After being scolded by Ling Tingyue, Xu Yan’s entire expression turned ugly.
She stood beside Ling Yu with a look of displeasure and finally quieted down.
Nearby, Jiang You watched this unfold, looking as though she was enjoying the show.
According to her persona, she was naturally happy whenever the heroine was having a bad time.
In reality, Jiang You felt quite calm.
’This is normal. Perfectly normal, really.’
The role of a vicious female supporting character like Xu Yan was to repeatedly cause trouble for the heroine in the Secret Realm.
"Once we’re in the Secret Realm, stick close to me." Xie Heng retracted his gaze and looked at Jiang You.
Jiang You glanced at him haughtily. "What do you mean, ’stick close to me’? You’re the one who needs to stick close to me. Let me tell you, Xie Heng, inside the Secret Realm, you can get into trouble, but you can’t let anything happen to me! Understand?"
Xie Heng watched her for a moment before agreeing, "Mm."
Xie Heng rarely gave in to her. Most of the time, he would just remain silent in the face of her bossy words, but this time he actually agreed.
Jiang You paused, but only for a second, before quickly composing herself. "As long as you know!"
A young woman rushed over to Jiang You’s team in a hurry.
Jiang You looked at the girl, finding her somewhat familiar.
"Hi, Captain Xie." The girl, Lan Luo, greeted Xie Heng. Seeing Jiang You beside him, she also greeted her, a little cautiously, "Hello, Sis."
Jiang You recognized her. This was the girl who had run a dungeon with Xie Heng’s squad before.
"Sis, this is my girlfriend, Lan Luo. You two have met before," Xu Wen sidled over, rubbing his nose awkwardly as he smiled.
They hadn’t just met; there had been a misunderstanding.
"Oh." Jiang You’s expression was indifferent.
"Captain, Sis, I’m going to go talk with my girlfriend for a bit," Xu Wen said with a quick smile.
"Go on," Xie Heng nodded.
Jiang You didn’t say anything.
Lan Luo had indeed come to see her boyfriend, Xu Wen, and she began nagging him, "Have you prepared your supplies? Did you bring food? I brought some for you..."
Xu Wen grinned. "I’ve got everything ready. Don’t worry."
Nearby, the hefty Li Xiang watched with an envious expression. He nudged the equally hefty Lin Zhi with his shoulder. "Hey, we’re the only two single guys in the squad."
Lin Zhi’s mouth twitched. "If you’re so envious, go find a girlfriend yourself. Don’t drag me into it."
"Should we try to lose weight together?" Li Xiang sighed. "Otherwise, how are we supposed to find girlfriends with all this fat?"
"If your standards aren’t high, you could find a girlfriend with just as much fat as you," Lin Zhi replied blandly.
Li Xiang was speechless. The man had a point.
He glanced at the sweet couple, Xu Wen and his girlfriend, then at the Captain and Sis. That pair looked like they were about to start arguing any second.
He leaned closer to Lin Zhi and muttered, "The Captain really doesn’t know how good he has it. He’s got such a beautiful girlfriend but doesn’t know how to placate her. He just walks around with a cold look on his face and can’t even talk to her nicely. Why are they about to start fighting with Sis again? Look how well Xu Wen and his girlfriend get along."
Lin Zhi paused, his gaze sweeping over the captain and the young woman.
"Did you bring nutrient packs?" Xie Heng asked.
"I did," Jiang You answered, her face blank.
"Are you wearing your Armor?" he asked again.
"I am," she replied impatiently.
...
"Once we’re in the Secret Realm, don’t run off on your own." Xie Heng started nagging Jiang You like a worried father, afraid she’d get into trouble. "It’s dangerous inside the Secret Realm..."
"You’re so annoying! I know!" Jiang You cut him off, taking a few steps forward to get away from him.
Xie Heng’s lips tightened. His sharp eyes narrowed as he walked over again. "Jiang You, the assessment isn’t like our usual outings..."
Lin Zhi watched as the captain grabbed the girl’s hand, only to be impatiently shaken off. The captain’s expression soured. He grabbed her hand again while speaking, and again she shook it off. Finally, the captain gripped her hand tightly, and the girl could only frown back at him as they argued, face-to-face.
They were at odds, with none of the sweet atmosphere Xu Wen had with his girlfriend, but there was still a push and pull between them.
"Actually, the Captain really does like Sis. I noticed it just now. He’s always subconsciously looking over at her, like he’s afraid his kid will get lost," Li Xiang continued.
"Yeah." A glint appeared in Lin Zhi’s brown eyes. "With a girl like Sis, you just have to go along with her."
’Isn’t she cute?’
’She’s obviously very strong, capable of killing a mutant beast on her own, yet she pretends to be weak and deliberately acts up to get the attention of the person she likes.’
’She just wants her crush to care about her.’
’How can she be so cute?’
Li Xiang was taken aback. "Huh?"
Lin Zhi snapped out of it and smiled. "I said I’m pretty envious of the Captain."
"Oh." Li Xiang didn’t think much of it and just asked instinctively, "Then why aren’t you envious of Xu Wen?"
"The Captain’s girlfriend is prettier," Lin Zhi said honestly.
Li Xiang didn’t overthink it, nodding in agreement as a look of genuine envy appeared on his face. "I’m pretty envious of the Captain, too. Having such a good-looking girlfriend."
After saying that, he quickly lowered his voice. "Let’s just keep this between us. We can’t let Xu Wen’s girlfriend overhear. That wouldn’t be right."
Lin Zhi nodded. "Yeah."
The group chatted idly, waiting for the Secret Realm to open.
Jiang You was still going head-to-head with Xie Heng.
"Oh, so what do you think of that specially-admitted student? You were staring at her just now," Jiang You said in a snide, passive-aggressive tone.
Xie Heng frowned. "Who’s the specially-admitted student? Who was I staring at? Are you just making things up again?"
"That Zhou Yan, of course." Jiang You continued to stir up trouble.
Jiang You really wanted to see Xie Heng’s attitude toward Zhou Yan.
"I don’t know her," Xie Heng said coldly. "Stop pinning these baseless accusations on me. I glance at a random girl and you start saying I like her."
Jiang You snorted coldly. "Oh."
She figured Xie Heng would only start paying attention to the heroine, Zhou Yan, once they were in the Secret Realm.
It was understandable that he had no impression of the heroine right now.
Seeing Jiang You like this, Xie Heng felt completely helpless.
An announcement echoed through the hall.
"Students, please proceed to your team areas. The Grand Examination Secret Realm is about to open. Put on your combat suits and double-check that you have all your equipment, including your team’s Number Ring..."
"The Number Ring is what determines your final score, so do not lose it. This assessment will last for four days and will use a points system based on killing mutant beasts. On the fifth day, at nine in the morning, the Secret Realm will close on schedule. No one is to remain inside."
...
Simply put, each squad had a Number Ring, which was similar to a Space Ring. However, things could only be put into the Number Ring while inside the Secret Realm, not taken out. When a slain mutant beast was placed inside the Number Ring, it would automatically display the points earned. Nothing else would register points.
Different mutant beasts were worth different amounts of points.
Jiang You had already changed into the standard-issue combat suit.
As the Secret Realm opened for everyone, all the students quickly entered.