Chapter 362: Results Announcement

Lin Xiaolu had just put down her phone after finishing the call with Senior Cuique, when the mint-haired girl beside her immediately leaned over, her face full of curiosity: "What did Senior Cornflower say to you?"

Earlier, considering that Lin Xiaolu didn't want to reveal her results right away, she had deliberately kept some distance from Lin Xiaolu, making it clear she wouldn't eavesdrop on the conversation, to avoid any appearance of impropriety.

Of course, no matter how far away she was, just seeing the smug, honey-sweet grin on Lin Xiaolu's face was enough to guess who was on the other end of the line.

"Didn't say much, just praised me for being so promising."

Lin Xiaolu shot her a sidelong glance, showing off a little, but out of consideration for the other's status, she answered with some reservation: "After all, my results are really excellent — even beyond her expectations."

"So how excellent is 'really excellent'?" Mint grew even more curious: "The Transformable Magic Dress does sound fresh, but would they give you an A just for that, or did they give you an S?"

"Just wait, the results will be announced in a bit anyway."

Lin Xiaolu struggled to suppress the upward curl of her lips: "You're definitely going to get a shock when it happens."

"Xiaolu-Barrier looks so annoying right now…" Beside her, Bai Jingxuan, who had already learned the result in advance, showed a slightly disdainful expression.

She wasn't acting this way out of jealousy — she was already quite satisfied with her own results — the main reason was that the current Lin Xiaolu looked like a petty person who had gotten her way, and if Senior Cuique hadn't given her some instructions over the phone just now, the current Lin Xiaolu would probably have her nose stuck up in the sky already.

And even if Lin Xiaolu didn't go around advertising, her behavior like this was obvious to anyone watching, and anyone with eyes would know her results were excellent. Among those "anyone with eyes," naturally, was Huazhu, who had just emerged from the examination room.

Her testing order was after Lin Xiaolu and the others, so she had missed the conversation when Lin Xiaolu first came out. Seeing the subtle atmosphere between them, she instinctively wanted to ask, but before she could speak, Lin Xiaolu covered her ears with both hands:

"I know you want to ask, but don't ask yet — I don't want you using your ability to extract the answer from me."

Huazhu was momentarily stunned at the words, her brow slightly furrowed, but she quickly regained a calm expression, and after some thought, asked Mint: "Her results are very good?"

"Mm… by her account, very good, but I don't know the specific evaluation either — she wouldn't say." Mint spread her hands.

"What kind of result is it that she can't even say it out loud?" Huazhu was somewhat skeptical: "Could the examiners really have given her an S just for her Transformable Magic Dress? But what's there that can't be said about that?"

"I don't know either." Mint was equally baffled.

Seeing she couldn't get anything out of Mint, Huazhu turned to look at Bai Jingxuan, but Bai Jingxuan also shook her head at her, clearly indicating her "unwillingness to say."

So she could only turn back to Lin Xiaolu.

"The rating they gave my Magic Dress is A+."

Huazhu suddenly confessed frankly: "My teammate Mumian is S."

She didn't deliberately control the volume of her voice, and once this sentence came out, it instead caused the surrounding examinees to lower their voices one after another. Everyone instinctively looked toward where Lin Xiaolu and the others were, wanting to know what exactly was going on over here.

However, reality was destined to disappoint them, because almost at the same time, the magical girls of the Silver Corridor faction who had previously been clustered around Huazhu slowly drew closer, tacitly taking their places around Huazhu, forming a human wall that cut off the sightlines of the other examinees around them.

"…Why are you telling me this?" Lin Xiaolu was also enclosed within the human wall, but right now she was more concerned with Huazhu's intentions.

"What I mean is, both I and my teammates have very high ratings, and we have no need to challenge opponents of a higher tier."

Huazhu's expression was as usual: "There's no rating above S, and for my A+ to go further, I can only choose to challenge S-rank. I know my own Magic Dress ability — A+ is my current limit, and I can't possibly defeat someone rated higher than me."

"So?" Lin Xiaolu glanced left and right at the examinees surrounding them, thinking to herself that these people couldn't possibly be planning to make a move here and seize her S+ rating, and for a moment felt a little weak-kneed. But very quickly, she realized that the people in front of her couldn't possibly have guessed the truth, and as if to bolster her courage, she puffed out her chest and raised her voice: "What are you planning?"

"No particular plan, I just wanted to tell you that neither I nor my squad have any thoughts about your test rating." Huazhu looked at her and shook her head:

"You're a student and junior of the Reserve Gem Staff, and I won't take the initiative to start a conflict with you. But I do have my own pride and dignity, so I don't much like being misunderstood by others in matters like this. If you're willing to talk, I'm very happy to hear it; if not, then I'm not the petty person you imagine — please don't insult me based on your own speculation."

"Ah, that…" Lin Xiaolu understood what Huazhu meant, and immediately felt a bit awkward: "Sorry, I didn't mean to speak ill of you."

"It's best that you didn't."

Seeing that things had gone well enough, Huazhu lowered her voice again: "So? Even after I've made this promise to you, you still don't want to say?"

"Mm, it's not that I don't want to talk to you, it's that Cui… Cornflower told me not to say things carelessly."

Lin Xiaolu scratched her chin: "If after the results are announced you still have anything you want to ask me, I can tell you then."

"Senior Cornflower's request?" Huazhu narrowed her eyes.

"Mm." Lin Xiaolu looked her straight in the eye, signaling that the other party could use her ability.

"…It seems it's not a lie." After a moment, Huazhu nodded thoughtfully: "Alright, I'll accept what you're saying. Sorry for the trouble."

Lin Xiaolu let out a sigh of relief.

"But if it's Senior Cornflower's request, then it means there's really something special about your results?"

Huazhu sized up Lin Xiaolu, as if seeing her anew: "Your Magic Dress — it can't just be able to transform, can it?"

"Mm…" Lin Xiaolu turned her head away.

"Ah, sorry, I asked instinctively again."

Huazhu blinked: "Alright, to prevent this from happening again, I think we'd better wait until the results are announced before we talk."

Having said this, she beckoned to her companions beside her, said "Let's go," and led a group of examinees away from the spot. Left behind were Lin Xiaolu and the others in the corridor, looking at each other, along with a large circle of magical girls around them gazing at them with curious eyes.

The remaining time of this assessment was gradually consumed in this kind of atmosphere.

When the sky gradually darkened, and the sky over Luen Norei had already been dyed a purplish-red, the last examinee finally walked out of her assigned examination room, marking the end of the day-long Magic Dress assessment.

All the testing content for the day was finished; the practical combat portion would need to wait until the next day. At this point, the examinees could choose to leave the Silver Corridor and check their results online after returning.

However, a large number of examinees chose to stay on site and wait together for the announcement of results, simply because at this moment their hearts could hold nothing else — they were completely filled with curiosity about the rankings, and a strong desire for gossip. Driven by this mindset, staying on site to watch the results together clearly had more of a communal atmosphere.

And when the sky had completely turned blue-purple, the basic scores for this assessment were finally posted at the central plaza of the Silver Corridor. The examinees immediately swarmed forward in a rush, wanting to see where their own results ranked, and incidentally to gossip about how others had done.

Amid this somewhat chaotic scene, quite a few examinees set their sights on the very top of the ranking list, wanting to see who the most competitive magical girls were.

"How many S-ranks are there this time?"

"There are at least 3 confirmed, right? Seems like the most ever — could there be more?"

"Ah, I see it — there are already 6 people above S-rank? That's too… huh, wait, that one at the very top doesn't seem to be S?"

Such exchanges of words shifted from scattered discussion to the dominant voice, until finally, every examinee who saw the top line of the ranking list fell into deep astonishment — even shock — at what they saw.

Because what was written there was not the "Soliflor" everyone had expected, but a word never seen before:

【First Place, Examinee Number, Bai Mei】

——【Rating: Singularity Soliflor (SS)】