Technological practice: leading the human race to the stars
Chapter 9 Assessment
Chapter 9 Assessment (Part )
Yuanze's consciousness floated slowly in the darkness, gradually breaking free from the entanglement of memories and returning to reality.
His consciousness gradually returned, and he felt that he was lying on the cold ground, surrounded by a dark forest.
He glanced at the bracelet and didn't expect that only ten hours had passed. It seemed that the time in virtual reality was compressed, and even the flow of time in dreams became abnormal. Just ten hours seemed like several months.
Yuanze lay quietly on the ground, letting his thoughts wander on the border between reality and memory. Warm and sweet moments, fierce confrontations, and the final glory of victory flashed through his mind one by one.
However, these memories seemed incomplete, and his brain was filled with trivial and messy fragments of information, as if he had experienced several completely different events that strangely converged at the end.
This illusion of blending reality and fantasy made Yuanze feel an indescribable confusion and mystery.
Just as he was immersed in this chaos, a sudden panic struck him - he found that he could not move at all. This feeling was so real, as if an invisible force bound him tightly in this dark forest.
"Is there a new enemy appearing?"
Yuanze speculated secretly in his heart and tried hard to break free from this feeling of powerlessness, but his body did not obey him at all.
"Not likely. Let's just pretend to be dead first."
At this moment, he sensed a figure in front of him slowly walking towards him.
Due to his declining body functions and blurred vision, Yuanze was unable to see the other person's face clearly and could only determine from the outline that the other person was a human.
He couldn't help but feel puzzled: "Who is this person? Why is he here?"
As the opponent approached, Yuan Ze felt a strong sense of oppression. If the opponent was an enemy, he would not be able to resist the attack.
However, to Yuan Ze's surprise, the other party did not attack him, but squatted down and stretched out his hand to feel his pulse. Yuan Ze was confused: "What is he doing?"
Sure enough, after making sure that Yuan Ze was still alive, a voice whispered in his ear: "You can't pretend to be dead in the virtual space. I'm the one protecting you during this time."
This sentence was like a stone thrown into a calm lake, causing ripples in Yuanze's heart.
Hearing this, Yuan Ze's doubts grew even stronger. He tried hard to ask about the other party's identity and purpose, but his mouth seemed to be blocked by something and he could not make a sound.
The other party seemed to see Yuan Ze's confusion and uneasiness, and his tone revealed a reassuring power: "Don't worry, I am the guardian here. You defeated No. 0279 before and performed very well. But your body is seriously overdrawn and urgently needs treatment."
After that, the other party took out a syringe from his body and prepared to inject Yuan Ze with a drug. Although Yuan Ze could not move, he was very conscious. He struggled in his heart: "Who is this person? Should I trust him?"
However, in this situation, he seemed to have no better choice, so he chose to believe the other party, closed his eyes, and waited for the injection of the medicine.
As the medicine was injected, Yuanze felt a warm current spreading rapidly in his body. His limbs gradually regained strength and his consciousness became clearer. When he opened his eyes again, he found that he was able to sit up.
"Is there such a system for assessment in virtual space?" Yuanze was a little confused, but thanked him anyway.
"It's what I should do. If you can leave, do so quickly. Remember not to mention this to anyone." The man quickly turned his back and blocked his face.
Yuanze bowed several times towards his lonely figure and left quickly.
After Yuan Ze left, the guardian slowly turned around, a cigarette still dangling from the corner of his mouth, looking in the direction where Yuan Ze left, muttering to himself: "I wonder who this child who took the amulet is?"
He looked like a tall, thin and upright young man, but if Yuanze took a quick look, he would definitely recognize him, because he looked exactly like Master Yuanze ten years ago.
"Haha, my mission is over. I don't know how I am doing now?" Ten years ago, Li Haisheng picked up the amulet in his hand and looked at it carefully, with tears in his eyes.
But his body gradually disintegrated into codes of 0s and 1s.
"It's a pity that I haven't finished this cigarette yet."
On the other side, Yuanze, who had already walked far away, felt the source power in his body surging like a tide, but he was surprised to find that the amulet given to him by his master also disappeared silently.
"It seems that the power of the amulet has been absorbed by me." He thought to himself that this might be the secret to passing the test mentioned by his master.
"I can't slack off." Yuanze said to himself.
In the following examination, Yuan Ze showed amazing strength. Whether it was the candidates who tried to attack him by surprise or the low-level monsters, they were all vulnerable in front of him with abundant source power.
The speed of his advancement is astonishing.
Yuanze pulled up the ranking list and showed a hint of disdain.
Li Weiming, who was in second place, was already far behind. Even if he chose to withdraw, he could still hold on to the first place.
However, Yuanze was not satisfied with this.
He continued to go deeper into the core area of the forest, looking for the final challenge. There were only a few candidates left, and there were only two hours left.
He clearly remembered what his master had said. This special assessment would have special rewards, but the prerequisite was that he had to stay for the full time and find the little red flag.
This is his goal now.
So he calmed his mind and began to search carefully for clues around him.
You have to know that after rounds of screening and elimination, the candidates' concealment ability has reached the limit of what they can do, making this forest even more quiet and mysterious. Only the breath of those high-level source beasts occasionally floats in the air, as if telling of unknown dangers.
Yuan Ze was like a cheetah, shuttling through the forest. His eyes were as sharp as an eagle, not missing any possible clues. Time passed by, and his heartbeat gradually accelerated with each fruitless search.
At this moment, a faint red light flashed in his sight. With an idea in his mind, he quickly chased in that direction. After passing through a dense bush, he finally saw the hidden red flag.
Yuanze was not in a hurry to take action, as he didn't know how many people were waiting for the "first bird to come forward".
What all the candidates who were hiding did not expect was that this "outspoken bird" would be so arrogant.
Li Weiming looked around and strode towards the small red flag, ready to grab it. However, just as he was about to touch the small red flag, several weak breath fluctuations caught his attention.
"I am Li Weiming, the heir of the Li family. If you want to make enemies with my family, just come on. I am not afraid of you."
"Mr. Li, I'm Yiyang. I'll leave first." A thin figure walked out from the bushes, bowed respectfully, and withdrew from the assessment.
Then, one breath after another gradually turned into data and withdrew from the assessment, not wanting to offend him or lose face.
"It seems that you all are very appreciative." Li Weiming smiled. It seemed that the small box his father mentioned was already in his pocket.
Just as he was about to take the small red flag, he turned his head and saw only a dense bush swaying gently in the wind, which seemed to be normal. However, Li Weiming was startled and felt a strong sense of crisis.
"Who? Come out!" He shouted, trying to intimidate the opponent hiding in the dark. However, the only response he got was silence.
"It's me!" A clear female voice came from the bushes.
She was wearing camouflage and holding a dagger as she walked towards Li Weiming.
"It turns out to be the girl from the Ji family." Li Weiming recognized the girl. She was the daughter of the Ji family and one of the few candidates who were qualified to compete with him in this assessment.
"Li Weiming, do you think you can scare away everyone with the name of the Li family? That's ridiculous." The girl sneered and said sarcastically.
"Why is it Ji Xueran? When did she become so strong?" Yuanze was very puzzled. His deskmate had never been ambitious and was only keen on painting. How could she have broken into the core area?
Yuanze watched the confrontation between the two while looking at the little time left.
"Keep calm and don't act rashly." Yuanze repeated in his mind the words his master taught him.
"60, 59, 58..." The countdown sounded.
The two finally couldn't hold back anymore and started fighting.
Just when the two were fighting fiercely, Yuanze seized the opportunity, burst out with unprecedented speed, and snatched the little red flag from the hands of the two.
Before the two could react, Yuanze took the opportunity to slap Li Weiming on the face a few times.
"Yuan Ze!" the two of them shouted in unison.
Ji Xueran was also puzzled as to how this classmate could be so powerful. She had said before that she would protect him, but it was better for him to take it away than for Li Weiming to take it away.
Li Weiming covered his face which was swollen like a pig's head, looked at him, and then noticed his number. Anger seemed to burst out from his eyes: "So the first place, No. 1356, is you!"
"Why not?"
As time passed, another flash of white light passed, and the consciousness of all the candidates gradually returned to reality.
The young man whose ideals were shattered ten years ago helped his apprentice ten years later.
(End of this chapter)
