The sleep was incredibly restful, and when Rode awoke again, he felt refreshed and more alert.

He was about to get up and continue studying the handgun when he suddenly heard a rustling sound at the door.

"Hey, are you done? Let me take a look!"

"Get away, I haven't seen it yet!"

"Let me do it, you idiot..."

Rode frowned and quietly walked to the door.

He yanked the door open, and Wayne and the green-haired guy immediately fell flat on their faces.

"Uh, uh? Oh Rode, you're up so early. I accidentally dropped my charcoal pencil on the floor, and I was just looking for it..."

Wayne hurriedly explained, groping around on the floor.

"My charcoal pencil fell too..." The green-haired guy also explained while groping around on Wayne.

"Get your hands off me!"

Rode looked at them expressionlessly.

Although their hands were groping everywhere, their necks were craned, peering into the room.

"There's no one! Are you lying to me?"

"I'm not lying, I saw the team leader go into his room with my own eyes, and he hadn't left by nightfall."

The two of them continued groping around while whispering to each other.

"I've been guarding the door since morning. Did he fly away?"

"Impossible..."

"The washroom!"

The two of them jumped up and shouted in unison, "I need to pee! Let me use the washroom!"

Without waiting for permission, they pushed past Rode and dashed inside.

But the washroom door was open, and it was empty inside.

"Nobody's here!"

"Impossible, did he leave in the middle of the night?"

"I don't believe it, who gets kicked out in the middle of sleep? You must be lying to me!"

"You're the liar!"

The two of them blamed each other as they walked out of the toilet stall.

Meanwhile, Rode was already sitting at the table, reassembling his spirit gun. Such boring gossip wasn't worth a second of his time.

"Huh? What's this?"

Rode replied briefly, "Spirit gun."

"What?" Wayne immediately turned his head, his eyes magnetically drawn to the parts on the table.

The green-haired guy curiously asked, "Where did you get it? Spiritual firearms aren't something freshmen can issue, right?"

"A friend gave it to me."

"Wow, your friend is really generous," the green-haired guy said enviously. "Even the cheapest spirit gun costs over a thousand silver soles."

Wayne was even more envious, almost drooling. "If someone gave me a gun worth a thousand silver soles, I'd do anything for them."

The green-haired guy scoffed, "That's all you aspire to?"

Despite his words, he sat down with Wayne, chatting while watching Rode assemble.

Time passed slowly, but Rode never succeeded. The gun's complexity was far beyond his expectations, and unlike physical firearms, many components were unfamiliar, and he dared not use brute force for fear of damaging them.

The green-haired guy watched for a while, yawning in boredom. "Let's go, let's go. This thing won't be assembled in a few weeks."

Wayne's eyes gleamed green. "Rode, can I try? I feel like this inner bolt shouldn't be here; it should be near this air return port."

Rode, who had been ignoring his surroundings, suddenly looked up. "You understand firearms?"

Wayne sheepishly said, "I've loved these engineering mechanics since I was a kid, but my family was poor, so I could only play with scrap parts. But I feel their principles should be the same."

"Alright." Rode decided to trust him. "Give it a try."

"Great!"

Wayne cheered, quickly taking the parts from Rode's hands and starting to assemble them.

"Uh... the stock should be under the piston, the return spring should hang behind the spiritual pressure gauge, here's the gas rod... here's the trigger... uh—the piston should connect in the middle..."

Wayne's hands moved nimbly, and in just a moment, a brand-new Raven-style spirit gun appeared before them.

The table was clean, with no parts left.

"Haha, I did it!"

Wayne's expression looked more satisfied than if he had obtained the gun himself, and Rode's next words made him want to kiss his good brother.

"Take it apart and teach me again."

About an hour later, Rode finally learned how to assemble the gun under Wayne's guidance and also learned how to load and unload bullets—he needed to remove the outer gun stock shell to eject the spent cartridge and load new bullets.

Now, Rode had only one thing left to do.

Buy bullets.

The "Raven" used real silver bullets, and he had already used up the previous seven rounds.

Considering unforeseen circumstances, Rode thought he should buy at least fifty rounds.

Fortunately, real silver bullets weren't regulated, and they were available in many places inside and outside the academy, especially as a staple in the logistics department.

Unfortunately, they weren't cheap, costing seven silver soles per round.

Rode had only forty-two silver soles, enough for just six rounds.

Six rounds, if fired quickly, would be gone in six seconds.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "pawread dot com".

Faster than a quick shooter.

That wouldn't do, but luckily, the green-haired guy had some connections and found a "friend" to vouch for him to borrow fifty rounds.

"This is only because we're kindred spirits that I'm helping you."

The green-haired guy handed him two boxes of real silver bullets.

"I really don't know why you're in such a hurry to get so many bullets. I'm telling you, don't mess around in the academy. If the guards catch you, it's not just about losing credits; weapons can only be used in the training ground."

"And next time, don't steal the teacher I have my eyes on. I haven't even learned how to use spiritual energy yet, all because you took away my chance to connect with Teacher Karaman."

He rambled on, wanting to discuss the so-called "spiritual connection," which was actually "peeping + fantasizing" as a learning method.

But Rode didn't have time for him. He took the bullets and ran, leaving the green-haired guy stomping his feet in frustration.

"Forget it, this guy is too heartless. Wayne, let's go to the Fairy Bar."

The green-haired guy turned, showing a slightly sleazy smile.

"There are many beauties from the Beast City today. Trust me, you'll like it."

—

Rode ran back to the dormitory, making several trips to send the gun and bullets into the dreamscape. Everything was ready.

After confirming there were no omissions, Rode returned to the dreamscape.

He went to the back of the obelisk, lightly touched its surface, and blood-red text appeared, flickering slightly.

"Two sunsets" had long turned into "one sunset."

Although Rode hadn't seen the sun since arriving in this world, people here still divided the day into morning, noon, evening, and night, roughly following this schedule.

This proved that, at least once, the sun existed here.

It might still exist now, or it might not, but regardless, if following common logic, by today's evening, the last sunset would end, and the unknown invasion would arrive.

Rode glanced at the pocket watch he had specially brought.

The time was now three o'clock and seven minutes past noon.

In this world, a day equaled four full hours, a full hour equaled four clock hours, and a clock hour equaled nine minutes.

Based on this rule, Rode calculated that it was roughly equivalent to 5:40 PM Earth time.

Twenty minutes left.

Rode once again organized his supplies.

Elf Grass Juice, Spirit Tree Dew, and Red Powder were all in his pocket.

The "Raven" was already calibrated, and Rode had fired a shot into the open space to prove it worked perfectly in the dreamscape.

He loaded a real silver bullet, gripped its stock with his right hand, and was ready to act at any moment.

Twenty minutes passed in the blink of an eye, noon was over, and evening arrived.

The sun had set.

Rode snapped the pocket watch shut, his nerves taut.

But nothing changed.

The gray mist continued to flow slowly, the pale land remained silent.

This colorless dreamscape showed no abnormalities.

Until Rode looked up and saw, in the infinite distance, the deep gray mist had turned black.

It spread at a terrifying speed, like the sunset turning black, breaking the serene and mysterious atmosphere, and a heart-pounding danger rapidly approached.

Even without touching the obelisk, blood-red text appeared on its surface, flashing rapidly like a sign of impending doom.

Rode's heart leaped to his throat, his right hand gripping the gun, spiritual energy ready to burst.

Suddenly, a massive figure emerged from the black mist.

In that instant, all of Rode's fear, worry, and dread vanished, leaving only calm.

He skillfully summoned spiritual energy, lightly tapped his brow, and the Eye of the Spirit opened.

The dreamscape remained unchanged, but the monster's form became clearer.

It was about five meters tall, covered in black fur, with huge claws and deformed legs. Its head was unseen, only two glowing red eyes visible.

Rode had already raised his spirit gun, spiritual energy gathering with unprecedented speed, the spiritual pressure gauge soaring.

The next moment, the massive claws pierced his body, tearing open his skull.

Agony surged from the depths of his soul, the world twisted and shattered, darkness enveloping everything.

When Rode opened his eyes again, he was back in the dormitory.

Neat bookshelves, a mahogany wardrobe, a beautiful, spacious desk, a finely decorated room, bright lights, and a faint fragrance in the air—this was the dormitory administrator's dragon hand grass essential oil burning in the hallway.

What happened?

Rode was momentarily bewildered, but then the tearing pain from deep within his nerves hit, his head feeling like it was splitting open.

Rode fell off the bed, the relentless pain making it almost impossible to think, leaving only the instinct to roll around.

He knocked over the bench, toppled the desk, and a small cyan pouch fell onto his chest.

Rode's scattered will suddenly found a focal point.

Kassan's words from yesterday echoed in his mind:

"This is Hemlock Juice, for pain relief. I heard you guys..."

Pain relief!

Rode's fragmented thoughts grasped only that one word.

He grabbed the pouch and shoved it into his mouth.

As he bit into it, the Hemlock Juice splattered in his mouth, a bitter sourness quickly climbing along his nerves.

Rationality returned from the sourness, the pain diminished in the sourness, and finally, Rode sensed the presence of thought.

He knelt on the ground, gasping for air, feeling as if he had returned from hell.

Standing up, he realized he was soaked, the tearing pain still persisting but now at a level humans could endure.

Rode looked at his hands, empty.

Did I just die?

Did dying in the dreamscape bring me back to the material world?

The rhythmic, continuous pain couldn't stop Rode's thoughts.

He remembered clearly.

This had happened once before, right when he first arrived in this world, his head had been in such pain.

He later discovered it was because the shadow of the Northern Prince was attacking the obelisk.

So, was that giant wolf-like monster attacking the obelisk too?

If the obelisk was shattered, would I really die?

A strong chill rose from his back, and Rode knew he had to return to the dreamscape immediately.

Even if he wasn't a match for that monster.

This time, the pain was far more intense than before, and the obelisk might not hold for long. If left unchecked, he would surely die.

Rode gritted his teeth against the pain, his thumbs overlapping to form a lightning symbol.

His vision blurred, his soul soaring.

His sight quickly returned, and he found himself in the same spot, with the spirit gun, real silver bullets, and Red Powder at his feet.

The black monster was fiercely attacking the obelisk.

The cyan stone monument was covered in cracks, on the verge of collapse.

The pain became clearer, the Hemlock Juice struggling to suppress it. Rode quickly picked up the gun, consumed the Red Powder, and his soul surged, spiritual energy rising instantly.

Bang!

A massive spiritual light burst from the gun's muzzle, a pure white beam shooting out like a laser, striking the monster.

Tiny starlight scattered, the monster unharmed.

But in the next moment, golden light shone from the monster's chest, a blade of light piercing the struck area, tearing it in half.