Chapter 700: Gains and Reflections from the Joint Exam Day
The joint exam hunting continues.
The hidden rule of the teaching assistants’ bounty truly disrupted the plans and rhythms of the teaching assistants.
Under the pressure of their roles, they frantically evaded the candidates’ pursuit; their stamina was not unlimited.
Some teaching assistants, after killing their first candidate and noting the bounty, endured the humiliation for an hour before stopping, while others, unwilling to back down, directly started increasing their k*ll counts and began their escape paths.
Some even banded together; after witnessing the candidates hunting them in groups, they too became a collective to resist the candidates.
This chase lasted an entire day.
“I can’t take it anymore, it’s getting dark, and another bounty countdown has ended… d*mn it, we should have sent more heads over at the time; those teaching assistants are just timing it out, and they don’t have locations at night.”
At this moment.
The candidates who had made a fire in the wild gathered around it; this group had been chasing the teaching assistants all day.
But the result was that the harvest was not good.
“They’re teaching assistants; they can’t just act recklessly and ignore the overall situation, but we… we seem to be the ones being played like monkeys…”
“I’m hungry, do you have anything to eat?” At this moment, someone asked the key question.
“No, we even lack points to buy tents, where would we get points to buy food?”
At this moment, people finally realized a problem: they had been busy all day, but now they had to face the issue of returns!
They had to reassess themselves and this joint exam hunting competition and soon discovered that they had lost sight of the main goal.
The purpose of this joint exam was hunting!
Hunting could yield points, and the prey could also become their side income. If they hunted mutated beasts or those special creatures released by the academy… wouldn’t that be better than leaving today with nothing?
At this moment, many recognized the problem; it’s only when there’s nothing to eat that people start to reflect on where things went wrong. But today had already passed, and many things could not be remedied.
They could only drag their tired bodies and hungry bellies to spend the night by the fire.
Some also voluntarily kept watch to guard against night dangers creeping in.
“We can’t do this tomorrow.”
“Right, those teaching assistants are too cunning, and their strength far exceeds ours. We can only suppress them with numbers, but this isn’t worth it at all.”
“We should focus on scoring, we can’t proceed as a large group anymore; we need to split into smaller teams to flexibly hunt mutated beasts and… we can’t just stay here.”
“I agree. I’ve learned the rough map of the Ninglan Realm in Ninglan New City; the Ninglan New City we are in is nearly devoid of mutated beasts, let alone scoring. I need to head out!”
“But the edge of the Ninglan Realm’s radiation area belongs to shelters and refuge areas, which aren’t our Witch Academy’s territory…”
“What’s there to be afraid of? It’s not like we can’t go. We can’t just be restricted from hunting mutated beasts, right? Mutated beasts are the main source of points, followed by the academy’s special hunting targets, and hunting teaching assistants can only be a matter of luck.”
Such similar sobering conversations continued around the night fires, and it could be anticipated that by the next morning, the gigantic groups hunting teaching assistants would quickly dissolve.
Because those who were awake from hunger, upon realizing the harsh reality, couldn’t sleep at all; if they couldn’t sleep, they would certainly need to think about making changes.
…
On the teaching assistant side.
Although the overall number of teaching assistants was very small compared to the candidates, their combined numbers were still quite significant. To survive this joint exam that would last for a week, they needed to team up.
However, the conversations gathered around the campfire were quite restrained because they remembered that their every word and action was being broadcasted live.
They represented the power pinnacle of the non-extraordinary mentor group of the Witch Academy and had already consciously separated from the student group, even though they knew that as long as their mentor said a word, they would fall back to their original state.
“We were set up; I didn’t expect there would be a bounty for teaching assistants as a hidden rule. We were chased for almost half an hour in the morning.”
“Hidden rule, a traditional skill of the Witch Academy, reminding us of what our current identities are, what we should do, and what we can’t do…” At this moment, another girl chimed in.
Many teaching assistants seemed to have already figured out the meaning behind this hidden rule; in this hunting game, the roles they needed to play were very free, and they could do anything they wanted. This was the superficial meaning, as long as they followed the competition’s intent, the rules would not target them.
But once they sought to gain more and actively reached for riches, the hidden rules would specifically punish them.
Of course, there were also some stubborn teaching assistants who had accumulated dozens of hours of bounty and unlocked most of their skill trees.
However, one of them was regrettably absent from this gathering of teaching assistants by the campfire.
“But I speculate that after today, tomorrow and the following days, those candidates will not chase us as frantically as they did on the first day.”
“Why?”
“Fool, they also need to score points. They need points to buy supplies, open skill trees, buy tents, and food. The candidates who were chasing us earlier earned absolutely nothing today. They’re probably reflecting on their hunger late at night.”
“That makes sense.”
The teaching assistants picked up the food roasted over the campfire and chewed on the rather ordinary-tasting meat chunks, suddenly feeling that it didn’t taste so bad.
“Yuck! This is the worst thing I’ve ever eaten…”
“Uh, well… let’s change the subject.”
“Change the subject? You come up with something~”
“How about talking about Yang Yuelan? She was also wanted for a whole day, about ten hours or so, which means she has unlocked at least the fourth skill tree…”
Mentioning “Yang Yuelan,” the group of teaching assistants fell silent; they were very familiar with this figure, acknowledging that someone much younger than them could be more talented than themselves was simply too difficult!
They preferred to believe it was just luck.
But speaking of luck, who could compare to the Child of Fortune? The Child of Fortune, sheltered and blessed by the world, was a cherished existence within it.
Provided that… nothing beyond the world surpassed it.
The world could give the Child of Fortune everything it could, but could not give it an existence beyond its control.
For example, the extraordinary beings that descended into this world; the world could manipulate fortune, making everyone in this world admire the Child of Fortune, but it could not influence how an outsider treated the Child of Fortune.
And the main world was such a world, invaded and dominated by outsiders with extraordinary power.
Why was the Child of Fortune initially pursued by many academies?
Because the Child of Fortune sailed smoothly within the main world, experiencing great luck; good luck can truly shape an individual into a perfect character and appeal, as the world’s consciousness strictly checks everything without the need for much effort.
And who wouldn’t like a lucky friend?
Of course, more importantly, the Child of Fortune did not suffer from the Earth Vein Shackles that ordinary individuals did. Once it reached the corresponding stage step by step, the world would naturally open up restrictions on the Child of Fortune, allowing it to achieve extraordinary status.
Mentors love children who are destined to become extraordinary.
Unlike ordinary people who are promoted to extraordinary, the psychological shackles formed by Earth Vein Shackles would firmly keep a person in the main world.
“In my opinion, we shouldn’t have just left behind three; at least five would have formed an uninterrupted barrage.”
“Are you sure it’s not because you’re too weak?”
“Who are you calling weak?”
“Three against one and one was still killed; I won’t name names, hum~”
“It’s obvious the opponent understands the Power Network well! Don’t forget that the Wanlian Main Network Tree is something she created from the start…”
“Uh, let’s end this topic for now.” At this moment, someone forcefully interrupted the argument, “Do we really have to keep focusing on Yang Yuelan?”
“This is a matter of principle! She’s a student barely out of her teenage years, stepping onto a platform that took us years of effort to reach. Why does she get to do this? And don’t you notice she shows no respect for us at all? We are her seniors; I just can’t stand her attitude!”
“Is this a matter of principle? I think it’s just your face issue!” At this moment, someone suddenly dismantled the argument.
But the source of the voice came from the dark forest nearby, and everyone stood up in alert, watching the dark figure hidden in the night.
“Who! Who’s there!”
“This voice… Oh, isn’t that Li Feiya? Since it’s Li Feiya, come and sit with us.” At this time, someone recognized this figure who had arrived, or rather, identified her voice.
“Li Feiya? What are you doing here?”
“Why can’t I be here?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be with Yang Yuelan?”
“She’s a lone wolf; she doesn’t want me—what can I do?” Li Feiya walked over to the glowing fire’s orange flames, then sat on a fallen log. Her arrival made many feel uneasy; after all, the name Li Feiya… was known to many.
In the Witch Academy, someone with a title, or nickname, is often someone one shouldn’t mess with. Even a name like Li Feiya, remembered by many, made people very wary.
She was the troublemaker, much like the most unpredictable cat; no one knew when she might show her teeth or scratch someone.
“Don’t know what you’re doing here, Li Feiya?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be asking this question?” Li Feiya leisurely glanced at the person who had spoken.
…
The night passed quickly, sunlight spilled over the land dispelling the darkness; no one knew how many had stayed awake last night.
The hungry crowd had to find other ways to eat in the morning, such as… finding some berries to fill their stomachs, or some non-toxic wild vegetables.
A living person couldn’t possibly starve to d*ath, right?
After a rough meal, many secretly resolved that today they must score well and then head back to town for a good meal!
Who cares about scoring rankings? Nothing is more important than being full!
And at this moment.
Inside Ninglan New City.
I had already woken up in my hotel room, enjoyed a sumptuous breakfast, and diligently practiced meditation and the Enlightenment Meditation Technique as per my daily routine.
The life of a teaching assistant is thus simple and unadorned.
Since teaching assistants had no scoring restrictions, this period was essentially free travel.
After the bounty’s countdown ended last night, it was already evening, so I directly returned to Ninglan New City and checked into a hotel.
Perhaps it was too dark at night or thinking against the grain, no one expected someone would return to the city again; anyway, I returned quite boldly.
In fact, not many noticed my return.
After carefully analyzing the situation, I could roughly guess what had happened: a large batch of people had been fooled into hunting the teaching assistants yesterday, resulting in little to no scoring. Most even considered camping in tents a luxury.
If they returned to town, they might have to sleep on the street; if seen by acquaintances, they might be laughed at, but camping out in the wild with a campfire would still allow them to claim they were “camping.”
Of course, more importantly, after the bounty’s positioning failed, it was far too difficult to find anyone in the vast crowd.
“Hey, wait, is that white-haired figure over there Yang Yuelan?”
“She should be a supporter with dyed white hair; Yang Yuelan is a teaching assistant. Would she dare appear in Ninglan New City?”
“But she really looks a lot like her…”
“Should we go have a look?”
As I appeared in the plaza of Ninglan New City, many curious gazes fell upon me.
At this moment, I truly understood the first recognition against common knowledge: seeking the truth about someone is often hindered by preconceived notions, and only greater stimuli and external interference can encourage someone to attempt to discover the possibility of truth.
“It does look a bit like her…”
“But why isn’t she running? It seems she turned back and saw us. If she is really Yang Yuelan, wouldn’t she run away immediately?”
The two girls, filled with doubts, continued to approach.
“Uh… classmate?”
“Classmate?”
“Is there something you need?” I turned to look at them, my tone quite flat; since I couldn’t act in the city, I wasn’t in any rush.
“Uh… someone said your appearance makes it really easy to be mistaken for someone else… are you playing Sister Xiao Han?”
“I only agree with the first half of what you said; I indeed easily get mistaken for someone else.” I replied.
After all, my original appearance often led people to think of me as a member of my own support team…
“Eh? First half? Aren’t you playing Sister Xiao Han?” The two hurriedly followed me as we neared the city gate.
“I’m definitely not acting as Xiao Han.” I naturally stated.
“Not? Then who are you acting as?”
“Um… fine, you misunderstood me; I’m not pretending to be Xiao Han. If the Witch Academy has no other Xiao Han, then I am the Xiao Han you referred to.”
After saying that, I immediately cast Gale Spell on myself and quickly left through the main gate of Ninglan New City, leaving the two gossiping girls stunned at the city gate.
“What?”
“Ah! What did we miss?!”
