Chapter 14: An Unsolvable Situation? Or Is There a Solution?

At this point in time, the Chosen Ones' ways of thinking began to diverge.

Among the 23 surviving Chosen Ones, there were basically over ten different interpretations of the rules.

Avoiding surveillance was only one of those interpretations.

As per usual, the preceding experiences were merely meant to familiarize everyone with the environment.

What followed would depend on how everyone utilized the information they had gathered to analyze the problems.

There was certainly more than one way to clear the level, but there were far more ways to reach a bad ending.

The absence of any single piece of information, or the omission of any detail, could lead to failure.

Even those who hadn't visited the surveillance room wouldn't choose to eat in such a place.

Rule 6 stated that when dining, you must ensure you are the only person around.

It also stated that if you need to heat food, remember to check for flammable materials nearby, otherwise, it would cause irreparable damage.

There was a microwave in the restaurant's kitchen; perhaps turning it on would ignite nearby flammables and cause a fire?

If a fire broke out and damaged the wax figures, the clearance would be considered a failure.

Because that would count as the wax figures being damaged due to one's own negligence.

This was something no one wanted to risk.

Therefore, many chose to pack the two steaks and take them away to find a "safe" place to eat.

The smarter ones even moved the microwave away.

However, most returned to the surveillance room to find blind spots in the cameras.

After careful observation, the Chosen Ones discovered that there were no cameras in the security room.

Just then, the delivery courier called, saying they had arrived at the entrance and asked the security guard to open the door.

Hanging up the phone, most of the Chosen Ones took deep breaths, their minds racing.

Looking at the monitors, there was indeed a vehicle parked at the main gate.

The Chosen Ones picked up their phones, flashlights, and batons.

Trembling, they arrived at the main gate and looked through the peephole to see two honest-looking faces.

The two were wearing identical uniforms.

After verifying their identities, the Chosen Ones chose to open the door.

Instantly, a wave of hot air rushed in from outside.

It formed a sharp contrast with the cold air inside the wax museum.

For the first time in this instance, the Chosen Ones finally saw other people.

And they were two relatively normal people at that.

However, no one dared to let their guard down; they spoke to the delivery men earnestly, hoping to glean some information from them.

When the delivery men followed standard procedure and offered to move the goods inside, the vast majority of the Chosen Ones refused, telling them to leave it at the door and that they would move it themselves.

It was just one wax figure, after all, and it didn't look very heavy.

They just hoped not to violate Rule 1.

The delivery courier didn't say anything; anyone would be happy to have someone else help them move things.

The only one who dared to let the delivery men move it inside, needless to say, was Zhang Yangqing.

When the audience saw Zhang Yangqing let them in, their hearts were pounding.

Why is this big brother violating the rules again? Didn't Rule 1 say no entry or exit?

What are you panicking about? Did you just wake up? This big brother hasn't just violated the rules once or twice, and he's been fine.

Are you trying to teach the big brother how to do his job?

The big brother can even kill fierce ghosts; two people are nothing to him. Besides, he hasn't even used much stamina, so he has ways to solve it if something goes wrong. Plus, didn't they say the delivery courier is a good guy?

Hu Liuqi: I think Rule 1 can be interpreted this way: during the night shift, there will definitely be others who want to enter or leave the wax museum. Among them, there must be some who are ghosts, or who can trigger a ghostly manifestation.

Rule 1 forbids you from letting anyone in or out precisely to prevent you from triggering a ghostly event. So, not letting anyone in or out is correct. By the same logic, Rule 3's "do not look directly into their eyes" can be inferred: if you aren't afraid of a ghostly manifestation, you can go ahead and violate the rule.

After all, only Rule 5 is a death rule; there are ways to remedy violations of other rules. However, I personally do not recommend that everyone easily violate the rules.

It wasn't just the Dragon Country's expert team; other countries' expert teams also had different views.

They felt that Zhang Yangqing was doing this to test whether the delivery men were truly delivery men, so he could then judge whether the information they provided was correct.

After all, only this guy is a transcendent existence; he has many methods at his disposal.

Just as the expert teams of various countries were organizing information and debating fiercely, both the delivery men outside and the ones who had moved inside made a request.

"The journey was long, and we are both very thirsty. Could we trouble you for a drink of water?"

The Chosen Ones knew it: here it was, the request.

Asking for a drink of water shouldn't be a big problem.

There were cups in the restaurant, and the Chosen Ones quickly brought out two glasses of water.

But the smarter Chosen Ones chose to make them wait at the door, closing it before going to get the water, and then opening it again after they were done.

This way, they didn't violate the requirements of Rule 1.

After the delivery men finished their water, all the Chosen Ones pricked up their ears.

Delivery Man A: "The weather is so hot lately; even at night, these wax figures might melt. Luckily, the air conditioning in our truck didn't break, otherwise, this order might have been a loss."

Delivery Man B: "Many thanks, security guard. But I must remind you to be careful lately. Don't open the door for strangers. I heard that a mother and son from out of town went missing in this area a while ago, and they still haven't been found."

After the two delivery men left, John from the Eagle Country and Rahman from the Pyramid Country felt their brains "explode."

The missing mother and son, the meat in the restaurant, the female ghost begging for meat, the playful little boy.

All these clues seemed to form a single line!

"Could the woman and the little boy in the exhibition hall be that missing mother and son? Maybe they turned into ghostly wax figures after eating the meat in the restaurant?"

Because in the world of the weird, these were the clues.

Connecting this to the wax figure that kowtowed and begged to be let out.

Perhaps it also accidentally ate the meat in the restaurant and was trapped here.

Not only that, the Chosen Ones recalled carefully that some wax figures had very detailed skin, with clear textures and even hair on the skin—could they all be?

The delivery courier was a good guy; if the information he gave was correct, then everything made sense.

It was very hot outside, and to avoid damage to the wax figure at the door, the Chosen Ones, after seeing the delivery men off, moved the wax figure inside and locked the door.

Back in the security room, a difficult problem now lay before the Chosen Ones.

That was how to deal with these two pieces of meat.

The vast majority of the Chosen Ones were already starving after an hour and forty minutes of continuous turmoil.

The 4:00 AM patrol was starting in just over ten minutes.

If they didn't eat, let alone encountering ghosts later, they would likely collapse halfway through the patrol.

Some were already feeling dizzy.

John and Rahman were the first to sort out their thoughts.

Whether the steak was heated or not didn't really matter; both could be eaten.

The rules didn't say you couldn't eat raw steak.

However, to avoid violating the rules as much as possible, everyone chose to heat it.

After all, raw steak was hard to swallow.

But since the rules provided two steaks, it proved that one of them must be edible, while the other would turn you into a wax figure if eaten.

So the question was: which one was edible?

John used a knife to cut the steak and found the structure was exactly the same; he couldn't find any clues at all.

Should he go ask that mother and son?

No, that seemed like a suicide mission.

John had imagined the outcome of asking that mother and son.

The worst-case scenario was that the noble, muscular woman was always hungry; if you went to ask her, you would definitely have to show it to her, otherwise how would she know what you were talking about?

But if she saw it and snatched it to eat, John felt he would surely die.

Even if she didn't snatch it, could what she said be trusted?

Besides, the exhibition hall was a nest of ghosts; who could guarantee that he wouldn't encounter others if he went in?

In the current health state of the Chosen Ones, even that kowtowing ghost could probably kill them.

Thinking of this, John and Rahman sighed at the same time.

They both concluded that this problem was unsolvable.

To survive, one had to choose to eat one; wasn't this just a 50/50 choice?

A so-called 50/50 choice was just gambling on luck—pure gambling!

For people with high intelligence like them, this was the part they disliked the most.

But now there was no other way, as they had no strength left.

During the time they were considering this, a few more minutes passed, and it was already 3:49 AM.

There were only eleven minutes left before they had to go out on patrol.

They had to restore their strength.

And so, they gritted their teeth and chose one to eat.

Soon, the feeling of fullness filled them with energy.

But the difference was that Rahman seemed to have no reaction; he was ecstatic, marveling at his good luck.

However, John felt his limbs beginning to stiffen.

John was horrified; he knew he had eaten the wrong steak.

But taking advantage of the strength he had recovered, and before he completely turned into a wax figure, John rushed out. He still had a key he had obtained as a reward; perhaps the place this key opened had an antidote.

He looked at the map and headed straight for the storage room.

The place to hide things had to be there.

Running through the lobby, passing the exhibition hall, the display room, the restaurant, and the surveillance room, John finally reached the storage room.

As it turned out, John's guess was correct; the door to the storage room was an old-fashioned security door that required a key to open.

John seemed to see hope and quickly took out the key to open the door.

But just at that moment, a figure ran over at high speed and hugged him tightly.

John panicked; this guy was none other than the kowtowing ghostly wax figure from the display room.

No matter how John struggled, the guy seemed determined to die with him and wouldn't let go.

John's movements became slower and slower, and his body began to stiffen.

He didn't understand; couldn't this ghost not come out?

Suddenly, he thought of something.

Did he remember if there were two "trap" wax figures at the entrance when he entered the display room?

It turned out those two trap wax figures were the key to sealing them and preventing them from coming out.

There was only one Chosen One who had moved those wax figures back to their original positions when leaving, but unfortunately, that Chosen One was not John.

Because at that time, everyone was physically and mentally exhausted from the ghostly display room, thinking only of finding food or leaving; very few could think of moving the wax figures back.

Moreover, the kowtowing ghostly wax figure was weak at the time; if he didn't let him out, he would surely hold a grudge.

Taking advantage of my illness to kill me!

So the trap in the second level was designed at the point of entering and leaving!

John regretted it deeply; if he had known, he should have killed the kowtowing ghostly wax figure while he was at full strength.

One should never be soft-hearted in the world of strange tales!

Now, thinking about it was useless; he was unable to resist.

But he didn't understand: would anyone really kill that kowtowing ghostly wax figure as soon as they went in?

Soon, the Eagle Country's big screen went black; John had failed the level.

As the most watched person in this instance of the strange tales, and also known as the highest-IQ Chosen One, everyone felt a sense of sorrow seeing that even someone as wise as John could only end up like this.

They felt that no one could solve this level; wasn't everyone just gambling on luck?

But when they opened the Dragon Country's big screen, Zhang Yangqing had handed them a perfect and terrifying answer.

When Zhang Yangqing heard Delivery Man B mention the missing mother and son case, he also associated it with the two ghosts in the display room.

He had two steaks, so one of them must be problematic.

So he looked at the two delivery men and said in a kind tone: "You two have had a long journey and worked hard moving things. You must be hungry, too. I happen to have some food here; why not stay and have a bite?"

If a Chosen One didn't want to gamble on luck, this was the only solution.