Chapter 32.1 ?

The reason Xu Ming had such an idea was because, upon hearing the word “queue,” she suddenly recalled an experience from her university days.

Back then, she had been tricked by Qiu Yufei into attending a comic convention, queuing until her heart ached. What left the deepest impression on her was when she queued for nearly three hours, finally reaching the end of the outside queue, thinking it was over, only for Qiu Yufei to tell her they still had to queue inside.

…So they queued for another two hours, and in the end, they didn’t even get to the booth they wanted because it closed early.

This painful experience became a deep scar in Xu Ming’s heart, so whenever she heard the word “queue,” she automatically associated it with those keywords. But thinking carefully—

“Your colleague, Tang Menglong, believes the hotel itself is the domain master, the butterfly is the dodder, and the butterfly can only interfere with the first three rounds of the cycle, right?”

Facing the bewildered gazes of the other two, Xu Ming’s mind was racing, trying to piece together those abrupt and chaotic thoughts:

“If, however, our judgment of the core area is wrong? If where we are now is not the core area, but still in the ‘queue’ heading towards the core area, then even if the hotel is the first rule enforcer, we cannot assert that it is the domain master.”

“On the other hand, you also mentioned that from the fourth round onwards, Brother Tang’s descriptions of the hotel became very vague. He did not mention the butterfly either—could it be because it was only in this round that he truly came into contact with the ‘core area,’ thereby affecting his cognition?”

This could also explain why he suddenly changed his mind and adviced others ‘don’t keep candy’—the strategy of ‘keep candy’ is based on the premise that the butterfly is weaker than the hotel, and the hotel is the domain master. If the roles were reversed, helping the butterfly would be equivalent to helping the domain master, and ‘keep candy’ would be an unwise move.

… So, what is ‘first rule enforcer’ anyway?

Fang Xueqing knew she was slightly off-topic, but couldn’t help being curious. Was this some internal term used by the Urban Legend Demolition Office?

Xu Ming didn’t know that the term she casually coined had become an internal term of the Demolition Office. She looked at the other two for confirmation, “Do you think this idea feasible?”

The other two did not respond immediately but exchanged quick, frowning glances. After a while, Ling Guang slowly said,

“I understand what you mean.”

“Simply put, you believe the butterfly is the domain master, and the hotel we first encountered is actually the dodder. The first few cycles were equivalent to the conveyor belt that led to the real core area. The dodder took advantage of the gap when we were ‘approaching but not yet in’ to control us…”

Xu Ming’s eyebrows twitched, sensing that his interpretation differed slightly from her own, but the general idea seemed correct.

So she nodded in affirmation, only to see Ling Guang shake his head.

“But there is something illogical about this.”

“If the hotel is the dodder, what is its purpose?”

Xu Ming was taken aback, “Purpose?”

“Yes, purpose,” Ling Guang said seriously. “The dodder, to put it plainly, is a parasitic entity in the urban legend, exploiting gaps and loopholes in the rules to hunt, usually a mutated root that infiltrates secretly, or the dead who gain special powers after dying inside the urban legend …”

“The biggest difference between them and the main entity of the urban legend is that they are here to hunt humans, with few opportunities, so they must act quickly. Dodders act fast, urgent, aiming for high-efficiency direct predation… that is, killing.”

“Mm…” Xu Ming nodded slowly. She had read similar content in Tang Menglong’s diary and had a general understanding.

Take the previous Hongqiang Company, for example. The main entity, Hongqiang, is the ‘tree,’ the main urban legend. The monster hidden below the fifth floor is the ‘dodder,’ parasitic on Hongqiang, secretly taking advantage of escapees by posing as a security guard.

Seeing her nod, Ling Guang continued, “But the hotel’s—or ‘White Chess’s’—actions do not align with the dodder’s behavior.”

According to Xu Ming, the time controlled by White Chess is limited to the few dozen hours on the highway and the first three rounds of circulation after entering the hotel. Comparatively, the few dozen hours on the highway are even more suitable for an attack.

Yet they did not set more traps during these two stages. Even the only deadly chamber seemed more like the butterfly’s doing.

“Given the opportunity but not killing, taking it slowly, this aligns more with the domain master’s usual methods,” Ling Guang concluded. “The only possibility is that they have a purpose more important than killing, and all their actions serve that purpose…”

“But what is that purpose?”

With this question, the room fell silent again.

Xu Ming also showed a thoughtful expression, with the voice of the blubberman echoing “Yeah, yeah” in her mind. She impatiently dismissed the blubberman’s voice and suddenly thought of something, her eyebrows twitching slightly.

“That candy,” she pondered briefly before providing another piece of information, “the white chess piece-shaped candy given to us at the front desk.”

“My colleague once researched it and said it was a derivative of the root.”

“…” This statement drew the attention of the other two again. Xu Ming quickly organized her thoughts and continued, “And that derivative can affect monsters. So, is it trying to use humans to deliver candy to the butterfly, like poisoning… wait.”

That still didn’t seem right.

Xu Ming realized the flaw in her words before she finished speaking.

Based on the current information, the butterfly’s enthusiasm for White Chess candy indeed increased with the number of cycles. But at the same time, the hotel’s attitude became increasingly cautious.

Firstly, if the aim was to poison using humans, more would be better. However, the rule is that each guest can only have five candies, and even after multiple cycles, no more is given;

Secondly, from the first round, the hotel’s advice to guests was “find the staff first, then use the candy,” indicating that the priority of using candy was not the highest. By the second round, the staff became unreliable, and the best solution was to seek cover first, then “use the candy.”

It seemed that candy was always a last resort.

In the third round, guests were directly advised to destroy any remaining candy—this at least proved two points.

First, they knew that candy would be useless in later cycles.

Second, they did not want the candy to fall into the butterfly’s hands.

Combining this with the blubberman’s earlier statements, it made sense. “White Chess candy,” as a derivative of the root, is both a poisonous mushroom and a nutrient; but thinking the dodder’s perspective, this behavior is even more puzzling.

Knowing the opponent wants it and fearing they will get it, yet still insisting on giving candy to everyone who comes in.

… What are they after?

Xu Ming couldn’t help but rub her temples, starting to doubt her own theory. Fang Xueqing pursed her lips but once again stood by her side.

“I think your reasoning makes sense. If they’re giving out candy, it must be useful,” Fang Xueqing said affirmatively. “Otherwise? They can’t be just doing good deeds.”

Xu Ming paused her movement.

Fang Xueqing’s last words, full of sarcasm, sounded like a thunderclap to Xu Ming.

Her eyes widened, she subconsciously moved her lips but then closed her mouth—a bolder guess than the ‘queue theory’ emerged in her mind. Bold to the point that she didn’t know how to speak.