svetikya Chapter 24 - Common Pattern of Both Dungeons
Chapter 24 - Common Pattern of Both Dungeons
He stood in Yuan City for about three minutes before finding a place to sit down.
It wasn't because the location was hard to find. It was because he spent three minutes doing something impossible in the game: systematically scanning all available coordinates within a 50-meter radius, and then sorting them according to the following criteria: backed by a physical structure (not a crowd), with the main pedestrian flow covered in the field of vision, not within the direct influence of the information exchange stalls, and with sufficient but not glaring lighting.
Ultimately, he chose the back of a round pillar, where there was a shallow step on the ground, about thirty centimeters wide. When he sat down, his back was supported, and his field of vision covered 120 degrees in front of him.
He sat down, placed the memo on his lap, and turned to a new page.
He has a lot to organize.
The two instances, #001 and #002, took a total of 18 minutes and 47 seconds to complete. #002 took about 47 hours from entry to settlement (including three fluid anomaly waiting periods, two maintenance room rest periods, and the final control room stage). Adding the time spent in Yuan City, the total time spent in this system was about 72 hours.
Seventy-two hours, two copies, thirty-one rule records, of which twenty-four have been verified and seven are pending verification.
He wrote the numbers at the top of a new page, then stopped and looked at them.
The numbers themselves are not the problem. The problem is what's behind the numbers.
He flipped back to rule #001, then to rule #002, and laid the two pages side by side on his lap—the memo pages weren't wide enough, so he folded them to the same width, aligned them, and began comparing them line by line.
Explicit rules: #001 (4 rules), #002 (3 rules). A total of seven rules.
He reclassified the seven explicit rules according to "rule type," not by copy, but by content:
Category 1: "Prohibited Behaviors" – #001 Explicit Rule 1 (Use of plant monitoring triggering equipment is prohibited), #002 Explicit Rule 1 (Open flames are prohibited in the maintenance room). These two rules are cross-copy and share the same logic: prohibited behaviors have physical consequences, rather than random penalties.
The second category: "Time Window" - #002 Explicit Rule 2 (Arrive at the maintenance room within 60 seconds after a fluid anomaly is triggered). One rule. #001 has no corresponding rule, but the plant supervisor's patrol route is essentially a time window - when he was verifying on-site, the plant supervisor's route cycle was about four minutes and fifty-three seconds, which is an implicit time window, but it was not written into the explicit rules.
He added a note in parentheses in the memo: "#001 Implicit Time Window: Factory monitoring route cycle 4 minutes 53 seconds. Not written into the explicit rules, but functionally equivalent."
Category 3: "Environmental Protection" - #002 Explicit Rule 3 (No damage to pipeline structure). One rule. #001 has no corresponding explicit rule, but he discovered a phenomenon in #001: there were corrosion marks on the ground in the chemical area. He judged at the time that it was a historical legacy and that no structure had been deliberately damaged, so it was impossible to verify whether there was a corresponding implicit restriction.
He marked it as "Unverified #003".
Hidden rules: #001 (4 rules), #002 (3 rules). A total of seven rules.
He also reclassified the seven implicit rules by type:
Threatening entity behavior categories: #001 Hidden Rule A (Factory supervisor blindness/auditory perception), #001 Hidden Rule C (Sound amplification doubled in chemical areas), #002 Hidden Rule A (Crawlers follow light, not sound), #002 Hidden Rule C (Crawler group movement is directional). All four rules relate to the perception mechanisms of the threatening entities and all have a physical logical basis—the factory supervisor's perception deficiency corresponds to the reality of visual occlusion in industrial scenarios, and the crawler's phototaxis corresponds to the phototaxis instinct of cave creatures.
Periodic patterns: #001 Hidden Rule D (Factory surveillance patrol routes have fixed cycles), #002 Hidden Rule B (Fluid anomalies have fixed trigger cycles, approximately eleven minutes). Both are cross-copy and share the same logic: the threats are periodic, the cycles can be observed and calculated, and the cycles can be exploited.
Environmental perception category: #002 Implicit rule D (airflow change indicates the location of the main control room). One rule. #001 has no corresponding rule, but the vibration prediction of #001 is essentially also a type of environmental perception—sensing the location of the plant monitoring station through ground vibration.
After he finished writing these categories, he drew a horizontal line at the bottom of the page and wrote below the line:
"Cross-Instance Common Modes: First Systematic Summary:"
"① All rules (explicit rules + implicit rules) have a physical and logical basis. There are no random rules and no punitive rules (punishment itself is a physical consequence, not a punishment set by the system)."
"② All threat entities have identifiable perception mechanisms, and each perception mechanism has a real physical counterpart."
"③ All copies exhibit a computable periodic pattern."
"④ The number of explicit rules is less than the number of implicit rules, but explicit rules are the entry point for implicit rules—the prohibited behavior pointed to by the explicit rules corresponds to the physical consequences in the implicit rules."
He paused below these four points, then added a fifth:
"⑤ Both instances contain 'human-planted information': Gu Zeyan's signature in the #001 main control room, and a mysterious note in the #002 third maintenance room. Timing of implantation: Before Xie Chengzhou entered the instance. Implanter: Unknown."
He added a parenthetical note after "Implanter: Unknown": "(Possibility of designer existence, confidence level: 70%. Awaiting verification with a third copy.)"
Then he closed the memo and looked up.
The noise of Yuan City swirled around him, no different from when he entered—people were haggling at their stalls, some were walking around, some were whispering in corners, and some were asleep leaning against pillars, their wrist numbers appearing a dim blue in the light.
He glanced at the crowd and began doing what he had wanted to do since the settlement of #001 but had never had the opportunity to do: conduct an investigation.
It wasn't a large-scale investigation. He didn't have enough time or information to design an effective survey. What he needed to do was "collect the first batch of samples," with a single objective: to confirm whether the "finding of a deliberately inserted note inside a copy" only happened to him.
He stood up, took a few steps into the crowd, and stopped next to a player who seemed to be waiting for someone.
The other person was a man, probably in his early thirties, whose number was on the inside of his wrist, C-0... He only saw the first two digits, and then the other person noticed his gaze and withdrew his wrist.
"Let me ask you something," Xie Chengzhou said. "Have you found any notes or similar items in the dungeon—neat handwriting, placed in advance, not like they were left by other players?"
The other person glanced at him. "What do you mean?"
"It means exactly what it says," Xie Chengzhou said. "Have you seen it before?"
The other person thought for a moment, then said, "No," but "have you seen him?"
"Yes, I have," Xie Chengzhou said. "Thank you."
He turned around and walked over to the next person.
He spent about twenty minutes asking eleven people. Instead of asking randomly, he divided them into three categories based on their accessibility: the first category was players standing alone, clearly waiting; the second category was players near the stalls but not making any transactions; and the third category was players moving around but taking fixed routes.
Eleven people.
Ten people said they had never seen it before.
The eleventh person paused for a moment.
He was a man around forty-five years old, his ID started with EE—equipment class, an experienced player. When talking to him, his gaze was evaluative, not defensive. Xie Chengzhou noticed this difference: a defensive gaze was confirming "whether you are a threat," while an evaluative gaze was confirming "what you want."
"The note you mentioned," the other person said, "is it in which copy?"
"Pipeline type," Xie Chengzhou said, "underground pipe network scenario, third maintenance room."
The other party was silent for a moment.
“I haven’t seen it in the maintenance room,” he said, “but I did see a stone in a mine dungeon with engravings on it. It wasn’t naturally formed; it was man-made. I assumed it was part of the adventure and didn’t pay much attention to it.”
"What's engraved?" Xie Chengzhou asked.
"Two words," the other person said, "'Exit'."
Xie Chengzhou marked this information in his mind. "Exit"—this is not the same as the "exit" arrow left on the pipe wall by the old worker JG-0471 in #002. JG-0471's mark was part of the scenario, something he left behind during his actual work. But the "exit" carved on the stone in the mine dungeon, and the note he found in the third maintenance room, have one thing in common: they don't belong to the original scenario of the dungeon; they were added later.
"That instance," Xie Chengzhou said, "when did you enter it?"
"About two months ago," the other person said, "why are you asking this?"
"Create the data," Xie Chengzhou said. "Thank you."
The other person glanced at him. "Are you in architecture?"
"Yes," Xie Chengzhou said.
"You're the one at 18 minutes and 47 seconds," the other person said, without the tone of a question, it was a statement.
Xie Chengzhou glanced at him. "The 'Experience Express' bulletin board," he said.
"I stood in front of that bulletin board for about three minutes," the person said, "18 minutes and 47 seconds, which is about 45 to 55 minutes." He paused for a moment, "I think this event itself is a message."
"What information?" Xie Chengzhou asked.
"Someone is watching this place," the other person said. "It's not just you watching this place, someone is watching you too."
After he finished speaking, he walked in another direction without looking back.
Xie Chengzhou glanced in the direction he left for two seconds, then opened his memo and noted down the core information of the conversation:
"EE - ID not obtained. Approximately 45 years old. Equipment enthusiast. A man-made engraving was found in the Mine dungeon: 'Exit,' about two months ago. The nature of the engraving is similar to the #002 note (man-made implant, not an original element of the scene)."
He paused below this line and noted down the last sentence as well:
His assessment: Someone is observing. Logic: The data on the SpeedPass bulletin board is accessible information, and the recipients are not limited to me. Confidence level: Reasonable, pending verification.
Then at the very bottom of this page he wrote:
"Source of the note: Under investigation. Sample size: 1 (mine pit markings, functionally equivalent). Cross-copy distribution: Confirmed. Time distribution: Mine pit copy approximately two months ago, #002 pipe copy this time. The implanter possesses cross-copy activity capabilities and knowledge of the copy's internal workings."
He closed the memo and looked up.
Someone in the crowd was talking loudly, discussing the conditions for clearing a dungeon. It sounded like a scene type that Xie Chengzhou had never been to before—he only heard the words "ceiling," "timer," and "two colors," and then that part of the conversation disappeared into the noise.
He stood by the pillar for a while.
He has two things to continue: first, to continue interviewing more players and expand the sample size; second, to return to his personal space and merge the results of this compilation and survey into the database.
He chose the second item.
It wasn't because the sample size was already sufficient—eleven people were clearly not enough. It was because he realized that the benefits of "continuing to ask questions" were diminishing until a more precise screening criterion was established: the eleven people he asked were the type he could randomly reach in Source City, not dedicated sources of information, and asking more random players would only increase the noise.
The next step should be to find "non-random sources of information".
He mentally added this matter to the "to be verified" queue, then focused his attention on the wrist number, feeling the sense of confirmation and acceptance. The space shifted.
Personal space.
At his workbench, he retrieved the results of this compilation and integrated them with the existing database:
"DB-001 (Cross-Replica Common Mode) · Version: v1.1 · This Update: "
"① Establishment of a classification system for explicit and implicit rules (five categories: prohibited behaviors/time windows/environmental protection/threat entity perception/periodic patterns)"
"② Five points confirmed for cross-server common mode"
"③ Sample size of artificially implanted information: 2 (#002 paper strip + mine pit marks), confirmed across replicas, with a time span of approximately two months."
"④ Possibility of Designer Existence - Confidence Update: 70% → 72% (Survey data provides independent support)"
He finished noting down all the updates and then turned to a new page.
He wrote only one thing on this page.
It's not a rule, it's not data, it's a problem:
"Was the note left for me, or for anyone who would take that route?"
He marked the question as "Under Verification" and added a line in parentheses next to it: "(Difference: If it's left for me, the implanter knows I'll enter that instance and knows my ID; if it's left for anyone, the implanter only needs to know 'a player will go to the third maintenance room.' The two situations correspond to two different levels of information advantage.)"
He closed the page and placed his hand on the worktable.
The countertop was cool and dry, a completely different texture from the damp coldness inside the pipes.
He's here; he's come out.
The database currently contains two complete sets of copy records, a preliminary hypothesis on cross-copy patterns, an unresolved issue regarding the source of the note, and a newly emerging variable—the player with the EE number said, "Someone is watching you."
He went through all this information in his mind but came to no conclusion.
The conclusion requires data, and he doesn't have enough data right now.
He flipped to the "Pending Verification" section in the memo and added a note at the bottom:
"Non-random information sources: need to be identified. Criteria: fixed location in the source city/information collection behavior/willingness to exchange information rather than one-way sales. Candidate: Mr. Qian (C-0003), conditions to be evaluated."
He paused after "Old Qian," recalling the gesture of Old Qian pointing up at the tower in front of the speedrun bulletin board, and remembering that when Old Qian said "#001, 18 minutes 47 seconds, Architecture," his tone was declarative, not inquiring.
He added a line: "Professor Qian: My speedrun record and number are known. Source: Bulletin board (public). Assessment: More information may be available. Access conditions: To be observed."
Then he closed the memo and pressed the page into the consciousness archive.
He sat at the worktable for a while, feeling the temperature of the space—constant, neither too hot nor too cold, like a room that had just passed inspection and had not yet been occupied.
He mentally outlined the next steps in order:
First, we need to find Professor Qian and assess whether we can establish an information exchange relationship.
Second, actively verify the five hypotheses of the "cross-replica common mode" in replica #003, with a focus on verifying whether "human-injected information" reappears.
Third, if implanted information reappears in #003, raise the confidence level from 72% to formally establish the hypothesis that "the designer exists".
He went through these three points in his mind, then exited his personal space.
The noise in Yuan City has reappeared.
He walked towards Mr. Qian's stall, took about twenty steps, and then stopped.
Mr. Qian's stall was there, but Mr. Qian was not there. The items on the stall were still there, the whiteboard was still there, and the "C-0003" in the bottom corner was still there, but the space behind the stall was empty.
He stood there for a moment, then walked over to the stall next to him and asked, "Where did the people at that stall go?"
The person next to him looked up and said, "I don't know, it was just here a moment ago, wait a bit."
Xie Chengzhou nodded, took a few steps to the side, leaned against a pillar, opened the memo, and added a line after the entry for "Old Qian":
"The stall is there, but the person is not. Time: Approximately forty minutes after settlement for #002. Reason: Unknown."
Then he closed the memo and waited by the pillar.
The noise of Yuan City swirled around him.
He's not in a hurry.
He learned one thing in the dungeon: waiting itself is an evaluation behavior, and as long as you know what you are waiting for, waiting is not a waste of time.
He knew what he was waiting for.
He is waiting for the data.
"#002: Completed." He mentally reviewed the message, then turned his attention back to the crowd in Yuan City and continued to observe.
The next copy is waiting for him, but it hasn't arrived yet.
Before it arrived, every minute here could be used to build data.
He noted this down, in his usual format, in a single line, without any further explanation:
"Yuan City: This is not a waiting area, it's a work area."