Global University Entrance Exam
Chapter 1: Death Question
The snow fell for four hours. It didn't show any signs of stopping.
This place is a barren mountain cabin. Various hunting tools hung from the walls and a long wooden table gnawed away by termites sat in the centre. Around the table sat a group of people. Male, female, young and old, they were all present. There was even a foreigner amongst them.
The room was very cold. Everyone present shivered with a solemn expression on their faces but no one moved to start a fire. The old radio sitting on the table was speaking.
[It is currently 17:30 Beijing time.]
[There are still 30 minutes until the exam starts. Examinees, please quickly head to the examination centre.]
The radio sounds were scratchy and there were also static noises one would typically hear in the background of radio broadcasts from the 1950s. It tirelessly buzzed.
This was already the second broadcast. The first broadcast was three hours ago. It said [Welcome to examination centre 003712.] which immediately caused an old lady to faint and even now she had not yet recovered.
Another person didn't listen to its instructions and attempted to destroy the radio.... After removing the batteries, he ran out of the room like he was possessed. Five minutes later his body fell from the roof together with a pile of snow.
Since then, no one dared to touch it.
[Please enter the centre as soon as possible and avoid loitering outside.]
This sentence was repeated three times. The room was deathly silent.
After a long time, someone sitting at the head of the table muttered irritably: "So who hasn't entered yet?"
This person had a yellow head of slightly permed hair. His figure was lean, and he was average in height. Both his arms were tattooed with a sleeve of animals. Despite being unable to tell whether it was a dog or camel, it looked quite intimidating.
The person sitting next to him shrank back a little and answered: "Old Yu."
"Who is Old Yu?"
"The drunkard who vomited the moment he entered through the door. The one who brought along his son and nephew."
The person who answered pointed towards the wall using his lips and then carefully made a "quiet" gesture.
Lying on the beaten sofa by the wall was the nephew.
It was a 27 or 28-year-old young man. He had a tall figure and his appearance was very extraordinary. When he held the doorframe and lowered his head to enter the cabin, the picturesque mountain pines covered in snow behind him paled in comparison. However, ever since he entered, he constantly maintained a dull expression. He seemed to be a little aloof.
According to Old Yu who rambled incessantly, his nephews name is You Huo.
"He had only returned for two months and came to Harbin to find me during the National Day holidays. I was originally supposed to take him to the airport tomorrow morning. Sigh....It's all my fault! Useless!"
Old Yu had drunk until he was completely intoxicated. During the night where there were few people around, he stumbled around.
On the sidewalk in front of the children's hospital, someone had left a bunch of joss paper1. Old Yu stumbled around and wasn't able to regain his balance. With one foot stepping onto the joss paper, everything spun and himself, his son and his nephew were all sent here.
When they entered the cabin, he had not yet recovered from the dizziness. No longer able to hold himself back, he vomited all over You Huo. Old Yu sobered up from his drunken state after vomiting but he was too scared to say anything to You Huo.
The people who came here were all caught unexpectedly and were completely unprepared. Only the foreigner called Mike had a set of clean clothes in his bag.
After You Huo changed, he remained distant from the others and laid on the sofa without a word. He appeared to have fallen asleep.
Through the arm that covered his face, you could see a stud earring on his right ear. It reflected the light coming from the oil lamp and appeared very dazzling.
The sky should have darkened but every part of the mountain was covered in snow and it was still bright outside.
A pregnant woman looked towards the cabinet in panic. The time on their phones had become erratic and they could only rely on the clock sitting above the cabinet to tell the time: "It's almost six. Could Old Yu have...."
Bang, bang, bang!
Before she could finish her sentence, the sound of something smacking against the door was heard.
Everyone was shocked. They looked over with fearful eyes. The snow piled up on the window was pushed aside and Old Yu's face appeared through the glass. With exaggerated mouthing, he said: "It's me. Open the door."
Everyone was relieved.
Fortunately, he had returned before 6 o'clock and didn't die.
The two snow covered men entering the house was Old Yu and his son Yu Wen.
"How is it outside?" Everyone hurriedly asked.
Old Yu shivered in place for a moment before slapping his face forcefully. He then slapped his son. When they finally warmed up a little, he said: "I went around everywhere but it was useless! No matter where I went, in no more than ten minutes I would see the cabin again. We can't get out!"
"Were there other people? Or houses even?"
Old Yu spoke frustratedly: "No, don't count on it."
Everyone's expression fell into despair.
There was no signal on the phone and the time on it had become erratic. The trees all looked the same so it was hard to tell which direction was north, south, east or west. There was absolutely nothing.
This was their current predicament.
Oh, there was also an old radio that noisily reminded them about the exam.
Exam your mum.
The moment Old Yu stepped in, the radio started to make static sounds.
Just being around it for the entire afternoon was enough for the people present to develop a conditioned reflex. They immediately quietened down and looked at the radio.
[All examinees have been admitted. The exam rules are as follows.]
Old Yu and Yu Wen who had just entered the examination centre gulped.
[The exam is conducted within a set period of time.]
[After the exam officially starts, examinees cannot enter the examination centre. You may not leave the centre during the exam without permission. If there is an emergency, you must follow the instructions and leave with the invigilator.]
[Apart from open book exams, you cannot use mobile devices or other communication tools. Please be considerate and turn them off.]
[The exam is point-based. Examinees must write their answer on the designated answer sheet (except in special circumstances) or the answer is invalid.]
When the radio finished speaking, everything once again turned silent.
After a while, the room suddenly started to fall into discussion.
"Who is the invigilator?"
"There are open-book exams?"
"What's an answer sheet?"
"To think that you're discussing it. You all must be crazy." The tattooed man played with his swiss army knife. You couldn't tell what he was thinking."
"Then what should we do?" The eyes of the pregnant woman were still swollen from crying. She said quietly: "Don't forget about that....."
She pointed to the roof.
The tattooed man thought of the body and his face also paled. He stiffened for a moment before finally accepting the situation. Holding the swiss army knife, he waved it in a particular direction: "Little brat."
Yu Wen looked left and right and then pointed at himself: "You...mean me?"
"Yes, you. Come, sit here." The tattooed man patted the seat closest to him."
"I, uh....." Yu Wen turned around to look at his brother only to see his brother still lying on the sofa like he was dead. He suppressed the curses inside him and said: "I'm 18."
What's more, the tattooed man is at most 25 or 26-years-old. How dare he call him little brat.
"It doesn't matter how I call you!" The tattooed man was impatient, "Come here. Let me ask you. Are you a student?"
Yu Wen: "I guess so."
The tattooed man frowned: "Can you do exams?"
Old Yu reflexively said: "He can! He grew up doing exams!"
"You can shut up." Yu Wen said rudely to his drunkard old man.
But after he scolded his father and turned around, he saw that everyone in the room was staring at him.
Yu Wen: "...."
He thought about his words and said: "I just finished the University Entrance Examination in June and I have been playing like crazy for the past three months. I've already...Yeah, I can't do them very well anymore."
The pregnant woman had panicked for the entire afternoon. She smiled with great effort: "That is still better than us. It was only three months for you. We have long forgotten now."
"No." Yu Wen found the situation a little absurd and even forgot about his fear, "Don't you guys read novels or watch movies? Would it truly be an exam in this horror kind of setting? It's probably just a cover!"
"Cover for what?"
Yu Wen rolled his eyes: "How would I know? Anyway, people just die everywhere in horror movies. Who the hell would suddenly come and test you on maths and physics? Is this cabin built by the Ministry of Education?"
He still didn't feel like he had said enough. He added at the end: "Hah."
His cousin who was lying on the sofa like a dead pig was finally awakened by his "hah".
Yu Wen turned around to look at him.
He saw You Huo sit up and look at the group of people through half-open eyes. You Huo then kneaded the back of his neck. The legs resting on the old wooden floor were long, making the sofa appear even smaller.
The timing seemed to have been calculated and the moment he lowered his hand, the clock above the cabinet started to ring to signal that it was 6 o'clock.
Static sounds were emitted through the radio again.
[It is currently 18:00 Beijing time. The exam has officially begun.]
[As another reminder, examinees are not allowed to enter the centre after the exam has started and you cannot leave without authorisation during the duration of the exam or you will be punished.]
[The other examination rules are as per the standard.]
After it threw out a threat in passing, it paused for two seconds and said:
[Exam duration: 48 hours.]
[Subject: Physics.]
Yu Wen: "....."
[We will now be distributing the exam papers and the answer sheets. I wish you all the best.]
After the radio was done, it once again died off.
Yu Wen: "...."
Goddammit, shouldn't the exam paper and answer sheet be distributed first????
The pregnant women cried out in panic: "That wall!"
She was referring to the wall above the fire stove. The empty wall that was covered in several knife marks now had a few more words ——–
Topic: A group of travellers came to a snow mountain....
Exam details: The response will be collected every 6 hours. If no points are earned within 6 hours, you lose qualification to participate and will be evicted.
Below that was a large blank area. It was like the response area in a test paper for answers to be written in.
What question is this? What is it asking? What do we answer?
Everyone was confused.
Not to mention 6 hours, even if you gave them 600 hours they didn't know how to earn the points.
At this moment, a gust of cold wind that carried small beads of snow rushed into the room causing everyone to shiver.
They looked over at the source of the wind and saw that You Huo had walked over to the window and had opened half of it.
"What are you doing?!" The tattooed man was furious.
You Huo had one hand in his trouser pocket and his other hand was about to reach out. Hearing the yell, he glanced back. However, perhaps it was because the look was so fleeting, it looked cold and arrogant.
The tattooed man was even more enraged: "Don't you know to say something before opening the window? What are you going to do if something goes wrong?"
"Who are you?"
You Huo threw out those three words and no longer paid him any attention. He again stretched out his left hand.
Old Yu could no longer hold back. He urged his son and whispered: "You ask."
For some reason, Old Yu had always seemed to be afraid of this nephew of his.
Yu Wen shouted: "Brother, what are you doing?"
You Huo retracted his left hand and waved at him. Finally, he gave them his answer: "Testing out the consequence of leaving the examination centre."
Everyone present gasped. Crimson red blood flowed down his fingers onto his palm. With his pale skin, it looked even more shocking.
He casually rubbed it off and once again fiddled around with the windowsill. He picked up a rusty tin can and threw it out the window.
Under everyone's gaze, the tin can was smashed into smithereens and it scattered across the snow.
When they once again looked at the "Exam Details", everyone's eyes were filled with panic.
By the wall, You Huo once again closed the window. His eyes swept past each and every one of their backs.
As for Yu Wen who had some experience with exams....You Huo understood him well.
During the three years of high school, this high school student messed around with love and the wrong group of friends. He would often skip class to play games at internet cafes and he suffered from a strong case of eighth-grade syndrome2. Even now, he had not yet escaped that dangerous period.
It would be better to rely on a dog than him.
As for the others....
Old, frail, sick, pregnant, and even a thug.
All five deadly poisons are present.
The opening question is a death question.
Chapter 2: Invigilator
You Huo kicked the metal can of charcoal over and Old Yu carefully used it to start a fire. The fire in the fire stove emanated an orange-red glow.
Yu Wen squatted next the fire and dejectedly threw wood in.
The flames flickered as he watched it for a while. He decided that he should go find someone to talk to about his feelings before he died but, when he looked up, he saw his brother standing on the side warming his hands with a cold and disinterested expression.
Yu Wen considered it for a few seconds and decided to die quietly instead.
·
"Umm that..." Old Yu suddenly spoke.
You Huo glanced over.
"I don't know how I should refer to you." Old Yu patted the pregnant woman's shoulder: "With a stomach like that, how can you freeze here? This isn't right, go over there to warm up. Don't catch a cold. It's not good for both you and your child."
The pregnant woman who heard these words was stunned for a moment. Tears flowed steadily down her face.
Old Yu was surprised: "What's this? What's wrong?"
The woman silently cried: "I don't even know if it has life......"
Having said that, she still moved her chair closer to the fire.
The woman cried for a while before finally stopping. With strong nasal tone, she said to Old Yu: "Oh right, please call me Yu Yao."
Old Yu forced out a laugh and said: "I didn't expect you to also be from the same family line. You look about the same age as my neph....."
Old Yu glanced at You Huo through the corner of his eyes. His words then quickly changed: ".....son. When we get out of this damned place, I'll give you a big fat red envelope to wish both mother and child a safe birth."
The tattooed man grumbled in a sullen face: "The situation is already fucking like this and you have the time to chat...Fuck!"
The others who heard his words stiffened. They scattered and started to search around the cabin.
However, while the others were looking for clues to solve the problem, the tattooed man concentrated on finding all kinds of self-defence hunting tools.
You Huo didn't move away. He continued to warm up his hands by the stove. He gently touched the question on the wall and then looked down at the miscellaneous items sitting on top of the stove.
There were a few bottles and jars, a pile of darkening coins, several strangely shaped pebbles, scattered chicken feathers and even a mouldy pacifier from who knows what century.
Yun Wen saw that You Huo wasn't moving so he also didn't dare move.
He recalled what his teacher had said before he did the university entrance examination. When you have no clue, read the question a few times. Thinking this, he stood before the wall and read it through repeatedly.
"A group of travellers came to a snow mountain....
"Travellers......"
"Snow mountain......"
"Hm.........."
When he returned to his senses after reading it through, he realised that the room was very quiet. Everyone was looking at him.
Yu Wen: "......I was just reading."
Old Yu had the same issue most parents have. When there are many people around, they wanted to show off their child: "Did you think of something?"
Yu Wen rolled his eyes: "No."
Everyone had a look of disappointment. They continued to rummage around.
Only the tattooed man didn't relent. He assessed Yu Wen suspiciously: "Really? You're not trying to hide something are you?"
Yu Wen: "Why would I hide it?"
The tattooed man stared at him for a while. That look made those on the receiving end feel irked.
"Fine then. You'd better not be."
The thug appeared to be used to threatening others and every word that came out of his mouth was harsh.
After he said that, he returned to rummaging through the hunting tools.
Yu Wen silently stuck up his middle finger and said inside: Stupid.
This classmate had just entered adulthood and was still in a state of peak narcissism. He felt that everyone in the world was stupid and even his own father couldn't be spared. The only exception was You Huo.
In fact, he had only become familiar with You Huo over the past two years. Old Yu had said that You Huo was staying overseas to receive treatment for his illness and would come back to China from time to time. Every time he returned, he would stay a few days at his place.
With the days all added up, it actually wasn't very long.
But, using the spirit of learning that Yu Wen had never applied to his own studies, he came to understand some things.
For example, there was something wrong with You Huo's memory. He would have no impression of people he had encountered a few years ago and this was also the reason why he went overseas for treatment.
Also, for example, the elders in the family appeared to be a little afraid of him.
This point really puzzled Yu Wen. He had asked Old Yu about this a few times, but Old Yu would always tell him to stop thinking useless things.
Time passed and he soon felt that it was normal.
After all, even the thug who had only just met You Huo was a little afraid.
With his brother next to him, Yu Wen originally intended to call the thug a few names and anger him a little but when he turned back he saw that You Huo was gone.
Yu Wen: ".......Where did he go?"
The pregnant woman asked Yu Wen: "Who are you looking for?"
It wasn't convenient for her to move around so she couldn't search the cabin with the others.
Yu Wen: "My brother."
Yu Yao: "He went that way."
She indicated the direction with her chin.
·
This cabin wasn't small. On the first floor was the living room and three other rooms and in the corner was an old wooden ladder that led to a small attic above.
It was really because there were too many things here and the fact that there were many people inside as well that the cabin felt small and cramped.
The bedrooms on the first floor were locked. The strangely designed lock hanging from it was rusty.
What was even more strange was that a rooster was hung from one door and a hen on the other.
The two chickens had their blood drained, but their feathers were neatly combed. With their heads bent in the same direction, those looking at it felt a strange sense of horror.
When Yu Wen came over, You Huo was standing in the shadows by the door.
It was scarier than the chickens.
"Brother, what do you have in your hands?" Yu Wen rubbed the goosebumps on his arms.
"Haven't you seen an axe?" You Huo lazily raised his eyes.
"I've seen it...."
Yu Wen internally wanted to say that it was because he had seen it that he asked. Why are you holding an axe out of nowhere?
Holding it was fine but You Huo was also carelessly feeling out the blade with the thumb of his other hand.
"After looking around, have you thought of anything?" He asked without looking up.
"Ah?" Yu Wen was a little confused, "What should I have thought of?"
You Huo looked at him.
With his tall height, he would lower his eyes when looking at others. His eyes were also of a clear light brown colour and his eyelids are thin. Although he is very good looking, with his expressionless face there was a sense of dissociation and distance.
It was hard to describe. In any case, you just couldn't feel any sense of familiarity.
Yu Wen couldn't handle the look: "Give me an example."
You Huo: "What questions are related to the snow mountains?"
Yu Wen: "......Not sure."
You Huo: "You didn't go to school?"
Yu Wen: "I went...."
You Huo: "Did a dog go in your place?"
Yu Wen: "I learnt a few skills......Selecting the shortest option if three are long and one is short, selecting the longest one if three are short and one is long, choosing B if there are two long and two short options and choosing C if they are all different. I've basically relied on this for physics."
You Huo: "......."
Yu Wen: "There's also another point."
You Huo: "....."
Yu Wen: "I learnt to give up."
You Huo: "Scram."
Yu Wen guessed that if he continued, the axe would probably be lodged into his head so he quickly shut his mouth.
His beloved cousin finally looked away and no longer paid him any attention.
After a while, Yu Wen couldn't hold back and asked another question: "Brother, why are you holding onto that?"
"Finding a pen." You Huo said that and even snorted at him with slight disappointment. He then threw the small axe into a waste bucket.
Yu Wen stared at the axe: "What are you looking for?"
You Huo: "Pen."
Yu Wen felt that either himself or You Huo must be crazy.
You Huo over no longer paid him any attention. After saying that, he climbed up the wooden ladder.
·
As they searched around, time went by very fast.
The red number on the wall had been changing from 6 to 5 and then to 4.
The time for their responses to be collected was getting closer and closer, and everyone became more and more tense. They had no clue and didn't know where to start. There was even a countdown resembling those in a university entrance examination before them.
Under the strong pressure, there would always be people who would panic and start guessing haphazardly.
When You Huo came back down, the pregnant woman was holding onto a small black bottle and was about to write something on the blank wall.
Rich acidic odour emanated out from the bottle. It was like ink that had been left out for too long, but its colour was a little different from ink. Perhaps it was because of the dim lighting, it appeared a little rusty brown in colour.
"I.......Is it really okay writing like this......?" Yu Yao's face was pale, and her voice revealed her inner panic. She seemed to be asking for reassurance from the others, "It doesn't have much to do with physics......"
"We have no information about the question so who knows what can give us points!" A bald and short middle-aged man yelled out with a sullen face: "I even suspect that there's probably no such thing as a correct answer! It's blank now and 6 hours later it will continue to be blank. We can't escape from death."
He then glared at Yu Yao: "Don't have the courage to write? If you don't, I'll do it!"
Yu Yao shrank back a little. Her wet finger still landed on the wall.
She drew two strokes but saw that the water on her fingertip didn't leave any traces on the wall. The strokes that she made had already disappeared.
It was even accompanied by faint water sounds.
Like the answer wall had.....swallowed it up.
"I, I can't do it......." Yu Yao panicked.
"How is that possible?! Not enough ink?" The bald man rushed over, stuck his finger in the ink bottle and forcefully pressed it onto the wall.
The result was the same as before.
Before he was able to finish drawing one stroke, the beginning of it had already disappeared.
The faint water sound was heard again.
The bald man was stunned for a while. His emotions suddenly went out of control: "No......Why can't we write? It must be because there's not enough ink......not enough ink......yes......"
He reached out to grab the ink bottle.
Just as the whole bottle of ink was about to be poured onto the wall, the bald man's hand was suddenly held down.
He turned out to look and saw You Huo looking down at him from above. With a cold face, he said impatiently: "Don't be crazy. The wall isn't right."
The bald man subconsciously struggled for a bit. His face was completely red but he couldn't pull back his hand.
"Yu Wen." You Huo turned his head, "Give me the rope by the wall."
The bald man struggled while his face was red and the veins on his neck bulged: "What are you doing?!"
You Huo used one hand to flexibly tie a knot. He wrapped the rope around him.......and even tied his arms together.
Classmate Yu Wen was shocked: "Brother.......What did you do before? How can you do this so skilfully?"
You Huo's light coloured eyes swept over him.
Yu Wen only now remembered......His brother probably didn't know himself.
The bald man was thrown onto the beaten sofa. You Huo screw shut the bottle of so-called "ink".
The moment the bottle cap was tightened, everyone in the room heard a soft sigh.
"Who?!"
Everyone's hair stood up.
As the final stain on the answer wall faded, a line suddenly appeared in the originally blank space:
Violation warning: Did not use the correct exam stationery. The invigilator has been notified.
Invigilator: 001, 154, 922
The rooster in the cabin suddenly called out.
Yu Wen was so scared he almost cried out together with it. He grabbed onto his brother's sleeve and fearfully looked at the door with wide eyes.
You Huo wanted to walk over to the door but he had Yu Wen hanging from him like a dead fish trying to hold him back. In the end, Yu Wen was dragged together as he moved over to the door.
Outside the window, through the billowing snowstorm, three figures appeared in the distance.
The one at the front was tall, had short black hair and was wearing a slim-fitting coat. Even just by looking at the outline, you could see that his figure was straight and proper. When he walked over to the door, a gust of wind blew past and the snow within it obscured his vision.
He lowered his head and blinked a little, and snow particles fell from his face. When he looked up again, his dark eyes that reflected some of the snow just happened to land on You Huo.
You Huo subconsciously touched his earring.
Yu Wen whispered next to him in a small mosquito-like voice: "Don't tell me you know him?"
You Huo furrowed his brows and quietly answered: "I forgot. "
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