Kill one monster, stack one poison, and I alone will poison my way across the world!

After helping Lin Shiqing tidy up her dorm room, it was already evening. Su Chen didn't do anything else but went home to catch up on sleep.

The next morning.

The Grand Hall of the Sky Dome Academy can accommodate tens of thousands of people. The dome is inlaid with a huge lighting array, illuminating the entire venue as bright as day.

The freshman orientation ceremony has been going on for half an hour.

On the podium, Vice Principal Lin was speaking into the microphone, reading his speech with great emotion.

"Students! You are the future of humanity, the hope of Great Xia! On this land full of dangers and opportunities, we must carry forward the spirit of fearlessness and courage to climb to new heights..."

Down in the audience, Su Chen's eyelids were already starting to droop.

Goodness, this familiar recipe, this familiar taste.

He thought that in a world where everyone was changing jobs, the opening ceremony would be something special.

After all that, it turns out that no matter which world you're in, leaders' speeches all use the same template.

Su Chen adjusted his posture, trying to lean back in his chair to make himself more comfortable.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, Vice Principal Lin finally finished his forty-minute-long rambling.

"Next, please welcome Director Zhao Hongtao of the Academic Affairs Office to read out the specific rules for tomorrow's freshman selection competition!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a burst of enthusiastic applause erupted from the audience.

Compared to empty slogans, freshmen are clearly more concerned about the selection process that directly affects their interests.

Zhao Hongtao didn't bring a script; his sharp gaze swept across the entire room.

He didn't even use a microphone; his booming voice exploded in everyone's ears.

"Listen up, students! Tomorrow's selection competition is not only your first lesson after entering university, but also a life-or-death battle that will determine how many resources you will receive over the next four years!"

"The rules are simple!"

Zhao Hongtao held up three fingers.

"First, it's a team format! A maximum of five people per team, and you can freely form teams! If you can't find a team, you can solo!"

"Secondly, the location is a simulated instance in the back mountain of the academy. It contains a large number of monsters ranging from level 10 to 25. Defeating monsters earns you academic credits; the higher the monster's level, the more credits you earn!"

"Third, and most importantly!"

Zhao Hongtao grinned, revealing a meaningful smile. "Within the instance, looting is allowed! You can hunt down members of other teams. As long as you defeat them or force them out of the instance, you can take all their points!"

"Furthermore, the school has set up hunter squads composed of second-year students. Just like you, they also fight monsters and hunt other squads!"

"..."

boom!

The entire auditorium erupted in chaos.

"Holy crap! They just let people steal?!"

"This mechanism is so exciting!"

"Does this mean that even if I spend a whole day grinding monsters, someone else might still steal my kill?"

"A second-year hunter team? Holy crap, how are we supposed to beat them?"

"..."

The surrounding freshmen had already begun to discuss it excitedly, and many of them had an ambitious glint in their eyes.

"Guys, let's assemble an all-DPS team tomorrow and just steal someone else's loot!"

"Forget it, let's play it safe and bring a priest and a front-line tank. Our goal for tomorrow is to finish in the top ten!"

At this time.

One of the assassins in front of Su Chen was so excited that his face turned red.

He shouted to his companion, "Top ten? What's so special about that? I'm a top student from Nanhai No. 1 High School! I must take first place in tomorrow's selection competition! I want all the mentors to see my abilities!"

"That's right! With our combined strength, first place is definitely ours!"

His companion, a fire mage, echoed his sentiment.

however.

Just as they were getting into high spirits.

Sitting not far away, several freshmen turned their heads in unison, looking at them with eyes that seemed to regard them as idiots.

They were several top scorers from the city who had participated in the college entrance examination supplementary competition.

"First?"

One of the warriors, named Li Lei, sneered and looked at the swordsman as if he were a fool.

"Brother, take my advice, stop dreaming. This year, let's just try to get second place."

"Exactly, just staying in the top five would be a stroke of good luck, let alone first place."

An archer nearby also shook his head and sighed.

The assassin paused for a moment, then his face flushed red, and he said indignantly, "What do you mean? We're all freshmen, why should we compete for second place? Are you scared?"

The fire mage chimed in, "Exactly! You're backing down before even fighting? You dare call yourselves champions?"

Li Lei wasn't angry when he was scolded; he just looked at them with a pitying gaze.

afraid?

You don't know anything about being afraid!

Have you ever seen a skill that can wipe out thousands of Abyssal Flame Guardians?

Have you ever seen a monster whose damage output is significantly higher than the boss's health?

Li Lei opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but remembering the confidentiality agreement issued by the military and the government, he could only swallow his words.

He sighed, his gaze sweeping across the crowd, glancing almost imperceptibly at Su Chen, who was yawning in the back row.

Don't ask why.

Li Lei patted the assassin on the shoulder and said earnestly, "You'll know when you enter the dungeon tomorrow."

The assassin was completely bewildered by Li Lei's eccentric attitude.

He wanted to ask more questions, but found that the top scorers had already turned around and started discussing how to avoid the route of a certain "big boss" tomorrow.

……

The opening ceremony has ended.

Vice Principal's Office.

Lin Xiaotian poured himself a cup of tea and looked at Zhao Hongtao sitting opposite him.

"Hong Tao, how's this year's freshmen going?"

Zhao Hongtao flipped through the preliminary assessment report in his hand, his expression strange: "Everything's fine, they're full of energy. The only problem is..."

"What?"

Lin Xiaotian took a sip of tea.

"These top-performing city students, who participated in the college entrance examination supplementary competition, filled in their goals on the pre-competition expectation form..."

Zhao Hongtao sighed, "They're all aiming for 'top three and striving for second.'"

"..."

Lin Xiaotian paused in his tea-serving gesture.

Aim for third place, strive for second?

Those who can get into Sky Academy are all the pride of heaven, and they were first in their class most of the time in elementary, middle and high school.

These geniuses... actually all said they didn't want to compete for first place?

He then shook his head speechlessly.

He could certainly guess the reason.

"It's because of that kid Su Chen, isn't it?"

Lin Xiaotian gave a wry smile.

Su Chen... He's only been enrolled for a few days, but he's already caused quite a stir.

He almost single-handedly cleared the Abyss dungeon, Crimson Monastery in twenty minutes, and later... even broke the Tower of Babel's clear record.

The latter has already attracted the collective attention of the top leadership.

He originally thought that if Su Chen could enter the Tower of Babel ahead of time, he would be considered successful if Su Chen could clear it in his second year of university.

To everyone's surprise, he got through in just over two hours.

"yes."

Zhao Hongtao said helplessly, "Having witnessed that kind of unreasonable harm, these proud geniuses have all been beaten into submission, and they don't even dare to have the thought of competing for first place."

"That brat... he's scared all these kids."

Lin Xiaotian put down his teacup and rubbed his temples: "Everyone is vying for second place... They've lost their youthful spirit at such a young age, I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

"..."

Zhao Hongtao did not respond.

If we lose our horses, we can't know what a blessing is.

People who are surrounded by strong individuals tend to mature earlier and become more stable.

Lin Xiaotian put down his teacup and said thoughtfully, "This kid's training program... needs to be changed."