Matryoshka Off-Limits

Chapter 94: Sunset Red Tour Group

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The mirror house was filled with bright and shiny mirrors without a trace of impurities, yet dazzling to the eyes. Wen Shi didn't know that what was even more dazzling was that there was an octopus waiting eagerly at the door.

Apply the timeless experience: if a child is quiet, he must be up to something.

This rule is most suitable for people with big eyes.

The owner of the mirror house finally came back to his senses from his brief shock. He wanted to further confirm whether there was really something wrong with the experience project. He began to urge the burned player impatiently: "Hurry up."

The burned player calmed himself down and moved the mirror in his hand a little to the side. He first saw the back of his head and a part of the red candle in the mirror. As he adjusted the angle of the mirror back and forth, he saw his own face in the mirror through the double mirror.

The burned player did not close his eyes. There was a pupil pattern on the antique mirror, which was slightly sunken downwards, like an eye that could not be closed.

"I saw you." His tone was weak. He didn't know if it was his illusion, but when he said this, the distance between him and Hongzhu seemed to be a little closer.

One eye is staring at the mirror world, and the other eye is looking at the red candle directly in front.

Whether inside or outside the mirror, just when the burned player's full attention was focused on the candle, there was a "pop" sound, and the red candle actually ignited automatically under his nose. The vigorous flame melted the grease on the surface underneath, and the smell was worse than the stench of a corpse, which made many people hold their breath.

The burn player doesn't need to control himself at all. When the candle starts burning, he even forgets to breathe.

He had also heard the story Qian Lai had told before. Lighting a candle meant borrowing life. The orange-yellow fire burned vigorously. Under the light of the fire, the burned player could clearly see how pale his face was in the mirror.

At the same time, a virtual image of a human face suddenly appeared in the mirror in his hand. The burned player's hand shook and he almost threw the mirror away.

The boss reminded leisurely: "Don't forget, you still have one sentence to say."

Realizing that he had only said the first half of the sentence, the burned player forced himself to cheer up, his lips trembling, and his hand holding the mirror handle sweating: "Out, out..."

"Do not say."

Suddenly, a voice came from the side, and Wen Shi calmly commanded: "Back off."

The burned player reflexively took two steps back, during which time the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes increased visibly.

"Keep retreating."

Perhaps it was because Wen Shi had always appeared in the role of a savior, the burned player listened to his words and took a few steps back as if possessed by a demon. This time, his back was almost touching the cold mirror.

The strange face in the mirror in his hand kept getting bigger and bigger, almost overlapping with his face.

"Don't stop." Wen Shi reminded him patiently, but a faint smile appeared on his lips.

The burned player's exposed eye clearly caught Wen Shi's micro-expression, and he stopped as if he suddenly woke up.

He did it on purpose, he was lying to me!

I only remembered that Pei Wenwei would save people, but I forgot that he was also a person with a vengeful character. This thought was infinitely magnified after it was born, and the burned player became more and more certain of this view. Once the face in the mirror overlapped with his own face, something terrible would definitely happen.

Qian Lai in the back also saw this scene and shook his head: "His rhythm has been disrupted."

At the beginning, the other party's starting point was still to study the rules of the game, but now it has been limited to whether Pei Wenwei is harming him.

After confirming that Wen Shi had bad intentions, the burned player ignored his reminder and started walking forward again, increasing the distance between him and the mirror behind him. The red candle burned more and more fiercely, and the feeling of his life slipping away bit by bit made him eager to end the game.

After returning to the original position, following the rules of the game spoken by the boss at the beginning, the burned player said those three words: "Come out."

It is unlikely that the boss is lying. He had heard players coming out of the danger house discussing what happened before. After those people went in, they were playing the shouting game according to the boss's request.

The three words were spoken lightly, and the moment the words fell, the red candle went out.

"fine."

The burned player breathed a sigh of relief, having almost been fooled by the cunning man next to him. His heartbeat gradually returned to normal, and when he glanced at the mirror, he was stunned for a moment. He was horrified to find that the red candle in the mirror was still burning, even more vigorously than before.

The burned player walked forward uncontrollably, raising his arms like a puppet, and hugged the red candle. The wax oil that fell from the burning candle burned his skin, and for some reason the oil was extremely sticky, and the burned player felt as if his whole body was covered with super glue, sticking him tightly to it.

The bones that were holding the candle melted and disappeared, the burned player's stomach was burned through, and the red candle was like a monster, devouring his internal organs.

"Save..."

His hoarse voice was about to be melted by the heat. He tried his best to open his eyes wide, but from this angle he could only see the vague outlines of Wen Shi and several insect people.

"Save me." Just like in the Teeth Land of Enmity, the burned player used up his last bit of strength to ask Wen Shi for help.

Wen Shi's eyes flashed with a happy smile, but he sighed regretfully: "Why didn't you listen to me?"

He shrugged: "... In this kind of death game, if you choose a path and retreat halfway, who will die if you don't die?"

The mocking tone made some people who saw the players' intestines melted out shudder subconsciously.

The person who was most affected was Song Yan, who was next to Wen Shi. He felt that these words seemed to have a hidden meaning, warning him never to look back.

Wen Shi didn't need to pay special attention to know Song Yan's complicated expression at the moment, and he smiled.

Admiration and gratitude alone are not enough, as such emotions are too illusory. A hint of fear is also needed to build a barrier that will prevent betrayal.

The burned player who was used as an example consumed the last bit of his life in the inhumane burning.

The last thing revealed in his eyes was not fear but hatred.

"I...heaven..."

Those dead fish eyes stared straight in Wen Shi's direction, as if they wanted to cut him into pieces with this gaze.

"Are you going to curse me to hell?" Wen Shi looked at the man who died with his eyes open and felt sorry for him. "Then you'll probably have to wait in line for a long time."

The boss blew out the candle in his hand, and the mirror house fell into darkness in an instant. No one moved rashly. When the boss relit the slender candle, only the skeleton of the burned player holding the red candle was left.

He took out a sterilized empty bottle and collected the earworms and small bright flies that had appeared at some point and were flying towards him, as well as two other strange-looking nematodes.

"What a great harvest!" The boss was very satisfied.

Qian Lai also cursed his father and mother: "It is incredible that organs can be recycled after death."

Most people had the same idea as him.

It is not the case when it is warm.

He had heard from Yu Xingzhou before that patients who wanted to apply for admission to Sunset Red Plastic Surgery Hospital had to provide a corpse within forty-eight hours.

Previously, the life of the burned player was saved to be used as a ticket, but after Song Yan froze the body of the shadow tour guide this morning, the only value of this ticket was greatly reduced.

One person died in the group of four, so Wen Shi and the others returned to the main force.

The death of the burned player is very valuable as a reference for others. At least it proves that Wen Shi’s initial reminder was not wrong, that they should never say “Come out”.

Song Yan was hesitant to speak beside Wen Shi. Knowing what he wanted to ask, Wen Shi patiently explained, "When playing Man in the Mirror, the game specifically emphasized the safety of the safe house once again, but it didn't just now."

From beginning to end, it was the boss who was the only one talking about how to play the game.

Furthermore, the risk in the name-calling game lies with your companions, but this time it’s different. If you say it out loud to a ghost that might actually exist, isn’t that courting death

"From the boss's perspective, it can also be argued that he did not clear the field, which must be because he was confident that there was no possibility of cheating by the players."

Song Yan thought of something and continued, "The real game venue is not outside the mirror, but inside the mirror."

"Yes, if you die at this stage, your soul will probably be trapped forever, and there will be an extra scapegoat in the mirror."

So, naturally, the sooner you start, the better.

As for what will happen in the mirror, Wen Shi is not a god and it is impossible for him to know.

When he was doing the analysis, he did not deliberately lower his voice, which made it convenient for people around him.

However, Song Yan tasted something else from Wen Shi's selfless sharing. Since entering the game, everyone's impression of him was that he was saving people. Even the burned players could not deny this.

Under this kind of psychological suggestion, if the other party has any intention to harm others, as long as we give some guidance in the analysis game, it will result in the destruction of the whole team.

Wen Shi seemed to still be lamenting the fate of the burned players, staring at the fresh bones with meat shreds on the outside of the red candle: "People must be kind."

Song Yan suppressed his fear and nodded in acceptance.

I will not harm others unless they harm me. But if someone harms me, I will use the false appearance of friendliness to lead the target to hell.

On the other side, Xiaohua asked Yu Xingzhou: "Captain, let's go too."

If there are too many stupid people in front, it will be troublesome to be dragged behind.

Yu Xingzhou nodded. When he passed by Wen Shi, he happened to hear him teaching Song Yan. His brows knitted slightly under the mask. He now hoped that his inference about the identity of the True Spirit Incarnation was wrong. If it was true, what was more terrifying than the immortality of the incarnation was Pei Wenwei's hand-in-hand teaching method.

It is hard to imagine what this incarnation will look like after it has completed its studies.

Having learned from the previous experience, Yu Xingzhou and others did not say that pitfall, come out, when they were completely attached to the mirror, the whole mirror surface was like a soft and rotten gel film, and the four of them fell into it one after another.

The large mirror had lost its luster, and even the candlelight in the boss's hand could not reflect much. There was a black palm print where each person disappeared, as if they were pulled in alive by a ghost claw.

This scene made people feel cold in their hearts. Wen Shi said nonchalantly: "Look, it's a closed-book exam."

"… "

Is this the point

Wen Shi was not too worried about the safety of Yu Xingzhou and the others. The boss's means of survival were beyond the imagination of a mortal like him. Not to mention anything else, he couldn't even catch up with the scapegoats.

He was now more curious about the main quest that would be activated later.

“I hope I don’t have to make a choice anymore.”

Wen Shi murmured to himself, he had been making choices constantly since he entered this game, and human nature was the one that could not stand the test.

The previous group had been in there for ten minutes and had not come out yet. The noise of discussion gradually died down, and the sound of even breathing filled the entire space again.

When I turned around, I saw that Wen Shi was saving up his energy to deal with the main task, so he fell asleep again while hugging the bear.

There are smooth mirrors all around, and I have to say this scene has a fairy-tale atmosphere, as if he is lying on crystal.

A steel pipe perfectly serves as a mood destroyer.

"Get up." The young man said coldly.

Reluctantly opening his eyes, the boy threw something over: "Take medicine."

Wenshi paid the other party to keep the medicine box after breakfast, because his backpack could not hold such an ordinary item and it would hurt him if he put it in his pocket.

The boy even mocked the Princess and the Pea at that time.

Wen Shi is like playing games, basically he doesn't do anything extra. He spends money on this extra thing to strengthen the connection between them: I dare to take the medicine you hand over to me, I trust you.

With more interactions like this, the teenager will think twice before doing something in the future. This was how Wen Shi's father dealt with him when he was a teenager, always giving him love and trust.

Without water, Wen Shi swallowed the medicine with difficulty. After resting for a while against the teddy bear, he heard a voice from the front.

Part of the mirror regained its brightness, and Yu Xingzhou walked out of it.

"Where are the others?" Wen Shi asked.

"I'm not sure. It's an independent space after entering." Yu Xingzhou said his speculation: "It's very yin inside, there should be a lot of ghosts. I met two when I went in, one of them..."

He glanced in the direction of the red candle.

No doubt he was referring to the burned players.

Song Yan asked Wen Shi: "Is the ghost that the player transforms into real or data generated by the game? Will he still exist?"

Wen Shi could not give an answer to this question.

Yu Xingzhou performed a rock-paper-scissors task in the mirror, playing rock-paper-scissors with himself in the mirror. He could leave when he won. Every time he lost, the red candle would burn for three minutes.

This game sounded weird to me.

"How do you beat it?"

Yu Xingzhou: "Let your hand speed exceed the speed of light."

"Just a joke." Yu Xingzhou said calmly, "Before the player died, the fire outside went out, but the candle in the mirror was burning, which means that the candle exists independently in the mirror space."

Wen Shi raised his eyebrows: "So the point is not the rock-paper-scissors game, but destroying the candle in the mirror?"

Yu Xingzhou nodded.

In fact, this game is child's play for him who has timing skills.

Not long after, Xiaohua and others also came out one after another. They encountered different ghosts in the mirror space, and they played different tricks.

Xiaohua's expression was somewhat serious, and she used anti-eavesdropping props: "I met Lu Bai."

A completely unfamiliar name.

Wen Shi looked at Yu Xingzhou, who explained, "A player who is in the Deep Space Guild with Xiao Min."

Although they belong to the same guild, the Deep Space Organization is very large and the two sides are not familiar with each other. Xiao Min followed them in earlier, and his face was not very good at the moment, "I didn't meet Lu Bai, but I saw a player from another organization."

Regardless of whether it is fictional data created by the game, it at least shows that some of the players who were wiped out in the last round have made it here.

Yu Xingzhou: "Did you find out anything?"

Xiaohua shook her head.

Ghosts enjoy killing people, so it's very difficult to have a normal conversation with them.

"But I saw a bracelet on his hand that a patient was wearing, and it didn't match the name on his travel card."

Xiao Min: "So did the player I saw."

Yu Xingzhou thought of a possibility: "The bracelet was stolen. They might have wanted to use the identity of the original owner of the bracelet to sneak into the hospital and do something."

Xiaohua nodded.

"This is the strangest thing. Throughout our time playing the game, there has been no link to the bracelet, let alone any chance to steal the bracelet," she frowned, "It's as if the previous batch of players and our game are different."

Wen Shi recalled the boss's overjoyed expression when he saw them. He almost had the words "So many people" written on his face. In fact, the casualties of both the players and the shadows were already very high at that time, so the boss's surprise was very abrupt. The tour guides were dividing up the resources on the train, which was part of the reason, but the tour guides would not harm the shadows on the train. However, the boss seemed to have never seen so many tourists before.

"If that's the case, it makes sense."

His words attracted the attention of several people.

Wen Shi said slowly: "Since we got off the train, all our side quests have almost no rewards. Now it seems that the order of the game may be reversed. The bracelet is related to the hospital. Perhaps according to the original order, we should do the main team battle quest related to the hospital after getting off the train."

"In this process, you will be deprived of many things, and then the most ruthless skill seal of the screaming house will come, and finally the "Soul Screaming" will come. The biggest feature of this experience project is the borrowing of life."

"That makes sense," Xiaohua touched her chin, "Borrowing life is for people who are about to die, not for ghosts."

Wen Shi's eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of haze: "Imagine if the things that were taken away before had lifespans, and if we want to survive we have to borrow the lifespans of others, then our soul-calling gameplay must be different from the previous batch of players."

The latter's project should be about how to light the candle, but they light the candle actively and go into the mirror to play games with ghosts. There is no benefit even if they win.

Just by imagining it, one can imagine what kind of horrific fight borrowing life would trigger.

Everyone couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts.

Yu Xingzhou said in a deep voice: "The existence of shadows can maintain the sanity of players in the early stage. Entering into group fighting too early will be detrimental to the subsequent game progress."

If the main body is injured and the shadow dies, it will lead to loss of control like burning the player.

Therefore, Wen Shi's conclusion should be correct, the real battle is in the last stage - borrowing life. It not only tests human nature, but also after this stage, even if you lose your mind, you can still get out of the dungeon.

"So we have always had low quest rewards and no main quests..." Xiaohua swallowed hard, "Is it because the starting point and the end point are reversed?"

What the hell is this!

Wen Shi's eyes rarely showed a hint of annoyance: "What on earth is the game doing?"

Yu Xingzhou wanted to rub his brows, but when he realized he was wearing a mask, he put his hand down again.

Don’t you know what’s going on

If you think about it carefully, you really don't know. This person doesn't understand the meaning of the true spirit incarnation. The incarnation is like an important button in the game, which either plays the role of start or end.

This key didn't get pressed for a long time, but it kept jumping up and down on its own. Can the game start

Feeling the complicated gazes lingering on him for a long time, Wen Shi wondered: "What's wrong?"

Yu Xingzhou turned his face away: "Nothing."

He was still hesitant before whether the two newcomers were both incarnations or just one, but now he was more inclined to believe that both were, and the other one was just a safety bolt. There were many side quests before the train stopped, and it was simply a fantasy for two newcomers with neither ability nor points to survive.

The incarnation is a blank sheet of paper. The fear they felt before death and the hatred of the world are excellent nutrients for the true spirit. Song Yan is fine. Who would have thought that a newcomer with broken limbs and a missing tongue would actually survive.

Especially in the parkour segment, Pei Wenwei even thought of transforming into insect men in order to keep them alive.

Wen Shi was still muttering to himself about the lack of maintenance on the game when suddenly thunder sounded outside the house. The noise was so loud that it seemed as if all the mirrors shook.

Wen Shi was startled by the thunder.

Yu Xingzhou said expressionlessly: "Well done."

Wen Shi: “?”

The game is really powerful, it made the big guys so angry that they started talking nonsense.

The anti-eavesdropping props had expired and everyone stood quietly in a corner. Yu Xingzhou walked to find Li Nan, who had just come out of the mirror. The two whispered for a while and looked in the direction of Wen Shi at the same time.

Wen Shi was completely unaware of this and was still openly sharing his experience of running the dungeon with Song Yan, while lamenting that the game had not crashed yet.

The "Soul Calling" segment was played in a weird way. The borrowing of life that was supposed to have a bloody effect didn't work at all. A burn player died on the player's side, and a person also died on the shadow's side.

Halfway through his speech, Wen Shi suddenly remembered something.

The boss began to count the harvest. The tour guide stared at the mirror on the ceiling in a daze. Suddenly, her radar moved almost reflexively. She glanced sideways and accurately caught Wen Shi's glance at her.

Damn, what is this brazier for

Wen Shi floated to her side like a ghost, "Miss Tour Guide, may I ask you a question? Is the tour group's itinerary fixed?"

The tour guide asked with some guilt: "What else?"

From the perspective of the NPC, it is another story. First, she was disgusted by the scene of Wen Shi saving people in the car, and after getting off the car, she was provoked by the turtle man, so she took them to the Screaming House that night to lure everyone to attack Wen Shi.

Usually the person who gets voted out is the most eccentric person in the team.

To avoid any trouble, after Wen Shi's ability was sealed on the first night, the tour guide tried to lead everyone to the museum as soon as possible, but to his surprise, his efforts were in vain.

The worst thing was that she had fought with her own shadow all night last night, and this morning the tour guide was lazy and brought them to the Mirror House. The Mirror House was the boss's home ground, so she didn't have to do any explanation and could slack off for a while.

Wen Shi probably understood something from her evasive expression.

"It's you." Four words squeezed out from between his teeth: "It's you!"

He finally found out the reason why the game had not crashed despite being played to this point: the tour guide had been making the logic self-consistent.

The other person once said something on the train -

Don't ever call me by my first name.

At first, Wen Shi didn't take this sentence to heart, and the NPCs became more eccentric.

Now that I think about it, it is not ruled out that the tour guide is also one of the incarnations of the True Spirit, and not being called by her name is an obsession engraved in the bones of the True Spirit.

As for Song Yan, he will be playing the role of a newcomer, so he must have a name.

The tour guide is the key NPC in this dungeon. She is responsible for where the tourists travel. As long as she doesn't think there is a problem, there is no problem.

Wen Shi and Yu Xingzhou did not achieve all-round information communication.

Otherwise he would understand more clearly that the tour guide is like the third safety pin, and the other party has always enjoyed killing tourists. If the newlyweds are lucky enough to survive the train, as long as the tour guide is there, the trip can continue, and they will always wait until a newlywed dies.

I'm afraid Zhen Ling never dreamed that after playing one game after another and even finishing the final game, the real main quest has not yet been started.

“I can’t even play with nesting dolls.” Wen Shi silently pointed at Zhen Ling in his heart.

After the boss had packed up everything, he led everyone out.

There was no joy of surviving a disaster. Everyone was basically waiting for the arrival of the main task, and they were feeling a little nervous.

Team battles cannot escape the framework of a life-and-death fight, and I'm afraid this time is no exception. Fortunately, in "Man in the Mirror", two female players died on the Shadow's side, which basically eliminated the number gap between the two teams. If they really have to fight to the death, the players may not necessarily lose.

"Attention all players, the side quest Mirror House has been completed and the main quest will be launched soon."

While they were each thinking about the main quest, the game did not let them continue to diverge and directly gave them the last big question.

[Competing Teams: Players; Shadows]

[Location: Sunset Red Plastic Surgery Hospital]

[Task time limit: From midnight tonight, start the 12-hour survival countdown]

[Challenge goal: choose one of three]

Dear tourists, you have paid a huge amount of money to participate in this tour. Sunset Red Travel Group guarantees that your money will be used wisely. Sunset Town is a town famous for plastic surgery. How can you not experience beauty projects when you come here

As a tourist, you have three options:

1. Hunting Shadows. Arrive at Sunset Red Hospital on time before midnight. If you can kill the shadows within the hospital, your strength, agility, and intelligence will all be greatly improved after you leave.

2. Thief. Arrive at Sunset Red Hospital on time before midnight. If you can steal a bottle of God-level Evolution Fluid in the hospital, a transformation skill will be randomly activated when you leave the dungeon.

3. Rest easy. Lie down on the bed in the inn before midnight, have a good sleep, and take the return train the next day to end this trip.

[Note: You can only choose one of the above tasks, and it cannot be changed once selected]

[Remaining selection time: 2h]

Everyone fell silent.

What you fear will come true. It is time to make a choice again. Wen Shi glanced at the shadows. They must have received the mission as well. Although he did not know the details, since there was a hunting shadow option in the player options, the shadows must also have the option to kill players.

As they walked out of the mirror house, no one spoke to each other.

This team battle mission completely weakened the fighting between each other and left the decision-making power to each participant.

If you want to relax, just stay in the inn and lie down, but the first two options are too tempting. One can improve your overall quality, and the other is equivalent to lighting up more skill points.

Qian Lai couldn't help but breathe faster. He saw Wen Shi yawning calmly from the corner of his eye and asked quietly, "Aren't you excited?"

Wen Shi asked back: "What are you excited about?"

Qian Lai also thought of the opponent's skills, including body transformation, and remained silent.

"…" Good fellow, drought kills, flood kills. He paused, "What are you going to do with Shadow?"

I think the options the game provides for Shadow are also very tempting.

Wen Shi looked at the young man when he heard this.

When there was only a short distance left before he could see the light of day again, the boy saw from afar the girl standing by the door, craning her neck to look around. She looked so anxious, like a novice parent taking her child home for the first time.

The boy subconsciously quickened his pace.

Wen Shi's mouth curled slightly when he saw this. Being waited for by others was a luxury. As long as there were people who cared about him, he would not make decisions based solely on himself. The next moment, the sun shone down, and an octopus head popped out from the other side of the door without warning.

"..." The smile suddenly froze.

What a big head!

Not only that, there are eight long tentacles under the head, some of which are clinging to the door frame. The octopus wearing a gentleman's hat pulls out another tentacle: wave ~

(End of this chapter)