Mr. Loren's Series of Unfortunate Events

Inside the bone-chilling prison, a brief silence fell between Lanqi and Adams across the two adjacent cells. In the gloom, only the sporadic sound of dripping water freezing into ice and the low moan of distant wind sweeping through the narrow corridor could be heard. "Why would I lie to you?" Lanqi's voice sounded deeply disappointed. He had simply grown too numb from the cold, his wrists entirely stiff, which made his movements to exit the Shadow World quite sluggish. "..." Even though Adams was convinced Lanqi was lying, for a fleeting moment he wondered whether he had truly misunderstood him. His acting was simply too genuine—he sounded genuinely disheartened by the lack of trust. Yet it could also be an outburst of genuine frustration from a foiled scheme, channeling that emotion to amplify his already formidable delivery. "Lanqi, I know your greatest strength is strategy and psychological warfare, so there is no such thing as playing dirty here. Today, I care only about victory and defeat. Continuing to bluff me with this fake surrender routine will only make you look ridiculous." After a moment of contemplation, Adams spoke coldly, brimming with conviction. He would not rebuke Lanqi any further. After all, the rules and boundaries of this wager had long been settled between them. All is fair in war, and victory was the sole truth. As long as he refused to buy into Lanqi's logic—no matter what the boy said next—he would be fine. That was also Lanqi's greatest weakness. If an opponent refused to engage in meaningful communication with him, none of his trickery could take effect. As long as he adhered to this principle to the very end, he was guaranteed victory, and Lanqi was doomed to defeat! In the neighboring cell, Lanqi offered no reply to his words. He merely walked slowly back into the depths of his cell, gathered up all of his stockpiled supplies, and tossed them through the iron bars. Hearing the crisp clattering sounds, Adams looked outside in bewilderment. Peering through the bars, he could see the supplies strewn across the corridor diagonally ahead. Lanqi seemed truly done playing, abandoning all his resources! "What are you doing?" Adams asked in surprise. "So you won't claim I bluffed you. I'm really leaving. People ought to have a little more trust in one another." With those words, every sound inside Lanqi's cell vanished abruptly. "..." Through the iron bars, Adams stared at the supplies on the ground, falling into deep thought. Could he have truly misunderstood Lanqi? If Lanqi had acted out of pure goodwill, and he had judged the heart of a gentleman with the petty suspicion of a scoundrel, stubbornly refusing to believe him, wouldn't that make him look exceedingly petty? ... Meanwhile, on Jera Memorial Square. Ripples spread across the stone paving in the rain, yet it did nothing to dampen the crowd's enthusiasm. The giant open-air screen on the square had even drawn numerous passing students to stop and watch. Holding colorful umbrellas that formed clusters of blossoms, the onlookers watched as raindrops slid from the canopy tips and struck the ground with crisp pitter-patters. That sound was almost entirely drowned out by the boisterous clamor of discussion across the square. "That son of a bitch is swindling Adams again!" "Don't fall for it, Adams!" For some reason, it was the students of Ikerite Academy who had begun cheering for Adams. Lanqi was clearly playing psychological mind games again. Tossing his supplies away now was undeniably a massive gamble aimed at speeding up the pace of the match to achieve maximum misdirection. First, it might guilt-trip his opponent into forfeiting the Shadow World on the spot. Second, it could lead his opponent to misjudge his remaining stockpile. Many who knew Lanqi well had already guessed— Lanqi would definitely have some way to retrieve those supplies from the corridor later! The sight of Ikerite students cheering for Adams thoroughly baffled the few Aloran students watching on the square. Wasn't this supposed to be Ikerite Academy's home turf? On the giant open-air screen, Adams wrestled with inner turmoil in his cell, growing increasingly conflicted. His conscience truly was pricking him; he genuinely worried he had wronged Lanqi. Before long, Adams's furrowed brow smoothed out, and a cold sneer curled at the corner of his lips. "Save the act, Lanqi. No matter how you try to shake my resolve or what schemes you're plotting, I won't believe another word from you until this Shadow World is over!" Adams steeled his will once more, calling out to Lanqi next door in an unwavering voice! The more Lanqi tried to communicate with him, the guiltier he looked. As long as he eliminated emotional interference and reasoned with pure logic, he could bypass Lanqi's trap. Lanqi would only ever play mind games! ... Yet what happened next stunned them all. On Jera Memorial Square, which had just been buzzing with heated debate in the rain, the noise seemed to be severed in an instant by an invisible force. The pitter-patter of rain on umbrellas and stone, the chatter and laughter of the students—everything vanished, leaving behind only a thick, heavy silence. No one could manage a sound. They merely stared at one another in utter disbelief, their eyes fixed on the outdoor screen. Apart from the relentless rain, nothing around them seemed amiss. Except that in the spectator broadcast— Lanqi had truly vanished. That meant Lanqi had exited the Shadow World. He had surrendered. "Has Lanqi lost his mind?!" "How is he going to explain this to Dean Loren?!" The square instantly erupted into chaos. The downpour intensified, pounding sheets of rain into splashes across the pavement. The initial stunned silence was shattered, replaced by a tumult of clamoring voices. Never had they imagined that after setting up such high stakes, Lanqi would tap out so briskly and cleanly! Even those who had predicted Lanqi would lose to Adams had never envisioned him losing like this. "Wait, something's not right..." After a long stretch of uproar, a student spoke up hesitantly: "Have you guys noticed? Look at Adams giving it his all—his heart is probably forged of steel right now, absolutely convinced that Lanqi is playing psychological warfare against him to the bitter end..." Many students looked up to see Adams still stubbornly holding out inside the dim, frozen iron prison. From time to time, he even hurled a taunt at the empty cell next door: "Lanqi, no need to hold your breath. Your acting is too clumsy!" "Keep acting, and you'll only look like a fool." "Your psychological warfare might have worked against the Saintess of Destruction, but it won't work on someone who lives by his convictions like me!" "..." The students on the square fell silent once more. Lanqi had lost with utter ease, but Adams was winning with tragic valor. He had been conned so terribly by Lanqi. Adams probably wouldn't leave until he reached his absolute limit—he refused to believe anything anymore. In this artificial Shadow World, the Bone-Chilling Cage of Despair, enduring until breaking the record would subject him to torment worse than death. It was a trial that pushed human willpower past its absolute threshold. After completing such a challenge, one would inevitably spend a few days recuperating in the hospital. It was terrifying to imagine his mental state when he finally emerged, only to discover that Lanqi had abandoned the match long ago and that he had spent the entire time outwitting thin air... "No, it can't be that simple..." Another student who understood Lanqi soon realized. Adams was on the second tier, while they had seen up to the third tier, but Lanqi's conspiracy went deeper still. ... In the Learning and Education Building, on the seventh-floor atrium. This distinct space was enclosed by towering glass curtain walls. Though rain poured outside, the entire area remained bright and luminous. The world beyond the windows grew hazy, sheets of water washing over the glass, blurring and clearing the view in turns. The senior students of the School of Sages sat quietly in the atrium, their gazes fixed on the colossal magic screen mounted on the wall. When Lanqi vanished from the prison on screen, none of them could believe that Lanqi, upon whom their School of Sages had placed such high hopes, had surrendered to Adams just like that! It was only when Lanqi genuinely stepped out from the Void Gate of the artificial Shadow World launch terminal—wearing an apologetic smile, as though embarrassed that his lack of skill had let down everyone's expectations— that that very smile made everything clear to them. This bastard had absolutely done it on purpose! Teacher Teresa trotted over to Lanqi in utter disbelief. "Why did you surrender? What are we supposed to do now?! Dean Loren comes back tomorrow!" Teresa blocked Lanqi's path, asking in distress. Never in her wildest dreams had she expected Lanqi to lose so decisively! Lanqi, however, halted with a calm expression. "Tell me, shouldn't Dean Loren go apologize to Knight Commander Juliana?" Smiling, he turned back to glance at Adams, who was still enduring agonizing torment on screen, and posed the question to Teresa. Compared to this seventh-floor atrium that remained warm and radiant amid the heavy rain, that dim, despairing frost cage was like hell opposite heaven. Adams was over there, and Lanqi was over here. "..." Staring at the screen, Teresa felt a lump rise in her throat. Now, regardless of victory or defeat, even if Lanqi never brought up that bet, with Adams having been tortured to such an extent, Dean Loren would almost certainly have to go apologize to Knight Commander Juliana in person. Wait. Teresa lowered her head and began counting on her fingers. First, Adams got his wish and defeated Lanqi. Then, when Dean Loren went to apologize because 'Juliana's student had been tortured too brutally'... Knight Commander Juliana would receive a sincere, heartfelt apology from Dean Loren. Lanqi's wager promised to Adams would thus be successfully fulfilled. And next, according to the prior agreement between Lanqi and Juliana—the third clause stated: 'If you can forgive him, he wishes to invite you to tour the royal capital together and tell you all the important things in his heart.' Once Juliana inadvertently forgave the earnest Loren, the condition of 'forgiving Loren' would be satisfied. Immediately after, Lanqi would cite this clause to Juliana, demanding that she honor her promise to go on a date with Loren. At that point, Dean Loren would be forced to navigate a chain of conditions and be thrust straight into a date! The upright Knight Commander Juliana would never go back on her word. As for what she would feel during this coerced date... that was hard to say. Teresa had to admit that Lanqi was an exceptional prodigy. He truly could deliver a solution that satisfied everyone's demands, yet every single time, he managed to leave everyone feeling as miserable as if they had swallowed a fly. That this guy had managed to survive to this day was entirely thanks to his formidable personal capabilities. "Oh dear... I need to take the rest of the day off. My cat at home is sick, and I have to take it to the vet." Teresa muttered to herself, shoved her hands into her pockets, lowered her head, and made a swift exit. Time to slip away. Her shift ended early today; none of this was her business. She only hoped Dean Loren would still be in one piece when he returned tomorrow. Meanwhile, Boss Cat on the floor seemed to be gradually grasping the situation, sinking into a feline existential universe. "??" Its cat brain was experiencing an overload.