"Rules-Based Urban Legends?"
Warhammer Byrne raised an eyebrow and asked, "You mean those horror worlds filled with all sorts of inexplicable rules where violating even one leads to punishment or instant death? I remember reading quite a few web novels with that setting."
Urban Legend Byrne nodded. "Exactly. Right after I transmigrated, a line of blood-red text suddenly floated before my eyes. It said: Do not open the refrigerator between 10:00 PM and 12:00 AM. At the time, I thought the original owner of this body had just been working too much overtime and was hallucinating, so I didn't pay it much mind. When it got to be past ten at night, I opened the fridge to grab an ice-cold Coke."
"And then? What happened?" Inception Byrne asked curiously.
Urban Legend Byrne's Adam's apple bobbed. His voice carried a lingering fear, and his speech quickened. "I remember that besides the Coke, there were a few eggs, some leftovers, and two bags of frozen dumplings—all normal groceries. But as soon as I pulled the door open just a crack, I smelled a thick, rotting stench. There was no food inside at all. There was only a mass of dark, slimy matter writhing around, making a bizarre sound like a crying infant. I was so terrified I slammed the door shut. Luckily, as long as the fridge door is closed, nothing happens."
Inception Byrne rubbed his chin, looking thoughtful. "It sounds like these rules are a sort of contract. Follow them and you're temporarily safe; break them and you trigger a horrific consequence. How long have you been in that world? Have you found any patterns?"
Urban Legend Byrne explained, "I've been there for nearly two months, so I've basically figured out the situation. The rules in this world refresh once a week. Old rules become invalid, and new rules appear in the form of blood-red text. The time and location of the refresh are inconsistent. Sometimes they appear on the wall, sometimes on my palm, and sometimes directly in my field of vision. However, one thing is certain: no matter the method, the blood-red text only appears within a ten-meter radius of myself."
At this point, Urban Legend Byrne paused, rubbed his temples, and sighed. "That part is manageable. The deadliest part is that new rules can be completely contradictory to the old ones. For example, the rule for one week might be that you must water the pothos plant on the windowsill after waking up and before going to sleep. But the next week, the rule might suddenly change to: Do not approach the windowsill during the day."
"Unfortunately, the new rule refreshed exactly when I woke up. I hadn't had a chance to check it yet when I took the watering can over. Before I even reached the windowsill, I saw a black hand reach out from the window to grab me. Luckily, my reactions were fast and I pulled back in time. The black hand missed me and only snatched the watering can from my hand."
Juvenile Byrne frowned. "Heh, what? The timing of that refresh is way too tricky. Couldn't it wait for you to confirm the new rules before taking effect?"
Urban Legend Byrne threw up his hands. "I wish. Unfortunately, if you could bargain with it, it wouldn't be called a Rules-Based Urban Legend."
Inception Byrne asked, "Do the rules refresh for everyone every week, or is it a random sampling? Are the refreshed rules the same for everyone?"
Urban Legend Byrne rested his chin on his hand. "I can't say for sure if everyone has them. After all, the blood-red rules are only visible to the person themselves. As for the content, I've checked online shares from other people, and I almost never see identical versions."
Hearing this, Warhammer Byrne suddenly spoke. "Based on the rules you mentioned earlier, even though they seem eerie, it doesn't feel like it would be that difficult to survive peacefully."
Inception Byrne agreed. "True. With the rules you just described, as long as you're cautious and remember the contents, you should be able to pass."
Hearing the two say this, Urban Legend Byrne shook his head with a bitter smile. "Sigh, if only it were really that simple. The truly terrifying thing about these rules is that every three refreshes, the difficulty increases—just like a lightning tribulation in a cultivation novel getting stronger with every strike."
"At the very beginning, even if the rules seemed tricky, they were at least clear. Even if they were contradictory, as long as you were careful and saw the new rules in time, you could avoid being trapped. But by the time the second difficulty spike hits, the rules start hiding traps."
"Hiding traps?" Juvenile Byrne leaned forward and guessed, "Do you mean lies are mixed into the rules?"
"Sigh, it's crueler than just mixing in lies." Urban Legend Byrne shook his head, his eyes full of lingering dread. "During last week's refresh, I saw three lines of blood-red rules. The first was: Every day at 3:00 PM, you must light a white candle in the living room until it burns out. The second was: It is forbidden to use any open flames before dusk. The third was: If you see a white candle, you must extinguish it immediately."
As soon as he said this, the other three Byrnes were stunned.
Inception Byrne was the first to react, saying in confusion, "Wait, that's not right. Those three rules are self-contradictory."
Warhammer Byrne curled his lip and thought to himself, Heh, more than just self-contradictory, that's a complete death trap.
The first rule required lighting a white candle at 3:00 PM. The second forbade open flames before dusk (which is around 6:00 PM), meaning between 3:00 and 6:00 PM, you were supposed to both have a candle lit and not use open flames—a paradox. Even worse was the third rule: if you saw a white candle, you had to put it out. Combined, any choice led to a dead end.
Urban Legend Byrne said with trepidation, "Tell me about it. When I saw those three rules, my heart skipped a beat. I thought for a long time and couldn't figure out what to do. As the time for the first rule got closer, I finally chose to take a gamble and didn't light the candle. Luckily, I guessed right, otherwise I wouldn't be seeing you all."
Juvenile Byrne's eyes widened in surprise. "No way. You actually dared to gamble? Weren't you afraid of losing your life if you guessed wrong?"
Hearing this, Urban Legend Byrne suddenly grinned. "Luckily, I discovered my cheat code. I'm not afraid of those 'choose one of two' gambles anymore."
At the mention of "cheat code," the other two were fine, but Juvenile Byrne's face immediately fell. Clearly, he was still brooding over the fact that he didn't have a cheat code of his own.
Warhammer Byrne glanced over and saw the change in Juvenile Byrne's expression. Heh, this guy... after all this time, he's still obsessed with not having a cheat.
After his internal commentary, Warhammer Byrne said, "Wow, I'm so jealous. What kind of cheat is it? Let's hear it."
At these words, Juvenile Byrne's expression gradually improved. At least it's not just me; Warhammer Byrne hasn't awakened a cheat either.
Hearing Warhammer Byrne's question, Urban Legend Byrne rubbed his nose. "It's actually nothing much. It's just the ability to turn back time—returning to the previous day whenever I'm on the verge of death."