Chapter 193: Not Afraid
As soon as the elevator doors closed, it automatically began moving, and the three of them quickly went down to the next floor.
The moment the door opened, what appeared before them was a pitch-black corridor extending left and right. It was so dark that neither end was visible.
As soon as the three stepped out, the elevator door behind them slowly shut, and the lights inside the elevator also went out.
Yang Ji immediately turned to press the elevator button but found the closed door was malfunctioning again and wouldn't open no matter what he pressed.
"No way, do we have to perform that tongue twister every time we use this thing? Does the person who designed this elevator have some kind of thing for crosstalk comedy?" Yang Ji couldn't help but complain.
Hua Yun: "Wait, don't say it yet. The elevator is going back up on its own."
Yang Ji: "Huh? So what if it goes up? We say the tongue twister and it comes back down." Then he suddenly smacked his forehead. "Agh! I'm such an idiot! If it comes back down, it'll bring those monsters with it!"
Rong Yu: "Did either of you see a flashlight just now?"
Hua Yun shook his head: "I searched that room twice. No flashlight."
Yang Ji: "So they're making us walk in the dark? You've got to be kidding me!"
However, reality told him: Yes, they were!
"Left or right? Oh my god, it's so dark! I really can't see a thing!" Yang Ji's voice held a hint of panic, but remembering he was the oldest of the three, he thought it wouldn't look good to appear too scared. He forced himself to sound calm. "Don't be afraid. Here, hold onto my shoulders. I'll lead the way in front... Huh? Hey, hey, hey! Who's pulling me?"
Rong Yu and Hua Yun, who had each taken one of Yang Ji's arms, answered in unison: "Me."
Yang Ji: "No! Why are you walking so fast? Can you guys see the path? Aren't we walking the same road?"
Rong Yu's voice was calm: "When the elevator door hadn't fully closed earlier, I vaguely saw a bit of the path. There were no obstacles."
Yang Ji: "Then how are you sure we should go left?"
Rong Yu: "Instinct."
Hua Yun: "When in doubt, choose left."
Yang Ji: "..." So what about my opinion? Where is my opinion?
However, after thinking about it, Yang Ji realized he really couldn't make up his mind either, so he might as well follow them.
But...
Yang Ji cleared his throat lightly: "Two handsome gentlemen, might I ask, have you underestimated your own height, or overestimated mine? With you two carrying me like this, I feel like my legs have lost all meaning!"
Only then did Rong Yu and Hua Yun realize they had lifted Yang Ji completely off the ground. They hurriedly set him down.
As Yang Ji's feet touched the ground, he stepped on something, kicking it with a clang and nearly falling. Luckily, Rong Yu hadn't completely let go and caught him, saving him from a complete loss of dignity.
The thing he kicked rolled away with a gulu gulu sound, seemed to hit the corridor wall, and made a clatter.
"What was that? It rolled away."
As he spoke, Rong Yu crouched down and felt his way toward the sound.
Yang Ji: !!! "Xiao Yu? Where'd you go? Why'd you let go all of a sudden!"
Rong Yu: "Teacher Yang seemed to kick something just now. I'm going to look for it; it might be useful!"
Yang Ji was shocked: "You're not serious! In this darkness! You're going to feel around for something? Aren't you afraid at all?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the lights in the corridor suddenly began to flicker. Unlike the bright light in the elevator earlier, the lights here were very dim, making it hard to see much beyond the immediate vicinity.
When the lights flickered for the fifth time, a hissing static sound came from the speakers in the corridor.
After the static, a clear little girl's voice came through, broken and intermittent: "Bounce the ball, bounce the ball, bounce my colorful ball~ You bounce once, I bounce once, we play a game together. You bounce twice, I bounce twice, we sing a song together~~"
A nursery rhyme that normally sounded somewhat cute now played in this way, in this environment, instantly making Yang Ji's hair stand on end. "What now! Why is there a song? This is too scary!"
Rong Yu, who was on the floor looking for the item, happened to see the round object in the flickering light—it was a small red and yellow ball. A string was tied to the ball. Rong Yu picked up the ball, pulled the string, and a pink envelope came with it.
But before Rong Yu could open the envelope, he felt someone tap his shoulder. So Rong Yu turned around and looked up...
Right into a deathly pale face.
Yang Ji's eyes had just adjusted to the flickering lights and he was trying to locate Rong Yu and Hua Yun when he saw a monster with terrifying makeup crouching behind Rong Yu. He instantly screamed: "Oh my mama! When did he get there! Xiao Yu run!!!"
But Rong Yu, staring straight into the monster's face, just said blankly, "Your makeup... seems to be flaking."
Hua Yun chimed in casually: "Hua Family Water Princess Setting Powder, smudge-proof for a full 24 hours, keeping you beautiful all day. Order now and receive a complimentary Hua Family Water Princess new skincare set as a gift. Limited quantities, first come, first served!"
Yang Ji, already scared out of his wits by the sudden appearance of the monster, huddled against the wall not far away and slowly gave a thumbs up. "This ad placement… I surrender!"
The flickering lights suddenly went out, plunging the corridor back into complete darkness.
"There's a door up ahead. Seems to need a password," said Hua Yun, who had used the faint, flickering light to see that there was a door at the end of the corridor.
Rong Yu said: "Remember the surveillance footage we saw earlier? One of the cameras was pointed at a corridor door. That means we’re on the same floor as the other six now."
Hua Yun: "Let’s check the keypad first and see how many digits the password needs."
With the darkness obscuring their sight, Rong Yu temporarily put away the pink envelope he had just gotten and stuffed the little ball into the hands of the NPC monster.
Strangely, as soon as the monster person got the ball, it immediately hugged it to its chest and crouched there motionless. Rong Yu poked the monster's shoulder in the dark, and it didn't react.
"Huh? He's not moving. Why?" As he spoke, Rong Yu even reached out and touched the monster NPC a few times, explaining: "I just picked up a ball. This monster was probably near the ball, which is why he came for me. After I gave him the ball, he calmed down."
Yang Ji: "So they like balls? But where do we find other balls?"
Hua Yun: "Not necessarily. This monster is clearly different from the earlier ones. Those were more frenzied. This one is very quiet; it didn't pounce as soon as it saw us."
Yang Ji: "Hey! Shouldn't we regroup with the others first? There's strength in numbers, more minds mean more ideas. We'll definitely be able to figure out what's going on. I feel like from the moment I took off my blindfold until now, I haven't truly participated. My heart, on the other hand, has been stimulated several times."
Hearing this, Rong Yu comforted him: "Don't worry, Teacher Yang. Although you feel your body hasn't fully participated, I can guarantee your voice has absolutely been very involved!"
Yang Ji: "..." You've changed. You're not the shy, well-behaved Xiao Yu from the first episode's recording anymore!
As they talked, the three had groped their way to the door.
It was an electronic lock. The keys on the lock had tiny lights. By this weak light, the three could see a note pasted below the electronic lock.
Brain Teasers:
First question: If you are racing on a straight track with a group of people, and you overtake the person in second place, what place are you in?
Second question: If you are racing on a circular track with a group of people, and you are the first to overtake the person in last place, what place are you in?
Third question: Xiao Jiu's father has five children in total. The eldest daughter is called Yiwa, the second daughter is called Erwa, the third daughter is called Sanwa, the fourth daughter is called Siwa. Do you know what the fifth child is called?
[The names' first syllables are homophones for the numbers one, two, three, and four]
Fourth question: There are sixteen lights on in a classroom. The student on duty leaves and turns off ten lights. How many lights are left in the classroom?
Clearly, the password for this electronic lock was the answers to these four brain teasers.
Yang Ji read the questions carefully and scratched his head. "Is the second question wrong? Overtaking the person in last place means you become second-to-last. The question doesn't tell us how many people are running in total. How am I supposed to know what place second-to-last is in the forward count?"
Hua Yun: "...Teacher Yang, read the question carefully."
Yang Ji: "I am being careful! The fourth question is the simplest and least controversial, right? The answer is 16 lights, because it asks how many lights are in the classroom total, so turning them off doesn't matter. The third question, the fifth child is Little Jiu. The question says it right at the start, 'Little Jiu's father has five children in total.' The first four have names, so the only one left is Little Jiu."
Yang Ji continued: "So, the first question is the number 1. The third question is the number 9. The fourth question is the number 16. Now we just need the second question."
Hua Yun: "Why is the first question the number 1?"
Yang Ji: "If I overtake the second-place runner, I become first place, right? So the password starts with the number 1."
Rong Yu: "Teacher Yang, how can you be sure that overtaking the second-place runner makes you first? The first-place runner is still ahead. So if we overtake second place, we definitely take over the second-place position, becoming second. So the first question is the number 2."
Yang Ji smacked his palm. "Ah! I almost forgot! So the second question is the same. If you overtake the last-place person, then that person becomes last place, because the second-to-last person is still running ahead!"
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