Lu Chu was still in a daze, and before recovering from the severe pain of being cut from the middle, he saw new characters appearing on the square screen.
"Congratulations on officially passing the test.
Now, you have 60 minutes of 'free time', please come back here when the time is up. "
After the words on the screen disappeared, the screen also returned to its previous appearance. The paper man's hands and feet disappeared and floated back to the original place.
At the same time, a door appeared in front of Lu Chu again.
Now, Lu Chu feels inexplicably nervous when he sees the door, and feels restraint on his wrist. He looks down and sees a wristband that looks like a watch suddenly appears on his hand. The narrow screen of the wristband displays "57′03" "".
Thinking of the square screen that said he had sixty minutes of free time and no further explanations, Lu Chu overcame the uncomfortable feeling in his heart and walked out of the door.
As soon as he went out through this door, Lu Chu instantly shifted from a quiet space to a noisy street. This change made him at a loss, and he stood there in a daze for a long time.
It was night outside, and Lu Chu seemed to be in a noisy pedestrian street. There were small shops and food stalls on the left and right, but there were not many people coming and going. Then he saw a scene that surprised him—a middle-aged man walked in through the door he had just come out of.
Is the place he arrived at the same as himself
"Hey, are you a newcomer?!" Just as Lu Chu was thinking, a male voice suddenly appeared behind him, and then Lu Chu was patted on the shoulder.
Lu Chu was startled, and immediately turned around, only to see a tall, healthy, handsome young man with a bright smile standing behind him.
Lu Chu reacted and smiled gently: "Hi, may I ask who you are?"
"Me?" The young man seemed to be very familiar with himself. Without saying a word, he took Lu Chu's shoulders and walked forward, saying as he walked, "At least I am your senior!"
Lu Chu asked: "Senior?"
"Haha, yes," the young man raised the bracelet on his right hand, "Hey, everyone has it, and we don't have many people. I can tell you're new here just by looking at your face!"
Looking at the bracelet on the young man's hand that was almost the same as his own, Lu Chu was inevitably a little excited. Could it be that this person is in the same situation as himself
Soon, the young man answered his question: "Let me tell you, we were chosen to come to this ghostly place, and to do this kind of thing, we must have a better mentality, maybe we can return to reality The world. Speaking of which, my name is Song Gui, what's your name?"
"Lu Chu."
Song Gui waved his hand: "Good name! It seems that the two of us are destined, and the name is two words!"
Lu Chu was a little overwhelmed by his familiar attitude. He broke free twice but failed to shake off his arm on his shoulder, so he simply gave up.
Knowing that he could solve some of his doubts, Lu Chu politely raised his right hand and asked, "Excuse me, what does the time on this bracelet mean?"
Song Gui widened his eyes when he heard this, and asked in surprise, "Why, didn't the 'rules' be explained to you?!"
Lu Chu was still gentle, shaking his head with a smile and saying: "Indeed not."
Song Gui muttered to himself when he heard the words: "The 'rules' are really becoming more and more irresponsible. How many people will be killed by misleading newcomers like this? Fortunately, I met such a kind-hearted and brave handsome man..."
"Senior... Senior? Senior?"
Seeing that Song Gui was trapped in his own world and couldn't extricate himself, Lu Chu tried to call him twice, Song Gui came back to his senses, patted Lu Chu's shoulder and said: "I see you are destined, don't worry , I will cover you from now on!"
Lu Chu couldn't laugh or cry and said, "Thank you." After he finished speaking, he paused, and asked again, "What is the 'rule'?"
"It's those floating square screens in your room." Song Guizheng explained, "everyone of us who was brought here to experience those 'games' has his own independent space. After a long time , everyone calls it the 'house', and the 'rules' are to monitor and supervise everyone and maintain the existence of order here."
The more Lu Chu listened, the more confused he became.
Seeing him like this, Song Gui continued to explain: "The so-called free movement is the time to leave the empty house and come to these illusions. Did you see the middle-aged man who just entered the door? His free movement time is only five minutes a day. So he went back not long after you came out."
Song Gui grabbed Lu Chu and walked along the street while talking, and suddenly stopped while talking, and said in a brisk voice: "Ah, it's here."
What's here
Lu Chu followed Song Gui's gaze and looked forward. There was only a street with an unknown end interlaced with neon lights, so he looked back at Song Gui without knowing why.
Song Gui put away his hippie smile, and said seriously, "reach out and touch it."
Hearing this, Lu Chu stretched out his hand to move forward, and then came across a barrier... Is this—fake, fake
"It's fake," Song Gui confirmed his guess, "This street is just an illusion, the real length is just this long, and it's just a background screen any further."
Lu Chu couldn't hide his surprise: "How... how?"
This reminded him of the town he grew up in, where he thought his life was real, but it was also just a virtual simulation field that was emptied.
"Illusion," Song Gui sighed, and returned to his previous healthy look, he patted the top of Lu Chu's head, "The 'rules' must give us some motivation to live, otherwise how can we have hope, Happy to continue the game?"
Song Gui took Lu Chu back and walked back, still walking and said: "I see that the time on your bracelet is more than half an hour left, let me tell you the general situation first, so that you won't be in a situation without knowing it. Put yourself in a hole."
Lu Chu quickly expressed his thanks.
Song Gui led him to a barbecue stall. After the two sat down, he yelled boldly: "One hundred skewers of mutton skewers, two bottles of beer!"
Then he said to Lu Chu: "Although the things are fake, the taste is real. Finally, there are delicious food in this illusion, so don't treat yourself badly."
Lu Chu's focus was not on eating, so he hurriedly asked, "This illusion?"
Song Gui smiled: "I just think you are smart, and you have grasped the key to the problem at once. Let's start with the time on your bracelet. This time is the time you can stay in the illusion every day. All people affected by the same People who are governed by the rules can enter the same illusion at the same time, but the time is different. The length of time is 60 minutes at the beginning. The time will be reduced by five minutes every day, until you can only stay alone in the pale world with nothing but 'rules'. On the contrary, after passing the first two rounds of tests, you can choose tasks by yourself. Every time you survive a round, the time Add ten minutes."
When Song Gui said this, Lu Chu subconsciously glanced at the remaining time on Song Gui's bracelet - more than 150 minutes.
This shows that after passing the test, he survived at least a dozen rounds.
At this moment, Lu Chu felt a little awe of this handsome man with a big smile on his face.
Seeing him like this, Song Gui felt aggrieved immediately. He lay down on the table and tried to cross the table to approach Lu Chu, not forgetting to make a pretentious wink and complained: "Chuchu! I love you so much, it's love at first sight for you, don't be afraid of me what!"
Seeing this, Lu Chu smiled gently, and pushed his head away from her.
Song Gui got up from the table following Lu Chu's strength, and wiped away his nonexistent tears.
Lu Chu asked: "The meaning of the phrase 'if the task is not completed' is that we can choose to accept or not accept the task, instead of obliterating it if we don't execute it?"
Song Gui had had enough of playing around by himself, and continued to answer Lu Chu's question while eating the meat skewers that came up: "That was just the first two rounds, the purpose is to prove your ability to play these games, and also to eliminate some people, maybe From the point of view of the "rules", this kind of game of killing and killing people is not fun when there are too many people. But after that, the "game" forces you to play, how can it be as interesting as watching you suffer and have to play? "
Lu Chudao: "I have to, play..."
"Look here," Song Gui pointed to this street, "this place is illusory, but only the truth that does not touch the edge, it is so real. There are many people like us appearing here, and everyone expresses condolences to each other Say hello, and when the time comes, go back to your respective houses to face the silence and solitude."
"After the 'rules' have been screened, they will no longer force us to enter the 'game'. People who are greedy for life and fear of death cannot overcome themselves and will not actively choose to continue the game—we temporarily call this kind of death without purpose a game—then they The time that can stay in the illusion will become less and less until it disappears. After the time on the bracelet disappears, that person no longer has the right to play the game, and will not be obliterated. The 'rules' will also disappear, and the vast In the pure white space, he is the only one left, immortal."
Song Gui took a sip of beer: "What is more terrifying than death is loneliness."
Indeed, people live in groups, even if they enjoy solitude occasionally, it is by no means always.
Lu Chu heard the words and asked: "For example, the middle-aged man who only had five minutes left?"
Song Gui nodded: "That's right, after two rounds, he learned that he can choose whether to continue the game. He has not accepted any mission for eleven days and entered the "game". If he doesn't accept it today, we will not accept it in the future." Will see him in the vision."
Lu Chu asked back: "Could it be that some people would rather choose to commit suicide... not to enter the 'game', and also not to face loneliness alone?"
After all, loneliness and the unknown are sometimes more frightening than death.
Song Gui smiled: "Here, as long as anyone has the idea of suicide, they will fall into a coma, and stay in the house safe and sound after waking up, repeating this. If we want to die, there is only one way, and that is to die in the 'game'."
Lu Chu couldn't come back to his senses for a long time—I don't understand, what is the meaning of their existence.
"Okay, your time is almost up." Song Gui tapped Lu Chu's bracelet, which showed that there were only ten minutes of free time left, "You should go back. But even if you don't take the initiative to go back, it's time , the 'rules' will still send you back, but you will have to suffer a little bit then."
When it came to suffering, Song Gui put on an expression of "I will definitely feel distressed", but Lu Chu selectively ignored it.
Although there are still many doubts, there is not enough time now, and Lu Chu can only come back tomorrow. Fortunately, from Song Gui’s words just now, we can know that everyone is allowed to move freely at the same time. I was afraid that the time between myself and Song Gui would be staggered.
As soon as Lu Chu turned around, he heard Song Gui Yang's voice behind him saying emotionally: "About entering the 'game', I have a task for two people here, you can think about it, two people are more likely to survive together, Chu Chu !"
Turning around, Lu Chu ignored his sweet words and asked, "Why did you choose me? As you said, I'm just a newcomer who doesn't understand anything."
Song Gui laughed loudly when he heard the words: "I just want to see you close your eyes!"
Lu Chu didn't say much, thanked him again and left.
After Lu Chu entered the door and returned to his room, a twelve or thirteen-year-old loli appeared behind Song Gui, snatched his beer and meat skewers, and said vaguely while chomping: "No Thinking about the time when you also want to cooperate with others, why, what do you like about him?"
Song Gui greeted another meat skewer in the store, and turned to look at the cute and innocent Lolita: "It's much better than a precocious brat who pretends to be a pig and eats a tiger."
Little Lolita grinned and said, "You use a lot of words to evaluate me."
After the little girl finished speaking, the two looked at each other in silence for a moment. Suddenly, Song Gui jumped back, and saw a machete appeared where he was sitting, inserted half a foot deep into the stool, the blade was shiny.
Song Gui spread his hands: "I still like sneak attacks so much."
After the little loli had finished eating, she walked to the stool, put the knife on her shoulder and gave Song Gui the middle finger, then turned and walked away.
Song Gui shrugged and ran away from her.