Rooms and Exchanges

After saying her piece, An Ke turned and headed straight for the rooms on the left side of the hall.

The entire hall was semicircular, with fourteen rooms arranged along the curve opposite the vortex.

An Ke chose the leftmost one.

"She...! She isn't a newcomer?!"

Watching An Ke open the door with practiced ease, He Zheng finally caught on.

How would a newcomer know about ratings? Even an "old hand" like him knew nothing about them.

Not to mention that the rooms here were special, too. A newcomer wouldn't know how to use them.

"He Zheng, um... while you were getting treated, An Ke said she'd actually survived six exams. But she'd lost all her strength..."

Behind him, Hu Jia and Zhang Tie exchanged a glance and briefly explained what had happened. Neither mentioned that Ye Lin had nearly killed An Ke, nor did they go into the details of the conversation.

Hu Jia feared Ye Lin would "get back at him." He had more or less guessed that An Ke had a secret.

Zhang Tie, meanwhile, felt it would damage the team's "bond." Besides, the two seemed to have made up.

"Fuck! No wonder it was so hard. So she was behind it all!"

"Survived six exams and lost every bit of her strength? Did she buy a Substitute Death Puppet?"

He Zheng's heart jolted, and he began cursing.

He had suspected something was off about An Ke for a while, but he had never imagined she had completed more exams than he had.

"A Substitute Death Puppet?"

"There are things here that can save you from death?"

Ye Lin raised an eyebrow. Zhang Tie and Hu Jia also looked at He Zheng in surprise.

Seeing Ye Lin's confusion, He Zheng simply explained:

"Yeah, though it doesn't exactly prevent death, and the side effects are huge."

"They cost two hundred each and disappear after one use. If you die during an exam, you can return to the first round and revive. But you lose all your enhancements afterward."

He Zheng snorted, clearly disdainful.

"If I had that many points, I sure as hell wouldn't buy one. So what if it takes your place once? You're still just waiting to die."

"Come to think of it, that chick only made it because she ran into us. Otherwise, she definitely would've died in the last exam."

Ye Lin grew thoughtful after hearing that. He hadn't expected the system to offer something like this. Its effect was incredible, but it really was of questionable use. Spending those two hundred points on enhancements might keep you from dying in the first place.

Still...

An Ke probably hadn't survived that way. Otherwise, she wouldn't have retained even a fraction of her strength.

"He Zheng, where's the exchange system?"

Without dwelling on it, Ye Lin asked He Zheng directly. He was more curious about what else the system offered than about An Ke's secrets.

More importantly, could he find that thing here? If he could...

A strange gleam suddenly flashed through Ye Lin's eyes.

The reason he had been captured was to open that tomb and find that thing.

An answer that he-or rather, the organization behind him-would pay any price to find.

Mistaking Ye Lin's interest for eagerness to enhance himself, He Zheng instinctively pointed at the dark red vortex nearby. But the moment he did, he hurriedly grabbed Ye Lin:

"Ye Lin, if you want to exchange something, just stick your hand inside. A screen of light will appear."

"But you'd better not exchange anything yet! Otherwise..."

"Otherwise what?"

"Nothing really... it's just..."

He Zheng suddenly rubbed his nose, looking a little awkward:

"Here's the thing. Didn't I tell you? After returning to the Death Exam Space, we get three days to rest. But on the second night, the system gives us information about the next exam in advance."

"If you only had a few points, it wouldn't matter much what you exchanged them for. But with this many points, you can tailor your exchanges to the exam!"

"An Ke knows how to use ratings, so you could hear her out, too. She has survived that many exams, after all."

After saying this, He Zheng let out a long sigh, his gaze complicated.

Ye Lin would be their strongest fighter in the next exam. Selfishly speaking, the better his abilities suited the exam, the greater their chances of surviving.

He Zheng might dare to risk his life, but sheer recklessness often wasn't enough.

"What types are there?"

Ye Lin nodded without committing himself.

It was only natural for He Zheng to have selfish motives, but targeted exchanges would benefit Ye Lin, too.

"Lots, but they generally fall into five categories!"

"Doomsday, supernatural, paranormal, memes, and special events!"

"Our last exam was probably a doomsday scenario. The exam area was just too small for us to encounter anything outside."

"The first two are manageable. Whether it's an insect swarm or zombies, you have a chance of surviving if you're willing to fight for your life. They don't take much thinking, either. But without targeted exchanges for the last three, you won't even know how you died!"

"Know why I don't buy guns? Because firearms are completely useless in those last three scenarios. So I've gotten used to just going in and using whatever I pick up."

At this point, He Zheng couldn't help swallowing hard.

"Paranormal? Memes? Special events?"

"Ghosts can't be killed?"

Ye Lin was puzzled. He remembered that He Zheng had indeed mentioned why he didn't buy guns.

Paranormal events were easy enough to understand, but the other two...

"Right!"

"If we run into a ghost in a paranormal scenario, all we can do is flee. Physical attacks are basically useless. Unless we exchange for talismans, peachwood swords, or something like that, we might not even be able to put up a fight."

"As for memes and special events..."

He Zheng gave a bitter smile:

"You could ask An Ke about those. I've never encountered them, only heard about them. All I know is that they're every bit as terrifying as paranormal events..."

"And they're even more troublesome. You can't even prepare specifically for them."

Ye Lin nodded.

Vengeful ghosts? If they really encountered something like that during an exam, even exchanging for a tank would be pointless.

"So you're saying we're likely to encounter one of those three types in our next exam?"

"Not necessarily, but I'm worried we might. Besides, you earned so many points this time that the difficulty is bound to go up."

Unsure whether this was good or bad, He Zheng sighed, a sudden weight settling on his chest.

Although he had earned an unprecedented fifty points this time, he knew all too well how cruel the system was.

The stronger they became, the greater the difficulty. The more exams they completed, the greater their chances of encountering those three kinds of events.

It was like being trapped in a grinding hell. The moment they stopped, they would be crushed alive. They could only keep running, surviving one day at a time.

"Let's stop talking about that. I'll take you to your rooms first."

"Honestly, this is probably the biggest perk of being here."

He Zheng suddenly changed the subject and pointed at the thirteen remaining rooms with a mysterious smile.

"Pick one each. Once you've set it up, you can't change it. So you'd better think carefully about what you really like..."

Zhang Tie and Hu Jia stared at him. Seeing his somewhat suggestive grin, they couldn't help growing curious.

Standing before Room 8, the two beside Ye Lin gaped, their eyes filled with shock.

The eighth room belonged to He Zheng. They had assumed there would only be a small compartment behind the door. Instead, they found themselves looking at a residential complex stretching for several kilometers.

People came and went through the complex, from office workers riding electric scooters to couples walking their dogs.

The traffic and long-missed bustle almost made them think they had returned to reality.

"Haha! Surprised? I was even more stunned the first time I saw it. Back then, one of my teammates created an imperial palace and became the emperor! Someone else made a stadium and held concerts for himself."

"It felt amazing coming back after every exam. My favorite thing was going to Old Wang's room to race cars. That guy wasn't afraid to spend points. He bought a whole bunch of sports cars."

"And Zhao Ming loved food. He exchanged for a yacht, so when it was time to eat, we'd head out to sea and fish. Eating a feast with the sea breeze blowing... man, that was the life..."

"Old Wang? Zhao Ming?"

Seeing the nostalgia in He Zheng's eyes, Zhang Tie couldn't help asking:

"Then where are they, He Zheng? Aren't they here?"

The moment he spoke, Hu Jia hurriedly tugged at him. Zhang Tie abruptly realized he seemed to have said the wrong thing.

He Zheng's gaze froze, and the smile gradually faded from his face.

He fell silent for a moment, then quickly shrugged as if it didn't matter:

"They're dead. Where else would they be?"

"One got bitten to death by bugs. Another fell into molten steel and got cooked alive. The rest didn't have enough points, so the system killed them."

"When those guys died, they begged me to pass messages to their parents. Idiots. Didn't they stop to think how the hell I was supposed to survive that long? Never mind getting out."

He Zheng waved a hand, though his eyes flicked toward the neighboring rooms:

"Forget that. Once you've chosen your rooms, just create whatever world you want."

"Any setting works, as long as its length, width, and height don't exceed ten kilometers. You can also create a person however you like, any race or type."

The two instinctively exchanged a glance, never having imagined the system had a function like this.

"Anyone at all? Then all these people are ones you...?"

"What are you thinking? You can only create one person. The rest are scenery NPCs, and they're stiff as hell. I like having people around, so I made an exact copy of my neighborhood."

"There. That's my girlfriend."

He Zheng raised an eyebrow. The three followed his finger and saw a rather ordinary-looking, slightly plump girl running excitedly toward them from the other end of the street.

Dropping his earlier pretense of maturity, He Zheng hurriedly wiped his face, then caught the girl in his arms as she threw herself at him.

"What took you so long to come back?! Were you out fighting again?"

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?! Get into another fight, and I'll twist your ears right off!"

Smelling the faint scent of blood on He Zheng, the girl scolded him angrily.

As though she couldn't see the three outside the door, she anxiously examined him from head to toe, searching for injuries.

"No! Didn't I tell you? I've been working for a boss lately, watching his place. It's easy work, and the pay's good. Anyway, what do you want to eat? I'll take you out."

"Ow, stop twisting, stop! That hurts!"

Holding the girl, He Zheng turned his head awkwardly:

"Ahem. This is my girlfriend, Yang Qiao. She's been with me since my delinquent days in middle school. My parents didn't care about me, so I stayed at her place every day back then. She's basically my wife."

"Don't let this fool you. We've been like an old married couple for years. I'm not scared of her at all."

Hu Jia and Zhang Tie wore odd expressions. No matter how they looked at it, He Zheng seemed thoroughly henpecked.

"She can't see us or hear us talking?"

Ye Lin asked quietly. He had noticed that inside and outside the door seemed to be two separate worlds. The girl didn't react at all when He Zheng spoke to them.

"Right. When you create someone, you can choose what they can hear and what they know. You can even alter their memories and fix them at a particular moment."

He Zheng raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

"You can even make exact copies of celebrities or anime characters you like. Give them whatever memories you want, and make them as obedient as you please."

"As long as they aren't nonhuman, the system can create them."

"But..."

He Zheng's expression grew serious as he glanced at the girl beside him.

"A friendly warning: you're better off choosing the person you most want to see. At least that gives you someone to hold on to, another reason to stay alive..."

Unlike his earlier hotheaded self, He Zheng no longer swore so freely, even though Yang Qiao couldn't hear him.

With an arm around Yang Qiao, He Zheng turned to the three, his eyes shining:

"All right, go to your rooms. Remember, think carefully before creating someone."

"The first time is free. After that, it costs fifty points! Oh, right! You can exchange for things inside your room, too. It's your private territory. Nobody can enter without permission."

"So you can store things there, too. But if you die, your room will reset before the next exam."

He Zheng waved, clearly eager to spend some time alone with her.

Watching He Zheng fuss affectionately and carefully over the girl, Ye Lin's gaze flickered.

He didn't think He Zheng saw the girl as merely a copy.

He saw her as a real person.

Clearly, He Zheng had made her his reason to keep living.

For someone else...

Struggling to stay alive?

Ye Lin fell silent. He couldn't think of anyone... anyone he would do that for.

Perhaps only himself.

"Ye Lin, we'll go to our rooms first, then?"

Hu Jia cautiously said goodbye to Ye Lin and chose Room 14, while Zhang Tie chose Room 11.

Although Ye Lin wasn't necessarily older than them, Hu Jia didn't dare address him too casually. And despite Zhang Tie's sturdy appearance, children in the northeast started school early, making him the youngest among them.

"All right."

Ye Lin nodded. After glancing back at Huang Liang, who was still receiving treatment, he chose Room 7.

Perhaps Huang Liang had chosen Simple Repair; his body hadn't fully regrown yet. Still, it looked nearly finished.

Resting his hand on the cold doorknob, Ye Lin hesitated slightly.

According to He Zheng, he could turn the room into anything he wanted. But there was nowhere he particularly liked.

As for someone he wanted to see...

Shaking his head, Ye Lin slowly pushed open the door. With a thought, the space beyond abruptly became a cramped room.

A simple iron bed and a desk. It resembled a prison isolation cell, without even a light.

In the darkness, Ye Lin walked silently to the bed and sat down without a sound.

There was nothing he particularly liked. If there was a reason he had made the room this way, it was probably because he was already used to it.

He was an orphan, taken in by the organization as a child. This place was the "base." For as long as he could remember, intensive training and study had consumed his entire life.

Over a hundred others his age were raised as tools, just like him.

Training, eating, resting, selection, day after day.

New recruits arrived every month. Those who failed were buried in the ground.

He did not know what the organization was doing, nor what those people wanted.

He had once tried to gather information on the organization, but all he had learned was that it had existed for hundreds of years and possessed staggering wealth. Beyond that, he knew nothing. It was like a ghost lurking within nations, its members all bound together by a single secret.

They seemed to be searching for a tomb, for an answer.

Then, when he was eighteen, he was pushed into an operating room. When he woke, he was told that the organization had found the Tomb.

And as the only one who qualified, he could enter it.

In the darkness, Ye Lin fell silent for a moment, suppressed his useless emotions, and softly called up the system instead.

Though he was in no hurry to redeem any abilities, he still wanted to see what the system He Zheng claimed could offer anything actually had available.

"System, show me the redemption list."

Buzz!

As Ye Lin's breathing grew slightly unsteady, a screen of light flashed to life in the darkness.