After being universally criticized online, I went viral on military-themed variety shows.

Chapter 287 Survival Maze, Relying on Intuition

“The second challenge…” Wen Nuan lowered her head and rubbed her temples. Even after so many days, she still couldn’t help but tremble when she thought about it again. “It was a maze.”

A hand covered her trembling shoulder. It wasn't a man's cold, hard hand, carrying a disgusting desire to control, but a warm, dry one. The warmth seeped into her skin through the thin hospital gown, making her want to cry.

"The mechanical voice told me that passing the maze within an hour would be considered passing the test."

"But that maze was unlike any I had ever seen or heard of. It seemed to be alive. The moment I stepped in, I had a strange feeling, as if I had walked into the intestines of a giant lying down. I didn't want to go any further. I wanted to quit and not accept this test anymore. But when I turned around, I found that the entrance had disappeared at some point. I could only keep going forward."

It was pitch black inside, and the ground was soft and uneven. I lost count of how many times I tripped or stepped into puddles. Then I heard dogs barking—probably four wolfhounds—chasing me. I was so scared I didn't care about remembering the route; I just ran wherever I could get through. Finally, I squeezed into a very small hole, which they couldn't fit through, and then they left. After I came out of the hole, I walked a little further and fell into a very, very smelly mud pit. When I finally managed to climb out, I lay on the ground, ready to die, when that mechanical voice started again.

It said I was almost at the finish line, but I still wanted to give it my all, so I got up and kept going. Realizing the noises around me were distracting and making me anxious, I plugged my ears. I twisted my ankle, so I crawled on the ground. When I reached the finish line, I heard a mechanical voice say I had passed, and then I fainted.

Jiang Hanying handed her a glass of water from the bedside table, then turned to look at Yuan Chaoyu, who was listening intently with a furrowed brow.

Yuan Chaoyu met her gaze, pursed his lips, and said in a deep voice, "This test should assess courage, perseverance, and the will to survive, and it should also include physical fitness."

[A survival-themed maze?]

Does such a maze really exist in reality? With large dogs and muddy swamps, what if someone can't avoid it or climb out? Wouldn't that be murder?

Could it be some kind of immersive, realistic experience, where everything you see, hear, and touch in a maze feels real, but is actually all virtual?

[Really? Has virtual technology evolved to this extent?]

Having experienced so-called 4D, 5D, and 6D movies, while the experience was indeed quite realistic, it's still very clear that they're fake.

The little girl's fear didn't seem fake; if it were virtual, it's unimaginable how real it could be. If it were real, did the person who designed this maze even care about human life?

What I'm more curious about is, what is the purpose behind these investigations?

[Memory, courage, perseverance, survival instinct, and physical fitness—it feels like they're selecting the most outstanding children. As for what they'll do with these kids, I really have no idea.]

Is it that they can't guess or they're afraid to say?

Savor it carefully!

Wen Nuan drank the water in the cup in one gulp, her dry throat was moistened, and her complexion relaxed.

"That maze..."

Jiang Hanying skillfully handed over paper and pen, "Just draw as much as you can think of."

Yuan Chaoyu watched the interaction between the two from the side, and this time he didn't bother to say a word.

The maze I drew this time is not complete; it's just the path I walked through in the maze from my warm memories.

Some forks that end abruptly are dead ends; only the thickest line leads from the beginning to the end.

The final result on the paper resembles a twisted tree crown, with the fine branches representing the forks in the road and the thickest branch representing the correct path through the maze.

She also marked the locations where she encountered the large wolfhound, fell into the muddy swamp, and another place where she sensed something in advance and avoided it, which she marked with a question mark.

Jiang Hanying pointed to the question mark, "What do you think of this?"

"It looked like a snake. It seemed to be quite large. I could hear a scraping sound when it crawled on the ground. That's why I didn't go that way.

"The ones that are very large should be called pythons."

"Yes, that's a python." They're even discussing species now!

Yuan Chaoyu was speechless.

She thought Jiang Hanying would tear off the maze map and put it in her pocket, but she didn't expect her to not tear it off this time!

[I'm amazed that he could even remember this maze he just rushed through! I'm just speechless!]

[Could the one who memorized the pattern in the first ten minutes also be real?]

[How could someone so talented be eliminated?]

How strong will the final winner have to be?

As expected, I came to the mortal realm just to make up the numbers.

[Everyone in the bullet comments is an NPC!]

Are there any other tests?

“There’s one more hurdle,” Wen Nuan nodded, her breath catching in her throat. She took a few deep breaths before continuing, “After I woke up, I saw three doors in front of me. The mechanical voice told me that the third hurdle was simple: just choose one door based on your intuition and walk in.”

This part is very simple and straightforward; it's all about intuition.

Jiang Hanying glanced at the child sitting quietly on the sofa, and then met Fu Zhiqi's suddenly tense gaze.

He heard Yuan Chaoyu ask in a somewhat urgent tone, "What's behind the three doors?"

This prompted her to look away, but she glanced at Yuan Chaoyu's face again.

"I asked, but it told me I'd find out once I went in. After the countdown of three, two, one, I chose the leftmost door and pushed it open. As soon as I stepped in, I was swallowed up by a deluge of sand." After struggling to finish saying this, Wen Nuan couldn't help but take a few deep breaths.

The feeling of slowly suffocating she experienced back then still haunts her like a nightmare.

Jiang Hanying tapped her pen on the paper. "Wrong choice."

“Hmm.” Wen Nuan took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled. “Before I suffocated and lost consciousness, I vaguely heard Feng Xiaoyu talking to someone, or it could be my hallucination.”

"Feng Xiaoyu seemed to say something like 'It's a pity,' and another person said that the requirements should be raised, and that it's better to have none than to have something of poor quality. After that, they seemed to say something else, but I really couldn't hear it."

[Intuition, or perhaps the third level was entirely based on luck?]

[I'm guessing there's only one way to pass through the three doors; you'll fail at the other two.]

But being buried in sand, that's really bad luck...

[They're probably talking about quicksand. I encountered it once when I was young and reckless during a desert adventure. Luckily, an experienced guide saved my life. Years have passed, and now I don't even dare to go near beaches.]

This is PTSD!

[My intuition actually got its own level, and it's the last one! I have a strange feeling this ability is really important!]

Speaking of intuition, I remember Jiang Hanying saying that Xiao Ruyi had a very strong intuition, which made Feng Xiaoyu go to great lengths to lure her here.

[And it connected perfectly!]