Chapter 10: Deciphering the Password

The water level had already risen to their waists.

Cheng Si's expression remained calm. "We might as well analyze this based on the changes in the number of people in the family of four involved in this story."

"First, when the Husband and Wife were newly married and had not yet had children, there were only two people in the family, so the first digit of the password is: 2."

"After giving birth to their first Child, the number of family members became three, so the second digit is: 3."

"After giving birth to their second Child, the number of family members became four, making the third digit: 4."

"Then the couple divorced, each taking one Child. The single family split into two families, making the fourth and fifth digits: 2 and 2."

She spoke slowly, so slowly it was maddening. Liu Changsheng couldn't help but urge her, "Listen, lady, can't we just spit out the password already!"

"The more anxious you are, the more you need to slow down. You are distracting me," she replied.

Liu Changsheng was left speechless. He turned his head to ask Chen Ran, only to see him slowly taking a drag from his cigarette, his brows tightly furrowed, lost in thought.

In the Secret Room, Cheng Si's murmurs of deduction echoed once again.

"Whether the Wife's Child passed away or went missing, it counts as a reduction in personnel. So the sixth and seventh digits should be: 2 and 1."

"The password would be 2342221. However, the password only has six digits, yet we deduced seven. This indicates that the two children were twins. The step where the Wife gave birth to the first Child, making the family three, can be omitted."

"The correct password is: 242221."

Zhang Yuan, who had been waiting for a long time, hastily entered the password. However, it was still incorrect. With the error, the speed of the water seeping in accelerated, and the water level rose at a visible rate.

Cheng Si looked slightly surprised.

Chen Ran raised his Cigarette Case above his head. He definitely did not want to be left without smokes in the upcoming Secret Room.

"Beautiful Cheng Si, the earlier analysis should be correct. The couple was newly married, just the two of them in the house, so the first digit is: 2."

Liu Changsheng was hopping mad with anxiety. Seeing Chen Ran begin his deduction, a glimmer of hope had just risen in his heart, but hearing him repeat Cheng Si's words made his mindset completely collapse.

"Look, since Cheng Si's earlier deduction was correct, let's not repeat it, alright?"

"Look at you, getting anxious again."

Liu Changsheng: "..."

His train of thought interrupted, Chen Ran switched the Cigarette Case to his left hand, continuing to hold it high.

"Giving birth to the first Child, the family size became three, making the second digit: 3."

"Giving birth to the second Child, the family size became four, making the third digit: 4."

"Then the couple divorced, each taking one Child. Logically, with the change in members, the fourth and fifth digits should be: 2 and 2."

"However, there is a problem here. Essentially, the two children are still the father's and the mother's children. The total number of immediate family members does not actually change."

"The divorce phase can be ignored, or it can be represented by the number 3. The number three sounds like the word for breaking up, and visually, the shape of a 3 looks like an 8 split right down the middle. Therefore, I am more inclined to believe the fourth digit is: 3."

Everyone's eyes lit up. Previously, they had been puzzled; the total number of people in the Secret Room was eighteen, so nine people should have disappeared, yet only eight vanished.

Looking at it now...

The number 8 was a hint for the password. If you split an 8 in half, doesn't it become a 3?

They then heard Chen Ran continue, "Since it is calculated based on the number of original family members, then when a problem occurred with the Wife's Child, the number of people in the original family became three. The fifth digit is also: 3."

"The key lies in the sixth digit. There is a question here." At this point, Chen Ran looked at the submerged table. "Tell me, did the Wife die in the end or not?"

This question made Cheng Si pause for a moment. She abruptly looked at the half-photograph on the table and muttered, "The photo was torn in half, symbolizing the couple's divorce. However, out of these two halves, one was kept by the Husband and the other by the Wife. Yet, only the half kept by the Husband is here."

"This means there are two missing items!"

"The first is the second Children's Sand Shovel, and the second is the half of the photo kept by the Wife. This means that both the Wife and the Wife's Child are dead!"

"Since they both died, only the Husband and Daughter remain. The sixth digit is: 2."

"The password is: 234332!"

Without waiting for Cheng Si to finish, Zhang Yuan followed Chen Ran's line of thought, deduced the final password, and entered it.

The door clicked open!

The password was correct!

The water inside the Secret Room poured out like floodgates opening. The group slumped onto the floor, panting heavily, overwhelmed by the feeling of surviving a disaster.

The exit was right before their eyes. What lay beyond it, or where it led, was unclear, and no one knew.

However, none of them rushed to leave.

Click, click, click.

Chen Ran wanted to smoke a cigarette, but his lighter had been soaked in the water and wouldn't spark. He couldn't help but secretly curse himself for only focusing on protecting his smokes earlier, completely forgetting that this kind of lighter wasn't waterproof.

Baili Qiangsheng pulled out his lighter and generously tossed it to Chen Ran. "Mine is a Waterproof Lighter."

"Thanks."

Chen Ran lit his cigarette and, with practiced ease, slipped the Waterproof Lighter straight into his own pants pocket.

Baili Qiangsheng: "..."

Sure enough, no matter the smoker, they would always pocket your lighter.

Liu Changsheng leaned in closer. "Brother, what did you do before this? Your deduction skills are amazing."

Chen Ran froze in place. He suddenly seemed to understand why he had been sent to Hell.

Before becoming a full-time novelist, he had worked at a fertility preservation center. Due to a mistake at work, the tadpoles at the center...

These tadpoles were different from the ones some people usually aimed at the wall. The tadpoles that made it here had an extremely high probability of evolving...

Chen Ran hurriedly changed the subject. "According to what you said, the Novice Instance has three Secret Rooms, and this is the first side-story Secret Room. Now we need to summarize—what kind of story did this side plot actually tell?"

Lin Feng pondered, "A divorced couple took their respective children to the seaside for a trip. However, the Wife's Child was either abducted or drowned in the sea."

Cheng Si picked up the thread. "The Wife was completely devastated and refused to join this seaside trip, afraid that the familiar sights would trigger her grief. But the Husband felt the Wife needed to face reality. So, he built a sand sculpture in the Wife's likeness, claimed their Daughter made it, and used family ties to lure the Wife over."

Chen Ran made the final summary. "But, due to some reason, the Wife still died in the end."

"The word for 'sand person' sounds exactly like 'murder'. I think it's highly likely the Wife died because she committed a murder."

"If this conclusion stands, we can deduce backward. The Child who had the accident was most likely kidnapped by a Human Trafficker, and the Wife ultimately killed the Human Trafficker while searching for her Child."

The group fell silent. Since the first Secret Room was explaining the prelude to the tragedy, then the next Secret Room...

Should be the confrontation between the Wife and the Human Trafficker!

Zhang Yuan's gaze darted back and forth between the three who had spoken. Chen Ran and Lin Feng were Newbies.

Cheng Si, however, managed to state that the Novice Instance had three Secret Rooms without having communicated with anyone.

It also couldn't be ruled out that she was a Veteran Player, or perhaps she had heard a Veteran Player mention it in the Novice Tutorial Room.

In other words.

Of the three people best at deduction here, two were Newbies, and one was potentially a Newbie.

In the third Secret Room, would they, the Veteran Players, be able to outsmart these three?

The summary was complete.

The sixteen people stood up and looked toward the door. Chen Ran and Lin Feng didn't move, looking toward the Veteran Players instead. Baili Qiangsheng and his crew knew they were being cautious and didn't mind too much, stepping through the doorway.