Pushing the door open, the outside light penetrated the darkness within the room. The Mach band effect1Mach bands are an optical illusion named after the physicist Ernst Mach. It exaggerates the contrast between edges of the slightly differing shades of grey, as soon as they contact one another, by triggering edge-detection in the human visual system. See more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mach_bands generated at the boundary between light and dark rendered the demarcation line even more distinct.
Jiang Ming's hand groped along the wall, accurately locating the switch.
Click!
The darkness within the room instantly receded, allowing Jiang Ming to behold the room's entirety. It was an exceedingly ordinary bedroom: a large bed, a wardrobe, a dressing table…
Unable to discern a single extraordinary detail, Jiang Ming swept his gaze in a rough circle. He discovered no new rules, so he commenced his hunt for any potentially existing clues.
First, he approached the dressing table. The mirror atop the desk was draped in a massive black cloth. The tabletop was littered with cosmetics, exuding an eerie, bizarre fragrance.
Jiang Ming could not help but cover his nose. He then opened the dressing table's drawer. Inside were facial masks, hair accessories, and various other sundries, along with a photograph placed face down.
Picking it up for a look, the photograph's background appeared to be a park. A woman seemingly in her thirties, possessing exquisite features and a radiant smile, sat upon a bench.
Jiang Ming sat to her right, while that Labrador rested squarely between the two of them.
Is this ‘Mother'?
Only now did Jiang Ming realise what his ‘Mother' looked like. He scrutinised it a few more times, entirely ensuring he had memorised her appearance before returning the photograph to its original spot.
Thus, he opened the wardrobe. Greeting his eyes was an astronomically diverse array of clothing. Aside from ordinary shirts and trousers, Jiang Ming spotted quite a few dresses, and even several Lolita outfits and cosplay costumes!
Jiang Ming silently shut the wardrobe. His mental fortitude was already incomparably robust; a trivial matter such as this was utterly insufficient to trigger any emotional ripples.
Yet, at the exact instant he closed the cabinet door, Jiang Ming abruptly sensed an overwhelmingly intense wave of dissonance!
He swiftly yanked the door open and swept his gaze in another circle, before violently turning his head to survey the room.
Bizarre!
Extremely bizarre!
This room was entirely filled with ‘Mother's' belongings; there was not a single trace of ‘Father' to be found.
It was not just this room; the entire house was devoid of ‘Father's' existence. This sharply defied the structural composition of a standard family.
Right as Jiang Ming plunged into deep contemplation, the sound of a dog barking drifted from the doorway:
“Woof! Woof!”
Jiang Ming followed the sound and looked over. That yellow Labrador was currently sitting at the doorway, carrying its dog bowl in its jaws.
Jiang Ming's expression flickered. According to the rules, the dog could protect him, and the dog was the guardian deity of the household. Could it be ‘Father'?
Naturally, this was merely a conjecture; it was also entirely possible that ‘Father' fundamentally did not exist.
Jiang Ming stepped out of the bedroom and filled the dog bowl to the brim with dog food. He absolutely could not let the dog go hungry.
Just as he prepared to head back, Jiang Ming suddenly spun around, glancing at the time on the wall with deep bewilderment: 4:30 PM.
He cross-referenced it with the clock in the bedroom, confirming they were perfectly synchronised.
Time flew by this rapidly? Four and a half hours had already passed?
Jiang Ming felt somewhat bewildered, but upon further thought, it made sense. Searching the first bedroom alone had consumed two hours, let alone scouring so many other locations.
Jiang Ming shook his head and returned to Mother's bedroom. Approaching the bedside table, he pulled open the top drawer. Inside was a pile of sundries holding absolutely zero value.
Opening the second drawer, he discovered a thin slip of paper. Jiang Ming picked it up for a look. Printed upon it was:
Dear Customer Jiang Xueqin:
From May 2032 to June 2042, your account's electricity bills have remained unpaid, accumulating a total arrear of 15,175.46 yuan.
Our corporation has issued multiple payment demands and delivered a formal written warning on June 30, 2042.
Now, in accordance with the provisions of the Rule-Based Anomalies Electricity Law, please settle the aforementioned fees as soon as possible. Otherwise, our corporation will terminate your power supply and pursue the arrears through legal channels.
Number One Peace and Happiness Electricity Corporation
Upon finishing this note, Jiang Ming's immediate reaction was: “Is this electricity corporation utterly brain-dead?”
Only remembering to collect debts after a full ten years of unpaid bills! If this were to happen on Earth, they would have gone bankrupt eons ago!
His second reaction was that the difficulty had spiked once more. He was required to draw the curtains during the day, which meant the house remained perpetually shrouded in darkness regardless of day or night.
And since he could not remain in the darkness, it implied the lights absolutely had to stay on twenty-four hours a day.
Furthermore, this debt collection notice only mandated clearing the fees ‘as soon as possible.' There was no specific deadline, nor did it state the exact time of the power outage. This signified that the electricity could be cut at any given moment in the coming days; it could even be the very next second!
The moment he was exposed to the darkness, he would be ‘seen' by them. Although he had no idea what ‘they' were, being seen by them was undeniably not a good thing.
…
Thirty minutes later, Jiang Ming emerged from the bedroom. He had just finished scouring the rest of the room and discovered a key hidden beneath the pillow. After testing it against every single door lock in the house, he ultimately confirmed it belonged to the main gate.
He cast a glance at that Labrador. It was currently sprawled comfortably beneath the sofa, fast asleep.
He checked the wall clock once more, then strode toward the refrigerator, pulling out some noodles and meat.
…
A little over ten minutes later, Jiang Ming retreated to his bedroom. After all, the bedroom was relatively the safest location in this house; at least, judging by the current clues, that appeared to be the case.
Sitting down in his chair, he grabbed a few sheets of paper and a pen from the study desk, meticulously writing down every single rule and clue he had acquired today.
He drew lines to connect the rules to one another, and the rules to the clues, deducing the relationships between them. He considered every potential scenario, formulated countermeasures, and analysed the immediate problems at hand.
Two hours later…
Jiang Ming wearily massaged his temples. The desk before him was littered with sheets of paper.
The pages were packed densely with writing, interspersed with chaotic intersecting lines. Yet, upon closer inspection, one could viscerally sense a certain underlying logic contained within.
Jiang Ming picked up the topmost sheet of paper. Written upon it in red ink were the three most critical, pressing issues at hand:
The first issue pertained to the electricity; this was the most imminent threat.
No electricity and no light meant being exposed to the darkness all day long, guaranteeing he would be seen by ‘them'.
As for a solution, Jiang Ming had already preliminarily devised two. The first was to gamble on his luck, hoping to pull something genuinely useful from the vending machine, such as a power generator or the like.
However, Jiang Ming possessed an exceptionally clear understanding of himself. This plan was strictly for a test run; otherwise, he might completely drain himself dry without ever pulling a single good item.
The solution he truly valued was the second one, and it boasted an astronomically high probability of success: stealing his neighbour's electricity!
When drawing the curtains in his bedroom earlier this morning, Jiang Ming had already made an observation. The house he is currently residing in should be located on a high-rise floor of a residential complex.
Generally, the electricity meters on high-rise floors were centralised in a single location, housed within a meter box. As long as he located the meter box, he could siphon the neighbour's electricity!
As for exactly how to steal it? Heh. Jiang Ming declared that while he might be lacking in other aspects, in this particular field, even if he wasn't a certified expert, he could absolutely shoulder the title of a grandmaster!
Back when Jiang Ming was out braving the world, there were inevitably times when he fell into abject destitution. During those three to four years of severe financial struggle, he had relied entirely on his good neighbours to save a massive sum in living expenses.
Jiang Ming sighed with profound emotion. To think that he had good neighbours in reality, and now, he was about to have another good neighbour in the world of Rule-Based Anomalies.
Furthermore, absolutely nothing in the rules forbade stealing electricity!
So long as this method proved successful, the rules dictating him to conserve electricity while simultaneously keeping the lights on at all times could be flawlessly realised.
The second issue was the metal cabinet in his own bedroom. He had turned the entire house completely upside down, yet he had failed to uncover a single clue relating to that cabinet's password.
Jiang Ming could not shake the feeling that the clues and rules in this house were far too fragmented. They were missing a core thread to string them all together, and that cabinet likely contained the very thing he desired.
The third issue was the neighbours. Although Rule Set One strictly forbade going outside, after Jiang Ming's comprehensive analysis and weighing of the pros and cons, venturing out was an absolute necessity. Staying holed up in the house led to nothing but a dead end!
The threat of a power outage alone was enough to kill Jiang Ming a dozen times over. Moreover, he consistently failed to locate a third clock in the house; there was a solid chance the neighbour might possess one.
Since the rules explicitly mentioned neighbours, they had to exist. And since they existed, they were bound to possess their own meaning and value!
Jiang Ming firmly believed that this world of Rule-Based Anomalies was far too bizarre, and the rules themselves were riddled with contradictions and heavy suspicions.
There was an astronomically high probability that rigidly adhering to the rules meant certain death, while brainlessly breaking the rules also guaranteed death. Only by seeing through the rules, exploiting them, and perhaps even mastering the rules to a certain degree, could one carve out a path to survival!
Moreover, tomorrow still fell within the first forty-eight-hour window. If he let this period pass, it was highly likely he would not even be able to step out the front door later on.
Checking the time, it was already approaching 8:00 PM. It should already be night outside, and the rules heavily emphasised not to roam around at night.
But right at this moment, Jiang Ming suddenly felt an urge to urinate. Only then did he recall that he had spent the entire day busily exploring the rooms, seemingly forgetting to use the restroom even once.
Anyone who had ever held their bladder would know this was an incredibly uncomfortable, even agonising sensation.
Going out to use the bathroom inevitably meant passing through the living room. Did this count as roaming the living room at night?
Jiang Ming refused to gamble; the risk was utterly not worth it.
Thus, Jiang Ming shifted his profound, calculating gaze toward the empty beverage bottle on the study desk. It bore two massive characters reading ‘Anomaly Pulse'2The name of the beverage bottle is a play on ‘脉动' which literally means Pulse, and is known internationally as Mizone. They are basically the Chinese version of Glaceau Vitamin Water, similarly with the wide-mouthed bottle designs., and its capacity was exceedingly large!
Picking up the bottle, he strode over to the corner of the bedroom.
Splash, splash~
A distinct sound of flowing water echoed through the dead silence of the room!
…
As the final drop flowed out, Jiang Ming's body gave a slight shudder.
Ah! Absolute, full-body comfort!
He placed the ‘iced black tea' in his hand back into the corner for safe keeping. Jiang Ming lay down on the bed. The rules stated he must remain asleep between 11:00 PM and 8:00 AM, so it was still early.
Jiang Ming scanned his surroundings, his gaze ultimately landing on the three hardcover ‘holy tomes' he had excavated earlier that day. With an unfathomable look in his eyes, he pulled the books over.
It was absolutely not because he wanted to read them! Rather, it was highly probable that these books contained hidden clues!
Jiang Ming thoroughly convinced himself, conveniently dragging a box of tissues over from the side. It was a bit chilly tonight; he needed to blow his nose first.
The night gradually deepened.
Notes
Mach bands are an optical illusion named after the physicist Ernst Mach. It exaggerates the contrast between edges of the slightly differing shades of grey, as soon as they contact one another, by triggering edge-detection in the human visual system. See more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mach_bands ↩
The name of the beverage bottle is a play on ‘脉动' which literally means Pulse, and is known internationally as Mizone. They are basically the Chinese version of Glaceau Vitamin Water, similarly with the wide-mouthed bottle designs. ↩