Chapter 67 Let’s take a bath together! (IV)
9:45
Fu Xiaoju had been in there for ten minutes, and the atmosphere in the lobby was gradually becoming solemn.
Two or three pairs of eyes frequently glanced at the electronic display screen on the front desk.
The number on the small screen remained at "1" and did not change.
Brother Bird couldn't help but stand up and walked to the entrance of the locker room. He touched it with his hand, but the invisible wall was still blocking them and they couldn't get in.
He turned around and sighed. The next second, the curtain behind him moved.
A hand stretched out and pulled open the curtain, and Fu Xiaoju came out holding a washbasin and a stick!
Everyone was cheered up and immediately stood up and gathered around.
“It’s finally out!”
"Are you okay?"
"How's it in there?"
"Are there any monsters?"
Fu Xiaoju's cheeks were rosy and his skin was as tender as a peeled egg, smooth and reflective, but his expression was one of confusion.
“——I, I didn’t touch anything in there!”
Everyone was stunned.
Fu Xiaoju himself was a little bit unbelievable: "There is no monster in the locker room or the bathhouse. The only NPC is Lao Li. I even asked him to give me a bath, but nothing happened. I just spent one more point. Now I only have four points left in my card."
Talking about his experience just now, Fu Xiaoju himself found it bizarre.
He had prepared himself mentally and called Lao Li over, but... he was held down by Lao Li and rubbed violently. Apart from the fact that Lao Li's invisible hand-like speed compressed the entire scrubbing process into a very short time and his embarrassing parts were rubbed a little painfully, there were no other abnormal situations!
No monster popped out, and Lao Li didn't give him any tasks.
The old man patted his butt, said "OK" and packed up his things and walked out of the bathhouse. Fu Xiaoju had a lot of questions in his mind. He saw that there was only one minute left, so he simply opened all the cubicles in the bathhouse, only to find out -
It turns out that those curtains were just for show. All the compartments were empty and there was no one inside!
After hearing his words, Mu Yu, Lu Chongnian and Principal Dou fell into deep thought.
"I also took pictures, you can take a look."
Everyone gathered around, and Fu Xiaoju flipped through the photos one by one. He took pictures of the three rules for getting soap and the slogan on the wall of the passage. The entire layout of the bathhouse was right in front of them.
Everyone frowned, trying hard to figure out something from it. Not to mention the three seniors who entered the dungeon for the first time, even veteran players like Mu Yu couldn't figure it out for a while.
After Fu Xiaoju showed the photo, he glanced at the electronic display and found that it was still 1. He pointed at it and asked, "Is this thing always like this?"
"Yes," said Bird Brother, "it showed 1 when you entered, and it still showed 1 when you came out. It didn't even go black..."
So now…
Everyone looked at each other... What were they going to do?
Principal Dou had just been touching his chin with a thoughtful look on his face. At this moment, he put down his hands, walked past Fu Xiaoju, and came to the door of the locker room.
He stretched out his hand, and his fingertips touched the curtain hanging in front of him, and the curtain swayed.
He took his hand back and said, "Looks like I can go in now."
The number he just drew was 2.
Everyone breathed hard.
——So, this round will still be a single player entering?
Is it going to be like this from now on?
Seeing this, Fu Xiaoju quickly handed over the stick in his hand and said, "Principal Dou, please take this with you, just in case."
"Okay, thank you. Your name is——"
Fu Xiaoju immediately said: "Fu Xiaoju, my name is Fu Xiaoju!"
"Okay, classmate Fu Xiaoju," Principal Dou nodded and smiled politely. He walked back, picked up the toiletry bag he brought with him, took the stick from Fu Xiaoju, and then glanced at them and said, "Classmates, after I go in, you should pay attention to the time and this electronic display screen."
"I know, principal, be careful!"
Principal Dou nodded, looked at them carefully again, then turned back with a gentle expression, lifted the curtain at the locker room door, and walked in.
This elegant figure disappeared from their sight.
…
The group slowly sat down on the bench again.
Fu Xiaoju successfully broke into the dungeon alone, and his excitement had not yet dissipated. He sat next to Mu Yu and Lu Chongnian and kept chattering about how nervous he was when he entered and how conflicted he was before calling out to Lao Li.
Mu Yu was a little distracted while listening.
...It's a good thing that Fu Xiaoju was able to come out safely, but the whole process was so smooth that it made this copy seem a little unusual.
There are no monsters, and the only NPC is Lao Li.
Fu Xiaoju even put the fifth rule of the bathhouse into practice himself and asked Lao Li to give him a bath, but nothing was triggered.
...So where are the clues?
He looked at the small electronic screen on the front desk.
The bright red "1" stands still.
...Does this number really have to remain like this?
…
Time passes by every second.
Because Fu Xiaoju went in and out very smoothly, when Principal Dou came in this round, everyone's mood was not as heavy as in the previous round.
It was not until 9:58, ten minutes after Principal Dou had been in there, that they stood up and began to wander around the locker room door.
The curtain at the door of the dressing room was completely hung down, blocking out any light and leaving no gaps at all, so they could not peek into what was going on inside.
Everyone paced back and forth. The safety of this important figure, Principal Dou, was on everyone's mind.
Lu Chongnian has been standing in front of the electronic display screen, staring at it.
Mu Yu walked over and asked: "No change?"
Lu Zhongnian shook his head: "No."
At 10:00, worry finally began to show on everyone's faces.
Liu Yu whispered: "...will something happen?"
Zhao Anyi rejected it without hesitation: "Impossible, Principal Dou is so powerful, it's impossible for anything to happen."
Although he said that, the anxiety on his face was no less.
Fu Xiaoju comforted him, "I'm fine after I went in, and nothing will happen to Principal Dou. He may have just stayed in the locker room for a while longer."
Bird brother also said: "Yes, Principal Dou is careful. He may have checked too carefully inside, so it took a little longer."
10:04
Wang Shi, a junior, whispered, "Maybe something really happened. It's already been sixteen minutes..."
Zhao Anyi: "Can you please stop being such a badass!"
Bird Brother: "Wait a little longer, it may come out soon..."
Mu Yu's brows were getting more and more furrowed.
He simply walked forward and touched the empty space outside the locker room door.
His number is 3. Theoretically, it should be his turn after Principal Dou. If the invisible wall disappears at this time, it means...
Fortunately, he felt a cool touch on his fingertips, and Mu Yu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "The wall is still there."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
If the wall is still there, then the work inside is still going on, right? Principal Dou should be fine?
It's OK, just slow down, they can wait -
Lu Zhongnian suddenly said, "The screen is black."
The thoughts in my head were abruptly stopped.
Everyone was startled and turned around to look.
On the front desk, the "1" on the small electronic screen had disappeared, and the entire screen turned pitch black.
This darkness made people feel uneasy, and just as everyone's eyelids were twitching, the dark screen was silent for a second, and a bright red number jumped out again -
Still “1”!
It’s still a big “1”!
There was an uproar in the lobby.
"What's going on? What does it mean? Why is it 1 again?"
"If the number didn't change, why did the screen go black just now?"
"What happened to Principal Dou?"
Mu Yu was also a little dazed. Suddenly he paused and turned around.
…The touch at my fingertips disappeared.
The invisible wall disappeared.
As if he had a premonition, Lu Chongnian looked over at him and frowned.
Bird Brother and Fu Xiaoju also became nervous: "Is it your turn?"
Wang Shi, Liu Yu and Zhao Anyi stopped arguing and looked at him together.
Mu Yu pursed his lips and lowered his hands: "... Yeah."
As soon as he said this, everyone's heart sank to the bottom.
——A new round has begun, but Principal Dou has not come out until now.
Principal Dou...is he really in there...
Mu Yu stared at the curtain in front of him, feeling a little heavy-hearted.
After a moment of silence, he took a deep breath, turned around, walked to the small bench, and picked up the washbasin he brought.
He walked back and said to them, "After I go in, you keep watching the time and the electronic display. That black screen must mean something."
Fu Xiaoju and Bird Brother nodded quickly: "Okay!"
Lu Zhongnian whispered to him, "Be careful."
Zhao Anyi: "Go in and see the principal..."
"I know." Mu Yu shook Lu Zhongnian's hand and said to the others, "Then I'll go in."
After saying this, he opened the curtain without hesitation and disappeared from everyone's sight.
*
Time, 10:05.
The curtain hung heavily behind him, and Mu Yu stopped at the entrance of the dressing room.
His calm eyes looked forward.
The entire locker room was brightly lit and quiet.
...Principal Dou’s transparent toiletry bag was still on the stool at the door, open, with several pieces of clothes piled on top.
Mu Yu pursed her lips and walked over quickly.
He put his washbasin aside, thought for a while, and took off only his shirt and trousers, leaving only his shorts on.
Then he took his cell phone, washbasin and towel, and left all other things including glasses here, and quickly went into the bathhouse.
In the huge bathhouse, the lights were dim yellow and there was a faint smell of dampness in the air, indicating that the last person who entered here had just finished taking a bath not long ago. However, the whole space was now quiet without the sound of a drop of water.
There are two kinds of soap, red and green, on the table at the entrance.
Mu Yu had already seen the three rules for getting soap on Fu Xiaoju's phone, but he still read them again carefully, and his eyes lingered on the second rule for a while longer.
[If you feel your body is light, choose red soap, which can calm you down; if you feel your body is heavy, or everything is normal, choose green soap, which is the most versatile.]
After thinking for a second, Mu Yu chose a piece of red soap and put it in his washbasin.
Then, he raised his guard and walked into the bathhouse.
The floor and walls of the bathhouse are covered with large expanses of white tiles, on which water droplets condense.
Looking around, the sixteen cubicles in the shower area of Zone 1 all had their curtains drawn, just as Fu Xiaoju had said.
It looks like there are people, but actually there is no one?
...But what about Principal Dou? Could he be in a cubicle somewhere?
Mu Yu walked lightly and quickly and cautiously walked around the three quiet shower areas, frowning.
No, all the cubicles are the same. There is no movement inside and it looks like there is no one inside. If there was really someone there, he would have come out after hearing his footsteps.
Mu Yu also did not find any traces of Principal Dou's activities in the public area of the bathhouse.
When players get into trouble, it's usually because they break the rules or are killed by monsters. The latter is often caused by the former, and the whole process shouldn't leave no trace.
Will the environment in the bathhouse be refreshed every time a round of players comes in?
Or did Principal Dou just disappear out of thin air?
But according to the experience of the first three copies, if something really happens to the player, a corpse will generally be left behind and will not completely disappear without a trace. Unless this copy is the same as the previous one, what will the player's corpse become?
...Mu Yu looked down at the soap in his washbasin.
Not really...
He exhaled, thought about it, and turned to Area 2.
Since something bad happened to Principal Dou, the situation inside the bathhouse must have changed compared to the first round. He could no longer rashly overturn all the cubicles like Fu Xiaoju did.
He could only put Principal Dou's matter aside for the moment and consider which shower area he should go to.
Fu Xiaoju just chose Area 1, so he will go to Area 2 to have a look.
Mu Yu chose a shower room near the passage in Area 2, lifted the curtain and went in, and there was indeed no one inside.
He swiped his campus card, and with a beep, the screen showed that 2 points had been deducted.
——So, zone 1 is 1 point, zone 2 is 2 points, and zone 3 is 3 points?
Will the situation in each shower area become more complicated as the number of points increases?
Mu Yu turned on the shower while thinking.
The hot water rushed down and hit his skin, instantly shocking him - it was so hot!
Is this boiling water?!
His skin turned visibly red, and Mu Yu immediately tried to adjust the water temperature, but found that the handle, which was originally used to adjust the temperature, did not change the temperature of the water at all, whether he turned it left or right.
…Is this the test of the Zone 2 shower room?
The player must take a bath in such scalding water?
Mu Yu frowned.
At this time, if you want to change to another shower area, you have to deduct points again. 6 points are not enough...
never mind.
Anyway, the water temperature is not enough to kill people, at most it will burn off a layer of skin.
Mu Yu quickly applied soap on himself and endured the scalding water to rinse himself, aiming to get it over with quickly.
While washing, he turned around and stared at the gap under the curtain, thinking -
So, what exactly happened to Principal Dou?
What is the difference between his round and Fu Xiaoju’s round?
Bathhouse copy Bathhouse copy, if something is really going to happen, it should happen during the bathing process, right?
But, he is taking a shower now, then what? ?
Mu Yu was full of questions and the hot water made him gasp for air.
In less than a minute, he finished rinsing and quickly turned off the shower and wiped his body with a towel. Halfway through, he suddenly heard footsteps.
Click.
Mu Yu immediately stopped moving.
Click, click.
Following closely was Lao Li’s rough voice.
"Anyone want a bath?"
The sound came from the other end of the wall behind Mu Yu - Area 1.
Mu Yu pricked up his ears quietly.
Click, click.
The footsteps slowly circled in Area 1, then walked out and came to Area 2, approaching his direction.
"Anyone want a bath?"
A skinny black shadow passed in front of his curtains.
Mu Yu stared at the curtain.
After a while, the footsteps also stopped in Area 2 and slowly moved towards Area 3...
Mu Yu remained calm, relaxed and continued to wipe.
He dried himself and sat in the small cubicle, wondering what he should do next.
In Area 3, the slow footsteps kept lingering in the same place.
Suddenly, the footsteps stopped and a mutter was heard: "Why is it dirty here again?"
Mu Yu paused.
He lifted the curtain and immediately rushed to Area 3.
In the middle of Area 3, the curtain of a compartment is now drawn open.
Mu Yu rushed straight there and then suddenly stopped.
In the open cubicle, a hunched figure in a T-shirt and shorts was crouching against the tiled wall with his back to him.
On the white wall, mud and sand were seeping out from the gap between two tiles, merging with the water droplets condensed on the surface of the tiles, and flowing down to form a gray-black stain.
——Then it was wiped away by a skinny hand with a rag.
Old Li turned his head suddenly, his cloudy eyes squeezed by crisscrossing wrinkles, staring straight at Mu Yu: "Classmate, do you want a bath?"
"……No."
Mu Yu took a step back, secretly wondering.
Is it really just the tiles that are dirty?
He thought something had happened.
He was a little disappointed and quickly retreated to his own compartment in Area 2, pulled the curtain back up, frowned, and touched his chin with his elbow.
He really couldn't understand this copy. There were no monsters and no death mechanism. What on earth was this copy requiring them to do?
They can't even find an idea for the copy, so how are they going to find the monster generator?
Mu Yu looked at the time.
It has been five minutes since he came in, and there are five minutes left. What can he do with it?
Looking for Lao Li to give you a bath?
But he always felt that there was no point in calling Lao Li over. In the end, the exploration would most likely end like Fu Xiaoju, without any incident.
So, what to do?
Mu Yu thought and thought, and reviewed all the rules that had appeared in the current copy.
There will definitely be monsters in this copy, because the sixth rule of the bathhouse states that players cannot peek through the cracks in the doors of other cubicles, which implies that there are "people" in the cubicles.
But NPCs will not appear in the middle of a copy. If they do, they can only be monsters.
So, how do you lure the monster out?
Mu Yu stood there for a while, then turned on the shower again.
He stared at the water pouring down in front of him, watching the white steam released from the boiling water, listening to the lonely sound of water in the huge bathhouse, and thought -
In the bathhouse copy, do I still have to keep taking a bath?
…Try again.
He took a step forward and doused himself in again.
This time, he even got his head in.
His black hair was instantly wet, and Mu Yu closed his eyes, enduring the pain of the scalding hot water falling down.
He could feel that there was a gaze in the air staring at him silently.
But now he can clearly distinguish that this is not the gaze of a monster, but the strange gaze of a bystander that has always followed the players and appeared in every copy.
Mu Yu endured the pain of being wet for a while, but still nothing happened, so he simply reached out and went all out, pulling open the protective curtain.
The entire compartment suddenly appeared open.
He closed his eyes and his vision was completely dark. He could hear the sound of water hitting the ground, which echoed in the empty bathhouse. His skin could feel the cool air quietly flowing into this small space from outside.
The gate has been opened, will the monster appear?
Mu Yu breathed through his mouth, his chest rising and falling.
The sense of sight continued to increase, appearing one by one in all directions, as if countless cameras were pointed at him.
…Will you come?
Splash, splash, the sound of water keeps falling.
Mu Yu was soaked all over and his skin was wrinkled.
Heart beating very fast.
Suddenly——
A whisper sounded quietly, so close that it seemed to be right behind him.
“…Is anyone there?!”
Mu Yu suddenly opened his eyes.
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