Chapter 197: Time Chamber
The Tulip Academy possesses the Alliance's top-tier educational resources, which include not only knowledge and teachers but also the accompanying facilities.
The more prestigious the school, the more resources it can provide to students. They meticulously arrange everything for you, so there's no need to worry about signing some ambiguous tripartite agreement and being deceived into becoming a cheap laborer in a factory, toiling away and ultimately just being stamped with a seal like a pig inspected for its 'good quality and low price,' which seems like nothing but mockery of being taken advantage of.
Michelle, who had just started school half a year ago, had not yet been able to access resources that were fully open to her.
After all, educational resources are prioritized for outstanding students. Anyone can apply, but not everyone can get approved.
After learning that Bai Wei wanted to teach her the Winning Technique, Michelle had the idea of applying for a dedicated training room.
Within the Tulip Academy, there is a Time Chamber that can enhance training effects by manipulating the perception of time. It's like overclocking the body, and both swordsmen and mages enjoy practicing and training in this kind of chamber, often achieving efficiency that is one point three times higher than usual.
A thirty percent increase is already quite impressive.
But precisely because it's so effective, it is often occupied by senior students. After all, the satisfaction of overclocking is like adding lubricant when you're feeling a little stuck, providing a much smoother experience than soap. Who wouldn't want to overclock twenty-four hours a day?
In the past, there have been numerous disputes arising from the Time Chamber.
Hot-headed youngsters might go straight to the duel ground to claim victory if their last piece of chicken leg gets snatched away at the cafeteria.
As a result, it later evolved into a reservation system, but this system gave rise to scalpers and third-party sales, creating a messy and chaotic situation.
Furthermore, the school authorities couldn't come up with a suitable solution, and with magic power resources becoming scarce, the situation worsened.
After the Tulip Academy joined the computer system, they had to collaborate on the development of supercomputing, which required importing a large amount of data and thus consumed a considerable portion of magical power resources.
As a result, the once abundant magical power resources began to dwindle, and the resource consumption of the Time Chamber became excessive. The reservation system was directly replaced with an application system.
Each student has only five application opportunities per semester, with each session limited to a maximum of ten hours. If they want more, they have to exchange their credits.
At the same time, the application requires a professor's signature and verification in person, effectively preventing third-party transactions.
And this is just the 'Time Chamber'; within the Tulip Academy, there are also the 'Arsenal House' and the 'Crystal Forest,' all aimed at providing convenient resources to students and strengthening the faculty. However, over time, this fairness has not been sustained. Instead, certain individuals have caused numerous conflicts in their pursuit of monopolization, leading to tensions among schools, factions, and departments, resulting in a complete mess.
The university is like a microcosm of society, with many twists and turns that have evolved with time.
Michelle, a girl from the countryside, hasn't been to the Time Chamber even once this semester, but her quota is still full.
She only went twice last semester. The first time was for a beginner's guide, and the teacher took her there without any problems. The second time was troublesome. She had to wait for a week just to get the professor's signature. Then she had to queue at the Time Chamber Management Office, waiting for another month before it was her turn. When she finally arrived at the scene, she was informed of a scheduling error and had to wait outside the door for three hours. It was only when Alena came and found her that she realized her allotted time had been taken by a stranger.
She rushed in and confronted the other person, but the other person confidently said, "I just entered as well. It must be a queueing system error."
Alena was infuriated and unsheathed her sword, almost engaging in a fight right then and there to reason with them.
In the end, Michelle weakly backed down. The other person was a third-year student, and it was best not to cause trouble if possible.
After that, she never went to the Time Chamber again. Luckily, she wasn't particularly skilled and didn't need the facilities there.
She arrived at the guidance office, knocked on the door and pushed it open. Looking around, she saw only one professor sitting behind the desk.
“Professor Gamira, I'm here to apply for the training room," Michelle said politely, approaching him.
“Hmm?" Professor Gamira was a pure-blooded individual, which was relatively rare in the current alliance.
His hair was gray, and he had heterochromatic eyes, but they were not naturally heterochromatic; it was an acquired trait.
His left eye was a prosthetic eye.
He was a senior mage specializing in telepathy, banshee cries, and light-shadow illusions.
Rumor has it that he could shoot lasers with his left eye.
This professor was a rare mentor whom Michelle could actually communicate with. Although she wasn't specialized in the same disciplines, she had attended a few of his general education courses and sought his guidance on several occasions, making them somewhat familiar with each other.
Mainly because she was such an underachiever, not many professors were willing to waste their time dealing with her.
Average grades, timid personality, always failing in practical exercises, overall mediocre, a typical underachiever.
Professor Gamira signed without hesitation. "You can go now."
"Don't I need to wait in line?"
"I checked, and it's not necessary."
"Thank you, Professor," Michelle thanked him politely.
"You're welcome."
Michelle planned to skip the morning theory class altogether. After all, she had attended enough classes and accumulated enough participation points.
Arriving at the Time Chamber, which was located near the Golden Tree, she realized it was only about five kilometers away. There were many facilities and buildings nearby.
The closer she got to the Golden Tree, the more she could feel its breath and pulse. She couldn't help but stop and admire the grandeur of the Golden Tree.
The Time Chamber building resembled a majestic temple from the outside, appearing transparent. However, the interior was divided into intricate corridors of space.
"I'm Michelle Hope, and I applied for the Time Chamber," she said, presenting the signed application form. "I'm requesting to use the Time Chamber."
An administrator was reviewing applications outside the door. They took the document and checked it.
"No issues found. You are assigned to Room 404."
Michelle entered the Time Chamber, surprisingly smoothly this time. Maybe it was destiny. Sometimes, even after queuing multiple times, you still might not get a chance to buy something from a certain store. But occasionally, when you pass by, things go smoothly and you succeed.
However, she was still naive.
When she found Room 404, she realized that the door was locked.
...Is there anyone inside?
She knocked on the door and said, "Hello?"
No one responded.
Michelle knocked on the door harder, but still received no response.
"Go back and find the administrator," Bai Wei suggested.
Michelle went back and mentioned it to the administrator.
The administrator glanced at the management system and then said, "Wait a moment, I'll find someone to verify."
After saying that, he sat down, picked up his coffee, and took a sip, appearing calm and relaxed.
"Aren't you going to check?" Michelle asked.
"Sorry, I have to guard the gate. I just informed others, and we need to wait for a response after reporting," the administrator replied in an official tone.
Laughter reached Michelle's ears.
"Hahaha... Bullshit," Bai Wei mocked. "They sure have mastered that official tone. Can't even say a drunkard's words with a single peanut in their mouth."
Michelle sighed softly, "It's like this again..."
Last time, her time was taken, and this time, the room she occupied was being denied.
"Is there no way to resolve this?"
"It's in line with the management system, and there's no way to expedite it," Michelle pursed her lips. Being a countryside girl and a first-year student, the management department didn't want to get involved in student disputes. The administrators here were just ordinary civil servants, and their fragile bodies might not withstand even a fireball spell. They had to inform the administrative department of the academy for further review, which meant going through another process. If the person in the administrative department was also a slacker, this matter would continue to be delayed.
Anyway, occupying the room was only a matter of half a day. Perhaps it would be over in a few hours. The Time Chamber wasn't a resort or an internet cafe. Staying inside could be boring and drain mental energy. Going in with a radiant face and coming out with Sage Time, most people could only endure for about the same length of time as an iPhone's standby time.
Even if the Time Chamber was an enchanting beauty, one or two hours would be enjoyable, five or six hours would be enchanting. Ten or twenty hours, on the other hand, would be disastrous... So, it was better to let one person bear a little loss than to trouble a group of people, saving manpower.
"I almost thought this was Yingzhou," Bai Wei sarcastically commented. "They really have that style going on."
"Is Mr. Devil familiar with the affairs of Yingzhou?" Michelle's focus had shifted.
"I am familiar with the workings of any bureaucracy," Bai Wei said calmly, although no bureaucrat has dared to be perfunctory with him in the past.
"What do you plan to do?"
"I can only go back." Michelle chose to retreat and let the matter rest, as always.
"Is that so?"
"What else can we do?"
"Just fight against him!" Bai Wei provoked, "Can we bear this? Can we keep indulging him? I might be the one to suffer, but he must receive a punch from me."
Michelle began to calculate the gains and losses, as well as the subsequent development, using her fingers.
"If I were to cause a scene, the management office would definitely find it troublesome, and I can't kick the door open since the Time Chamber is public property. Constantly knocking on the door and annoying the people inside would lead to conflicts, just like last time. Then, either I would fight with the other party or get beaten. Afterwards, I would be brought to the disciplinary office for punishment. Even if the blame does not lie with me, for the sake of formal fairness and minimizing negative impact, the professors and the dean of the department would not take my side. Both sides would be criticized. If I refuse to accept it, the other party would at most receive a warning, while my reputation would be completely ruined, earning me the label of 'immaturity.'"
"What's even more important... is that if things go this way, the entire day will be wasted, and I won't have time to learn the imprints with you," Michelle hooked her fingers. "In the end, Mr. Devil won't be happy, I won't be happy, and nobody will be pleased. So it's better to just let it go. That way, at least everyone will be fine."
"So in the end, this world where no one will be hurt besides you... will be realized, right?"
