Chapter 87: Xinlian Hotel (Part 9)
When Yan Shaowen came to his senses, he was already sitting on the sofa in the lobby on the first floor.
He stood straight with his back straight and his eyes looking straight ahead calmly.
…In my mind, the sound of flesh hitting flesh, screams, and the creaking sounds of bones exerting force kept interweaving.
Blood splattered and teeth fell out.
The man rolled over and lay on the ground, crawling forward tremblingly on his hands and feet, as miserable as a dog, but he grabbed his hair and pulled him back.
At the last moment, a feeling of dizziness came over me.
Because of excessive force, his arm bone broke with a snap.
The sharp broken bone pierced into his chest the moment he bumped into it without even realizing it...
…
The sleeve was pulled.
Yan Shaowen looked to the left.
Yu Ning looked him up and down, with an expression that seemed to say: Hey, are you okay?
Yan Shaowen raised his eyebrows: "You were also teleported down?"
Okay, that's bullshit.
He changed the question: "Were you also teleported down before you died?"
Yu Ning paused, turned his eyes left and right, and seemed a little uncomfortable.
But his expression already gave the answer - yes.
This time, both of them were teleported down just before they died.
After returning to the starting point, their near-death state disappeared and their bodies returned to their intact state.
——There is no doubt that someone saved their lives at the critical moment.
Yan Shaowen narrowed his eyes.
So, how do the players who control them perceive their status?
What do they rely on to influence their side?
These questions could not be figured out by just imagining them here, so Yan Shaowen said, "Let's go," and stood up and went back to the second floor with Yu Ning.
Wang Hao and Xu Jin had also left room 204 and came to the corridor. The two of them were knocking on the doors of rooms 202 and 203, probably thinking that they were still inside.
When they saw Yan Shaowen and Yu Ning walking out of the elevator, the two were stunned.
"I, we passed the level!" Wang Hao said to them excitedly.
He stretched out his right hand, spread out his five fingers, and in his palm lay a light blue heart-shaped crystal.
"This should be what the copy wants us to find!"
Yan Shaowen walked over, picked up the crystal, which was about half the size of his palm, and held it in front of his eyes to look at it.
Yu Ning moved closer to him and looked at him curiously.
"We didn't find any photo albums in room 204. We only saw a mobile phone that could be unlocked with my fingerprint. Once unlocked, it automatically played some very funny short videos!" Wang Hao's face flushed with excitement. "Well, I usually like to watch short videos, so I accidentally got addicted to it just now. I laughed so hard that my stomach hurt..."
"Me too, I almost couldn't breathe because of laughing so hard," Xu Jin continued, "Then I suddenly felt dizzy and woke up like that, and took a dizziness pill."
——In the rooms they have entered so far, the dizziness pills are basically placed on the bedside table. There is a small white medicine bottle with the words "dizziness pills" written on it.
"But it didn't seem to work after I took it. I still felt dizzy," Xu Jin said with a puzzled look on his face. "At that time, Wang Hao was still laughing. I felt like he was about to run out of breath. I felt something was wrong, so I went to call him."
Wang Hao smiled awkwardly, touched his head, and said, "...My condition at that time was similar to that in 201. I didn't notice anything wrong at all until Jinjin slapped me and asked me what was so funny about it. Then I suddenly realized that my whole body was aching, I could hardly breathe, and my chest was completely numb."
"I lifted my clothes and saw that the crystal had been lying on my chest. The moment I picked it up, all my symptoms disappeared - my stomach didn't hurt anymore, I didn't find it so funny anymore, and the screen of my phone went black and I couldn't open it at all!"
"As we walked out of the room, the phone disappeared from my hand."
After hearing the whole story, Yu Ning typed a question on his phone: "What about the dizziness? Did it disappear later?"
"It disappeared! It disappeared the moment before I picked up the crystal!" Wang Hao said quickly.
——So, the disappearance of the dizziness is related to Wang Hao and Xu Jin cracking room 204?
Yu Ning pondered.
Yan Shaowen turned the heart-shaped crystal, feeling speechless that they had worked so hard and risked their lives to find something that might only be sold for a few cents in the small commodity wholesale market.
The taste of the copy is a bit too bad.
He returned the crystal to Wang Hao: "I also experienced dizziness."
"The sudden disappearance of your two symptoms may be related to the fact that I was teleported back to the first floor at that time."
The other three were stunned.
Wang Hao was shocked and puzzled: "Why... is it related to you?"
"Because, if she was the only one whose dizziness disappeared, then perhaps it could be explained as the delayed effect of the dizziness pills she took." Yan Shaowen's gaze turned to Xu Jin.
He glanced at Wang Hao again: "But you didn't take the dizziness pills, and the symptoms disappeared. The reason for the disappearance is definitely not the dizziness pills."
"Also, if the dizziness disappeared because you cracked the level of that room, then the opportunity for it to disappear should not be before you picked up the crystal, but the moment you found it."
This, this makes sense... Xu Jin and Wang Hao nodded quickly, while Yu Ning seemed to be thinking about something.
Yan Shaowen put his hands in his trouser pockets and looked towards Room 202 in front of him.
Behind him, Room 204 was located at a distance from him.
"In the previous round, none of us had symptoms of dizziness, but this time, everyone in the two rooms experienced it. And judging from the time, we probably had symptoms at the same time. How much of a coincidence could this be?"
"If you had looked at the time, you might have noticed that our symptoms disappeared at the same time."
Xu Jin was stunned and said, "So... our four rooms are interconnected and will affect each other?"
Yu Ning thought for a moment, shook his head, typed a line on his phone, and raised it.
"It's very likely that Room 202 and Room 204 are interconnected, because I didn't feel dizzy during the entire time in Room 203 just now."
"Further speculation suggests that perhaps 202 and 204 are related, and 201 and 203 are related."
After all, the copy seems to have given some hints in the distribution of the rooms.
These four rooms are located opposite each other.
Xu Jin and Wang Hao were even more surprised.
Yan Shaowen's gaze moved to Yu Ning's profile.
This guy is really not bad.
He looked away and said, "Some of the answers are clearer now."
"First, the situations in the four rooms will change depending on the player who enters. The levels in each room are related to the player's personal state of mind. To be precise, it may only be related to the player who holds the card to open the door."
Wang Hao and Xu Jin looked at each other.
Both times, Wang Hao opened the door by swiping his card, and the scenes in the two rooms were indeed related to Wang Hao's desires and preferences.
Of course, as his girlfriend, Xu Jin and he do have some similarities in some aspects... um... but after two rounds of adventures, Wang Hao was indeed more deeply involved...
"Second, the method to clear the four rooms may be similar, that is, to find a way to wake up from the 'addiction' and find the heart-shaped crystal."
"At the moment, it seems that even if two players enter a room, they can only get one crystal. The location where this crystal appears should only be related to the player who swiped the card to open the door."
"third--"
When Yan Shaowen said this, his eyes suddenly turned and fell on Yu Ning: "Speaking of which, what is in room 203?"
Yu Ning pursed her lips.
He bent his head to type, then held it up to show them: "Something that will make people sad."
Wang Hao and Xu Jin were stunned.
Yan Shaowen's gaze silently lingered on Yu Ning's face for a moment.
He said calmly: "Third, although the scenes generated by the four rooms are constantly changing, the theme seems to be consistent."
“Room 201 generates something that is desirable, or makes people feel happy.”
"There will be someone in room 202 who can anger the players."
"Something sad is going to happen in room 203."
"Room 204 is full of nonsense, trying to make players laugh."
"To sum it up, it's probably - joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness."
Wang Hao and Xu Jin's eyes widened instantly, and Yu Ning was also a little stunned.
"This heart," Yan Shaowen's eyes fell on the crystal in Wang Hao's hand, "should represent this part of our emotions."
"The moment we step into each room, our emotions will be used and copied by the copy to create some illusions. If the player cannot find this heart, he may be able to leave the room, or he may not be able to leave."
——Just like when he first stepped into room 204, he didn't get the joke at all. His brain was completely clear at that time, so it shouldn't be difficult for him to leave the room.
But people like Wang Hao and Xu Jin were addicted to the illusion twice. If they didn't find the heart, they would probably die in it.
"——But if the player can't find this heart, he will definitely not be able to leave this hotel."
Yan Shaowen's words seemed to hide a deeper meaning.
Xu Jin heard it and asked in doubt: "Now that Wang Hao has got the heart, he should be able to check out, right? If he can open the door downstairs, can't we follow him?"
Yan Shaowen just said calmly: "You will know if you try it."
Xu Jin and Wang Hao's expressions changed slightly.
They turned and rushed downstairs.
Yu Ning turned his head and looked at Yan Shaowen.
Yan Shaowen: "Curious? Just follow me if you're curious. See what I'm doing. Do you want to ask for your parents' permission?"
Then he laughed and left.
Yu Ning: “…” He glared at Yan Shaowen’s back fiercely and trotted after him.
The two walked down the stairs to the first floor and saw the couple standing in front of the door.
Wang Hao was dejected, Xu Jin bit his lip, his body stiff.
Hearing the footsteps, Wang Hao turned around and said angrily: "The door is open, but we can't go out together. There is an invisible wall blocking us."
...That's what it means. He can only leave the hotel alone.
Yan Shaowen had expected this.
There is no such simple thing in the copy.
Xu Jin was silent for a moment, then said to Wang Hao: "Why don't you leave first? Outside - there shouldn't be any danger from the hotel, right?"
She turned her head and asked Yan Shaowen the second half of the sentence with uncertainty on her face.
"Now that we can see outside, that should be part of this dungeon map, right? We didn't find any clues related to the Devil's Moon in the hotel, so could that thing be outside?"
Yan Shaowen shrugged his shoulders - of course yes in theory.
He also told the two people that this copy might exist in other players' minds.
Although he mentioned this matter at the beginning of the copy, he just passed it over without explaining it, so no one took his words seriously at the time.
Xu Jin became excited.
She said to Wang Hao: "You can go find other players and join them first! If you can find the Devil's Moon earlier, then we don't need to bother here anymore!"
Yan Shaowen kindly reminded: "But we can't be sure if there are monsters wandering outside."
Xu Jin was puzzled: "But didn't you also say that monsters need to follow the rules? If Wang Hao always follows the rules, then even a monster can't--"
Wang Hao's expression suddenly became dazed since Yan Shaowen said those words about other players.
He murmured. "...Other players? So those are... 'other players'?"
Yan Shaowen's expression was slightly restrained: "What are you talking about?"
Wang Hao stuttered, "Just now, when that NPC took the room card away, a picture suddenly popped up in my mind."
"I saw the four of us in a very strange place. It was all white, and we were with a few other strangers!"
He was somewhat speechless.
"I didn't pay much attention just now, because the picture really flashed by. I didn't take it seriously at all and almost forgot about it. It wasn't until you said there might be other players in this copy that I suddenly reacted!"
"——There are eight other people in that picture besides us!" Wang Hao recalled it again and said affirmatively, "Yes, there are eight people, plus the four of us, a total of twelve people!"
*
At this moment, night market street.
"——Twelve people?!"
The four people here were also gathered together, standing in front of Jiang Shuyue's notebook stall.
Jiang Shuyue was holding onto the table, sweating profusely, with one hand on his waist.
Just now, he and Lu Chongnian tidied the table again, for no other reason than that they were both almost killed again!
Jiang Shuyue felt sad for no reason, so sad that he could hardly breathe and felt like he was suffocating.
Lu Chongnian's arm suddenly broke and he felt a sharp pain in his chest, as if something had pierced his body.
After tidying up their desks that were messed up by the NPCs, their symptoms disappeared immediately. Soon, Miao Xiang said that a strange picture appeared in her mind.
——They were standing in a white place with eight other people.
Hong Yang asked: "Besides this, what else is there in the picture?"
Miao Xiang said: "No, the picture just flashed for a moment, this is all I can see!"
Jiang Shuyue thought deeply, "It must be that the other players successfully cleared the level, so we both shared this clue! What is this? Hidden information? Or have we lost part of our memory?"
Miao Xiang opened his eyes wide and said, "Oh right! Didn't we faint once after choosing the stall? Could it be related to that?"
Jiang Shuyue: "It's possible! However, if that picture is a 'memory', then it means that it really happened, right? In other words, without our knowledge, all of us players have met each other before? Eh, but there has been no gap in our time since the beginning of the dungeon..."
Lu Zhongnian reminded: "The copy can completely pause our time."
"..." Jiang Shuyue was ashamed, "That's right, I thought the copy was too stupid."
Another issue worth paying attention to is the number of players.
He analyzed, "There are four of us here now. If the 'school' element connects us to each other, then the other players should also correspond to four people. But this instance has attracted a total of twelve players, and twelve is exactly a multiple of four, so will it be--"
"——This time all the players were divided into three groups and thrown onto three different maps?!"
The information sharing just now might have happened among the three groups at the same time!
Hong Yang asked Miao Xiang: "Do you know who are among those eight people?"
"I don't know any of them. Wait, when the screen flashed, it seemed that several people were called by name," Miao Xiang tried to recall. "There was one named Ayu, one named Yan Shaowen... and one named Zhuzhu!"
Hong Yang: "Ah, he came in too?"
Jiang Shuyue was also curious: "Who is 'zhu zhu'?"
Hong Yang held his forehead with his hand: "Ayu's fanboy, he's also from our high school. I should have expected that they were together when the instance started..."
Jiang Shuyue sighed: "Mu Yu seems to have a lot of fans!"
He had vaguely felt it when he went with Mu Yuye to visit their old high school classmates.
Hong Yang: "Yes, there have always been a lot, but this one is particularly abstract. He can be regarded as A Yu Du Wei..."
Jiang Shuyue: "It's good that he's not Meng Nan..."
Hong Yang: "He should be a son fan, the type who doesn't need a father as long as his mother does not need a father..."
The two of them suddenly stopped talking and glanced at Lu Chongnian.
Lu Chongnian had a handsome face and there seemed to be six dots on his head.
His eyes turned slightly, and he said calmly: "The information transmission between the three groups of players may be one-way."
This incoherent sentence was obviously an attempt to change the subject, but it also successfully attracted the attention of the other three people.
Hong Yang immediately asked: "What do you mean?"
Lu Zhongnian only asked one question: "Why does the copy make us older?"
They were stunned.
In the night market street, bright lights illuminate the night sky.
Pedestrians came and went, rubbing shoulders with each other, but in a corner where no one paid attention, the wind blew past, shaking the hair of the four of them and brushing the wrinkles on their faces.
——There is one thing that Hong Yang said wrong before.
It’s not that Lu Chongnian, Jiang Shuyue and Miao Xiang have grown old.
Hong Yang himself has also grown old.
All four of them are getting older.
This change is very slow, silent, and imperceptible.
By the time they realize it, fine wrinkles have appeared around their eyes, and their lips are no longer full, but become dry and rough.
Their eyes became tired and white hair appeared among their black hair.
Their skin is no longer smooth and tender, and their bodies are no longer full of vitality...
Suddenly, a strong wind blew and messed up Lu Chongnian's hair.
He now looks almost forty years old, but due to his temperament and foundation, he just looks more mature and stable.
The traces left by the years did not make him look disheveled, but only made him like a jar of wine, fermenting a more intoxicating and richer aroma.
"From the beginning of the dungeon to now, we have experienced various ways of death. These ways of death are very different. They should not come from just one of the other two groups of players, but are related to both groups."
"That is, all their actions will affect us."
He picked up a notebook on Jiang Shuyue's desk and gently put it back in its place.
“And by tidying up our desks, we can save ourselves.”
"The death factor was transmitted from their two groups to our group and was terminated in our group. This is most likely a one-way line."
"Our aging is also clearly a one-way line of change that cannot be reversed."
"The irreversible copy elements do not need to be cracked. They are just rules, so all you have to do is find the message they convey."
Hong Yang asked doubtfully: "So, what is the message they convey?"
Lu Zhongnian suddenly felt something and raised his right arm.
Just near his wrist, a white scar suddenly appeared on his skin out of nowhere.
The scar extended rapidly downwards right under their eyes, leaving a small vertical line, and then a short mark appeared from the top of the vertical line to the right.
Under the shocked gazes of the other three people, these tiny scars continued to appear, forming one word after another on Lu Chongnian's arm...gradually forming a sentence.
[Are you reversing our death? If so, put me back to the starting point again - Mu Yu]
Lu Zhongnian raised the corners of his lips and smiled.
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