“Good afternoon, recruits. I am Franky, and I’ll be your evaluator for today.” A man in his mid-twenties, dressed in plain black training attire, stood on a box in the middle of the field where the recruits had gathered. He looked down at the tablet in his hand, 

“I’m sure all of you are aware of why you’re here. All of you were recruited by active or past operatives who thought you had what it takes. However, that remains to be seen. I suggest you all approach the next few days as if your life depends on it. Because it does.” The man looked up from his tablet and smiled. 

“What do you mean?” A young man responded. 

“Exactly what I said. If you fail the evaluation, what do you think is going to happen? You just go back to your everyday lives while knowing of a secret global security group operating under Tokyo?” Franky asked sarcastically.

“Can’t you just erase our memories or something?” A nervous woman asked. 

“This isn’t Men in Black. But we could, we definitely could. However, it’s cleaner and more cost-effective to just kill you. That way, we don’t have to worry about the effects wearing off or you rediscovering us.” Franky said with a smile on his face. 

“You’re insane. You good damn Americans think you run the world, treating us like cattle?” Shouted one loud mouth recruit. 

“I’m Indonesian, first off. Franky is an alias, not my actual name, 2nd we work with the U.N, not the United States. Third, what part of SECRETE GLOBAL SECURITY GROUP are you not understanding? I know it’s not getting lost in translation? I’m quite fluent in Japanese.” 

“Just don’t be useless. How hard is that?” A fiery young woman said as she looked over at the recruit that shouted. 

“She's right. 40% of people pass the evaluation, and this group is filled with notable talents. The best group so far. At least, that’s what the chart says. So yeah, just don’t shit the bed, and you’ll be fine… maybe…” Franky said rather nonchalantly, clearing his throat. 

More than half the people failed these evaluations, and failure means death. Even if this group was special, some were bound to fail. Kenji looked around the group of recruits with a bit of trepidation. Everyone here was in their late teens or early twenties at the lastest. He looked over his shoulder to see Devin and Zac happily chatting with each other while most of the recruits seemed to be going into a panic. He wondered how they could treat life so lightly. 

“You said you’re the evaluator for the day? So will we have different ones each day?” Kenji asked with a sigh. 

“Finally, an actual question. Usually yes. However, this time around, our Head of Finance will be overlooking your evaluations. He won’t be able to stay long today, he has somewhere important to be, so I’ll be in charge of today's examination.” At Franky’s words, Kenji turned his head toward Zac’s Direction. 

“Hi.” Zac waved sarcastically. 

“Fuck’in great,” Kenji mumbled to himself. 

He was planning to do the bare minimum to pass. So he could survive long enough to see his father and live somewhat normally. He knew that was not an option now. 

“Are there any more questions before we begin?”

“Exactly how many days is this going to take, and will we be stuck here the entire time?” A very petite young lady asked. 

“7 days. It should be over next Friday. And no, you’ll be allowed to leave at the end of each session.” Franky responded, and the young lady let out a sigh of relief. 

“You’re letting us go after each session? What about all the Secret Security Organization stuff you were talking about? How can you just let us leave after all this each day?” The same loudmouth recruit as before blurted out.

“40% of recruits pass the examinations,” Franky said with a smile. 

Knowing how to keep your mouth shut was a hidden task for the recruits to follow through on. Running their mouths could put not only themselves but the ones they told at risk. Talented individuals gathered here, but only 40% passed. Many hidden dangers may await the recruits. Every step they took could be their last. The mood got noticeably gloomier. As everyone here now understood the magnitude of what was transpiring. They didn’t want just talented individuals. They wanted the best of the best. Franky asked for more questions, but all that met him was silence.

“Great, then we can begin. In this box that I’m standing on is training gear. Find something that fits, and run around the track 20 times. You have 30 minutes total to complete both tasks. Begin!” 

Franky hopped off the box and jumped away. As soon as he did, the group of 30 recruits rushed the box. All except for 4 individuals. Kenji, the fiery young woman, the petite young woman, and the loud mouth. All four of them sprinted toward the track's starting line and began to run. 

“It seems we all had the same idea.” The petite young woman said with a smile on her face. 

“Yeah, he never said which order. Let those idiots fight over the training gear.” The feisty woman responded as the group of four began their run. They all had been recruited and had high expectations aimed toward them. Obviously, there would be training gear available to fit them all. What was the point in fighting to get yours first? 

“Heh.” Kenji chuckled to himself. He was sure that if he was going to make the time limit, he would need to make the most of it. He didn’t want to get caught in the mad scramble and would have made do with whatever was left over. Plus, he figured he’d need a head start. He never did any physical activities outside of what was mandatory at school. Even then, he just went through the motions. 

This looked like a standard track and field track. 20 times around meant 8000 meters in total. Running that in 30 minutes was already pushing it as far as he was concerned. Those thoughts of doing the bare minimum were no longer applied. He seemed to have underestimated what they expected from them. For now, he’d do his best to keep up. 

The 4 of them finished their first lap and saw that there were still quite a few people fighting over training gear in the middle of the field. Some were frantically putting on the gear, and others were knocked out. Kenji shook his head. 

“They might as well have killed them. What are they thinking.” Kenji said to himself. 

The group of 4 finished their 3rd lap, and all 4 seemed to keep pace. This came as a shock to Kenji. He was sure that the other 3 would have widened the gap already or that he would need to take a quick break after instinctively trying to keep pace with these other 3. He could feel his breathing picking up, but he was sure he could keep going. Not only that, he felt that he could go a little faster. 

They rounded the 10th lap, and Kenji felt that he would collapse if he continued to try and keep pace with the group. He was too far in now; he knew that if he stopped, he might not get back up for a while. He grit his teeth and pushed forward. The 14th lap came and went, and Kenji could see nothing but the track in front of him and could only hear the sounds of his pants. He stopped keeping track of the other 3, having long since given up on trying to keep pace with them. He was just pushing his legs with all their strength to keep going. 

“15…16…17.” Kenji called out the laps as he completed them. He had lost track of time. No, he erased the concept of time from his mind. If he was too focused on that, he knew it would cause him to panic. 

“Just keep pushing forward, just 2 more.” He told himself as he rounded his 18th lap. 

“You seeing this, Zac?” Devin elbowed Zac in his side as they looked at the track. 

“Yeah, I see it. It’s not outside of our expectations.” 

“I guess. It's one thing to say, but seeing it, ” Devin responded. 

“20!” Kenji shouted as he passed the finished line. He doubled over after returning to the center, placing his hands on his knees, trying his best to catch his breath.

“Hands on top of your head, recruit! Stand up straight!” Franky shouted out at Kenji, who quickly changed his posture. He turned and saw Devin, Zac, and Franky walking toward him. Zac tossed a bundle of clothing at him and said, 

“Congratulations, kid. Franky, keep me posted.” Zac walked past Kenji.