Chapter 42: Past Events in the Diary, Brother Qin Gets Caught by the Exam Proctor Again

This scene in the confinement room had no other people, no Exam Proctor A standing before him.

Qin Jiu walked along the perimeter of the protective net.

In the distance beyond the ruins was still the shelter forest. Tall, straight trunks pointed toward the sky, with startled birds occasionally bursting into flight, only to dive back into the woods in flocks.

And on the other side, equally far away, a gray mist billowed, with faint traces of gunpowder smoke.

As an invigilator, Qin Jiu was more than familiar with the punishment chamber.

It would place one in the scene of their greatest fear in this lifetime, forcing them to relive it over and over.

He had once firmly believed in this point, because countless examinees had wet themselves in the punishment chamber, and even the invigilators like 154 and the others kept their distance from this place.

But now, he suddenly felt that it was a bit far-fetched.

A circle of ruins, a stretch of forest, and even this quiet environment—what exactly was there to “fear”?

Of course, the word “fear” carries far too many extended meanings.

And as he stood here, seeing these ruins and even the windbreak forest, there was indeed a desolate and vast sense of loneliness, as if… it was difficult to feel happy again.

But this was far from being “scared.”

He once believed this word had nothing to do with him.

Before this, he always thought that if he ever entered the confinement room, he would see either nothing or the room exactly as it was.

Now, however, it had become quite intriguing.

What exactly had the examiner A done that made the detention room use this scenario to frighten him?

Qin Jiu wanted to search for some lingering traces in the ruins.

After wandering for twenty minutes, he found nothing at all.

This should be related to his memories; all he could recall ended here. The detention room naturally didn’t hold much more than that—at most, it embellished things with a touch of artistic flair on top of the subconscious.

……

Second floor of the invigilation ship.

Taking advantage of You Huo being confined, 922 slipped out of the room and ducked into the kitchen downstairs to continue frying his smoked chicken and lamb chops.

It wasn’t until one side had turned slightly golden brown, forming a crispy skin and filling the cabin with its aroma, that 922 finally recovered from the blow of having “caught his superior.”

Squatting under the wooden cabinet looking for clean plates, he looked up to see 078 sniffing as he came in, saying, “Being assigned to invigilate with you guys is really nice. The food is different. No wonder 021 picked this group—have you worked with them before?”

“If you want to eat, wash the plates first.” 922 brought out four dinner trays and shoved them toward him. “021’s pick? Surely it wasn’t just to watch our boss serve his detention…”

“It couldn’t be that, right? Who would’ve thought he’d actually break the rules? Maybe she just wanted to enjoy acting as the invigilator for 001?” 078 said, “Anyway, the system offered several groups of exam halls to choose from. I was still hesitating when she just decided! But that lady has always been decisive.”

922 grunted in acknowledgment as he portioned out the chicken and lamb chops onto the cleaned plates. “So where’s the Decisive Lady now? Tell her it’s time to eat.”

“She’s in the surveillance room,” 078 replied.

922 paused: “What are you doing sitting there?”

“Keeping an eye on things.” 078 was even more baffled: “Don’t you guys monitor during solitary confinement?”

“Not really.” 922 shook his head.

That was already putting it politely; in fact, they didn’t watch at all.

Each invigilation station has a monitoring room, equipped with several screens that are directed toward the detention cells. Whatever occurs to examinees inside those detention cells will be displayed on the screens.

As for whether invigilators need to watch the entire process, there is no strict regulation.

This lack of strict regulation meant that in other invigilation teams, it essentially implied “must watch,” but for Qin Jiu, it was more or less “decoration.”

Either the monitoring room was locked and empty, or the monitors were simply turned off.

With both groups of proctors gathered together this time, each had their own habits.

922 didn’t stop him either, merely saying, “So what do you guys plan to do? Take turns eating? Or are you going to bring this plate to the monitoring room and eat with her? It’s better when it’s freshly fried and crispy—once it cools down, it won’t taste as good. Better eat it while it’s hot.”

“I’ll bring it over to her. She’s always been like this,” said 078. “I won’t eat inside; my stomach is sensitive. If I see something bloody and messy, I’m afraid I’ll vomit. Are you and 154 sure you don’t want to come and watch?”

Holding the plate, 922 was torn with internal conflict.

To be honest, he was extremely curious about what their boss would encounter inside the punishment room.

But in the end, the instinct for survival won over his curiosity.

He shook his head and said, “Forget it, forget it. I’m going to call 154 to eat some meat.”

……

According to Group 9’s routine, 078 and 021 worked on a rotating shift: 021 monitored the surveillance room in the first half of the day, while 078 took over in the latter half.

So at this moment, 078 hadn’t yet seen what those two’s confinement rooms looked like.

“Lady Gan Cui, your dinner.” As 078 pushed the door open and stepped inside, she froze: “Why are you standing?”

021 was standing beside the console. Turning at the words, she replied, “Sitting for too long affects one’s figure.”

078: “…” Impressive.

021 didn’t dwell on this topic for long: “What did you just call me?”

“Miss Straightforward. 922 came up with it, and I think it suits you quite well.” 078 set the plate down on the countertop. “922 fried some chicken, and I blanched some vegetables for you. You… going to eat standing up?”

021 pulled out a chair and sat down.

She finally took off her sunglasses, revealing eyes that were sharp and strikingly beautiful. She cut a small piece of chicken, about to eat it, but then looked up at 078: “Aren’t you going to eat? Or are you waiting to clear my plate?”

078 had known her for a long time and was already used to the way she spoke, so he wasn’t annoyed. “I’m going, I was just about to,” he said. “I just wanted to see what the solitary confinement room looks like. I’m so curious to see what 001 would be like in solitary—”

As he turned around, he noticed that one of the surveillance screens was lit up.

The camera captured a top-down view from a slanted angle, showing what looked like a ruined area. Qin Jiu was leaning against a relatively clean metal platform… reading a book.

078: “…”

He nearly pressed his face against the screen, double-checking again and again.

Really reading a book……………… or maybe looking at some leather-bound notebook.

Who knows?

Anyway, the usual chaos of yelling and uproar you’d expect in a detention room was completely absent here.

078 finally blurted out after a long pause, “Damn, it’s like they came here for afternoon tea…”

021 slowly chewed on a small piece of chicken, letting out a low “hmph” without even raising his head.

“And the other one?” 078 asked again. “Why is only one screen lit up?”

Miss 021 was quite particular about not talking while eating. Her dark red painted finger tapped the bottom right corner, indicating to 078 that the other one was there.

078 leaned closer to the screen again.

He felt like he might be going blind—there was nothing but pitch-black darkness there.

“What’s the situation with this guy? Afraid of the dark?”

Without another word, 021 slammed on the night vision mode.

Finally, 078 could see what was happening inside the solitary confinement cell. The examinee who was supposed to be in isolation… was slumped over the table, fast asleep and completely out of it.

Leaning in close to the audio device, they could faintly make out the steady rhythm of his breathing.

078: “…”

One is reading, the other is sleeping—what’s the point of this confinement? Is this meant to insult the invigilators or the system?

“Forget it, I’m going to eat…”

Infuriated to the point of hunger, he turned and headed to the dining room.

The surveillance room fell silent again. 021 swallowed her vegetables and finally looked up, her beautiful eyes fixed unblinkingly on the screen.

……

Five minutes later, the three proctors in the dining room were still eating their lamb chops when 021 came up.

“The surveillance is down,” she said, holding her tray and water glass, looking somewhat innocent for a moment.

078 swallowed the piece of meat in his mouth. “What? Why did it suddenly break? It was working fine just a moment ago.”

021 said: “I accidentally knocked over the cup, and all the water splashed onto the operation console. When I was wiping it, I might not have been careful enough—I probably pressed the power button or something else.”

“What do we do?” asked 078. “Report it to the system?”

021 was a bit reluctant.

That was understandable; invigilators weren’t too keen on provoking the system either.

922 spat out the bone and broke the tension. “They’re floating somewhere out at sea, man. What’s there to report? Watching that surveillance feed or not doesn’t really matter. The confinement area is basically the only part of the system’s free-range zone. After all, the confinement rooms themselves are punishing enough for the examinees, and there’s that privacy principle—the system has never been too hands-on about it. Our team never bothers checking. Look, the little red light isn’t even on.”

078 had initially wanted to put up some resistance, but watching someone read a book and sleep on the surveillance feed really didn’t offer much to see.

Stare at it for too long and you’d just risk getting so angry you might as well have a stroke.

So he shifted his butt, steadied himself in his seat, and succumbed to the sizzling, fragrant lamb chops.

With no surveillance to watch, 078 and 021 joined the team of people who were full and chatting.

They sat by the fire, talking while keeping an eye on the time on the wall, just wanting to send the troublemaker off as soon as possible.

……

In the bottom-deck cell No. 2, Qin Jiu turned another page.

What he was reading wasn’t a book, but the exam diary that Zhao Wentu had shoved into his hands.

He had kept this journal with him all along, yet only now did he flip through its contents for the first time—because the confinement room was a special place.

Within the entire examination system, it was only here that additional monitoring was installed.

In other words, everywhere else—the invigilators’ living quarters, the examination halls, the resting areas—the system was omnipresent. It could always know what every single person was doing in real time.

Only the confinement room was an exception.

Following the earliest privacy principles, there are no invisible eyes of the system here, only tangible cameras.

Turn it off, and the confinement room becomes the most private place.

Of course, entering and leaving the confinement room is still restricted.

Only candidates who violate the rules can enter. And invigilators can only enter when escorting rule-violating candidates.

……

During this rare private time, Qin Jiu had already flipped through nearly half of the diary.

Inside were records of every exam Zhao Wentu participated in and every person worth noting that he encountered.

Qin Jiu saw his own name in it…

And also saw Examiner A.

Mathematics Day 2

Rain

I spent the whole day yesterday going crazy. But even now that I’ve calmed down, I still can’t make sense of it. What sin did I commit to be dragged into taking this kind of test (I parted ways with my last girlfriend peacefully, I’m not a jerk).

I’d rather drop out and repeat the college entrance exam for ten years than take this shitty thing! At least if I couldn’t solve a math problem in the college entrance exam, I wouldn’t get burned to death.

Well, there is one thing that could be considered a bit of good news. There’s a really amazing person in the team named Qin Jiu. Surviving yesterday was all thanks to him.

But he’s always pushing the limits of breaking the rules. I’m a bit nervous. Actually, the whole team is nervous, except for him.

I hope he can hold steady, please, just hold steady. (Kneeling in front of him is too intimidating, so I’ll just kneel here in my diary. Thud.)

It’s 10 PM now. Wishing the whole team a peaceful night, good night.

Mathematics Day 3

Rain

It was truly a heart-pounding day today. A teammate almost got caught and burned to death, but Qin Jiu ended up burning the enemy’s great monster instead (how dare he…).

To be honest, it felt incredibly satisfying to witness—that feeling of a last-minute turnaround, snatched from the jaws of death.

Then Qin Jiu was captured (the team’s only hope!).

Yeah, this damned exam actually has live invigilators. Anyway, Invigilator A took the rule-breaking Qin Jiu away, and the wildest part is that he didn’t even take it seriously—he actually teased the invigilator.

Ps: Invigilator A looks way too young, I suspect he’s around my age, maybe even a year or two younger than Qin Jiu? But the aura he radiates… When he appeared, no one dared to move or make a sound (though maybe it’s because he was the invigilator, so nobody dared to act up—except Qin Jiu).

I heard the punishment for breaking rules is solitary confinement. Qin Jiu said the true essence of solitary confinement might be forcing examinees to sit quietly in a room until they suffocate—basically, kill one off at a time (How does that even sound believable? Just sitting quietly—what’s so scary about that?).

Anyway, I still hope he stays stable—this exam lasts for 12 days.

It’s 9:30 PM, Long live Brother Qin, I hope not to see fire tomorrow, sweet dreams to me.

Math, Day 4

Sunny

Today, a little girl almost died. She’s only 6 years old and got dragged into taking this disgusting exam. Damn it.

The little girl gave Qin-ge a candy, and Qin-ge helped her fight a hall full of walking exam questions.

The only problem was that the result got out of control, and the hall collapsed, so Qin-ge got hauled away by the Invigilator again.

Today’s Invigilator A was also cold, just that his face looked a bit stinky (Oh no, under Qin-ge’s influence, I’m even starting to get a little less nervous. I don’t know if that’s good or bad).

I suspect if this happens a couple more times, this Invigilator A and Qin-ge are going to end up on each other’s blacklists.

PS: Based on my gut as a national defense student, this invigilator must have served in the military, right? Or at least had some similar experience. Wouldn’t that make him something like a half-colleague of Qin Ge? So why the pointless feud…

What’s scary is that Qin Ge said next time he gets locked up, he’s going to stir up some trouble for the invigilator (since he can’t see this, I’ll just call it courting death in the diary). Hmm… can’t tell from his expression whether he’s serious or not, but he always talks like that anyway.

He can’t be losing his mind from boredom, can he?

It’s 10 PM now. Sweet dreams.

Math – Day 5

Sunny

Damn, we finally finished the exam…

But just as we stepped out of the exam hall, Qín Ge got taken away by the proctor.

Not sure which one to worry about at the moment.

Whatever, I hope I can run into Brother Qin in my next exam.