The next day, the first light of dawn appeared.
Lu Xiu had just opened his Eyes when he felt a heaviness on his body.
A certain ominous premonition flashed through his mind. He looked down at the bulging quilt in front of him.
As if accepting his fate, he reached out and lifted one corner of the quilt.
Light shone into the dark quilt. I couldn’t help but stir, reaching out and fumbling blindly to pull the quilt back over myself.
But before long, the quilt was lifted again, bringing a slight chill with it.
“Cold… sleeping… eating… hehe…”
“Sui?”
‘I already said I’m not eating…’ I frowned and slapped out with one hand. *Slap.* With that light sound, the world fell back into darkness, and the annoying voice disappeared.
That was better.
Before that thought could even fully settle in my mind, the world suddenly became bright. The quilt covering me was completely pulled away, shocking me awake from my dream.
I opened my Eyes to see Lu Xiu’s signature dead-fish gaze, along with a red handprint on his face.
“Lu Xiu…” I rubbed my Eyes and gave a silly smile. “Good morning.”
“It’s not good,” he responded expressionlessly.
“Oh, it’s fine if it’s not good. Whatever you want.”
Seeing that I was about to close my Eyes again, he got off the bed and picked me up.
“Eh… what are you doing?”
“Get up, take a shower, brush your teeth, and do your homework,” he said.
‘What is he talking about?’
In a daze, he put my clothes on, put on my shoes, and even tied two pigtails that didn’t look quite as ugly anymore.
Looking at myself in the mirror, I opened my mouth wide to check my teeth.
Good, they were still sharp. Perfect.
The response division’s breakfast consisted of a uniform selection of steamed buns, meat buns, porridge, and fried dough sticks. The best part was that it was unlimited, making it a super large buffet for me.
Eat, eat, eat, eat.
“By the way, we’re going to the Black Box today,” Lu Xiu said, looking at his phone while chewing on a fried dough stick.
“Why are we going there?” I asked, confused, as I stuffed two more buns into my mouth.
“To test your abilities. You know that.”
“Oh, right.” I nodded. “So, what are we testing?”
“I’m not sure. Probably physical strength, endurance, and things like that. There’s a set of data from when you were in the Black Box before, so now we’re just comparing it to see if there have been any changes.”
‘Data?’
Thinking about it, it seemed like a lot of people used to stick strange things on me and make me hit dummies.
They would give me delicious food after I finished.
But I could only eat after the testing was done.
It wasn’t like now, where I could eat every day.
***
After gulping down the last bowl of porridge and leaving behind a spectacular “mountain” of stacked bowls and basins on the table, we headed toward that mysterious underground Black Box once again.
The elevator went down, and the Tomb Keeper wearing a metal mask stood quietly behind us.
The atmosphere was a bit oppressive.
Plus, I wasn’t allowed to eat anything.
*Clack — *
The elevator stopped, the doors opened to both sides, and we walked out.
We crossed the familiar bridge, turned a few corners, and entered the black cube.
Someone put a mask on us to block our vision and led us forward with a rope.
It felt so strange.
Only the *click-clack* of doors opening, the sound of footsteps, and heartbeats filled my ears.
It wasn’t until the final door opened that the mask was removed, revealing a large, open, and spacious testing field.
The field was truly massive and square in shape. Looking up, there was a giant circular halo of light that purified all the darkness.
The surrounding walls were covered in carved runes, looking strange and mysterious.
“The first test is… endurance,” Lu Xiu said, leading me to a long treadmill.
“Get on and start running,” he said, taking out a remote control.
“Okay.” I stepped on. As he pressed the switch, the belt began to turn slowly.
“This is pretty easy…” I didn’t even need to run; I could just walk.
Lu Xiu shook his head with a mischievous look. “Since you say so, I’ll have to increase the difficulty.”
“Bring it on!”
As soon as I spoke, the slowly turning belt suddenly skyrocketed in speed. I nearly lost my footing and fell, but I quickly started running to maintain my balance.
“How is it?”
“Ordinary!”
“Then I’ll speed it up again.”
“Wait—mmph!”
‘So fast! I’m going to be thrown off!’
In that emergency, the taotie motif began to spread. The energy stored in my body converted into physical strength.
I could even feel my hands moving so fast they left afterimages, not to mention my legs, which were spinning like wheels of wind and fire.
“Lu Xiu… ugh… I’m… I’m going to fall!”
“Hang in there. If you last a long time, I’ll reward you with Kuyan Fire Village.”
‘!’
My originally crumbling will instantly became as solid as petrification. I grit my teeth and accelerated the energy conversion.
‘For the sake of the bitter rock fire… I… I can’t lose yet!’
“Hyaaa — !”
I let out a loud shout. My body actually began to move forward slowly, resisting the storm of the treadmill as I advanced toward the end of the world—toward that glass of Kuyan Fire Village that seemed within reach!
I didn’t know how long I ran. In short, just as I was about to give up, the belt slowly came to a stop.
I slumped to my knees on the ground, feeling drenched in sweat. I felt like a sponge soaked in water—heavy and thick.
“Lu Xiu… can I drink Kuyan Fire Village now…”
I looked up at Lu Xiu.
“Yeah.” He put away the Data Meter in his hand and wrote a few numbers on the panel. “You can, but we have to wait until we finish testing the other items.”
“There’s more…? I don’t want to do any more tests…”
I simply lay down on the treadmill and started acting like a lazy bum.
“The next tests aren’t that physically demanding. Just hold on a little longer.”
“…Fine.”
The second project was a hitting test. I had to stand in place and resist small balls being shot at me from all directions.
The speed and power of the balls would increase over time. For the sake of the test results, I even had to take off my clothes and change into a thinner experimental suit.
“Remember, you’re not allowed to use the mouth on the stomach to eat the balls, and you’re not allowed to destroy the ball machines.”
“I know, I know.”
‘Those balls don’t even taste good. I’ve eaten them before.’
***
This test lasted about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, I cried out in pain and demanded to end the training.
Explosive power test… strength test… and dynamic capture test…
By the time the full set was done, I was exhausted, as if my body didn’t even belong to me anymore.
“Lu Xiu, I feel like I’m going to die.”
“If you were really going to die, you wouldn’t be here acting pathetic.”
“I am not.”
“Right, right,” he said, filling in the final indicator.
“It’s over. Overall, compared to before, your data has changed a lot.”
“How much?”
“It’s equivalent to two of your former self.”
“Is that impressive?”
“It’s somewhat impressive, but not too impressive.”
‘What a weird thing to say.’
“Alright, can you still move?” He looked at me.
I shook my head. “I want you to carry me.”
He crouched down as if accepting his fate, and I happily pounced on him, wrapping my arms around his neck.
“Departure! Toward the Kuyan Fire Village!”
“You idiot, don’t strangle my neck!”
“Hahaha!”