Reincarnated as an Energy with a System

Chapter 1864: Judges

In a room with no lights turned on, except for the light from the monitor screen that filled the wall from end to end, a group of people sat with a pen and clipboard, watching the wannabe heroes... try to be heroes on the screen.

”You know, I’ve read that a real tsunami can cover an entire city. If there were ever one just 50 meters high, it would easily cover the mere 16 blocks we have and much more.”

”Well, we don’t have the resources to have an entire city at our disposal, now do we?” someone said. ”It’s already incredible enough that Void helped us create just these 16 blocks.”

”Hey, I’m not complaining. Just saying that should a real tsunami come, these heroes need to learn that they would need to help evacuate more than just a couple of high-rise buildings.”

Someone sighed to the side.

”How many more minutes until the tsunami?”

”12 more minutes.”

”Some of the heroes are only just arriving on the scene,” someone laughed. ”How are they supposed to help anyone with this time? They would themselves get swept up by the tsunami having arrived this late.”

”Look at that guy on monitor 5. He just crashed that doll onto the balcony railings. Someone remember to mark him down.”

”He’s done a horrible job all throughout the day. I don’t think we need to worry about whether he will pass or not.”

”What about that satyr girl? She just punched that man in the face.”

”Her power allows her to transfer the weight of her punches into her targets, decreasing their weight by a similar amount. It makes it easier for her to rescue the people.”

Everyone there was a judge, giving out or taking away points for each person they noticed on the screen, their actions, their inactions, and everything in between.

And these were not the only people at all. Multiple such rooms were set up all around, meant to evaluate each hero with a degree of reliability.

”And what about that guy?” one of them spoke again. ”The one on monitor 8.”

A few people looked up, a helpless smile on their face.

On the screen, Ning jumped down from a window, carrying a small ’child’ in his embrace. Halfway down, he transformed into a bat and flew away from the area, taking the child to a location 2 blocks away from the tsunami-prone zone.

”Hasn’t he passed already?”

”Yeah, I don’t think there’s much concern there.”

”We’ll still have to go over the report from the folks on ground level. So long as his attitude ain’t half bad, he’ll be a hero.”

”Any info on who he is? I can’t believe there’s someone that powerful and I’ve never heard about it. Is this his first time?”

”New timer, and his agency decided to not reveal his powers. Not sure why.”

”Probably because it makes for quite the surprise. Because it definitely did.”

As the timer got closer and closer to the moment of the tsunami, they got harsher with their judgment, the entire room growing silent as they focused on the monitors.

And then, when the timer hit 0, the announcement was made. Everyone who was not away from the zone in that time were marked accordingly.

”Phew! That’s done,” one of them said, finally placing down their clipboard. ”What’s for lunch today?”

* * * * *

The test was over. It hadn’t gone by as long as it could have, but Ning was told that these things tended to go quicker when many people were helped quickly.

Everyone working had a certain number of troubles to get into, and if those were taken care of within the first hour, then they had nothing else to do. They couldn’t just go against the plans set up from the start.

All the workers smiled as they walked away, each leaving through a designated gate toward the west. The heroes were meant to return to their own gates they had come from, so Ning did as much.

Ning could see the sullied expression on many of the heroes that walked along with him, all of whom were certain that they had more or less failed the test. There were a few that were nervous, unsure whether they could pass or not. And only a very few seemed sure that they had done well enough.

Considering how few people actually passed these things, Ning feared they were more confident than they ought to be.

Once he arrived back at the gate, the gate shut down and they waited around.

A few people struck up a conversation with one another, but those were quickly squashed as a group of people walked in.

”Thank you all for your participation. If you don’t mind waiting around for a few more minutes,” the woman in charge of the group said. ”Please enjoy the refreshments we’ve brought along. We’ll be calling you individually for an exit interview shortly.”

Ning grabbed a bottle of... well, he wasn’t sure what it was. He flipped it around the back and read the details, only then realizing he had grabbed a hydration drink.

Not that he needed one, but he still chugged it down quickly. He did like drinking something cold after such a long day. Not a few minutes passed and the first among them left for an interview.

Each person’s interview lasted no more than 5 minutes before the next one was called. One by one, the herd thinned and Ning was finally called on the 6th turn.

Ning stood up, the eyes following him as he was shown the way to a door with two guards standing on each side.

He walked through the door and found an empty chair in the middle of a white room, with 3 interviewers sitting at a desk on the other side.

On the left was a drow woman. In the middle was a fat dragonborn. And on the right was a 3-feet-tall female gnome.

Ning walked over to the seat and sat down, ready for his interview.