After Cheng Ming entered the stadium, the staff guided him to the basketball gym. After filling out a simple form, the staff member let him wait in the basketball gym’s lounge, and told Cheng Ming that the food and drinks in the lounge were free to use, and if there was anything else he needed, he could ask any staff member in a Bai Group uniform within his sight.
The lounge was not very large, with only a dozen or so Hunters inside. In the corner were two fridges filled with various drinks and ice cream, next to which was a food cart divided into three layers. The top two layers had exquisite desserts and cold dishes, while the bottom layer held high-end metal cutlery and gold-rimmed porcelain plates.
Several Hunters had already gathered around. They didn’t bother with the cutlery, grabbing the desserts with their hands and popping them into their mouths, commenting on the texture and taste of the sweets. Some even took entire trays of food to enjoy privately, drawing criticism and complaints from other Hunters.
"Hmph, a bunch of country bumpkins who have never seen the world." A young male Hunter sat down not far from Cheng Ming, frowning as he looked at the group around the cart.
"Exactly, exactly. They treat a bunch of pre-made desserts and microwaved dishes as treasures." A female Hunter with light blonde hair agreed, "Such a disgrace... being in the same room with these people is bad luck."
Cheng Ming glanced at the wristbands of the two Hunters—although all Hunter wristbands had core chips produced by Dubhe Tower, the exterior shells used by each city-state varied slightly. Cheng Ming quickly discerned that these two Hunters were from the eastern metropolis of Shen City.
Liangzhu and Kuaiji aren’t far from Shen City. During some exchange events, Cheng Ming had seen many Hunters from Shen City and had a deep impression of the Hunter wristbands produced by the Shen City Mysterious Creature Research Institute.
However, from some details on the clasps of their wristbands, these two were likely Free Hunters, not registered Hunters under the Shen City Mysterious Creature Research Institute.
Cheng Ming suddenly thought of He Dawei—He Dawei joined this mission to buy a house in Shen City and transfer his registration from Liangzhu to Shen City. His reason was simple: Shen City offered Hunters much higher subsidies than Liangzhu, and it was one of the best cities for Hunter benefits in the entire federation, apart from Chunming City and those wartime border city-states.
Cheng Ming didn’t take any of the free food, nor did he chat with other Hunters in the lounge. He took his number card and went to sit in a corner, closing his eyes to rest.
His number was 116, and he estimated it would be a while before they called him.
"Are you nervous?" A subtle voice rang in his ear, causing Cheng Ming to shiver slightly. He opened his eyes and turned his head.
The voice came from the direction of the cold, hard wall, with wallpaper that was slightly faded.
"Is it you?" Cheng Ming murmured in his heart.
"Who else could it be but me? Hehe." The voice chuckled softly, "With me here, there’s no need for you to be nervous."
"Will you help me?" Cheng Ming asked.
However, the voice did not respond again, as if it had vanished completely.
Dazed, Cheng Ming heard the broadcast announcing his number: "Applicant number 116, please report to venue number five. Applicant number 116, please report to venue number five..."
"So soon?" Cheng Ming was slightly startled. It felt to him like only five minutes had passed since he sat in this corner. Could they really have finished testing the previous 115 people in five minutes?
Cheng Ming turned his head to the food cart; the food was almost gone, with a mess of dishes and food scraps piled up, looking chaotic. The fridge beside it was also more than half empty. An empty drink bottle rolled to Cheng Ming’s feet.
Has a long time passed? Cheng Ming wondered in his heart... Could it be that while he was conversing with that voice, time had unknowingly sped up?
The broadcast had called for the third time: "Applicant number 116, please report to venue number five." Cheng Ming stood up and left the lounge.
Waiting in the corridor outside, a staff member immediately approached. After confirming Cheng Ming’s number plate and personal information, they led him to a heavily remodeled venue.
The setup looked somewhat like an interview scene. Five "interviewers" sat in a small room made of protective glass, while Cheng Ming was brought into another, larger transparent room.
"This is a necessary safety measure, please understand," said the female "interviewer" sitting on the far left.
Her voice came through the room’s speakers.
Cheng Ming nodded.
The five "interviewers" were two women and three men. Besides the middle-aged woman on the far left, a young girl who looked barely over twenty sat in the main seat in the center. The girl stared at Cheng Ming with a blank expression—although she seemed expressionless, Cheng Ming felt something unnatural, or rather... stiff.
If she wasn’t wearing a human-skin mask, then she was most likely a person with facial paralysis.