Surviving the Maze of National Destiny: Hints from the Chinese Characters I Understand

Although Lin Mo pointed out the crisis, unfortunately, the audience on Blue Star was unable to communicate with the explorers of the labyrinth world.

The ten appraisers stared wide-eyed as Lin Xiaoxue walked step by step toward danger, the dilapidated stairs creaking and groaning with each step she took.

Lin Xiaoxue, being experienced, remained highly vigilant. When she entered the attic, she found it pitch black inside, so she took out a fire source and turned it on.

Elemental torches are made from 1 unit of wood and 1 unit of fire element, and can also be obtained through the dungeon trading platform.

The element torch will ignite automatically when the switch is turned on and can be used for 5 hours.

Using the orange-red firelight, Lin Xiaoxue peered inside.

The viewers in the live stream held their breath, as exploring unknown areas was always the most risky time.

[Chinese netizens: I'm so nervous...]

[Chinese netizens: Nervous +1]

[Chinese netizens: Don't worry, last time Sister Xue entered a room and two Rift-Mouthed Beasts suddenly appeared, she dodged them and killed them both.]

Just then, Lin Xiaoxue saw a huge, dark creature curled up in the corner of the attic, its black scales reflecting the light of the torch.

"Sizzle..." Lin Xiaoxue extinguished the torch instantly, and her whole body trembled almost imperceptibly.

Without the light of torches, the entire live stream room was pitch black, as the live stream perspective was synchronized with the explorer's first-person perspective.

[Chinese netizens: Holy crap, what's that? Did you guys see it?]

[Chinese netizen: Huh? I didn't see anything? Holy crap, am I going to fail again with my nearsightedness?]

[A Chinese netizen posted: Screenshot.jgp. Look everyone, I took a screenshot. This thing is a python, it looks like the Ironscale Python from the maze encyclopedia, and it's an adult, 10 meters long, 280 kilograms, with extremely high defense. Its hobby is eating people, right? Level 18??? Holy crap! Sister Gao Xue has 4 life levels.]

[Chinese netizens: Oh no! Please don't let anything happen!]

[A netizen from the Dragon Kingdom commented: "Sister Xue seems to have been resurrected four times already, right? The fifth resurrection will cost five national fortune points? That's a huge price to pay."]

[A netizen from China commented: But if we don't revive Sister Xue, who in China has gone further than her? Who has more experience? Besides, if we give up on reviving Sister Xue, she will return to reality and will never be qualified to enter the maze again; the maze doesn't recognize her.]

[A netizen from the Rising Sun Kingdom: Oh my god, I saw something stimulating as soon as I logged in! Good snake, wake up and eat!]

[Chinese netizens: Shut your jinxed mouth and get out of the Chinese livestream room!]

"Click..."

Just then, whether it was because Lin Xiaoxue was too nervous or because the attic was too damaged, she broke a wooden plank while backing up, and everyone's heart jumped into their throats.

"Hiss hiss hiss!~" A rustling sound came from the attic. That guy woke up!

Lin Xiaoxue was experienced and knew that the only way out was to escape quickly. Her level 15 life strength made her incredibly agile. She pushed off with her feet, bent her knees, and leaped, performing a perfect backflip as she rapidly retreated.

[Chinese netizens: That's incredible, that reaction!]

[Chinese netizens: Sister Xue is invincible!]

The live stream chat erupted in cheers, because from their perspective, Lin Xiaoxue had quickly escaped the attic.

But the next moment, a black figure rushed out, and a 10-meter-long adult iron-scaled python revealed its true form.

Its body was like a drawn sword, piercing straight at Lin Xiaoxue. Due to the huge difference in life level, it caught up with her in an instant. With its huge mouth open, its sharp teeth pierced into Lin Xiaoxue's abdomen and back, biting her in mid-air, and then dragging her back to the dark attic with brute force.

"ah!!!"

"Pfft, pfft!"

From the dark attic came a girl's screams and the sounds of savage biting...

Even her full set of high-quality iron armor was completely unable to withstand the ferocious attack; the difference in level was too great.

Soon, a notification appeared in bold red on the live stream screen.

[Maze Game: Explorer Lin Xiaoxue has died! Do you wish to revive her using 5 National Fortune Points? After revival, she will return to the previous maze node. Countdown: 99 seconds... 98 seconds... 97 seconds...]

After an explorer dies, the 10 appraisers have 100 seconds to choose a resurrection target, with the resurrection cost increasing each time.

At this moment, the live broadcast room in China was filled with shock and their mood plummeted to the bottom. Meanwhile, netizens from other countries came to watch the news and gloated.

[Chinese netizens: Oh no! This snake is too strong. The gap in raw power cannot be bridged by skill alone.]

[Netizen from the Great Cold Country: Wow, China is in trouble, everyone is giving their thumbs up.]

[A netizen from the Rising Sun Kingdom commented: Good job, Snake! Well done!]

[A netizen from India: Good riddance! This woman even stole our explorers' food last time, serves her right!]

[Chinese netizens: Don't be too happy yet. At worst, we can revive Sister Xue, and she'll still crush you in the future.]

[A netizen from Yue Nan Kingdom: Resurrection doesn't cost national fortune points, right? This time there are 5 resurrection points, next time 6. Let's see how many more times you can resurrect her. Haven't you noticed? Her strength is completely insufficient to survive in the 15th floor of the maze.]

Although foreign netizens were sarcastic, one comment they made truly stung the Chinese people.

Indeed, Lin Xiaoxue's strength is no longer sufficient for the 15th floor of the maze; she has already died twice on this floor.

The 10 appraisers stared into deep thought as they watched the dim black-and-white screen in the live stream.

"Everyone, the cost of reviving Lin Xiaoxue is too huge, and the strength Lin Xiaoxue accumulated in the first 14 levels is too low. She may not be able to go far in the future. What do you all think?" Appraiser No. 1 already had a plan in mind.

"However, Lin Xiaoxue is indeed the explorer who has obtained the most resources for the Dragon Kingdom. If we give up on reviving her, who will obtain resources in the future? The resources obtained by other explorers are simply not enough to make up for the current situation of being stretched thin." Appraiser No. 2 hesitated.

"This damn game is a gamble on the nation's fate. What's there to hesitate about? Let Lin Mo go. If he can't do it, who can?" The third appraiser was a big guy with a deep, gruff voice, and he was quite direct.

"I agree! Give up on reviving Lin Xiaoxue and let Lin Mo go first." Appraiser No. 4 raised his hand.

"I agree!" Expert No. 5 raised his hand.

More and more people raised their hands in the command room, because they had no other choice, and the Dragon Kingdom couldn't wait any longer.

The first appraiser stood up immediately. "Comrade Lin Mo, from this moment on, you are the explorer of Maze No. 66 in our Dragon Kingdom. You bear the mission of saving the entire nation. We entrust you with this!"

That word "comrade" gave Lin Mo a sense of familiarity for the first time since arriving in this world, and he nodded emphatically. "Mission accomplished!"

The 10 appraisers connected to the National Fortune Maze game, opening a passage for Lin Mo to enter the maze, and the Dragon Kingdom also opened a new live broadcast room, number 66.

The next second, Lin Mo's figure became illusory and then disappeared.

The live stream in room 66 gradually became clearer. Lin Mo had entered the first level of the maze. He heard a dense sound and a screen of light appeared in front of him, displaying a wealth of information.

[Maze Game: Dragon Kingdom's National Fortune Points -1, Current Dragon Kingdom National Fortune Points: 50, National Fortune Index: 0.5]

[Maze Game: Welcome, Explorer No. 66 of the Dragon Kingdom. Please remember the following rules:]

1. After entering the maze, players can choose different directions to move forward based on the prompts. Players cannot return to the previous node area (except for resurrection).

2. Players can earn 1 maze point for each new node they reach. Points can be exchanged for resources in the maze shop. Resources can be traded between players in the maze. Any resources obtained by a player in the maze can be returned to their country at a certain percentage.

(The return multiplier is one-thousandth of the country's total population. For example, a country with 1 million people receives a return of 10 times, and a country with 14 billion people receives a return of 140 million times.)

3. After a player dies, their country will receive a notification. The country's maze appraiser can then use National Fortune Points to revive the player. The revival cost increases with each subsequent player's death (1 point for the first time, 2 points for the second, 3 points for the third, and so on). National Fortune Points can be obtained from special monsters in the maze. These points affect the National Fortune Index, which in turn affects the amount of money returned. (For example, a country with a 10000x return rate might only have 50 National Fortune Points, resulting in a National Fortune Index of 0.5 and an actual return multiplier of 10,000 x 0.5 = 5000 times.)

4. Players will gain a slow increase in health level as they survive in the maze. Consuming special items has a similar effect. Health level is an all-round increase, affecting strength, stamina, agility, physical defense, etc.

5. Players' performance in the maze is projected in real time on Earth, and Earthlings can interact with them via bullet comments, but cannot communicate with the maze players.

6. The higher the maze level, the stronger the monsters, but the richer the resources. Players have personal storage space to store resources, and you can access them by simply concentrating on your personal panel. Good luck!

Lin Mo looked in six directions: front, back, left, right, up, and down, and six rows of detailed Chinese prompts appeared.

"interesting!"