While everyone was taking time to calm down, Mu Yiran and Ke Xun once again looked at the “Schrödinger’s Cat” hanging on the wall.
The painting remained the same as before entering. There were only some particle- and wave-like dots on a black background. There was no sign of Qi Muhuan, Dong Yao, and Deng Lin, who remained in the painting.
“The arrangement of the dots on the painting has changed compared to before,” Mu Yiran said, pointing to the upper right corner of the painting. “Before entering the painting, I accidentally glanced here and saw three particles arranged in a triangular shape. But now, it has become a disorderly distribution.”
Ke Xun suddenly realized, “So, could it be that those three people are represented in particle form in the painting. So those three are actually in this painting, but just not in human form?”
Mu Yiran nodded slightly, “That should be the case.”
Wei Dong’s voice suddenly interrupted from the side, “Classmate Ke, I’ve nailed Newton’s coffin lid shut for you. Now come and explain why left foot stepping on the right foot can make you fly for real.”
Ke Xun turned around and smiled with a wink, “I told you that not understanding the question is a fatal mistake, you know. Do you remember the rules displayed on the big screen in the initial room? All scientific phenomena, theories, formulas, and so on, and also any theoretically based hypotheses, logically consistent inferences, paradoxes, commonly accepted views, and well-known phenomena. Notice ‘paradoxes,’ ‘commonly accepted views,’ ‘well-known phenomena.’ What does that indicate? As long as they are widely accepted, it can become true in the painting.”
“I get it now!” Wei Dong suddenly understood. “Left foot stepping on the right foot is just like the moves often used in those kung fu movies. Many people are familiar with it. Even though it contradicts the laws of Uncle Newton, people still accept it because it’s portrayed that way in movies and TV shows. After all, it has some theoretical support, like leveraging force or something.”
“Yeah, comrade, you weren’t doing too well,” Ke Xun patted his shoulder. “Your brain power is too limited; even your hairline is not even willing to help you cover it.”
“Get lost, hairline and brain have no blood relation you know!” Wei Dong said.
He Tang’s emotions had already settled down. Hearing that, she also added, “But Ke Xun, your imagination is also too wild. Left foot stepping on the right foot is probably something only you could come up with. I was feeling so embarrassed when I was doing that motion.”
“This is not too bad,” Wu You chimed in with a nasal voice, “My challenge in that level was: how to jump over a ten-meter-long pit without using any items. The sand in the pit was quicksand, and once you fell in, you would sink immediately. I thought Ke Xun, being a physical education major, might have a solution, so I asked him for help. Can you guess what idea he gave me?”
“What idea?” Zhu Haowen asked calmly.
“He told me to use the ‘buttered cat’ law!” Wu You didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Everyone: “…”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Qtja lr j yeaafgfv mja? Pr la Vmtgövlcufg’r Jja’r gfijalnf?” Ktfgf gfjiis kjr rbwfbcf ktb vlvc’a xcbk. Oeb De rmgjamtfv tlr tfjv jcv jrxfv.
“Po j qlfmf bo ygfjv klat yeaafg bc bcf rlvf ojiir ab atf ugbecv, la klii jikjsr ijcv klat atf yeaafgfv rlvf vbkc,” Vtjb Olcu fzqijlcfv. “Ccv lo j mja ojiir ogbw wlv-jlg, la klii jikjsr ijcv bc lar offa. Vb, lo sbe ralmx atf rlvf bo atf ygfjv klatbea yeaafg ab atf mja’r yjmx jcv atgbk la lcab atf jlg, yjrfv bc atfrf akb qtfcbwfcj, cflatfg atf yeaafg cbg atf mja klii fnfg abemt atf ugbecv.”
Luo Bu took a while to react: “Oh, if the cat lands on its feet, it means the side without butter is facing down, violating the law that the buttered side always faces down. Conversely, if the buttered side lands, it will violate the law of cat always landing on its feet. So, to make both laws true, the bread and the cat stuck together will never land.”
“This is a paradox that is fundamentally impossible to achieve,” Shao Ling said. “But precisely because it is a hypothetical scenario with theoretical basis and logical consistency, it becomes true in the painting.”
“You absolutely can’t imagine the feeling of me rolling in the air nonstop with a cat tied to my front and a piece of buttered bread to my back.” Wu You gave Ke Xun a side eye.
Wei Dong and Luo Bu paid their respects to Ke Xun with their eyes, “Amazing, your imagination is really amazing!”
Ke Xun gave himself two thumbs up, “Super-duper.”
Qin Ci commented: “I think, among all the rules displayed on the big screen in the initial room, only one was the most important: ‘No empirical evidence required, only imagination is needed.’ This might be the biggest resentment that Cheng Shi had towards the reason of his son’s suicide. Many people believe that the biggest drawback of the exam-oriented education system is that it somewhat stifles children’s imagination. As we all know, imaginative thinking is the driving force behind technological and human progress, as well as a significant source of happiness in life. As an abstract painter, Cheng Shi understood the importance of imagination better than anyone else. Perhaps, to him, imagination is actually the core of life.”
“In that case,” Zhu Haowen twitched his lips slightly, “among us, only Ke Xun had used the real strategy to clear the level.”
Ke Xun clasped his hands together, “You flatter me. My performance was just average.”
As Wei Dong was about to give this boastful guy a slap, a voice shouted at the entrance of the exhibition hall, “You guys! This place is being cleared out, leave quickly!”
They didn’t stay any longer and everyone filed out of the exhibition hall. Ke Xun was carrying Wei Dong on his back— one of Wei Dong’s shoes was left in the painting. Now, outside, the snow was quite deep, and he couldn’t just walk barefoot.
In the main hall of the art museum, dozens of people were setting up equipment. Some were adjusting lights, some were working on cameras, and others were testing microphones.
This was a filming crew.
When they were passing by the staff, they heard a few people casually chatting.
“Did you hear that the reality show with Dong Yao and Qi Muhuan is also being filmed here?”
“That’s what I heard. Originally, they were supposed to shoot in the morning, and we would film in the afternoon. But Director Zhang seemed to just have told them that we have other arrangements this afternoon. The other side agreed so it changed to them shooting in the afternoon.”
“What kind of show is that?”
“I heard it’s a reality show where they play games and pass challenges with a bunch of regular people. The entire process is filmed with hidden cameras, 24 hours nonstop shooting for a whole week.”
“Tsk tsk, reality shows are everywhere nowadays. They can come up with all sorts of things. But shooting with regular people, aren’t they afraid that these people will be too star-struck by those idols instead of focusing on the show?”
“No worries, the crew selected those people carefully. I doubt many of them can recognize Dong Yao and Qi Muhuan. That’s the effect they’re aiming for – viewers love to see average people being fooled and then the true identity of the celebrities being revealed in the end.”
“24 hours, 7 days, those two are really going all out.”
“They have to. The competition in this industry is fierce. They go to great lengths, just for fame and fortune, and to look good in front of others.”
“Ha, what’s the use of all that? You can’t take anything with you when you die.”
“Quit with your salty words. Let’s get to work.”
……
Everyone went their own separate way at the hotel where they stayed and exchanged contact information with Wu You and He Tang. Those taking flights boarded planes, and those taking trains boarded trains, heading back to their respective homes.
City Z was also snowing, with fluffy snowflakes falling under the hazy sky.
Ke Xun sat cross-legged on the living room floor, on a thick, fluffy gray carpet, flipping through a book he bought on the way back from a bookstore, titled “Schrödinger’s Cat – The Mysterious Quantum World.”
Mu Yiran walked over, holding two freshly brewed cups of steaming coffee, and also sat on the carpet, handing Ke Xun a cup. He glanced at Ke Xun’s book and then looked out of the French windows at the city lights gradually lighting up.
Ke Xun threw the book to the side and took a sip of the coffee. He frowned. “Not sweet.”
“I put in s…” Before Mu Yiran could say the word ‘sugar’, Ke Xun already pounced on him and held his face to nom a few bites on his lips. Afterward, he licked his lips with satisfaction and sat back down. “Sweet now.”
“How’s your studying?” Mu Yiran leaned on the bean bag behind him relaxingly.
Ever since hanging out with this guy, Mu Yiran felt that his sitting posture could no longer regain the upright and elegant style it once had.
“In two words,” Ke Xun continued to drink his coffee, with hot steam rising in the air, “overwhelmed, and scared.”
“Are you suspecting that matter and consciousness exist as separate entities in the current world we are in?”
Ke Xun nodded, “I think, just like the thoughts that Cheng Shi wanted to express, human’s current scientific and technological level is limited. We cannot measure or define the elements that make up consciousness, so we cannot absolutely deny that it doesn’t exist independently.
“So, what if? What if there really is a type of consciousness that transcends matter, not just because it exists in a higher-dimensional space, but because—it can decide matter, it can determine the life, death, and even destiny of us humans composed of material elements. What should we do? Sit idly by or find a way to resist it?
“If it can transcend matter, how do we fight it? If we can only sit idly by, is there any meaning in constantly entering and leaving paintings like we do now?
“Yiran, do you know, I have a suspicion. I feel that the power behind the paintings is likely such an entity of consciousness, so it’s able to manipulate matter. For example, if it only exists in the painting, then it should only be able to control us after we enter the painting. But why can its power also extend to the real world?
“You see, every time we leave the painting, there’s a ticket to the next art gallery in our pockets. Where does this ticket come from? Our pockets were originally empty, and this ticket, isn’t it also matter? It was created by the ‘consciousness of the painting’, allowing it to enter our pockets.
“Also, for example, we can’t discuss things inside the painting with others outside, or else we’ll go crazy and die. What kind of force can drive us crazy? It’s probably the ‘consciousness of the painting,’ I can’t think of any other explanation.
“So, Yiran, I always have a feeling that we seem to be enveloped by some kind of entity of consciousness, like little white mice in a cage. It can do whatever to us as it pleases, and we can’t escape its palm.
“But the scariest part is… this cage seems to be…this world that we always thought to be very real.”
… Didn’t expect the 4th wall breaking ending line there
Just realised that! Are we suspecting the author now 🧐
Maybe author is also a painter…lol
With all these jargons that an uneducated layman loke can’t comprehend… I’ve learnt new things every arcs.😁
POV your thoughts when you can’t sleep
Thank you for your translation 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚
ah…. it was my mistake thinking ke xun would use a normal way…