Global University Entrance Exam Ch.4

Yu Huo stepped out of the confinement room into a quiet corridor.

The bald man across the hall was silent, and blood was flowing out from his room, staining the floor.

Yu Huo frowned in mild disgust and sidestepped the mess as he walked forward.

He hadn’t gone far when he suddenly stopped.

A strange, lingering sense of being watched seemed to follow him. It was as if something above him was peering down, its lifeless eyes quietly fixed on him.

Yu Huo looked up.

Above was a white ceiling, with nothing but a dim light.

·

“Ah, crap! I nearly slept through the time limit! That coffin-faced bastard didn’t even—” Someone was descending rapidly from the upper floor, muttering to themselves, only to stop abruptly upon turning the corner.

“You! Cough, you’re out already?”

Yu Huo shifted his gaze away from the ceiling.

It was Proctor No. 922.

Seeing Yu Huo, the proctor immediately switched to his official tone. He curtly said, “Move aside,” and strode past him to open the door of the blood-soaked room.

After a moment, the bald man was released.

No. 922 hoisted the limp, middle-aged man out of the room, walking awkwardly as if one side of his body was paralyzed.

“Why are you still here?” he asked Yu Huo.

Yu Huo stuck his hands in his pockets and said lazily, “Waiting for you. I’d rather not turn into ash.”

No. 922: “What about 154?”

Yu Huo: “No idea.”

“That self-righteous slacker probably ducked out again.”

No. 922 muttered under his breath, hoisted the bald man up, and without further ado, motioned toward the door. “Let’s go. I’ll take you both back to the exam room.”

·

On the second floor of the small building, Qin Jiu was leaning lazily by the window, arms crossed and gaze lowered.

The room’s light spilled out into the forest, illuminating No. 922 as he escorted the two examinees through the glow and into the snow. Soon, they disappeared into the haze.

Qin Jiu squinted, staring at that spot for a while.

The black bird perched nearby let out two low croaks.

After a moment, Qin Jiu clicked his tongue and straightened up.

He returned to the desk, flicked at the bird’s pointed beak, fed it a grain of food, and said, “Does it feel like something’s missing?”

The black bird let out a derisive “Heh.”

Qin Jiu: “A proctor?”

The black bird repeated its mocking “Heh.”

Qin Jiu tapped the bird’s beak lightly, opened the door, and headed downstairs.

The bird fluttered along behind him.

After scanning the main hall, he turned down a corridor. From one of the confinement rooms—specifically the one Yu Huo had been in—he could faintly hear the sound of a chair being dragged.

Qin Jiu raised his eyebrows and knocked leisurely on the door three times. “Anyone there?”

There was a loud thud from inside, as if the chair had been slammed down hard.

Qin Jiu: “Mind if I come in?”

The chair sounded like it was being smashed against the floor.

Qin Jiu undid the lock.

When he opened the door, there was Proctor No. 154, looking utterly defeated.

The proctor was slumped in a chair, hands tied behind his back with rope, and a large wad of paper stuffed in his mouth.

On the paper, someone had neatly written with a marker:

“Get lost, little girl.”

Qin Jiu suddenly laughed.

No. 154, about to leap in his chair to signal that he wanted to be untied, froze at the sound of the laugh. He lowered the chair carefully.

Fortunately, Qin Jiu didn’t dwell on it for too long.

After a moment, No. 154 finally freed himself, rubbing his wrists, which were red from the ropes. “I’ve been a proctor for three years,” he fumed, “and I’ve never seen an examinee like that! Other people cry and beg; this guy falls asleep. Others are too scared to provoke the proctors; he ties me up like it’s nothing.”

Qin Jiu, leaning on the desk, listened lazily and remarked, “Not bad. Keep going.”

No. 154: “…”

If he could, he’d love to show his boss the paper with “Get lost” written on it.

“A proctor tied up by an examinee in the confinement room. Isn’t that embarrassing?” Qin Jiu asked with a half-smile.

No. 154 kept a stony expression. “It is. Good thing 922 didn’t see it, or he’d laugh for two years straight.”

Anyone familiar with the system knew that proctors were drawn from former top-performing examinees. Only the best of the best could make the transition to this role.

These individuals were ranked by their efficiency and strength, reflected in their proctor numbers.

The lower the number, the higher the ranking.

For example, No. 001.

“You just said that…that…” Qin Jiu paused, seemingly searching for a suitable adjective before settling on, “that examinee fell asleep in the confinement room?”

“Yes. When I went in, his nose was still where it should be, his eyes were normal, and the room looked just as it had before. Nothing changed. He didn’t seem scared of anything.”

No. 154 thought for a moment, then added, “But is that even possible? How could someone like that exist? I’ve only ever seen one person like that in my entire life.”

Qin Jiu squinted, his fingers toying with the black bird’s neck.

“Maybe he’s had an incredibly smooth life, never encountered anything that scared him?” No. 154 speculated. “But if that’s true, it ends now. These examinees got ridiculously lucky—imagine pulling a toothpaste question on their first go.”

Qin Jiu glanced at him.

“It’s like squeezing toothpaste—answering bit by bit. Makes you wonder if it’s some kind of bug.”

Qin Jiu: “Who came up with that nickname?”

“That idiot 922. It wasn’t me.” No. 154 kept a straight face, though he admitted, “But it’s not inaccurate. Back when I took the exam, I hated questions like that! Not because they were particularly hard, but because the initial information was practically zero. You couldn’t figure out where to start. The first round always ends up wasted. Someone always ends up sacrificed.”

He thought about it and muttered, “I only ran into that question once, thank goodness. I wasn’t the one picked… I wonder who’ll be the sacrificial lamb in this group.”

He checked the time. “It’s only a few seconds away.”

·

In front of the mountain cabin, 922, now worn out, still maintained a straight face as he called Yu Huo over before leaving.

“Something else?” Yu Huo asked impatiently.

It was almost time for the first round’s end, and even through the howling snow, Yu Huo could sense the panic inside the cabin.

Every second counted.

922 said, “One more thing: because you’ve been in confinement, you and that guy can’t answer this round.”

Yu Huo’s expression grew colder.

922 waved dismissively. “Don’t glare at me. It doesn’t matter anyway; the first round of questions is a death trap—you won’t get any extra points from it—”

Before he could finish, Yu Huo had already turned to open the door.

The moment the warm air hit him, the sound of a chicken crowing rang out without warning.

The bald man collapsed to the ground in terror, scrambling to the corner, his eyes unfocused and trembling.

His panic was contagious—those inside the room began to crumble one by one.

Yu Wen was half-kneeling, one knee pressed against the tattooed man’s collapsed body. His hand clutched something, as though he’d just snatched it.

Amidst the chicken’s crows, he muttered in confusion, “Brother, I found the knife…but the time…it’s up?”

And then?

Everyone in the room froze, paralyzed by fear, barely remembering to breathe.

The chicken’s relentless crowing made their hearts pound.

“Are we…really going to be disqualified?” someone whispered faintly.

Would they truly be ejected into the icy wasteland, shattered into pieces like the tin can that had turned to powder outside?

Bang!!

The locked door burst open, slamming against the wall.

Everyone flinched.

Outside the door, 922, who hadn’t left yet, stood frozen in place.

An unprecedented force swept into the room, as if a high-altitude airplane’s door had suddenly been blown off. The resulting suction yanked at everyone inside.

“Ahhh—”

Old Yu cried out as he rolled to the floor, sliding toward the open door.

It was as if an invisible hand had seized his ankle, intent on dragging him out.

·

“Nine crows. The collection only ends after nine crows.”

“And there’s a trick to this first-round stupid question. Kind of shameless, actually.”

Those two sentences suddenly resurfaced in Yu Huo’s mind.

With no time to dwell on them, he snatched the small folding knife from Yu Wen’s hand, leaped over the cumbersome long table, and planted himself in front of the answer wall.

As the final chicken crow echoed, he hastily scrawled a single word:

Solution.

922, still standing outside: “… What the…?”

This actually works?

This really works.

The crowing ceased, as did the storm of snow.

Old Yu’s head just barely stopped short of the doorway; the very top of his hair had been ripped away. Yu Wen clung to his leg, sprawled helplessly on the ground.

Their hearts pounded, faces pale, as they stared blankly at each other for a long moment before turning to look at the answer wall.

After what felt like an eternity, next to the hastily written character “Solution”, a red mark appeared:

2.

Everyone was dumbstruck.

Even 922 stood there, mouth agape, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

For a moment, he just stood there in the freezing cold before abruptly turning around and sprinting off to report this development.

·

It took a while for those in the room to process what had just happened.

Slowly, they rose to their feet, their legs still wobbly.

“Damn, that scared the hell out of me…” Old Yu groaned. The top of his head was now an unfortunate patch of thinning hair, and blood was trickling down his scalp.

At least they were all still alive.

Yu Wen let go of his father’s leg, collapsed on the ground like a lifeless dog.

After a few moments, he bolted upright, slapped himself on the head, and exclaimed, “God, what an idiot I am! How did I forget that? The teacher drilled it into me before every test: ‘Before doing anything, just write “Solution” on the paper—each word’s worth two points!’ Brother, you’re incredible!”

“…”

Yu Huo said nothing. He tucked the knife away, feeling no sense of triumph in what he’d just done.

To stop this fool from continuing to praise the “Solution” strategy, he condescended to ask Yu Wen a question: “Who got the knife?”

At the mention of the knife, Yu Wen’s face immediately fell. “Who else?”

He pointed to the tattooed man. “Him! He had it! I knew something was off about him. While everyone else was looking for clues, he was hoarding knives like a bear preparing for hibernation. If he hadn’t bumped into Sister Yu Yao’s stomach and dropped one, who knows how much longer it would have taken to find it!”

Thinking back to that moment made him shudder.

If not for that commotion, if their luck had been slightly worse, they might not have found the knife in time. Even with Yu Huo’s return, they wouldn’t have been able to meet the first-round deadline.

And his dad…well…

The tattooed man sat tied to a chair, while everyone else closed in on him, ready to demand answers.

Before they could start interrogating him, the answer wall suddenly shifted.

Prompt:
A group of travelers arrived at the snowy mountain and took shelter in Hunter A’s cabin. A said, “I have 13 sets of tableware, but the food is limited; I can only host 12 people. Among the tableware lies a secret—one person is destined to die. Will you survive?” This isn’t actually very hard, considering it’s one of the most beautiful things in the world.

Task:
Identify the doomed set of tableware (without damaging it).

Focus Area:
Optics.

The room fell silent.

Everyone stared at the prompt, their faces blank.

A moment later, another line of text appeared beneath the prompt.

Violation Warning:
The punished examinee attempted to answer the question, and the proctors have been notified.

Proctors:
001, 154, 922.

The room was utterly still.

·

Ten minutes later, on the second floor of the small building, in the proctors’ office, No. 001 Qin Jiu sat across from Yu Huo.

The room was silent.

Yu Huo: “…”

Qin Jiu: “…”

After a long moment, Qin Jiu twirled a pen in his hand, let out a chuckle, lifted his eyelids, and drawled lazily, “So, are you planning to move in?”