Chapter 1055: Bohemia"s Promotion
As the Descartes Spirit was pulled by her Higher Consciousness, floating beside her quietly, Bohemia"s gaze fell upon the cube.
"You know, there"s no point in keeping me here anymore, right? Let me go, since you"re going to play the game anyway..." It was speaking, but then suddenly changed the topic, "Hey, wait a minute, let me see which theme games you"ve encountered."
In Bohemia"s peripheral vision, a blurry mosaic floated near her ear. Once she clearly saw the words on the cube, it seemed to pique its interest, and its voice involuntarily raised a few notches, "Huh? What are these games about? Which one are you planning to choose?"
She wished she could stretch her face to be five meters long and ponder in silence.
Each of these three theme games seemed strange and seemingly unkind. The first theme was "Prison Storm," the second was "Deep Sea Adventure," and the third was "Perfect Crime."
She liked the ocean, and her knowledge of the sea was extensive. Therefore, Bohemia immediately ruled out "Deep Sea Adventure."
In the Twelve Worlds, there were remnants of human society such as magazines and audiovisual materials. She had learned about the wonders and horrors of the deep sea and its creatures from a doc.u.mentary clip. The doc.u.mentary clip was only half remaining, and she used her imagination to fill in the gaps for the second part, which only served to frighten herself even more.
No, this one was definitely not an option.
As for "Prison Storm," she would definitely end up being locked in a prison, right? "Perfect Crime"... It sounded dangerous.
The Descartes Spirit elongated itself and reached out toward the cube, almost sticking to its surface. "Hey, I think "Prison Storm" seems the most interesting... Why not choose that one?"
None of your business.
Bohemia cursed inwardly and surveyed the several giant white cubes in front of her. Each one stood a towering two meters high, floating in mid-air and looking identical. From their appearance, there was no trace to indicate their original position. It seemed she would have to rely on luck.
Just as she was contemplating, the square-faced host with a forced smile spoke up, "As the saying goes, "All roads lead to Rome," and there isn"t just one path to the endpoint. After coming out of one cube, you will have several new choices. But it"s up to you to determine which direction to take and how to balance between the cube"s position and the theme game."
This hint wasn"t given to Dr. Hu earlier. Well, after all, it was already decided that Dr. Hu would be sent directly to the endpoint!
"What are the general contents of these theme games?" Bohemia glanced at the blocked endpoint, guessing that Puppeteer"s thoughts were not currently on this matter, and asked quietly.
"You"ll find out once you enter."
Bohemia couldn"t pry open the host"s mouth. Swinging between prison and crime, unable to make a decision, she leaned closer and Lin Sanjiu spoke up, "Choose "Perfect Crime"! My intuition tells me that this game should be easier to complete."
You should have said that earlier! Bohemia suddenly felt relieved and gained some certainty. "I choose "Prison Storm.""
The Descartes Spirit became instantly delighted. Just as Bohemia was about to take a step toward the cube, the host smilingly reminded her, "Remember, in each game, you must complete at least one clearance task. Otherwise, even if the game is over, you won"t be able to enter the next cube."
She turned around and saw Lin Sanjiu"s face turning slightly blue.
"At least one clearance task must be completed and the game victory condition must be achieved to leave the partial game," the host raised a square hand, "To end the entire Pocket Dimension, two additional conditions must be met. One is reaching the endpoint, and the other is making the clearance task a reality."
So many rules to remember, so many conditions to fulfill! Bohemia inwardly lamented. She hadn"t realized that the rules introduced by the host were just the tip of the iceberg. "For more detailed regulations, I will explain them step by step after you enter the game."
She grabbed the Descartes Spirit like she was holding a dog and, amidst its protest of "Why are you still dragging me along?" she sighed, lifted one foot, and prepared to climb into the cube. It wasn"t that she couldn"t jump in; she was just mentally exhausted from all the chaos.
Suddenly, a pair of hands reached under her armpits and lifted her up. She turned around and saw Lin Sanjiu"s determined eyes.
"Don"t worry, it"ll be fine," she whispered comfortingly, "I"ll figure something out... See you at the endpoint."
With that, she chuckled, "I want to see what kind of thing is pretending to be Puppeteer and trapping us in this situation."
"If things have escalated to this point, whose fault do you think it is?"
If it weren"t for the need to pretend to be infected, Bohemia really wanted to knock that sentence into her head. She couldn"t be bothered to say anything and, lifting her body, she threw herself into the cube. The surface walls retreated like ripples in water, and she felt a momentary emptiness before falling down.
"Welcome to the "Prison Storm" theme game," the host"s voice buzzed from somewhere, echoing throughout the cube, "67% remaining until the endpoint. Good luck."
She hadn"t even completed half of the journey yet!
With a flicker of thought, Bohemia plopped heavily into a chair. The leather squeaked beneath her, and the chair spun half a circle under her weight. Suddenly, her entire field of vision regained color and meaning.
Contrary to her imagination, it turned out to be an ordinary office.
The Descartes Spirit exclaimed, "Huh?" sounding somewhat disappointed.
The office wasn"t large, but at a glance, it was clear that the room"s owner had a sense of freedom. In front of the swivel chair was a black wooden desk, facing two chairs for visiting guests. Several rows of filing cabinets were neatly arranged in one corner of the room, and the walls were adorned with several wooden frames seemingly holding certificates.
For Bohemia, this very ordinary scene seemed particularly novel. She turned the globe on the desk, clicked a pen a few times, and pulled open drawers to retrieve doc.u.ments—until the host"s voice rang out again, "Alright, Lin Sanjiu, the player, has also successfully entered the "Final Exam" theme game. Next, I will introduce the complete rules."
A head with unruly hair suddenly rose from under the desk, listening blankly.
"As you both know, this Strip Pocket Dimension is composed of many sub-games. To leave this place, you must choose a path to the endpoint while completing clearance tasks."
"Until you reach the endpoint, players at different stages can make requests to me, regardless of which cube they are in, and see each other"s scenes. You can choose to cooperate, compete, or give each other advice and relay messages... You can even make arrangements and influence other players" games after meeting the requirements. The Pocket Dimension imposes no restrictions on this."
Oh—The doubt that had lingered in Bohemia"s mind since she saw the cubes was finally resolved.
She had been wondering: If each player entered a separate theme game, then tasks like "Open Lin Sanjiu"s Mind" that required interaction with other players would be impossible to complete, right?
Now it seemed that she had to indirectly influence Lin Sanjiu"s game in order to achieve the goal of "opening her mind."
Bohemia felt like sighing again—Why did it have to be so complicated to open someone"s mind? Not only did she have to rack her brains for solutions, but she also had to ensure that she wouldn"t really "open" Lin Sanjiu to death...
"Next, please look up and see what"s directly above your heads."
Bohemia followed the instruction and immediately exclaimed, "Huh?" along with the Descartes Spirit.
"Presumably, you both have noticed that there is an onion floating above your heads."
Huh? An onion?
This vegetable was short and chubby, clean, and round. It looked like a fresh, intact onion in every way—except it shouldn"t be floating above a person"s head. Bohemia took a few steps, and it followed her every step, wherever she went.
"In the theme game, every mistake you make will result in "stripping." Of course, this doesn"t mean you have to remove your clothes. What will be stripped off when you make a mistake is the layers of the onion on your heads."
Well, there"s nothing to be afraid of then.
"When a layer of the onion is peeled off, it represents a fact about yourself that will be exposed."
"What?" Bohemia was stunned. "Can you roll it back a bit?"
"Let me explain in more detail. Imagine the onion as yourself, as the version of yourself presented to others. Every time a layer of the onion is peeled off, it"s like a part of your outer appearance has been revealed, and a fact about you will be exposed, which will be notified to all players in the Pocket Dimension."
"For example, maybe you stole an old lady"s wallet before, or you have a mole on the sole of your foot... Regardless of whether you want these facts to be exposed, they will be randomly revealed."
The feeling of having private information exposed was really annoying!
Bohemia complained inwardly, but suddenly she heard Lin Sanjiu"s voice, seemingly echoing from a distance—"I"m not afraid. I have nothing to hide. Once a person truly accepts themselves, there"s nothing they"re afraid for others to know."
So, as long as they are willing, they can even transmit their voices to each other?
Bohemia hesitated for a moment and decided not to choose to look at Lin Sanjiu for now. Not wanting to see that face was one reason, but she also didn"t know what her own theme game was about—how could it be a Prison Storm in an office?
"That"s all for the general introduction. Don"t worry, I will explain the game rules throughout the process," the host concluded as if summarizing, "Now, both of you, please start your own theme games! Player One, in the "Prison Storm" theme game, your role is the warden."