An unknown question

"Get out of the way!!!"

Bang!!!

Everyone scrambled aside, clearing a path.

Charging desperately forward, He Zheng held the corpse like a shield and slammed it hard against the chain. Sulfuric acid squeezed out of its abdominal cavity exploded outward.

"Aaaah! Aaaah!!"

He Zheng screamed as sulfuric acid mixed with corpse fluid splashed all over his face.

The savage corrosion made him look like a demon that had crawled out of hell, with barely a patch of intact flesh left on his body.

"Cut it! Hurry up and cut it!"

Ignoring his injuries, He Zheng shouted, his face contorted.

Hiss-hiss-

White smoke rose from the corroding chain.

Knowing they would die if he failed to break it, Zhang Tie ignored the corpse still hanging from the lock, raised the Fire Axe, and brought it down with every ounce of strength he had!

"Break, damn you!!"

Bang!!

Sulfuric acid and bloody sludge splattered. With a sharp clang, the chain wrapped around the doors fell to the floor, trailing white smoke.

"Push the doors!"

There was no time to celebrate. Ye Lin barked the order, and the others immediately pressed their bodies against the doors and pushed for their lives.

With the dull rumble of turning gears, the enormous doors that had refused to budge slowly opened, revealing deep darkness.

Another mechanism activated. The instant the gap opened wide enough for half a person to squeeze through, a powerful suction suddenly erupted behind them.

What was that!?

Standing at the rear, He Zheng instinctively looked back, and horror seized him at what he saw.

Under that savage suction, the scalding sulfuric acid covering the floor surged toward its source like seawater being sucked backward.

The suction was so strong that even Lin Ya was dragged backward off her feet. Screaming, she clung to the door.

"Zhang Tie! Pull them all inside!"

Ye Lin shouted after rushing through the doorway.

The sudden change caught everyone off guard. Fortunately, though Zhang Tie was stunned too, his body still instinctively obeyed Ye Lin's command.

"Grab my hands!!"

Grabbing one person in each hand as though he were tossing sandbags, Zhang Tie hauled everyone inside before the suction intensified again, veins bulging on his forehead.

Boom!!

The doors slammed shut. The group slumped to the floor with their backs against them, gasping for breath.

As their adrenaline wore off, the pain from their burns made them tremble all over. Yet after surviving certain death, they could not help exchanging glances and breaking into laughter mixed with tears.

"We survived... We actually survived...!"

"Thank heavens! Thank heavens!!"

Watching Hu Jia and the others babble, utterly terrified, Zhang Tie nudged them with his shoulder, indicating that Ye Lin was the one they should really thank.

After a chorus of thanks, Ye Lin merely waved a hand without comment, his gaze fixed on his Wristwatch.

Leaning against the cold doors, He Zheng swallowed dryly. After a long pause, he finally looked at Ye Lin with a complicated expression and spoke hoarsely:

"Ye Lin, thanks..."

He offered no lengthy words of gratitude. Ten minutes had not yet passed, and the system had not announced that they had cleared the first round of the exam.

But judging by their current situation, Ye Lin's judgment had undoubtedly saved his life.

Recalling the terrifying suction that had suddenly appeared, He Zheng felt a lingering chill of fear.

Had they stayed on the second floor, the sulfuric acid surging backward would have dissolved them instantly. They would have died even more horribly than Huang Bin.

"It's nothing. I was doing it for myself too. Next..."

Before Ye Lin could finish speaking quietly, the countdown on his Wristwatch reached its final second, and several cold system notifications rang out.

"Candidate D66311, He Zheng, has passed the exam. Base score +20. Contribution: 20%. Bonus score +4."

"Candidate E14872, Zhang Tie, has passed the exam. Base score +20. Contribution: 10%. Bonus score +2."

"Candidate E12911, An Ke, has passed... Base score +20..."

...

"Candidate E99067, Ye Lin, has passed the exam. Base score +20. Contribution: 70%. Bonus score +14."

..

The system announcements ended.

Hearing the system confirm that they had passed the first round, everyone finally relaxed completely and exchanged excited looks.

But while Hu Jia and the others merely envied Ye Lin for earning fourteen extra points, He Zheng seemed unable to believe it. He leaped straight up from the floor.

"Fourteen bonus points!?"

"How could you get that many!?"

Unlike Hu Jia and the others, who did not understand what those points meant, he knew all too well how difficult bonus points were to earn.

It was no exaggeration to say that this was his first time receiving a bonus evaluation.

"Is that a lot?"

Ye Lin turned to look at him, noticing the almost overflowing envy in He Zheng's eyes.

If they needed 1,200 points to leave, fourteen points were only a drop in the bucket. And that was before considering the points they had to spend to strengthen themselves.

"A lot? You hit the jackpot!"

"Thirty-four points in the first round! Once you get out, you'll be set!"

He Zheng let out a long sigh. Though he felt a little jealous, he soon figured out the reason.

"Probably because this is your first exam, so you get preferential treatment as a newcomer. Plus, you contributed the most, and not many people died."

"If a few more had died, you definitely wouldn't have gotten that many. They might even have deducted points."

The conditions for earning bonus points were extremely strict. Although the first exam was the easiest, newcomers rarely proved useful.

This was the first time he had seen anyone like Ye Lin.

He might have done the most physical work, but this kid was the one who had truly saved their lives...

"Those fourteen extra points... What abilities can they buy? Judging by the base score, twenty points should be the minimum for each round, right?"

Seeing Ye Lin's confusion, He Zheng replied in exasperation:

"Buddy, that's not how it works."

"Fourteen points might not sound like much, but they're a bonus reward! Normally, getting sixty points from an entire exam is already a godsend!"

"Once the sixty-point base fee for submitting your paper is deducted, you'd only have three or four points left. If you make it out of this exam alive, you'll have earned as much in one exam as we do in five or six, maybe even ten!"

He Zheng spoke enviously:

"As for what abilities you can buy? Plenty. If you can imagine it, the system can give it to you!"

"Didn't I tell you? One point buys a million! But that's if you exchange them one point at a time. If you're willing to buy something like an anonymous black card, those fourteen points could get you a hundred million! Of course, only an idiot would do that. You might be a bit short for an ability, but with a few more points, you could buy the lowest level of telekinesis."

A hundred million? Telekinesis?

Though Hu Jia did not understand exactly what the latter could do, he still cried out in astonishment. A hundred million-he had never seen that much money in his life.

Seeing the shock on Hu Jia's and the others' faces, He Zheng sneered. Apparently, these useless fools still had not realized just how worthless money was here.

"A hundred million is..."

"Beep. The second round of the exam is beginning. All candidates, please prepare!"

The cold mechanical voice cut He Zheng off.

Like a grim reaper calling them to their deaths, the system seemed unwilling to give them any room to catch their breath.

Their faces stiffened, and the joy vanished from their expressions.

Watching the new countdown appear on their Wristwatches, they felt as though dark clouds were pressing down on their hearts, crushing the breath out of them.

"What will the question for this round be...?"