When An Bao began his trial, both his body and mind were still fragile, with no time to recover. One morning, he woke up thinking it was still night. But when he drew the curtains, it was already 7:30 a.m.
The sound of countless toads speaking overlapped in waves, yet not a single toad was in sight. Looking out the window, he could only hear distant, fragmented human voices. The invisible toads spoke in unison:
"Today is the first day of the trial. You must memorize vocabulary on an empty stomach."
An Bao almost laughed when he heard "memorize vocabulary." He was already learning his sixth language—how could he possibly struggle with memorizing words?
It wasn't until he sat at his desk, staring at the vocabulary book, that he realized it wouldn't be so simple. Not far outside the window, a dog's furious barking seemed directed entirely at him. And every word he had ever memorized before now felt completely unfamiliar.
The toads explained:
"This is the first challenge. Every word you ever memorized has been taken away and entrusted to the people of hell. The students there are more diligent than you—they have mastered every word you once knew by heart. And in hell, this is just ordinary discipline."
"Now, your task is to 'devour' these stolen words back, using only the focus of an ordinary person. If you show even a hint of slacking, the vicious dog outside will bark. You may drink water. The duration of the trial is yours to decide, but once decided, it cannot be changed."
"If you fail, you will face the second challenge. If you succeed, congratulations—you ascend directly to heaven."
Finally, they added in unison:
"Remember, during the trial, your family will not know you are undergoing it. Everything will proceed as usual, until the trial is fully complete."