[The World of Laws]
1. Topic: Use the laws to reach the finish line.
2. Rules:
① All laws are true;
② Applicable to all physical phenomena;
③ No empirical evidence is needed, only imagination;
④ Take turns rolling dice to determine the number of steps forward;
⑤ Each person has only three opportunities to ask for help from others, each opportunity lasting three minutes; each person has only three opportunities to accept help from others. If a person refuses help, they can do so, and that opportunity is considered used; if the person receiving help fails to help the person seeking help, both will be punished.
3. Three minutes preparation time, countdown: 180 seconds.
"What—what does this mean?!" Deng Lin panicked. "These rules are so confusing, I—I don't understand them at all!"
The girl with long hair and the girl with long hair also looked flustered.
"It mentions 'groups' here, so we might be splitting up this time," Shao Ling said.
"The three opportunities to ask for help are very important," Mu Yiran continued. "Although we don't know what will happen, everyone must remember to use these three opportunities carefully, and don't randomly designate someone to ask for help. Choose to ask for help selectively based on the other person's area of expertise." "
Then let's quickly introduce the areas we are relatively familiar with for everyone's reference," Shao Ling said. "I can provide relevant help in history or some literature."
"I'm good at sports," Ke Xun said, then added after a moment's thought, "food, fitness, and fighting are also okay."
Everyone: "..."
Wei Dong: "I'm good at art, anime watching, and movie merchandise."
Everyone: "......"
Luo Yi: "I...I'm good at games...postpartum care for cats and dogs is also okay..."
Everyone: "........."
Are these three really preparing to answer questions facing life and death? Or are they just a bored, silly group running around the streets with snacks, drinks, and their pet dogs?
Zhu Haowen continued, "I can provide assistance with computer technology and some physics."
Fang Fei: "Diving."
Qin Ci: "Medicine."
Mu Yiran: "Art history, literature, foreign literature, architecture, economics—anything is possible."
The veteran members' gazes all fell on the three newcomers.
Before Deng Lin could stammer out an answer, the 180-second countdown had already ended.
After a "beep," everyone felt a blur before their eyes, and the large screen in front of them suddenly stretched backward, revealing a long corridor. This corridor was formed by connecting countless rooms identical to the one they were in, except that the two walls facing each other had been removed, leaving only the top, bottom, left, and right walls, thus connecting to form a corridor that seemed to have no end.
Looking down, each room's corresponding "wall" displayed a bold, black number. Their room was displayed as 0, the nearest adjacent room as 1, and so on, 2, 3, 4, 5, and so on, extending indefinitely.
But what was truly astonishing wasn't any of that. The moment the large screen stretched backward, everyone felt a transparent display panel, resembling a touchscreen control panel, suddenly appear before their eyes!
This display moved with their viewing angle; that is, it remained in front of them, always within their field of vision, regardless of their direction. And because it was transparent, it didn't obstruct their vision; they could still see everything in front of them.
"What—what's going on?!" the girl with long hair cried out, rubbing her eyes frantically.
"It's a bit like a game interface," Luo Yi said, his tone filled with surprise and astonishment. "On the left are our individual portraits, and on the right is a book icon, a box icon, a light bulb icon, and… a dice icon. These icons must represent different functions—is there any game instructions or something? Could this book icon be…?"
He reached out and tapped the book icon on the holographic projection-like interface.
A book-shaped dialogue box immediately appeared in the center of the screen, with the following sentence at the top: [Please state the law you wish to apply].
"What does this mean?" Luo Yi was about to ask the others when he suddenly saw a line of text flashing at the top of the screen: [Please take turns rolling the dice, 60-second countdown].
"Take turns rolling the dice," Shao Ling said, clearly everyone's screen was flashing the same message.
"This means the test is about to begin..." Wei Dong took a deep breath.
"Who goes first?" Shao Ling asked.
"Me."
This was a chorus from two people, Ke Xun and Fang Fei.
Ke Xun, who had always been the team leader during his student days, was used to being at the forefront, bearing the greatest pressure and responsibility for the team. And Fang Fei, this girl, always seemed fearless, decisive, and brave.
"Then let's line up the order," Zhu Haowen glanced at Ke Xun expressionlessly, "I'm third."
"Next, I'll go." Unexpectedly, it was Wei Dong who spoke up.
Ke Xun stared in surprise at his buddy's face, which looked like he'd taken the wrong medicine, and even pinched it to confirm its authenticity.
Wei Dong shoved his hand away: "What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a graphic designer who's on the rise?"
"...I've only ever seen graphic designers with receding hairlines," Ke Xun looked at him again and again, "Have you thought this through? Don't act impulsively."
"Who are you trying to scare! You think I'm not afraid?" Wei Dong said.
Ke Xun: "..."
Wei Dong: "The girl is so fearless, we men can't just cower behind her all the time. Do you think everyone's a pushover?"
Luo Yi: "...Brother Dong, you've changed. What happened to our friendship of stuffing snowballs into each other's crotches?"
Before anyone else could speak, the 60-second countdown had entered its final 3 seconds. Ke Xun didn't waste any more time, reaching out and tapping the dice icon on the screen. A die appeared in the center of the screen, spinning rapidly. Ke Xun asked, "Can you see this die spinning?"
Everyone said "No." Zhu Haowen said, "This means that although the current interface is shared by everyone, only the person rolling the dice can see the result. And it's uncertain whether we'll still be able to see and hear each other after the test officially begins."
The die gradually stopped, and Ke Xun rolled a 4.
They thought something would happen next, but unexpectedly, the 60-second countdown started again at the top of the screen.
Before anyone could react, Mu Yiran had already reached out and tapped the dice on his screen, causing them to spin again.
"Who rolled it?" Fang Fei, realizing she couldn't tap the dice icon on her screen, knew someone had beaten her to it.
"Me," Mu Yiran said.
Fang Fei: "..." So what if you're fast?
Mu Yiran rolled a 3.
When the countdown started again, everyone finally understood.
"We need to roll the dice once before we can move on to the next step," Shao Ling said knowingly.
Everyone took turns rolling the dice, and after everyone had rolled, new text finally appeared on the screen: [Please move forward the corresponding number of rooms based on your roll. Countdown: 60 seconds.]
"Be careful, everyone. Once we're in our assigned rooms, we probably won't be able to see or hear each other anymore," Qin Ci warned.
Although everyone knew danger was imminent, they couldn't afford to waste any more time. Ke Xun said to Mu Yiran, "Yiran, be careful," and stepped forward into the passageway. Zhu Haowen followed closely behind; both of them rolled a 4, as did the long-haired girl.
Once they reached the area marked with a 4 on the ground, Ke Xun looked back and could still see his companions heading towards their assigned rooms. Since no one had rolled a 5 or 6, their room was the first one available.
As the 60-second countdown ended, the scene before them suddenly changed. Everything around them vanished, leaving only Zhu Haowen and the long-haired girl. The walls and ceiling of the room turned into a black void, within which granular starlight flickered chaotically. These starlight had no fixed position or trajectory; they moved constantly, occasionally appearing in wave-like patterns.
"Wave-particle duality?" Zhu Haowen looked up, lost in thought. "I remember the original image of this painting was this wave-particle pattern..."
"Never mind that for now," Ke Xun pointed to a spot not far ahead. "See that? The exit."
Following Ke Xun's finger, they saw that in the pitch-black void, a hole even blacker than the void itself suddenly opened. A flashing arrow on the interface pointed directly to this hole, labeled "Exit."
However, the problem was that between the three's starting point and this exit lay a bottomless pool of water, its beginning and end nowhere in sight. Apart from that, there was nothing else.
"So the only way to get to the exit is through this pool," Ke Xun said, turning to the long-haired girl. "Hey, can you swim?"
The long-haired girl nodded.
"Alright then, let's swim across." Ke Xun said, taking off his down jacket.
"I have a feeling it's not that simple," Zhu Haowen stopped him. "After all this suspense, you just want us to swim?"
Ke Xun squatted down and scooped up some water. "The water's a bit cold, and it looks just like normal water. Could there be a monster down there?"
Just as he was about to peer down, a new line of text flashed on the screen: [Requirement: Without any other equipment besides the pool, each person must reach the exit using a different method.] "
...Damn, we're waiting here." Ke Xun stood up and shook the water off his hands. "No cargo means no boats or bridges, right? The three of us have to cross in three different ways. What do those three ways mean? Three different swimming styles?" "
..." Zhu Haowen shook his head. "I don't think so. It's not that simple. For example, some people can swim across, some have to float, or even fly. In short, it seems like all three of us can't cross by swimming."
"There's nothing we can use here except water," Ke Xun looked around, then observed the distance between the landing point and the exit, and shook his head. "Although it only says that we can't use anything other than water, obviously non-carrier methods are also not allowed. For example, taking off all our clothes and tying them into a rope to climb across—first, it's not long enough, and second, there's nowhere to tie the rope here."
Zhu Haowen: "..." He ws thinking quite a lot in that instant.
"Let's take a look at what these icons represent first." Ke Xun said, clicking on the box-shaped icon on the interface.