Chapter 75: The Virtual World Game Escape Room Concludes!

'Three illusions?'

Chen Ran A glanced at Chen Ran. He knew the other man was searching for flaws and filling in the gaps of his own deductions.

'Only by defeating oneself can one discover their own shortcomings and truly grow.'

'This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He needs me to provide the answer.'

This time, Chen Ran A did not deduce silently; he spoke aloud, "Alright, then I will go through it from beginning to end."

"First, the three actions of reaching for the gun, drawing the gun, and raising the gun must have triggered an illusion. What was the content of that illusion?

"The content of the illusion must have occurred after the gun was raised.

"After raising the gun, I did not fire, yet the secret room plunged into darkness. You then consecutively uttered two commands, judging two people to death.

"There is a problem here. If you had used Eternal Kingdom, you would have sacrificed an opportunity for a Guaranteed Judgment. In other words, you would have given up the chance to judge the new Chen Ran or Geng Hao.

"First, the secret room turning black was because you used Eternal Kingdom.

"Second, the secret room turning black was because the real Geng Hao used Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back.

"Third, the secret room never turned black at all!

"Connecting this to earlier, when we were in the Third Study, in order to let those two Chen Rans see the situation clearly, I used Eternal Kingdom. This means your Eternal Kingdom was banned by my Eternal Kingdom.

"Since you could not use Eternal Kingdom, the first possibility can be ruled out.

"And you just said that I only triggered three illusions. If it was the second scenario, I most likely would have triggered four.

"Therefore, the final answer is that the secret room never turned black. The content of my illusion was: you using Eternal Kingdom, causing the secret room to turn black."

Hearing this, Chen Ran gave him a thumbs up, signaling him to continue.

Chen Ran A pondered for a moment before saying, "Since the secret room did not turn black at the time, and I was still under the influence of Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back, my action of raising the gun was pushed back two steps to the action of reaching for the gun.

"Drawing the gun, raising the gun, and firing the gun—the moment I fired, I used Eternal Kingdom to break the new Geng Hao's Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back.

"However!

"At that time, inside the secret room, the newly born Chen Ran and Geng Hao were both killed by you.

"I could not possibly have had the chance to sacrifice an opportunity for a Guaranteed Judgment...

"My shot misfired!

"The secret room turning black was also part of the illusion conjured when my three actions—drawing, raising, and firing the gun—triggered Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back!"

At this point, his voice trailed off.

Chen Ran A stood rooted to the spot, unable to let it go for a long time. This erroneous judgment had led him to believe that Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back had been dispelled.

Consequently.

He had lowered his raised arm, crouched into a half-squat, and looked up at the Chen Ran opposite him.

These three actions triggered Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back once more, leading to the third illusion.

Believing that both he and the opposing Chen Ran were half-squatting on the ground, he had spoken a lie.

"Looking at the entire process, I made a fatal mistake. I was influenced by your question asking whether this game room had a limit on the number of replications or a time limit."

"It caused my mind to fall into chaos. My deductions were full of holes and errors, and I rashly jumped to a conclusion without repeatedly scrutinizing and verifying the facts."

"Moreover, you bastard, you kept talking to me while I was deducing, interfering with my judgment, and even..."

"When I spoke the lie, you were still disrupting me, continuing to sway my judgment by saying, 'I only need two steps to use Eternal Kingdom: one, raise the gun; two, fire.'"

"Given the circumstances at the time, you indeed only needed two steps to use Eternal Kingdom. Even if you didn't use it, it wouldn't constitute a lie."

"But I lost. My Mental State underwent a transformation, meaning your words could no longer disrupt me."

Listening to Chen Ran A's words, Chen Ran became lost in thought. He realized his own problems still stemmed from his style of doing things.

'I revere the style of the School of Military Momentum. I encounter a problem, and I solve it.'

'But, if my emotions are interfered with by others, the speed I pursue will instead become a liability.'

'I need to slow down.'

'In the future, if I ever encounter a situation where someone disrupts my emotions, I must at least...'

'Scrutinize everything three times over.'

'If I have time, I'll deduce things slowly. If I don't, I'll play the ostrich and let others lead the charge. It's happily decided then!'

The post-mortem analysis was over.

Chen Ran raised his gun, aimed it at Chen Ran A, and asked, "Do you have any last words?"

Chen Ran A thought for a moment before answering, "There is a Mind Cultivation Method available in the Liar-Slayer Alliance. It would be best to exchange for it early. Perhaps after cultivating your mind, you can become immune to having your emotions manipulated by others."

"I know," Chen Ran nodded.

"You lied."

Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger. The bullet struck Chen Ran A square in the forehead.

Chen Ran A was dead.

With this.

There was no longer another Chen Ran in this infinite secret room who could pose a threat to him.

Chen Ran looked toward the Second Study. Even if Geng Hao had taken care of Geng Hao A, he probably wouldn't dare come in here...

Afraid he would be scammed to death by Chen Ran.

...

As time passed.

The number of corpses in the First Study grew more and more numerous, so many that they could hardly fit inside the room.

Finally, after an unknown number of replications, Chen Ran waited for five minutes. No more Chen Rans or Geng Haos were replicated. He understood that the replication limit had been reached.

But, the game had not ended.

This meant that in the Second Chamber, Geng Hao still hadn't resolved things with Geng Hao A.

Chen Ran had nothing to do.

He sat on the desk, quietly smoking a cigarette. Since this was a virtual world, no matter how many cigarettes he smoked, it would not affect his physical body in reality.

A veteran smoker's Heaven!

After smoking about half a pack, a creaking sound echoed as the back door leading to the Second Study was pushed open.

Geng Hao walked out, gun in hand.

The scenery inside the study gradually faded into nothingness. The two men felt their consciousness being stripped away.

Suddenly, the opposing Geng Hao looked at Chen Ran and asked, "This Virtual World Game Escape Room is about to end. Don't you want to know which of the two Geng Haos actually won?"

Chen Ran gave him a profound look. "It doesn't matter. My promise to Geng Hao was only that I wouldn't kill him in here. Once we leave the virtual world, that promise becomes void."

Geng Hao stared intently at Chen Ran, recalling everything that had happened within this game room.

'He left behind a message, orchestrating a situation of infinite mutual slaughter.'

'He even weaponized my skill to consecutively murder several Chen Rans who lacked the lying attribute.'

'He is an absolute devil!'

'I don't understand, nor can I figure it out. How can a Newbie be this terrifyingly strong?'

'This Instance...'

'Can I truly survive it?'

...

In the Third Secret Room, the Middle-aged Uncle, Liu Xing, and Qiu Yinong stared at the tightly shut door of the secret room. Several hours had already passed, yet those two still hadn't come out!

Just as they were wondering exactly how difficult the "Extreme Difficulty" setting was, the text on the door shifted.

"Chen Ran: 98 Kills."

"Geng Hao: 2 Kills."

Immediately following this, the door opened automatically.

Chen Ran and Geng Hao walked out, their complexions looking somewhat off. In the virtual world, their nerves had been highly taut, so they hadn't felt much.

However, upon returning to the real world and recalling the corpses that practically overflowed the two study rooms—all of which bore their exact faces—their stomachs fiercely churned.

Chen Ran and Geng Hao supported themselves against the wall. Having barely taken two steps, they threw up...