The Silent Trial
1. The First Test
Luo Feng's computer screen glitched, the code he was debugging dissolving into static.
Two words showed across the display
System
Candidate 007 recognized. Integration into examination center complete.
His feet landed on a cool, polished floor. He stood in a vast, circular arena made of strange metal.
Luo Feng
*Looking around, there are people standing in confusion around him*
Luo Feng
*his focus shifted to his arm. 007 was etched in his arm*
Invigilator 07
Good afternoon.
Invigilator 07
Consider this a sudden and mandatory change.
Invigilator 07
Your new occupation is 'survivour'. Your performance review begins now.
The crowd start murmuring from the panic
Invigilator 07
Your first task is simple. A test of memory and pattern recognition.
A massive screen showed up in the center of the arena. It displayed a rapidly shifting sequence of alphanumeric codes.
Invigilator 07
You have 60 seconds to deduce the next five elements in the chain.
Invigilator 07
To answer, you must vocalize your response. Clearly.
Luo Feng
*crossed his arms, his sharp eyes tracking the data*
Candidate 576
I've got this! It's 4-B-7-2-J!
The floor beneath the man vanished. He dropped out of sight.
A terrified gasp spread through the candidates.
Luo Feng
*intensely looking at the screen*
Luo Feng
*He said in a calm and clear voice*
Invigilator 07
Well. Candidate 007. Correct
A beam of soft white light shot down the ceiling.
It passed Luo, striking a woman beside instead, Candidate 219.
A gold star badge appeared in her chest
Invigilator 07
Candidate 219 provided the correct answer.
Invigilator 07
The rest of you have failed.
The floor arena electrified.
A low voltage current jolted through everyone.
Luo Feng
*looks at the face of the smirking invigilator*
Luo Feng
*A smile curls over his face*
He knows he gave the right answer. He knows he is undefeatable here.
2. The neon labyrinth
The air in the city was different-charged with artificial energy and the scent of ozone.
Towering skyscrapers glowed with neon advertisements in languages Luo didn't recognize.
Bridges of light arched between buildings, and far above, a false twilight sky flickered with data-stream constellations
Around him the candidates stumbled out if the arena entrance. Their eyes filled with fear.
The door behind him closed, leaving no trace of return
System
Stage Two: Urban Navigation. Reach the designated safe zone before the time finishes. Beware of environmental hazards and system anomalies.
Candidate 542
*voice trembling* Fifteen minutes? That's impossible! This place is huge!
Candidate 219
*clutching her gold badge* There has to be a trick. A shortcut.
Luo Feng
*not speaking a word unnecessarily*
Luo Feng
*scanning around the environment for tiny details*
Luo Feng
*He started moving around slowly observing every detail in each infrastructure*
Others started following him instinctively
Luo Feng
*Too focused to notice others are following him*
As they were walking the street suddenly changed into a grid of red laser beams, crisscrossing at knee height.
System
HAZARD:Data Corruption Field. Cross at your own risk.
Candidate 088
It's just light! It's a bluff
Candidate 088
*ran forward towards the lasers.*
The moment he touched the first laser, his form pixelated violently.
He let out a scream, a short one as he slit up into millions of peices with blood all around.
Candidate 219
It's real....
Luo Feng
*already started tracing the pattern*
Luo Feng
(Hmm the lasers aren't random. They are in sequence.)
Luo Feng
(In some sorts of rhythm....)
Luo Feng
(Ah I got it! It's the binary pulse. Off-on-off. Three second intervals.)
Luo Feng
Follow my exact path. Now.
Luo Feng
*starts moving forward, taking to swift steps during the off cycle.*
He moved through this deadly grid like a dancer.
One by one others mimicked him.
219 was right behind him, absolutely focused.
They all made it through, collapsing on the other side, gasping.
The waypoint led them to a narrown alley that ended in a solid wall.
There was a blue dot on the wall
Candidate 542
It's dead end! The system is lying!
Everyone started panicking again.
Luo Feng
*starts investigating the door ignoring others panicking*
Luo Feng
*notices a small crack between certain bricks*
Luo Feng
It's not a wall, it's a door.
Luo Feng
*pressing his hands against certain bricks leading the door to open*
They all passed through and found themselves in a small, quiet courtyard.
In the center stood a single, glowing terminal. The safe zone.
System
Objective Complete. Stage Two cleared. 00:03:17 remaining.
Everyone was relieved but then a message flashed suddenly.
System
Bonus Objective available. Access terminal for reward. WARNING: Bonus Objective may contain unknown risks.
Candidate 542
A reward could help us in the next test!
Candidate 219
But it says 'unknown risks'! We're safe now. Why risk it?
They all looked at Luo for confirmation.
Before he could decide, a cold voice echoed from the shadows.
Invigilator 07
Interesting choice, Candidate 007. The safe path, or the gamble?
Invigilator 07
*giving a faint smile, while looking at Luo*
Invigilator 07
Well? What will it be? The system does so love to see you...strive.
Luo Feng
*pissed* We will take the bonus.
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