"Students, summer vacation is just around the corner, and I can't bear the thought of not seeing my dear students for almost two months. My heart is filled with reluctance, and the emotion of parting has kept me tossing and turning at night for several days..."
On the podium, a woman in her thirties with a touch of makeup, wearing a black ladies' suit and black-framed glasses, spoke with a sorrowful expression full of reluctance.
But no matter how hard she performed, all the students below slightly bowed their heads in a serene Zen-like state, as if meditating.
"Wang Lan, what big move do you think Extinction Master is holding back today?"
"To deal with us, does she even need to hold back a big move? With Extinction Master's BOSS level, just one glare from her is enough to empty our health bars. Logically, our class did well on the exams, so Extinction Master should show some mercy."
"Did well? That's just you, isn't it?"
In the back row, Wang Lan and his best friend Zhang Hao, who had been desk mates for two years, had already perfected a method of Morse code communication that allowed them to exchange messages silently or with minimal sound, sometimes telling dirty jokes.
"After much thought, I've decided to give each student a parting gift. The gift may be small, but it's the thought that counts. During the summer vacation, whenever students see the gift from me, they'll be reminded of me. After class, the boys should come to my office to carry them."
"I have a bad feeling about this..."
"Me too!"
"This final exam was a citywide mock college entrance exam in Suzhou City. Our class... did fairly well. We had three students in the top ten for the entire city, and our class ranked first in average scores, with a 77% pass rate for the top university admission tier."
"YAY—" The heavy atmosphere suddenly relaxed; they had thought Extinction Master was up to her tricks again.
"It's right to be happy, but there's no need to be proud of our performance. We are Class One of Suzhou No.1 Middle School. It's only natural to get these results. But is that enough? This was just a mock exam, not the actual college entrance exam. And who will our real competitors be in the actual exam? Those small fry from Suzhou City? No! It's all of Jiang Province.
"Tong City's seven high schools have held Jiang Province's top college entrance exam spots for thirteen years, and no one has been able to shake their status. Students, do you have the confidence to challenge Tong City's dominance in a year's time?
"WOW what? A hundred years is too long—we only fight for the day. This isn't the neighboring Star Martial Arts Campus. Whether your future path is a broad avenue or a thorny road depends on the college entrance exam, which is less than a year away.
"Getting into a good university is how you secure a future worth speaking of. Think about your parents. Compare those who commute to work through wind and snow on e-bikes to those who drive to work and sip coffee in their offices.
"Your talents are all the same. None of you are Star Martial Warriors, yet the difference in your future lives could be night and day. Why? Because of effort. Because those who live comfortable lives once worked harder than those who commute in harsh weather.
"The college entrance exam is the battlefield that can change your life, even determine your entire future. Win, and you'll have wealth and glory; lose, and you can only pin your hopes on the next generation. That is, if you even have a next generation."
This time, Class One did well, so the thirty-year-old single homeroom teacher didn't explode but merely delivered a lesson filled with motivational speech.
The dose of motivational speech was enough, quite satisfying.
As the bell for the end of class rang, Wang Lan took out a box of milk from his drawer. At an age where he was still growing, Wang Lan was quite concerned about his height from his previous life. In this life, he was determined not to be short again.
"Can you still eat? Haven't you had enough of Extinction Master's motivational speech?"
"Rat, that might be motivational speech to you, but to me, it's poison. I can meet Extinction Master's demands with my eyes closed. I didn't take in a single sip of her speech."
"Uh, Lan, I'll excuse myself for a moment."
"Hmm?" A strong sense of killing intent suddenly loomed over Wang Lan's head like a dark cloud.
Wang Lan looked up to find several good buddies and some top-notch students from the class gathering around him.
Cornered, Wang Lan shrank back against the wall. "My esteemed classmates... may I ask what brings you here?"
"What brings us here? Your Excellency, the Academic God, do you know how many points you scored in this citywide mock exam?"
"Four hundred... four hundred and sixty... what about it?" Wang Lan was quite pleased with such a high score, but hey, life is all about showing off, right? Without a bit of pretense, where's the fun in life?
So the more incredible others found it, the more nonchalant he had to act.
Just ask these guys here. After every exam, didn't every one of them exclaim how badly they'd bombed it?
But when the scores came out, each of them was somewhere between three hundred ninety-something and over four hundred. This bunch were all posers.
"What about it? You have the gall to ask that? Out of a perfect score of five hundred, you scored four hundred sixty? You tell me, what about it?"
"Last year, the admission scores for Yanda and Jingda were four hundred and seven. Tell me, why bother exerting so much effort on a mock exam? Aren't you afraid you might hurt yourself?"
"Wolfie, look what you've done, you've inflated Extinction Master's ego so much! She's even planning to challenge the dominion of the seven high schools in Tong City. After discussion, the class committee has decided: for the whole of senior year, your total score must not exceed the second place by more than ten points. Otherwise, on behalf of Li Dameiren, I'll take you down."
"Damn!" Wang Lan, faced with someone who looked even more brutish than Li Kui, immediately flipped him the bird.
"I think a verbal warning won't be very effective. Maybe we should..."
"Makes sense..."
About a dozen of them were top students of the class, any of whom could potentially fight for the second spot. But alas, even if they beat everyone else, they could only ever hope to be second best.
Because above their heads reigned a Demon King they could never surpass—an academic god worshipped by a hundred thousand elementary school students in Suzhou City, already deified while alive.
"Esteemed masters, hold on, don't do anything rash! Let's talk this out, just hear me out..." Wang Lan felt a bit intimidated when he saw the situation.
"Explain? What more is there to explain? We've put up with you hogging first place for years, but constantly rubbing our faces in the dirt is something we simply cannot bear. Choose: either treat us to milk tea or get roughed up."
"Can I have both?" Wang Lan's face broke into a lecherous grin. "I'll treat you all to milk tea, and let Li Dameiren and the others do the roughing up..."
"Hey? That could work!" Wang Xuebin stroked his chin in contemplation.
"Ugh! Wang Lan, you're picking up bad habits too," several girls blushed and retorted.
"Alright, alright, no more joking. I'm serious too. All these years, constantly crushing you all hasn't been very sportsmanlike. Treating the whole class to milk tea as an apology is only right. I'll order delivery; lunch today is on me.
"But as for not outperforming you in future tests... that's a bit difficult for me. You're all the pride of Greater Su City, high school prodigies; any one of you could unleash your potential and shoot to the top...
"But alas, I'm merely mortal. Even if I wanted to go easy on you, my abilities wouldn't let me. Take this time, for instance. Scoring over 480 wasn't supposed to be that hard. I intentionally got one question wrong, thinking I'd leave you all some dignity.
"But... I didn't expect you to be so fragile. I gave you an ocean of leeway and still overestimated you all..."
Initially, the pack of academic aces could somewhat agree; everyone's performance and ability were quite similar. Even though the ranks from second to fifteenth seemed widely spaced, the actual score margins never exceeded ten points.
But by the end of that speech, those aces were livid.
Listen to that! Was that something a human being would say? What did he mean by 'I gave you an ocean of leeway and still overestimated you all'?
The atmosphere turned deathly still for a moment, as murderous intent simmered in the eyes of the students before him.
"What are we waiting for? Get him—"
The mood in the classroom instantly livened up. The academic aces fully unleashed their playful sides, and the other students weren't about to miss out. Boys and girls surged forward together; the chance to get their hands on the academic god was rare and too good to pass up.
BUZZ— "Congratulations to the Host for completing the Great Perseverance Trial: First place in one thousand consecutive exams, lasting six years and nine months. The Destiny System has successfully activated. Initializing system startup..."
A notification suddenly sounded in Wang Lan's mind. In that very instant of the system's activation, it was as if his soul detached from his body.
His physical form was being lovingly caressed by youthful hands and embraced by the soft chests of young girls. Meanwhile, his soul descended into his Spiritual Sea of Consciousness, eagerly awaiting the full activation of the Destiny System.
In reality, the Destiny System had appeared when Wang Lan was seven years old. As a transmigrator, he naturally accepted the system's existence. After all, a golden finger is standard issue for transmigrators.
But this Destiny System was a bit capricious. Before it could be activated, one had to complete a trial. Only by passing this test could the system be enabled.
Back then, Wang Lan was so thrilled he was bouncing on his bed, thinking the apex of his life was right before his eyes. But upon seeing the trial's test question, he was dumbfounded.
"As a person of destiny, you must embody great wisdom, great perseverance, and great fortune. To pass the Destiny Trial, you must choose one of these three aspects and complete its task.
"The Task of Great Wisdom: The chaotic openings of the Different Dimensional Space and the mystery of the Demon Clan's origin have troubled human civilization for thousands of years. Countless Pioneers have entered the Different Dimensional Space, risking their lives. The Demon Clan has invaded our human world time and again.
"Wise youth, use your brilliant intellect to unravel all these mysteries!"
Unravel my grandma's footbinding cloth! A problem that has stumped the entire world for millennia, one that millennia of concerted research by all of human civilization hasn't solved, and you want a child like me to unravel it? Have some freaking shame!
"The Trial of Great Perseverance: As a person of destiny, you cannot rely solely on fate to achieve greatness. You must exert effort unimaginable to ordinary people and possess perseverance beyond their reach.
"In any examination or competition, strive for first place. Achieve first place one thousand consecutive times to pass the trial. There can be no interruptions; if the streak is broken even once, all progress resets to zero."
A thousand consecutive first-place finishes? Are you for real? Though I wasn't a slacker in my previous life, I was certainly no prodigy either. Just thinking about a thousand consecutive firsts made me feel utterly dejected.
"The Trial of Great Fortune: As a person of destiny, you must be accompanied by great fortune. Purchase one lottery ticket and win the top-tier grand prize. If multiple tickets are purchased, only the first one bought will be considered. Young man, go forth and take on this trial. Prove that you are the one most favored by the heavens, the luckiest lad of all."
Seeing this one, Wang Lan just wanted to slam the table.
One lottery ticket, seven numbers, winning a top-tier grand prize. What were the odds of that again? Is this even a task a human could accomplish?
After much deliberation, Wang Lan eventually decided that the second trial, the test of great perseverance, was the only one a mortal could possibly complete. The first and third ones? You've got to be freaking kidding me...