Chapter 293: Chapter 186 Endless Corridor Maze_2
He opened the scientific calculator on his computer, entering 3^99
The result was an extremely terrifying number.
1.71792506910e+47
He wants to try crossing the maze by brute-forcing, the worst luck means he will have to go through...in layman’s terms, this is a number that can add 46 zeroes after 17.
Lin Xun will have to go through near-infinite attempts, tirelessly seeking without eating, drinking, or sleeping, maybe he may find the exit of the maze in his lifetime if he’s lucky.
"...Really not giving betrayers any chance, huh?"
He attempts to enter the corridor once again...
Half an hour later, he returned to the starting hall once again.
"How am I supposed to play now?"
Lin Xun pondered deeply, attempting to figure out a way through the Chasing Star Corridor.
The approach of trial and error surely couldn’t be used anymore.
He could only expand on the information he obtained from the books just now.
’The Chasing Star Corridor’ is a trial from the Stars to its followers, only a true believer could successfully pass through it.
As long as he becomes a devout believer of the Stars, he can pass through the maze.
Switching to Stars is certainly not realistic...
Lin Xun suddenly remembered, although the Multivision Association’s president in his Shell inventory isn’t a follower of Stars, there is a shell of one of the Grand Scholars of the Multivision Association, who is very likely a Stars believer.
According to the words of the Multivision president in the secret laboratory, all the association’s Grand Scholars have switched to the Stars, except for Rona.
"There is only one truth, as for the so-called trials... Is this it? Too easy!"
[You are possessing the Shell of ’the Grand Scholar of the Multivision Association, who seeks knowledge!’]
Lin Xun gave a faint smile, using the Grand Scholar’s Shell to enter the maze again.
According to the data, in front of Stars believers, the corridors would become simple, they wouldn’t be complicated and intricate anymore.
But as he walked, he noticed something was wrong.
He kept crossing the intersections, one after another, but more intersecting corridors kept appearing before him.
"Could it be that the Grand Scholar is not devout enough?"
Lin Xun, not deterred, pressed on with the options and proceeded forward.
Half an hour later, after crossing ninety-nine intersections, he once again returned to the familiar hall.
[...]
[Congratulations, after tireless efforts, you have finally returned to the beginning of your journey!]
Lin Xun frowned.
Even if the Grand Scholar wasn’t that devout a believer of Stars, the number of intersections should have been less than what he had encountered himself.
How could there still be ninety-nine intersections.
"Damn, I really messed up, the vow affects the Apostle itself rather than the Shell."
"In other words, as long as the ’Ordinary Wandering Soul’ is a follower of the ’Almighty True Knowledge’, even if their shell belongs to the Stars’ evil god, it would still be considered as part of the ’Almighty True Knowledge’s’ vow faction."
Lin Xun slapped his forehead, finally realizing this.
Then, he once again fell into deep thought.
The method of switching Shells was ineffective, leaving him with an incredibly complicated maze.
Without becoming a believer of Stars, he wouldn’t be able to pass the trial.
If it wasn’t for the Rest Page in the hall, he would have been trapped here to death.
If non-stars believers, the native residents in the game world, accidentally entered here, they wouldn’t be able to see the ’Rest Page’ and would get lost here, resulting in death.
While Lin Xun was thinking about a solution to this predicament, he was also using his Shell to navigate the maze.
He still held a glimmer of hope, which was the ’Lucky Coin’.
Perhaps he could keep pressing options aimlessly, depending on the effect of the ’Lucky Coin’, and find his way out of the maze.
However, after aimlessly wandering around the maze for quite a while, he saw no sign of the ’Lucky Coin’s’ effect.
"Lucky Coin is just unreliable, I better think of another plan."
Just when Lin Xun was renouncing the ’Lucky Coin’, the text suddenly displayed.
[The ’Lucky Coin’ you carry starts to flicker, you suddenly find the middle intersection at the end of the corridor is particularly pleasing to the eye...]
[Which corridor would you like to enter?]
"I was mistaken. The Lucky Coin is indeed a lifesaver."
Lin Xun rapidly changed his mind faster than turning a book page, decisively choosing the middle intersection without any hesitation.
[You step into the middle corridor, continuing to move forward...]
[...]
[At the end of the corridor, it forks into three identical paths, still categorized as left, middle, and right.]
[Which corridor would you choose to enter?]
Lin Xun again looked towards the ’Lucky Coins’.
Lucky Coins: ...
After a long time, Lin Xun saw no sign of movement from the Lucky Coins.
"Lucky Coins, you’re such a short-lived feller, wilting after just three seconds..."
"Come on, kick in already, a man can’t just give up!"
No matter how much Lin Xun tried to provoke it again, the Lucky Coins just lay there, indifferent and inert.
"Is it possible that the Lucky Coins are actually female?"
...
Very quickly, Lin Xun abandoned this fanciful thought.
With ninety-nine detours to choose from in the maze, one couldn’t possibly hope for the ’Lucky Coins’ to work every single time.
Guess it would make sense to rename ’Lucky Coins’ to ’Lady Luck’ then.
"If being gentle doesn’t work, then it’s time to get tough!"
[You’ve entered the ’Shell’ of the ’Lost Earth Giant’!]
[Your form suddenly grows massive, in the blink of an eye, you turn into a towering giant...]
[You swiftly shape-shift into a massive man over three meters tall, hitting the ceiling of the corridor and unable to get bigger.]
[The sudden halt of your growth makes you furious, and you swing the ’Ancient Dragon Tooth Mace’ in your hand at the wall.]
[The sudden gust of wind creates a shockwave, sparks fly, and the stars on the corridor wall twinkle brightly.]
[Looking closely, there’s not a single dent or crack at the spot where your mace hit the wall.]
Lin Xun pulled a face.
"Unbreakable terrain...in terms of being assholery, you really are the king, video game."
Both gentle and tough approaches failed to find the exit to the maze.
Lin Xun was back at the starting hall after randomly pressing options.
[You step into a great hall, with the walls, the dome, the ground all ornamented with stars, shimmering and shifting, shining brightly and charmingly.]
[The obelisk that once stood tall within the original hall was now replaced by a sculpture.]
[The sculpture didn’t resemble a human figure, rather it was an intricate elliptical galaxy with numerous stars scattered throughout.]
[You have found the statue of the Bright Stars!]
[Enticed by the statue, you moved closer to touch...]
[Do you want to betray the pledge of the ’Almighty True Knowledge’ and make a pledge to ’Bright Stars’?]
[You’ve permanently earned the enmity of the ’Bright Stars’ faction, you’ll no longer be able to pledge allegiance to them again!]
Lin Xun was left utterly clueless by the sudden changes.
The obelisk which was once a warning had now turned into the pledge statue...
After a quick thought, he figured out the key point.
If someone accidentally enters the ’Chasing Star Corridor’, and they’re not a follower of the ’Bright Stars’, they’ll be trapped within the complex maze, inevitably leading to despair and death.
In times of despair, the ’Bright Stars’ statue would appear, as long as one’s willing to convert their belief, not only could they exit the maze smoothly, they’d also be granted divine rewards in the ’Star Spirit Hall’.
Unbelievers or those with weak faith would most likely make a pledge to the stars, thus becoming followers of Bright Stars.
"Deciding to switch to the ’Almighty True Knowledge’ faction was the right move after all, the ’Bright Stars’ camp is full of old cunning bastards, if I was still working under them, I’d probably be devoured whole."
Lin Xun sighed.
Instead of needlessly wandering around the maze, he decided to contemplate a strategy right there.
Among the items left in his inventory, none seemed suitable for this situation.
Suddenly, his eyes landed on the ’Fluorescent Footprint Powder’ gifted by Bennett.
[’Fluorescent Footprint Powder’*3 (Tool): ...Upon using this tool, a colorful fluorescent footprint is left on your path, allowing you to find your way back home.]
"No, although this item helps in backtracking to the starting point in the fog, it’s not suitable for the current maze."
Lin Xun shook his head and checked the other items.
After a while, he sighed again and was about to close the item bar, when a lightbulb moment hit him.
He slapped his thigh and shouted: "I’ve got it!"
"I am an oath breaker, and I can’t make the ’Bright Stars’ pledge and through the maze."
"But if I can bring in a creature from the ’Bright Stars’ faction, I could just follow it out of the maze!"
His gaze turned to that special item in his inventory - the ’Ring of the Stars’ Light’.
