Chapter 292 - 129: The Missing 3,001st Puzzle Piece
On the morning of February 23rd, after washing up and eating, Chen Zhou pushed two tables together in front of the bedroom window and officially started piecing together the "Pure Blue Hell".
Having watched videos on restoring Pure White Hell before, he knew some restoration techniques for similar puzzles.
For example, you should first restore the frame.
In monochrome puzzles, the frame is the easiest to restore.
Every frame has a distinct feature, which is that it has a straight edge or a corner with a turn, making it noticeably different from the other pieces.
Moreover, the number of frame pieces is limited, so exhaustive attempts can be done quickly.
…
Chen Zhou found a few wooden boxes and poured all the blue puzzle pieces from his backpack onto the floor, ready to carefully select and classify them.
The few kittens that didn't leave home last night heard the sound of puzzle pieces spilling on the floor and came over inquisitively.
Tiger Head was the cheekiest of them all, having scored a meal through its cute antics last night. It felt its relationship with Chen Zhou was close enough, so it reached out a paw to grab the puzzle pieces, trying to take them elsewhere to play.
Naturally, it received a flick on the forehead, scaring it to jump aside, glancing around with indignation, unaware whether it should act like nothing happened to avoid embarrassment or knock over some fragile items for some petty revenge.
The puzzle pieces were small, numerous, and crucial. Chen Zhou couldn't risk letting the cats and dogs at home mess with them.
If even one piece was tucked into a corner or taken out into a cave and lost in the forest, even with a year's time, he might not find it.
The reason for using these wooden boxes was because they have lids. Once the puzzle pieces are sorted, he can cover and store them to prevent those mischievous little creatures from losing them.
…
According to his plan, he should first pick out all the frame pieces of the puzzle, then classify the remaining ones.
Despite there being up to 3000 puzzle pieces, in reality, each piece is unique. Since there's no pattern or color difference, restoring the puzzle relies mainly on the shape and cut lines of the pieces.
Based on Chen Zhou's observations, except for the frame pieces, the other puzzle pieces can generally be divided into four types.
These include pieces with one protruding corner and two concave slots.
There are also pieces with two protruding corners and one concave slot, along with pieces that are symmetrically two protruding and two concave, and asymmetrical pieces of varying lengths.
Sorting all these pieces and putting them into wooden boxes completed the initial classification work.
Due to the small size and large number of puzzle pieces, along with their faint blue glow that interferes with vision, Chen Zhou worked from morning until noon to organize all the puzzle pieces.
…
He hurriedly ate lunch, and taking advantage of a lull in the rain, he wore his straw hat and went outside to gaze at the lush forest and the fields below the platform—
Puzzle work is quite a strain on the eyes. By the latter half of the morning, his eyes were sore and strained, and he felt lethargic.
To continue working in the afternoon, he had to alternate between working and resting, combining work with rest; otherwise, he simply couldn't persist.
…
After a short eye-relief break, back in the cave, Chen Zhou officially began restoring the puzzle.
Restoring the frame is the easiest; even the trials won't take too many pieces.
A rectangular frame quickly took shape under his hands on the spliced-together large table.
Progress visible to the naked eye lifted his spirits; unknowingly, night had fallen, and the cave was illuminated.
After an afternoon of effort, Chen Zhou completed the entire frame of the Pure Blue Hell.
As for the major work inside the frame, he planned to leave it until tomorrow to start the challenge.
…
There is no doubt that restoring the entire puzzle is a hefty workload, and this time the decoding didn't specify any rewards nor set a time limit; to be honest, he wasn't particularly motivated.
Moreover, the restoration process was time-consuming and exhausting, and it was also a strain on his eyes; he didn't want to spend the next half month entirely on restoring the puzzle.
Life has to go on, and there are still many important tasks waiting to be done.
If this puzzle wasn't sent as a reward from the Space-Time Administration Bureau, he might have glued it into a sphere with fish swim bladder glue and hung it under the bedroom ceiling as a nightlight by now.
…
Starting February 24th, Chen Zhou would spend at least six hours daily on puzzle restoration.
The initial classification significantly reduced his workload, but it was still a heavy and monotonous job.
Before starting restoration each time, he reminded himself not to treat the puzzle as a burden but as a game, a challenge with some difficulty, to enjoy the fun within.
But talking is always easier than doing.
Once he actually started restoring the puzzle, continually repeating the process of selecting pieces and testing them in grooves or on raised edges made him realize that this job contained almost no fun.
Just like most people's opinions on the internet about the "Pure White Hell"—
This thing was designed not for ordinary people; those who like it are either puzzle enthusiasts seeking more challenges or masochists who don't feel comfortable unless they're being tortured.
…
Even with the classification work separating all the puzzle pieces, piecing together a single puzzle still requires at least 1000 attempts, and if the initial approach is wrong, the trial and error count might even double.
The visible progress bar on the table indeed moves forward bit by bit, but its speed is infuriatingly slow.
Before restoring the puzzle, Chen Zhou's mood had been improving gradually thanks to the increasing quality of his diet and living environment.