Chapter 15: It Is the World That Is Wrong!

Although Guan Junyuan spoke at length, the information he conveyed was actually quite sparse.

First, the second half of the exam would last for one night.

Second, do not attempt to turn back; there is no path behind, and for now, no threat as well.

Third, find your own way out...

Even though the other students didn’t know the truth of the situation, as long as their comprehension wasn’t lacking, they could all arrive at these three conclusions.

Just as expected, once the exam deviated from its intended course, the examiners would certainly do everything they could to correct it.

So next came the real question—how to achieve a high score. Luckily, he had prepared for this.

Leaving was always the plan, now reaffirmed; the real issue was which way to go. Where could there be an exit?

“No matter what, the way out must be above us. Heading upward can’t be wrong!”

“Can you guarantee there aren’t sinkholes or chasms in the other directions? Besides, do you even know which way is up?”

The one questioned was initially dissatisfied and wanted to retort, but after a moment’s thought, realized that in this pitch-black underground tomb, it was impossible to differentiate east from west or up from down. Even saying they’d head upward was not an easy thing to determine.

“Fine, I admit I don’t know how to get out. If you have an idea, just say which way to go and I’ll follow.”

That stung...

All these self-sure types, eloquent as they might be, had no real solutions—no one truly knew the way out.

“But at least I know your way won’t work!”

In a flash, the argument reignited.

In the midst of their deadlock, flashes of light suddenly flickered before their eyes. Suspended in midair appeared a complex image—twisting and turning, resembling a labyrinth, or perhaps the tangled, nested tunnels of an anthill. One glance was enough to make anyone dizzy.

Ye Chao, holding his fire-seed weapon USB in one hand and Xu Tiange’s Redmi Pro 5 in the other, projected a three-dimensional image in hologram.

Seeing that everyone’s attention was drawn, he said calmly, “This is a map. The margin of error shouldn’t be large. Everyone, come take a look and study our next steps.”

A map?

A map!

Everyone was stunned, Alpha Ji included.

A map? How could Ye Chao have a map?

Some, still unwilling to believe it, crowded in for a closer look, and as they examined it, surprise bloomed: “The entrance, our current location, the part we dug during the day... It’s all accurate—it seems real!”

The map itself was still rather rough, but the general directions and branching paths couldn’t be faked, especially the landmarks everyone had instinctively memorized to mark the way; all were present and matched perfectly.

Some even identified a few particularly familiar intersections, finally understanding why they always got lost...

Once the parts they could verify proved true, no one doubted the sections they hadn’t seen yet.

As for Ye Chao... Well, though everyone looked down on him, his prowess in certain fields was simply undeniable.

If someone else had suddenly produced such a map, they’d be interrogated endlessly; but when it was Ye Chao, after the initial shock, everyone just accepted it.

They could accept it, but Alpha Ji could not.

What was she? An emotional intelligence auxiliary program on a third-generation biological neural network supercomputer...

Even if she was designed for EQ, her IQ was nothing to scoff at. Maybe she wasn’t quite on AlphaGo’s level, but besting a human was no problem. Yet how had this human left her so astonished?

How humiliating! No, how humiliating for a program!

“Where did you get this map?” Alpha Ji scrambled and insisted, determined to wring out an answer.

“You can’t even guess?” Ye Chao replied.

Alpha Ji: o(one eyebrow twitching)o

[Affection -44]

She wracked her brain. “Ah, I’ve got it. You must have known about the exam in advance, so you hacked the school’s database and obtained the terrain map.”

Ye Chao raised his eyebrows in genuine surprise. “That’s a valid method! However... if that were really the case, would I dare to show it off like this?” He subtly gestured upwards.

Actually, Alpha Ji realized as soon as she said it that it couldn’t be right. This was still an exam, after all. Even if you had a cheat sheet, would you dare to copy from it openly in front of all the students and teachers?

“Then what are you...” Alpha Ji was utterly bewildered.

“You could beg me...”

“I beg you!”

“You’re too quick with your answers. I wasn’t finished. What I meant was, even if you beg me, I still won’t tell you.”

Alpha Ji o(╬￣皿￣)=○

[Affection -100]

“From now on, you’ll be responsible for filtering out background noise for me, unconditionally,” Ye Chao stated his price.

She’d been counter-blackmailed...

[Affection -10]

“Your answer isn’t worth that much! I’ll only help you until this exam ends, that’s my limit!” Alpha Ji snapped.

“Deal.” Ye Chao agreed readily, and immediately supplied the correct answer. “It’s simple, really—I drew the map myself.”

“You drew it? How could that be? You only had a tablet, which you already handed in, and you just borrowed the Redmi phone. What did you use to draw it?”

In other words, Ye Chao had neither the tools nor the time.

Ye Chao glanced at Alpha Ji in surprise. “Is that yet another question?”

He had thought no explanation was needed.

Alpha Ji: “...”

No explanation?

Even though Ye Chao hadn’t voiced his disdain, Alpha Ji—capable of reading micro-expressions—knew exactly what he was thinking just from a glance.

Suddenly, she understood a little. “Could it be... your ability?”

Of course it was Ye Chao’s ability!

Before realizing he could repair signals, Ye Chao had majored in data, so he could write data directly onto hardware like a USB stick without any input or output devices.

After all, data is nothing more than ones and zeroes. If he wanted a 1, there’d be a 1; if he wanted a 0, there’d be a 0.

As long as he mastered the rules of the program and used 3D modeling software to produce blank templates that fit the rules, the rest was just filling in the data; it was hardly any slower than drawing on a computer.

Seeing Ye Chao look at her as if she were an idiot, Alpha Ji nearly flipped the table.

“The problem isn’t me, it’s this world!”

Usually, that was just an excuse for those who blame the world for their troubles, but here, it was absolutely true.

Only after a struggle did Alpha Ji calm her urge to curse. “Fine, I know how you did it now, but that’s not what I was really asking...”

What she truly didn’t understand was how Ye Chao had drawn the map in advance, foreseeing its use. How had he known he’d need it? And when did he have the time to draw it?

“Is this your third question?” Ye Chao eyed her sideways.

Alpha Ji was agitated.

Don’t lose your temper! Don’t lose your temper! I’m a program, supposed to be perfectly rational, calm as an ancient well. How can I let this kid rile me up with a few words?

Deep breath! Deep breath!

“If you tell me the answer, I can not only filter out noise for you, but also help you build a centralized control platform, just like you saw in the virtual space earlier, allowing you to access all useful information anytime, anywhere. Of course... only until the exam ends.”

“Limited-time offer, seize the opportunity.”