[Real World, Site 13]
'Is the production team being lazy again? A single flashback skips over half a month of the storyline!'
'Hey, The Stars is already pretty good for inserting flashbacks into the main episode. A certain anime inserts the main episode into its flashbacks~ (dog head)'
'I feel it's not as good as that certain "Death God Elementary Schooler" who has been in the first grade for over a decade.'
Despite the complaining, when the scene froze on Tendo standing in the midst of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood in the Barren Bone Canyon, the bullet screen comments uniformly displayed '666'.
After all, if this were anyone else who just got their license and immediately led a team to conquer a fallen zone, people would definitely complain about the battle power collapsing.
But when it happened to Tendo, the dimensional audience felt it was entirely reasonable.
From Season One until now, Tendo had proven countless times:
If he sets his mind to doing something, he will definitely succeed, without exception.
The flashback ended, and the screen returned to the crowd in the plaza.
Sunlight filtered through the clouds and fell upon the students' faces, half bright and half shadowed, exactly mirroring their current moods.
Although they could not see the spectacle Tendo had achieved through the Dimensional Screen like the audience could, news about 'Tendo conquering a fallen zone' had already spread like wildfire among the students.
With Tendo as an example, those students who had previously complained about 'entering the fallen zone too early' all chose to keep their mouths shut.
If one of their peers had already done it, complaining now would only make them look incompetent.
The Otter Administrator squatted on the edge of the floating platform, playing with a golden bell in its paws. Looking at the now quiet crowd below, it suddenly chuckled.
"Alright, everyone. Honestly, instead of worrying about whether you can pass this trial, I think what you need to worry about is whether you even qualify to participate in this trial."
"Qualify?"
Hearing the Otter Administrator's words, a girl in a blue and white training uniform in the crowd couldn't help but frown and ask, "Didn't we all pass the qualifying round to get in? What other qualifications do we need?"
The Otter Administrator didn't keep them guessing.
"Little girl, the qualifying round is just an admission ticket; the fallen zone trial is a real battlefield."
As it spoke, the Otter Administrator finally stood up straight, its black suit whipping in the wind, and its tone suddenly became serious.
"As a human exclusion zone heavily marked by the Star Envoy Association, entering a fallen zone requires not only a certain level of strength but also a certain level of survival ability."
"And here at the Heavenly Martial Training Base, there is only one type of person who is authorized to explore the fallen zone, and that is a 'Fallen Zone Explorer' certified by us."
"So..."
The Otter Administrator paused deliberately, its gaze sweeping over the students whose faces instantly paled, and it slowly threw out the answer.
"...The Explorer Certification. Without this certificate, you won't even be able to touch the coastline of Longevity Isle, which means you are not qualified to participate in this trial."
Boom!
As soon as the Otter Administrator said this, the plaza instantly erupted.
Some frantically pulled out their terminals to search for the certificate, some anxiously grabbed their companions' arms asking, 'Did you take the test?', and others simply collapsed onto the ground.
"How could this be... No one told me I needed to take this test!"
A Yellow-class student was on the verge of tears. His terminal screen was still stuck on the 'Explorer Assessment Registration Interface,' and he hadn't even downloaded the materials for the first stage.
Hearing this, the Otter Administrator smiled, pointing its paw toward the notice board in the corner of the plaza.
A yellowed piece of paper was pasted there. The top was written in bold Star Energy font: 'Explorer Assessment is held once a week; no late entries will be accepted.' A detailed registration process was drawn below it.
Some things don't have to be told to you before you do them; you need to discover them yourself.
At the same time, Tendo leaned against the railing, watching the chaos before him with a very relaxed demeanor.
Not explicitly stating the importance of the Explorer Certification was, in itself, part of the assessment.
After all, when facing an unknown fallen zone, no one can or will tell you beforehand what dangers lie within and what will happen; you need to explore it yourself.
Currently, out of five hundred students, only about fifty had acquired the certificate in advance.
In other words, if the trial were to begin now, only fifty people in the entire crowd could participate.
Fortunately, the Otter Administrator wasn't completely heartless.
It looked up at the sun overhead and said seemingly unintentionally, "The trial begins tomorrow. As long as you can obtain the Explorer Certification, even if it's just the apprentice qualification, before tomorrow, you can still participate in this trial."
"And today... is the day for this week's Explorer Assessment."
With that, the Otter Administrator shook the golden bell again, the crisp ringing suppressing the noise in the plaza.
"So, if you go take the test now, you might still make it. Whether you catch up is up to your own ability."
Upon hearing this, everyone in the plaza sprang into action.
The crowd surged toward the assessment center like a tide, and the previously neat formation completely disintegrated.
Gazing at the mass of people rushing away, Caroline looked up, her emerald pupils reflecting Tendo's figure: "Tendo, how many people do you think will ultimately participate in this trial?"
Tendo thought for a moment before giving a relatively conservative number.
"By a generous estimate, there should be close to two hundred."
"Two hundred?"
Caroline nodded, her fingers quickly sliding across her tactical tablet.
Soon, the screen displayed dense records of student information—
These files detailed everything from the students' family backgrounds and Star Source types, even clearly noting some people's hidden special abilities.
Although the primary danger in this trial would come from the hazards on Longevity Isle, a fallen zone, the human heart is complex. Among the accompanying students, there might be some who would obstruct them.
As a Mech Star Envoy, Caroline was accustomed to planning for the worst.
Strategically despise the enemy, tactically respect the enemy.
Caroline never let down her guard simply because the enemy was 'weak.'
In the lingering glow of the morning, the figures in the plaza gradually thinned out. Only the Star Energy flags continued to wave in the wind.
The Longevity Isle trial had yet to begin, but a competition regarding qualifications and survival had already quietly unfolded in the corners of the Heavenly Martial Training Base.
Few knew that this trial was not only an assessment for this batch of students.
It was also the malicious prank of a certain old man, driven by some unknown purpose.
For an elder like him, if he didn't occasionally get out and move around, his body might just fall apart...
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