Chapter 200 : Chapter 200

Chapter 200: Entering the Dream State, the Competition Begins

“This is truly…”

As one of the participants in the Witch Academy's exchange competition, I naturally sat in the spectator seats belonging to the witches; after all, we were the hosts, there was no need to deliberately showcase the academy's characteristics here.

Watching the members of each academy make their entrance, present themselves, and finally be guided to their corresponding seats, I had to say it was indeed a completely new way of getting to know them, and of course, it was also very entertaining to watch.

My gaze lost interest after sweeping over them, only lingering for an extra moment when I saw the Holy Angel Academy.

Because yesterday, Shop Manager Xia Li contacted me.

If possible, she hoped I could target the participants from this academy more.

I seemed to have some understanding of the conflict between Xia Li and the Holy Angel Academy back then.

When I was still working part-time at the shop, I had seen that Xia Li's feelings towards the Holy Angel Academy were off.

Even Tan Han being tricked into coming here was largely due to the shop manager's efforts, simply because Tan Han had initially applied to that academy.

As for why she targeted the Holy Angel Academy so much, the shop manager didn't say, but her attitude was very clear.

For this reason, after contacting me, the shop manager was even willing to open her little treasury again, on the premise that Transcendent Knowledge was not included.

I naturally accepted this.

Not to mention that there were indeed many things in the shop manager's little treasury that I coveted, targeting an opponent who was already a competitor was just a matter of convenience.

And looking at the shop manager's posture, she had probably already spoken to Tan Han about it.

So, with my and Tan Han's stance, the possibility of the Witch Academy "joining forces" with the Holy Angel Academy was likely gone before the exchange competition even began.

Besides, the possibility of us joining forces with the Holy Angel Academy was too small.

They had occupied the high ground from the very beginning, one could say they had all the advantages.

Before the competition started, the exchange competition wouldn't just throw all the participants into the dream state right away.

Instead, there would be an explanation of the rules, a display of the map, and so on.

After all, this was an event for all the academies, they couldn't just let the audience watch in a daze, right?

Even the current opening ceremony was being broadcasted live in other academies at this very moment.

The various major academies came from all over the world, and the time difference was also something that needed to be overcome.

The first thing for many academies upon arriving at the Witch Academy was to adjust to the time difference.

That was one of the reasons why many academy students happened to be present during the Witch Academy's competition when they arrived, but not all academies came to watch, after all, adjusting one's condition was very important.

The opening time of this exchange competition was naturally decided after deliberation.

As long as the three top-tier academies had no problem, the remaining smaller academies would have to overcome the difficulties themselves.

This was a matter of each academy's right to speak; without strength and status, they were not worthy of fighting for their own interests.

And a major highlight of this exchange competition was naturally the "Academy Rituals" related to the rankings of each academy.

This was an act that, once held, would become the core of the entire event, and the preparation period for the ritual would attract the attention of all participants.

Whether it was the Holy Angel's Holy Light Prayer Ritual or Aphrodite's Forest Elves' Mother God Hymn Ritual, these would all be a means for the corresponding academies to showcase themselves.

This ritual didn't need to be that grand and magnificent; everything was prioritized based on scoring.

After all, they were just newcomers, and practical situations had to be considered.

So these rituals, in essence, might just be a prayer to the Holy Light, or a poem praising the World Tree, just like the corresponding ritual for the Witch Academy, which was simply holding a Witch Tea Party.

It seemed simple yet was very cumbersome, and the preparation and planning phase of the ritual was also a time-consuming matter.

If the ritual was only a matter of a few minutes, then there would be no need to compete for academy rankings; everyone would just rush to hold their rituals.

Take the Witch Tea Party ritual for example, it couldn't be held just anywhere.

The Witch Tea Party ritual needed to be held in a special place that could be called commemorative.

The reason Tan Han previously suggested the Forged Ancient City Ruins was for this reason.

That ancient city was like a natural chasm that cut off the main passage between the ancient battlefield and the other side, and it was also a ruin, which was sufficient for holding a Witch Tea Party.

Moreover, the Witch Tea Party required the participants to be a certain distance apart to be held, and one had to wait for the eligible person to arrive for the tea party to officially begin.

After all, the meaning of holding a Witch Tea Party was to provide joy and the pleasure of gathering for the witches who had come from afar.

On the arena stage at this moment, Lina was uncharacteristically narrating the various stories and meanings behind the rituals.

This was also a form of cultural exchange between the academies.

Whether the rituals were solemn or joyous, or even bloody and dark, these were all unique characteristics of that academy.

I was also listening with great interest down below.

After all, the rules wouldn't be explained in as much detail as Lina was doing, and this was also a way to understand other academies.

To me, it was as wonderful as listening to the setting of a fantasy world being constructed.

Of course, the most important thing was to look at the weaknesses and restrictive measures of the other party's ritual.

Interrupting the other party's ritual wasn't just about using absolute power to break the progress of the ritual.

Just like the Witch Tea Party, as long as someone could entangle the witch coming from afar to attend the tea party, then this tea party could never be held, or it couldn't be held with only one person present.

This introduction of the rituals was a long process, but no one felt bored.

After all, it wasn't just Lina's narration, there was also the backdrop of the Earth Vein System that enveloped the entire arena.

The visuals of each ritual were extremely stunning.

Lina naturally wouldn't give a perfunctory explanation just because it wasn't the Witch Academy's ritual; that would be irresponsible towards the exchange competition.

Of course, when these rituals were actually to be carried out, they would probably be quite disappointing.

After all, this was a competition, how could one fully devote themselves to the preparations of the ritual?

As time went on, the audience's enthusiasm would also be gradually consumed, but it didn't matter.

Anyway, the rituals being described at the end were those of the smaller academies.

Without strength, one had no rights, and this was sufficiently reflected in the order of presentation.

With the end of this process, everyone finally welcomed the much-anticipated scene.

Let's welcome the newcomer participants of this exchange competition to the field!

Accompanied by the stirring music and the grand Earth Vein special effects, everyone's gaze was directed to the seats of the contestants at this moment.

At this moment, all the participants stood up amidst this atmosphere, accompanied by the enthusiastic cheers of the audience and all the expectant gazes, and walked towards the central area of the arena.

Not just here in the arena, but also countless people watching the live broadcast, their faces filled with excitement and a joy that words could not describe.

Whether it was the Bakery Club at this moment, or Big Sis Bai at the scene, or the roommates who couldn't get tickets.

At this moment, there were also academies outside the Witch Academy: Aphrodite, Holy Angel Academy, and on the other side, the academy of the Witch Academy that set alarms in the middle of the night to drink coffee and stay awake.

On the way there, Tan Han led the way at the beginning, while I stood at the very back to hold the line.

I could hear the loud shouts of the senior sisters calling our names, and I could only smile and respond to them one by one.

The few in the middle, however, were waving their arms excitedly, responding to their expectations.

Arriving at the Dream State device pod in the center, I found my position according to the designated area, which was a very inconspicuous spot on the edge.

Unlike the Dream State device I had experienced before, a large part of the Dream State device pod here was transparent, so you could see the situation inside from the outside.

In my opinion, there was no need to do this.

After all, would anyone really stare at the person inside the Dream State device pod while they were fighting in the Dream State?

Probably not, right?

I smiled and shook my head, fumbled with this Dream State device for a bit and opened the hatch.

Seeing that others had already gone in with great efficiency, I no longer hesitated and lay down inside.

And those who weren't ready yet also entered the device with the help of the volunteer senior sisters.

After all, this Dream State exchange competition was a collective entry.

At this moment, I only felt the scene before my eyes shift, and my whole person was in a daze.

When I noticed my surroundings again, I was already in the public area within the Dream State.

But it was different from the area I arrived in last time.

There was nothing there last time, but this time, a more aesthetically pleasing background was directly selected, and this open space instantly had over a hundred more people.

After a moment of daze, everyone began to adapt to the environment here.

This current time was considered the final adaptation time.

If someone had an abnormal situation on the spot, a substitute might need to be brought in.

But looking at it, it seemed no one was in such an embarrassing situation.

Since the official competition hadn't started yet, there was still a very important process to go through, which was the notification for surrendering and withdrawing from the competition.

There were many factors to consider for withdrawing from the competition.

Perhaps it was facing death with the last life and not wanting to endure the pain of death, or being trapped as a hostage and being threatened, or even not having died after three lives but having already obtained a lot of points and not wanting to reduce the final score base by dying and thus withdrawing.

Once withdrawal was announced, one would never return to the competition, no matter how many revival opportunities they had.

And now was the time for the precautions regarding withdrawal.

The simplest way to withdraw from the competition was naturally death, and also by verbally applying and confirming the withdrawal.

At this moment, no matter who it was or what clothes they were originally wearing, everyone's attire was uniformly replaced with the pre-set costumes representing their respective academies.

This included me as well.

At this moment, I was wearing a form-fitting dress with three layers of skirts, in a dark color scheme.

Underneath was a pair of short bloomers for modesty, black stockings that reached my thighs, tied with a thigh strap, and on my feet were a pair of well-fitting small leather shoes.

I stomped a few times, and they were quite comfortable.

And I was also wearing a cape unique to witches, and on my head was a large witch hat.

The overall look was simple yet carried a hint of a witch's flirtatiousness.

This witch uniform was designed as an alchemical item, and it wasn't even counted in the category of carry-on alchemical items, which could be considered a loophole.

It's just that the effect of this uniform made with alchemical techniques could only be said to be not very effective.

And I took a quick look, the uniforms of other academies also seemed to have traces of alchemy, it seemed to be a tacitly approved operation.

And in this final moment, I also moved towards the direction of the Witch Academy's members.

At this moment, they had already prepared their items, alchemical items or weapons and armor.

Strictly speaking, they could only bring three items.

Seeing that they had all taken out their things, I didn't dawdle either.

The flying broom, the magic wand, and the pair of wrist guards that Big Sis Bai gave me.

This pair of wrist guards counted as one alchemical item, just like how some people's full set of armor also counted as one item.

The wrist guards were not of much help to me now.

The body strengthening and cat-person transformation in them had negligible effects, and I even had spellbooks that could replace them.

But some things have more symbolic meaning than practical significance, and I didn't have many alchemical items myself, so it didn't matter what I brought.

Actually, I could have brought storage equipment.

After all, I could obtain a lot of competition-use items during the competition, and it was impossible to hold them in my hands all the time.

But after learning that storage equipment could be obtained during the competition, I decided not to bring it.

Since it could be obtained, there was no need to waste a slot like this.

Besides, an empty storage equipment wouldn't be of much help to me, and it was uncertain whether I could get good things in the early stages.

Wouldn't it be better to bring the thing Big Sis Bai gave me, as if I was competing with Big Sis Bai's blessing?

Don't underestimate the bond between me and Big Sis Bai.

"Little Han, and everyone, regarding this exchange competition, let's reiterate our initial plan one last time. Follow the plan."

Tan Han said when she saw everyone had gathered, but she didn't speak explicitly to prevent others from hearing the specific plan and preparing in advance.

Regarding the matter of the ritual, our Witch Academy's ritual was considered the easiest to hold.

Once the ritual preparations began, a notification would be sent out, and a huge pillar of light would locate the ritual's location for everyone.

Multiple academies could prepare for their rituals at the same time, but only one could begin.

Once one ritual was prepared and had started, the efforts of all other academies in preparing their rituals would be in vain.

So while preparing for our own academy's ritual, we also needed to divide the work and cooperate to interfere with the preparations of others' rituals.

This was the correct division of labor.

The preparation time was also slowly coming to an end.

Everyone had made their final preparations, waiting for the time to descend upon the battlefield.

Even when I put on the wrist guards, my right hand tightly gripping the broom.

This broom was no longer the one Teacher Ji Niang had given me that she had discarded, but the latest model.

The academy provided such a broom for every participant who could use and brought a flying broom.

This wasn't cheating a loophole; after all, which other academy didn't have the academy's backing to arm their students to the teeth?

It was just me who didn't have many thoughts.

Apart from bringing a broom and a magic wand, everything else was casual.

I tugged at the brim of my hat.

With the witch hat on my head, it felt as if a force was holding it steady.

Even a strong wind couldn't blow it away.

Otherwise, such a big hat would only bring us trouble and have no other use.

It was more of a symbol of the witch.

As the time reached zero, at this moment, this public area began to spread out and transform its scenery with me at the center.

Even the figures not far from me disappeared completely.

Perhaps from their perspective, I also disappeared from their sight?

I held onto the brim of my hat as a strong wind blew towards me, stinging my face.

Even the brim of the hat on the side facing the wind was blown over.

I forced my eyes open, and the scene that greeted me was the Central Ancient Battlefield.

This was the location of the ancient battlefield ruins.

Blood had stained the earth, and even the sandy ground had a dark red hue.

The sky was also blood-red, and the air was filled with the smell of blood.

A rusty taste filled my mouth when I inhaled.

Not even stubborn weeds could take root on the ground.

The strong wind kicked up the dust on the ground, drawing my attention to the sandstorm in the distance.

As expected of the Central Ancient Battlefield, this environment hit me with something big right from the start.

With such weather, it wouldn't be long before it headed my way.

In such a sandstorm, I wouldn't even be able to determine the direction.

And there was no one else around here, which meant this was the worst-case scenario.

Everyone was scattered, at least as far as I could see, there wasn't a single living person.

So after recognizing the situation, I immediately got on my broom and flew into the sky.

At the same time, I opened the Memory Bookshelf, and the map was displayed before my eyes.

I needed a landmark building or terrain to confirm my location and determine the direction.

As for the sandstorm behind me?

Naturally, I would dodge it if I could.

I didn't want to waste magic power just to disperse such a sandstorm.