Chapter 76 Room Assignment: That’s perfect, I’ll come find you for a secret affair.

Zhao Jiatong, with her gentle personality, might have reservations towards Qin Jiu, but she wouldn’t show it on her face.

Gao Qi, on the other hand, was quite different.

When Qin Jiu approached, he became as tense as if he were facing a formidable enemy.

If Zhao Jiatong hadn’t held him back, he would have already rolled up his sleeves.

“What are you doing?” Zhao Jiatong glared at him,

Gao Qi: “Conditioned reflex.”

Zhao Jiatong said angrily, “I never see you reflex so much in the invigilators’ quarters!”

“Wine brings peace.” Gao Qi kept his eyes closed and spoke nonsense.

“……”

“Besides, we rarely crossed paths—he was 001, I was 1006. Sure, both have two zeros,” Gao Qi said with a self-deprecating laugh, “but the rank difference was huge. Even if I wanted to retaliate, I never got the chance.”

Zhao Jiatong said, “Stop exaggerating. It’s said that 001’s memory was damaged after recuperating, and he doesn’t remember any of those grudges at all.”

“I know that, but who can say for sure whether it’s true or false?” Gao Qi replied.

“That’s just… what’s the point of pretending something like this.”

“There are plenty of advantages.” Gao Qi counted on his fingers. “It saves you from having to explain what happened that day, avoids causing trouble for others, and eliminates the need to steer clear of any suspicion. I’ve already gone all the way from being ranked E back to four digits. For him, a central figure, once he’s rested and recovered, everything will remain as it was. Isn’t that benefit enough?”

“……”

Zhao Jiatong had nothing more to say.

Actually, that’s what most of the early examiners thought.

System bugs causing accidental injuries—that explanation was just for the newcomers.

The early examiners who had openly or secretly competed with each other knew very well what had really happened…

Simply put, someone had quietly gathered strength and prepared in secret, planning to overthrow the system in one move. But due to various reasons—a leak? Someone switching sides at the last moment? Or perhaps deliberate opposition?—the action failed, and the system struck back.

As for the invigilators involved, they would be punished or monitored as appropriate.

Before the incident occurred, the others were not aware of the specific details.

But after the incident, looking at the outcome, one could guess a thing or two.

It was Examiner A who was indignantly expelled by the system. Qin Jiu, who remained as the Chief Examiner 001, remained unaffected.

See, it’s quite clear.

They were surprised that Examiner A, seemingly the perfect representative of the system, had actually done something only the hardliners would do. They were also surprised that Qin Jiu, seemingly a hardliner, had ultimately protected the system.

After that incident, the system performed self-repair and self-upgrades.

For about a month, all the invigilators stayed in the invigilation area, and all the examinees remained in the rest area.

Gao Qi was extremely angry for a time. He had always considered Examiner A a friend, but the other party had carried out his plan in secret without giving him any hint. It was only during that month that he realized this was his stoic friend’s unconventional way of protecting them—to prevent the system from dealing with them one by one.

If they succeeded, they would all be freed together.

Failure is just a matter concerning him alone.

After that month, the system underwent significant changes.

On one hand, the supervision over invigilators became stricter, with many new rules added; on the other hand, it also grew more peculiar.

It was hard to pinpoint exactly what felt off.

Anyway… it felt a bit insane.

After that, the early-generation invigilators gradually withdrew from the core, becoming subordinates to the newcomers, and eventually turning into low-ranking numbers like him.

Later on, the invigilators who followed—whether the system used some kind of logic and means to persuade them, or whether they were all brainwashed, no one knows for sure.

Those who enter the system would gradually forget the things from their real lives, almost without realizing it.

It’s not literal forgetting, but… you’d suddenly notice that they never talk about things like “what I used to do before” or “what happened to me when I was little” in their conversations, unless you actively ask them. It’s as if their lives only began upon entering the system.

After that, there were no more hardliners who opposed the system.

……

Putting everything else aside.

With that kind of background, how could Gao Qi possibly reconcile with Qin Jiu?

He flared his nostrils and pointed at Qin Jiu, saying, “You saw it, he was the one who came over first.”

Zhao Jiatong was speechless…

Zhao Jiatong wondered if drinking too much affected intelligence, making even speech childish.

But she didn’t have the energy to argue back because Qin Jiu was already standing nearby.

She was also a little tense.

“Why did you come?” Gao Qi threw out a line.

Qin Jiu stopped mid-step, his gaze lowered as if he had just noticed him, a slight hint of surprise flashing across his expression.

He raised a hand and said, “Good afternoon, what are you doing here?”

Gao Qi: “Playing dumb, huh? Keep pretending! You didn’t see us here, what were you rushing over for?”

Qin Jiu raised an eyebrow.

That simple gesture, in Gao Qi’s eyes, was pure mockery.

Then, Qin Jiu suddenly chuckled: “I can’t quite comprehend this inexplicable hostility…”

Gao Qi twisted his head and made a silent remark to Zhao Jiatong: See? The perks of amnesia.

Zhao Jiatong: “……”

Qin Jiu stopped in front of the carriage. “But I’m not here to pick a fight. I’m here to look for someone.”

“Listen to him, he really wants to find—” Gao Qi complained halfway to Zhao Jiatong, then suddenly froze. “Find what???”

Qin Jiu casually stretched his shoulders with both hands behind his back. “Looking for someone. Don’t glare at me yet—this has nothing to do with you.”

“You came to our carriage looking for someone, and that has nothing to do with me? What kind of nonsense is that…” Gao Qi sneered, then asked warily, “Who are you looking for?”

Just after he asked, he heard a voice behind him, falling from above and hitting the top of his head.

“Looking for me.”

“……”

“Huh???”

Gao Qi turned his head so sharply he nearly broke his neck.

There was You Huo, bending down to climb out of the car, carrying his jacket in hand, giving him a glance before saying, “Me.”

Gao Qi: “…”

He pointed at Qin Jiu and asked You Huo, “Do you know who he is?”

You Huo: “Qin Jiu.”

Gao Qi: “…”

This big shot, afraid Gao Qi didn’t know Qin Jiu’s name, thoughtfully added, “Supervisor 001.”

Gao Qi: “…”

This middle-aged man refused to believe it.

He turned his head again, pointing at You Huo and asked Qin Jiu, “Do you know who he is?”

Qin Jiu looked up at You Huo.

The posture with his hands clasped behind his back seemed gentlemanly, yet it exuded an air of carefree, playful defiance.

He smiled and said, “It’s quite a hassle to find our Chief Examiner; is this a newly hired guardian at the gate?”

The Door God’s face had gone livid.

“Who said we’re in this together with you?”

“What kind of ‘our chief examiner’ are you talking about?”

“Where are they?”

“Don’t use ‘us’, take it back.”

Gao Qi was like a rooster chasing people and pecking them, relentlessly sending soul-searching questions.

That made Qin Jiu lean back slightly with his upper body.

For a moment, he was puzzled, but soon dredged up a few sentences from deep within his memories.

It seemed like a long time ago, someone had told him that this invigilator 1006 wasn’t just acquainted with Invigilator A—he had once been Invigilator A’s friend.

Back when he heard these things, Invigilator A was nothing more than a meaningless code name to him—a senior who had long since been stripped of the title, a bit younger than him by a couple of years, once remarkably skilled, and someone who couldn’t stand the sight of him.

That was all.

Therefore, these fragmented words, these family and friend relationships, were all irrelevant nonsense to him, never taken to heart.

Unexpectedly, one or two years later, there would come a day when they would actually come in handy.

He miraculously understood the least familiar invigilator before him, swallowing back the words, “You must have had too much to drink.”

Without paying attention to the other party’s unfriendly attitude.

You Huo supported himself on the car pillar as he jumped down, saying to Gao Qi, “I didn’t mention it earlier, but I know 001.”

Hearing the words “didn’t mention earlier,” Qin Jiu raised an eyebrow again.

You Huo continued to say to Gao Qi, “During my first exam here, he was the invigilator.”

Gao Qi wondered, “Generally, invigilators don’t appear after a normal exam, right?”

You Huo said, “I was disqualified.”

Gao Qi added curiously, “Even so, they’d just lock you in the confinement room, wouldn’t they?”

“I violated the rules several times.”

Gao Qi: “…”

“He came to invigilate up close???” Gao Qi immediately became wary again.

“No,” You Huo said. “During that close invigilation, he helped burn down the examination hall and got penalized by being turned into an examinee.”

“So you two are now???” Gao Qi rubbed his face, his expression looking rather pained.

“We…”

You Huo paused mid-sentence, glanced at Qin Jiu, then looked away, saying, “They’re friends.”

“……”

Now it was Qin Jiu’s turn to feel the sting.

He worked his jaw, his expression unreadable.

Gao Qi looked at Qin Jiu with a hint of surprise, his expression complicated.

Zhao Jiatong lightly nudged him and mouthed the words: memory loss.

Gao Qi immediately understood.

He thought to himself, indeed, he now believed Qin Jiu was truly suffering from memory loss. Otherwise, even if beaten to death, he wouldn’t have gotten mixed up with Examiner A, much less called him a friend… How utterly humiliating that would be!

Proctor A has lost his memory, and 001 has lost his memory too.

So it makes some sense that they have met so peacefully, are getting along peacefully, and have even become friends in a peaceful manner…

A load of crap!

Gao Qi cursed inwardly.

For the sake of Examiner A, I can barely tolerate this.

Reconciliation is impossible.

He took advantage of the moment You Huo and Qin Jiu were distracted, whispering to Zhao Jiatong: “Friends are all bullshit—they’re only playing nice because their brains are messed up right now. Wait till they get their memories back and see what happens.”

Zhao Jiatong: “… Are you sure it can still be restored?”

Gao Qi said, “Who knows, but I have heard of some… I’ll try it out on A when we get back.”

Zhao Jiatong frowned and said, “Is it reliable? Don’t do anything reckless; do you think the system is dead?”

Gao Qi curled his lips. “I’m a candidate right now.”

……

Not far away, the carriage circled around clip-clopping, while the coachman was arranging his whip.

“You thought I was reassigned to another exam site by the system,” You Huo said to Qin Jiu.

“I thought so too, but I still got off the bus and looked for you,” Qin Jiu straightened the jacket he’d taken off, let out a light chuckle, and looked up at him. “Seems luck is on our side.”

Suddenly, the midsummer weather felt a bit dry.

You Huo licked the seam of his lips, one hand in his pocket as he narrowed his eyes at the castle in the distance. “You heard the exam question? This time, we’re pairing up in twos. I—”

As they were speaking, Zhou Qi also came down.

The coachman, lacking tact, led the horse over and said, “I’ve safely delivered both gentlemen and madam. I’ll head back to town now. If you need anything, feel free to find me there.”

He turned back to Zhou Qi and said, “Ma’am, if I may say one more thing—here, it’s best not to stray too far from your husband.”

With that, he pushed Zhou Qi forward, said “farewell,” and ran off.

Zhou Qi was completely dumbfounded.

Qin Jiu said nothing, and You Huo also remained silent.

After a moment of silence, just as You Huo was about to speak, Qin Jiu glanced toward the distance. A tall, slender woman approached, directing her words toward someone nearby. “Did you come to find a friend?”

“Hmm,” Qin Jiu replied to her before turning back to You Huo. “The system forcibly paired us into groups of two, so now I also have a wife.”

You Huo was speechless.

After a pause, he let out a soft, “Hmm.”

Zhou Qi: “…”

She still couldn’t understand why she was standing here.

The coachmen quickly withdrew, leaving only the candidates paired as “couples” in the stone square before the castle, unsure what tricks the system was up to.

Overhead, the thunder rumbled once more.

The castle gate swung open with a long, creaking sound.

A tall, thin elderly man dressed in a suit walked out, his silver-gray hair meticulously combed and tied into a small knot at the back of his head.

He bowed to the group and said, “Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I am Douglas, the butler here.”

“His Grace is feeling unwell and retired to rest after afternoon tea. I will arrange your rooms so you may freshen up before the banquet proceeds as scheduled.”

As he spoke, he glanced over the guests and made a peculiar request: “Please come forward in pairs.”

Although the prompt mentioned that the plague was raging, the servants in the castle still kept everything meticulously tidy, leaving almost no trace of hardship. Douglas held a piece of parchment, noting down a few marks for each pair of guests as they entered.

Not sure whether he was memorizing names or numbers, but since he was an NPC in the system, he probably could distinguish everyone with just one glance.

As expected, the servant assigned a room to each “couple.”

Most examinees didn’t dare speak recklessly.

In an examination hall, having a place to sleep properly was already a blessing, and having someone as a companion was even better. Gender wasn’t something they could afford to be particular about.

When it came to You Huo, Zhou Qi spoke up first, asking, “Excuse me… is it possible to get two separate rooms?”

You Huo looked at her in surprise.

He had, of course, thought about bringing it up, but it wouldn’t have been appropriate to do so in front of so many people. He had planned to ask for a room change after the assignments were done—just swap with someone else and find a female roommate for Zhou Qi.

In a place like this, two people were definitely safer than being alone.

But when the butler Douglas overheard this, he walked over, his gray eyes fixed unwaveringly on Zhou Qi. “I apologize, but married couples must share a room.”

Zhou Qi: “……Would a divorce work?”

You Huo frowned slightly, gently pushing Zhou Qi aside.

Douglas’s gaze then shifted to him.

The old butler said, “The Duke has a requirement: only loving couples are accepted as guests. Singles are not allowed, separated couples are not allowed, and divorcees are even less acceptable.”

You Huo: “…”

How on earth does a lunatic like that survive to this day?

The instructions stated that the Duke’s demands must be met; otherwise, the entire group would face punishment.

He didn’t care, but what about Zhou Qi in the same group?

You Huo reluctantly held back his temper, scowling at the butler as he said, “Let’s split it.”

……

It didn’t take long before all the rooms were assigned.

You Huo was on the third floor, near the east tower, with Qin Jiu and the girl named Yang Shu to his left, and Gao Qi and Zhao Jiatong to his right.

The rooms were quite spacious, divided into inner and outer sections. Inside, there were white cloth screens, dining tables and chairs, a vanity table, fur-covered benches and carpets, as well as a bedroom and a bathtub.

The only drawback was the lack of washrooms in the castle—you had to go downstairs to the first floor.

The bed had heavy curtains that could be drawn shut.

Zhou Qi, entering the room with immense awkwardness, first walked around the bedroom and then mumbled, “Do you smell something strange?”

“What?”

You Huo was lost in thought, pondering how to switch rooms.

Zhou Qi lifted the curtains to sniff them, shook his head, then crouched by the bedside to sniff again, still shaking his head.

“I don’t know… there’s a somewhat unpleasant smell.”

She thought for a moment and said, “It’s a bit foul.”

You Huo: “…”

The young woman sniffed to the left and then to the right, not even sparing the screen or chairs. Finally, she rubbed her nose and said, “Couldn’t find the source—maybe my nose is acting up… Though honestly, I’m a bit overly sensitive. Probably just my mind playing tricks.”

You Huo sought her opinion: “Miss on the left or the right, who should we choose?”

Zhou Qi: “Huh?”

She was stunned for a moment before finally reacting: “Oh, oh, oh, it’s fine, really either one is okay. How about… how about the right side then. After all, we did chat on the carriage.”

You Huo pursed his lips.

Zhou Qi: “……”

Well, to the left… is fine too.

Although that Miss Yang Shu seems a bit overbearing…

She was just about to speak when You Huo had already turned and walked toward the door.

The room door was wooden, making a creaking sound when opened.

During the day it’s fine, but in the quiet of the night… it can make your hair stand on end.

As the door opened, You Huo was just about to step outside.

Right outside, two male servants immediately stepped forward from both sides, saying, “Room swapping is not allowed.”

Not only were there two at the door, but—not to mention the “ten villages in every eight directions”—servants stood guard at the entrance of every single room along the long corridor.

Zhou Qi, fearing something might happen to this handsome guy, quickly pulled him back and said, “Forget it, forget it, let’s not change for now. At most, we can take turns sleeping on the bed—rock, paper, scissors to decide. If you sleep on the bed today, I’ll sleep outside. Tomorrow, I’ll sleep on the bed, and you’ll sleep outside. There’s a door and a screen anyway.”

“No need, you take the bed,” You Huo said. “I don’t mind; the chair is fine.”

As soon as the words fell, a soft sound suddenly came from the balcony.

The two of them turned to look and saw Gao Qi tiptoeing in, grimacing as he said to You Huo, “A, help me out, I really don’t dare share a room with Zhao Jiatong. What if I get too drunk? It wouldn’t look good for her later. Can I crash here with you? The hallway is full of NPCs, and I thought about it—it wouldn’t be polite to start a fight on the first day.”

You Huo: “…”

Gao Qi then glanced at Zhou Qi and added, “Oh, and Miss, I already told Zhao Jiatong. She’ll come over from the balcony to pick you up in a bit. Don’t worry, we’re pretty skilled at this. If you fall, I’ll be the cushion.”

Zhou Qi was overwhelmed by the unexpected favor and quickly nodded, saying, “Then I’ll have to trouble you.”

Gao Qi first won over the little girl before turning to ask You Huo, like a big dog, “Is that okay?”

You Huo: “…Fine.”

Zhao Jiatong was a nimble woman, but they hadn’t expected Zhou Qi to be quite skilled as well.

With a single stride, the girl stretched into a split, effortlessly crossing to the next seat. As she slid down, her movements were graceful and nimble.

Once the girls were settled, Gao Qi relaxed at once.

It had been ages since he had seen his old friend, and though this old friend no longer recognized him, it didn’t matter—nothing could stand in the way of friendship!

Everything could be built over time! Whether it’s sharing life-or-death experiences in an exam or pouring your heart out in a room…

Right, Examiner A doesn’t like to talk.

So long as he had a one-sided heart-to-heart, that’s fine.

Gao Qi circled the bedroom and hung his coat on the rack.

He left the bedroom, found a simple silver cup by the table, poured a glass of water, and had just taken a sip when he heard another soft sound from the balcony.

You Yuo was just moving the screen aside and gave its base a kick.

He lifted his head at the sound and looked toward the balcony.

“What are you doing here?” You Yuo asked.

He saw Qin Jiu half-crouching on the stone railing of the balcony, arms hanging loosely in a somewhat casual manner.

This guy has a peculiar fondness for dangerous places, showing not the slightest fear of falling.

“Just here to get a feel for things,” he said to You Huo in a drawn-out tone, “Is your dear wife around?”

You Huo: “…She’s not.”

Qin Jiu curled the corners of his lips into a smile.

Leaning on the stone rail, he jumped down and joked, “That would be perfect, I’m here to sneak around with you.”

Poof—

Behind the screen, Gao Qishui sprayed water all over the desk.

Qin Jiu narrowed his eyes, “You’re hiding someone else?”

You Huo: “…”

Putting on an act, are we?