Though on the surface it looked like the white-collar man was merely threatening Yu Xiaoxiao…
In truth, what no one else could see was that Yu Xiaoxiao had already slipped two fingers between the seam of her trousers and gripped a thin razor blade. If the man continued to hold her shoulder for even a second longer, something brutally violent was about to unfold.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
Just as Yu Xiaoxiao was about to move her fingers, the filthy hand on her shoulder was suddenly brushed away—not by the man himself, but by Yu Jing, who had stepped forward to stop him.
Yu Jing wasn't physically strong; against the adult man, he clearly struggled. But he didn't hesitate.
"A knight in shining armor?" the man sneered, "You'd play the hero in a place like this, where everyone's driven by selfish gain? Don't forget—the system never warned us, never forbade us from attacking one another. I could cripple every single one of you, and the final prize would be mine alone."
Before he could finish, the wiry sixty-year-old man stepped in. Without a word, he slammed a powerful kick into the white-collar man's stomach, folding him backward in a perfect arc before he crashed to the ground like an overturned turtle.
"Worthless bastard," the old man spat.
Back in his village, the old man had always been known for meddling in others' business. It was a trait that had earned him more enemies than friends and had eventually driven him to seek work outside, taking hard labor jobs wherever he could find them. But he had never once regretted who he was.
"Thanks, old timer," Yu Jing said with genuine gratitude. Without the elder's intervention, handling the white-collar man alone would have been nearly impossible. Worse, if that man had been allowed to continue inciting violence, the situation might have spiraled into chaos.
"Where's the girl?" the old man asked.
They all turned to look—Yu Xiaoxiao had already disappeared into her designated test chamber, unnoticed.
"She's already gone?" Yu Jing stared into the dark passageway she'd vanished into, a trace of worry flickering in his heart.
"She's a strange one, alright," the old man muttered. "Probably not good with people. My little granddaughter's the same way. Still, you did good, kid. Time's almost up, and I'd guess everyone here's in some kind of trouble that only a pile of money can solve. Whoever wins that prize—it's every man for himself."
With that, the old man patted Yu Jing's shoulder and disappeared through the door marked with a symbol of black hair.
Yu Jing cast a quick glance at the white-collar man, now doubled over on the ground clutching his stomach, face twisted in pain. Without saying anything more, Yu Jing turned and headed into his own testing chamber, gripping the bloodstained hand axe tightly in his right hand.
He knew the "dangerous entity" mentioned in the briefing was waiting for him ahead.
Beyond each door was a narrow, pitch-black tunnel—designed to prevent anyone in the main cabin from peeking into the test areas.
"A transition corridor, huh? Can't see a damn thing," Yu Jing muttered to himself. "With the creepy objects we picked earlier, I bet more than a few people are already scared stiff. But what is the point of this test, really? Yu Xiaoxiao… she seems to know more than she lets on. And that cracked mirror… there's definitely something wrong with it."
As he moved through the darkness, Yu Jing calmed himself and thought things through. Fear was no stranger to him. Back in his hometown, he had once watched a childhood friend die—crushed beneath the wheels of a passing car. Another time, while playing hide-and-seek in the fields, he'd witnessed a man from the neighboring village get his head bashed open with a metal rod.
"This next door must be the actual testing area."
He reached out in the darkness and touched a cold, metallic surface—an iron door, heavy but not locked.
"I've officially entered the testing zone now," Yu Jing thought. "Most people wouldn't stick around in this pitch-black corridor—stay too long, and you risk developing nyctophobia. But for me, it's the perfect place to gather my thoughts. Besides, the so-called 'dangerous entity' definitely won't be lurking in a transition zone."
Unfazed by the dark, Yu Jing sat in front of the iron door, using the time to organize his thoughts.
"From the very beginning until now, no personnel from the institute have shown themselves. Maybe they're worried direct contact would affect our performance… or maybe there's another reason altogether.
Then there's the issue of the location. We had dinner at 6 p.m. today, and the broadcast said the test would start at 8. But before 8 even arrived, the sedatives in our bodies kicked in, and we all passed out. While we were unconscious, the institute must've transported us out of A City to some remote research base—maybe even farther, to some obscure county facility."
"Third, from the escape-room warm-up to the dark, damp underground environment, and finally to the selection of these bizarre items—everything about this test leans toward a theme of horror and psychological strain.
They took our IDs and communication devices. That means this organization can easily access our personal records. I wouldn't be surprised if they could even alter our death records without consequence."
"So based on everything so far, this 'dangerous entity' mentioned in the broadcast must be some kind of horrific being—something capable of physically injuring, maybe even killing us.
But what's the real purpose behind all this? With such elaborate staging and intense psychological manipulation, what exactly are these researchers hoping to learn from the seven of us? That's the part I still can't figure out."
Yu Jing scratched his head. "Maybe it's not about collecting data after all. From the very start, they screened our information carefully… Could it be that this whole test is designed to pick out the one among us who can calmly navigate through all the dangers and pass quickly? But for now, I won't think too much about it. My only goal is to get that 3.5 million yuan prize."
He spent about fifteen minutes lost in thought. Compared to the total four-hour testing time, it was a significant chunk—but Yu Jing always liked to analyze everything thoroughly before making any move.
While Yu Jing was still contemplating, the other five had already passed through their corridors and reached their respective testing areas.
"Let's see what this so-called testing area looks like," Yu Jing murmured.
Switching the hand axe to his left hand, he pressed his right palm firmly against the cold, heavy iron door and pushed with all his might.
"So heavy!" Pushing the iron door open nearly drained all his strength, and veins bulged on his forehead from the effort.
When the door creaked open just wide enough for a person to slip through, a sharp, metallic stench of blood spilled out from the gap. Faintly, from deep inside, a pig's scream echoed.
Having grown up in the countryside, Yu Jing knew that bloodcurdling scream all too well—such a desperate wail only came when a blade sliced into a pig's flesh.
He swallowed hard, stepped aside, and cautiously entered the testing chamber. The walls were lined with the same cold iron sheets, and harsh white fluorescent lights flickered overhead. The spinning ceiling fan cast shifting shadows that danced around the room.
In front of him was a sealed iron cubicle. The floor bore a dark streak of blood dragged across the surface, while the windows were barred with iron wire.
To the right stood a simple small door—whether it was locked, Yu Jing couldn't tell. The bloodstain trails suggested that some living creature or corpse had been dragged through that very door…