Chapter 162 – Ace Academy (Part 2)

Sister Blood Bull pulled up the online player list and found the two players tied at zero points at the very bottom, confirming her suspicions. Only those who stabbed each other would both be docked to zero.

Today I Bomb the School was still recovering HP on the spot, while Weiming Lake continued to ramble about the skill gap between them and their opponent—one was an underachiever who wanted to kill the top student, the other was an underachiever who wanted to become the top student. This was the tragic tale of two underachievers tormenting each other.

Over her long academic career, Sister Blood Bull had encountered many underachievers, several of whom had even become her ex-boyfriends. Although the men had all left her for various reasons in the end, she still held a friendly attitude toward them—whether you contact me or not, I’ll still be here, smiling, blessing, and sending my regards.

Well, except for the last one.

That relationship was the most dramatic chapter in Sister Blood Bull’s romantic history, from beginning to end. Looking back now, she was amazed she had managed to restrain herself from dumping the hotpot on his head during their breakup. Especially when his venomous words, accompanied by the bubbling oil in the pot, had scalded her heart and stoked her hatred—yet she hadn’t lifted a finger. Sister Blood Bull felt she had truly attained enlightenment. That had been a major turning point in her life; since then, nothing in this world could truly anger her anymore.

Having seen so many underachievers, her sympathy had long run dry. So after a brief exchange, Sister Blood Bull clicked directly into Yu-Liang Garden.

As soon as she entered, the system prompted that an opponent was being automatically assigned, while a question bank appeared at the bottom of the screen. Sister Blood Bull scrolled all the way to the end—the last question was labeled No. 1000. At the same time, the system finished matching, and the opponent’s ID slowly appeared—Clueless Girl.

The opponent’s ID had appeared, but the opponent themselves hadn’t. The screen remained blank above, with only the question bank below. Sister Blood Bull waited patiently, and sure enough, the system instructed her to select a question from the bank.

She casually picked the fifth question, which then appeared in the blank space on the screen—

NO.5 Which of the following was NOT one of the Six Gentlemen of the Hundred Days’ Reform?

A. Tan Sitong

B. Kang Youwei

C. Lin Xu

D. Yang Rui

The answering time was only ten seconds. Failing to answer within the time limit would count as forfeiting, deducting 5 points. What, you want to Baidu it? Go ahead—if you can guarantee you’ll complete the following steps in ten seconds: read the question + use a shortcut to tab out of the game + open a browser + (let’s assume Baidu is your homepage) + type the question keywords into the search bar + read the answer + memorize it + tab back into the game + click the correct answer.

Clearly, the opponent hadn’t resorted to searching. They made their choice by the seventh second, answering correctly. Sister Blood Bull’s score became 25, while the opponent’s rose to 5.

Before Sister Blood Bull could even consider whether the opponent had just entered the game or had previously encountered only experts, the question on the screen had already changed—

NO.527 What was the slogan of the Boxer Rebellion? (Answer: four words)

This was no clueless girl—at the very least, she knew that fill-in-the-blank questions were harder than multiple-choice, even if the system had already provided the character count hint.

Sister Blood Bull calmly typed in “Support Qing, Destroy Foreigners.” Her score instantly reverted to 30-0, and the system automatically returned the question selection right to her. This time, she didn’t go easy, scrolling straight to the latter half of the question bank. If you like fill-in-the-blanks, let’s all suffer together—

NO.777 What is the URL of the official website of the Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China? (Answer: 10 English characters)

Ten seconds later, the score became 35-0.

Clueless Girl wasn’t actually clueless—her knowledge was enough to instantly crush the two underachievers outside Yu-Liang Garden. But in front of Sister Blood Bull, she was nothing. Even if she occasionally answered correctly, she was powerless against Sister Blood Bull’s terrifying accuracy. In the end, she gave up and exited, leaving the score frozen at 100-0.

After that, Sister Blood Bull PK’d a few more players, but the later ones all recognized the situation within five questions and hastily withdrew. However, the points they left her were real—195 in total.

Just 5 points short, Sister Blood Bull decided to quit as soon as she hit 200, to avoid tormenting more underachievers. She also hoped this last opponent would be someone wise enough to quickly recognize the skill gap—after all, she only needed one question—

[System] Please wait while the system assigns an opponent.

[System] Today I Bomb the School has been matched with you.

Sister Blood Bull: “…”

She had zero confidence in this player’s ability to “quickly recognize the situation” =_=

Sure enough, Today I Bomb the School didn’t quit until the nineteenth question, by which point Sister Blood Bull’s score had already reached 390.

As she clicked to exit Yu-Liang Garden, Sister Blood Bull wondered if Today I Bomb the School would be crouching at the entrance waiting to PK her. She wasn’t afraid, but having one more person holding a grudge wasn’t exactly a happy thought. When the loading bar finished and the screen transitioned, the crowd waiting outside the garden was even larger than she’d imagined—

[Local] Weiming Lake: Big brother¹In case anyone forgot, her in-game character is male. top student!

[Local] Today I Bomb the School: Hey.

[Local] Clueless Girl: Senpai, please take me under your wing >_<

The three of them were neatly lined up against the garden wall. To the uninformed, it might look like they were squatting outside a public restroom =_=

[Local] Weiming Lake: The girl said you’re amazing! I didn’t believe it at first, but then School came out and said the same thing!

[Local] Today I Bomb the School: It’s not just me saying it—you can see his score for yourself.

[Local] Clueless Girl: Take me under your wing, take me under your wing, take me under your wing >_<

[Local] Blood Bulls Don’t Graze: Do you three know each other?

[Local] Today I Bomb the School: No.

[Local] Weiming Lake: But our admiration for top students has brought us together!

[Local] Blood Bulls Don’t Graze: If I remember correctly, what brought you and School together was a fight.

[Local] Weiming Lake: Please forget those details. Let’s talk business—no, let’s hear our request.

[Local] Today I Bomb the School: He’s planning to earn a hundred to hire you as a mercenary. Since you’re so good, losing two hundred points is nothing.

[Local] Blood Bulls Don’t Graze: When did you two become friends? You’re even speaking up for him now?

[Local] Today I Bomb the School: No, what I mean is, since you’re going to lose two hundred points anyway, why settle for earning a hundred when you could earn three hundred?

[Local] Blood Bulls Don’t Graze: You’re paying?

[Local] Today I Bomb the School: Tch, you catch on quick.

[Local] Weiming Lake: Hey hey, why would you pay for my mercenary hire? We’re not even remotely related!

[Local] Clueless Girl: I can’t take this stupidly adorable world and these dumbfounded men anymore. Senpai, take me away [heart]

[Local] Weiming Lake: What do you mean by that =_=

[Local] Blood Bulls Don’t Graze: What she means isn’t important. What’s important is what School means.

[Local] Weiming Lake: And what does that mean?

[Local] Today I Bomb the School: Laozi is offering three hundred to hire the top student to work for me. Who said anything about hiring him for you? Are you sick in the head? Did you forget to take your meds when you left the house…

Weiming Lake fell silent. Sister Blood Bull figured he must have buried his head in the ground out of sheer embarrassment, pretending to be an ostrich.

Today I Bomb the School, surprisingly, became serious, typing out a long paragraph explaining that since he couldn’t change his chosen section, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and push forward. He’d also tried the Library, but he really did fall asleep after flipping through just a few pages—without fail. Sister Blood Bull was his last hope.

Clueless Girl didn’t offer anything new, just kept spamming cute pleas to be taken under her wing.

The three of them had different tactics, but the same goal—to get her to carry them.

Sister Blood Bull had never imagined she’d be this popular one day, but she still had no intention of running a charity. Just as these three were looking out for themselves, she had to look out for herself too. 390 points wasn’t a lot, but it wasn’t nothing. If she really let these guys drag her back to zero and had to start over, she wasn’t sure she’d have the patience for it.

Her current score was enough to enter the Hell Exam Hall, but she needed a team to get in. As she was thinking this, as if sensing her thoughts, someone in World Chat started shouting—

[Ace Academy] Cloud Doughball: Elite team for Hell Exam Hall, 4=1, underachievers scram!

Sister Blood Bull immediately PM’d them, expressing her desire to join. The reply was instant—but it was just a URL.

[Whisper] Blood Bulls Don’t Graze: What’s this?

[Whisper] Cloud Doughball: Team entrance exam. Five-minute time limit. Just finish and submit—we can see the results on our end.

Puzzled, Sister Blood Bull tabbed out of the game, pasted the copied URL, and hit enter.

Twenty multiple-choice questions appeared in front of her, with a countdown timer in the top right corner showing 4 minutes and 58 seconds remaining.

It was a simple webpage, clearly not designed to be fancy. But setting up a webpage and an automated grading function just for a temporary in-game team recruitment—only top students would go to such lengths.

The twenty questions were all tricky and obscure. Sister Blood Bull skimmed through them—some she wasn’t even sure about herself, but she could probably get about 80% right.

But she didn’t want to answer.

Objectively, the other party’s approach wasn’t unreasonable. When forming a team, using a test to filter out the weak and find the strong was just common sense. But for some reason, it reminded her of the old days in Mirage Server. The constant rallying of Crossplayer, the jinxing remarks of Your Uncle—those had been the nightmares of dungeon runs back then. Yet from Milk Mom to Birdy to 2B Fighter Jet, no one had ever suggested screening teammates or kicking anyone out after a wipe. Later, there was 438, who’d bend down to gather herbs at critical moments, and Your Sister, whose only redeeming quality was her APM…

True teammates weren’t afraid of being dragged down. It was only through the trials of dragging and being dragged that bonds were forged, strong enough to withstand any test or hardship. Sister Blood Bull suddenly regretted coming here—to this place with no friends, no comrades, just a screen full of dull questions.

Her phone suddenly vibrated, startling her. Because it happened to be placed on a metal bookshelf, the sustained vibration was especially loud. Sister Blood Bull picked it up—the caller ID showed an unfamiliar number.

She pressed answer and said politely, “Hello.”

There was a pause on the other end before two words came through: “Lin Yi.”

It felt like a needle had been driven into Sister Blood Bull’s nerves. It hurt—so much that her mind went blank.

“I know you’re there. Don’t pretend.” The voice on the other end chuckled. The low pressure from the earlier silence dissipated like a passing breeze. The man’s tone was as familiar and natural as if they were old friends catching up after years apart.

Sister Blood Bull took a slow, deep breath. One, two. Only then did she begin to feel her emotions steadying. Finally, she spoke: “What do you want?”

“Can’t I just call to reminisce?”

“There aren’t any good memories between us to reminisce about.”

“Heh, I knew you’d hold a grudge.”

Sister Blood Bull could picture his lazy, smug grin even with her eyes closed. She hated it back then, and even more now.

In her memories, this man had never lost his temper. Even during their breakup, he’d cheerfully listed out all her flaws—like how she wasn’t feminine enough, too competitive, had no fashion sense, lived without any refinement… and so on. Before him, her previous boyfriends had only made her realize she wasn’t successful enough. But this one had succeeded in making her understand just how much of a failure she was, forcing her to accept the breakup conclusion that “if your boyfriend cheats, it’s not because he’s unfaithful—it’s because you failed to give him a reason to stay loyal.”

“Alright, fine. Back then, I might’ve been a bit harsh, shouldn’t have criticized you from head to toe. But you have to forgive a Virgo man’s OCD—once I start, I can’t stop.”

Sister Blood Bull couldn’t stop now either. Her mind was like a rollercoaster, hurtling forward, plunging down, spinning wildly, sparks flying everywhere—and each of those sparks formed the same sentence:

“Wang Hao, are you sick?”

The sick person seemed not to hear the question, abruptly switching topics: “You blocked my number, didn’t you? I wondered why you never replied to my texts. If I hadn’t called, I wouldn’t have even known. When did you do it? Right after we broke up last year?”

“You’re sick.” This time, it was a statement.

The other end laughed and replied, “Got any medicine?”

Without another word, Sister Blood Bull hung up—and wanted to hit herself with a Bloody Sandstorm for even answering the two-minute call.

Her phone vibrated again almost immediately. She hung up and blocked the number. Soon, it vibrated once more—this time from a new number. She hung up and blocked again. Undeterred, the caller tried a third number.

Sister Blood Bull didn’t want to turn off her phone—she couldn’t avoid using a mobile phone forever. As long as it was on and as long as his illness persisted, these infuriating calls would remain an unpredictable shadow, following her everywhere.

After hanging up the third call, she quickly opened her messages. By the time the fourth call came, her text was already sent—

If you call again, I’ll call your mom and tell her why we broke up.

The text was like a talisman slapped onto a zombie—it froze him in place.

After that, the phone never rang again.

Wang Hao came from a single-parent household. His father had been lured away by another woman, so his mother particularly despised men who cheated. Back then, Lin Yi and Wang Hao had been serious enough to talk about marriage, so she’d gotten to know the old lady well. But after their “peaceful breakup” at the hotpot restaurant, Lin Yi had never contacted her again. As for how Wang Hao had described the breakup to his mother, that wasn’t her concern—but she was certain the detail about him cheating hadn’t made it into the story.

After brewing a pot of tea and taking a few sips, the world finally felt quiet again. Only then did Sister Blood Bull return to her computer.

The trio at Yu-Liang Garden’s entrance were still squatting in perfect formation against the wall.

Suddenly, a wild thought occurred to her—had this inexplicable harassment from her ex-boyfriend been some kind of divine retribution for her cruelty toward the underachievers? Even that off-putting team entrance exam earlier—could that have been a warning?

Some thoughts, once entertained, were hard to shake. The more she dwelled on it, the more it seemed plausible. Especially since the account she was using now was also part of Wang Hao’s “legacy”—as if some invisible connection between them could never truly be severed…

A chill ran down Sister Blood Bull’s spine. The “I’ll tell your mom” threat was just that—a threat. She would never actually use something like that to upset an elderly mother. So if Wang Hao really came back for round two, she had no surefire way to stop him…

[System] Blood Bulls Don’t Graze has invited you to join the party.

All three of her little companions received the invitation simultaneously. Surprised, they all accepted instantly.

[Party] Weiming Lake: Big bro, you’ve had a change of heart?

[Party] Clueless Girl: I knew I could move heaven and earth—how could I not move you~~\(≧▽≦)/~

[Party] Today I Bomb the School: So there are good people among top students after all…

Without further ado, Sister Blood Bull, acting on the principle of doing good deeds to cure illnesses and save lives, created a YY channel, pulled everyone in, and then took each companion into Yu-Liang Garden one by one. She deliberately picked easy questions for them. If they still couldn’t answer, she’d just tell them the answer over voice chat. As for the questions they picked for her, she intentionally answered them all wrong. This back-and-forth meant that 40 questions—200 points—could be exchanged in just over ten minutes. In less than an hour, all three companions had reached 200 points.

Weiming Lake was stunned: “Answering everything right isn’t impressive—answering everything wrong is the real skill!!!”

Today I Bomb the School was also in awe: “Even though I still hate top students, I have to admit—you were born for this section.”

Clueless Girl burst into tears: “Why didn’t you say you were one of the girls earlier…”

Sister Blood Bull rolled her eyes and left the three to their own devices. She returned to Yu-Liang Garden a fourth time and, with the help of a few unlucky souls, got herself back to 200 points. Then she stepped out and posted in World Chat—

[Ace Academy] Blood Bulls Don’t Graze: The Academic Fail Squad is recruiting like-minded individuals to join our glorious cause. Hell Exam Hall, 4=1.

The recruitment notice had barely been up for ten seconds when the first applicant PM’d her—

[Whisper] Beckham: Level 70 healer applying to join.

This section… didn’t seem to have any requirements for party composition, right? Did healers get to heal themselves if they answered wrong?

The other party, unaware of Sister Blood Bull’s wandering thoughts and assuming their qualifications weren’t attractive enough, hurriedly added—

[Whisper] Beckham: I’m an underachiever! A complete underachiever!

Was this guy seriously trying to sell himself? =_=

[Whisper] Blood Bulls Don’t Graze: Even though we’re called the Academic Fail Squad, we don’t actually only accept underachievers. You don’t have to emphasize it… twice!

[Whisper] Beckham: Oh, really? Well, actually, I’m not that much of an underachiever. I’m good at English! Really good at English!

[Whisper] Blood Bulls Don’t Graze: And besides English?

[Whisper] Beckham: See squad name.

[Whisper] Blood Bulls Don’t Graze: Got it =_=

[System] Beckham has joined the party.

And so, the Academic Fail Squad was assembled. In its ranks were an underachiever who wanted to become a top student, an underachiever who wanted to hook a top student, an underachiever who wanted to kill top students, and an underachiever who was a pseudo-top student in one subject… Sister Blood Bull looked at the party list on the left and felt the weight of responsibility settle heavily upon her.

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  In case anyone forgot, her in-game character is male.