Chapter 460: Maze Combo Skill (3)

'This is the Penrose Stairs!'

'Simply put, the Penrose Stairs is a quadrilateral made of four stairways. A person standing on it and walking forward, walking clockwise, will infinitely climb upwards, and walking counterclockwise will infinitely go downwards. They will never finish walking, and will keep looping on the quadrilateral, endlessly.'

(For specifics, you can refer to the picture at the end of the previous chapter.)

'But, the Penrose Stairs only exists in theory, and cannot be realized.'

'I have to say, the creator of this Ghost Whisperer Secret Room is very imaginative.'

'Assuming the four points of the Penrose Stairs quadrilateral are A, B, C, and D, which are the four platforms we encounter after walking a circle.'

'The four stairways are: Stairway AB, Stairway BC, Stairway CD, Stairway DA.'

'Logically speaking, if we want this quadrilateral to be valid, meaning connected end-to-end, there must be a stairway going downwards.'

'Stairway AB is climbing upwards. When we climb to Platform B, if...'

'Platform B remains stationary!'

'Then, because of Platform C's ascension, Stairway BC, which was originally going downwards, will become a climb upwards.'

This was very easy to understand.

【B... C】 is a straight line.

【B up... C down】: Downward.

【B down... C up】: Upward.

'Similarly, when we walk onto Platform C, Platform D also suddenly ascends.'

'Then, CD, which was originally a downward stairway, would become an upward stairway.'

'And so on.'

'We will continuously climb upwards.'

'There might be a question here. Since every platform will ultimately ascend, then the height we are at will also continuously rise. Why is it still level with the stone statue's knees?'

'The reason is very simple.'

'The stairs, the stone statue, the walls, as we climb, they are simultaneously translating downwards.'

'Assuming we climb from Platform A to Platform B, and the height ascends by 100 meters.'

'Then, during the entire process of our climb, the entire Stairway AB, the walls, and the stone statue all translated downwards by 100 meters.'

'According to the theory of relativity, we will forever be level with the stone statue's knees!'

Chen Ran silently lit a cigarette, secretly thinking that Hell really had a lot of talents, and they spoke nicely.

A player who could design this kind of Ghost Whisperer Secret Room was highly likely to be an architectural designer when alive, and probably a master-level one at that.

Then the question came.

How to escape?

'If we walk on the Penrose Stairs, we will definitely never be able to walk out.'

'But when we came in, there was a passageway leading here, so...'

'The entrance is the exit!'

Four people walked from Platform A, walked a circle, and returned to Platform A. Then the exit should be on the wall behind Platform A.

Although the walls had translated downwards, the platform had ascended, so they were relatively stationary.

Chen Ran looked at the wall behind him. The four walls had undergone multiple rotations, and they should no longer be the original walls.

First time: Clockwise 10 times, counterclockwise 3 times.

Second time: Clockwise 8 times, counterclockwise 9 times.

Third time: Clockwise 6 times, counterclockwise 5 times.

Fourth time: Clockwise 4 times, counterclockwise 6 times.

Fifth time: Clockwise 3 times, counterclockwise 10 times.

Chen Ran was startled.

The first time and the fifth time, the rotation of the four walls was exactly opposite.

'So that's how it is!'

…

The deduction ended.

Chen Ran glanced at the four people, and he found that the Persona Masks of these four people had disappeared.

They turned into three unfamiliar men and one woman. Two of the men looked like middle-aged men, while the woman was a somewhat pure-looking girl, and the last one was a youth whose appearance wasn't bad either.

The four people also noticed this.

Li Hao pondered: "We've been climbing the stairs here for so long, the effect of the Masked Rakshasa has ended."

Chen Ran noticed that the youth's sentence didn't have an Avoidance of Lying. He secretly thought the youth should know the valid time of 【Masked Rakshasa】, and that's why he didn't use Avoidance of Lying and just stated it directly.

"You're not bad, what's your name?"

"Li Hao."

Chen Ran nodded and asked with a smile: "Are you interested in joining my team?"

Seeing this, the other three were greatly alarmed and hurriedly shielded Li Hao behind them. The pure-looking girl stared intently at Chen Ran, like a mother hen protecting her chicks.

"What do you want to do? Are you trying to Lie-Judge him?"

Chen Ran ignored them and looked at Li Hao instead. As long as he agreed, he could completely kill the other three in this Secret Room.

Li Hao awkwardly scratched his head and hurriedly changed the topic: "Let's decipher the puzzle first."

Hearing this, Chen Ran and the other three frowned in unison and glared at each other.

Chen Ran didn't say anything more. He got up and continued walking towards the stairs ahead.

Li Hao followed closely behind.

The other three took a deep look at the backs of the two, secretly thinking that Li Hao might...

Be bewitched by Chen Ran!

This wouldn't do. After all, the three of them and Li Hao were now sharing life and death. If Li Hao was bewitched by Chen Ran, the three of them would be in danger.

The three exchanged a glance.

The woman came behind Li Hao and said in a low voice: "My skill will make those hit by it gamble against me while walking."

"Simply put, after taking one or two steps, I will stop. The person hit by it will start from the position where I stopped, take one or two steps, and then stop. I will then start from the position where they stopped, and take one or two steps."

"And so on. Whoever reaches the finish line first wins. When a group is hit, the losers will fall flat on their face on level ground, while the winner has no penalty. As for me, if I lose after wins and losses are offset, I will be penalized. If I win, there will be no penalty for me." the pure-looking girl finished saying.

Li Hao's eyelids twitched uncontrollably.

'This skill seems absolutely fair to the user and the victims.'

'But in reality, if she doesn't state the rules, who would know how to win?'

'Thank goodness, thank goodness!'

Just as the woman stepped back, one of the two middle-aged men stepped forward and whispered: "My skill can confuse the victims, making them unable to remember any numbers they had memorized in their minds before I used the skill."

Li Hao: "..."

'There are 1000 steps on the stairs in total. The finish line for the woman's skill should be Platform B. To win against her, one must constantly remember how many steps are left on this stairway. We have already walked for two and a half minutes, and Chen Ran is definitely counting silently.'

'But, the Middle-aged Uncle's skill can make Chen Ran forget these numbers...'

'This is simply a perfect match.'

'Chen Ran will undoubtedly lose. Although the penalty is only falling flat on one's face on level ground, what if...'

'He falls facing the stone statue?'

'He would fall into the abyss!'

Thinking up to this point.

Li Hao looked behind him at the Middle-aged Uncle who hadn't spoken the whole time and whose skill was unknown.

"My skill can't be told yet, you'll know later."

Without knowing when, Li Hao had evidently become the boss among this group of players.

'Later during the game, I can trick out Chen Ran's deduction answer...'

'And then screw him to death!'

Immediately, he gave an OK sign to the two.

The next moment.

"Ghost Whisperer·One Two One Two!"

"Ghost Whisperer·Countless!"

Immediately following.

Chen Ran, who was walking in front, found that the Secret Room went dark. Hearing the commands and gunshots made him a little dazed. What the hell was all this?