Chapter 74: Is It the Same the Other Way Around?

The process of carrying out missions was both thrilling and monotonous.

For Su Ming, Lei Hao, and Ye Bai, who had already experienced various missions over the past year, the day’s tasks felt somewhat dull.

After all, Ye Bai wouldn’t casually accept overly dangerous, high-difficulty missions. The five tasks he selected had a maximum difficulty of only C-Rank, which were quite manageable for Su Ming’s team.

Thus, Su Ming, Lei Hao, and Ye Bai didn’t find any issues with the day’s missions—they handled them with ease, though a sense of tedium was inevitable.

Of course, for An Zijin, Jiang Wanyu, and Yao Beibei, the day’s missions were thrilling.

They were still freshmen with much experience to accumulate. During the missions, Su Ming and the others generously taught them various experiences and techniques, greatly benefiting these adorable juniors.

At the very least, Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei had already learned to maintain their composure when dealing with Phantom Demons, while An Zijin had refined her skills in using Spirit Art. Their performance had undoubtedly improved significantly compared to the previous day.

With their inherently high talent, once their experience and mindset improved, their progress naturally surged. The improvement was so evident that Lei Hao and Ye Bai repeatedly exclaimed that their own performances and progress when they first started taking missions couldn’t compare to these three juniors.

With such benefits, An Zijin and the others naturally didn’t feel the missions were as tedious as Su Ming’s group did. Instead, they were highly motivated and far more proactive than Su Ming and his companions.

Thanks to this, by around 3 p.m., Su Ming’s team had completed all five missions they had taken.

After a brief discussion, they decided to return to the Academy District and take on two more missions.

Although, at this time of day, the remaining missions were likely to be more challenging, it was still better than wasting the remaining time.

Thus, the six of them returned to the Academy District and accepted two C-Rank subjugation missions.

The process was more perilous than before, but fortunately, it was uneventful, and Su Ming’s team of six completed the missions smoothly.

By the time both missions were finished, the sky had gradually darkened.

The six of them returned to the Academy District quite satisfied, just like the previous day, feasting heartily in the cafeteria of the office building and beginning to tally their rewards.

Over the entire day, with a total of seven missions, Su Ming’s team earned nearly 80,000 contribution points.

Dividing these points equally, each person received over 10,000 contribution points, not to mention the earnings from the previous day.

Thus, Su Ming’s team effortlessly met the Academy’s requirements, with no further worries about expulsion or similar issues.

“The Academy’s requirements aren’t actually too difficult. Otherwise, who knows how many talents would be lost,” Su Ming thought to himself.

He made some inquiries and found that at least eighty percent of the teams had already met the Academy’s requirements on this very day.The remaining twenty percent were either weak teams with the lowest grades in the Academy, who had been taking very low-difficulty missions over the past two days, resulting in their contribution points failing to meet the standard, or teams that encountered issues such as uneven distribution, conflicts among squad members affecting mission execution, unexpected failures during missions, or injuries, which prevented their contribution points from reaching the required level.

Among them, there were even cases where members tragically lost their lives during missions, or where major errors in the team’s strategy led to the entire squad being disciplined by the Academy, making it impossible for them to remain in Huaming District any longer.

When they learned of these incidents, the three junior female students fell silent, and the joy and sense of fulfillment they had felt after a day of missions vanished completely.

It was only at this moment that they realized—this could cost people their lives.

They were not Phantom Demons capable of regenerating at any time and place, but inherently fragile humans. A single mistake or encounter with danger could mean losing their lives.

This was the truest face of the world, its most brutal reality.

“Don’t overthink it.”

“Their downfall was partly their own fault.”

Lei Hao and Ye Bai offered a few words of comfort to An Zijin and the other two.

Their reasoning was not without merit.

The missions available to students of their Rank were not particularly high in difficulty to begin with. Only the most dangerous missions, such as S-Rank and A-Rank Missions, which were reserved for top-tier and elite students with strength comparable to professional-level fighters, posed significant risks. Missions of other Ranks were generally designed not to exceed what students could handle.

Take Su Ming’s squad, for example. On the surface, it consisted of three average students with middling grades and three freshmen who had just enrolled. Such a lineup could hardly be considered top-tier among the many student squads—not even average, at best lower-middle tier.

Yet even so, Su Ming and his team of six could easily handle C-Rank difficulty missions. If they pushed themselves, they could probably even complete B-Rank difficulty missions.

Under such circumstances, what danger could there possibly be in carrying out the lowest-difficulty missions?

The Academy had no intention of sending its hard-trained talents to their deaths. Why would it assign impossible, dangerous missions to a group of students?

Given this, if someone still died during a mission, there were only two possible reasons:

First: An unforeseeable major accident occurred, such as misjudging the strength of the target or stumbling upon other Phantom Demons.

Second: The squad itself had significant, undeniable issues.

In today’s Huaming District, which has been developed as a military base with measures and intelligence raised to the highest level in every aspect, the first reason is almost impossible. Even if it did occur, it would be detected and dealt with immediately.

Thus, excluding problems caused by the first reason, only the second reason remains.

Su Ming stated this plainly.”Among the three squads that suffered casualties today, two were due to overestimating their capabilities and taking on missions beyond their skill level, leading to this tragic outcome. The third squad had severe internal conflicts—during critical moments, teammates not only failed to assist but actively sabotaged each other. The severity of this situation warrants expulsion from the Academy for those involved.”

If this wasn’t self-inflicted, then what could it be?

Hearing such consolation, the three junior female students finally regained some composure.

“No matter what, I’ll protect Zijin.”

“Yes, we’ll take responsibility for little Zijin’s safety.”

Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei seemed to solidify their resolve, both tightening their small fists.

Unfortunately…

“I have Brother Su Ming to protect me, so it’s fine.”

An Zijin’s innocent remark nearly broke the two girls’ composure on the spot.

Sensing that continuing this topic would put him in an unfavorable position, Su Ming quickly changed the subject.

“We can’t afford to be careless either. This is just the beginning. When the Spirit Demon Abyss entrance opens tomorrow, that will be our real test.”

Su Ming’s words successfully captured everyone’s attention.

Ye Bai then spoke up.

“The Academy has already announced that tomorrow’s mission assignments will be significantly reduced, replaced instead by numerous defense line tasks.”

So-called defense line tasks involved going to specific locations to defend against Phantom Demons appearing there.

The Academy would set difficulty levels for defense tasks based on each location’s strategic importance. Squads accepting these tasks would earn contribution points corresponding to the difficulty level by stationing at designated defense lines.

Additionally, based on factors like the number and Rank of Phantom Demons eliminated, as well as overall performance during defense missions, the Academy would award extra contribution points as bonuses.

“I’ve heard that performance in defense line tasks could even affect our year-end assessments and personal evaluations. Outstanding performers would receive bonus points in both year-end and future graduation assessments. That’s why the Academy requires every squad to accept defense line tasks—failure to do so would be treated as desertion, resulting in zeroed contribution points and additional penalties.”

Lei Hao supplemented this intelligence.

“So we have to accept defense line tasks tomorrow too?”

Jiang Wanyu grasped the implication.

“Indeed, if we don’t participate in the upcoming battle, there would be no reason for us to have been deployed here.”

Yao Beibei also murmured quietly.

“No wonder so many senior sisters contacted me today, telling me to find a remote defense line to hide in tomorrow.”

While having this realization, An Zijin unintentionally showcased her popularity once again.

Su Ming, however, was more concerned about the victory conditions for the impending battle.

The failure condition was obvious—if the Huaming District defense line was breached, allowing Phantom Demon hordes to invade Longyao City’s urban areas and wreak havoc, the Base City would fall completely.

But what constituted victory?

They couldn’t possibly keep defending against Phantom Demon invasions indefinitely, could they?

That would be an endless struggle.

After all, the Spirit Demon Abyss, as the world’s reverse side, was just as vast as the surface world.However, the area of the ocean in the Spirit Demon Abyss does not seem as vast as in the present world—likely not even half the size of the land—resulting in an extremely high number of Phantom Demons.

Especially the lower-ranked Phantom Demons, which are referred to as “small fry,” partly due to their strength but also because of their sheer numbers.

By conservative estimates, the number of Phantom Demons in the Spirit Demon Abyss is no less than the total number of species in the present world, and may even exceed it.

Note, it is not just no fewer than the human population, but no fewer than the combined total of all species worldwide.

This is a quantity so immense that even using “billions” as a unit of measurement feels inadequate.

Perhaps the number of Phantom Demons breaking into the present world through this entrance won’t be that high, but as long as the entrance remains open, the invasion of Phantom Demons will be endless.

If we keep guarding it like this, when will it ever end?

Considering this, Su Ming felt it necessary to look into the inside story.

“Should I ask that Young Miss about it?”

Su Ming couldn’t help but hesitate over the matter.

The moment he thought of Xu Qianqian, he was reminded of how she had risked her life to save him the previous night.

Then, Su Ming felt a strange sensation in his heart.

This left him somewhat flustered.

“If a hero saving a beauty can make the beauty fall for the hero, does it work the other way around too?”

With this thought, Su Ming froze on the spot.

(End of Chapter)