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

Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

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

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Chapter 58: Combing Through the Details

The voice seemed to come from a distant place, faint and intermittent, mixed with a vague, crackling noise. It was like an old radio, not properly tuned, struggling to transmit the few words it could catch.

Xu Wang couldn’t help but tremble.

The little calico kitten in his arms raised its head and gently rubbed his chin with its head.

The old doctor continued his cleaning work diligently, not lifting his head.

[Owl: You… Who are you…]

Before any response came, the voice persisted, asking a second time.

“Who… Who are you?” Xu Wang mustered all his strength to finally ask back.

[Owl: Owl…]

“Owl?” Xu Wang was momentarily confused but quickly remembered that the owl symbol was under the word “Owl” on the arms of those four people.

[Owl: No… This isn’t right… You shouldn’t be here…]

Xu Wang was speechless. He hadn’t even said who he was, and already he wasn’t supposed to be there? Moreover, it wasn’t like he wanted to be there!

“Right, I shouldn’t be here, so hurry up and send me back.”

[Owl: Twenty-three… submissions… and regain your freedom…]

“Submit? Submit what? Is this an exam?” Xu Wang couldn’t keep up with the other’s train of thought. What did twenty-three refer to?

[Owl: No… You’re not chosen… You can’t submit…]

“Stop talking to yourself.” Xu Wang felt like going crazy. “I’m good at studying. You don’t even need to give me a scope. Just tell me what twenty-three is. I’ll study it myself. I can definitely submit it!”

[Owl: Not chosen… You can’t…]

“…” Xu Wang was exhausted. This person simply didn’t make sense.

[Owl: Not chosen… Why… are you here…]

[Owl: You… Who are you…]

Great, after rambling nonsensically, it circled back to the beginning.

“You win,” Xu Wang surrendered and honestly gave his name. “Xu Wang, double ‘Xu’¹, ‘Wang’ from hope².”

¹Clarity: [Xu] (徐) with double (双人). This is referencing the first radical (彳) of the character [Xu] (徐) to distinguish which type of Xu his surname is.
²Clarity: [Wang] (望) from hope [xiwang] (希望).

[Owl: Double ‘Xu’… ‘Wang’ from hope…]

“Now that I’ve told you who I am, can you tell me how to get home?”

[Owl: The first time… someone… can hear me speak…]

Great, back to the “I’m not listening, I’ll only say what I want” mode.

[Owl: Help me… Help… Help me…]

The sudden plea caught Xu Wang off guard. “What?”

[Owl: No… It’s no use… you will forget…]

“Don’t just jump to conclusions!” Xu Wang was fed up. “I won’t forget! What exactly do you want me to help you with?”

No response.

But suddenly, something lightened in his arms.

Xu Wang instinctively looked down. The little calico kitten he had been holding had disappeared, leaving only a curled-up little kitten keychain lying quietly in his palm.

Suddenly, his palm and the keychain flickered twice, creating a blur.

But Xu Wang hadn’t moved at all.

He looked up in panic, only to find the surroundings beginning to distort and warp, just like in the corridor earlier.

Was he… going home?

He was going home!

Perhaps because it felt so similar to the sensation when he arrived, his intuition was almost certain!

[Owl: Don’t… forget… me…]

This was the last sentence Xu Wang heard.

……

Class 7, Third Year.

A minute ago, Xu Wang disappeared. Turning around to find no one behind him, Wu Sheng was bewildered for half a minute. Never in his life had he experienced a moment of mental blankness, until tonight, twice in succession.

The first time was when he pushed Xu Wang away, lasting about five or six seconds. The second, when he realized Xu Wang was gone, lasted a full thirty seconds.

Half a minute later, he immediately started searching, with their just-vacated classroom, Class 7, Third Year, as his first stop.

Before he could do any searching, Xu Wang was standing next to his own desk.

At the sight of Xu Wang’s figure, Wu Sheng leaned gently against the doorframe, almost collapsing in relief.

Half a minute of anxious waiting, it felt like running 10,000 meters. He thought to himself in amusement that this must be the ratio of mental to physical exhaustion.

Taking a deep breath and calming his heartbeat, Wu Sheng walked into the classroom and approached Xu Wang from behind.

He didn’t try to step lightly, so his approach wasn’t exactly stealthy, but he was almost upon Xu Wang before he even stirred.

“Xu Wang?” Wu Sheng finally sensed something amiss.

The thunder drowned out most of his voice, but being close enough, Xu Wang slowly turned his head.

However, his gaze was vacant, taking a long time to focus on Wu Sheng’s face. “Huh?”

Wu Sheng was speechless. Shouldn’t he be the one saying, “Huh?” What kind of logic was Xu Wang following, mysteriously slipping back to the classroom with such an innocent look?

“Oh.” As if finally understanding the unspoken words in Wu Sheng’s eyes, Xu Wang reached for his phone on the desk and showed it to him. “I forgot my phone.”

Wu Sheng knew it. He must have left something behind.

As for running off without a word… On a normal day, he could have criticized him, but today, he really couldn’t blame him.

“The rain has stopped.” Xu Wang looked out the window.

Wu Sheng looked up, and indeed, the rain had ceased, and the night suddenly seemed much more peaceful.

“Let’s hurry back,” he said, worried it might start raining again.

“Yeah.” Xu Wang put his phone in his pocket.

Wu Sheng turned first, heading for the door.

Xu Wang followed but stumbled upon something with his toe.

Bending down, he picked up a small cat keychain.

This was his seat. This was after school, so he snuck back and sat there for half the night. He was certain this keychain wasn’t there before.

The only other person who had been there was Wu Sheng.

The keychain was still new, its color shining brightly even after falling on the floor.

“What’s up?” Wu Sheng turned back, alert, fearing he might lose Xu Wang again.

“Nothing.” Xu Wang quietly slipped the keychain into his pocket.

Having liked someone for so long and deciding to give up, he allowed himself this one act of caprice—a keepsake.

A memento of unrequited love.

He didn’t regret having liked Wu Sheng.

But from tomorrow on, he needed to focus on preparing for exams.

He would get into a good university, find a stable job, not seeking glory but self-sufficiency—it might sound unambitious, even mundane, but it was the only expectation his mother had for him.

……

Ten years later, Beijing, Xu Wang’s bedroom.

Confronted with the keychain, memories flooded in, unstoppable like a tide.

The “Owl” was right. As soon as he came out, he forgot everything about the “Owl”. His memories were cut and reassembled: one second, he was with Wu Sheng in the corridor, the next Wu Sheng was turning back to find him, and then, at the splice, a pretext of “returning for his phone” was inserted.

Seamless and plausible.

Back in Dongying, the banner in 3/23 only reminded him of following the team into the infection disease building. Only now, looking at the keychain, did the even more bizarre part of that memory resurface.

Unable to stay calm, Xu Wang got up and went back to the living room, sharing this “ten-year-old adventure” with his three teammates in its entirety.

Aside from the “lost love” part, which had no value for discussion, he openly shared everything else without reservation.

This wasn’t only because he wanted to be honest with his teammates but also because it involved the correspondence of the ‘Owl’ with reality, time, and other issues. Without linking it to reality, it was impossible to study.

His three teammates listened from beginning to end.

Throughout the process, Wu Sheng’s expressions varied greatly, yet he remained steadfastly silent; Qian Ai, in the first half, frequently wanted to ask questions, but by the latter half, was completely baffled, no matter what was said or heard; as for Kuang Jinxin, it was like listening to a story, becoming more and more fascinated as it went on, eyes shining so brightly that it would be embarrassing to tell it in a dull manner, requiring vivid and lively descriptions to be at ease.

After finishing within one breath, Xu Wang’s throat felt parched. He drank two full glasses of water and waited for questions.

Wu Sheng was definitely the quickest to understand and the fastest and most comprehensive in organizing questions. However, Xu Wang looked at him several times, and this teammate kept his eyes lowered, neither asking questions nor revealing the windows to his soul, quiet to the point of being mysterious.

“I can’t take it anymore,” Qian Ai burst out, pacing around the room with a belly full of questions. “The ‘Owl’ talked to you? Asked for your help? Without specifying what? This is maddening—”

“And that old doctor, why did he throw away the vaccine? What were we fighting for?!”

“That’s not right. If the ‘Owl’ can alter memories, how can you be sure your current memory is true?”

“I know there’s the keychain. You say it’s a phantom object, but it looks just like a keychain to me…”

With an almost inaudible sigh, Wu Sheng finally looked up. “Lao Qian, calm down.”

“Class Monitor, you can’t expect us ordinary humans to have your level of composure…” Qian Ai was still stuck in ‘ten years ago’, even reverting to youthful titles.

“I tend to believe Xu Wang,” Wu Sheng said. “Otherwise, there’s no explanation for how we suddenly aced the challenge last night.”

Wu Sheng looked at Qian Ai.

Xu Wang stared at Wu Sheng.

This ‘tendency’ tone of believe it or not was infuriating…

When they reunited, Xu Wang thought Wu Sheng hadn’t changed, but now, looking back, he realized the youthful Wu Sheng was much more adorable!

He knew Wu Sheng was stubborn, confronting him about lying late at night, even running back to the school building in the rain… Although the outcome was sad, time had passed, and the memory was more sweet than bitter.

“Wait.” Qian Ai, catching the most obvious branch in the ‘ten-year foggy forest’, turned to his advisor and asked, “When you saw Xu Wang disappear, you had no reaction? Or was your memory erased too?”

“I can’t guarantee that my memory hasn’t been tampered with,” Wu Sheng said rigorously. “But based on the data I currently have, I didn’t see him disappear. Instead, the first time I turned back, I saw him…” A twinge of pain pricked at the tip of his heart, and Wu Sheng restrained his gaze. “Watching the rain. The second time I turned back, he was gone. There was about a minute in between—enough time for him to silently return to the classroom.”

Xu Wang looked down, pretending to fiddle with the keychain.

He wasn’t watching the rain.

He was crying.

It turns out Wu Sheng had always known.

“Even if returning for the phone makes sense, shouldn’t he have said something?” Qian Ai still couldn’t understand. “Just ‘whooshing’ back to the classroom without a word, isn’t that strange?”

“There was no sound,” Kuang Jinxin chimed in. “If it really was a ‘whoosh,’ anyone would’ve turned back immediately!”

Qian Ai frowned. “I was just making an analogy…”

“Too much happened that day,” Wu Sheng explained carefully. “Him not wanting to talk to me was normal.”

Qian Ai and Kuang Jinxin naturally thought Wu Sheng was referring to “Xu Wang’s mother’s passing”.

So, the former blamed him for not being alert enough. “If it were me, I would have asked then. Maybe we could’ve discovered the ‘Owl’s’ secret ten years earlier!”

The latter gently admonished. “Sheng Ge, sometimes, you don’t need to rationalize everything yourself…”

Qian Ai settled back on the sofa, indicating the initial “shock phase” was mostly over.

“If there are no more urgent questions, let’s start analyzing from the beginning,” Xu Wang said firmly. “There are too many oddities here.”

Qian Ai and Kuang Jinxin agreed.

Xu Wang nodded and looked at Wu Sheng. “Please start your analysis.”

Suddenly being spotlighted, Advisor Wu was caught off guard, with a dumbfounded, cute expression.

Xu Wang’s lips curled upwards, slightly smug about his successful sneak attack, but the trust in his eyes was genuine and solid. “You must have already thought it through. Go ahead. We’re listening.”

Wu Sheng finally snapped back to reality, glancing at him with mixed feelings, then adjusted his mood and happily began Advisor Wu’s Mini-Lecture.

“First, the coordinates. The coordinates on 3/23 were in Dongying, which isn’t even in the same province as our school. There are two possibilities: either the coordinates of 3/23 ten years ago were at our school, or there was an issue with the Owl, mistakenly pulling Xu Wang into 3/23.”

“Second, the time. When Xu Wang entered the Owl, it was midnight Beijing time. According to the setting of 3/23, it should have been 6 p.m. inside, but it was actually late at night. Of course, this could be a normal change and adjustment of the content of the 3/23 level. However, Xu Wang stayed inside for at least forty minutes to an hour, but in reality, from the time I noticed he was missing to when I saw him back in the classroom, only one minute had passed. Now, when we’re clearing levels, time inside the Owl passes synchronously with real time, which is why we can use our phones to check the time.”

Classmate Qian raised his hand to speak.

Advisor Wu waved his hand, indicating that he understood. “The Owl could have tampered with my memory of time; that’s one possibility. But it’s also possible that there’s a problem with the Owl itself.”

“Third, Xu Wang’s own state.” Which was of most concern to Wu Sheng. “To the level clearers, he is ‘non-existent’, but to the buildings, objects, and NPCs inside the Owl, he ‘exists but is ignored’…”

Xu Wang, anxious to hear more, jumped in. “There are also two possibilities here. Go on.”

Unexpectedly, Advisor Wu changed tactics. “No, just one. The world of the Owl mistook you as one of its own, so you didn’t receive the Owl pattern that symbolizes the identity of a level clearer. In other words, if you could be seen, then you would be an NPC.”

Xu Wang: “But they can’t see me—neither the level challengers nor the NPCs.”

Wu Sheng: “So, you’re a bug.”

Xu Wang: “……”

Wu Sheng: “Next, I’ll focus on analyzing the conditions for the appearance of this bug and its future prospects.”

Xu Wang: “……”

Qian Ai: “……”

Kuang Jinxin: “Sheng Ge, slow down. I’m taking class notes.”

---

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

Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

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

---

Chapter 57: Go Together

Under the pale blue night sky, a boy in a school uniform stood motionless at the eerily silent entrance of a hospital. His face bore the tracks of dried tears, indicating he had been crying just moments before. Yet, at that moment, an unknown fear was slowly eroding his heart.

Was it a hallucination born out of his extreme exhaustion from crying?

Had he followed behind Wu Sheng and walked until he was too weak and fainted, so he started dreaming?

He tried to rationalize this terrifying and unusual sight but failed to convince himself.

Too unsettled to analyze these events deeply, he just wanted to return to his school—to the familiarity of his surroundings.

“Wu Sheng…” he uttered softly, clinging to a last bit of hope.

No one responded.

Under the strange night sky, there was only the hospital, him, and the rustling sounds from the depths of the tree shadows.

The rustling was eerie, unlike the sound of birds, insects, or even the wind through leaves. It was more like a small animal scurrying in the shadows.

At the end of the road, a car was slowly approaching.

Hearing the sound, Xu Wang instinctively turned around.

Under the moonlit street, a car without dazzling headlights moved, making its body faintly visible.

It was a taxi, painted in a myriad of colors.

Xu Wang had never seen such a flamboyantly decorated taxi, as if splashed with various colors of paint—bright red, yellow, blue, green, and purple—creating a crisscross on the body of the card. At first glance, it was chaotic, yet it had an oddly harmonious and lively pattern on the car.

The only thing confirming its identity as a taxi was the “TAXI” sign on the roof.

After the initial visual shock, panic set in.

Should he hide? Or call for help? Were the people in the car friends or foes?

Countless thoughts flooded Xu Wang’s mind, yet he was unable to decide.

In his hesitation, the car reached the hospital entrance.

But the driver showed no intention of stopping!

Xu Wang jolted and quickly moved aside, but in his haste, he tripped and plunged towards the roadside.

Fortunately, this move cleared the way.

The car passed by slowly, entering the hospital as if it had never noticed an obstruction.

Xu Wang scrambled up, his heart pounding out of his chest. The extreme fear of a near-death encounter washed away his prior fear of being in a strange place.

The car, which seemed to completely ignore his presence, stopped after entering the hospital, next to a signboard.

Three men got out of the taxi, carrying bags, and approached the signboard as if studying something.

Soon, one of them spoke in a deep voice. “Infectious Diseases Building.”

The other two grunted in agreement, showing no objections.

As if hearing their consensus, a fourth voice from the taxi urged, “Get in.”

The three men turned and headed back to the taxi.

Seeing them about to leave, Xu Wang became desperate and timidly called out, “Hello—”

One of them had already gotten into the back seat, and the others were bending to enter the car, none responding to his call.

Xu Wang, stunned, ran out from behind a tree and yelled louder, “Hello—”

They should have heard him this time, even from dozens of meters away.

But still, there was no response.

Could they not see or hear him?

A sudden panic made Xu Wang’s limbs go cold.

He couldn’t think straight and dashed towards the colorful taxi, slamming his hand on the trunk!

“Bang—”

The frail trunk lid made a loud noise under the impact.

Xu Wang’s hand went numb.

The last person yet to get in the car paused, looking around warily.

Encouraged, Xu Wang banged the trunk lid twice more.

But the person showed no reaction, still looking around cautiously.

Xu Wang moved to the side of the car and tried to slap the man’s back!

His hand hit nothing.

To be precise, it passed right through the man’s body.

Xu Wang was stunned and was in disbelief. He tried a few more times, but his hand, like a ghost, couldn’t touch the man.

Yet he could touch the car!

Xu Wang felt like going mad, not knowing what to do to make them see him, hear him, and acknowledge his existence!

Suddenly, a gust of wind hit him from behind.

Xu Wang reflexively turned around, and a person covered in blood rushed towards him!

Xu Wang was petrified, too shocked to react or even scream!

With a loud “bang,” he collided solidly with the “bloodied person”.

Losing his balance, he fell through the body of the only person who hadn’t gotten into the car, tumbling to the ground in pain.

However, the “bloodied person” didn’t fall with him; instead, he crashed into that man.

As if waiting for this moment, the man quickly slapped the “bloodied person” twice, and the “bloodied person” slid off him, collapsing to the ground.

Xu Wang suddenly realized that the man’s alertness wasn’t due to him banging on the car but because he heard the “bloodied person” approaching.

“What’s wrong?” The man who killed the “bloodied person” didn’t get into the taxi, prompting a query from inside. “Any problem?”

The man stared at the “corpse” on the ground, muttering to himself, “When the zombie lunged, it seemed to hit something…”

The word “zombie” sent a shiver down Xu Wang’s spine.

The person inside the car didn’t hear clearly. “What?”

“It’s nothing.” The man shook his head and got into the car.

The taxi started up again, continuing its journey, gradually disappearing into the depths of the hospital complex.

Xu Wang looked down, seeing the “bloodied person” clearly for the first time.

The corpse had a ghastly face with eyes wide open, showing no black pupils—only a pale red over white.

He stood there, frozen.

Zombies, which he had only seen on TV, had become a reality.

A sudden wave of nausea hit him, and he bent over, dry heaving, leaning against the signboard.

At that moment, he was strangely grateful that he hadn’t eaten anything since lunch.

A strange place, with people who couldn’t see or hear him, his ghost-like existence, and the ferocious zombies… When Wu Sheng pushed him away, he thought his day couldn’t get any worse.

Now, he wished Wu Sheng would push him again.

At least, he could still help him up.

“Ow—”

From deep within the hospital, perhaps from a certain building, a piercing howl echoed.

The hoarse indistinct howl sent shivers down his spine.

At the same time, the rustling sounds around him intensified. Before Xu Wang could react, countless shadows emerged from the ground like ghosts, rushing towards the source of the howling like a tidal wave!

Xu Wang couldn’t dodge in time and was staggered by several zombies brushing past him!

But as they bumped into him, those zombies didn’t spare him a glance, as if they had just hit a transparent wall and simply continued running.

The continuous collisions numbed his fear and made it fade away. In contrast, the eeriness intensified.

As the horde of zombies ran off into the distance, the night quieted down once again.

Xu Wang looked up, seriously examining the signboard for the first time. It was a map of the hospital, from the outpatient to the emergency department, to the specialized buildings and inpatient wards, all clearly marked.

The Infectious Diseases Building.

Xu Wang carefully memorized its location. He turned around and quickly made his way deeper into the hospital.

Zombies belonged to this bizarre world, but those four men, both in appearance and speech, seemed no different from ordinary people.

Following them—Xu Wang instinctively felt—was his only hope of getting home.

……

Infectious Diseases Building, First Floor.

A dense mass of zombies nearly filled half of the corridor, rushing forward relentlessly like a swarm of bees that had lost their hive, viciously chasing after the culprit.

“I told you not to touch him—”

“What was I supposed to do? Gently catch him as he lunged at me—”

“What do we do now?!”

“Find somewhere to hide—”

As Xu Wang entered the building, he witnessed this chaotic scene.

The four men, no longer shielded by the taxi, were frantically fleeing forward, with an angry horde of zombies thunderously chasing behind them.

He just happened to be standing in the only quarter of the corridor that was empty. The four fleeing men were heading straight towards him, and he effortlessly blended in, running with them.

Just when they seemed to be running into a dead end, the four found a storage room and hurriedly took refuge.

Xu Wang also rushed in with them, fearing that if he was too slow, he would be left outside. On his way here, he had already confirmed several times that he couldn’t pass through walls, doors, or fly. To put it clearly, apart from the four men whom he could pass through at will, everything else in this bizarre world was solid to him. Even though the zombies didn’t react to him, there was still physical collision and obstruction between them.

“Quick, the cabinet—”

They tried to use a storage cabinet to block the door, so two of them braced the door while the other two pushed the cabinet. Unfortunately, the cabinet was too heavy. Despite their pushing and shoving, the cabinet tilted precariously, and items inside clattered down.

Xu Wang dodged left and right, but still, an object hit him squarely on the head. Fortunately, it wasn’t too heavy. After hitting him, it fell to the ground and rolled forward, unfurling to reveal itself.

It was a pennant.

On a red velvet background with bright yellow characters, it read: “Hanging a pot to help the world. Magical hands relieve pain and bring spring”.

“[Flaming Mountains] or [The Flood Overwhelms the Dragon King’s Temple]”?

“Dragon King Temple.”

“Are you sure?”

“You can swim in a flood, but how do you escape a fire!”

In a flash, the four men seemed to have made a decision.

One of them raised his arm and firmly pressed down.

Xu Wang moved closer to see what was on his arm, but as soon as he took a step, he heard the sound of water.

Water?

In an instant, all four men were on the windowsill, gripping the window handles as if bracing for battle.

Xu Wang’s heart tightened, and he quickly jumped up too, grabbing the same handle as one of the men. It was a strange sensation. Although he and the man could hold the same object, it was as if they existed in separate spaces.

A flood burst open the door of the storage room, soaking them for about fifteen seconds before slowly receding, disappearing completely after about two minutes.

The four men jumped down from the windowsill and peeked outside, only to be surprised.

“Are they all gone?”

“Maybe all the zombies on this floor are afraid of water…”

After a brief discussion, the four men moved out swiftly, and Xu Wang hurriedly followed them up to the second floor.

There was only one zombie on the second floor, pacing back and forth as if guarding the central staircase.

After a discussion, one of them again pressed his arm.

This time, Xu Wang saw clearly. There was an owl pattern on his arm, which opened up options when pressed, looking quite magical.

With another press, a bamboo dragonfly flew into the second-floor corridor. A nurse pushing a cart stopped, approached the dragonfly, and admired it, tilting her head. The four men took this opportunity to pass behind her and ascend to the third floor.

The third floor, like the first and second, had many offices lining the corridor. The four men seemed to be searching for a specific epidemic research lab. Xu Wang didn’t understand their conversation but began to feel like they were playing a real-life game, reaching specific locations and completing corresponding tasks with props at their disposal.

Yet, their expressions were terrifyingly serious, as if they were engaged in a life-and-death battle.

Finally, they zeroed in on two “suspicious offices,” both with thick iron doors, each with a red buzzer.

“50% chance.”

“Choose right, we’re done. Choose wrong, we go home.”

“Flip a coin?”

“Don’t rush. Know your enemy, and you will win every battle.”

The others looked puzzled at the last speaker. Xu Wang also moved closer to him. He saw the man lift his arm and dismiss an icon from the [Stationery Box]—[(Illusory) Soul Painter].

Suddenly, a calico kitten appeared before them, seemingly about two months old. Its little face was clear and white, with black and orange patches evenly distributed on its forehead, like two little bangs. It had one blue eye and one green eye, which made it exceptionally beautiful.

Xu Wang couldn’t help but reach out to pet it. Just as he touched its ear, the kitten swiftly turned and dashed through one of the two iron doors.

That iron door was airtight, with not even a slit, yet the calico kitten passed right through it!

In less than a minute, the kitten returned, patting its paws on the ground several times, leaving a bunch of dusty paw prints.

The four men gathered around, studying the prints intently, like a scientific research team.

Finally, the one who used the tool gave up, closed his eyes, and meditated again.

The [Soul Painter] kitten immediately twitched its tail and darted through the other iron door.

This time it returned even faster, in just about fifteen seconds, and without any soul painting. It just tilted its head and blinked innocently at the four men, looking both beautiful and endearing.

After a long moment of staring at the kitten, the user had a realization. “The first office.”

The other three didn’t feel very confident. “Are you certain you figured it out?”

“We don’t need to see what it painted, but where it painted,” the user explained. “There’s something in the first office, so it could paint what it saw inside. There was nothing in the second one—maybe that office doesn’t even exist, which is why it didn’t paint anything.”

The others had a sudden realization.

The kitten, as if sensing the problem was solved, tilted its head and gently rubbed against the user’s leg, seemingly seeking a reward.

Unfortunately, it was too small, and its touch was too light. The user, oblivious to its affection, stood up with his companions and walked to the first office, pressing the red button.

The iron door opened in response.

The four men immediately entered, followed by the obedient kitten.

Xu Wang naturally followed them in.

This was the epidemic research lab they were looking for. Inside, an older doctor and a young male doctor, with reddened eyes, greeted them.

The lab was filled with various equipment, arranged in a way that matched the kitten’s paw prints.

The four men handed over a metal box to the older doctor.

Listening to their conversation, Xu Wang finally understood that they were escorting a vaccine.

Then, something unexpected happened.

The young male doctor suddenly lunged at the nearest person.

The other three were stunned for a while before realizing what was happening and immediately joined the fight.

However, all four of them together couldn’t subdue the male doctor!

“Shit, is this guy the fucking zombie king—?”

Suddenly, the male doctor exerted strength, throwing everyone off him and, with lightning speed, grabbed the nearest one and bit into his arm!

A few minutes later, the bitten one became infected and went mad.

Xu Wang’s mind went blank, unable to distinguish if this was reality, an illusion, a game, or a fight to the death.

The battle ended with the victory of the zombie king.

Of the four-person team, only two remained—one turned into a zombie after being bitten and the user of the little calico kitten, who managed to escape the research lab.

Xu Wang watched helplessly as the zombie king bit the other two’s necks, and then, in a flash, they disappeared.

Xu Wang’s mind was in complete disarray, but suddenly the iron door was opened again by four completely new people.

They entered and swiftly dealt with the zombie king, who was mostly exhausted, and the infected individual.

Xu Wang stood in the middle of the battlefield, untouched except for occasional bumps by the zombie king.

The new group, just like the others, couldn’t see, hear, or touch him.

Despondent, Xu Wang’s eyes fell on the little calico kitten in the corner.

Its user had disappeared, and it hadn’t followed, crouching fearfully in the corner and watching everything in the epidemic room like a homeless stray, devoid of the earlier vigor when it was leaving paw prints.

Xu Wang walked over and gently picked it up.

The kitten suddenly lifted its head, looking around warily as if searching for the reason for its sudden levitation.

Like the zombies, it could touch Xu Wang but couldn’t see him.

Xu Wang raised his hand and gently scratched its forehead.

At first, the kitten shivered in fear but then seemed to sense kindness and comfort, gradually relaxing in the invisible embrace, purring contentedly.

As the new group handed their metal box to the old doctor, no one cared about the previous vaccine anymore.

The old doctor took out the vaccine brought by the newcomers and placed it into the machine.

The machine’s lights lit up, and Xu Wang clearly heard a voice—

[Owl: Congratulations on passing the 3/23 test and handing in your papers! See you tomorrow~~]

As the voice faded, the new four people disappeared.

In the epidemic research lab, only the old doctor, Xu Wang, and the little calico kitten in his arms remained.

The air suddenly quieted down, becoming eerily silent and cold.

Xu Wang hugged the kitten tightly, lost in thought.

The old doctor, seemingly accustomed to this, first threw the metal box brought by the first group into the trash, then turned off the running machine, opened it, took out the vaccine that had just been placed inside, and likewise threw it into the trash.

Xu Wang’s eyes widened in shock, unable to believe what he was seeing.

Wasn’t that the vaccine? The city’s hope?

The old doctor, who had earlier tearfully thanked them for bringing hope, and the one now nonchalantly wiping the lab table after discarding the vaccine—were they the same person?

Yes, the same person.

This was the most terrifying part.

Xu Wang felt that nothing he had seen or heard that night was as horrifying as this moment.

[Owl: You… Who are you…]

As a chill seeped into his limbs, Xu Wang heard a voice in his ear, intermittent and faint.

---

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

Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

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

---

Chapter 56: Sheng and Wang

Xu Wang waited at the corner of the corridor for a few minutes, deliberately waiting until the class bell rang and the teacher entered the classroom to begin the lecture. Only then did he sneak in through the back door of the classroom, stepping at the same frequency.

The teacher ignored him.

Unfortunately, still, about 80% of the classmates, in a moment of unexpected empathy, turned their heads in unison to look at him.

There was no malice in those pairs of eyes.

Those he was close with on regular days showed concern and worry, and those he was distant from showed sympathy or mere curiosity.

His mother had passed away.

A catastrophe greater than the sky falling.

Fortunately, Xu Wang thought, they didn’t yet know that he had only lived with his biological father for less than a week before being sent back. Otherwise, the life committee members would have prepared a donation box before the end of school today to collect love on his behalf.

Ignoring all the gazes, he swiftly sat in his own seat, put down his backpack, took out his books, and looked at the blackboard. His expression was natural, and his body was relaxed, as if this was just another ordinary afternoon, where he would usually go back to the dormitory for a nap, usually arrive at the first class on time, and usually sneak back to his seat through the back door.

He moved with the ease and casualness of a well-trodden path.

The teacher tapped on the blackboard, and the students, who had been looking back or sideways, withdrew their attention.

Among those retracting gazes, the feelings of pity and sympathy faded, replaced more by confusion, bewilderment, disapproval, or hesitancy to speak. But in the end, all eyes returned to the blackboard.

Xu Wang was quite satisfied.

Too much warmth and kindness could make one fragile; a bit of indifference was just right.

“Page 86…” The English teacher led everyone into today’s review focus.

Xu Wang lowered his head to flip through the book, seizing the moment to blink hard.

Suppressing the burning, sour feeling mixed with hot tears.

Someone next to him was looking at him. Xu Wang was extremely sensitive to such gazes. On a regular day, if he was looked at like this, he would happily fantasize about writing a persuasive essay titled “My Class Monitor Seems to Like Me Too”.

But today, he lacked such a light-hearted spirit. He could only look back honestly, thick-skinned, silently asking Wu Sheng, “Miss me?”

Perhaps because his smile was too bright, Wu Sheng’s look wasn’t very pleasant.

After a few seconds, a stack of stapled papers was thrown over, along with a paper ball that kissed his forehead.

He unfolded the paper ball. Naturally, it was the class monitor’s neat handwriting—Last week’s mock exam paper.

Xu Wang flipped through them one by one, all blank papers, with the answers written separately at the end of each subject. Key questions even came with explanations. It was obvious that he was supposed to do them first and then check the answers meticulously… Wait, mathematics, English, science…

Xu Wang looked up, giving his best friend a puzzled eyebrow raise with his hand over his heart—Where’s my favorite subject, Chinese?

Class Monitor Wu lowered his head and quickly wrote another note, crumpled it, and skillfully flicked it over.

Xu Wang, not wanting to be fooled twice, caught it quickly and unfolded it—Greed is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant.

Xu Wang couldn’t help but laugh.

This time, his laughter was genuine.

Wu Sheng was recognized as the top student in overall grades in the grade and first in every subject without fail, except for Chinese.

Xu Wang was known for his uneven subjects, being mediocre in math, English, and science but always at the top in Chinese. He was the brightest star in the heart of Lao Zhang, the Chinese teacher.

If it weren’t for the broader range of majors in science in university and the private desire to stay in the same class as Wu Sheng, Xu Wang would have chosen humanities when it was time to apply for either arts or science*.

*Clarity: While school is only compulsory until 9^th grade in China, if the student continues education into (what’s equivalent to high school), normally they would choose a path: liberal arts or science. Depending on what they choose, their studies would lean towards that subject more.

Seeing Xu Wang smiling, Wu Sheng’s heart relaxed, only to hear the English teacher’s firm roll call—

“Wu Sheng!”

Judging by the tone, it seemed he had called more than once.

Wu Sheng quickly stood up, meeting the teacher’s “come on” gaze.

Come on, what?

Class Monitor Wu looked bewildered.

Looking around, several students had already stood up, looking dejected and disheartened. Clearly, the teacher had asked a particularly challenging question, and those called upon had unfortunately been caught.

Most of the students were eagerly waiting to see what would happen, especially since the teacher had called on Wu Sheng, who was seen as a model student. If Wu Sheng were to fail, it would certainly upset the teacher’s expectations.

At the crucial moment, Qian Ai, sitting in the front row, quickly used a book to cover his face and turned around. With exaggerated lip movements and his chubby cheeks, he managed to convey a clear message. “Recite—the—text—”

Wu Sheng suddenly realized. The English homework assigned by the teacher the day before was to memorize that key text, which contained several grammatical points that were sure to be on the test. It was an easy way to score points.

Those standing had chosen not to take this easy opportunity.

Wu Sheng gathered his thoughts and concentrated, reciting the text smoothly and naturally with perfect pronunciation.

The students, who were looking forward to some drama, were disappointed. It was only fun if Wu Sheng couldn’t answer, but fluent responses were the norm for him.

After finishing the recitation, the teacher nodded in satisfaction, allowing all the standing students to finally sit down.

When Wu Sheng looked again for Xu Wang, he had already propped up his textbook and was seemingly taking a nap on his desk.

Wu Sheng wasn’t sure if Xu Wang was really sleeping or faking it. His mind was still on the moment Xu Wang laughed at the paper ball. If Xu Wang was really asleep, Wu Sheng hoped he would still receive paper balls in his dreams.

Sleeping in class and then rushing to the bathroom faster than anyone else, Wu Sheng couldn’t find Xu Wang when he followed him there.

Throughout the afternoon, Xu Wang didn’t give anyone the chance to express their “concern and condolences”.

Finally, when the evening self-study session ended and the class erupted in the noise of packing up, Xu Wang seemed to come alive. He quickly gathered his things, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and gave a crisp clean, “Bye.”

Wu Sheng was surprised. “Aren’t you going back to the dorm?”

“My dad worries, so he insists I go home.” Xu Wang shrugged, looking resigned.

“Oh.” After a long look, Wu Sheng felt like he had more to say but couldn’t organize his thoughts, finally managing a dry, “Be careful on the way.”

Xu Wang paused, then laughed. “If a robber meets me, they’ll go bankrupt. If it’s a kidnapper…” He considered it seriously with a cocky raise of his eyebrows. “They’ve got good taste; we could talk.”

Wu Sheng: “……”

He couldn’t remember how he got back to the dorm, and by the time he realized something wasn’t right, it was already 11 p.m.

The dorm lights were out, and everyone was working under their small desk lamps, except for the bed below his, which was conspicuously empty.

Home? 

With Xu Wang’s stubborn nature, he wouldn’t have gone to his father’s house if his mother hadn’t passed away. Now that he had gone, he was quickly sent back to school. Even if he was slow to catch on, he should have understood what was happening.

Besides, Xu Wang wasn’t slow at all.

He was more sensitive than anyone when it came to the warmth and coldness of human relationships.

A flash of lightning illuminated the dorm window, followed by the distant rumble of thunder. April rains were always plentiful.

Wu Sheng got out of bed and went to the corner of the hallway to call Xu Wang. The school didn’t allow phones, but the students always found a way.

The phone rang for a long time with no answer.

Wu Sheng called again.

On the third attempt, the call was finally picked up. Before Wu Sheng could speak, the voice on the other end complained to him, “What kind of class monitor are you? Calling a classmate in the middle of the night!”

The accusation was sincere, and the voice was hoarse and nasal, as if the person had just woken up.

Wu Sheng didn’t pretend to be ignorant. “What’s wrong with your voice?”

“Try being woken up when you’re sleeping soundly.” The voice yawned convincingly.

Wu Sheng narrowed his eyes. “Where are you?”

There was a pause on the other end. “At my dad’s.”

Rumble—

Thunder rumbled again, heard on both ends of the call.

“I’ll ask you again.” Wu Sheng’s voice turned cold. “Where are you?”

Silence followed.

“If you dare hang up, I’ll go to the teacher on duty right now and say a student is missing. We’ll have the whole dormitory looking for you.”

“Do you have to be so harsh?”

“I’m dealing with a cunning opponent.”

“Can’t you just leave me alone?”

“I can. You can change dormitories when you come back and find a good roommate who doesn’t disturb others’ sleep.”

“How am I disturbing you when I’m not even there?”

“The bottom bunk is drafty without you.”

“……”

Five minutes later, Wu Sheng got dressed and slipped out of the dorm, becoming a shadow in the rainy night and sneaking towards the academic building.

If someone had told him in junior high—

“Wu Sheng, after you go to high school, you will meet a particularly unreliable buddy. He seems possessed by the devil of impulsiveness, always ready to shout at any injustice he sees. He seeks trouble even in peaceful situations and doesn’t listen to advice. If you confront him, he must respond, and if you throw a paper ball at him, he will definitely throw a pen cap back at you. Despite all this, you still treasure this friend immensely. No one else can replace him. If you don’t see him for a day, you feel uneasy.”

He would have thought it a curse, and a heartless one at that, because each point was a sore spot.

But now, in his senior year, he had come to realize that nothing was “absolute” in this world.

He moved houses frequently in elementary school and never had long-term friends. In junior high, he was immersed in studies and didn’t make close friends. In high school, as the class monitor, he was seen by his classmates as a “mobile exercise database”. More approached him for problem-solving than casual chats. Even in the dorm, during playful antics, he was usually ignored. If they accidentally bumped into his bed, they’d feel sorry for disturbing his study.

Although he wasn’t particularly interested in childish antics, his participation was one thing; being included by others was another.

Xu Wang moved in a month later, in October of their first year of high school. Wu Sheng remembered it vividly. It was raining heavily, with water seeping through the window and covering the sill. No one in the dorm cared, except for Xu Wang, who wiped it up and checked the entire dorm. He asked Wu Sheng, “Do you have any extra cloth?”

Wu Sheng, who was listening to English at the time, removed his headphones and asked, “What?”

“Do you have any extra cloth?” Xu Wang repeated loudly, explaining, “To put on the sill to soak up water. Otherwise, it’ll spill everywhere.”

Wu Sheng shook his head in confusion.

Cleaning was almost a ghostly presence in their dorm—the cloth Xu Wang used was an old towel left by a classmate that didn’t have time to throw it away.

Xu Wang frowned and sighed in disappointment. “It’s a shame you have such a nice look but have no love for labor.”

Wu Sheng: “……”

Not just Wu Sheng, but the other roommates were displeased too. “What’s wrong with how we look?”

So, to prove their worth, the roommates cleaned the window sill and floor thoroughly and even reported the leaky windowsill to the dormitory supervisor the next day.

Wu Sheng was part of this labor force too.

This was Xu Wang’s first appearance. Their next heart-to-heart was on a weekend when only the two of them were in the dorm. Wu Sheng was solving problems on the upper bunk, and Xu Wang was reading on the lower bunk. In a warm atmosphere, Xu Wang suddenly kicked Wu Sheng’s bed. “You’ll become stupid if you keep solving problems like this.”

Wu Sheng, bored, put down his pen and asked, “Are you talking to me?”

Xu Wang sat up, as if he caught him in the act. “There are only two of us here, and you’re still asking me this question. If this isn’t being stupid, what is? Wake up, Class Monitor!”

“Fine,” Wu Sheng agreed for once. “I’ll stop studying. What should I do then?”

“Anything,” Xu Wang said earnestly. “Life should be rich and colorful.”

Wu Sheng thought seriously: “I learned piano and mathematics in elementary school, Go and ice skating in junior high. In high school, I had less time, so I tried self-teaching myself to paint but found I had no talent, so I switched to computers. I do read less—only one or two books a week. Looking at it, my life is indeed bland. Can you give me some specific suggestions on how to enrich it?”

Xu Wang: “…I’m going to stop being friends with you!”

Wu Sheng still remembered Xu Wang’s wide eyes and puffed cheeks when he said this, like a little tiger in a cat’s skin, cuter than the toughest math problem.

It was then that he realized they were already friends.

Third year, Class Seven.

Wu Sheng stood at the back door of the classroom, his hair wet from the rain and droplets sliding down his cheeks. Xu Wang, leaning on his desk, seemed to smile when he saw him, but it was too dark to see clearly.

“Didn’t you bring an umbrella?” he asked seriously.

Grinding his teeth, Wu Sheng walked in and sat next to Xu Wang. “I’ll give you another chance.”

Xu Wang sat up straight. “How will we get back to the dorm in this heavy rain without an umbrella?”

After looking at him for two seconds, Wu Sheng suddenly reached out and took Xu Wang’s phone from the desk.

Xu Wang was confused. “What are you doing?”

“Calling your mom,” Wu Sheng scrolled through the contacts, “to tell her you won’t be coming home tonight and are causing trouble in the classroom.”

“You’re crazy!” Xu Wang desperately tried to grab the phone. “My mom is dead, dead—”

His voice was hoarse, barely hiding the tears.

Wu Sheng hugged him tightly.

Xu Wang struggled with all his might but couldn’t break free. He never knew Wu Sheng was so strong.

The rain intensified, with thunder and rain blending into a torrential downpour. Xu Wang finally cried out loud, holding onto Wu Sheng, sobbing like a child who had been bullied.

“When they divorced… my mom told me… she took me from my dad…”

“Actually, my dad didn’t want me…”

“I wanted to stay in the dorm in my first year of high school… She didn’t allow it, and I argued with her…”

“She was already sick by then, but she didn’t tell me, and I was so angry at her…”

“I didn’t want to live with my dad… but I also didn’t dare to go home…”

“I always felt my mom was still at home, waiting to scold me for my bad grades. I was afraid that if I went back, the dream would end…”

“Wu Sheng, why do the bad people live well while the good ones suffer so much…”

Xu Wang vented all his sorrow, regret, and anger without reservation. Wu Sheng didn’t speak; he just gently stroked his head, quietly accompanying him.

The rain grew heavier and the thunder louder, which was unusual for April. It was almost like a stormy midsummer.

Xu Wang, exhausted from crying and completely hoarse, strangely felt much calmer inside. The sadness lingered, but it didn’t hurt so much that he felt like crying at the slightest thing.

Wu Sheng’s entire school uniform was wet. Xu Wang couldn’t distinguish between what was drenched by the rain and what was his own doing.

He cautiously looked up to find Wu Sheng also looking down at him. Or maybe, Xu Wang thought, he had been watching him all along, quiet and gentle, quite uncharacteristic of the Wu Sheng he knew.

The night was dark, without a trace of moonlight, yet Xu Wang swore he saw what he longed for in that gaze.

He felt as if possessed.

Enchanted, he moved closer.

Closer still, he could even make out his own increasingly clear reflection in Wu Sheng’s eyes.

Suddenly, those eyes blinked, and a surge of panic washed over everything.

Xu Wang, losing his nerve, impulsively kissed him!

But Wu Sheng reacted faster, instinctively pushing him away, using more force than intended in his panic.

“Bang—”

Xu Wang was pushed to the floor.

His back hit a slanted chair, and he landed hard on the ground, but he didn’t feel any pain. For the first half minute, he was dazed, his mind a blank slate.

Wu Sheng didn’t know what to do.

His heart pounded wildly, audible even through the rain.

He wanted to apologize but couldn’t speak; he wanted to help him up but dared not reach out.

He feared Xu Wang would ask why. This was the first time in his life that he was so afraid of being questioned!

Xu Wang gradually regained his senses, feeling the pain.

His back hurt, his ass hurt, his eyes hurt—everything was intensely painful, and his heart was even worse—a mix of pain and sorrow that was terribly suffocating.

He tried to take deep breaths.

Once, twice, thrice…

Finally, after an unknown number of attempts, he succeeded, like a person struggling ashore, gasping for air.

Wu Sheng was still stunned, which was even rarer than the gentle Wu Sheng.

Xu Wang leisurely observed him, then chuckled, leaning on a table and lazily reaching out, as if it were the most natural thing. “Stop feeling guilty¹ and help me up.”

Wu Sheng breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly stood up.

Xu Wang grasped his extended hand, which was cool and damp with sweat.

It was raining like crazy.

Walking in the corridor and watching raindrops splash against the glass, one might even feel splashed by the droplets.

Wu Sheng and Xu Wang walked one after the other in silence.

Since leaving the classroom, they hadn’t spoken a word.

The long corridor seemed endless. After a while, Wu Sheng began to worry, fearing Xu Wang was no longer behind him.

He stopped abruptly and turned around without warning.

Xu Wang, seemingly startled, quickly looked out the window, determined, resolute, unwavering, like the relentlessly flowing rain on the glass.

Wu Sheng caught his breath.

Even from the side, he could clearly see tears on Xu Wang’s face.

The previous sobbing tears were still on his own uniform. Wu Sheng was sure that Xu Wang hadn’t cried since they left the classroom.

Lowering his gaze, Wu Sheng pretended not to see and continued walking, but his heart was in complete turmoil.

The quietly crying Xu Wang was even more heart-wrenching than before.

But he dared not ask why.

Just like in the classroom, the “confession¹” Xu Wang half-jokingly mentioned.

What confession¹?

One vague, the other afraid to delve deeper, seemingly understanding it tacitly but also ambiguously¹.

¹Clarity: The word used is (忏悔) which means to confess (also means to repent). In this case, Xu Wang was casually making a joke with an underlying undertone (as in confessing his feelings) in order to absolve the awkward situation but also dropping a hint. Wu Sheng, not picking up on it (or rather, choosing not to), convinced himself it was about a feeling of penance.

Lightning streaked outside the window, so close it seemed to touch the glass, momentarily illuminating the corridor as if it were daylight.

Perhaps it was too close; the thunder boomed almost simultaneously, painfully loud.

Wu Sheng squinted in the bright light, and after the thunder passed, he thought it over and turned back, saying, “It’s too dangerous with frequent lightning. Maybe we should wait…”

He stopped mid-sentence.

Xu Wang was no longer behind him.

Only the empty corridor remained, deep and cold, as if leading to the end of darkness.

……

Xu Wang swore he had been following Wu Sheng closely.

But as they walked, the surroundings blurred, and the portraits of famous people on the walls began to distort in the lightning, like a shaky old TV signal, dazzling and headache-inducing.

He became scared.

Wu Sheng turned around at that moment, his mouth moving, seemingly saying something about the thunder… or something else.

He wanted to clarify, and feeling panicked, he yelled loudly, “I can’t hear you—”

Wu Sheng acted as if he hadn’t heard.

And his gaze didn’t meet his, as if… as if he couldn’t see him.

Another flash of lightning, and even Wu Sheng’s figure started to blur.

Xu Wang had seen countless horror movies, but none were a fraction as terrifying as this moment.

He desperately lunged towards Wu Sheng, thinking that if speaking and seeing didn’t work, he would physically hold onto him!

But in the end, he only hugged himself.

The rain stopped.

The world became clear again.

But it was no longer the world Xu Wang knew.

No corridor, no school, no Wu Sheng.

It was still night, but with a clear sky and scattered stars.

He stood at the entrance of a hospital, looking up in confusion. The words “Central Hospital” glowed red, like blood.

---

The author has something to say:

Did anyone notice the cameo of Classmate Qian? Please raise your hand, hahaha.

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

Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

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

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Chapter 55: Secret Box

“I live just by the North Fourth Ring Road. If I had known we were this close, I would have contacted you earlier,” Qian Ai said while sipping the tea made by Kuang Jinxin and surveying Xu Wang’s living room. He and Wu Sheng were discussing the topic of “old classmates should have reunited earlier”, expressing his sentiments and busily enjoying the conversation.

Wu Sheng wasn’t as leisurely-minded.

From buying a plane ticket first thing to returning to Beijing in the afternoon, and then Xu Wang locking himself in the bedroom as soon as he got home, Wu Sheng’s mind had never been at peace. His head was exploding with information, with endless assumptions swirling around: infinite loops, memory erasure, higher-dimensional spaces, parallel universes, alien wormholes, time leaps, consciousness drift, rebirth illusions… It was enough to write a book called “A Thousand Possibilities of Xu Wang Exploring the “Owl’”.

Seeing Wu Sheng staring at the closed bedroom door with no interest in chatting, Qian Ai reluctantly stopped talking and calmly sipped his tea.

He wasn’t really that carefree. The fact that Xu Wang had once entered the “Owl” was so bizarre and potentially tied to their future fates that he was also anxious and eager to know the truth.

But since Xu Wang had locked himself in the bedroom since returning, no matter how urgent they were, they could only wait.

Waiting was the ultimate test of patience. Without speaking to distract themselves, it would feel like an eternity.

“I used to intern at a tea house nearby.” Seeing as no one paid attention to Qian Ai and his pitiful appearance, Kuang Jinxin took on the task of “chatting with him”. “But the dormitory is closer to Sheng Ge’s company. The two buildings are just back-to-back. So as soon as we entered the ‘Owl,’ we ran into each other.”

Finally having someone to talk to, Qian Ai immediately put down his teacup. “Meeting is useless,” he said with experience. “The first day is all about being confused.”

“No.” Kuang Jinxin decisively shook his head. “Sheng Ge was incredibly calm. He told me not to panic and said it might be a dream, or maybe a mysterious magnetic field was interfering with our brains, taking our consciousness to a new space. Anyway, we needed to gather information first.”

Qian Ai swallowed hard, glanced at the back of his own advisor, then looked back at Kuang Jinxin. “And then what?”

“Then we began to study the owl pattern,” Kuang Jinxin said. “We opened the roster and found two more teammates. Sheng Ge was instantly happy.”

“…You should have run away immediately at that time!” Qian Ai couldn’t listen anymore, almost wanting to tie a warning bell on Kuang Jinxin. “What normal person gets involved, and their first reaction is to discuss dreams and consciousness?!”

“Sheng Ge said panicking wouldn’t solve the problem.” Kuang Jinxin still remembers that when Wu Sheng said this, the calm and rational light in his eyes made all the magical and bizarre things turn to dust.

Qian Ai: “……”

Sighing weakly, he straightened Kuang Jinxin’s shoulders, nose to nose, eye to eye, and earnestly advised, “Fear is a human instinct. If someone is always highly calm, it might be due to a shining rationality, or it could be a sign of an antisocial personality. So, for safety’s sake, next time you encounter such a situation, first run, maintain a safe distance, then observe, understand?”

Kuang Jinxin frowned in thought, struggling to absorb and understand.

Seeing this, Qian Ai decisively brought up a typical example for targeted explanation. “Chi Yingxue.”

“Huh?” Kuang Jinxin was startled, not expecting Qian Ai to mention this person.

Qian Ai continued, “We’ve encountered him twice. Once, when his boat capsized and he fell into the sea, and another time, when he fell from the Ferris wheel. Both times were close to death. Have you ever seen him scared?”

Kuang Jinxin slowly shook his head.

On the Endless Sea, when Chi Yingxue fell from the mast, he even waved to the spyglass. This time on the Ferris wheel, he also told his teammates that Chi Yingxue was very calm. It was more like suicide than sending him home.

“So, people who don’t know fear are the scariest.” Qian Ai didn’t know where his insistence came from, but he felt compelled to educate Kuang Jinxin about safety. It had to be thorough and impactful. “Next time you meet someone like that, unless they’re like Wu Sheng, radiating a light of wisdom, the kind you can tell is brilliant at a glance; otherwise, always maintain a safe distance, got it?”

Kuang Jinxin: “……”

Qian Ai: “Any questions?”

Kuang Jinxin: “Why did he want to commit suicide?”

Qian Ai: “The example was to make the lesson more impactful, not to ignite your curiosity…”

Kuang Jinxin: “But I am really curious!”

Qian Ai: “Curiosity is the devil.”

Kuang Jinxin: “Isn’t it ‘impulse is the devil’…?”

Qian Ai: “It’s a double devil’s knock*.”

*This term derives from Chinese chess, where two pawns/rooks restrict the opponent’s movement. The joke here is that what Qian Ai says isn’t a common saying—rather, it’s “impulse is the devil” rather than curiosity. So when he’s corrected by Kuang Jinxin, he’s replying, “Actually, they’re both the devil,” referring to both curiosity and impulse (metaphorically represented by the two pawns/rook in this term).

Kuang Jinxin: “……”

……

Fifteen minutes earlier, in the bedroom.

As soon as Xu Wang entered, he firmly closed the door. Evidence was certainly to be shared with teammates, but the place where the evidence was hidden was too sensitive and information-rich to be made public.

Only after ensuring the bedroom door was locked did he open the wardrobe, reaching deep inside to feel around for a while, finally pulling out a box.

It was a rectangular biscuit tin, about the size of A4 paper and about three inches thick. The colorfully decorated lid was covered in a long string of cursive English letters, resembling leaping musical notes.

Xu Wang opened the box cautiously, as if it contained the most precious treasure.

Of course, there were no treasures inside.

Nor were there any biscuits; based on the code on the box, they would have expired a decade ago.

The box contained a book, several letters, and a keychain.

The book was an English version of “Walden” by Henry David Thoreau. It was a graduation gift from Wu Sheng—the only thing he had ever given Xu Wang in their three years together.

Flipping open the title page, one could see the class monitor’s message—I hope you can finish this book.

That was the only line of Chinese in the entire book, and every time Xu Wang opened it in the dead of night, he wanted to pick out those characters, one by one, go back in a time machine to the day they parted, and throw them in Wu Sheng’s face.

Unfortunately, there was no time machine.

And even if there were, he wouldn’t have the heart to do it.

There were five letters in total, all from when Wu Sheng first went abroad, correspondence between them. Despite it being the age of technology where a message could instantly bridge half the globe, Wu Sheng bizarrely insisted on asking for his address online only to send letters via international express.

Okay, he did feel a bit… um, somewhat… cough, excited enough to bounce around his dormitory, nearly scaring his university roommates.

But Wu Sheng’s letters were just friendly inquiries about his well-being, leaving no space for imagination. He had no choice but to respond in kind with a “friend’s reply”.

After five lukewarm exchanges, just as he was getting used to his “white moonlight” turning into a “pen pal”, Wu Sheng stopped replying.

At first, Xu Wang thought the express mail was lost and even prodded Wu Sheng online but got no response. As time passed, this excuse no longer held water. Whether Wu Sheng’s letters were lost or his own replies, if Wu Sheng was expecting a response, he should have inquired about the lack of one.

So, there was only one conclusion: Wu Sheng didn’t want to contact him anymore.

Stirring someone’s thoughts and then cutting off contact was harder to accept than never getting in touch after graduation.

The slight warmth at the bottom of his eyes startled Xu Wang, bringing him back to reality.

Now, he could smile faintly even after a kiss, absolutely in control, having progressed from bronze to king. What the hell was he doing reminiscing about his youth!

Squeezing his face hard, Xu Wang sternly lectured himself. “You’re twenty-nine, not nineteen. Your season of flowers and rain is long over. Can you be a bit more aware?”

After this heart-to-heart with himself, Captain Xu’s mood improved. Then he looked down and saw the keychain in the crevice.

The keychain was a calico cat with a clean, milky face and black and orange bangs. It was curled up in a sweet, donut-shaped bundle.

For years, he had thought this keychain belonged to Wu Sheng. Back then, not yet graduated, he didn’t know that in the near future, he would receive that infuriating English book, exchange a few greeting letters in college, and so, out of a secret wish, he kept it.

Pining for someone for three years, he didn’t want it to be like a breeze over water, leaving no trace once the ripples faded.

Now, the “ripple” he had preserved for ten years turned out not to be a gust from Wu Sheng’s peach blossoms but from another bizarre wind.

The kitten on the keychain remained asleep, but if it opened its eyes, Xu Wang believed they would be a pair of blue-green heterochromia—blue like the sky, like the ocean, green like jade, like the forest…

……

Ten years ago.

The morning sunlight streamed through the window, brightening the corridor of a high school’s senior class and illuminating the portraits of scientists on the walls, as well as the youthful faces in the classroom.

Class 7 of Grade 12 was a science class known for its lively atmosphere and solid academic performance. Most of the time, they were a relief for the teachers.

At this moment, the scene was one of thriving morning self-study.

Some were solving problems, others were memorizing words, and some were discussing problem-solving approaches with their deskmates. Of course, there were also those taking advantage of the teacher’s absence to relax for a moment and spread the latest gossip.

“Is Xu Wang coming back to class today?”

“I heard it with my own ears. I was delivering homework to the office just now, and Lao Zhang was on the phone with his dad.”

“Lao Zhang is too much!”

“Haa, the college entrance exam rate is everything.”

“His mom just passed away. Who would still have the heart to focus on exams?”

“No, I heard Lao Zhang on the phone saying that it seemed like Xu Wang’s dad wanted him back in class. Lao Zhang was actually advising against it, saying the child is burdened and it’d be better to rest at home for a few more days…”

“Shh, shh—”

“Huh?”

“What’s up?”

“What’s happening?”

“Let me tell you something, but keep it a secret.”

“Go on, tell us.”

“Xu Wang’s parents are divorced.”

“Really?”

“I was in the same class as him in junior high. Everyone knew. His dad left him and his mom for another woman… Huh? What the hell?”

The boy who spilled the beans covered the back of his head and turned around sharply, meeting the class monitor’s gaze.

“Help me pick up my eraser.” Class Monitor Wu looked at him innocently.

The gossiping boy was confused. “How hard did you throw that eraser to make it fly?”

“It wasn’t thrown by accident.” Class Monitor Wu admitted honestly. “I aimed and threw it.”

The boy forgot to be angry, asking dumbly, “Why did you throw it at me?”

Class Monitor Wu didn’t reply. He just glanced at the surveillance camera above.

Every classroom had such a camera to monitor, no, supervise the students’ study environment.

And now, during early self-study, the camera was already lit up with a red dot, clicking into action much earlier than usual, probably in celebration of this momentous day—50 days countdown to the college entrance exam.

The gossip boy gave the class monitor a grateful look, picked up the eraser from the dusty floor, and returned it to the model student.

The classroom returned to silence.

Wu Sheng continued solving problems, but as soon as he wrote a bit, his mechanical pencil lead broke.

He advanced a new piece of lead and continued, but it broke again before he finished a formula.

The mechanical pencil seemed to be protesting its user’s distracted state.

Wu Sheng thought he wouldn’t see Xu Wang until at least tomorrow.

However, in the first class of the afternoon, just as the bell rang and the teacher entered from the front door, Xu Wang entered from the back.

The teacher turned a blind eye, and the students glanced sideways, but Xu Wang casually took his seat.

Both sat in the last row, separated only by an aisle. Wu Sheng stared at him intently, unclear what expression he hoped to see on Xu Wang’s face.

But Xu Wang, having settled in his seat, turned his head, carelessly smiling as usual, nonchalant.

“Miss me?” he asked, his eyes full of hopeful stars.

---

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

Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

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

---

Chapter 54: Epidemic Prevention Room

On one side, the teammates were bonding in “unity and friendship,” while on the other side, the advisor looked serious.

He had been standing behind Xu Wang for almost two minutes, but Xu Wang hadn’t noticed him, still squatting there, entranced by a pennant on the floor.

It was just an ordinary pennant, lying on the ground, covered in dust, with red background and yellow letters, praising medical virtues—”Hanging a pot to help the world. Magical hands relieve pain and bring spring.”

Wu Sheng observed every word on the pennant carefully, not even missing the signature, but despite staring until the words almost distorted in his vision, he couldn’t decipher any secret.

However, Xu Wang seemed to be lost in thought, as if the pennant could unlock some sort of gateway.

Suddenly, he slapped his knee. “Right, that’s it!”

Wu Sheng was startled and quickly moved in front of him. He saw his captain’s face brighten with sudden understanding.

“Did you think of a plan?” asked Wu Sheng.

“Yeah.” Xu Wang nodded joyfully. “We’ll use [The Flood Overwhelms the Dragon King’s Temple]!”

“Make the zombie horde turn on each other?” Wu Sheng had thought that the interpretation of [The Flood Overwhelms the Dragon King’s Temple] was where one turned against their own.

“No, no.” Xu Wang shook his head like a bobblehead. “That’s an offense, not an illusory type.”

Wu Sheng paused, his train of thought finally aligning. “Turning on each other” belonged to mental control, and among the stationeries they had used so far, the control types were illusory, while [The Flood Overwhelms the Dragon King’s Temple] was an offense type.

Blinded by the literal meaning of the idiom, he had been led astray.

Realizing Wu Sheng had caught on, Xu Wang continued, “The zombies outside are afraid of water. This weapon will be most effective.”

Wu Sheng was skeptical. “How do you know they’re afraid of water?”

“Why so many questions?” Xu Wang had only grasped part of his fragmented memory and couldn’t explain clearly, “Do you trust me or not?”

Wu Sheng: “……”

Xu Wang: “Good, then let’s act!”

Wu Sheng: “I haven’t even said anything yet!”

Ignoring his opinion, the captain, already standing up, began organizing their “enthusiastic” teammates. “Lao Qian, Xiao Kuang, come stand on the windowsill!”

“What kind of plan is this…” Qian Ai, puzzled, clumsily climbed onto the windowsill and then pulled Kuang Jinxin up.

Wu Sheng was still squatting, inspecting the pennant from all angles, unable to find any secrets. Finally, in disbelief, he slapped it! A cloud of old dust hit him in the face.

“Achoo—Achoo—”

Kuang Jinxin, just standing on the windowsill, looked baffled at the dusty advisor. “Sheng Ge, what happened to you?”

Wu Sheng pretended not to hear and smoothly climbed onto the windowsill.

“It’s nothing.” Xu Wang reassured Classmate Kuang. “Your Sheng Ge thought the pennant was responsive, hoping to reveal a secret code with a slap.”

Wu Sheng: “……”

Finally, everyone was on the windowsill. Xu Wang, grasping the window handle, explained the tactic, “Once we use the stationery, the entire first floor will flood. The door will definitely be broken open, but don’t worry; as long as we hold on tight and stand firm, the water will recede in at most two minutes. By then, the zombies will have been washed away, clearing the first floor, and we can head upstairs.”

The three teammates: “……”

Xu Wang: “What’s wrong?”

Qian Ai: “Is this a tactic or a god-mode prediction?”

Xu Wang: “Do you trust me or not?”

Qian Ai: “……”

Xu Wang: “Great, then let’s act!”

Qian Ai: “Huh? What the hell? I didn’t even say anything!”

“You’ll get used to it.” The experienced Advisor Wu patted Lao Qian’s shoulder. “He’s now Xu ‘Cheat Mode’ Wang.”

[(Offense) The Flood Overwhelms the Dragon King’s Temple] activated. An enormous tidal wave instantly swept over the first floor of the Infectious Disease Building!

The roaring flood, carrying a torrential current, smashed through everything in its path. In less than half a second, it burst through the storage room door with a loud “bang”. The scattered cabinets were instantly submerged, and the surging wave hit the window where the four were standing!

“Shit, my chainsaw is still on the cabinet—”

“Switch to using [Swish Swish Hidden Blade]—” Before Xu Wang could finish, a huge wave hit him square in the face.

For about ten seconds, the four were completely submerged in water, clinging to the window to avoid being swept away!

Suddenly, something hit Qian Ai. He couldn’t see anything in the murky water and thought it was a zombie, wildly kicking until he nearly broke his foot.

Finally, the wave receded. The real water level was just over the windowsill, reaching their knees and continuing to drop as the flood flowed out of the building.

Qian Ai opened his eyes and, while gasping for air, finally saw what he had been fighting—a dragon’s head.

Carved in wood, brightly colored, and lifelike, it was floating out of the storage room with the flood. The water flowing past the door also carried fragments of a temple, like red wooden planks and golden pillars.

Qian Ai turned to Wu Sheng, speechless. “Your weapon… really did flood the Dragon King’s Temple.”

Wu Sheng felt equally complex. “Sometimes, the world is just that straightforward.”

It only took about two minutes for the flood to recede. They peeked around the corridor, seeing it empty with not a single zombie in sight.

Qian Ai now believed what Wu Sheng said; their captain must have bought a strategy guide with real money!

Without the horde of zombies, the group smoothly climbed to the second floor, only to find that the stairway to the third floor was singular, neither on the left nor the right, but in the middle, offset from the right corridor they were in.

The second floor’s long corridor, lined with many offices, wasn’t as quiet as the first. A female nurse was wandering back and forth, wearing a white uniform and nurse’s cap, tall and curvy, pushing a medical cart full of syringes.

The four companions hid at the corner of the stairway entrance, observing the situation.

The nurse zombie’s eyes were even paler than the handsome doctor’s, almost invisible with a red membrane, as if someone had erased her pupils, leaving no distinction between the iris and the rest of her eye. It was just a terrifying white.

Her wandering seemed preset, confined to the area between the stairways leading up from the first floor, pushing the cart back and forth. Each time she neared the stairway, she would immediately turn around, never checking to see if someone was hiding there, diligently following her own path.

The middle of this path was precisely the stairway to the third floor.

“On the first floor, there was a male god, and this one seems like another heartthrob.” Qian Ai now viewed every zombie in the Infectious Disease Building as a potential boss capable of summoning minions.

Kuang Jinxin: “Can we sneak past her while she’s turned around?”

Wu Sheng: “In theory, yes, but it’s too risky in practice.”

Each team member voiced their opinions, highlighting the captain’s silence. The three companions turned to Xu Wang, who was deep in concentration, eyes tightly shut and lips moving slightly, as if reciting some secret mantra.

Kuang Jinxin was about to ask when Qian Ai stopped him with a gesture, whispering, “Don’t disturb the captain while he’s using his ‘third eye’.”

Wu Sheng was silent as he watched Xu Wang’s profile thoughtfully.

Two minutes later.

Xu Wang suddenly turned around with eyes full of determination. “I’ll distract her at the other stairway entrance. You guys take the chance to go upstairs. Remember, move quietly and quickly.”

Wu Sheng: “How do you plan to distract her?”

Kuang Jinxin: “What about you after we go up?”

Qian Ai: “Umm, yeah.”

Each had their concerns, but it seemed pale if they didn’t voice out.

Xu Wang first addressed Wu Sheng. “I’ll use sound to distract her.”

He then turned to Kuang Jinxin. “Once she’s distracted, I’ll run back from the first floor and follow you guys upstairs.”

Kuang Jinxin’s worry was evident; their ascent was simple, but Xu Wang had a long way to run. What if the zombie turned back?

Before he could express his concerns, Xu Wang had already dashed downstairs toward the left stairway.

Wu Sheng was already in position, intently watching the nurse zombie’s back and the left stairway where Xu Wang would appear. As the nurse zombie reached about a meter from the left stairway and turned around as usual, Xu Wang emerged at the stairway entrance.

He stayed still until the nurse zombie walked about five to six meters away, about halfway between their stairway and the central stairway to the third floor.

Then, he turned on the device in his hand. The key to this tactic was to keep the zombie facing his direction and back to his teammates, allowing them to sneak upstairs.

At the same time, he needed to extend the “sound distraction” as long as possible to allow himself a chance to retreat via the first floor and then sneak up to the third floor. From beginning to end, the nurse zombie must always have its back facing the stairs on the right and the central stairs.

As he turned on the switch, a buzzing sound like a vibrating phone echoed from his stairway. It wasn’t loud but clear in the silent corridor.

The nurse zombie paused, slowly turning back.

Before she could investigate the noise, its source had already arrived—a fully powered electric shaver sliding to her feet. The “buzzing” was from the shaver’s motor. Its three-sided blades were jumping happily, adding a lively touch to the monotonous sound.

Wu Sheng: “……”

Kuang Jinxin: “……”

Qian Ai: “……”

They had thought Xu Wang would use the Lightning Gun for distraction. The Lightning Gun could delay for ten seconds at most. Even if Xu Wang left it at the stairway and ran back, he would only have ten seconds to run. Therefore, since planning this tactic, Wu Sheng and Qian Ai, like Kuang Jinxin, were worried about Xu Wang.

But then, he pulled out this unexpected gadget.

Who the hell would remember the electric shaver?!

Xu Wang remembered it—not just remembered but also kept it on him, and now it was incredibly useful. This kind of “hard power” was unique to their captain!

“Buzz—buzz—”

The nurse tilted her head, hesitating whether to pick it up or not. Wu Sheng, no longer hesitating, signaled behind him. “Go.”

His words were quick, and his voice was barely above a whisper. The three figures dashed from the right stairway, sneaking up the central stairway behind the nurse zombie as she finally decided to bend down.

At the same time, Xu Wang, who had pushed the shaver, immediately ran back to the first floor and then to the second floor’s left stairway!

By then, the nurse zombie had picked up the shaver and was examining it.

But Xu Wang didn’t stop to look. He charged up the left stairway, not pausing for a moment, swiftly turning at the central stairway and stylishly ascending, as if he knew the nurse zombie would be engrossed with the “sound object” and not turn around.

The three teammates were waiting at the stairway, quickly joining Xu Wang. With the team reunited, they relaxed and began to assess the crucial floor.

The 3F was still a long corridor, but if they observed carefully, they found that both sides of the corridor were walls. The entire third floor only had two rooms that were located at the far ends on the left and right sides—extremely far apart.

Qian Ai looked back and forth a few times and decisively asked the team captain, “Which side do we choose this time? Is it still men on the left and women on the right?”

He now completely treated Xu Wang as a game NPC for clearing levels.

Unexpectedly, Xu Wang hesitated, repeatedly looking at the ends of both corridors, muttering, “This isn’t right. Why are there only two rooms left…”

“Bang—“

“Thud—”

In the room at the end on the right, there was a sudden sound, like a scuffle.

The four companions exchanged glances and rushed to the scene, finding a sign labeled [Laboratory] hanging on the door.

Inside, they saw a young female doctor in a white coat being pinned down by a zombie. Qian Ai, who had just used the [Swish Swish Hidden Blade], immediately waved his arm at the zombie. However, there was no sign of any hidden weapons being launched from his sleeve.

As Qian Ai stood bewildered, Wu Sheng and Xu Wang rushed forward. One stabbed the zombie in the back of the neck with a screwdriver, and the other grabbed the zombie’s collar, working with Wu Sheng to pull it off the doctor.

The young doctor immediately escaped to one side, clutching her chest in shock.

Qian Ai, finally in sync with his stationery, swung his arm at the zombie held by the captain and advisor. He shouted with force from his diaphragm, “Swish—”.

A sharp, short sword flew swiftly from his sleeve, piercing the zombie’s right eye.

Xu Wang and Wu Sheng stood stunned as the zombie fell to the ground. “It really is the [Swish Swish Hidden Blade],” Xu Wang commented.

Wu Sheng nodded vigorously. “Quite impressive.”

Kuang Jinxin, still excited, asked, “Can you do it again?”

Qian Ai replied firmly, “No!”

Next time there’s this kind of stationery, can’t they give a “middle school syndrome, embarrassing, use with caution” warning on the [Cheat Sheet]?!

“You are…” the young female doctor began weakly.

“Vaccines,” Xu Wang said. “We’re here to deliver vaccines.”

The young doctor’s eyes suddenly filled with tears. “Finally, you’ve arrived!”

The four of them, led by the young female doctor, passed through the corridor to a room at the other end, clearly marked [Epidemic Prevention Research Lab] on the door.

The doctor took out her keys and unlocked the door.

However, after entering, there was a second and a third door, both requiring the doctor’s keys to open.

If they had chosen to come this way first, they would have had to go back to “rescue the female doctor”. Clearly, this was a mandatory mission.

The group of five entered the deepest part of the [Epidemic Prevention Research Lab] and finally saw an old doctor standing in front of the equipment.

He was about sixty years old, with square-framed glasses and gray hair, staring blankly at the dim equipment.

“Director Yu,” the female doctor called softly, her voice trembling with excitement. “They have come.”

The old doctor shuddered, turned his head in disbelief, and upon seeing the vaccine box in Wu Sheng’s hands, he seemed to want to speak but couldn’t for a long time. Finally, he took off his glasses and wiped the corners of his moist eyes.

Wu Sheng handed the vaccine box to Xu Wang.

Captain Xu stepped forward, presenting the vaccine box solemnly, like a ceremonial handover.

The old doctor put on his glasses again, his hands trembling as he took the box, and bowed deeply to the four. “Thank you for bringing hope to this city.”

Xu Wang wanted to wrap things up quickly, but the sight of the old man’s white hair touched him, and he absentmindedly replied, “You’re welcome.”

After the handover, the four companions remained silent, quietly waiting for the notification of their successful submission.

One second.

Two seconds.

Five seconds.

No sound.

“What’s going on?” Qian Ai wondered. “Aren’t we done yet?”

Kuang Jinxin foolishly pressed his ear, as if expecting an internal earpiece.

Wu Sheng looked at Xu Wang, feeling that he must know something.

Xu Wang was also clueless, looking at the old doctor, the equipment in the room, and then at the young female doctor. Everything seemed fine. Back then, he had also seen a team delivering vaccines here, with an old and a young doctor, but the assistant at that time seemed to be a young male doctor…

That shouldn’t be a problem. The 3F had more than two offices back then, and the content of the level had been slightly adjusted. He had figured out the differences when entering this room.

So, why haven’t they completed the mission yet?

Wait. Xu Wang pressed his palm against his forehead, supporting his jumbled memories, trying to piece them together more clearly…

That team back then didn’t complete the mission.

Xu Wang’s eyes widened as he finally grasped the last missing piece of memory!

The team that had successfully completed the mission was the one that burst in later, while the team he had followed had failed.

Because, like them, that team thought that entering the [Epidemic Prevention Research Lab] meant they were done…

“Lao Qian!” Xu Wang suddenly drew his Lightning Gun, aiming a jet of water at the young female doctor’s eyes while shouting to Qian Ai, “Hidden Blade—”

The young female doctor screamed in pain under the high-pressure water gun, covering her eyes and clumsily dodging, crying for help.

Qian Ai was confused.

Who should he target with the Hidden Blade, as the captain requested? The female doctor showed no signs of abnormality!

“Lao Qian—” Xu Wang’s voice was desperate and hoarse, his water gun unable to pierce the woman’s eyeballs before she mutated, and once she did, she would become the most ferocious zombie king in the entire level!!!

Qian Ai made a quick decision, focusing on the young female doctor fleeing under the water gun, concentrating his energy, and shouting, “Swish, swish, swish, swish—”

Countless hidden swords shot out like a rain of blades!

The young female doctor suddenly crouched down, the swords flying over her head, all sticking into the ground!

When the last sword fell, the young doctor slowly looked up, her pupils suddenly shrinking and the black fading from her eyes at a visible speed.

Qian Ai’s scalp tingled, and with all his might, he shouted fiercely, “Swish—”

This time, it was only one short sword.

Fast as lightning, with tremendous force, it hit the young female doctor right between the eyebrows. The blade was fully embedded in her head.

The young doctor collapsed to the ground, not dying instantly like a regular zombie, but convulsing and screaming for almost a minute before finally stopping.

Her eyes were still wide open; half of the pupil had turned white, while the other half remained black, as if the mutation had been halted midway when the virus received the signal that the brain had been destroyed, ending in reluctance.

Behind her ear, brushing aside her hair, was a ring of bloody bite marks.

The old doctor came over, took off his white coat, and covered the female doctor’s body.

From beginning to end, he didn’t say a word.

The vaccine was taken out, placed into the equipment, and the lights of the device lit up, like the spark of hope, eventually spreading into vibrant vitality.

[Owl: Congratulations on passing the 3/23 test and handing in your papers! See you tomorrow~~]

……

At the mouth of the Yellow River where it meets the sea, the night was deep and profound.

The four companions landed in a patch of grass, with cursing voices faintly audible hundreds of meters away.

They had successfully submitted their papers, and all their colleagues in the 3/23 scenario would be forcibly ejected, but only those near enough to hear the “cursing” would be either at the villa or at the hospital entrance.

The four companions exchanged glances, reaching a tacit understanding—in such situations, it was essential to keep a low profile and let the others leave first to greatly reduce the risk of being mobbed.

“Crazy, after retreating three levels, we face another three. Are we doomed to only make it through the first six levels in our lives…”

“Don’t let me find out who completed the mission…”

“Completing the mission is a matter of skill. I have no complaints, but which family does that psycho belong to behind the villa?”

“God knows, he probably bit all his teammates to death…”

Gradually, their colleagues approached and then slowly moved away. Soon, there were hardly any sounds around.

The November night wind was cold and harsh, and nobody wanted to stay in it for too long.

The companions breathed a sigh of relief, then turned their attention to the person who played the biggest role in successfully completing the mission today—

Qian Ai: “This was a major breakthrough. What exactly happened?”

Kuang Jinxin: “Captain, how did you know she would mutate?”

Wu Sheng had nothing to ask. He just silently watched, waiting for an explanation.

“I really have been through this level before.” Xu Wang looked up, his tone no longer uncertain. “It’s incredible, I know, but I have evidence.”

Qian Ai and Kuang Jinxin were utterly baffled.

Wu Sheng had daringly considered that Xu Wang’s feeling of “having been here before” wasn’t just a momentary illusion, but he never expected that Xu Wang could actually prove it?

“I need to go back to Beijing,” Xu Wang said, after careful thought, revealing his decision.

---

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

Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

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

---

Chapter 53: Hospital

On one side, a small flying carpet, under the cover of tree shadows, slowly drifted away from the villa.

Kuang Jinxin breathed a sigh of relief and sat down. He no longer had to exert his “charm” towards the opponent. However, there was something he still couldn’t figure out. “Captain, when you chose to use [Kong Rong Giving Up Pears], why did you pick Han Buting to use it on?”

The use of [Kong Rong Giving Up Pears] was a voluntary move by Kuang Jinxin, but after its use, the feedback from the stationery was that one must first select a person to open up that person’s [Stationery Box] for potential theft.

With all the contents of the [Stationery Box] unknown, Xu Wang almost didn’t hesitate before asking him to choose Han Buting, which led to the subsequent [Cupid’s Arrow] winning move.

“I saw the destroyed drone gun in the dining hall.” Xu Wang didn’t beat around the bush. “Yesterday’s drone gun was destroyed by us in the amusement park. Unless they have two identical weapons, their save point must definitely be before the amusement park.”

Kuang Jinxin had no intention of following up, waiting blankly for what came next.

Xu Wang slapped his forehead, almost forgetting that yesterday, during the battle with Han Buting, Classmate Kuang had already been knocked unconscious by the wine pool.

“Did he use this [Cupid’s Arrow] yesterday?” A lightbulb went off for Kuang Jinxin as he figured it out himself.

Xu Wang looked at him with surprise. “You’re improving.”

Kuang Jinxin smiled shyly, but he still had doubts in his heart. “What if he had used this illusory stationery early today as well?”

“I was also taking a gamble,” Xu Wang said. “His attitude towards stationery is like how Lao Qian is with money—if he can use a dime, he definitely won’t use a dollar. With something as powerful as [Cupid’s Arrow], the way he looked pained using it yesterday, having it back today, he would definitely be more cautious.”

Qian Ai felt like he was being shot while sitting on the small flying carpet.

Kuang Jinxin was greatly inspired, his admiration for the captain rising to another level. “Captain, you’re too shrewd in understanding people. I can’t think of anyone who could escape your laser eyes!”

Xu Wang: “……”

Praise from Classmate Kuang was always genuine and heartfelt yet imagining it left one at a loss for words.

“If their save point was before the amusement park…” Qian Ai raised a question. “How did they manage to be faster than us today?”

“They must have used some stationery,” Wu Sheng said. “Teleportation, or something else.”

“It could also be that they suddenly discovered a teleportation NPC.” Xu Wang let his imagination run wild. “Anyway, encountering anything here wouldn’t surprise me anymore.”

A waning moon hung in the sky.

The night was pitch black.

The Arabian-style small flying carpet, carrying four fully armed companions, slowly drifted into the hospital gate.

A building, if abandoned, would naturally carry a sense of horror under the night sky. If that building happened to be a hospital, congratulations! You’ve got yourself a luxury horror experience package.

The four companions were feeling exactly that.

Broken windows, bloodstained walls, a messy green area—the hospital outpatient building devoid of any light stood silently in the dim moonlight. Even the sobbing of the night wind sounded like ghosts laughing from the underworld.

This was a comprehensive hospital. Behind the outpatient building, there were other buildings.

Xu Wang didn’t dare to approach rashly but looked around before directing the flying carpet to the tree on the right. Under the moonlight, one could vaguely see a hospital floor plan standing there.

As soon as the flying carpet reached the tree, a dark figure suddenly sprang out, grabbed the corner of the carpet, and pulled it down forcefully!

Xu Wang’s flying carpet could only maintain a height slightly above a person, and it wasn’t fast, which allowed the zombie to pull it down, tilting the entire carpet!

Qian Ai slid towards the end of the carpet, using his weight and momentum to kick the zombie away!

The zombie rolled several times on the ground before getting up, hesitated for two seconds, and then disappeared into the darkness like a flash.

Qian Ai was confused. “Did it… run away?”

“It looks like it.” Kuang Jinxin, still unsettled, hurriedly picked up the rocket launcher he had dropped. This time, he held it firmly.

“Avoiding harm and seeking benefit.” Wu Sheng looked towards the dark hospital building. “The zombies here have developed biological instincts.”

“Wait, aren’t real zombies supposed to just charge forward mindlessly?” Qian Ai found it hard to accept. “I’ve never seen zombies that are afraid of death or pain.”

Wu Sheng looked at him. “You said it yourself. Those are real zombies.”

Qian Ai: “……”

Alright, what they were about to face were all a bunch of gangsters.

Clearly, the cute little flying carpet was no longer suitable for the upcoming battle. Wu Sheng thought about asking Xu Wang to put it away but found him intently staring at the hospital floor plan.

No wonder he hadn’t heard the usually talkative captain contribute to the earlier discussion about the seriousness of zombies.

“What did you find?” Wu Sheng asked, coming up to the floor plan.

Xu Wang didn’t look at him but instead pointed to a spot on the floor plan.

This was a comprehensive hospital, with several specialized buildings and an L-shaped inpatient department behind the outpatient building. The spot Xu Wang pointed to was one of these specialized buildings—the Infectious Disease Building.

Wu Sheng understood and agreed with his judgment. “The NPC with the vaccine is likely there.”

The zombie virus was a communicable disease; there was no better fit than the Infectious Disease department.

With their route determined, they were ready to proceed at high speed, but Wu Sheng noticed Xu Wang showed no sign of moving, still staring fixedly at the floor plan. However, his gaze was becoming increasingly unfocused, as if drifting to an unknown time and space.

Wu Sheng became anxious and nudged his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Xu Wang snapped back to reality, turning his head, but his eyes still held a trace of their previous distant look.

“What’s wrong with you?” Wu Sheng asked, growing worried.

Xu Wang frowned in confusion. “I feel like I’ve been here before…”

Wu Sheng was stunned, not expecting such a mystical development.

Qian Ai and Kuang Jinxin joined them, hearing this statement. Qian Ai immediately said in a carefree manner, “It’s normal. Many people feel like they’ve been somewhere before on their first visit. It’s just a momentary illusion.”

Kuang Jinxin: “There’s also a theory that you visited this place in a past life, so when you come again in this life, you might have flashbacks of past memories.”

Qian Ai: “In such a creepy place, could you not add to the superstitious atmosphere…”

“I really feel like I’ve seen this floor plan somewhere before,” Xu Wang said, glancing at it again.

Qian Ai pointed out. “Any hospital of some size puts up a floor plan at the entrance. Not just hospitals, but malls and tourist areas do the same. It’s not strange to have an impression.”

Seeing the captain still seemed unconvinced, Qian Ai decided to find reinforcements. Kuang Jinxin, engrossed in past life theories, was of no use and would only add to the creepiness. In times like these, they needed the rationality of their advisor.

Wu Sheng: “Can you remember when or where you saw it?”

Qian Ai: “……”

Great, they were seriously discussing it now.

“I can’t remember.” Xu Wang was also anxious, but the more he thought, the less he could recall. “Forget it. Maybe it’s just an illusion like Qian Ai said.” He looked towards the direction of the Infectious Disease Building, his focus returning. “Let’s just finish our submission, and then we’ll talk.”

The low-flying carpet wasn’t suitable for hand-to-hand combat, so Xu Wang deactivated its effect, and the four proceeded on foot, carefully bypassing the outpatient building.

The Infectious Disease Building was a three-story structure, less imposing than the outpatient building and not particularly standout among a row of specialized buildings.

Like all the buildings in the hospital, it was devoid of any light. Each window looked like a dark hole—sinister, oppressive, and lifeless.

The main entrance was wide open, like a monster’s mouth ready to swallow everything.

Xu Wang led the way, followed closely by Wu Sheng, with Kuang Jinxin in the middle and Qian Ai bringing up the rear. The four companions lined up in a straight line, hugging the wall, and slipped into the Infectious Disease Building like eels.

The moment they entered, a four-in-one “ding” sounded, causing a slight echo in the narrow front hall. It was like someone had struck a triangle in the quiet night.

[Cheat Sheet]: You have successfully entered the [Infectious Disease Building]. Please deliver the vaccine to [3F – Epidemic Research Lab].

Their hanging hearts settled; this was indeed the place.

The building’s layout was simple. Besides the front hall, there were only narrow corridors, with various departments on either side. There seemed to be no elevator, just a staircase in the middle of each corridor.

The corridors were eerily quiet, with no sign of zombies. Only the cold moonlight streaming through the windows casting shadows on the floor.

“Left or right?” Qian Ai whispered.

“Men left, women right*, ladies first.” Xu Wang took a deep breath and looked to the right. “Let’s go this way.”

*This is a custom in ancient China, mainly reflected in tombs and formal occasions. China has traditionally respected the left, but due to the patriarchal system of ancient times, the tradition of men on the left and women on the right gradually formed.

Qian Ai: “……”

Following the captain’s thought process was challenging.

The corridor was long, with offices on both sides—at least a dozen or twenty of them—each door tightly shut, giving off a “keep out” vibe.

Their footsteps were almost soundless as they approached the staircase, just three offices away.

In the silent air, a “click” sounded.

Xu Wang hesitated momentarily, undecided whether to “stay put and observe” or “rush to the staircase”. In that instant, the middle door of the three offices opened.

A handsome male doctor in a white coat and glasses stepped out elegantly.

He casually closed the door, seemingly intending to leave the building, and then turned to face the four directly.

His skin was fair, his face clean, his hair neat, and his features handsome.

Well, except for his eyes, which could not be counted as normal, for they lacked pupils, showing only white with a faint red tinge.

“Four against one, we have a chance, right?” Qian Ai swallowed, muttering under his breath.

Xu Wang’s throat felt dry. He always had a fear of characters with only white in their eyes in horror movies. “We should have a chance…”

Qian Ai: “……”

The captain’s confidence seemed even more shaky.

The zombie doctor scrutinized them for two seconds before leisurely walking towards them, looking as if he intended to make friends.

That is, until he licked his lips.

Qian Ai recognized that expression; it’s the look he would have, readying himself for a feast, just before he started eating.

“Lao Qian.” Wu Sheng warned in a low voice.

Qian Ai: “Mm.”

“Zzzz—” The chainsaw buzzed to life.

Compared to a rocket launcher or the Lightning Gun, his chainsaw was relatively quiet. It was a strategy they had agreed upon before, to minimize the noise of battle unless the situation was urgent.

The doctor zombie maintained his pace, soon approaching within a few steps. The four companions had already rearranged their formation, with Wu Sheng and Xu Wang retreating to the wings and Qian Ai in the lead, forming a 121 formation.

As the zombie doctor entered within two meters, Qian Ai suddenly started his chainsaw and swung it at the doctor!

The zombie doctor leaned back and, surprisingly, dodged the attack!

But Qian Ai wasn’t one to give up easily. He stepped forward and swung back in a reverse cut!

The zombie doctor, still unsteady, should have been unable to dodge, but he twisted his body in an extremely contorted angle and managed to avoid 80% of the saw blade.

However, the remaining 20% still sliced through a third of his neck.

Consequently, his head tilted awkwardly to one side, making him look quite comical. The wound on his neck widened due to the tilt, gushing blood.

Despite this, the zombie doctor continued to approach them, staggering and now wearing what seemed to be a smile on his face, if it could be called that.

His mouth was twisted into a sinister, eerie curve.

Qian Ai instinctively stepped back, feeling nauseous and horrified.

At this stage, he was only accustomed to battles where a single saw strike was lethal. This half-dead state was more than he could handle.

Not just him, but the other three companions had also never seen anything like this and were momentarily stunned.

“Click.”

“Click.”

“Click.”

“Click.”

“Click”…

The sound of numerous door handles being pressed down echoed simultaneously in the corridor. It wasn’t just from their chosen right corridor but also from the distant left corridor, filled with the sound of doors opening!

The four companions instantly formed a back-to-back formation, ready to face threats from all directions.

The beings who emerged from the doors didn’t keep them guessing. They stepped out from their offices and stood at the doorways, lined up like soldiers.

Male doctors, female doctors, young doctors, old doctors, all in white coats, all with the same white, pupilless eyes.

The handsome doctor suddenly stopped advancing, seemingly losing interest in approaching them, and turned his partially severed neck towards the moonlight outside the window.

A few seconds later, the handsome doctor let out a mournful howl.

The corridor instantly went into a frenzied mode, with all the emerged doctors madly running towards the four!

The companions’ minds exploded with shock; their morale instantly shattered. Was this doctor some kind of hospital heartthrob with his own fan club of zombies?

Xu Wang couldn’t worry about the chaos anymore and shot the zombie doctor in the face!

The zombie doctor, as if burned, immediately covered his cheek and leaped back, but was then knocked down by other zombies rushing from behind!

Kuang Jinxin quickly fired a rocket launcher to both sides!

“Bang—”

“Bang—”

The explosive bombs detonated in the corridors, blasting away a quarter of the frontline zombies on each side. Especially on the right side, even the handsome doctor was blown away, finally giving the team a moment to breathe!

But the narrow corridor meant that the zombies at the front shielded those behind. Amidst the smoke and debris, countless zombies were stepping over their fallen comrades to advance!

“No more bombs!” Kuang Jinxin, holding an empty rocket launcher, was frantic.

“We’re getting surrounded!” Qian Ai was despairing. “Even if I blunt my saw, I can’t cut through so many zombies!”

Wu Sheng had no hope for his screwdriver. Since seeing the handsome zombie doctor, he had been contemplating using a weapon.

The only stationeries left usable were his [Cloak of Invisibility] and [The Flood Overwhelms the Dragon King’s Temple] along with Qian Ai’s [Swish Swish Hidden Blade]. But the original plan was to save these for critical moments.

The vaccine handover was on 3F, and they were still on 1F. If they used up their stationeries here, what would they do upstairs?

They had no choice but to adapt as the situation developed.

Wu Sheng had just decided to open his stationery box when a loud noise suddenly echoed in his ears.

“Bang—”

Amidst the lingering smoke, Xu Wang kicked open a door nearby!

“Everyone, get in!” Xu Wang rushed in first.

Wu Sheng, Kuang Jinxin, and Qian Ai quickly followed.

Once the last companion was in, Xu Wang immediately closed the door. “Lao Qian, come help!”

The door lock was broken by Xu Wang’s kick. Hearing his call, Qian Ai immediately joined him, exerting all his strength to hold the door together with Xu Wang!

As Qian Ai and Xu Wang took their positions, Wu Sheng and Kuang Jinxin were already pushing a metal cabinet towards the door.

There were six metal cabinets in total, two meters tall and spanning seven to eight meters in width when combined. Wu Sheng and Kuang Jinxin pushed one over, laying it horizontally, just as the zombies began to pry the door open a few inches!

The four men pushed the door back and used the cabinet to blockade it, then Kuang Jinxin stayed to help hold the door while Wu Sheng went to push the second, third, fourth cabinets…

Finally, all six cabinets were blocking the door. The zombies outside were still restless but unable to break in.

Wu Sheng let out a long breath, exhausted to the point of collapse.

Xu Wang, Qian Ai, and Kuang Jinxin were no better off.

It wasn’t just physical exhaustion but also the mental strain of high-intensity tension.

“In critical moments, we still rely on the captain,” Qian Ai sincerely remarked. “Lucky you had the wit to… Huh? Where is he?”

Expecting Xu Wang to be nearby, he looked up to find the captain had already walked deeper into the room.

This was a storage room, now looking quite empty since they had pushed all the storage cabinets to the door. Although it was a storage room, it was very clean, with hardly anything on the floor. Now, only a few items lay scattered around, things like folders and pennants that had fallen out of the boxes while they were pushing the cabinets.

Xu Wang was now squatting at the far end of the room, staring at a pennant on the floor.

Qian Ai was about to ask when Wu Sheng approached, swallowing his question and wisely giving space for the leadership to communicate.

Turning around, he started to hassle Kuang Jinxin. “You’re out of bombs. What now?”

“I don’t know,” Kuang Jinxin, still catching his breath with a flushed face, replied calmly.

Qian Ai was speechless. “You’re out of weapons, and you’re not even anxious!”

“We have the captain and the advisor.” Kuang Jinxin grinned, his eyes full of absolute trust. “And you.”

Qian Ai was dazzled by the smile, feeling like someone was applying alcohol on his heart, which always wanted to flee at the first sign of trouble.

“Here.” Qian Ai handed his chainsaw to Kuang Jinxin.

But it was pushed back. “What will you do without it?”

Qian Ai rolled his eyes. “I still have weapons, remember?”

Kuang Jinxin: “……”

Qian Ai: “Don’t be embarrassed. We’re teammates. I…”

Kuang Jinxin: “I’m sorry.”

Qian Ai: “Huh?”

Kuang Jinxin: “I shouldn’t make excuses. The truth is, I just don’t want to use the chainsaw. It’s too bloody for me. I can’t do it.”

Qian Ai: “……”

Kuang Jinxin: “Ah, I don’t mean you’re bloody. You look really cool with the saw!”

Qian Ai: “Totally unconvincing. I’m heartbroken now. Bye.”

Kuang Jinxin: “Lao Qian…”

Every streamer has the heart of a little princess.

---

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

Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

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

---

Chapter 52: Crossover Battle

The four companions exchanged glances, and the next second, they quickly ran to the corner of the courtyard and hid behind a hedge. Their actions for survival were so swift, and their choice of hiding spot was so in sync, it was like they were a dream team.

Fortunately, the simultaneous “dings” from their devices didn’t sound very loud outdoors, and the noise inside the villa was even louder, so this unexpected alert didn’t give them away.

After observing for a few seconds and confirming safety, the companions looked down at their messages.

[Cheat Sheet]: Welcome to [Villa Crossover Battle]. You have 15 minutes to cross the villa’s entrance hall, corridor, dining room, and living room and reach the back door to leave at leisure. Succeed, and the hospital welcomes you. Fail, and return to where you started tonight. Good luck.

Sheng, Wang, Jin, Qian: “……”

In the Sunshine Theatre, Yue Shuai’s team had been dominated by the terror of 59 points as well as the chance to taste the “joy” of a sea of zombie balls. =_=

Wu Sheng: “We have 14 minutes and 39 seconds left.”

“Not short of a tremble after ninety-nine bows*.” Xu Wang took a deep breath. “Let’s go in.”

*It’s a saying that derives from the act of doing a ritual (99 bows), and the only thing left to do is to complete it (with a tremble). It’s akin to phrases like “we’ve come this far” or “just short of [blank] (to complete this)”.

Qian Ai: “……”

Even in the apocalypse, can’t we just fight zombies simply! The “Owl” is a devil! TAT

The four reached the villa’s entrance, holding their breath as they entered one by one, treading lightly.

Inside, two zombie corpses lay in the entrance hall, one with a blown-off head; its original appearance was unrecognizable, and another with eyes pierced through.

Carefully stepping over them, they entered the long corridor.

The retro European wallpaper and dim yellow wall lights made the entire corridor, despite being well-lit, still feel dark and oppressive. The abundant bloodstains on the walls significantly contributed to the atmosphere. The corridor was lavishly decorated yet gloomy and winding, resembling that of a path to hell.

At the end of the corridor, they saw the dining room.

Xu Wang, leading the way, suddenly stopped, not daring to move forward. The three behind him also saw the scene in the dining room and were shocked.

This wasn’t a dining room, but more like a morgue. Overturned tables and chairs, a floor covered with zombie corpses, piled high, leaving almost no space to step. A collapsed wine cabinet was pressed under the pile of bodies. There was no sign of its wreckage; only the rich aroma of broken wine bottles mixed with the stronger smell of blood, creating a suffocating atmosphere.

Xu Wang looked back at his companions with a solemn gaze.

Everyone understood.

All the zombies in the villa were annihilated. If the team that did it had left, they could reap the benefits. But the situation was that not only had this team arrived before them, but they were also exceptionally brutal in combat, and damn it, they hadn’t left!

What must the living room look like to have such a team still struggling until now?

Xu Wang was startled when he noticed something familiar on a zombie corpse.

Though its rotor blades were damaged and its body and gun barrel split in two, the remains were there—enough to piece together a complete drone machine gun!

“We’re not giving up until the end. Don’t forget, we entered three minutes later than you. Even if we drag it out, once your 15 minutes are up, you’re back to the save point, and all effects inside the villa are forcibly nullified. We still have 180 seconds. Even a stroll will get us out…”

The fighting in the living room had stopped at some point, and a familiar voice came from there, straight into the dining room, then curving around the corner wall where the corridor met the dining room.

Xu Wang narrowed his eyes. This confident ease, this disdainful habit of underestimating the opponent—except for that [Cupid’s Arrow], no one else came to mind!

Sure enough, Cupid’s team had also saved, and their save point was definitely before the chaos at the amusement park.

So the drone machine gun, already blasted by Kuang Jinxin, was usable today.

If the gun was usable, then their stationery…

Damn, he didn’t want to get hit by [Cupid’s Arrow] again in his life!

Wait, who’s Cupid talking to? Is there another team in the living room?

Just as Xu Wang pondered, another familiar voice came from the living room. “Don’t be so sure. It’s not certain who will have the last laugh until the final minute.”

Hold up!

Is that Yue Shuai I know? Is this towering leader’s aura amplified by some magical tool?

Xu Wang made a “shush” gesture to his companions and pointed towards the wall connecting the dining room and living room.

The three companions, also understanding the situation in the living room, nodded.

The group, acting like thieves since entering the villa, crouched again, tiptoeing through the gaps in the piles of corpses, quietly sneaking into the dining room, and reached the corner wall next to the living room.

Between the dining room and living room wasn’t a door, but a partition-like wall.

At that moment, eight eyes stealthily peered over the wall’s edge.

Inside the living room, the view was unobstructed.

All the furniture had been pushed to the east and west sides of the room. Two teams, eight “old friends”, were lined up along the walls. There were no zombie corpses in the living room because, apart from the narrow strips of floor remaining along the east and west walls, the entire floor of the living room had turned into a square pool of stagnant water.

But the pool was certainly not filled with ordinary water.

Because the back door was on the north wall, if they couldn’t walk over, they could swim across, yet no one dared to enter the water.

Captain Cupid said, “After your 15 minutes are up, you’ll go straight back to the save point, and all stationery effects will be forcibly nullified.” Obviously, this pool of dead water was Yue Shuai’s doing.

However, this stationery seemed to not discriminate between friend and foe, treating everyone equally and leading both teams to avoid the water’s edge as much as possible.

On the east side of the living room, Han Buting stood on a TV cabinet, Li Zijin and Li Xia stood on a sofa, and Chi Yingxue was perched on a large sculpture of a spreading-winged Roc, unsure how long the Roc would hold up.

On the west side, Yue Shuai stood on a coffee table, which was the only thing relatively stable. Then there was Tao Anan, struggling to maintain balance on a folding screen, Wei Tianhang desperately clinging to a curtain, and Su Mingzhan hanging upside down from a crystal chandelier.

Saying earlier that the eight were divided on both sides was a bit imprecise, especially since Su Mingzhan alone dominated the airspace in the center of the living room. It was unclear how he got up there.

Although it was Yue Shuai’s team that used stationery to trap Cupid’s team, the situation clearly showed who had the upper hand.

The eight, too focused on the battlefield, didn’t notice the eyes peering over the partition.

Xu Wang and his companions quietly retreated to the dining room.

“A colorless, odorless, corrosive liquid,” Wu Sheng whispered, sharing his observations. “Similar to concentrated sulfuric acid.”

“So how do we get across?” Qian Ai, thinking of the scene in the living room, felt as if he was already being corroded and burned by the strong acid. “Can’t we just wait for their time to run out and then cross? We entered later than them.”

Wu Sheng shook his head. “First, we lose the initiative. Second, we lose our advantage.”

Qian Ai nodded, pretending to understand.

Xu Wang nodded, truly understanding. “Indeed, waiting means allowing one of their teams to get to the hospital first. We’d then have to follow, which is too passive. Moreover, with the battlefield cleared and both teams wearing each other down, we have the advantage of time and place. If we wait for the replacement zombie horde to return, we’ll surely be exposed, and all our advantages will be lost.”

Qian Ai looked up at the ceiling, finally understanding why he could never become a team leader.

“Replacement zombie horde?” Kuang Jinxin asked, puzzled.

Xu Wang said, “Listen carefully.”

Kuang Jinxin paused and listened, realizing the zombie howls outside the villa seemed to be getting closer.

“The zombies in this villa are probably replenished continuously,” Xu Wang explained. “Otherwise, the teams ahead would clear the way, making it easy for the teams behind.”

“We must act before the zombies are replenished.” Wu Sheng outlined the action plan. “Be proactive—swift and decisive.”

“The acid pool is manageable.” Xu Wang revealed his [Stationery Box]. “I have a small flying carpet.”

Wu Sheng: “……”

Qian Ai: “……”

Kuang Jinxin: “Captain, I think that’s called [Aladdin’s Magic Carpet].”

“It will definitely fly,” Xu Wang said. “Have you seen the flying carpet over the Endless Sea? I have a feeling it’s this one.”

Qian Ai: “Can stationery be repeated?”

Wu Sheng: “There’s no evidence it can’t be repeated. If it’s not forbidden, it’s allowed. We can try.”

Qian Ai: “The way you two talk, I’m getting nervous…”

“Of course, we still need a Plan B. If the magic carpet can’t fly…” Xu Wang looked expectantly at his teammate. “Lao Qian, you’ll use your [Swish Swish Hidden Blade] to cover our retreat.”

Qian Ai felt immense pressure in a flash. “Who gave you so much confidence in my combat abilities…”

“If the magic carpet really can fly, then there’s only one problem.” Xu Wang’s expression darkened. “They won’t just watch us fly over. If either of them has long-range weapons or stationery, we’ll be the first to return to the save point.”

Qian Ai understood. It was like crossing the safari park in a small cart, still in the wild animal area. =_=

“Then we’ll launch a surprise attack before using the flying carpet to cross the acid pool,” he said.

“The surprise attack is certain. The key is how to catch them all at once.” Xu Wang had been thinking of a way since earlier, his head aching with no solution in sight. If they couldn’t capture them all, the eight counterparts would surely fight back, and the outcome would be uncertain.

The stalemate between the two teams was just a brief respite after tiring from the previous fight, each calculating their next move.

In the struggle between the snipe and the clam, while the fisherman gains*. This was their only chance to seize the opportunity for a decisive strike.

*Idiom referring to while the main parties are engaged in their dispute, a cunning third party can seize the opportunity to gain an advantage or profit. It derives from a fable, which you can read in my Kinky Thoughts.

Qian Ai’s [Swish Swish Hidden Blade]? Wu Sheng’s [Invisibility Cloak]? [The Flood Overwhelms the Dragon King’s Temple]? Xiao Kuang’s…

Xu Wang hadn’t yet figured out what stationery Kuang Jinxin had when he caught a glimpse of Classmate Kuang’s clear gaze.

Suddenly, realizing that Kuang Jinxin had been unusually quiet since they started planning the surprise attack, Xu Wang looked at him earnestly. “There can only be one team to submit their papers. As the team captain, I don’t want to retreat, so I can’t always be open and honest when there’s no other way.”

Kuang Jinxin was surprised. He quickly shook his head and said softly but firmly, “This is a competition. Giving our all is the greatest respect we can show our opponents.”

“…” Overwhelmed by the unexpected support, Xu Wang’s heart swelled with emotion. “Then why were you staring at me just now…”

“I was thinking…” Kuang Jinxin lowered his head to look at his [Stationery Box]. “What kind of magical tool would be named [Kong Rong Giving Up Pears]?”

……

Living Room.

Han Buting looked at Yue Shuai on the coffee table across from him, his patience nearly exhausted. “I don’t want to waste stationery needlessly. Why do people like you keep pestering me?”

Yue Shuai was actually out of moves. Waiting until now was just to see if another team would come in and disrupt the situation, hoping for a slim chance of survival.

But he didn’t expect Han Buting to want a heart-to-heart.

Especially since the words were somewhat cryptic. “We… who?”

A shadow passed in Han Buting’s eyes, clearly not wanting to recall the past.

Li Xia didn’t even raise his eyes.

Li Zijin got closer. Seeing his captain’s face darken, he wisely kept quiet.

Chi Yingxue, bored riding the Roc, eagerly helped to clarify. “After you escaped yesterday, another team came to the amusement park and used up several of our great captain’s carefully nurtured stationery. Luckily, we had saved before that…” The words ‘great’ and ‘nurtured’ were tinged with subtle sarcasm. He seemed to savor the memory more as he spoke with a small, amused smile playing on his lips. “It was interesting.”

Yue Shuai could tell he genuinely found it amusing.

Which also meant Han Buting’s mood got even darker.

Despite being an opponent, at this moment, Yue Shuai felt an inexplicable sympathy for Captain Han.

But Captain Han wasn’t to be underestimated. Unmoved, he just coldly glanced at his watch and considerately reminded his opponents. “You have four minutes left.”

“Better listen to the zombies outside,” Wei Tianhang said, unable to bear it any longer as he slid down from the curtain, carefully stepping onto the narrow strip of floor along the wall. “It won’t take four minutes for a zombie horde to break in…”

“Wei Tianhang!” Su Mingzhan suddenly shouted from the chandelier.

Wei Tianhang shuddered in fright, glaring at the center of the ceiling. “Why are you shouting…”

Realizing his blunder, his retort stopped abruptly.

The last shred of hesitation in Han Buting’s eyes vanished as he tapped the owl symbol on his arm.

If not for the presence of the opponents, Wei Tianhang really wanted to slap himself! Reminding the other side about the incoming zombies was like forcing them to send his team back to the save point ahead of time!

Their stationery had already been used up in the previous fight. The reason they had held out until now was partly due to their bluff and partly because Han Buting always hoped to succeed with minimal loss.

Now, no matter how reluctant Han Buting was willing to part with it, he was determined to use his stationery.

[Owl: Someone has used [(Illusory) Kong Rong Giving Up Pears] on you~~]

The playful alert rang out, not in Yue Shuai’s team’s ears but in Han Buting’s, who was about to select a weapon.

He instinctively looked up, his sharp gaze sweeping across the four people on the opposite side.

Yue Shuai and his teammates were bewildered. Suddenly being glared at during stationery selection—what kind of tactic was that? A display of dominance?

Han Buting quickly realized. “There’s another team here!”

Hearing this, Li Zijin and Li Xia immediately went on alert, warily scanning their surroundings.

Even Chi Yingxue paused slightly, although he remained lazily perched on the Roc, the casual look in his eyes slowly fading.

Just as Han Buting was about to give further instructions, he suddenly felt something was off.

An icon was missing from his [Stationery Box], one that had only just returned today after he reloaded his save.

In [Kong Rong Giving Up Pears], Kong Rong willingly gave the bigger pear to his brother. Now, the brother was directly coming over and stealing the biggest, sweetest, and most attractive pear!

Han Buting wasn’t happy with how he was played by Kong Rong.

But such is life; never assume things can’t get worse.

[Owl: Someone has used [(Illusory) Cupid’s Arrow] on you~~]

This time, all eight present heard the soulful alert.

Then, a chubby little angel appeared in the air a little to the left of the center of the ceiling, since the center was occupied by the chandelier and Su Mingzhan. Holding a little golden bow, the angel spun around and started shooting little golden arrows.

The arrows, like osmanthus rain, struck each of the eight combatants in the heart.

Li Xia, Li Zijin, and Chi Yingxue simultaneously looked at Han Buting, the first two in disbelief, the latter bemused.

Han Buting nearly gritted his teeth in frustration. “They stole my illusory stationery.”

“Can you stop speaking in tongues?” An even more bewildered Yue Shuai couldn’t take it anymore, clutching his throbbing chest. “What do you mean, another team? Who stole your illusory stationery? What the hell is going on? Are you… trying to provoke us!”

As the situation was about to spiral out of control, a small flying carpet gracefully floated into the living room.

The eight fighters froze, understanding dawning in the moment they were struck by love.

On the Arabian-patterned carpet sat three teammates in a row, as orderly as schoolchildren on a spring outing. Only Kuang Jinxin stood at the end of the carpet, looking left and right, his gaze sweeping over everyone with a “lethal attraction”.

The carpet floated leisurely over the sulfuric acid pool, heading straight for the door.

The upright Captain Xu occasionally smiled apologetically to the left and right. “Sorry, sorry, we’re leaving first.”

Yue Shuai, Su Mingzhan, Tao Anan, Wei Tianhang: “……”

Han Buting, Li Xia: “……”

Chi Yingxue: “A flying carpet… How come they always have such cool stationery…”

Li Zijin: “Is now really the time to be envious?!”

They wanted to attack Kuang Jinxin, but each time the thought crossed their minds, they would become lost in overwhelming feelings of love.

They thought about attacking the other three, but every glance from Kuang Jinxin plunged them back into those suffocating feelings of love, making it impossible to bear the thought of harming his teammates.

The magic carpet finally arrived in front of the back door.

The door automatically opened, as if acknowledging the victors.

As the carpet slowly departed, the door began to close.

The eight watched as the gap in the door narrowed, and just as it was about 30 degrees from closing, two heads provocatively popped back outside the door.

There was Kuang Jinxin, still dominating the room with his gaze, playing a support role. Leveraging the cover provided by his teammates, Captain Xu and his colleagues dug their hearts out. “I can’t let you catch up. Otherwise, we’ll have to fight at the hospital. Sorry about this…”

Han Buting didn’t immediately understand, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

Yue Shuai, seeing the gun barrel extend through the gap, despaired. “Oh no…”

The trigger was pulled, and a fierce stream of water shot through the living room, hitting a wall clock!

The door was held open by the force. The trigger remained pulled, and an endless water stream kept coming—one second, five seconds, ten seconds…

Deafeningly loud dynamic music erupted in the living room, almost lifting the villa’s roof and stirring the hearts of every zombie at the courtyard gate!

“Ow ow ow ow ow~~It’s below ten degrees~~ I forgot to wear my long johns~~ Rushing out the door~~ Walking on the main road~~”

“Not wearing long johns~~ Who can be cooler than me~~ Let the wild wind howl~~ even wildfires can be blocked~~*”

*These are lyrics to “Forgot to Wear Long Johns” by Hou Haozhong. Unfortunately, I can’t find the music to it.

The moment the zombies poured in, the back door slammed shut, perfectly sealed!

Yet they could still hear, fading away, “Qiu Qiu Qiu Qiu~~ Cool~~”

Doesn’t the “Owl” have a mute mode?!

As the horde of zombies surged into the living room, they fell into the acid pool with a clatter like dumplings. But a few managed to stop in time, realizing they had to seek the narrow strips of floor on either side!

In such a small space, a couple of hits and they’d all fall into the sulfuric acid pool!

No, they didn’t even need to fight; the first zombie had already toppled the folding screen, and Tao Anan was about to fall in!

Yue Shuai couldn’t care about anything else; he focused intently and dispelled the stationery effect!

The sulfuric acid pool vanished in an instant, and Tao Anan landed onto the floor with a thud, narrowly escaping disaster.

Han Buting and his team finally saw the acid pool disappear, but it was too late; the zombies had them cornered!

Yue Shuai’s team’s time had run out.

“Ding—”

[Cheat Sheet]: [Villa Crossover Battle] failed. Return to your starting point of the night.

Yue Shuai: “……”

Yesterday was the Sunshine Theatre, today the villa crossover; they must be fundamentally incompatible with these “game within a game”!

Yet, thinking of Xu Wang’s team crossing over, Yue Shuai felt a tinge of relief. If he had to choose, he would rather see Xu Wang breaking the finish line than Han Buting.

Regrettably, Han Buting’s team still had three minutes left. If they were agile enough, they might still break through successfully.

Amidst all his worries, Yue Shuai and his three teammates were instantly transported back to the Sunshine Theatre’s save point, where their challenge had begun that night.

His concerns weren’t unfounded; just two and a half minutes after their departure, Han Buting’s team had cleared all the zombies, calmly opened the door, and completed the villa crossover battle.

However, one thing neither Yue Shuai nor Han Buting had anticipated.

“Is there a rope?”

Stepping out of the villa, with the hospital just in sight, Chi Yingxue, who always lingered at the end of the team, suddenly spoke in a low voice.

When he spoke, his tone was often light and seemed careless. Once it dropped, it sounded calm, which was quite uncharacteristic of him.

“Yes.” Li Zijin, who was carrying a backpack, looked at him vigilantly. “What do you want to do?””

“I was bitten on the shoulder.” Chi Yingxue raised his eyes gently. “You’d better tie me up now, because in a while, I won’t be me anymore.””

There was no tension on his face, and his tone was light, but there was no joking in his words. It was him just stating the facts calmly.

It was so calm that Li Zi’s back became cold.

“Do as he says.” Han Buting didn’t step forward to confirm the wound because there was no need for Chi Yingxue to lie.

Li Zi almost swallowed his saliva, immediately removed his backpack, and pulled out the hemp rope inside. This was prepared for the bitten companions, because the condition for submitting the papers was that everyone bring the vaccine to the hospital together, but there was no requirement that they must be “healthy”, so once a teammate is bitten, they could just tie them up and drag them to the hospital and submit their papers for clearance. The bitten person would return to normal. They had been on this level many times, so they were quite prepared.

Chi Yingxue lowered his head and stood there motionless. His eyes gathered in the light and shadow of the lantern. The rare quietness made him look quite beautiful and ethereal at this moment.

Li Zijin shook his head abruptly, getting rid of his unrealistic illusion.

Pretty? Just wait until he goes crazy.

They had just circled the hemp rope once, but it hadn’t been tied yet when Chi Yingxue suddenly raised his head with a blank and surprised expression, as if saying, “Who am I? Where am I?”

Li Zijin was taken aback. “What are you doing?”

Chi Yingxue didn’t speak but quickly looked around and then at the three teammates.

Li Zijin was really panicked. He had only been with this new teammate for two days, and he couldn’t bear it. He looked back at Han Buting as if asking for help.

Han Buting frowned slightly and was also observing Chi Yingxue.

The first person to speak was the one who caused all this. “I was bitten, right?”

His voice was still very low, but it wasn’t the deliberate lowness of the previous one. It was more like an innate sense of lowness, but because Chi Yingxue’s voice wasn’t the magnetic low type, the conditions of the voice and the temperament of the voice produced a trace of dissociation.

Li Zijin was really going crazy. “Are you sick? Didn’t you tell us you were bitten?””

Chi Yingxue nodded, as if he understood again. “Sorry, you continue.”

Li Zi was almost dumbfounded. Chi Yingxue, apologized, to him?

“Hurry up.” Chi Yingxue urged, seeing Li Zijin stunned and motionless. “The incubation period of the zombie virus is only a few minutes at most. Once I get sick, it will be difficult to control me.””

Li Zijin: “……”

Although it was only a short sentence, it was well organized, concise, and pragmatic. Is this still the psychopath who pretends to fly on a pirate ship?!

“Fuck—”

Li Xia suddenly cursed, rushed over quickly, and threw Li Zijin down mercilessly!

At the same time, Chi Yingxue, who had just been tied up in a circle, was almost unbound again. He had already started biting the air in front of him!

If Li Xia hadn’t rushed over, it would be Li Zijin who would have gnawed on!

Li Zijin and Li Xia both got up quickly and retreated to Han Buting’s side. The three of them stood side by side, facing Chi Yingxue, who was already infected.

“It’s all my fault for moving too slowly!” Li Zijin hated himself for this.

“It’s not your problem.” Han Buting stared deeply at Chi Yingxue. “It’s his problem.”

Li Zi was almost speechless, but he only dared to complain in his heart. Of course, there was a problem. Chi Yingxue’s eyes were now covered with a red film, which was no different from the zombies in the north of the city!

As if expecting Li Zijin to groan, Han Buting further explained, “It has nothing to do with the zombie virus. I mean, he’s not right. But I don’t have time to worry about that now…” He stretched out his hand closer to Li Zi. “Give me the spare rope.”

Li Zijin immediately turned over the bag and handed it over.

They had countless ways to send Chi Yingxue home, but if they wanted to submit their papers, they could only catch them alive.

“Li Xia,” Han Buting said. “Seal his mouth.”

“Mm.” The silent young man who was named briefly responded, then put on his gloves and pulled out the hood and wide tape from his bag.

With the tools in place, the three of them scattered in a circle, surrounding Chi Yingxue in the middle.

Chi Yingxue looked at the three of them back and forth, as if choosing a target. When he saw the mask in Li Xia’s hand, he seemed to have a premonition of something. He suddenly started to dash towards Li Zi at a speed as if he was doing a 100-meter spring!

Li Zijin stood there motionless, as if waiting for Chi Yingxue to pounce!

In an instant, Chi Yingxue was already in front of him, and he was about to pounce on Li Zijin. The latter suddenly bent down and pushed his head hard against his stomach!

Under normal circumstances, people should stagger back uncontrollably, and Han Buting, behind Chi Yingxue, had already prepared the rope circle!

Without thinking about it, Chi Yingxue actually caught it and grabbed his shoulder at a very fast speed. Before Li Zijin could react, he lifted the person up and bit him hard at the carotid artery of his neck!

With this bite, there was no chance of mutation.

Li Zijin only had time to experience the tingling like a needle and then heard the banter of farewell—

[Owl: Dear~ I’m giving you an early holiday. Sending you home.]

At the last moment before bouncing back to reality, Li Zijin looked into Chi Yingxue’s eyes.

There was neither a zombie Chi Yingxue nor human Chi Yingxue. It was just an extremely dark abyss, that perhaps ghosts still resided there.

---

Kinky Thoughts:

The Sandpiper (Snipe) and the Clam

One day, taking advantage of the sunny weather, a clam opened up its hard shell to bask in the sun on the banks of the river. A sandpiper saw it and quickly put its beak into the clam shell to peck at the meat inside. The calm hurriedly closed its hard shell and sealed the sandpiper’s mouth shut. The sandpiper couldn’t peck at the meat, and its mouth was sealed shut, so it threatened the clam and said, “If you don’t loosen your clamp on me, you will eventually die of thirst.” The clam responded without showing weakness, “Your mouth has been clamped by me. If you can’t pull it free, you’ll starve to death!” In this way, the clam and sandpiper fought each other on the beach, and neither would relent. Over time, they became exhausted. A fisherman happened to pass by, and when he saw that they were tightly entangled and neither could move, he easily caught them and took them both home.”

This story was told during the Warring States Period, when the Qin Empire was strongest. On one occasion, the Empire of Zhao declared war on the State of Yan. At the time, the king’s younger brother, Su Dai, was entrusted to go to the Empire of Zhao to persuade the King of Zhao not to send troops. When he arrived, the King of Zhao demanded what he was doing here, to which he told the fable.

After finishing, Su Dai said to the King of Zhao, “If the Empire of Zhao and the State of Yan go to war, the two sides will inevitably be at a standstill for a long time, eventually becoming exhausted. In this way, the mighty Qin Empire will be like the fisherman, who just needs to sit back and reap the benefits. Your Majesty, please consider it carefully before making a decision.” The King of Zhao felt that what Su Dai said was reasonable and dispelled the idea of attacking the State of Yan.

---

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

Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

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

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Chapter 51: Villa

Kuang Jinxin: “Why did you order something so bland for me? I want to eat meat!”

Qian Ai: “Those who have been foolishly tricked by others, fell into a wine pool, and recovered from a severe coma have no right to be picky eaters.”

Kuang Jinxin: “…”

There were two small square tables filled with Shandong cuisine—one for Lao Qian’s live broadcast area, with Kuang Jinxin hiding opposite, eating a patient’s meal consisting of rice and vegetables but no meat; the other for the team leaders, with Xu Wang resting his chin on one hand, despairingly looking at Wu Sheng across from him.

“Ginger.”

Just as Advisor Wu was about to continue picking up food, he paused with his chopsticks. “Huh?”

Xu Wang sighed. “I said the piece you just ate was ginger.”

Wu Sheng frowned and recalled, quite indignant. “It looked so much like chicken, a master of disguise.”

“You can’t even taste the difference!” Xu Wang collapsed. “What on earth have you been thinking about all afternoon?”

Wu Sheng refocused his mind and became serious. “Two things.”

Xu Wang didn’t expect there to be serious matters and quickly sat up straight, obedient like a model student. “Let’s hear them.”

“The first is about the save points,” Wu Sheng said. “Since there’s more than one save point, there could be three or four. If we can find them and Yue Shuai’s team too, then the more experienced Chi Yingxue’s team naturally will also, right?”

“You’re not going to tell me that we’ll meet them tonight, are you…” Hearing such bad news during a meal was a critical hit.

“If yesterday was their first day of this 3/23 scenario,” Wu Sheng added a star anise to the captain’s plate to match the current conversation’s atmosphere, “then the probability of a happy encounter today is basically one hundred percent.”

Xu Wang looked at the star anise, feeling like it had extended two thin arms, holding a drone controller, and laughing devilishly at him.

“The second thing…” Wu Sheng continued.

Xu Wang quickly looked up at him.

Wu Sheng said, “Yuan Zi…”

Xu Wang: “…”

Yuan Zi and the save point—what’s the difference between these two things? =_=

“Or, to put it another way,” as if seeing Xu Wang’s speechlessness, Wu Sheng changed his approach, “NPCs. I’ve been thinking about the NPCs in the ‘Owl’.”

This piqued Xu Wang’s interest. “What about them?”

“Do you remember those airport ground staff from 2/23?” asked Wu Sheng.

“Of course.” Xu Wang tried but couldn’t forget them. “Repeating the same few lines, looking bewildered when asked anything else, especially the one issuing our boarding passes, who spoke in a tone that didn’t sound human at all. It was very mechanical and creepy.”

“Right.” Wu Sheng felt the same. “But the passengers on the plane were different, like Xu Erling and Shen Yisi. Each one seemed so real.”

Xu Wang said, “It’s the same for this level. Ding Xiaoche—I forgot he was an NPC from beginning to end, and Yuan Zi, even knowing he’s a save point, I still feel he’s a living person.”

“That’s it!” Wu Sheng looked at Xu Wang with bright eyes. “The complexity of NPCs in the ‘Owl’ varies.”

Xu Wang received the intense gaze but not the point, anxiously saying, “Can you explain in simpler terms?”

Wu Sheng: “Sure. For instance, if every NPC has its own independent program…”

Xu Wang: “……”

He decided to try to understand it himself. TAT

Wu Sheng: “Then the more realistic NPCs must have more complex algorithms, and these algorithms must closely mimic the human brain to respond to us so naturally.”

“Artificial intelligence?” No matter how Xu Wang heard it, it all boiled down to these two words.

“Something like that.” Wu Sheng couldn’t be certain, but Yuan Zi’s appearance made him start seriously considering this matter.

Xu Wang pondered for a while and shook his head. “No matter how advanced the algorithm, an NPC is still an NPC. Ding Xiaoche didn’t think there was anything wrong with a zombie apocalypse, and Yuan Zi doesn’t even know there are other levels. He probably doesn’t understand the true meaning of a save point. Those words are just settings.”

“That’s exactly the problem!” A flame that refuses to swim freely in the sea of knowledge and insists on stirring up a storm ignited fiercely in Wu Sheng’s eyes. “They have highly advanced algorithms but are only given extremely limited information, like a supercar forever limited to 20 km/h.”

Xu Wang leaned back slightly in his chair to avoid being burned by the flames of inquiry. “Please boldly state your plan.”

Wu Sheng slightly raised the corner of his mouth. In his restrained smile, it contained an unrestrainable spirit of scientific research. “What if we consciously and systematically feed these NPCs external information?”

Xu Wang: “……”

Forced to engage in intellectual and physical battles every night, already exhausting body and soul, likely to encounter fierce opponents tonight, darkening the path ahead, and now, his advisor, wants to teach NPCs how to be human in addition to overcoming challenges.

Life, why are you so hard? TAT

……

At midnight, as the Owl’s hoots sounded as the four companions entered a purple vortex. Unlike the usual dizziness, they zoomed through a time tunnel, finding themselves back in the restroom of a 4S car dealership.

A Lightning Gun, a chainsaw, a screwdriver, and a rocket launcher with only three bomb balls left all returned to their hands.

Oh, right, and an electric shaver.

Wu Sheng handed the rocket launcher back to Kuang Jinxin and picked up the screwdriver himself—last night Kuang Jinxin had just awakened from unconsciousness, and although he seemed fine, carrying the rocket launcher was still a bit of a strain. Moreover, having witnessed the strength of the zombies in the north of the city, they couldn’t afford to let Xiao Kuang only have a screwdriver now.

After swapping weapons, Wu Sheng immediately went to the stall to look for Yuan Zi, ready to implement his “educational philosophy”.

Xu Wang had already briefed Qian Ai and Xiao Kuang on Advisor Wu’s “sharp idea.” Although they felt it was a bit strange to study how to develop artificial intelligence in a magical world, they couldn’t help but feel a subtle sense of anticipation.

However, the stall was empty.

“I should have thought of this,” Wu Sheng lamented.

Even the distribution of zombies changed daily, let alone such important NPCs as save points.

“There will be plenty of opportunities in the 23 levels. You just focus on writing your lesson plan.” Xu Wang patted his advisor’s shoulder, while in his heart, he lit a candle of “study hard and make progress every day*” for the NPCs they would meet in the future.

*A quote by Mao Zedong.

With Yuan Zi gone from the restroom, the hall now had several more cars and a salesperson shivering in the finance office.

Only then did the four companions truly appreciate the cleverness of their save point here.

Yesterday, they were greeted by a 4S shop ravaged by other teams, with only one car left and the salesperson missing.

Today, they were first on the scene, with a variety of car models to choose from!

They didn’t hesitate, picking the most spacious and sturdy luxury 7-seater SUV—the deluxe edition.

Once everyone was seated, Wu Sheng started the car. The SUV left the 4S shop, entered the spacious road, and truly sped off, unstoppable and dominant, like a lord of the land!

Advisor Wu finally understood the joy of Mr. Thirteen of the Middle Ring.

In a blink, they were back on the elevated road, heading west, according to the map.

This time, without any hindrance, they smoothly left the elevated road, passed the art museum, and besides hitting a few zombies, they didn’t encounter any other teams.

“Ten more minutes, and we’ll be at the hospital.” Wu Sheng had the map memorized.

Qian Ai checked his phone. “Today is going too smoothly… Why do I feel uneasy…”

“Our save point is well-chosen.” Kuang Jinxin had always been one to embrace luck, finding constant doubt too taxing. “Having a car right at the start and getting on the viaduct straight from the 4S shop, we must be ahead of all the teams.”

Xu Wang agreed with this view. “In such a short time, teams from the south of the city couldn’t have crossed the river yet, and teams from the north may not have had such convenient conditions as us.”

“What about Yue Shuai’s team? And the ones from the amusement park…” Ever since receiving the warning of a possible encounter tonight, Qian Ai had been constantly thinking about it and quite conflicted at that. Regarding Yue Shuai’s team, he hoped not to meet them, not because of friendship but to avoid combat risks. But for Chi Yingxue’s team, it was the exact opposite; he couldn’t wait to meet them.

“Their save point is elsewhere,” Wu Sheng said. “Even if they’re heading to the hospital, there’s a time difference with us. It’s normal not to encounter them on the way.”

Wu Sheng used the term “time difference”, avoiding a clear statement of “who’s ahead and who’s behind.”

Xu Wang caught the nuance. “Do you think they might be faster than us?”

Wu Sheng replied, “From the Sunshine Theater to the hospital, the distance is about the same as from our side. If Yue Shuai’s team saved after finding a new car, then today they could hit the road in a car like us.”

“If Chi Yingxue’s team also saved, their save point might be even closer.” Xu Wang calmed down. The overly smooth journey had made him unconsciously optimistic, forgetting that crisis is the norm in the “Owl”.

“There might already be several teams at the hospital.” Kuang Jinxin first acknowledged the concerns of the captain and the advisor, then added, “But it’s also possible that no one’s there, just waiting for us!”

Xu Wang smiled, always fond of such positive energy from this little sun. “Let’s hope your words bring good luck.”

Ten minutes later, the road indeed came to an end.

What greeted them was a European-style villa with an exquisite wrought iron railing surrounding the front yard, which was crowded with zombies. The two-meter-high hollowed-out courtyard door had been pushed to the point of collapse.

“Is this… the hospital?” Qian Ai leaned forward from the back seat, peering through the windshield. “Isn’t the decoration a bit too extravagant?”

“No,” Wu Sheng said. “The hospital is behind this villa.”

Reminded by him, the companions noticed the edge of a red cross barely visible above the villa’s roof.

The villa almost completely obscured the hospital. If not for the slight difference in height, it would have been very difficult to spot.

“There’s no villa on the map.” Wu Sheng thought for a moment. “It must be a hidden location, like the amusement park on the river island.”

Qian Ai felt frustrated, like getting a food delivery only to find no chopsticks, wanting to eat but having to wait. “This thing’s blocking the front of the hospital. What do we do?”

“Charge through.” Xu Wang unbuckled his seatbelt.

This villa blocked the last two hundred meters to the hospital. Regardless of which team and from which direction, there were only two choices: go through the villa or give up.

With the captain deciding the strategic direction, the advisor naturally began to devise tactics. “Lure the tiger out of the mountains, enter the tiger’s den, keep an eye on all sides, act according to circumstances.”

The captain then reviewed and deployed. “Okay. Xiao Kuang, later you’ll launch a bomb ball towards the back. When the zombies at the gate are drawn away, we’ll quickly enter, then adapt to the situation inside based on what we encounter.”

Kuang Jinxin: “Why launch it towards the back?”

Xu Wang: “If there are people inside the villa, an explosion too close would alert them. A little farther away is more advantageous for our infiltration.”

Qian Ai: “How did you infer so much from just a few words…”

Half a minute later, Beijing time, Owl time—the SUV quietly parked by the roadside, hidden under dense trees.

A rocket was launched from the rear window, and in the last glimmer of the setting sun, it exploded into a dazzling spectacle.

The crowd of zombies pressing at the iron gate suddenly quieted, then, the next second, a few zombies on the outer edge turned and rushed toward the explosion. Soon, the entire horde scattered, rushing in the opposite direction like a swarm of locusts.

As the last zombie ran past on the road, Xu Wang immediately said, “Get out of the car!”

The four quickly left the SUV, crouching low and sticking to the roadside, swiftly approaching the villa under the cover of tree shadows, reaching the gate in the blink of an eye.

The gate, long tormented by the horde of zombies, was already half-open. Had it not been for their rocket, the villa might have already been hosting a zombie party.

They agilely slipped through the gate, with Wu Sheng bringing up the rear and gently closing it behind them.

Once inside the gate, they faced the main door of the villa itself. Now, that thick wooden door was wide open, revealing a long corridor whose end was obscured, but the sounds of fighting from inside were audible.

Someone had indeed arrived before them.

Just as Xu Wang thought this, his arm suddenly rang with a “ding—”

The other companions experienced the same.

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Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

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

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Chapter 50: Sunrise

When their captain, gasping for breath, ran up to the second floor to find them, Qian Ai and Kuang Jinxin thought something had happened to Wu Sheng. However, they were informed that not only was there no issue, but there was also a big surprise.

With only 9 minutes left until the 5:00 a.m. deadline for the Beijing time challenge, they discovered a save-point NPC in the men’s bathroom.

Seeing all four members gathered, the round-headed NPC got straight to the point and introduced himself. “Just call me Yuan Zi.” He clung to the doorframe, only showing his head, and explained succinctly, “Once the save is successful, you will appear here tomorrow with all the stationery you currently have. The saved record will then disappear. But you can only save once a week.”

“So, you mean that after this save, even if we find a save point again, we can’t save if it’s not been a week?” Xu Wang sought clarification.

“Those who don’t meet the criteria won’t have a chance to save, even if they see me,” Yuan Zi clarified, always referring to himself instead of a ‘save point’.

“What if we submitted our paper on the same day we save? Do we still have to come back here the next day and do it all over again?” Wu Sheng immediately asked, thoughtfully adding follow-up questions, “If we need to repeat, does the same apply if we fail? And if we don’t need to repeat, does that mean the save record for this level wasn’t read or has automatically disappeared? Then, can we save again at the next level within a week?”

Xu Wang had just grasped Yuan Zi’s rules when he was dragged into a forest of ‘hypotheses’ and ‘ifs’ by his logic-strong advisor, making it hard to see the path clearly.

He thought, luckily Yuan Zi is an NPC; if he were a real person, it would probably take half a day to untangle Wu Sheng’s questions.

To their surprise, Yuan Zi also looked confused, with his mouth half open and his eyes blank.

“What do you mean by the next level?” he asked.

This unexpected response silenced Wu Sheng.

Xu Wang realized he was mistaken. Yuan Zi didn’t need to understand Wu Sheng’s questions because even the basis of Wu Sheng’s queries was a blank slate to Yuan Zi.

“Ugh, you guys are so slow. Do you want to save or not?” Yuan Zi grew impatient, stretching out another hand from the stall. “To save, give me your hand; to refuse, say it out loud!”

The four teammates exchanged glances and unanimously stepped forward.

No one would oppose a hidden reward.

Four hands, one on top of the other, fell into Yuan Zi’s plump palm. The save NPC was insistent on not stepping out of the stall. He stood in front of the toilet, holding their hands, closed his eyes, and started chanting.

“Save the present, continue the tied fate. Though the path is thorny and dangerous, may the road ahead be safe.”

As his words ended, a faint golden light emitted from the owl tattoos on all four arms. The light converged into a beam, turning from pale gold to gold, shooting upwards before dispersing like golden raindrops hitting the ceiling.

“Ding—”

Xu Wang’s [Stationery Box]: Acquired [(Defense) Aladdin’s Magic Carpet]

Wu Sheng’s [Stationery Box]: Acquired [(Offense) The Flood Overwhelms the Dragon King’s Temple*]

*(大水冲了龙王庙) Idiom referring to a situation where conflicts arise between people on one’s own side (basically, internal conflict).

Qian Ai’s [Stationery Box]: Acquired [(Offense) Swish Swish Hidden Blade*]

*The term used (袖里剑) is usually referred to these type of blades (you often see in Assassin’s Creed).

Kuang Jinxin’s [Stationery Box]: Acquired [(Illusory) Kong Rong Giving Up Pears*]

*(孔融让梨) Idiom derives from a story about Kong Rong. The story goes that when he was a child, he would always pick the smallest pear and give the bigger ones to his siblings. When asked why, he said as an older brother, he should let the younger siblings have the bigger pears, and as a younger brother, he should respect his older siblings and let them have the bigger pears. The story is used to illustrate moral common sense, so people should abide by public order and good customs.

“Ding—”

[Cheat Sheet]: Save successful.

After the last drop of “golden rain” fell, the bathroom returned to the night, but the four teammates were still reeling from the surprise.

They were prepared for the save success notification, but receiving a piece of stationery each was unexpected. Was this a reward for finding the save point?

Just as Xu Wang was about to ask Yuan Zi, the third and fourth “dings” rang in unison on all four arms.

The arrival of two new messages was almost seamless.

[Report Card]: [Total Scoreboard] This week’s rewards have been distributed.

[Report Card]: [Total Scoreboard] Please open and check promptly.

Xu Wang was somewhat dazed by the barrage of notifications.

Since leaving the first challenge, they hadn’t received any notifications from the [Report Card]. More importantly, even in the first challenge, the information they received was only about other teams’ submissions. The two sub-options under the [Report Card], [Total Scoreboard] and [Submission Speed Board], had been unclickable and grayed out since they entered the “Owl.”

Now, unexpectedly, the [Total Scoreboard] opened up, and that too just 2 minutes before the 5:00 a.m. deadline.

A test of quick memorization skills!

Xu Wang had no time to ponder further and quickly opened the leaderboard.

[Total Scoreboard]

Top 1 – Fan Peiyang, Teng Ziyan, Wan Fengmang, Zhang Qian, Zheng Luozhu (11/23)

Top 2 – Fang Jin, Fei Fan, Li Deng, Shao Jingyi, Yin Hengjia (10/23)

Top 3 – Chen Guan, Gu Nian, Jiang Dachuan, Kong Lizhe, Wang Duanran (10/23)

Top 4 – Fu Wenqing, He Lianshan, Qin Rui, Wu Yanchao, Zhao Muchen (9/23)

Top 5 – Feng Rang, Ji Yunlei, Wei Menghan, Zhu Mo, Zou Jun (8/23)

The leaderboard was simpler than imagined, displaying only the top five teams receiving rewards, ranked by their real-time scores at the moment of the announcement.

Just as Xu Wang skimmed through the names, the challenge deadline arrived.

After a dizzying spin, they found themselves back inside the scenic area.

At the Yellow River’s mouth in the early morning, dawn was about to break. In the far distance where the water met the sky, a faint yellow light was emerging.

Peaceful, comfortable, with a cool morning breeze.

The apocalyptic city, stained with blood and filled with howls, seemed like a world away.

However, though they had returned, the teammates’ minds were still hanging on that last-minute leaderboard.

Kuang Jinxin was the first to speak up, always asking when he didn’t understand. “Why are there five people in each team on the leaderboard?”

“Maybe we need more team members in the later stages,” Qian Ai guessed, not sure himself.

“And what about the ‘weekly reward’?” Kuang Jinxin asked again. “Does it mean that every week the top five teams get a reward?”

“Yes, once a week,” Qian Ai replied, and then realized something was off. “Haven’t you seen it before?”

Kuang Jinxin was puzzled. “Have you?”

Qian Ai suddenly remembered he had entered the “Owl” earlier than his three teammates and quickly explained, “Before teaming up with you, I saw the leaderboard once. At that time, the first place had a score of…” He pondered, finally catching a fragment of memory. “Right, 10/23.”

Kuang Jinxin frowned. “But Mao Qiping said the strongest team had reached the thirteenth stage. The first place we just saw was only at 11/23.”

“They must have failed in 14/23 and fallen back,” Qian Ai said.

Xu Wang didn’t speak, but his mind was clear.

He, Wu Sheng, and Kuang Jinxin had entered the “Owl” on the same day, and it had been exactly seven nights—a full week. For Qian Ai, who entered a few days earlier, the last time he saw the leaderboard must have been the night before they were sucked into the “Owl”.

Seeing Kuang Jinxin still frowning, Xu Wang, having thought it through, continued Qian Ai’s explanation: “What we saw on the leaderboard are the current top five real-time scores. The level they reached before isn’t the standard for awarding rewards.”

Kuang Jinxin still felt it was unfair. “If I’m in the top five for a week but fail at the last moment before the reward is given, fall back three levels, and drop out of the top five, wouldn’t that be unjust?”

“It’s because the scores are always changing, and there’s no absolute fair standard, so they just cut it off,” Wu Sheng said, lifting his head from his thoughts. “Since the reward time is fixed, if you’re afraid of missing out, you could just go to the Endless Sea and enjoy the breeze that day.”

Kuang Jinxin’s eyes lit up with admiration. “Sheng Ge, you’re so cunning.”

Wu Sheng: “……”

Sincerely praising with a derogatory word indeed left the recipient with mixed feelings.

Exhausted and weary, the four teammates were in no mood to wait for the sunrise. After a brief chat, they headed back.

Unexpectedly, they had walked until dawn towards the sunrise over the Yellow River, yet they hadn’t left the scenic area.

The journey from the south of the city to the north of the city wasn’t in vain.

So they changed from hurrying to a leisurely walk, stopping now and then to admire the sunrise, the wetlands, and various waterbirds—a mix of labor and leisure to avoid leg fatigue the next night.

Sometimes, fate arrives, and it’s unstoppable.

During their carefree walk, passing through a reed marsh, they encountered “old friends”.

Yue Shuai with his buzz cut, Su Mingzhan with his student haircut, Tao Anan in his fisherman’s hat, and Wei Tianhang with his braids. The lineup was orderly, but compared to when they parted, they looked much more haggard.

Even so, Xu Wang instinctively halted, preventing his teammates from moving forward.

Seeing their reaction, Yue Shuai was speechless. “It’s not the ‘Owl’ anymore. Even if I wanted you guys to keep jumping, it wouldn’t comply with scientific laws.”

For Yue Shuai and his team, encountering opponents from the “Owl” in the real world was common, but for Xu Wang and his team, it was a first-time experience. It was a peculiar feeling, as if the boundary between the “Owl” and reality had blurred.

Xu Wang shook his head to clear it, adjusting his mindset to return to reality before taking a fresh look at the four “old friends”. He tentatively asked, “Didn’t complete your submission?”

Wei Tianhang huffed angrily. Yue Shuai raised an eyebrow in annoyance. “What makes you think that?”

Xu Wang shrugged and shook his head. “Well, messy hair, dirty faces, blood all over… You don’t exactly look like ‘victorious soldiers’.”

Yue Shuai, irritated, retorted, “Before talking about others, maybe you should take a picture of yourselves with your phone…”

“Did you guys successfully submit?” Su Mingzhan sharply caught the hint of triumph in Xu Wang’s eyes.

Xu Wang paused, then composed himself with an air of regret. “No, time was up, and we got ejected.”

Su Mingzhan looked at him skeptically.

Xu Wang stood proudly, his posture screaming innocence.

Su Mingzhan then observed the others.

Wu Sheng, hands in pockets, gazed at the sunrise at a 45-degree angle, exuding an air of unmatched handsomeness.

Qian Ai picked up a blade of grass and teased Kuang Jinxin with it.

Kuang Jinxin, tickled by the grass, laughed while retaliating with another blade.

Su Mingzhan suddenly didn’t want to admit that their team had nearly missed the boat yesterday because of these four.

“We did too.” Yue Shuai spoke up again, as his teammates didn’t notice any flaws. “Time was up, and we were forced out.”

Xu Wang sighed. “So you guys are going back three stages?”

Yue Shuai raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you?”

Xu Wang admitted, “Yes.”

Yue Shuai shrugged. “Then that’s that.”

Xu Wang: “……”

Yue Shuai: “……”

Xu Wang: “Why are you looking at the reeds?”

Yue Shuai: “Appreciating nature’s beauty.”

Yue Shuai: “Why are you watching the sunrise?”

Xu Wang: “Absorbing the energy of the universe.”

Xu Wang: “……”

Yue Shuai: “……”

Xu Wang: “Shall we trust each other one last time?”

Yue Shuai: “I think so.”

Su Mingzhan: “One, two, three.”

Xu Wang, Yue Shuai: “Actually, we didn’t leave.”

Xu Wang, Yue Shuai: “You found a save point too?!”

Su Mingzhan: “Why don’t you two team up?”

Wu Sheng: “Absolutely not.”

The compatibility of auras is a mysterious thing.

In the “Owl”, they had formed a deep enmity over a single jump, but back in reality, seeing each other’s equally disheveled state, the past seemed distant. After all, no one had taken it easy on anyone, and no one had reaped benefits without suffering.

With the discovery of the save point, there was nothing they couldn’t discuss. The two teams mixed and walked together along a path, avoiding the main road, heading towards the exit of the scenic area.

Throughout their journey, the two team leaders chatted, naturally touching upon the 59-minute mark at the Sunshine Theatre and the battle at the amusement park.

Xu Wang: “59 minutes is just heart-wrenching! What happened afterward?”

Yue Shuai: “Ever played with beach balls?”

Xu Wang: “The punishment for failing is to play with them?”

Yue Shuai: “Replace the ocean balls with zombies.”

Xu Wang: “……”

Yue Shuai: “And you guys? Really made it through those psychos?”

Xu Wang: “Genuine.”

Yue Shuai: “……”

Xu Wang: “What’s that look?”

Yue Shuai: “Jealousy.”

Xu Wang: “……”

Yue Shuai: “You said you’ve only been here for a week?”

Xu Wang: “Right.”

Yue Shuai: “Then you guys are really impressive.”

Xu Wang: “Your sudden honesty and straightforwardness is a bit unsettling for me…”

Learning that Yue Shuai’s team had saved their game at the Sunshine Theatre, Xu Wang was genuinely surprised. “There’s more than one save point?”

“It seems so,” Yue Shuai said.

Xu Wang noticed the uncertainty in his tone and looked at him questioningly.

Yue Shuai conceded, speaking truthfully. “It’s also our first time discovering this save thing.”

“And before that…”

“We fell back when we failed.”

“Oh.”

“Oh? What kind of reaction is that?”

“Deep sympathy.”

“……”

“But not every stage might have a save point,” Wu Sheng interjected assertively. “Based on my observation, this stage is very time-consuming. If I were the designer, I would also set a save point here. But like the previous stage, which was entirely on a plane and had 5 hours to figure out a password, the time was sufficient. In my opinion, there’s no need for a save point there. Otherwise, the difficulty of submitting would be too low.”

“Based on my observation? In my opinion?” Xu Wang turned his head to look at Wu Sheng, who was now standing shoulder-to-shoulder with them. “Can you provide some objective evidence?”

Wu Sheng tilted his head. “Isn’t my deduction convincing enough?”

Xu Wang: “……”

The way Wu Sheng emphasized “my” sounded too much like “this king”. =_=

Yue Shuai was about to discuss Wu Sheng’s deduction when Su Mingzhan suddenly pulled him aside.

“What’s up?” Yue Shuai was confused.

Su Mingzhan glanced at him. “One should know oneself.”

Yue Shuai was even more baffled.

Su Mingzhan sighed. “In a group of three, there’s always a third wheel.”

Yue Shuai was startled, then looked down at himself. “Me?” Then he looked at the two still bickering ahead. “Them?”

Su Mingzhan nodded approvingly. “Correct division.”

Yue Shuai suddenly understood. “No wonder I always felt that Wu guy was glaring at me.”

Su Mingzhan: “You’re welcome.”

Yue Shuai: “I haven’t even thanked you yet…”

Following the four were Tao Anan and Wei Tianhang, walking side by side, and Qian Ai and Kuang Jinxin, who were immersed in enjoying the scenery.

Wei Tianhang: “Do you think the captain has realized that A’Su always has his arm around him?”

Tao Anan: “Probably not. Our captain thinks in a single thread; he can’t focus on ‘talking’ and ‘noticing an arm’ at the same time.”

Wei Tianhang: “How did we even choose our captain…”

The eight of them, dirty and blood-stained, finally made their way out of the scenic area via a back route. Fortunately, it was still early, and there were few pedestrians outside. However, the taxi driver who was called by the taxi app was scared stiff. After much persuasion and explanation, they managed to avoid being refused service.

Back in Huanghekou Town, the two teams went their separate ways, each returning to their hotels without any warm dinner plans.

There might be a confrontation again in the evening—getting too emotionally involved wasn’t a good idea.

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