The Novels Didn't Lie to Me

The white light faded, and the two stood once more in the open space outside the trial grounds.

In the data observation area in the distance, several teachers had their eyes on them.

"They're both level 5." The female teacher looked at the data on the panel and nodded. "They cleared the hard dungeon."

"Quite a bit faster than I expected." The bespectacled teacher adjusted his glasses. "Although Li Ming's core card is the A-rank Biochemical Mothership, his support system isn't complete yet. Clearing the hard dungeon so quickly shows he has his own understanding of how to deploy his forces."

"After all, he has an A-rank core card paired with an A-rank theme, and it's a technological civilization."

The director of instruction took up the thread. "Its troop production efficiency is already the highest of all types in the early and middle stages. It isn't easy for an ordinary A-rank to clear the hard dungeon. The fact that Li Ming managed it shows he's quite talented."

The teachers nodded one after another, clearly giving Li Ming most of the credit for the clear.

"Still, Su Mu must have contributed too."

The female teacher spoke up suddenly. "His A-rank Little Drill Wind's combat strength speaks for itself. Although Li Ming was the main force in team mode, the biochemical legion alone would have had trouble killing the elite monsters in the later waves quickly. Su Mu's damage output must have been key."

"That's true." The bespectacled teacher pondered for a moment. "His combat power of over eleven thousand isn't just for show, after all. Even if he only shared the burden of damage output for two or three waves, that would have been enough to cut the clear time substantially."

Zhao Jianguo said nothing. He merely stared thoughtfully at the backs of the two young men in the distance.

Meanwhile, the students near the entrance to the trial grounds had also noticed Su Mu and Li Ming.

"They're out? Did they clear it or not?"

"They're both level 5, so of course they cleared it. The normal dungeon couldn't get them to level 5."

"Holy crap, they teamed up for hard and actually cleared it?"

"I bet Li Ming carried him. How the hell was Su Mu going to fight in the hard dungeon with an F-rank rock core card? If Li Ming hadn't held the front, he might not even have made it through the first wave."

"Exactly. With an A-rank technological civilization and an A-rank core card, Li Ming's setup could carry someone through hard. It'd be tough, but not impossible."

"Wait, didn't you guys see the leaderboard in the classroom just now?" a tall, thin student suddenly cut in. "I think Su Mu's combat power ranking shot up to fifth."

"Fifth? Wouldn't that take at least ten thousand combat power?" The person beside him stared, then frowned. "No way. Where would a guy with an F-rank core card get over ten thousand combat power? Even if he spent all 210 points of Soul Power, piling up buildings would only get him a little over two thousand. Where would the other eight thousand come from?"

"Unless he has an A-rank card," another student reasoned. "But embedding an A-rank card costs five hundred Soul Power. Two hundred and ten Soul Power isn't even half enough for an A-rank card. That's a hard-and-fast rule from the textbook. You can't fake it."

"Don't tell me he raised a low-rank card to A-rank himself?" someone scoffed. "Raising an A-rank card himself on the first day after awakening? You wouldn't dare make up a story like that."

"All right, all right. Don't believe me if you don't want to." The tall, thin student was getting impatient too. He waved a hand. "We'll check the leaderboard when we get back to the classroom. The data won't lie. You can see for yourselves then."

The discussion gradually died down, but the looks directed at Su Mu became a little more complicated.

Su Mu turned a deaf ear to it all.

He turned his head to look at Li Ming and patted him on the back. "All right, let's go to the nightmare dungeon next."

Li Ming froze. "Me?"

"Who else?" Su Mu said. "Now that you've cleared hard, you can unlock nightmare today. Even if you only clear the first wave, the experience is really generous. You're level 5 now, so tag along for one wave and you'll reach level 6. Get ahead in levels early, and you'll stay ahead every step of the way."

Li Ming didn't answer. Instead, he frowned and thought it over for quite a while.

His mind didn't work quickly, but he could figure this much out.

Su Mu had already given him a huge advantage by carrying him through the hard dungeon.

Someone who might not even have been able to clear the hard dungeon had now not only cleared it, but also picked up half the experience from team mode for free. If he still didn't know what was good for him and followed Su Mu into the nightmare dungeon, he really would be dragging him down.

"Brother Mu, I'm not going." Li Ming raised his head, his tone firm.

Su Mu raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"You're asking me why?"

Li Ming gave a wry smile. "You think I couldn't tell? You killed everything in the last few waves of the hard dungeon on your own. My biochemical soldiers were just throwing their lives away against level 5 monsters. If I go into the nightmare dungeon with you, I'll just take a share of your experience and make you clear fewer waves. If you go alone, you might make it to the fifth wave or even further."

"I didn't know how strong you really were before, so I kept saying I'd carry you. Now that I know, there's even less chance I can do that. If you still consider me your brother, go in by yourself. I'll wait out here for you to come out. Just tell me how many waves you cleared afterward."

Su Mu looked at him and said nothing for a long while.

Once Li Ming made up his mind, nine oxen couldn't pull him back. Especially when it came to not dragging his brother down, he wouldn't budge even if it killed him.

"All right." Su Mu finally nodded. "Then watch from out here."

Li Ming grinned. "That's more like it. Go on, see if you can beat that damn nightmare dungeon all the way through."

"I wouldn't go that far." Su Mu smiled and walked toward the trial entrance.

Just then, a grating voice rang out from beside them.

"Well, well, getting ready to enter the nightmare dungeon?"

Su Mu paused.

Wang Hao had come out of the nightmare dungeon's curtain of light at some point and was standing not far from them.

He looked to be in terrible shape.

His face was frighteningly pale, his lips were blue, and sweat streamed down his temples like water.

Most noticeable of all was his right hand, which kept trembling slightly beyond his control.

Su Mu could tell it was an aftereffect of damage to his core card. Although the trial dungeon had protective mechanisms, once the dungeon core suffered a heavy blow, the soul space would still suffer a degree of backlash.

Wang Hao clearly hadn't expected to be kicked out of the nightmare dungeon so early.

His arrogance was still there, but nothing could hide the sorry state he was in.

"You? You want to enter the nightmare dungeon?"

Wang Hao looked Su Mu up and down, his lips curling into a mocking smile. "Li Ming can't carry you anymore, huh? He's no fool. Carrying you through hard was one thing, but if he took you into nightmare, he'd get dragged down with you. What's the matter? No one left to carry you, so you're gritting your teeth and going in alone?"

Su Mu stopped.

He hadn't wanted to pay this person any attention.

But just as Su Mu was about to turn and leave, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

The academic affairs office.

Wang Hao had formally issued him a dungeon challenge there.

If Ye Qingxue's perfectly timed "Mm, dumbass" hadn't thrown the whole situation into disarray, that challenge would most likely have gone ahead.

And now, this guy had come buzzing over again like a fly that wouldn't be shooed away.

Su Mu stopped.

He took another look at Wang Hao.

To be honest, what he lacked most right now was resources. Soul Power, cards, skill books, material packs—he lacked everything. And based on his experience reading eight hundred novels in his previous life, the plot unfolding before him couldn't have been more standard.

A brainless villain, jumping out to provoke him and deliver resources.

In the eighteen years since he had transmigrated, this was the first time he felt that the novels hadn't lied to him.