Do You Dare?

No, man.

Do I even know you?!

I don't remember ever provoking you. Why do you have such a huge grudge against me?

Facing the hulking man before him, brimming with killing intent and clearly here with ill intentions, Ron was filled with confusion.

...Why?

To avoid attention, he had forcibly stayed in the Preparation Hall for two whole days. Two days!

For two days, he had done nothing except study the top hundred opponents and lie low...

How had he run into such an expert, someone who had fixated on him and was hunting him down?

Questions drifted through Ron's mind, but in an instant, he calmed down and began analyzing the situation.

What had happened had happened. There was no need to complain to heaven or blame others; he just needed to figure out what was going on.

Thinking carefully about his own actions—

The killing intent on this man was obvious. Such intense killing intent could only come from hatred or profit...

So, was he hostile toward Ron because Ron had cut off his source of profit, or because Ron had killed his parents?

Obviously, neither had happened.

Since neither was possible, Ron suspected that he himself was the source of profit.

Only if Ron's life was valuable enough to this hulking man, enough to stir his greed, would he display such hostility.

If he remembered correctly, this guy had accepted investment from Noah Pharmaceuticals...

Perhaps he was the assassin Ron had considered before, sent by some unknown client.

But Ron had only considered the possibility of assassins outside the exam grounds. He had never expected them to have arrangements even within the "Hollow Battlefield."

They were hunting him even inside the exam... That unknown client had probably paid an enormous price to persuade Noah Pharmaceuticals to assign this task to one of their champion candidates.

Still...

Ron calmly watched the hulking examinee before him. His heart was as still as water, while his ability was already operating beyond its limits.

[Beck, 13,000,000 points, third place.]

So what if he was third?

No matter what kind of enemy he faced, he only needed to defeat him.

Third place—just the perfect stepping stone for Ron to reach the top ranks!

"Why does Noah Pharmaceuticals want to kill me?"

With tension at its peak, Ron suddenly asked. Beck paused slightly, then revealed a savage grin.

"So you do know... I don't know how you bought off the assassin, but hiding all the time won't do you any good."

As he spoke, he took a huge stride forward and reached out, intending to grab Ron just as he had grabbed the other examinees—

"I'll keep watching you. In every Peak Contest, I'll kill you until the exam is over!

"You'll never have a chance to take first pl—"

But before he could finish, he saw Ron smile at him as though he were an idiot.

Because the moment Beck stepped forward, he had entered the range of [Vector Manipulation]!

Oh? Rather than retreating, you chose to approach me?

It seemed that hiding his abilities for so long had indeed been useful.

At the very least, Beck definitely did not know the range or method of operation of [Vector Manipulation]...

This was a good opportunity!

Ron showed no mercy. The [Vector Manipulation] he had already been running at full power immediately reversed gravity—

In that instant, Beck flew high into the air, then crashed down as gravity returned...

At the same time, the sand, gravel, iron fragments, and countless bits of debris scattered across the ground all turned into bullets under Ron's control, shooting toward the hulking man plummeting from above!

In just an instant, the formerly imposing third-place examinee became fish on the chopping block, utterly at the mercy of [Vector Manipulation]...

Or had he?

The hulking figure in the sky suddenly vanished. Ron only heard a sound behind him like cloth being ripped apart, followed by a low, hoarse voice.

"So that's your ability... No wonder the higher-ups told me to stop you!"

Two powerful fists struck out, raining down upon Ron from behind like a violent storm!

...He had teleported away with a spatial ability!

Ron immediately turned around and fully deployed the reflective force of [Vector Manipulation].

With both hands in his pockets, he stood there calmly and neither dodged nor retreated as he received Beck's storm of punches.

Beck's heavily muscled arms carried strength comparable to that of a physical-enhancement Superpowered, yet they could only freeze several dozen centimeters before Ron—

As if they had struck a dense mountain of steel, unable to advance even a fraction no matter how hard he tried!

However, despite that.

Ron's actual condition was far less relaxed than he appeared.

As expected of a top-tier Lv.2 Superpowered...

A powerful spatial ability, a Personal Reality honed through long training, and a body stronger than that of ordinary physical-enhancement Superpowered.

How had this guy... become so powerful?

To be honest, Ron felt that he had truly encountered the first opponent who could be called a formidable foe.

Although Beck had no way to break through [Vector Manipulation]'s defense, Ron likewise had no opportunity to hit him.

When studying his opponents earlier, Ron had noticed Beck. The current third-place contender seemed to possess a spatial transfer ability with extremely low energy consumption...

He had never displayed an ability like Xia Zhi's, capable of directly teleporting every object across a vast area, but merely teleporting himself to a set coordinate was enough to place him among the top ranks.

After all, this nearly costless instantaneous movement was practically the strongest evasion skill. He could also kite others indefinitely and wear down his opponents...

Combined with his extraordinary brute strength, it ensured that he could appear around his opponents like a ghost and seize victory through overwhelming force.

What should he do...

Beck continued throwing punches stubbornly. Ron maintained [Vector Manipulation] while watching the durability of [Superpowered] gradually decline, and a headache began to form.

He absolutely could not lose to Beck, but winning did not seem easy either...

Lv.2 [Vector Manipulation] was still too incomplete. Spatial teleportation should have fallen within [Vector Manipulation]'s range of influence, but Ron's ability level was too low to reach space itself.

Therefore, he could not stop Beck. He could only let Beck teleport again and again, dodging the projectiles unleashed by [Vector Manipulation].

Was he really going to keep wearing him down until their abilities had been completely eroded by Mysticism Influence, forcing them to start brawling from scratch?

The moment the thought occurred to him, Ron immediately rejected it.

He could switch to [Potion Sequence] and temporarily become a [Corpse Collector] in Simulated Reality, gaining powerful physical abilities, but that carried enormous risks—

Unlike [Ashes of the Age of Gods], Magic Vision could only be seen by Ron himself. It had no effect on the environment, was not simulated by the Intelligent Brain, and would leave no record.

But if he became a [Corpse Collector] and fought Beck hand-to-hand...

Ron's unreasonable display would probably land him on the negotiation tables of the mega-corporations the very next day—

Of course, he would be placed on the "dinner plate" before being brought to that table.

By the third day, once the mega-corporations had settled the division of benefits, they would take Ron away after deciding who owned him. Slice him up for research, mince him straight into bits in a laboratory!

And without the [Corpse Collector]'s power, Ron simply could not beat Beck's displayed physical abilities...

Did that mean... this battle was already impossible to win?

Ron frowned deeply as he watched Beck, whose knotted muscles made him resemble a giant beast. Then his eyes suddenly narrowed—

As Beck threw punch after punch like a raging storm, Ron could see thick, savage stitched wounds beneath the flapping hem of his clothes...

The Intelligent Brain's Simulated Reality perfectly replicated an examinee's condition. Every strand of body hair was reproduced in exact detail.

Beck had undergone a major real-world surgery that had opened up his abdomen, and the stitched wound was fresh. It had probably been less than a few months...

Ron immediately thought of the mad supervisor's notes and the data on the out-of-control monsters recorded on that USB drive.

Clearly, Beck was the "high school student" who had been modified and implanted with the organs of an out-of-control monster!

Tch. He had seemed so rational, and mega-corporations like Noah Pharmaceuticals always invested in many examinees, so Ron had assumed the one who underwent biological modification was not him...

Who would have thought it really was this guy? Then his physical abilities came from the influence of those extraordinary organs?

...Then, according to the records, the monsters feared meaningless sounds with high decibels and high frequencies. That should affect him too!

The instant he understood everything, Ron immediately formed a plan. Without making a sound, he controlled the magnetic field and gathered Iron Sand from the ruins like An Hui did.

At the same time.

Beck, whose fists had become red from striking and whose forehead was covered in sweat, staggered back two steps. He stared in astonishment at Ron, who still stood in place without moving, calm and unruffled.

He looked at his own fists in disbelief, a trace of incomprehension rising in his heart.

Ever since Noah Pharmaceuticals had modified him, he had not faced such a predicament in a long time.

Every enemy had fallen beneath his teleportation and enhanced physical abilities, but this time...

He had not even managed to touch the corner of Ron's clothes!

Looking at Ron, who had not moved at all and seemed incomparably calm, Beck could not help swallowing. He said hoarsely, "An ability of the same type as that person's... Though you're not as strong as him, you're indeed a threat."

As he spoke, he took a deep breath.

"But... that doesn't mean you can keep going."

"You are indeed strong—so strong that I can't defeat you... But that doesn't mean you can win.

"The only reason you'll lose is that, unlike me, you have less room for error and don't dare risk your life—"

Risk his life?

He had also realized that he could not take me down. Was he preparing to use his final method...

Ron's expression turned serious, and the movements he was making in secret sped up.

He watched Beck casually tear open his clothes and toss them aside.

Savage scars covered his body, and at that moment, those scars seemed to begin squirming strangely...

As though something was about to squeeze out from within them!

"I'll protect my position... There aren't many Peak Contests left. Even if you really can return to the Hollow Battlefield again, you won't get a chance to be matched against him!"

As Beck spoke, the light reflected by the flowing Data Bubbles across the sky suddenly dimmed.

Without Ron knowing, the livestream of this Peak Contest was suddenly removed from the streaming platform's recommendations, and the feed was completely cut off!

Only darkness remained in the livestream room...

At that moment, Beck viciously clenched his teeth. Rough, twisted, desiccated limbs suddenly emerged from his scars, like the claws of a Corpse Shell.

Two shriveled wings also spread from his back, rough and black, making Ron think of the "gargoyles" from classic Western fantasy works.

However, they all clearly carried an illusory quality. Like the finger bone obtained from the Void, they seemed to exist somewhere between being and not being.

Could these be... the organs stitched into Beck's body?

Or were they mutated limbs produced by those extraordinary organs?

No matter what, Noah Pharmaceuticals' experiments were truly a little too terrifying...

Ron could not help feeling emotional. At that moment, Beck's eyes were bloodshot, and savage veins bulged across every muscle in his body—

The next moment, he kicked up a violent gale and charged at Ron with force utterly incomparable to before!

No wonder he had been so rational earlier. He had not been fighting at full strength.

When fully relying on those extraordinary organs, he himself would mutate, and his rationality would be ground away...

Still, it had to be said that the strength Beck gained after transforming through biological modification was indeed far greater than what he had shown before.

Judging by that force, Ron's mere Lv.2 [Vector Manipulation] might truly not withstand it for long.

But...

Ron chuckled. The scattered Iron Sand he had prepared long ago suddenly "flowed" out from the building ruins beneath his feet, then slashed fiercely across the flat ground under the effects of [Vector Manipulation]—

In an instant, a piercing screech like fingernails scraping across a blackboard rang out beside Ron. At the same time, he manipulated the Iron Sand at an extremely high frequency, dragging it back and forth across the ground...

"Bzzzz!!"

The piercing scraping sound erupted at an extremely high frequency, filling the entire world.

Beck, who had half-flown into the air on those shriveled wings as he charged forward viciously, stopped as if struck by a heavy blow...

He let out a mournful cry. The translucent wings and withered arms on his body immediately trembled like sieves, gradually shattering amid the piercing sound and dispersing into useless Data Bubbles.

It worked... It even worked too well!

Perhaps because Beck had undergone such deep modification and suffered rejection from the extraordinary organs...

The limbs of those extraordinary creatures, which should never have appeared in this era, completely collapsed beneath the piercing noise.

Like blown soap bubbles, they burst at the slightest poke...

Ron walked forward and looked at Beck, who lay collapsed on the ground with several gaping wounds across his body, his body twitching unconsciously while he remained crazed.

Without hesitation, Ron kicked him. [Vector Manipulation] operated at full force and instantly blasted him into pieces!

The next moment, Ron's ranking shot upward, directly reaching third place and pushing every examinee below third down one rank.

What a hassle...

Recalling Beck's words, Ron picked up the admission tickets on his body and slowly headed toward the Evacuation Point.

As he walked, he fell into thought.

First... Everything this guy said implied that he was trying to stop me from taking first place.

And he said something about "an ability of the same type as his"...

The only person who benefited from preventing me from taking first was naturally the current first-place contender...

Ron looked thoughtfully at the ranking board on the horizon—

[Youan Hansen, 17,000,000, first place.]

The [Gravity Manipulation] user Deng Yin had mentioned, the one destined to compete with Ron for first place in the physics department in the future...

Was he the one who had arranged to assassinate me before the College Entrance Exam?

It seemed he was very afraid that I would compete with him for first place in the physics department.

Perhaps first place in the physics department came with far more than I had imagined...

Lost in thought, he stepped onto the Evacuation Point. Soon, he turned into Data Bubbles and reappeared in the Preparation Hall.

"Ring-ring!"

The moment Ron entered the hall, an unknown call request popped up, interrupting his thoughts.

An unknown number... Who was this?

Ron answered the call in puzzlement. The pop-up showed a boy who looked somewhat frail, yet was clearly proud and aristocratic.

He casually fiddled with the admission ticket in his hand. Only after seeing Ron answer did he bestow a glance upon him.

"Ron... right?"

He chuckled.

"I heard you're Deng Yin's disciple?

Hmm, it seemed he still hadn't learned restraint. He didn't know not to touch what belonged to others..."

As he spoke, he stretched lazily and said softly:

"You're competing for first place in Moen University's physics department, right?"

"The College Entrance Exam results will heavily affect Prometheus's evaluation weighting. Since we're both competing for that position, there's no need to wait too long and waste time."

Only then did he look directly at Ron:

"In the next Peak Contest, thirty minutes from now, I'll come find you...

I'll find a way to eliminate the influence of every other examinee and duel you one-on-one, to determine the true first place in this College Entrance Exam—"

Yuan's eyes burned, a trace of contempt coloring his tone:

"Do you... dare?!"