[LSB] Chapter 147: Start of the Exterminator Examination

<Julian Winters is back!>

<who???>

<The Sword Junkie!>

<...the streamer?>

<Bro. The mutant!>

<Wait… was this the one i’ve been watching on the leaks? The one who got slaughtered in the stream??>

<That was his clone, and he was drugged or sumthin>

<lol. Why are you defending a celebrity? He got cucked>

<i was just stating a fact>

<This guy is back? He’s a gary stu>

<Gary stu? Bro was literally born with a disadvantage>

<???>

<Bro’s a billionaire, a superpowered mutant, tall, jacked, has connections with everyone, and handsome? Gary. Stu.>

<Yeah. And what did you think he was before? The guy’s parents was killed and was literally in debt and was just scraping to get by. Go read up on his story before you go saying that>

<Why would I do that? Lol. These sword junkiebots>

<Am I the only one who doesn’t know who this is??>

<How? You live in a bunker? This guy was all over the news just months ago before his clone got killed, and he suddenly disappeared>

<Stop glazing>

<This guy literally saved thousands of people on Mars. What do you mean glaze? He’s literally a superhero>

<lool. A superhero who got cucked by two rich kids?>

The entire internet and the metaverse were quick to go into the forums and chat rooms. Not even a minute had passed since Julian had shown himself in public again, and yet all everyone could talk about was him.

Humanity Engineering had worked tirelessly to clean up Julian’s image—but the voices of critics and haters always rang louder than everyone else.

Meanwhile, the reporter who captured his reappearance was already celebrating, snickering to himself just outside the Exterminator Association building. He made sure to stay hidden from the other journalists, so as not to get ganged up on by them for not saying anything.

As for the one at the center of it all, Julian was listening to all the whispers and breaths that he could. And when he sensed that there were now more drones flying outside the dome and capturing him, he quietly hummed to himself and turned his focus back to the receptionist in front of him.

“Yes. My name’s Julian Winters.”

“What…” The receptionist, Hannah, gasped as she looked at Julian from head to waist; still not believing he was actually in front of her, even though the system had already scanned him. She looked at the holographic display hovering above her counter, and then at him before clearing her throat and standing up straight.

“You… want to register as an Exterminator?” She asked, her words almost stuttering, “But aren’t you already—wait, you’re not in the system? You’re not an Exterminator?”

“No.”

“And… you want to be an Exterminator?” Any remnants of professionalism Hannah had were gone, if she had any in the first place. She stared directly at Julian’s face, unfiltered now that she confirmed he was blind.

“But… why? Aren’t you, like, rich-rich?”

“Is being poor a requirement to be an Exterminator?”

“Well, no, it’s—I'm sorry!” Hannah suddenly snapped back to reality, realizing how unprofessional she was being. She quickly lowered her head and once again cleared her throat.

“Okay. You’re here to take the test,” she said while typing something into the system.

“Hmm.”

“The scan says you’re… wearing some kind of suit?” Hannah squinted at Julian, and in response, he calmly unbuttoned his collar, revealing a glimpse of the vanta-black exosuit beneath.

“I’m… assuming you want to register that as your weapon of choice?”

“Can’t I have more than one? I have a few.”

“You can, but… I just need to put something on the system for now, so there’s no need to declare them all.”

“Okay.”

“O…kay?”

“You can register the exosuit.”

“Okay… right.” Hannah pursed her lips, awkwardly pointing at Julian with both her index fingers before she focused on her console again. Once she finished logging the data, she stepped away from the counter and moved to his side.

“Please follow me, Mr. Winters. I’ll take you to the testing area while I go over a few things you should know.”

“Hmm.” Julian tapped his cane on the ground one final time before sheathing it at his waist and following Hannah. Hannah was quite curious at first, staring at Julian’s closed eyes again as he watched him walk without any aid at all.

“P-please stand beside me, Mr. Winters,” she instructed, unsure whether to guide him by the arm or not. But she didn’t need to make a decision—Julian had already stepped into place next to her.

A circular platform rose from the floor, surrounding them in a low fence as it lifted off the ground and carried them away.

“We’re now heading to the testing area, Mr. Winters,” Hannah explained as she grabbed onto the railing, while Julian kept his balance perfectly without moving at all.

“There are three tests you’ll need to complete,” she started to explain as they passed by the people who were still gossiping and whispering about Julian. And of course, the drones hovering outside the dome followed them too.

“First is the Strength Aptitude Test. It has three phases. First is a neuromuscular output efficiency test, it’s just… hitting the air without any of your weapons, cybernetic upgrades, or power suits. This is to know whether you are able to work even without your tools or enhancements, and how well you work with just your body.”

“Okay.”

“The second phase is with your arsenal—your exosuit, in your case. And the third is a gravity load tolerance simulation. That one measures how well you can move under certain conditions.”

“Okay.”

“Once you complete that, you’ll move on to the Combat Simulation. The acting proctor will explain that part to you directly. And finally… Deployment.”

“Hmm.”

“That means real-world combat. You’ll be sent out on a controlled mission against live daemon threats—with supervisors, of course. But… I think there might be a case for you to be had to skip the last part.”

“It’s fine. I’ll do all the tests required of me.”

“Alright then,” Hannah said, nodding. “I’ll make sure they know you’re opting to go through everything despite your obvious… status.”

“Hmm.” Julian tilted his head slightly, trying to catch the soft hum of the drones. But between the noise, the thick walls of the dome, and their growing distance from the perimeter, it was becoming harder to track them.

He had never really paid much attention to how far his senses had developed—or just how sharply his body could now read the world around him. But now, he was listening.

To everything.

Every. Single. Detail.

Every breath. Every shift in weight. Every flicker of hostility, no matter how small. If someone so much as exhaled differently or furrowed their brows at him the wrong way, he would take note of them immediately.

He made the mistake of underestimating the lengths of just how depraved people could be. They would even kill his clone in the Otherworld for monetary gain and fame—but then again, he never truly understood how people operated.

It was Silvie who knew all of those things… and now she was gone, because of them.

[Master Julian, your heart rate is spiking again.] Femty’s voice once again whispered in his mind, [I am not detecting any health problems—would you like me to call your therapist for an emergency consultation to check your anxiety levels?]

“No.”

“Hmm?” Hannah glanced at Julian, “Did you say something, Mr. Winters?”

“No.”

“Oh… alright?”

It took another couple of minutes before the platform gently rejoined the ground. Based on the layout, Julian assumed they were somewhere near the center of the dome.

And there were a lot of people there.

“Mr. Winters, this way, please.” Hannah clapped her hands lightly and stepped off the lift. “There’s been a spike in applicants since the DCC raised the daemon bounties. All of the lines are long, but… we can skip it, if you want?”

“No.”

“I thought you’d say that,” she softly chuckled and started walking away, glancing back at Julian from time to time to make sure she was following behind her. Unlike the entrance, this part of the dome was sparse with the trees and plants, and Julian could also sense that the floor was a lot thicker and denser. There were several stages raised from the floor, and he could feel the people kicking and punching the air.

And unlike in the entrance, Julian wasn’t getting as many eyes on him, as everyone else was either busy preparing for their turn for the first test, or being anxious for their turn.

“Mr. Winters, please stand here.” Hannah said as she stood at the end of the line, “We prefer to do things the ancient way, as it gives the association a more warrior vibe.”

“Okay,” Julian hummed as he stood right next to Hannah, “Thank you for escorting me.”

“Oh… I’ll actually be with you every step of the way,” Hannah softly chuckled, “You requested a human, here I am—most just prefer to be assisted by AI, so we human staff really have nothing else to do.”

“Hmm.”

“So, if you need anything, please feel free to say it.”

“I will. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Mr. Winters.”

Hannah took a small step back, subtly distancing herself so it wouldn’t seem like she was also in line. Her eyes drifted toward the center stage, then flicked back to Julian, who had tilted his head slightly, angling one ear toward the sounds of movement on the stage.

She had so many questions about him. But alas, that wasn’t really part of her job. All she could do was take a step each time the line got shorter and shorter, until finally—

“Mr. Winters, it is your—”

Before she could finish her words, Julian was already heading toward the stage. Once again, no one was really paying attention to the person taking the test. At least, not until everyone heard his name.

[Candidate Julian Winters. We have detected zero active enhancements. You may now proceed with the first test. You may punch, kick, or otherwise exert force to the best of your ability. Our system would automatically detect the efficiency of each of your strikes.]

“Julian… Winters?”

“Wait—the Julian Winters? What? He’s here?”

Even those who were leaving for their next test, or even those who were taking their own test, quickly turned their heads toward the stage where the broadcast came from. And it wasn’t only the examinees, the supervisors and proctors also stood up straight as they heard Julian’s name.

How could they not?

Unlike the normal people from the internet and the general public, those aspiring to be exterminators, or those who already were, knew of Julian.

What he did on Mars was something that has echoed throughout the exterminator community, much more so than what happened to him in the Otherworld.

More than that, the weapons he forged for Cindy Solis and Mohinder Khan had become legendary in their own right. Videos of their capabilities had gone viral.

“He’s… taking the test?”

“I… read that he actually wasn’t an exterminator. That was true?!”

“S-shit. You think they’ll kick us out if I livestream this?!”

“We—”

The whispers of the crowd quickly turned into loud gossip and murmurs. But before their noise could actually fill the air, something sharp suddenly whispered through it—and the noise died instantly.

They all focused their attention on Julian again, only to see one of his legs extended in the air—and if they were seeing it right, there was almost a trail of something emitting from his foot.

“Did… he make that sound?”

“But wait… that’s the first test?”

“What the—he did that without any enhancements?!”

“Wait…

…what’s the reading?!”

***

[LAST CHAPTER] <-----> [NEXT CHAPTER]

...I would like to remind everyone that MEGAN/Silvie was Julian's moral compass. Also, please do holler... and I said we were going to return to a much more stable schedule... but the storms have other plans for me. House got flooded lol