Chapter 64: Striving On in the Past, Chief Examiner.

“Mr. 001, even though your rank is very high, and you almost became my direct superior—I’m quite glad it was only almost,”

021 turned and added stiffly, “but I have to remind you, you’re currently under. Punishment. Time.”

She made sure to emphasize those last three words.

With that said, she turned to You Huo and added, “You too.”

Qin Jiu nodded, “Thanks for the reminder, but if I recall correctly, there doesn’t seem to be any rule stating that an invigilator on penalty duty can’t also head home afterward, right?”

After saying that, he even asked 922 and 154, “Isn’t that right?”

922 was still reeling from the shock of “The boss inviting Examiner A home.”

He had zoned out for quite a while and didn’t say a word.

154 said, “No.”

154 consistently stood on his boss’s side; after reporting, he added for emphasis to 021, “There really isn’t.”

“……”

021 glared at him.

She thought, of course there’s no damn rule because there’s never been an invigilator like your boss before. Have a little self-awareness, okay?

She was tempted to snap back, given that everyone knew she didn’t like 001.

But the problem was, the amnesiac Examiner A was on good terms with him. Having too poor an attitude might damage her own image.

She could only bite back her words and switch to another line: “Candidates are not allowed to enter an examiner’s residence without reason. This is clearly stated in the rules—I’m afraid you’ve forgotten that.”

This was a rule Qin Jiu had genuinely forgotten.

If there’s a reason, that’s fine.

A damn good reason, my ass.

Leng Yan’s face could hardly hold back anymore: “The lodging arrangements for the penalized examinees over these three days have already been made. If you have any objections, take it up with the system. What you do with your time after the punishment is your own business, I have no say in it.”

With that, she clicked her heels and stomped into the building.

* * *

The Twin Towers look very much like ordinary commercial buildings, with three elevator doors on each floor.

Above the doors, there are indicator lights of different colors—red, white, and blue.

922 was absent-minded and instinctively stood in front of the elevator with the red light on, earning him a glance from 021.

“Wrong.”

154 pulled him over to the one with the blue light, reminding him, “The boss didn’t violate the rules in the living area. He’s been counted as an examinee for these rounds.”

When You Huo heard this, he understood—

The three elevators couldn’t be mixed, likely due to status distinctions.

The one with the blue light was specifically for examinees.

The one with the red light was specifically for examiners.

What about the white lamp then?

NPC-exclusive? For use by rest stop proprietors, drivers, and service staff only?

You Huo felt a little curious.

Two consecutive “dings”

rang out in the hall.

The blue-light elevator they were waiting for opened, and surprisingly, the red-light elevator at the far end opened as well.

Two people stepped out, one after the other.

The one in front was a young man, impeccably dressed and groomed, a match for 154.

Noticing other people in the lobby, he paused for a moment, nodded, and said, “Good evening.”

Perhaps because Qin Jiu was present, he nodded with great enthusiasm, conveying a sense of genuine respect.

As he looked up, he discreetly glanced at 021, his expression serious and the tips of his ears slightly flushed.

Following closely behind was a middle-aged man.

His hair was unkempt, tousled like a bird’s nest, and a stubble circled his chin, as if he hadn’t shaved for days.

The moment she saw him, 021 froze.

Because he was also an early proctor, someone who knew Proctor A.

It was said he had once been extremely formidable, seemingly unaffected by age. But after suffering an injury, his physical abilities began to decline comprehensively, landing him with a rank of 1006.

Even this was a compromise based on his earlier achievements.

If counting just these past two years, he’d probably rank near the bottom.

021 thought it was usually pretty hard to see these people, but today, they kept popping out one after another, making everything more troublesome for her.

Fortunately, 1006 was a seasoned old hand.

With half-open eyes, he lazily lifted a finger in this direction, probably not even clearly seeing who was there, and mumbled, “Fine.”

Turned around and left.

021 breathed another sigh of relief.

She held the elevator door open and urged, “Hurry up and get in.”

As she spoke, 078 hurried over, squeezing into the elevator right on time.

The elevator had no floor buttons and was ascending on its own.

You Huo glanced around.

Qin Jiu explained, “Which floor it stops on is entirely random.”

You Huo asked, “What’s the difference?”

He thought Qin Jiu would say something like “difficulty,” but instead the other replied,

“Just the difference between good and bad luck.”

You Huo immediately lost interest in engaging with him.

A few seconds later, he suddenly remembered, “Was that person just now also an examiner?”

This was the first time he had ever seen an examiner of that type.

021 really wanted to answer You Huo, but she had to force herself to hold back and act cold.

However, the next second, she deeply regretted not speaking up.

Because the one who answered was Qiu Jiu again.

“A supervisor who just finished being punished,” Qiu Jiu said.

“What? Who?”

078 couldn’t keep up.

154 said, “I just ran into 1006.”

078 realized, “Now that you mention it, I think I saw him. I was running too fast to stop and say hello. Did he get punished again?”

154: “Mhm.”

078 said, “His expression must have been awful.”

154: “Indeed, looking quite weary.”

078 glanced at You Huo and said with an insinuating threat, “After all, punishments are really hard to endure.”

He clicked his tongue a couple of times, then looked at You Huo again.

The other showed no reaction whatsoever.

“……”

078 felt his acting had been wasted.

* * *

The elevator came to a quick stop.

The metal doors opened, but the four invigilators did not move.

“Here we are, get off. This round’s punishment is cleaning up the examination hall.”

078 took out his phone and glanced at the time, saying, “It’s 9:30 now, a bit late. Hope you can finish in one night. We’ll see you again when it’s over.”

With that, the elevator doors closed again, carrying the four proctors back down.

“What does ‘cleaning the examination hall’ mean?”

You Huo withdrew his gaze from the tightly closed elevator doors.

“After an exam ends, some halls can get pretty messy and need to be cleaned up,”

Qin Jiu explained.

“The system treats this as a form of punishment because the trouble you encounter during cleanup isn’t necessarily any less than during the exam.”

After he finished, he paused for a moment and added, “Except for the exam halls that are completely destroyed.”

You Huo nodded.

The floor they were on was a spacious open-plan area, completely empty.

Directly opposite the elevator was a large floor-to-ceiling window. By the window sat a gray-haired old man, dozing off with his head lowered.

The earlier conversations and commotion surprisingly hadn’t woken him up.

“Looking for him?”

You Huo gestured toward the old man with a slight nod.

Qin Jiu glanced around and said, “Should be. Didn’t see any other living thing around.”

What does he mean by ‘should be’

…

You Huo: “You’ve never been here before?”

“You might be misunderstanding a bit. Generally speaking, I’m still quite law-abiding and rule-following,” Qin Jiu said.

He walked toward the old man and rapped his knuckles in front of him.

After tapping, he turned to You Huo and said, “This is the first time.”

The old man jolted awake at last.

He looked up and, seeing Qin Jiu, immediately said, “Why are you back again?”

Qin Jiu: “…Who?”

The old man: “You.”

Qin Jiu said with annoyance, “You’ve got the wrong person.”

The old man seemed a bit confused.

His aged eyes stared at Qin Jiu for a moment before he muttered softly, “Wrong person? Oh… maybe so. My memory hasn’t been so good lately.”

The old man lowered his head in thought for a moment, then ran his fingers through his hair and said, “Forget it, let’s not think about it. Come—”

He pointed at the metal platform in front of him.

“Press your palm. We need to register some violation information.”

Qin Jiu complied.

As soon as his palm was pressed onto the screen, several lines of text flashed across the display:

Name: Qin Jiu

Candidate Number: 86010-06141729-Gi

Corresponding Exam Admission Number: 86010-06141729-82

Past Records: 12 Times

The old man instantly grew excited: “12 times, I knew I wasn’t mistaken—it’s you!”

Qin Jiu himself was stunned.

He turned his head to glance at You Huo.

You Huo: “Get this—it’s my first time here.”

Qin Jiu: “…”

“Did you miss a digit?”

Qin Jiu looked down at the information, touching the side of his neck as he said, “It’s linked to my old exam number. It should be from when I was a candidate.”

But 12 times…

You Huo said, “Assuming you violated the rules at the last minute in every exam, you’ve violated the rules for 12 subjects?”

Qin Jiu: “…Pretty much.”

“It’s a five-subject system now, back then, how many subjects did you have? 15?”

Before Qin Jiu could speak, the old man cut in, “What are you talking about, 15 subjects? There are only 5 subjects, 9 at most.”

Qin Jiu raised an eyebrow.

The old man said, “Lower your eyebrows. I remember you—can’t be wrong! Even though my memory is poor now, and I’m a bit slow, I remember you. The impression was too deep…”

Indeed, the impression was too deep.

As one grows older, people slowly become dull.

What he used to do, why he had come here, when he had started being a gatekeeper—all of these, the old man could no longer remember.

On the contrary, during these years as a gatekeeper, I still remember some of the candidates I’ve seen from time to time.

Qin Jiu was the most memorable one.

He could even recall scattered scenes.

That was really something for him.

* * *

It was a day of torrential rain, with a bluish-gray view outside the floor-to-ceiling window, lightning flashing and thunder rumbling.

The dozing old man was jolted awake by a sudden clap of thunder and didn’t fall back asleep.

He was staring blankly out the window when the elevator suddenly chimed.

He turned to look.

Two people were standing inside the opened elevator doors.

One is Qin Jiu, the other standing in the inner corner of the elevator, whose face remains unseen due to the angle.

Only a hand resting on the railing is visible, with the shirt cuff clean and spotlessly white, along with a straight, sleek black military boot.

Qin Jiu raised a hand to greet the old man, “Good afternoon.”

The old man said, “Why is it you again?”

Qin Jiu smiled, “Yeah, I’m back again.”

This candidate’s lazy, carefree demeanor was truly punch-worthy.

Not only did the old man think so, but so did the person in the elevator.

The old man saw the military boots shift slightly as the person said to Qin Jiu, “Get out of the elevator before you start chatting. Don’t hold the door; I’m in a hurry.”

“What’s the hurry?”

Qin Jiu turned his head and asked.

“…A meeting. What does it have to do with you?”

Qin Jiu hummed and replied, seemingly off-topic, “Not bad, you’ve improved.”

“What improvement?”

Qin Jiu: “You’re actually answering questions now. A bit more enthusiastic than our last meeting, and even more obvious compared to the one before that.”

“……”

The old man could almost feel the urge to kick someone just listening to it.

If he had boots on, he would have kicked him.

Sure enough, he saw that military boot lift slightly.

Qin Jiu smiled as he stepped aside and walked out of the elevator.

He pressed the down button for that invigilator, and as the elevator doors slowly closed, he waved to the person inside.

“Keep up the good work, Head Examiner.”

The elevator went down.

Qin Jiu turned and walked over to the old man, pressing his hand down with practiced ease.

With a beep, several lines of information flashed across the screen:

Name: Qin Jiu

Exam ID: 86010-06141729-82

Past Record: 5 times

The old man couldn’t help but ask, “How many subjects are you actually taking?”

“Five.”

The old man’s expression became indescribable, “Are you going to do this for every single subject?”

“Not quite. I retook the exam twice, so it’s more like five out of seven times.”

“And you’re proud of that?”

Qin Jiu chuckled again.

This examinee often wore a smile, whether he was speaking or simply too lazy to.

However, nine out of ten of these smiles carried a hint of arrogant mischief.

Perhaps at his core, he was simply not a proper character.

In any case, it was quite infuriating.

The old man said, “This must be your final exam, right? Once your punishment is over, you should be able to leave, shouldn’t you?”

“Not necessarily.”

The old man choked on his mouthful of water: “Wasn’t the resit supposed to be for five subjects?”

Qin Jiu fished a card out of his pocket: “There’s still one left.”

The old man took a closer look. On the card were two bold characters: Resit.

“……”

Qin Jiu added, “But it’s a bit of a pity; it probably won’t come in handy anymore.”

The old man asked curiously, “Why?”

“Because I drew a black card once, and the exam system has been reformed,” Qin Jiu said.

“Counting by levels, staying steady at C is enough.”

The old man: “…”

No, what does “stable at C”

even mean?

He suspected this examinee might be a pervert.

He slammed the control button with force.

The floor-to-ceiling window instantly disappeared, and torrential rain mixed with thunder crashed inside.

The old man was seated just outside the area where the man had been tackled.

This was the punishment zone, where the penalty was to clean up an examination room, with the room chosen at random.

All the examinee had to do was climb down through the open French window; whichever exam hall they landed in would be the one they cleaned.

The old man had always thought the process of climbing down was punishment enough in itself.

A building that tall—even just looking over the edge would make your legs go weak, let alone climbing down.

He’d seen plenty of people crawl their way down while crying the whole time.

Only Qin Jiu was an exception.

Trained in the military for so long, there wasn’t a single thing this man feared.

Watching him walk towards the window, the old man couldn’t help asking, “Why are you taking the exam again and again? Just to improve your score?”

Qin Jiu stopped at the edge, rainwater trickling down his handsome, sharp face.

He smiled and said, “Guess.”

Then he flipped over and jumped out.