In the oppressive atmosphere of the Gray Magic Academy, it's hard to find any lively ambiance.

The scene was far from what he imagined, filled with coldness and evil.

It turns out things like 'Harry Potter' on TV are all deceptive; magic may indeed originate from the hands of God, but perhaps not from a proper God...

Or rather, what the Gray Magic Academy has demonstrated so far isn't proper magic at all.

Just the summoning runes etched on the magic altar in the basement of the safe house seem evidently inclined towards Hell or the Abyss.

Li Qing came back to his senses, glanced at the still-lit computer screen, and was momentarily stunned.

The time now is the first day of the New Year, at midnight.

Which means he spent at least four hours in the Gray Magic Academy, while in the real world this period seemed to suddenly freeze?!

No, that's not right, the concept is reversed.

Time in the mysterious realm of the Gray Magic Academy was nearly stagnant; from entry to exit, not even a second had passed in the real world.

It doesn't belong to this world.

So there's another question: does magic exist in this world?

Li Qing pondered wildly for a while, eventually sighed, realizing he knew far too little and needed to continue observing further.

Moreover, those who entered the Gray Magic Academy with him, none of them seemed like good people.

Especially that Anna...

Li Qing squinted his eyes; he hadn't felt threatened in a long time—in the outside world of the Gray Magic Academy, the other party would likely have considerable aggression.

He rubbed the fireball, beginning his routine meditation.

Four hours later, Li Qing opened his eyes with a refreshed Spirit. Ever since the light ball materialized, emitting faint milky-white radiance, it was as if a glimmer of light appeared in the silent darkness of his Spiritual World.

Gone were the feelings of having his Spirit drained while visualizing line drawings; in contrast, following each meditation session, both his mental and physical states were filled with vitality.

The next phase only requires the light ball's radiance to scatter like starlight within the Spiritual World, then he can start to generate a trace of Magic Power.

It somewhat resembles the Fake to True practice.

Unable to sleep, Li Qing pulled out his phone, idly scrolling through the moments, unsurprisingly finding a slew of New Year's posts, either flaunting love or showing off captions.

To Li Qing, he felt like an outsider, watching these people celebrate non-stop.

Sigh.

Being born as human, so idle and apologetic.

After a brief melancholic clouding of the mind, Li Qing shook off his mood,

picked up the magic scroll from the ground and glanced at it; after binding it with the school emblem, this magic scroll completely turned into an e-book for reading magic books only.

The only thing that pleased Li Qing was that the Magic Beginner's Manual was still available for reading and studying.

He opened the Magic Theory, halfway through, and studied it carefully; just as he was engrossed, his phone suddenly vibrated.

Beep~

Li Qing snapped back to reality, displaying a hint of annoyance on his face; it's the middle of the night, what's the hurry to send a message?

Although he didn't feel like checking, curiosity still lingered as he hadn't received messages in the middle of the night for a long time.

He picked up and unlocked his phone to see the sender's information, raising his eyebrows slightly.

Luo Rui: Brother Qing, Happy New Year? /grin/ /grin!

Somewhat unexpectedly preparing to place the phone aside without replying, Luo Rui sent another message.

Luo Rui: I know you're awake. If you don't reply, after holiday I will absolutely cling to you all day long, ask questions on end, if you don't resolve it, I will rate you the lowest in department satisfaction!!!

Li Qing paused for a moment, then replied.

"Happy New Year, rest early."

"Cold, emotionless~! Now I finally understand why you still don't have a girlfriend."

Li Qing's expression shifted slightly.

"What do you mean by this?"

"You just completely shut down the conversation, how can the other person respond."

"Is that so."

"..."

Seeing Luo Rui not replying further, Li Qing nonchalantly set the phone aside; although Luo Rui is quite cute, she's not his type, with a seven-year age gap, and she's deeply involved in the biological field, considered a future star.

Whereas he himself is quite mediocre, even though he now possesses magic, Li Qing, accustomed to staying low-key, has no intention of using it for show.

Obsessed until dawn, as the sky turned pale, Li Qing raised his head, gazing at the emerging sun beyond the window, the whole city awakening in renewed vitality.

It's daylight.

Reluctantly storing the scroll close to him, he stood up, stretched languidly, then prepared to head out for breakfast.

The Gray Magic Academy opens at dawn for classes.

Descending the stairs, looking at the bustling streets, the gloom from the Gray Magic Academy was entirely dispelled within his heart.

That place is a miracle, yet the various contained within leave him feeling heavily oppressed.

Finding a breakfast shop seemingly at random, Li Qing contentedly walked towards a nearby park after eating a big bowl of noodles.

He planned to take a walk, digest his food, and organize the information he had gathered so far.

The current information suggests that possibility one is that Otherworldly Space-Time indeed exists, and students recruited by the Gray Magic Academy come from various worlds.

Possibility two is that the world he currently lives in, although appearing perfectly peaceful on the surface, harbors many dangerous extraordinary powers within.

However, seeing from Anna's conversation with him for information, it's likely the other party is from a different world than his; plus, according to Zhuang Xu's revealed information, the other party could determine his world's coordinates through his real name and launch an invasion.

This kind of power is somewhat terrifying.

Simultaneously, Li Qing was astonished by the powers held by the Gray Magic Academy, Gray seemingly operates according to the so-called 'school rules', even Zhuang Xu as a mentor can only lure students into breaking rules, thus making a move.

Is it God, or Demon.

Li Qing's understanding of magic so far was still quite a vague concept, although reading Magic Theory had given him some awareness of magic classification, many parts are still deficient.

What is magic, not that kind of ice and fire, no matter how many realms you expertly navigate, it's just the simplest form of energy manipulation.

True magic is a miracle, involving rules, Law of Cause and Effect, and even altering the universe's original regulations, such power can truly be called magic.

Although the contents of the Magic Theory book were written in an exceedingly dazzling manner, Li Qing could only half-believe in them.