Chapter 77 - 73: Surround the Core Area

Chapter 77: Chapter 73: Surround the Core Area

Ao Youda quickly got through to Ah Luo’s phone. By this time, Ah Luo had already found the safe path and was heading for the exit.

When his phone rang, he took it out for a look.

Seeing it was a call from the Noahda Bamboo Forest Maze, he answered. Ao Youda’s voice came through, "Ah Luo, it’s been so long. How are things going on your end? Don’t forget our agreement. Send the video as soon as possible!"

Ah Luo was feeling dejected, and hearing this reminder, he could only say helplessly, "I’m really sorry, but I can’t fulfill my agreement with your Noahda Bamboo Forest Maze!"

Ao Youda’s expression changed at his words, and he immediately reminded him, "You took 100,000 from us!"

Ah Luo retorted sarcastically, "So what? I can’t even get through Li Yuan Farm’s Bamboo Maze. Compared to them, your Noahda Bamboo Forest Maze is garbage. Just wait and see the news. You’ll feel so inferior after you see it. I can’t just act like a moron and insist your maze is better than theirs, can I? Or do you want to be that moron?"

With that, he hung up the phone directly.

Hearing the dial tone, Ao Youda was completely stunned.

’This wasn’t how I thought things would go.’

’Ah Luo actually couldn’t get out of Li Yuan Farm’s Bamboo Maze?’

’How is that possible?’

He had spent a long time designing and upgrading the Noahda Bamboo Forest Maze. No other maze in the country was supposed to be more difficult.

He knew people like Ah Luo well. For the sake of traffic and fame, if he said he couldn’t get out of Li Yuan Farm’s Bamboo Maze, it meant he truly couldn’t. Otherwise, he would have been trumpeting his victory to show off his achievement.

He was very clear on this point.

But how did Li Yuan Farm do it?

They had just opened recently and this was their first time doing a bamboo maze. How could they possibly surpass Noahda?

What did all their renovations, designs, and upgrades even count for then?

Ah Luo, however, didn’t care what the people at Noahda were thinking. As he walked toward the exit, his mood worsened. He opened Tiao Yin and saw that his backstage was filled with mocking comments.

"Didn’t you say you would definitely conquer the Li Yuan Farm maze? How come you only finished the first stage?"

"You went in so confidently. How come you can’t get out?"

"Li Yuan Farm even said that someone with an average person’s intelligence could get out. Is your IQ that low?"

"..."

He could only sigh in response.

This was the life of an internet celebrity. The more high-profile you were, the more people who disliked you would pop up to attack you the moment something went wrong.

He had indeed been too high-profile this time, and now he had been put in his place, with no way to rebut.

He could only put down his phone dejectedly, planning to get a good night’s sleep and try again tomorrow.

But just then, he noticed something surprising. It looked like a nine-square grid area with a platform in the middle, on which sat a combination lockbox.

Each of the nine squares had a bamboo wall, and on each wall hung a sign with what appeared to be some kind of question written on it.

He immediately went closer to inspect them and found that they were riddles.

When he reached the lockbox, he understood. It was a puzzle game. If he solved the riddles, he would get the combination to the lockbox in the middle, which contained a surprise.

Seeing this, he subconsciously reached for his phone to search for the answers. No matter how difficult the riddles were, the answers could always be found online.

But when he took out his phone, he discovered that the signal in this area was blocked. He could only rely on himself to solve the puzzles.

Ah Luo ended up frustrated, as he could only answer one of the questions.

However, his eyes soon lit up.

’I was humbled by the Bamboo Maze, but it seems I’ve also discovered a special activity inside. This is very interesting and an appealing gimmick.’

With that thought, he took out his phone and started recording a selfie video. "Hello everyone, I’m Ah Luo. I have to admit, Li Yuan Farm’s Bamboo Maze is incredibly difficult. However, I also discovered that there’s a lot of fun stuff to do inside the maze, like this amazing puzzle spot. There must be a special reward in the lockbox!"

After filming, he walked out of the signal-blocking zone and uploaded the video.

「At the entrance of the Bamboo Maze」

More and more tourists like Zheng Kai were emerging, having failed. Most of them gathered at the entrance, checking the names and data on the LCD screens.

The reason was simple: they wanted to see if anyone could complete the whole thing.

Moreover, seeing that not a single person had cleared it yet, the smiles returned to their faces. After all, this proved that the Bamboo Maze couldn’t be beaten by someone with an average person’s intelligence, which meant there was nothing wrong with their intelligence.

However, the three tourists who were currently the only ones to have completed the first stage were receiving special attention, and many people had already posted about them online.

Especially He Rou, who had the fastest time for completing stage one.

The name was clearly a girl’s, and everyone was curious how she had done it.

"Where do you guys think those vouchers are in the maze?" Zheng Kai asked his companion next to him as he scrolled through a video on Tiao Yin. "Here’s another person who found a lucky spot. Not only did they get a 500-yuan restaurant meal voucher, but there was also a bottle of mineral water inside!"

His companions were also completely baffled.

"I don’t know, we walked around for ages and never saw a place like that!"

"Hey, look! That guy Ah Luo posted a video. It seems he found a puzzle area!"

This caught the attention of the surrounding crowd, and many people looked over. It was the video Ah Luo had just posted.

Because of all the buzz, and since they were specifically scrolling for videos about the Li Yuan Farm Bamboo Maze, they saw Ah Luo’s video as soon as he posted it.

Zheng Kai also saw the puzzle spot in the video. The design of the nine-square grid area was a huge, pleasant surprise compared to them just wandering around like headless chickens through nearly identical branching paths.

"Do you feel like we went in there for nothing?"

"Seems like it. We didn’t run into any of these places!"

"I feel like this Li Yuan Farm Bamboo Maze is full of more and more surprises."

More and more of the surrounding tourists began to agree.

Just then, a cry of surprise rang out. "Quick, look! That He Rou has completed the second stage! Time: 2 hours and 20 minutes!"

Zheng Kai’s attention was immediately captured. He looked at the LCD screen, and sure enough, the status next to He Rou’s name had changed to "Second Stage Completed."

’This girl is incredible.’

So far, she was the only one to have completed the second stage.

"She’s definitely not an ordinary person!" Zheng Kai said subconsciously.

People like them, with average intelligence, couldn’t even complete the first stage, yet this girl had already finished the second. She was definitely something else.

「At that moment」

With a weary expression on her pretty face, He Rou retrieved her ID card after checking in, then stared in amazement at the scene in this second rest area.

Even after experiencing the first rest area, she was still stunned.

The second rest area was constructed entirely of wood. It also had a square, but the surrounding areas were no longer planted with flowers, but rather with various vine walls, which was very unique. The chairs and tables were also made of wood.

After the tedious maze paths, such a design was still a refreshing sight.

She walked up to an LCD screen and looked at the time it took her to complete the second stage with a sigh of emotion.

She had never imagined that playing a maze attraction would take her 2 hours and 20 minutes just to get halfway through.

Furthermore, she couldn’t continue now. Her energy and stamina were severely depleted. Continuing would just be a waste of time.

So, she decided to head out first, rest well, and come back tomorrow. A maze this interesting was something she couldn’t bear to leave unconquered.

’The key is, with today’s memory, I won’t have to waste time on the first parts of the path tomorrow. I can just go straight... ’

Suddenly, she froze, a look of disbelief in her eyes.

She realized she couldn’t remember the paths for the first and second stages.

’How could this be?’

Didn’t that mean the first two stages were a waste of effort, and she’d have to start all over again?

For someone with her abilities, this felt like a colossal mistake.

Then, she opened a WeChat group and sent a message: "Isn’t everyone complaining about having nowhere to go and being bored? I recommend a bamboo maze that I actually can’t clear. Let’s have a competition!"

After sending the message, she put down her phone, sighed, and started looking for the safe path to head out.

...

Zhang Lin had already returned to the prefabricated office and was looking at the farm’s layout on his computer.

The farm now covered an area of 4,500 mu.

The initial plot was 2,000 mu. Excluding the rapeseed Flower Sea, the service center, the parking lot, and the residential cultural park under construction, there were about 1,200 mu left.

Another 200 mu had to be reserved, which left 1,000 mu.

He planned to enclose these 1,000 mu and turn it into a completely internal area, inaccessible to outsiders.

The farm had many tourists now, and this was a necessary step to avoid exposing the secrets of the game system.

However, building a wall around 1,000 mu of land was no small project.

Calculating from the map, the perimeter of that 1,000 mu plot was about 3,500 meters.

To meet confidentiality requirements, the wall needed a standard thickness of 24 centimeters and a height of 2 meters. Factoring in 1-centimeter mortar joints,

The approximate number of bricks needed would be [3500 / (0.12 + 0.01)] * [2 / (0.05 + 0.01)]. This came out to about 900,000 bricks.

To ensure sufficient materials and for necessary replacements, it was best to prepare 1 million bricks.

Just as Zhang Lin was calculating, his phone suddenly rang. It was Zhao Han, who had already returned to the Tourism Bureau.

As soon as the call connected, Director Zhao’s voice came through, "Boss Zhang, look online, quick! It’s blown up! The Bamboo Maze has completely blown up! It’s incredible! You’ll never guess who that He Rou is!"

Zhang Lin was puzzled. He naturally knew of He Rou, the only tourist who had completed the second stage that morning.

But after he opened Tiao Yin and took a look, he couldn’t help but reveal a look of surprise.

He finally understood why Zhao Han was so excited.

’Even someone like her could only complete the second stage?’

’The Bamboo Maze produced by the game system is even more incredible than I imagined!’