civilwarnovels Chapter 4663 Desperate Escape (35)
Chapter 4663 Desperate Escape (35)
Chapter 4663 A Desperate Escape (Thirty-Five)
“From a level design perspective, it’s impossible for these six people to work together.” Loki used his coat to dry Thor’s hair. “Whether it’s a mystery or an escape room, the most important core idea in all design is fairness.”
"While deduction can employ narrative tricks, it must never lie about important facts presented from an omniscient perspective; otherwise, it becomes unfair deduction. Nor can it conceal from the reader by suddenly inserting characters and props that are not explained beforehand but play a crucial role later; this is also a typical example of unfair deduction."
"The same applies to escape rooms. The designers of the levels can use psychological and physical tactics very maliciously to make things difficult for the escapees, but they cannot create a situation where death is certain, nor can they create a completely unsolvable problem. In fact, the intensity of the level's hints should be proportional to the level's difficulty."
"Take the challenge we went through before, for example. It involved electrifying both the cage and the water, which was difficult enough. So, we only needed to shake it in three directions to pass. If it had thirty directions, it would be a certain death situation, which is unfair."
"Similarly, because a solution must be devised in a very short time, otherwise the water might flood the area, the entire mechanism must be simple enough, without any distracting clues, so that each step of reasoning can get closer to the answer. Otherwise, if there are drawings on the walls and other mechanisms to distract the view, then it would be impossible for people to deduce the correct answer during the time the water rises, which would also be unfair."
"The previous levels were the same. For the more difficult levels, there was basically a single solution with hints; while for the easier levels, the hints were correspondingly fewer. This is the principle of fairness in escape room design."
“Take a look at this level,” Batman’s deep voice rang out. “The organizers themselves, or rather, they’ve sent people to participate in the process. And they’re controlling the entire game, manipulating the mechanisms above our heads, and can decide most of the game’s progress. If they all work together and no one pulls a dirty trick, it would be too unfair.”
"It's like in a football game, where the players, goalkeeper, and referee are all on the opposing team?" Superman came up with an analogy.
"If we're going to make a comparison like this, then they probably control the grass, the ball, and the goalposts. They can have grass wherever they want; they can make the ball as heavy as they want; they can make the goalposts point in whichever direction they want. That makes it impossible for the players to play."
Superman nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite. Batman then gave another example. He looked up at the mechanism and said, "For instance, what if they made a rule: if we don't commit suicide, they'll directly control the mechanism above our heads to pour lava down. Is there any way we can resist?"
Superman shook his head: "If one person commits suicide, only one person dies. But if we pour lava, both of us will die. Then we have no other choice."
"That's right. Even if they make the rules more fancy, like food chain competition or big controlling small, the essence remains the same. They're simply using the game to force us to fight amongst ourselves or harm each other. They set the rules, they control the mechanisms, and they decide the outcome. So what are we playing?"
"Has it gone from exploitation to persecution?" Anatoly said thoughtfully, looking at the mechanism above his head.
"What's the difference?" Lucifer asked, somewhat curiously. He hadn't been uninterested in Anatoly's often-cited ideas before, but Anatoly's omniscience and omnipotence meant he couldn't possibly understand them. Now, having lost his superpowers and become a mortal, even a burden in some ways, he was even more interested. This was a matter of personal responsibility—when one is weak, one naturally becomes more interested in theories that protect the weak.
“I usually view exploitation as a collective unconscious. That is, exploitation is not a phenomenon caused by the malice of a single individual, but rather stems from class distinctions. This concept is rather abstract. Classes will not be eliminated until an ideal state is reached. Therefore, it requires greater force to drive a sustained and comprehensive struggle, rather than simply killing one or two people and thinking that the job is done.”
“But persecution is different. Persecution comes from the malice of a few individuals or a group. They do these things not out of the desire to exploit surplus value, but by arbitrarily releasing the evil part of human instinct and venting their negative emotions on others. The most important difference between this and exploitation, besides being concrete versus abstract, is whether it is necessarily top-down.”
“I didn’t understand,” Lucifer said. “Especially the last part. What is ‘from top to bottom’?”
“From a class perspective, exploitation is always top-down. It is always the upper class that exploits the lower class, and it is never the other way around. But persecution is different. A group of lower classes may persecute an individual of the upper class. It may even be an individual persecution.”
"The reason for emphasizing this point is that people often glorify the persecution of the upper class by the lower class as resistance and revolution. But in reality, it is just some people venting their personal desires. Pushing the upper class to the opposite side, or even killing them, can have disastrous consequences."
"I don't understand. If the upper class is bound to exploit the lower class, what's wrong with killing them?"
“Because we must unite the vast majority of people.” Anatoly looked into Lucifer’s eyes. “Take the Hell War for example. If we insist on eliminating every demon, killing them on sight and driving away those we can’t kill, could we, just a few of us, have caused such a commotion?”
Lucifer shrank back again. His later clearing of Hell was, in fact, a last resort. At that time, Hell was basically on fire everywhere, and all the races of Hell were rebelling—some against their own Demon King, some against Satan, and even some against Heaven and God. If the unrest hadn't escalated so much, he wouldn't have resorted to such violent methods. There's a difference between idly strolling through the human world and having to flee to Earth because your house is on fire.
“People can be reformed,” Anatoly said. “If we’re talking about liberation and reform, it can’t be targeted at any one group, but at everyone. The oppression of the lower classes by the upper classes doesn’t mean there aren’t upper classes oppressing the upper classes, nor does it mean there won’t be infighting among the upper classes. Everyone in this world has their own oppression and exploitation, even the person at the very top of everything. Doesn’t the emperor of a feudal autocratic society need to be reformed? There’s no benefit in rashly killing him. If this point isn’t understood, revolution is unlikely to succeed.”
“You seem a little sad again,” Lucifer said.
"Yes. Because I think the seeds of the Soviet Union's collapse may have been sown with the execution of the Tsar's family. That execution, which implied persecution, was the worst decision they ever made."
Anatoly quickly composed himself, took a deep breath, and said, "Let's get back to the game. If the previous levels were a form of exploitation—like human experimentation or the selection of certain groups—it was the upper class resorting to any means for their own benefit. But now it seems more like a malicious form of persecution."
"It seems they just want to watch us try our best to pass, for their own amusement." Lucifer thought for a moment and then asked, "Isn't this considered using any means necessary for profit?"
"Of course. Sacrificing the lives of others to bring oneself mental pleasure is certainly exploitation. But because it contains enormous malice, it becomes a form of persecution."
"Was there no ill intent before?"
“No, it’s just that the presence of another group of living people here proves how deep their malice runs.” Anatoly paused for a moment before continuing, “Originally, our enemy was the mechanisms. Throughout the entire level, all the living people were victims. But now, another group of living people has appeared. They participate in the game, but they are not exploited victims. Instead, they are the rule-makers, the operators of the mechanisms, and even performers who showcase their personalities and individuality.”
"Is this really that bad?" Lucifer clearly still didn't understand.
“To deliberately go and show off in front of people who are being persecuted must be accompanied by great malice—why do you think I would pluck a feather from you back then?”
Lucifer was speechless. Suddenly, he had a completely new perspective and understood why Anatoly had reacted so strongly. Because now he also disliked these people above him.
They struggled through these challenges, nearly drowning and getting their wings pierced, while these people, wearing animal masks, sat there calmly, putting on a show. Who wouldn't be infuriated?
Anatoly, in a similar situation, had just lost his homeland and died recently, filled with anger and sorrow. Then Lucifer appeared before him, radiant with holy light and sprouting wings. Anatoly only plucked a single hair from him, which was already considered a sign of respect for the angel.
Lucifer walked over, hugged Anatoly, and enveloped him with his wings: "I'm not trying to show off. I just... I just lost control too..."
"Yes, I understood that later. You just suddenly realized that you couldn't avoid being manipulated, and you felt angry and desperate, and I also lost control of my emotions because of what happened to me. We both had our own difficulties back then."
Lucifer's wings enveloped her even more tightly.
“I don’t think these people are on the same page,” Charles said with certainty. “It’s even possible that they didn’t build the secret room at all. They’re just clients of another big company.”
“That’s possible,” Eric said, leaning against the wall of the cubicle. “A large company is doing this kind of business, and some wealthy people happen to have this kind of hobby. One side provides the money, and the other side provides the effort, and that’s how this situation is formed.”
Do you think any company would agree to let these wealthy people take such a risk?
"Of course not, it would be troublesome if something happened. Putting aside compensation, these people are all influential figures. If the cause of death cannot be explained, countless shareholders will come knocking on our door. No company wants to get into that kind of trouble."
“But they couldn’t stop it.” Charles gave a cold laugh. “Human desires are like Pandora’s box; once opened, they can never be closed. The curse deepens, and madness follows like a shadow. Murder isn’t enough, so they torture; torture isn’t enough, so they psychologically torment; psychological torment isn’t enough, so they build a secret chamber like this and watch them suffer all sorts of tortures before they die. But what happens after that?”
“They won’t be content to sit on the sidelines. They’ll want to get on the field themselves, to prove how superior they are, to prove that they can control everything. No one can refuse to be God—no one can refuse to be an omnipotent god who chooses humanity through a cataclysmic flood.”