Chapter 11: Setting Eleven

Setting Eleven: The Prisoner and the Prison (Part 2)

“Click.”

The moment Setting 2 appeared, everyone heard a crisp sound from the iron door—the cell door had unlocked.

The entire prison erupted. Countless prisoners in striped uniforms poured out of their cells and sprinted down the corridors.

Seeing the chaotic scene outside, Rice Grain Darling asked nervously, “Should we… go out?”

“Of course.” Dragon Emperor Unrivaled said, “You all saw the system setting just now—the clear condition for this Chessboard is to leave the prison.”

“But how do we leave? Even if we get out, we don’t know where to go. We don’t have any clues right now…”

“There’s a clue.”

Host suddenly spoke. His voice was low and deep, like a cello playing in the night. Under everyone’s gaze, the black-haired youth indicated the paper in Shan Ziwei’s hand. He spoke very little, but his words were concise.

“Here.”

Shan Ziwei suddenly felt the paper in his hand was like a hot potato, because Rice Grain Darling and Dragon Emperor Unrivaled both leaned in to look.

“‘Wait for my signal. We’ll break out together.’ …The signal just appeared. What other clue is there?”

Dragon Emperor Unrivaled glanced sideways at Host, saying nothing. Host ignored him again.

Just as it looked like Dragon Emperor Unrivaled and Host were about to lock horns again, Shan Ziwei had to speak up for Host. He’d remained silent before—not because he didn’t want to talk, but because telling the truth cost him SP. It was better to just play mute.

“This paper means we have at least one more accomplice. The last place we made contact should be the cafeteria.”

Seeing that his Diamond and Club SP remained unchanged, Shan Ziwei let out a quiet breath of relief. Good—these explanatory statements weren’t being flagged as violating the setting.

“Oh, you’re right! It’s so dirty—it must have been passed through the food.” Rice Grain Darling’s eyes lit up. “Let’s go check out the cafeteria.”

Dragon Emperor Unrivaled looked displeased. “Still the same problem—we don’t have a prison map. How do you know where the cafete—”

He stopped mid-sentence. Everyone looked at their settings panels, where a new setting had simultaneously appeared.

[Setting 3: You have obtained the prison map. (01:30:00)]

“Great. Now we have to go find that damn map again.”

Dragon Emperor Unrivaled walked to the iron bars and said as he opened the door, “Either way, let’s get out first. The system only gave us ninety minutes—”

“Ah—”

Rice Grain Darling screamed. Just as Dragon Emperor Unrivaled opened the iron door, a passing prisoner spotted them and charged at him.

“Crap!”

Dragon Emperor Unrivaled dodged swiftly, narrowly avoiding the collision. The prisoner barreled into the cell, swept his gaze around the room, and lunged at the nearest target—Rice Grain Darling.

The girl panicked. Clearly this was her first time in a situation like this; she fumbled frantically, trying to pull something out from her person. In contrast, Dragon Emperor Unrivaled—having cleared two Chessboards—was an old hand. He quickly drew several Setting Cards and used them.

“Thump!”

The prisoner was slammed against the wall by a long staff. Rice Grain Darling looked up at the black-haired youth before her, her cheeks flushing slightly. “Th-thank you!”

Host said nothing, silently pressing his attack on the prisoner. A beat too late, Dragon Emperor Unrivaled clicked his tongue in annoyance, taking out his frustration with the stolen spotlight on the prisoner.

“Hmph, a Pawn-rank nobody dares to act tough in front of me!”

Dragon Emperor Unrivaled closed one eye—clearly using a skill similar to Reconnaissance. After scanning the prisoner, he downed a potion and charged in with his blade.

Shan Ziwei was about to wake Little Gaia to craft [2 Reconnaissance], [2 Heavy Strike], and [2 Longsword] Setting Cards when—before he could speak—his Toy Box, as if reading his mind, spat out the cards he needed with its eyes still closed, then rolled over and went back to sleep.

“…”

There was no time to investigate Little Gaia’s behavior. Shan Ziwei quickly used the three Setting Cards, adding the Reconnaissance and Heavy Strike skills to his Personal Settings. Gripping his longsword, he also closed one eye to scan the prisoner and soon obtained its information.

[Prisoner
Attribute: 3
Type: Pawn
MP: 100/100
SP: (100[45]%), (100%), (100%), (100%)
Stance: Hostile
Description: Always dreamed of escaping, so he carved on his back…]

Nearly half of the prisoner’s Spade SP was already contaminated—clearly Host and Dragon Emperor Unrivaled’s work. Shan Ziwei joined the fight with his sword. Honestly, he was grateful for the system’s virtualized character design. Take the prisoner across from him—if it weren’t for that obviously fake, even slightly grotesque face, he wouldn’t have been able to swing his blade at all.

—Because it’s virtual, so it’s okay.

A thought flashed through his mind too quickly for him to register it. He glanced at Rice Grain Darling—she’d finally activated her Setting Cards. Her attack style was unusual: she threw potions at the prisoner. Soon the prisoner turned green all over—clearly poisoned.

Under the four-person assault, the poor prisoner was quickly driven into Spirit Collapse. He let out a frenzied roar, his eyes bloodshot as he charged at Dragon Emperor Unrivaled.

“Die!!!”

Facing the charging brute, Dragon Emperor Unrivaled’s expression was full of contempt. He stood his ground without moving. “You?”

Click—

A gray flash—the prisoner collapsed, his left leg caught in a trap. Immobilized, the prisoner knelt like a trapped beast and began smashing his head against the floor.

“I was wrong, I was wrong, I was wrong—let me out—let me… out…”

Blood sprayed radially across the floor, splashing onto Shan Ziwei’s feet. He recoiled as if burned. Rice Grain Darling was on the verge of tears. Dragon Emperor Unrivaled picked up the Pawn piece from the body and said stiffly, “Nothing to be afraid of—it’s all just made by the system to scare you. You’ll get used to it soon.”

His slightly trembling voice betrayed his nervousness and unease. Host put away his cross-shaped weapon and searched the prisoner’s clothes.

“Hey, what are you—”

The prisoner’s bare back was exposed to everyone’s view, covered in a tattoo.

“Is this… a map?” Rice Grain Darling murmured.

Shan Ziwei had the urge to facepalm. The game developers definitely had some “Prison Break” fanatics among them. He’d had a premonition when he saw the prisoner’s description, and now that the premonition had come true, he didn’t even know how to complain anymore.

There were 82 minutes left until Setting 3 activated—why give so much time? Because they hadn’t finished the task yet. The tattoo on the prisoner’s back was, strictly speaking, only part of the map.

Everyone looked out at the crowded prisoners in the corridor and felt the game’s deep malice.

“I swear, I never want to play jigsaw puzzles again—no, let me rephrase: I never want to see another tattoo again!”

Shan Ziwei wholeheartedly agreed with Dragon Emperor Unrivaled’s sentiment. Before them lay four prisoner corpses, their back tattoos forming a continuous picture. Don’t underestimate those four bodies—they’d killed a total of sixteen prisoners. After filtering out duplicate patterns and useless ones, they’d barely managed to piece together the complete map just before Setting 3 activated.

The cell could have hosted a corpse party. Surrounded by bodies, Shan Ziwei watched his Diamond SP (Fear) drop another notch, his face completely wooden.

He was wrong. He shouldn’t have thought the newbie tutorial was brutal. Compared to this Chessboard, Toy Town was like playing house with little angels!

[Setting 3: You have obtained the prison map.]

[Setting 4: You have made preparations for the escape in the library. (01:00:00)]

The moment Setting 3 activated, Setting 4 also appeared. Shan Ziwei checked his SP bars—none had shortened, meaning they hadn’t violated Setting 3. The map before them was indeed the prison map.

According to the map, the prison was rectangular, with “Cafeteria” marked at the center and a ring of cells around it. At the four corners of the rectangle were “Workshop,” “Infirmary,” “Bathhouse,” and “Library.”

“Alright, we have the map now.” Dragon Emperor Unrivaled said. “Let’s head to the infirmary right away.”

“Huh?” Rice Grain Darling questioned. “Shouldn’t we go to the bathhouse…?”

Shan Ziwei quickly realized—everyone’s Setting 4 was different! In traditional game terms, this was a branching quest.

“I’ll go to the workshop.”

Host said briefly. He climbed up to the bunk with his nameplate, searched it quickly, and came down with a Setting Card.

Shan Ziwei caught a glimpse of it—it was the same [2 Prison Uniform] he had. Host used the Setting Card without hesitation, and in an instant, his short-sleeved shirt and shorts transformed into black-and-white striped prison garb.

“Hey!?” Dragon Emperor Unrivaled shot to his feet. They watched as Host opened the iron door, immediately bracing for battle.

To their surprise, the prisoners didn’t attack Host. The black-haired youth blended naturally into the crowd of inmates, indistinguishable from them.

Shan Ziwei instantly understood the function of the [2 Prison Uniform] Setting Card—so Evil and Justice values affected stance determination?

He used his own [2 Prison Uniform] Setting Card, and soon a new line appeared in his Personal Settings:

[Setting 4: You are wearing a prison uniform. Prisoners feel friendly toward you.]

When Shan Ziwei Reconnaissance’d the prisoners outside again, the feedback showed their stance had shifted from “Hostile” to “Neutral.”

“I’m going too.”

Shan Ziwei nodded to Dragon Emperor Unrivaled and Rice Grain Darling. Just as he was about to set off, the girl called him back.

“Fa-Fanzi, you’re going to the library, right? Could you keep me company?” Rice Grain Darling asked cautiously. “I’m a ‘rapist’—I can’t leave the presence of the opposite sex, or my Club SP drops. Our destinations are close to each other. Could I go to the library with you first, and then you come with me to the bathhouse?”

…Being a rapist wasn’t easy either.

Dragon Emperor Unrivaled had been about to volunteer, but after hearing that, he dropped the idea. The prison was rectangular—the places they needed to go were the four corners of the rectangle. The bathhouse and library, and the workshop and infirmary, were on the two short sides. The system gave a one-hour time limit. Given the unclear situation, Rice Grain Darling’s proposal was the most practical.

Seeing the girl’s about-to-cry expression, Shan Ziwei couldn’t bear to refuse and nodded.

“Alright.”

At that, Rice Grain Darling happily changed into her prison uniform and followed Shan Ziwei out of the cell.

Once outside, Shan Ziwei truly felt the prison’s vastness and oppressive weight. The gray tones were suffocating. Rows of iron bars filled his vision, and prisoners still ran through the corridors—though perhaps because they’d just had a bloody fight, fewer prisoners were coming this way.

Shan Ziwei easily avoided the prisoners and ran toward the library in the northeast corner, following the map. Rice Grain Darling stayed close behind. After a while of fast running, the prisoners grew sparse until the area became nearly deserted.

In a remote corner, Shan Ziwei and Rice Grain Darling finally saw the legendary prison library.

It was more accurately a small archive room. There weren’t many books, but they filled seven shelves. A seat sat at the entrance, occupied by a small figure sleeping soundly.

Hearing their approach, the small figure rubbed its eyes and sleepily looked at Shan Ziwei and Rice Grain Darling. Recognizing Shan Ziwei, it yawned and said casually, “GFanzi, you’re here to borrow books again… help yourself.”

No obstruction—they entered the library with ease. Facing the rows upon rows of bookshelves, Rice Grain Darling clicked her tongue. “So many books. What exactly are we supposed to prepare?”

A flash of inspiration struck Shan Ziwei. He ran back to the entrance and woke the small figure.

“I’d like to see my borrowing record.”

The small figure pulled out a piece of paper with its eyes closed and handed it over before falling asleep again.

Shan Ziwei took the paper. It recorded in detail the books “GFanzi” had borrowed and the dates. He felt an inexplicable thrill—whether excitement or fear, he couldn’t tell. Looking at these records, it was as if there really was a con artist named “GFanzi” living in this prison. He was playing this character, studying “his” past, creating “his” future.

“‘Three Travelers, One Must Be My Teacher’ (2007-3-5, Mon); ‘The Sounding Horn’ (2007-3-9, Fri); ‘If You’re Ugly, Read More’ (2007-3-18, Sun); ‘The Corpse on the Iron Shelf’ (2007-3-27, Tue); ‘The Dwarfs and the Seven Fairies’ (2007-4-6, Fri); ‘Permutation and Combination Algorithms’ (2007-4-9, Mon); ‘The Women of 308’ (2007-4-18, Wed); ‘The Death of John Lennon’ (2007-4-25, Wed).” Rice Grain Darling looked troubled. “We’d have to search one by one—time seems a bit tight.”

Shan Ziwei studied the list for a moment, then put the borrowing record back.

“No need to search. It’s on shelf 3, row 7, column 8.”

“How do you know?”

“The book titles are clues. The dates are decoys. The weekday names are old planetary day notations—converting them to modern weekdays gives text-position hints. It’s a simple puzzle.”

“Shelf—three—row—seven—” Rice Grain Darling ran back, read the borrowing record again, and returned full of admiration. “You’re amazing!”

Praise from a girl made Shan Ziwei involuntarily bloom with little flowers, try as he might to suppress them.

And then Little Gaia popped those flowers. The silver-haired black-robed doll had woken up at some point and was staring at him with its black-and-white eyes.

That ghostly gaze sent a chill through Shan Ziwei, giving him the inexplicable guilty feeling of a child caught in a compromising position. He cleared his throat and said, somewhat defensively, “When you play enough games, you get to know the devs’… uh, habits.”

To quickly move past the topic, Shan Ziwei walked briskly to the shelf and pulled out the target book. It was a white-covered book. On the first page, a motto-like line read: A gentleman uses his words, not his fists.

Below it was signed “GFanzi.” Shan Ziwei’s mind was instantly flooded with “WTF.” He saw the new setting and nearly broke down.

[Setting 5: You believe that a gentleman uses his words, not his fists. (00:10:00)]

A! Gen! Tle! Man! Uses! His! Words! Not! His! Fists!

—Could he even fight monsters anymore?!

“What’s wrong?” Rice Grain Darling asked worriedly, seeing his expression.

Shan Ziwei’s face was wooden. “…How likely do you think it is that I can bite a monster to death?”

“???”

“Just kidding. Heh.”

#Dedicated to the game developers, this “heh”#

Shan Ziwei closed the white book that had just delivered a “first-page kill” to him. He checked the time—still 30 minutes until Setting 4 activated—and said to Rice Grain Darling, “Let’s go to the bathhouse.”

The girl’s eyes lit up. She hesitated slightly. “Are you ready?”

“The rest of the clues should be in this book. I can read it on the way. If I need anything more, we can always come back.”

“Thank you!”

Rice Grain Darling excitedly reached out as if to grab Shan Ziwei’s hand in thanks—but this particular sufferer recoiled in horror.

“Sorry—I got carried away.”

Rice Grain Darling was a bit of an airhead; she seemed to think she’d been too forward and didn’t question Shan Ziwei’s expression, which looked like he was about to be flattened by a tyrannosaur.

The two quickly relocated, taking ten minutes to reach another corner of the prison: the bathhouse.

The prison bathhouse was unisex, separated only by time slots. Under Shan Ziwei’s guidance, Rice Grain Darling quickly found her bath basin based on the time rotation pattern and checked its contents.

Shan Ziwei stood at the bathhouse entrance, reading the white book from the library.

It truly was a “white book”—it contained GFanzi’s personal confession. After reading it, Shan Ziwei could only conclude: his (character’s) self was such a scumbag.

“GFanzi” was a fraudster. Due to the huge sums involved, he’d been sentenced to life imprisonment. As an ambitious con artist, GFanzi naturally had no intention of spending his life behind bars. He began planning an escape. For him, deception was his greatest weapon.

Outside, he used money to defraud; inside, with no money to be had, he used emotions.

So he targeted a new prison guard. After much effort, he’d infatuated the guard completely—but the guard refused to agree to an escape plan. Just as GFanzi was about to switch targets, the guard finally relented and devised this plan: first cause a disturbance, then rendezvous at the cafeteria for the next phase of the breakout.

Tucked inside the white book was another Setting Card.

[5 Deception
Type: Assassination Skill
Effect: Make a target within range 1 believe one of your statements without question.
Description: Trust me—that’s a deer, not a horse.]

This Setting Card looked pretty badass. It slightly soothed his wounded feelings about being forced into a scumbag role by the system.

Shan Ziwei put the white book away and looked up to see Rice Grain Darling walking over with a dazed expression.

“…What’s wrong?”

Rice Grain Darling glanced at him, then glanced again, and finally spoke hesitantly.

“Fanzi… if I hugged you, would you be happy?”

“…Not happy.”

Shan Ziwei’s answer was both a lie and the truth. Mentally, he wouldn’t be happy—but his body would. In fact, it would be too happy—his Heart SP (Joy) would plummet through the roof!

Hearing his words, Rice Grain Darling seemed a bit deflated. She lowered her head, as if she’d made some decision.

“…I’m so sorry!”

The next moment, Shan Ziwei was tightly embraced by Rice Grain Darling.