Lin Yi froze. "You know me?"
Jiang Xian studied Lin Yi with interest.
"I haven't met you, but I've heard your name so often my ears are practically callused."
"My little granddaughter mentions you all the time."
"She even told me this morning to make arrangements for your trial once you arrived."
Zuo Qian's eyes lit up.
He had not expected Elder Jiang to know Lin Yi!
This made things much easier.
Lin Yi felt a little awkward.
The elderly man before him was also surnamed Jiang.
Combined with what he had said, it was not hard to guess that Jiang Xian was Jiang Ya's grandfather.
"President Jiang, isn't it a little inappropriate to so openly pull strings for someone you know?"
A somewhat icy voice came from behind Jiang Xian.
It belonged to a young man in a suit and gold-rimmed glasses, with a rather gloomy air about him.
Another person beside him gave a faint laugh. "And forgive me for being blunt, but it's not that we look down on Jiangcheng's educational standards. It's just that among this year's freshmen, there probably aren't many who can clear this trial. Rather than taking up spots just to throw your lives away..."
"Why not make way for Tianshui Academy's freshmen? We came a long way, and we don't want to wait too long."
Jiang Xian's expression darkened at those words.
He had been polite from the start, receiving this group that had traveled all the way from Tianshui so that their first-year Mage Class Users could participate in this Trial Dungeon.
Lin Yi frowned slightly.
He disliked the way these people strutted around and looked down on everyone.
Indeed, nearly all of those from Tianshui Academy had already reached their Second Turn, and a small number had even reached their Third Turn.
But they were not that impressive.
What were they acting so superior for?
While they were speaking.
A burst of alarmed cries suddenly came from the Dungeon entrance.
Looking over, Lin Yi saw Jiang Ya being supported by a Class User beside her. Her face was pale, and she walked forward in a daze, as though she had suffered Soul Loss.
Jiang Xian's expression changed, and he hurried over.
Even based on past experience, the Mage Class Trial was not supposed to be particularly difficult this time.
But there was always some risk.
Had they failed to clear it?
"Xiao Ya, you all...?"
Jiang Ya had clearly suffered a tremendous fright. Her entire body trembled faintly, and her face was terrifyingly pale.
The moment she saw her grandfather, Jiang Ya's eyes turned red, and tears immediately streamed down her face. "Grandpa, Second Uncle... Second Uncle... sob!"
Jiang Xian's face completely darkened.
He had noticed it too. Only three people had returned with his granddaughter!
One person was missing!
It was Jiang Ya's Second Uncle, Jiang Xian's second son!
"What happened, Xiao Ya? Stop crying for now. Calm down and tell Grandpa!"
Jiang Ya could not stop trembling.
"There were... too many monsters inside!"
"We couldn't kill them all. And as long as we stayed in one place, monsters would keep attacking us without end. There was almost nowhere in the entire space to hide."
"In the end, Second Uncle gave us the last four Dungeon Escape Scrolls, then drew the monsters' fire so we could escape!"
"Second Uncle, he..."
"Sob...!"
Jiang Xian and Zuo Qian both felt their bodies go cold!
The Trial Dungeon only allowed Mage Class Users to enter.
If it was truly as Jiang Ya described, with monsters tracking them down and attacking continuously...
There were no Tank Profession Class Users to hold off the monsters, nor any Priest Healer Profession Class Users.
Even if the five Mages, aside from Jiang Ya, were all on their Second Turn or even Third Turn, they would not be able to withstand such a high-pressure environment.
It seemed their initial assessment that this was merely a D-class Trial Dungeon had been completely wrong!
Now, it looked like it was at least A-class difficulty!
"Help...!"
"There are wounded people here! Is there anyone from a Healer Profession? Please help!"
"She's not going to make it! Please save her!"
At that moment, people continuously teleported out from the Dungeon entrance.
Wails, cries, and pleas for help rose one after another.
Countless injured people were covered in blood and torn flesh. Some had their abdomens ripped open as if sliced apart by the pincers of some unknown creature, while others had both legs bitten clean off.
The scene was incomparably bloody.
These people should have been from the first group that entered the Trial Dungeon alongside Jiang Ya.
In an instant, the Class Users who had been bustling with excitement and lining up before the Dungeon entrance fell completely silent!
The next moment, there were still people in line, but most had retreated far from the entrance and could only watch from a distance.
Those who had escaped at least still had a chance to be rescued.
As for the teams that had failed to come out...
Their fate was easy to imagine!
Zuo Qian and Jiang Xian's expressions were both ugly to the extreme.
Neither had expected the originally thriving situation to suddenly become so perilous!
"Hahaha!"
"What did I say just now? You'd only be throwing your lives away if you went in anyway, so you might as well make way for us."
"Wouldn't it have been better if you'd done that from the start? You just had to make us wait this long."
The bespectacled man from Tianshui Academy pushed up his glasses, then folded his arms across his chest, his expression unchanged.
It was as if he had long anticipated the situation before him.
Then, the more than one hundred freshmen from Tianshui Academy who had come for the trial all revealed delighted expressions.
Now, no one was competing with them for places in line.
"Everyone, listen up. The objective of this trial is to survive for three hours."
"The Dungeon difficulty is A+ class. You must proceed with caution!"
"Keep the Electronic Maps we issued to you close, and follow the strategy guide exactly!"
Several teachers from Tianshui Academy began briefing their students on the necessary precautions.
The surrounding Class Users were instantly filled with envy.
"The difficulty isn't D-class at all. It's actually A+ class!"
"That's terrifying...!"
"Huh? Electronic Maps?"
"They even have a strategy guide!"
"Isn't this a time-limited Dungeon that just appeared?"
"You don't understand. I heard that many established Class User academies have Dungeon strategy guides that we don't know about. For a Dungeon like this one, where you need to survive for three hours, they may have prepared a guide in advance."
Zuo Qian, standing beside Lin Yi, gave a bitter smile.
"We were incompetent."
"Not only did we misjudge the Dungeon's difficulty, we also don't have the strategy guides they mentioned."
"I'm sorry, Jiang Ya. Lin Yi."
In an instant, the Old Principal seemed to have aged decades.
He was swallowed by deep self-reproach and guilt.
Nothing was more frightening than comparison.
The others had come fully prepared, clearly showing the difference between professional Class User academies and high schools in small base cities like theirs.
"Principal Zuo, there's no need to apologize for something beyond your ability."
"Even without a strategy guide or an Electronic Map, this trial shouldn't be too difficult, right? I want to go in and give it a try."
If this trial had truly only been D-class difficulty, Lin Yi would have found it utterly boring.
But now that he had seen so many people fail within it...
His interest had been piqued instead.
"But given the current situation, no one should be willing to form a team with you..."
Zuo Qian believed that Lin Yi had strength.
But he had pointed out the awkward reality.
At a time when everyone feared for their own safety, who would be willing to team up with him and enter this Dungeon?
Yet before anyone could react--
They saw Lin Yi take one step into the Dungeon entrance, his figure vanishing from sight!
Before you continue