Chapter 527 This Girl is Tough
It was a scorching August day.
Daphne and Evan both jumped into the organization's selection process; she was just seventeen back then.
In the jungle assessment, Daphne moved like a cat, sprinting towards the finish line.
The test was straightforward: the first ten to reach the end would move on to the next round. Daphne had no clue where the others were; she just knew she had to give it her all.
There were folks from the organization trying to stop them along the way.
A gunshot echoed, and a blank bullet zipped past Daphne.
She had no weapons and wasn't allowed to carry any, so she had to rely on her agility to dodge.
A guy hiding in a tree watched her. He raised an eyebrow and said to his buddy, "This girl's got skills; she dodged that."
The dude next to him had his face painted in camo, making it impossible to see what he really looked like.
He was Benjamin, a twenty-three-year-old assessor for this test.
"Keep an eye on the ones behind," Benjamin said, his eyes locked on Daphne, his deep voice still carrying a hint of youth. "I'll go meet her."
"Are you serious?" His buddy grabbed him.
Benjamin's lips curled into a slight smile. "We can't let her pass that easily."
Efren Harris, the guy next to him, thought, 'Easy? With all these traps, only about twenty out of hundreds are still in the game.'
Benjamin didn't even glance at Efren's expression. He climbed down from the tree and stealthily moved towards Daphne.
This was their turf.
For Benjamin, catching up to Daphne without making a sound was a piece of cake.
Daphne had no idea she was being watched. She was skilled, but not as much as she would be in the future.
Plus, her stamina wasn't up to her future standards either.
Seeing she was about 600 feet from breaking out of the jungle and reaching the finish line, Daphne pushed herself to run even faster.
But after a few steps, she saw someone with an indistinguishable face standing right in her path. Judging by his aura, she knew this guy was trouble.
She didn't stop; she tried to bypass him.
Seeing her move, Benjamin raised an eyebrow.
In all the assessments he had done, this was the first time someone tried to run away instead of facing him head-on.
Benjamin quickly intercepted Daphne, holding back a bit on his first move.
With just one move, Daphne was forced to step back.
She frowned, staring at him, trying to figure out a way past.
Fighting was out of the question, and slipping away didn't seem realistic either. This guy's skills, reactions, and predictions were all better than hers.
"If you can last ten minutes against me, I'll let you pass," Benjamin said, his mind focused on testing Daphne's abilities, completely ignoring her pretty, pure, and slightly stubborn face.
Daphne asked, "Can you make that call?"
In the past, she might have taken a closer look at this guy.
But today, her mind was only on the assessment.
Plus, with the camo paint on Benjamin's face, she didn't care about his appearance.
"I can," Benjamin said, his lips parting slightly, sounding lazy but steady.
Daphne didn't waste any more time and quickly engaged him. Once she faced him head-on, she realized why he gave her ten minutes.
Forget ten minutes; even lasting five was brutal!
She had never felt what it was like to hit someone as solid as iron until now.
Every time she clashed with him, it felt like hitting an iron rod. He was unfazed, but she felt the pain.
After another hit, Daphne was forced back several steps.
She gritted her teeth and charged forward again, clutching a handful of dirt she had quickly grabbed from the ground.
At the moment of clashing with him, she pretended to attack and then threw the dirt at him, quickly slipping away with a feint.
Benjamin noticed and turned, letting the dirt hit the back of his head, reaching out to intercept the escaping Daphne.
Daphne quickly struck, hitting him without hesitation.
Benjamin calmly countered.
In just a few seconds, they exchanged several moves.
Benjamin made a swift and decisive move.
Daphne blocked with both hands, but due to inertia, she was forced back several steps.
When Benjamin thought she would charge again, Daphne endured the pain and sprinted towards the forest's edge, reaching her peak speed for the day.
This action made Benjamin see her in a new light.
He didn't chase after her but returned to the tree.
Efren couldn't see what had happened and curiously asked, "Did you eliminate her?"
"She passed," Benjamin said, still looking in the direction Daphne had left.
Efren's eyes widened in curiosity. "Did she beat you?"
"No," Benjamin replied lazily.
"Then how did she pass?" Efren was extremely curious and then had a thought. "Did you let her pass because she's pretty?"
Benjamin gave him a sidelong glance, his eyes speaking volumes.
"Then tell me how she passed," Efren stopped joking, knowing Benjamin was cold and heartless, uninterested in romance.
Benjamin tapped his head with his finger, "Using this."
He then recounted what had happened.
After hearing the full story, Efren was extremely surprised. "This girl is something else, thinking so quickly."
Knowing to run without hesitation instead of staying to fight for ten minutes in such a moment, her brain was impressive.
"How much of your strength did you use against her?" Efren asked.
Benjamin replied, "All of it."
Efren was stunned. "Are you crazy?"
"I just wanted to test her, but her reactions and skills were good, so I wanted to understand her abilities better," Benjamin spoke casually, glancing at the time and smiling.
Efren asked, "Why are you smiling?"
"Look," Benjamin handed over his cracked watch.
Efren looked down and saw several cracks on the face of Benjamin's frequently worn watch.
Efren looked at the watch, then at Benjamin's slightly curved lips. He tentatively asked, "Did that girl do this?"
"Yes," Benjamin didn't take it off.
Efren clicked his tongue. He thought, 'This girl is tough.'
"You stay here and watch; I'll go to the finish line," Benjamin got down from the tree, casually throwing a sentence over.
Efren agreed.
After all, for this assessment, Benjamin was supposed to be waiting at the finish line.
Daphne was just unlucky to run into him.
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