Chapter 297 Going Up 5

"Actually, as we've been speaking, I've realized… Every one of us has something that goes against its law. In other words…" Feng Bujue stopped for a breath and scanned the three of them. "Now, as long as I enter the effective range of that thing, I will be wiped out due to the certain property that I possess. But the three of you still don't know about its law, so as long as that state is maintained, you can get close to it…"

"Wait a minute…" Ambitionist had been trying to follow Feng Bujue, and at this point, he said, "Based on what you said, to have this thing 'come alive', it requires someone who can recognize it and stand within its effective range."

"But currently, the only person who knows about it… is you, and once you enter the range, you'll die," Autumn Zither added, "Doesn't that mean that you'll have to sacrifice yourself to activate it?"

"Other than that, you also said every one of us has something that contradict its law," Weighty Words said. "In other words… no one can activate this while they are alive. Because when we don't know anything about it, we won't be able to activate its effect, but once we do, we will be in the same state as you."

"Indeed, and that is the key. I have an idea that will help us activate that object while keeping all of us alive," Feng Bujue replied. The three teammates did not reveal too much shock and confusion but a focused look. Feng Bujue was satisfied with their reaction; it was easier talking with clever people. He did not need to explain too much to gain their understanding and to get them to see his way.

"First, I need one of you to pick up that object and place it at a specific location. In this process, try to empty your mind and don't think of anything." Feng Bujue started to explain his strategy. "After the object is placed, the person will have to listen to my command and walk to the fringe of the object's effective range. At that time, I will tell him something, and the content will be the description of a certain objective truth. If there's no accident, when the statement has been given, the object will activate, and within a few seconds, the person shouldn't have enough time to realize what is the property that will cause himself to be killed."

"Understood," Ambitionist added. "As long as the person quickly escapes from the object's effective range after hearing your statement, the object's effect will only work on the information that you described and will not come for the person who moved it."

"When the person realizes the property that he possesses that contradicts the object's law, he will have left the object's effective range, and thus, he will be safe," Autumn Zither said. "Hmm… In other words, this thing's trigger is related to the 'knowledge' of the observer within the effective range, right?"

Weighty Words did not comment on this. After a few moments of silence, he brought up something else. "Brother Feng, you are able to come up with a tactic like this in such a short amount of time, and you claimed to be a normal player who is not that good at puzzle…"

"I was just being humble…" Feng Bujue knew that the cat was out of the bag, so it was pointless to continue acting dumb.

"You have been overly humble…" Ambitionist pushed on his gla.s.ses. "Of the four of us, only you know about that object's properties and its properties that it shan't be shared with others. In other words… in order to solve this puzzle without any death, only you can come up with the solution. The scenario in Thriller Paradise is generated based on all the players' data. Our knowledge, power, skill, and equipment are all factored in. Thus, your tactical prowess has been approved by the system. At least the photon computer believes you have more than a fifty percent chance of solving this puzzle on your own."

"Hmm… My bet is that Brother Feng wanted to play dumb and have the so-called 'big characters' like us carry him." Autumn Zither pointed out Brother Jue's initial plan. "But when he saw that thing, he had to join the puzzle-solving."

"Ah… well, you got me," Feng Bujue admitted.

"Hahaha… At the end of the day, this is our problem." Weighty Words laughed and scratched his shorn head. "From the beginning, the three of us underestimated Brother Feng, and the reason was simply because the ID Feng Bujue wasn't that popular. If we place ourselves in his shoes, I would have done the same thing. There's no reason for me to gloat and tell three strangers how impressive I am."

Ambitionist nodded. "You have a point."

"Then, we should stop dawdling on this problem," Autumn Zither said. "Let's discuss who should go and move this thing."

"Weighty Words, Autumn Zither, which of you is better at math?" Feng Bujue asked.

"Math… I'm quite good at it," Weighty Words said.

"Still okay," Autumn Zither replied. "I've returned everything I've learned to my teacher, so I'm at elementary level?"

"Then you are the chosen one," Feng Bujue said.

"Huh?" Autumn Zither was stunned. "Why?"

"What do you mean why? I can't explain before we deal with this, so why ask that question?" Feng Bujue pointed at the room and mimicked a rowdy, youthful voice as he shouted, "It's your turn! Go, Pikachu!"

After hearing this, Weighty Words and Ambitionist felt embarra.s.sed, much less Autumn Zither himself.

"I can't believe I'm communicating with an adult…" Autumn Zither pouted and groused.

"Shamed monster is evolving… into shameless monster," Feng Bujue added with enjoyment.

"Are you done‽" Autumn Zither roared back with embarra.s.sment.

"I was trying to distract you," Feng Bujue said seriously. "That way, it will effectively increase your safety level during your movement…"

"You only need to wait for me to move the thing out of the room and tell me where to put it. Stop with the extra nonsense."

"Fine." As shameless as Feng Bujue's action was, it worked. After ending this rather awkward conversation, Autumn Zither's brain was blank.

…

Project Code: SCP-233

Danger level: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-233 is to be kept within a cubical vanadium-lined container, dimensions twenty-three by twenty-three by twenty-three. The unit of measure is irrelevant. A twenty-three-meter safe zone is to be established around the object: no Cla.s.s D personnel older or younger than twenty-three years of age are to be allowed within the safe zone. For optimal results, Cla.s.s D personnel with birthdays falling on the twenty-third of the month should be used. No firearms other than those chambered for special-purpose .2323 caliber rounds are to be allowed within the containment chamber. s.h.i.+ft changes will occur at twenty-three minutes past the hour, with the final s.h.i.+ft change occurring at 2323 Greenwich Mean Time exactly.

Under no circ.u.mstances are [REDACTED]mm ammunition, Cla.s.s D personnel born in the month of [REDACTED] or on the [REDACTED], [REDACTED], or twenty-[REDACTED] of the month, or any [REDACTED]-sided object to be brought within the twenty-three-meter safe zone. Personnel are cautioned to take special care at [REDACTED] minutes past the hour, especially [REDACTED] hours, as this is the time period during which the object is most active. For the best results, the twenty-three-meter safe zone should be cleared of all personnel during that time period.

Description: SCP-233 is a twenty-three-sided polyhedron, each face being made up of both an equilateral triangle and a straight line simultaneously. Because of the s.p.a.ce-time altering nature of the object, the exact physical makeup of the object cannot be emulated in three-dimensional or two-dimensional form. SCP-233 has the unusual property of altering the laws of mathematics in its vicinity, causing rounding errors to occur unless calculated using a base-twenty-three system. Mathematical calculations carried out in base twenty-three, however, have the benefit of being carried out at twenty-three times the normal speed. For this reason, destruction of the item has been postponed pending possible integration into [DATA EXPUNGED]. The difficulty of converting binary information into base-twenty-three mathematics aside, the device has already shown its value to the Organization.

Unfortunately, SCP-233 appears to have a particularly violent effect upon occurrences of the number [REDACTED] occurring within its safe zone. Chemical breakdown of the affected object proceeds at a rapid rate: direct contact results in immediate destruction of the object in question by breakdown into component atoms within .23 seconds. SCP-233 appears to be triggered not by the actual physical properties of the object in question in any empirical sense but by the perceptions of nearby observers. For instance, it is safe to handle SCP-233 using a 2.74 m long pole, so long as no observers within the danger zone perceive said pole as being [REDACTED] feet in length. The reason for this is unknown, but the Observer Effect recorded in cla.s.sical quantum physics may be involved.

…

Feng Bujue's knowledge of SCP series allowed him to recognize this twenty-three-sided polyhedron. He knew that 2.74 meters was equivalent nine feet. In other words, the specific number targeted by this SCP was nine. As long as one person knew about its properties and entered within SCP-233's twenty-three-meter danger zone, within that zone, everything that was related to nine within this person's knowledge would be wiped out.

When Feng Bujue shouted for them to retreat, he had already noticed one problem: the characters "封" and "瘋"[1] both had nine strokes, and of the other three… "秋" in Autumn Zither's name and "語" in Weighty Words' name both had nine strokes. The connection of Ambitionist to nine was even more obvious; he was at level twenty-nine. No matter which of them was called to move the thing, after they heard Feng Bujue's explanation, even if they did not understand fully what SCP-233 was, they would understand the problem was with the number nine. Then, the faster the person related that number nine to themself, the faster they would be killed.

If this was a dumb team, it would have been easy. Just find a dunce to carry the thing. But the four were all fast thinkers. Once the information entered their brain, the a.n.a.lysis would kick in automatically. Therefore, Feng Bujue decided to have Autumn Zither, who was weaker in math, do this and tried his best to distract him. The method that he employed was to decrease the amount of time his teammate had free to think. The tactic did not look complicated, but in reality, it had fully showcased what Feng Bujue was good at. Even his seemingly pointless actions were meaningful, and he never forgot any detail.

By then, Autumn Zither had walked out from the white door, and he shouted, "Where should I put it?"

Feng Bujue had retreated far enough earlier. Even when the thing was moved out, the place he stood was twenty-three meters away.

"There!" Brother Jue pointed in a direction. "Put it between those two pillars next to the wall."

Autumn Zither listened to the order and carried the twenty-three-sided polyhedron to the corner. This SCP was not that heavy and was easy to move around for players whose strength had been buffed. Ten seconds later, Autumn Zither reached the position. "I just put it here?"

"Yes," Feng Bujue replied. "Now walk toward me. Don't move too fast and stop when I tell you to."

Autumn Zither obliged.

Feng Bujue watched the man walk for twenty meters and then shouted, "Stop!"

Then he continued, "Okay, I'm going to give the statement now, and I'll go through it quickly. Then I'll shout for you to 'run'. You need to run to our side as fast as you can with your mind fixating on the statement that I will give you."

[1] These are two different characters for Feng, one used in his real name and one used in his username.