"Is there anything we can do to help?" The police officer noticed
All the visitors were counting on Chen Ge to lead them out. As for the mission the amusement park's leadership had given them, that had long been forgotten. There was a saying about it — a general in the field is not bound by his sovereign's orders.
"The Zodiac might be a code. This scenario doesn't rely on luck at all — it's about deduction and puzzle-solving. As long as we can crack the secret of the Zodiac, we can figure out which rooms are safe and which ones are hiding a killer." After saying this, Chen Ge paused. "Unfortunately, the haunted house's central computer has a massive database. Puzzles created by it are nearly impossible for me to solve with my abilities."
"So we're still relying on luck?"
"Right now, I can only piece together very limited information." Chen Ge showed everyone the detective novels he had found. On those pages, someone had written death times and victims' names in red dye.
"Assuming the information on these pages is all real, that means murders will occur at these times, all within this hotel. Murders that have already happened aren't particularly frightening, but the clocks on the hotel walls are running backwards — all the murders might be reenacted inside this hotel." Chen Ge held up a finger. "This is a new cycle. The reversed time is a blade hanging over our heads, and the murders that have already happened are more like a trailer — foretelling our deaths."
He spread open his palm and placed the pages on the bar counter. "There are exactly seven pages, one for each of us. Each person gets one death time. When that time arrives, an executioner will appear, and that person will die."
Hearing Chen Ge's analysis, the visitors grew anxious.
"When we came in, it was three in the morning. It's now 2:52 AM. The last murder on the pages is set for 2:50 AM — death by a vertical saw." Chen Ge tucked the pages away. "We have two choices. First, we personally eliminate one teammate. That leaves six people, and the executioner meant for the seventh won't appear."
"I can't believe you'd actually suggest killing a teammate with your own hands." The glasses man vehemently disagreed.
"The other choice is — you all do exactly as I say." Chen Ge gave the other visitors no time to think. He gathered the seven pages. "There's one minute left until 2:50. This is our last window. There's nowhere to hide in this hotel except the guest rooms, so our only option is to flee into one. Now, everyone stand in the left corridor. I'm going to open the first door in the right corridor."
"After I open it, there are only two outcomes. If there's a killer behind the door, I'll run back to join you. We keep our distance, and he can't touch us. If there's no killer, then you all rush over and join me. We'll hide in that room and wait out the first execution time."
"Fine, I agree." The glasses man and the youngest male spoke up without hesitation. Chen Ge was shouldering all the risk — he was the one closest to danger. They had no grounds to object.
Time was running out. Both groups moved immediately. The six visitors stood in the left corridor watching Chen Ge as he alone opened the door in the right corridor.
"No one?"
Chen Ge beckoned, and all the visitors rushed over. Just as they filed into the guest room, the sound of a door opening suddenly rang through the quiet corridor.
"The killer's out!"
All six visitors held their breath. Only Chen Ge walked alone to the door. With his ghost ears, he used the sound of the door opening to roughly pinpoint the room where the killer was hiding.
It seemed deliberate — designed to terrify the visitors. A heavy footstep and the buzz of a saw slowly crept toward them from the end of the corridor. The killer didn't seem to know where they were hiding, wandering aimlessly through the hotel. Then the sound disappeared into another room.
"He didn't go back to his own room?"
A door clicked shut. The visitors all exhaled in relief, but Chen Ge found it odd. Could this scenario really be testing luck? The killer only opened one door at a time — a race between the visitors finding an unlocked secret passage and the killer finding their hiding room? No. Hell-level difficulty couldn't possibly be that simple.
Chen Ge began examining the room. All sorts of things were piled inside. In the corner hung a doll corpse missing an arm. The floor beneath the corpse's feet could be moved, but it was locked shut with a heavy padlock.
Playing cards lay scattered on the table beside the secret passage, each one marked with an English letter — clearly a puzzle.
Inside the desk drawer sat a document. The cover of the folder read "Last Will," but when opened, the will inside contained only a single sentence: "If I die, it was not a suicide."
The room wasn't large, but it had been arranged as a locked-room mystery.
"Are we going to stay here and search for the truth?" The police officer looked at the items in the room — everything seemed to have something to do with solving the puzzle.
"Finding the truth is a policeman's job. I'm just a volunteer." Chen Ge glanced at the time. This scenario required puzzle-solving, which would eat up a tremendous amount of time, and he was no longer willing to delay.
This visit had indeed taught him a great deal. It had also shown him the true strength of Virtual Future Paradise. To perform this well in an area they weren't even known for — that was genuinely impressive.
Only by facing your rivals head-on could you have a chance to surpass them. That was one of Chen Ge's strengths: he never underestimated anyone.