Because, This Is Who I Am

Is it an exit?

There was no time to think. He didn't have much time left to hesitate; the sense of suffocation was growing stronger, and his lungs were starting to burn with pain.

I'll risk it!

He chose to trust that faint sensation. Pushing the black iron coffin with all his might, he dove toward the downward passage.

The pressure suddenly increased, making his eardrums ache. The light almost completely disappeared, with only occasional bioluminescent creatures providing specks of faint light.

That abnormal fluctuation became a bit clearer, carrying a peculiar pulling force.

The passage grew narrower and narrower, until it could barely fit the coffin and him.

The jagged reefs on both sides looked as if they might close in at any moment.

In the unknown darkness, it seemed as though an even greater threat was prowling.

Just as Chen Guan felt his lungs were about to burst and his consciousness began to blur from oxygen deprivation, the space ahead suddenly opened up.

It wasn't the surface of the water, but a massive underwater cavern filled with air.

He burst out of the water, landing heavily on the dry, cold rocky ground, coughing violently and gasping, greedily breathing in the air that carried a damp, mineral scent.

The black iron coffin also landed beside him with a loud clank.

He collapsed on the ground, taking quite a while to catch his breath before looking around.

It was a naturally formed rock cave, illuminated by glowing moss on the ceiling.

In the center of the cave stood an ancient-looking stone stele. Complex patterns were carved into it, with a palm-shaped groove in the middle.

[An underwater maze plus puzzle-solving? Not bad, bro, you chose the right path.]

[Those whirlpools and forks earlier were so dangerous. One wrong choice and he would've been dead, right?]

[The stone stele. This is obviously the next step.]

[Time to test his intelligence and intuition.]

Chen Guan propped himself up, stood, and walked over to the stele. The patterns looked like some sort of ancient runes; he couldn't understand them at all.

The meaning of the palm groove was obvious: he needed to place his hand on it.

What would it be? Identity verification? A spiritual power test? Or would it trigger a new challenge?

Chen Guan looked back at the black iron coffin, then looked at his own hand, wrinkled from struggling underwater.

He had no superpowers, nor any special energy fluctuations in his body. Would this test directly expose his true nature as an ordinary person in front of the audience?

But at this point, there was no turning back. If he was exposed, so be it.

He took a deep breath, wiped the water off his hand, and firmly pressed his right hand into the groove.

A cold sensation transmitted to him.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

The stele had no reaction. The patterns didn't light up, nor was there any feedback. It was as if he had just pressed his hand against an ordinary rock.

[Huh? No reaction?]

[Isn't this test unfair? How come everyone else is having smooth sailing, and only our coffin-carrying bro is getting tortured?]

[Don't panic, maybe there's another way to trigger it.]

Chen Guan's heart sank slightly. Just as he thought...

However, just as he was about to withdraw his hand, a sudden change occurred.

It wasn't the stele, but the black iron coffin behind him.

From the seam between the lid and the body of the always-silent black iron coffin, a wisp of extremely faint, almost ethereal gray mist suddenly leaked out. The mist was as thin as a gossamer thread; if not for the gloom of the cave, it would be almost imperceptible.

It drifted out and, as if drawn by some force, slowly flowed toward the stone stele and merged into those ancient patterns.

Buzz...

The patterns on the stele lit up one by one from the bottom up, glowing with a dark golden luster that flowed and eventually converged at the groove where Chen Guan's hand rested.

A cold, heavy consciousness, carrying a desolate aura, surged into his mind through his palm.

It wasn't language, but more like a vague feeling, a fragmented vision of endless darkness, cold metal, a long slumber, and... a faint yet tenacious obsession with life.

This feeling came quickly and faded just as fast.

The next second, the stele's light faded, returning to its original state. That wisp of gray mist from the coffin also vanished without a trace, as if it had never appeared.

Chen Guan withdrew his hand. His palm was cold, but a storm was raging in his heart.

That feeling just now... did it come from the coffin, or the true body inside? Could the illusion even simulate this?

Or did Sys do something?

That calm voice echoed in his mind once more:

"Evaluation complete. Environmental adaptation and judgment: Grade A-Medium. Crisis intuition: Grade A-High. Special associated object resonance: Grade Special-A. Overall potential: Re-evaluating."

"Final test, prepare."

The scene shifted for the third time.

The cave, the stone stele, and the sound of flowing water instantly faded away.

This time, Chen Guan appeared in a pure white, infinitely vast space.

Above, below, left, and right, there was only soft white light, with no boundaries and no reference points.

Only he, along with his black iron coffin, floated in this void.

[A pure white space? What is this testing?]

[Temperament? Willpower? Or is it just going to be a straightforward fight?]

[What happened at the stele just now? Did the coffin smoke?]

[Special-A evaluation, that's badass! The first one to get a Special-A besides Little An.]

[To the guy above, as someone who watched the whole episode, I'll tell you that Little Su and Brother Ao also got Special-A.]

Ignoring the bullet screen comments, Chen Guan vigilantly looked around.

Having experienced the wasteland beast tide and the underwater maze, he knew very well that this illusion test was far from simple. Each stage directly targeted a different aspect.

This pure white space might look peaceful, but it was probably the most dangerous stage of all.

Sure enough, that voice sounded directly. It was no longer an evaluation, but a question. The voice echoed directly in the space and in his mind:

"Why do you carry a coffin?"

Chen Guan's mind trembled. He could be vague about this question with An Changqing and Su Yuehe, and he could play mysterious with the bullet screen, but in this final test of the illusion, which seemed to point straight to his true heart, he could not evade it.

If he hid anything, he probably wouldn't be able to enter the Tianshu Class.

Why?

For popularity points? To awaken? To survive in this world?

These were his goals and motivations, but they were not the deepest reasons for carrying the burden itself.

What was the coffin to him?

He remained silent, his hand gently stroking the cold coffin lid.

Inside the coffin was his past that he could not return to, his slumbering self, and the very reason for "Chen Guan's" existence.

What he carried was not a coffin.

It was the past of his previous life.

It was Chen Guan's present.

It was the unknown future.

It was the watchfulness of one soul over another.

It was an entity's attachment to its own roots.

He raised his head, looked out at the boundless pure white, and slowly spoke, his voice calm but carrying a piercing power.

"Because, he is inside."

"Because, I cannot let it go."

"Because... this is 'me'."

There was no flowery rhetoric, no tragic embellishment, just the simplest and most direct statement.

The moment his voice fell, the pure white space seemed to tremble slightly.

Then, like a fading oil painting, the white quickly dissipated.

Chen Guan found himself sitting back in the seat of the grand auditorium.

Surrounding him were other freshmen waking up one after another, bearing various expressions.