37: Chapter 37 The Return of the F-Rank Repairman

When Lin Jin tumbled out of the teleportation array, his first reaction wasn't pain.

It was the noise.

Sirens. Footsteps. The sound of instruments. And the countless exclamations of people outside the examination hall.

"Someone came out!"

"Quick! Medical team!"

"Confirm vital signs!"

"The Abandoned Hospital instance is still collapsing, seal all subsequent entrances!"

The blinding white light made Lin Jin's vision swim.

He knelt on one knee, his right hand gripping the rusty wrench tightly for support.

The wound on his shoulder was still hurting.

It wasn't the pain of an ordinary wound.

Instead, it was a stinging pain like thin needles constantly drilling into his flesh.

The contamination hadn't completely disappeared.

It had just been temporarily suppressed as he exited the instance.

The Hand of Rules soon displayed a prompt.

[Current Status: Exited Abandoned Hospital instance]

[Hospital Identity Link: Disconnected]

[Contamination Erosion: 43% → 38%]

[Note: Partial instance contamination has been stripped away by the teleportation array]

[Residual Contamination: Stable]

38%.

Lin Jin let out a partial sigh of relief in his heart.

At least it hadn't continued to approach 50%.

But the next line of the prompt made his heart sink again.

[Special Record Residual: The Hospital has recorded your face]

[Status: Inactive]

This thing was still here.

In other words, the Abandoned Hospital hadn't completely let him go.

It just couldn't reach him for the time being.

"Lin Jin!"

Chen Ye's voice rang out from the side.

He had almost rolled out from the other side of the teleportation array, his shield hitting the ground with a "clang".

The next second, he lunged over and grabbed Lin Jin's arm.

"You're still alive, right?"

Lin Jin looked up at him.

"That's a very polite way to ask."

Chen Ye let out a heavy sigh of relief.

"If you can still be sarcastic, then you're not dead."

On the other side, Shen Tingxue also walked out of the teleportation light.

She was much steadier than the others.

Although her face was pale, her posture remained straight.

It was just that the frost on her palms was much dimmer than before entering the instance.

Clearly, that trip to the Abandoned Hospital had taken a significant toll on her as well.

Liu Hang and the Short-haired Girl were also teleported out.

Both of them collapsed to the ground almost simultaneously.

Liu Hang touched his face, crying as he did so.

"It's still there…"

"My face is still there…"

The Short-haired Girl hugged her knees, shaking so much she couldn't speak.

That they could come out alive was already close to a miracle.

And outside the teleportation array.

The examination site had completely exploded.

All the teachers, examiners, medical personnel, and members of the Abyss Processing Bureau were rushing towards this side.

The instructors originally responsible for the combat examination had expressions uglier than the next.

Because they knew very well that this Abandoned Hospital instance had completely exceeded the standards for the newcomer examination.

E-Rank instance.

Yet a B-Rank Rule Unit had appeared.

It even involved remnants of the God System.

Once this matter was reported, the entire Jiangcheng education system would be shaken.

A middle-aged examiner walked over quickly, his voice urgent.

"All examinees, accept contamination testing on the spot!"

"Do not move!"

"Do not make physical contact with each other!"

Chen Ye was about to speak when he was held down by two medical personnel.

"Don't move!"

"You have residual contamination on you!"

Chen Ye immediately became anxious.

"I'm fine!"

"I just feel like vomiting a little!"

The medical personnel were expressionless.

"Wanting to vomit is also one of the reactions to contamination."

"…"

Chen Ye shut up.

Lin Jin's side was also quickly surrounded.

A detection beam scanned his entire body.

The instrument had just scanned his hand when it immediately emitted a harsh alarm.

[Contamination residue abnormal]

[Professional status abnormal]

[Rule contact traces abnormal]

Three anomalies popped up in succession.

The expressions of the medical personnel around him changed instantly.

One of them immediately shouted:

"High-risk contamination contact!"

"Prepare for isolation!"

Chen Ye's expression changed, and he wanted to break free.

But Shen Tingxue spoke first.

"He cannot be isolated using standard procedures."

Everyone turned their heads.

Shen Tingxue raised her hand.

An ice-blue professional emblem appeared in her palm.

The professional core aura of an S-Rank Ice Phoenix Mage spread out.

Many people on the scene changed their expressions.

Shen Tingxue's voice was calm, yet unquestionable.

"There is rule-type contamination inside the Abandoned Hospital instance."

"Lin Jin is a core Repairman."

"If you treat him with standard contamination procedures, it may trigger a secondary rule backlash."

Once this was said, the medical personnel hesitated as expected.

They could ignore a regular examinee.

But Shen Tingxue was different.

An S-Rank professional.

And one of the most watched newcomers in this examination.

No one dared to completely ignore her words.

Just then, a man wearing a black uniform walked over.

He wore an Abyss Processing Bureau badge on his chest.

He wasn't old, in his early thirties, with sharp eyes.

"Everyone, step back."

As soon as he spoke, the medical team immediately stepped aside.

The man squatted down and looked at Lin Jin.

"Is your name Lin Jin?"

Lin Jin nodded.

The man's gaze fell on the rusty wrench in his hand, then on the damaged emblem tightly clutched in his palm.

"Brought out from the instance?"

Lin Jin didn't answer immediately.

The Hand of Rules did not give a danger warning.

But he still didn't fully relax.

The man seemed to see his vigilance.

"Abyss Processing Bureau, Jiangcheng Branch, Gu Changye."

"You can temporarily understand it as me being here to clean up this mess."

Chen Ye muttered from the side.

"This mess is pretty big."

Gu Changye glanced at him.

"So you'd better say less, lest the report gets even thicker."

Chen Ye immediately shut up.

Lin Jin looked at Gu Changye.

"What happened to the Abandoned Hospital instance?"

Gu Changye looked up into the distance.

The phantom of the Abandoned Hospital was still hanging in mid-air.

Only now, it was collapsing piece by piece.

The walls were cracking.

Windows were falling off.

Black contamination drifted out from the cracks like smoke, only to be absorbed by the surrounding containment arrays that had long been set up.

"The instance core has been shut down."

Gu Changye said.

"It won't continue to spread for the time being."

"But it hasn't completely disappeared."

Lin Jin's heart sank.

As expected.

The Old Archives Room shutting down did not equal the death of The Hospital.

It just cut off a key connection.

Gu Changye continued:

"Before you went in, the Abandoned Hospital was assessed at E-Rank."

"Now it has been temporarily upgraded to a C-Rank containment instance."

"But according to the fluctuation records you brought out, at least a B-Rank Rule Unit appeared inside."

His gaze fell back on Lin Jin.

"It is very abnormal that you all could come out alive."

Chen Ye couldn't help but say:

"What do you mean by abnormal?"

"We fought for our lives to get out!"

Gu Changye said indifferently:

"Fighting for your life doesn't mean you can come out."

Chen Ye was choked up.

Lin Jin actually smiled a little.

"He is right."

"Under normal circumstances, we should have died long ago."

Gu Changye looked at him with a bit more interest.

"You are very clear about this?"

"Clearer than you imagine."

Lin Jin raised his hand.

The old Maintenance Worker 07 emblem lay quietly in his palm.

The surface of the emblem had lost its luster.

But the two characters for "Maintenance" were still clear.

The moment Gu Changye saw the emblem, his eyes finally changed.

Not shock.

But a deep vigilance.

"Hand this thing over to me first."

Lin Jin didn't move.

Chen Ye and Shen Tingxue looked at Gu Changye simultaneously.

The atmosphere instantly became subtle.

Gu Changye frowned.

"This is a dangerous instance item."

"According to the Abyss Management regulations, it must be recovered."

Lin Jin raised his eyes.

"It is not an instance item."

"It is a remnant of a Maintenance Department identity."

Gu Changye's eyes narrowed.

"Who told you that?"

Lin Jin didn't answer.

Because at this very moment.

The emblem in his hand suddenly became slightly hot.

A prompt only he could see appeared.

[Maintenance Department old emblem has detached from The Hospital entity]

[Current binder: Lin Jin]

[Warning: Forced contact by non-binders will trigger file self-destruction]

Lin Jin looked up, staring at Gu Changye.

"You cannot take it."

Gu Changye was silent for a few seconds.

"Do you know that your current situation is very troublesome?"

Lin Jin nodded.

"It's been quite troublesome since the day I awakened as an F-Rank Repairman."

This statement left Gu Changye speechless for a moment.

In the distance, several Department of Education officials were rushing over.

One of the men in a suit had a terrible expression.

"Captain Gu!"

"These examinees must immediately accept isolation review!"

"Especially this Lin Jin!"

"We suspect that he triggered an unknown contamination mechanism inside the instance, causing the examination accident to escalate!"

Chen Ye exploded the moment he heard this.

"Bullshit!"

"If it weren't for Lin Jin, your shitty examination site would have exploded long ago!"

The man in the suit's expression darkened.

"Examinee Chen Ye, please watch your attitude!"

Chen Ye sneered.

"Watch my ass."

"You used an E-Rank instance as an examination site, and it turned out to have a B-Rank Dean hiding inside, and now you want to shift the blame to us?"

The scene went quiet instantly.

Many examinees and teachers changed their expressions.

This was too blunt.

But it was also the truth.

The man in the suit's face was livid.

"Do you know what you are saying?"

Chen Ye was about to continue retorting when Lin Jin raised his hand to stop him.

Lin Jin slowly stood up.

He still had blood on him.

The white coat had disappeared after the teleportation, leaving only his damaged school uniform.

But the black patterns on the back of his hand were still there.

The wound on his shoulder was also still there.

He looked at the man in the suit.

"I can accept the review."

"But I want to submit the instance abnormality report first."

The man in the suit said coldly:

"The report is compiled by the examiner group; it does not need to be submitted by a student like you."

Lin Jin smiled.

"Are you sure?"

He raised his right hand.

In his palm, a dark red metal card slowly appeared.

[Ward 105 original maintenance record copy]

The moment the card appeared.

The phantom of the Abandoned Hospital suddenly shook.

Gu Changye's expression changed abruptly.

"You brought the file out?"

Lin Jin nodded.

"Legally borrowed."

Chen Ye added from the side.

"The kind with proper procedures."

Gu Changye looked at them with a complex gaze.

And the man in the suit, although he didn't know what it was, instinctively felt something was wrong.

"Hand it over immediately!"

Lin Jin looked at him, his voice very calm.

"This file records the reason for the loss of control of the Abandoned Hospital instance."

"It also records the evidence that the examination risk was incorrectly assessed."

"Are you sure you want me to hand it over to you right now in front of everyone?"

The man in the suit's expression changed instantly.

Because many teachers, examinees, and Bureau members around had already looked over.

Shen Tingxue spoke at the right moment.

"I can testify."

"There was a serious grade assessment error inside the Abandoned Hospital instance."

Chen Ye raised his hand.

"I also testify."

Liu Hang's voice was still a bit shaky, but he gritted his teeth and said:

"I can also testify."

The Short-haired Girl nodded with red eyes.

"Me too."

The man in the suit's expression became completely ugly.

Gu Changye looked at this scene and suddenly smiled.

"That's enough."

"I'm taking them with me first."

The man in the suit said anxiously:

"Captain Gu, this does not comply with the Department of Education procedures!"

Gu Changye looked at him indifferently.

"This is now an Abyss contamination accident."

"It falls under the Bureau's procedures."

"If you have any objections, go find my superior."

The man in the suit's face was livid, but he didn't dare to stop him again.

Gu Changye turned and said to Lin Jin:

"You guys go to the contamination detection room first."

"It's not isolation; it's a protective check."

"Especially you."

He looked at Lin Jin.

"The things you brought out will make many people unable to sit still."

Lin Jin was not surprised.

From the moment he got the Ward 105 file copy, this matter was no longer just an examination.

Behind the Abandoned Hospital instance, it involved the Department of Education, the Abyss Processing Bureau, the No. 9 Forbidden Zone, the God System remnants, and his father, Lin Shoushan.

Next, the real trouble was just beginning.

Just then.

The large screen at the distant examination site suddenly flickered.

The instance scoring system, which had already collapsed, actually lit up again.

Everyone's attention was drawn to it.

The screen first showed a patch of static.

Then, lines of text slowly appeared.

[Abandoned Hospital instance examination settlement in progress—]

[Team survival count: 6]

[Core contamination spread: Blocked]

[Ward 105 isolation rules: Rebuilt]

[Old Archives Room connection: Shutdown]

[Comprehensive contribution statistics in progress—]

The scene went completely quiet.

The next second.

The ranking popped up.

[First place: Lin Jin]

[Profession: F-Rank Repairman]

[Comprehensive contribution: 91.7%]

[Evaluation: Exceptionally excellent]

Dead silence.

The entire examination hall.

Completely dead silence.

Those who had previously mocked the F-Rank Repairman, those who thought he was just a dead weight, those who were waiting to see him fail the examination, were all staring at the big screen now, unable to say a word.

Chen Ye was the first to laugh out loud.

"See that?"

"F-Rank."

"First place."

Lin Jin looked up at the screen.

He didn't smile too obviously.

He just let out a soft breath.

But the next second.

The evaluation on the screen suddenly flickered.

The four characters for [Exceptionally excellent] were crossed out.

A new evaluation slowly appeared.

[Recommended admission: Jiangcheng First Combat Academy]

[Special note: This student is not recommended to enter the regular combat department]

[Recommended to transfer to—]

The text stuttered for a moment.

Then.

A line of text appeared that stunned everyone.

[Rule Maintenance Special Class]

Gu Changye saw this line of text, and his eyes suddenly sank.

The man in the suit's expression changed drastically.

"Rule Maintenance Special Class?"

"Wasn't this class canceled twenty years ago?"

Lin Jin gripped the rusty wrench.

The maintenance emblem in his palm was slightly hot.

At the same time.

A new prompt appeared before his eyes.

[Volume 2 Main Plot Activated]

[Combat Academy Arc]

[Mission: Find the second wrench]