“You’ve once managed to escape from me unscathed, but that doesn’t really mean anything. You are good at objectively analyzing the situation, but will you show the same astuteness when dealing with the human mind?
“Many people have participated in my games before. These people have not even an ounce of respect for human lives, but will you be any different from them?”
At this point, Feng Bujue had a feeling that the puppet was talking about something else, and what Billy said next soon confirmed his suspicion.
“When the shadow of the unknown hangs around one’s mind, most people feel helpless and fearful. Following that come anger and relentlessness. These come from their reluctance to surrender their lives. And you, you never begged or pleaded from anyone. You merely live on mindlessly, repeating the same thing day after day. You do not show the same kind of strong desire for life that should be a human instinct.
“Your way of life speaks of a bland life. That is a condescending view of human life. Even a trapped beast knows to fight back when cornered, but you have a leisurely attitude that belies an easy surrender to the hardship of life.
“I hate those who do not know how to appreciate what they have. Do you think you can escape judgement simply because you do not fear anything?”
Feng Bujue listened to the puppet’s words carefully, and his mind went back to the last time someone referenced the problem in his brain in the virtual world—X-23. Actually, he had encountered this puppet Billy much earlier than that. In that scenario, Billy had showcased an ability that was way beyond the common setting. Even though the shadow in his brain could be explained as something detected by the gaming hub, through the information gathered as one’s nerves were connected to the system, these words, when spoken to the patient, still created a certain type of psychological pressure.
Billy continued. “Death is always a surprise party, unless you are already dead in your heart to begin with.
“But from my perspective, your heart is as alive as a normal person’s. Your thoughts are way more active than theirs. You possess the same emotions and compulsions as others, but you don’t seem to care about the possibility that you might die any second.
“Let’s see if you can maintain this attitude to the end. Now, you must pay the price.”
Suddenly, the booming sound of heavy machinery moving came from underneath Chen Ge’s feet. The metallic floor of the secret floor peeled back, and it split in half with the entrance as the center. The floor started to move to the sides of the room, but it moved slowly enough that Feng Bujue managed to jump to one side first.
The floor opened to reveal a pool filled with water. The depth was about the height of the room, around eight meters deep. In any case, it was deep enough to drown someone of Feng Bujue’s height.
“It is not water in the pool but petrol. Soon, there will be nowhere to stand. As someone who doesn’t know how to swim, you have to possess enough courage to fight for your life to find the chemical potion hidden at the bottom of the pool.”
At this spot, the puppet paused before continuing with a description of the details. “When the floor completely retreats behind the walls, the petrol will start to sink. At the same time, the floor will close again, returning to the middle of the room. When the water level reaches half of its original height, it will stop, and at that moment, the floor above will have closed completely. Even when you enter this room again, it will not reopen…”
At this point, there was a splash, Feng Bujue had already jumped into the pool of petrol. It was true that he did not know how to swim, but at least he knew how to hold his breath. He took a deep breath, puffed up his cheeks, pinched his nose, and dived into the petrol pool with his legs kicking behind him. Just like that, he rapidly sank to the bottom of the pool…
Based on the rules given by Billy, he only had one chance. If he failed, he would fail permanently. The words left unsaid by Billy, Feng Bujue knew what the puppet meant… Even if he drowned inside the pool and revived at the corridor and came back, the floor would not open again because the floor would have been permanently closed.
Other than that, the water level started to drop the moment the floor closed. That was most likely to prevent Feng Bujue from climbing up the edge of the floor after he obtained the chemical potion.
To put it simply, this game made someone who did not know how to swim find an object at the bottom of the pool when the light from above continued to dwindle. If he failed to find the object, he would drown and fail; even if he found it, he needed to rely on luck to push his way back to the surface or drown in the shortest amount of time and use the Contra Medal to revive and teleport out of there.
For a good swimmer, finding the potion would not be too difficult. There was still air between the floor and the surface of the pool. With enough patience and a rational usage of stamina, one could slowly search for the potion as one came up to the surface often for air. After all, the pool was only so big, and when the water level dropped halfway, the pool would be around three meters deep. By diving about ten times, one would have searched the entirety of the bottom already.
Of course, there were two details to be cautious about when attempting this. One was to keep the eyes closed, and the other was to ensure he did not choke on the petrol.
Point one was common knowledge. Petrol would create a burning sensation when coming into contact with the eyes. If it was only one or two drops, one could wash it off with water, but to open one’s eyes inside a pool of petrol, that was definitely a surefire way to go blind. Furthermore, after the floor closed, the space underground would be cut off from the light, and it would be completely dark even if he opened his eyes.
The second point was very disadvantageous for Feng Bujue, who did not know how to swim. Assuming he could struggle up to the surface of the petrol, which provided less buoyancy than water, for someone who had not learned how to pair the change of breath with his actions, it was fairly easy for someone like him to choke on the liquid. If the petrol entered his lungs, he would wait for death to come in burning hell.
Feng Bujue knew about this, so when he listened to the rules, he was already coming up with the solution.
When the floor started to move, Feng Bujue’s attention was pulled to the bottom of the lake. The light from above lit up the pool gradually. Since the light was placed at the middle of the ceiling, when the floor was opening, the light lit up a gap before opening further and further. A major part of the pool was lit up already, but… viewed from above, the pool still looked mostly empty.
Feng Bujue jumped into the pool after confirming all that. The angle and direction that he was diving was based on his own prediction of where the potion was—the potion was hidden in the shadow cast by the iron cage.
