Chapter 182: S-level Difficulty

Translator: Double_L Editor: Hitesh_

Hu Yangxuan, Apache and Cao Yi’s placing was right behind w.a.n.g Ben and Cisco’s. However there was still quite a gap between those two batches, and it was clearly caused by the difference between strategies. Even if everyone were able to survive in the end, the gap between both batches’ advancement speed would still roughly show the difference in terms of their overall fighting abilities.

On the other hand, w.a.n.g Tong was still the slowest candidate of all. However, he was seen closing the gap between him and the third batch of candidates. w.a.n.g Tong could’ve accelerated early as the match began, but he chose not to do so due to the complicated scent he picked up from this S-Ranked scenario. He needed to get familiar with the surrounding first before he could speed up afterward. If w.a.n.g Tong were to charge recklessly at the beginning, he would be thoroughly drained in this round of b.l.o.o.d.y brawl with the Zergs, and he wouldn’t have enough stamina for the upcoming matches.

The other candidates too were thinking about the same thing. Since they were unable to reach the goal in time, it would be better for them to conserve energy and survive this round. Even though that had nothing to do with winning, still they need to do so in order to defend their reputation as aces.

w.a.n.g Tong was calculating time while advancing. Noticing that the clock was ticking and his a.n.a.lysis was not done yet, w.a.n.g Tong knew that it would cause him to be eliminated in the first round. In the end, w.a.n.g Tong decided to speed up and charge in order to keep his promise to Samantha!

"d.a.m.n, they’re so lucky!" One of the students of Cruxs sighed as he envied Capth’s and the alliance’s amazing performances. Clearly their team would never be able to keep up in that harsh situation.

"They looked good because they had Ma Xiaoru in their team, but I think they’re still not gonna make it in the end. Li Ruo-Er was clearly leading." Li Ruo-Er was indeed leading Ma Xiaoru by two minutes, and even though both ladies were equally strong, Ma Xiaoru would still be pressured by Li Ruo-Er, who was up ahead of her.

On the other hand, Halmond remained calm on his seat. The situation might have looked bad, but he was certain that Li Ruo-Er was slightly stronger than Ma Xiaoru. Nevertheless, Samantha was lucky as both teams were given this hideous scenario. If the difficulty were to be lower, Capth would’ve won in no time. However, Halmond realized that he still had underestimated her team. Surprisingly, her team was doing quite well even though they were facing such a difficult challenge.

As expected from Samantha’s leaders.h.i.+p!

Halmond recognized Apache, who had won last time because his opponent held back. After all, Capth would still have to look after its challenger’s reputation. Back then, the kid was too naive, but he had improved now and became more rational. The other candidates seemed to be doing fine too. Halmond turned towards Hu Yangxuan, a decent, talented kid from Court of the Templar. Obviously, Capth was quite familiar with Court of the Templar, since Terrance, the current No.1 amongst second graders, was also one of the Templar’s disciples, and he was also Hu Yangxuan’s uppercla.s.sman.

As for Cao Yi, the boy was truly talented, as he knew how to act according to his strength and was able to keep calm and stay focus. Hence, he should be able to s.h.i.+ne in the future. Geniuses would often make mistakes, and some even wouldn’t appreciate their gift, while a focused and cautious person like him would be able to go places. In fact, Halmond saw a bit of himself in Cao Yi. He too was not a born genius, and wasn’t as talented as his cla.s.smates. Yet, he was hardworking and had successfully become the vice princ.i.p.al of Capth, and those talented cla.s.smates of his were unable to achieve anything in the end.

Nevertheless, Princ.i.p.al Martyrus was still one of the best in terms of recruiting talents.

Yet, Halmond seemed to have forgotten someone else…

Halmond was confident that he had everything under control, and he was certain about the final outcome that it would be either a draw or they would win by a close victory. Li Ruo-Er’s slight advantage over Ma Xiaoru was all he needed.

This level of difficulty might have restrained his team’s performances, but they should learn that life was fair, and luck wouldn’t always be on their side. Instead, they should be overcoming every difficulty with their true strength. If they were able to keep calm, victory would be on their side.

After all, it would be wrong if they were too arrogant.

"Oh?"

"Look at that speed!"

"Did you see that? That dude sped up in a blink of an eye!"

"Go get it, hombre!" Carl jumped up and cheered, without even bothering about the other spectators. The word shyness was definitely not in his vocabulary.

Meanwhile, w.a.n.g Tong was still accelerating. For some reason, he was able to increase his speed even though the pressure was getting bigger from time to time.

"So that’s w.a.n.g Tong huh. Isn’t it a bit late to start charging now?" Halmond murmured to himself, or perhaps to Samantha as well.

"Sir, don’t make conclusions until the very end. You taught me that once." Samantha smiled. To be honest, she was relieved as w.a.n.g Tong made his move after such a long time. She was anxious because no one was able to make it yet, not to mention the Survival Challenge was all about testing one’s experience and overall strength.

As for now, all Samantha could do was to trust w.a.n.g Tong while watching his performance through the monitor and cheer for him from the bottom of her heart.

w.a.n.g Tong was seen das.h.i.+ng across the map. With his detection ability of approximately thirty meters in radius and his knowledge about Zergs, w.a.n.g Tong was able to roughly identify the species of Zergs and the number of Zergs within this radius. This was why he was able to be fully prepared to attack way before encountering the creatures, making sure that he stayed out of troubles and saved a lot of time.

After five minutes, w.a.n.g Tong had overtaken Hu Yangxuan and the rest of the third batch members. The ability to detect was very crucial in a dangerous environment like this, and w.a.n.g Tong was basically born with the advantage of telling the numbers of Zergs with his Soul Energy and identifying their species through his sense of smell. Most candidates might need to think of a strategy, but w.a.n.g Tong knew Zergs very well, just like how they knew themselves. Also, the way he fought was based on his instinct, wasting no time at all.

Unlike most people, w.a.n.g Tong was able to notice that Zergs’ attacking moves were basically instinctive formations. In fact, Einherjar Wannabe taught him how to do so back at Norton, which was why he was able to save himself from hordes of Zergs from time to time. Speedy judgment was crucial in battlefields, and fighters should be able to have spontaneous reflexes that responded quicker and more precise than the brain, like an instinct.

w.a.n.g Tong’s spontaneous reflexes kicked in like a natural instinct. He knew he had to do so in order to win, or else he wouldn’t be able to keep his promise to Samantha. As a man, promises had to be kept at all costs. He remembered Old Fart used to say that, and then there was also his habit of p.a.w.ning anything valuable in the house for fulfilling his promises to the ladies.

w.a.n.g Tong was dispersing a murderous aura because he felt the sense of pressure which was quite different from what he had felt on Norton. He would’ve stayed hidden while advancing if this was Norton, because exposing to the environment was very dangerous. But he had no choice except exposing himself to danger and getting familiar with the environment. This was after all how mankind trained themselves since the beginning of time.

Time was running out fast, and w.a.n.g Tong was still charging towards the goal. He had successfully overtaken the second batch of candidates, and was seen approaching like a hurricane, stunning everyone else among the crowd. Meanwhile, Li Ruo-Er and Ma Xiaoru, who were leading in front, had slowed down and were proceeding carefully. As the descendants of House of Li and House of Ma, they had to achieve everything that seemed impossible for most people because they were the offsprings of legends. Although the ladies were able to keep their cool while confronting crisis due to the might of their Tactics of the Enchantress, yet both of them sensed that they were no longer able to accelerate.

The system would announce the name of any candidate that was able to make it to the core area of the map. Li Ruo-Er was expecting her and Ma Xiaoru’s name to be announced as they entered. However, she was quite surprised to hear a third name announced by the system.

The other candidates of Capth stood up unwittingly, and the spectators had gone quiet. Everyone was very nervous!

For the first time, students of Capth felt an uncertainty towards their victory.

Although w.a.n.g Tong was still falling behind both ladies, he was closing the gap rapidly. Unlike Li Ruo-Er and Ma Xiaoru, the way w.a.n.g Tong charged was intimidating and strange. Somehow, he always managed to get ready to fight even though there was still a distance between him and the enemy. And for some reason, he would always change his routes whenever some special species of Zergs or pack leader Zergs were waiting in front, like he had known everything in advance.

His speed was mind-blowing.

Li Ruo-Er immediately felt the pressure as soon as she realized that it was currently two against one. She didn’t expect someone that strong in the opposing team.

w.a.n.g Tong too was getting worried as the time was disappearing quickly. Apparently, he was greatly burdened by the creatures. He had even made a few mistakes in his recent judgments and almost ended up getting KO-ed by one of the Zergs. The Zergs were also getting stronger; their species had increased, and their scent had got even more complicated. If there were more options, he wouldn’t have chosen to advance like this. After all, the lesser the risks, the better.

w.a.n.g Tong gathered himself and stayed focused in order to complete his mission; nothing would be able to stop him now.

One minute to go, the three of them were approaching the finish line. w.a.n.g Tong had narrowed the gap!

Halmond started to get worried a little. The spectators were holding their breaths, wondering who was going to win this round.

Was it going to be them?

Furthermore, this was how S-Ranked difficulty looked like?

All of a sudden, a strange hissing sound came out of nowhere, and the pathway ahead was blocked entirely. Then, Skulk Zergs and its pack leader Zerg began to attack, intercepting Li Ruo-Er, who was the first one who was trying to reach the goal. She was being attacked from all directions under the command of the pack leader Zerg.

Even the descendant of Tactics of the Enchantress would never be able to break through that easily.

Time was running out. However, Li Ruo-Er would never be able to pa.s.s through even if she were to unleash a series of GN Force, because in the program, the creatures were modified to be very defensive in order to protect the core area. Just like how they would protect their s.p.a.ce Hives, they would protect the area at all costs, even if meant using their bodies as meat s.h.i.+elds.

Li Ruo-Er then unleashed her Sword of the Enchantress in an elegant manner, slicing up Zergs into halves as she moved. However, she was still unable to move an inch closer, and was even pushed back because she wasn’t equipped with any METAL Suit. Her GN Force alone was unable to defend against too many attacks, and to get hurt would be even more dangerous as she might get herself KO-ed before she could reach the goal. Nevertheless, she believed that no one would be able to pa.s.s through if she was unable to do it.

Meanwhile, Ma Xiaoru too had unleashed two continuous slashes with her Sword of the Enchantress, and slew a huge amount of Zergs. However, she wasn’t able to get through at all. Hence, in order not to get KO-ed by the stronger Zergs, Ma Xiaoru chose to switch from going offensive to defensive.