34-Bulldozing Through the Exam Dungeon!

---

Above the school's massive plaza, intricate runes flickered incessantly. 370 students stood neatly arranged in four square formations.

These were all the graduating examinees of Tianfu City this year.

Of course, this was just the combat exam. Other testing grounds existed for lifestyle profession awakened, support profession awakened, and those who hadn't awakened at all.

"Alright, your teachers might've already told you, but I'm still going to repeat the exam rules.

All students must carry their student IDs—it's your key to recording scores, tracking progress, and, most importantly, staying alive.

Don't think the exam can't be deadly. Every year, at least a four-digit number of students die on the testing grounds.

If you feel exhausted or notice anything unusual, remember to use your student ID to exit the exam dungeon immediately. Got it?"

"Got it!"

The response was loud and unified, echoing across the skies of Tianfu High School.

"Now, take your student IDs—exam starts now!"

As Old Man Wang's words fell, the plaza erupted in a flurry of mysterious runes. A golden light shot into the sky, and in the next moment, every student vanished.

When Su Mo opened his eyes again, he found himself in a primeval forest. The exam task for this stage popped into his mind.

The college entrance exam had four phases: school exam, district exam, national exam, and the final ranking exam.

Passing the school exam qualified you for low-tier academies. The district exam got you into mid-tier ones. Clearing the national exam opened doors to most of the country's elite academies.

The ranking exam, though, was where top-tier institutions picked their students—a dream for most.

Every year, the minimum level to even enter the ranking exam was Level 40 Silver-rank.

For freshly awakened ordinary students, reaching the ranking exam was outright impossible.

[Exam Task: Find your four teammates, regroup with them, and defeat the Level 10 Boss Treant. Time limit: 8 hours.]

Seeing the task, Su Mo felt a bit exasperated. He'd run so many dungeons and never once teamed up with anyone.

Now the exam was forcing him to group up?

After reading the task clearly, Su Mo took off at top speed, darting through the primeval forest.

With a speed attribute of 410, he moved so fast he was nearly invisible to the naked eye.

Of course, that assumed he dodged obstacles—but with absolute defense, Su Mo had never bothered learning the meaning of "evasion."

He barreled straight ahead, smashing through trees and rocks along the way into splinters, the crashes booming like thunder.

Dust billowed in his wake, as if a million-strong army were charging into battle.

In less than two minutes, he spotted the task's final boss—a Level 10 Treant.

Then Su Mo stopped, pondering.

So, should he just kill the boss now or go find his four teammates first?

A mere school exam score probably wouldn't affect his shot at being the top scorer, right?

After a moment's hesitation, Su Mo decided to track down all his teammates.

Sure, their presence or absence made zero difference to him—they might even drag him down.

But if it cost him points, it wouldn't be worth it.

With that in mind, Su Mo pivoted and charged off in another direction, still bulldozing through everything in his path—trees snapped, rocks shattered, and dust clouded the air.

A girl, also clad in a Tianfu High School uniform, was cautiously exploring ahead.

Hearing the sudden thunderous rumble approaching, her face paled and shifted repeatedly before she finally ducked into some bushes.

Su Mo blasted past her, the gust from his speed ripping the bushes apart and exposing the trembling teammate hiding within.

He slammed to a halt, skidding over 50 meters and snapping two trees in half before stopping.

Turning back, he strode over to the teammate still sprawled on the ground, eyes squeezed shut, shaking like an ostrich with its head in the sand.

Su Mo scooped her up and prepared to head off in search of the others.

Perhaps sensing herself suddenly airborne, the trembling girl with shut eyes finally opened them.

She saw a cold-faced guy in the same Tianfu High uniform—probably her teammate—and let out a small breath of relief.

Feeling her breathing slightly strained and glancing at her toes dangling five or six centimeters off the ground, she struggled to speak:

"Uh, uh, big shot, could you not hold me by my clothes? It's hard to breathe!"

Su Mo glanced down at her, ignored her plea, and took off again at full speed.

As before, he plowed through everything—no dodging, just crashing. Alongside the booming collisions came ear-piercing shrieks.

"Ahhh~~~ We're gonna die, gonna die! We're gonna crash! I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead! Let me down—I don't wanna stay with you! I'm quitting, I don't want the exam! Let me go~~~"

Her noise was getting on his nerves. Right before smashing into another tree, Su Mo deliberately shifted her forward a bit—and the screaming stopped.

After that, Su Mo zipped through the forest as before, snagging each teammate, knocking them out, and dragging them along.

Five minutes later, he had all four stacked together. Grabbing two in each hand, he hurled them toward the boss.

The Level 10 Treant, which had been idle, instantly went berserk.

Four massive vines erupted from the ground, lunging toward Su Mo's teammates. But in the next instant, Su Mo appeared in front of the boss.

One punch—and the 10-meter-tall giant tree exploded into fragments. The vines reaching for his teammates drooped lifelessly to the ground.

[Teammate assembly and boss defeated. Time taken: 7 minutes, 40 seconds. Calculating points…]

[Point calculation in progress]

[Su Mo: Dungeon exploration 70%, +70 points. Boss damage output 100%, +100 points. Teammate assembly, +40 points. Cleared within one hour, +300 points. Total: 510 points]

As the score screen faded, a white light flashed over Su Mo, and he reappeared on the plaza.

By now, the plaza was empty—until Su Mo and his four teammates popped up, instantly becoming the center of attention.

A swarm of reporters and cameras rushed toward him.

"Hello, student, can you tell us what you encountered in the dungeon? Why are all your teammates unconscious? Was this school exam dungeon unusually tough?"

"Student, you're the first to give up on the exam this year—what are your thoughts?"

Su Mo stood there, staring at the microphones practically shoved in his face, utterly baffled.

When did I quit the exam?

A shrill scream cut through, instantly drawing everyone's attention.

"Ahhh~~~ Big bro, big bro, stop running—I can't take it anymore! I'm quitting, I'm quitting, I don't want the exam! Waaah~~~ Let me go… huh? We're out?"

---