As time ticked away, Gu Zhan remained silent.
The more he stayed quiet, the more anxious Xu Yu became.
He seems to have a cold personality and doesn’t speak much, but in reality, he is a person who appears cold on the outside but is warm on the inside. He rarely engages in any convoluted tactics; when a problem can be solved with force, he seldom resorts to strategy.
In their team, the task of thinking about this matter was originally assigned to Yu Yezhou.
The last time the situation during the test was urgent; otherwise, Yu Yezhou should have been sent to rescue Yang Lin, leaving Yu Yezhou behind.
In the current situation, Yu Yezhou would definitely be more adept than him.
At this moment, looking at Gu Zhan, who seemed to be pondering, Xu Yu fell into hesitation.
Should he trust him?
Although he was someone Yu Yezhou brought in, Yu Yezhou's talent was unpredictable. He and Gu Zhan weren't familiar with each other... Could he fully trust this companion he had just met?
While Xu Yu was still contemplating, Gu Zhan walked to the edge of the path.
His actions startled Xu Yu, who hurriedly approached and asked, "What do you want to do?"
Gu Zhan replied, "I want to go down and take a look."
Xu Yu: "…"
During the last test, they were on constantly rotating gears, and it was obvious what would happen if they fell.
This time, he instinctively believed that the white mist below was not a good thing.
His focus was solely on how to save Yu Yezhou and Yang Lin in front of him... But did he just hear correctly? Gu Zhan wanted to go down and check?
What could possibly be down there?
Just because Xu Yu was not responsible for thinking in the team didn’t mean he lacked intelligence.
Upon hearing Gu Zhan's words, he began to understand.
If the above was what the clown cat wanted to show them, wanting them to choose... then what lay below?
Xu Yu couldn’t help but feel anxious. “You want to go down? But… what about Yu Yezhou and the others…”
Gu Zhan looked up at their unconscious companions in the distance.
Due to his own uniqueness, Gu Zhan wouldn’t fear the monsters in the instance and wouldn’t be overly sad about losing companions... To him, it was merely a matter of fact, almost devoid of any emotion.
Because of this, he was not swayed by the tension and remained relatively clear-headed.
“You can’t save them by going over there. That clown cat… isn’t really as it says, that it cannot accommodate perfection; otherwise, when we came to the factory, we wouldn’t have seen Yang Lin.”
Gu Zhan said slowly, “It intentionally left Yang Lin to act as bait.”
“I…” Xu Yu choked, and after a moment, he said, “I know this… So you’re saying we can’t go over there… but…”
Knowing that his teammates were so close yet being unable to acknowledge them was an extreme test of the mind.
It was unclear whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, but Gu Zhan couldn’t experience this kind of test.
He nodded and said, “Yes, we can’t go, but we can’t stay here waiting. If we remain here, it might declare that we’ve passed the test, take Yang Lin and Yu Yezhou away, and never bring them back.”
“…” This was also Xu Yu’s concern and the reason why he still wanted to go over, knowing it was a trap.
Even knowing it was a trap, he couldn’t just watch his teammates disappear right before his eyes.
However, Gu Zhan said, “So what we need to do now is very simple: let the test fail, but we must not appear near Yu Yezhou and Yang Lin…”
After saying that, he jumped down from the edge of the path.
The dense white mist below instantly swallowed his figure.
Xu Yu was startled by his action. How could he just go down like that!! At least explain yourself!
He stood still, unsure of whether to advance or retreat.
After a while, Xu Yu gritted his teeth and followed him down.
[Their team is quite interesting; they jump right in without hesitation, not at all ambiguous.]
[He’s really smart; how can he find the most correct option among so many messy choices?]
[And he’s not afraid.]
[Haven’t you all seen this guy’s last instance? He wasn’t afraid even when facing an evil god, let alone a toy cat.]
[What was the last instance? Can you send me the link?]
Due to the particularity of the instances, there weren’t many people discussing game content in the Chun Bai Cheng and most of the names on the leaderboard were fake.
The popularity of live streams was also largely a convention formed under unwritten rules, and there wasn’t a habit of following streamers. After all, to like a certain player and want to watch their live stream, one had to clear that instance first.
Under numerous restrictions, watching live streams became a highly random affair.
You would catch whichever instance you encountered, and in the instance, whoever performed well would have their live stream favored, with points wagered on that person.
Very few people cared about who the player actually was.
In this live stream, people began to inquire about Gu Zhan’s previous instances... which was an extremely rare phenomenon.
Ordinary players hadn’t noticed, but some keen individuals sensed something was off...
This was Gu Zhan’s third instance since entering the game.
In the game, after Gu Zhan fell into the thick mist, the mist before him receded like a tide.
What unfolded before him was a huge, intricately designed mechanical city, resembling a military factory... countless gears meshed together, making “clicking” sounds.
Above this military factory was the familiar happy town, with every street and every house laid out before him.
It was reminiscent of those exquisitely crafted music boxes with spring mechanisms inside, where little figures danced automatically.
All the people... or rather, all the puppets, were connected to the gears and mechanical devices below, moving in sync with the operation of the machines.
He could even see a factory next to the happy town that was operational, with countless puppet people working inside... This should be the place they visited earlier.
“What’s going on?”
A voice came from behind him. Xu Yu turned back to see him looking at Gu Zhan in shock.
“We might have entered the interior of the instance,” Gu Zhan said.
As he had thought, this copy is divided into the "Outer World" and the "Inner World."
The Outer World is the Happy Town, while the Inner World is the huge mechanical apparatus that supports all the puppets below... Since they can see the factory, is that clown cat also controlled by the intricate mechanical devices down there?
He began to search within the factory and soon discovered the clown cat in a small house.
At this moment, the clown cat seemed to be in an idle state, like a clock's chime bird that hasn’t reached the hour; it simply sat quietly behind a desk.
"Everyone here is controlled by machinery; no wonder I always felt their movements were somewhat stiff," Xu Yu muttered quietly.
Gu Zhan said, “Let’s see if there’s anything we can control here.”
If the outside is flawless, they can only break through from the inside.
Perhaps they could directly control the clown cat and put an end to these ridiculous tests.
Xu Yu drew his great sword, intending to jam the gears to stop the machinery.
But it seemed the gears were in a different realm; as soon as they approached, they would automatically pass through. Not only could they not stop the gears from turning, they couldn’t even touch them.
"This won't work!" Xu Yu exclaimed.
"Wait a minute." Gu Zhan stepped forward, having noticed something flash by just now.
He approached a house in Happy Town and suddenly recognized the house number above.
109-3A.
Isn't that the house number of his "home"?
Gu Zhan peered through the window and saw a couple sitting on the sofa.
Across from them, a small puppet was standing in front of the coffee table, reciting lines.
The couple wore happy smiles.
When Gu Zhan focused on the female puppet, he suddenly saw three labels pop up above her head.
“Loving parent,” “Gentle and virtuous,” “Hoping for her child to succeed.”
“Hmm?” Gu Zhan paused in surprise.
Xu Yu leaned closer. "What's wrong?"
Without needing Gu Zhan to explain, Xu Yu quickly noticed the labels above the female puppet’s head.
Xu Yu glanced to the side and found that the male puppet also had three labels above him.
“Mature,” “Reliable,” “Family-oriented.”
“Hmm?” He echoed the same puzzling sound.
After pondering for a moment, Gu Zhan suddenly realized, “These are their personalities.”
He remembered that it was mostly the female puppet who repeatedly emphasized the importance of studying hard.
Xu Yu understood as well, but what use did this have?
He extrapolated and shifted his gaze to the other people in the town.
Then he discovered that everyone had such labels above their heads.
“Optimistic and proactive,” “Kind and gentle,” “Always willing to help everyone they meet,” “Serious,” “Meticulous,” “Dedicated,” “Never refusing anyone’s requests,” “Always wearing a smile.”
The labels were diverse, some specific, some vague.
But overall, they all seemed to represent "positive" traits.
So, is this the reason for the happiness in "Happy Town"?
Gu Zhan recalled the rules given by the system when he first arrived in the town.
So, the reason these puppets can maintain the happiness of Happy Town is that their personalities are like this?
What if they switched the labels above their heads?
Gu Zhan asked Xu Yu, “Do you have any items that can copy and paste?”
“What?”
His request was too bizarre, and Xu Yu took a moment to understand before saying, “No, most items in the shop are for boosting stamina. My own talent is related to combat, so I rarely buy items when entering a dungeon.”
“Then…” Gu Zhan raised his right hand, the watch still on his wrist.
He could only try this.
He would gamble on a dead horse, as they currently had no other options.
As the watch touched the labels, they seemed to recoil in fear, shifting aside.
The movement was so slight that Gu Zhan thought it was just a natural adjustment of the puppet's labels. He tried again.
This time, it was clear; the labels moved a considerable distance.
Xu Yu exclaimed, “It moved! But… what use is this?”
“I want to see if these labels will influence them. While they seem to all have positive traits now… combining all good traits can still lead to negative outcomes,” Gu Zhan said.
Happy Town, huh?
Let’s see how we can make you unhappy.
However, with a group of positive traits, it’s really hard to provoke negative feedback.
For instance, if a “kind” and “understanding” person collides with another “gentle” and “reasonable” person, and they have a disagreement, as soon as they get out of the car, they start apologizing to each other, resolving the conflict quickly.
Even if Gu Zhan replaced “reasonable” with “rigorous,” that person would still just criticize and remind the other to be careful next time, pointing out three issues with their driving.
Meanwhile, the other person, being “understanding,” would easily accept this, and they might even exchange contact information to discuss “how to drive” later.
“…”
Watching the whole thing unfold, Xu Yu couldn’t help but say, “The creator of this dungeon has no common sense at all.”
How could something like this exist in the world? It’s simply absurd.
Gu Zhan replied, “He doesn’t need common sense; everything in this dungeon operates according to his rules.”
So the hint given by the system at the beginning of the dungeon was to indicate that Happy Town has its own operational rules. Violate those rules, and you become an “imperfect being” sent to the factory for repair.
Then… what if everything follows the original rules?
What Gu Zhan initially intended was to make the puppets' “perfect” personalities imperfect.
But obviously, he failed.
However, what if it were reversed?
Sometimes, being too perfect can also lead to problems.
—
In the park, there is a man and a woman who discover a stray cat. Gu Zhan changes both of their personalities to be exactly the same: "kind," "fond of animals," and "considerate of others." As a result, they engage in an endless cycle of politeness regarding the stray cat's ownership.
The outcome of their mutual politeness, of course, leads to no resolution. The stray cat, unable to tolerate their "courteousness," jumps out of the woman's arms and escapes to another place.
Only then does their politeness come to an end.
Based on this principle, Gu Zhan returns to his original environment.
He begins to attempt changing the labels on the female puppet.
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