Chapter 69#

Gears of Fate 11#

After pushing open the dormitory door, Yu Feichen saw Anphiel tinkering with components at the desk. With Bai Song’s affirmation, he stopped questioning the rationality of everything and instead began treating Anphiel based on intuitive inclination. So he sat in a nearby swivel chair and saw this person still fiddling with that lame-legged rabbit from yesterday, attempting to repair its missing leg.

A stack of blank papyrus sheets was piled on the desk, with a quill pen and ink beside them.

In a world composed entirely of metal, only paper and pen could leave traces of “people’s” existence. But even “papyrus” was merely an approximation. When examined carefully under lamplight, the fibers of the paper itself emitted a faint metallic sheen. The quill’s tip was made from the same material as the conveyor belt surface, leaving scratches when drawn across the paper.

Yu Feichen didn’t dip in ink but merely gestured on the papyrus, sketching a simple rabbit in empty space.

Then he heard Anphiel say: “Be careful.”

Yu Feichen: “I know.”

Machinery could be assembled carelessly, but words couldn’t be written lightly. They had registered twice on this papyrus—once matching names to sequence numbers and badges, another time matching names to dormitory numbers. The combination of papyrus and quill pen must have special efficacy.

This was also the reason he could confidently propose swapping badges between two dormitories. The need for voluntary registration of dormitory numbers indicated that dormitories couldn’t automatically correspond to badges.

“This mechanism has a flaw,” Yu Feichen said. “If I were designing it, I’d have everyone first receive a number, with dormitories and conveyor belts also numbered. Everyone would enter by their number. After one registration, all three correspondences would be complete, simplifying the process.”

Having said this, he paused slightly: “But after the first test, the number of deaths is uncertain, creating empty dormitories and wasting resources. The current design has its own rational logic.”

Anphiel’s voice wasn’t loud, but could always point out the problem’s crux lightly and effortlessly. He said: “You’ve already begun actively optimizing the process for your exploiter.”

…Indeed.

“You’re saying the current mechanism might also contain improvements left by previous outsiders who were consumed?”

Anphiel nodded: “As the curriculum progresses, we’ll access deeper structures of the fortress.”

Exactly. The mechanical factory ground living people down through processes and systems. In return, living people contributed physical strength and intelligence to sustain the factory. But to get what they wanted, the factory had to teach outsiders knowledge vital to itself. The relationship between people and the dungeon wasn’t one-sided slaughter, but fair negotiation. That female painter had been right too—as fragments of complete worlds, dungeons always contained metaphorical significance.

Anphiel’s attempt failed. The lame-legged rabbit remained lame, just less noticeably so. He put the rabbit down and went to wash up. Yu Feichen studied the badge’s structure for a while, then turned his attention to the rabbit, but he too was helpless with that leg. When Anphiel emerged with dripping hair, the task of combing out the curls fell to Yu Feichen again. This time his technique was more practiced than before, perhaps also a metaphor for the exploited actively practicing skills for the exploiter. The difference was he received no compensation.

So he still preferred straight hair.

When Yu Feichen finished washing and returned to the living space, Anphiel’s golden hair had recovered from being damp to its smooth state. The half-dry curled ends hung limply on his chest, and the strands at both sides of his forehead also draped down, making Yu Feichen unable to suppress the urge to flick the springs.

Anphiel was on the lower bunk, not sleeping. He sat with his back against the wall, as if thinking. The bunk bed was made of deep red and brass-colored metal, decorated with ornate railings. Anphiel sat on the inner side, like a bird trapped in a golden cage with no escape.

But not really. Seeing Yu Feichen emerge, Anphiel looked up and asked him a question: “Do you know Vincent?”

Anphiel had indeed noticed something unusual between them. Yu Feichen thought for a moment, then said: “Perhaps.”

Anphiel’s gaze deepened: “What kind of person is he?”

Yu Feichen placed the rabbit on the upper bunk, covered it with the blanket, and sat down on the lower bunk, answering: “A fortune teller.”

From the beginning, sensing the hostility directed at him from Vincent, he had suspected the man’s identity. After all, in this world, there was only one person who had inexplicably become his enemy—Murphy, the god of time. Moreover, this person was related to Claros, the gatekeeper of the Door of Eternal Night. If Claros gave him a hand, this deity might actually be able to pursue him into his dungeon.

Vincent’s certainty today about the dungeon’s power level confirmed this further, but there was no need to tell Anphiel. This pursuit had nothing to do with him.

He saw Anphiel’s brow furrow slightly: “What does he want to do to you?”

The young boy’s furrowed brow was quite beautiful. Yu Feichen looked a moment longer, then said: “He can’t do anything.”

—At least not in this dungeon. Here, the power gap between humans and gods wasn’t as pronounced as it was in paradise.

But after the dungeon ended—

Yu Feichen lay in bed, staring at the metal panel above, feeling that his fate was indeed rather precarious.

Movement came from beside him. Anphiel leaned toward him. The upper bunk blocked the light, making the space dimly lit. Those quiet, frost-green eyes unexpectedly held a hint of concern.

“Do you need my help?” he said.

Yu Feichen considered this.

“No need,” he said.

Too much had happened since entering the dungeon. Regarding Murphy, Claros, and the matters between them—he hadn’t had time to think clearly. The arrow of time was nearly irresistible. He thought that even in paradise, Anphiel’s abundant sicknesses would leave him with little power.

But if he died after leaving the dungeon at the hands of the time god, wouldn’t that be another form of breaking his promise to Anphiel, who had agreed to find him after resurrection?

Or perhaps, to strike first right in this dungeon, eliminate Vincent—

His thoughts went too far, until Anphiel waved a hand before his eyes.

Yu Feichen told him: “Sleep.”

“You sleep first,” Anphiel said. “I’ll keep watch through the first half of the night.”

This person had changed his nature, Yu Feichen thought. Anphiel volunteering to keep watch was like a pampered curly-eared cat suddenly bringing the master a small bird.

He closed his eyes calmly and went through his memories of Claros bearing ill will toward him, then being punished by the so-called supreme deity. With some vague ideas, he gradually fell asleep.

Anphiel didn’t sleep. He sat at the bedside wrapped in his blanket, watching Yu Feichen’s face. The lamplight was dim, the night in the room grew deeper, and the sleeping Yu Feichen’s sharp facial features resembled distant mountains standing in the twilight.

As if suddenly not recognizing him, or as if years had passed, he hesitated and extended a hand. His fingertips hovered over that young face, almost touching but not quite. Finally, he gently placed it by the pillow, like a butterfly that hadn’t landed on a flower.

Yu Feichen didn’t sleep for long before waking. Anphiel, who had been dozing beside him, also opened his eyes. They both felt the mechanical tremor throughout the room. Something slowly ground past the four walls of the room, and the room itself moved regularly from side to side. Their yesterday’s hypothesis had been correct—during rest time, this place would function as a mechanical component, participating in the fortress’s overall operation to serve purposes beyond the dormitory. But tonight’s vibration was noticeably stronger than last night. Ominous creaking sounds came from far away.

And… the room’s temperature had dropped slightly.

Danger could happen at any moment. They moved to the corner of the metal bed, stacking two blankets together and draping them over themselves. Yu Feichen instinctively pulled Anphiel into his embrace. However, the Anphiel in this world didn’t fear the cold. The young person’s body was warm and supple, requiring no additional warmth from Yu Feichen.

Yu Feichen intended to release him, but seeing Anphiel’s contented expression, he changed his mind and kept this breathing hot water bottle.

The two took turns resting. The metal panels on the room’s walls kept moving unnaturally, protruding and receding, but nothing major happened. The temperature remained moderate.

Just as the tumult was gradually subsiding and they thought the night would pass, beyond a door, a muffled broadcast suddenly sounded.

“Number 3, Vincent classmate, classroom test—failed.”

Just seconds later, another voice: “Number 8, Charasutorasu classmate, classroom test—failed.”

Charasutorasu was the Eight-Legged Gentleman. And Vincent… Yu Feichen remembered he had voluntarily given his badge to the female painter Ko An. This further confirmed his suspicion about Vincent’s identity. After all, according to the guide’s gossip, the god of time and the god of art were good friends. This person naturally favored the artist profession.

After the turmoil completely subsided, the clock hands approached breakfast time. They put on their coats and came to the outer hall.

Vincent, whose death had been announced, emerged without a scratch, along with Jililigulung. Lingwei and Bai Song soon opened their door and came out. After a while, Chen Tong and Xue Xin’s door finally opened.

“Holy shit… holy shit… I’m fucking…” a trembling voice came, and Big Brother Chen Tong appeared with both arms wrapped around himself, shaking. His voice was not only hoarse but his face was deathly pale, his lips blue-purple. The usually energetic big brother had become like this. No one knew what he had endured in the room.

“Nearly froze to death, goddamn it, I need gasoline to drink,” arriving in the hall, Chen Tong seemed to recover slightly. He looked at everyone and sighed: “You all survived. Not bad.”

Shortly after, Xue Xin, in a similar condition to Chen Tong, also emerged, equally shaking from the cold.

Bai Song asked about the situation. Xue Xin’s voice was weak as he recounted their ordeal.

Last night they had discussed the dungeon for a while before sleeping. They had barely fallen asleep when the room’s temperature began to drop. The walls became abnormal, cracking open with large crevices that revealed internal steel and red-black pipes.

He and Chen Tong huddled together in panic, but the temperature kept dropping. The two barely survived the night in an almost frozen state. Finally, when they were nearly freezing to death, everything became peaceful.

Vincent said: “Your work volume wasn’t calculated, so the energy delivered to the room was less. My room’s temperature was also very low last night.”

Chen Tong shuttled between conveyor belts doing work that improved overall efficiency, but personally hadn’t placed many stones on the belts. The entire dormitory essentially had only Xue Xin supplying energy. Vincent’s situation was similar, because on the papyrus registration form he alone was assigned a single dormitory.

The entire test mechanism gradually surfaced. The dungeon had no human thought process, wouldn’t judge right or wrong, wouldn’t actively kill. It only made every person bear the consequences of their own work. Last time was making their own vehicles, this time it was supplying energy to their own rooms. Death meant failure.

Chen Tong sighed: “It’s like the damn air conditioning died. We also figured out it was insufficient energy, but there’s no way around it. That work still needs to be done by someone. At least we survived.”

He glanced at his watch: “How come the girls still haven’t come out?”

At this, everyone unanimously looked toward that shut dormitory door. The room where the three girls lived remained silent.

“…Should we go in?”