Chapter 13 : Chapter 13
Chapter 13: Teacher, I Want to Improve So Badly!
Ye Ze made his way to another old teaching building.
His homeroom teacher, Liu Boyan, had a remote little office there, with a plaque hanging outside that read 【Abyss Biological Investigation Division】.
Its duties were exactly what the name suggested.
It was responsible for conducting in-depth investigations into all Fiend creatures within the Abyss, including their habits, skills, abilities, and more...
Ye Ze pushed the door open and saw that Liu Boyan was still flipping through reports.
When he saw Ye Ze come in, he could not help teasing him.
"Finished your Novice Dungeon that quickly? Don't tell me you failed to clear it."
Hearing that, Ye Ze felt a little helpless.
Ever since retiring from the military, his teacher had spent most of his time handling investigative work for the military and rarely paid attention to anything else at the academy.
That was precisely why he had remained only a homeroom teacher and never risen any higher.
So Ye Ze changed the subject. "Teacher, a student at our academy just got the first clear of a Hell-difficulty dungeon!"
"Our academy has a talent like that?"
Liu Boyan immediately set down the work in his hands, his interest piqued at once.
"Hell difficulty isn't something that can be cleared so easily. Not only do you need strength, but tactical thinking and the ability to adapt on the spot are both indispensable..."
As he was speaking, he noticed the odd look on Ye Ze's face, as though he were trying very hard not to laugh.
"Could it be... you know this person?"
"You know him too!"
Ye Ze could not help saying, "He's a student with both virtue and talent, graceful and elegant, handsome and dashing, charming and refined, exceptionally powerful, both brave and resourceful, peerlessly gifted, striking in appearance, and in every way a dragon among men!"
Liu Boyan: "..."
He stared blankly at Ye Ze and did not react for several seconds.
Then, an utterly unbelievable guess surfaced in his mind.
He knew Ye Ze too well.
There was no way his student would praise anyone other than himself like that!
But he still could not believe it.
"Wait a moment. I don't think I know a student like that..."
"Oh, come on, Teacher, it really is me!"
Ye Ze stopped dragging it out. "Check your phone. The major media outlets should all be reporting it by now."
At those words, Liu Boyan immediately took out his phone, and sure enough, he saw Ye Ze all over the major media reports.
Some of them had even mentioned his mentor, Liu Boyan, by name.
"How did you manage it..."
Now that the truth had been confirmed, Liu Boyan's eyes held a trace of shock, admiration, and relief, but more than anything, they were filled with happiness for Ye Ze.
Just as Ye Ze was about to say something, Liu Boyan raised a hand to stop him.
"You may have had some kind of fortuitous encounter. For you to clear Hell difficulty, whatever you obtained must be of extraordinary value."
"Do not tell me about it."
"And do not tell anyone else, either!"
Ye Ze smiled calmly, and a warm current flowed through his heart.
"I understand, Teacher."
Liu Boyan let out a long breath. Even now, he still could not quite calm himself after hearing the news of Ye Ze's first clear.
But Ye Ze's very next sentence sent his blood pressure soaring.
"Oh, right, Teacher. I want to go to the 'Contaminated Land' outside the city and serve as a Temporary Scout for the Demon Suppression Army!"
"Please sign an approval slip for me."
The instant the words left his mouth, Liu Boyan exploded.
"Are you out of your mind? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
The Contaminated Land outside Linyuan City, to be exact, was also called the "Abyss Frontier."
That place was not a dungeon.
It was a region formed where the Abyss plane continuously polluted Blue Star's land with demonic energy.
There were no dungeon monsters there. One had to face those terrifying, unknown true Fiends head-on!
One wrong move, and people died!
But Ye Ze's reason for wanting to go was also very simple: The greater the danger, the greater the reward!
Killing a single Abyss Fiend granted three to more than ten times the experience of killing a dungeon monster!
Moreover, the Contaminated Land fell under military control. If a scout performed outstandingly on a scouting mission, there were even rewards from the Demon Suppression Army!
And beyond that, there were far more treasures in the Contaminated Land than in dungeons.
After all, dungeon treasures had to be generated through the energy of Crystal Stones, but the Contaminated Land was different...
Now, he had the squirrel's "Treasure Sniffer" ability.
According to the rules, any treasures obtained by scouts during land-clearing exploration could be kept for themselves!
Just thinking about it made him excited!
Compared with other students, who painstakingly saved up Crystal Stones while waiting for the chance to open dungeons, he preferred this kind of thrill, where danger and reward existed side by side!
But Liu Boyan rejected him outright.
"Impossible. Don't even think about it!"
"Scouts are the army's forward reconnaissance soldiers. They have to face real Fiends!"
"Even if most of the Fiends in the Contaminated Land are the lowest grade, they still aren't something a level-two or level-three Class User like you can handle!"
"Teacher, I'm level 4 already. I'm almost level 5..." Ye Ze argued.
"..."
Hell-difficulty dungeons really did give that much experience... Liu Boyan looked at Ye Ze in surprise, but immediately changed his tone again.
"Level 4 or level 5 still won't do! Scouts have to be at least level 10!"
"I know you're anxious to level up, but don't rush it."
Liu Boyan tried to persuade him earnestly. "I'll give you Crystal Stones. Go run the Novice Dungeon another two times."
"And the day after tomorrow, the state will sponsor one more free entry opportunity into a super-large dungeon!"
"When that happens, the entire grade will go in together, and the experience won't be small either."
"If you do it that way, then by the time of the Class User college entrance exam, you should more or less be able to reach the standard for level 10 and First Advancement!"
Ye Ze sighed. He did not want to keep accepting his teacher's financial support.
And he wanted even less to barely reach level 10 only right before the college entrance exam.
One had to know that among the top fifty in last year's Class User college entrance exam, every one of them had been at least level 12!
So he could only continue persuading him.
"Teacher, think back to your time. Before there even was such a thing as the Novice Dungeon, how did Class Users level up?"
The moment he said that, Liu Boyan fell silent.
The Novice Dungeon had only been successfully constructed several years after the era of universal class awakening began, by several High-Level Class Users using materials seized from the Abyss.
And before that...?
It was as though Liu Boyan had fallen into memory.
"Yes... Back then, there were no dungeons..."
"Level 1 Class Users had to go to the Contaminated Land and risk their lives."
"There was no choice. If they didn't, they couldn't level up, couldn't get equipment, and couldn't stop the Fiends from invading China's territory."
It was precisely because of that that China had exchanged a survival rate of less than five percent among Class Users in those days for the secure defensive lines, dungeons, and other such structures of today.
Its level of safety could even be called the best in the world.
"I understand what you're trying to say."
Liu Boyan let out a sigh.
If it had been possible back then, why was it impossible now?
Seeing that his teacher was beginning to waver, Ye Ze pressed again.
"Teacher, you have to understand me on this."
"I'm not wealthy enough to keep opening dungeons again and again. If I want real results on the college entrance exam, I have to use an unconventional method!"
Liu Boyan lifted his head and looked at him as though his teeth hurt, but he still shook his head.
"To register as a Scout, you have to be at least level 10..."
"I know, Teacher, but you're the Director of the 【Abyss Biological Investigation Division】!"
Ye Ze immediately said, "As long as you specially appoint me as an Investigation Specialist, I can join a Scout team directly!"
Liu Boyan was instantly stunned. "How do you even know that?!"
"Teacher, I want to improve so badly!"
After Ye Ze said that, Liu Boyan once again fell into a long silence.
Ten minutes later, Ye Ze received identification proving his status as an "Investigation Specialist."
"Tomorrow morning at ten, go to the south gate of Linyuan City. That's where the temporary scout teams assemble."
"Remember, south gate, not north gate!" Liu Boyan instructed.
"Got it, Teacher!" Ye Ze left in high spirits. "When I come back, I'll bring you a gift!"
"Just don't mention that you're my student when you cause trouble."
"..."
...
Ye Ze even started humming a tune.
As long as he could successfully enter the Contaminated Land and farm monsters there, his experience points would soar for sure!
That would strengthen his competitiveness for the college entrance exam.
And when the time came, perhaps he might even be able to use "Treasure Sniffer" to bring back a few rare treasures...
Suddenly, his little tune came to an abrupt halt.
A man with brown hair, a scar on his face, and slightly disheveled clothes had appeared in front of him.
The City Lord of Linyuan City, Wan Feipeng!
Of course Ye Ze recognized him, and he had completely expected this.
He had brought a burst of fame to Linyuan City, so as City Lord, Wan Feipeng was bound to come see him.
But why had he...
arrived so late?