I Really, Really Don't Want to Train!!

"Why is it zero?" Vill-V's eyes widened when she saw the number.

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?" Elysia asked.

Judging by Vill-V's expression, the number didn't seem good at all.

"Of course, there's a problem," Vill-V said, calming herself down, though her brow was still furrowed. "You've all seen the Mantis produced by the Honkai, right? The Doctor mentioned them to me, saying they're humans assimilated by Honkai energy due to low adaptability."

"Logically, everyone has some adaptability. It can't possibly be zero."

Vill-V recalled what Mobius had told her yesterday afternoon when she found her.

"I haven't seen those monsters with my own eyes, but I've seen a lot of videos before."

"Never mind, the zero simply means that Lin Li, you have no Honkai adaptability."

"Uh, so is there a problem?" Lin Li asked.

"Isn't that obvious? Without adaptability, you'd immediately turn into a Mantis when the Honkai erupts – one of those monsters with a scythe and purple patterns on their skin."

"But I'm perfectly fine."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Elysia also recalled when she first met Lin Li.

She had wondered why Lin Li was the only survivor in the entire building, standing on the rooftop.

"Tsk, I don't know how you survived the last Honkai outbreak, maybe you got lucky. Anyway... you're quite dangerous," Vill-V said. "I'll report this situation to the Doctor later."

"..."

Lin Li didn't think she was in any danger. She had the System, after all.

Uh... it feels like it's been a while since I summoned the System. I wonder if it's still here.

[Rest assured, Host, you don't need to worry about becoming a Mantis. You should focus on earning money.]

"I know, I know. Isn't that what I'm doing? I'm already on the path to making money," Lin Li thought, then returned to reality.

"Elysia, you should put your hand on it and get tested too," Vill-V said.

"Mhm."

Elysia did as Lin Li did.

The number on the device began to soar, but it suddenly stopped after reaching eighty, as if something was preventing it from rising further.

"That high?" Vill-V was a bit surprised.

"Uh-huh~ Looks like I'm pretty amazing," Elysia said with a smile.

"I can see that," Vill-V replied, narrowing her eyes, and put the device back into the case.

"The main purpose of coming here today was to test your adaptability. I don't know why the Doctor insisted I test you two first. Perhaps it's an experiment, I can't say for sure."

Vill-V slung the case over her shoulder, stood up, and walked towards the door.

"If what I suspect is true, then all soldiers will need this. When that time comes..."

Vill-V left as quickly as she arrived.

Her last sentence was perhaps a self-muttering; she didn't seem to intend for the two of them to hear it.

Neither of them paid much attention to what she might have been saying.

Checking the time, it was already nine o'clock. Elysia rushed to make breakfast, and the two of them headed out.

Lin Li was scheduled to assist Mobius on Tuesday. Today was Sunday, meaning there were two more days.

Elysia didn't know what to do with Lin Li. They couldn't go anywhere for these two days, so she decided to explore the base again.

Vill-V arrived at the research institute's entrance with her case and knocked politely.

There was no response from inside for a long time, so Vill-V walked in directly.

Mobius was dissecting something on the operating table with a scalpel. It wasn't something Vill-V enjoyed watching, so after putting down her case, she sat aside and looked at something else.

Excluding the previous invasion of Flame-Moth, this was her first time in this laboratory.

It was completely different from what she had seen on the surveillance footage. Being in this place, she could only feel a chill.

Perhaps it was due to the laboratory's cool lighting and silver-white walls.

Bianca was also in the laboratory, seemingly tidying things up. Vill-V was sitting a bit far away and couldn't see what she was organizing.

After Bianca finished, she came over to Vill-V. The latter opened her case, and the adaptability device was placed on the floor.

After a while, Mobius put down her scalpel, stretched her neck, and held a small, round, light gray ball in her gloved hand. Upon closer inspection, thin purple lines could be seen wriggling on the ball's surface.

However, Mobius merely frowned, tossed the ball into the trash can, stretched her neck, removed her gloves, and walked over to Vill-V.

"How were the results?"

"Hard to say."

"What do you mean?"

"..."

Vill-V recounted what happened in Lin Li's room to Mobius.

The latter frowned in thought.

"Seems rather interesting?" Mobius chuckled and said, "Zero adaptability, yet managed to survive the Great Honkai and defeat a Herrscher single-handedly..."

"What about Elysia? She's eighty."

"Don't worry about her," Mobius said dismissively. "I don't think eighty is particularly rare."

As she spoke, Mobius placed her hand on a device, which displayed a seventy-five.

"..."

Vill-V's eyes twitched slightly.

Alright, compared to that, her sixty-four wasn't considered high at all.

As expected, there's always someone better.

"Doctor, should I test it?" Bianca asked cautiously.

"No need. Have your boyfriend test it when the time comes. You can skip it," Mobius glanced at her and said.

"..."

Bianca paid no mind to Vill-V's gaze and returned to her workstation.

"Can I leave now?"

"Of course. If you'd prefer to lie on the operating table, you can stay."

"Then I'll leave," Vill-V said, shaking her head with a smile.

"Mhm, go back and make a few more of these machines. They'll likely be quite useful later on."

"Okay."

Their conversation was indeed brief, with no greetings or goodbyes from the start.

However, after Vill-V left, Mobius truly began to ponder.

She softly uttered a name.

"Elysia..."

Unsure of what Elysia was thinking, she led Lin Li around until they arrived at a training facility.

Lin Li looked at the sign in front of the building and couldn't help but frown.

"You want me to go in and train?" she asked, her face filled with resistance.

While she admired soldiers who trained diligently to protect their country, she herself had no desire to train.

She'd rather study!

"Eh? We're already here? What a coincidence."

Elysia seemed to snap back to attention as Lin Li spoke. Looking at their surroundings, she expressed slight surprise.

"...You'd better not have done this on purpose."

"Oh, why would I?" Elysia smiled. "But since we're already here, let's go in. After all, Xiao Li, you're a soldier too."

"But I don't want to train."

"I won't make Xiao Li train. Just come in with me to take a look, okay?" Elysia took Lin Li's hands and gently swayed them, pulling her towards the training facility.

Lin Li couldn't refuse her and ended up going inside.

This training facility, like the one where they watched the new recruit drills earlier, was open-air. However, compared to that, this place was more suited for improving one's abilities, whereas the drill ground was purely for selecting new recruits.

Lin Li heard Elysia say that the new recruit drills would conclude within the week. Afterward, some individuals would be selected to join or form new squads. Perhaps their Second Special Squad might also gain new soldiers.

Frankly, Lin Li didn't like the idea of anyone joining her team. She felt it was perfectly fine with just the two of them... Although, ever since Elysia became captain, she had mostly taken her around to various places to eat delicious food, never actually confronting any Honkai.

Thinking about it, this special squad seemed like a failure, didn't it? After all, Captain Hen from next door had already gone to deal with a minor Honkai incident two days ago.

The entire training facility could be divided into eight large areas. Each area contained numerous smaller rooms, with one to two people in each room, essentially for individual practice or sparring with others.

In the center of the eight areas, there was a circular structure resembling a fighting stage, seemingly for combat between soldiers.

Elysia casually picked one of the large areas and led Lin Li around.

They walked to a spot on the wall where weapons were displayed. Elysia picked up a composite bow, identical to the one she used when fighting the First Herrscher.

Seeing this, Lin Li walked up without needing Elysia to say anything.

Although she wouldn't train here, ...she still had to touch weapons, right? After all, she had an attribute specifically related to weapons.

She still remembered the feeling of holding the composite bow back then.

Every cell in her body told her how to draw the bow, how to apply force, and how to aim more accurately.

Lin Li picked up a spear and tried to twirl it in her hand like a character in a game, but the result wasn't great. She couldn't grasp the point of leverage, and the spear clattered to the ground.

"..."

Elysia couldn't help but smile, taking the weapon and placing it back into Lin Li's hands.

"Xiao Li can pick out a weapon she likes here. It'll definitely be useful for hunting Herrschers in the future."

"Okay."

Lin Li didn't refuse.

She chose a bow and arrow, just like Elysia's. After all, it was something she'd used before, so there was some muscle memory.

However, she seemed to have overestimated her own abilities.

She tried to draw the bowstring.

With her intermediate strength, drawing a compound bow was simple enough, but the difficulty lay in her inability to control the direction.

"..."

Lin Li wondered if she should just focus on the 'Weapon' attribute for her next upgrade. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to use anything in a fight... She couldn't exactly go in unarmed, could she?

Although, that wasn't entirely out of the question.

Elysia, noticing her predicament, smiled and stepped forward, saying:

"Xiao Li, want to practice with me for a bit?"

"But..."

"Just for a little while, okay?"

"...Alright."

Lin Li found it genuinely difficult to refuse when Elysia acted cute.

Unless there was a reason she absolutely had to refuse, she would always agree.

She wasn't sure if it was her own failing or Elysia's influence.

The two of them walked into a semi-enclosed training room.

Dozens of meters in front of them, several dummies were set up. Lin Li guessed they were the targets for the training.

Lin Li sat down on a small stool designated for resting.

The stool was a bit worn, wobbling precariously when she sat on it, accompanied by creaking sounds.

Fortunately, it was joined by mortise and tenon joints. Otherwise, Lin Li was sure she would have seen rusty nails that could cause tetanus.

Seeing Lin Li seated, Elysia didn't hesitate. She picked up a hair tie, efficiently tied her hair back at the nape of her neck, raised her bow, and aimed.

—Whoosh.

Lin Li didn't even have time to react to when the arrow was shot. By the time she came to her senses, an arrow was already lodged in the head of one of the dummies.

"So amazing," Lin Li murmured, her small mouth slightly agape, unable to help but praise her inwardly.

"Xiao Li, want to give it a try?"

Although Elysia couldn't hear Lin Li's thoughts, she could guess from her expression.

Xiao Li must be praising me in her head right now, hehe.

"I... I think I'll pass. I'll just watch you." Lin Li shook her head.

"Xiao Li~ Just try it, I won't say anything about you," Elysia wouldn't give Lin Li a chance to refuse.

Ever since she "accidentally" brought Xiao Li here, there was no way Xiao Li could escape.

She grabbed Lin Li's hand and pulled her to where she had just been standing.

"But I can't use it." Lin Li remembered telling Elysia that her previous power to defeat the Herrscher was temporary. Had the other girl not listened?

"It's okay, I can teach you hand-in-hand," Elysia said with a smile. "Training is a process of starting from nothing and accumulating over time."

"..."

Lin Li reluctantly raised the bow.

She nocked an arrow, carefully aimed at the dummy in front of her, and shot.

The arrow accurately hit the dummy's heart.

"Wow, Xiao Li, you're amazing! Keep it up~" Elysia clapped her hands, encouraging her.

"..."

Lin Li glanced at her, a little speechless, and said:

"I was actually aiming for a different one."

"...Uh, well, you hit it anyway, which is great," Elysia's expression froze for a moment before she continued praising.

Lin Li didn't want to explain anything.

As she felt the bow in her hands, a strange feeling arose within her.

Maybe using this isn't so bad?

She shot another arrow.

It missed again, and by a lot, even though she was aiming very carefully.

Lin Li lowered her bow and sighed.

Seeing this, Elysia quickly comforted her, "Xiao Li, just try a little more, you can definitely do it."

A very standard comforting phrase.

"No, I can't, you don't need to comfort me," Lin Li replied.

That's exactly why she didn't want to train at all; she had no patience for this kind of thing.

"Nooo~, Xiao Li, I'll teach you now, okay?"

"..."

Lin Li had no choice.

Elysia pressed herself against Lin Li's back, whispering something about archery techniques in her ear, and even helping her aim.

However, Lin Li wasn't paying any attention.

Seriously, are there people who can learn seriously after being taught hand-in-hand like this?

She certainly wasn't one of them. Right now, all she could feel was the soft touch against her back...

She really didn't want to train at all!