"Beep. Message failed to send. Examinee Li Tianyang, ID D18712, has entered an Examination."
"What the hell!?"
He Zheng snapped back to his senses, his face paling in shock as he stared at the watch on his wrist in disbelief.
"How did he enter an Examination? Didn't he come back with us?"
"It's not time yet!"
He Zheng blurted out the question, instinctively turning to the others.
But all three looked just as bewildered and uncertain as he did.
There was still more than a day before the next Examination began. Even if Li Tianyang didn't want to team up with them, he couldn't possibly enter early.
A few seconds later, a possibility occurred to An Ke, and she ventured uncertainly:
"Maybe he entered a special Instance? Like the Examinations you unlock with a key. He might have a similar item, so he could enter early without waiting for the Examination to start."
An Ke's explanation only left He Zheng more confused.
He understood what she meant, but why would Li Tianyang do that?
"Then why take a Makeup Examination? Even if he wanted to, couldn't he team up with us first? Has the kid lost his mind? Why insist on going in alone?"
"Maybe... the Instance he opened only allows one person inside?"
Huang Liang frowned deeply, trying to offer a reasonable explanation.
"There are two possibilities."
"First, Li Tianyang has a special item that can open a solo Examination. He didn't want to waste it, so he wanted to use it before joining our team."
"Second, he drew a high-difficulty Examination. To replace it, he had to start a Makeup Examination. He was worried about dragging us into it, so he went in alone."
When Huang Liang finished, everyone frowned. Both possibilities were plausible, but