The Lord Demon King is Unfathomable!

Chapter 1194 - 356: Zero Points?! (Part 3)

Tens of thousands of candidates looked up at the monument in unison, holding their breath and frantically searching for their destinies among the dense numbers.

Each time someone found their number on it, the crowd erupted in joyful cheers, even to the point of tears.

Meanwhile, more people, after repeatedly confirming without success, heaved sighs of disappointment, the light in their eyes quickly dimming.

Families of thousands rejoice, while families of millions sorrow.

Although passing the written test didn't mean entering the Academic State, at least it was a ticket to a broad road of opportunities!

"I… I passed!" Ira pointed to a line of small characters on the monument, her voice trembling with excitement, "Seventy points! I passed!"

"I'm on it too! Sixty-five!" Finic cheered and high-fived her, then turned his gaze to Barrett.

"Haha, I'm on it too… sixty points!" Barrett smiled honestly, and the two genuinely felt happy for this blacksmith's child.

After their ecstatic joy, they immediately began searching the list for "Mr. Colin's" number, but after flipping through it several times from beginning to end, they found nothing.

"Could Mr. Colin's name have been omitted?" Ira asked softly, her face full of confusion.

Finic and Barrett exchanged glances, the joy on their faces swiftly replaced by thick worry.

Could Mr. Colin really have failed?

How is that possible!

They could accept their own lack of ability resulting in failure in the written test, but they couldn't believe the esteemed Mr. Colin hadn't gotten in.

Soon, they found Luo Yan, who was leisurely reading in a carriage, and worriedly told him of the situation.

"Pfft—pffft!"

Taufu, who had been dozing, couldn't help but burst out laughing, while Luo Yan was a bit surprised and closed the book in his hand.

"Oh? Then I'm a bit curious now."

With that, he got off the carriage, told Sarah he wanted to eat noodles later, and asked for three additional eggs, then left Taufu, whose face had dramatically changed, and went to a nearby camp.

Out of concern, Finic and the others quickly followed.

The camp was crowded with people, more than half of whom were there to inquire about their scores.

There were also some who couldn't accept their inadequate abilities, loudly demanding to see their test papers, but without exception, they were all chased away.

It's not a troublesome matter, but it doesn't mean those employed as apprentices have any obligation to help them.

When Luo Yan found the magic apprentice in charge of handling discarded test papers, this freckled-faced young man was impatiently throwing sheets of discarded scrolls into a giant recycling bin.

He took the wooden plaque Luo Yan handed over, glanced at him with a near-contemptuous look, found the corresponding name on the roster, and coldly announced.

"Colin, zero points."

As if that wasn't sarcastic enough, he added in a cold, jeering tone.

"Couldn't answer a single simple question right, really admirable, I suggest you go home and plant pumpkins instead."

That remark was like a thunderbolt out of a clear sky, shocking Finic and the others to the unimaginable extent that they didn't come to their senses even as the apprentice walked away.

Zero points?

How could that be!?

Ira was the first to react, she looked at Mr. Colin's still calm profile, trying to find the most reasonable explanation to comfort him.

"Mr. Colin, don't be disheartened! Could it be… your answers happened to coincide with someone else's? The rules say that in such cases it will be invalidated, with your talent, this… this is entirely possible!"

Faced with Ira's kind comfort, Luo Yan merely smiled without affirming or denying.

"Perhaps."

His calm response left Finic and the others surprised.

They originally thought Mr. Colin would be angry, frustrated, or would argue, but they didn't expect him to be so indifferent, as if this result was just a trivial matter to him, like a bit of snow falling casually off a pine tree.

Luo Yan indeed didn't care much about others' opinions, but he was still a bit curious about the "zero points" result itself.

Leaving Finic and the others, he walked alone along the edge of the noisy camp, rapidly analyzing in his mind.

Theoretical differences?

Highly unlikely.

Even if there were detail differences in magic theory between Hell and the Imperial state, the underlying logic should be the same.

With his understanding of magic, even if the answers to those subjective questions differed from Academic State's standard answers, there was no way he wouldn't score a single point.

Identical answers?

Even more impossible.

If in this small snowy field there truly was another person who wrote exactly the same answers as him, that person would be an absolute marvel.

The esteemed Luo Yan would even personally write a recommendation letter for this talent to the famous Professor Lilith, directly sending him to his alma mater—the Demon King Academy for further study.

As he pondered, he suddenly heard two other failed candidates, dejected, walking past him.

One of them complained indignantly.

"It's incomprehensible! That was something I wrote with care, how on earth could they just destroy it!"

"Exactly! These apprentices are too much of a bully!"

"I don't know what they have to be so proud about! I thought they were supposed to be amazing mages!"

The complaining voices faded away in the snow, but Luo Yan, who happened to hear it, stopped in his tracks, a playful glint in his eyes.

Destroy?

To him, this actually seemed like an opportunity.

...

In the afternoon, Luo Yan returned to his carriage.

The noisy snowfield now seemed somewhat desolate, as most of the failed candidates had packed up and started on their return journey.