Human Nature Was the Greatest Variable

[Explorer Assessment, Rest Hall]

The pale blue teleportation light faded, and Liu Ma, Vivian, and Isabelle appeared in the center of the hall.

All three had their heads lowered, their faces filled with undisguised disappointment. None of their earlier confidence remained.

Liu Ma clenched his fists, Vivian frowned, and Isabelle simply leaned against the wall, looking dazed.

They had considered the possibility of failure, but they had never imagined that their failure would be so... "simple."

Yes, simple.

Their so-called plan and preparations had become a joke before absolute strength.

If this had not been an assessment, but a real exploration of a Fallen Zone—

Then what returned to the Rest Hall would not have been three dejected people, but three cold corpses.

Reality always told everyone who underestimated it what true "cruelty" was.

"Liu Ma, are you guys okay?"

Seeing the three appear, Chen Kong hurried over to comfort them.

But Liu Ma seemed not to hear him at all. His hollow eyes stared at the floor as the image of the Raccoon Administrator's paw pressing down on his shoulder replayed over and over in his mind.

At that moment, he had not even been able to react before an invisible force pinned him in place.

Throughout it all, he had been like a helpless "baby"—weak and powerless.

And Liu Ma was not the only one who looked lost.

"So the gap between us and Mi Yao... is actually this huge."

Isabelle suddenly spoke, her voice slightly hoarse.

Her words not only voiced the feelings of Liu Ma and the others, but also the feelings of many people nearby.

When they had watched Mi Yao's assessment outside, he had merely dodged and hid, occasionally striking back.

That had given Liu Ma and the others the illusion of *I could