424: Chapter 423 Level Hints, Skill Exchange

"Rule-Breaker, do you remember your identity? Remember that you must hide yourself well, and from now on, you must absolutely not do anything that contradicts the Challengers."

The Minotaur said with a smile, his words full of meaning for the crowd:

"And you ordinary Challengers, don't be careless. There might not be only one Rule-Breaker. At the right time, you might even pretend to be Rule-Breakers to fish them out, because... Rule-Breakers don't know each other's identities."

These few words from the Minotaur were clearly still favoring the Rule-Breakers, reminding them to be careful.

Chu Xuan couldn't help but think of the voice transmission he received from the other party when he got the envelope earlier.

"Helping me stall for time?"

Chu Xuan's heart stirred slightly.

While the room was slightly silent, Xuan Xuan was the first to speak: "I think this is a good thing."

Seeing everyone's eyes turn toward her, Xuan Xuan cleared her throat and said:

"Did you notice what the Minotaur just said? He said there might not be only one Rule-Breaker, which implies that their numbers are small—maybe only two or three."

"Regardless, the Challengers must have a massive numerical advantage; otherwise, this second level would be meaningless."

"Because if there were more Rule-Breakers than Challengers, then as long as they intended to disrupt things, it would be almost impossible for the Challengers to unlock the mechanisms within the time limit."

At this point, Xuan Xuan paused, her eyes burning as she stared at the Minotaur.

The Minotaur smiled but said nothing.

Xuan Xuan's lips curled into a smirk: "So, we can continue to act together according to the original plan. Whoever steps out to hinder our progress is most likely a Rule-Breaker."

To her surprise, as soon as she finished speaking, the Minotaur burst into laughter:

"Sorry, I forgot to remind you of one thing. Due to the erosion of the night, time flows faster here. What was originally twelve hours will turn into complete darkness, but in reality, you only have 120 minutes."

The Minotaur pointed to a wall clock and smiled: "I don't know if you noticed, but when you entered, the time was at zero. Now, only ten minutes have passed, yet the hour hand is already pointing at '1'."

Everyone looked in that direction and saw that the old, mottled clock's second hand was spinning rapidly, followed by the minute hand also accelerating.

At that moment, the second and minute hands both rotated to the "12."

Dong—!!

A dull chime rang out, as if striking everyone's heart.

This meant it was now 1 o'clock.

They had wasted "one hour" just like that.

Everyone's expressions shifted.

In fact, everyone had noticed the clock's abnormal speed when they arrived.

However, since the castle itself appeared dilapidated, the mottled old clock didn't seem out of place.

Furthermore, the Minotaur had been explaining the rules of the second level, and everyone was waiting to exchange their points for skills.

Thus, even if some had doubts, they didn't voice them.

But now it was clear the Minotaur had intentionally kept quiet.

At the same time, everyone noticed the light in the room had significantly dimmed.

"Minotaur, as the Administrator, isn't it a bit unfair for you to favor the Rule-Breakers like this?" Xuan Xuan asked with a frown.

"Fair?"

The Minotaur narrowed his eyes and smiled: "My task is to introduce the rules to you here. As for how I introduce them, that's my business."

Shen Ba looked impatient: "Then is there anything else you haven't said? Just say it all at once."

"Of course there is, but I don't need to say more. You'll find out for yourselves soon enough!"

Having said that, the Minotaur suddenly burst into loud laughter:

"Dear Rule-Breaker, I have done my best to stall for time. Next, I hope you can put your acting skills to use and let me witness a brilliant performance!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a System notification rang in everyone's ears.

Simultaneously, lines of blood-red text appeared out of thin air on the castle walls.

[Level Two: Mysterious Castle]

[Find the twelve boxes containing hints before the night completely invades the castle, and unlock the twelve mechanisms based on those hints. Otherwise, you will die immediately.]

[Hint 1: The night invades, and the castle is in crisis. Under the influence of The Gloom rules, time flows faster here. The castle, which originally would have taken twelve hours to be fully engulfed in darkness, now only has two hours left.]

[Hint 2: There are a certain number of special identities among the Challengers—Rule-Breakers.

Rule-Breakers must prevent the Challengers from unlocking the mechanisms within the time limit or kill five people present by any means. Fulfilling either condition counts as clearing the level.

Note: When five or more people die, the night will fall immediately.]

[Hint 3: Rule-Breakers have extra privileges. Specific information can be obtained by unlocking mechanisms.

Note: It is forbidden to destroy Hint Boxes in any way; otherwise, you will face the penalty of forced erasure.]

[Hint 4: It is forbidden to use items or skills in any way during this level, but you can use the points earned from clearing the first level to exchange for skill usage permissions.

Note: Exchanged skills can be carried over to the third level.]

[Hint 5: Due to the influence of The Gloom rules, the rules regarding "summoning everyone to the hall by raising an alarm upon discovering a corpse" and "voting for exile" are now invalid.]

The blood-red text on the wall ended there, consistent with what the Minotaur had said earlier.

The third and fifth hints were information the other party hadn't fully disclosed.

It seemed the Minotaur wasn't actually needed to explain the rules to everyone.

His presence, just as he said, was to stall for time and help the Rule-Breaker clear the level as much as possible.

"Something's not right..." Chu Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly.

"In the fifth hint, the rules for raising an alarm upon finding a corpse and voting for exile are clearly disadvantageous to Rule-Breakers.

The reason these rules are invalid is because of the influence of The Gloom rules!

From this, it's clear that The Gloom rules also favor the Rule-Breakers.

But my identity is a Purifier, a target the Dark World must kill. How could its rules possibly favor me?"

Chu Xuan had long known that everything in this world, despite appearing irrational with constantly changing rules, was actually the result of a game between two worlds, where their rules collided to create new ones.

This was reflected in every aspect.

For example, Transcendents resolving Dark Places by completing missions.

This was clearly this world's counter-mechanism against the Gloom Invasion.

In this level...

Whether it was the acceleration of time or the invalidation of the alarm and exile rules, both were manifestations of The Gloom rules gaining the upper hand.

"Based on this logic, the Rule-Breakers in this level should belong to the Gloom Faction, yet my assigned identity is that of a Rule-Breaker..."

"So, is this a trap within the rules of this level, or is it..."

Chu Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly, his thoughts racing like lightning.

In just a few seconds, numerous possibilities flashed through his mind.

An answer was already on the tip of his tongue.

However, it still needed verification...

While Chu Xuan was lost in thought...

All the blood-red text on the wall disappeared.

A countdown box appeared in his vision.

[1:48:00]

[...]

Simultaneously, another System notification appeared.

[You earned 100 points for completing the first level. You may now use them to exchange for skill usage permissions.

Please make your selection within one minute. If you exceed the time limit, it will be considered a forfeit, and your points will be reset to zero...]

Next, various skills appeared before Chu Xuan's eyes, categorized by type.

First were the Transcendent Skills.

[Assimilation (World Class, Uses: 1), Myriad Forms Lv.1, Unyielding Lv.1, Teleportation Lv.4, Void Burst Step Lv.5, Heart Bewitchment Lv.MAX...]

Each Transcendent Skill, regardless of level, required 10 points to exchange.

This was interesting; the World Class Assimilation skill was clearly far superior to the currently low-level Myriad Forms, yet both cost 10 points.

Clearly, the point values for exchange corresponded to the skill categories.

Next were the Exclusive Skills.

[Fire of Nirvana Lv.5, Forbidden Darkness Lv.MAX, Eye of Insight Lv.MAX, All-Cutting Slash Lv.3, Hundred Weapons One Heart Lv.MAX...]

Each Exclusive Skill required 30 points to exchange.

Finally, the Talent skill [Precognitive Dream] required 50 points to exchange.