100 Northern City Trial

Who are you?

Where am I?

I stared at the round-faced young man before me, his features split by a broad, easy smile, and for a moment I could not remember who he was.

I could not even remember how I had gotten here. My eyes dropped to the blue school uniform he wore, where a clear badge on his chest marked the school: Great University Foreign Language High School.

There was also a small name tag bearing his name.

Third-Year Class One, Feng Qian.

Then, like a series of slides, several images burst into my mind.

A few of us, drifting farther and farther away from the gates of Great University, seized by black-clad men who had appeared without warning. Our abilities were already weakening, and we had no power to resist.

Han Xue had used the awakening power of the ancient jade to escape from the men in black, while the rest of us were bound.

Though my body could not move, my awareness still registered everything: we were shoved into a car and driven a long way.

At the end, someone changed our clothes before knocking us utterly senseless.

Had we been set up again?

Before I could think further, I was cut off by the round-faced Feng Qian in front of me.

"Brother Jian? Did you get expelled? I thought you were already in university. How did you end up back in high school?" he asked cautiously.

"You knew me before?" Feng Qian said with a bitter little smile.

"Brother Jian, are you kidding? We used to live in the same building."

"I came here for my senior year, and you went off to university."

"We took the bus here from out of town together. You've forgotten all that?"

His earnest account of my past matched what I had experienced before, and there was not the slightest trace of falsehood on his face.

Memories came rushing back like a tide.

"So it was you."

I tried to manipulate the Two of Spades card, but it seemed to lie dormant within my body, giving no response at all.

"Feng Qian, are we inside the campus of Great University Foreign Language High School?" Feng Qian still stared at me as though I were some sort of monster, as if I were an impostor.

"Brother Jian, you're acting strange today."

"You actually called me by my real name. You always used my nickname before."

"And even though you've already gone to university, why did you suddenly come to my high school?"

"Or maybe you aren't the Brother Jian I know at all."

Faced with his growing suspicion, I had to think seriously about how to answer.

"Uh, Feng Qian, no, I just thought nicknames were a little rude?" I replied tentatively, but Feng Qian immediately cut in.

"Brother Jian, you used to say that calling me by my nickname proved we were close."

"Did I?" I grew tense and quickly searched my mind for a possible nickname. Could this guy be called...?

He was not tall or short, not fat or thin. His face could not be called especially handsome, but it was not ugly either, and he had no obvious defining features.

"Could it be... Round Face?" I blurted it out.

At once, Feng Qian grabbed me in a bear hug, his previously mournful expression breaking into genuine delight as he cried out,

"Brother Jian, it really is you! Do you know how miserable I've been these past six months..."

By pure chance, I had guessed Feng Qian's nickname correctly, and that finally dispelled all his wariness. He went on to tell me everything that had happened since he entered the school, pouring out his grievances like a man unloading his bitterness.

Foreign Language High School was stricter than I had imagined. His classmates barely spoke; each of them seemed to have only one thought, and that was studying.

For Feng Qian, who was used to chatting and laughing with his friends, this was pure torment.

He complained to me for a long time, all the way until class ended.

Before the lesson was over, the teacher of this class finally gave me a proper explanation of my identity, saying I was a Great University student sent to Foreign Language High School for recruitment. People like me were present in almost every class.

We were to remain at the affiliated high school for seven days, and after those seven days, the selected students with passing results would enter the top-student training camp.

When he gave this explanation, the teacher looked at me rather pointedly. It seemed he knew exactly who I was. I asked Feng Qian who the teacher was, and Feng Qian actually said he was a stranger. That only made my suspicions more certain.

The moment the teacher left the classroom, he vanished without a trace, so there was no chance to follow him. I made up some excuse with Feng Qian and told him to hurry off for dinner.

After becoming a Contract Holder, our bodies had gradually been altered, and things like eating could now be reduced to once every month or two.

After parting with Feng Qian, I went to the temporary residence prepared for the Great University students, a separate dormitory building.

It was a two-story dormitory, and it did not seem to be fully occupied yet. As soon as I entered, I heard that familiar booming voice.

"This is my bed, and you lot had better not touch it."

Following the voice, I walked over and saw a burly, heavily muscled man arguing with two girls in front of him.

"Hey, Chen Hao!"

At my call, the muscle-bound man started and hurried over.

"Brother Zijian! My savior! I finally found you. Hurry up and help me out. These two girls insist on switching rooms with me."

Before I could even understand what was going on, Chen Hao dragged me up to the two girls.

I took a closer look, and realized I had seen both of them before. One was Jiang Linlin, Li Ergou's roommate, and the other was Hu Qingqing, the leather-pants girl who had made such a deep impression during the final battle.

But now both of them were dressed like students, with twin ponytails that made them look several years younger.

"Lin Zijian!" Jiang Linlin's face turned bright red the moment she saw me.

"You are still alive!"

With that, she swung a tiny fist at my chest. I caught her soft little hand and teased her.

"You aren't dead, so how could I be? Besides, your figure is just the same as before."

I even gave her whole body a deliberate once-over.

I still remembered our first meeting, when Jiang Linlin had shown me everything. Back then I had been a little embarrassed, but thinking of it now, what of it? It was not as though I had done it on purpose. Yet this girl had kept pestering me ever since, as if she really thought I was easy to bully.

Since we already had bad blood, I might as well go all the way. I put on a look as though I meant to molest her and deliberately took a step closer.

Jiang Linlin let out a cry and dodged backward, hiding behind Hu Qingqing.

The two girls were clearly very different in temperament. Hu Qingqing stood in front with an air of boldness, shielding Jiang Linlin behind her, and said irritably, "What do you want?"

I could not help thinking of Li Ergou and Sun Xiaoxiao. Li Ergou's fiery temper, combined with Sun Xiaoxiao's figure, matched all of Hu Qingqing's traits perfectly.

"You ask me? Why are you trying to snatch my room? This is mine and Brother Zijian's!" Chen Hao rushed to speak.

From Chen Hao, I learned that the dorm assignment had been random, but Jiang Linlin insisted this room got better sunlight and wanted to switch with Chen Hao.

At first, Chen Hao had not wanted to argue with girls, but Jiang Linlin's attitude was so forceful that he had become unwilling to change.

The three of them were locked in a stalemate here, and fortunately my appearance made Jiang Linlin soften at once. Hu Qingqing also did not bring up the room switch again, and led Jiang Linlin toward another room.

"Chen Hao, do you remember how you got here?" Chen Hao shook his head. It seemed I was the only one with this small stretch of special memory.

But Chen Hao told me another clue.

This affiliated high school was not as simple as it seemed. Our powers had been completely sealed within the playing cards, and Han Xue was not here either.

Xue Ning, however, was staying in a room not far from ours, so we would probably see her soon.

Chen Hao showed me a new app on his phone, one that displayed a special progress bar.

It had already reached fifty percent, marked clearly with North City. And at the twenty-five percent point before it was another marker: Great University.

I checked my own phone, and the same strange app had appeared there as well. I opened the Great University marker, and inside it were all the trials we had experienced before, with every Contract Holder who had died recorded as well.

So far, the dead Contract Holders were Diamond Three, Ling, Heart Two, Mei Mei, Spade Seven, an unidentified man, and Spade Six, Lin Wan. That made five in all, while a large number of Contract Holders had yet to appear.

I opened the second icon, North City.

A line of text appeared on the screen.

The first stage of the North City trial is about to begin. All Contract Holders, please prepare yourselves.