Chapter 190: Noob-Stomping in the Dreamscape
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 190: Noob-Stomping in the Dreamscape
A new day.
I checked the time and double-checked the location.
In the end, I stuck to my habits and arrived at the meeting point a little early.
It’s a hard habit to break. Even though the dream device was reserved for 9:00 AM and it was only a bit past 8:00, I had apparently underestimated the flight speed of my broom again. I’d been waiting outside for quite a while.
"Um... wait? Are you Xiao Han?"
A sudden voice pulled my attention away. I looked over to see a Senior Sister I didn't recognize.
"Hello, Senior Sister. Is something the matter?" I responded politely. After all, she was a stranger.
"Oh, it's nothing! I'm in charge of the maintenance and care of the dream devices here. I'm also the one who opens the doors. I didn't expect it to really be Xiao Han! Can we take a selfie together?"
"Sure, why not." I nodded with a smile. She happily took a quick photo with her phone.
"I didn't expect you to be here so early. I didn't see you yesterday, so I thought you weren't coming today either. According to the academy's notice, we don't open until nine. Xiao Han, you're way too early, aren't you?" This Senior Sister chatted with me with surprising familiarity.
"Tell you what, I'll put in a little extra effort and open the doors early so you can head in."
"Oh, no thank you. I'm actually waiting for someone, so there's no need to go through the trouble. Maybe in a bit." I politely declined her offer. I really was quite early.
"Waiting for someone? Xiao Han, you're waiting for a date?" The Senior Sister was clearly curious about my business, asking the question almost instinctively.
"I'm waiting for Tan Han. We agreed to come together."
"Waiting for who?" Her voice spiked, as if she couldn't believe my answer.
"Tan Han?"
"Huh?"
"Is there a problem?"
"Oh, no, no problem. I just thought you and Tan Han didn't get along very well. I guess the rumors on the Academy Network... fake news really is a plague."
"It's fine. You have to learn to distinguish truth from lies on the internet. I won't trouble you further, Senior Sister."
After saying goodbye, she headed inside alone. It looked like she was doing a final check before opening. Come to think of it, I wondered if the dream device Teacher Ji Niang had brought over before could be used for combat adaptation. It probably could; I just didn't know how to operate it.
After waiting a while longer, until about 8:30, my companion finally arrived. Tan Han was certainly punctual.
"Xiao Han, you're here so early? Sorry to keep you waiting." Today, Tan Han was dressed in casual clothes. Compared to her stiff outfit from yesterday, this look was much more relaxed and airy.
"It's fine, I only just got here myself," I said, standing up immediately.
"By the way, we're a bit early. Did you run into the Senior Sister who opens the doors? She said she'd let us in ahead of schedule."
"Yeah... I saw her. But I didn't say I wanted to go in yet. She went in first. Would it be too much of an intrusion?"
"It's fine. I come here often, so I'm on good terms with her. Follow me." Tan Han seemed very familiar with the place. After a few words, she led me through the doors.
Inside, the Senior Sister was still calibrating the dream devices, which looked very similar to the dream pod Ji Niang had acquired.
As soon as she saw Tan Han, she greeted her warmly. It seemed Tan Han really was a regular here.
"I didn't realize you two were actually friends! Alright then, Xiao Tan, are you going to your usual spot? What about Xiao Han?"
"Yes, my usual spot. Xiao Han, why don't you take the one next to me?" Tan Han turned to ask me.
"Sure, I don't mind."
The Senior Sister then led me to a specific area. Tan Han skillfully opened her pod and climbed in.
"Xiao Han, is this your first time? Do you need me to show you how to operate it?" the Senior Sister asked enthusiastically.
"I've experienced it once elsewhere, but I'm not sure about the specific controls here. I'll have to trouble you for an explanation."
"Is that so? No problem. Just lie down and get comfortable. Your consciousness will be pulled into the dream. All the dream devices here are linked, so once you log in, you'll be in the same lobby space. You can figure things out as you go. If you get stuck, just call up the menu or the panel; there are explanations and help files. If you're really lost, ask Tan Han. She should be in by now."
"Understood."
I glanced sideways to see that Tan Han had already closed her pod. I didn't hesitate any longer, relaxed my body, and lay down. The hatch slid shut.
The last time I’d done this was in the laboratory. I wondered if it would be the same this time.
Just as the thought crossed my mind, a wave of drowsiness instantly overwhelmed my consciousness. It happened so fast I didn't even have time to react.
When I came to, my mind was filled with nothing but shock.
I had gone from lying down to standing, and my surroundings had changed drastically.
Everything around me was a pure, stark white—even the ground beneath my feet—though it wasn't the kind of white that hurt the eyes.
Not far away, I spotted Tan Han. Just as I was about to head over, a light screen for the main menu popped up in front of me.
It seemed to house various functions. A quick glance revealed several categories: Room Creation, Private Space Settings, Challenge Zones, and a very prominent "Help" icon.
Besides those, there were several layers of pop-ups detailing emergency procedures for discomfort after entering the dream, as well as quick-disconnect options.
"Hi~ Xiao Han! I didn't expect you to have zero discomfort on your first time in the dream," Tan Han said, walking toward me with a smile. However, her current outfit—tight leather pants and a midriff-baring short-sleeved top—was even more revealing than what she’d worn today.
"It's not exactly my first time. There's a dream pod in the lab, remember? I tried it once, but only once." I explained while checking my status.
Touch, sensation, Spirit Vision—everything seemed normal, just like in reality.
When I used Spirit Vision, I could clearly sense that I was indeed in a dream; there was a certain "unreal" quality to the experience.
However, there seemed to be a corrective force within the dream—a composite cognitive correction that ensured everything in the dream was a "perfect replica" of reality, down to the smallest detail. If this were a VR game, it would be impossible to achieve, but since this was a dreamscape or even the Primal Dream, it wasn't that surprising.
"Oh, I see. But even for a second time, your adaptation speed is impressive. By the way, have you created a personal profile here? Once you do, the info is bound to you, and you can access all sorts of fun features—like the Change of Clothes Spell."
As Tan Han spoke, she demonstrated by changing her outfit. In an instant, her clothes were replaced by another set. There was no pixelation or delay; it was a seamless transition. Even with my Spirit Vision, I couldn't spot a single flaw.
"That's amazing," I muttered instinctively.
"It really is. And I heard that for this Exchange Competition, every academy will have its own uniform. When the time comes, our battles in the dream will be broadcast live to the outside world. And it's not just the Witch Academy; all the other academies participating in the exchange have broadcasting rights."
"They're going that big?"
My eyebrows shot up. I was quite interested. Then again, it made sense. Even though the exchange was being held at the Witch Academy, with so many other schools attending, their home students would want to watch too.
"Of course. Let me show you how to bind your personal info. While the Witch Academy can't give everyone their own private dream device, the academy has plenty of places where you can rent them, sort of like an internet cafe. Dream battles in the Witch Academy are really interesting! At our freshman stage, not everyone has the clearance to access such high-end dream devices."
"I see..."
I nodded and continued listening to Tan Han's explanation. I hadn't realized the Witch Academy had such facilities. It seemed I had underestimated the complexity of the dreamscape.
Binding personal info was simple—just a few taps. The data was registered based on my student card, and I could even set a nickname and an avatar.
However, for the Exchange Competition, social avatars and nicknames were prohibited; everyone had to use their official photo and real name.
Once the binding was complete, the dream system gifted me a starter outfit. It was a classic witch set, similar in style to the Witch Four-Piece Set but much more refined. After all, everything in the dream was illusory, whereas reality had to account for production costs.
I quickly switched into the new clothes. The change was like a one-click transformation in a cheap MMO, but in the dream, the sensation was terrifyingly real. I felt the texture against my skin shift instantly as the clothes swapped, and they were even auto-fitted to my body's exact dimensions!
"How's the adjustment? Want to try a battle in the dream?"
"Where do we fight? Do I 'Create a Room'?" I asked curiously.
"That's for creating a new private room, usually for personal use. It has lots of functions, like personal meditation, practicing combat techniques, and things like that. You can also invite friends to duel there."
"But for official dream battles, you create an Arena. You can choose all sorts of maps: cities, deserts, wasteland ruins, forests, the Death Corridor, whatever. You can even adjust the weather—rain, sun, or even a Hailstorm."
"I see... What if I don't have friends to fight? Is there random matchmaking?"
"Random matchmaking is a separate function. If you just want simulated combat against AI, that's the Challenge Mode. You can do various stage-based challenges or customize virtual opponents."
Tan Han patiently explained everything. It was clear she knew far more about this than I did.
Still, I could figure the rest out on my own soon enough.
"Have you decided which one you want to try?"
"I'll try fighting some virtual opponents first," I said.
Since I was a newcomer, it was better to start with an entry-level trial.
"Fair enough. Give it a shot. Oh, let's add each other as friends first. Do you want to try a duel between us later today?"
"We'll see."
I didn't flatly refuse, giving a non-committal answer instead, but I did add her as a friend.
"Alright then. I look forward to your performance."
Tan Han didn't push further and vanished from the public area. She had likely entered her own private room.
In that case, I had no reason to hesitate.
Challenge Mode, start!
In an instant, my surroundings were completely replaced. This "teleportation" effect didn't feel like moving at all; rather, the entire world shifted with me as the center. I thought the design was brilliant—at least it was friendly to people who got motion sickness from teleportation.
Information about the challenge stage appeared before me. This was a pre-designed standard gauntlet, saving me the trouble of a custom setup.
After a thirty-second preparation period, my first opponent appeared.
A man in iron plate armor walked out, carrying a sword. His style was reminiscent of a medieval knight, though it looked a bit gaudy.
"Illusion Clone."
I cast a simple spell at him. It was an illusion; I wanted to see if a virtual opponent could be fooled by such magic.
As it turned out, he was fooled instantly, even reacting with visible shock.
So, in the dream, this guy was a "living" entity rather than just a scripted object?
This was getting interesting. I instinctively reached for my magic wand, but then remembered I was in a dream. I had no weapons and no storage equipment. I couldn't take anything out. Fortunately, I was no slouch at wandless casting.
With a single Fireball Spell, the opponent was blown apart, unable to dodge. Even his metal armor was charred and cracked. The man inside was, naturally, as dead as could be.
I curiously walked over to inspect the power of my fireball, wanting to see if it matched reality. It wasn't that I doubted the dream's authenticity, but this was, after all, not the real world.
If there was a discrepancy, I needed to know early. However, the stage wouldn't give me much time.
While I was inspecting the damage, the second stage began.
Compared to the first stage, the number of opponents jumped from one to ten.
The sudden increase in numbers surprised even me. Was this really how the gauntlet worked?
Did the level designer even know what they were doing?
But they were quickly taken down by my Lightning Strike. Since they were wearing such thick metal armor, it would have been a waste not to use lightning magic after all the research I'd put into evocation spells.
As the third stage began, the opponents were no longer iron-clad knights. Instead, a massive giant appeared, completely non-human in scale. He looked to be nearly three meters tall, with hideous, bulging muscles on his limbs that hinted at terrifying strength. He dragged a weapon resembling a meteor hammer and tried to catch me off guard right from the start.
Even my deflected energy shield was shattered by the force of his throw, though I managed to parry the weapon to the side.
Did the level designer realize the first stage was too easy and decide to make the subsequent enemies this monstrous?
Would the fourth stage force me to face ten of these big guys?
Despite my thoughts, my hands didn't stop casting. A target this large was essentially a sitting duck. Before he could close the distance and take the initiative, one of my Modified Fireball spells blew away half his torso.
At the same time, I found myself wondering about the point of these battles. Stripped of the fluff, it was just a game of who could land the first hit.
Because my offensive power far exceeded the opponent's defensive limit, even the most terrifying-looking enemies were just fodder for noob-stomping.
There was no real thrill to it. Sure, killing one of these things for the first time was interesting, but I could already tell that after a few more rounds, I'd get bored. It wouldn't be fun anymore.
I didn't even feel like this was a formal battle.
As I mused, the next wave appeared. Contrary to my expectation of ten giants, there were only three, but I still one-shotted them using different spellbooks simultaneously.
A single spellbook has a usage interval—essentially a "cooldown"—due to its inherent limitations. Even though I used modifications to drastically speed up the interval, and these were basic spellbooks with naturally short cooldowns, there was still a limit.
However, I realized there were benefits to having multiple spellbooks. As long as one mastered multi-casting, they could release a barrage of spells in an instant. Just now, killing those three giants took even less time than the ten armored knights from the previous round.
The key was multi-casting. This was definitely something that required constant practice; without it, you simply couldn't pull it off.
So, I had found a use for this gauntlet: it was a decent place to practice multi-casting.
In the later stages, casters who could also use magic appeared. However, they didn't seem to use spellbooks. Instead, they used mental power to replicate the rituals and energy flows found inside a spellbook to cast. This was fascinating.
They also tried to control the distance between us. I had to put in quite a bit of effort to observe them before finally finishing them off.
Casting without a spellbook?
That seemed very interesting. If a person's mental power was strong enough to cast without a spellbook, that method of magic would surely be even more terrifying!
But for me at my current stage, it didn't seem possible. After all, how could I have researched spellbooks without trying that possibility?
The result was that I couldn't do it. Ultimately, I could only attribute it to insufficient mental power. My mind didn't seem capable of condensing a ritual, guiding transcendent energy, and successfully releasing a spell all on its own.
I imagined that once one reached the level of a Transcendent Witch, they would be able to do it.
With that thought, I waved my hand, and a spell shattered the magical shields of the casters before me, leaving them dead on the ground.
Just another round of noob-stomping.