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

Before the start of the third exam.

The atmosphere inside the arena was somewhat eerie.

Almost all the candidates' eyes involuntarily drifted towards the boy in the black hoodie in the corner.

Their eyes were filled with envy, jealousy, and resentment; they all looked like they'd just eaten a lemon.

In both exams, Su Chen's scores were far ahead of the competition.

As long as he doesn't falter in the third exam, he's practically guaranteed to be the top scorer in the country!

At that moment, the broadcast above the arena sounded again, and Song Yi's voice came through.

"Dear candidates, your break time is over!"

"Now we will proceed with the final test of the college entrance examination—the third session: the team-based dungeon raid."

"The rules are as follows: Candidates may form a team of up to five people to enter the simulated instance. The final evaluation of the instance will depend entirely on your completion time to defeat the final BOSS. The shorter the completion time, the higher the score. If the completion time is the same, the examiners will conduct a manual evaluation based on the battle video."

"Everyone gets the exact same copy, ensuring absolute fairness!"

"Now, you have ten minutes to form teams freely and then enter the portal!"

Upon hearing the broadcast, the arena immediately erupted in noise.

Most candidates had already formed teams in advance.

However, some ambitious teams are only now starting to form groups and look for suitable teammates.

After all, every year there are new cases of students forgetting their admission tickets, so examiners are used to it.

Su Chen turned his head and looked at Wang Xiaoli, who was filling a bottle with mineral water, and Lin Shiqing, who was organizing her equipment.

"Want to team up?"

Su Chen casually asked, "I'll take you flying."

Wang Xiaoli waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no, no! Brother Chen, you've already won two games. If you win this one too, you'll definitely be the national champion!"

"This guy is the top scorer in the country! When I go out and say my brother is the top scorer in the country, how proud I'll be! If you bring me along as a burden, and I slow down your progress by even a second, I, Old Wang, can't take that responsibility."

"You should stay with Miss Lin."

"..."

Su Chen shook his head with a wry smile.

Sure enough.

He had originally intended to give a few pieces of gold-grade equipment to Wang Xiaoli after the previous drops, to help his brother out and save face, but after thinking about it carefully, he decided against it.

Although Wang Xiaoli is usually easygoing and loyal, he actually has a strong sense of self-respect deep down.

Su Chen patted him on the shoulder: "Okay, good luck then."

Lin Shiqing shook her head as well: "Wang Xiaoli is right. Xiao Su, listen carefully, your goal now is to become the top scorer in the country!"

"Anyway, bringing me along won't make much of a difference, why don't you just solo it yourself?"

"If you finish in the same time as another team, the examiner will definitely rank you higher because they see you did it solo!"

"..."

Solo play?

Su Chen nodded thoughtfully.

He instructed, "Alright. Be careful, don't make a mistake and miss your chance to go to Sky Dome Academy."

"Tch, don't underestimate me!"

Lin Shiqing gave a soft hum, but the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up slightly.

This little Su... it seems he really wants to go to the same university as me!

Su Chen turned around and walked alone towards the teleportation portal.

The surrounding test takers quickly made way for them.

When the examiners in the monitoring room saw Su Chen preparing to step into the portal alone, they were in an uproar.

"This kid... he doesn't even bring a support character?"

"This is a five-player dungeon!"

"What do you know? That's called confidence. Bringing someone along might even slow him down."

"Solo? The third round isn't about standing still and attacking or defending. The dungeon is full of traps and hordes of monsters. I don't believe he can clear it alone!"

"..."

……

[Hint: You have entered a special instance: The Dark Dungeon.]

[Note: The third exam has begun, and the timer has started!]

[Objective to complete the level: Defeat the final boss – the Abyss Knight.]

After a slight dizziness, Su Chen opened his eyes.

Before me lay a dark and damp underground corridor, with torches flickering on the walls.

Deep in the corridor, one could faintly hear the heavy footsteps of monsters and the sound of bones clashing.

Su Chen stroked his chin and quickly looked around.

"The condition for clearing the level is to kill the BOSS, not to clear all the mobs. Besides, this crappy college entrance exam dungeon gives no experience, doesn't drop any equipment, and you can't stack levels. Killing the mobs is a complete waste of time."

"Since that's the case..."

Su Chen's lips curled into a smile.

"Then let's speedrun it."

With a thought, he decisively released the skill he had previously "borrowed" from Lin Shiqing—[Light of Concealment].

Instantly.

A semi-transparent ripple flashed by, and his body instantly blended into the dark environment.

Stealth activated!

Su Chen walked briskly forward along the edge of the corridor.

Soon, he arrived at a spacious hall.

There were at least a hundred level 15 skeleton guards densely packed inside.

A normal team would need to spend at least ten minutes here, clearing it out bit by bit.

But Su Chen, like a ghost, swaggered right through the monster horde.

"This girl's skills are really useful."

Su Chen turned left and right, and stopped in front of a tunnel entrance.

"Oh? You're using traps?"

If you look closely, you can see some small holes in the ground of the tunnel ahead.

Below, a cold, metallic luster shimmered.

"If we rush in headfirst just to save time... our chrysanthemums will be in danger."

Su Chen clicked his tongue, then easily walked around the wall.

Along the way, he encountered two more sets of spike traps and dodged three groups of patrolling skeleton mages.

In just three minutes.

He had already traversed three monster-infested areas and arrived directly at the deepest part of the dungeon—the throne room where the BOSS resided.

In the center of the hall, a death knight, over three meters tall, riding a skeletal warhorse, stood silently.

Abyss Knight (Iron-level BOSS)

[Rank: Black Iron]

[Level: 20]

【Strength: 500】

[Stamina: 600]

[Agility: 400]

【Spirit: 200】

[Skills: Rapid Charge, Death Aura, Second-Stage Berserk]

……

Su Chen stopped 20 meters away from the BOSS.

"These stats are neither high nor low; they'll probably be able to shut down quite a few teams."

"However, any team with a bit of skill can easily take it down. It really is a speedrun dungeon; it's all about who can kill it the fastest."

Without further ado, he raised his staff.

At the instant the attack was launched.

The invisibility was forcibly canceled, and Su Chen's figure was suddenly exposed to the air.

"roar--"

The Abyss Knight's eyes, burning with the flames of his soul, instantly locked onto Su Chen.

It let out a deafening roar, raised its spear, and prepared to launch [Rapid Charge].

However, Su Chen's attack had already arrived.

next second.

"-11682536!"

A terrifying number emerged.

The Abyss Knight didn't even have time to utter a scream before he and his horse instantly turned into a pool of green pus.

[Hint: Dungeon cleared. You will be teleported out of the examination room shortly.]

[Result: 3 minutes and 12 seconds.]

A blinding white light flashed, and Su Chen's figure disappeared from the dungeon.

……

In the monitoring room.

Song Yi was about to take a sip of water to moisten her throat and check on Su Chen's condition.

After two exams, Su Chen had become his main focus.

While others might not know how Su Chen achieved that incredible result in the second match, he saw it all clearly in the monitoring room.

This kid... just leaned against the tree, relying on those snake guards to use the monster portal as a feeding port!

None of those monsters survived even a second.

He took a deep breath and asked, "What's the situation with that kid?"

"Song Ting, he went in alone. It seems he's preparing to take the exam solo," the young examiner reported.

"one person?"

Song Yi frowned slightly.

This third exam... is a speed test.

Even if you're soloing, if you're even a second slower than the other team, your score will be lower.

Solo play is only somewhat useful when two teams have the same score.

He hurriedly said, "Show me the shot of that kid!"

"Okay, Director Song. Exam room 0527, Su Chen's image is here," the young examiner said.

Song Yi just brought the cup to his lips: "Hmm, let's see where he is. The mob density in the five-player dungeon is very high, he must be able to clear them all by himself quickly..."

Before he could finish speaking...

Instead of showing the contents of the instance, a completion and settlement screen popped up on the screen.

[Candidate Su Chen has cleared the Dark Palace.]

Time taken: 3 minutes and 12 seconds.

"puff--"

Song Yi sprayed a mouthful of tea all over the control panel in front of him, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

"I cleared it?!"

"There are still three... three minutes and twelve seconds left?!"

The monitoring room fell silent instantly.

Everyone stared at the big screen as if they were looking at a ghost.

This third exam has always been the most challenging and important part of the annual college entrance examination.

Although the strength of the monsters that refresh each year fluctuates slightly, the overall difficulty remains roughly the same.

The fastest national record since the founding of the Great Hua Kingdom is twelve minutes!

That was left behind decades ago by Elder Hai, now a powerful figure who protects the nation!

This kid... broke another record?

Song Yi slammed his hand on the table and said in a deep voice, "Get me the complete video recording right now!"

"Yes...yes!"

The young examiner, his hands trembling, pulled up Su Chen's passing video.

The video was played at 10x speed.

As soon as Su Chen entered the dungeon, a flash of light appeared on his body, and he immediately entered stealth mode.

Then, just like strolling through my own backyard, I bypassed all the monsters and headed straight for the BOSS room.

Upon reaching the BOSS, invisibility is dispelled.

then.

A simple, unadorned basic attack.

Next.

A flash of green light filled the screen.

The boss is gone.

The video recording has ended.

"What... what kind of playing style is this?" The young examiner swallowed hard.

"Skipping monsters... and instantly killing the boss?" The Mediterranean examiner's voice trembled. "I've been an examiner for over ten years, and I've never seen... such a shameless fighting style!"

"..."

Song Yi didn't speak, but her eyes twitched violently, and a hint of undisguised horror flashed in her eyes.

This kid not only has explosive damage output, but he also has a high-level stealth skill hidden within him?!

Is this really necessary... disgusting?

Spread a poison spell, then disappear gracefully into the shadows...

Depend on!

Just thinking about it sends chills down my spine!

"Damn it... Luckily, this freak is from our Great Xia Kingdom." He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and muttered to himself, "If he were an assassin from the opposing camp, and he spotted me in the wild, I probably wouldn't even know how I died!"

The two examiners around him nodded frantically in agreement.

Song Yi looked at the "3 minutes and 12 seconds" frozen on the screen, her eyes also showing some excitement.

"This kid broke all the records in all three exams!"

"Such a result is unprecedented; he's a shoo-in for the national champion."

"However, there is still the play-in tournament for the top draft pick."

"I wonder... if he can win the playoffs again?"

"..."