Multiple Tests

Longcheng's hunters hadn't all been trained from childhood. Plenty had started late, gaining special powers after going through some ordeal. Some Experimental Subjects had even escaped from laboratories, only to receive the heartfelt care of certain people and resolve to become hunters, wiping out the Abnormal Creatures that threatened society. It was the sort of cliché you'd expect.

Setting aside those with exceptionally high Martial Force or physical prowess, for ordinary hunters who started late, nothing helped them improve faster than carrying a couple of guns.

Want to improve even more, even faster? Spend more money on better weapons.

That was how most low- and mid-tier hunters improved. It was practical and easy to understand. Hunters earned decent money, too. They might be strapped for cash at first, but after dealing with a few low-level abnormalities, they'd grow bolder and get used to the work. Then everything would start to seem easier.

"...Thank you very much." Zheng Yichen found the three veterans' advice on getting stronger refreshingly practical. It made a lot of sense, and seemed reliable in practice, too.

"Let's get back to cards." Lewis brought the conversation back around. He was just about to win. What was the point of all that talk?

The next day, they were assigned patrol areas.

Zheng Yichen also got to see the other hunters. Some were like Lewis and the others, completely at ease and used to everything. Others looked around like curious kids; they were probably new recruits like him.

He was still teamed up with Lewis. The Institute's security staff hadn't made any further assignments in that regard, leaving the choice up to the hunters themselves.

"We're being watched by cameras the whole time." Lewis walked along with his weapon in his arms and spoke to Zheng Yichen. "This place is called a patrol zone, but it's basically a testing site. Usually, the first two days are safe, but some Institutes pull the stunt of having an 'accident' on the very first day."

"Here, they can test the Experimental Subjects and the security protocols at the same time." Lewis was an old hand and didn't mind sharing his experience.

These were things you figured out for yourself after going through them a few times. Telling Zheng Yichen about them now was a chance to earn some goodwill.

As for lending him a gun, that was out of the question. None of the other two guys in their dorm dared lend one to someone who'd barely used firearms. He might miss the enemy and end up hitting one of them instead.

Besides, Zheng Yichen could already hold his own in a fight. The previous day, while they played cards and introduced themselves, they'd each shown off a little. Zheng Yichen had demonstrated what he was best at: precise thrusts.

Within his attack range, he could hit whatever he aimed for. He was pretty quick, too, and his skill with a polearm gave him an advantage. Their patrol area wasn't particularly spacious, so someone like Zheng Yichen would be quite useful.

Most Abnormal Creatures had the same vital weak points as ordinary creatures. As long as you could pierce their defenses and hit a vital spot, it made no difference whether you killed them with a gun or a melee weapon.

Of course, the safest and most reliable approach was to keep your distance and shoot the abnormal beings dead.

"Hey, some Institutes also hand out weapons unique to them." After Lewis finished speaking, Jamie chuckled and shared his own experience. "Be extra careful if that happens. When an Institute issues special weapons, it means the Experimental Subjects that might escape are more dangerous and need special weapons to kill."

"I've had the good fortune to take part in two commissions like that. They were dangerous, sure, but those weapons developed at the Institutes were seriously impressive!"

As they chatted, they passed an experimental site and faintly heard a piercing roar. Unfortunately, the site was sealed, and its windows were opaque, so there was nothing useful to see.

Lewis thoughtfully nodded. "Looks like we'll be dealing with a fairly large Experimental Subject this time."

"Is that the Institute deliberately giving us a hint?" Zheng Yichen had learned something new. So they could do that, huh?

"Of course. We're hired as security, but really, we're test subjects. If they're planning a surprise test with no warning, it'll be mentioned in the agreement." Jamie smiled. The daily pay was two thousand, pretty standard for this kind of job.

He'd been on jobs that paid twice as much, but those were more dangerous.

"The Institute just wants unregistered fighters to test things out. They're not trying to get us killed, so they usually don't do anything too awful."

"Most of the time, we won't have to deal with more than three 'emergencies.' Even so, we still have to wait until the time specified in the agreement is up before we can leave. We can't just sit around while we wait, either. We'll still have to patrol certain areas."

Jamie clicked his tongue when he finished speaking. The conversation was over.

In the Monitoring Room, a researcher watched the surveillance footage. He didn't care about the hunters chatting as they patrolled; this was only the warm-up stage.

As long as the hunters did their jobs when needed, the Institute wouldn't lose out. The Experimental Subjects they'd developed needed to be tested in actual combat.

Before that, there would be other kinds of tests. Those were for tools commissioned by other parties.

Usually, the tests involved equipment supplied by those parties: devices for driving away Abnormal Creatures, devices for controlling them, equipment to withstand their attacks, and so on.

Each Institute had its own main field of research, and this kind of collaboration was quite common. The Nefita Institute mainly studied Abnormal Creatures. They also researched technologies targeting them, but those were focused on genetic and pharmaceutical approaches.

They didn't work on weapons or other technological devices.

The technological devices would first be tested against the Abnormal Creatures slated for real-world combat tests. Once they had enough data, they'd release the creatures and pit them against the hunters, collecting the data they wanted. The feedback from a creature fighting machines was different from what they got when it fought people.

"His body temperature is a little abnormal. Keep an eye on him during the combat test later." The researcher watched Zheng Yichen on the monitor. The surveillance equipment they'd brought in had the usual monitoring functions, along with some additional detection features.

Naturally, those were there to help them gather more data and other information.

"If he gets hurt in combat, make sure to recover his blood right away." After saying that, the researcher left the Monitoring Room. He'd only come by to check the hunters' surveillance scans.

Based on the data captured by the cameras, they were capable of handling the Experimental Subject they'd be facing. But while reviewing the information, he'd found an unexpected bonus: whether Zheng Yichen himself was abnormal would have to be confirmed later.