Chapter 49: Through the Mask

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Three grown men stood in a confined room; there were two masked man including Johansson and also Ye Chong.

The other masked man hurled the same black mask they were wearing to Ye Chong and ordered menacingly, “Put it up!”

Ye Chong picked it up and felt the peculiar texture in his hands. The mask was surprisingly very soft when touched and it seemed to be made out of special materials too. There was a code written beneath the mask - F-58. He tried putting it on and the mask fitted on his face unexpectedly well as if it was specially tailored for Ye Chong. His face was layered by the mysterious aura of the mask. It fitted so well that he could even feel the mask mimicking his facial expressions; the mask would trace even the slightest twitch of muscle, and it had great airflow as well. Ye Chong did not feel the stuffiness he was expecting wearing a mask. Instead, he almost forgot that he was wearing one.

“I am Hak, your instructor!” His voice roared in the room, “And I'll be invigilating your examination. Johansson, take the lead!”

“The examination begins!” Johansson notified in a rumbling voice as he stood opposite of Ye Chong.

Ye Chong got into his ready-stance, antic.i.p.ating the upcoming trials.

Johansson rushed into his position with his arms crossed embracing himself. He knew that this was merely a test, therefore took a more defensive position.

Ye Chong began seriously, a heavy stomp with his right. The room shook a little by that powerful burst of his. Instructor Hak's face had a hint of surprise as he witnessed this by the side. Ye Chong bravely leaped towards Johansson and whimpered as he threw a punch with his right fist.

Johansson gracefully spun to the side and dodged the attack. Ye Chong missed, and almost fell from losing his balance. It would be an opportunity to experience Johansson’s counterattack, but he remained on the defensive side and patiently waited for Ye Chong's next strike. Ye Chong regained his stance and was prepared to launch the following punches. He raised his fist, but before he could come into contact with Johansson, a thunderous voice broke his action.

“Stop right there!” Instructor Hak ended the little fight between them. “Enough!” Ye Chong was dumbfounded. I was evaluated with only a punch? Johansson seemed to be much more aware of such interruption through his gesture.

Instructor Hak walked to Ye Chong and stared into his eyes, “I don't care who you were. I don't know where you came from, and I don't want to know what you have worked for. From now on, this mask is yours. As long as you are in the Black Cove, you shall never remove this mask. Never. Ever! Anytime or anywhere! Your code would be F-58. You will be the 58th member of Group-F. Now, state your name!”

“Ye-“

“Pseudoname! Everyone here uses a pseudoname or a codename.” Right before Ye Chong actually gave his actual name away, Instructor Hak interrupted him with a gentle reminder.

Ye Chong did not ponder much on this request, “Mu. I am Mu!” The name slipped right off his mouth so naturally.

“Follow Johansson to your campsite now. It's Group-F. He would arrange the accommodation for you,” Instructor Hak ordered. “Welcome to the world of real Pilots!” he said sternly.

On the way to his campsite, Johansson lectured him some exclusive rules of survival in Black Cove.

Firstly, never inquire anything about someone. This would create enemies without knowing.

Secondly, never expose personal details about yourself to the others. That was to guarantee your life in the Black Cove.

Thirdly, never demonstrate your true strength in order to live longer.

Johansson mentioned the grave rules nonchalantly. Even though, that was alarming enough for Ye Chong to be aware of the hidden danger of this place. Ye Chong started to tense.

Johansson in the meantime somehow was able to identify the alert in Ye Chong's eyes. His own eyes expressed approval.

The campsite for Group-F was quite s.p.a.cious. However, Johansson did not seem to be in the mood to give Ye Chong a tour of the place. He just guided him all the way to an empty room, “This will be your room. You will be living here from now on.” Johansson said as he pointed at the room. “If you want food, there's a cafeteria. We pa.s.sed it awhile ago. You should know!”

Ye Chong nodded.

“Good! Go find Instructor Hak yourself tomorrow. He will be teaching you some tricks!” Johansson left the scene after that.

Johansson's unfriendliness wasn't foreign to Ye Chong. He was more used to adapting to surroundings all by himself. On the contrary, if people were too friendly to him when they first met, it would bring him discomfort, and he would be unable to blend in well.

Although this was an unoccupied room, it still required fingerprint and palm-print verification in order to check in, but that wasn't new to Ye Chong either. It did not take him much time to set up the security system. The room was well-furnished, and was a large room too compared to his home back in Trash Planet-12; this was at a much larger scale. There were a number of things that Ye Chong did not come across in his life. He had yet to use them before. For starters, he tried experimenting with gadgets in the room just to find out what they did and how they were used. Luckily, Ye Chong wasn't a greenhorn to electronic devices, and they were much simpler in his eyes. Soon, he understood the method to use every item in the room.

He took a shower before drifting off to sleep.

Ye Chong rose early the next day as the grumbling of his tummy woke him up. He ran to the cafeteria right away. He thought that he came early enough without knowing there was already a crowd. Everyone was taking their breakfast silently. The cafeteria was filled with people, and was roomy as well, but it was dead! The atmosphere felt so tense it was too stressful to stay.

He had a hearty breakfast; scrumptious food wafted down to Ye Chong’s tummy. The food was new to him and he finished up happily. Still, the atmosphere was rather somber.

Ye Chong finished his breakfast and went to the place where he saw Instructor Hak the day before.

On the way there, he noticed that everyone was indeed wearing their masks, but he did not see anyone greeting each other. This place was somber enough for folks of the outside world. But to a man who was used to living alone like Ye Chong, such simple life without interaction was rather relaxing.

He arrived at Instructor Hak's place, and spotted the instructor teaching something to a member. Ye Chong recalled what Johansson had told him before, so he withdrew himself and waited by the side quietly.

Instructor Hak had already seen Ye Chong right when he arrived. He was impressed at how Ye Chong did not approach him out of curiosity, but waited at the side with patience instead. The instructor's eyes shone with admiration.

Ye Chong waited for 30 minutes for that member to exit the room as Instructor Hak waved at him. He entered the room without a delay.

The instructor initiated the conversation, “The fight yesterday was just to identify your level while what we are going to do today... would be testing you in a variety of skills. Come with me!” Both of them moved to a room filled with apparatus.

Moments later, Instructor Hak looked through the test report of Ye Chong's performance. His jaw dropped as he stared on in blank dismay.

The outcome of the test was more than just astonishing! If he did not observe Ye Chong’s tests with his own eyes, he would never believe the results in his hand; from someone who had not undergone the Black Cove's training! He was under 20 too!

His physique was in tip-top condition! He was the first one-of-a-kind that Instructor Hak came across! Even the dummy in Group-A would not be on par with Ye Chong before training.

Speed was the most outstanding aspect of his performance. In full force, his running speed could hit 5.32 Hz! Even Johansson, the best runner in the group could only go as fast as 5.54 Hz after the training. How astounding!

His strength was remarkable as well. How could he possess such intense amount of strength without changing the physical attribute of his body, and not to mention the absence of special training in the Black Cove? Instructor Hak had his doubts. Technically, he wasn't the only one who was puzzled by this oddity. Mu’s processors nearly malfunction when he tried to figure out the cause behind it. Eventually, Mu gave up and decided that Ye Chong was an oddball to reason everything.

But with this amount of power, Instructor Hak could imagine if the infamous power-creep Facherny, who excelled similarly in strength was notified of this boy's existence, chances are he would come barging in, smashed the door and dragged this boy away! Of course, this time, Instructor Hak was affirmed with his new student. He would never let that happen despite that power-freak’s rampage.

This Mu boy was extremely good with his balancing and dexterity too! The instructor could see that when he did sharp-turnings at high speed. His action was swift and flexible; there wasn't any pause at all!

He was also calm and smart which was really important.

To top it off, the most shocking part to Instructor Hak was the speed of the boy's hands attack! An absolute fearsome velocity to one’s eyes!