Alice's Hell (2)-Rules

After he finished speaking, the gambler laughed twice, "Alright, let's go then!"

He headed towards the castle first, scratching his neck as he went, muttering to himself, "Huai will definitely be recording a video, I have to act politely and give the Research Institute a piece of my mind."

As is widely known, the Research Institute appears to be composed entirely of benevolent individuals, and many strategies and information compilations originate from this guild, making a significant contribution to the group of deducers.

Of course, there's no room for civility in the information gathering process. Every conclusion is the result of hard work and deduction by guild members. Some are cautious, while others are frantic.

Zeng Lai, a gambler, is a relatively well-known member of the Research Institute. He at least has a small badge indicating he's a celebrity predictor, the kind that displays his real name in the live stream.

It's hard to say whether he's capable or not, but his deduction style is as exciting as gambling. If Zeng Lai were to lead a deduction, the process would be like walking a tightrope, where a slight lack of luck would mean certain failure.

As a result, he accumulated a large following of fans for his live-streaming shows, who wanted to watch him act recklessly and get their hearts racing.

"You're far from being civilized. You're already doing others a favor by not causing trouble," Huai replied calmly, walking side by side with the gambler.

The two seemed very familiar with each other, suggesting they may have crossed paths before.

Hmm... The atmosphere in the Differentiation Tier Deduction is indeed quite different. In the previous Yugi, the deducers were either in teams or had no connection with each other. Unlike the Differentiation Tier, there are various live broadcasts, paid videos, guild competitions and other activities. Even if there was no interaction before, it is easy for a popular deducer to be recognized in advance.

"It's actually quite fun, "Yu Xing thought.

He lifted his leg and followed, his eyes calm.

Therefore, he should not reveal his resurrection ability, and it would be best not to reveal even his ability to recover from injuries. Otherwise, as long as Huai leaves the simulation alive and uploads the video to the [Case Video Viewing Area], he will definitely be subjected to a lot of unnecessary harassment.

Everyone else, whether they introduced themselves or not, followed the gambler toward the iron gate.

Yu Xing walked in the middle, deliberately separating herself from Han Xinyi and Han Zhiyong to prevent them from making any underhanded moves.

In fact, everyone who was summoned to this simulation guessed something from the word "[Throat Cutter]" on the list.

After all, they all live in Fuhua City or nearby cities, so they must have heard about the serial throat-slitting murders that have been making headlines in Fuhua City. Even if they were just observing from the sidelines with an attitude of indifference, they are now forced to take it seriously.

If someone commits this crime, and is a predictor, then they are definitely on the Fallen Path.

Although the deducers of the Fallen Path are very strong, it is undeniable that they have a very bad image in the eyes of the deducers of the Mutation Path and the Righteous Path. The reason is simple: their habit of killing during deductions is enough to make people wary.

Therefore, although Yu Xing had never heard of Huai and the gambler, he could tell that these two seemed to be people with good reputations. The other strategists did not feel oppressed by the appearance of a big shot in the team, and the atmosphere quietly improved.

However, the few deducers who did not introduce themselves seemed to be being sidelined.

--Because no normal person wants to walk alongside a Fallen Path that could harm them at any moment.

Yu Xing remained silent, but had already matched all the names and identities of the strategists.

After all, the strangers had introduced themselves, and he recognized Han Xinyi and Han Zhiyong, so the last remaining taciturn man was naturally White Face.

The current situation is that the gambler and Huai are walking in front, followed by Yi, with Huang Bai slightly behind, only a few steps ahead of Yu Xing.

This is a position where anyone making a move will be noticed immediately. Huang Bai may seem carefree and cheerful, but he is actually quite perceptive.

Bai Mian followed closely White Face Yu Xing, while Han Xinyi and Han Zhiyong lagged behind.

After entering the simulation world, Han Xinyi became much quieter, as if she had returned to her initial tranquil personality. She obediently followed Han Zhiyong and didn't say a word to Yu Xing, but Yu Xing could often feel the gaze from behind.

"Look, isn't that person... a tour guide?" Huang Bai suddenly spoke up, drawing everyone's attention to the iron gate.

The iron gate was unlocked, with both doors opening to the sides. However, the roses entwined on the railings were blooming wildly and so densely that, due to the angle, it was difficult to notice the person standing behind the roses and vines unless one looked closely.

Now that they were close enough, the person behind the door finally came into view.

This was a nun dressed in a black robe, her headscarf neatly draped over her piled-up black hair, revealing her long, fair neck. She was demure and serene, with her eyes lowered.

Before the strategists approached, she stood quietly in place, not even glancing at them, like a lifelike doll.

After the gamblers stepped through the iron gate, the nun suddenly came to life, looked up, and bowed to the group of "tourists" in a flat tone, as straight as a line.

"Welcome to our tour group. I am your guide, responsible for checking tickets and explaining park rules."

Yu Xing observed the nun-like tour guide with a deathly pale face, as if no blood flowed beneath her skin, and her entire body exuded the stiffness of a lifeless being.

This must be a ghost, or an NPC unique to this Absurd World...

The last time I visited Alice's Park, Alice was the only talking doll in the entire park. She looked like a cyberpunk-style doll, but her true form seemed to be a charred ghost.

So this nun's nature should be similar to Alice's, only her size is not as large as Alice's doll, and her clothing is not as exaggerated.

Yu Xing blinked, feeling that Alice was working very hard to improve the park, which was truly gratifying.

The nun, holding a pot of blooming roses, extended her hand and said expressionlessly to the participants, "Ticket checking will now begin. Please drip your blood onto the rose; if the color doesn't change, you pass."

Without a word, the gambler, seeing how sharp the rose thorns were, poked his finger directly into one of them. The next moment, a drop of blood seeped from his skin.

He smeared the blood on the rose petals, and the blood was absorbed without any reaction.

The nun said, "Ticket checked, next one."

Soon, everyone underwent this special ticket check and was let in by the nun.

Then they watched as the nun closed the iron gate, took a large padlock from her skirt pocket, and locked the gate.

Yu Xing watched as the nun put the key into her skirt pocket before turning her gaze away and looking up at the sky.

At this moment, in the midst of the burning blood cloud, the eyeball was directly above him, its color crimson, whether its original color or the reflection of the surrounding firelight was unknown.

Its meaning might be vague to others, but it was very familiar to Yu Xing —clearly, it was Alice's scarlet eyes, only now they had been moved from the doll's face to the sky and magnified.

In other words, Alice was "watching" everyone's every move outside the castle.

Sigh, is this the benefit of having played the first game? A doubt arose in Yu Xing's mind. Judging from fairness, he should have an advantage over others in terms of information due to his experience. This is too unfair.

Therefore, the deduction team will definitely try to reduce his advantage, such as by imposing some kind of restriction on him.

Just as Yu Xing was thinking this, the deduction system seemed to have heard his train of thought, and a prompt immediately appeared.

[Deduction Hint: Deducer Yu Xing, because Alice believes you stole her jewel and are a despicable thief, please do not remove your mask in front of her, otherwise you will be hunted down by Alice.]

Yu Xing: "..." Goodness, you arrived just in time.

In other words, no matter how much contact he has with Alice inside the castle, at least outside the castle, under this eyeball, he has to wear a mask.

The nun, still holding the pot of roses, spoke like a relentless tour guide, "Dear guests, please follow me to your rooms for the next two days. I will give you a detailed introduction to the park's background story, layout, and attractions along the way."

She turned around and walked towards the castle gate. Yu Xing adjusted her mask and followed the nun guide with the others, taking a closer look at the castle's outer walls.

The walls were dark in color and difficult to see clearly in the dim light; the texture was fine, but I didn't know what material it was.

In reality, constructing such a building would inevitably consume a large amount of manpower, material resources, and financial resources, and would take several years to complete.

"This episode's theme is 'Survival in Alice's Castle.' The castle consists of a main building and an annex, connected by a corridor. There are two corridors, one on the second floor and one on the fourth floor. You can find the corridors yourself and freely enter and exit the main and annex buildings."

The nun pushed open the door with one hand, and behind it stood an elderly man with white hair, wearing a lake-blue suit. The old man looked very smart, but his expressionless face was exactly the same as the nun's, giving the impression that he wasn't even alive.

"This is Alice's housekeeper, who usually stays in the hall and goes to his room to sleep at night. If you have any problems with your accommodations, such as losing your keys, you can ask him for help," the nun explained dutifully. The housekeeper didn't speak, but stood there with his back straight, a white napkin draped over his arm.

Then, the nun glanced at the butler again and stepped into the hall.

Yu Xing looked up and saw that the hall was extremely magnificent, with yellowish wall lamps lit on the walls and a huge, round crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

Beneath the chandelier was a rectangular dining table, neatly covered with a white tablecloth. On it were blank porcelain plates, wine glasses, crystal candlesticks, and other items. The wide side was just big enough for one person, while the long side...

He counted them; there were nine chairs on each of the two long sides, and even then, the space between the chairs still seemed a bit empty, which showed just how long the table was.

"This is the main hall; breakfast, lunch, and dinner are all held here."

The nun pointed to the dining table and reminded everyone, "You must gather here on time for every meal. Alice doesn't like tourists who aren't punctual. I've written down the specific meal times and left them in your rooms."

"This is the only clock in the entire castle." The nun walked around behind the dining table and began to introduce the dark gold clock, which showed 4:10. "You won't see Alice at this time. Alice only comes to the hall before each meal to announce the new activities."

Holding a pot of roses in one arm, she waved the other hand around. "The main hall is a separate space with four staircases leading to the second floor along the edge. To get to other parts of the first floor, you need to go up to the second floor and then find different staircases to go down. Our castle has five floors in total, and the order of going up and down each floor is not fixed. You can find staircases on the third floor that lead directly to the fifth floor or the first floor, or you can find staircases on the second floor that lead to the fourth floor, and so on. Please explore on your own."

After speaking, the nun casually walked towards the nearest staircase. "Your rooms are on the third floor, and this staircase we're taking now goes directly to the third floor. Now, I will introduce the members of the castle to you."

"It's here, the ghost notice!" Huang Bai, walking beside Yu Xing, brightened up and whispered.

Yu Xing raised an eyebrow: What's a "ghost notification"?

"Inside the castle, besides Alice, myself, the butler, the cook, and others, there are eight other dangerous entities roaming around." The nun stepped onto the stairs, her cloth shoes making no sound, as light as a ghost.

"These things could be human-shaped, or they could be animals, objects, or anything else tangible, each corresponding to a criminal committed by one of the visitors."

"I need to remind tourists that these things are extremely dangerous. Some are terrifying from the start, while others may not seem like a big threat initially, but they become increasingly frightening over time. In short, if you encounter them, you will be at a significant disadvantage."

"The castle contains eight items corresponding to each of these monsters. You can search for them yourselves. Once you obtain the corresponding item, you can resist a specific type of monster. However, please note that each of you has one monster that you absolutely cannot resist—the one that corresponds to you. Even if you possess the corresponding item, you cannot use it against it; if you encounter your own monster, you can only flee for your life."

"The main experience at the castle involves guests searching for items and surviving among monsters roaming the castle, lasting two days. During these two days, Alice will announce an additional rule or activity at each meal, and the rule or activity will remain in effect until the next meal."

At this point, the nun suddenly stopped and looked back at the psychic who was listening attentively.

"Every night from 10 PM to 5 AM the next morning, clues to the items will be scattered throughout the castle. At the same time, Alice will join the monsters and begin wandering."

"When you encounter Alice with the bell on her wrist at night, don't hesitate, run away immediately; there's no way to escape her."

"And there are two more crucial rules... If any of you maliciously attack another tourist, your corresponding monster will immediately sense your location and come looking for you. This sensing period lasts for twenty minutes. When a tourist dies, their corresponding monster will also disappear from the castle."

Yu Xing narrowed her eyes.

This is still forcing the researchers to compete against each other; no wonder the competition accounts for 40%.

Eight kinds of monsters, or rather, ghosts—that's a really brutal number.

To increase the chances of survival, the best method is to kill the other predictors and make their corresponding ghosts disappear.

However, in order to balance the strength of the predictors, a rule was established that whoever attacks others first will have their ghost arrive, making everyone consider whether they can escape the impending ghost's pursuit before attacking others.