Chapter 6: Practice Rules

Early the next morning

【05:30】

Luo Di slung his packed backpack over his shoulder and left the residential complex carrying a silver metal case.

Yesterday, he had already reported his 48-hour absence to the community for the practice; during this time, community staff on duty would help check the lighting in his home.

The main entrance of the local Institute hung a very conspicuous plaque with brass-mounted lettering.

A seven-seater black business van was also parked by the roadside early on, the specific vehicle responsible for the practice transport.

Although Luo Di arrived half an hour early, someone was already standing at the Institute’s entrance: the vice class monitor, Gao Yuxuan.

Their personalities meant they were destined to be unable to start a conversation. To avoid awkwardness, Luo Di chose to stand under a streetlight ten meters away, re-checking the items in his backpack to ensure he hadn’t missed anything.

During the inspection,

Luo Di accidentally caught a glimpse of Gao Yuxuan nearby acting slightly strangely; specifically, his left arm was not very flexible, and even his fingers looked a bit stiff, likely related to his half-month-long leave of absence.

Five minutes passed in silence like this before Gao Yuxuan actually took the initiative to walk over, eventually pulling a small green metal box from his pocket.

“Cough… Want some?”

“Thanks.”

Luo Di took two sugar-free mints; something like this to freshen the mind in advance was quite good.

Just as the two were exchanging mints, a distinguished black sedan drove up.

Wu Wen and Anna stepped out of the rear seats at the same time, eyes wide as they looked at the strange scene before them. “Whoa! Since when did you two become so close?”

Once the class monitor said that, Gao Yuxuan immediately turned and walked away.

Luo Di didn’t mind; he never cared about what others thought.

At that moment, a middle-aged woman in a white lab coat walked out of the Institute. She had the face of a strict disciplinary head, the type that could make one break into a sweat with just a glance.

“Since you’re all here, get in the car early.”

“Alright, Professor Qin.”

Wu Wen seemed to know her and immediately became well-behaved. Everyone then placed their luggage in the van’s trunk and boarded.

The car door closed.

At this moment, all four people in the car were more or less nervous.

As the car started moving, Professor Qin’s voice came through the car’s audio system.

“This trip will take one hour.”

“After you’ve heard me finish explaining the relevant practice details and some rules, you may ask questions.”

“What I say next will pertain to your practice success rate, and even your survival rate, so I hope you’ll pull yourselves together and remember every word.”

“This practice area is located in an Experimental Zone 30km outside of Jupiter City.”

“1. The estimated total duration of the practice is 【48 hours】.”

“If you can eliminate the root cause of the event early, you can also finish and leave early.”

“Of course, as long as you can hold out for 48 hours, regardless of whether the anomaly is handled, it will be considered a completion.”

“2. The practice difficulty will be randomized to mirror reality and train your ability to face the unknown.”

“Once the practice begins, the experiment team will not intervene unless you suffer life-threatening trauma. Also, if intervention occurs, your practice will be considered a failure.”

“3. Leaving the practice area in any form is prohibited.”

“This practice will utilize’Simulated Anomalies’ developed by the Joint Institute. The regional changes, strange events, and attacks from Pseudo-humans or anomalies you encounter will highly resemble real events.”

“Next, we will discuss the details of the practice.”

“1. There are multiple random ‘items’ within the practice area. Once found and activated, the corresponding anomalous event will begin.”

“The time spent searching and triggering must not exceed half an hour.”

“2. The event difficulty will not be announced in advance; you will need to face the unknown, investigate the unknown, and handle the unknown.”

“3. Any effective subjective actions may improve your individual evaluation in this practice.”

“4. The technology for Simulated Anomalies was only implemented last year. While most of it is stable, minor bugs still exist. If you discover any abnormal situations during the practice, you can report them to us at any time, which will also improve your individual evaluation.”

“Now it’s your turn to ask questions.”

Wu Wen was the first to raise her hand and ask a question, just like in a classroom.

“During the practice, do we have any relatively safe periods? Like time for sleeping or eating?”

“No. Once it begins, you will be in danger.”

“Oh.” Wu Wen looked dejected but quickly recovered.

Gao Yuxuan stared at his notebook, which he had just filled with writing, as he posed his question:

“Once we trigger a corresponding anomalous event through an item, will the remaining items in the area be reclaimed by you? Or can we trigger multiple events?”

“Good question. You don’t need to worry about that.”

“‘Anomalous events’ are directly controlled by our Institute. You can only trigger one; even if you find other items later and want to trigger them, we won’t perform the relevant operations here.”

“You will only face a single event.”

The blonde Anna rested her chin on her fist, but even as sweat broke out on her forehead, she couldn’t think of a good question and ultimately didn’t ask anything.

Luo Di, sitting in the last row, chose to ask a question only after seeing that no one else had any:

“If we have a confrontation with a Simulated Anomaly and environmental damage creates a 【Corner】 without a light source, will the practice be interrupted because of that?”

These words caused Director Qin to make a sour face.

“Theoretically, this shouldn’t happen because in the Experimental Zone you’ll be in, any buildings or trees that could potentially form a 【Corner】 have been specially treated by the Institute.”

“All Corners have been rounded off, and door or window hinges that could form Corners are standard reinforced cylinders. The environment itself is very difficult to destroy.”

“Furthermore, the Experimental Zone is equipped with over 300 hidden cameras, and the forest branches are filled with modified wild Horned Parrots. The formation of any unlit Corner will be detected by us immediately.”

“Of course… you should avoid such situations as much as possible.”

“If your subjective actions lead to the formation of a 【Corner】 and bring about unpredictable dangers, your individual report will not pass even if you complete the practice.”

“Understood.”

No one had any more questions, and the van arrived at Jupiter City’s exit at that moment.

The entire city was surrounded by a fifty-meter-high luminous wall, with numerous watchtowers, drones, and patrols responsible for security.

The current exit was similar to a highway toll gate, with eight checkpoints in total.

During National Foundation Day, many private cars were planning to leave the city. Because they needed to undergo medical checkups before exiting, they were currently queuing up.

The Institute’s vehicle belonged to a special category and only needed to take the dedicated lane on the far side.

They exited the city smoothly.

The highway outside the city still maintained the same high density of streetlights as inside. The forested areas on both sides of the road also had overhead or buried power lines to ensure that forest lights were provided all day long.

Some trees had even been biologically modified to be bioluminescent.

Occasionally, the figures of well-paid forest rangers could be seen moving through the woods.

The car sped along the main highway; once away from the city, it was hard to see any ‘buildings.’

At most, there were public facilities like service areas and watchtowers. Few living people would choose to live in the city outskirts; even if they did, they mostly went missing.

There were no villages or towns; everything centered around the city.

Not long after, the official vehicle left the main road and turned onto a small path similar to a country road.

The right side of the road hugged a hillside, while the left side was thick with lush trees that almost obscured the sky.

The light density here was significantly reduced, but it was still above the safety threshold.

Different from what everyone had expected,

the car’s final destination was not an Institute built in the forest or a suburban building for the four of them to practice in.

The vehicle pulled over directly at a very ordinary roadside.

Director Qin, who had been speaking through the microphone, turned around for the first time to look at the four young people behind her.

“Go up from here. This small hill, no more than a hundred meters high, is the ‘Experimental Zone.’ Once you step onto the mountain soil, it means the 【Start】.”

“The ‘items’ that trigger the practice are all scattered across this mountain.”

“Remember, you have only half an hour to find and trigger the event.”

The four of them got out of the car with their luggage, looking up at the hillside with its dense vegetation and dim light. All were more or less nervous as their first social practice in life was about to begin…”