Su Rou

It must just be a coincidence that the feed switched to him. It will probably go back to Sun Ze in the next second, Su Rou thought to herself.

She walked over to the spectator stands, found a seat, and sat down, waiting quietly for the broadcast to switch back.

The students sitting nearby were annoyed by the interruption and actually... glared at her.

In daily life, Su Rou was quite popular among both the boys and girls.

To the boys, Su Rou was a charming beauty, a goddess in their dreams.

To the girls, she was a close friend with a great personality, someone they could talk to about anything.

That was why this glare left Su Rou completely bewildered.

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

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

He was currently collecting his trial rewards.

Staring at Ling Zhan the whole time didn't seem very interesting.

Besides, why did Ling Zhan's trial stage look so different from her own?

"I only watch senior Ling Zhan."

"Who is Sun Ze? Never heard of him."

Su Rou's pretty face froze in surprise at these words.

Did she hear that right?

This group of spectators only wanted to watch Ling Zhan?

What about Sun Ze?

In past trials, Su Rou had been the same, coming here as a junior to watch the seniors put on impressive displays of combat.

It was a way to gain experience.

There were also some popular seniors who garnered the favor of the audience, as watching their battles helped others learn more.

But.

Those seniors were always top-tier students.

Ling Zhan was just an ordinary student; how did he attract so many people?

Could it be... just to see what rewards he got after clearing the stage?

"Why do you want to watch Ling Zhan? Is Sun Ze not performing well?" Su Rou asked softly.

"That's not it."

"Oh, stop bothering me."

"Who is Sun Ze? His combat experience is nowhere near Ling Zhan's! The key is that Ling Zhan is doing this as a Jobless Freelancer, soloing the stage."

Su Rou: "..."

What the hell is a surprise?

This is a surprise.

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

So she had no idea that Ling Zhan had entered the trial as a Jobless Freelancer.

And he was doing it solo!

In previous trial stages, it was usually mandatory to form a team of five to clear the levels.

But this year, King Yama Zhou had a lapse in judgment and set it to three-person teams.

The difficulty had spiked suddenly.

However, for those top-tier students who were already used to soloing, this rule was trivial.

In her mind, Ling Zhan should have obediently found a team to latch onto and coasted to a decent score.

But now, he was soloing the stage!

And as a Jobless Freelancer, no less!

Su Rou found it hard to accept.

"Then why is his stage different from mine?" Su Rou asked hurriedly.

As soon as she asked, she was met with a strange look from the male student.

"What's wrong? Is my question that strange?" Su Rou asked, confused.

"Well, it is quite strange."

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

"Then it must be the first stage. After all, he's a Jobless Freelancer, and he's soloing, so it's normal that he couldn't reach the second stage. But there aren't any volcanoes in the first stage either," Su Rou said, even more bewildered.

However.

The boy looked at her with that strange expression again.

"Classmate! Please don't look at me like that, because your gaze is basically saying: 'Why is this girl so stupid!'" Su Rou gritted her teeth and said fiercely.

She felt insulted!

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

The boy scratched his head in embarrassment before answering, "Classmate Su Rou, you guessed wrong. Senior Ling Zhan isn't on the first stage, nor the second. He is in... the Endless Trial!"

When the words "Endless Trial" fell.

Su Rou's bright eyes narrowed for a moment.

Then, they widened abruptly.

Her delicate face was overtaken by an expression of pure "blankness."

No matter how you looked at it, she looked adorable.

Like a little rabbit that had been startled.

Seeing Su Rou's reaction, the male student...

Well, he felt completely satisfied.

Is this the thrill of shocking others?

Is this the joy of showing off?

It felt amazing!

After a long while.

Su Rou finally regained her composure.

She stood up and hurried over to Qi Mu.

Qi Mu was her homeroom teacher, and they had a very good teacher-student relationship.

"Teacher!" Su Rou called out softly.

"Hmm, judging by your expression when you came out, your score must have reached your ideal level," Qi Mu said with a chuckle.

His class had produced a dark horse like Ling Zhan, and he was grinning from ear to ear.

Su Rou's score should be quite ideal.

Sun Ze's score shouldn't be much worse than Su Rou's either.

Yes, with both performance and job evaluations secured, this year was a bountiful harvest!

"Teacher, my score is good enough for a key military academy," Su Rou replied happily.

She then asked, "Is that student Ling Zhan on the screen right now... in the final Endless Trial?"

At this question, Qi Mu once again wore the proud smile he had shown countless times today, then drawled out in a steady, long tone, "Yes..."

As that "yes" fell.

Crack.

Qi Mu seemed to hear the sound of Su Rou's worldview shattering.

Classmate Su Rou had received another "surprise."

She wouldn't easily believe what other students said.

But could the words of her homeroom teacher, Qi Mu, be false?

Thinking of this, Su Rou felt as if a giant ball of cotton had been stuffed into her heart. It was uncomfortable; she wanted to smash it, but the cotton was soft and impossible to break.

It remained stuck in her chest.

She couldn't accept this development for the time being.

As she thought, her peripheral vision caught sight of the dejected-looking Bai Wushuang.

So, she walked over.

Su Rou and Bai Wushuang usually had a pretty good relationship, often sparring and exchanging combat experience.

Seeing Bai Wushuang looking so lost now, his score must have been very poor.

Actually, that was normal.

The trial was an incredibly cruel assessment.

You could pass a hundred daily evaluations with perfect scores.

But if you failed just once in the trial, you had to start all over again.

"Bai Wushuang."

Su Rou greeted him.

Bai Wushuang nodded. "Looking at you, your score must be good."

"Yes, within my ideal range."

Su Rou sat in the seat next to Bai Wushuang and asked, "By the way, can you tell me about Ling Zhan?"

Pfft!

After Su Rou finished that sentence.

She felt as if she heard the sound of a sword piercing someone's heart.

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

She had touched a sore spot!

A female teacher nearby couldn't bear to see her beloved student continue to be struck down, so she took Su Rou's hand and led her aside.

She explained everything about Ling Zhan to her.

From the very beginning, killing small monsters.

To wiping out the crab swarm.

To slaying the boss.

And finally, entering the Endless Trial and gunning down the Red Name.

Every performance was explained in detail, without missing a single thing.

Su Rou's expression went from slight surprise.

Then to astonishment.

Then to shock.

And in the end, she was left completely numb and blank.