Sergeant Gestalt had just announced that the final troop assignments were about to be revealed when the tense atmosphere on the training field was suddenly broken by a commotion.
The new recruits surged toward the C Zone hall like water through an opened floodgate. The air was filled with speculation and whispered discussions about the future.
Ryan shouted, slapping the back of a fellow recruit's head.
"Finally, we've made it!"
"Just wait! I'll end up on the front lines and twist those monsters' heads off!"
His voice was loud and filled with anticipation for battle. The "fiery red" energy emanating from his body pulsated wildly with excitement.
Ryan said, glancing at Kai, who barely stood out in the ranks.
"Hey, you."
"Tomorrow, we're going to get serious. You won't be scared out of your pants, will you?"
Kai's taciturn nature, coupled with the occasional display of an "intuition" that seemed extraordinary during training, led Ryan to believe that he was putting on airs.
Kai merely raised his eyes, calmly looked at Ryan, and shook his head slightly.
He didn't respond because he could "see" that beneath Ryan's seemingly arrogant "fiery red" exterior was a faint shade of unease stemming from his anxiety toward the unknown.
Natsuko walked over to Kai, her clear eyes tinged with concern.
"Ryan-kun, please don't be like this."
"The assignment results haven't been announced yet. It's too early to talk about this now."
Ryan felt like he had punched a pillow with all his strength. He grunted in frustration and turned to run after the main group toward Zone C.
"Shen-kun, are you really okay?" Natsuko asked softly. "You look a bit pale."
"I'm fine, thank you," Kai replied softly.
Natsuko's pure, untainted "pale pink" kindness felt like a faint, warm current, softening the invisible hard shell around his heart just a little.
On their way to the C Zone lobby, they passed a row of nutrient paste vending machines. An angry new recruit was pounding on a machine with a flickering screen.
"Damn it! The 'Universal Type 03 Protein Bar' is out of stock again!"
The screen of a nearby machine immediately displayed a cold warning:
"System Warning: This machine has detected high levels of negative emotional fluctuations."
"Continued anger will not change the taste of the nutritional gel but may result in a decrease in your personal social credit score."
"—From the Federal Logistics Support Department, which always loves you."
Ryan rolled his eyes at the sight and said,
"Hey, this machine is pretty smart, but the way it's smart is kind of annoying."
The screen text changed again:
[System detected keyword: "annoying."]
[According to the Federal Public Facilities Maintenance Regulations, you will face a minimum fine of 500 Federal Credit Points or 72 hours of community service.]
[Friendly reminder: Community service projects include cleaning urban waste recycling pipelines."]
Ryan's face fell instantly, prompting Natsuko to giggle.
Kai was already accustomed to this federal-style black humor. He didn't stop walking, but his attention was drawn to a line of text news scrolling on another electronic bulletin board in the corner.
In that instant, his pupils contracted sharply.
"...The abnormal energy fluctuation analysis report for 'Heterogeneous Core' Sample No. 749 has been officially submitted to the Li Jian Expert Technical Committee for review..."
Below the bulletin board, there was a smaller note that read,
"...Users of the core will continuously receive mental influences from within the core, which are commonly referred to as 'core whispers'..."
Core whispers.
Those four words felt like a red-hot steel needle piercing his brain.
Fragmented snippets of sound filled with chaotic emotions constantly echoed faintly in the deepest recesses of his mind.
Blurry, flickering hues of light and shadow, silent screams casting vast swathes of suffocating "dead gray" across his perception, and beastly roars casting heavy, oppressive "dark red" shadows filled his mind.
All of these sensations were like some kind of ceaseless cosmic background radiation, seeping into every corner of his perception and devouring his sanity.
The name "Li Jian Expert" was like another tiny needle, gently pricking a corner of his memory.
He couldn't remember where he had heard it before, but he had a vague intuition that this name and the "heterogeneous core" research associated with it might be connected to secrets within himself that he couldn't explain to others—a connection he didn't yet understand.
"Shen-kun?"
Natsuko's slightly worried voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
He realized that he had unconsciously stopped in his tracks and was staring intently at the electronic bulletin board. His forehead was already covered in a thin layer of cold sweat.
"The allocation results should be coming out soon," she said, pointing to the dense crowd near the entrance to Zone C.
"We should hurry over there."
Kai nodded slightly and followed her. He instinctively took a deep breath.
The cold air of Rock City—a unique blend of ozone and disinfectant—now seemed tinged with an unfamiliar, unsettling scent of rust.
The gears of fate seemed to have begun turning silently.