Chapter 1 Honghu

Honghu entered the industry in his teens, fighting alone in the gaming world without relying on any studio support. He was long accustomed to the pressure of life and the disapproving looks of family and friends, these were nothing…

He had been suppressed, deceived, encountered malicious competition, and even threats… So he always kept a close eye on things when dealing with people he wasn't familiar with.

He knew best the bitterness and hardships of the past decade.

As an experienced person, Honghu was quite astute despite his young age. Faced with Feng Bujue's perfunctory remarks, he immediately understood that the other party was unwilling or unable to tell the truth.

Therefore, Honghu was also very sensible and didn't continue to press for an answer, nor did he expose his suspicion about the Derivers. He quickly and nonchalantly started discussing other topics with the three people beside him.

Feng Bujue spent five minutes explaining the principle of ***-233 to his three teammates in detail, and briefly explained the settings of ****** as well, which could be regarded as solving the puzzles for these curious guys.

Afterward, the four of them went to the side of that wall together.

The section of the ground next to the wall had not been repaired by the system, so there was a rectangular gap nine meters long and one meter wide on the ground. When observing from a distance earlier, it was difficult to determine its depth. Only when the four of them walked up to it did they realize that the space under the gap was not that deep, only less than one meter.

"In the entire hall, only the distance between these two pillars is exactly nine meters. The distance between other pillars, walls, and other objects are not related to 'nine', regardless of whether the unit is decimeters, feet, or anything else… If we really have to make a connection, it would be that the angle between the walls, pillars, and the ground is ninety degrees." Feng Bujue supplemented his previous plan, "But from the perspective of puzzle-solving, the answer with uniqueness is obviously more likely to be correct. Therefore, I judge that the breakthrough point must be here."

Honghu then said, "Although I made the suggestion to have you pay attention to distance and other information during the inspection, to be honest… I didn't do it very seriously myself." As he spoke, he turned to look at Jue Ge, "I didn't expect Brother Feng to be able to determine the precise length between objects just by visual estimation, that's really…"

"It's not visual estimation, I have measuring techniques." Feng Bujue replied, "Every six months, I measure my stride length when walking, that's my ruler." He looked around, "For larger buildings like this, the measurement error will also be correspondingly larger. But if it were an ordinary residence, I could measure the size of each room just by walking around it. If there are wall cavities or any strange features in the building structure, I can basically see through them immediately."

When they heard the phrase "every six months…", Qiu Feng, Ji Chang, and Honghu's expressions had already become quite surprised, but Jue Ge still went his own way, ignoring his teammates' reactions and continuing, "In fact, the human body itself is a very useful measuring device. Heartbeat, pulse, and breathing can be used to measure time; while height, stride length, and arm span can be used to measure length; as long as you go through reasonable training, the judgment of weight can also reach a very precise level." A fanatical look gradually appeared on his face, "If you guys are interested, I can teach you how to calculate the average density of a bucket of excrement without using any tools…"

"Brother Feng… no… Big Brother." Qiu Feng was completely shocked, "May I ask what you actually do in real life?" At this moment, his deduction was something like a mad scientist.

"Artist." These three words had been held in Feng Bujue's heart for a long time, and he was just waiting to say them here.

"Um…" The three teammates all narrowed their eyes, staring at Feng Bujue with meaningful gazes, their minds already in a mess.

"In short, since we already know that the location referred to by the mission is upstairs." Feng Bujue brought the topic back to the right track, raised his head and looked up, "Then our goal is also clear."

Corresponding to the ground, there was also a rectangular gap in the ceiling against the wall, which was wide enough for the players to pass through. But Feng Bujue naturally wouldn't rush up directly, he had to test it first.

Jue Ge casually picked up a rather large piece of building debris from the gap in the ground, waved his arm, and threw it toward the gap above. The debris flew upwards at an angle and landed on the floor tiles on the second floor two seconds later. Judging from the sound, it didn't seem to trigger any traps.

"Looks like nothing's wrong, I think… I should go up first." Qiu Feng said. In similar situations, he usually chose a more proactive approach.

This choice can reflect the difference between strategists. Although both are wise men, the two people represented by *Zhiyong Shuangquan* (Wise and Brave) and *Chenwen de Moushi* (Steady Strategist) are obviously two different styles of behavior.

If it were Yu Chongji Chang, he would think about things in the worst possible way first, just like Jue Ge. Try all kinds of tests as much as possible, and then take risks only when there is really nothing else that can be done.

And Qiu Feng's principle is, when facing an unknown situation, as long as he doesn't see any unfavorable factors, he will tentatively assume that it is safe.

With a shout, Qiu Feng rose from the ground, only stepped on the wall once, and with the sound of his shoe soles rubbing against the wall, he kicked back and jumped to the second floor.

When the teammates saw this scene, their expressions were relatively calm. Obviously, for these players close to level thirty, this level of action was nothing. After level twenty, if you couldn't jump five meters high by stepping on the wall, you would be embarrassed to say hello to people in a team.

"What's the situation?" Ji Chang asked.

"Well… there shouldn't be any danger." Qiu Feng replied, "You guys come up and we'll talk."

The three people below exchanged glances, none of them expressed any objection, so they stepped forward one after another, stepped on the wall, bounced back, and jumped to the second floor.

The environment on the second floor was basically the same as the first floor. The style of the floor tiles, the position of the support pillars, and the lighting equipment were all the same as on the first floor. The most significant difference was that the height from the ground to the ceiling on the first floor was more than four meters, while the height from the ground to the ceiling on the second floor… visually, it was close to eight meters.

There was no door on the wall at the far end of this floor. Of course, the players were also clear that behind that wall was the 23x23x23 room on the first floor.

After the four of them roughly scanned their surroundings, their gazes all fell on the very center of the second floor's ceiling. There was actually a perfectly circular hole about two meters in diameter there, and a steel pipe extended down from the hole, connecting to the ground on the second floor. Through this steel pipe, you could directly reach the third floor.

"Judging from this… are we supposed to climb up that pipe?" Honghu pondered.

"It's not like we're asking you to do a dance or something next to it, right?" Feng Bujue responded.

"Brother Feng… have some self-respect…" Ji Chang advised very sincerely.

"Damn it, after you mentioned it, I've already started imagining that scene." Qiu Feng said, "This is definitely a pointless increase in jump scare value."

Honghu pushed up his glasses, "Brother Feng, your wit is commendable, but your thinking is really a bit…"

"Unrestrained?" Feng Bujue answered, he smiled, "A sense of humor is something innate, it can't be changed…" As he spoke, he walked toward the steel pipe, "I'd rather not tell jokes like 'Will a firefighter slide down from here?'"

"So… the point you want to make is that you have the ability to be elegant, but you prefer to be vulgar…" Honghu was indeed a smart man, and instantly understood what Feng Bujue meant.

"Overpraise." Feng Bujue replied shamelessly.

"Is that a compliment, hey!"

While the four were talking, they had already arrived below the circular opening. Looking up, it could be seen that there was no light source on the third floor, and the surroundings of the hole were pitch black. With the light from the second floor, they could see that the top of the steel pipe was welded to the ceiling of the third floor and did not lead to higher floors.

"Although it looks like we can go directly to the third floor, let's explore this floor as well." Qiu Feng looked at his teammates, "Also, you've noticed it too, right… from the outside of the building, each floor of this building is the same height and has windows, but you can't see anything inside the building through the glass. But the actual situation inside is…"

"That's easy to explain, the scene seen from the outside of the building is likely just a disguise." Honghu said, "It's also possible… that from the moment we stepped into the door, we had already entered another space."

"The moment the light wall appeared, these questions were no longer worth considering, not to mention that ***-233 and Brother Feng's NPC friends…" Ji Chang said, "Anyway, since I started playing this game, I haven't encountered many pure science fiction scripts. Basically, every script has some kind of supernatural setting."

Feng Bujue said, "Whatever… can I go get that piece of concrete debris now and throw it on the third floor to test it out?"

"Heh…" Qiu Feng twitched the corner of his mouth and gave a dry laugh, "No one's stopping you…"

He was right, no one would stop Feng Bujue, and they couldn't stop him even if they wanted to.

After a few words, the four of them still held a "let's just try it" attitude and went to check around separately. Since the second floor was almost the same as the first floor, this time they spent less time confirming that there were no triggerable settings around.

Before long, the four of them returned to the steel pipe.

Feng Bujue raised the concrete block that he had thrown up from the first floor and threw it up to the third floor again. He still only heard the sound of an object landing, with no other abnormalities.

"If you still want to go up first, bring a flashlight." Feng Bujue said to Qiu Feng with a calm expression.

"I volunteered once, and you're going to try to trick me to the end…" Qiu Feng replied rather helplessly.

"Let me do it this time." Honghu interjected, "Qiu Feng has already taken several risks. From now on, it's more reasonable to take turns exploring." He paused at this point, as if to give his teammates time to object.

Two seconds later, seeing that no one responded, Honghu continued, "Judging from the situation on the second floor, not every floor is dangerous, and not every floor needs to be solved to pass. My preliminary guess is that… the odd-numbered floors have problems, while the even-numbered floors are used for rest and buffer areas." He turned to look at Feng Bujue and suddenly blurted out, "Brother Feng, you should have a usable flashlight on you, right."

"Yes." Feng Bujue said, and actually took out a flashlight from the pocket of his jacket.

In fact, when Feng Bujue said "bring a flashlight" to Qiu Feng, Honghu had already guessed this.

"Oh?" Honghu took the flashlight that Feng Bujue handed over, looked at the item slightly, and then said, "The trademarks and instructions on it are all in German…"

Qiu Feng and Ji Chang immediately understood something when they heard this.

Feng Bujue said bluntly, "Because I bought it at a convenience store around here."

"Didn't you say you only bought some snacks?" Qiu Feng said.

"I didn't say I only bought snacks." Feng Bujue shook his head, "I also bought a folding knife, a lighter, a palm-sized notebook, a ballpoint pen, and two of these flashlights, the kind with batteries."

"You just bought some snacks on the way, right!" Qiu Feng roared.

Ji Chang said, "I say… you don't understand German, how did you know how much to pay when you checked out?"

"The cash register at the convenience store displays Arabic numerals." Feng Bujue said, and also took out a wallet from his pocket, took out a 20 euro bill, and showed a smug look, "The euros are also printed with Arabic numerals."

"Why are you showing off money you robbed!"

"Oh, right, the kid I robbed was using a Nokia phone." Feng Bujue put away his wallet and took out a phone, "See, as expected of a communication device that can be called military-grade, it actually has a signal here."

"Not only did he nonchalantly admit that he was a robber, but he also started showing off his stolen goods!"

Qiu Feng trembled, another victim whose *tu cao* (roast) soul was triggered by Feng Bujue…

"I suddenly don't feel any tension because of you guys…" Honghu was too lazy to continue watching, he held the flashlight with his index and middle fingers of his right hand, grabbed the steel pipe with his palm, and climbed upward in coordination with his left hand and legs.

The height that needed to be climbed was only a few meters, and Honghu's upper body quickly reached the plane of the third floor. However, he was not in a hurry to step into the darkness. Instead, he stayed on the steel pipe, stabilized his body with his legs, firmly grasped the pipe with one hand, and shone the flashlight around with the other.

The space on the third floor was also very wide, and the height was the same as the first floor, more than four meters. Since there was no light source on this floor, and the distance that the flashlight could illuminate was limited, Honghu could only observe the area within ten meters around the circular opening.

"At least the area that the flashlight can reach is empty." Honghu said to his teammates below, "Oh, except for the piece of building debris that Brother Feng threw up." As he spoke, he stretched out his leg and jumped out, officially stepping onto the third floor, "Come on up, it's fine."

"Aren't you going to consider going around a few times, doing a large-scale exploration before letting us come up?" Feng Bujue asked.

Honghu increasingly felt that this guy was shameless, but he couldn't get angry, "If I had eyes on the back of my head and two flashlights, I could consider this plan."

Feng Bujue smiled and took out another flashlight from his pocket. Without saying a word, he stepped on the ground and leaped to a height of more than four meters, then used one hand to borrow a little force from the steel pipe and jumped up to the third floor.

With a click, Feng Bujue turned on his second flashlight and shone it in another direction, "Are you scared?"

Honghu was stunned by this question…

That's right, he was scared.

In such a spacious, dark, and unfamiliar environment, holding a flashlight in his hand and checking around alone would make anyone feel a little scared.

"Hehe… then you stay here and don't move, stay on guard, and I… will go around first." Feng Bujue said in a relaxed tone.

This sentence was beyond Honghu's expectations. From the beginning of the script until now, Feng Bujue had basically been shrinking in the back, leaving the risks to his teammates. He didn't expect him to show such surprising courage at this time.

"Hey… this is not the time to pretend to be brave and act like a hero…" Honghu kindly advised.

"Do you think I'm the kind of person who would do that?" Feng Bujue asked back.

To be honest, Honghu also didn't think so.

Fear is not only an expression written on the face, but also a pheromone that can be contagious. Therefore, it is actually very easy to distinguish between those who pretend to be unafraid and those who are truly unafraid.

And Feng Bujue was obviously really unafraid…

When Jue Ge walked into this environment filled with a terrifying atmosphere, the expression on his face was as if he had walked into a maid café. This was essentially different from the guy who took his girlfriend to play in a haunted house, frowned, glared, shouted at the top of his lungs, and was always ready to fight the staff.

"I'll be right back." Feng Bujue shouted to the two people below, "You two come up first and stay with Honghu at the hole. In case I encounter anything, the three of you will be responsible for supporting me when I run back."

As Ji Chang and Qiu Feng climbed up the steel pipe, Feng Bujue had already walked away without looking back. He walked farther and farther, and soon became a spot of light in the darkness.

Jue Ge's initiative to ask for a path was also after much consideration.

First of all, he was a person with Soul Intent and had spirit weapons for self-defense. Even if he couldn't use the items in his knapsack, his close combat ability was also at the top level of the game. At worst, he was definitely more capable than the three strategists in front of him.

Secondly, he was basically unaffected by the environment. Whether it was a depressing, eerie atmosphere, the pressure and fear brought by darkness, or sudden screams and ghosts… nothing could disturb him.

Third, he would definitely not get lost, because he was always measuring his steps in his mind. Both his sense of direction and his sense of distance were extremely accurate. After all, no one knew what was on this floor… if there were a black wall that could move silently, maybe after the players walked for a while and looked back, they would not be able to see the entrance they came from.

In short, it was very appropriate for Feng Bujue to explore the situation on this floor alone. His observation and thinking would not be biased by fear; if he triggered a monster or trap, he would not be easily killed; he was even less likely to be scared offline… the three teammates only needed to wait for his news at the circular opening where they could retreat at any time.