Lu Yue knew Lin Jiaze. Six months ago, they had entered a Level Four instance together.
Lin Jiaze had indeed been a very timid and sensitive girl back then. She often squatted in a small corner to cry secretly. Her already petite frame would shrink even smaller when she crouched down.
But in reality, Lin Jiaze was a highly skilled player at the game base. Some players even called her “boss.”
This had apparently helped her sensitivity and timidity to some extent. If this was her improved state, Lu Yue couldn’t imagine how sensitive and timid she must have been before.
Hong Zhenjiang and Lin Jiaze were complete opposites. He was tall, strong, and had a rugged boldness about him.
He glanced at Lin Jiaze for a while and said, “I’ll lead them in by myself. You don’t need to come.”
Lin Jiaze shook her head. “We don’t know what the situation inside is. You might not be able to handle it alone. I’ll go with you.”
This was her bravery, but also her way of avoiding something.
It was her perseverance that others couldn’t understand.
At midnight, in this self-study room, after a period of division, they once again reached a collaboration.
Throughout the week until Friday evening, the teacher never mentioned that the test would become more difficult. He only said as he was leaving work, “This exam is the same as before. Make sure to carefully read the questions and answer them properly.”
That one sentence decided their fate—ensuring they wouldn’t end up in the “Reflection Hall” during this test.
For this mock exam, Hong Zhenjiang and Lin Jiaze focused solely on the test, determined to rank among the bottom 100 in the grade. If they didn’t, their plan would be rendered useless.
Meanwhile, Ning Su and the others, based on newly gathered information, observed and speculated about which wealthy students would have their memories transferred during this test.
Using information about family backgrounds and class groupings, they narrowed down a few targets.
During the Chinese exam, Ning Su deliberately made mistakes on some multiple-choice questions, using Tang Yichen’s method to reduce the probability of being chosen.
As the Chinese test was being taken, a top-10 student in the grade still lost their memory. As soon as the exam ended, Ning Su and the others discreetly followed their identified wealthy student targets.
Sure enough, one of the students left the exam room right after the test, walked into the black forest, and headed toward the Reflection Hall.
The exam room was close to the Reflection Hall, right next to the black forest. All five of their exam rooms were on the first floor, offering limited visibility. They hadn’t noticed this detail before.
The Gu Witch descended from the rooftop and said, “Confirmed, he entered the Reflection Hall.”
This confirmed their hypothesis: memory transfer was indeed happening inside the Reflection Hall.
Before the next math test, that student returned. Aside from having a slightly odd look in their eyes, they seemed perfectly fine.
This further validated their assumption—memory transfer happened quickly and caused no significant harm or side effects.
After the exams ended, they anxiously waited for Hong Zhenjiang and Lin Jiaze’s results.
Thankfully, both of them once again ranked among the bottom 100 in the grade.
In the fourth mock exam, nearly all of the bottom-100 players were those who had lost their memories, with the sole exception of Lu Yue.
His first mock exam score wasn’t far off from the bottom 100 of the grade. This week, there were suddenly too many players suffering from amnesia, and he had taken on a large portion of the teaching responsibilities. If he didn’t make progress, he would fall behind.
Lu Yue said, “It’s fine. This is my first time in the ‘black room,’ so my probability of amnesia is relatively low.”
Hong Zhenjiang and Lin Jiaze needed to focus on their studies.
Among the remaining players, he wasn’t as skilled as Ning Changfeng, Ning Su, or the Gu Witch. Throughout the process, including what came later, his contribution wasn’t as significant as theirs. He also wasn’t like Ji Zeming, who was part of the Yinhua Guild. Therefore, this week, he voluntarily took on the responsibility of teaching the amnesiac players.
Before the evening self-study session, he said, “If I’m unfortunate enough to lose my memory, I hope you all will take care of Zhou Xiang for me.”
Fortunately, he showed no signs of amnesia.
So far, everything had gone relatively smoothly, and no new players had lost their memory. Unfortunately, three amnesiac players had been taken away.
There were simply too many amnesiac players. Excluding the six who needed to focus on their studies and Jiang Ming, who had just returned to the class, some classes didn’t even have players who could cover for them. Over the past few days, these players were gradually discovered and taken away by the teachers.
On Friday, the homeroom teacher said, “The previous mock exams were based on the foundational difficulty of the college entrance exam. In the upcoming ones, we’ll moderately increase the difficulty.”
“Please keep this in mind, everyone. If you come across questions you can’t solve, don’t panic. The increase in difficulty is normal, so focus on maintaining a good exam mindset.”
Ning Su asked his desk mate, “Will it really be harder?”
Tang Yichen nodded. “Of course. Most of the practice so far has been on basic topics. Exams with a selection process will naturally have more distinct levels of difficulty.”
“To what extent will the difficulty increase?”
Ning Su thought for a moment and rephrased his question: “So, if I scored 600 points before, it doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll score 600 in the college entrance exam. What level is 600 points in the college entrance exam?”
Tang Yichen responded simply, “Under normal circumstances, it’s enough to get into a second-tier university.”
In this world, which placed great emphasis on academic performance and educational background, undergraduate schools were unofficially divided into ten tiers.
There were only four schools in the first tier, referred to as the “Top 4.”
The second tier consisted of nine schools, known as the “A9.”
Together, the first two tiers included only 13 schools. In terms of numbers, this was even harder to get into than the 33 elite schools in Ning Su’s world.
In other words, scoring 600 points in this world far exceeded the requirements for getting into the 33 elite schools.
Simply put, it was extremely difficult to achieve.
Sure enough, this challenge was not about testing their academic abilities.
At least 95% of the players would have to find another way.
The "alternative" currently available was accessing the memories of the top-performing students stored by the school.
After the homeroom teacher “advised” them, Hong Zhenjiang and Lin Jiaze gave up studying entirely.
On Saturday night, Ji Zeming skipped evening self-study and led a protest on the school playground.
Ji Zeming: “Qingyi High School doesn’t treat its students like humans!”
Dozens of amnesiac players: “Not like humans!!”
Ji Zeming: “Qingyi High School has no humanity!”
Dozens of amnesiac players: “No humanity!”
Ji Zeming: “We demand the school leaders respect us! Give us fairness and freedom!”
Dozens of amnesiac players: “Respect us!”
Their voices rang out loud and clear, even the students in the teaching building could hear them.
This was the first protest of its kind at Qingyi High School.
The students were shocked, turning to look toward the playground, unsure of what to think.
The school’s director of student affairs, who lived on campus, also heard the commotion. Wearing high heels, she rushed to the playground with a team of instructors in tow.
She unleashed a tirade, and no one escaped being rounded up and locked in the Reflection Hall to write self-criticism essays.
Ji Zeming, the amnesiac players, along with Ling Xiao and Shi Tianzhu, were escorted by the instructors to the Reflection Hall. As they passed by the teaching building, Ji Zeming waved at Ning Su with a grin.
The political education director smacked him on the head. “You led a protest, and you’re still smiling? What’s there to smile about?!”
Ji Zeming only smiled wider. Under the dim yellow streetlight, his eyes gleamed brightly, and his grin carried an almost dazzling warmth.
Because of the serious nature of the incident, they were locked up for two hours before being released. Hands in their pockets, they each strolled back to the dorms to sleep.
That lively night passed, and they faced their sixth diagnostic test the next day.
Thanks for the chapter!!! 🌸
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