Ning Su was taken aback for a moment.
In the mock exam before last, Tang Yichen had ranked first in the grade, while Wang Zhiqiu had been third. Before the most recent mock exam, they both had probably been in the Reflection Hall.
Wang Zhiqiu lost his memory, but Tang Yichen didn’t.
They had always thought it was random—was it not?
Was it because Tang Yichen didn’t do well in the last exam that he didn’t lose his memory?
The main objective of this scenario was to score 600 points on the college entrance exam. In a school where academic performance was everything, the players naturally studied as hard as they could to achieve high scores.
If Ning Su hadn’t heard Wang Zhiqiu shout during the exam that he was ranked third in the grade, he might have done the same.
In fact, they couldn’t do too poorly on the exam, but scoring too high was also dangerous.
Ning Su sat there in a daze.
He had faintly sensed the immense malice behind this game instance.
Ning Su suddenly said, “Wang Zhiqiu, he...”
He stopped there, as if casually bringing it up.
The classroom was very quiet. Although he didn’t speak loudly, his words spread across a wide area.
Upon hearing the name “Wang Zhiqiu,” besides his deskmate tensing up, another boy turned to look.
It was the same as when Ning Su first sat in this seat and mentioned Wang Zhiqiu’s name.
Ning Su turned to look at Ling Xiao, remembering how that night he said, “This isn’t how the game is played.”
Ling Xiao happened to be looking at the player who had turned around. When Ning Su looked back, Ling Xiao immediately turned his gaze to him.
They didn’t speak, but they both understood the suspicion they had without evidence.
On Sunday morning, after breakfast, Ning Su, along with Ji Zeming and Lu Yue, escorted Shi Tianzhu and Zhou Xiang to their exam rooms.
The second round of mock exams was different from the first. The exam rooms were arranged based on the rankings from the previous exam.
Each exam room had 120 students, and in the last exam room, 90% of the students were players. Almost all the players were concentrated in that room.
Ning Su held Shi Tianzhu’s exam ticket and repeatedly told her, “On the answer sheet and exam paper, compare it with this exam ticket, find the corresponding spots, and fill them in.”
After losing all their knowledge-based memories, they couldn’t even recognize their own names.
However, only by filling in their name and exam ticket number could they participate in the exam and be included in the grade rankings.
Only then, as Shi Tianzhu had said, could they secure a spot among the bottom 100 for other players.
Shi Tianzhu blankly touched the exam ticket and said, “Okay.”
Ning Su repeated the instructions to her again and again. When there were only five minutes left before the exam, Ji Zeming finally said, “They’re about to ring the bell. You should head to the exam room now. I’ll take care of the president.”
Only then did Ning Su stop. He looked at Shi Tianzhu and said, “President, good luck and finish the exam.”
This was the value she had insisted on preserving before she lost her memory.
Ji Zeming added, “Why are you acting like a parent sending their kid off to the college entrance exam? Enough, enough, hurry up and go.”
Ning Su was momentarily startled, then smiled and left.
The top 120 students in the grade were all in the first exam room.
Ning Su, Ning Changfeng, Gu Witch, and Shi He were all there.
There were more invigilators than in other exam rooms, and a full row of officers stood in front. Tiny surveillance cameras emitting a faint red glow were scattered across every corner of the room.
The atmosphere in the first exam room, filled with top students, was even more tense. Every student inside was on edge.
Before the exam, the room was completely silent. Even the sound of a pen falling onto the desk made the students’ hearts skip a beat.
“Ding, ding, ding—”
Suddenly, the sound of heavy breathing filled the exam room.
The teachers began distributing the test papers and answer sheets.
There were 15 students in a single column from the front to the back, and Ning Su was seated right next to Shi He in the first row.
Taking advantage of the noise while the test papers were being handed out, Ning Su turned his head and whispered to the tense Shi He, “Don’t do too well.”
“Number 16 and Number 1, no talking!” the strict examiner scolded.
An officer immediately walked over and stood in front of them.
Shi He, of course, knew now that he couldn’t perform too well and that he couldn’t make it into the top ten in the grade.
As he filled in his name and exam number on the test paper, he silently cursed Ning Su for the belated reminder.
Was Ning Su deliberately trying to throw him off?
A good mental state was crucial during exams. If you were too anxious, you might end up unable to solve many questions, especially in math.
Shi He had taken the college entrance exam multiple times, so he was well aware of this.
Yes, Shi He had taken the exam many times before.
Before entering the game, he was a professional stand-in for exams.
He was exceptionally good at academics. In the year he took the college entrance exam, someone approached him to take the test for another person. The risks were too high, so he refused without hesitation.
However, the person offered him ten million yuan and promised that everything would be handled, with another ten million if he got caught.
Coming from a poor family, Shi He was stunned by that amount.
Once he did it, there was a second time. What started as extreme nervousness soon became a calm routine, treating the college entrance exam like just another classroom quiz.
Shi He had entered the infinite game during one of these substitute exams, which is why he was able to effortlessly rank first at Qingyi High School upon arrival.
He had studied senior year (high school) content for several years and had taken the college entrance exam multiple times. Even after spending a few months in the game, the exams here were a piece of cake for him.
However, despite being as relaxed as if it were a mock test during the college entrance exam, he couldn’t control his nerves at the moment. He had already been to the “Reflection Hall,” and the Damocles’ sword of amnesia was hanging over his head.
Last time, he was careless during the exam, but this time he had to be extra cautious.
He couldn’t score in the top ten in his grade, nor could he rank in the bottom 100. Ideally, he needed to score above 600 points, as required by the system. This would not only ensure his safety but also allow him to enjoy better treatment as an outstanding student at school.
In this tense state, he was uncertain how well he would perform in subjects like math, and Chinese was even harder to control in terms of scoring. So, even though he knew he shouldn’t aim for the top ten, he still had to do his best on the first subject, which was Chinese.
Wasn’t this exactly what Ning Su did last time?
He had seen Ning Su’s scores. Ning Su had given his best effort in the first three subjects—Chinese, Math, and English—and only started adjusting his scores after understanding the situation by the last exam.
And now they were telling him not to do too well in the very first exam?
Hah.
“Ding-ling-ling—”
“Examinees, begin!”
Shi He immediately steadied himself and began answering the questions.
The first page of the Chinese exam was all objective multiple-choice questions. Shi He completed the first major question quickly and accurately.
Now he understood why some students in the exam hall solved problems so fast, almost as if they were being chased by demons on the paper.
It was because they were afraid they’d forget everything before they could finish the exam, so they hurried to write down what they still remembered.
After finishing the multiple-choice questions, Shi He felt much more relaxed.
The fear of amnesia hadn’t affected him. He was certain that out of the 50 multiple-choice questions; he hadn’t gotten a single one wrong. All the content was within his grasp.
And it only took him ten minutes.
He glanced over at Ning Su and saw that Ning Su had only finished about half of the multiple-choice questions.
Feeling even more at ease, he scanned the fill-in-the-blank and poetry sections and felt even more relieved.
He remembered everything.
