Jiang Xia wiped the water from the corner of his mouth, his face full of emotion.
"I nearly died of exhaustion in there. Was stage eight even meant for humans? A hundred ironhide bears! I practically pulled my arms off before I finally wore them down."
As he spoke, he looked at Lu Fang with a hint of curiosity and competitiveness in his eyes.
"Brother Fang, how many stages did you clear? You're still spotless, so you must've had a much easier time than me. Well? Did you get an A rating?"
Lu Fang looked at the sweat-drenched Jiang Xia and smiled, his tone casual.
"I cleared them all."
"Pfft!"
Jiang Xia sprayed out the last mouthful of water he had just taken. He coughed violently several times, staring at Lu Fang with wide eyes.
"Cough, cough... Brother Fang, don't mess with me."
Jiang Xia waved a hand, disbelief written all over his face.
"I know you're strong. That phenomenon during your awakening told me you were something special, but the school record is only twelve floors!"
Jiang Xia decided to look for himself and turned his head.
His face, still wearing a playful grin a moment ago, instantly froze.
On the light screen, the glittering gold result pinned at the very top struck his retinas like a bolt of lightning.
[Lu Fang: Cleared floor 15.] [Rating: SSS.]
Jiang Xia's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
He looked at the glaring "SSS" on the screen, stiffly turned to look at Lu Fang, then looked back at the screen.
Rattling sounds came from his throat, and for a long while, he could not get out a complete sentence.
He had thought clearing eight floors in an hour and a half and getting a B rating already made him a genius.
But Lu Fang...
Not only had he cleared it all, he had even received the SSS rating that existed only in legends?
"B-Brother Fang..."
Jiang Xia felt his entire worldview shatter across the floor at that moment, beyond any hope of piecing it back together.
"S... SSS rank? Are... are you even human?"
Time ticked by, second by second.
At exactly two hours and eight minutes after the dungeon opened.
In the center of the gymnasium, the teleportation array, which had been dormant for a long time, suddenly lit up one final time.
This time, its light was particularly blinding, accompanied by a strong reek of blood.
A figure slowly emerged from the light. It was Wang Yixing.
By now, he had long since lost the pristine appearance he had entered with.
Black blood still dripped from the Thunder Sword in his hand. His once-stylish school uniform had been torn into strips, wounds covered his body, and he was drenched in blood.
Yet he showed no trace of bedragglement. Instead, he held his head high, his gaze arrogant to the extreme.
"Huff... huff..."
He panted heavily, but the smile on his face grew increasingly savage and excited.
He glanced at his results panel.
[Floors cleared: 12] [Clear rating: A] [Clear rewards: Silver-grade Thunder Gauntlets, Silver-grade Gale Necklace, universal skill book "Block"]
"Stage twelve!"
Wang Yixing clenched his fists hard, feeling the power surging within him.
He remembered it clearly. The school record had been set by the previous year's hidden-class Bloodthirsty Warrior: stage twelve, in two hours and thirty-eight minutes.
And although he had also reached stage twelve, he had taken only two hours and eight minutes!
A full half hour faster!
I broke the record! I'm the true number one at Jiangcheng No. 1 High School!
Wang Yixing roared inwardly.
With the bearing of a victor, he looked around, wanting to bask in everyone's cheers and applause.
The first person he saw was Lu Fang, who had long been standing in the rest area by the sidelines.
Holding a half-empty bottle of water, Lu Fang was watching him leisurely.
What grated on Wang Yixing most was that Lu Fang's school uniform was as smooth as new, without a single wrinkle. His white sneakers were so clean it was absurd, as though they had never touched dirt.
At the sight, Wang Yixing instantly filled in what he believed to be the truth.
"Heh."
Wang Yixing sneered and strode up to Lu Fang, dragging his Thunder Sword.
"Young Master Lu, out so early?"
He looked Lu Fang up and down, his eyes filled with mockery and contempt.
Wang Yixing spoke loudly, deliberately making sure everyone around them could hear.
He raised his chin and pointed his thumb at himself.
"I got so carried away killing in there that I accidentally cleared stage twelve and broke the school record while I was at it."
At this point, he paused, a hint of provocation in his eyes.
"You're so clean, Young Master Lu. You must've come out early to rest, right?"
With that, he stared into Lu Fang's eyes, hoping to see shame, jealousy, or mortification on his face.
However.
Lu Fang said nothing.
He simply watched Wang Yixing quietly, his gaze as calm as though he were watching a clown perform.
And it was not just Lu Fang.
Wang Yixing suddenly realized that something seemed wrong with the atmosphere around him.
It was too quiet.
Too strange.
Logically, he had broken the school record. Even if there were no crashing gongs and drums, there should at least have been thunderous applause and cries of amazement, right?
Yet now, among the thousands of people in the gymnasium, not a single person spoke.
Everyone was looking at him with an extremely complicated expression.
Those looks held neither admiration nor awe, but a kind of... indescribable pity?
And even a touch of the mockery reserved for a fool?
What's going on?
Wang Yixing's heart lurched, and his sense of foreboding grew stronger and stronger.
Instinctively, he raised his head and followed everyone's gaze toward the enormous light screen above the gymnasium.
The first thing he saw was the name on the second line.
[Second place: Wang Yixing] [Floors cleared: 12] [Rating: A]
"Second place?"
Wang Yixing's pupils abruptly contracted, and his voice shot up an octave.
"I'm second? That's impossible! Who could be faster than me?"
His gaze trembled as it slowly moved upward.
When he saw the name hanging at the top of the rankings, dazzling as the blazing sun, and the rating beside it that symbolized supreme glory, his entire body instantly froze.
[First place: Lu Fang] [Floors cleared: 15] [Rating: SSS]
Boom!
At that moment, Wang Yixing felt as though a nuclear bomb had exploded inside his head.
The arrogant smile on his face shattered instantly like broken glass, replaced by utter terror and disbelief.
"Fifteen floors... an SSS rating..."
His lips trembled. Every word seemed squeezed through his teeth, carrying a heavy taste of blood.
"How... how is that possible... SSS rank? Does SSS rank really exist in this world?"
The A rating he had endured countless hardships and risked half his life to obtain seemed like a firefly competing with the brilliant moon before this SSS-so laughable, so insignificant.
Just then, the principal, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly straightened his collar and strode onto the stage.
He gripped the results sheet tightly, his face flushed with an almost feverish excitement.
He picked up the microphone and took a deep breath, his voice trembling slightly with overwhelming excitement.
"Quiet, everyone!"
The microphone's squeal brought everyone back to their senses.
His eyes shining, the principal swept his gaze over the crowd before finally settling on Wang Yixing and Lu Fang.
"Since everyone has finished the dungeon, let's begin the awards ceremony."