I had only one thought.
Aria—she wanted to eat me.
---
Aria's multitude of hands reached for me from every direction.
By all rights, I should have been terrified.
But for some reason, my mind was extraordinarily calm.
As if I had suddenly become someone else.
In an instant, I saw it—at the eleven o'clock position lay the only opening to evade her attack.
I pushed off the ground and leapt like a frog, vaulting over the jungle of arms.
Yet the next second, my back was struck hard.
A stinging burn spread across my entire back.
I struggled to straighten up.
Before I could look for another escape route, a massive hand clamped around my throat and slammed me to the ground.
There was no way out.
I stared at the monster before me, draped in organs and limbs.
All her eyes were bloodshot.
Every one that wasn't already damaged was fixed on me.
Suffocation flooded my chest, squeezing out every last thought.
In the end, I was barely conscious.
It was as if I could only talk to myself.
---
"How can I escape?"
"You can't. Fight her!"
...
"I can't do it..."
"I can!"
...
"But she doesn't have any weaknesses!"
"I can find one!"
...
"I'm such a fool—how could I be so naive?"
"I'm not being naive! I have to find one! I have to do this!"
...
"Can I really believe in myself?"
"Yes!"
...
"Weakness... weakness... weakness... forget it, I'm about to die anyway. She's impossible!"
"Then make someone else her opponent! That's it! That's it!"
...
"Who?"
"The app!"
...
"The app?"
"The app's rules!"
...
"Right, the app's rules override everything, but... what rule?"
"Who cares!"
...
Suddenly, the voices in my mind merged into one.
Only one sentence remained.
"Grab her phone first!"
---
That sentence was like a switch.
It called upon the last shred of strength left in my body.
It made me raise my hand and, with everything I had, pry the massive grip from my throat.
I crashed to the ground, gasping for air.
At the same time, I rolled to the other side of the car.
Using the car as a barrier, I crouched low, watching Aria's movements while screaming at Jessie.
"Jessie! Throw me that knife!"
In my peripheral vision, I saw Jessie sprint forward after hearing my call.
But straight ahead, Aria's hulking body was already bearing down!
I gritted my teeth and didn't dodge again.
As Aria leapt, I rolled beneath her once more.
My eyes never left her.
Her front.
Her underside.
Her back.
Her...
"Found it!"
I shouted, looking toward Jessie.
She held the knife, trembling, but her eyes were full of courage.
"On her back!"
"The palest arm! She's holding a phone!"
"Jessie! Give me the—"
But talking to Jessie had distracted me.
Before I could finish, several of Aria's hands seized my arm.
With a single heave, she sent me flying. I slammed hard into the ground, the taste of blood flooding my throat.
I heard that pounding sound again.
Aria came toward me like a silent monster.
Yet the very next second, I saw a torrent of dark red blood burst from her back!
The scene froze.
Aria slowly turned around.
Behind her stood Jessie, face covered in blood, holding up a phone.
"Got it!" she shouted, waving the phone at me.
I shouted back, "Check the account ID!"
Jessie caught on instantly, tapping open the phone.
"The ID is... 1980!"
"Ah—"
I don't know which of Aria's mouths let out that shrill scream as she lunged at Jessie.
I swiftly opened my phone and typed on the Square.
"Add ID 1980 as a friend—everyone survives!"
---
After I posted it, I looked back at Aria.
Jessie's legs were already locked in Aria's grip.
She was still struggling, but it was no use.
I pushed myself up, grabbed a brick from the ground, and shouted with a hoarse voice, "I'm coming—hold on!"
But after just two steps, I stopped.
Jessie had suddenly pushed Aria away.
Aria's massive body tumbled backward, rolling clumsily twice.
Both Jessie and I froze.
She was staring at her own hands in disbelief.
And when my gaze returned to Aria, she had become somewhat more normal.
The organs covering her body were crumbling into dust, one after another.
I realized something and cried out, "Remember her, Jessie! Aria is disappearing!"
"Aria! Her name is Aria!"
It must have been—masses of users were adding Aria's ID now.
Though I didn't fully understand why we needed to remember her.
Still, because of my words, Jessie and I kept repeating her name over and over.
Until Aria's entire body crumbled into dust.
Only then did we stop shouting.
By then, I understood that what I needed to remember wasn't Aria.
What I needed to remember was—we had won.
---
Jessie and I leaned on each other as we walked out of the school building.
It was long past three o'clock.
But the dreaded siren never came again.
Outside, the sun was shining bright, and the roar of traffic filled the streets beyond the campus.
Everything seemed exactly the same.
Jessie and I exchanged a glance and tapped open the Yi Nian app on our phones.
A message from the administrator appeared at the top.
[This software test has concluded. 67 users passed the test.]
[The next test date is to be determined. In the interim, users may continue using features such as "Square Posting" and "Item Exchange."]
[Before each test, an "Account Deletion" option will be available. Users who choose this will have all information related to the app erased from their memory.]
Finally, the administrator repeated the original rules.
[Do not accept any friend requests.]
[Do not expose your account ID anywhere.]
[Do not view the administrator's Moments.]
---
"Are you going to delete your account?"
I asked Jessie. "Looks like it just erases your memory."
Jessie's expression turned somber.
She thought for a moment, then said, "We'll see. What about you?"
Me?
I just felt a strange sense of loss.
I shook my head too. "I don't know."
After all, surviving this time had been a fluke.
Who knew what rules the next test would bring, or whether I'd be able to figure them out?
---
And so, weighed down by worry, I kept putting off deleting my account.
Until, three months later, I pulled out my phone and received a message from Jessie.
She said: "I've decided to delete. When I lose these memories, don't go bringing any of it up to me again."
I said: "Okay."
Jessie continued: "What about you?"
I fell silent.
For over twenty years, I had lived an ordinary, unremarkable life.
That test was the most terrifying—and the most thrilling—experience I'd ever had.
Thinking about it, there was something in that experience that felt like the rush of solving a puzzle.
I really was a product of the education system, wasn't I.
I laughed at myself and wasn't about to reply to Jessie's message.
But just as my phone screen dimmed, a notification from the Yi Nian app popped up on the lock screen.
The message read: "Sister."
I thought I'd misread it.
But when I unlocked my phone, the notification tray was empty. No one had messaged me.
Must have been seeing things.
I muttered to myself and was about to head back to the dorm.
Then I suddenly remembered—there was someone I'd forgotten.
A chill ran through me at my own wild thought.
Still, I opened the administrator's profile.
And discovered that the administrator's avatar had changed at some point—from a cold gray cloud to the silhouette of a boy.
Was someone actually running this thing?
Before I could think it through, I froze completely.
From the notification tray, the administrator's messages still only showed the notices from three months ago.
But when I opened my chat with the administrator, I saw that just seconds ago...
"The administrator has recalled a message."
What... did that mean?
I didn't know. I decided to check the Square.
To my surprise, the Square was already in chaos.
Strangely, no one else seemed to have received the administrator's "recalled message."
What had everyone buzzing was that the administrator had posted a status update on the Square.
Users from all over—from every corner of the country, even veterans of multiple tests—were puzzling over what the administrator's post could possibly mean.
After all, it was the first time the administrator had ever posted on the Square instead of in their Moments.
Curious, I scrolled to the post that already had tens of thousands of comments.
It was very short. Just five characters.
"I will protect you."
---
That was a strange post indeed.
Some said it was a crucial clue for the next test—a decryption key.
Others speculated there wasn't just one administrator—there might be many, and perhaps one of them was undergoing a test too, which prompted the post.
I, however, felt something distinctly different.
As if those words had truly given me a sense of security.
Inexplicably, I found myself filled with a strange resolve.
As if to cement my absurd and audacious decision, I sent a message to Jessie.
I said: "I'm not deleting. I'll join the next test."
Jessie was silent for a long time before replying: "What test? What are you deleting? Babe, did you send this to the wrong person?"
Seeing that Jessie had already lost her memories, a hollow ache swelled in my chest.
I said: "Hehe, wrong person."
She said: "You're impossible. Don't go downloading shady apps—we're about to start our internships."
"Whatever. You worry too much."
"What? Since when are you this carefree? Internships are important!"
I was about to reply when the Yi Nian administrator sent an announcement.
[The next test will begin in three days. This will be a recruit test. Existing users may participate voluntarily.]
So the test we'd taken before was only a recruit test.
I paused for a moment, then closed the app.
Jessie was still rambling on.
"Finding a good internship helps so much with future jobs! And boyfriends and everything—you can't keep drifting through college! We're about to have our farewell dinner, and I just want you to have an easier, happier life."
I couldn't help but laugh, and replied: "Alright, alright. I found a very exciting internship."
Jessie immediately sent a string of furious emojis.
"What? What are you talking about? Don't get scammed! What are you thinking?"
I bought an ice cream and walked down the tree-lined avenue of the university campus, smiling.
"Just a thought, that's all."
(The End)