Chapter 148: Higher Education Entrance Examination (VIII)
The sound of the heavy falling object only lasted for a moment. After a while, there were a few faint rustling sounds, as if something was groping around.
Tang Xinjue listened quietly. The sound slowly disappeared after a few steps. The outside became quiet again. There was no sound for a long time.
Judging from the type of voice, it is very likely a "human", and very cautious, hiding himself immediately when he first arrived.
After realizing this, Tang Xinjue actually relaxed.
Ghosts won't make such sounds, NPCs won't react like this, so the possibility of it being a candidate is actually greater - if this is a single-bedroom copy and if the luck is a little better, then the person outside at this moment is very likely to be... Guo Guo or Zhang You!
Zheng Wanqing is the first possibility to be ruled out. Her first reaction when she came here would definitely be to start attacking. There should be a war outside by now.
After thinking for a moment, Tang Xinjue stood up and walked to the door of the information room. Suddenly, he saw a sign on the top of the door frame: No Noise Allowed.
She pursed her lips slightly and opened the door a little, letting the light in the room pour out.
She didn't know if there were any entry restrictions to this house, so she couldn't just go out now, but she could lead people over.
Whether it is Guo Guo's premonition of danger or Zhang You's judgment, they will choose the right direction.
Sure enough, within a moment, Tang Xinjue heard the subtle rustling sound again.
The other person seemed to be having trouble moving, limping and stopping every now and then, sniffing around cautiously in the darkness like a small animal. But eventually, he inched closer to the data room, stopping at the door and quietly poking his head in...
Then the person behind the door covered his mouth with his hand.
“Hmm!”
Guo Guo struggled hard in panic, and only stopped moving after seeing Tang Xinjue's face with his eyes wide open. Then his eyes rolled and he seemed to think of something, and he started struggling again.
Tang Xinjue grabbed the person in his arms, then turned Guo Guo's face towards the door and lifted it up so that she could see the words on the door frame clearly.
——No noise allowed.
Only then did Guo Guo calm down.
Two seconds later, she slowly turned her eyes in disbelief, looked at Tang Xin Jue, and began to blink frantically.
Tang Xin Jue: ...I have never learned Morse code.
She released her hand covering her mouth. Guo Guo took two quick breaths and spoke haltingly, "...Heart Determination?"
Guo Guo reached out and pinched Tang Xinjue's cheek , still a little bit unbelieving. He put both hands on it and pinched out two dumplings.
"Jue Shen?! It's really you!!!"
The girl's eyes instantly filled with tears. Not daring to speak loudly, she could only shake Tang Xin Jue's arm and silently cry out, "You're finally awake! Woohoo! You don't know how horrible I just went through. I fell from the fifth floor... No, that's not important... I've taken the college entrance exam several times, and this dungeon is too terrifying!!"
Tang Xinjue listened patiently. After Guo Guo calmed down, he began to talk about the key points, and with the help of gestures, he finally finished telling what had happened from the time Tang Xinjue fell into a coma to the present.
…
Just as her memory fragment showed, after the blood-red eyeball was repelled, the dormitory league was quickly declared over.
When the rankings were announced, 606 took first place without any surprise.
After being forced to admire a colorful celebratory fireworks display, the dormitory returned to its original state as if it had been detached from a dungeon before, and the injuries of the four people were also healed. However, only Tang Xinjue remained in a coma and could not be awakened no matter what.
Fortunately, after the rankings were announced, the rewards were calculated. Several people had originally pinned their hopes on the competition prizes and points, and planned to go to the student mall to look for props that could wake Tang Xin Jue up after the competition. However, before the prizes were even calculated, a sudden game notification interrupted all their plans.
"...The notice said that the entrance examination dungeon is about to begin. We have ten minutes to prepare and enter the dungeon immediately."
Guo Guo was deeply impressed by this sentence, because there was only this one sentence in the notice, and not a single word of the copy information was displayed, as if they were afraid that they had really completed the preparations.
The three were caught off guard and could only hurry to buy some useful items in the mall, such as some amulets, health and mana recovery potions... In the end, Zhang You keenly smelled something wrong, and was afraid that the dog copy would separate the four of them due to a disagreement, so he bought an extra pair of glasses-shaped powerful communicators.
At this point, Guo Guo sighed deeply: "We left you many notes explaining the situation, but we never expected that this damn dungeon would not only separate us, but also confiscate all our supernatural props!"
Then why bother notifying them to prepare? Wouldn't it be better to just tell them to be mentally prepared?
The only thing that survived was probably Zhang You’s communication glasses, but they sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t. It is still unknown whether he has successfully contacted other people.
Tang Xinjue hesitated for a moment and said, "I haven't received any news."
It seems that Zhang You has failed temporarily.
But if they continue to reincarnate and take exams, even if they can't find a breakthrough for the time being, they will surely be able to connect with each other through the recovery of their abilities and props... As long as they can survive until then, it can be regarded as the final solution.
But before that, she was more concerned about another issue:
"Entrance examination?"
Tang Xinjue has been curious about the nature of this copy for a long time.
Although it is well known that dungeons are always unkind, this time it seems particularly outrageous: the examinee was thrown into the dungeon in a coma, could not find dungeon information and tasks, and lost contact with roommates... Guo Guo's arrival gave the answers to these questions.
This is an assessment copy.
"What does the assessment copy mean?"
Guo Guo actually already had an idea in his mind, and Tang Xinjue's reaction further confirmed this guess: "Could it be..."
Tang Xinjue nodded: "That's right."
"This dungeon is our upgrade exam from the third to the second level."
This game called "Dormitory Survival" divides candidates into several different levels, namely third-tier universities, second-tier universities, first-tier universities, first-class universities, etc. Everyone starts from a third-tier university.
"The rules of the game state that dormitories need to undergo assessments to advance to a higher level. When the game determines that a dormitory's overall level exceeds its current level, the assessment will begin immediately."
Tang Xinjue recalled the contents of the rule book and matched them one by one with the situation in this copy.
The game determined that the time they could upgrade should be exactly after the dormitory league ended, so the copy suddenly appeared when the rewards were halfway distributed, and everyone was thrown in here.
"So this is what's mentioned in the rule book..." Guo Guo felt a little guilty, as she didn't remember it at all.
The simple exchange of information was halfway completed, and now it was Tang Xinjue's turn to explain the situation. Guo Guo quickly raised his bright eyes and saw Tang Xinjue take out a stack of papers from his arms.
"?"
Taking another closer look, Guo Guo was horrified: "Isn't this my admission ticket? Why is it here with you?"
She immediately fumbled for her admission ticket and took it out for comparison. It looked just like it was printed out by a printer.
Tang Xin Jue smiled and said, "It's just right that I don't have to look for you anymore. I also want to see who the second person is."
What second person? Guo Guo was still confused when he witnessed Tang Xinjue tearing up the admission ticket to expose the fake.
Guo Guo: “???”
Guo Guo: “!!!”
A million alpacas were on the verge of words, only to roar through her heart, finally condensing into one sentence: "Isn't this my admission ticket?"
It turns out she was almost vomiting from doing the test papers, and she was just taking the test for someone else!
"Not only that," Tang Xinjue revealed an ambiguous smile as he tore off the real photo from the fake admission ticket.
"The person who chose you to take the exam for him seems to be an old acquaintance of ours."
On the admission ticket, there is a familiar head in the photo, looking at the camera with a look of despair.
[The number you dialed has no signal at the moment. Please try again later...]
[The number you dialed is currently unanswered. Please try again later...]
In the corridor, Zhang You quickly pressed the frame with his fingers while running, but all the responses he received were failures.
The noisy sounds of pursuit behind her were getting closer and closer. She gritted her teeth, took a deep breath, and wiped the mirror frame hard.
[Do you want to start the destruction process? This item will be scrapped after destruction. Please confirm carefully——]
[The destruction process has started.]
"stop!"
Zhang You stopped and turned around.
A tall young woman came up aggressively, her boldly dyed hair swaying behind her head. "Why were you running just now?"
Zhang You said calmly, "I was scared when you chased me, so of course I started running."
The woman snorted coldly, "Candidate Zhang You, right? We suspect you of cheating in the college entrance examination. I advise you to cooperate quietly. Don't try to escape a second time. You don't want to know the consequences."
After saying that, she waved her hand and said sternly, "Search me!"
Zhang You looked at her calmly through his glasses. "Teacher Lan, this is the 2019 college entrance examination in a modern society ruled by law. I urge you to be calm. After all, the exam will continue soon."
Invigilator Lan scoffed and pulled off Zhang You's glasses, throwing them to the invigilator next to him: "Check these glasses carefully for me. Still want to take the college entrance examination? Then we have to eliminate your suspicion first."
As soon as he finished speaking, the invigilator said in a serious tone, "No illegal items were found during the inspection, so the suspicion of cheating can be ruled out."
Invigilator Lan: “…”
Suspiciously, she snatched the glasses away and checked them again, but couldn't find any clues. She had no choice but to return them angrily: "If it's not for cheating, then why do you keep touching it?"
Zhang You's face showed no emotion. "The quality is too poor and it's uncomfortable to wear. If you're kind enough, you can buy me new glasses. If there's nothing else, I'll go back first."
"Hmph, don't let me catch you again. I might not be so easy to talk to next time." Invigilator Lan folded his arms and watched Zhang You go away with a sinister look on his face. When the person was almost out of sight, he suddenly shuddered.
"Wait? How do you know my name is...my last name is Lan?"
