……
A few hours later, a car took Jian Xie to the departure point.
As the person assigned to drive the examinee to the 16th district, Blue-Badge couldn’t help but observe Jian Xie’s expression in the rearview mirror. The headquarters was in District 17, and District 16 was just another nearby city, so it only took over an hour to drive there.
In a sense, District 16 was not a good place.
It was safe, but the monsters were too diverse. Moreover, because of their low levels, it was too troublesome to deal with dozens of them at a time.
Moreover, the monster found might just be a C-level monster after working for a long time and searching for monsters everywhere, which was extremely disadvantageous for the level evaluation.
Then, he noticed that the youngest candidate was just looking at the prop in his hand with his eyes narrowed. It was unclear whether he was satisfied or not.
“Well, the prop doesn’t matter right now.” The car stopped. Blue-Badge turned around to organize his words and tried to comfort him in a gentle voice, “Once you pass the test, the bureau will ask each investigator to fill out a list of their favorite weapon types based on their performance… Then there will be more handy props.”
Jian Xie: “…Thank you.”
He stared at the prop in his hand thoughtfully.
If he remembered correctly, his resume for the autumn recruitment was actually quite normal. The only difference was that he filled in the words “sufficient experience” in the column on whether he had played video games. So, this was the impression the weapons department had of him… ?
In his hand, he was holding an iron object that appeared in many horror games and was known as the holy sword of physics but looked ordinary in appearance.
A crowbar.
…To be honest, this was indeed in line with the game’s setting.
As a top student in science, Jian Xie’s best subjects happen to be physics and biology. Did the Weapons Department look at his report card…?
“Let me introduce myself. My name is Huo Lun, an A-level investigator from the [Logistics Department].” Blue-Badge smiled and said, “We‘ve already arrived at the starting point, but because other candidates will come from other districts or rush to other districts, the assessment will not officially begin until 12 noon today.”
“You’re the only one among the dozen candidates from the headquarters who was assigned here, so I am now your exclusive driver.”
After that, he handed a cufflink to Jian Xie, indicating that the latter should pin it on the cuff of his shirt.
Jian Xie has already changed into the uniform for candidates. It was called a uniform, but it was just a suit that could be seen everywhere on the streets. The only difference was that the pocket on the front of the suit jacket was embroidered with the recommender’s name in pinyin. At first glance, one would think it was just decorative English.
Unlike other adults wearing suits, the teenager Jian Xie looked particularly pleasing to the eye, making people’s gazes involuntarily drift to him.
Seeing him take the cufflinks, Huo Lun said in a lively tone, “Just a reminder, it’s not only locators that’s in your cufflinks, but your every move will also be recorded by all-round surveillance cameras from the start of the assessment. The chiefs of the five departments will observe and score you, which is also the key to determining whether you will be invited to join their department.”
Some even post complaints in the chat section, what more in the official tacitly approved live text posts. In this regard, investigators must also have strong mental fortitude.
It could only be said that there was still a certain risk of death, but having this was already quite good.
“Your cufflinks are already turned on.” Huo Lun’s hint was obvious. “You can introduce yourself before the assessment officially begins. I wish you all the best for the rest of the process.”
Jian Xie nodded to indicate that he understood, then opened the car door and got out.
Out of habit, he looked around and found that there were shopping malls everywhere and there were more people than he thought. The starting point was actually somewhere in the city center.
In this case, what Jian Xie was going to do next would become much easier.
But he had only taken a few steps when Huo Lun suddenly called him from behind.
“Wait, I almost forgot. Senior Cheng Li asked me to bring this to you.” Huo Lun touched the back of his neck and picked up the schoolbag from the passenger seat, whispering, “Why is it so heavy? It’s not something illegal, is it? I won’t get fired, will I….”
Jian Xie saw his schoolbag being handed out through the window.
Him: “…” Cheng Li is still quite reliable.
Jian Xie was just thinking about what to do with his homework. The other party acted as if he wouldn’t give it to him, but he did not expect that the other would give it to him at this time.
Thinking of the surveillance camera in his sleeve, he wondered if everyone would turn to look at him the moment they heard Cheng Li’s name to find something to use against him. Jian Xie took a few steps back, grabbed his backpack, unzipped it, and displayed its contents in front of everyone.
“Just books, homework, and pens.” He explained expressionlessly, “I took a leave of absence and I have homework.”
Huo Lun: “…”
——The reason he used was mental illness.
It was no secret that he had been receiving psychological treatment from Dr. Li in the community, and it was for this reason that the homeroom teacher agreed to let him take leave at such an important time.
So the excuse of having a mental disease or mental disorder was sometimes quite useful…
As for why he was able to submit his homework during his mental illness flare up, that was a question Jian Xie was too lazy to consider. In any case, the homeroom teacher would not have any objection.
What he didn’t know was that, just as he thought, after hearing that Cheng Li had entrusted Huo Lun to deliver some items, all the eyes behind the screens were indeed attracted to the keywords.
Many people frowned and suspected that he was cheating, so they gave up watching other areas and immediately cut the big screen to Jian Xie’s face, staring at the backpack in his hand, trying to figure out what secret weapon was inside.
However, just as he unzipped his backpack, the nerves on the faces of everyone behind the surveillance monitor twitched at the same time.
The other candidates in each district who were on high alert, all of them looked nervous and apprehensive, especially the star candidate No. 6 Lin Zishi from the first three districts, who was whispering about his specialties and weapon levels. Compared with Jian Xie, it felt like the solemn atmosphere of the entire autumn recruitment was instantly broken!
“What is he doing? Is he taking the autumn recruitment seriously?!”
“Is Cheng Li’s recommendee that unreliable… Let’s wait and see, can’t say for sure.”
“I think he’s just being mysterious. I’ve always said that high school students like those who have never been out in the real world have no common sense whatsoever.”
“Tsk, what a shame, I thought he would be different.”
At the same time, a post quietly appeared in the chat section of the Supernatural Management Bureau’s internal website. The number of replies skyrocketed, surpassing 100 floors in just ten minutes. It was clearly on its way to becoming a hot post.
The title was very eye-catching, with a person’s name directly on it.
【Have you met Cheng Li’s recommendee for the autumn recruitment? The one called Jian Xie. It’s really hard to explain… I don’t understand what he’s trying to do】
1L OP
This is the first time I see someone bringing homework with him. Wow, awesome.
I was looking at his face and waiting for him to introduce himself, but I didn’t expect that he would start talking about homework as soon as he opened his mouth. What blinded my eyes and made me think that he was pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger? This is clearly just a lack of common sense. Huo Lun has already made it clear that he can introduce himself. Can’t he learn from Lin Zishi’s explanation?
This is the difference between 6 and 7.
……
Jian Xie didn’t know that just bringing his homework would cause such a storm. He was assigned to the bottom three areas, so he normally should get less attention.
But even if he knew, he probably wouldn’t care.
Although people everywhere tended to form cliques, Jian Xie always maintained the principle of being an invisible person in a private high school and never interacted too closely with anyone. It could be clearly seen that he never caters to other people’s cold personality.
Through simple observation, Jian Xie discovered a key piece of information.
All the clues put together proved that his previous guess about the Bureau was wrong.
Jian Xie had originally believed that if he revealed the abnormalities on his body, the Administration Bureau would likely turn their attention to him and begin monitoring him. Now it seemed he had overthought things. Their attitude towards 6 and 7, Green-Hair and Fu Huanyu, as well as the laws of the other world, all showed one thing—
As long as you are strong enough and useful in controlling monsters, the Bureau doesn’t mind if you have some personality flaws or secrets.
The extremely high mortality rate meant that investigators are seen by them as some kind of “consumables” to maintain the normal order in the eyes of ordinary people.
This made it much easier.
Jian Xie put the crowbar into his schoolbag and slung it over his shoulder. Then he looked around and walked towards a nearby shopping mall.
Although Qin Zhuo would take the initiative to help him carry the bag, since everyone might see it, he still had to carry it on his back, at least as a facade.
Qin Zhuo snorted, hinting at something with a dissatisfied tone. 【Doing this will attract a lot of pests. 】
“Isn’t that great?”
Seeing Jian Xie walk straight to a convenience store, as if he was deliberately searching for something, the people behind the surveillance camera couldn’t help but wonder what was going on. Not only did the question in their mind remain unanswered, but their confusion grew even more intense when they saw Jian Xie walk straight to the household goods section and pick up a towel and a bag of orange candies.
Have you seen the cufflinks used for positioning and live streaming? They are not just for decoration. Please explain ah!
——Are you here just to make a purchase?!
The things this candidate bought were so nonsensical that people had no idea what he intended to do. He formed a very obvious contrast with the other contestants.
With subtitles, his video could be used directly as a vlog, and he could even be tagged as a beauty blogger.
It was not until they saw Jian Xie buy a roll of bandages and a fruit knife that the person in charge of monitoring this district strangely felt a little more normal.
Although these tools will never play a role in self-protection when facing monsters just like a child waving a toy in front of a criminal in a futile attempt to defend themselves, at least they were more in line with the theme of this autumn recruitment than orange candy, and wouldn’t feel too out of place.
【Orange flavor?】 Qin Zhuo’s eyes fell on the checkout counter.
Jian Xie: “Hmm.”
He will remember to get some more when he visits Dr. Li next weekend.
Although he actually did not have any mental illness and vitamin candy did not have the supposed effect, eating candy had probably become a habit for him. He felt uncomfortable whenever there were no orange pills in his pill bottle, so he stopped by the convenience store and bought some candy to put in the bottle.
After completing the necessary purchase, he went to the convenience store’s bathroom.
Although his face in the mirror was still pale, the dark circles under his eyes didn’t seem to be as severe as before.
As he was thinking, Jian Xie took out the bandage and placed it on the sink. Then he unbuttoned the cuffs of his suit, lifted his shirt up a little, picked up the fruit knife, and without blinking, he slashed his palm with it directly!
Blood immediately oozed out of the wound, like beads falling off a string, rolling onto the prepared bandage.
This unexpected scene shocked even the person behind the surveillance camera who had been complaining in his heart just now. He didn’t expect the other party to strike so unhesitantly.
Although this kind of injury was considered very minor for an investigator, the body’s self-preservation mechanism meant that not everyone has the courage to cut themselves, especially since Jian Xie didn’t look like the type of person who would be so cruel to himself.
Jian Xie quickly covered the wound with a bandage and then wrapped it around the back of his hand.
The blood seeped through the white bandage, leaving a smudged mark.
Some blood clung to his fingertips. His fingers were casually placed on the sink. Through the mirror, Jian Xie could see a black mist nearly two meters high suddenly rise behind him, enveloping him in its arms. It was “It” who appeared behind him.
Then, the fog dissipated, revealing the gloomy face of a handsome young man.
Qin Zhuo loosened the hug, leaned down, and used the tip of his tongue to suck up the remaining drops of blood, ensuring that not a single drop was wasted.
Jian Xie moved slightly, and although he felt a little itchy, he didn’t dodge.
From the surveillance camera’s perspective, he was just standing alone at the sink, and there was only his reflection in the mirror. No one would notice where those tiny blood beads had disappeared to. Jian Xie just looked like he was staring at his injured finger and was slightly lost in thought.
“……”
【I don’t like you hurting yourself.】 Qin Zhuo commented lazily, 【Although this is indeed very useful.】
After It finished all this and raised It’s head, Jian Xie awkwardly withdrew his hand that had been cut by himself and moved it to make sure that no nerves were accidentally injured.
“It’s just a necessary measure.”
It seemed like he was explaining to the people behind the surveillance camera, but in fact it was a response to Qin Zhuo.
What…what do you mean necessary? Is it a requirement for a prop to be activated?
Wu Qinghe, who was in charge of props in the weapons department, had been looking at Jian Xie. When he noticed everyone’s gazes, he silently covered his face and said, “…Don’t look at me. I don’t know.”
He roughly knew what Jian Xie was going to do… Even through the screen, he couldn’t help but swallow hard when he saw the other person slash open their own skin and blood beads rolled out. He couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to face the blood fragrance of a monster like him in a crowded place.
Unlike humans who could only smell nearby odors with their noses, monsters have their own way of distinguishing and hunting prey, even across half a city.
This- this is a phishing operation…
Wu Qinghe felt bitter heartache, but didn’t dare to say it.
Not knowing that his strange actions had attracted the attention of most examiners, Jian Xie did not explain his behavior again. Instead, he slowly straightened his shirt sleeve and suit, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and left the restroom, then walked out of the convenience store without looking back.
Seeing that his eyes were cold and his body was tense, as if he was about to make some big move, the examiners looked serious.
Is he going to—
Then they saw him go into the KFC on the first floor of the shopping mall next door, find an empty seat, then take out his homework from his schoolbag, pick up a pen and start working on it.
Everyone: ?
The author has something to say:
Jian Xie: Be sensible and queue up by yourself
Translator Xena’s other works: https://ko-fi.com/xenatl/gallery
– Just click the pictures and the link will show <3
