Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 28

At night, the temperature in the public restroom was very low. The warm breath exhaled by the players gradually formed a thin layer of frost on the huge mirror. The frost obscured the reflections of their features, making it difficult for the players to clearly see their own appearances in the mirror.

However, when they faced each other directly, they could still clearly see the changes in their teammates’ faces.

He Xiaowei, a burly man, was visibly frightened at this moment and instinctively stepped back towards Zhou Qian’s direction.

Zhou Qian asked him, “Are you afraid of ghosts?”

“Uh, well…” He Xiaowei blinked twice without admitting his fear.

In fact, through their recent experience dealing with Situ Qing, Zhou Qian had an unexpected realization—He Xiaowei’s skills actually complemented his own very well.

Moreover, He Xiaowei’s personality seemed quite obedient. Thus, Zhou Qian decisively decided to win him over. “Don’t be afraid. Follow me, and I’m sure I can help you clear this instance.”

He Xiaowei seemed to genuinely respect Zhou Qian. “Indeed, through that ‘Checks and Balance’ game, I’ve come to fully realize it! But, Brother Zhou Qian, you see, I consumed half of my HP to replenish your mana. If you don’t back me up later on, it wouldn’t be fair, right?”

Suddenly, Zhou Qian asked, “Would you like to join my team?”

He Xiaowei looked at him warily. “What do you mean?”

Zhou Qian responded, “Your gambling habits suggest you dabble in everything without mastering anything. Have you considered specializing in healing?”

He Xiaowei immediately declined. “No!”

Zhou Qian tried to persuade him. “In our team, there’s an exceptional damage dealer, a Swordmaster. You could form a duo with him and call it ‘Sword and Heart*’!”

*This is referencing the idiom courage of a warrior (sword), soul/heart of a musician (lute) (剑胆琴心). It refers to someone who is both sentimental and courageous. || In this context, they will literally be that, with Qi Liuxing being the sword and He Xiaowei being the musician (since he uses the guqin).

He Xiaowei hesitated. “Is that person a girl?”

Zhou Qian shook his head. “No.”

He Xiaowei also shook his head. “Then what’s the point? I want to team up with a girl… I want to find a girlfriend.”

Zhou Qian solemnly remarked, “Why are you so fixated on gender?”

He Xiaowei: “……”

“Anyway, I don’t want to.”

“Alright then… If we can’t agree, I’m going back to my room.”

“Hey, don’t! Given the weird situation, shouldn’t we all stick together?! Granted, there are many conflicts between the four of us… but—”

Looking at the others, He Xiaowei continued, “We should cooperate temporarily, right? After all, if we keep fighting, what if we all die here?”

He Xiaowei’s words made a lot of sense.

The game designer’s intentions were truly malicious.

In “Apple Paradise”, players had to go through a scoring game before proceeding with the main storyline. The intention was clearly to divide players through the scoring game. The same pattern was evident in “Last Wish”. Before realizing they could use corpses to draw out the bullets, players’ first instinct was likely to sacrifice 2-3 players, leading to disagreements and division into smaller groups.

However, the reason for Zhou Qian and his team’s division wasn’t about sacrifices, but it was now quite challenging for them to cooperate.

Frowning slightly, Zhou Qian turned and left the restroom. Worried that Zhou Qian might truly abandon him, He Xiaowei quickly followed. “Alright, alright! I’m willing to be a healer… I mean, a healing dad*, okay? I’ve come to realize that there are very few dedicated healers because they lack offensive capabilities and can’t even clear mobs. If I specialize in healing… I’ll definitely be the favorite in our group! Everyone will call me ‘Dad’!”

*Clarity: The term usually used in online gaming for healers is “milkmaid or wet nurse” (奶妈). Given his machoism, he changed it to “healing dad or manny/daddy daycare” (奶爸). This is probably also why he doesn’t fully focus on healing (because of his machoism), since he views the profession as more feminine and doesn’t have any offensive capabilities (not cool for a guy).

Zhou Qian raised an eyebrow. “Hmm…?”

He Xiaowei quickly added, “Except for you.”

With a satisfied smile, Zhou Qian thought: Mission accomplished.

Leaving the restroom, Zhou Qian walked along the corridor bathed in cold lighting. Instead of returning to his room, he stopped in front of Room 701. The small dragon with deep blue scales was still waiting there. It looked up and smiled at Zhou Qian, leaping into his arms. Zhou Qian caught it and peeked into the room.

Inside, Jiang Yuqing was still sleeping peacefully.

Zhou Qian opened the door slightly, observing the room while stepping in. Using the faint light from the hallway, he glanced at Jiang Yuqing and noticed that he didn’t seem to have grown any younger. Zhou Qian then turned his attention to the photograph on the wall.

The light at this moment was too dim, and the tone of the photo was also dark. Zhou Qian couldn’t see it clearly for a moment, so he took out a miniature flashlight he had purchased in advance from his bag. He shined the flashlight directly on the photo without illuminating other areas, startling Jiang Yuqing, who was asleep.

Through the cold light, Zhou Qian discovered that the photo had indeed changed.

The seven people in the photo were originally blurry; their facial features seemed to have been blurred by the dampness of the rain. But now, the appearances of three of them have become somewhat clearer. The faces of these three were very familiar to Zhou Qian; they resembled himself, Yun Xiangrong, and He Xiaowei, whom he had just seen in the mirror of the restroom a few minutes ago.

In other words, the faces of three people in the photo were becoming clearer. And the appearance and identities of Zhou Qian and his companions were moving closer to those three individuals.

By touching the photo, by ten minutes past midnight, the transformation of the three of them had reached 40%. So, after a while longer, would they completely become the people in the photo?

There was a noise from the bed behind him, which was Jiang Yuqing turning over. Seeing this, Zhou Qian left room 701 and put the little dragon down to guard the door.

After giving He Xiaowei a glance in the corridor, the two of them went to room 702 together.

As He Xiaowei entered while complaining, he asked, “Are you sure this place isn’t haunted?”

Zhou Qian replied indifferently, “If this instance really had ghosts, you would’ve been possessed by now.”

He Xiaowei: “……”

Watching Zhou Qian sit on the sofa, seemingly lost in thought, He Xiaowei quickly sat across from him. “I didn’t dare to go in just now. What’s going on?”

Zhou Qian looked at He Xiaowei and suddenly asked, “How were you able to enter this instance?”

He Xiaowei was momentarily confused by the question. “Huh?”

“I just thought of something. This instance has a hidden achievement. That Yun Gao couple and I can come in because we cleared ‘Apple Paradise’ with the same property. But it seems you didn’t.”

Zhou Qian looked intently at He Xiaowei. “So, how did you get in? Don’t tell me it’s just by luck that this instance just happened to open for you.”

He Xiaowei responded, “Huh? Isn’t that possible? Some people repeatedly do low-level instances to get tickets to hidden instances!”

“But you don’t seem like them. Xiaowei bro—” Zhou Qian continued, “I did say earlier that your skills complement mine well, and I intended to invite you to our group. But what if this is a carefully arranged coincidence?”

“What kind of arrangement? You’re just being overly suspicious. Just because one teammate wants to kill you, do you think everyone else has issues?” He Xiaowei was getting irritated. “Have I done anything to harm you?”

Zhou Qian replied, “No, but it’s always better to be cautious. Given my guess, the upcoming instances won’t be easy. I need to be sure.”

“Damn, I indeed didn’t get the ticket myself. But my involvement in this instance has nothing to do with you! It’s a test from my future master!” He Xiaowei immediately explained.

“Oh? And who is your future master?” Zhou Qian immediately asked, sensing that something was amiss.

He Xiaowei said, “His name is Hidden Blade! Let me tell you, he’s incredibly strong! He’s a Rank God player! We are at Rank D now, and you probably think Rank S is the highest in this game, right? But that’s not the case. Rank S is just the beginning! From what I heard, Rank God players were chosen by the gods right from the start. Their progression is entirely different from ours! They probably never did the instances we did! When they started this game, they were already at Rank S! They’re naturally talented and inherently strong!”

Zhou Qian asked, “How many Rank God players are there?”

He Xiaowei: “There shouldn’t be more than 10!”

After a pause, He Xiaowei added, “This is all from a guy I met in the last instance. He is one of Hidden Blade’s chosen disciples! Man, Hidden Blade is amazing! His weapon seems to be a skull, one that can give nightmares to anyone. His skill set is about crowd control, similar to yours…”

Hearing this, Zhou Qian quickly started connecting the dots. He speculated that it might have been that 137 person who asked Hidden Blade to take him as a disciple. Even though Hidden Blade was reluctant, he still sent an invitation because of the request from 137.

So, did 137 want Hidden Blade to be his master because both of them had crowd control abilities?

He Xiaowei continued, “In any case, I also wanted a powerful master. So, after exiting the last instance, I’ve been lurking around the trade house and such. In the dead of night, I finally saw Hidden Blade post a message seeking some small prop!”

“I immediately approached him for a private chat and tried to team up!”

“At first, he declined, saying that my skill direction didn’t match his. But who would’ve thought…”

“After a day, he contacted me again, saying he would take me as a disciple, but only if I come to this instance!”

“So, the entry ticket to the ‘Last Wish’ instance was given to me by him.”

After hearing this, Zhou Qian was silent for a moment, then asked, “Is it possible that Hidden Blade really doesn’t want to take you as a disciple, but after someone urged him, he agreed?”

He Xiaowei was taken aback. “I wouldn’t know about that.”

Zhou Qian then asked, “Rank God players… There might only be 10 of them. Have you ever heard of 137?”

“Ah? No, I haven’t.” He Xiaowei shook his head. “Does someone use a number as a code name???”

Zhou Qian asked again, “How much do you know about Hidden Blade’s abilities? Is he the strongest among those 10 Rank God players?”

He Xiaowei: “I really don’t know. But from the description by the guy in the last instance, Hidden Blade seems extremely powerful. Given our level with 12 gunmen, I think he might be able to make all the gunmen fall asleep, then directly go in and get evidence!”

“Let’s assume that in this game, there are very few people who can truly become friends. Let’s also assume that Hidden Blade and that 137 aren’t particularly close. Then, if even a strong player like Hidden Blade has to listen to 137, act on 137’s orders to recruit disciples, and give out small potions to lower-tier players… Does this imply Hidden Blade owes 137 something?

“Does it further imply that 137 might be stronger than Hidden Blade?”

He Xiaowei: “Brother Qianqian, I really don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

Zhou Qian smiled. “Nothing much. I’m just thinking that this 137 must be quite powerful.”

He Xiaowei: ?

Zhou Qian said gleefully, “So, even if I don’t know who he is, it seems I can make good use of him!”

He Xiaowei: “Ahem, Qian Ge, what about this instance…”

Zhou Qian let out a yawn and headed to his bed. “Sleep now, Xiaowei Ge. By tomorrow morning, you should know what’s happened.”

Indeed, at 6 o’clock the next morning, He Xiaowei learned of the events. He and Zhou Qian received messages at the same time.

[Player Zhou Qian: Transformation rate 60%, direction – Bei He]

[Player He Xiaowei: Transformation rate 60%, direction – Dong Shui]

After reading the system prompt, having slept on the sofa, He Xiaowei immediately ran to Zhou Qian. “What does this mean? What’s this Bei He, Dong Shui?”

“If I’m not wrong—” Zhou Qian yawned, glanced at the system prompt, and said, “These are names. There are seven people in the photo. We will transform into two of them, named Bei He and Dong Shui.”

After the two finished washing and eating, they left the room and met Yun Xiangrong, who also received a new prompt. She would transform into someone named Xi Jiang.

Hearing her name, He Xiaowei couldn’t help but say, “Hiss… Xi Jiang, Dong Shui, Bei He. Our names all combine a ‘direction’ with a ‘water’ word. It’s a pity that Situ Qing didn’t trigger this*—”

*Clarity: North River [Bei He] (北河), East Water [Dong Shui] (东水), West River [Xi jiang] (西江)

Just then, Situ Qing walked out of her room. She not only looked like herself but also bore the shadow of someone else. After glancing at the others, she shared the information she had, probably because she didn’t want to die in the main plot.

“Last night, I went to Jiang Yuqing’s room and touched that photo. I saw a military officer writing poetry, and then he burned the poem. That illusion should be the same as what you all saw. Currently, I’ve achieved a 20% transformation rate. However, I still don’t know who I will transform into or what his name is.”

He Xiaowei blinked. “Anyway, your surname will most likely be ‘Nan*’, and your name will be related to water.”

*South.

The corridor fell silent. Apart from He Xiaowei, no one else spoke. He looked at the others with a complicated expression, feeling that aside from him, they all had ulterior motives, each harder to deal with than the last. Of course, Zhou Qian being the biggest devil among them.

By 7 a.m., someone finally arrived. It was the security guard they had met the day before. The guard, holding a notebook and pen, stepped out of the elevator. Seeing the four caretakers in the hallway, he said with satisfaction, “Good! Everyone’s here!”

He Xiaowei swallowed hard and bravely asked, “Is it really everyone? Don’t you remember… there were six of us yesterday? No, if you count Lao Yu and Lao Tie, there were eight of us in total?”

The security guard looked at him in surprise. “When was this? Were you dreaming? Weren’t there just the four of you? Fine, as long as everyone is here, my attendance task is completed.”

“Has Mr. Jiang woken up? Take good care of him. Oh right, when he wakes up in the morning, he usually reads for a while. Then he goes back to sleep. If you all want to slack off, wait until he’s asleep. Other floors are still not open. Don’t run around!”

After instructing the players, the security guard turned to press the elevator button.

However, Zhou Qian called out to stop him. “Wait. Were you in charge of our attendance?”

Yesterday afternoon, when they first entered the building, Zhou Qian clearly remembered that the receptionist at the front desk was responsible for attendance. The receptionist even emphasized that she was responsible for everyone’s attendance.

The security guard looked back at Zhou Qian and replied naturally, “Yes! I’m in charge!”

Zhou Qian asked, “Wasn’t there a receptionist yesterday? Haven’t you seen her?”

The security guard shook his head in confusion. “We haven’t hired a receptionist. I’ve even helped post several job advertisements. Probably because the job’s far, the pay’s low, and the workload is high, no one even applied!”

He Xiaowei felt flabbergasted and couldn’t help but exclaim, “What the hell?”

The security guard shrugged. “Is it your memory that’s faulty or mine? Are you guys dreaming, or am I?”

Before entering the elevator, he concluded, “You all must be dreaming. My memory is perfectly fine!”

The security guard took elevator A and left. At this point, He Xiaowei was pretty convinced of one thing—people’s sudden disappearance in the building had nothing to do with the elevators. He wanted to share a glance with someone, but Yun Xiangrong and Situ Qing weren’t responsive. As he wasn’t sure how to approach the girls, he turned to Zhou Qian.

Zhou Qian said, “Didn’t the security guard ask us to take care of Jiang Yuqing? Let’s go to his room. We can’t go to other floors anyway. We can only go to 701.”

Before Zhou Qian finished speaking, a system notification popped up.

[Main Quest Triggered: Players must go to Room 701 within 5 minutes to take care of Jiang Yuqing.]

Thus, the four players had to return to Room 701.

Inside, Jiang Yuqing was already awake, reading a book quietly without causing any disturbance.

Seeing this, the players, although tasked with “taking care” of Jiang Yuqing, felt it redundant and aimless.

He Xiaowei turned to Zhou Qian. Even though he thought Zhou Qian was intimidating, he was currently the only person He Xiaowei could communicate with.

He Xiaowei whispered, “I suddenly realized something. Jiang Yuqing hasn’t eaten, drunk, nor used the restroom. At first, I thought taking care of an elderly dementia patient would involve lots of dirty work. But we haven’t had to do anything like that!”

“Moreover, since yesterday, aside from a piece of osmanthus cake, he hasn’t eaten anything. There isn’t even a cafeteria in this building. I haven’t even seen anything like a water dispenser. Him not eating or drinking… it’s totally illogical!”

Zhou Qian responded, “Actually, it’s logical.”

He Xiaowei: ?

Zhou Qian explained, “This only further proves that this is Jiang Yuqing’s consciousness world. In real life, he has severe dementia. He doesn’t remember eating, drinking, or taking care of basic needs. Perhaps the [Wang’s Osmanthus Cake] is very precious to him, something he hasn’t forgotten. So, in his consciousness world, it’s the only food that remains.”

He Xiaowei: “Makes sense.”

Zhou Qian continued, “The same goes for this building. Normally, buildings are designed with staircases. But perhaps in real life, Jiang Yuqing never used the stairs. He might have been wheelchair-bound and taken directly to 701 via the elevator. So, in his consciousness world, there are no stairs. Or maybe he did use the stairs but just completely forgot about them.”

“Also, due to dementia and probably rarely visiting other floors, he has no memory of them. Maybe there is a cafeteria on one of those floors, but he doesn’t know. So, in this memory world, the other floors remain permanently sealed.”

He Xiaowei: “Oh shit, it’s like this! Wait, wait! I suddenly had a thought!”

Zhou Qian spoke up, voicing his thoughts. “So, in our current world, the reason why people disappear out of thin air one after another is just because they are forgotten.”

The vase on the bedside table and the flowers inside vanished into thin air simply because Jiang Yuqing forgot.

The caretakers who looked after Jiang Yuqing disappeared one by one because he forgot about them and couldn’t recognize them anymore.

The receptionist disappeared, of course, because Jiang Yuqing forgot her.

As for this room. The reason the faces of the seven people in the large photo were always blurred was simply also because Jiang Yuqing forgot their appearances.

Even Jiang Yuqing’s own features seemed vague.

It was also because he forgot himself.

Turning his head, Zhou Qian looked at the photo on the wall, which seemed to have been soaked in water, and said, “There are seven people in the photo. And there are six players who came this time. One Jiang Yuqing, plus six players—isn’t that exactly seven?”

He Xiaowei: “!!!”

“The reason why the elderly Jiang Yuqing became young yesterday evening isn’t because he was practicing some sort of rejuvenating magic. It’s just that through yesterday’s ‘Checks and Balance’ level, we helped him recall a bit of his past. So he remembered a bit of what he looked like when he was young.”

Pointing to the photo, Zhou Qian continued, “The same goes for the others. I think Jiang Yuqing and these six people are all comrades from the 7^th Brigade. Just as he forgot himself, he also forgot their appearances. Of the six people, we still don’t know the names of three, but now at least we know that the other three are called Xi Jiang, Dong Shui, and Bei He.”

“So I think—”

Turning around, he walked to Jiang Yuqing, squatted down, and looked at his still aging face with indistinct features.

He took Jiang Yuqing’s old hand and said softly, “Your so-called ‘last wish’ is just not to forget, right?”

“Mr. Jiang, you don’t want to forget the past, don’t want to forget yourself, and don’t want to forget those six comrades, right?”

“You want us to help you, right?”

On the side, watching quietly, He Xiaowei felt a bit moved.

He wasn’t sure if Zhou Qian was acting.

All he was doing might be trying to get information from the NPC.

Yet He Xiaowei was still deeply touched. How many precious memories does one have in a lifetime? Although he felt his life was mundane, he still had many memories that he would never want to forget until death.

The first day of school, the first friend, the first love, the taste of the first piece of cake, the feeling of the first plane ride, the first college entrance exam, the first job interview… he never wanted to forget any of them.

Physical death was one thing, but if memories remained, perhaps one wasn’t truly gone. But if even the memories were gone…

It was as if one had truly vanished from the world.

In the warm room, the elderly expressionless Jiang Yuqing sat in a chair, holding a book in his lap. One hand was held by the squatting Zhou Qian. Zhou Qian’s gaze was clear and tender, but Jiang Yuqing looked confused.

After watching this scene for a bit longer, He Xiaowei felt his eyes become moist.

So, Jiang Yuqing’s real last wish wasn’t to live a few more days or to become young.

He just didn’t want to forget.

Jiang Yuqing seemed still not sure how to speak and didn’t understand what Zhou Qian was saying. So he withdrew his hand and continued to read.

Zhou Qian stood up and looked back at the old photo.

Wiping away a tear, He Xiaowei quietly asked, “So our task…”

“Our current direction is correct. The caretakers come and go and are seen by the elderly Jiang Yuqing. But they are not Jiang Yuqing’s most precious memories, so they were forgotten one after another. Jiang Yuqing’s most precious memories are probably the years he spent with those six comrades. Xi Jiang, Dong Shui, Bei He… as long as we complete the transformation to 100%, we can fully become his comrades. In this way, we can say we live in his memories. If we survive in the memory world, we are not forgotten and thus complete the task.”

He Xiaowei still had questions. “By the way, in the photo illusion, what’s the deal with that young officer?”

Zhou Qian thought for a moment. “We previously triggered two states of Jiang Yuqing, [Manic Jiang Yuqing] and [Dementia Jiang Yuqing]. That officer… is probably also Jiang Yuqing, and he might be the [Young Jiang Yuqing].”

He Xiaowei: “What do you mean?”

Zhou Qian explained, “We analyzed it yesterday. The manic and dementia versions of Jiang Yuqing are both harmful to players and show hostility. However, the young officer aids the players, showing good intentions. Based on today’s new findings, we can understand yesterday’s analysis from a different perspective—”

“The elderly Jiang Yuqing with dementia and manic, in essence, represents his old age. Only the officer represents his younger version.”

“Let’s anthropomorphize this a bit: when you grow old, there are two personas fighting inside your head. One is killing your memories, every individual in them; while the other is trying desperately to protect those in your memories.”

He Xiaowei widened his eyes. “Ah, I get it… The young officer represents Jiang Yuqing’s youthful memories, so he’s protecting us!”

Zhou Qian nodded. “Exactly. That’s why the officer said, ‘It’s you who came’ when he saw us yesterday. The young officer is still Jiang Yuqing. In this world, by protecting us, he is essentially safeguarding his comrades and, in turn, his memories.”

Upon hearing this, He Xiaowei didn’t feel elated from nearing the real solution to the game but instead sighed heavily, feeling melancholic.

About forty minutes later, as the clock approached 8:30 in the morning, Jiang Yuqing put down his book and went back to bed, soon drifting into a deep sleep.

He Xiaowei snapped out of his daze, his expression turning serious. “He’s sleeping again in broad daylight; could it be—”

Before He Xiaowei could finish, Zhou Qian had already reached room 701’s door and swung it open.

Outside the door was no longer a hallway but, unexpectedly, a vast sea.

A new consciousness world had indeed emerged, indicating that a new level had been activated.

Moments later, He Xiaowei, Yun Xiangrong, and Situ Qing also stepped out of room 701. The moment the door closed behind them, room 701 vanished completely.

Before the players, the hallway was replaced by a desolate sea. The water wasn’t a deep blue but had a dull gray tint with hints of yellow and black.

In the distance, where the sea met the sky, the heavens were also a dull gray. Such a setting set the tone for this part of the game.

Oppressive and gloomy, no one felt uplifted.

They stood on a pier, which looked rather luxurious. Several passenger and cargo ships were docked. However, there were no dock workers or passengers. The sea and dock were eerily quiet.

The only option for exploration seemed to be the city.

Turning their gaze forward, right in front of the three players was a sign. It read: [Year XX37, September, Cypress City, West Pier.]

Zhou Qian looked down at his attire. He was no longer wearing the caretaker’s uniform but was dressed in a military uniform with a “7” inscribed on it.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>