word.
Next.
I watched the three people, led by the executive officer, set out on the road to the village chief's house.
In the snow.
Lanqi put his hands in his pockets, breathed a sigh of relief and smiled with relief.
"Obviously, this exam is to test students' legal awareness, so that their family can spend a warm winter in prison and church."
…
Off the court.
“?!”
The professors who accidentally witnessed Lanqi's operation began to twitch wildly in the corners of their eyes.
Even the examiner Loren, who saw all this in the examination room, widened his eyes.