Cold. Bone-deep cold.
When Ye Lin woke again, he found himself lying in a metal hall.
A quick look around made his heart sink.
The hall covered roughly two hundred square meters. It had no windows and was sealed tight, with long stairways like subway entrances at either end, one leading up and the other down.
A white barrier surrounded the hall, cutting off both exits.
The bad news: Huang Liang was gone, and an electronic watch had somehow appeared on Ye Lin's wrist.
The good news: he still had the gun. He'd snatched it at the very last second.
He quietly hid the pistol behind his waist and studied his surroundings without drawing attention.
Under the dim lights, six students in assorted school uniforms leaned against the walls, pale-faced, exchanging frightened looks.
Once everyone was awake, a short but muscular boy in the southwest corner got to his feet.
"Looks like you're all newcomers. This should be your first exam."
"In that case, how about I explain the rules?"
He Zheng paused with a smile, as though waiting to confirm something, before continuing.
"First, congratulations on entering the Death Gaokao. My name's He Zheng."
"Here, all the exam content has been replaced with horror films and disaster scenarios."
"Insect swarms, apocalypses, zombies, vengeful ghosts... The ways you can die are beyond your imagination."
"There are perks, of course. Once an exam ends, you can return to the Death Gaokao Space for a short rest and exchange your points for anything."
"One point gets you a million in cash. Ten gets you a rocket. A hundred gets you a superpowered bloodline. But I'd advise against the cash. Money's garbage here."
He raised his wrist, sneered, and pointed to the watch.
"The exam starts in three minutes. Details will come through this. Don't try taking it off. Even if you cut off your hands and feet, it'll appear around your neck in an instant."
"Rookies, I hope you can earn the sixty points you need to buy your lives."
He Zheng tapped his watch in satisfaction. But when he looked up at their terrified faces, irritation welled up inside him.
A bunch of greenhorns. This exam was going to be a pain.
"A friendly reminder. Two minutes and fifty seconds left. You can ask questions during these two minutes. After that, each answer costs ten points."
Everyone but Ye Lin looked at one another. A somewhat braver boy raised a trembling hand.
"Um, He Zheng... Brother He. I believe you, but could you tell us how to get out?"
"And how many points can we earn in one exam? What do you mean, buy our lives?"
"You sure have a lot of questions."
He Zheng's face hardened as he strode toward the bespectacled student.
"To get out, all you need is to survive ten exams and save up twelve hundred points. Buying your lives means paying the points due after every exam."
"As for how many you can earn..."
He sneered.
"You useless little shits will be lucky to scrape together sixty. Once you're out, you'll have one or two left at most."
"Want to leave? Better start saving for a thousand or two thousand exams. Assuming you don't buy anything, of course."
"A thousand or two thousand? Why so many? And they deduct points? Then doesn't that mean..."
"Fuck! Shut the hell up!"
Thud!
He Zheng lashed out with a kick, sending the boy sprawling and coughing blood.
A girl screamed at the sudden violence. The others hurried back.
"All right, shut your fucking mouths! This little prick talks too much. Don't worry. I'll protect you during the exam. Just give me half your points afterward."
Seeing their terror, He Zheng forced down his impatience and put on an ugly smile.
"One last question. Then introduce yourselves. It'll be about time to start."
They still had plenty to ask, but nobody dared speak. He Zheng's kick had been terrifyingly powerful. Although shorter than the boy in glasses, he'd sent him flying several meters with one casual blow, almost killing him.
"I have a question."
Ye Lin slowly stood up in the corner.
He thought he understood why State Security had come for him.
The Death Gaokao, huh?
The students' uniforms came from different provinces.
That suggested that, roughly six days earlier, more than ten million students had been dragged into this place, throwing society into chaos.
To find out what was going on inside, the authorities had resorted to every means available. Even a death-row prisoner like him.
Ignoring He Zheng's impatience, Ye Lin spoke quietly.
"You said we can exchange points for things after each exam. Does that mean you bought all that strength?"
"That's right."
He Zheng folded his arms and sneered.
"I'm stronger than a special forces soldier now, so you'd better behave!"
"Don't try fighting me. Unless you've got a gun, I can kill every one of you on my own."
"All right."
Ye Lin nodded solemnly. A second later, a pistol was pressed against He Zheng's forehead.
"Hand over your points. All of them."
He Zheng stared.
...
Silence fell.
The students gaped at He Zheng, held at gunpoint.
Nobody was more shaken than He Zheng himself.
"How the hell do you have a gun?"
"You're not a newcomer? No, you definitely are. The system can't be wrong!"
His expression darkened as he stared at Ye Lin, trying to read him.
"Kid, what if one shot doesn't kill me? What if I've got other abilities?"
He demanded an answer, unable to believe he'd been caught out like this.
Ye Lin ignored the murderous glare and chuckled.
"Not worried."
"If you had other abilities, you'd have shown them off already."
"They'd do a much better job of scaring us than kicking someone."
He tilted his head, glancing at He Zheng's watch.
"You get a reward for explaining the rules, don't you? And you're afraid someone else will beat you to it. You even waited before you started talking."
"I'm guessing the reward is ten points. You really like that number. Someone who cares that much about ten points has probably spent everything on strength. Too broke to buy a gun."
He Zheng was stunned. He hadn't expected Ye Lin to notice even that.
"What do you mean, too broke to buy a gun? Half the time those things are useless! And how did you know explaining earns points? Where'd you get that gun?"
Seeing He Zheng bristle as though he'd hit a sore spot, Ye Lin found him almost amusing.
"Easy. If there were no reward, someone like you wouldn't waste his breath. If you wanted our points, saying nothing would be your best move."
"As for my gun, all you need to know is that it's loaded."
Ye Lin smiled. He couldn't be bothered to explain.
He Zheng wasn't very good at this. The questions from the boy in glasses had angered him, which meant he had no hope of ever getting out himself.
He Zheng had no answer. After a moment's silence, he snorted and spread his hands.
"Fine. You figured me out. Didn't think a newcomer would have the guts to threaten me."
"But I'm not giving you my points. We have to pay at least sixty after every exam. If I give them to you now and can't earn sixty, I'm dead anyway."
"Unless I have something left at the end, you're not getting a single point."
"Fine."
"But everything over sixty is mine."
Without another word, Ye Lin stepped back and put away the pistol.
He Zheng was startled. He hadn't expected Ye Lin to agree so easily.
"Wait. That's fucking it? Aren't you afraid I'll go back on my word? That I'll find a chance to kill you?"
"You've got a gun, sure, but you've got to turn your back sometime!"
"No. Because you can't kill me."
Ye Lin smiled, apparently unconcerned.
"Stop pretending. Teammates can't kill one another. We can only injure each other. Ever since I put the gun to your head, you've been angry, but not much else."
"I don't believe you're unafraid of death. And I don't believe you're immortal."
"The only explanation is that teammates can't kill one another. Otherwise, you wouldn't need to trade answers for points."
He Zheng stared. The more Ye Lin said, the more confused he became.
"Then what was the fucking point? Pissing me off on purpose? Showing off how smart you are?"
"No."
Ye Lin turned away, studying their surroundings as he spoke.
"I only figured out I couldn't kill you after I drew the gun. You don't find out something like that without testing it."
"I threatened you to demonstrate my value."
"It's going to be dangerous, and I don't like leaving the decisions to someone else. Without that little confrontation, would you care what a newcomer thought?"
"As for revenge, I think it's unlikely."
"Working together will probably appeal to you more than getting me killed to make yourself feel better."
Having looked around, Ye Lin turned back with a smile.
There was one thing he hadn't said. Someone who'd killed before had a different look in his eyes.
"Fuck..."
He Zheng swore under his breath. Noticing everyone staring, he felt his face burn.
"What the fuck are you looking at?"
"Tell me your names! All of you!"
"Just because I can't handle this prick doesn't mean I can't handle you!"
He turned away, and the anger vanished from his face at once. Watching Ye Lin's back, he blinked thoughtfully.
"This kid... might be interesting."