Chapter 109: Rules

The most irrational aspect of this game is that a Guide captures a player only to turn that player into a new Guide. One Guide must capture two players, who then become Guides themselves. Following this logic, two Guides would then need to capture four players, and so on—wouldn't the number of Guides increase exponentially? Yet, why were there only he and Lin Shuang? Where were the others? Had this rule only just begun, and was Luo Bai the first? That didn't seem quite right either. Furthermore, what benefit did the Swing Zone gain from having Guides turn players into more Guides? In the first two zones, the first had used humans as fuel, and the second had involved a polar bear swindling points; however, the third zone truly baffled Xi Yan.

Rules—every absurdity stemmed from those rules.

"Xi Yan, look at this!" Lin Shuang called out urgently.

The cry snapped Xi Yan out of his contemplation of the three pillars. He looked up to see Lin Shuang gazing at the tall grass to the side. Frowning in confusion, Xi Yan walked over to her and followed her gaze, discovering a body lying in the grass.

"Is that Luo Bai? That’s not right; her body shouldn't be here. How did it end up here?" Xi Yan placed a hand to his chin, once again lost in thought.

"No, that's not it. This isn't Luo Bai. Look closely—this is a man." Lin Shuang moved to the side of the corpse and pointed to several features for Xi Yan to see.

Xi Yan scrutinized the face of the corpse and finally concluded, "You're right, it isn't her. But why does he look so much like Luo Bai?"

"I... I have a terrifying thought. Do you want to hear it?" Lin Shuang’s face turned pale in an instant.

Xi Yan was curious as to what kind of thought could make even Lin Shuang feel afraid. "Go ahead..."

"Do you think the grass we just passed might be filled with bodies? And do you think their faces might all bear some resemblance to Luo Bai?" Lin Shuang swallowed hard after speaking.

"Why would you think that? Still, we should go and check."

With no clues and no leads, Xi Yan was ready to test any hypothesis. Lin Shuang nodded and followed him, retracing their steps. This time, both of them kept their eyes fixed on the grass along the path. Unsure of what might happen if they touched it, they simply observed from the edge.

The trek confirmed Lin Shuang’s suspicion. The grass was indeed littered with bodies, some already decayed, others appearing fresh. Eerily, these rotting corpses emitted no stench. In fact, there were no flowers in the brush at all—just colorful blades of grass! The floral fragrance did not come from flowers, but from the bodies themselves.

Upon realizing this, a look of disgust crossed Lin Shuang’s face, and her body stiffened. Xi Yan fared no better; he felt sick. The floral scent they had been smelling was actually coming from these corpses.

"What is going on? Aside from the ones so decayed you can’t tell their features, the others all look like Luo Bai," Lin Shuang whispered, covering her mouth.

"Have you considered that perhaps Luo Bai's appearance wasn't her own? Maybe she, too, resembled someone else—or perhaps not even a person, but an object. Like a test subject; it doesn't necessarily have to be human." Xi Yan felt his explanation was a bit vague and that Lin Shuang might not understand.

And he was right.

"Uh... could you be more specific?" Lin Shuang asked awkwardly. Having been by Xi Yan’s side for so long, she had gone from looking down on him to struggling to keep up with his train of thought, and now, she could barely understand what he was saying at all. Was her intelligence dropping, or was his increasing?

"I mean, is it possible that the appearances of these bodies were all modeled after something? And that 'something' is likely an experimental creation."

"I think I know what the Swing Zone is after now."

With this explanation, Lin Shuang understood much more. "Oh? What is it?" she pressed.

"The floral scent these bodies emit is likely the true essence of the Swing Zone," Xi Yan replied.

At the mention of the scent, Lin Shuang felt nauseous again, knowing it emanated from rotting corpses.

"The Roller Coaster Zone sought to use humans as fuel to power the coaster. The Skiing Zone sought the survivors' points. We never could figure out what the Swing Zone wanted from the survivors, but now we know."

"They are using humans to create the flowers in the Swing Zone!" Lin Shuang blurted out, finishing his thought.

Xi Yan nodded in agreement. "Regardless of their motives, these three zones are all so strange," he said with a helpless smile.

Lin Shuang shrugged dismissively. "That’s nothing new. Every Survival Zone is full of things like this. You can never guess their true purpose; their reasons are often bizarre."

With this knowledge, the two of them understood why Luo Bai had died. She must have failed to complete the task and was killed by the "rules." The broadcast they heard earlier must have been only a partial announcement; the task they needed to complete to leave was surely not the one mentioned in that broadcast. If they couldn't find the real objective, the consequence would likely be joining these corpses, adding to the floral scent. That was a grim prospect.

"Let’s keep looking for clues. Let's go."

With his thoughts cleared, Xi Yan felt more confident. He suddenly recalled the words of the man in black: the rules here had to be discovered by the players themselves. Luo Bai had found the wrong rules, and so she perished. On the surface, she had completed the task given by the broadcast, but that wasn't the task for escape—it was a path to her death.

So... what was the real task?

"Attention, Guides: A new player has stepped into the Swing Zone. Please return to your positions (under the largest swing set) immediately to welcome the player and guide them in the proper use of the swing."

The broadcast voice suddenly cut through the air, causing Xi Yan and Lin Shuang to stop in their tracks. They exchanged a look and headed toward the swing set. Perhaps the true task was about to be revealed. A confident smile tugged at the corner of Xi Yan’s mouth.