Chapter 0 Completed Current Mission, Updated Main Mission

When Feng Bujue obtained the third potion, the game menu updated and checked off the following: *Find and capture Billy the puppet in the fourth corridor and bring him to Rabbit in exchange for a bottle of chemical potion.*

And the other entry *Find chemical potions (3/4)* also refreshed.

Feng Bujue's shot had the distinct flavor of kicking the dog (or rather, rabbit) after it had served its purpose.

The bullet struck Rabbit’s head, causing it to explode like an overripe watermelon, spraying blood everywhere, staining the table, floor, walls… and of course, the nearby Feng Bujue.

Rabbit’s kangaroo-sized body fell backward, knocking over the chair and collapsing heavily to the ground, its twitching rabbit legs still spasming.

“Now the time is…” Feng Bujue had lost count of how many times he’d wiped the mess from his face. “Sixty-five minutes.” His gaze shifted to the table. The Billy puppet had vanished.

“But it seems you can’t continue this act,” Feng Bujue chuckled.

The light in the first cell suddenly flickered on, and Billy the puppet appeared inside, still sitting in that chair. The overhead light cast a sinister glow upon his face. “Was there a flaw somewhere? Could it be just because of Rabbit’s one mistake…”

“There were too many flaws,” Feng Bujue replied. “What just happened was just my final test for confirmation.” He casually placed the gun on the table, put his hands in his pockets, and strolled to the front of the cell. “As for when I began to suspect… it was probably from the very beginning.”

“Hmph… even if you’ve seen through this game, that’s quite an exaggeration, isn’t it?” Billy said.

“Don’t believe me? Or don’t you *want* to believe me?” Feng Bujue’s tone was full of provocation. “Anyway, I have twenty-seven minutes before the poison takes effect, so I have plenty of time. Let me explain slowly.”

He walked to the side, picked up the chair next to Rabbit’s corpse, dragged it to the front of the cell, and sat down across the bars from Billy. He cleared his throat and began, “I won’t repeat your entire opening speech, but in short… I believe it was a carefully crafted piece, full of traps and inducements, and completely tailored to me personally. As you later said, you can indeed ‘accurately gauge people’s hearts,’ at least you know how to guide my reasoning and progress.” He smiled. “But there was one thing you shouldn’t have said… ‘You will meet some people, witness some things, and what you see and hear may change your actions and interfere with your judgment.’”

“That sentence… was just…” Billy tried to interject.

But Feng Bujue cut him off directly and continued, “…just trying to exploit my reverse psychology, making me afraid to believe that what I saw was an illusion, and what I heard was a lie.” He paused for a second. “But you and I both know it’s the truth. Your entire opening speech, at least from your perspective, was all true. You wouldn’t deceive the players when announcing the rules at the beginning of the game. I think that’s a matter of pride and principle.” He spread his hands, gesturing toward Rabbit’s corpse. “Even when you need to lie, you try not to speak yourself, and in most cases, you just remain silent, or say a few ambiguous, seemingly profound things. And those deceptive acts are done by a rabbit and…” Feng Bujue imagined Alden's appearance, "...and some monster I don't even know the name of."

Feng Bujue habitually stroked his nose, drawing his index and middle fingers down from his forehead. "There's no second timeline at all, and the four corridors don't lead to twenty-three, forty-six, or sixty-nine minutes, and there's no pattern of increasing or decreasing time based on forward or backward movement… it's all smoke and mirrors." He leaned forward, tapping his temple lightly with his finger. “You’re using my love of puzzle-solving and using a set of false rules to guide my thinking and actions.

"You're not bad. I'm sure you've rehearsed my reasoning steps in advance… the existence of the rooms, the distribution of the potions, the length of the corridors, the time it takes to pass through them, and so on… you know very well what information to give me and what information to withhold.

"According to your guidance, I actually only had one route to choose."

Feng Bujue held up one finger. "In the fan-shaped room at the beginning, the performance in the first corridor was very successful. It really made me wonder for a long time. You also understand that, given my way of thinking, after seeing that scene, I would definitely choose other corridors to explore first. And at this time, two, three, four…" His finger changed accordingly, "No matter which one I go to, it's the same. You just need to improvise when making up the rules.

"No matter which one I enter, you will definitely arrange for me to meet Alden first. That ghost story challenge is like leaving a strange message at a murder scene to disrupt the investigation. Sending me directly to the end in that way actually seems very normal, because the more inexplicable the situation, the less likely anyone is to delve into it.

"When I arrived at this so-called 'cell,' the real show officially began. Rabbit and Alden's words, plus your appearance in the cell, were all designed to make me believe your corridor time theory.

"That way, in order to avoid creating a spacetime paradox and to avoid the ninety-two minutes of map time, I only had one path left to choose - to turn back from the second corridor, return from the fourth corridor, and finally go to the first corridor. This is what you wanted to guide me to do, and the only route that all of Rabbit's theories pointed to."

Feng Bujue turned his head, looking at the first corridor. "To put it more directly, you wanted me to go to the first corridor with a habitual mindset, with the gun you gave me, and unhesitatingly kill the 'someone' behind the door." He looked at Billy again. "In your calculations, at that time, I should only have one Contras Medal left, not the two I have now; I would have obtained three potions, and I would be about to clear the level; plus the scene you showed me at the beginning… that was like a time bomb buried in my brain. At the last moment, given my personality, I have to admit that even if it meant death, I would definitely try to reverse that scene…" He pointed to the gun on the table again. "In short, according to the scenario you imagined, I would definitely go to the first corridor in the end, open the door, and kill anything that appeared before me."

Billy's attitude at this time had a bit of a "what's done is done" feel, a kind of alternative calmness. "Since you've reasoned to this point, why not guess why I wanted to do this?"

"It's very simple. You want to escape, right?" Feng Bujue said.

As expected, he hit the mark. Billy's face lifted slightly, speechless.

"I think… this entire space we're in is a 'prison,'" Feng Bujue said, scanning the four cells in front of him. "These four cells are just decorations." He pointed to the iron bars of the cell door. "Now that we're here, let's talk about a few obvious flaws. When I saw SCP-173, I was very certain that the rabbit was talking nonsense. It said that the four prisoners were originally locked up here. Ha… but how could a cell holding 173 use a barred door?" He joked, "Is it you, the unblinking puppet, who is responsible for staring at 173 through the bars all year round?"

"Furthermore, Alden and 173 both have the ability to teleport. What's the point of the length of these corridors?" Feng Bujue added. "Also, having Rabbit claim to be replacing Samodir is definitely a mistake. When you're in the same room, your presence and oppressiveness are more than twice that of his. How could he keep you in check?"

Feng Bujue shook his head and sneered. "In my opinion, the real warden is guarding the entrance to this space, and the gate of this prison is in that first corridor." He spread out his palms, pointing at Billy. "There's no doubt about your ability to manipulate space. I think… the length of these corridors, and the changes in all the rooms within the space, are all at your will, right? How long it takes me to run through the corridors, how long it takes me to encounter the rooms, is also in your control.

"But, you and your subordinates, or rather, your inmates… rehearsed such a play, created complex rules, created various psychological cues, controlled the information I obtained, and patiently set up a deception… just to make me do something so easy?

"You gave me the gun, Alden has fingers that can pull the trigger, and Rabbit can also try. Why didn't you do it yourselves?"

Feng Bujue crossed his legs. "Initially, my reasoning was… you few can't open that door, or you can't touch it, or you can't get close to it at all." He smiled, an evil smile. "But after thinking about it carefully, I realized…"

Feng Bujue didn't say what his reasoning was based on. His reasoning was actually that blurb: *Overlapping time and space, a deadly game, endless terror, the nightmare of reincarnation.*

This was the hint given by the system at the beginning of the script, not spoken by any NPC or Boss. These four sentences were the real key to unlocking the secret of this script.

The phrase "overlapping time and space" coincided with Billy's deception, and confused Feng Bujue to a certain extent, but now that he took out the information in these four sentences to speculate, Feng Bujue understood.

"You guys have done this countless times, haven't you?" Feng Bujue laughed. "After you kill the warden, you can't escape, right?"

Billy replied, "Is that so funny?"

Feng Bujue said, "Then tell me, why isn't it funny?"

Billy replied, "Killing the warden not only prevents us from escaping, but also triggers the reincarnation phenomenon. The power that I, Rabbit, and Alden had regained… especially the control over time and space, would return to the starting point, as if time had reversed, and only our memories remained.

"The SCP-173 you mentioned… I don't even know what it's called. It's not our inmate, but part of the punishment. Every time we break out of the prison, we will be 'reincarnated,' and then encounter a brand new monster similar to 173 in the prison, and be tortured and killed countless times… until our strength recovers and we become strong enough to control the prison again."

Feng Bujue said, "So, you want to use my power to break this reincarnation?"