922 waved his hand: "Don't glare at me. Anyway, the first round of this kind of question is always a death trap, and you can't hit the bonus point—"

He hadn't finished speaking when Brian Baker had already turned and opened the door.

The moment the hot air rushed in, the sound of a rooster crowing rang out without warning.

Time to hand in the papers.

The bald man was so frightened he threw himself to the ground, scrambling and crawling into the corner, trembling with vacant eyes.

He set the example, and several others in the room immediately collapsed as well.

William Baker was half-kneeling on the ground, his knee pressing down on the tattooed man, clutching something in his hand, as if he'd just snatched it.

Amid the rooster's crow, he looked over in confusion, raised his hand and muttered, "Bro, I found the knife, but the time... is up?"

And then?

Everyone slumped to the ground in confusion, so terrified they forgot to breathe.

The rooster's crow made their hearts race.

"Will we really... be expelled from the exam room?" someone murmured softly.

Will we really turn to dust in the wind and snow? Like that iron can that turned to powder when thrown out?

Bang!!

The locked door suddenly burst open, slamming hard against the wall.

Everyone jolted.

Outside the door, 922, who hadn't left yet, also stopped in his tracks.

An unprecedented gust of wind swept in, as if a plane flying at high altitude had suddenly lost its cabin door, a massive suction force desperately pulling at everyone.

"Ah—"

Old Baker cried out in alarm, suddenly rolling to the ground and sliding rapidly toward the door.

It was as if an invisible hand was grabbing his ankles, trying to throw him out.

……

"Nine rooster crows, only then is the paper collection over."

"And, there's a trick to this dumb question in the first round, tsk... pretty shameless."

These two sentences suddenly floated into his mind.

Brian Baker didn't have time to think, grabbed the slim-handled folding knife from William Baker's hand, vaulted over the obstructing long table, and stood in front of the answer wall.

With the last rooster crow, he hastily wrote a single character:

解.

Outside the door, 922: "…………………………"

This damn well works????

It really does.

The rooster's crow and the wind and snow stopped abruptly.

Old Baker's head stopped just at the edge of the door, the hair on top already gone. William Baker was clutching one of his legs, both of them sprawled on the ground in a mess.

Their hearts pounded wildly, faces pale and dazed for a long while, then they turned to look at the answer wall.

After what felt like a century, a red comment appeared next to the flamboyant character "解":

2

Everyone was stunned.

922 was amazed.

He stood in the cold wind for a few seconds, then turned and rushed back to make a report.

……

After a while, the people in the room finally digested what had just happened.

With shaky legs, they climbed up from the floor.

"Damn, that scared me to death..." Old Baker had been shaved into a Mediterranean hairstyle, his scalp split and blood streaming down.

Luckily, he was still alive.

William Baker let go of his dad's leg and collapsed on the ground like a dead dog.

After several seconds, he suddenly sat up and slapped himself: "Look at my pig brain! How could I forget this! Before the exam, the teacher told us a thousand times, no matter if you know the answer or not, write the character '解' on every question first, each one is worth two points!!! Bro, how are you so awesome!"

"……"

Brian Baker silently put away the knife, not feeling this was a compliment.

To prevent this idiot from continuing to talk about the character "解", he deigned to ask William Baker a question: "Who took the knife?"

At the mention of the knife, William Baker's face instantly fell: "Who else!"

He pointed at the tattooed man and said, "Him! Found it on him! I knew he was acting weird, everyone was looking for questions and clues, but he was stuffing all kinds of knives into his pockets like a bear hoarding food for winter. If John Baker hadn't been bumped in the stomach by him and the commotion made the knife fall out, who knows when we would've found it!"

Thinking of the earlier scene, he couldn't help but feel a wave of fear.

If those arguments and chaos hadn't happened, if they'd been a bit less lucky and found the knife a bit later, even if Brian Baker came back, he wouldn't have made it in time for the first paper collection.

Then his dad, Old Baker...

The tattooed man was pinned to a chair, and everyone was about to question him.

But suddenly, the answer wall changed.

Question: A group of travelers arrived at a snowy mountain and stayed overnight in Hunter A's cabin. A said: I have 13 sets of tableware, but food is limited, so I can only host 12 people. There's a secret hidden in the tableware, and one person is destined to die. Will you survive? Actually, it's not that hard, after all, it's just the most wonderful thing in the world.

Requirement: Find the set of damned tableware (but do not damage the tableware)

Tested knowledge point: Optics

Everyone: "......"

Just as everyone was staring blankly at the question, another line appeared below.

Violation warning: The punished candidate answered in violation of the rules, the proctor has been notified.

Proctors: 001, 154, 922.

Everyone: "......"

……

Ten minutes later.

Second floor of the villa, in the proctor's office. Proctor 001 and the repeat-offender candidate sat in silence.

Brian Baker: "......"

James Carter: "......"