nyslfriends Chapter 17 This is not the end, but... a cycle!
Chapter 17 This is not the end, but... a cycle!
【11:14:02】
The countdown continues.
The sea of clouds outside the window had changed.
The ethereal celestial music drifted in and out, and the clouds parted to reveal a magnificent, radiant fairy island in the sky!
The magnificent palaces and pavilions, with their carved beams and painted rafters, resemble the legendary Penglai fairyland.
What's even more arousing is that several stunningly beautiful but scantily clad women flew close to the plane with charming smiles, gracefully pressed themselves against the windows, and made various highly seductive gestures towards the passengers inside.
"So...so beautiful..." Several weak-willed chosen ones' eyes instantly became glazed over, and they subconsciously moved closer to the window.
"Wake up! Stop staring! It's an illusion!" Lin Feng and Ivan shouted almost simultaneously.
Rin Jinguji and Jeanne stepped forward and slapped the bewildered chosen ones across the face several times.
The pain temporarily brought them back to their senses. The group covered their faces, staring in horror at the still alluring yet now eerie scene outside the window, cold sweat pouring down their faces.
The fairy island and the fairy seemed to realize that their temptation had failed, and their images gradually became distorted and corrupted, eventually dissipating into the sea of clouds.
It was extremely dangerous, but no one was injured or killed.
However, the continuous events greatly depleted everyone's energy, and the hidden rules remained a mystery.
【10:55:49】
Despair and anxiety spread like poison.
Prolonged periods of tension and fear of unknown rules have pushed some people to the brink of mental collapse.
Just then, Sowin, the chosen one of the Kingdom of Pastries, a usually taciturn middle-aged man, suddenly stood up from his seat without warning.
His eyes were vacant, his expression numb, and he muttered words that no one could understand.
"Sowin? Are you alright?" The person next to him noticed that something was wrong with him.
But Sowin didn't react at all. He just took a step and staggered but rushed toward the emergency exit in the middle of the cabin!
"Stop him!" Lin Feng was the first to react, shouting in alarm.
However, it was still too late!
A strange yet resolute smile appeared on Sowin's face. With all his might, he pulled down the emergency hatch handle!
Whoosh—!
A deafening alarm instantly blared throughout the entire cabin!
Then came a deafening roar, like the end of the world!
boom!!!
The emergency exit door suddenly blew open!
An unimaginable pressure difference instantly creates a terrifying suction force!
The things inside the cabin were powerless against the might of heaven and earth, and were frantically swept towards the wide-open gate of death!
"No--!!!"
"Aaaaaah—!"
The terrified screams were drowned out by the roar of the powerful airflow.
Lin Feng felt an irresistible force suddenly grab him, violently pulling him up from his seat. His body slammed uncontrollably against the seat and the cabin ceiling, and in a dizzying spin, he flew towards that azure but deadly sky.
The feeling of suffocation came instantly, and the extreme cold and lack of oxygen caused him to quickly lose consciousness.
........................
Dragon Kingdom Live Stream Room:
"It's over??!!"
"No way?! It's over just like that?!"
"Is Sowin fucking crazy?! Why did he open the door?!"
"The entire team was wiped out... The hidden rule wasn't broken..."
"Not even 12 hours have passed... does this mean it's a failure?"
"Waaaaah... Brother Feng..."
"This chosen one from the Land of Pastries deserves to die!"
"It was so sudden! I couldn't react at all!"
"Is there no explanation for this ghost story?"
"Is the Dragon Kingdom... about to face a catastrophe...?"
........................
The lobby of the Dragon Kingdom Strange Tales Strategy Group was deathly silent.
Everyone was stunned by this sudden and devastating ending.
But soon, team leader Qin Jianguo suddenly stood up and stared intently at the black screen.
"No...no!" he muttered to himself, a startling light suddenly flashing in his eyes. "This method of destruction...it's too fast, too thorough. It doesn't seem like a rule-based erasure at all..."
He slammed his hand on the table and roared at the members, who were still in grief and shock, "Cheer up! This may not be the end!"
"Simulation team! Hypothesis! Hypothesis! If this is a mandatory, unavoidable 'event,' then what is its purpose?!"
Qin Jianguo's voice trembled slightly with excitement: "What if... what if the hidden rule is 'loop'?!"
"What if with each failure, time rewinds to a certain point and starts again until they find a solution or the 12 hours completely run out?!"
"The communication disruption wasn't due to the ghost story depriving them of assistance, but rather because... the loop itself forbids external intervention?!"
This bold conjecture, like lightning, cleaved through the fog of despair!
Yes, only a "loop" can explain why there is a setting like "crack the hidden rules in 12 hours"!
Otherwise, if everyone is wiped out after a single failure, the very existence of this rule would seem superfluous!
........................
Inside the cabin.
Lin Feng suddenly woke up from his seat, his body trembling violently as if he had just escaped from a nightmare of drowning.
He was panting heavily, his forehead was covered in cold sweat, and his heart was pounding wildly in his chest.
A strong sense of disorientation and distortion enveloped him, as if his soul had been forcibly stuffed back into his body, not yet fully integrated.
He subconsciously looked around. Ivan, Rin Jinguji, Jeanne... the other survivors were still sitting in their respective places, and everything seemed to be normal.
But this "normality" made him feel a deep-seated sense of unease.
What exactly happened just now?
His last clear memory was clearly the moment when Xia Ning announced the hidden rules and the bright red countdown appeared.
After that, everything in my memory is like a thick mosaic, leaving only some blurriness and a strong sense of unease.
"Damn... is it because of too much stress that I'm experiencing memory loss?"
Lin Feng rubbed his temples hard, his gaze unconsciously drifting towards the front of the cabin—
That bright red countdown still hangs like the Sword of Damocles!
But the time it displays is no longer the initial close to 12 hours, but rather—
【10:49:01】
【10:49:00】
【10:48:59】……
More than an hour has passed silently!
........................
Dragon Kingdom Live Stream Room:
"??? Did the live stream signal just flicker? Why does it feel like the picture is back on, but something's off?"
"It's not a brief interruption! It's a loop! I'm sure of it! Just now, when Sowin opened the door, the entire team was wiped out, and now it's starting over!"
"A loop?! So that door-opening event is the critical point? All we need to do is stop the shuttle?"
"It seems the Chosen Ones' memories have been tampered with; they don't remember what happened in the loop!"
"No wonder they cut off off-site communications; it's to prevent the strategy team from giving away spoilers!"
"Holy crap, this setting! Does that mean they might have to experience death repeatedly while suffering from amnesia until they discover the cyclical pattern?"