Chapter 36: The Pain Index
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Roar!
The dark space abruptly turned bright. Lin Chao was on a worn-down street with battered cars everywhere. Festering aggressive zombies were standing up respectively from behind these cars.
Holding onto the weighted spear that felt different from a steel bar, the form and density brought a sense of familiarity that was long lost to Lin Chao. His eyes gleamed and he zoomed to the handful of zombies in front.
Roar!
The zombies charged over growling when they saw Lin Chao. Bestial and predatory, their movements were lithe like leopards; they could run, they could jump, and they possessed simple cognition!
Ploop!
The platinum spear in Lin Chao's grip shot out like a meteor in the offense. It was swift and nimble, the sharp tip went straight across a zombie's head.
The zombie did not avoid it and its central nerves were damaged by that penetration, causing it to fall forward stiffly. Lin Chao spun as he pulled out his spear using his momentum and swept it at the three zombies that were closing in.
Bang!
The shaft of the spear hit one of the zombies' neck and brutally broke its cervical vertebrae. Jolting his arm, Lin Chao's spear resembled a living dragon as it pierced through the throat of the next pouncing zombie.
Shaking the spear, the zombie's throat was torn and its head fell off.
Thrusting, bashing, jabbing, stabbing, fending… Various spear skills were performed in sequence by Lin Chao. There were already six fallen zombies in around ten seconds. These zombies were different from the ones outside; their physique was twenty times and above. It was impossible to kill them based on brute force, Lin Chao could only depend on techniques.
The rest of the zombies besieged him swiftly and Lin Chao's battleground immediately shrunk to approximately one meter. He could not wield and wave his spear at all. No matter which zombie he stabbed, the rest of the zombies could spring on him and tear him to bits!
This was the hardest part of the test!
Lin Chao had gone through too many sieges. Calm and collected, leaping up high he leveraged himself by pushing his spear against the ground; like an eagle spreading its wings, he stepped on a zombie's head and escaped their trap, again creating distance between himself and the creatures. Then, he swung his spear again to kill the first advancing zombie.
When the rest of the zombies thronged again, Lin Chao reenacted the trick. Repetitively enforcing a gap between them, the remaining zombies were killed one after another rapidly.
Ding!
The countdown stopped at forty-right seconds.
Lin Chao was surrounded by scattered carcasses and chopped heads but the rugged scene blinked away and he was back to the white space. The dark golden ball hovered before him and a square screen appeared with two lines of words.
"You passed the test. Skill rating: A3!"
"Do you want to continue the challenge?"
Lin Chao chose "Yes" without any hesitation!
The subsequent difficulty level was Level S, the highest level.
'I wonder if I can pass…' Lin Chao was thrilled and nervous at the same time. He had made many attempts but his spear skills could not breakthrough a Grade S no matter what. He wondered if this test could be a changing opportunity.
"Level S test begins…"
"Mission: Survive for 60 seconds!"
Lin Chao's sight changed again as the voice spoke. He was once again back to the battered street in slight confusion. Survive sixty seconds?
"Countdown begins…"
The artificial intelligence voice rang again in his mind without any emotion.
Before Lin Chao could figure his doubt out, a mass of zombies poured out from the back of the beaten cars. It was a wave of black and intense reek of decay. There were at least a hundred zombies!
So many!
Lin Chao was flabbergasted. He knew why the goal was to survive and not kill now. Based on the number of these zombies, he would probably be drained killing just half of them; assuming if he could even maintain his distance and kill them one by one.
Roar!
The zombies snarled and roared, rushing in like a tidal swarm of bees.
'That's fast!'
Lin Chao nearly cussed. It was not just the great number, these zombies' physique was stronger than the zombies just now; their physique was thirty times and above, basically doubling his!
If Lin Chao could execute his power, he would be a little more confident, but his special abilities were restricted. He must fight based on his basic physique!
Swoosh!
Wielding his spear, he fended off a few zombies. Lin Chao leaped and hid among the crowd of zombies without pushing himself to kill them, hoping only to keep himself alive.
Roar!
There were too many zombies. As time trickled, they teemed and mobbed into a siege. Lin Chao wanted to leap out of their assemblage but once he sprang, the edge of his pants was grabbed by a few speedy zombies and he was forcefully pulled down.
In the next second, he was drowned by an influx of zombies.
'Hah!'
Lin Chao opened his eyes curtly and realized that he was still standing in the white space as if the scene just now was just a nightmare but the excruciation of being torn apart and chomped by the zombies remained in his memory and senses.
'This is how hard Level S is…' The corner of Lin Chao's mouth twitched.
The screen on the dark golden ball then showed the data.
"Survival time: 23 seconds!"
"Zombies killed: 8!"
"Skill rating: A3!"
"Test failed!"
Lin Chao chuckled deprecatingly in his mind. It had only been twenty-three seconds but it felt like minutes; he was still forty seconds away from the Grade S…
"Next, second category, genetics!"
The three-eyed lady on the dark golden ball moved her lips lightly. "Examining the target's genetics…"
Suddenly, a pale golden light shot out from the third golden vertical-pupil eye on her forehead. Like a spotlight on the stage, it engulfed Lin Chao.
"Reading genetics: 1%, 2%, 3%..."
"Analyzing cells: 1%, 2%..."
A heap of symbols that were never before seen flickered and cascaded down the screen on the dark golden ball. The process lasted around three minutes before all the data symbols vanished and the screen darkened completely. It was after a few seconds that a new string of information was displayed once more.
"Genetics rating: Level S!"
Lin Chao's eyes sparkled.
'It was true then. The Multi Evolved's from the Peril Strain's evolution nucleus has the highest level of genetics! At least eighty people on the post-apocalypse's top hundred ranking have Level A genetics and are Special Evolveds. Once the genetics are selected, they're fixed. That's why so many people in the later era have only gotten an S1 rating despite some crazy talents achieving Grade S in their skills; it's because their determination and genetics didn't reach the standard!'
'The only one to receive S2 rating, Zeus, received this rating due to his Level S genetics!'
Lin Chao was satisfied. Even if he had only achieved an S1 rating, he could receive a precious treasure too. He momentarily dared not wish for an S2 rating.
The last test was determination! – What was determination?
A majority of people would instinctively relate it to resilience and perseverance.
However, the so-called determination, tested from the perspective of science, was control! – It was restraining all bodily instincts with absolute control.
"Test begins…"
Once the mechanical voice rang, Lin Chao felt himself lying on an operation stand and was bound immobile by white bandages.
"First item of composite analysis: calculating pain index…"
"Please select your level of challenge!"
"Let's go with A." Lin Chao was lacking a little confidence and prepared himself to experience what Level A pain index felt like first.
He had just selected his level with 'Start' sounding in his head but a small hovering knife had manifested in the air. It glided decisively toward his ten fingers, the sharp blade cutting open the fingernails and halving his fingers. Fingernails torn and removed, the excruciating pain came in tidal waves and washed over his nerves, causing him to tremble violently as veins popped on his forehead.
Lin Chao clenched his jaws tightly and endured it.
In spite of it, he suddenly saw the small knife flying to his body before he could get used to the pain and began slashing gash after gash on his flesh, crisscrossed like the spider web on his body, specifically on parts that were more sensitive.
The fiery throbbing of the cuts made Lin Chao's eyes rolled back. He had suffered countless injuries since his youth but he had never experienced the feeling of such torment.
Panting like a bull, he held out on sheer willpower.
He had no idea of the duration but all the agony stopped in a split second like everything had been a dream. Lin Chao then heard the toneless voice in his ears. "Pain index 6.28, Level A passed. Do you want to proceed with the Level S pain index test?"
-- Gift
received