I Swear I'm Not a Demon Masquerading as a Human

Inside the spacious examination hall, the proctor with the dragon horns and scales took out a handkerchief and elegantly wiped his hands. He looked deeply satisfied, as if that act of slaughtering cheating students was his greatest pleasure. He then returned to his patrol with renewed anticipation.

He offered some praise as he passed by Lance. "Excellent work."

Lance nodded, exuding the air of a class monitor. "Maintaining order in the exam hall is my duty."

Then, to Hyperion's utter bewilderment and sheer anxiety, Lance didn't just stop there. He went into full-blown reporting mode. He was intimately familiar with and could even anticipate various cheating methods, pinpointing and catching the cheating demon students with unerring accuracy.

Although the two examiners always had blind spots when they patrolled, the addition of Lance, seated in the back row, drastically reduced those gaps. Effectively, the entire classroom now had three proctors.

Lance stopped working on his own exam paper and ignored everything else, focusing entirely on proctoring. The resentful glares the other demon students cast at him were like the cuts of ten thousand knives. If looks could kill, Lance would be dead a gazillion times over, but unfortunately they could do nothing to him.

***

At the Ikerite University clock tower, the hands pointed to five in the afternoon. Gela Memorial Plaza was surrounded by various academic buildings, and its massive outdoor screen was broadcasting the day's campus news and footage of an ongoing Shadow Realm challenge.

The colossal magical screen stood in the center of the plaza. Usually, students would only gather there after nightfall, making the atmosphere resemble an open-air cinema. They often sat on the steps with drinks or snacks, chatting while they watched.

Right now, however, the plaza was sparsely populated. Most people on the surrounding paths were just passersby. Some were strolling leisurely, while others were hurriedly heading to dinner. A few glanced up at the giant screen before continuing on their way.

The setting sun struck the windows of the surrounding buildings, casting a dazzling reflection that bathed the plaza, the giant screen, and the steps in light, making the whole area gleam brilliantly. Yet, contrary to its usual calm, the students gathered there now were visibly agitated. Their clamor and noise were a far cry from the relaxed atmosphere of a typical afternoon.

Students witnessing Lance's baffling actions began to shout.

"What is that kid doing?"

"If the other demons won't let him copy their answers, is he trying to make sure no one has an easy time?"

"Has he lost his mind?"

His approach was all about settling scores and acting on impulse, but by doing this, he was cutting off his own chance to copy the answers as well.

Many upperclassmen shook their heads and sighed, looking pained. "That's how rookies are. They have absolutely no grasp of the mechanics."

In their minds, Lance was acting out due to sheer arrogance, utter stupidity, and, on top of that, terrible luck. The gravity of the situation went beyond the mere fact that two freshmen had rushed off to challenge the Shadow Realm on their very first day. The real issue was why they had been dragged into a Level 4 dungeon.

A Level 4 Shadow Realm challenge was far beyond what a rookie should be dealing with. Even Silver Licensed challengers often found such dungeons daunting. To make matters worse, the footage revealed an exceptionally perilous challenge. They had been plunged into a death trap right from the starting point, forced to fight for survival before they even had time to adapt or devise a strategy.

"An incident has occurred. The faculty at the Sages' College has likely already convened an emergency meeting."

A crowd of students was rapidly gathering in front of the massive outdoor screen at Gela Memorial Plaza. A buzz of discussion filled the air. Students passing by paused, frowning as they stared at the screen.

One person commented, "Isn't that guy Lance Wilford?"

Another asked, "Who? Is he famous?"

The first explained, "He's the dark horse who unexpectedly took first place in this year's entrance exam for the Sages' College. His actual strength remains a mystery, though. Dean Lawrence personally sealed the records from the third round of the exam."

A different student chimed in, "All we know is that his mana power is shockingly weak for someone in a magic-based combat class."

The first then added, "Many teams were still undecided about recruiting him, but now, it'll be a miracle if he even makes it back alive."

One excited student mentioned, "You know, if he actually manages to return alive from this, he might just become famous overnight."

Once a crowd began to form, the spectacle tended to snowball rapidly. Within just a few minutes, the steps facing the massive outdoor screen were nearly packed with students from Ikerite University who had just finished their classes.

"Those two harbingers of disaster have teamed up again." Some passing nobles sneered as they spoke, walking away casually as if they couldn't care less whether the two lived or died. "So that is the duke's daughter's true form... What an evil, filthy demon... Heh. I wonder how that naive boy will feel once he learns the truth."

***

A thick stench of blood now permeated the opulent classroom. The previous elegant and studious atmosphere had been shattered, replaced by a frenzied aura of slaughter. Dark red bloodstains marred many of the desks and chairs, standing out starkly against the dark wood. An eerie silence gripped the room, broken only by the sound of blood dripping onto the floor and the slow, echoing footsteps of the proctors.

The two demon teachers patrolling the room were splattered with blood. With every step, they left gruesome, bloody footprints on the floor. The suit of the dragon demon was stained crimson, and his eyes were filled with cruelty and satisfaction. On the other hand, the owl demon quietly wiped the blood from his hands, his dark eyes revealing no emotion.

In the span of just a few minutes, the classroom had transformed from an exam hall into a bloody slaughterhouse that was filled with an indescribable sense of absurdity.

Yet, even with Lance, who was neither demon nor human, acting as the third proctor, there were still demon students willing to take the risk and attempt to cheat. For those who couldn't answer the questions, not cheating meant certain death. Cheating, at least, offered a glimmer of hope for survival.

Lance would sometimes deliberately turn a blind eye. Even when he spotted them, he didn't report the cheating students. In a way, this gave the students a shred of hope. The two teachers tacitly accepted Lance's behavior, yet they remained hyper-alert, ears pricked, waiting for his next report.

In the back row of the exam hall, Hyperion had her face buried in her hands on the desk. She had already been in a state of anxious turmoil, and now she found herself completely unable to fathom Lance's actions.

Moreover, she felt that compared to her teammate, she was the one who seemed more like a human. Regardless, even if she managed to walk out of this exam hall with Lance today, their status as humans would likely be lost forever...

***

However... Whether it was the demon students in the exam hall, Hyperion, or the students from Ikerite University watching the Shadow Realm challenge from the outside, none of them noticed something subtly changing within the classroom.

Although Lance appeared to be hunting down rule-breaking students at random, an uneven distribution of targets gradually emerged. It might have been a matter of luck, or perhaps Lance was acting either subconsciously or, most likely, deliberately, but his reports always seemed timed to steer the examiner with the dragon horns closer to the cheating candidates.

Consequently, he was the one who usually managed to catch the cheaters. Every time that happened, the owl demon could only look on in helpless frustration. A look of growing resentment began to creep into his eyes.

Lance rested his left hand on the desk and cupped his chin. The corners of his mouth finally twitched ever so slightly. It looked as though he was struggling to suppress a smile.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!