[This Chapter Is Sponsored by Cade Atkinson! Everyone, please thank him in the comment!]
After Fang Mo's test, he found that the association seemed to be somewhat negligent towards the written exam.
Even when he entered the examination hall with an extremely suspicious object, no invigilator questioned him throughout the process.
Thus, he swaggered into the examination hall… and then placed the statue on the table.
The burly man next to him merely glanced over out of boredom, and immediately started to roll his eyes back, mumbling unintelligible nonsense, as if imagining himself turning into a squid, constantly trying to spray ink.
What astonished Fang Mo the most was…
Although the invigilators ignored the statue, they dragged away the burly man who was disrupting the order of the examination hall.
"…What the heck?"
Honestly, this left Fang Mo quite bewildered.
However, soon, Fang Mo noticed his diagonal neighbor, Genos.
It must be said that this guy really was a super student; he was fervently writing throughout the exam, but as Fang Mo watched, he suddenly realized a problem.
That is… this guy is a cyborg.
In theory, he has electronic chips to assist him, which is similar to Commander Steel in DC.
If he connects to WiFi or something, Genos could probably use his brain to access the internet directly. Wouldn't that count as cheating if he looks up information while taking the test?
"Hmm?"
And with this thought, Fang Mo suddenly understood.
Yes, this so-called written exam by the Hero Association, if one really had to describe it, left an impression on Fang Mo that was somewhat reminiscent of the Chunin Exam in Naruto.
Of course, this refers to the initial written test phase, not the later scroll-stealing part.
After all, if one had to say.
These heroes actually bear some resemblance to ninjas.
Even the invigilators aren't aware of what kind of special abilities these guys are hiding.
You say copying with Sharingan is cheating… but can you really pluck out someone's eyeballs? Similarly, for a cyborg like Genos, his brain is already half a computer, can you really not allow him to bring his brain to the exam?
This so-called hero assessment.
Ultimately, it's to select heroes who can fight monsters.
Since it's impossible to ensure absolute fairness, it might as well let everyone use their abilities freely during the exam… If you have the real skill to cheat, then it only shows that you have a powerful trick up your sleeve.
Even as strong as Saitama failed the written test, yet you cheated and scored full marks.
Then you are even more amazing than Saitama-sensei, aren't you?
Anyway, after some thought, Fang Mo felt that this written exam was probably just as he suspected.
Those who are good at studying just memorize mechanically.
Those who are not good at studying figure out their own tricks.
This is perhaps why the invigilators didn't care about his statue, perhaps in their view, this strange statue was the source of Fang Mo's hero power.
If the statue could only be used to cheat on the test, then Fang Mo definitely couldn't pass the physical test that followed.
Then what use would scoring 100 points be?
At best, he'd just be a low-tier C-class hero.
"Hah, interesting…"
Thinking this, Fang Mo suddenly smirked with ill intent.
He looked around and noticed that no one was paying attention to him, so he directly contacted the Sword of Time stored in his dimensional space with his mind.
"Za Warudo."
With Fang Mo's whisper, the entire world was forcibly frozen in that moment.
Seeing that time had stopped, Fang Mo stood up and swaggered over to Genos's desk, first copying the correct answers.
After copying the answers.
Fang Mo began his mischief.
He first sat back in his place and lifted the time stop.
Afterward, he suddenly scratched his head, pretending that the exam paper was difficult, and then, under everyone's watchful eyes, he clasped his hands together and started praying to the statue on the table.
Although it seemed on the surface.
Fang Mo was genuinely praying.
But in reality, he was saying strange things like, "Old Octopus, stop sleeping for now."
And with Fang Mo's actions, the entire examination hall suddenly began to fill with a faint mist, and the air gradually became salty and moist, as if one were at the seaside.
Having spent a long time with Nyarlathotep and having crossed the Gate of Dreams, Fang Mo had become much more adept at controlling the mental plane. Soon, his consciousness smoothly entered the statue and merged with the presence of a great being in another dimension.
In the abyssal depths of the ocean...
Fang Mo saw an ancient stone seat towering like a building.
That stone seat was inscribed with countless bizarre symbols, completely unreadable by humans.
Above this ancient stone seat, a creature as large as a mountain range was coiled, unimaginably obese and bloated, with skin that glistened a viscous green like a giant corpse soaked in seawater for thousands of years.
Its head resembled some kind of swollen and misshapen giant meat sack, with two weak and malformed wings on its back, and numerous limp and decaying tentacles lifelessly hanging below its cheeks.
Due to the violent surging of the black tides.
The massive body of this bloated monster became somewhat indistinct.
Only its several crimson eyes on the side of its head emitted a faint light capable of piercing the darkness, complementing the vast silhouette of its body, giving an indescribable sense of oppression and dread.
Faced with such a vast and terrifying presence, almost everyone's mind would naturally conjure the concept of a "god."
After all, compared to such a creature that defies all earthly logic...
It could overturn anyone's understanding of reality.
Yet, despite the repulsive appearance of the other party, which was starkly different from the benevolent "deities" known to mankind, this breakdown of rationality brought about an absurd sense of detachment from reality, making one feel disoriented and even insane.
Yet even when confronted with an Old God capable of driving one to madness.
Fang Mo was still unaffected and even stroked his chin, appraising him: "Hmm, so the real President K looks like this..."
"..."
As for the opposing evil god.
Or rather, the great Old Ruler, Cthulhu.
He seemed a bit bewildered at the moment, staring blankly at Fang Mo.
From the outside, Fang Mo appeared to be just a human, but Old Rulers have strong senses, so Cthulhu quickly noticed the essence hidden beneath Fang Mo's skin.
Hidden under that layer of membrane.
Was a collection of rules as chaotic and endless as the abyss.
Even from Cthulhu's ancient perspective, Fang Mo's existence was utterly absurd, like a vortex detached from all logic and reality.
Clearly, Fang Mo's status was exceedingly high.
At least on par with a certain mischief-loving black-skinned tentacle entity.
Even for a moment, Cthulhu almost mistook Fang Mo for the avatar of that unbridled demon lord, but this guess was too outrageous, and absolutely impossible, for what that being symbolizes had transcended its own rational essence.
Nonetheless.
Fang Mo was undoubtedly a high-status kin.
"...Whose avatar are you?"
With this thought, Cthulhu couldn't help but ask in an unusually loud voice that illogically resonated across this seabed: "Why did you awaken me from my slumber?"
"I'm just lightly knocking to wake your slumbering heart."
Fang Mo, however, was all smiles, as he was really not afraid of these Cthulhu-type gods now. He even found them somewhat amusing: "I'm in the middle of an exam right now, and suddenly my brain is a bit short on sugar. Are you distributing candy today, President K?"
"..."
Hearing Fang Mo's teasing words, Cthulhu fell silent for a while.
After a moment, he barely opened his mouth: "You remind me of a very annoying person..."
"An annoying person?"
Fang Mo tilted his head in thought: "Are you referring to Hastur?"
Hastur, the Lord of the Interstellar Void, his true form is a skinny tentacled humanoid in a yellow robe. Although said to be Cthulhu's cousin, for some reason, they seem to be mortal enemies.
It's worth mentioning that in the Abyssal Realms mod, which controls the Omusos Dimension closest to the abyssal omnipotence, the final boss, Zahar, is one of Hastur's descendants, also an Outer God.
"Not that guy."
Cthulhu's voice thundered in the ocean depths: "You… must know Nyar, right?"
"Hey, Nyar is my bro!"
Fang Mo immediately laughed upon hearing this: "I had a seventh-day memorial service next door recently, and he even called quite a few friends over to support me. I remember many Old Ones went to watch the show, didn't you see it?"
"I've been asleep, not caring much about the outside world."
Cthulhu said, somewhat impatiently waving his swollen and enormous arm: "Anyway, what are you doing here? If there's nothing important, leave quickly and don't disturb my slumber."
"Turns out President K's nature is that of a grumpy shut-in?"
Hearing Cthulhu's words, Fang Mo was also a bit surprised as he scratched his head: "Uh, no, given your physique, it should be a dead fat shut-in…"
Perhaps because Cthulhu didn't like these three words.
No sooner had Fang Mo finished speaking than a tentacle, appearing out of nowhere, wrapped around him and slowly pulled him in front of Cthulhu.
"Listen, I'm not interested in Nyarlathotep's actions, nor do I like his friends."
Cthulhu faced Fang Mo, his bloated and ugly octopus head almost touching Fang Mo: "I know you're strong, but I don't care about that. If you just want to tease me, I'll kick you out the next second…"
However, before he could finish speaking.
A long-lost notification sound suddenly appeared in Fang Mo's mind.
[System Notification: New mod feature detected, research to gain download permissions.]
"Hmm?"
Hearing this sound, Fang Mo couldn't help but be stunned.
President K's style is indeed high; just a mere touch unlocked a mod.
"…Are you listening to me?"
As Cthulhu probably noticed Fang Mo's distraction, he repeated once more: "Leave here, don't disturb my sleep again."
"Wow, you're really bad-tempered as a shut-in."
Seeing that the other party had mod unlocking capabilities, Fang Mo was immediately amused: "Such bad morning mood? Look at how fat you've gotten; you should at least get up and exercise a bit. Otherwise, next time I see Nyar, I'll tell him you can't get up from bed."
Facing a Cthulhu-type Old Ruler like President K, perhaps ordinary people would be scared.
But Fang Mo was also somewhat of a similar being, already on good terms with one of the Three Pillars, Nyar, so he obviously wouldn't be afraid of Cthulhu.
"How about I give you some candy this time, let me study it a bit."
Thinking it over, Fang Mo deliberately bantered with Cthulhu while intently observing his face, assisting the system in its research.
"...What? Research!?"
When Cthulhu heard this, he became even more displeased: "I've existed for countless eons, apart from that damned yellow fool, you're the first one who dares to speak to me like this!"
But just as Cthulhu was speaking.
Fang Mo's system notification sounded again.
[System Notification: "Eye of Cthulhu" concept researched, you have gained 10% new mod download permission.]
"…What the heck?"
Hearing this notification, Fang Mo was also a bit surprised.
He didn't expect the mod to be segmented, researching President K only granted 10% download permission.
But then again, the system's research was on the "Eye of Cthulhu" concept, is there really such a mod in MC?
If I remember correctly, isn't that from neighboring Terraria?
Or perhaps…
This couldn't be a Terraria mod, could it?
As everyone knows, MC, as an extremely inclusive sandbox game, has more mods than one can imagine.
You can even play shooting, business, driving, parkour, escape, erotic… cough cough, in short, there are just too many mods in MC, and among them, some great developers have completely ported neighboring Terraria over to MC.
"Wow, a Terraria mod!"
Realizing this, Fang Mo immediately became a bit excited.
He was already fond of sandbox games, and of course, he had played the neighboring 2D sandbox Terraria; if he could really unlock this mod, that seemed quite interesting.
After all, there are many fun weapons and items on that side.
Moreover…
To vigorously take on one's own mechanical destroyer on a beautiful night was a long-held dream of Fang Mo!
"Well, President K…"
Realizing what this mod was, Fang Mo immediately got excited and opened his mouth to cozy up to Cthulhu, trying to scrape together a bit more download permission from him.
But this time, Cthulhu was truly enraged, directly roaring at him.
"Get out of my dreams!"
Accompanied by this roar, the connection to the dreamscape was forcibly severed, and Fang Mo's consciousness returned to the examination hall.
And the statue in front of him exploded with a bang.