MMPS Ch. 30

Chapter 30: Punishment

The exit of the elimination pit opened directly into the candidates’ lounge, where a triage of doctors waited to assess those emerging. Those injured were taken away for immediate treatment, while the unscathed were funneled directly into a mandatory employment health screening to eliminate any latent risks.

Inside the lounge, a buffet and showers were provided for the interns to refresh themselves. The atmosphere was abuzz with chatter—interns eating, crying over their scores, or seeking camaraderie in their shared experiences.

Ji Nian sat curled up in a plush velvet chair, his knees tucked against his chest, balancing a fine porcelain plate in one hand. He used a fork to carefully carve out small pieces of red velvet cake, his eyes lazily following Yong Zheng, who was pacing nearby and swearing under his breath about Yu An.

“I knew that bastard was up to no good.” Yong Zheng fumed, obsessively inspecting his precious laptop for any signs of damage. “How does he lie so effortlessly, straight-faced, for so long? Was he a scam artist before this?”

“Seems likely.” Ji Nian mused, biting the tip of his fork. His gaze followed Yong Zheng as he moved—left, then right, like a cat tracking prey.

“Likely, my ass!” Yong Zheng barked, slapping Ji Nian lightly on his head of soft chestnut curls. “And you still gave him that precision belt?”

“It’s nothing special, just a random little gadget I whipped up. I didn’t really care about it.” Ji Nian replied nonchalantly, finishing his cake and folding the lace napkin into a tiny, intricate paper airplane. He sent it flying with a flick of his wrist. “Besides, getting eliminated early just means we get to eat sooner. Isn’t that a win?”

“You’re really not mad?”

“I’ll be mad if Yu An loses while representing the technicians.”

“Pfft. Just wait. Those two investigators aren’t pushovers. Yu An will be the next one tumbling out of that pit.”

The paper airplane darted mid-air, curving sharply at a perfect right angle, before striking Yong Zheng squarely on the forehead.

“Ha! Bullseye.” Ji Nian chuckled.

The buffet’s menu had just been updated, and the scallops with vermicelli caught Ji Nian’s attention. He hopped off the chair, abandoning Yong Zheng to hurriedly chase after his next meal.

Moments later, the elimination pit opened again, ejecting another intern headfirst onto the lounge’s cushioned floor.

Huo Yangui emerged, disoriented, sitting on the ground with a dazed expression as he rubbed his head. Around him, invisible waves of heat shimmered, raising the room’s temperature by several degrees. The waitstaff hastily switched the air conditioning from heat to cold to stabilize the room.

“…No way,” Yong Zheng muttered, circling Huo Yangui with incredulous eyes. “You got taken down by Lan-jie?”

Huo Yangui shook his head: “No, it was a technician.”

“Yu An?!” Yong Zheng’s voice cracked. “How could he possibly beat you?”

“I didn’t even get a chance to fight. I slipped before I could do anything. Don’t you know? He can…” Huo Yangui trailed off, brushing dirt and grass from his shorts. He wiped his nose, then murmured to himself, “Forget it. Guess I wasn’t good enough. I’m out.”

As he left, the room’s temperature plummeted, the freezing air settling in like an icebox. Outside, winter’s chill lingered, but inside, the cold was so intense it felt deliberate, malevolent.

“‘Can’? Can what?” Yong Zheng stared at Huo Yangui’s retreating figure, deep in thought.

*

In the conference hall, pandemonium had broken out.

Ten minutes earlier, Yu An had crouched beside Huo Yangui’s fallen body, folding a cardboard cutout of a glamorous woman into his backpack. He pulled out a pale blue wolf-core from his analyzer and spoke coldly to the dazed Huo Yangui: “I’ve got another one. As long as I say, ‘Die,’ you will. The elimination pit is right behind you. Jump.”

The footage played on the large screens surrounding the hall, plunging the gathered high-ranking Underground Metro executives into a stunned silence. The shattering of a glass interrupted the stillness, drawing every gaze to the boss, who had risen abruptly from his seat, his glasses chain swaying with the movement.

Zhao Ran’s face was ashen, his gloved hands clenched so tightly the leather groaned. With a snap of his fingers, the surrounding monitors abruptly blacked out. The assistants behind the control desk scrambled frantically, unable to restore the feed.

That brat! Zhao Ran seethed. Despite repeated warnings during weekend training to never expose his ability to switch cores so openly, Yu An had ignored every order. Now, how were they supposed to salvage this mess?

Team Leader Duan, still fuming over his protégé Huo Yangui’s elimination, was struck speechless by what he’d just witnessed. Team Leader Yuan was shocked, while some attendees, more focused on their conversations and drinks, had missed the crucial footage entirely. When they asked what had happened, Yuan Xiaoying quickly waved them off. “Don’t ask.”

The boss masked his shock with a composed expression, dabbing at a wine stain on his suit with a napkin. “Let me remind you all,” he said, his tone low and deliberate, “that everything discussed in this conference room is classified. After today, I expect everyone here to be discreet.”

Zhao Ran pressed his fingers to his temple, the stress causing a dull ache to throb in his yet-to-heal side wound. Without another word, he stood and left the room.

*

Yu An’s score skyrocketed after absorbing all of Huo Yangui’s points, reaching an astonishing 210—more than double that of Ni Lan.

Ni Lan had 95 points. Even if she managed to kill Zeng Rang and gain the 50-point bonus, she would still only reach 145. On paper, Yu An seemed invincible, but something felt off.

The live leaderboard flickered and updated suddenly. Yu An’s attention snapped to the screen. Zeng Rang, listed as his assassination target, now had “Eliminated” beside his name, his score wiped to zero.

What the hell?

A complete score wipe only happened when someone voluntarily forfeited.

Yu An immediately understood. Underground Metro had issued a public bounty—a kill order on Zeng Rang—clearly signaling their intent to sever ties with the rival company. Zeng Rang must have realized this as well. His final moments of hiding would have been sheer terror.

But the fact that Zeng Rang’s score had cleared meant one of two things: either another Underground Metro mole had escorted him out.

Or they had killed him themselves.

Yu An attempted to signal this discovery to the evaluators through the surveillance cameras, but his gestures went unanswered.

A sharp beep from his thermal detector snapped him out of his thoughts. He turned, spotting Ni Lan sprinting toward him, wielding a glowing void sword.

Ni Lan knew nothing of the mole’s assassination; she’d missed the subtle difference between “eliminate” and “kill” in the task description.

With ten minutes left in the skill assessment, Yu An had no intention of fighting Ni Lan head-on. All he needed to do was retreat to the safe house he’d used during the written exam and secure his lead. But those precious seconds spent signaling the evaluators had cost him, allowing Ni Lan to close the gap between them.

The entrance to the safe house loomed ahead. Yu An jammed the goat-core into his eye socket, sprinting at full speed toward the door.

He was one step into the shadows when a blinding silver arc of light cleaved down in front of him. Ni Lan’s void sword embedded itself in the ground, standing upright between his legs, a hair’s breadth from slicing him in two.

Yu An froze, cold sweat dripping down his brow. One more step forward, and he would’ve been bisected.

A finger brushed lightly across his cheek, followed by the scent of perfume. Ni Lan leaned close, her half-smiling, sultry face inches from his. Her voice, dripping with mockery, whispered in his ear:

“Didi, I’m impressed you made it this far. But next time… you’ll have to run faster.”

Yu An’s gaze flickered to the dice-shaped earrings dangling from her ears, spinning hypnotically.

Ni Lan’s speed, strength, and swordsmanship were unparalleled. From the very start, Yu An had no intention of engaging her in a direct fight. With eight minutes left until the exam ended, he had to endure at all costs—failure now would mean everything had been for nothing.

Suddenly, Yu An moved. Before Ni Lan could react, he grabbed the void sword embedded in the ground and hurled it into the safe house behind her.

The laser sword pierced through the thick walls and lodged itself inside Yu An’s safe house.

Entering someone else’s safe house meant instant elimination. Ni Lan hadn’t expected such a move. Her lashes fluttered furiously in frustration as she growled: “You little brat—”

She grabbed Yu An by the face, dragging him out of the shadowy entrance to the safe house. Standing with her back to the entrance, she fully blocked his escape route. Tilting her body forward, she clenched her fists and smirked: “I don’t even need a sword to deal with you.”

The sharp clack of high heels echoed as Ni Lan launched into an all-out offensive. Her pale arms, veins bulging, moved with dazzling speed, her punches a relentless blur.

Under the enhancements of the goat-core, Yu An barely managed to block her blows. He swatted away a fist aimed at his face, but Ni Lan’s movements were precise and unyielding. Her long leg swung horizontally, the hem of her croupier-style black dress fluttering like a blade. The stiletto heel of her shoe sliced past his throat, forcing him to dodge backward. Though he evaded the lethal strike, a cold wind grazed his neck, leaving a faint, shallow cut.

Ni Lan leapt into the air, channeling all her strength into her right leg for a devastating downward kick. Yu An sidestepped just in time, catching her foot with both hands and yanking her forward.

Using the momentum, Ni Lan propelled herself closer to him. Her hand shot out, gripping his elbow as she twisted behind him. Her slender arm wrapped around his neck in a chokehold, tightening mercilessly.

Gritting his teeth, Yu An pushed her arm outward, inhaling deeply before executing a shoulder throw to unbalance her. Grabbing her wrist, he flipped her over his shoulder in one swift motion.

Ni Lan spun twice in midair before landing gracefully. Though she didn’t fall, the exertion was starting to wear on her. Her breath became labored, uneven.

The exam timer ticked down.

Ten seconds.

Eight seconds.

Three seconds.

Two seconds.

One second.

The exam ended.

Yu An timed it perfectly, relying on the goat-core enhancements until the very last moment. As the broadcast announced the conclusion of the exam, the energy in the Aberrant Core flickered out. The goat-core’s blue glow vanished, and the goat horns faded from his head.

“It’s over before you have enough fun, right?” Ni Lan sighed, relaxing her stance as she heard the announcement. Walking over to Yu An, who was barely standing and leaning against the wall for support, she playfully flicked his forehead. “Let’s call this a draw for now. Go find a boxing gym sometime—I want to settle this properly.”

Without the goat-core’s augmentation, Yu An clutched his forehead and promptly collapsed to the ground, barely conscious.

“…?” Ni Lan froze, staring at her hand in disbelief.

When Yu An stumbled out of the exam venue, the scene was nothing like what he’d imagined. The area was eerily empty—no eliminated interns, no security guards. The silence was deafening.

Looking around in search of the interviewer, he found only one person—a young woman in a uniform belonging to the Emergency Order Unit. She stood by the elevator, waiting for him.

“I’m one of Mr. Zhao’s subordinates. You can just call me Xiao An.” she said, her voice warm and gentle, a plaid scarf tied neatly around her neck. “Mr. Zhao had to handle something urgent. He asked me to take you home.”

“Zeng Rang…” Yu An murmured, trailing off.

Xiao An’s expression darkened slightly, her eyes narrowing: “Yes. That’s the matter he’s dealing with.”

Wearing his pitch-black hood, Yu An’s face was hidden, but he stood silently for a moment, twisting the exam results slip in his hands into a tight roll.

“So, killing Zeng Rang is what he cares about most,” Yu An muttered softly, his tone tinged with a newfound clarity—and a trace of regret. “I misunderstood.”

Xiao An didn’t understand what he meant.

The car ride back was quiet. Yu An sat in the passenger seat, his chin resting on his hand as he gazed out the window, lost in thought.

When they arrived at Zhao Ran’s house, Xiao An stopped the car and said: “Mr. Zhao told me to remind you: stay inside the house. Don’t go out. He’ll come back later. He also told me to stay with you until then.”

“There’s no need,” Yu An replied flatly.

“Wait—hey!” Xiao An hurried after him. “Mr. Zhao specifically asked me to stay with you!”

But Yu An ignored her, stepping into the house and shutting the door firmly behind him, leaving Xiao An outside.

The moment he entered, his body tensed instinctively. A primal alarm rang through his senses, the kind that only surfaces when faced with immediate danger.

A strange feeling of foreboding crawled over him, making his skin prickle. He immediately activated a his core with x-ray vision, scanning the entire villa.

What he saw made cold sweat bead down his back.

Under the sofa, behind the curtains, inside the vases, submerged in the pool… everywhere. The house was filled with countless severed hands, packed tightly together. Fingers twitched unnaturally, their movements deliberate and unnervingly coordinated as they began crawling toward him.

Yu An spun around to flee, but the door slammed shut with a deafening bang.

Before he could react, his arms were yanked behind him, his wrists seized in an iron grip. A hand clamped over his eyes, another over his mouth, cutting off his sight and muffling his voice. Those hands dragged him deeper into the house, their strength rough and unrelenting, radiating anger and urgency that seemed to saturate the air itself.

Deprived of his vision and struggling for breath, Yu An recognized this horrifyingly familiar sensation. It was the same brutal force he felt every time he angered that person—the force of being pinned down and punished without mercy.