Upon seeing the barrage sent by Annan, Delicious Wind Goose paused for a moment.
Then he quickly came to his senses—
Yes, this was indeed necessary.
"This friend is quite clever, not bound by inertial thinking. He has half of my wit," he casually praised, "I just didn’t look at the letter, subconsciously assuming it was the same as the previous one from Kai. But now that we’re in a new environment, it’s indeed necessary to check again..."
As he spoke, he opened the envelope.
Inside the envelope were still pieces of Elle’s diary.
While making the usual preparations to get ready for the stream, Delicious Wind Goose realized something.
The diary mentioned "Amos’s painting hung on the wall, looking like the corpses outside," which was actually a form of psychological suggestion.
After the wandering children read this letter and then looked back at the corpses in the hall, they could realize "it was the painting that turned into corpses." It was because of the groundwork laid by this letter that the sense of fear became even deeper due to "anticipation"—or rather, they could react immediately.
This technique is used in many horror games and horror movies.
Creators scatter pieces of information among the main content to the audience, using curiosity, fear, and other means to capture their attention.
For example, "suddenly seeing bloodstains" would put the audience on edge; while "seeing someone’s back or bowed head" would subconsciously make them want to see the front; seeing "a group of people gathered together" would make them want to know what’s inside; finding "a closed cabinet" or entering "an enclosed space" would make them want to know what is really inside.
This principle has a simple application.
In earlier years, there were some old scary pictures that went viral online. Generally speaking, they were like very long suspension bridges, but when you scrolled to the bottom, you would suddenly see a scary face.
This was because scrolling down triggered people’s subconscious curiosity. That’s why people were able to realize the horror the instant they saw the scary face rather than being startled and then figuring it out—without a doubt, the latter would significantly dilute the sense of fear.
The same logic applies to the kills that happen after reaching a dead end and turning back or entering a new unfamiliar space and opening a door. It is precisely because curiosity is fully aroused that people, in their most alert and sensitive state, are exposed to those terrifying things.
Only those who have read this letter can clearly realize the fear of the painting turning into corpses; they would also be the first ones to think "there’s someone outside the window" when the shadows change, rather than thinking their eyes are deceiving them or that they saw incorrectly.
So here’s the problem.
This letter is on the fourth floor, where it seems to be utterly useless.
It could be for taking the key to the diary inside the cabinet... just like on the second floor, where the small knife was for taking the key to the tomato.
If the tomato represents food and blood, and the small knife represents cutting and death. Then the diary and its fragments must also foreshadow something...
If one acquired the small knife on the second floor but did not enter the second floor’s nightmare... and instead went directly to the third floor, what then?
On the third floor, with a weapon in hand, one might not be at such a disadvantage against the Hammer Brother.
With some luck, perhaps they could repel him once...
Delicious Wind Goose’s mind spun rapidly as he murmured:
"That’s right... that’s right...
"If you got the clothes on the first floor and the small knife on the second floor, then you could hide the knife in the clothes. If you took the diary and went straight ahead without any hesitation, you could make Hammer Brother appear right behind you.
"—At that moment, the distance between him and Amos would be close enough for the small knife to inflict injury!"
Delicious Wind Goose suddenly saw the light.
Annan had also caught on to his reasoning—
"...I see, I understand completely now."
Annan murmured softly, "The reason there are no nightmares on the first floor is that the display cases on the first floor are empty.
"There is a garment on the coat rack, suggesting ’there is a way out beyond the nightmares.’ That is, the existence of the negative first floor.
"The display case on the second floor contains tomatoes, with the key being a small knife. And when the tomato is cut open with the knife, it bleeds profusely... this suggests that the vagrants were lured here by the promise of food. Perhaps their fate... was to be juiced. The tongue within the tomato probably signifies that Amos, with his honeyed words, deliberately deceived them into the trap.
"In that case... those shadows crushed under the chandeliers could be the vagabonds."
Annan recalled the blood and black pulp scattered throughout the basement in Yi Yi’s live broadcast.
That was definitely not the amount from just one or two people.
But if all the vagrants lured by him were killed and then drained of blood in the basement... then the quantity would make sense.
Annan’s fingers gently tapped on his thigh, the light in his eyes growing ever brighter:
"And the keyword for the third floor is the diary and its torn pages. The diary undoubtedly hints at the key piece of information pointed out in Elle’s diary, ’the study,’ while the torn pieces suggest the ’Skeleton Lord’s’ ritual. The act of tearing a page from the diary... undoubtedly also predicts the outcome of Elle being robbed of her ’eye’ and ’hair’ after the ritual is concluded."
The core mechanism of this instance is none other than...
Whatever is in the display case represents the keyword for the nightmares of that floor!
And what should have been put inside the display case originally?
And thinking back to the illusion that Jiu’er fell into on the second floor...
So, those mini instances were labeled as "Gallery: XXX," weren’t they?
Because in fact, they were caught up in illusions created by Amos’s own works...
——No, that’s not right.
The players are playing the role of Amos.
So it should be that Amos entered the illusions he created himself...
Annan suddenly realized something crucial that him, the players, and the Priest’s followers of the Silver Baron had all overlooked.
They seemed to subconsciously... link the ubiquitous horror elements in the gallery instance with the guy wielding the big hammer who was chasing Amos.
What if those terrifying traps weren’t working together with the guy with the big hammer?
If this endlessly unfolding gallery of paintings... was actually Amos’s own escape mechanism?
This wasn’t impossible.
In the second floor, Jiu’er had already shown Annan. Amos had complete control over the space inside this building... he could easily create complex, twisted, chaotic architectural structures.
He just couldn’t pinpoint the locations of others.
Then, an idea suddenly surfaced in Annan’s mind.
The big hammer guy was chasing on the second floor and then disappeared suddenly... During the pursuit on the third floor, he couldn’t follow into the main doors.
This might be because this complex, horrific gallery.
Was actually helping Amos to escape!