"Could a jealous demoness have captured their hearts and minds? This King better be careful!"
Shi Xiaobai gingerly moved to his seat and realized Yang Yang was looking at him with complex looks from behind. Shi Xiaobai's eyes lit up and immediately blinked his eyes at Yang Yang.
"Praise This King. Hurry, hurry..."
With this thought in mind, Shi Xiaobai's eyes blinked even faster, but after blinking all day, he realized Yang Yang had failed to receive his intentions, turning him melancholic.
"Back then, Pleasant Goat wasn't like this when he was praising Blondy Narcissist. This King is so much more of a genius than Blondy Narcissist, so why aren't you praising This King?"
Seeing Yang Yang ignore him, Shi Xiaobai immediately turned towards Kevin who wasn't far away. He waved his hand and said, "Hey, Blondy Narcissist!"
Shi Xiaobai found Kevin's logic to be very reasonable. Humans were born unequal. For example, wasn't he, Shi Xiaobai destined to lead an extraordinary life from the moment he was born?
Shi Xiaobai cast a kind smile at Kevin, but Kevin turned to look away with an ashen face. This made Shi Xiaobai even more melancholic.
"The path of the King is indeed lonely."
Shi Xiaobai sighed as he felt that they had hurt his fragile heart.
"Shi Xiaobai, I believe what you said was right. A genius does not equal to being one of the strong." Suddenly, Yang Yang's passionate voice rang in his ears.
Shi Xiaobai was stunned as he suddenly recalled himself saying something similar just a moment ago. Just as he was about to cough to correct the incorrect point of view, he heard Yang Yang say solemnly, "I am not a Psyker, but I'm [Order]'s most promising rookie that has a chance of becoming this batch’s A Class rookie. That's because the second stage of the Rookie Evaluation Test is a test of one's ability. It's not a comparison of talent, but the accumulation of each person's hard work."
"So Shi Xiaobai, if you can convince me whole-heartedly in the evaluation of ability, I will acknowledge that you are not only a genius, but truly one of the strong!"
Yang Yang's eyes flickered with intense fighting spirit and an endless amount of anticipation. Shi Xiaobai might have said those words previously out of jest, but Yang Yang had taken those words to heart. He sincerely hoped that those words were true. Only then could he persist in this belief. For this, he had to first prove that Shi Xiaobai, who said those words, was authentic.
Looking into Yang Yang's eyes, Shi Xiaobai, who wanted to say, "This King does not need your acknowledgment", had for some reason said, only with a smile, "This King is not afraid of any challenge."
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Chapter13 Shi Xiaobai's Confidence is Shaken
The strange atmosphere in the room loomed for a period of time before it gradually dissipated. After all, the Rookie Evaluation Test was not yet over. [Gaia]'s evaluation of rookies was typically split into two, "natural endowment" and "ability". Over the years, there was no lack of rookies who had extremely high "natural endowment", but received terrible evaluations due to extremely low "Ability" scores. As such, Shi Xiaobai's final evaluation was still uncertain.
However, certain things were just clear-cut.
Riko smiled beautifully as her gaze turned smug, "Mu Hongli, do you still remember our bet? Go home and pack up, for I happen to lack a maid servant to order around. Ke Ke~"
Mu Hongli's face sank and looked indignant. She said hatefully, "Our bet is the final outcome of the rookie evaluation. It has only been the first stage."
Riko smiled widely and did not think much of it. "Shi Xiaobai has already led Blondy Narcissist by so much in the first stage. Unless Shi Xiaobai receives zero points in the second stage and receives a "Useless Person” verdict, Blondy Narcissist is definitely losing."
Mu Hongli also knew in her heart that the chances of Kevin winning was extremely low, but she refused to admit it verbally. She snubbed back, "Who knows, maybe Shi Xiaobai will really get zero?"
Riko gave Mu Hongli a look, as though she was watching a retard. Mu Hongli opened her mouth halfway but remained silent. Getting zero points in the second stage was truly unheard of.
Regardless of how idiotic Shi Xiaobai was, he was still a genius after all. He couldn't be so bad that he couldn't score a single point, right?
......
Shi Xiaobai was now filled with fighting spirit, as he had just accepted Yang Yang's challenge. As for what the challenge entailed, *cough*, he temporarily had no idea.
"This King will adopt the necessary measures depending on the situation."
Shi Xiaobai had such a thought in mind, but he had pricked up his ears, making sure to attentively listen to the elder explaining the rules of the ability test.
"The second stage's ability test is to assess one of the most basic abilities of a Hero, shooting."
Upon hearing the elder's words, Shi Xiaobai was a bit stunned. When did shooting become the most basic ability of a Hero?
Don't tell me the Heroes of this world relied on firearms, spraying around with machine guns? Shi Xiaobai was immediately disappointed. The Heroes in his heart needed to beat calamity fiends with their punches, kicking Astral Calamity Beasts and slashing extraterrestrial motherships with a sword. They could not rely on external forces, much less technology.
"Why is shooting ability one of the most basic abilities of Heroes? Don't tell me Heroes do not use cold weapons?" Shi Xiaobai forwent his dignity as King and asked Yang Yang shamelessly.
"Are you serious?" Yang Yang rolled his eyes at him.
"Of course!" Shi Xiaobai nodded seriously.
"I really have no idea if you are acting the fool or you truly are a fool." Yang Yang could not help but denigrate him. After a moment of hesitation, he seriously explained to Shi Xiaobai, "Although Psionites are split into several realms, most Psionites are in the weakest Psionic Mortal Realm." And a majority of Heroes are in the Psionic Mortal Realm. That means Psionic Mortal Realm Heroes are basically F Class Heroes, but these F Class heroes form the bedrock of society's general safety. Most criminals and terrorists are apprehended by F Class Heroes. At the Psionic Mortal Realm, one isn't able to perfectly withstand the strike from a bullet, so using a cold weapon is greatly inferior to firearms in terms of power. Hence, to F Class Heroes at the Psionic Mortal Realm, the best choice of weapon is a firearm."
"To anyone who has the ambition of becoming a Hero, their shooting ability is considered a basic ability, as most people can only be stuck, struggling in the Psionic Mortal Realm," Yang Yang recited without any expression. "On the other hand, Psykers are a bit of a special case. A number of Psykers would have sufficient means to resist firearms at the Psionic Mortal Realm, but most Psykers at the Psionic Mortal Realm typically have offensive strength less than a gun. Hence, one's shooting ability is something that has to be definitely mastered by Psykers. In conclusion, be it Psionites or Psykers, before they break through from the Psionic Mortal Realm to the Psionic Soul Realm, firearms have an advantage over cold weapons. After they make the breakthrough, the reverse situation happens. Those Heroes above D Class basically only use cold weapons."
Having heard a bunch of terms from Yang Yang that he had never heard of before, Shi Xiaobai was immediately filled with confusion, but that did not stop him from asking further.
On the other side, the elder had finished explaining the rules for the second stage.
Once the elder was done, the wall with the shimmering numbers suddenly went white. On the gigantic white screen, the four rookies' names were written on the top left hand corner, followed by a number. At this moment, the numbers were all "0".
The ability test was simple but had a strong smell of gunpowder. The four rookies would compete on the same platform, while black target spots would randomly appear on the large white screen. The four of them could only use laser guns to shoot at it. The person who hit the target first would score a point. After a target was
struck, the next target would randomly appear, and there would be a total of a hundred targets.
The randomness here both referred to the location of the target, as well as the time interval between the appearance of the targets.
Such a test could assess the rookie's reaction, shooting speed as well as shooting accuracy. It could be considered quite a well-rounded test subject.
Shi Xiaobai took a laser gun from the elder. It looked quite similar to a normal pistol. He curiously pressed the trigger, and a red beam of light shot out of the barrel. Immediately, Shi Xiaobai turned playful and began shooting laser beams at everyone in the room with "Pew Pew Pew" sounds. Only when the elder stopped him with a blackened face did he stop in resentment.
The other three rookies standing in line with Shi Xiaobai did not appear as relaxed as him. They were extremely nervous. Shi Xiaobai's dual S natural endowment in the first stage had already determined that he would be first at this rookie evaluation. To the three of them, the second stage was even more important.
Shi Xiaobai was indeed not worried at all. He was already trying to figure out how to dismantle the laser gun.
"Hey, Xiaobai, how's your shooting ability?"
A pearly girl's voice echoed, making Shi Xiaobai turn around to see Riko standing behind him. He did not know when that happened.
"Don't worry. Be it Counter-Strike or CrossFire, This King has already attained perfection. No one can match me in shooting ability. Girl, do you want to try?"
Shi Xiaobai answered with great confidence, raising the laser gun at the girl's face.
Riko was stunned upon hearing that. She kept feeling that there was something strange about this and subconsciously punched Shi Xiaobai in the face. As this world did not have the two games, Counter-Strike and CrossFire, Riko did not know what Shi Xiaobai was referring to. But from his confident expression, she felt assured. However, she still made it a point to say, "Anyway, as long as you do not get zero points, that's all that matters, even if it's just one point."
"Tch~" Shi Xiaobai felt disdain towards her statement, but for some reason took the opportunity to ask, "What happens if I get zero?"
Riko hesitated for a while and felt that there was no point hiding it from him at this stage. Hence, she said, "Cough, that red-dressed ugly freak and I had previously made a bet. As long as you exceed zero points, I'll win."
"So that's the case. Rest assured, Girl. Since This King has already signed a blood pact with you, I will naturally help you win your bet!" Shi Xiaobai patted himself on the chest.
Riko rolled her eyes at him. Seeing that the test was about to begin, she exhorted him once more before walking slowly to her seat on the right.
"What a joke. How can This King get zero points? Naive girl."
Realizing that he just needed to obtain one point, Shi Xiaobai immediately felt extremely relaxed. What a joke. Although he had never managed to break past ten points during his school examinations, he had never received zero points before. For this, Shi Xiaobai was rather confident.
"Make your choice, youth!"
Suddenly, a fiery voice boomed in Shi Xiaobai's mind. Time halted along with it, and everyone in the room froze.
Two rows of black text slowly appeared in front of Shi Xiaobai.
That scamming scene from the "Absolute Choice" system had appeared once again!
[ Choice 1: During the test, only one shot can be made without opening your eyes (Reward: E-level) ]
[ Choice 2: Directly give up. Pass the test with zero points (Reward: D-level) ]
(Gentle Reminder: This choice is considered a "daily-style choice" where there is only one opportunity after choosing. Successfully completing the choice’s mission will yield a reward, and failure will lead to punishment of the same level.)
Shi Xiaobai was stunned for a moment after seeing the two rows of black text.
"D-level reward..Looks like it's possible for This King to get zero points."
At this moment, Shi Xiaobai's confidence was shaken.
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Chapter14 Why did I agree
Shi Xiaobai looked at the two choices in front of him and felt that there was a deep sense of malevolence. If he chose to directly give up, then he would receive zero points for the ability test. If he chose to close his eyes and only shoot once, then it would be highly probable that he would receive zero points, with a minuscule probability of him receiving one point.
Regardless of his choice, Shi Xiaobai's result for his ability test would be terrible. It could be said that there was not much difference between the two choices. However, the latter was a D-level reward, while the former was a E-level reward. Logically speaking, Shi Xiaobai's best choice was to directly give up and receive a D-level reward.
However, he had just promised Riko that he would not receive zero points. As such, one point and zero points had a qualitative difference to him. The only thing was that this one point was not easily obtainable.
On one side was the better D-level reward, while the other side was a slim chance of getting more than zero points. What should Shi Xiaobai choose?
"Hai, a King's promise is more important than anything else. Besides, This King has reincarnated thousands of times and has never obtained zero points before. How can such a precious first be sacrificed for a mere D-level reward? If it was a C-level reward, that would be more like it..."
Shi Xiaobai vexed over it all day before finally choosing—[ Choice 1: During the test, only one shot can be made without opening your eyes (E-level reward) ].
...
Against a randomly appearing target without any fixed time interval that he had to shoot blindly—in one shot—was no doubt a ginormous test, but Shi Xiaobai did not mind it at all.
"This King will adopt the necessary measures depending on the situation."
Shi Xiaobai slowly closed his eyes as his vision turned black. However, the light that reflected off the metallic wall continued projecting a fuzzy layer of light above the darkness. He was still not used to it.
The elder gave Shi Xiaobai a glance, and thought he was closing his eyes to focus. The elder paid great attention to the child with dual S talents. Regardless of Shi Xiaobai's personality, he was destined to be a very important rookie in [Gaia] the next few years. As long as he did not receive zero points in the ability test, he would naturally be evaluated as an S Class rookie.
Over the past few years, [Gaia]’s ranking did not move much in China, but it was in an awkward position. Internationally, it had already dropped out of the top ranks into the mediocre. This year, the fresh blood that had been injected into [Gaia] was not too bad, and if an S Class rookie was added, it might let [Gaia] experience a new spring. As such, the elder placed a lot of anticipation on Shi Xiaobai.
"Natural endowment and ability is the most important evaluation standards for rookies in [Gaia]. Do not be dismayed because of a low natural endowment, but make sure not to lose your head because of having a higher natural endowment." The elder exhorted one last time.
Noticing that the four rookies were ready, he announced, "Let the ability test begin!"
The moment he finished speaking, other than Shi Xiaobai still having his eyes closed, the other three were fully focused on the snow-white screen in front of them. In this kind of competition by count of targets struck for points, victory was not determined in a second, but in milliseconds. Despite being nervous, they still held the guns firmly in their hands. This was because reaction speed was not everything, shooting accuracy was equally important. On this point, even the four-year-old little loli, Zhong Yue'er, put on a proper demeanor. For the three, all coming from a family with Heroes, the basic skills of a Hero was something they had honed since they were young.
The gigantic screen looked like a vertical white plane. It was white, without any colors on it. Suddenly, a tiny black dot appeared like a lotus blooming!
"Peng! Peng! Peng!"
"First point. Blue!"
A cold, machine-like voice echoed from a speaker embedded behind the metallic wall. Following that, the number on the top-left corner—beside Yang Yang's name—changed from "0" to "1".
The four rookies used laser guns of different colors. Shi Xiaobai was red, Kevin was yellow, Yang Yang was blue, and Zhong Yue'er was purple. It was used to determine who hit the target first. The first shot was clearly obtained by Yang Yang.
Nearly everyone realized that one laser beam was missing. However, it was just the first shot, so they did not pay much attention to it.
However, very quickly, ten targets had been hit, but Shi Xiaobai had yet to even shoot once.
The elder gave Shi Xiaobai a glance and immediately exclaimed, "Shi Xiaobai, why are you still closing your eyes?"
The moment this was said, everyone in the room was stunned. Shi Xiaobai had been closing his eyes all this while?
Kevin and Mu Hongli felt delighted at this news. From having no chance at victory, they could now see a glimmer of hope. If Shi Xiaobai's ability test received zero points, he would be evaluated as a "Useless Person". It would greatly affect his evaluation, and if that happened, Kevin would have a chance to overturn the disadvantage he received in the natural endowment test.
Yang Yang's heart sank, but he quickly recovered. As he was still in the midst of a test, he had to maintain an ethereal state of mind. He had lost too much dignity during the natural endowment test, so in the ability test that he was best at, he had to defend his remaining dignity.
Yang Yang's calmness gave him the most direct returns. In the dozens of shots that followed, he maintained first place and was opening up a gap. He displayed an extraordinary shooting ability.
By the seats, Riko was already about to cry from anxiousness. She hoarsened her throat by yelling incessantly.
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