There was no wonder Zhu Yaoguang had asked.
Everyone there was among the province's top hundred prodigies.
But none of these prodigies carried as much stuff as Ling Zhan did.
Mages only carried a staff.
Warriors only carried a shield and a greatsword.
Assassins just twirled a dagger in their hands.
Their gear clearly marked their classes. You could tell what they were at a glance.
Ling Zhan, on the other hand, looked like a little vagrant with all his belongings strapped to him. He was the only one like that in the whole crowd.
Of course.
The White-Haired Witch had only come over to ask him something for one reason.
Ling Zhan had arrived here before she did.
Did that mean he had cleared the trial faster than she had?
Curious, Zhu Yaoguang had asked.
The other prodigies were curious about Ling Zhan's class too. Even Sun Ze wanted to know.
Ling Zhan sighed. He really didn't want to be the center of attention.
So much for keeping a low profile.
Why would a beautiful, aloof goddess like her have to ask him that?
Still, Ling Zhan answered honestly. "I'm a Jobless Freelancer."
The moment he said it—
Whoosh.
The only sound left in the plaza was the night breeze.
Silence.
An almost absurd silence.
You could even hear everyone breathing.
Every face was blank with shock.
Zhu Yaoguang's usually cool, indifferent face now wore a look of astonishment.
Sun Ze was gaping, too.
A Jobless Freelancer had somehow made it into the province's top hundred?
What kind of joke was this?
King Yama Zhou, watching the prodigies' stunned expressions from the shadows, finally felt a little better.
No one knew how long it took.
At last, someone muttered:
"Hey, are you joking?"
Only then did the prodigies snap out of it.
They figured he had to be kidding.
But—
Ling Zhan shook his head. "I'm not joking. This is my simplified status panel."
He tapped the air, and a status panel appeared before everyone.
[Name: Ling Zhan.] [Class: None.] [Talent: 62.]
The information below it, including [Innate Talent] and [Trial Talent], was not displayed.
That was personal information.
He could choose whether or not to share it.
Once everyone saw that Ling Zhan really was a Jobless Freelancer,
their first thought was: How had he made it into the province's top hundred?
Zhu Yaoguang stared at him in disbelief, her red lips parting as if to speak.
Clap, clap, clap!
Sudden applause interrupted everyone's thoughts.
They turned around and saw King Yama Zhou had reappeared.
"All right, ten minutes are up. It's time for me to officially announce this year's provincial top ten!"
At that,
the students tensed up, fully focused.
They already knew their own city's rankings.
But they still didn't know the specific provincial rankings.
Every prodigy was eager to find out where they stood.
And they were all confident they had a shot at making the provincial top ten!
Ling Zhan was the only one who wasn't particularly interested.
Whether he came first or one hundredth,
he had already completed the challenge the system had given him.
"Lao Wu, start the broadcast,"
King Yama Zhou said.
Lao Wu, the secret realm's monitor, activated the broadcast function.
At that moment,
the screens at every test site across Nanzhou Province could broadcast the voices of King Yama Zhou and the prodigies.
"Next, on behalf of the Nanzhou Province Education Department, I will announce the provincial top ten in this year's 234th National Unified Job Transfer Entrance Examination!"
The moment the spectators at the test sites around the province heard this,
the whole place erupted.
"It's here! The province's top ten prodigies!"
"No need to guess. Zhu Yaoguang will almost certainly top the Provincial Trial Ranking!"
"I think Huang Bo has a better chance!"
"Let's wait and see."
At City No. 1 High School's test site,
in the stands,
all the students stared at the screen without blinking.
"Senior Ling Zhan made it into the provincial top hundred!"
"Senior Sun Ze made it into the provincial top hundred too!"
"That's amazing! I wonder if either of them can make the top ten."
"Senior Sun Ze has a shot, but Senior Ling Zhan probably doesn't."
"Yeah, that makes sense."
"Senior Ling Zhan has already done great to make the provincial top hundred. The top ten might be asking too much."
Su Rou kept her beautiful eyes fixed on the screen. Her conclusion was much the same as the other students'.
To be fair,
she was astonished that Ling Zhan had made it into the provincial top hundred as a Jobless Freelancer.
But saying he could make it into the provincial top ten was a bit of a stretch.
Did they really think those prodigies were pushovers?
Qi Mu, meanwhile, wore a broad smile.
Both Sun Ze and Ling Zhan were his students.
They had both made it into the provincial top hundred. As their homeroom teacher, he had every reason to feel proud.
On the viewing platform,
Principal Zhong Wenshan was smiling with satisfaction, too.
It was already a great achievement for two students from their First High School to make it into the provincial top hundred.
After all, it seemed that none of the students from the other principals' schools had made it in!
"Principal Zhong, do you think either of those two kids has a chance of making the provincial top ten?"
Just then, another principal asked him.
"No need to ask me that. They're both excellent kids, but they're still a little short of the provincial top ten. I know where they stand."
Zhong Wenshan waved his hand.
"That's not necessarily true. Sun Ze might make it, considering we've all seen how strong he is," the other principal said with a chuckle.
Zhong Wenshan nodded. "Yes, Sun Ze has a chance. But Ling Zhan probably doesn't."
Only King Yama Zhou knew the current provincial top hundred rankings.
The school principals had neither the authority nor the means to access them.
They would have to wait for King Yama Zhou to officially announce the results.
With everyone watching,
King Yama Zhou stood on the raised platform in the center of the secret realm plaza.
His stern gaze swept across all the prodigies.
Whenever a prodigy found himself under that gaze, he immediately straightened up, brimming with confidence.
"I'll spare you the pointless chatter. Now, I'll announce the tenth-place finisher in this year's Job Transfer Trial Entrance Examination!"
King Yama Zhou's gaze settled on a petite girl whose face was full of timid uncertainty. "Guo Tianjiu! Her class is Summoner, and her clear time was five hours, nine minutes, and thirty-two seconds!"
The moment his words fell,
the whole crowd turned to look at the girl.
Guo Tianjiu was shy and introverted. With so many people staring at her, she let out a squeak and hurriedly lowered her head.
Her delicate ears quickly turned red.
"Guo Tianjiu... She made the top ten?"
"The Summoner class really is powerful."
"It's not the Summoner class that's powerful. It's Guo Tianjiu!"
"I never would've thought someone so delicate could be so fierce when killing monsters!"
The prodigies in the plaza began whispering among themselves.
The spectators watching from outside were even more astonished.
Guo Tianjiu's appearance was truly misleading.
Delicate, timid, introverted, and shy.
She was the very picture of a sweet, soft girl.
Who could have guessed that such a soft girl would be so brutal when killing monsters?
And her class was Summoner, too.
The Summoner class wasn't especially suited to fighting alone.
Yet Guo Tianjiu had still claimed tenth place in the province.
Was it really true that the softer they looked, the harder they killed?
Before you continue