Chapter 5: Cultural Exam Boosting, Little Substitute Shows Intelligence and Bravery

Chapter 5: Cultural Exam Boosting, Little Substitute Shows Intelligence and Bravery

Ding-ding~

The phone placed on the desktop started vibrating.

The sound of tapping on the keyboard stopped, and Lei Cang shook his sore hand before picking up the phone and unlocking it.

[Grasshopper]: Oh no! The cultural exam is today, and I was so busy playing games with Bronya that I didn't study at all! I'm doomed! I can't bear not being able to eat Mei's cooking!

[Substitute target: Help 'Grasshopper' pass this cultural exam]

[Reward: 1000 gold value, 1 chance for a wish]

Lei Cang furrowed his brows.

Only one draw?

But come to think of it, last time it was the muscular class president who caught bullets with his bare hands. This time, it's just an exam paper, so the difficulty is much lower.

Not to mention, last time he was a beginner, yes, a beginner's task, which is why the reward was so generous.

Now this level of reward is more normal.

Let's just do the draw. Besides, this time, it's a cultural exam, and he can learn about the cultural background on the other side to determine if he's in the same world as them.

Lei Cang pondered, but he didn't immediately take the exam substitution task. Instead, he chose to release the game he had just created.

After three days of non-stop hard work, he had finally completed the first two chapters of "Kallen Fantasy VII."

There were three more chapters to go, including a final boss.

Although the introduction was a bit off, the world-building in this game was vast, with a wide variety of monsters and items.

The only downside was that the difficulty was too high.

A regular enemy could take away one-third of the protagonist Kallen's health with a single blow, and three hits would send her back to the starting point.

Moreover, the defeated small monsters would respawn.

The boss of the prologue, "Parvanti," was even more difficult. When Kallen faced it in the early stages, she could be instantly killed if she wasn't careful. After designing this level, Lei Cang tried to fight it, but after dying more than ten times without success, he almost gave up.

He considered whether such high difficulty would discourage players, and thought about reducing some values.

But the numerical system of "Kallen Fantasy VII" was intricate and delicate, like a finely woven net. Changing it carelessly would throw the balance off.

The knowledge Lei Cang obtained from the wish couldn't alter it, and making the game was just filling in the numbers exactly as he remembered.

He estimated that to understand the design of this game's values, he would need to design several games from scratch, apply the knowledge in his memory skillfully, and only then could he achieve it.

Since he couldn't change it, he decided to release it as it was.

With this in mind, Lei Cang released the game on the platform.

Since the game wasn't completed yet, it was released as an "early access" mode, or "ea."

This mode was specially designed for small studios to recoup some of their game development costs. It prevented the game from dying in the early stages due to a lack of funds.

Game development required a lot of money. Even for someone like Lei Cang, who had the help of cheat codes and could handle everything on his own, he spent a lot of money on art and models, using up all the money he had saved.

He could do it all himself, but dealing with the details was too cumbersome. After all, this game was in 3D, requiring many models. Lei Cang's energy was limited, and it was easier and faster to buy the unimportant models and images directly.

"If I can earn tens of thousands of yuan, that would be a victory."

After all, the game was only half completed, and the difficulty was too high. It would probably discourage many players, so Lei Cang naturally had low expectations for sales.

He moved his stiff body, changed to a more comfortable position, leaned back in his chair, picked up his phone, selected the task "Grasshopper" had posted, and clicked "Accept."

The familiar feeling of being pulled came again.

Lei Cang once again arrived in that familiar dark space.

After experiencing it once, he appeared quite calm now.

[Preparation phase]

[Please choose the ability to use next]

Three ability cards floated in front of him.

[JoJo - DIO (Vampire)],

A golden-haired young man held a mask with a look of arrogance.

"JoJo, I give up being human!"

[Devil May Cry 3 - Vergil]

In the rain, two silver-haired young men with similar appearances were engaged in a fierce battle. Their figures moved like lightning.

In the end, the young man wielding a katana emerged victorious. He kicked away the opponent's large sword and then caught it, impaling the red-cloaked young man to the ground.

With a swipe of his silver hair, he adjusted his large flat-top hairstyle and spoke coldly, "Dante, weakness is original sin. You have let down your bloodline."

... For some reason, Lei Cang felt that the silver-haired young man pinned to the ground in the red cloak seemed oddly familiar.

[Fate - Artoria]

The golden-haired girl raised her holy sword, her expression solemn and divine.

She took a deep breath and shouted, "EX—calibur!!!"

After looking at these three characters, Lei Cang glanced at the lonely "Grasshopper" Kiana, who was sitting alone in the classroom, dejectedly facing her exam paper.

Why did he feel that the effects of these three ability cards wouldn't be significant for this mission?

After all, this time, he only needed to deal with the exam paper, and all three ability cards were geared towards combat.

As if sensing his thoughts, two options popped up in the darkness:

[Refresh three ability cards (cost: 500 gold)]

[Give up ability cards and use your own abilities for the substitution (gain an additional lottery chance *number of additional chances depends on the mission difficulty* currently 1) (not recommended)]

Lei Cang subconsciously touched his pocket and remembered that he was in the Preparation Space.

After some thought, he chose the second option, [Give up ability cards and use your own abilities for the substitution].

He chose this because not only did it offer greater benefits, but also because... Lei Cang was out of money.

Yes, he was out of money because he spent all the money he earned from writing the game, including the 2000 gold from the system's previous reward.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to complete two chapters of the game within just three days.

At the moment he made his choice, Lei Cang's consciousness was instantly pulled away.

... After a short blackout, when he opened his eyes again, he was already in a spacious and brightly lit classroom.

The enemy he faced during the exam, "Class President" Fu Hua, was standing at the door, calmly looking at him as if she were the invigilator.

Outside the window, a girl with purple long hair saw Lei Cang looking over, smiled gently, clenched her fist, and made a cheering gesture.

Raiden Mei.

The name automatically came to Lei Cang's mind.

For some reason, he felt very close to this gentle girl. She must be a very important person to "Grasshopper" Kiana.

"Kiana?" Fu Hua saw Lei Cang looking around and reminded him, "We are in the middle of the exam, and time is limited. You should focus on the questions."

"I know, Class President."

The white-haired girl with braided hair pouted slightly, seeming a bit dissatisfied.

Seeing that she finally lowered her head to look at the exam paper, Fu Hua adjusted her glasses and didn't say anything more.

Lei Cang focused on the exam paper and looked at the first question:

[1:X?+1=10, find X]

Lei Cang: "?"

He was prepared for not being able to answer anything, but the question turned out to be so simple?

Probably because it was the first question, after all, the first question was usually an easy one to score some points.

After filling in the number "+/- 3," Lei Cang glanced at the entire exam paper.

There were more than twenty questions, covering various subjects like physics, language, history, and mathematics. However, most of the math questions were at the same level as the first one or even simpler. The only one with a bit of difficulty was the last question, which involved factorization. However, the variations were limited and belonged to common variations of advanced questions. Lei Cang understood the solution after looking at it for a moment.

Judging from the difficulty of the math questions, the other questions were probably not much harder.

This "Grasshopper" Kiana appeared to be around seventeen or eighteen years old, likely a high school student, or even a college student. How could she be troubled by questions of this level to the point of seeking a substitution?

After pondering for a moment, Lei Cang realized,

Am I... taking an exam on behalf of an idiot?