If the newly joined ability users, now living a life of grueling labor, were seen as students in a classroom, then the ability level assessment was their most important grading exam.
At this moment, Xin Ye sat at a table in the analysis room, staring blankly at his "test paper."
Around him, fellow ability users of the same intake bustled in and out, clutching their assessment reports and exchanging results. They looked exactly like top students who couldn't stop comparing scores after a test.
"I’m not gonna lie, before this mission, my rating was C-rank. I came back and actually jumped to B!"
"That’s incredible! I just barely hit the threshold for C-rank. You’ve gotta carry me from now on!"
A hand slapped heavily onto Xin Ye’s shoulder. Its owner mimicked the other user’s tone: "Ye-ge, you’ve gotta carry me from now on—"
"Cut it out. Let me see your assessment." Xin Ye swatted Lian Muyun’s hand away and reached out for the report.
Lian Muyun rubbed his cheek, looking a bit sheepish, but handed the report over anyway. "B-rank. The detailed stats haven't budged an inch. I guess I haven't used my ability that much during these last two missions."
Xin Ye glanced at it, tossed it back to Lian Muyun, and then plucked a decorative biscuit from a tray on the table, sticking it in his mouth.
When a man is worried enough, a biscuit might as well be a cigarette.
The five of them had formed a group chat on the Investigation Department’s internal communication software. Leng Xianye and Xing Yue had picked up their reports early and posted the results.
**[The "You’re Gonna Lose" Crew]**
**Xing Yue:** (Image) Still A-rank. The values didn't fluctuate much.
**Leng Xianye:** Upper B-rank. With a bit more training, I should be able to touch A-rank. (Image)
Tang Qiuqiu posted his an hour after the two of them.
**Tang Qiuqiu:** I’m C+ now! I’ll definitely be able to help everyone more in the future! (Image)
Now, only Lian Muyun and Xin Ye hadn't posted.
Lian Muyun was late because he had overslept, while Xin Ye had intentionally timed his arrival to avoid his teammates.
Finishing his "biscuit-smoke," Xin Ye sighed and posted his report alongside Lian Muyun’s.
**Lian Muyun:** (Image) Everyone’s armory is still B-rank. No change.
**Xin Ye:** (Image)
After posting, Xin Ye couldn't help himself; he tapped the image to enlarge it and looked again.
The red letter "D" was an eyesore.
Xin Ye felt a warmth in his pocket. He reached in, gripped the mirror shard, and gave it a squeeze, comforting the Mirror Image in his mind: *It’s fine. I think you’re great. We’ll talk back at the dorm.*
The shard gradually cooled, but it retained the warmth of Xin Ye’s palm.
Seeing the report Xin Ye had posted, Lian Muyun finally understood why he was sitting there in a funk. He threw an arm around Xin Ye’s shoulders. "Stop looking at it. Want to go to the range and practice your shooting?"
"No," Xin Ye said, snatching another biscuit and stuffing it into his mouth as he stood up to leave. "I’m going back to write a checklist for the preliminaries for you guys. Go practice by yourself."
Watching Xin Ye’s retreating back, Lian Muyun let out a soft sigh.
The moment he stepped out of the analysis room, Xun Yin approached him: 【Got a moment to hear some comments?】
Remembering that the culprit behind his inability to rank up was likely Xun Yin, Xin Ye couldn't help but click his tongue. "Say what you want. I can't stop you anyway."
Xun Yin loved pestering Xin Ye when he was unhappy. He cleared his throat: 【These are comments from Chapter One. I’ll start reading—】
【"A Xin Ye comeback side-story? More like 'The Mirror Image’s Suffering Diary'."】
【"Xin Ye fighting a Fish-Worm right off the bat? I almost thought this side-story was only going to be one chapter long."】
【"He won, and he’s even still alive. I’m crying."】
【"Xin Ye fan reporting in. I admit, the author definitely gave him a cheat code this time."】
Xun Yin picked out a few highly-liked comments and read them, his voice full of expectation: 【Well? The spectator sees more than the player. Hurry up and say thank you.】
"I won't. Everything I have now is my hard-earned salary," Xin Ye replied. Back at the dorm, he tucked the report into a folder on his bookshelf. "Let’s talk business. How are the preparations for the preliminaries coming along?"
【The major scenes and the primary variants you’ll face are already decided, but I’m still filling in some details.】 Xun Yin thought of Xin Ye’s bet with Leng Xianye and chuckled. 【I’ve designed the early stage so that everyone starts off scattered. It’s the perfect chance for you and Leng Xianye to see who progresses faster.】
Xin Ye was silent for a moment before replying, "I don't need to win this competition."
【I need you to win, Protagonist. Otherwise, there’s no hook,】 Xun Yin whistled. 【As pre-battle prep, let’s talk about your assessment report?】
Xin Ye had looked at those numbers so many times he had them memorized. "There’s nothing to talk about. Zero progress... except for the last item, the mutation coefficient, which rose by a few tenths of a percent. But does that even matter?"
Xun Yin glanced at the calendar on the desk: 【I’ll tell you very soon.】
***
On the day before the preliminaries, all participants were confined to individual rooms.
Each room was equipped with a private simulation pod. According to the instructions, participants were to sleep inside the pod that night and would automatically enter the simulation upon waking the next day.
Xin Ye, who usually slept well, found himself unable to drift off. He pestered Xun Yin: "You promised me a cheat code. Why won't you tell me what the variants are tomorrow?"
In Xun Yin’s world, it was already 11:00 PM. The author, who specialized in male-lead power-up stories, was currently hunched over his computer, intently reading a fairy tale book about an old witch tricking a little princess.
The old witch said to the princess: "Little princess, beg me, and I shall give you the magic potion."
Old Witch Xun Yin: 【Beg me, and I’ll tell you.】
Xin Ye pulled up his blanket. "Goodnight."
【Sigh, I was going to tell you tomorrow anyway, otherwise I was afraid you wouldn't be able to sleep.】 Xun Yin closed the book and put his hands back on the keyboard. 【Butterflies. Little butterflies everywhere. Happy?】
Xin Ye didn't reply, lost in his own thoughts.
*Butterflies everywhere.* That description reminded him of a mission late in the apocalypse.
A massive radiation source had been detected deep within a valley. High-level variants were constantly being born within a certain radius, and his team had been ordered to check the status of the source.
There, Xin Ye had witnessed a scene he would never forget.
There were only two sources of light in that dark canyon: the sunlight filtering down from the narrow crack of the sky above, and the bioluminescence from the wings of butterflies flying in from all directions.
The sound of countless wings fluttering made one feel as if the deathly silent valley had suddenly found its breath.
As Xin Ye thought about it, he eventually drifted off to sleep.
In his dream, he returned to that valley alone, carrying a pile of supplies.
There was water, gauze, and gas masks for everyone, along with his own decorative biscuits.
A butterfly landed on the tip of Xin Ye’s nose. He asked the butterfly foolishly, "Little butterfly, little butterfly, do you know where my teammates went?"
To his surprise, the butterfly actually answered.
"I just poisoned your teammates into a coma. Now it’s your turn."
With a flap of its wings, the butterfly shook off toxic scales, which Xin Ye inhaled into his lungs.
Everything went black, and Xin Ye collapsed.
When he woke up, the night had passed. The Mirror Image sat beside him, handing him some water. "Rinse your mouth. Wash your face."
According to the instructions, he should already be in the competition.
Xin Ye remembered that during the last training session, his Mirror Image couldn't enter with him—the system could only simulate a fake one. But he could feel that the Mirror Image beside him was the real deal. After rinsing his mouth, he asked, "You can come in this time?"
"Yes. This simulation pod is more advanced; it scanned the mirror shard," the Mirror Image said, thoughtfully handing him a towel. "Your entry point was in the forest, but I woke up first and brought you to the riverbank."
"I’ve checked. The river has plenty of resources, and the variants haven't spawned yet. It’s safe to start our initial activities here."
"Good job." After washing his face, Xin Ye felt much more alert. "You’ll stay by my side for now instead of returning to the shard?"
The Mirror Image nodded. "Yes."
Xin Ye opened the group chat. Seeing that no one else had messaged yet, he guessed they hadn't woken up, so he initiated a video call request.
He absolutely hated the ringtone for video calls—he found it incredibly noisy—but it was perfect for waking people up.
**[The "You’re Gonna Lose" Crew]**
**Xin Ye:** (Video call request, 30s, missed)
**Xin Ye:** Wake up.
**Lian Muyun:** ???
**Leng Xianye:** ...
**Xing Yue:** Thanks for the wake-up call!
**Lian Muyun:** Holy crap, my mom used to wake me up like that on my first day of training. I just jumped straight up from the sand in a fright.
**Lian Muyun:** Wait, the sand...
**Tang Qiuqiu:** QAQ Where is everyone? I just tried, and it looks like the location sharing function isn't working.
Xin Ye checked. The icon for that function on his multi-function watch had turned gray. However, he could still tap it; doing so brought up a map of the entire simulation arena.
The arena was roughly divided into five sectors: South was the Desert, East was the Battlefield Ruins, North was the Flooded City, and the Center was marked as the Unknown Zone. Xin Ye was currently in the Forest to the West, though his exact coordinates were unknown.
After a moment’s thought, Xin Ye suggested in the group: "Everyone report your general location, then we’ll pick a spot to regroup? I’m in the forest."
Leng Xianye was the fastest to reply: "I’m in the Eastern Battlefield Ruins."
**Lian Muyun:** I’m in the desert! Help—
**Tang Qiuqiu:** I’m in the Battlefield Ruins too. Leng-ge, should we meet up first?
**Xing Yue:** I’m in the Flooded City. I’ve never fought in an environment like this before...
**Leng Xianye:** @Tang Qiuqiu, okay.
**Xin Ye:** Since we’re scattered across the four cardinal directions, should we aim for the Center Zone to regroup?
**Leng Xianye:** We can head that way and see how it goes. Everyone stay in touch.
Seeing Leng Xianye step up to make decisions, Xin Ye nodded in satisfaction.
With the plan set, Xin Ye decided to set out. The watch showed it was 7:57 AM. The specific rules regarding winning and losing hadn't been announced yet, but it was never wrong to seize the initiative.
However, at 7:59 AM, a notification reached Xin Ye’s watch before the rules did.
Eliminated by a variant?
Xin Ye thought back to what Xun Yin had said last night.
【Butterflies everywhere.】
At 8:00 AM sharp, with one person already eliminated, the rules were finally pushed to everyone’s watches.
***
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