Bloody Unified Exam

A group of examinees fled through the forest. Most were only at the First Realm, while four mid-stage Third Realm apes pursued them relentlessly.

Chilling roars rang out one after another as the Beastfolk alerted their own kind to the presence of prey.

Ye Luo ran through the seemingly endless forest with the examinees she had encountered by chance.

Her normally soft, short black hair was a tangled mess. She had no idea how long she had been running, much less when this exceptionally long night would end.

The wooded mountains all around looked identical, leaving her helpless and panicked, as if she were trapped in a maze created by ghosts.

Only the scattered remains of her fellow humans, the corpses of Beastfolk, and the fallen trees along the way told her that this was no nightmare. It was a reality where stopping meant being killed.

"Huff, huff, ah!"

Severe exhaustion made the girl, who was only at the mid-stage First Realm, stumble. A moment's inattention sent her tripping over a tree root.

She fell facedown onto the plant-covered mud, and jutting stones, branches, and leaves battered her until she was covered in blood.

The pursuing Beastfolk caught the sweet, rusty scent of blood and let out excited roars.

Fear robbed her already weak limbs of their strength, and she froze in despair.

"Help..."

The plea stuck in her throat as she recalled the battlefield theory lesson at school that had left her struggling to stay awake.

"On the battlefield, if you know for certain that you are no match for your opponent, you should retreat immediately and ensure your own safety.

"Do not take it upon yourself to provide support, lest you cause more casualties.

"Ye Luo! If you're sleepy, stand up and listen!"

Her teacher's words echoed clearly in her mind. She knew no one would turn back to save her, and she shouldn't ask anyone to.

She closed her eyes and sentenced herself to death for neglecting her cultivation.

"Ow!"

Death did not come. Instead, she heard a Beastfolk's wail.

"Are you all right? Can you still stand?"

A young man in a black combat uniform crouched down. As he examined Ye Luo's injuries, he softly asked whether she could move.

At last, the sky began to change. Deep blue replaced the unchanging darkness, and light spread across it.

Ye Luo looked at the rescuer before her, then at the Beastfolk corpse just inches away. As she stared, her vision blurred.

Tears mixed with mud and blood as they fell. She had made it through the darkness before dawn.

Day had broken.

Song Haomiao hurried through the temporary aid station, pushing a cart loaded with weapons and equipment.

His injuries were not serious, and he had recovered quickly under the medical staff's healing techniques. As long as he avoided strenuous activity, he could move without disturbing his wounds.

Rescuers had pulled him out of a dark red expanse.

When they found him, all four of his limbs were broken, along with four ribs. One rib had even pierced through his body.

Unconscious and buried amid a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, he had been barely alive, clinging to his last breath through his desire to live.

The rescue team had arrived one step ahead of death, and so he had survived with the gift his friend had given him.

He no longer wanted to lie in the infirmary filled with cries of pain. He wanted to do whatever he could to distract himself from the grief and anger in his heart.

He pushed the cart through the medical staff's clamor and past his fellow humans' heart-rending cries of pain, arriving at the temporary warehouse.

He handed the supplies over to a staff member at the entrance, then headed back with another, empty cart.

The space-awakened one who had suddenly appeared, suspected to be at the Seventh Realm, had caused violent fluctuations in the mystic realm's space.

The teleportation array had been affected by the earlier spatial instability and was now unsuitable for transporting the injured.

The All-School Alliance had therefore decided to send supplies and establish a temporary aid station inside the mystic realm to provide immediate treatment to severely injured examinees.

Examinees who had recovered somewhat could leave the mystic realm and return to their respective cities for medical treatment once the medical staff confirmed they could pass through the teleportation array.

Few examinees had stayed behind to help as Song Haomiao had. Most, still shaken by their ordeal, had fled the mystic realm in terror.

No one would blame them. Anyone who had come so close to death would be easily frightened afterward.

Song Haomiao pushed his cart along, watching another group of examinees who had just been rescued nearby. They stared blankly, their faces pale, as though their souls had been stolen.

They walked into the aid station, and only when the smell of food and smoke from the nearby boiler room reached them did they come to their senses and begin to weep.

"Song Haomiao, Song Haomiao. Upon hearing this announcement, please report to the information collection office in the administrative area to provide your statement..."

Hearing his name over the loudspeaker, Song Haomiao looked away and quickly returned the cart to the warehouse he had just left, then turned toward the administrative area.

As a survivor of the unified exam, he needed to give a statement and provide intelligence to the Human Race's higher-ups outside, who did not know what had happened inside the mystic realm.

The temporary aid station was not large. After walking briskly for less than three minutes, he reached the information collection office on the edge of the administrative area.

"Hello, where do I go to give my statement?"

At the entrance to the information collection tent, he stopped a staff member to ask.

The staff member pointed to a row of rooms ahead.

"You can give it in any of them. Just pick one."

With that, he hurried away.

Song Haomiao pushed open the door to room 1. Inside was a small reception room. The warm-toned wallpaper and soft lighting made him relax involuntarily, and a faint fragrance lingered in the air.

A middle-aged man with a gentle air sat on the room's pale yellow fabric sofa, looking at him with a gentle expression.

He greeted him with a smile. "Hello there. Are you here to give a statement?"

Song Haomiao nodded. "Yes. My name is Song Haomiao."

"All right, Haomiao, don't be nervous. Just think of it as a chat."

The door closed, and the excellent soundproofing made the room instantly quiet.

The man continued, "My name is Wei Yi. You can call me Uncle Wei. Could you tell me what you did after the unified exam began?"

His gentle voice carried a strange rhythm. Song Haomiao's thoughts began to grow sluggish, and the soft sofa enveloped him as he blurted out his experiences during the unified exam without embellishment.

[Incident number: A-10451005-0112

Incident name: Bloody Unified Exam

Date: October 5, year 1045 of the Ruolan Star calendar

Casualties: According to recovery records for the standard unified exam admission brooches, 213,861 examinees were involved in the incident.

Of these, 116,523 suffered minor injuries, 11,762 were seriously injured, 85,575 died, and one was missing.

Other: Preliminary findings suggest that the incident was caused by an invasion by Beastfolk of the Lingyun River Rainforest; a Seventh Realm awakened one from a third-party force was suspected to have participated.]