Reverse Tactics

The old Abyss Video Hall was bathed in the eerie glow of its dark-red sign.

A crystal-clear Black Porcelain Figurine lay toppled in the cracks between the corridor tiles, its face frozen in terror.

Inside the tightly sealed Screening Room No. 1, beneath the dead screen, two Black Porcelain Figurines stood or lay sprawled.

One wore a vile, sinister expression as it lay crookedly in the shadows.

The other was filled with rage, with a conspicuous new crack across its body, as though someone had slashed it hard with a steel bar.

Jiang Qian sat openly on the floor of Screening Room No. 2, pointing at the tentacled monster hidden in the darkness.

"You represent Sorrow, right? The hint, 'Do not immerse yourself,' happens to correspond to the emotion you represent."

From the darkness came what seemed like an almost imperceptible intake of breath.

Jiang Qian nodded in satisfaction.

He continued, "My mission progress changed from 3/7 to 4/7. That means you're the only boss in Screening Room No. 2."

His words were abrupt, yet the other party seemed to understand immediately.

"Hahaha." A harsh cackle came from the darkness, followed by that familiar voice, as mournful as if it had lost its parents. "Didn't expect you, kid, to see things so clearly."

Just like in the previous screening room, once the progress bar updated, the dungeon boss could no longer affect Jiang Qian.

Ignoring the compliment, Jiang Qian continued to reason it out.

"The number seven is rather sensitive in our culture. Even without any basis, it can make people think of many things."

"When I first heard your exaggerated, affected voices in the corridor, I found them absurd. But once I considered your tones carefully, it became easy to figure out: joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hatred, desire. If I'm not mistaken, the inner demons in this dungeon correspond to the Seven Emotions among the seven emotions and six desires."

Seeing no rebuttal from the other side, Jiang Qian became even more certain of his deduction.

"Fear was lying in wait in the broken corridor outside the video hall, and the effective response was 'Do not act rashly.' Screening Room No. 1 contained anger and hatred, and its hint was 'Do not argue.' That was probably telling challengers that if they couldn't overturn the situation, they shouldn't force a confrontation. They could try trading parts of their bodies instead. They might be left crippled, but at least they'd survive."

"You correspond to Sorrow. 'Do not immerse yourself' probably means challengers shouldn't wallow in grief, belittle themselves, and give up struggling. Or perhaps they shouldn't immerse themselves in the fantasy that they could change their fate, but accept reality instead. Either way, it no longer matters to me."

"The question now is that among the Seven Emotions, love, desire, and joy remain untouched. And I only have one film left to watch... Heh, could it be that I'll have to face all three bosses at once?"

"Jumping from 4/7 straight to 7/7 and clearing the dungeon in one go would probably feel great. But..."

After casually laying bare the dungeon's hidden information, Jiang Qian stroked his chin as though lost in thought.

At last, he sighed, sounding both helpless and regretful. "There's no way around it. Even if I know the direction of this trial, I still can't gauge your bottom line, can I?"

"Hey, don't tear down the act right in front of me." The mournful voice finally protested.

"Didn't you also talk right in front of me about how you were going to kill me?" Jiang Qian shot back. "We're even."

"No, we're not even!" The mournful voice sounded even more flustered. "I still don't understand how you got away. What made you change your mind?"

It rarely failed.

This went against everything it knew: when humans faced intense sorrow, they were almost helpless.

Especially those full of sympathy and empathy. They were exceptionally kind, and exceptionally easy to hurt.

Yet it saw no stress response in Jiang Qian after a major emotional shock.

A human who had just gone through two life-and-death crises was calm and unruffled after escaping, chatting as if about everyday matters, without the slightest fear. Was that normal?

Absolutely not!

This person had no sense of awe!

The mournful voice interrogated him again, fierce and shrill. "You have to explain it clearly! Where did I go wrong? How did you get away?!"

It sounded exactly like a child whose self-esteem had been badly wounded.

"You almost succeeded."

Looking toward the restless presence in the darkness, Jiang Qian admitted, "The problem was with me."

As someone officially diagnosed by an authoritative medical institution with an "emotional disorder," he had a muted perception of Sorrow, a common human emotion.

The emotional wounds that could shatter other people barely registered with him.

Even so, after witnessing the deaths of loved ones again and again, he still found it difficult to remain calm.

The other party had indeed come close to succeeding, but he had other personal motives as well.

"From the poster for Choice, to the mission hints, to the conclusions drawn from different actions, it seemed that everything pointed at me. I was trying to reverse the tragedy, but every time, I only accelerated it. So I concluded that I was the one who started it all."

"When I saw the fruit knife in my hand at that moment, I naturally thought of the poster's implication. Plunge that knife into my own chest! Maybe then, everything would end. Either I'd win or I'd die. In any case, I didn't want to stay there any longer."

The mournful voice slowly asked, "Then why didn't you do it?"

"Because I had another choice: do nothing, and experience that final tragedy. That path couldn't be verified. Life or death, the odds were still fifty-fifty."

"You're so rational. Your analysis is flawless." The mournful voice was relieved. "So in the end, did you rely on luck? Toss a coin or something?"

But Jiang Qian shook his head. "There were two reasons. First, that conclusion came too easily. Considering the possibility that I was being misled, doing the opposite became the reasonable choice."

"Besides, I wanted to revisit those memories and see what they had originally been like."

Jiang Qian's smile faded, and his gaze gradually grew distant. "I remembered that when my dad passed away, he told me a few things, but I couldn't remember them no matter what. So I wanted to hear them again and remember them properly."

"Just for that?" The mournful voice sounded incredulous. "What did he say?"

Jiang Qian looked at the other party as though it were an idiot.

As if to say: Why should I tell you what my dad left for me?

A trace of awkwardness hung in the air.

"Let's talk next time!"

Having finished resting, Jiang Qian rose from the floor and prepared to leave for the final round of trials.

"Ahem. Good luck." The mournful voice said politely. It remained hidden in the darkness, watching Jiang Qian's composed figure.

As though the other party was the more dangerous thing.

"Could you give me a hint? I'll be taking on three at once in the next stage. My chances of surviving are slim..." Jiang Qian used his final opportunity to fish for information.

Asking cost nothing. Maybe he could get something useful.

To his surprise, a low sigh truly came from the darkness. "To die beneath the peony is to remain romantic even as a ghost. At least your death won't be so painful."

"Ha, so you're forcing me to be ruthless with flowers... Thanks!"

Jiang Qian waved behind him, then left Screening Room No. 2 and returned to the corridor.

Capital Public Security Bureau Special Affairs Center.

More than a dozen people had gathered around the desk of Bai Ji, the leader of Supervision Group Computer Room No. 9.

Among them were junior observation recorders, as well as team leaders from other computer rooms who held the same rank as Bai Ji. All of them were closely monitoring the progress of a certain trial dungeon.

When the progress bar miraculously advanced another segment, the dozen or so people gathered around the monitor all breathed a sigh of relief at once!

"Yes!" Someone quietly praised, pumping a fist.

They were excited, yet restrained.

Their professional ethics did not permit them to get worked up like sports fans at every turn.

But at this moment, none of them could remain calm.

"This is the first person this year to advance Whispers of the Inner Demon to 2/3 progress. They might actually have a chance to clear it!" Someone patted Bai Ji's shoulder. "The only question is whether we can recruit them successfully."

Bai Ji shook his head, his face slightly flushed from tension. "Sigh, it's too early to say. Until the very end, anything can happen."

"Yeah. This has happened more than once. This dungeon devours people without even leaving bones behind. It's far too brutal."

"How many promising talents has it consumed..."

"It's a shame they haven't left the dungeon yet, so we can't locate this brave soul's general area. Otherwise, we really ought to erect a monument for them or something."

The watching colleagues discussed it among themselves.

Every License Holder here had undergone trial dungeons, but not one of them had experienced nightmare difficulty.

Even among the difficulty-grade dungeons below nightmare, firsthand survivors were exceedingly rare.

And above nightmare, there was only one difficulty tier: hell difficulty, beginning with S.

However, hell-difficulty dungeons were not available during the trial stage.

Nightmare difficulty, beginning with A, was the highest difficulty level among all trial dungeons.

If one truly could not understand what "nightmare" meant, a glance at the mortality rate would be enough to sum up the feeling with a single curse.

"I suggest notifying the higher-ups now and preparing to follow up. If a freak talent like this falls into our rivals' hands, we'll bear a huge responsibility." A friendly team leader suggested.

After all, all they could confirm was an area spanning "1,000 square kilometers," not precise coordinates.

And the authorities could not always get ahead of everyone else in screening trial participants.

"Wait a little longer." Bai Ji clenched his fists, not daring to act rashly.

His superior—the director of the Information and Intelligence Department—had reminded him just last week that intelligence work depended on precision above all else, and that impulsiveness and impatience were taboo.

Acting too soon or too late could both lead to disastrous consequences.

Soft lighting fell upon Jiang Qian's face, as if soothing the lingering shock of his recent escape.

He was about to face the final ordeal.

Jiang Qian walked toward the Vivid and Fragrant poster.

Judging from the calculations behind Choice, seeing through the secrets hidden in a poster did not always mean learning the answer. It might instead hasten one's own death.

Jiang Qian had paid special attention to that.

But aside from the overwhelming sexual implications, he truly could not discern any particular information from this poster...

"To die beneath the peony..."

Muttering to himself, Jiang Qian buttoned his shirt collar tightly and retightened his belt.

"Little brother, it wasn't easy getting through the first two stages. Whether we can turn misfortune into fortune now depends on your self-control."

With that, he resolutely pushed open the door to Screening Room No. 3.

The first dungeon is about to wrap up! While you're stockpiling chapters, feel free to come back and give the story a little boost too. The current recommendation system depends on follow-up reading~ Please, everyone! Hearts!