There's no way this situation could go wrong

As luck would have it...

The students were thinking the same thing.

For the first half hour, they behaved themselves, at most glancing around restlessly.

But...

This area was utterly deserted.

Though their phones had signal, the limited bandwidth clearly wasn’t meant for entertainment.

No videos to watch, no offline games downloaded to pass the time.

Humans are creatures afraid of loneliness.

In this context, Xu Kun was the first to grow impatient.

He headed toward a patch of thicker vegetation.

Naturally, his movement drew attention.

Someone even called out to warn him, "Xu Kun, Teacher Li told us not to wander off. The Origin Realm is dangerous."

Xu Kun brushed it off. "Dangerous? How?"

"What rank is this Origin Realm?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.

The student who’d spoken hesitated before replying, "E-rank...?"

Xu Kun smirked. "Exactly. And do you know what my strength level is?"

The student ventured uncertainly, "Fourth-tier peak?"

Xu Kun puffed up with pride. "That’s right. Fourth-tier peak."

"Let me put it this way—I might not be able to sweep through the Origin Realm, but at the very least, I can protect myself."

The student still wavered. "But..."

"No buts," Xu Kun cut in. "You should all come too."

"Listen, the evaluation started the moment we entered the Origin Realm."

"Not bringing tents already docked us points for 'lack of preparation,' even though Teacher Li never warned us."

"And now he suddenly leaves? Doesn’t that seem like a test of our 'courage'?"

"Think about it. What kind of Origin Realm creatures could wipe out a whole group of fourth-tiers like us?"

"Even if we ran into two or three fifth-tier beasts, we could still put up a fight."

"Anything weaker than that would avoid us on sight."

"Do you really want Teacher Li to come back in two hours, scowling at us again?"

"Pointing fingers and yelling, 'You spineless sheep, did you really just stand here because I said it was dangerous?'"

The student fell silent.

But soon, a freckled girl spoke up hesitantly, "What if... Teacher Li just didn’t want us causing trouble? Maybe you’re overthinking it..."

Xu Kun’s mood soured. After spelling it out so clearly, she still opposed him? No respect.

"Even if that’s true, so what?" he retorted. "Results matter. We’ll just take a quick walk and be back before Teacher Li notices."

"Or maybe bag a few Origin Realm creatures on the way. Show him our trophies—do you think he’d still scold us then?"

"Are you going to be heroes for once, or cowards forever?"

"Besides, sitting here for two hours is just... boring."

The earlier arguments might not have convinced everyone, but that last line...

More than a few hearts wavered.

It was boring.

And with Xu Kun’s logic...

Eventually, three boys stepped forward. "Let’s take a quick look around? We’ll be back before Teacher Li returns."

There’s a term for this: the herd mentality.

Once someone took the lead, others followed—whether out of ambition or sheer boredom.

In the end, 18 of the 22 students (excluding Xu Kun) agreed with his proposal.

The remaining four, including Liu Yuan, hesitated as they watched the growing crowd.

Two more eventually joined.

Only Liu Yuan and the freckled girl held back.

The freckled girl glanced at Liu Yuan and sighed. "We should go too..."

Liu Yuan tilted her head. "But you disagreed with Xu Kun earlier?"

The girl shook her head. "Teacher Li said as long as we stick together, our collective 'presence' is threatening. But now... we’re the ones left behind."

"I don’t want to follow, but we can’t stay alone..."

Her reminder wasn’t entirely selfless.

Liu Yuan was the strongest in the group—practically their ace.

Having her along meant safety in numbers.

And besides... shared blame is no blame.

If everyone broke the rules, no one would be singled out.

Otherwise, Teacher Li would surely say, "Look at Liu Yuan—why didn’t she run off?"

Liu Yuan thought for five full seconds before nodding reluctantly.

"Fine..."

Not because she agreed with Xu Kun.

But because being left alone was dangerous.

...

And so, all 23 reached a consensus.

A spur-of-the-moment adventure.

It sounded stupid.

But 80% of people had done something similar at least once.

Like...

"Just one more roll for the 3-star 5-cost."

"Don’t end the game yet—let’s mess around a bit."

"Seventeen cards left—no way you can OTK me."

Because they all thought the same thing: No way this backfires.

Soon, they crossed the barren stretch into taller grass, the blades brushing past their ankles.

Strange noises echoed in the distance—a scene that should’ve felt ominous.

But with their numbers, the group only grew more exhilarated.

So this is the Origin Realm? Not as scary as the adults made it out to be.

Some even pulled out their phones to snap pictures.

"Haha, gotta show this to my mom later!"

"Damn, that’s smart. I’m posting mine straight to Moments."

"Who brought a selfie stick?"

"Help me take one—my camera’s garbage."

Laughing and shoving, the last traces of tension vanished.

After the impromptu photoshoot, they trekked another few hundred meters.

A crystal-clear stream gurgled ahead. A few girls squealed, kicking off their shoes and socks to dip their feet in the cool water.

"Liu Yuan, come join us!"

A girl she was friendly with called out to her.

But before Liu Yuan could respond—

Her Soul Sea screamed a warning.

She barely had time to react before throwing herself backward.

At the same instant—

A sinister shadow flickered at the edge of her vision.

A chain, tipped with a barbed hook,

Shot toward her like an arrow, whistling through the air.

That split-second dodge saved her.

The hook grazed her sleeve before slamming into the rocks behind her with a metallic clang.