On the bus back to Jiangcheng
The air conditioner was on full blast, and the warm air made people drowsy.
Zhao Zichen held his trophy.
Its head slammed against the car window, making a soft "thump-thump" sound.
Zhang Ya was wearing headphones and had her eyes closed; it was unclear whether she was asleep or not.
Shen Qingqiu rubbed her slightly sore neck and glanced at Lin Que beside her.
The winner of the "Grand Prize" slept soundly.
A baseball cap was pulled up over his face, and he crossed his arms.
Swaying slightly with the bumps of the vehicle, my breathing was long and even.
Shen Qingqiu shook her head helplessly.
Feeling bored, she took out her phone.
As if by some strange twist of fate,
My finger hovered over the red app icon.
Ever since that "boring match" preview, she's felt like there's a feather tickling her every day.
"I'll just take a look."
Shen Qingqiu made excuses for herself in her heart.
"Understanding the inner world of young people is also part of education."
A light tap with your fingertips.
The app's startup screen flashes by in an instant.
Sure enough, the book "Human World is Like a Prison" that was pinned to the top of the bookshelf had an update notification.
The red "NEW" lettering exudes an ominous allure.
Latest Chapter: [A Boring Match]
Shen Qingqiu adjusted her posture.
I checked and confirmed that none of the students were looking at me.
She silently lowered the brightness of her phone screen, took a deep breath, and opened the chapter.
The words came like raindrops, instantly overwhelming me.
[...]
The bus stopped at a desolate bus stop.
The car door opened, and a rotten, musty smell rushed in.
"We've arrived at the station," the driver's mechanical voice announced.
Yang Jian got out of the car expressionlessly.
What lay before me was not a bustling metropolis, but a massive building shrouded in a gray fog.
It looked like a gladiatorial arena, but the plaster had peeled off, revealing dark red flesh beneath.
A crooked sign hung at the entrance—"Ghost Realm Selection Competition."
As Yang Jian reached the door, two pale-faced figures in security guard uniforms blocked his way.
They have no whites in their eyes, only jet-black eye sockets.
"Exam admission ticket".
The security guard stretched out his hand; his fingernails were long like rusty iron hooks.
Yang Jian didn't speak, but he slightly opened the ghost eye on his forehead.
A flash of red light, and the two security guards, like wax figures scorched by high heat, instantly melted into two puddles of black water.
"This is the ticket."
Yang Jian crossed the Black Water and entered through the gate.
Inside the arena, thousands of "examinees" sat in neat rows.
They had their heads down, pens in their hands, frantically writing something on the exam paper.
The rustling sound of friction was like countless silkworms munching on mulberry leaves.
Yang Jian walked to a row of seats and glanced down at them.
Those weren't exam papers at all, but rather human skin.
They didn't use pens, but their own fingers.
If your fingertips are worn raw, use a bone to scratch them.
Bloodstains spread across the human skin, forming distorted characters.
—"Help me," "It hurts so much," "I want to die."
【"quiet!"】
On the high platform, an examiner dressed in a tailcoat suddenly turned his head.
Its neck turned a full 180 degrees, and its face revealed a huge mouth that stretched all the way to its ears.
"No noise during the exam. Violators will be executed!"
As its voice faded, the "examinee" closest to Yang Jian suddenly raised his head and let out a scream.
The next second, its body seemed to be crushed by an invisible giant hand, and blood mist splattered all over Yang Jian.
The examiner stuck out his long tongue in satisfaction and licked his lips:
"This is what happens when you break the rules."
It looked at Yang Jian with greedy eyes.
"New candidate, your seat is..."
"I have no interest in participating in this boring competition," Yang Jian interrupted.
He stood in the middle of the aisle, his trench coat moving even though there was no wind.
A dark red light spread from beneath his feet, instantly covering half of the arena.
"I'm here to grade papers."
Before he could finish speaking, a tall, dark figure suddenly darted out from behind Yang Jian.
The dark figure had no facial features, and wielded a rusty woodcutter's knife, slashing it at the examiner on the high platform.
[Pfft.]
Without any warning, the examiner's head slipped off his neck and rolled off the stage.
The gaping maw still bore the greedy grin.
The entire venue fell silent.
Thousands of "examinees" who were writing simultaneously stopped what they were doing.
They all turned their heads in unison, thousands of empty eyes staring intently at Yang Jian.
"The examiner is dead."
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