Su Rou

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"He probably just happened to be on screen. They'll likely switch back to Sun Ze in a second."

Su Rou thought to herself.

She walked over to the stands, found a seat, and quietly waited for the broadcast to switch cameras.

The boys and girls sitting nearby had been disturbed by Su Rou and... glared at her.

Usually, Su Rou was popular with both the boys and girls.

In the boys' eyes, Su Rou was a breathtaking beauty, the goddess of their dreams.

In the girls' eyes, Su Rou was a sweet, easygoing friend they could talk to about anything.

So Su Rou was completely baffled by the glare.

Fortunately, Su Rou had a good temper and didn't take it to heart. Instead, she tugged on the sleeve of the student beside her and asked softly, "Excuse me, why aren't they switching cameras?"

On screen, Ling Zhan seemed to have killed a plant-type monster.

He was collecting his stage rewards.

There wasn't much point in staring at Ling Zhan the whole time.

Besides, why did Ling Zhan's trial stages seem different from hers?

"I only want to watch Senior Ling Zhan."

"Who's Sun Ze? I don't know him."

Su Rou's pretty face froze for a moment.

Had she heard that right?

These spectators only wanted to watch Ling Zhan?

Then what about Sun Ze?

Back when she'd taken her own trial, Su Rou had also come here as a junior to watch the seniors' impressive battles and learn from them.

Some popular seniors had also drawn the audience's attention. People wanted to watch them fight so they could learn more.

But those seniors were all top students.

Ling Zhan was just an ordinary student. How had he attracted so many people who wanted to watch him?

Could it be... that they just wanted to see what rewards he got for clearing the stage?

"Why do you want to watch Ling Zhan? Is Sun Ze doing badly?" Su Rou asked softly.

"Not really."

"Ugh, stop bothering me."

"Who's Sun Ze? His combat experience can't hold a candle to Ling Zhan's! And Ling Zhan's taking on the stage alone as a Jobless Freelancer."

Su Rou was speechless.

What did you call a hell of a surprise?

This was a hell of a surprise.

Su Rou had entered the stage only a little later than Ling Zhan.

She had no idea he'd gone in as a Jobless Freelancer.

And he was taking on the stage alone!

Usually, the Trial Stage allowed teams of up to five people.

But this year, King Yama Zhou had gone off the rails and set the teams at three.

The difficulty had suddenly increased.

Still, for top students who were already used to fighting alone, the rule made little difference.

Su Rou had assumed Ling Zhan would sensibly join a team, hitch himself to some strong players, and get a decent score.

But now, he was taking on the stage alone!

And as a Jobless Freelancer, no less!

Su Rou found it hard to accept.

"Then why is his stage different from mine?"

Su Rou hurriedly asked.

The boy gave her a strange look.

"What's wrong? Was that a weird question?" Su Rou asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, it was pretty weird."

The boy nodded and said bluntly, "Because Ling Zhan isn't in the second stage right now."

"Then he must be in the first stage. He's a Jobless Freelancer, and he's fighting alone. It makes sense that he couldn't even reach the second stage. But there's no volcano in the first stage either." Su Rou was even more confused.

Yet the boy gave her another strange look.

"Hey! Sorry for the trouble, but please don't look at me like that. You look like you're thinking, 'How can this girl be so stupid?'" Su Rou said through gritted teeth.

She felt insulted!

"Sorry, sorry! I just couldn't help it."

The boy awkwardly scratched his head before answering. "You've got it all wrong, Su Rou. Senior Ling Zhan isn't in the first stage or the second stage. He's in... the Endless Trial!"

When the words "Endless Trial" fell, Su Rou's bright eyes narrowed for a moment.

Then they suddenly widened.

Her delicate face froze in a look of utter shock.

The sight was so adorable she looked like a little rabbit that had been startled.

Seeing Su Rou's reaction...

The boy felt thoroughly satisfied.

Was this the joy of shocking someone?

Was this the pleasure of showing off?

It felt amazing!

After a long while,

Su Rou finally came around.

She got up and hurried over to Qi Mu.

Qi Mu was her homeroom teacher, and they got along very well.

"Teacher!"

Su Rou called softly.

"Mm. Judging by your expression when you came out earlier, your score must have met your expectations," Qi Mu said with a cheerful smile.

His class had produced a dark horse like Ling Zhan, and he was grinning so broadly his smile nearly reached his ears.

Su Rou's score should be pretty good.

Sun Ze's score probably wasn't much worse than Su Rou's either.

Mm, he had his performance bonus and a promotion in the bag. This year was shaping up to be a bountiful one!

"Teacher, my score should be good enough to get into a Key Combat Academy."

Su Rou happily replied.

Then she asked, "Is that Ling Zhan on the screen... in the final Endless Trial stage?"

At the question,

Qi Mu once again wore the smug smile he'd shown countless times that day. Then he drawled out a steady, "Mm..."

As soon as the word left his mouth,

Crack.

Qi Mu seemed to hear Su Rou's worldview shatter.

Su Rou had been hit with another "surprise."

She wouldn't easily believe what other students said.

But could her homeroom teacher really be lying?

At the thought, Su Rou felt as if a huge ball of cotton had been stuffed inside her. It was deeply uncomfortable. She wanted to smash it, but the cotton was too soft to break.

It stayed lodged in her heart.

For now, she couldn't accept how things had turned out.

As she thought about it, the corner of her eye caught sight of Bai Wushuang, looking dejected.

So she went over.

Su Rou and Bai Wushuang usually got along quite well. They often sparred and exchanged combat experience.

Seeing how downcast Bai Wushuang looked, he must have gotten a poor score.

That was understandable, really.

The trial was an extremely unforgiving test.

You could score full marks on a hundred regular assessments in a row.

But fail the trial just once, and you'd have to start all over again.

"Bai Wushuang."

Su Rou greeted him.

Bai Wushuang nodded. "You look like you got a good score."

"Mm, it was within my expectations."

Su Rou sat in the seat beside Bai Wushuang, then asked, "By the way, could you tell me about Ling Zhan?"

Pfft!

After Su Rou said that,

she could almost hear a sword plunging into someone's heart.

Bai Wushuang, who was already in a bad mood, looked even more miserable.

She'd really touched a sore spot!

The female teacher nearby couldn't bear to see her beloved student suffer any more. She took Su Rou by the hand and led her aside.

Then she explained everything about Ling Zhan.

From killing the small monsters at the beginning,

to wiping out the crab swarm,

to slaying the boss,

and finally entering the Endless Trial and shooting the Red Names.

She left almost nothing out, explaining every detail.

Su Rou's expression first showed a hint of surprise.

Then came disbelief.

Then shock.

By the end, all that remained was numb bewilderment.