(8)Survival Test

The man waved his knife in front of himself and screamed, "You Nazis! How can you just stand there and do this to other human beings?!"

Omega's voice was completely unconcerned as he replied, "How do you expect to become a Hunter if you can't deal with a little light humor like this? What, do you think becoming a Hunter means you become an instant life of luxury? Beautiful woman? Designer clothes and a fancy car? You moron!"

Omega pointed a finger toward the depths of the forest. "I've been watching you. You've done nothing but complain since you got here. But when you're deployed in the Black Zone, what exactly are you going to do? Squeal and whine to the zombies that they can't murder you, that it's not fair?!"

The man, still crying, replied, "We've got three years of training to become soldiers! There's no need to make us suffer and kill each other right now! Your methods are monstrous."

Omega seemed to finally lose his patience as he snapped back, "I don't need a weepy little girl like you! I want tough guys, brothers in arms who can hold their own on the battlefield—"

The distraught and humiliated man let out a scream of anger and lunged with his knife at Omega!

In a heartbeat, Omega raised his hand, letting the knife pierce through it all the way to the hilt. A thick stream of red blood immediately began trickling to the ground, but Omega didn't show a single sign of pain. He simply looked past his attacker and yelled at the candidates, "See that? You must always control your emotions, or they'll gain total control over you."

Then he spun in place with superhuman speed and strength, ripping the knife out of his attacker's grip and slamming the hilt into the former candidate's head. The force of the blow was so incredible that the young man went flying over fifty meters before crashing back to the ground with a nearly pulverized skull.

Omega turned back to the remaining candidates. He withdrew the knife from his hand, then held it up in the air. The bright blood covering it steamed in the frigid air. "Some of you may be wondering why let that maggot stab me. After all, I'm a Hunter. I could've mitigated the attack any number of ways, including a simple dodge or even grabbing his wrist. However, the wound barely concerns me. It'll fully heal within a couple of weeks. But by temporarily sacrificing my hand, I completely neutered my opponent's ability to harm me. Moreover, I left my blood on him. That allows me to do this—"

Omega hurled the knife into the sky. Instead of falling back down, it instead soared in an arc to fly directly at the man who'd stabbed him! At the very last moment before piercing the attacker's body, the knife froze in midair, as if by magic.

Many candidates were stricken by awe, nearly forgetting their pain and fatigue. Was this what people called the "magic" that Hunters possessed? Moreover, was this really the sort of conviction and determination that Hunters were supposed to have, the willingness to accept a painful injury without flinching, then just continue fighting?

For some of the candidates, this was the first time they truly understood what it meant to be a Hunter.

Omega said, "You want to become a superior being like me? Then show you deserve the chance, maggots! Show me right here, right now, that you'll sacrifice absolutely everything to seize this opportunity! If, by some miniscule chance, you survive this test and the next… well, my dears, your ordeal will have only just begun! So make your decision. Are you willing to throw your life away to become a Hunter?!"

There weren't terribly many candidates left by this point.

Even still, about fifty walked silently out of the testing zone.

Though they'd endured the tests up till this point, they'd just kept telling themselves that they could endure the tests in exchange for the life of luxury they were sure awaited them afterward. They simply weren't prepared to deal with whatever madness drove Omega, the madness that now seemed necessary to becoming a Hunter.

One candidate muttered to himself as he walked away, "Fuck this. I might as well become a football player. At least I then won't have to throw away my life fighting zombies or mentally ill people like him…"

"Have fun tonight while you can," Omega called to the survivors. "When morning comes, your little vacation will be over."

The day passed. Night approached. Only three hundred candidates remained.