[Operational Regulations for Red Nut Gray Hole Rescue Personnel:]
[As rescue personnel participating in this operation, you have been warned in advance of its dangerous and unpredictable nature. These operational regulations have been compiled from recent rescue efforts and are designed to ensure your safety. Please adhere to them strictly.]
[1. Ensure you enter the Red Nut Gray Hole with a full set of rescue or firefighting equipment. You must maintain the symbol of your identity as "Rescue Personnel" or "Firefighting Personnel." What's important is not whether you are one, but whether you look like one.]
[2. Recall your identity and name every 15 minutes. If you find you can only remember your identity as rescue personnel but cannot clearly recall your own name, leave the cavern immediately at any cost. At that point, you are no longer capable of carrying out the duties of a rescuer.]
[3. Do not enter the "Gentle Slope" area, especially the section near the Great Fissure. Regardless of what you hear, see, or feel, there are in fact no longer any people in need of rescue within the "Gentle Slope."]
[4. Ensure that the people you rescue can clearly state their identity and name. Escort anyone claiming to be an "Explorer" out of the cavern as quickly as possible. "Tourists" must be able to clearly recall their names and possess the desire to escape the cavern before they can be rescued. You may seek help from "Staff Members" and "Security Guards," but do not attempt to rescue them. Individuals who cannot state their identity are not to be trusted; do not listen to or remember any names they give.]
[5. You may rescue survivors coming from the "Great Slide," but you must confirm their identity is "Explorer." Anyone else coming from the "Great Slide" is not to be trusted. Do not enter the "Great Slide" area yourself; rescue personnel can no longer enter this area.]
[6. Any rescue personnel coming from the "Great Slide" are extremely dangerous. Do not make contact with them under any circumstances. If you cannot avoid them, use any and all violent measures at your disposal to repel them. The fire axe and nine-millimeter handgun you have been issued are for this very moment. Do not hesitate.]
[7. When you notice the water level in the cavern beginning to rise, abandon the rescue operation immediately. Head for the exit at all costs. Pay no attention to anything in the water, and do not respond to any sounds you hear at this time. You must and can only save yourself now.]
[8. When you find yourself unable to leave the cavern and have become lost, take off your rescue team uniform and find other clothes to change into. It is best to change into the clothes of a "Tourist" or "Explorer." In desperate circumstances, you may change into the clothes of a "Staff Member" or "Security Guard," but it is best not to wear them for more than half an hour. Under no circumstances should you maintain your identity as "Rescue Personnel," nor should you trust any other rescue personnel you encounter at this time. Look for a passage with a secured safety rope. Only there will you have a chance of leaving the cavern.]
[9. Regardless of the principles you have upheld in your past professional career, you must now prioritize your own life above all else. The situation here is not worth you sacrificing your life. Your self-sacrifice will bring no value; it will only make the rescue operations for others more difficult.]
In the pouring rain, Gao Hai read through the regulations in his hand at top speed.
This was the second set of regulations he had received in this instance. Unlike the rules for an "Explorer," these regulations for a "Rescue Team Member" were quite different, and there were clearly many points worth careful consideration. But he was out of time. Under the gazes of the things around him, he had to act immediately, entering the cave entrance before him in the manner expected of "Rescue Personnel."
The rescue team he was on had ten people.
Through his Blessing, Gao Hai could determine that four of them were players, while the other five were, in essence, already anomalous entities.
Beneath the curtain of rain, Gao Hai looked around and could see that a simple park had been built outside the cave entrance, complete with a sign that read: [Welcome to the Red Nut Gray Hole Scenic Area].
At this moment, besides the rescue personnel, there was no one else in the park. But looking into the distance, Gao Hai could see a large crowd gathered near the park's main gate, along with tents of various sizes that had been set up.
It seemed many people were watching them, the rescue personnel.
However, under the power of his Blessing, Gao Hai could clearly confirm that the people outside were just some kind of afterimage, mere phantoms left behind by past history.
If he wanted to escape the Red Nut Gray Hole, now seemed like the perfect opportunity.
But, Gao Hai remembered clearly, to complete the instance, he needed to [reach the true surface]. And this scene, which had appeared after he put on the rescue team uniform, was still filled with an unsettling sense of the uncanny. It was probably not the "true surface." After all, he was standing right at the cave entrance now; by all rights, he should have already completed the mission.
"Time to go!"
The man in the lead shouted as he was the first to step into the cave entrance.
Everyone around him started moving in unison, Gao Hai included. Everyone's actions were forcibly synchronized at that moment, following the man's lead and proceeding step by step deeper into the cave mouth ahead.
Rescue personnel must enter the Red Nut Gray Hole. Was this a required action for this identity?
As Gao Hai pondered this, he used the eyes he could still control to observe his surroundings. He didn't pay too much attention to the rescue personnel being played by anomalies, focusing instead on the players. The four players seemed to be from all over the world. Two of them had expressions full of terror. Of the other two, one looked a bit nervous, while the last one was expressionless, seemingly having already fully adapted to the identity of rescue personnel.
Splash—splash—
Amidst the downpour, Gao Hai saw a large amount of water flowing down the stairs into the Red Nut Gray Hole, pouring into the cavern's depths.
"Before us, thirteen rescue teams have already entered the cavern, but a large number of people are still trapped."
The team leader walking at the very front turned back at this point and shouted to Gao Hai and the others.
"You came here knowing full well what a hellhole this place is, so stick to the regulations. They were written with the blood of many who died."
"We can't save everyone in the cave. Do what you can, but don't push yourselves."
"You know what these words mean. Don't die in there. That will only bring more danger to others. Alright, let's move!"
Because of the loud noise of the rain, the man was practically roaring at Gao Hai and the others, just so his voice could be heard a little more clearly.
Stepping into the entrance of the Red Nut Gray Hole, the water had already submerged their feet and risen past their ankles.
Gao Hai could see lighting fixtures installed in the cave. Most of them were already extinguished, but a few still flickered with a faint glow.
There were a lot of clothes.
Gao Hai saw many clothes floating in the water.
In the murky, muddy water, piece after piece of clothing drifted, looking like people floating on the surface.
The man who had led them into the cave had vanished.
The other five rescue personnel played by anomalies had also disappeared at some point.
Gao Hai felt control over his body return.
At this, the two players who were already terrified plopped right onto the ground, looking like they were about to break down. The very nervous player let out a huge gasp, then turned to look at Gao Hai and hurried over.
"H-hello, I'm Wang Gui. Are you a player too? How did you suddenly appear here? Are you a veteran player? Do you know how to get out of here? We—we've already repeated this six times. Whether we run outside or rescue someone and take them out, everyone ends up back at the moment we were reading the regulations..."
It was clear that this man named Wang Gui was extremely anxious.
Meanwhile, the last player, the one with the numb expression, had already started walking deeper into the cave. His stiff gait didn't look like he was moving of his own accord; it was more like something had taken control of his body, manipulating a corpse to shuffle forward.
"Calm down, calm down. Tell me about your specific situation. Don't panic."
Gao Hai surveyed the surroundings, and after confirming that there were no immediate anomalies, he turned to Wang Gui and spoke.
The middle-aged man, who looked to be about forty, took a few deep breaths before calming down slightly and giving Gao Hai a rough explanation of the situation. It turned out that he and the two players sitting on the ground were all new players entering an instance for the first time. The three of them were completely bewildered when they suddenly found themselves as rescue personnel. While they were still dazed, the man who just walked away had gathered them, explained some of the basic rules of players and instances, and then led the three in an effort to find a way out of this place.
They had tried running straight out of the cave at the very beginning, or finding a survivor inside the cave who met the criteria on the rule sheet and taking them outside. But the result of these actions was that everything would reset to the very beginning: reading the rules again, being led into the cave again, this same repetitive process.
So, on the fourth loop, that veteran player tried entering the Great Slide area. As a result, when the fifth loop started, the veteran player no longer communicated with them, becoming silent as a corpse, only knowing to follow the rules and search for rescue personnel.
The three panicked new players also tried to save themselves, but the result was that by the seventh loop, when Gao Hai appeared, aside from Wang Gui who had been cautious enough not to trigger anything, the other two newcomers could no longer remember their own names, and their past memories were also becoming increasingly blurry.
"Please, save us, save me..."
Wang Gui gripped Gao Hai's sleeve tightly, his voice filled with unconcealable fear and despair.
After listening to the man's words, Gao Hai lowered his head in thought for a moment before realizing a fact.
The rescue team identity in this instance was likely just like the rescue team in the Shirakawa Apartments—an identity that [cannot clear the game].
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