Three minutes later.
"I understand..."
"I'll consider it."
The system provided the only light in the room. Looking at An Ke curled up in the corner, Ye Lin said little else.
He could picture the scene, and he more or less understood why An Ke was so terrified.
A team that had survived six exams, with every member practically superhuman, had been wiped out in less than half an hour.
That level of difficulty was frightening indeed.
He would consider the exchange plan An Ke had proposed. For now, he would wait to see what type of exam came next before deciding.
Knock, knock! Knock!
Just as Ye Lin was about to ask something else, a sudden knock came from outside the door.
Judging by the voice, it was He Zheng.
"Ye Lin! Come out and eat!"
"My wife made a feast! Fuck, after all that running in the last exam, aren't you guys hungry?"
Inside the room, Ye Lin and An Ke exchanged a glance. The next second, An Ke hurriedly staggered to her feet.
But the moment she stood, she let out a muffled groan, and a trickle of bright red blood ran down her trouser leg.
Ye Lin froze at the sight. The light was too dim, and An Ke had arrived wearing loose-legged school trousers, so he hadn't noticed that she had never removed the bullet.
"You only bandaged it? Why didn't you take it out and get treated?"
An Ke braced herself against the wall. Only after a long while did she look up at him.
"You're asking me why?"
"I guess... I wanted to leave that bullet inside me as a reminder of what a bastard you really are."
Faced with An Ke's resentful gaze, Ye Lin was speechless.
"Tell me the truth."
"The truth?"
"The truth is, I don't have a single point. What am I supposed to pay for treatment with?"
An Ke sighed when she finished. Even she thought she was pitifully miserable.
Suddenly, the moment she finished speaking, a system notification sounded.
Ding. Candidate Ye Lin has transferred points to you. Please check your balance.
"Huh?"
An Ke's heart jolted, and she looked at Ye Lin in disbelief. Though she had been putting on a bit of an act, she had never expected to "move" this guy.
From what she knew of Ye Lin, he wouldn't care whether she lived or died if she weren't still useful to him.
"No need to thank me."
With that, Ye Lin opened the door and walked out, leaving An Ke standing there alone in a daze.
Outside, He Zheng was all smiles, clearly in an excellent mood. But before he could grab Ye Lin, he spotted An Ke inside the room, dazed and barely able to stand. His expression became a sight to behold.
"Holy shit! Wait, you two hooked up already...?!"
"He Zheng! Shut your filthy mouth."
Seeing that He Zheng had clearly gotten the wrong idea, An Ke hastily snapped at him.
Assuming An Ke was lashing out in embarrassment after being caught, He Zheng chuckled without taking offense.
"All right! All right! All right! Rest a bit before you come over. Tsk, tsk, you youngsters need to take care of yourselves..."
He Zheng deliberately drew out the last words, looking sleazy beyond belief.
Only when An Ke looked ready to kill him did he scurry away.
Inside the room, An Ke's chest heaved, and she was on the verge of losing her mind.
If she hadn't lost all her strength, she would have loved to kick both Ye Lin and He Zheng to death right then.
It wasn't because of He Zheng's teasing, nor was it because of the misunderstanding.
It was because Ye Lin had transferred her only 0.1 points!
God, how could anyone be such an animal?! How could someone in this world have so little consideration for a woman?!
"Cheers!"
Clink!
Their glasses clinked together. Under the bright lights, He Zheng's face had flushed red from drinking.
The apartment wasn't large, only twenty square meters, but it was warmly furnished-the home from He Zheng's memories.
Outside the window, lights shone brightly, and the playful voices of adults and children drifted in from time to time.
The honking from the street was a little noisy, yet at that moment, they all felt a strange sense of unreality, as though they, too, had returned home.
The last exam seemed like nothing more than a nightmare.
"Sorry I couldn't offer you more! It's not much of a spread, but my cooking is definitely good!"
"Honey, stop working! Come eat with us!"
He Zheng called Yang Qiao over and, without any concern for the others watching, planted a loud kiss on her cheek. Yang Qiao blushed and playfully swatted at him.
He Zheng laughed and only held her tighter.
Nearby, Hu Jia and Zhang Tie were too hungry to bear it any longer. They grabbed a Mandarin Perch and a chicken drumstick and began stuffing food into their mouths.
Before he had even swallowed, Hu Jia raised his glass in a toast to He Zheng.
"He Zheng, this is already a feast! There's chicken, fish, and a huge lobster. I hardly ever ate like this outside!"
"This is nothing. We're just poor and can't bear to spend points exchanging for things."
"You have no idea, kid. Old Wang and the others once exchanged for a Sea Dragon Fish. It only cost two points, but it tasted so incredible you could practically swallow your tongue. It even made them a little stronger after they ate it!"
He Zheng belched, sounding a little wistful.
As long as you were willing to spend the points, you could exchange for any delicacy imaginable. You could even buy one of those legendary dragons to try.
But he simply couldn't bear to spend them. Every point had been earned by risking their lives, and every single one was a hope of survival. He had chosen to create a residential neighborhood to save points, too. Here, money was enough to keep them fed.
He still hadn't spent all of the million he had exchanged for after the first exam.
Hu Jia choked on his drink until tears came to his eyes. He hurriedly poured another glass and raised it toward Ye Lin and the others.
"Ye Lin! Huang Liang! Zhang... my friend Zhang Tie! And An..."
"Just call me An Ke. I'm younger than you."
An Ke raised her glass, signaling that Hu Jia didn't need to be so formal, though she knew why he was doing this.
Hu Jia nodded awkwardly. He really wasn't good with words.
"Then... thank you, everyone! Honestly, I know I wasn't much use in the last exam. Without all of you, especially Ye Lin, I probably wouldn't have made it out alive."
"So... I'll down this one first!"
"Thank you! Thank you all so much!"
He tipped his head back and gulped it down in one go, looking at everyone with gratitude and even a hint of a desire to please.
He Zheng waved a hand, not bothered in the slightest.
"Enough. Drink if you can, kid. If you can't, don't. It's normal to be scared. Who isn't afraid of dying when they first get here?"
"But if you still can't adjust later on, no one will be able to help you. And don't go wasting the points from the last exam. Your survival depends on them!"
He Zheng set down his chopsticks, his advice filled with genuine concern.
Looking at Hu Jia, he felt as though he were seeing his past self.
Hu Jia lowered his head, wanting to say something but not daring to. Beside him, Huang Liang sensed something was wrong with his mood and patted his shoulder.
"Hu Jia, it'll be all right. I'll protect you. Of course... I'll protect everyone else, too. That's my duty."
Huang Liang looked at everyone earnestly, though his gaze paused briefly when it passed over Ye Lin.
"Ye Lin, whatever you think of me, in my eyes... you're no different from everyone else."
"And thank you for saving everyone."
Ye Lin gave no response either way.
He held no particular hostility toward the young man with the buzz cut. If there was any, it was because their positions differed.
As for protecting everyone...
He wouldn't mock Huang Liang for being rigid or overestimating himself, but he would never do the same.
Staying alive here was already a luxury. How could he even think of "saving people"?
"No need to thank me. I did it for myself, too. You did your part, so they can just thank you."
Ye Lin didn't raise his glass. He disliked drinking; alcohol would impair his judgment.
Sensing that the mood had turned a little awkward, He Zheng hurried to smooth things over.
"We're all brothers here! No need to be so formal!"
"Well, here's the thing. From now on, we're all part of the same team. So I think we should choose our enhancements according to our roles."
"We didn't have the points to do that before, even if we wanted to. But thanks to Ye Lin, we can exchange for plenty of things this time!"
"What do you think?"
He Zheng looked at Ye Lin first.
Ye Lin was now the strongest member of the team, so naturally, his opinion carried the most weight.
To his surprise, however, before Ye Lin could agree, Huang Liang suddenly spoke.
"I have no objection to that, but there's something I'd like to discuss with Ye Lin first."
Turning his head, Huang Liang looked at Ye Lin with an intensely serious, almost urgent expression.
"Ye Lin, there's something I want to talk to you about after dinner."
"It's very important. Important enough to affect so many people-no, everyone. So... we have to decide as soon as possible!"
Before you continue