Countdown: Humanity's struggle to survive against yesterday

Chapter 55 Trap Questions

"Ding-dong"

A crisp sound rang out from the noise-canceling headphones.

Chang Niankong slowly opened his eyes, his face expressionless, his gaze deep and calm.

"10"

"9……8……"

The countdown on the screen begins, and after the countdown ends, the screen flashes and a line of text appears.

"Please take ten minutes to fill in the information for all the participants who advanced from the previous round."

Upon seeing this sentence, Chang Niankong was taken aback. He then sat up straight, reached out and made a few grabbing motions in the air above the keyboard. Only when his hands felt less stiff did he begin to fill in the answer.

At the same time, the main streets of Lanhe Town were packed with people. Among them, local villagers accounted for a minority, while the majority were tourists who had come here but were stranded.

It was mid-February, and the average temperature in Longhushan was around 15 degrees Celsius. It wasn't cold or hot, but the throngs of people made the whole street bustling with activity.

Moyu Internet Cafe isn't in a great location; it's tucked away in an alleyway inside the street. The alleyway was packed with people, but unlike the chaotic streets outside, it was much more orderly.

Hundreds of people in the front row sat on prepared red plastic stools, watching with great interest a large screen hanging in front of them, like an open-air movie screening.

"hiss……"

When Principal Han saw the screen in front of him, he couldn't help but gasp, his face showing great surprise.

Several students, around fifteen or sixteen years old, were squatting beside him. One of them, puzzled, asked, "Principal Han, is this a test question, or the first test question of the day?"

Before Principal Han could answer, a dissatisfied voice came from the other side of the crowd:

"Damn, that's so insidious! These organizers are really cunning. Who would have paid attention to anyone else's name besides their own when they advanced in the previous days? Isn't this just making things difficult for everyone?"

Principal Han looked in the direction of the voice and recognized the speaker as Wei Xiaoshuai. After speaking, Wei Xiaoshuai was whispering excitedly to his friends.

Principal Han withdrew his gaze, pointed to the large screen on the right side of the alley, and said to the students beside him, "It should be a test question, probably an impromptu bonus question, mainly used to test the contestants' mentality. I estimate that this question will not be scored."

Sure enough, ten minutes later, no elimination details were displayed on the large screen on the right.

The first test question for today was also displayed on the large screen on the left.

It is a classical Chinese text: "During the Taiyuan era of the Jin Dynasty, a man from Wuling made his living by fishing. He followed a stream..."

The instructions for answering the classical Chinese text are marked at the bottom: "Please have five minutes to memorize it, then write the entire text from memory. The countdown has begun..."

Several students around Principal Han, upon seeing the problem, couldn't help but exclaim with delight, "Principal Han, Principal Han, we know how to do this! It's so easy!"

Upon hearing this, Principal Han nodded noncommittally, then looked at one of the students: "Haoran, if you were five years older, already a college graduate, and suddenly this article was placed in front of you, asking you to read it for five minutes and then recite it from memory, could you do it?"

Yang Haoran is the best of the best among the top students at Lanhe Town Middle School. If the world doesn't go backwards, he will definitely be admitted to a prestigious university this year.

Unfortunately, there are no "what ifs" in the world. Now, like thousands of other high school seniors, he is filled with nothing but confusion.

If Principal Han hadn't specifically called these top students out to watch this memory competition, he thought it would be better to hurry up and start a relationship.

Upon hearing the question and seeing Principal Han's scrutinizing gaze, Yang Haoran's youthful spirit was immediately stirred.

"Of course, I've already memorized this article perfectly, and I can recite it even ten years from now."

"Yeah?"

Principal Han smiled gently, said nothing more, and turned back to the screen on the left.

The screen on the left is a dedicated projection from Moyu Internet Cafe, which is why the viewing venue is located in an alley. There are currently no first-person perspective videos of the players online. If you want to watch the players' first-person perspective videos, you can only record the live stream yourself like this.

The left side of the screen was divided into two halves, one half showing Master Chang and the other half showing the live broadcast room of the competition in front of him.

All the people saw was that Master Chang's gaze swept up and down once before settling on the question requirements for about two seconds, and then he directly chose to start answering the questions.

In the video, you can see his hands moving rapidly, and characters appear quickly on the screen.

This seemingly skillful maneuver drew gasps of amazement from onlookers on the street.

"Really? Isn't that a bit too arrogant? Did he even look at it for five seconds?"

"Is this person really a Taoist priest? How come he's so skilled at using the keyboard..."

"Stop, you don't understand Master Chang, it's just basic stuff..."

When Wei Xiaoshuai heard someone questioning Master Chang, he immediately stood up and loudly defended him, then pointed at Principal Han.

"You may not believe what I'm saying, but Principal Han is here, so you can ask him if you don't believe me."

Principal Han stood up speechlessly and waved his hand, "Seeing is believing. You don't need to ask me anything, just keep watching."

His words only fueled everyone's curiosity.

Seeing this, Mayor Yang turned to a staff member next to him and asked, "Is this Taoist priest really that capable? With such a big fuss today, we can't let him embarrass himself in the end."

"Mayor, rest assured, there will be absolutely no shame. I've already found out about Master Chang's background; you'd never guess, he was actually a top student at Peking University..."

"Is that so? Tell me about it..."

The other onlookers around them also couldn't help but prick up their ears.

Time passed slowly, and by the time this part was finished, the time for answering the first question was also over.

Soon, the large screen on the right displayed that 31 people had been eliminated.

"That's 31 people eliminated already?"

The onlookers were quite surprised by the result, and their voices rose and fell as they discussed it.

Yang Haoran was equally surprised by the result. He couldn't help but question, "Are these really a group of memory masters? I can memorize a text in five minutes, how come they can't do it?"

"That's normal!"

Principal Han chimed in, "The mindset for memorizing a text in class is completely different from memorizing it in an exam. But there's another reason?"

"What's the reason?" Several students looked at Principal Han.

"It's because this question is a trap!"

After Principal Han finished speaking, seeing several more people looking over, he decided not to hide anything and said loudly:

"Do you remember the test questions at the beginning of the competition? That was a challenge, designed to test the contestants' mentality and to catch them off guard."

The same principle applies to the first question.

He used a classical Chinese text that even junior high school students could memorize as the first question. I suspect this was a way of giving a little something extra after the initial setback, to prevent those who failed the test from completely losing their composure. Another possibility, I suspect, is that he was trying to lull the contestants into a false sense of security.

"Principal Han, we probably understand what you mean by 'first,' but what about 'paralyzed players'?" someone asked, puzzled.

"It's actually quite easy to understand!" Principal Han said, looking at Yang Haoran. "Haoran, tell everyone your first reaction when you saw the first question."

When Yang Haoran suddenly saw Principal Han call his name, his face turned red and he looked nervous.

"It's alright, speak boldly..." Mayor Yang, who was standing to the side, looked over and encouraged him.

"That's right, Haoran, speak up boldly." Someone on the street recognized Yang Haoran and knew he was the top student in the town, so they encouraged him as well.

Yang Haoran looked at Principal Han and found that Principal Han was smiling at him. Suddenly, he seemed to understand what Principal Han meant by "competition mentality".

After being teased by his classmates, Yang Haoran stammered, "I... my first thought was, I know how to do this problem, it's so easy."

"Yes, that's it!"

Principal Han patted Yang Haoran on the shoulder, his eyes full of approval, and then turned to the crowd and said, "So, if we put ourselves in their shoes, those memory geniuses would definitely have the same thought when they saw this question, which is why 31 people were eliminated in the first question."

I think it's not that they couldn't remember, it's that they were careless.

After he said this, most people seemed to think about it and agreed with him.

Someone else asked, "Principal Han, what's the situation with Master Chang? Isn't he afraid of making a mistake due to carelessness?"

"Hey, didn't you see that Master Chang has already successfully passed the trial!"

Upon seeing someone mention Chang Niankong, Wei Xiaoshuai jumped out again and shouted, "That's called confidence! Confidence, understand?"

After saying that, he turned his nose in the air, looking smug.

His exaggerated expression made everyone on the street burst into laughter.

Although this was only the first question and no one had figured it out yet, the atmosphere at the scene became even more heated.

Soon, the second question appeared, and everyone looked ahead again.