Chapter 53 - Graduation Assessment
Chapter 53 - Graduation Assessment
translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
The gates of the training base opened from within.
The neon lights and shadows of Floating City were separated by a layer of mist, and the faint fragrance of white orchids drifted over from the garden behind the base.
Wu Jin had just taken a post-battle shower, and the small curls that hadn’t yet been blow dried were wet and droopy. Before taking the shower, he had still been dancing happily, but after he was doused with water, he immediately returned to his senses.
He had rushed up and hugged big brother just now after finishing the training. He’d been sweaty and hadn’t showered... also, it seemed like the big boss had just wanted to do a simple hand clasp...
But he’d charged up just like that!
He hadn’t even asked the big boss if he was willing or not at all!
The youth who emerged from the changing room had flushed cheeks from the steam, and the eyes beneath the damp, soft hair, darted over to Wei Shi from time to time.
When he used to play basketball at school, there were quite a few people who would hug their teammates even when they were sweaty after they landed a three-pointer, but they’d all been wearing the same colored vests and shorts, and their skin was so darkly tanned that they looked like small lumps of coal. It was messy and crowded, and there was nothing wrong with rubbing against each other.
But big brother––
He wore a standard Floating City military uniform, leather boots, a cavalry belt, and a dark military cloak with the mask badge and gold tassels. The military boots, metal belt buckles, and high nose bridge were all prominent under the lights, while the rest was cast in shadow. He seemed like a half-bright bayonet as he stood there outside the base in the dim, damp air.
Wu Jin whimpered in his heart––he could almost imagine how he’d destroyed such scenery when he pasted up against him like a piece of sticky candy!
Wei Shi glanced at Wu Jin and beckoned for him to follow.
After washing up, the rabbit spirit let out a faint scent of shower gel, his small round face soft from steaming. Any little movement would cause a sweet fragrance to waft over.
Wu Jin finally relaxed after seeing that the big boss didn’t seem to care.
Wu Jin was still chattering on about his training on the way over to the big boss’s suspension car. His wet curls had now been half dried by the night wind and were a tangled, high-spirited mess.
“The graduation assessment tomorrow night... will big brother come?” Wu Jin suddenly asked.
Wei Shi looked at the youth beneath the lamp and nodded, “Yes. Train well.”
Wu Jin hastened to agree.
Beside the training base, Wu Jin’s calm expression suddenly turned to a cheerful one as he watched the big boss drive away.
He slid his hand into his right pocket, his fingertips rubbing lightly against the handle of the gun.
Earlier, the moment of breaking through his psychological barriers was like a flood of catharsis. The gun sense that had always been vaguely partitioned off suddenly burst out of its dam.
Three continuous accurate shots.
Lifting the gun and shooting in one go, and only when his movements were faster than that of the target could he force the other side to change their trajectory and land a preemptive strike.
Wu Jin took a deep breath and calmed his boiling blood.
Although he was only facing a dynamic target––but after two months of training, this was the first time he’d learned how to fight with guns.
The street lamp coated Wu Jin’s half dry hair with a layer of bronze. The youth took the first few steps back to the dormitory, then finally couldn’t hold back and raised the corners of his lips in a smile before skipping and running back to the building.
Behind the youth.
Wei Shi moved his gaze away from the rearview mirror, and the suspension car that had been hovering at a slow glide finally accelerated, leaving a flash of tail lights in its wake.
It was nearly midnight by the time Wu Jin returned to the bedroom.
With the brutal pressure of the graduation assessment looming, the students in the base were sleeping later than usual.
When he passed by Zoe’s room, he could hear the sound of his teammate splashing around in the shower.
Wu Jin opened the door to his room, tugged off his coat, and pulled a training card out of the inner pocket.
There were two training cards in his coat. One was the five day training card from White Moonlight, and the other one was the card from the big boss that was bound to him.
Before coming to Floating City, the team manager had repeatedly emphasized the value of the training card. The first card was only valid for five days, so Wu Jin hadn’t wanted to activate the second card before the first one was finished.
According to his plan, he would have brought back the brand new training card and put it alongside the big rabbit, little rabbit, mask badge, and other things the big boss had given him.
When he took out the training card, Wu Jin once again thought of the huge amount of money he now owed for the instructor supervision package.
It was just that he was now much calmer than he’d been a few hours ago.
He could just dance the Crosson Show theme song a few more times and work hard to qualify and advance into the finals&#k2026; he also, maybe, basically, possibly might be able to pay it all back!
Wu Jin did a good job of psyching himself up and quickly slotted the training card into the card reader––
“Welcome, trainee [anonymous].”
“Closed gun training. Training duration: 5 days. Remaining time: 1 day.”
“Present week consumption: 483 credits.”
Wu Jin was stunned.
483 credits... The fee for one hour of instructor supervision was already more than that, not to mention the expensive recovery agents.
He quickly pulled out the consumption details, which surprisingly only included lunch, electricity, training clothes, and so on.
Wu Jin seemed to have realized something and mechanically pulled out the other training card from his combat jacket.
Training card bound instructor ID: 0001.
When he placed the card into the slot, the green light that signified ‘activation’ unexpectedly lit up.
“Welcome trainee [anonymous]. Present week consumption: 1,825,000 credits (bound instructor’s master card account has already been paid off)”
Wu Jin: “......”
Wu Jin: “Master, master card...”
He quickly looked at the instructor ID on the back of the card and then burst out with a wail.
The card had been swiped by big brother, and the credits... had actually been paid for by big brother too.
Big brother also came over to give him lessons––how could there be a big brother who cared so much about his subordinates!
Wu Jin was moved to the extreme while once again feeling guilty about his own poverty. Stress training, gun sense lessons, as well as the champagne from big brother two months ago––
A little bit of assistance went a long way. He had to work twice as hard now regardless of whether or not he could debut and strive to earn more credits in order to repay big brother!
In the room next door, Zoe, who had just taken a bath, suddenly stilled and put on his mask in a hurry so he could go bang on the door. “Little Witch, what’s the matter? What was that noise? Did you jump up and hit your head?!”
Wu Jin froze, then guiltily went to open the door.
Zoe was relieved to see that he was fine and let out a small sigh of relief. Stress training would affect a trainee’s subconscious, and there were also a lot of side effects mentioned in human rights reports, but Little Witch––
He took a closer look.
His pupils were normal, and there was no fear, no panic, no depression, no... his entire person looked very happy and delighted.
Zoe’s breath caught. He’d originally been worried that Wu Jin would be unable to bear the pressure of training and was venting in the dormitory. Unexpectedly, he was frolicking and happy enough to hit the ceiling!
“How was the training in the evening?” Zoe hesitated, then continued, “You can tell me if anything happened.”
Wu Jin immediately shook his head, his gaze grateful. “Nothing happened! The effects of the training were very good. Thank you, brother Zoe.”
Zoe: “What kind of scenes did you enter?”
Wu Jin counted them off on his fingers, “Zombies, ghosts, sharks...”
Zoe: “... Little Witch seems to be quite happy.”
Wu Jin grinned and looked up, his heart swelling and thrumming with pleasure. He had the best big brother in the whole world!! And brother Zoe and brother Caesar––it was just a pity that he couldn’t tell them everything!
Zoe finally confirmed that his little team member was alright and patted him on the shoulder. “Go to bed early. There will be a hard battle to fight during the graduation assessment tomorrow. We’ll take half a day of rest after it’s over, then go back to the company and make up for it.”
“The new episode of the Crosson Show also came out. We’ll study it together the day after tomorrow.”
“Don’t think about it too much for now. All of it can wait until after the assessment.”
The two said good night to each other. A while later, the lights went out, and Wu Jin rolled around twice on the quilt before grabbing a corner of it and falling into a deep sleep.
Morning came earlier than usual at the base the next morning.
The graduation assessment began at 4PM, and some students entered their training rooms every now and then during the early morning for a final training sprint.
The four days of tactics and firearms training had caused bone-deep changes in almost everyone, but the training assessment was still like a sharp sword hanging over the head of each student.
From 4PM onwards, a special car would send them to Azure Cosmos’s main city––taking these students who had only fired guns in the shooting range over the past few days to the underground survival show arena so that they could hone the edge of their training with the blood of their enemy or themselves.
Only after fighting three matches without any protective gear and surviving would they be able to finally obtain their graduation certificate.
At 3PM.
Wu Jin finished showering and drank down the last tube of recovery agent. He glanced around training room A073 one last time before leaving.
The door slammed shut behind him, and Zoe appeared a few minutes later. The two packed up their bags, and set out on a one-way journey to the underground arena.
The scenery outside the window flew by.
The mist of Floating City gradually dispersed as the car arrived at the edge of the city. Wu Jin leaned against the window, and finally saw the natural rift valley around the city.
The stone faces seemed to have been directly inserted downwards, and the flat land seemed to have been split into two by a huge axe. The foot of the rift was a dark and cold abyss. Floating City was built along the rift valley, and coupled with the fog that never disappeared, it was easy to defend, yet difficult to attack.
Their theory instructor stood at the front of the car and read out of a guide book to provide some commentary, but most of the students were too worried and obviously didn’t pay much attention.
So, the theory instructor simply picked up a box and stuffed tourist brochures into each person’s hand.
Zoe forcefully lifted up his own spirits, “The tourism development of Floating City is pretty good...”
The instructor slapped his thigh, “Not really. Only those Federal aristocrats have been coming over the past two years, and people who’ve tarnished our image and spread random gossip outside... Who said that you have to cut out a kidney first before entering Floating City? What a joke! What do we need so many organs for?! Why don’t they publicize the facts instead?! In the future, if you recommend people to come here for training, those who come with the brochure can obtain 20% off. In another year, perhaps delivery services will also be willing to operate here...”
Zoe accepted the brochures and handed one to Wu Jin.
Two minutes later, he turned his head stiffly, “Little Witch, are you nervous?”
Wu Jin swallowed a mouthful of saliva, “A little...”
Zoe hastened to bring out the comforting aura of a White Moonlight C-position. “In a while, although there won’t be a life-saving capsule, the training organizers won’t let us die on the stage.”
Wu Jin nodded repeatedly and analyzed, “It should be fine. Otherwise, they wouldn’t give us these tourism brochures... it would be a waste of paper.”
Zoe pondered, “Let’s leave our luggage in the car. They can still reuse the brochures in case of an accident.”
Wu Jin: “......”
Zoe shut up immediately.
After another two minutes, Zoe stiffly turned his head over again, “Little, Little Witch, are you nervous?”
Wu Jin shook his head, “A little better than before... Is brother Zoe nervous?”
Zoe’s palms were sweating, but he retorted seriously, “How could I be nervous? ... Little Witch, how about you talk about that something something novel you were reading last time? Let’s ease the atmosphere a bit... that one where the emperor took off his mask, and the main female lead and the four officials all gave him a green hat.”
green hat – cheated on him
Wu Jin was shocked, then defended himself stubbornly, “I, I, I really never read it––brother Zoe, believe me ahhhh!”
The car slowly made its way to the Azure Cosmos main city.
As evening neared, the clouds in the sky billowed and reformed. When the underground survival show arena on Block 16 appeared, almost everyone was caught unprepared.
Dark brick walls, bright domes, and the four blocks of buildings looked like a grand temple, but beneath the temple were hellish slaughter arenas. The area outside the arena was also interspersed with the engraved silver mask logo that Zoe and Wu Jin had seen a month ago.
“Block 16, owned by the Floating City.”
Wu Jin glanced down at the travel brochure. Out of Floating City’s three main industries, survival shows had once been the biggest, but it had been surpassed by the genetic industry in recent years.
The group of students stepped out of the car in silence. Before leaving, Wu Jin even saw someone writing their last words on paper... however, he was soon forced to switch from pen and paper to voice input in order to prevent the composition of his suicide note delay everyone’s time.
It was obvious that the trainee had already been scared silly.
They followed after their theory instructor, and Wu Jin entered the underground arena again one month after the last time.
He still remembered the secret base under the stadium that was so deep it seemed to never reach the bottom––he glanced down. The marble floor tiles were paved neatly, and there was no sign of it at all.
The girl who received the audience at the entrance had changed to another young girl who wore the same style skirt and cracked similar melon seeds. When she saw that a group of students was approaching, she immediately nodded and led them away, her actions skilled and efficient. “Your terminals must be turned off. Please cooperate with the check~ When I call your number, follow me to the back to prepare. The rest of you can wait here...”
Zoe was amongst the first batch of ten.
Zoe: “Li, li, little Witch... wait for your bro, bro, brother...”
Wu Jin gave him a hug and whispered something into his ear. The White Moonlight sniper finally calmed down. “Little Witch is right. We are professionals...”
Then, he shot Wu Jin a salute and resolutely stepped forwards toward the graduation assessment.
Twenty minutes later, the girl reappeared. She’d finished cracking the melon seeds in her hands and had switched to a bag of almonds. “Alright, the next batch, get ready. A073...”
Wu Jin took a deep breath and entered the preparation room.
A heavy curtain surrounded the narrow compartments. Wu Jin changed quickly into a combat suit, his left hand and right hands probing for a moment and confirming that there was indeed no trace of a life-saving capsule––the underground survival shows were really performed with lives on the line.
The masks that would be used for the competition had also been replaced with brand new ones of a different material, a lightweight mask that ensured that the contestants wouldn’t be recognized even if their heads were sent flying. There were only two strings that wrapped around to the back of the head that were mostly decorative, and it wasn’t a problem to simply tie them up in a bow.
There was only ten minutes left until the start of the assessment.
Wu Jin made one final check over his equipment, and after repeatedly weighing his choices, he ultimately picked out an assault rifle.
Five minutes to go.
There was the sound of sudden cheering in the room, and someone stumbled their way into the room next to his. The pungent scent of blood wafted over.
Wu Jin froze slightly, then took a deep breath to calm his mood.
Two minutes.
Wu Jin closed his eyes, and the scenes of shooting, gun calibration, tactical evasive maneuvers, and gun sense training flashed through his mind one last time. He reached out to confirm that his mask was firmly in place before bending down to pick up the gun––
The curtain behind him was pushed open.
Wu Jin looked back in surprise.
“Bow your head.” The familiar low and deep voice rang out.
Wu Jin quickly bowed his head while exclaiming, “Big brother––”
Wei Shi reached out in the dim light, his rough fingers passing through the curls to firmly attack the mask and tie a knot with the strings.
“I will stand here.” Wei Shi said. “Like in training, you can stop everything at any time as long as you look in my direction.”
Wu Jin let out a sigh, but still gave a tiny shake of his head.
Wei Shi looked at the rabbit spirit in the darkness, “You’re sure?”
Wu Jin: “Yes!”
This was his graduation assessment. If he hid behind the big boss, he wouldn’t be able to cross this barrier despite having gained a lot over the four days of special training.
The last minute.
The staff were quickly coming their way, and the audience was buzzing with excitement. It seemed that they were looking forward to the next round of contestants. Wu Jin picked up the gun, subconsciously touching the complicated knot behind his mask, “Big brother! How do I untie this...”
Wei Shi looked straight at him, “You don’t need to know.”
Wu Jin was confused.
Wei Shi: “I’ll personally untie it for you after you win and come back.”
Wu Jin was stunned.
Right then, the curtain suddenly opened up, and dazzling lights leading to the center of the stadium lit up. There were hundreds of spectators cheering in the stands, and the winner of the last match was still standing in the center of the arena, their gaze fierce as they looked in the direction Wu Jin would enter from––
The youth’s eyes were sharp.
He unlocked the gun safety and gave one last salute to the big boss. He didn’t hesitate to walk forward into the light.
Juurensha: Good for you Little Witch, wanting to stand on your own two legs! And the knot was cute.
xiin: jiayou! we’re all cheering for youu~