Overly intimate relationship?
Invigilator A?
Asterisk?
Qin Jiu: "...….."
It was just a few words but anything you picked out led to a lot of questions.
Qin Jiu was usually not this bored nor did he have the hobby of going through other people's violation records.
But with the title of Invigilator 001, he held high authority. Even if he didn't actively search for them, he has read his fair share of violation records.
Not to mention others, he himself also has a few of his own.
But this type of violation by Invigilator A was something he had not seen before.
What on earth is going on with the asterisk???
Many people enter and leave the system. Including both the invigilators and examinees, they could make up a small city.
Unable to see every one of those faces and unable to recognise every one of them, was there a need for the asterisk?
If you took a thousand steps back and thought about it...…
Since the rules had already been violated, wouldn't it be normal to expose it?
What was the point of covering it up? Giving them a leeway?
Qin Jiu furrowed his brows and poked at the name "Invigilator A".
The screen changed to another page. It revealed all the records under the name "Invigilator A".
The number of violations by Qin Jiu was shocking. Afterall, just the number of times he cleaned the examination centre was twelve times. If you added the various violations he accumulated at other times....It would be difficult to keep track of.
In comparison, Invigilator A's page was much cleaner.
At the end of each violation record there would be a small symbol. Each would have a different colour.
It represented the systems perception of how severe the violation was———
Small troubles that were harmless are green;
Ones that were a little worse are yellow;
The more severe cases are orange;
And the highest level is red.
On Qin Jiu's screen with numerous violations, most were green with one or two yellows and oranges scattered in between. Red was naturally rare.
Our Invigilator Mr. You didn't have many violation records. In total, there were five.
Three oranges and two reds.
That was it.
Qin Jiu: "...….."
He suddenly remembered a description he heard from a colleague of his.
It was said that back then Invigilator A was young and arrogant, cold and distant. He was basically a perfect representative of the system.
But now...….
Perfect representative my ass. The system would be the first to disagree.
This invigilator either didn't violate the rules or if he violated the rules, he would take it too far.
When sorted by time, that "Overly intimate relationship with *" was Invigilator A's first violation.
The strange thing about it was that this violation was orange.
How intimate must an intimate relationship be for it to be orange?
Qin Jiu stared that that line for several seconds.
He thought the other violation records could provide some clues about the "asterisk" but unexpectedly all personnel mentioned in his records were censored out.
The red violations were even worse; they were all blank.
This clearly meant that after Invigilator A was removed, the system not only deleted all his photos and information, it also cut off all the relationships he had with the others...
Even the violation records were not overlooked.
Qin Jiu guessed that even if You Huo pressed his hand onto the panel now, it probably wouldn't reveal anything about his identity.
As for why the system still retained these records instead of deleting them...…..
Perhaps it was left there as a warning to the future invigilators?
And now to the bigger question ——–
Who was this asterisk?
***
"Boss!" 154 held the elevator door open and shouted out: "Do you still need something?"
You Huo who was standing deep inside the elevator saw Qin Jiu's finger tap on the metal panel a few times before looking over.
Perhaps it was just a coincidence. As he looked over, his eyes passed through 154, 922 and the others and directly met with You Huo's eyes.
A few minutes ago, he was clearly acting like a rogue on the roof platform but now he seems...…unhappy?
You Huo's gaze had a hint of questioning.
Qin Jiu looked away and closed the screen, "Coming."
He would usually be smiling but when he walked over, his mouth was pursed into a straight line. This kind of expression was rarely seen on him. Whenever it inadvertently slipped out, it would make the other party feel an invisible sense of pressure.
When the elevator door closed, 078 found himself faced with this pressure.
Standing in front of him was Qin Jiu, to his left was 021 who looked like she had just eaten something wrong, to his left was 922 who had once again lost his soul and behind him was You Huo whose eyes he would meet if he turned his head slightly.
078 felt suffocated.
Five minutes later, this suffocation reached its peak.
The reason for this was Qin Jiu's words earlier about inviting You Huo to his place.
The villas were next to the twin towers and are fenced off with only an entrance and exit.
078 didn't have a problem entering but when You Huo took a step in, the entire access area flashed, and a warning sounded.
[Warning. Entry is prohibited.]
Qin Jiu and You Huo looked at 078 at the same time.
078: "...."
078 didn't know what sin he had committed for him to suffer like this.
Fortunately, the system spoke up in time:
[Dangerous examinees are prohibited from entering an invigilator's residential area.]
"What do you mean?" Qin Jiu asked with dissatisfaction.
The system here sounded much livelier. It even interacted with Qin Jiu.
It said:
[This is the order to prohibit entry of dangerous examinees.]
Qin Jiu: "What rule states it? Why don't I know about it?"
[Article 13, line 5 of Safety Regulations of the Invigilators District. As of today, ot has been in effect for 4 years, 11 months and 7 days.]
"Alright then. Even if there is a rule like that," Qin Jiu continued, "what is the definition of a dangerous examinee? How is he one?"
[.....]
The system didn't answer for about five seconds. There were only buzzing sounds as electricity flashed to express its silent complaints.
154 couldn't watch any longer and whispered: "Boss, how is he not one....."
At the same time, the screen at the entrance angrily revealed several lines——-
Examinees with the following characteristics are classified as a dangerous examinee:
Those who have violated examination rules more than three times.Intentional destruction of exam subjects and exam equipment.Deliberately attacking invigilators.Deliberately destroying the examination centre.Other acts with malicious intent.
Those points above all applied to You Huo.
154 coughed.
Even 021 turned her head slightly.
[Involved invigilators please take the dangerous examinee away from the residential area and settle them in at the examinees waiting sector as specified by the rules. Before the punishment time is over, the examinee must not leave their designated room.]
If that was a threat, You Huo didn't take it seriously.
But the system added something else:
[If there is a violation, the examinee will be punished. Involved invigilators will also be punished for their mistake.]
"...…."
It was equivalent to having their fates hanging from the same line. You Huo revealed a hint of disgust on his face. His expression didn't look too good.
[Invigilators, please promptly take action.]
078 glanced at 021: "Then…..let's go?"
021 nodded. She pretended to be impatient and annoyed, and said to You Huo: "Heard that handsome? Are you coming or not?"
You Huo let out an "mhn".
He was used to being alone. He subconsciously started to leave.
021 followed quickly with a clack of her high heels.
But soon, the great master stopped his steps.
021: "What's wrong?"
You Huo placed one hand in his pocket and used the other to fiddle with his earlobe.
With half his face against the light, from 021's angle she couldn't see his expression clearly nor make out what he was thinking.
She saw him stand there for a moment and then turn to look back.
Not far away, Qin Jiu was still at the entrance. His shadow was stretched out by the streetlight next to him and he was saying something to 154 and 922.
Halfway through the conversation, he seemed to have noticed something and suddenly looked this way.
"What's wrong?" Qin Jiu asked.
You Huo thought for a moment and said: "Since we're considered friends, do I need to bid you farewell before I leave?"
Qin Jiu: "...."
For a moment his expression was a little complicated.
As for why he felt complicated, he didn't know.
Perhaps he had also eaten something wrong.
You Huo watched him for a while and said: "I'm done bidding. Leaving now."
He then placed the hand that was fiddling with his earlobe into his pocket and walked off.
021: "..."
"WTF" hung above her head. She quickly shook it off and followed after him.
***
For a moment, the entrance to the residential area was quiet.
154 secretly glanced at Qin Jiu's expression and couldn't help but say: "Boss....are you hurt?"
Qin Jiu returned to his senses and frowned: "What do you mean?"
"Oh, it's nothing. I just thought you didn't look comfortable and thought you might have gotten hurt while cleaning the examination centre." 154 said.
"No."
Qin Jiu rubbed his neck and said firmly.
"That's good then." 154 said: "Shall we go in?"
He had followed them around for a long time and was starting to feel sleepy.
But when Qin Jiu lifted his foot and stepped in, the system once again rose from its grave:
[Warning! Dangerous examinees are prohibited from entering!]
154 who was just crossing through the door was almost electrocuted.
He quickly stepped back and shouted out with his deadpanned face: "What is this?!"
The system repeated stubbornly:
[Dangerous examinees are prohibited from entering!]
The screen with the definition of a dangerous examinee flashed twice.
154 stared at the screen for a few seconds before slowly turning to Qin Jiu: "Um boss…..It might have....also classified you as an examinee."
Qin Jiu: "...…"
Soon afterwards, the two dangerous ruffians You Huo and Qin Jiu once again met in the corridor of the waiting sector.
One was forced into 318, and the other was forced into 324.
***
With the cleaning task completed ahead of schedule, for the next two days they were required to stay in the room.
The room was actually not small. It was a little like a hotel suite room.
But....it was very boring.
You Huo walked around the room and charged his phone.
He had grown used to using his phone as a timer, a recording device and a gaming device so he was surprised to see that he was connected to the internet when he swiped open the screen.
You Huo froze for a moment and asked 078 who was accompanying him: "There's internet here?"
078 huddled in the corner of the sofa dejectedly: "Yeah, but it's not the internet you are familiar with."
You Huo randomly opened a few apps and saw that they could all be used: "What do you mean?"
"How should I put it…..You can use the internet to search for things and find all kinds of information, that is not a problem." 078 thought for a moment and said: "But if you want to send something out, you can't. In other words, you can receive information and use this opportunity to see what it's like outside, but the outside can't receive anything from you."
078 laid there and rubbed his nails. He mumbled: "You can get information, but nothing gets out."
Hearing him say that, You Huo opened the browser and searched a few key words.
The webpage loaded very quickly. There were no limitations put in place.
He then opened a few social media applications.
These applications were still stuck on National Day which was the day he was pulled into the examination system.
He rarely chatted with people so there were only four people on his messaging interface.
The one at the top was Yu Wen. This cousin of his was the most talkative and would often send him something.
Sometimes it would be a video, other times it was to a news report.
You Huo would occasionally respond with a few words but if he read the message too late, he would just leave it on read.
Fortunately, this cousin of his didn't need responding. His enjoyment was the act of sharing, so he didn't care much about it after pressing the share button.
There was no burden in responding.
Old Yu didn't speak much. Each year, he would send You Huo a few routine messages.
During new years he would send messages commonly used by middle aged people and the rest were basically questions asking him: Are you coming back to China? When are you coming back? Are you coming to Harbin?
As for the other two, they were his doctor and carer who took care of him while he recovered from his injuries.
The hospital he stayed at had a close relationship with the military, and the doctor in charge of him was also of Chinese ethnicity. Surnamed Wu, the doctor would from time to time ask him about his health and how he was going with his recovery. His most recent messages asked him how he felt after returning to China.
As for his head and eye injuries, it was this doctor Wu who first explained it to him.
He said it was injury incurred during training and never mentioned anything about the "system".
Seeing the exchanged messages on his phone, You Huo suddenly found it a little strange.
This system was developed through joint efforts of various parties so even if there were some who had malicious intents and did something to it, wouldn't the involved personnel notice it after all these years?
They couldn't be that slow.
But if they knew, why did they hide it from him?
To some extent, he was also a victim of the system going out of control. Doesn't he have the right to know about the cause of his injuries?
For what reasons did they hide it from him?
078 was still mumbling on but after a while his words started becoming more and more incoherent. He was seemingly about to fall asleep.
Outside the window, the sky was dark.
There was no one else in the examinee waiting sector, everything was extremely quiet.
You Huo stared at the chat interface for a while and tried to send a message to Dr. Wu.
Doctor, have you heard about the examination system——-
Just as he was about to finish the sentence, his fingers stopped.
He thought about it and deleted the sentence, leaving only the word "Doctor".
After the message was sent, the small ring next to it kept spinning to indicate that it was trying to send.
After about a minute, the small ring changed into an exclamation mark.
You Huo pressed it and a box appeared: Do you wish to retry?
He selected yes.
The small circle again started to spin.
After another minute, it once again changed into an exclamation mark.
078 was right. Receiving information wasn't a problem but he couldn't send anything out.
You Huo leaned back against the sofa and looked at the interface for a while before closing it.
He switched back to the browser and searched for the name of the street where he, Yu Wen and Yu Wen's father was dragged into this system.
After going through a dozen pages, he couldn't find anything.
This meant that nothing strange had happened at that intersection the day the three of them were pulled into the system —- There were no headlines, no news reports.
And all his searches stopped at October 7th.
Was there really a time difference?
You Huo internally wondered...….
***
For him, the sudden ability to access the internet was enough to help him address his boredom.
But for Qin Jiu who had long grown accustomed to this kind of internet where he couldn't send anything out, he preferred to close his eyes and rest over searching for information on his phone.
922 specially came over to change shifts with 154 to watch other their boss.
He absentmindedly opened the fridge, pulled out some ingredients and absentmindedly entered the kitchen to fry some eggs and bacon.
922 plated the food on two plates and brought it over to the coffee table. He placed one in front of Qin Jiu and used his fork to pierce a hole in his own bacon.....
"Boss....."
922 glanced at him: "Let's talk?"
Ever since he discovered that You Huo was Invigilator A, it had been constantly bothering him. The more he held back, the more questions he had so he wanted to find a chance to have a chat with Qin Jiu.
But before he was able to think of what to say, he heard Qin Jiu make a sound of agreement, straighten up and look at him with an incomprehensible look.
Before he was even able to speak, 922's courage had disappeared under that stare.
"Boss? Why…..why are you looking at me like that?" 922 asked.
Qin Jiu said: "It's nothing. Let me ask you a question."
922: "Oh, what is it?"
"Overly intimate relationship. What does it normally mean?" Qin Jiu said.
Although 922's ranking wasn't high, he was someone who had been an invigilator for three years, so he was very familiar with the language the system used.
He opened his mouth and said: "Doesn't it mean improper relationships? The system often words it like this, did you forget?"
Qin Jiu's fingers loosely crossed together. His fingers tapped a few times: "Improper relationships. What do you think it refers to?"
922: "...."
He silently glanced at the plate and internally wondered: Boss didn't eat anything strange so why is he acting so strange today?
He pondered for a moment and said: "Lo-lovers I guess."
Qin Jiu: "...…"
922 uncomfortably took a bite of his bacon.
"Then...…In what situation would an overly intimate relationship cause an orange level violation?"
922 swallowed the bacon with difficulty: ".....Found a particularly troublesome person and was engaged in an affair?"
After he finished speaking, he quickly drank some water.
When he looked back up again, he was met with Qin Jiu's dark expression.
922: "....."
He wants to switch with 154...…..
***
After two long days were over, both the examinees and invigilators were finally set free.
Two days later, the four retakers gathered at the re-examination area preparing to enter a new examination centre.
021 pushed up her sunglasses and held a note in her hand: "Because this is a re-examination, the subject is still history. In a while, you will enter through this door. The examination centre has already been set up."
"We wish you good luck."
KK has something to say:
HAHAHA Feeling bad for 922