Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

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

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Chapter 59: New Goal

From the first day he entered the “Owl”, Wu Sheng had been pondering what form of existence the “Owl” was.

A stable parallel universe? An unstable space-time distortion? The embodiment of consciousness space?

The information currently available wasn’t sufficient to support any conclusions.

That was why he never discussed these with his teammates.

If he was working on a difficult problem and believed he could solve it, he would never stop halfway and show an ambiguous, half-finished product. Anything he presented would be a definite, clear solution.

Wu Sheng believed this to be a rigorous scientific spirit. However, in high school, Xu Wang pointed out that this was confidence turning into arrogance, arrogance into conceit, and conceit into paranoia—a complete set deserving a beating.

Wu Sheng didn’t humbly accept this criticism back then, and ten years later, he was still the same, until Xu Wang’s “memory recovery”.

A world that has existed for at least ten years, playing with the “chosen ones” at its whim.

Only when he realized the overwhelming strength of the opponent did Wu Sheng suddenly feel fortunate that he wasn’t fighting alone.

“All of the following are my hypotheses and guesses.” Wu Sheng cleared his throat and finally began. “Feel free to interrupt and discuss interactively…”

Xu Wang: “Why the sudden humility…”

“The emergence of a bug means there is a problem with the program itself.” Wu Sheng looked at Xu Wang. “The same applies to the Owl.”

Xu Wang began to understand. “You mean, that night, the Owl malfunctioned?”

“That explains the mismatch in coordinates and time.” Qian Ai connected the dots. “If there’s a malfunction, of course everything goes haywire.”

“But that’s not right,” Kuang Jinxin said. “The level challengers that the captain saw were still trying to submit their papers normally.”

Wu Sheng nodded. “So it’s not an internal fault of the Owl, but a problem with its ‘pathway’ connecting to reality.”

Kuang Jinxin: “……”

Qian Ai: “……”

Translator Xu took the stage. “The moment I was sucked in, the transmission path deviated.”

“Oh—” Kuang Jinxin and Qian Ai suddenly saw the light.

“That time was midnight, the pathway between the Owl and the real world opened,” Wu Sheng continued. “Xu Wang shouldn’t have been on the chosen list, but for some reason, he mistakenly entered a secret passage and went in an unconventional way.”

Xu Wang was annoyed. “I was forced, okay? Why do you make it sound like I sneaked in secretly…”

“Sheng Ge, now I get it!” Kuang Jinxin raised his hand, but without waiting to be called, he couldn’t help but speak up. “The Owl is like a room, we are the guests, and the NPCs, the infected science building, and all the rest, are the furniture in the room, but we and the furniture don’t know that there’s a layer within the walls. The captain entered this layer and then watched us from behind the wall!”

Qian Ai: “Can you not make it even more terrifying…”

Wu Sheng: “There’s also the Owl in the layer.”

Qian Ai: “……”

He was joking. He didn’t actually want to ask for a more terrifying explanation!

Xu Wang suddenly understood. Kuang Jinxin’s metaphor and Wu Sheng’s supplement made the “phantasmagoric journey” from ten years ago fall from the clouds to the ground, becoming clear. “I entered a space belonging only to the Owl, so I could talk to it…”

“The problem is the Owl is the Owl, the levels are the Owl’s world.” Qian Ai’s brain, which had just cleared up a bit, was confused again. “Is there a space within a space?”

“In theory, a multiverse exists,” Wu Sheng said. “Otherwise, our being sucked into the Owl can’t be explained at all.”

“Is it possible that only our consciousness was sucked in?” Kuang Jinxin tilted his head in thought. “And our bodies are still somewhere in the real world?”

Xu Wang: “……”

Qian Ai: “……”

Don’t naively suggest such a horrifying guess!

Wu Sheng: “It’s possible. Whether clearing levels or bringing back injuries to reality, it’s all a simulated illusion given at the consciousness level. In reality, we might be lying in an experimental pod…”

And you’re still fucking seriously discussing it!

“But.” Wu Sheng’s tone shifted, his gaze firm as he looked at each teammate. “Consciousness should never be confined to a shell. The deeper realms of the brain are worth our struggle and effort.”

The three teammates: “……”

In Wu Sheng’s eyes, they saw a person’s endless yearning and persistence in exploring the unknown.

But—

Qian Ai: “Shall we continue discussing why the captain’s crossing path deviated?”

Xu Wang and Kuang Jinxin: “Completely agree!”

A rainy night, thunder and lightning, magnetic field chaos, space distortion, Xu Wang’s own emotional fluctuations… The friends discussed for a long time, summarizing these “suspicious points”.

Especially at the moment of the incident, Wu Sheng turned back, only to see an empty corridor, but Xu Wang at that moment clearly saw Wu Sheng turn back, even discerning from his lip shape that he was saying “thunder”. This became an important basis for the “space-time misalignment theory”.

But in the end, it was all just speculation.

Among these conditions, which was the key? Were all the conditions necessary, or had they completely misconceived the direction, with the reality being totally unrelated to their thoughts?

No one had the answer.

Lastly, and most importantly, were the words spoken by the Owl.

Kuang Jinxin: “Captain, are you sure that the Owl that spoke to you later is the same as the one we usually hear in the announcements?”

Xu Wang: “Absolutely.”

Kuang Jinxin: “Then why did it say it was the first time someone heard it speak?”

“Damn, could it really be someone trapped inside?” The more he thought about it, the colder Qian Ai grew. “Usually only able to recite preset lines? Beaten up every time it tries to speak the truth?”

Xu Wang: “Can’t you think of a high-tech form of punishment…”

Kuang Jinxin: “I still think it’s like artificial intelligence. Every day, every level, there are teams trying to clear it. If it were a person, they couldn’t handle all that…”

Their discussion led nowhere, and the three friends naturally looked to their advisor.

Wu Sheng pondered for a moment and slowly raised his head. “Why did it say ‘help me’ instead of ‘save me’?”

Kuang Jinxin: “……”

Qian Ai: “……”

Xu Wang: “The point you’re focusing on…”

Although Advisor Wu’s perspective was unique, he ultimately didn’t come to a clear conclusion.

Brainstorming was energy-draining, and the exhausted friends, too lazy to move, ordered takeout and had dinner in the living room.

“Lao Qian Eats All Over China” wasn’t live streamed today. According to Qian Ai, his information intake was overloaded today. If he accidentally started discussing parallel universes with fans during the stream, he might lose followers.

After dinner, it was already past nine in the evening.

Since they were at someone else’s house and not a hotel, despite Xu Wang saying they could use any bedroom, Kuang Jinxin and Qian Ai still insisted on curling up on the living room sofa.

Xu Wang didn’t insist, went back to his bedroom, and laid down on the bed, still in his clothes.

The box had been put back in the wardrobe. Once the gate of memory was opened, it was hard to close again.

Xu Wang put his arm over his forehead, blocking the excess light from above but still watching the dim yellow light on the ceiling.

He knew that staring for too long would strain his eyes, but he tried to look for as long as possible. This was him ten years ago.

He was actually grateful to Wu Sheng for that push.

Sometimes, one’s thoughts can’t be cut off by oneself.

Without that push, he might still be hesitating on the edge of ambiguity, fluctuating daily between hope and fear. Not to mention focusing on the exams, he might even have confessed impulsively in a moment of passion. If that had happened, the outcome wouldn’t just have been cold but brutal.

Reuniting with Wu Sheng after ten years?

Even if the Owl had matched them up, they’d have to break the team in minutes.

He was more grateful for Wu Sheng’s “silence” after that night.

This way, they had the chance to return to the “friendship line” and could reteam and walk side by side ten years later.

Did he like Wu Sheng?

Of course.

But having taken the souvenir of unrequited love, he couldn’t go back on it.

“There’s no space on the sofa.” Wu Sheng’s pitiful sigh came from the doorway. “Although you didn’t invite me, I came over on my own.”

“Are you subtly complaining…” Xu Wang laughed and rolled over, making room on the spacious 1.8-meter-wide bed.

Having shared a room in a hotel for a week, Xu Wang was relatively calm about sharing a room—even a bed—with Wu Sheng.

Wu Sheng lay down, meticulously keeping to the space Xu Wang left for him, relaxing his body, looking at the ceiling, and breathing out.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Both lay flat, motionless, staring at the ceiling, and silent. It was quite eerie.

Xu Wang couldn’t take it and extended an olive branch. “Did you suspect a parallel universe from the beginning?”

Wu Sheng: “Huh?”

Xu Wang: “When we first teamed up, the first day you stayed here, I saw your notebook’s web page.”

Wu Sheng: “Oh.”

Xu Wang: “Why didn’t you tell us then?”

Wu Sheng: “It was just a guess. The theory wasn’t mature yet.”

Xu Wang: “Is the theory mature now?”

Wu Sheng: “I am mature.”

Xu Wang: “…”

Turning to lie on his side, facing away from Wu Sheng, Xu Wang barely restrained himself from kicking the other off the bed.

Wu Sheng didn’t need to see to know Xu Wang’s current expression; he was probably narrowing his eyes and grinding his teeth, mentally kicking him eight hundred times.

The corners of Wu Sheng’s mouth lifted unconsciously as he looked at the dim yellow light, reminiscent of amber.

He had never forgotten what happened that night. Every image, every word, even the intensity of the rain at the time—he remembered it all crystal clear.

Before that night, he had never thought that his and Xu Wang’s relationship could be anything more than friendship.

So, when Xu Wang slowly approached him, his instinct was to panic.

No, he was anxious the entire night—first for not being able to find Xu Wang and then for not knowing how to respond.

He wasn’t even sure what Xu Wang, in that moment, was really trying to express or if he was just seeking solace in his confusion.

It took him nearly a month to understand himself.

But the next day, Xu Wang acted as if nothing had happened, even studying more focused and intensively than before.

That was the first time Wu Sheng realized that understanding people’s hearts was much harder than solving problems.

Xu Wang was preparing for his college entrance exams, and Wu Sheng’s family was busy arranging for his studies abroad. Their paths were diverging in clearly visible, completely different directions.

He didn’t disturb Xu Wang’s studies again and waited until after the exams to give him that book.

After that, there was no more to their story.

Several exchanges of letters, a confession rejected, and a first love ended swiftly and cleanly.

He had wondered if things would have been different if he hadn’t pushed Xu Wang away that night.

He didn’t know.

There are no ‘what ifs’ in life, let alone answers to what comes after them.

All he knew was that on that night, he had done the stupidest thing of his life and lost his heart.

……

The Midnight Owl Call in the Snowfield.

In the vast expanse, only their team was present, free from brutal competition and deceit, bringing a long-missed sense of ease.

Upon entering, the first thing they received were the rewards for submitting their 3/23 task and the coordinates for 4/23. The rewards were as usual: one stationery plus one weapon.

But right now, they had more important things to attend to.

Since it wasn’t the current level they were meant to clear, there were no threats like black bears. The four teammates comfortably found a cave to shelter from the cold wind, formed a circle, and stood waiting for the moment to witness a miracle.

Xu Wang held the keychain, hands together, eyes closed, concentrating.

After all the discussion and analysis, without this single piece of evidence, everything was mere speculation.

Three minutes later.

Qian Ai: “Um, are you sure this is how you summon it?”

Kuang Jinxin: “Maybe try a different pose?”

Wu Sheng: “Or throw it on the ground to see.”

Qian Ai: “Have you no humanity. That’s a cat…”

“Snap—”

The keychain fell to the ground, instantly raising a mist of black, orange, and white. As the fog dissipated, a small calico kitten appeared, diligently licking its paws and washing its face.

Qian Ai: “How did you know to throw it…”

Wu Sheng: “It’s how they do it in children’s fantasy shows.”

Qian Ai: “Your range of knowledge is too vast…”

“This is some magical stationery. It’s so cute!” Kuang Jinxin couldn’t resist any longer. His heart was melting as he reached out to cuddle the little calico kitten in his arms.

“It’s cute, isn’t it? When those people first used it, I wanted to pet it so badly but never got the chance. Later, they ran away, went home, and left it alone there, looking so pitiful.” Xu Wang approached and started petting the kitten’s ears and scratching its chin, making the little calico kitten feel very comfortable. While petting the kitten, he seriously asked, “How come you haven’t grown at all in ten years?”

“Cats are indeed devils…” Qian Ai watched the two “severe cat-petting addicts” and couldn’t help but remark. Then, seeing the little kitten’s head tilt and its blue-green eyes look at him innocently, he was inexplicably drawn to join them.

Five minutes later.

Qian Ai: “Is this a one-time-use stationery item? Will it disappear next time?”

Xu Wang: “I don’t know. Let’s see if we can bring it back to reality at five o’clock.”

Qian Ai: “If we can’t take it back, I’m going to the Endless Sea to open treasure chests and get a whole litter!”

“Does it have a name?” Kuang Jinxin asked.

The little calico kitten, now in Qian Ai’s arms, suddenly looked up. Its ears perked up as if it knew they were talking about it.

Xu Wang was stunned and shook his head.

“Then let’s give it a name now!” Kuang Jinxin said with a bright smile.

“Once you name it, you get attached,” Qian Ai said, feeling a twinge of sadness. “What if we can’t bring it back and it’s gone the next time we enter?”

Kuang Jinxin: “This is something special the Owl left for the captain. It must be different from ordinary magic tools!”

“Wangwang.” Wu Sheng, who had been quietly writing something on the ground with a stone, suggested, “The captain is called Wangwang, so the captain’s cat shall be called Wangwang*. It’s perfect.”

*Clarity: As explained before, Xu Wang’s WeChat is [Wàngwàng] (旺旺). The [Wàng] (旺) means prosperous, flourishing, ect. They are naming the kitten [Wāngwāng] (汪汪), which sounds similar to (旺旺) but it’s actually the onomatopoeia of a dog’s bark (woof woof/bark bark if translated)… which isn’t very apt for a cat’s name…

Qian Ai: “Solid reasoning.”

Kuang Jinxin: “Easy to remember!”

Xu Wang speechless. “You’re naming a cat ‘Wangwang’? Don’t you have a conscience?!”

Wu Sheng stood up, came over to Qian Ai, and respectfully asked the little calico kitten’s opinion. “Wangwang, do you like it?”

The cat looked at him for a long moment, blinked its small eyes, twitched its ears, and happily made its first ever sound. “Meow.”

Wu Sheng: “……”

Qian Ai, Kuang Jinxin, Xu Wang: “……”

[(Illusory) Soul Painter]. It’s true form was a small calico kitten, now named Wangwang, made a “meow”.

At five in the morning, the four teammates returned to reality, and Wangwang turned back into a keychain, resting in Xu Wang’s palm.

Qian Ai was relieved. “No need to fight sea monsters anymore…”

“Perhaps not,” Wu Sheng said.

Qian Ai didn’t understand, and Xu Wang was also confused. “What do you mean?”

Wu Sheng explained, “If we want to know what the Owl really is and what it truly wants us to help with, we can only continue to clear levels and collect more in-depth information.”

“Yeah.” Xu Wang was even more puzzled. “Isn’t that what we agreed on?”

“We don’t have enough stationery,” Wu Sheng said. “Think about how much stationery we used in the third level. With the current rewards, we won’t be able to clear 4/23, let alone future levels.”

Xu Wang understood, and his heart slowly settled. It wasn’t that he lost his passion and impulse, but the further and harder the goal, the more he needed to keep his cool and think clearly.

“Back to the Endless Sea.”

Wu Sheng looked towards the eastern horizon, where the first light of dawn was beginning to show.

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