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Chapter 44: Whatever benefit you want, I will give it to you.
The countdown began.
For An Wujiu, five minutes seemed more than enough, but this challenge was not something he could handle alone, causing frustration.
He stood in place with an uncooperative attitude, watching them busy around. Josh hadn’t figured out the specific operation, but he was anxious about the incessant countdown: “Anyway, let’s ask first; don’t just stand here.”
So, he grabbed Wu You and brought him in front of the robot.
“Which one of us has a larger number?”
The robot didn’t immediately answer, seeming rather sluggish. After a few seconds, it said, “Player Josh’s number is larger.”
“Is it much larger?” Wu You asked.
The robot sounded an alarm, and a red X appeared on its head’s display screen.
“Players are prohibited from asking for numerical differences.”
“Alright.” Wu You didn’t press further. “So, right now, your number is larger than mine.”
“Yes.” Josh hurried to find Shen Ti, but he had already paired up with Nan Shan. So, Josh had to approach Yang Erci, only to find that she and Zhong Yirou had also paired up. Nan Shan and Zhong Yirou seemed to struggle even more on the third floor, as if they were losing their strength, and their response times slowed.
Josh had no choice but to find An Wujiu, who had remained silent.
“Wujiu, let’s go ask who has a larger number together,” Josh said urgently.
An Wujiu raised his chin and said, “Take a look at how much time is left.”
After asking just one question, finding a few people, and waiting in line, the time was reduced to 4 minutes and 14 seconds.
“Why is it going so fast?”
An Wujiu smiled and sighed intentionally: “Five minutes seemed like a lot, but why does it feel so short when passing by?”
“The efficiency is too low,” Josh realized.
He looked at the others. They only know the relative size of their numbers. If they wanted to establish a unified order, the most straightforward method was to ask someone with a smaller number, then check if there was anyone with an even smaller number, and continue this process. The best-case scenario would be encountering individuals with progressively smaller numbers, allowing for a straightforward ranking.
However, this ideal situation was likely an exception. Sooner or later, they would encounter someone with a number larger than the previous smaller one. In such cases, the larger number would have to be compared again with the new person’s number.
While there were many possible pairs among the people, there was only one robot. Given this, the process was clearly time-consuming.
Josh understood this and became even more anxious. “But if we don’t complete this challenge, we’ll lose the qualification to continue the game.”
An Wujiu raised an eyebrow, seemingly indifferent despite being involved in the situation.
“You shouldn’t have come to me; you should have gone to find the green-eyed guy.”
“Are you talking about Shen Ti?” Josh glanced in Shen Ti’s direction, seeing him being dragged by others, appearing emotionless, like a tool brought in just for comparison, seemingly unaware.
An Wujiu smiled, “He’s pretending to be stupid.”
“I can’t stand him pretending to be dumb. Go talk to him; I’ll teach you what to say.”
Waiting in line for the results was getting on Shen Ti’s nerves. There was no paper and pen here, and everyone could only orally remember the order, reciting it over and over, giving him a headache.
His arm was suddenly pulled, and when Shen Ti turned around, it was Josh. Shen Ti didn’t speak and just raised an eyebrow, asking, “What’s up?”
Josh looked a bit embarrassed, but because of time constraints, he went straight to the point, speaking quickly, “Wujiu asked me to tell you that he’s still cold. If you keep acting dumb, he’ll strip off your pants too.”
Shen Ti glanced at him, and An Wujiu raised his index and middle fingers, pointing at his own eyes, then pointing at Shen Ti, making a “watching you” gesture.
Shen Ti checked the time, 3 minutes and 43 seconds, then sighed and clapped his hands for everyone’s attention.
“Don’t ask for now.”
“There’s not enough time,” Wu You said.
Shen Ti ignored what he said and repeated, “Don’t ask for now; come over. Everyone, come here and stand randomly.”
“Randomly?” Josh was puzzled.
Although Wu You usually clashed with him, he still followed suit, even dragging the exhausted Nan Shan, while Yang Erci supported Zhong Yirou.
Finally, An Wujiu was dragged over by Shen Ti by his wrist.
The seven of them stood in the following order:
Shen Ti – An Wujiu – Josh – Wu You – Nan Shan – Zhong Yirou – Yang Erci.
The moment they stood in place, Shen Ti said to the robot, “Please compare our numbers two by two, starting with me and An Wujiu, then An Wujiu with Josh; continue like this and tell us the answer.”
“This way also counts as pairing up, right? No more than two people at a time.”
The robot heard the instructions and did as Shen Ti requested.
It approached Shen Ti and An Wujiu and said, “Player Shen Ti has a larger number.”
Upon hearing this, Shen Ti immediately grabbed An Wujiu’s arm and forcibly swapped positions with him before the robot could move.
Then, the robot moved to the right, reaching the newly exchanged positions between Shen Ti and Josh, “Player Josh has a larger number.”
This time, Shen Ti didn’t ask An Wujiu and Josh to exchange positions.
The robot moved to the right, reaching the space between Josh and Wu You, “Player Josh has a larger number.”
Shen Ti immediately said to Wu You, “Wu You, switch places with Josh.”
Wu You complied, and Josh moved one space to the right. At this moment, the robot arrived at the newly exchanged positions between Josh and Nan Shan, “Player Nan Shan has a larger number.”
Shen Ti didn’t say anything, so Josh didn’t move.
The robot continued moving to the right, comparing Nan Shan and Zhong Yirou, “Player Zhong Yirou has a larger number.”
Their order was not changed either.
Finally, the robot stopped in front of Zhong Yirou and Yang Erci, “Player Zhong Yirou has a larger number.”
“Yang Erci, switch with her,” Shen Ti said.
Following the instructions, Zhong Yirou moved to the far right. At this seamless string of questions, 53 seconds passed, and the team’s order changed to:
An Wujiu – Shen Ti – Wu You – Josh – Nan Shan – Yang Erci – Zhong Yirou
Shen Ti immediately said, “Robot, start from An Wujiu again.”
The robot returned to the far left and said, “Player Shen Ti has a larger number.”
Moving to the right, it compared Shen Ti and Wu You, “Player Shen Ti has a larger number.”
Wu You, being clever, took the initiative to switch places with Shen Ti.
The robot moved on, comparing the rearranged Shen Ti and Josh, “Player Josh is larger.”
Then, the robot kept moving to the right, constantly comparing, but the results were the same as the previous round, and no one needed to switch places.
Almost another minute passed.
“Robot, start comparing from An Wujiu again.”
“Still comparing?” Wu You asked.
Shen Ti glanced at the time and said, “One last time, just to be safe.”
The robot complied, comparing from the far left to the far right, and there was no need for any position swaps.
The countdown had 50 seconds left.
“That’s the order, increasing from left to right,” Shen Ti said.
“Players, are you sure to submit the results?”
“Sure.”
The countdown stopped at 47 seconds, and the results were submitted. Shortly after, numbers appeared above each person’s head.
An Wujiu was 5, Wu You was 32, Shen Ti was 178, Josh was 456, Nan Shan was 1209, Yang Erci was 4622, and Zhong Yirou was 8999.
Their order was from smallest to largest, and it was correct.
“Congratulations on completing this small challenge. Please choose the left or right direction.”
In front of them, two holographic signs appeared, pointing to the left with “Return Service” and to the right with “Order Service.”
An Wujiu noticed that, besides the sliding doors on the left and right sides, the door they entered on the third floor was facing a not-too-big wall. Similar to the rainbow gate at the circus theater downstairs, it seemed to be a door leading to the central room in the shape of the character 回 (return).
“Left or right?” the robot asked.
Josh was a bit puzzled by the terms “return” and “order.” “Uh… how about we choose ‘order’? Directly checking ‘return service’ seems a bit strange, doesn’t it?”
So, they casually chose the right side for ordering.
“Wait a moment.” An Wujiu raised his hand. “Can we go separately?”
The robot turned and faced An Wujiu, replying, “No, players can only act simultaneously once they make a decision.”
Shen Ti laughed, walked over, and hooked his shoulder: “You can’t escape from us that easily.”
An Wujiu glanced at him, smiled, and brushed away Shen Ti’s hand from his shoulder.
The sliding door on the left side slowly rose, revealing the passage inside. Unlike the previous corridor, the walls inside this passage were entirely made of steel, giving it a space capsule-like feeling. However, the internal structure was not a rectangular corner corridor but a cylindrical extension, like a pipeline, slanting inward.
“Please enter.”
The passage was relatively narrow, allowing only two people to walk side by side at most. At intervals of 30 centimeters on the top of the passage, embedded motion-sensing lights lit up one by one as the first two people stepped in, creating concentric circles of cold white light on the floor, resembling some kind of welcoming ritual.
An Wujiu and Shen Ti waited at the back. Shen Ti looked at the passage and suddenly thought of the stage in the second-floor theater, where An Wujiu was locked in the bird cage, and black velvet covered his figure.
At this moment, An Wujiu was not idle either, answering Yang Erci’s questions absentmindedly.
“Are you a college student?” Despite only slightly turning her face, Yang Erci’s suspicious expression was evident. “Did you participate in any projects as a clinical volunteer or as a test subject during your time at the university?”
An Wujiu furrowed his brow.
Yang Erci showed an unusual interest in the strange phenomena on his body.
She must know something.
“I haven’t participated.”
Yang Erci seemed doubtful, “Really?”
The passage lights illuminated An Wujiu’s clean face, and it was challenging to discern the truth from what he said.
But what An Wujiu said was indeed true.
In his memory, there was not only no trace of participating in experiments but also no sign of his good or evil separation.
If it had happened before, at least there would be memories of the first episode, and his amnesia occurred after entering the Holy Altar. The memories before the game were still there, but he didn’t remember his personality-changing moments.
Thinking back to being trapped in the glass case earlier, that rabbit seemed to know about his good and evil separation.
All these events were connected in an unclear direction.
But it was definitely neither accidental nor natural.
“Could it be that after he entered the Altar, it became too dangerous, so this situation was triggered for self-protection?” Wu You asked, walking in front.
“It’s unlikely,” Yang Erci said. “This extreme characteristic is almost impossible to form without external factors.”
The implication in her words was suspicion of external manipulation.
Josh also found it strange, “Self-protection? Definitely not. Wujiu’s previous state was protecting all of us. That state wouldn’t trigger any mechanism that needed protection, right?”
“True,” Yang Erci mentioned the project, making Wu You feel uncomfortable, thinking about some experiments.
But An Wujiu denied it; did he really not participate?
Everyone was chatting enthusiastically.
An Wujiu followed behind, and suddenly his wrist was grasped, forcing him to stop. He knew it was Shen Ti; after being pulled around so many times, he even remembered the feeling of being caught by Shen Ti’s hand.
An Wujiu lazily turned his face, and under the cold light, his eyelashes cast a faint shadow on his lower eyelids: “What else do you want to ask me?”
His tone had a slight teasing quality. In fact, even in his previous honest and kind state, when An Wujiu spoke to him, there was always a subtle upward lilt in his tone—a very faint but distinctive feature.
An Wujiu waited, thinking that Shen Ti was going to ask something related to his unpredictable temperament again, finding it rather boring.
“I want to ask, if that instant teleportation magic is real and if you had come out from the birdcage on the right, what would’ve you done?”
This question came out of nowhere, and An Wujiu inevitably paused for a moment before bursting into laughter.
“You really are strange.”
Was there any significance to this question?
“What would I do…” An Wujiu reached back and grabbed Shen Ti’s wrist. His thumb pressed on the tendons in his wrist, glancing upward and then back into Shen Ti’s blue-green eyes, raising an eyebrow.
“Why should I tell you? Is there any benefit for me?”
Shen Ti stared at him without avoiding eye contact. “Whatever benefit you want, I’ll give it to you.”
“One benefit is not enough. Anyway, give me 3,000 points first, and I’ll think about the rest later.” An Wujiu boldly asked for a lion’s share, originally just playing around, but unexpectedly, Shen Ti immediately transferred it.
“So generous.” An Wujiu smiled. “Okay, I’ll tell you. What would I do… I’d probably just check if there’s anything wrong with the birdcage. Then see what the rabbit says—whether it wants me to come down.”
“What if he lets you come down?” Shen Ti asked.
“Hey, this is already the second question.” An Wujiu reminded.
Just as he finished speaking, Shen Ti transferred another 3,000 points to him, leaving An Wujiu momentarily stunned.
Was this simple question really worth so much money?
This guy earned money so easily.
“Okay, tell you then. If I come down, at that time I’ll still be back to my previous self, right? I’ll walk over to you, just like we walked together before.”
Shen Ti’s heart fluttered slightly.
This was different from what he expected when he encountered the fake An Wujiu. He thought the real An Wujiu wouldn’t walk toward him, but he predicted it incorrectly.
Perhaps due to a lack of belief in something like this happening, he couldn’t help asking again, “And your current state?”
An Wujiu laughed as if he had heard a joke.
What current state and what before? Obviously, it was still him.
“Even in my current state, I would still come to you first.” However, he gave a rather nasty reason.
“I would come over, snatch your chair, and sit down myself.”
Shen Ti looked into his eyes, and the smile that curved An Wujiu’s lips.
At this moment, he felt a complex emotion he had never experienced before, his heartbeat quickened, and the pulse between his wrist that was being held was pounding forcefully.
Just because of An Wujiu’s statement, “I would come to find you,” he unexpectedly felt a strange sense of elation.
Shen Ti couldn’t comprehend.
After An Wujiu answered a question that seemed insignificant to him, all he could think about was how to play a prank on Shen Ti.
In his mind, he gathered all the memories related to Shen Ti, recalling how he wore a strange mask, played rock-paper-scissors with himself, indulged in candy like a child, played psychology, and even imitated others.
But Shen Ti seemed indifferent to life and death, not interested in wealth, and, upon careful consideration, appeared to care about nothing.
Then…
“Oh, I’ve come up with a benefit.” An Wujiu glanced at the others who had walked ahead before turning back to face Shen Ti. He slowed down his speech, and his lips lazily moved, rubbing against his tongue.
His voice was soft, only audible as a breath.
“How about letting me kiss you? What do you think?”
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