Ask for another 500 points from the sky!

Aside from that analytical essay, there were also many calculation problems composed entirely of bizarre and strange symbols.

Just looking at them made Wang Ning feel like falling asleep.

Wang Ning groaned inwardly.

Her vision began to blur.

Her head felt dizzy and swollen.

Her eyelids grew heavier and heavier as she stared at the paper.

Her head bobbed like a pecking chick, nearly hitting the desk.

In that dazed state, she felt like she had returned to her advanced mathematics class.

She really… really wanted to sleep…

No! Wang Ning!

You were at least half a top student in your past life!

You can’t just leave half a paper blank!

If—if only she had just one more night, she might have been able to pull off a miracle… damn it…

In the haze, her wandering gaze slowly drifted to her deskmate.

That deskmate was still fulfilling her duty as the classroom’s sleep goddess, sleeping soundly with her head on the desk.

Half her test paper was still crushed beneath her arm.

Wang Ning grew increasingly envious of her sleep quality.

She sourly thought, if she can sleep during a test, she must be one of those “well-connected” students the teacher mentioned.

…Wait.

Wang Ning’s eyes widened slightly.

Did she just see that test paper filled out completely?

She instantly sobered up.

Her pupils shook in disbelief.

As if sensing the gaze on her, the blue-haired girl lying on the desk drowsily opened one eye.

She saw Wang Ning staring at her.

Boli An lazily propped herself up.

She lifted her eyelids to glance at Wang Ning, then at Wang Ning’s nearly blank paper.

She yawned.

Her fingertips pressed down on her own test paper.

With a gentle push, she slid the test over to Wang Ning.

Then, she changed positions and continued sleeping.

Looking at the answer-filled paper before her—clearly from someone extremely competent—Wang Ning fell silent.

No, seriously, I wasn’t trying to cheat!

Why did that action look so practiced?!

Wang Ning had mixed feelings.

She felt she had been misunderstood.

She wanted to explain.

She wanted to sneer and toss the paper back.

She wanted to argue and shout, “I, Wang Ning, am no cheater!”

But when she saw the blank half of her own paper, the helplessness of a struggling student overwhelmed her body.

She gripped her pen tightly.

For the first time, she felt the despair of academic illiteracy.

She wept inside.

The bell rang, signaling the end of class.

The once-quiet classroom instantly turned noisy.

After turning in their papers, waves of wails rose from the students.

“Oh God, why am I even alive?”

“Just one little placement test and I’ve already been crushed…”

“Am I really that weak…”

One girl with glasses muttered absentmindedly with her head down.

Wang Ning remembered her.

She was the class rep, handpicked by the teacher.

Everyone called her a straight-A student behind her back.

Other students were freaking out to their friends.

“I knew nothing good would come of being in Louie’s class!”

“How is this a placement test?”

“This is a power play to break our spirits!”

“That final essay question wasn’t even humanly solvable!”

“I saw this same question about digital theories in magi-tech on my older sister’s papers!”

“She’s in the sixth year!”

Unlike the education system in Wang Ning’s old world, Alice Academy had seven grade levels.

It was like combining high school and university.

Graduating meant receiving an advanced degree.

Hearing what others said, Wang Ning felt slightly comforted inside.

So it wasn’t just her who sucked.

Yeah.

It was the paper that was ridiculous.

Then Wang Ning suddenly remembered.

Her deskmate seemed to have finished that absurd exam paper.

The class was full of chatter and noise.

Then, Teacher Louie appeared at the doorway, smiling sweetly.

The classroom instantly fell silent.

“Everyone,” Louie said.

“This was just a small placement test.”

“It’s nothing much.”

“You’ll encounter far harder questions in the future.”

“Will you cry like defeated soldiers every time?”

She swept her gaze across the classroom.

Her gentle voice now carried a stern edge.

Someone muttered under their breath.

“Still, it’s a bit much to give us questions sixth-years would struggle with.”

“It’s like handing a rifle to a toddler who just learned to walk…”

Louie smiled and looked at that student.

They immediately ducked their head in silence.

“The results of this little test will be out tomorrow.”

“I hope some of you will learn from it.”

“Recognize your current level.”

“Study hard.”

“Oh, and remember to change into your military training uniforms this afternoon.”

Before she left, Louie kindly reminded everyone.

After being drained by that exhausting test, everyone was starving.

Wang Ning followed the crowd to the cafeteria.

Alice Academy had a special subsidized cafeteria for ordinary students like her.

The food was incredibly cheap and actually tasted pretty good.

You could even get free fruit and milk.

This was Wang Ning’s happiest moment besides sleeping.

She walked along the path, stabbing a straw into her strawberry milk carton and puffing her cheeks to drink.

Beside her, Xiali had her daily fangirl meltdown.

She wanted nothing more than to grab a universal communicator and record every one of Wang Ning’s movements to brag on social media.

The sidewalk was lined with evergreen trees.

Even under the scorching sun, they cast patches of shade.

Occasional sunlight filtered through the leaves like scattered gold coins.

Stepping on golden leaves, the white-haired girl hummed a tune.

She held a bottle of milk.

Her delicate and gentle features were relaxed.

Her sky-blue eyes were full of life, like a bird hopping through the clouds.

She looked like an angelic spirit who had mistakenly wandered into the human world.

She didn’t care about the gazes from others.

She followed her whims.

And when the mood struck, she’d hum a song completely off-key.

No one knew how many people wished for even a glance from her eyes.

But Wang Ning remained completely oblivious to it all.

“I’m going to take a big nap!” Xiali yelled as they returned to the dorm.

She threw herself into bed.

She had been emotionally and physically tortured by that test.

All she wanted now was a solid nap.

“To hell with military training!”

“Nothing is stopping me from sleeping!”

Wang Ning was surprised to find that Boli An—the one most likely to be napping—wasn’t there.

Even Xiao was missing.

She hadn’t seen Xiao since the morning.

Were they busy with something?

The campus was quiet at midday.

There were fewer students in the hallway.

Only the sound of conversation came from the principal’s office.

“Milady, are you still adjusting to campus life?”

“Shall we provide additional—”

“No need.”

The reply was sharp and direct.

Like a sword being drawn.

Alice Academy’s principal was a composed and capable middle-aged woman.

At that moment, she was looking at the person sitting in her chair.

That person sat quite casually.

But the straightness of her back and the overwhelming presence around her made it clear she wasn’t ordinary.

She spun a metal pen between her fingers.

Its tip gleamed with sharp light.

Even brighter than the pen was her fiery red hair and molten-gold eyes.

The pen suddenly stilled.

Then she reversed its direction.

And stabbed it toward her own ear.

Blood splattered.

The principal’s heart jumped.

She couldn’t help but speak.

“Milady, you…”

“How strange,” the girl murmured.

She stared at the dripping pen tip.

Touched the ear she had stabbed.

“Why… doesn’t it feel like it did that day?”

“It should be the same pain.”

Shouldn’t it?