Perhaps it was a man whose legs had lost the ability to move. His suit pants hung loosely, the empty pant legs revealing shriveled, purple-blue calves covered in sores, with foul-smelling pus oozing from the wounds, dripping down.
Tong Yang made a face of resigned acceptance, glancing away calmly from Sun Ye’s pleading eyes.
No matter what happened today, her primary goal was to successfully complete the gaokao.
“What should we do…?”
“Am I dreaming? This is so strange.”
“Can someone go outside and check?”
The classroom was filled with unease. Tong Yang sighed quietly and warned, “It’s best if you don’t look around too much and stay in your seats.”
“Screw you! If you know something, just say it!”
“Dammit, stop with the spooky nonsense!”
A hot-tempered boy in the back angrily kicked his desk aside and stormed towards Tong Yang.
Tong Yang shook her head in resignation. Not listening to advice was asking for trouble.
Just as the boy got halfway across the room, the sound of glass shattering echoed through the air. A sharp object flew in from an unknown direction, leaving a small hole in the window and heading straight for the boy’s throat.
“Ah!” The boy screamed as the blade grazed his neck, blood instantly soaking his collar.
“Who?!” He clutched his neck, his face pale with terror, as he stared out the window—but there was no one there.
“This is your first warning. Return to your seat.” came the voice from the speakers again.
The classroom fell into a stunned silence, everyone too shocked to speak.
Tong Yang glanced at him and asked, “Still not going back?”
The boy, now as pale as a sheet, realized the seriousness of the situation. He scrambled back to his seat, no longer daring to act up.
Seeing the boy’s blood-soaked clothes, the others realized this was no joke. They held their breaths, sitting in silence, with some of the more timid students trembling and crying out of fear.
When the clock struck 9:00, the sound of footsteps echoed outside the door. In the midst of sharp intakes of breath, three teachers, dressed in suits and wearing invigilator badges, walked into the classroom one after another.
Their skin was unnaturally pale, and their pupils were much darker than normal, creating a disturbing effect.
“Place your ID cards and exam permits at the top right corner of your desks.” the first invigilator, Invigilator A, said coldly, his voice emotionless like a machine.
Tong Yang followed the instruction and placed her documents on the desk. The others, despite their confusion, followed suit, still shaken by the boy’s near-fatal encounter with the knife.
“First row, come up to collect your exam papers and scratch paper, and then pass them back.” Invigilator B said, placing the materials on the teacher’s desk.
The students in the first row exchanged nervous glances before slowly walking up to the desk, heads down, to collect the materials. They shakily returned to their seats and passed the papers back.
“Those sitting by the windows, close the windows and draw the curtains.”
The students obeyed, sealing the classroom from the outside world, leaving nothing visible beyond the curtains.
“First, congratulations to all candidates for participating in this independent gaokao. Second, during the exam, you are not allowed to speak, make noise, or engage in any non-exam-related activities. Do not make eye contact with the invigilators. Lastly, the Chinese exam will last for two and a half hours. The written portion will be 30 minutes. After the written portion, all candidates must leave the classroom to participate in the next crucial part of the exam—the campus survival game.”
“The rule for this survival game is simple: those who return to the classroom 20 minutes before the next exam begins will qualify for the next exam. Anyone who dies during the game will be permanently disqualified.”
The cold voice echoed in the room, leaving the students frozen in disbelief.
“W-What?”
“Is this some kind of TV show? This is the gaokao…”
“Candidate 19, please remain silent. Further disruptions will result in punishment.” Invigilator C said without emotion.
Candidate 19 began to panic, glancing at the silent room. “Hey, why are you all so scared? There’s a ton of us! We’re being kidnapped, can’t you see? Doesn’t this seem off? We should go out together and call the police! There’s only three of them—”
“Warning ignored.”
Without a word, Invigilator C stepped down from the podium and strode across the aisle towards Candidate 19.
He raised his sickly pale arm, grabbed Candidate 19 by the hair, and smashed his head into the desk repeatedly. Blood splattered across the exam papers and scratch paper, each impact more brutal than the last.
“Damn it…”
“Ah!”
“Stop! I was wrong… Teacher, I was wrong…”
“Help me! Please, someone help!”
As Candidate 19 cried out for mercy, Invigilator C, like a pre-programmed machine, finally stopped. He released the student’s bloodied head, his shirt and face spattered with blood, and said mechanically, “Candidate 19, please follow the rules. Retrieve a new set of exam papers.”
Candidate 19, his face drenched in blood and tears, shakily approached the podium to get a new set of papers.
The rest of the students sat on edge, too terrified to make a sound. It was clear now that this wasn’t some movie or game.
In the suffocating silence, Candidate 12—Tong Yang—raised her hand.
“Candidate 12, what’s your question?”
“Teacher, 30 minutes for the written portion is unreasonable.”
The other students shot incredulous looks at her.
In this terrifying situation, she had the mind to worry about that? We’re all scared out of our minds here!
“Reason.” Invigilator A said, his dark eyes bulging unnervingly. If Tong Yang didn’t provide a convincing explanation, she would likely face the same fate as Candidate 19.
“The essay in the Chinese exam requires at least 800 words. Writing the essay alone will take at least 20 minutes, leaving only 10 minutes for the rest of the questions, which isn’t enough.” Tong Yang calmly explained while flipping through the exam paper. “May I ask, will the results of this independent gaokao be recorded with the rest of the Third Middle School’s candidates?”
“They will.” Invigilator A confirmed.
“In that case, I request an adjustment to the written exam time.”
Invigilator A scanned the room. “Do the other candidates agree with the adjustment?”
If the independent gaokao results were being recorded with the rest, that meant they were still taking the gaokao, despite the strange situation. Thirty minutes wasn’t enough, and extending the exam time might also delay the so-called survival game.
Invigilator A tilted his head slightly. “Raise your hands if you agree.”
Everyone in the room raised their hands without hesitation.
“Candidate 12, present a solution.”
Tong Yang replied, “Please allow the regular two and a half hours for the written portion, with the option to submit early. The survival game can still take place at 3 PM, without affecting the second exam.”
The three invigilators turned their gazes towards Tong Yang in unison, their pupils rolling unnaturally in their sockets, blood vessels bulging as if they were growing angry at her suggestion.
“Does anyone object?” Invigilator A asked.
Naturally, the other students raised their hands, showing no opposition.
The invigilators’ expressions gradually returned to normal. They walked over, pulled open the curtains, and unlocked both the front and back doors. The faces of a dozen people outside the classroom suddenly came into view.
A crowd of motionless figures stood outside, their faces pale and rigid, their eyes wide open, staring into the classroom like terrifying statues.
Among them, Tong Yang even recognized a few familiar faces—some of them seemed to be teachers from the Third Middle School—but their expressions and postures were unnervingly strange.
Shivers ran down the spines of the students, especially the nine sitting closest to the windows, who trembled uncontrollably.
The air was thick with a faint scent of blood. A man standing by the back door, with a short knife covered in dried blood, leaned forward, his eyes locked on Sun Ye’s side profile. His cold breath fell heavily on Sun Ye’s face.
Sun Ye hunched over, his chin almost touching his chest. He dared not move a muscle, sweat pouring down his face.
Seeing this, everyone else in the room trembled, wondering if they would die of fright if they were in his place.
“The written portion will now last two and a half hours. Candidates may submit early. Three minutes after leaving the classroom, hunters may begin their pursuit or wait for more prey. At the end of the exam, hunters will commence a full-scale hunt. The hunting grounds are the Third Middle School, and the prey are the 33 candidates in room 1209.”
“The exam begins now.”
The strange, humanoid figures outside watched them hungrily, and more seemed to be gathering. Pressed up against each other, they observed the candidates’ every move. Under their unnerving gaze, it was nearly impossible for anyone to concentrate on the exam.
Then, the quiet was broken by the sound of a pen scratching against paper.
Everyone turned to see Candidate 12—Tong Yang—calmly writing her name and exam number on the test paper, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
Her actions seemed to wake everyone up.
This wasn’t just any test—this was the gaokao. Whatever the strange survival game was, passing the gaokao was still their top priority. There was no better option right now.
Tong Yang was always a fast test-taker. With her mind already prepared, she was unaffected by the strange situation, brushing aside all distractions.
Before long, the other candidates followed suit, their fear giving way to urgency as they began scribbling answers.
At 10:14 AM on June 7, 2024, over an hour into the exam, Tong Yang stopped writing, checking over her answers for any mistakes.
At 10:33 AM, Tong Yang neatly arranged her exam papers and glanced around. Outside, dozens of humanoid creatures had gathered, all standing still, staring into the classroom with the same unnerving gaze.
Most of the students were absorbed in their exams, frantically writing.
The sound of a chair scraping against the floor filled the room. Everyone looked up to see Candidate 12 calmly gathering her things and standing up.
The others stared at her in disbelief. Submitting the exam early meant starting the survival game—and being hunted by those creatures outside. Was she crazy to go out alone?
Under the watchful eyes of the three invigilators and the 32 candidates, Tong Yang walked out of the classroom.
As soon as she stepped outside, the humanoid creatures turned their gaze to her, their bodies leaning in her direction.
The survival game had begun.
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