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Chapter 39: 39

Do demons exist on earth?

What kind of demons? Metaphorical demons? Or religious devils?

Gu Jun knew that his way of interpreting this word, “demons”, was a part of the test . From the interviewer’s perspective, the candidate’s understanding of the questionnaire could reflect the person’s consciousness, personal attributes, and beliefs .

The demons that were on his mind right now were religious devils . However, he was unsure about this understanding . At the moment, were there any demons that were unable to be understood by science?

If it was a few months ago, he would have said not . Now, it was different . Just as the timing was passing the 5-second mark, he replied, “Yes . ”

The moment he replied, the 3 interviewers swiftly scribbled on the documents in front of them . Gu Jun had no idea what was the ideal answer . Conventionally, a solution similar to the perfect response would yield 2 points, a vastly different answer would be 0points, lastly 1 point for a neutral reply .

The square-faced man on the left asked again, “Do u wish to go to Heaven after death?”

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“Yes”

“A stray dog dropped into the ocean and drowned . Does that make you sad?”

“Yes . ”

“A stranger passing away compared to a dog’s passing . Which of the 2 tugs your heart more?”

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Now, that’s a really odd question . Based on the different scenarios, the answer would drastically change . Immediately, multiple considerations drowned Gu Jun’s mind .

What if that stranger is a murderer? What if the dog is my best partner for years? Why didn’t I think of a good man and an evil dog? Do I believe that dogs are kinder than man?

Is it my personal attributions and understanding of the world?

After some thought, Gu Jun had to choose, “Somewhere in between . ”

“Do you enjoy intense emotion and passion?”

“Somewhere in between . ”

“Do you think a maniac is despicable?”

“Yes and no, somewhere in between . ”

Regardless of how Gu Jun responded, either frowning in thought or the answer quickly slipping out of his mouth, the 3 interviewers remained cold and expressionless . The square-faced man speaking had remained monotonous with an un-fluctuating tone .

“As a doctor, will you save the life of an evil man?”

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This stumped Gu Jun again . This was a question of his morals . As a medical practitioner, the correct answer was to save this man . They should do their job and leave the judgement to the law practitioners . However, there was no way that reality would be this simple . Times where he would wish to not save someone was bound to occur . Gu Jun replied, “Somewhere in between . ”

“Do you think your past is real?”

Yet another odd question leaving Gu Jun with much to think about . He had even linked his thoughts to the double-slit experiment of quantum mechanics . Then, he replied, “Somewhere in between . ”

“Is knowledge the greatest power?”

Deep in thought for 2 seconds, Gu Jun replied, “No . ”

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“Do you crave for power?”

“Yes . ”

“The meaning of life, the limit of science and the truth of the universe, do you care about them?”

“Yes . ”

“For these answers, will you risk everything?”

Gu Jun fell into silence again . Risk everything? This was a weighty and absolute statement, however, if he could really get all his answers .

He replied, “Somewhere in between . ” He could ignore his own safety, but he did not wish to hurt others .

“Do you trust in familial relationships?”

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“Yes . ”

“Do you trust friendship?”

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“Yes . ”

“Do you trust love?”

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Gu Jun’s quick answers stalled . Love? This thing is so much more complicated .

He believed that there were criteria to all love, but would everything that met the requirements be considered love?

He replied, “Somewhere in between . ”

“Do you believe that there are more esoteric philosophical truths than humans on this earth?”

Pausing for a while, Gu Jun’s thoughts circled wildly . Humans are such a minuscule portion of life, how could we have already understood everything on this earth?

He replied, “Yes . ”

“Do these truths surpass the importance of your family, friends, and lover?”

Suddenly, a dense dark cloud loomed over his heart and formed without his knowledge . With a light sigh, he replied, “Somewhere in between . ”

Again, another stroke was written onto the document by the square-faced man .

As the questions were asked one after another, Gu Jun replied everything within 5 seconds . Towards the end, they all fell into a trend of morally grey questions . Even Gu Jun could sense his own thought model . However, it was foreign to him and not the same as his own perceived morals .

He had also gotten a far more profound understanding of this unusual personality test .

Usual tests were like the “Cattell’s 16 personality factors questionnaire”, testing for 16 different personality types like Social Boldness, Emotional Stability, Reasoning, Abstractness . There were also other tests like Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, testing Introversion and Extroversion, Neuroticism and Psychoticism . Also, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and many more .

Unlike the conventional test, the test he was doing seemed to measure his understanding of human beings, aliens, material, spiritual, right and wrong, and others . From these, they then assessed his personality type from the unknown personality types within the secret department .

By the time the question and answer ended half an hour later, Gu Jun had answered possibly more than three hundred questions .

“Do you think you are important?”

“Somewhere in between . ”

When Gu Jun finished answering this question, the man with a square face nodded slightly . “Okay, the test is over . ” Despite that statement, the test did not end there . He continued saying, “Gu Jun, I will now say a word . After which, you have to use this word to construct a sentence quickly within 2 seconds . ”

Gu Jun nodded . This was a projective test, to stimulate and bring out the subconscious thought processes of a person .

“Alright, then we shall begin . ” The square-faced man then said, “Noble . ”

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“This is a noble piece of work . ” As Gu Jun spoke, he realised something peculiar . He mentioned, “noble work” and not a noble person .

“Indescribable,” the interviewer continued .

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Some thought later, Gu Jun said, “that lady had an indescribable beauty . ”

Did this reveal his subconsciousness? No, he had thought about this . This was his conscious answer .

Evidently, the interviewer had noticed it too . 2 seconds was already a very short period . It was already more succinct than the 3 seconds that were used for word relation tests . In that timing, it was rare to see anyone be able to consciously think before answering, even if the thinking was involuntary . Should the answers be thoughtful, there was no way for the test to reveal the subconsciousness of the testee .

“Gu Jun, please reply within 1 second of hearing the question . ” The square-faced man had no choice but to make an additional request .

The man with deep wrinkles glanced at the woman with the long face on the right . This was the first time Gu Jun saw them with such a rich expression .

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What they wanted to reveal was his subconscious .

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Knowing this, Gu Jun thought quietly to himself .

Alright, I can’t behave so rigidly, otherwise, what would they think of the previous interview?

“Death,” the square-faced man continued .

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“Life or death, this is a question,” Gu Jun immediately responded . Alas, it was still his conscious answer, and it was affected by Cai Zixuan’s Shakespeare quote .

Again, the square-faced man did not record it down . This time, he took a stack of white paper and a ballpoint pen . Holding them, he walked over and passed it to Gu Jun . “Gu Jun, let us use the drawing method . I will show you some images on the screen . You just have to look at the screen, speak your thoughts on the images and keep drawing on the paper . Do not think, do not stop . ”

“Okay . ” Gu Jun received the pen and paper . He knew, even if he drew nonsensical doodles, it would be an excellent material to analyse his subconsciousness in the eyes of psychologists . He had no doubts about the department’s capabilities in this field .

With a deep breath, he looked at the screen . As the square-faced man pressed a button on the controller, it lit up .

The first picture was of a dull sky, covered in a dense blanket of dark clouds .

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“Sky, dark clouds,” looking at the screen, Gu Jun said as his hands began drawing lines on the paper . As his consciousness was focused on describing the image, his rapid drawings were left to his subconsciousness .

The image on the screen changed, it was a bloodied execution table; a pile of dismembered corpses; a cerulean blue sea; a close up of a housefly; black and white image of a girl by the walls…

Without stopping, Gu Jun kept describing the changing pictures while keeping up the drawing . In the process, he did not know what he was painting . However, his mind was getting a bit irritable .

As the process continued, the man with a square face kept his eyes glued on the paper in Gu Jun’s hand . Slowly, the ridges that formed on his forehead deepened . Both the deep wrinkled man and the long-faced woman stood up for a closer look .

“Gu Jun, thank you . You can stop now . ”

The screen became dark, snapping Gu Jun out of his focused state . “Oh…” After scribbling for this whole while, his right hand actually felt very tired . Wiggling his wrist, he found that the expression of the interviewers had drastically changed . Gu Jun’s heart sank and pounded heavily .

Just what did I draw?

He glanced down onto the paper . On this plain white sheet, a line of blue ballpoint pen writing was frenziedly scribbled . The handwriting formed a line of foreign words .

A line of foreign words which he could read .

Ominous, creepy and twisted .

“The fruits of darkness sprouts, shrouded by the darkness of the Abyss . The parasites of death will live with the Heavens and Earth forever . ”

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