Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Ultimately, Qin Lan did not need his college entrance examination result.
He had another path.
Aside from taking the examination and proceeding step by step, there was a shortcut to surviving inside a Safe Zone.
A shortcut paved with death.
Become a professional Anomaly Hunter.
“Anomaly Hunter: a special class officially recognized by the United Government. Anomaly Hunters fall outside the jurisdiction of all other departments and are managed directly by the Anomaly Hunter Bureau.”
“Anyone who passes the Anomaly Hunter Bureau’s qualification assessment may obtain an Anomaly Hunter license.”
Qin Lan carefully read the screen while slurping cheap, low-quality instant noodles.
The illegal internet cafe was filthy and chaotic. Rats occasionally darted through the corners, while years of grease and grime coated the headphones and keyboards.
At least it was cheap.
If someone as poor as Qin Lan could afford to use the internet here, that said everything about the price.
A cockroach on the desk? That was not a pest. That was his gaming partner.
“Age and education are irrelevant. Complete the assessment objective under the Anomaly Hunter Bureau’s supervision to receive a license immediately.”
“Salary… fifty supply coins per month?”
Qin Lan clicked his tongue in amazement.
Five supply coins could cover an entire year of his food expenses.
Even the lowest 1-Star Anomaly Hunter could earn more than fifty supply coins per month?
And the more anomalies they killed, the larger their bonuses became?
The amount was beyond his wildest dreams.
Money alone, however, was not enough to tempt Qin Lan.
The next two points mattered far more.
1. Anomaly Hunters hold exceptional status. Ordinary law-enforcement agencies have no authority over them, and even violent conflicts are transferred to the Anomaly Hunter Bureau for internal handling.
2. Anomaly Hunters may legally enter and leave Fallen Zones.
The “young master” who had taken Qin Lan’s result came from a family that was, if not all-powerful within Safe Zone 088, still an absolute colossus.
Through any ordinary avenue, Qin Lan would probably never make them suffer in his lifetime.
But if he became an Anomaly Hunter — a high-ranking one…
Even that young master’s powerful backers would have to bow and scrape before him.
Qin Lan licked noodle broth from the corner of his mouth and chuckled darkly.
“Qian Youquan, heir of the Qian Group…”
“I hope you enjoy a wonderful college life with my result. You may not get the chance later.”
Qin Lan might not need the result, but being toyed with at someone else’s whim still left a foul taste.
He would repay this debt.
Just not yet.
Even if he became an Anomaly Hunter now, a mere 1-Star would not be enough to make the Qian Group lower its head.
“To make powerful people like that bend, I’d need to be at least a 3-Star Anomaly Hunter. The status and personal strength would both be enough to terrify them…”
Qin Lan calculated in silence.
He desperately needed the identity of an Anomaly Hunter. Only with a license could he repeatedly enter Fallen Zones and seek out anomalies.
His Talent activated only when an anomaly killed him inside an instance.
In other words, if he never encountered another anomaly, he would remain stagnant for the rest of his life.
“When is the Anomaly Hunter Bureau’s next qualification exam?”
“Hmm? Tomorrow? That’s soon.”
Qin Lan was surprised.
Beep, beep.
A message notification appeared in the lower-right corner.
[Xiaoyue has invited you to chat.]
At the sight of the default gray avatar, Qin Lan rubbed his temples in frustration.
“She really came…”
After the college entrance examination, Qin Lan had assumed he would have no further contact with Su Xiaoyue. Instead, she had insisted on exchanging contact information.
But Qin Lan owned neither a cell phone nor a home telephone.
So Su Xiaoyue came up with another solution: an anonymous chat room.
Even the lowest-grade illegal internet cafe in the slums could access it.
The flashing user ID, “Xiaoyue,” belonged to Su Xiaoyue.
She had told him that whenever she needed to contact him, she would log into a fixed private chat room under that ID.
Come to think of it, the way she looked at him had seemed strange ever since the instance assessment.
After thinking long and hard, Qin Lan reached a convincing conclusion.
She wanted him to teach her how to drive.
“Sure, I don’t have a license, but she must have noticed the flawless driving skills I taught myself back there. She wants lessons so she can save on driving-school fees.”
“That has to be it.”
The more Qin Lan thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed.
He opened the chat box and found a message from Su Xiaoyue confirming his identity.
[Lan?]
Without thinking much of it, Qin Lan tapped the keyboard and replied, “Yeah.”
Almost immediately, Su Xiaoyue sent two messages in rapid succession.
[Run!]
[Don’t go home!]
Qin Lan stared at the messages in confusion, unable to understand what she meant.
The next second, the internet cafe’s door crashed open. Several burly men who looked like street thugs filed inside.
Their eyes were vicious, and each held a hollow steel pipe half a meter long.
The men clearly knew exactly whom they wanted. After sweeping their gazes across the room, every one of them fixed on Qin Lan.
Every hair on his body stood on end.
“Fuck!”
Without the slightest hesitation, he sprang up and ran.
After surviving in the slums for so many years, Qin Lan’s awareness of danger had become instinctive.
In fact, the moment those men entered, he had already surveyed the room and selected the best escape route in case trouble broke out.
Armed brawls and bloodshed were everyday occurrences in the slums.
Luck alone had not kept Qin Lan alive this long.
Just as he expected, the thugs were after him. They all shouted at once.
“There he is!”
“Stop!”
“Get him!”
Qin Lan leaped, launching half his body through a narrow window as he cursed over his shoulder.
“Do I look fucking stupid? Why would I stop?”
He kept moving even as he spoke.
With an agile shoulder roll, Qin Lan absorbed the fall and landed safely. But the instant he rose, a steel pipe smashed hard into his back.
Bang!
The attacker held nothing back. The pipe struck Qin Lan squarely, knocking the breath from his lungs and sending him sprawling.
“Miscalculated… They had someone waiting outside…”
Qin Lan gritted his teeth against the agony in his back.
The thug outside the window approached with a cigarette between his lips and a flippant grin.
“Don’t blame me, kid. I’m just getting paid to– What the fuck? How are you still running?!”
Qin Lan had already scrambled up and bolted.
“Fuck me!”
“Is that kid even human?!”
The cigarette dropped from the thug’s mouth. That blow had connected cleanly. Even a fitness fanatic should have stayed down after taking it.
Yet Qin Lan was only a scrawny student barely past eighteen.
Qin Lan ignored him. Using his intimate knowledge of the terrain, he quickly opened the distance and escaped the thug’s sight.
“A Constitution of 1.8 really is extraordinary!”
“Good thing he didn’t hit the back of my head, or I’d still be dead!”
Qin Lan endured the pain without slowing.
His two deaths to the Slit-Mouthed Woman had granted him 0.5 and 0.1 Constitution, for a total increase of 0.6. His physique was now nearly twice that of an ordinary person.
Without it, he could never have withstood that blow.
“So my Talent’s effects aren’t an illusion. These attribute increases are real.”
He had sensed changes in his body before, but had never tested them. The thugs had saved him the trouble.
“Where did these people come from? That strike was meant to kill, and he was about to finish me off. They never intended to leave me alive…”
“Getting paid… Are they working for the Qian Group?”
Qin Lan’s eyes turned cold and ruthless.
At present, only the Qian Group had a reason to target him.
Stealing his result was an ugly business. Erasing every trace afterward would be safer.
A slum student could be disposed of by a few locals and tossed into a garbage heap as dog food. Even the Security Bureau would not bother opening a case.
“How vicious. Ruining my life wasn’t enough, so now they want me to disappear completely…”
His anger blazed hotter, and his hatred for Qian Youquan deepened.
“Do the poor not deserve to live? Can you decide whether we live or die with a few words and use us as stepping stones for your glorious records?”
“Fine. Very good…”
Hidden in a corner, Qin Lan coughed twice and wiped blood from his mouth.
The blow had not seriously injured him, but it had caused considerable damage. Without the timely rush of adrenaline, he might have died there.
“So the principal warned me after all. I just didn’t take it seriously…”
Looking back, Qin Lan regretted his carelessness.
Principal Wu had hinted that those people could “make him disappear from the Safe Zone,” and promised that he could “keep Qin Lan alive.”
Qin Lan had assumed Fatty Wu meant giving him a job and a secure future. What he really meant was that Qin Lan would be safe only if he stayed at the school.
“Where did Su Xiaoyue hear about this? Could they target her, too?”
Qin Lan frowned.
Then he remembered that she was an outstanding student with an A-rank Talent, backed by Principal Wu and guaranteed admission to a prestigious academy. The Qian Group likely would not dare touch her.
At that moment, a commotion rose nearby.
Qin Lan looked up and saw thick black smoke rolling into the sky.
It came from the direction of his home.
[Run!]
[Don’t go home!]
Su Xiaoyue’s two messages flashed through his mind.
That house was the last thing his parents had left him — the little home that had sheltered him for more than ten years.
In the dark street corner, Qin Lan clenched his fists without a word. The cold in his eyes could have frozen a man solid.