As soon as Maximus jumped, he closed the passage.
"Huff."
"Huff."
Maximus breathed heavily as he calmed himself down.
This was the first time he had felt so out of control.
Without mana and soul power, he was back to square one, relying solely on the system.
After calming himself, he looked at the panel from the beginning.
He had only seen the mission and hadn't noticed the details.
[Special Mechanic Trial: Death Mode]
[Reward: Special Student Status]
[Wasteland World: A world dominated by machinery. Due to a failed biological experiment, the entire world has turned into a biological nightmare.]
[Survive for a hundred years.
Note: The body is biologically enhanced to live up to a hundred years.]
[Mana and soul power are prohibited and cannot be used.]
[Biological Monster ranges from Tier 0 to Tier 6.]
[Trial participants: 12,421,327.]
[Death here will lead to real-world death.]
[Good luck and give it your best.]
"Damn, I knew golden gates weren't a good sign," Maximus cursed.
Seeing the golden gate, he had acted impulsively and entered without any investigation.
Now he had to endure a nightmarish environment, with Tier 6 creatures lurking around.
"That colossal monster earlier must have been Tier 6," Maximus thought.
Now he had to survive using only his mortal body.
Biological Modification should be possible, but given his current circumstances, he shelved that thought for now.
"Fortunately, this is a world with plenty of resources," Maximus sighed in relief.
"The solution to this situation should lie within those materials," Maximus murmured as he noticed various materials scattered on the ground.
"System, scan all the materials and display the relevant information from the Myriad World Mall," Maximus commanded.
Soon, all the materials around him were scanned, and the system sifted through the Myriad World Mall for information on these materials.
[Myriad World Mall:
Black Steel No.1224
Aluminum Gold No.24
Hult Plastic No.3
...]
A vast library of material information was available for purchase.
Maximus operated the system and acquired all the available information.
[13 million books - Price: 230,000 magic crystals
Confirm?]
(1,000 gold = 1 magic crystal)
"It's surprisingly affordable to buy material information," Maximus muttered as he clicked "confirm."
During this time, all of his money had been converted into system points solely for this trial.
[Magic Crystals: 1.2 billion]
It was an immense sum, but Maximus doubted whether it would be enough for a hundred years of survival.
Unfortunately, this was a virtual world, and he couldn't purchase physical items; otherwise, he could easily break out of this trial.
Soon, all the information was digitized and passed through the system.
Physical books were not feasible, so the system intelligently transformed the information into a digital format for easy access.
*Rumble*
*Bang*
While he was browsing the system, the undead creatures above seemed to have detected his location, as they pounded on the sewage cover.
"I need to be faster," Maximus thought.
"System, transmit the information directly," Maximus commanded.
Soon, a river of information flowed through his mind as if it would never end.
Unable to use his soul power, he couldn't scan the knowledge with his consciousness.
So, he could only rely on the system.
The downside was that it was excruciatingly painful.
"Urgh!" Maximus stifled his agony as it felt like his head was about to explode.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the information transfer concluded.
"Huff."
"Huff."
"Huff."
"I should pace it more slowly next time," Maximus said, wiping his sweat from the earlier pain.
Without lingering, he opened his system to allocate points.
[13 million Mechanical Material: Initial (0/2 billion)]
He quickly added life points.
[+400,000 Life Points]
This time, the torrent of information was gentle, even comfortable.
Maximus felt as if he were immersed in a river of knowledge.
[13 million Mechanical Material: Transcendent (max)]
"Huh?" Maximus's eyes snapped open.
*Roar*
The undead above appeared to be shifting the sewer cover.
With swift reflexes, Maximus hastily closed it.
"A close call," he muttered with relief, then turned his attention to the surrounding scrap materials.
"This should be enough to craft an electronic air gun," Maximus assessed, examining the broken pieces.
"A worn-out battery."
"Oh, these materials can be synthesized into a top-grade lithium-ion."
"Huh? A synthetic metal No. 72, lucky!"
After a few minutes, he had gathered all the necessary materials to fashion a mechanical airgun.
"A rotation here."
"I should connect it like this."
"It's too narrow; I should widen the passage."
"Huh? My hands have become so flexible and precise."
Maximus mumbled as he assembled various materials.
"Done!" Maximus exclaimed excitedly.
Gazing at the odd, bulky air gun, he could hardly believe it was his creation.
Without a blueprint, he had been forced to piece the materials together haphazardly.
"This shouldn't compromise the gun's strength," Maximus assessed.
"Now, Tier 1 and lower should just need a shot from my gun."
Feeling elated, he opened the sewer cover and quickly moved back.
*Roar*
An undead creature fell down, lunging toward him.
The air around him compressed and shot through the undead.
*Bang*
The undead's head disintegrated a few meters away due to inertia.
"Basic," Maximus murmured confidently.
One after another, the undead fell as he fired at them.
However, just as he was about to celebrate, a hint of suffocation washed over him.
"Damn, the air is running out."
As the air gun compressed the air around it, the atmosphere surrounding Maximus was depleting.
"I'll get out first."
He didn't wait for the undead to fall one by one.
Instead, he advanced as they approached, choosing to fire into the ground.
The sewer passage was blocked, so he couldn't go that way.
He had no choice but to surface and find his way out.
Fortunately, he had the air gun, which made it relatively safe.
Furthermore, the lithium synthesis he had created with his transcendent mastery was long-lasting.
He estimated that even if he fired continuously for three days and three nights, the lithium wouldn't run out.
With enough materials and a proper environment, he could even create nuclear fusion on his own.
Soon, he managed to escape the group of undead and found a safe house.
"It should be safe here," Maximus sighed as he settled onto a sofa.
However, seeing the colossal monsters hundreds of miles away kept him on edge.
"I'll get out of here tomorrow."
After barricading his location to ensure no sound or smell would escape, he jumped into his bed, embracing the darkness.
...
The next day, Maximus woke up.
As he looked around, he suddenly remembered why he was in this situation.
"There's a lot more to do," Maximus encouraged himself.
"But how can I get out of here?"
"System, scan and list all available materials," Maximus commanded.
A list appeared, revealing materials he could use to escape quickly.
"Huh? A mechanical RV?" Maximus grew excited when he spotted a damaged RV near his safe house.
"It's in bad shape..."
"But with my transcendent mastery, fixing this should be easy," he concluded.
Soon, he left the house, firing at the undead to prevent them from accumulating.
Bang*
Bang*
Each shot removed an undead's head.
His firing speed was faster than his footsteps.
"I should add a silencer later," Maximus made a mental note.
He arrived at the mechanical RV.
"What a beauty," Maximus admired.
Despite being badly worn, just looking at its structure allowed him to imagine its past glory.
"Tsk, the chassis is still in good condition; it should be fine with a bit of tweaking."
"The battery is gone, it must have been taken after it was abandoned."
"Fortunately, I saved some of the synthesized lithium from yesterday. It should be enough to get out of here."
Maximus got to work, rummaging around the city for materials to repair the mechanical RV.
He reinforced his air gun to make it more durable, stealthy, and powerful.
Now, it could even kill a Tier 2 biological monster with a single shot.
After a few days of trial and error, he perfected the mechanical RV's repairs.
If he wasn't in such a hurry, he could have modified it to be even stronger.
"Now, I can finally escape from here," Maximus said with happiness.
Looking at his masterpiece, he turn on the switch as he navigated out to a safe area.
...
In the monitoring room, Fealan and various Tier 8 teachers watched all the individuals who had entered the golden gate.
"Oh, this Maximus is indeed a promising talent," Fealan commented as he observed Maximus successfully overcoming the initial challenge.
"Dean, there's also Ragnar from the Battle Mage Golden Gate. He's pushing through endless waves of beasts like nothing," a Tier 8 teacher reported.
"Don't solely focus on this year's elites"
"Pay attention to those seekers who have been refining themselves for a thousand years as well."
Advised another Tier 8 teacher as he observed a seeker performing admirably in a golden gate trial.
"Alright, let's continue observing these so-called geniuses as they continue to struggle. This is only the beginning," Fealan reminded.
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