New Era Calendar, March 14, 233.
Lower City.
Zone 9, Academy 47.
School had been out for a while, and the classrooms were empty, with only the old fans on the ceiling spinning weakly.
Dong Kai, the counselor for Class (1), was preparing to leave work, but as usual, decided to check if the doors and windows were closed.
The door was open, and the lights were still on.
In the last row of the classroom, next to the trash bin, a figure was bent over a desk, working on a test paper.
Tall and slender, with a short buzz cut, black-framed glasses, and a pair of faded earphones in his ears.
"Feng Mu."
A name surfaced in Dong Kai's mind, a somewhat invisible student in the class.
His impression of this student was not deep; academic scores were passable, martial arts scores average, overall performance unremarkable.
Neither his personality was particularly striking, being quiet and introverted, withdrawn and taciturn.
The only merit seemed to be that throughout three years of college he had never caused any trouble for himself, and... well, he often voluntarily helped with classmates in taking on some trash duty and cleaning tasks.
Feng Mu took off his earphones, stood up, still appearing not very talkative, as he greeted: "Mr. Dong."
Dong Kai nodded, glanced at the test paper he was working on, and advised, "Your literature grades are alright. If you can boost your martial arts scores in the last few months, you might have a chance to meet the passing score of some of Zone 9's military academies."
As for advancing to military academies in Zone 8 or higher, Dong Kai didn't mention a word.
In this world, life trajectories differ from previous ones — the college entrance examination is not the end.
After college graduation, there's a one-time, nationwide exam, commonly known as the "military exam."
Only by passing the military exam can one have the chance to enter a "military academy" to study real martial arts.
Due to the special constitution of the human body in this world, root bone aptitude mostly sets around 18 years old, hence it requires assessment before "teaching according to one's aptitude."
For ordinary people, especially those from poor families, most of the education before college is "happy education," with real martial arts training only beginning at the university level.
To access core martial arts studies, one must enter a military academy.
Furthermore, the military exam is crucial not only because it serves as a stepping stone for the poor to advance in martial arts, but it's directly linked to the grading of citizenship, therefore also being referred to as the citizenship exam.
As long as one clears the minimum passing score, even if they don't enter a military school, they are regarded as a qualified citizen, making it easier to find a good job; otherwise, they are fairly and squarely deemed "useless," facing restrictions in society.
On the surface, officials emphasize this as "cherishing martial arts resources, allocating them precisely," but it involves complex issues of knowledge monopoly, social structure, and division between upper and lower cities, which one dare not speak much of.
In short, the military exam acts as a "job entry examination" for the entire citizenry after graduating from university. The government uses it to pre-screen talent for companies – pass or fail, this single exam is decisive.
Feng Mu is very clear about his prospects for the military exam; he knows that rather than focusing solely on literature scores, he should elevate his martial arts shortcomings within the limited time for better returns.
However,
The issue is, literature only costs paper and pens, while progress in martial arts burns money~
At least for someone like him with poor root bone and mediocre comprehension, if martial arts isn't costly, can it solely rely on personal effort?
A feeling of bitterness grew in Feng Mu's heart, but his face remained expressionless as he responded: "I got it, Mr. Dong."
"Alright, it's getting late, hurry home," Dong Kai said as he switched off the fan.
Feng Mu immediately packed his bag and walked out with head lowered.
"By the way, a few students in the class still haven't submitted their military academy exam qualification certificates. I remember your name was among them, so push your family to handle it quickly, don't delay the exams."
As they brushed past each other, Dong Kai seemed to suddenly recall this matter, casually reminding Feng Mu.
With his back to the counselor, Feng Mu uttered a soft "hm" from his throat, a shadow creeping onto his ever-expressionless face, his footsteps in the corridor growing heavier.
He had been in this world for three years.
Feng Mu gradually accepted the various bizarre elements of this world, but only two matters blocked in his throat like a fly speck, a source of lingering grievance, hard to swallow.
One was that a qualification certificate was required for military academies, and obtaining the certificate required money; in other words, if university graduates aspire to become citizens and find work, they must first pay a sum to the government.
Doesn't it sound like how, in the previous world, before starting an internship at a company, you had to pay a training fee upfront, with the catch being that even after paying, passing wasn't guaranteed?
Feng Mu once suspected that one of the Executive Government's major objectives in instituting this educational process was to collect this fee.
In the previous world, entering society meant being plucked like a horse-driven beast; in this world, one must first endure a heavy harvest to even become one.
The second thing was.....
Upon exiting the teaching building, Feng Mu looked up at the sky; a vast darkness loomed thousands of meters above, like an overturned coffin enveloping all of Zone 9.
And on the bottom of this coffin, grew densely packed, colorful tumors, eternally replacing the sun and moon, shedding light on the world below day after day, night after night.
"Of course, what's shrouding the sky isn't a coffin, but the crystallization of human technology—the Upper City. From Lower City looking upwards, that's actually just the bottom (base) of the boundless Upper City, and those colorful things are certainly not tumors. How could they be~"