Mystery: Survival from the Secret Doll

Chapter 288, Question 287: Past Exam Questions
After giving a brief self-introduction, Nikolai raised his hand, and his white-gloved fingers snapped in mid-air in front of everyone.

On the ceiling of the auditorium, which is seven or eight people high, countless dazzling lights suddenly appeared.

It was a blazing, warm sun, a crimson moon, and countless faint stars.

They complement each other, adorning the ceiling of the auditorium. After nightfall, this vast, seemingly endless starry sky is transported from the outside world into the auditorium of the University of Tingen.

Then, the countless stars rapidly magnified, and the sun and moon seemed to lose their light. They fell from the extremely distant sky, bringing light and heat, and sparks and flames like asteroids streaking through the atmosphere, about to hit the people in the auditorium.

"Profession Ritual Magic Level Test"

In an instant, stars filled the sky above everyone's heads. They exploded, and the stones inside transformed into all sorts of images. Everyone's gaze was awestruck by the vast spectacle, and then they stared intently, without blinking, at the countless images displayed in mid-air.

On the snow-covered mountain, a group of hikers dressed in heavy protective gear looked up at the towering peak.

"The trip to the snow-capped Mount Everest, the second round of the Level 2 Ritual Magic Test."

An avalanche blocked the road, and undead roamed the area. In the "open-air graveyard" of Mount Everest, more than two hundred corpses were resurrected due to the snow mountain's mutation and began hunting down the test takers.

Each of them was dehydrated and stiff, yet possessed immense strength, moving with ease through avalanches, unfazed by the cold and most extraordinary abilities that targeted flesh. Because of the absence of spirits, even the most powerful psychics and puppet masters could not manipulate their corpses.

The snow-covered landscape makes it extremely easy to lose one's sense of direction, altitude, and oxygen levels.

Amidst the avalanche, someone shouted something, but his voice was too weak. The arsonist's flames were easily extinguished by the irresistible natural disaster. In the avalanche, the corpses wearing winter clothes flew towards the screaming and fleeing examinees like fish in water.

Some were completely buried under more than ten meters of snow by the avalanche, while others were grabbed by the undead, skeletal arms that gripped their hands tightly. The hands of the grabbed examinees also began to turn towards the monsters.

"The examinee is buried by snow, his health drops below 20, and his mental defense is breached. He is removed from the examination room."

"The examinee has been assimilated by the monster, and his mental value has dropped below 20, breaking through the mental value defense line. He/She has been removed from the examination room."

"..."

"The examination room is closed. The pass rate for this Level 2 Ritual Magic Level Test, the Mount Everest Snow Mountain Trip, is 17%."

On the edge of a town where ashes were falling, a carriage was parked at the edge of a cliff. Several people got off the carriage and looked at the town with ashes falling behind them, their faces extremely solemn.

"Silent Hill, Level 2 Ritual Magic Level Test, Round 2."

An ancient city-state, its ashes scattered, with an inextinguishable flame burning beneath the earth. The wronged souls who died here have been unable to escape for thousands of years. Their powerful resentment has given rise to a dual world, an inner and outer one. On the surface, it is a peaceful and serene town, but when the bells toll, the inextinguishable flames in the inner world will engulf everything.

In the scene, baby-like children crawl all over a building, monsters with their chests open spray sulfuric acid, and spiders with doll-like limbs, torsos and heads sewn together rush toward the examinees who have fled to this place after being chased by the monsters.

One person was ruthlessly abandoned by his teammates. The spider monster, assembled and stitched together from the limbs, torso, and head of a doll, pressed down on the examinee's head, ignoring the examinee's rampant snot and tears. The spider monster's forelegs gripped the examinee's head, and the examinee's eyes became lifeless, and his skin shone with a unique doll-like luster.

"The examinee has been assimilated by the monster and is about to become its puppet. His mental value has dropped below 20, falling below the health threshold. He will be removed from the examination room, and the examination will end."

"..."

"The examination room is closed. The pass rate for the Level 2 Ritual Magic Level Test in Silent Hill is 21%."

A vast campus, with students coming and going in and out. Examinees, holding their student IDs, were being led by senior students to the principal's office.

"Spirit School, Level 1 Ritual Magic Level Test, Second Round Examination Room."

By day, they are enthusiastic students; by night, they tear off their own heads. Blood-red nails in the dormitory, eerie oil paintings in the art studio, locust trees by the lake covered with human heads—humans are considered trash here.

At night, a group of people rushed into the principal's office. Countless red paints poured out of the office. The intruders narrowly avoided the dark red, putrid, and resentful paint pollution. One of them flew into the sky above the entire school, and in an instant, a blazing sun with purifying power suddenly appeared.

The sunlight was so dazzling that all the monsters and all the pollution in the school became illusory and transparent under its rays, as if they were about to disappear.

But the red paint gushing from the principal's office continued to flow endlessly. Someone was shouting something, seemingly trying to remind the angel of the sun pathway who had suspended him in mid-air, but he was too late.

A young man holding a paintbrush slowly and methodically sketched the final stroke of his oil painting on his canvas. Then, the sun was completely sealed within the painting.

"The examinee was drawn into the painting, suffered a lot of mental shock and pollution, and his mental value dropped below 20, breaking through the mental value defense line. He was then removed from the examination room, and the examination ended."

Monsters, demons, and mental pollution have rioted in the school. The crazed monsters are chasing these big shots in the world of mysticism all over the map, making quite a mess of things.

Ultimately, some were swallowed by the red paint, while others revealed mythical creature forms, only to be slammed into the earth by the even more indescribable and incomprehensible monsters in the painting.

"..."

"When a candidate's health drops below 20, breaking the health defense line, they will be removed from the examination room, and the examination will end."

"The examination room is closed. The pass rate for this Level 1 Ritual Magic Level Test at the Spirit School is 0%."

In a world where even the air is distorted, everything seems to be being cooked in a steamer.

On the dried-up seabed, a group of people dressed in thick clothes, their faces obscured, were walking towards a distant city.

"Extreme Temperature Hell, Level 3 Ritual Magic Level Test, Second Round Examination Room."

The ozone layer protecting the planet has been destroyed, causing the planet's surface temperature to rise rapidly. Humans, animals, and plants have suffered heavy casualties, and all traces of human civilization have become vulnerable under extreme temperatures. Fresh water is the most precious resource here.

A person walking on the seabed staggered a few more steps before finally collapsing, exhausted.

His teammate saw this and, unwilling to give up, tried to take out some fresh water from his backpack, but the cup he took out was already empty, not a drop of water left.

"When a candidate's health drops below 20, breaking the health defense line, they will be removed from the examination room, and the examination will end."

Here, even corpses are difficult to decompose because it's too hot. And here, it's not just the extreme weather that matters; desiccated corpses crackle and pop out of residential buildings, sewers, ships, and the ground. They stare at the living, breathing, blood-filled examinees, open their toothless mouths, and rush forward fearlessly.

"The candidate has lost a large amount of blood, and their health has dropped below 20, breaking through the health defense line. They are now removed from the examination room, and the examination is over."

"The examination room is closed. The pass rate for this Level 3 Ritual Magic Level Test in the Extreme Temperature Hell is 41.8%."

One after another, impactful images appeared in mid-air: some people transformed into giants, some became the sun and the moon, some pulled open doors full of mystical mysteries, and some chanted incantations that could manipulate the power of nature.

Amidst the countless overlapping images, many people roared as they fought against those terrifying, indescribable, and ineffable twisted things. Mental pollution poured into the minds of everyone in the auditorium without reservation.

In an instant, some people couldn't help but vomit, but no one felt disgusted at the moment, because the images of demigods and monsters, in their complete and incomplete forms, were enough to turn their brains into mush, making them feel disgusted and in pain, unable to think.

As the images layered upon each other, one person's expression worsened. He didn't gag, but his eyes were lifeless, his expression was distorted, and saliva was drooling from the corner of his mouth.

Because he was directly confronting mythical creatures, even if it was just a visual image, it induced him to completely ignite the hidden risk of losing control.

However, before the candidate could completely lose control, Nikolai, standing on the podium, glanced over with a faint look. This King of Angels, the rector of Miskatonic University, slightly beckoned with his finger, stealing the candidate's fate of losing control.

The student, who had almost lost control, rolled his eyes and collapsed. He was quickly taken away on a stretcher by medical staff from the University of Tingen who appeared beside him.

"This is a partial record of the examinations they have taken since the beginning of the professional ritual magic level test, nearly a thousand years ago."

The image playing on the auditorium ceiling instantly transformed back into one of the many stars adorning it, which, along with the recently dimmed sun and moon, now guarded a symbol composed of open books, ears of wheat, flowers, stars, curves and planes, and various complex mystical symbols—a symbol of Miskatonic University.

When Nikolai's voice rang out, most people's memories of the indescribable, incomprehensible, and utterly insane scenes they had just witnessed began to fade rapidly, leaving only basic emotional responses such as "how terrifying," "how disgusting," and "I'm scared."

Klein staggered a little, and before Cohenley and Pediglu could help him up, he waved to the two players to indicate that he was alright.

How could nothing be wrong?
Klein's expression turned pale; as a Sequence 9, he simply couldn't withstand that level of impact. However, Nicola Flamel was an angel who possessed error, fallacy, and loopholes, so it was impossible for him to lose control because of something like this.

So, aside from the basic feeling of nausea, Klein felt more of a strange sense of nostalgia.

Although he hadn't been in the time travel for very long, it gave Klein the feeling that he hadn't been home for a very, very long time.

Therefore, seeing familiar things again had a psychological impact on Klein that was more shock and nostalgia than horror and terror.

Don't add horror and suspense elements to every random thing, senior time traveler!
"However, if that's the case, then I'm like Silent Hill, Ishimura, Raccoon City, and other similar test questions. As long as the main direction is correct, I should be considered a veteran player who has played them all before."

This is one of the perks of time travelers; sometimes their thoughts are indeed in sync.

It would be even better if the time-traveling predecessor didn't cause any trouble.

For example, someone might maliciously change the location of the main props, then squat in the same spot, waiting to see if any time travelers would come and loot the body based on their memories and experiences from games, novels, or movies...

Klein: ...?

Wait, hold on a minute.

"No, it won't, right?"

Humans cannot, or at least should not.

While Klein was brainstorming, Nikolai looked at the familiar and unfamiliar people in front of him and smiled slightly, "And facts and experience tell us that knowledge, at a certain moment, is the manifestation of power."

“Some of you are clergy from the Church of the True God, some are members of secret organizations, some are ordinary people, some are extraordinary individuals who have strayed into the mystical world, and some are newcomers…”

His gaze was gentle yet powerful. “But in the realm of mysticism and knowledge, you are equal and possess a learning ability that ordinary people do not have.”

"These things, one day, will become the most important talisman to protect you..."

The people most delighted by such remarks are undoubtedly those of the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom.

"So this is why the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom is cooperating with you?"

"of course."

Tang held a lollipop and watched Nicholas's speech on stage.

Irving paused, then asked, "So, why did you call me back?"

Tang: "You've already taken the exam, ah, 17 times for Level 1. I've registered you for the exam this time, so get ready to take it in a few days."

Owen: ...

"Hey bro," Owen grabbed Don's shoulder and leaned in, "How about we make a deal? Or maybe we can skip the exam... or remove the written part?"

“How could that be?” Tang pulled a monocle from the gap in history and casually put it in his right eye socket. He raised an eyebrow and smiled, “Besides, we’ve taken the test so many times. It would be impolite to fail the written test again.”

“If you don’t stop, I will be heartbroken, break down, go crazy, and then I will feed you the ‘Tyrant’ potion.”

The Lord of Storms, come down from that position, and you go up.

Tang's eyes crinkled into a smile, as if she were genuinely considering the feasibility of this idea.

Irving shivered, moved a little further away from Tang, and rubbed his arms.

This guy is getting more and more weird, especially with all that stuff in these messy exams...

Tang, why don't you go see a psychologist? You need to get this treated quickly!
(End of this chapter)