Chapter 76

【Main Quest Progress Update】

【Explore Ye Jie High School, resolve seven paranormal phenomena, current progress 1/7】

Upon hearing the system prompt, Siyu let out a sigh of relief. Her courage was far above the average person's, perhaps even braver than players like Long Ge. So when she saw the chilling newspaper clipping, she didn't react too strongly.

However, she couldn't help but worry... because during their last call, Feng Bujue had clearly said he had found the well and was preparing to deal with it. Siyu, who had learned some information from the clipping and the song she had heard, naturally concluded that one should not look down the well. But she couldn't inform Feng Bujue until their next call. The feeling of wanting to help but being powerless was indeed tormenting.

The system aimed for this effect. Perhaps their concerns for each other were unnecessary, but such worries undoubtedly became a burden, causing anxiety and fear, which could lead to mistakes.

After hearing the prompt, Siyu felt a bit more at ease. She checked the time on her phone; it was just over two minutes until 25:00. She had almost finished searching the first floor of the main building, so she paused, planning to complete the call before moving to the second floor.

At that moment, she heard another system prompt: 【In this scenario, if you linger or wander in areas you have already explored for a long time without attempting to advance the game, it will be considered "passive gaming," and your fear baseline will increase over time.】

Siyu sighed helplessly, took her phone, and picked up the lantern, continuing down the corridor.

The concept of "passive gaming" was not present during the beta test but was introduced during the public beta. For example, if the players in this scenario were two strangers instead of Juege and Siyu, one of them might be very timid and have questionable character. This player could hide in a place they consider safe, always making or answering calls on time, never taking responsibility, while their teammate would risk their life in the school, dealing with various events and possibly becoming a target due to the calls. Alternatively, both players might be like this, each hiding in a different place and repeatedly making calls...

This is just one example. In other scenarios, players might also try to survive by being inactive. To prevent such situations, the system introduced the "passive gaming" concept during the public beta. If a player is deemed to be passively gaming, their fear baseline will slowly increase, regardless of whether they are scared or not. The longer they remain in a passive state, the higher their fear baseline will rise, and at 100%, they will be forcibly logged out. Only by actively returning to the game can they gradually eliminate this effect.

Of course, this setting is not present in every scenario. Some, like the Jigsaw game or the city controlled by Samodel, have difficulty and completion times closely tied to the clock, and delaying can often lead to danger or direct death.

Two minutes passed quickly, and the call time arrived. Siyu was just at the stairs, and as she walked up, she pressed the speed dial on her phone.

"One, two, three, four..." Siyu silently counted the steps, placing the phone to her ear.

Beep— Beep—

After two beeps, Feng Bujue answered: "I'm fine, are you okay?" This was his first sentence, quickly answering a question she might ask, followed by his own question.

"Everything is normal, I'm on the stairs to the second floor," Siyu said, having just finished the first flight of stairs and turning 180 degrees to the second flight, which led to the second-floor corridor: "I just finished the first flight, twelve steps." She continued walking as she spoke: "You don't need to tell me about the song; I understand most of it, the hints are obvious."

Feng Bujue was taken aback for a moment, then laughed: "Heh... If you say so, what should we talk about in the next call?"

"Report our progress," Siyu replied, then added: "Don't ask if the other is okay or if they are hurt, because it won't help, and knowing won't change anything; it will only add to the worry."

Feng Bujue agreed with Siyu's suggestion but found it hard to say such a thing himself, at least not first. If he, a man, said it, it would seem cold, indifferent, and heartless. But when Siyu said it, it felt natural...

"Wow... You really understand, I was thinking the same thing!" Feng Bujue quickly reported his progress: "By the way, I'm at the northwest building now; the music room seems to be here, I'm going to check it out."

"Thirteen..." Siyu suddenly said: "The second flight of stairs to the second floor here... has thirteen steps."

Before Feng Bujue could respond, the call time ended, and the line went dead.

"Hello? Hello!" Feng Bujue called out a couple of times, then hung up, muttering to himself: "Hmm... Still very concerning."

At that moment, he had also arrived at the door of the music room.

Pulling the door open and entering, Feng Bujue first scanned the entire room with his flashlight. The rows of seats below showed no obvious abnormalities, and there were no blood handprints or strange symbols on the walls. The only thing that stood out was the piano in the middle of the room.

Feng Bujue murmured: "SoFaRe, LaSoRe..." He took a deep breath: "Am I supposed to press the keys? Will pressing them trigger some mechanism, causing something to fall from the cabinet?" He turned his head and shone the flashlight at the glass cabinet on the wall where sheet music and textbooks were stored, but it was clearly empty.

"Hmm... If there was something there, I could probably reach it by standing on the piano stool," Feng Bujue mused.

His gaze then shifted to the Beethoven statue on a low cabinet in the corner. It was a common white plaster sculpture of Beethoven's head and upper chest, roughly life-sized.

Feng Bujue walked over and shone his flashlight on the statue, saying: "Bro Beethoven, what do you think?"

He clearly didn't expect the statue to answer. As he spoke, he placed his phone and flashlight on the cabinet to the right and tried to move the statue. It was of normal weight, and there were no hidden buttons or mechanisms underneath, so it seemed to be just a regular decoration.

"Bro Beethoven, we're both artists, don't be so uncooperative," Feng Bujue joked, picking up his phone and flashlight again.

In the end, he approached the piano. Although he knew it would trigger some bad flags, he had to do it. He extended his fingers and pressed the keys in the order given by the song...

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