Chapter 13: A Whimsical Idea

Chapter 13: Chapter 13: A Whimsical Idea

Xu Mo glanced back at the glass door behind him. The thought of the hair salon on the other side made the corner of his mouth twitch again. But just then, another idea popped into his head—an idea that filled him with a sense of excitement.

Hurrying back to his temporary shelter, Xu Mo tossed the few seeds and snacks he had into the corner with his other supplies, not even bothering to organize them neatly. At this moment, his entire attention was consumed by the sudden, audacious, almost absurd thought that had surfaced in his mind.

The idea was so abrupt, yet it held a heart-pounding allure. It made his heart thump wildly as a tremor of excitement, anticipation, and a hint of uncertainty washed over him.

He stood in the middle of the room, his gaze seeming to pierce through the walls and land once again on the glass door of the hair salon that had left him so speechless.

’Door type corresponds... door type corresponds...’ Xu Mo repeated these words, his eyes growing brighter and brighter. ’If the *form* of the "door" determines the type of space in the world it connects to, then... what about the information attached to the "door"? Could the static world also "read" or "map" the signs on the door?’

An extremely wild hypothesis began to form in his mind:

’If I artificially change the "information" carried by this door in the real world, will the corresponding static world behind it also change accordingly?’

’For example, if I stick a "Warehouse" sign on an ordinary residential security door, will it actually open up to a warehouse next time?’

The idea spread like wildfire in Xu Mo’s mind, instantly igniting all his desire for exploration. If this conjecture was correct, it meant he would no longer have to passively accept random locations. Instead, he would possess the ability to, to some extent, "customize" his scavenging scenes! This would be a revolutionary upgrade to his Golden Finger ability!

Xu Mo immediately started rummaging through his things. He remembered finding some red, gold-stamped plastic paper used for the New Year in a residence he had scavenged earlier. He had thought it was useless at the time but had stuffed it in a corner because of its bright color. Now, it had become the key to verifying his wild hypothesis.

He found the sheets of red paper and returned to the glass door.

Sunlight shone on the grimy glass, reflecting Xu Mo’s tense yet intensely focused face. He stared at the door as if gazing at an entry point in a line of code, waiting to be rewritten.

After a moment of contemplation, Xu Mo made his decision.

"I’ve got it!"

He cut the red plastic paper into strips of varying thickness. Then, with extreme care, he used transparent tape to piece them together on the inside of the glass door.

In the end, four crooked but clearly discernible large red words appeared on the inside of the glass door: Please Enjoy Your Meal.

After finishing, he took a few steps back to admire his "masterpiece."

The red writing was striking on the glass. Now, anyone who saw this door would get the first impression of a... small restaurant.

"If the conditions don’t exist, you have to create them!" Xu Mo muttered to himself, repeating the phrase. The corners of his mouth curled up in an irrepressible smile, a mixture of pride and anticipation.

He couldn’t be sure if this would actually work. What were the operating rules of the static world? Did it only map the physical form of the door, or would it also map this artificially added, superficial information? It was all an unknown.

But the "attempt" itself was enough to make him incredibly excited. This was an act of exploration and creation that went beyond simple survival and scavenging. He was no longer just adapting to the rules; he was trying to become a user of the rules, or even... a tester.

He could already envision the scene that might appear the next time the countdown ended and he pushed the door open again—perhaps it would be a small diner, or perhaps it would still be a random room, proving his attempt had failed.

Regardless, the anticipation of this unknown possibility made his heart race far more than the simple prospect of acquiring more supplies.

He took one last, deep look at the glass door with "Please Enjoy Your Meal" written on it, as if trying to pour his own will into it. Only then did he turn and head back to his shelter, filled with an unprecedented sense of ease and anticipation.

The next forty-eight hours of waiting would no longer be tedious. Instead, they would be filled with suspense and imagination.

At this moment, Xu Mo felt like he was exploiting a bug in a video game. The secret thrill and excitement of using a loophole to achieve an effect beyond the designer’s intent were almost identical. He felt like a hacker facing a complex program, having found a potential backdoor and cautiously typing in the first line of probing code.

However, the thought had barely surfaced before he shook his head with a smile and dismissed it.

’Exploiting a bug?’ Xu Mo muttered to himself, his gaze then becoming clear and determined.

’No. If I can use this phenomenon, that means it’s part of the rules itself.’

He thought back on everything that had happened since he gained this ability. The ability to cross, the static world, the sixty-second time limit, the forty-eight-hour cooldown, the door-type correspondence... all of it defied common sense. It was a self-contained system of "rules" that he did not yet fully understand.

What Xu Mo was doing now wasn’t exploiting a loophole, but rather conducting deeper exploration and testing on this unknown path. Just like a scientist verifying physical laws through experiments, he was testing the boundaries and mutability of this set of "door" rules.

The four words, "Please Enjoy Your Meal," were an ingenious experimental variable he had designed. He wanted to see what kind of feedback mechanism this "rule" had for the "additional information" carried by the door.

Once he thought this through, the simple, sly excitement gradually settled into something more substantial: the sense of mission and anticipation of an explorer. Xu Mo no longer felt like he was just getting by on clever tricks. He was conducting a serious "study of the rules" that was crucial to the efficiency of his future survival.

With this mix of rational analysis and surging anticipation, Xu Mo returned to his temporary shelter. He carefully barricaded the entrance with furniture again, restoring his previous defensive setup. Although the town seemed deserted, he couldn’t let his guard down.

After all that, Xu Mo felt the excitement within him still hadn’t fully subsided; he had a surge of energy that needed an outlet. He walked to the center of the room and, without any conscious effort, naturally fell into the stance for his Pile Training.

The Posture Stance prioritized a tranquil mind. Previously, when practicing the Posture Stance, Xu Mo had to constantly banish distracting thoughts about survival, supplies, and zombies to slowly enter the right state. But today, his mind was highly focused. All his attention naturally converged on one thing—the glass door he had modified, and the unknown scene that might appear behind it, changed by his will.

This intense, singular anticipation acted as a strange "anchor," holding his mind steady. He no longer thought about the soreness in his body or worried about future dangers. His entire consciousness seemed to transform into invisible tendrils, reaching out toward the unknown rules with a thirst for discovery.

Sweat still beaded on his skin and his muscles still trembled, but without realizing it, Xu Mo held the stance for a little longer than usual. Each breath felt like it was accumulating strength, not just to temper his body, but to face the crucial "experiment" in forty-eight hours in the best possible condition.

When he finished the Posture Stance and wiped the sweat from his brow, Xu Mo’s eyes shone with an unprecedented light. It wasn’t just the pursuit of greater strength, but also the firm will to actively explore and take control of his own destiny.

He looked out the window as the setting sun slowly sank behind the distant mountains. The next time the countdown hit zero, the answer would reveal itself.