Death Exam?

Cold. Bone-chilling.

When Ye Lin woke again, he found himself lying in a metal hall.

After a quick look around, his heart sank.

The hall was roughly two hundred square meters, windowless and sealed tight, with long stairways at either end like subway entrances, one leading up and the other down.

A white barrier of light enclosed the hall, blocking both exits.

The bad news: Huang Liang was gone, and a digital watch had appeared on his wrist at some point.

The good news: he still had the gun. He had grabbed it just before the final second ran out.

Quietly tucking the pistol behind his waist, Ye Lin surveyed his surroundings without betraying anything.

Under the dim lights, six students in assorted school uniforms huddled against the walls, their faces pale as they exchanged frightened looks.

Seeing that everyone had awakened, a short but muscular boy in the southwest corner was the first to stand.

"Everyone, you all look like newcomers. This should be your first exam."

"In that case, why don't I explain the exam rules?"

He Zheng paused briefly with a smile, as though confirming something, before speaking again:

"First, congratulations on entering the Death Gaokao. My name is He Zheng.

"Here, all exam content has been replaced with horror movies and disaster scenarios."

"The Insect Race, the apocalypse, zombies, Vengeful Ghosts... you'll die in ways beyond your imagination."

"Of course, there are benefits too. Once an exam ends, you can return to the Death Exam Space for a short rest and exchange your points for anything."

"One point buys a million in cash, ten points buy a rocket, and a hundred points buy a Superpower Bloodline. Of course, I'd advise against exchanging them for money. That stuff is garbage here."

Raising his wrist, He Zheng gave a cold laugh and pointed at his watch:

"The exam starts in three minutes. The details will appear on this. Don't try taking it off. Even if you cut off your hands and feet, this thing will instantly appear around your neck."

"Rookies, I hope you can earn the sixty points you need to buy your lives."

With that, He Zheng tapped his watch in satisfaction. But when he looked up at everyone's panic-stricken faces, irritation welled up inside him.

A bunch of rookies. This round is going to be a pain.

"A friendly reminder: the exam starts in two minutes and fifty seconds. You can ask me questions during these two minutes. After that, I'll charge ten for every answer..."

Before He Zheng could finish, a boy in a blue school uniform suddenly stood and backed away in terror:

"What death exam?! You're saying there are ghosts and monsters here?!"

"No! I don't want to stay here! Let me go back! I want to go back!"

The boy scrambled toward the protective barrier at the rear, heading for the door on the second floor.

He had no idea how he had gotten here, but something was clearly wrong with this place. He didn't want to stay another second!

Just as the boy was about to run out of the barrier, He Zheng's expression changed. He rushed forward and violently dragged him back.

Before the boy could react, He Zheng, furious and seemingly reminded of something, raised his hand and slapped him. The blow was so powerful that it sent the boy flying, sliding several meters across the floor.

"You fucking moron! If you want to die, do it later!"

He Zheng hurled abuse at the boy in the blue uniform, shaking the blood off his hand.

Stunned by the sudden turn of events, everyone stared at the boy whose mouth was now full of blood. He Zheng's slap had knocked out several of his teeth and nearly killed him.

Ignoring their horrified stares, He Zheng turned toward the others and snapped:

"What the hell are you staring at? I was saving him!"

"Anyone who leaves the protective barrier before the exam starts gets blown up! If you want to leave, you have to complete this exam. If you want to return to reality, you have to complete ten exams and collect twelve hundred points!"

Seeing that everyone was still frightened, He Zheng suppressed his impatience and forced an ugly smile:

"All right, one last question. After that, introduce yourselves. It'll be about time for the exam to start."

"Any questions after that cost ten points each!"

Though everyone still had questions after He Zheng finished, none of them dared utter a word.

To them, He Zheng's strength was astonishing. He was shorter than the boy in blue, yet his strength scarcely seemed human.

"I have a question."

Ye Lin slowly stood in the corner.

He thought he had figured out why the Security Bureau had approached him.

A death exam?

The students' uniforms came from different provinces.

Apparently, around six days ago, more than ten million students had been taken into this place, throwing society into chaos.

To find out what was happening inside, the authorities had resorted to every means available, even using a death-row inmate like him.

Seeing that Ye Lin still dared to ask a question, everyone turned to him in surprise.

Ignoring He Zheng's impatience, Ye Lin spoke softly:

"According to you, we can exchange points for things after each exam. So you bought all that strength?"

"That's right."

He Zheng folded his arms and sneered.

"I'm physically stronger than a special forces soldier now, so you'd better behave!"

"Don't try fighting back. Unless you have a gun, I can kill every last one of you by myself."

"Good."

Ye Lin nodded earnestly. A second later, the muzzle of a pistol pressed against He Zheng's forehead.

"Hand over your points. All of them."

He Zheng: ???

Silence suddenly fell. Everyone stared in shock at He Zheng with the gun pressed to his forehead.

But no one was more shaken than He Zheng himself.

"How do you have a gun?!"

"You're not a newcomer? No, you definitely are! The system notification can't be wrong!"

His expression turned utterly grim as he stared hard at Ye Lin, as though trying to bore a hole through his face.

"Kid, aren't you afraid one shot won't kill me? That I might have other abilities?"

Unable to believe he had been caught out like this, He Zheng demanded angrily.

Ignoring his murderous glare, Ye Lin chuckled and answered casually.

"No."

"If you really had other abilities, you would have shown them already."

"When you tried to save him just now, pulling him back would have been enough. You didn't need to slap him afterward. You wanted to show how strong you were, but any other ability would have made a better demonstration."

Ye Lin tilted his head, his gaze sweeping over He Zheng's watch:

"You get a reward for explaining the rules, don't you? And you're afraid someone will beat you to it. You even waited a moment before you started speaking."

"I'd guess the reward is ten points. You like that number. Someone who covets even ten points has probably spent everything on strength and is too broke to buy a gun."

He Zheng was stunned. He hadn't expected Ye Lin to notice even that.

"What do you mean, too broke to buy a gun?! That's because those things are often useless! But how did you know there's a reward for explaining? And where did you get that gun?!"

Seeing He Zheng explode as though he had struck a nerve, Ye Lin found it amusing:

"Simple. If there were no reward, someone with your personality probably wouldn't bother talking, much less tell him to die later. Most likely, the reward isn't issued until the barrier disappears."

"The best way to get points out of us would actually be to tell us nothing."

"As for my gun, all you need to know is that it's loaded."

Ye Lin smiled, not bothering to explain further.

He Zheng was a novice. If the boy in blue's question could anger him, it meant he had no hope of ever getting out himself.

He Zheng was speechless. After a brief silence, he snorted and spread his hands.

"Fine, you guessed right. I never expected a newcomer to have the guts to threaten me."

"But I'm not giving you my points. You have to pay at least sixty points each exam. If I give them to you now and can't scrape together sixty, I'll still die."

"Unless I have some left over at the end, you're not getting a single point."

"Fine."

"But anything over sixty is mine."

Without another word, Ye Lin stepped back half a pace and put the gun away.

His response startled He Zheng. He had never imagined Ye Lin would agree so easily.

"Wait, you're fucking leaving it at that? Aren't you afraid I'll go back on my word? Or find a chance to kill you later?!"

"Even with a gun, you'll have to turn your back on me sometime!"

"No, because you can't kill me."

Ye Lin smiled, seemingly unconcerned.

"Stop pretending. Teammates can't kill each other, only injure each other. Ever since I pointed the gun at you, you've been angry, but you haven't reacted much beyond that."

"I don't believe you're unafraid of death, much less that you can't die."

"The only explanation is that members of the same team can't kill each other. Otherwise, you wouldn't need to trade answers for points."

He Zheng was stunned, but the more Ye Lin explained, the more confused he became.

"Then what was the point of all that?! Deliberately pissing me off?! Or showing off how smart you are?!"

"No."

Ye Lin turned away, examining their surroundings as he spoke.

"I only realized I couldn't kill you after drawing the gun. After all, how would I know without trying?"

"I threatened you to prove my worth."

"Things are going to get dangerous. I don't like leaving the decisions in someone else's hands. Without that confrontation, do you think you'd pay any attention to a newcomer?"

"As for whether you'll retaliate, I think it's unlikely."

"Rather than get me killed to vent your anger, I think you're more likely to cooperate."

Having finished surveying the area, Ye Lin turned back and smiled at He Zheng.

There was one thing he hadn't said: people who had killed had a different look in their eyes.

"Fuck...!"

After hearing Ye Lin's explanation, He Zheng couldn't help cursing under his breath. Seeing everyone watching him, he felt his face burn:

"What the fuck are you staring at?!"

"Tell me your names, all of you!"

"Just because I can't handle this guy doesn't mean I can't fucking kill you!"

With that, He Zheng turned away, the anger on his face vanishing instantly. Watching Ye Lin's back, he blinked thoughtfully.

"This guy... might be interesting..."