011 How are you... standing upside down...

"Keep it down," Ye Qian said. "It's just a disconnection from the artifact. What's there to yell about?" Believing that Li Qingming was just astounded by his hidden talents, Ye Qian immediately turned to check the crowd to make sure they hadn't noticed them before raising his hand in a soothing gesture, "The reason Vanguards can survive in the Secret Realm is that they rely entirely on Secret Abilities and artifacts. For regular people, survival is just a probability, and the difference between the smartest and the dumbest isn't that big. I advise you to come with me."

"No, get away." Li Qingming panted heavily and shook his saw sword. "This is the second warning."

"Ah, don't be so reserved... just hear me out one last time." Ye Qian took half a step back, maintaining his smile with effort, and whispered persuasively:

"For those without artifacts, entering the Secret Realm next is like playing Russian roulette—everyone's just under 2%.

"But I admit, you've got something, barely meeting my standards for employment.

"After we get out, I can sponsor you to go to Vanguard Academy, offer you the corporate contract you've been dying to get."

"Once you have an artifact and Secret Ability, it won't be too late to challenge the Secret Realm again.

"My plan is vast; we'll talk about it in detail later... Hey, at least look at me, don't zone out on such a big deal!"

Indeed, at this moment, Li Qingming had lost all interest in Ye Qian, his gaze already fixed on Han Chun.

"You better get away," Li Qingming said, waving his hand. "It's here."

Ye Qian stared, then turned to look at Han Chun.

The stomach.

Han Chun's belly had swollen quite a bit.

If it was a fist before, now it was a bowling ball.

Thud, thud...

"Ah!!!" A girl with glasses in the front row shouted in alarm, "It's moving!!!"

Only then did everyone on stage stop arguing and all turned to look at Han Chun.

Visibly, that bulging thing was slowly moving upward...

From the stomach to the chest, from the chest to the throat...

Just as it reached his throat...

Hiss—snap!

Han Chun's hand suddenly withdrew from his mouth, flinging blood and stomach acid onto the ground with a slap!

The bulging thing had burst through his throat and reached his brain.

In an instant, his eyes, which had already rolled back, were filled with blackness!

Every strand of his hair stood on end like needles, turning him into a crazed sea urchin.

The people in the room had completely lost the energy to scream; half of them fell to the ground right then and there.

Han Chun's eyes, meanwhile, had gradually solidified into a thick black, with not a trace of white to be seen.

At the same time, those needle-like strands of hair clustered into bunches of sharp spikes.

At this moment, his entire head resembled a giant... sea urchin...

Following this "Sea Urchin Head" as a starting point, a black current flowed visibly along the arteries toward his entire body.

It wasn't enough to stretch to the fingertips; even his nails turned black, sprouting shiny black claws.

Finally, he let out a deep, hoarse sound that was completely alien to this world.

"Ugh... a bit difficult..."

With a voice tearing his vocal cords, he put his palms to the ground, lifted his feet, and, like a gymnast, smoothly lifted himself with his arms until... an inverted stand?

He just stood there inverted!

Only after stabilizing in that inverted state did the sea urchin head mechanically twist and wriggle, its dense black eyes scanning the surroundings.

After looking around for quite some time, he let out a confused sound:

"Why are you all... standing upside down...?"

"Oh... my mistake..."

"This is a joint... this too... so many..."

It took a great effort for him to finally stand up properly, moving like an unstable, toddling alien, every motion bizarrely mechanical, as if he were doing a robot dance triggered by an electric shock.

Meanwhile, as he twitched and twisted, his murmurs became more and more fluent.

"Still, something's not right...

"Hmm... my mouth isn't the same as yours...

"Wait a second..."

As he said this, he carefully peeled the torn skin at the corners of his mouth to reveal his blackened fingertips, lightly slashing across the wound.

Accompanying the sizzling, unbearable noise, two charred arcs came into being; the welding at the corners of his mouth was complete.

And with that, he flashed a generous smile.

"Alright, now we... are in complete agreement!"

"Don't move... let me feel it!"

Having said that, he shook his head like one afflicted with epilepsy, convulsing as he scanned each person.

"School... classmates..."

"I... teacher... yes... yes..."

"Very good... a very good theme..."

"Target—confirmed."

"Rules—activated."

"And you—you—"

At this point, he suddenly stopped his seizure-like behavior, raised his arms high, and spoke with excitement:

"Satisfy me, satisfy me!"

Then he turned back, walked with a devilish mechanical gait to the podium, raised his right hand solemnly, and revealed his black pointed nails as he said:

"A new day for Class Four, Senior Year Three at Northern Isle High School begins now!"

"The first lesson for today is..."

He lowered his head as he spoke, looking at the schedule taped to the desk.

"It's self-study time... seems like I'm not needed..."

"Then I'll step out for 10 minutes..."

Having said that, he walked to the door with some disappointment, his arms swinging left and right, and easily opened the door that others couldn't budge.

"Ah, right."

He suddenly turned back again, straining to lift the corners of his mouth.

"The teacher hopes that in these 10 minutes, you will choose your closest friends and sit together.

"In the coming school life, share everything you know and your gains.

"As for those who are alone, the teacher does not like them."

"Pfft–"

"Ah, my mouth has split open again, my apologies..."

After finishing his words, he gently closed the door, holding his cracked facial skin.

And inside the room.

There was only silence.

At this moment.

Even the most ignorant person had realized.

This was a Secret Realm of rules.

He was the master here.

...

13:30:00.

Ding ding ding—

The school bell at Northern Isle High School rang on time.

Yet the teaching building was already deserted.

As for the space occupied by Class Four, Senior Year Three, it had been turned into a dense black ink.

More precisely, it was an irregular, flat, elliptical shape, like a black stone in the game of Go.

Curiously, this stone had landed perfectly on this classroom, not swallowing up a single person more than it should have.

The surface of the stone did not reflect any visible light; in theory, it should be as silent as a black hole.

But when one gazed at it, one could still feel a subtle rhythm, like the pulse of life or the breath of a soul.

Unfortunately, no one was there to appreciate it.

At this moment, the teaching building was a complete no-go zone, with staff having already put up boards to completely isolate the area.

Outside the building's door, a black tent had been erected. Technical personnel from the Secret Realm Security Bureau had brought equipment on site, and the woman with the plaster and her two subordinates were also among them.

Besides them, there were a few school officials in the tent, as well as a middle-aged man wearing a baseball cap, wiping a baseball bat.

There was no conversation among them; they just waited silently, waiting for the technician to set up the equipment, waiting for the monitors to display the specific parameters of the Secret Realm.