The weapons and equipment in Aili’s hands might not be as advanced as those on Yun Ruoxi—those upgraded by Lin Zhen—but they were still top-tier.
With these weapons and gear, she should have been able to pass the assessment in the Misty Forest safely, if not walk through it unchallenged.
So why did she end up in such a sorry state?
Yun Ruoxi, curious, asked her about this point.
“It was a female student, Number 321. She ambushed me while I was hunting criminals.”
Thinking back to that incident, Aili still ground her teeth in anger.
“If the sound of our fight hadn’t woken the nearby sleeping beasts, and I hadn’t used the Kaios to escape into the Beast Horde, I probably wouldn’t have made it back alive.”
Female Student No. 321…
Yun Ruoxi didn’t recall this number, but after asking Aili about the girl’s appearance, she figured out who it was—a female antagonist from later episodes.
Gorgeous, but vicious at heart, adept at disguise.
She had caused the protagonist team quite some trouble during the later team battles, her abilities particularly troublesome.
Unfortunately, it was unlikely they’d encounter her during the second stage assessment; otherwise, Yun Ruoxi would have avenged Aili while the opponent’s power was still dormant.
“Just wait. If there’s a chance, I’ll get your revenge for you.”
Yun Ruoxi patted Aili’s back, pushed her out of her arms, then smiled and said, “Stop clinging to me like a sloth. The second stage assessment is about to begin. Go change clothes and eat something to get your strength back.”
“Mm!” Aili nodded obediently, then asked curiously, “But, Sis, what’s a sloth?”
“It’s an animal from the original Earth, especially fond of hanging on trees,” Yun Ruoxi explained offhandedly, pushing Aili as they walked outside.
Because Aili had woken up late, the base was already bustling. On the way to the cafeteria, they even ran into Yun Che and Kaios, though Lin Zhen was nowhere in sight.
After asking, they learned that Lin Zhen had been diagnosed with a Psychic Tear Wound and sent to the force field therapy chamber for treatment; it was uncertain whether she could make it in time for the second stage assessment.
When this was mentioned, Kaios sighed, apparently puzzled as to how a regular jungle survival test could result in psychic trauma.
But Yun Ruoxi, who knew the cause—and that she herself was the culprit—felt a bit awkward. Forcing a smile, she hurried with Aili toward the cafeteria.
Yun Che stared thoughtfully at her departing back, until Kaios pulled him away by the neck.
***
Three hours later, the rest period ended.
All trainees assembled in the cafeteria, where instructors led them to a section of the base they’d never been to before.
This area was located on the upper floor of the rhombic base.
Not only was the space immense, but the ceiling stretched over fifty meters high.
Specially made alloy walls stood tall throughout, dividing the area into countless compartments.
Yun Ruoxi walked above this section, her feet stepping across a high-strength glass corridor.
Looking down—
The entire block resembled a gigantic Alloy Maze, its routes intricate and winding, most of them leading to individual rooms about a hundred square meters each.
Yun Ruoxi knew those compartments were battlefields.
She pressed her lips together, about to keep walking, when the anime screen in the upper right of her vision suddenly lit up again.
Episode five had started!
There were only twelve hours between episode four and this one—the shortest gap so far.
“Episode five, shower of flowers!”
“Do you know how I got through this week?!”
“Oh no, if there wasn’t episode six of ‘Stars’ to watch…”
“Wahaha, episode five—bring on the battles!”
“Front row warning: this episode’s high-energy all the way.”
“Xiao Xi, tall and cool alert!”
“When is Xiao Xi not cool?”
Wait.
I haven’t even started performing—why is there a ‘tall and cool’ alert already…
Yun Ruoxi felt an itch in her heart, wondering what exactly about her was ‘cool’—at least then she’d know if her acting was on point.
But unlike the extradimensional audience, she couldn’t rewind the progress bar. All she could do was watch helplessly as the slightly awkward OP played on the ‘screen’ in the upper right corner.
“I never skip the OP. That’s my ninja way, I swear!”
“So you’re the type who even needs to watch the plot when watching videos?”
“How can you get immersed if you skip the story? Minotaur rage!”
“Say what you will, the ‘Stars’ OP is still a banger. Xiao Xi’s singing is so nice~”
Yun Ruoxi quietly curled her lips.
It wasn’t nice at all.
She’d felt utterly mortified after recording it, to this day refusing to listen to it a second time.
She muted the anime, then, following the crowd, came to a halt outside the Alloy Maze beneath the glass corridor.
They stood grouped by teams, with the instructors—Xiaguang and the rest—silently standing off to the side with their hands behind their backs.
The smooth alloy ground ahead suddenly split apart.
A man, nearly three meters tall and built like a titan, slowly rose up from below.
Instructor Behemoth gave the crowd a cold sweep of his eyes, then went straight to the point, announcing the rules for the second stage assessment.
“Everyone will enter the Despair Maze from different entrances. Inside, you’ll face all kinds of challenges. In the end, you will each encounter an enemy. Use any means necessary; as long as you kill your opponent, you can leave the maze and complete the assessment.”
Almost the same rules as the first stage—but far more brutal and bloody!
Last time, they faced criminals.
But as they’d just seen, there was no one else in this Despair Maze.
Only themselves!
Their enemy was each other!
They were being made to fight among themselves!
All the students heard the implication in Instructor Behemoth’s words.
Their hearts instantly chilled, their faces turning grave.
True, all of them had blood on their hands; killing someone was no big deal.
But what if their opponent was a friend? How would they do it?!
Just getting past this psychological barrier was daunting enough.
No matter how much they resisted inside, as soon as Behemoth waved and announced the start, everyone’s body tensed reflexively, following the instructors to their assigned maze entrances.
There were tens of thousands of entrances to the Despair Maze.
Yun Ruoxi stood before hers.
She gazed into the bottomless alloy corridor, quietly gripping her right elbow with her left hand, lips pressed tightly.
“Damn, are they really going to make them fight each other?”
“So that jailer is going to fight Xiao Xi?”
“No, please don’t let her die on my screen!”
“Xiao Xi looks scared, for sure.”
“Who wouldn’t be? If she’s matched against Lin Zhen or Aili, she’s going to explode.”
“Production team, have mercy!”
After a quarter of an hour.
Everyone should be in place. The collar on Yun Ruoxi’s neck chimed with Instructor Behemoth’s voice.
“All trainees, enter the maze immediately. Anyone late is disqualified.”
Right now, regardless of what they felt inside, they had no choice but to step into the maze before them.
They had grown through these harsh rules, fought their way to this point, and now, it seemed, apart from moving forward, there was nothing left for them to choose.
From beginning to end, their fates had never been their own. All they could do was accept…
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