The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　Finally, the design should aim to reduce the time required to complete a single escape room level to within five minutes.

　If more than five minutes have passed, they will be sent out of the secret room.

　Students can replay levels, but there must be a five-minute interval between each attempt, and they cannot replay levels that have already been completed.

　After completing this part of the plan, he sent his ideas to Professor Mitis Bartholomew, who was his assistant.

　Professor Mitya had just finished showering and was leisurely reading a women's magazine in a rocking chair when she suddenly heard a "whoosh." She reached out her finger and gently hooked the Professor Card into her hand with magic.

　Although the college's internal communication network was modified long ago to allow one-to-one messaging, the professors don't seem to have gotten used to using this feature yet.

　Professor Mitia infused her magic and opened the Professor Card, where she saw a brief explanation from Dark.

　After reading it, her brows furrowed sharply, and without thinking, she sent a message: "Did I read that right? You're going to design the levels all by yourself?"

　But Dark immediately replied, "Yes."

　Professor Mitya frowned even more deeply: "If there's plenty of time, you can do whatever you want. But now there are only four days left. I suggest we follow the usual practice and distribute the puzzle designs to the professors of the college to solve together."

　Dark replied, "I can design the levels myself, but you'll need to build them."

　Professor Mitia thought for a moment and then wrote: "If you can complete the design, production will definitely not be a problem, but it needs to be quick."

　Dark replied, "Then there's no problem."

　After communicating with Professor Mitis, Dak continued planning the writing of the book.

　He was very confident in his level design because he had a large number of existing level designs in his memory, and even if he copied them exactly, they would be interesting enough.

　The current challenge is how to integrate those levels with Halloween, and how to highlight the fun aspects of the levels to make the event feel more like a real event.

　For example, banning magic cards

　"Um……"

　After careful consideration, Dark felt this was a very feasible idea. Prohibiting the use of magic cards within the escape room puzzles was key to increasing the fun and the puzzle-solving aspect.

　Of course, even after you've cleared the level, you can still use magic cards to defeat the treasure chest monsters.

　With this in mind, Dak quickly came up with a concrete idea.

　Temporarily disabling magic cards is indeed a key concept. However, if puzzles are solved solely through intellect, the level design will be limited.

　Therefore, he decided to design a batch of special item cards that could be used in escape room levels while banning magic cards, and then guide students to use the special item cards to solve puzzles and pass the levels.

　In this way, the sense of incongruity can be eliminated by designing the props for passing through the levels in a way that fits the theme of Halloween or a masquerade ball.

　"So, first up is the 'Pumpkin Bomb'!"

　"Using the 'Pumpkin Bomb' can blast open some obstacles, generating impact force that can send blocks and similar objects flying."

　"Then there's the 'Ghost Hand'."

　"Using the 'Ghost Hand,' you can grasp special spirits, or objects made of spirit materials."

　"One more picture of a 'vampire cape'."

　"Using the 'Vampire Cloak' grants a brief levitation ability when jumping from a height. One cloak can be used ten times."

　……

　Based on the existing knowledge in my mind, I've given it a slight makeover.

　Dark quickly devised a variety of prop cards with special functions.

　These item cards are all universal, and most of them can only be used once.

　Item cards can be obtained by defeating ordinary monsters in the castle. In addition, he also designed a special "key card" for finding and opening secret rooms.

　Each "key card" can only be used once, and each "key card" has a unique number: "aabbb".

　(aa) represents the floor number, and "bbb" represents the serial number. For example, the first secret room on the first floor is "01001".

　The "key cards" can be designed in the shape of all sorts of ghosts and sprites.

　With the help of the fairies, the students can find the secret room hidden in the castle.

　He then continued designing prop cards.

　In addition to "Pumpkin Bomb", "Ghost Hand", and "Vampire Cloak", there are also items such as "Elf's Guide", "Medusa's Eye", "Titan's Grip", "Monster Ice Weapon", "Mummy Bandage", "Witch's Candy", and "Ghoul Mask".

　The "Elven Bow" is divided into the "Elven Bow", the "Fire Elf Bow", and the "Ice Elf Bow".

　The Fire Spirit Bow can fire fire arrows to ignite flammable materials. The Ice Spirit Bow can fire ice arrows to freeze objects.

　Each "Elven Bow" comes with ten arrows.

　"Medusa's Eye" can freeze the movement of certain objects, creating an effect similar to time stopping, lasting for ten seconds.

　Within these ten seconds, the stationary object is struck multiple times. Once the stationary state ends, the object will fly off in different directions depending on the force and angle of the strikes.

　"Titan's Grip" is a glove that transforms your arm into a giant's hand with tough skin for one minute.

　The "Monster Ice Weapon" is a jet of cold air that creates an ice pillar on the surface of water. The ice pillar lasts for 30 seconds, and one "Monster Ice Weapon" can create a total of three ice pillars.

　The "Mummy Bandage" can forcibly bind two or more objects together and can be used until a roll of bandage is used up.

　There are also various varieties of "Witch's Candy": blue candy can help you dive, red candy can help you ward off fire and cold, green candy can help you control plants, white candy can help you become invisible, black candy can help you turn into steel skin, and so on.

　Wearing the "Ghoul Mask" will make you appear as one of the same kind as ghosts for one minute.

　"The key to level design lies in the diversity of solutions; don't be bound by fixed solutions."

　"The same level can be solved using different solutions or different item cards."

　To re-complete a level, you must obtain the corresponding level's "Key Card."

　"This way, students who fail to complete a level on their first attempt can exchange it with students who have multiple 'key cards' for that level."

　Similarly, other "Item Cards" can be exchanged with each other, but it must be stipulated that only one can be exchanged for one.

　“Past Halloween events have reduced social interaction in order to compete for credits, with almost no interaction between students.”

　"For this year's Halloween event, we hope to see a group of students gathered together discussing strategies for solving escape room puzzles."

　Like a flowing spring, his writing flowed like the wind; his mind became increasingly active and his spirits soared.

　The process of designing this activity was unexpectedly addictive.

　But at 2 a.m., he forced himself to put down his pen and go to bed.

　After all, tomorrow is Wednesday, and the first class is Professor Baldr's magical language class.

　He slept until 7:30, and Dak completed the entire process of washing up, eating breakfast, glancing at the newspaper, and rushing to the classroom in just half an hour.

　When he arrived at the classroom for the magical language class, Professor Hodelborough had not yet entered, and the classroom was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

　This year, Halloween falls on a Sunday, while the costume party is on Saturday night.

　They have plenty of time to go to Traveler's Street to buy all sorts of costume props, or simply buy a costume card.

　After two consecutive days of learning, the third-grade students' minds were already racing, filled with thoughts of Halloween.

　Dark had a similar period; if he hadn't been given the responsibility of event planning, he would probably be thinking about what role he should play at the masquerade ball now.

　However, after becoming the person in charge of the masquerade ball, I no longer have to worry about choosing roles.

　He listened patiently to his classmates' conversations, from Diana and Rose turning to ask him about his costume at the masquerade ball.

　He blinked and teased, "I'm going to play the professor."

　"Wait, Professor," Diana exclaimed, surprised and confused. Rose quickly added, "Then I'll play the bad student."

　Dark chuckled and said, "Just kidding. This year, my stance is Professor... um... Professor."

　The mention of the professor sparked a new idea in Dak's mind. He immediately took out his notebook and began writing.

　"Halloween should not be just a holiday for students; professors should also participate."

　“Past Halloween events were not suitable for professors to participate in. But this year’s escape room challenges prohibit magic cards, so even if professors participate, they may not necessarily have an advantage.”

　"But professors can't compete on the same level as students."

　"They are not allowed to kill ghosts, and therefore cannot obtain 'item cards' and 'key cards'."

　“If we want professors to get involved, we need to give them a new, appropriate identity.”

　"Let me think... Halloween... The Candy Merchant." "That's it! A duel!"

　"Have it!"

　A thought suddenly struck Dak.

　Since professors cannot obtain "item cards" and "key cards" by killing monsters like students, let's give them an identity that allows them to obtain "item cards" and "key cards".

　During the masquerade ball, they deliberately played the roles of "candy merchants," carrying backpacks stuffed with candy and running around the castle, randomly appearing anywhere.

　Students can duel the "Candy Merchant" to earn credits.

　If you lose a duel, you must pay one to five item cards. Betting more item cards will earn you more credits at once. The "Candy Merchant" can also open secret rooms, complete challenge cards, and rank on the leaderboard after obtaining item cards or key cards, but cannot open the completion chest.

　As for the hidden treasure chests, they are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

　In addition, when professors duel with students, they can only use a fixed deck that matches the student's grade level.

　Dark doesn't intend to impose any further restrictions on the "Candy Merchant" in the rules. If the "Candy Merchant" wants to, he can also chase after the students to duel.

　This will make this year's masquerade ball even more exciting.

　"So, professors who want to become 'candy merchants' can start signing up today."

　At noon, Dak waited for Professor Mitia in his office and discussed the specific rules with her.

　Professor Mitis was initially uninterested, but upon hearing "candy merchant," she immediately became excited.

　Although it was quite interesting to watch the students running around in the castle while eating sunflower seeds behind the monitor.

　But what could be more interesting than personally participating in this masquerade ball?

　Of course, there are also types like Dak who find watching for fun more interesting.

　He tidied up his notes and handed over the prop design drawings and some of the secret room puzzle design drawings to Professor Mitis.

　He was in charge of prop design and level design, but the production of these prop cards and the creation of the escape room levels were all arranged by Professor Mitia.

　In addition, Professor Mitia also needs to assess the distribution of the secret room levels and the hidden locations of each level.

　As for the other monster designs and boss designs, they will continue to be used, with only minor innovations.

　These disposable magic cards were actually prepared in advance and did not need to be remade.

　After Professor Mitia left the office with the design drawings, Dark continued to recreate the escape room puzzle design in his mind.

　Of course, he didn't copy it completely; he also made adjustments to the levels by incorporating the culture of this world and the design of the item cards.

　But this is, after all, a secondary creation standing on the shoulders of giants. He uses magic to activate his mind and quickly produce images, as if it were a high-speed mechanical engraving.

　Anyone who sees this scene will surely be amazed.

　Hundreds of design drawings were easily completed in just one afternoon, and most of them were high-quality levels, with a small portion of them being extremely difficult. The points earned upon completion were also very generous.

　After dinner.

　Dark gave the remaining escape room design blueprints to Professor Mitia, telling her to talk to him if she needed more.

　After that afternoon, Professor Mitis also compiled a list of professors who were willing to attend the masquerade ball.

　When Dark received the list, the first thing he saw was Professor Lily Laplace's name, and he couldn't help but twitch his brow, feeling a sense of foreboding.

　Apart from Professor Lily, most of the professors on the list are from the same group of older professors who participated in the summer camp.

　Among them was Professor Gatling, the developer of the magic cannon technology. Fortunately, none of the other headmasters, except for Professor Lily, participated.

　Dak checked carefully and found that Principal Arte's name was not on the list, which finally put him at ease.

　但他很快又反应应过来。

　Even Professor Lily alone was enough to give him a headache. He was really afraid that Professor Lily, disguised as the "candy merchant," would be chasing the students around the castle with a sinister laugh.

　"Never mind, I've completed 99% of my task. Even if the remaining 1% goes wrong, it can't all be my responsibility."

　Dak shrugged and decided to give up thinking.

　That evening, he was finally able to focus on his research, and he felt much lighter.

　Then, during the research process, I lay down on the table and accidentally fell asleep.

　When I opened my eyes and woke up, it was only three in the morning, so I had to wash up again and go back to bed.