0713: You who shine in the parallel world

Although a roller shutter was still closed outside the iron door of the small room, preventing Yu Yu from seeing what was happening outside, he knew without looking that the others were probably in the same situation. Moreover, their voices were nearby, indicating that they were not far away, probably around his next room.

He also had an iron chain around his left ankle, with the clasp locked by a three-digit combination lock. Only by opening the combination lock could the chain be unlocked, and it really looked like the real thing.

However, this was just a variety show recording and not a real event. If it were a real situation, it would be too amateurish for kidnappers to use such a small combination lock to fasten the anklet.

Because of the thickness of this combination lock, an adult can easily pull it open with a few tries and a bit of force if they practice diligently. At most, the ankle might feel a little sore from the pull of the rings, but what does that matter in an emergency?

Just as Yu Yu was examining the combination lock to see if it was secure, light came on from the glass door next door. A man in a polo shirt rushed to the door, pounding on the glass and shouting at Yu Yu, "Dad Yu, Dad Yu, how did you get locked up here? Never mind that, just think of a way to get me out of here. My family depends on me to support them, I can't be hurt!"

Yu Yu half-squatted on the ground and looked up. He almost didn't recognize the young man who looked to be only in his twenties but dressed maturely. Luckily, he remembered the game character setting: "Are you Weiwei?"

"Yes, it's me. Please help me! I'll recommend my child's tutor to you," Weiwei said anxiously. It has to be said that his acting skills were really good; Yu Yu felt that he could barely compare to her own.

"Oh, Teacher Weiwei, is this our first time meeting in person? You look so young, not at all like someone in their forties. No wonder your family is so stable. How do you maintain your youthful appearance? Can you teach me? Your child is also quite outstanding; I heard he's ranked first in his grade again this year?" Yu Yu said with a smile, starting a casual conversation.

NPC Weiwei's anxious expression stiffened slightly, and even his cries for help faltered. Fortunately, the production team had given him a heads-up beforehand, and although he hadn't directly "acted" with Yu Yu last year, he had heard about his various impromptu antics, so he quickly adjusted his mindset and picked up the conversation.

"This isn't the time to talk about these things, Dad Yu..."

"Why don't you just call me Xiao Yu? We're so familiar with each other. If you keep calling me 'Dad Yu,' people might think I sell bathroom heaters."

"...Okay, okay, I'll listen to you, Xiao Yu. We can talk about those things later. For the sake of the grand prize, you need to get me out of here first. After we get out, I'll tell you how to take care of yourself and how to tutor your child, okay?"

It seems that the NPC teacher's request for the player to rescue him and the player's agreement to this dialogue are necessary and cannot be changed. No matter where the topic is steered, the NPC teacher will always pull it back.

So this is supposed to be a game about saving your friends? And the so-called individual battle is because only one person can save their friend in the end?

While mentally anticipating what would happen next, Yu Yu said aloud, "Okay, but how can I save you? I don't have the key to unlock this door. Maybe the access control is on your side?"

Seeing that Yu Yu was finally starting to follow the plot, Weiwei immediately said, "Yes, I have a password access control here, which requires a password, but your feet are still chained. You have to unlock it yourself first to find the password, right?"

"Oh, this... Oh, it's nothing, don't worry about it." Yu Yu glanced at the combination lock on her foot, waved her hand, squatted down, grabbed the small combination lock with her left hand, and with a sudden tug, a crisp metallic sound was heard as the lock was violently pulled open by Yu Yu.

"See, that's all settled now. Go on, let's see if you have any other clues."

Yu Yu seemed completely oblivious to Teacher Weiwei's shocked expression, who was completely out of character. Without looking up, he casually tossed the lock on the ground, unchained his feet, and glanced around the small room.

What else could he say, bro?! Bro, you're his older brother, okay?! Bro, this isn't how you normally play the game! Couldn't you have waited for the "cutscene" to finish before unlocking the combination lock? Even if you wanted to force it open, couldn't you have waited until he left the stage? You just ripped open the game prop right under his nose, what were the rest of the production team supposed to do?!

Teacher Weiwei has lost his composure.

The director wasn't entirely calm either. His lips twitched, and he quickly ordered his men to have the NPCs in the seven rooms immediately move on to the next segment. He also instructed them to add a rule in bold and capital letters to the program rules from now on: "Destroying game props is strictly prohibited!"

So, after Yu Yu had completely outmaneuvered Teacher Weiwei, Teacher Weiwei suddenly let out an exaggerated shout, took several steps back, and at the same time, the lights in the glass room dimmed. Accompanied by his heart-wrenching cries for help, he disappeared into the darkness, and the glass door became one-way glass.

"Uh, a bit over the top." Yu Yu stood there awkwardly scratching her face.

Teacher Weiwei, who hadn't gone far, almost ran back in anger upon hearing this and slammed himself against the glass door, yelling a few curses—"This actor/actress, can't you have some self-awareness? With your erratic behavior, how can any NPC actor/actress possibly keep up with the performance?!"

The roller shutter door at the entrance rose, and Yu Yu finally saw the situation of the others; their positions were roughly as he had guessed.

At the same time, the screen on the wall of the room lit up, displaying some game rules. Yu Yu glanced at it and saw that the seven of them and their NPC friends had come here to participate in a game. The winner would receive a generous reward, and the first game was to find a way to escape the secret room and reach the courtyard outside as quickly as possible. The first person to escape would win.

Once all seven people arrive at the courtyard, the next part of the game will begin, where they will try to save their NPC friends.

The method for unlocking the chains was also shown on the screen in a graphic and textual way.

First, they need to get a long clamp tool, then use the tool to take out the combination ball from the transparent box at the door to unlock their shackles. Next, they need to frantically click the button at the door of the room to summon the electronic car, get the key from the electronic car to open the iron gate, and finally escape.

"Wait a minute, Yu Shao, the game has only just begun, why are you already unshackled?" Su Xing, who was observing the others, immediately noticed that Yu Yu in the opposite room had regained her freedom.

Wang Zhengliang was in the room next to Yu Yu's, so he couldn't see Yu Yu's situation at all: "What? Xiao Yu's chain is off? Could it be that they forgot to lock it when they came in?"

"Hey, hey, hey, is there a referee in this game? Someone has already won at the starting line, how can we compete?" Wang Yuexin was to Wang Zhengliang's left, so he couldn't see Yu Yu's condition either, but that didn't stop him from protesting.

While they were still stuck in the same place, Yu Yu had already skipped the step of obtaining the password ball and could directly run to the door to press the button. Was there still any need to compete for first place?

"Oh, so that's the procedure. I'm sorry, but this lock is too fragile. I just pried it open with one hand. To be fair, let's start from the same point again." Yu Yu explained, then obediently put the anklet back on and fastened the lock.

But he had already torn the lock, so it couldn't be locked at all; it could only be attached to the latch.

"What the hell? You're saying you opened the lock with your bare hands?" Zhang Yuan's voice came from the right. He had been struggling with the lock for a long time next door, finally getting angry and frustrated. "This lock is impossible to open! It must be because my lock is too good!"

Chen Chusheng, sitting opposite Zhang Yuan, watched his attempt unfold. He couldn't help but laugh and said, "Yuanyuan, this definitely requires a bit of skill; you can't just pry it apart."

"If I could reach it, I might even try biting it with my teeth. I think my teeth are pretty good," Land Rover joked.

Yu Yu's method couldn't be replicated, so they continued to play by the rules.

After Yu Yu "locked" herself up, she also gave the production team face and followed their steps to "unlock" herself.

When he first observed the room, he saw the long clamp tool next to a metal reel with rope wrapped around it, connecting to the clamp. Unsurprisingly, when Yu Yu picked up the clamp, the reel began to spin and tighten the rope, and he needed to release the rope as quickly as possible to run to the door and grab the ball out of the box.

It wasn't difficult at all; all he needed to do was be quick and careful. He quickly took out the coded ball, which contained a slip of paper with an arithmetic problem on it: 150 - (25 - 15 x 3) x 5.

Yu Yu glanced at the question, then immediately tossed the note aside, feeling like she had been scolded.

"The answer is 250." He casually said the answer, squatted down to "unlock" the door, went to the door, and started playing drums with lightning speed.

From the moment Yu Yu took the clip, pulled out the coded ball, calculated the answer, unlocked the door, and arrived at the door, the entire process was too smooth and seamless. In less than two minutes, he solved the puzzle and began to summon the electronic vehicle. This made Su Xing, who had started decrypting at the same time as him but hadn't even pulled out the ball yet, feel insulted.

So why did you go through all that trouble to tie yourself back in the first place?

In the end, nothing unexpected happened. Yu Yu was the first to walk out of the room and won the game, while Zhang Yuan and Chen Chusheng were still pressing the buttons to accumulate progress and summon the electronic car.

"Don't press it anymore, it's really hard on your hands if you keep pressing it like that." Yu Yu said, taking out all the keys from the electronic vehicle and unlocking the doors for Chen Chusheng and Zhang Yuan. The three of them then opened the iron gates for the other four people.

Land Rover is currently in the second stage, calculation.

Retrieving the ball wasn't difficult for him, but the calculations really stumped this liberal arts student. He had long forgotten all the knowledge his teachers had taught him before. When faced with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division all together, should he add or subtract first or multiply or divide first?

In the end, it was Zhang Yuan who ran over and told him the calculation steps, and only then did he understand the order and calculate the answer.

When the seven people walked out of the room and into the courtyard, the cutscene appeared again—the NPC friends who were originally locked in the glass room somehow ran out, but the iron gate that had just been unlocked was now locked again. The group of people watched helplessly as their friends inside the gate begged for help through the iron bars...?

“The old key doesn’t work now, so picking the lock probably won’t work either. This door is electronically controlled. Teacher Weiwei, please wait a moment while I check. The circuit should be hidden somewhere. Once the power is cut off, the door will open.” Yu Yu said, looking around intently.

"...? No, no, wait a minute, Dad Yu, no, Xiao Yu, we're here to play games and win the grand prize, not to cause trouble. Do you have to be so hardcore? What if we offend the organizers and don't win the prize?!" Teacher Weiwei took a step back in shock.

"The game requires me to rescue you, but it doesn't specify how. For the ultimate prize, we can resort to any means necessary when necessary, right?" Yu Yunan grinned mischievously.