My setting is above yours!

Chapter 24 Examination Qualifications
Time flies by.

Ron spent the last two days conserving his energy, honing his skills while deceiving clients seeking assassination on the magicians' forum.

Each time his clients pressed him for an answer, Ron would say he was preparing for the assassination...

Even on the last occasion, the client, feeling that Ron hadn't taken any action, angrily came to question him.
Ron quickly sent them a photo of himself lying in a pool of blood.

The photo was taken using a phone with a countdown timer, the pool of blood was cheaply purchased expired tomato juice from an online shopping platform, and the injury was created using a personalized sculpting technique.

In short, after seeing that Ron was "dead," the unknown client was very satisfied and settled the final payment with a wave of his hand, adding 500,000 credits to the old magician's account.

Unfortunately, although this was an extremely useful sum of money for Ron, he dared not touch a single penny of it.

What if they track him down by his spending records and find him in person?
Anyway, we've temporarily weathered the assassination crisis, so money isn't that important...

After all, once you get into Moen University, why would you have to worry about money?

Filled with confidence and anticipation for the exam, the day of the college entrance examination soon arrived.

According to the normal college entrance examination schedule, candidates are usually required to take all the cultural subjects on the first day.

Many people have already ended their journey at this moment, and only those with superpowers can participate in the five-day exam and fight for a new future through the ability test.

Ron got up early, carefully groomed himself, and then confidently walked into the examination room.

He believed that even if he didn't study any academic subjects for half a month, with his knowledge base, he would definitely be able to get high scores in those subjects!

Ron confidently surveyed his fellow test-takers, ready to see just how he had been matched with his opponents.

Then he learned what it meant to be outmatched by others and to be in a world of great potential.

"Damn rich people..."

As Ron walked out of the exam room, he cursed under his breath and broke the ballpoint pen in his hand in anger.

Although it was expected that wealthy people in Ideal City could disregard the rules during exams, wasn't their behavior a bit too outrageous?

If you ask to go to the toilet, fine, but what's the point of bringing your exam paper to the toilet?
You came back and handed in your paper right away—I might as well just give you full marks for the academic subjects!

Those who take exams for others, those who cheat in the exam room, those who directly use AI to answer questions via brain-computer interfaces...

There was another genius who couldn't even copy the answers properly, and his cheat sheet ended up on Ron's desk.

Ron laughed in exasperation—Dude, are you the only one taking the exam in this room?
Looking at the top-level difficult questions on the exam paper that he couldn't even understand, he couldn't help but laugh with relief.

He felt like he wasn't fighting against humans at all during the first day of the exam... he was being attacked by cheating dogs!
This is only the examination environment in Zone D of Ideal City. Ron doesn't even dare to imagine what the cultural subject examinations will be like in Zones A and B.

"Ron? You're showing up at this time... did you hand in your paper early?"

A familiar voice reached his ears, and Ron turned around to see Lin Shuyao in her proctor uniform.

Unlike before, this senior from Moen University clearly took extra care to groom herself after putting on her proctoring uniform.

Unlike last time, when she was wearing faded clothes and her hair was a mess.

Lin Shuyao's hair is now smooth and tied in a high ponytail. Wearing an invigilator's uniform, she has a rather capable and efficient look, like a young teacher.

"...There was no other way. I couldn't understand the later questions at all, and I didn't want to see the other candidates copying the answers, so I simply handed in my paper early."

Ron sighed, his voice full of resentment:

"Are the last few questions really something that humans could write?"
I seriously suspect that the person who set the questions is so immersed in their own world that they no longer know what the world is like...

They actually managed to give the test takers a question asking them to write down what the first superpowered person, Moen Business CEO "α", ate for breakfast on the morning of his 18th birthday and 7 months later!
Who the hell would know that?

Hearing Ron's slightly resentful tone, Lin Shuyao felt deep sympathy:
"I understand you... I went through the same thing back then."

Those completely incomprehensible questions weren't designed for us; they were "bonus questions" specifically for the wealthy.

Because of this college entrance examination reform, the cultural subject examinations, which were already neglected, are now completely ignored, so these phenomena are more common than in previous years.

Section D is alright; there are only a few challenging questions at the very end that are worth extra points. If it were Section A or B, ninety percent of the questions on the exam would be these kinds of extra point questions…”

As Lin Shuyao spoke, she patted his shoulder encouragingly:
"For ordinary people like us, it's already quite good if we can get a passing grade in cultural subject exams."

Moreover, academic subjects are not important; in the score distribution after this reform, the proportion of ability tests has exceeded 90%.

If you can get the highest score in the new aptitude test, even if you don't get a single point in the academic subjects, you can still become the top scorer in the entire Ideal City college entrance examination..."

Ron was aware that after this college entrance examination reform, the weight of the aptitude test score was extremely high.

He knew that academic subjects weren't important... but looking at those guys cheating so brazenly in the exam hall, Ron felt a little uneasy.

There's always a feeling that my efforts are being trampled on.

But it doesn't matter.

Cheating is possible in academic subjects; you can use these bonus questions to get high scores...

When it came to the ability test, when it was time to truly use one's abilities in combat—

What waves can these pampered good-for-nothings make?
No matter how many underhanded tactics they use, they can't possibly beat Ron...

Ron composed himself, and then heard Lin Shuyao say in front of him:

"Since you've already handed in your paper early, hurry up and get to the aptitude test room..."

As a friend, I must remind you—going earlier will definitely do you good.

benefit?

Ron was stunned for a moment, and was a little confused.

Following the procedure of this year's college entrance examination, he knew that after finishing the academic subjects on the first day, the aptitude test would begin immediately...

However, the details of the aptitude test have been kept secret, and it is still unclear what the test will look like.

Why is it beneficial to arrive at the exam venue early...?

Ron couldn't figure it out, but he knew that Lin Shuyao was a serious person and wouldn't say anything unreliable at a time like this.

So he rode his electric scooter through the endless stream of traffic in the gaps of Ideal City, quickly arriving at his examination hall—

His exam venue was a fairly large skills training center, which seemed to have been requisitioned by the municipal government in advance and directly converted into a temporary exam venue.

Ron parked his electric scooter and discovered that many others, like him, had already handed in their papers early and arrived at the exam hall.

However, what's puzzling is that even though the exam hall doors were wide open, not a single one of them went inside...

They were all blocked outside the examination hall by two robots with advertising light boards on their heads and advertising slogans playing, and formed a long line on the street.

What happened?
Ron, somewhat curious, joined the end of the line, when he suddenly felt a vibration in his pocket...

He took out his phone and was surprised to find a strange pop-up window appearing on it.

[Sunshine Stationery: Get daily credit points and red envelopes, buy discounted stationery at your leisure!]

[Get up to 1000 credits off stationery purchases.]

Why are ads popping up all of a sudden... Wait, am I losing hair?
There's a hair on the screen...

Ron instinctively reached to brush the hair away from the screen, but out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the other student in line ahead of him was doing the same, reaching to brush away the black lines on their phone screen—

But that black line wasn't someone's hair at all; it was a real black line, a hyperlink hidden in the advertisement!
His phone screen immediately switched to a payment interface.

[Selected item: Deluxe Package of [Protector] and [Attacker] x10, total price 99999 Credits.]

[A 5-credit discount has been applied. Would you like to use the discount to purchase?]

【Pay Now or Cancel Payment】 The candidate in front immediately clicked "Cancel Payment," and another pop-up window appeared:
[Remaining time for payment cancellation (7:59:59)]

If that's all there is to it, it's nothing more than the most classic example of a cheesy advertisement for Ideal City.

Not using your phone for a few hours at most won't have much of an impact, but...

Ron clearly saw a line of small print at the very edge of the ad screen—

This advertisement is sponsored by the Moen City College Entrance Examination Testing Association.

[No candidate may enter the examination room until the advertisement has been watched.]

No wonder this group of people were stuck outside the exam hall, forming such a long queue!
So it turns out that all of this was triggered by these amazing ads, and since I didn't have the money to pay, I was stuck here...

Ron was somewhat exasperated. Learning from the mistakes of the previous test-takers, he ignored the fake black lines on his phone screen and carefully examined the "x" marks in the four corners of the advertisement.

Finally, he spotted a tiny "Skip" button in the upper right corner of the advertisement.

As expected... according to Ideal City's advertising law, the manufacturer will definitely have to make a skip button.

Ron breathed a sigh of relief, clicked the small skip button, and nodded in satisfaction when he saw the pop-up ad on his phone screen disappear.

Who says skipping ads doesn't count as watching an ad?
Hmph, let me go ahead and see what's going on in the exam room—

But Ron had only taken one step when a pop-up window suddenly appeared on his brain...

[We have detected that a user skipped the ad. We will generate more precise ad delivery for you...]

Then, a barrage of familiar advertising interfaces appeared:

[I'll cover the cost of unlocking your potential! Still worried about not being able to afford your experiments? Your 200,000 yuan reserve fund has arrived! Click to claim →]

High-end ingredients often require only the simplest cooking methods. Xumi Foods uses fresh ingredients prepared in advance; a mere three minutes of heating is all it takes to enjoy the finest flavors…

[KFC's Crazy Thursday: Prices start from just 9.9 credits!]

Ron didn't even move, and the ads immediately redirected to a new payment page, which was exactly the same as the previous test takers' page, requiring 99999 credits.

If you don't pay, you have to watch eight hours of ads and stand in line for eight hours straight!

Damn it, what happened to the advertising law?
How could these giant corporations go to such lengths to make money...?

Even exams require them to spend so much time watching commercials!

Ron cursed inwardly, but then he saw a floating luxury car speeding towards him, and a well-dressed young man stepped out of it.

Unlike Ron and the others who silently waited in line, the advertisement also popped up in his brain, but he showed absolutely no intention of paying...

The person simply walked up to the two advertising robots blocking everyone's way, took out his exam admission ticket, and swiped it.

The next moment, the two advertising robots made way for him, allowing him to enter the examination room.

The candidate in first place wanted to take this opportunity to rush in behind that person, but was stopped by the cold, large hand of the advertising robot, which almost slapped him away.

……why is that?
Ron was completely baffled and patted the bespectacled examinee in front of him in line:

"Bro, how did that guy get in there? Why didn't those two advertising robots stop him?"

"Stop him?" The candidate in front of him curled his lip, his tone sour: "You just got here and don't know? Some people don't need to watch ads or pay..."

"It is said that their ID cards are linked to the membership privileges of the companies that place the ads, and these companies have preferential memberships that allow them to automatically skip the ads."

Moreover, it's not just people like that; some highly capable individuals can directly defeat these two robots and force their way in..."

He sighed as he spoke, "Only ordinary candidates like us, who have neither money nor fighting ability, will be blocked outside."

So it turns out you can force your way in... Judging from these two robots, their strength is at most barely reaching Lv.2, so it feels like you could easily break in.

But what about membership privileges?
Ron seemed to be deep in thought, then suddenly remembered his Good Citizen medal.

According to Xia Zhi, if you swipe it whenever you need to verify your identity, you'll receive some kind of preferential treatment, right?

Considering that this item seems to be an exclusive medal that many wealthy people can only buy with money...

Ron strode forward and headed straight for the exam room entrance.

"Huh? What are you doing over there? You don't have the authority, or those two robots will send you back...it'll hurt!"

The bespectacled examinee reached out, intending to grab Ron and say a few words of advice, when he saw Ron quickly walk to the front of the line, take out a golden five-pointed star badge, and flash it in front of the robot...

The next moment, he saw the two advertising robots step aside with even greater humility and bow respectfully to Ron.

"Welcome to the 'Good Citizen' exam!"

They played mechanical announcements as they watched Ron walk into the examination hall...

Wow, that's the power of money.

I never thought I'd get to enjoy it...

Ron shook his head, walked into the examination room, and found that the ability training hall had been completely cleared out, and all the classic training equipment had been removed.

Currently, in the training hall, there is only one fully immersive pod and hundreds of AR simulation helmets piled together...

The twenty-odd candidates, who appeared to be wealthy and powerful, and likely also highly capable, were eyeing each other with hostility, creating a tense atmosphere.

A proctor who was clearly not someone to mess with stood by the wall not far away, and next to him was a notice posted—

This ability test is a simulated real-world exam. Candidates must use simulated real-world equipment to enter the exam scenario; otherwise, they will automatically receive a score of 0.

[The exam equipment will be provided by the exam center. After selecting your equipment, please inform the invigilator. This equipment will be used consistently throughout your exam session.]

Looking at the roughly one hundred simulation devices in the training hall, Ron immediately realized what was about to happen—

The "battle" for exam reform at Ideal City begins from this moment!

A single exam room can hold at least a thousand candidates, but there are only about a hundred exam devices available. Each candidate must also report to the invigilator, who will assign one device to each candidate.

If you're not among the thousand-plus candidates to receive your own testing equipment, you'll only get zero points.

Those two robots are the first hurdle, weeding out candidates who have neither money nor fighting ability. The second hurdle is these testing equipment!

No wonder Lin Shuyao told him it was best to arrive at the exam venue early...

The earlier you arrive, the sooner you can select your exam device, report it to the invigilator, register and bind the device, and thus qualify for the exam.

Because Ron arrived early, there were only about twenty people in the examination room, so he didn't have to worry about not being eligible to take the exam. He could get an AR simulation helmet at any time to complete the equipment registration.

but……

Ron wasn't going to do that.

During the two-week skills training, Ron actually used the fully immersive pod and AR simulation helmet multiple times.

The difference in ability simulation between them can be described as astronomical!

Although he didn't know exactly what he would be doing in the holographic simulation for this exam, Ron knew that the only fully immersive pod in the exam room was definitely better than any other AR simulation helmet!
If you want to be the top scorer in the entire Ideal City, you can't fall behind others here.

Ron looked around the training hall, eyeing the fully immersive pod in the center with predatory intent. He was clearly not going to let go of the wealthy examinees who had access to this only advanced equipment.

"teacher."

He calmly walked forward, patted the fully immersive pod, and said to the proctor:
"Please register the exam equipment; I need this."

(End of this chapter)