Chapter 107 The Twelfth Door
After returning home, Lin Qiushi experienced another period of peace. During this time, thanks to Ruan Nanzhu's introduction, he accepted two missions and entered several gates with members of other organizations. Of course, these were low-level gates, so he was cautious when he had clues. Although there were some setbacks, he finally made it out safely.
Ruan Nanzhu began making plans for the tenth door. They could have entered with Cheng Yixie, but Cheng Yixie declined, stating that he would only enter the tenth door with his brother. Lin Qiushi was puzzled by Cheng Yixie's stubbornness, but it took time for him to understand. Cheng Yixie's refusal stemmed from a separate note he had secretly obtained regarding the tenth door.
But the note cannot be shown to others.
Ruan Nanzhu had known about this for a long time, so he did not bother with Cheng Yixie anymore. Instead, he turned his attention to other organizations and began to look for people who wanted to pass the tenth door.
With Ruan Nanzhu's face, it was not difficult to find such a person. He soon got the news that there was a girl in Bai Ming's organization who was about to pass the tenth door. She had more doors than Bai Ming and was a very powerful character.
Due to differences in physical fitness, girls generally have less physical strength than boys, and are often at a disadvantage in confrontations. Consequently, girls have a lower survival rate within the sect, but those who survive are all top-tier figures.
The girl's name was Liang Miye, but it was not certain whether it was her real name or a pseudonym. The only thing that was certain was that she was a veteran of Bai Ming's organization, White Bear. She was just very low-key and had almost no presence.
The people in White Bear are similar to those in Obsidian, there are only about six or seven of them, but they are all experts.
It’s just that Bai Ming entered through a door that was slightly lower than Ruan Nanzhu’s, and he would not pass the tenth door until the end of next year.
So Liang Miye was actually the first person in their organization to pass the tenth gate.
"Do you have any clues about the tenth door?" Bai Ming asked very carefully when negotiating with Ruan Nanzhu. After all, he was an important figure in his own organization. If something really happened, it would be a huge loss.
"Yes," Ruan Nanzhu said, "The clues are very detailed. Of course, if you have more detailed clues, we can use yours."
"We don't have any clues about the tenth door." Bai Ming said, "Something went wrong when we left the ninth door, and someone else got there first. What I mean is that if you don't have any clues about the tenth door, it's best to enter the ninth door again."
Ruan Nanzhu said: "Don't worry about this."
Bai Ming said: "Well, she joined at the beginning of this year, about five months later than Cheng Yixie."
Cheng Yixie's door opened in May.
Ruan Nanzhu nodded, indicating that he understood.
"Then I'll leave her to you." Bai Ming said with a smile, "You have to bring her out to me."
"Sorry, I can't promise that." Ruan Nanzhu refused to accept the offer. He said, "I can only provide clues. As for whether she can come out, I can't guarantee it."
Bai Ming raised his eyebrows and said, "Is the tenth door so scary?"
Ruan Nanzhu said, "It's a qualitative difference."
Bai Ming started to laugh. He said, "Okay, I understand. I wish you all the best in advance."
Ruan Nanzhu nodded and looked at Lin Qiushi, who was standing on the other side of the living room, playing with his phone with his head down.
Bai Ming seemed to have caught some emotion in Ruan Nanzhu's eyes. He said, "Are you finally willing to take action?"
Ruan Nanzhu didn't respond.
"It should be delicious." Bai Ming said, "After all, we've been looking forward to it for so long."
Ruan Nanzhu smiled faintly: "Do you think I am you?"
Bai Ming leaned back in his chair: "I didn't wait that long. I'll take action when the time is right. It's always good to enjoy life while you can." He was talking about Zhang Yiqing.
When Ruan Nanzhu introduced Zhang Yiqing to him, Bai Ming knew what he wanted, and now he had indeed obtained it. He and Ruan Nanzhu were the same type of people, but with a slight difference: he was more unscrupulous than Ruan Nanzhu - although it was not obvious from the outside.
Ruan Nanzhu said, "You should leave."
Bai Ming stood up: "Won't you treat me to lunch?"
Ruan Nanzhu: "There's nothing delicious."
Bai Ming said helplessly, "Okay." He glanced at the kitchen and saw Lin Qiushi standing there with his head down, tying his apron. "You do have an oral."
Ruan Nanzhu: "I hope you have it too."
Bai Ming smiled, said nothing, and left. How could his wife cook? She usually cooked for herself, but he didn't care. After all, he was happy to pamper Zhang Yiqing. As long as he was happy, why bother with those unnecessary things?
After Bai Ming and Ruan Nanzhu reached a consensus, Liang Miye moved in the obsidian.
Lin Qiushi was a little surprised when he first saw Liang Miye, because she was a thin and petite girl with short hair and a pretty face. She was not the kind of girl with a strong aura, but he could see some uniqueness in her eyes.
"It's a pleasure to work with you, Mr. Ruan." Liang Miye extended his hand to Ruan Nanzhu.
Ruan Nanzhu shook her hand and said, "Ms. Liang."
"Mr. Ruan." Liang Miye was not polite. "When can we see the clues?" She went straight to the point.
"Maybe after a while," Ruan Nanzhu said. "The clues aren't very extensible. I think we can start to work on them in the meantime."
Liang Miye nodded, agreeing with Ruan Nanzhu. She looked at Lin Qiushi, who was standing quietly to the side, and asked, "Is he going in with us too?"
"Yes." Ruan Nanzhu said.
"Okay." Liang Miye said, "Let's get used to each other first."
So the three of them began looking for work, visiting low-level doors to get to know each other. After entering, Lin Qiushi realized that the Liang Miye inside was quite different from the one outside. The Liang Miye inside was a goddess with a powerful aura. Standing 1.76 meters tall and wearing high heels, no one dared to talk to her. If Lin Qiushi hadn't known she was a woman, he would probably have suspected she was another cross-dressing gangster.
There are still three months left before they can enter the sect. In the first two months, they entered the sect once a week on average. Liang Miye also expressed his recognition of Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi's strengths, as evidenced by the fact that Bai Ming no longer came to Obsidian to ask questions.
In the remaining month, the three began to study the clues of the tenth door.
There were only two words written on the note on the tenth door: Box Girl.
Box Girl is a horror-themed board game, which is similar in nature to Werewolf, except that the player who plays the role of a human fights against the player who plays the role of a Box Girl.
The game is not complicated and feels a bit like a Japanese RPG.
The story of the Box Girl is about a girl who witnessed her father murder her mother, after which he forcibly stuffed her into a small box. She lived for a time in a twisted state within the box, then died a tragic death filled with deep resentment. Players assume the role of a passerby who stumbles into the Box Girl's house and must find a way to escape, or face certain death.
Players travel across the map, and in every room there are boxes, which may contain box girls, items, and box girl skills. Players can choose to open the box, but if a box girl appears inside, the player will be declared dead and will become a box man, who will harm the remaining survivors together with the box girl.
Lin Qiushi was experiencing this type of board game for the first time. He said, "Looks like we're going to play this game after we get in?"
"Not necessarily." Ruan Nanzhu lowered his head and stacked the noise pieces needed for the Box Girl's actions in the game in his hands. "This game will definitely change, but I'm not sure what the changes will be." Noise pieces are props in the game Box Girl. They are several small round discs. Players need to stack these small discs on a small bulge. Once the discs fail to stack and fall down, it means that a noise is made, and the Box Girl can move one square.
It's almost like a dice, except the dice is in the player's hands.
Lin Qiushi watched Ruan Nanzhu effortlessly stack all five noise pieces. Although it was about to fall, it never collapsed. Liang Miye, who was sitting next to him, said, "Ruan Nanzhu, would you mind telling me about what happened to you inside the tenth door?"
Ruan Nanzhu raised his eyes and glanced at Liang Miye: "The tenth door I passed before was also a game."
"What game?" Liang Miye asked.
"Four Corners Game," Ruan Nanzhu said, "It's a very ordinary horror game."
Lin Qiushi was silent. Undoubtedly, this kind of horror game, so common in reality, was incredibly deadly when placed inside a door. After the game ended, something would undoubtedly be summoned.
"How did you get out?" Liang Miye asked.
"Of course, I have to finish the game." Ruan Nanzhu's fingers moved slightly, and he pushed down all the noise pieces piled up in front of him. He said lightly, "As long as it's finished, you can get out."
"Oh." Liang Miye said, "Then our clue should be relatively simple."
Because at least there is a way to win against the Box Girl. There are three ways to win in the game. One is to use special props to save the Box Girl, the second is to use special props to kill the Box Girl, and the third is to find the password of the safe in the study, take out the key, and then find the tunnel to leave the villa.
"It's not that simple." Ruan Nanzhu said lazily.
It is indeed not easy. These things are hidden in boxes. If you want to find them, you must open the boxes in front of you. However, what is hidden in each box may not be props, but may be a twisted and terrifying box girl.
"Well." Liang Miye said, "There is always a way."
While they were talking, it was Lin Qiushi's turn. He chose a box in the bedroom. As soon as he opened the card on the box, he saw a picture of a box girl on the back of the card.
The box girl glared at him with her black eyes and stretched out her hand, her body filling the entire small wooden box. Lin Qiushi covered the card and said, "Okay, I'm a box person now."
Ruan Nanzhu took Lin Qiushi's character and gave him a card representing the box man.
This has a lot to do with luck, and of course there are skills involved as well. Just opening boxes randomly won't work; you have to use some of the more important items in the game.
This game requires at least four people, three of whom play humans and one plays the box girl.
Due to a shortage of players, Ruan Nanzhu called Cheng Yixie over to play the role of the Box Girl. After a few rounds, Liang Miye lamented that the key to this game wasn't the Box Girl's intelligence. If the Box Girl was clever enough and the humans were unlucky enough, escaping would be difficult.
Cheng Yixie was obviously a suitable box girl. Lin Qiushi was tricked several times and finally learned his lesson. He stopped opening boxes randomly and only dared to open the box to see what was inside after making sure that Cheng Yixie was definitely not in the room he was in.
However, this slows down the game progress a lot.
For the remaining month or so, we all played this game. As our proficiency improved, we also understood the game's techniques—boxes couldn't be opened casually; relying solely on luck was irrational. The best approach was to use a few items early in the game to determine where the box girl was, and then proceed to open the box.
Of course, the luck factor in this game is also very important, because sometimes they are unlucky and can never find the key props. Instead, they keep helping the box girl to open new skills. The more skills the box girl has, the simpler it is to kill people.
Bai Ming would occasionally come to Obsidian to play a few games with them. He would look at the game table, propping up his chin and smiling: "If I were a box girl, none of you would be able to escape."
Ruan Nanzhu didn't say anything.
Liang Miye said, "Boss, you are too confident."
Bai Ming said: "It's not that I'm confident, it's just that this game has a huge flaw."
"I know." Liang Miye knew what Bai Ming was talking about, "but they are all people who have passed the ninth door, there can't be any newbies." Who can't be a smart person if he can reach the tenth door?
The most feared thing in this game is having bad teammates. If you play carelessly, not only may the box girl unlock all her skills, but you may also turn her into a box man, increasing the difficulty of the game.
Of course, Liang Miye didn’t think there would be anyone too stupid at the tenth door. Anyone who was too stupid at the previous doors would have been doomed.
They got married around January, a month before the Chinese New Year.
Liang Miye said: "I am going back to my parents' house to celebrate the New Year this year."
Lin Qiushi said, "It won't be too late to go back after we get out."
Liang Miye smiled: "You don't know the survival rate of the tenth door, do you?"
Lin Qiushi said, "I know." Even Ruan Nanzhu found the door difficult, so it wouldn't be an easy situation either.
"So I'm a little worried that I won't be able to make it through the New Year." Liang Miye said, "Aren't you worried?"
Lin Qiushi said, "I'm worried."
Liang Miye said, "You don't look like you're worried."
Lin Qiushi was puzzled: "Then what does it take to be considered worried?"
Liang Miye was silent for a moment and sighed: "You Obsidian people are indeed all gifted."
Lin Qiushi: “…” Is there?
The game of Box Girl doesn't have much background, it's just a simple board game. After playing for a month, they have mastered everything they can, and the only thing left is to get started.
Because it was a high-level sect, Liang Miye could already accurately predict the time they would appear. She said that at 7 o'clock in the evening on January 13th, Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu began to prepare the things they would bring in.
This time, Ruan Nanzhu changed into women's clothes. When he came down from upstairs in a long skirt, Liang Miye stared at him with wide eyes and asked, "Is this Mr. Ruan?"
Lin Qiushi: "Wipe your saliva..."
Liang Miye wiped the corner of her mouth: "She's so beautiful! How can a woman like me live?"
To be honest, although she had heard this from Bai Ming, she had never dared to think about Ruan Nanzhu wearing women's clothing. After all, although Ruan Nanzhu looked beautiful in men's clothing, he did not have the slightest feminine aura. Just sitting there, his powerful aura made people dare not even think of disrespecting him.
Lin Qiushi hadn't seen Ruan Nanzhu in women's clothing for a while, and he inexplicably felt a bit nostalgic. Of course, he didn't dare to express his feelings, but simply said that he liked Ruan Nanzhu no matter what she looked like.
A few days before moving in, everyone in the villa had a meal together. Lu Yanxue cooked a table full of delicious dishes, and Lin Qiushi also drank some wine.
Cheng Qianli said: "You must come back safely."
"I will." Lin Qiushi patted his head. "You have to work hard too."
Cheng Qianli muttered: "I know, I'm not stupid..."
Everyone fell silent and didn't respond, then abruptly changed the subject. It seemed that everyone in the villa had a tacit consensus on Cheng Qianli's intelligence.
On the evening of the 13th, everyone sat in the living room waiting. Lin Qiushi was watching TV, but when the big clock in the living room struck seven, he clearly felt the change in the atmosphere.
Everyone around him disappeared, leaving him alone in the living room. The show on TV grew cold. Lin Qiushi slung his backpack over his shoulder and left the sofa. He casually opened a door and saw a familiar scene.
Twelve doors stood in a long corridor, nine of which were sealed, leaving only three.
Lin Qiushi walked to the tenth door, reached out and grasped the handle, pulling it outward. Then he felt a strong suction. By the time Lin Qiushi recovered, he was standing on a desolate path. At the end of the path was the lonely three-story house.
Lin Qiushi walked along the path and soon arrived in front of the villa. He opened the door and saw a beautifully built entrance hall. There were already eight or nine people standing inside. When these people saw Lin Qiushi walk in, they all showed vigilance.
Because it was a high-level gate, everyone was a veteran, and most people came in with their companions. So the crowd was divided into several groups of three or four, all whispering and discussing the situation around them.
Lin Qiushi spotted a familiar figure beside the sofa. He walked over and called out, "Zhu Meng."
Ruan Nanzhu turned around: "Linlin."
Lin Qiushi asked, "What's going on?"
Ruan Nanzhu said, "I just arrived too."
Lin Qiushi said "oh" and began to observe the surrounding situation. Because the game of Box Girl does not have a map, all the rooms are pieced together by players using separate blocks. Therefore, each map is different, and the location of the study is also different.
Lin Qiushi felt that their most important task now was to find the study and then the important safe.
Five or six more people walked in from outside. Lin Qiushi clearly felt that there was something wrong with the number of people. He immediately remembered the Sister Xia he met when he passed the ninth door where the clue was a human mirror. He whispered, "Did someone deliberately bring someone new in?"
"Yeah." Ruan Nanzhu frowned, obviously a little unhappy.
There is a limit to the number of people who can die each day, so bringing in more people to act as cannon fodder will actually increase your own survival rate. However, with this door, these newcomers will obviously have a bad counterproductive effect.
Liang Miye said helplessly: "I remember when I passed the eighth door, there were more than thirty people..."
"More than thirty people?" Lin Qiushi was stunned.
"Yes." Liang Miye said, "And then half of them died in two nights..."
Lin Qiushi: “…”
"There's no such thing as a free lunch," Liang Miye said. "When a pie falls from the sky, who knows what's inside it?"
There were more and more people in the entrance hall, and finally the number was fixed at twenty-three, seven of whom were in a group. From the expressions of these people, it can be seen that they must be novices who don’t understand something. Of course, there was also an old man who served as a leader.
Everyone was waiting for the NPC, but he didn't come. The door at the entrance suddenly slammed shut. From the kitchen on the first floor, a girl's howling was heard. Then the lights in the villa dimmed, and the whole house fell into a dim red.
The game has begun, Lin Qiushi realized clearly.
They had a clue and knew it was a game, but the newcomers were completely bewildered, asking, "What the hell is going on? Where are the NPCs? Why are there no NPCs?"
"What NPC?" a young man with a nose ring said impatiently. "Don't you have eyes? They're obviously trying to get us to escape."
The door was locked and the windows were covered with hard steel plates. The whole house was as solid as a cage, and they were the little white mice in the cage.
"Let's take a look on the second floor?" Lin Qiushi suggested.
"Okay." Ruan Nanzhu stood up.
They went up the stairs to the second floor and saw the corridor on the second floor. There were also several wooden boxes in the corridor that were out of tune with the environment. There was no doubt that this was indeed the world of the Box Girl.
Lin Qiushi found the study at the end of the corridor on the second floor. When he pushed the door open, he could see five or six wooden boxes inside, as well as a conspicuous safe.
Lin Qiushi walked to the safe and saw the four-digit password on it.
There are ten possible digits for a four-digit password, which means there are ten thousand possibilities. It is definitely impossible to figure it out by trying.
Lin Qiushi was fiddling with something with his head down when he heard a scream from downstairs.
Liang Miye said: "It's over!"
Lin Qiushi: "Hmm?"
Liang Miye said: "I forgot to remind those newbies that they can't touch the box casually!" God knows what they found in the box.
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