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

Lance moved with the lightness of a drifting breeze. In the dim light of the corridor, his figure appeared blurred, resembling a reaper emerging from the pitch-black depths of the hallway. Unlike the vast majority of demon students, the demonic traits he had were entirely white, elegant and harmless-looking, akin to those of a specialized demon suited for healing or support roles.

Yet, to Bakar, the lucky student cornered by Lance and Hyperion, this pure white radiance amid the inferno felt utterly uncanny and jarring. As the victim, he knew all too well the insane, wicked things this angelically white demon had pulled in the exam hall earlier!

Lance stood beside Bakar. His amiable voice brushed past like a gentle breeze over a lake, yet it carried an unshakeable air of solemnity as he asked, "Why did you run?"

The moment Bakar heard the question, sparks of uncontrollable rage flashed in his eyes, and his teeth ground together with a faint, audible creak. You've got the nerve to ask me that?

If not for this bastard, he could have spent those two hours taking a stress-free exam and earned at least one credit coin! Instead, here he was in this perilous corridor, facing the constant threat of death.

However, the anger rising within Bakar was instantly extinguished by fear and the desperate instinct to survive. To stay alive, he dared not provoke the two hellhounds before him as he was only Rank 2. It was precisely this clarity and survival instinct that had kept him alive this long, allowing him to even slip away from under the noses of two feuding demon proctors.

"If you don't have at least one credit coin and the dean catches you while patrolling the corridors during class hours, you get eliminated on the spot!"

Bakar had no time for a lengthy explanation. He glanced frantically at both sides of the hallway as he spoke to Lance, practically begging to be let go so he could find a classroom.

Lance watched as Bakar flailed. Although he only had a portion of the full picture, he now roughly understood why the other demon students would rather dash into a dangerous classroom than linger in the hallway.

Lance pulled a few coins that looked as if they were forged from black gold out of his pocket, waved them in front of Bakar, and asked, "Want these?"

The coins in his hand were about half an inch in diameter. They were exquisitely crafted, thick, and felt satisfyingly heavy. Despite the dim light of the corridor, the deep black metal reflected a crimson glow, reminiscent of magma from the abyss. The school's emblem at the center was encircled by a ring of inscribed demonic magical script, rendering them impossible to counterfeit.

Lance had a hunch that these were the credit coins Bakar had mentioned, but he couldn't ask that without blowing their cover, so he phrased his question differently.

Bakar stared at Lance in disbelief, wondering how on earth he had come to possess so many credit coins! Ultimately, he nodded vigorously.

Lance knew that his speculation was right the moment he saw that reaction. These coins were the spoils they had casually looted from the corpses of demon students when leaving the classroom. In fact, Hyperion, the stealth assassin, was responsible for most of them. She had been efficiently picking pockets while disguised as a thief.

Lance first tossed a credit coin to Hyperion to ensure her safety, then held up another, gazing at Bakar through the light refracting off its surface as he said, "Tell me everything you know about the school, and I'll give you one credit coin. How does that sound?"

"O-of course!" Bakar nodded hurriedly, accepting the deal.

Demon transactions were generally reliable. Moreover, this fellow possessed a certain aristocratic air, so he was likely the scion of some noble house in the Demon Kingdom. For demons, honoring a deal was a matter of upholding family reputation.

While flipping the credit coin he had promised to Bakar with his thumb, Lance said, "Start talking. But to save time, pick out the important points regarding the rules first. If I tell you to skip something, then skip it."

To avoid letting Bakar realize that he knew absolutely nothing about the school's rules, Lance chose to have Bakar volunteer the information himself.

Bakar stared at the credit coin as he was worried that the dean might show up at any moment. He then hurriedly said, "Sure. So you earn credit coins by successfully completing classroom lessons, but you need to spend a significant amount of them just to survive in this school the rest of the time.

"The classrooms feature various teaching methods and exam-style scenarios, all of which place us in danger. As for the functional zones, places like the library, cafeteria, and infirmary, there generally isn't any danger, though using them costs credit coins.

"The school is only open for twelve hours at night and the class time is broken up into five two-hour lessons and four thirty-minute breaks. The corridors connecting the classrooms to the functional zones only link up during those thirty-minute breaks. Every morning at six, you must pay the school at least five credit coins to earn five graduation credits. Once you've accumulated 4,800 graduation credits, you can successfully graduate from Purgatory Corridor Academy and obtain a Demon Kingdom diploma..."

Lance nodded repeatedly as he listened to Bakar. He now more or less understood the basic rules of the school. Although Purgatory Corridor Academy appeared to be entirely indoors, it was actually a labyrinth of countless, intricately connected corridors that shifted at set times. Even veteran students struggled to quickly navigate to their desired destinations.

Classrooms where one could earn credit coins displayed varying numbers of symbols on their doors to indicate their difficulty level, ranging from 1, the easiest, to 3, the hardest. This rating also represented the minimum number of credit coins awarded upon successful completion.

For instance, the room they were in earlier was a Difficulty 1 challenge. Clearing it guaranteed a minimum of one credit coin, with the possibility of extra rewards for outstanding performance.

Bakar continued speaking rapidly, not daring to pause, "For example, in the room we were in, while the passing mark is 50, anyone who achieves an incredible score like 90 receives additional commendations."

As for a perfect score of 100, that was extremely rare. Bakar couldn't even imagine what hidden rewards that might trigger, given that no student had ever achieved it. Someone like Lance, who simply destroyed the exam room, wouldn't receive credit coins through the standard channels from a demon instructor, even after "clearing" the challenge.

However, upon further reflection, Bakar realized where Lance had gotten those coins. This brazen tactic of "farming" the students, or rather, the instructors, for coins was a far, far faster way to make money than taking the exams obediently!

Lance interrupted Bakar, "What's your take on the Difficulty 2 and Difficulty 3 classrooms?"

He had done a quick mental calculation. If a student chose Difficulty 1 classrooms for all five periods, excluding extra rewards, they could only get a max of five credit coins. After handing over the mandatory daily quota of five coins, the student would have to start from scratch the next day and grind through another five classes.

Bakar was clearly one of those students, akin to a corporate drone, who barely broke even.

Only those students with exceptional skill who dared to tackle Difficulty 2 classrooms and above could consistently earn more than five credit coins a day. They would have a surplus, meaning they didn't necessarily have to attend all five classes and could even afford to spend their earnings in the school's amenity areas.

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