My setting is above yours!

Chapter 68 Admission Interview (4k6)

This character, who appears in the annotations of the Dimensional Update Manual, seems to belong to the "Potion Era"...

Moreover, she was the mastermind behind hacking the "Anti-Mystic Formula" into the world, a top genius who propelled history forward and transformed the "Potion Era" into the "Superpower Era".

How could she become the first president of Moen University? Did she survive the catastrophe?

Or perhaps... the very beginning of that catastrophe was related to this genius who hacked into the world with the [Anti-Mystic Equation]?
After all, even a "knowledge-seeking experiment" can trigger a "void," so something like an "anti-mystical equation" would surely be able to trigger a "void" even more than a typical "knowledge-seeking experiment"...

But I don't recall any record of such a Lv.5 in historical books.
There wasn't even much record of this person's life... When Ron arrived at Moen University and saw the school motto and her name, he realized that this person had actually left traces in Ideal City.

Perhaps there's a secret hidden behind this...

Ron fell silent for a moment, lost in thought.

"its not bad, right?"

An Hui patted Ron on the shoulder, watching as Ron entered Moen University, clearly stunned and speechless by the endless rows of colorful buildings stretching as far as the eye could see, looking quite proud.

"This is our Moen University City—a hundred stories above ground, forming the normal teaching and living areas. It has undergone more than a dozen design and renovation projects over the past century. Although it looks like a boundless concrete building, there is actually a whole different world inside."

She explained:

"Students, teachers, employees of large corporations... plus workers and service personnel from various industries, the number of people living in this building alone exceeds two million, which is comparable to a small city."

More than two million?
At Moen University, each year only about a thousand students are admitted through the regular entrance exams, and several thousand are recruited in advance through various talent recruitment programs.

If you calculate carefully, there are fewer than 10,000 test takers each year, and during normal times, there are only more than 30,000 students on campus.

In this way, teachers and students combined only make up a tiny fraction of the school's population...

Ron didn't pay much attention to that, looked at the ground below the Moen University building, and asked:

"You said there are a hundred floors above ground? What about underground?"

"Underground... three hundred floors underground, belonging to the experimental areas of various colleges, it is said that many experimental projects that can change the entire Ideal City are hidden inside."

As she spoke, she leaned close to Ron's ear and whispered:

"The Zero Lab that Irina and Dunn mentioned is on the 300th underground floor..."

An experimental area spanning three hundred floors?

This Lab Zero is actually located at the very bottom level...

No wonder Professor Deng was kicked out of Lab Zero after causing trouble by attempting to conduct a Prometheus-like experiment on the subject.

If an uncontrollable "hole" were to appear in such a place, the entire Moen University would be doomed.

No matter how much Scott Hansen attacks Professor Dunn, this matter is ultimately related to Professor Dunn himself...

Ron shook his head, not thinking about it anymore. He chatted with An Hui while following her across the pale concrete ground. After their identities were verified by the patrol officers at the gatehouse, they entered the real Moen University.

Before leaving, Ron specifically looked at the chests of the guards. Their name tags had several glittering gold stars, the number of which varied, but all invariably included a crescent moon emblem.

"They all have at least one 'Level Two Merit'... Does that mean they all have Level 4 ability permissions?"

Ron muttered to himself, with these top-notch guards, he figured no criminal would have a chance to cause any trouble at Moen University.

Walking into the building in Moen University City, which was covered with all sorts of advertisements, Ron finally understood why An Hui had said there was something special inside.

From the outside, it may look like a giant, matchbox-like building, but once you step inside, you'll find that the first floor is over fifty meters high. If you don't look up, you might not even realize that you've entered a closed building.

The streets were lined with meticulously landscaped trees, and from this floor, one could see other buildings. The hovercars sped through the streets of the university town, making it seem as if a city had been embedded inside the giant square matchbox on the outside...

But if we're talking about differences from the outside world, there are definitely some—

Perhaps because the space is smaller and the living area is more dense than outside, you can be dazzled by the flashing neon lights everywhere when you enter Moen University City.

Holographic projections of signs and advertisements were everywhere, and the shops on both sides of the street were incredibly noisy, selling only top-quality goods that would be rare even on the second floor.

Various injections and devices that enhance personal reality are everywhere, seemingly abandoning the market for ordinary people and only wanting to make money from those with superpowers.

Ron followed An Hui around this floor for a while, intending to sit on a bench by the roadside for a bit. As soon as he sat down, the brain-computer interface popped up in front of him:

Welcome to the 'Moen Charity Bench'. The fee is 10 credits per hour...

Are you kidding me! Even if this is Ideal City, public facilities shouldn't cost ten credits for sitting for a short while, right?
Ron was so startled that he jumped up from the bench, but new text immediately appeared on the brain-computer interface:
[Your usage time was less than one hour, but it will be calculated as one hour. Self-service payment has been activated for you. Thank you for using our service.]

[Credit Points-10]

For a moment, Ron was at a loss for words, and a sense of admiration for Moen Business arose in his heart.

That's incredible... No wonder it's a giant corporation that emerged victorious in the corporate wars and ultimately became the government of Ideal City, wielding the greatest administrative power over the entire city.

This meticulous and painstaking method of making money is far more sophisticated than that of Noah Pharmaceuticals and Tianting Media; it's practically all-encompassing!

"...Is this all there is to our university?"

Ron couldn't help but complain, while An Hui gave an awkward smile, refusing to admit that this was a classic situation at Moen University:
"This is the living area of ​​the university town... If we divide it in the simplest way, the school is not actually here; we have to go up a hundred floors."

With An Hui leading the way familiarly, Ron looked at the holographic road signs projected in the sky and gradually recognized the route, soon arriving at an area called the [Central Hub].

It's called a central hub, but it's actually just a giant elevator shaft. However, once you go inside, you don't see any elevators, but rather a series of round, numbered "circles".

"These are all teleportation channels built by spatial ability users. They can teleport you to any designated location in Moen University City. You can use them for free just by swiping your student ID..."

For non-students and non-faculty members, it costs 100 credits per transaction.

As she spoke, she took out her student ID and swiped it on the sensor:
"But you haven't reported to the admissions office yet. Let's use mine for now and go to the admissions office together to complete your enrollment procedures..."

A teleportation channel constructed by a spatial ability user?

Ron stared at the rows of perfect, brightly colored circles, his expression unreadable.

It doesn't look like a teleportation channel built by someone with spatial abilities.

Just by looking at the standard circles and the seemingly random doodles inside them, yet with some inexplicable charm, you can easily tell that these are magic rituals!
Is Moen University using magic in a place like this, which serves as a foundational engineering project...?

Ron seemed to be deep in thought, then followed An Hui onto the teleportation portal, thus getting a free teleportation.

Strangely enough, the teleportation through the magic circle didn't give Ron that dizzying feeling of being enveloped in water, as if everything were melting into water and being churned at high speed in a washing machine...

Compared to Xia Zhi's abilities, the teleportation of this magic array is far, far gentler.

Ron simply closed his eyes and opened them, only to find himself standing firmly on the sixtieth floor of Moen University City.

Looking up, you can easily see the ceiling, which is about eight or nine meters above your head, and is obviously much lower than the first floor.

It seems that not every floor in Moen University City has such a terrifyingly high ceiling; rather, the ceiling height gradually decreases as the floors grow taller. Perhaps by the time you reach the top floor (the hundredth floor), the ceiling height will be no different from that of a normal building. Stepping out of the Central Hub, Ron saw a bustling crowd. The admissions office not far away was already packed with people, forming a long, serpentine queue.

These are clearly new students going through the admissions process—although the vast majority have already signed admission agreements with Moen University and received acceptance letters, they all have to register and undergo a simple interview upon their first enrollment.

Ron silently waited in line at the back, and it took him a long time to reach the end.

The student in front of him had just entered the admissions office and the door had just closed when Ron heard a voice coming from inside:

"Number 776, where are you from? Why did you apply to Moen University?"

The candidate seemed a little nervous:

"I... I'm from District D. I applied to Moen University because it's the best university in Ideal City. If I can complete my undergraduate studies at Moen University, I'm sure I can join the Patrol Bureau as a patrol officer, and I might even have the opportunity to join the Moen City Government..."

A few clearly suppressed snickers came from inside:

"Another poor wretch trying to get a stable job... He might not even be able to afford the lowest tuition. If he doesn't finish his studies and gets expelled, he probably won't even be able to pay back his student loans..."

The interviewers chuckled a couple of times, then their tone towards the candidate became slightly sarcastic:

"Next question—how do you plan to balance your study, work, and rest time?"

"I...I have a part-time job in virtual reality. After completing my daily learning tasks, I can work during my rest time in the evenings..."

What is your ability level? Have you completed some university courses ahead of schedule and met the target requirements?

"Lv.2... But, but I'll try my best! I'm sure I can become Lv.3 before graduation!"

"Tsk tsk," the interviewers' disdain and mockery were palpable even in their tone: "Those from District D haven't changed much... Here, sign this loan agreement."

"There's a student loan of three million credit points inside... Don't glare at me! Do you think you can pay your tuition on your own without taking out a loan?"

"For students like you who barely made it in, even the biggest companies will only give you the bare minimum investment; none of them can afford the tuition!"

"Can't pay it back? There are plenty of ways to pay it back at school. The professors' labs are short-staffed. If you can't pay back the credits, you can use academic credits to offset the debt. If all else fails, you can work for a big company after graduation to pay it back. What do you have to be afraid of?"

"A poor wretch like you, how can you expect to improve without squeezing out your superpower potential?"

"I don't have the guts to go to Moen University... I can't even sign a loan agreement, I might as well go to a junior college!"

"Sign...I'll sign..."

After a moment, a chubby, slightly dark-skinned boy, trembling, pushed open the door of the admissions office, clutching his student ID and a student loan contract in his hand, and walked toward the [Central Hub] with a dazed look in his eyes.

...That might mean she wanted to go back to her dorm and cry into her blanket.

A glance at the numbers on the contract told Ron that after graduating from college, this guy would probably be working for a giant corporation for free for ten years...

But so what?
Ron, who entered the inner city of Ideal City from the outer city through the "talent introduction program," has seen far more despair than this guy.

It's only been ten years of wasted time; such treatment is actually considered exceptional in District D.

If this guy works diligently for ten years after graduation at a big company, he might very well be assigned by the head office to District D and become a manager.

Compared to the vast majority of poor people in District D, this might indeed be considered a class leap.

But... is this what Moen University's interviews are like?
Ron glanced at the admissions office in front of him, then stepped inside.

"Haha, that kid from District D was really funny, making such a fuss over a three million loan contract for so long..."

Inside the office, several admission examiners who looked rather young and whose ability level was only Lv.3 were chatting idly.

Seeing Ron enter, he didn't even bother to glance at him or the files on the table, and said lazily:
"Number 777, right? Where are you from, and why did you apply to Moen University?"

"I am also a candidate in Zone D of Ideal City."

"They're from Sector D again..."

"Can this guy even afford to pay back a loan of three million credit points? I hope he doesn't end up shaking like that kid with Parkinson's again..."

The admissions officers wore a mocking expression and began to chat quietly, their tone full of regional discrimination against students from District D.

Someone had already found another loan agreement and was preparing to treat Ron the same way they had treated the chubby kid.

But Ron remained calm, as if he hadn't heard their whispered mockery, and continued answering the interview questions:

"I applied to Moen University simply because my friend lives here, and I wanted to go to the same school as my friend."

Because your friend is here?
The admissions officers were stunned. They had heard far too many excuses during interviews. Everyone wanted to apply to Moen University, but it all boiled down to the same old three things: ability, power, and money…

There are plenty of people who say they want to change their fate, improve their abilities, or simply want to make a lot of money, but this is the first time someone has said they applied to Moen University because a friend of theirs is studying there.

This kid... what does he think Moen University is?!

One of the examiners snorted coldly and said aggressively:
"You really don't know your place... How do you plan to balance your work, study, and rest time from now on?"

What is your ability level? Have you completed your university coursework ahead of schedule?

As he spoke, he handed the loan agreement to Ron:

"You don't look like you're that rich. Here's a loan of three million credit points. Sign it..."

But before he could finish speaking, a colleague who had seen the file secretly kicked him, gave him a wink, and whispered a reminder:
"Take a look at the file first..."

Files? What's so interesting about the files of a poor student from District D?

But he sensed his colleague's anxiety. The man paused, broke free from his colleague, and began searching through the files. When he finally found Ron's file, his face burned with embarrassment.

Ron... got first place in the college entrance exam?!
He quickly hid the contract behind his back, but Ron didn't seem to care much about his actions, simply answering his interview questions lazily:

"I have received investment from [TianTing Media], so I don't need to work. My rest and study time are my personal privacy, and I will arrange them myself."

He paused for a moment, then said:
"As for my ability level, I have already advanced to Lv.3, and I only need to construct the formula to meet the graduation standard."

He took out a black card and gently placed it on the table:

"A loan agreement isn't necessary. I can pay my tuition now without any student loans..."

"That's all—any further questions?"

The group stared stiffly at Ron, and after a moment, they said somewhat hoarsely:
"No problem, no problem... How could there be a problem?"

They stood up, awkward smiles on their faces, and tried to shake hands with Ron:
"Welcome... Ron, welcome to Moen University!"

(End of this chapter)