Dim, quiet, and empty.
This was Long Zhan's first impression upon entering the training room!
The room, roughly 60 square meters, was completely empty, with no objects or people in sight. The only thing that stood out was the middle of the concrete floor, where a one-meter square box was marked.
This was the testing area!
Illuminated by a feeble, yellowish light, that was no more than 10 watts, hanging directly above the marked area.
This was the standard setting before the S&T course began, intended to prevent new trainees from guessing any useful information.
Long Zhan was a veteran at this course, though his methods were always seen as unconventional.
Unfazed by the situation at hand and knowing what to do next, Long Zhan walked directly to the center of the marked area and stood still.
"Begin!"
The simple, clear command came from the overhead walkway directly above.
With that, a cylindrical black hood, suspended by rope, descended slowly from above, perfectly enveloping Long Zhan's head.
Although the hood was made of soft material, it was highly effective at blocking out light.
The faint, yellowish light vanished from Long Zhan's vision, leaving him in complete darkness.
The creaking sounds of various objects being moved, along with the quiet, yet still audible, rustling of footsteps, began to echo around him.
The simulated scenario was being set up right then and there.
Trainees were not allowed to leave the marked area until the hoods had been removed from their heads, or the training would be suspended prematurely. This was the rule of the S&T course.
Long Zhan, well aware of the training rules, stayed put, not moving a muscle.
The various noises continued, but Long Zhan had no way of judging what would happen once the hood was removed, or how he was supposed to respond.Nor could he tell if some of the noises being made were deliberate red herrings meant to mislead him..
Therefore, during this waiting period while the simulated scenario was being set up, preemptive speculation was the worst thing one could do.
The best approach was to remain calm, maintain absolute focus, and be mentally alert, so as to be able to react immediately once the hood was removed.
This approach embodied what the S&T course is meant for, to test students’ combat skills, mental resilience, reaction speed, and the ability to make sound decisions under pressure in the face of unexpected events.
The instructors on the elevated walkway observed the trainees' every move, taking into account every subtle gesture.
During the month-long training period, a scoring database was created for all trainees, including Long Zhan.
Weekly reviews were conducted, and those with the worst performance were dismissed. Long Zhan was well aware of the S&T course's grading system and knew he had to perform well in every training session to maximize his chances of advancing to the DEVGRU.
So, despite his familiarity with the course, he dared not slack off.
As the seconds ticked by, the room's chaos faded, restoring absolute silence.
In the silence, he could even hear his own breathing, as well as the pounding of his heart.
Whether intentional by Instructor Adam or simply inherent to Green Team S&T, the hood remained on his head.
The longer one's head is confined to a small, dark space, the more difficult it becomes to concentrate. This was especially true when standing still!This invisible external pressure bred anxiety and pressure in the human brain that was difficult to actively control or eliminate.
No matter how hard Long Zhan tried to concentrate, his mind couldn’t help but wander.
Eventually, Long Zhan couldn't even tell how long he'd been under the hood. His balance began to falter as his weight began to involuntarily shift between his feet.
This was the prelude to a complete breakdown in concentration.
"What the hell is going on? Are they making it harder for me on purpose? Is that old bastard deliberately trying to mess with me?"
Long Zhan began to grow a little anxious, recognizing that this was his body reacting to the darkness.
Even so, he kept his eyes open, so that he could immediately see as much information as possible once the hood was removed.
Then, without warning…
The black hood was whisked away, and a blinding light, almost like a flashbang, suddenly shone into Long Zhan's wide-open eyes.
His head felt like it was about to explode, and the whole world began blurring into a white haze, completely blinding him.
This was the physiological response to sudden bright exposure after a period of prolonged darkness, light adaptation!
In this situation, Long Zhan didn't close his eyes. Instead, he chose to endure the excruciating pain, keeping his eyes wide open.
This was the only way to quickly adjust to the light and see clearly what was going on in the room.
In most circumstances, closing your eyes and waiting for more than ten seconds for your eyes to readjust, would be tantamount to suicide for a special forces operator.
In real indoor combat, those extra few seconds of keeping your eyes shut are enough for the enemy to shoot your body into a sieve.
Every second less that you can spend readjusting to the light increases your chances of survival and increases the chances of you completing your mission.In situations like this, Long Zhan’s superhuman recovery speed gave him a big advantage.
In less than two seconds, the white haze in front of Long Zhan's eyes first began to blur, and then gradually became clear.As soon as he regained some of his vision, he roughly assessed the situation in front of him.
Directly in front of him was a masked man in plain clothes. He had a gun in his hand, but he wasn’t pointing it at him. He was just holding a young woman in front of him.
The moment Long Zhan's hood was removed, the young woman began screaming at him, "Help! Help me! I don't want to die here."
The man also chimed in, “Hey, come and give me a hand with this one, she’s resisting.”
Among the various scenarios simulated in the S&T course, this one was an emergency response scenario. The point of the exercise was to quickly identify the situation.Was the woman a civilian and the man a terrorist, or was the woman a terrorist and the man an ally?Long Zhan had to ID and neutralize the threat as quickly as possible.
The longer the delay, the lower the score. Conversely, the faster the response, the higher the score. This was the baseline for how this type of training was scored.Additional points covered accuracy, tactics, movements, verbal cues, and more.
Other scoring criteria included shooting accuracy, tactics, movement, verbal cues, and so on.
However, if you misjudged and killed the wrong person, all these scores would be dismissed, and the entire training session would be graded zero.
"Is it the woman? The man? Which one is it?"He had very little information to go off of, so his gun moved back and forth between the two, unable to make a decision.
As he was hesitating…
"Huh? What’s this?"
His expression changed immediately, as a chill crept down his spine, it took him less than a second to react.
0 Comments