Puzzle Madness

Chapter 108 Neon Bubble
Ai Xi closed the side screen of the camera and hid his face in the shadow of the utility room:
"For example: If I die in the Taro World, will I become a vegetable in the real world? If I lose an arm, I might not be able to feel my hand when I return to the real world."

"The entire Taro world was too safe; all the students were safe and sound, and nothing was discovered in the end."

She held her chin with her hand, her voice getting lower and lower, her words carrying a hint of coldness:
“We’re missing so much information. We have to do experiments, all kinds of experiments.”

Doudou was reminiscing about the Taro World and didn't pay much attention to what Ai Xi said:
"The effect is really good. I don't feel like I'm dreaming at all. Is it an out-of-body experience? But do people really have souls? I feel it's not good to expand the scope of speculation too much."

"Strange, who in the Taro Society has superpowers? Is there some special device in the utility room that can spray out hallucinogenic gas or something--"

"The video only shows people's reactions, not any changes in the surrounding environment."

He walked around the utility room, looking left and right:
"Well, probably not."

Doudou suddenly raised his head—he had become accustomed to the smell here, and his thoughts jumped to a new place:
"We were finally woken up by the lunch bell? Then we stayed in the Taro World for about half an hour—"

"Ai Xi, you said you stayed for a full hour last night; is that right?"

"It's likely to be interrupted by external interference; calling it a 'taro dream' is more appropriate. So if we set an alarm, we can control how long we stay in the 'taro dream'."

"You didn't realize you were dreaming last night. That means no one fell asleep last night. So, the taro dream mechanism can turn people into horses, allowing them to sleep standing up. This is quite convenient."

Ai Xi was lost in thought when his thoughts were interrupted. He listened carefully before speaking:
"After school, we can test all these hypotheses; there are so many details we can confirm."

Doudou stretched, yawning until tears came out; the half-hour "taro dream" just now made him even sleepier:
"Nothing else seems to be going on? Then let's go back to the classroom - we have homework to do at noon."
-
The afternoon passed quickly.

During the break between Chinese and Physics, the girl with big, bulgy eyes like a goldfish came to their class to look for Ai Xi again:
She also held two sheets of densely written homework papers - Goldfish Eyes had already drafted an introduction to the Taro Society and was giving it to Ai Xi to see if it could be used; if it was, she would give it to the school newspaper editorial department and it could be broadcast on the school radio station tomorrow.

Doudou also took a look:
"A different campus life", "The ratio of male to female students in the club is one to one", "The door to a wonderful world", "The focus of everyone's attention" and so on.

The manuscript is filled with such descriptions and fantasies, and it looks quite attractive.

Doudou didn't find it strange that the initially resistant Goldfish Eyes suddenly showed a greater initiative.
[The fact that they raise objections shows that they are quite concerned about the Taro Society; if they encounter good ideas, they will definitely be more committed.]

Most people who don’t care will probably be like Doudou at that time, standing there blankly and bored.

By the second day, Ruan Jingbo had almost become a part of the desks and chairs in the classroom.

Everyone was used to it: even her trembling deskmate no longer trembled; but her neck always tilted to one side as if it was stiff, avoiding Ruan Jingbo's direction.

Apart from her stunning entrance performance yesterday and the wild dancing of her tongue after class, this girl with amazingly long limbs has never moved since.

The bread in the drawer was infested with worms, and Doudou threw it away. Ruan Jingbo hadn't eaten or drunk anything for two days, but his lips weren't even cracked.
The only strange thing is that half of the nail is long.

Doudou felt that even if she stayed for another year, there probably wouldn't be any big changes; but guesses still needed to be verified.

Doudou dozed off from time to time, his chin resting on his hand as he stared blankly; his head was filled with unconscious thoughts, and in the blink of an eye, it was time to go home from school.
Once again, only Dou Dou, Ai Xi and Ruan Jingbo were left in the classroom.

Today, Doudou even did his duty as a monitor; he swept the floor thoroughly - to avoid not being able to dream while standing and falling to the ground and getting his clothes dirty.

Without any further nonsense, they closed the doors and windows and began their new experiment on taro dreams.

Ai Xi placed her palm against Ruan Jingbo's palm, then pulled Dou Dou's hand over, so that the three palms were stacked together:
"Come on. There's no need to point your arms upwards; the Taro Society members yesterday placed their hands in the middle."

Doudou cleared his throat and spoke with Ai Xi:

"We are—friends of the Taro King!"

The words echoed in the empty classroom, but nothing changed around them.

They waited a while: the wall did not melt and it was still bright outside the window.

The two looked at each other, neither intending to shout again:

"The Taro King exploded, so we can't dream? That's not right. We didn't wake up at the time, which means the Taro King's absence didn't affect us."

"Is it because Jingbo didn't speak? Or is it because there aren't enough people—"

Ai Xi sat on the desk, feeling worried, and rubbed the scar unconsciously with his knuckles:
"Just as I suspected. We'll need to rely on that esper from the Taro Society. We'll need to stay within a certain range of them, or have physical contact."

"I didn't think of it in the utility room—I should have taken them to the playground to test the ecstasy."

Doudou was not surprised; after all, the ceremony performed at this time was very different from that at noon.

In fact, his idea is different from Ai Xi's:
"Listen to me; I looked like I was in a daze this afternoon, but I was actually thinking!"

“Look, if Ruan Jingbo also had a taro dream, then someone would definitely notice something was wrong, and would think that the locust crawling or turning into a statue was a side effect that would discourage them from continuing to have a taro dream.” “But aren’t the people in the Taro Society completely obsessed?”

Doudou knocked on Ruan Jingbo's desk. She smelled a bit—a musty smell that didn't belong on a human.

"So I guess when she was dreaming, she wasn't dreaming with the Taro Society gang; so they didn't connect the two."

"I think - maybe there are no esperants in the Taro Society."

Doudou spoke very quickly, pouring out his conclusions like water:
"Even! The Taro Dream doesn't revolve around the Taro King."

"I have a guess. Come on! Let's try again: I'm going to change my slogan this time; I won't call him the Taro King anymore."

Ai Xi nodded, and with both hands, she fell off the desk. She grabbed Doudou's hand and said without hesitation:

"Okay. So what slogan should we change to?"

"slogan."

Doudou hesitated, which was rare for him - his eyes swept over Ruan Jingbo's deformed posture, his unblinking eyelids, and his eyes that had been wide open for two whole days.

Then he turned back to the calm Ai Xi.

After a slight hesitation, Doudou put his hand on Ruan Jingbo's head:

"I kind of understand what to say better, but it feels a bit risky."

"It's okay—Ai Xi, don't say anything! I'll just shout this time."

Without waiting for her to answer, Dou Dou cleared his throat and broke free from Ai Xi's hand.

He recited this sentence briskly and quickly, the only sentence Ruan Jingbo had ever said -
".I'm dancing on the dance machine!"

"Wait"

Ai Xi only had time to utter one word, and the hand he stretched out to Dou Dou froze in mid-air.

The sound of raindrops falling.

The wind blew past the window: her eyelashes were shattered by the wind before they could even tremble.

Ai Xi suddenly scattered like sand, hitting the desk and making a small sound; in the blink of an eye, it disappeared without a trace.

His deskmate suddenly turned into dust and disappeared: but Doudou did not feel panicked.

The vision in his eyes proved that he was beginning to dream—but Ai Xi was not.

Exploit!

The classroom opened on all sides like a box, with the walls collapsed and pressed against the ground; the dust in the front and back blackboard slots shook up two swirling white mists.

Outside the wall, there is no sunset, but a more vivid and dazzling gorgeous light--
Vermilion, crimson purple, navy blue, pale pink; colorful light tubes hang from the ceiling:
A hazy, misty glow spread all around.

The smell of tobacco mixed with sweat and the faint warmth of the circuit boards.
The desks and chairs disappeared—in their place were machines with ornately painted covers:
“Virtual Realm Fighter 5, House of the Dead: Homecoming, E.T. Fighter: The Alien Fighter, Brick Rush, Sega Rally Championship—”

Doudou's eyes swept over the side panels of these game consoles. He was familiar with each one and could name them like the back of his hand.

He looked up. Above the machine was a sign made of bright white light tubes, suspended in mid-air by chains:

[Electronic Dungeon].

"Wow, it really is an arcade! And it has a complete collection."

The neon-filled [Electronic Dungeon] before me is a replica of the [Overlord Arena] in the city center.
It's just that something is missing. No keys tapping, no joystick rubbing, no machine music and players' roars and cheers; there is no longer the harsh sound composed of all these mixed together.

No one was playing, Dou Dou was standing here alone.

The reason the arcade's interior lighting was deliberately dimmed was to make the screen light from the machines more visible.
But none of the machines were turned on, and the screens were pitch black; there was almost no space between the silent machines, like a forest of machines.

Doudou lifted his foot slightly, and the ground was very sticky to his shoes:

Pop--pop--
The sound was half wet and half crisp, like stepping on double-sided tape; the floor was sticky, and I don't know how many players had spilled soda all over it.

(End of this chapter)