Chapter 78: A Different Choice
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The Rapid Biting Rats were low-grade monsters who lived underground, had strong reproductive abilities, and were very nimble. When they were forced into a corner, they could also be rather aggressive.
Based on what happened in the past exams, the education department chose dozens of test areas at the edge of the fog and set up bait underground to attract Rapid Biting Rats and other creatures similar to them. Their numbers would be high, but they would all be low-grade monsters which were small and nimble.
When the test started, the education department would release all sorts of stimulation chemicals, infrasounds, and ultrasounds to lure out these monsters from the underground. They would run up to the test area, where the examinees could hunt them down.
The Rapid Biting Rats were fast, nimble, and as slippery as loaches. With the standards of high school students, it would be very difficult for them to kill these things, but since their attack power was low, even if dozens of them surged over, they would at most just cover the examinees in bite wounds.
The examinees wore gel protective suits. Their physiological parameters were monitored and invigilators watched them from nearby as well. Usually, no lives were endangered in the test. At most, some examinees had to suffer a little.
Illusion Cat was a middle-sized feline-type monster with sharp claws and swift movements. It had quite a lot of attack power, but to pseudo undergraduates, they were still not so powerful that they could not be overcome.
What the examinees needed to pay attention to was high-grade monsters.
Based on the past tests, during the second half of the practical test, the main invigilator always released some rather fierce and large creatures so that the outstanding examinees could fight them.
If the examinees wanted to get into the famous universities, they could not miss out on killing these “bosses”, because they were worth a lot of points.
Meng Chao thought about it and joined a row with Chu Feixiong. They entered a huge military-grade tent to get their exam equipment.
The “currency” they used in exchange for the equipment was the marks they obtained during the written test.
This was a special rule Dragon City’s education department had thought of to encourage the students to excel in both academics and martial arts.
The results of the written test were not included in the final ranking. If the students wanted to get into university, they had to rely on their practicals.
But aside from the gel fighting suit, the equipment used during the practical test had to be exchanged for using marks from the written exam.
They had to “buy” everything, including knives and bullets.
The better their written tests results were, the more guns and ammunition they could get, and they could also get higher-quality cold weapons.
The total points one could get was one thousand and two hundred points, and the outstanding students from the three famous schools usually scored more than nine hundred points. They then used them to exchange for up to twenty cartridges, a semi-automatic rifle with an infrared scope, and a super alloy saber that could even cut hair.
This made their efficiency when hunting down monsters to increase by leaps and bounds.
Normal examinees usually scored from six hundred to seven hundred points and needed to carefully consider between buying the super alloy saber or the guns and ammunition.
If they wanted to kill Rapid Biting Rats, they could only get a low-grade saber made from normal materials, which meant that the blade would bend before they could kill a lot of monsters.
As for those who were all brawns and no brains and only managed to get between three hundred and five hundred points, they were basically eliminated from the compet.i.tion of getting into the famous universities. Even if they managed to train their three basic force execution methods really well, they could not just rely on their bare fists to kill hundreds of Rapid Biting Rats, right?
Of course, there were some rather unique examinees. They had weak abilities but all sorts of strange talents, such as the ability to work machines, create medicine, or control minds.
They had to enter various specialization compet.i.tions during high school to get a lot of points.
This allowed them to get all sorts of grand equipment, such as strengthened exoskeletons with great firepower, which could make up for their lack of fighting strength, during the practical test.
However, if they enjoyed the bonus points from the compet.i.tions, they could only join certain specializations.
For example, if they gained bonus points from high school machinery compet.i.tions, they could only get into the machine course. They were not allowed to get into the martial arts course, heroic spirit course, or monster controller system.
But that was fair.
When Meng Chao and Chu Feixiong walked into the equipment room, they saw one of the special students. His skin was pale, his eyes were swollen, and his lower body was weak, but his upper body was strong. One glance was enough to know that he was a shut-in. He wore a strengthened exoskeleton with powerful firepower and looked like a machine monster.
He was clearly a machine genius. There was no need for them to be jealous of this boy, so they only looked at each other, smiled, and went in to choose their equipment.
“Meng Chao?”
There were already quite a number of youngsters with outstanding presences in the equipment room. When they saw Meng Chao, the eyes of one of them lit up, and he called out to him in a friendly manner.
Meng Chao managed to recognize him as the student council president of Construction High. He was Luo Hai, the person who held his hand during the mental strength test.
Oh, his dad seemed to be a six-star superhuman living in Dragon City No.1—Soul Breaking Saber Master Luo Hai.
“Come, let me make introductions.”
Luo Hai beckoned him over with a smile, as if they were both really familiar with each other. “This is Fang Da from First High School, and this is Xie Feng from Second High School. They are all outstanding people from their schools. Today, they’re the strongest in Test Area 5523. Later, if you run into them hunting in an area, move away from them, because they’ll end up killing all the Rapid Biting Rats!”
“This is...”
Fang Da and Xie Feng’s fathers were all Heaven Realm elites who were at the same level as Soul Breaking Saber Luo Wu. They belonged in the same circle, so it was only natural that they were familiar with Luo Hai.
But they had never met Meng Chao. When they saw that he was nothing special to look at, they could not help but be puzzled.
“This is Meng Chao, and he’s someone extraordinary from Ninth High School. He’s very famous in Tiger Forest Region,” Luo Hai said with a smile.
“Ninth High School?”
The two elites from First High School and Second High School looked at each other and could not help but snicker.
Meng Chao swept a glance over the group and got an accurate grasp of the three people’s mindsets.
Luo Hai might seem to be very friendly, but he had his own thoughts in his head. He had to be thinking about using Meng Chao to attract the attention of the two elites so that he could avoid getting entangled with them during the practical test. Then, he could quickly kill all the monsters and get points without any distractions.
First High School’s Fang Da was a plump boy with a round face. He might have seemed harmless, but his eyes shone with a cunning light. He had to be someone not easy to deal with.
Second High School’s Xie Feng appeared to be rather prideful, but he definitely had the ability to back it up.
Even though they had their own plans, they were still children, even if from aristocratic families, who had yet to graduate from high school. They wanted to become stronger and were full of life as well as vigor. So, Meng Chao did not find himself disliking them too much.
He nodded and greeted Luo Hai before he went off to choose his equipment.
Since they were going to deal with Rapid Biting Rats, which were small, nimble creatures, guns were naturally the best choice. Luo Hai and the other two bought more than one gun and a large number of bullets.
Of course, they also bought cold weapons. Otherwise, when they finished using their bullets, they would have to catch rats with their bare hands, and it would be rather embarra.s.sing.
The main targets of the practical test the year before were the Golden Claw Spiders. Thunder Rapier was a suitable skill for the examinees to use to kill these things.
This year, their main targets were the Rapid Biting Rats, so they needed downward slashes as well as rolling slashes to fight against them.
Practically everyone bought sabers.
The bones of the Rapid Biting Rats were especially tough. Besides, when they used downward slashes and rolling slashes, the damage to the blade was very high. Hence, everyone bought super alloy sabers, which were of very high quality.
The elites from the famous schools who obtained high marks in the written test even bought more than one saber.
When it was Meng Chao’s turn, he fell into deep thought.
‘My results might be pretty good, but the outstanding students from the three famous schools aren’t there for show. They’re all aristocratic children, and they have a lot of resources supporting them. They might have already gone through countless simulations that are similar to this practical test in their homes.
‘If I fight against them head on, I’ll have no problem in getting into Dragon City University or Agricultural University, but if I want to make sure that I can get into the specialization I want, I need to think carefully about this.
‘How should I use the monster knowledge I currently have and get as many points as I can?’
Meng Chao shut his eyes and thought of the structure of the Rapid Biting Rats. He also considered the uses of the materials in their bodies.
After a moment, he came up with a plan. He chose to buy ten Type 35 light hand grenades.
Beep, beep!
Each hand grenade was worth twenty marks, so two hundred points deducted from his written test.
The ten hand grenades and a tactical hand grenade was sent into his hands. He could easily hang them on the ports of his gel fighting suit.
Chu Feixiong chose a light machine gun with great firepower. He then wrapped two criss-crossing ammunition belts over his chest. With his bulky body that weighed more than one hundred kilograms, he looked like a war maniac.
When he saw Meng Chao’s choice, he could not help but gasp. “Meng Chao, are you thinking about using anti-small monster hand grenades to hit the Rapid Biting Rats? That’ll be such a waste!”
Anti-small monster hand grenades had always been used to kill small monsters like snakes, insects, rats, and ants. It was the most convenient firearm to be used in such situations.
But there was a prerequisite for it. The small monsters had to gather together and form a dense insect swarm or rat h.o.a.rd.
When a hand grenade was thrown over there, the whole group would die, and the sight would be just amazing.
But during the practical test, the number of Rapid Biting Rats would definitely not reach the amount required to form a rat h.o.a.rd. Besides, there were more than one thousand murderous examinees who would go after them, so the monsters would definitely scatter and flee.
The rats were fast and nimble, and their fur was as tough as steel needles, so they held a certain degree of destructive abilities.
If someone threw a hand grenade, they would at most be able to kill one or two of them. The rest of the explosive damage would be wasted, so it was better to use bullets.
At the very least, bullets were cheap. Even if they had to use three or five to kill a Rapid Biting Rat, it was still better than wasting a hand grenade.
Meng Chao smiled and sized up the weight of the ten hand grenades in his hands. He felt that he could bear it.
So, he bought another ten light hand grenades and five napalm bombs, which were even more expensive.
When he hung these things off his body, Chu Feixiong was not the only one shocked. Even Luo Hai, Fang Da, Xie Feng, and the other examinees who were choosing their equipment were shocked.
‘What’s this guy doing? Is he thinking that he got too many points in his written test and wants to enjoy the feeling of spending lavishly?’
They fixed their eyes on Meng Chao and watched how he would spend his remaining three hundred points.
Meng Chao chose a Lightning Saber.
The Type 10 Lightning Saber was a super saber made of alloy ten years after Dragon City transmigrated. It was modeled after more than one hundred ancient sabers on Earth and the essence of dozens of modern military sabers.
Its full length was 0.9m, and it weighed 4.5kg. Its center of gravity was balanced, and there was a lightning pattern on both sides of the blade, which increased its toughness and speed. If an elite brandished it at full speed, they could even break the speed of sound.
If it were regarded with Earth standards, it would be a perfect saber.