— — — — — —
Inside the meditation room, Tom finally put aside his research on the ancient runes. When he opened the system, the first thing he noticed was the change in Morgan's approval rating. His eyebrows lifted in surprise.
…It had jumped from zero to nearly forty in one go.
He thought it over carefully. First, he'd used the system's rules to suppress her. Then he'd outright blasted her to death using its authority.
And that raised her favorability?
What kind of logic was this? Even nonsense had its limits.
Wait… could Morgan be some kind of hidden masochist?
Unable to make sense of it, Tom gave up with a small shake of his head and pulled up the system's update log instead.
This damn system loved slipping in small updates without a word, never notifying him—just waiting for him to discover them on his own. Because of that, Tom had gotten into the habit of checking the logs every now and then.
Especially today. With Morgan's arrival, the study space had reached a whole new level.
First, the maximum time flow had increased to five times that of the real world—though naturally, the cost in study points had gone up as well. Second, the size of the space itself.
On the surface, the study space didn't look any bigger. But in reality, Tom had gained a new permission: he could freely expand or shrink it, even enlarging specific areas internally.
Take the arena, for example. From the outside, it looked about the size of a stadium—but inside, it could be expanded to the scale of the entire United Kingdom.
…
..
By the time Tom woke up the next morning, Morgan and Ravenclaw were still busy tinkering with things.
Several nearby buildings had already been demolished. In typical Morgan fashion, she'd claimed the land outright as her territory. Not only did she want a garden—she was planning to build a lake, too.
Considering how much her approval had gone up overnight, Tom decided to lend a hand. With a casual use of the system, he expanded her new home a hundredfold.
A lake? No problem. Even adding an island in the middle would be easy.
Morgan was overjoyed—because that was exactly what she'd been thinking. Just like that, Tom gained another five points of approval.
…This woman was ridiculously easy to please.
Still, her usefulness was limited for now. She was eager to teach her new student some of her signature techniques, but the gap between eras was significant.
Her situation was similar to what Andros had gone through. She could learn quickly, but she still needed to rebuild her knowledge from the ground up. Only after forming her own understanding could she safely teach others—otherwise, she'd just pass on flawed ideas.
So Morgan ended up becoming Jeanne's classmate, studying under Ravenclaw together.
Tom took a quick look around the study space, then left.
Today was the day the first task would begin, and he still had some preparations to finish.
When Tom entered the Great Hall, Cassandra—who had just finished eating—lit up and immediately hurried over.
"Tom, give me more stock. The new Lume-Lenses are sold out already."
Her tone was impatient, almost urgent.
"So fast?" Tom raised an eyebrow. "I gave you more inventory than anyone else—over thirty percent of the total. Even with the United States market, there's no way it should all be gone in a week."
Cassandra explained, "My father secured a large order with the Magical Congress. He also distributed some to other families to build connections, so the stock went quickly."
As she spoke, she pointed at a girl from Ilvermorny nearby. "Like Ivy—her family is the largest supplier of leather goods in America."
"But don't worry," she added quickly. "He's already set aside your payment. You won't be short a single Knut."
She knew Tom didn't think highly of her father. Honestly… neither did she. But she still put in a good word.
Tom simply nodded. "Alright. After this round of the tournament, I'll check how much stock is left and allocate you another batch."
Thankfully, "the seven Lubans" had been working around the clock, leading a group of alchemical puppets in nonstop production. With them, Tom was managing to keep up with the entire wizarding world's demand.
"Good." Cassandra broke into a bright smile. In the early stages of a product launch, pricing was meaningless—having stock was everything.
If she played this right, she'd be one step closer to becoming the richest witch in the world.
...
..
At ten in the morning, nearly all the students had gathered in the Great Hall, chatting excitedly as they waited for the first task to begin.
When Crouch and Dumbledore appeared, they simply called the champions away, then dismissed everyone else.
"The first task isn't suitable for spectators," Dumbledore announced. "But don't worry. The second task, in two weeks, will be broadcast live. You'll all have the chance to enjoy the champions' performance then."
A chorus of groans followed, but there was nothing to be done. Soon after, Dumbledore and Tom left the hall together.
They made their way to the end of the third-floor corridor—the same area where the Philosopher's Stone had once been kept. One of the abandoned classrooms there had been renovated.
Inside, the room was spacious and mostly empty. At its center was a designated area, and along the left and right walls stood seven tightly shut wooden doors.
The champions and the headmasters of each school were already gathered.
Grindelwald, however, was absent.
He had originally planned to return, but Morgan struck a deal with him. And now he was collecting historical texts and visiting several ancient ruins she knew of, searching for traces of her era.
It was too important to entrust to subordinates, so he had no choice but to handle it personally.
When Tom appeared, Fontaine's eyes flickered with helpless frustration.
Stifled. That was the only way to describe it.
He had never encountered someone this infuriating—powerful, petty, completely unrestrained. There wasn't a single person in the world who could keep Tom Riddle in check.
Even Dumbledore got talked back to.
As for Grindelwald—Tom didn't fear him either. Sure, he couldn't win in a fight, but as long as he stayed at Hogwarts, Dumbledore was obligated to keep him safe.
Someone like Tom Riddle… if Fontaine so much as mocked him, he was certain Riddle wouldn't give Dumbledore any face, wouldn't care about the consequences, and would just kill him.
The bodies from the World Cup had already taught him that lesson.
So no matter how much resentment he felt, Fontaine didn't dare show it. He could only grumble silently to himself.
"Everyone's here. We can begin."
Crouch checked his watch and spoke in a firm voice. The room instantly fell silent. The champions tensed, and even the headmasters looked uneasy.
Up to this point, none of them knew what the task would be. Fleur and Daphne were both on edge.
All except one person.
Hozumi Kamio.
The little fox showed no concern at all. She even took the chance, while Fleur and Daphne weren't looking, to throw Tom a flirtatious glance.
It made Tom itch to grab her tail again.
At last, under everyone's gaze, Crouch spoke again. "Allow me to introduce the first task."
"The challenge is a trial of the mind. And the location… is right here in this classroom."
The champions' eyes drifted toward the seven wooden doors. No need to guess, whatever the test was, it lay behind them.
"All you need to do is choose a room. Each one is exactly the same. This round is completely fair. What we're testing is your mentality and willpower."
"The one who lasts the longest inside will win this round."
"Not only will they receive full marks, they'll also gain a small advantage in the next task."
"Just… stay inside?" Quinta Sanchez, the champion from Castelobruxo, asked skeptically. "That's it?"
"Yes. That's it."
Tom answered for Crouch, smiling faintly. "I know some of you might suspect I leaked the task… but now that you've seen it, you understand. This is about willpower and mental strength. Even if they knew in advance, it wouldn't make much difference. Feeling better now?"
The looks from both champions and headmasters shifted slightly. No one had expected Riddle to be this straightforward for once.
"How rare," Okeye remarked with a grin. "I can't believe Mr. Riddle is a Slytherin. You ought to be in Hufflepuff."
Dumbledore's eyelids twitched.
Please don't insult Hufflepuff like that.
Fleur and Daphne exchanged a glance, both catching the amusement in each other's eyes.
Tom hadn't told them the task, but the special training he'd given them clearly mattered. Daphne finally relaxed, confident there wouldn't be any nasty surprises.
"Enough talk," Tom said. "We can begin."
"The timer starts the moment you enter. It stops when the door opens a second time. If you don't have the strength to open it, just say you want to leave, and you'll be ejected automatically."
With that, the champions politely chose their rooms. There was no arguing. Each of them, brimming with confidence, pushed open a door and stepped inside.
...
The rooms looked spacious, but bare. Just a table and two chairs.
The champions hadn't even made it to the chairs before everything changed.
The world around them dissolved into a vast, boundless starry sky. It stretched endlessly, deep and silent. The darkness felt like a massive vortex, pulling at their very minds.
They froze.
Outside, Tom smiled slightly.
This was the illusion chamber he had created by simulating the space. At the very start, he'd layered it with a mental shock spell, forcing the participants straight into a kind of overview effect.
Not the diluted version astronauts experienced, where they could still hear voices and feel the presence of others.
This was closer to what he had felt when he stood alone on the moon.
Of course, a fake was still a fake. It couldn't match the real thing.
And if it were the genuine overview effect, he would never have dared use it on Daphne and Fleur.
"Alright. I doubt any of them will be coming out this morning."
After explaining the situation inside to the headmasters and the two judges, Tom rolled his shoulders and turned to Dumbledore.
"Professor, I'll head back for now. Let me know if anything comes up."
Dumbledore nodded, clearly intrigued. "I'd quite like to try this illusion myself. It sounds fascinating."
"No problem. We can keep these rooms set up. Anyone interested is welcome to give it a try."
With that, Tom left, his steps a little hurried.
He needed to prepare some gifts.
Otherwise, when the girls came out… their anger would be a huge problem.
.
.
.