Deep in the Living

Chapter 6 Rules of Practice
next morning
【05: 30】

Rody carried a packed backpack on his back and left the community carrying a silver metal box.

Yesterday, I reported to the community that I would be away from home for 48 hours to participate in the practice. During this period, the community staff on duty will help check the lighting conditions at home.

There is a rather conspicuous plaque on the main entrance of the local institute, with text framed in brass.

A seven-seater black business car also stopped by the roadside early. It was the special car responsible for the practice pick-up and drop-off.

Although Luo Di arrived half an hour early, there was already a person standing at the entrance of the institute, the deputy monitor Gao Yuxuan.

The personalities of the two were destined to prevent them from opening up a topic. To avoid embarrassment, Rody chose to stand under a street light ten meters away and checked the contents of his backpack again to make sure he had left nothing out.

During the inspection,
Luo Di unexpectedly noticed that Gao Yuxuan, who was not far away, was behaving a little abnormally. His left arm was not very flexible, and even his fingers looked a little stiff. It was probably related to his half-month leave of absence.

Five minutes passed in silence, and Gao Yuxuan actually walked over on his own initiative and finally took out a small green metal box from his pocket.

"Ahem... do you want it?"

"Thank you."

Luo Di took two sugar-free mints. This kind of thing that can wake people up in advance is quite good.

Just as the two were exchanging mints, a distinguished black sedan drove up.

Wu Wen and Anna got out of the rear driver's seat at the same time, staring at the strange scene in front of them with wide eyes, "Ah! When did you two become so close?"

After the squad leader said this, Gao Yuxuan immediately turned around and left.

Luo Di didn't care. He never cared what others thought.

At this time, a middle-aged woman wearing a white coat and with a face that looked like a dean of studies walked out of the institute. She was the type that could make people sweat just by looking at her.

"Since you are all here, get in the car in advance."

"Okay, Professor Qin."

Wu Wen seemed to know the other party and became very obedient. Everyone put their luggage in the trunk of the business car and got in.

The car door is closed.

At this moment, the four people in the car were more or less nervous.

When the car is driving, Professor Qin's voice is transmitted through the car audio system.

“This trip takes one hour.
After I have finished talking about the relevant practices and some rules, you can ask questions.

What I am going to say next will affect your practice success rate and even your survival rate, so I hope you can cheer up and remember every word.

The practice area is located in the experimental area 30km outside Jupiter City.

1. Estimated total duration of practice [48 hours],
If you can deal with the root cause of the incident in advance, you can also end and leave early.

Of course, as long as you can hold on for 48 hours, it will be considered completed regardless of whether the exception is handled or not.

2. The difficulty of the practice will be randomized to be closer to reality and to train your ability to face the unknown.

Once the practice begins, the experimental team will not actively intervene unless you have severe injuries that are life-threatening. At the same time, as long as intervention occurs, your practice will be considered a failure.

3. It is forbidden to leave the practice area in any form.

This practice will use the [Simulated Anomaly] developed by the Joint Research Institute. The regional changes, strange events, pseudo-human and abnormal attacks you encounter will be highly consistent with real events.

Next we start to talk about the practical details.

1. There are multiple random "objects" in the practice area. Once found and activated, the corresponding abnormal events will also be triggered.

The time for searching and triggering should not exceed half an hour.

2. The difficulty of the event will not be announced in advance, and you will need to face the unknown, investigate the unknown and deal with the unknown.

3. Any valid subjective behavior may improve an individual's evaluation of this practice.

4. The technology of simulating abnormalities was only applied last year. Although most of the technology has been stable, there are still some loopholes. Once you find abnormal situations during practice, you can submit them to us at any time, which will also improve your personal evaluation.

Now it’s your turn to ask questions.”

Wu Wen was the first to raise her hand and start asking questions, just like she was in a classroom.
"During the practice, do we have relatively safe time periods? For example, sleeping time, meal time, etc."

"No, you will be in danger once you start." "Oh." Wu Wen looked frustrated but quickly recovered.

Gao Yuxuan stared at the notebook he had just filled with words and asked his question:
"Once we trigger a corresponding abnormal event through an object, will all other objects in the area be recovered by you? Or can we trigger it again?"

“That’s a good question, you don’t have to worry about that.

"Abnormal events" are directly controlled by our research institute. You can only trigger them once. Even if you find other items and want to trigger them later, we will not perform any related operations here.

You are dealing with just one event.”

Blonde Anna put her fist against her chin and forced sweat on her forehead, but she still couldn't think of a good question, so she didn't ask any in the end.

Luo Di, who was sitting in the last row, saw that no one had any questions, so he asked:

"If we clash with the simulated anomaly and cause the environment to be destroyed and a [corner] without light is formed, will the practice be interrupted?"

These words made Director Qin look unpleasant.

“In theory, this situation won’t happen, because in the experimental area where you are, any buildings and trees that may form a [corner] have been specially treated by the institute.

All corners are rounded, and the door and window axes that may form corners are also standard reinforced cylinders, and the environment itself is difficult to be destroyed.

Moreover, the experimental area is equipped with more than 300 hidden cameras, and the branches in the forest are covered with modified wild parrots. Any dark corners will be discovered by us at the first time.

Of course...you should avoid this situation as much as possible.

If your subjective behavior leads to the formation of a "corner" and brings unpredictable dangers, your personal report will not be passed even if you complete the practice."

"understood."

No one asked too many questions, and the business car arrived at the exit of Jupiter City at this time.

The entire city is surrounded by a fifty-meter-high luminous wall, and a large number of watchtowers, drones and patrols are responsible for its security.

The current exit from the city is similar to a highway gate, with a total of eight stations.

During the National Day holiday, many private cars plan to leave the city, and they are currently queuing because they need to undergo a physical examination before leaving the city.

The institute's cars are of a special category and only need to use the special car lane at the edge.

Get out of the city smoothly.

The roads outside the city still maintain the same high-density street lights as those inside the city, and the wooded areas on both sides of the road are also connected or buried with electric wires to ensure that the lights in the woods are provided all day long.

Some trees have even been biologically modified to produce their own light.

Occasionally you can see well-paid forest rangers walking through the woods.

Cars are speeding along the main roads, and once you leave the city, it is difficult to see the existence of "buildings".

At most, there are public facilities such as service areas and watchtowers. Few living people would take the initiative to live in the suburbs of the city, and even if there are, they are basically missing.

There are no rural areas or towns, everything is centered on cities.

Not long after, the official car drove off the main road and turned into a small road similar to a country road.

The right side of the road hugs the hillside, while the left side is lined with lush trees that almost block out the sky.

The light density here has been significantly reduced, but it is still above the safe value.

Contrary to what everyone expected,

The car's final destination was not a research institute built in the woods, or a suburban building where four people could conduct a practice.

The vehicle was parked directly on an ordinary roadside.

Director Qin, who had been speaking through the microphone, turned his head for the first time and looked at the four young men behind him.

"Go up from here. This small hill no more than a hundred meters high is the 'experimental area'. Once you step on the soil of the mountain, it means 'beginning'.

The “objects” that trigger the practice are all scattered on this mountain
Remember, you have only half an hour to find and trigger the event."

The four of them got off the bus with their luggage, looking up at the hillside with dense vegetation and dim light. They were all a little nervous, as their first social practice in life was about to begin...

(End of this chapter)