Chapter 489: Let’s Make a Bet. Let’s Bet On…
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 489: Let’s Make a Bet. Let’s Bet On…
Night fell.
It was destined to be a sleepless night for many. While pulling two consecutive all-nighters wasn't a major issue for most candidates, trying to endure the entire Joint Exam without sleep was an impossible feat.
First, there was the fire started by Lucianne. Fanned by the night wind, it had already spiraled out of control; by morning, there was no telling how far the devastation would spread.
Meanwhile, the wave of candidates who had followed Lucianne had broken ranks, dispersing into smaller groups.
Ultimately, this Joint Exam was not a collective operation. The rules merely encouraged teamwork. When individual expectations went unfulfilled, people naturally struck out on their own. No matter how capable Lucianne was, she only controlled a handful of resource points—and the points from a single location were only enough to satisfy a small circle.
Calling it "dispersing into smaller units" was just a polite way of putting it. At most, these people only kept in touch via phone messages.
And the only reason they maintained even that much communication was for a very pragmatic reason: to have someone to call for help in an emergency and to stay updated on local intel.
However, Lucianne’s most steadfast supporters remained by her side. They were, after all, a community of shared interests.
On the other side, Ninglan Qiuyue’s situation was much the same. Faced with a coalition of multiple academies from the Sea Clan, the Beast Academy, and the Afuhemi Academy, her group had no choice but to avoid a direct confrontation.
The Elves and Orcs had launched a night raid only to find their targets gone. Though they failed to capture anyone, they successfully took over the territory.
However, the monsters in this area had already been cleared out. With no source of points left, they had to continue pushing outward.
As for finding new resource points, they had to search for them manually. If they wanted to get lucky and find a location quickly, they had to hope their accompanying Teaching Assistants were up to the task.
At that moment, the Teaching Assistants from our Witch Academy had separated once again. There was little practical point in staying together; after a brief exchange of intelligence, they went their separate ways. After all, who didn't have their own little schemes?
I was no exception. I was intensely curious about the current state of the Wizard Academy. Their situation was unique—even among the Three Top Academies, they were a peculiar outlier.
Based on my understanding, the Wizard Academy marketed itself as the "Orthodox Human Transcendent Academy." There was nothing technically wrong with that claim, especially since other Transcendent Academies tended to have power systems centered around specific races, making them appear quite cluttered.
Then there was the atmosphere. The high-pressure environment inside the Wizard Academy was something even Lucianne found difficult to stomach.
Within the Wizard Academy, the Wizard Towers established by Transcendent Wizards were the true sanctuaries of knowledge. However, not every student who enrolled had the right to enter a tower to study.
Competition was cutthroat. A Wizard Apprentice’s mastery and use of Transcendent power relied almost entirely on Mental Power and Transcendent materials. Even Wizard Tools weren't something everyone possessed.
Wizards who lacked strength weren't even qualified to participate in this Joint Exam.
Because of this environment, the candidates from the Wizard Academy truly followed the rules, either forming small teams or acting as lone wolves. There was almost no possibility of them banding together as a large collective. Even during the previous Dream Exchange Competition, they only held their ground because they had the Wizard Towers as a base. But had they ever truly cooperated? Unlikely.
Even a Child of Destiny received no special treatment there. Only those who chased power and wanted to ride someone's coattails would treat a Child of Destiny with any special regard—acting as a lackey, for instance.
This was evident from how easily the Wizard Academy had given up on Lucianne.
Look at the Witch Academy. Aside from poaching a Child of Destiny like Lucianne from the Wizard Academy, had any other academy’s Child of Destiny been lured away to join the witches?
No. And even if there were, the fact that they hadn't made a name for themselves by now showed exactly why the academy had abandoned them.
Currently, the Wizard Academy’s Luck was scattered, but that didn't mean their people were easy to provoke.
Any student from the Wizard Academy you encountered was bound to be a capable combatant. However, for that very reason, they lacked the ability to coordinate large-scale troop movements.
Everyone had their own agendas, so there was no grand, unified plan. Furthermore, I noticed that the Wizard Academy students had made their way from the outlying islands to the Main Island entirely on their own merits.
Collective consciousness?
The strong helping the weak?
Non-existent.
Moreover, from what I could see, many from the Wizard Academy had their sights set on the highlands of the Main Island.
Tan Han and her group would likely run into them there.
As for how that encounter would go... that was hard to say.
After scouting the other side of the Main Island and finding nothing of significant value, I returned to the Witch Academy’s side.
I wasn't surprised by the fact that the main body of the Witch Academy was currently fragmented. In fact, personally speaking, I subjectively disliked bloated group operations.
This mindset stemmed from my disagreement with the notion that "there is strength in numbers." Large groups only diluted the influence of truly capable individuals.
While I might not always offer constructive suggestions, I certainly didn't like people bossing me around—unless they could convince me they were right.
In the pitch-black night, many from the Witch Academy chose to rest. Tan Han’s team, in particular, had endured thirty-six hours of high-intensity mental strain. They chose to spend the night luxuriously recovering their energy.
Their journey hadn't been without casualties. Although Tan Han desperately wished for her people to remain unscathed, it was an impossible dream.
She couldn't explain to everyone that they weren't in the real world, or that "death" here wasn't true death. She could only use the existence of the Resurrection Spell within the Witch Academy to soothe the girls who had been traumatized by the sight of death.
It wasn't just death; there were injuries too. The threshold for Healing Spells was incredibly high. It was a delicate art, and even the cost of a Flesh Healing spell started at two or three digits.
Even with the help of Alchemical Healing Potions, injuries were unavoidable.
If an injury couldn't be healed quickly, it became a burden. Consequently, those with severe wounds were mostly left at resource points to recover using Alchemical Potions from the supply drops, or they withdrew entirely. After all, not every girl could endure the agony of massive trauma, severed limbs, or disfigurement.
For the sake of a single Joint Exam, they felt it simply wasn't worth it.
At that moment, in the area where Tan Han’s group was resting—a newly captured resource point—a girl silently put down her phone. she gave a quiet greeting as she passed by several other girls, then gradually walked into the darkness.
She didn't stop until she reached a spot where no one else could be seen.
"I didn't keep you waiting long, did I? How is it? How are your injuries?"
"Just some minor scratches. Sorry for calling you out so late." The girl held an Alchemical Potion that was nearly half-empty. This kind of Healing Potion worked quite well on light wounds.
"It's not like I was sleeping anyway." The first girl stepped forward and sat down beside her. "With everything going on... who could sleep?"
"Then... talk to me for a bit... I'm really... the pressure is so high... Every time I see Sister Tan Han, I..."
"I know..." The girl reached out to comfort her. In that moment, they huddled together like two girls sharing the same plight.
Neither said anything for a long time. Finally, one of them broke the silence.
"What should we do? Just like this... we took her spellbooks. She definitely won't let us off."
"She won't... she won't..."
"I heard from a Senior Sister... a Teaching Assistant... if a Teaching Assistant wants to make someone disappear from the Witch Academy entirely, it's far too easy... I really... I really don't want to die..."
"I'll collect the spellbooks. When the Joint Exam is over, I'll go apologize and give them back..."
"Will that work?"
"I don't know... but we can't just wait for her to come looking for us..." As the girl spoke, she pulled out a Storage Card. This card had once held all of Tan Han’s previous spellbooks, but now... it was empty.
Not a single one remained.
She had distributed them all...
The public opinion on the Academy Network had spiraled out of their control. Once the news spread that the other party had become a Teaching Assistant... she finally learned the meaning of fear.
Recalling everything she had done, she realized that she had been the clown all along.
It was her self-righteousness that had ruined her own future and dragged so many others down with her. Her ignorance might have even sabotaged Sister Tan Han’s strategic layout.
Initially, she had simply been the first to cling to Tan Han’s coattails. Her motive was simple: benefits.
After all, Sister Tan Han was a Child of Destiny!
She was bound to soar in the future. As the "bestie" who got in on the ground floor, even if she never achieved much herself, her relationship with Tan Han would ensure she never wanted for anything.
But now... things had developed far beyond her expectations.
And the catalyst for all of this... was just her making the same kind of choice she always made. The only difference was that this time, her greed had bitten off more than she could chew.
Before the fallout, she never thought her actions were wrong because she had always acted that way. She assumed everything would blow over. She thought Tan Han, as the Child of Destiny with the most support among the freshmen, would suppress everything. Moreover, she viewed the other party as a short-sighted person who had thrown away their status as a Child of Destiny—someone who had no right to become a powerhouse in this world.
But now... the facts forced her to face reality. The situation now involved their very lives. They had also abandoned their superstitious fantasies about the so-called Child of Destiny; they didn't want to become cannon fodder on someone else's path.
Death truly could teach a person many things. It could make the emotional choose to think rationally, the short-sighted think of the future, the ignorant recognize their own folly, and the stubborn admit their mistakes.
However, the foolish had another trait: they used their narrow understanding to scare themselves half to death.
"Why did you stop talking? Do you feel like you've finished your last words?"
The sudden voice made them jump, but their startled screams were cut short by a Soundproofing Spell.
In the darkness, they saw a figure not far away—a figure whose mere presence was enough to fill them with terror.
Fear saturated their minds. The phrase "last words" struck a raw nerve.
"Just kidding. I just happened to run into you. It's not very polite to talk about people behind their backs, you know?" I leaned against a thick tree, looking at the two girls with a hint of mockery in my eyes.
Even in the pitch-black night, they seemed to sense my expression—the ridicule I held for them.
Originally, I hadn't intended to pay them any mind, but who told them to start talking about me?
It’s not good to leave some things hanging. It’s better to resolve them early to save trouble later. Besides... that Over-consumption Spellbook she’s holding might actually play a key role at some point.
I admit that even without the Over-consumption Spellbook, Tan Han is still powerful. But without the Ancient Ice Transformation Spell, her combat ceiling is definitely lower than before.
"I'm sorry... it was my fault... Xiao—no... Yang... Teaching Assistant Yang... I was wrong before, I know that now... I was short-sighted... I... I'll give all the spellbooks back to you... Yes, I..."
"You should call me Teaching Assistant Xiao Han, or Teacher Xiao Han~ What are you doing? Trying to bribe a Patrol Teacher? That won't do. I'm a law-abiding Teaching Assistant; I won't use this situation for personal gain."
Seeing her frantically pull out the spellbooks—Over-consumption Spellbooks that would normally have Senior Sisters fighting over them—she treated them like the hottest coals in the world, desperate to get rid of them.
But no matter how much she wanted to return them, she couldn't...
"I'm not... I... I just want to return them to their rightful owner..."
The girl was on the verge of tears. Seeing that I made no move to take them, panic flooded her mind. These weren't spellbooks anymore; they were her only hope of survival!
"Since you chose to take them back then, they are yours. A person must take responsibility for their past choices. There aren't many things in this world you can simply regret away. Put away your pathetic little schemes. Do you really think I care that much about an Over-consumption Spellbook?" As I spoke, my Ley Line Information Identification Art had already scanned the two girls thoroughly. I knew exactly what they were thinking.
Would I forgive them?
If this were before... I certainly wouldn't have.
And now... why on earth would I forgive her?
Some people don't grow unless they suffer. Unless they experience hardships that cut them to the bone, they will never realize that the world doesn't revolve around them—not even a little bit.
They were destined to be stepping stones in this script. The moment they took those spellbooks from me, they took over the burden of being the "chips" of Luck.
While I didn't know what the final script would lead to, their existence would certainly push Tan Han toward something.
I had my suspicions, though. It was highly likely related to those supporters of hers.
Perhaps it was to completely rid her of those vampires—those "followers" who were actually burdens.
Or perhaps it was an opportunity to filter and refine her circle of supporters.
Of course, I leaned more toward the idea of Tan Han’s own awakening of consciousness and perception. Was she really unable to see through these followers?
I wasn't so sure. Tan Han wasn't an idiot. Even if she was "blinded by being in the thick of it," she shouldn't be unable to distinguish the basics. She needed an external force to compel her to "cut off the gangrenous limb" and thoroughly purge certain people.
Of course, I didn't mind teaching Tan Han a simple lesson: that other people's perceptions of her are actually quite trivial.
"Let's make a bet. Let's bet on... what Tan Han's reaction will be when you use the Ancient Ice Transformation Spell right in front of her. I bet she'll be furious and deeply disappointed. Her anger will lead her to demand why you did it... If I win, I'll even let Tan Han handle the punishment for me. I'll watch the whole thing like a source of amusement to entertain myself, the Senior Sisters of the Witch Academy, and the students and teachers of other academies. Consider it the price you pay for your actions."
"Now... the choice is yours. You have to decide the timing, the location, and the method to use it in front of Tan Han to avoid the outcome I described. That is your only option."
"Come on. You can't refuse this bet, because for you, it's more than just a bet. It's something you'll have to face sooner or later. Once the incident is over, if all goes well... we'll have no further connection. Well? It's a tempting bet, isn't it? Heh heh~"
"Wait... wait!" The girl was completely stunned, unable to even process what was happening. It was all far too much for her. She reached out, but her hand grasped only empty air. The figure had vanished from her sight like a phantom.