Chen Ran yawned.
He felt he could no longer keep thinking; he desperately needed a short nap.
Turning his head to Qiu Yinong, he said, "Keep an eye on things. I'm going to rest my eyes for a bit."
Seeing his drowsy state, Qiu Yinong suddenly retorted, "What do you mean 'you'? Do I not have a name?"
"Your name is..." Chen Ran mumbled, unable to finish his sentence before falling asleep.
Perhaps yawning was contagious. Behind the group, Zhang Jinhua lowered her head and let out a yawn as well. She soon found a spot, leaned against the wall, closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.
...
Just a moment ago, because the Middle-aged Woman had cut in line to answer the puzzle on the fourth sheet of Xuan Paper, the next turn for the fifth sheet still fell to Li Chenglong.
The Tall Captain looked at his palm. Previously, during the amnesia cycle, he had recorded five numbers.
'5, 19, 9, 7, 17.'
Number 5 was clearly among them.
The Tall Captain's eyes reflected flickering expressions. He thought to himself that since Chen Ran's teammate had already shown her hand so brazenly, it was about time he revealed some of his own capabilities.
'The currently known numbers: 1 and 2 are safe, 3 is dangerous, 4 is safe, and 5 is also dangerous.'
'However, there is a problem with the order in which the Glass Beads drop from the upper half of the Hourglass.'
'When the Teenager drew incorrectly: the problematic Glass Bead number 10 dropped.'
'When Chen Ran and his teammate drew correctly: the safe Glass Beads 1 and 2 dropped.'
'When Wang Yan drew incorrectly: the problematic Glass Bead number 3 dropped.'
'Why did number 10 drop first?'
'That is not all.'
'When the Teenager pulled the wrong book, the first sheet of Xuan Paper he answered did not disappear.'
'Yet when Wang Yan also pulled the wrong book, the third sheet of Xuan Paper he answered vanished completely.'
'Why is that?'
'Number 10...'
'Just now, during the activation of the Middle-aged Woman's Liar Hunter Skill, it seems I wasn't completely empty-handed either. Even though Chen Ran rewrote the numbers, there have always been exactly ten digits.'
'In other words, we have lost our memories ten times in this Secret Room!'
'And the number 10 Glass Bead dropping first was a hint, reminding us that we had experienced amnesia ten times!'
'Simply put, the reason number 10 dropped first was to alert the players to two points.'
'First: you have lost your memories ten times.'
'Second: pay attention to the order.'
'The first point is easy to understand.'
'The second point can be deduced from numbers 1 and 2, which dropped in ascending numerical order.'
'And now, among the first three numbers: 1 and 2 are safe, while 3 is dangerous.'
'Since 1 and 2 are safe, then out of the ten dangerous numbers, 3 is the smallest.'
'Therefore, excluding the hint from number 10, number 3 is actually the first dangerous number.'
'Just now, 4 was proven safe, making 5 the second dangerous number.'
'1, 2, and 4 are safe; 3 and 5 are dangerous.'
'I have numbers 7 and 9 written on my palm.'
'So then.'
'Among the ten numbers from 1 to 10.'
'1, 2, and 4 are safe.'
'3, 5, 7, 9, and 10 are dangerous.'
'Numbers 6 and 8 are unknown.'
'But I also have 17 and 19 on my palm.'
'Which means out of the ten dangerous numbers, I already know seven of them.'
'3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 17, and 19.'
'There seems to be a pattern...'
'For single digits, there are 7 and 9. For the tens, there are 17 and 19...'
'For the single digits, there are 3 and 5.'
'Would the tens have 13 and 15?'
'No, that's not right!'
'If that were the case, that only accounts for nine dangerous numbers, which means either 6 or 8 must also be dangerous.'
'What if it is number 6?'
'Following the previous logic, number 16 should also be a dangerous number.'
'But if that happens...'
'There would be eleven dangerous numbers in total, contradicting the deduction that there are only ten.'
'Where exactly is the flaw?'
'Wait!'
'Since the deduction for the dangerous numbers has hit a wall here, I should start from the safe numbers instead.'
'1, 2, and 4 are safe.'
'Among the known dangerous numbers, all are odd numbers except for 10. However, number 1 is a safe number...'
'Assuming out of the 20 numbers, all odd numbers are dangerous and all even numbers are safe...'
'But number 10 is an exception. It pushed out an odd number and became dangerous itself.'
'By the same logic, number 1 crossed over to the even numbers, pushing out an even number, making 1 a safe number.'
'This means that among the twenty numbers, exactly one even number is dangerous, and exactly one odd number is safe.'
'Aside from those two displaced numbers, along with 1 and 10—these four digits—the remaining sixteen numbers all follow the rule...'
'Odd numbers are wrong!'
'Even numbers are safe!'
'In the known numbers...'
'1 and 2 are safe, 3 is dangerous. 1 and 2 are adjacent in value and share the exact same attribute.'
'Which means, if two adjacent numbers share the same attribute, the number immediately following them is absolutely dangerous.'
'Among the dangerous numbers, the two adjacent ones can be confirmed as 9 and 10.'
'That means number 11 is dangerous!'
'Combining the above deductions: 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 15, 17, and 19...'
'Nine dangerous numbers!!!'
'Still missing one dangerous number!'
'This number has to be an even number—the even number that was forced into the odd camp by number 1.'
'Meaning, if an even dangerous number appears next, then all of my deductions will be proven correct.'
His deduction was complete.
Despite being mentally exhausted, the Tall Captain still revealed a confident smile.
"Go on, Li Chenglong. I can explicitly tell you that number 5 is problematic. But I remember you have a younger sister. If I make it out of this Instance alive, I will give all the Points on me to your sister. All you have to do in a moment is not play any tricks."
A promise like this wasn't worth a damn.
After all, lies within an Instance and lies in the 18th Level were mutually independent. Within the Instance, whether it was a lie or a promise, everything would vanish the moment one left the Instance.
However, to a drowning man, even false hope was still hope. Even if that hope was as insignificant as a single straw, he would desperately cling to it.
Li Chenglong nodded without hesitation. "I did a lot of terrible things when I was alive. I ran with gangs, and I hacked down plenty of people. Going to Hell is completely justified. But if I die, there's a high probability I'll turn into a One-Star Instance. Liu Xing, you better remember this: if you dare break your promise and get matched into my Instance, I'll kill you!"
The Tall Captain's real name was Liu Xing.
He nodded solemnly. Seeing this, Li Chenglong turned his attention to the Middle-aged Woman. "I could have lived. It's all because you cut in line that I'm now facing certain death. However, I don't think you're very smart, and you most likely won't make it out of this Instance alive either, so I won't waste my breath throwing out cruel words."
With that said, Li Chenglong didn't even glance at the contents of the Xuan Paper. He casually approached a bookshelf, reached out, and prepared to pull a book.
But then, he withdrew his hand.
Just as everyone was feeling confused, they saw Li Chenglong stretch his jaw.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"
"This dogshit Hell doesn't let you swear; it's been suffocating the hell out of me!"
"Go fuck your mothers! Stupid Hell, stupid Players, stupid Liar-Slayer Alliance, and stupid Deceiver Alliance!!!"
Feeling an unprecedented sense of relief and comfort, Li Chenglong then swiftly pulled out a book.
Clack!
The number 5 Glass Bead dropped, falling into the bottom half and losing its numerical marking. As for Li Chenglong, he also...
Lost his memory completely!