Start with push-ups to gain experience

"boom!"

The dull thud of flesh colliding echoed deep within the water plant.

Zhou Ming flew out like a sandbag and crashed heavily into a pile of rusty iron pipes.

Then, he lay on the ground and violently retched, vomiting a large mouthful of foul-smelling black water.

As the black water gushed out, the dark shadow that had been entangled in his body let out a shrill scream and quickly dissipated into the air.

The signs of Zhou Ming's eyes rolling back began to subside, and his dark pupils focused again.

He froze for two seconds, then gasped sharply.

"Ouch—my face!!!"

Zhou Ming clutched his left cheek, which was visibly swelling up, and let out a wail.

Then, using both hands and feet, he struggled to his feet.

At this moment, only one leg of his black-rimmed glasses was hanging from his ear, swaying precariously with his movements.

Zhou Ming looked around blankly.

Finally, his gaze fell on Fang Cheng, who was slowly and methodically swinging his wrist, and he asked indistinctly:
"Fang, Fang Cheng? What happened? I feel like I was hit in the face by a big truck just now?"

Fang Cheng remained calm.

He stepped forward, bent down, picked up the broken half of the glasses arm from the ground, and casually stuffed it back into Zhou Ming's hand.

"Have you forgotten? A monster possessed you just now. To save you, I had to resort to some rather drastic physical methods."

"Physical means?"

Zhou Ming grimaced in pain, his face completely bewildered.
"What...what methods did you use?"

Fang Cheng looked at his face, which was swollen like a steamed bun, and said sincerely:

"After you were possessed, you lost your balance and tripped, hitting your face right on this pile of iron pipes. Luckily, the monster was knocked away by the impact."

Wang Lan, standing to the side, couldn't help but let her lips twitch violently.

She subconsciously touched her neck, which was still throbbing slightly.

Suddenly I understood why my throat had felt so burning.

Clearly, she had recently experienced this "physical treatment" in its entirety.

Wang Lan gritted her teeth, her expression utterly speechless.

Looking at Fang Cheng's calm profile, she was momentarily at a loss for whether to be grateful for his life-saving grace or to blame him for being so ruthless.

....................................

After half an hour.

In front of the water plant's gate, five middle school students sat sprawled on the overgrown stone steps.

Apart from Fang Cheng, the other four were all bruised and battered, covered in dust and black stains, looking as disheveled as could be.

"Cough cough... My God, I almost thought I was going to die in there today."

Zhou Ming covered his swollen left cheek, breathing heavily with lingering fear.

"Hmm, thankfully the snacks I brought weren't lost..."

Li Dazhuang opened his schoolbag, shook out a bunch of food, and handed it to Fang Cheng and the others.

He then opened a bottle of Coke and gulped down several mouthfuls to calm his nerves.

Of all the people, he was the least frightened. He didn't see what had just happened and had no idea why he was possessed.

It was only after hearing my classmates describe how terrifying it was that I felt a little scared looking back now.

Lin Xue held the damaged detector tightly, her face still pale.

But her eyes revealed an irrepressible excitement, and her mouth wouldn't stop moving:
"Our Paranormal Research Club has been established for almost a year, and today we finally see the real thing."

"So ghosts and monsters really do exist in this world! How amazing!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ming couldn't help but purse his lips.

The subtext is, "Doesn't your family run a shrine? Isn't your mother a shrine maiden?"

Do we really need to come here and prove something like this with us?
"Yes, we owe it all to Fang Cheng this time."

Wang Lan stood to the side, gently rubbing her aching neck, and sighed sincerely:
"He usually seems so gentle and weak, but I never expected him to be so reliable when real danger comes. Those punches he just threw were really powerful, much more effective than Lin Xue's talisman water!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Xue, who was sitting on the steps, blushed and looked extremely embarrassed.

She glanced down at the colorful water guns at her feet, awkwardly kicked them back with her toes, and muttered in protest:

"That...that's because my mother got the talisman water from the shrine, mainly to deal with the spirits in the mountains and forests."

“Water plants are modern industrial ruins, and their magnetic fields and feng shui are different. They are…crossing boundaries.”

"Yes, it's a cross-realm issue, and the talisman water might have expired, which is why it didn't exert its power..."

Her earnest attempt to save face earned her an eye roll from Wang Lan.

The atmosphere finally became much more relaxed amidst the relief of surviving the ordeal.

The group rested on the stone steps for a while, and their breathing gradually calmed down.

By this time, it was completely dark outside.

The sparsely lit suburbs appear particularly desolate.

The autumn wind whistled by, bringing a chill to the bone.

"It's getting dark, let's hurry home, or our families will be worried."

Lin Xue wrapped her thin coat tighter around herself and made the suggestion.

Everyone nodded, helped each other to their feet, and walked along the dirt road toward the main road.

"Fang Cheng, I owe you a favor today. Tomorrow at lunchtime, I'll treat you to pork chops at the cafeteria!"

Zhou Ming walked beside him, talking excitedly, and was about to continue boasting about how brave he had been when facing the shadowy figure.

"and many more……"

Fang Cheng suddenly stopped and uttered two words.

"what happened?"

Zhou Ming turned around and looked at him in confusion.

Fang Cheng did not answer, but simply raised his head and looked at the sky with a slightly puzzled expression.

Immediately afterwards, a sudden, intense wave of dizziness surged from deep within my brain.

The golden sun hanging high in my consciousness flickered rapidly, its light suddenly dimming and becoming extremely weak.

At the same time, the scene before my eyes began to spin wildly, and the edges of my vision were quickly swallowed up by the surging darkness.

This frail body had just been pushed to its limit by forcibly unleashing power far beyond its capacity in a fit of extreme anger.

The danger has passed, and we can relax now.

The fatigue hidden deep within the muscles and bone marrow swept in like a tsunami, instantly shattering all physiological defenses.

Fang Cheng opened his mouth, as if to say something.

But before he could utter a sound, his legs suddenly gave way, and he fell straight forward.

"Fang Cheng!"

"Hey! Fang Cheng, what's wrong?"

"Everyone come quick, he seems to have fainted!"

Amidst the panicked cries of Zhou Ming, Wang Lan, and the others, Fang Cheng's consciousness plunged completely into boundless darkness.

My body felt as if it had lost all weight in an instant, plummeting rapidly down a funnel-shaped, pitch-black vortex. The surrounding space was spinning wildly.

There was no wind, and I couldn't feel gravity.

Only countless distorted and bizarre fragments of images flashed rapidly past the inner wall of the vortex.

Those were fragmented, withered bones, writhing black flesh, and swollen faces soaked in blood.

Those faces all turned their stiff necks in unison, staring intently at Fang Cheng as he fell.

"Giggle..."

They emitted bursts of shrill and eerie laughter.

Sometimes near, sometimes far, like a curse that lingers in your ear, impossible to shake off.

The speed of the fall increased, and it sank deeper and deeper.

Until all senses were completely swallowed up by this suffocating, pitch-black abyss.

....................................

"call--"

Fang Cheng suddenly opened his eyes and let out a long breath.

There were no bottomless, pitch-black whirlpools, nor the nauseating stench of the water plant.

The intense, pure white LED light shone down directly, causing his pupils to contract sharply.

He was breathing slightly heavily, and his vision gradually focused.

The walls were covered with gray soundproofing foam, and there was a faint smell of disinfectant in the air.

The low-frequency hum of the central air conditioning unit echoed in my ears.

This is the interrogation room where the special investigation team conducts interviews.

A deluge of memories, like a flood bursting its banks, instantly shattered the false barrier of cognition and surged into the mind.

The memories of the middle school student "Fang Cheng" quickly faded, and the true identity of "Fang Cheng," the candidate number 263, regained dominance.

"Take a deep breath, relax your muscles, and slowly adjust to the feeling of reality."

The young examiner in uniform strode forward and reached out to remove the heavy metal helmet that was fastened to Fang Cheng's head.

Then, the patches connected to the electrodes were peeled off one by one and put away neatly.

Fang Cheng leaned back against the cold metal chair, took a breath, and adjusted to the disparity between the two worlds.

Across the long table, the chief examiner, Chen Bingzhong, sat upright.

He glanced down at the tablet timer on the table, uncapped his pen, and began to write on the paper assessment sheet in front of him:

"Candidate No. 263. Duration in the illusion: 20 minutes and 19 seconds. Score: Excellent."

Chen Bingzhong finished writing and looked up.

Those sharp eyes swept over Fang Cheng, a hint of disappointment flashing deep within them.

He originally had very high expectations for the promising young player recommended by his old friend.

Twenty minutes is indeed quite good among ordinary candidates, but it is by no means exceptionally brilliant.

It should be noted that Shi Chengyi had nothing but praise for this young man, calling him a once-in-a-century martial arts genius with the potential to catch up with the former chief and the top expert of the special search team, Li Guizhen.

Since he's a genius, his mental fortitude must be quite strong.

It should have been at least nearly thirty minutes of performance to be considered reasonable.

"What level of anomaly did you encounter in that world? What countermeasures did you take?"

Many thoughts flashed through Chen Bingzhong's mind before he asked the question as usual, his tone businesslike.

Before Fang Cheng could answer, the young examiner next to him, looking at the computer screen, couldn't help but interject:

“Your physiological data just now was very abnormal. Your EEG curve was extremely chaotic, and your heart rate once soared to 180.”

"The strangest thing is that your body temperature is also very high, your skin is red all over, and you are sweating profusely, as if you were trapped in a high-temperature steamer."

Fang Cheng steadied himself and lowered his head.

I found that my shirt was completely soaked with sweat, clinging wetly to my back, and my skin was even radiating heat.

The exclamations of my classmates still lingered in my mind, as if the whole scene was still before my eyes.

Fang Cheng raised his hand, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and then calmly explained:

"I encountered a group of shadowy anomalies without physical form. In order to rescue my possessed companion, I resorted to close-quarters combat."

"It may be due to the intensity of the battle and the heightened emotions, which caused a stress response in the body."

Fang Cheng guessed that the other party probably had some monitoring indicators or special methods, so he did not hide anything.

Chen Bingzhong nodded slowly, his pen gliding across the paper with a soft, scratching sound.

"The illusion of the assessment directly stimulates the subconscious. Under the stimulation of extreme anger or fear, the body in reality experiences sympathetic nerve hyperactivity, which is a normal physiological response."

He closed the folder, crossed his hands on the table, and resumed his flat, official tone:
"Alright, Fang Cheng, your interview is now complete."

"Keep your communication channels open when you get back, and wait patiently for the specific results to be announced. You can go out now."

Fang Cheng stood up, supporting himself on the armrest of his chair, and nodded to the examiner.

He then turned around, pushed open the heavy soundproof door, and strode out.

The incandescent lights in the corridor were rather glaring.

A tense and oppressive atmosphere permeated the waiting hall.

Hundreds of candidates waiting for their interviews sat in chairs, some muttering to themselves, others shaking their legs with nervousness.

Several candidates who had just come out of other exam rooms were pale-faced and were retching against a trash can by the wall.

Clearly, they had just experienced a similar illusion to Fang Cheng's.

Next to the water dispenser, Ma Donghe was holding a flattened paper cup and boasting to the skinny Hou Peng with spittle flying everywhere.

"Back in the day, I was a tough guy in Dongdu, chasing down dozens of people all by myself! You think a small scene like that in the illusion can scare me?"

Hearing the door open, Ma Donghe turned around, his eyes lit up, and he immediately threw away the paper cup and strode over to greet him.

"Fang Cheng, you've finally come out!"

Ma Donghe slapped Fang Cheng hard on the shoulder and asked with concern:
"How were your results? How long did you hold on?"

"Twenty minutes and nineteen seconds."

Fang Cheng answered casually.

"Amazing! You lasted three minutes longer than me. I only lasted less than eighteen minutes."

Ma Dong-hyuk grinned, his face full of relieved joy.

"This broken illusion is too evil. After entering, no one can remember their original self. It's as if their brain has been formatted."

"Fortunately, when I came out, I remembered everything again."

As he spoke, he plopped down on the empty chair next to him, spread his arms wide, and shouted:
“Fang Cheng, let me tell you, I turned into a bald security guard in his forties, patrolling the morgue in the middle of the night.”

"Fortunately, the illusion gave me the identity of an adult male, who is strong enough to handle danger."

"I heard that there was an unlucky guy in the fourth exam room next door who went in and immediately turned into a crawling baby on the floor. He fell off the bed less than half a day after he went in and woke himself up like that."

"And there's an even more outrageous one: a grown man goes in and is transformed into a woman, and before the monsters even spawn, he's already terrified to the point of collapse!"

As Ma Donghe spoke enthusiastically, he suddenly lowered his voice and winked mysteriously:

"Fang Cheng, do you know what I encountered inside?" (End of Chapter)