Free Web NovelChapter 457: Chapter 74: The Benefits of Making Choices
(Updates can’t be used at random for the Silver Alliance, progress completed 69/100.)
Fourteen seconds.
Bai Wu tiptoed to open the drawer and saw the knife.
[A knife that has no lethality at all, if you’re going to use it to kill someone, you might as well pray that your fist can smash someone to death directly.]
A prop knife?
A toy that couldn’t even count as a decoration... yet there was this option...
Bai Wu began to understand.
"At least I can immediately rule out the option of taking the knife."
With eleven seconds left, Bai Wu quietly restored everything and checked the window, which was indeed open.
Many thoughts flashed through his mind.
"The room is on the second floor; jumping down won’t kill me, but if this is a hospital, such an act would definitely attract more attention..."
"Moreover, in a previous hint, someone told me not to open the door if the doorknob has rust marks. That means this person chose to open the door."
Right from the start, Bai Wu had noticed that the doorknob indeed had rust marks.
"The person who left this message chose to open the door and then met his death..."
"And the person outside deliberately left a knife with no lethality, obviously aware of a certain choice I would make..."
"So, opening the door means death? This pretty much confirms that the person outside harbors malice."
"He gave the prey a knife, but it’s a prop knife with no lethality, does he want to savor the prey’s despair when they realize the knife is useless?"
"The person outside has regular footsteps, which shows a composed mindset typical of a hunter... Considering the area’s owner is deemed maniacal, maybe it’s some kind of psychopath..."
"And since the doorknob is rusty, it’s actually possible to forcefully open the door. The person outside is very composed, surely convinced that I’m inside. If I play dead... it’s useless."
"Knowing the greatest penalty for a wrong choice is death, this kind of choice inherently places people in fear, making all participants feel terrified."
"The person outside leaving this knife, and the rusty doorknob, are both meant to amplify this fear, to create an unsolvable situation."
Seven seconds.
Bai Wu stood by the window, observing the other rooms where he saw quite a few people in white hospital gowns.
"Options for not opening the door come in two forms, one is to hold one’s breath and pretend to be absent, and the other is to ask who the other person is."
"Holding one’s breath is obviously incorrect... because it shows that I am aware of my danger, that I have begun to feel fear and am trying to take precaution."
With six seconds left, Bai Wu chose the last option.
[You have made your choice, please act according to your choice. Otherwise, it will be considered a violation of the rules and you will be directly disqualified.]
Bai Wu snorted, worthy of the Red Zone, although he had become strong enough, a place that became dangerous purely by the rules was still very dangerous.
This prompt meant that there were no free options; if I had made a choice, I had to act according to the content of that choice.
As if I could speak now, but could not say anything else... I could only ask who the other person was.
This was different from the exploration of the Well Four’s Heart and the exploration of Violet Manor.
It’s the same survival game, but with much less freedom.
But it wasn’t without freedom either... Bai Wu thought to himself, after all, the tone, diction, and phrasing of the question were not limited.
And before the arrival of the choice, it seemed one could move freely.
These areas, they were where one could maneuver.
"Excuse me... who are you?" Bai Wu’s tone carried a bit of wariness, some confusion, and a touch of fear.
But all these were natural emotions; he simply did not have the capacity to feel fear.
The person outside responded,
"It’s nothing, as long as you are inside, I just came to tell you not to wander around."
The voice was deep and carried a hint of disappointment.
Bai Wu could almost determine that this person was as he had pictured...
This was a person who reveled in the prey’s fear; if the prey wasn’t fearful enough, for this person, it was like a steak only one-third done, in need of more cooking.
At this moment, the number of survivors became 26.
Meaning that in the first round of choices, about three-quarters of a hundred people were directly eliminated.
Bai Wu wasn’t surprised; this choice was indeed fraught with peril. Some games start off easy and gradually get harder.
Others take a different approach, moving beyond the newbie tutorial... to be precise, after explaining the game’s rules, they arrange a boss-level practice fight.
But the latter parts become simpler.
Bai Wu wasn’t sure what the situation with this tower was, but having 26 people survive was already... quite a fortunate start.
Bai Wu didn’t dwell on the seventy-four people who had died; he really didn’t have the time for that.
He had entered the state, acting as if possessed, his voice carrying a hint of confusion:
"Could you tell me where this is? How did I suddenly end up here?"
As if he didn’t know about the Magic Tower challenge game, just an innocent bystander accidentally pulled in.
"Heh heh, observe carefully, you will find the answer, but I don’t recommend you come out. You can observe well inside the room."
[You have triggered a different choice, after hearing the other person’s words, you decide:]
[A: Take the advice, observe carefully.]
[B: Continue asking him about this place.]
[C: Don’t listen to him, just open the door.]
[D: Agree for now but wait for an opportunity to open the door.]
[E: Look through the peephole to observe him and the situation outside.]
This time, Bai Wu didn’t hesitate and chose E.
Because he had already confirmed through Prayle’s Eye that there were no secret passages in this room.
At the same time, without leaving this place, the story cannot progress.
Bai Wu didn’t want to waste time here. Having Prayle’s Eye allowed him to discover the secrets of a place in the shortest time.
Directly opening the door would certainly be courting death, which would be a waste of the first choice.
But this place had no value to observe; the longer one observed, the more one would feel fearful and slowly realize the predicament one was in.
Of course, Bai Wu would not fear, but being trapped here wasting time would only increase the chances of death.
Continuing to inquire would also be fruitless, for the tone of the other party clearly showed an unwillingness to talk further; don’t try to outwit a madman with words, especially when his core needs are still unclear. frёewebηovel.cѳm
As for looking through the peephole—it would probably be quite terrifying.
So, agreeing first and then waiting for the right moment to open the door, that was the most liberating choice.
Bai Wu’s voice still held some confusion:
"Oh... where, where am I exactly."
The words seemed like a question, as well as the muttering of someone too bewildered to understand. The person outside moved on to the next room with a sneer.
Survivor count—26 people.
No one died this time.
Bai Wu speculated that no one would be so foolish as to simply choose to open the door, and he also did not rule out the possibility that other participants might not be in the same exploration story as himself.
As for the other options, staying in the room to observe, or waiting for a chance to escape, what would happen would be delayed.
So people would not die immediately.
"The people in the other wards I saw, are they challengers... or NPCs?"
The eyes did not provide an answer. When Bai Wu looked through the window at the room opposite, the eyes only shared the information about the opposite window.
"It’s also possible they don’t exist... Most likely they’re NPCs. However, I seemed to have overlooked something... Previously in the dead man’s quotations, there was mention that the game everyone participated in might be different."
"Yes, so the people who are still alive now might have made some wrong choices, or their choices have not yet come... In any case, these remaining 23 people... have nothing to do with me, I can only wish them good luck."
Bai Wu began to wait patiently.
As time ticked by, Bai Wu listened to the footsteps fade away, and then silence fell; he made no move.
He was waiting.
It wasn’t until he heard some wailing that Bai Wu cautiously opened the door.
[Open it, it won’t trigger anything, I promise.]
The remark from Prayle’s Eye had been there since Bai Wu first came in. It was just that the doorknob was rusty and would make some noise, but the heart-wrenching wail would cover up that sound.
After opening the door to the corridor, the smell of disinfectant was even stronger.
Bai Wu was not unfamiliar with the sight outside; he had encountered hospitals like this many times before.
He quickly observed and mentally filled in the structure.
Just then, a door opposite suddenly opened.
A woman, looking like a nurse, suddenly appeared from the room opposite Bai Wu.
She staggered along, her eyes filled with pain and confusion. She saw Bai Wu; Bai Wu saw her too.
Suddenly, the nurse fell to the ground, her eyes wide open and looking at Bai Wu, seemingly pleading for help.
Bai Wu’s gaze fell on the door behind the nurse, which was left ajar after being opened.
Bai Wu had a premonition that a choice was about to appear.
Sure enough, at that moment, a remark popped up, and not long after, the remark split into two.
[A strange nurse has appeared before you, and your moment of sneaking away is discovered, but she seems to be a staff member of the hospital and might know some inside information.
She appears to want to run away, you feel that you can——]
[A: Approach her to ask what’s going on and try to find a route to escape.]
[B: Act as if you haven’t seen anything.]
[C: Silence the nurse and drag her into the room behind her.]
[D: Silence the nurse.]
[E: Knock her out, then continue exploring.]
[F: Leave with the nurse.]
[G: She’s quite beautiful, you could go up and unlock paid content.]
Among these options, there was one that seemed utterly absurd.
Indeed, the remark quickly split apart.
[G: She’s quite beautiful, you could go up and unlock paid content, this option is exclusively sponsored by matchmaker Yan—just kidding.
In this scene, when there is no choice to be made, you can move freely, but once a choice appears, you are unable to perform any action beyond those offered by the choices.
Additionally, she is not clean.
Choice countdown, fifteen seconds.
Many thoughts flashed through Bai Wu’s mind, and various pieces of information began to come together.
"Given that her expression shows pain but not fear, she is not one of my kind. Asking to accompany me would likely be risky."
"Although I have avoided the person knocking at the door, I need to consider that he may have other measures in place. The timing of this nurse’s appearance is too coincidental."
"Pretend not to see? Although she seems to have collapsed on the ground, she is still conscious."
"Kill her? It’s not out of the question, but would that leave behind too many clues?"
"Moreover, the set-up implies that I am definitely at a disadvantage in combat compared to the door knocker. I should keep a low profile until my combat strength improves."
"The eye mentions the nurse’s uncleanliness. What does that mean? Her pain doesn’t seem feigned, could she be sick?"
"Such occurrences are common in hospitals, but this scene clearly is not merely a hospital; I’m most likely playing the role of some sort of test subject..."
"Given that, that room behind the nurse seems strange, but should I go there? Curiosity killed the cat, and not every box is meant to be touched."
Bai Wu’s gaze settled on that room, and the footnote almost matched his thoughts exactly:
"Of course you know that when someone emerges from a room in pain, that room is likely the source of their agony. Am I a masochist? Are you a masochist? Since neither of us is, it’s better not to go in.
However, as an omniscient eye, I can tell you that there is a ’virus’ hidden in that room. Please remember the rules of this area."
The footnote provided an answer to Bai Wu’s questions. freewebnoveℓ.com
"The room hides a virus, and the nurse is clearly infected. If I go into the room, I’d likely be infected as well."
"Also, the rule of the area is that the choices I make in Magic Tower might or can influence the outside world..."
"Does this mean that the virus in this scene might flow into reality? In that case, I must find the virus and figure out how to stop its spread."
The information continued to pile up. After sorting through all of the above, Bai Wu quickly made a choice—
"E: Knock her out, then continue exploring."
According to the rules, Bai Wu had to knock out the nurse, which was not difficult and did not require any skill or space for execution.
As for such "NPCs," Bai Wu held no emotions.
He delivered a direct kick to the pretty nurse’s head. With a muffled moan, she fainted.
Bai Wu held his breath, ready to quickly leave the place, but at that moment, the keys at the nurse’s waist caught his attention.
"After making the choice, I finally found the cause and effect of the previous choice. If you took the nurse with you, you would be betrayed by her. If you killed the nurse, the fear of death would stimulate the virus inside her and she would chase after you with madness.
Going into that room would be even more terrifying. Luckily, you made the right choice, and with the right choice comes a reward. This set of keys is the reward, and next, you can open any door in the rooms; however, there is a limit to the number of uses. Each use will consume one key. Moreover, under the corresponding rules, these keys can be quite significant."
Make the wrong choice and you die, but the higher the risk, the higher the reward.
Following the local rules, the virus here might affect reality, so these keys... might open any door in reality as well.
Not just in the World Beyond the Mist, but also in the twisted areas outside the High Tower. As long as I have enough clues, maybe I won’t need to use the keys.
Bai Wu took the keys and began to explore places dubbed as "forbidden."
A few multiple-choice questions had helped him to basically understand this challenge.
"In this world, no one knows of the existence of Prayle’s Eye, which is my biggest advantage... The Club’s methods are indeed powerful, but he hasn’t considered this possibility."
"This place seems to be a survival game..."
"But as long as I judge calmly and combine it with the information from Prayle’s Eye, this place... might provide immense help to me."
(After going out for a walk and coming back, I realize the blockage isn’t as bad as before... quite frustrating.)
