amaotonovel Chapter 4672 Desperate Escape (44)
Chapter 4672 Desperate Escape (44)
Chapter 4672 A Deadly Escape (Forty-Four)
The atmosphere grew tense. Many heroes had made it this far, and they were not lacking in the courage to sacrifice themselves. But precisely because of this, deciding who should be sacrificed became a difficult question.
The current situation is that because the chain is descending so fast, the gap is only enough for a person to reach out and touch the chain, but not enough to pull back. If someone reaches out and touches the chain, their hand will be cut off 100%.
They also tried using crowbars or similar tools to reach it, but there wasn't enough time. It was only slightly better than using their hands; at most, they could cut off a hand instead of the entire arm.
In this situation, cutting off a hand or an arm makes little difference. An injury of this severity will inevitably lead to excessive blood loss, essentially ending any chance of survival.
Everyone had considered the possibility that the organizers were misleading them, but after some reasoning, they realized that this seemed to be the only solution to the problem. A key had to be dropped first, and a group had to leave before a solution could be found elsewhere.
They first fell into an internal debate: if their group had to sacrifice themselves, who would step forward? For some groups, the answer was obvious, like Thor and Loki's group. Loki had little say in this situation; he could only try to persuade Thor not to let their group be sacrificed.
Loki remained optimistic, believing there were many heroes among the players and it might not be their turn. If it were, Thor could simply quit the game at the exact moment he got the key, and his hand probably wouldn't be cut off.
Many groups also had this plan: since it was basically impossible to complete the final level after having their hands cut off, they might as well just force quit after taking the key down, thus suffering less.
Timing it perfectly isn't difficult; one person can reach for it while the other keeps a close eye on the battle interface panel. The moment the key falls, the player should force quit the game; the blade can't possibly chase them into the base to kill them.
“I’ll do it,” Pamela called out. “We weren’t planning on winning anyway, we just came here to have some fun. We’ve done pretty well so far, we’ll quit if we lose the key.”
Harley didn't object; she was clearly having a good time. Even if she made it to the final round, there wouldn't be any more organizers for her to kill, so quitting now wouldn't be a big deal.
“Let us do it,” Charles said. “Neither of us tried to take shortcuts; we went through the normal process. But I suspect the last hurdle will be very difficult, and going through the normal process might be very challenging, with a slim chance of success. In that case, let’s just back out of this one.”
“Alright,” Thor chimed in, “I’m busy with official business and need to get back to handle things quickly. I’ll leave early and finish this quickly. Let me do it.”
Just as the three of them were explaining their reasons for sacrificing themselves, a voice raised an objection: "It's not us who should be the ones to sacrifice."
They all looked up. Anatoly, standing in front of the courtyard, also looked up. He stared at the organizer wearing the tiger mask and said, "You're the one who should really make the sacrifice for this, Mr. Tiger. Don't you think so?"
“Why would I think that?” Stark shook his head vigorously. “Don’t even think about getting me to stick my arm out. I absolutely will not do that.”
Originally, there wasn't a scene in the story where Stark was being chased, so he had no lines and no awareness of acting. However, he just so happens to be the only completely untainted capitalist among all the level designers. He doesn't need to put in any effort to act; his natural performance is already the pinnacle.
“Why would I sacrifice myself for a bunch of you?” Stark said sarcastically. “What good can you do for me? You just tried to kill me…”
"Then why don't you tell us why we want to kill you?" Thor couldn't stand his shamelessness anymore. "You did such cruel things, and even kidnapped us all here to play games with you. Don't you deserve to die?"
"It's an honor for you to experience the mechanisms I designed firsthand," Stark's voice echoed in the courtyard. "And even if you seek revenge, you can't blame it all on me. Besides, since you already know we're on different sides, how can you expect me to sacrifice myself for you?"
“This is just giving you a chance,” Anatoly said in a calm tone, “the only chance to save you from the image of a defeated, stray dog.”
"What did you say? Who's the one who's a stray dog?!" Stark immediately raised his voice. "You were the ones who were left in such a sorry state by the traps I designed!"
“I’m afraid you’re very wrong, Mr. Tiger,” Anatoly said in a deep voice. “From what I’ve seen along the way, the traps you’ve designed are complete failures. All you’ve shown through them is superficiality and vulgarity, not even a hint of malice.”
Anatoly has a certain magic when he speaks. He always makes it easier for people to understand what he's saying through the inflection of his tone and the emphasis on certain words, drawing them into his speech and making it impossible to filter out parts they don't want to hear. This could be considered a talent, but it's also related to his extensive professional experience.
Language is the medium of communication, and the ability to express oneself through language represents one's communication ability. Expressing oneself is simple, but getting others to listen is difficult. This can only be achieved by changing the way one expresses oneself through language, and Anatoly has developed a unique method that makes it impossible for anyone to ignore his words.
"You think you can make me surrender by using reverse psychology?" Stark's disdainful voice rang out. "I'm not going to listen to your nonsense."
“I wasn’t using any reverse psychology,” Anatoly said. “I was just stating the facts. After you hear my explanation, you’ll understand why I said that.”
"It's not hard to see that many of the traps in front of you weren't designed by you alone. Some people came up with ideas, and some people provided you with the ideas. However, most of the concepts they put forward were very abstract, such as telling you about some game theory or psychological phenomena, and you used these to design traps to achieve their malicious intent."
"For example, you thought you could bury traps inside doors to make those who don't observe carefully pay the price, so you made a trigger device to make the mechanism inside the door shoot out steel needles. Some people thought it would be interesting to create a psychological game of whether or not to donate blood based on the order of events, so you made a balance scale to convey the content and purpose of the level."
"Admittedly, it can't all be blamed on you, because many other people contributed ideas. If everything is mundane, you don't seem to bear all the responsibility. However, even considering only what you accomplished, it was quite superficial."
"Everything you do in a level is like writing an essay on a given topic. And most essays in the world are given topics, so naturally there are good and bad ones. People who complain that the topic is too narrow or that the topic doesn't suit their taste just because they can't write well are essentially not talented enough."
"To put it boldly, all creation in this world is based on a given theme, except that some people are given the theme by others, while others are given the theme by themselves. A good creator sets a framework for himself when he has an idea. His restraint in the main theme is precisely the key to creating a good work. The shackles on a dancer are part of the artistry. For talented and gifted creators, they are not shackles, but fuel."
"Although we've never met, I can tell from your work alone that you believe worldly laws and morals are your shackles, obstacles preventing you from achieving greater things and hindering your talent from being known by more people. But I think it's precisely these limitations that have saved you, masking your shallowness and incompetence. If these shackles are all you have left, then what you should do is wear them properly, not strip naked and let all the viewers see your ugly, bloated body shaped by desire. That's not art; it's more like retribution for their gullibility."
"Desire is the key point I want to make. You are someone who has never conquered your own desires. Design whatever you crave right now. No need for philosophical thinking, no need for artistry, you just need the simplest and most direct stimulation, following only the pleasure brought by the satisfaction of the most primal desires."
"Whether it's the room of the scales, the room of the steel needles, or the later cage and the circular mechanism, everything you designed is placed in the very center, in the most conspicuous place, and there is nothing else besides it, as if to say, 'Come and see me, and you can only see me.'"
"When you enlarge yourself to an infinite size, everything else becomes very small. Whether it's philosophical thinking or artistic expression, it's all destroyed in your endlessly magnified self-expression."
"If I had to give an example, I would probably say that you are the kind of person who takes the football trophy, enlarges it a thousand times, places it in the center of the football field, and tells the audience, 'That's all.' There is no competition, no contest, only what you consider to be the 'best result.' You would call it 'good for everyone,' but in reality, you just want people to applaud your work."
“You’re contradicting yourself!” Stark said. “It’s precisely because I used mechanisms to injure and bleed them that they had the opportunity to reveal their personalities and certain relationships between them. They had the opportunity to put on a spectacular performance. Where would all of this have come from without the mechanisms I designed?”
“But what if we changed all the levels to be controlled by magic?” Anatoli asked. “If we replaced the scales with a crystal ball, and poured enough blood into it, the ceiling with crystal spikes would float up due to magic. How would that be different from what we see now?”
Others started thinking about this too, and then they realized that there really wasn't much difference. It was just a matter of changing the style of the surrounding environment and giving various devices a new look.
In fact, magic might be even more reliable. Since few of the participants currently understand magic, disrupting certain aspects of its structure would be quite difficult. Furthermore, magic's strength lies in its intangibility; you wouldn't even know where to break it if you wanted to.
As Anatoly said, if you remove the scales and replace them with a floating magical structure, the scales won't break at all, because there won't be anything there. Trying to use a supporting structure to hold them in place is nonsense; it will actually make the level run more smoothly.
Previously, they were all busy passing the levels and hadn't given it much thought. Or rather, they mostly focused on the underlying logic of the levels, namely the game theory and psychology aspects. Clearly, they believed that from this perspective alone, the levels were quite good, with moderate difficulty, thrilling and exciting, and providing ample positive feedback.
The problem is that this has nothing to do with the design of the mechanism itself. Using the same game theory principle, no matter how it's presented, the effect will be the same.
Even the injuries and bleeding can be replaced. The blood that needs to be sacrificed can be replaced with unique items, and the danger brought by the passage of time can be changed to the deduction of some currency; everyone can still have a great time. Because that's the charm of the game itself, not how its appearance changes.
What about the mechanisms? In the secret chamber, what is the allure of the mechanisms?