38: Chapter 38 Special Class for Rule Repair

The moment the words "Rule Maintenance Special Class" appeared on the big screen, the entire examination field seemed as if someone had pressed the mute button.

It wasn't just the students.

Even many teachers and examiners were stunned.

Jiangcheng First Combat Academy.

That was the place every awakened student in Jiangcheng dreamed of.

Being admitted was enough to make an ordinary student so excited they couldn't sleep.

But the problem was:

The suggestion the big screen gave Lin Jin wasn't for the Warrior class, the Mage class, the Support class, or even special training for a lifestyle profession.

It was a class that many people had never even heard of.

Rule Maintenance Special Class.

"What kind of class is this?"

"Rule Maintenance? Does the school even have this major?"

"How come I've never heard of it?"

"A class that was cancelled twenty years ago, how did it come back?"

The murmurs in the crowd exploded instantly.

Zhou Heng stood in the distance, his expression looking as ugly as if he'd been slapped hard across the face.

He had originally thought that after the Abandoned Hospital instance went out of control, even if Lin Jin came out alive, he would be quarantined for contamination, investigated, and dealt with.

But now.

The big screen, in front of everyone, listed Lin Jin as number one.

Overall contribution: 91.7%.

It also gave a recommendation for admission to Jiangcheng First Combat Academy.

It even popped up "Rule Maintenance Special Class" separately.

This wasn't a normal admission.

This was a special recruitment.

And he, an A-rank Thunder Spear Knight,

was now acting like mere background scenery.

Zhou Heng clenched his fists tightly.

His knuckles turned white.

A lackey beside him whispered:

"Young Master Zhou, did the system glitch?"

"How could an F-rank Repairman possibly..."

Zhou Heng swept a cold glance at him.

The lackey immediately shut his mouth.

A system glitch?

If it were just a normal examination system, one could say that.

But the Abandoned Hospital instance had just collapsed, and the Abyss Processing Bureau had already intervened.

The big screen calculation at this moment had undergone at least double verification from the instance core residue and the examination hall's master control formation.

Denying it wouldn't be that easy.

Shen Tingxue looked at the words on the screen, her eyes shifting slightly.

"Rule Maintenance Special Class..."

She repeated it in a low voice.

"Have you heard of it?" Lin Jin asked.

Shen Tingxue shook her head.

"I only saw a sentence about it in an old document."

"Twenty years ago, some Battle Academies attempted to set up special training tracks for rule-based professions."

"Later, they were all discontinued."

Chen Ye leaned in.

"Why were they discontinued?"

Shen Tingxue looked at the black markings on the back of Lin Jin's hand that hadn't completely faded yet.

"They say the mortality rate was too high."

Chen Ye's mouth twitched.

"That actually suits him quite well."

Lin Jin glanced at him.

"Your blessing is pretty morbid."

Chen Ye gave a dry laugh.

"I'm complimenting your hardiness."

Lin Jin didn't continue the conversation.

His attention fell on the prompt only he could see before him.

[Volume 2 Main Plot Activated]

[Combat Academy Arc]

[Task: Find the second wrench]

The second wrench.

His father's remnant shadow had mentioned it at the end too.

The main file wasn't at The Hospital.

It was in the second wrench left behind by Lin Shoushan back then.

And now, the main quest given by the Hand of Rules was also to find the second wrench.

This meant:

That thing was very likely in an area related to the Combat Academy.

Or at least, the clue was there.

Gu Changye also saw the content on the big screen.

His expression was even more solemn than before.

"Rule Maintenance Special Class..."

He recited it in a low voice.

Lin Jin looked at him.

"Do you know about it?"

Gu Changye was silent for two seconds.

"I know a little."

"But now is not the time to talk about this."

He raised his hand to signal the personnel from the Abyss Processing Bureau to surround the scene.

"Let's do the contamination check first."

"You just came out of an out-of-control instance, don't think that just because the scoring is done, you're in the clear."

Lin Jin didn't resist.

He really did need a check-up now.

Especially regarding the matter of The Hospital recording his face.

If this kind of residue wasn't dealt with, there was a high probability of problems later on.

But just as they were preparing to leave the examination area, that man in the suit from the Department of Education blocked them again.

His complexion had recovered a bit.

But there was clearly more impatience in his eyes.

"Captain Gu."

"Even if the Abyss Processing Bureau takes over the contamination incident, the examination admission results should still be reviewed by the Department of Education."

"Especially the Rule Maintenance Special Class."

"This class was cancelled long ago and doesn't have the qualifications to recruit students."

Gu Changye said calmly:

"I didn't make the screen pop that up."

The man in the suit frowned.

"But you can't just take away a key candidate."

Gu Changye looked at him.

"Are you trying to stop me?"

The man in the suit stiffened under that gaze.

But he still gritted his teeth and said:

"I'm not stopping you."

"I'm requesting compliance."

Lin Jin suddenly smiled.

"Compliance?"

The man in the suit looked at him, his expression turning cold.

"Student Lin Jin, you are currently involved in an anomalous instance incident, do not think that just because you were number one in contribution once, you can speak freely."

Lin Jin nodded.

"Then I'll ask according to protocol."

"The Abandoned Hospital instance was rated as an E-rank examination instance. Who signed off on the risk assessment?"

The man in the suit's expression changed slightly.

The surrounding area also became much quieter.

Lin Jin continued:

"Before the exam, was there a secondary contamination check?"

"A B-rank rule entity appeared inside the instance. Was that an assessment error?"

"After the candidates lost contact, why wasn't the exam terminated immediately?"

"And another thing."

He raised the dark red metal card in his hand.

"The original maintenance records for Ward 105 show that the Abandoned Hospital was once a peripheral rule testing ground for the No. 9 Forbidden Zone."

"Does the Department of Education know about this information?"

As the last sentence fell,

the man in the suit's expression changed completely.

Gu Changye also frowned slightly.

He didn't expect Lin Jin to directly point out the matter of the "peripheral rule testing ground for the No. 9 Forbidden Zone" in public.

This statement was too heavy.

Once it spread, the nature of the Abandoned Hospital instance would no longer be a normal examination accident.

It would be the unauthorized use of contaminated assets from an old forbidden zone.

The responsibility would be so huge that no one could suppress it.

The man in the suit said sharply:

"Don't talk nonsense!"

Lin Jin looked at him.

"Then let's have a public investigation."

The air was deathly silent.

Chen Ye almost couldn't hold back a laugh on the side.

He finally understood.

Lin Jin was usually glib.

But when it came to stalling protocols, he specifically targeted the most painful spots.

You use compliance to pressure him.

He uses even greater compliance to press back.

The man in the suit's face turned pale and then green.

Finally, he could only look at Gu Changye.

"Captain Gu, this file must be sealed immediately."

Gu Changye nodded.

"It will be sealed."

Just as the man in the suit was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Gu Changye added:

"By the Abyss Processing Bureau."

"Relevant personnel from the Department of Education are not allowed to access the file alone until the accident investigation is concluded."

The man in the suit's expression sank completely.

"Are you suspecting the Department of Education?"

Gu Changye's tone was calm.

"I suspect everyone."

After saying this, he ignored the other party and said directly to Lin Jin and the others:

"Let's go."

This time, no one stopped them.

Lin Jin, Shen Tingxue, Chen Ye, Liu Hang, and the Short-haired Girl were taken to the temporary contamination detection area.

Along the way, many students were watching them.

To be precise, they were watching Lin Jin.

Those gazes were complex.

Shock.

Suspicion.

Awe.

And a hint of indescribable fear.

On Awakening Day, when they looked at Lin Jin, they were looking at an F-rank joke.

Now, when they looked at Lin Jin, it was like looking at a monster who had repaired The Hospital in an out-of-control instance until it shut down.

Chen Ye deliberately grinned and waved at those people.

"What are you looking at?"

"Never seen an F-rank number one before?"

Lin Jin was speechless.

"Can you be a little more low-key?"

Chen Ye said righteously:

"No."

"You were laughed at so miserably before, if you don't show off now, it's a huge loss."

Shen Tingxue said calmly:

"It's not suitable for him to be too high-profile right now."

Chen Ye immediately toned it down a bit.

"Oh."

Lin Jin glanced at Shen Tingxue.

"He listens to you?"

Shen Tingxue said calmly:

"Because I'm right."

Chen Ye nodded.

"True."

Lin Jin was silent for a second.

"Fine, you two have quite the rapport."

Chen Ye was about to speak, but suddenly realized something seemed off about that, and quickly shut his mouth.

Shen Tingxue acted as if she hadn't heard.

She only glanced across the back of Lin Jin's hand.

"Your contamination markings haven't faded yet."

"Yeah."

Lin Jin lowered his head and took a look.

"The bill with The Hospital hasn't been settled."

"Then go get checked."

Shen Tingxue's tone was very natural.

"Don't push yourself."

Lin Jin paused.

"Alright."

The contamination detection area was set up in the side building of the examination field.

After Gu Changye brought them in, professional equipment was immediately activated.

Silvery-white formation patterns lit up, enveloping each person individually.

Liu Hang and the Short-haired Girl had slightly high contamination values, but both were within the purifiable range.

Chen Ye's shield had residual traces of the Ask-Face rule, which needed to be handled separately.

Shen Tingxue's Ice Phoenix Core had slight traces of external suppression, but because Lin Jin had repaired the low-temperature circuit beforehand, the problem wasn't serious.

Finally, it was Lin Jin's turn.

As soon as the detection formation lit up.

The lights in the entire detection room suddenly dimmed.

A string of garbled code popped up on the instrument screen.

[Detection Target: Lin Jin]

[Profession: Repairman]

[Rank: F]

[Contamination Residue: Abnormal]

[Rule Contact: Extremely High]

[Identity Record: Abnormal]

[External Marking: Unknown Hospital]

Gu Changye looked at the screen, his brows furrowing tighter and tighter.

"Unknown Hospital marking..."

Lin Jin's heart stirred.

It seemed the detection equipment could also see a part of it.

But the very next second.

The four words "Unknown Hospital" on the screen suddenly twisted.

As if something had erased them from the inside.

Replacing them was a line of pale text.

[Patient: Lin Jin]

[Next Round Time: TBD]

The temperature in the detection room plummeted.

Gu Changye's expression changed abruptly.

"Cut the equipment!"

The staff immediately shut down the detection formation.

The screen returned to darkness.

But that line of text had already been seen by everyone.

Chen Ye's face turned pale.

"Did this hospital even chase us out here?"

Shen Tingxue's gaze also turned cold.

Lin Jin didn't speak.

He just looked down at his palm.

On the rusty wrench, that faint marking appeared again.

At the same time, the Hand of Rules slowly popped up a prompt.

[External round marking detected]

[Current Status: Dormant]

[Suggestion: Find the second wrench]

[Possible location of the second wrench: Jiangcheng First Combat Academy]

The next second.

Footsteps came from outside the detection room door.

An aged but vigorous voice sounded.

"Which one is Lin Jin?"

The door was pushed open.

An old man with white hair wearing an old military uniform walked in.

On his chest, he wore the school badge of Jiangcheng First Combat Academy.

When Gu Changye saw the old man, his expression changed slightly.

"Dean Qin?"

The old man ignored him.

His gaze fell directly on Lin Jin.

After sizing him up for a few seconds, he suddenly grinned.

"F-rank Repairman?"

"Not bad."

"Our Rule Maintenance Special Class, what we lack is exactly this kind of person who doesn't fear death."