Mystery: Survival from the Secret Doll

Chapter 289 288 Will he really not hit me?

After the lecture, Klein, lost in thought and questioning his existence, was taken to the history department office by Don along with Cohenley and Pedigru.

Since the University of Tingen is currently on summer break, most of the history professors have gone home, leaving the history department offices empty.

"Here are the past exam questions. It's always good to review these before the exam... As Emperor Roselle said, last-minute cramming may not be useful, but it will definitely give you mental comfort. Even if you don't pass the written exam, you can hypnotize yourself afterwards by saying 'I tried my best' to relax your mind."

This is the so-called "placebo" effect.

Klein stared blankly at the thick stack of papers that had been shoved into his hands.

Why did he seem so adept at filling out the exam papers?

"Shouldn't these things be kept secret from outsiders?" he wondered.

“No,” Tang replied casually, “After you apply, you can just ask the person in charge of this at the University of Tingen for it; it’s free.”

Pediglu also said, "The questions that come with the materials are also real questions, but they don't have the system and official information provided by the University of Tingen, so it's good to write them now."

That's it.

Klein looked at another person in the history department office. He had seen that person before in the auditorium. He was Mr. Azik's eldest son, Don's brother, Owen Eggers, who was said to have been swindled out of a large sum of money by the natives of the Southern Continent.

Irving: Actually, you don't need to remember that well.

Irving was holding a black marker, huddled in a corner, staring blankly at the words on the test paper in front of him that he couldn't understand individually or when strung together. He didn't write anything for a long time.

It has a sense of a living person who is almost dead.

Seeing this, Tang grabbed a red pen from the nearest desk and threw it, striking his own brother with deadly precision.

Irving was almost startled and jumped up. Looking at Tang, who was smiling at him, Irving nodded stiffly!
Take him away! Someone is trying to murder his own brother!
"Don't be lazy, get to work!"

"oh oh……"

Seeing that the "thing" in the corner had finally started to move and wasn't pretending to be dead, Tang turned his head to look at the three night watchmen.

Cohen hid behind Pedigru, looking at the red pen stuck in the wooden table not far away with a somewhat frightened expression.

Do those extraordinary diviners possess such ferocious arm strength?
When he looked at those past exam papers, sometimes he seemed to be in the same state as Tang's brother in the corner...

No, I won't get beaten up, will I? I really won't get beaten up, will I?

"Don't worry, I won't hit you."

Seemingly noticing the somewhat stunned gazes of Cohen and Klein, Tang smiled and twirled his wrist before looking at Pedigris. "I remember, Pedigris, you seem to have already passed Level 2, right?"

"Yes, passed."

Pedigris turned around and looked at the two trembling members behind him. After a long silence, he sighed helplessly, "Don't worry, even if you don't do these papers, he probably won't hit you."

He honestly defended Tang, saying, "Because it's illegal."

Cohenley: "...Thank you, Pedigru."

He was not comforted at all.

Looking at the test paper in the corner, then glancing at Irving, whose hand was only centimeters away from the red pen: ?

So, for him, this becomes a family conflict?!

Hey, who's going to speak up for him?!
Tang asked the group to sit down, then took a red pen from the table and pulled out a piece of paper.

"You should have heard the principal's lecture. The exam is not easy. Over the years, the pass rate for Level 2 and Level 3 has been around 40% and 60% respectively."

He scribbled on the paper, “This exam has a pass rate. Although the passing score for both the written test and the practical test is only 60 points, you must pass the minimum requirement for both the first and second rounds of the exam. It’s not just about your final overall score.”

In other words, if you fail the written test, you still won't pass the second round of testing, no matter how hard you try.

Tang glanced at Owen in the corner with a cool expression and snorted, "A waste of time and public resources..."

Cohen swallowed hard. He hadn't taken the test twice, and had even failed the written test once.

Will he really not hit me?

Shivering.jpg

"Then, based on the average score of the first round of exams, the difficulty of the second round of exams will be increased accordingly..."

“I think Pedigru and Cohen, who has taken the exam several times, have already explained this to you, Klein. Although the exam rooms are randomly selected, if you study the past exam questions carefully, you can indeed see many exam rooms that are repeated every year, although many details have been changed.”

Tang drew a circle on the second round of exams.

He looked at the complete newcomer Klein: "As a diviner, you should have sufficient knowledge of ritual magic, and this path is very inspiring, focusing on the 'mystical side'."

"So, in the second round of the exam, to get a high score, you must demonstrate similar abilities? For example, how to combine and apply ritual magic depending on the environment?"

Klein quickly applied what he learned to other situations.

“Yes.” Tang nodded. “Although a score of 60 is considered passing, the final overall score will still affect your ability to take the Level 2 and Level 1 exams.”

"For example, even if you pass Level 3, but don't reach Grade C, meaning your final comprehensive score is less than 70 points, you can't take the Level 2 exam even if you meet the registration requirements."

The scoring criteria are quite rigorous.

Klein stroked his chin and turned his attention to the stack of test papers on his desk.

The overall assessment score is a combination of the scores from the first and second rounds of exams, and both must be passed.

"Okay, I understand. I'll go back and check."

Cohen looked at the exam papers on the table and fell into deep despair.

Even if someone who never sleeps only has a few days left, they still wouldn't be able to finish writing, right?
“Just consider it practice beforehand. If you study hard, your written test scores usually won’t be too bad…” Pedigris comforted Cohen.

"Aren't there any questions for the second round of testing?"

"No." Tang rested his chin on his hand and leaned against the desk. "To be precise, even if there were, it wouldn't be useful. There are too many variables. Compared to the written test, which is limited by rules and regulations and has a fixed approach to problem-solving, the second round of exams tends to test candidates' ability to respond in real time. This is why the pass rate for the second round of exams has always been low."

"However, the content of the second round of exams does have one thing in common," Tang said, suddenly remembering something, and revealed a kind smile that made Cohen and Klein feel a little uneasy.

"The monsters in the second round of exams, hehe, all have a bit of a mental pollution feel to them. If you don't want to be dragged to St. Peter's psychiatric ward for treatment, you should try to avoid those monsters as much as possible."

This was a fairly well-intentioned reminder, after all, Tang himself sometimes felt uneasy when he saw the monsters he had stuffed into those places.

"Let's grab something to eat first? Hmm, even if it's last-minute cramming, we should eat first, right?"

“Um…” Owen said weakly from the corner.

"You don't have time to waste on eating anymore." Tang looked over, his face full of heartache. "Get back to writing! You don't have time to eat or sleep, understand, Owen!"

Owen: ...

Thank you, but he doesn't deserve it.

Klein, watching Tang Chuan's dramatic change of expression: Ah...

What did his brother do to him? Is this resentment stemming from failing the exam so many times?
“Seventeen times,” Pedigris added quietly from the side. “The self-study exam requires a registration fee of 50 gold pounds.”

What?! Fifty gold pounds?!
Klein stared at Pedigru with a look of utter disbelief, as if he'd just found out. Cohen also looked shocked, as if he'd only just learned about it himself.

Is the exam registration fee really that expensive?

Klein, who had inadvertently choked, realized what was happening and asked in a low voice, "Um, is it reimbursed...?"

Pedigris paused, looking at Klein with a strange expression: "...Well, the church will reimburse you."

Klein breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that it could be reimbursed.

Otherwise, he probably wouldn't have taken the exam. Although the subsidy after passing the exam is tempting, if he fails, his wallet will suffer.

Thinking of this, Klein and Cohen, like Don, looked at Owen in the corner with expressions of heartache and disappointment.

This is such a waste of money!

Irving, who supposedly got swindled out of a large sum of money in the Southern Continent and then came back to be scrutinized by this "spendthrift" look: ...?

Oh no, what kind of looks are you giving me? Explain yourself!
Tang: I'll give you a look, you can figure it out yourself.

It's embarrassing to bring shame upon someone else's home; what bad luck.

After everyone left and they went to eat, Irving breathed a sigh of relief.

He looked at the thing in his hand with a helpless expression, hesitating whether he should just throw it away and then travel back to the Southern Continent in the spirit world to escape the exam in August.

"Ugh, why do I have to make this kind of thing?"

Irving shook the test paper in his hand and covered his face in pain.

He desperately needs to be bombarded with knowledge right now, please, please, send a hidden sage!

At that moment, another person entered the office.

That was Nicolas Flamel, wearing a black silk top hat and a matching tailcoat.

"Nikolai? Weren't you discussing issues with those high-ranking church officials?"

The vast majority of candidates for the "Level 1" exam are saints and angels from various churches. These extraordinary beings who come to Tingen usually have other tasks besides the exam, since demigods of this level do not have material needs.

Nicholas had just gone to deal with these issues that happened to be in Tingen, concerning the various aspects of the church where the saints and angels reside.

Seeing Nicholas appear there at this time, Owen looked at him strangely, "What happened? Do people from other churches have a problem and want to see Tang?"

"It's over, nothing serious. Besides, it's more accurate to say that Tang sent me to find you rather than me coming to see Tang."

Nikola walked over gently, picked up the paper in front of Owen, glanced at it, and then put it down again.

He patted Irving on the shoulder, his expression softening. "Hmm, Mr. Irving, it seems you have a lot of room for growth."

Owen: ...?
He paused for a moment before realizing what Nikolai was saying.

This doesn't mean he has high potential for improvement! It's implying that he didn't get many questions right on his test!

This thing is anti-divination and anti-prophecy. It can deceive all possible cheating methods of candidates, including spiritual intuition and the luck of destiny, and leads to either correct or incorrect answers. It is impossible to use it as a standard for reference.

When you get your hands on something like this, you really can only read it word by word, like a primary school student doing a math problem...

Irving glanced at his test paper, frowned, and couldn't help but doubt himself, muttering to himself, "Is it really that bad?"

"Would you like a couple of 'Sleepless' potions to perk you up?" Nicholas suggested. "I think if you don't pass this time, Don will really go crazy."

Irving remained silent.

Silence is Cambridge tonight.

When it comes to forcing people to do things they don't want to do, Tang is a professional.

"How about we put me in a mental hospital?" he suggested. "I think the treatment there is pretty good."

Nicholas asked in an unusually "kind" tone, "What do you think? I think it's a good idea to have His Excellency the Archbishop of the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom personally treat you?"

“…Forget it.”

Owen sighed, then looked at Nicholas and asked, "Where is Tang's plan at?"

Nikola pulled his gaze away from those troublesome things, lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment, then looked at Owen. Instead of answering the other's question, he asked, "How is things on the Southern Continent?"

"As per that kid's request, the hedonists of the Rose School were expelled, the Spirit Cult was united, and the belief in the worship of death was revived."

Owen leaned back in his chair, seemingly nonchalant, but his expression turned serious as he spoke. "But it's still quite different from the real underworld, and the situation in the real underworld... isn't quite right."

"It sounds like things are progressing quite smoothly."

Nikolai straightened his silk hat. "We are trying to deal with those big troubles in the depths of the underworld, Mr. Owen. Try to digest the 'Pale Emperor' potion before September, then we will set off."

"Set off?"

Irving instinctively asked, "Where to?"

"Ancestor worship."

Nikolai's laughing voice gradually transformed into Tang's voice. Nikolai's face changed rapidly, with Time Worms and Spirit Worms overlapping and intertwining. In the end, these frantically writhing fleshy buds combined to form Tang's appearance.

He glanced at the "trash" on the table, his expression remaining calm.

"Let's go home, Dad's waiting for us."

I'll just take the test paper and ask my dad to give Irving a good beating.

(End of this chapter)