Ji Ruo sat in the penultimate row of the classroom by the window in Yonkers First High School, Grade 12, Class 4. He looked out the window while covering his right eye with his left hand.
The teacher was talking nonstop on the podium. Although Ji Ruo acted uninterested, he was actually listening attentively.
"Students, the college entrance examination is in three days. As your teacher, the only thing I ask of you is to live."
The corners of Ji Ruo's mouth twitched. Even after two months had passed since his transmigration, he was still not very used to it.
"Isn't it outrageous that people die during their college entrance examination?" he wondered.
However, he had no choice given the circumstances.
Secret realms descended in 2025 A.D. Countless demons ran amuck, and foreign races caused mayhem.
Although humans rose up in opposition, the ascension of the secret realms brought about the appearance of spiritual energy, which was incredibly beneficial to living beings.
Devils, on the other hand, possessed a variety of peculiar skills.
Demonic beasts, on the other hand, have extraordinary physical qualities and thick skin, making them difficult to strike with regular firearms - mainly because it was difficult to aim.
This, coupled with the descent of demons and devils, made mining various mineral resources extremely difficult.
The initial resistance from the humans was still fine. Later, humans consumed a large number of stored resources amid the confrontation. The battle line grew longer and longer, and they could not build a supply station. As a result, the humans were overpowered in the midst of their resistance.
Later on, humans even used nuclear weapons in desperation.
The effect was quite apparent.
The demons and devils suffered innumerable losses, but there were simply too many of them.
As a result, people started using nuclear weapons to destroy entire regions.
The demons, however, underwent mutation due to the nuclear explosion's radiation. Some gradually evolved into silicon-based or even energy-based life forms.
The radiation caused mutations in the demons and disasters in the land.
At that time, humanity was almost extinct.
Fortunately, a talented Spirit Fist Grandmaster appeared.
He gradually discovered a means to fortify himself with spiritual energy—martial arts—by seeing and learning from demons.
A martial artist's vitality could effectively kill demons.
The Grandmaster told everyone in a serious tone, "You have to use spiritual energy to defeat spiritual energy!"
Hence, the whole nation advocated martial arts.
A millennium had passed since then.
Technology had been redeveloped and was much more advanced than the world Ji Ruo had come from.
Of course, martial arts remained the more significant factor.
Everyone valued and respected martial arts in this society.
Therefore, in such a setting, all children would practice martial arts from an early age. During the college entrance examination, they would be put into a secret realm humans had long governed for trial.
Although the realm had been controlled for a long time, there were always occasional mishaps because it was still a brutal massacre.
Even today, there was still a more than three percent mortality rate in the annual college entrance exam. Most people failed the test because they were too afraid to hunt demons.
The college entrance examination had two rounds: the literary and martial arts exams.
The literary exam ended back in the second year of high school. Ji Rui had not yet transmigrated then, but based on his memory, he had done well.
The teacher constantly emphasized to the students some precautions to take in the college entrance examination on the podium. No student in the classroom felt fed up even though they were all cliché words.
Ding, ding!
When the bell rang, the form teacher took a deep look at his students, as if he wanted to engrave the faces of all his students in his mind.
"All of you must survive! This is your final high school assignment. Everyone must survive this exam! Do you understand?"
"We understand!" the students responded brightly in unison.
The form teacher waved his hand. "Okay. Class is over. Do remember to come and turn in your homework after the exam."
After saying that, he left the classroom.
The students started talking amongst themselves right away.
While some were worried, some were also excited. All in all, no one was afraid, and no one intended to give up.
Ji Ruo stood up. With his uniform draped over his shoulders, he walked out of the classroom with his eyes covered.
"Classmates!"
At this moment, the class president, Liang Shixian, stood up and declared, "I think that when the time comes, our class should unite and work together as a team in the secret realm of the Myriad Beast Mountain..."
He urged everyone to prioritize their safety. Moreover, one should try to hunt the demonic beasts given the chance. If possible, everyone could even get into a good university by working together.
The students naturally agreed to his suggestion. After all, team cooperation was allowed in the martial arts exam.
Cooperation was not cheating. To begin with, fighting against the demons and the foreign races was never a solo endeavor.
Ji Ruo was in agreement with his idea.
Strength came in numbers.
Liang Shixian noticed that Ji Ruo kept covering his eye, so he inquired, "Ji Ruo, what happened to your eye?"
Ji Ruo snorted coldly and responded, "Hmph! I'm the reincarnation of the evil king, and this eye is the evil king's true eye. It is sealed with enough power to destroy the world!"
He responded in a way that left all of his classmates speechless.
Liang Shixian's toes buckled in his shoes as he felt the awkward atmosphere.
"You… Forget it. Do remember to follow us when the time comes. "
"Heh! Don't worry. I'll protect you guys!"
Liang Shixian was left speechless.
At this moment, Ji Ruo released the hand that was covering his eye and switched to using his other hand to cover his other eye. "If there's nothing else, I'll go back first."
One of his classmates could not help but ask, "Isn't the power sealed in your eye? Why did you switch hands?"
"My hand is sore. Why can't I?" Ji Ruo sneered.
Once again, his classmates were at a loss for words.
In fact, they had already gotten used to it.
Recently, Ji Ruo's brain seemed not to be working fine.
"Anyway, do go back and prepare well. The college entrance examination isn't a trivial matter," Liang Shixian reminded.
"Don't worry. I know that very well!"
…
Ji Ruo continued covering his eye while walking out of the school. He would switch to his other hand when his hand felt sore.
Suddenly, he sighed and put down his hand. He said helplessly, "As expected, simply acting like a Chuunibyou doesn't work. How do I trigger this accomplishment, exactly?"
Of course, the achievement could also be related to Chuunibyou's behavior. However, he was not a Chuunibyou in his past and present lives.
Ji Ruo went to the supermarket in front of his house and bought a bag of rice.
The supermarket cashier knew Ji Ruo and asked with a smile, "Xiao Ruo, the martial arts exam is in a few days. Are you confident?"
Ji Ruo replied with confidence, "Of course! Why else would I buy this bag of rice?"
The cashier was taken aback. "Speaking of which, I remember you bought a bag of rice only the day before... What are you buying this bag for?"
A mysterious smile appeared on Ji Ruo's face. "Auntie, I'll tell you, but you can't tell anyone."
"Okay!"
The cashier nodded seriously, thinking that Ji Ruo was going to tell her some secret.
Ji Ruo whispered, "I'm taking it back to practice Iron Sand Palm."
The female cashier responded, "Yeah?"
Ji Ruo chuckled. "To be honest, I didn't manage to control the heat when I was practicing the Iron Sand Palm two days ago. The rice got cooked!"
The female cashier was momentarily rendered speechless.
"Haha! As long as you're happy, Xiao Ruo."
In fact, she was a bit puzzled. She mused, "This child used to behave quite normally. Why has he suddenly become so immature lately?"
With a smile, Ji Ruo bid her goodbye and walked out of the supermarket with the rice.
At the same time, he stuck one of his hands into the rice.
Ji Ruo's face could not help but show a satisfied look as soon as he felt rice being wrapped around his palm. Once again, the female cashier was rendered speechless.
However, she remained silent.
Ji Ruo walked into his residential building while carrying the rice. "How many floors do I have to carry this bag of rice?"
He pulled out his palm and inserted it back again.
Apart for Ji Ruo, no one else was able to hear the voice that constantly rang in his ears.
[Iron Sand Palm proficiency +1]
In fact, this young man was not behaving immaturely.
He was really practicing Iron Sand Palm.
In terms of the reasoning behind why he trained with rice, his special advantage was the 'child-oriented achievement system.'
By unlocking achievements, he would be able to obtain and upgrade the corresponding skills.
In a child's imagination, inserting one's palm into rice was like practicing Iron Sand Palm.