Chapter 38: Giving the Entire Audience a Taste of the Gold Standard!

Lin Yi looked toward the source of the noise.

The examinees from Minchang No. 1 High School were all leaning over their seats, turning back to look at the students of Class 8, Jiangcheng No. 2 High School, as if they were observing monkeys.

Under the influence of the [Eye of Omniscience], Lin Yi could see their levels with perfect clarity. Most of them were level 20, a few had reached level 21, and some of the more impressive ones had even hit level 23.

Lin Yi suddenly recalled a point he had learned in his Daxia Human Geography class. Across the entire Daxia nation, Dongjiang Province was one of the top regions for education and economy. Cities like Tianhai, Lishui, and Xiling were all Tier 2 base cities. However, the distribution of resources and education in Dongjiang was extremely uneven. Wealth and educational resources were concentrated in Tier 2 and Tier 3 base cities, while the infrastructure and education in the remaining Tier 4 base cities were inconsistent. When it came to a highly marginalized Tier 5 base city like Jiangcheng, the situation was even more dire.

This was why Lin Yi had discovered that some of his classmates were as low as level 12, while these examinees from the Tier 3 base city of Minchang were at least level 19.

From the perspective of average levels, Lin Yi could see why those in the back of the bus were shocked by someone being level 20—it was a novelty to them.

Hearing the mockery from the Minchang No. 1 students, the entire Class 8 from Jiangcheng fell silent. It wasn't exactly a sense of inferiority, but the gap in raw strength made them feel humiliated. Zhang Shan, the cause of the entire scene, felt the most embarrassed.

Seeing the students of Class 8 remain silent, the Minchang students became even more rampant. The student closest to them sneered, "Hey, you country bumpkins from Jiangcheng, I'm level 20 too. Is that considered a big shot where you come from?"

"Do you want to come and lick my boots, too?"

"Hahaha!"

"What kind of trash are you? I'm level 21, come lick mine instead! Haha!"

Zhang Shan’s face turned bright red. A surge of anger rose within him, and he wanted to rush over and fight them physically. However, Lin Yi pressed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

"We’re under surveillance now. Have you forgotten what the teacher said? Mind the discipline!"

"If you cause trouble here, you'll be disqualified from the exam!"

Lin Yi didn't care about their ridicule. In his eyes, it was like a group of wild cats boasting about their hunting skills in front of a tiger. They were simply not on the same level; Lin Yi didn't even feel the urge to get angry.

With no response to their provocations, the group gradually lost interest and returned to their own circles, chatting among themselves.

The three-hour journey on the special train passed quickly. As the arrival announcement played, Lin Yi opened his sleepy eyes and stretched. Perhaps because his classmates had been silenced and even Zhang Shan had been reduced to a flushed mess, he had managed to get a good sleep during the latter half of the trip.

After disembarking, shuttles were already lined up outside the station to transport the examinees. Following their numbers and order, Lin Yi and his class boarded their assigned bus and headed straight to the exam venue.

Along the way, Lin Yi found that the provincial capital, Tianhai, was indeed extremely prosperous. Since transmigrating to this world where the landmass of Blue Star was dozens or hundreds of times larger, he hadn't ventured outside of Jiangcheng. The furthest he’d gone was to Canglan City, which was right next door. But both Jiangcheng and Canglan were Tier 5 or quasi-Tier 4 base cities; there wasn't much difference between them. They were essentially "brothers in misery."

Only after arriving in Tianhai did Lin Yi realize that the bustling urban development of Daxia in this world was no less impressive than the major cities of his previous life on Earth—in fact, it was even better. The infrastructure was perfect, and the city’s greenery was exceptionally well-maintained. However, the trade-off was that both the scale of high-end residential areas and the corresponding housing prices were terrifyingly high.

Throughout the journey, the departments responsible for traffic and road maintenance in Tianhai kept the traffic lights green for the shuttle buses. To welcome students from across Dongjiang Province for the national college entrance exam, Tianhai had opened a total of 22 exam centers. Even with the crowd split among so many locations, when Lin Yi’s bus arrived at the venue, he was still met with a spectacular scene.

Perhaps it was a coincidence, but Lin Yi’s exam site happened to be Venue No. 1. After countless shuttle buses parked and the examinees lined up in order, they reached the massive plaza outside the gate of Venue No. 1, where a sea of people awaited.

This time, there were no chaperones—only examinees. In just this one venue, the number of students was estimated to be forty or fifty thousand!

As Lin Yi’s batch of buses arrived, the examinees for Venue No. 1 were mostly in place. Outside the venue, an announcement echoed:

"Attention, examinees!"

"The 3024 National Unified Enrollment Examination for Higher Tiered Academies is about to begin!"

"This is Dongjiang Province Exam Venue No. 1. Please line up and pass through the first intelligent gate outside the venue in order!"

"After passing through the gate, the sensors above will automatically scan your profession and level, and provide a label."

"This exam will offer difficulty choices corresponding to each examinee's level range."

"The higher the difficulty, the higher the score you can obtain after passing each round of testing."

"Examinees in the level 1–15 range will receive a white label and can only choose the 'Simple' difficulty."

"Examinees in the level 16–20 range will receive a green label and can choose between 'Simple' and 'Normal' difficulties."

"Examinees in the level 21–23 range will receive a blue label and can choose between 'Normal' and 'Hard' difficulties."

"Examinees in the level 24–25 range will receive a purple label and can choose between 'Normal,' 'Hard,' and 'Extreme' difficulties."

"Examinees above level 25 will receive a gold label and can choose between 'Normal,' 'Hard,' 'Extreme,' and 'Nightmare' difficulties!"

It seemed the details Zhang Shan’s father had revealed were accurate. They really were filtering examinees in advance based on level brackets. If your level wasn't high enough, you couldn't select higher difficulties, and naturally, you wouldn't be able to earn higher scores. Consequently, your final ranking wouldn't compare to those who chose higher difficulties and cleared the tests.

What a cutthroat environment... No wonder the teachers and the media had been so hyped up when the professions were first awakened. In an environment where everyone was obsessively competing, failing to give your all would leave you far behind.

As the entry procedure continued, a massive crowd of examinees queued up to pass through the gates. Lin Yi saw the Class 8 students ahead of him, like the blockhead Zhang Shan. After passing through the gate, a label appeared above his head: the origin "Jiangcheng," followed by a war hammer icon and a white star. Subsequently, all examinees who received a white label like him were directed by officials to the corresponding exam entrances.

Having gone through years of schooling, this process was remarkably intelligent and efficient. If it had been done manually, it would have taken forever.

"Tsk tsk, look at all the white and green labels, haha!"

A burst of laughter echoed. Lin Yi saw the students from Minchang No. 1 again. They had passed through the gates, and most of them had blue star labels above their heads. A few with purple star labels looked at Zhang Shan and the others with the eyes one might use for livestock.

Lin Yi looked at the gate before him, a faint smile curling at the corner of his lips.

It was time to give the tens of thousands of people in this venue a little "Gold Label" shock!