Taking a closer look now, she couldn't help reading out the name of the service.
"Pin... Pin Hao Suan??"
Wen Jing choked on her own words after reading it. No... there was so much to roast that she didn't know where to start.
"That's right!" The staff member explained the details. "Once you sign up for this service's membership, you'll gain access to a big data platform containing members' officially registered coordinates before and after traveling to the Ancient Wilderness using different algorithms."
"You can use these coordinates to 'reverse-engineer algorithms.' For example, if you're currently using a basic algorithm, you can work backward from the enhanced-power version's coordinate database. According to our big data analysis, members' travel efficiency and accuracy improve by an average of 30% over their original levels after signing up!"
"And these coordinates don't just come from our Red Earth Academy. They also come from Azure Jade and Mystic Radiance Academy. The database is absolutely authoritative."
Setting aside whether reverse-engineering an algorithm from coordinates had better odds than cashing out on Pinduoduo, Wen Jing narrowed her eyes first. "And this is free?"
At this point, it was time to reveal the catch. The staff member rubbed his hands together and smiled. "When you sign up for a Pin Hao Suan membership, you'll sign an annual agreement for 9,998 credits. However, as long as you provide three coordinates a month, you won't be charged. Given how frequently you're entering the Ancient Wilderness, this service would be completely free for you!"
What an idiot tax of a service, combining so many different tricks...
Wen Jing marveled inwardly. Her first instinct was to leave, but then she paused. "All right, sign me up."
"Huh?" The staff member had given up hope after seeing her expression and froze for a moment. Then, remembering the two-thousand-credit commission, he was overjoyed. "Of course, of course! I'll get that set up for you right away."
By the time the sales pitch ended and they parted ways, the staff member was very satisfied, and so was Wen Jing.
If anyone asked how she could pinpoint her destination after learning just two basic algorithms, she could simply flash her Pin Hao Suan membership!
Before they knew it, this year's winter intake had been at the academy for nearly a month.
With the end of the month approaching, the academy would soon tally the class standings, and the Trial Tower, where successful challenges earned points, had entered its busiest period of the month.
Of course, given the limited number of students, even at its busiest each month, the Trial Tower never had particularly long queues. Students were absolutely guaranteed to finish their challenges on time.
In the Trial Tower's lobby, Yu Yang and several other friendly new students from the winter class had also arrived.
"Wan Ling, how many minutes did you take when you challenged it midmonth?"
The girl thought back before answering, "Eight minutes and fifty-four seconds."
"Wow, then you've got a shot at C rank this time!" Yu Yang looked a little envious. "I took over nine minutes last time and barely scraped a D. I wonder if I can get anywhere near a C this time."
Wan Ling was the girl who had approached Wen Jing before the welcome party and asked for her protection. She had the best grades in their little circle.
At his words, she shook her head and sighed. "Getting a C would only add two credits to my original score, but I can't even get an F on the second floor. It wouldn't raise my ranking much."
Like the other new students in their class, they had basically all challenged the Trial Tower once around the middle of the month, earning D and E ratings.
After half a month of improvement, their nervous expressions held a hint of anticipation. They hoped to raise their first-floor Trial Tower ratings by one rank this time.
Although they also planned to make one final push on the tally day three days from now, unless they performed exceptionally well, this attempt would essentially be their challenge result for the month.
"Nothing we can do. Let's take it slowly. A month is too short, after all." They comforted and encouraged one another. "We just need more time to build ourselves up."
Just then, an unusual commotion broke out in the lobby.
They turned curiously and spotted a familiar figure.
"Wen Jing!"
Having just arrived at the Trial Tower, Wen Jing glanced around and saw her classmates waving excitedly at her, so she walked over to say hello.
"What a coincidence. You're here to take on the Trial Tower too?"
"Yeah." Facing Wen Jing, they all wore the expressions of people looking up to an academic god. "You'll definitely get an A this time, right?"
Wen Jing answered confidently, "No idea!"
Ever since her Wilderness Body had received an enormous boost during her last exploration, she hadn't fought seriously in her human body, so she really couldn't gauge her current level.
Naturally, the others saw this as an academic god's modesty.
Some nearby onlookers who overheard their conversation, however, looked displeased. Most were student council members or students from the three earlier intakes.
Recently, word of Wen Jing's genius had even reached the second- and third-year students, as though she were the only impressive first-year.
There was no shortage of proud first-years. They had been enrolled longer and hadn't claimed they could get an A, so naturally, they couldn't stand a newcomer boasting so shamelessly.
As they chatted, their queue notifications arrived one after another, and they went to log in at different areas.
Following the directions, Wen Jing headed toward the equipment area, passing quite a few students who had just finished their Trial Tower challenges.
A person's reputation was like a tree's shadow.
Many recognized Wen Jing when they saw her, their gazes lingering on her. After reaching the lobby, many didn't leave immediately, but waited curiously to see her results this time.
"Not bad, Du Ran! You've really been working hard lately, huh? An A on the first floor and an E on the second. I wasn't nearly this fierce in my first year!"
Du Ran had just finished his challenge and entered the lobby when a companion who had already checked his results greeted him with a smile, snapping him out of his thoughts.
Waiting for him were the other three second-year members of the Operations Department.
The Operations Department also had internal groups, divided according to their Ancient Wilderness exploration teams. After the five of them had formed a team, they often did things together to build rapport and coordination. Month-end Trial Tower challenges were generally something they did together too.
"What's wrong? Why that expression?" the senior girl beside him asked.
Du Ran instinctively glanced back toward the equipment area. "I saw Wen Jing."
"Wen Jing?" Ji Shuang's cool voice sounded just then. She, too, had just emerged from the equipment area.
A companion refreshed her results and sucked in a breath. "An A! Shuang, you're ruthless!"
The other three, whose attention had initially been drawn by the news of Wen Jing, were equally shocked. Unlike the first-year Du Ran, when these second-year Operations Department students spoke of Trial Tower ratings, they meant the third floor.
The Trial Tower guardians' energy strength doubled with each floor. In other words, Ji Shuang had faced a guardian with four times the energy!
The difficulty of Du Ran's first-floor A was nothing compared with a third-floor A.
Even the other second-year members in Ji Shuang's year hadn't achieved such results. Despite her aloof, cold, and proud personality, she was actually the core of this team.
Yet Ji Shuang, who had just achieved such an excellent result, showed little reaction to her companions' amazement. Her attention was on something else. "You said Wen Jing came to challenge the Trial Tower too?"
"That's right." At this, the others grew curious as well, recalling the time they had seen her at the exploration registration center.
"I wonder what result she'll get?"
Thus, like many others present, the five Operations Department geniuses didn't leave immediately. Instead, they stayed and curiously refreshed the Trial Tower rankings. It wouldn't take much time anyway.
However, the seconds and minutes passed, and even after Yu Yang and the others came out, Wen Jing was still nowhere to be seen.
More importantly, her results hadn't appeared on the rankings either.
The results for every floor of the Trial Tower were calculated and updated in real time. If Wen Jing hadn't come out, that meant she wasn't spending extra time challenging higher floors-she hadn't even cleared the first!
"How is that possible?"
Yu Yang and the others had great faith in Wen Jing's strength, and disbelief appeared on all their faces.
A scion of a plutocratic family from the winter class nearby saw their reactions and came over to stir up trouble, deliberately saying loudly:
"No way! Wen Jing still hasn't come out? Is she actually getting worse the more she fights?"
His words sent the lobby into an uproar, filling it with a constant buzz.
Chapter 32
"No way!"
Although Yu Yang and the others found it unbelievable, their instinctive response to their classmate's claim that she was getting worse was to refute it.
They didn't see Wen Jing often, but as the classmates who knew her best, they knew she could never be "getting worse the more she fought," as he had claimed.
This wasn't blind confidence based on their established impression from the welcome party, but the terrifying talent they could see firsthand whenever their everyday classes overlapped.
Adding in what they had indirectly learned about Wen Jing's hard work, how could she possibly not be strong?
Sensing the various subtle looks gathering around them, Wan Ling reacted fastest and immediately shot back at the speaker. "Never mind anything else. Instructor Joel told Wen Jing to take on the Trial Tower himself. You don't think you've got a better eye than an instructor, do you?"
"Exactly. Maybe Wen Jing's still outside and hasn't entered the Trial Tower at all," Yu Yang chimed in.
At that, the boy's expression briefly froze. Clearly, he too had remembered how Instructor Joel had seen Wen Jing in a new light during shield class.
His name was Terry, and he was a new student in this year's winter intake. Currently ranked fourth in the class, he naturally resented Wen Jing, a commoner who held first place. He felt that without her, he would have third place firmly secured.
Born into a plutocratic family, Terry cared not about the points awarded to the top three, but about the ranking itself.
The fact that the academy only awarded bonus points to the top three in each class made it clear that only those three top students in every class would receive preferential access to the academy's special resources.
Apart from the initial era when the Federation government was established, after a thousand years of change and reshuffling, the strongest Awakeners likewise held the most resources within the plutocratic conglomerates.
The plutocrats who could have and raise children in batches were all Awakeners.