Players, Please Board the Train

The interior of the giant Rubik’s Cube was an entirely different space. The moment they stepped inside, pure blackness dominated their vision, making it impossible to see anything. Xu Huo took two steps forward and unexpectedly stepped into empty air, nearly falling down.

”Be careful, there’s nothing in front,” he warned Yan Jiayu as he turned back.

”The ground is moving,” Yan Jiayu spoke in the darkness, but her voice suddenly grew distant from behind him.

Just as they were both startled by what was happening, two beams of light shone down from above, directly illuminating their faces.

Squinting slightly, Xu Huo quickly adjusted to the intense light. He tilted his head slightly and discovered Yan Jiayu was now at least twenty meters away from him. What’s more, the ground beneath her feet was no longer flat earth but a circular pillar just large enough for one person to stand on. As the light continued to shine, this cylindrical pillar began to shrink.

Xu Huo found himself in the same situation—the pillar beneath his feet, which had been large enough for both feet, shrank in the blink of an eye to the size of a fist, forcing him to barely hang on with one foot!

Just as the pillars showed signs of continuing to shrink, another beam of light appeared ahead. Within this light beam floated a metallic Rubik’s Cube, with one of its upward-facing corners cut into a sizable flat surface. He leaped onto it immediately.

The moment he landed, the cube swayed left and right due to the disturbance but quickly regained balance. At that moment, a cloth doll clown appeared with a ”pop” sound ahead. Waving a magic wand, he said cheerfully, ”Welcome to the Rubik’s Cube Maze. I am your question master, ’Smiling Face.’”

”I know you have many questions, but I don’t like answering others’ questions. Therefore, I’ll only allow you to ask three questions, including those about the question-and-answer game. You may ask now.”

”What is the gameplay method of the Rubik’s Cube Maze?” Xu Huo asked.”Very simple,” Smiling Face waved through the air, and a similarly corner-cut cloth doll Rubik’s Cube appeared beside him. Tapping the cube with his magic wand, he explained, ”The effect of each cube pillar lasts only three minutes. After three minutes pass, the cube will return to its original state within ten seconds—meaning the flat surface disappears and becomes a pointed corner again.”

”But you don’t need to worry too much. Every thirty seconds, at least six cubes will appear in the illuminated areas. Whether you can seize them is up to you.”

”Every ten minutes, I will ask a question. Guests standing on illuminated cube pillars can compete to answer. Answering correctly means you pass the question-and-answer game smoothly, but if you fail, you will remain forever in this dark space.”

”Of course, you cannot leave the cube for more than thirty seconds at a time, otherwise you will lose your qualification to answer.”

After finishing, Smiling Face closed his mouth, apparently unwilling to say more.

Xu Huo looked toward Yan Jiayu, who said, ”There are still two questions left. You ask first.”

Xu Huo turned his gaze back to the clown. ”What is the maximum number of people the Rubik’s Cube Maze can accommodate for the question-and-answer game at one time?”

”Fifteen people,” Smiling Face maintained his smile. ”By the way, the current count is twelve.”

”Will all cubes remain suspended without falling during the game?” Yan Jiayu followed up.

”Of course, otherwise how could this be called the Rubik’s Cube Maze?” After speaking, Smiling Face spun in place, exploded into fireworks, and disappeared into the darkness.

Moments later, five more beams of light shone down. Before the light even fully illuminated the cubes, seven figures rushed out from the darkness, charging toward these five cube pillars.

Two of the cube pillars were targeted by two people each. One pair were clearly partners—they cooperatively chose to place one foot each on the same cube. The other pair wasn’t so fortunate; having apparently familiarized themselves with the rules and operations beforehand, one of them had his neck severed the moment they met. After being decapitated, both body and head fell into the darkness. The other person successfully occupied the cube pillar.

With one player dead and two players sharing one cube, the remaining three spots should have been enough for the other three cube pillars. Unexpectedly, however, although one cube pillar was illuminated by light, its pointed corner didn’t transform into a flat surface. The player who confidently jumped onto it couldn’t maintain balance on the sharp corner and smoothly slid down the cube’s slanted surface. He tried to hook onto the cube with his weapon, but the cube’s edges and borders seemed unable to provide leverage—not even a mark remained after his blade struck.

”Ah!” The player screamed in terror as he fell from the cube, but his voice cut off abruptly as his body was swallowed by the darkness below.

”Isn’t there an abyss down below?” Yan Jiayu looked downward.

The player who had killed to occupy a cube pillar stroked the stubble on his chin and sneered, ”Naive. This is an alternate dimension—it can’t be explained as simply a cliff or abyss. If you fall off a cliff or into an abyss, you might still climb back up. But if you fall into an alternate dimension, who knows what could happen.”

”Rather than worrying about what’s below, you should be more concerned about companions in the darkness.”

Yan Jiayu immediately scanned their surroundings. ”Are there people around us?”

”Of course,” the bearded player said. ”The number of players in the Rubik’s Cube Maze isn’t fixed. When some die, others enter. Who knows how many more have come in now? Better be careful.”

Xu Huo withdrew his gaze and instead focused on the surrounding movements.

The clown said there were currently twelve players, meaning besides the seven people now standing in the light beams and the two who died, there were at least three more players in the darkness—assuming no new players had entered.

Those in the light were visible and audible, but he couldn’t detect any signs of living people in the darkness. Clearly, the darkness of the Rubik’s Cube Maze had the ability to block senses.

The illuminated areas would reveal at least six cube pillars, but not every illuminated cube would develop a flat surface. To answer the clown’s questions, one must stand on a cube pillar, meaning choosing a pointed-corner cube not only prevented answering questions but also came with high risks, since answering questions required being on an illuminated cube.

Although each cube pillar lasted three minutes, answering questions required standing on illuminated cube pillars. So even before a cube’s time limit expired, others might still compete for new cubes.

It was impossible to determine whether players in the darkness could see those in the light, but they could at least test whether items remained effective.

Xu Huo drew his Crimson Sword and casually swung it toward the darkness. To his surprise, the sword energy light screen disappeared upon reaching the edge of the illuminated area—item characteristics couldn’t take effect in the darkness.

Having confirmed this, he felt slightly reassured and nodded to Yan Jiayu.

The first thirty seconds had already passed. The original seven beams of light all extinguished, while six new beams appeared in different locations simultaneously.

Players on the cube pillars all sprang into action. Xu Huo also headed toward the nearest cube pillar. As he rushed over, two other players appeared within the light. Dodging a heavy hammer swung by one of them, he raised his sword to strike at the player on his left. However, his opponent blocked the attack with an armguard and spat a hidden weapon toward him!