"Ah!!"
"A student died inside the dungeon."
Suddenly, a split-screen popped up, causing quite a stir of panic.
On screen, a young senior high school student was cleaved into a spray of blood and gore by a goblin centurion's axe at the second level.
This was the first reported death among the students.
And this... might not be the last.
"Oh my god..."
"He didn't even have time to use a Return Scroll. His casting was interrupted instantly and the boss killed him right away."
"This really is the harsh reality of the senior exam dungeon."
Once a player dies in the dungeon, there is no resurrection option.
Death means the soul returns to the afterlife.
Despite the pain, fear didn't overwhelm the students.
Since the world's mutation 70 years ago, with the surge of magical disasters, Earth had been dragged into an era of chaos and unrest.
The previous cross-era Divine Realm game was merely a rehearsal granted by Earth's will for all humanity.
Afterward, game data began to overlap with reality—the Earth's surface expanded by tens of thousands of times, and spatial stability collapsed, producing countless rifts that opened gateways to secret realms and pocket worlds.
These interdimensional gates interconnected, and if not handled promptly, monsters would spill out.
Twenty years ago, neglecting a spatial rift in the Ghost City caused a massive beast army to flood the city, bringing catastrophic devastation.
The famous exam setter, Old Ge, was a survivor of that Ghost City tragedy.
So after retiring from the Iron Blood Army and joining the Education Bureau, his exam question style became notoriously tough.
Only one who had faced true calamity could understand how hard life truly was.
Old Ge's teaching philosophy was clear: don't be a weak, helpless sheep, but be a wild wolf sharpening its claws at all times.
"It's because Brother Yun is so exceptional, we forgot how difficult this exam really is."
"Yes, Senior Yun is already approaching the dungeon's fourth level. That guy just barely entered the second level before disaster struck."
Yun Chen's knife-edge dance-like extreme positioning, evading all injury while swiftly pushing the clear time, was truly an anomaly.
For the average player, dungeon runs were steady and cautious, one step at a time.
Those with weaker nerves might tremble, frozen in place for long moments.
"At this pace, they probably just entered the second level..."
Nightmare difficulty dungeons differed significantly from easy modes.
Survival pressure was much higher.
Even the guarding boss, the goblin centurion, was reduced to level 10, and its large area skill "War Stomp" was disabled.
Yet for some, it was still tough.
After the first casualties, the injury count at Dongyun High School steadily rose.
The bronze gate's screen repeatedly showed close-ups of the deaths.
Some might find this harsh, but with teachers reminding the younger students in grades one and two, they began to seriously take note of why senior players failed.
This was valuable experience.
Precious material paid for with others' blood and death.
"Another centurion! After charging, it smashed a student who couldn't dodge into a blood spray..."
"Damn boss, it's really tough."
At that moment, everyone recalled how Yun Chen handled the goblin centurion.
The moment the boss charged, the Mechanic's beginner skill "Trap" interrupted its charge.
But...
"Interrupting the skill is really hard."
"The boss activates an invincible state the instant the charge is fully triggered, making it nearly impossible for a beginner skill to trip it up."
So the gap to act before the invincibility triggers is less than half a second, maybe even shorter.
Timing was brutally exacting.
One slight mistake meant standing still to become a pin for the monster's charge.
"Brother Yun's approach just isn't for us..."
That was genius.
Only a man with uniquely sharp combat intuition would dare try it.
"Dodge instead—if your agility isn't high enough, use small displacement skills. Once the centurion charges, immediately evade rather than fight head-on."
Teachers stepped in with this timely advice—the "only solution" for most students.
If everyone followed Yun Chen's method, no one might survive.
"Someone's coming out..."
Right then, at the center of the exam arena, before the bronze gate, a figure was teleported out.
Someone used a Return Scroll to successfully exit the dungeon.
"I'm sorry..."
"I failed."
The student suddenly knelt, head down, sobbing uncontrollably.
Failing to clear the dungeon meant they'd have to try again next year, or rely on their liberal arts grades to apply for secondary careers in cultural colleges.
Of course, if lucky, some colleges with unfilled spots might offer special admissions.
There were plenty of such fortunate cases in previous years.
"Sigh..."
The rocket class homeroom teacher sighed.
This student was low-ranking in the class but would still be top three in a regular class.
Soon...
The death count on screen ticked into double digits, officially surpassing 10.
More and more players failed the dungeon, hitting a wall at the second level, unable to face the boss, and chose to leave.
Within five minutes,
Over 100 students had left the dungeon.
On the other side of the arena, a medical aid station was set up.
Several teachers who taught Cleric courses stood ready, healing the wounded.
Even the head doctor from Dongyun Hospital was present.
With a gentle wave, a powerful healing spell regenerated a student's severed arm.
This scene amazed the examinees.
"Looks like it's really tough. We all fell at level two."
"Don't comfort me, I already did my best..."
"Same here, I'm actually quite satisfied. Without the ten years of free education in Xuanlong Country, I'd probably be doing odd jobs in the countryside. Now I can still pursue an office-related secondary career. Secondary careers are truly a promising path, right?"
Many of the students who exited weren't as broken-hearted as expected.
After all, without the state's free education raising every student to level 10 and offering the chance to change careers, they wouldn't have come this far.
"My talent is really limited... I feel ashamed of the country's education support..."
"Now we can consider secondary careers. Don't be sad. Many top universities also have secondary career colleges—you can still make a name for yourself."
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]