Chameleon: My True Face 178 Records

"That's highly likely indeed," General Clark agreed with a smile. "The battle for top ten will be especially competitive. Everyone should do their best in the initial stages of the selection." 

"Don't worry, if you guys don't make it into top ten, we can let you crash at our rooms," Anna assured and looked at General Clark. "I hope that is fine?" 

"Well…" General Clark scratched his head and pretended he didn't hear her, looking at the sky. "The weather is really nice today, don't you think?" 

Anna grinned, knowing very well what he meant. As long as no one saw or heard anything, it was fine. Rules were there as a guide but the last decision of how to deal with any situations belonged to them.

"I don't think there will be such a need but I will keep that in mind," Wuxing replied in gratitude, noting down such a solution in his mind. As long as Dongmei didn't suffer, he was fine. 

As he spoke, Ash continued, moving to the last part of the announcements. 

"Now that everyone has their own card, we can finally start the competition. If you look at your cards, the display will show a thirty minute timer. You have only this much time to figure out what will be your strategy for today. Once the timer hits zero, your cards will activate, allowing you to take part in the activities and earn more points." 

The timer set off on everyone's metal cards, adding to the tension. Most of the participants still weren't sure what to do yet they only had thirty minutes. 

"You should take this time to look around the participants' area get yourself familiar with the place. If you are not sure how to navigate inside the camp, there is a new tab added in your metal cards. A map. It will show you your position as well as all activities inside the base. Take your time to explore it on your own," Ash explained further. 

"If anyone wonders what happened with your baggage and personal belongings, we will distribute them to you in the evening after checking them and finishing your evening evaluation. You will be assigned to your barracks and beach houses depending on your ranking." 

Ash looked around the plaza, trying to check if everyone understood her clearly and finally finished, "I'm think that's all from me. Let's have our leading General give you some words of encouragement."

She walked up and passed the megaphone to General Clark, surprising him. It seemed like he wasn't supposed to appear on stage at all but under Ash's call out, he was forced to stand up and take over the stage. 

"Uhem…" General Clark cleared his throat and spoke shortly, "Sometimes we need some luck in our lives so good luck! You will need it." 

He turned off the megaphone and scolded Ash while rolling his eyes, "Come on, Ash. Didn't I say I don't want to speak? I told you to handle it all…" 

"Hehe, I just wanted to see you flustered," Ash giggled, shrugging playfully. "Who knew a General like you doesn't like public appearances." 

"Only a crazy person like you would like them. I prefer to work behind the scenes," General Clark rolled his eyes and didn't bicker anymore, passing her the megaphone. "I made you the leader so I don't need to do it." 

He was already old and successful enough to be this shameless. 

The two looked to Wuxing like a pair of father and daughter who liked to argue with each other. It turned out that sometimes things are exactly what they seem like. 

"Tsk, I only came here because my mother asked me to. If not for her, I wouldn't care," Ash snickered, not caring about General Clark's status.

He didn't seem to mind it and fired back, "You are only mad because you know I sleep with your mother." 

"Pffft!" 

No one from their table could handle such a blow and covering their mouth to stop themselves from laughing. 

Ash only rolled her eyes and walked up to his plate. She took the sausage that he just ordered and took a bit bite, eating it while staring into his eyes. 

He didn't seem to want to play with fire as he didn't argue anymore. 

Ash followed his example and instead moved next to Scarlet, informing as she patted her head, "I will be taking care of this cute girl from now on. Hope you don't mind."

"Oh, you two know each other?" General Clark asked surprised but he didn't seem against it. "You are the boss. You can do whatever you want." 

'To think Ash become such an important figure already…' Wuxing thought, noting that in his mind. It wasn't too late to become close with her once again. 

"Chameleon, what will be your strategy?" General Clark switched the topics, focusing on him instead. "Will you join the other top ten members to hunt together?"

"Unfortunately, one of the members in their group tried to kill us so I'm sure that won't be the case," Wuxing expressed honestly and described mysteriously as he looked at Dongmei, "We will start slowly I think and adjust to the situation as the time goes on." 

Dongmei nodded to that and added, "Though, we are not scared to compete. We will try our best to win." 

"Good. Try to make the best use of the top ten privileges," General Clark advised to which both acknowledged him silently. 

The only one who didn't know what to do was Scarlet so she asked her new teacher, "Big sis, what about me? Won't I get eliminated if I don't earn any points?" 

"Don't worry, I will be giving you points for training with me. How does that sound?" Ash assured her. "We will start from evaluating your strengths so I know what I need to focus on." 

"Won't I trouble big sis too much? You are the big boss after all," Scarlet asked with troubled expression, looking down cutely but Ash hugged her and countered, "No, I'm actually free. I'm mostly coordinating everything." 

Scarlet looked at Wuxing for the last time just to confirm and seeing his nod, she gave in and agreed, "In that case, I will follow big sis."

——— 

When thirty minutes passed, everyone was already prepared, standing in front of their activities. Slots were of course limited so not everyone got the change to pick what they wanted. Naturally, that didn't apply to Wuxing and Dongmei. 

Although some people were mad that they were kicked from the queue, Wuxing didn't care and entered the shooting range, not bothered to look at the two glaring people. Being top ten gave them priority everywhere. 

The shooting range turned out to be built in-doors, having much more advanced technology than what Wuxing expected. Each participant had their own room for themselves which looked like the training rooms he remembered from Headquarters. 

Almost everything was automized, together with the weapons. 

Although they felt like the real deal, instead of shooting bullets, the weapons shot a laser. Targets appeared on the metal board in the distance and he had to shoot them down. If he missed, the target would disappear, replaced with another one. 

"I guess I can't blame them for opting for this version. It would be really hard to ship so many bullets just for the sake of this selection," Wuxing shrugged, not really mad at that. "Too bad I can only get two thousand points from this. I won't be able to play for fun." 

He hoped there would be a fun mode which would allow him to play for fun but there was none. It's purpose was obviously to stop people from blocking the stations from other participants. 

As a warm up, he chose the maximum of one hundred targets on the panel and picked a pistol, being more comfortable with it. His balance lowered by one hundred points but he was confident he could get them back. 

"Round start!" 

The system announced with a robotic voice and a red target appeared in the middle of the board. 

Bang!

He instinctively aimed and shot the laser bullet, hitting right in the middle of it. A quiet beep informed him about successful hit and a new target appeared right after. He didn't shoot as fast as he could, aiming properly and shot the targets one by one without thinking. 

He used to do that to relax back in the days, considering it a game. His muscle memory was still in him, moving his arms on their own. 

"Round end."

Before he knew, all hundred targets were hit with no more appearing and his stats displayed on the screen. 

_______________

Statistics:

Time: 1:12 

Score Multiplier: x0,88

Score: 88

Targets missed: 0

Record time: 1:00 (Only counted if all targets were hit)

Record score: 100

Record reward: 1000 points for each record (Distributed by the end of the day)

_______________

Seeing the records, Wuxing couldn't help but smile. 

"I guess it's the standard record set by management. I think they underestimate me," Wuxing commented, already knowing very well how this game worked. 

Each second beyond one minute mark lowered your score multiplier and each second below increased it. Each target missed lowered your score as well so the accuracy was needed for the high score. 

'Let's set up the bar high, but not that high so I can still come back tomorrow to beat my record,' Wuxing thought as he started another round, ready to unleash his power.

Chapter end