Chapter 3
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Hundred Flowers Academy Entrance Exam (1)
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"Oh no, Dalam, my little Dalam...! S-sorry! See you next time!"
The woman he'd bumped into earlier must have been the owner of that chipmunk.
She'd dashed off without even introducing herself.
Normally, Jang Palli would have grabbed him and made a huge fuss about how even brushing sleeves was fate.
"Aren't you shouting 'super lucky today!' today?"
"...Shut up."
It was too fleeting a connection to count.
Besides.
He was far more curious about the status window that had popped up for the first time since possessing this body.
He pulled out his smartphone and logged into the gallery right away.
Re-enrolling?! Me, re-enrolling!!! (8)
I got lost near that alternative tower over thereㅠㅠㅠ How do I get to Hundred Flowers Academy from here??? (3)
...It's real.
For a second, addicted to the gallery as I am, I thought I'd hallucinated it.
The gallery users' floating nicknames.
More precisely, their IDs were plastered right next to the anon handles.
Of course, that didn't mean I could delete posts or anything—no admin powers. It just let me see the IDs.
A bit underwhelming for something that also showed status windows.
Anyone who posts a lot in the gallery stands out anyway.
For example.
Author: PlumBlossomsOverRiceSucks (GOGIJoa)
Title: Early bird Huabungi what's for brekkie today~~~~?!?!?~~?~?
(A clean shot of plain noodles, no toppings.)
They ransacked the kitchen~~~~
Where the f*** did the meat go~~~?
Look at this Taoist hunting for meat lol Mount Hua level
Taoists are people too~~~ you f***er~~
Stopㅠ No more food talkㅠ
People like this one who posts breakfast pics every day.
They have a certain distinctiveness and performative flair.
It's insider knowledge, but inside Mount Hua Sect, they're pretty sure it's the Seventh Elder Qingyangzi.
I'd seen him from afar once myself.
He was imposing enough to complain about meat first thing in the morning.
Anyway.
I decided not to pay too much attention to my new ability for now.
To see someone's ID, I had to shake their hand first, so there weren't many immediate uses.
But.
Once I built up a handshake big data set, it could become a pretty solid intel source.
People tend to spew things face-to-face they'd never say when anonymity is guaranteed.
For now, I'd put off pondering how to use the new ability.
The entrance exam came first.
"Then, Young Master. Please take care! This humble one will cheer for you with all my heart!"
"Got it. You've worked hard."
He sent off Jang Palli, his luggage shuttle, and finally crossed the threshold into Hundred Flowers Academy.
"There are so many people... Do you think I'll really pass?"
"With your skills, Sis, it's a done deal! Aja aja!"
"Where could Nangong Gaga be...?"
"Did you hear? Rumors say even Demonic Cult folks are here this term!"
"Eek...! The Demonic Cult is scary...!"
Only current students and exam hopefuls could enter the academy grounds, yet it was overflowing with people.
There were two lines.
'General Admission' and 'Prestigious Sect Track'.
His family, Ten Thousand Gold Treasury Fortress, might be loaded with cash, but in terms of martial prowess, they were dirt poor.
Both his eldest and second brothers had zero talent for martial arts.
In that light, he was the mutant.
No wonder half his training came from self-study via MooTube, and the other half from their transport company's lead escort.
Waiting in the general line, he sneaked a peek at the prestigious track.
No line at all—just show your face, clear your throat, and they'd fawn like, "My, how you've grown!"
The cool young master with AirPods jammed in for that ear-piercing vibe got VIP pass just by flashing ID.
It was peak nepotism, Chinese-style unfair admissions.
But true dragons rise from the shallows.
And that dragon would be him!
"May I see your ID and exam invite?"
"Here."
"Oh my. The Third Young Master of Ten Thousand Gold Treasury Fortress! Here, take this pass and head to Zone 5 over there."
His shallows were at least Grade 2 quality.
Anyone in Xi'an, heck, all of Shaanxi who didn't know Ten Thousand Gold Treasury Fortress was either a spy or Demonic Cult scum.
He was something of a celebrity.
The youngest son of a filthy rich conglomerate chair.
Perfect son-in-law material, right?
So when he crawled out of his sickbed, matchmakers everywhere threw parties trying to set him up, but he shot them all down cold.
He'd let slip "I want natural encounters" and got smacked for it.
But his parents couldn't break their near-death son's iron will.
A true hero needs three wives and four concubines!
...If possible, that is.
The entrance exam had three main stages.
First, internal energy measurement.
As mentioned before, only First-Rate realm or higher passed, so this filtered candidates by inner power upfront.
"Young Master Geum? Please place your hand here."
Looking at the tablet with its handprint outline, his head spun a bit.
In the original story, proctors checked pulses the old-fashioned way...
Well, this was a world with kiosks at inns.
As a modern guy, he'd be magnanimous.
He pressed his palm firmly to the screen as instructed.
And slowly drew up qi from his dantian.
There was that phrase about fortune from misfortune.
His dantian, tougher after surviving death, and his inner power, purer than ever, surged through his meridians to his palms in an instant.
Ssssh!
Not just his palms—the qi wrapping his whole body naturally fluttered his robe.
The measurement bar filled steadily.
Over two-thirds meant pass.
But he had no intention of holding back for some cosplay restraint act.
The reward for topping the exam?
One secret manual from Hundred Flowers Academy's library.
He didn't want to miss that shot—back when he became Supreme Under Heaven as a buzzcut monk, the Prajna Heart Mirror Scripture from a first-place reward had been a game-changer.
"Oh..."
The proctor's face lit up with surprise; he'd clearly underestimated the spiritual pressure.
But this wasn't the end!
The Life and Death Divine Doctor's handpicked elixir recipes.
Eternal Youth Jade Marrow Thick Protein Herb Soup Summon Pill Nine-Tail Fox Centipede Soup Boy Three-Year-Old Lingzhi...
Whatever—anything good for the body or dantian, he'd chugged it all. Eat my full power!
Kugugugu...!
Kwachik—!
"Ack!"
"Gasp..."
The tablet shattered.
Feeling cold sweat trickle down his back,
he gazed at the proctor with the most innocent puppy eyes possible.
"...We'll discuss internally and be right back."
No expulsion for property damage, right...?
As he waited, trembling,
the proctor returned with the broken tablet, looking troubled.
"This is the first time since we introduced the tablet system, so we'll handle it by the book."
"By the book meaning...?"
"We'll remeasure the traditional way. Finish the other tests and come back here."
Whew, no "you dig your own grave" ending.
"Understood."
With stares boring into him and murmurs growing louder,
he felt a twinge of awkwardness, but
obediently headed to the next venue as told.
The next test was a written exam, no less.
They claimed it evaluated knowledge of martial arts and common sense to select well-rounded talents—grand intentions.
But it weeded out so many that people retook it, fueling illegal cram schools in Xi'an this time of year with its brutal difficulty.
He wasn't worried, though.
Forgetting his familiarity with multiple-choice from his old life,
he'd reset countless times in the tutorial just to ace this exam— these problems were old hat.
Plus.
This body was Geum Sihyeon's.
With the cheat trait Divine Mountain Ghost Vessel—near-perfect memory.
A bit of hyperbole, but he could solve it blindfolded.
In the hushed exam hall,
treating the proctors' footsteps as white noise,
he breezily marked answers without a second thought.
Then stretched with a massive yawn.
Easy.
Finished in under twenty minutes, he lounged bored in his seat, scanning other test-takers.
How long did he zone out?
"Chit!"
"...?"
A chipmunk was
pottering around near his answer sheet.
Looked familiar...
Innocent-looking thing, but
what if it chewed his paper? He eyed it warily.
"Chit, chyu!"
It nodded like a person, twice,
bowed to him like a greeting,
then
scampered across the desk with agile grace.
He blankly tracked its path.
Dodging focused test-takers
and hawk-eyed proctors alike.
With a hop!
The chipmunk landed softly on the shoulder of the brunette woman diagonally ahead-left.
...That woman from earlier.
Her ID floating above her head confirmed it.
The chipmunk hopped onto her shoulder and whispered in her ear like it was talking.
Her hand moved fast in response.
Scribbling answers in sync with the chipmunk's squirms,
he watched, and
"Ratatouille...?"
couldn't help but flash to that movie scene from his past life.