Chapter 15: Hints Hidden Within the Rules!

When Zhang Yangqing invited the two delivery men to eat, the audience from Dragon Country was very confused.

There was so little food; if you gave it away to others, what would you eat?

The rules said to try your best to satisfy the delivery men's requests, but there was no need to go this far.

Could it be that he had discovered some hidden task?

Or perhaps these two delivery men would help him complete his mission?

Just as opinions were divided, Zhang Yangqing had already brought the two delivery men into the dining room.

The two delivery men had originally intended to refuse, but they couldn't resist Zhang Yangqing's invitation and came in anyway.

After all, Zhang Yangqing had picked up on a detail during their conversation: they had traveled a long distance and were undoubtedly hungry and thirsty.

If he provided food, they would most likely not refuse.

It seemed that was indeed the case.

Moonlight shone in through the window next to the dining room, giving the place a bit of light.

Under the expectant gazes of the two delivery men, Zhang Yangqing served the two pieces of heated steak.

Of course, he certainly didn't serve two whole steaks; these were portions he had cut.

At this moment, other Chosen Ones were sorting through the information in their minds, contemplating which steak to eat.

That was a choice between life and death; no one dared to make a decision lightly.

The vast majority of the audience outside didn't seem to realize that one of the steaks was problematic.

Because much of the information could only be known by the Chosen Ones inside, the audience could only see partial projections.

"Here it comes, the steak is here!"

At this moment, Zhang Yangqing walked up with a smile, carrying the steak.

He looked exactly like a cook serving up a bowl of poisoned chicken soup.

In fact, what he was carrying might have been just that.

The two delivery men smelled the aroma of the steak and swallowed their saliva.

Then they began to wolf it down; they were truly hungry.

After eating for a while, Delivery Man A looked at Zhang Yangqing, who was standing to the side, and asked, "Why aren't you eating?"

Zhang Yangqing shook his head and said, "I'm not hungry. I'm waiting for the results."

Delivery Man A asked suspiciously, "What results?"

Just then, a clattering sound rang out in the dining room.

It seemed something had been knocked over.

Looking toward the sound, Delivery Man B appeared panicked, and an abnormality appeared on his body.

His skin began to deteriorate slowly, looking like something that shouldn't appear on a human.

His body seemed to become heavy, his eyes turned white, and his vision gradually blurred.

Delivery Man B panicked, at a loss for what to do, and his consciousness began to fade.

He was now like a headless fly, bumping into everything.

Delivery Man A seemed to have realized something; he slammed down his cutlery and pointed at Zhang Yangqing, saying, "Did you poison us?"

Zhang Yangqing shrugged and said, "No, I didn't poison you. I just didn't know which piece was poisonous, so I let you eat them."

This left the audience completely bewildered; they didn't know what had happened.

How did the Chosen One and the delivery men suddenly have a conflict out of nowhere?

What were they talking about? What did "poisoning" mean? The Chosen One had clearly just grilled the steak for them to eat.

The audience hadn't seen the Chosen One tamper with anything.

And why had the other delivery man collapsed?

It was at this moment that news of Chosen Ones dying began to appear on the screens of other countries one after another.

These Chosen Ones had undoubtedly died after eating the meat.

The symptoms were similar to those of Delivery Man B.

Only then did the audience from Dragon Country suddenly realize the truth.

So their own Chosen One had actually used the two delivery men as test subjects?

For the other Chosen Ones, this was an unsolvable puzzle; they could only gamble with their lives.

If they were lucky, they might live; if they were unlucky, they could only wait for death.

Because the rules stated that these two delivery men were good people, and they appeared harmless, even giving the Chosen Ones many helpful hints.

As normal people, it was impossible to think of using them as test subjects.

Everyone had subconsciously categorized them as being on the side of friendship.

In fact, apart from Zhang Yangqing, there were a very few others who had thought of this point.

Perhaps it was because they truly didn't have the strength to deal with two people and feared being killed in retaliation.

Or perhaps they simply couldn't bear to do it.

To be able to think of it, do it, and do it so smoothly—Zhang Yangqing was likely the only one.

At this moment, there was no expression on Zhang Yangqing's face; he looked exactly like a Yama who was indifferent to all life in the world.

Not to mention Delivery Man A, even the audience watching the big screen was terrified.

If you don't want to gamble with your own life, then gamble with someone else's.

This was the solution to this level.

Because Zhang Yangqing had seen the hints in the rules; how to pass was written clearly in the rules.

Some things can be solved simply by changing your way of thinking.

First, what is the purpose of entering the Strange Tales world?

It must be to survive; every Chosen One should be able to understand this.

Secondly, and this is the key point, it is the perception of one's own role.

This helps the Chosen One clear the level.

The Chosen One's identity is a security guard; he needs to play the role of a security guard.

Only by playing the role of a qualified security guard can one clear the level.

This was Zhang Yangqing's understanding.

So, what kind of person is a qualified security guard?

A qualified security guard is one who completes the tasks assigned by their superiors.

Except for Zhang Yangqing, basically no one noticed this.

They focused on studying the rules but didn't consider the environment.

When he first entered, Zhang Yangqing, like everyone else, thought this was just a normal night shift Strange Tales instance.

Later, he discovered something wrong.

Many of the anomalies here wanted to kill the security guard played by the Chosen One, and many were afraid of the security guard played by the Chosen One.

From these points, Zhang Yangqing began to have a new understanding of his identity.

Combined with the information provided by the delivery men, Zhang Yangqing confirmed his identity.

The role played by the Chosen One is that of a villain!

Those wearing wedding dresses aren't necessarily women, and those wearing security uniforms aren't necessarily good people.

If you think about the problem from this angle, then many of the things Zhang Yangqing did become understandable.

This wax museum is actually a Strange Tales location where real people are turned into wax figures and exhibited.

During the day, the wax figures cannot move; this can be deduced from the rule that someone comes to change shifts at eight o'clock.

At night, some wax figures can move, and they desperately want to escape.

The museum owner hires 'security guards' for the night shift—isn't it to guard these wax figures and prevent them from escaping?

It is easy to judge this from the rules.

So many wax figures want to kill the security guard, and many wax figures kneel and beg the security guard to let them go.

Knowing that this place is doing heinous things and still working as a night shift security guard here, one is certainly not a good person.

Once you realize what your identity is, understanding the rules becomes easy.

The delivery men are good people, try to satisfy their requests, and there is food in the dining room.

I try my best to satisfy their requests.

"Try your best" can be passive, or it can be active.

If understood this way, these two rules make sense.

It can also be said to be a hint from the rules.

Isn't it the rules reminding the Chosen One to use them to test for poison?

Of course, there are many ways to test for poison.

In fact, the Chosen One could have used the method of gifting food, dividing the cut meat for the two delivery men, and letting them eat outside after closing the door to avoid being killed in retaliation due to lack of stamina.

Doesn't the monitoring room have surveillance of the road conditions outside?

One could judge which piece was safe to eat from the surveillance footage.

Zhang Yangqing hadn't consumed much stamina, so he naturally didn't need to go through such trouble.

He was just playing the role of a vicious security guard, and he played it quite well.

As the saying goes, if you don't want to gamble with your own life, you have to gamble with someone else's; there is no other choice.

(End of chapter)