Chapter 19
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhan Mu could visibly sense that Lu Chao was angry.
Before he could even ask, the captain of the so-called "Lu Chao Brigade" jumped out, grabbed Lu Chao's neck, and said, "Brother, I see you have some extraordinary talents. Why don't you join our guild? Just sign in and you'll get free experience points."
Zhan Mu laughed strangely and was about to refuse on his behalf, but unexpectedly Lu Chao had already replied: "Okay, no problem."
It was like he was really angry, ready to cut all ties with Zhan Mu. He didn't even look at him and walked away with Lu Chao's group. Zhan Mu's mouth twitched. What was he throwing a tantrum about? It was just a joke between brothers, wasn't it?!
"Okay, go your way. Just do whatever you want and have fun on your own." Zhan Mu waved his hand and strolled around the paper figurine village with his hands in his pockets.
It was strange. They looked for clues everywhere and found that except for the simple thatched house of Daxi in the original copy, the doors of other villagers' houses were all closed and no exploration was allowed.
In addition to Lu Chao's team, there were other players coming in. Everyone was talking at once, and there were endless discussions about the dungeon. Some even broke the record by doing it two or three times.
Zhan Mu didn't talk to anyone because he was aloof, but he was more interested in listening to the old players who had played the game and wanted to break the game mode.
"Wait until dark. When it's dark, look for the paper bride. She is the clue to entering the 'Song Mansion'. The first copy is in the Song Mansion, the richest man in the village."
Zhan Mu: "Shall we all go in together?"
A pink-haired girl answered, "No, now we're just exchanging experiences. Once you enter the Song Mansion, it's single-player mode, and the ranking competition will be based on the time you spend clearing levels."
"Why are you looking for a paper bride? If anyone knows, please explain it clearly. I'm still confused after listening to you for so long."
"This involves the background story of the dungeon, I'm too lazy to explain it. You just need to remember that when it gets dark, all the paper figures in the village will come back to life and kill people."
The girl said, "Because in the original copy we killed Di Ting and returned Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's magic weapon, the paper bride he forced upon her has returned to normal. This is the only safe place in the entire village, so it can be considered a safe house."
Her ID is, our CP must be real.
"Someone introduced her on the forum, so let me give you a few words." A short, coolly dressed white-haired man added, "The paper bride's real name is Qingmei. She was the personal maid of the eldest young master of Xiyuan in the Song Mansion, a wealthy merchant in the village. The maze we're going to is the Song Mansion, and Qingmei is the breakthrough point."
His ID is, the young master who got off the Maybach.
Zhan Mu approached the pink-haired girl and asked, "Did you also play several times to break the record?"
The pink-haired girl nodded, turned around and saw him, as if she was bewitched by his black tights. She blushed slightly and said, "Um, yes, so, is this your first time?"
"Yeah." Zhan Mu nodded and looked at the setting sun in the game instance. "Why is the instance inside the Song Mansion, but the safe house is outside?"
"There's no safe house in the Song Mansion instance. Once you enter, you can't get out unless you clear the level. If you die in there, you'll be eliminated immediately."
The short young master with white hair and Maybach said, "Yes, the whole village is a copy. The purpose of the maze Song Mansion is to find a way to 'remove the curse'. Our mission is to restore the villagers who were cursed by the evil Taoist priest and turned into paper figures to their original appearance."
Zhan Mu was chatting happily with them. Not far away, Lu Chao was also talking animatedly with his new team. He said, "So this is a large-scale team-based game with division of labor? Of the 100 people, some will enter the maze of the Song Mansion to solve the puzzles, while others will stay outside to protect the players who enter the Song Mansion."
"That's right. The villagers were transformed into paper figures because of the Song Mansion. They hate the Song family, so anyone who approaches the Song Mansion will be attacked as an enemy." Captain Lu Chao replied, "Paper figures are immortal. Even if burned with a fire stick, they will resurrect and crawl out again. That's why we have to leave some people to protect players who enter the Song Mansion."
"Those of you who have played this game before, please share your experience and tell me how the ratio should be distributed."
"I don't understand. What do you mean?"
Lu Chao: "She means, out of 100 people, how many should enter the maze instance, and how many should be guarding outside? Have those of you who have played the game calculated the ratio?"
"About 30 people are inside the maze, and 70 are fighting monsters outside," said another man with glasses. His ID name was changed after he got into Peking University or Tsinghua University. He looked like a typical top-scoring science student. He said, "Because the difficulty of this dungeon is basically the same as the Song Mansion maze, the official data shows that the fastest clearing time is around 43 minutes. I've summarized the data from the previous few groups, and the ratio is 3:7."
"Why are there fewer people entering the maze?"
The bespectacled man smiled and said, "Because there are so many paper figurines out there, and also because solving a difficult maze requires quality, not quantity."
Why did it feel like he was mocking someone? Zhan Mu gave him a look.
"I feel like they all look pretty awesome, this is a sure thing."
"How many times have you brushed it?"
"Yeah, that's right. This type of dungeon requires teammates. I was just farming monsters outside for the 43-minute one. I also entered the maze of the Song Mansion. It's an ancient Chinese-style house with so many doors and it was so winding. I couldn't figure it out at all. It was really difficult."
The bespectacled man with a nerdy face said, "Well, there are 120 minutes after dark. That means if you can't decipher the puzzle within 120 minutes after entering the Song Mansion maze, you'll be forced to exit. Also, the paper villagers outside have varying damage levels. If the defenses are breached, the maze inside will collapse. In short—this is a dungeon that relies heavily on your teammates."
Lu Chao: "So we must divide the work and cooperate. The success of the 70 people outside depends on the 30 people inside."
The guy with glasses and a domineering face said, "Yes, but in other words, the safety of the 30 people inside is also closely related to the 70 people outside. Pretty scientific, isn't it? Haha, after all, the division of labor in society is like this. The upper echelons who participate in decision-making are always a minority, and the majority are the big guys doing the grassroots work."
Zhan Mu glanced at him and felt that this man was quite sharp in his words. He was probably a good candidate for admission to Peking University or Tsinghua University, just like his ID.
Lu Chao: "So, what is the health of the Song Mansion in the Maze?"
"There's no point asking. It will recover health if it's not attacked."
"Oh~ No wonder, I was wondering why everyone out there was forming teams and recruiting people. It turns out they were looking for strong teammates to shorten the time it takes to clear a dungeon."
As he spoke, the captain of the Lu Chao team patted the real Lu Chao on the shoulder and smiled: "This is your first time playing, and you have no experience with mazes. Why don't you just stay outside and watch over the monsters?"
"It's getting dark. If you have any questions, ask them quickly." The pink-haired girl looked at the game time on the interface and said a little anxiously.
"How do I get through the maze in the Song Mansion?"
The short white-haired Maybach young master said, "The Song Mansion is very large. Once you enter, there are almost five people on the same level. You have to find various clues and solve puzzles to defeat monsters. Once you clear the level inside, the monsters outside will return to normal."
"We need to form a team to enter the maze?" Zhan Mu was shocked.
Pink-haired girl: "Yeah, handsome guy, looking at your muscle lines, you're not a fitness coach, are you?"
Zhan Mu noticed that she seemed to be trying to seduce him. She looked pretty and charming, so he immediately smiled and said, "That's about right. I do study physical education."
"It's a pity that entering the dungeon maze requires a lot of brainpower, and some people with strong limbs can only kill monsters outside." As soon as he finished speaking, a mocking sneer came from the other end. It was Lu Chao, who was always polite and gentle to him.
Good man, that flirtatious nonsense really pissed off classmate Lu Chao. Until now, his mind is full of Zhan Mu’s calm face.
How could he, let people call him husband, and not bat an eyelid?! What a filthy man! What a liar! What a scumbag!
Lu Chao took a deep breath angrily, cleared his throat, and said, "I want to enter the maze dungeon captain. Believe me, I am an open server player of the game Desperate."
"Hey, Glasses, you've played this before, right?" said the short guy in the white-haired Maybach. "Or we can team up. My last record with someone was 54 minutes. If this game didn't limit you to only being able to clear the dungeon five times, I would have memorized the map long ago."
"I'm his teammate too," the pink-haired girl replied. "This is my last chance. I'll have to play for at least 45 minutes."
"Sure." The bespectacled scholar replied.
Zhan Mu was somewhat curious about the glasses and said, "Can I form one too? It's just me, and I'm quite interested in puzzle games."
Lu Chao on the other end of the line glanced at him secretly, met Zhan Mu's gaze, and turned away as if escaping, feeling inexplicably irritated.
Zhan Mu couldn't recognize who was who anymore, mainly because everyone over there was using Lu Chao's suits...
"One more person missing, who's coming?" The pink-haired girl called out to her teammates cheerfully. She looked young and energetic, making Zhan Mu guess that she was probably not very old.
"I'll do it, I'll do it!" A person with the ID of Green Frog came over. She was a beautiful girl wearing a long skirt in ancient style. Such a fancy outfit was thanks to the free face-shaping and dressing mode of Juejing.
If there are 30 people entering the dungeon, and they are divided into pairs of 5, there will be 6 groups.
The five of them successfully formed a team. Just as Zhan Mu was eager to try and stood up with his teammates, the sun in the game world completely set. A paper bride walked out of her newlywed house, singing a gloomy song and walking in circles towards the hillside.
"Those who are brushing the book are leaving, follow her."
"I want to be the captain too. I've never played before, mainly."
"Forget it, you're probably confused. I'll play with you after the game is over."
"Let's go, Lu Chao. You really can pass it in one life, as you said."
"Yeah." Lu Chao nodded gently in agreement. He looked at Zhan Mu, who was walking in front, a lonely figure without even turning his head. He sneered and shook his head as if to comfort himself, telling himself not to count on him for help.
Zhan Mu walked for a while along the mountain road, when suddenly a hazy and strange fog appeared in front of him, and he could hardly see the figure of the paper bride. He subconsciously wanted to say something to Lu Chao, but as soon as he touched his pocket, he remembered that this was a game.
And it seemed like he had just had a falling out with Lu Chao.
What's going on? Zhan Mu closed his eyes and rubbed his brows, wondering how he could have really treated her as an AI that was always available...
Yes, he is a human being, a real person.
So am I really too disrespectful to him?
"Handsome guy, what are you daydreaming about? Come back to your senses." The pink-haired girl swayed in front of him and said, "After we go in, the five of us can chat privately. Then everyone will do their job and follow my instructions. Once we get out of the maze, we'll have completed it."
Zhan Mu raised his eyes, and just as he was about to turn back, he was interrupted and answered her yes.
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