Chapter 343: Promoted
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_
The confederation had spared no expenses in making sure that the test was effective in picking the gem out of the sand.
As the students signed into the virtual space, they found themselves in a bleak-looking ancient battleground, as they waited impatiently for their turn of the test. Since there were no details of the test posted, no one knew what it entailed.
“Attention everyone, the test will start momentarily. The top ten contestants of the test would earn the right to enter the play-off directly, without partaking in the qualification matches.”
Outside Yalen’s simulation room stood Zhou Sisi and the friends of the other contestants. Although Zhou Sisi was certain that Wang Tong would pass the test as long as it involved straightforward fighting, she was anxious for him, fearing that it would be tricky and require the contestant to use their brains more than their muscles.
The crowd inside of the simulation room boiled over after hearing the announcement. The reward for acing the test was tempting.
“Right now, you are at the starting location of your test, and before you is a maze filled with Zergs and virtual fighters. Your goal is to get out of this maze as quickly as possible, or kill as many monsters and vital fighters as possible. You will be graded in terms of both speed and number of kills. Only the top ten contestants will pass the test. The maze will open in five minutes. May the odds be in your favor!”
As the announcement faded away, the students saw a giant clock appear in the sky.
Outside the simulation room, the screen displayed a map with groups of shimmering dots, with each dot representing one player.
As soon as the clock started ticking, the contestants swarmed towards the entrance of the maze. However, there were a few fighters, such as the four inner court disciples, who didn’t seem to be in a hurry.
Wang Tong and Hu Yangxuan didn’t join the excited crowd either, as they waited for the crowd to dissipate. After a while, Wang Tong announced, “Let’s start!”
Hu Yangxuan nodded, and then the two disappeared into the maze.
Once the two stepped through the threshold, they found themselves alone in the maze—the virtual system had automatically switched to single mode. Inside the labyrinth, the system had made sure that the challenge was fair but unique to everyone.
The Inner Court Disciples were unruffled when they find out that they were separated from each other, since it did not affect the difficulty for them anyways.
This test format was not uncommon. However, the current test was much more intense than any other similar test the students had undertaken.
Wang Tong didn’t want to waste too much time on the test, as he had seen through the illusions in the maze with ease.
Outside the testing room, the crowd watched as a couple hundred dots on the screen moved directly towards the exit; those players could see through the illusion of the maze just like Wang Tong did.
However, among the couple hundred who were heading towards the right direction, some could only detect the path right in front of them, and others could see the path miles away clearly in their head. The further they could see, the more time they would be able to save.
That being said, even if the contestant was able to wade through the illusions efficiently, they still had to face the real challenge, that was the Zergs and the fighter bots.
The Zergs and bots were powerful foes, even though their numbers were kept at the minimum. They were placed at strategic locations, so that an encounter was inevitable.
A few dozen out of the couple hundred contestants slowly outpaced the rest and formed the leading group.
The Tactics of the Blade was the bane of all illusions, and even the master of all illusions— the Enchantress—was helpless in front of Wang Tong, much less the illusions created by AI. To Wang Tong, differentiating the illusion from reality had already become an instinct.
Wang Tong darted towards the exit without taking any detours. All the while, he was eager to beat up some Zergs.
In addition to Wang Tong, a dozen others, including Li Shiming, were able to see through the illusionary walls with ease too, and they ran straight towards the exit.
Wang Tong soon met his first opponent —a virtual bot. The bot had about level four soul energy; it would be a tough opponent for any contestants except for Wang Tong.
With a single strike, Wang Tong had ended the bot’s service life; the bot exploded behind Wang Tong, who had already pressed on. Cool guys wouldn’t look at explosions after all.
In a different virtual space, Li Shiming had also just finished his first opponent and was on his way again.
In addition to Wang Tong and Li Shiming, the four inner court disciples also saw through the illusions and stormed directly towards the exit. So determined they were in achieving the best results in the test that they were leading the first formation.
The four didn’t bring their weapon with them, but it did not slow them down.
Li Ruoer had quickly made her way to the front of the line. The illusion was mere child’s play for her. About twenty contestants had formed the leading group, and they would be competing for the top ten.
Ten minutes later, Li Shiming had finally made his way to the exit. As he stepped out of the maze, the system disengaged the single mode, and Li Shiming saw someone else was already there waiting for him.
“Brother Zhang Buyu, long time no see.”
“Brother Li, our master asked me to send your father a message. He missed your lord father a lot, and looked forward to having another round of Go with him.”
“I will deliver the message for you. Father had been busy. Otherwise, he would have already visited Master Huang.”
Zhang Buyu nodded, then he heard footsteps coming from the direction of the maze exit.
“Brother Zhang! Brother Li! How long have you been waiting? Ah! I am exhausted!” Ye Kai rushed out of the maze and smiled broadly.
Since Li Shiming had also attended the Templar’s Court before, the disciples didn’t mind calling him “brother.”
As soon as Ye Kai walked out of the exit, Li Ruoer followed suit.
“Nice to see you, Sister Li!” Ye Kai smiled at Li Ruoer.
Li Ruoer acknowledged Ye Kai with a nod, then she cast a knowing glance at her brother. The four waited at the exit for the rest of the six contestants, who would join them at the finals.
The fifth contestant that went through the exit was a fighter who looked like in his early twenties. He was followed by Yao Bai, Wu Gang, and the others. Turbolix was the ninth player that emerged out from the exit.
Li Ruoer stared at the exit expectantly, wondering why it took Wang Tong so long to finish the test.
Finally, Li Ruoer watched as Wang Tong sauntered through the gate. The exit shut off immediately behind Wang Tong, signifying the end of the test for top ten contestants.
Many strong fighters, such as Wang Ben, were not included in the top ten list. Instead of speed, he favored complete annihilation of Zergs and bots in the Maze, and therefore, he didn’t make it to the top ten regarding speed.
As if Wang Tong had felt Li Ruoer’s stare, he looked towards the Enchantress, who immediately looked away. Her expression was cold as ever. Among all the hotshots, Wang Tong felt he had once again become a no account. Many of the top ten players had no idea who this boy was, as they had been expecting Wang Ben or other elite fighters from S-Class academies.
“Hi, are you friends with Brother Hu?” Ye Kai asked.
“Are you always so talkative?” Wang Tong replied with a question.
Embarrassed by Wang Tong’s comment, Ye Kai scratched his head, trying to find words in his mouth. “Ah…Haha…hmm… I like to make new friends, that’s all.”
“Haha, don’t mind me, I was just kidding!” Wang Tong laughed.
“Come here, Ye Kai!” Wu Gang called Ye Kai over to him, as he didn’t want him to talk to a stranger who could potentially be their opponent.
“Fine, brother!” Wu Gang’s command seemed to have taken the wind out of Ye Kai’s sail as he plodded back to his group.
The ten players waited for a few minutes, and a gate opened up in front of them. They couldn’t see anything through the gate except for light.
As the ten players stepped into the light, they were greeted with cheers and applause. They had earned their ticket to the final matches on the moon.
Zhou Sisi walked to Wang Tong and said, “I knew you could do it!”
“Haha, thanks! Should we wait for Hu Yangxuan?”
