While the university entrance exam was conducted across the twelve major cities in the Eastern Alliance Country, trouble was brewing in the other cities.

Martha, Carrie, and Deborah stood outside the examination venue, waiting in tense silence for the exam to end.

Inside the venue, students who had been killed within the portal began to emerge one by one.

Though they were not truly dead, the injuries they had sustained still clung to them even after they stepped out.

The medical team, along with multiple variants with healing abilities, worked tirelessly without rest.

Inside the venue building, Joseph Milroy, appointed as the examiner for Maroon City, sat in his room, leisurely sipping his coffee.

Suddenly, the door burst open with a loud bang, and two variants stepped inside nervously.

Joseph took another slow sip before speaking. "Don’t you have manners? You should knock before entering. And why so tense?"

Both of them lowered their heads. "Sorry for the interruption, Captain. An urgent message just came through."

Joseph placed his cup on the table. "It better be worth stopping me from enjoying my coffee." It was evident they were his subordinates.

One of them stepped forward. "Captain, A-level monsters are attacking multiple cities across the Eastern Alliance."

"What?" Joseph rose from his seat at once. "How could that happen?"

"We... we don’t know, captain. They just appeared out of nowhere."

Joseph slammed the table with such force that it completely shattered, with coffee spilling across the floor. "Do you even understand what you’re saying? Those are A-level monsters, not some goblins or lizard men. How could they appear out of nowhere? Are they monsters or magicians?"

The two subordinates lowered their heads, unable to respond.

"There’s no point arguing with you." Pulling out his phone, he started dialing a number to verify the situation.

Five minutes later, he looked at them again. "It seems fifteen cities across the country have been attacked. The closest one being Mellow City."

He checked the time. "Stop the exam immediately. We depart for Mellow City in half an hour."

"Sir, there’s still time left for the exam to be finished."

Joseph’s gaze turned cold. "Do you think the exam is more important than people’s lives?"

"No, sir."

"Then do as I said."

After they left, Joseph turned toward the window, his expression darkening.

"What the hell is happening?"

***

An hour earlier, in Mellow City at the Variant Association, Lima was in her office, occupied with her routine work.

With Li Haoran, the chief of the branch, having left for Central City on an urgent matter, the burden on Lima had only grown heavier.

Suddenly without warning, alarms blared across the entire building. Lima rose from her chair and made her way to the surveillance room to assess the situation.

Multiple screens filled the room, each displaying different parts of the city under attack by monsters.

"What happened?" she demanded with sharp authority.

One of the staff members stood at once and bowed. "Ma’am, monsters have suddenly begun attacking the city."

"Do you think I can’t see that? I’m asking how?"

"We still don’t know the cause, ma’am. We’re investigating it now."

"Dispatch the variants immediately to contain them."

"Ma’am, the top variants have already been assigned to the cities were the examinations are taking place. Only low-level ones are available at the moment."

"They are still variants, aren’t they?"

"Yes, ma’am," he said, lowering his head.

"Then send them. Tell them to save as many as possible and evacuate everyone to the shelter. Now."

Her gaze settled on one particular screen where a tree-like monster was steadily expanding, with unnatural speed.

"This is going to be troublesome."

***

Back inside the portal, Zac faced the only C-rank monster within, standing before the beast with nothing but a broken sword in hand.

Name: Armoured Rhinoceros 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Class: C-Rank

Race: Rhino (Mammal)

Strength: Defence and strength

Weakness: less intelligence

An hour earlier, while returning from the core zone, he had come across the rhinoceros. Sensing the overwhelming aura it exuded, he checked its details through the system and confirmed it as the sole C-rank monster in the area.

He could have avoided it with ease, yet the opportunity to increase his level was too valuable for him to ignore.

His first strike with the sword had ended poorly with the blade getting shattered on impact, unable to pierce the creature’s hide, which felt like impenetrable iron against a mere no-rank weapon.

Zac discarded the broken sword and fixed his gaze on the rhinoceros. "Do you think I can win this physically?"

[Only one way to find out.]

The rhinoceros charged like a war tank, tearing through the ground, while Zac lunged forward to meet it head-on.

Their clash was immediate and brutal.

The sheer force from the impact surged through Zac’s arms, nearly shattering his bones. He was hurled away like a ragdoll, crashing through multiple trees before coming to a halt.

After a moment, he pushed himself back to his feet.

[Agreed. A frontal assault was a stupid idea.]

"For an information system, you act like a complete idiot sometimes," Zac muttered, brushing the dirt off his clothes.

[A system is as good as its host.]

The rhinoceros charged again.

"If strength won’t work... then I’ll use speed."

[A reasonable strategy.]

"Just shut up."

Zac vanished from his position and reappeared at the beast’s left, delivering a heavy punch to its head. As it turned to the left, he disappeared again, striking from the right with another blow.

"Even though my punches land, they lack the impact I need."

Without hesitation, he activated his 4x Overdrive and instantly felt overwhelming power surging through his body.

"This feels amazing!"

[Oh yeah.]

"Yes."

[Good. Now stop giving me that Ahegao face and finish the fight.]

With his speed and strength amplified fourfold, he drove his fist straight into the beast’s left eye.

The impact shattered it instantly, and the rhinoceros let out a violent cry, stumbling in pain. Zac gave it no time to recover.

He moved again and struck the other eye, blinding it completely. The beast thrashed wildly, tearing through trees and stones in its frenzy.

With his speed and strength amplified, Zac unleashed a relentless barrage of punches, each one crashing against its head with unyielding force.

The battle dragged on for half an hour before the rhinoceros finally collapsed, its massive body crashing to the ground in defeat.

[+1 Armored rhinoceros killed]

[+1 level]

"System, show me my stat... What’s happening?" Before he could finish speaking, his entire body dissolved into golden sparks and disappeared.

***

When he opened his eyes again and found himself standing back in the examination area among the other students.

He asked inwardly, "Have twelve hours already passed?"

[No. There is still time remaining. And do you take me for a clock? Don’t ask such pointless questions.]

The other students around him looked equally confused. Joseph Milroy stepped onto the stage and began to speak.

"Due to a sudden emergency, we were forced to end your examination earlier than scheduled. On behalf of the association, I apologize. All injured students are to proceed to the healing area for treatment. Once finished, remain within the city until further notice."

A student suddenly raised his hand. "Then how are you going to score us?"

"Things like that will be notified shortly." And no more questions."

With that, he left the stage in haste.

Zac immediately began searching for Marty, and after five minutes of scanning through the crowd, he finally spotted him.

To his surprise, Marty was completely unharmed with a bright smile spread across his face.

He rushed toward Zac and pulled him into a bear hug, but before he could say anything, Zac told him to head outside and wait with their family.

Though confused, Marty agreed and left.

Zac made his way to the office and collected his belongings before entering a restroom, activating his VSB to contact Lima.

Despite several attempts, there was no response.

"Why isn’t she responding?" Just as he was about to close the VSB, an emergency alert began flashing at the top corner of the screen.

"What could it be?" Without hesitation, he opened it.

Emergency notice to all members of the Variant Association in the Eastern Alliance.

A report followed, detailing the sudden monster attacks across multiple cities, with Mellow City listed among the targets.

Without wasting a second, Zac rushed out of the examination venue and quickly took Marty and the others waiting for him back to the hotel they were staying in.