Chapter 45: From today onwards, the name of Lin Yi shall echo throughout the entire province!

Qi Xiaying was faring no better on her end.

Her goal all along had been Li Zerui.

The two of them not only knew each other, but also shared a fairly good relationship. To put it accurately, their dynamic was every bit as subtle as the one between Lin Yi and Jiang Ya over the past three years of high school.

However, the gap between Qi Xiaying and Li Zerui was far smaller than the one between the aforementioned pair.

Purely from the perspective of explosive output in this first round, if Qi Xiaying were to simultaneously detonate the dozens of chasers she had been meticulously stockpiling, it would single-handedly secure her victory.

She was supposed to be the one destined to claim first place.

Yet, a name abruptly appeared on the leaderboard: Lin Yi.

It instantly left her in a state of shock.

She was practically dumbfounded.

Hesitation leads to defeat.

Just a split second of distraction caused three or four of the twenty-six chasers she had been tightly controlling with her mental power to dissipate!

By the time she snapped back to reality, it was already too late!

Meanwhile, inside her own examination domain, Lan Ruoyi likewise caught sight of that name on the leaderboard.

Lin Yi!

Wasn't this the level 42 classer who had waited alongside her at Entrance No. 1?

To think he cleared the first round so quickly!

What terrifying output!

As for Zhao Kai, who had previously looked down on Lin Yi, he felt like coughing up blood right now.

Because he was already starting to regret his choices.

The purgatory difficulty seemed somewhat ill-suited for him...

After all, the goblin right in front of him had only lost a sliver of its health bar.

All of his skills landing on this goblin felt utterly pathetic, like tickling it with a feather!

The examiners were truly perverted!

Who could possibly crack through defenses that ridiculously high?

Monsters with such absurdly high stats didn't even exist in regular dungeons!

In stark contrast to Zhao Kai's plight, everyone from Class 8 of Jiangcheng No. 1 High School who knew Lin Yi felt as though they had been injected with adrenaline.

Especially Zhang Shan.

Right now, he was standing completely motionless, weathering the attacks of four or five goblins head-on!

A Knight class could choose an offensive build.

Naturally, they could also choose a defensive build.

During the registration phase of this national college entrance examination, classers were required to select their role specialization.

Offense, defense, support.

Candidates had to pick one of these three specializations and then participate in the corresponding test.

Since it was a national examination, it naturally had to encompass all classes.

You could hardly expect a Priest who had only acquired healing skills to be tested on their monster-clearing speed!

Therefore, Zhang Shan had chosen the defensive role.

At this moment, he felt his entire body surging with strength.

He was confident he could withstand another five or six monsters attacking him at once.

All because this fellow was wildly showing off to the examiners assigned to his sector.

"Hey!!"

"The one currently ranked number one, that's my brother!!"

"Hahaha! He really is my brother, I'm not lying to you guys!!"

"Ah-Yi, you're an absolute monster, the top rank in the entire province!!"

The examination guidelines genuinely did not prohibit candidates from shouting loudly inside their respective examination domains.

After all, the domain spaces were entirely independent and would not disturb other examinees.

Thus, this guy's loud hollering left the line-up of proctors utterly speechless.

They desperately wanted to say: Yes, yes, we get it, the one who took first place is your buddy, but what on earth does that have to do with you?!

...

Inside Lin Yi's domain space.

He was feeling rather bored.

He sat flat down on the ground.

Then, glancing at the score table floating above his head, he noticed he had just been awarded 1,000 points.

This score was so neatly rounded.

It made him wonder if he had achieved a perfect score.

Well, whether it was a perfect score he couldn't be entirely sure, but he was certain he was in first place.

Because right next to the score table hung the leaderboard.

A little over twenty seconds had passed since the start of the first round.

On this leaderboard, Lin Yi was finally no longer the only name listed.

Gradually, one name after another began to populate the rankings.

[NO. 1: Examinee Lin Yi. Time taken to clear the first round: 2.36 seconds. Points obtained: 1,000!]

[NO. 2: Examinee Qi Xiaying. Time taken to clear the first round: 23.27 seconds. Points obtained: 877.6!]

[NO. 3: Examinee Li Zerui. Time taken to clear the first round: 24.88 seconds. Points obtained: 861.1!]

[NO. 4: Examinee Xu Jia. Time taken to clear the first round: 28.79 seconds. Points obtained: 812.1!]

[NO. 5: Examinee Lan Ruoyi. Time taken to clear the first round: 34.03 seconds. Points obtained: 759.9!]

...

The leaderboard only displayed the top ten.

These ten individuals capable of making the list were the true powerhouses among the over one hundred thousand examinees in the entire Dongjiang Province!

This very same leaderboard was simultaneously displayed on the upper-right corner of the massive screen in the examination control center.

Even figures as composed as Li Yuanjing and Qi Guoguang were finding it hard to remain calm right now.

The two of them exchanged glances, each seeing shock mirrored in the other's face.

Li Yuanjing broke the silence, asking, "Why hasn't his footage been pulled up yet after all this time?"

Hearing the big boss's interrogation, the staff member who had just promised to retrieve Lin Yi's footage within two minutes instantly broke out in a cold sweat.

He was sweating profusely!

To be fair, only a few dozen seconds had passed.

Less than a minute, in fact.

There was nothing he could do even if they rushed him!

System processing simply took time!

Yet what could he do? The other party was a top leader, so he just had to swallow his grievances.

"R-Reporting! Right away!! It'll be up in a second!"

"I'll go urge them again!"

The man scampered off in a flash.

Li Yuanjing looked at the leaderboard and could only let out a bitter laugh upon seeing that his younger son had only managed third place.

"I never imagined Zerui would make such a massive blunder in the first round..."

Qi Guoguang sighed as well. "Xiaying is the same, she lost four or five chasers."

"It seems that kid gave them quite a shock..."

Li Yuanjing retorted, "Nonsense! Didn't you see the chasm between him in first place and your granddaughter in second?"

"Two seconds versus over twenty seconds—that's a nearly tenfold difference!"

"We'll check the playback later to see how on earth that kid pulled this off!"

...

Outside Examination Hall No. 1 in Tianhai City.

After the exam had commenced and all candidates had entered the premises, the area remained a bustling sea of people.

A large number of Tianhai City locals had gathered outside every examination hall to soak in the atmosphere.

There were also teachers and parents accompanying students from various other base cities across Dongjiang Province, as well as several personnel from the Education Bureau.

Most of these people would be waiting to pick up their students and children once the college entrance examination concluded.

Outside all 22 examination halls in Tianhai City, giant spiritual crystal display screens had been erected.

These screens showed the current examination progress and relevant ranking information in real time.

On the display screen, a line of bold characters suddenly popped up.

[The first round of this year's examination has concluded!]

[The rankings for the first round are now announced!]

The next moment, name after name appeared on the leaderboard!

Because the screen outside was exceptionally large, it had enough space to display the ranking information of the top one hundred candidates across the entire province.

Upon seeing the leaderboard, the crowds outside all 22 examination halls in Tianhai City gasped in astonishment!

An uproar swept through the entire plaza!

"Look at that, number one!"

"That's a name I've never heard of before!"

"Lin Yi? Does Dongjiang have any major aristocratic families of classers surnamed Lin?"

"Well, there are some, but none of them are major clans. Who on earth is this Lin Yi?!"

"Did nobody else notice this god-defying clearance record?"

"Holy crap, two seconds?"

"Yeah, second place jumps straight to over twenty seconds!"