My Cell Prison

Chapter 590: Chapter 590: Left and Right
 

“Newcomer’s Manual – Special Edition for the Secret Language Knight Order”

The Secret Language Knight Order, a special reserve force among the Thirteen Knight Orders, rarely goes out of the city for investigations, and only participates minimally in expeditions. They mainly provide support in handling information and guarding dangerous secrets in the dark.

The headquarters of the Secret Language Knight Order is often referred to as the “Secret Museum”.

Depending on their respective tasks, members of the Secret Language Knight Order are broadly divided into two categories:

“Secret Keepers” and “Secret Solvers”

In the early stages of joining the Order, newcomers are only required to deal with public or confidential paperwork.

After some time, department heads will assign newcomers to different tasks based on the insights they have provided in their paperwork review.

1. Secret Museum Space.

The Secret Museum is reconfigured spatially and divided into “Up/Down” and “Left/Right”.

The “Up/Down” rule is relatively straightforward and thus is omitted here.

The design and construction of “Left/Right” adopt a ‘variable function loop structure’.

Every half hour, the space of “Left/Right” undergoes irregular transformation. The ‘numbers’ available for reference are hidden in the paintings hanging in the passageway.

The numbers ‘inside’ the paintings represent the independent variable x.

The function corresponding to different times of the day is: f(x)=y (the detailed function should be brainstormed by each individual, changing every half hour, a total of 48 functions).

Every month, the old function will be replaced with a new one.

Thus, the rooms in the Secret Museum are designated with the format “L (Floor) – Y (Dependent Variable) – Room Number”.

When “Y=0”, it indicates the original up and down stairway.

(Note: To ensure confidentiality, there are hidden variables and multiple function relationships not directly explained in the handbook. Newcomer knights are expected to deduce them on their own.)

2. Staff Levels and their corresponding Secret Zones.

The authority levels of the five positions are as follows:

Level Ⅰ (White). Can only handle public and confidential documents. They are usually newcomers who just joined the Knight Order.

Level Ⅱ (Gray). Allowed to handle classified documents. They may indirectly encounter “Oddities” or assist in deciphering certain simple texts through stone slab rubbings. They are usually “Secret Keepers” or “Secret Solvers” who have just been classified.

Level Ⅲ (Blue). Permitted to handle top-secret documents with the council’s consent.

They would also be officially introduced to relatively harmless “Oddities” and participate in the deciphering of “Demon Tablets” as regular team members.

Level Ⅳ (Red). Granted permission to handle strictly confidential and lower-level files directly.

They can enter the “Black Zone”.

Their duties involve interacting with, managing, and suppressing “Oddities” in unstable conditions or deciphering “Demon Tablets” that may trigger instant corruption.

Level Ⅴ (Black). Enjoy unrestricted activity rights, with their actions directly approved by the council.

(The Secret Language Knight Order reviews the performance of knights at different levels every month. Those who fail to meet standards will be demoted or expelled from the Order, while those who excel will receive bonus points. Once the points exceed the threshold of the next level, they will be automatically upgraded.

Please note: upon reaching “Level Ⅲ”, they must also pass a safety review by the council.)

…

There are many more notes about the interior of the Secret Museum and measures to be taken in case of emergencies.

Detailed information about the “Oddities” and “Stone Slabs” is not mentioned in the “Newcomer’s Manual”.

Han Dong needs to lay the groundwork before he officially becomes a “Secret Keeper” or “Secret Solver” and then fully understand the details.

To avoid affecting work efficiency and the leakage of confidential information, even the lowest-tier Secret Language Knights have their own independent offices within the Secret Museum.

The key that Captain Hugo gave to Han Dong had the serial number – “01-97-09”.

Firstly, he had to return to the first floor through the “Up/Down”.

Using the corresponding function given in the manual, Han Dong inferred the current period.

During his first in-depth “Left/Right” exploration, he discovered a problem with the paintings in the passage, which required deducing the independent variable number based on the content of the paintings under specific circumstances.

Meanwhile, there were also problems not mentioned in the manual when choosing left or right.

As a result, Han Dong was delayed at certain nodes for a long time, and it took him an hour and a half to figure out the rules of ‘left and right increment’ and matrix transformation.

Such nonlinear mathematical problems were Han Dong’s strong suit during his university days.

With this, Han Dong gained a complete understanding of the “Left/Right” issue in the Secret Museum as required by Captain Hugo and could reach any room in the Secret Museum indicated by the serial number within ten minutes.

During his exploration of “Left/Right”, Han Dong discovered some areas marked with grey and blue lines on the walls at the corridor intersections.

These authorization zones are presently off-limits to a newcomer like Han Dong.

“So…this is my office?”

A sealed space of about ten square meters,

With just a small window allowing a view of the ‘folded streets’ outside.

A miniature fireplace hung on the interior wall for heating purposes.

Coffee beans and a homemade grinder were placed on the office desk for unlimited usage, ensuring efficiency during work hours.

The base of the oil lamp could be inserted into the corner of the desk. It was equipped with an oil refill port, also providing an unlimited supply of light.

Aside from the office desk and chair, the only piece of furniture remaining in the room was a bed… and, strangely enough, a frantic metal sign hung above the bed.

“Before going to sleep, please think about whether you have completely and seriously completed your work for today.”

“It’s a stressful management model indeed. It should be due to a lack of personnel.

Knight Academy graduates who have a strong desire to go out of the city and fight demons rarely choose to join a knight regiment like this one, which leans towards clerical work.

Furthermore, the overall rating of the Secret Language Knight Order is at the bottom of the Thirteen Knight Orders.

This leads to a scarce number of graduates joining each year, and some knights who can’t bear the pressure even choose to quit voluntarily during their internship.

This results in a shortage of manpower in the knight regiment with a heavy workload piled on top.

Only through the high-intensity work mode of 996 is there a remote possibility of completing the tasks assigned by the Holy City on time.

However…paperwork processing is just the surface of the work of the Secret Language Knight Order.

Just from what I’ve learned so far, this place is more interesting than any other knight regiment.”

Still quite energetic, Han Dong placed the half-meter-thick file on his desk, lit the oil lamp, and began his first task… He didn’t need coffee; he would immediately fall into a unique reading mode after touching such font-based files.

He placed the files that needed to be read on his left hand side.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

His right hand held a pen and the Secret Language Knight Order’s special notebook.

He performed a quick initial read, highlighted relevant parts of the document and wrote out rough guesses.

During the second, more detailed read, he made careful analyses and guesses about these suspicious parts.

Han Dong had to complete all his work for the day so that he could discuss the “True Fate” with Captain Hugo.