Chapter 236 - 1: The Exam Begins

Inside Gale’s office.

Though it was only the fourth day of quarantine, Gale’s office was already completely unrecognizable.

The windowpanes were sealed shut. Even the seams of the door were covered with tape, leaving not a single gap.

The telephone line was severed. His cell phone had its SIM card removed before being smashed, and the SIM card itself was crushed to dust.

Three meals a day were provided. To use the restroom, he had to use a designated disposable commode, which was to be thrown directly into the adjacent incinerator afterward.

The television was smashed, and any object capable of reflecting light had been removed. Nothing could remain.

In the unnaturally silent room, only the clock on the wall made a sound, its ticking monotonous.

Unable to receive outside intelligence or read any kind of information, Gale had resorted to doing one-handed push-ups on the floor to combat the soul-crushing monotony.

He counted silently. After slowly finishing one hundred reps with one arm, he would switch to the other and continue.

Suddenly, the food slot in the door opened. Someone slid in a meal, along with a small indicator strip.

Without eating, Gale picked up the indicator strip, stuck it on the back of his hand, and then breathed a sigh of relief.

"Only 30% left."

"Congratulations, Gale," a flat, cold voice said. "What is one plus one?"

"Three," Gale said with great certainty.

"Very well. Continue your quarantine."

Administrator Bian ended the call, his expression calm. He then spoke to the other administrators on the public channel, "Gale is a lost cause. Prepare the cleanup procedure."

"Wait, isn’t there only 30% left?" Jade Rabbit’s voice rang out.

"It has nothing to do with the 30%," Administrator Bai Ze said in the channel.

Unlike Bian, Bai Ze’s voice was somewhat hoarse and tinged with sadness. "His cognition is still impaired."

Sensing that Jade Rabbit, being a newcomer, didn’t grasp the gravity of the situation, Bai Ze continued, "The contamination inside Gale has been activated. After this, even if only 1% remains, it will erupt on a massive scale at the end of the seven-day cycle. His core consciousness is still tainted. That contamination is what’s impairing his cognition, making him unable to recognize that one plus one equals two."

"Then can’t we just find the contaminated region of his core consciousness?" Jade Rabbit asked quickly.

"It’s no use. We couldn’t locate his core consciousness in the first three days, so the probability of finding it in the remaining four days is diminishing. And it’s not just that—we don’t even know the identity of the culprit who contaminated him in the first place. So, I’m very sorry, but we have to give up on Gale."

"But..."

"No buts," Bian said. "Jade Rabbit, I’m sorry you have to witness this, especially since Gale was your mentor. But this is our fate as administrators. We fight this battle every moment of every day, and we are always prepared to make sacrifices. Now, let’s give Gale a proper send-off."

"Uh..." Yu Bo’s voice cut into the channel. "I just received an update. We’ve found the source of the contamination."

"Who!"

"The leader of the Pseudo-men, the Clockmaker. The dungeon record has also been confirmed as accurate."

"Search all related dungeons. Find every instance where the Clockmaker has been active, and then we’ll focus the search on him. Yu Bo, award that player a bonus in activity points. Everyone else, move out."

Duan Fei, having just returned from a trip to the Divine Hall, had no idea his report had caused such a stir among the administrators.

He was simply marveling at how many points the "Clockmaker" easter egg had provided. A single piece of information had significantly boosted his activity points, bringing him that much closer to the event reward he coveted most.

He logged out of the game. The moment he climbed out of his pod, a delicious aroma hit him.

In the kitchen, Jinghong had her back to him, wearing a brand-new apron with a cute tiger printed on one corner.

Hearing the sound behind her, Jinghong didn’t turn back, just expertly cracked an egg one-handed into the sizzling pan. "How do you want your egg?"

"Over easy, with a runny yolk."

"Two spoonfuls of sugar in your milk, as usual?"

"Yep."

"Toast?"

"Please."

"What are you doing?" Jinghong turned her head and asked, puzzled.

Behind her, Duan Fei had his palms pressed together, bowing reverently to Jinghong. "I’m paying my respects to my very own Tianluo Girl."

In her heart, Jinghong bowed back three times. ’By my count, that’s basically our wedding ceremony.’

After a pleasant breakfast, Jinghong went back to her work. Duan Fei washed the dishes, finished up his own tasks for the day, and then slipped back into his game pod.

Seeing that Duan Fei was already in the game, Jinghong quietly picked up her laptop. She then slowly, very slowly, crept over to his game pod and set her computer down on top of it.

This way, she could see the person she loved, sleeping soundly, just by glancing down. The feeling was immensely comforting to her.

But at the same time, a mischievous impulse began to bubble up inside her.

Still, it wasn’t right to do... that sort of thing... while he was asleep. But the fluttering in her heart was hard to contain. Torn between these conflicting emotions, Jinghong slowly worked, feeling both tortured and blissful.

Meanwhile, Duan Fei had entered the game and arrived at Area 2.1, the training grounds.

He had just learned [Crowbar Swordsmanship] and figured this was the perfect opportunity to practice and level it up a bit.

He paid to rent a training area, and at his request, Coach Liu was summoned.

When he heard Duan Fei wanted to learn Swordsmanship, Coach Liu didn’t hold back. He immediately set up a curriculum, and the two of them sparred from morning till afternoon, stopping only after Duan Fei had spent three thousand Abyss Coins.

It was a steep price, but the results were excellent. His newly acquired [Crowbar Swordsmanship] was raised directly to the Minor Success stage. It really made Duan Fei realize that money could buy you anything.

After his morning training session, Duan Fei finally got a message from Jinghong: "I’m done with work. I’ll be logging into the game shortly."

"Alright, I’ll be waiting."

Once Jinghong logged in, they arranged to meet in front of the Divine Hall. From there, they wandered among the buildings together, searching for a dungeon to enter.

Before long, they found a red fire door in front of a large building.

"Tier Three, multiplayer dungeon, supernatural type. Has presets. Recommended Level 10 or higher."

After confirming the details, they pushed open the door together and strode through the red doorway.

When he emerged on the other side, Duan Fei found himself in a school classroom. It was empty. On the blackboard to the right, a single phrase was written in large script: "Make-up Exam."

’Supernatural, and another make-up exam... Looks like this might be one of those rules-based horror scenarios. But where’s Jinghong?’

Just as he was about to search for Jinghong’s whereabouts, Duan Fei heard someone say from behind: "The exam is about to start, aren’t you going in?"

Turning his head, Duan Fei found a group of very ordinary-looking students standing behind him, impatiently urging him on.

"Excuse me, but where is my seat?"

"Sir, have you forgotten your own spot? Where else would you be besides the lectern?"

Lowering his head, Duan Fei then discovered he was wearing a proctor’s ID on his chest.

’So, I’m the proctor?’