Mu Daxian looked down at the two deformed pseudo-humans writhing on the ground and said indifferently, "Moreover, such pseudo-humans may seem to have just transformed, but in reality, they’re beyond saving. Anyone who sees them and has the capability should definitely clean them up, otherwise, once daytime comes and they contaminate the Experience Students, it will spread like a virus."
"Spread like a virus?!" Mao Feiyang exclaimed in surprise.
Mu Daxian continued, "The main purpose of the rules for Experience Students is to keep the contamination they can encounter within a certain range, and once Experience Students’ cognition has issues, it will weaken their ’anti-pollution capability’."
"The same journey from the Teaching Building to the Cafeteria, one person arrives at the Cafeteria without any peculiarities, while another might see one or two extremely lifelike human sculptures on the way."
"So, even without considering other variables that follow, merely ’seeing human sculptures’ has already become a variable in their experience of life."
"If they subconsciously start thinking ’all sculptures are in the Art Building’, ’how could there be any here’, ’who placed them here’, then even if they come up with nothing at first, these thoughts will intermittently return later."
"Curiosity has always been the driving force behind humans exploring the unknown, so it’s rare for someone to cease thinking about a problem once it arises, maintaining a state of thoughtlessness."
"Once you start thinking, ’the gears of fate’ begin to turn... The permeation of contamination is inevitable, and no one can avoid or stop it."
"That’s the difference between ’Zero’ and ’Non-Zero’."
[I didn’t encounter it, so naturally, I wouldn’t know anything. If I don’t know, how would I think about it?]
[If I don’t think about anything, I won’t attract contamination, and the regular contamination present in the campus area is not enough to bring me to the threshold of contamination.]
[Once seven days have passed, I can just leave without looking back.]
It couldn’t be safer.
It’s like a perfect foolproof cycle.
For Non-Zero, however, that’s just the beginning...
"The most fatal aspect is..." Mu Daxian said, "the ’atmosphere’ of the campus naturally induces people to think."
"For those who are slow-witted, it’s fine, the campus atmosphere won’t make them care or think too much."
"But for those with higher inspiration than average, it’s a deadly trap."
"Once there is someone with a compromised mental state in the crowd, that person will contaminate others to some extent, and among those contaminated, if there are one or two who become aggravated contaminators because of doubts about the rules, they continue to spread the contamination to others..."
"Doesn’t this spread like a crazy virus?"
Mao Feiyang nodded thoughtfully and then asked, "The school guidelines do mention ’all sculptures are in the Art Building’... doesn’t this create a contradiction?"
"A contradiction?" Mu Daxian squinted his eyes, "What do the school guidelines say exactly?"
"Uh... which part are you referring to?" Mao Feiyang replied, puzzled.
Mu Daxian, with his recitation ready, quoted directly:
"First, [all sculptures in the campus area are busts, and they are all stored in the Art Building. If you see a complete human sculpture in any other area of the campus, please find a numbered streetlamp nearby and follow the streetlamps back to the nearest building.]"
"Second, [the positional coordinates of each building on the map are absolutely accurate, and all campus buildings are marked on the map. If you see buildings not belonging to the map, especially the Art Building, do not panic, mark the location on the map, and report it to the homeroom teacher. Do not approach.]"
"When you consider these two together and add your current understanding of the Art Building and pseudo-humans, can you reach a deeper understanding?"
Mu Daxian watched Mao Feiyang with interest.
Mao Feiyang looked momentarily stunned, then after pondering for a while, he said uncertainly, "I can understand your first point now, complete human sculptures refer to the pseudo-humans, right? Finding a streetlamp to return to the building when seeing them is because the streetlamp provides shelter..."
"But, the busts... and the part about ’all stored in the Art Building’, wouldn’t that confuse Experience Students about the spatial location of the Art Building?"
"I... still can’t figure it out, could you just tell me directly?" Mao Feiyang gave up on thinking.
Mu Daxian shook his head, "The school guidelines tell Experience Students ’the position of the Art Building is uncertain, it needs to be marked if seen’, plus ’all sculptures are in the Art Building’. In fact, this not only doesn’t encourage Experience Students to think about the Art Building, but it’s intended to dispel their doubts outright."
"Ah?" Mao Feiyang’s mouth dropped open, then suddenly he seemed to realize something, and said in astonishment, "You mean... the school guidelines provide a direct answer to prevent the Experience Students from pondering over it?"
"You got it with just a little hint," Mu Daxian said approvingly, "I straight-up tell you, if you see a sculpture, there’s an Art Building nearby, so you don’t need to think too much about this question—that’s a way of breaking a spell."
"Since the authorities can’t monitor everyone, they can only use this method to psychologically suggest to the Experience Students, preventing them from being indirectly contaminated by considering issues related to pseudo-humans, attracting the attention of pseudo-humans, and ’the calling of the Art Building layer’."