He took out a slip of paper and said, “The notice says, a certain examinee—”

“A certain examinee who looks obedient but is incorrigible.” James Carter added teasingly as he took off his gloves.

154 looked at him in disbelief.

“Is there a problem?” James Carter raised an eyebrow.

154: “…No.”

He just wondered, how blind would someone have to be to see “obedient” in Brian Baker?

But since the one making things up was the boss, he could only let him talk nonsense.

Brian Baker leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, shooting a cold glance at James Carter.

James Carter, however, smiled at him, nodding in return through the orange glow of the fire and the lights.

The gesture was truly gentlemanly, but the attitude was genuinely mocking.

154 was afraid that a certain proctor and a certain examinee would start a bloody fight on the spot, so he quickly put on a stern face and said, “—A certain examinee violated the rules while answering, causing the main part of the question—”

922: “That’s Hunter A.”

154: “…to die on the spot. This kind of situation is quite rare at present—”

922: “Never heard of it.”

154: “…We need to conduct an inquiry and hope you can explain.”

922: “Mainly referring to a certain examinee.”

154 closed his eyes for a moment.

The boss was always making enemies, and his colleague was out of his mind.

He paused, expressionless, and put the slip of paper away. He said to everyone, “Where is Hunter A?”

The examinees in the room moved aside, revealing the long dining table, and at the foot of the table lay a big bundle of rags.

The proctor walked closer to take a careful look, only to realize it wasn’t rags, but a black long coat, wrapped in a tattered, moldy cloak, the edges lined with black bear fur, giving off a stale, unpleasant sour odor.

The unlucky Hunter A was lying face down, stiff as a board inside the pile of clothes.

Upholding his professional ethics as a proctor, 922 turned Hunter A over.

When alive, Hunter A’s skin was already deathly pale; now, in death, it had a bluish-grey tinge. His face was turned to the side, eyes wide open, still frozen in an expression of utter shock, his mouth gaping like a split hole, lips and tongue bright red.

922 took a step back with a serious face, and when no one was looking, wiped his fingers on the back of 154’s coat.

154: “…”

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and bent down to inspect.

Hunter A’s thick fingers were still clutching the stem of a glass; the rest of the glass had shattered on the floor.

The violation notice stated that this Hunter A had said: “Anyone in this room who breaks the tableware will be severely punished.”

This was exactly in line with the exam requirements, meant for the examinees to hear.

Who would have thought that not long after saying it, he himself broke one, and died faster than anyone else.

Although he knew the general sequence of events, 154 still asked Brian Baker by the book, “Did you kick him?”

Brian Baker looked down at him and lazily replied, “My leg went numb and I lost my balance for a second.”

Everyone: “…”

Yeah, right, just lost your balance.

154: “Isn’t that excuse a bit perfunctory?”

Brian Baker: “Was it me who set the rule that the tableware can’t be broken?”

154: “Well, no.”

Brian Baker: “Did you guys make this uncoordinated Hunter A?”

154: “…”

The other party was cold and sarcastic, and proctor 154 felt he couldn’t handle it. He turned to look for someone even more sarcastic to help, only to find that only 922 was nearby—their boss hadn’t even come over to check the body.

Seeing the proctor in a daze, William Baker mustered up the courage to ask, “Uh… Hunter A broke the glass, and he died by his own doing. Could you not count my brother as violating the rules?”

Beep beep beep—

Before 154 could speak, three violation alerts sounded in the room.

It was the first time all three proctors had been warned at once.

No one in the room had heard this sound before, so they were a bit confused.

William Baker looked around for the source and asked warily, “What now?”

922 reassured, “Don’t worry, it’s just the exam system urging us to hurry up and issue the punishment.”

Everyone fell silent for a moment, growing even more nervous.

Someone else spoke up, “Then… can I take the punishment for him?”

Everyone turned to look; it was John Baker who had spoken.

She raised her slender white hand, like a student in class trying to get the teacher’s attention. Looking closer, you could see her hand was trembling, but her eyes were resolute.

Unfortunately, the proctors ignored her completely.

……

The system urged them twice more.

The two proctors made their way through the crowd to stand beside Brian Baker.

The others wanted to follow but hesitated, not daring to move.

Especially when 154 glanced at them halfway there—anyone who wanted to move was instantly rooted to the spot.

Facing Brian Baker, 922 dropped the formal tone. Knowing the other examinees couldn’t hear, he started rambling, “It’s not that we want to make things hard for you. To be honest, when we got the violation notice, 154 missed a step on the stairs, I dropped beef on my foot, the boss was teasing a bird and almost twisted its head off. None of us want to punish you, really, who would that torture—don’t give me that cold smile, I can tell you really have a problem with our boss.”

Brian Baker’s gaze swept over James Carter and then quickly snapped back, as if even looking at him hurt.

922 shook his head and said, “You’ve really got guts.”

Boss You remained unmoved.