I created a foundation

“Swish! Swish! Swish—!”

More afterimages, like a violent storm, covered the entire body of "Miss Mary".

In an instant, its body was cut into countless irregular, wriggling fragments.

"—?!"

For the first time, a clear expression filled with disbelief and extreme pain emerged on that blurry face whose facial features could not be seen clearly.

It can't figure it out.

It cannot be understood.

Why? Why could this mortal, seemingly as weak and filled with the same delicious fear as those prey before her, actually touch him with her body? Her attack could actually cause such devastating damage to him, enough to shake the very foundation of his existence?!

It let out a scream filled with resentment and malice, piercing enough to penetrate the soul. The torn pieces of its body tried to reunite and merge.

But Eriri's attack continues.

Her attack, which had completely lost its rationality and was full of instinct, was like a never-ending storm, which ruthlessly and again and again tore its every attempt to reorganize into pieces.

Finally, after more than ten seconds of one-sided "massacre", the cursed, immortal spirit of "Miss Mary" finally reached the upper limit of the damage it could withstand.

Its torn and shattered spirit, with a final wail filled with despair and unwillingness, quickly and irreversibly melted and evaporated like snow exposed to the sun, eventually turning into specks of black light dust and completely dissipating into the air.

The icy cold it brought also disappeared.

The desk lamp in the room, which had gone out due to the interference of the spirit, flickered a few times and finally lit up steadily again, emitting a warm, orange-yellow light, illuminating the entire room as bright as day.

Everything has returned to calm.

It was as if the suffocating terror that had just occurred, enough to drive one mentally ill, was just an absurd, unreal nightmare.

Eriri's arms, which were waving wildly, gradually and weakly stopped because she lost her target.

She was breathing heavily, her clothes were already soaked with sweat, all her strength was drained away, her legs went limp, and she collapsed to the ground.

She slowly opened her golden eyes that had been closed for a long time out of fear.

It was very quiet in the room.

There was only the heavy gasping sounds of her and Itamaki Kiyo, who had survived the ordeal.

The scary black figure in the red dress disappeared.

Ying Lili was a little confused. She spread out her hands and looked carefully in the light.

Those hands, slender, white, with distinct knuckles, belonged to a painter, invaluable hands. Not a trace of blood stained them, nor were there any signs of struggle.

"What...what did I do?" she muttered to herself, her mind still blank, completely unable to comprehend what had just happened. Her memory only lingered on the moment when the shadow pounced upon her and she screamed.

"Little...Little Yingli..."

On the side, Itamaki Kiyo, who was also in a state of surviving the disaster, looked at her with eyes full of extreme admiration and disbelief, as if he were looking at a god or a savior.

"You...you're so powerful..." She trembled, pointing to an empty place in the room, "You...you just...beat it...away!"

In her vision, she only saw that her good friend Eriri, at the most critical moment, burst out with an incomprehensible, god-like power. Amid screams, at a speed that could not be captured by the naked eye, she beat the terrible monster into oblivion!

Just when Eriri felt even more bewildered and confused by her friend's words.

"Crack, snap, snap."

A burst of crisp, unhurried, appreciative applause suddenly rang out from the corner of the room.

The two girls were startled at the same time and looked in the direction of the sound.

In the shadow of the corner that should have been empty, a tall figure was slowly walking out of the darkness.

It’s Lin Qing.

He had an approving smile on his face, as if he was appreciating a rough but perfectly ended play, as he looked at the blond girl who was slumped on the ground with a confused look on her face.

Chapter 0039: Congratulations, you are now a qualified investigator

The crisp, unhurried applause seemed extremely abrupt and extremely... weird in a room that had just experienced a life-and-death catastrophe and was so quiet that only the sound of breathing could be heard.

The nerves of Eriri and Itamaki Kiyo, which had been stretched to the extreme due to fear and had just relaxed a little, were suddenly tightened again.

They looked in the direction of the sound and saw a tall figure slowly walking out from the darkest corner of the room where the light could not fully illuminate it.

The person who came was none other than their junior from the same school, the mysterious president of the firm, Lin Qing, who was not supposed to be here.

"Lin...Mr. Lin?!"

The moment Eriri saw him, the shock that appeared in her golden eyes was even more intense than when she had "torn apart" Mary with her own hands just now.

"You... why are you here?!" she screamed, her voice becoming a little sharp because of excessive surprise.

When did he come in? Has he always been there?

Then, didn't he see the utter panic and tears of fear that he and his friends had just shown?!

When she thought of this, a strong, indescribable feeling of shame instantly surged onto Eriri's cheeks, making her face, which was already red due to fever, even hotter.

Lin Qing did not answer her question which was filled with shock and shame.

He simply walked calmly up to the two girls who were still slumped on the ground, and looked up and down carefully at the blond girl whose face was flushed and who was almost burying her head in her knees in embarrassment, with a look full of scrutiny and amusement, as if he was admiring his most proud work.

After a long time, he seemed to have finally finished appreciating it. He nodded seriously and began his "work review" in an authoritative tone, as if a teacher was commenting on a student's final work.

"Yes, Not Bad."

He first gave a general, positive affirmation.

Then, the conversation began with merciless and venomous criticism.

"Although, the entire response was extremely ugly and disorganized," he commented bluntly. "Rather than a fight, it was more like a child cornered in a corner, closing their eyes and flailing their arms around like a shrew. There was no beauty or skill to speak of."

"Furthermore," he glanced at the girl's face, puffed up with shame and anger, and continued, "that scream you unleashed at the end was far too piercing. According to our Foundation's internal rating standards, its decibel level and penetrating power were enough to be classified as an S-class area-of-effect mental pollution attack. It's incredibly lethal, and it doesn't distinguish between friend and foe."

Hearing these sarcastic, mocking, and mean comments, Eriri's face flushed like a ripe tomato. She was shaking with anger, her teeth nearly breaking.

This bastard! The devil!

How could anyone say that about a weak girl who had just risked her life to defeat a terrifying monster?!

Just when she was about to explode with shame and anger and was about to jump up and fight this hateful man.

Lin Qing's voice, miraculously, once again became gentle and full of approval.

"but……"

The amusement on his face disappeared, replaced by a sincere affirmation that came from the heart.

“…The result was good.”

"When faced with a terror so utterly terrifying that it would cause most adult men to mentally collapse, you didn't completely give up, nor did you let fear take over. At the most critical moment, you didn't choose to flee alone. Instead, you subconsciously stood in front of your friends."

His gaze became deeper.

"Most importantly, you relied on your own strength to protect the people you wanted to protect. This alone is enough to offset all the ugliness and shamefulness of the process, and you deserve the highest recognition from the Foundation."

This evaluation, which started out negative and ended up being positive, was like a roller coaster ride, causing Eriri's mood to fluctuate dramatically from hell to heaven.

She stared at Lin Qing, stunned by the genuine, unpretentious approval on his face. The anger she'd felt at being ridiculed instantly vanished without a trace. Instead, she felt an indescribable sense of joy and relief at being recognized.

"So, congratulations, Sawamura Spencer Eriri."

Lin Qing's tone became solemn and formal. He slowly extended his right hand towards the girl who was still slumped on the ground.

"From today on, you are no longer an 'apprentice'."

"You are now a qualified and genuine SCP Foundation investigator."

Looking at that clean, slender hand that seemed to possess infinite magic, Eriri's heart couldn't help but skip a beat.

She passed the test.

She... was recognized by this powerful and mysterious man.

Just as she was about to reach out and hold the hand that symbolized recognition and acceptance, a thought that made her wake up instantly suddenly popped into her mind.

"Wait!" She suddenly raised her head, her golden eyes filled with disbelief and overwhelming shame and anger. "A test?! You mean... all of this, from the very beginning, was a test arranged by you?! You... you were watching this the whole time?!"

"of course."

Lin Qing nodded as a matter of course, with an expression on his face that seemed to say, "Isn't this just natural?"

"It is the duty of every responsible manager for the boss to inspect employees' onboarding assessments and evaluate and score their work performance."

His shameless remarks, which were full of capitalist flavor, made Eriri's anger, which had just subsided, suddenly flare up again.

This bastard!

She felt like she was being played around by this evil-minded man from the beginning to the end!

However, just when she was about to lose her temper, Lin Qing's expression suddenly became serious.

His gaze passed over the angry Eriri and fell on the phone with a shattered screen belonging to Itamaki Kiyo lying on the ground not far away.

He slowly withdrew his hand, his eyes becoming deep and solemn.

"but……"

He spoke slowly in a serious tone that made Ying Xili's heart tighten.

"Don't be too happy too soon."

"Things are not completely over yet."