47: Chapter 47 Forbidden Building Test: The first classroom is not in the building.

[Rule Maintenance Special Class candidate Lin Jin.]

[Please arrive at the Forbidden Building within thirty minutes.]

[First test: Repair a non-existent classroom.]

After the voice of the Academy's master control array faded, the atmosphere in front of the East Gate changed completely.

The freshmen who had just been discussing the authenticity of Lin Jin's profession were instantly doused with a bucket of cold water.

The Forbidden Building.

In the Jiangcheng First Combat Academy, these two words were not some mysterious legend.

Instead, it was a restricted area truly written into the school rules.

The first page of the freshman handbook contained a line of red text:

[Unauthorized access to the North District Forbidden Building is prohibited.]

No explanation.

No additions.

Just a prohibition.

The more it was like this, the more frightening it was.

Chen Ye looked toward the old building deep within the academy, wrapped in black iron chains, and his throat bobbed.

"We just entered the school gates, haven't even sorted out our dorms, and you're making us go to the Forbidden Building?"

"Your academy's orientation is quite unique."

Lin Jin didn't speak.

He watched a window light up in the distance.

That window was on the third floor of the Forbidden Building.

Dim, yellow light shone through it, looking like an eye that had just woken up.

The Hand of Rules slowly displayed a prompt.

[Rule Maintenance Special Class entrance test detected.]

[Current task: Arrive at the Forbidden Building within thirty minutes.]

[Test goal: Repair a non-existent classroom.]

[Warning: Test has been triggered early, the process may be incomplete.]

The process may be incomplete.

This sentence made Lin Jin's heart sink.

This was the situation he found most annoying.

An incomplete process meant that many protective rules might not have fully activated.

And in a place like the Forbidden Building, once protection was lacking, it wasn't a test—it was a death sentence.

Teacher He Zheng stood beside the testing area, his expression extremely ugly.

"The Forbidden Building test shouldn't be triggered now."

"The freshman enrollment process hasn't been completed yet."

"I request a suspension!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the Academy's master control array responded coldly.

[Application rejected.]

[Candidate detected carrying Forbidden Building door hinge screw.]

[Old Rule Maintenance identity credential detected.]

[Entrance test trigger conditions met.]

Teacher He Zheng's expression stiffened.

The surrounding teachers looked at each other.

Someone whispered:

"A door hinge screw?"

"Isn't that from the old classrooms in the Forbidden Building?"

"How could it be in the hands of a freshman?"

The murmurs quickly spread.

Zhou Heng stood in the crowd, his face gloomy.

He had originally been waiting to see Lin Jin get stuck by the detection crystal, ideally having his enrollment qualification suspended immediately.

Instead, not only did Lin Jin pass the detection, but he also repaired the Academy crystal in public and, in passing, exposed Teacher He Zheng's temporary adjustment of the threshold.

Now, the Forbidden Building test had been triggered early.

Everyone's attention was once again on Lin Jin.

Zhou Heng sneered.

"The Forbidden Building test isn't the Abandoned Hospital."

"Relying on opportunism in a dungeon doesn't mean you can survive in the academy's restricted area."

Chen Ye heard this and turned his head directly.

"If you're jealous, just say it."

Zhou Heng's expression turned cold.

"Chen Ye, don't think that just because you came out with him once, you actually amount to anything."

Chen Ye patted his shield.

"I was never anyone important to begin with."

"I'm just a door panel."

"But at least this door panel of mine has blocked ghosts in the Abandoned Hospital."

"What about you?"

Zhou Heng's eyes turned cold instantly.

Just as he was about to speak, an old voice came from inside the academy gate.

"What are you arguing about?"

Everyone turned around.

Qin Shanhe didn't know when he had appeared on the inner side of the East Gate.

He was still wearing that old military uniform, holding an enamel mug, looking like he had just strolled out of his office.

But as soon as he appeared, all the teachers subconsciously quieted down.

Teacher He Zheng immediately stepped forward.

"Dean, the Forbidden Building test was triggered early; this is not in accordance with the rules."

Qin Shanhe glanced at him.

"Was it in accordance with the rules when you changed the detection threshold earlier?"

Teacher He Zheng's face turned pale instantly.

The surrounding teachers also lowered their heads, not daring to interject.

Qin Shanhe looked at Lin Jin.

"Did you bring everything?"

Lin Jin nodded.

"The acceptance letter, the screw, the wrench, and the badge are all here."

Qin Shanhe then looked at Chen Ye and Shen Tingxue.

"Are you two sure you want to follow?"

Chen Ye immediately said:

"Sure."

Shen Tingxue nodded calmly.

"Sure."

Qin Shanhe didn't try to dissuade them.

He just said:

"The Forbidden Building test allows teams to enter by default."

"But remember, the core test subject is Lin Jin."

"You can block danger, you can control the field, and you can give reminders."

"But you cannot repair it for him."

Chen Ye grinned.

"Don't worry."

"I don't know how to repair things anyway."

Qin Shanhe looked at Lin Jin, his expression finally becoming a bit more serious.

"The first test: Repair a non-existent classroom."

"Don't just look at the surface of this sentence."

Lin Jin asked:

"What do you mean?"

Qin Shanhe, however, did not answer directly.

"Go in and see for yourself."

"I can only give you one piece of advice."

"Every door you see in the Forbidden Building does not necessarily lead to the place it says it does."

"If you can't find that classroom, don't force yourself to find it."

"The more you want to find something that doesn't exist, the easier it is to be found by things that don't exist."

These words were convoluted.

But Lin Jin understood part of it.

The non-existent classroom was not asking him to find "some hidden classroom."

Instead, it was asking him to determine: why it didn't exist.

And, who erased it from the rules.

Qin Shanhe raised his hand to check the time.

"There are twenty-seven minutes left."

"It takes ten minutes to walk normally from the East Gate to the Forbidden Building."

"The perimeter of the Forbidden Building will stop you once."

"Inside, it will stop you more than once."

Chen Ye's face turned bitter.

"Dean, can you say something auspicious?"

Qin Shanhe thought for a moment.

"I wish you don't die."

"..."

Chen Ye shut his mouth.

The three of them didn't delay any longer, running along the main road toward the North District of the academy.

The Jiangcheng First Combat Academy was huge.

On both sides of the main road were training grounds.

Many upperclassmen were doing their morning training.

Some were swinging swords to split metal targets.

Some were unleashing fireballs to bombard protective arrays.

Others were summoning beast shadows to sprint on the track.

They were originally all training, but after the Forbidden Building bell rang, many stopped and looked toward the North District.

"Freshmen going to the Forbidden Building?"

"Who is so unlucky?"

"No, it's the Rule Maintenance Special Class test."

"Rule Maintenance Special Class? That thing actually reopened?"

Murmurs came from all directions.

Lin Jin didn't pay attention.

The golden light of the official route had disappeared.

After entering the academy, the protective route of the admission letter ended.

From here on, they could only rely on themselves.

Soon, they passed through the main teaching area and arrived at the edge of the North District.

This place was completely different from the rest of the academy.

Ahead was an old area.

Weeds grew out of the cracks in the bricks.

The street lamps were rusted.

The trees on both sides were tall, their leaves and branches blocking the sunlight.

At the end, the Forbidden Building stood there.

It was a four-story old building.

The exterior walls were gray-black, and most of the windows were sealed shut.

The entire building was wrapped in a circle of black iron chains.

Talisman papers were pasted on the chains, each one written with sealing characters in different handwriting.

The building gate was tightly closed.

There was no handle on the door.

There was only a broken door hinge hole.

Lin Jin took out that Forbidden Building door hinge screw.

As soon as the screw appeared, the iron chains outside the Forbidden Building vibrated gently.

It was as if something inside had woken up.

[Forbidden Building entrance detected.]

[Current status: Semi-sealed.]

[Opening condition: Forbidden Building door hinge screw.]

[Warning: After entering, external interference will be reduced.]

Chen Ye raised his shield and stood in front.

"Should I go in first?"

Lin Jin shook his head.

"This door recognizes the screw."

"I'll do it."

He walked to the door and aimed the rusty screw at the broken door hinge hole.

As soon as the screw approached, a sound of old machinery turning rang out from inside the door.

Click.

Click-click.

The door hinge hole seemed to come alive, swallowing the screw bit by bit.

The next second.

The Forbidden Building gate slowly opened a crack.

There were no lights inside.

Only a smell of old wood, dust, and damp paper mixed together poured out.

Chen Ye frowned.

"A little better than the Abandoned Hospital."

Shen Tingxue said indifferently:

"It only smells a little better."

The three entered the Forbidden Building.

The gate slowly closed behind them.

Bang.

The morning light outside was cut off.

The inside of the building instantly went dark.

At the end of the corridor, a dim, yellow light bulb suddenly lit up.

The light illuminated the old doorplates on the wall.

[101]

[102]

[103]

The corridor was very ordinary.

Like an old teaching building from twenty years ago.

Faded class schedules were pasted on the walls.

Chalk stubs and old test papers were scattered on the ground.

A half-line of text still remained on the blackboard newspaper:

[Rule Maintenance Special Class, the...]

The subsequent characters had been erased.

Chen Ye whispered:

"It actually looks quite normal."

Lin Jin didn't reply.

Normalcy, in a place like this, was the greatest abnormality of all.

He walked toward the first classroom.

101.

The door was open.

The desks and chairs inside were neat.

On the blackboard was written:

[Before repairing, first confirm whether the fault exists.]

Lin Jin's footsteps paused.

Qin Shanhe had expressed a similar meaning just a moment ago.

He continued forward.

102.

The door was locked.

Below the doorplate was written:

[Practical Training Equipment Room]

103.

The door was half-open.

Sounds of turning pages came from inside.

Shen Tingxue raised her hand to signal a stop.

Chen Ye raised his shield.

The three looked inside through the crack in the door.

Many students were sitting in the classroom.

They were wearing old uniforms, heads bowed, writing on test papers.

A piece of chalk moved on the blackboard by itself.

It wrote a line of text:

[Question 1: Please write down the number of a non-existent classroom.]

All the students stopped writing at the same time.

Then, they turned their heads in unison.

They looked toward the door.

Their faces were very blurry.

It was as if their features had been worn away by time.

Chen Ye's scalp tingled.

"This classroom is a bit too enthusiastic."

Lin Jin, however, stared at the blackboard.

A non-existent classroom number?

This wasn't a question.

It was a trap.

Once he wrote down a number, it would be equivalent to admitting that the classroom existed within some numbering system.

And this directly contradicted the premise of the test itself.

The Hand of Rules provided a prompt.

[Answering trap detected.]

[If you provide a number, a corresponding non-existent classroom will be generated.]

[Risk: Being dragged into a fake classroom.]

Lin Jin stepped back.

"Don't answer."

The students in the classroom spoke in unison.

"Please answer the question."

"Please answer the question."

"Please answer the question."

The voices became increasingly synchronized.

Shen Tingxue raised her hand, and a layer of frost sealed the crack in the door.

Lin Jin didn't force his way in; he turned and continued forward.

"This isn't the target."

Chen Ye followed.

"Then where is the target?"

Lin Jin looked at the end of the corridor.

After 101, 102, and 103, it should have been 104.

But the doorplate at the end of the corridor had jumped directly to 105.

One room was missing in the middle.

104 did not exist.

Chen Ye noticed it too.

"104 is missing?"

Shen Tingxue frowned.

"The test question said a non-existent classroom; could it be 104?"

Lin Jin didn't answer immediately.

He walked to the wall between 103 and 105.

There should have been a door here.

But now there was only a complete wall.

The wall was painted with old white paint.

No traces of a door could be seen.

The Hand of Rules unfolded.

[Target: Corridor wall.]

[Current status: Normal.]

[Detection result: No classroom has ever existed here.]

Never existed.

It wasn't sealed off.

It wasn't that the door had disappeared.

It was that the rules considered that there had never been a 104 here to begin with.

Lin Jin's eyes darkened slightly.

This was the real trouble.

Repairing a broken door was easy.

But if the rules denied its existence from the root, then it wasn't about repairing a door.

It was about repairing a piece of erased history.

Just then, the door to 105 at the end of the corridor suddenly opened.

A gentle voice came from inside.

"Student."

"104 has never existed."

"Please do not repair things that do not exist."

Lin Jin looked up.

At the doorway of classroom 105 stood a man wearing an academy teacher's long trench coat.

Silver-rimmed glasses.

A gentle smile.

Teacher Xu Wenzhou.

He was indeed here.

Teacher Xu Wenzhou looked at Lin Jin and said softly:

"The correct answer to the first test is to give up on repairing it."

"Admit that 104 doesn't exist."

"And you will pass."

Chen Ye sneered.

"I don't believe a single punctuation mark of your so-called correct answer."

Teacher Xu Wenzhou ignored him.

He only looked at Lin Jin.

"A Repairman doesn't repair everything they see."

"Some things disappear because they must disappear."

Lin Jin stared at the wall.

The Hand of Rules flickered frantically before his eyes.

[Test target confirmed.]

[Non-existent classroom: 104.]

[Current fault: Existence record completely erased.]

[Repair difficulty: Unknown.]

[Repair suggestion: First, search for the deleted class schedule, doorplate, and student roster.]

Lin Jin slowly raised his wrench.

"Give up on repairing?"

He smiled.

"Sorry."

"As an F-rank Repairman, I am best at repairing things that others say don't exist."