Chapter 39

Chapter 39

What for?

Raising his leg, Philo, whose injured limb had begun trembling, didn't have time to think about this question.

Due to his rapidly draining energy and the impact of his injuries, his climbing speed had slowed considerably.

Yet even so—even with both palms bleeding, even as his leg wound seemed to reopen—he was still two to three meters above the ground.

Two or three meters. Under normal circumstances, Philo could cover that distance in seconds while running. But now, it felt impossibly difficult.

He paused to catch his breath, the male steadied his ragged breathing.

No longer looking up at the ground, having discarded his resource pack below but keeping the cooling device strapped to his waist, Philo’s face was dripping with sweat, his lashes so damp he could barely keep his eyes open.

Shaking sweat from his face to fling away the sweat obscuring his vision, he endured the slight dizziness and reached for a jutting rock not far ahead.

Soon, he gripped the jagged stone.

But—

Blood seeped through the cloth strips. The worn-out fabric no longer provided enough grip to anchor his palms.

Just as he tried to lift his leg and climb higher, his arm gripping the rock suddenly wavered. At the same time, his whole body swayed on the cliff—and then—

"Terminate the assessment immediately."

Standing up, Shang Ling’s tone brooked no argument.

It was rare for this female, known among the younger generation for her gentleness and propriety, to speak so stiffly.

Gore, standing beside her, said nothing, his expression darkened, betraying no urgency to refute her words.

Yes, this was just a simulation. Even if the male suffered severe injuries inside, he would remain unharmed. Even death would only remove him from the simulation faster. But—he would still feel pain.

Even if his body bore no lasting damage after the assessment, he would still experience agony, torment…

Most of the insects present were female soldiers who had received help from males. But even ordinary female insects were born with an innate protective instinct toward males.

Though time might dull this instinct in some, or even turn to resentment, despising male insects was not the same as watching them suffer or die. Not at all.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Principal Aofu and Zhousha remained silent. Watching Philo tumble from the cliff, Aofu lowered his eyes, appearing deep in thought.

As for Zhousha—

"Continue the assessment."

Ignoring the shocked looks his words elicited, the senior female insect kept her eyes fixed on the screen, where the fallen male insect lay motionless, frozen in pain.

Frowning, Shang Ling’s tone softened to its usual gentleness, though her eyes were cold as she looked up.

"Uncle, Philo—"

"The military has its discipline. Assessments have their rules."

Zhousha’s voice was low.

"Since Philo chose to abide by them, we continue."

Was breaking the rules difficult?

No. At this stage, even if the male insect chose to quit, Kalms Military Academy was unlikely to deny his admission over it.

Philo knew this. Yet he refused to gamble on that possibility.

Had he been willing to gamble, he wouldn’t have hesitated earlier—wouldn’t have dismissed the idea of seeking external aid, opting instead to treat his wounds and seek a solution on his own.

Since he had made his choice, since he was willing to tread this arduous but unquestionable path—then they would proceed.

Some insects didn’t understand. Others disagreed.

But with Zhousha’s order, Aofu’s faraway look sharpened.

As if oblivious to the dissent around him, the old principal of Kalms Military Academy gave a small smile and nodded, signaling for the assessment to continue.

The tech insect, who had nearly activated the emergency shutdown, reluctantly withdrew his hand.

Still, his heart ached as his eyes lingered on the screen.

Amid the complicated gazes of the crowd, the fallen male insect had retrieved his medical device once more. His movements were the same as before, though now they were far slower.

Night fell swiftly.

Inside the training simulation, it wasn’t just the male insect striving for his goal. The female insects, with the assessment deadline approaching, intensified their pursuit of star beasts.

By now, most high-level star beasts had already been slain. The remaining competition revolved around low-level prey.

But no matter how many low-level star beasts they killed, their combined points often couldn't match a single high-level one. Moreover, the first to reach the endpoint received bonus points. Soon, the first female insect arrived at the finish line.

Like the first fish leaping onto shore, her arrival heralded a steady stream of others.

As the endpoint filled up, someone noticed something odd.

"Where’s His Highness Philo? I saw him heading this way this morning. He should be here by now."

"I saw him too, but I haven’t spotted him."

"That’s strange. Based on his walking speed these past few days, he should’ve arrived long ago. Did he get lost?"

"Impossible. His communicator has an auto-navigation system."

"What are you talking about? You saw His Highness Philo?"

"Damn, he was in your zone? That barren wasteland? The school isn’t afraid of the Male Insect Management Committee accusing them of mistreating male insects?"

"This isn’t fair! Why was His Highness assigned to your zone? No wonder I haven’t seen him these three days."

"Fair? He had to reach the endpoint anyway. You’d see him then. Besides, he passed through the forest zone too. You just had bad luck missing him."

"Bullshit! Even if he crossed other zones, the time from the desert zone here is still shorter than from yours. Why the hell—"

"That’s not my—"

Arguments broke out—shoving, arguing.

The number of female insects qualifying for Kalms Military Academy’s combat assessment wasn’t large. Preliminary screenings and applications had already weeded out many.

Yet despite this, due to the updated simulation system from years prior, participants could no longer exit individually after reaching the endpoint and tallying points. Now, everyone had to wait until all contestants arrived before exiting together.

This led to the once-quiet finish zone now being filled with constant chatter, with occasional conflicts erupting among female warriors over previous disputes about claiming star beasts.

Even so, two spots remained relatively quiet.

Glancing silently at the gray-haired female warrior sitting on the ground in the corner, a young warrior who had been about to confront another female warrior for stealing two D-grade star beasts from him instinctively toned down his aggressive stride upon noticing her.

But even after keeping his distance from her, as he approached his target, he noticed who was sitting nearby—and the curses he had been holding back ultimately died on his lips.

Damn it, this one really knew how to hide.

Unconcerned about the other female warriors around her, the brown-haired female warrior, whose right shoulder was now torn from the chase, had no mind to spare for the gazes of others.

On his way here, he had coincidentally run into the group of Giant Cave Beasts they had previously chased off—nowhere to be found until then. Thinking he still had time, he excitedly racked up more points before finally arriving at the endpoint, satisfied.

Oddly enough, Giant Cave Beasts usually didn’t flee so far or in such large numbers. This time, they must have been driven to desperation, fleeing all the way from the desert zone to the barren plateau.

At this thought, the brown-haired female warrior momentarily zoned out—but the next second, hearing footsteps in the distance, he eagerly looked up, only to slump in disappointment.

Shifting his posture, he had done little else since arriving at the endpoint besides positioning himself at the edge of the area, his eyes brimming with anticipation as he stared ahead.

He hadn’t expected His Highness Philo to still be absent at this point.

Originally, he had planned to take advantage of their shared presence in the endpoint area to properly introduce himself. Though they had met several times already, His Highness still didn’t know his name.

Regretting yet again his missed opportunities, the female warrior clenched his fist and struck the ground in frustration.

In truth, he wasn’t the only one with such thoughts.

In past exams, the endpoint area would either have warriors resting with their eyes closed or gathered in small groups. Never before had so many female warriors gathered at the boundary, scanning the horizon.

However, as time passed and the male insect still failed to appear, those waiting at the edge couldn’t help but grow restless.

Though they knew it was unlikely for a male participant to face real danger, the fact that he hadn’t yet reached the endpoint was downright strange.

Frowning, many female warriors grew increasingly worried. Yet, bound by the exam regulations—once inside the endpoint area, no student could leave—they could only wait in frustration.

As more female warriors arrived one after another, none bore the silver-haired prince they were waiting for.

Crossing his legs, the brown-haired female warrior struck a pose again—this time, not in vain.

Unlike the steady, weary footsteps of female warriors or their swift, wind-like sprints, a thin, staggering figure slowly appeared at the far end of the path.

Still some distance from the endpoint, even with the sharp insect vision, the figure remained indistinct—only the silhouette was visible.

Yet, as the brown-haired female warrior was the first to rise, others soon followed. Some even began adjusting their clothes and hair, though few were in perfect shape by now.

They didn’t have to wait long—the figure was now within clear sight.

But as it drew closer, the moment the face became fully visible, the smiles that had begun to form on the faces of the tense warriors froze—then vanished like smoke.

The scent of blood.

A pungent, unmistakable stench.

True, few female warriors in the exam were free of bloodstains—whether from star beasts or their own wounds. After three days, their senses had nearly grown numb to it.

Though some zones in the simulation had water sources, others—like this year’s endpoint in the arid plateau—did not. Many female warriors, focused on accumulating points, hadn’t bothered to clean themselves.

Thus, long accustomed to the metallic tang in the air, they shouldn’t have reacted so strongly—but…

"His Highness is injured?"

A female warrior instinctively stepped forward, only to collide with a transparent barrier. Stunned, she stared at the blood-soaked male in the distance.

Now able to see him clearly—especially those who hadn’t encountered him before—they saw not just his face, but his wounds.

A male insect… injured.

The once-noisy endpoint area grew quieter as the figure neared, until only the wind and footsteps remained.

A similar silence had fallen when Philo entered the rocky desert zone—but unlike then, the atmosphere now was thick with suffocating tension.

Clenching their fists, more and more female warriors pressed against the barrier, their darkened eyes fixed on the slowly approaching figure.

No one spoke. Trapped behind the barrier, they could only stare helplessly.

But the male insect didn’t look up—didn’t even seem aware of their gazes.

The improvised wrappings on his hands were soaked through, his arms bore crudely bandaged wounds, and one leg could barely lift. Yet, despite his slowing pace—

His eyes dropped to the navigation icon on his communicator, noting the remaining distance to the endpoint. His tense expression eased slightly.

As if his tension had lessened for a moment, his next step was longer—then—

His injured leg twitched violently, the sudden pull sending him collapsing to one knee.

"Bang."

The first fist struck the barrier.

Like the opening beat of a drum, the rest followed—female warriors pounding on the barrier, curses erupting once more.

But this time, their fury wasn’t directed at each other—but at Kalms Military Academy and those overseeing the exam.

"Morons! Have your brains been eaten by star beasts?! How dare you treat His Highness Philo like this—this is illegal!"

"Open the barrier! My points are already tallied—why can’t I leave?!"

"End the exam! The stragglers won’t bag many more star beasts now. If you don’t stop this, I’m reporting you to the Male Insect Management Committee!"

"Damn academy, stupid overseers—you’re ruining the reputation of us Military Females!"

A wave of fury surged. Whether the overseers heard it was uncertain—but Philo, still kneeling nearby, certainly did.

As exhausted as he was, hearing the female warriors’ furious outcry, he couldn’t help but let out a weak chuckle.

Apparently, it wasn’t just male insects who were good at cursing—these females had quite the talent too.

Though grateful for their defense, he was too weak to quiet them. They were… impressively loud.

His leg buckled again. Just as his arms were on the verge of failing—this time, he didn’t collapse.

A hand caught his shoulder. A stranger, attracted by the uproar, had rushed over—and upon realizing the injured figure was not just any male insect, but the renowned His Highness Philo, the young female warrior’s eyes went wide with shock.

But the male insect was clearly in no condition to explain how he had ended up like this, and the female insect didn’t have time to stand around in shock. With a slight exertion of her arm, the young female insect hastily and somewhat clumsily helped His Highness to the finish area.

Not long after, before Philo could regain consciousness, as the last female insect arrived at the finish line, all the insectoids within the simulation exam arena simultaneously received the notification that the exam had ended. The next moment—

His eyes opened.

Unlike the other female insects who were ejected while fully conscious, Philo, who had blacked out in the simulation pod, had last seen only darkness before suddenly finding himself surrounded by mechanical equipment in the pod.

His purple pupils shifted slightly as he struggled to process the abrupt change.

But soon, the simulation pod door opened.

Light far brighter than inside the pod flooded in, and the male insect instinctively looked away. With that movement, he caught sight of the Kalms Military Academy emblem on the pod wall and finally snapped fully awake.

Realizing he had exited the simulation exam system, he sat up and instinctively glanced at his left leg, which had been the most severely injured earlier.

Of course, unlike in the simulated system, his left leg was now completely unharmed, with no trace of injury. After all, though the realism of this simulation exam system was far more realistic than holographic games, it was still just a virtual environment.

Sitting still for another two seconds, the male insect quickly steadied himself by holding onto the pod wall and stood up, stepping out of the pod.

However, unlike the first day’s theoretical exam, waiting for Philo outside the simulation pod this time weren’t just the exam proctors from Kalms Military Academy, but also…

“What are you all doing here?”