Chapter 314 Progress Before The Deadline (8), Devil's Playground

“Woah, relax. Are you asking him or forcing him?” Zek intervened as he spoke from the side before Almond.

One of the lackeys with pierced ears and a unicorn-like horn wearing a jacket and looking like a punk grabbed Zek’s neck. “Who the hell are you? Get lost. We have no business with you.”

Zek’s pupils split vertically and Almond’s All-Seeing Eyes perceived something unknown in him, but only for briefly as Zek returned to normal and chuckled, “Relax. Nobody wants to attract enforcers here, right?”

“Leave him, Lank.”

Brian glanced at Zek before turning to Almond and smiled. “Come on, let’s go to get you registered.”

Almond had the same expression since the start. In response, he raised his hand and conjured a life-like dog model as it opened its mouth at Brian.

“Bark. Bark.”

The dog barked.

“All I heard was you all barking, so here’s my response. I hope you are able to understand what I am saying right now.”

Silence.

“Pff…”

In the next second, the surrounding students burst out laughing. Since they were in the Central Lobby, thousands of students were constantly at a pace here in the vast hall.

Brian and his lackeys weren’t expecting this kind of situation at all, and it only escalated because the entire interaction was also recorded by multiple students, like always whenever there’s some drama spotted and someone even uploaded it on the big screens, causing waves of laughter across the lobby.

‘Fuck.’

‘Boss, this guy ruined your face.’

‘OUR FACE!’

Almond’s eyes flickered and in the next moment, he teleported himself and Zek to another corner of the hall.

“So, where’s the Devil’s Playground?”

“There. We are the exact opposite of it. Let’s go.”

“Let’s go? Are you also coming?”

“Yeah, I’ve earned some Academy Points by trading, and want to use them for Devil’s Playground,” Zek grinned.

Almond had no problem with it and teleported again as the duo arrived before the wide and big gate leading to the Devil’s Playground.

On the other hand, Brian and others also left feeling vexed about the insult and the video that would spread and briefly make noise.

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Inside a mansion’s living hall, the group sat around a table on the couches.

“Anyway, we didn’t expect him to join us,” Harken said as he narrowed his eyes. “Let him form his faction. Once he goes for a mission with his teammates, we’ll properly greet him for the first and…last time.”

“Then keep an eye on him,” Brian stood up and began walking towards the exit. “There’s a joint mission for Duke-level students and some other matters, so I’ll be busy. Just tell me when he is ready to die.”

“Understood.”

…

Devil’s Playground.

This facility was in a dimension where the scenery was personal to each student. No different student saw this world in the same design.

Upon entering the entry doors leading to Devil’s Playgrounds, students would find themselves on a huge floating island with a big gate with a demonic theme—flaring colorful flames, bone and skull structured designs on the gate, and the distorting auras surrounding the gate.

The gate’s appearance was the same for every student, unlike the rest of the world.

Entering the gate would send the students into a specific and makeshift world revolving around them, tailored to them, and changing based on their response…all that for, but one goal—suffering.

And there were also levels of playgrounds that students could select.

“So that’s how this works,” Almond muttered as Zek explained to him about the Devil’s Playground.

“Yeah. Although there’s no restriction even if you want to choose the Doom difficulty, but I would avoid starting with that. The sole goal of this facility is to inflict as much mental torture and suffering as possible to students to hone their mind and will, but not many students use it due to the dangers.”

“More often than not, students carry trauma from things they’ve experienced despite surviving and getting stronger. I know some who even died because of that before they could recover from the trauma and break through further,” Zek sighed.

Almond nodded, “I understand. I’ve decided what I want to choose.”

“I am choosing the highest difficulty, Doom.”

Almond was about to enter through the gate before Zek grabbed him, his grip tight.

“You can’t be serious, man! This difficulty is for Immortal Emperor students!”

Almond turned his head back and saw that Zek was truly concerned.

“I have my reasons to enter this difficulty and I won’t lose.”

“Reason?” Zek was speechless. “What reason do you have to court death like this?”

“It’s not about that,” Almond shook his head. “It’s about being efficient. I haven’t experienced the effects of this facility yet. If I choose the highest difficulty as my first experience, it will also have the highest impact on me.”

“It will be the most difficult experience, and it will make me way stronger.”

“…”

Zek felt his brain short-circuiting as he heard Almond’s words.

“You deliberately want to die, is all I can fucking hear. Are you mad? Wait, you must be thinking you can revive even if you die or something, right?” Zek shook his head. “This isn’t something that will disappear just because you die and revive. This will imprint on your soul, it’s your experience. It will affect you until you can conquer it. You won’t come out unscathed even if you come out sane.”

“Let go of me,” Almond said as his eyes bore onto Zek.

Zek’s hand lost its grip involuntarily as he saw those eyes and heard the words. His mind just obeyed it and his body executed the order. His will…was influenced by Almond in that brief moment.

“Thanks, really, but I’ll be fine.”

Almond turned back to the gate. “No nightmare can haunt me, and no fear can bind me because there’s nothing that can overwrite what I will. Not anymore.”

“I have to get strong and return before it’s too late,” Almond murmured as he stepped inside and vanished.