blogombal The core of Chapter 255's instance may be related to "ape".
The core of Chapter 255's instance may be related to "ape".
Park Chang-beom's Adam's apple bobbed: "Then...which bottle is the real one?"
"This..." Wasim hesitated.
Just then, one of the "I am human" stickers on the wall suddenly curled up at the corner, making a slight rustling sound, as if it was about to fall off.
Vassim looked at Lin Feng anxiously, and Lin Feng raised his hand and made a "calm down" gesture. [Infinite Deduction] had already been activated.
A few seconds later, he picked up the bottle of glue with the green cap: "Green often symbolizes life... this should be it."
Park Chang-beom said urgently, "Don't say 'should,' we need to be 100% sure!"
Wasim glared at him: "When Brother Lin Feng said 'should,' that was just modesty; it meant 100%!"
Lin Feng unscrewed the green bottle cap, carefully applied adhesive to the back of the sticker, and then steadily pressed it back onto the wall.
The dormitory fell silent instantly.
The three held their breath and waited. About a minute passed, but there was nothing unusual on the wall, and there was no unusual activity in the dormitory.
Park Chang-beom finally let out a long sigh of relief, and with a face full of sincere admiration, bowed deeply to Lin Feng:
"Brother Lin Feng, I was blind and offended you greatly before... Please forgive my rudeness!"
Lin Feng said calmly, "Get up. In this dungeon, reliability is more useful than apologies!"
After speaking, Lin Feng turned his gaze back to the rules behind the door, pointing his finger to the fourth rule:
「规则4：凌晨3:00-5:00为污染峰值时段，不可下床，哪怕口渴、尿急也需忍耐。」
Wasim crossed his arms, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the stubble on his chin:
"Pollution peak...I can't get out of bed...Could it be that the pollutants are relatively close to the ground?"
Lin Feng nodded and said, "Very likely. There are also rules that specifically mention thirst and the urge to urinate. We will most likely experience these two reactions precisely at night."
He paused for a moment, then offered a solution: "We need to prepare supplies in advance, and keep a bottle of mineral water handy to deal with thirst."
"Find another empty water bottle, so that if I need to pee, I can do it in bed without getting up."
Park Chang-beom immediately replied, "Just prepare a bottle of mineral water!"
"Drink when you're thirsty, and then pee in it. Isn't that a way to reuse it?"
Upon hearing this, Wasim's face was filled with a mixture of amusement and exasperation:
"You're a real character! What if you need to pee first and then get thirsty? How are you going to handle that?"
Park Chang-beom: "This..."
........................
Studio:
"It's okay for guys to do this, but what about girls? Water bottles are so inconvenient!"
"It's a sports bottle! The opening is wider than a mineral water bottle, so it's barely usable for girls."
"Even a bottle of 'Pulse' might be risky, right? It's dark at night, and you could easily get it on your hands."
"Ugh, who cares about being dirty at a time like this? Peeing on your hands is better than breaking the rules!"
........................
Lin Feng moved his fingertip to the fifth rule: "Rule 5: The time spent looking in the mirror in the dormitory building each day shall not exceed 1 minute."
"A time limit for looking in the mirror?" Park Chang-beom frowned, subconsciously touching his hair. "What's the story behind this? Does something come out of the mirror?"
Wasim said in a deep voice, "The mirrors in the dormitory building are likely one of the sources of contamination. The longer you look in them, the higher the risk of contamination."
Lin Feng added, "It cannot be ruled out that mirrors might distort perception, or allow the objects reflected in the mirror to perceive us."
Park Chang-beom's face fell: "I understand the logic, but my hair is always a mess when I wake up, and I can't comb it at all without looking in the mirror!"
"I can't go out with messy hair, especially since it's being broadcast live globally. It would really damage the image of our South Korean country!"
Wasim scoffed, "Is life more important or image?"
"But you can't be too sloppy!" Park Chang-beom retorted, unconvinced.
Lin Feng suggested, "Stop arguing. The solution is simple: the three of us can just comb each other's hair. We don't need to look in the mirror."
Park Chang-beom paused, a hint of awkwardness on his face:
"That's so weird... Two grown men combing their hair in front of each other, it's embarrassing just thinking about it."
"It's better than nothing." Vassim patted his shoulder, his tone teasing. "I'll comb your hair first, I'll make sure it's perfectly tidied up."
Lin Feng's fingertip landed on the last rule:
"Rule 6: Every morning after waking up, you must check the inside of your wrists. If black ape-like markings appear, immediately go to the Lion Zone security post to report and you may not return to your dormitory that day."
"Black ape print?" Park Chang-beom subconsciously raised his wrist, repeatedly rubbing the smooth skin on the inside. "What is this thing? Is it related to the ape patterns painted in the cabinet?"
Wasim frowned, tapping his chin with his fingertips as he pondered.
Lin Feng's expression instantly turned serious, and his pupils contracted slightly.
The strange rule at the ticket office suddenly popped into my mind—
If visitors ask for directions to the primate enclosure, you must provide a verbal explanation and never point in any direction. Also, avoid making eye contact with visitors for more than two seconds at any time.
Primates...
Apes are undoubtedly the most representative species among them, and could even be considered the core.
From the ape-shaped runes on the lockers to the black ape markings in Rule 6, and the primate area subtly mentioned at the ticket office, many scattered clues all point to "apes".
Images from "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" involuntarily flashed through Lin Feng's mind—
Those intelligent, order-disrupting apes seem to subtly echo the strange ape-shaped symbols and unknown contamination in the current instance.
"What are you thinking about?" Wasim noticed his unusual behavior.
Lin Feng snapped out of his reverie and said in a calm tone, "I feel that the key to this dungeon is very likely related to the ape."
Park Chang-beom immediately suggested, "How about this, after dinner, we go straight to the ape enclosure? Maybe we can find some clues."
Wasim raised an eyelid: "If you're tired of living, go ahead, we're not going to keep you company."
Park Chang-beom was taken aback by the retort and scratched his head sheepishly, "I was just making a suggestion, it's not like I'm really going to do it..."
Wasim ignored him and turned his gaze back to Rule 6, pointing to the words "No returning to the dormitory on the same day," his tone tinged with doubt:
"There's another question about this rule—if you show an ape-like mark, you can't go back to the dorm. Does that mean you have to stay at the security booth in the Lion Zone?"
Lin Feng thought for a moment and said, "It doesn't necessarily mean they're staying in the security booth; it could be somewhere near the Lion District."
"Judging from the wording of the rules, the Lion Zone should serve a certain function of isolation or purification."
After saying this, Lin Feng looked up at the clock on the wall, the hands pointing to 1:15 PM.
"We need to be on duty by 1:30, we should go now."
........................
At 1:30 p.m., the indicator light at the ticket window lit up on time.
Lin Feng sat in the chair, his gaze sweeping over the empty queuing area.
Taking advantage of this brief break, Lin Feng's thoughts drifted back to the rules at the ticket office.
Currently, two rules have not yet been triggered:
[Rule 4: If a visitor asks "How do I get to the primate enclosure?", you must only give a verbal description and never point in any direction. Also, avoid making eye contact with visitors for more than 2 seconds at any time.]
[Rule 6: Refuse to sell tickets to tourists who are "covered in white fur and wearing a black straw hat," even if they present several times the amount of ghost currency, and immediately press the red alarm button below the ticket counter.]
Lin Feng first focused his attention on rule 6.
He leaned down and looked under the table. Sure enough, near the edge of the table, there was a raised red button, about the size of a thumb, with a smooth surface. It looked like the alarm mentioned in the rules.
"Is it that obvious?!" Lin Feng muttered to himself, a question forming in his mind.
The rules of the instance are always full of hidden traps, and this alarm is far too easy to find.
With this doubt in mind, Lin Feng took a deep breath and quietly activated [Infinite Deduction]...