Black stopped the stopwatch.
Dennis had already started wiping his knife.
The deer in front of him had been perfectly butchered, its fur intact, the meat on its four legs neatly cut, and its back cleanly trimmed, leaving not a single scrap of meat on the bones.
The situation was slightly worse on Aruk's side; the table was covered in blood, and the pieces of meat were cut into uneven sizes, but fortunately, the core parts were preserved, and nothing was wasted.
Su Wei put down the knife, let out a long breath, and felt a slight soreness in his wrist.
The finished product in front of him wasn't very appealing.
In some places, due to excessive caution, the cuts were not smooth enough, and even left many small knife marks.
The peeled skin was intact, but it had a lot of fat and meat on it, making it look rough.
Overall, it's not bad.
The entire abdominal cavity was thoroughly cleaned and free of any contaminants.
Black walked over with his hands behind his back.
He lingered in front of Dennis's counter for a long time, even picking up a piece of hind leg meat to examine its texture.
"Textbook-level acid removal pretreatment."
Black nodded, a rare occurrence, and wrote a number on the paper.
"100 points. Dennis, if you were twenty years younger, I would recruit you into my search and rescue team."
The old hunter straightened his back, and a hint of triumphant glow finally appeared on his weathered face.
Next was Aruk.
Black disdainfully poked at the messy pile of meat chunks.
"Crude and poorly made. Did you gnaw on it with your teeth?"
Aruk chuckled and scratched his head.
"They'll all end up in the meat grinder to be made into sausages anyway, so the shape doesn't matter, sir."
"80 points. At least you didn't get any shit on your flesh."
Finally, Black stopped in front of Su Wei.
He carefully examined the damage to the leather and looked at the slightly rough knife marks.
Su Wei nervously clenched her fingers.
Compared to his impressive shooting and tracking skills, he was indeed a complete novice in this area.
"That's interesting."
Black removed a rib that had been completely removed from the deer's chest cavity.
"You have no experience, you don't even know how to apply force most efficiently. But your hands are very steady, and..."
He looked at Su Wei, his gaze filled with inquiry.
"You remained calm. Even in an area you weren't good at, you didn't panic; instead, you chose the simplest but safest method."
"This is even rarer than talent."
The pen tip rubs against the paper.
"70 points. Not outstanding, but enough to get a clean, hot meal in the wilderness."
Su Wei's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled back into his stomach.
You passed.
That's enough.
Black closed the notebook that would determine everyone's fate and turned to look at Eric was huddled in the corner.
" Eric, your average score is 51. That's unacceptable. You can go home and cry to your mom, or try again next year after you've practiced more."
Eric gritted his teeth and glared venomously at Su Wei, as if he blamed all his failures on Su Wei's appearance disrupting his rhythm.
He said nothing, kicked the metal bucket next to him, and stormed off.
Only the remaining three people were left in the factory.
Black tore off three temporary receipts bearing the guild's seal and slapped them onto the chests of the three men.
Congratulations, newbies and veterans alike!
He put his sunglasses back on, and his tone returned to its original businesslike manner.
"Now, wash the blood off your hands and come back to the office with me."
"Go and get that plastic card that allows you to legally kill, and also legally die."
Su Wei looked down at the thin piece of paper in her hand.
The stamp on it wasn't completely dry yet, and the red ink looked particularly glaring in the dim light.
With this piece of paper in hand, the $160,000 debt finally had a beginning.
Aruk excitedly put his arm around Su Wei's shoulder, completely ignoring the lingering smell of blood on his hands.
"Hey, did you hear that, bro? We're about to strike it rich!"
Su Wei shoved the excited brown bear away with disdain, but couldn't help but smile.
Chapter 75 Legal Gun License: A Plastic Ticket to Wealth
The water flow in the sink is very fast.
The red blood swirled down the white porcelain countertop before finally flowing into the dark sewer.
Su Wei squeezed out a pump of hand sanitizer; before him, Aruk had already used it three times.
The guy, who was as big as a brown bear, had his face buried under the dryer, making strange whimpering noises as the machine roared.
"The flavor seems to have seeped into the skin."
Aruk complained loudly, rubbing his flushed cheeks vigorously.
Su Wei ignored him and carefully cleaned the dark red marks remaining under her fingernails.
The cold water rinsed his fingertips, cooling down his joints, which had become hot from holding the knife for so long.
The sticky feeling disappeared.
Instead, it has a dry, refreshing feel.
Black stood in the doorway, his fingers rhythmically tapping on the doorframe.
"If you plan to shower here, I can call the water authority and have them send the bill to your home."
Aruk immediately shut his mouth, turned off the dryer, and obediently shrank behind Su Wei.
Su Wei shook the water droplets off his hands, grabbed a rough paper towel, wiped his hands casually a couple of times, and threw the crumpled paper into the trash can.
"Let's go," he said.
The three walked through the long corridor and returned to the warm and bright service hall.
The heating here is on very high, making it feel even a bit hot.
Sarah, who was at the front desk, was typing away at her computer screen when she heard footsteps. She adjusted her glasses.
"Mr. Black, has the list of candidates for retaking the exams been released yet?"
Sarah habitually pulled out a stack of documents titled "Hunter Qualification Retraining Application Form".
Based on past experience, whenever Black is proctoring the exam, it is usually necessary to prepare a lot of comforting words and retake forms.
"Unnecessary."
Black walked straight to the counter and threw the black notebook on the table.
Three.
Sarah paused for a moment.
Instead of reaching for the notebook, she somewhat dazedly repeated, "Three?"
"Three failing grades? Or...?"
"Three passes."
Black revealed bloodshot eyes; he looked somewhat tired, perhaps because of the still-escaping poacher, or perhaps because today's assessment had exhausted him.
" Dennis, Aruk, Su Wei Yang. Prepare their certificates."
The hall was silent for a few seconds.
Apart from Eric, who had long since left dejectedly in the corner, the pass rate for this batch of candidates was an astonishing 75%.
This is a rare occurrence in the history of the Fish and Game Department on Kodiak Island.
Sarah's mouth dropped open in surprise, but she quickly displayed her professionalism.
She quickly put away the stack of useless forms and opened the document creation system.
Congratulations!