Chapter 6 Practical Rules

The next morning

[05:30]

Luo Di strapped on his neatly packed backpack and left the community with a silver metal case in hand.

He had already reported to the community that he would be away from home for 48 hours to participate in a practice session, and during this time, the community duty staff would help check the lighting at home.

The main entrance of the local research institute was emblazoned with a conspicuous sign, framed in brass.

A seven-seater black business van was already parked by the roadside, ready to transport participants for the practice session.

Although Luo Di arrived half an hour early, someone was already standing at the entrance of the institute—deputy monitor Gao Yuxuan.

The two of them, due to their personalities, inevitably couldn't initiate conversation, and to avoid awkwardness, Luo Di chose to stand under a streetlight ten meters away, checking the contents of his backpack again to ensure nothing was forgotten.

During the check,

Luo Di caught a glimpse of Gao Yuxuan not far away, whose behavior seemed slightly odd, mainly manifested in his left arm being somewhat uncoordinated, even his fingers looked stiff, probably related to his continuous half-month leave.

After a quiet five minutes, Gao Yuxuan surprisingly walked over to him and eventually pulled out a small green metal box from his pocket.

"Cough... Want one?"

"Thank you."

Luo Di accepted two sugar-free mints, which were indeed nice for a pre-emptive boost of alertness.

Just as the two exchanged mints, a prestigious black sedan approached.

Wu Wen and Anna stepped out from the back seat at the same time, their eyes widened at the unusual scene in front of them, "Wow! Since when did you two get along so well?"

At the monitor's comment, Gao Yuxuan immediately turned and walked away.

As for Luo Di, he didn't care, never minding what others thought.

At that moment, a middle-aged woman in a white lab coat, with a face resembling that of a strict dean, walked out from the research institute, her mere glance enough to make one sweat.

"Now that everyone is here, get in the van ahead of time."

"Okay, Professor Qin."

Wu Wen seemed to know the woman and immediately behaved, and everyone followed suit, putting their luggage in the trunk and getting into the van.

The van door closed.

At this moment, all four in the car felt somewhat tense.

As the car started, Professor Qin's voice spread through the car speakers.

"This trip will take an hour.

After I finish explaining the relevant practice details and some rules, it will be your turn to ask questions.

What I am going to say next is crucial to the success rate of your practice, even to your survival rate, so I hope you all stay sharp and remember every word.

The practice region is located in an experimental area 30km outside of Jupiter City.

1. The expected total duration of the practice is [48 hours],

if you manage to address the root cause of the incidents early, you can also finish and leave early.

Of course, as long as you can withstand the 48 hours, regardless of whether the anomaly has been dealt with, it will still count as completed.

2. The difficulty of the practice will be random, to mirror reality, and train your ability to face the unknown.

Once the practice starts, unless you suffer life-threatening serious injuries, the experimental team will not intervene. Also, any intervention will mean a failed practice.

3. It is forbidden to leave the practice region in any form.

This practice will utilize the [Simulated Anomaly] developed by the United Research Institute, and the regional changes, peculiar incidents as well as attacks by Pseudo-Persons and anomalies you encounter will closely mirror actual events.

Next, we will discuss the practice details.

1. There are multiple random 'objects' within the practice area, once found and activated, the corresponding anomaly events will also begin.

The search and trigger time must not exceed half an hour.

2. The difficulty of the events will not be notified in advance; you need to face, investigate, and manage the unknown.

3. Any effective subjective action may improve individual evaluation in this practice.

4. The Simulated Anomaly technology was only implemented last year, and although most of the technology is stable, there are still minor glitches. 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, as if in a classroom, was the first to raise her hand and begin asking,

"During the practice period, do we have relatively safe times, like when we're sleeping or eating?"

"There are none. Once it starts, you will be in danger."

"Oh." Wu Wen looked dejected but quickly recovered.

Gao Yuxuan, while staring at the notebook he had just filled with text, posed his question:

"Once we trigger a corresponding anomaly through some object, will all other objects in that region be retrieved by you? Or can we trigger it a second time?"

"That's a good question. You don't have to worry about this.

The 'anomaly events' are under direct control of our research institute. You can only trigger them once; even if you find other items and want to trigger them later on, we will not perform relevant operations from here.

You will only be facing a single event."

Blonde Anna rested her chin on her fist, her forehead beaded with sweat, but she couldn't think of a good question and ultimately chose not to ask one.

Sitting in the last row, Luo Di asked his question only after seeing that no one else had any:

"If we engage in a conflict with the Simulated Anomaly, resulting in environmental damage that creates a 'Corner' with no light source, will this interrupt our practice?"

These words caused Director Qin to display an unpleasant expression,

"In theory, such a situation should not arise, because every building and tree in your experimental area that could potentially form a 'Corner' has undergone special treatment by our institute.

All corners have been rounded, and any door and window hinges that could potentially form corners are standard reinforced cylindrical types, and it is very difficult for the environment to be damaged.

Moreover, there are more than 300 concealed cameras set up in the experiment area, with genetically modified wild Horned Parrots distributed among the tree branches; any formation of dark corners will be detected by us right away.

Of course... you should avoid this situation as much as possible.

If the formation of a 'Corner' is caused by your subjective actions, bringing unpredictable dangers, even if you complete the practice, your personal report will not pass."

"Understood."

Everyone had no further questions, and at this moment, the business van arrived at the exit of Jupiter City.

The entire city is surrounded by a luminous city wall fifty meters high, with a large number of sentry towers, drones, and patrol teams responsible for security here.

The current city exit is similar to a highway tollbooth, with eight stations in total.

During the national holiday, many private cars plan to leave the city, so they are currently queuing for a physical examination and inspection before exiting.

The car from the United Research Institute belongs to a special category and can leave via the dedicated channel on the far side.

Exiting the city smoothly,

The highway outside the city still maintains the same high-density streetlights as inside the city, with the forest regions on both sides of the road wired or buried with cables to ensure those forest lights provide illumination all day long.

Even some of the trees have undergone biological modification to glow by themselves.

Occasionally, you could see the figure of a highly-paid ranger moving through the forest.

The car sped along the main highway, and as soon as you left the city, it became difficult to see the presence of 'buildings'.

At most, there would be service areas and sentry towers like those of public facilities, and few people actively choose to live outside the city; those who do almost always disappear.

No rural villages, no towns, everything is centered around cities.

Before long, the service car leaves the main road and turns into a small road akin to a country lane.

On the right side of the road is the mountainside, while on the left is lush greenery almost covering the sky.

The light intensity here is obviously reduced, but it is still above the safety threshold.

Contrary to everyone's expectations,

The final destination of the car was not a research institute built among the forests, nor was it a suburban building designated for the four of them to practice.

The vehicle stopped directly on the side of an ordinary road,

For the first time, Director Qin, who had previously spoken through the microphone, turned his head to look at the four young people behind him.

"From here, up this hill that is no more than a hundred meters tall is the 'experiment region'; once you step on the soil of the mountain, it represents the [start].

The 'objects' that trigger the practice are scattered all over this hill.

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

The four each took their luggage out of the car, looking up at the hillside thick with vegetation and dim light, more or less feeling nervous, their first social practice initiation about to begin...