Chapter 36 | Completion Point

Chapter 36: Chapter 36 | Completion Point

Released.

The sensor registered the force.

Han Dori looked at the number. He wrote it down.

He looked at Kai.

"Again," he said. "Treadmill. Three minutes."

Kai ran three minutes.

Stepped off.

His heart rate was significantly elevated now. The room had a slight tilt to it that wasn’t physical . just the body’s way of managing effort.

He felt the rotation beginning.

The instinct hit hard release, release, the body wanted to discharge the tension.

He held it.

The completion point arrived.

He released.

The sensor registered.

Han Dori looked at the number.

He wrote it down.

He showed Kai the three numbers.

They were not identical. But the variance between them was less than eight percent.

"For unclassified output," Han Dori said. "That variance is acceptable. Gift users run two to three percent variance. Unclassified applicants who pass run under ten. You’re at eight."

He put the clipboard down.

"Stress response," he said. "This one isn’t a test of ability. It’s a test of decision-making. I’m going to create a scenario. You respond how you’d actually respond. There’s no correct answer , I’m watching your process, not your conclusion."

"Understood," Kai said.

"You’re in a C-rank dungeon," Han Dori said. "Two other party members. One of them takes a hit from a dungeon monster and goes down , conscious but unable to move. The monster is between you and the exit. Your abilities can damage it but not kill it in one hit. The downed party member will be reached by the monster in approximately forty seconds if you don’t act. What do you do."

Kai looked at him.

He thought about it for three seconds.

"Nerve Sense first," Kai said. "Scan the monster’s movement pattern and the room’s layout simultaneously. Find the next obstacle between the monster and the downed member — anything I can use to create a barrier or slow the approach. Gale Strike Echo to push the monster off its current path , not to kill it, to redirect it. Use the redirected path to get myself between the monster and the downed member. Call out to the second standing party member with the exit coordinates. Force the engagement away from the downed member while the second member extracts them. Retreat to extraction point together."

Han Dori looked at him.

"You didn’t try to kill the monster," Han Dori said.

"I said I can’t kill it in one hit," Kai said. "Trying to kill it extends the engagement and increases risk to the downed member. The objective is extraction, not the kill."

Han Dori was quiet.

He picked up the clipboard and made a final note.

He put it down.

"Three dungeon runs," he said. "C-rank. I’ll select the dungeons — I choose sites I know well, which reduces the unknown variables for unclassified applicants. My fee is sixty-five thousand per run, paid before each run. First run in ten days , that gives you time to acquire basic equipment. No hero-grade gear required for C-rank but you need at minimum a resonance dampener and standard protective layer."

"What does resonance dampener equipment cost," Kai said.

"Forty to eighty thousand for basic grade," Han Dori said. "Don’t buy expensive for the first run. C-rank dungeons don’t require premium grade. Get functional."

Kai nodded.

He was already doing the math. Equipment, three assessment fees less than 300,000 coins total against a 228 million balance.

"One thing," Han Dori said.

Kai looked at him.

"The incident you mentioned," Han Dori said. "Two top-ranked heroes. Same incident report. I’ve been licensed for fourteen months. Before that I was in the Vanguard guild system for four years." He paused. "I know the incident you’re talking about. I’ve heard things. Not facts — things."

Kai kept his expression still.

"What kind of things," Kai said.

"The kind that make me understand why you want to go into dungeons," Han Dori said. "And the kind that make me think the dungeon assessment might not be the most dangerous part of your situation."

He held out his hand.

Kai shook it.

"Ten days," Han Dori said. "I’ll send you the dungeon details and equipment list."

"Ten days," Kai said.

====

He got home at twelve-thirty.

He hung up his jacket.

From the living room — the physio sheet sound. Shira still working.

From Mira’s room — the audio reader.

He went to the kitchen and started lunch.

Shira came to the table without being called. She positioned herself and looked at him.

"Well," she said.

"He’s taking me," Kai said. "Three dungeon runs. First one in ten days."

Shira looked at her hands.

"The output consistency test," she said.

"Eight percent variance," Kai said. "He said under ten passes."

"It’ll be lower by the first run," Shira said.

"Yes," Kai said.

"The rotation," she said. "You held it under elevated heart rate."

"You told me to," Kai said.

Shira said nothing.

Mira came to the table.

She sat. Found her bowl. Looked toward Kai.

She wrote: He agreed.

"Yes," Kai said.

She wrote: Ten days.

"Ten days," Kai said.

She lowered the board.

She picked up her spoon.

She ate.

Halfway through the meal she wrote something and pushed the board to the middle of the table between both Kai and Shira, like she meant it for both of them.

Kai read it.

Shira read it from her angle.

It said: Then we have ten days. Use them.

Shira looked at the board.

She looked at Mira.

Then she looked at the physio sheet on the counter where she’d left it.

She said, not quite to either of them: "The Gale Strike rotation generates most of its force from the elbow stabilization, not just the forearm initiation. If the elbow breaks during rotation the force disperses. The elbow has to be locked through the full cycle."

She picked up her spoon.

Kai picked up his pen and wrote it in the notebook he’d brought to the table.

Elbow locked through the full rotation cycle.

He underlined it.

He looked up.

Mira’s head was turned slightly toward where the notebook sounds had come from.

She wrote one thing and set the board face-up on the table without holding it up.

It said: She’s coaching you.

Shira made the sound that wasn’t quite a laugh.

It was getting closer to a laugh every time it happened.

Kai looked at his notebook.

He wrote two more words beneath the elbow note.

Ten days.