Yeah! Why not just go under the desk?
After being reminded by Director Pisces, the group of Cleaners suddenly had a realization.
These "talented" perverts, no matter how fierce the commotion they made, only collided above the desk and never invaded under it. Their bodies below the chest truly hadn’t suffered any attacks.
Seriously... if that’s an option, why didn’t you mention it earlier?
With some complaints, they glanced at Director Pisces, who had his eyes closed. Over two-thirds of the Cleaners, unable to bear the torturous examination environment, eagerly crawled under the desk, escaping the intense clash above with looks of relief after surviving a disaster.
However, after crawling under the desk, they couldn’t see the "tree" behind Director Pisces, so they couldn’t continue drawing on their exam papers. No matter how splendid their "tree," their scores were permanently fixed at the current level.
Well, the first batch of zero-point failures has been filtered out.
The black-and-white eyes circled the Dream Realm bubble, memorizing all the Cleaners who chose to go under the desk. Sitting cross-legged on the podium, Director Pisces picked up a pen and started drawing zeros one by one in the animal skin notebook.
The upper limit of a Cleaner’s ability is their talent, while the lower limit is the courage to face danger and the resilience to never give up in adversity.
If you don’t even have the courage to endure it once in a safe environment where there’s no real danger of death or injury, no matter how good your talent is, you’ll likely never have the chance to put it into practice.
One must know that the enemies of the Clean-up Bureau are countless, and the variety of abnormal objects is vast. No one can guarantee they won’t crash someday. Even the twelve Directors sometimes face seemingly hopeless situations.
If one doesn’t have the courage to fight back in an absolutely safe situation, how could they possibly have the spirit to survive in desperate times? Such people can never achieve anything significant. Even if they get lucky, it’s just a matter of time before they mess up.
Hmm... forget it, let’s give those under the desk 1 point. Giving all zero is a bit too absolute.
Looking at the losers under the desk, those who haven’t completely given up but occasionally peek out and then lay back on the chair to continue drawing, Director Pisces hesitated slightly, then changed the scores again.
Those who remain stuck without coming out still get zero points. There’s nothing worth expecting from them, but the others who are still peeking out deserve a 1-point attitude score.
Although they lack the courage to face death, even knowing they won’t die and can hone their talents, they still dare not fight. But as long as they haven’t completely given up, they still have hope. With more life-and-death crises, they might develop the courage.
But those are for the future. The remaining third still on their chairs, screaming and gritting their teeth while drawing, are the future pillars of the bureau. No matter how long they can endure or what they can draw, they all deserve a passing score of 30 points.
Contentedly, he glanced at the remaining Cleaners, completing the basic scoring amidst their wailing cries. Director Pisces withdrew his gaze, waiting for the rest to showcase their talents.
Under the immense pressure of the predecessors’ ’talents,’ the remaining hundred or so Cleaners could no longer harbor any extraneous thoughts, almost burning themselves out.
Within less than three minutes, all Cleaners not under the desks completed their papers, showcasing their unique talents.
Rusty chains, masks without holes, a fox head with blue flames in the eye sockets;
Sewn dolls, withered mazes, a music box where two skeletons embrace and dance;
All kinds of strange images struggled to emerge from the papers under the oppressive shadowy fog and flying feathers, protecting the Cleaners around them, exhausted from drawing, like unfortunates falling into a sewer, drifting in the murky, yellowish current.
Besides these insufficient talents barely holding up, there were about twenty other elites whose talents, although not as outstanding as the feathers and fog, were comparable to the murky current. The horned man on Leon’s left was one of them.
"Heh, I underestimated you."
Holding the neck of the centipede he drew, after glancing at Leon, cut with gray mist and burned black by feathers, barely resembling a human, the horned man sneered and mocked:
"Who knew that despite your mediocre talent, you’re surprisingly resilient!"
Is there a possibility that I tolerate it so well because I don’t feel any pain at all?
[Through the detailed explanation of the Creator, and by observing and summarizing, you have gained a lot of information about "talents." The abnormal badge "Materialist Soul (Crimson)" is activated.
Completely understanding the operational rules of "talents," your resistance to this abnormal object has greatly increased. You’re now able to block its profound influence.]
After closing the pop-up panel, with blood and flesh rapidly retreating from his face, replaced by a mask without holes, Leon turned his head sideways, glanced at the heavily injured horned man, and responded rather politely:
"Not bad, you’re doing okay too."
Listening to Leon’s unwavering answer, and seeing his body, crazily eroded by various "talents," more akin to a monster than a human, the horned man’s pupils contracted sharply.
With his own "talent" protecting him, he only needed to endure the residual impact of two or three other "talents," yet he was in immense pain. Meanwhile, over forty types of others’ talents battered Leon—how could he sit there as if nothing happened?
After replying, Leon sat back in his chair, expressionless... well, likely expressionless, without any reaction, leaving the horned man in silence.
This kid... he’s quite outlandish!
And that brazen woman beside him—the one in yellow. Her talents were only slightly inferior to "Angel" and "Death," so when she claimed confidently she could poison everyone for him to clinch first place, maybe it wasn’t mere bluster.
So even if I can’t entirely eliminate this kid, I have to do something to suppress his score as much as possible!
After giving Leon a cautious glance, the horned man called out to the podium:
"I’ve finished my paper. Can I walk around a bit?"
Hearing the horned man’s words, Director Pisces raised his eyelids and looked at him. Then, with interest, he said:
"How do you want to walk? Tell me."
"No big deal, I just want to sit closer to someone else."
Glancing at the heavily injured Leon, the corners of the horned man’s mouth twitched as he smiled maliciously:
"When my ’talent’ approaches others, adding pressure, their ’talents’ also approach me, exerting extra pressure... Is this against the rules?"
After glancing at Leon, who had lost all semblance of humanity but was still relaxed in his seat, Director Pisces’s white eyebrows twitched as he nodded: New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on novel⦿fire.net
"Enduring the pressure from others’ ’talents’ is part of this exam. You are free to sit next to whomever you like; I have no objections and would even encourage it.
Moreover, I can share another piece of information: the ranking in this assessment will be based on how long you can persist. Only when there’s one person left does the assessment end... That’s all I have to say. You can proceed as you wish."