Upon the announcement of the new rules, the students scattered throughout the Black Lotus Seas divided into three main groups.0

“Ultimately, it’ll come down to who defeats the area boss.”2

“I heard the area boss is tough only in terms of durability and is slow as hell. That means it’s exactly my type of prey.”1

Those who were among the top-ranked and those confident in their firepower decided to head for the Graveyard of Lotuses, where the area boss was going to appear.0

“Since the top ranks are out of reach already, let’s just loot what’s left.”0

“There should be a lot of monsters inside, so we might even be able to aim for the high ranks if we play our cards right.”0

Those who knew that they wouldn’t be able to even scratch the area boss would decide to head into the Mist Forests to destroy the Lotus Trees within instead.2

“It’s a bigger loss if I overexert and get eliminated from the exam.”0

“Let’s just stick to what we’ve been doing.”0

And those who felt the pressure of the unexpected situation and decided to continue hunting down monsters in small numbers while roaming, just like at the beginning.0

Depending on their skills and preferences, the students each set their own goals and moved accordingly. Naturally, this only intensified the competition, especially in the Mist Forests.0

“Find the Lotus Tree first!”0

“Wait! We got here first!”0

“So what! Run!”0

The reward condition for each Mist Forest was strictly destroying the Lotus Tree within. Hence, some chose to ignore the monsters entirely and run straight toward the Lotus Tree, prompting others to start running as well.0

“Huh?...0