Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

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Chapter 68

Atop the tower.

After leaving the top floor, the players walked down floor by floor and found that aside from the tenth floor with cacti, the ninth to the first floor were all empty. No one was present, and there was no equipment to be seen. Therefore, the last memory fragment could very well be on the last floor, which was where Situ Qing and Yin Jiujiu went.

As the four of them took the elevator to the second basement, they started to communicate telepathically without realizing it.

Qi Liuxing: Once we gather the four fragments, that should mean we’ve completed the mission, right? From what I see, this main task seems straightforward.

Ke Yuxiao: It’s not that simple. You heard what Wu Ren said, right? The stations that add points can be ‘destroyed’, but the places that continuously deduct points will always exist. There’s likely a plot behind this by the designers of this instance.

Qi Liuxing: Hmm… I think I sort of get what you mean…

Ke Yuxiao: Once a player’s life points reach zero, they die immediately. At the same time, these points can be taken from others. Given this setup, the chances of players cooperating are quite slim. They’ll always be suspicious of each other.

Ke Yuxiao: With such suspicion and doubt, once they enter this high wall and discover the stations can be destroyed… Xiao Qi, what would you do in this situation?

Qi Liuxing: I’d have two suspicions. First, high-point players, being overly confident, might destroy the stations to target those with fewer points. Second, the life points these stations offer might be finite and have a cap. So—

Qi Liuxing: Once I find a station, I’d naturally recharge my life points to the highest possible amount.

At that moment, Wu Ren interjected telepathically: Station A11 can’t recharge us anymore. The life points these stations can provide players indeed have a limit. We only have Station A12 left.

Ke Yuxiao continued in thought: Once inside this wall, it’s easy to find places that decrease life points, like the ink grass patch. Unlike the stations, these places can’t be destroyed.

Ke Yuxiao: In other words, usually, players would think that they could decrease their points anytime they wanted, completing the 24-point task with ease. But since stations can be destroyed, opportunities to gain life points could be lost.

Ke Yuxiao: Therefore, as Xiao Qi just said, upon entering this instance, players would choose to first recharge their life points to a high number before exploring. But this is, in fact, the deadliest mistake!

If players maintained high life points, they would never undergo mutations, and thus, they couldn’t integrate with the plants, obtain memory fragments, or uncover the secrets hidden by Ryan.

So, even though memory fragments were conspicuously placed within the instance for everyone to touch and collect, most players would find it extremely challenging to accomplish this.

Thus, without completing this main task, even if players gathered 24 points, they wouldn’t be able to clear the game.

Moreover, the evil spirit purification stations had a limit to the life points they could provide. Once the life points of all three stations were depleted, the players’ life points could only decrease and wouldn’t increase again. Under such circumstances, they might miss the critical value of “24”.

For instance, if seven players were alive and their life points continuously decreased, their combined points would drop by seven every 20 minutes. If their total points dropped from 30 to 23, they would’ve skipped the “24” requirement.

By that time, even if they started mutating, uncovering the instance’s secrets, and finding the memory fragments…

They still wouldn’t clear the game—

The evil spirits purification stations couldn’t recharge, other point-increasing items would be depleted, and they couldn’t reach the “24” points.

Having figured everything out, Qi Liuxing mused: Just as Zhou Qian surmised, game designers do love to play tricks on players!

Qi Liuxing: I get it now. Our easy fragment collection is because our life points intentionally or unintentionally became very low upon entering the instance, leading to our mutations… It all seems simple, but it’s challenging to achieve.

Qi Liuxing: Speaking of which, we should thank Zhu Qiang. He never imagined that forcing our life values to decrease would make us more likely to uncover the instance’s mysteries.

Wu Ren: Hey, I just realized, communicating like this is really effortless.

Qi Liuxing: Ever thought that maybe soon you won’t have a voice or even a tongue?

Wu Ren: …

Throughout this, Zhou Qian, not wanting anyone to hear his thoughts, muttered silently: X*%bala…

Qi Liuxing: Who keeps chanting?

……

The elevator doors opened, and four people entered the second basement level. The bright lights illuminated the hall. It was still very empty, with only a metallic coffin placed in the middle of the room.

The coffin lid was scattered in a corner, and at the moment, Situ Qing and Yin Jiujiu were standing nearby with complex expressions.

Approaching the coffin, Zhou Qian noticed a name engraved on the lid–”Shirley”.

It seemed to be the name of the body that was supposed to be in the coffin.

However, the body wasn’t lying inside. It was sitting. Half of its body was inside the coffin, and the other half was exposed. Technically, it couldn’t be considered a corpse since its eyes were still blinking, clearly alive.

But she also couldn’t be fully considered a living person. The only part of her that seemed to move were her eyes.

This was a highly mutated person, with fish-scale patterns on her face.

Except for her eyes, all other facial features had disappeared. The exposed upper half of her body had become tree-like. Her original arms were gone, replaced with many branches growing from her torso, covered in various shades of green leaves. Occasionally, sharp thorn-like objects could also be seen.

If players didn’t know about the mutation in advance, at first glance, they wouldn’t think she was ever human. They would assume she was a tree-like monster that just happened to have human eyes.

At this moment, the players heard each other’s astonishment almost simultaneously.

Previously, we had to merge with plants. Having the memory of plants was still acceptable. Merging with animals was also bearable. But now, merging with a person, or rather, a body? …So disgusting.

Indeed disgusting. But we have to complete the mission.

Shortly after, the players indeed experienced the most challenging “merge” and subsequently gained memories of the person named “Shirley”.

The scene wasn’t in the tower’s second basement but in a futuristic space. Shirley appeared to be a lab worker, spending a lot of time alone at a console, inputting data.

After a while, the metal doors slid apart, and a person entered, carrying something about human height under his arm. It was covered with a black cloth, and Shirley couldn’t see what it was.

Shirley looked at the visitor, surprised at first, and then a blush crept up her face. “Mayor Ryan, why are you here? Today is the Strawberry Music Festival. I thought you went to the plaza halfway up the mountain.”

“I had something come up. I need you to turn on the furnace. I want to destroy something,” Ryan said.

Shirley seemed puzzled by his request. “Ah? That’s the old abandoned generator—”

“Just turn it on!” Ryan interrupted sternly.

“Understood, I’ll do it now.”

It was rare for Ryan to be this harsh. Shirley, not wanting to question further, quickly followed his instructions and started operating the console.

After a while, the high-powered furnace began to operate, burning fuel with a fierce wind and producing a bright red flame that reflected in Ryan’s blue-green eyes. Ryan soon walked to the furnace, uncovering the black cloth, revealing what seemed like a mirror.

Ryan tossed the mirror into the furnace, which produced a loud “clack”.

About three minutes later, Shirley, who had been watching Ryan, noticed his frown. She peered into the furnace and saw that the mirror remained undamaged.

How strange. How is this possible? What kind of mirror is that?

As Shirley pondered, she suddenly heard Ryan say something strange.

“I preserved your consciousness, personality, and even your goodness out of curiosity about you. I wanted to experience the feeling of having everything with you. But why did you repay me this way? Do you know how much effort I put into collecting the raw materials and refining them? It’s a work of art!”

Confused, Shirley blurted out, “Mayor Ryan, what are you talking about?”

She felt as if Ryan had suddenly become a different person. However, he turned and smiled at her.

“It’s nothing. Shirley, please turn off the furnace and start the cooling process.”

Confused, Shirley complied. Once the cooling was done and the fuel cooled, Ryan retrieved the undamaged mirror. Shirley felt something was different about his demeanor.

Suddenly, Ryan’s face contorted in pain and rage, but after a moment, he returned to his usual self, as if nothing had happened.

Later, Shirley saw him approach a wall, input a code, and open another door.

She couldn’t help but remind him, “Mayor Ryan, isn’t that the reactor? You said it was too polluted and dangerous, and you decided not to use it anymore?”

“It seems the only way to completely destroy it is to use the reactor’s energy.” Ryan mumbled, then walked into the newly opened room. The door closed behind him, and Shirley couldn’t see anything.

When Ryan emerged half an hour later, he was draped in the black cloth he initially used to cover the mirror, looking bizarre. Equally strange were his expression and eyes, which carried an inexplicable and bizarre quality.

Ryan was so odd tonight.

Why did she feel on several occasions that he didn’t seem like himself at all?

The words Ryan said next also seemed very strange to Shirley. “I never imagined that to destroy it, you would go to such lengths… Let’s start my large-scale experiment ahead of schedule. You forced me into this… I had no other choice…”

Shirley suddenly realized with horror that there seemed to be a glow of fire coming from the room where the reactor was located.

But before she could get a good look, the metal door closed again.

Shirley couldn’t help but blurt out, “Mayor, it’s not… on fire, is it?”

“You saw it wrong. It’s fine,” Ryan replied, giving Sherry an inscrutable look. “I have to go. I’m off to the Strawberry Music Festival. I promised the kids I’d sing them a song. You stay here and keep watch. I’m looking forward to seeing you next time.”

Shirley blushed again.

It was evident that she had some special feelings for Ryan.

The mayor said he’s looking forward to seeing me again…

Is that true?

Did I hear him right?

“I wonder what you’ll look like the next time I see you?”

After repeating this sentence, Ryan wrapped himself from head to toe in the black cloth and left.

……

As he witnessed this memory, Zhou Qian had already pieced together the entire truth in his mind.

Sarah used the “Mirror of All Things” to merge her essence with Ryan’s body, or, in other words, she absorbed Ryan. She didn’t immediately intend to completely erase Ryan’s consciousness, so she let him live alongside her. Their condition resembled a split personality—one body but housing the wills of both Ryan and Sarah.

One day, Ryan took control of their shared body. He brought the “Mirror of All Things” here, intending to destroy it. He did this, naturally, to thwart Sarah’s schemes.

But Ryan found out that the massive boiler meant for power generation couldn’t destroy the mirror. So, he decided to use the reactor.

It was likely that Sarah only regained control over the body after Ryan had placed the mirror in the reactor and started its process. By that point, she could no longer prevent the mirror’s destruction. Her only choice was to induce a reactor burn and subsequent explosion, shattering the mirror into countless pieces. These fragments, carried by the explosive and radiative dispersal, would “infect” everyone.

From that point on, the special radiative substance swept through every child attending the music festival. The myriad shards of the “Mirror of All Things” hidden within it, much like the hand that opened Pandora’s box, forever altered the town.

When Ryan, or rather Sarah, initiated the reactor explosion, they wrapped themselves tightly in radiation-proof black cloth. Even Sarah couldn’t predict the consequences of the exploding reactor and the effects of the mirror shards. She left Shirley behind, turning her into her primary observational subject.

That was the entire truth behind the supposed fireworks and accidental explosion on the night of the Strawberry Music Festival.

……

Now, as the players could communicate mentally, Zhou Qian didn’t need to verbally recount the story; everyone else understood the plot through him.

Qi Liuxing frowned and said, “The ‘cry for help’ we heard from the plant… could it have come from Shirley? She was closest to the radiation! Sarah is heartless!”

Ke Yuxiao added with a stern face, “Indeed. The ‘Mirror of All Things’ might not be something even Sarah fully understands. Her initial plan was to experiment gradually. But Ryan’s attempt to destroy the mirror disrupted all of Sarah’s plans. To prevent the mirror from vanishing entirely and to continue her experiments aiming at merging with all beings, she induced the explosion.”

“As for the consequences of that explosion, even Sarah couldn’t have predicted them. So she needs to continue her experiments. We are undoubtedly her guinea pigs.”

“Yes, agreed.” Zhou Qian added, elaborating on Ke Yuxiao’s words, “Based on Sarah’s original plans and the actual effect after merging with Ryan, she aimed to—after merging with other plants and animals—change her genetic code at will and control her physical form entirely. Like Sun Wukong’s 72 transformations, she could become anything she desired.”

“But Sarah’s experiments weren’t mature. She had only merged with her brother, whose genetic code was already similar to hers. She hasn’t tested it on other plants or animals.”

“Hence, the explosion was her last resort, and she couldn’t anticipate the outcomes.”

“Subsequent events show that under the influence of the special radioactive substance, the mirror spontaneously caused everything to merge. But now, Sarah faces the issue of not being able to control any of it.”

“Since she couldn’t control it, she had to set up barriers, temporarily isolating everything. Moreover, she must find a way to regain control over the ‘Mirror of All Things’, achieving her goal of merging with all beings and dominating them.”

“As Ke Yuxiao said, we are her guinea pigs. She needs to observe and study us to achieve her goal of becoming the master of all.”

[Players have collected a memory fragment: “Unexpected”.]

[Memory Fragment Progress: 4/4]

[Players have found the secret hidden by Ryan here. The mission completion rate is 50%.]

After obtaining all the memory fragments, the players left the tower and began to walk around the wetlands in the direction of the tower, heading to the A13 Evil Spirit Purification Station.

The four male players had previously replenished enough life points at the A11 Purification Station.

But the two girls were almost exhausted.

By the time they reached the A13 station, Situ Qing only had 1 point left.

During the time the two girls were “recharging” inside A13, another incident occurred.

Qi Liuxing and Ke Yuxiao accidentally bumped shoulders, and their arms immediately merged together.

Seeing this, Ke Yuxiao couldn’t help but become serious: It seems we need to hurry out.

Wu Ren: Now the four of us men have 5 points each, which is 20 points. The two girls just charged 2 points, Yin Jiujiu has 7 points, and Situ Qing has 3 points. So, we have a total of 30 points. That’s good.

Wu Ren: If we want to reduce it to 24 points, we just need to lose 6 points. Just right, one less point per person. We’ll head to that ink grass, time it right, and get in and out quickly!

However, Zhou Qian said, “Wrong.”

The thoughts of the two girls also merged with everyone else’s.

The rest of the group thought simultaneously: What’s wrong?

Zhou Qian said, “Firstly, at the beginning of the game, the system stated that the maximum number of points is 24. At that time, 1 point was equivalent to 1 hour. This might be hinting that the game might not exceed 24 hours.”

“Secondly, if such a thing really happened in the real world, a few hours of experimentation would definitely not suffice. Sarah would conduct the experiment strictly based on scientific principles, setting up control groups and iterating…”

“But after all, this is a simplified version of a complex setup in a game instance.”

“While the story is largely logical, there are also many idealized elements. For instance, in a world where technology has advanced to the creation of the ‘Mirror of All Things’, would there still be an ignorant and backward town?”

“Considering these two points, I think Sarah’s experiment only happens this afternoon. We are just her lab rats for this one experiment. She won’t sustain us forever. Do you really think—”

“That when we accumulate 24 points and achieve 100% of the main mission, Sarah will let us go when she appears?”

“Would she really let us live in Beautiful Flower Town peacefully, as she promised?”

“Exactly, she won’t.” Ke Yuxiao immediately agreed with Zhou Qian’s judgment. “If she could merge everything directly, she wouldn’t care. But the accident changed her plans.”

“At this stage, she can’t merge everyone directly, can’t make everyone obey her mind commands. Under this circumstance, she still needs to keep her conspiracy hidden.”

“That’s right.” Zhou Qian continued, “Earlier on the tower’s top, we almost saw the entire layout of this level, but we didn’t find the location of the boiler or reactor building. This means the power station has been demolished.”

“Meanwhile, Shirley and the cat were both moved to the underground floors of the tower, hidden from the world.”

“So, at this stage, Sarah is really afraid of others knowing her secret.”

“The only ones who know her secret are us. She won’t give us a chance to reveal them.”

“Once this afternoon’s experiment ends and Sarah gets the data she wants, we’ll be useless to her. She will kill us.”

Upon hearing this, Qi Liuxing felt a heavy burden in his heart and frowned. “Once we leave this high wall, in the eyes of all the townspeople, we are monsters. Remember, they all think this is the work of a witch. We will be seen by the townspeople as accomplices of the witch. It would be a matter of course for Ryan, as the mayor, to execute us.”

“Damn… this game…”

Wu Ren cursed. “If we don’t accumulate 24 points, we can’t wait for Ryan to open the door. But once he opens the door, he might kill us. How do we handle this?”

“In this world, there’s a satisfying way to take revenge.”

Suddenly, Zhou Qian stood up, smiled, and said in a deep voice, “That is, when someone sets a trap, you turn it around and use it against them.”

Ke Yu Xiao seemed to have sensed something.

Before he could ask, he already heard Zhou Qian’s thoughts in his mind.

Qi Liuxing hadn’t had time to digest Zhou Qian’s lightning-fast thoughts when he heard Zhou Qian speak in a familiar, bewitching tone.

“Sarah keeps us here like lab rats, watching us mutate. Well, we’ll show her a mutation.”

“Sarah wants to create monsters. Then let her be destroyed by the monster she created.”

The familiar, passionate excitement from Zhou Qian’s words surged again, and Qi Liuxing immediately stood up.

Drawing his long sword, barely holding it with what could be called a hand, Qi Liuxing decided to join Zhou Qian in a big fight.

Suddenly remembering something, he asked Zhou Qian, “By the way, what’s the deal with your side task? With the main task four memory fragments found, your side task is also 50% complete?”

“The main task is split into two parts: first, reach 24 points; second, find the four memory segments. It’s a hidden achievement.”

“As for my side task, it’s probably another ultimate hidden achievement. My side task is also split into two parts. The first is those four memory segments. As for the second part…”

At this point, the sunset appeared in the sky.

Zhou Qian’s silhouette stretched a long shadow in the reddish sunset.

Without looking back, he said, “I’ve already planted a solution. Just wait and see.”

Wu Ren: From what Zhou Qian is implying… it seems like everything is under control? Should I just sit back and watch us clear the game?

Qi Liuxing: No! Don’t get too excited too early! Knowing him… he’s going to go big! You might not be able to handle it! But… even so…

He once mocked me for being childish. But his plan now is just as silly!

Wait for our bodies to mutate and become stronger—deal with Ryan, eradicate the conspiracy—save the world, where am I wrong?!

Ke Yuxiao: Ahem, apart from thinking about how to mutate and become stronger, we also have a math problem to consider.

Situ Qing: If you need manpower for a fight, call me. Just don’t make me solve math problems.

Yin Jiujiu: See, who’s the one with the low IQ?

Qi Liuxing: What math problem?

Ke Yuxiao: It’s quite simple. We just need to be careful during the process. As the six of us may continue to “fuse”, once fused, when entering A13 to increase points, it’s synchronized. When going to the ink grass area to reduce points, it’s also synchronized.

Qi Liuxing: Right. In the extreme case where all six of us are fused into one entity, when we increase or decrease points, it will be in multiples of six. If we’re not careful, we’ll never reach 24.

Ke Yuxiao: Exactly. While we follow Zhou Qian’s method to find plants and animals that can strengthen us, I’ll simultaneously do the calculations to ensure we reach 24.

Impressed, Qi Liuxing praised him: “Yuxiao, you’re truly reliable!”

Ke Yuxiao gave a faint smile. “Let’s go.”

Wu Ren silently followed Zhou Qian: Haa…

……

About an hour later, under Zhou Qian’s mental guidance, the players completed their mutations, and their combined life points reached 24.

At that moment, they were standing next to the bizarre ink grass area. They had just left the ink grass after reducing their life points and walked onto the main road.

The system quickly sent a message.

[The combined life points of surviving players reached 24. Mayor Ryan is pleased. Task completion rate 100%.]

Almost instantly, there was a noise in the sky.

Several drones flew by.

In an instant, the cameras on the drones all focused on the players.

Six highly mutated creatures, amidst the exotic flora, appeared on the TVs of countless homes in Beautiful Flower Town through the drone cameras.

A helicopter soon arrived and hovered above the players.

Ryan’s voice, broadcast loudly, reached the players and the townsfolk:

“I’ve found the root of the evil spirits! This wall hides the witches’ secrets. These six monsters… are their creation. Look at how terrifying they are! We must kill them all!”

“Fire can cleanse all evil. The once beautiful Weir Mountain has been corrupted. I must set it ablaze. Let’s burn it all, burn the evil spirits, and burn the monsters birthed from them!”

After Ryan finished speaking, more helicopters flew in, pouring buckets of gasoline over the players.

Following that, fire was ignited.

A small box dropped from a helicopter, automatically opening upon landing, releasing flames that quickly ignited the gasoline, engulfing the players in a sea of fire.

Despite their mental preparation, all players, except Zhou Qian, couldn’t help but panic.

Wu Ren: Damn it, Xiao Qi was right. Zhou Qian went too big… I’m starting to regret this.

Qi Liuxing: We’re past the point of no return. We have to continue! We have to save Beautiful Flower Town and all of humanity!

Wu Ren: Fuck, why did I end up on a team with an extremist lunatic and a childish teenager?

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