Chapter 112 Evening Study (Ten)
【Mini game 3: Hopscotch】
【Game rules:
1. When the words "Let's play hopscotch" appear, a nine-grid house will appear. If you want to move forward, you must pass it successfully.
2. Please pick up the tile at the starting point and carry it with you during the game.
3. When the house is white with black characters, please stand on one foot. When the house is black with white characters, please stand on one foot in the odd-numbered squares and stand on both feet in the even-numbered squares.
4. There is a lovely and kind family of three living in every house. Please be careful not to step on them, they will not hurt you.
5. When the progress reaches the number 8, please turn around, face the number 9, and jump out of the 9 squares at one time.
6. Stand outside the 9 squares, turn around again, face away from the house, and throw the tile backwards. The square that is hit will be the safe zone for all players in the subsequent rounds. There is no safe zone if the tile is thrown on the line. The 9 squares cannot be set as a safe zone. Players can land with both feet in the safe zone and rest for up to 1 minute. 】
At 8:43, the rules for the third round of recess games popped up on time.
Everyone gathered together and took the time to discuss.
"I don't understand. How do you play this game?" Huang Jiajia looked confused.
"Didn't you play this as a kid?" Su Mingyun quickly took out a pen and paper and drew a picture for him to see.
As they were making up for the missed lessons in the corner, Jing Qiao said hesitantly, "This round doesn't seem to be a 'Battle Royale'. I don't think we need to be as tired as in the first two rounds?"
"Indeed," Mu Yu said after a moment's silence, "The rules of the game don't specify which floor we must go to, so let's spread out this round and see what the monsters' movements will be. Leave one or two people on each floor, and I'll be in charge of the second floor."
"Together." Lu Zhongnian said immediately.
Mu Yu's eyelashes trembled and her ears turned red
He glanced at Mu Chenxi secretly, not knowing whether his attitude had changed after the conversation just now, or maybe he was just too lazy to argue with the two of them anymore. Mu Chenxi just raised his eyelids and looked like he said, "I don't want to bother with you guys."
Mu Yu raised the corner of his lips and responded softly to Lu Zhongnian: "Yeah!"
Everyone came to claim their floor.
Ye Sui is in charge of the first floor, and Mu Chenxi is in charge of the third floor.
Hong Yang lives on the 4th floor, Fu Xiaoju and Jing Qiao live on the 5th floor, and Su Mingyun and Huang Jia’s family live on the 6th floor.
There are certainly risks in dispersing, but fortunately, after the first two rounds, everyone has become somewhat accustomed to the style of these mini-games.
As the game becomes more difficult, they must become braver and braver in order to rescue their friends within the specified time limit.
The get out of class was about to end, and everyone stood up and walked to the back door.
Mu Yu restrained his expression and gave a final reminder: "Although we have separated this time, I think the focus should still be on the lounge on the second floor. If that place is just the monster's 'nest', then the name marked on the map is redundant."
"The lounge is on the east side of the corridor. We will go down from the east side later. Everyone should walk from east to west. If you encounter any problems, just shout loudly!"
"good!"
As soon as the words fell, the time officially jumped to 8:45.
Everyone kept silent and the entire teaching building fell into deathly silence.
Everyone was on edge.
Mu Chenxi suddenly said, "There is no game countdown this round, it's time to go!"
Everyone's face changed slightly and they ran out of the classroom.
...In the first two rounds of the game, they relied on the voice of the host to identify the location of the hidden players, but this time even the voice disappeared?
"Ignore all that for now," Mu Yu took the lead and ran towards the east, "Let's focus on the 'house'!"
After saying this, he rushed downstairs.
On every floor, friends stopped and stayed on that floor, and the number of people following the main group downstairs was decreasing.
Arriving on the third floor, Mu Chenxi warned: "Be careful."
Mu Yu nodded vigorously, said "Brother, you too", and rushed downstairs.
He and Lu Chongnian stopped on the second floor and separated from Ye Sui.
…The entire corridor was in darkness.
They were standing at the top of the stairs, with the door to the lounge just ahead.
The sign hanging on the door still reads "Student Lounge". It is reasonable to infer that the "secret base" should refer to the coffee room inside.
The two of them walked towards the lounge while observing their surroundings warily.
Mu Yu stood outside Lu Zhongnian. Lu Zhongnian opened the door of the lounge and slowly pushed it inside.
There is no change outside.
The light was bright, and the tables and chairs were all in their original places.
The "house" also did not appear.
They continued to walk inside, and Lu Zhongnian opened the door of the coffee room.
The space inside is even smaller, with a small white bar table against the wall, on which are placed a coffee machine, coffee beans, paper cups and other items.
The two of them examined it carefully with their eyes.
There doesn't seem to be anything worth noting.
"Let's go out first." Lu Zhongnian said in a young voice.
They left the room but did not close the door. They retreated straight to the corridor, and everything in their field of vision remained unchanged.
After looking at each other, they turned around in tacit understanding and walked towards the front of the corridor.
There were some noises coming from upstairs, which didn't seem to come from a single floor. Mu Yu's ears twitched and he asked, "Did they all encounter the 'house'?"
Lu Zhongnian also listened carefully: "It seems so."
Keep moving forward.
"There's no 'house' on the second floor?" Mu Yu lowered his voice.
"There's no movement from Ye Sui yet," Lu Zhongnian just finished speaking, and then he added, "Well, he doesn't like to talk to himself."
He knows.
Mu Yu pursed her lips and smiled at him.
They were halfway down the corridor.
The entire corridor remained unchanged and quiet, as if telling them that they had chosen the wrong floor.
Mu Yu stopped, turned around and looked in the direction of the lounge.
When he turned back——
【Let’s play hopscotch! 】
Five words suddenly appeared on the ground in front of them.
Mu Yu and Lu Chongnian concentrated their attention.
It's finally here!
A "house" with black letters on a white background is spread out forward. There are nine grids in total, each with a number. From near to far, the numbers 1, 2, and 3 are in a row, 4 and 5 are in two grids side by side, 6 is in a row, 7 and 8 are in side by side, and 9 is the last and farthest grid, which is the "top" of the house, and the outer edge is an arc.
A tile was lying at their feet. Mu Yu reached out and touched the void, and found that an invisible barrier appeared in the air.
He bent down to pick up the tile, tried again, and found that the invisible wall was still there.
The wall will only move forward once they officially start the game.
He said, "Let me go first."
[When the house is white with black letters, please proceed with one foot on the ground]
Mu Yu jumped into the first square with one foot.
At the moment before his toes touched the ground, the white background in this frame was suddenly replaced by a picture.
Mu Yu immediately asked: "Lu Chongnian, did you see it?"
"I see," Lu Zhongnian frowned and said, "...Is it the entrance?"
The picture in the grid is drawn with colored chalk in a cartoon-like style, from a bird's-eye view.
The floor was wooden, and there was a small carpet near them, on which were placed taken-off sneakers and leather shoes, as well as a pair of slippers placed on the side, which seemed to be spare for guests. It looked like a home entrance no matter how you looked at it.
Mu Yu felt a sense of impending death.
——The player can only stay in the grid for about one second, he must jump forward!
Next, every time he jumped into a grid, he would light up a room.
There is a kitchen, toilet, living room, and bedroom, and I also saw "little people" lurking in these rooms!
It is indeed as stated in the rules: a “family of three”.
A father, a mother, and a child.
They look very cute, round and fat, and are unaware of the existence of the players. They just run around randomly in these rooms.
The pictures all appear at the moment before the feet hit the ground. Players must be alert and flexible enough to temporarily adjust their footing to avoid stepping on the family of three.
Mu Yu successfully jumped to the 8th square and, as the rules stated, turned around and faced away from the number 9.
The 9th grid was the largest one. He estimated the distance in his mind, jumped with both feet, and successfully jumped outside the 9th grid.
Next, he turned around again, facing away from square 9, and threw the tile backwards.
With a thud, Mu Yu looked back and showed a regretful expression.
His tile landed on the line between two grids, and he failed to gain a safe zone, but—
"Has no one reached the safe zone yet? Otherwise, there should be a hint in the 'house', right?" He touched his chin.
As he spoke, the house had disappeared.
Lu Zhongnian came over, and the two of them pondered for a while and continued to move westward.
…
Just as Jing Qiao said, the pace of this round of recess games was not very tight and they were far less tired than the previous two rounds.
But the disadvantage of the slow pace also emerged.
——They still can’t figure out which direction the monster cares most about?
First of all, it is obvious that the monsters in this round are these things on the ground. These are the "words on the ground" in the "words on the ground in the lounge" in the four major ghost stories of science and technology.
The direction and position of the house should represent the monster's reaction.
But the monster was concerned about the west - they had been walking west, and the house just appeared in front of them in this way - but the first house had disappeared for two or three minutes, Mu Yu and Lu Chongnian were still moving forward, but the monster did not react at all.
Does it really care about the west?
If so, why is it so calm?
Or is there some unknown mechanism behind its frequency of occurrence?
Or maybe...
Lu Zhongnian suddenly turned around and walked towards the east.
Mu Yu was neither surprised nor stopped them. The two of them walked forward with their backs to each other, both paying attention to the ground beneath their feet.
After walking about four steps, Mu Yu said, "Here we go again. This house is a little different."
Lu Zhongnian paused.
He raised his head and looked forward.
The corridor ahead was still dark, and there was no sound from the lounge.
He turned and walked towards Mu Yu.
This time the house has a black background with white numbers. What makes it particularly different from the previous house is that the outer outline of this house is pink.
The very thick pink lines wrap around the entire house, making a strong presence and looking awkward.
The two looked him up and down, then Lu Zhongnian picked up the tile and walked forward: "Let me do it this time."
The houses with black background and white numbers need to be jumped by "landing on one foot in odd-numbered squares and landing on both feet in even-numbered squares".
The jump itself was certainly not a problem for them, but they soon discovered that the layout of this pink house was different from the previous one.
In the first compartment of the entrance hall, the color of the wooden floor, the pattern of the carpet, and the number and types of shoes are all different from the previous round.
——These are two houses!
Mu Yu followed closely beside Lu Zhongnian.
…The house is different now, so have the family of three living in it also changed?
Soon, his idea was confirmed.
A Q-version mother appeared in the kitchen. She had short hair that reached her shoulders and was obviously not the same mother with curly hair in the previous episode.
Lu Zhongnian nimbly avoided them and continued forward.
"I wonder how many types of houses there are," Mu Yu thought quickly, "Do you think there will be a lot?"
"No," Lu Zhongnian answered decisively, "There should be secrets in these houses. If the copy wants us to crack them, there must not be many of them in total. A small number of houses should continue to appear randomly in front of all of us."
That is to say, the house they jumped over might be jumped over by other kids later.
The house they are jumping on now may have been jumped over by other children just now.
Mu Yu continued to think about what Lu Chongnian said.
He turned his head and glanced in the direction of the lounge: "...I always feel like we are being led by the nose. The monsters have evolved in the last round, and this time they may lead us in the opposite direction."
But after he finished speaking, he himself realized the problem.
——Because just now he and Lu Zhongnian opened the door of the lounge coffee room and went in, but they didn't find anything, nor did they encounter any house blocking their way.
Is the lounge really the focus of this round of the game? Or did he and Lu Zhongnian guess the wrong direction?
Mu Yu let out a breath and fell into deep thought.
Lu Zhongnian jumped to the fifth grid and said, "The lounge itself may be related to these houses. Don't you think the 'secret base' looks like a place for children to play?"
Mu Yu was stunned and his thoughts started to move.
That’s right, there can’t be any inexplicable base in the copy. The most likely possibility is that it is a secret space for human beings.
And with this naming style, the owner of the space looks like a child...
Suddenly, something appeared in his peripheral vision.
"——Lu Zhongnian, be careful!"
Under Lu Zhongnian's feet, the sixth grid has been lit up, and a skull suddenly appeared in the bedroom!
Unlike the family of three, it clings to the frame of the lattice, as if floating at the top of the room, grinning at them "outside the camera" - it can see them!
Lu Chongnian's eyes narrowed, and he tapped the lower right corner of the grid with his toes, avoiding the strange skull. Then the number in the 7th grid suddenly disappeared, replaced by the three words "Safe Zone"!
A string of cartoon fireworks exploded in the open space ahead.
[Congratulations to player Mu Chenxi for opening the safe zone! ]
Lu Zhongnian landed on his feet in the safe zone and looked back.
The skull in the 6th grid has disappeared. No one knows where it has gone. There is no trace of it in any of the first five grids that have been lit up!
Mu Yu frowned and asked, "...Can I step on it?"
Lu Zhongnian thought for a second and uttered a word: "Step on it."
——The rules only say that a family of three cannot be stepped on. I don’t know what the skull is about, but step on it first!
Without hesitation, he jumped out of the safe zone and jumped towards the 8th grid.
That skeleton appeared again!
It appeared in the study in the 8th grid, clinging to the grid frame and shaking its head wantonly, provoking them.
Lu Chongnian stepped in calmly, and broken bones splashed out from under his feet.
When I looked up, I saw only a pile of white broken bones on the floor of the study.
...I thought it would hide, but it was stepped on to death so easily?
Lu Chongnian seemed to be thinking about something.
He turned around, jumped out of the 9th square, and threw the tile.
Like Mu Yu, he threw it on the grid line.
What was different from the previous round was that this time when the game ended, three big blood-red words [Abandoned] appeared in the middle of the house.
Then the whole house disappeared.
Mu Yu walked forward quickly, frowned and said, "If you step on a ghost to death, the corresponding house will be abandoned? Does that mean it will never appear again? But there was no ghost in the first house just now..."
So, some houses are haunted and some aren't?
Are there more people who have it or more people who don’t?
Do they need to clear all the haunted houses?
"It needs statistics." Lu Chongnian pondered.
They need to know the types of houses that have appeared in front of everyone so far, and they also need to know how many houses have been eliminated by other friends.
Only in this way can we know what the hell is going on in this little game during recess.
And the ghosts can't step on it for the time being. They have to wait until they find out the truth before they can clear the house.
Mu Yu also felt that this was the only way, and in the end they still had to run back and forth between several floors.
He turned sideways and said to Lu Zhongnian: "Okay, then in this case——"
Before he could finish his words, a third house appeared on the ground to his left.
The two of them caught sight of it and stopped in their tracks.
…It spreads out in the east direction.
Why?
Mu Yu looked down at his feet.
...Because he turned sideways just now, the monster thought he wanted to go east?
...But just now, no matter whether they entered the lounge or Lu Chongnian walked to the east, there was no movement in that direction, and both houses appeared on the west side.
Now, why are there suddenly houses blocking the way?
Moreover, the interval between the last two houses appearing was about three minutes, but this time there was almost no interval?
The two men cast their inquiring eyes towards the house with black letters on a white background, which was surrounded by thick black and white grid lines.
...Did anything happen at that moment just now?
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