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Chapter 156 - 155: Second Round of Selection

After the greeting barrage, the mockery ensued.

"You want to join the Dimensional Limit Mechanism? Don’t you have any self-awareness?"

"Why would they recruit you, to watch you kneel and beg in front of criminals?"

"Betting a spicy strip, you’ll definitely be eliminated."

"Everyone be polite, otherwise there’s no fun to watch."

This close-quarter mockery made Jiang Siqi’s eyebrow twitch, but recalling her sponsor’s presence, she immediately restrained her emotions, treating them as insignificant noise.

The line moved forward slowly, with buzzing sounds constantly emanating from up ahead.

She interacted with her fans while observing the screen—a prerequisite for joining the Dimensional Limit Mechanism was having abilities, so the preliminary screening, like previous tests, required standing inside a device resembling a security gate for a moment, and the panel above the gate would report a score. The baseline was 50, with no upper limit; scores below 50 indicated a very low probability of possessing any abilities.

The buzzing electronic sound came from the detection gate.

Through the large screen, it could be seen that registrants’ scores were mostly above 50, with some exceeding 100, indicating they weren’t just curious visitors trying to see if they had abilities but generally knew they possessed and could use abilities.

Last time she tested at 52 points, just over the line.

As for the detection principles and who invented these machines, Jiang Siqi had no idea.

On the other side, Chen Xuan posed the same question.

"How does this thing evaluate abilities?"

"No clue, it’s company tech too." Lin Qing truthfully replied, "All I know is that early detection tech was quite primitive, only able to roughly judge if one had abilities and their strength. To specifically determine a Wanderer’s abilities, mainly relied on inquiry."

Torture and truth serum-assisted inquiries, right?

Therefore, Fei Wuniang was indeed treated well by them after being captured, leaving records in the database.

"No wonder you’re looking to apply. Turns out they can’t precisely discern your abilities..."

"Exactly. That’s why I said it’s the rare flaw that the Mechanism shows—the employees aren’t criminals lurking in the shadows, they at least can’t openly use coercion to force applicants to disclose truth." Lin Qing said, munching on chips, "Of course, the Mechanism isn’t completely incapable of discerning abilities... after all, this is just a branch, even those devices recording intrusion shock waves are likely imitations of headquarters’ machines."

In other words, if enemies get suspicious, taking people to headquarters for inspection isn’t impossible.

"And later stages?"

"Then it splits... we stop relying on abilities, fighting with prosthetics instead." Lin Qing replied.

...

At this moment, Jiang Siqi finally reached the front of the line.

"I remember she barely made the pass line last time?"

"Quickly step up, let’s see if you’ve improved."

"Unless your determination shattered in these days, and you’ve regressed!"

The mocking barrage peaked during this time.

She took a deep breath, walking into the detector. Waiting a full ten seconds with no sign, causing her a pause-time illusion, as if the wait had been years long.

When the buzzing finally sounded, the surrounding erupted in surprised discussions.

Eager to move through the machine, Jiang Siqi turned to find the screen showing 178! She wasn’t the first over 100; others barely exceeded, while her number was nearly hitting 200!

The chest camera caught the moment too.

The barrage exploded!

"This machine must be broken!"

"She pulled it off, others failed, being overrun by a rookie!"

"Magical Girl rules!"

"Wow, that’s my idol’s strength! It’s still time to apologize!"

"Looks familiar..." People around scrutinized her, "Wasn’t she on that accident-prone variety show, named Si Tian?"

Pressing her pounding heart, Jiang Siqi pretended not to hear, moving to the next test table—the recent gloom swept away, her steps felt incredibly light.

The second preliminary step was simple, completing a registration form, photograph, and ID copy... same as ordinary recruitment.

Jiang Siqi noted the form required honest declarations of abilities, awakening time, and usage cost (if any), just reading through the content seemed professional.

It was her first time hearing that using abilities entailed a cost.

Swiftly, she completed the form... Jiang Siqi disclosed three abilities truthfully, except for awakening time, lying that they awakened alongside her Flame Magic.

Of course, viewers didn’t see the filling process.

Handing over documents, she was directed to a tent for a short wait, where prior gate-passers gathered.

Entering the tent, eyes turned her way, with looks both familiar and uncertain. In a way, they’re competitors yet peers, creating an odd atmosphere.

Fortunately, awkwardness didn’t last long, soon an attractive young man approached, "Thank you for waiting, I’m Wang Baihu, and next names I call have passed the preliminary, follow me to the next stage."

And the first name he announced was Jiang Siqi!

She felt so moved, almost tearful.

Endless exams and contests since childhood, always at low ranks, though striving hard never matched those gifted ones. Unexpectedly, at the Mechanism’s recruitment her chance to lead! Despite just being one of the first across the preliminary, and with days left in the event, it was gratifying.

The stream began shifting too.

More viewers turned to support her, even occasional mockers were quickly drowned.

The second round took place inside the job market’s large conference hall.

The format was unexpectedly written test.

"Greetings, everyone!" A man in a pink suit stood onstage, warmly greeting, "Let me briefly introduce myself, I am Xiao Canong, the Jiang City branch’s head of the Dimensional Limit Mechanism! Whether you pass the assessment to join, it’s up to me! My most admired trait is honesty, so this test’s core is being truthful!"

"Help! His taste is oddly peculiar."

"Is the Mechanism capable, with him handling recruitment?"

"Get him offstage, the earlier guy seemed fine, call him back!"

"Agreed!"

The audience flooded with critique.

A recruit loudly asked, "Mr. Xiao, are there no restrictions to this test?"

"None whatsoever." Xiao Canong smiled, "Use phones, AI, even collaborate! Only requirement, honesty in all answers. You have 30 minutes, hurry before the next batch arrives."

Jiang Siqi received her paper.

Since there seemed no anti-cheating intent, she immediately aimed the camera at the paper.

Ten questions total, keen viewers wrote the first on the barrage.

"Do you think Ability Users differ from ordinary people? If so, which excels?"

Thank goodness, not advanced calculus.

Jiang Siqi relaxed, though graduating in June, she seemed to forget everything taught.

"Your thoughts? Any scholars help me answer!" She whispered into the camera.

An influx of diverse answers hit the screen.

Jiang Siqi wouldn’t copy a viewer’s response, merely engaging with atmosphere. Regarding answering, she’d follow the man in pink’s advice—answering with sincerity.