Chapter 59: S-Class Talent? Just a Joke

Seeing their boss get knocked flying like that, the second and third brothers froze in shock.

“Run! Run now!”

The second brother, a rogue, reacted fastest.

He screamed, without hesitation, and turned to flee.

The third brother also spun around immediately.

Their boss got knocked into protection mode with one punch—staying here would just mean handing over their heads.

【『Fireball Spell』furious: Trying to run? Die!】

Hum—!

A fireball instantly coalesced before Lin Mo and shot toward the fastest-running second brother.

The second brother, being a rogue type, had undergone rigorous training since childhood.

Relying purely on instinct, he sidestepped instantly.

The fireball whistled past, grazing his sleeve.

He… he dodged it!

His heart pounded wildly, eyes filled with relief after narrowly escaping death.

Even with soul protection, he wouldn’t die.

But the sensation of near-death was real—no one wanted to experience it even once.

More importantly, being knocked into protection mode here would severely impact his exam score.

At that moment—

The fireball, already far ahead of him, suddenly made a sharp turn.

“…”

“???”

“What the… fuck?!”

Wait, does a fireball even turn like that?

Is that even micro-manipulation possible for someone at our level?

The second brother froze; the fireball rapidly expanded in his pupils.

He tried to sidestep again, but his ability was still on cooldown—impossible to activate.

Boom—!!!

Flames exploded.

The second brother, already half-dead from the earlier flame column, was instantly obliterated.

“Monster!”

“Run! Run now!”

The remaining candidates who could still move fled without hesitation, scattering in all directions.

Come on, the entire assault team got wiped out by two-thirds in one go—Zhao Shao and the strongest triplet brothers were both one-shot.

This thing was more like a boss than any wilderness boss.

Lin Mo watched the candidates scatter, but didn’t chase them.

His goal was merely to intimidate—to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys. Once the monkeys scattered, that was enough.

The goal had been achieved.

Chasing each one down would be troublesome and unnecessary.

…

Lin Mo walked toward Zhao Yu’s direction.

As he passed the crooked tree, his steps paused slightly.

Xia Qingyue sat half-collapsed against it, unable to move.

Her body was wrapped in white light, like a delicate statue.

Seeing Lin Mo approach, her eyes were filled with guilt.

Though the outcome was good—Lin Mo had crushed everyone with an invincible presence—

Still, it was because of her intel that Lin Mo walked straight into Zhao Yu’s carefully laid trap.

If Lin Mo had been even slightly weaker, today’s outcome might have been completely different.

“L-Lin Shao…”

Xia Qingyue’s voice carried a hint of apology, “I’m sorry… I was careless, almost got you killed…”

“Bah, what’s the big deal.”

Lin Mo waved his hand, smiling carelessly, “If you hadn’t gathered them all together, I’d have had to hunt them down one by one—how long would that take?”

After all, without Xia Qingyue, Zhao Yu wouldn’t have waited here for him.

He wouldn’t have unlocked 【Quicksand Domain】—this powerful control skill—in this miserable black mud swamp.

This was his first large-scale hard-control skill, and its effect was insane.

Watching Lin Mo’s carefree retreating back, Xia Qingyue exhaled in relief.

But immediately, a deep shock surged through her heart.

She stared at the devastated battlefield around her.

So strong…

This strength had completely shattered her understanding of peers.

Far stronger than even when he cleared the Abyss dungeon before…

This growth rate was terrifying.

As a top student, Xia Qingyue understood skills across all classes, especially mage abilities.

She instantly recognized that Lin Mo had just used a fire-earth combo skill, plus two intermediate-level spells.

Xia Qingyue admitted to herself:

Even with her talent, she couldn’t guarantee unlocking a single intermediate skill in half a year.

Let alone that far more complex combo skill—she might never unlock it in her lifetime.

“Is this… what a true prodigy looks like?”

Xia Qingyue stared at Lin Mo’s back, her gaze filled with complexity.

There was awe, like looking up at a towering mountain—and a touch of relief.

Relief that, in that moment, she’d chosen to stand by this man.

…

At this moment, Zhao Yu lay sprawled in the muddy swamp.

A white light cocoon protected him tightly, but left him completely immobilized.

He watched helplessly as that familiar figure walked steadily toward him.

Fear and despair washed over him like a tidal wave.

When he watched Lin Mo’s video clearing Floor 30, he’d still thought he had a chance.

But now, facing Lin Mo directly, he finally understood what despair truly meant.

It was a suffocating sense of helplessness.

His prideful, meticulously planned trap—the terrain advantage, the dozens of attackers…

All crumbled before Lin Mo like paper.

And Lin Mo hadn’t even drawn his staff!

Full spellcasting without a staff!

Zhao Yu trembled all over; he wanted to shut his eyes and not see Lin Mo—but he couldn’t.

Lin Mo stopped, looking down at Zhao Yu at his feet.

“Zhao Dashao, you’re really not up to this, are you? Already lying down?”

Zhao Yu clenched his teeth so hard his jaw ached, humiliation and rage boiling inside him.

“You—”

His lips trembled; countless threats churned in his mind.

He wanted to say “Wait till I get you,” or “The tide turns every thirty years”—

But remembering the sheer devastation he’d just witnessed, every threat choked in his throat.

A trembling terror from deep within his soul rendered him speechless.

It was the instinctive fear of the weak facing absolute power.

He was afraid.

He was truly afraid.

The grinning Lin Mo before him had become an invincible demon, a glitch-like peer.

Watching Zhao Yu like this, Lin Mo found it boring.

“Tch. Boring.”

Lin Mo shook his head.

To his current self, Zhao Yu was no longer on the same level—not even worth the effort to humiliate.

Like a dragon soaring through the sky—would it care if an ant beneath it waved its tiny claws?

Obviously not.

What a flea does holds no meaning to a dragon.

"Young Master Zhao, you stay here and reflect properly. I'm off now."

Lin Mo stood up, strode casually over Zhao Yu’s body, and walked into the depths of the mist.

I still have some time left—I can go kill a few more monsters.

Aim to reach level 20 as soon as possible.

I just hope the Thunder skills will be reliable by then.

……

In the mud swamp,

Zhao Yu lay in the cold, rotting mud, gazing despairingly at the gray, hazy sky.

He’ll never catch up to that guy in this lifetime.

Wait—catch up?

Laughable.

With my S-rank talent?

To him, I’m just a joke.

Perhaps…

Only those SSS-rank geniuses, one in millions, are worthy of even glancing at Lin Mo’s back.

As for me, I don’t even have the right to look up at him.