Chapter 139 - The Final Test (3)

While the old man was speaking solemnly, everyone present realized that this old man, who was standing before them and looked like he was about to die, was not weak at all. Since the blown-up boy was found here, he must have been at least in the Nascent Profound Realm, but still, the old man was able to fly him twenty meters with just a slight movement of his hand and breaking his bones!

After the crowd gathered on the left in fear, the old man's facial expression returned to normal. The others were so frightened that no one seemed to think of objecting to it even if the old man opposite them said that they had been eliminated. The old man this time-shifted his gaze to the crowd located on the right side.

"Your teammates attacked you and other members of your team. And you responded to them. This is not a wrong thing. But can you tell me why you are holding yourself back in such a situation?"

After the old man's question, no one wanted to answer this time. Because of the previous incident, they involuntarily started to think that even the slightest wrong answer could hurt them.

The old man sighed slightly when no one answered: "You don't need to be afraid. I have no intention of harming young people like you. But since you are so hesitant, I will explain the situation to you this time. If someone in your team attacks their teammates, it is a good and right decision to intervene against them. Because in this case, the attacker becomes a traitor for betraying the team spirit. And you have to respond to protect your team. However, being soft in responding will endanger the lives of both you and others on your team. If you are in the military, being soft on even a single traitor can have a knock-on effect and lead to many bad situations. For example, there may be people who repeat the same action thinking 'They won't kill me anyway' just because you're soft on them. And it's just one of the simplest things that can happen..."

After coughing, the old man paused for a few seconds to collect himself: "What you should have done was to respond without fear of elimination and intervene as soon as possible, using the most severe methods, to the member who betrayed the team spirit. You did not do this. Even if you have not done this, you can succeed in your life. But even a slight hesitation can lead to damage that can lead to the death of thousands of people in the military! And since I want to prevent such damage from occurring, I regret to say that you have all been eliminated."

The old man again simply explained his reasons and informed them and the crowd on the right that they had been eliminated. After the old man's speech, although the people in the crowd were upset, they knew that they had nothing to do, so they reluctantly accepted this and left.

After they were gone, the old man turned his gaze to the crowd that had come forward this time: "I don't think I need to tell you much. As far as I can see, there was a state of fighting in every team and you risked the lives of your teammates by standing still in such a situation. People who do this behavior can do things that will lead to the loss of important things in the military. Of course, this is not a situation that is limited only to the military. Those who ignore the lives of their teammates can also ignore the lives of their relatives when the time comes. No matter how brilliant young people such people are, I would not like to see them at the Rezuba Battle school! You're all eliminated, you can leave here."

After the old man's explanation, only one group remained. This group was also the ones who attacked people from other teams, including Asil. Asil had normally intended to stand among those who did not attack his teammates, but since he had also attacked someone from another team, he later changed his mind and decided to stand in the last group. He didn't know if he had been eliminated right now, and the only way to find out was to wait for the old man to explain.

The old man looked at the remaining young people: "You are the only ones left. Teenagers who attacked other team members. I told you that those who attack people from another team will be eliminated. And you must have heard that clearly. So why didn't you follow my instructions? If this was military, I would be the commander and you would be a soldier. How can you disobey the order given by your commander? You're all eliminated, you can leave here."

After the old man's words, all the young people present were shocked. He first divided the test-takers into four groups and then eliminated all the groups one by one. If he was going to do that, then why did he go to so much trouble? Was he doing this to counsel them before they were eliminated?

Asil couldn't find anything to say either. The old man was completely right. If they were in the military, disobeying their commander's orders would break the chain of command. And this could pave the way for even a major revolt in the future. In the world they lived in, everything affected each other. This effect could have been either large or small... But it was an undeniable fact that it did affect something. Asil sighed and left with the other people as there was nothing to do.

Before the first test, there were about one hundred and forty thousand people in this area. After the first test, this number had decreased to fourteen thousand. Then, with the second test, this number dropped to three thousand two hundred and forty-eight, while as a result of the third test, this number had dropped to four hundred and twenty. As the tests continued, the number of people remaining continued to decrease rapidly.

The Rezuba Battle School entrance exams, which normally resulted in an average of ninety percent of participants being eliminated across all tests, this time resulted in more than ninety-nine percent of participants being eliminated in just three tests! This year's entrance exam would go down in history as the year in which the most entrants were eliminated in the history of the Rezuba Battle School. And that was the case with only three test results. Although the number of people left after the fourth test dwindled to three hundred and twenty-eight, the number of people who were not eliminated after the fifth test, the final test, was exactly zero!

One hundred percent elimination rate... This was a record that would never be surpassed in the history of the Rezuba Battle School!

After the participants were eliminated, the old man sighed and turned around, and started slowly towards the door. His steps were so slow that he had gone even a few meters in about five minutes. After the old man came to the door, he suddenly stopped, as if he had heard something, and slowly turned his head and looked in the direction the eliminated participants had gone. He could clearly see several dots in the distance. These dots grew closer and larger, and soon twenty-six silhouettes of people stood before the old man.

The old man eyed them and nodded: "Are you going to stand there or explain?"

After the old man's words, one of the twenty-six people took a few steps forward and got down on one knee. But that wasn't the main thing. The main thing is... The person who got down on one knee was the young man in the red dress who attacked the black-haired youth in Asil's team!

The young man in the red dress spoke respectfully. "Senior Solomon. We observed the participants by doing the things you wanted in the tests as you ordered. The people who pass the fifth test are the six we brought with us. They met the criteria you set to pass the test."

After speaking awkwardly, the youth in the red dress stood up, and nineteen with him stepped forward, revealing the six they had brought. The old man looked at these six people and said: "Congratulations. You have passed all the tests and qualified to join the Rezuba Battle School. A lot of you are probably wondering what is going on. I don't blame you for that. Therefore, if you will excuse me, I would like to explain the situation."

The old man happily looked at the six and explained: "I told you before the fifth test that you shouldn't look at something just with your eyes. You have to feel some things. I told you not to assume that everything is true just because you see or hear it, and beware that they may simply be a lie. Now watch me carefully:" After the old man spoke, he waved his right hand slightly. With the wind, the silhouettes of the twenty youths who had gone out with him before the first test dispersed as if they were mirages.

After they had dispersed, the old man continued: "When I got here, there were twenty people who really helped me. However, those twenty people were not the twenty young people who came through the door with me. They were just a simple illusion! The people who really help me are the twenty young people who are with you!" The old man fell silent and allowed the attention of the six youths to turn to the twenty youths who were with them for a moment. After a short pause, he continued:

"They did nothing for the first twenty seconds, following my instructions, and observed the others. In the twentieth second, they started attacking their teammates and measured the reactions of the others. What would the others do? Would people reciprocate or just stay on the defensive? Those were the first things we really paid attention to in this test. But the most important thing was what you would do when you saw that one of the other teams was about to attack a member of your team. Some of those who saw this responded by risking damage from their teammate, some of you ignored them, and some of you could not see it even though they had the opportunity, harming both the attacker and their teammate."

After his long speech, the old man coughed up bloody again, and after taking a few breaths, he continued his explanation: "Your six also took action against the attack on his teammate, not caring that you would take damage because the person you wanted to save misunderstood. And at the same time, you tried to save your teammate's life by attacking the attacker. If we were in the military, what you did would mean you disobeyed the commander's order and you would be punished for that! But even if this is the case, this does not mean that what you are doing is wrong. You have your own lives and your own thoughts. Even if someone of higher rank than you commands you, there will come times when you will put your lives on the line because it goes against your own ideas. These thoughts can be good or bad.... But don't give up on them no matter what! Don't believe things blindly!"