Chapter 3: He Edited a Rule
1444 Words
**【09:07】**
Liam Cross returned to his original carriage. Sat down in an empty seat. Opened the system interface on his phone and started reading every line of rule text again—carefully, word by word, including the fine print.
He'd found a hidden rule. There might be more.
But the system wouldn't show them openly. The only way to surface them was to trigger them, and the only way to trigger them was to violate them—and that might mean death.
So he didn't rush. He read the rules that were visible, and tried to find other information from the loopholes.
He found it.
At the very bottom of Rule 3—**【Survival points system】** —there was a small button. Gray, almost transparent, tucked behind a line break like it was intentionally trying to go unnoticed.
**【More details ▸】**
He tapped it.
A new page loaded. **【Rule editing permissions → Pending activation. Activate condition: Survive for 5 minutes after dungeon start. Countdown: 00:00:00 (completed). Permission activation available.**】
Liam Cross stared at that line for two seconds. Then he pressed the activation button.
**【Permission activation complete. You are now a "Rule Editor." Current level: 0. Editing range: Single sentence. Supported operations: Correcting typographical errors in rule text. Pre-approved by system protocol.】**
Rule Editor.
He could edit rules.
Only typos. Only single sentences. But he could edit rules.
Liam's thumb hovered over the screen. He thought about it. What rule could he change with just a single-sentence typo fix? And what effect would it have?
He looked at Rule 2.
**【Core Rule 2: Late arrivals will be punished. All participants who board after 09:00 will be classified as "late." Late arrivals will independently bear the on-time participants' "delay costs." Definition of delay costs: determined by the system, to be detailed.**】
That last phrase—**"to be detailed."** He stared at those two words. What if he changed it from "to be detailed" to something that was detailed right now? But that would be adding content, not fixing a typo. The system would reject it.
Then he saw it.
A misused word.
Not a typo. More like... a poorly chosen word. In a certain place, a single character that, if replaced, could change the entire meaning of the rule.
**【Late arrivals will independently bear the on-time participants' "delay costs."】**
The word ["bear"]("**"). If he changed it to ["share"]("**"), the late arrivals' responsibility would change from sole responsibility to joint responsibility. But that wasn't a typo.
What about changing a punctuation mark? Or adding a negative? He looked at the sentence again, his gaze locking onto one character.
**【Independently bear】**.
If he could remove "independently..." but that was two characters. His editing range was limited to a single sentence, with changes limited to fixing orthographic errors. A deletion like that might not pass system review.
But what if he didn't delete—what if he reinterpreted?
Liam Cross opened the editing function. A text box popped up on the screen, displaying Rule 2's complete text, with a cursor blinking at the exact position of a single character. It had to be exactly one character.
His finger hovered over the character ["*"]("alone") in ["**"]("independently"). If he changed ["*"] to ["*"]("together"), the word became ["**"]("share the burden"). One character change—and the meaning went from **"late arrivals alone bear the costs"** to **"late arrivals share the costs."**
He hesitated for two seconds—then pressed the edit button.
**【Editing request: Rule 2, character modification: ["*"] → ["*"]. Confirm or cancel?】**
His thumb hovered over **confirm.**
Worst case—the system rejected it, and he was back where he started. He pressed confirm.
**【Edit approved. Rule 2 wording updated. "Independently bear" → "Share the burden." Waiting for system-wide synchronization.**】**
Liam Cross stared at that feedback for a long time.
He... had just changed the rules of the dungeon.
## 2
The train was still moving. Still dark. Still carrying over a thousand panicked people through the tunnel.
But the rules had already changed.
And nobody knew it except him.
**【09:12】**
The system broadcast arrived on schedule. Every phone screen flashed white, and a new line of text appeared.
**【System notification: Rule 2 has been updated. Current wording: "Late arrivals will be punished. All participants who board after 09:00 will be classified as 'late.' Late arrivals will share the burden of the on-time participants' 'delay costs.' Definition of delay costs: determined by the system, to be detailed."】**
The carriage erupted again.
**"'Share the burden'? It was 'independently bear' just now!"**
**"The rules are changing!"**
**"Can the rules change?!"**
**"Who changed them?!"**
The guy in the hoodie rushed over to Liam Cross. **"Did you see that? The rules changed!"**
**"I saw."**
**"Who do you think changed them? Can the system just change the rules like that?"**
Liam Cross looked at him, expressionless. **"Maybe someone changed it for us."**
**"Changed it for us? Who would..."** The guy stopped mid-sentence, his gaze shifting to Liam's phone screen, which still had the editing interface faintly visible.
His expression froze.
**"It's you."**
Liam Cross put down his phone. **"What's me?"**
**"You're the one who changed it. I saw it on your screen."**
Liam Cross looked at him. Two seconds of silence. Then he said: **"Keep your voice down."**
## 3
The guy's name was Simon Xu.
Twenty-three years old. Just graduated last year. Works at a gaming company as a junior planner.
He didn't shout. But his eyes went wide, and he lowered his voice to a whisper: **"You can change the rules? How? I thought only the system could set the rules!"**
**"I have editing permissions. Limited range, only fixes typos for now."**
**"Typos? That wasn't a typo just now! You changed the whole meaning of the rule!"**
**"One character,"** Liam Cross said calmly. **"I changed one character. To the system, that's a 'typo correction.' They approved it."**
Simon Xu stared at him like he was looking at a ghost. Then his face began to change—first shock, then excitement. **"If you can change one character, you can change more. You can change the rules however you want—"**
**"No."** Liam Cross cut him off. **"Every edit has to pass system review. If I change something too big, the system will reject it. Or worse—it'll mark me. And I don't know what happens when I get marked."**
Simon Xu swallowed. **"So what do we do now?"**
Liam Cross looked out the window. The tunnel walls were still speeding past. The lights were still a blur.
**"First, we figure out what the system really wants. Second, we find more loopholes. Third—"**
He paused.
**"—We stay alive long enough to use them."**
## 4
**【09:17】**
Liam Cross brought Simon Xu back to the last carriage—the one with the body.
The body was still there. But someone had moved it. The gray-suited man had been dragged to the side, leaning against the seat, his phone still on the ground, the red text still glowing.
Liam Cross crouched down and picked up the phone.
**【Participant eliminated. Cause: Rule violation. Specific content: Blacklisted.**】
Below that, the hidden rule was still visible.
**【——Hidden Rule 1: On-time participants are prohibited from sharing dungeon information with late arrivals before the first stop. Violation constitutes rule-breaking. Currently violated by 1 person.**】**
Simon Xu looked at the screen and shivered. **"He told someone the rules before the first stop and that killed him?"**
**"Looks like it."**
**"But how was he supposed to know that was against the rules? It's not in the public rules!"**
**"That's the point."** Liam Cross put down the phone. **"The system creates a situation where you can only find hidden rules by breaking them. And breaking them costs your life."**
Simon Xu was silent for a long time. Then he asked: **"How do we survive?"**
Liam Cross stood up and looked out the train window. The tunnel was still dark. The train showed no sign of stopping.
**"Find all the hidden rules before we break them."**
**"And how do we find them?"**
Liam Cross turned to look at him.
**"Watch more people make mistakes."**
(End of Chapter 3)
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