197: First hovy, please give me good points!
Two weeks later, inside an internet cafe.
The Three Heavenly Kings were wearing slim-fit vests under black suit jackets, looking sharp and capable. Their hair and sideburns had been meticulously groomed to emphasize the sharp spirit of youth.
Even though they usually lacked any sense of decorum, putting on suits actually gave them a fair bit of class; at the very least, they wouldn't be mistaken for insurance salesmen.
Ignoring how out of place their suits were in an internet cafe, the Three Heavenly Kings were staring intently at their computer screens.
“Jiang Hanqiu, are you growing lingzhi mushrooms in the jungle?”
“Lu Chaoyang, hurry up and follow up with some crowd control!”
While working hard on their mechanics, the Three Heavenly Kings were passionately flaming their teammates Jiang Hanqiu and Lu Chaoyang. Finally, before the battle lines could extend any further, they broke the enemy’s nexus.
Seeing the word “Victory” pop up on the screen, Jiang Hanqiu silently deactivated his [Intellect-Machine Crown] and let out a long breath.
“Come on, come on, everyone turn on your mics!
Xu Qingfang, can you actually do something in the mid lane? Their mid-jungle synergy almost destroyed our bot lane, and you were still dawdling in the river. If you were a delivery driver and someone bought Punctuality Insurance, you'd lose everything in payouts!
Yue Yun, you like selfless devotion, don't you? Their top laner is so fed he's walking sideways across the map and no one can stop him. If you like raising 'daddies' so much, why don't you just go volunteer at a nursing home?
Mo Yu...”
Jiang Hanqiu took a deep breath and turned his volume to the maximum: “Mo Yu, have you ever seen a normal person play AD?
Never mind being way behind in gold; your movement is like you have polio, waddling around. You catch skills more accurately than the enemy aims them. Can’t you just hug our turret and not let go? In a crisis, just call it 'Daddy' and see if it saves you!”
Jiang Hanqiu shifted his gaze to Lu Chaoyang’s avatar and saw the 'muted' icon, which made him laugh out of pure frustration.
“I'm Chovy! Play properly for me in this five-man queue!”
Jiang Hanqiu was so furious his voice cracked into a raspy Gazi-voice; this five-man queue wasn't a team game at all, it was clearly a one-versus-nine Hell match.
And he had been the one to impulsively invite these four teammates.
The Three Heavenly Kings had taken off their headphones before Jiang Hanqiu even started talking, and were now chatting leisurely while looking at the victory screen.
“By the way, what are we doing at the internet cafe today?”
“Today is the day the Beast Taming College Entrance Examination results are released.”
Xu Qingfang glanced at the two who seemed completely indifferent to their grades and shrugged helplessly. “The results will be published simultaneously on major news outlets and the internet, so we can check them immediately.”
It wasn't that Yue Yun and Mo Yu truly didn't care—otherwise, they wouldn't have specifically put on suits—they had just gotten too caught up in the game and forgotten.
At noon sharp, the Beast Taming College Entrance Examination results were released.
The Three Heavenly Kings switched out of the game interface and excitedly clicked on the official website to check the college entrance exam results for Nanyuan Province.
However, on the official website interface, the Three Heavenly Kings were met with nothing but a screen full of blank space.
The Three Heavenly Kings were stunned.
Yue Yun’s brow furrowed into a knot. “Is it the same for you guys?”
Xu Qingfang and Mo Yu nodded silently, speechless in front of the blank screens as a strong sense of unease rose in their hearts.
Yue Yun, who usually cared the least about grades, reacted the fastest, grabbing his headset and putting it back on. “Jiang Hanqiu, are your college entrance exam results out?”
“They're out,” Jiang Hanqiu replied succinctly.
He was currently admiring his ranking; this top-tier position was the reward for three years of hard work and persistence.
Yue Yun’s frown deepened as his fingers flew across the keyboard. “Lu Chaoyang, what about your results?”
“Not bad,” Lu Chaoyang said, opening the voice channel. “While not exceptionally high, it's enough to get into a top-tier Beast Taming University.”
Hearing this, Xu Qingfang and Mo Yu’s hearts completely sank.
Xu Qingfang seemed to lose all strength, sinking into his gaming chair and staring blankly at the empty screen.
Among the Three Heavenly Kings, Yue Yun cared the least about grades, while Xu Qingfang undoubtedly cared the most. After all, he needed to provide an account of himself to his parents.
Without college entrance exam results, let alone a top-tier Beast Taming University, he wouldn't even be able to attend an ordinary Beast Taming University or a Cultural University.
Because repeaters have an extra year of time, which can significantly boost their combat power if used properly, it would be unfair to current-year graduates. Therefore, one can only take the Beast Taming College Entrance Examination once.
Without results, Xu Qingfang would have no eligibility for a Beast Taming University and would remain just a high school graduate.
To put it bluntly, his future achievements would be limited.
Because of the Mist Sea's constant encroachment on the land, resources remained scarce even with the support of Secret Realms, making the cost of training the younger generation extremely precious.
If you couldn't even successfully complete the Beast Taming College Entrance Examination under the protection of Safety Officers, and couldn't enter a Beast Taming University where the Alliance's educational resources are concentrated, how could you guarantee you'd be better than anyone else?
Faced with this indisputable fact, Xu Qingfang’s aspirations for the future were abruptly cut short, and a sorrowful sigh echoed in his heart.
Thud!
Yue Yun tried his best to restrain his emotions, but his fist still slammed lightly onto the desk, creating a loud noise.
He gritted his teeth and let out a low, fierce growl.
“It must be that old fellow en own!”
“Who is en own?”
Lu Chaoyang’s confused question was the response Yue Yun received.
Yue Yun calculated in his mind, sharing some of the less important details with Lu Chaoyang and Jiang Hanqiu before suddenly slamming his palm down and shouting.
“That old fellow en own is a backbone of the Ministry of Education. How could he possibly let me, the killer of his son, off the hook? Old Xu and Old Mo only have no results because they were dragged down by their association with me!”
If en own wanted revenge, he should have come at him directly. Using underhanded methods against the people he cared about was simply courting death.
In his heart, Yue Yun wanted nothing more than to tear en own into a thousand pieces.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Hanqiu and Lu Chaoyang both looked at their screens in a daze, wondering if they were hallucinating.
The conflict between en own and Yue Yun was no longer a secret after Yue Yun personally killed Chen Hu, but even so, no one believed en own would secretly manipulate the Beast Taming College Entrance Examination scores.
Daring to manipulate the college entrance exam?
How many heads did en own have to lose?!
Mo Yu recovered from the shock of the blank results. After calming down, he lightly patted Yue Yun’s shoulder. “Only those who used external forces during the exam or took prohibited drugs—cheaters whose eligibility was revoked after an audit—would have no results.
Our actions were all legal and compliant. As long as we pull the exam recordings, we can prove our innocence. If a problem really occurs, the teacher will help us resolve it!”
Hearing this, hope was rekindled in Xu Qingfang.
Just as the Three Heavenly Kings were wondering what had gone wrong, Xu Qingfang’s phone rang. It was Pan Xuan calling.
“What the Hell?!”
Mo Yu was completely at a loss.
With Pan Xuan’s call already coming through, it was almost ironclad proof of that old fellow en own's sabotage.
Yue Yun had already made an enemy by killing Chen Hu. Since Xu Qingfang and Mo Yu were Yue Yun’s good brothers and his teammates in the Beast Taming College Entrance Examination, they naturally wouldn't be let off easily.
Xu Qingfang didn't answer Pan Xuan’s call. After silencing his phone, he looked at the brothers beside him. “That old fellow wants to cut off our future; we must make him pay the price!”
“But we don't know where that old fellow is.” Yue Yun and Mo Yu nodded solemnly, but then a new doubt arose.
At that moment, Jiang Hanqiu’s calm voice came through the headset: “The results of the Beast Taming College Entrance Examination need to be audited. The Examiner for our Nanyuan Province is none other than en own, and he is currently in Nanyuan City.”
The Three Heavenly Kings’ eyes lit up. They hurriedly said their thanks, packed their things, and rushed toward Nanyuan City without stopping.
Only Jiang Hanqiu and Lu Chaoyang were left in the game.
Lu Chaoyang’s brow was tightly knit. “Is there something wrong with their eyes? Can't they see such a huge ranking?”
“Maybe they went to the official website to check.”
Jiang Hanqiu was also staring at the screen, lost in thought.
It’s common knowledge that when large-scale exam results are released, the official website often crashes due to the sheer volume of queries. There are usually multiple ways to display the page, and a blank screen is one of them.
Lu Chaoyang’s lips twitched slightly; he wanted to say that the Three Heavenly Kings weren't that stupid, but the words felt like a fishbone stuck in his throat.
Jiang Hanqiu smiled silently, shook his head slightly, and continued looking at the news interface he had opened, which was displaying the Beast Taming College Entrance Examination rankings.
At the very top of the Nanyuan Province list—the Top Scorer of the Nanyuan Province college entrance exam—was none other than Yue Yun, whose practical combat score had crushed the competition!