They don't want me to try anymore.

"Thank you for your concern." Richard thanked him earnestly.

"But I'm prepared."

Putting aside the fact that his attributes are far superior to those of his peers, based on the results of the previous simulation, he is confident that he can handle the difficulties.

"But you, senior, are now the same strength as me, so why are you also..."

Richard knew the answer halfway through his sentence when he saw Tom's wry smile.

The more difficult the fantasy realm, the higher the credits. If Tom wants to graduate this year, he has no other choice.

Tom said, "I've been there twice before. Even if I'm a little weak, experience can make up for it. You...you shouldn't make fun of me."

Of course I won't laugh...

Richard was conflicted and didn't know what to say to comfort or encourage him.

Jingle Bell!

When the time came, seven oval doors of different colors lit up at the very front of the auditorium.

Seven teachers stood in front of the door. Six of them were high-ranking Silver-ranked, and the last one was a bearded old Gold-ranked mage named Kalanish, a famous veteran teacher of Saint Goethe who had done extensive research in the field of spacetime magic.

He shouted to the students:

"You can earn points by defeating monsters or finding treasure chests in the illusionary realm. The passing score is 60. If you score below 60, you will not receive any credits after leaving the realm. All the spoils of war are yours to keep."

"Before entering, each person can receive an emergency shield scroll and a teleportation scroll. The former can help you withstand a fatal attack and heal your injuries, while the latter can allow you to leave the illusion immediately."

"Cheating or malicious attacks on others are strictly prohibited for all students."

"The exploration process will be projected into the auditorium, and the teachers will watch it in real time."

After that, everyone took their scrolls and lined up to enter the portal...

"hiss……"

Richard's first experience with teleportation made him feel like a 2L Coca-Cola bottle being poured into a tiny Pepsi can—squeezed and uncomfortable.

Fortunately, this feeling only lasted a few seconds.

When he regained consciousness, he felt his breath was unusually hot and the hair on his arms felt burnt.

Looking around, he found himself standing by a small river—well, a river of lava.

Good grief, the random starting location just randomly assigned me to this place!

I wonder if there were any unlucky souls who got thrown directly into the lava...

Richard then looked upstream on the lava river.

It was a cave with no end in sight.

According to the map provided by the school, the main body of the Red Prison Mine should be located underground...

Richard summoned a water elemental beside him, which served as both a protector and an air conditioner to cool things down, before descending into the cave along the lava.

After walking several dozen steps, wow... it's so hot!

Richard turned around and glanced at the water elemental, whose size had shrunk due to violent evaporation, and poked it with his finger.

He had an urge to burrow into the water elemental, leaving only his head sticking out to breathe!

Roar!

But before Richard could put his plan into action, a lizard more than three meters long crawled out of a crevice in the rock in front of him, hissing as it slithered toward him.

He immediately hid behind the water elemental and stared intently. He saw a chain around the lizard's tail, binding a small box that was about twenty centimeters long.

That must be a treasure chest, right?

They actually tied it directly to the person's body, without caring whether the person was willing or not.

Too cruel!

Brother Lizard, don't be afraid, I'll help you relieve your pain right away!

...Water element, ice arrow!

Richard decisively launched an attack on the lizard's forehead.

Roar!

Despite its large size, the lizard was incredibly agile, disappearing into the nearby lava in a flash. Only a few bubbles rose to the surface, melting the ice arrows Richard was chasing into white vapor.

After dodging the first wave of attacks, it suddenly emerged from an even closer distance and headed straight for Richard's main body.

"Judging from this, neither water nor fire can harm it..."

Seeing that the distance was only a few meters, Richard did not panic. Instead, he squatted down and slapped the ground with one hand...

"Earth escape, Earth flow wall!"

An earth elemental, whose name is completely different but whose appearance does resemble an earthen wall, was instantly summoned. With its hands raised to the sky, it slammed the lizard against the cave wall with a loud bang.

This pure Newtonian physical attack rendered the lizard immobile.

The water elemental seized the opportunity, darted closer, and aimed at the lizard's mouth.

Five ice arrows were fired in quick succession!

"Time for a popsicle, kid!"

Chapter Twenty-Two: A Child with a Horse is Like a Treasure

Roar! ! !

With a painful howl like stepping on Lego bricks barefoot, the lizard, having been given a taste of both ice and fire, unsurprisingly collapsed.

It lay face up, motionless, steam rising from its body, and looked...

About medium-rare?

Richard's sorrowful tears streamed down his face.

...Then he had the earth elemental deliver two more blows.

Only after confirming that the lizard's tongue was sticking out, as if it had encountered an Indian, did he slowly approach.

"This must be the Lava Hunter Lizard, right? Its skin and blood are valuable..."

Richard took out the information issued by the school, checked it, and then turned to the treasure chest—he had no choice, he didn't know how to skin and bleed the lizard, and the lizard looked too hot to handle in a short time.

Upon opening the treasure chest, he found several magic crystals and a cyan cloak.

Magic crystals are supposed to have a wide range of uses, but because Richard stayed at home on campus and used the public meditation and training rooms without spending any money, he accumulated a lot of them without spending a penny.

but it does not matter.

TunTun Mouse never minds having too many supplies!

In his past life, Richard would rather die and start over than use a large bottle of recovery potion when playing games. What's a little magic crystal compared to that?

He picked up the cloak again, glanced at the patterns on the edges, snapped his fingers, and flames immediately ignited in his palm.

The cloak remained undamaged in the flames.

"A heat-insulating cape, that's great!"

Richard immediately donned the spoils, then, with the earth elemental in front and the water elemental behind, continued deeper into the cave.

After another ten meters or so, he arrived at a rather spacious pit.

There were traces of axe chisels on the surrounding stone walls, and there were also abandoned miners' picks, unidentified skeletons, and an overturned minecart next to the lava.

Richard remembered that the information said that the Red Prison Mine was originally a gem mine of a human kingdom, but it was caught in a spacetime rift due to a large-scale demon invasion and eventually became part of the Illusionary Realm.

He looked at the skeleton and sighed for a moment before walking to the end.

This is a three-way intersection. The middle one is unobstructed, the left one is blocked by fallen rocks, and the right one has a large, locked iron gate.

Richard blinked and noticed many interesting inscriptions on the stone wall beside the fork in the road.

such as……

You are not qualified to enter.

Let's explore the rest of the area later.

Ah, no, don't come in!

With a beautiful woman in front of you, your fingers will be very useful.

What are you guys writing? I don't understand!

hiss……

I'm ashamed to say, Richard understood everything instantly.

These are all traces of senior students who have been here.

It evokes the feeling of all those strange messages left on desks and tables in my school days.

Richard couldn't help but smile and walked towards the only open cave in the very center.

A dozen meters later, there was another fork in the road.