Enrollment

Ding—ring ring. The alarm clock rang, waking the sleeping Mu Tianchen.

Mu Tianchen opened his bleary eyes, picked up the alarm clock from the bedside, and checked the time: five o'clock in the morning sharp!

This was the first time he'd gotten up this early since graduating middle school, because today there was an important task—going to Kodo Ikusei High School for the entrance exam.

Kodo Ikusei High School was located in the Island Nation, a top-tier school there, directly run by the local government.

It was said that the employment rate could reach a staggering one hundred percent, all expenses were covered during enrollment, and meeting certain conditions even guaranteed direct admission to prestigious universities and the chance to choose any job!

All of this he'd learned from his father. Mu Tianchen clearly remembered that they'd had a huge argument over the phone about it not long ago.

He didn't need to think hard to know the reason for his mother's opposition—roughly, she didn't want him to go to a different place alone. And once he entered that school, he wouldn't be able to contact the outside world for three years, which made her very uneasy. She'd rather he just study locally.

As for his father, it was as if he'd planned it from the start... As soon as he graduated, he told him he could go to this school, and he'd even had him study the language and some basic introductory courses beforehand. When arguing with his mother, there was also a faint air of refusal to be denied.

After a period of "discussion," his father ultimately won out. After all, his father was the head of the household, and compared to domestic schools, this one clearly had the advantage.

As for why they didn't ask Mu Tianchen's opinion?

Mu Tianchen couldn't quite put it into words. Maybe his parents were too controlling, or maybe he was just used to it. It had been like this since he was little...

But it didn't really matter anyway. For him, one place was the same as another—just a change of scenery...

Still, he was a bit puzzled about why his father had done this. In the past, he'd always forced him to learn all sorts of things, but now he suddenly let go? A little strange...

The road to the Island Nation was already very familiar to him. He used to go there with his mother to visit his father, and sometimes during long school breaks, he'd go alone.

After several hours of long-distance travel, he finally arrived at the exam location arranged by the school.

Apparently, the school was on an artificial island, and going there for the exam was a bit inconvenient, so they'd set up the test site in a more accessible location.

Arriving at the exam site, Mu Tianchen found that there were still a lot of people coming to take the test. Looking out, it was a sea of people. The school was only recruiting 160 new students, right? Was this going to be a mad scramble!

But thinking about it, it was pretty much the same as some domestic exams, even more ridiculous. For one spot, they'd have thousands of people signing up! The ones who got in were basically the cream of the crop. Mu Tianchen didn't think he had that kind of ability...

The difficulty of the exam content was manageable, at least. Mu Tianchen was confident he could get all the questions he knew right.

As for the ones he didn't know, he'd just leave it to fate. He'd fill in everything anyway. Back home, as long as it wasn't a "dead answer" like in science subjects, he could at least scrape some sympathy points...

After the written exam, the interview began.

There was even an interview? Mu Tianchen was a bit surprised, but it was fine. It was indeed different from other high schools.

"How did you learn about our school?" The interviewer glanced at Mu Tianchen's application form and started questioning directly.

"I saw it on a list of recommended popular schools online. Your school is very famous." Mu Tianchen thought about the number of people here taking the exam; this answer seemed reasonable enough.

"I have a question. I'm not sure if I should ask."

"Go ahead, it's just the two of us."

"You weren't sent to our school as a mole, were you?"

"..."

"Nani? I'm a loyal citizen, Officer!"

"But our school's enrollment method is pretty unique. We don't participate in that... what list? Whatever."

"..."

"Then why are there so many people taking the entrance exam?"

"That's not for me to say!"

"..."

The interviewer's tone was a bit harsh. A strange thought suddenly popped into Mu Tianchen's mind—could it be that the selection criteria weren't just based on exam scores?

Maybe the school had already decided on the right candidates in advance, and all those people were just "extras" specially brought in to fill the seats?

The exam might just be a formality? This school seemed to be hiding some unknown secrets.

Then the rule about no contact with the outside world for three years would make sense too...

"Go back and wait for the notification." The interviewer glanced at Mu Tianchen, who had been looking down in silence for a moment, then nervously peeked at the camera in the corner before giving his answer. The whole process took just a few seconds.

Unfortunately, Mu Tianchen still caught this detail. He'd long developed the habit of keeping an eye on his surroundings even while thinking.

"Mm." Mu Tianchen left the interview office door with a thoughtful expression.

Now he was sure of his earlier suspicion.

What had changed in this society! It was still just like the animal kingdom—the strong prey on the weak, survival of the fittest! Only those at the top of the food chain, human or animal, had the right to control others. So-called equality was just rhetoric to reduce conflict. Improving one's own strength was the only way...

It was already late at night when he returned to his father's apartment. Mu Tianchen found the lights in the room were still off. He knocked on the door, but there was no response from inside. Had his father gone out again today?

Luckily, Mu Tianchen had a key. He opened the door and casually turned on the light. Sure enough, his father wasn't there.

Mu Tianchen had been running around all day. After washing up, he lay in bed playing on his phone. By nearly midnight, his father still hadn't returned. He couldn't hold out any longer and slowly closed his eyes...

When he woke up the next day, it was already nine in the morning. He picked up his phone and unexpectedly found a new message.

The message read as follows:

Student Mu Tianchen, congratulations on passing the independent admissions exam for our Kodo Ikusei High School. Please report to our school promptly at 2:00 PM. Kodo Ikusei High School welcomes you!

To be honest, Mu Tianchen hadn't held out much hope, so suddenly receiving the acceptance letter was a bit unexpected.

But after thinking it over, it seemed reasonable enough. As expected, his father had done something behind the scenes...

After mulling it over for a while, Mu Tianchen decided to go check out this school. After all, some of its "unconventional" practices had piqued his curiosity.

After eating, he left a note for his father saying he was heading out, then walked out the door.

Kodo Ikusei High School, huh? Hopefully, the next three years of high school will be interesting... maybe.