Chapter 168
When Juliette heard this, she widened her eyes slightly.
“Does she want me to leave Starr Training Camp?” she wondered.
Noting the woman’s hesitation, Oneida tightened her fingers around her neck.
A wave of suffocation overcame Juliette, prompting her to bob her head as fast she as could. “A–All right… I’ll do as you say. P–Please… spare me.”
She didn’t wish to die just yet.
Upon hearing this, Oneida released Juliette from her grip, turned on her heel, and left the tent,
On the other hand, Juliette, who remained frozen in place, fainted out of shock, her eyes rolling to the back of her head.
The next day, Juliette withdrew from the training camp. She had been triggered and that led her to become mentally unstable. Before long, the news spread like wildfire among the students.
No one knew what Juliette had experienced that triggered her and led to her mental breakdown.
But soon, everyone stopped talking about her and began their nerve–racking and exciting training life.
The Starr Training Camp officially began.
The night before, Curtis personally spoke for Oneida, which resulted in a big jump in the latter’s rank, from Rank C to Rank S.
She, along with Hendrick and Yelena, became the top 3 Rank S geniuses in the training.
The upcoming intensive training was nothing but learning and competition.
Curtis even personally came to the training camp to teach the students.
Apart from him, countless outstanding elites in the industry were also invited to be their teachers.
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During this period of time, Oneida and Hendrick were at the top of the pyramid, leaving everyone else in the dust.
No one could catch up to them.
Meanwhile, Matthias was promoted to Rank A, while Ruby was promoted to Rank B, narrowly avoiding elimination.
Finally, as the training camp neared its end, the students were required to take a closed training test.
The results of the closed training test would determine their final rank.
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Students who eventually received Rank S would not only graduate with the title of “Rank S Graduate” from Starr Training Camp but also receive numerous benefits provided by Curtis, such a generous award, an opportunity to intern in a world–class enterprise, gain attention from elite medal awarding organizations, and become a research candidate.
The last item on the list was what countless people dreamed of.
Suffice to say, the final test was of utmost importance.
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Current Rank S students would need to consolidate their positions, while Rank A and Rank B students would need to put in more effort to see they could turn the tables.
The final test took place in Misty Forest.
The forest was named Misty Forest because its outward appearance resembled an ordinary forest but in reality, it was more like a giant maze.
Being inside the forest, it was very easy to get lost.
The entire forest would be shrouded in a layer of thick and disorienting fog in the morning.
Before entering Misty Forest, everyone’s GPS devices and compasses were confiscated, leaving them with nothing but a communicati permitted communication with one another.
Furthermore, the teachers of the training camp provided everyone with some signal flares.
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If the students encountered dangers that they couldn’t resolve on their own or if they wanted to give up on the test, they could choose to launch a signal flare. Thereafter, someone would come to pick them up and lead them out of Misty Forest.
In this test, cach student was required to enter the forest and find the hidden gem. Once they retrieved the gem and returned with it, the test was considered completed.
The bigger the gem they found, the higher their score would be.
When everything was ready, all of the students gathered in front of the forest.
Some people were confused, some were afraid, some were nervous, and some were excited and eager to take on the challenge.
Oneida looked as calm as a millpond.
At this moment, what she was thinking about was not the test, but a person.
She was thinking about the person who broke her bow and hurt her horse on the first day of the training.
That person was quite smart. Perhaps afraid of being discovered, they didn’t stir trouble for her in the subsequent training.
After all, if they continued to harm her in secret, Oneida would find them out, sooner or later.
Alas, the person didn’t make another move ever since the incident on the first day.
Everything seemed to get more elusive and unclear.
Right then, Matthias’s voice sounded in her ears. “Oneida.”
He walked over to her with a black trekking bag on his back and said lightly, “Let’s go together.”
The teachers didn’t explicitly disallow students from forming a team. That was to say, the students could choose to act alone or in a team for this
final test.
Most of them immediately thought to seek out a more capable partner.
Therefore, Hendrick was surrounded by the crowd.
It was no surprise that many people wanted to team up with him.
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However, Hendrick shifted his gaze toward Oneida. When he noticed Matthias standing next to her, he quietly retracted his gaze.
In truth, he wanted to form a team with Oneida.
But since she already had a teammate, he quickly dropped the thought.
Then, Ruby ran over and hooked Oneida’s arm, pleading, “Oneida, you have to take me with you. I definitely won’t be able to complete the test by myself…”
Oneida nodded and did not reject the girl’s request.
There were many people who wanted to form a team with Oneida as well, as she was also considered a super genius like Hendrick. It was worth being on a team with her, too.
But when they saw Matthias and Ruby beside her, everyone immediately lost interest.
Ruby, in particular, was seen as a burden to any team.
The rest of the students did not want to enter a place like Misty Forest with a liability.
Therefore, Oneida ended up with only Matthias and Ruby as her teammates.
The trio slowly made their way into the forest.
At this time, the fog was at its thickest.
It was like a barrier, isolating people from each other.
Hence, everyone could hardly see their teammates around them.
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“Can you guys hear my voice?” Oneida was completely unfazed by the fog and continued walking straight ahead. Because she couldn’t see the
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people around her, she could only use her hearing to determine where Matthias and Ruby were.
“Yes,” came Matthias’s response that sounded like it came from the right.
“I can hear you, Oneida. It’s so scary here…” On the other hand, Ruby’s voice sounded like it came from behind Oneida, on the left.
Oneida took out a bell from her pocket. She had prepared it in advance and tied it to the edge of her clothes.
With every step she took, the crisp sound of a bell ringing could be heard.
“Just follow the sound of the bells,” was what she said to her teammates.
Neither Matthias nor Ruby expected that Oneida would lead the way for them in this way.
“Oneida, you’re just too smart!” Ruby exclaimed, her voice laced with excitement and admiration for her intelligent teammate.
All of a sudden, a loud bang sounded. A signal flare had been launched into the sky above the forest.
Someone had given up.
It hadn’t been that long since the test began, but someone couldn’t take it anymore.
However, that wasn’t the last signal flare the trio would see.
For some time thereafter, many more signal flares were launched.
Plenty of people didn’t want to stay in Misty Forest for a second longer.
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The forest was simply too terrifying. Not only were they unable to see their teammates but they couldn’t see anything at all. The place was like a giant maze. Wherever they went, they would end up where they started.
Forget about finding a gem in such conditions.
Moreover, no one knew if there were any peculiar beings hidden in this dark and frightening forest.
The mere thought of the forest late at night sent chills down the students‘ spines.
As such, many people decided to give up on the test.
Although the test was important, their lives were equally important to them.
Even so,
Oneida’s team was still in the forest.
Like the rest of the students, they were circling the fog–covered forest without a clear direction.
Just then, a spine–chilling scream sounded from behind them, and Oneida instinctively looked behind her.
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