Southwest Military District.
Inside a grand, imposing building, rows of beds were neatly arranged.
Lying on the beds were teenage boys and girls.
Beside them stood sets of precise instruments, monitoring their physical conditions in real time.
Medical personnel hovered nearby, eyes fixed on the displays.
Suddenly, beside several of the more luxurious beds, the instruments began to beep sharply.
The medical staff tensed at once.
"They're waking up!"
"Quick, call someone—Jiang Han is waking up!"
"Mu Chen too!"
"They were unconscious for so long—there's no way the gains were small!"
"As expected of top-tier seeds."
Amid the chatter, several people in crisp military uniforms strode over, their expressions solemn yet expectant, as they looked at Jiang Han and Mu Chen slowly regaining consciousness.
This was the Southwest Military District's medical observation base.
Everyone who participated in the Horror Game had to come here afterward for full monitoring.
If someone failed the instance and died completely, their family would be notified at the first possible moment.
As representatives of the outstanding seed candidates participating in the Horror Game for the first time, Jiang Han and Mu Chen received especially close attention.
Jiang Han's pupils trembled as she opened her eyes.
Seeing the snow-white ceiling lights for the first time, she felt momentarily dazed.
Her mind still lingered in that Gothic castle—
The towering, ferocious Lady Akuna before her, and the blood-soaked blade that had been about to swing down.
And that figure standing in front of her…
"Huff… huff…"
Mu Chen's heavy panting came from beside her. Cold sweat poured down his forehead.
He subconsciously glanced at his arm. When he saw that it was completely intact, relief finally spread across his face.
"Jiang Han, Mu Chen—how were your gains?"
"Why did you stay inside for so long? A Boiling-tier instance shouldn't have given you this much trouble."
"What evaluation did you get?"
The instructors in charge surrounded them, firing off questions one after another.
Mu Chen shot a complicated glance at Jiang Han, still shaken.
Jiang Han didn't respond at all.
Her thoughts were still on Ma Jun's expression when he told her to leave.
Her heart felt hollow.
She didn't know if she would ever see him again.
A trace of bitterness appeared on Jiang Han's face.
Someone as gifted as Ma Jun—
Maybe after just a few more instances, he would leave her far behind.
Would there even be another chance to meet?
Seeing that Jiang Han clearly had no intention of answering, Mu Chen had no choice but to respond to the instructors himself.
His mind replayed the final scene—
Ma Jun descending like a god, standing in front of Akuna!
The power he unleashed in that instant left Mu Chen utterly shaken.
That man was clearly a player, just like them.
Mu Chen swallowed, his throat dry, and said slowly:
"I leveled up twice. I'm level three now."
The instructors were instantly overjoyed.
"Level three?!"
"That's incredible!"
"First time entering an instance and you jump two levels—just as expected of the Southwest Military District's future pillar!"
"With those gains, you must've received at least an A-rank evaluation, right?"
"Probably even S-rank!"
Mu Chen gave a bitter smile and shook his head.
"What I got… was a C-rank evaluation."
The instructors froze.
"C-rank?!"
"Don't joke around—C-rank at best barely reaches level two. Level three shouldn't even be possible!"
"Wait… don't tell me…"
The group suddenly fell silent as a terrifying possibility dawned on them.
"Yes," Mu Chen said gravely. "What we entered wasn't a Boiling-tier instance."
"It was a Ferocious-tier instance."
"And the task we received… was a survival mission."
Boom!
The instructors erupted in shocked exclamations.
Even the surrounding medical staff were stunned.
"Your first time participating?!"
"And you were thrown straight into a Ferocious-tier instance?"
"On a survival mission?!"
"How is that even possible?!"
"Did the game bug out?"
"That's impossible—there hasn't been a single recorded bug in all these years!"
A square-faced instructor covered in scars rushed forward, grabbed Mu Chen's arm, and demanded urgently:
"Are you sure?"
"Are you absolutely sure it was a Ferocious-tier survival mission?!"
Mu Chen sighed helplessly.
"I don't want to believe it either, but it's true."
"Otherwise, there's no way I'd jump straight to level three with just a C-rank evaluation."
The scarred instructor stood there in disbelief, murmuring to himself:
"How could this be…?"
"If it really was a survival mission, then the true difficulty of that instance would've exceeded Ferocious-tier."
"There would likely have been Ghost-tier—or even Evil-tier—bosses present!"
"You were just newcomers, still under beginner protection."
"How could the system possibly throw you into something like that?!"
"That's practically a death sentence!"
He lifted his head and looked at Jiang Han and Mu Chen with relief.
"That you survived something like this… it looks like the Southwest Military District is about to gain two new rising stars!"
"Bless the Southwest Military District!"
Jiang Han, however, slowly shook her head.
Her voice carried an inexplicable emotion.
"Our survival had very little to do with us."
"It was only because we met someone."
"Someone who was… a true, peerless prodigy."
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