Chapter 136: The first test

“The efficiency is three times better.”

“The system is more creative and immersive than before.”

“A little upgrade is one thing, but there are new features that had never been there before. The test question diversity has skyrocketed as well.”

The people who were monitoring this special test run were not students but those of a scholar rank and above.

These people were experts who had studied the academy’s system, the questions that it generates based on different personal factors, as well as how it has the ability to reveal a selected bit of info on the tests that it is conducting.

Throughout generations, the system had been the one that tested, graded, and ranked people based on their own abilities, potential, and achievement so, the outcome generated through the system was never wrong.

Even for the skeptics of the academy and all that they stood for, the outcomes of the academy system have always been factual data that was concluded from a detailed set of logical tests.

It was the same as saying they are seeing and feeling their hand and thus it is there and unquestionable. The system was the entity that should not be questioned for individual and functional wellbeing within the academy.

“Still, it is not absolute.”

The system knows that it does not know everything and requires outside input on various matters.

That’s why there are always people who keep a look at the tests and the things maintained by the system at different levels.

The people gathered in this room who were looking at the first test were also such experts who knew how the system worked and what to do when it required some input.

“The headmaster said we would see something fun but this…?”

“This is scary, not fun.”

The system, its functions, the way it reacted, the way it processed, the whole of its data filtering, everything about it had changed.

Things were so different now that the people who were supposed to help the system when it was needed were doing a full on comparative analysis of the two models.

The updated system seemed far more advanced and creative to them. It had a certain kind of artistic view that one can only call… wonderful.

There was more human touch to the tests that it was conducting right now.

The way performance was being evaluated by the system was also more modern in a way.

Along with adapting to new things and getting better according to the gathered input, the system seemed to want to learn more and more about the people, their minds, and their people.

“But doesn’t that make it dangerous?”

“If you take a look here…”

There were transparent logic entries in the system logs showing how it followed the ethics and values of a certain modern set.

The core values of the system that had always been there had not been changed but they were made public for the people who understood it.

The system was showing them how it reached certain conclusions and why it was the best logical outcome.

Also, the system was doing something that a skeptic would find the most absurd: it was mimicking hope.

“It creates impossible scenarios based on the smallest possibilities, sets a failsafe, and then pushes certain individuals to their limits… that’s brilliant!”

The system was taking every bit of safety precautions so that it does not fry things up for the mortal minds.

It understood the potential of the mortal a little better now so in an attempt to learn more about its own capabilities and limitations, it was choosing certain individuals with absurdly high baseline stats to conduct certain experiments.

If they succeeded in the high difficulty tests that it generated, they were given bonus points right as they entered the second test zone.

And even if they failed, they were considered to have passed the first test. There was also a hidden compensation for them if they continue going forward, but the test takers would not know about it.

“Equity not equality. Haha, this thing is pushing its limits to make it possible.”

The ethics of the system was pre-set until now. If the test is given and one wants to show only a certain level of their abilities, they could fool the system.

They had that choice, but that was the past.

Now, the Stanox system was fooling the very people who thought they could get away by showing only a portion of their abilities.

“If they are in the academy, they have agreed to be tested for their potential.”

It was unfair for a stronger person to go in the lower rankings and it was unfair for someone who did not deserve it to be in a higher position than they should.

And so, the test this time around was much more difficult than it had been in the past.

The students who entered with the mindset of breezing through the test without the right skills or preparations were not going to get through even the first test.

Those, however, who came here with hope and dreams, were given more chances to prove their worth to the academy.

The entire selection process, thus, was twice more efficient than it had been in the history of Stanox.

And all of this had happened in a span of an unknown period…

“Just how long did it take her?”

“If we say the time disturbance was the minimum down there, then perhaps a decade? It could be more depending on when she entered.”

“Do you think she did that all by herself?”

“Impossible.”

“If she could do all this overnight, she would have spent a few decades down there going over things multiple times.”

“Time was never a restraint for her. The reason she never did it was simply because she couldn’t do it by herself.”

The academy’s smart scholars did not take long to come to a common conclusion.

“We have seen countless interesting creatures over the years.”

“But none like that one…”

A small white chick.

The image of the bird and his chirping voice being translated to them by the words of the system was as clear in their minds as yesterday.

They had seen the impossible that day. So, if it was that being, then the two of them might have just been the ones behind the change in this system.