Chapter 37: Chapter 37: Heading to Tianhai! Don’t Tell Me You’re Level 20?
The atmosphere on the square was extremely tense.
Countless parents were sending their children outside the isolation line, continuously saying things like "Don’t worry" and "It’s okay."
Of course, my own dad was no exception.
Lin Yi even saw his mother, Xu Qingfang, standing behind his dad, her eyes already red and tears constantly streaming down.
He exchanged a few comforting words with the two of them.
Lin Yi waved his hand and smiled, saying, "Just wait for my good news. Turn on the TV, maybe this afternoon, you’ll see me on the screen."
This wasn’t Lin Yi being blindly confident.
It was the Forbidden Curse in his hand that gave him confidence.
No matter how hard this exam might be, surely a single Forbidden Curse won’t fail to solve things, right?
After saying goodbye to his parents, Lin Yi.
Searched for a long time but couldn’t find the gathering spot for his school.
"Ah Yi!!!"
"This way!!"
As Lin Yi was walking, he suddenly heard a familiar loud voice and turned back to look.
He saw the tall Zhang Shan, standing on tiptoes amidst a crowd, waving his hand and shouting in his direction.
Lin Yi didn’t need to search anymore; he quickly joined the large group from Jiangcheng Second High School.
Then, the homeroom teachers of various classes started speaking again.
As usual, they offered a big bowl of motivational words to everyone.
More than ten minutes later, the station’s broadcast informed them.
"All candidates for the 3024 National Unified Entrance Examination for High-level Academies of Practitioners, please note, the special exam trains have all arrived at the station. All units, please organize the candidates to board the trains in an orderly manner!"
"The special train will depart in 30 minutes; please all units organize the candidates to board the train in an orderly manner!"
This day, all other trains in Jiangcheng were suspended in the morning, and only teachers with work badges escorting the exam and candidates were allowed to enter the station.
So, although there were tens of thousands of people taking the exam in Jiangcheng this year, the boarding process remained very smooth.
More than ten minutes later, Lin Yi and his classmates all boarded the special train and sat in their assigned seats.
Upon entering the carriage, Lin Yi discovered that their class was mixed with a class from Minchang First High School—another well-known base city in Dongjiang Province.
The first half of the carriage was occupied by Minchang First High School candidates, while the latter half was occupied by Lin Yi’s Class 8 from Jiangcheng Second High School.
Although the two homeroom teachers didn’t know each other, they were still quite polite because they would not accompany the candidates to Tianhai later.
So, they took this chance before the train departed to say a few final words.
"Alright, students, there’s not much else to say."
"Just one last thing, and this is very important!"
"That is to thoroughly read and remember the exam rules on the back of your admission ticket!"
"You must follow these rules strictly, with no exceptions. Our Xia is extremely strict about cheating and discipline violations. Any breach will result in immediate disqualification from the exam!"
"If the violation is severe, it can even lead to a permanent ban on taking the exam!"
After the homeroom teachers finished speaking, staff outside the train shouted through a loudspeaker.
"All escort staff, please disembark immediately. The special train will depart in five minutes!"
In the end, only 50 to 60 candidates were left in the entire carriage.
The atmosphere was somewhat tense, and given the special moment, no one was chatting idly.
The five minutes passed in the blink of an eye.
Lin Yi heard the sound of bells ringing.
A vibration came from beneath the train.
The train doors fully closed, and the train began to slowly pick up speed.
Upon leaving Jiangcheng Station, a pitch-black tunnel appeared ahead of the train, leading straight underground.
When boarding, everyone had already fastened their seat belts as instructed. As the train entered the tunnel, the direction of travel felt much like free fall.
Or like one of those drop towers Lin Yi had ridden in his previous life.
In any case, it was both novel and exciting.
However, this sense of novelty came quickly and went just as fast.
Because the scenery outside the train remained unchanged.
Only the dim lights and pitch-black walls of the tunnel.
Lin Yi chose to close his eyes and relax.
He had gotten up too early in the morning and still felt somewhat sleep-deprived.
But the classmates from Class 8 sitting around him and the students from Minchang First High School at the front of the carriage began talking among themselves.
Zhang Shan looked at Lin Yi, who had his eyes closed and was relaxing, and swallowed nervously, "I’m so nervous..."
"Ah Yi, let’s chat a bit..."
"Ah Yi, what should I do? I feel like my mind is completely blank. What if I mess up the exam later?"
"My dad will flay me alive!"
Lin Yi found it unbearable.
He opened his eyes, slapped Zhang Shan on the head, and angrily said, "Can you keep it down? Your voice is so loud, aren’t you embarrassed?"
"You were nervous about your job awakening, now you’re nervous about the exam. How the heck did you transfer to the Knight profession?"
Zhang Shan, far from getting angry at Lin Yi’s scolding, showed a twisted smile instead.
He feared Lin Yi pretending to sleep and ignoring him.
Zhang Shan lowered his voice and whispered, "Ah Yi, what level have you reached?"
"I heard from my dad that the specific difficulty of the college entrance exam depends on the level you’re at when you take it. Choosing a higher difficulty naturally means you can earn higher scores and stand out in the exam!"
Lin Yi glanced at Zhang Shan and said helplessly, "How many times have you asked since we boarded? I don’t want to tell you because I’m afraid it might hurt your confidence!"
Zhang Shan: "What, are you underestimating me?"
"No matter what, I grinded my way through those few days when you were emo. Even though I feel like you’ll definitely surpass me if you train seriously later, it shouldn’t be by too much, right?"
Then, Zhang Shan surprisingly threw a Basic Appraisal Skill at Lin Yi.
And he exclaimed.
"What the heck! Appraisal failed?!"
"Ah Yi, are you already at level 20???"
Zhang Shan was currently at level 15.
A regular appraisal skill can usually provide information within 5 levels.
Yet this time, Zhang Shan’s appraisal skill failed.
This indicated that Lin Yi’s level was at least 5 levels higher than his!
Although Zhang Shan previously lowered his voice.
This exclamation directly attracted curious glances from countless other people in the carriage.
Class 8 classmates all showed expressions of surprise on their faces.
"Huh? Lin Yi reached level 20??"
"That can’t be possible!"
"Zhang Shan, that idiot, just said so!"
"He must be mistaken!"
"No way, Zhang Shan is already at level 15. If his appraisal skill failed, it only means Lin Yi is over 5 levels higher!"
"Damn, that’s freakishly high!"
"I’m only level 14!"
"I’m just 13..."
"Are those at level 12 beyond saving?"
"By the way, what level is school beauty Jiang Ya at?"
"I heard she’s at level 19. The teacher even specifically praised her when she went back to get her admission ticket the other day!"
"So from that point of view, seems like she’s been surpassed by Lin Yi again!"
"Ahem, being ’surpassed’, tell us more?"
"Seems a bit tragic for her, on the day of awakening, everyone thought she finally beat Lin Yi once. Now, it seems, in terms of levels, she lost again..."
"Lin Yi, this Great Demon King, still as arrogant as ever back in the day..."
Jiang Ya listened to her classmates’ discussions around her.
She felt much more serene inside now.
Because of Lin Yi’s recent achievement of topping the global dungeon’s Hall of Fame.
Besides her, none of the other classmates knew about it.
Compared to such a supreme honor.
What does having a higher level really matter...
But at this moment, the heated discussion from Class 8 actually provoked the ridicule of the Minchang First High School students at the front of the carriage.
"Isn’t this just what you’d expect from the backward education standards of a level-five base city... so funny, showing off at level 20?"