Chapter 45: One Big, One Small (Birthday Special)

Indoor training facility, evasion training area.

“All right, training is over.”

A man in a white lab coat spoke to those inside the wire-mesh enclosure. “Ren Guang, Hu Wenli, you can rest now. Don’t go back yet—have dinner in the cafeteria later. We’ll review your results and adjust your follow-up training plan, which will start tonight.”

“Okay, got it,” answered the wiry and quick-witted Ren Guang, making his way to the sidelines to grab a towel and wipe his sweat.

“Hey, Brother Hu, look, someone’s coming,” said Ren Guang as he wiped his brow, pointing at the entrance. Beside him, Hu Wenli turned to look. “Is that the one Wang Kailun kept mentioning earlier?”

Compared to the slight Ren Guang, Hu Wenli looked anything but “cultured and polite”—he was burly and powerfully built.

The contrast between the two standing together was almost comical.

Ren Guang considered the question for a moment. “Maybe. After all, Captain Wang went out to greet them. Want to go check it out?”

“Sure, let’s go. Maybe we’re getting a new teammate.”

Hu Wenli finished wiping his sweat and strode toward the door, with Ren Guang hurrying after him. “Hey, want to bet on the odds that this one’s a real newcomer?”

“I never waste my time on such pointless things.”

Naturally, the group at the door was Zhou Shu and his companions. By now, Zhou Shu also understood the distinction between the “cultured” and the “martial.”

Glancing at the track before him, he chose the “martial” assessment.

He wanted to see how much of his strength he could actually unleash.

“Okay, let’s start by testing your physical abilities. Whatever you do, a solid foundation is crucial. Let’s begin with... a hundred-meter sprint?” Wang Kailun took a small tablet from his pocket and began swiping through the interface.

“Sounds good. I want to see how fast I can really run. My classmates always suspected our PE teacher’s stopwatch was slow, but your equipment looks much more professional.” Zhou Shu rotated his wrists and ankles as he spoke.

“Haha, of course. We use professional electronic timers here,” Wang Kailun replied with a smile. “Warm up first. I’ll have someone bring the equipment.”

“Mm.”

As Zhou Shu warmed up, he saw two figures—one large, one small—approaching. After exchanging brief greetings with Wang Kailun and Zhuang Yong’an, their attention shifted to Zhou Shu.

He noticed Old Zhuang didn’t speak, merely nodded—unexpectedly aloof—while Wang Kailun made introductions. He kept it brief, simply noting that the two were trainees.

“Hello,” Zhou Shu said politely.

It never hurt to be courteous as a newcomer. And, as luck would have it, their positions placed them just outside the Hunter’s attribute scan range.

The burly Hu Wenli remained silent, merely nodding in acknowledgment, but the slender Ren Guang was quite friendly, grinning as he said, “Hello, hello.”

Still, despite the friendliness, Ren Guang’s overly thin frame gave him a sharp, almost monkey-like look, making his smile appear rather sly.

Just as introductions finished, Wang Kailun’s assistants arrived carrying equipment. They quickly surrounded Zhou Shu, attaching multiple sensors to his chest, arms, legs, forehead, and strapping a wrist monitor on as well.

While Zhou Shu was busy with this, Ren Guang and Hu Wenli started sizing him up from the sidelines.

“He’s quite polite, and calm too—much better than those fake ones before. Maybe we really are about to get a new teammate,” Ren Guang mused, stroking his chin.

“He’s just too handsome. Standing next to him doesn’t do us any favors,” Hu Wenli remarked, arms crossed as he watched the scene.

“That only applies to you, not to me,” Hu Wenli continued, “He’s a head shorter than I am.”

Ren Guang glanced at Hu Wenli’s towering frame—over two meters—then at Zhou Shu, who was nearly one-eighty, and finally thought of his own modest height, barely over one-sixty. He fell silent.

“When will we ever get a teammate who’s a kid...?”

Wang Kailun and Zhuang Yong’an had both moved closer to Zhou Shu, while Ren Guang and Hu Wenli remained where they were, simply observing.

At the starting line, Zhou Shu readied himself. Since he’d never learned the crouched start, they hadn’t set up the blocks for him.

The signal light was right beside him. Seeing everything was set, Wang Kailun gave the command. At the flash and sound, Zhou Shu shot forward.

In a matter of seconds, Zhou Shu crossed the finish line.

The display screen froze the time at 11.5 seconds.

Hu Wenli could only shake his head at the result.

“A waste of time.”

He turned and walked away.

“Hey, Brother Hu, you’re leaving? Not going to watch?” Ren Guang hurried after him.

“No need. He’s a fake. Even if he’s real, he’ll never be our teammate—at best, he’ll be another ‘research subject’ for the lab,” Hu Wenli replied calmly.

“Seriously? You can tell just by watching?” Ren Guang was incredulous.

Without pausing, Hu Wenli explained as he walked. “I observed him from the start. Underdeveloped muscles—his myostatin gene hasn’t mutated, so he’s not a power type.”

“Unsteady, floating gait and light bones—no LRP5 mutation, so no reinforced skeleton.”

“Average breathing rate—means no mutation in the PPAR-alpha gene, so he won’t make an outstanding scout.”

“Imbalanced start, uncoordinated arm and leg movement—clearly not an agility type either, and definitely not like you with your ACTN3 mutation. You’d know more about that…”

“And then…”

Hu Wenli rattled off a slew of other mutation states before concluding, “He’s not strong, not fast, not agile, and easy to spot. What’s he good for?”

Well, Ren Guang thought, this guy really lived up to his reputation as a fighting maniac, president of Dongyuan University’s boxing club, and bronze medalist at the last collegiate boxing championship.

To be able to deduce so much in such a short time was truly impressive.

As for why Hu Wenli wasn’t the champion, that was because he’d been noticed by the Demon Suppression Bureau and recruited here.

If not for them, he’d probably be headed to the international collegiate championship with the nickname “One Punch.”

With both a myostatin and an LRP5 positive mutation, calling him “steel-bodied” was no exaggeration.

Usually, no one could so much as dent him, while he could floor his opponents with a single punch.

Ren Guang cast a final glance toward Zhou Shu’s group. Both Captains Wang and Zhuang had their backs to him, while Zhou Shu wore a pleased smile, seemingly quite satisfied with his performance. Ren Guang simply shook his head and stopped paying attention.

Those who hadn’t seen much of the world were always like this—smug over the smallest achievement.

Maybe Zhou Shu had some other mutation route, but he’d never become their teammate, much less a comrade-in-arms.

Ren Guang mused, “No wonder Captain Wang looks so pleased, while Captain Zhuang’s expression is so sour.”

“Of course Wang Kailun’s happy—he’s got another research subject. As for Zhuang Yong’an… well, that’s just an ordinary man’s wounded pride,” Hu Wenli said dismissively as he strode into the washroom.

Meanwhile, Zhou Shu was indeed delighted. He’d boosted his stats before coming, and now his strength was at 0.86, agility 0.84, which had just earned him an 11.5-second hundred-meter sprint.

That was firmly at the level of a national second-class athlete.

With a strength of 0.86, he should have been able to run 11.3 seconds, but as he couldn’t yet control his body perfectly and his running form was off, this was the best he could do.

Still, this was impressive enough. In such a short time, he’d gone from an ordinary high school student to a national-level athlete.

If he worked hard tonight—died a dozen or twenty times in the virtual battlefield—by tomorrow, he could be as formidable as Zhuang Yong’an!

Buoyed by these thoughts, he went on to test his strength, agility, and other attributes. During the exercises, his blood sugar, oxygen, pulse, heart rate, and other data were all monitored, giving him a clear picture of his endurance.

With his consent, Wang Kailun also took some cell and fluid samples, so by tomorrow his full health report would be ready.

It was effectively a full-body checkup, and free to boot.

With all that done, it was finally time for the “cultured” trials—

The assessment of mental capabilities.

He was intensely curious to see how they would test his mental attributes, and his superpowers.

P.S. Today’s my birthday, so here’s an extra chapter! The next two will be released at the usual time. Wishing everyone a wonderful day~