The Midnight Owl

This is the terminal building. Passengers are checking in at almost every counter. If you want to recognize people who are involved in the same way as them in this vast crowd, unless the other party is bluffing like they were yesterday, is it stupid? , otherwise it is impossible.

But now, the people who checked in at counter No. 9 looked and acted as usual, and were dressed in ordinary clothes, looking no different from other passengers.

"Are you sure they're not NPCs?" Xu Wang didn't doubt Wu Sheng, it's just that in judging people, EQ is needed instead of IQ, which is not what classmate Wu is good at.

"Of course," Wu Sheng didn't hesitate, "Look carefully, they are very different from others."

Xu Wang frowned, and opened his eyes even harder. Not only him, but also Kuang Jinxin and Qian Ai leaned over and stretched their necks to observe together.

After a long time, the other party had already processed the boarding pass and turned around to go through the security check.

Qian Ai couldn't help saying: "There is no difference..."

Kuang Jinxin: "I can't tell the difference."

Xu Wang looked at Wu Sheng, hoping that he would listen to the voices of the crowd.

As a result, classmate Wu had a sad face of "why do you always ask me to speak so clearly?"

"Eyes," he said, "look at the eyes, there are only four of them with dark circles."

Xu Wang: "..."

Kuang Jinxin: "Angkor..."

Qian Ai: "Brother Sheng!"

Wu Sheng: "It's no big deal, I'm just a little more careful."

Xu Wang: "If you two continue to worship so blindly, he will fly to the moon first, okay?"

That's what he said, but Xu Wang had to admit that Wu Sheng captured this characteristic point too accurately.

Looking down at the glass tabletop, the four of them are not baby pandas. Even though they have slept for twelve hours, there is still a slight tiredness under their eyes.It is a human physiological law to be active during the day and rest at night. No matter how much sleep you get during the day, it is difficult to completely make up for the lack of night.

With the iconic feature of "dark circles", looking at the vast sea of ​​people, it is like wearing a "filter", all the faces of idlers are blurred, and only the "colleagues" with dark circles are left more clearly .

In the next 10 minutes, they found two other teams. Like the previous team, they also acted in an extremely low-key manner. It was difficult to recognize the difference between them and other passengers without careful identification.

"Looking at it this way, we are the most stupid," Qian Ai expressed his afterthought, "There is no one who is rampant, and they are all ghosts."

"They're all old teams." Xu Wang guessed.It is impossible for the new teams who just came up from 1/23 to have this kind of vigilance. No matter how you look at it, these teams should be tall, handsome, and thin. Just finished the first level again and came here again.

They have already handed in the papers, and there will be no real intersection with these teams who are just about to board the plane. At most, they will just watch from a distance and write down silently, in case they encounter problems in the next checkpoint.

but--

Xu Wang suddenly thought, how many people stared at them like this last night?

Maybe not just last night.

Kuang Jinxin just said that we always feel that someone is watching us.Yes, they can stare at others like this, and those who have handed in the papers like them but have not yet gone to the next level can also stare at them like this.

The prying eyes are all equally sneaky, the only difference is whether there is malice hidden in them.

"Obviously everyone is a victim of being sucked in," Kuang Jinxin murmured to himself in confusion, "Why do I not feel kind at all when I look at them, but feel scared..."

"It's not because of those four bastards yesterday," Qian Ai became angry when he thought about it, "I don't think any team looks like a good person now."

"It's not all their fault," Wu Sheng hit the nail on the head, "It's the inevitable outcome of the existence of a competitive relationship."

Xu Wang agrees: "If only one team can submit papers in each subsequent level, and the team that fails to submit papers will be sent back, then any two teams may meet and compete, which fundamentally cuts off the ability to make friends. way."

"That's fair competition." Kuang Jinxin still felt uncomfortable.

"If the first level is not blocked, and each team can see each other, then there is still this possibility, because each other's information is equal, which is more conducive to the initial negotiation." Xu Wang patted his head and explained patiently, "But now The most common situation is that in the first level, every team deliberately creates the established impression that each team is shielded from each other. When a team with this kind of thinking inertia enters the second level, as long as there is an old team in the second level, they will come to the second level. Such a new team will attack, because the information is already asymmetric at this time, and the old team has an absolute advantage, so it is naturally impossible for him to jump out and say fair competition."

"Then the abused team will learn from the pitfalls, and then abuse the new team," Qian Ai sighed, "This is a vicious circle of hatred."

Xu Wang quietly looked at the hurriedly passing passengers outside the fence, and said, "'Owl' designed the level on purpose."

Qian Ai felt chills all over when he heard this: "Can we stop using the term 'personification'? It's as if there are thoughts and life in this ghost place."

"You don't need to have life, just logic." Wu Sheng raised his finger and tapped the table, and said slowly, "If maliciousness is the operating logic of this world, then all level settings, environments, and clearance conditions are based on this logic. The behavior patterns of the people in it will inevitably lead to this logical result.”

Qian Ai blinked and looked at Xu Wang.

Xu Wang patted him on the shoulder: "That is to say, the world is full of malice."

Qian Ai glanced at Wu Sheng apologetically, then turned to Xu Wang, and said from the bottom of her heart, "I like your explanation."

The four of them sat in the coffee shop for less than an hour, and they couldn't sit still anymore.I should have taken advantage of this rare "post-submission era" to catch up on sleep, but I slept too much during the day, and now I feel as energetic as a full battery.

No way, the four simply wandered around the airport, only to discover a good thing and a bad thing.

The good thing is that the things in the store are real, unlike coffee that is ordered but not served, whether it is a convenience store, a bakery, cosmetics or a variety of brand stores, as long as the money and goods can be paid immediately, the things inside It's basically genuine.

Then there is the bad thing, these things also have to be paid for, and the requirements of each store are very clear, only cash is accepted.In fact, they can swipe their mobile phones, and they can't do anything - there is no mobile phone signal or wifi at all.

The four fumbled in their pockets, only Qian Ai brought his wallet.He took out 100 yuan, spent 40 yuan to buy a keychain, and spent [-] yuan to buy a large bag of biscuits. The clerk asked him for [-] yuan, all of which were the latest version of renminbi, and he did not find anything in circulation with the world. different.

Buying this thing is not because of liking or whim, but Wu Sheng's proposal - if you can pay real money in "Owl" and get something, can this thing be really used, or even brought back to reality?

In fact, they are all things that exist in reality. Souvenirs, bags, clothes, snacks, cakes, and even the brands are the same as in reality. Even if they can be brought back to reality, it is useless.It's like you buy an LV here, and then go back and say that I have a generation gap in "Owl", the price is the same as the airport, ghosts can understand.

But Wu Sheng insisted on testing it.

"Finding out all the operating rules of this world is the cornerstone of defeating it." ——Student Wu's reasons are too good, Xu Wang, Qian Ai, and Kuang Jinxin can only listen to you.

As soon as the four of them left the store, they opened the biscuits, shared them and ate them.About two to three minutes before and after, the four young men did nothing, just stood at the entrance of the store and chewed the biscuits, eating seriously and attentively, as if they all went back to preschool in an instant, and the snacks were the whole world.

When the last piece was left, the four of them finally stopped, and Qian Ai put the individually wrapped biscuit into his pocket, and together with the previous keychain and change, they formed a happy "Owl Family".

Whether these things can be brought back to reality, they don't know for the time being, but at least in "Owl", the biscuits really brought them calories and satiety.

"If the food here is really edible," Kuang Jinxin had a whim, "is it also possible to take a plane? Maybe you can go directly to Shandong from here!"

"You are stupid," Qian Ai patted him on the head, "Even if you can go, it will cost the same airfare, and our things are all in the hotel, you are going to leave the house!"

"That's right." Kuang Jinxin scratched his head in embarrassment, and vowed to think before he spoke next time.

But Wu Sheng suddenly said: "Not stupid."

Kuang Jinxin and Qian Ai looked at him together with puzzled eyes.

Wu Sheng explained two more words: "Not stupid at all."

The six eyes met for a few seconds, and four of them turned to Xu Wang.

Xu Wang spread his hands, imitating Wu Sheng's tone, and his slightly rising tone was full of twitches: "Finding out all the operating rules of this world is the cornerstone of defeating it. We don't need to fly, but we must find out the situation."

Kuang Jinxin and Qian Ai understood.

Moreover, although Wu Sheng was standing next to him without moving his mouth at all, they still had the illusion that "Wu Sheng was dubbing Xu Wang in ventriloquist"——Xu Wang had a thorough understanding of Wu Sheng, and his imitation was vivid. It is simply soul-level.

Just when the four of them were about to go to the airline counter to inquire about the situation, a person suddenly ran out of the opposite restaurant, bumped away the passengers who were about to enter the restaurant, and ran towards the east as if flying.

After running for more than ten meters, a waiter ran out of the restaurant, chasing after him and shouting: "Robbery——"

The four of them stared blankly, looking at each other in blank dismay, whether to act bravely or just stand by, this is a question.

Their daze was only for a very short moment, but at that moment, a cold voice sounded in the entire terminal building——

[Owl: My dear, it’s not advisable to get something for nothing. 】

They recognized that voice, it was the notification tone that always teased them in their ears on weekdays, but now, the voice changed from the previous lively and mischievous, cold as a knife, but there was a strange joke in the tone, which made people listen to it The back is cold, and it hurts people's ears.

The man who was running wildly not far away suddenly fell to the ground with an "ah—" and his whole body twitched violently, as if he was suffering from great pain, screaming and rolling all over the ground.

The four felt their scalps go numb, but the passengers who passed by didn't notice it. Those who should be in a hurry were still in a hurry, and those who should be swaying leisurely were still swaying, as if there was no robber who was in pain so badly that he was dying.

The waiter finally caught up to him. As the only person around who responded to the robber, she bent down and reached out her hand.

What happened next left the four horrified.

The moment the waiter's fingertips touched the robber's shoulder, the robber suddenly disappeared, leaving only a neat stack of hundred-yuan bills on the ground.

The waiter's hand didn't even pause, and picked up the banknote directly, as if that was what she was going to do.

The four of them watched the waiter calmly walking back to the restaurant with the banknotes, and suddenly became confused.Perhaps at the moment when she picked up the money, like the passengers around her, she didn't see the robber at all, and she just went for the money, because... she knew that the robber would disappear.

"The one who robbed...was a real person?" Kuang Jinxin asked anxiously, but he couldn't tell the difference.

"It should be," Wu Sheng said, "otherwise the owl wouldn't be able to speak."

"But the owl's words have never been made public." Qian Ai pointed out the problem. You must know that since entering this world, all the hints from that voice have appeared in everyone's ears alone.

"Let's kill the chicken to warn the monkey," Xu Wang said, "to give a most intuitive warning to all those who might have such thoughts."

"Well, it succeeded." Anyway, Qian Ai has given up all criminal thoughts now, but he still has some criticisms, "Who made it happen in Shaanxi today and Shandong tomorrow? We really think our money is blown by strong winds!"

"Will he die?" Kuang Jinxin asked suddenly.

"No." Xu Wang heard it sincerely, "What Owl said is not advisable. If the result of getting something for nothing is death, then in order to maximize the warning, it can directly say that it will kill people. The deterrent effect is stronger. There is no need to return it." Be gentle."

Kuang Jinxin breathed a sigh of relief, but still had lingering fears.

The appearance of that person just now, even if he won't die, he is still in pain.

Although this episode has caused a lot of shock to the four of them, it is useless to stand here, and there is still a way to go.

After a while, they went to the airline counter.

They want to ask about the route to Shandong, but the answers given by the counters of every airline are like those from a training class—sorry, we don’t sell air tickets here.

Whether there are airlines is secondary. In the huge terminal building, there is no place to sell tickets at all.They wanted to go to the check-in counter to try to swipe their arms or ID card again—Qian Ai brought it, to be precise, it contained all his belongings in his wallet—but they just walked near the counter and asked the ground staff to stop them before waiting in line. Come down, there is no reason, just can't get close.

The same treatment is given at the security checkpoint, and there is no possibility of getting in.

It seemed that overnight, all functional passages were closed to them, and the entire airport became a pure leisure area, where people could go shopping or fly.

After tossing until four o'clock in the morning, the four of them completely gave up and returned to the coffee shop.

With nothing to do anymore, Xu Wang looked at his teammates, pondered over and over again, and finally mentioned something he had been thinking about all along: "I think since I am the captain, it is necessary to deal with the public wallet..."

The so-called public wallet is that everyone puts out the same amount of money and puts it together, and all food, accommodation and transportation are paid from here, so that you don’t have to ask for it today, and I will ask for it tomorrow, and the final calculation is not clear, or AA is so troublesome every time.For example, when he came to Shaanxi this time, Wu Sheng helped him and Kuang Jinxin book the air tickets together. He wanted to give Wu Sheng money, but he was afraid that he would not treat him as a friend if he mentioned it. He could only think about returning it next time, which was quite troublesome. .

This is not haggling. In fact, if the identities were switched, Xu Wang wouldn't care if Wu Sheng didn't pay back the money, but once or twice is fine. They can't be so vague if they are going to travel together for a long time.

People always say that talking about money hurts feelings, but Xu Wang has learned a truth after struggling in the society in the past few years-talking about money first does not hurt feelings at all, and it is even conducive to the maintenance of feelings, and then settle accounts, which is fatal.

Having said that, "money" is still a sensitive issue after all, and Xu Wang is ready to meet his companions' incomprehension or opposition.

And the companions did object.

Qian Ai was the first to raise his hand.

Xu Wang is very democratic: "Please speak."

"Why are you the captain?"

"..."

Although the focus of his teammates' attention was different from what he imagined, Xu Wang calmed down quickly and tilted his head innocently: "I thought we had reached a consensus on this issue."

Qian Ai was not dissatisfied, but just looked dazed. After receiving the response, he was even more confused, and subconsciously looked at Kuang Jinxin.

The latter also shook his head blankly.

Qian Ai looked at Xu Wang again: "Well, there are four people in total, and the two of them have no impression. Are you sure you have reached a consensus?"

"All right, all right," classmate Xu, who failed to find fish in troubled waters, spread his hands in a talkative manner, "Then choose now, after all, we are in a team battle, and we must have a captain, otherwise there will be no leader, and the efficiency will be affected..." Before he finished speaking, he The first to raise his hand, "I'm running."

From mobilization to self-recommendation seamlessly, a series of operations have attracted Qian Aipei's admiration.In such a comparison, he was ruthlessly crushed from words to tricks, and he gave up the competition, but when it came to the captain, he had another candidate in his heart...

Wu Sheng received Qian Ai's supportive gaze, and responded in time: "I choose Xu Wang."

Xu Wang had already determined that there would be a "fierce competition", but he was caught off guard by a big gift and looked at Wu Sheng in surprise.

Qian Ai was also surprised, but he was not happy. Instead, he suspected that he had an auditory hallucination: "Squad leader, you were not like this before. Didn't you become a cadre when you got an honor?"

"At that time, I was young and too naive," Wu Sheng waved his hand, sighed faintly, and raised his gaze slightly 45°, like a wise man who has gone through vicissitudes, looking back on the past, "Now that I have grown up, I am more peaceful and objective..."

"Excuse me," Qian Ai coughed lightly, "Can you just get to the point?"

Wu Sheng looked back reluctantly, shrugged: "I admit that my brain is indeed better than Xu Wang's, but looking at ancient and modern times, the role of brain power is generally relatively low-key, often as a military adviser, not a leader..."

"Wu Yong is the smartest in Water Margin, but the leader is Song Jiang..."

"In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang is the smartest, and Zhou Yu is not bad, but one followed Liu Bei, and the other assisted Sun Ce..."

"So," Wu Sheng raised his eyes, his eyes swept across the three teammates, and finally fell on Xu Wang's face, "The captain never judges heroes by their intelligence, but needs to know people, employ people, and be good at playing with people's hearts. Not even close."

Seeing the rare sincerity and humility on Wu Sheng's face, Xu Wang just wanted to slap him to death: "Can't you simply say that you support me as the captain..."

The road is tortuous, but fortunately, the ending is bright.

Xu Wang was successfully elected, and immediately continued the previous topic: "I think so, this is a protracted war that has been settled, and we will definitely fight side by side in the future. We basically have food, housing and transportation together, so we just order it together." The money gets a 'class fee', and all public expenditures come from here, which saves trouble on the one hand, and on the other hand, the details of the accounts are also conducive to the sustainable development of our team."

Qian Ai was the first to raise his hand again, but unlike last time, this time he supported it: "Agreed."

"Money" is actually a difficult thing to talk about, but if you talk about it openly like Xu Wang, it will be clear again.

"Agreed!" Kuang Jinxin was the second to raise his hand.

Wu Sheng nodded: "No objection."

"Then let's take five thousand for each person first. Air tickets are too expensive." Xu Wang thought for a while, "Xiao Kuang hasn't graduated yet, so take less if you have one, and forget it if you don't. I'll give you what you have first..." Afraid Kuang Jinxin had a psychological burden, and Xu Wang added with a smile, "I borrowed it, and I have to pay it back."

"No need," Kuang Jinxin said quickly, "Five thousand is enough for me!"

Xu Wang looked at him suspiciously: "Don't go bankrupt."

"Brother Xu——" Kuang Jinxin was not very happy that Xu Wang treated him like a child, but what he said was not convincing, "If it's not enough, I can ask my family for it!"

Xu Wang was angry and funny: "The family asked what you do with the money, what did you say?"

"Travel," Kuang Jinxin answered in a smooth manner, "Two days ago when my family asked me why I ended my internship early, I said I wanted to see the outside world, so I came out to have a look around."

"And they agreed?"

"Well, my grandma is very happy. She told me many times to let me see more of the world while I'm young, and tell her if I don't have enough money."

"..."

Xu Wang was speechless, and couldn't tell for a while whether the parents doted on this child, or thought he was stupid and sweet, and had never seen the world, so he had to be released to hit a wall, and he was in various traps in society. Grow up through rough and tumbles.

"Okay." If someone else's child has money, he will not insist on it. They are all partners, no matter how old they are, they must be treated equally and respected. Sometimes excessive special treatment is not conducive to unity.However, as the captain, he still patted the child on the shoulder, "Anyway, don't hold on, just tell your brothers if you have any difficulties, the four of us are now comrades in a minefield, and we have already suffered so much, so we are not afraid of suffering anymore point."

Kuang Jinxin let out a sound, but his eyes were a little sore, he could only nod his head desperately to let the heat dissipate quickly: "Yeah!"

Back to reality at five o'clock in the morning.

The last biscuit and keychain in Qian Ai's pocket disappeared, but the change was still there.

They didn't feel hungry instantly, the feeling of fullness brought by the biscuits was the same as Xu Wang's injury on the ice field, bringing back reality.

As a result, two more items were added to the "Owl's Operational Logic" summarized by Wu Junshi——

(1) Fake things are fake consumption, real things cost money, can be used inside the owl, can be used outside the owl, the energy of food can be continued, and the exchange of banknotes can be realized.

(2) Equivalent exchange √; get something for nothing - ×.

They didn't catch up on sleep that day, but rushed to the airport without stopping.

The exact location of the new coordinates is in Dongying, Shandong, and there is no direct flight from Yulin to Dongying, so it is necessary to transfer at Xianyang Airport.

It doesn't matter, the flight at 13:05 leaves an hour and a half for transit in Xianyang, and arrives at Dongying Shengli Airport at 17:30, a total of four and a half hours, which is not too much of a tossing flight, and when they arrive in Dongying, they still have It took more than six hours to settle down, which was very relaxed.

When boarding the plane, the four of them thought so optimistically.

Then the plane arrived at Xianyang Airport smoothly. The weather changed suddenly, with torrential rain, accompanied by short-term strong winds and thunderstorms.

The four of them sat in the departure hall, watching the rain pouring down like a waterfall outside the glass, and their psychological shadows were layered one after another.

"It's a good thing I got off the plane," Qian Ai expressed the feelings of all his partners, "This is going to be on the plane, I can suffocate."

The horror on the red-eye flight, they really don't want to do it twice in reality.

In addition to bringing back sad memories for the friends, the heavy rain also seriously disrupted the normal order of the airport, and all flights were grounded.When will it resume?That depends on the rain.

wait.

The four of them waited from two o'clock to three o'clock, three o'clock until five o'clock, and five o'clock until late at night.

"Damn," Qian Ai looked at the increasingly approaching time on the phone, "won't you just go in here?"

"Will it scare them if the vortex turns on later?" Kuang Jinxin was referring to the passengers around who were waiting anxiously like them.

Xu Wang made up his mind: "Maybe I was scared at the time, but I will lose my memory afterward."

"The important thing is the distance," Wu Sheng said, "The straight-line distance between here and Dongying is nearly [-] kilometers. Unless we can get on a plane or other faster means of transportation, it is impossible to reach the coordinate point before five o'clock. , not to mention breaking through and handing in the papers."

Qian Ai knew that he was an ordinary person, but he couldn't bear it anymore. He still wanted to pull his teammates back to daily necessities: "Can you think about it first, if the flight takes off when we go in, and we can't go very far inside, the return ticket Something to buy again…”

"No," Wu Sheng didn't care, "The plane can be refunded or changed before and after takeoff."

Qian Ai looked up in despair.

Xu Wang understood the pain of his teammates.He handed the disposable cup of warm water he had just received to Wu Sheng's hand, and helped explain: "It's someone else's air ticket, not ours."

Holding the water glass, Wu Sheng raised his eyebrows in confusion.

Since the establishment of the public wallet, Xu Wang, who has shouldered the heavy financial responsibility, has handled the whole process of booking air tickets, and has the most say in this——

"We bought a special ticket that cannot be refunded or changed, also called Happy Flight."

Wu Sheng drank the warm water and nodded sincerely: "Good name."

In the end, God did not receive Qian Ai's prayer. Zero o'clock arrived as scheduled, and the heavy rain did not stop. Amid the noisy rain, there was a clear hooting sound.

The dome of the waiting hall was dyed with a purple halo, except for them who searched up and down, left and right, no passengers noticed.

However, 2 minutes later, all the passengers saw it in horror—they soared into the air like a tornado, and there was no vortex.

After a dizzy sense of weightlessness, the four of them landed, but not on the ground, but on the deck of a retro sailboat.

There was no one else on board except them.

Outside the boat, the vast ocean, the calm sea surface was shimmering in blue under the sun.