At the dungeon entrance.
Following the sudden anomalies on the dungeon's light barrier, along with the eruption and transformation of the dark red pillar of light, the onlookers gathered around instantly stirred into an excited commotion, buzzing with animated discussion.
"Holy shit! Brothers, am I seeing things? The Ca... Calamity Level dungeon has been cleared?"
"I must still be half-asleep. A dungeon difficulty that the academy has never managed to clear in all these years has actually been beaten? And by just one person? No, I'm going back to catch some more sleep, I can't be daydreaming like this in broad daylight."
"Could there be a bug in the dungeon? How is this even possible? How could a single person clear a Calamity Level dungeon? You might as well tell me Teacher Sanshang has retired, I'd sooner believe that."
...
"Brothers, don't you think the name 'Qin Chen' up there looks a bit familiar? I feel like I've heard it somewhere before."
"Qin Chen? I remember now, isn't he our former top student of the year? No wonder it looked so familiar."
"What the hell, it's actually him? But didn't they say he awakened some trash Mage class, completely ruining his future? Why is he showing up here?"
"Could the rumors be wrong? After all, a rumor repeated three times becomes truth—maybe Qin Chen actually awakened a super rare hidden class, and people just misunderstood and spread false stories."
"Put that way, it kind of makes sense."
"Makes sense my ass! Even if he's the top student and awakened a hidden class, you tell me how single-handedly plowing through a Calamity Level dungeon is normal in any way?"
The crowd discussed it with extraordinary fervor.
Meanwhile, standing in the middle of the crowd, Zhou Tianqi turned deathly pale. He looked as though all his strength had been drained, staring listlessly at the two golden characters "Qin Chen" gleaming on the dungeon light barrier.
His mind was filled with the words: "Impossible!" and "How could this be?"
His bizarre behavior felt completely out of place with the surrounding onlookers, making him look like someone isolated in an entirely different world.
People watching the spectacle occasionally swept their gazes over Zhou Tianqi, their expressions a mix of pity, contempt, schadenfreude, and a desire to see the world burn—all sorts of reactions.
Out of everyone in the world, why pick the top student of the year to try and rival?
In their eyes, Zhou Tianqi's behavior was just like that of a minor villainous extra at the start of a story, casually toyed with by the protagonist Long Aotian, destined to be stepped on underfoot.
Just as everyone was lost in their own thoughts, another dark red pillar of light erupted from the dungeon.
It instantly drew everyone's gaze.
Amidst a spinning blur, Qin Chen's figure reappeared at the dungeon entrance.
He paused for a moment to steady himself before recovering.
This prompted him to mentally complain—whoever designed this dungeon had no sense of design whatsoever; couldn't they make the experience just a little bit better?
Every time he was teleported through a dungeon it felt like riding a roller coaster, leaving him dizzy and lightheaded.
He raised his head to look around.
Only to find the dungeon entrance packed with a dense crowd of people, all of them staring fixedly at the newly appeared Qin Chen as if looking at a monster.
Qin Chen was startled.
What's going on here?
In his memory, there hadn't been nearly this many people by the dungeon entrance—how did so many suddenly pop up?
Did some major event happen?
And why were these people looking at him with such strange gazes?
Qin Chen's mind churned with confusion, completely at a loss.
At that moment, the enforcement teacher in charge of the dungeon was the first to react. He hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed Qin Chen.
"Hello there, student. Your name is Qin Chen, right?"
"Ye... Yes, I am. What is it, Teacher?"
Recognizing the man before him as the duty teacher overseeing the dungeon, Qin Chen asked with a curious look.
"Ah, well, it's like this. With the college entrance examination coming up soon for you, don't you still need a mentor teacher to help oversee your daily cultivation and studies? I think I could step in and handle that."
The enforcement teacher gazed at Qin Chen with burning eyes, as if looking at a chest full of gold and jewels.
High school seniors approaching the college entrance examination usually looked for a familiar academy teacher to act as their mentor teacher, responsible for assisting with daily cultivation, devising a comprehensive plan, and doing everything possible to boost their strength in order to secure a top ranking in the exams.
Moreover, having a good mentor teacher was critically important; they needed rich practical and theoretical experience, as well as a strong sense of responsibility, which would be an immense help to a student's growth in strength.
"A mentor teacher?"
Qin Chen's expression turned somewhat peculiar. He genuinely hadn't considered that.
Because he had previously awakened only a Mage class with mediocre occupational talent, his hopes of succeeding in the college entrance exam were extremely slim. Consequently, none of the good mentor teachers had bothered to pick him.
And Qin Chen hadn't cared.
After all, the world was often just that realistic.
Good students were naturally favored by teachers; there was no point wasting time on a student with poor potential and aptitude like him.
Yet he never expected that someone would now take the initiative to become his mentor teacher.
Seeing Qin Chen's hesitant expression, the enforcement teacher felt a trace of anxiety rise in his heart.
If such a peerless genius were snatched away by someone else, that would be a complete disaster.
He had to get close before anyone else, seizing the opportunity before the other teachers caught on.
After all, this was a stellar track record, and students and teachers were mutually beneficial.
If a student made a name for themselves, it was a source of immense pride for the teacher, greatly spreading their reputation as an educator.
Even when dining with old classmates or friends in the future, he could brag a little at the dinner table.
*That so-and-so was actually a student I trained myself.*
With this thought, a flash of determination crossed his mind, and an overwhelming aura suddenly erupted from his entire body.
A startling pressure surged across the surrounding area.
"Whoa!"
"It's a Tier 3 powerhouse!"
The sudden burst of aura from the enforcement teacher instantly elicited gasps of shock from the surrounding onlookers.
They hadn't expected this plain-looking enforcement teacher to actually be a Tier 3 powerhouse.
Espers generally underwent class awakening after reaching Level 30, advancing into Tier 3 powerhouses, but the difficulty of awakening was immensely high, and many geniuses became stuck at this stage.
And awakening was precisely the defining marker that separated the strong from the weak.
Once an Esper awakened, their strength underwent a qualitative transformation.
With a casual strike, they possessed power capable of destroying heaven and earth.
Only Tier 3 powerhouses constituted the backbone forces fighting against the Fierce Beasts from beyond the territories.
Seeing the astonished expressions of the people around him, a hint of smugness flashed across the enforcement teacher's face, and he quickly turned his gaze back to Qin Chen.
"That should rattle you, right?"
Things developed precisely as he expected.
Upon learning that the enforcement teacher was actually a Tier 3 awakened powerhouse, Qin Chen's face showed a trace of shock.
Followed by a moment of dazed bewilderment in his heart.
A Tier 3 awakened powerhouse was actually taking the initiative to ask to be his mentor teacher.
One had to know that if a Tier 3 awakened powerhouse ever expressed a desire to take on students, it would inevitably cause a massive sensation.
Countless students and parents would undoubtedly rush forward, eager to seize the opportunity.
They wouldn't even care if they had to put a hot face against a cold backside.
After all, a strong expert made the best teacher—that was an eternal, unchanging truth.
Qin Chen's face revealed a hint of hesitation.
Having a Tier 3 awakened powerhouse as his mentor teacher would indeed provide a massive boost to his growth in strength.
Just as Qin Chen was thinking about accepting, several powerful auras abruptly swept across the surrounding area.
Then, a few formidable figures were seen soaring through the air, arriving at the dungeon entrance.
Among them was none other than the school's principal.