Chen Ming First? Cheating! It must be cheating!

As soon as these words were spoken, they were immediately met with voices of dissent.

Yesterday was different because Qin Zhixue was leading the team, but today is a new day; how could he possibly have reached level 5?

"Don't make me laugh. Everyone saw with their own eyes that Chen Ming headed to the Breeze Jungle all by himself. In that safe zone, it's hard enough to even find a level 3 beast, let alone reach level 5."

The crowd nodded repeatedly.

They decided to stop paying attention to Chen Ming.

Without Qin Zhixue, Chen Ming was nothing more than an ordinary person.

Immediately, people's attention shifted back to the rankings.

[Rank 51: Yu Fei (lv.2) - A-grade Golden Knight]

[...]

[Rank 99: Sun Yang (lv.2) - B-grade Shadow-Hiding Blade]

[Rank 100: Chen Zhijian (lv.2) - B-grade Berserker]

"Why hasn't anything changed?" a voice asked in confusion.

Someone offered an explanation: "The rankings are determined by the time taken to level up. Only 15 people reached level 3 today, so the rankings from 15 to 100 naturally remain the same."

"Must be nice, getting rewards two days in a row."

"The real changes should be in the top fifteen."

Soon, the rankings were announced one after another.

[Rank 6: Song Chuan (lv.4) - S-grade War Soul Vanguard]

[Rank 7: Wang Teng (lv.4) - A-grade Son of Earth]

[...]

[Rank 15...]

"No way, Song Chuan is sixth again?"

"Holy crap, level 4 and he's only sixth!"

"Are you kidding me?!"

In the Grand Exam of the past two years, reaching level 4 on the second day would have been enough to take first place!

Yet in this year's batch, he was pushed all the way to sixth.

Are they all monsters this year?

Everyone is such a talent; how are they leveling up so fast?

"As an S-grade class holder, he should have enjoyed the best rewards, but instead, he's been stuck in sixth place for two days."

"How miserable. I definitely couldn't accept that."

Many people cast sympathetic glances toward Song Chuan, who had just walked out of a corporate building.

At the same time, Song Chuan saw his own ranking.

His face fell instantly.

He had risked his life leveling up today, thinking that level 4 would surely secure him a spot in the top five.

And yet, he just stayed exactly where he was?

"Wait..."

"Why does this script feel so familiar?"

Finally, someone realized something was wrong.

Why hadn't the rankings at the top changed at all from yesterday?

Before anyone could dwell on it, the ranking information flickered and changed again.

[Rank 1: Chen Ming (lv.5) - C-grade Shield Guard - Morning Light Squad]

[Rank 2: Qin Zhixue (lv.5) - SS-grade Holy Radiance Angel - Morning Light Squad]

[Rank 3: Lin Wei (lv.4) - A-grade Contractor]

[Rank 4: Wang Yan (lv.4) - S-grade Abyss Mage - Abyss Squad]

[Rank 5: Wu Qingyang (lv.4) - S-grade Light Priest - Abyss Squad]

At the city border.

Above the camps of the major guilds and corporations, screens flickered, displaying the ranking information.

Beyond just this year's awakened class holders, many others were also watching the Grand Exam.

At this moment, when the full rankings were revealed, it wasn't just the class holders—everyone fell silent.

Eyes wide, they stared fixedly at the first-place position, at the large characters: 'Chen Ming'.

The "C-rank Shield Guard" following right behind was an eyesore.

"First place... who? Chen Ming?"

"Damn it, am I seeing things?"

"Come on, man, this..."

In truth, when they saw Song Chuan was still in sixth place today, many had already guessed that Chen Ming might still be in the top five.

He was already level 3 yesterday.

If he wasn't far from the experience required for level 4, leveling up once was within a reasonable range.

After all, the ranking was based on time.

But...

They had never imagined it would end up like this!

Absurd!

It was absolutely outrageous.

A C-rank Shield Guard, suppressing all class-changers in Cloud Sea City, even surpassing SS-rank class-changers to take first place directly!

Who would believe this if it were told?

"Hiss... Miss, Chen Ming is actually ranked higher than you."

Behind Qin Zhixue, Lin Wei opened her large eyes, her pupils flickering with pure shock.

She knew full well that to reach level 5 today, her Miss had killed countless creatures in the Exotic Beast Forest, even venturing deep inside to hunt high-level ones.

Yet, this Chen Ming was ranked even higher.

This meant that Chen Ming's speed in reaching level 5 was even faster than Qin Zhixue's!

"Could it be that he has already awakened a mental-type skill?"

Qin Zhixue stared at the ranking, her expression lost in thought.

At this moment, Lin Wei suddenly thought of something.

She then cast a strange look toward Wang Yan and Wu Qingyang.

Feeling the trace of... mockery in Lin Wei's gaze, Wang Yan and Wu Qingyang froze in place.

They felt inexplicably uncomfortable.

They had just called Chen Ming trash.

Now that the rankings were out, the "trash" they spoke of was in first place.

Didn't that mean they were even bigger trash?

They had slapped their own faces.

"This... it's fake, right?"

In the end, someone couldn't help but voice their skepticism.

"I think so too, how is this possible?"

"Could there be a problem with the ranking?"

One stone stirred up a thousand ripples.

"It's impossible for there to be a problem with the ranking, so the problem must be... Chen Ming."

"Damn, could he have teamed up with high-level class-changers to cheat his way up?"

Hearing this, Wang Yan seemed to have grasped a key point, his eyes lighting up instantly.

"That's right, Chen Ming must have cheated!"

"How could a C-rank like him have such results!"

"If you ask me, he probably has some method to bypass the Grand Exam's anti-cheating detection!"

Cases of cheating in the Grand Exam actually appeared once or twice every year.

For example, teaming up with class-changers not participating in the Grand Exam to carry oneself through leveling.

Or having a high-level class-changer weaken a beast's state, then delivering the final blow to easily gain experience.

However, in such cases, without exception, one would be directly kicked out of the Grand Exam and barred from ever participating in the Alliance assessment for life.

The Grand Exam had zero tolerance for cheating!

And after Wang Yan's incitement, the voices of doubt were instantly amplified.

"Rest assured, everyone, I will report this matter and investigate it thoroughly..."

"It is our duty to purge the cheating thief!"

Wang Yan's grandfather was none other than the principal of Third High School.

He possessed the authority to communicate with the upper echelons of the Alliance.

Once these words were spoken, many people immediately felt relieved.

Some had even begun searching for Chen Ming, hoping to have him come forward and clarify the situation.

Yet, throughout the entire border area, there was no sign of Chen Ming to be found.

"Where is Chen Ming?"

"It seems he hasn't returned since he entered the Exotic Beast Forest at noon. I've been at the border all afternoon."

A job-changer wrapped in bandages spoke up.

He had been injured in a battle against exotic beasts that morning and had spent the afternoon recuperating at the border.

"Chen Ming hasn't returned? He's still outside the city?"

Didn't this only further confirm the suspicions of cheating?

Even job-changers above level 10 dared not stay in the Exotic Beast Forest at night, let alone a level 5.

Meanwhile.

On a high building not far away.

"Hmph, a bunch of ignorant fools!"

The Mechanical Crow on the Inspector's shoulder let out a cold snort.

"To actually dare to question the authenticity of the Grand Exam—how utterly stupid!"

Behind him.

Several principals wore embarrassed expressions.

The principal of Third High School, in particular, had a face ashen with shame.

Because the one shouting the loudest down below was his own grandson, Wang Yan.