Chapter 11 — The Night Before Exam Day

The test venue's loudspeaker rang out, asking all candidates to line up on the spot and cooperate in the test. The crowd began to stir. Someone asked if the system was at fault. Someone scolded me for delaying the exam. I clutched my file bag tightly, the wound in my palm was painfully rubbed by the plastic edge. Ms. Tan whispered: "Don't be afraid, there is a specialized path." I looked up to the second floor. That female student has disappeared. But Tham Truong Bach still stood there. He suddenly moved his lips. It's too far away, I can't hear it. But I could read his lips. He is speaking. Lam Tri Ha. My heart sank. He knew I would be held back by this name. But I couldn't move. My aunt said, don't look back tomorrow. Whoever calls you, don't turn around. Emergency staff contact the test site manager. The test site manager quickly ran out, followed by two invigilators. "Manh Chi, please check manually first." I was taken into the test site security room. Scanned information from citizen identification card is normal. The exam admission notice is also normal. But the system has an additional entry history. Time is 6 hours 59 minutes. The location is the East special passage. The moment the entrance photo popped up, everyone in the room became silent. The person in the photo is wearing my uniform, with a ponytail like me. Masks obscure more than half of the face. But the eyes were exposed, but they looked a bit like me. Ms. Tan stared at the screen. "This is not Manh Chi." The exam head nodded. "I know." He pointed to the left edge of the photo. "Her uniform collar does not have the anti-counterfeit stitching of our school this year." I lowered my head to look at my collar. There is an extremely thin silver thread there, normally you can't see it if you don't look closely. Ms. Tan immediately said: "It can be proven that the owner is here, please allow her to enter the exam room first, then the police will investigate the impostor." The test center leader looked at his watch. There are twenty minutes left before the test begins. He clenched his teeth and signed. "Give it a manual pass." Just as I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, a shrill scream suddenly rang out outside the security room. A security guard came running from the east, sweating profusely. "The camera by the aisle is especially broken." "There's a female candidate running into the experimental building." The police chased after her. The test center's face changed. "The laboratory building and the lecture hall building have a connecting hallway." If that impostor entered my exam room first and sat in my seat, the chaos would continue until after the test started. At that time, every minute that passed could take my life. Ms. Tan stuffed my file bag back into my hand. "Follow me." I followed her and the test site manager and ran up the stairs inside. The hallway was filled with footsteps. The loudspeaker reminds candidates to prepare to enter the exam room over and over again. My heart was pounding like it was about to burst. When turning the corner of the stairs on the second floor, a female student wearing a mask was rushing from the corridor of the experimental building. She saw me, her steps stopped. The wind blew the curls off her forehead. I saw behind her left ear, there was also a small black mole stuck on it. Not innate. It's drawing. Ms. Tan shouted loudly: "Stop." The female student turned and ran away. The police came from the other side to surround. She panicked and had nowhere to run, so she slammed the door and rushed into an empty classroom. When we chased inside, the windows were wide open. She climbed onto the windowsill. This is the second floor. Below is a flower bed. The police raised their hands to stop. She suddenly pulled off her mask and looked back at me. It is a very young face. Not Ha Vu Vi. I'm completely unfamiliar

her. The corner of her mouth trembled, her eyes filled with fear. "He said if I didn't do it, my younger brother would die." I didn't have time to ask who the "he" she mentioned was. Suddenly there was a sudden sound of braking downstairs. The female student seemed to hear the signal, closed her eyes and jumped down. 14The female student fell into the flower bed, making a muffled sound. The police rushed down the stairs. I stood by the window, only to see her curled up in the bushes, her legs bent at a strange angle. She's still alive. But she hugged the transparent file bag tightly in her lap. Ms. Tan grabbed my shoulder and pulled me out of the window. "Don't look." The exam head looked at the clock. "Fourteen minutes left." Everyone understood, it couldn't last any longer. The impostor has been stopped, the system crash has also been recorded. I have to go into the exam room immediately. At the end of the hallway, Tham Truong Bach disappeared. Only one inspection card was left on the ground. The photo on the card is another strange man. He was not an exam invigilator from start to finish. He just borrowed the copper card to get in here. The police sealed the inspection card, then arranged two people to guard my exam room. Ms. Tan took me to the third floor. My exam room is in the back.