Stepping inside, it was dark at first, but white light soon flickered through from the white runic chandelier hanging above.
He looked around and wasn't too surprised.
The living room had a minimalist design, with white tile flooring.
At the center was an L-shaped sofa with a glass table in front of it.
Opposite the sofa was a wall with an active projection showing motes of astral lights filtering through the room.
He fully stepped in, quietly locking the door, which made a beep, before heading toward the sofa.
Dropping his backpack, he turned to see three more doors.
Checking them, White found a simple bathroom with a shower, a bathtub, and a toilet on the far side.
The next room was a bedroom, with just two basic pieces of furniture, a large bed that could fit about three people, and a white glass wardrobe from which he saw uniforms.
The last room drew his attention the most.
It was dark, without visible lights or windows, yet astral purple lights shimmered off it.
Its source was at the center: a large pool holding a purple-like liquid that radiated purple mists.
When White approached, his heart pounded in his chest, a strange excitement stirring within him.
'A pool of condensed essence energy,' he thought, eyes filled with quiet disbelief.
With an entire mana generator right above, it obviously streamed essence energy through the tower, and the academy had even built a room with an extra mana conductor to fill the energy reserves into a pool.
Essentially, this room was a cultivation chamber.
'They're really going all out for the students. A bit too much,' White mused, his excitement fading into caution.
First, they'd dipped them into a life-cleansing pool upon arrival.
That pool could have cost anywhere from a million to five million dollars to set up.
Now, there was a mana generator overhead, and even their room had a dedicated cultivation space filled with essence pools.
This is why getting into an academy is the only way to succeed.
If you're an awakener cultivating at home, you'd only absorb tiny bits of essence from the air.
How could that compare to sitting in a pool filled with essence energy?
It would take years to achieve what students here can in a single month.
Remembering how brutal the test was, how the weak were wiped out to make way for the strong, a strange feeling stirred in his heart.
They eliminated those deemed unworthy but treated the deserving like royalty.
That made it unclear whether Xtremecybers was an evil, uncaring, and extreme academy or a cold, calculating one.
Whatever they were, the current him couldn't do anything about it, so there was no point debating.
He exited the cultivation room and returned to the living room.
Sitting on the sofa, he opened his backpack and pulled out its contents.
The first was a device box, holding a brand-new phone.
It was rectangular, about 7 inches across, slim and lightweight, and felt comfortable in his hands.
He dug deeper into the bag and found a small box with two memory cards and an instruction manual.
Finally, he pulled out a strange, super-thin watch with no buckle.
He read the instruction manual before inserting a memory card and placing the watch on his right wrist.
As soon as it touched his skin, it seemed to merge with it, emitting pulses that coursed through his entire body.
Then the light dimmed, and a runic line appeared from his wrist into the air, revealing a glowing display that read: 'Scanning...4%.'
According to the manual, the watch couldn't be removed once it reached 100%.
It was an access runic watch that bonded with each student, displaying essential academy stats.
It was mandatory, not optional, and he didn't bother resisting.
He looked away, grabbing the second memory card reader and slipping it into his phone.
The moment it connected, the screen lit up, showing the same scanning progress.
He could only wait, but as he did, his eyes drifted to the projector on the wall.
Curiosity overcame him, and he stood up, about to move closer, but just as he took a step,
BEEP!
The phone beeped, showing the scan was complete.
'Quite fast,' he thought, settling back into the chair and examining the device.
The first thing he noticed was that it connected to an unknown Wi-Fi network; he couldn't read the details no matter how hard he tapped.
Then he saw several unique apps: Xcybermaps, Xcybersubjects, Xcyberlibrary, Xcybermissions, which he quietly examined.
Most lacked detailed info and seemed to be awaiting updates, but one app caught his attention: Xcyberrules.
He already knew from the United Earth Federation that understanding rules was crucial.
It could help against an annoying military instructor, so he sank back and focused, starting with rule one.
But suddenly, his relaxed mood shattered, and his eyes widened in numb disbelief at the content of the first rule.
'What the hell?'