Chapter 4: The Trial Mission

After Sikong Xu stepped through the barrier of the dimensional shuttle, his entire form vanished from Classroom E, leaving only Jiang Hong, still drowsy and blinking sleep from his eyes.

“This kid… has changed somehow…” As Sikong Xu’s figure disappeared, Jiang Hong opened his clouded eyes once more; eyes marked by the hardships of the world, now suddenly bright and clear.

“I wonder what heights your son will reach… He carries many secrets within him…” With those words, Jiang Hong narrowed his eyes again.

…

When Sikong Xu opened his eyes, he was stunned. Before him lay a dazzling expanse of gold, breathtakingly beautiful. Though this scene was familiar in his memory, Sikong Xu was still shocked by its splendor. He was now drifting in the void of three-dimensional space, a place that supported all spatial planes. Here, the fourth dimension—the axis of time—existed, but did not intersect with this realm. In other words, there was no concept of time here.

This three-dimensional void was a place of exquisite beauty. Though only monotone gold filled the space, it held an indescribable allure. As Sikong Xu gazed around, he noticed tiny sand-like particles surrounding him—the sands of time, the very elements composing the essence of temporal flow. These grains shone a hundred thousand times brighter than gold, giving the void a sense of companionship.

Lost amid the dreamlike and ineffable sands of time, Sikong Xu felt an irresistible urge to reach out and touch them with his hand. Suddenly, he jolted back as if struck by lightning. He remembered well that the teachers at the Dimensional Academy had warned students during spatial traversal: the school’s created passageways would let the sands of time drift to the sides, but students must never touch them. If they did, the time force attached to those grains might cause them to lose themselves within the temporal points of the three-dimensional void!

Despite the teachers’ strict warnings, during the first monthly exam—when the entire grade traversed together—a few students had failed to return…

“Phew…” Sikong Xu exhaled deeply, relieved he had withdrawn his hand in time; otherwise, the consequences would have been dire.

Dimensional travel in the fantasy worlds never lasted long, but Sikong Xu, suspended in the three-dimensional void, had no sense of time’s passage.

Suddenly, the gold faded away, and a door bathed in white light appeared before Sikong Xu. Before he could react, the white light engulfed his vision.

…

When the white light receded, Sikong Xu found himself in a strange room. His first instinct was to raise his right hand and examine the back of it, where a circular, intricate emblem was etched—the exclusive insignia of the Dimensional Academy he belonged to: Dawn Academy. Every member of Dawn Academy, whether teacher or student, bore this mark on the back of their right hand.

He was no longer surprised by this emblem, which seemed to be a blend of high technology and arcane magic, for since the end of the Plane Wars, mystical powers like magic had begun to permeate from another dimension.

This mark was more than a symbol—it could access students’ personal information, issue tasks to further their training, and even provide basic information about the world they were currently in…

That day, humanity recalled the terror of domination by “them,” and the humiliation of being caged in a bird’s prison.

This was a tragic world, where humanity’s darkness was magnified under “their” rule…

In the year 743, about a century ago, the enigmatic nemesis of mankind—the Titans—appeared. They resembled humans in appearance and stature, but possessed strength and size many times greater.

“They” lacked intelligence, lacked language; their sole purpose in this world seemed to be to devour humans.

With the Titans’ relentless hunting, humanity was soon pushed to the brink of extinction. Two years later, the survivors erected three massive fifty-meter-high walls—Maria, Rose, and Sina—which would later be called the "birdcage."

It was thanks to these colossal fortifications that humanity endured the following century.

Perhaps, after a hundred years of peace, humanity forgot the fear of Titans. Their lives grew idle, their spirits relaxed, and the nightmare from a century ago seemed to have faded…

In the year 845, that day, humanity finally remembered the terror of being dominated by “them,” and the shame of being locked in the birdcage…

This was the basic introduction to the world Sikong Xu would experience in his training. For others, this information might be helpful, but to Sikong Xu, familiar with the world of anime, it was utterly superfluous.

Sikong Xu was certain that no one in the current real dimension understood these anime worlds, but how these fantasy realms and their intelligence, derived from anime, came to be, he had no clue.

“If I can’t figure it out, there’s no point in trying,” he muttered, refocusing on the mark on his right hand.

Guided by his will, the mark on his right hand suddenly radiated a dim, yet visible, bluish glow.

The light gradually formed a rectangular projection screen above the back of his hand.

On this screen appeared the tasks, hints, and basic information assigned to students for this training by the academy.

Name: Sikong Xu
Status: First-year student
Level: Unable to determine
Talents: Dimensional Summoning, Contract Summoning
Evaluation: How did Dawn Academy end up with such a worthless student? Were the entrance examiners asleep during the assessment?

Seeing the harsh evaluation, Sikong Xu’s brow furrowed deeply.

“Ah, let’s look at the tasks first.”

Fantasy World: Attack on Titan
Difficulty: Two stars
Participants: 1
Main Task One: Hunt ten Titans. Reward: 100 credits. (Additional: Extra rewards for unique kills; hunting abnormal Titans yields greater rewards.)
Main Task Two: After Eren Yeager’s Titan identity is exposed, protect him until he joins the Survey Corps. Reward: 150 credits.
Main Task Three: Participate in the first Female Titan capture operation and succeed. Reward: 150 credits.
Failure Penalty: None
Note: Complete all main tasks to return to reality via your mark. Explore side and hidden missions on your own.

After reading the tasks for this round of training, Sikong Xu’s brow furrowed so tightly it seemed his wrinkles would merge.

Unlike ordinary freshmen at Dawn Academy, all of whom had undergone awakening to unlock their potential and whose strength was two or three times that of a typical adult, Sikong Xu’s awakening had failed due to low potential, leaving him weaker than a normal adult.

With such meager strength, completing the training tasks seemed almost impossible. He was destined, as in his previous two rounds of training last month, to return to reality by way of death.

Though, thanks to the academy’s mystical powers, dying in the fantasy world did not mean true death—only a period of mental weakness—Sikong Xu did not want his training to end in such a fashion.

“It seems… I have no choice but to gamble everything…”

Sikong Xu gazed silently at the “Dimensional Summoning” talent displayed on his projection screen…