Weird Game: I brought an old version bug

There is no door at the end of the passageway on the north side.

There was only one wall, and on the wall was carved a line of words:

When trust is betrayed, what can you still believe in?

Liu Meng looked at the line of text and cursed, "Here we go again."

"No," Zhao Yuan squatted down and touched the words on the wall with his hand, "These words are dynamic; they change according to our state."

Just a moment ago it was about "when trust is betrayed," now it's about "what can you still believe in?"

"What do you mean?" Xiaoyue asked.

"It means," Jiang Chen said, "that it's asking us whether we can still trust each other after Lin Xue's betrayal."

"I can," Liu Meng said decisively. "I trust all of you."

"Why?" A new line of words appeared on the wall: "What makes you trust them?"

"Because—" Liu Meng scratched his head, "because if we don't trust each other, we can't even get through the door to the third floor. That's the fucking rule, isn't it?"

"Are you forced to trust, or do you choose to trust willingly?"

Liu Meng was stunned.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it again.

"I—" He paused for a few seconds, "I was forced to trust. But I don't think there's anything wrong with it. Under the rules, making the best choice is survival."

"What if one day the rules told you that sacrificing a teammate would allow you to survive? What would you do?"

Liu Meng's expression froze.

"I can't," he said.

Are you sure?

"I--"

The words on the wall disappeared. Then, the wall slowly cracked open, revealing a passage.

"It let you go," Zhao Yuan said.

"No," Jiang Chen shook his head, "it hasn't let him go. It just doesn't need his answer yet—what it wants to see is how he will act when faced with a real choice."

Liu Meng didn't say anything and walked straight into the passage.

The third floor is completely different from the first two floors.

There was no maze, no pillars, no judgment seat. There was only a huge, empty room, completely devoid of anything.

There are only five doors, and each door has a person's name engraved on it.

Zhao Yuan, Liu Meng, Wang Hai, Xiao Yue, Jiang Chen.

"Five doors," Zhao Yuan said, "one for each person."

"And then what happens after we go in?" Wang Hai asked.

"have no idea."

"Shall we go in together?" Xiaoyue asked.

"No," Jiang Chen said. "If this is a test for everyone, going in together will only interfere with each other."

We each went inside and found our own answers.

If someone comes out first, they wait for the others.

"Are you sure?" Liu Meng asked.

"I'm not sure," Jiang Chen said, "but this is our only option."

Five people each walked toward a door engraved with their own name.

Jiang Chen pushed open the door and went inside.

Behind the door was a very small room with only a table and a chair.

There was a letter on the table, with the following written on the envelope:

Test subject #074: Jiang Chen

[To be opened by the recipient]

He opened the letter; inside was only a single sheet of paper with a single line of text:

[Imagine Shigure is dead. Would you still continue walking?]

Jiang Chen's fingers trembled slightly.

He held the paper in his hand and remained silent for a long time.

Then, he sat down, looked at the line of text, and Shigure's face appeared in his mind.

The look in her eyes when she stood at the top of the tower and said to him, "Jiang Chen, I'm back."

She remained behind the door of choice, becoming the lock that whispered, "You will definitely come back."

She was sucking on a lollipop, smiling as she watched him in the lab.

"She won't die," he said to the air.

What makes you so sure?

A line of words appeared on the wall.

"Because—" Jiang Chen took a deep breath, "because she promised me she would wait for me."

What if she breaks her promise?

"She won't."

Why do you trust her so much?

"Because—" Jiang Chen stood up, facing the words, "because she is Shi Yu."

Because she sacrificed 138 reincarnations to get me here.

Because she left all her memories in those crystal pillars.

Because she believes I can make it to the end, I absolutely cannot let her down.

What if, by the time you reach the end, you find that she's no longer there?

"Then I will go all the way to the end," Jiang Chen said, "because that's what she wants me to do."

The words on the wall disappeared.

Then, the letter on the table began to burn on its own.

The flames were blue and had no temperature, yet they burned the letter to ashes.

The ashes fell onto the table, forming a line of words on the surface:

You chose to believe. Even in the face of the worst outcome, you still chose to believe.

The table drawer popped open automatically, revealing a golden key inside.

The keys on the first two floors are brighter and heavier than those on the first two floors.

Jiang Chen picked up the key and walked out of the room.

When he returned to the hall, he saw that Liu Meng had already come out.

Liu Meng stood outside, his expression complex, as if he had just cried or laughed.

"Did you get the key?" Liu Meng asked.

"Got it."

"What kind of question did you give them?"

"Suppose Shigure dies," Jiang Chen said, "what about you?"

"Suppose all my teammates are dead, and I'm the only one left," Liu Meng said with a wry smile, "I would choose to keep going."

But that's not the problem.

The question was, if I were the only person left, would I choose to commit suicide or keep walking?

"You chose to leave."

"Yes," Liu Meng said, "because dying is too easy; it takes courage to live. I don't want my fallen teammates to feel that their sacrifice was in vain."

Jiang Chen patted him on the shoulder.

After a while, Xiaoyue came out.

Her eyes were red, as if she had just been crying, but she was tightly clutching a golden key in her hand.

"What's that over there?" Liu Meng asked.

"It asked me if I would hate the world if my family had never existed and they were just data created by the system."

Xiaoyue wiped her eyes: "I said no, because their love is real, regardless of whether they are data or not."

Wang Hai also came out. His expression was calm, but the key in his hand kept glowing.

"Mine is about betrayal," Wang Hai said. "It makes me choose a teammate to sacrifice in exchange for my safe passage through the game."

I chose—to refuse.

"You refused?" Xiaoyue asked.

"I refused," Wang Hai said. "I'd rather we all die together than live alone."

Zhao Yuan was the last one to come out.

He walked slowly, as if he had just emerged from a long battle.

His key was stained with a golden liquid, like blood or light.

"You've been there the longest," Jiang Chen said. "What is it?"

Zhao Yuan was silent for a few seconds: "It made me relive the whole process of test subject 031 being deleted."

I watched helplessly as I died at the hands of the system, then came back to life, only to die again.

"How did you get out?"

"I told myself," Zhao Yuan said, "that wasn't me, that was the me of the past. The me of today is different."

Five people, five keys, standing in the lobby.

"Five keys," Zhao Yuan said, "five doors, five people. A disgusting design."

"What do you mean?" Liu Meng asked.

"The keys we each hold are golden, and exactly the same."

Zhao Yuan held up the key: "But there is only one exit, and it only takes one key to open it."

The question is, there are five of us, and five keys. Whose key is the real key?

"You mean, four of them are fake?" Wang Hai asked.

"No," Zhao Yuan shook his head, "They might all be true, or they might all be false. The real key isn't determined by us, but by the exit."

"What should we do then?" Xiaoyue asked.

"Vote," Jiang Chen said. "Choose someone to open the door with their own key. If they open it, we'll go out together. If they don't..."

"What would happen to that person if it hadn't been opened?" Liu Meng asked.

"If it doesn't open, it means his key is fake. The moment the fake key activates the lock, it will trigger a trap. That person will die."

silence.

Five people, five keys, one exit.

"I'll do it," Liu Meng said.

"Are you sure?" Zhao Yuan asked.

"I'm sure," Liu Meng said, "I'm tough, I won't die."

He walked to the door in the center of the hall.

That was the only door they saw when they came in, with five names engraved on it, but the order of the names kept changing.

Liu Meng stood in front of the door, took out a golden key, and inserted it into the lock.

"If I die, you keep going," he said. "Don't let my death be in vain."

He turned the key.

Click—

The door opened.

Golden light streamed through the crack in the door, illuminating the entire hall. Liu Meng stood in the doorway, stunned for a few seconds, then smiled.

"It's done."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

But just as they were about to pass through the door, a line of huge words suddenly appeared on the wall:

Congratulations on passing the Trust Maze! As a reward, you will be given a choice.

One of you may leave early and be teleported directly to the seventh floor. The rest of you must continue to the sixth floor.

"What do you mean?" Liu Meng asked.

"It means," Zhao Yuan looked at the line of text, "that one of us can skip the sixth level and go directly into the final trial."

"Then who will go?" Xiaoyue asked.

Everyone looked at Jiang Chen.

"You," Zhao Yuan said, "you are the one among us who is most likely to pass the level. You go to the seventh floor, and we'll go to the sixth floor."

"No," Jiang Chen said, "If we're going to go all the way, we'll go together."

"If you don't go, we might all die on the sixth floor," Zhao Yuan said. "If you go to the seventh floor, you have at least a 50% chance of clearing it. It's the best option among the five of us."

I disagree.

"You have no choice," Zhao Yuan said. "This is a vote."

"I vote for Jiang Chen," Liu Meng raised his hand.

"I vote for Jiang Chen," Wang Hai said, raising his hand.

"I vote for Jiang Chen," Xiaoyue raised her hand.

"Four to one," Zhao Yuan said. "Jiang Chen, skip the sixth floor and go straight to the seventh floor."

Jiang Chen looked at them and remained silent for a long time.

"Do you know what this means?"

Jiang Chen's voice was deep.

"If I go to the seventh floor, and the four of you are on the sixth floor, I can't help you."

"We don't need your help," Liu Meng grinned. "The fact that the four of us made it this far proves we're not pushovers either."

"We don't know what the sixth level is," Jiang Chen said. "You might die."

"He might die," Zhao Yuan repeated, "but he's not certain to die."

"Besides, if you clear the seventh floor, even if we die, you can have the system bring us back. Isn't that right?"

Jiang Chen clenched his fist.

Zhao Yuan is right. If he completes the game, the system will be reset, and all the deleted data can be recovered.

"I promise you," Jiang Chen said, "I will definitely pass the level."

"We know," Xiaoyue smiled.

"We'll be careful," Wang Hai said. "Don't forget what Lin Xue left us with—'Don't go back on your path.'"

Jiang Chen looked at the four of them and memorized each of their faces.

Then he nodded.

"I'm leaving."

He turned and walked toward the door. On the other side of the door was not a maze, not a passage, but a platform.

A lone train was parked on the platform, with a sign on its window:

[Seventh Station - The Core of the System]

Jiang Chen turned around and glanced at the four people standing in the hall.

Liu Meng gave him a thumbs up. Zhao Yuan nodded. Wang Hai smiled. Xiao Yue waved.

"Don't die," Jiang Chen said.

"You shouldn't die either," Liu Meng said.

Jiang Chen turned around and boarded the train.

The doors closed behind him, and the train slowly started moving, disappearing into the darkness.

[Fifth Stop - Trust Maze, All Levels Cleared]

[Customs Clearance Rating: Grade A]

[Rewards: Trust Key x1, Memory Fragment - Anchor Point - Upgrade]

[Member Status: Zhao Yuan (alive), Liu Meng (alive), Wang Hai (alive), Xiao Yue (alive), Lin Xue (deleted)]

[Special Event: Jiang Chen Skips a Grade to the Seventh Station]

Jiang Chen sat on the train, holding the golden key in his hand, looking out at the darkness.

He recalled Lin Xue's last words—"Sixth stop, don't turn back."

He never had the chance to verify that statement.

But he wondered, would those four people turn back?

The train sped through the darkness, and the scenery outside the window began to distort.

It was no longer pure darkness, but rather like a torn canvas, colorful and fragmented.

He knew it was because the seventh station was approaching.

The seventh station is the final trial.

He closed his eyes, leaned back in his chair, and took a deep breath.

He thought of Shi Yu, Zhong Yuan, Lin Xue, and the four people still on the sixth floor.

He cannot let them down.