Ren Yi suddenly realized something and snapped open his Participant panel.
On the light screen, two lines of text hovered coldly:
【You will survive in this Instance for three days】
【Please explore the remaining rules and conditions on your own】
Up until now, almost all Participants, including Ren Yi himself, had subconsciously defaulted to "surviving for three days" as the completion requirement.
But looking closer now, from beginning to end, the first sentence never mentioned the words "completion requirements."
As for the second sentence, it seemed as if a part of it was missing.
Would the Alliance truly maintain absolute fairness with a Pasture world that had long been anchored?
He recalled the flickering Participant panel when he first entered the Instance. The interference from the world rules had likely already begun at that moment.
Most likely, because this Pasture world was in a weakened state, the crucial part of the second sentence had been forcibly erased.
Just as the Auxiliary Rule hadn't specified that it was 【Do not feel the "same" pain together with others】, this sentence was likely: 【Please explore the remaining "Instance" rules and "completion" conditions on your own.】
However, based on what Lu Zihan just said, a path to survival did indeed exist within the Instance, and he—an Anomaly disguised as a Participant—had unknowingly fulfilled the requirements for that path.
"Why me?" Ren Yi asked himself.
No matter how weakened, suppressed, interfered with, or enslaved, world rules were still world rules.
The "path to survival" it set for Participants could never be without warning; it had to leave clues somewhere for one to find.
Auntie Lu Qing's words suddenly flashed through his mind: "In my Instance, 'Identity' is paramount."
Identity...
Ren Yi's pupils contracted sharply as he suddenly recalled one of the rules given at the start of the Instance.
【6. Servants must not leave the Lu Family; your range of activity is limited to the Lu Family residence and designated work areas.】
The rule everyone had taken as a simple restriction on movement.
But what if it was combined with "Identity"? Did it mean that a "servant" was unable to leave the Lu Family?
The deeper implication of this sentence was perhaps: the Identity of "servant" was itself bound to the "Lu Family." As long as one still held this Identity, they could never escape this Instance world.
Then, how could one get rid of the Identity of "servant"?
Ren Yi thought of another rule.
【7. Servants should be diligent and do their best to complete their work; servants who do not complete their work will be punished.】
He had speculated from the beginning that the "diligence" mentioned here might be a trap hidden in the rules.
If not completing work resulted in punishment, then conversely, a servant who completed their work should receive a corresponding reward.
The question then became: what counted as "completing work"?
He and the other Participants were clearly completing their assigned tasks every day—cleaning areas, organizing the study, tending the Watermelon Patch... yet they had never seen a so-called "reward."
Unless... the standard for "completion" didn't refer to finishing a "single day's" work, but rather completing all the labor obligations carried by the Identity of "servant."
【You will survive in this Instance for three days】
This sentence now had a new interpretation: it might not be setting a time limit for completion, but rather defining the contract period for the short-term employment of a "servant."
What the Lu Family wanted was a temporary servant for a three-day term.
But it was only noon on the second day—how could he have "completed the work"?
Because the allocation of workload was not fixed; a servant's work was not so full that there were no gaps!
When he tended the Watermelon Patch, he had finished just as the sun was rising. The task of organizing the study only needed to be done once a day, with no other chores afterward.
The work in the Herb Garden had even stricter time limits; it could only be done in the morning, leaving the afternoon completely free.
But it was likely similar to the Watermelon Patch and the study—as long as one was "diligent" enough to withstand those bizarre interferences, one could completely finish a workload far exceeding the daily quota in a short amount of time.
The hints had been everywhere all along.
From the first morning until now, Ren Yi had simultaneously held the roles of "Watermelon Patch laborer" and "study attendant."
It was currently noon on the second day, but if he calculated it carefully, the actual work projects he had finished and the accumulated time shares had already quietly added up to the "three-day" total!
Therefore, according to the Instance rules, Lu Qing had to personally come to grant him the reward for this "completion of the contract period."
Having understood the cause and effect, a smile slowly curled on Ren Yi's lips.
Interesting.
He suddenly realized why the Alliance forced them to participate in the Instances of powerful Anomalies and actually kill a Participant before they could obtain an "admission ticket."
This was actually a "demonstration lesson," allowing them to personally experience the construction of Instance rule traps and accumulate experience for building their own Instances and playing the boss in the future.
No wonder the Alliance restricted the "qualifications" of these Instances; it seemed only Instances with ingenious structures suitable for teaching were selected.
Wait, that's not right... then why didn't his brother's Instance meet the qualifications?
Ren Yi's thoughts suddenly veered off track. Curiosity scratched at his heart like a claw.
He definitely had to ask his brother what his Instance was like when he got back. If his brother refused to say, he'd ask Dr. Lin...
Clearing his head of all distractions, Ren Yi suppressed his stray thoughts and followed Lu Zihan step by step toward the second floor.
As they stepped onto the final stair, their hands were finally able to separate.
In the center of the second floor stood a heavy solid wood dining table. The two old servants, Fu Ye and A-mu, were also there, standing on either side of the table and looking at them expressionlessly.
For the first time since the Instance began, Ren Yi saw Auntie Lu Qing.
She wore a dark green brocade cheongsam with pearl frog buttons at the collar. In her arms lay a quiet animal that looked like a fox but had black and white stripes.
The animal's fur shimmered like silver glaze in the dim light, and its ruby-like eyes were half-closed.
The only flaw was that the animal's tail was half-bald, which abruptly ruined the overall aesthetic and added an indescribable touch of the ridiculous and the bizarre.
The moment he saw that animal, especially its tail, Ren Yi's face stiffened.
He seemed to know who this was.
Ren Yi felt a bit guilty.
Rate on N.U.
