The ten-minute countdown ended, and all players had finished eating. The bowls they held in their hands or placed on the ground disappeared together with the spilled blood beads, as if they had never existed.
The light in the room dimmed inch by inch. Without the illumination of the lights, it soon fell into a cage-like darkness.
Chis took out the flashlight from his backpack, started from the corner of the room, and shone it along the wall inch by inch.
A picture is outlined on the stone wall with simple and clumsy lines. Combined with the worldview background added by Nian Fu, it can be judged that the records are from previous beast fighting games.
From the fight between humans and beasts in the Golden Age, to the battles between beasts and humans in the Silver Age, to the battles between humans and humans in the Bronze Age...
So in what form will the heroic age we live in end?
Qisi held the fox mask and stood in front of the last blank stone wall.
There is a bronze hook embedded in the center of the stone wall, which seems to be a place where masks can be hung.
Considering that there might be a mechanism in the airtight room, and with the pocket watch of destiny, it would be fine even if the death point was triggered, Qiss directly hung up the fox mask in his hand.
In an instant, the gray and dilapidated walls reflected scenes of intertwined light and shadow, which were too abstract and stream-of-consciousness to be easily read.
The fox mask hung steadily on the stone wall, as if growing out of the stone. The bright black eyes between the orange-red hair were wide open, staring at Qiss like a living creature.
Chis reached out to touch the wall, and a raging river of blood flashed before his eyes. The thick old blood was wrapped in the blood of the new dead, and there were skulls and bones floating on it.
It is very similar to the blood pool under the stone platform of the Colosseum, but it is wider and more vast, making people think of the deaths of hundreds or thousands of people.
The rich smell of blood rushed to his face, pouring into his nose like worms and tentacles; the sound of human voices rolling in his ears was like calling and praying.
Zis looked at the fox mask and asked: "What is that?"
The smell and noise gradually receded, and a deep voice sounded: "That was the past and the present world. The blood of the dead flowed into the river and poured into the wine glasses of the gods' feast.
"I told you the answer, You also need to answer my questions. ”
[Side mission has been triggered]
[Side mission (must do): Answer the Sphinx’s riddle]
A cold electronic sound sounded in the room Both of them can hear it.
Qisi raised his eyelids and glanced at the text that appeared on the system interface, then turned to look at Nian Fu: "Do you think this task is worth doing?"
Nian Fu breathed out lightly and walked to Beside the wall, the eyes on the fox mask were dim and unclear: "I only said the answer, not the 'correct answer'. I guess there will be no negative consequences even if the answer is wrong."
Qisi nodded slightly and said His eyes moved back to the wall.
The fox mask plays the role of a sphinx at this moment. The plush appearance has the texture of marble at certain angles, reflecting cold reflections, as if it were really a stone statue in an ancient Greek temple.
It stared at Qiss, opening and closing its mouth and asked: "What is your desire?"
"My desire..." Qisi lowered his head and looked at his hands. There was no mud or dirt on his pale fingertips.
He suddenly remembered the dream he had after getting out of the copy of "Red Maple Leaf Boarding School". The monster holding his face buried soil on his body and said to him: "Humans must have desires. "What is your desire?"
He didn't answer at that time. What he was thinking of was a humorous answer like "destroying the world", and he couldn't figure out the more specific answer.
"What is your desire?" asked the Sphinx.
Qisi remembered the introduction of the character he played in the background of the copy, and answered with an almost joking smile: "Maybe he became a god."
The Sphinx closed her eyes and opened them again, her head trembling slightly: "No, that's not your desire, you have no desire.
"I can't see what you are longing for, I can't see you Why would you be happy? There is a barren emptiness in your heart, and the answers I need cannot be found in the white nothingness..."
"Isn't becoming a god considered a desire? "Qisi tilted his head and asked seriously, "If I can really become a god, I think it would be quite interesting, and I should feel happy. "
"But even if you know that you will never become a god, you will not feel uncontrollable pain because of it. "The Sphinx said, "There was once a person whose desire was to live, but at the moment of death he was overwhelmed by fear, and I tasted the salty pain.
“There was once a man whose desire was money and power. After falling into the dust, he committed suicide because he could not bear poverty and lowliness, and was crushed by the cold pain.
"The people who come here will be desperate because they have no control over life and death, will be humiliated because they are treated like animals, and will be angry because of the poor food and shelter...
"What about you? Have you ever experienced anger? ”
The half-moon eyes of the Sphinx are mysterious and deep, as if they really want to know Qiss’s answer.
Qiss looked at its eyes quietly, thinking in his mind Fragments of anger emerged from his past experiences.
When he was bullied by his classmates, when he was abused by his uncle and aunt, when he was sent to the cult base... he should be angry, but he couldn't. In fact, he didn't recall much strange feeling.
He didn't even have any emotions at that time. He just felt that it was normal to solve the root cause of the problem by killing people and setting fires. It was as if he had been programmed into an automatic question and answer program, and the input process would output the results.
“I haven’t before.” Qisi thought for a while and said, “But I feel that if you use the pie of becoming a god to keep me busy, and finally tell me that there is no chance, I will still be very happy. "Unpleasant."
The Sphinx seemed to agree with this answer, sighing and saying: "Existence without desire is terrible. He doesn't know what he wants, and he doesn't know what beauty is. What is happiness?
“He will make choices based on instinct and inertia, even if it leads to a dead end, he will not turn around. Just waiting for the day when I can no longer go on, or my life is burned out, I will stop there.
"He has no past and no future. He is like a dead thing without a soul, which can only bring destruction without reason. Will you be such an existence?"
Sphinx asked, but before Chiss could answer, he turned his eyes to Nianfu: "What is your desire?"
Nianfu listened to abstract philosophical questions beside him, and he had already With a face full of confusion, he subconsciously blurted out: "I want an identity card that can be bound."
The Sphinx closed his eyes and said: "Three thousand points are needed to realize this wish. Wait. Wake me up after you have enough points.”
“Ah? Do you mean I can get the identity card if I accumulate enough points?”
Nian Fu opened his eyes. I still wanted to ask a few more questions, but the prompt of [Side Mission Completed] was refreshed.
The head on the wall sheds its cold and hard shell and regains the plush texture of the fox mask.
Zis took off his mask, turned his back to the wall, and smiled easily: "At least we solved a problem." The gods of the past and present are slaughtering humans wantonly, using human Blood pours a river of blood for them to use - whether it's drinking or taking a bath. In short, they need human blood, and their methods are cruel.
“So the character we play knows that he will die, but he still throws himself into this beast-fighting game. Because no matter what, the situation will not get worse.”
"Indeed, this makes sense." Nian Fu paused, his eyes still falling on the hook in the center of the wall, "I am thinking about what 'desire' represents in this copy, and why my desire It’s okay, but not your desire?”
"Maybe it's because I'm not a human being." Zis said in a joking tone, his eyes slightly narrowed, "But I'm curious why you are so persistent in getting the identity card."
There is only one thing in the darkness. The light of the flashlight is shining, as if a human living space has been forcibly broken into the chaos. It is small but better than nothing.
The edge of the pale halo was blurred by the darkness, and it looked much softer, making Nian Fu's face appear bright and dark.
“Because I’m tired of being kept in the dark and letting others decide my fate.” Nian Fu said with a wry smile, “Without an identity card, you are not qualified to enter the final dungeon.
< br> "Whether we live or die, and where the weird game goes, will all be determined by the success or failure of those players who enter the final copy. There was nothing we could do except wait outside.
"I hate the feeling of having an involuntary fate. I have to bind an identity card, even the weakest one, at least I am qualified to participate.
"I know it is dangerous, But even if you die in the final copy, it is better than dying and living without knowing anything outside. "
Qisi asked: "If you don't get the identity card, will you suffer? "
"Yes. "Nian Fu said, "After the player with the identity card enters the final copy, if I stay outside and don't know what is happening inside and what the situation is, I will go crazy. "
"Is that so? "Qisi sat down on the straw bed, stroking the hair of the mask in his arms, noncommittal.
Nian Fu smiled nonchalantly and lay down on the straw bed: "I'm going to sleep first. The beast fighting game should officially start tomorrow. I hope we won't have any problems due to lack of sleep."
Qi Si turned off the flashlight and threw it back into his backpack.
If substantial darkness fills the room again, you can't see anything even if you open your eyes, as if you are in the void at the beginning of the universe.
Qisi closed his eyes and sank his consciousness into the palace of thought.
Wearing a red coat, he wandered in the mist, pushing aside the familiar cover, and all he saw were decayed vines.
After the [Soul Contract] was banned, all the golden leaves withered and fell off, and only the blood-colored leaves closely connected to the [Scarlet Priest] card remained.
That is not control at the contractual level, but a belief embedded in the soul. Even if God is defeated and dying, he is still God.
Even if others no longer believe in God, the only believer still follows God alone.
——It’s like being poisoned.
Qisi walked to the end of the palace of thought and raised his hand to touch the last bloody leaf.
Lin Chen's worried voice sounded: "Brother Qi, how are you? Did something happen? I've been watching Chang Xu's live broadcast, but I didn't expect that he didn't turn on it this time..."
"Well , something happened. Chang Xu wants to kill me, and I plan to kill him too." Qisi recounted what happened after entering the dungeon in an understatement.
Lin Chen's voice became more nervous: "Brother Qi, what should I do? I'm going to find the Jiuzhou Guild now!"
"It's useless." Qisi sighed, " The dungeon has started, they cannot enter, and the players inside cannot get out. All we can do is to end this game as soon as possible.
"Compared with wasting time over there in Kyushu and being bullied by them, you have more. important value. I need you to keep in touch with me and tell me the answers to some questions. ”
Lin Chen calmed down a little and said, "No problem, I'm at the guild station now, and I just renewed my stay for three days."
Qisi said "hmm" and said, "Go and help. Let me check what the 'Sphinx' is."
Lin Chen quickly passed on the information he found: "The Sphinx is an evil creature with a human body and a snake tail, which represents God. Punishment.
"Legend has it that Hera sent the Sphinx to sit on a cliff road near the city of Thebes and ask passers-by a riddle. The content of the riddle is: What animal walks on four legs when young, on two legs as an adult, and on three legs in old age?
“The answer to the riddle is people, and anyone who cannot answer the riddle will be eaten by the Sphinx. It is not until the young Greek Oedipus answers the riddle correctly that the Sphinx jumps off the cliff Suicide.
"It is said that the Sphinx symbolizes wisdom and knowledge. The mystery of the Sphinx is expressed in a deeper level as 'fear and temptation', that is, 'real life'."
Fear and temptation?
Without desires, there is no temptation, nor fear of failed hopes.
Human beings all have desires, so they are afraid and have various emotions.
Sometimes it may even seem despicable, but it is indeed the true nature of human beings.
Qisi asked abruptly: "Lin Chen, what is your desire?"
"Desire? Do you mean wish?" Lin Chen was confused.
He thought for a while and said: "I hope I can live and let my parents live a good life."
That was his long-standing wish, so it does not exist What doubt.
Chis lowered his eyes and said, "I understand."
He withdrew from the palace of thought and returned to the dark room again.
The straw beneath me is uneven, and the moist water vapor under the floor penetrates into my skin through the straw, conveying every trace of coolness.
Qisi slept uncomfortably, but did not have any negative emotions.
He sorted out everything that had just happened in his mind, and vaguely captured a secret sense of dissonance.
Asking about desires and then telling the player the points required to fulfill the desires, how come it is so like the wish-fulfillment mechanism of a weird game?
There are many players who enter weird games driven by strong desires.
As a person without desires, he can only become a player by accident in other ways...
Many problems that were previously ignored subconsciously surfaced at this moment. Eyes aroused. (End of this chapter)