Chapter 7: Speed of Life and Death

"Huff... huff...!" Adrenaline secreted frantically, and Ding Mo's heart was in total chaos.

The encroaching eerie presence pressed against his nerves, almost causing him to stop thinking.

In just a brief moment, fear had conquered reason!

Ding Mo turned and ran!

If he didn't run, he would be finished now, wouldn't he!?

"If I die, I die!" Ding Mo gritted his teeth and took off.

But as his figure crossed the taillights, he suddenly saw something.

It was a license plate hanging on the rear.

"A license plate...?" A piece of information subconsciously popped into Ding Mo's mind:

Driver's Rule Number Ten: Note, the license plate is extremely important, do not discard it lightly! I repeat, do not discard it lightly! Violators will bear the consequences themselves!

Do not discard it lightly? When driving, why would anyone specifically go and discard a license plate?

Unless... what the driver was doing wasn't just discarding the license plate! But rather...

Thinking of this, Ding Mo suddenly froze.

Then, as if he had gone mad, he risked being tackled by the "5 guests" and stepped forward to rip off the license plate!

To Ding Mo's surprise, the license plate was not the kind fixed by screws; it could be pulled out as long as it was at a specific angle.

It was as if the original design was intended to deal with this exact situation!

Holding the license plate, Ding Mo dodged the stench that was inches away and took off running for his life!

It was as if he had returned to a childhood nightmare, the scene of being chased by the deepest fear in his heart.

Whoosh!

Heavy rain mixed with strong winds lashed at Ding Mo's face, and the darkness made it almost impossible for him to open his eyes!

He just ran forward blindly.

At the same time, the system prompt sounded:

【Novice Tip: Your behavior is strange, please return to "normal" as soon as possible】

【Threshold -15%】

【Threshold: 42%】 → 【Threshold: 27%】

Actually...

It only dropped 15%! Ding Mo was overjoyed.

Compared to the pain when it dropped 50% before, this time it only made Ding Mo's body sway, and he recovered immediately.

The situation was much better than expected; Ding Mo calmed down and discovered that there was no more movement behind him.

He looked back and only then saw that the 5 "guests" who had been chasing him were now frozen in place, motionless.

It seemed they had suddenly lost their target.

"Could it be..." Seeing this, Ding Mo slowed his pace and lifted the license plate in his hand to take a look.

"This is!" This look left Ding Mo astonished.

The license plate in his hand was actually fading at this moment!

The blue paint was gradually turning gray-white.

【Threshold: 27%】 → 【Threshold: 26%】

"So that's it." Ding Mo looked back again at the eerie figures wandering aimlessly around the car in the distance.

He finally understood: if the car was the "carrier" for the driver's activities in this world, then the license plate was equivalent to a "pass."

That Driver's Rule about "not discarding the license plate lightly" was actually a hint!

When driving, it is impossible for anyone to specifically go and discard a license plate. Unless that person is doing more than just discarding the license plate,

but is discarding the entire car to escape!

So this rule was hinting that, when necessary, a driver can abandon the car and flee.

Only, in this process, one must take the license plate! One cannot discard this "pass"!

As for why the rules didn't state it clearly but used hints instead, Ding Mo did not know; perhaps it was to guard against something.

Or perhaps... Ding Mo put away the constantly fading license plate in his hand.

Or perhaps license plates were limited and difficult to manufacture, and the person who made the rules did not want the damage rate to be too high,

but they also could not avoid telling the driver this method of self-rescue.

So they had to do it this way—if the driver understood the hint, they were allowed to use it; if they couldn't understand...

Then they would only die!

Ding Mo gave a bitter smile.

Resources were limited; if that were truly the case, it was indeed quite cruel.

【Ding!】

The license plate had only faded a small portion, and the system prompt had already sounded.

【Time is 3:00 AM!】

【You have completed this Task, returning to the original world...】

As the cold mechanical voice faded, Ding Mo felt as if he were shrouded in some kind of gauze, and all the sounds and sights around him became blurred.

Even the raindrops falling on him seemed to have slowed down, like a video playing at a lower speed.

"The same 'teleportation', then." Although he could not move, Ding Mo breathed a sigh of relief.

Had this eerie journey finally come to an end...

But immediately, Ding Mo faintly sensed something else!

"What is going on?"

Intense pain arrived, and Ding Mo opened his eyes wide.

Following the transmission, he actually felt a tearing sensation! It was as if something inside his body had suddenly split into "two halves"!

If one had to use a word to describe this thing,

it would be "soul"!

Ding Mo's soul seemed to have split into two!

Only then did he understand, this seemed to be a sequela of "transmigration"?

Ahhhhhhh!!

After another bout of intense pain, everything went black before Ding Mo's eyes, and he fainted.

Amidst a burst of blinding light, Ding Mo woke up.

"......" Sitting up in confusion, Ding Mo discovered he was sitting on a bed.

Clean white sheets, a cramped, narrow room, a sturdy door with iron bars.

This actually looked like a prison.

Where did this bring me? Ding Mo scratched his head.

In his memory, he had fainted during a bout of intense pain suspected to be a "transmigration sequela."

Ding Mo looked at his system panel and discovered that the Task and everything else had disappeared; only a small line of text remained on it:

【Threshold: 142%】

Seeing this, Ding Mo let out a sigh of relief.

Although he didn't know why this thing was still here after leaving the Task, a high threshold meant he was out of danger.

Even if the upper limit had increased because he completed the Task... perhaps this was good news?

At the very least, Ding Mo could feel that his spirit and will had stabilized quite a bit.

"But then again, where exactly is this?"

Having sorted out his own state, Ding Mo got off the bed and began to investigate his situation.

He discovered that there were no windows here, no necessary living facilities; apart from a bed and a camera in the corner, there was nothing.

"Did I actually return successfully or not?"

Hum——!!

At this moment, a burst of noise suddenly came from the gaps in the steel ceiling, and then a steady male voice rang out:

"Mr. Ding Mo, please remain calm.

"There is no need for doubt, you have successfully survived the 'Typewriter' Task!"

Ding Mo looked up but could not find where the speaker was, though upon hearing this, he still let out a huge sigh of relief.

It was good to be back!

At the same time, he nodded on the surface and said politely, "Thank you for the explanation."

In a Security Room an unknown distance away from here.

The middle-aged man who had sent Ding Mo in earlier was now staring at Ding Mo, who was looking around on the screen.

Standing beside him was a group of figures wearing white coats, who were operating certain instruments.

The white-coat closest to him, after hearing Ding Mo's answer, wrote in the report:

"Subject's current mental state is acceptable, shows no abnormalities, no tendency toward being a Fake Person for now.

"Conclusion: Continue to shelve the elimination procedure."

Seeing him stop recording, the middle-aged man skillfully withdrew his gaze and said to Ding Mo on the screen:

"Mr. Ding."

"I know you have many questions right now."

In the narrow room, his voice echoed in Ding Mo's ears.

"But for now, please cooperate with us; you need to take a test first, other questions can be answered later."

Ding Mo thought for a moment and nodded.

He couldn't refuse, could he?

"How do I do it?" In the empty room, Ding Mo asked.

"You can just speak your answer directly,

"The first question: If suddenly one day, when you are alone late at night, you hear a wardrobe breathing,

"The wardrobe I am referring to is a type of upright storage 'box' made of wood or plastic, usually a rectangular structure, 1.8-2.2 meters in height, 0.8-1.5 meters in width, 0.5-0.6 meters in depth, equipped with a single door..."

The voice described the appearance of the wardrobe in detail and then continued to ask:

"What would you choose to talk to it about?"

"Attention! Please answer seriously, these questions are very important! They relate to the handling of subsequent procedures!"

Listening to the reminder in his ear, Ding Mo seemed to realize something, and he said slowly:

"I would absolutely not go and chat with a wardrobe."

"Next question." The voice was noncommittal:

"On television, the host suddenly blinks at you three times; what do you think this means?"

What kind of weird question is this again? Ding Mo said in surprise:

"How would I know, is she acting cute?"

"......" Over there, the middle-aged man seemed to fall silent for a moment.

But he immediately asked other questions.

During this process, the person in the white coat to the side wrote:

"The Phenomenon's mental state is very stable, and he is even in the mood to joke.

"Conclusion: Continue to shelve the erasure procedure."