The System Teaches You How to Be Human

The midterm assessment took place on a planet.

This planet was named “Desolate Star,” the very first location where the Shuling Kingdom and Kaz Empire discovered the Zerg and dispatched soldiers to exterminate them.

Si Yisi and a group of students from Anderson Military Academy sat aboard a spaceship, observing Desolate Star from afar.

From a distance, at least half of the planet appeared as a lifeless black void, with only a small area displaying the blue of water and the green of vegetation.

Desolate Star had once been chosen as a Zerg breeding ground. When the Zerg hatched, the liquid that seeped from their eggs contaminated half the planet, rendering it barren. This was the source of the blackness Si Yisi and his companions saw.

As the spaceship slowly descended, Si Yisi had barely stepped out with the main group when he caught a lingering scent of gunpowder in the air.

Most of the noble students around him covered their mouths and noses, coughing softly.

“What kind of godforsaken place is this?” someone murmured in complaint.

The ground on Desolate Star consisted of a sand-like substance that continuously emitted radiation harmful to the human body.

The supervising instructor cleared his throat and stood at the spaceship’s open hatch, looking down at the dense crowd of noble students.

This was the twelfth spaceship from Anderson Academy, part of a strategy to divide the students into small groups and drop them at twelve designated safe zones.

“This is the midterm assessment for Anderson Military Academy’s academic year. As you all know, Desolate Star was once the site of a battle between the Zerg and the Empire. The Zerg, unable to withstand the Empire’s forces, withdrew entirely. Later, soldiers surveying the planet discovered a unique mineral.”

“This mineral is an important raw material for mechas and is scattered throughout Desolate Star. Your midterm assessment task is to mine as much of this mineral as possible. Your rankings will be determined by a points system, and the bottom one hundred students will be expelled.”

Si Yisi received a small mineral detector and a “child-grade” mecha. Looking around, he saw that every student had been given the same equipment.

Complaints erupted immediately, one after another.

“A child-grade mecha? Isn’t this the kind of safety mecha used by 6-year-old kids?”

The supervising instructor sternly replied, “Yes. In this assessment, you may plunder from others, but you are forbidden from killing fellow academy students. This planet is not as peaceful as it appears. Before you depart, you must leave behind any excessively lethal weapons.”

What kind of ridiculous rule is this! The noble students grumbled incessantly.

Tru, however, clenched a small cuff button pinned to his sleeve, his gaze deep and unreadable.

“Beep.” A green light flashed, allowing Tru to pass smoothly. As he walked past Si Yisi, he didn’t even glance at him, seeming like a completely different person.

But it was precisely this lack of hostility that felt unnatural. If Si Yisi’s suspicions were correct, Tru should be thinking about killing him every moment of the day.

Si Yisi cast him a fleeting glance, expressionless.

“Do you want to join our team?” Lin Xian extended an invitation to Si Yisi, his hand outstretched. Behind him, several noble heirs were eyeing Si Yisi with ill intent.

Because of what had happened at the start, Si Yisi had become quite the “celebrity” among the nobles over the past month.

“No,” Si Yisi declined. “I prefer working alone.”

Lone wolves were rare; most students opted to form teams.

When the supervising instructor announced the official start of the assessment and informed them that the spaceship would return to pick them up in 2 days, the various small teams immediately grew wary of one another, scattering quickly in different directions.

Si Yisi watched as Tru’s figure disappeared into a pitch-black forest. After a brief hesitation, he turned and followed.

Wasn’t Tru planning to make a move against me?

Then… I’ll give him the chance!

***

Tru’s team rushed into the forest at full speed. The forest was strange; some teams who had attempted to follow them simply “vanished” into the darkness.

“Your Highness, shouldn’t we teach that brat Si’an a lesson?” One person observed the situation carefully and made a suggestion.

“He’s so weak and alone. He’ll definitely become a target for other teams. When the time comes, not only can we take care of Si’an, but we can also reap the benefits, capturing members of other teams in one go.”

“I’ve already made my decision,” Tru said, his gaze deep and unwavering, carrying a determined smile. “But I need your cooperation.”

He took out several unremarkable black stones and distributed them. “These will trap them.”

But in reality? Tru knew very well that these black stones had a deadly attraction for Zerg larvae. Although Desolate Star had been thoroughly searched by the military, some Zerg eggs, undetectable by instruments, had still been overlooked.

The black stones were something he had stolen from the lab. They would stimulate the Zerg eggs, forcing them to end their dormancy and hatch prematurely!

From the moment he learned that their assessment would take place on Desolate Star, Tru had thought of using this method to eliminate Si’an!

It was true that students were forbidden from killing each other. But what if Si’an died in an accident? What if he was just unlucky enough to encounter a freshly hatched Zerg?

Then it would have nothing to do with him! He wanted Si’an dead! Otherwise, in a few months, this matter would inevitably be exposed during the specialized physical examination. Tru would never let that happen!

As for using Zerg eggs; this method had come to him as naturally as when he had framed Si Yisi by using the Blood Moon Mist incident!

Tru’s companions moved swiftly. They buried the black stones in various locations, their voices filled with excitement as they realized their plan was coming to fruition.

Each of these companions had been carefully chosen by Tru. They were obedient and cowardly; too timid to expose anything even if caught. More importantly, they were all minor nobles, the kind of people whose disappearance would leave no trace.

Killing them off with a little “accident” would be the easiest thing in the world!

Still blindly loyal to Tru, the third prince, his companions remained oblivious to the fact that the black stones they had buried had begun emitting rhythmic frequencies.

These sounds were inaudible to humans, yet they transmitted effortlessly into the dormant Zerg eggs.

A rustling sound slowly rose from beneath the ground. The eggs instinctively craved the presence of the black stones, stirring beneath the sand, moving ever so slightly. For now, they were still governed by instinct, not yet hatched. But when the time came for them to break out of their shells, it would be a disaster!

***

Si Yisi twitched his ears. He thought he heard an eerie melody.

He felt an inexplicable yearning; how strange.

As he moved through the black forest, he quickly lost track of Tru and his team. The forest truly was unusual.

Desolate Star’s time cycle differed from that of the Empire. Each day and night lasted 4 hours. When Si Yisi had stepped off the spaceship, it had been broad daylight, but after only a short time in the forest, the sky had already turned pitch black!

Nightfall meant greater danger, but it was also the best time to search for minerals.

During the “day,” Si Yisi had only managed to collect a few dozen mineral pieces. But now, at night…

A cluster of moving light spots suddenly appeared on his mineral detector! This indicated that some minerals were embedded in nocturnal creatures!

Si Yisi didn’t slow down. Since recovering, his physical abilities had improved dramatically.

Right now, for example, he had excellent night vision, allowing him to see every hunting creature prowling in the dark with perfect clarity. Then–he found his prey!

At night, he wasn’t the hunted—he was the hunter!

A grotesque beast unknowingly approached a delicate pink-and-white flower. But the moment it got too close, the “flower” suddenly unfurled, revealing a gaping maw lined with sharp, dripping fangs—before devouring the beast whole!

In the next instant, the flower’s form twisted violently, transforming into a creature identical to the one it had just swallowed!

Except this “beast” had its eyes rolled back, its white pupils streaked with sickening blood-red veins!

Si Yisi, however, wasn’t focused on its grotesque appearance. He was looking at the faint green glow emanating from its body!

A large quantity of the mineral was hidden inside this “beast’s” stomach!

Si Yisi lunged toward the glowing mineral, but the “beast” suddenly sprouted a massive, gaping mouth from its torso!

So that was its real disguise—its lethal weapon wasn’t in its visible jaws at all. It had used this deception to lull prey into a false sense of security or, to ensnare anyone foolish enough to take the bait!

But was Si Yisi really someone who would walk into a trap?

Of course not.

Just as those razor-sharp teeth were about to shred his arm, his other hand suddenly swung around to the back of the massive maw and delivered a fierce blow!

The gaping mouth convulsed from the impact, coughing up fragments of mineral ore, but mostly what seemed to be stomach acid and partially digested food scraps.

Si Yisi closed his eyes for a brief moment. Then, with a flick of his fingers, several sharp leaves shot out, instantly piercing through the beast’s mouth and pinning it dead to the ground!

Si Yisi looked at the pile of rather disgusting remains and remained silent.

But just then, the sound of rustling leaves reached his ears, followed by multiple approaching footsteps. Four people pushed through the foliage, closing in from all directions.

One of them spoke with a mocking tone. “Oh, it’s you—the lowly commoner who made such a spectacle of himself on the first day of school.”

The guy was dressed flamboyantly, his short, spiked hair stiffly held in place by hair gel. His gaze swept over the glowing green mineral, filled with a sense of ownership, as if he had already claimed it for himself.

“How about this?” His voice carried a smug confidence, as if victory was already his. “Leave the minerals and get lost. We’ll let you go. Otherwise… heh.”

They were trying to swoop in like a mantis stalking a cicada, only to be the oriole waiting behind! Judging by their demeanor, this wasn’t the first time their little group had pulled something like this.

Just as Si Yisi’s expression turned cold and he was about to reply, he suddenly heard a sharp whistling sound tearing through the air!

A chubby boy came diving in from the side of the forest, wearing a bizarrely shaped flight apparatus on his back. He called out with a mix of bravado and nervousness as he charged toward the four-man group.

“Give back the minerals you stole! This time, I won’t hold back!”

The chubby boy landed heavily beside Si Yisi, standing at least a head shorter than him. He was probably one of the victims who had been robbed by this group. But for some reason, he had dared to come back for revenge!

“Hah?” The leading noble raised an eyebrow. “Did you guys hear what this little fatty just said? What was that? He actually thinks he can get back what we’ve already taken?”

“He said he won’t hold back? With what—his shoddy, homemade mecha? Hahaha!”