When he was sure that the entire students had given him their attention, he decided to speak again.
"Now my name is Donel Brain and your entrance exam is to commence as follows," he said and allowed the tension to build up.
"Now you all know or must have realised that this school is a secret even to the government. Therefore, there are certain practices and ways of conduct we have here that may not be allowed in a regular school, but in here, it is allowed."
Everyone stared at him, wondering how this was going to help them in their entrance exams. Zero could feel his stomach squeeze lightly due to the tension he felt.
"So I will now announce how the exam will be conducted," he said and paused for a while.
"Each of you will first be given a wristwatch that will provide you with both your level and your HP value. Also, you could read the time with it."
"Then you will form a group of three within ten minutes before the exam proper will begin. Right after that, you will be given teleportation stones which will help you teleport around the facility, but only within a 10-meter range. You have only two random teleportations in it and a final one for an escape back to this open ground."
"Once you step into this ground before the timer runs out, it means that you pledged to give up. Your HP value will guide you on when to take such a decision. If your HP value drops to zero, it means you are dead. So that means once you have a 1 HP value, it would be wise to give up. So do your best to stay up wisely.
"And by the way, you are expected to fight each other, as winners will have a reflected score after the exam. So do your best not to be the prey," Donel Brain said and left the podium.
One of the men beside him waved his hands, and watches appeared out of nowhere on each of the students' hands. The watch could tell the rank of the person and also provide the HP of the individual.
Zero's watch wrapped around his hand and glowed up to reveal a Level 1. He sighed. He had not expected anything higher, anyway.
Then his HP was noted to be 10/10. He guessed that 10 was the maximum HP one could have, but he wasn't sure everyone would get the same number of HP.
What about those who were sick? Was their own HP value going to be full? What about the ranks of the higher levels?
His thoughts were suddenly cut short by Becky's voice that pierced into his imagination.
"Hey!" she called out, snapping him back to reality.
He turned to look at her watch. A whopping Level 5 was displayed over it. No wonder she was recommended. She was indeed good.
"Are you listening to me at all?" she asked as she stared at him.
He snapped out of his thoughts and stared at her.
"I said I wanted us to team up and find another teammate. That's good enough, right?" she said, but Zero had his own reasoning to do.
Donel Brain hadn't mentioned anything about the rules of teaming up. If that was the case, a lower level could team up with a higher level, but that had disadvantages.
The lower level could be bullied and used as a decoy in their attacks, sacrificing him as a scapegoat. Well, from the other perspective, the low levels couldn't obviously pair with themselves. That would be catastrophic.
There would be no one strong enough to protect the team, and they would end up pushing their backs against the wall. Well, the ten minutes was really worth it. Each student had to critically think well before joining a team.
With that in mind, the low levels like him had to pair up with a stronger level they knew. This should be part of the reason they didn't bring people from the same school, so no one knew each other here.
"Well then, missy. I'm a Level 1. Do you still care to team up with me?"
"Yeah. We could make a great combo," she said and smiled.
Zero stared at her, wondering if she was sick in the head.
"All we need is a last teammate. So which one are you picking?"
The question caught him off guard. He hadn't expected her to give him the staff of decision right away. But he guessed she had a hard time choosing, considering that she was from a rich family where she never had to choose.
"It's more about compatibility. If we have to pick, we have to pick among the Level 4s at least. Any level above Level 5 would be suicidal. So my guess is any Level 4 you feel is right," Zero said.
Becky couldn't help but stare at him. He seemed to have a higher IQ than she had initially thought. Her face flushed red as he caught her staring.
"Okay. If we're looking for a Level 4, then I would say we take her," Becky said, pointing at a lady who looked to be lost.
Zero stared at her. She had brown hair and deadly eyes of a fighter. For a moment, he wanted to reject the idea, but Becky chipped in again.
"She's the last Level 4 who has not been taken. This is our chance," Becky said.
Zero sighed and nodded.
Becky walked over to the lady, and after a smooth talk, the lady stared at him with a glare. Her eyes showed disgust.
"Stupid. My level," Zero cursed.
She was about to reject them when she noticed that everyone had teamed up. Becky then came back, looking excited.
"So we've made a team. What next?"
Zero stared at the lady. His mind was not accepting her and was coldly rejecting her as an ally. He just had to team up with her for the entrance exam, and he would make sure they didn't cross paths again.
"We should introduce ourselves. My name is Becky Silver."