Chu Feng had never expected to be rejected. A sense of humiliation surged through him, and his face turned pale and flushed by turns.
Just as Chu Feng stood there in a daze, the door to the simulation room opened again, and a girl with a smoking-hot figure walked in, also wearing a school uniform.
She was the last member of their group to take the assessment.
As soon as the girl entered, her gaze swept quickly around the room. The moment she spotted Chu Feng, her eyes lit up.
Hu Yue'er was the class beauty of the class next to Chu Feng's.
Of course she knew Chu Feng, the influential figure known to everyone at Second High School.
"Oh my god! It really is Chu Feng! I actually got put in the same group as him!"
This was good fortune falling straight from the heavens!
Hu Yue'er was ecstatic. She had held no hope at all for this assessment and had only come to give it a try. She had long since prepared herself to be knocked out in the first round.
But now, things were different!
Everyone knew Chu Feng was the strongest at Second High School, and his Contract Spirit was said to be on the verge of breaking through to the second tier!
If she could cling to his thigh, her chances of passing the assessment would skyrocket!
While she had been at the door, she had actually overheard enough to know that Lin Luoluo had rejected Chu Feng.
She had found it unbelievable. What idiot would turn down Chu Feng's invitation to team up?
Now, seeing the awkward atmosphere in the room and the look on Chu Feng's face, she immediately realized her chance had come!
Without the slightest hesitation, Hu Yue'er strode over to Chu Feng on her long legs, a waft of fragrance accompanying her.
She put on a sweet smile, and her voice turned soft and honeyed.
"Hello, Chu Feng! I'm Hu Yue'er from the class next door. My Contract Spirit is a level 7 C-rank Shadow Cat."
"Could you take me along later? I promise I'll be good. Whatever you tell me to do, I'll do it!"
With that, she blinked and gave Chu Feng a flirtatious look.
After saying her piece, Hu Yue'er cast a somewhat provocative glance at Lin Luoluo, who was not far away.
She had heard of Lin Luoluo before, the notorious wheelchair freak from the next class over.
Now that she had seen her for herself, she really was a freak, and not quite right in the head either.
A big thigh like Chu Feng had offered himself up to her, and she hadn't even known to cling to it. She was stupid beyond saving.
She didn't even know to seize an opportunity that came once in a thousand years. She deserved to be a good-for-nothing for the rest of her life.
Hu Yue'er's family wasn't well-off either, so she placed particular importance on this chance to change her fate.
To pass the assessment, she didn't mind giving up a few things.
She was even considering whether she could use her beauty and figure to seize the chance this assessment offered and land Chu Feng, a golden-turtle son-in-law, in one fell swoop!
Chu Feng, who had been somewhat embarrassed after being rejected, immediately turned around when he heard someone take the initiative to invite him to team up.
The moment he saw Hu Yue'er, Chu Feng's eyes lit up again.
His frustration and humiliation at being rejected by Lin Luoluo moments ago vanished into thin air.
He was naturally familiar with Hu Yue'er, the class beauty from the class next door.
Though her looks fell far short of Lin Luoluo's face, the pinnacle of innocent allure,
and her figure was nowhere near as breathtakingly perfect in its proportions as Lin Luoluo's, she still counted as a pretty girl worthy of being a class beauty.
The way she was throwing herself into his arms in particular gave Chu Feng's vanity a tremendous boost.
Back at school, to maintain his "devoted" persona as a man infatuated with Jiang Ruoxue, a proud daughter of heaven, he had never shown any interest in girls like Hu Yue'er.
But now, that was then and this was now.
With a beauty offering herself to him, he could use the chance to regain the face he had just lost!
"Sure!"
Chu Feng immediately assumed the air of an expert, lifting his chin slightly as confidence returned to his voice.
"Just stay close to me later. Your Shadow Cat is only C-rank, but in a dark environment like the mine, its strength can compare to some B-rank Contract Spirits. It's very useful."
He started by acknowledging Hu Yue'er's value, making her heart blossom with joy.
Then he changed tack and began boasting about his own goal.
"My goal this time isn't just to pass the assessment. I'm going to take down the final boss and make a run for an S-rank rating!"
"When the time comes, just work with me and provide support from behind. Getting a passing spot should be in the bag for you."
Chu Feng's words were brimming with confidence, as though the S-rank rating and the final boss were already in his pocket.
Of course, he had also said all this especially for Lin Luoluo to hear.
The implication was: See? Turning me down is your loss! There are plenty of people scrambling to team up with me, Chu Feng!
"Really?! That's wonderful! Thank you, Chu Feng!"
Hearing Chu Feng's promise, which all but guaranteed it, Hu Yue'er was so delighted she nearly jumped. Her gaze was full of admiration as she looked at him.
A moment later, she looked at Lin Luoluo again, her eyes full of contempt and schadenfreude.
Idiot, you can go regret it!
To Chu Feng's disappointment, however, Lin Luoluo had simply stayed where she was in silence the whole time, as though the two of them were nothing but air.
While they were talking, she had silently accepted the helmet-shaped mental link device from a staff member and put it on ahead of time.
The cold metal helmet shut out her view, along with all the disturbances of the outside world.
Little Bai, those two are so noisy, Lin Luoluo said to Bai Chen in her heart.
They're more than noisy. They're downright stupid and nasty.
Bai Chen snorted disdainfully. An ordinary man overflowing with confidence and a scheming woman, putting on a monkey show together.
Luoluo, ignore them. Once we're in the assessment, just watch how I teach them how to behave!
"Mm," Lin Luoluo answered. She shut out the sounds of the outside world completely and calmly waited for the assessment to begin.
Chu Feng's performance was like a heavy punch landing on cotton; it got no response at all.
When he saw how impervious Lin Luoluo was, completely ignoring him, the anger in his heart flared up again.
That damned woman!
He clenched his fists hard.
"Hmph, you don't know what's good for you!"
Chu Feng cursed her inwardly, then picked up a helmet and jammed it onto his head.
Seeing this, Hu Yue'er hurriedly composed her expression and obediently picked up the last helmet and put it on.
The three of them lay down on the three metal beds arranged side by side in the center of the room.
"Assessment participants in position. Mental link commencing. Simulation scenario loading..."
"Countdown: three, two, one!"
A cold mechanical voice rang out in the room.
As the final number sounded, Lin Luoluo felt an electric current surge from the helmet and spread through her entire body in an instant.
The darkness before her eyes was torn apart, and countless streams of data cascaded down like waterfalls.
A brand-new world slowly unfolded before her.