Chapter 260: If you don’t fry me and I don’t fry me, when will the fish grow up?

“Now that I think about it, this exam is completely unfair!”

Helos sat on the bench, the more she thought about it, the more she felt this was basically the Academy’s public bullying of their Comprehensive Research Academy.

“The so-called ‘battle royale’ is actually having all of us students from different departments split into groups, enter an ancient ruin owned by the Academy in batches, and survive there.”

“Not only do we have to deal with the traps and magical beasts inside the ruins, but we also have to compete with other students, scavenging for mana crystals hidden in every corner to earn extra points!”

Helos waved her little fists in anger, her light purple eyes full of indignation.

“They clearly know we’re Comprehensive Research Academy students! We study alchemy, history, rune analysis! We’re not those mages who just throw fireballs, nor those knights who only know how to swing swords!”

“This is like making liberal arts students, science students, athletes, and art students all run a marathon together! And it’s the kind of marathon where tripping each other is allowed!”

“Fair? Not fair!”

The moment Helos recalled Dean Feinalaisi’s half-smile when she announced the rules, she felt like charging over and pulling her hair out.

“That old elf woman even said, ‘There’s no such thing as fairness in this world anyway.’ As long as you can win, no method is too extreme. She even said the only difference between methods is whether they’re judged as ‘human’ or ‘inhuman.’”

“She’s practically encouraging everyone to hurt each other!”

The poor, fate-targeted Helos grumbled indignantly, growing more and more convinced that she was just a “study companion.”

But just as her words faded, Helos suddenly felt the atmosphere around her turn strange.

The two people who should have been sharing her anger, denouncing the Academy’s injustice together, hadn’t made a single sound in agreement.

Instead, they were staring at her with extremely complicated, extremely odd expressions.

That look contained three parts shock, three parts speechlessness, and four parts pity that seemed to say, “Do you have any idea what you’re talking about?”

“What?”

Helos felt a chill run down her spine from their stares.

She subconsciously touched her cheek and asked uncomfortably, “Why are you two looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?”

Julius and Gavi exchanged a glance.

The black-haired youth sighed helplessly and turned his head away, as if forcibly suppressing the urge to say something sarcastic.

Gavi gently shook her head.

She stretched out her fair hand and tapped the air a few times, as if organizing her words.

“Um, Master.”

The blonde girl spoke slowly, her voice still flat and emotionless.

“Haven’t you realized yet?”

“Realized what?”

Helos looked completely confused.

Gavi seemed to find it hard to say.

She raised her hand, first pointing at Julius sitting to Helos’s left, then at herself sitting to Helos’s right.

Finally, she made a spreading gesture, looking as if she wanted to speak but hesitated.

Watching Gavi and Julius act so strangely, Helos followed Gavi’s finger.

She blinked.

Left.

Julius, the Chosen One, the Saint Knight.

He fought the heretic army alone, tore apart Chaos Demon Beasts with his bare hands.

He even held that Holy Sword “Daybreak” that could blind anyone the moment he pulled it out.

Though he went by the title of “ordinary student,” his strength was probably higher than most practical combat teachers in the Academy.

Right.

Gavi, a golem doubling as a maid.

Though she wore the skin of a beautiful girl, she was essentially a killing machine with a life core, a body made of high-strength metal, and armor-piercing spikes that could pop out from the backs of her hands.

And after certain modifications, her combat power was now unfathomable.

Look in the middle.

Helos Olivia.

Alchemy genius, “Cursed Girl.”

Though she was a weakling in terms of combat power…

She possessed the absolute null magic field—“Curse of Silence.”

An ability that could nullify all magic and turn all mages into mere mortals.

She had also mastered the unreasonable mental attack skill [Mental Shockwave], and even opened her “Mind’s Eye” under Sylvia’s special training.

Most importantly, she had some trump cards she couldn’t reveal.

These three people combined…

A lightning bolt seemed to flash through Helos’s mind.

Left, a maxed-out, fully equipped saint knight.

Right, a stat-monster combat maid.

Middle, a cheater with built-in silence and mental control.

The next second, she seemed to suddenly realize something.

And according to that elf dean’s rules, this exam was conducted in “groups.”

That meant…

The three of them were a team.

Helos crossed her arms and fell into a long silence.

The rustling sound of wind through leaves echoed in her ears, as if mocking her indignant outburst from earlier.

After a long while, she finally squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth:

“Okay… maybe it is a little unfair.”

“Not just unfair.”

Julius couldn’t hold it in any longer.

He turned his head, looked at Helos’s deflated expression, and curled his lips into a teasing grin.

“For everyone else, this is a disaster.”

“Think about it.”

He began analyzing the battlefield for Helos.

“Those poor magic department students worked hard all semester, finally learned a few spells. They step into the exam, eager to show off, and then they run into you.”

“Snap.”

Julius snapped his fingers.

“Their proud magic power becomes a joke in front of you. Fireballs vanish, ice shards melt away.”

“Before they realize what’s happening, a ridiculously handsome, super outstanding, model youth with a sword is already charging at their faces.”

He pointed at himself.

“Then.”

He pointed at Gavi.

“Even if they try to run, there’s a tireless maid with a speed like a ghost chasing after them.”

Julius spread his hands.

“Do you still think this is a competition? This is just one-sided bullying of kids.”

Helos’s face instantly turned red.

She had only been complaining about her own disadvantages, completely forgetting how absurd their team’s configuration was.

This wasn’t going to an exam; this was going to smash low-level players!

“Ahem.”

Helos coughed awkwardly, trying to save face.

“Well… you can’t say that.”

She forced a defense:

“This is a team match! Team matches emphasize coordination! Strategy! Wisdom!”

“Sure, our setup might be a little stronger, but…”

“And besides, there are bound to be traps and monsters in the ruins. We can’t be careless.”

Her voice grew softer.

“We’re not going to fight; our goal is to gather mana crystals. As long as no one messes with us, we can clear the exam peacefully.”

“Peacefully?”

Gavi interjected expressionlessly.

“Master, based on my analysis of Dean Feinalaisi, since she set a rule like ‘any means to win,’ she will definitely tamper with the placement of the mana crystals.”

“Those crystals will probably be scarce and placed in hard-to-reach spots or locations that require combat to obtain.”

“Moreover…”

A glint flashed in Gavi’s gray eyes.

“Considering the nature of your ‘Curse of Silence,’ once you approach a mana crystal… wouldn’t the crystal directly lose its effect?”

Helos froze.

She had never thought about that.

If her field drained the mana from the crystals, could they still count as mana crystals? Could they still score points?

Helos covered her face in pain.

“Damn.”

“So that means I can’t even pick up crystals? I can only be a mascot?”

“No.”

Julius shook his head.

“You can be a ‘jammer.’”

He looked at Helos, a tactical light glimmering in his eyes.

“Let’s think differently. Since you can’t pick up crystals, let’s steal other people’s.”

“Steal?”

Helos’s eyes went wide.

“Exactly.”

Julius said seriously:

“The rules only say to gather crystals; they don’t say you can’t take others’. And the dean said any means necessary.”

“As long as we camp out on the road, wait for someone else to work hard and get the crystals, then you go block them and disable their magic. Then me and Gavi will ‘receive’ their hard-earned rewards.”

“Isn’t that perfect?”

Helos looked at Julius’s face—handsome, but now radiating a ‘villainous’ aura—and couldn’t help swallowing.

She hesitated, then said:

“You’ve turned bad.”

“You used to be an upright knight.”

“You’re the company you keep.”

Julius shrugged, throwing a meaningful glance at her.

“Hang around a certain noble lady whose head is full of explosions and forbidden experiments long enough, and it’s hard not to turn bad.”

“You!”

Helos was speechless.

But thinking carefully, this plan… actually sounded pretty cool?

“Hmph, fine.”

Helos turned her head away, but couldn’t help the corner of her mouth lifting.

“Then it’s decided!”

“In this final exam, we’re going to show those people who usually look down on the Comprehensive Research Academy what true ‘comprehensive strength’ really means!”

“Let them know who’s the real boss in this Academy!”

The girl clenched her fist, flames of fighting spirit burning in her eyes.

And the two beside her—Julius and Gavi—watching the girl who had just been complaining about unfairness but was now already planning to “dominate the exam hall,” couldn’t help showing helpless yet doting smiles.

It looked like the poor classmates who would be grouped with them were about to experience the unluckiest day of their current lives.

May the Goddess bless them.

Amitabha. Amen.