Chapter 11: The Endless Staircase

As soon as Luo Jun saw the first rule, his heart sank.

No running? Just one step at a time? When he escaped in, he jumped down a whole half-level! Doesn't that mean he's already broken the rules?

Could it be that this darkness is the price for breaking the rules? What's going to happen next? Is there any way to break out of this?

Holding onto a flicker of hope, Luo Jun continued to read, but after finishing the last rule, that glimmer of hope was utterly extinguished...

To be precise, only the first six rules printed on this paper are the actual rules, in standard print and with the tone of an official notification.

The last two, however, were scrawled in handwriting, and the writing looked very messy, clearly suggesting the writer wasn't in a good state of mind at the time.

Luo Jun had no idea what the writer had gone through, but now he faced a dilemma—could these handwritten rules be trusted or not?

The last rule was whatever; he could just avoid going down to the next level. But what about the seventh rule? It clearly contradicts the fourth.

If the handwritten rules are correct, then the fourth rule shouldn't be followed at all. But then again, what if he encounters the endless staircase? How should he handle that?

Moreover, if the fourth rule is deemed false, how can he be sure about the truth of the other printed rules? Just because the handwritten note points out one rule as problematic doesn't mean the others are fine. In that case, the entire set of rules is up for suspicion—even including that document in the room, which can't be guaranteed to be authentic!

Luo Jun felt a chill run down his spine.

He thought that obeying the rules would allow him to complete his task smoothly, but he never imagined the rules weren't completely trustworthy!

Wait, if the rules aren't all correct, could it be that the first rule he broke was also a false rule? Maybe his jump actually saved him?

That seems unlikely… after all, that rule looked the most normal…

His mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions, so in the end, Luo Jun shook his head, forcing himself to pull it together.

No matter what, he was in the hallway now; he couldn't just stop here—he had to keep moving.

Besides, the sixth rule on the paper reminded him of a key question.

This is a hotel; what should he do if he's locked out of his room? Of course, he should seek help at the front desk. The rules in the room also hinted that the front desk exists, so now he finally had a next step to aim for: go to the first floor and find the front desk!

But should he go down or up?

The rules stated that the stairs didn't access the first floor; he could only take the elevator… This is a bit odd. After all, stairs usually serve as fire escapes—if they don't go to the first floor, how are guests supposed to evacuate in an emergency?

Could this be a trap too, designed to trick people into taking the elevator? After all, in horror stories, elevators are often sites for unexpected disasters.

Luo Jun stared at the rules, his brain racing.

In this situation, the Destiny Dice wouldn't help either; they can help you determine outcomes, but they can't help you make choices.

You can shoot an arrow and then ask the Destiny Dice if you'll hit your target. But you can't ask the Destiny Dice whether you should shoot, or where to aim—that's outside their realm of help.

Grinding his teeth, Luo Jun ultimately decided to rely on himself.

He turned around and decided to go up!

There's no way to determine which is more trustworthy right now—the printed rules or the handwritten ones—but the rules acknowledged by both sides should be the most reliable!

For example, the thing about not going down to the lower level.

Why emphasize not going down to the lower level? The writer must have either been there or seen someone go down there. So why would someone go? Likely because the stairs didn't reach the first floor—someone probably followed the stairs all the way down, bypassed the first floor, and ended up in the lower level, triggering terrible consequences!

So, even though they seem unrelated, the sixth and eighth rules subtly corroborate each other.

Going down is very dangerous; going back the way he came is safer.

Following the rules, Luo Jun took one step at a time and soon found himself on solid ground.

"Phew…" Luo Jun let out a sigh of relief. While going up, he'd been on edge, fearing he'd encounter the endless staircase mentioned in the rules. Now it seemed he had safely returned to the third floor.

As he moved forward, he froze.

What lay before him wasn't the familiar hallway of the third floor, but another landing!

How could this be? He had just walked up from the second floor's landing; how was it still a landing?

Straining to see in the dim light, he turned and saw stairs leading higher.

Did he finally encounter the endless staircase?

Luo Jun swallowed hard. What should he do? Follow the fourth rule and go back thirteen steps, or listen to the seventh rule?

But the key point is, the seventh rule only says the fourth rule is wrong; it doesn't say what he should do instead!

Wait, the previous rules were posted on the wall of the sloped platform—could there be new rules this time?

Thinking of this, Luo Jun moved forward and indeed found a piece of paper. However, the content was the same as before; even the two handwritten rules at the bottom matched perfectly word for word.

Clearly, this was the same sloped platform he had encountered before. He was back…

Luo Jun gritted his teeth and activated the Heaven's Dice.

The dice wouldn't make the choice for him, but he had already made his choice!

"Go back to the third floor!"

That was his goal now.

Yet, the Heaven's Dice did not activate smoothly, indicating that the situation was too complex to determine.

It's just going upstairs! How can it be that complicated?

Luo Jun grumbled in his heart, but he knew that if the dice said it was complicated, that meant getting back to the third floor wouldn't be easy; there were too many variables involved, and rolling the dice a few times wouldn't solve it.

Even the cheat isn't working; this is truly a dead end…

Just then, as Luo Jun was feeling hopeless, footsteps suddenly came from upstairs.

Something is coming!

Luo Jun looked up and saw a strange creature walking out of the darkness.

This guy had a long, thin head, and on its bald head was a big, tooth-filled mouth. On either side of its head, where shoulders might be, were two eyeballs—one big and one small. The larger one was the size of a basketball, and the smaller one could rival an apple. The asymmetrical eyeballs made its body lean to one side, and it waddled down the stairs on two misshapen legs.

Another monster!

Luo Jun's heart raced, and his muscles tensed up. The Heaven's Dice was ready for battle.

But instead of attacking, he stepped aside, standing against the wall.

The monster awkwardly walked past him, even turning back to bow.

From this, it seemed like the third rule was correct. The rule stated how to handle encounters with creatures on the stairs, without limiting it to humans. All creatures had to abide by this rule… which meant the hallway was likely a peaceful zone.

Watching the monster head downstairs, Luo Jun suddenly furrowed his brow and turned to look at the rules on the wall, as if he had discovered something.

After a moment of contemplation, his eyes lit up. "I got it!"

Then, he focused his mind, ready to activate the Heaven's Dice at any moment, and walked up the stairs.