Infinite Weird Game

"Don't get too close." The scholar warned, but his feet stayed where they were and he didn't keep up with the player.

According to the rules of Yanghua Town, as a townsman, he had to stay away when the funeral procession carried the deceased out of the town.

Only players can follow the paper man out of town to take a look.

Four paper figures riding donkeys carried the old man's body, swaying up and down like a ship sailing on the sea, floating along the street.

Most of the roads in Yanghua Town run east-west. The mansion where the players live is located in the west of the town. The funeral procession goes eastward, away from the mansion.

Everyone followed the team for a distance, leaving the voices of people and the smell of fireworks behind them. When they looked back, they could only see the shadows of houses in groups.

The figures of the townspeople were like ants in the mud, hidden in the larger shadows and impossible to be found.

The paper man was always ten feet away in front of him. A few dim white shadows floated in the dark blue streets. The buildings on both sides faded like an ink painting, leaving only the silhouette of the paper man as clear as a ghost fire.

Lin Chen walked between Qi Si and Tang Yu and asked in a low voice: "Brother Lin, Brother Tang, do we really want to follow them out of town? I feel like we are in an unfamiliar place and something bad might happen..."

Tang Yu held the lantern in one hand and pressed the other hand on the hilt of the knife, saying nonchalantly: "Fortune is sought in danger. Someone died and there is a funeral. It is obviously an important plot point with key clues. How can we miss it?
"And have you forgotten? The reason we are still fighting with them in this town is because we can't find a way out of town, right? If we can follow them out of town, even if we can't solve the problem fundamentally, we can at least help Mr. Luo and his team advance their mission."

After the players entered Yanghua Town, the road with the memorial archway disappeared; the main task of Luo Haihua and his wife was to find a way to leave Yanghua Town directly written on the system interface.

If you can really follow the paper man and find the exit of Yanghua Town, it will definitely be a big profit.

"Will the game really let us leave so easily?" Lin Chen was not convinced. "Even if we really found a way out of the town, there will definitely be death points that will stop us in order to prevent us from passing through easily, right?"

"It's no big deal if I can't leave town. It's daytime now anyway." Qi Si moved his left wrist holding the lantern, and the white paper lantern swayed back and forth on the pole.

"Ghosts only move around at night, and the townspeople have an agreement with the mountain god, so it's generally safer during the day. Even if something happens, Tang Yu and I have ways to deal with the danger."

He raised his eyelids and looked at Tang Yu: "I am on the newcomer list. As for you, Tang Yu, if I remember correctly, you are a core member of the Jiuzhou Guild. I believe that people who can have a place in a large guild like Jiuzhou are more than capable of dealing with the death point on the second day of the dungeon."

The dungeons of the weird game are divided into stages. Generally speaking, the first third of the time is relatively calm, mainly used to help players adapt to the environment and get into the dungeon background.

In the middle one-third of the time, there will be some death points with a mortality rate of about 50%. On the one hand, they will start to take away the lives of players, bringing the number of players closer to the minimum number of deaths; on the other hand, they will also provide some more direct clues and hints to help the remaining players crack the world view as soon as possible.

Players will die in large numbers in the last one-third of the time. There is no room for maneuver for players who reach the death point. Players who survive to the end will either trigger a guaranteed death toll mechanism or complete the main quest and clear the dungeon in desperate situations.

Therefore, some players who have requirements for MVP or TE clearance records will try to act aggressively in the early stages of the dungeon, striving to collect enough effective clues - even if they cannot crack the world view, at least they must ensure that they know more than other players and have a better chance of surviving to the end.

Tang Yu turned his head to look at Qi Si and narrowed his eyes: "Have you heard of me? Or... do you know me?"

"I've watched your live broadcast." Qisi said, "I happened to catch a glimpse of the "Misty Town" dungeon. I remember that you teamed up with a young girl and persuaded her to join your guild."

Jiuzhou adheres to the principles of mutually beneficial cooperation, openness and transparency, and has clear requirements on the live broadcast frequency of its members. The more core the members are, the higher the live broadcast frequency will be, under the euphemism of "accepting supervision."

Qi Si directly repeated what he saw from Liu Yuhan's soul leaf from a different perspective, and said with a smile: "When you introduced yourself at the beginning, you didn't mention your identity as a member of the Jiuzhou Guild. I thought there was something hidden, so I pretended not to know you.

"But now it seems that you are not so obsessed with hiding your behavior patterns."

Tang Yu seemed to believe this, his expression relaxed, and he smiled bitterly: "Actually there is no hidden truth, it's just that I did something wrong and was expelled from the guild. It's embarrassing to talk about it, so I didn't tell you."

Qi Si raised an eyebrow: "Expelled? I remember that whether it is voluntary withdrawal or expulsion of members, the process is quite complicated."

Tang Yu sighed and said, "Even if it's troublesome, we have to follow the rules. In the last instance, I accidentally injured a companion, and the situation was very serious."

"It seems that Jiuzhou is really as strict as the rumors say." Qi Si chuckled, and it was hard to tell whether his tone was mocking or admiring.

Tang Yu had no intention of continuing what he said.

Lin Chen was listening to their conversation and gained a new understanding of Jiuzhou.

In the "Frog Hospital" copy, he saw too many players attacking and harming each other, and always felt that unity and cooperation was a false proposition, and that Jiuzhou, which used this as its slogan, was hypocritical and unrealistic.

But judging from Tang Yu's experience, Jiuzhou really did set an example, practice what it preached, and was even strict to the point of being inhumane - it was like a utopia built by a group of idealists, naive, yet beautiful.

Against the backdrop of a weird zero-sum game, this kind of existence is too fragmented. Although it is unreal, it is as desirable as the dawn light in the dark night.

Similarly, Tang Yu also has many flaws.

From the perspective of clue analysis and decision-making, we can see that he is a rational and calm person, and he usually speaks in an orderly and unhurried manner.

But on the first day, he had a verbal conflict with the scholar out of hatred, and even killed the old man who was in charge of the residence with a knife; on the second day, he was still rude to the scholar.

Is it because he hates evil and treats people with contempt? Not entirely, it seems more like a deliberate disguise.

But which side is true? Which side is false?
Following the funeral procession, the players unknowingly walked to the eastern part of the town.

The crooked wooden buildings were lined up in front of me, dark and eerie. The dilapidated windows and doors opened automatically without wind, and a strange creaking sound could be heard from afar.

The paper people moved silently, as if a gust of wind blew the paper pieces gently and delicately. Their presence was quickly buried by the sound of the wooden building, as if they were just a foil to the scene, guests passing by here.

"This is the mansion we lived in." Lin Chen was the first to notice something was wrong and whispered, "I have been sensitive to graphics since I was a child, so I won't be wrong. The appearance of these wooden buildings is exactly the same as the mansion we lived in.

"Look at the door in the middle. There are exactly three stones on the lower left corner, two at the bottom and one at the top. The hole on the window on the right is a big hole and a small hole connected together, like a twisted gourd. And on the left..."

Lin Chen pointed out several similarities one after another. If the paper people had not carried the coffin into the door, he would probably have been able to say more. His words and deeds were intended to make the two people around him believe that the row of wooden buildings in front of them was the mansion that the players were familiar with.

Qis didn't have as good a memory as Lin Chen, but with the soul contract skill, he could be sure that Lin Chen was not lying.

The cursed pendulum emerged silently from the wide sleeves and wrapped around the wrist, ready to deal with any unexpected situation at any time.

Tang Yu seemed to have thought of something. He took a few steps forward and lowered his head to search the ground.

He suddenly pointed to a bunch of white things in the bushes near the door, and said with a stern look: "I remember that thing. After the old man came back to life last night, the bunch of keys in my hand turned into white stones, and I just threw it in the corner... I didn't expect it to be here too."

He paused for a moment and said firmly: "We are indeed back."

“Not quite right.” Lin Chen shook his head. “I remember we were walking straight east without changing direction. The residence is located due west. Even if the physiological structure of the human body causes us to deviate to one side when walking in a straight line, it is impossible for us to go back without realizing it.

"Besides, the townspeople have disappeared and the shops have been closed. It's still broad daylight, there's no reason for them to close up so early. And it's only been less than half an hour, they can't move that fast."

Qi Si nodded slightly and said, "What Lin Ya said makes sense. I also think that we are not back to where we were."

He looked at Lin Chen: "Lin Ya, if you have any speculation, you might as well say it out first, maybe it can be inspiring." Lin Chen swallowed his saliva and said hesitantly: "Brother Lin, Brother Tang, I didn't pay attention to it before, but now I remember it.

“There were two identical houses on a stretch of road before, and all the buildings I passed by afterwards seemed familiar to me, as if they were deliberately designed to be symmetrical with the buildings on the other side.

"But those buildings are all shops. Since they are closed, they don't look as similar as the mansion. Haha, it wasn't until I saw the mansion that I was sure that the familiar feeling I had before was not an illusion."

"Mirror." Tang Yu blurted out.

He paused and continued, “I suspect that the ‘mirror’ is a key point in this copy. The east and west halves of Yanghua Town are mirror images of each other.

"I don't know if you have had similar experiences, but when I first entered this dungeon, I saw a mirror with my image reflected in it. It only lasted for a second before disappearing. Now that I think about it, that should have been a hint."

"I saw it too." Lin Chen echoed, "I was also there when the dungeon started. A mirror flashed before my eyes twice and then disappeared..."

"We'll know whether it's a mirror image or not if we go upstairs and take a look." Qi Si interrupted their conversation, "We left some paper and pen upstairs, didn't we?"

While they were talking, the paper figure carrying the corpse had already passed through the lobby of the mansion and disappeared behind the wall opposite the door.

The players then discovered that there was a secret door at the bottom of the mansion, which was just right hidden by the shadows and could not be noticed without careful observation.

Tang Yu asked: "Should we continue to follow those paper figures out of town?"

"No impact." Qi Si said calmly, "We will split into two groups. You are stronger, so take Lin Ya with you, and I will act alone.

"You choose first, go upstairs or go out of town?"

Hearing this, Lin Chen suddenly raised his eyes and silently said in his heart: "Qi...Brother Qi, aren't we going together?"

Qi Si answered patiently: "I don't trust Tang Yu. The clues on both sides are crucial, and I dare not bet that he will not hide anything. So, I need you to help me keep an eye on him, can you do it?"

"But……"

"You don't have to worry too much. It's daytime now, and the ghost can't hurt anyone. Even if he wants to hurt you, I will do my best to help you survive."

"oh oh!"

Tang Yu didn't know that Qi Si had labeled him as a suspicious person in his private chat with Lin Chen.

He thought for a moment and said, "Then Lin Ya and I will continue to follow the paper man. If we encounter any danger on the way out of town, we can take care of each other."

Lin Chen was comforted and naturally had no objections.

Qi Si nodded slightly: "Okay, let's meet downstairs in the mansion and exchange clues."

Tang Yu and Lin Chen followed the paper man one after the other and entered the secret door of the mansion.

Qi Si held the lantern in one hand and the cursed pendulum in his right hand, and walked up the stairs to the second floor of the mansion.

The rustling sound of the wooden boards under pressure was exactly the same as the sound made when the players went downstairs in the morning, and the smell of decay in the air was equally familiar.

Everything seemed to indicate that the building they were in was the residence where the players had lived.

Qi Si stopped in front of the leftmost door on the second floor.

There was a heavy iron lock hanging on the wooden door, tightly tying the door leaf to the wall. It was expected that the old man locked the players in like this last night.

Qi Si pulled out a thin wire from the bracelet, inserted it into the keyhole and turned it twice.

With a click, the door opened.

On the two beds inside the door, there were two people covered with quilts, sleeping soundly and breathing evenly.

Qi Si clenched the curse pendulum, stepped closer with quiet footsteps, and finally saw the faces of the two men clearly.

It’s Luo Haihua and Luo Jianhua!

On the bedside table between the two beds, there was a pile of papers covered with words, and the handwriting belonged to different people.

[Teacher Luo, I am Tang Yu, Lin Ya and I are still in the dungeon...]

[Last night, we held the lantern and didn't dare let it fall over. When we realized something was wrong in the middle of the night, it was too late...]

[We are trapped in the past and may never be able to get out...]

……

On the other side, Lin Chen and Tang Yu followed the paper man, walked around the towering pile of corpses behind the mansion, stepped on the soil covered with corpses, and finally saw the shadow of the bamboo forest in the distance.

Countless tall and short bamboo poles had their outlines blurred in the mist, standing upright like ink splashed on white paper and flowing down under gravity.

There was a damp and chilly smell in the air. Ice-cold water droplets clung to the players' bodies, soaking their clothes. The paper figures and paper donkeys were also soaked and became soft, shaking even more violently.

"Ah, uh—" The paper donkey suddenly let out a long, hoarse cry, which was eerie and creepy in the silence.

The paper figures seemed to be reminded of the place and floated down from the donkey, grabbing the hands and feet of the corpse and standing it up.

Two paper figures held the corpse's arms, and two paper figures lay on the ground, digging the soil with their hands.

Lin Chen has good eyesight and can clearly see the outlines of the paper man and the corpse.

At first he thought that the paper figures found it convenient to hold the body vertically and did not want to dig the soil. After a while, the paper figures stood up, took the body, and still held it vertically.

Is the pit dug? How big a pit can be dug in such a short time?

Lin Chen watched intently, but saw that the paper man directly inserted the corpse vertically into the soil.

The ankles of the corpse were sunk into the pit, and two paper men were responsible for supporting and fixing it, while two paper men buried the soil in the pit.

After a while, the paper figure retreated, leaving the old man's body standing alone in the bamboo forest, stiff and straight.

Just like... a scarecrow in a wheat field. (End of this chapter)