Unbound, ownerless magic cards were still sealed, making it easy to identify their effects with appraisal spells.
“Lan Qi, next time before you use this card, at least give me a look first…”
Huperion could already feel the headache coming—teaming up with him was going to be pure suffering if he kept pulling out cards like this, the kind that made everyone miserable…
The only relief was that she had already built up a resistance to sound-based magic.
“Alright.”
Lan Qi nodded lightly, reaching out to grab the glowing orange card in front of him.
But as he stared at it, his brows furrowed, as though something about it bothered him.
“What’s wrong?”
Huperion tilted her head in confusion. “Is the effect bad?”
“No. I just think the name of this card sounds terrible. When I get back, I’ll need to find a master to help me rename it.”Lan Qi said it with a straight face.
In his previous life, the country he lived in had very strict censorship on violent or bloody content in games, enforcing heavy “harmonization.”
Lan Qi himself was always an eager supporter of that.
“…So what do you plan on calling it?”
Huperion suddenly felt uneasy.
“Let’s call it ‘Lovely Notes.’”
Lan Qi smiled calmly.
Huperion: “……”
Somehow, the card didn’t feel that bad before—but after his renaming, the taste was completely off.
She didn’t know what to say.
Instead, the two of them turned their attention to the other two purple-glowing cards, one each for them.
The card before Lan Qi appeared to be a human spell card woven from arcane scripts—
[Transfiguration: Demon]
- Type:
Spell Card
- Grade: Purple (Rare)
- Attribute: Stealth
- Tier: 2
- Effect: Transform into a Demon. Does not change one’s true attributes or facial features. Cooldown: 24 hours.
- Note: Based on forbidden surgeries from the Empire’s experimental labs, created as the ultimate disguise spell by the last survivor of an Imperial infiltration squad.
Meanwhile, the card before Huperion radiated thick demonic energy—
[Transfiguration: Human]
- Type:
Spell Card
- Grade: Purple (Rare)
- Attribute: Stealth
- Tier: 2
- Effect: Transform into a Human. Does not change one’s true attributes or facial features. Cooldown: 24 hours.
- Note: Reverse-engineered from the Empire’s forbidden surgeries by Purgatory Corridor Academy, developed into an anti-disguise spell.
“…Is this shadow world trying to mock me or something?”
Lan Qi’s expression twisted slightly as he looked at his [Transfiguration: Demon] card.
Meanwhile, Huperion’s fingers trembled as she held onto [Transfiguration: Human]
, her emotions more intense than ever before.For her, this was a card that could truly let her become human.
Not just some illusion spell she usually used in the mortal world.
And judging from how [Transfiguration: Demon] could even fool the demon academies’ inspections, its counterpart, [Transfiguration: Human], likely had the power to turn her into a near-complete human—at least in every sense short of her soul itself!
“Alright, big haul. Time to go home and catch up on sleep.”
With the loot secured, just the thought of returning to Ikerite Academy made the drowsiness from yesterday afternoon’s classroom crash over Lan Qi like a tidal wave.
All he wanted now was to collapse in his dorm and sleep till evening.
“Mm. Rest well—even though it’s already not that early.”
Huperion smiled too.
Sometimes what feels like just another day… might actually turn out to be one of the best days of your life.
Her heart felt light; the dragging monotony of the past was gone. For the first time in forever, she was even looking forward to tomorrow.
Just as the two were about to step through the Void Gate and leave the threshold dimension—
The battle settlement, which they thought had ended, suddenly updated again.
Blood-red text appeared before their eyes:
[Series Shadow World—Crimson Moon Cataclysm. Historical coordinates locked. Current completion: 1/4.]
[Before finishing the series, challengers have an increased probability of entering the “Crimson Moon Cataclysm” era Shadow World.]
[Achieve an SSS rating to immediately unlock the next node.]
[Final Objective: Clear the last node with an SSS rating.]
“???”
“Crimson Moon Cataclysm…?”
The two exchanged confused looks.
This vast world had many ancient eras.
Centuries, millennia ago—countless kingdoms rose and fell, heroes turned to dust, all swallowed into history.
And because of missing historical records from over two thousand years ago, much of those early eras had been lost.
The only glimpses came from Shadow Worlds’ projections, pieced together by historians.
The oldest known human era was the Holy Empire of the Demon Realm, about twenty thousand years ago—an age of creation, holy wars, epic heroes, and humanity’s rise to glory.
Though no Shadow World had revealed how the Holy Empire ultimately perished, in the nearly 20,000 years since, no evidence had ever surfaced of an era called the Crimson Moon Cataclysm.
“Huperion, have you ever seen a series Shadow World like this?”
Lan Qi asked. Not only had he never heard of them in the game, but he had never read anything like it in this world’s books either.
“There are ancient records… It’s said if you clear a Shadow World with the highest evaluation, you might unlock one. But very few ever met that condition. And completing a full series Shadow World? Almost impossible. No one in the last thousand years has ever managed it.”
Huperion hadn’t expected their very first Shadow World together to trigger one of those rumored hidden objectives.
“But compared to personal rewards, the historical information is the real treasure. For example, it was by exploring the Holy Empire era Shadow Worlds that humanity discovered so many effective strategies against demons…”
Indeed, the demons’ defeat and downfall decades ago was directly tied to intelligence unearthed from those ancient Shadows.
“If you go back and report this hidden task to the Shadow World Association or the Mage Tower, they’ll beg you to keep clearing it. The academic value of a lost-era Shadow World is beyond measure.
“But in turn, the Vampires of today will stop at nothing to kill you.”
Huperion’s tone grew grim.
Before entering this threshold, they had already turned off the Shadow World Recording Program—nobody wanted their hard-won loot exposed.
And while the vampires of the South kept to the shadows, they were still humanity’s greatest enemies, far more terrifying than demons.
As the strongest individual creatures, vampires possessed unreasonable powers and immortality. In single combat, no human or demon could rival them. Even if you “won,” you’d eventually be worn down and destroyed.
And this Crimson Moon Cataclysm—an ancient lost-era Shadow World—almost certainly contained the means to counter vampires.
“Don’t say another word. I’ll just pretend I never saw this hidden task.”
Lan Qi waved it off, walking toward the exit. He wasn’t about to throw his life away messing with vampires.
“Agreed. It’s not like the vampires ever did anything to us.”
Huperion nodded quickly, following him toward the shimmering Void Gate.
They were in complete agreement—this hidden mission was absolutely not to be reported.
Just as they were about to step through the mirror of swirling void—
“By the way, Lan Qi, there’s something I’ve never figured out.”
Huperion suddenly stopped, hesitation in her voice.
“What is it?”
Lan Qi turned back.
“In the art classroom… what spell did you use to tell which paintings were by the professor, and which were by the students?”
Her eyes were full of confusion. She had been wondering the whole way, but no explanation made sense.
“……”
Lan Qi blinked, a little surprised, then grinned slyly.
“Something that simple—why would I need magic for it?”