She couldn't see what she was doing; all she saw was Su Qiluo's sorrowful yet determined gaze.

After he finished speaking, he rushed toward something on the horizon that she couldn't see clearly. In an instant, light and fire appeared from his body.

The flames blinded her, but she could clearly see that, affected by the hellfire, Su Qiluo's eyes had begun to turn slightly red.

"don't want!"

She heard a voice, turned her head, and found it was herself!

She seemed to be seriously injured, her body and face covered in blood. Kazel supported her, but began to manipulate water in his hands, creating a protective shield in front of her.

Despair and sadness overwhelmed her, but she was stopped by Kazel and could do nothing but watch helplessly as Su Qiluo exploded along with the things in the sky.

...

"No!"

Infected by the emotions in his dream, Mu Qingyun suddenly sat up, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

"Squeak—"

The mouse next to her was startled by her shout. It instinctively wanted to run away, but it had to protect Mu Qingyun, so it only squeaked a few times.

What is this? Why would I have such a dream?

Mu Qingyun touched her heart with lingering fear. On her sleeve, the button-shaped communicator lay quietly.

No, she was panicking. The dream was too real; the fear and despair were so intense that she couldn't shake it off even after waking up.

"Su Qiluo, Su Qiluo, are you there? Just say one word to me, let me hear your voice."

She grabbed the communicator on her sleeve, dialed the number, and spoke into the communicator.

But on the other side, there was only a crackling sound of electricity.

"Su Qiluo, say something to me." She held the communicator in her hand, but a wave of panic surged through her heart.

This feeling had been with her since she woke up, and it was getting stronger and stronger.

"Zzzzz, Brother Mu, can you...zzzz, can you hear me, hello?"

The moment Su Qiluo's voice appeared, her panic was completely calmed, leaving only the pounding of her heart.

"Su Qiluo, where are you now?" she asked hurriedly, gripping the communicator tightly in her hand.

"I'm heading back...buzzing, things are done...buzzing, now the signal is good."

Because of the signal problem, there was a crackling sound on the other end, making it difficult for Su Qiluo to form complete sentences.

But she didn't mind at all; those few words were enough.

"Okay, come back quickly."

"Sizzle, good...good."

She received a response and looked at the communicator in her hand. The light had changed from green to red, indicating that Su Qiluo had hung up.

She placed the communicator on her sleeve and looked around.

The gray fog shrouded everything in shadow, so it seemed she had slept until daytime.

She took out the protein powder and water mat, then lay down again. Since she couldn't move around during the day anyway, she might as well rest a little longer.

I can't see anything, I miss my Mu-ge so much.

[Yeah, I only caught a quick glimpse at the beginning; it was over before I could even get a good look.]

Hey Mu-ge, say something, Mu-ge.

[Are you crazy, upstairs? Didn't I already say there's no sound during the live stream? Mu-ge wants to reply to you too, but can he?]

As evening fell, she chose a different direction this time.

After walking for a while, she didn't encounter any purple spiders this time, but she did run into an acquaintance.

"Butterfly Dance?"

Looking at the butterfly girl resting under the ruins, Mu Qingyun frowned and tentatively called out.

Startled by the shout, Butterfly Dance trembled and immediately turned her head to meet her gaze.

"Mu Qingyun?"

Butterfly Dance opened her eyes wide in surprise, looking at Mu Qingyun in front of her in disbelief. At this moment, she really wanted to look up to the sky and sigh. She was too lucky!

"Very good!"

Butterfly Dance suddenly stood up, but because she was too excited, she completely forgot about the ruins above her head.

With a "bang," her head slammed into the hard rubble, and the pain brought tears to her eyes instantly.

That wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that the moment she moved, the rubble above her head swayed precariously, as if it were about to crash down.

"careful!"

Mu Qingyun frowned, ran over quickly, grabbed Diewu's arm, and pulled her out.

"Hmm."

Butterfly instinctively hugged her tightly. Just as she was being pulled out, the ruins collapsed almost instantly, burying the spot where Butterfly had been standing.

"It's alright, why did you choose a place like this to rest?" She turned to look at Butterfly Dance, who was still holding her tightly beside her, and asked softly.

"I... I didn't know it would collapse. It looked pretty sturdy." Butterfly pouted. Comforted by her gentle words, she immediately broke down and started crying, hugging her arm.

"You have no idea how terrifying this place is. I finally found a place that looked relatively sturdy, but it still collapsed."

"Today during the day, I kept hearing rustling sounds around me, and something brushed past my feet. I was so scared that I flew around all day, and my wings almost got ruined!"

"Aaaaaah, so scary, so terrifying!"

Those around her seemed to have found an outlet for their emotions, and began to sob quietly beside her.

Looking at Diewu, who couldn't stop crying, Mu Qingyun didn't know whether she should speak or not.

She really hadn't expected this.

In her mind, Diewu was always generous and gentle, yet strong.

In the first challenge against the virtual creatures, Butterfly Dance was not afraid at all, and was even willing to be her wings and face the enemy with her.

She really didn't expect that Butterfly Dance would be so frightened.

"It's alright, it's alright." She reached out and patted the person next to her on the back, trying to soften her voice. "You'll be with me from now on."

"Ah, does that mean I won unfairly?" Butterfly Dance pondered this question upon hearing this.

She helped Mu Qingyun before only to get a helping hand once, but if she followed Mu Qingyun and always had her protected, it didn't seem right, and she might even hold Mu Qingyun back.

"You can fly, so finding raw stones should be easy for you. We're helping each other out," Mu Qingyun shrugged indifferently. "The second level isn't just about stealing and killing; we can also help each other out."

If two capable people can help each other, the success rate is definitely very high.

But human nature is inherently greedy. They neither trust their so-called allies nor want powerful people to come to military academies and share the spoils with them.

Regardless of strength or weakness, once they hear that the rules allow them to take what they want, they already see others as their enemies and wish they could kill everyone around them to prevent them from becoming a threat in the future.

She felt that there must have been instances of mutual assistance in the past, since they had all come through the first hurdle together. Regardless of what others might say, teammates always have some bond, and they certainly wouldn't stand by and watch someone die.

As for the rumor that the second stage depends solely on individual ability, it was probably spread by the military academy.

However, there is a third hurdle to overcome before you can finally enter a military academy. That third hurdle is the one that truly assesses individual abilities.