"He was still in there..."
Even the camouflage man outside was stunned. Then his expression turned serious as he looked at Han Su.
Han Su merely gave him a cold glance. "If you don't believe me, go ahead and pull open the iron gate right now."
The camouflage man frowned deeply at Han Su. After a long pause, he suddenly said, "If you're scared, hide behind me. I told you, when something happens, I'll be the one to charge in first."
As he spoke, he actually reached out to tug at the iron gate, intending to rescue the little fatty inside. Han Su simply stood to the side, watching without any intention of stopping him.
By Han Su's judgment, the assessment should have ended once it had reached this point.
Sure enough, when the little fatty inside saw Han Su reach out and pull down the iron gate, he had only looked dazed. But when he saw what the camouflage man was about to do, clear panic flashed across his face, along with an instinctive urge to stop him.
But in the end, he held back. He raised both hands high and shouted, "That's enough! This should be over!"
Amid his shout, Han Su faintly heard him mutter a few indistinct syllables after those words. Immediately, that tense feeling returned to the air.
The bloodline he'd drawn on the floor—the one the impostors had scattered—suddenly gathered again. It slithered to the front of the iron gate, enclosing all the impostors inside. The bloodline grew clearer and clearer.
Han Su looked closely and saw blood still dripping from the little fatty's palm. It was those drops that strengthened the bloodline, which then rapidly contracted inward.
As it shrank, the impostors inside were squeezed by an invisible force and forced backward.
They retreated step by step toward the elevator. The suits and ties that had begun to take shape on their bodies, along with the features on their faces, rapidly faded as they moved, until they had turned back into doughy figures.
They were driven all the way into the elevator. As the doors closed, the red light on the display flickered once, then vanished completely. The elevator had lost power again.
Only then did the little fatty stop. He took several deep breaths and looked at the camouflage man, who was still holding up the iron gate.
"Do you never learn? You keep making the same mistake!"
"..."
Now it was the camouflage man's turn to stare blankly. "Huh?"
"So that really was the end?"
After stopping the iron gate, Han Su had felt as though his task was complete and he could relax. He hadn't stopped the camouflage man or fired again. He'd simply watched the little fatty's actions, fascinated by his strange blood.
As for the true purpose of the assessment, he was beginning to understand:
What potential was the Disaster Management Bureau trying to assess?
At first, the camouflage man had fired without being given orders, lowering his score. Han Su could understand that.
He thought of his experience in the Ancient Castle of Darkness. More than intelligence, courage, or ability, his own selection criteria had been "obedience."
But after using the camouflage man as an example to make the other trainees understand the principles of resisting the uncanny, why had they suddenly arranged for these impostors to appear?
"When dealing with the uncanny, the important thing is to contain it, contain it, contain it!"
The little fatty scolded the camouflage man irritably. "You let the uncanny out just to save me. Did you think about the consequences? What if the world gets destroyed? What if they dock your pay?"
His loud reprimand left the camouflage man frozen in place. For such a big guy, he looked rather helpless.
The scolding also brought the other panicked team members to their senses. Realizing the problem had been dealt with, they peered over from the stairwell.
Seeing how awkward the camouflage man looked, Han Su stepped in to smooth things over. "Team Leader, then what exactly were those things that came out of the elevator?"
The little fatty was still angry at the camouflage man. When he saw Han Su come over, he gave him an even fouler look. "You can think of them as shadows, or as a negative force that can distort reality. You can even think of them as buried gods."
"Whatever they are, they'll do anything to seep into our reality."
"Our job is to find them, locate their source, and then block their infiltration. We also deal with anyone who witnesses them."
"..."
As he spoke, he glared at Han Su.
This guy had the nerve to come over and ask?
I was unhappy with the camouflage man's performance, but even when he made a mistake, he was trying to save my life. You, on the other hand, locked me inside!
Remembering how decisively this guy had pulled down the gate, the little fatty shuddered...
What a psycho...
Did the Disaster Management Bureau really only care about ability when recruiting people now, and not character?
"Things that seep into reality?"
Han Su frowned slightly. The Disaster Management Bureau seemed to have a supernatural ability that relied on spiritual penetration to manifest in reality.
These uncanny things also wanted to seep into reality. Could there be a connection?
But it was clear the little fatty didn't want to explain. They were still in the middle of the assessment, and the ratings weren't out yet. Asking too many questions might lower Han Su's score, so he held back.
Besides, it seemed the little fatty was in a bad mood...
It had nothing to do with him. He was definitely the best-performing trainee in the group the little fatty had led.
The others really had been frustrating, though.
As usual, Han Su followed the bespectacled little fatty downstairs. He joined the others in the van waiting below, and they returned to base in silence. When he was about to enter the training hall, he unexpectedly saw Zhang Chiguo waiting there.
Zhang Chiguo seemed to be in a very good mood. He came over, clapped Han Su on the shoulder, and said with a smile, "I didn't expect you to do so well in the assessment."
"You're a natural for this line of work!"
"Once they've assigned everyone to their teams, I'll be able to relax."
As he spoke, he glanced at the camouflage man and the other trainees beside him, then took something from his pocket and slipped it into Han Su's pocket. "Take this. Training's almost over, so you should get along with your colleagues."
Han Su looked down and couldn't help smiling. This really was a handy way to win people over.
After they turned in their guns and remaining bullets and returned to the training room, they found all the trainees already there.
Everyone was present. No one seemed to be missing, and no one was injured. That might mean every group had completed its mission well, but their expressions were all strange in their own way.
Some looked triumphant, some mortified, and some still had fear lingering on their faces. It seemed they'd all witnessed things during the training that they couldn't begin to understand.
Quite a few of them had probably been so frightened that they'd lost control or run away.
Many of the people who'd made it here and joined the training had already been somewhat prepared for seeing things like this. But when they actually came face to face with them, the experience still left them with an indescribable sense of strangeness.
It was as if, from that moment on, normal life had left them behind for good.
At first, the instructors had kept telling them that the training department of the Disaster Management Bureau had one advantage: no matter how they performed, they wouldn't be expelled. It had sounded like a good thing.
But after they'd truly seen those things, their minds had changed.
If they were going to have to deal with those things all the time from now on, then damn it, they'd rather get themselves expelled as soon as possible...
"The results of your operational assessment are in."
The instructor, seated in the chair at the front, waited for the final two trainees to enter before turning around. "You have half an hour of free time. Once you're ready, we'll arrange the final assessment: the code of conduct."
"Once those results are in, all your assessment scores will be displayed. You'll then be assigned to different teams based on your results."
"Of course, if anyone thinks there's no need to wait and is ready to take the code-of-conduct test now, the room is prepared. You can come right over."
"..."
Everyone exchanged glances. Several trainees who had looked dejected and shaken suddenly changed expression, hurriedly pulled out their codes of conduct, and began silently memorizing them.
Then the man in the white shirt and gold-rimmed glasses suddenly spoke up. "I'm ready. Let me go first!"
"Huh?"
Han Su was stunned. Hadn't this guy been the first to put the code aside when they handed it out?
He'd never seen him pore over it like the others.
And now he was asking to go first...
Had he given up?
As Han Su watched in surprise, the man in the gold-rimmed glasses walked into a room across from them. The minutes ticked by. About ten minutes later, the man opened the door and came out.
Above his head, numbers flashed on an electronic display:
[Codename: Doctor] [Code of Conduct: A] [Insight: A] [Adaptability: A] [Containment: B] [Ciphertext: C] [Execution: A] [Additional Assessment: None]
Before you continue