Chapter 190 : Chapter 190

Chapter 190: The Experience of Pwning Noobs in the Dream State

A new day.

I roughly checked the time and then reconfirmed the location.

In the end, I chose to stick to my habit and arrived at the appointed place a little early.

It might be a habit I can't get rid of.

Even though the lending time for the Dream State device here was nine in the morning, it was only a little past eight now.

Plus, it seemed I had once again overlooked the flying speed of the broom, so I had been waiting outside for a little while.

“Hm… Huh? Are you Little Han?”

A sudden voice drew my attention, but when I looked over, it was a senior I didn't recognize.

“Hello, senior. Is there something I can help you with?”

I replied politely, since she was a stranger I didn't know.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I'm responsible for the maintenance and repair of the Dream State devices here, and I'm also the one who opens the door. I didn't expect it to really be Little Han. Can we take a photo together?”

“Yes, of course.”

I nodded with a smile, and she happily took a simple picture with her phone.

“I didn't expect you to come so early. I didn't see you yesterday, so I thought you wouldn't come today either. According to the academy's notice, we only open at nine. Little Han, you're here way too early, aren't you?”

This senior was very forward and started chatting with me.

“By the way, how about I go through the trouble of opening up early to let you in first.”

“Oh, no, it's fine. I'm still waiting for someone, so there's no need to intentionally trouble you, senior. How about we talk about it later.”

I tactfully declined the senior's suggestion, and I had indeed arrived quite early.

“Waiting for someone? Little Han, who are you waiting for?”

This senior was clearly very curious about my affairs and even subconsciously asked about such things.

“Waiting for Tan Han. I arranged to come with her.”

“Waiting for who?”

The senior's voice rose, as if she couldn't believe my answer.

“Tan Han?”

“Ah?”

“Is there a problem?”

“Oh, no, no problem. I thought your relationship with Tan Han wasn't very good. After all, what's been circulating on the academy network… false information is truly harmful.”

“It’s alright, one has to distinguish the truth from falsehoods in online information. I won't trouble you any further, senior.”

After bidding farewell to this senior, she went inside by herself.

It seemed she was probably conducting final checks before opening.

Speaking of which, I wonder if the Dream State device that Teacher Ji Niang brought over before can be used for combat adaptation and such.

It probably can, I just don't know how to use it.

After waiting a bit longer, around eight-thirty, I finally saw the person I was waiting for.

Tan Han was really punctual.

“Little Han, you came so early? Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Today, Tan Han was dressed in casual attire, which looked much cooler compared to the more reserved outfit from yesterday.

“It's fine, I just arrived not long ago myself.”

I immediately stood up and said.

“By the way, we're a bit early. Did you meet the senior who opens the door? She should allow us to go in early.”

“Um… I think I met her, but I didn't say I wanted to go in yet. She went in first, though. Would it be too much of a bother?”

“It’s fine, I come here often. I'm on good terms with her. Come with me.”

Tan Han was very familiar with the place.

After a few words, she led me to push open the door and walk inside.

The senior from before was still inside debugging a Dream State device, which was very similar to the Dream State pod Teacher Ji Niang had gotten.

The moment she saw Tan Han, she greeted her enthusiastically.

It seemed Tan Han was indeed very familiar with this place.

“I didn't expect you two to really be friends? Alright then, Little Tan, same old spot? What about Little Han?”

“Yes, same old spot for me. Little Han, how about you take the one next to me?”

Tan Han turned her head to ask me.

“Sure, that's fine. I'm okay with anything.”

Afterward, I was led by this senior to a spot inside, while Tan Han skillfully opened a device pod and sat down inside.

“Little Han, is this your first time? Do you want me to teach you how to operate it?”

The senior beside me said enthusiastically.

“I’ve experienced it once elsewhere, but I don't know how to operate it, so I'll have to trouble you to explain, senior.”

“Is that so? That’s fine. After you go in and lie down, your consciousness will be brought into the Dream State. All the Dream State devices here are linked together. After logging in, you'll be in the same login space. You can slowly figure this stuff out. If you don't understand something, you can call out the menu or panel. There are explanations and help inside. If you really don't get it, you can ask Tan Han. She should be inside by now.”

“Okay.”

I turned my head to look at Tan Han, who had already closed the Dream State device pod.

I didn't hesitate any longer, relaxed my body, and lay down.

Then, the pod door closed.

The last time I had this kind of experience was in the laboratory.

Now, I wondered if it will be the same as last time.

Just as I was thinking this, a wave of drowsiness instantly engulfed my consciousness.

The speed was so fast that I didn't even have time to react.

When I came to my senses again, my mind was filled with nothing but shock.

My posture had changed from lying down to standing, and the surrounding environment had also changed drastically.

The surroundings were a pure white background, even under my feet, but it wasn't a glaring kind of white.

Not far away, I saw Tan Han.

Just as I was about to walk over, a main menu light screen suddenly popped up in front of me.

It seemed to be for various functions.

A simple glance showed many categories, such as creating a room, setting up an independent space, a challenge area, and a very conspicuous “Help” icon.

Besides these, there were several layers of pop-up windows for various emergency measures and ways to quickly sever the connection to the Dream State if one felt uncomfortable after entering.

“Hi Little Han, I didn't expect you to have any discomfort at all entering the Dream State for the first time?”

Tan Han walked towards me and said with a smile, but her current outfit of tight leather pants and a crop top was even cooler than what she wore today.

“It’s not my first time. Isn't there a Dream State pod in the laboratory? I tried it once, but only once.”

I explained while checking my own condition.

Sense of touch, sensations, Spirit Vision, everything seemed normal, just like in reality.

But when I used Spirit Vision, I could clearly feel that I was indeed in a Dream State.

That false feeling gave an unreal experience.

However, there seemed to be a kind of correction in the Dream State, a correction that aligned with one's own cognition, ensuring that everything in the Dream State was a “perfect replica” of reality, including every detail of oneself.

If this were a virtual reality game, it would be absolutely impossible, but this was the Dream State, and the Primal Dream State at that, so achieving this seemed to be nothing special.

“Oh, so that's how it is. But even for a second time, this level of adaptation is very fast. By the way, have you created your personal information here before? Once created, this information will be bound to you, and you can do all sorts of interesting things here, like changing outfits.”

As Tan Han spoke, she showed off the clothes she was wearing.

But in the next moment, her outfit was replaced by another set, without any mosaics or interruptions, a seamless transition.

Even my Spirit Vision couldn't find any flaws.

“How magical.”

I exclaimed subconsciously.

“It is indeed magical. And I heard that for this exchange competition, each academy will have its own attire. At that time, our battles in the Dream State will be broadcast live to the outside world. And it's not just Witch Academy; the other academies participating in this exchange competition will also have the broadcasting rights for this match.”

“They’re going that big?”

My eyebrows twitched.

I was very interested in this, but on second thought, it made sense.

Although the exchange competition was being held at Witch Academy, so many other academies had come.

Their own academies couldn't possibly be unable to watch, right?

“Of course. Let me teach you how to bind your personal information. Although it's impossible for Witch Academy to provide a Dream State device for every single person, the academy does have a large number of Dream State devices for rent, similar to an internet cafe. The Dream State battles in Witch Academy are also very interesting. At our newcomer stage, not everyone is qualified to access such high-end Dream State devices.”

“I see…”

I nodded and continued to listen to Tan Han's explanation on this topic.

I didn't expect Witch Academy to have such a place.

It seems I had thought too simply of this Dream State thing.

Binding personal information in the Dream State was also very simple, just a few operations and it was done.

The information on it was registered based on the information on my student card.

I could also give myself a nickname and change my profile picture.

However, during the academy exchange competition, personal social profile pictures and nicknames could not be used.

Only official personal portraits and names would be used.

After binding, the Dream State also gave a set of initial clothing, which was a very classic witch set, somewhat similar in style to the Witch Four-Piece Set, but more exquisite.

After all, the Dream State was illusory, while reality still had to consider costs.

So I quickly changed into this new set of clothes.

This kind of outfit change was like a one-click transformation in a low-quality online game, but in the Dream State, this ability was too terrifying.

I just felt the texture on my body change, and my clothes were changed, and it was even self-adaptive to the best size for my body.

“How are you adapting? Want to try fighting in the Dream State?”

“Where do we fight? Does this create a room function?”

I asked curiously.

“That is for creating a new private room, generally for personal use. It has many functions, like personal meditation, learning combat skills, and things like that. You can also invite friends to fight directly in there.”

“But for a proper Dream State battle, you create an arena. Here, you can choose various scenes, like a city, desert, wasteland ruins, forest, land of the dead, and so on. You can also adjust the weather, be it rainy, sunny, or even hailing.”

“I see what if you don't have friends? How do you fight? Random matchmaking?”

“Random matchmaking is another function. If it’s just a simulated battle against virtual enemies, it's this challenge mode. You can undergo various styles of challenges, or customize challenges against virtual opponents, and so on.”

Tan Han explained to me tirelessly.

It was clear that Tan Han knew much more about this place than I did.

But it wouldn't take long to figure this stuff out on my own.

“Have you decided which one you want to try?”

“I'll try fighting against a virtual opponent first.”

I said.

After all, it was my first time here, so it was better to start with an introductory one to get a feel for it.

“Alright, you go try it first. By the way, let's add each other as friends first. Do you want to try a match between the two of us today?”

“We'll see.”

I didn't rush to refuse, but gave a non-committal answer.

However, I still added Tan Han as a friend.

“Alright, I'll be looking forward to your performance.”

Tan Han didn't pester me too much and disappeared from this public area on her own.

She must have entered a room she created.

Then there's no need for me to hesitate either.

Challenge mode, activate!

Soon, my surrounding environment was completely replaced.

This “teleportation-like” effect didn't have that strange feeling of being teleported.

Instead, the scene changed with me at the center.

I felt this design was great, at least it was friendly to people who get motion sickness from teleportation.

At this moment, the challenge level information appeared before me.

This was a pre-designed standard challenge, which saved the trouble of the customization process.

After a half-minute preparation time, the opponent for the first level appeared before me.

It was a person in iron armor holding a sword, with a style somewhat similar to medieval knight armor, looking a bit fancy.

“Illusory Clone.”

I simply used a spell on the opponent.

It was an illusion spell.

I wanted to see if this kind of fake opponent would be fooled by an illusion.

The result was that the opponent was quickly deceived and even reacted as if it was scared.

So, in the Dream State, this guy was a “living” existence, not some kind of program?

It suddenly felt interesting.

I subconsciously wanted to take out my Magic Wand, but I quickly realized this was the Dream State.

I had no weapons, no storage equipment, and couldn't take anything out.

But I wasn't bad at casting with my bare hands.

With a Fireball, the opponent had nowhere to dodge and was blasted to death.

Even the metal armor was blasted black and cracked.

The person inside the armor was naturally deader than dead.

I walked over curiously to check the power of my Fireball, wanting to see if it was the same as in reality.

Although I didn't want to doubt the authenticity of the Dream State, this was, after all, not reality.

If there was a margin of error, it would be good to know in advance, but the level wouldn't give me too much time.

As I was inspecting, the second level began.

Compared to the first level, the second level went from one person to ten.

This change in number surprised even me.

Was this a challenge?

Did the level designer even know how to design?

But soon, they were struck down by my Lightning Strike Spell.

Wearing such thick metal protective armor, it would be a disservice to the Evocation Spells I've researched if I didn't use lightning-type spells.

As the third level began, what came out was no longer the iron-shelled knights from before, but a tall giant whose size was completely beyond human.

Just by looking, it had to be nearly three meters tall.

The huge and ferocious muscles on its limbs displayed terrifying strength.

The opponent dragged a weapon similar to a meteor hammer and gave me a show of force right from the start.

Even a deflected Energy Shield was shattered by this single throw, and that weapon was just sent flying to the side by my force redirection.

Did the level designer realize that the first level was too easy, so the enemies from now on are designed to be this terrifying?

Then wouldn't the fourth level mean facing ten of these big guys?

Although I was thinking this, the spell in my hand didn't stop.

This kind of big guy was a complete living target.

Before it could get close and take the initiative, it was blasted by a modded Fireball of mine, destroying half of its body.

At the same time, as I fought, I was also thinking, what's the point of fighting like this?

After simplifying it, it was just a game of who attacks first.

Because the damage of the attack method far exceeded the opponent's defense limit, no matter how terrifying the opponent looked, it was just pwning noobs.

There was no sense of satisfaction at all.

Of course, killing this thing for the first time was still very interesting, but I could foresee that after a few more times, I would get tired of it, and it would no longer feel fun.

I didn't even feel like this was a formal battle up to now.

As I was thinking, the next wave came out.

But it was different from the ten I expected; there were three of them, but they were still instantly killed by me using different spellbooks together.

The same spellbook would have a usage interval due to its own limitations, equivalent to a “cooldown time.”

Even if I used modding methods to quickly accelerate the next usage interval, plus this was a basic spellbook with a very short interval, this time was already reduced to the limit.

But I found that having more spellbooks had its advantages.

As long as I mastered Multi-casting, I could cast many spells in an instant, just like now when I killed these three guys, the time consumed was even shorter than the previous round with ten armors.

And the key point was Multi-casting.

This kind of thing really needed more practice.

Without practice, it's impossible to use.

So I temporarily discovered a use for this challenge mode: it was pretty good for practicing Multi-casting.

In the later levels, spellcasters who could also use spells appeared, but they didn't seem to use spellbooks to cast.

Instead, they used mental power to replicate the ritual and energy circulation structure similar to that inside a spellbook to cast, which was very magical.

And they would also control the distance between us.

I spent a lot of effort observing them before killing them.

Casting without a spellbook?

It seems very interesting.

If a person's mental power was strong enough to cast spells without a spellbook, then this method of using spells would definitely be more terrifying than using a spellbook.

But this didn't seem possible at this stage.

After all, how could I have researched spellbooks without trying this possibility?

The result was that I couldn't do it.

In the end, I could only attribute it to insufficient mental power.

My mental power didn't seem to be enough to condense a ritual, guide transcendent energy, and successfully cast a spell.

I suppose I should be able to do it when I reach the level of a Transcendent Witch, right?

Thinking this, I waved my hand, and the spellcasters before me had their spell shields completely broken and fell to the ground, dead.

Another round of pwning noobs.