Chapter 18: Choosing a Player Path

11:30 PM.

Twenty-three graduates had been teleported back to the classroom.

Not a single person left their seat.

Seeing this, the bald teacher spoke up to remind them:

"Alright, go back to your dorms and get some rest. You've just survived a life-or-death crisis; you are physically and mentally exhausted, and you need a good sleep. I will keep watch here. Go rest, and gather here again tomorrow at 3:00 PM. If anyone needs psychological counseling, go to the infirmary yourself."

A student raised their hand and asked, "Teacher, what about the others..."

"Don't worry about things that aren't your concern!"

The bald teacher’s tone was stern:

"You all entered the instance at 2:30 PM today. According to the patterns summarized by the Federation, novice players generally return within 24 hours. There are still 15 hours left before the results are in, so why are you worrying? Everyone, go back to your dorms and sleep!"

The bald teacher, named Wang Shuqian, was the most intimidating-looking teacher at the Fourth Academy. He was also the strongest, a veteran D-rank player. Word had it that he was close to promoting to C-rank...

His words were like military orders to the students of the Fourth Academy; even the students from powerful and wealthy families would not dare to talk back or defy him. Thus, the students in the classroom, including Cao Yu, followed orders and stood up to leave.

Before leaving, Cao Yu returned the "Wind-Blowing Gun" to the teacher.

...

In the hallway, Cao Yu and Chen Ran walked side by side.

Zhou Fan caught up at some point and said to Cao Yu:

"Old Cao... no, Brother Cao! I won’t say much about my gratitude. Tomorrow night, at the Songhe Restaurant, it’s on me. I hope you’ll grace us with your presence, Brother Cao."

He then looked at Chen Ran:

"That goes for you too, Miss Chen. Please do me the honor."

"Don't call me 'Miss,' it makes our relationship as classmates feel distant," Chen Ran replied. "Besides, my family isn't some great dynasty; don't flatter me to death."

"The title 'Miss' really doesn't suit her," Cao Yu teased Zhou Fan. "You should call her 'Your Majesty the Queen'."

"..."

Chen Ran clenched her small fist, her face flushing red.

*I'm changing my player nickname as soon as I get back to the dorm!*

She glared at Cao Yu and said, "You scoundrel! What right do you have to mock me?"

Her "Your Majesty the Queen" was just for her own amusement, but Cao Yu's "Cao the Scoundrel" was completely baffling. How could he have the nerve to tease her nickname?

Cao Yu smiled and asked Zhou Fan, "What time tomorrow night?"

"Eight o'clock, maybe," Zhou Fan replied. "Tomorrow afternoon's graduate summary meeting involves not only checking cultivation aptitude but also reporting instance information and filling out employment preference forms for the Federation’s Special Affairs Bureau. I don't know when it will end, so a bit later is safer."

"Speaking of employment preference forms, which city in the Federation do you want to work in?" Chen Ran asked.

"I, of course, want to stay here in the metropolis of Sishan City," Zhou Fan sighed softly. "But whether I can stay depends on if there are any slots left."

Which city's branch of the Special Affairs Bureau one gets assigned to isn't something graduates can decide for themselves. The so-called employment preference forms are really just for the students from powerful families; the Bureau fully respects their wishes.

As for commoner students, they are just going through the motions to keep up appearances. Once the elites have taken the good spots, if there are any vacancies left, they are allocated to the commoner students based on merit. The rest must simply obey the Bureau's assignments, even if they are sent to regions where monster crises occur frequently—they have no choice but to bite the bullet.

"Don't sigh," Chen Ran reminded him. "You’ve awakened a superpower; there shouldn't be any problem with you staying in Sishan City."

"I know," Zhou Fan said. "It's just that actually experiencing such unfairness is disheartening."

"You stay in Sishan City, others go elsewhere—it's all for the sake of serving the Federation," Cao Yu patted Zhou Fan on the shoulder. "Don't say things that are detrimental to unity."

...

11:45 PM.

Cao Yu returned to his dormitory.

The Fourth Academy was located on the outskirts of Sishan City. It occupied a large area but had few students, so every student had their own private room.

Cao Yu opened the window, then walked to his desk, picked up the last will and testament he had left there, lit it with a lighter, and burned it to ash.

He had written it last night, back when he wasn't one hundred percent sure he would survive the instance. Writing a will before becoming a player was a tradition among the students of the Fourth Academy.

Now that he had experienced an instance and gained practical experience—no longer just talking on paper—he had "disenchanted" his view of players and instances. Even without the system, he was confident he could make a name for himself in the Evolution Game.

Therefore, the will he wrote last night had become his dark history. It had to be destroyed!

Once he dealt with his dark history, he took out his phone to check it. Before entering the instance, he had left his phone in his desk at the classroom. After teleporting back, he had been too busy counting rewards and checking gear to look at his messages.

When the screen lit up, a notification appeared: a stranger had requested to add him as a friend.

Cao Yu clicked "Accept."

Soon, a message arrived:

"It's Annie."

*Is she hinting that I shouldn't use her real name in online chats?* Cao Yu recalled An Li's performance in the instance and wasn't surprised.

He typed: "You weren't hurt when you left the instance, were you?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine," Annie replied.

*Actually, I’m not worried. What I mean is, if you aren't hurt, hurry up and send my money...* Cao Yu was still thinking about that 10,000 evolution point deposit.

However, he had enough social awareness not to send that. Just as he was wondering how to bring it up tactfully, An Li brought it up herself:

"The money you want... I need a week or two to prepare it. I'll come find you when it's ready."

"Is that money so much that it takes time to prepare?"

After Cao Yu sent this, he realized there was no reply. It was as if he had left her speechless.

A full half-minute later, An Li's message arrived:

"In an E-rank instance, a player can receive a maximum of 1,500 points with an 'A+' rating. To gather 10,000 points, one would need to complete seven E-rank instances and get an 'A+' rating in every single one."

Cao Yu knew she was reminding him just how precious 10,000 evolution points were and that they couldn't be produced easily. But then again, the Federation currently had over 200,000 players. If an organization could do business with the player community, over time, it would surely accumulate a massive amount of evolution points. The Federation's Special Affairs Bureau was exactly that.

If it weren't for the fact that the usage permissions for evolution points were strictly tied to player rank, and that players had to participate in a sufficient number of instances to level up... the Federation might have already raised a batch of high-evolution-level wastrels.

At this moment, Cao Yu noticed An Li was calling him via voice chat.

He answered.

An Li's crisp, cold voice came through:

"I have the authority to mobilize 10,000 evolution points, but I must make compliant arrangements and provide a reasonable explanation. You need to wait a week or two."

"Fine. Then I'll await the good news."

Holding the mindset of "make extra money if I can, it doesn't matter if I don't," Cao Yu didn't dwell on it.

Just as he was about to hang up, An Li suddenly said:

"In the player black market, you can buy quite a few monster corpse materials."

"So?" Cao Yu was puzzled.

"I bought some, planning to refine new puppets," An Li invited. "Do you want to come over and see?"

"..." Cao Yu: "See what?"

"The corpses I bought—you could hack them up first, and then I'll stitch them together," An Li tempted.

"..." Cao Yu: "Do you hear yourself right now?" He sternly refused, "Don't ever say such things again! I really don't have any twisted hobbies."

"This isn't twisted; it's a niche hobby," An Li said. "Don't be shy, we’re kindred spirits."

*You really are incorrigible, aren't you...* Cao Yu hung up directly.

*How can such a pretty girl have such a warped psyche?*

*I’ve seen everything now!*

Not long after, An Li sent him a file. It contained detailed data on the various nuances of the superpower "Bisection World."

Cao Yu didn't rush to look at it; he was feeling increasingly exhausted. He gave up on washing up, climbed straight into bed, and fell into a deep sleep.

...

The next morning, 9:00 AM.

After waking up, Cao Yu took a cold shower to shake off the sleepiness and invigorate his body. The exhaustion was swept away.

After changing into clean clothes, he sat cross-legged on the bed, adjusted his mindset, and began preparations for evolution.

Evolution points were a nearly omnipotent power that could promote the evolution of any part of the human body: legs and feet, eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, skin and bones, internal organs, meridians... even the invisible and intangible spirit.

Therefore, theoretically, players could use evolution points to gain any attribute of power and evolve into any form of life.

Unfortunately, that was only in theory.

In practice, evolution points were a very dangerous power. Because not all evolutionary directions and processes were correct or safe.

In the early days of the Evolution Game, quite a few players died from the reckless use of evolution points. Even dying was considered a lucky outcome; some turned directly into monsters and were later slaughtered by other players, their corpses sold as commodities on the black market.

There was also a batch of players who luckily survived and evolved into very powerful abilities and life forms.

This "gambling-style evolution," relying purely on luck, was quickly phased out by the "Three Great Evolutionary Paths."

Superhuman players achieved through superpowers.
Demi-human players achieved through genetic bloodlines.
Immortal players achieved through cultivating the spirit and spiritual power.

These were the three great evolutionary paths.

They were not researched, experimented on, or summarized by the Federation. The Federation didn't have that capability.

The three paths were summarized and unearthed step-by-step by the Federation's players from various instances and various instance rewards.

Some speculated that the three paths most likely originated from other highly developed world sectors. And the "World Sector No. 009," where the Federation resided, was likely just a desolate, backwater corner in the scope of the entire Evolution Game.

*The Superhuman player path is the fastest to evolve and the least labor-intensive. As long as you have evolution points, you can march forward triumphantly without needing other resources.*

*And with my Sequence 11, 'Seven-Kill Weapon Master,' not taking this path would be a total waste.*

*The choice of path... there doesn't seem to be anything to struggle over.*

After careful consideration, Cao Yu made his decision.

He would walk all three evolutionary paths!