You're Too Young

For players who loved digging into a game's story and lore,

defeating monsters wasn't the biggest draw.

They liked fishing, sewing, and finding places to chat with people.

That was right: they would find a scenic spot in the game, settle in, and talk to other people.

Some players even devoted themselves to uncovering hidden stories and learning what lay behind each NPC.

When a story-focused player came along, they would wring every last scrap of information out of an NPC.

In any setting—

If there was a chance of getting information, players could never casually pass up an NPC!

Even if, in real life, they might not bother talking to anyone.

"Hey, hey, hey, little beauty. You're so cute, and your eyes are as pretty as gemstones. They won't look as nice if you cry them red."

Xu Yuan crouched before the little girl and spoke slowly, softening his voice.

"My brother—my brother insists that I sing and dance for everyone. I don't want to!" the little girl said through her tears.

"Really?" Xu Yuan asked curiously. "Why does he want you to perform?"

"Because some people are going out to fight. He wants me to cheer them on," the little girl said.

"Did he give you candy? Or anything else in return, like something you wanted?" Xu Yuan asked.

"No," the little girl said angrily.

"Then he should perform himself," Xu Yuan said.

He should perform himself!

The little girl looked as though the words had struck her. She stood frozen, staring at Xu Yuan, and even forgot to cry.

But she soon replied:

"He's the chief examiner for this selection. Keep your voice down."

That was information—

He now had at least a basic sense of the examiner's temperament.

And the examiner seemed to wield considerable authority.

Returning the favor, Xu Yuan offered some advice:

"Remember, if someone bullies you, tell your parents."

"They don't care about me. I'm going to hide in the chicken coop behind the house in a bit. Can you not tell anyone?" the little girl asked.

"Okay," Xu Yuan said.

"Promise."

The little girl ran behind the house and soon vanished from sight.

Xu Yuan stood, quickened his pace, and entered the mud-brick house.

Sure enough, a young man stood inside.

"Good, everyone's here. I'll announce the test."

"There's a Wooden Fish, a Gold Earring, and a pair of Meteoric Iron Battle Boots in this house."

"Find any one of them, and you pass the selection."

"Begin!"

Everyone immediately started searching.

Xu Yuan had sharp eyes and was quick to spot things. With a single sweep of his gaze, he noticed something hidden on a roof beam.

He dashed forward, leaped, ran up the wall with a movement technique, and landed on the beam.

Meteoric Iron Battle Boots!

He stepped forward, picked up the boots, jumped down, and handed them to the man.

Everyone else was still searching.

Spot-the-difference games were usually just a pastime.

This time, he would actually get paid.

Xu Yuan was delighted.

"Not bad. You're the fastest," the man said appreciatively. "Next, help me find someone. My little sister went out just now. Go bring her back."

"That doesn't sound like part of the test," Xu Yuan said.

"An extra test. Bring her back, and the reward will be greater," the man said.

"Okay." Xu Yuan left the house.

A few minutes later,

he returned, sighed, and shook his head.

"Forgive me, but I can't do it. I honestly don't know where she went."

As soon as he finished speaking,

the man vanished.

The blue sky, white clouds, and mud-brick house all disappeared.

The man emerged from the room, shut the door, and sat down behind the desk.

He had turned back into the middle-aged man from before.

"Well, this is something... I hope Yiyi doesn't take a liking to him..."

The man sipped his milk tea, lost in thought.

Inside the room,

the selection continued.

The mud-brick house was gone.

In its place stood a magnificent hall, lavish beyond imagination.

Twelve beams supported it.

The beams were blue-green, seemingly carved from Wind Spirit Jade.

Gold-leaf phoenixes adorned the windows on all sides. Murals covered the walls, their raised details gilded.

Three Night-Luminescent Pearls lit the hall as brightly as day.

Two rows of sword-bearing guards stood on either side, their expressions grim.

Atop a raised platform,

a breathtakingly beautiful woman sat in a black gown, holding a scroll and reading it intently.

She looked to be in her early thirties, though he couldn't be sure.

She seemed to sense Xu Yuan's arrival.

Without lifting her head, she parted her red lips and asked softly,

"Who are you?"

"I'm here for the selection... the Archaeology General Bureau's selection," Xu Yuan said, sounding less than certain.

This selection was strange. Something about it felt wrong.

Was the previous examiner angry?

Had he dumped Xu Yuan here because Xu Yuan hadn't brought the little girl back?

A trace of resignation appeared in the woman's eyes. "Yiyi is causing trouble again. Very well."

She closed her book, raised her head, and looked at Xu Yuan.

The next second,

"You're eliminated. In short, I don't think you're suitable," the woman said.

Xu Yuan was taken aback.

One look at me, and I'm eliminated?

Wasn't I supposed to get special consideration as an employee's child?

Fine. Forget it.

I've already made two thousand yuan from coming here.

I might as well go to the mall and buy some shoes.

But did you just say "Yiyi"?

I heard that right, didn't I?

I think I have a note...

"Then—sorry to trouble you, but could you tell me where I fall short? I'd appreciate your guidance."

Xu Yuan cupped his hands as he asked.

He asked partly to buy time and observe her further, hoping to learn her connection to Yiyi, and partly because he genuinely wanted to know his weaknesses.

Then, without warning, something changed—

Lines of faintly glowing text suddenly appeared in the air before his eyes:

Attention!

The special event "Witch's Heart" has begun ahead of schedule!

Because you made a promise in front of her, she has adopted a proactive strategy.

You have one chance, and only one, to use this event to unlock the Training Match for the Border City Battle.

Do everything you can!

Xu Yuan was startled.

What on earth is going on?

I came to make a little money. How did I end up triggering a special event?

But there was no use dwelling on it.

I've already been eliminated!

Then the woman on the platform spoke again:

"Your main problems are that you're too young, your cultivation is too low, and your strength is too poor."

Xu Yuan had nothing to say. He could only nod.

There was nothing to be embarrassed about.

I really am young. There's only one part of me that can get big, and that's just nature.

Unexpectedly, the woman changed tack.

"However—"

"Even after I rejected you, you still asked where you fell short. That shows a willingness to improve."

"I'll give you another chance."

"Thank you." Xu Yuan cupped his hands.

The woman casually formed a Spell Seal.

An enormous map, eight or nine meters long and four meters wide, quietly descended and hovered before Xu Yuan.

"This is the Citywide Defense Map."

"It shows the three hundred and eight Giant God Spiritual Power Cannons on the city walls, the seventy-two City-Guarding Grand Formations, and the numbers, troop types, and equipment deployed at each position, down to the layout of every civilian defense work."

"If Demons attack—take note, I mean a Demon army this city has absolutely no hope of resisting."

"When that happens, the Demons will surround the entire city—"

"If you were trapped inside, how would you meet the enemy? And how would you escape the city safely?"

The woman's voice reached him from afar.

Xu Yuan gave a slight nod.

So this was a test of attack, defense, and escape.

Real-time strategy games aren't my thing, but they've produced plenty of classic tactics.

And besides,

China has seen so many classic battles throughout history, not to mention all its books on military strategy.

I can draw on those!

Xu Yuan raised his head and studied the city's defenses closely. After a long while, he suddenly remembered something important.

He asked,

"How many civilians are there? Have any arrangements been made for them in advance? How will you keep them safe and help them escape?"

Silence.

No one answered.

He turned in surprise and saw that the woman on the platform and the many guards in the hall all wore strange expressions.

"Why do you ask?" the woman asked in return.

Xu Yuan froze.

He spread his hands helplessly and answered,

"If I'm going to plan an evacuation, I obviously need to know what arrangements have been made for the civilians."

Isn't that the most basic logic?

How can I organize a retreat if I don't even know where the people are?

The woman asked again,

"Suppose you know. Then what?"

"Make a plan, set a strategy, and find every way to hold off the enemy so the civilians can escape," Xu Yuan said.

"And the cultivators?" the woman asked.

"Face the enemy," Xu Yuan said.

The woman said nothing.

She merely raised a hand and formed another Spell Seal.

Streaks of light rose from the ground and took human shape.

They were cultivators clad in armor.

Facing an enormous map, they spoke with easy confidence.

One said:

"Mobilize the heavy cannons and bombard the enemy vanguard. Reinforce one flank of the defensive formation, dig a tunnel from the south gate, and escape using the Earth Escape Technique."

—That was a solo escape plan for a cultivator.

Another said:

"Send the main force to meet the enemy head-on. Deploy seven squads as decoys, then use a surprise force to destroy the enemy's Spatial Imprisonment Formation. Take the chance to teleport Their Highnesses away."

—That was an escape plan for protecting important people.

Another said:

"Have the entire army engage the enemy. My squad will dress as ordinary people and, while fleeing civilians throw everything into chaos, find a gap in the encirclement and break through in one stroke."

—That was an escape plan for a squad.

Xu Yuan nodded, but he still didn't understand. He asked:

"What they said all sounds good, but I haven't had my turn yet. Shouldn't you hear me out too?"

"You don't need to."

The woman's voice rang through the hall, calm and unhurried:

"You're too weak and too young to fill any position—"

"Learn one move from me instead."

"If you make progress in your cultivation someday, I'll find you a position then, and you can go help ordinary people."

As her words fell silent,

she leaped and landed lightly beside Xu Yuan, raised both hands, and took a starting stance.

"?" Xu Yuan stared at her.

I came to take the selection test and collect that 9,500 yuan.

Do children of Archaeology Bureau employees get a secret martial arts manual too?

"Pay close attention. First, watch how I throw a punch,"

the woman said.

"Yes." Xu Yuan copied her stance.

The woman coached him from the side, teaching him the essentials of the technique and correcting his movements now and then.

About an hour later,

"Take a break. We can talk about anything you don't understand later,"

the woman said.

In an instant,

everything in the room turned to light and vanished.

Xu Yuan froze.

He looked around. The room was completely empty, without even a single piece of furniture.

It had also shrunk back to twenty square meters.

What was that?

Where's the money?

Did I just run into a ghost?

Just then, several faintly glowing lines of text appeared in the air:

"Congratulations."

"You have cleared the special event 'Witch's Heart' and gained access."

"From now on, you may start the Training Match: Border City Battle (Hard Mode) at any time."

"Each attempt costs 10 gold coins."

"Pausing, quitting, ending, or restarting also costs another 10 gold coins."

"The Training Match offers no rewards, and monsters do not drop gold coins."

"You may enter and leave the Training Match at any time (10 gold coins per entry); strive to break through during training (killing monsters accumulates experience points); and gather supplies and intelligence."

I cleared it!!!

Xu Yuan found it almost impossible to believe.

How did I clear it?

That woman taught me one punch, and that was enough?

This was absurdity opening the door for absurdity—absurdity had come home!

"No, wait..."

Xu Yuan murmured.

As a professional player, he excelled not only at fighting with passion, but at something else too—

reviewing what had happened.

What exactly had just happened?

Xu Yuan closed his eyes, summoned his memories, and replayed everything that had happened in his mind.