The ceiling of this room was similar to the previous two, with particles resembling dots or waves floating in the black void. Instead of water or a metal plate, however, stood a massive canvas blocking the way to the exit.
On the left side of the canvas were seven solid squares of the same size, each in one of seven colors: red, yellow, green, blue, purple, black, and white. In the center of the canvas was a tray, seemingly connected to a complex series of machines. The entire painting resembled a blueprint for some kind of mechanical assembly, composed entirely of lines.
Above the canvas was a line of text: "Place the heaviest color block on the tray to pass; place it incorrectly to eliminate."
"How...how can I tell which color block is the heaviest?" He Tang panicked. The countdown on the screen was relentlessly ticking away. "All the color blocks look the same size! And they're flat, how could they have weight!"
"Don't panic," Ke Xun patted her shoulder. "Imagine this, it's just a flat image. Aren't the comics we read also flat? But we can imagine three-dimensional, realistic images. This picture can be
the same. If you imagine them as three-dimensional, then they all have weight." He Tang bit her lip, trying to concentrate, carefully trying to figure out which of the seven different color blocks looked the largest. Just then, Wei Dong reached out and tapped the black color block. The block was like an icon on a phone touchscreen; once tapped, it could be moved.
Wei Dong tapped the black block and moved it to the tray in the middle of the canvas.
"The same black and white block appears to weigh 1.8 times heavier in black than in white," Wei Dong said. "That's why safes are usually dark-colored; it increases their psychological weight and provides some security."
Wei Dong was about to loosen his grip on the colored block when Ke Xun stopped him: "Don't release it yet, stall for time."
Wei Dong understood, his eyes fixed on the countdown on the screen, preparing to release his grip in the last 5 seconds.
"Thank goodness you're here. Why did this crazy drawing suddenly come up with a color-related question again?" Ke Xun said.
"What's the big deal? The previous two levels were related to history and hygiene, respectively—they were really exciting," Wei Dong said.
"Oh?" Ke Xun raised an eyebrow and turned to He Tang, "How about the previous challenge?"
He Tang was thinking how carefree these two were, still chatting at a time like this. Seeing Ke Xun's question, she quickly replied, "The last challenge was related to music. Luckily, it was all within my area of expertise, so we didn't encounter many obstacles."
Ke Xun gave her a thumbs up; this girl must have played a significant role in helping them pass the previous challenge.
Encouraged, He Tang calmed down considerably.
Ke Xun turned to Wei Dong and said, "I understand. All the challenges here are organized by subject. The first major challenge was Chinese, then physics, chemistry, physiology and hygiene (biology), history, music, and now art. The program has incorporated all the courses his son has learned in school into the artwork."
"What a grudge," Wei Dong said, the countdown entering its final 5 seconds. He took a breath and released his fingers.
A black block of color landed on the tray, seemingly carrying immense weight, causing the entire canvas in front of it to sag. A path appeared beneath their feet, only a dozen meters long. At the end of that path, another upright canvas blocked their way.
Ke Xun strode forward. Wei Dong was about to follow, but seeing Fang Fei still intently describing the laws, he quickly pulled her along.
This canvas had two narrow slits, one red and one green, drawn on either side. Above them were the words: "Choose one to pass; incorrect choice will result in elimination.
" "This is shameless! They didn't even say what the conditions for choosing are. How am I supposed to choose?" Ke Xun scrutinized the canvas.
"Is it green?" He Tang said. "Green is usually a safe color, right? And aren't traffic lights supposed to be red for stopping and green for going?"
"I don't think it's that simple," Ke Xun frowned. "Would Hua give us such a simple question with such a clear answer? But then again, Hua might also be taking advantage of this psychology, doing the opposite, deliberately making it so simple to make us think in a complicated way. Dongzi, what do you think?"
Wei Dong scratched his head beside him: "It's disgusting that it doesn't specify the selection conditions. How do we know what conditions it uses as a rule?"
Seeing that the countdown had entered the second half, Fang Fei was also speeding up her explanation of the rules. Ke Xun listened for a moment and felt that this time there might still not be enough time. He had to solve this question as well.
Refocusing his attention on the canvas, Ke Xun carefully reviewed the question and said, "The question mentions 'passing through,' which means we can squeeze through the correct narrow gap to move on to the next question. But isn't it strange? This canvas is quite large, yet these two colored strips are very narrow. If we're supposed to pass through, why not make them wider?"
He stood in front of the green strip and compared it to his shoulder width, saying, "Look, it's just the width of my shoulder. What if there's a fat guy in the middle? Wouldn't he get stuck here?"
He then moved to the red strip and compared it to his shoulder width as well.
"These red and green strips are the same width," Ke Xun said.
Wei Dong's eyes suddenly lit up: "I know!—Choose red! Let's go!" He grabbed Fang Fei and squeezed into the red gap.
Ke Xun had He Tang go first, and he went last, so that if he got stuck, He Tang wouldn't be affected too.
Fortunately, they didn't get stuck, and the four of them passed through the red gap smoothly.
"What's the reason for this?" He Tang asked Wei Dong.
"Since it involves width, I think it's probably testing another psychological effect of color, namely, expanding and contracting colors," Wei Dong said. "Red, orange, and yellow are expanding colors, while blue and green are contracting colors. So if we had walked on the green strip, we might have gotten stuck. Although the two strips are actually the same width, I think the program is testing this visual effect and psychological effect. The psychological effect will be real in the painting."
He Tang gave a knowing look, and Wei Dong added, "So, girls, if you want to look thinner, wear dark clothes, black stockings, etc., to make your legs look thinner." He Tang
: "..." Black stockings...
Ke Xun: "Your otaku nature is showing. Stop talking nonsense, here comes the third question."
The third question was still drawn on the canvas. Wei Dong was reviewing the question when Ke Xun had already heard Fang Fei finish explaining the rules and used the prop box to obtain the program's consciousness, and also asked for the program's signature.
The surrounding environment remained unchanged, yet the void above began to flicker. Particles, like grains of sand or waves, danced randomly and erratically, sometimes appearing as scattered points of light, sometimes as alternating bright and dark grids, and sometimes as superimposed points of light and grids.
Just as this unpredictable transformation occurred, a line along the edge of this void suddenly lit up, as if someone had lifted a corner of a box from the outside, letting in a large swath of light. Like
Schrödinger's cat, once people open the box to observe, the cat, existing in a superposition of states, inevitably collapses into one of them.
The points of light and grids in the void, the instant the large swath of light shone in, instantly stopped flickering and dancing, fixing themselves uniformly on the black background of the void, transforming into a signature that looked like it had been written with light: Program.
"This… how do we reach it?!" Wei Dong shouted, "This is testing us at the very end?!"
The countdown to the third question was already in its second half, and Ke Xun was getting anxious. What kind of law could make someone fly?! There was no time to think of any laws right now! Nobody has any light-footed skills, how the hell could this be—
—wait, light-footed skills?
Ke Xun pulled up the book of laws and shouted in desperation, "Left foot stepping on right foot, using each other's strength to fly!"
—[Law passed]
Fang Fei: "..."
He Tang: "..."
Wei Dong was shocked: "--Holy crap—this actually works?!"
Ke Xun: "No time to explain, get up there!"
The group didn't dare to hesitate, and with black lines on their faces, they stepped on their left and right feet and took off.
However, before they could access the program's signature, Ke Xun suddenly received two requests for help at the same time.
[Only one chance to accept a request for help remains. Please choose to accept one or reject both.]
Ke Xun glanced at the avatars that sent the requests for help; one was Deng Lin, and the other was Wu You.
Ke Xun thought for a moment and asked He Tang, "If you want to make this decision, I'll listen to you."
One was her boyfriend, whom she had sworn eternal love to, and the other was her irreconcilable rival.
He Tang bit her lip, her expression complex.
However, time was of the essence. Just as Ke Xun thought she didn't want to make a decision and was about to reach out to accept one of their requests for help, he heard He Tang utter three words in a low but clear voice: "Choose Wu You."
Let the scumbag fend
for himself! Wu You and Deng Lin were entering the same level this time, but they had already fallen out before entering, so they each sought help from others when they encountered unsolvable problems.
As Ke Xun expected, these levels all involved relevant school subjects, and Wu You and Deng Lin were facing a physical education level, which was why they sought help from Ke Xun.
After solving Wu You's problem, Ke Xun, along with Wei Dongfangfei and He Tang, reached up and touched the program's signature.
Like being pushed out of a box, the void above their heads was completely ripped open, and a blinding flood of light poured down, so intense it was almost blinding. As the light gradually faded, they found themselves inside the Art Museum's exhibition hall, "Winter Is Coming. "
Standing before them were Mu Yiran, Zhu Haowen, Shao Ling, Qin Ci, and Luo Yi; Deng Lin and Wu You were still nowhere to be seen.
No one spoke, they held their breath, staring intently at the painting "Schrödinger's Cat" on the wall. Five minutes later, the light returned, and a figure appeared before them.
It was Wu You.
Her long, flowing hair seemed soaked with sweat, strands clinging to her pale face, making her look particularly disheveled. Upon seeing the crowd, Wu You collapsed to the ground, laughing and crying at the same time, covering her face. Finally, she managed to squeeze out a muffled sentence through her fingers: "Deng Lin can't get out..."
"You should think of it this way," He Tang said calmly, "If it weren't for him cheating on us, you wouldn't have followed us on our date to this place, you and I wouldn't have argued and dragged ourselves into this exhibition hall, and we wouldn't have been dragged into this terrifying world within the painting. It all started because of him, and now he's paying the price. Consider it his fate."
Wu You lifted her tear-streaked face and saw He Tang's hand outstretched in front of her.
Reaching out her own hand, she grasped the trembling, cold, and delicate hand, and was pulled t her feet. She exclaimed, "Sister, we've been utterly screwed over by that idiot!"
The two of them embraced and wept bitterly.
The men: ...