My setting is above yours!

Chapter 26 High-End Game
Ron frowned, a storm raging in his heart.

Mystic influence... Why would it be mystic influence?!
While magic does exist in the Ideal City, it's a superpower called "magic" that's based on individual reality.

Such an ability will absolutely prevent Ron from suffering the inevitable version wear and tear from the environment when he loads the [Superpower] ability, just like when he enters the "Potion Era"!

Could it be that... the world simulated by this municipal government itself simulates the mystical influences of the "Potion Age"?

why?
Even if it's a simulation, there should be a root cause!

Could it be that……

Ron instinctively shifted his gaze to the distance, landing on the deep red sky—

A gigantic, deep black void, spewing out translucent mist, is opening up there.

Its edges burned like flowing fire, the flames flowing and converging, dripping down its circular base...

Then, it landed on that boundless horizon, a tapestry of ruins—

A wall of blazing flames, now silent, is ignited.

As Ron's gaze turned toward the giant void on the horizon, the translucent mist that was billowing out suddenly began to fluctuate.

It's like an airwave that's distorted by the intense heat of extreme weather...

Amidst this translucent mist, Ron vaguely saw something strange—

Twisted, staggering zombies;

A knight with wings on his back, wearing alien armor;
A withered, thin mage wearing a pointed wizard's hat...

These complex scenes flashed by so quickly that Ron couldn't even be sure if they had actually appeared in his field of vision.

Is it real, or an illusion?
He didn't know, he only knew that in that daze, he heard the notification sound of the dimensional update manual again—

[The "Occupation: Superpowered Individual" is being eroded by trace amounts of "mystical influence."]

[Performance impairment: 3%]

Sure enough, those "mystical influences" came from that great void in the sky!
Ron immediately looked away, a thousand thoughts racing through his mind.

No wonder the madman director of the underground laboratory was able to obtain the finger bones of the corpse from the hollow; it turns out that there really is a certain degree of "mystery" within them.

But... is this really a monster that exists in the "Potion Age"?
"The Hollow"... When Ron first saw the madman's notes, he thought that monsters from the "Potion Age" would really flow out of the Hollow.

However, after actually seeing the images of these monsters in the void, Ron began to doubt whether his previous understanding was correct.

Because these monsters were clearly illusory, just like the finger bone he found in his notebook, they exuded a sense of unreality as if they shouldn't exist.

In the "Potion Age," everything truly existed... at least Ron didn't think a corpse would exhibit such an appearance, seemingly existing in the gap between existence and non-existence.

Perhaps this could be called version exclusion, which made them look the way they did, but...

Ron switched to [Embers of the Age of Gods], activated his magical vision, and glanced once more at the massive, burning void on the horizon—

The hallucinatory monster images did not decrease; in fact, more strange creatures with distorted shapes and uniquely ugly appearances appeared.

Yet these monsters, with their varied forms, share a common trait—

In the Magic Vision, all is dim and lifeless.

They possess no "magic" whatsoever!
They should never be things from the "Potion Age".

If it were simply that technology for simulating reality couldn't replicate "magic," that would be one thing, but this simulated reality clearly did indeed mimic a certain degree of mystical influence...

So, is this "mystical influence" from the magic of the "Potion Age," or something else in the void that Ron doesn't know about?

Moreover, this ability test was arranged in such a place, not only focusing on combat as a scoring aspect, but also simulating the void that can affect superpowers...

Could it be that they want to select superpowered individuals who can maintain their fighting ability in an environment that wears down their superpowers?
For what?
Could it be that they are training specialists who can go to the outer city to enter the real historical void, not just a data simulation, and fight in that harsh environment?

Ron frowned and pondered for a long time, but he still couldn't figure it out.

He switched back to [Superpowered] mode, took a step forward, and was about to explore the ruins when he suddenly found that the air in front of him had solidified, as if it had turned into a wall of steel...

A voice came from behind:

"Attention test takers: Do not step directly into the 'Hollow Battlefield' from the preparation hall."

Because the mystical influences he witnessed in Ideal City were so overwhelming, Ron didn't pay much attention to his surroundings.

He looked in the direction from which the sound came and saw a relatively tidy hall hidden in the ruins behind him.

There were a few candidates with their admission tickets hanging on their bodies standing scattered inside, as well as a proctor in a uniform. He was the one who had just given the reminder.

I always said, how could the college entrance exam just randomly put people into a simulated scenario without even explaining the exam rules?

Ron walked into the hall, and the proctor immediately explained the rules of the aptitude test to him.

"In this test, candidates will need to engage in combat in a simulated scenario—the 'Hollow Battlefield' where superpowers will be depleted."

"Each test will send out one hundred candidates. If you kill a candidate, you will receive points based on that candidate's ranking and score level."

The test deployment will divide the matching pool according to the points ranking; the higher the points, the higher the ranking. After three days, the test matching will be closed, and the ranking will be based on the points used in the actual college entrance examination.

"The exam matching is open at all times during the college entrance examination period, and there is no limit to the number of times a candidate can be matched."

All "empty battlefields" will be broadcast live in their entirety, allowing public oversight and monitoring of any potential cheating activities within the examination room.

One hundred test takers will be deployed. Points will be awarded for defeating the test takers.

Even if it's meant to simulate reality, this is still far too gory.

But upon closer reflection, this aligns with the expectations of ideal city governments regarding this college entrance examination reform.

Selecting combat talents... So, in the all-out, life-or-death battlefield matched with all high school students—

In the end, the one who kills all the competitors is, of course, the strongest high school student of our time!

However, this kind of process, which only considers pure combat strength, is far too fair...

It was so fair that it made Ron have a slight doubt in his heart—

Where did this come from for me?

Is this still our ideal city?
He was puzzled, but then he heard the proctor say again:

"Ten minutes after the test deployment begins, an 'evacuation point' will be activated at the edge of the test scenario."

You must submit the admission tickets of ten candidates before you can transmit data at the [Evacuation Point] and return to the preparation hall... Here, this is your admission ticket in the simulation.

Admission ticket?

Ron took the ID card from the proctor, glanced at the few candidates still lingering in the preparation hall, and understood.

No wonder they all wore their exam admission tickets around their necks; it turns out it's because of the rules...

He followed suit, hanging his exam admission ticket around his neck, when suddenly he heard a wailing sound from the side—"Family members, give us your little hearts! If you have tickets, give us your tickets! If you have money, give us a reward! Once the streamer buys this revival coin, we'll definitely win easily next round!"

Ron turned his head and saw that one of the examinees was live streaming, with a series of comments popping up on the simulated screen in front of him.

Upon closer inspection, one can vaguely discern a string of curses:

"Wild dogs, wild dogs, wild dogs, wild dogs..."

"You want a tip? What good is a tip if you're a newbie? You'll just get kicked to death like a stray cat on the street..."

"Please click to support the streamer! Please click to support the streamer! Please click to support the streamer!"

The examinee looked at the live stream screen with great anxiety:
"What do you mean by 'newbie'? I'm not a newbie, bro, it's just that that big guy is too strong!"
And if you guys don't tip me, where am I supposed to get resurrection coins?
If all else fails, guys, could you click on some ads for me, or help me boost ad views?

Before he could finish speaking, his body disintegrated into a string of data bubbles and he was kicked out of the simulated reality.

Ron stared in astonishment at the dissipating data bubbles, then turned to the proctor and pointed to the bubbles:

"Teacher... what's going on?"

"Oh, it's simple. He didn't manage to evacuate and died in the 'Hollow Battlefield'."

The proctor explained:
“Every candidate who dies in the ‘Hollow Battlefield’ will be teleported back to the preparation hall, with only ten minutes to stay there.”

During your stay, you can either spend money to purchase a "Resurrection Permission" issued by the Moen City College Entrance Examination Association and choose to enter the 'Hollow Battlefield' again...

Either you end up like him, slinking away from the mock exam and returning to reality.

But what's the problem with going back to reality? He can just turn on the simulation device again, right?

The moment this question arose in Ron's mind, the voice he had just heard flashed through his mind—

Wait, didn't that person just say "advertisement"?

The bald proctor also said that it would be a while before we could join the simulated reality after we left...

Thinking of the test takers who couldn't beat the ad-skipping bots or didn't have the permission to skip ads, Ron immediately imagined what would happen to the test takers after they left the simulation.

Could it be that……

"After returning to reality... do they need to achieve some goal before they can come back to simulate reality?"

The proctor shrugged.

"Regardless of your reason for leaving the simulated reality, the proctors outside will collect your exam materials after you leave."

Furthermore, the Moen City College Entrance Examination Testing Association will give you a "Resurrection Permission" task—in short, watching ads.

You are not eligible to re-enter the simulated reality to continue participating in the ability test until you have completed the assigned task.

Watch ads to get revival coins? That's interesting.

Ron didn't know what to complain about for a moment, but he felt a little relieved.

He said it couldn't be that fair, and sure enough, there were these little tricks waiting for ordinary candidates like Ron who had no money.

This is the ideal city he knows...

The air was thick with the stench of greed and money.

However... even so, this kind of exam is far fairer than academic subject exams.

After all, in the simulated reality, the use of any power-enhancing items is not allowed. If you can't win, you can't win, and having more resurrection coins won't help.

The richest people, at most, have more room for error.

When they truly faced the talent that Ideal City needed—talented individuals with formidable combat capabilities…

These wealthy people who buy resurrection coins with credits pose no threat whatsoever to these truly powerful individuals.

Moreover... the exam matching is open all time during the college entrance examination period, with no limit on the number of times candidates can match?

No wonder the proctor in the exam room said that if you want to get a higher score, you must not die during the exam.

This kind of exam format is clearly winner-takes-all...

The more a candidate can crush others with unparalleled force in battle, the faster they can accumulate points and win everything!
But... isn't this exactly what Ron excels at?

He had no doubt that his [Vector Manipulation] could easily kill the vast majority of test takers with a single blow!
Filled with strong self-confidence, Ron strode forward, following the proctor's directions, and walked to a collapsed section of wall at the edge of the hall—

There, a card reader is flashing.

"Just swipe your exam admission ticket on the screen to join the match. I bet you're pretty good. Best of luck!"

Upon hearing the praise, Ron gave the proctor a thumbs-up and swiped his exam admission ticket without saying anything...

As if plunged into the deep sea, Ron's vision suddenly went completely dark.

The next moment, he regained his sight once more...

Opening my eyes, I saw a huge void covering the sky, with blazing fire forming a wall of flames that carved out a circle that could hold at most a small city.

Ron opened his eyes atop a ruined high-rise in the center of the circle. He looked around and could easily spot many fleeting figures in the urban ruins.

These figures quickly hid in the ruins, clearly trying to avoid being discovered and deciding to hide for a while.

Are these all test takers? That circle enveloped by the wall of flames must be the battlefield for this test?
It doesn't seem like a very big deal. It seems the city government wants to get the students to stop wasting time on the exam and just get to the bottom of things quickly...

It feels like it's about to turn into a meat grinder.

Ron sighed, deciding not to make a move immediately.

He was just about to hide in the shadows like the other test takers and then make his move when he heard a faint "beep beep" sound coming from the air.

An electrical hum?
Ron's expression turned serious, and he instinctively dodged away.

The sound of something cutting through the air brushed past him, and a steel bar, clearly just broken from the rubble, crackled with electricity and flew like an arrow, embedding itself firmly in the concrete wall not far from Ron.

Someone's watching me...

However, it seems like even if I don't dodge, these steel bars just barely miss me?

Ron turned his head in confusion, only to see a girl in sportswear smiling at him from a tall building not far away.

Above her head was a semi-transparent bar of points data—

[An Hui, 1200000 points, ranked 1314th.]

It turns out it was Huihui's turn in line.

Ron looked with great interest at the score, which contrasted sharply with his own data—

So, they actually put me in one of the top 2,000 high-end games in Ideal City?

(End of this chapter)