PFRG: Chapter 105

It was obvious that the others weren’t as good at laughing things off like Yue Ren.

The originally dimly lit surroundings were made even more terrifying by the tragic situation of the corpses of the twins in front of them.

Song Xuefeng slowly scratched his messy hair. “Don’t worry too much. Even if you are going to die, at least there are many people dying together. It is much better than dying alone in an unknown corner in the future.”

Ji Xingque gritted his teeth. “Thank you so much, Old Song!”

Chi Ting could notice the gazes that the two people were casting toward him while they were talking. He knew they were asking about the next course of action, but he kept his eyes lowered. His gaze remained on the corpses of the twins for a long time without saying anything else.

He was thinking.

Among all the instances he had come across so far, the method of clearing every game was basically traceable. This instance was filled with so many rules that it should be the same.

He had never actually met the designer No 7, but it wasn’t difficult to tell from the initial Love Apartment instance that this person obviously liked to play tricks on players like them by using the rules. Thus, this instance should be the same. The so-called escape method should be hidden in the game rules long ago based on the designer’s pride and arrogance.

This was what the designer No 7 liked the most. He put the answer in front of them and liked to see them look desperate.

As his mind ran rapidly, Chi Ting frowned slightly and repeated all the rules of this game countless times.

Obviously, rules 1, 2, 3, and 5 were just entry prerequisites, so they could be left aside for now. Rules 6, 8, and 12 were about being careful of situations where players like the twins got lost and then returned. It had almost nothing to do with the final escape plan. In this case, they needed to analyze the remaining rules. In other words, what they needed to determine the most right now was the truthfulness of the last few rules.

“Do you think Rule 4 is wrong?” Hang Jing was obviously brainstorming quickly and tentatively put forward his own guess. “It says that once you enter the game, you must not take off the gaming device. If it is wrong, do we just need to take off the gaming device to leave here smoothly?”

Chi Ting said, “It is possible.”

Hang Jing stared at him. “Then…”

Before the words could be finished, a smiling voice continued. “Why don’t you take off the device now and try to prove the correctness of the rule to us?”

With a fake smile in his tone, Yue Ren saw that Hang Jing froze. This made him no longer conceal his mocking look. “It seems that you are unwilling. If you are unwilling to verify it yourself, what are your plans for bringing it up like this? Are you waiting for one of us to help you verify it so you can reap the benefits?”

Hang Jing did have this idea of taking shortcuts in his mind, but once it was exposed, he could only laugh dryly. “I can’t just sit here and wait. The time limit is about to expire. Every second I stay here means an extra second of danger.”

“You knew it would be dangerous?” Yue Ren slowly raised an eyebrow. “Rule 11 says that we can’t stay in this hall for more than an hour. If this rule is actually wrong, maybe we can leave here as long as we stay for an hour.”

This was somewhat far-fetched.

After all, if this rule was wrong then wouldn’t this project be completely easy for players who played badly?

Hang Jing complained a lot in his heart, but there was no absolute evidence to prove whether it was true or not. He could only be angry while saying nothing.

However, Yue Ren’s statement was obviously very much in line with someone’s appetite. Song Xuefeng slowly expressed his support. “It isn’t impossible.”

Ji Xingque’s mouth twitched when he heard this. “I don’t believe this setting in my head. Old Song, do you really think it is possible, or do you just want to lie down!”

Song Xuefeng let out an ah in a low voice. “Both.”

Ji Xingque said, “Then I think Rule 9 is the key! It says that you have to make sure you finish clearing an area before you can enter the next area. The door here hasn’t appeared yet. Maybe it is because we haven’t cleared all the monsters?”

Song Xuefeng looked up, showing a surprised expression because it was rare to see Ji Xingque using his brains. “Are you sure there are other monsters hidden here?”

“I’ve searched just now and found nothing, but…” Ji Xingque’s eyes swept over the two corpses on the ground as he continued to reason with a serious face, “The situation with the twins might not happen with just the two of them. What if there are other people among us who have turned into monsters?”

As Ji Xingque’s gaze swept over him, Hang Jing was immediately horrified and waved his hands repeatedly. “No no no, I’m not. I just stayed there and didn’t go anywhere. I am a good person!”

Ji Xingque rolled up his sleeves and walked over. “Everyone has seen the situation of the twins just now. No matter whether they are people or not, we will know everything after taking off their clothes.”

Under such a menacing style, Hang Jing subconsciously ran.

Firstly, he really wasn’t sure about his situation. Secondly, he remembered that the players entering the instance were streaming live. Even though any scenes inappropriate for children would be blurred by the system, but he was still shy about being stripped in public. But he still wanted to save face!

However, Ji Xingque was very sure of his own conclusion and continued to chase him. “It is just taking off your prison uniform. It won’t cost you anything. At most, you might need to take off your pants. It is just a small matter. Why are you running away?”

Yue Ren watched with interest as the two men ran around him in circles again and again. He was slightly surprised that Hang Jing could actually outrun Ji Xingque’s good physical strength.

He noticed that Chi Ting hadn’t spoken, so he glanced back and instantly noticed something. “Any new discoveries?”

Chi Ting was silent for a moment before nodding. “I guess so.”

With just one word, the two people who were running looked over at the same time.

Hang Jing felt like he had found his savior. “So what should we do?”

Yue Ren asked more directly, “Are you confident?”

Chi Ting made a judgment. “80 or 90%?”

Yue Ren smiled and patted his shoulder. “Go ahead and do it.”

Chi Ting nodded.

Now there was no time to explain more. He quickly searched around, caught something red in the corner, and walked over quickly.

“Huh? What are you looking for… Ah wait, isn’t that…” Before Hang Jing could react, he saw that Chi Ting had pressed the panic button in the corner without hesitation. “!!!!”

At the same time, in the live stream room, the screen was filled with a string of exclamation points.

[What is this? Didn’t they say that Rule 7 is a wrong rule? The twins have become like that. Isn’t he courting death?]

[Is this because there isn’t enough time? This shouldn’t be the case. Chi Ting doesn’t look like he is someone who can’t stay calm.]

[He just said something about 80 to 90% and pressed it so confidently. Did he find something?]

[The rule has been proven to be wrong. What else can be found?]

[It is coming. The staff member is here. It is that pink doll again. F*k, the color difference with the surroundings is already making me numb. My SAN value is dropping like crazy.]

The moment the staff member walked out from the dark corner, Hang Jing felt like a current jumped directly from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

The death of the twins had repeatedly shocked his nerves. Just as countless thoughts of ‘Should I run?’ flashed through his mind, Chi Ting came forward very naturally from where he pressed the emergency button and asked, “Hello, we have successfully entered the 16th area. Can you tell us how to leave here?”

The pink doll coat seemed to emit a faint light in such a dim environment, exuding a strange and eerie feeling everywhere.

The person hiding inside stared at Chi Ting through two round holes in the hood. In the silent atmosphere, he finally nodded slowly.

Since the coat restrained his movements, his movements seemed very stiff and strange. But when he stood up again with his heavy head staggering, they saw a door slowly appearing not far behind him.

This should be the employee passage he used to come in. The faint pink light and blue light next to the other door faintly reflected each other.

The staff member made a ‘please’ gesture. “Thank you for experiencing the Escape from Ancud Project. We look forward to your visit again.”

Chi Ting was also staring closely at the staff member’s movements.

He had been 80 to 90% sure but if the staff member really did something bad, he was ready to use the gun in his hand to smash the NPC doll to pieces on the spot. Of course, if it didn’t break then he could do it himself.

However, judging from the current situation, his speculation was indeed correct.

He waved to the others to follow and took the lead to walk towards the pink door.

Just as his body passed through the door, the scene in front of him became clear again after a period of darkness. After adapting to the surrounding light, Chi Ting found himself back in the room inside the experience hall. He glanced to the side and saw two figures. This made him frown slightly.

It might be that they never left the room from beginning to end. But not far away, the twins had already died beside them in a way that exploded their whole bodies. This death was no worse than the scene in the game. The spilled blood and minced flesh splashed almost the entire wall of the room. Even their cheeks were stained with the faint smell of blood.

On the wall not far away, the displayed timer stopped at 59 minutes and 42 seconds.

Hang Jing couldn’t help retching a bit due to the death of the twins. Once he noticed the time on the wall, his face suddenly became paler.

Obviously, they might’ve ended up like the twins if it was a dozen seconds later.

Compared with the death of his two temporary teammates, this feeling of escaping death made Hang Jing feel more and more weak.

He hurriedly removed the equipment on his body and barely walked out of the experience hall’s exit door by holding onto the wall. He was too weak to even read the system settlement notification that popped up.

It wasn’t until the bright lights outside fell on him again that Hang Jing finally felt the reality of surviving a disaster. He came back to his senses in a trance. Finally, he expressed the doubts in his heart. “How did you know that you needed to press the emergency button?”

After all, according to the experience of the twins, the error of Rule 7 had been proven. Normal people shouldn’t think in that direction.

Could it be that there was some hint he had missed? There shouldn’t be.

“Oh, this.” Chi Ting hadn’t explained much because the time was tight. Now they finished the game successfully and came out. He smiled and said, “Due to the hint given by Rule 10.”

“Rule 10?” Hang Jing was stunned.

[During the game, please pay attention to the warm reminders given by the staff at any time.]

Of course, he remembered the contents of Rule 10. However, he never took it to heart since he never mentioned the staff member mentioned here and due to the lack of trigger conditions. How could he find a clue from this?

Chi Ting realized Hang Jing’s doubts and said in a friendly and persuasive manner. “Since we need to pay attention to their reminders, the prerequisite should be to find a staff member first, right?”

The calm words entered his ears, and Hang Jing’s eyes widened slightly. He finally understood.

Yes, if there was no trigger condition then why add such a meaningless and redundant rule among so many game rules?

Obviously, there was no possibility of staff members in the prison. If staff members were to appear, the only way would be…

Yue Ren stroked his chin and lowered his eyes to think. At this moment, he also showed an expression of sudden realization. “So that’s how it is.”

The twins might’ve triggered the death rule by pressing the emergency button, but their ending only proved that the content of Rule 7 was wrong. In other words, pressing the emergency button in the odd-numbered area to seek help from the staff was invalid.

However, just because they weren’t allowed to seek help from the staff in the odd numbered areas didn’t mean that it wasn’t allowed in the even numbered areas. At least, the fact that it wasn’t written in the rules proved that even if pressing the emergency button in the even numbered areas wasn’t the correct rule, it at least wouldn’t trigger the death condition. Once the staff member was successfully contacted, they would meet the prerequisites required by Rule 10.

The cause and effect were instantly sorted out. Yue Ren couldn’t help praising it more and more when he looked at Chi Ting.

Then after thinking about it for a while, he asked with some curiosity, “But what would you do if the staff member didn’t take us out just now?”

Chi Ting thought for a moment before answering truthfully, “Then just like everyone has deduced, there are only two situations left. Either the rule about not taking off the gaming equipment is wrong, or not staying for more than one hour is wrong. If we couldn’t go out at that time, I would’ve taken off the equipment on my body as soon as possible. If it is proven that this approach is wrong, we could stay for one hour smoothly… Hiss, why are you holding on so tightly?”

Hearing his gasp, Yue Ren slightly loosened his grip on Chi Ting’s hand, but there was still a faint sneer on his face. “Don’t even think about it. Do you think I would allow you to take off the equipment and verify it yourself?”

Chi Ting was lowering his head to rub his wrist. Now he paused and looked up. “It was just a hypothesis.”

“It isn’t okay to make such a hypothesis.” Yue Ren pointed calmly at Hang Jing beside him. “If we really can’t get out, we should immediately ask that kid to take off his equipment for verification. If it is confirmed to be a mistake, all of us would wait for an hour to pass smoothly.”

Chi Ting smiled slightly and nodded in accordance with Yue Ren’s words. “Understood.”

Hang Jing, who was just about to come over to express his gratitude for passing this game, happened to hear this, and the smile on his face froze for a moment. “……???”