Extraordinary Player - Chapter 22
Qin Guan did not go out the entire afternoon. He continued grinding the map in the apartment.
In the beginning, he thought that the new trial was very hard, but after a night and a day, he figured out some tricks.
The rules might be simple, but if he really wanted to score high in this trial, he actually had to use many complicated skills.
Qin Guan first tried to master his reaction and footwork to make sure that he could reach the fruits that appeared in any direction at the fastest speed possible.
He could only begin working on the accuracy of his knife skills after he was done with the two aforementioned aspects.
If he stared at the fruits that came from only one direction, no matter how much he tried, it was impossible for him to get three thousand points.
And the standard answer this time was not as convenient as in Jump!!.
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He could memorize the steps in Jump!!. As long as he practiced the jumping method for each platform and executed it according to what he saw, he could get to the next platform. But the new map changed every single time, because the focus of the trial was on how he reacted and adapted to different situations.
However, Qin Guan still managed to gain a lot of enlightenment from the standard answer, and he discovered the key to practice his skills…
…
“I’m so booooorreeeed. It’s too meaningless to just train every single day. Qin Guan, let’s play Hit Backhand[1]!” Su Xiaoyu suggested.
Qin Guan came out from the world in his mind. “I don’t want to play such a stupid game…”
“Aaaaahhhh, it’s too boring training all the time! How about this? We’ll hit the back of each other’s hands thrice. If you win, I’ll wash the dishes tonight!”
“Heh. Su Xiaoyu, my comrade, you’ll regret your decision.” Qin Guan was already exercising his wrist. “Let’s make the game more exciting. I suggest that we play using our Transcended Gamer bodies.”
Su Xiaoyu looked as if this was exactly what she wanted. “Come on, then! But let me tell you, there won’t be any suspense in the battle. Hmph.”
When they were younger, they often played this game at home, and the winner differed each time. Qin Guan won over Su Xiaoyu a little more, but he did not dominate over her.
However, this time, it would be different…
One minute later, Su Xiaoyu stared at her hand in dumbfounded shock. “How can this be? How did you win every round?! How did you move your hand so fast? How did you do it?!”
Qin Guan only smiled and did not say anything in the face of Su Xiaoyu’s ceaseless shock. “Please handle the dishes tonight.”
Su Xiaoyu pouted. “Fine. I’ll order delivery for tonight’s dinner.”
‘Huh?!’ Qin Guan wondered.
Su Xiaoyu could not understand what had just happened. ‘What’s going on? This guy’s progress in the trial is obviously way behind mine, so why is his speed so fast? There were even afterimages when he moved!’
Su Xiaoyu glared at the young man before her. “You hid your progress, right?! Schemer! I’m so angry! I don’t want to wash the dishes!”
“Don’t even think about pushing off your chores…” Qin Guan said.
In truth, he had long since wanted to test his standards. He sensed that after the highly difficult training he endured over the past few days, his observation skills, reaction, and movements were much better than before.
It was not that his body had become stronger, but that he himself had become stronger.
As his skills reached the peak, he also gradually developed the useless person’s body to its limits.
Even though Su Xiaoyu appeared to have progressed faster than he did, in truth, in terms of skills and abilities, Qin Guan had long since surpassed her by miles…
Su Xiaoyu was considering ordering pizza for dinner. Then, she could avoid washing the dishes.
Qin Guan cackled and stated that she should stop dreaming about ordering delivery to avoid washing dishes!
“Let me see if there’s anything in the kitchen that’s suitable for making dark cuisine…” While Qin Guan spoke, he rolled up his sleeves and prepared himself to cook dinner…
…
Qin Guan and Su Xiaoyu thought that they were both rather busy people, but once both of them lost their jobs, they could only stay at home and train. They felt that their lifestyle habits had been overturned.
Su Xiaoyu truly thought that it was boring to train every single day. If she did not think so, she would not have played Hit Backhand with Qin Guan…
For the time being, they would not have any problems dealing with their living expenses, but when September came, they would have to pay their rent, and they had to pay three months in advance. That alone gave them a huge amount of stress.
After all, they lived in Beijing, and it was a two-bedroom apartment near the university. The room rent was a hefty price of 6,500 RMB, and that was after the landlord gave them a discount of 500 RMB because he found Su Xiaoyu to be very smart.
The rental fee for three months was nearly 20,000 RMB. For two students who had lost their jobs before they even graduated, this was a great burden.
Su Xiaoyu used the time to search for new internship offers while Qin Guan made his dark cuisine in the kitchen, but no matter how much she searched around, the girl did not find anything satisfying.
The disc did not just cause many people to lose their jobs, it also increased many people’s work performance.
Hence, normal people could now work in many of the posts that originally required rather great technical skill. With such great competition around, the salary for these posts dropped by a large margin.
When Su Xiaoyu looked at the internship offers, all of them fit into one of two categories: either the offered salary was too low, or she found the job unsatisfactory. No matter what, she could not find anything suitable.
While she was troubled thinking about their future, she suddenly received a message.
“Hmm? … Qin Guan! Good news! The supervisor just sent me a message saying that the university will give us a unique allowance! We’ll get 2,000 RMB every month!” Su Xiaoyu cried out after rushing into the kitchen.
Qin Guan was stunned. “Huh? What do you mean by ‘us’? And what’s with this unique allowance?”
“Those who cleared the trial, silly! The supervisor mentioned a unique policy during the meeting last time, but I didn’t expect for it to be implemented so soon.”
Qin Guan became skeptical. It was an instinctive reaction on his part. “2,000 per month is a bit too high, isn’t it? What conditions do they want?”
Su Xiaoyu read the message. “Oh, there ARE conditions. We have to sign a contract, and we aren’t allowed to join any social organizations in the future, and we have to submit to their arrangements.”
Qin Guan was instantly displeased. “That’s the same as signing your life away… If that’s the case, isn’t 2,000 RMB per month too little? With our physical attributes, we can earn more by lifting bricks around. We’re perpetual motion machines here! Besides, we can even consider working as bodyguards for the rich or something…”
“Erm… that’s not it.” Su Xuanyi read the message her counsellor had sent her carefully. “This is just our allowance before we graduate. Aside from this, we might receive some unique missions, and once we complete them, we’ll get really great rewards. Once we graduate, we’ll be given positions in the organization straight away. There are also some other hidden benefits, or so they say.”
Qin Guan was curious. “Hidden benefits? Such as?”
Su Xiaoyu was quiet for two seconds. “We can be buried with the national flag over our coffins after we perform a glorious sacrifice?”
Qin Guan was speechless. “… Nope, no way. Goodbye!”
He was quite puzzled though. How could this be a hidden benefit? They would be giving up their lives there! What the heck…
“Oh well, it’s not really explained clearly. Read it yourself later on. I think we can actually try signing this contract.” Su Xiaoyu placed her phone on the table.
A few seconds later, Qin Guan walked out of the kitchen.
“Come, dinner’s ready. It’s green beans and orange stir-fry! Are you surprised? Are you DELIGHTED? Aren’t I just a talented creator when it comes to real cuisine? To make you wash a few more dishes, I even deliberately placed all the food in bowls! I filled up four of them, just so you know.”
Su Xiaoyu was shocked. “Qin Guan, you’re such a genius! I must have suffered from a concussion or something to have agreed to let you make dinner… Ah, fine, throw away that dark cuisine of yours. We should still make it in time for dinner if I cook a few dishes …”
Su Xiaoyu pinched her nose and went into the kitchen. She did not even look at the four “mysterious” bowls of “food” on the table.
“What the heck? How could she not believe in the fruits of labor from a creator of real cuisine? Looks like I really can’t rely on a younger sister, even if she is related to me by blood. Oh, wait, wrong, she isn’t related to me by blood.”
Qin Guan picked up a spoon and scooped up a some green beans from the bowl to place in his mouth.
He chewed them for two seconds before sneakily spitting the mouthful into the trash can and pretending like nothing had happened.
“What did Su Xiaoyu want me to read just now? Oh, right. The message from the supervisor on her phone.”
Qin Guan forced himself to forget his new creation and picked up Su Xiaoyu’s phone.
In the beginning, he was incredibly adverse to this so-called ‘contract,’ but once he read it carefully, he found that this matter was indeed not as simple as he had thought.
What were the Transcended Gamers who had activated their unique abilities?
They were just like scientists, entrepreneurs, and all the outstanding personnel in all fields of work; they were extremely precious socially valued resources.
From the first day the discs had appeared, they stirred up a widespread discussion. The conclusion for the debate should have been decided by then.
While most people were still wary and skeptical of the discs, they had to admit that the group of Transcended Gamers symbolized a new batch of unique talents. If humanity could not make appropriate arrangements to guide these people and help them settle down, a certain degree of chaos might erupt. Even if it did not, at the very least, it would still be a waste of resources.
If the right departments in all the countries did not take in this group of people, they would definitely be taken in by other organizations, and the consequences would be devastating.
Hence, the related departments had to draw in these people, which was why the contract was sketched out.
This meant that there were two paths placed before Qin Guan at that moment. The first one was to sign the contract and become part of the reserve force for a related department, while the other was to not bother about the contract and join an organization in society.
Of course, Qin Guan would never go to any criminal organizations. He would definitely go to a lawful one.
The difference between the two paths was as clear as day. The former offered great safety and support, but he would definitely get a very low income. The latter offered a higher pay, but the risks were also greater, and he would not have a guarantee for his career development in the future.
Qin Guan thought about it before he went into the kitchen to talk to Su Xiaoyu, “We shouldn’t be in a hurry to decide on this matter. If you want to sign the contract, go on ahead, but I want to think about it a little more. The main problem persists as well. Even if we both sign the contract, the allowance given to us won’t be enough to cover the rent.”
Su Xiaoyu was busy with the cooking. “That’s true… But didn’t they say they might give us some missions and let us earn extra rewards?”
“Let’s think about it a little more. No matter what, I’m a person who desires freedom.”
It was not that Qin Guan had any sort of prejudice to this offer. His main problem with it was… that the salary was too low.
If the allowance per month was 10,000 RMB, he might have enough reason to sign the contract.
For the time being, Qin Guan could go out and check whether there were any unique vacancies in society offered to the new group of people like him. Once he became certain of the salary and benefits, he could decide which path he wanted to choose.
After all, even if he were to sell his life, he still had to compare the offer with the market price…
He had no time to lose. Qin Guan picked up his phone and began searching on job recruitment websites to see whether there were any companies that specifically recruited “unique talents” like him.
Even if it was just delivery—of food or other items—as long as the pay was high, he would consider it…
However, no matter how much Qin Guan searched, he did not find a single company who had this sort of recruitment notice.
This left him puzzled. Logically speaking, with how sensitive some big companies were to the matters of the world, how could they not notice the great value hidden within Transcended Gamers?
In the end, while continuing his search online, he saw a news article with a headline that read: All organizations are forbidden from employing the “unique people” who cleared the trial in Medium Mode. All those who go against this law will be punished severely.
Qin Guan was speechless. “So that’s how it is, huh?”
Translator’s Note:
[1] Hit Backhand: A game in Running Man. You take turns hitting the back of each other’s hand. The one who screams first loses.
