Chapter 30: Beer & Beach
Twenty minutes after the start of the test, Alexandre was lying quietly on one of the island's beaches, drinking a can of beer he'd taken from the starting area and basking in the sun.
As soon as the candidates were free to move, he'd sprinted towards this spot far away from everyone else so that he could pass the test in comfort. Thanks to his enhanced biology, he'd reached this point very quickly. "Not such a bad island after all," he murmured to himself.
Just then, two young men in military uniform broke through the treeline, one with a tablet in his hand. The other one said, "Are you sure this guy's a candidate? There's no way one of them could've run fast enough to get to this point. He'd have to be at least as fast as us, and we only have that speed because of the virus. Seems way more likely that he's just an asshole first-year student hanging out in a place he's not supposed to be."
But the first student waves his tablet in the other's face. "Justify it however you want, but the minimap clearly shows that he's wearing a candidate watch that hasn't been deactivated yet. He's definitely a Mouse."
Alexandre took one last drink of his beer, then crushed the can between his fingers and turned to glare at the two students. "Gentlemen, I'd strongly advise you to look elsewhere if you don't want to end the day badly."
In response, the two young men simply sprinted toward Alexandre. Like him, their own speed had been enhanced by the modified Virus Z to superhuman levels. No ordinary candidate could have reacted in time.
Alexandre was no ordinary candidate.
The two men arrived, reaching out nearly in unison to grab Alexandre's arms and throat and also to strike him in the face and chest. They'd clearly planned their strategy beforehand.
Alexandre simply stepped backward, avoiding the blow to his head. He lashed out with his own arms, grabbing one student's arm in an iron grip and then driving down with his own elbow to shatter the captured arm.
The assailant screamed in pain. Alexandre immediately released the wounded arm and leaped backward a meter, dodging a swift counterattack from the second student.