I'll also work hard to conquer the dungeon today.

Chapter 255, page 1.17, 32: A Night of Madness
Mu Yin tried to attack Fei Xiu, but it did not cause him any damage.

He stared blankly at the scene, then suddenly slammed the short sword in his hand to the ground and loudly accused Fish, "You cheated! We agreed on hide-and-seek! You can't just change the rules like that!"

After he finished speaking, he silently bent down and carefully patted the dust off the short sword after picking it up, as if the irritable old man who had just angrily smashed the weapon was not him at all.

This guy is completely unpredictable. He's already taken his pants off, and this is what he gets shown?

"Rejected. Does the clown's name appear in the rules?" Fish raised an eyebrow slightly, looking at Mu Yin with a half-smile as if he were a fool, and said slowly.

Mu Yin: "..." Unable to refute, the clown's name really wasn't written in the rules.

Ling Tong glanced at the two of them and analyzed, "So whether you dress like a clown or have the title of 'clown' for the dungeon master, you're still a clown. The dungeon rules don't clearly distinguish between them, and ultimately they all fall under the category of clown attire. This has led to the current situation: once you take off your clown disguise, the clown in the rules is no longer you, and you can successfully step back and take control of everything."

He then added, "Your initial statement that the only way to end the dungeon early was to kill you was completely misleading. The rules only state that you should kill the Joker, not Fish. However, the general public is rather blind; whether they can even spot the Joker is another question, so let's assume they weren't fooled."

'Clap clap clap' Fish clapped approvingly and praised, 'You're really smart. You figured it out right away, but it's a pity there's no reward. Even if you guessed it, it won't change anything.'

Ling Tong's eyes flickered slightly, and she turned her head to the side, seemingly unaccustomed to being praised and a little uncomfortable.

"Huh?" Mu Yin scratched his head, puzzled. "You guys have me all confused. What clown stuff? Can't we just change the person?"

“Fisch who isn’t wearing the clown costume isn’t the clown, so the clown in the rules becomes the one who just appeared and disappeared.” Ling Tong thought about how to explain to Mu Yin in the simplest language, words that even a three-year-old could understand.

But the effect was minimal.

Mu Yin thought for a long time but couldn't find the loose thread that he had thrown into some corner of the mess. So he made a quick decision and said, "In short, anyone who wears a clown costume is a clown according to the rules."

Ling Tong remained silent for a moment, then nodded.

Although not everyone dressed as a clown is the clown as defined in the rules, at least the direction is correct. Mu Yin can still get the correct answer by killing all the clowns at once; he just took a longer route.

Although the current situation is two against one against Fei Xiu, Mu Yin and Ling Tong cannot attack Fei Xiu, and even if they do, it will not cause him any harm. Fei Xiu, on the other hand, has no restrictions whatsoever.

In other words, Fisch can kill them with impunity, while they can only passively endure it all.

“There must be something to this situation that’s causing it to happen…” Ling Tong said thoughtfully.

Suddenly, the image of the clown puppet, supposedly belonging to the former circus ringmaster, flashed through his mind. He remembered that when it was still in puppet form, its limbs and neck were being pulled up by strings. Could it be...?

Is this why they can't attack Fish?

If that's really the case, then his explanation of the Rule Clown was completely misled by Fish into a misunderstanding.

From beginning to end, the Joker was Fish, but he set two traps, traps that could easily lead people astray if they weren't careful.

First, after Mu Yin's accusation, he said that the Joker's name wasn't written in the rules. This makes one ponder the deeper meaning of his statement, and then, upon seeing Fish's normal attire, separate him from the Joker. Just as he thought above, the rules judge the Joker solely based on his clown costume; what they were supposed to kill was the Joker puppet that had just disappeared.

Thus, they completely ignored Fish, who truly possessed the title of Joker.

Second, it raises the misconception that clown costumes and clowns have nothing to do with rules.

As mentioned earlier, once they fully immerse themselves in the story, they will completely overlook Fish himself. This means they will miss the truth and instead pursue a fake clown puppet.

These two traps are progressively more difficult to escape; if you fall into one, you'll immediately fall into the other as well.

The reason he set these two traps is currently unknown, but it is speculated that it was to find a way to survive.

After all, whoever dies in this instance, even the instance's owner, is truly dead. Unless there's a substitute protecting them from the start, or other resurrection items or abilities, death is permanent; there's no chance of revival.

Ling Tong didn't intend to reveal this, since Fei Xiu was still there and he couldn't let him know what he was thinking.

Of course, more importantly, he was unsure whether his current line of thinking was still being misled by Fish, and he needed to calm down and think about it again for a while.

However, regardless of the guess, the clown doll is their number one target and must be eliminated.

Fisch said the clown doll was made from the corpse of the former circus ringmaster...

Is this meant to reduce it to ashes?
Otherwise, why would all the targets of the manipulation be the clown doll? Fish probably wishes the players would tear the clown doll to pieces.

Turning the corpse into a clown doll is just one explanation; the only possibility is that the doll contains the ashes of the former circus ringmaster. Ultimately, this is just a guess, and only after actual verification can we know if his guess is correct.

"Let's go, let's go. There's no point in staying here." Mu Yin snorted and turned to leave, but the next second he suddenly stood still.

Ling Tong was slightly taken aback. He took a step forward but stopped abruptly. He reached out and touched a solid wall of air.

"Hey! Fisch! Let me out!" Mu Yin said irritably, frowning.

He knew from the beginning that Fish possessed the ability to control the rules. To be honest, he wouldn't care about fighting Fish, since neither of them could kill the other, but if he were trapped by the rules, he would have no way to escape.

Ultimately, he couldn't overcome the rules of this world. He wasn't a god, and no matter how strong he was, there were still things he couldn't do.

Mu Yegui's Nightmare Book can modify the rules, but he's unsure if the ability to trap him is related to the dungeon. Furthermore, although he and Mu Yegui share items, those who aren't the true owners don't know how to use them; it's still such a complicated process.

He still has only a vague understanding of the Nightmare Book, is completely bewildered, and even finds it annoying to look at.

(End of this chapter)