Plan B

The large screen that reported the exam situation was now receiving unprecedented attention from the invigilators. The eyes of every invigilator would either intentionally or unintentionally flit over.

Suddenly, the screen flickered like a TV with poor signal.

This flicker was so fleeting, many didn't see it.

021 pushed up her sunglasses as she mumbled to Gao Qi and Zhao Jiatong next to her, "My eyes are twitching very badly."

Gao Qi said, "What are you worried about? This isn't the first time. Even I'm not worried."

He spoke relaxedly as he reached out for a glass of wine.

Just as he grabbed it, he was stopped by Zhao Jiatong, "What you doing picking up my water?"

Gao Qi: "....."

The sunglasses couldn't hide 021's eyeroll.

Gao Qi acted like he wasn't just slapped in the face and just crossed his arms, "Anyway.....I hope they keep it low key."

154 had blocked their room from the systems monitoring so they didn't have to worry about watching what they say at this moment. If anything were to happen, it would also make it easier for them to act.

Zhao Jiatong reassured them, "Let's not talk about those two. This time 154 is involved and he is more cautious and wary. He should be able to control A and 001 a little so that they won't take things too far. Don't worry."

At the same time some changes had occurred at the town of Brandon where all the examinees are gathered——-

When the last Mirror Human fluttered down onto the ground, the entire town suddenly shook.

"Earthquake?" Di Li reflexively squatted down and muttered, "This place would have earthquakes too?"

"So realistic? Or is it because the exam is almost over?"

The others also squatted down.

They were on the top of a building and the tremor was stronger there. For a moment it was difficult for them to tell whether this change was serious.

Di Li fumbled along the edge before supporting himself with the railing and looking down.

Jonny beside him held onto him tightly in fear that he would fall off as a result of the shaking.

"What are you looking at?" Jonny asked.

"Brother Qin and them." Di Li said, "I'm checking to see where they are. They were still downstairs earlier. Wanted to ask them what they plan to do——-Huh?"

Before he could finish, he saw You Huo and the others disappear around the corner.

They disappeared into the grey fog that had not yet cleared like they were swallowed up by it but they soon appeared again.

Di Li shook his head thinking that he saw wrong. He shouted over in their direction: "Brother——–"

They turned and looked over.

Di Li: "It looks like an earthquake! Find an open space——-"

Yu Wen raised his hand, "It's not an earthquake! We're going to hide out for a while. The exam should end soon!"

Di Li was confused, "Huh?"

He saw Qin Jiu say something to Yu Wen who then turned and shouted at him, "Oh right. Brother Qin said that the exam centre may be a little unstable. You should all come downstairs or find a shelter! In any case, don't worry. You can come back out once it settles down."

Di Li was stunned for a moment before suddenly realising that these people might be planning to do something to ensure everyone else's safety.

He was a little worried, "What are you going to do?!"

"Don't worry——–" Yu Wen shouted back from afar, "Live well. If we have the chance, let's play basketball after leaving the system!"

The fog gradually swallowed them up again.

Soon afterwards, the entire town started to shake again.

Di Li couldn't waste his time worrying needlessly. He turned and called out to everyone, "Get down. This isn't an earthquake. Just get down for a while and it'll be better soon."

For these examinees, it was just a case of the world shaking but to You Huo and them, it wasn't anything that simple.

The damp fog suddenly surged and lashed around like a strong winter wind.

You Huo turned his head away and used his arm to cover his face.

"I feel like my face is being slapped by a hundred whips."

Yu Wen hunched over to protect his head as he shouted this hoarsely but as soon as those words left his mouth, they were blown away by the wind. When it reached You Huo's ears, it sounded like it came from 800 metres away and was distant and muffled.

He felt like there were two forces pulling him; one to the right and one to the left. Both side were strong like cows pulling him apart.

At this moment, he finally understood 154's warning.

Switching exam centre wasn't a something a regular person could do!

The only thing he could feel thankful for was that the pain should only be temporary. It would be over soon if he endured it a little more.

You Huo endured the discomfort and looked up.

The fog had faded a bit and the familiar street was gradually disappearing. The buildings distorted and grew smaller like someone had just crumpled a picture of a town into a ball. Every line was distorted, and colours blended together.

He could tell that they were being pulled away from the exam centre and already had one foot in the additional question exam.

At this critical moment, all the changes suddenly came to a stop.

Then, the old and new exam centres suddenly changed even more intensely.

Yu Wen swore endlessly as he tried to alleviate the pain.

He shouted, "Wasn't it just a few damned seconds?! This already feels like a hundred years!! I feel like I'm about to split in half! I'm really about to split!"

Yang Shu and Old Yu's wound had reopened. The strong smell of blood reached the noses of everyone present.

Chu Yue, "Something isn't right."

As soon as she said this Brandon Town which had almost disappeared earlier had reappeared, but it also looked very strange.

It was as if they were trapped in some sort of disordered magnetic field. Houses would appear and disappear, the street would sometimes be on the right and then be on the left, street lights flickered and human voices came and went.

Suddenly, the speaker lit up and a voice came through.

[Can you hear me?]

You Huo's body tensed. He subconsciously thought the system had returned.

[Boss? A? Answer if you can hear me. I don't have much time!]

Qin Jiu looked up: "154?"

[It's me. Long story short, there was a problem!]

"What problem?"

[Some abnormal conditions were detected. Seems to be some other program. I don't know if it's the invigilator warning device on Boss and Boss Chu but there were two abnormalities detected. I didn't have time to check it carefully. Switching exam centre is originally dangerous and even a slight error won't do. With the existence of the two programs interfering, it is too dangerous.]

You Huo said: "Then stop it for now."

[Can't be stopped.]

You Huo: "...…"

Qin Jiu: "Then can it be ruled out?"

[How? Dismantle you and Boss Chu?]

Qin Jiu: "...…"

Chu Yue: "Tell us what we can do."

[There is only one way. To eliminate you all as a group and throw you out of the system, but…..]

Everyone was stunned: "What method is this?!"

[Then did you want to be torn apart?! There's not much time left. If this continues any longer, the entire exam centre will fall into chaos and the situation will be even more terrifying.]

As soon as he finished speaking, You Huo understood what it meant by the examination centre falling into chaos.

On the flickering street, the Mirror Humans which were piled up on the ground suddenly swelled up as if they were resurrected before exploding the next second and falling limply onto the ground again.

Pungent blood and flesh flew in all directions.

You Huo felt the back of his hand turn hot.

He lowered his head to check. There was a Mirror Human lying next to him whose blood had stained half his body, sleeves and arm.

Perhaps it was because the smell of blood was too strong, it cleared his mind. You Huo suddenly looked up and said, "What did you say just now? The longer it continues, the more likely the exam centre will fall into chaos?"

[Yes.] 154 had a bad feeling. He asked immediately after answering, [What are you going to do???]

You Huo asked: "Does it count as a bug?"

[Of course!]

You Huo: "Then that's fine."

[What? What's fine?]

You Huo: "Since it's a bug, it should be fixed. Can you directly connect this exam centre to the Twin Towers? Let's go over there."

[...…..]

[I...….]

From his tone, 154 may have had the urge to throw out a profanity.

But considering the special circumstances and the lack of time, he swallowed it back down.

The rustling from the speaker stopped abruptly and the small green light went out.

***

When 922 rushed into the room, 021 and the others sweated nervously.

What was supposed to come still came around…..

Gao Qi asked, "How was it?"

922 slammed the door shut, "It was unsuccessful."

Everyone's face turned pale, "Then are they already dead?"

"No." 922 said, "Invigilator A has a plan. We're now moving to plan B."

"Speak."

922 pointed at 021 and said, "Gather all the invigilators."

He then pointed at Zhao Jiatong and said, "Check all the phones and change all the networks to line 1."

He finally pointed at Gao Qi, "Go do some warm-up exercises."

"What for?"

"We're going back to the Invigilator's District." 922 said.

"Wasn't it unsuccessful? The exam isn't over yet so how can we return to the Invigilator's District?"

"That's why we're not returning the normal way." 922 seemed to still be in daze as he spoke, "Do you know how A and our boss was punished before? They had to climb down that building and enter a disrupted exam to clean it up. Now we're doing the opposite. We're going to climb up from here."

Gao Qi and the others were dumbfounded.

021 asked, "Who will?"

922: "Not just a few. Everyone. The entire examination centre has fallen into chaos so 154 will need to drag over a thousand examines as well as all of us invigilators over."

021: "...…"

Didn't we say that 154 will reign them in a little???

***

Five minutes later at the Twin Towers in the Invigilator's District.

The old man responsible for watching over the punishment protocols suddenly received a strange notice which said that there was a small problem with the control room on the fourth floor and was asked to check on it.

The old man who thought that there shouldn't be any examinees being sent over for the time being got up and went downstairs using the elevator.

In the now completely empty large floor, the verification screen was dark and in a standby mode.

The sun setting in the west cast a golden-red sheen across the sky, illuminating the large French windows.

Suddenly, that screen lit up and two words appeared.

Verification cleared.

The large French window shone brightly for a moment before disappearing allowing the evening wind to rush into the building and bring along with it fog from who-knows-where.

Amidst the fog, a tall figure appeared.

He stood fearlessly on the platform outside the window and even bent over to reach out.

The next moment, another person gripped the outstretched hand and similarly flipped onto the platform with smooth and beautiful movements.

After that was the third, the fourth.....

.....

Under the howling wind, they straightened up. Their clothes were covered with large patches of bright red stains which carried a strong smell of blood. 

This temporary plan B also has another name———

Abandon the exam.