bookandnovel Chapter 4217 The Wall of Sighs
Chapter 4217 The Wall of Sighs
Chapter 4217 The Wall of Sighs
Angell indeed did not know either.
Although he can look down on the real miniature world from a god-like perspective, many puzzles simply cannot be triggered if he is just an observer.
Just like the "Zuzhikod Savin Analysis" just now, its title is displayed on the light screen.
From a God's-eye view, you will only see the light screen; the title will not be displayed.
The question is only revealed after the challenger gets close.
For example, in the previous jigsaw puzzle question, even when Ingres looked at it from a god-like perspective, he didn't find the puzzle hidden in the mottled wall. —Of course, it's more likely that he wasn't looking very carefully.
However, no matter what, it is basically impossible to solve the puzzles from a god's-eye view alone, let alone judge the level of difficulty.
For example, right now, from a God's-eye view, Angell can see a very thick wall in front of him.
There is a relief sculpture of a lion with a human face on the wall.
Apart from that, there is nothing.
Where is the puzzle? How difficult is it? He had absolutely no idea.
Only by going there in person can the mystery be solved.
……
A moment later, the group could see the thick wall in front of them.
Ingres: "My intuition tells me that this wall in front of me is probably the thickest wall in the entire corridor of mechanisms."
By this time, Gray Porcelain and Gabriel had become numb to the "inspiration theory" and were no longer driven by passive curiosity; they simply accepted the fact silently.
"The thickest wall? Is that the most difficult puzzle?" Gray Porcelain asked.
Angell shrugged: "I don't know, we'll find out when we get there."
Although Angell did not give a definite answer, both Gray Porcelain and Gabriel showed serious expressions. There must be a reason why it can be the "thickest" wall!
Soon, they reached the near end of the thick wall.
The wall surface is so rough that you can feel the grains, and the central lion-face relief is particularly eye-catching: the human face is lowered, as if it is sleeping, and the lion's paws are tightly gripping the metal ring below the human face. The mane of the lion is carved with each hair clearly defined.
The moment they stood still, the relief sculpture's eyelids trembled slightly and slowly opened.
There was no white in its eyes, only a pair of golden vertical pupils that suddenly lit up, its gaze sweeping straight at the three of them, exuding an inhuman strangeness.
"Welcome to the Wall of Sighs of Normefens."
A sudden, deep, and muffled sound echoed in everyone's ears without warning.
The crowd looked in the direction of the sound and discovered that the speaker was the lion-faced relief sculpture in the center of the wall. Its tightly closed mouth was slightly open and closed, clearly indicating that it was the source of the sound.
Almost simultaneously, the same message appeared in the text box, as if to confirm the authenticity of the sound.
It seems that their approach triggered some mechanism of the lion-faced relief.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the clue to the current puzzle should lie within the human-faced lion...
"To pass through the Wailing Wall, one must undergo Normefens's test."
The challenge is to navigate a randomly constructed maze created by Normefens...
Next, the low, hoarse voice briefly explained the riddle.
The gist is that one of the three needs to be chosen to take on the maze challenge, and the chosen person will enter a special maze area.
This maze will shut down your mental energy and disable Wonderland items.
This maze contains numerous dangerous traps and patrolling guards.
If a member steps into a trap or is spotted by a patrolling guard, they will "lose one drop of blood".
The challenger has a total of five drops of blood.
Once all health is depleted, the game will enter a "locked" state.
"Locked: You will be locked in a 'black room' until the entire team is eliminated or the level is cleared."
In addition, the maze has another mechanic: Normefens's Sigh.
Every so often, Normefens will sigh once, and each sigh will randomly apply a buff or debuff to the challenger.
For example, the Boost Sigh increases speed tenfold and lasts until the next sigh.
For example, the "Decreased Sigh" means entering a state of blindness until the next sigh.
The buffs and debuffs appear randomly, in other words, it has a bit of a "roguelike" gameplay feel to it.
When the challenger successfully reaches the maze exit, a final health check will be performed. The remaining health will determine the time remaining on the Wailing Wall.
Each drop of blood lost extends the Wailing Wall's lifespan by half an hour.
For example, if you only have one drop of health at the end of the game, meaning you lost four drops of health while navigating the maze, then everyone will have to wait for two hours in front of the Wailing Wall before it opens and allows them to leave.
If you haven't lost a single drop of health at the end of the match, then congratulations, Normefens will open the Wall of Sighs directly, allowing your party to pass through.
The rules sound a bit complicated, but to put it simply: if you want to take a shortcut, you have to complete the game with full health.
Once you lose health, even if you manage to get through the maze, the entire team will be forced to stand in front of the Wailing Wall as punishment.
If you lose all five drops of health, congratulations, it's equivalent to failing the Book Spirit's test, and you're completely locked out...
“Although I don’t know the specifics of the maze yet, I have a feeling that this might be the most difficult puzzle in the entire corridor of mechanisms…” Gabriel said, manipulating the illusion puppet.
Of all the previous puzzles, the one with the heaviest penalty for failure is "Zurkod Savin's Analysis," where failing to answer the question prevents you from moving forward and forces you to go back.
Now, the penalty for failing "Nomefens's Wall of Sighs" directly "locks in" the challenger, putting the tendering sprite to the test.
This is definitely the highest penalty on normal difficulty, excluding failure in the Book Demon challenge!
Moreover, if you pass the book spirit's test, it will even point you in the right direction.
You get nothing from passing through the Wall of Sighs of Normefens; it just saves you time traveling.
No matter how you look at it, it feels like a huge loss.
"How about we turn back?" Gabriel suggested. In any case, they hadn't spent too much time on the previous puzzles, so the sunk cost of turning back now was perfectly acceptable.
However, if you fail to complete the maze challenge, the cost will be too high.
Even if they don't fail, losing a few more drops of health will make them stand here as punishment for a long time.
Faced with Gabriel's proposal, Angell also fell into deep thought... He was also weighing the pros and cons.
Even if he enters this level, he might not be able to complete it completely. Because, from a God's-eye view, the maze is not visible.
This labyrinth of Normefens is clearly not nearby at all, but rather a special space. At least Angor has not found the labyrinth's location while he is currently in the real sandbox.
Since he couldn't see the maze, Angor had no choice but to force his way through.
Forcing your way in isn't inherently problematic, but with your mental energy sealed, you can't perceive anything outside. There's actually a solution: while you can't use your mental energy to construct illusion nodes in the outside world, you can construct them in your mental space and then release them. It's a bit more troublesome, but it still works.
Adding a sigh makes it a bit troublesome.
No one knows what will happen after the sigh. If he encounters extremely unfavorable debuffs, such as having patrolling guards spawn right next to him, it will be very difficult for him to escape unscathed.
Of course, the probability is relatively small, but it cannot be completely ruled out.
Angor was confident he could clear the dungeon, but he wasn't absolutely certain he could get through with full health...
If it's just losing one point of health, standing in the corner for half an hour is fine; but if it's losing two points of health or more, it doesn't feel worth it.
After all, it's still uncertain whether this is the most difficult puzzle.
If we encounter more problems and get stuck again, then it will never end.
So, should we advance or retreat?
Ingredient was actually torn; personally, he leaned towards giving it a try...
However, since it was a team, Angel didn't intend to make decisions unilaterally. He planned to share his judgment and then let everyone vote.
Just as Angel was about to speak, Gray Porcelain suddenly said, "I can go into this maze."
Gray Porcelain's sudden initiative to take on the challenge surprised both Angell and Gabriel.
You should know that previously, gray porcelain would retreat on its own if it encountered even the slightest danger.
This time, even Gabriel suggested "retreating," but Gray Porcelain started to forge ahead, which completely contradicted their perception of Gray Porcelain's character.
Gabriel: "You're not saying this on purpose because you want me to remove the prefix from the team chat name, are you? You can't act rashly; you have to think about the bigger picture."
Previously, when Angel wasn't paying attention, Gabriel and Grey Porcelain were constantly bickering in the team chat.
The prefixes in their names are also an indispensable part of their banter.
Angor didn't immediately dismiss Gray Porcelain's idea, but instead looked at it silently: "You intend to challenge this maze?"
Gray Porcelain nodded: "I do have some experience with mazes."
After a pause, Gray Porcelain glanced at Gabriel again: "I won't act tough. Have you forgotten what my Trial Wonderland is?"
When Gray Porcelain mentioned the Wonderland of Trials, Angel and Gabriel were momentarily lost in thought, but then instantly understood.
Back then, Gray Porcelain was the first person to pass through the Wonderland Trial and gain real-world talent.
Its training ground is... a labyrinth.
Its name is: Maze of All Things.
“My training realm is much more difficult than this,” Gray Porcelain said seriously.
In other words, it can even navigate the maze of the Wonderland of Trials, let alone this ordinary maze.
Although it is indeed timid and cowardly, Gray Porcelain is not hesitant to show its skills when it has an area of expertise. And mazes are its forte.
Angell's eyes lit up at that moment.
Gray Porcelain possesses a natural talent for sensing danger, making it an absolute expert in Normefens's labyrinth and any potential dangers! Moreover, it explicitly states that it excels at labyrinths.
In this situation, while it's not guaranteed that it will conquer Normefens's labyrinth, its success rate of clearing it with full health might be even higher than Angor's!
Thinking of this, Angell looked at Gray Porcelain solemnly: "If you are sure you want to challenge this maze, I will support you."
After speaking, Angell turned to look at Gabriel.
Gabriel seemed to realize that it was time for him to make his own statement.
It had indeed overlooked the fact that Gray Porcelain was the master of the "Maze of All Things," and given Gray Porcelain's talent, it was indeed very suitable for conquering the maze of Normefens.
This is not showing off, but rather demonstrating one's abilities within a reasonable range.
Gabriel, controlling the illusion puppet, nodded solemnly: "I support it too. Also, if you can really clear the game with full health, I'll remove the prefix from my team chat name."
Gray Porcelain: "Then you're doomed to lose!"
With the support of Angell and Gabriel, Grey Porcelain did not hesitate and went to the Lion-faced Nomephons.
He slowly raised his hand and pinched the metal ring below Normefens's lion paw.
"I accept the challenge!"
The moment the words fell, a series of loud clanging sounds suddenly came from inside the thick wall where Normefens was located, and the entire ground shook.
It appears that an unknown renovation is taking place inside the walls.
The commotion lasted for quite a while.
When everything stopped, Normefens's huge mouth suddenly opened, spewing out a visible dark whirlwind that lifted the gray porcelain from the ground.
Immediately afterwards, to everyone's naked eye, the gray porcelain body slowly shrank in the eerie wind, as if it had entered Gulliver's Tunnel, and in the blink of an eye it became a miniature figure.
Normefens swallowed the gray porcelain in one gulp, and it vanished instantly.
Gabriel watched this scene, a chill running down his spine. Who could have imagined that Normefens's trial would be so terrifying...
After a long pause, Gabriel finally spoke, "What was that just now...?"
Angell: "The commotion just now gave me a guess. Perhaps the labyrinth of Normefens is inside the walls."
The entrance is on this side of the wall, and after passing the test of the maze, the exit is on the other side of the wall.
At first, Angor didn't think so, because although the walls were thick, they were still too short to be used as a maze. But who knew that Nomephnes could shrink people?
From the perspective of the miniature people, it makes perfect sense that the thick wall was transformed into a maze.
This is a reasonable guess.
However, even if he guessed the location of the maze, Angor couldn't help Gray Porcelain.
because……
From God's perspective, in a real sandbox, there is nothing inside the same thick wall.
In other words, Normefens's labyrinth will most likely only take shape after it is triggered, and it is even possible that the labyrinth triggered by each person will be random and different.
In this situation, even a God's-eye view is of little use.
Now we can only wait for the final result.
……
"Gabriel: Gray Porcelain, are you receiving our messages?"
There was no response from Gray Porcelain in the team chat for a long time, it seems that Gray Porcelain's team chat was even disabled in the maze.
Although Gray Porcelain didn't speak, Gabriel's sudden outburst caught the rabbit girl's attention.
"Rabbit Hole Commander: What happened? Hey, Gabriel, why did you change your name?"
Gabriel: It's nothing, we just encountered a maze, and Gray Porcelain volunteered to help...
Gabriel started chatting with the bunny girl.
Although Gray Porcelain hasn't been released yet, its name has already been changed... Gray Porcelain has taken on its responsibilities within its own sphere, which, in Gabriel's view, is a kind of courage.
Even if Gray Porcelain didn't finish the game with full health, his proactive attitude of taking responsibility is still commendable.
Just as Gabriel was chatting enthusiastically in the team chat, a heavy sigh suddenly came from Normefens's mouth.
at the same time.
A "sigh" message appeared in the text fields of Angell and Gabriel.
"You have borne the sigh of Normefens."
"You have gained the Sigh effect: Your health is doubled."
"Based on the assessment, you have not officially stepped into the Wall of Sighs of Normefens, so this effect has no effect on you."