Charles looked at the steel needles on the entire ceiling and swallowed. He said, "If these things fall, we would die a terrible death."
"Actually, we wouldn't die immediately. It depends on where these steel needles penetrate," Erik, much calmer, replied. "Judging by the density, it's almost impossible to hit the brainstem in one shot. The head might also be avoided. In that case, dying from suffocation due to pulmonary bleeding or excessive blood loss is more likely."
"No, Erik," Charles looked into his eyes and said, "Can you really watch me like this?"
"If it really comes to that, I would choose to turn away," Erik said. "Don't call me heartless; I'm just discussing the worst-case scenario."
"No way," Charles said, "If you dare to turn away, I'll destroy all your helmets. And don't even think about making new ones."
"Are you so focused on destroying my mental health?"
"And also mine," Charles emphasized, "Both of us together. No one should try to escape."
"Don't think about that now, Charles," Erik reminded, "We need to think about how this game is played."
Erik first inspected the platform. He reached out to feel under the platform and said, "There's a lever here. Doesn't look good."
"I guess if you pull it, the ceiling will fall," Charles looked up at the ceiling and said, "It's just like in horror movies."
"What happens after it falls?" Erik said, "We can completely hide under this platform..."
The next second, he fell silent. His mechanical engineering and mechanics knowledge told him that the structure he felt under the platform was movable, not locked.
This means the platform might not always support them. If the ceiling falls and the platform fails, they would only have themselves to rely on. Judging by the designer's nature, this possibility is very high.
"There's something on the wall," Charles said, "There's also a switch there, a bit like the lever in the first level. It seems to require something to fall to smash it down?"
Both Charles and Erik reached out to attempt pulling it, but it was clearly impossible. Perhaps the strength wasn't enough, or maybe it needed a sudden force to smash downwards. This can also happen in mechanical structures.
Charles continued feeling the wall. With the faint firelight, he carefully examined every brick. Suddenly, he discovered a brick had some movement. He reached out and dug, finding that this brick could turn.
He pushed one side of the brick, and it turned ninety degrees, revealing a small gap. Unexpectedly, there was firelight behind it. Charles peeked through the gap and discovered a hidden room behind, with a torch inside.
The torch illuminated the full view of the hidden room. Rather than calling it a hidden room, it was more like a closet, and one of those small wardrobes, probably only enough for one adult to stand in.
Erik focused on studying the ceiling instead. He looked around and found a slight light in the upper left corner of the room. He walked over and looked up; the light coming through the gap between the ceiling and wall indicated there might be a passage above.
Erik had long discovered that in the entire secret room, dark places with firelight always had clues. This time is probably no exception. The level designer, though insidious and cruel, wouldn't lie about some basic rules.
He shared this clue with Charles, who couldn't help covering his forehead and said, "I think I understand a bit now."
"Both of us will hide down, let the ceiling fall, smash the switch, open the hidden room. Then one person climbs into the hidden room, stepping onto the ceiling to escape through the passage."
Charles naturally mentioned the previous level's content. But he still explained the strategy of the game in detail.
"In the previous level, the more you contributed, the more optimistic you became. Because you personally increased the success rate, you would be more inclined to believe both could hide under the platform, waiting for the plan to succeed."
"If one contributed nothing, basically a complete villain, they would think the plan wouldn't work. Meaning only one could leave, while the other was destined to be crushed or pierced by needles."
"But actually, it might be completely reversed. Because those who choose to sacrifice themselves and contribute a lot of blood would naturally be more willing to sacrifice themselves to let their partner escape. Those who completely refuse to sacrifice themselves would want to be the ones escaping."
"The subtlety of this game is that those sacrificing will always choose to sacrifice. Those unwilling to sacrifice will always be unwilling."
"Talking about those willing to sacrifice, teammates can completely trust them. Because they are the good guys willing to sacrifice themselves. Choosing to stay and support the ceiling is entirely voluntary. Their teammates are likely to escape successfully."
"But those unwilling to sacrifice are inherently bad guys. Remember, there's a certain distance from the platform to the secret room. You must crawl under the needles. If the one supporting the platform gives up, you'd definitely be pierced. Would people choose to trust that unwilling-to-sacrifice bad guy?"
"But if they give up, the person underneath the platform would be crushed to death, right?" Erik asked.
Charles shook his head and said, "The needles have a certain length. After falling, they would leave a gap between the platform and the ground. If the person underneath the platform chooses to lie flat, they may only get their exposed ankle pierced. If they're petite enough, they may completely evade the needles and survive a while longer. At least they might live longer than the one pierced."
"It's just like the climax of a horror film," Erik commented.
"Yeah, I can totally imagine it. A couple who were once deeply in love come here after facing countless trials, and in the end, one chooses to give up just to live a bit longer than the other. They think they've survived, but they're only despairingly waiting to die."
Erik turned his head toward the location of the secret room. Actually, if one chooses to escape, the person underneath the platform could still hang on, potentially surviving until the end of the challenge. This is clearly part of the gambit—giving the person leaving a sufficiently valid reason to walk away.
But that doesn't mean the person left behind can stay comfortably.
The length of the steel needle is just right to pierce through the human body, and the height of the raised platform is almost enough for someone to lie flat on the ground. The platform is about one meter sixty-five in length, which is indeed not enough for an adult male to fully stretch out. But if you extend your feet, getting pierced in the ankles isn't fatal, and might not lead to excessive bleeding.
For a female under this height, both her head and feet can remain inside. However, due to the presence of a woman's chest, the same height might be more constrictive on the chest cavity, causing difficulty in breathing.
It's safe to say that regardless of gender, choosing to stay means each has their own torment, indistinguishable from punishment.
The key is that the two cannot exit independently; if one wants to leave, both must leave. If your partner has safely escaped this challenge, there is still hope of passing. Choosing to exit means the other will exit too, and there's no hope left. Those who wish to win often persist until the last second. It's pure suffering.
"So vicious," Pamela exclaimed, "It's hard to imagine what kind of person could design such a mechanism."
And Harley simply rubbed the bruises on her face while giving her a death stare. Pamela turned to her and said, "How long are you planning to stay mad?"
"You speak as if I'm being unreasonable," Harley glared wide-eyed and said. "You punched me, then forced me to jump the challenge with you. And now it seems like I'm throwing a tantrum at you?"
"Trust me, dear Harley, I've been incredibly patient with you," Pamela walked up and roughly rubbed his face. "If I still had my superpower, I'd certainly take more effective measures to prevent you, this lunatic, from self-harming. Even Arkham Asylum would give me a Best Nurse Award."
"I'm not a lunatic!"
"Every mental patient says that," Pamela replied. "When the Professor and Bruce were hurting each other, they both thought they were right. If they'd had a nurse like me back then, things wouldn't have gone that far."
"You only dare to bully me," Harley snapped, "If those two were here, you'd never dare step forward!"
"Too bad they're not here," Pamela chuckled, "Alright, since we jumped the challenge and didn't contribute a drop of blood, we'll definitely fail the previous one. There's no point in waiting here together. You run away, I'll stay here."
Harley obviously understood the rules of this game. She shook her head and said, "Don't even think about it. Both of us have to stay here together."
Pamela shook her head, "Neither of us has great physical strength; we can't hold out here for long. There are two people under the platform, and the space might not be enough for one to lie down, which could lead to one person's lower body being pierced or crushed due to curling up. That's not ideal."
"Then why not exit at that time?" Harley said, "When it looks like we won't make it, we'll both leave together to suffer less. You don't really want any victory, do you?"
Pamela considered and said, "You're right. If it doesn't work out, we'll leave together. But how can we be sure it won't work?"
"Neither of us should be stubborn," Harley said. "We can try to hang in there because maybe someone is willing to provide more blood, and the plan might succeed. But once it starts to get uncomfortable, we must tell each other and not just endure without speaking."
"Don't worry, I don't have such strong willpower," Pamela said. "I only see this as a game, and there's no need to absolutely stick it out. It's you I'm worried about; I suspect a lunatic's pain threshold might be different from a normal person's."
"I'm not a lunatic!!" Harley lunged at her.
"Thor, why haven't you realized after so long that every time we have a disagreement, I'm always right in the end," Loki seemed a bit defeated, "I said we shouldn't jump the last challenge. How are things now?"
"How are things?" Thor said, "Even if we didn't jump, someone else would, that plan was never going to succeed anyway. And besides, can't one person manage to escape? You go ahead."
Loki was so angry he laughed, "So you're still letting me go? Leaving you here on your own to wait for death?"
"That's not the logic," Thor waved his hand, "I might get injured staying here, but I won't die. Once you leave this room, you can continue through the challenges. The later levels should be doable alone, and if you complete them in record time, we can still pass."
"Besides, this kind of trap is nothing to me," Thor said, "Remember that time I fell into a trap and passed out, getting captured by the natives? They pierced me with a dozen nails and wanted to burn me alive. In the end, wasn't it all fine?"
"My god, you dare bring that up?!" Loki shouted, "How many times did I warn you?! That spaceship was a trap meant to lure you, but you wouldn't listen. Do you know how miserable you looked when we found you?!"
"Yet I survived," Thor said proudly, "Even seriously injured as I was, after you freed me, I still killed their leader, and in a face-to-face duel no less!"
Loki was about to faint from rage.