The competition begins!

Guessed wrong, haha.

Ye Buyu was so embarrassed she wished she could crawl into a hole.

"Don't overthink it. Let's go," Mu Bingge said.

On the way to the Points Competition venue, the fully equipped youths rubbed their hands in anticipation. Their eyes shone with the excitement of going all out, and their radiant smiles burned hotter than the blazing sunshine.

Even the most hurried passersby stopped to watch. Looking at these spirited youths, they saw their former selves and offered heartfelt blessings.

They hoped these seeds of the future would bloom into dazzling flowers.

After they arrived at the Points Competition venue, Ye Buyu also became the center of attention, courtesy of Mu Bingge.

She hunched her shoulders slightly and muttered, "There are so many eyes on us I'm developing trypophobia. Mu Bingge, you really are famous."

Mu Bingge's brows curved slightly, her exasperation plain to see.

"You're selling yourself a little too short. Half of them are looking at you. After all, it's only been a few days since you single-handedly got the warning out, letting everyone react in time and evacuate safely."

"Huh? Me?" Ye Buyu pointed at herself and looked around. "You're kidding, right? I don't want to be the center of attention."

Mu Bingge's lips curved into a soft chuckle. "Don't worry. We won't be the center of attention. Someone else will."

Someone else?

As Ye Buyu puzzled over that, a noticeable commotion rose from the crowd.

"Everyone, move aside. Clear a path, and watch out for a stampede."

A stampede? Ye Buyu looked toward the commotion. The crowd wasn't particularly dense, and nobody was packed tightly together. A stampede ordinarily wouldn't happen.

Unless... someone was exceptionally unlucky.

"Stay farther away. The zippers on your clothes could snag his hair. It'll be bad if you yank it."

With a bandage stuck to his face, Kou Ying watched the students voluntarily move to either side and clear a path. His mouth twitched, and he couldn't decide whether to feel touched or speechless.

"It's not that dangerous. My bad luck generally doesn't affect other people."

The students standing a short distance away looked at him with a hint of pity.

"Kou Ying, you should go ahead. It'll be trouble if we accidentally hurt you."

"All right." Kou Ying stepped forward helplessly.

The students beside him swallowed, watching Kou Ying as though he were an acrobat walking a tightrope.

Ye Buyu broke into a nervous sweat. "Do they really need to be this careful? It's only a dozen meters or so. Kou Ying can cross it in a few steps. Why does it feel like they're afraid to even breathe?"

Mu Bingge averted her eyes as a few images flashed through her mind. "You never know."

The moment she finished speaking, a breeze swept past, carrying a green leaf that spun across the white clouds and drifted over everyone's heads. Then, before anyone could react, it slapped right over Kou Ying's eyes.

It was like a gentle, slender hand slowly opening, tracing a graceful arc, then smacking Kou Ying across the face.

There was absolutely no logic to it.

At the same time, by an unfortunate coincidence, Kou Ying stumbled, and the situation spiraled irreversibly into chaos.

The instant he fell, Kou Ying curled into a ball with practiced ease. Like a speeding bowling ball, he rolled straight down the path everyone had cleared.

"Thud... bang!"

Looking at Kou Ying sprawled on the ground, everyone could only watch in solemn silence.

Farewell, Kou Ying.

"Uh... this goes beyond bad luck, doesn't it?" Ye Buyu pointed at Kou Ying on the ground. "Has something cursed him?"

Before Mu Bingge could answer, heavy footsteps raced toward them from the distance. A ferocious figure hurtled over the other examinees and descended from the sky in full view of everyone.

Ye Buyu looked up. A shadow blocked the sunlight as Lou Guanshan burst onto the scene with his heavy Mo Dao strapped to his back.

A broad grin spread across his face, and his hearty laughter accompanied a declaration that rang through the heavens.

"I'm here!"

Lou Guanshan landed heavily in an explosion of dust. He waved it away and looked at Mu Bingge, brimming with fighting spirit.

"First place is mine!"

The breeze stirred the dust, and the scene fell into a silence so mortifying it made everyone's toes curl.

The examinees froze in place. There goes my secondhand embarrassment again.

Lou Guanshan maintained his hearty grin.

"Ah... right. Good luck." Mu Bingge turned away. She wasn't very good at dealing with people this hot-blooded.

Kou Ying, who had been choking on the dust while lying on the ground, sat up and lazily rubbed his hair.

"Lou Guanshan, could you avoid people when you land next time?"

Lou Guanshan hauled Kou Ying up and slapped his back with his large hand. "Hahahaha! Sorry, but with your rotten luck, you'd never dodge it anyway, would you?"

Coughing, Kou Ying shifted his feet to evade Lou Guanshan's lethal blows and put some distance between himself and this cheerful, enthusiastic menace.

"For my safety, please stay away from me."

Lou Guanshan reached out and draped an arm over Kou Ying's shoulders. "It's fine. You're not that fragile."

Everyone was speechless. With you around, it's pretty hard not to be fragile!

Mu Bingge smiled faintly at Ye Buyu. "I told you we wouldn't be the center of attention."

Ye Buyu: ...

Every generation had its standouts. They really did each have their own way of stealing the show.

One was more dazzling than a karaoke bar's disco ball, while the other was so unlucky she could hardly bear to watch. Compared with those two, the girls really did have much less of a presence.

As the examinees filed into the venue, a familiar projection appeared in midair. It was Zhao Zhe, the Principal of Hua'an University.

"Ahem. All you outstanding examinees, quiet, please!"

Ye Buyu looked up. "Is that Mr. Zhao Zhe?"

"That's right. I am Zhao Zhe, Principal of Hua'an University. I'll also be serving as the host today, explaining the competition rules to everyone.

"I'm sure you're already familiar with the Points Competition format. This competition is actually a supplementary event, and the points you earn will ultimately determine your rankings and scores.

"Your ranking in this competition is not your Gaokao ranking. Your Gaokao score will be the average of your written exam score, your assessment zone score, and your score in this Points Competition.

"The rules aren't complicated. Simply put, it's a free-for-all.

"Calamities will be deployed into this arena continuously. Your task is to kill these calamities to earn points. Of course, you can also exchange the materials you collect for points.

"While we don't encourage infighting, there still needs to be competition. So, in this competition, defeating another participant will earn you their points. Whether you cooperate or act alone is up to you."

Zhao Zhe raised a hand and pointed into the air. "Enough talk. Let the competition begin!"

The projection vanished, and the sky abruptly darkened. A metal disc suddenly appeared in the previously empty sky, blocking out the sunlight.

A curtain of light descended around the metal disc like falling moonlight, forming a transparent protective barrier that hung like silk.

Zhao Zhe's voice rang out again. "Above your heads is a miniature mobile fortress. Protective devices have been set up around it, and even the fourth tier can't break through. Show us everything you've got!"