The orphanage's stairs were turned into piano keys.
The sound of the piano was intermittent, sometimes far away and sometimes near in the empty corridor. Occasionally, three tones overlapped and no pattern could be discerned.
It was as if someone was holding a young child's hand and randomly pressing the keys of an old piano that had been in disrepair and out of tune for a long time.
…
Yu Tang stood up from Zhan Chen's arms and opened his eyes.
The psychic with the ability to teleport hid in the corner. He and his partner tried to sneak attack Yu Tang, but they were caught by Zhan Chen. Now his whole arm was in so much pain that he couldn't move.
He was the No. 19 chosen by the NPC when the game world first learned from the players and promulgated the "assimilation" rules.
He had woken up from his previous coma and witnessed his partner being swallowed by the piano keys. His spirit was on the verge of collapse and he couldn't stop shaking.
Yu Tang walked over.
"Have mercy on me... Please!"
No. 19 shrank back desperately: "I don't know anything... The illusion was created by him! I was only responsible for hiding and attacking people when they were trapped in the illusion..."
Yu Tang asked: "How many haunted illusions have you created in your home?"
No. 19's voice paused, he opened his mouth, and a guilty look unconsciously appeared on his face.
"You must answer the questions truthfully," Yu Tang said. "Tell me everything until I'm done."
As soon as he finished speaking, the air around Yu Hall suddenly fluctuated for a moment.
No. 19's expression changed slightly.
Once a psychic reaches level A or above, they can sense each other's "domain". Even if they cannot break the rules of the domain, they can at least feel the fluctuations when the domain is expanded.
No. 19 was not clear about what the rules of Yu Tang's domain were, but he hid in the dark and saw Yu Tang confronting his students. At least he knew that Yu Tang had the ability to crack other people's domains.
No. 19 moved, inch by inch, with difficulty: "I, I don't know... He created a lot of them, this space is very strange!"
The game background is still running, and through the message area, they also learned the rules of those external spaces.
Each space can only accommodate one player. If there are two people in a closed space at the same time, one of them will be swallowed up and turned into a wandering line.
The rules in the orphanage are different from those outside.
In the entire space, ten people can exist at the same time.
They were lucky enough to be among the ten people, and after discussing in the dark, they decided to occupy an orphanage.
They happened to be in the orphanage's book corner, and the student flipped through the horror stories there and decided to use his supernatural powers to create a large number of illusions, building the illusion of a "haunted" place and driving the other players into a corridor.
No. 19 was responsible for hiding in the dark, waiting for the opportunity, and eliminating those players who were frightened and confused by the illusion one by one.
"But there is something strange about this space... I don't know why, but there must be something strange..."
No. 19 swallowed hard. He seemed to remember something extremely horrible, and his face turned pale: "We counted..."
Whether speculating based on the comments or searching with mental power, there are only ten people in the orphanage, including them.
Even if there are hidden psychics who are careful not to reveal their positions, their number will never exceed too much.
According to the original plan, in order to occupy an orphanage, they only needed to kill the remaining eight players.
No. 19 looked a little dazed, and his voice became lowered: "In that corridor... we killed 23 people."
Yu Tang met Zhan Chen's gaze and raised his eyebrows slightly.
No. 19's expression suddenly changed.
He realized that he had spoken out of turn, and couldn't help but start to doubt whether Yu Tang's domain had any hypnotic effect, and a trace of panic rose in his heart.
"We, we have no other choice!" No. 19 explained hurriedly, "Only when there are less than ten survivors can we escape. Are we going to be trapped in here forever? If we keep going like this, everyone will die..."
Yu Tang interrupted him: "What is the specific ability of that student?"
"His ability is illusion, and the rules of his domain are 'story'!"
No. 19 was like being pardoned, racking his brains and pouring out everything: "He is a top student in the literature department! His field is limited, and it cannot be created out of thin air. There must be a book first, or it must be written on paper and turned into a book..."
The student's actual number is 45.
As of the first game, he had successfully survived seven rounds of the game, and his supernatural power "Illusion" had gradually been upgraded to level A in the game.
Before each game, he would look for a physical partner who was strong enough, and when entering the game, he would disguise himself as a novice who would be killed as soon as he landed on the ground, so as to let everyone's vigilance down.
Many players were forced to attack others in the game. Even if they did not kill voluntarily, they would try to count the number of people and stop immediately when there were only ten people left in the world.
Few people realize that a "newcomer" who died at the beginning of the game is still alive, and there are actually 11 players in the game world at that time.
In each round of the game, when some people negotiated a truce and stopped to wait for the game to end, No. 45 would create an illusion and naturally replace one of them.
"He only came to me during the first game, I don't know anything about what happened before!"
No. 19 was still talking non-stop. He was frightened and terrified, his face turned blue with pain, and his voice trembled uncontrollably, but he never stopped.
"I'm just a helper who follows his orders... Teleportation is a physical ability. Even if it is upgraded to A-level and has a domain, it can only move in different spaces, and there is a limit on the number of times... If I don't cooperate with others, I won't survive to the end!"
"His 'fantasy' must be based on a paper, shaped storybook. It can be a book, even one he made himself."
"As long as the book is not destroyed, the illusion will not disappear."
No. 19 swallowed, his voice was a little hoarse. "If we use his own books, there is a limit on the number of times. He can only read three books at a time, and he has used up all of them, so we used the horror novels in the orphanage's book corner..."
Yu Tang asked: "After the illusion was created, where are those books?"
No. 19 looked at Yu Tang with fear.
"I don't know." No. 19 whispered, "Every time he creates an illusion..."
…
No. 19's eyes widened in astonishment.
He didn't want to tell the truth any further, because what he thought and said were obviously the same thing.
…But he seemed to be suddenly torn away from his body by an invisible force.
The next moment he had the thought of lying, he turned into a shadow overlapping his own body.
The "No. 19" who was huddled in the corner with a solid body continued to answer: "Those books are on that A-level card of 'Instant Memory'. It was bought for him by the boss of the company that bet on him."
"In the realm of instant memory, the rule is 'book collection', which matches his ability perfectly."
Number 19 lowered his head. “Now that he’s dead, the card is destroyed. The books should have been ejected and scattered around the orphanage.”
"I am going to use my teleportation ability to escape and find those books before you do. I will burn them all."
The shadow of No. 19's eyes were bloodshot.
He had no idea how his body could reveal his secret thoughts, and he kept roaring, trying to stop his body.
"No. 19" continued: "If the book is destroyed, the illusion will also be destroyed. You will be burned to ashes along with the illusion. This orphanage will belong to me alone..."
No. 19's eyes were wide open, almost bleeding, with an expression of unbelievable despair in his eyes.
… He said “forbidden words”.
They have been lurking in the orphanage for a long time, and while hunting other players, they have also figured out the only rule.
This orphanage is very tolerant and will not devour the player, but will only trap the player in the orphanage and make it impossible to get out.
The only forbidden word is "This orphanage belongs to me alone."
Anyone who has said that will be avenged by the world's sudden anger and become a line fit only to shrink in the shadows.
"I regret it!" No. 19 screamed, "I changed my mind, I don't think so anymore! I want to help you! I can lead the way for you..."
As he spoke these words, his shadow overlapped with his body and merged into one again.
At that moment, No. 19 tried desperately to escape from the body that caused trouble. He struggled desperately, but for some reason, that strange feeling of separation could no longer be found.
No. 19 has already noticed that the color of his body is being stripped away. He has been completely crushed by despair and desperately pulls Yu Tang: "Do you have a solution? Please save me, we have already found out the orphanages, I can lead you! Please save me..."
As soon as his voice came out, it was quickly squeezed and swallowed by the surrounding space.
As long as the "forbidden words" were not spoken, nothing would happen if they were thought of in the heart. But for some reason, in Yu Tang's territory, he actually said these words out loud.
The furious will of the world stripped him of all his color in an instant.
Line No. 19 stared at Yu Tang: "What are the rules of your domain? What the hell did you do..."
Yu Tang: "The rules of my domain are 'rules'."
No. 19's eyes widened in astonishment.
He remembered what Yu Tang had said at the beginning of the conversation.
"Answer questions truthfully."
"Tell me everything until you are done."
…
The only remaining lines of No. 19 have fallen to the ground.
He couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he tried. The sound came from another dimension, like the strange noise made by sandpaper rubbing against rust: "How could it be... How could there be such a superpower?"
Yu Tang did not answer, but supported himself on his knees and stood up: "Zhan Xueli."
Zhan Chen came over.
While they were talking, the strange piano sound continued to ring. Zhan Chen did not rush downstairs and had already explored the entire corridor area.
is an abandoned manor, and they are in a villa in the manor.
Due to lack of maintenance over the years, the walls and floors of the villa are mottled and aged, and many facilities have lost their original functions.
"We are on the third floor, which is the area for children to play."
Zhan Chen: "Most of these rooms are closed and abandoned. The ones that are open are the music room, library and studio, but there are no musical instruments in the music room and no paint in the studio."
Yu Tang nodded: "Where is the book corner?"
"There are a row of low bookshelves in the book corner." Zhan Chen said, "I checked and there are traces of books on each shelf. The total number is about fifty."
Yu Tang released the system from the sack in his sea of consciousness: "Zhan Xue, how many books are left now?"
"Nothing left." Zhan Chen said, "There's only the bookshelf left."
Yu Tang: “…”
Zhan Chen asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
Yu Tang took a deep breath and rubbed his temples.
… They are facing a nascent world that is still observing and learning from the players.
No. 19 and No. 45 came to the book corner. They probably only took the horror stories on the bookshelf and used these story books to create a haunted illusion.
But now the gaming world has learned this trick as well.
The orphanage that absorbed the original books in the book corner and was modified by the game world may not necessarily be an illusion anymore.
Yu Tang took the paper handed over by Zhan Chen.
Zhan Chen found a list of old books in the book corner. When Yu Tang was interrogating No. 19, he had already sorted out the general contents of these books according to the number of pages, classification and traces left on the bookshelf.
These books were donated by various parties. They were very mixed and included all kinds of books. Most of the children in the orphanage had never been to school and might not be able to understand what they read.
In order to prevent children from damaging the books by careless handling, many books are never opened after purchase and are still wrapped in sealed plastic.
"At least get everyone together first."
Yu Tang said: "If I'm not mistaken, there should be ten more people in the villa."
The reason why No. 19 felt it was strange was that he and No. 45 had been ambushing in a corridor to kill players and had not noticed any pattern in it.
In the game world, ten people must be left in the orphanage to play with Feng Qing, no more and no less.
Every time a player is killed, the game world will draw another person from another space and put him into the orphanage to ensure the number of people in the orphanage.
Yu Tang still had Feng Qing's invitation to "come visit when you are free", so he could bring Zhan Chen into the orphanage as a guest. Not counting them, there should be about ten players scattered around in the orphanage.
"The hospital room is on the top floor. I'll go up and take a look."
Yu Tang said: "Zhan Xue, let's follow the original plan. You and the system will go find the others and meet at the stairs on the first floor."
"Host, host." The system was still a little nervous, and reminded him in the sea of consciousness, "The stairs have turned into piano keys..."
The system didn't see the student being swallowed by the stairs, but it was still instinctively alert to those piano keys and asked Yu Tang in a low voice: "If we play it wrong, will there be any punishment?"
"Yes." Yu Tang said, "but we are 'guests'"
Yu Tang: "Guests don't need to play the piano."
The system still couldn't understand what Yu Tang meant. It looked at Zhan Chen who was already walking towards the stairs, and the red light kept flashing nervously: "Host! It's too dangerous. How about I try it first-"
Yu Tang asked him in his sea of consciousness: "Do you know why I can make rules?"
The system was stunned: "Why?"
“Because I told the gaming world,” Yu Tang said, “Players have the power to change the rules of the game.”
The system thought about it carefully and was suddenly stunned.
… Yu Tang did say that.
When confronting the student who controlled the illusion, the student, in order to find an excuse for himself, questioned Yu Tang desperately, asking if the player had the ability to change the entire rules of the game.
Yu Tang’s answer was “yes”.
…
Immediately afterwards, Yu Tang's domain acquired the characteristic of "rules".
"The world is always watching us."
"It wanted to learn to become stronger and rescue Feng Qing, but all it saw was conspiracy, calculation, and self-destruction."
In the sea of consciousness, Yu Tang said: "But it's actually very easy to deceive - just make it believe that something is natural."
So far, the game world has no control over its own abilities.
If the player triggers the ban and says something it rejects, it will punish him furiously.
But if what the player says makes it believe it and thinks it is right, it will do it.
Yu Tang said with a matter-of-fact tone that "players have the ability to change the rules of the game", and the game world would think that he was right and grant him the ability to make the rules.
Yu Tang had just tried it out on No. 19, fixing the scope of the domain on a certain target person and setting the rule of "no lying, must tell the whole story". Every five minutes, about 30% of his mental energy would be consumed.
After all, mental energy cannot be wasted, so Yu Tang decided to take another risk and try another method.
"Guests don't need to play the piano."
Yu Tang said: "Guests can also eat bubble gum every time they come."
system:"… "
Zhan Chen: “…”
Zhan Chen stood safely on the first step. He cleared his throat, suppressed his helpless smile, and was about to speak when his expression suddenly changed.
The space where Yu Tang was standing began to vibrate violently without any warning.
The gaming world was already accustomed to devouring and taking, and this demand had doubts angered it. In the empty corridor, the ceiling lights began to flicker irregularly.
Zhan Chen suddenly turned around and pounced on him.
…
The world is filled with mood swings, and any wrong step may lead to a fierce counterattack.
Zhan Chen is still data now, and there is a way to recover even if he is seriously injured. Yu Tang is clear about this, so he did not stop Zhan Chen from trying to turn the stairs into piano keys.
But Yu Tang left the task of testing the bottom line of the world to himself.
From the moment he met that student, every word Yu Tang said was an attempt to find out the bottom line of the game world and to draw a way back to the starting point.
He was not going to implicate others, but he still stubbornly wanted to take back the distorted game world.
…
The vibrations in space became more and more intense.
Yu Tang raised his hands to protect his head and neck, and a familiar embrace came to embrace him. Yu Tang pulled the little blue card for help and wanted to push Zhan Chen down the stairs, but the arms protecting him were hard and irresistible.
Zhan Chen's fighting skills were on par with Xiao Lan Ka's, but the poor student's strength was not enough after all. While Xiao Lan Ka was trying to defeat him, he was still unable to withstand the opponent's strength.
Yu Tang only had time to stuff the system back into the sack, and was protected by Zhan Chen, avoiding the violent and violent shock that filled the space.
One hand firmly wrapped around his shoulders and back, trapping him in the corner.
…
After a few seconds, Yu Tang poked his head out from the overwhelming objects falling on him.
Zhan Chen leaned his arms on his sides, shook off the object that hit his shoulders, looked up, and his usually calm and gentle expression also showed a rare confusion.
… What bombarded them was countless bubble gums of all flavors.