Chapter 526: Island of Devil’s Maw (32)
After a brief observation, the symbols on the stone wall soon matched up with the marking on the banjo strings. Uncle Worthless’ understanding of music was quite reliable. He gave the banjo a quick twang to familiarize himself with it and he started playing it according to the arrangement of the symbol. The sheet itself was not that long, it could be finished in 10 seconds. The rhythm that came out was a bit weird but it was not enough to be called a music pollution. But after Uncle Worthless finished and waited for 5 to 6 seconds, still nothing happened.
“Hmm?” he was confused and said, “Why isn’t there any reaction? Did I get it wrong?”
“Why don’t you play it again?” Feng Bujue suggested.
“Okay, I’ll try it again.” Uncle Worthless nodded and played the music again, but the result was the same…
“Strange, I am sure that I was right this time…” Uncle Worthless said curiously.
“Looks like it has nothing to do with the notes.” Ambitionist pushed on his glasses, “The melody that you played the first and second time are the same, there is not one note that is different so that means that you got it right the first time already.”
“So…” Uncle Worthless thought about it. “Could it be the problem with method of playing?”
“Erm… about that… I don’t really understand it.” Feng Bujue answered rather helplessly. Brother Jue’s memory, analysis and logical power was very strong but knowledge was the basis of everything. Since he knew nothing about the instrument, banjo, he could be no help at this moment.
Uncle Worthless contemplated for a few seconds and then added, “Hmm… give me a moment.” Then he changed the gesture of the fingers that pressed on the strings and played the melody again. This time, while the music from the banjo was still echoing in the hall, the pattern on the stone wall already started to glow. Then the central part of the stone wall slowly descended…
“So one only need to pluck at the strings…” Uncle Worthless shrugged as he removed the banjo and slipped it into his inventory. “Wasted my time studying that music sheet for so long. In the end, you only need to pluck the string once according to the symbol, you do not need to use your left hand to press on the strings.” He paused and then said as it dawned on him. “Wait a minute… if that was the case, even an outsider can do it, you don’t really need me.”
…
“That might be the case…” Pegasus continued. “But even if I only need to follow the symbol and pluck the corresponding string, I do not think I will succeed in one go like you did.” He was quite honest with his deficiency and he added with a naïve smile. “He he… by the way, this reminded me of something… when I first joined the studio I’m in now, my test result for all music type game is 0, I fail to even get one note right.”
“You sure are a unique talent… even if you play guitar hero with your armpit or dance dance revolution with your butt, it is near impossible to get 0 points…” Feng Bujue added, “And you are able to tell us about all that without any awkwardness, if anything, based on that smile on your face, I feel like you are quite proud of that accomplishment….”
“The thing that I am more curious about it… Why would Celestia who is famed as a ‘celebrity player factory’ accept someone like you…” Ambitionist added.
“Oh, that’s easy, because my test result for the other games are very high.” Pegasus answered, “Especially fighting type and gambling type games, I almost broke the studio’s internal records.”
“I get it now… So a good fighter with ridiculous luck.” Ambitionist concluded.
Tsk—
While they spoke, the ‘stone door’ in the middle of the stone wall had dropped down fully. When it embedded into the ground, it even created this grinding sound and pushed out quite a large amount of dust from the gap. Atobe waved again and used his fan to disperse the dust storm before putting his weapon away.
“So, it does extend upwards…” As Feng Bujue made this observation, he already took out the anti-gravity gun and aimed the flashlight upwards into the tunnel. “The height and width is about 2 metres, if we run into any trap along the way… it’s probably impossible to evade it.” He thought about it and turned his head to announce. “How about… I lead the way this time. You guys can walk behind me in a single file.”
“Can you explain the basis to this arrangement?” Ambitionist asked. It was not that he was against Feng Bujue’s suggestion, it was just that he was rather annoyed by the man’s directive tone and the way he had decided everything by himself.
“Hah?” The expression on Feng Bujue’s face appeared to be saying…’are you fcking kidding me now?’”You want the basis for this arrangement?” Brother Jue repeated, took a deep breath and then replied, “Well to be more precise… it is because I am calm when faced with sudden danger, have quick reflex, fast movement speed, great intelligence so I am perfectly capable of and am incredibly suitable for leading our group forward into tunnel.” He paused for a little while before continuing, “To put it simply… it is because I have balls of steels, a cautious personality and incredibly handsome.”
“Hmm…” Ambitionist narrowed his eyes as he stared at Feng Bujue for several seconds. “I have to admit that… other than the ‘incredibly handsome’ past, I cannot find anything to counter your claim. Since you wish to lead the way, then go ahead…” The other three naturally had no issue with this. Someone was volunteering to take the risk of being the first one it was a good thing, even if that someone was an irrevocable narcissist, after all, he was a very capable player.
Therefore, the group soon moved into a single file and entered the stone tunnel. Their queue from front to back was: Feng Bujue, Pegasus, Uncle Worthless, Atobe and Ambitionist. They moved easily and slowly into the tunnel with Brother Jue leading the way. The ceiling, floor and walls of the tunnel were smooth and grayish-back stone. Standing in it, it gave off an indescribable sense of suffocation. Without even realizing it… the group submerged into silence.
Along the way, all they could see was the stone wall with no discerning quality to them closing in on them; and the only thing they could hear was their teammates’ falling footsteps and light breathing. After they had gone for some distance into the tunnel, no matter they looked back or forward, it was impossible to tell how far they had journeyed into the tunnel…
Under this circumstance, one could not help but ponder this strange question: Am I really still moving forward?
[It was such a correct decision… to eat before we enter this place…] Feng Bujue thought to himself. [This path is far more dangerous than it appears… from the start, it has been moving upwards and the degree of the slope is getting steeper; the barren walls have no specific object of reference; the surrounding temperature is slightly dropping…] he turned back to glance at his teammates and all he saw were pale faces. [The insidious increase in stamina exhaustion, the obfuscation of the sense of distance plus the psychological pressure… all these factors add up to an increase burden on the body and the mind… if we did not break for food earlier, the influence of this surrounding on pre-existing hunger would be unimaginably bad…]
He turned his gaze back to the route ahead and continued his thought. [And under this condition, the one leading the way will undeniably feel the pressure and fatigue the most because they have to be constantly on alert against sudden trap or accident so they will bear additional pressure on their spirit…]
At this point, Brother Jue revealed an easy and even prideful smile, “Thankfully… it is me who is leading the way~”