Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 373 - 019. Face Reality

Chapter 373: 019. Face Reality

Pat, pat, pat—

Li Aozi stepped into the examination hall one step at a time, sat down in his own seat, and silently entered his examination number.

Luther saw that "Leo" arrived so late and couldn’t help but laugh. Realizing his gaffe, he quickly covered his face. Only when he saw that "Leo" did not look in his direction at all did he sigh with relief.

"This guy, I heard that during the test he found out that he hadn’t awakened his spiritual power, and it was so painful he cried. Right, awakening spiritual power for the first time at such an old age, truly embarrassing."

But that’s quite normal, after all, not everyone is qualified to become a Magician.

Luther glanced at his newly issued aptitude certificate:

First-class magical sensing—Excellent

Mental fluctuation—Good

Imagination—Good

Spatial perception ability—Good

Logical thinking ability—Good

Elemental affinity—Good

"One Excellent, five Goods—stronger than last time. The Magic Vein Cultivation Liquid I spent a lot of money on is really effective. With such talent, even if my written exam scores are a little low, there will still be universities willing to lower their requirements for me."

In contrast, "Leo" sat there expressionless, his demeanor detached, clearly his nerves had been messed up by his late awakening of spiritual power.

Seeing "Leo" silent and tortured, Luther felt quite relieved:

"Ha! Leo, that guy is just a muscle-bound, simple-minded gorilla."

Confident in himself, Luther had made comprehensive preparations for this exam. Given his qualifications, he expected the passing score could be lowered even more.

Then came the lengthy verification process. He sat upright in his seat, as other candidates gradually took their seats around him, each enforced with strict physical and magical shielding.

A full five minutes passed before the screen in front of Li Aozi displayed "Verification complete," and a page of candidate information appeared.

[Name]: Leoz

[Gender]: Male

[Examination Number]: ZX120094

[Elective Courses]: "Common Sense of Magic", "Basic Worldview";

[Remaining Time Today]: 7 hours 59 minutes 56 seconds

[Start the Test?]

"The examination will start shortly, please check if your personal information is correct."

He raised his hand and lightly tapped the screen.

[Start the Test: Please answer in the designated area, answers outside this region will be considered invalid]

The blue-green reflection in his eyes mirrored the dense array of course questions, with only a calculator and scratch paper beside him, no other aids.

All candidates began to bury their heads in their tests. Although each other’s answer screens were isolated by physical and magical means, the sight of everyone deeply engrossed in calculations and reasoning was still visible.

Luther wrote rapidly, his calculation speed was very fast, starting with his strongest subjects.

This was the moment that would decide his fate. Even with great natural talent, failing to meet the written exam requirements would make it impossible to truly leap forward.

"I must win, I absolutely must! Once I become a Mage, no one will ever bully me again. Leo, that loser, only deserves to stay in the countryside forever, forever lazy and poor."

His eyes burned with determination, the memory of "Leo’s" bullying, his parents’ increasingly frail bodies, and the girls who supported him, all filled with deep expectations for him.

’I cannot lose!’

Luther’s will was resolute, becoming even more sharp and cautious, each question carefully calculated and checked.

’Whew, my hands are hot today, at the end, I should be able to complete at least 400 questions.’

He glanced over at "Leo" momentarily and sneered.

Leo, that guy was actually staring blankly at the screen.

He was neither calculating nor reasoning, but flipping through pages, looking over all the questions one by one.

’Dumbfounded, huh? This is the Magic Aptitude Test! The number one test of all civilization, thinking of attending naked? Better off dead. Getting ahead is not for the likes of you!’

Luther was secretly thrilled, and then he resumed focusing wholly on solving the problems.

Pat.

His finger swept across the screen, revealing the last page’s contents to Leoz.

With that, all questions had been entered.

Without a word, Leoz pushed his scratch paper and calculator aside, then lifted his hand and tapped the screen.

A black and white spiral lit up in the depths of his eyes; the questions in front of him rapidly transformed.

[Sequence 3: Paradox]

Grant characteristics to the answer: Hidden and Public.

The multiple-choice options ABCD automatically turned red, key information in reading comprehension became highlighted, the standard procedures for experimental problems automatically emerged, and in subjective essay questions, scoring points and standard templates appeared in text.

The proctor walked past Leoz, glanced at his paper filled with red highlights, but showed no surprise.

In the eyes of the invigilator, nothing inappropriate appeared on Leo’s screen; the image reflected in his eyes was free of any eye-catching red markings.

Leo remained silent, his finger making another swipe across the exam paper.

Attribute assigned to blank filling area: Blank and Filled.

The next moment, the text on the examination paper neatly surfaced.

3,500 objective questions, the originally red-highlighted answers now like quenched cold iron, dull and solid, selecting every correct answer.

subjective questions, entirely reliant on the most standard answer templates and correct responses, automatically displayed in cold, concise text.

experimental questions, each procedural step rigorously followed according to actual operations, seamless and with no deviation from the conventional understanding.

As for the 10,000-word discursive article, it was based on a basic answer template. He only needed to blend his linguistic habits and style of writing, casually adding a few strokes, throwing out a provocative thesis at the beginning to attract attention, gradually substantiating in the middle, repeatedly hitting the topic, clarifying the main theme of the article, and finishing by revisiting some clichéd speeches and filling in with famous maxims to bulk up the word count.

The paper was cold, devoid of any trace of human warmth, yet it also contained no errors whatsoever.

Even machines, during the learning process, would integrate human habits and emotions; the text of machine intelligences, though imperfect, still combined human thought and feeling.

However, Leo’s paper did not.

Cold enough to numb the dead, so concise it could put machinery to shame.

Even the most frequently repeated articles lacked a touch of human care. Those fiery words, maxims looking forward to the future, and texts preaching beauty, under Leo’s arrangement, seemed just like code, devoid of any lively spirit.

Yet he knew, such a paper would be absolutely correct.

Perfectly suit the grading mechanism of the intelligent demon spirit, not writing a single unnecessary word.

[You have finished all the exam content. Would you like to submit your paper?]

[Submission successful. Please wait in place, grading results will be shown shortly.]

Luther feverishly scribbled; today he seemed divinely inspired, managing to tackle sixteen questions in just five minutes!

At this rate, he might just complete 700, or even 800 objective questions today!

"Amazing, today I’m the only one kissed by the Goddess of Luck!"

Luther’s eyes blazed as he entered a state of focus, feeling that this exam wasn’t challenging.

"The level of these questions is much lower, I can do this, this time I definitely can score 380 points, no, just 375 points, and I’ll pass the exam, and get into university!"

In contrast, ’Leo’ must be facing extremely difficult questions right now, probably close to crying.

Thinking this, Luther casually glanced over at ’Leo’.

From his angle, he could just make out ’Leo’ sitting still in front of the screen, quietly waiting.

"Ha, just as I thought, Leo, Leo, you now understand the kind of pressure I’ve endured for so long, right? Exams aren’t that easy. The marathon of a five-day exam is entirely a battle of will and stamina."

Luther looked at Leo’s motionless figure with a sense of schadenfreude.

That guy Leo surely couldn’t stand this feeling; everyone around him earnestly tackling the exam, immersed in such an atmosphere, and yet feeling utterly out of place, probably just wishing the ordeal would end so he could leave.

Clack.

’Leo’ suddenly stood up, casually grabbed a piece of paper, and turned to leave.

"Heh heh, couldn’t take it anymore," chuckled Luther under his breath, his mood greatly lifted, tackling his exam with renewed vigor.

The eight-hour-long exam was exceedingly grueling, and this would continue for five days. By the afternoon, Luther felt dizzy and nauseous from prolonged mental exertion, clearly experiencing hypoglycemia.

"Not good, I got up too late today, didn’t manage to eat."

He quickly stopped answering the exam, ran outside, and began to eat and rest. The corridor was crowded with candidates from all over, each seizing the opportunity to think back on the questions while nibbling on bread, checking if they had made any mistakes.

From a distance, some noise carried over. Luther looked up and saw a group from the Aid Study Society gathered together, discussing the problems encountered in this exam while eating—the scope allowed by the exam rules. If someone encountered a question that someone else had faced, obtaining information during these outside discussions wasn’t considered cheating.

After all, the questions here were generated randomly; the likelihood of such an event was no less rare than winning a lottery of five million while asteroids hit the planet, and simultaneously being confessed to by six girls who don’t demand a dowry.

But Luther knew: this group from the Aid Study Society, by providing collective support, had significantly relieved psychological stress. They were likely the ones among this batch who would have the highest completion rate of responses.

The majority of the candidates would collapse from the pressure and mental exertion by the third day, especially those alone in a foreign place; they were easily overwhelmed by difficult questions and long periods of intense mental focus.

The presence of the Aid Study Society had solved this problem to a significant extent. Moreover, their practice of rotating shifts for logistical support also spared candidates from physical hardships.

Suddenly, Luther felt conflicted. He wanted to join the Aid Study Society, but just thinking about Leo being part of it made him nauseated.

However, he reconsidered: Leo had already left, certainly dropping in status. Entering now, with his excellent qualifications and intellect, he could easily take over and even become the leading figure of the Aid Study Society.

No sooner thought than done, Luther stepped forward, ready to inquire about the Aid Study Society, when Cadfy, who was chatting with others, suddenly mentioned:

"Oh, those who just came out might not know yet? Leo has already left."

"Eh, Leo is not taking the exam anymore?"

"What, really? That’s good news?" Leo, delighted, quickly stepped forward and said, "Everyone, don’t worry. It doesn’t matter that that guy Leo left. The Aid Study Society always needs a leader, and I am willing to take on this—"

Before he could finish, he was met with disdainful looks from everyone there.

"Shut up."

Miti spoke irritably:

"Leo was admitted as a special recruit by the Magic University directly under the Crystal Tower. What are you? Do you even qualify to talk about Leo ’that guy’?"

"...Admitted? But didn’t he just leave the exam hall?"

"Yes," Cadfy clicked his tongue in amazement. "He finished, you know."