Yagami Rin's 'Fear Deficiency Syndrome'

[Explorer Assessment Rest Hall]

"W-What kind of joke is this?"

Liu Ma stared at everything unfolding on the holographic screen overhead. He rubbed his eyes, then pinched his arm hard.

Only when a sharp sting shot through him did he become certain that the absurd sight before him was not an illusion.

And in the Rest Hall, there were countless others wearing the same stunned expressions.

They simply could not quite believe what was happening before their eyes.

On-screen, the Raccoon Administrator followed the scent of fear and quickly found Yagami Rin's team.

Facing a powerful Calamity-class pursuer, the passerby teammate in charge of scouting only managed half a scream before being enveloped by the golden bell's glow and vanishing as an elimination notification.

If things had followed the course of the previous assessments, Yagami Rin and the others would next have faced the Raccoon Administrator's relentless pursuit and, in all likelihood, been eliminated by it.

Yet unexpectedly, when faced with the Raccoon Administrator, this powerful pursuer—

Yagami Rin neither fled with her teammates like Chen Kong nor took the initiative to fight like An Qin. Instead, as if she had seen nothing at all, she stood quietly where she was.

The Raccoon Administrator did not indulge her, either. It immediately prepared to place its paw on her shoulder and eliminate her.

But what happened next left everyone astonished and Liu Ma, Chen Kong, and the others deeply puzzled.

At first, the little raccoon thought it had found a soft persimmon. Its paw, wreathed in Black Mist, slapped toward her shoulder, intending to end things quickly.

But the next second, its paw passed straight through Yagami Rin's shoulder and struck the broken wall behind her, sending shattered stone raining down with a rustle.

Once, twice, three times.

The little raccoon's