Chapter 67: School Battle Dossier (The War Begins—Please Support)

“As expected.” This was the second time Liu Zong had witnessed someone taking up a special class. He realized that before players had a formal title, the only thing distinguishing each of them—apart from their game account number—was their face.

Every time a class change occurred, the most prominent and frequent changes happened to the face. This time was no exception.

Liu Zong saw that as the black mist dissipated, Liu Chun vanished from before the two-headed giant. Simultaneously, both faces of the giant transformed into Liu Chun’s. However, one lacked a chin, while the other was encased in an iron cage.

The two-headed giant seemed to regain consciousness. With his right hand, he scratched the back of the head of the iron-chinned face and took two steps forward. As he walked, his enormous stature rapidly shrank.

After about a dozen steps, the two-headed giant had become a tall figure, roughly two meters in height. The two massive heads were reduced to a single, ordinary human head—albeit one with an iron jaw, encased in something like an iron birdcage, giving him a rather unconventional appearance.

He was draped in a thick cloak, beneath which was armor crafted from white bone. At every joint, there were skull motifs, and eerie green lights flickered in the eye sockets.

The tall figure stretched, then looked in Liu Zong’s direction and beckoned.

Liu Zong understood that Liu Chun had completed his class change. He ran over without hesitation and asked, “Senior Liu, how’s the situation now?”

“Very good. I’ve taken up the class of Soul Warden, Level 1 (0 stars). This isn’t a place to linger. I need to return and equip my new gear, as well as summon my attendants and guards. Do you need anything else here?”

As he spoke, Liu Chun glanced around at the large corpses nearby. “If you need any of these corpses, you should hurry and only take a little. These are all guarded—if you take too much, the Viku guardians will surely show up, and that would be trouble.”

Liu Zong knew that Liu Chun was able to claim the corpses only because his class quest had a very high priority, overriding the rules of the secret realm. Otherwise, with their strength, touching any of these corpses would summon the Viku guardians, who would treat them as trophies of war and lock them up for many years.

Now that Liu Chun’s quest was complete, Liu Zong didn’t dare gamble on his luck, risking the chance that moving a corpse would summon the guardians. He shook his head. “I’ve already gathered enough. If there’s nothing else, let’s head back.”

“Good. Then let’s go. After we return, I’ll need a few days to consolidate my new powers. In the meantime, you should go to Teacher Zhang and sign up for the upcoming battle. That’s important—the rewards for volunteering are different from being forced to fight.” Liu Chun spoke seriously.

Liu Zong understood this was for his own good and nodded earnestly. “I’ll sign up as soon as I return.”

Hearing this, Liu Chun said nothing more, activated his hearthstone, and left.

Liu Zong glanced around once more, then, without hesitation, activated his own hearthstone and returned to his personal space.

He didn’t linger there either. Quickly, he used the virtual teleportation portal to return to the school.

Upon arrival, Liu Zong headed straight to the Department of Shadow Arts’ staff office. Unlike in the game, where professors wore black robes, the staff in reality dressed like ordinary people—though their skin tended to be pale and they favored black clothing.

As soon as Liu Zong entered, a young man stood up and greeted him with a smile, “Liu Zong, I thought you’d be coming soon.”

“Teacher Zhang, I’ve heard the news. I’m here to sign up for the battle,” Liu Zong replied with a respectful bow, his tone solemn.

“Excellent. All who volunteer to fight in advance will be remembered by Third High School. Here’s the information on the upcoming school war. Take it and study it—come back in a week for combat training.” As Teacher Zhang spoke, he handed Liu Zong a light screen displaying the details of the school war.

Taking the device, Liu Zong found an empty classroom, sat down, and began to study the information carefully.

[School War: Yang City Second High School vs. Yang City Third High School]

[Temporary battlefield: medium-sized map, valid for 10 years, Level 0–Level 2]

[Participants: Yang City Second High School—6,973; Yang City Third High School—5,769]

[Description: The battlefield map is a symmetrical layout. Both sides occupy a palace on either side and advance toward the center (Level 0 combat zone).

Within five years, both sides must fully control all buildings in their territory and construct defensive fortresses beyond the neutral war zone.

After five years—or when one side completes all construction—the neutral zone (Level 1 Neutral Creature Zone) will open. Neutral creatures will launch comprehensive attacks on both sides’ territories.

Only the school that defeats the neutral creatures qualifies to enter the neutral zone, occupy its buildings, and advance into enemy territory.]

[Victory Conditions: The side whose palace falls loses, or after ten years, the side with the smaller occupied area loses.]

[Special Notes: All NPCs start at Level 0 and must be promoted to Level 2 by completing various tasks. There can be a maximum of 10 Level 2 NPCs on the map, first come first served. If slots are full, one must kill an opposing Level 2 NPC to advance.]

[Description of Faction Buildings and NPCs]

[Palace: Quest and supply area, also serves as the teleportation point in and out of the game]

[Commander: Level 0—issues monthly quests and handles battlefield item exchanges; Level 1—issues campaign quests and boosts NPC soldiers’ morale; Level 2—appoints fortress commanders, sells mounts and attendants.]

[Battle Banner: Directs NPC legions to attack]

[Banner Guard: Level 0—dispatches one legion to attack a location, cooldown one month; Level 1—dispatches two legions simultaneously, attack power +15%, cooldown two weeks; Level 2—dispatches three legions, attack and defense +15%, cooldown one week.]

[Mine: Produces iron and stone, initial output 1,000/week]

[Overseer: Level 0—assigns mining quests to increase output; Level 1—output +50%, issues mine combat quests; Level 2—output +100%, issues mine elite quests.]

[Farm: Produces grain and herbs, initial output 1,000/week]

[Farm Owner: Level 0—assigns planting quests to increase yield; Level 1—output +50%, issues farm combat quests; Level 2—output +100%, issues farm elite quests.]

[Blacksmith: Forges weapons and armor for legions]

[Blacksmith: Level 0—produces weapons, assigns forging quests; Level 1—produces armor, assigns battlefield collection quests; Level 2—produces mount armor, assigns specific collection quests.]

[Tavern: Prepares food, quickly restores health, information exchange and player trading zone]

[Barkeeper: Level 0—sells food, assigns patrol quests; Level 1—information exchange, issues bounty quests; Level 2—black market auction house, assigns daily quests.]

[Barracks: Infantry camp, initial legion count 1, 500 troops]

[Legion Commander: Level 0—assigns support quests; Level 1—legion count +1, troop cap +500, can train archers, assigns armament enhancement quests; Level 2—legion count +1, troop cap +1,000, can train catapults, assigns special item collection quests.]

[Stables: Cavalry camp, initial legion count 0, 0 troops]

[Sergeant Major: Level 0—assigns mount collection quests; Level 1—legion count +1, troop cap +250, assigns mount enhancement quests; Level 2—legion count +1, troop cap +250, assigns cavalry-to-knight conversion quests.]

[Aerie: Air corps camp, initial legion count 0, 0 troops]

[Chief Officer: Level 0—assigns flying mount collection quests; Level 1—legion count +1, troop cap +50, assigns bombing location quests; Level 2—legion count +1, troop cap +100, assigns ammunition collection and research quests.]

[Cemetery: Large-scale resurrection point, allows players to die up to three times consecutively before penalties are applied]

[Grand Gravekeeper: Level 0—resurrects players quickly, assigns underworld patrol quests; Level 1—increases soldier and local monster respawn rate by 50%, assigns cemetery cleaning quests; Level 2—restores all players to full health upon resurrection, assigns cemetery siege quests.]