Chapter 274: The Contradiction Between the Instance Mission and the Play Guide
“Different spaces have different time flows?” Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. “Is that even possible in places separated by just a wall?”
“Time is just a man-made concept—who can really explain it clearly?” Jin Chao said. “The biggest realization I’ve had since entering instances is that the common sense I used to know is no longer common sense. So I don’t find any strange phenomena surprising anymore. Anyway, I’m not a scientist—I can’t understand it, I can only accept it.”
Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu exchanged glances. Xu Huo said, “My name is Xu Huo. I’m also a D-level player, and my profession is Magician.”
Yan Jiayu also introduced herself, concealing her own profession as well. “I’m a weightlifter.”
Jin Chao nodded. “I have another companion.”
At that moment, another player walked over—it was the long-haired woman who had been holding hands with Yan Jiayu in the maze earlier.
“Thank you for earlier,” the long-haired female player said to Yan Jiayu with a smile. “My name is Peng Ru, and my profession is kindergarten teacher.”
Yan Jiayu looked at her in surprise. “Can being a kindergarten teacher really be a profession?”
“Of course,” Peng Ru said gently. “The professions in the game are similar to those in real life—every industry exists, and kindergarten teachers are naturally included.”
Yan Jiayu showed great interest. “I’m really curious what traits a kindergarten teacher would have.”
“A kindergarten teacher’s traits can’t compare to other players,” Peng Ru said. “It’s mainly about affinity, since you have to take care of children.”
Yan Jiayu pointed at the plush toys in the distance. “Can you get a discount if you buy something?”
Peng Ru was caught between laughter and tears. “How can a teacher take advantage of children? But the plush toys here really dislike me—they won’t even sell me candy.”
Xu Huo looked up at her. “Maybe the plush toys are immune to traits.”
“That’s what I think too,” Jin Chao said. “Not all children like teachers.”
“You’re both wrong,” Yan Jiayu said seriously. “There’s one ability that no one can be immune to.”
The three people present all looked at her, and she said, “The power of money.”
Peng Ru laughed helplessly. “That doesn’t work either. Whether I offered double the money for candy or tried to buy limited-edition sweets, the plush toys refused to sell to me. Jin Chao has no problem.”
“The plush toys in the amusement park are all greedy for money, and they even try to cause trouble,” Jin Chao said. “Peng Ru’s situation is pretty strange.”
“Do they target her during the games?” Xu Huo asked.
“Not really,” Jin Chao said. “But to be safe, I usually play the games while she assists.”
“Let’s head to the next game point first,” Peng Ru said.
With no special circumstances, the four of them traveled together. When they reached the next game point, Jin Chao and Peng Ru went in first, while Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu waited outside.
“They’re not lying,” Yan Jiayu said, staring at the camp tent. “It’s strange—why would the plush toys dislike Peng Ru? She doesn’t seem any different from other players.”
“And I can feel the affinity from her too.”
She paused and lowered her voice. “Do you think the instance hides children inside the plush toys? To prevent Peng Ru from influencing them, they deliberately avoid her?”
Xu Huo shook his head. “That’s unnecessary. The plush toys genuinely dislike Peng Ru. Whether they target her in the games is another matter.”
“Besides, the children aren’t inside the plush toys. The ones controlling these plush toys should be the instance boss.”
“There’s a very strange rule in the amusement park—the transfer of the little hats must be voluntary. How do you determine whether a player is giving or receiving a little hat voluntarily or under coercion?”
“Could it be a prop effect?” Yan Jiayu said. “Once a player takes a little hat, it becomes registered to them, right?”
“If the first person’s little hat is destroyed by the second person, the second person who destroyed the hat dies immediately. After death, their hat is inherited by the first person. Therefore, targeting players with fewer hats, capturing them alive, and forcing them to destroy your own hat to reduce the hat count seems like the most feasible method for now,” Xu Huo continued. “But this also carries high risk. Neither side dares to go all out in a fight, and the result is usually mutual losses without significant gains.”
“However, the rule about voluntarily giving and receiving little hats leaves room for manipulation.”
“Human consciousness is uncontrollable—how do you determine whether someone is acting voluntarily or under duress?”
Yan Jiayu’s eyes lit up. “You mean it’s determined by the plush toys? So if you can completely avoid the plush toys’ line of sight, could you directly snatch someone else’s little hat or force someone to take your own hat?”
Xu Huo nodded. “That’s just my speculation. Whether you can evade the plush toys’ line of sight, or whether a transaction made outside their sight counts, remains to be verified.”
“But this points to another issue—is the instance boss leading us through the game?”
“If the plush toys we encountered at the game points are all the instance boss, then the information they revealed is very important.”
“Tang Xiao said players generally agree that collecting fifteen little hats is necessary to clear the instance, and extra hats need to be matched in pairs. Since so many players haven’t found the fifth question-and-answer game point, how did this matching clearing information spread?”
Yan Jiayu reached under her hat and scratched her hair. “I think players like Tang Xiao spread it themselves, because they wanted to mobilize more people to find hats.”
But Xu Huo shook his head. “Do you remember the game mission?”
“Follow the route provided by the amusement park to play through one park area,” Yan Jiayu said, puzzled. “Is there some hint here?”
“The route map provided by the amusement park only has ten game points, no question-and-answer game points,” Xu Huo said. “But the play guide clearly states that fifteen little hats are needed. This mission contradicts the one mentioned in the game—the instance boss gave the players misleading information.”
“The instance mission definitely won’t trick the players… So is the play guide fake?” Yan Jiayu understood. “Then which one is fake—the route map, or the requirement to collect fifteen little hats?”
“If the requirement to collect little hats is a smoke screen, then completing ten game points should clear the instance. By now, many players should have reached ten game points, right? So is the route map fake? Didn’t they say players can’t find the fifth question-and-answer random point?”
Xu Huo thought for a moment. “I can’t judge yet.”
Instances operate according to certain rules. If the instance boss could directly remove a key link, then this game would be unplayable—no one could possibly clear it.
So no matter which piece of information is fake, at least one game point or question-and-answer random point is extremely hard to find. It’s not that it doesn’t exist, but that it evades most people’s expectations.
He quickly filtered through the places they had visited since entering the instance in his mind. Aside from the fairy tale castle where they had stayed overnight, there seemed to be no other locations that fit the characteristics of a random point or game point.