Chapter 30: I Order You All To Attack Me!
Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr
The café was connected by just one tunnel to a pearly-white, awe-inspiring building of epic proportions right across from it. Its walls, which stretched on endlessly, appeared to be seamless, but they actually contained countless electronic doors hidden from the naked eye. The main door to this virtual reality construct was accessible from this tunnel, and it was open to the professional soldiers of the Federation for virtual simulation training and sparring.
On the other hand, the entrance Ling Lan and the other children had entered from was actually the backdoor of this virtual reality construct. It was connected to the scout academy and appeared to be just a regular field from the outside. This was also why Ling Lan had been so easily fooled — who’d have thought that a scout academy would have access to such advanced virtual technology? From this, one could see how much importance the Federation placed on cultivating talent among the young.
Of course, the convenient access bestowed upon the scout academy was not purely for testing purposes. In the future, the assistance of virtual technology would be invaluable in elevating all the stats of the children.
The examiner walked along the pearly-white wall for a distance. Frankly speaking, without using the signal he had pre-set with his communication device, the examiner himself wouldn't have a clue where room 72 was. Once these electronic doors merged into this endless wall, they could no longer be seen from the surface; as if they had become one with the wall.
The examiner was walking down yet another length of the wall when suddenly, the communication device on his wrist vibrated. He immediately stopped, a smile appearing on his face. It looked like he had found the room.
Almost randomly, he brushed his fingers over the section of wall right in front of where he stood, though it was really with focused intent. Soon enough, his fingertips told him that he had found the correct spot, and he pressed down lightly three times.
The wall reacted rapidly — the spot where the examiner had pressed lit up, and a palm-sized screen emerged from the wall. The screen displayed a password page, with an input keyboard consisting only of the ten Arabic numerals, 0 to 9.
The examiner smiled as his fingers flew across the keyboard. His speed was astounding — his fingers moved so quickly that they appeared to leave blurry trails in the air. It was impossible for any observer to see which numbers he was pressing … and then there was a loud click, like the sound of a sealed door unlocking. Within the blink of an eye, a doorway had appeared to the left of the examiner.
The examiner strode in, and the door closed behind him, silently blending into the pearly-white wall once again.
The moment the examiner entered room 72, a wide virtual race track came into view. Behind him, neither the door nor the wall could be seen anymore — only a race track, which extended as far as the eye could see, remained. The illusion was so realistic that it was hard to believe that a door and a wall had existed right there just moments ago.
The examiner did not wait for long before ten figures appeared on the distant horizon. Some were running while some were pulled along, some were dragging down others down while some supported others … but still they staggered forward at a run — no, walk would be more accurate. It looked like the ten children were at the end of their ropes. In the past tests, the children would usually appear one at a time, unlike this group that still appeared organised and managed to arrive at the finish line without losing a single member.
The examiner found himself slightly impressed. Perhaps this was what the monitoring officer had been trying to tell him — they were truly great kids.
When the children saw him, they suddenly perked up and then, as if they had been injected with stimulants, they rapidly stormed towards the examiner like ferocious tigers.
The examiner smiled. The fact that the promise of victory could prompt such a reaction from these kids was a good sign — truly, they had potential. The examiner was very pleased, and his impression of Ling Lan’s group improved yet again.
"I see the examiner …" The exhausted Qi Long caught sight of the examiner when he lifted his head and the welcome sight made him call out in exhilaration. Hearing his call, the other nine children rallied, eyes turning bloodshot, their appearances just like rabid wolves …
Ah woooo! Eerily in sync, the ten children let out a ravenous howl and then, just as if they had seen a gourmet dish cross over into their territory, they abruptly exploded with energy, rushing toward the examiner standing in the distance.
They barrelled over the finish line but didn't slow down at all — instead, they actually sped up as they pounced on the waiting examiner.
The charge of the ten children was so aggressive that the examiner was taken aback, but who did they think he was? The examiner was a professional soldier who had lived through largescale galactic battles; he regained his composure within a split second.
"These little rascals!" Facing this sudden attack, the on-site examiner was rather speechless. With a stony expression, without even moving a single step, he slightly twisted his body to the side. And just like that, he completely evaded the children’s desperate final attack.
"Darn it, we missed!" Qi Long stumbled face first into the ground and punched the ground in frustration.
Luo Lang, who was not far away from Qi Long, also slumped to the ground with a face full of dissatisfaction. The thing was, just as they were about to give up, Qi Long had suggested a plot that had boosted their waning energy …
What Qi Long said was that they must take revenge upon the examiner by turning him into a human cushion. That’s right, they would push him to the ground and stack themselves on top of him. This would show the examiners that they were not to be easily bullied!
Alright, so this plot had fanned the festering hatred of the ten children to the max, actually managing to draw out unknown wells of energy from within them, which had allowed them to continue running all the way till the end.
Hatred truly was a formidable force.
As for Ling Lan, she hadn't cooperated mainly out of hatred. Instead, her mind had drifted to strange places — just thinking about a group of bratty kids pushing down a mature and handsome examiner … wasn’t this just like some trashy group student-teacher romance? Wasn’t it? Wasn’t it?
Fine, so Ling Lan was a corrupted soul. It was all the fault of her previous life, during which she had read all sorts of lowbrow novels without shame.
The examiner stood watching them with his arms folded before him. With a cold smile, he said, "Oho, I see you still have energy left. Not bad." The frigid look on his face was like ice, but he was actually ecstatic inside. Hell, this group was just too much like those batches of new soldiers he trained — they had spirit, they had guts, and they could think for themselves. And yet they were only six years old … how extraordinary. The examiner felt the itch to just grab these ten children straight into his boot camp for special training — they were sure to become great soldiers someday.
Qi Long raised his arms in surrender. "Sir, we are fully beat."
The examiner scoffed, "If you all want to pass, get up." Dammit, still being able to speak in such a loud voice when you’re out of energy? Who do you think you’re trying to fool?
Qi Long tsked, but pried himself off the ground anyway. Everyone had worked so hard to complete this test, if they failed simply because they couldn’t stand up at the end, how shameful would that be? Qi Long was deeply influenced by his father, who firmly believed that men should face death standing up.
Qi Long was the first to stand up, and Luo Lang was the second. Even though Luo Lang’s hands and legs were cramping due to exhaustion, he still couldn’t bear losing to Qi Long. Seeing Qi Long stand, he pushed his body to stand out of sheer unwillingness to lose.
Ling Lan was next, followed by Han Jijyun, Luo Shaoyun, Li Jinghong, and He Chaoyang. They each stood up one by one, in sequence, until the final two, the girls Han Xuya and Luo Chao, were standing as well.
Although they stumbled and fell several times in the process, gracelessly, they all still managed to stand up straight in the end. In their eyes, all one could see was the stubborn persistence for success.
The examiner was pleased. "Not bad, you lot are certainly spirited. Now, I order you all to attack me."
All the children were stunned by this sudden turn of events.
Han Jijyun reacted the fastest. The CPU of his brain spun at high speeds, analysing the intent behind the examiner’s words. His expression was serious and solemn as he asked, "Why?"