Chapter 251: Credits and “Plan Successful”
“First?”
The girl sitting in the wheelchair raised her brows slightly, looking somewhat surprised.
It was true that she hadn’t concealed her talent—but taking first place outright wasn’t something she had fully expected either!
Still, Xu Zhi had always felt that there were always greater heavens beyond and stronger people beyond others. Before understanding this world’s extraordinary beings more thoroughly, she’d rather not be too arrogant.
Now it seemed… perhaps she had been a little too modest!
With a beep, the lights in the room turned on and the door opened. When the guide walked in, her expression was noticeably more enthusiastic than before.
“Congratulations. You achieved an excellent result. Would you like to rest for a while, or proceed to the next test?”
Xu Zhi didn’t feel tired and saw no need to rest. “Let’s proceed with the next test.”
She was quite curious about what kinds of assessments the Light Institute conducted—and what kind of final result she would obtain.
“Then I’ll take you to the next testing site.”
This time, Xu Zhi didn’t even need to control her wheelchair. The guide proactively pushed her toward the next destination.
Xu Zhi was slightly surprised, but quickly understood.
Unlike the Federation world, where people often cared about “saving face,” and only a few could truly cast aside pride and self-respect, people in this world seemed far more accustomed to “reading the situation.” The guide’s behavior would appear entirely normal to others. Only Xu Zhi found herself mildly impressed by how quickly the woman had “changed her face.”
It was in moments like these that Xu Zhi deeply realized she had indeed arrived in a world that seemed very similar on the surface—but operated under entirely different logic.
Ke Yi had fallen a few steps behind. Her previously nonstop chatter had quieted. The way she looked at Xu Zhi now carried a mix of surprise and subtle scrutiny. She operated something on her wristband, seemingly sending a message to someone, before silently following them to the next test site.
Xu Zhi herself didn’t feel much about obtaining first place in affinity.
Or rather, she didn’t yet understand the significance of it.
Was this “first place” really that impressive?
It didn’t feel that way.
Her lack of common knowledge about this new world left her without a proper sense of how extraordinary her talent truly was.
What she didn’t know was that her first-place result had already stirred considerable waves.
Academic Affairs Office.
“…”
“First place at Level Four — Proficient. Even across the entire Light Institute, that’s unprecedented, isn’t it?”
“…Not just in our branch. I can say with certainty that no other city branch has ever recorded affinity at this level either.”
“Unless they’ve deliberately hidden such a genius.”
“…Hidden? That’s not so easy!”
Everyone knew that although extraordinary affinity was innate, it also increased alongside one’s extraordinary rank.
Innate affinity, in a sense, determined an extraordinary’s “upper limit.” Even with continued growth, it would be difficult to surpass someone whose natural affinity had already been higher—because that person’s growth would only be faster.
Most of the time, senior students naturally had higher overall affinity than freshmen due to rank advantages.
Level Four — Proficient was considered quite good among “new students,” but compared to upper-year students, it was nothing remarkable.
Yet to rank first across the entire academy at Level Four?
That was monster-level affinity.
A genius of that caliber could not be easily hidden. And more importantly—why hide them?
Only minor factions would choose to bide their time in obscurity. The Light Institute was no small faction.
“Are we really certain she came from the lower districts?” someone couldn’t help but ask.
“…Her identity remains a mystery.”
“Regardless of her identity, talent at this level should never have been allowed to wander free. According to the records, her previous situation truly was life-or-death. One slight accident and she would have died. The cost of staging such a performance would be too high. Unless someone has literal garbage in their brain, who would let a Lamp-attribute genius from their own faction fall into that state?”
That statement earned near-unanimous agreement.
What kind of fool would throw away a genius of that level?
“Then where did she escape from?”
That question received some recognition. After all, Xu Zhi’s situation did look like she had been fleeing for her life.
“We don’t know. But if that’s the case, where she escaped from isn’t important. What matters is that she is now a student of the Light Institute. As long as she sincerely joins us, we can provide protection.”
“It’s just a pity she remembers nothing.”
That remark was immediately countered.
“No. If she remembers nothing, isn’t that even better?”
“The short time she spent in the lower districts wouldn’t leave much impression. Everything about her begins with the Light Institute. What could be better than that?”
“…That’s true!”
“Let’s first observe her remaining test results. With affinity talent at such a level, as long as her other talents aren’t inferior, she is worthy of our full attention!”
Xu Zhi was unaware that, for the senior leadership of this city’s Light Institute, the plans concerning her had already changed.
But from Xu Zhi’s perspective, using her talent to alter how the Light Institute treated her had been part of her plan all along.
For the Light Institute, it was a change of plans.
For Xu Zhi—
“Plan successful.”
“We’re here,” the guide said, pushing her to a new location.
“This is the site for the third test.”
“Third?” Xu Zhi turned back in confusion. “Didn’t we skip the second?”
“The second test evaluates physical capability. You don’t need to take that one.”
Looking down on wheelchair users?
“However, once your body recovers, you may return to complete it. If you rank in the top ten for that test, there are rewards.”
Xu Zhi recalled the earlier mention of one hundred credits per month and asked casually, “Are credits difficult to obtain?”
“Difficult.”
The guide answered firmly. Seeing that Xu Zhi seemed unfamiliar with everything—and recalling her outstanding result earlier—the guide added helpfully:
“Or rather, extremely difficult. Under normal circumstances, even if you never miss class and pass all coursework in a semester, the base credits you earn amount to only three hundred. Small academy activities usually reward around ten credits. Even academy missions rarely exceed fifty.”
“Skipping class or performing poorly can result in credit deductions. If your credits become negative, you will be expelled.”
“Only competitive events or tournaments offer large amounts of credits. But competitions are frequent. As long as you are outstanding enough, you won’t lack credits.”
That sounded almost like a hint directed at Xu Zhi.
“If credits are so important, do they have additional uses?”
“Of course.” The guide nodded.
“Here, credits are currency—more useful than money.”
So that meant she could use surplus credits to purchase resources?
