This kind of suggestion was also quite agreeable to Jiang Ye.

What a pity… he was no longer an “Evil Adult” now…

If his speculation was correct, and players could truly meet in the “Hidden Prison Room”.

Then who he would encounter should also be a “Guilty Youth”?

Or, if the scope was broader, perhaps “XX Youth”?

Thinking this, he once again placed his left hand wearing the prison watch solemnly against the white wall.

A familiar electric current surged through his entire body once more.

Then, the familiar prompt sounded in his mind:

[Ding!]

[Discovered Hidden Prison Room. Enter?]

[Yes/No?]

To be honest, entering a hidden room now was still somewhat risky.

But perhaps because he believed his clones were still out there, Jiang Ye was much bolder than when he was a pure Newbie.

He took a deep breath and selected: [Yes!]

In that instant, the current flowing through his body suddenly intensified, violently stabbing toward his heart!

Jiang Ye almost wondered if he was receiving the “electric shock punishment” other players had mentioned.

However, apart from the stronger electric shock, he clearly felt something else within his painful consciousness…

A sensation similar to when a bus suddenly accelerated while he was riding it.

It felt as if a force was pushing him forward.

And everything around him was rapidly receding backward.

The forward thrust wasn’t particularly strong, but the speed at which his surroundings receded was incredibly fast.

So fast that the receding objects became exceptionally blurry and difficult to distinguish.

And so, Jiang Ye was unsure how long he had been “advancing”.

When his entire being finally stabilized, his surroundings had completely changed…

He was in a perfectly square room.

In terms of size, it was quite similar to the previous “empty room”.

But everything about this room was clearly different from the “empty room”.

It looked like a normal office.

Office desk and chair, filing cabinets, water dispenser…

A clock, calligraphy, promotional slogans hung on the walls as decoration.

Furthermore, there was a person sitting at the desk!

A middle-aged man with a slightly portly figure, thinning hair, holding a large insulated cup.

This middle-aged man wore a kind and amiable smile as he addressed Jiang Ye: “Why are you just standing there? Come over and register.”

Jiang Ye, expression unchanged, walked toward the desk.

Simultaneously, he glanced at the wall clock with his peripheral vision. It showed a time around 11:25.

It was an analog clock with a dial scale of 0-11.

So it was actually unclear whether it was 11:25 AM or 23:25 PM.

But looking out the room’s window, he could see a dim, dusky world.

It appeared to be 23:25 at night.

But Jiang Ye didn’t jump to a final conclusion, secretly keeping the possibility of 11:25 AM in mind.

He also silently glanced at his own watch.

Its countdown timer displayed 127 minutes.

Clearly, entering this “Hidden Prison Room” hadn’t taken much time.

Having steadied his mindset, he walked very obediently to the desk.

The middle-aged man handed him a piece of paper: “Fill out your personal information.”

Jiang Ye took the paper and found it was indeed a form for recording personal information.

More comprehensive than the information displayed on the watch, including common fields like [Name], [Gender], [Age], [Date of Birth], [Place of Origin], [Education Level], etc.

This personal information…

Jiang Ye wasn’t sure he could fill it out correctly.

He couldn’t help but look at the middle-aged man and tentatively asked: “Do I have to fill it out?”

The middle-aged man took a sip of hot tea from his insulated cup, his smile softening: “Of course.”

“What happens if I fill it out wrong?”

“Nothing happens :)”

“…”

Although this familiar smile clearly didn’t carry genuine goodwill, Jiang Ye’s courage grew a bit more, and he asked a more valuable question:

“May I ask, what is this information for?”

“What for?” The middle-aged man raised an eyebrow. “For registration, of course, to keep on file.”

It was basically a useless answer.

But soon, the middle-aged man added with a beaming smile: “Of course, it’s also for issuing… your student ID card.”

“Student ID card?” Jiang Ye was taken aback. Was this… a school?

He didn’t voice the latter part.

But the middle-aged man seemed to guess his thoughts and continued with a smile:

“This is the — Adolescent Personality Reconstruction School.”

He introduced the name slowly. From the word “school,” Jiang Ye detected a whiff of “juvenile detention center.”

At the same time, he also sensed something else from the word “adolescent” —

His Authority Level was precisely “Guilty Youth.”

So the hidden room he could directly enter was the “Adolescent Personality Reconstruction School”…

It seemed to match perfectly!

As for the so-called “Personality Reconstruction” school, Jiang Ye had actually heard of it in real life too.

The name sounded nice, even quite lofty.

But in essence, it was similar to internet addiction rehabilitation schools.

When parents felt their child was problematic — disobedient, loves gaming, lacks ambition…

They would send the child to such a “school.”

Euphemistically called personality reconstruction.

In reality, it was just hiring someone to train a “well-behaved” child for them.

In essence, it wasn’t much different from sending animals to a circus for taming.

There was even a famously notorious “animal tamer” who earned the title of Lightning King…

This “Adolescent Personality Reconstruction School” seemed to be the same kind of thing.

Jiang Ye vaguely speculated —

When he walked out of this room, what he would face might no longer be empty corridors.

But the so-called “school,” which was the real prison!

So was this slightly portly middle-aged man before him a role like the school principal?

Various conjectures flashed through Jiang Ye’s mind, and he still wanted to ask more.

However, the middle-aged man picked up his insulated cup again, adopting an air of serene inscrutability, unwilling to say more.

Jiang Ye thought for a moment and obediently began filling out the information form.

For name, of course, he wrote “Zhou Qiming.”

As for age, he didn’t write the age from Zhou Qiming’s memories, but 16 years old, fitting the “youth” identity.

Date of birth, however, he wrote Zhou Qiming’s real one.

This might create a contradiction with the age based on the current date.

But to be honest, Jiang Ye didn’t believe time in this prison environment was normal.

So the contradiction between his age and birth date might not even exist.

Anyway, as he filled out the entire form, the middle-aged man didn’t comment.

Only after he finished did the man take the paper back, then rummaged in a drawer and handed him a card: “Tap it against your watch.”

Jiang Ye took the blank card and pressed it against his watch. Sure enough, he heard a “beep.”

Then, three lines of information automatically appeared on the card: “Name,” “Student ID Number,” and “Grade.”

A photo was displayed on the right side.

It wasn’t a photo of Zhou Qiming, but looked exactly like his youthful appearance on the bus.

Also, the name displayed was indeed “Zhou Qiming.”

Jiang Ye held the “student ID card,” lost in thought.

The middle-aged man simply waved his hand to shoo him away: “Alright, with the student card, the teaching building, dormitory, cafeteria, bathhouse, and other places are open to you. Go explore on your own :)”

The word “explore” clearly carried a deeper meaning.

Jiang Ye actually had many more questions, but he probably wouldn’t get answers from this person.

So he quite politely thanked him, then holding the “student ID card,” he walked out of this office-like room.

Outside, what he saw was indeed a school-like complex shrouded in night.

This office was probably located within a teaching building.

To the left and right, he could see other classroom doors protruding, with class nameplates prominently displayed.

However, those class names weren’t like “Grade X, Class Y,” but zodiac signs and Chinese zodiac animals.

For example, looking to the right, he could vaguely make out class names like “Aquarius” and “Scorpio.”

Looking left, he saw names like “Ox” and “Horse.”

Of course, besides the class names, Jiang Ye naturally didn’t overlook…

The four youths who had gathered around him the moment he stepped out of the office.

These four all looked like “youths.”

But they all wore watches on their hands, some on the left, some on the right.

Clearly, they were all Prison Convicts.

So their Authority Levels should all be “Youth”?

Were there any “companions” among them who shared the same chat group as him?

Thinking this, Jiang Ye’s gaze swept over these four “youths” who were likely Prison Players.

One of them, who looked like a smiling tiger, suddenly leaned in, sniffed Jiang Ye, and then said with a meaningful smile:

“You have the scent of an 「Exile Fruit」 on you… but you haven’t eaten it?”

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of the other three youths around changed variously.

Even beyond these four, other youths observing from the corridor seemed to have a shift in their eyes.

Jiang Ye thought for a moment and nodded: “Yes, I have an 「Exile Fruit」 I haven’t eaten.”

He privately never intended to eat that thing.

Now that it was exposed, he simply tested the waters by asking: “Can I exchange the 「Exile Fruit」 with you all for some benefits?”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ye once again sensed strange emotions flickering in the gazes scrutinizing him.

One youth who looked difficult to get along with seemed incredulous and sneered:

“Your Exile Fruit? Exchange with us for benefits??”

Before Jiang Ye could answer, the previous smiling tiger youth interjected and asked him:

“You’re a newcomer, right? The 「Exile Fruit」 should have been obtained when you entered the prison, right?”

“Why could you resist eating the 「Exile Fruit」 and instead choose to exchange it with us for benefits?”

Though his face wore a smile, this youth’s eyes held a scrutinizing intent.

Jiang Ye still didn’t answer.

He locked eyes with the youth for a moment, then said thoughtfully: “Newcomer…”

“So, you are veterans? I can obediently answer your questions. But can I also obtain some information I want to know in return?”

The difficult youth sneered again: “You know you’re a newcomer? Then why do you think we would engage in a fair ‘exchange’ with you?”

Jiang Ye ignored this one and looked back at the smiling tiger.

The smiling tiger still wore a beaming smile, but his eyes were deep, and he actually followed up: “I’m also very curious, where does your confidence come from?”

Jiang Ye thought for a moment and said meaningfully: “Perhaps my confidence comes from…”

“The fact that I clearly possess an 「Exile Fruit」 but haven’t consumed it. So in your minds, I’m somewhat special?”

He used a tone half-joking, half-speculative.

Visibly, as he spoke, the smiling tiger youth’s smile faded considerably.

The look in his eyes toward Jiang Ye also became much more serious.

After a long while, the youth spoke: “You shouldn’t be a pure ‘newcomer,’ right?”

Jiang Ye didn’t answer, but his composed, inscrutable demeanor was equivalent to confirmation.

The youth’s expression grew even more serious. After exchanging glances with the other three youths, he suddenly declared to Jiang Ye:

“You can enjoy certain privileges with us. For example, you can use your 「Exile Fruit」 and the information you possess to exchange for some information with us.”

“But some ironclad rules will not be broken for you.”

Jiang Ye nodded and asked: “What ironclad rules?”

The youth seemed satisfied with his cooperative attitude and stated bluntly:

“Any player assigned to this prison must hand over all their assets, retaining only ‘one day’ of time to stay alive.”

“Of course, at zero o’clock every day, the master we all follow will distribute the next day’s survival time to everyone.”

Jiang Ye processed this simply, and his eyes suddenly lit up as he confirmed:

“The ‘time’ you mentioned refers to the remaining time on the convict’s ‘execution countdown’?”

Smiling Tiger youth: “Yes.”

Jiang Ye’s eyes grew even brighter: “Players entering this prison hand over all their assets. Then the followers behind you distribute time according to a standard of ‘1 day’ per person per day?”

The Smiling Tiger youth now faintly sensed something was off.

But he still answered honestly: “Yes. You don’t need to doubt our ability to distribute time…”

“I don’t doubt it!” Jiang Ye interrupted him, stating earnestly, “I am very willing to follow the master you follow, hand over all my assets, and then adhere to your distribution standard!”

As he spoke, he displayed his watch: “Look at my assets, 124 minutes.”

“Please, help me top it up to ‘1 day’ :)”

“…”

Four youthful faces, four different kinds of stiffness.

The youth who looked the most difficult and fierce twitched the corner of his mouth violently.

When his eyes glared at Jiang Ye, even his eyelids twitched.

After a long moment, he blurted out: “You also have 【Intentional Homicide】…”

“That means you had already killed someone before entering the prison?!”

“And you only have 120-something minutes… how many people did you kill??”

In Jiang Ye’s mind: I didn’t even have 120 minutes at the start;
I accumulated it slowly later.

But he vaguely guessed —

For their batch of players who “traveled through time,” the initial time was probably measured in “minutes” and “hours.”

Because those players had all killed someone before entering the prison.

Yes, killed people in the apartment.

But the “youths” here…

They might have entered the prison directly from reality.

They hadn’t experienced the “Doomsday Apartment.” They were likely players drawn into the “Doomsday Prison” from the normal timeline in reality.

Most people in reality haven’t killed anyone.

So their initial assets were probably measured in “days” or even “years.”

So someone like “Zhou Qiming,” who had killed many people and had only a few dozen minutes of execution time left…

In such an environment, he was indeed an outlier.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep