Filling Out the Test

The kneeling, weeping man stopped burning paper in the flames, his eyes filled with distrust and disgust as he looked at the man in black.

"What nonsense are you spouting?" The man seemed to think the man in black was mocking him, treating his three children's situation as a joke. He hadn't considered any other possibilities, so his tone was very harsh. "I don't need your suggestions. I just want my family to rest in peace. Please stop saying such strange things and stay away from me."

"Hehe..." A calm chuckle came from within the black robe. "I was being presumptuous."

He turned and left after saying that, seemingly having no intention of continuing the argument.

The man kneeling on the ground twitched at the corner of his eye. He was the one who chased the person away, but for some reason, when he recalled what this strange person had said, he had a feeling that she might have missed something.

That person left so calmly that it was impossible to imagine what the point would have been if he were a conman, and what he would have said after all.

He stared at the black-robed man's retreating figure, not calling out to him until he disappeared, but a seed was ultimately planted in his heart.

Yu Xing watched this scene with a cold eye and clicked her tongue.

When there is no turning back, people will probably despair for a while, then get up and look for another way out, or self-redemption. But if someone tells you that you have other options, whether you believe it or not, you will always waver.

This man in black robes is far too adept at playing hard to get.

White mist surged, and soon everything disappeared before Yu Xing's eyes. The image of the man burning paper gradually receded from him, and his vision began to darken until it was completely black. A familiar drowsiness washed over him, and Yu Xing, in his soul state, also fell into a deep sleep.

There was a cool, hard sensation on her hand. Yu Xing frowned in her sleep, instantly waking up and opening her eyes.

The empty and deserted classroom immediately came into his view. He was still wearing the high school summer uniform that he felt a little uncomfortable in, sitting in the seat that belonged to "Ye Qin". In front of him was a test paper that had not been changed except for his name and class. The thing in his hand that had a cold touch was a pen.

He returned, back to the examination hall where he was supposed to take the test.

Yu Xing glanced subconsciously at the corridor and the window. Both sides were no different from before. There were no stars in the sky, and a dark and oppressive feeling enveloped the air. The corridor was also empty. This kind of environment always made people feel uneasy.

Humans are social animals. When a person is in a large and empty environment, if they have the feeling that "it seems like I'm the only person left in the whole world," they will become very uneasy and anxious. As psychological pressure increases, even their judgment may be affected.

But this wasn't a big deal for Yu Xing. He glanced at the clock on the wall and confirmed the exam time.

The exam time, which was written on the blackboard earlier, was from 11:30 PM to 4:00 AM the next day. Now, the clock on the wall has already pointed to 3:30 AM. It seems that after he came out of the simulation, the system only gave the participants half an hour to answer the questions.

With half an hour left, Yu Xing took a moment to process what he had been thinking, finally managing to bring his somewhat scattered thoughts back to normal after traversing different levels. He thought for a moment and decided there was no rush to answer the questions.

He had enough time, and he already had the answers to these questions in mind. So, he should take advantage of the fact that his memory was still fresh to sort out the information about the black-robed man who appeared in the white mist.

Although the man in black robes didn't do anything in the scene he saw, it's easy to infer from this conversation that it must have been because of the man in black robes that the three siblings' father went from being a man who had let go to becoming the culprit who confessed to the devil's deeds in the church.

Who is the man in black?

Since it appears at the end of this deduction, and is not openly related to any of the content of this deduction, but rather appears as a behind-the-scenes mastermind, it means that this role is definitely not limited to this one deduction.

Otherwise, there would be no need for the system to arrange for the simulator to witness this scene.

However, when it comes to traversing various seemingly independent simulation instances, carrying out behind-the-scenes planning and conspiracies, causing originally peaceful worlds to become distorted, based on the information Yu Xing has come into contact with so far, he can only think of one person, or rather one organization, among the "NPCs".

Wizard.

The title "wizard" once appeared in the Auroran Town, where his indistinct Zaun doll offerings were produced. The Brown family was harmed by a so-called wizard who tricked Angel, turning the poor girl and her home into chaos.

The wizard wanted to collect 44 souls to offer to his faith, hoping to bring it back from hell. The conversation also mentioned a cult, suggesting that he was a member of a cult in some overworld.

As the wizard fled at the end, he said that this was only a fragment of his soul, and that the real him was far more powerful than that fragment.

Alice, the manager of Alice's Park, whose original purpose was to punish criminals, also fell into darkness and became a true ghost because of a rose given to her by a Great Wizard.

He didn't know if the wizard who lured Angel was the same person as the Great Wizard who gave Alice the flower. Maybe not, since a sect couldn't possibly have only one follower. Coincidentally, when the wizard in Angel's instance escaped and emerged from Alex's body, he was also dressed in a black robe. And if he wasn't mistaken, that black robe was exactly the same as the robe worn by the black-robed man who had just seduced the three siblings' father.

Regardless of the "Great Wizard" in Alice's Park, the culprit in Angel's divination world and Yu Wan's divination world must be from the same cult.

The two men in black robes had completely different personalities and demeanors, so they were different people, but in essence, they belonged to the same organization.

In Yu Wan's world, the black-robed man he had just seen had a more imposing and composed aura. Perhaps this black-robed man was closer to the "Great Wizard" that Yu Xing had only heard of, but in any case, he was no good.

It was as if he had been told all along that there was a strange force in the simulation instances, and that they could enter different simulation instances, just like the simulation participants.

The difference is that they have appeared in various timelines, so they are probably not players from other systems or deducers. Rather, they are local forces combined with the words of Angel's family. Perhaps their method of traveling between different worlds is to separate a part of their soul and put it into other worlds.

Yu Xing didn't know exactly how many people were in this organization, but since it existed, it meant that some diviners must have encountered them. His current level was still relatively low, and if he wasn't mistaken, some of the higher-ups among the diviners should have already made contact with the main world where the wizards lived.

This is his third encounter with wizards, and this time it wasn't even through his own efforts to uncover clues about wizards; rather, the system forcefully presented the existence of wizards to him after the dungeon ended.

What does this tell us?

This indicates that subsequent team competitions will definitely be related to this.

Perhaps the neutral world that the so-called Experience Master System and Deducer System don't fully control is actually the main world where the Wizard Cult resides. That would be interesting.

Yu Xing squinted and recalled. He usually didn't deliberately try to remember unimportant daily events, so he forgot them quickly. But he could remember things he had deliberately observed for a long time, including all sorts of details.

He had memorized the voice of the man in black robes. He could tell that the man hadn't disguised his voice, and if he saw him again, he would recognize it immediately.

Furthermore, the other person's walking speed, the figure and appearance of the black-robed man were all shrouded under the robe and could not be seen clearly, but the general outline was still enough to identify him. With his walking posture and aura, Yu Xing was confident that even if the scene changed and the other person changed his clothes, he could still recognize him by the details.

If the system actively throws out such a significant clue, it would be a waste of the system's efforts if we didn't remember it properly.

After carefully organizing and memorizing this information, Yu Xing smiled.

His own spot in the event was practically guaranteed; now it was just a matter of whether his teammates could surprise him. Regarding this simulation, he was most confident in Zhao Mou and Qu Xuanqing. Although Brother Jiu had been improving, he was still not very good at this kind of solo simulation that relied heavily on mental exercises. As for Carlos... he just wanted to know just how far this Magician Carlos could go.

As expected, Carlos will get a spot, but Yu Xing knows that Carlos has been hiding a lot, including his true strength. Even after forming a team, this unpredictable Magician still gives him a sense of danger. Don't be fooled by Carlos's cheerful and carefree attitude; it's just a well-disguised facade.

He didn't regret having such a teammate; after all, the more secrets there were, the more it would pique the curiosity of someone like him who loved to have fun.

What he was most curious about was how much of his strength Carlos would reveal for this spot, as it would determine how much Carlos truly valued the team. If Carlos genuinely intended to stay with the team long-term, he would likely use this pre-event activity to reveal some of his abilities, giving his teammates a chance to "discover the truth."

Yu Xing had only glanced quickly at his surroundings before lowering his head to think, because he didn't want to be accused of cheating by an invigilator whose very existence he didn't know, just because of this look-around action.

Now, like a real student taking an exam, he thought for a long time before finally putting pen to paper to write his answer.

Little did anyone know that he wasn't thinking about anything related to the exam questions at all. Even if a student is daydreaming in class but nods occasionally, the teacher might think he's listening very attentively.

Yu Xing looked at the test paper again. The words on the paper hadn't changed, but after he filled in his name and class, he could now understand the subsequent content that appeared on the paper.

The content of the article above is roughly the same as the process he went through after entering the deduction: "I" went home and started cooking, tutoring my sister, and chatting with my brother. In short, it was an ordinary but fulfilling day.

Apart from the first line, the novel doesn't mention the parents at all, but the whole thing is very peaceful, just like the daily life of any normal family. The system clearly doesn't allow the deducers to take any shortcuts with this article, only giving them the most basic daily life, which at most helps them a little bit with their memories of the day they first entered the deduction.

After scanning the entire article, Yu Xing stopped paying attention to the article itself and looked at three questions.

[1. If you were to rename this novel, what title would you give it? (10 points)]

[2. Please find the objects in the text that have special symbolic meanings, write down their names and corresponding meanings, and find at least six. (5 points each, 30 points in total)]

[3. What should be the order of death for this family? Please briefly describe your thoughts. (60 points)]

He picked up his black pen and wrote in the answer box for the first question.

"How much I regret not telling my childhood friend that I liked her sooner."

This is a 10-point question. In fact, there are too many elements that can be used as questions in the entire deduction process. In Yu Xing's understanding, the deducer should be able to answer from any aspect, as long as the format is the kind that Yu Wan finds interesting.

The answering technique for this question was also given to the deducer on the first day. On that day, the deducer and Yu Wan took an exam at school, and Yu Wan specifically mentioned to the deducer an essay topic she saw when she collected the test papers during the Chinese exam.

On the feasibility of teachers serving as gardeners, lighthouses, and candles.

Although Yu Wan said the topic was absurd, she also implied it was very interesting. Ye Qin's consciousness, inside the deducer's body, asked, "You like interesting people?"

Yu Wan said that everyone likes interesting people, implying that she liked this kind of topic and hoped that Ye Qin could step out of his aloof and bland state and become a little more interesting.

The answer is obvious: as the examinee "Ye Qin," writing a question in this format and tone made it more "interesting" by catering to Yu Wan's preferences, so it should be a perfect score.

It must be said that this deduction system is very cleverly designed and adept at scrutinizing details. If the deducer is careless, they will miss the opportunity to get the correct answer and will rank lower when filling out the test.

Yu Xing answered the next question with ease.

"The black cloth symbolizes the shroud, the Female Ghost symbolizes the mother, Ye Ming's car symbolizes the paper car, and the broken cable symbolizes the timeline of the day the three siblings were killed..."

Yu Xing thought for a moment and added at the end.