aircannonsinc Chapter 373 Deciphered?
Chapter 373 Deciphered?
The cave walls were smooth, not like they were formed naturally, but rather as if they had been carved by some force, and they gleamed with a faint metallic sheen.
The light was dim, but it did not obstruct Lin Tian's vision.
He walked slowly and leisurely, as if he were not exploring an unknown and dangerous instance, but taking a stroll in his own backyard.
Ten minutes, twenty minutes... the passage seemed endless, stubbornly extending downwards.
Silence, absolute silence, with only the barely audible sound of his footsteps and breathing.
Just as Lin Tian was beginning to think that this long passage might be the first boring "patience test" in the dungeon, things finally changed ahead.
A glimmer of light came from a great distance. It wasn't the light of a torch or lamp, but rather something closer to a cold light source, stable and even.
Lin Tian quickened his pace.
Five minutes later, he stood at the source of the light source—in front of a door.
This is an extremely abrupt door.
It is four meters high and four meters wide, perfectly square, and fits snugly at the end of the passage.
The door itself is made of neither gold nor stone, and shimmers with a soft silver-white luster.
The most striking feature is the design of the door—it lacks any of the mysterious runes, ferocious beast heads, or ancient reliefs one would expect from a dungeon entrance.
Instead, there are minimalist geometric lines, with shimmering energy loops faintly visible inside the door panels, exuding a futuristic feel that clashes with the game world that is usually filled with magic and swords.
"That's interesting." Lin Tian's interest deepened.
The contrast in style is more interesting than expected.
He reached out and pressed his hand against the cold metal door.
There was no keyhole, no mechanism.
Apply slight force.
hum-
The door slid open silently inwards, so smoothly that there was not a single bump.
Behind the door was not the boss room, treasure vault, or another adventure passage as one might have imagined.
What came into view was an enormous space.
But the sight of the space caused even the well-traveled and stoic Lin Tian to freeze for a moment.
maze.
A maze so vast that it seems to stretch to the horizon.
The walls are towering and the passageways are crisscrossing.
But the style of this maze...
Square.
Everything is made up of blocks.
The ground is made of uniform gray-white blocks, the walls are made of blocks of varying shades of green, brown and gray, and even the "ceiling" above is made of huge blue blocks with simple textures, which is hard to tell whether it is rock or a simulated sky.
Sharp angles and pixelated design.
Lin Tian was silent for three seconds, then clicked his tongue softly.
"A pixel maze? A Minecraft crossover?" He was both amused and exasperated.
Having transmigrated to "Battle for Supremacy of the Myriad Realms" for so long, I've experienced at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, dungeons, from the Fiery Hell to the Extreme Cold Abyss. They all have different styles, but the core of them all revolves around combat, killing, and plundering.
There are puzzle-based instances, but most are simple and straightforward, either involving moving a few mechanisms or killing guards in a specific order.
A maze like this, so pure, so massive, and so... "retro" and "casual," is truly a first.
"I thought there would be some kind of hyperdimensional space or gene laboratory behind the futuristic door..." Lin Tian shook his head and stepped inside.
"The result was a massive nostalgia session. Oh well, a maze is a maze, at least I saw some 'familiar' things."
The metal door behind him closed silently and disappeared, as if it had never existed.
Lin Tian stood at the entrance of the maze and looked around.
The passageway is wide enough to accommodate five people walking side by side, and it is about ten meters high, so it doesn't feel cramped.
It was quiet, except for the slightly hollow "tap, tap" sound of his own footsteps on the square floor.
"The first proper puzzle game."
Lin Tian flexed his wrists, even though he knew he probably wouldn't be able to use his terrifyingly powerful attributes here.
"The previous dungeons were just a matter of pushing through them, which definitely lacked the feeling of 'exploration.' I hope this maze is a bit more complicated, so I don't find the exit too quickly; that would be really boring."
A childlike, challenging smile appeared on his face.
"This little pixel maze can't possibly stump me!"
Having said that, he chose the widest-looking passage and stepped inside.
They didn't use any skills, nor did they intend to break through the wall by force—at least not initially.
He followed the most basic principle of maze exploration: the right-hand-holding-the-wall method.
At the same time, with a slight movement of the fingertips, an almost invisible mark made of faint star energy is left on the wall that is passed over.
At first, everything went smoothly.
The passage is straight with few forks, making the choice easy.
Lin Tian walked briskly, even leisurely, observing the walls and corners made of pixelated blocks, rough in detail yet inexplicably possessing a simple beauty.
Occasionally, you can see "fluorite" blocks embedded in the wall, emitting a soft glow, or a few pixel-style "flowers" in the corner.
Half an hour later.
Lin Tian stood at a crossroads, the leisurely look on his face long gone.
He stared at the familiar diamond-shaped mark made of stellar energy on the left wall, and the corner of his mouth began to twitch uncontrollably.
This was left by him twenty-five minutes ago.
Moreover, this was the third time he had seen this mark.
"..."
Lin Tian remained silent, then turned to look in the other three directions.
The passageways in every direction looked exactly the same: deep, quiet, with walls made of pixelated blocks that stretched endlessly.
He refused to believe in superstitions and abandoned the method of supporting himself with his right hand against the wall. Instead, he chose a side path that he had never taken before and which should theoretically lead to a new area.
With intense concentration, I memorized every turn and every slightly different combination of blocks (for example, an extra moss block in one place, or a slightly darker wall color in another).
Ten minutes later.
He stood in front of a solid, impassable wall in a dead end.
The walls were made of dark gray "cobblestone" blocks, fitting together perfectly and blocking all paths.
Lin Tian's expression shifted from focused to puzzled, and then to utter speechlessness.
He stared at the pixelated wall for a full ten seconds. Then, he slowly raised his hand and covered his forehead.
"I think..."
He muttered to himself, his voice filled with a kind of absurd frustration.
"I still prefer the old dungeons."
Those dungeons are so "cute"!
The monster is ferocious? Just smash it.
The boss is ferocious? Just crush him.
Traps and mechanisms? You can either withstand their effects with your attributes or dismantle them with your skills.
Simple, direct, efficient, and full of powerful aesthetics.
Unlike now...