Player Talent Theory

"Is there something up? Is it already lunchtime? Just have Xiao Liu order a meal for me and set it aside." Deputy Section Chief Cheng was flipping through a mountain of data, constantly comparing, inputting, and adjusting information between his phone and computer.

Just looking at that unkempt hair and the uniform he couldn't even be bothered to button up, one could tell this was a man who actually got things done.

Deputy Section Chief, equivalent to the deputy team leader of the first five groups on our side. His seniority shouldn't be low, and he certainly looks capable.

Zhang Anzai pondered for a moment and stated, "Section Chief Cheng, I am Administrator 01 from Group 7. Our leader said you were looking for me."

Only then did Cheng Ye lift his head. Beneath his messy hair, his small eyes peered from behind rimless glasses before he looked back down. "Group 7, Administrator 01... hold on a second."

He set aside his documents and checked his computer. "Oh! You're the one in charge of Fate Controller."

Zhang Anzai understood: He remembers the players but forgets his own staff.

"That's me." Having grown accustomed to leaders who only caused chaos and lacked any real ability, Zhang Anzai didn't feel much resentment toward Cheng Ye's state of affairs.

"Uh... come over here, let me clear some space." Cheng Ye said, beginning to tidy up his cluttered desk. He moved his office chair and shoved various files into every available corner.

Watching him adjust the layout, Zhang Anzai was inexplicably reminded of his own room back in reality: This is the legendary 'looks like a mess but I can find everything' style—the practical layout that drives mothers absolutely insane.

His office wasn't as large as the Group 7 leader's, and there wasn't even a spare chair, but as he tidied up, he stood up as well, showing no intention of sitting down.

Once he had finished organizing, he spread out a folder containing the personal file of the player Fate Controller.

"Right, the reason I called you over is mainly regarding this player."

The player file he spread out was covered in annotations, primarily in the sections for personal talents and dungeon performance.

"In the Player Archives Department, I'm mainly responsible for player talents. I don't think I've ever heard of this player's talent before, but I suspect his dungeon performance is closely related to it."

As expected, Zhang Anzai's performance in the dungeon had been too prominent, and now the higher-ups were coming to ask questions.

"Calm and Composed... aside from the information you submitted, did he show any other special behaviors? Something more ordinary, regarding his personal conduct?" Deputy Section Chief Cheng asked.

Calm and Composed was a B-rank talent, though it was one Zhang Anzai had made up on the spot. Its specific manifestations included high intelligence, incredible focus, strong logic, and extreme composure.

Although it was a fabrication, Zhang Anzai had constructed it based on his extensive experience as an administrator, so it was unlikely to be seen through.

"Uh... there wasn't anything particularly special, I suppose. Just what I said—the player is very smart and quite bold," Zhang Anzai replied.

Deputy Section Chief Cheng was clearly not satisfied with that. "Let's be more specific. Your dungeon report says he saw the staff member's corpse at that gas station. How did he react?"

Zhang Anzai pretended to recall. "Well... he was very calm. He just stepped back immediately to avoid stepping in the blood or disturbing the scene."

Deputy Section Chief Cheng nodded. "And later? When he dug up the asphalt and saw the ghost's remains and such, what was his reaction?"

Zhang Anzai stated, "It seemed he didn't have any special reaction either. He was very composed, just careful not to touch anything."

He was struggling through his lies. As an administrator, he had plenty of dungeon experience, but he wasn't devoid of emotion; in the high-pressure environment of a dungeon, encountering such things always made his heart hammer against his ribs.

"That makes sense..." Deputy Section Chief Cheng nodded, then asked, "How was he when interacting with you? I mean, how did you feel your relationship with him was?"

Zhang Anzai replied, "Ah, that is true. I felt he was always distant from others. While he wasn't rude, even after going through a dungeon together, I didn't feel like we became friends."

Hearing this question, Zhang Anzai confirmed that his plan was likely a success. "Section Chief Cheng, did you discover something?"

Cheng Ye sat down and pulled up more data on his computer. "I suspect the essence of this player's talent might be a lack of emotion."

"A lack of emotion?" Zhang Anzai feigned a hint of confusion. "Do you mean he has some kind of mental illness? Though, it does seem like he doesn't show much emotion."

Deputy Section Chief Cheng waved his hand. "You could put it that way. While emotional detachment is usually a symptom of other mental illnesses, his case is clearly more unique, but it likely qualifies as some form of mental disorder."

"In any case, this player is likely able to explore dungeons so easily precisely because he isn't affected by those negative emotions."

Zhang Anzai thought helplessly to himself: It's actually not easy at all... but regardless, the bluff worked.

"You mean because he has no emotions, he doesn't feel fear?" Zhang Anzai continued his act.

Deputy Section Chief Cheng nodded. "That should be it. If I'm not mistaken, this talent could be considered a top-tier B-rank talent."

Zhang Anzai suddenly felt a pang of guilt. Section Chief Cheng works so hard... I guess he really doesn't have time to read novels.

With this character setup, anyone who read even a few novels would find it incredibly familiar—it was the standard protagonist template in infinite-flow stories.

By this point, Deputy Section Chief Cheng seemed to have learned enough. Perhaps he hadn't prepared a chair for Zhang Anzai precisely because he knew the questioning wouldn't take long.

However, Zhang Anzai had spent his own working hours making this trip; how could he just go back like this?

So, he began to maneuver. "Is this talent really that powerful? Then, Section Chief Cheng, do you think... others have a chance to possess it?"

Cheng Ye pondered and shook his head. "Before you arrived, I suspected this player had mental issues, but when I checked the records, I didn't find many such cases. Even if they exist, those are talents caused by illness, which is different from others."

Zhang Anzai nodded. "Most of the newcomers on our side still believe that talents can generally be trained."

At the mention of this, Cheng Ye suddenly became animated. "You can't say that idea is entirely wrong."

As he spoke, he shifted the computer screen slightly, moving from the data search page to an archive page.

It was densely packed with various talents across A, B, C, and D ranks. "Based on my research, the dungeon space is very special. Theoretically speaking, any talent can actually be trained within it."

Zhang Anzai looked at the page, feeling quite gratified. I've been acting for so long, and I've finally found the Burning Mantra.

He suppressed his emotions and lured him deeper. "Is that really the case?"