[Ding! Your popularity within the Night Healer faction has reached 100, and the second stage of the mission has been activated.]
[Ding! You have initiated the Night Healer job transfer mission (2): After passing the assessment and meeting the Matriarch, obtain the Night Healer identity certification. Mission rewards: 1 special legendary skill, 10 Black Skull Coins, 10,000 base experience points.]
[Ding! Congratulations on completing the hidden special mission: Concept and Action. You have received the mission rewards: +100 favorability with Wang Tao, +20 popularity among Night Healers, and 1 skill enhancement scroll.]
The system prompts kept ringing in his ears. But Ryan couldn't care less about them at this moment.
He gritted his teeth, grasped the key in his hand, and rushed forward quickly along the dark corridor outside the classroom.
It's all over!
It's all over!
He had been so absorbed in educating and persuading that boy just now that he had completely forgotten that he was still in the middle of the assessment!
He checked the time.
He had already exceeded the time limit by more than 20 minutes!
And after he opened the door with the key, the room didn't teleport him directly to the second level.
Obviously.
He must have failed this level of the assessment!
Bang!
Ryan kicked open the door leading to the outside from the inside and ran out, panting heavily and saying through gritted teeth,
"Teacher! I'm sorry! I've been delayed in there for too long. Do I still have the qualification to take the third level of the assessment?!"
"..."
"..."
The hall was silent.
It was only then that Ryan noticed that besides the previous trainees in the hall, there were also dozens of neatly dressed Night Healers wearing beak masks.
Ryan's eyes widened in confusion. He had no idea what was going on.
And his appearance.
Instantly made everyone's eyes focus on him.
Ryan asked in astonishment, "Uh, can someone explain to me what's happening?"
"..."
The trainees around all covered their faces in pain, their faces turning blue from holding back.
The examiner glared at him with murderous eyes, wishing he could stare Ryan to death on the spot.
Ryan stood there with a puzzled look on his face.
Clack—Clack—
The sound of footsteps echoed.
Under Ryan's gaze, the tall figure among those dozens of Night Healers walked towards him step by step.
The leather jacket on his chest was engraved with eight crosses.
Both the beak mask and the leather jacket clearly showed the differences from other Night Healers.
However, for some reason, Ryan had an inexplicable sense of familiarity with him.
In the next moment.
The tall Night Healer stopped in front of him. In the lenses of the beak mask, Ryan's face was reflected.
The surroundings fell silent again.
Everyone held their breath, looking at that scene nervously.
It was so quiet that only the sound of someone's heartbeat could be heard, as if a pin dropping would be audible.
After a long while.
Under Ryan's hesitant gaze, the Night Healer reached out and slowly took off the beak mask on his head, revealing a serious middle-aged face full of vicissitudes.
"Hello, you little rascal."
The middle-aged man smiled and extended his hand towards Ryan.
The moment Ryan saw his face, he was shocked. It was as if he had seen a ghost. He stared at that face in disbelief.
Could it be that...
This middle-aged man was...
Was Wang Tao outside the script in reality?!
This was a joke!
Ryan was shocked.
And the panel of that Night Healer immediately appeared in front of his eyes.
[Code Name: White Night]
[Occupation]: Night Healer / Enforcer / Demon Hunter
[Race]: Human / Evil Spirit
[Level]:???
[Faction]: Neutral Good
[Combat Ability]: Battle ability and area-clearing ability that are like cheating.
[Introduction]: White Night, which means making the night as bright as day. Since falling into the Dark World, he became a member of the Night Healers and, in just a few decades, quickly became the youngest eight-cross veteran in history. He often wandered in the most dangerous areas of the Dark World and had been committed to healing the wounds of this world for a long time...
Ryan looked at his panel in astonishment and said,
"Are you Wang Tao?!"
White Night smiled calmly and said, "Yes, it's me."
...
A few minutes later.
On the other side of the hall, in front of the tables and chairs, Ryan and White Night sat facing each other.
Ryan looked up and down at the middle-aged man in front of him hesitantly. Except for some similarities in appearance, he just couldn't connect the boy with the man in front of him.
"So you're saying that because I triggered a hidden ending buried in that script, you sensed it and that's why you came here?"
White Night smiled and said, "Yes, because you're the first Night Healer to trigger that mechanism in so many years."
Through communicating with him.
Ryan also understood what had happened.
The Illusion Room had collected many deeds that Night Healers had actually experienced.
They put those experiences into it in the form of scripts as assessments for newcomers. And what he had just experienced was the past of the Night Healer in front of him.
He was from Blue Star.
The same world as Bai Yi.
"So what's going on exactly?" Ryan looked at him seriously and said,
"What's the trigger mechanism for that final scene? Did I pass the assessment?"
White Night smiled as he looked at the young man of the same race in front of him and said, "Actually, my script is relatively difficult among all the scripts. It not only tests your fear tolerance and observation ability but also your thinking ability. But most importantly..."
"It's also a test of your heart."
Ryan was stunned.
White Night raised his head and looked at the dome of the hall and said,
"If you had taken the key and left at that time, you could indeed have passed the assessment. In fact, almost all the Night Healers who had experienced my script would choose to leave directly after getting the key. Even those who had empathy would choose to leave after careful consideration and hesitation."
"They weren't wrong because it was really just a script. Even if you wanted to change it, it would be in vain. Reality wouldn't change because of adjustments to the script."
"But you still did it."
He looked at Ryan across from him with relief and showed a sincere smile on his face.
Ryan looked at him, thought for a moment, then raised his head and said,
"Is this what you meant by saying that some things shouldn't be measured on a scale?"
White Night smiled and said, "Yes, and this is also the concept that I value the most for Night Healers to possess."
"Even if you know that doing something won't bring you any benefits and it's difficult to change the established outcome... but if you're not even willing to try, then how can you know that it can't be changed?"
So.
He stopped there and left that ending.
It didn't matter whether you had the ability to solve it or not. What mattered was whether you would still be determined to help them in that situation.
He didn't care about the result but the choice.
On one side was the last few minutes that determined whether you could complete the assessment, and on the side was a script that would be meaningless once you left.
What would you choose?
Ryan rubbed his temples and said, "So it was my attitude that determined whether the ending could be triggered, right?"
White Night smiled and said, "Yes. If you still chose to stay and offer help when the countdown ended, you could trigger that ending."