Inside the Trial Hall, the examiner was pacing back and forth anxiously as he watched the time. The information transmitted from the Illusion Room still showed that No. 4 was still in the scene of the second level. There were only two minutes left. If he hadn't left the second level yet, he would be directly teleported out of the Illusion Room, which meant the assessment had failed.
"What on earth is he dawdling about?!" he was extremely eager.
Just when he was burning with anxiety, suddenly, on one side of the hall, the wall slowly rippled like water waves. The examiner frowned and looked at his subordinate who quickly walked in from the outside and said, "What's going on? Don't you know the rules? During the assessment period in the Illusion Room, no one except the examiner and the trainee is allowed to enter without permission?!"
The guard glanced at the several trainees around, then quickly walked up to the examiner and whispered a few words in his ear. After hearing his words, the examiner's face immediately changed.
"An eight-cross veteran?!" he exclaimed. "How is this possible?"
"Quick! Quickly invite that senior in," he immediately rushed to greet him eagerly. There were no more than twenty such figures in the entire Night City. What kind of thing could have alarmed such a big shot? You know, such figures would only be dispatched by the Matriarch when encountering extremely difficult events in a certain area of the Dark World. Usually, they were rarely seen. Some Night Healers might never even encounter a veteran above level eight in their lifetime.
"Teacher, what happened?" the trainees asked with astonishment on their faces.
The examiner straightened his back and said solemnly, "A big shot has come. You all should show respect later. That's an eight-cross veteran, one of the top Night Healers in our Night City. It's your great fortune to be able to meet him!"
As soon as these words were said, the expressions of the trainees around were all shocked. They immediately lined up and didn't dare to be negligent.
"One of the top Night Healers in the Night City?!" they thought. "How is this possible? Why would such an existence come to the Trial Hall for novice Night Healers like us? Is it to inspect the work?" But looking at the examiner's face, it was obvious that he was also very surprised. So what was going on?
They didn't wait too long. After about a dozen seconds, among the ripples leading to the outside, one after another tall figures wearing leather clothes and beak masks appeared. The leading Night Healer had grayish-white hair, a resolute face, and carried an easy-going yet imposing aura that made people respect him without being angry. When the trainees saw the cross on his chest, they were all shocked.
"Could it be that this is the eight-cross veteran the examiner mentioned? A human?!" they thought. This was unexpected for them because in the Dark World, humans, creatures from the surface world, were definitely at the bottom of the ecological chain. But obviously, humans who could fight their way out in the Dark World were all ruthless people with extremely strong abilities without exception.
They held their breath and didn't dare to say a word.
"Greetings, senior. I'm the examiner of this assessment, the Ferryman. Please give your instructions!" The examiner stood straight and saluted the middle-aged man solemnly.
The middle-aged man waved his hand and looked up and said, "Which trainee is currently taking the assessment? Is he still in the Illusion Room?"
The examiner stood at attention and said loudly, "Reporting to senior, the trainee currently taking the assessment is No. 4, code-named Good Doctor, a human boy. He's still in the second level, but the time... There are less than the last two minutes left." His back was already covered with cold sweat because the aura of the senior in front of him was too strong. Just one look and he could tell that this senior must have gone through countless storms and waves to reach where he was now, a true veteran. But why would such a figure come here? Was he looking for No. 4? That No. 4 trainee was also human. Could it be that... He had some unfounded associations in his mind.
"Turn on the projection. I want to see his current progress," the middle-aged man said.
The examiner didn't dare to be negligent and immediately used his authority to connect to the Illusion Room. In front of them, a picture slowly appeared, and in the picture, it was still all white. The examiner carefully observed the expression of the senior and whispered a reminder, "Reporting to senior, since ten minutes ago, the Illusion Room has been occupied by such white light. I'm not really sure about the specific reason. I only know that it seems to be some kind of ability of that boy. He's still in the Illusion Room."
The middle-aged man didn't say anything. He just looked up, looking solemnly at the expanse of white light. No one noticed that his hand under his sleeve slowly tightened nervously.
Time slowly passed. The whole hall was silent. Everyone stood there straight, quietly looking at the expression of the senior, not daring to breathe loudly.
Finally, when there were only the last ten seconds left, the white light in the picture finally receded like a tide.
"The white light has disappeared!" the vampire couldn't help but say hurriedly. And everyone's eyes immediately fell on the picture.
...
In the classroom, with a strong sense of dizziness, Ryan suddenly opened his eyes.
"Did I fail?" he thought. "Perhaps. Because this was almost an outcome that could be predicted with 100% certainty... Although the Remembrance of the Past could bring the past back to life, how could it rewrite reality? Because... it was really just a script, an image. It seemed that even with the Remembrance of the Past, probably nothing could be changed. Even if it was a luxury to slightly make up for the regrets in his heart."
Ryan took a deep breath and finally slowly withdrew his hand. The vision under the white light slowly recovered. The scene in front of Ryan's eyes also slowly became clear. But at this time, he was stunned.
The gentle breeze blew in from the window, as if carrying the warm sun of summer. In the sound of the curtains fluttering, there was the sound of the class bell ringing. He was sitting in his seat, looked up, and his eyes were in a trance. It was like suddenly going back to the school in the past. The clear ringing of the bell after class. Then the laughing students rushed out of the classroom one by one. The laughter of the students in twos and threes echoed in his ears, and he sat in his seat, looking at this scene in a daze.
He stood up, looking at all this in a daze. Outside the window was no longer pitch black but a blue sky and warm sun. The classroom was no longer on fire, and the clock had returned to normal. In an instant, it felt like a lifetime had passed, and everything here seemed so unreal.
"Is it... the Remembrance of the Past?" he murmured, looking at his hand. Almost subconsciously, he looked towards the second row by the window. In the gentle breeze outside the window, he saw the familiar figure of the girl. There was a smile on her face, and she was resting her chin on one hand, looking out at the blue sky. The breeze blew in from the window, making her hair flutter. Ryan opened his mouth but couldn't say a word.
"Thank you," a voice came to his ears.