Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 157: Choice
“Ten years ago?” The man repeated the time point, a flicker of something passing through his eyes.
Xu Wang nodded solemnly. “Ten years ago, in the Owl.”
The man slightly narrowed his eyes, taking a serious look at Xu Wang for the first time, but soon he laughed, shaking his head. “How old were you ten years ago? I don’t remember encountering a kid there.”
Xu Wang stared at him steadily. “At the hospital’s main entrance, you stabbed a zombie that lunged at you, but after stabbing it, you felt it was strange because it seemed to have hit something before it lunged at you.”
The man was startled, his gaze becoming somewhat distant as if drifting to that faraway, many details now blurred, old scene.
“Later, you made it to the third floor of the infectious disease department, and you went to scout the situation inside the office…”
Xu Wang continued. These things that he had completely forgotten for ten years, once revisited, became clearer by the day. The details he remembered now were even more, and more precise, than when he first recalled them.
“You gave the vaccine to the old doctor, but were bitten by another male doctor, leading to a total defeat. You ran away, not even bothering to take care of your [Soul Painter]…”
“Were you there?” The man, no matter how incredulous, had to believe it now. The process of breaking through that night, apart from him and his teammates from that year, there couldn’t possibly be a fifth person who knew. That detail about the zombie seeming to hit something, if not specifically pointed out, even he himself had forgotten.
“Yes,” Xu Wang said. “I was.”
After a moment of thought, the man connected all the abnormal details. “That thing the zombie hit…”
“Was me,” Xu Wang confirmed for him.
The man’s brow furrowed in confusion. “You were in the Owl, yet we couldn’t see you. Why?”
Xu Wang said, “Because I shouldn’t belong there. I wasn’t one of those breaking through, but that day I was inexplicably sucked in. It was as if the Owl…”
“Had a bug.” This time, the man finished the sentence for him.
Xu Wang froze, and it took him a while to find his voice again. “Could it be that night, you also…”
The man shrugged, smiling. “It seems that night wasn’t just a turning point in my fate alone.”
The two parties involved talked in riddles, leaving their thirteen companions utterly confused. A companion surnamed Wu understood everything but wasn’t satisfied with such vague and ambiguous descriptions of “that night”.
Yue Shuai, Wang Duanran, and their teams were just there to buy information but ended up sitting down to listen to a story from ten years ago. Chi Yingxue, Kuang Jinxin, and Qian Ai, although aware of their captain’s connection with the Owl, now found this connection intersecting with the information seller and thus had to start from the beginning with the rest of the group.
Fortunately, the narrative of “that night” was still relatively clear—
Xu Wang accidentally entered the Owl and witnessed the total defeat of Mr. Fan’s team—the seller, out of politeness, concealed his name. Then another team broke in, succeeded, and afterward, Xu Wang conversed with the Owl, receiving the fragmented “help me”, before being ejected back to reality, henceforth suffering amnesia.
But the story actually continued.
After that team succeeded and left the Owl, Mr. Fan, who had previously run away, wasn’t ejected back to reality because of the other team’s success. The reason was likely related to Xu Wang’s “accidental entry”, both due to the Owl’s instability. Obviously, his lingering was also “abnormal”. Perhaps this “abnormality” allowed the Owl, which had failed to communicate successfully with Xu Wang, to find him again.
Whether it was from learning from the failed conversation with Xu Wang, perfecting its algorithm in a short time, or applying some kind of patch, in any case, this time, the Owl’s expression was clearer.
[Owl: Help me, close the path that connects here with the outside.]
This was the first sentence spoken by the Owl to Mr. Fan.
Inside the room, with the door shut tightly, it was extremely quiet—so quiet that even the sound of a feather landing on the carpet could be heard.
The Owl had a bug ten years ago?! Xu Wang took advantage of this bug to take a tour?! The Owl changed its tone, speaking of things unrelated to breaking through the levels?! And knowing to find a second person after failing to make it clear with Xu Wang?!
This series of shocks had already frayed the nerves of everyone present, but all of it paled in comparison to the last—
“It’s possible to close the path—?!”
This was more exhilarating than leaving the Owl ahead of time. Leaving early was like running away, but closing the pathway was like achieving world peace!
Mr. Fan was about to continue when he was suddenly shouted down by a dozen people in unison. He closed his mouth, pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his face, and subtly moved his swivel chair backward.
“To be precise, it’s possible to seal the path of the first thirteen levels.”
Xu Wang asked, “What about the last ten levels?”
“It didn’t say.” Mr. Fan shook his head. “It only asked me to help cut off the path of the first thirteen levels. Once successful, all the challengers of the first thirteen levels would be freed and no longer need to enter the Owl.”
“And what about the world within the Owl of the first thirteen levels? Will it be destroyed?” Xu Wang suddenly thought of many faces, like Xiao Dingche from 3/23, Xiao Huang, Xiao Bai, Hei Momo from 4/23, Xiao Hungry from 5/23, and so on. Even though he knew logically that these were just NPCs, Xu Wang couldn’t treat them as data that could just be reset and disappear.
Mr. Fan hesitated for a moment, obviously having never considered this question, and finally laughed helplessly. “I never asked the Owl, so I can’t answer you.”
“How can the pathway be closed?” Wu Sheng asked politely, bringing the topic back to the “core”.
Wang Duanran and Xu Wang’s team members perked up their ears while their minds recalled the broken relief and the uneventful night at the airport.
Although Captain Yue’s army hadn’t experienced it, they had heard Xu Wang recount it, so they were equally tense.
Unexpectedly, Mr. Fan sighed softly. “Sorry, I don’t know that either.”
The whole room was momentarily stunned.
Wang Duanran was frustrated. “Then is there anything you do know?”
Mr. Fan smiled. “How to leave the Owl early.”
Fifteen companions: “……”
What makes a good seller? If they say they’re selling oranges, they definitely won’t sell apples.
“You need to collect the badges from levels 1–13, then successfully submit them at level 13. After submitting, the Owl will take you to the ‘Wishing Room’ and tell you it can fulfill one wish under certain conditions as a reward for entering the last ten levels. But you shouldn’t make a wish; instead, clearly say the following command—I want to talk to the Owl. Repeat three times, and another Owl will appear, and then you can choose to end everything and leave early.”
Yue Shuai asked, “Another Owl?”
Mr. Fan explained, “This is just my own distinction. I always felt that the Owl giving various rules and hints during the challenge and the Owl that spoke to me that night isn’t the same, even though their voices are exactly alike.”
Wu Sheng wondered. “Is it possible they are the same, but the usual Owl is restricted, and a bug awakened some autonomous consciousness, or part of its awakening caused that night’s bug?”
Mr. Fan: “……”
Wu Sheng continued, “But we’ve been through so many levels for so long without encountering any bugs again, nor have we heard from other challengers about such bugs. Is it possible it’s been fixed, and even if we reach level 13, we can’t trigger it with the command?”
Mr. Fan: “……”
Wu Sheng: “Mr. Fan?”
Mr. Fan replied, “My friend, if you need me for an academic seminar, the price will be different, and I don’t promise I can provide a light of rational wisdom.”
Wu Sheng was about to say more but was gently tapped on the leg.
Turning his head, it was Xu Wang.
He directed Wu Sheng’s gaze around the room to the bookshelves filled with books.
“The Lady of the Camellias”, “Wuthering Heights”, “Jane Eyre“, “Gone with the Wind“, “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame“, “The Thorn Birds“, “Norwegian Wood“, “Love in the Time of Cholera“… If one had to find a book unrelated to love, it would only be the one on the desk—”Think and Grow Rich“.
Wu Sheng’s eager heart for scientific exploration settled down.
With this seller, one could either talk about love or money.
“Mr. Fan, the Owl asked you to help it seal the path, but you didn’t agree, so it gave you a second option, which is to help you leave the Owl early?” Gu Nian finally spoke, sensing a logical issue here.
If it was as Wu Sheng said, that the Owl has awakened some level of autonomous consciousness, then after being rejected, shouldn’t the most common response be to try persuading again? Even if persuasion fails, one could just give up and look for someone else. Why then offer a method to leave early? It’s like, if someone refuses to help you, you still give them a “reward”. That’s too strange.
“I agreed.” Mr. Fan lightly tapped the armrest of his seat, a ripple crossing the calm lake of his eyes.
Fifteen companions were stunned.
“I agreed at that time to help it close the paths,” Mr. Fan continued. “It asked me to collect all the badges, reach level 13/23, and, after submitting my paper, not make a wish in the Wish House. Say, ‘I want to talk to the Owl’ three times, and it will appear, then tell me the specific method to close it.”
The fifteen companions were even more confused.
This was exactly the same as the method to leave the Owl early!
“I did as it asked. I really wanted to close the Owl at that time. Trying it wouldn’t cost me anything, and the worst outcome would just be to continue with the levels…” Mr. Fan looked out the window, the sunlight on his face outlining his distinct features but also reflecting the slight mockery in his eyes. “But when I reached level 13, after calling out the Owl in the Wish House, it offered me another choice.”
“Close the Owl or leave early.” Wu Sheng probably understood the direction and outline of this past event.
Mr. Fan withdrew his distant gaze and looked at him. There was a difference in the degree of discomfort between self-examination and being exposed.
Wu Sheng, who never understood these subtleties and had no intention of blaming others, looked at him calmly, so calmly that it was almost dry.
Mr. Fan laughed, suddenly feeling at ease. “When I wanted to close the Owl, I had nothing to lose. But once I had something to lose, I no longer had a reason to fight to the death…”
“I chose to leave early, and the Owl satisfied my wish. So when you ask me how to close the paths, I really don’t know. That’s information only those who chose option A would know.”
Xu Wang asked, “Did anyone choose A?”
Mr. Fan: “I can only say, the teams that bought information from me almost all chose B.”
Yue Shuai: “Almost?”
Mr. Fan: “There were teams that chose it.”
Fourteen companions: “…”
Qian Ai: “When did another option pop up! If you keep squeezing information out like toothpaste, do you believe I won’t complain to the consumer association about you!”
Mr. Fan: “The option is to continue with the challenges, complete all levels, then leave.”
Qian Ai: “Then what’s the point of buying information from you? A million just thrown away!”
Mr. Fan: “If they’re willing to fight, I can’t stop them.”
Qian Ai: “……”
The world of the wealthy is too hard to understand!
……
“Achoo—” Fan Peiyang, who was listening to the report, sneezed out of nowhere.
Zheng Luozhu stopped talking and asked with concern, “Boss?”
“It’s nothing.” Fan Peiyang waved his hand, leaning back in his chair. “Continue.”
Zheng Luozhu: “That’s all the related information.”
Fan Peiyang leaned on the desk, crossed his hand, and rested his chin on it. After pondering for a moment, he said, “Alright, I got it.”
Without needing Fan Peiyang to speak further, Zheng Luozhu tactfully left and considerately closed the door behind him.
After the thirteenth level, every level had to be carefully calculated, and every second couldn’t be taken lightly. Fortunately, the daunting task of strategizing was on the boss, and he just had to follow orders.
The leaderboard was opening tonight again, and their team, just entering the last ten levels, would surely still be out of the rankings.
Zheng Luozhu didn’t have any particular obsession with this, but he felt that the boss, used to looking down from the top of the leaderboard, would mind more.
This was definitely the Owl’s fault.
Who could have expected that the leaderboard for the first thirteen levels and the last ten levels were completely separate systems, not affecting each other or seeing each other? And teams that entered the last ten levels, regardless of whether they succeeded or failed in submitting their papers, wouldn’t go back to the first thirteen levels. Thus, they thought they were the best in the entire owl until level 13/23. But once they entered the last ten levels, reality gave them a harsh slap.
The phone suddenly vibrated in the pocket.
Zheng Luozhu hurriedly answered, knowing without looking who it was.
“Come in again.” Over the phone came the boss’ 108th summon.
“Okay.” Zheng Luozhu had a grin on his face, but inside he was crying.
What information does he want to ask about this time? Should he just give a full summary? Report for three to five hours? Otherwise, if the boss thinks of something new, can’t he just call him once? It wasn’t a waste of time and energy, but a waste of legs, having him run back and forth. His legs were getting thinner!
……
Three teams of fifteen friends left the villa and directly booked a nearby resort hotel.
The suburban environment was really nice, especially at night, with the cool breeze and the bright moon.
The fifteen friends didn’t waste the good times, eating, drinking, and sleeping as they should, and by the time the moon was high, they were all spirited. Some were splashing in the swimming pool, some were drinking alone under the moon, some were lifting barbells in the gym, and some were quietly contemplating life in their rooms.
But this time it wasn’t Advisor Wu, but Captain Xu.
“What’s wrong?” It was rare to see their captain in deep thought. Wu Sheng, originally planning to go for a swim, sat back down by the bed, asked this curiously.
Xu Wang frowned at him. “It’s too strange.”
Wu Sheng froze, pointing at himself. “Me?”
“Not you. Your handsomeness is very standard,” Xu Wang said, always looking through a moonlight filter. “I mean, the Owl is too strange. If it wanted Mr. Fan’s help, why offer a second choice?”
Without that “early departure” second option, the help might have been secured!
“I thought you were pondering some profound problem.” Wu Sheng pulled him over, naturally leaning against Xu Wang’s back, wrapping his arms around him. He rested his chin on his shoulder and leisurely said, “Think of the Owl as a program—a self-repairing program—then this issue becomes understandable.”
Just as Xu Wang was about to indulge in this warm embrace, he heard something about “programs” and “self-repairing”, and suddenly, the tender moonlit scene before his eyes changed into a classroom full of desks and chairs.
The one hugging him from behind was Wu Sheng’s spirit. As for the speaker, he was up front, lecturing at the blackboard.
“A part of the Owl’s awakening gave it autonomous consciousness, to converse with you and Mr. Fan, even setting a command at level 13 that could summon it. But for a set program, such awakening is definitely a bug, either to be eliminated by external forces or to be patched by its original algorithm searching for the bug.”
Xu Wang struggled to turn his head back toward him. “The Owl did… the second option?”
“Right.” Wu Sheng couldn’t help but rub his face, saying, “The Owl’s self-repair couldn’t erase the awakened consciousness. It could only forcefully add a second option given by the repair function to the choices provided by the awakened consciousness.”
Xu Wang felt warmth on his back, but his heart felt a chill. “It figured, no one would choose the harder option.”
“Mm.” Wu Sheng hugged him tighter. “These are just my guesses, but if you consider the issue with the relief panel, the Owl’s self-repair feature should be spot on.”
Xu Wang understood Wu Sheng’s point and said no more.
Assuming it was indeed the damage to the relief panel that caused the inability to enter 10/23, then one day later, everything returned as usual, which fits the logic chain of “self-repair feature” perfectly.
“Oh right.” Wu Sheng suddenly remembered something. “Fan Yebai.”
Xu Wang didn’t understand. “What?”
Wu Sheng said, “Mr. Fan’s full name.”
Xu Wang was surprised. “How do you know?”
Wu Sheng said, “The Speed Submission Ranking list, 12/23, Du Yin, Fan Yebai, Li Dian, Mu Yixuan, Peng Ye, with a time of 09:46:58. On the entire list, there’s only one with the surname Fan. I think it should be him.”
Xu Wang: “You think?”
Wu Sheng: “I think.”
Xu Wang: “Hmm, then it must be.”
Five minutes later.
Xu Wang: “You should have told me at the time.”
Wu Sheng: “What?”
Xu Wang: “His full name. It might have been useful for getting closer and negotiate a better price.”
Wu Sheng: “The three-level guide is a version from ten years ago. Costing a million to package is indeed a bit steep.”
Xu Wang: “Exactly!”
Wu Sheng: “Mm.”
Xu Wang: “……”
Wu Sheng: “……”
Xu Wang: “Do you think that book “Think and Grow Rich” can really make you rich?”
Wu Sheng: “He’s indeed living a good life.”
Xu Wang: “How about we also buy the book and study it?”
Wu Sheng: “Qian Ai has already placed the order.”
Xu Wang: “……”
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