SWBG - Chapter 22

Luo Xiao Yuan certainly didn't back down because Gu Jing Sheng was pretty. Although he liked beautiful women, he didn't possess any particular quality of being chivalrous. What made him apprehensive was her game demeanor, which was as steady as an old dog's.

Of course, at this moment, Luo Xiao Yuan didn't realize that steadiness could either stem from genuine confidence or from good acting skills combined with thick nerves ==.

After Huo Wen sent her message, Gu Jing Sheng began receiving texts from several other participants one after another. What started as private, one-on-one messages soon became public for all the game participants to see, leaving no room for privacy in the flow of information.

[Mo Tang Tang to Da Zhou:

Da Zhou, I'm on the first floor, but Shu Shu isn't with me! The first room has nothing, and the second room is locked. I can't figure out the password right now! What should I do?]

As Gu Jing Sheng read the second text message, the veins on her temples began to throb with frustration—she finally understood why that girl, Huo Wen, had been so panicked earlier. But seriously, if they were going to waste two chances to send messages, couldn’t they at least have mentioned something about the password while calling for their roommate, so the rest of the group could help brainstorm?

—In an instance that allowed participants to share answers with each other, Gu Jing Sheng's greatest loneliness was not being able to see others' test questions.

The only two clues she gained from the texts were that the participants were scattered in different areas, and that the text messages were excellent at protecting participant information—since Xiao Luo introduced himself as "Xiao Luo" to Gu Jing Sheng and the others, the recipient in the text was this pseudonym with a surname but no given name, not the "Brother Xiao Yuan" that Huo Wen mentioned.

The second glass cabinet also contained a notebook. There was no handwritten text inside, only a clipped newspaper article.

—"In Memory of the 'Rosemary' Sanatorium"

Judging from the existing marks, this newspaper had been flamboyantly scribbled over with ballpoint pens, ink pens, and markers, full of abstract and surrealistic styles. Gu Jing Sheng squinted, trying hard to make out the words from between the lines.

"I will never forget the pleasant time I spent visiting 'Rosemary.' Just from its appearance, I couldn't imagine it was a sanatorium for special populations, it clearly resembled a beautiful rural farmstead more."

This newspaper was glued to a page of the notebook, but not very firmly. Gu Jing Sheng carefully peeled it off and saw four lines of numbers and a messy note hidden beneath.

The numbers were:

“114 6

12 4 9 7

311 5

13 8 2 16”

The note read:

“thirty-four”

...It seemed that not all records were presented in Chinese. [Happy Board Games] displayed a homeroom teacher-style coldness towards common vocabulary from the nine-year compulsory education, as if saying, "If you can't even recognize this, you might as well just give up."

While Gu Jing Sheng was discovering clues, Wei Jia Shi and Xiao Luo also made new gains.

Wei Jiashi exclaimed excitedly: “There really is a password box here!”

Xiao Luo slowly added: "There's also a note tied to the combination lock."

The lock on the box was numeric, eight digits in total. The first digit was completely separate from the next seven, and was pre-set to the number "3," seemingly unable to be changed by external force.

The note had seven numbers written on it: "5 3 8 2 7 6 4".

There were seven numbers, and the password was also seven digits. It seemed undeniably connected. Xiao Luo was a man of action, and pressed for time, he input them directly without consulting others.

"Click."

The combination lock didn't open, but it wasn't without change either. At least the first digit, "3," changed to "2" after Xiao Luo's failure.

Brother Fang's face darkened, and he stopped his roommate: "Don't try again—the first digit isn't part of the password; it's our remaining number of attempts."

Xiao Luo’s expression darkened as well, and he cursed through gritted teeth: “Fuck, they gave us a fake password to trick us. What, are we just a bunch of monkeys to them or something…?”

"Bang!"

A third abnormal sound came from outside.

This sound was closer than the previous two, seeming to come from near the elevator entrance.

Brother Fang walked to the door, observed for a moment, and asked Gu and Wei: "Do you have any lighting tools on you?"

Strictly speaking, they did—although unsure of its use, Wei Jia Shi, who had ample space in his card slots, had brought the special item he drew, ["Until Burned Out" Firewood], into the instance.

This item was set up to ignite in any environment as long as the user wished. Gu Jing Sheng had previously thought it could be used as a torch in desperate times.

But now was not the time, and Gu Jing Sheng couldn't guarantee that this item would actually be effective against the deliberately created darkness of the game instance.

Gu Jing Sheng glanced at Brother Fang and countered with a question instead of answering: "What about you? Did you bring any lighting tools?"

Brother Fang's eyes flickered, and he didn't reply.

Wei Jia Shi: "This box..."

Xiao Luo sharply interrupted Wei Jia Shi, his tone extremely incongruous with his sunny and cheerful appearance: "Stop mentioning that damned box! It's just a time-wasting trap!"

Gu Jing Sheng raised the notebook she obtained from the second cabinet to show the others: "I think the numbers on this should be clues to the password."

Brother Fang immediately strode over and asked: "What does it say..."

His words trailed off into silence. Gu Jing Sheng had a feeling Brother Fang's face turned a bit green when he saw the clues in the notebook.

Wei Jia Shi also leaned over and asked, "What is this, a matrix?"

Gu Jing Sheng, stirred by the kid’s question to recall some sad memories from university, said seriously, "I hope not." She greeted the other two briefly, "Let me try and see if I can open the lock."

Putting down the notebook and picking up the combination lock box, just before inputting the numbers, Brother Fang reached toward Gu Jing Sheng’s right wrist: "Wait, don’t—"

Gu Jing Sheng slightly turned her face, meeting Brother Fang’s eyes directly.

Her gaze was as calm as a sea without wind or waves.

Brother Fang’s movement froze. Having spent a long time in [Happy Board Games], he had seen all kinds of people, but this girl’s eyes still sent a chill through his heart.

Gu Jing Sheng said, "Do you have a better idea?"

Brother Fang replied, "Xiao Luo already messed up once."

Gu Jing Sheng said, "He tries once, I try once. That way, every participant from each room gets a turn. Very fair and reasonable."

Maybe because even if Gu Jing Sheng failed, the box might still be opened, Brother Fang didn’t stop her completely, and said calmly, "Then I hope you succeed."

Gu Jing Sheng took the note with the numbers and input them in order.

Xiao Luo frowned, "Didn’t you see what happened just now? That note clearly has a fake password on it, why are you still..."

Before anyone could stop him, Xiao Luo swallowed the rest of his words—Gu Jing Sheng wasn’t entering the original numbers from the note, but had made simple adjustments:

"5, 8, 3, 2, 9, 4, 6."

"Click."

The combination lock opened successfully, revealing a key inside the box, along with a very worn plastic flashlight.

["Shake Furiously" Flashlight: The Never-Closing Frog Supermarket once launched a flashlight that required no charging. However, due to a high return rate, all remaining stock was heavily discounted.

Although it looks shabby and has no batteries, if you shake it hard enough, it might emit a faint spark.

"If you need a user manual, please purchase it separately."

Item Level: ★

Note: This product is single-use only.]

This flashlight surprisingly could be turned into a card-like item. However, it only had one star, and would break after one use. Even if it could be taken out of the instance, it lacked any value for contention.

Gu Jing Sheng pocketed both the key and the flashlight.

Xiao Luo looked incredulous, "You have an item that can directly see through passwords?"

Gu Jing Sheng looked at him, even more surprised: "How could I possibly have such an item? The password was obviously calculated."

"…"

Brother Fang felt a bit disappointed inside. If it were really an item, they might find ways to trick or fight for it. But against this kind of innate intelligence stat, all he could do was sigh helplessly.

Wei Jia Shi said with relief, "Good thing I’m in a group with you, but what about Mr. X over there?"

Gu Jing Sheng thought for a moment and said, "For a puzzle of this level, as long as Mr. X can stay calm, it shouldn't be hard for him to figure it out."

Wei Jia Shi felt like his intelligence was dragging down the entire Room 08321.

Gu Jing Sheng lowered her voice and explained while walking, "The four lines of numbers in the notebook aren’t a matrix, but a fourth-order magic square made up of numbers 1 through 16. In this kind of magic square, the sum of numbers in every row, every column, and each diagonal is thirty-four. ‘Thirty-four’ is the hint. But if you look closely, the sums don’t match. For example, the first row — 1, 15, 14, 6 — adds up to 36, meaning some numbers are wrong."

Wei Jia Shi was confused: "Huh?"

Gu Jing Sheng continued, "Just swap 4 and 6 between the first and second rows, swap 7 and 9 between the third and fourth columns, and swap 3 and 8 between the third and fourth rows. Then the fourth-order magic square in the notebook becomes correct — which suggests some numbers on the password note also need adjustment: change 3 to 8, 8 to 3, 7 to 9, 6 to 4, and 4 to 6, and you get the correct password."

Wei Jia Shi felt like his brain was completely mush, bitterly smiling, "I actually don’t need to know it so detailed…"

"Don’t need to know the details?" Gu Jing Sheng glanced at him with amusement, "What if I get eliminated midway? Are you going to finish the instance? If you give up on thinking, are you planning to be buried with me or what?"

Their conversation wasn’t hidden from others. Hearing this, Brother Fang paused, showing a thoughtful look.

After shaking the flashlight about a dozen times, it finally emitted light, though faint and unstable. No one knew how long it would last. Gu Jing Sheng quickly walked deeper into the corridor, carefully observing both walls, and soon found a new light switch.

Almost at the same moment she pressed the switch, the flashlight went completely dark, becoming useless scrap.

So far, only two lights had been lit in the corridor where Gu Jing Sheng and the others were.

"Bang—"

The sound of heavy metal hitting metal came from behind. Gu Jing Sheng clearly saw the elevator door had been forced open a crack, and something was desperately trying to squeeze out.

Within the area lit by the second energy-saving lamp was a door. Its lock could be opened with the key Gu Jing Sheng had obtained from the combination lock box.

Wei Jia Shi’s voice trembled, "If we go in, what if the monster comes and blocks the door?"

That was also Gu Jing Sheng’s worry.

Time was tight; there was no chance to carefully think through a full plan. Brother Fang roughly pushed the door open and whispered, "Let’s go in first, talk later!"

At that moment, Gu Jing Sheng’s phone vibrated. She had received a new text message.

—Sender: Mr. X.

Translator's Note

沉穩如老狗 (chénwěn rú lǎogǒu)

• A funny internet idiom that literally means “as calm/steady as an old dog”

• This phrase is often used playfully or sarcastically to describe someone who stays cool and composed, especially in tense or competitive situations — for example, during gaming, arguments, or high-pressure moments.

I am back! Sorry about the inconsistent posts, life and work got to me :( I will try to be more consistent with my posts. To make up for the missing posts, I will be posting make up chapters this week.