Physical slopes and sliders
Under the astonished and resentful gaze of the mathematical ghost, Jin Can stretched out his hand, his fingers trembling slightly with fear.
The eyes of the undead, like two burning ghostly flames, were fixed on her, sending chills down her spine.
The staircase space twisted even more violently, and the formulas on the walls seemed to writhe like living things, trying to interrupt her problem-solving process.
Jin Can took a deep breath, her fingertips tracing a path through the air, creating a trail of faint, stardust-like glitter. The stardust gathered at her fingertips, coalescing into an invisible pen that emitted a faint glow.
"You can't solve it...you can't solve it!" the undead roared, using his last vestige of will to distort the entire space.
The staircase began to spin, the steps beneath their feet undulating like waves, and whispers filled their ears, full of malice and mockery.
However, at this moment, Jin Can felt an unprecedented clarity and focus in his heart.
In her world, there was only that problem and the steps to solve it that unfolded in her mind.
She opened her eyes, her hand moving steadily in the air, and glowing equations were imprinted on the wall, forming a stark contrast to the curse of the dead.
The strokes of her pen were as sharp as sword light, and each symbol carried her determination.
"Perform the first variable substitution," Jin Can silently recited in his mind.
The pen moved swiftly, scattering wisps of light.
The first equation morphed, and the cursed formula on the wall seemed to recoil slightly.
The undead's body became noticeably ethereal for a moment, and his attack paused for a instant, as if stung by her logic.
“Not enough.” Jin Can continued his deductions without hesitation.
She felt the distortion of space weakening, but the roar of the dead grew louder: "Stop! Do you want to destroy all of this?" A huge equation crashed over her like a giant wave, trying to erase the equation she had written.
Jin Can gritted his teeth and swung his arms even faster.
The second equation emerges, intertwining with the first to form a preliminary system.
Chao Ningning watched nervously from the side, her hands clenched into fists: "Jin Can, hang in there!"
The undead's form began to disintegrate, his face contorted in agony: "No... this isn't right..." But Jin Can didn't stop.
All three core equations have appeared!
Her calculation speed reached its peak in her life.
Those letters and numbers that used to give her a headache were perfectly integrated under her clear thinking.
“Find a common denominator… combine like terms…” She proceeded step by step, proving each step complete.
The undead attempted a final counterattack, with shadowy figures lunging at her, but those shadows were cracked and could not reach her body.
Sweat beaded on Jin Can's forehead. She felt her nerves tightening, but she couldn't stop.
The moment she wrote down the final answer, the light in her hand suddenly surged, like the first ray of sunlight at dawn piercing through the boundless darkness.
The questions on the wall began to glow, and the entire space trembled.
"Yes! That's how it's solved...!" Chao Ningning murmured to herself, her eyes filled with shock.
"No...impossible..." The ghost of mathematics let out a final, mournful, and unwilling wail.
His body, like snow exposed to sunlight, quickly melted and evaporated, eventually turning into specks of fluorescent light that quietly dissipated in the space.
His voice, filled with pain and obsession, gradually faded away, leaving only a soft, almost inaudible sigh: "So... that's how it's calculated..."
Rumble—
The entire stairwell began to shake violently, the formulas on the walls and the steps underfoot began to crack inch by inch, and the endless loop of the stairwell illusion finally disappeared.
Instead, there was a huge, bottomless slope that seemed to have no end.
The slope's surface is as smooth as a mirror, its material neither gold nor stone, resembling a stone slab polished for millions of years, radiating a faint, cold light.
Its tilt angle is extremely high, almost sixty degrees, extending from their feet into the endless abyss below.
Far ahead, where the bottom of the slope is almost invisible, floats a small door emitting a soft white light.
That's clearly the exit!
The problem is that from their location to that door, there is a smooth, unprotected slope stretching for hundreds of meters.
The platform where the door was located was pitifully small, probably only a few square meters. To land accurately on it was nothing short of a pipe dream.
Once you slide down, the speed will increase, and if you deviate even slightly, you will miss the door and fall into the abyss, leaving no trace of your body.
"How...how do I get down?" Chao Ningning lay on the edge of the slope, glanced down, and immediately shrank back in fright, her face turning pale.
Her voice trembled, and her eyes were filled with fear.
"Actually, I'm a little afraid of heights."
Jin Can's heart sank to the bottom.
She crouched down and touched the surface of the slope; her fingers slid across it with almost no resistance.
This is no ordinary ramp; it is as smooth as a mirror, with a coefficient of friction close to zero.
A string of physics terms instantly flooded her mind: gravity, acceleration, friction, initial velocity... She couldn't help but smile wryly: "Am I supposed to calculate this as if I were a sliding block?"
The designer of this level has a terrible sense of humor.
[Player complaints detected, leading to increased mental stress.]
[Current mental breakdown level: 61/100.]
Even complaining increases my stress level?!
Jin Can was completely baffled.
She forced herself to calm down and analyze the situation.
If you slide straight down, over a distance of several hundred meters, the terminal speed will be extremely high, and even a slight deviation will be fatal.
"What should we do? We can't stay trapped here forever." Chao Ningning seemed afraid to move.
Jin Can looked at Zhou Yu, a girl who was usually quiet and reserved. At this moment, she was focused, staring at the slope with her brows furrowed and her lips moving slightly, as if she were silently calculating some complex formula.
Zhou Yu glanced at the bottomless slope, then at the distant door, a resolute glint in her eyes.
"We need to get out of here quickly." Zhou Yu's eyes became incredibly determined.
She stepped forward, her voice low and deep: "I'll help you. You don't need to use too much force, just a stable initial thrust parallel to the slope so you can smoothly enter the gliding state. I can do it."
Jin Can immediately rejected the idea: "Then who will push you? Let's think of something else, something to increase friction..."
"Too late!" Zhou Yu interrupted her, pulled Jin Can up, and led her to the side of the slope, where she carefully lay down.
As his body came into contact with the cold slope, a chill instantly spread throughout Jin Can's entire body.
Her heart raced, and images of failure flashed through her mind: tumbling, falling, darkness...
"Are you ready?" Zhou Yu's voice was unusually calm.
She crouched down, placed her hands on Jin Can's shoulders, and calculated the angle and pressure.
She must ensure that the direction of the thrust is accurate to avoid lateral force causing deviation.
"Okay... no, wait a minute!" Jin Can's voice was still trembling.
She tried to get up, but Zhou Yu had already started counting down: "Three, two, one, push!"
The moment the order was given, Zhou Yu used all her strength to steadily push Jin Can forward.
Jin Can's body shot out instantly!
The wind whistled in my ears, and the dark scenery on both sides rushed past. The enormous acceleration brought a strong sense of oppression and weightlessness.
Jin Can's heart nearly leaped out of her chest. She forced herself to remain calm, pressing her body tightly against the slope, afraid to make the slightest movement.
The speed increased, and she felt like she was on a roller coaster, but without a seatbelt.
The white light gate rapidly magnified in the field of vision.
Closer, even closer!
Just as his body was about to hit the platform, Jin Can suddenly hugged his head and curled up, lowering his center of gravity to the lowest point.
Her body followed the track upwards in an arc, and the immense inertia tossed her high into the air, tracing a perfect parabola.
Time seemed to slow down at that moment.
She saw light emanating from behind the door, and her body leaped across the abyss towards the platform, flying with unparalleled precision toward the door that emitted a soft white light.
With a thud, she felt herself fall onto a soft, warm cushion, and all the impact was instantly dissolved.
It was a success!
Jin Can struggled to his feet and found himself in a safe space behind the door.
Looking back, the door was still lit. Through the door, she could see Chao Ningning lying at the starting point of the high slope in the distance, looking at her with a mixture of shock and excitement.
Jin Can successfully overcame this hurdle.
She waved to signal Chao Ningning to get ready, but Zhou Yu had already taken action. With a gentle push, Chao Ningning began to slide down as well.
Chao Ningning's piercing scream echoed through the space, but her trajectory was equally perfect, like gold, tracing a parabola before landing safely.
The two, panting, embraced each other in celebration.
But Zhou Yu is still up there.
She took a few steps back, assumed a running start position, and prepared to charge forward.
She seemed to be trying to rely on her physical abilities and sense of balance to forcefully control her body and glide to the finish line.
"No!" Jin Can and Chao Ningning exclaimed at the same time.
They rushed to the door, shouting, "Zhou Yu! Let's think of something!"
But it was all too late.
Zhou Yu's figure shot out like an arrow, leaping onto the smooth slope.
In the first few meters, she did manage to maintain her balance thanks to her amazing sense of equilibrium, lowering her body to try to reduce resistance and control her direction.
However, she still seriously underestimated how terrible the slope was.
The smooth surface offered almost no friction, and under the influence of gravity, her speed skyrocketed at a terrifying rate.
Ten meters, twenty meters, her limbs began to tremble as she tried to adjust her posture, but each movement caused her trajectory to deviate slightly.
"Ah—!" With a scream, she suddenly lost her balance as she plummeted down the slope, spinning around and completely losing control of herself.
Like a spinning top, she began to tumble and collide on the smooth slope, her downward trajectory completely deviating from the straight line leading to the exit.
Jin Can and Chao Ningning could only watch helplessly as her figure, like an out-of-control shooting star, sped past the white light gate at an ever-increasing speed, finally plunging into the boundless darkness without leaving a trace.
Jin Can was so frightened that he almost instinctively raised his hand to cover his eyes!
Darkness engulfed Zhou Yu, and all fell silent.
Teammate Zhou Yu failed the challenge and has been forcibly removed from the instance.
Another teammate has left.
Chao Ningning slumped to the ground, muttering, "That scared me to death... Why did this have to happen?"
[The player suffered a severe psychological shock after witnessing their teammate fall into the abyss.]
[Current mental breakdown level: 75/100.]
The crash value has spiked again.
Recalling Zhou Yu's expression and sacrifice, Jin Can felt her head buzzing. She forced herself to stand firm, took a deep breath, but found that her vision was already blurring.
Sweat and tears mingled and slid down her face. She raised her hand and wiped her face haphazardly, as if that could erase the fear in her heart.
They must keep going; this instance isn't over yet!
Now only she and Chao Ningning, who was equally terrified, remained on the platform.
The two looked at each other, their eyes filled with exhaustion and lingering fear.
The space behind the door began to change, and a new passage appeared.
Jin Can helped Chao Ningning up and said softly, "Let's go."
Chao Ningning nodded, and the two stepped into the unknown hand in hand.
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