Chapter 25: Initial Value

Not necessarily. Rumor says there was once an initial value before that… sort of a predecessor.

Can proctors even count as human?

At least in the eyes of the examinees, they didn’t.

But when Qin Jiu spoke, Old Yu didn’t dare object.

They were afraid of him.

Actually, up until now, Proctor 001 hadn’t done anything particularly terrifying this exam.

He hadn’t exercised authority.

Hadn’t caught anyone violating rules.

Hadn’t confiscated tools or supplies.

And yet everyone still feared him.

Because by default, proctors were considered part of the system—

the eyes and claws of this exam system.

The system itself was terrifying, so naturally the proctors were too.

Unless absolutely necessary, nobody wanted to provoke one.

Oh…

Except You Huo.

The moment Old Yu thought about You Huo, his head hurt.

And when he thought about “rule-breaking” You Huo being alone with a “don’t-ever-provoke” proctor, his whole body started aching.

“How about I stay too?” he offered.

“You’re the reason we’ve survived this long,” Yu Yao said softly.

“If we leave you here and go hide ourselves… I can’t do that.”

“What if we can help somehow?”

The others echoed in agreement.

Only to be rejected mercilessly.

You Huo tossed out a single sentence:

“Too many people are noisy.”

Then ignored everyone after that.

Unable to argue with him, and afraid of dragging him down if they disobeyed, the group reluctantly compromised.

…

Night gradually fell.

A few villagers emerged on the opposite riverbank again, chipping at the ice as usual.

“Feels like it’s still the same few people,” Yu Wen muttered while counting heads through the window.

“That lady in the long coat is yesterday’s auntie, right?”

“And that lunatic…”

“The two guys in fur hats—aren’t they the ones who dragged the lunatic home yesterday?”

This classmate spent too much time gaming and staring at his phone, yet somehow still had incredible eyesight and had never needed glasses.

The others couldn’t see that far clearly.

But following his descriptions, it did seem about right.

You Huo watched for a moment before turning his gaze back toward the wooden shelf.

Earlier, when Black Granny counted heads, he had counted too.

There were sixteen completed dolls in total, and he roughly remembered how they were arranged.

But now…

A few dolls seemed to have quietly moved.

If he remembered correctly, the doll on the far left of the first shelf had been lying sideways that afternoon.

Now it sat upright neatly.

You Huo walked over to inspect more closely—

but Black Granny returned.

The first thing she did after entering was inspect the results.

What displeased her was that every single guest stood there empty-handed.

Not one had obeyed her instructions.

Black Granny stared silently for a while.

Then suddenly let out a cold laugh.

She shuffled over to the wall where Yu Yao’s Judgement card had been pinned.

Chuckling eerily, she flipped the upright Judgement card upside down.

“……”

Everyone was completely stunned.

The card could still be changed after being drawn?!

They didn’t fully understand tarot meanings.

But instinctively, they knew this wasn’t good.

Yu Yao trembled as she said:

“If it’s reversed… then it means the opposite.”

The opposite of resurrection and hope—

wouldn’t that be death and despair?

Black Granny pulled out another cloth sack.

She swept all the dolls from the shelf into it.

Then selected four unfinished dolls from the bamboo basket and tossed them in too.

Finally, she shoved the bag into the hands of the closest person—

You Huo.

The four unfinished dolls all looked extremely old.

One of them was especially filthy, as if it had rolled around on the ground—

or been accidentally scorched by fire.

…

The moment they received the dolls, Black Granny kicked them out.

Today’s hourglass had run slower than yesterday’s.

By the time they finished, the villagers had already completed their ice-breaking and gone home.

These villagers instantly turned cold the moment their doors closed.

No matter who knocked, nobody answered.

So the group didn’t waste time trying.

They split into two teams.

You Huo and Qin Jiu went back into the lodging.

The others headed toward the forest along the frozen river.

“I still don’t get why the villagers are so afraid of that forest,” Yu Wen muttered.

“Sure, it’s full of graves. Creepy as hell. But there aren’t even many tombstones above ground.”

“Scary’s one thing, but it still feels safer than staying inside the rooms, right?”

“Who knows,” Old Yu replied.

Yu Yao quietly added:

“There has to be a reason they’re scared…”

Although they intended to avoid danger, they still worried about You Huo.

So they didn’t go deep into the forest, only lingered near the edge.

“Let’s just wait here,” Yu Wen said, shielding his eyes as he looked ahead.

“There’s nothing blocking the view here. We can directly see my brother’s room.”

Naturally, nobody objected.

They sat on the ground, chewing rock-hard dry bread while waiting for midnight.

…

Inside the lit room—

You Huo systematically searched through the cupboards shelf by shelf.

Qin Jiu sat lazily on the sofa, snapping a baguette in half.

“I’ll share half with you,” he offered.

“How generous.”

“No thanks,” You Huo replied without turning around.

Even from that far away, he could hear the horrifying crunch of the bread.

That thing was dry enough to kill someone.

Qin Jiu’s voice sounded again.

“Still dissatisfied? Then I’ll give you most of it.”

You Huo had gone hungry all day.

His mood was terrible.

Bang!

He slammed a cabinet door shut and walked past the sofa without even glancing sideways.

“If you want to choke to death, don’t drag me down with you.”

Cupboards.

Fireplace.

Wooden crates.

Metal tins…

From the living room to the kitchen to the bedroom—

he had searched every possible place.

There really was no other food.

Why hasn’t this cursed exam room exploded yet?

You Huo straightened up irritably—

only for something to poke him in the face.

Lowering his eyes, he saw half a loaf of bread hovering before him like a knife held against someone’s throat.

Behind him, Qin Jiu said:

“Stop struggling. I already searched everything earlier. There’s no other food.”

You Huo remained expressionless and stubbornly refused.

This utterly unprofessional proctor tapped the bread lightly against the corner of You Huo’s mouth and said:

“I suggest trying it. It’s not as awful as you imagine.”

“No examinee under my supervision has ever starved to death.”

“Don’t be so uniquely difficult.”

You Huo stared at him with open disgust for a moment before finally snatching the bread away aggressively.

“There are three proctors.”

“Why are you the one doing full-time monitoring?” You Huo asked coldly while tearing off a chunk of bread.

Qin Jiu returned to the sofa and tossed tea leaves into a cleaned iron pot.

He balanced the crooked little pot over the stove before lazily lifting his eyes.

“Exam regulations.”

“Full-time monitoring is usually handled by the chief proctor.”

“Unfortunately, I happen to be that unlucky soul.”

“What? Did you want someone else instead?”

You Huo replied:

“922. 154. Anyone.”

At least they remembered to bring beef.

The humble stove burned strongly.

Soon the iron pot began sizzling softly.

Amid the rising steam, Qin Jiu narrowed his eyes slightly.

“I’ll pass your sentiments along to them.”

“They’ll definitely be thrilled to know an examinee misses them.”

Perfectly normal words—

yet somehow sounding unbearably sarcastic coming from him.

You Huo ignored it.

The tea bubbled quietly.

For a while, the room fell silent.

After forcing down several bites of dry bread, You Huo lost his appetite completely.

Brushing crumbs from his fingers, he glanced toward Qin Jiu and asked:

“You’re the chief proctor?”

Qin Jiu replied:

“Don’t I look like one?”

You Huo asked:

“Who decides the rankings?”

“Ability? Combat strength? Probably a lot of factors.”

Qin Jiu spoke as if he cared about nothing.

Even regarding matters involving himself, he used phrases like “probably.”

You Huo asked:

“So 001 means first place?”

Qin Jiu laughed softly.

Stretching his long legs, he shifted into a more comfortable posture.

“Not necessarily.”

“Rumor says there used to be an initial value before that.”

“Sort of a… predecessor?”