Ex-Girlfriend – Chapter 109

BUG

Life and Death Examination Room 16

Examination God

“Where to?”

            

Xin Lan asked just like that.

“Wherever you want to go, that’s where we’ll go.”

The man’s reply was quite clever, and he even sent a flirtatious glance her way.

            

Yuan Yuan, standing nearby, twitched the corner of his mouth. This guy​¹ probably didn’t know how terrifying this Miss​² was, yet he dared to make eyes at her.

“Let’s cut the crap. Your mission is to escort Dr. Kana’s research results—to which location?”

Wan Yan shot a cold glance at the man whose face held a hint of peach-blossom charm​³, speaking directly.

            

Huo Xu narrowed his eyes but didn’t speak.

The others remained silent too, the atmosphere turning slightly strange.

This test/exam had only just passed the listening comprehension part, and now, arriving at the written section, disagreements were already starting?

            

“Looks like everyone has their own plans?”

Xin Lan patted Dr. Kana’s shoulder with a smile; the NPC cooperated with a blank expression.

“Doesn’t matter. Whatever plans you have, I don’t care.”

            

Xin Lan waved her hand dismissively and tilted her chin towards Wan Yan.

Wan Yan understood immediately. She walked into the room to investigate.

They had reached a point where they no longer needed Ling Jiu; a mere glance was enough to understand each other’s intentions, possessing a rapport that onlookers could instantly tell was impenetrable.

            

“The map that was hanging here has been taken down.”

Wan Yan reported after looking around. The room was empty, nothing inside, but the wall clearly showed marks where a map had once hung.

“The map is here. You can call me Ah Cheng​⁴, Cheng as in ‘clear’.”

            

The girl in the team raised the map in her hand and introduced herself.

Everyone else quickly introduced themselves too. The one with the peach-blossom eyes was called Chen Bo​⁵. Huo Xu and Yuan Yuan had been in the same test site before. The remaining guy was called Shizi​⁶.

Xin Lan took the map from Ah Cheng’s hand and pulled open the driver’s side door.

            

“Why don’t I drive? How could I bear to let a beauty​⁷ drive?”

Chen Bo pressed his hand on the car door, his eyes full of tender affection​⁸ as he looked at Xin Lan.

“If you still want this hand, I suggest you let go.”

            

Xin Lan spoke without any pretense of politeness​⁹. In her eyes, this world was virtual; she didn’t care about the life or death of one person.

Seeing this, Chen Bo shrugged and opened the passenger seat door.

The remaining six people sat in the back. Dr. Kana sat furthest inside, with Wan Yan beside him, her protective intent obvious.

            

Dr. Kana, meanwhile, dutifully hugged his research results and said nothing.

Xin Lan took out the map and glanced at it, only to find she could see just one point.

She frowned and passed the map to Wan Yan for her to look.

            

“One location.”

And they weren’t from the same base.

Xin Lan mouthed something; Wan Yan shook her head.

            

“They’re being quite strict with security.”

The words on each examinee’s card couldn’t be seen by others. Since this was designed for internal strife, the items/props were set up accordingly; everyone could only see the direction of their own destination on the map.

Meaning, unless someone spoke up, nobody knew who was an ally.

            

And it was possible there were more destinations than just hers and Wan Yan’s. Maybe others too.

But that didn’t matter. Whichever side it was, they would be the ones to win.

Xin Lan and Wan Yan exchanged information using Ling Jiu, estimating the distance between the two bases. Perhaps to make it easier for the examinees to complete the mission, the distance between bases wasn’t particularly far—though, of course, south and north were still far apart.

            

Xin Lan suspected there might be a third or fourth team because her card emphasized the word ‘North’, implying there might also be bases in the South.

“Didn’t they say there were eight people? Where’s the last one?”

Including Dr. Kana, there were only eight of them, but there were supposed to be eight examinees. One person was still missing.

            

“Maybe they got eliminated,” the girl named Ah Cheng whispered.

Xin Lan waited for about five minutes, but still, no one appeared.

They had just come from the lab, and there were no living people inside besides the NPCs. Waiting here, the person still hadn’t shown up. The chance of them being alive was almost zero.

            

Xin Lan started the car. It let out a muffled roar and sped forward, leaving behind the endless yellow sand.

Xin Lan turned on the car stereo. A Western female singer’s voice flowed out, low, captivating, the catchy melody echoing in their minds.

Xin Lan had heard this song before. She hummed along, gazing at the endless yellow sand ahead. As the chorus approached, she stepped on the gas.

            

What surprised Xin Lan slightly was that Wan Yan also started singing the song.

“I’ve been running through the jungle，
I’ve been running with the wolves，
To get to you to get to you，
I’ve been down the darkest alleys，
Saw the dark side of the moon，
To get to you to get to you……”

Her voice was passionate, making no attempt to hide her deep affection.

            

I once traversed thorns, I once danced with wolves, just to pursue you, to reach your side. I walked along paths dark as ink, looked up at the surface of the moon, just to pursue you, to reach your side…

Just to pursue you, to reach your side.

The end of Wan Yan’s line was almost lingering sensuously.

            

Although the whole song didn’t quite match the meaning she wanted to convey, this chorus was straight from her heart.

She had once traveled through several worlds, sealing her own memories, just to follow Xin Lan’s footsteps, to wait by her side.

Even though she didn’t know what would happen, she was confident that the self who had been attracted to Xin Lan once would definitely be attracted a second time, and then a third…

            

Each time, she would always do something.

And surely, one of those times, Xin Lan might develop feelings for her.

She was very cautious and didn’t dare to speak rashly. If not for this BUG, she didn’t know how much longer she would have kept it bottled up.

            

Ling Jiu shed tears of a single dog​¹⁰. The commander was truly hardcore​¹¹, seizing every possible opportunity​¹² to confess—impressive.

Noted, noted.

The others in the car had no clue about what was really going on, unaware that Wan Yan was confessing through the song. Ah Cheng and Shizi thought the singing was nice, though they also felt it was impressive to be in the mood for singing at a time like this. Yuan Yuan was very calm; it wasn’t the first or second day he knew these two formidable ladies were amazing. Huo Xu, however, glanced thoughtfully at Wan Yan, then looked towards the person in the driver’s seat.

            

Chen Bo, quite interested, turned back to look at Wan Yan, whistling in praise.

Xin Lan understood Wan Yan’s meaning, but merely curled her lips, not slowing the car down.

They were currently in that ambiguous phase of being more than friends, but not yet lovers.

            

Any small hint understood between them could bring a kind of sweet feeling.

That feeling was so real, like light shining on her face, bringing a kind of warmth.

Xin Lan drove on, letting the wind whip in through the open window, blowing her hair around.

            

The song dissipated into the dusty sand, leaving behind two tire tracks.

If the journey continued smoothly like this, then the difficulty of this test would be far too low.

Xin Lan knew it wouldn’t be that smooth. She slammed on the brakes, causing those unprepared to bump forward hard.

            

“What’s going on?”

Yuan Yuan looked confused.

“I think the situation might not be great.”

            

At the end of the yellow sand was a forest. That forest looked vibrant and beautiful—if you ignored the tree branches that were slowly shifting and intertwining with each other, that is.

“The car probably can’t get through.”

Such a dense, tangled forest would be difficult even for people to pass through; a car would definitely be blocked.

            

She herself could pass through freely, but…

Xin Lan looked at Dr. Kana and the lockbox in his hands, imagining the scene of spinning and leaping while carrying a 1.8-meter-tall​¹³ bald man.

“The ability I got is spatial storage​¹⁴, about forty square meters​¹⁵, but it can only hold inanimate objects. I can put this lockbox in, but probably can’t stuff a living person inside.”

            

Yuan Yuan spoke up first.

“My ability is fire… but I haven’t tried it yet, don’t know how powerful it is.”

Shizi spoke up. He hadn’t tested his ability yet. What if he burned down the whole forest?

            

“Mine is wind.”

Huo Xu said briefly.

Everyone had their own abilities, likely a boon granted by the rules to these examinees arriving in an unfamiliar apocalyptic setting.

            

After all, bare-handed individuals would struggle against zombies that feel no pain.

Xin Lan possessed superior physical attributes; her sensitive hearing was an advantage, with the only drawback being that while normal speech was fine, anything like screams felt somewhat unbearable.

Wan Yan had the ability to dismantle and manufacture weapons.

            

Yuan Yuan had space, Huo Xu had wind, Shizi had fire, Ah Cheng had water, and Chen Bo had healing.

It was somewhat surprising; the man who looked like a playboy was actually a healer​¹⁶. The contrast had a comical feel.

Xin Lan had Yuan Yuan put the car and the lockbox into her space, then strode towards the forest.

            

“Where are you going?”

Dr. Kana asked.

Xin Lan didn’t respond, instead telling Shizi to burn away the intertwined branches.

            

“Don’t we need to take him with us?”

Ah Cheng looked at Dr. Kana, her voice hesitant.

“No need.”

            

Xin Lan had no real intention of dragging a large man through there. The card stated clearly: escort Dr. Kana’s research results to the base. Success was defined by the research results reaching the base.

The research results were currently in Yuan Yuan’s space; there was no need to bring the NPC along.

Ah Cheng looked around at the others and saw they all had the same reaction.

            

She took out her own card, read it again, then put it in her pocket and walked over.

It was interesting, really. The rules required them to turn on each other​¹⁷, yet their assigned abilities were well-distributed, temporarily preventing them from engaging in internal strife​¹⁸.

Xin Lan’s gaze swept over everyone present. When her eyes met Wan Yan’s, Wan Yan offered a smile.

            

A faint smile, seemingly full of joy.

It made Xin Lan want to ask her: when you AIs look at someone you like, are you always this direct and undisguised?

But Xin Lan didn’t ask Wan Yan. Instead, she asked Ling Jiu.

            

【Of course! If you like someone, how can you not let her know? You have to pay attention all the time, because we never get tired of it.】

Ling Jiu said earnestly. That’s why AIs provide a great sense of security, but humans cannot be like that.

Xin Lan suddenly remembered their previous encounters at the coffee shop; Wan Yan had always stared at her like this, without malice. When Xin Lan looked over, Wan Yan would return a smile.

            

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LP: Re-translated on April 07, 2025

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