“The director? I haven't seen her in a very long time.” Ling Xun took the cigarette out of his mouth and tapped the ash against the edge of the ashtray.
Before Yue Shi could ask why, Ling Xun crushed the cigarette butt, immediately lit another one, and continued, “Director Tang should be in her office on the top floor. But that floor is very strange. In the six-plus minutes I have, I can't even reach the office before the loop restarts.”
Yue Shi frowned. What was this guy talking about? He couldn't reach an office in six minutes? Was he suffering from early-onset dementia and couldn't find his way?
Ling Xun took a drag, and secondhand smoke drifted from his nose, scattering into a pale blue mist. “To be honest, I really want to see her too. Maybe the director knows why Amber City became like this. But unfortunately, I’ve tried many times and still haven't managed to see her.”
Ling Xun’s expression didn't look like he was lying, leaving Yue Shi full of questions. “You’re not joking? You can’t walk from here to the top-floor office in over six minutes?”
He estimated the distance. From the Investigation Bureau lobby to the top-floor office, given Ling Xun’s speed, six minutes should have been more than enough.
Ling Xun gave a small smile. “You don’t understand. It’s not a matter of distance or time. It’s that the top floor itself has developed an abnormal condition.”
Yue Shi’s gaze shifted slightly. “Has the top floor mutated? You can't get in?”
Ling Xun didn't answer directly, only saying, “Why don’t you go see for yourself? A few words can't explain it.”
“If you manage to see the director, please give her my regards.”
“Though, I suspect her state might not be very good either. Otherwise, in this endless loop, she would have shown her face long ago instead of letting things get to this point.”
Yue Shi nodded.
Everything went black.
...
Iteration 32.
Yue Shi didn't linger in the lobby at all. He vanished on the spot, teleporting directly to the stairwell landing on the top floor of the Investigation Bureau.
He had intended to go all the way in one step, straight into the Director's Office.
But as soon as he reached the landing, his teleportation was forced to a halt. A force blocked him—invisible and soft, like a thin membrane preventing him from moving forward.
He tried to increase his strength, but the 'membrane' became viscous and tough, just enough to stop him.
When he stood still at the landing, the force disappeared.
Spatial movement was forbidden.
Something here wouldn't allow him to teleport directly from the landing into the office. It was like an invisible wall in a game; he could see the other side, but he couldn't cross it.
Yue Shi stood at the landing, surveying the corridor before him.
It was the same familiar sight: grey-white walls. Besides the Director's Office at the end of the hall, this floor also housed the archives, the equipment room, and a meeting room.
The lights were sound-activated. Currently, they were off, with only a sliver of light from the stairwell illuminating the floor tiles.
Yue Shi took a step. The moment his foot landed, the overhead lights in the corridor flickered on. A cold, white glare poured down, illuminating the entire hallway.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a piece of paper stuck to the wall.
It was an A4-sized sheet, taped to the wall with clear tape at roughly eye level. The paper had yellowed, its corners were curled, and it was covered in wrinkles.
The text on the paper was handwritten in black ink. The handwriting was scrawled, with several blocks of text blacked out or crossed through.
Yue Shi took a look and saw that it was titled:
《Precautions for Proceeding to the Director’s Office》
【1. The lights in the corridor are sound-activated. When the lights are on, you may move; when the lights are off, you must remain stationary.】
【2. Among the tiles on the corridor floor, some are special "living bricks." Please distinguish them carefully. When heading to the Director's Office, you must ensure that every living brick is stepped on exactly once. None can be missed. The positions of the living bricks change randomly.】
【3. When passing the door to the archives, you must not look at the door sign. When passing the door to the equipment room, you must look at the door sign. When passing the door to the meeting room, you must not make any sound.】
【4. All doors on this floor must be pushed open using both your left and right hands simultaneously.】
【5. You must complete the journey from the landing to the Director's Office before ██.】
【6. If you see ██ in the corridor, please do not ██. Immediately close your eyes and count to three. If ██, you may ██.】
【7. The length of the corridor is fixed and will not change. However, your step length is not. With every step, your step length must change. The first step is a normal step length, the second is one-third of a normal step, the third is twice a normal step, the fourth is half a normal step, the fifth is three times a normal step, and the sixth is one-third of a normal step. Please maintain this cycle of step lengths without error.】
【8. The duration the lights stay on is related to the current second count. When the seconds are an even number, the lights can be on; when the seconds are an odd number, the lights will go out. However, please note that the sound of footsteps while walking will affect the judgment of the seconds; a footstep will "swallow" one second. Specific rule: For every step taken, subtract one from the current second count.】
【9. Do not daze off or think in the corridor.】
After reading the nine rules on the paper, Yue Shi fell silent.
This felt so familiar. Was this a Rules Horror?
Hmm... let me look again.
Yes, it was definitely a Rules Horror!
Yue Shi looked down at his phone. In this 32nd iteration, the time started at 9:30:00. It was now roughly 9:31:15, leaving him with over five minutes.
He re-read the rules.
Living bricks, varying step lengths, even/odd seconds, sound-activated lights, footsteps eating seconds, not looking at signs, must look at signs, silence, pushing doors with both hands, no thinking in the hallway, plus those redacted sections...
This was hard to even comment on. The difficulty of these nine rules was so absurd it was almost a barrier to even understanding them.
No wonder Ling Xun couldn't see Director Tang. It wasn't that he couldn't reach the office; it was that he literally couldn't reach the office.
The harshness of these rules made it almost impossible to complete the task within six minutes.
Every single step required calculating step length, calculating the landing point, calculating the parity of the seconds, all while remembering which bricks were living and which signs to look at or avoid.
Most importantly, one couldn't even pause to think in the corridor!
These nine rules were clearly designed to discourage anyone from entering the Director's Office.
He didn't know what the consequences of violating the rules were. Given that Amber City could loop infinitely, even if there were severe consequences, a restart would make it as if nothing had happened.
Yue Shi first attempted a non-compliant operation, striding boldly toward the office and ignoring all the rules.
Blink—
Yue Shi was back at the landing.
What happened? Did the loop restart?
He looked down at his phone; it wasn't time for a restart yet.
Yue Shi repeated the violation.
Blink—
He was back at the landing again.
He understood now. The consequence of violating the rules was merely being ejected and thrown back to the landing; it wasn't a severe punishment.
It seemed these rules were indeed just meant to prevent people from entering the office, not to trap or kill them.
Rate on N.U.
