Kapitel 43: Chapter 43: Blocking the Exit! This is Going to be Fun
These words were something Cain had never shared with anyone before. As he spoke, he no longer appeared as the inscrutable old fox he usually was; instead, a fine layer of cold sweat appeared on his forehead, as if he were contemplating something deeply troubling.
Zhong Jing frowned as he observed Cain, and the others also looked at him, surprised to see the old man in such a state.
Zhong Jing asked gravely, "Are you... anxious?"
Cain didn't reply, remaining silent.
"Do you have some kind of suspicion? Why not discuss it with everyone?"
"Because the topic might be taboo, and I'm not even sure if my judgments are correct," Cain replied, shaking his head. "Some things, once spoken, regardless of whether they're right or wrong, or even whether people listen, can still cause trouble!"
For a moment, Zhong Jing was at a loss for words. After a long pause, he finally softened his tone and said:
"Let's put that aside for now. Regarding this test, what are your expectations for the students? What do you hope to achieve?"
"I'm not really sure..." Cain admitted.
"Not sure?" Zhong Jing was stunned, finding it hard to understand. "You're not sure, and yet you expect the students to figure it out? Are you dreaming? Have you started believing in miracles?"
"Not believing in miracles, just hoping for one," Cain replied. "After all, our world needs miracles..."
Cain slowly sat down, supporting himself on the armrest of the chair, a bitter smile on his face, as if he found himself ridiculous.
"Sigh, if you want to report me to the Human Federation, go ahead... I don't even know if I'm right or wrong anymore."
Cain took a moment to calm himself, his usual playful demeanor returning as he smiled again, showing his indifference.
Zhong Jing said nothing more and quietly sat down. The debate among the higher-ups ended, at least for now, in this way.
Just then, a gentle and calm female voice broke the silence, as if the previous heated argument had never affected her.
"He's standing up; it seems like he's still okay."
It was Sophia's voice. During the intense exchange between Zhong Jing and Cain, she had remained focused on Liam, worried about the severity of his injuries. Now, she could finally relax.
...
"This test is really troublesome, isn't it? Turning out like this."
"But it's quite interesting, haha! I've decided—let's try something different this time!"
Liam stood up and spoke to the vast, desolate desert before him, seemingly talking to himself.
At the end of his monologue, he even burst into laughter, completely dispelling the previous impression of dejection, as if his mood had never been affected. The judges watching him were left stunned.
Then they saw him start moving his limbs, performing various strange poses on the spot.
"Is he... having a mental breakdown?" Dong Wushuang speculated with a conflicted expression.
But in reality, what Liam was doing was a top-tier recovery exercise that had never appeared in this world before—the second set of national high school broadcast gymnastics!
Earlier, when he had been crouching with his head down, part of it was to think about his next move, and the other part was to heal himself.
Lacking any advanced medical skills, his "healing" was essentially simple ice packs. Although his internal injuries didn't seem too severe, he figured he'd try icing them down and push through the rest of the test.
Now that he was standing up, he intended to fully stretch and check his condition.
After completing the set, he felt pretty good!
Feeling that his body was still functional, Liam immediately set off, rushing in a specific direction while muttering to himself:
"This damned test, really a hassle. Is this a dark society simulation?"
"But, while I don't know how to please everyone, I sure know how to make everyone unhappy!"
Seeing Liam recover from his previous setback, Zhong Jing and the others raised their eyebrows in surprise, though they had no idea what he was planning.
"There's still a lot of time left; it seems like he hasn't given up. Is he planning to steal from others?"
"Or maybe he's going to continue hunting monsters in the secret realm?"
Cain, however, didn't show much interest in either scenario. After what had happened earlier, he seemed somewhat disinterested.
Liam had already proven his strength enough. In Cain's view, there was no longer any need for him to prove his excellence through accumulating points.
As Liam continued his mad dash, Zhong Jing, feeling a bit impatient, directly asked the bald "Old Xu" to adjust the map display, wanting to see who Liam's target was.
But after watching for a while, he noticed that although Liam passed by many other blue and red markers, he didn't stop at any of them. He was heading straight for the exit!
This move left Zhong Jing utterly baffled.
He looked up at the clock on the wall. The test hadn't even reached twenty hours yet. Although this was already a considerable amount of time, there was still quite a while before the test would end.
"Is he trying to secure his points by exiting early? That would be understandable, and it's a pretty smart choice," said a judge who had gone out for a nap and just returned.
"After all, with his current points, he's already near the top of the leaderboard. Staying in the secret realm might actually be risky, especially since he's injured."
Dong Wushuang shrugged, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, and began to pay more attention to other students. Of course, he planned to talk to Liam about joining the War God Hall once Liam came out.
After confirming that Liam was indeed heading straight for the exit, Zhong Jing yawned, waved his hand, and said, "Alright, I'll go rest for a bit. I'll come back when it's time to start recruiting students."
"Oh, and about the Frost War God—remember, you lost that bet. Blame it on your dean."
With that, Zhong Jing left, not intending to watch any further.
But a few minutes later, just as everyone was opening the secret realm's exit, preparing to welcome Liam out—
Liam stopped near the exit and didn't move.
He even created an ice lounge chair on the spot, laid a blanket over it, and lay down, looking quite comfortable as he rocked back and forth.
"Is he... not planning to come out? What is he doing?" The vice dean of the Southern Academy, who had always been quiet, couldn't help but speak up.
"Is he trying to block the exit!? Waiting here to ambush a few unlucky early returners?"
"Smart move; it seems like he's not worried about not having enough points."
As people speculated about Liam's intentions, Dong Wushuang suddenly widened his eyes, as if realizing something, his face full of shock as he clenched his fists tightly.
"No! If he just wanted to rob a few students, with the abilities he's shown before, he could have tracked them down easily."
"But now he's blocking the exit! Could it be that he intends to..."
"!!!!!!"
"Damn!" Dong Wushuang couldn't help but curse, squeezing his fists so tightly that his knuckles cracked.
Liam's actions had ignited his blood!
"Good kid! Now that's what I call a man!"
"This is going to be fun! When Zhong Jing finds out what he's missed, he's going to regret it so much he'll want to kick himself!"
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein