At this moment, the first student in the examination room had already woken up on his own.
...
Within the realm of consciousness, Chen Qian was enduring various forms of mental torture, one after another.
This is the twenty-sixth card.
"Ace of Hearts".
The exam question was about "tyranny".
The ever-increasing anger and violence were constantly destroying Chen Qian's reason.
Before him stood an old man, powerless to even kill a chicken, yet this old man had violated his daughter-in-law and dismembered her body. His remaining reason told Shen Qian that killing was no big deal, or rather, that he needed to face the judgment of the law. But at this moment, Shen Qian could not suppress the urge to tear the other man to pieces.
bite!
"The system has detected that the host's emotions are on the verge of spiraling out of control, and has automatically started the idle mode."
At the last moment, the system brought him back to reality.
Even after regaining his memories and thoughts, his condition before the collapse was still very bad.
Today's exam was completely orchestrated by the system.
Shen Qian originally intended to complete all the card trials by simply leaving the game running, but the system would always wake up midway through the process, using the excuse of "improving the host's willpower" to make Shen Qian experience a complete illusionary torment.
Shen Qian knew that, within a systems thinking framework, this was an excellent opportunity for training.
Shen Qian also knew that he was too weak in willpower due to his personality, age, and experience.
Therefore, Shen Qian agreed to the system's suggestion.
Anyway, with the system backing me up, passing the exam shouldn't be a problem.
These trials in the illusions are an invaluable and irreplaceable treasure for the naive Shen Qian.
Anxiety, tension, anger, frustration, sadness, pain...
Each card represents an extreme negative emotion and a unique life experience.
As the number of trials increased, Shen Qian gradually realized that he had the potential to awaken in the illusion on his own.
However, it will inevitably take him much longer than the system.
...Of course, let's leave aside the "lust and depravity" hurdle, as that's Shen Qian's biggest pain point so far.
He felt that no one could possibly pass.
Time kept passing by, and in the brief yet long test, the first nine hourglasses had quietly run out of sand, and the tenth hourglass began to flow with sand.
Before sinking, he is undergoing the test of the "Ace of Spades".
"fear."
This is one of the most primal human emotions, and it also reflects the instinct of living beings to seek advantage and avoid harm.
When Shen Qian opened his eyes, still shaken, he was almost unable to stand.
It seems that Gu Zifang was trying out this card, no wonder she almost got trapped inside as well.
"Switch".
When Shen Qian spoke, but the "Ace of Spades" in front of him remained silent, Shen Qian was taken aback for a moment before relaxing completely.
This indicates that he has likely completed the test of all the cards.
I glanced at it and saw that only a quarter of the tenth hourglass had passed; there was no rush at all.
"Will this guarantee a perfect score?"
Shen Qian let out a long breath, just about to end the exam, but his consistently steady instincts made him stop.
He began to review the day's actions.
To get a perfect score, you must pass all the card tests, that much is certain, but then another problem arises...
This path is actually not hard to find; if you pay attention, it's quite obvious. So why is it that almost no one can do it?
It can be attributed to the card illusion being too difficult, but as the saying goes, after two hundred years of accumulation, there must be some monsters that cannot be explained by ordinary theories, right?
He has the system; who knows what others have?
Another point is that proverb-like statement at the beginning, which always left Shen Qian with a lingering doubt.
He glanced at the remaining time, then closed his eyes and began to review his previous AFK records, silently counting the number of cards he had passed the test.
He remembered seeing all the suits and ranks, so it should be a complete deck of cards.
"...10 of diamonds, 51, then the last Ace of spades, and then 52."
Fifty-two cards.
It seems there's no problem.
But how many cards are in a deck of cards?
Having hardly ever played poker, Shen Qian began searching for scenes from the past in his memory palace.
He remembered watching a TV program when he was a child, where a magician named Liu Dabang said something before performing his magic trick.
"So we can see that a deck of cards has 54 cards, right..."
54?
Why 54?
He was initially confused, then suddenly horrified.
King and Queen!
Yes, a complete deck of cards, besides thirteen cards of each of the four suits, should also include a pair of Jokers!
However, Shen Qian had not seen these two cards during the test just now.
Did it never exist in the first place?
No, there must be some hidden meaning...
He pondered deeply before sinking in, and for no apparent reason, he thought of the line of text that had appeared at the beginning.
"A firm will can dispel all confusion."
Mist...
Chen Qian subconsciously looked around, and apart from the hourglass and the dull "Ace of Spades" in front of him, there was only endless darkness.
Aren't these dark places also part of the fog that obscures our vision?
The instant Shen Qian understood, his eyes suddenly brightened, and astonishing changes began to occur in his consciousness space.
Little by little, points of light appeared, and one after another, dark gold cards appeared around the sinking figure.
Queen of Hearts, 10 of Diamonds, 2 of Clubs...
All the cards revealed shadows, revealing that they had always been surrounding Chen Qian.
"So that's what 'a card with a positive face' means..."
Suddenly, I realized what was happening.
There is never a choice; rather, those whose vision is obscured can only see one picture.
The sky and earth brightened, and two enormous cards, each over a hundred meters long and wide, emitted a gentle golden light.
He looked up and saw the red clown on the ace card smiling at him.
He lowered his head and saw the black clown on the little ace making a face at him.
"So, this consciousness space itself is an illusion, an illusion composed of kings and queens."
He murmured before sinking down.
"This is the final chapter of the test of willpower..."
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