Xie Sen sat in the co-pilot seat of Maine's shuttle. Thinking of the Botany Department's exam schedule, he asked curiously, "Didn't you take your graduation exam yesterday? Why are you going today?"
Maine set the route and tilted his head to answer, "The Information Department has three days of exams."
So it's the Information Department, Xie Sen thought to himself, then laughed, "We Botany Department students finished our exams in just one morning. It's much easier than you."
Maine looked at him with a complicated expression, "Don't you know that Botany has the easiest coursework of all the departments?"
Xie Sen laughed to cover it up. How could he forget? He never knew.
The shuttle landed in the school parking lot. Xie Sen said, "My exam room is in Building 8. What about you?"
"Building 1, in the opposite direction."
"Is that so? Then we'll go our separate ways. I need to check out my shuttle first," Xie Sen said. "By the way, let's exchange contact information!"
Maine nodded. After exchanging contact information, he entered the school first.
Xie Sen used the traffic app to locate the shuttle. It was light blue, the most common style on the street.
He noted the location, exited the parking lot, opened the school map, located Building 8, and followed the map to the exam room.
Shortly after entering the school, Xie Sen sensed something was amiss. Passing classmates constantly looked surprised, and most of his peers would look at him and whisper something.
He faintly heard words like "neither male nor female," "suicidal," "loner," and "stay away from him."
He rolled his eyes. These people probably didn't realize their words had caused someone to vanish from this world.
"Boy, how dare you roll your eyes at me!" A boy with a maroon crew cut, over 5 feet 4 inches tall, stepped in front of Xie Sen and spoke angrily.
He wore a loose orange shirt with three buttons undone, revealing half his chest. He exuded the air of a middle school thug.
Wolfhound tattoos marked his chest, clearly indicating a male.
The man was too close, and Xie Sen was shorter than him, making this position uncomfortable. He took a step back and explained, "I didn't roll my eyes at you."
The man had been walking in front of him, facing him, and his eye roll was directed at the crowd discussing the conversation, not at anyone. This man, who had probably just happened to see it and was in front of him, misinterpreted it as being directed at him.
"You dare to do it but you don't admit it?" the boy scoffed. "Don't think I won't touch you just because you're going to commit suicide. If people knew you even rolled your eyes at me, I'd be out of school."
Xie Sen said helplessly, "I said I didn't roll my eyes at you, and you don't believe me. What do you want?"
"See you at the sparring stage after the exam. I'll teach you a lesson in front of the whole school. This is an open and fair sparring match. If you feel wronged and commit suicide later, it's none of my business!"
Xie Sen compared their sizes and knew he had no chance of winning. But the man was insistent, and if he didn't agree, it would be difficult to escape now.
"Do you have a contracted beast?" he asked after a moment's thought.
"Of course, who's as incompetent as you, who hasn't even awakened her contracted beast at eighteen?"
Xie Sen pouted. "You found your contracted beast so early, it seems its level isn't very high!"
"What did you say?" the boy shouted, his ability questioned.
Xie Sen had seen all sorts of timid people in the apocalypse, and as long as they didn't fight, he wasn't afraid. He said, "After all, you've awakened your contracted beast, so you're more powerful than me."
"Are you scared now?" the boy said proudly. "I'm formally challenging you to a sparring match. We'll meet at the school sparring platform at 12:15. Do you accept?"
"If I fight you, and you have a contracted beast, it's like I'm fighting two. Even if you win, it's not a good fight," Xie Sen said with disdain.
"I don't even need to release my contracted beast to deal with you."
"Is it because your contracted beast is low-level? Are you afraid it'll lose against me?" Xie Sen goaded him.
"Are you kidding? Would I be afraid of losing to you? My contracted beast can beat you even with just its front paws."
"I don't believe it," Xie Sen shrugged. "Let your contracted beast fight me, and I'll accept your sparring request."
"Okay, 12:15, don't run away!"
Xie Sen waved his hand. "See you at noon."
His reaction was so calm that the boy stared at his back, stunned for a moment. After a moment, he came to his senses and shouted angrily, "Dare to underestimate me? I'll show you how powerful I am at noon."
Xie Sen was unaware of the threats the other boy had made behind his back. With only ten minutes left before the exam, he didn't dare delay. Ignoring the pointing and whispering on the way, he hurried to the exam room.
He scanned his wristband at the entrance to confirm his identity. Once inside, he was stunned. Wasn't there too few people?
He had read the exam guide and knew that the graduation exam was a unified exam. He glanced around and saw that the large classroom, which could accommodate 200 people, had only forty or fifty people at most.
Perhaps they were here just as he had, just in time, he thought.
He found his seat and settled in. A murmur suddenly broke through the quiet classroom. He tilted his head and met the gaze of a student to his right, who was chatting with someone in the back row.
The student immediately looked away and returned to his seat, acting as if he didn't say anything.
Xie Sen shrugged and ignored him.
"Are you feeling better?" a teacher approached him and asked softly.
Xie Sen nodded quickly. "Yes, thank you for your concern."
A flash of surprise crossed the teacher's eyes, and she said gently, "That's good. If you have any questions, you can talk to me. You're still young, so don't be impulsive."
"Yes, I know," Xie Sen nodded, a true student.
Seeing his expression brighten, his usual gloomy demeanor and his usual silence when talking to him were gone, the teacher felt relieved and walked to the podium to prepare for the exam.
When the exam time arrived, all the candidates' wristbands were disconnected from the star network, and the exam paper appeared on the LED screen on the desk.
The candidate's information had been entered, and they could answer the questions directly.
Xie Sen looked at the exam, a bit unconvinced. This was the botany department's graduation exam. The paper was divided into basic and advanced questions, with a ratio of 6:4.
The basic questions all involved identifying plants from pictures. They were all common vegetables, fruits, and shrubs. Even a modern elementary school student could probably get half of these questions right.
The advanced questions were a bit more challenging, requiring them to describe the growing conditions for three plants: Chinese cabbage, orange trees, and roses, including climate, soil, water, and sunlight.
All three plants were common today. Xie Sen, having worked in a flower shop, had a better understanding of roses, so he gave a comprehensive answer. The other two were based on general impressions.
The text questions adhered to the principle of writing as much as possible and filling in any blanks. Xie Sen left no questions blank.
He checked his answers, clicked "Submit," confirmed his submission, and stood up to leave the classroom.
"Wow! He handed in his paper so quickly. Did he leave it blank?"
"How dare he?"
A surprised voice came from behind him, and Xie Sen's mouth twitched. Young people just love to daydream. His paper was packed, how could it be a blank paper? Nonsense!
He looked at the time, it was only half past eleven. After thinking for a while, he opened the map to find the cafeteria, bought a fast food meal for ten star coins, and sat in the corner to eat.
"Have you heard? Xie Feicai from the Botany Department is going to spar with Ah Meng from the Combat Department at noon."
"Is that true? Is he courting death?"
"It's true. Ah Meng posted on the school forum, inviting everyone who's free to come watch, ready to teach Xie Feicai a lesson."
"I bet Xie Feicai will definitely run away!"
"I bet too, he'll be the last one to dare go."
"I heard he agreed to it himself, I bet he'll go!"
"I'll go to the forum right now to open the market and place your bets."
Xie Sen's eyes lit up; here was his chance to make money!
He silently opened the forum and found the forum's betting section. Seeing the maximum bet of two thousand, he suddenly realized why the school hadn't stopped it.
He checked his account and found a balance of over four hundred. He watched the forum for five minutes, watching the odds of one to one hundred and still rising. He opened his address book and sent a message to the contact marked 'handsome guy'.
"Can you lend me one thousand sixteen star coins? I'll double it this afternoon (^o^)/~."