When you know for certain you're going to die—you really want to drag someone down with you.
Especially the person responsible.
I turned and glared at the skinny guy.
But his expression wasn't smug, the way I'd expected.
He was terrified, just like me.
Maybe he hadn't expected that copying so subtly would still be detected by the system.
He was panicking now.
Still begging the Rabbit Overseer for another chance, to retake the test.
But clearly, the Rabbit Overseer was just here for the spectacle.
She had no intention of letting either of us live.
She leaned on the podium, grinning with all her teeth showing. "No can do. Giving you a redo wouldn't be fair to all the students who've already died, would it? Some of them might have had grievances too, and they still died. Rules are rules. Blame your bad luck."
The skinny guy looked utterly crushed.
The Rabbit Overseer waved her hand. "Alright, accept your punishment like good students. Don't hold up the rest of the program—the teacher still needs to hand out the lifesaving card to the winner."
She glanced down at her tablet. "Student 849, please come up and collect your lifesaving card."
I heard the scrape of a chair behind me.
Harrison stood up and walked to the podium.
He took the card from the Rabbit Overseer, looked at me, then looked back at her.
"Can I use it now?"
She smiled. "Of course. You can use it anytime once you have it—but only once."
Harrison thought for a moment, then handed the card back. "Okay. I want to save his life."
He pointed at me.
Everyone in the room was stunned.
Including me.
No one expected Harrison to use something so precious on a stranger.
The Rabbit Overseer, though, wasn't too surprised.
Dramatic twists like this were exactly what she lived for.
She collected the card from Harrison, tapped her tablet a few times.
Then one of the two cylindrical devices retracted.
The remaining one stayed aimed at the skinny guy.
He was so terrified he ducked under his desk, clutching his head, wailing, "I'm sorry, I was wrong! Please don't kill me! I won't do it again!"
The Rabbit Overseer ignored him and clapped her hands. "Alright, today's test is over. Everyone head back to rest. Dinner in the cafeteria at six PM sharp."
At the word "dismissed," we all got up and headed for the exit.
The skinny guy tried to blend into the crowd.
But the moment he began crawling out from under his desk—
Four metal walls slammed down around it, trapping him inside.
He shrieked in terror.
I couldn't tell if it was from fear or some inhuman torment being inflicted inside.
I quickly turned my head away, unable to watch anymore.
The Rabbit Overseer continued ignoring him.
She picked up her tablet and strolled out of the classroom, heading in the opposite direction from everyone else.
On the way back, Harrison and I walked side by side.
He didn't speak. Neither did I.
I'd never been good with words, and now I was completely tongue-tied.
This wasn't just a debt of gratitude anymore—he'd given me my life.
After a long hesitation, I managed to squeeze out, "If there's ever a chance, I'll repay you."
Harrison sounded like he might have been joking when he replied.
He turned to me and said, "Sure—if we both make it to the end, you can give me your spot."
That instantly deflated me.
His request was perfectly reasonable.
After all, if not for him, I'd be dead today.
But asking me to hand over the final victory—I couldn't do that either.
After thinking it over, I told him honestly, "I probably can't do that. I'm not in this game for myself."
Harrison didn't push me to agree.
He just said, "Okay. We'll figure it out later. Go rest first."
Then we headed back to the dorm.
Today I got back before Quinn. The room was empty.
After a while, Quinn strolled in.
Same casual attitude as always, grinning as he greeted me.
"Still alive, huh."
I kept scrolling my phone. "Not dead."
Those two phrases had become our standard greeting.
Same thing every time.
Quinn flopped onto his bed and pulled the covers over his head.
He told me to get some rest too.
I wasn't tired. Even if I lay down, I wouldn't be able to sleep.
Then Quinn reminded me, "Don't forget, there's a patrol every night. What if you get picked as Night Scout?"
"Damn it, you jinxer," I cursed at him.
Our class still had twelve people.
Last night's Night Scout was Gloria. She was dead now.
Which meant tonight would have two patrol members and one Night Scout.
A one-in-ten chance—and I'd be the unlucky one? Not likely.
I grumbled at Quinn, but worry still gnawed at me.
After some hesitation, I got into bed anyway.
Just in case. This was a life-and-death gamble—I couldn't afford to risk it.
Quinn and I slept until dinner.
Almost the instant the alarm went off, we both shot up.
After a quick freshening, we headed to the cafeteria.
Sure enough, after dinner, tonight's patrol assignment came through.
Unlike Quinn had predicted, I wasn't tonight's Night Scout—Harrison was.
I accidentally glimpsed the message on Harrison's phone.
I instantly exhaled in relief, though I also felt a pang of sympathy for him.
Harrison, however, seemed to think it was a stroke of luck.
I asked him why.
He said, "Today's task wasn't too tough. I still have energy left for tonight."
That made me even more uncomfortable.
Yeah—what if the challenges kept getting harder each day?
Then the later you went, the more dangerous it became.
Still, dodging a bullet was dodging a bullet, and I was happy about it.
After dinner, I headed back to the dorm.
Quinn asked if I was tonight's Night Scout.
I shook my head, feeling smug.
Quinn scowled. "Lucky you."
I asked, "What about you?"
Quinn nodded. "I got picked."
I told him my class monitor got picked too.
Quinn looked surprised at that.
He seemed to realize something, his expression growing heavy.
I asked, "What's wrong?"
Quinn rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "A coincidence? Or another hidden mission? I just heard Class 17's monitor is also a Night Scout tonight."
Wait—were ALL the monitors Night Scouts tonight?
I was startled too.
What did this mean?
I started guessing. "Is it because the drop in numbers affected the mission schedule, so tonight they're doing a class vs. class?"
Quinn shook his head. "Not sure. We'll find out when we go."
Soon, the Night Scout mission time arrived.