Yours Alone

Three minutes later, Ye Lin held the letter with his head lowered in thought. In his mind, pieces of information and clues connected like a spiderweb.

According to An Ke, the examinee who had been able to escape the death exam had chosen to kill himself after asking the system about the truth behind it.

Before his suicide, he had even left his belongings in different scenario instances.

No one knew why he had done it, much less what answer he had heard that could have driven him to such despair that he broke down and killed himself.

"So you don't just want to recover your strength through the things he left behind. You also want to know why he died?"

Ye Lin raised his head and rubbed between his brows, looking a little worn out.

The ending of the "story" had gone beyond anything he had imagined. With so little information, even he couldn't think of a reason for the man's suicide.

Especially since someone who had survived so many exams couldn't possibly have been weak-minded, and his strength must have been extraordinary.

By Ye Lin's earlier estimate, leaving this place would require at least Grade A enhancements, bringing a person close to godhood.

What exactly was the answer?

What could terrify a "god" who had clawed his way out of death time after time into killing himself?

"Yes..."

An Ke smiled bitterly. When she had learned about it, she had been utterly shaken too.

"He could have gotten out. He wouldn't have had to stay in this hell anymore. With his strength, once he left, he could have made up for every regret and lived for hundreds of years, maybe even forever."

"But he still chose suicide... without the slightest hesitation."

"So I thought, I have to find the answer. Otherwise, when we've fought our way to the end, when we learn that answer too, what are we supposed to do?"

"But the fact that he chose to leave letters might mean..."

"It might mean we don't have to repeat his mistakes. Maybe he did something wrong or took the wrong path, and he hoped we wouldn't follow in his footsteps."

"And he didn't leave the entire answer in one letter because the system wouldn't allow anyone else to know."

Ye Lin cut in, understanding An Ke's concern.

He could almost see the scene in the system space: the man standing there, hearing the answer, then killing himself in despair.

In that case, they had every reason to retrieve those letters.

"Where's the third letter he left? How do we get the things he left behind? Doesn't the system assign exams at random? What method did he leave that lets us choose a scenario?"

Ye Lin fired off his questions. An Ke stopped holding anything back and took out a key.

"We can't choose a scenario, but we can use this key to force our way into an exam."

"It's like taking an extra exam. Inside, there's not just the next letter, but also the things he left behind."

"But I'd suggest we get through one regular exam first before going in. That would give us a better chance."

"That way, we'll have taken two regular exams and one extra exam. When we face our fourth exam, the one most likely to be highly difficult, our chances of survival will be much higher."

Ye Lin nodded, agreeing with her plan.

By replacing their third exam with the key's scenario and finding the items left behind, they could greatly improve their strength.

He was also curious about what those items might be and what the letter would say.

According to An Ke, the first item had been a forced-exit item. It couldn't increase their strength, but its value was immeasurable, effectively giving them an extra life.

The second was something she had collected from the system after returning to the space.

It was a hair tie from a paranormal scenario. Each use allowed a ghost to possess her, granting her power for a short time. But because her constitution was so poor, the amount of power she could bear was extremely limited.

Without using points to enhance herself, she might die if she used it just once more.

That was also the trump card that An Ke believed made her qualified to work with him.

"Then that's the plan for now."

"What exactly is a Grade B rating good for?"

With their cooperation more or less settled, Ye Lin stopped dwelling on it. Their immediate priority was surviving the next exam.

He had tried many times to figure out how to use the Grade B rating, but even attempting to buy information from the system had yielded no answer.

"There's no way you could know how to use it. Asking the system won't help either."

Feeling much more at ease, An Ke noticed that Ye Lin's exchange interface was still on the search screen and couldn't help smiling.

"The system knows everything, but it won't answer questions about itself. Unless you're like that man, reaching the very end and preparing to leave. Only then are you entitled to have the system answer any question. Of course, you only get one chance."

"Come to think of it, your situation really is unusual."

"Normally, we learn the system's rules when it tells us on its own, or when it unlocks something itself."

"Likewise, by the time we get a Grade B rating, we've already exchanged for a bloodline. That's when the system tells us what the rating does."

Ye Lin raised an eyebrow, understanding what An Ke meant.

"So a Grade B rating has something to do with bloodlines? I don't know how to use it because I've never exchanged for one, and I got the rating too early?"

"Exactly. Aside from raising your access level at no cost, the other use for a rating is to fuse two different bloodlines."

"You don't even have one, so naturally you can't use it."

As she spoke, a trace of envy flashed through An Ke's eyes, as though she was marveling at how lucky Ye Lin was.

"You're really lucky. The circumstances of the last exam were far too unusual. Otherwise, you never would have gotten it."

"With this, you're effectively starting a whole level ahead of everyone else."

"If I'd had one back then, maybe I..."

Ye Lin frowned and cut off An Ke's wistful reflection.

"Right now, I only have enough points to exchange for one Grade B bloodline, don't I? To get a second, I'd have to survive at least a few more exams."

"According to you, everyone has a chance to get a rating. They just don't get it this early."

"So where's the advantage?"

"No!"

An Ke shook her head, the envy in her eyes growing stronger.

"It looks like you can only afford one Grade B bloodline, but what about Grade C? You have enough for two Grade C bloodlines!"

"That means you can choose two complementary abilities right away, cover your weaknesses in the shortest possible time, and gain the greatest combat strength."

"And with those advantages, you'll have a better chance of scoring high in the next exam. It'll be like a snowball, your advantage growing bigger and bigger!"

That was her argument, but Ye Lin still wasn't quite convinced.

"I've looked at the gap between Grade B and Grade C. I don't think combining two Grade C bloodlines would make them much stronger than a single Grade B."

"And in terms of potential, Grade B has a higher ceiling than Grade C, doesn't it?"

"You're not wrong to think that."

"But what if, by coincidence, I happen to know of two Grade C bloodlines that rival Grade B, or are even stronger? And, even more conveniently, either of them has such severe side effects on its own that no one would ever choose it."

"You don't need to worry about potential either. Both bloodlines have extremely high ceilings. You can still enhance them all the way to Grade S!"

An Ke blinked, as though even she found it hard to believe things could line up so perfectly.

"They're practically tailor-made for you..."

"As if they were yours alone."