lcionline Chapter 1501, page 101, the intensity has increased.
Chapter 1501, page 101, the intensity has increased.
The editor-in-chief said, "In that case, we have completed the interview, and now it's time to leave."
Leaving the interview location is actually quite simple. All we need to do is find a place with a mirror.
Stand in front of a mirror and remain still for ten seconds. The mirror will then recognize you and detect the items on your person.
As long as the items are okay, we can go back without any danger.
By the way, especially when looking in the mirror, it's best not to let others see, otherwise it will arouse suspicion.
The editor-in-chief gave Chen Mu detailed instructions on everything, big and small. It was clear that he had truly taught Chen Mu everything he could.
Soon, the three found a clothing store.
It was a cold winter day, and the clothing store was already closed. The surrounding streets were deserted, with only a full-length mirror facing out of the shop window.
The three of them went to the fitting room mirror and, following the original procedure, each stood for ten seconds.
Just as Chen Mu had predicted, the mirror only recognized the ring, but not what was inside it.
Chen Mu and the other two walked into the mirror, and after a brief spatial tunnel, they reappeared in the small room.
The editor-in-chief took the first draft of the newspaper from Chen Mu's hand in a strange manner and said to Chen Mu:
"Mr. Chen, the place diagonally opposite in this room is where you two will be put through your training and testing."
According to the boss, everything you two need to do has already been prepared in the small room.
If you need any help, please feel free to contact me.
My workstation is in room 233; you can find me there anytime.
After saying this, the editor-in-chief led the two of them to the door of the small room.
In order not to delay Chen Mu's progress, the editor-in-chief left first after giving instructions.
Chen Mu and Xiao Ye exchanged a glance, and Xiao Ye, understanding the unspoken message, stepped forward and pushed open the door.
The small room was decorated the same way: a bed, a set of tables and chairs, and a mirror.
However, on the table were several stacks of familiar papers.
newspaper!
Chen Mu walked over and saw that the newspapers were divided into five piles. Each pile was about half a meter high and looked quite thick.
On top of the five piles of newspapers, another newspaper was laid flat.
Xiaoye looked at the newspapers and said, "Boss, there are so many newspapers, hundreds of them, right? If I remember correctly, we are the interviewers now."
These newspapers, could they all be first drafts that we need to complete?
As soon as the words were spoken, a line of blood-red characters appeared before the two of them:
[Newspaper Mission: As trained intern reporters, you must adhere to the reporter's code of conduct and complete the first draft of this 1001st newspaper. Upon completion, you will pass the test of the Underworld Post Office.]
Chen Mu's lips twitched slightly. With so many first drafts of the newspaper, how long would it take to complete them all?
Is this newspaper boss a sore loser? He thinks conventional methods won't work on Chen Mu, so he's resorting to this method of increasing Chen Mu's workload to torment him.
A pure torturer?
However, Chen Mu felt that it might not be so straightforward.
The "Death Postman" mission was already quite difficult, and Chen Mu could tell that the newspaper boss had some design expertise. His skill in designing difficult and bizarre missions was very high.
The current "Underworld Post Office" should theoretically be more difficult than the "Death Postman".
As a powerful and mysterious boss, Chen Mu shouldn't be challenged by simply piling on numbers.
More likely, it will not only be numerous, but also very difficult.
Despite this thought, Chen Mu did not panic.
The ghost money in his ring was his greatest asset.
Chen Mu opened the newspaper in his hand, and the first thing he looked at was the top of the five stacks of newspapers, the one that was spread out.
The newspaper's headline, "[Overall Overview Interview Report]," set the tone for the entire paper.
Chen Mu glanced at it and saw that it was all the same clichés:
This is a world full of peace and love. There is no quarreling or anger here, only tranquility and peace.
Pedestrians strolling along the street all wore smiles. Everyone obeyed traffic rules; no one jaywalked.
...]
The next four pages were filled with nothing but nonsense.
Finally, in the last sentence, a little bit of content related to the interviewer appeared:
Our interviewer went there and, experiencing it firsthand, couldn't help but say: "This is truly the world."
Looking at this line of text, Chen Mu narrowed his eyes slightly, as if trying to understand its meaning.
Xiaoye picked up the next newspaper and glanced at it casually.
Newspaper content:
Our interviewers have arrived in the world depicted in the "Overall Landscape Interview Documentary." It's 11:30 AM now. Let's interview this driver and hear how wonderful this world is: ( )
The interviews were nothing more than asking passersby to say things like "the world is a wonderful place."
Xiaoye flipped to the next page:
Our reporters have arrived in the world depicted in the "Overall Landscape Interview Documentary." It's 10:50 AM now. Today, we won't be conducting interviews, but rather experiencing the details firsthand.
However, some of these newspapers have fill-in-the-blank sections, requiring interviewees to say things to prove the beauty of the world;
Some of them had no blanks at all; they were all filled in with templates, and there wasn't a single empty space on the entire newspaper.
"Boss, some newspapers don't have blanks filled in. Does that mean we don't have to do them?" Xiao Ye flipped through the pages.
“I see that on average, one out of every two newspapers doesn’t require filling in any blanks. Does that mean our actual workload is reduced by half?”
Compared to Xiaoye's optimism, Chen Mu appeared much more cautious.
Chen Mu looked at the newspapers, and just as Xiao Ye had said, the newspapers were mainly divided into two forms.
One type is the conventional one, which Chen Mu calls "fill-in-the-blank" newspapers—a whole article of nonsense plus one fill-in-the-blank sentence.
Another type is newspapers that don't require filling in the blanks, which Chen Mu calls "non-fill-in-the-blank" newspapers—like "Overall Landscape Interview Reports," which are full of nonsense and don't even require filling in the blanks.
At first glance, the latter seems simpler because it requires no work at all.
However, Chen Mu keenly observed that this was not the case!
The latter is even more difficult.
Take the first newspaper article, "Overall Landscape Interview Report," for example. The last sentence, "[Our interviewers went there and, experiencing it firsthand, couldn't help but say: This world is truly like this]," although there's no blank to fill in, contains four crucial words—
Be there!
This means that interviewers cannot lie, so they must truly immerse themselves in the world being described.
The question mark inside is quite obvious: is the interview location truly that world? Or, to put it another way, does it deviate from what's written in the "Overall Landscape Interview Documentary"?
If there are deviations, then the world must be corrected.
This is where the real intensity comes in!
Other similar "non-fill-in-the-blank" newspapers also hide such pitfalls.
It not only requires interviewers to reshape the world into the described form, but also demands that they pay attention to detail and conform to the otherwise nonsensical description.
"Non-fill-in-the-blank" newspapers are more difficult than "fill-in-the-blank" newspapers!
However, these are just Chen Mu's guesses for now. To verify them, he would have to go to the interview location and see for himself.
Chen Mu put down the newspaper in his hand and said to Xiao Ye, "Let's go and take a look at the actual situation first."
Xiaoye said, "Boss, should we bring some newspapers? Are we just going to go empty-handed?"
Chen Mu glanced at him and slowly said something that sent a chill down Xiao Ye's spine.
"If we had brought newspapers the first time, we might not have been able to get out."
"Boss, what do you mean?" Xiaoye asked.
However, Xiaoye reacted quickly, realizing the key point as soon as she asked the question.
Chen Mu explained, "If we go in with a newspaper, and the scene at the interview location is very different from what the newspaper describes, we won't be able to come back."
Because if we did that, we would be lying! We didn't experience the peaceful and serene world firsthand, yet the newspapers wrote it down for us.
Violation of Article 1 of the Interviewer's Code of Conduct!
In this way, even if we return without bringing back newspapers, we won't violate rule number one. However, because the numbers don't match, we will still violate rule number two of the interviewer's code.
We can only successfully return by staying there and transforming the world as described in the newspapers.
This is very risky and could create many problems for us.
Besides, the rules don't say you can't go to the interview site without a newspaper. We can go and check it out first, then make a decision.
Xiao Ye nodded in agreement; he really hadn't thought of that. If his boss hadn't reminded him, he probably would have been tricked.
The two put down the newspaper and placed it back on the table.
Next, the two went to the mirror.
Just as Chen Mu had predicted, even without holding a newspaper, the mirror still began to recognize the process.
Looking in the mirror, a bold idea involuntarily surfaced in Chen Mu's mind.
However, he didn't say that it's not necessary right now. We can try this method when the time comes.
After the identification was completed, the two entered the mirror.
As they traversed the spatial tunnel, a blinding light flashed before their eyes the next second.
"The white light in this tunnel is a bit too strong!" Chen Mu exclaimed.
Xiaoye said, "Boss, this doesn't seem to be white light, but... a flashbang."
Xiaoye is in charge of the army and spends every day in the barracks, so she knows a lot about flashbangs.
Chen Mu was stunned for a moment. What the hell? We just came out of the space tunnel and we were hit by a flash?
Given Chen Mu and his companion's abilities, the flashbang would have absolutely no effect on them.
This indicates that in this world, the newspaper boss has limited the two's strength.
Despite the restrictions, their physical enhancements remained. The effects of the flashbang lasted only two or three seconds before returning to normal.
Immediately afterwards, Chen Mu's nose twitched; he smelled a pungent gunpowder odor.
At the same time, Chen Mu heard the sound of an explosion and a piercing scream.
Looking around, the two found themselves in the heart of the city. Explosions and gunfire were everywhere, tall buildings were reduced to rubble, and thick smoke billowed from the sky.
The streets were filled with barbed wire, trenches, and tanks burned to scrap metal.
Such a scene has absolutely nothing to do with peace, tranquility, or friendliness.
This is a world at war!
Chen Mu's heart skipped a beat; the newspaper boss had indeed set a trap.
If the two of them had brought in newspapers, they would probably be dumbfounded by now.
A world filled with war is not exactly the same as the world described in the "Overall Landscape Interview Documentary," but rather completely unrelated.
Transforming such a world into the world depicted in the "Overall Landscape Interview Documentary" is no easy task.
Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from behind them.
Chen Mu turned around and saw a fully armed army.
"Why are there still civilians here! Take them to the back immediately!" the leading commander said.
Two soldiers ran up, grabbed Chen Mu and his companion's hands, and were about to take them away.
"Where are you taking us?" Chen Mu asked.
The soldier replied, "A nuclear war will break out here in half an hour."
"The entire city will be razed to the ground. Why are you still here? We'll take you to the suburbs. The rest is up to you."
Upon hearing the words "nuclear war, razing to the ground," Chen Mu and Xiao Ye exchanged a glance, looking at each other in bewilderment.
On the way being led away by the soldiers, Xiaoye whispered, "Boss, if I understand correctly, this world is only half an hour away from destruction?"
Chen Mu nodded, "This is not good news. I thought the newspaper boss was already bad enough, but he gave us a war world."
I never expected things to get even worse; they only gave us half an hour.
At this point, Chen Mu couldn't help but think that if they had brought newspapers, the two of them would be in real trouble now.
If they don't stop the world from ending in half an hour, the two of them really won't be able to go back.
What should I do now?
How to prevent the world from being destroyed?
With only half an hour to spare, and with the help of props, Chen Mu could manage it.
It's very difficult, and there's even a risk of failure.
After leading the two men outside the block, the soldiers pointed them in the right direction and then left. They were in a hurry and didn't have time to pay them any more attention.
Right next to Chen Mu was a full-length mirror that hadn't been destroyed.
Chen Mu led Xiao Ye to the mirror.
"Let's go back first, we still have twenty-five minutes," Chen Mu said.
Staying here, with gunfire and explosions everywhere, is dangerous and noisy.
Now that he had figured out the background of the world, Chen Mu decided to return to the small room and look at the thousands of newspapers to see if there was any good solution.
Soon, the two were able to return to the small room using the mirror's recognition.
Chen Mu did not rest. He went straight to the table and began to look through the thousands of newspapers.
"Xiao Ye, come help me too. Let's quickly scan these newspapers and see if there are any hidden clues. Like how to prevent the world from being destroyed or something," Chen Mu said.
According to Chen Mu's line of reasoning, if the eerie BOSS has any conscience, then these newspapers may contain some clues.