At 7 a.m.
Huo You miscalculated the time.
She hadn’t anticipated that her judgment about the F444 prototype would be completely off.
“It’s neither a hybrid of Karakaro nor a bloodline from a hundred generations ago.”
“It’s actually…”
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, her body covered in dirt, blood, and sweat, she ignored everything else, focusing solely on the fragmented cracks completely adhered to the skin on her left palm.
Gray patterns.
At first glance, they resembled twisted ancient hieroglyphs.
“Brook.”
“It’s actually Brook.”
Her right hand rubbed her temples, and she felt the grime there.
She paused, then raised an eyebrow and chuckled softly.
“This thing actually carries the bloodline of Brook, one of the seven great Cthulhu royal families. It’s a descendant, though I’m not sure which generation of embryo it is. But it belongs to Brook.”
“No wonder the bank couldn’t detect it. It’s a damaged dormant body.”
“Plus, Brook is a special, non-combatant Cthulhu royal family, which perfectly evades human detection equipment.”
“Did I just score a lucky find?”
What is this?
She thought it was the illegitimate daughter of a minor landlord, but upon investigation, it turned out to be Liu Bang who cuckolded the landlord.
Impressive.
After fully integrating it just now, she had already obtained its true information.
Parasite integration complete.
Information as follows:
Race: Brook Clan (originating from Brook, one of the seven Cthulhu kings)
Level: F-grade. Being a wild prototype, non-industrial, it has no identification number after
integration.
However, as a damaged dormant body, it lacks the complete royal genetic data.
Currently, its external energy level is F-grade, but it can be upgraded based on growth (upper limit unknown).
Talent: The Brook Clan is one of the few in the Cthulhu system with literary and creative thinking.
Known as the Cthulhu diplomats, they excel in literary creation.
They can create physical verbal curse bodies to directly hypnotize, influence, interfere with, and brainwash other creatures (currently only effective on F-grade creatures with high success rates. The higher the target’s level, the lower the success rate).
They can also form chains of verbal curse bodies to create collective behaviors…
Huo You paused, scrutinizing the last few words.
Collective… behavior?
Huh?
It took her a moment to understand-collective behavior meant simultaneously cursing multiple people, forcing them to act according to her design.
Is it a form of group control?
Got it.
Next,
Nutrient fluid energy: Maintains at F-grade, but it can currently absorb and consume all F-grade parasite nutrient fluids without limit until it reaches E-grade.
The upper limit is uncertain, but under normal usage, it can sustain three activations.
In Huo You’s understanding, Brook is a frail, powerless curse master who relies entirely on verbal spells.
In more poetic terms: a diplomat.
Truly a diplomat.
After figuring out its information, Huo You almost laughed out loud.
“The Education Bureau was right. The college entrance exam is indeed my only way to change my fate and escape this garbage planet.”
Huo You checked the time-45 minutes until the exam started.
She wasn’t in a hurry to put on the holographic helmet.
Instead, she quickly grabbed cleaning tools from the bathroom to tidy up the mess on the floor and clean herself, ensuring no traces were left.
After finishing the cleaning in ten minutes, she began familiarizing herself with Brook’s abilities.
She had to practice in advance-before the college entrance exam.
Why?
It would deplete her body’s nutrient reserves prematurely.
That was the fault of the person in charge at Little Fat Sheep.
The investigators were mediocre.
The capable one was Xu Yao.
Previously, Huo You had only known Xu Yao as a designated handler’s codename.
Later, she realized he was both suspicious and meticulous.
She understood this was a matter of professional expertise; she had just been unlucky to encounter him.
But his high level of competence and his excessive suspicion toward her were two different things—it must have been due to his assessment of the overall environment.
It was like how she initially had no idea about Little Fat Sheep’s capabilities, but given her precarious situation, she had to be extremely cautious and prepare for every possibility.
He was the same.
He was worried about the possibility of her, a “decliner,” rising during the college entrance exam.
The Little Overlord data looked at her grades, investigated her parasite status and bank card because, as someone from the Huo family, there was a possibility she was biding her time and playing the fool.
Bribing the education center to monitor her was to ensure complete control.
Why bother?
According to the previous college entrance exam rules, her past grades and current qualifications would have guaranteed her elimination.
“Unless the difficulty has changed either much harder or much easier.”
“And the exam categories have also changed… Although Brook Star is isolated and news doesn’t travel well, judging from the fungal changes reported daily by the apprentice rain-tasters at Little Fat Sheep’s weather station, the evolution of cosmic pathogens is accelerating, and the environment is deteriorating.”
“The extreme hawks will surely rise to power, even in the Education Bureau. So now, the Education Bureau’s hawkish reforms must have succeeded… This year’s college entrance exam will definitely be very difficult, and the mortality rate will rise.”
“He’s afraid I’ll slip through the cracks… So this high-mortality exam probably isn’t the traditional group classroom assessment format. Instead, it’s more flexible, with room for adaptation. The weak might survive and pass through sheer luck. Could it be an open-world-style exam?”
If it’s an open-world exam environment, not confined to a classroom, it indeed tests luck.
Under this assumption, Huo You considered enhancing her physical condition in advance.
Luck? She couldn’t rely on that.
“Hmm… First, I’ll create a verbal curse body text.”
As a parasite, it’s supposed to work for her. Huo You didn’t need to create the text herself, so she tried to activate Brook in her palm…
It moved.
What text?
With the exam approaching, she wasn’t about to waste energy testing the newly integrated Brook parasite.
After all, she had no spiritual energy- every use depleted her reserves.
“Logically, my physique is weak. I’ve had a tough life on this garbage planet. Eating cornbread only filled some gaps and it stopped the hunger, but that’s all. Being able to activate a parasite once, like Pig Foot Man and the others, is already impressive”.
“But now, I can use it three times because it’s Brook. During integration, it enhanced my body… My physique has improved significantly.”
She noticed this while showering.
Three years of junk food impurities were completely purged, and her muscles and bones were strengthened, allowing her to use it three times.
Now…
After some thought, Huo You raised her hand, and the skin on her palm opened the parasite port.
It revealed a gray, fluid-like sheet, resembling the most basic page of a book.
This is the Brook parasite?
A book?
The first page, the first character is about to be born.
Hypnotize, influence, interfere, brainwash other creatures?
Well, the first character she created with Brook couldn’t change objective reality-it could only target living creatures.
Plus, there were no other creatures here.
One character.
Huo You made the quickest judgment and preparation, then made a decision.
She communicated with the still immature “Brook” in her mind (voicing her demands):
‘Enhance my physical endurance, or make me invisible, or give me camouflage abilities, or…’
Wait, isn’t this supposed to be my servant?
Why does it feel like I’m a boss dreaming at a 7 a.m. meeting?
Brook responded: All of them?
Huo You, resembling certain internet tycoons, got excited but maintained her cool demeanor:
Yes.
Brook: ‘Yes? Yes, what? I’m Brook, not a bodhisattva’.
Was this sarcasm or an insult?
Probably not.
It’s just a youngling.
Surely not.
Huo You, still unfamiliar with this royal Cthulhu youngling, asked innocently: ‘So, can you do it?’
Brook: ‘Get lost.’
Oh, “get lost” is a word too.
Fine.
Huo You: Okay, okay.
Is it the kind of “get lost” where I can teleport?
That works too.
Brook:?
At that moment, the aloof young Brook and the bossified old-timer Huo You were in a phase of mutual misunderstanding, each having unexpected expectations of the other.
The atmosphere turned awkward.
The young Brook seemed highly dissatisfied with its master and didn’t want to communicate further.
After a brief struggle, Huo You felt a sharp pain in her palm.
All her body’s nutrients were being drawn to her palm, creating a sensation akin to “biting the tongue to write a blood oath.”
Until she saw the eerie blood character form.
After reading it.
Huo You: “?”
-“Corpse.”
Yes, she could read it.
It was indeed the character for “corpse.”
Maintaining the “corpse” state-no breathing, no temperature, no sensation, no pain.
Well, doesn’t that basically fulfill your demands?
Huo You felt thoroughly insulted-this was a state character meant for her own use.
Brook: ‘Want it? Use it on yourself and it’s yours. If not, I’ll retract it. But given your current condition and my level, there won’t be a second character.’
After a moment of silence, Huo You raised an eyebrow: ‘Yes’.
Brook:?
As a youngling, it naturally had royal pride.
Its strong spiritual nature also made it somewhat mischievous toward its master.
But the result?
She wanted it?
Huo You: ‘In the “corpse” state, the effects of pathogen interference from enemies in the exam would be significantly reduced. This character is excellent, truly excellent. I’m very satisfied. You’re amazing, worthy of the Brook royal family.’
Brook: Really?
Huo You: Yes. So, can you adjust it a bit… to make it last longer?
Currently, she felt that once activated, it would only last three to four minutes.
That might be enough for emergency situations, but the college entrance exam seemed to be quite long…
Mainly because “corpse” wasn’t a simple state-it had multifaceted effects, so the duration was compressed.
It felt insufficient.
Brook: Not really. I’m not a bodhisattva. Don’t be too greedy.
Huo You: ‘Really? That’s fine. You’re still young. Rest well, and you’ll develop better abilities in the future… As a royal descendant, your potential is high. As long as there’s time, we’ll surely catch up to other non-royal Cthulhu parasites’.
I’ll work hard too-I won’t let you down.
Her words sounded gentle, understanding, and full of high expectations, but…
Upon hearing that it might lose to other Cthulhu descendants.
The young Brook royal couldn’t stand the humiliation and immediately responded: ‘No, you can’t lose. I can’t afford the shame. Prepare to chew on a big cake’.
Snap!
Huo You pressed the “corpse” character created on her left palm directly onto her right palm.
Once the “corpse” character took effect, it seeped into her right palm but continued to absorb energy-Huo You expended more than a third of her nutrient energy.
She had essentially maximized her current nutrient reserves, pouring them into the first character of the parasite to ensure it maintained its effect on her body for as long as possible.
After finishing, the weakened Huo You calculated,
“Once activated, it should last about ten minutes.”
“There’s still half an hour before the exam.”
She began eating cornbread and drinking sugar water to replenish her body’s nutrients.
Time passed minute by minute.
After finishing her fifth cornbread, her throat nearly stretched two miles from the dryness.
The holographic helmet on her head finally connected to her temples.
“Beep… Decliner Huo You Brook, No. 4444, the fourth volume of the Interstellar Geography Examination for the 128th planet in the fourth ring of the galaxy is about to begin. Are you prepared and do you agree to enter the exam preparation space now?”
“Yes.”
She was transported in.
The technology might be the same, somewhat similar to the special dimensional space used to sense prototypes.
The fourth volume’s exam preparation space was clearly larger, more advanced, and more stable.
As soon as Huo You entered, she felt her body’s comfort level was completely restored, with no signs of fatigue or unnatural sensations.
However, it was all blank, and she couldn’t see any other examinees.
A floating screen and buttons appeared before her.
In the cyber universe, technology is monopolized, primarily by two entities: the federal government, which has its independent development systems and platforms, and the Universal Tech Corporation.
The college entrance exam was undoubtedly led by the federal government, so it was independent.
Huo You saw its note: Independent of any economic entity, fully controlled by the federal government.
This statement clearly indicated their aim for fairness and resistance to corporate influence.
Huo You had no comment on that.
“Beep, No…. Huo You Brook, the information notes that you are not a full-time student under any school system but a free exam preparatory student.”
“The current exam reform model has taken effect. The exam will feature an open-choice stacking mode. The exam consists of three subjects. The first subject: The Struggling Problem Solver.”
“Mode options as follows.”
“Exam scenario A: Traditional enclosed classroom assessment. B: Open-world random assessment.”
“Exam difficulty-A: Dangerous. B: Challenging. C: Normal. D: Easy.”
“Exam content-A: 100% written test. B: 80% written test + 20% biological interference. C: 20% written test + 80% biological interference. D: 100% biological interference.”
“Exam duration-A: 24 hours. B: 12 hours. C: 6 hours. D: 1 hour.”
“High-value additional questions-A: 0. B: 1. C: 5. D: Unlimited.”
“Exam survival rule-A: Guaranteed (will deduct 50% from the final score). B: No guarantee.”
“Please make your selection within five minutes. Once chosen, you will be immediately transported to the exam space.”
Huo You glanced at the last piece of information: The earlier you make your choice, the extra time within the five minutes can be used to familiarize yourself with the exam scenario.
So.
B: Open-world random assessment + D: Easy + B: 80% written test+20% biological interference + D: 1 hour + D: Unlimited + B: No guarantee.
Exam system: “The current selection BDBDDB has been confirmed. Total time taken: 15 seconds. Selection complete. Entering the first volume of the college entrance exam.”
“The selected exam scenario: ‘The Vanishing Skin.””
“Good luck, Huo You Brook.”
“The air is a bit cold.”
“There’s a scent of formaldehyde mixed with blood. Your nose feels uncomfortable.”
“But there’s nothing you can do you’re in the exam. You must complete today’s exercises.”
“Otherwise, it will come for you.”
“And kill you.”
In the eerie darkness, a cold, strange voice.
When Huo You opened her eyes, she found herself in a simple, modest rental room.
A cheap apartment, six metal bunk beds, cramped and crude.
The air indeed smelled unpleasant.
But it was a dim morning, raining outside, damp and chilly.
The five of them looked at each other, eyes wide.
The burly man, seemingly eager to take charge, immediately said,
“Looks like we all made similar choices. It’s fate. Let’s use our time advantage
wisely. Don’t waste these four minutes. Share names, stick together, no infighting. Follow orders. Our priority is to survive and answer the questions.”
“We must unite against the monster. That’s the best strategy. First, share names. I’m Liu De. And you?”
He stared at Huo You, the most striking among them, suspecting she might be from a prominent family… and wanting to recruit her.
Before Huo You could answer, a bespectacled youth pushed his glasses up and said,
“I suggest we don’t share names yet. All five of us are awake.
Where’s the sixth?”
Their gazes shifted to the sixth bed.
Drip, drip.
They heard water.
But it didn’t seem to be from the rain outside.
It was more like…
Under the bed, blood was seeping through.
Whoosh!
The blanket was pulled back.
A corpse, bloodied, skinless, lay stiffly on the sixth bed.
The five of them: “…”
Wasn’t this supposed to be four minutes to familiarize ourselves with the scenario?
We hadn’t even left the room, and we’re already greeted with a fresh, skinless corpse?