Transform into a magical girl after getting off work-Chapter 657 - 215: Interlude Between Assessments

After successfully escaping the labyrinth, the candidates participating in this session's White Card evaluation were given a day of rest. This day served as a buffer for those still lingering in the labyrinth, offering them more time; it was also a necessary prep period for the Exam Institute to arrange the exam venue and facilities; moreover, it was meant to allow the Magical Girls, who had expended too much magic power in the labyrinth, to adjust their state.

Most candidates chose to use this day to catch up on sleep, making up for the rest they missed during the previous day's journey in the labyrinth—after all, just the first assessment alone had left them exhausted. But not everyone was willing to rest quietly, considering there were still three more evaluations to go, and it was clearly not the time to slack off.

Candidates with similar thoughts were making the most of their time: some were intensifying their training, some were reviewing, and some were developing strategies for the next assessment... Of course, some candidates were currently dining together in celebration.

—"Then, let's toast to Jin for achieving first place in this examination."

With Emerald Sparrow's toast, the teammates from Fangting City sitting around the table all raised their glasses. Under the bright yellow light, the clinking sound of glass echoed clearly.

"Yay!"

Unexpectedly, Lin Xiaolu's cheers were the loudest, an unusual situation that left others showing slightly surprised expressions.

"...What's going on?"

The subtle expressions of her companions made Lin Xiaolu wonder if she had done something wrong, and she instinctively shrank back a bit. But after thinking it over, she was sure she hadn't done anything wrong and straightened her back: "Aren't we celebrating?"

The other three were momentarily speechless. They thought to themselves that they couldn't just say, "We thought you would be upset."

This suspicion was entirely ungrounded.

Because at the moment, "Who on earth is Jin" had already become a hot topic among the current White Card candidates, with some curious and amazed by this sudden emergence of a first-place holder, while others felt dissatisfied.

In other words, there were plenty of people outside who were dissatisfied with Xia Liang.

Nearly ten hours had passed since the end of the exam, and the vast majority of candidates had either exited the labyrinth or admitted defeat due to loss. It could be said that aside from a very few who were still trying to scavenge some reward points in the labyrinth, all candidates already knew the results of the labyrinth project, and they certainly noticed the code name "Jin."

And the way Xia Liang exited the labyrinth was witnessed clearly by everyone on the observation platform, leaving no secrets. Naturally, this also became a discussion hot spot within the candidate community. In fact, many of the word plate candidates who were supposed to still be preparing, and hadn't even started their assessment yet, joined in this discussion. For a time, the name "Jin" became widely known, and various criticisms of her were rampant.

"Well, Xia Liang, you're my teammate, after all. You being the first place, I'm happy for you, so what's wrong with that?"

Perhaps realizing something, Lin Xiaolu quickly directed her words back to Xia Liang: "Though the way you got first place was a bit… um, unconventional? But isn't that your skill too?"

"Haha... well, thank you for that."

Xia Liang responded to Lin Xiaolu's "compliment" with a dry laugh, but within seconds, her smile collapsed: "Sigh, if I knew it would cause such a stir, I should have run a bit slower." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"This is merely a stage in the evaluation; there's no need to care too much about others' opinions right now."

Emerald Sparrow didn't quite agree with her notion, so she advised: "There are still three more assessments to go. If you continue to achieve excellent results, others will naturally start to recognize you, and they'll see the first assessment's outcome as a reflection of your uniqueness; if your subsequent scores average out, and your performance isn't outstanding, they'll just gossip a bit and won't view you as a rival."

"After all, the main reason others criticize you now is that they don't know you yet; they're unclear if you are truly a dark horse or just a fortunate opportunist."

Emerald Sparrow swirled her juice, then raised it slightly in a gesture toward Xia Liang: "But we, your teammates sitting here, all know your strength. We all believe that this first place is only the beginning of your renown among your fellow Magical Girls. All the criticisms are temporary and will fade as others realize your abilities, which is why this is worth celebrating."

"Little senior, you say that, and now I feel like the pressure is so intense that my stomach hurts..."

Xia Liang clutched the stem of her glass, looking rather restless: "My accounts, both big and small, on Carrier Pigeon are almost bombarded with private messages, not to mention gossips, there are even challenges for a duel in the next assessment... what should I do?"

"Naturally, beat them all back!" Lin Xiaolu said cheerfully.

"You might as well just kill me with exhaustion," Xia Liang rolled her eyes.

The "duel" she mentioned wasn't a personal fight incited by other candidates but part of the second assessment process.

Yes, as most candidates were exiting the labyrinth, and the first assessment was nearing its end, the examiners at the observation platform announced the content for the second assessment.

Unlike the first assessment, the Exam Institute did not shroud this project's main evaluation content but clearly stated: the evaluation benchmark for this session was magic armor.

This has been a consistent element of the kingdom's annual evaluations.

The practical assessment projects change each year, sometimes differing in theme and form from previous years, but the magic armor evaluation remains a constant.

This is understandable, given that a Magical Girl's capabilities largely hinge on her magic armor, which empowers many combat methods. Therefore, a practical magic evaluation inevitably includes a magic armor evaluation.

According to the Exam Institute's statement, this year's magic armor evaluation is divided into two parts.

The first part involves examiners evaluating and scoring the magical girls' magic armors. They will test candidates across multiple dimensions to assess their development and mastery of their magic armor's abilities, providing an initial rating.

The second part offers candidates dissatisfied with their rating a chance to improve it.

The opportunity for improvement is straightforward: if you believe the evaluators underestimated you and that your magic armor is more capable than assessed, prove it in combat.

Candidates can challenge someone with a higher magic armor rating; during the challenge, both parties can only use basic abilities and magic armor abilities, forbidding the use of magic techniques, Miracle Realm tactics, or any other methods.

Based on the battle outcome, if a candidate with a B rating challenges and defeats an A-rated candidate, her magic armor rating can be upgraded from B to B+, while the A-rated candidate's rating would drop to A-. If the B+ candidate goes on to challenge and defeat another A-rated candidate, her rating can rise to A.

However, if the B-rated candidate loses against the A-rated candidate, half of her original B-level assessment points will be transferred to the victor. Once a candidate loses all her points, she loses the right to further challenge upwards.

This is why candidates have been preemptively challenging Xia Liang; they see her as having obtained her first-place position in the labyrinth project due to a special ability of her magic armor. Her magic armor rating is unlikely to be low. Their way of expressing dissatisfaction and not acknowledging her position is through challenging her, aiming to lower her rating.

Indeed, Xia Liang could refuse challenges, but a little thought reveals that under such rules, a candidate who never battles with others is unlikely to secure a particularly good rank.

Even if a candidate initially achieves an A rating, if she merely clings to this score and avoids fights, then other A-rated candidates accepting challenges and earning points will surpass her. Among thousands of candidates, there might be hundreds with A ratings, plus those B-rated candidates capable in battle climbing up to A... ultimately, the fear-fighting A-rated candidate might only place beyond the top hundred.

For a Magical Girl without ambition or renown, being content with an A rating within the top hundred or two hundreds might suffice. But for Xia Liang, who is currently at the forefront, having just achieved first place in the first assessment and then completely avoiding battles in the second, would certainly cause people to look down on her.

That's why in her rebuttal to Lin Xiaolu, Xia Liang only mentioned exhaustion, completely omitting any doubts about her ability to win.

Clearly, she plans to repel a few challengers and prove herself.