Chapter Summaries

A group of strangers became trapped in a snowbound cabin where a radio announced an imminent examination and warned that anyone outside was in danger. Old Yu and Yu Wen returned after finding no way out, while You Huo remained asleep on the sofa as the group waited for the exam to begin.

• The radio announced that the examination would begin at 18:00 and told candidates to enter the cabin, after which one man who went outside died.
• The others identified You Huo as Old Yu’s nephew, who had arrived with Old Yu and Yu Wen after a strange accident.
• A pregnant woman worried that Old Yu might not return before six, but Old Yu and Yu Wen soon knocked on the cabin door.
• Old Yu reported that every route through the snowy woods led back to the cabin and that he had found no people or other buildings.
• The radio began hissing again, and everyone fell silent in anticipation.

After the examination began, the group learned they faced a 48-hour physics exam with an impossible question and a six-hour deadline to earn points. You Huo tested what expulsion meant by reaching outside the window, and returned with a bleeding hand.

• The radio read out the examination rules, and the tattooed man asked Yu Wen whether he knew how to take exams.
• At six o’clock, the radio announced that the examination had begun and set the subject as physics for 48 hours.
• A question about travelers arriving at a snowy mountain appeared on the wall, with a warning that an examinee would be expelled if no points were earned within six hours.
• You Huo opened a window and reached outside to see what happened when someone was expelled from the examination room.
• You Huo withdrew his hand, which was running with blood.

Trapped in a freezing room with a deadly exam question, You Huo and the others searched for clues while Yu Wen struggled to make sense of the problem. The group remained stuck, and Yu Wen discovered that You Huo had disappeared into another part of the house.

• Old Yu lit a fire, and Yu Yao moved closer to warm herself after admitting she feared she might not live long enough to give birth.
• Everyone searched the room for clues or weapons while You Huo examined the question wall and the clutter by the stove.
• Yu Wen reread the question aloud but had no idea how to solve it, and the tattooed man accused him of hiding an answer.
• Yu Wen recalled that You Huo had memory problems and that some relatives feared him.
• Yu Wen realized You Huo was gone, and Yu Yao pointed toward the other end of the house.

As the first paper collection approached, You Huo searched the house for clues while Yu Yao and a balding man tried to write on the answer wall with strange liquid. The wall swallowed their marks, and after You Huo restrained the man, a sigh sounded and words appeared on the wall.

• You Huo questioned Yu Wen about clues concerning snowy mountains, then went up to the attic to look for a pen.
• The red number on the wall changed from 6 to 4 as the group grew anxious about the approaching paper collection.
• Yu Yao tried to write on the answer wall with liquid from a black bottle, but her marks vanished with a faint sound of water.
• The balding man tried to write on the wall and then attempted to pour out the bottle, but You Huo restrained and tied him up.
• After You Huo capped the bottle, the group heard a soft sigh, and words appeared on the answer wall.

Invigilators 001, 154, and 922 arrived to punish candidates who had violated the examination rules. Invigilator 001 identified You Huo as the second violator, and 922 took the balding man away while You Huo was left facing the order to go with them.

• A rooster crowed inside the house, and You Huo and Yu Wen saw three invigilators approach through the snow.
• Invigilator 001 warmed himself by the stove and told the room that the snow had made the journey cold.
• Invigilator 154 explained that two candidates had violated the rules by using unapproved examination stationery, and Old Yu questioned how candidates could know the rules.
• Invigilator 922 dragged the balding man out into the snow, while Old Yu and the old ladies tried to shield Yu Yao.
• Invigilator 001 named You Huo as the other violator, then walked out into the storm as No. 154 stared at the slip identifying the culprit as a young girl.

After You Huo was taken away, Yu Wen realized his brother had left a clue to find a hidden knife that could write on the answer wall. The invigilators brought You Huo to a house for solitary confinement, where blood and screams from the balding man's room revealed the punishment's horror.

• Yu Wen told Old Yu that You Huo had left him a message to find a knife, and he recognized the knife marks on the answer wall as clues.
• Yu Wen stopped Old Yu from announcing their plan and quietly explained that the knife was hidden.
• The invigilators led You Huo and the balding man through the snow to a secluded house filled with murals and sculptures.
• No. 922 locked the balding man in a room, and blood seeped out as his muffled screams began.
• You Huo asked No. 154 about the punishment, and No. 154 pushed him into another room for solitary confinement.

You Huo endured the confinement room without reliving any frightening memories, then left and waited in the corridor for an invigilator to release him. He noticed an eerie sense of being watched before 922 arrived and let the bloodied bald man out.

• Qin Jiu dismissed 922 and 154’s complaints and said he had followed the rules by sending You Huo to confinement because of the ink on his hand.
• After three hours, 154 found You Huo asleep at the table in an otherwise empty confinement room.
• You Huo left the room, stepped around blood from the bald man’s room, and felt as though something was watching him from above.
• 922 arrived, released the limp bald man, and asked You Huo why he was still in the corridor; You Huo said he was waiting to avoid being turned to ashes.

Qin Jiu discovered that You Huo had tied up invigilator 154, while 922 warned You Huo that confinement barred him and Yu Wen from answering the first collection. The collection began before Yu Wen could use the knife he had found, leaving the examinees terrified and waiting to learn whether they would be expelled.

• Qin Jiu found 154 bound in a confinement room with an insulting note stuffed in his mouth, and 154 complained about You Huo tying him up.
• 154 told Qin Jiu that the first collection was a difficult question with little information and usually cost an examinee their life.
• 922 told You Huo that neither he nor Yu Wen could answer the question because they had been confined.
• The rooster crowed to signal the collection, and Baldy collapsed in fear as the other examinees panicked.
• Yu Wen said he had found the knife just as time ran out, and the frightened examinees wondered whether they would be expelled.

You Huo survived the first paper collection by writing “Solution” on the answer wall, but his rule-breaking brought him back before Invigilator 001. Qin Jiu considered his punishment, while 154 warned that adding to it would violate the rules.

• You Huo wrote “Solution” on the answer wall just before the last rooster crow, stopping the wind and saving Old Yu and the others.
• The answer wall awarded two points for “Solution,” and Yu Wen realized the word was a standard exam trick.
• The next question appeared, and a warning said a punished examinee had answered in violation of the rules and notified invigilators 001, 154, and 922.
• Qin Jiu asked 154 what punishment applied to a second violation, and 154 answered solitary confinement.
• When Qin Jiu asked whether there was another punishment, his wrist device beeped, and 154 said adding to the punishment was against the rules.

Qin Jiu assigned You Huo to clean a confinement room, and You Huo questioned 154 about the exams and the invigilators’ restrictions. The chapter ended with 922 explaining that invigilators had many rules, including a ban on killing examinees.

• Qin Jiu decided to send You Huo to clean a confinement room, and 154 escorted him downstairs.
• 922 told You Huo that Qin Jiu was No. 001 and recalled seeing him amid bloodshed near a field army base.
• While they headed to the confinement room, You Huo asked 154 how he became an invigilator and what the exams were.
• 154’s ring flashed a violation alert as he tried to explain what the exams were, and he stopped speaking.
• 922 arrived with a bucket and listed restrictions on invigilators, including that they could not kill examinees.

You Huo returned to the cabin after being punished and learned he could contact an invigilator by writing 001 on the answer wall. He reassured Yu Wen that he was fine, while the tattooed man remained isolated and visibly shaken.

• You Huo asked 922 whether candidates could ask invigilators questions, and 922 told him to write 001 on the answer wall.
• You Huo returned to the cabin, where the other candidates kept their distance from the tattooed man.
• Yu Wen rushed to ask You Huo about his punishment, and You Huo said he was fine.
• You Huo looked toward the corner and saw the bald man rocking and muttering incoherently.

You Huo questioned Yu Wen about the punishment and the group’s search of Hunter A’s cabin, then focused on the locked rooms and the hunting gear. The chapter ended with the tattooed man rehanging the gear so You Huo could inspect its positions.

• Yu Wen told You Huo that the bald man had spent three hours muttering about bad luck and burning paper money, and You Huo said he had napped and delivered blood to 001.
• Yu Wen showed You Huo the nonsensical notes he had written on the answer wall, including copied question text and unrelated physics formulas.
• Yu Wen explained that the group had searched the cabin but found no Hunter A, tableware, or food, while a thin man pointed out that two locked rooms remained unchecked.
• You Huo examined the padlocks, asked who had moved the hunting gear, and told the tattooed man to hang it back in its original positions.
• The tattooed man rehung the hunting gear as You Huo followed and prepared to inspect where it had been placed.

You Huo and the others realized two pieces of hunting gear were missing, then waited by the fire until Hunter A arrived at four in the morning with a burlap sack. Hunter A said the heavy snow had left little prey, but he had finally dug one out.

• You Huo noticed two empty nails where hunting gear had been, and Old Yu said they had already been empty before the exam.
• Yu Yao apologized to You Huo for writing with the ink that had gotten him punished, but he told her not to worry.
• At four in the morning, a rooster crowed and the group heard something dragging through the snow toward the house.
• Hunter A entered with a rope, hunting gear at his waist, and a burlap sack, then greeted the guests.
• Hunter A said the heavy snow had blocked the mountain and made it difficult to find prey.

Hunter A prepared a meal for the guests, hinting that the meat might come from a person buried in the snow. After You Huo woke and said he was waiting for the meal, Hunter A asked a guest to help carry it out.

• Hunter A counted the guests and said he had enough food for only twelve, then carried a heavy sack into the locked kitchen.
• The guests feared Hunter A was preparing human meat, remembering that a man who had dismantled the radio was buried in the snow.
• You Huo woke, confirmed he had heard Hunter A, and said he was hungry and waiting for the meal.
• The guests heard heavy thuds and chopping from the kitchen before Hunter A emerged and described the frozen meat.
• Hunter A heard You Huo's stomach growl and asked a guest to help carry the food.

Hunter A forced the deranged bald man to help serve the banquet, revealing that damaging the tableware was another deadly trap. After the bald man sat in a seat, Hunter A told him he could not change it, and he fainted; Hunter A then went looking for another helper, saying he would choose a child.

• Hunter A noticed the bald man in the corner, woke him with a slap, and ordered him to carry plates while warning the others not to move.
• Hunter A made the bald man help arrange thirteen plates and a basin of meat, then reminded everyone that damaging the tableware would bring punishment.
• Old Yu alerted the bald man to the updated answer wall, where he learned that only twelve people could attend the banquet and one person was destined to die.
• When the bald man tried to rise from his seat, Hunter A pressed him down and told him he could not change seats, causing him to faint.
• Hunter A asked for another helper to carry wine glasses and began choosing someone, saying he liked children.

You Huo volunteered to help Hunter A prepare the table, suspecting the strict rules about the tableware concealed something. Hunter A drove him from the kitchen and set out the glasses and cutlery himself, then invited everyone to sit down for the meal.

• You Huo stepped in when Hunter A chose Yu Wen, volunteering to carry the wineglasses instead.
• You Huo told Yu Wen that the more Hunter A emphasized a rule, the more suspicious it was.
• In the kitchen, You Huo noticed Hunter A handled the wineglasses with particular care and teased him about it.
• Hunter A ordered You Huo out of the kitchen and carried the tray of glasses and cutlery to the dining room himself.
• Hunter A set out the tableware, snapped at You Huo to get lost, and invited everyone to sit down to eat.

After Hunter A threatened to kill another examinee, You Huo kicked him and shattered the goblet, triggering a violation notice that said the question itself had died. The proctors arrived to investigate and found Hunter A dead beside the table, though the cause remained unclear.

• Hunter A ate raw meat, blamed You Huo for making him angry, and threatened to kill another person because he had eaten one portion.
• You Huo argued that killing someone would break the rules, then kicked Hunter A and sent his goblet crashing to the floor.
• The answer wall announced that exam requirements had been violated and notified proctors 001, 154, and 922.
• 922 told Qin Jiu and 154 that the question itself was dead, and the three proctors arrived at the room to investigate.
• The proctors examined Hunter A's body and the broken goblet, noting that his warning about breaking tableware had been consistent with the exam requirements.

You Huo accepted punishment for indirectly causing Hunter A’s death, but learned that his punishment would make him a special subject under an invigilator’s close supervision. The chapter ended as 154 announced that You Huo would also lose the right to choose once.

• You Huo said he had stumbled into Hunter A, while Yu Wen asked the invigilators not to count the death as his brother’s violation.
• Yu Yao offered to take You Huo’s punishment, but the invigilators ignored her as the system repeatedly urged them to act.
• 922 explained that the system had judged You Huo indirectly responsible for breaking the cup and killing the question.
• You Huo agreed to take the punishment and left for the door, telling Old Yu that another trip into the punishment building would not matter.
• Qin Jiu revealed that the punishment would make You Huo a special subject supervised by an invigilator, and 154 added that You Huo would lose the right to choose once.

Qin Jiu tied You Huo to the attic post to keep him from breaking the exam rules, while the examinees downstairs struggled to add physics knowledge to the answer wall. The exam continued with 24 minutes left before the papers were collected again.

• Qin Jiu tied You Huo’s hands and brought him to the attic, where he secured him to the roof-support post.
• Qin Jiu opened the small window to air out the attic and refused to let You Huo stand.
• You Huo watched the examinees downstairs through the glass as Yu Wen tried to find more physics formulas to write.
• Yu Yao drew a simple refraction diagram on the answer wall, and Yu Wen asked the others to remember anything else.

With five minutes left in the physics exam, Yu Wen struggled to help the other examinees while the invigilators waited for the papers to be collected. You Huo and Qin Jiu spoke in the attic, and the chapter ended with the examinees awaiting their results.

• Yu Wen considered the examinees and realized he had no one suitable to help answer the physics questions.
• 922 left the suitcase downstairs because he did not want to disturb You Huo and Qin Jiu in the attic, while 154 warned him not to ask Qin Jiu about his past.
• Qin Jiu asked You Huo whether they had met before, and You Huo replied that only one of them would have survived if they had.
• 154 announced that the exam was nearly over, and 922 said the answers looked so poor he would chop off his head to celebrate if they earned points.
• After the paper-collection chicken crowed nine times, the invigilators untied You Huo, and the examinees waited anxiously for judgment.