The Third Trial: Dungeon Design?

On the other side of the square, Wang Hao stared at the number one name on the leaderboard, feeling as if he had been plunged into ice water.

Su Mu.

It's Su Mu again.

He clearly came out before me, how could he be first?

Wang Hao's mind was racing.

He witnessed Su Mu exit the instance before him.

If Su Mu fought more waves than him, how could he possibly have emerged first?

Unless Su Mu attacks exceptionally fast.

But how can a boss battle be fast?

Each boss takes time and effort to defeat; how can it be quick?

Unless Su Mu's attributes are overwhelmingly superior? Su Mu only has one Lesser Demon card and one Skeleton card in the dungeon, how is that possible?

He couldn't understand it.

The more he thought about it, the more impossible it seemed.

He was originally just a useless F-rank stone card. How could a special theme make him this strong? Can a special theme really be this powerful?

Wang Hao clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his palms, and a trickle of blood seeped out from between his fingers.

His eyes churned with an indescribable mix of emotions: jealousy, resentment, disbelief, and something he himself was unwilling to admit... fear.

On the other side of the crowd, Ye Qingxue looked at the rankings, her expression not showing much surprise.

Su Mu is first, she is sixth.

She had actually anticipated this outcome.

The only thing that made her a little jealous was that Su Mu attacked faster and with more attacks than her.

She struggled for ages before finally getting past the fifteenth wave, while Su Mu easily reached even higher waves.

She couldn't help but glance in Su Mu's direction.

Should we ask him how many waves he attacked?

Ye Qingxue hesitated for a moment, but ultimately withdrew her gaze.

Never mind.

Whether you ask or not, the difference is there.

Moreover, he has always been stronger than me, from high school until now.

She pursed her lips slightly, trying to comfort herself... He hit fast, which meant his wave count wasn't that much higher than hers.

If he really made it to the sixteenth or seventeenth wave, given the intensity of the boss battle, he couldn't possibly have come out so quickly.

Hmm. They should only have one more wave than me.

Thinking this way, Ye Qingxue felt a little better.

Su Mu stood at the edge of the crowd, and seeing that Ye Qingxue did not come over, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness I didn't ask.

He really didn't know how to tell her... I attacked nineteen times, you attacked fifteen times, the difference is four times.

Moreover, these four waves are the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth waves. The boss gets stronger as you go on, and the difference between these four waves is greater than the sum of the previous fourteen waves.

If Ye Qingxue found out, she'd probably be depressed for days.

As Su Mu was pondering this, that emotionless voice rang out again from above the square.

"The third stage of the assessment is about to begin. The rules for the third stage are as follows."

Everyone's attention was instantly drawn to it.

"Third Stage: Dungeon Design"

"All candidates will receive one million initial Soul Power points. Use these one million Soul Power points to design a dungeon nest within the designated area. Once designed, the dungeon nest will be deployed to the outer nest area for the nest monsters to conquer."

"Initial score: 10,000 points. The longer you survive in the dungeon, the higher the coefficient. The final score is a combined evaluation of the survival time and the number of monsters killed."

"Specific rules will be available after you enter the assessment stage."

The square fell silent for a moment, then a chorus of voices rose and fell.

"Dungeon design? The third level tests dungeon design?"

"Why is it this year? Weren't the third level always a combat scenario or a survival challenge in the past?"

"Before awakening, dungeon design could indeed reveal a person's understanding of dungeons. But after awakening, everyone has their own dungeons, so why not just look at their dungeon combat power? What's the point of testing their design skills again?"

"That's right. A dungeon master's skill level is determined by the dungeon's difficulty. No matter how strong your design skills are, if your core cards aren't good, you still won't be able to beat others. This isn't a designer qualification exam."

Someone nearby immediately retorted, "Who said dungeon design is useless? Do you think those top dungeon designers all design them themselves? Many major factions' core dungeons are optimized by specially hired design scholars. A good dungeon designer charges more than most dungeon designers, and they're in high demand."

"Those are design scholars, not copy artists. This is a copy artist assessment; why would we be testing design skills?"

"What do you know? Most dungeon designers are dungeon raiders themselves. Only by fighting in dungeons can they know where the dungeons' weaknesses are. Purely theoretical design scholars don't get the job."

"That shouldn't be placed as the third hurdle in the college entrance exam..."

"Alright, alright, whatever the higher-ups decide, that's how we'll conduct the exam. You can't change the rules, can you?"

The murmurs rose and fell, but quickly subsided.

Just like at the start of the first and second levels, everyone was once again silenced by the rules of the secret realm.

The mouth could move, but no sound could be uttered. The square fell silent again, leaving only countless gazes converging in mid-air.

And at this moment.

Zhao Wuji stood in front of the crowd from the Provincial No. 1 High School, arms crossed, his expression calm.

But his mind was racing.

Su Mu.

This guy from Rongcheng got first place in the first level against a group of monsters, and then got first place again in the second level against the boss.

The Nine Nether Sword Master, whom he was so proud of, was outshone in both trials.

In terms of clearing groups of monsters, Su Mu's monster-clearing efficiency is even higher than that of his Nine Nether Sword Master.

In terms of fighting bosses, Su Mu killed at least two of the sixteenth wave bosses, while he only killed one.

In a direct confrontation of dungeon combat power, he is not confident that he can surpass Su Mu.

But this hurdle is the dungeon design.

Zhao Wuji's lips twitched slightly.

He received individual tutoring from his family's design mentors from a young age. Half of the Nine Nether Sword Master dungeon system was designed by himself, and even the family's senior designers praised his ideas. He has never fallen out of the top three in the dungeon design subject of every mock exam at the Provincial No. 1 High School.

This is his chance to catch up.

Su Mu, you're good at fighting groups of monsters and bosses, but dungeon design is another matter.

Being good at fighting doesn't mean you can design. I'm going to take this level back.

Zhao Wuji clenched his fist slightly, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes.