Chapter 186 - Dekan's Forbidden Door

Room 404 of the Knight College dormitory had recently become a new campus legend at the Hevenlit Magic Academy.

The owner of this room, Dekan, had only been enrolled for one semester. Yet, he had stirred up constant storms within the Kingdoms Federation.

Despite the speed at which information spread, even if Dekan was destined to become the thirteenth special class card maker of his era, he wouldn't be known by everyone around the world. It was mainly the powerful figures in distant countries that were paying close attention to him.

But, there were already many around the world who had heard of the name "Mr. D!" Even Mauleon who was staying in the Southern Countries knew of the infamous “Mr. D.”

Although the Resurgence Church didn't explicitly state who Mr. D was, their official announcements left little to the imagination and practically spelled out Dekan's name. After all, there wasn't another person in the world who fit the bill.

Of course, whether Mr. D truly existed, whether he was connected to the new special class card makers, and whether the Resurgence Church was trying to smear Dekan's name, they were all topics for public speculation.

When Dekan first gained fame in the capital, many interested parties tried to delve into his background. But now, no one wanted to risk angering Dekan. They knew fully that it could be a death sentence.

While most people knew that Dekan couldn't possibly be the Cardinal of Pain, they couldn’t help but fear Dekan given what had happened to the former Cardinal of Ruins, Evans and, recently, Marquess Roderick.

Although Dekan hadn't directly confronted those two formidable tier 8 opponents, his performance as an annoying circus-performer-type controller-support undoubtedly guided their destruction.

Students were very concerned that if they accidentally offended Dekan, while he might not kill them personally, they might end up haunted for the rest of their lives.

So, anything related to Dekan gradually began to veer towards the realm of forbidden existence.

In the Knight College dormitory, students often passed by Dekan's door in the hallway. They were afraid of Dekan yet would still sometimes dare each other to come near at night.

Many observant students noticed something peculiar about room 404’s door. Firstly, there was a small indentation on the door panel.

From the height, it looked like it was caused by someone knocking too hard on Dekan's door. However, this speculation was quickly overturned. Surely, no one would dare to risk their life by provoking Dekan so directly.

Upon closer inspection, it seemed that the indentation on the door panel was probably made by Dekan himself.

And so…

Many students in the college began to speculate about the meaning behind the indentation on Dekan's door.

Some believed it was Dekan's abstract artwork titled "The Abyss on the Door Panel." Others thought Dekan was using it as a warning to those who dared to disturb him: "Don't knock on my door and disturb me, or I'll embed you into the door panel."

When students asked Croix, who seemed to be the most approachable in Dekan's team, he simply stated that he didn't know what the indentation was about. According to him, the door panel had been like that since he met Dekan.

This only piqued the students' curiosity even more.

Another eerie detail was the lock on Dekan's dormitory door. While the handle of the lock seemed fine at first glance, a closer inspection revealed that it had been twisted and broken.

The lock core was most likely completely shattered. It could close the door, but it couldn't be locked from the inside. It was currently in a state of having the hardware but lacking functionality.

Anyone who came to this door, with a gentle turn of the handle, could open Dekan's dormitory door and explore the most dangerous place in the school.

However, no one dared to attempt it. Dekan's unlocked door seemed far more terrifying than a locked one. It was as if he was employing his favorite "baiting" tactic to entice enemies with ulterior motives.

Stepping into this room would trigger a series of "Cardinal of Ruins-level treatment" traps.

This door gradually became an absolute taboo for the students, something they would never approach.

Dekan's room 404 dormitory also became a special attraction of considerable interest in the school. Even students passing by the Knight College dormitory building downstairs could quickly identify which window belonged to room 404.

After returning from Tristin City last time, Dekan hadn't asked the school worker to repair his door lock.

At the time, Dekan needed Cornelia to help him move a large quantity of [Captain Durrkan] inventory from his dormitory to Tristin City and Cornelia didn't have the key to his dormitory.

So, Dekan had instructed Cornelia to forcefully open his dormitory door and move the "Captain Durrkan" inventory.

Upon returning to the capital, Dekan had intended to ask the school to repair it. However, after two days of living without a door lock, Dekan suddenly realized… living without a door lock was extremely convenient!

Not only did it save him the daily routine of turning the key to lock the door when leaving, it also spared him the step of locking the door from inside when coming home!

Moreover, whenever his friends visited him in the dormitory, Dekan didn't need to rush to the door - just saying "come in" was enough. It saved him several tens of seconds every day! Over time, this incremental change led to a qualitative transformation! So, the door lock remained broken.

As for the security issue, Dekan wasn't worried at all. In his interactions with Cornelia, he realized a truth - in this world, door locks, even entire doors, were just decorations.

People whom the door could keep out naturally wouldn't dare to disturb him. For those it couldn't keep out, if they truly wanted to come in, all the reinforced doors and locks in the world wouldn't matter.

The door was better as it was now. It was also a kind of wisdom.

It had been two weeks since returning to the real world from the "Shadow World: Secrets of the Declined Sacred Ritual.” The brief winter vacation was coming to an end, and there were only a few days left before the start of the new semester.

During this period, Croix had been overseeing matters regarding the Rejoice Group. Rejoice Group was now in its early stages. Despite having many talents introduced by Lord Rampard from Tristin City, they still needed a leader to oversee the organization.

Naturally, Croix was the most suitable person in Team Beautiful Heart's current trio. After all, he was the major shareholder and the CEO. In the upcoming semester, Croix didn't need to choose any required courses as he had already completed them when he was in the third year. He had enough elective credits as well. So, Croix had plenty of free time. He only needed to complete one more expedition to the Shadow World to graduate smoothly.

Croix's plan was to stay and teach after graduating. So, graduating smoothly was particularly important to him. However, for at least the next six months, Croix could focus on being the CEO. Once they successfully bring back Mauleon, the commercial genius, to serve as the CEO of Rejoice Group, Croix could comfortably be the figurehead.

During these two weeks, Cornelia had the most free time. Unlike when she first arrived at Hevenlit Academy, she could communicate smoothly with others now even without having Dekan as a translator. She only had some slight stuttering when speaking the language of Norton Kingdom. She alsohad her own cat - Teacher Cat (although it was shared with Dekan). She also had a good friend of similar age and interests - Flora.

Cornelia would often take Teacher Cat to the Rejoice Group’s base to watch Flora's idol training routine. Then, after Flora finished her work, they would play together.

Flora seemed to have boundless energy. Whenever there was time after her dance practice, she would definitely explore the capital city where "there’s always new discoveries to be found.”

Norton Kingdom was a powerful country with a long history.Its capital, Hevenlit City, especially had many places worth exploring. However, Cornelia has been a bit worried about Dekan lately. According to Teacher Cat, Dekan hadn't left the dormitory for two weeks. He seemed to be consumed by work.

If it weren't for Cornelia spending time with Teacher Cat, she wouldn't have known about Dekan's current state—locked in the card creation workshop in his dormitory. Even the door of the workshop was sealed by Dekan. He had never been like this while developing any card before.

Cornelia knew Dekan wanted to focus on creating this card, so she hadn't disturbed him. Only Teacher Cat had contact with Dekan. Its daily task now was to buy Dekan his lunch and dinner and leave them at the workshop door.

Cornelia found it strange. It felt like the pet was taking care of its owner. But she quickly dismissed that thought. If Teacher Cat found out both Dekan and Cornelia treated it like a house cat, it would be very upset.

After returning to school with Flora, Cornelia bid farewell to her. Then, carrying Teacher Cat, she headed towards the Knight College dormitories.

"It's time to buy dinner for that kid, meow."

"I, I'll come with you. Dekan said he could return [Blood Detective's Book] to me today."

After coming out of the previous Shadow World, Dekan had borrowed Cornelia's book on murder mysteries, promising to return it within two weeks. It seemed Dekan needed to research [Blood Dectective's Book] to make a new card.

"Alright, let me think about what Dekan's dinner should be today meow... This guy is really weird; his preferences for lunch and dinner are completely different. If he didn't need just one meal, I'd suspect there were two people living in that workshop..." Teacher Cat raised its front paws to its head, seeming quite reluctant to remember Dekan's meal preferences every time.

"Ye,yeah, you’re right."

Cornelia often had meals with Dekan, so she also noticed that Dekan's food preferences were quite strange. However, Cornelia didn't mind. Instead, she would occasionally guess what kind of meal Dekan would like today.

Just like that, with Cornelia holding Teacher Cat, she bought dinner for Dekan and arrived at his dormitory door. She gently pushed open his door.

The living room still looked as tidy as ever. Even though Dekan hadn't left the room, it was clear he wasn't neglecting himself. If Cornelia hadn't seen a faint light under the door of the card creation workshop, she might have thought that Dekan had been away from the dormitory for several days.

Cornelia walked up to the door of the card creation workshop, hesitated for a moment, and then knocked. Before she could say anything, Dekan seemed to already know who it was.He immediately set down his work and quickly came to open the door.

As the door swung open, Dekan appeared slightly tired. And behind Dekan, the once tidy workshop walls were now covered with various sketches pinned up with tacks. The workbench was also cluttered with materials and broken cards.

When Dekan saw Cornelia, his eyes brightened slightly, and soon a smile appeared on his face.

"Cornelia, sorry about that. I was planning to have Teacher Cat bring 'Blood Dectective's Book' to you tonight."

"N-No problem. Are, are you hungry?" Cornelia quickly handed Dekan his dinner.

Dekan smiled contentedly and accepted the meal. Then they both went to the living room. Dekan ate his dinner while Cornelia sat on the other end of the sofa, keeping him company.

"Is the new, new card production going smoothly?"

"I can try to make the final product by tomorrow at the latest."

"Are you really going to make that nefarious thing you told me about last time, meow?!"

Teacher Cat had thought Dekan would need much more time to make it.

While they were at Tristin Magic Academy, Ice Princess had told Dekan that there were some people in the Kingdoms Federation who wanted to target him. So Dekan immediately declared that he wouldn't stand for this injustice. Once he reached the tier 4, he would settle the score with those who had persecuted him in the Kingdoms Federation.

Teacher Cat, overly curious, begged Dekan to reveal the plan to it. What Teacher Cat heard from Dekan was a simple plan— Dekan was preparing to create a new card that would make his enemies happy every day. Dekan called it his "masterpiece".

At first, Teacher Cat thought it would take Dekan a long time to create this hellish card. But it was already almost finished.

"Dekan, isn't the process of making that card very dangerous, meow?"

Dekan wanted to create a card far beyond the norm. If the process failed and the card exploded, there was a high chance of blowing through Dekan's dormitory. Teacher Cat had heard about when Dekan was creating [Blood Purification] and almost turned the card, which was supposed to explode but didn't, into a bomb.

"You'll go home with Cornelia tonight. I'm afraid you'll be scared," Dekan said.

"Dekan..." Cornelia heard Dekan and Teacher Cat's conversation and worriedly tugged at Dekan's sleeve.

However, Dekan just smiled casually.

"Don't worry, I've asked Croix to help me set up a protective barrier around the workshop in advance. Even if the card explodes, it won't hurt the neighbors. And I'll also wear my safety helmet properly."

Dekan's safety helmet was naturally the [Crown of Suffering] that had the invulnerability effect.

The card he was about to create was indeed quite dangerous. If it really exploded, although he wouldn't die, the three times amplified pain from the [Crown of Suffering] would make Dekan pass out. He could only wait for Croix to come and rescue him tomorrow morning.

"Then, see you tomorrow. Good luck!" Cornelia knew Dekan was busy and decided to not linger. She picked up Teacher Cat and bid farewell to Dekan.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow. I’ll succeed," Dekan said.

After saying goodbye to Cornelia, Dekan's relaxed expression once again became serious.

"Finally, it's time to challenge the realm above orange Epic..." He walked into the workshop and spoke out loud as he looked at the preparations he had made for the past two weeks.