Chapter 150: Silence

The entire hall was silent, their excited breaths releasing vapor from their mouth as the cold continued to rise.

Guanbei was also silent, not only because he was in awe or in utter shock, but because a sharp tip of an icicle was only inches away from his nose. He could not help but gulp as he swore he could hear this ice of death inching towards him. How unlucky was he that he was the only person that was almost hit by this chaotic icicle attack?

And his premonition was right, the ice did move.

"Eek!"

A loud hissing noise filled the entire hall, partnered by a gigantic fog that also devoured all the people in the hall almost instantly.

And then, it was followed by a flapping noise, and the entire fog was pushed out to the side.

The gigantic icicle formation was gone, the only one that was left in the testing platform was Sofia and the blue-colored targets. Once again, the entire hall was quiet. Not even a drop of sweat could be heard. Well, seeing as the temperature was freezing just a second ago, that was natural. Their sweats were still stuck on their faces.

And then, the silence was broken by a series of claps from one of the applicants.

"Woohoo! Sofie!"

Hearing the cheer, Sofia could not help but smile and curtsy towards Viel, who had a huge smile on his face.

And almost instantly after she did that, a chaotic noise filled the entire hall as the audience got up from their seats and started to howl like monkeys.

"What was that!?"

"That was amazing!"

"Was that a western technique!?"

"S-she doesn't even have a weapon on her!"

"She did that on her own!?"

"Meh, she's okay"

Countless hollers and cheers continued to resound in the hall. Sofia once again curtsied, this time towards the audience before she walked by elegantly towards her spot beside Viel.

"Good work!", Viel said as he raised both his thumbs.

"Thank you", Sofia said as she smiled, "It's your turn now. What will you be doing?"

"Uhhmm", Viel placed his hand on his chin as he stared at the targets, which were currently being replaced and recovered by people, "...I don't know yet. They… are not recommending anything"

"I-I see", Sofia squinted her eyes, Viel is talking about the voices again. Was it anything like what she saw when the floating words first appeared after she exited her first dungeon? But no, Viel could also hear voices. What Viel had was something unique, but it is surely connected to the dungeons.

This… is truly a mystery.

"Number 102!"

Hearing his number being called, Viel stepped forward with a sigh.

"Don't do anything excessive", Sofia said as she smiled.

"There's another one!?"

"This time it's a beautiful girl!"

"Look at her golden hair!"

"Her skin looks so smooth!"

"Bro, you gay"

"What? What are you saying!?"

"That's a boy"

"Pft. You blind? Look at her long eyelashes and soft-looking lips!"

"No, he's right. I heard Number 102's voice when he was talking earlier with Master Xing Cai. He's a boy"

"S-seriously!?"

"Wait, Master Xing Cai again? He's also with Master Xing Cai!?"

"As expected, even when it's a boy, it has to be beautiful"

"Maybe Master Xing Cai really is making a group of only beautiful people?"

"Maybe. If they take off the bow user, then it will be perfect"

"You again!? What did you say about Miss Guang Yan!?

Guang Yan's eyes once again twitched in frustration. Why did the conversation turn into that again?

She then felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Xing Cai, trying to calm her down.

"...Xing Cai", Guang Yan smiled as she nodded.

"Do not worry", Xing Cai sighed, "We're all beautiful in our own way"

"..."

Was that supposed to be a compliment? Guang Yan could only close her eyes in defeat. She was considered to be the most beautiful one in her village. But comparing her to Xing Cai and Diao Mei… she really was a frog in a well.

The only thing she could do now was to watch Viel take the test. But something was weird. Viel's timer had already started 5 seconds ago.

So, why isn't he doing anything yet?

Once again, noise filled the entire hall, but not with cheers, but with whispers.

5 seconds.

10 seconds.

All of them were curious, why is the golden-haired kid not doing anything?

Guanbei, on the other hand, could not help but smile. He was right, the boy was just being arrogant.

He then clicked his tongue, loud enough for the other competitors to hear, "Get out of there kid, you're wasting our time!", he chuckled.

The ones near to him also laughed as they stared at the golden-haired kid.

"Better try next time, kid!"

"Go back to mommy!"

"Yeah, not a place for kids!"

The jeering of the other applicants continued.

"Xing Cai, what is wrong with your brother?", Guang Yan could not help but comment, "It's already been 15 seconds!"

"Hhmm…", Xing Cai furrowed her eyebrows as she stood up, "...I don't know". She too was confused. If it was the Viel from before, then these targets would have been destroyed by now, maybe even along with the whole testing hall itself. She was ready to set up a barrier for the people once Viel started doing his thing, but now…

What exactly was going on?

But the one that was most confused was Viel himself. He wasn't even able to hear the jeerings and boos of the crowd as he focused on the ringing in his head.

[Lu Yi is unavailable right now]

[Xanthus is unavailable right now]

[Jack is unavailable right now]

[Player can still fully use their Skills]

At first, it was a bit favorable to him that the voices were no longer recommending anything to him or reacting to every little thing he does every minute. He felt free.

But now, even though he wanted to ask them for their recommendations directly, they weren't answering.

What… exactly was happening? What does Mr. Voice meant that they weren't available? Were Miss Lu Yi and the others gone?

But why? How?

"Vi, time is running up!"

Viel woke up from his stupor when he heard Sofia's voice calling for him.

10 seconds.

He only had 10 seconds to destroy all the targets.

Viel was starting to panic. During scenarios like these, it was usually the voices that told him what skills to use, be it directly or just influencing him.

But now that they were silent, he just felt a sense of loss.

Viel shook his head. He was sure that they will return later. What mattered right now was clearing the exam. He was already embarrassing his sister Xing Cai by not being able to clear this test the fastest.

And so, with a sigh, Viel got off the platform. The only thing he could do now was go out with a bang.

"What, are you giving up!?"

"HAHAHA!"

"Go back ho-"

*BOOM*

"W-what the hell!?"

The entire hall trembled as the visions of the other applicants turned dark. Even the people outside of the building felt the ground quake in their boots.

The testing platform was now standing diagonally. And those that saw what happened were left with their jaws hanging.

In just a span of 3 seconds, the targets were destroyed. No, obliterated. As soon as the golden-haired kid got off the platform, he lifted the entire platform and swung it upwards.

It was like an unstoppable wave, the targets offered no resistance as they shattered into pieces.

Sofia, who had a sense of what Viel intended to do as soon as he got off from the platform, was already encased with a thick armor of ice. The rest of the applicants, however, weren't that calm.

They were now either on their butts or had their weapons raised as the surface of the platform was only a few meters away from splattering them on the ground. If Viel dropped it, then most of them would surely die.

But luckily for them, the platform started to slowly back away. And with a heavy thud, it was once again in its previous position.

The entire hall was silent. What exactly just happened!?

Even those who clearly saw what happened also had the same question. Did the golden-haired kid just… lifted up the stage with brute force?

How was that even possible!?

Viel, however, could only sigh. He wanted to show off more and surprise his sister Xing Cai, but this was the best he could think of due to his situation.

He could not help but groan in disappointment as he returned to his spot, his shoulders drooping down.

"You also destroyed the blue targets", Sofia said in a calm tone.

"Yeah, they're extra points, aren't they?"

"What? No. There's a penalty when you hit them", Sofia fixed her spectacles, "Weren't you listening to the instructions?"

"A penalty!?", Viel's eyes widened as he fell to his knees, "But they are blue! Shouldn't penalties be red!?"

Seeing Viel kneeling on the ground, Sofia let out a soft laugh, "You lose to me this time, Vi", she said as she continued to laugh.

Viel could only close his eyes as Sofia's laugh echoed through his ears.

He then looked towards the direction of his sister Xing Cai and stretched his palm towards her in a very dramatic fashion,

"I have failed all of you, sister Xing Cai!"

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