[Explorer Assessment Rest Hall]
"Wha—What kind of joke is this?"
Liu Ma stared at everything unfolding on the holographic screen above his head. He rubbed his eyes, then fiercely pinched his arm.
Only after a clear sting of pain did he confirm that this absurd scene before him was not an illusion.
People exhibiting the same stunned expression as him were everywhere in the rest hall at that moment.
This was because they all found the events unfolding before their eyes hard to believe.
On the screen, the Raccoon Administrator, following the scent of fear, quickly located Ye Shenlin's squad.
Facing the powerful Calamity-level pursuer, the peripheral teammate responsible for scouting only managed to let out half a scream before being enveloped in the light of the golden bell, vanishing with a 'eliminated' notification.
If the assessment had followed the previous plot development, Ye Shenlin and her teammates would have next faced the Raccoon Administrator's relentless pursuit and would likely be eliminated by it.
However, unexpectedly, facing the Raccoon Administrator, this powerful pursuer, Ye Shenlin neither fled with her teammates like Chen Kong nor confronted the enemy like An Qin. Instead, she stood quietly in place, as if she hadn't seen anything.
The Raccoon Administrator didn't humor her and immediately prepared to place its paw on her shoulder to eliminate her.
But what happened next was beyond everyone's expectation and greatly puzzled Liu Ma, Chen Kong, and others.
Initially, the raccoon thought it had found an easy target, so it swung its paw, shrouded in black mist, toward her shoulder, ready for a quick finish.
But the next second, its paw passed directly through Ye Shenlin's shoulder, striking the broken wall behind her, sending rubble tumbling down.
Once, twice, thrice...
The raccoon's paw became faster and faster, even summoning black mist to coil around her limbs.
But no matter how hard it tried, it couldn't touch even a single thread of Ye Shenlin's clothes.
At this moment, Ye Shenlin was like the moon in the water—seemingly within reach, yet impossible to touch.
And according to the assessment rules, since the Raccoon Administrator couldn't even touch the person, it naturally couldn't eliminate her.
Facing this unbelievable scene, most people were unsure whether this was a special ability of Ye Shenlin or some unique rule of the assessment venue.
Just then, Tendo, who had been watching leisurely from outside, spoke unexpectedly.
"Lin (Ye Shenlin)'s 'Fear Deficiency Syndrome,' is it still not cured?"
Upon hearing this, Caroline looked up at Ye Shenlin on the screen and replied: "The Doctor said it's not a syndrome; it's a special personality construct."
"Her amygdala activity is only 0.3% of an average person's. She is incapable of producing emotions like 'fear' or 'panic,' so treatment is unnecessary."
"I see. After all, for her, 'fear' is a non-existent concept."
Tendo nodded, agreeing with Caroline's statement.
Through their conversation, the dimensional viewers on Site 13 also learned about the previously unmentioned background information concerning Ye Shenlin's personality.
In the limited scenes before, Ye Shenlin was primarily labeled with tags such as 'high efficiency,' 'calm,' 'rational,' and 'avoids trouble.'
But based on these tags, normal people would never have thought in the direction of a 'syndrome.'
However, upon hearing Tendo's words, the dimensional viewers on Site 13 finally understood why the girl on the screen had been expressionless since childhood.
They had initially thought Ye Shenlin was trying to look cool, but now it seemed it was because she simply didn't understand what 'fear' was, and thus, 'panic' would naturally not appear.
But there are exceptions to every rule...
As if thinking of something interesting, Caroline turned to Tendo and joked: "Speaking of which, Lin seems quite 'afraid' of meeting you."
"A person without fear, yet who actively avoids a specific person. Isn't that a contradiction?"
Tendo spread his hands, shrugging helplessly: "She's not afraid; she just finds it troublesome."
"After all, not having fear doesn't mean she doesn't have likes and dislikes. She merely treats 'avoiding trouble' as her primary principle."
Caroline smiled but didn't speak.
Because she knew Tendo was right.
Once the words fell, the two looked back at Ye Shenlin in the assessment venue.
Thanks to the unique nature of the Eternal Nightmare domain, Ye Shenlin, who lacked the concept of fear, was essentially immune to the 'Fear Value Effect' of the Eternal Nightmare domain from the start.
And as long as there was no fear, the Raccoon Administrator would theoretically be unable to approach Ye Shenlin.
After all, where they were now was not the real world, but an illusory, subjective dream space.
In this situation, Ye Shenlin was essentially in an inherently unbeatable position.
However, merely lacking 'fear' would not entirely explain the feeling that Ye Shenlin was seemingly close to the Raccoon Administrator yet actually miles away.
After all, 'fear' was just one way for the Raccoon Administrator to approach the examinees.
The essence of its ability was far more than that; it was a setting similar to 'observation.'
As long as your subconscious mind held a memory of the Raccoon Administrator and knew of its existence, a connection was established between the two, allowing them to 'touch' each other.
Therefore, the reason Ye Shenlin could completely block the raccoon's touch was not solely due to the lack of fear; it was also related to her Star Source: Past Phantom.
[Assessment Venue, City Ruins]
Staring at the elusive Ye Shenlin, the Raccoon Administrator showed a rare emotional fluctuation.
It looked at the vacant-eyed, expressionless Ye Shenlin, finally stopped, and said with some displeasure: "In this day and age, there are actually people who dare to put their entire main personality into a clone. Aren't you afraid of causing problems?"
"You should know that personality, in a sense, is equivalent to the soul. What's the difference between splitting your personality and splitting your soul?"
Facing the Raccoon Administrator's question, Ye Shenlin did not respond.
Because at this moment, she seemed to be face-to-face with the Raccoon Administrator, but in the perception of her main personality, she 'neither saw nor heard' any information about the Raccoon Administrator.
Naturally, she couldn't reply.
To explain the Raccoon Administrator's words, the anime's camera briefly shifted to another part of the city ruins.
A black shadow with an indistinct face was standing quietly in the shadow of a tall building, about one kilometer away from Ye Shenlin's body.
Unlike the vacancy of the body, the eyes of Ye Shenlin's shadow clone were slightly more spirited.
It was a feeling akin to an out-of-body experience.
[Star Source: Past Phantom]
[Type: Control]
[Awakening Count: 2]
[Effect 1. Shadow of the Past: Can separate one's shadow into a physical substitute. Maximum activity range 100 meters. The substitute possesses 80% of the main body's base attributes (Strength/Agility/Star Energy). The main body and the substitute share five senses and can switch the dominant consciousness at any time.]
[Effect 2. Phantom Body: The Phantom substitute has no fatal weakness and only disappears when the user's Star Energy is exhausted.]
[Second Awakening Effect · Phantom Intrusion: Can gain partial memories, behavioral habits, and acquired 'knowledge' (including Star Energy techniques and other combat skills) by seizing the opponent's 'shadow.']
Normally, Ye Shenlin's shadow clone does not possess the ability of 'personality separation.'
But when Ye Shenlin treated her own 'shadow' as an object of 'Intrusion,' everything changed...