"Ah!"
With a miserable scream, the NPC warrior died right in front of Mufeng.
Three elite white wolves, glaring with bloodthirsty red eyes, turned their gaze toward Mufeng, who was hiding defensively in the back and had been continuously casting healing spells on the warrior. They bared their fangs and let out a savage, terrifying snarl.
Mufeng couldn't help feeling a surge of despair. He was merely a Tier 0 healer who hadn't even undergone official class advancement. He knew only the most basic Healing Spell and possessed no offensive skills whatsoever—a fragile weakling. How was he supposed to fight these three elite monsters head-on?
At the very beginning of the class advancement trial dungeon, relying on his gaming experience from his past life, he had led the NPC warrior to aggressively pull monsters and clear the area. Eventually, he found advantageous terrain for positioning and devised an optimal strategy to pull and grind the boss.
Alas, the gap in raw power was simply too vast. Each of these three elite monsters far outclassed the warrior, rendering any tactical positioning useless. The three beasts took turns attacking, and his healing output was simply not enough to keep the warrior alive.
Now, with the warrior no longer standing as a shield in front, Mufeng was moments away from being instantly killed.
A flurry of thoughts flashed through his mind as he recalled everything that had happened within just a few hours of transmigrating into this world.
...
"Alright, that concludes today's lesson. The first semester of senior high is coming to an end, and time waits for no one. Next year, you will all enter your final year and prepare for the national college entrance examinations. I hope you will all seize the time to study and not waste these wonderful years."
Having transmigrated in a daze and just finished absorbing the memories in his head, Mufeng heard the homeroom teacher on the podium speaking words that felt familiar in both worlds.
His nerves instantly tightened. What? Another college entrance exam?
"This afternoon, our classmate Mufeng will challenge the class advancement trial dungeon. Here, let us all wish Mufeng a smooth completion of the trial and a successful class advancement."
Oh, so he had transmigrated into an urban high-martial-arts world. That was fine. As a transmigrator, successfully changing classes wasn't just basic procedure?
As soon as the teacher finished speaking, the entire classroom burst into laughter, and a few students even howled loudly.
No matter how one looked at it, the students' reactions didn't look like well-wishes.
What was going on? The script was wrong?
"What are you making a fuss about?" Unable to watch any longer, the teacher stopped the commotion and continued, "Although Mufeng choosing the Nightmare-difficulty trial is indeed somewhat inappropriate, I believe this is a personal choice. From another perspective, it also shows that Mufeng has admirable courage."
"Of course, I am not encouraging everyone to choose Nightmare-difficulty trials in the future; it's best to act according to your abilities. After all, if the dungeon fails, you have to pay a one-million-credit penalty for the Nightmare-difficulty dungeon. That is not something an ordinary family can afford."
At this point, the teacher's expression turned serious as he looked at Mufeng and said, "It's almost time. You don't need to attend the rest of today's classes; set off now. Remember to know your limits—after all, you only have one life. If there is danger, decisively admit defeat. Although you will have to pay a huge fee, as long as you're alive, there is still hope for the future."
With a stiff expression, Mufeng nodded at the homeroom teacher and began packing his things to leave.
After integrating the memories, he mentally complained with a frantic inner monologue: He had only just arrived here, and already he had to clean up the mess left by the original owner.
The original owner was also named Mufeng, born into an ordinary family. His father had disappeared five years ago, leaving behind his mother, who earned a monthly salary of 3,500 and raised their three children alone.
Mufeng had an older sister, Muxue, and a younger sister, Muyun. Since childhood, his elder sister had been both a goddess and a top student, while Mufeng and Muyun were entirely ordinary—or rather, calling them "ordinary" was almost an insult to the word.
The family had barely scraped by until two years ago, when his sister Muxue awakened an epic-level skill, successfully challenged the Nightmare-difficulty trial dungeon, and advanced into the top-tier Hero Class—Space-Mage. She could truly be called a favored daughter of the heavens.
Shortly after, she was specially recruited by Imperial Capital University, and the family's life finally began to improve.
However, Mufeng's ego began to inflate. He hung out with a bad crowd of sycophants, boasting and chatting idly all day long, believing that whatever his sister could do, he could do too, and that he would soar to success sooner or later.
Yesterday morning, Muxue had brought home a bottle of precious awakening potion for Mufeng to take, but she had to go to the Governor-Mansion first on business.
After taking it, Mufeng awakened the most ordinary Healing Spell. Egged on by people with ulterior motives, he chose to challenge the Nightmare-difficulty dungeon, intending to defy the heavens and change his destiny.
He had wanted to complete his class advancement in one go, but it happened that the materials for the Nightmare dungeon were out of stock, so he was told to return the next day—which was today—to take the challenge.
The state encouraged commoners to advance classes, stipulating that everyone's first class advancement dungeon was free.
However, the cost of a Nightmare-difficulty dungeon was far higher than that of an ordinary dungeon. Therefore, the rule stated that if one chose a dungeon of Nightmare difficulty or higher for the first time and succeeded, it would still be free. But if they failed, they had to pay a one-million-credit cost fee before they could open the next class advancement dungeon.
The news that Mufeng had chosen a Nightmare-difficulty dungeon spread to the school, leading to the scene just now, where everyone mockingly or unintentionally ridiculed him for overestimating his capabilities.
At that moment, the rich second-generation heir Xie Dahaio walked over with a few followers and said with a hearty laugh, "Mufeng, don't listen to their nonsense. Isn't it just a Nightmare-difficulty dungeon? With your skills, it's a piece of cake."
His lackeys chimed in as well, "Exactly! You're so powerful, Mufeng; only Nightmare difficulty is worthy of your future."
On the surface, Xie Dahaio was the original Mufeng's closest friend, seemingly making a deliberate effort to get close to him, catering to his preferences and constantly inflating the original Mufeng's ego—including instigating this choice of Nightmare difficulty.
His motive was easy to guess: Mufeng himself was completely worthless, and the only thing worth scheming against was his sister Muxue.
Having accepted the memories, Mufeng's mature mindset easily saw through the trickery. He was well aware of Xie Dahaio's petty maneuvers and couldn't be bothered to engage with him.
Noticing that Mufeng was somewhat indifferent toward him today, not bragging as usual, Xie Dahaio purposely stepped closer and whispered in a low voice:
"Your sister went out overnight yesterday to find my older brother, asking to borrow a set of Tier 0 beginner equipment specifically for class advancement from our family. With this gear, you'll be like a tiger that has grown wings. Let me warn you, though, don't break this equipment, or you won't be able to afford the compensation."
Hearing this, Mufeng felt a pang in his heart. Thinking of that stunning figure lowering her pride time and again to clean up his messes, he burned with anxiety, pushed Xie Dahaio aside, and strode toward the school gates.
"Brother Dahaio, this kid is getting more and more arrogant. Now he even dares to ignore you. Should I go teach him a lesson?"
Seeing Mufeng behave rudely toward Xie Dahaio, the lackey behind him dropped his previous ingratiating expression and cried out indignantly.
Xie Dahaio also put away his look of surprise. To be honest, today's Mufeng was a bit abnormal, but he didn't really care. He was just an arrogant weakling; if not for his own ulterior motives, he wouldn't have given someone like Mufeng a second look.
Shaking his head, Xie Dahaio wore a sneer and said to his lackeys, "Heh, you don't understand. Let this kid be smug for a few more days; there will come a time when he'll be crying."