Rules!?

"You had best be prepared. As I said before, the Entrance Exam is the 'exam' with the lowest difficulty and the most generous rewards. If you profited from this 'exam,' then congratulations—at the very least, you have won at the starting line. As for those who failed to seize the opportunity, you can only blame yourselves; you cannot blame anyone else... However! This is not absolute. Within the University, there are infinite possibilities... Perhaps one day, one of you will surpass the three of us. It all depends on how you seize your opportunities."

"There is one more thing. I believe your counselor, Flame Senior, has already told you: always remember that you are a class, and you are all classmates. I warn you, no matter what grievances you may have between you, do not forget that you are Class 04 of the 12th Season, a collective! If you cannot be united within your own class and instead stir up all sorts of messy trouble, believe me, you will... definitely regret it in the future!"

"You will definitely regret it!"

Xiong Ba said these words through gritted teeth.

"Very well, enough said. Now for the final matter: each of you will hand over 20 Study Points to the three of us." After Xiong Ba finished speaking, he leaned forward and said, "Right now, 20 points each, for a total of 60 Study Points. This is our 'salary'."

"Whoosh!"

This was a disaster; the previously quiet classroom instantly erupted into noise.

What were Study Points? They were money!

By now, all the students knew that to purchase various items or exchange for various bloodline abilities, they needed Study Points—and a lot of them. Most of them didn't have many to begin with, only the base 200 points, and 14 people had failed the exam and had zero points. How could they scrape together 60? Besides, even if they could, they had no reason to hand over the points they had risked their lives to earn to three teaching assistants for no reason, did they?

After all, having experienced Resident Evil 2, they had finally understood one truth: without powerful strength, the only thing one could do was wait for death!

How could they possibly be willing to hand over their points?

"Senior... this, these are the Study Points we risked our lives to earn. How can you..." A tall girl with hair draped over her shoulders stood up and gathered her courage to speak to Xiong Ba.

"That's right, Seniors, we barely managed to get some points, and there weren't many to begin with. If we give them to you, what are we supposed to do? If we can't exchange for weapons and abilities, how are we supposed to survive?" Du Fang, a tall and muscular man, also stood up to speak.

"And Seniors, I failed the exam, I don't have a single point," said Liu Xiatian, the one who had been killed in seconds by the Licker.

Xiong Ba looked at them as if they were clowns and said indifferently, "Did I give you permission to speak?"

The crowd felt a lump in their throats. They looked at one another, and in the end, they obediently sat down and shut their mouths.

Xiong Ba sneered and said, "Do you think I care about your measly points? How laughable!"

"Since you don't care about 20 Study Points, Senior, why must you make us hand them over?" Li Shuangmu asked boldly.

Xiong Ba swept a glance at him and said, "Rules! These are the rules set by the seniors! It has always been this way, and it has never changed. A minimum of 20 points—regardless of whether you have them or not, you must hand them over. No one can break this rule. Unless you believe you have the strength to break it, you will obey me obediently. Here, only the strong can set rules or break them!"

The Otaku suddenly said viciously, "Damn it, we should squeeze every last point out of them! Use it to compensate for our losses. You idiots, we really should call The Count to suck you dry!"

"Then may I ask, Senior, what will happen if we don't hand them over?" Li Shuangmu suddenly asked.

Xiong Ba smiled and said, "Then, congratulations, you will become a 'celebrity' of the University. Then, sophomores or even junior seniors will come to invite you for 'tea.' After that, the University's Dissection Room will have one more corpse for everyone to use in 'class'... After all, many 'courses' at the University require corpses for dissection, and everyone is tired of the 'prosthetics' made by the Headmaster. I think they would be happy to change their palate."

"Hiss—"

"Believe me, rookies..." Xiong Ba said, "Those who follow the rules will be safe and sound. Those who break the rules will pay a painful price for it. Until the day you are strong enough, you can easily trample any rule underfoot. In the 'University,' there are many more rules you must follow. Now, hand them over. If you don't have any, borrow from each other. Unless you are cold-blooded enough to ignore the life or death of your classmates."

As soon as Xiong Ba finished speaking, the quiet classroom became noisy again.

"Cla... classmate, could you please..."

"I'm sorry, I really want to help, but... I don't have many points either."

"Wuwu... what do I do? Who... who can help me..."

"Sigh! Beauty, I don't have many points, I can only spare you 20. Any more and I really can't give it up..."

"Are you—are you giving it or not!? If you don't, I'll... I'll... I beg you, big brother, master, just lend me some. When I earn some in the future, I will definitely pay you back double, no, quadruple."

"Get lost! I don't even have enough myself, I'd have to be brain-damaged to lend to you!"

"Little sister, I don't have many points either, I can only give you this much. Sigh, go ask someone else."

"Thank you... thank you, sister... I will definitely repay you in the future."

"Good thing, good thing, I didn't mess around back then. How about it, Beanpole? If it weren't for me back then, wouldn't you be begging people everywhere right now?"

"Hmph hmph!!"

"Wei Ming, this is 100 points, take it." Li Shuangmu said.

"And mine. Sigh, if it weren't for me back then, you wouldn't have..." Yin Kuang sighed.

Wang Ning also took out 100 Study Points for Wei Ming.

Wei Ming's eyes turned red with gratitude, and he said, "Thank you, thank you so much. If I have the chance in the future, I will definitely pay you back."

The group scraped together what they could and finally handed the Study Points to the trio of teaching assistants one after another. However, it seemed they hadn't finished collecting everything yet.

Xiong Ba said coldly, "What about the other five?"

At this moment, five pale-faced people stood up, trembling.

These five people—four men and one woman—included Xiao Zhang, Liu Xiatian, and two other boys. As for the girl, she was a non-mainstream student with a ghostly face; the powder on her face looked like it had been plastered on, and every time she cried or made a scene, the makeup would wash away. She had a wine-red afro that looked like a bird's nest and a nose ring. Her appearance was such that one didn't want to look at her a second time, so it was no wonder no one was willing to lend her points.

"So, what do you intend to do?" Xiong Ba said indifferently.

Liu Xiatian's eyes kept darting toward Li Shuangmu and the others. The pleading look on his face was truly agonizing to witness—why? Because he wouldn't open his mouth! Whether out of shame or an inability to lower his pride to beg, he never asked Li Shuangmu and the others to lend him any Study Points. He just kept darting his eyes around, as if waiting for someone to simply hand the points over!

As for Xiao Zhang, he clenched his fists tightly, seemingly struggling with himself. Suddenly, he bit his lip, squeezed his eyes shut, and roared as if venting: "Whoever is willing to lend me 60 points, I, Xiao Zhang, will owe you my life!! I beg you all!!"

The other two boys looked at each other with shared misery, both wearing expressions of fear, bitterness, and desolation—they had begged enough already and no longer wished to grovel like beggars. At this moment, it seemed the only thing left to do was wait for the final verdict from the upperclassmen!

Just then, the girl with the non-mainstream explosion hairstyle suddenly slammed the table and shrieked, "If I die, I won't let you off even as a ghost! I curse you with my soul, curse you to die a horrible death and never be reincarnated!!" Her voice, like a banshee's scream, pierced the eardrums.

A cold, chilling wind blew through the classroom...

Is this... what it means to be weak?!

To submit to the rules set by the strong, begging for mercy like a dog?

Despicable?

Pathetic?

Lamentable?

Hateful?

Perhaps the only answer is—

You are too weak!!

At this moment, the trio of teaching assistants watched the "performance" of the group below as if they were watching a play, occasionally exchanging glances. In their eyes, there was nothing but disdain and contempt.

"A group of pitiful people..."

Yin Kuang sighed inwardly. With a thought, he transferred 30 Study Points to each of the four people, and for Xiao Zhang, he gave 60. After all, 60 points to buy a life was worth it no matter how you calculated it!

A total of 180 points; this was the maximum amount he was willing to pay. Any more, and he wouldn't be willing. One had to realize that his own Study Points were earned with his life; even if they were classmates, there was no reason to pay for them for no reason.

Human hearts are made of flesh, yes, but they are also selfish.

Yin Kuang felt that as long as he could keep a clear conscience, that was enough.

The moment Xiao Zhang received the 60 Study Points, a surge of wild joy flooded his face. He looked around, trying to see who "Yin Kuang" actually was. Unfortunately, everyone assumed he was still begging for points, so no one looked at him. Thus, Xiao Zhang couldn't identify who "Yin Kuang" was, but that didn't stop him from remembering the name: "60 points, a life—I, Xiao Zhang, will remember this!"

Then, he transferred the 60 Study Points to the three teaching assistants and sat down with his head lowered.

However, four people were still standing; they were still short 30 points.

The oppressive atmosphere made it nearly impossible for everyone in the classroom to breathe. Especially for those four, whose sweat had already soaked through their clothes.

Could they really just watch them die?!

"Sigh!"

Li Shuangmu sighed and stood up, asking, "How much are you still short?"

"30 points!!"

Like drowning people grabbing at a straw, regardless of whether it could save them, they had to hold on for dear life! They shouted almost in unison.

Li Shuangmu moved his mind and transferred 30 Study Points to each of them. "Pay me back when you have them. I won't ask for any interest, just the 30 points."

"Thank you, Brother Li! Thank you, Brother Li!"

They were all immensely grateful. Although 30 points wasn't much, it was enough to save their lives.

Li Shuangmu waved his hand and sat back down with a sigh. It was unclear what he was sighing about, but he wore an expression of complete disinterest.

Xiong Ba clapped his hands and said, "Alright, now go to your respective dormitories. The 'Headmaster' should have already implanted some information into your minds. Then, at 5:00 PM, gather here again, and I will take you to the 'Canteen.' All of you, dress up properly and show some spirit; don't look like your parents just died! Let me tell you, the 'Canteen' is not just a place to eat! You will see the third-year upperclassmen there. If you leave a bad impression on them, hmph!!"

After saying this, Xiong Ba waved his hand and walked out of the classroom with Ji Wen and the Otaku—the classroom door, which had been impossible to open, now swung open with ease.