The Fourth Calamity Builds a Magic Academy

Check out the upcoming novel in my collection: Do I Have to Carry a Coffin to Become a Popular Character?

Lin Lai transmigrated to a magic continent as a low-level mage, but with the added title of academy headmaster.

He packaged the magic academy as a full-immersion game and summoned real-world players to work for free (crossed out), helping build the academy together.

And so, a crowd of players appeared in beginner mage robes, with names like [Steal Your Underpants], [Guess Why My Name Is So Long], and [Helping an Old Cockroach Cross the Road] floating above their heads.

*

Lin Lai: "What counts as completing the mission?"

System: "The academy-building mission will be considered successful once you have your first graduate. Until then, the System will provide the Host with 30,000 in construction funds every month."

So as long as no one ever graduates, he'll keep getting 30,000 in construction funds.

Lin Lai, with dollar signs in his eyes, declared that graduation? His academy had never even heard of the word.

Then he thoughtfully arranged courses for the first-year students: Spellcraft, Potions, Wandmaking, Magical Artifacts, The Development of Magic, Magical Pets...

A small exam every three days, a big exam every five, and a comprehensive review every month.

Every single one was directly tied to graduation eligibility.

Spellcraft graduation requirements: Master every spell in the encyclopedia and publish a never-before-seen academic paper on spellcraft with a plagiarism score of 0%.

Wandmaking required students to make three top-tier wands by hand, using core materials found only as random drops in the academy dungeon, with quality, attributes, and modifiers all randomized.

And then there were the maddening courses in Magical Pets, Magical Artifacts, Magical Sociology...

Players: ? Does this game actually want us to graduate or not!

Headmaster Lin Lai: The outside world is too dangerous. He just wants every student to develop in every way: morally, intellectually, physically, aesthetically, and practically. What's wrong with that!

And so... the most difficult magic academy to graduate from in the history of the magic continent was born.

*

Before the academy tournament, Lin Lai was still worried:

His students spent every day cooped up in the academy, learning theory without practice. Would they be crushed the first time they faced real mages?

The players were worried too:

They couldn't even graduate from the beginner village. Just how terrifying would the high-level NPCs outside be?

Their opponents sneered: A bunch of country bumpkins who've never competed before can't possibly be any good.

Then, at the tournament, the players solemnly chanted their spells, ready to fight the opposing academy's team for 300 rounds. The very next second...

The opposing team was wiped out.

The players had always believed that the beginner village was just a tutorial zone, and that the headmaster and teachers were obviously protecting the newbies.

Until the tournament.

Players: "..."

Wait.

Is this academy really a beginner village?

People from outside: Wait, you call these students freshmen?

If this is how strong the freshmen are, just how terrifying is the headmaster?

Is this game even working right?

Where's the terrifying magic continent?

Wasn't the magic academy supposed to be a beginner village?

It's hilarious. They left the headmaster's protective umbrella and found that it wasn't even raining outside.

*

Do I Have to Carry a Coffin to Become a Popular Character?

Background Character A was a nameless extra in a hot-blooded superpower manga.

In the original, he appeared in just a few hastily drawn panels. To show how brutal the villain was, the handsome extra was killed with a casual flick of the villain's power as he passed by.

The good news: The failing manga was so unpopular that its second season was about to be canceled. The manga System found him and wanted him to save its popularity.

The bad news: The villain had already killed his body with a casual flick. All that was left was a corpse. How was a corpse supposed to boost the manga's popularity, huh!

To help him, the System created a new secret identity for him, Xie Fengxue. The secret identity's power came entirely from the manga's popularity. As long as the manga became a massive hit, he could truly come back to life.

But there was a problem. His original body was already a corpse. If it rotted before the story ended, his soul would vanish along with it.

So Xie Fengxue began carrying a coffin around as he tagged along with the protagonist's team.

And so, in this high-risk world...

As the manga's protagonist and villain fought to the death, just as all hope seemed lost, a figure dressed in white and carrying a huge black coffin appeared before everyone and gently set it down.

Golden eyes lifted. With a single strike of his powerful ability, he killed the villain.

Xie Fengxue became the most unusual member of the protagonist's team. The protagonist thought of him as aloof and taciturn.

Until one night, the protagonist opened Xie Fengxue's door. The sight before him was something he would remember for the rest of his life.

Xie Fengxue, usually so cold, wore an expression of unprecedented tenderness as he opened the enormous black coffin. The mystery that had troubled the protagonist for so long was finally solved.

Inside the coffin lay an exceptionally beautiful person. Silver-white hair spilled out like a waterfall, thick lashes rested over tightly closed eyes, and a red tear mole stood out against skin so pale it was completely bloodless. Their chest did not rise or fall.

With a tender expression, Xie Fengxue cut his wrist with a knife. His bright red blood fell onto the beauty's pale lips, staining them red.

The next moment, the protagonist saw Xie Fengxue frown and look up. He fled in a panic.

Xie Fengxue: ???

Why did the protagonist suddenly run off? He was only trying to keep his body from rotting.

[Anyone want to check out this new character, Xie Fengxue? His look is so distinctive. That huge black coffin on his back makes him unforgettable. Is the coffin some kind of special ability? He seems incredibly powerful too, and he always has this inexplicably tragic vibe.]

[The way Xie Fengxue fights is way too unhinged. He doesn't care about his own body at all, but he just wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. That battered look is so hot. (.)]

[Xie Fengxue used his own body to shield the coffin from a blow. What the hell is inside that coffin?]

[Xie Fengxue's past is so tragic. The coffin isn't a weapon, it's his beloved.]

[That villain deserves to die. No one who has seen Xie Fengxue's story could help falling in love with his beloved. Such a wonderful person died so carelessly.]

[Xie Fengxue just wants to bring his beloved back to life. What did he do wrong!]

Theme: Growing together