Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 38
Zhou Qian’s words always had a mix of truth and deceit, making it difficult to discern how much of it was an act and how much was genuine. But the look in the eyes of the person listening to him at this moment was undoubtedly very serious.
His gaze was as deep as the ocean and as gentle as the softest wave on the sea surface.
Hearing him speak with the same gentleness, Zhou Qian said, “Bei He, I will never blame you. As long as you’re alive, I am happier than anything else.”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Qian gave Jiang Yuqing a thoughtful look and then heard He Xiaowei’s voice. “Alright! We’ve found the boat! Do we just need to get Jiang Yuqing on board and consider our mission accomplished?”
Yun Xiangrong chimed in, “Let’s try.”
Hearing this, Zhou Qian stood up and looked at Jiang Yuqing. “Let’s go.”
“Okay.” Jiang Yuqing nodded, and with Zhou Qian’s support, they headed towards the boat.
Moments later, Zhou Qian, assisting Jiang Yuqing, was the first to board. But as Jiang Yuqing got on board, Zhou Qian, for some unknown reason, slipped and fell back to the shore. He Xiaowei, who was right behind him, tried to catch him and board the ship, but he too slipped off.
Sensing something was wrong, Situ Qing and Yun Xiangrong tried to get on, but they couldn’t either.
Facing the sea breeze, Zhou Qian stood by the sea, his feet stepping on the rough sand. He looked up at Jiang Yuqing on the boat.
The sea breeze carried mist, blurring Jiang Yuqing’s features. Through the mist, Zhou Qian could see a very puzzled expression on Jiang’s face, seemingly clueless about the situation. But Zhou Qian quickly waved at him and said, “After a long journey together, it’s time to say goodbye.”
“Goodbye? Aren’t you coming aboard?” Jiang Yuqing asked with a hint of urgency. “When will I see you again?”
Hearing this, Zhou Qian remembered the poem Jiang Yuqing had written in the dim candlelight. At this moment, the images of Jiang Yuqing against the vast ocean and that in the candlelight overlapped and then separated. Zhou Qian narrowed his eyes and waved to the man on the boat.
With a smile, he whispered, “When it rains in Bashan at night.”
A system message appeared at this moment.
[Players have cleared the main level “West Pier”]
[A cutscene will play next. Rewards will be given after the cutscene. Please wait…]
“Holy crap, Qian’er! Your face!”
He Xiaowei exclaimed next to Zhou Qian, followed by, “Oh damn, your feet!”
Zhou Qian turned to He Xiaowei, and as expected, He Xiaowei’s face had turned pale and his feet were gone—he had become a ghost.
Suddenly recalling something, Zhou Qian took out a box of Wangji osmanthus cakes that he had picked up earlier. The unique fragrance of the cakes was gone, replaced by a foul odor. Opening the box, Zhou Qian found the cakes had turned moldy.
“What… What’s going on?” He Xiaowei asked.
Zhou Qian frowned and replied, “The S Army massacred Cypress City and brought Jiang Yuqing here. The Falcon Squadron risked their lives to rescue him, enabling him to take the vital technology out and save countless lives. The Falcon Squadron fulfilled their mission, but at the same time, they all perished.”
“This is probably… a real historical event.”
In the real timeline of Jiang Yuqing’s life, he hadn’t written the poem “Night Rain Addressed to the North” at this point in time. Maybe during his time in Cypress City, he hadn’t realized his true feelings until Bei He was forever lost in Cypress City.
For countless days and nights afterward, Jiang Yuqing spent his time missing Bei He. He repeatedly wrote that poem in his letters. But none could be sent because Bei He was dead.
Every time after writing, Jiang Yuqing would burn the letter.
Zhou Qian wondered if Bei He in the afterlife would understand his deep longing and unspoken love.
……
[After the player cleared the side quest “Checks and Balance”, Jiang Yuqing remembered himself. He remembered the vague figures in his memories and who they were, as well as the enemy, the S army. However, he couldn’t remember why those people left.]
[In order for the players to help him recall everything, the nursing home loaded the player into the main mission “West Pier”.]
[The players brought Jiang Yuqing to the west pier to board a ship, but everyone couldn’t leave Cypress City except for Jiang Yuqing himself. This successfully made Jiang Yuqing recall that to protect him, all his comrades had sacrificed themselves. Therefore, now the players in his memory world have also suddenly turned into ghostly figures.]
[Before Jiang Yuqing’s death, he had two wishes. The nursing home will do its best to help him fulfill them.]
[Jiang Yuqing’s first wish is to remember who he is.]
[Jiang Yuqing’s second wish is to remember those comrades who sacrificed themselves for him.]
[The first wish has been achieved. As for the second wish, from the perspective of each player, ensuring their survival in the memory world means they haven’t been forgotten. So, from the individual player’s perspective, the mission has been achieved.]
[Also, although each player has completed the mission, due to varying levels of completion, the rewards will differ.]
[Among them, Zhou Qian, He Xiaowei, and Yun Xiangrong have a conversion rate of 100% and a completion rate of 100%. Situ Qing has a conversion rate of 80% and a completion rate of 80%.]
[Players He Xiaowei, Yun Xiangrong, and Situ Qing can leave through the nursing home. You have completed the mission and successfully achieved the hidden achievement.]
[Player Zhou Qian was the first to trigger Jiang Yuqing’s vision of writing poetry and presented Jiang Yuqing with Wangji Osmanthus Cake in the “West Pier” main storyline, initiating the side mission “Night Rain Addressed to the North” and triggering Jiang Yuqing’s latent third wish. Current progress is at 50% completion.]
[Player Zhou Qian can choose to stay in the nursing home to complete the side mission or leave with the other players.]
[Once the side mission is completed, player Zhou Qian can achieve the ultimate hidden achievement.]
Messages from the system came one after another on the panel above the wristwatch.
As the players read the messages, it seemed like their memories were also being restored at the same time.
Six joined the Seventh Army, coming from all over the country, each with a distinct appearance and character. After rigorous selection and testing, they became members of the Falcon Squadron.
From then on, they abandoned their original names and identities, dedicating themselves entirely to their homeland.
Based on their hometown’s geographical direction, they named themselves Bei He, Dong Shui, Xi Jiang, Nan Hu, Zhong Liu1, and Xi Xi2.
1Middle Steam
2West Creek
They dreamt of eliminating the enemies and returning to their hometowns one day.
Unfortunately, they all stayed in Cypress City.
At this moment, on the vast ocean, a ship carrying Jiang Yuqing gradually moved away, disappearing over the horizon.
The blazing sun finally rose, illuminating the entire sea and the city on the east.
Witnessing this, the players thought—
May the members of the Falcon Squadron be blessed in their next life, with tranquil seas, peaceful rivers, and a world without wars.
……
The ocean vanished, the sun disappeared, the ruins faded…
The players returned to Room 701. Jiang Yuqing was still sleeping, but there seemed to be a sign that he was about to wake up.
They had been in the peculiar level for an entire night.
But returning to the nursing home, it was only just noon.
The system prompted the players who cleared the game to leave, so the four temporarily left 701 and took the elevator to the lobby.
There was no security guard in the lobby now, and the main door was wide open, allowing players to leave at any time.
Watching He Xiaowei, Situ Qing, and Yun Xiangrong head for the door, Zhou Qian just leaned against the front desk, standing casually with crossed legs.
He Xiaowei couldn’t help looking back at him repeatedly. “Qian’er, why not just leave it be?”
Zhou Qian replied seriously, “I can’t. I’m staying to level up the relationship.”
He Xiaowei frowned deeper. “Man, you’re weird. Why are you leveling up a relationship with a man?”
Zhou Qian smiled without answering. He Xiaowei continued, “I get it; it’s for the ultimate reward. But what if the level is too hard?”
Zhou Qian replied, “It should be fine. Jiang Yuqing likes Bei He. Why would he hurt him?”
He Xiaowei quickly reminded him, “Hey, did you forget? There are two Jiang Yuqings. The young one won’t hurt him, but the older one, representing dementia, wants to kill him!”
“It’s okay. I can rest for a whole day.”
Zhou Qian yawned and stretched. “Jiang Yuqing has only three days to live. A wish for each day… now, there’s only the last day remaining. I want to stay here and accompany him on his last journey. You all go ahead.”
Watching his teammates leave, Zhou Qian returned to the empty seventh floor.
When he reached the door of Room 701, he peeped inside through the window.
Jiang Yuqing had fallen into a deep sleep again.
Looking at him, Zhou Qian couldn’t help but think that this ‘instance’ wasn’t exactly as he had previously imagined.
Perhaps in the real world of this instance, the nursing home was a very special one, capable of restoring certain memories. According to the system’s messages, the so-called “caregivers” seemed like tools used by the system to help the elderly restore their memories.
Now, what Zhou Qian and his team were responsible for was the memory exclusive to Jiang Yuqing.
In the memory world, the elderly Jiang Yuqing fell asleep again.
After silently watching him for a while, Zhou Qian entered the room, left a piece of osmanthus cake on the table, and then returned to his room across the hallway to rest.
Zhou Qian purchased some food from the system’s official trading hall and ate it. After taking a shower, he slept all afternoon.
Zhou Qian’s condition was pretty good. Ever since he had the dream about stars, his vitality had been fully restored. However, after battling in the instance all night, he was mentally exhausted.
In the evening, Zhou Qian woke up. The first thing he did was access the trading section, listing items he wanted to purchase. He then started browsing the trading hall, trying to find useful items.
At that moment, he received another disciple invitation message, surprisingly from the quirky [137].
Zhou Qian stared at the number for a moment and simply sent back a question mark: [?]
After a while, the reply came: [Click ‘Agree’.]
[I won’t,] Zhou Qian quickly replied. [I was considering accepting [Hidden Blade’s] invitation. He asked first. Maybe I should accept him as my master.”
[137] replied, [He’s my friend. Due to some limitations, I can’t be online often. I wanted [Hidden Blade] to take you as his disciple so that when I’m not around, if you need anything, he can help. His skills also have to do with crowd control. I think he could be of help. But now I’ve reconsidered. I’ll do it myself.”
Zhou Qian responded promptly, [Hidden Blade… does his skill have to do with blades? This time, when I faced danger, someone saved me. Based on my teammates’ descriptions, this person seemed to gather wind or something to form a blade. When he slashed with that blade, it was terrifying. Was it Hidden Blade who saved me? He seems quite skilled; maybe I should take him as my master.]
About a minute later, when Zhou Qian thought the person had gone offline again, [137] finally sent another message.
[He’s not that impressive. Just average.]
Zhou Qian: [If he’s not impressive, are you?]
Before [137] could reply, Zhou Qian asked, [Wait, how old are you? If I’m older than you and have to call you ‘Master’, it wouldn’t be fair!]
30 seconds later, [137] replied, [I’m older than you.]
With a mischievous glint in his eyes, Zhou Qian retorted, [Oh? In what way are you older?]
There was a moment of silence on the other end before the question was thrown back, [What do you think?]
Zhou Qian replied swiftly, [How would I know? I don’t know you.]
Before the other could reply, Zhou Qian quickly added, [How about you? Do you know me?]
[137] replied immediately, [Yes.]
Zhou Qian narrowed his eyes and typed, [Can we meet in real life?]
[137]: [No.]
Zhou Qian: [Why?]
[137]: [I’m temporarily trapped.]
Zhou Qian didn’t respond but stared thoughtfully at the words sent by [137].
After a while, he saw [137] type: [Due to certain rules, I can’t reveal too much to you right now, as it would be detrimental to you. But this restriction won’t last for long. Just click ‘Agree’ for now.]
Zhou Qian took a deep breath, the tension in his face relaxing. [[Hidden Blade] gave me a lot of things when he wanted to take me as his disciple.]
[137]: [Open the trade hall now. I’ve sent you some items. What else do you need?]
Zhou Qian indeed went to the trade hall and accepted the items happily.
Afterward, tapping a few more times with his index finger on the dial, he asked, [What kind of friend is that Hidden Blade to you? You’re trapped and limited by so many rules… How do you have time to make friends?]
The author has something to say:
Zhou Qian, the relentless interrogator.
Hidden Blade: ??? (Hey, why is this concerning me?)
<<< || Table of Contents || >>>
Kinky Translations 
Someone is jealous lol
LikeLiked by 1 person