Chapter One: One Tester Remains

Question three: *An unpredictable choice is equivalent to an error. True or false?* All ten answers were obvious. Marking *true* across the page would produce the system's definition of perfection. Forty-eight eyeless gazes pressed against Lin's back. He deliberately wrote *false* beside the first question. A bell screamed. The masked man appeared behind him. “Error detected. Do you accept correction?” Its finger hovered a centimeter from Lin's skull. Cold seeped through bone, bringing thoughts that did not belong to him: obedience was safety, safety was happiness, truth required no explanation. Faint text appeared at the bottom of the paper. 【Refusal of correction constitutes withdrawal from the examination.】 “I accept,” Lin said.