- The Next Morning -

It was 8 AM. All the students in the first year had gathered at the front entrance of the Main Campus, where their respective class teachers stood. But all of our gazes were drawn to one thing and one thing only:

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The massive portal behind them.

It was like a rift in reality; a large, spinning blue circle of energy. The vortex generated plenty of wind, causing the trees and bushes to sway side to side. I didn't know who created this portal, but whoever it was, they were definitely quite strong.

I had traveled through a Space Magic portal before, back during the invasion of the Midnight Syndicate on Shenzhen. The mayor had created a portal for us to go through, cutting the monsters off before they could reach any more of the city. But back then, the portal was small and could only fit one person at a time. This one, however, was enormous, able to teleport everyone here in the matter of a few seconds.

"All students, follow your respective teachers," the Class 1-A teacher said once he had finished taking attendance for his own class. "Class A, follow me through the portal."

The students were confused, but they had no choice but to listen and obey for now. Perhaps the exam would be explained on the other side. Class B was next to go, then C. Ms. Cai lazily took attendance for us, then led us through the portal last.

Once we were on the other end of the portal, we found ourselves staring at an immense temple, big and luxurious. It was surrounded by a vast bamboo forest for as far as the eye could see, which gave this place a natural and Asian feel. The roofs of the buildings were slanted and curved up at the very end, confirming my suspicions.

"Woah…" Qing Yue murmured from beside me, eyes dazzling with excitement and awe.

"Welcome, everyone, to the first proper special exam of the school year," a voice suddenly said from above, and we all turned up to see who it was.

There, the student council president — Qian Hua — hovered, levitating in the air above a cloud with a smile on her face.

"Yo! It's really her! Senior Sister Qian!"

"Senior Sister!"

"Student Council President!"

"The Child of the Future, huh?" I muttered, shaking my head in exasperation at her fame.

"I will now be explaining the rules and contents of this exam, so listen carefully," she said, expression turning serious. "Save all questions for the end, since we don't have much time."

After making sure everyone had settled down and were paying attention, she continued.

"The way this exam will work is as follows: each class will possess their own Base, and they have to attack other classes' Bases while protecting their own. Pretty simple, right?"

The crowd stirred a bit as they tried to figure out if it were really that easy. I had no doubt what she just said was the core of the exam, but there was definitely a lot more to it.

"The temple before you right now is a Base. Class A's Base, in particular. Three more just like this will be stationed around the forest, one covering each of the four cardinal directions. This one, is North," she explained, pointing at the temple. "Within these temples are five collectibles each to be guarded by the Base's owner. For the sake of this exam, we'll be calling them Flags. To earn points, you have to steal these Flags from other classes and bring them to your own Base. Now then… any questions?"

"So, it's essentially like a four-way capture the flag?" Ming Hao asked, raising his hand.

Qian Hua nodded. "Correct. You are free to launch sneak attacks at night or outright siege other Bases, and forming alliances between classes is perfectly fair play as well. The only thing that is forbidden in this exam is killing. This is to prevent a class from being wiped out, as… er, that would be troublesome."

"How long will this exam last?" Someone else asked, and it wasn't anyone I recognized.

"Exactly one week, starting today," Qian Hua replied. "Anything else?"

"Will these Flags respawn after being taken away?"

"They will. Every night, at exactly 12 AM, is the daily reset. All Bases will be resupplemented with any Flags they are missing, to a maximum of five."

Her words triggered something in my mind, and I daringly raised a hand.

She spotted me as her eyes widened a bit, but the surprise on her face left as quickly as it came. "Yes?"

"… Can you steal back stolen Flags?"

At this, Qian Hua hesitated, whereas she had answered all the other questions immediately. And after a long, uncomfortable silence, she finally spoke.

"The only rules to this exam are that you can't kill other students, and you must keep your Base's flags within the Base. That's all."

Your Base's flags? Oh ho ho… that changes things.

She purposely avoided answering my question directly, but in her negligence, she provided some even more useful information to me. Other people may miss this little detail, but I wouldn't.

This will be quite interesting, though… if it's an exam like this, we can take first without making all the other classes target us. And if that's the case… why not?

I smiled devilishly as a plan already began to form in my head.

*****

After the explanation was over, we were all given maps of the enormous bamboo forest, where the locations of the four Bases were marked. The map holder's current location was also tracked by a moving cursor on the map, which had, of course, been enchanted with magic.

Our class was led to our temple, which was directly across from Class A's. In other words, they were the Northern Temple, so we were the Southern one, right at the very bottom of the map.

Currently, our whole class was gathered in the temple's main 'living room', which was essentially a place for us to hold meetings. A long wooden table was set in the middle of the room, with 25 seats all around it. After last time's defeat, all of our classmates are now actually trying to work together.

Unbeknownst to everyone else here, however… I had made some arrangements and sent some messages to certain individuals before this meeting began. So, I essentially already knew how this discussion was going to turn out.

"So, what's the plan, O great leader?" Long Lu snorted mockingly, glancing at Han Xiao Bing coldly.

"Uh… we defend our Flags, of course. We gotta set up night watch duty, so you guys just figure that out amongst yourselves, and-"

"How are we supposed to get any points if we just defend?" Yu An Yan cut in after I whispered to her to do so. "You said you would lead us to victory, no?"

Faced with Yu An Yan's meaningful gaze, Han Xiao Bing froze as he was charmed by her beauty.

"Look how useless our 'leader' is," I scoffed, crossing one knee over the other. "He can't even talk properly after looking a girl in the eyes… who's to say he won't betray our class for a chance to hold hands with his crush?"

Long Lu, taking this as the right moment, spoke up in agreement. "Yeah, yeah. I may have failed last time, but that was just purely bad luck. At least I'm better than a pervert like this guy."

"H-Huh? Who're you calling a pervert?!" Han Xiao Bing stood up from his chair in fury, but it was too late. Everyone was already on our side after seeing that short yet disgusting display.

Yu An Yan smirked and sat back down, shooting me a wink. I smiled in response.

"Listen, Han Xiao Bing," Long Lu said, standing up as well. He was a lot taller and buffer, dwarfing his opponent instantly. "I'll take first this time. Just you watch."

"Heh. After your shameful display last time? I don't think so."

"Want to bet?" Long Lu challenged, refusing to back down. I instructed him to do this, since I knew Han Xiao Bing wouldn't back down either, being the stubborn, arrogant person he is.

"Sure. What are we betting, loser?"

"If I don't take first, I'll… drop out of the school." He was hesitant when he said this, because he didn't really want to make this bet at all. But alas, he still followed my instructions, since they turned out perfectly last time.

"Oh? You're willing to go that far?"

"However! If I do get first for our class… you have to tone down that ego of yours and respect me as the class rep. Understand?"

Han Xiao Bing smirked. "Sure. I respect anyone who is stronger than me, and I acknowledge those with ability. As long as you can convince me you're fit to be the class rep, I'll gladly follow your lead."

Long Lu smiled. "Good. But in order for this plan of mine to succeed, I'll need your cooperation as well."

"Sure, I'll do whatever you want me to do in this exam, just for the sake of our bet," Han Xiao Bing said, shrugging. "As long as it's within the range of my abilities, of course. I mean, I want to win too, after all."

The two shook hands, sealing their deal.

As I watched, a hidden smirk took over my face.

Okay… that's step one, complete.