Chapter 1 The Life-or-Death Question Opening Is the Ending

The snow had been falling for four hours with no signs of stopping.

It was a remote mountain cabin, its walls hung with hunting gear. A long wooden table, riddled with insect damage, stood in the center, surrounded by a circle of people seated around it. Men and women, old and young, including a foreigner.

The room was bitterly cold. Everyone’s faces were grim as they shivered, yet no one got up to light a fire, because the old-fashioned radio on the table was speaking.

[It is now 17:30 Beijing Time.]

[The examination will begin in 30 minutes. Candidates are kindly reminded to enter the examination hall as soon as possible.]

The radio’s voice was raspy, accompanied by the distinct static of the 1950s, tirelessly haunting the air.

This was already the second time it had broadcast. The first time was three hours ago, when it said, “Welcome to Examination Center No. 003712,” directly causing an old lady to faint from the welcome—she still hasn’t recovered.

As for another person who refused to follow the instructions and attempted to dismantle the radio forcefully… after removing the battery compartment, they dashed out as if possessed, and five minutes later, their corpse slid down along with the snow on the roof.

After that, no one dared to touch this thing again.

[“Candidates who have not yet entered, please enter as soon as possible. Do not linger outside.”]

The recording played in a loop three times, and the room fell into dead silence.

After a long while, someone asked softly, “It’s sending orders again… What do we do? How does it know someone’s still lingering outside?”

Everyone’s faces turned grim, but no one had an answer.

A few moments later, the person seated at the head of the table asked impatiently, “So, who still hasn’t come in?”

The man sported a head of slightly curled, muddy yellow hair, with a lean build and medium height. His arms were covered in tattoos that resembled a zoo; it was hard to tell whether they depicted a donkey or a dog, but their intimidating presence was unmistakable.

The man beside him shivered slightly and replied, “Old Yu.”

“Which Old Yu?”

“The drunk who started vomiting as soon as he walked through the door, the one with his son and nephew.”

The speaker gestured toward the wall with a slight nudge of his chin and cautiously made a “hush” motion.

Next to the wall was a worn-out sofa, and lying on it was that nephew.

He was a young man around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, quite tall and exceptionally good-looking. When he bent his head to enter through the doorway, the scene of him framed by the mountain pines and snowy landscape behind him was picture-perfect. However, he had been wearing a grim expression since he stepped inside, appearing somewhat aloof.

According to the overly chatty Old Yu, who couldn’t hold his liquor, the nephew’s name was You Huo.

“He had just returned to China less than two months ago and took advantage of the National Day holiday to come to Harbin to see me. I was supposed to take him to the airport tomorrow morning… Ah… It’s all my fault! I couldn’t hold my liquor!”

Old Yu got completely drunk during the farewell drink. Taking advantage of the sparse crowd at night, he staggered along the street like a snake.

On the sidewalk in front of the Children’s Hospital, someone had left a pile of silver foil spirit money. Old Yu, slithering past, lost his balance, stepped into the pile of silver foil, and then everything spun around him. He ended up bringing his son and nephew to this place together.

When he entered this small room, he still hadn’t shaken off the dizziness. He vomited all over You Huo. After vomiting, Old Yu sobered up in fright, full of fear and too scared to speak to You Huo.

Those who come here have all experienced ghosts in broad daylight, utterly unprepared. Only that foreigner named Mike has a set of clean clothes in his backpack.

After changing into it, You Huo stayed away from everyone and settled into the sofa without saying another word, seemingly having dozed off.

Over the arm shielding his face, you could see a single earring glinting in his right ear, reflecting both the oil lamp inside the house and the snowy scene outside, shining so brightly it dazzled the eyes.

……

The sky should have been dark, but the snow stretching as far as the eye could see outside provided a lingering brightness.

A woman with a noticeably swollen belly looked anxiously at the cabinet. The time on her phone had become scrambled in this place, and only the clock atop the cabinet could tell them the time: “It’s almost six o’clock. Will that Old Yu…”

Bang, bang, bang!

Before she could finish, the door of the house was suddenly pounded upon.

Everyone was startled, their eyes wide as they stared ahead. On the window, the snow had been wiped away, and Old Yu’s large face was pressed against the glass. With exaggerated lip movements, he said, “It’s me! Open the door.”

The group let out a small sigh of relief.

Thankfully, they made it back before 6 o’clock without losing their lives.

The two snowmen who entered the house were indeed Old Yu and his son, Yu Wen.

“What’s it like outside?” everyone hurriedly asked.

Old Yu trembled on the spot for a moment, then vigorously rubbed his face and patted his son’s, finally warming up a bit. “I walked around in a big circle, but it was useless! No matter which direction I went, in under ten minutes, this damned house was sure to be right in front of me. Can’t get out!”

“Are there any people? Or other houses?”

Old Yu said dejectedly, “No, don’t get your hopes up.”

Everyone wore a look of despair.

No signal on their phones, time was a mess, all the trees looked identical—there was no telling east from west, nothing at all.

This was their current situation.

Oh, and there was also a radio, clamoring incessantly for exams, exams.

Fuck your mother’s exam.

As soon as Old Yu stepped through the door, the radio crackled to life.

A single afternoon was enough to condition everyone’s reflexes. They all fell silent immediately, turning their gazes toward the radio.

[All examinees have entered. The exam rules will now be announced.]

Old Yu and Yu Wen, who had just entered the arena, swallowed their saliva one after another.

[All exams are to be conducted within the stipulated time.]

[Once the exam officially begins, examinees may no longer enter the examination hall. No one may leave the hall without authorization during the exam. In case of an emergency, they must temporarily leave under the supervision of the invigilator.]

[Except during open-book exams, communication devices such as mobile phones are not permitted. Please ensure all devices are switched off voluntarily.]

【The exam awards points based on key details. Candidates must write their answers on the designated answer sheet (except under special circumstances), otherwise, the answers will be considered invalid.】

The radio fell silent once again after finishing its announcement.

A moment later, a wave of murmurs erupted in the room.

“Who are the proctors?”

“Is there an open-book exam too?”

“What on earth is an answer sheet?”

“And here they are analyzing things like they’re actually going to do it—have you all lost your minds?” The tattooed man was fiddling with a Swiss Army knife, clearly brewing some scheme of his own.

“What else can we do?” murmured the woman with the swollen belly, her eyes still puffy from crying. “Don’t forget what happened to the last one…”

She pointed towards the ceiling.

The tattooed man thought of the corpse, and his face also turned pale. He stiffened for a moment, finally accepting the reality, and gestured over with his Swiss knife: “Kid.”

Yu Wen looked around, pointing at his own nose: “You… calling me?”

“Right, you. Come on, sit here.” The tattooed man patted the empty seat closest to him.

“God da… Yu Wen glanced back at his brother, only to find him still slouched lifelessly on the broken sofa. Swallowing his curses just in time, he replied,”I’m 18.”

Besides, the tattooed guy looked no older than twenty-five or twenty-six—how dare he call others “kid” with that face?

“The address doesn’t matter!” The tattooed man grew impatient. “Come sit here. Let me ask you—are you a student?”

Yu Wen: “I guess so.”

The tattooed man frowned and asked, “Can you handle exams?”

Old Yu reflexively replied, “Of course he can! He practically grew up taking exams!”

“Just shut up.” Yu Wen was never polite to his alcoholic father.

But after snapping at his dad, he turned around and realized everyone in the room was staring at him with hopeful eyes.

Yu Wen: “……”

He considered his words carefully and said, “I just finished my college entrance exams in June, and I’ve been out of my mind for over three months. I’ve already… well, I’ve already forgotten how to take exams.”

The pregnant woman, who had been panicking all afternoon, forced a smile and said, “That’s still better than us. It’s only been three months for you. We forgot everything a long time ago.”

“No.” Yu Wen felt a bit absurd, and even his fear momentarily vanished. “Don’t any of you usually read novels or watch movies? The exams when ghosts appear, can they really be real exams? It’s definitely just a metaphor!”

“What to represent?”

Yu Wen rolled his eyes, “How would I know? Ghost movies are all about dying back and forth. Who the hell would test you on math and science here? Was this house built by the Ministry of Education?”

Feeling unsatisfied, he couldn’t help adding a smug, “Hmph.”

That cousin of his, who’d been “dead” on the couch, finally woke up at his “Hmph.”

Yu Wen turned to look over.

You Huo sat up, scanning everyone with half-open eyes before bowing his head to massage his neck. His long legs, propped on the worn wooden floor, made the sofa appear even shorter and older.

It was as if time had been precisely measured—the moment he finally lowered his hand and looked up, the clock on the cupboard began chiming.

Exactly 6 o’clock.

The radio static came again.

[It is now 18:00 Beijing time, the exam officially begins.]

[Reminder again, once the exam starts, candidates are not allowed to enter the examination hall, and they must not leave the venue on their own during the exam, otherwise they will bear the consequences themselves.]

[If any violations such as cheating or fraud are discovered during the exam, they will be expelled from the examination hall.]

【Other examination requirements will depend on the specific questions.】

It blared a string of threats, paused for two seconds, and said:

【Examination duration for this session: 48 hours.】

【Examination subject for this session: Physics.】

Yu Wen: “…”

[Exam papers and answer sheets are now being distributed. We wish you excellent results.]

After saying its final line, the radio went silent again.

Yu Wen: “…”

Goddamnit, shouldn’t the exam paper and answer sheet be handed out first???

The pregnant woman let out a low cry and said in a panic, “This wall!”

She was referring to the wall above the stove. Earlier, apart from a few knife marks, the surface had been completely blank. But now, several lines of text had appeared—

Question Stem: A group of travelers arrived at the snowy mountain…

Requirement of this question: Papers must be collected every six hours. If no scoring points have been correctly identified within six hours, one candidate will be disqualified and expelled from the examination hall.

Below these two lines is a large blank space, much like the answer area reserved on an exam paper.

What kind of question is this? What should be asked and answered?

Everyone was baffled.

Forget 6 hours, even if it were 600 hours, they still wouldn’t know how to score points.

Just then, a gust of cold wind swept into the room, carrying snowflakes that hit everyone in the face, making them shiver.

Following the wind’s direction, they saw Youhuo standing by the window, having opened one half of it at some point.

“What are you doing?!” the tattooed man shouted angrily.

You Huo had one hand in his trouser pocket, the other was just about to reach out when he turned his head at the remark to glance at him. Perhaps due to the faintness of his gaze, it always carried a cold hint of mockery and arrogance.

The tattooed man grew even more displeased: “Don’t you know to ask before opening a window? What if something happens? Can you take responsibility?”

“Who are you?”

Without another word, You Huo ignored him and stretched his left hand out.

Lao Yu couldn’t hold back any longer and nudged his son, whispering encouragement, “You go ask him.”

For some reason, Lao Yu always seemed rather afraid of this nephew of his.

Yu Wen shouted, “Bro, what are you doing?”

You Huo withdrew his left hand, giving it a shake towards him, and finally provided an answer: “Testing what happens if you get expelled from the exam.”

Everyone gasped, for crimson blood was flowing from his fingers to his palm, and because of his fair skin, it looked even more startling.

He casually wiped it off, then rummaged through the windowsill, picking up a rusty iron can before tossing it out the window.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the iron can disintegrated into powder in an instant, scattering along with the snow.

At this point, when they looked at the “question requirements” on the wall again, fear filled everyone’s eyes.

Beside the wall.

You Huo closed the window again, his gaze sweeping across their backs one by one.

As for the only one remotely related to exams, Yu Wen… he knew all too well.

During his three years of high school, this classmate was juggling puppy love, getting beaten up in groups, climbing over walls to go online, and being publicly criticized under the national flag. With his busy schedule, he still had to find time to deal with frequent, sudden attacks of chuunibyou. He has yet to emerge from the critical phase.

Physics?

Better rely on a dog than on him.

As for the others…

The old, the weak, the sick, the pregnant, and the little delinquents.

A perfect mix of the worst.

The first question is a death sentence.