DHMB - Chapter 2
Chapter 2
With only the last minute of preparation time remaining, Kai Yun directly put away her sign and stood up, clearly preparing to tackle the instance alone.
"Ah, this child, why did she give up?"
Seeing this, the invigilator sighed, seemingly already anticipating her tragic future.
He casually pulled up the student roster for this examination room and found that there weren't many familiar names, indicating that the top tier of students hadn't been assigned to this room.
"Her luck is pretty good; there are no star players in this room."
"...However, it's not the top players who determine how long the cannon fodder survives."
While the battles between top students were fierce, the academic underachievers... no, among the individual combat departments of the major famous universities, there were no academic underachievers in the conventional sense.
Kai Yun didn't know if her luck in matching opponents was good, but her luck in matching maps wasn't great.
The assessment map assigned to their examination room was a jungle.
The jungle contained countless mutated creatures skilled at camouflage and possessing strong attack power, many of which appeared in groups. This was very unfriendly to individual players.
Through the hazy mist, the starting point of this match could be seen, densely covered with a patch of variant trees.
Kai Yun was very familiar with those variant trees because there were quite a few on her Rebuilt Barren Star. What looked like a green canopy was actually fiercely aggressive, launching a massive strangulation attack as soon as any creature entered its hunting range. The tightening force of the vines was comparable to a strong python, and their surface was rough, easily cutting the prey's skin. Then, using a layer of anesthetic mucus attached to the surface, they would cause the prey to give up resistance.
If someone's limbs were bound and there was no one to rescue them, they could only voluntarily give up their life.
While she was lost in thought, a line of golden text floated across the top of the screen. Everyone's expression turned serious, and they all assumed combat stances, looking solemnly towards the entrance.
"The first match of the 389th Alliance Military Academy Tournament officially begins. The rules for this examination room are now being read:
"Method of judgment for this match: Points
"Methods of obtaining points: Killing other participants (3 points), important assist kills (1 point); killing or assisting in killing large variant creatures (system automatically determines, 1-3 points); team ranking upon reaching the finish line (the top three teams receive 30, 20, and 10 points respectively); other marked bonus points.
"Note: This match is a team match, and all team members share the points.
"End condition: Reaching the finish line (location of the light pillar).
"Match duration: 0-24 hours..."
In summary, this was an assessment that allowed for multiple approaches: PVP (killing others), PVE (killing variant creatures), or purely single-player skill display (using Lightness Skill to sprint to the finish line).
Excelling in any one mode, or combining all three, offered a possibility of advancing, depending on how the team chose to proceed.
Kai Yun was still waiting for the rules to finish being read when the screen suddenly changed. The white mist disappeared directly, and a row of variant trees appeared before everyone without any obstruction.
In the three seconds before the start of the tournament, no one made any move.
Everything was very harmonious, like an easter egg quietly waiting for someone to break the peace.
Kai Yun's eyes turned curiously.
This seemed like it would be a friendly examination room, with everyone cooperating to seek maximum benefit or something...
Three seconds later...
"Hahaha!"
A tall, muscular young man beside Kai Yun suddenly moved. He directly condensed his internal energy in his hand and, with lightning speed, punched the ground.
It was no exaggeration to say that this person possessed the strength to lift mountains and carry cauldrons. With the assistance of internal energy, he caused the ground to tremble.
Normally, such a tremor wouldn't affect the students' footing, but now it awakened the dormant tree vines.
Immediately, the green vines all flew up like unleashed pythons, throwing the scene into extreme chaos.
Some students with unstable stances began to sway. While dodging, they were sneak-attacked by insidious opponents, caught off guard and knocked to the ground, then met by the whipping and coiling tree vines.
"Since you're here today, none of you are leaving!" the muscular instigator roared excitedly, "Let's share the hardship together and fail together!"
Everyone was enraged.
"Who the hell wants to fail with you! Are you out of your damn mind?"
"Can't you say hello to your schoolmates before you act? Damn it, I'm from the same military academy as you, and you screwed me over!"
"It's First Military Academy! The people from First Military Academy made the first move! Everyone, don't hold back, charge!"
Even the variant trees couldn't stop the crowd's anger. Escaping wasn't important at all; they had to take down the opponent's dog head first!
The strong young man claimed they would fail and be happy together, but after sending a bunch of examinees to become fertilizer for the variant trees without reservation, he himself stood steady. Seeing the other students attacking him, he remained calm and composed. Pointing at himself, he boasted shamelessly:
"Your dad is Lei Kaiding, remember my name!"
Everyone was furious: "You beast! Grandson! If you've got guts, stand there and don't move!"
Perhaps inspired by Lei Kaiding, a group of strong, muscular boxers followed suit, taking advantage of the chaos to snatch kills and assists.
Under the powerful pounding of the boxers, the vines seemed enraged and began attacking even more frantically.
To rescue their teammates who were unfortunately caught, the examinees could only desperately hack them off.
For a time, blades and sword energy flew wildly, causing large-scale friendly fire. Screams and curses were endless.
Blood quickly stained the muddy ground at the entrance, and the variant trees began their secondary growth under the stimulation.
Indeed, military academy students would act like military academy students, exactly as her master had said. This examination room was filled with lunatics who would have simultaneous episodes and were incapable of cooperating with each other.
Kai Yun felt relieved.
Over there, Lei Kaiding, who had caused the trouble, saw that the situation was just right. The unlucky cannon fodder had been cleared out, and the remaining examinees were too busy with themselves. It was the perfect time to break free. He winked at his teammates: "Get ready to go!"
Several teammates nodded and quietly moved closer to him. At the same time, they drew the weapons from behind them, fully clearing a path for him.
Lei Kaiding, surrounded in the middle, suddenly raised his head and revealed an arrogant and wicked smile.
He had practiced this smile countless times in the mirror, striving to achieve a look that was both free of greasiness and fully displayed dominance.
Because, a smile—was the declaration of every victor, and it was a required course specially tailored for him.
Although he was only a sophomore, he was already a seed player secretly cultivated by First Military Academy. His mission for this exam was to win with high profile. The higher the profile, the better. It didn't matter if he attracted negative attention at the start; as long as he displayed extraordinary skill in the later practical combat stage, public opinion could be reversed.
After all, martial arts respected the strong.
He wanted everyone to see what strength was, what a dark horse was. He also wanted to prove to everyone that the future star of First Military Academy was none other than him!
Based on his outstanding performance at the start, the main camera for the examination room should be focused on him right now.
Ha!
Lei Kaiding's teammates behind him noticed his severe narcissism acting up again and urged him repeatedly, enduring the embarrassment: "Lao Lei, let's go quickly!"
Lei Kaiding grunted and said in a grand manner: "I'll lead you through the encirclement! Follow me closely!"
Although he was large and played the role of a close-combat boxer with relatively less agility in the team, few people knew that, contrary to his physique, his Lightness Skill was equally outstanding.
With his burly figure, he couldn't achieve the ethereal, flowing movements of a celestial being when using Lightness Skill, but he could certainly move smoothly like flowing clouds and water.
Lei Kaiding quickly adjusted his posture, took a running start, gathered his energy, and leaped, rushing to the very front to clear the way.
Unlike ordinary Lightness Skill, his carried a momentum of repulsion, like a fierce tiger, landing in the middle of the battlefield without the slightest carelessness.
Lei Kaiding circulated his internal energy to his feet, keeping his upper body upright to ensure his posture was good for the camera. At the same time, he channeled energy into his hands, punching away the vines that attacked him.
His punches were as fast as lightning, actually clearing a path in the chaos.
With a smooth start, Lei Kaiding's confidence grew significantly.
Camera! He needed the camera!
"Go! We'll take the first place without ceremony! I'll go to the finish line to get the ranking points and then come back to play with you guys!"
Lei Kaiding's final words were still lingering in his mouth when a faster figure flashed past him.
That person had long black hair and a large backpack on their back. Their physique was probably only half as slender as his.
Their ability to stay airborne was excellent, so they appeared light and airy, moving through the variant tree forest completely unimpeded, like a swift swallow, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Lei Kaiding was just stunned there.
He recalled the scene just now and realized that he couldn't even discern the other person's footwork. The variant trees that had trained a crowd of examinees to howl in pain couldn't even get close to her body.
Compared to her Lightness Skill, his movements just now were clumsy.
That's right, how did that person dodge it?
...So who the hell was that?
Suddenly, a long whip cracked by his ear. Lei Kaiding heard his teammate shout in exasperation: "What are you doing? Is this a time to be spacing out?"
Lei Kaiding realized his lapse in concentration with a start and quickly refocused his attention. Then, the examinees nearby had already attacked, their eyes red with the desire for revenge. Lei Kaiding's team's formation immediately began to fall into disarray.
"Retreat, retreat, retreat! Reorganize the team!" Lei Kaiding's rhythm was completely disrupted, and he said irritably: "Let's break through safely first!"
"Alright, what a thrilling start!"
The invigilator outside the arena clapped excitedly. The more chaotic the situation, the more he liked it. It would be best if the tearing was even louder.
It was a pity that the camera had been focused entirely on the dramatic Lei Kaiding just now. By the time it switched to Kai Yun, she had already successfully reached the edge of the variant zone, missing the most exciting part.
So most viewers didn't see her Lightness Skill debut. By the time they noticed her, she had already pulled away from the forces behind her. And the protagonist was still walking leisurely on a small path, pulling up her military pants that she wasn't quite used to wearing.
The crowd was confused and questioned in the comment section.
"Definitely a broadcast error, I didn't see anything at all."
"Is it just my imagination? Or is it because I haven't seen a beauty in a closed training area for too long, I actually feel like..."
"What's going on? Instant transmission? It's impossible to get out of the variant zone that fast, right? Is there a bug in the map?"
"Could it be that the variant trees have a preference for beauty?"
As if to compensate for the oversight, the live stream administrator for this examination room directly made Kai Yun the center of attention, giving her a close-up shot, with the perspective suspended above and behind her, constantly moving with her actions.
Therefore, it inevitably captured her bouncing backpack.
The viewers and the administrator narrowed their eyes, looking at the suspicious backpack in unison. They seemed to see a black handle-like object, possibly a pot handle, through the zipper that wasn't fully closed...
Then, the administrator's mischievous little hand clicked on Kai Yun's backpack storage details. A row of white text floated on the upper right of the screen.
"Tomatoes, free-range eggs, lard, salt..."
The comment section fell into a strange silence for a few seconds.
The invigilator slowly typed a "?" in his confusion.
Who doesnt bring snack is missing out
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