At Least She Would Have Beaten Someone Truly Worthy

What he didn't know was that Ye Qingxue was far less calm than she appeared.

Su Mu had won.

Not only had he won, he had won so decisively.

Ye Qingxue walked apart from the noisy crowd, the scene she had just witnessed playing over and over in her mind.

Su Mu had stood at the center of the crowd, the information panel reading "level 6, 93%" floating before him. His expression had been indifferent, as though he were displaying a piece of data that had nothing to do with him.

That look was all too familiar to her.

Throughout their three years of high school, Su Mu had looked exactly like that whenever the mock exam results came out.

No pride, no showing off, as though taking first place were as ordinary to him as eating and drinking.

And the more he acted that way, the angrier it made her.

So he's far stronger than I imagined.

Ye Qingxue thought to herself, her steps slowing unconsciously.

She made a quick calculation in her head.

Su Mu had spent less than half an hour in the nightmare dungeon and reached level 6, 83%. Working backward from the experience curve, he had made it to at least the tenth wave.

An F-rank core card and an E-rank card awarded by the school had been enough to achieve that result.

If it had been someone else, Ye Qingxue might have thought they were just lucky.

But Su Mu...

She pressed her lips together slightly, an almost imperceptible glimmer flashing in her eyes.

That's how it should be.

Ye Qingxue said to herself.

How could someone who had kept her beneath him for all three years of high school be trash who could be crushed so easily?

And how could he possibly have fallen so low as to need someone else to rescue him just because he had awakened an F-rank core card?

When she had invited Su Mu to join her team on the school grounds earlier, she had actually been worried for a moment.

Now it seemed that worry had been completely unnecessary.

Su Mu didn't need her pity.

He never had.

Still, that's good too. The corners of Ye Qingxue's mouth moved ever so slightly, in something that could hardly be called a smile. When I beat him, at least I'll have beaten someone truly worthy.

Without looking back again, she strode away from the trial grounds.

Meanwhile, the data observation area had fallen silent.

Several teachers and school administrators stared at the data on the screen, as though something had nailed them to the spot.

Su Mu's nightmare dungeon challenge record was displayed on the screen.

[Trial taker: Su Mu]

[Challenge difficulty: Nightmare · Goblin Camp]

[Waves completed: Wave 10 (cleared)]

[Wave 11 status: Voluntarily exited]

"The tenth wave." The bespectacled teacher's voice was a little hoarse, as though the words had been squeezed from deep in his throat. "He cleared the tenth wave before voluntarily exiting."

"How is that possible?"

The dean paced back and forth, his face filled with shock and doubt. "According to our predictions, the third wave was the limit for his Little Drill Wind in the nightmare dungeon. It's only an A-rank card, after all, and he only has one. Do you know what the tenth wave means? The tenth wave has a level 11 elite boss and fifteen level 11 elites. That lineup was designed for double-S-rank awakeners with complete systems."

"How on earth did he do it?" The female teacher looked equally incredulous. "Could a special dungeon really provide such a huge boost to combat power?"

"Impossible."

The old mentor shook his head and spoke slowly. "A special dungeon is just a category label. It doesn't provide awakeners with any additional attribute bonuses. There's only one explanation for Su Mu getting this far... his own understanding and use of his dungeon have already exceeded the range any of our current models can predict."

"To put it plainly."

Principal Zhao Jianguo finally spoke, his voice deep but carrying an excitement he couldn't suppress. "This student is no ordinary genius anymore. His command of his theme has already reached the level of a professional dungeon master."

With that, he turned to Su Mu's homeroom teacher, Teacher Zhou.

"Teacher Zhou, you said before that Su Mu doesn't do things he's not confident about. He's proved you right again this time."

Teacher Zhou smiled gently without speaking, but she couldn't hide the pride in her eyes.

Zhao Jianguo looked back at the data on the screen and tapped his fingers lightly on the desk.

"Starting today, raise the level of attention Su Mu receives from the school to a position below Ye Qingxue but above everyone else."

The teachers exchanged glances, but none objected.

"That's not to say he's stronger than Wang Hao, Lin Yuan, and the others right now."

Zhao Jianguo added, "Whether in terms of core card quality, system completeness, or room for future growth, Ye Qingxue is still the undisputed number one. But today, Su Mu used an E-rank card awarded by the school to forcefully achieve a result comparable to a double-S-rank awakener's. If the school doesn't pay more attention to a prospect like that, we really must be blind."

The old mentor agreed. "Exactly. The growth path of a special theme is completely different from that of a conventional system. What Su Mu has demonstrated so far is an exceptionally strong ability to fight on his own, but whether he can build up a system for his entire dungeon in the future still needs further verification. What the school can do is create opportunities for him as much as possible within the rules."

Zhao Jianguo nodded, unable to contain the smile on his face any longer.

Whether or not Su Mu could go further in the future, he had at least given the school a huge surprise today.

A student who had awakened an F-rank core card had beaten an S-rank core card's challenge on awakening day itself, then fought his way to the tenth wave of a nightmare dungeon.

If word got out, never mind Rongcheng No. 1 High School—the entire dungeon community in Rongcheng would be shaken.

Outside the trial grounds.

Li Ming's mouth never stopped moving. One moment he said Wang Hao's expression earlier had looked like he was constipated; the next he marveled at how ridiculously strong Su Mu was, winning a skill book worth hundreds of thousands on a casual bet.

"Seriously, Brother Mu, how did you do it?" Li Ming asked. "Is your Little Drill Wind really that strong? One card fought from the first wave all the way to the tenth? That doesn't fit the combat models in our textbooks."

Su Mu glanced at him and thought for a moment before choosing the simplest explanation, and the hardest to argue with.

"Luck."

Li Ming stared at him. "What?"

"Luck," Su Mu repeated.

Li Ming stared at him for a few seconds, then scoffed.

"If you don't want to tell me, just say so. Luck, my ass. How come I don't have that kind of luck?" He waved a hand. "Forget it. If you don't want to say, I won't ask. But if something good like this comes up again, remember to bring me along. I don't need anything else. Just let me tag along and pick up some experience."

Su Mu laughed. "Didn't I say I'd take you through the hard dungeon?"

Li Ming's eyes lit up. "Hey, that's right. Brother Mu, you're a real friend."

The two walked along, chatting as they went.

"By the way, aren't you going to roll the quality of that random-quality soul skill book now?"