Chapter 920: Chapter 917: [Beginning.]
Ruler, triangle, compass, 2B pencil, 0.5mm pen, eraser, neatly packaged in a sealed bag.
The sycamore trees along the street rustling, the constant flow of people, teachers loudly maintaining order, students and parents with tense faces... All around, it was a crowded scene.
Su Ming’an watched this, feeling a strong sense of déjà vu.
"Do your best today," said a father on the roadside, patting his son’s head.
"Don’t be careless with the questions, remember to check each one carefully. When you come home, mommy will cook something delicious for you," a mother said with a smile, giving her child a hug.
"Once you get the paper, check it over first, mind the time while solving questions, and remember to fill in the answer sheet..." an elderly grandmother with silver hair was holding her granddaughter as they stood in front of the exam hall, constantly reminding her.
One by one, shadows hugged each other, and the endless reminders of parents left echoes. The children said goodbye to their parents and entered the exam hall.
Su Ming’an stood amidst the crowd, feeling completely out of place.
Watching all this, a hidden pain arose in Su Ming’an’s heart, as if something was missing from his memory, as if much had slipped past him. Perhaps it was the life path after his original high school exam, or perhaps it was his initially immature self.
...Did I experience the high school exam before?
...Why does the memory of myself taking the high school exam seven or eight months ago feel so unfamiliar?
But he quickly suppressed this hidden pain and walked step by step towards the exam hall.
"Good luck on the exam, Brother Wensheng," Jiang Xiaosan encouraged.
"Good luck," Lv Shu dryly cheered. He had never taken the high school exam, having only seen the candidates under the bridge, and didn’t know what it felt like.
"Mm." Su Ming’an looked at them and walked into the exam hall.
In the exam hall, some were constantly fiddling with the pens in the sealed bag, some lay on the table staring at the ceiling, and some seemed to be muttering their notes inwardly. Without exception, all had youthful and inexperienced faces.
Su Ming’an sat near the window, looking up, he could see white doves soaring freely in the sky, sweeping past the small window panes, quickly flying to the far distance where he could no longer see them. It seemed as if they carried countless dreams and aspirations of people.
The sounds of people entering outside the door grew quieter. In this white-wrapped atmosphere, every student’s breathing was clearly audible, and the atmosphere of tension flowed in the air.
In this world, the high school exam symbolizes not only the future but also the lives of entire families. Only with high enough scores can one transcend class boundaries and prevent their family members from being slaughtered by exotic species.
"Please the invigilator to unseal the exam paper bags in public."
"Please the invigilator to distribute the exam papers."
The sound of paper bags on the podium echoed, just like Su Ming’an’s high school exam eight months ago, the process was almost identical. The teachers publicly unsealed the exam paper bags, displayed them to the students as instructed over the broadcast, and distributed them one by one.
"Rustle," "rustle," the sound of paper flowing was akin to the flapping wings of the white doves outside the window.
The morning exam was on "Cultural Knowledge," and Su Ming’an thought it should be on subjects like literature, math, logic, but when he got the exam paper in his hands and looked at the questions, he was a bit dumbfounded.
— Are these questions considered cultural knowledge?
— Surprisingly, they were all about deities, the four major organizations, the current state of humanity, and Dream Patrol games.
Su Ming’an remembered that he had applied for the Talisman Seal Series, not the clerical series most people choose, so the questions on his test paper would lean more towards the current state of humanity. As for the review materials that class advisor Xia Jiawen handed over, he was completely immersed in Dream Patrol games and hadn’t really looked at them—after all, students studied hard for twelve years just for this one exam, even if he crammed from the study materials at the last minute, it was like starting to prepare one day before the high school exam.
Su Ming’an flipped through the paper and looked at a few questions.
[23. Regarding the four major organizations, which one is correct? (2 points)]
[A. The City Guardian Department is responsible for protecting public safety, with fifty-seven independent stations in reality.]
[B. The Alliance Hierarch of the Human Self-Rescue Alliance has been asleep for three years without appearing.]
[C. The Old Day Church has cumulatively attacked a hundred and thirty-two cities, killing over one point six million ordinary residents.]
[D. The Holy Alliance Army is responsible for receiving oracles from the Church, utilizing the internet as their means of communication. The Deity Church, which the Holy Alliance Army is affiliated with, has twelve Cardinals.]
...
[24. Regarding the Dream Patrol game, which one is correct? (2 points)]
[A. In the final battle of "The Cat and Her," thirteen thousand two hundred cats participated in the girl’s escort war, completed by Yi Zhongyu in the end.]
[B. In "Louyue Nation," the Eldest Prince’s maid, Bailian, is an Exotic Species with strength comparable to a Fifth Rank Dream Patrol member, she was the Eldest Prince’s childhood maid and also the white fox that accompanied him after his imprisonment.]
[C. In the "Girl’s Dream Project," the main storyline happens in Burg Castle in Rose Country, with the youngest Princess named Avetina Gava Selina Pololi.]
[D. A year after "The Cat and Her" appeared, the "Louyue Nation" disc emerged, and humanity was stuck in "Louyue Nation" for an entire year.]
...
Su Ming’an was speechless.
...What kind of questions are these? They even seem suited to test whether the audience has been attentively following live streams.
He flipped a few pages further to the short answer section.
...
[47. Please briefly describe the ten contents of the Union Government’s "First Dream Patrol Agreement"? (5 points)]
[48. Please briefly describe the original founding ordinance of the Human Self-Rescue Alliance Hierarch? (5 points)]
[49. Please briefly describe the five major cooperative philosophies of the City Guardian Department’s deputy minister? (5 points)]
[50. Please briefly describe the three major principles of using Matrix Orders? (6 points)]
...
Su Ming’an was silent.
...I am the Alliance Hierarch of the Human Self-Rescue Alliance, I don’t even know about the original alliance creation rules.
...And I haven’t even heard of the five collaborative philosophies of the City Guardian Department.
Even Su Wensheng himself probably doesn’t remember these answers. Such philosophies and rules were just casually made up by Su Ming’an during the Dawn War, and he knows that these things are forgotten after they’re created; only a large number of subordinates and historians excitedly help him remember them. Su Wensheng likely thinks similarly.
He flips to the last page of the test paper, surprised to find that there are even essay questions, truly a colorful display.
...
[60. Based on the knowledge learned, we already know that positional rank represents the Matrix Order strength of a person. If a person with a rank of E faces off against a person with a rank of F, no matter the level of one with rank E, their Matrix Order will have priority determination rights. If E’s Matrix Order is "Extinguish Flame," and F’s Matrix Order is "Expand Flame," E’s Matrix Order will certainly be judged at a higher level than F’s. If there is a large rank gap, for example, a B rank person against an F rank person, the F rank person would not even be able to speak out a Matrix Order, as all their Matrix Orders would be suppressed, unable to take effect. Currently, we have not found a method to improve positional rank, and everyone’s rank is F. What do you think we should do to improve our rank? Please provide your reasoning, any reasonable answer will suffice. (10 points)]
Su Ming’an pondered for a while; he truly didn’t know the answer to this question before. Now, he finally understands what "positional rank" is.
Simply put —— when using Matrix Orders to battle, if you say "Let my palm freeze!", I’ll say "Let the ice on my palm melt!". But if your rank is higher than mine, then no matter how loudly I shout "Let the ice on my palm melt!", it might not take effect and my palm will still freeze.
A deity’s rank might be the highest S or even SS, that’s why people have difficulty resisting deities. Positional rank seems to be a suppression at a life-level.
The final question on the test paper surprises Su Ming’an even more.
...
[61. "Immortal’s Talisman" is a talisman that exists only in legends, and no one has seen its physical form to this day. It is rumored that the "Immortal’s Talisman" has deity-like abilities and its embedded Word Spirit effects surpass all known talismans, reaching effects unattainable by humans, such as erasing causality, permanent confusion of the five senses, and life replication. Recently, with the discovery of underground relics, people believe there may be an "Immortal’s Talisman" within the relics. Do you think the "Immortal’s Talisman" truly exists? If you had an "Immortal’s Talisman," what would you do? (10 points)]
Su Ming’an contemplated, following a typical liberal arts student exam approach, it should be ——
Answer: I believe the Immortal’s Talisman exists. If I owned the "Immortal’s Talisman": 1. Protect the "Immortal’s Talisman," with maintaining its integrity as the first action principle. 2. Ensure outsiders do not seize the "Immortal’s Talisman." 3. Report immediately to the military or the Union Government.
However, in Su Ming’an’s thoughts, this "Immortal’s Talisman" carries significance beyond the exam.
——Rumors are not unfounded.
The world should indeed have the "Immortal’s Talisman". Moreover, it’s likely akin to the "Brave’s Sword to kill the final boss." If Su Ming’an is to face deities in the end, he must hold the "Immortal’s Talisman".
After all, the material mentioned: "The Word Spirit abilities contained within the Immortal’s Talisman surpass all known talismans". If the deity’s rank really is S or even SS, Su Ming’an can only break the defense of the deity with the Immortal’s Talisman, otherwise he might not even see the deity’s health bar.
But once the health bar is visible, even a deity can be killed.
Su Ming’an flips the test paper back to the first page, beginning to ponder over the multiple-choice answers.
At this moment, he heard a bright voice in his head: "This question should be C, I seem to remember it."
Su Ming’an immediately lifted his head, looking around, but only got suspicious looks from the invigilator, seeing nothing else.
"I am in your mind, I am called Chang Ge..." Chang Ge explained the situation. Including the night identity and the fact that he was sitting idly all night.
"Mm." Su Ming’an responded.
He felt intrigued; there actually exists a player tasked with such "night" tasks.
"In the morning when I watched your actions, my mind still felt a bit hazy, now it feels slightly clearer, so I can talk to you, but the clarity is somewhat intermittent." Chang Ge said, "Thus, communicating with you might sometimes not be very smooth, sorry."
"It’s fine, no apologies needed." Su Ming’an found Chang Ge quite polite, his tone also courteous. Not overly respectful nor arrogantly superior, just like equal communication.
Su Ming’an quite appreciated this feeling of exchange; if Chang Ge behaved overly cautious, as if treating Su Ming’an like a god, Su Ming’an would feel somewhat uncomfortable.
Since Chang Ge can observe Su Ming’an’s actions during the day, when Su Ming’an sleeps, Su Ming’an should also be able to observe Chang Ge’s actions at night. The two take turns, never missing a moment in 24 hours.
"I feel that not every player has such a night identity." Chang Ge’s voice was quite clear: "If players had such a night identity, they’d surely have announced it everywhere on the forums long ago. I suspect that only players with relatively key positions have this night identity."
Su Ming’an agreed with Chang Ge’s view. After all, Lv Shu likely does not have this night identity.
"Relating to the fairness of the world game——the world game probably assessed the difficulty of passing and the system determined that your time wasn’t enough to allow you to pass, so it added a night identity for you, letting you act while sleeping, allowing full use of the 24 hours." Chang Ge said, "Thinking this way, maybe key figures like Mizushima Kawa Sora and Noel also have night identities."
"..." Su Ming’an felt startled. He suddenly thought he indeed encountered a very competent player.
This world always has smart people, their abilities aren’t inferior to Isabella, Yamada Machiichi, Lv Shu, and others; it’s just due to luck, identity, adaptability, and various other factors that they didn’t rank at the front. But that doesn’t mean their quality isn’t strong.
At this moment, Su Ming’an met a player with a very strong thinking model.
Chang Ge’s way of thinking aligns with Su Ming’an’s, he’s a smart person, with a decent sensitivity to instances, already reaching top-rank player’s standards. Plus, he speaks with clarity, calmly and confidently, truly a good helper. If it were others who disliked Su Ming’an or reckless individuals, it would be trouble.
Su Ming’an feels fortunate that Mizushima Kawa Sora didn’t become his night identity. Otherwise, the scene would explode, with both eager to wrestle the initiative.
Or if matched with a nervous fangirl who couldn’t even speak properly, that would undoubtedly be much inferior to Chang Ge.
"My mind vaguely recalls your experiences from a few days ago, I know what the situation is now." Chang Ge thought for a moment, "In any case, the initiative is yours, I’ll act according to your arrangements at night. I believe dream cruising is more suitable for you, I can’t interfere with dream cruising. As for internships in the City Guardian Department and night tasks, you can leave those to me."
"Mm." Su Ming’an responded.
"——This candidate shouldn’t be talking to himself." The invigilator teacher couldn’t hold back anymore. He had been watching Su Ming’an for a long time.
Su Ming’an stopped talking.
"Sorry... for getting you scolded." Chang Ge said apologetically in his mind: "I’ll keep quiet."
Su Ming’an took a pen and wrote on the draft paper:
[It’s not your fault.]
[It’s okay.]