Link furrowed his brow slightly but had no intention of speaking.
The situation was crystal clear by now. Everyone gathered in the arena was undoubtedly a genius from one of the elite middle schools.
Some of them even hailed from the same school.
It was precisely because of this that, having received elite education from a young age, they inevitably developed a sense of superiority.
In their eyes, a regular school like Yilan Middle School wasn't even qualified to stand alongside them.
Just then, another lazy-sounding youth spoke up,
"If you ask me, he probably just awakened some rare talent and somehow snuck in among us."
"But even if he managed to sneak in, so what? When the assessments begin, he'll be weeded out all the same."
After a round of cold sneering and sarcastic remarks, seeing that Link showed no reaction whatsoever, these students quickly grew bored and shifted their conversation to other topics.
In their minds, after all, Link belonged to a completely different world.
Of course, their attitude wasn't without reason.
The gap between elite middle schools and ordinary middle schools was truly vast.
Whether it was faculty strength, daily training routines, nutrition, or any other resource, saying the two were worlds apart wouldn't even be an exaggeration.
To put it bluntly, many top students from ordinary middle schools, upon entering an elite middle school, would struggle even to break into the top 100 rankings.
Meanwhile, the students gathered here weren't just students from elite schools—they were the top 10 from each elite school.
Naturally, they instinctively viewed Link as a lucky fluke at best, assuming his actual strength to be laughably low.
Yet despite their taunts and disdain, Link remained utterly calm inside.
It wasn't that his temperament was particularly good; he simply understood one thing very clearly:
Every single person present here was trash compared to him.
They weren't even on the same playing field.
It was like the question: would you really care about what an ant thought of you?
Moreover, after experiencing countless deaths, Link had unconsciously developed a kind of detachment towards many things.
Especially now, knowing that humanity was destined to be wiped out within ten years, his gaze was already fixed on a far greater horizon.
Thus, in his eyes, the petty mockery of these students seemed not only childish but downright foolish.
The buzz-cut teenager who had hesitated earlier ultimately gave a sheepish smile before turning and walking away.
Perhaps he too had concluded that Link's strength wasn't worth paying attention to.
But Link didn't feel anything about it—on the contrary, he felt relieved.
Ever since acquiring the Death Rewind talent, Link had deliberately cultivated a lone-wolf lifestyle.
He didn't want to form too many attachments.
After all, with the Death Rewind in his arsenal, he often took reckless risks during battles.
If he had companions around, it would become inconvenient—and even worse, he might drag them down with him if things went wrong.
If he died and took others with him, what would be the point?
Furthermore, knowing too many people inevitably led to emotional entanglements and the urge to save them when disaster struck.
But Link was well aware that his power was limited. He couldn't rewind indefinitely, and even his notebook had hinted at this fact.
In the coming battles against the moonfolk, there would inevitably be sacrifices.
It was unavoidable—no matter how much he might wish otherwise.
If Link truly wanted to save the human race, he had to first learn the meaning and value of sacrifice.
Of course, that didn't mean he would coldly stand by and watch someone die if he had the chance to help.
If he could lend a hand without compromising his larger mission, he would still gladly do so.
After pulling himself out of his thoughts, Link began to observe the people around the arena.
He quickly assessed the Power Values of those present: most hovered between 100 and 200.
Some weaker ones didn't even reach 100.
Compared to Link's towering Power Value of 389, they seemed laughably weak.
But that wasn't the whole truth.
At this stage, over 99% of students nationwide still had Power Values lingering in the 20s or 30s.
Thus, the fact that these students had already reached the level of a level 1 esper made them undisputed geniuses.
As for their talents, Link swept his gaze around and found several whose talents he couldn't even read—meaning they were at least S-rank or higher.
It seemed that the elite middle schools had indeed done an excellent job cultivating their prodigies.
Although their attitudes were insufferably arrogant, their strength was undeniable.
Ignoring himself for the moment, any one of these students would be a league above the competition if placed in an ordinary school.
As more and more people entered the arena, the idle chatter grew increasingly lively.
"Hey, have you heard?" someone whispered. "I heard the talent quality for this year's Eagle Hatchling Camp is insanely high. Based on the info I got, there's even a T2 esper among us! And there are four level 1 espers too!"
The announcement sparked a wave of amazement and gasps from the crowd.
"Are you serious? We've only just awakened our abilities, and someone's already reached T2 esper? What kind of freakish training did they undergo?"
"This is insane... I thought I was doing well since I'm nearing level 1, but now it looks like I need to work way harder."
"Take a guess—who do you think that T2 esper is?"
"Isn't it obvious? It must be the little princess of House Roland!"
"House Roland's little princess? Ah, that makes sense now. If it's someone from House Roland, everything checks out. Thank goodness we have that ordinary school kid around to make us look better in comparison!"
While the students were gossiping, a sudden figure appeared atop the platform in the center of the arena.
"Is everyone here?" the figure asked, voice cold and calm.
"Everyone's present except for House Roland's little princess," someone replied. "They'll be personally delivering her later."
"I see. Considering House Roland's importance, their caution is understandable. After all, the little princess carries the family's most precious bloodline."
"Since everyone else is here, let's begin the assessment. This year's turnout is too large—we'll need to eliminate quite a few of them."
"Understood, sir!"
With that, the shadowy figure on the platform vanished, almost as if he had never existed at all.
In his place stood a broad-shouldered, muscular middle-aged man who exuded an intimidating presence.
[Name: Unknown]
[Power Values: 6549 (T6 esper)]
[Flesh Forging Art: "Cold Steel Flesh Forging Art"]
[Meditation Technique: "Cold Steel Meditation Technique"]
[Skills: None]
[Talent: Analyzing…]
T6 esper?!
Link's eyes narrowed in slight surprise.
Aside from the Honor Guards he had encountered before, this was his first time seeing such a powerful esper in person.
As for the so-called super-tier traitor of humanity, Link hadn't even been able to access that person's status panel, so he didn't count them.
Overall, it was clear that the Eagle Hatchling Camp's standards were exceptionally high.
Link silently fell into formation with the others, standing neatly in rows.
Once everyone was lined up, the middle-aged man finally spoke:
"You all should already know about the Entry Test," he said gruffly. "No need for me to waste time explaining."
"I'll just ask you one thing—
Are you all ready?"