novelraw Chapter 184-2: The Endless Corridor Maze (2)
Chapter 184-2: The Endless Corridor Maze (2)
He could only expand his thinking based on the information he’d found in the book just now.
The Star-Chasing Corridor was a test from the Stars to see if one was a devout believer, only those who truly worshipped them could pass.
If he could become a devout follower of the Stars, he could traverse the maze.
But defecting to the Stars was out of the question…
Then Lin Xun suddenly remembered: in his Shell slots, although the President of the Direct Vision Association wasn’t a Star worshipper, he still had the Grand Scholar of the Multivision Association, who most likely was.
According to what the Multivision President had said in the hidden laboratory, all the Grand Scholars of the Multivision Association except Rona had defected to the Stars.
“There’s only one truth, so this so-called test… is that it? Too simple!”
[You possess the Shell of the Knowledge-Seeking Grand Scholar of the Multivision Association!]
Lin Xun smiled faintly. Using the Grand Scholar’s Shell, he entered the maze again.
According to the records, in front of a Star worshipper, the corridor would become simple and not remain so convoluted.But as he kept walking, he soon realized something was wrong.
Even after passing through corridor after corridor, there were still endless branching passages ahead.
“Don’t tell me the Grand Scholar isn’t devout enough?”
Unwilling to believe it, Lin Xun kept clicking choices and pressing forward.
Half an hour later, after traversing ninety-nine branching paths, he once again returned to the familiar hall.
[…]
[Congratulations! After tireless effort, you have finally returned to the start of your journey!]
Lin Xun frowned.
The Grand Scholar was clearly a Radiant Star follower, even if not especially devout, there should have been fewer branches than when he went himself.
Why were there still ninety-nine branches?
“Damn it, I was being stupid. The Oath applies to the Apostle themselves, not to the Shell.”
“In other words, as long as the ordinary wandering soul is a follower of the Omniscient True Knowledge, even if the Shell belongs to a Star cultist, it still counts as being part of the Omniscient True Knowledge faction.”
Lin Xun slapped his forehead as he realized.
Then he fell into deep thought again.
Switching Shells was useless, what awaited him would only ever be the most complex possible maze.
If he couldn’t become a Star believer, he couldn’t pass the test.
If not for the Resting Page in the hall, he would have been permanently trapped here.
If any native of the game world who wasn’t a Star follower stumbled in here, they wouldn’t be able to see the Resting Page and would be doomed to wander until death.
While pondering how to escape his predicament, Lin Xun kept walking the maze with his Shell.
He still held a sliver of hope, the Lucky Gold Coin.
Maybe if he just kept randomly picking options, the Lucky Gold Coin’s effect would trigger and let him get out.
But after wandering in circles for ages, there was still no sign of the Lucky Gold Coin activating.
“Lucky Gold Coin, you really are unreliable. I’d better think of something else.”
Just as Lin Xun was scorning the Lucky Gold Coin, the text suddenly displayed.
[The Lucky Gold Coin you are carrying glows with a flickering light. You suddenly feel that the middle corridor at the end of the passage looks especially pleasing to the eye…]
[Which corridor do you want to enter?]
“I was wrong, the Lucky Gold Coin is absolutely incredible.”
Lin Xun changed his tune faster than flipping a page, immediately choosing the middle corridor without hesitation.
[You step into the middle corridor and walk onward…]
[…]
[At the end of the corridor, three more identical branching corridors appear again, left, center, and right.]
[Which corridor do you want to enter?]
Lin Xun looked again at the Lucky Gold Coin.
Lucky Gold Coin: “…”
A long while passed, but the Lucky Gold Coin showed no further response.
“Lucky Gold Coin, you’re really something, going soft after just three seconds…”
“Hurry up and do something, men can’t say they can’t!”
No matter how many taunts Lin Xun tried, the Lucky Gold Coin remained motionless, lying flat in total resignation.
“Is it possible the Lucky Gold Coin is actually a woman?”
—
Soon, Lin Xun gave up on relying on superstitious methods.
With ninety-nine branching choices, he couldn’t expect the Lucky Gold Coin to activate every single time.
He might as well just rename it ‘Goddess of Luck.’
“If the soft approach doesn’t work, then I’ll use brute force!”
[You possess the Shell of the Corrupted Earth Giant!]
[Your body swells massively. In the blink of an eye, you have become a towering giant…]
[In the blink of an eye, you grow into a three-meter-tall colossus, already pressing against the corridor’s vaulted ceiling, unable to grow any larger.]
[Your process of growing bigger and bulkier is suddenly interrupted. Rage surges within you as you raise the Ancient Dragonfang Greatclub in your hands and smash it against the wall.]
[A violent gale erupts, and with a thunderous boom, sparks burst in all directions as the painted stars on the corridor wall flare brilliantly.]
[Looking closely, you see that where the club struck, the wall doesn’t even have a single dent or crack.]
Lin Xun twitched at the corner of his mouth.
“Can’t destroy the environment… when it comes to being cursed, you really are the most cursed game of all.”
Neither the soft approach nor the hard approach could help him find the exit to the maze.
While he was randomly clicking options, Lin Xun once again returned to the initial hall.
[You step into a great hall. The walls, vaulted ceiling, and floor all depict countless stars, each point of light gleaming enchantingly and shifting constantly.]
[The stone stele that originally stood in the hall had, at some unknown time, transformed into a statue.]
[The statue’s shape was not humanoid but a rotating elliptical galaxy studded with countless tiny stars.]
[You have discovered the Divine Image of the Radiant Stars!]
[You can’t help but be drawn to the statue, stepping forward to touch it…]
[Do you wish to renounce your Oath to the Omniscient True Knowledge and swear allegiance to the Radiant Stars?]
[You have already been permanently marked as an enemy of the Radiant Stars faction and cannot join this Oath again!]
Lin Xun was completely baffled by this sudden turn of events.
The warning stele had turned into a god statue for swearing allegiance…
But in the next moment, he understood the core of it.
If someone stumbled into the Star-Chasing Corridor without being a Radiant Stars follower, they would be trapped in the impossibly complex maze and forced into a desperate, hopeless predicament.
At that moment of despair, the statue of the Radiant Stars would appear. If they converted their faith, they could not only find the maze’s exit but also enter the Star Spirit Palace to receive divine rewards.
Those without faith, or whose beliefs were shaky, had a high chance of swearing the Radiant Stars Oath on the spot and becoming its follower.
“Defecting to the Omniscient True Knowledge really was the right decision. The Radiant Stars faction is full of scheming old foxes. If I’d worked for them, they’d probably have devoured me down to the last bone fragment.”
Lin Xun couldn’t help but sigh.
He stopped wandering aimlessly through the maze and instead remained in place, carefully considering a solution.
None of the items left in his inventory seemed suitable for this situation.
Suddenly, his gaze fell on the Luminous Trail Powder that Bennett had given him earlier.
[Luminous Trail Powder x3 (Item): …After use, your footsteps will leave a trail of rainbow-colored light for a short period, allowing you to retrace your path and return home.]
“No, this item lets you retrace your steps in fog, but it’s useless for this maze.”
Lin Xun shook his head and checked other items.
After a long time, he sighed again and was about to close his inventory when a sudden inspiration struck him.
He slapped his thigh and blurted out, “I’ve got it!”
“I’m already a Vowbreaker and can’t swear the Radiant Stars Oath, so I can’t pass through the maze myself.”
“But if I bring a Radiant Stars faction creature here, can’t I just follow it out of the maze?”
His eyes turned to a special piece of equipment in his inventory, the Ring of the Radiant Stars.