Everyone in the exam hall held their breath, afraid to witness something bloody and gruesome. The three invigilators and the students all watched as Tong Yang calmly left the classroom. The eerie, twisted figures by the windows turned their stiff necks to follow her movements. They each held blood-stained weapons, as if just waiting for her to step beyond the exam room door to strike.
In stark contrast to the panicked expressions of the other students, Tong Yang was unnervingly calm, walking at a slow pace as if it were just another day after school. Her breathing was steady.
“It’s over…” someone whispered in the classroom.
Though no one had figured out a solution, the general consensus was that it was best to stay in the classroom until the last possible moment. Why leave now and become an easy target for those figures lurking outside?
Tong Yang stepped through the door, and the tension in the room spiked. But those ominous figures outside just stared at her silently without making any aggressive move.
Tong Yang had anticipated this. She walked over to the storage rack and placed her exam supplies into her bag. Taking out a hair tie, she nonchalantly tied her hair into a ponytail. Then, she reached up and pulled off a loose piece of iron from the storage rack, weighing it in her hand.
“According to the rules, hunting doesn’t start until three minutes after leaving the classroom.” Tong Yang said. Though her voice wasn’t loud, the eerie silence made sure everyone heard her clearly.
Realization dawned on them: that was why the monsters hadn’t attacked her immediately. But they still didn’t understand why she wasn’t running off to find a hiding spot.
After giving the room a quick scan, Tong Yang casually approached the nearest “hunter.”
It was clear that most of the students still didn’t fully grasp the situation. Tong Yang knew this wasn’t a game or some sick joke—it was real. If anyone violated the rules, they would die. And to make sure no one harbored any delusions of safety, she decided to drive that point home.
Without hesitation, Tong Yang raised the rusty piece of iron and slashed it across the hunter’s throat. Blood sprayed across the hallway as the figure’s head tilted, its body crumpling to the ground, its blood-stained knife clattering beside it.
“Ah!” someone screamed, and the entire room recoiled in shock, staring at Tong Yang in horror as if she were more terrifying than the monsters outside.
“Holy crap…” Chu Shiyu, sitting in the front row, gasped, covering her mouth, eyes wide.
She always knew Tong Yang wasn’t normal!
Tong Yang casually wiped the blood from her face and tossed the iron shard aside. “If you want to survive, don’t just run—fight back.” she advised.
After all, the invigilator had said there was only one rule for the escape: either be eliminated or survive until the next exam. Fighting back was clearly allowed.
“Good luck.” Tong Yang said, before turning and walking away.
While her plan was to make money off Chu Shiyu later, her own safety came first. She could deal with Chu Shiyu after surviving this mess.
Tong Yang made her way down the corridor, swiftly descending the stairs, searching for a safe hiding spot to wait out the chaos.
She passed a few empty classrooms along the way, each room filled with broken, rusted desks, cobwebs, and walls stained with mold and peeling paint. The once-vibrant school now resembled a decrepit, abandoned building, as if it had been left to rot for decades.
“Parallel world or parallel time?” Tong Yang murmured as she observed her surroundings.
Did they end up in a parallel world? Or was this the future of their own school?
The sky was overcast, heavy clouds pressing down. No sunlight, no sounds of birds or insects, no voices—just an eerie stillness. It was as if the only signs of life left were the ones in and around exam room 1209.
Three minutes was hardly enough time to investigate further. Tong Yang quickly scaled the opposite teaching building, making her way up to the fourth floor—her original classroom. She pried open a creaky window and climbed inside, dismantling a chair leg to use as a weapon. She then wedged a few rusty nails into the leg, fashioning a makeshift spiked club.
She locked herself inside the rooftop area, barricading the door with several desks, ensuring no one could see inside. Once satisfied, she crouched by the edge of the roof and peered at the exam hall across from her.
Four hunters had left the area and were now searching for her. Given her high vantage point, she had a clear view of the entire school. The hunters had no idea where she was and had spread out in different directions.
“This spot should be safe for now.” she muttered.
If she could hide here until the second exam, that would be ideal.
Even so, Tong Yang remained alert, watching for any movement around exam room 1209.
Since her departure, no one else had left the exam room.
Time ticked by, and still, no one else dared to make a move. Her phone, now turned back on, showed the time: 11:07. Twenty-three minutes until the exam ended.
Down below, the four hunters regrouped near the stairwells of the exam building, apparently waiting for the students to emerge.
Meanwhile, inside the exam room, Sun Ye nervously rose from his seat.
“Damn.” Tong Yang muttered. “If he heads downstairs, he’s dead meat.”
Sun Ye timidly exited the classroom, shivering at the sight of the blood on the floor. He grabbed his backpack from the storage rack, picked up the rusty piece of iron that Tong Yang had used earlier, and hesitantly swung it at the nearest hunter.
Unlike Tong Yang, however, Sun Ye lacked strength. The iron bar merely bounced off the hunter’s shoulder, clattering loudly to the floor. The sharp noise echoed through the corridor, immediately drawing the attention of the hunters below.
“Idiot!” Tong Yang cursed. The hunters outside had to wait three minutes before attacking, but the four she had encountered earlier could move immediately. Sun Ye was doomed if they caught up to him.
Sun Ye froze, staring at the fallen iron piece in shock. Then, a voice suddenly called out: “What are you standing there for? Run!”
He spun around to see Tong Yang standing on the rooftop of the opposite building, motioning for him to hurry.
Just then, a hunter burst from the stairwell on the left, wielding an axe and charging at him.
“Run upstairs! To the right!” Tong Yang’s voice echoed through the empty campus. Sun Ye snapped out of his daze and bolted toward the right stairwell, pushing past the frozen figures in his path.
The other students watched in shock as Sun Ye sprinted through the corridor, with the axe-wielding hunter hot on his heels.
From her vantage point, Tong Yang could see everything. The four hunters were all chasing Sun Ye, leaving her temporarily safe.
“Head to the fifth floor and take the left stairwell down!” she shouted.
The hunters chasing Sun Ye had merged into one group, and he was putting distance between them. If he could make it to the left stairwell, he might escape the building.
Inside the exam room, the remaining students paled at the sight. Leaving the room seemed impossible now, and yet the clock was ticking. If they waited too long, the rest of the hunters would come after them.
Sun Ye might not have had many redeeming qualities, but he was fast. Fear-fueled adrenaline pushed him beyond his limits, and he quickly outpaced the hunters. By the time he reached the ground floor, they were still on the third.
“Tong Yang, help! I’m scared!!!”
Sun Ye’s terrified shouts echoed through the school as he ran, inadvertently drawing the hunters toward her building.
“Don’t come this way! Go somewhere else!” Tong Yang yelled.
“I’m scared!!!” Sun Ye cried, his voice cracking.
“You run like the wind! What are you scared of?!”
“I’m still scared!!! Help!!!”
“Lead them away! I’ll get the others out!”
“AAAAAHHHHHH!!!”
Right as the three-minute mark hit, another six hunters left the exam room and began chasing after Sun Ye.
Luckily, his loud cries had drawn all the attention, leaving the area around the exam room relatively clear.
“Remember what I said.” Tong Yang called to the remaining students. “If you want to survive, running isn’t enough—you have to fight back.”
She reminded them of the invigilator’s rule: after three minutes outside the classroom, the hunters could attack. But until then, the students had a window to escape.
“If you all leave together, the hunters won’t be able to move immediately. If you take this chance to disable them or even kill them, you’ll be safe until the next exam.”
The students could hear her voice echoing clearly in the eerie quiet.
But who among them had ever killed anything bigger than a fish, let alone another human-like being?
“There are only fifteen minutes left until the exam ends.” Tong Yang said, her tone strangely calm.
The students exchanged nervous glances, but Tong Yang was right. They had no other choice.
Though terrified, they began to steel themselves for the fight.
Thirty-one against a handful of hunters—maybe they stood a chance.
“Oh, and by the way.” Tong Yang added, “since this is my plan, those of you who follow it owe me two hundred yuan each as a usage fee. No objections, right?”
The students: “…”
Who cares about money at a time like this?!
“AAAAHHHH!!!”
Just then, Sun Ye’s scream rang out from below.
“Tong Yang, please save me! I agree to the fee!!!”
Tong Yang’s three life goals: First, ace the College Entrance Examination. Second, make money. Third, make money whenever and wherever she can.
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