Chapter 816
Chapter 816 - 802 United as One
1,796 words
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9 min read
"Tsk, a familiar taste... uh, at least, familiar flavors."
In the eyes of a normal person, this might be a world drenched in blood.
There’s a faint smell of blood in the air, everything in sight is covered in red, and there’s a strange stickiness underfoot.
The ground seems to be made of tissue akin to flesh, but when picked up, it crumbles to sand in the hand.
This was the result of the Exotic Realm, but through Lu Ping’an’s eyes, it was the result of two worlds eroding each other.
"What’s that smell..."
Behind him, a candidate was vomiting; the smell of the Exotic Realm’s erosion and fresh blood was making the newcomers sick, and the ground was already covered with vomit.
As for Lu Ping’an, he retched a couple of times, bent over pretending to be unwell, though he couldn’t help feeling somewhat disappointed inside.
After experiencing the true Otherworld, where the entire world rejects you, and you just don’t fit in with anything, the "half-and-half" nature of this world in front of him seemed far too gentle.
But now, he couldn’t stand out too much, given that he was just a "barely 2-tier college student."
He looked around "warily," his twin eyes with colored pupils trying hard to feign confusion... in truth, he didn’t need to pretend at all.
The fellow unlucky ones near the entrance, one trembling and trying hard to adapt, the other retching badly; neither had the time to look at other people.
"Tsk, I’m putting on a show for the blind..."
Lu Ping’an curled his lips then pretended to struggle for a bit before he approached the one who was still managing to hold on.
The one throwing up a storm? Lu Ping’an couldn’t be bothered to get in touch; disdain was one reason, but another was their lack of basic abilities to such an extent that they had essentially been disqualified.
It was convenient since the entrance wasn’t far, and getting back early would save the invigilator some trouble.
This was the first round of the "Temporary Qualification Certificate" examination... er, and very likely the last round too.
At the same time, it was also the opening banquet of the sports meet, now rebranded as the "Survival Competition Show."
All the candidates unwittingly gained an extra title as competitors, as well as a new registered origin... instantly becoming part of a grand pet competition.
In the end, not only was there an individual survival score, but there were also total scores for each city... in another aspect, this was a comparison and competition of the backup combat power of various cities.
The candidates had no objections? How useful would their opinions be... er, actually, originally, failure meant elimination, but with the growing enthusiasm, there were now prizes, and if one were to talk about it outside, it was "eliminated from the competition" rather than "failed the exam", which seemed to leave no reason for refusal.
Of course, if one were to start vomiting as soon as they entered the test area and couldn’t get back up, their professional career might as well have ended then and there once they were shown on TV.
Yes, big screens. Thanks to the rising heat, this event was even broadcast on TV, with dedicated transmission towers on this side. Although signal stability couldn’t be guaranteed, stitching together views for an uninterrupted live stream was not difficult.
But "undercover invigilators" like Lu Ping’an were kept a secret from the beginning; unless they applied for it, they wouldn’t appear on the program, but the recording device on their chest would still be used for internal reviews afterward.
The live stream resources were mainly those of front invigilators (who played the role of wild monsters) and examiners, to showcase the struggles of the students from all angles...
"... Uh, are you okay?"
Lu Ping’an maintained a safe distance while vaguely expressing his concern.
"I’m fine, you are...?"
"What else could it be? I’m from Ancient City taking the exam. Did you see the post on the forum? Many examinees left messages there. My online handle is ’Wishing You Safety,’ and I’ve left my contact method..."
Lu Ping’an poured out his words hastily like an eager newcomer.
A forum post? Actually, it was a trick the examinees came up with during this exam.
This time was a cooperative survival competition (truly fighting each other would have left few survivors), and the qualification conditions were quite simple, either endure long enough or gain the "examiner’s" approval.
Naturally, implicit in the qualification conditions was the approval of the "undercover invigilator," a much more significant endorsement, although nobody was probably aware of it.
The examiners’ approval was unpredictable, but the longer one held out, the more obvious loopholes there were... such as agreeing in advance to collaborate when the time came.
Someone posted on a local community forum, calling everyone to work together and even arranged some cooperative mechanisms.
"... A post? I don’t know about that."
At this moment, Lu Ping’an showed a disappointed expression, not because he was acting, but because he was genuinely a bit let down that he hadn’t snagged a fish.
Examinees can play such tricks outside the exam rules, so naturally, invigilators and examiners do the same. Many invigilators are exceptionally active in social media posts, trying to get familiar with the candidates in advance for easier espionage work later on... Well, that’s what Lu Ping’an is doing.
With his youthful appearance, although Lu Ping’an is quite well-known, a change of clothes and makeup to hide his distinctive features allows him to easily blend into the crowd of students.
"You don’t know? Well, let me tell you, this is the ’exam rules’ we candidates agreed upon on the internet before the test. The first rule is that we should gather at all costs after entering; the more people, the better..."
Lu Ping’an rapidly delivered the so-called "Strategy Guide," and while the examinee opposite him nodded continuously, he didn’t realize that in the eyes of the corrupted invigilator, his score was plummeting.
"... Just another noob, huh."
First of all, there are transformation-type Demons in the Abyss, and they have been waging war against humans for a long time. One of the rules here is to never trust any stranger.
Secondly, these "rules" on the forum were also written by a bunch of betrayers—all traps.
It’s true that more people mean stronger combat power... but when a bunch of pigs stick together, they only attract more, Powerful hunters.
Moreover, following the rules blindly without question, doubt, or reflection, and even failing to verify the authenticity of these rules among the local old stagers after the fact, indicates a failure in intelligence work.
And you still aim to be a temporary team captain for otherworldly exploration?
After just a brief chat, Lu Ping’an has already marked the excited young man in front of him with three crosses, doomed to fail.
But at this moment, the opponent revealed his Third-Level War Profession strength... Uh, not bad, pretty good, a perfect target headstrong lad.
What followed was exactly what Lu Ping’an had anticipated. Disguised as a "little fanboy," he easily followed the "Big Boss" in front of him, looking for other candidates.
In no time, a team of six was assembled, and they were even attempting to grow the team to ten.
During this process, only one person raised doubts, but he was fiercely accused of ulterior motives by two others who had seen posts on the forum...
"That’s the consensus drawn by professionals’ Strategy Guide, having more people naturally boosts combat power. Who are you to question the Big Boss... Or are you the ’spy’ those Bosses are talking about?"
The intelligence post also mentioned that the Official might seed some ’spies’ among the candidates to increase the difficulty of the exam... But actually, there’s no need to make it any harder. The half-true, half-false information itself was released by official-hired invigilators.
The invigilators are quite confident in themselves and believe that spreading rumors of ’bad apples among the crowd’ will further cause division and distrust among the candidates, thus further testing the quality of talent.
Now, it’s proven that the invigilators’ judgment is correct; in most cases, the rookies who blindly believe and do not think for themselves are the majority...
"Ah, don’t be like that. If there really was an insider, wouldn’t he have come out so early? He probably just has his own opinion... We’re all on the same ship now; we need to be tolerant of others’ opinions. In this terrible place, internal strife should be avoided at the outset. Starting with infighting will only please the true spies."
Lu Ping’an stepped forward to state some "hard truths," trying to play the good guy.
He "strived" to integrate relationships within the team, which already had internal divisions, maintaining a safe distance.
Faced with this situation, Lu Ping’an shook his head as if he truly regretted that reconciliation had failed.
But in reality, he was just frantically deducting points.
These naive kids, having decided to form an alliance, let the team rift grow without fostering unity or separation; weren’t they just waiting to set off a time bomb?
As the hesitant team proceeded, Lu Ping’an, having completed the grading, had almost collected enough intelligence and was ready to put them to the test again before moving on to the next group...
"... Wiped out so quickly; at least drag it out for a few more minutes. Isn’t this wasting my acting performance?"
Ten minutes later, Lu Ping’an detonated a pheromone device, "sending" them a wave of Magic Monster attacks. The result?
Two minutes, annihilation.
As a "safety measure" for the trial, the injured broke an Officially provided Special Holy Water bottle and poured the pheromone-laced Holy Water over themselves.
While the Holy Water caused the Demons to recoil, it also marked the end of their exam, and soon, monitors came to take them away.
Only two "survivors" still retained their combat power, one of whom was injured.
"... All fail." After marking them all as failures in his heart, Lu Ping’an followed the desperate "team captain," finding another group.
Ten minutes later, another team wipeout ended, and this time there was one "survivor."
Lu Ping’an followed, heading toward the third team, contemplating whether to trigger a third wipeout.
But this time, he encountered someone he knew.
"Senior? Do you remember me? I’m Little Lu!"
— End of Chapter 816 —