The butler placed the tableware and dishes one by one in front of the seats, bowed in a stylized manner, and disappeared around the corner of the stairs without looking back.
Blood-colored red wine was poured into goblets and placed in front of the players; plates filled with various meats, vegetables and fruits were lined up on the long table. The apples on the table are red.
Except for Chang Xu who grabbed another apple and gnawed it, no one showed interest in the food on the table for a while.
Shen Ming let out a breath, looked around at the crowd and said, "This is a dungeon with rules and ghost stories. Everyone has seen those rules. As long as you strictly abide by them, everything will be fine. Therefore, I hope you can get them first if you have any ideas in the future. When discussing on the stage, don’t act smart or make your own opinions.”
Ziss has heard of strange rules, which is a type of reasoning text that has recently become popular on the Internet. It usually states some counter-intuitive rules in a serious warning tone, thus arousing human curiosity and subconscious fear.
Unexpectedly, this weird game has kept pace with the times.
Ye Zi took the lead and said with a smile: "No problem, no problem! We've already said it's a team copy, so we don't have to hide any information we have. With an old player like Brother Shen taking care of it, this copy is stable!"
Qisi deliberately muddied the water, and immediately put a smile on his face, and responded sincerely: "Yes, what I am worst at is solving puzzles and word games. I rely on Brother Shen to pass the level. ”
Shen Ming always felt that what Qisi said was strange, but it was hard to get angry, so he could only laugh and said: "No, I am technically a novice. Solving puzzles and exploring requires everyone to work together."
"What do you think about the second rule?" Zou Yan took the initiative to bring the topic onto the right track and helped Shen Ming out of trouble without leaving any trace. "I couldn't bring in my watch or mobile phone. I believe your situation is similar. What are we going to do? Can we determine the exact time?"
She paused and gave a wry smile: "No one can guarantee that they can sleep until dawn without waking up in the middle of the night, right?"
"I should be able." Lin Chen whispered, "I don't wake up easily when I fall asleep. Several times I set five or six alarms, but I overslept and missed my morning class..."
When he looked up, he saw Zou Yan looking at him with caring eyes.
The woman who claimed to be a psychiatrist explained patiently: "I don't know if you can understand what I say. In weird games, whether you are awake or asleep depends on the mechanism of the copy, which is not something you can control. Just like in some plot games , the protagonist will trigger some events according to the written program, and all the player can do is to respond after the event occurs."
After being down for a full two seconds, Lin Chen seemed to understand what Zou Yan meant and nodded to express understanding.
He looked at the mechanical clock in the corner and cautiously suggested: "There is a clock here, and there may be clocks elsewhere. Why don't we sleep next to the clock?"
"I suggest not." Shen Ming said, "According to my past experience, at night, there will be some unclean things wandering around the key props. Spending the night next to the clock will only make you die faster."
"I've heard that rules are very subjective. Generally speaking, as long as you don't know that you have violated the rules, you will be fine for the time being. If you really wake up at night, don't think about anything and just continue to sleep. "
Qisi silently wrote down these experiences that he didn't know were true or false, and at the same time nodded solemnly, indicating that what Shen Ming said was correct.
Lin Chen rubbed his nose awkwardly.
After a few seconds of silence, without waiting for anyone else to speak, he asked again: "I see that the main mission said that we should 'crack the rules'. Are there other rules that we need to find out in addition to these known rules?" ?”
Ye Zi answered: "Generally speaking, the basic rules are the ones we were told at the beginning, otherwise no one would be able to play. 'Cracking the rules' or something like that just allows us to explain the basic rules through exploration."
"For example, the first rule says 'time is the most important'. We need to understand why time is important and how it relates to the worldview of the instance."
"Completing the main missions is just the basics. If you want to get more points and rewards, you need to collect more clues and decipher the world view of the dungeon."
As Ye Zi spoke, he always had a sweet smile on his lips, as if he was very enthusiastic about answering questions for the newcomers.
Lin Chen blushed a little and said calmly: "I don't expect any rewards. I have already died once and finally got a new life. I just want to live well..."
Zou Yan laughed and said: "The sooner you can crack the worldview, the sooner the dungeon will end and the fewer people will die. Therefore, even if you just want to survive, you must try your best to crack the worldview."
Ye Zi also sneered at Lin Chen's words, with a hint of venom in his smile: "You've already entered the game, why not try your best to earn more points, and find a powerful guild to join when you become an official player. As far as I know, the dungeon The first people to die here are those with your mentality - they will die of their own stupidity."
Chang Xu, who had been silent all this time, seemed to have been triggered by a keyword. He suddenly raised his eyes and said coldly: "This is the second time I entered the dungeon. I know a lot."
Ye Zi met his gaze, narrowed her eyes and joked: "What, is the policeman going to interrogate me?"
Chang Xu stopped talking, and Shen Ming quickly changed the topic: "Let's talk about our views on the rules first, so that we can be prepared when the time comes..."
Ziss had no intention of participating in the conversation. With little known information, he would be wrong if he said too much.
He grabbed an apple and wiped it carefully with a white napkin.
After Shen Ming turned his eyes to him for advice, he put the apple to his mouth with an innocent face and chewed it quietly, showing that he didn't intend to pay attention to ordinary people.
The apples in the copy taste almost the same as in reality. Although they are crisper, they are not very sweet and are not the type that Qiss likes to eat.
However, thinking that he had not eaten fruit for a month outside, he still ate the whole apple to supplement his vitamins.
The moment he put the apple core on the dinner plate, the dull bell rang in the hall without warning, like a boulder falling into the water, hitting his heart one after another.
I saw the pendulum of the mechanical clock in the corner swinging slowly, striking six times at the same frequency, cleanly and without any echo.
It's dinner time.
Light footsteps came from the shadows, like the dance steps of a woman on tiptoe, or like an animal hunched over, waiting for an opportunity to move.
Chiss looked in the direction of the sound.
A slender and tall woman came from the stairs, her long black skirt dragging to the ground, wrapping her whole body into a slender ghost shadow, embedded crookedly in the darkness, like freehand drawings of ink on white paper. A sum of money.
It is undeniable that a woman is beautiful. Anyone who sees her for the first time can't help but marvel, and then fall into the fear caused by the uncanny valley effect.
Her face was pale and she didn't look like a living person. Under her brown-black hair were a pair of dark eyes, but her lips were a blood-like red, which made people have bad associations.
"My dear guests, welcome to my Rose Manor!" The woman's voice was high and round, like an opera aria.
Her eyes swept over each player in turn, and everyone she saw felt a strong sense of being spied on, as if they were being targeted by the hungriest and cruelest beast in the jungle, and they didn't know when a fatal blow would fall.
The woman dragged her skirt that fell to the floor to the main seat, smelling a rich and intoxicating aroma along the way, mixed with the smell of wet water, as if she had just walked out of the rain.
After sitting down, she covered her mouth and smiled, keeping her voice very thin and soft: "You can call me Miss Anna."
The fragmented images connected together, and Qiss immediately locked the corresponding rules on the system interface.
[If you see Miss Anna wearing black clothes, please try to keep your distance from her]
It was too late to leave, breaking the rules was a sure thing.
Moreover, I don’t know if it was Qiss’s illusion, but he always felt that Miss Anna’s eyes stayed on him for an extra long time, making them as sticky and slippery as the mud after the rain.
Very uncomfortable.
Qisi thought of the narration prompt at the beginning of the copy, and tentatively complimented: "Miss Anna, it's a pleasure to meet you. You are more beautiful than the rumors say."
When Miss Anna heard this, she smiled shyly, raised her hand calmly and elegantly, and made the gesture of waiting for a hand kiss that was customary for medieval nobles.
Qisi stuffed the napkin into his pocket, pretended not to understand etiquette, quickly grabbed the former's hand and shook it hard.
——It feels warm to the touch, and there is no dent after being stressed. According to common sense, the owner of the hand should be alive.
Not interesting.
Zeiss withdrew his hand without interest, put his hand into his pocket, and rubbed it vigorously on the napkin several times.
Miss Anna only showed a little surprise at the moment when her hand was held. At this moment, she had restrained all inappropriate expressions and calmly accepted Zeiss's rude behavior.
With a faint smile, she picked up the knife and fork on the dinner plate with her well-joined hands, and cut off a piece of meat from the plate closest to her.
The wide black sleeves cover the wrists, revealing the bright red nails, which accentuate the pale and thin hands, like the claws of a bird monster.
She brought the bloody meat to her mouth with a fork, chewed it carefully and swallowed it. At the end, she stretched out her scarlet tongue and licked the corners of her lips, which made people imagine that they were drinking blood.
Except for Chang Xu, who was obviously distracted and was engrossed in eating, no one else dared to touch the knife and fork at this time.
They were fascinated by the eating process of the woman on the main seat, and all kinds of strange speculations were growing in their hearts, brewing a deeper fear.
Miss Anna seemed to be aware of the strange atmosphere, raised her eyes and smiled: "Eat quickly, why don't you eat it? Is the food not to your liking?"
Chiss was the first to look away, lowered his head calmly, picked up a piece of meat with the polished fork in his hand, and stuffed it into his mouth.
Don't tell me, the plate of meat dishes with unknown ingredients in front of me tastes good. The meat is fresh and tender and the sauce is flavorful, reaching the average level of many restaurants.
Qisi narrowed his eyes with satisfaction, and in full view of everyone, he used his fork to pull another large piece of meat onto the plate.
Some people set an example, and others started to take action. After all, the rule [Do not reject Miss Anna's request] is written on the system interface, and no one dares to challenge its authority at this time.
The dinner ended quickly in silence, and all the dishes on the long table were eaten. As for how many people enjoyed the meal, and how many people did not taste it, only each of them knew clearly.
Miss Anna put down her knife and fork, picked up a napkin and wiped her lips. Her eyes scanned the crowd again, lingering on Qiss for a longer time as usual.
She stood up, bowed to the players, and then slowly retreated into the shadow of the stairs.
Lin Chen had been afraid to express his anger before, but now he finally took a breath, tugged on Qisi's sleeves, and said in a low voice: "Brother Qi, that Miss Anna seems to be wearing a black skirt..."
Miss Anna in a black skirt is something that the rules say to stay away from as much as possible...
Qisi nodded to express understanding: "Yes, I saw it, a solemn and solemn black dress."
"Then you still..."
Then if you rush to have close contact with her, aren't you seeking death?
"The moment she sat down, all of us broke the rules. After all, eating at the same table is not called 'keeping distance.'" Qisi stuffed the napkin into his pocket and looked up at the sky, "It's settled, why not Let’s take the opportunity to see if we can find any clues.”
There was another sentence he didn't say. He suspected that Miss Anna had been eyeing him, maybe because his seat was closest, or maybe because of some similar traits - humans are always good at finding similar people in the crowd, aren't they?
Lin Chen seemed to understand and asked: "Brother Qi, did you discover anything just now?"
All the players' eyes fell on Qiss vaguely, obviously waiting for his answer.
"Of course."
Qisi raised his eyes and looked at the ceiling: "But why do you think that I will share the clues that I finally found with you?"
