CH 4

Lin Xinghe sorted out the rules of the villain school and confirmed that the thing she needs to worry about most is the freshman exam.

After all, she doesn't know what will be tested.

And fear comes from the unknown.

Gu Taoyao also didn't know what exam room Lin Xinghe would be assigned to. All exam rooms are unknown beforehand. She's been at the school for over a year and none of the exam rooms have been the same and the contents have always differed.

But for the sake of keeping Lin Xinghe's heart at ease, Gu Taoyao waited until noon and took Lin Xinghe back to her dorm room during the lunch break. She turned on her computer and opened the exam livestreaming platform.

Lin Xinghe was slightly startled: "There are even livestreams of the exams?"

"Of course there are. If there can be a Plane Mall, then of course there can also be a Plane Audience. We don't know what world these people come from or if they're highly intelligent creatures. They seem to be very interested in our exams. The school also collaborates with them so that each livestream of the exam room is shown to the students and to them. If you perform well in the exam room, you can get rewards from them and the rewards can be converted into points. But these points can only be used for purchases in the Plane Mall and won't count towards your ranking."

"Can our ranking points be used to buy things from the Plane Mall?

"They can, but it's not worth it. Only people who have too many points to waste would spend them in the mall, or people who don't have any defensive skills that can save themselves. For example, our Modern Era Department is ordinary and mediocre. We can only survive by desperately earning points and buying life-saving equipment."

Watching Gu Taoyao search for the livestream of the new students, Lin Xinghe asked a thoughtful question: "The ability to connect with worlds from different planes proves that the science and technology in this world has surpassed our Modern Era Department's understanding. So why are we still using computers and phones? Why not more high-tech products, like optical brains?"

"I had the same question when I came here. Later I learned that our Principal Wang is someone who loves cyberpunk. He's hip and retro. It's clear that the bracelets, which can make holographic projections, can completely replace phones and computers, but they limited most of its functions, giving us no choice but to use the phones and computers..."

Speaking of this, Gu Taoyao said, "Hey. There actually haven't been many new students lately so there are fewer freshman exams. Look, this is the freshman exam of the Ancient Era Department next door. The number of participants is ten. Because of the freshman protection period, there's no elimination system. As long as you can live to the end, you are guaranteed points."

There's an island on the screen.

It is broadcasted from the host's perspective. Surrounded by tall grass, danger seemed to lurk all around and you could faintly hear wolves howling in the distance.

The host is a young woman who appears extremely delicate, maybe because she's from the Ancient Era Department. When the cyan bracelet displayed a pop-up with information about the exam room, she was a little flustered.

The bracelet displayed the exam question⁠—

Please survive on the island for three days.

Gu Taoyao commented: "This is actually pretty decent. It's not difficult because there's no elimination system. As long as she has a good relationship with the other nine freshmen in the Ancient Era Department and can find food and water, she can easily survive three days and get the guaranteed points."

"Xinghe, look at this. The freshman exam of the Western Fantasy Department is a little more difficult. The exam room is set in an ancient battlefield. The exam asks them to infiltrate a battlefield and kill a soldier from the enemy country without using any of their abilities. It's just a soldier, so in the end, it's equivalent to a mob. Killing one is easy for the Western Fantasy Department, but it's too bad that the exam question requires that they don't use their abilities so it's a little more difficult."

Lin Xinghe noticed that the livestream also displayed the number of viewers.

However, there weren't many. The number of people watching the livestream of the freshman exam of the Ancient Era Department was a single digit. Although the number of viewers for the Western Fantasy Department was in the double digits, it was still just in the tens.

Lin Xinghe said, "It looks like it's not easy for newcomers."

Gu Taoyao said, "Generally, very few people watch the Modern Era Department and Ancient Era Department. The Ancient Era Department does slightly better since they have people who know martial arts and poison masters. Some of the highly intelligent creatures like martial arts so there is a fixed audience for the Ancient Era Department. The livestream traffic generally focuses on the A rank and S rank students."

Lin Xinghe got a good grasp of how the exams worked in this school. She said to Gu Taoyao, "You told me a lot. Thank you so much. I'll treat you to dinner."

Gu Taoyao shook her head quickly: "No need, no need. You're new here. You should save your starter points."

Lin Xinghe said, "It's okay. It doesn't seem too hard to collect points. The vendor who sold me the magic potion today said that his broom is worth 50 points. I earned the equivalent of a minimum score on an exam today."

Gu Taoyao: ... *sheds tears of envy*

Before Gu Taoyao could respond, a message popped up on Lin Xinghe's bracelet—

Lin Xinghe, please arrive at Exam Room A on time at 1 o'clock in the afternoon to take the freshman exam. Don't be late. Don't miss the exam. Candidates who miss the exam will be deducted 1,000 points as penalty.

Gu Taoyao saw this message and was stunned. She said: "This is the first time I've seen a freshman exam be carried out so quickly. There's usually a grace period of a few days after being admitted. The shortest period was only a day. Back then it was Xie Wuan from the Xianxia Department. You... This is too fast. Not even half a day..."

Lin Xinghe glanced at the time and said, "There's still half an hour. I'll head to the exam room first. I'll treat you to dinner once I get back."

She waved goodbye to Gu Taoyao and left on the magic broom.

Gu Taoyao sighed with a tinge of emotion⁠—

Her deskmate's mental state was too good.

Actually, Lin Xinghe's mentality has no basis, but no matter how bad a situation is it can turn around with a little bit of good luck. Because of this, she is more confident than the average person. On one hand, she believes in herself, and on the other hand, she believes in her luck.

Besides, she analyzed it. The freshman exam won't be too difficult for her.　　　

Firstly, the freshman exam is limited to Modern Era students; secondly, there is no elimination system; thirdly, she has a magic broom and as long as there are no restrictions on the exam question, it was basically a cheat.

Lin Xinghe went back to her dorm room first and got changed into a uniform that was convenient for moving around.

The wardrobe in the dormitory comes with school uniforms for spring, summer, autumn, and winter. There are skirts and trousers. It's obviously not suitable to take the exam while wearing a skirt, in case you encounter an exam room like the one in the Ancient Era Department's livestream. A skirt would be a burden on the island. Not to mention the mosquito bites, who knows if there are poisonous insects and snakes.

Lin Xinghe thought for a while. Because the exam question is unknown, she has to make adequate preparations.

She pulled out a backpack from the closet and packed some necessities from the dorm, including a flashlight, a lighter, and a thermos.

She rode her magic broom to the cafeteria and found an ordinary supermarket. She spent some points buying some dry food and water. When she left the cafeteria, she smelled the fragrance of meat buns in the air and couldn't help buying two.

Afterwards, she finally rushed to Exam Room A.

Lin Xinghe was the last to arrive.

Exam Room A was an empty plain.

There were currently a total of six people including Lin Xinghe. One of them was clearly a teacher, sitting behind a table with a stern expression.

Lin Xinghe looked at the other four candidates.

Two men and two women. Three of them seemed to be acquainted and were all carrying bulging backpacks. The remaining one seemed a bit timid, shrinking in fear.

"I am your proctor, Mr. Qin. I will oversee this exam room. The exam is about to begin and the exam question will be announced after you enter the exam room."

When his voice fell, a rift appeared in the air.

The three people who knew each other took the lead in entering. The timid girl looked at Lin Xinghe and didn't move. Lin Xinghe has never encountered a space-time rift before and thought it was interesting. She briefly paused in front of it.

The proctor became impatient.

"Don't waste time. Hurry up and enter."

Lin Xinghe stepped into the rift. A burst of bright light flashed before her eyes. After her eyes adapted, she found herself in an icy world with cold, howling winds.

She was surrounded by whiteness. The candidates who entered with her were nowhere to be seen.

At this time, the exam question popped up on her bracelet⁠—

Kill the Snow Woman and come out alive (The use of all magical items is strictly prohibited in this exam room). (1)

Even though Gu Taoyao had classes in the afternoon, she quietly used her phone to open the exam livestreaming platform and entered Lin Xinghe's livestream room.

When she saw the test subject and the setting, she was shocked.

What kind of freshman exam room is this?

For Modern Era students, this can be considered hell mode, right?

The livestreams of the freshman exam of the Modern Era Department have always received little attention, but this excessive difficulty instantly attracted a small group of people, including students and highly intelligent creatures from different planes.

【Are the candidates being targeted? It would be a miracle to survive such a hard exam room.】

【But still, they're just freshmen from the Modern Era Department. Huh? This candidate brought a magic broom. She got a high-level item before she even took the exam. Look, she's got skills. 】

【A magic broom is useless here. Didn't you see the rules of the exam room? Magical items are banned. 】

【... That magic broom was won from my stall. This person is a European Emperor!】(2)

【She's not the only candidate who is lucky. She can't go far on luck alone. Now magical items are banned, she's dressed only in thin clothes and it's super cold, and she has to kill a supernatural creature, the Snow Woman. This is hard.】

Meanwhile in the exam room, Lin Xinghe immediately took out a down jacket from her backpack. After bundling up, she carefully surveyed her environment.

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Footnotes:

(1) Snow Woman: also known as "Yuki-onna"; a spirit or yōkai in Japanese folklore; inhumanly beautiful and an expert at luring unsuspecting people

(2) European Emperor: a gaming term used to refer to a player who is extremely lucky