Chapter 101: The Absurd Mechanism, and the Completely Shocked prodigy!
"F… Fifty-first floor?"
The female student's voice was trembling.
She gripped the hem of her mage robe tightly and asked stammering, "J-Junior… Could it be that there are still more floors after the fiftieth floor?"
Su Chen looked at the group of shocked seniors in front of him and nodded.
"That's right."
He stretched his sore neck and said, "After clearing the twin BOSSes on the fiftieth floor, a new portal appeared ahead, so I went in. I fought my way up another ten floors and reached the sixtieth floor."
Su Chen said it casually, but to Lao Zhang and the others, it was no different from detonating a nuclear bomb.
"Y-You fought through another ten floors?"
The hot-tempered warrior senior's legs went weak, and he collapsed straight onto the plaza's steps.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Lao Zhang violently grabbed his own hair. "The Normal-tier difficulty of the Heaven-Reaching Tower clearly ends with the Lu family siblings! This is an ironclad rule recognized by all mentors and students since the founding of the academy a hundred years ago!"
"We can even see where the top of the Heaven-Reaching Tower is; the fiftieth floor is the absolute limit!"
"Could it be… that you discovered a hidden floor?!"
"…"
Several top students from the third and fourth years looked at each other in dismay.
"No…"
That bespectacled senior swallowed a mouthful of saliva. "Why do I feel… like I am currently acting as an extra in some bad tomato web novel, purely there to be shocked and act as a stepping stone for the protagonist?"
"Could this kid be the kind of protagonist who awakened an SSS-rank unique hidden class and can trigger hidden characters and hidden plots wherever he goes?"
"…"
Just as these usually arrogant top students were beginning to doubt their lives,
"Ahem."
"Alright, stop making such a fuss over there. Aren't you embarrassed?"
Auntie Ta put down her teacup, swept her gaze over Su Chen, and a hint of brilliance flashed through her cloudy eyes.
"This kid… should have entered a hidden floor of the Heaven-Reaching Tower."
"There really is a hidden floor?!"
Lao Zhang jumped straight up. "Auntie Ta, we've been in Sky Dome Academy for almost four years, how come we've never heard of this?"
Auntie Ta curled her lips.
"There are plenty of things you haven't heard of."
She raised her head, glanced at the towering Heaven-Reaching Tower, and her tone turned somewhat mysterious.
"The Heaven-Reaching Tower is not a dead object. It… is actually alive."
As soon as these words came out, the temperature in the plaza seemed to drop a few degrees.
Everyone, including Su Chen, was stunned.
"Alive?"
The female student gasped sharply.
"That's right."
Auntie Ta nodded. "The Heaven-Reaching Tower has its own will. It decides which floors to open based on the entrant's performance, potential, and even its own mood. For the past thirty years, no one has been able to arouse its interest, so it has only opened up to the fiftieth floor."
Auntie Ta looked at Su Chen.
"Perhaps it felt this kid fought too fiercely and found him interesting, so it actively opened the hidden floor to test his limits."
Lao Zhang and the others listened until cold sweat broke out.
Being deemed "interesting" by a tower?
What kind of freak is this damn guy?!
"Junior…"
The female student looked carefully at Su Chen. "Then… what are the monsters after the fifty-first floor like?"
The few people around immediately pricked up their ears.
Even Auntie Ta glanced over slightly.
After all, this was the first piece of intel regarding a hidden floor in the history of Sky Dome Academy.
Su Chen had no intention of hiding it either.
"Actually, there's nothing particularly special about them."
Su Chen recalled the torturous experience inside just now, and his brows furrowed deeply.
"It's just that the monsters' stats are ridiculously high. Starting from the fifty-first floor, all four dimensions of the monsters' attributes reached over 1,000 points."
He paused, a trace of grinding teeth in his tone.
"The most disgusting thing is that damage immunity mechanism. The damage immunity rate of the later monsters' Spacetime Body was directly pulled up to 99%."
"…"
Hearing this,
several of them simultaneously gasped in cold air.
"Four-dimensional attributes above 1,000?!"
Lao Zhang's voice instantly rose by eight octaves, his eyeballs almost popping out.
"Direct 99% damage immunity?!"
The warrior senior gasped. "Then what the fuck is the point of fighting?! You have to hit a hundred times just to land a single hit, who can beat that?!"
"This isn't just disgusting anymore, this is purely not letting people clear it!"
The bespectacled senior shook his head frantically.
Lao Zhang took a deep breath and quickly calculated in his mind.
"This is too perverted… Even if you exchange for a full set of Heaven-Reaching Tower equipment from Auntie Ta, the highest you can ignore is 40% of damage immunity."
Lao Zhang looked at Su Chen as if he were looking at an immortal being.
"In other words, even if you gather the top-tier Heaven-Reaching Tower set, you still have to hard-eat 59% of the monster's damage immunity probability! How high must your base damage and attack frequency be to be able to make a dent?"
Listening to Lao Zhang's analysis, the expression on Su Chen's face suddenly froze.
"Wait."
Su Chen interrupted Lao Zhang's words and asked with a blank face, "What equipment?"
Lao Zhang was also stunned.
"The Heaven-Reaching Tower's equipment, duh!"
Lao Zhang pointed at Auntie Ta not far away and said matter-of-factly, "When fighting monsters in the Heaven-Reaching Tower, don't they drop spacetime dust and spacetime core? With these materials, you can exchange for equipment from Auntie Ta!"
"The equipment ranges from Normal tier to Epic tier. Only by wearing that equipment can you obtain the affixes that ignore the monsters' Spacetime Body damage immunity probability."
"…"
The warrior senior also nodded repeatedly.
"That's right, otherwise how would you fight the previous damage immunity monsters? The monsters on the thirtieth floor already have 50% damage immunity; without changing equipment, it's basically just scraping skin."
Su Chen's mouth opened slightly.
When he was fighting before, his mind was filled with thoughts like "Why are these monsters so tanky" and "Why is this damage immunity mechanism so disgusting".
Enduring that 99% damage immunity, relying on the true damage from poison stack accumulation, he forcefully grinded the monsters to death.
As a result, someone was telling him now—
There is equipment specifically targeting this mechanism?!
No…
Su Chen was speechless.
You need Heaven-Reaching Tower equipment to fight the Heaven-Reaching Tower, huh?
If there was such a mechanism, why didn't you say so earlier?!
This daddy forcefully endured 99% damage immunity and fought through ten floors!
At this moment, Auntie Ta suddenly thought of something and asked, "If I remember correctly, this is your first time entering the tower, right?"
"Ah?"
Hearing this,
the surrounding senior students were stunned once again.
"F-First time going in?"
"Doesn't that mean… you finished fighting while enduring the Spacetime Body BUFF?"
"The last ten floors… you finished fighting while enduring a 99% damage immunity probability?"
"…"
One by one, they began to doubt their lives.
They thought Su Chen was already strong enough.
Who would have known… that Su Chen finished fighting by forcefully enduring the Spacetime Body debuff.
Furthermore,
he casually broke the clearance record!
Is this fucking human?!
Chapter 102: The True Invincible Skill, Golden Body!
Su Chen took two deep breaths in place, forcibly suppressing the urge to kick the Sky-Piercing Platform a few times.
Forget it.
He rubbed the space between his brows, treating it as suffering through wasteland pioneering.
At least the floor count was pushed up.
Furthermore.
Perhaps, only by needing someone like him to recklessly charge all the way through, would it be possible to enter the hidden floors after the 50th floor?
Su Chen took a stride and looked at Auntie Ta.
"Auntie Ta, please pull up the exchange list."
"Alright."
Auntie Ta tapped twice leisurely on the tabletop, "Choose your equipment, and pick it from the warehouse yourself."
Hum——
A light blue holographic projection light screen unfolded in mid-air.
Before Su Chen even started looking, the Senior students who had just been in a petrified state all swarmed over in a rush.
In their view, although Su Chen was fierce like a monster, after all, this was his first time entering the tower, and he definitely knew nothing about the exchange mechanism.
As Senior students, when else if not now should they display a Senior's experience?
"Junior, look at the column on the left."
Lao Zhang pointed at the light screen and enthusiastically introduced, "Those are the equipment exchanged with 'spacetime dust'. spacetime dust is dropped by mobs; although the amount dropped each time is small, it adds up over time. Since it's your first time going in, you should have saved up quite a lot, right?"
Warrior Senior also crowded over, pointing at a few pieces of equipment among them: "Right, right, right, look at this [Spacetime Walker Boots], and also that [Spacetime Rift Bracers]. You are a mage, these two pieces have the best cost-performance ratio."
"Junior, listening to us is definitely right."
The bespectacled Senior pushed the frame on the bridge of his nose and added earnestly, "spacetime dust is hard to obtain, and changing into a full set is unrealistic; mixed matching has the best cost-performance ratio! You should prioritize exchanging for these few pieces with the entry 'reduce 10% Spacetime Body damage reduction', so you won't be scraping like a scraper next time you enter the tower."
Listening to the chatter by his ear, Su Chen's gaze swept across the list on the left.
[Spacetime Walker Boots]
[Grade: Silver Grade]
[Usage Requirement: Level 25]
[Spirit + 100]
[Agility + 20]
[Entry 1: Movement Speed + 10%]
[Entry 2: Ignore 10% of the Spacetime Body damage reduction of monsters inside the Heaven-Reaching Tower.]
...
[Spacetime Rift Bracers]
[Grade: Gold Grade]
[Usage Requirement: Level 25]
[Stamina + 240]
[Strength + 50]
[Entry 1: Stamina + 10%]
[Entry 2: Strength + 5%]
[Entry 3: Ignore 10% of the Spacetime Body damage reduction of monsters inside the Heaven-Reaching Tower.]
...
Sweeping down at a glance, the highest was only Gold Grade.
Furthermore, the Level requirements varied from Level 20 to Level 50.
Su Chen looked at these panels, his brows slightly knitting.
Just this?
Not to mention that the four-dimensional attribute additions were pitifully low, aren't these special entries, besides being useful inside the Heaven-Reaching Tower, simply pure whiteboards once outside?
This is typical working attire.
Putting it on is just to better work for the dungeon.
Besides.
To wear this equipment, one would have to take off the professional's own equipment.
Wouldn't Su Chen's so many Dark Gold-grade and Epic-grade equipment all have to be taken off?
Seeming to see through what Su Chen was thinking, Auntie Ta explained: "Don't look down on them. These are all equipment forged by many Masters of blacksmiths who spent countless painstaking efforts to comprehend a trace of the rules of the Heaven-Reaching Tower."
"I see."
Su Chen nodded.
He bypassed the list on the left, his line of sight crossing over that pile of Gold-grade equipment, and landed on the far right of the light screen.
That column radiated a palpitating dark golden and deep purple glow.
The equipment exchange requirements on this side had all turned into [spacetime core].
Lao Zhang looked over following Su Chen's line of sight, his expression changing as he quickly persuaded: "Junior, don't look at those on the right. Those are exchanged using 'spacetime core', starting at Dark Gold-grade, and there are even Epic-grade ones!"
"spacetime core is not easy to obtain."
The girl also echoed from the side, "Only bosses on every tenth floor will drop it, and the drop rate is touching. When I fought the tenth-floor boss back then, I didn't even see a shadow of a core."
"Yeah, that thing is too rare."
Warrior Senior patted Su Chen's shoulder, "Let's keep our feet on the ground and look at the mixed matching of Gold-grade first..."
Su Chen ignored the voice behind him and leisurely browsed through.
There wasn't much equipment, mostly Dark Gold-grade equipment, and not many Epic-grade equipment.
Soon.
Su Chen's line of sight landed on a holy, pure white ring.
[Divine Protection Ring (Epic Grade)]
[Grade: Epic Grade]
[Usage Requirement: Level 20, Spirit greater than 2000]
[Spirit + 800]
[Stamina + 200]
[Additional Entry 1 · Divine Blessing: Magic resistance increased by 30%.]
[Additional Entry 2 · Time Stasis: After active activation, solidifies one's own spacetime, lasting for 3 seconds. During this period, you cannot move, attack, or cast spells, while simultaneously being immune to all damage.]
[Cooldown: 24 hours.]
[Spacetime Blessing (0 / 3): Unactivated.]
...
Su Chen looked at the attributes on the panel and gasped a breath of cold air.
Damn.
Epic-grade equipment... provides way too many attributes.
800 points of Spirit is equivalent to the entire body of Gold-grade equipment added together.
In addition, it also increased 200 points of Stamina.
Su Chen's Spirit value was extremely high right now, but his Stamina was pathetically low.
200 points of Stamina could be said to have saved his old life.
But this wasn't even the most outrageous part.
This Time Stasis entry... isn't that a golden body?
He was all too clear about the gold content of this entry.
Many classes' invincible skills are usually just a high-amount shield or damage reduction buff. When encountering monsters with forced armor piercing or true damage, one still dies if they are meant to die.
But this golden body is completely unreasonable.
For these three seconds, he is truly invincible.
Even if immortals come, they cannot harm him!
Epic-grade equipment is terrifying to this extent.
Furthermore, this actually turns out to be set equipment.
I wonder what effect there will be when all three pieces of equipment are gathered?
"Auntie Ta."
Su Chen pointed at this ring and said: "I want to exchange for this."
The ring's selling price was 15 spacetime cores, and Su Chen had just enough.
Auntie Ta lifted her eyelids, and after seeing clearly what Su Chen pointed at, a trace of surprise flashed through her murky eyes.
That was one of the very few Epic-grade equipment on the list.
"Junior, are you crazy!"
Lao Zhang saw the equipment Su Chen pointed at, speechless: "That requires 15 spacetime cores! 15 cores! Even if you farmed all the bosses on the first fifty floors... oh no, 60 floors, and your luck exploded, you still couldn't gather this many!"
The bespectacled Senior also said: "Exactly, you know how low the drop rate of spacetime cores is. You just finished fighting once, don't rush, save up slowly..."
Before the voice fell.
"Clatter."
A crisp sound of collision rang out on the dilapidated wooden table.
Su Chen flipped his wrist, and fifteen crystals exuding rich spatial fluctuations rolled down on the tabletop, piling up into a small peak.
The colorful radiance illuminated the faces of the few people around, making them flicker on and off.
The eyes of the few people suddenly shrank.
Auntie Ta's hand holding the teacup also paused slightly, and an unbelievable radiance erupted from the depths of her murky eyes.
The air froze at this moment.
"Auntie Ta, count them."
Su Chen looked at Auntie Ta, "Exactly fifteen, exchange for that ring."
A full dozen seconds passed.
"No..."
Lao Zhang tremblingly extended a finger, pointing at that pile of priceless spacetime cores on the tabletop, looking as if he had seen a ghost.
"Where... where did you get 15 of them?!"
Chapter 103: Freshman Registration, a Jealous Lin Shiqing!
Fifteen spacetime cores lay quietly on the dilapidated wooden table.
Auntie Ta's calloused hands hovered in mid-air, pausing for a full five seconds before slowly falling.
She did not ask how these fifteen spacetime cores came to be.
According to the common sense of the Heaven-Reaching Tower, there was only an extremely low probability of dropping one upon slaying the guardian BOSS of every tenth floor.
Yet Su Chen had only entered the tower once.
What did this mean?
Auntie Ta's murky gaze swept over Su Chen's bloodless face, which was pale from the overdraft of Mental Strength.
Special reward for clearing the hidden floor for the first time?
Or some hidden mechanism that even she, the tower keeper, did not know about?
Auntie Ta did not delve into it further.
Her fingers swiftly swiped across the light screen a few times.
"Deducting fifteen spacetime cores."
Hum—
The crystals on the wooden table instantly turned into a cluster of purple light spots and dissipated into the air.
Immediately after.
A holy ring inscribed with complex magical runes appeared out of thin air on the tabletop.
Su Chen didn't waste words and directly reached out to grab the [Ring of Divine Protection].
It felt warm to the touch, and a warm current spread along his fingertips.
Su Chen thought about it and decided to swap off the Phantom Dancer Ring first.
The Undead Monarch Ring was, after all, a Dark Gold-tier equipment, providing more attributes.
He slipped the new ring onto his index finger.
With the surge in his stamina attribute, Su Chen's crumbling body steadied slightly.
However,
the mental exhaustion brought by continuous high-intensity combat and spellcasting could not be eliminated simply by increasing attributes.
He now felt as if thousands of cicadas were screaming simultaneously in his brain.
"Thanks, Auntie Ta."
Su Chen casually waved his hand and turned around.
Several senior students stared straight at him.
Their expressions were filled with envy, jealousy, and hate, just like swallowing a lemon raw.
"Junior... Junior..."
Old Zhang's voice was as dry as sandpaper rubbing together, "You haven't told us yet... those spacetime cores..."
"Oh, those."
Su Chen yawned and said, "Dropped by the BOSS on the sixtieth floor, the projection of President Alchemy Master Jin Buhuan. It dropped 10 of them upon death."
He rubbed his sore and swollen temples.
"Alright, seniors, I'll head out first."
Having said that,
he ignored the four people's expressions, which instantly became even more sluggish, and dragged his heavy footsteps toward the direction of the dormitory area.
"It actually drops ten at a time?"
Old Zhang stiffly turned his head and looked at the senior with glasses.
The other party pondered for a moment and explained,
"President Alchemy Master Jin Buhuan... That's a ruthless figure who was directly recruited by the military in his junior year, and his subsequent files are all classified."
"However, it is rumored that he was already level 45 in his sophomore year, and he even broke the fastest clearance record for a lifestyle profession dungeon!"
"..."
Hearing this,
everyone widened their eyes in unison.
An expert like Alchemy Master Jin Buhuan... was actually defeated by Su Chen?
...
Su Chen didn't wander around anymore and went straight back to the dorm.
Pushing open the door, kicking off his shoes, without even taking off his clothes, he plunged headfirst onto the single bed.
"Thud."
The moment his head touched the pillow, all his lines of conscious defense completely collapsed.
So fucking tired...
The debuff of Abyss Awakening was simply more tiring than twenty years of kidney deficiency.
This was Su Chen's last thought before falling into a deep sleep.
...
In September at Sky Dome Academy, the air was permeated with the lingering summer heat.
The academy's wide white-jade plaza was bustling with people, and huge welcome banners floated in mid-air, hoisted by several high-order wind-type Formations, flapping loudly.
Freshmen from all over the country dragged their luggage and formed a long line in front of the Academic Affairs Office registration point.
Su Chen stood under a patch of shade, yawning listlessly.
Even though he had slept for three days straight, he was still somewhat fatigued.
"So slow... If I had known that girl needed to put on makeup and pick out clothes when going out, I should have slept two more hours in the dorm."
Just as Su Chen was complaining, a brisk sound of footsteps came from behind.
Immediately after,
the back of his head received a moderately heavy tap.
"Ouch, what are you doing?"
Su Chen covered his head and turned around.
Lin Shiqing stood in front of him.
Today, she wore her signature high ponytail tied with a golden ribbon.
Her upper body was a slim-fitting white shirt, and her lower body matched a light blue pleated skirt, radiating youth and vitality all over.
However, her expression right now could hardly be considered kind.
"You still know it hurts?"
Lin Shiqing put her hands on her hips, her pretty almond-shaped eyes wide open, "Little Su! Have you grown bolder? You actually ran over to register early by yourself! Why didn't you reply after I sent so many messages?"
Lin Shiqing felt a burst of annoyance in her heart.
This guy used to go everywhere with her no matter where.
And the result?
A few days ago, when she woke up and went to his house to look for him, Su Chen had actually gone to Sky Dome Academy to register early by himself!
He didn't reply to messages or answer phone calls, practically evaporating from the human world.
Your wings have gotten stiff, huh?
You think you can shake me off once you get to university?
The more Lin Shiqing thought about it, the angrier she became, and she couldn't help raising her hand to hit him again.
"Stop, stop, stop!"
Su Chen quickly dodged back a step, raised his hands to surrender, "Young Miss, I was grinding monsters in a dungeon back then, there was no signal! Besides, didn't I hurry over here to pick you up as soon as I woke up and saw the messages?"
"Grinding monsters? You just came to school, where would you go to grind monsters?"
Lin Shiqing looked him up and down suspiciously, let out a cold snort, and said, "Consider yourself lucky not to have been eaten by monsters. Let's go, accompany this Young Miss to report at the Academic Affairs Office."
As she spoke,
she naturally pushed the luggage box that looked extremely heavy in her hand in front of Su Chen.
Su Chen sighed, resignedly pulled the luggage box up, and followed behind her.
This girl, clearly a priest, why does she hit so hard?
"Don't you have a backpack, why pull a luggage box?"
"How big is a backpack? With so many clothes, so much equipment, and so many materials of mine, where could I fit them all?"
"..."
Su Chen was speechless for a moment.
The luggage box in his hand was obviously high-end goods, and who knew how many things were stuffed inside.
Could this girl have moved the Lin family's warehouse over?
The two crossed the crowded plaza and walked toward the main building where the Academic Affairs Office was located.
The Academic Affairs Office lobby was also packed with people.
Just as Su Chen handed Lin Shiqing's information to the teacher at the window, he heard a familiar voice coming from behind.
"Su Chen?"
Su Chen turned his head back.
Lin Wei was also wearing the academy uniform, holding a stack of documents in her hands, and looking at him pleasantly surprised.
"Senior Lin Wei? What a coincidence."
Su Chen greeted with a smile.
Lin Wei walked quickly up to him, not even caring to put down the documents in her hand, her gaze scanning him eagerly up and down, and even leaning in a little closer to examine his complexion carefully.
"You... how have you been feeling lately? Did that curse flare up? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"
There was obvious worry in Lin Wei's voice, and her eye sockets still looked a little red, "I went back and checked a lot of materials, but there are too few records about the Abyss Curse..."
Standing on the side, the smile on Lin Shiqing's face instantly vanished.
She looked at Lin Wei, who looked full of concern and even somewhat teary-eyed, and then looked at Su Chen.
Oh, you Little Su!
It's only been a few days, and you're already flirting with a senior sister, huh?!
Chapter 104: The Suddenly Shifting Shura Field and the Freshman Selection Tournament
"Little Su."
Lin Shiqing's voice suddenly dropped by eight octaves.
She took a step forward, directly blocking the space between Su Chen and Lin Wei.
"Who is this?"
Lin Shiqing looked at Lin Wei with a forced smile.
Although she was asking Su Chen, her tone was already filled with the smell of gunpowder.
Good for you, Little Su.
I was wondering why you ran off alone ahead of time, so you came here to meet a senior sister?
It's only been a few days, and you've already hooked up with a sophomore senior sister?
Look at that affectionate look, and what's this about a curse?
What curse? A love Gu!
"Oh, this is Senior Sister Lin Wei from the Sophomore Priest Academy, we cleared an Abyss Dungeon together a few days ago."
Su Chen casually explained, while moving half a step to the side, trying to avoid Lin Shiqing's murderous gaze.
"Cleared an Abyss Dungeon together?"
Lin Shiqing sneered.
She suddenly reached out and hooked her arm around Su Chen's, pressing her entire body against him. "Hello, Senior Sister. I'm Su Chen's childhood sweetheart, Lin Shiqing. My Su Chen is usually clumsy, and thank you for taking care of him. However, with me around from now on, you won't need to trouble yourself, Senior Sister."
Lin Wei was slightly stunned. Seeing Lin Shiqing's action of staking her claim, her expression stiffened slightly.
She had already felt guilty toward Su Chen because of the Abyss Dungeon incident, and now, being rebuked by Lin Shiqing, she didn't know how to respond for a moment.
Just as the atmosphere reached the height of awkwardness, a commotion suddenly came from outside the gates of the Academic Affairs Office.
"It's Lu Qingyan!"
"Good heavens, why is the third-year chief at the freshman registration desk?"
"..."
Accompanied by the exclamation of the surrounding students, Lu Qingyan strode into the Academic Affairs Office.
Today, she wasn't wearing that heavy armor, but had instead changed into a sharp and capable academy uniform, yet that aloof aura still made the surrounding freshmen involuntarily clear a path for her.
Lu Qingyan spotted Su Chen in the crowd at a glance.
Her eyes lit up, and she walked over quickly.
"Su Chen!"
Lu Qingyan directly ignored Lin Shiqing beside them, walked up to Su Chen, and said in a hurried tone, "Why didn't you reply to my messages yesterday? I contacted an elder in my Clan who just returned from the front lines. Regarding the Abyss Curse on you, he said there might be a way to solve it! Come with me right now!"
As she spoke, Lu Qingyan actually reached out directly to grab Su Chen's other arm.
Lin Shiqing completely exploded.
Her eyes widened abruptly. She looked at the tearful Lin Wei on the left, then at the decisive and efficient Lu Qingyan on the right, and finally fixed her gaze fiercely on Su Chen's face.
One priest senior sister was already enough, and now another third-year chief senior sister?!
And go meet an elder in the Clan?!
Isn't this the rhythm of meeting the parents?
"Su! Chen!!"
Lin Shiqing gnashed her teeth and squeezed out those words through the gaps in her teeth, the strength in her hand instantly increasing, almost pinching Su Chen's arm until it turned bruised. "Shouldn't you give me an explanation, what on earth is going on?!"
Caught in the middle, Su Chen sucked in a sharp breath from Lin Shiqing's pinch.
Holy crap, why did this Shura Field come just like that?
You've tuned into the wrong channel, big sisters.
This is definitely not a romance novel from the urban daily life channel.
Also, can you two stop mentioning that curse?
That's a double EXP bonus for me!
The way you two are shouting makes it sound like my terminal illness is about to act up and kill me right on the spot!
"Um... Two Senior Sisters, please calm down for a moment."
Su Chen tried to rescue his arm from the tug-of-war between the two women.
At this critical juncture, the inner door of the Academic Affairs Office opened.
Zhao Hongtao strode out, holding a folder in his hand.
"What are you making such a ruckus for! This is the Academic Affairs Office, not a vegetable market!"
This full-voiced reprimand instantly quieted down the lobby.
Zhao Hongtao scanned the circle, his gaze lingering on Lu Qingyan and Lin Wei for a second before finally falling on Su Chen.
His originally stern face instantly changed, squeezing out a smile.
"Oh my, isn't this classmate Su Chen? Why have you come to the Academic Affairs Office?"
He walked over quickly and patted Su Chen's shoulder enthusiastically, "You wouldn't know, Auntie Ta specifically made a report saying that you not only broke the clearance record of the Heaven-Reaching Tower, but also discovered a hidden layer, praising you to high heaven!"
As soon as Zhao Hongtao's attitude came out, all the surrounding freshmen sucked in a sharp breath.
Broke the record of the Heaven-Reaching Tower?!
No wonder even the third-year chief senior sister ran over to look for him in person!
They hadn't even registered yet, and this guy had already cleared the Heaven-Reaching Tower.
Lin Shiqing was also stunned by Zhao Hongtao's sudden enthusiasm, and the strength in her hand unconsciously loosened.
Zhao Hongtao cleared his throat and continued, "Since you're here, I won't need to go look for you specially. Perfect, I can take the opportunity to explain the rules of tomorrow's freshman opening ceremony to you."
He pointed toward the square outside the door.
"Tomorrow the school will have an admission ceremony and opening ceremony. It's not just a formality, but a stage for you freshmen of this batch to showcase your strength. The school leaders and top instructors from various academies will all be watching you from the spectator stands."
The expression on Zhao Hongtao's face turned serious.
"The core content of the opening ceremony is very simple, just two words: credits!"
"The school will release a large number of monsters in the simulated dungeon. All you freshmen will be randomly teleported to various corners of the dungeon, killing monsters to obtain points. The higher the points, the higher the ranking."
"There are no limits on rules within the dungeon, and free plundering is allowed."
"At the same time, the school also has Hunter Squads composed of sophomore students, specifically responsible for hunting down you freshman teams. If you get caught by them, your credits won't be safe."
"The freshmen in the final top ten rankings will not only receive generous credit rewards, but can also directly enter the academy's resource inclination list, and even have the opportunity to choose an exclusive mentor!"
Zhao Hongtao patted Su Chen's shoulder heavily and said earnestly, "Su Chen, you are someone Principal Lin thinks highly of. In tomorrow's opening ceremony, you must perform well and let those mentors see your strength!"
Listening to Zhao Hongtao's passionate mobilization, Su Chen felt no ripples in his heart and even felt a little like laughing.
That's it?
He had thought this top-tier institution could come up with some fancy tricks, but after all this time, it was still the most clichéd point-match mechanism.
However... free plundering is allowed?
And there are specialized Hunter Squads composed of sophomore students?
Su Chen's eyes flickered imperceptibly.
He was really in a bit of a bind.
Poison... cannot be dispelled or actively turned off.
If he accidentally casts Poison on other students, not even a deity could save them.
He hoped no one would be blind enough to come and plunder his credits.
Su Chen raised his head, looking at the expectant Zhao Hongtao, and flashed a harmless smile.
"Director, rest assured, I will definitely perform well."
Chapter 105: The Two Senior Sisters' Worries, The True Power of a Rich Girl
Zhao Hongtao left in a rush.
The originally tense, confrontational atmosphere had dissipated quite a bit after being stirred up by Zhao Hongtao.
But Lu Qingyan did not relax.
Her typically cold and aloof face was now filled with unprecedented seriousness.
"Junior Brother Su."
Lu Qingyan looked at Su Chen with a serious expression. "Tomorrow's opening ceremony, which is the Freshman Selection Tournament, has rules that are far more brutal than you imagine."
"That's right, Junior Brother Su Chen!"
Lin Wei, who was beside her, nodded vigorously. "Those sophomore Hunter Squads paid a high amount of credits to buy entry tickets. If they don't catch enough freshmen, they'll lose everything. Therefore, they will be extremely crazy when catching people."
"In previous years, many freshmen worked hard to farm monsters all day, only to be wiped out by a Hunter Squadin the end. Not only were their credits reset to zero, but they were also hung on the pillar of shame and mocked for an entire year."
Hearing such solemn warnings from the two senior sisters, Su Chen raised an eyebrow.
The Hunter Squads even need to pay an entrance fee?
In that case, they definitely won't go easy on anyone.
It seems the school is determined to teach the freshmen a lesson.
However.
Seeing the worried expressions of the two senior sisters, a trace of warmth welled up in Su Chen's heart.
"Don't worry, Senior Sisters."
He smiled, his tone relaxed. "Don't you know what my strength is?"
Lu Qingyan shook her head slightly as she looked at his confident appearance.
"Junior Brother Su, you might have misunderstood."
Lin Wei nodded repeatedly like a chicken pecking at rice. "Yeah, yeah, we aren't worried that you won't be able to win..."
"We... are afraid that you'll kill people indiscriminately."
Lu Qingyan coldly added the second half of the sentence.
Su Chen: "..."
The smile on Su Chen's face froze.
Good grief.
He actually thought they were worried that he would be bullied by the upperclassmen.
It turns out they were afraid of him acting like a terrorist?
This conversation can't go on.
Seeing Su Chen's stiff expression, Lu Qingyan sighed and continued, "We saw with our own eyes how you dissolved an Abyssal Elite Monster into pus with your poison. No matter how annoying the Hunter Squads are, they are still students of the academy. If you lose your head and hit them with that kind of poison..."
"Even the gods couldn't save them."
Lin Wei swallowed hard and whispered, "Junior Brother Su Chen, you must be careful tomorrow. At worst, just throw a few poisons to scare them off; don't go for the kill!"
Su Chen's mouth twitched.
He originally wanted to explain, "I'm not that brutal."
But recalling his own damage output, he silently swallowed his words.
Indeed, if he wasn't careful, he might really end up killing someone.
Lin Shiqing, who had been standing on the side without speaking, suddenly curled her lip.
She took a step forward and directly hugged one of Su Chen's arms.
"Two Senior Sisters, stop worrying needlessly."
Lin Shiqing raised her chin. "I will keep an eye on Little Su."
"With me watching over him, he won't cause any big trouble."
Lu Qingyan and Lin Wei exchanged a look.
Their gazes fell on Lin Shiqing's hand holding Su Chen's arm.
Can she really keep an eye on him?
"Mm, as long as you know what you're doing."
Lu Qingyan withdrew her gaze. "Then I wish you a successful start. Good luck tomorrow."
After speaking, the two senior sisters had other things to do, so they both turned and left.
Once they were far away, Lin Shiqing immediately let go.
Then she pinched Su Chen's waist hard.
"Ouch! Young Miss, what are you doing?"
Su Chen gasped.
How is this girl getting stronger and stronger?
"Very well, Little Su!"
Lin Shiqing put her hands on her hips, glaring at him angrily. "You've only been at school for a few days, and you've already hooked up with two senior sisters! How many do you plan to hook up with in four years of college? Are you trying to build a harem?"
"How did I hook up with them? They were just kindly reminding me about the mechanics..."
"Still making excuses!"
"Alright, alright, it's my fault. Won't it be enough if I treat you to a big meal?"
"Hmph! You're sensible enough."
"..."
...
Sky Dome Academy Cafeteria No. 1.
Top floor.
Su Chen familiarly led Lin Shiqing to find a window seat and sat down.
In the open kitchen, a fat orange cat wearing a chef's uniform was standing on a small stool.
It was waving an iron spoon larger than itself, flames soared in the pot, and the sound of stir-frying was deafening.
"Boss, two orders of 'Explosive Flame Lion's Head,' and two bowls of 'Mind-Clearing and Spirit-Calming Soup'."
Su Chen ordered skillfully.
"Meow~ Coming right up, meow!"
The fat orange cat responded with a full-throated meow.
Soon, two portions of food emitting an enticing aroma were served.
Lin Shiqing was initially a bit disdainful of the cafeteria food, thinking it definitely wouldn't be as good as the private chefs at home.
But after smelling the aroma, her stomach growled uncontrollably.
She blushed, picked up her chopsticks, picked up a piece of the Lion's Head, and put it in her mouth.
"Mmm!"
Lin Shiqing's eyes lit up suddenly.
The meat was tender and springy, and the rich soup burst in her mouth.
The most magical thing was that after swallowing it, a warm current slid down her esophagus into her stomach.
Then it quickly spread throughout her body, and even the fatigue from queuing for registration earlier was significantly reduced.
[Notification: Consumed Explosive Flame Lion's Head, Stamina +50, Duration: 24 hours.]
[Notification: Consumed Mind-Clearing and Spirit-Calming Soup, Spirit +100, Duration: 24 hours.]
...
After eating and drinking her fill.
Lin Shiqing put down her chopsticks and elegantly wiped her mouth with a tissue.
Then she looked at Su Chen seriously.
"Little Su, you're teaming up with me for tomorrow's selection tournament! You are not allowed to go into the dungeon with those messy women."
"Okay."
Su Chen agreed without even thinking.
After leaving the restaurant, Su Chen familiarly walked through the tree-lined path and brought Lin Shiqingdirectly to the main gate of the Heaven-Grade dormitory area.
The environment here was completely different from the noise outside; there weren't many people coming and going, it was relatively quiet, and the surroundings were shrouded in the faint light of a Spirit Gathering Formation.
Lin Shiqing looked at the scenery in front of her and raised an eyebrow.
"Why did you bring me here?"
She put her hands behind her back and looked at Su Chensuspiciously. "This is the Heaven-Grade dormitory. It's said that the monthly accommodation fee is ridiculously high; not even many sophomores or juniors can afford to live here."
"Just to broaden your horizons."
Su Chen walked to Villa 081.
He took out his student card and casually swiped it on the access control sensor.
"Beep—Identity verification passed. Welcome home, Su Chen."
The heavy villa door opened in response, revealing the spacious private courtyard and the built-in small training ground inside.
Lin Shiqing's eyes widened instantly.
She pointed at Su Chen, then pointed at the villa, her voice rising by an octave.
"You... you live here?!"
"Yes."
Su Chen nodded calmly.
"..."
Lin Shiqing was stunned.
In this school, credits are hard currency, and they are extremely difficult to obtain.
Many students have to go into the wild and risk their lives fighting monsters for just a few hundred credits; a slight carelessness could result in serious injury.
Su Chen... where did he get so many credits?
She looked around and pointed to the villa next door. "Then I'll take that one!"
"No, where did you get 150,000 credits?!"
Now it was Su Chen's turn to be shocked.
The freshmen hadn't even warmed up their student cards yet!
Lin Shiqing didn't even participate in the extra round, where did she get so many credits?
"What's strange about that? Can't school credits be traded privately?"
"I found a few seniors in their fourth year who were short on money and just bought a little bit; it wasn't much."
Lin Shiqing smoothed the stray hair behind her ear nonchalantly.
Su Chen: "..."
Just bought a little bit.
Wasn't much.
Hearing this airy tone, Su Chen's mouth twitched.
Is this what a rich girl is?