159: Chapter 160 Tang Xi rejected the abyss, but Jiang Cheng received the test paper.

"Seven days later—"

"I will make the entire city of Jiangcheng take the exam again."

The Abyss's laughter spread beneath the classroom floor.

Blood-colored chalk characters emerged simultaneously on the blackboard, desks, and seat nameplates.

[Exam Scope: Entirety of Jiangcheng]

[Number of Examinees: Pending calculation]

[Exam Content: Obedience, Allocation, Elimination]

[Invigilator: The Abyss]

The black iron badge on Tang Qi's chest embedded itself completely into her flesh.

She let out a muffled groan and fell to one knee.

Gu Changye tried to support her, but she raised her hand to block him.

"Don't touch."

She looked down at the iron badge on her chest; her complexion was even paler than before.

"It is using me as the exam site anchor point."

Chen Ye cursed and raised his shield, ready to smash it.

Lin Jin grabbed his wrist.

"You can't smash it."

There was no wound on the skin around the iron badge.

It was as if it had grown out of Tang Qi's body originally.

Smashing it would be equivalent to smashing a part of Tang Qi.

Teacher Xu Wenzhou gripped 002 tightly and said in a low voice:

"We can cut the connection between the Abyss career and her."

Tang Qi looked up.

"If we cut it, will that order immediately fall upon Jiangcheng?"

No one answered.

The price of an Abyss career was not a punishment hanging on her.

It was a deferred test paper that had already been signed.

Tang Qi was merely the first seal on that test paper.

Thirteen stared at the iron badge on her chest.

"When did you accept it?"

Tang Qi was silent for a moment.

"Twenty years ago."

"During the first time the whole class was reallocated, I was chosen to represent everyone to say no."

"That day, the school said the refusal was invalid."

"The Abyss gave me a card."

She closed her eyes.

"It said that as long as I accepted it, I could make that refusal valid."

"The price was that every time I refused for someone else in the future, the order would return and become bigger."

Chen Ye frowned.

"So you haven't used it once in twenty years?"

"If I use it once, it will harm more people."

Tang Qi looked at Gu Changye.

"If I hadn't used it just now, the Class Monitor would have been forced to execute the entire class elimination."

"I know the price."

"I also know that I pressed it."

Gu Changye's voice was hoarse.

"You shouldn't have taken my place."

Tang Qi smiled slightly.

"Stop flattering yourself."

"I wasn't taking your place."

"I was firing the Class Monitor on behalf of the whole class."

The underground school began to collapse violently.

Chalk dust fell from the ceiling like snow.

In the direction of the playground, old students were already walking toward the exit leading to reality.

On the ground, one by one, the real-world personnel were responding to their names.

"Zhao Tong, I hear you!"

"Tang Qi, I hear you!"

"Gu Changye, I hear you!"

Every response caused the chains at the feet of an old student to break.

But many more had not yet left the classroom.

They stared at the iron badge on Tang Qi's chest, their eyes full of fear again.

If they left, would they become examinees of the Jiangcheng exam in seven days?

If they stayed here, would it reduce the price a little?

The Abyss added gently:

"Graduated students are still counted as exam sources."

"Whether you escape or not, it has no bearing on the result."

Lin Jin looked up.

"You've always been good at reminding."

The Abyss chuckled softly.

"I just don't like humans holding onto false hope."

Lin Jin ignored it.

He squatted by the remains of the Class Monitor's desk and picked up the ashes of the unburned elimination list.

As soon as the ashes fell into his palm, they immediately turned into tiny text.

[Refused Order: Entire Class Elimination]

[Method of Refusal: Dismissal of Class Monitor Duties]

[Deferral Expansion: Seven days later, ten times the scale of the exam]

[Exam Purpose: Screen those who can be allocated, can be eliminated, and can be obedient]

The key is the "exam".

The Abyss doesn't just want to kill people.

It wants to turn Jiangcheng back into a school.

Turn residents into students.

Turn careers, positions, and relationships into test questions.

As long as someone is judged as "unqualified," they can be allocated to an Abyss career.

"An exam must have a test paper."

Lin Jin suddenly said.

Shen Tingxue understood immediately.

"Only by finding the test paper will we know how it will test us in seven days."

Gu Changye looked toward the depths of the Academic Affairs Office.

"The paper repository is on the third underground floor."

"Twenty years ago, all unexecuted exams were stored there."

"It's too late."

Zhou Heng looked at the sinking corridor.

"There are two minutes left, and the whole school will fall apart."

Lin Jin stuffed the ashes into his pocket.

"Then we just take the master paper."

Tang Qi stood up, bracing herself against the wall.

"I'll lead the way."

Gu Changye frowned.

"You can't move right now."

"This thing on my chest is the key to the paper repository."

Tang Qi looked at him.

"The Class Monitor has been fired."

"Don't take roll call for me anymore."

Gu Changye was silent for a second, then stepped aside.

The group rushed out of the classroom.

The corridors of the underground school were already deformed.

The once neat classrooms were like water-soaked cardboard boxes, collapsing inward one by one.

The old students left amidst the responses from reality.

Some stopped before the exit, choosing not to decide yet.

The people on the ground did not urge them, only repeating over and over:

"I hear you."

This sentence became a more stable passage than any graduation certificate.

Tang Qi led Lin Jin and the others through the broken stairs.

The closer the iron badge on her chest got to the paper repository, the hotter it became.

She gritted her teeth and didn't make a sound.

Chen Ye couldn't bear to watch.

"If it hurts, scream."

Tang Qi glanced at him.

"Is screaming useful?"

"It's useless."

Chen Ye said.

"But it can prove you aren't the iron badge."

Tang Qi was stunned.

The next second, she finally let out a muffled groan.

The iron badge on her chest vibrated, and the black lines spreading from it slowed down by half a beat.

They reached the third underground floor.

The door to the paper repository was not an iron door.

It was a huge test paper.

A blank sheet of paper covered the entire wall.

A line of text was written at the top.

[Please fill in the examinee's name]

Tang Qi raised her hand to write, but Lin Jin stopped her.

"If you write, you're entered."

He took the chipped rusty wrench from his pocket and tapped on the name field with the handle.

The paper didn't react.

Without the Hand of Rules, he couldn't find the loophole directly.

He could only observe it like repairing an ordinary machine.

Below the name field was a row of extremely faint small text.

[To be filled by the examinee themselves]

[Proxy filling is invalid]

[Those without names will be automatically numbered]

"It wants the person to sign up themselves."

Shen Tingxue said.

"If no one signs up, how can it test Jiangcheng?"

Thirteen looked at the blood-colored chalk characters above.

"It will automatically assign numbers to those who don't answer."

Lin Jin nodded.

"Just like the reboot."

"Silence is taken as consent."

"No name is taken as a number."

Tang Qi pressed her chest.

"The master paper is behind the door."

"We can't get it without opening the door."

Gu Changye inserted his Abyss long blade into the paper surface.

The blade was swallowed by the blank test paper, leaving no trace.

"Can't the Terminal Processor open it either?"

"The paper repository doesn't count as an Abyss entrance."

Teacher Xu Wenzhou raised 002, then stopped.

"It's not a position either."

Zhou Heng stared at the name field.

"What if you don't fill in a person's name?"

Lin Jin's eyes moved.

He picked up the wrench and wrote four characters in the name field.

[All of Jiangcheng]

The test paper vibrated.

[Name format error]

Lin Jin continued to write.

[Examinee without owner]

[Format error]

[Temporarily not choosing]

The blank space on the test paper suddenly paused for a moment.

These four characters were not erased immediately.

Thirteen immediately followed up:

"When the person cannot answer temporarily, reserve it."

Shen Tingxue pressed the Ice Key fragment onto the paper, freezing the automatic numbering rule of the name field.

Zhou Heng used the Thunder Spear to hook out the position of the mechanical lock behind the door.

Chen Ye inserted the edge of his shield into the crack of the paper.

"Open it?"

Lin Jin jammed the wrench into the last stroke of the name field.

"Open."

Everyone exerted force at the same time.

The blank test paper was torn open by force.

Inside the paper repository, it was stacked with black test papers.

Each test paper had different questions written on it.

[When career orders conflict with personal will, please choose obedience.]

[When only one person can be kept out of ten, please choose the one with the highest career value.]

[When the system requires you to bear a sacrifice, please explain the reason for refusal. Those with insufficient reasons will be eliminated.]

Chen Ye's fists tightened.

"This isn't an exam."

"This is forcing people to admit they deserve to be allocated."

In the very center, a master paper thicker than the other test papers hung in mid-air.

The question was only one line.

[Jiangcheng Final Unified Exam: Please choose one type of person as the target for this round of elimination.]

Below were densely packed options.

F-level professionals.

Non-professionals.

Those who have signed an Abyss contract.

Failed samples of the old system.

Children unable to awaken.

Those who refuse to obey.

Those who have not completed registration.

Those with career value below average.

Behind every option, there was an expected number of eliminations and corresponding rewards.

Close the Abyss entrance.

Restore the academy area.

Lift the God Head recall.

Stabilize the Career System.

"Seven days later, it wants everyone in Jiangcheng to vote."

Shen Tingxue's voice turned cold.

"As long as one type of person is selected for elimination, the others can be safe."

"This is the ten-fold scale exam."

Back then, Gu Changye was forced to choose one page out of three pages of lists.

Seven days later, the entire city of Jiangcheng would have to face the same test paper.

Lin Jin reached out to take the master paper.

The master paper immediately displayed a prompt.

[The person who takes the paper will become the temporary chief examiner]

[The chief examiner must host the exam seven days later]

The iron badge on Tang Qi's chest lit up.

"I'll do it."

"You are already the anchor point."

Lin Jin stopped her.

"If you become the chief examiner, the Abyss can push all the pressure onto you."

Gu Changye gripped his long blade.

"I am familiar with the exam rules."

Tang Qi sneered.

"You've already been fired."

Thirteen suddenly reached out and pressed the master paper.

"I have no career, no file, no school."

"The Abyss system likes to treat me as a blank slate."

"Letting a blank slate take the paper won't immediately bind any position in Jiangcheng."

The master paper hesitated.

[Identity of paper taker: Unregistered]

[Assign number?]

Lin Jin immediately wrote on the back of the master paper:

[Thirteen]

Thirteen then pressed his own palm print.

[Personal confirmation]

The master paper couldn't assign him a number, so it had to hand over the paper.

[Temporary custodian: Thirteen]

[Seven days later, if there is no official chief examiner, the exam will start automatically]

Just as they got the master paper, the paper repository began to collapse.

They rushed back to the corridor.

The last batch of old students had already left.

The Rejector walked to the exit but stopped.

The iron badge on her chest pinned her firmly to the underground school.

"I can't leave."

The Abyss's voice rang out.

"Tang Qi should remain in the exam room, waiting for the exam to start in seven days."

Lin Jin squatted down to check the iron badge.

This time, the iron badge was perfectly synchronized with Tang Qi's heartbeat.

Forced removal would be fatal.

Teacher Xu Wenzhou said in a low voice:

"Perhaps we can cut the connection between the deferred price and her."

"No."

Tang Qi shook her head.

"If we cut it, Jiangcheng might start the exam immediately."

She looked at the reality outside the exit.

There were people there calling her name.

Over and over again.

"Tang Qi."

"I hear you."

Tang Qi's eyes turned slightly red.

"Hearing it is enough."

Thirteen suddenly turned back, shoved the master paper to Lin Jin, and walked toward The Rejector.

Lin Jin's expression changed.

"Thirteen."

Thirteen didn't stop.

"She can't leave because the exam room needs a Rejector anchor."

He raised his hand and pressed his chest.

"I have also been used as an anchor by the system."

"I know how to trick this kind of thing."

The Rejector frowned.

"You want to stay in my place?"

"No."

Thirteen smiled slightly.

"I'm just teaching it one thing."

"There doesn't have to be only one Rejector."

He pressed his hand onto the iron badge.

No career power.

No rule authority.

Only the name he had just confirmed not long ago.

[Thirteen]

The anchor point on the iron badge split.

[Rejector: The Rejector]

[Rejector: Thirteen]

[Rejector: Unconfirmed number of Jiangcheng residents...]

On the ground, those who heard Tang Qi's name suddenly said in unison:

"I refuse to let them decide for her to stay."

One voice after another.

The anchor point became completely chaotic.

The iron badge on Tang Qi's chest loosened by half an inch.

Chen Ye was quick-witted, picked her up, and rushed toward the exit.

"What are you still standing there for!"

The group leaped out of the underground school.

Behind them, the school building collapsed completely.

Black school badges fell like rain.

On the ground, the wind of reality blew across Tang Qi's cheeks.

She saw the sky twenty years later for the first time.

But above the sky, a huge test paper covering the entire city of Jiangcheng had already appeared.

[Jiangcheng Final Unified Exam]

[Exam start time: Seven days later]

[Current Rejector anchor point abnormal]

[Supplementary invigilator: Twelve recipients of Abyss careers]

On the list, after Inspector Han Su, Gu Changye, and Tang Qi, the fourth name slowly lit up.

This time, everyone recognized it.

[Recipient: Qin Shanhe]

[Abyss Career: Teacher Without School]

[Ability: Establish temporary classrooms for anyone without affiliation]

[Price: For every classroom established, a new mandatory question will be added to the seven-day exam]

Qin Shanhe stood at the forefront of the crowd, looking at that line of text, and slowly lowered the temporary roster in his hand.

Behind him, the old students who had just been rescued and the new students who had lost their academy all fell silent.

The Abyss asked softly:

"Qin Shanhe."

"Do you still want to teach class?"