Bottom Lines and Convictions May Not Necessarily Be "Weaknesses"

[Explorer Qualification Assessment, Rest Hall]

The moment the image of An Qin standing alone before the factory's main entrance appeared on the holographic screen, Huan Qianyin could not help frowning.

She poked Yagami Rin beside her, who was still dozing off, her tone full of confusion. "Rin, what do you think they're doing? Did they forget this is an assessment?"

Yagami Rin, woken by the poke, rubbed her dark-ringed eyes. Her gaze fell on the screen, where Chen Kong was protecting the children as they crawled into the ventilation duct, and she spoke unhurriedly.

"They haven't forgotten. It's just that, in their hearts, some things matter more than clearing the level."

"More important than clearing the level?"

Huan Qianyin was puzzled.

As a member of the Moonshadow Family, she had been taught that "efficiency comes first, missions above all else."

The family handbook stated it plainly: any factor that could interfere with a mission should be discarded without hesitation.

Complete only the core mission, and never waste time on "irrelevant people."

Yet Chen Kong and An Qin on the screen had pushed themselves into danger for the sake of four "illusory NPCs."

To Huan Qianyin, it was putting the cart before the horse—utterly foolish.

Seeing that Huan Qianyin still did not understand, Yagami Rin suddenly sat up a little straighter. The laziness in her eyes faded, replaced by a measure of seriousness.

"Sometimes, Rin, what you abandon isn't some so-called 'burden,' but your former self."

"Once a bottom line is crossed, the only difference is between zero times and countless times."

"And Chen Kong and the others, who insist on holding that bottom line, clearly feel that 'abandoning the weak' would hurt them more than failing the assessment. That's actually quite rare."

Huan Qianyin opened her mouth at those words,