Lin Li glanced at the work badge on the man's chest. The brawny examiner's name was Hao Zhuang. 'A man true to his name!'
GULP.
Lin Li hadn't just never fought a Mutant Beast; he'd never even been in a fistfight. Upon seeing his examiner—a ferocious figure radiating a savage aura—he instinctively gulped.
'Damn, are you kidding me? Why'd they assign a beast like him as my examiner? If he isn't careful when we start fighting, one slip-up and he'll probably punch me into the hospital.'
The two-meter-tall examiner frowned slightly upon seeing that the candidate was a man in his early twenties with the distinct air of a student. "You're Lin Li, is that right?"
"Yes, Examiner Hao."
Hao Zhuang's voice was grave. "You just graduated from college this year, didn't you?"
Lin Li nodded.
"You look soft. I doubt you've spent any time at a dojo learning or practicing fighting techniques."
Lin Li nodded again, grumbling internally, 'My cultivation aptitude used to be absolute garbage; there was no way I could become a Cultivator. My dream after that was just to be a lazy bum, so of course I never went to a dojo to practice fighting.'
After getting nothing but a nod in response to two consecutive questions, Hao Zhuang's expression grew even more severe. "Don't bother taking the test. Someone like you will never pass."
"Huh???" Lin Li was stunned. He quickly protested, "Examiner Hao, I haven't even started yet! How can you just fail me? That's against procedure."
Hao Zhuang replied expressionlessly, "Someone like you, with no fighting experience whatsoever... even if you pass the exam and become an Exotic Beast Hunter, the moment you go into the wild and run into a Mutant Beast, odds are you'll just get yourself killed.
You should go to a dojo and learn some fighting skills first. Once you have some real combat experience, then you can come back and take the Exotic Beast Hunter exam."
Lin Li understood now. The man was worried he'd just get himself killed out in the wilds after getting his Exotic Beast Hunter license.
The examiner meant well, but Lin Li had his own plans.
"I can get my Exotic Beast Hunter license first, and *then* go to a dojo to learn fighting skills! It's not like I'm going to rush out into the wilds to hunt Mutant Beasts immediately."
Hao Zhuang looked skeptical, but since the candidate had insisted, as an examiner, he couldn't very well refuse to let him take the test.
'I'll just have to go a little rough on him during the test. That should make him see reason and back out.'
The staff member who had brought Lin Li to the test site walked over to a timer beside the ring. After setting it, he called out to Lin Li as he stepped onto the platform, "Mr. Lin Li, are you ready?"
HUUUU...
After a deep breath, Lin Li said to the staff member, "Ready."
BEEP.
The staff member pressed the button, and the timer started counting down.
"Young man, being an Exotic Beast Hunter is a dangerous profession. One careless move and you're dead. You should be able to tell just by looking at my scars," Hao Zhuang said grimly, watching Lin Li assume a defensive stance.
'I need to stall for time,' Lin Li thought, deciding to play along. "Beauty salons have Superpower scar removal services these days. Why don't you get rid of yours?"
"Because they're a constant reminder to always stay vigilant when I'm out in the wilds," Hao Zhuang said.
"Fair enough! Still, I'd suggest you go get that Superpower scar removal. You're not a bad-looking guy, but all those scars probably don't help you find a girlfriend," Lin Li offered good-naturedly.
"..." Hao Zhuang hadn't expected that. He froze for a moment, thinking, 'Could the reason that girl I like rejected me... be because of these scars?'
The staff member below the ring saw that twenty seconds had already passed without a single move from either of them. He spoke up to remind the examiner, "Hao Zhuang, don't forget your role here."
"I know, I haven't forgotten. I'm starting now." Hao Zhuang, who had still been wondering if his scars were the reason the girl he liked had rejected his confession, finally snapped back to reality.
Lin Li shot a glare at the nosy staff member. 'What's it to you? Can't you just stand there and watch quietly?' he grumbled to himself.
"I'm coming. Watch yourself." The words had barely left Hao Zhuang's mouth when Lin Li sensed a figure flash before him. An instant later, he saw a fist the size of a clay pot hurtling toward his stomach.
BANG.
At the last possible second, Lin Li threw his arms up in a cross-block in front of his stomach.
But the force behind the punch was simply too great. Even with the block, the impact sent him flying backward, and he crashed heavily to the floor.
"Hsss... It hurts so much." Sucking in a sharp breath, Lin Li felt a searing pain in the arm that had taken the blow.
"If you can't even handle that little bit of pain, then you have no business going out into the wilds.
You have to understand, when you're fighting Mutant Beasts out there, getting hurt is inevitable.
And when you do get hurt, the pain will be far, far worse than the punch I just landed," Hao Zhuang said, retracting his fist.
Rubbing his swelling right arm with his left, Lin Li scrambled up from the floor. He glanced at the timer below the ring and saw there were still two minutes left.
'How has it only been a minute? Did that staff guy mess with the timer or something?'
Hao Zhuang strode toward Lin Li. Seeing the burly examiner approach, Lin Li immediately scrambled backward, but the ring was only so large. In moments, he had nowhere left to run.
"When you run into a Mutant Beast in the wild, you can never expose your back to them. That panicked retreat of yours could easily get you killed," Hao Zhuang said, lunging at Lin Li as he spoke.
THUD, THUD, THUD...
The sound of fists meeting flesh echoed across the ring. Lin Li had never been in a real fight, but even a cornered rabbit will bite. He might not have any practical experience, but he'd seen enough fights to know the general idea.
Backed into a corner, Lin Li swung wildly at Hao Zhuang. His assault was ferocious, but the examiner easily dodged his punches and landed another one on his body.
"Damn it! Again!" His face flushed, Lin Li took the hit and charged forward once more.
Despite being two meters tall and built like a truck, Hao Zhuang's movements were unbelievably swift.
He effortlessly dodged another dozen of Lin Li's punches, only to immediately return a dozen of his own.
. . . . . .