Chapter 40: A Sensation in the Examination Hall! He Has Advanced to the Second Tier?!

And this gap.

It is like a chasm!

As Zhao Kai looked at the light screen and saw Lin Yi’s level—Level 42—he felt as if an invisible hand had slapped him across the face.

The sting was sharp.

He had assumed that someone like Lin Yi, coming from a remote base city to take the exam, would be lucky to reach Level 25 at best, even with a Gold Label.

After all, he himself was only Level 29, and that level was considered exceptionally high among the elite circle of Dongjiang. Even here, he had only been outclassed by the girl in blue beside him.

The girl, Lan Ruoyi, had reached Level 30. She had even accepted her job advancement quest, though it remained incomplete.

Yet, this boy, who appeared to have nothing going for him other than his good looks, was actually Level 42!

This meant...

He had already completed his second job advancement and had even leveled up twelve times beyond that!

Setting aside the massive experience points required after a second advancement, the experience needed for every level after Level 20 alone was already terrifying.

Given the prerequisite that candidates had only had thirty days to level up since awakening their classes, reaching Level 30 was considered the absolute limit—the peak of the possible.

And today, that limit had been shattered.

Shattered by a gap of twelve full levels!

Lan Ruoyi gazed at Lin Yi, curious about how he had achieved such a feat.

If someone were to interview Lin Yi on the spot, he would simply say it was easy enough for anyone to do. Because for the past month, apart from the day after he spent a week slacking off, he had never truly intended to grind levels.

Most of the time, he had been coasting.

Even those three levels from 39 to 42 were merely the result of him feeling bored and itching for action; he had gone to a dungeon in the neighboring Canglan City and cleared it a few times.

If he had actually wanted to level up and grind hard, he might even be on his third advancement by now...

"Huh?"

"Teacher, why can’t I select the difficulty?" Lin Yi asked while operating the light screen.

He had intended to select Nightmare mode, but he found he couldn't click it, as if the system had glitched.

Prodded by Lin Yi’s reminder, the examiner—who had been maintaining a stern, unapproachable facade—suddenly shuddered.

"You... you... wait a moment, let me check!"

He began fiddling with the Spirit Crystal system. To be honest, he couldn’t believe his eyes; the boy’s level was truly 42!

He had finished his second advancement??

Where did this monster come from?

After some frantic inputting, the examiner in charge of registration was already drenched in sweat.

He discovered that the system was working perfectly. Lin Yi’s level was genuine.

The reason Lin Yi couldn't select a difficulty was that, since the system's inception, the underlying code had restricted the difficulty selection to candidates between Levels 25 and 30.

In simple terms, Lin Yi, this Level 42 monster, had fried the registration system.

This is...

This is a disaster!

What should he do?

He certainly couldn't make this decision on his own; he would have to report it!

"Student... Student Lin, please wait here for a moment. We have never encountered a situation like yours before. I need to consult with my superiors!"

With that, the examiner, who had been so stern moments ago, bolted toward the entrance like a man possessed.

***

Exam Hall No. 1, Third Floor.

This was the command center for the national college entrance examination in Dongjiang Province, and the gathering place for the chief examiner and all senior officials involved in the exam.

"That should be about it. The exam is about to begin, so notify everyone to take their positions."

The short meeting concluded. The middle-aged man at the head of the table gathered his documents and issued orders to the others.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door.

"Enter."

The door pushed open, and a face, flushed red from sprinting, appeared before the group of Dongjiang Province elites.

"Sun Liang? What’s going on? Aren't you supposed to be registering candidates?"

"How clumsy. Who told you to knock?"

Before the man at the head of the table could speak, a person beside him—clearly Sun Liang’s superior—bristled with anger and immediately rebuked him.

Sun Liang felt aggrieved. This wasn't his fault, and he had to report it immediately.

With less than 20 minutes left before the exam began, if any error occurred or the start was delayed, he wouldn't be able to bear the responsibility!

He said immediately, "Director Xiao, I... I have an urgent matter to report!"

His superior, the aforementioned Director Xiao, wanted to scold him further, but the middle-aged man at the head of the table interrupted.

"What is it? Speak."

Sun Liang bowed to the man and said urgently, "Deputy Commissioner Li, it’s like this: at Entrance No. 1, which I am supervising, a candidate has appeared."

"When entering his information, the Spirit Crystal system indicated he had reached Level 42 and had already completed his second job advancement."

"I have verified it repeatedly; our system is not malfunctioning. The problem is that our system has never logged a candidate over Level 30."

"Now, the candidate cannot select his exam difficulty."

"I cannot make this decision on my own, so I have come to you for instructions!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire conference room fell silent.

Everyone was stunned. Even Li Yuanjing, the Deputy Commissioner of the Dongjiang Education Bureau, raised an eyebrow.

"Level 42!"

"How is that possible!"

Someone immediately voiced their skepticism.

Fortunately, Sun Liang knew the trick to reporting information to superiors. He had already stated that he had verified the system was working correctly. The implication was clear: Lin Yi’s level was absolute fact!

"Interesting."

"Yuanjing, did you know this once-in-a-century monstrous genius would appear when you asked me to observe today?"

An elderly man sitting at the head of the table, who had remained silent until now, chuckled and teased.

"Elder Qi, don't mock me. I don't have the ability to foresee the future," Li Yuanjing replied with a shake of his head.

Sitting beside him was none other than Qi Guoguang, Vice President of the Tianhai City Professionals Union. The two were close friends, and Li Yuanjing had invited him to watch the proceedings. Qi Guoguang hadn't been busy, so he had dropped by.

He hadn't expected to encounter such a surprise.

Li Yuanjing gestured to Sun Liang. "Where is the candidate's information? Bring it up so we can see."

"Yes! Right away!" Sun Liang responded.

He hurried to the large screen and used the Spirit Crystal communicator on his wrist to project Lin Yi’s registered file onto the center display.

The next moment, Lin Yi’s handsome face appeared.

Qi Guoguang froze.

"Why is it him?"

Li Yuanjing was also surprised. "Elder Qi, you know him?"

"Is he a genius from one of the great families?"

"Hmm... The Lishui Lin family? I haven't heard of anyone named Lin Yi in this generation."

Qi Guoguang shook his head. "No, it's just that I crossed paths with this kid while providing reinforcements during the Canglan mutated boss crisis. It must be a coincidence, though."

"Oh? And his class is also a Mage?"