Simulated Void

"Oh?"

The bald proctor, dressed in a short-sleeved uniform with bulging muscles and the faint bearing of a powerhouse, raised an eyebrow.

"You just got here and already want to claim the Fully Immersive Pod... Heh, I don't mind, but you'll have to ask whether they agree."

As he spoke, he pointed behind Ron—

More than twenty examinees who had arrived early were already eyeing Ron like tigers, slowly stepping forward to surround him.

The reason the entire training hall had felt so tense earlier was that they all relied on their abilities and wealth, each wanting the right to use the Fully Immersive Pod...

The bald proctor folded his arms with interest. Leaning against the wall, he raised his voice slightly.

"You don't need to wait any longer... Looking at the time, you're probably the strongest batch of examinees in this testing room.

The remaining trash who can't even beat GG Robots won't change anything. Picking the strongest among you is more than enough."

He casually pointed at the Fully Immersive Pod and said calmly,

"I won't favor anyone. Whoever can beat everyone else into submission and be the last one standing before me will earn the right to use this Fully Immersive Pod."

Beat everyone else into submission?

Ron could not help feeling a little emotional.

As expected of the reformed College Entrance Exam, now tilted toward combat.

He had only been at the testing site for a short while, yet the proctor was already openly allowing examinees to fight over exam equipment with force...

This College Entrance Exam was truly brutal.

Just as Ron was reflecting on this, an arrogant voice suddenly drew away the attention that should have been focused on him.

"Since the teacher has said so, everyone can stop pretending to be friendly, right?

If we keep deadlocking, we'll only waste time. Who knows what those people who got their immersion pods early are already doing in Simulated Reality?

We need to settle ownership of the immersion pods quickly... We're all people who got into the testing site early. Don't waste time on this and end up falling behind in the actual exam."

Ron looked toward the voice and discovered that it belonged to the obviously aristocratic-looking young man he had seen before entering the testing site.

The young man curled his lip and sneered.

"I know none of you are simple... Maybe you're the children of some mid-level company executive, or perhaps the trump cards secretly cultivated by certain schools."

As he spoke, his tone brimmed with confidence. "But none of you have any chance of defeating me.

I don't want to waste time on you, and I don't want to hurt you either... I'll use this immersion pod. Who agrees, and who objects?"

The moment he finished speaking, he was met with a flood of mocking retorts.

No one present was ordinary. How could they be intimidated by a few words from some rich-looking young man?

Someone scoffed.

"Where did this guy come from? Does he really think he's some young master from District A?"

"Talking so big, like you really have what it takes to suppress all of us... What level is your ability, anyway?"

"Even if an Lv.3 came here, if he wanted to crush all of us at once, we could still take a bite out of him!"

Listening to their clamor, the aristocratic young man could not hold back a laugh. A trace of ridicule seeped into his voice.

"Lv.3? Do you really know what it means to reach Lv.3 during the College Entrance Exam?

Take a bite out of me... You idiots living in a daydream. I really shouldn't have wasted my breath on you."

His voice paused as he took out a suitcase and opened it. Inside lay a sleek, silver-white hollow exoskeletal prosthetic arm.

He extended his hand into the suitcase, and the hollow prosthetic arm opened as though it had come alive, crawling up his arm like a spider.

Soon, the prosthetic was fully equipped. The silver-white armor plates on it stirred as though breathing, instantly filling with streams of cyan-green air.

This was...?

Ron raised an eyebrow as the aristocratic young man said smugly,

"This is the latest premium product from Aether Mechanics, a Reality Amplifier worth one million credit points!

The enhancement it gives my ability is enough to boost my already Lv.2 power again, putting it far beyond ordinary Lv.2 Superpowered..."

As he spoke, he simply clenched his fist. Cyan-green air currents swept out and coiled around his arm into a raging whirlwind.

That level of output...

If he struck at full force without holding back, he might even be able to punch through the walls of the testing site.

In terms of raw output alone, although it was still far inferior to [Vector Manipulation], it had indeed surpassed ordinary Lv.2 abilities by a great deal...

Ron had not expected a genuine, high-priced Reality Amplifier to provide such a powerful boost.

It seemed much stronger than that old magician's emerald ring, which was only used to cast Magic...

Ron fell into thought, then saw that the other examinees had clearly been intimidated by the equipment the aristocratic young man had brought out.

Many instinctively took several steps back. Someone, clearly unwilling to accept it, said indignantly,

"Teacher! I report him for using illegal auxiliary equipment and disregarding College Entrance Exam rules!"

Yet all he saw was the bald proctor leaning against the wall, completely unconcerned.

"Illegal auxiliary equipment? While the official examination does prohibit any auxiliary equipment that enhances one's abilities, this isn't the actual exam yet...

You're only fighting over exam equipment.

During an outside-the-exam stage like this, the city government hasn't issued any law forbidding examinees from using personal belongings they brought with them."

That actually made a lot of sense.

They were only competing for exam equipment before the test. This was not part of the official examination at all, so the proctor had no authority to interfere!

On the contrary, if he forcibly prohibited students from using personal belongings, he might even violate laws restricting personal freedom and receive a warning from the Patrol Bureau...

"...It's just a Reality Amplifier. Don't really think that makes you invincible!"

Many people had backed down, but someone was still unconvinced.

An examinee suddenly rushed out from the aristocratic young man's blind spot, bright electric sparks crackling over his body.

The examinee quickly closed in and abruptly threw a vicious punch at the prosthetic arm. At that moment, the young man had not even had time to turn around and see his attacker...

But in the next instant, a raging cyan-green whirlwind erupted from the prosthetic arm.

The violent wind pressure directly blew the examinee away, slamming him heavily toward the floor—

"That's enough. Don't get hurt."

The bald proctor, who had seemed unconcerned about the testing site's order, suddenly flew into the air out of nowhere. He caught the ambushing examinee who had been blown away and gently set him on the ground.

That ambusher was not Lv.2. The proctor was probably barely Lv.3?

In other words, the strongest person in this testing room was only this Lv.2 with a Reality Amplifier...

Watching silently from the side, Ron understood that everything happening before him was merely a bunch of weaklings fighting each other.

As expected of District D... In District D, there really were not many exceptionally strong students.

Students like An Hui, who had reached Lv.2 early and clearly possessed extraordinary talent, would be directly recommended for admission half a year before the College Entrance Exam.

Or they would be admitted early and taken to District A or District B, where they would prepare for the College Entrance Exam in District A or District B under university instructors.

Only examinees like Ron, who displayed potential only shortly before the exam and had not contacted any university in advance, would appear at a District D testing site.

Seeing the ambushing examinee lying on the floor groaning, unable to get up, the aristocratic young man could not help laughing loudly.

"An ambush? Would an ambush even work?

Aether Mechanics products always come equipped with automatic defense functions. No matter how you ambush me, you'll still have to face one eruption of my ability head-on..."

As he spoke, he proudly raised his head and swept his gaze across all the examinees, teasingly asking,

"What? Does anyone else want to give it a try?"

The examinees fell silent. They could only curse him inwardly for relying on equipment, but no one dared say anything more aloud.

"Since none of you object, then this Fully Immersive Pod is mine for now, right?"

He walked up to the immersion pod with a grin. Just as he was about to open the hatch, he discovered that a hand was pressed against it, making it impossible for him to push it open no matter how hard he tried.

He looked up and saw that the poor guy dressed in plain clothes, the one who had immediately declared that he wanted to register the Fully Immersive Pod, was still standing there, examining him with a puzzled expression...

Then the poor guy spoke gently.

"I said from the beginning that I wanted this immersion pod. Didn't you hear me?"

Didn't hear him?

A poor guy who wore nothing but cheap off-brand clothes probably only had the ability to barely defeat those two GG Robots...

And someone like that dared stand in front of me now?

Had he still not understood the situation?

For a moment, the aristocratic young man was so angry that he laughed.

"That first-come, first-served nonsense is something only poor people like you, who have to line up even to buy milk tea, would believe in!

Haven't you figured out that this immersion pod belongs to whoever is stronger?"

As he spoke, he clenched his fist without hesitation and threw a punch directly at Ron.

He clearly had no intention of holding back. He truly wanted to smash Ron with a full-force punch and make him stay away from his immersion pod!

His fist shot out, and an emerald whirlwind exploded—

But it was immediately as though an invisible giant hand had seized it. The wind field failed to spread and was instead squeezed back inward.

The aristocratic young man stared at his prosthetic arm in shock. An invisible force had reversed the wind's direction, and now the emerald cyclone was churning violently inside the prosthetic...

Twisting, splitting, and shredding the entire prosthetic arm into fragments!

Just as he tried to take a step forward, an unimaginable gravity suddenly descended upon him, as though a massive boulder had appeared on his back out of thin air—

In an instant, he could no longer move even a single step!

"What... is this..."

His face flushed red. He had to exhaust all his strength just to force out those words, but speaking made him lose his breath, and he was immediately on the verge of being unable to withstand the gravity that had appeared from nowhere...

Only then did Ron speak slowly.

"Of course I know that the stronger person gets this thing..."

"Smack!"

The aristocratic young man finally could not withstand the sudden gravity. With a smack, he was forced to his knees.

"You just don't know who's stronger."

Ron gently patted his shoulder, as though comforting a familiar friend.

"Right now, it seems I really am just a little stronger than you... You should try harder next time."

After saying that, he ignored the utterly dumbfounded examinees and turned to the bald proctor, who was staring at him in astonishment.

"Teacher, you've delayed me for quite a while... Can you register this Fully Immersive Pod for me now?"

"That is a terrifying ability... Of course."

The bald proctor looked at Ron with amazement, his voice filled with shock.

"I never expected to encounter an examinee like you even at a District D testing site...

With such a powerful ability, you'd be considered among the very best even at testing sites in District A or District B!"

As he spoke in wonder, he walked over, took Ron's admission ticket, opened his brain-computer interface, and registered it using Ron's personal information.

After finishing the registration, he returned Ron's admission ticket and reminded him,

"All right. At least during your First Life, this immersion pod belongs to you..."

First Life?

What did that mean?

Ron asked in confusion, and the bald proctor before him explained,

"During this exam, every examinee can easily lose their life in there...

Each time you die, you must wait through a cooldown period before you can revive and continue participating in the College Entrance Exam."

As he spoke, he patted Ron's shoulder encouragingly.

"If you want a higher score, make sure you don't die during the exam...

Staying alive is the best way to win everything in there!"

...Was Simulated Reality really that dangerous?

Was it an arena match where life and death did not matter, or an all-out brawl where every punch drew blood?

Although it was Simulated Reality, Ron had never expected that he would have to stake his life inside it...

Ron was immensely curious. Without hesitation, he lay down inside the Fully Immersive Pod.

The hatch gradually closed. A stream of icy gas blew across Ron's face, and he immediately felt drowsiness wash over him as his eyes slowly closed.

In the next instant, he heard howling wind by his ears.

He opened his eyes and discovered, to his astonishment, that he was standing atop a stretch of ruins. Cold wind swept past him, carrying the pungent stench of dust mixed with smog.

Far in the distance, a massive virtual light screen hung in the sky. It displayed a series of familiar-looking names, each followed by points representing their rank.

Ron swept his eyes over it and immediately saw a familiar name at the top of the rankings—

Youan Hansen.

He was currently ranked first with the highest score of three million!

After omitting countless examinees, the light screen permanently displayed the final line belonging to the viewer. Ron saw his own name...

His rank had so many digits that he could not even count them, while his score was merely "0."

Well, although Ron did not know what exactly this ranking was or how these points were earned, it was only natural that he had zero points when he had just entered the exam.

But... what exactly was this simulated place?

Ron curiously looked over the endless ruins of the city, then at the enormous Void at the edge of the sky, seemingly burning as translucent mist flowed through it—

Could this be the so-called Void? Simulated by the city government in Virtual Reality?

Ron was deep in thought when a manual notification suddenly sounded beside his ear.

["Class: Superpowered" is being worn away by a minor "Mysticism Influence".]

[Trait Damage: 1%]

Ron's gaze instantly sharpened.

Minor... Mysticism Influence?!

What was going on?!