How Am I Still Alive?
Chapter 57 - 57 45 Ancient City World

57: Chapter 45: Ancient City World 57: Chapter 45: Ancient City World The process of queuing is always boring and a waste of time.

“Well, these churches and companies messing things up, aren’t they afraid of sinking the ship and everyone going down together?

I know their greed is endless, but at least the helmsman should know a bottom line, right?”

“Haha, who said we are all in the same boat?

And who said this is their first boat?”

“LOL, tell me more.”

“My Hidden World Courtyard.”

After that, there was no movement from the other end, and the call was disconnected.

It could be because it touched on her sad past or because she needed to spend more time reading up…

Lu Ping’an had already tied her exam results to her treatment, and implemented a performance appraisal system for the exams.

But that one sentence, Lu Ping’an not only understood it but also gasped in horror.

Reality was worse than what he had imagined.

The Independent Secret Realm, which Chris called the “Hidden World Courtyard,” was also known as the “Ark of Doomsday.”

When do you need an ark?

At the end of the world.

With the phrase “Who said that this is their first boat?” and the fact that Gao Da’s own world had already been destroyed, the implications made Lu Ping’an think a lot.

“Tsk, so when a nation is on the verge of collapse, warships pop up everywhere.

Are you guys ready to run at any moment?”

But the next moment, he didn’t care, as it was already his turn in line.

“…

If the sky falls, a child will hold it up, I don’t know how much longer I can hold on.

As long as it doesn’t hit my head, I’ll still live a happy life.

Let the bigshots worry about these big issues.”

“Your admission ticket.”

He smiled and took the admission ticket, staring back at a somewhat familiar face that stared at him from behind.

At the same time, he casually took out a black egg-shaped object and tossed it in his smiling hand.

The person opposite immediately ran for their life, causing complaints from the people around.

Upon confirming the look, it was the victim of the last registration incident.

Seeing him being pushed away, Lu Ping’an silently peeled off the marinated egg in his hand and stuffed it into his mouth.

“Ah, so delicious.”

He flipped open the admission ticket, with a subtle expression on his face.

He found it strange that they could only get the admission ticket right before the exam.

But after standing in such a long line, the process was so fast that they didn’t even check anything.

How could they match the admission ticket to the person’s identity?

“Number 27289, to enter the exam room, find a pine tree on campus and say to it, ‘Drinking and singing, I only wish to be happy till I grow old.'”

There were too many bad points, and he didn’t know where to begin.

“…

Suddenly I like this school a bit more, I hope it’s as interesting as my first impression.”

There were trees all over the Ancient City University campus, and Lu Ping’an didn’t need to look for the specific pine tree.

He just needed to find a tree under which people kept disappearing and recite the phrase.

The next moment, his vision blurred, and he found himself in another world.

There were bewildered ordinary examinees all around, and a new world opened up with just one sentence.

This magical scene left the students, who had been living in the ordinary world just a moment ago, in disbelief and shouting excitedly.

“…

Sacrifices?”

If it had been a week earlier, Lu Ping’an would probably have been as baffled.

But now, he could understand the “principle” behind this scene.

He had always known that Ancient City was in a Secret Realm, so if all the pine trees were entrances and exits…

Then, “this sentence” was the “toll” paid to the Secret Realm.

That’s the ingenious use of the “principle.” The seemingly complicated mysteries follow a set of internal rules; those are the “secrets” that the Secret Keepers always seek and guard.

But when he really looked at this Secret Realm, he was still shocked.

“So, this is what a world looks like…”

A moment ago, it was still daytime; now, there was a starry night sky.

In the distance, on the hills, there were faint castles, skyscrapers, and modern buildings.

Lu Ping’an even saw a Tokyo Tower and a Gundam with only the lower half of its body.

Over the boundless sea to the south, there were vaguely giant dragon beasts, and there was a huge shark head near the shore, staring at his side.

To the north, Lu Ping’an saw giant vines rising into the sky, and a magnificent city in the clouds, alongside the stars and the moon.

“It’s 8:30, get ready to enter the exam room.”

At the sound of an unknown voice, the next moment, the night turned into day.

Blue sky and white clouds, midnight turned into morning, and the fragrant morning breeze with birdsong returned.

Fairy tales transformed into reality, and the dreamy divine beasts turned into highly threatening snarling monsters.

What all the newcomers had to face was a cruel test.

But with the scene in front of them, even if they were eliminated later, they would still have deep yearning for Ancient City University and that world, right?

“…Looks like, not cheap.”

Unlike the excited and somewhat childish peers around him, as a newcomer Secret Realm operator, Lu Ping’an thought about the cost issue first.

“To reverse the preset rules of the Secret Realm, there is an extra cost required.

Revising the threshold for ‘sacrifice’ and adjusting the time within the Secret Realm, it must have been expensive, just to hold people’s attention…”

But in the next moment, he knew that the college had probably really bled for this moment.

With the dawn, countless table and chair sets appeared on the plains, hills, and sand lands, and sealed test papers could be vaguely seen on them.

“Please take a seat at your convenience and write your identification information and exam admission number on the paper.”

This move seemed quite rough, just randomly sit and take the exam.

Unexpectedly, when surrounded by countless nervous test-takers, it was still quite shocking.

Lu Ping’an casually found a table to sit down at, looking at the endless sea of test-takers, and even though he’d taken countless exams before, this time still felt quite fresh.

Most of the test-takers couldn’t hide the astonishment on their faces, obviously not having calmed down from the bizarre environment.

Not being in an indoor exam venue, with a blue sky and white cloud ceiling, being surrounded by tens of thousands of competitors, and countless peering eyes in the open and the dark, many people felt uneasy.

But if they couldn’t even handle this simple mental test, they naturally wouldn’t be able to become a professional Secret Keeper.

Lu Ping’an opened the test paper bag and looked up at the steam airship hovering in midair, with constantly flashing numbers on it.

[No.

10011, No.

21231…]

As Lu Ping’an wondered what they meant and whether they were telling them to quickly find their seats, the male voice rang out again.

“All the cheating test-takers with numbers called, please bring your cheat sheets and electronic devices to the Secret Realm exit.”

Lu Ping’an laughed, so it begins?

They haven’t even officially started and are already caught cheating, these test-takers are quite pathetic.

Eyes were cast from distant buildings and castles.

Old students and teachers, with various expressions, were fulfilling their invigilation duties.

To cheat under such scrutiny, one really needs some skill.

With no apparent invigilators, the atmosphere had an eerie deterrent, like “the punishment should be unknowable.”

It gave a great deal of psychological pressure to those with guilty consciences and even made those without guilt “guilty.”

“Big Cat, I’m counting on you…”

Lu Ping’an calmly opened the test paper and began to grapple with it…or rather, bargain with it.

“…Chris, you’re a damn Quasi-God.

It’s not cool to raise the price like this.

Fine, fine, let’s meet halfway and we’ll talk again after.

Wait, after that it won’t work?

Think about it, I’ve still got another round to test, right?

Fine, fine, just don’t go overboard…”

10 minutes later, Lu Ping’an looked at the test paper in front of him, already filled with answers, and was slightly dazed.

He had underestimated the horror of the high-level Scholar path.

Even though Chris had no interest in this area and hadn’t put in much effort, her accumulation at this level was still something most Scholar Path followers could never achieve in their lifetime.

Big Cat directly gave the answers, and Lu Ping’an just had to write, without any hesitation throughout the process.

With Lu Ping’an’s level, he merely gained some knowledge while pretending to look at the paper… Was this a downgrade version of the Dragon Ground Enlightenment in the test area?

At this point, someone had already handed in their paper.

And the reason why they were considered unlucky was because the Special College Entrance Examination did not prohibit handing in papers early; thus, there would inevitably be “dropouts.”

But in such a special environment, handing in papers early was like a public execution, with tens of thousands of people watching.

[No.

23212 finished the test, full score 150 points for the mathematics test, completed in 13 minutes and 27 seconds, scoring 18 points.

The teacher’s evaluation: Complete nonsense, all 18 points were obtained from multiple-choice questions, go back and start reading from elementary school.]

Less than two minutes after handing in the paper, the scores came out and were directly displayed on the big screen of the floating airship.

The first test-taker to hand in his paper was stunned as countless eyes swept over him, and his face flushed red.

Clutching his stationery, he hurried away quickly with his head down.

It seemed he wouldn’t come back again.

Instantly, the other test-takers who were thinking about handing in their papers or giving up paused.

Some decided to go through their paper again, and some decided to wait until the test time ran out.

“Huh.”

Lu Ping’an yawned, left his test paper and walked away.

As soon as he stood up and left, the paper disappeared.

But before he even reached the Secret Realm exit, his results were already displayed in the sky.

[No.

27289 exam completed, mathematics full score of 150 points, completed in 14 minutes and 10 seconds, scoring 150 points.

Invigilating teacher’s comment: Scoring 150 points because the full score is only 150.

Ignoring high-level questions, are you a high-level Scholar Path practitioner who’s too arrogant to even demonstrate or just a cheater?

Pick one.]

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