There are obvious signs of artificial chiseling on the wall, and a row of voice-activated wall lamps hang on it.

The underground corridor wasn't long; at the end were two rooms side by side. The door to the left was ajar, and dim, warm yellow light shone through the crack, looking like candlelight.

The door on the right was locked from the inside, with a rusty key stuck in the keyhole.

"How is it?" At the entrance above, Fang He noticed the sudden light and crouched down at the edge, peering down.

His voice echoed in the basement, creating a faint, indistinct sound.

"It's okay, come down!" Xiao Cheng raised her hand and gestured upwards.

As Fang He and the other two came down one by one, the simultaneous entry of the four of them made the basement feel a bit cramped.

There were no numbers marked on the room doors. Player number one thought for a moment and then spoke first to Xiao Cheng, saying, "Ladies first, you can choose first."

"Well, thank you so much for your humility," Xiao Cheng chuckled, pulling Fang He along without a second thought as they headed towards the room on the left.

However, before she could even open the door, she heard the second woman say quietly, "Men on the left, women on the right, how about we leave this room for the first one?"

Xiao Cheng paused slightly, turned her head and glanced at her with a half-smile: "Are you sure?" Then she took a step back very calmly, turned her body aside to make way for them, "Then please. Putting everything else aside, I still understand the principle of respecting the elderly and caring for the young."

Upon hearing this, Number One frowned deeply and was about to say something in a huff when Number Two stopped him.

"Then thank you, little sister." She gave a superficial, cold smile, then grabbed Player Number One's arm and dragged him into the room.

The door slammed shut in front of Xiao Cheng, and a blood-red number, still wet with ink, slowly appeared on the door panel.

one.

"The room isn't the key point, so why are you misleading them?" Fang He, who had been silent all along, finally asked.

Xiao Cheng did not answer him immediately, but quietly watched as the crimson ink stains on the door panel flowed down and splashed onto the ground.

She lowered her gaze slightly, subtly stomping away the ink stains with her toes, and asked calmly, "Did I mislead them? Wasn't this their own choice?"

"but……"

"No buts." Xiao Cheng became inexplicably irritated and started turning the key in the lock of the right-hand door, but no matter which way she turned, she couldn't open the door.

Fang He watched in silence for a while, sighed softly, then walked over and reached out to press the key.

Their fingertips touched.

"Remember to turn it all the way up." He stared intently at the key in his hand, turning it once, twice, three times.

Then, with a click.

The door was slowly pushed open, and the motion-activated light inside turned on, emitting a slightly dazzling incandescent light.

The room was simply furnished. In the corner, there was a simple bookshelf made of wooden planks, with heavy books piled up haphazardly, almost touching the ceiling.

A faint smell of ink filled the air.

Xiao Cheng's agitation was miraculously calmed down. She rubbed her fingertips together vigorously and walked into her room.

"Aren't you going back?" She suddenly stopped and said to Fang He with her back to him, "I won't kindly invite you in for a sit-down."

"Ah, that's such a pity." Fang He leaned lazily against the door frame, reading the text in a half-hearted manner.

"So aren't you afraid I might mislead you? After all, to me, you're not much different from them. My ultimate goal is just to clear the game."

"So you're upset about this?" Fang He looked knowing. "It's a bit childish, to be honest... but you've seen another version of me in this world, after all."

Xiao Cheng didn't quite understand the cause and effect, and turned to look at him with a slightly confused expression: "What do you mean?"

“It means…” Fang He chuckled, “It means that the people Fang He 2.0 trusts, Fang He 1.0 will also trust.”

Even long after Fang He left, Xiao Cheng was still staring blankly at the door.

So what did he mean just now? Was he taking sides to show loyalty? Or was he simply trying to get closer to someone?

After thinking for a long time without coming to any reliable conclusion, Xiao Cheng decisively gave up, turned around and walked to the bookshelf, trying to see if she could find any useful clues there.

It has to be said that the thin wooden board has been subjected to a weight it should not have been able to bear, and it has been pressed into a noticeable curve. It is estimated that it will break soon.

The books on the table may seem messy, but they are actually organized within the chaos. They are stacked separately according to different types, with the largest number being novels written by novelists. Among them are also many manuscripts, with yellowed paper and blurred handwriting, which are obviously very old.

Xiao Cheng pulled out a book from the very edge. It had no cover and no title, and seemed to be an unpublished sample. On the blank title page, there was a sentence handwritten in blue-black ink.

"The last book, dedicated to true novelists."

As for the content of the book, it is a collection of rather concise short stories featuring a variety of animals as protagonists. Most of the endings are open-ended, and the writing style unexpectedly evokes a sense of warmth.

Xiao Cheng flipped through a few pages, but there was no terrible twist as she had imagined. The last page was still blank, with a rough hand-drawn smiley face on it, but the lines were a bit shaky. Upon closer inspection, it looked more like a crying face.

Then what?

She was a little confused, so she randomly picked up another book.

This book looks much more exquisite and newer, with the cover emphasizing in exaggerated font: "A great breakthrough! An unprecedented turning point! A dramatic change in writing style, a new masterpiece!"

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