There’s another Copy.
Since the first one’s confusion was already resolved, He Feixian immediately brought up the second one, ‘That Copy is a purely competitive one, with two teams each going through their own maze.’
‘The team that finishes faster wins. But the Copy prohibits any device that checks the time, the mazes are in different locations, and the challenges inside appear randomly.’
‘Players can only meet at the very start and at the very end of the Copy; the rest of the time, they can’t even hear the other team’s voices.’
After explaining the rules, she voiced her confusion: ‘Even though, in theory, this kind of Copy could allow both teams to finish in exactly the same time and clear together, in reality, isn’t that basically impossible?’
At this point, the bystanding System explained for the game:
‘There must be a practical and feasible way to clear the Copy; otherwise, it wouldn’t exist. In other words, there’s definitely a method for players to achieve an all-team clearance under these conditions.’
Could it be that their thinking is off? Su Shisan has always liked to take unorthodox approaches—that much is clear just from the types of Copies she chooses.
When everyone else thinks, ‘Both teams need to clear the maze at exactly the same time for everyone to pass,’ she instead suspects that’s not the correct solution.
***
After pondering for a moment, Su Shisan asked, ‘Repeat the players’ clearance conditions, word for word.’
He Feixian’s memory was pretty good, and she quickly recited, ‘Players are divided into groups of twelve, and take turns running the maze in a relay. The first group to clear it wins.’
The rules sounded fine, with conditions that were clear and straightforward—nothing ambiguous.
But thinking it over, she suddenly noticed a fuzzy point: ‘You said before that players can meet both at the start and the end of the Copy? Why can they meet?’
Logically, if they’re randomly assigned to different mazes, it should effectively prevent player communication. So why let them meet at the beginning?
Meeting at the start is one thing, but meeting at the end is what really caught her attention.
According to the rules, the group that finishes the maze first should be able to declare victory and end the Copy immediately. So why bother meeting again?
It couldn’t just be time for the players to show off, right?
Since the Copy specifically gives players space to communicate, maybe that’s the real key to an all-team clearance.
‘Oh, that’s because this Copy is a variety show, “Maze Grand Challenge.” They’re participating in the show, so of course they have to get on stage at the beginning and end.’
He Feixian answered, ‘I play the host inside.’
That really was a perfect fit—though she was an actress, she’d actually studied hosting, and her height and looks definitely suited the role.
A variety show, huh… Su Shisan raised an eyebrow, immediately understanding, and said meaningfully, ‘You must have been on shows before. Let me ask you: for a variety show, does it really matter who wins or loses?’
As a film queen, He Feixian had indeed been on a few variety shows. But even if she hadn’t, she’d know the industry basics.
So she answered decisively, ‘Of course it doesn’t matter. What matters to the show is ratings.’
After all, the prize money is just there for show; to the production crew, does it matter who wins? Unless there’s someone with connections among the guests, they only care about ratings.
The more dramatic, the better—the more “drama,” the better. Even if it’s just camaraderie, as long as the audience enjoys watching, that’s fine.
‘Exactly. Winning or losing isn’t important—ratings are what matter.’ Su Shisan picked up her cup and took a sip, speaking slowly.
‘In this kind of competitive show, if the contestants can resolve their conflict peacefully, the audience would probably find it really novel.’
‘Th… this actually works?!’ He Feixian was briefly stunned, then quickly caught on.
‘That really could work! If one side acts pitiful and the other is willing to call it a tie and split the rewards, a normal production crew might actually agree!’
But then she hesitated, ‘But the Builder definitely wouldn’t agree, right? As long as the crew doesn’t agree, it won’t work, will it?’
‘That’s where there might be a hidden clearance method—like, if the ratings exceed a certain number or something.’ Su Shisan, already having figured it out, shook her head, losing interest.
You know, as long as the players win, except for those with truly outstanding performance, everyone else gets the same reward. There’s no situation where only half clear and the rewards are higher.
In fact, it’s often the opposite—the more people clear, the greater the reward. So once they figure out the trick, they’ll definitely cooperate.
So, this is a Copy that, once its secret is discovered, has no further value.
‘That must be it! Boss, you’re a genius!’ He Feixian’s eyes shone brighter and brighter, like she’d become a little fangirl. ‘Now I think even if you were a player, you’d be amazing!’
Originally, she just thought Su Shisan was a genius Builder, with her own unique style.
But that was also related to her past experience—being a horror movie screenwriter sounded like the perfect background for a Copy Builder.
But now, He Feixian suddenly realized that Su Shisan seemed to be genuinely smart—the kind who’d excel whether as a player or a Builder.
Hearing He Feixian’s praise, Su Shisan just shook her head and didn’t say much. If she really became a player, she’d probably die in no time. @无限好文, all at Jinjiang Literature City
In a world full of danger, a will to survive is crucial. She never really had much of that—if not for her love of being a Copy Builder, she’d have turned the System down when it came knocking.
Once you’re dead, what’s the point of struggling to live? Players are constantly at risk, always dealing with others, and none of that brings Su Shisan any joy.
She finds it meaningless. Being a Builder is better—even if it means standing against most people, once you’re dead, why care about any of that?
Not planning to keep listening to more flattery, she decisively changed the topic: ‘My new Copy is more or less taking shape.
You can take a look and get familiar with it. I’m planning to assign you the tour guide role, since you’ll interact with the players the most.’
Just like she’d said before, this Copy would have three NPCs—a tour guide, an Amusement Park Director, and the Leader of the Polluters.
Though the Director sounds like the highest authority, that role actually has the fewest tasks. Think about it in real life—how often do you see the Director when you’re at an amusement park?
The same goes for the Copy; most of the time, players won’t be able to find him.
Of the tour guide and Polluter Leader roles, the former interacts more with players, but the latter has more opportunities to “persecute” them, so Su Shisan naturally chose the latter.
He Feixian looked up at the light screen in front of her, checking out the detailed info for this Copy, while Su Shisan began screening candidates for the last NPC.
She had originally wanted to use [Sensitive Plant] again, but since the other party was busy building a Copy, she couldn’t act as an NPC, so Su Shisan had to look for someone new.
For the Amusement Park Director role, she required high Spirit Power and the ability to use Face-Changing. The former was a must, the latter was less important and could be omitted if necessary.
After all, a Temporary Spirit Power Enhancement Item costs 300 points, but a Face-changing Item is less than 50 points—there’s no need to overthink which is more cost-effective.
Speaking of raising Spirit Power, Su Shisan asked the System, ‘Are there any achievement rewards that increase Spirit Power?’
In the System Store, Spirit Power enhancement items are ridiculously expensive. Even the temporary ones cost 300 points, which says it all.
And Spirit Power enhancement items are especially useful for Builders—higher Spirit Power means more energy to build Copies, and sometimes a quantitative change becomes a qualitative one, leading to more inspiration.
Plus, no Builder wants to be controlled by a player. That’s why you barely see any for sale in the Builder trading zone; you can only rely on the System Store.
‘Hold on, let me check.’ The System flipped through its database.
‘Here we go: “No Battle, Subdue the Enemy,” “Continuous Annihilation[5],” and “No One Survives.” At present, only these three achievement medals officially raise Spirit Power.’
Knowing Su Shisan wouldn’t understand what those medals meant, it immediately explained:
‘To earn the “No Battle, Subdue the Enemy” medal, you need more than half the players to surrender within a single Copy.’
“Continuous Annihilation[5]” you already know. The last one, “No One Survives,” requires maintaining a 100% death rate in a Copy for a full month.
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