From-DIDIDA Novels
Tang Mo took a large piece of white paper from his backpack. He used a pen to mark an asterisk in the upper right corner and drew a straight line below it. “Assuming that the route we just took is roughly 1:50000, I can roughly draw it. I can remember around five minutes. What about you?”
Fu Wenduo took over the pen and paper and continued the route drawn by Tang Mo. “I can remember another five minutes.”
A labyrinth was something that ordinary people couldn’t find their way in. However, it was different for Tang Mo and especially Fu Wenduo, who was a person who often had missions in various spaces. All labyrinths were just overlapping angles and lines to them.
By knowing the angle of every corner they took and remembering the distance they travelled, they could estimate the route they took and draw it.
Fu Wenduo finished drawing and they looked down at the white paper.
Tang Mo said, “We haven’t gone back. According to common sense, we should be moving away from the centre of the maze and approaching the exit.”
Fu Wenduo took a look at this image. “Every maze has a feature. Closer to the centre, there will be more corners and the corridors will be shorter. It is because the centre of the circle radiates and the outward length is larger. Thus, we are really far from the centre of the maze.”
This made Tang Mo even more confused. “Then we are really going to the exist.”
Fu Wenduo kept staring at the image before he looked up. “Is the exist of the labyrinth on the outskirts?”
Tang Mo froze. “You mean…”
Fu Wenduo suggested, “What if the exit is in the middle?
The sound of the water from becoming louder. In the beginning, it was almost inaudible and now it lingered in the ears of very player and black tower boss.
Once Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo understood their position and situation, the two of them didn’t waste time. They picked up the box and turned to go back. Halfway through this, Tang Mo pulled Fu Wenduo to a stop and FU Wenduo glanced at him.
Tang Mo wondered, “The labyrinth’s exit is at the centre but there are more boxes further to the outskirts. If players want to find the exist, it is very difficult for them to get these boxes. Then what is the purpose of these boxes?” He looked up at Fu Wenduo.
They didn’t know why but Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo felt this situation was somewhat familiar.
The exit was at the centre of the map and all players were gathered at the centre. However, the props were like radiating stars. The closer it was to the outside of the circle, the more there were. Combined with the number of players, it would be difficult to grab a box close to the centre. Tang Mo seemed to have seen this type of game before…
Suddenly the two people looked at each other with surprise and the popular name for several games appeared in their minds.
“…Eat chicken?!” (TL: seemed to arise from PUBG)
On the other side, the baby-faced youth struggled to run forward while a wolf in a pink dress was behind him. The distance maintained between the person and the wolf was too clever. Grandmother Wolf’s speed might be the slowest among the first-class black tower bosses but her slow speed was Bai Ruoyao’s limit.
Bai Ruoyao tried to escape and couldn’t be caught by Grandmother Wolf, but at the same time, he suddenly hoped that Grandmother Wolf could run faster and simply grab him.
If this person was faster than she wouldn’t give him hope and he wouldn’t need to run for half an hour!
The consumption of physical strength was inevitable. Bai Ruoyao’s speed was gradually decreasing while Grandmother Wolf wasn’t affected.
After seeing that Grandmother Wolf was catching up to Bai Ruoyao, the baby-faced youth pulled out two butterfly knives. Suddenly, the sound of two pairs of footsteps came from not far away. Bai Ruoyao raised his head vigilantly and stared coldly in front of him. Once he saw the people approaching, a huge smile appeared on his face and he waved happily. “Hello Deer. What a coincidence.”
Mu Huixue had worked hard to shake off Santa Claus. She frowned slightly when she looked up and saw Bai Ruoyao. Then she saw Grandmother Wolf chasing after Bai Ruoyao…
Mu Huixue shouted, “…Fuck!”
Mu Huixue and Andrei both knew Grandmother Wolf. As soon as they saw her, they turned and ran.
“I want to go with you. Deer, wait for me.” Bai Ruoyao didn’t feel that he was trouble and happily led Grandmother Wolf in Mu Huixue and Andrei’s direction.
The three people were chased by Grandmother Wolf and run away. Mu Huixue and Andrei suddenly ran into a dead end and had to turn back. Bai Ruoyao saw the two of them exploring the path for him and shouted, “Thank you!” Then he turned and ran into another corridor.
It changed to Bai Ruoyao running in front while Mu Huixue and Andrei ran behind him. Grandmother Wolf was in the last position.
This chase lasted 10 minutes.
Originally, Mu Huixue and Andrei thought that there was only one Grandmother Wolf. If she chased Bai Ruoyao then she couldn’t catch them. However, Bai Ruoyao didn’t give them a chance to get rid of him. He knew that if he ran from Grandmother Wolf alone, there was only one dead road. Thus, he frantically wrapped himself around Mu Huixue and refused to let her go.
Finally, the three of them were trapped by Grandmother Wolf.
She gently bit the human arm in her hands and smiled insidiously. “Are you still running?”
Mu Huixue pulled the long whip from her waist and sighed as she watched Grandmother Wolf. Andrei’s fists clenched as he prepared to attack. Bai Ruoyao ran behind the two people only to be stopped by Mu Huixue’s whip.
Bai Ruoyao blinked and was about to speak when Mu Huixue smiled slightly. “Fly, if you dare to escape when we deal with Grandmother Wolf then I will give you after we leave this game.”
Bai Ruoyao watched Mu Huixue and thought about the consequences of being chased by this person and the consequences of being defeated by Grandmother Wolf and giving up the game. The baby-faced youth spread open his hands in a hurt manner. “Who said that I would escape?”
Andrei replied, “Hui isn’t stupid.”
Bai Ruoyao smiled. “Learn Chinese first before talking to me again.”
The three people raised their weapons and glanced at each other before tacitly rushing towards Grandmother Wolf.
Grandmother Wolf elegantly pulled out her pink parasol and shyly concealed her bloody mouth. “So many people bullying a lady together, this isn’t gentlemanly behaviour.” She spoke soft words as the small parasol opened, blocking Mu Huixue’s whip and causing it to slam into the wall.
Mu Huixue retracted the whip and aimed it again.
Andrei roared and threw punches at the wolf. Grandmother Wolf opened the small parasol and spun it. Andrei’s fist slammed into the surface and bounced off. When the small parasol was open, its defense was like a meteorite. When it was closed, the attack was as strong as a tiger.
This was the small small parasol but the one in Grandmother Wolf’s hands was much stronger than Tang Mo’s parasol. This one was at least rare rated.
Bai Ruoyao was dexterous, Mu Huixue was good at long-range attacks and Andrei was good at close combat.
The three of them worked together and finally Grandmother Wolf revealed a gap. Bai Ruoyao’s idea was to take this opportunity to escape. He shouted, “Go!” Mu Huixue also had this intention and fled with him. Unexpected, Andrei used this gap to attack Grandmother Wolf. Mu Huixue was stunned but she gritted her teeth and helped Andrei attack again.
Bai Ruoyao had already ran 10 metres. Once he saw this, he scoffed and returned to attack.
The three of them pressed Grandmother Wolf into a corner.
Grandmother Wolf roared, “You damn stinky humans!”
The three people felt bad, only to see Grandmother Wolf violently throw away her small parasol and get on all fours. She screamed angrily as the pink dress on her body was broken apart by bulging muscles.
Mu Huixue exclaimed, “No, her strongest weapon is her body, not her umbrella!”
As a lady, the wolf’s small parasol was her strongest weapon. Still, every resident of the black tower world knew that as long as Grandmother Wolf was still a lady, everything was safe. Once she was no longer a lady, even Santa didn’t dare to look at this terrible female wolf.
Grandmother Wolf roared and rushed forward, her two claws attacking Bai Ruoyao.
These claws couldn’t be avoided. Bai Ruoyao’s eyes flashed and no one could see what he took out of his pocket. He bit it hard and as the wolf’s claws descended, his body teleported ten steps away.
Grandmother Wolf ignored him and attacked Mu Huixue and Andrei. The one closest to her was Andrei.
The strong Russian man stared at Grandmother Wolf with dull eyes. His best choice was to turn and run away, but whether it was him or Mu Huixue, Grandmother Wolf would still attack a person. Andrei didn’t think much. If he wanted to fight then he would fight the opponent head on. He never shrank back and he wouldn’t let a woman get injured for him.
Andrei formed fists and roared like a wild beast. His hands became a fiery red as they slammed into the wolf’s paws.
Grandmother Wolf’s claws cracked and blood seeped out. Andrei’s hands were directly damaged and his bones were broken in a strange position, the white bones sticking out of the skin.
Mu Huixue had already run a few steps. Once she saw this, she swore and ran back.
The wolf was rarely injured. She became angrily and struck at Andrei.
A female hand appeared above Andrei, a small compass held on the palm. Mu Huixue looked at Grandmother Wolf and turned the pointer on the compass. Her eyes flashed brightly as she declared, “Fallacy, I refute!”
A red light glowed on the small compass.
Grandmother Wolf’s body suddenly turned back 180 degrees, her claws scratching at the wall of the maze.
Mu Huixue took this opportunity to grab Andrei’s collar and run.
The three people ran for a long time and Grandmother Wolf disappeared completely. Andrei’s hands were broken in a strange posture and Bai Ruoyao gasped against the wall. The three of them hadn’t spoken yet when they hear two weak footsteps not far away.
Bai Ruoyao and Mu Huixue raised their weapons and watched a corner of the labyrinth with vigilance.
As Tang Mo walked around the corner, a silver butterfly knife flew towards him. Fu Wenduo raised his hand in front of Tang Mo and blocked it. The butterfly knife collided with the steel skin and returned to Bai Ruoyao’s hand.
The two sides saw the other people’s faces and felt relieved.
At a time like this, players from the same region were always better than black tower monsters and players from other regions.
Tang Mo looked at Bai Ruoyao and felt that this psychopath wasn’t so unsightly.
Fu Wenduo saw Andrei’s broken arms and frowned. “Which tower boss did you encounter?”
Mu Huixue replied, “Grandmother Wolf.”
Tang Mo’s scalp tingled when he heard the name. He looked around and asked, “Did you get rid of her?”
Bai Ruoyao wiped at nonexistent tears. “Tang Tang, I almost died under the claws of the female wolf. She is so fierce.”
Fu Wenduo looked between Mu Huixue and Andrei. It didn’t seem to be a life or death situation. He pulled out a bottle of mineral water and handed it to Andrei. Andrei understood that this was definitely a prop for healing. “Shoe Shoe.” (TL: He was trying to say xie xie, which is thank you but mispronounced).
Fu Wenduo replied in Russian, “It is nothing.’
Mu Huixue discovered that Tang Mo had a big black bag that was filled with heavy things. He didn’t have them when he entered the game. She asked, “What is this?”
Tang Mo looked at their empty hands. “The labyrinth contains black boxes. You can get props by saying the tongue twister. You didn’t receive any?”
The Cantonese Mu Huixue didn’t want to talk.
Bai Ruoyao, who was chased by Grandmother Wolf and had no time to grab anything, didn’t want to talk.
Only Andrei said, “I grabbed three.”
Tang Mo frowned. “If I’m not guessing wrong, these props are very useful for this game. The exit is in the centre of the maze but these items are placed away from the centre. This is test whether we can figure this out, hurry to grab more props and then go back to the centre.”
Mu Huixue understood what he meant. “You are saying that we needed these props to leave the maze?”
“It is just my guess.”
Fu Wenduo opened his mouth. “Right now, we should be close to the centre of the maze. Have you met players from other districts?”
Mu Huixue answered, “I’ve encountered two. One of them escaped while the other was killed by Santa’s sleigh.”
Bai Ruoyao also said, “I saw Grandmother Wolf eating a person. They seemed to be a foreigner with gold hair.”
Tang Mo said, “Then at least two players have died.”
Bai Ruoyao wondered, “Hey Tang Tang, what do you think this game is? Why do I feel like we are the white mice put into the maze and Grandmother Wolf is the terrible monster. So scary. I don’t want the monsters to eat me.”
Tang Mo looked at the baby-faced youth and was preparing to ridicule him when the expressions of the five people suddenly changed.
Tang Mo exclaimed, “The sound of water is gone?”
Fu Wenduo nodded. “The sound of water is gone.”
An unknown premonition filled their hearts.
At their level, this type of bad premonition could no longer be regarded as a hunch. It was a subconscious speculation based on experience. Their subconscious minds noticed that something bad was about to happen.
Tang Mo said, “The place we are in now might actually be a closed space. The circulation of the air isn’t good and there is no light. There is the sound of water…”
Fu Wenduo continued, “The sound of the water is like a closed pool. The water sounds like not only is it from impact to the surface of the water, but also the vibration of the air. As the water flow increases, the vibration of the air column becomes more frequent… once the gas column becomes smaller, the pool will be filled.”
Tang Mo asked, “The pool is filled?”
The five people thought about it.
The pool being filled, what did this mean? Why was there a pool filled with water in the labyrinth?
“Noah…” Tang Mo whispered the name. “Noah’s sugar ball, Noah’s toothbrush, Noah’s bubble bath, Noah’s underwear…”
Tang Mo suddenly looked up and met Fu Wenduo’s eyes.
“Who is Noah?”
Bai Ruoyao’s eyes widened. “Noah’s ark?”
Tang Mo wondered, “Where is the ship? The centre of the maze? Is it the exit of the labyrinth?”
Andrei’s Chinese wasn’t good. Tang Mo and the others were speaking so quickly that he couldn’t understand. However, he understood Noah’s ark. The big man sighed and said, “The big flood.”
The other four were silent.
In the dark maze, the monsters were heading towards the exit of the labyrinth. The players also heard the sound of the water and moved close to the centre of the maze. Three minutes after the strange water sound stopped, a loud whistle rang. The sound was so loud that it was like a giant singing in the room.
He happily hummed for a moment before starting to sing. “I am the great Noah. I am the darling of God. Noah likes to take baths and wash away the mud and smelly sweat. Ah, I love taking a bath!”
The moment the word ‘bath’ was heard, Fu Wenduo took Tang Mo’s hand and pulled him towards the centre of the maze. Bai Ruoyao also ran towards the centre of the maze at the fastest speed.
In every corner of the maze, some players reacted slowly while some reacted quickly. Without exception, by the time Noah sang the last word, all of them ran towards the centre of the labyrinth.
Once the song finished, there was the loud sound of water.
The next moment, countless streams of water came from all sides of the maze. The terrible flood pushed against the wall of the maze and headed for the centre. All players and monsters were running towards the centre of the maze while outside the maze, a giant sat in his bathtub and sighed with relief.
“Ah, it is good to take a bath.”