Chapter 158: So We Skipped Straight to Hell Mode?

“I remember now!”

A jolt shot through Celeste’s heart, her internal monologue screaming.

‘The system prompt! Back then, it said the purification was completed in Hard Mode!”So, the normal way to do this is to run around doing a bunch of prerequisite quests, whittle the boss down to a sliver of health, and then go for the kill?”Isn’t that just Easy Mode?”Did we just… start the game without reading a single guide, accidentally pick Hell difficulty, and then brute-force our way through the whole thing?’

Despite the turbulent drama unfolding in her mind, Celeste’s face remained a perfect mask of guileless innocence.

This look—a pristine tableau of “I don’t know anything, I’m just a pure and innocent new student”—became the final siege weapon to breach the crumbling walls of Chen Jing’s psychological defenses.

The instructor’s gaze flickered from Celeste to the other three, who all wore similarly blank expressions that screamed, “We’re just tagging along with our captain.”

A deep, soul-crushing helplessness seized her. She felt like she wasn’t talking to four students, but attempting to communicate with four entities from another dimension, beings who defied all conventional logic. Their thought processes simply weren’t on the same frequency as normal humans.

She leaned back heavily in her chair, her body slumping as if the bones had turned to jelly. Closing her eyes, she pressed her fingertips hard against her throbbing temples. After running in overdrive for so long, her brain was left with nothing but a sharp, high-pitched ringing.

In all her years as an instructor at the special training camp, she had seen them all: the stubborn, the reckless, and those blessed with heaven-defying luck.

But she had never, ever seen anyone as utterly, bafflingly outrageous as Celeste’s team.

“It’s not like no one has considered forcibly purifying a secret realm core at full strength,” Chen Jing finally said after a long silence. She let out a sigh that seemed to carry a lifetime’s worth of shock.

When she opened her eyes again, the bewilderment had settled into a state of resigned, almost zen-like calmness.

“Theoretically, if you send a team of mid-tier powerhouses, average level 40 or higher, into a Domain of this level—around level 20—it’s possible. But that’s like using an anti-aircraft cannon to swat a mosquito. The cost is absurd, and the gains are minimal. Who would even do that?”

At this, her gaze refocused on Celeste and her three companions, her expression identical to someone staring at four mosquitoes that had just caught anti-aircraft shells in their mouths.

“But you… four new students, not even level 30… you just went and did it?”

This wasn’t just a dimensional takedown.

This was flipping the entire goddamn table from another dimension.

It was like you were painstakingly studying deck-building and combo execution, only for the player across from you to pull out an anti-materiel sniper rifle and blast you, the cards, and the table into the stratosphere.

She waved a hand listlessly. “I get it.”

She had completely, utterly given up on trying to understand the minds of these four little monsters.

“Regardless of how you did it, the result is good,” Chen Jing said, her voice hollow with exhaustion. “The Domain was successfully purified and restored, and your team’s performance… was perfect.”

As she forced out the word “perfect,” a muscle in her jaw twitched. Perfect? This was outrageous! But looking at the final report, the results were, infuriatingly, impeccably perfect.

“Do you know?” Chen Jing looked at them, her expression turning complex. “A total of eleven teams entered the ‘Shattered Covenant’ Domain for this special training camp. You are the last team to return.”

“Most of the other teams were randomly teleported to various corners of the Human Kingdom after entering. One unlucky group was even thrown directly onto the border of the Orc Wasteland and had to fight for their lives from the get-go. They never even got close to the Elven territories, let alone the core plot.”

“The majority of them struggled for a few days, found themselves completely lost with no leads, ran into one disaster after another, and finally had to crush their emergency talismans to exit early.”

At this point, Chen Jing couldn’t help but stare at Celeste’s team again. It was as if all the good luck in the entire Domain had been vacuumed up by these four. They encountered key NPCs right at the start, were brought directly into the core faction, steamrolled their way through every obstacle, and ultimately walked away with an SSS-rank perfect evaluation.

You couldn’t write this shit in a novel; the editor would fire you for making the plot too convenient.

“Teacher, then the other teams…” Xia Lian asked, a hint of concern in her voice.

“Rest assured, they all returned safely, just a bit battered and dusty,” Chen Jing comforted her. “Compared to you, what they experienced was normal Domain survival.”

Selene muttered quietly from the side, “We were surviving, too. We had to beg my sister to cook for us every day…”

Chen Jing pretended not to hear. She was far too tired to pursue any detail that might make her blood pressure spike again.

“In any case, you have performed a great service this time.” Chen Jing forced herself to rally, squeezing out a smile so strained it looked more like a grimace. “Successfully purifying and restoring a large-scale Domain is an extremely outstanding achievement, even among all the special training camps across the nation’s universities. The school will definitely give you the most generous rewards.”

She opened her personal terminal, her fingers flying across the holographic screen.

“First, credits. As a reward for the perfect purification of the Domain, each member of your team will receive 10,000 credits.”

The office fell silent.

Selene blinked, her long lashes fluttering, and was the first to raise her hand. “Teacher, um… what are credits? Can you eat them?”

Su Wan and Xia Lian cast equally bewildered gazes, their expressions mirroring Selene’s cluelessness.

The smile on Chen Jing’s face froze solid. She could feel the needle on her internal blood pressure monitor begin to wobble dangerously.

“You can’t eat them!” she roared, slamming her hand on the table with a loud crack that echoed in the quiet room. Her voice jumped an octave. “Credits are the hard currency of our Tianshu University! They are money! They are life! Do you understand?!”

Staring at the four heads nodding with only a vague glimmer of understanding, Chen Jing felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her. She stood up, a desperate, almost manic glint in her eyes as words began pouring out of her at high speed.

“With credits, you can go to the school’s logistics treasury and redeem everything you can possibly imagine!”

“High-quality Epic equipment!”

“Rare skill books that you can’t find on the open market!”

“Heaven-defying treasures and legendary materials that can help you break through your limits!”

“You can even use credits to purchase time in the ‘Time Cultivation Ground,’ where one day of training is worth ten days outside!”

Comprehension finally dawned on the four of them. Their eyes lit up in unison, as if the gates to a dazzling treasure vault had just swung open before them.

10,000 credits! That sounded like a lot of good stuff!

“Your contribution this time is far more than just purifying a Domain,” Chen Jing continued, her expression suddenly turning serious. “At the opening ceremony, the principal can passionately share your story with all the new students! ‘A team of freshmen who, facing a desperate situation, refused to give up! Relying on their superior wisdom, firm courage, and seamless teamwork, they ultimately created a miracle!’ How inspiring is that!”

She paused, then added with a sly grin, “As for the minor details… like how you steamrolled your way through with combat power comparable to high-tier professionals… well, a little creative license is always necessary for a good story.”

Celeste and the others exchanged glances. “…”

‘Is that how that works?”We’re… inspirational story protagonists now?’

The more Chen Jing spoke, the more excited she became. The exhaustion on her face was swept away, replaced by a nearly fanatical glow.

“Those smug bastards from Jingcheng University! Remember how one of their freshmen got an A+ evaluation last year? They paraded that around for a whole year!” she seethed. “This year, I’m going to slap this SSS-rank perfect evaluation report right in their faces! Let them see what a true child of heaven looks like!”

Watching Chen Jing’s triumphant expression, as if she could already taste the delicious tears of her arch-rivals, Celeste and the others looked at each other, the same bewildered thought in their minds.

Are we… really that amazing?

Amazing enough to be the school’s new mascot and a strategic weapon for flexing on other universities?

“In any case, you have performed a great service,” Chen Jing said, her gaze finally landing on Celeste, her eyes filled with genuine appreciation. “Especially you, Celeste. As the captain, the decision-making and leadership you displayed were outstanding. Although your fighting style… well, it has a very personal touch, the results speak for themselves.”

“I will compile your report and submit it. I believe the school’s higher-ups will have further commendations for you soon.”

She paused, her tone finally softening. “Alright, you must be tired. Go back and get some good rest. There are no other arrangements for now; I’ll give you a break to readjust.”

“Thank you, teacher!” the four replied in unison.

Walking out of the office and into the warm afternoon sun, Selene still felt a bit dizzy.

“Sister, am I dreaming? 10,000 credits? Does this mean we’re ten-thousandaires now?”

“Have some ambition,” Celeste said, patting her head. “This is just the tutorial cash. Our goal is to break the game.”

She was already running the numbers, plotting how to best spend this sudden windfall.

‘Time Cultivation Ground, one day is worth ten days?’she thought.’That’s a must. I need to level up fast. My base combat power is still a little weak when I’m not using a character card.”And I should check out the school treasury. See if they have any fun skills or equipment to play with.’

Watching the pair of sisters ahead, already deep in discussion about their spending spree, Su Wan and Xia Lian looked at each other and smiled. The joy on their faces was impossible to contain.

This trip to the Domain had been an utterly outrageous ordeal, but the rewards were truly immense.

A thought sparked between them, unspoken but perfectly understood.

‘Maybe we should make this team permanent.’

[Elysian’s Note: Having a good time with the story? Every single bit helps immensely: