Social Anxiety

"Which examination room are you in?"

"Come to the command building."

He initially thought the command building would be very conspicuous, but after Gu Yan found it, he realized the entire building was excavated from the back mountain of the Ability Department.

However…

"How do I get in?" He wasn't here to take the assessment, nor did he have an Ability User ID of sufficient rank. He couldn't get in at all.

Should he get an ID first?

The higher-ups were all in the command building supervising the exams. An S-Class ID couldn't be issued without their approval.

Qin Hong'an didn't need to participate in this assessment, but Xu Muchi suddenly decided to supervise it this year, so he brought a group of high-ranking officials along.

For decades, perhaps longer, ever since Qin Hong'an got involved in this field, he hadn't seen Xu Muchi take any interest in such matters. He figured it was because the operation to encircle the Herrscher of Reason in December had caused heavy losses to the country, forcing them to take it seriously.

There couldn't be gaps in combat power. The fall of several S-Class individuals was a huge loss for any major nation.

"I wonder if any new S-Class will appear this year."

"The young people nowadays are much stronger than us old bones!"

"Senior Xu, uh..."

Conversations continued to arise. Just as Qin Hong'an was about to chat with Xu Muchi, he noticed her looking at her phone.

Then, she stood up and walked directly out of the building.

Sweat beaded on Qin Hong'an's forehead. He didn't dare to ask any questions. Everyone else also fell silent, their gazes focused on him, wanting to know the reason.

What did Senior Xu mean? Was she bored of supervising? No, how could someone like her be afraid of boredom!

Could it be that she was… too disappointed in these people? That no one was up to par?

Thinking this, Qin Hong'an became restless and even felt a pang of guilt. The potential of the Ability Users was lacking. As the leader of the headquarters, he must have been deemed negligent!

In reality, Xu Muchi was just going out to pick up a certain handsome guy without a ticket.

"Are you busy? I can come back another day." That would be better; he could slack off for another day then.

"I'm not busy with anything, let's go." Unfortunately, Xu Muchi wasn't busy at all; in fact, she was quite free, which disappointed Gu Yan.

"Here? I'm not here for the assessment." Seeing her wanting to return to the command building, Gu Yan said helplessly.

"I know, it's right inside here. Any problems?" Xu Muchi tilted her head, seemingly puzzled.

"Won't there be too many people?" Gu Yan's mouth twitched as he tentatively asked.

"What are you afraid of? Social anxiety?"

Gu Yan remained silent, merely putting on a shy expression.

Only Xu Muchi could hold back her reaction; anyone else would have cursed him.

"An opportunity to perform in front of many high-ranking officials. I thought you'd be very willing." After all, most male protagonists in novels are like this, Xu Muchi shook her head slightly.

"I have social anxiety." Gu Yan said nonchalantly, his face calm.

Quite a few people around heard him and cast strange glances his way. Who openly admits to having social anxiety?

"It's fine, don't mind them. Just perform well and inspire them."

Gu Yan was stunned. So, she not only planned to have a competition in front of the higher-ups but also have all the participants observe?

Was he meant to be a textbook example?

"I thought you didn't care about these things." Gu Yan was surprised. He didn't think Xu Muchi was the type to mentor others.

The truth was, Xu Muchi vaguely felt that the disaster was far from over. To protect this country, more people needed to strive for it.

She had witnessed its rise and fall. This place was her home for countless years, so naturally, she cared deeply.

The two entered the mountain. Gu Yan surveyed the interior of the command building.

Although it was inside the mountain, it wasn't dark at all. The building had seven floors, including the underground levels, and was shaped like an inverted U. They entered through the opening, facing an open space the size of a basketball court.

The open space was filled with various facilities and machinery. Around it were spectator seats, sparsely occupied by people. Gu Yan estimated there were about four hundred.

However, the assessment method was somewhat unexpected. It allowed anyone to watch. It seemed the development of Ability assessments had a long history, and there was an element of internal competition and fair play.

Xu Muchi led Gu Yan straight to the center of the venue, causing discussions to erupt around them.

Gu Yan's gaze continuously swept the surroundings. Maintaining vigilance in an unfamiliar environment was not a bad thing.

"Didn't you say you had social anxiety? Why do they seem quite afraid of you?" Xu Muchi, walking ahead, asked softly, with a clear hint of amusement in her voice.

Gu Yan's vigilant gaze was too sharp, like a sleeping tiger. Everyone he swept his eyes over dared not meet his gaze, and the discussions in the spectator area ceased.

True Social Anxiety: Causing fear in the general populace.

"How do you feel about these people?"

Gu Yan thought for a moment before saying, "The numbers are a bit low."

The lack of combat power made fighting the Honkai somewhat difficult.

"Anything else?" Xu Muchi asked casually, as if just making small talk.

Anything else?

Gu Yan fell silent this time. He wasn't very good at judging people, and if he had to say something...

Aside from the pretty legs of the girl in the third row from the left, sixth seat from the back, and the generous chest of the woman in white on the first row on the right, he hadn't noticed anything else.

Oh, and there was an old man by the examiners who kept smiling and staring at him, giving him goosebumps. He preliminarily judged the man to be a pervert.

But he definitely wouldn't answer like that.

"They're all quite young." After a brief thought, he decided to give a perfunctory answer.

"You're right. That's because after the age of forty, an Ability User's potential is basically fully developed, and their strength becomes difficult to improve, so they naturally wouldn't participate in the assessment."

"So you want these people to take martial arts seriously and open up a new path for them?"

Gu Yan's eyes lit up, feeling like he had grasped the main point.

Under normal circumstances, Ability Users focused on developing their innate talents rather than practicing ancient martial arts, which they considered a misguided approach.

Then, as if remembering something, he asked, "What about Xu Ying?"

"Xu Ying's ability can indeed be stimulated by life force to fill potential gaps, but..."

Xu Muchi paused here, then with a thought, she transmitted her voice to Gu Yan: "To fill those gaps, one would have to extract the life force of a living person, preferably a blood relative, entirely. He believed this method was against heavenly principles and human ethics, so he never used it. This information has also become top secret."

Gu Yan was shocked for a moment, never expecting Xu Ying's ability to be so terrifying. Fortunately, he was a normal person... no, fortunately, he was a good person, otherwise, he would definitely be a malignant tumor.

"And because the cost is too great, and there's a lack of combat power, you had to find other ways to improve them?"

"Exactly. Although martial arts don't offer much of a boost to ordinary people, the effect is quite significant for Ability Users. It brings the most worthwhile return for the relatively smallest cost. So..."

Xu Muchi and the other person had already walked to the center of the "arena." A silver longsword appeared in her hand, her aura reaching its peak. Her Sword Qi was sharp and pointed directly at Gu Yan.

"Are you ready?"