Hyperdimensional Warlock

Chapter 4312 The City of Fools

Angor did not know whether the crystal creation of the copy could be interrupted once it began to condense.

If the condensation of the crystal creation is irreversible, then it is very likely that after he went offline, because he did not log back in in time, the crystal creation would still remain at the coordinates of his offline state—the player's camp.

Therefore, to avoid this situation, Angel logged off for less than a second before logging back in.

When he opened his eyes, he was no longer in the player camp, but had changed his online location to a crystal cave.

The first thing he did after logging in was to sense the power of authority around him.

He finally breathed a sigh of relief when he confirmed that the power of authority was still lingering around him and had not lingered in the players' camp.

Clearly, he has successfully avoided the situation where the instance descends upon the crowd.

Next, we just need to wait for the crystal creation to condense and see why the power of the fairy realm suddenly gave us such a wonderful opportunity.
While waiting for the instance to appear, Angor activated his God's-eye view and contacted Laplace.

He then explained why he had suddenly gone offline in public.

"A crystal creation?" Laplace was still somewhat incredulous after hearing the explanation. "You mean, the place of this instance's arrival has locked onto you?"

Although instances may occasionally target specific individuals and descend upon them, this is only because the person who initiates the instance happens to have activated some characteristic of the instance.

For example, the reason why the Kirishima Dragon Tomb was created was because several prerequisites for opening the dungeon were met, the most important of which was the appearance of the dragons.

Just then, a member of the Mirror Dragon clan entered the instance, and thus the instance was born.

In a sense, the Kirishima Dragon Tomb is a dungeon specifically designed for dragons, and triggering the Mirror Dragon is extremely reasonable.

There were also some other instances later, which were also customized for specific races.

Therefore, it is not uncommon for a copy to be locked onto a specific race or a specific human being's birth.

But why Angell?

It's important to know that Angel was the first person to walk in the Dream Crystal Plains, and he witnessed it transform from nothing into a sanctuary for the creatures of the Mirror of Day...

If there really was a dungeon locked to Angor, it would have been released long ago, instead of waiting until now.

That's why Laplace was so shocked when he heard the news.

Angel: "I don't know the specifics either. At present, I can only sense that the power of authority is accumulating, but the internal information flow is incomplete... Therefore, I can only determine the reason after the copy is truly born."

Laplace: "I understand. So where are you now?"

Angel looked around and realized that he was in a semi-enclosed underground cave, which was actually near Rabbit Town.

It is almost adjacent to the underground caves of Rabbit Town, with a straight-line distance of less than one kilometer. However, since there is no connection between the two caves underground, it takes a long detour to get here from Rabbit Town.

"...The location is near the 'Silent Palace'."

“The Sleeping Palace?” Laplace pondered for a moment, then quickly recalled, “You mean Gabriel’s Trial Wonderland? Near Rabbit Town?”

"Yes."

"So close?" Laplace was somewhat surprised; she had thought Angor would place the instance at a more distant location.

Before Angor went live, he considered whether to make the location of this dungeon far away from Rabbit Town, just like the Modern City dungeon before, so that ordinary people would have to walk a very long time to get there.

But after thinking about it, I decided to forget about it.

The reason is simple: they are about to take control of Area 1—the area surrounding Rabbit Town.

Once I become the one in charge, I may have more jurisdiction over the instance in Zone 1.

Therefore, when Angell went online, his focus was immediately on area 1.

However, as the "center" of Dream Crystal Plains, Area 1 has too many people, making it difficult to find a secluded place. In the end, Angor decided on the location of the "Silent Palace".

He had been here before. Because it was an underground cave and the entrance was quite hidden, few people had ever discovered it.

In addition, this place is very close to Rabbit Town, so he chose it.

"I'm coming right now." After confirming the location, Laplace prepared to go.

The athletes' camp is not far from the underground cave; if she speeds up, it will only take her a few minutes to get there.

Angor: "Don't rush. Tell the others about my situation first. We can see what happens after my instance is officially released, and then we can come back."

Laplace thought for a moment and nodded, "Okay, contact me as soon as the instance is released."

……

The crystal formation took longer to condense than Ingres had imagined.

Five minutes had passed, and the information constructed by the power of authority was still incomplete.

During this time, Angell chose a relatively secluded private space in this underground cave and set up a large number of illusion nodes around it.

—After all, this place is very close to Rabbit Town, and people occasionally wander in. So, to avoid being discovered, Angor temporarily sealed off this area with illusion magic.

After doing all this, Angel even used illusion magic to create a "waiting area" with a sofa around him.

I sat on the sofa and continued to wait silently.

Five more minutes passed, and the crystal creation finally revealed its form.

It appeared out of nowhere right in front of Angor, at the very center of this solitary space.

Its shape is that of a huge, open book.

The book was exceptionally large, about three meters tall, with a thick shell made entirely of translucent crystals, its edges gleaming with a faint, cold light, and it stood firmly on the ground.

The book was half-open, forming an almost 90-degree angle, revealing layers of crystalline pages inside.

The pages were as thin as cicada wings, yet hard and translucent, refracting delicate streams of light under the illumination of the illusionary light source above the "waiting area".

However, after careful examination, Angell found that there was no text on the pages, so it was virtually impossible to deduce information about this copy from the pages.

Angell pondered for a moment, then slowly stepped forward and reached out to touch the crystal artifact.

The next second, a large amount of information began to appear before his eyes.

The special dream world "Fool's City" is about to open.

Current number of participants: 0

"Mission objective: Not yet activated."

Note 1: Fool's Academy can be activated with only 1 person.

"Note 2: The first person to activate Fool's City will automatically become the City's Headmaster."

"Note 3: If the challenge is not activated before the countdown ends, the principle of pulling the nearest person will be adopted, and the creature closest to the entrance creation will be forcibly pulled into the fairy realm to start the challenge."

Countdown: 00:00:05

Countdown: 00:00:04

"..."

After reading the dungeon information, Angor hadn't even thought about what the dungeon was all about when he saw that the countdown was almost over.

According to Note 3, if the challenge is not activated, the principle of recruiting people from the nearest location will be adopted, so it is urgent to activate the challenge now... Wait, something's not right.

Active activation means that you activate it yourself.

If you recruit people nearby, aren't you still choosing yourself?

Even the countdown to the dungeon activation is only 5 seconds. Is it necessary to lock it in no way possible?
Just as Angell thought of this, he saw the countdown reach zero.

Several lines of information popped up on the text bar in an instant. Angel only had time to see the top line, which read "You have been locked." Then he felt a huge suction force coming from the open book, trying to pull him into it.

This suction force is completely irresistible to others, but Angel can use Nightmare Illusion to create a barrier and resist it.

However, after thinking about it, Angell decided to forget about it.

Although he didn't understand what the Celestial Authority was doing, based on his previous experiences in the "Echo Library" and the memory distribution after the Withered One and others went offline, he could basically confirm that the Celestial Authority had its own algorithm.

Since "it" forcibly locks itself in, there must be a reason.

It's important to understand that since Angor acquired the Power Tree, he has, to some extent, been the "superior" of the Fairy Realm's powers. Forcing him into the instance by the Fairy Realm's powers is clearly against the rules.

But given that it's risking overstepping its bounds and locking itself in, it's highly likely that this is a problem it can only resolve on its own.

A shadow crossed Angell's eyes. Could it be another hidden danger like Sebastian?

Although somewhat helpless, Angell had no choice but to accept it.

Pulled by the suction, he quickly came into contact with the huge book. Then, it was as if he passed through a film of water, and he was surrounded by darkness, experiencing a distinct feeling of weightlessness.

However, this feeling of weightlessness only lasted for a second before my feet touched solid ground.

When Angell came to his senses, he found himself in a pitch-black space.

This square space is empty except for a four-meter square, luminous sand table in the very center, which contains a miniature human city.

The densely packed buildings, like an ant nest, stand on the sand table.

Angell surveyed his surroundings and, after confirming that only the sand table contained "important information," temporarily withdrew his gaze from the inspection.

He didn't immediately approach the sand table, but instead turned his gaze to the text panel.

The screen is now filled with a large amount of text information.

"You have been locked in and are about to enter the 'City of Fools'."

"You are the first challenger to activate the 'Fool's City' and will automatically become the headmaster of the city."

"The principal possesses the highest level 9 authority within the Academy City, which cannot be transferred at this time."

"Permission details (click to view)"

The above information is what appeared in the text box when Angel was pulled by the suction force.

The next piece of information was the new message that appeared in the text box after he entered this dark space.

"You have entered the realm of rules."

Yes, just this one message.

However, the phrase "between the rules" can be clicked to expand.

Angell used gestures to tap and expand, and a general introduction to the rules appeared in the text bar.

"Between the rules"

"This place is the core hub of the Fool's City, the supreme place that governs the order of the city. Only those who have reached Level 7 authority can apply to the headmaster for admission."

"Within the rules, the layout of the Academy City can be modified, and rules can also be formulated for the Academy City."

Note: All modifications must be approved by the principal or a principal-designated assistant before they can be approved.

Angell roughly understood that this dark, square space was the so-called "Between of Rules," where the school's rules could be formulated and the facilities on campus could be changed.

However, what does "Level 7 Authority User" mean here?
He seemed to remember that the text field said he had obtained level 9 privileges?
Angell's gaze returned to the previous row of information: "The principal possesses the highest level 9 authority in the Academy City, and this authority cannot be transferred for the time being."

The word "permissions" seemed to be faintly glowing.

Angell tentatively reached out and touched it lightly.

Indeed, this term can be further explained.

"Permissions: There are 9 levels of permissions in the Fool's Academy, with level 9 being the highest. Level 6 and above are called Permission Holders."

Next, it details the different levels of access control from 1 to 9.

In descending order of authority, the following individuals are: Principal, Vice Principal, Dean of College, Department Head, Senior Mentor, Regular Mentor, Academic Supervisor, Student, and Ordinary Resident.

Starting with the head of the department, which is level 6, all those above them are referred to as "authorities" because they already have a certain degree of rule-making power.

Below level 6 are citizens of different ranks within the City of Fools.

Although they also have certain permissions, these permissions are basically not much different.

After reading the permission message, Angor understood that he had already obtained the highest level of permission for this instance—Level 9 Permission User—as soon as he entered the Fool's City.

"Could this be a perk from the Fairy Realm?" Angel muttered to himself.

Based on the information available so far, there doesn't seem to be any risk similar to that of "Sebastian"; he's simply put in charge of the Academy.

But why was he suddenly promoted to principal?
Or……

Angell looked at the glowing sand table in the center.

Perhaps this instance is a management simulation instance? Like a management game on a holographic tablet, where you are the leader or boss, using various management strategies and investment plans to make your sect or company stronger?

If that's the case, then he can understand.

After getting a general idea of the situation, Angell finally walked towards the glowing city sandbox... Whether this is a management game or not, and what the subsequent management and development will be, may be revealed in this sandbox.

Just as Angell approached the sand table, a voice rang out from within it.

"Welcome back, Headmaster."

It was a somewhat mechanical voice, and the tone of voice was like that of an emotionless robot.

The source of the sound was this sand table.

"You are……"

Just as Angel was about to ask a question, a message popped up in the text box.

"You have discovered the City of Fools."

"Should we enter the university town?"

"whether"

"Level 9 privileges detected."

"With the assistance of the Spirit of the Citadel, you can enter God Mode to formulate the rules of the Citadel or change its layout."

"Should we enter God mode?"