Lottery Maze

Zhang Qiang was the 9.6 millionth person to squeeze into the live stream. He stared at the scrolling IDs on the screen, his heart pounding. It was Huang Zitao's live stream, and the prize was said to be the latest limited-edition interstellar spaceship model. Zhang Qiang had upgraded his home WIFI to 10G overnight for this lottery, and his fingers were almost numb from tapping.

When the screen displayed, "Congratulations to user: QiangQiangBuXi, for winning the grand prize of this lottery!", Zhang Qiang felt like his soul had left his body. He tremblingly clicked on the prize information, which read: "Please go to 'City of Luck' within 24 hours to claim your prize, otherwise it will be forfeited."

"City of Luck?" Zhang Qiang was stunned, he had never heard of it. A map popped up on the webpage, marking a location in a deserted industrial area on the outskirts of the city. The place had long been abandoned. Was Huang Zitao doing some kind of performance art?

Zhang Qiang didn't dare to delay and took a taxi. The place was indeed dilapidated, with rusty factory buildings and overgrown weeds. He followed the navigation and arrived in front of a run-down factory building. The door was ajar, with a crooked sign hanging on it: "Welcome to the City of Luck."

He pushed the door open, and inside was a huge maze. The walls of the maze were covered in dense QR codes, each corresponding to different "lucky levels." Some levels were quizzes, some were mini-games, and some were watching advertisements. Zhang Qiang instantly understood that this was not a prize collection; it was simply the beginning of another lottery.

He chuckled helplessly, since he was here, he might as well take it as it comes. He randomly selected a QR code and scanned it. A question popped up on the screen: "How many times did Huang Zitao say 'Thank you, old buddies' during the live stream?".

Zhang Qiang thought for a long time, how could anyone possibly count that? He just randomly guessed a number. As a result, he was wrong. The page displayed, "We regret to inform you that you have lost the chance to win this prize. Please try again, thank you for your patronage!"

Zhang Qiang felt like a mouthful of old blood was stuck in his throat. He glanced at his surroundings again, the QR codes on the maze walls seemed like countless faces laughing at him. He suddenly realized that he had not won the lottery; he had been drawn into another, larger, and more absurd lottery game.

He decided to leave the maze. He pushed open the factory door, and the world outside was still a desolate landscape. But when he turned around, he discovered that the factory door had long disappeared, replaced by a huge QR code wall. On the wall, in striking red letters, it was written: "Welcome to the City of Luck, the next lucky one is about to be born."

He slowly took out his phone and scanned the QR code closest to him.