‘This wasn’t stage‑clearing! This was torture for a cyborg! They were being shocked to numbness!’

[10s]

[9s]

[…]

Soon, a new round began.

Round after round.

Lin Zichen’s face grew darker.

Of ten throws, he lost seven—leaving the other four feeling worse than death.

They all lay weakly on the floor, bodies faintly twitching, faces looking terrible.

Lin Zichen glanced back at the four.

Seeing that their bodies weren’t badly damaged—just suffering intense pain—he relaxed and kept playing against the virtual figure.

As for Zhang Kai, it was the electronics that were damaged—he himself wasn’t physically injured, so it wasn’t critical.

“Xiao Chen, my neck’s been shocked numb,” Shen Qinghan said weakly, “I can’t lift my head for a bit—I can’t see the screen…”

She wanted Lin Zichen to help her get in front of the display so she could see the virtual figure’s throws.

“I’ll carry you over, then,” Lin Zichen said, walking to her, bending to lift her up.

He carried her one‑armed—her butt perched on his forearm, body against his chest, head on his shoulder—like a father carrying a little girl.

[3s]

[2s]

[…]

A new round was about to begin.

Lin Zichen hurried over with Shen Qinghan in his arms.

As the countdown ended, he and the virtual figure threw at once.

He threw scissors; the virtual figure threw rock.

[Sorry, you lost]

“Ah!”

The people in the room were shocked numb yet again.

Shen Qinghan didn’t scream, but her small mouth parted with discomfort.

However hard it was to bear, to clear the stage she had to endure.

She fixed each of the virtual figure’s throws in her mind, hoping to summarize a pattern.

But heaven didn’t go her way.

In the time that followed, Lin Zichen played twenty‑three more rounds with the virtual figure and Shen still couldn’t derive a pattern.

The virtual figure’s throws seemed to have no pattern at all.

“Xiao Chen, I can’t… If I get shocked again I’m going to pee…” Shen clamped her thighs, bringing her lips to his ear to whisper, barely audible.

She’d been shocked to the edge of unconsciousness, gradually losing control of her body.

She felt the water inside was about to flow out.

To avoid wetting herself in front of everyone, she could only ask Lin Zichen to clear the stage.

“Got it.”

He set her down, then flickered to the window and took a pane of glass.

Catching the countdown just in time, he returned before the display and aimed the glass at the virtual figure on the screen—so the figure would play against its own reflection and be forced into a perpetual draw.

Whether it would work, he wasn’t certain.

Try first.

If it didn’t, he had other ways—such as hacking the display to modify the program.

And if that still didn’t work, then brute‑force the door.

Behind him, Shen Qinghan and the others widened their eyes and stared hard at the display, praying that Lin Zichen’s method would succeed.

[3s]

[2s]

[1s]

[New round of rock–paper–scissors begins]

As the countdown ended, the virtual figure lifted its hand toward the glass and threw—scissors.

In that instant, everyone’s hearts clenched tight.

They braced themselves to be shocked again.

Very soon, text popped up on the display:

[Not bad, it’s a draw]

At the same time, the shut iron door rose by one centimeter.

“It actually worked?” Zhao said.

“Good grief, it was that simple? We were shocked for nothing!” Zhang Kai said.

“Lin Zichen is so smart…” Shangguan Yueying said.

Shen Qinghan didn’t speak—she only furrowed her willow brows, feeling vexed.

‘If only my observations were better… Then everyone wouldn’t have had to be shocked so many times. My thinking still isn’t flexible enough…’

As she thought, her heart filled with loss.

She realized the gap between her and Lin Zichen was across the board.

Not just in force, but in brains too.

So wide a gap that catching up felt impossible.

Noticing something off in her expression, Lin Zichen comforted her softly, “If it were me, my first idea would also have been to find a pattern. No one can be sure which method is right. You only find out by trying them one by one.”

He added, “Without your trial‑and‑error up front, I couldn’t have found the method so quickly.”

“That’s true,” Shen Qinghan said with a hint of a smile.

But the smile looked a bit forced.

She wasn’t stupid—she knew he was comforting her.

The premise of trying methods one by one was being able to think of multiple methods in the first place.

And from start to finish, she had only thought of one—finding a pattern—so she hadn’t even had the qualification to try.

[Not bad, it’s a draw]

[…]

[Not bad, it’s a draw]

[…]

[Not bad, it’s a draw]

As message after message flashed on the display, the tightly shut iron door had opened a gap more than thirty centimeters wide.

Seeing that, Lin Zichen and the others slipped through, successfully clearing the second stage.

They hurried up the stairs and reached the third floor.

Just like when they’d gone up to the second floor, a display hung on the wall as soon as they entered.

It showed each squad’s progress.

Lin Zichen stepped up and saw that Teams A, B and C had still not cleared the stage—they were still fighting the third stage.

The others gathered around to look too.

“I’m surprised they still haven’t cleared it,” Zhao said.

“I remember when we first entered the second stage, they were already on the third,” Shangguan Yueying frowned, “It’s been so long now and they still haven’t cleared it. Is the third stage that hard?”

“Our squad is already on the weak side,” Zhang Kai said, face grave, “And we burned so much on the second stage that we’re even weaker now. Clearing the third looks grim.”

Shen Qinghan said nothing. She kneaded her body to get the blood moving, trying to speed her recovery.

With Lin Zichen around, she didn’t have to worry about clearing the stage.

What she worried about was whether she could perform well—whether she could contribute—and not need Lin Zichen to save the day every time they hit a wall.

“Everyone burned a lot just now. How about we sit and rest a bit?” Lin Zichen suggested.

“I agree,” Zhang Kai said first, “Plenty of my electronic components have issues. I need to check them properly and repair what I can to restore some combat power.”

Zhao nodded and as captain said, “All right, rest up. When our fighting power’s mostly back, we’ll go in and challenge Stage Three.”

So the five of them stopped at the entrance to the third stage to rest.

Lin Zichen went to Shen Qinghan, “Hanhan, come sit here. I’ll massage your muscles to speed recovery,” he said gently.

“Mm,” she answered, going over to sit with him.

Then, practiced, she stretched her leg onto his thigh for him to work on.

He started massaging quickly.

His technique was more skilled than a professional’s.

If he sold it on the market, he’d charge at least a thousand an hour.

“So nice—having a boyfriend to massage you,” Shangguan Yueying said, full of envy.

Hearing that, Zhao went up with a grin. “If you don’t mind, I can help. I often help people relax their muscles—I’m very good.”

Shangguan Yueying smiled and declined, “Thanks for the offer, but better not. Not very appropriate.”

Zhao chuckled, "That's true. Men and women shouldn’t touch casually—I got a bit over‑enthusiastic.”

Up front, Zhang Kai was still checking his mechanical parts. Hearing that, he chuckled, “You’re overthinking it. She just doesn’t want you to massage her. If Zichen offered, she’d say yes.”

Zhao was so embarrassed he wanted to hit Zhang Kai.

Shangguan Yueying rolled her eyes at Zhang Kai displeased, “I would not. Don’t talk nonsense!”

What he said might be true, but putting it so bluntly was just being nasty.

Zhao didn’t like it either and opened his mouth to retort—but the words stuck in his throat.

He was seeing something unbelievable!

On the display ahead, it showed Team C had failed to clear the stage!

‘What was going on?!’

On the other side, Shen Qinghan also saw the progress on the display—Team C had failed.

She was surprised and told Lin Zichen at once, a trace of astonishment in her voice, “Xiao Chen, look—the display says Team C failed!”

Hearing that, Lin Zichen looked up and saw that Team C really had failed.

Zhang Kai and Shangguan Yueying looked up at the wall display too.

When they saw Team C fail, both thought they were seeing things.

‘Was the entry assessment this hard? You could fail the stage? No way…’

As they were still reeling from Team C’s failure, an even more unbelievable scene played out.

In just two seconds, the display showed Teams B and A failing one after the other—eliminated.

Everyone was stunned, thinking they were hallucinating.

When they pulled themselves together, they all cried out in confusion.

“How did Teams A, B and C suddenly get wiped?” Zhao said.

“Well, we can forget resting now,” Zhang Kai said, “If even A, B and C got on their knees, we’re even less likely to clear.”

“What on earth is going on with Stage Three? How does a group wipe happen just like that?” Shangguan Yueying said.

Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan said nothing.

Lin Zichen, in particular, sent his perception out in an instant to see what was happening inside Stage Three.