《Being an Extra Actor in an Escape Game》


 Volume 1 - CH 1

    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    For X¨¹ Beijin, this should have been a normal workday.


    By habit, he calls acting out a certain role in a Nightmare, as a workday.


    A Nightmare, is what the Missiontakers call these instances.


    Nobody knows when it began, but one day, humans were suddenly all made players of the game ¡®Escape.¡¯ Yet, this is a realistic escape game, where players can feel pain and die.


    Even though nothing is over when someone dies. All players can revive, and the Nightmare restarts, until¡­ either they escape, or, they end up succumbing to the Collapsed ¨C that is to say, endlessly repeating ¨C Nightmare.


    Therefore, they ended up disliking the term ¡®player¡¯ more and more. Instead, they branded themselves the Missiontakers. They undergo missions inside these game instances called Nightmares.


    In the setting of the game, a Nightmare is very simply, a nightmare come true. The main scene in this game is a narrow building that is so tall it pierces into the sky. It is called the Tower. The residents of the Tower are the owners of the Nightmares.


    Most of the Tower residents look dozy all the time. They are extremely hostile and uncooperative towards all the Missiontakers. It seems that they see the Missiontakers as a group of outsiders who have barged right into the Tower.


    These outsiders move about during the day, trying to gather hints on the nightmares from residents. When night falls, they scuttle about outside the residents¡¯ houses, entering the residents¡¯ nightmares to challenge them.


    It sounds like the residents are understandably hostile to the outsiders in this case.


    Yet, what the Missiontakers are unaware, is that, in fact, the residents of the Tower are also humans struggling in their Nightmares.


    They take on different roles in both Nightmares and in the Tower. Without busting their own covers, they will secretly provide the outsiders with clues in the Nightmares to push the plot along¡ª¡ªThat is their mission.


    ¡­ Most of the residents are career-oriented, but that does not include X¨¹ Beijin.


    In the Tower, X¨¹ Beijin is the owner of a bookstore; in the Nightmares, he¡¯s often assigned similar roles¡ª¡ªIt¡¯s just that, in the Nightmares, he¡¯s usually just a nondescript extra.


    Extras might occasionally need to provide clues to Missiontakers in the Nightmares or chat a little, but that¡¯s it.


    X¨¹ Beijin has already been the unidentified corpse on the ground many times. As a Nightmare restarts over and over, the lying X¨¹ Beijin really feels like he¡¯s becoming a cold corpse soon¡­


    On this workday, the situation isn¡¯t that bad, though. He¡¯s himself ¨C the owner of a bookstore.


    And he¡¯s been playing a role in this Nightmare many times already. The owner of the Nightmare is the owner of the Dollmaker¡¯s next door.


    The owner is one of the career-oriented types. He often lets Missiontakers into his Nightmare and try to supply them with clues as much as he can, wishing they could eventually solve his Nightmare for good.


    The moment a Nightmare is completely resolved, the outsiders can then go up a floor in the Tower; and when the owner of the Nightmare succeeds in their secret manoeuvring for the outsiders to resolve their Nightmare, they can also ascend.


    Yet, he has failed time and time again, and started his Nightmare up time and time again.


    Though, a good side effect of this is that every time the dollmaker opens the Nightmare, X¨¹ Beijin can end up dragged in and spend his time idling inside.


    For example, like this time.


    X¨¹ Beijin slowly pours himself a glass of water¡ª¡ªThe Tower isn¡¯t exactly abundant in resources, and this is also the case in the Nightmares¡ª¡ªThen, he yawns. There are really, really prominent eyebags beneath his eyes. He looks deprived of sleep.


    And in fact, as far as those outsiders are aware of, this bookstore owner of the Tower really is simply a monster that never sleeps.


    Plenty of outsiders have tried to get into his Nightmare, but whether it¡¯s talking to him by day, or dawdling outside his bookstore at night, not a single person has managed to elicit useful information from him at all.


    In the end, it is simply the piece of rumour that X¨¹ Beijin never sleeps that became widespread.


    Since then, most of the more utilitarian outsiders ended up ignoring the strange bookstore owner. And naturally, some were still bugging him incessantly.


    X¨¹ Beijin thought it was really troublesome, but he also couldn¡¯t find a way to both politely and resolutely convince the outsiders for good; it became a stalemate.


    So, when he gets to act in Nightmares, it becomes easier for him.


    No matter how many days passed in the Nightmare, only a single night will have passed in the Tower still. And, as an extra that is always just hanging out by the sidelines and adept at lazing about, X¨¹ Beijin is having a good, relaxing time.


    He casually extends his hand forward to grab the glass of water.


    The next second, the scene in front of him flashes and he fails to grab anything, and his jaws drop to the ground.


    The bookstore is unchanged, but the glass of water he poured is gone.


    ¡­ What the heck! Is the nightmare restarting already?! How noob are this batch of outsiders!


    He didn¡¯t even manage to drink his water!


    For the gaming streamer, Olai, today is a day of testing his fortune.


    As a newcomer streamer, he promised his audience that, he will pick a random game off the entire database of all games and stream that. When the name of the game popped up, his heart skipped a beat.


    [Escape]


    It, it looks utterly evil!


    Olai is, without a question, a cowardly streamer that doesn¡¯t dare challenge any horror/thriller type of games.


    But that¡¯s what most audience likes. Especially when they get to see the streamer scream in horror or even end up crying altogether. So, in Olai¡¯s streams, what little audience he had all persuaded him to make good on his promise; no backing out.


    So Olai could only agree and is now getting ready to go. Yet, before he actually streams, he plans to first play it in private and be mentally prepared.


    Yet, as soon as he logged into the game, he can feel his throat constricting.


    The character he is controlling, is standing right inside a small, cramped space. According to the information provided when he was logging on, this should be a Dollmaker¡¯s shop.


    Yet, this dim, damp, rundown little store, looks nothing like a warm doll store with its childish glamour.


    Under what amount of light there was, he can see all the cabinets, boxes all stacked up all the way to the ceiling shakily, with the gaps all filled up with dirty little dolls.


    The sheer amount could surely trigger someone¡¯s anxiety reaction.


    Besides Olai are some other people, but he takes no notice of them at all. He is just staring dead at those¡­ dolls, that are staring right back at him.


    They really do look lifelike. Their dark, soulless beads for eyes are staring straight at you. And the higher quality ones, could even potentially show a reflection¡ª¡ªThe reflection of a silhouette. Your silhouette. Like a real eye.


    The rest of the people seem to be talking, as Olai is nervously taking in his creepy surroundings. His intense fear makes him unable to even think about greeting the rest of the people.


    Suddenly, his eyes lock onto a certain doll.


    A certain doll inside a glass cabinet. This Dollmaker¡¯s, right next to the street, has a display cabinet¡ª¡ªIt was probably once really beautiful, but now, it is full of dust and cobwebs.


    In one of the cabinets, someone has decorated it in the style of a princess¡¯ room. Although the materials have yellowed or even gone mouldy, it is still possible to imagine how beautiful it must once have been. There, a doll, is staring right at Olai.


    She is sitting besides the mini bed. She is about 50 cm (TL: ~1¡¯8¡å) tall. Her hair is tidy, and she is wearing a red dress, like a pretty, timid little girl. Her head is even slightly tilted to the side.


    Olai is staring at her, almost looking possessed.


    He really did want to move his body, but his fear, and an inexplicable sense of anxiety, means that he is simply staring dead at the female doll, not even daring to blink.


    He is anxiously commanding his body to move his gaze away. Why must he keep looking at that doll! That doll¡­ Is weird, and worn, why is he looking at her!


    ¡­ Then the doll suddenly blinks.


    She was staring at him, then, she makes a naughty wink.


    Olai ¡°¡­¡±


    When he wanted to scream, someone pats him on the shoulder from behind him.


    ¡°Hey, you¡­¡±


    Olai¡¯s body begins trembling, as a strange gurgling sound comes out from his throat, before going limp and collapses to the ground.


    The character he used has stopped breathing immediately, because he was so scared, that when his gaming equipment detected his overly agitated nervous system, for safety reasons, it forcefully cut him off from the game.


    ¡­ And this, certainly, also spooks the person who patted his shoulder.


    The person, who is a human Missiontaker, is now looking at his own hand with a suspicious gaze. Was he that scary? He scared someone to death?!


    Not that he has time to think; as soon as someone has died in the nightmare, it will soon restart. In three seconds at most, their scene flashes, back into how it originally looked.


    Olai, outside of the game right now, is also slightly angry from embarrassment. Sure, he¡¯s bad at games, but he doesn¡¯t think so! How could he possibly have just been so scared he got kicked out of the game because a doll blinked and someone patted him on the shoulder!


    That¡¯s way, way too lame!


    So, after a short moment of respite, he immediately logs back in¡ª¡ªAnd then turns around to run outside with his eyes closed directly.


    He can¡¯t see it, but at least he can run away!


    The moment Olai¡¯s foot steps onto the Dollmaker¡¯s doorframe, someone suddenly yells out angrily behind him.


    He reflexively takes a look behind, and then sees¡ª¡ªAll the dolls in the doll store, have stood up, and are extending their furry, or plastic little feet, chasing after him!


    Olai could almost feel his soul spooked out of him from the scene. He begins yelling madly, without listening to any of the anxious, or frustrated yells from the Missiontakers, and runs right outside of the doll store.


    Without a sense of direction, he just instinctively heads for the closest building to shelter.


    It¡¯s a bookstore with its door ajar, so Olai rushes right inside the door, while saying, ¡°there¡­ there¡¯s¡ª¡ª!¡±


    His voice is stuck.


    Inside the door, is someone sitting behind the counter with white skin and heavy eyebags. He is exceptionally handsome. His deep brown hair is slightly dishevelled. Behind him is the dim, dark shelves, where mysterious, well-worn books are haphazardly placed.


    When the man hears him and raises his head, he is staring right at the person with a soulless expression. Just like a demon straight out of Hell; a demon that, because Olai has interrupted his casual time alone, is staring quietly at him.


    The pale white skin, the crimson red lips, the features so handsome it is downright inhuman, and the dark pupils¡­ Almost seem to superimpose with the eyes of the dolls that shocked him senseless just now.


    Olai ¡°!!!¡±


    His eyes roll up as he faints¡ª¡ªAnd his form disappears entirely. He has again, been forcefully ejected from the game.


    Yet, after he has left, an area on the ground is flashing, like a pixelated censor. A few seconds later, the Nightmare restarts again, but the distorted ground, now has an inexplicable spot of light on it.


    ¡­ X¨¹ Beijin, sitting alone in the bookstore, is looking at this scene with a stupefied look. He blinks.


    What just happened?


    He turns to the spot of light on the ground.


    What is this?

 Volume 1 - CH 2.1

    [Now connecting to streaming service¡­]


    [You do not have a registered streamer account. Do you wish to automatically register and begin streaming?]


    [Yes/No]


    X¨¹ Beijin reflexively sits up, looking at this screen in front of him with surprise on his face.


    When the Nightmare restarted just now, he just instinctively touched that spot of light left behind by that strange person that suddenly disappeared, when suddenly¡­


    A streaming room shows up?


    Wait, a streaming service?!


    So the person just now, was a streamer from the world outside of the game?


    And the streaming device¡­ had a bug? Why did it connect to him?


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mind is filled with countless thoughts and a sense of disbelief. He almost immediately looks outside the store, through the store entrance, looking at the Nightmare.


    He knows ¡®Escape¡¯ is a game. Yes. Everyone knows that. From the residents of the Tower to the outsiders. They all know that this is a game.


    The world of the Tower¡ª¡ªThe game world of Escape, besides the narrow tower that stands alone on the ground, is an endless, expansive grey smog that fills up the entirety of the world beyond.


    No one knows why humans are there. No one knows why they are undergoing these life-or-death challenges here.


    They do not know what has become of the world outside, even though they really wish to ascend to higher floors, and, after reaching the top floor, to escape.


    Meanwhile, in front of X¨¹ Beijin, is a single, suspicious, streaming service, that could possibly communicate with the outside world.


    The world outside the Tower, that no humans know.


    So, after only a brief hesitation, X¨¹ Beijin chooses ¡®Yes¡¯ with his consciousness.


    He could hear an indistinct ¡®ding¡¯ as the screen in front of him changes drastically.


    On the screen are some circles and simple sentences with arrows pointing to the circles. It looks like a tutorial, explaining to him how to use this streaming service.


    The screen¡¯s theme is a half-transparent ice blue. It is divided into two main parts.


    On the left is a large live stream section, now showing a frame fixed right inside his store.


    On the right, are data such as the number of viewers, a ranking list of presents, tools and other stats of the streamer. One of the options immediately attracts X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s attention. It is an option named ¡®Change Screen Source.¡¯


    The explanatory text says that, in some games that support this option, the streamer can change the video source of the screen, allowing the stream to not only be limited to what the streamer sees alone, but also able to switch to other players and scenes, or even a bird¡¯s eye view that allows them to observe what¡¯s going on between all the players and how the entire game is playing out.


    Almost like spectator mode.


    And, ¡®Escape,¡¯ supports this function.


    X¨¹ Beijin clicks on the function, and several options jumps out, corresponding to different scenes and Missiontakers in this Nightmare.


    At a glance, there¡¯s several scenes. Bookstore, Dollmaker¡¯s Floor 1, Dollmaker¡¯s Floor 2, Abandoned Street. There¡¯s also people¡¯s names under the names of the scenes, corresponding to their current location.


    For example, under the word ¡®Bookstore,¡¯ is an indented ¡®X¨¹ Beijin (Streamer).¡¯


    He pokes his head outside to make sure that no outsider is walking his way, then decides to sink into the recliner behind the bookstore counter, and presses ¡®Dollmaker¡¯s Floor 1.¡¯


    ¡­ Somehow, it feels like that in this streaming room, he¡¯s actually the viewer instead?


    Since he is a nameless little streamer that just began, so no one is clicking to enter his stream¡­


    X¨¹ ¡®The Viewer¡¯ Beijin is lounging in his own bookstore while observing the Missiontaker¡¯s actions in the Dollmaker¡¯s from afar. Right now, there are four Missiontakers in the store.


    He doesn¡¯t see the streaming host that disappeared before. Did he not log back on? Speaking of, he didn¡¯t know why he just disappeared or how the streaming service got connected to him.


    No matter what, though, his monotonous, extra life might be slightly more interesting from now on.


    X¨¹ Beijin is now watching the stream slightly more excitedly.


    And then he is petrified.


    ¡­ Wait! He thinks there¡¯s someone he recognises in the four of them!


    And a guy he¡¯d much rather avoid at that!


    Lin Qin feels like this must be the most ridiculous, unreasonable Nightmare he¡¯s ever been in.


    Besides that ridiculous fellow who began screaming and yelling and running away after entering the Nightmare and has now ended up who-knows-where¡­ These few Missiontakers here are already about to argue.


    He is leaning impatiently on the doorframe with a cold smile on his face, as he observes these Missiontakers while tilting his head.


    For people who do not know Lin Qin, the man is a handsome, and rather harmless looking person.


    Since he has a natural baby face with smiling lips and curvy brows. If he¡¯s in a good mood and actually smiles, he would definitely look cutesy.


    Unfortunately¡­


    All the Missiontakers are aware, that Lin Qin is basically a mad dog.


    There seems to be a distinct impatience threshold to him. The moment it is surpassed, he will immediately go berserk, and use his unreasonable, inhuman fighting power to suppress everyone in the Nightmare regardless of friend or foe, and then¡ª¡ª


    The Nightmare will be forced into a Special End, and end like that.


    If some Missiontakers did end up unfortunately with Lin Qin in a Nightmare, then it ends two ways; either Lin Qin goes berserk, or the other Missiontakers would all act extremely timidly and leave the dalao (TL: Chinese slang meaning someone who¡¯s respectable because they¡¯re in charge or is an expert in their field or deserves recognition because of their achievements; used more loosely here) alone, to try and win the Nightmare themselves.


    ¡­ It really is ridiculous that someone with Lin Qin¡¯s fighting strength is inside an escape-type game like ¡®Escape¡¯ in the first place!


    And he seems to have been stuck on the bottom floor of the Tower for a long time. No one has seen him go up a floor. When someone steels their gut to ask, Lin Qin would answer, he isn¡¯t interested.


    Is he really disinterested, or¡­ is he completely unable to in the first place?


    Some people speculate behind his back that perhaps, besides his fighting strength and the face, Lin Qin is absolutely worthless. He can survive well enough on the bottom floor Nightmares, but he can never actually solve any of them.


    And the speculation only stays behind his back because of his immense strength, of course. Nor do they dare cross him in the Nightmares.


    ¡­ Yet in this Nightmare, something seems to be different.

 Volume 1 - CH 2.2

    Besides Lin Qin, there are three Missiontakers still in the Dollmaker¡¯s. Two of them seem to know each other, and the other is alone.


    It is the lone wolf that is arguing with the other two, it seems. Their opinions are divergent.


    They actually all know about this Nightmare about a doll store. Nobody did completely win, sure, but after several challenges, they all know what will happen in the Nightmare.


    All the Missiontakers will appear on the first floor of the store. Then soon enough, the dolls will come to life and begin chasing after the Missiontakers.


    As the Nightmare continues to restart, the dolls will grow more and more insane, causing their run to become harder and harder.


    Now, this is already the third run of this Nightmare.


    The man wearing glasses, the lone wolf, is adamant, ¡°since the Missiontakers all ran away before to no avail, then we must try some way of winning this Nightmare.¡±


    Another person, who is clearly the quarrelsome kind, says, ¡°¡®must¡¯? Who are you, even? Why should we listen?¡±


    Then, Quarrelsome¡¯s companion, a girl with a ponytail who has been quiet for a while suddenly interjects, ¡°stop arguing. Wasn¡¯t there someone else? Where is he?¡±


    ¡°No idea,¡± Quarrelsome rolls his eyes to say, ¡°that coward¡­ Restarted the Nightmare twice, the heck; we should all be back here because of that, but since he¡¯s not here, he probably forced himself out with a Trick card.¡±


    A Trick card is a type of utility card in ¡®Escape.¡¯ Rumours coming from the upper floors say there¡¯s a special Trick card that allows one to immediately exit the Nightmare. It actually ruffled some feathers down here.


    Later, though, the Missiontakers were like, ¡®the heck we excited for;¡¯ assuming the card did exist, they¡¯d still have to draw it first.


    The main way they acquire these utility cards is by random reward after winning the Nightmare. And ¡®random¡¯¡­ means it depends on the person.


    Quarrelsome here doesn¡¯t know how high the percentage is, but besides that kind of legendary card, there seems to be no way of explaining the person¡¯s disappearance anymore.


    ¡°Who cares, the fact is that he¡¯s gone!¡± Glasses says nervously; impatiently. He then adds, ¡± I saw a doll moving already.¡±


    All three of them go quiet and take a few steps in three different directions. Giving Lin Qin a wide berth, of course.


    A few seconds later, the dolls rush right in the direction of Quarrelsome, who, without hesitation, runs right outside with the army of dolls behind him.


    This is also from experience after the Missiontakers have entered the Nightmare many times. The store is small and cramped. They¡¯re likely going to be trapped just leading the dolls on in the store forever.


    And in the streets outside, the dolls are slower, so despite the numbers, the Missiontakers only need some time to lose them.


    ¡°Shit! Why me!¡±


    Quarrelsome is cussing in his mind while running like mad. Dust can be seen rolling on the abandoned streets thanks to that, almost concealing his form entirely.


    Gasping, coughing from the dust, having difficulty breathing, but when Quarrelsome looks back around to see all the dolls still diligently going after him, he can only run while feeling like crying.


    The dolls¡¯ first chase lasts five minutes. Running is enough to escape from them. The target is completely random, which everybody knows. Oh right, Olai didn¡¯t know (TL: Or Lin Qin, probably; you¡¯ll understand later on as the story develops).


    Anyway, all four people here know that. So, when Quarrelsome realised he was chosen, he could only cuss before heading for the streets for a race against the wave of dolls.


    He can¡¯t help but viciously pray that the dolls would go after Lin Qin instead, so that everyone is happy¡­ Why him!


    If nothing else, what about that arrogant Glasses-guy? Why not him? Everyone will be happy! (TL: Except Glasses-guy, probably, hehe)


    In the meantime, he has managed to lose the dolls. Right now, he has already circled back to the storefront. He takes a few deep breaths kneeling, before slowly making his way back into the store.


    With a whole group of dolls after him back then, the store is now much emptier already. Yet, the moment he steps back in, the damp feeling creeps back onto him immediately. It is uncomfortable.


    The Missiontakers really should have been used to these scenes. They¡¯re not any more run-down than the Tower already is, really; yet, for some reason, these scenes are always scarier to them in the Nightmares.


    Quarrelsome decides to shake his cold feet away and walks back in with big strides.


    Ponytail immediately asks, ¡°did you notice anything in the surroundings?¡±


    Glasses interjects before he could even answer, sarcastically saying, ¡°what could he even notice with that dunderhead of his?¡±


    Quarrelsome stares fiercely at him, rolls up his sleeves and taunts back, ¡°yo, the legendary Captain Disagree, aren¡¯t we?¡±


    Ponytail rolls her eyes to say, ¡°are you two for real?¡± Then she gives Glasses an odd glance to ask, ¡°really, what¡¯s it to you?¡±


    Glasses, with his arms crossed, standing to the side, impatiently explains, ¡°I said, repeating that doll chasing sequence is useless! How many times has the other Missiontakers been chased already? Did they solve the Nightmare that way? They just ended up spending enough time and reached a Normal End, didn¡¯t they?¡±


    Ponytail furrows her brows, not objecting, but not conceding either. She turns to Quarrelsome to ask, ¡°did you see what¡¯s going on outside?¡±


    Quarrelsome takes another deep breath, and ignores Glasses entire to answer, ¡°I saw that bookstore the others talked about¡­¡±


    Suddenly, Lin Qin, who has been pretty quiet up to this point suddenly begins to move, walking outside without so much as a glance at the three of them.


    Glasses almost reflexively asks, ¡°where are you going?¡±


    Lin Qin ignores him entirely, as if he hasn¡¯t even heard it, as he walks outside the store.


    Glasses looks a little embarrassed as he watches Lin Qin¡¯s silhouette leave, a little miffed, perhaps.


    It¡¯s his first time actually meeting Lin Qin in the Nightmares, and was still holding a glimmer of hope of successfully catching a ride to easytown, if the strong, powerful dalao could protect him a little.


    However¡­


    Quarrelsome is mocking him on the side, ¡°did you really think dalao would care about you? Really really? Is there actually such a self-agrandising simpleton anywhere in the world? What do you think¡­ his world looks like?¡±


    Glasses gives him a death glare, but still forcibly asks, ¡°what.¡±


    ¡°Apparently, he sees just two types of people in the world. Those he can win against in a fight, and those he can¡¯t. As for you¡­ Maybe first learn a bit more about your place.¡±


    Glasses is quiet for a moment before sneering to say, ¡°even so, isn¡¯t he still just stuck on the bottom floor of the Tower? He can¡¯t go anywhere above. Useless.¡±


    Ponytail gives him an odd glance at the remark.


    Not that she can react much, though, because, a large pile of dolls have begun moving, shambling their way already.

 Volume 1 - CH 3

    The second wave of dolls chose Glasses.


    Quarrelsome gives an unimpressed smirk, while Glasses can only cuss in turn and run for the streets outside.


    Unfortunately, though the first wave of dolls lasts only five minutes, the second lasts a whole ten minutes.


    A ten-minute long run is quite difficult for normal humans to maintain, not to mention the subpar living conditions in the Tower means that these Missiontakers aren¡¯t exactly physically fit either (TL: There is a plot hole here that will become evident in¡­ A whole lot of chapters. So spoilers. Living conditions in the Tower should have no effect on the Missiontakers who are essentially frozen in time). They can only slow in pace as the situation allows for temporary respite, so that they don¡¯t tire themselves out entirely.


    After Glasses has left, Ponytail and Quarrelsome also leave the store behind, and head right for the bookstore next door.


    Meanwhile, X¨¹ Beijin has already been at a standstill with Lin Qin for a while now.


    They¡¯re engaged in a fierce staring contest, before X¨¹ Beijin finally says in defeat, ¡°Lin Qin, I will never fight with you. Please just knock it off.¡±


    Lin Qin seems unresponsive, just continuing to stare at X¨¹ Beijin in silence.


    X¨¹ Beijin feels like the situation looks slightly more hopeful, and quickly sits straight to say with hope in his tone, ¡°so¡­¡±


    Lin Qin ¡°Let¡¯s fight.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Why! Why can¡¯t Lin Qin let him go!


    X¨¹ Beijin, behind the counter, feels like there is no love in this world anymore. His heart is dead.


    When the rest of the Missiontakers knew that the bookstore owner is a monster that never sleeps, they all gave up on entering his nightmare eventually, and by extension, they don¡¯t waste their time talking to him by day either.


    Yet life is nothing if not unpredictable, with Lin Qin being the exception. One of them, at least.


    Though Lin Qin isn¡¯t interested in his Nightmare, apparently. Instead, in his own words¡­


    Lin Qin ¡°Nobody can beat me in the fight in all of the Tower, but, I¡¯m not sure whether I¡¯d win or lose against you. So, let¡¯s fight.¡±


    That¡¯s it.


    In Lin Qin¡¯s world, humans¡ª¡ªOr rather, anything that moves, belongs to one of two categories. They¡¯re either things he can win against in a fight, or things he will lose against in a fight. By the way, the number of things in the latter category, is as of yet, still zero.


    And somehow, X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s position in his world is an awkward one.


    Because Lin Qin, like he said, isn¡¯t sure whether he can win against X¨¹ Beijin in a fight.


    Lin Qin hates everything that is vague and unclear.


    His world is simple. Anything he can win against are losers, trash he doesn¡¯t have to care about. He can smile at them when he¡¯s happy; he can beat them all up if the Nightmare annoys him to a point¡­


    He can do whatever he wants.


    That is why X¨¹ Beijin stands out like a sore thumb in his world.


    X¨¹ Beijin, meanwhile, has no idea how he makes Lin Qin feel this way. Nor does Lin Qin know, either, but he knows a simple fact¡ª¡ªIt¡¯s uncertain? Then they can just fight.


    Then is X¨¹ Beijin willing to fight him?


    Willing, his arse!


    What fighting power does Lin Qin have? What about X¨¹ Beijin himself?


    X¨¹ Beijin has a very clear awareness of his own strength. Look at his flimsy little arms and legs. Look at his pale skin. Look at his sleep-deprived heavy eyebags¡­ He knows for certain he can never win against Lin Qin.


    ¡­ So then why does Lin Qin think he can beat him up at all!


    X¨¹ Beijin is going to go mad.


    He is actually someone that is acutely adaptable to his surroundings; in other words, he¡¯s a super cowardly chicken. Yet his cowardice would still pale when his life is on the line. Say what? He has to fight with Lin Qin, the battle maniac?


    Then, X¨¹ Beijin, will! Never! Ever! Concede!


    X¨¹ Beijin thus, expressionlessly, answers, ¡°no.¡±


    Lin Qin makes a weary sigh.


    Despite, or perhaps owing to, his immense fighting strength, Lin Qin would never stoop so low as to force someone into something unwilling. So if X¨¹ Beijin wouldn¡¯t relent, then he can only give up¡­ and ask another time.


    Ever since they first met in the Tower, this scene has played out countless times already.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s head hurts.


    He knows that, it¡¯s over this time, then. And yet, the next time¡­ Lin Qin will still invite him to a fight.


    X¨¹ Beijin really would prefer to be left alone from Lin Qin.


    While they¡¯re both staring in silence, two people walk in from the door. A man and a woman. They¡¯re the two Missiontakers of the three that came to this Nightmare.


    They look at Lin Qin with a slightly surprised expression, but the man in question doesn¡¯t feel like explaining himself at all, and is merely leaning on the wall with his arms crossed and with a serious expression.


    ¡­ X¨¹ Beijin refused his request to fight again, so he¡¯s upset.


    He¡¯s used to it, but upset means upset.


    The two Missiontakers steer clear of him and instead goes to X¨¹ Beijin.


    ¡°Hello, laoban (TL: Literally means ¡®owner¡¯ or ¡®person who owns this place,¡¯ but would be weird if translated directly since it¡¯s a term of address),¡± Ponytail looks carefully at X¨¹ Beijin, then asks, ¡°we walked past the Dollmaker¡¯s next door. What happened there? Why is there no one at the counter? The shop looks all ruined too.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, as required by his role, reads from his script verbatim, ¡°I heard the owner mention that his daughter was missing. So he didn¡¯t have the mind to continue running it even if it was doing ok.¡±


    ¡°His daughter was missing? Did they search for her?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. They probably didn¡¯t find her in the end, or he wouldn¡¯t have divorced his wife in the end.¡±


    Afterwards, when Ponytail asks other questions, X¨¹ Beijin would shake his head at all of them to indicate he doesn¡¯t know.


    He really doesn¡¯t know.


    Actors, like them, can acquire information in the Nightmare depending on two factors. One, is by the level of their role.


    For example, the owner of the Nightmare would definitely know the most, and when it comes to extras like X¨¹ Beijin, he¡¯d only be aware of the two basic piece of information that ¡®the owner of the Dollmaker¡¯s said his daughter was missing¡¯ and ¡®the owner divorced his wife.¡¯


    Two, is by the progress the Missiontakers have made through the Nightmare.


    If the Missiontakers managed to find additional clues in the Nightmare, like after an exploration of the second floor of the doll store, before returning to X¨¹ Beijin, he may be able to provide more answers.


    That is because the Server will provide him with more information.


    The game ¡®Escape¡¯ is wholly controlled by the Server, a mechanical, robotic artificial intelligence that operates solely by its code. It is in charge of everything from Missiontakers¡¯ exploration of Nightmares to Actors being assigned to and acting out their character roles.


    Ponytail, after several questions elicited no answers, knew that this was all the information X¨¹ Beijin could provide at this point. So she falls into thought.


    The bookstore falls silent.


    X¨¹ Beijin feels a little bit embarrassed and, thinking of something to distract himself with, suddenly remembers something.


    His live stream.


    He quickly takes a glance¡ª¡ªWhile his own attention is diverted, the screen will also disappear from his sight. When he thought about seeing it again, the light blue screen quickly pops back out into view.


    He sees the view still centred on the first floor of the Dollmaker¡¯s. There¡¯s even live comments on the screen. He reads them quickly.


    ¡°? whats the host doing? change the screen plz? this empty doll store is boring!¡±


    ¡°And this doll store¡­ Honestly, it gives me the creeps.¡±


    ¡°haha you coward, although im also scared, uwu¡±


    There are several viewers in his stream.


    Not that X¨¹ Beijin can talk with them given the three people in front of him. He instead looks at the name underneath the ¡®Abandoned Street¡¯ scene on the tools, and changes the scene over to the man.


    Meanwhile, Glasses, who has no idea there are several pairs of eyes after him, is gasping for breath after finally losing the dolls. He returns to the Dollmaker¡¯s alone.


    It is empty. Unsurprisingly.


    After the first wave, Ponytail already asked Quarrelsome if he saw anything outside. He told them about the bookstore, so he knew they were going to go there.


    It¡¯s part of what the Missiontakers told them, probably. Those who once challenged a Nightmare will often provide simple, unimportant clues of it to others. For example, in this Nightmare, they all knew the dolls would come to life and chase after them.


    They also know that, there is at least one Tower resident in here. The owner of the bookstore, who will provide some information to them.


    Yet, according to all the vague information those Missiontakers told them, the bookstore owner¡¯s clues weren¡¯t particularly helpful.


    Still, he is the only known source of clues, so they would definitely have headed for him.


    Glasses is murmuring to himself now, ¡°it¡¯s going to be the third wave next¡­ There¡¯s just the four of us, so it must be the woman or the maniac¡­¡±


    While the dolls do give chase to a completely random target, they all know there¡¯s only so many choices, and they rarely go after the same target repeatedly. Therefore, it becomes clearer who they¡¯ll be after next as time passes.


    There¡¯s a period between each chase, which shortens over time. Glasses quickly examines the entire first floor.


    In a certain corner filled to the brim with boxes for dolls, after brushing all the boxes aside, Glasses has, to his absolute joy, discovered a shut door.


    He can¡¯t help but show a smirk, as he continues murmuring, ¡°bunch of dumbasses¡­ The Dollmaker¡¯s had a second floor in the Tower, so obviously there must also have been one in the Nightmare. They only knew to run run run, they don¡¯t even know what¡¯s important!¡±


    He opens the hatch up without hesitation.


    The next second, besides the stairs appearing behind the hatch, is a creak¡ª¡ªSomething opened up.


    Glasses gives a reflexive glance behind him, and then freezes up.


    In the display cabinet, the little barbie doll, which was always sitting there quietly, has suddenly leapt outside. The creak, was the cabinet being opened.


    Glasses¡¯ expression goes blank.


    No¡­ No, impossible! That doll, that doll of a little girl, in what he knew, never moved! No Missiontaker said that they have been chased by this doll!


    Isn¡¯t that a decoration?! Why is it coming to life!


    Glasses has already run for almost ten minutes straight. He can feel his legs all fatigued and aching already. He finds himself unable to take another step; he really wants to just climb right into the stairs behind him, but his fear and exhaustion just make him sit right into the ground.


    He can only watch the doll in a red dress walk towards him. He grows cold; the sweat from his forehead flows into his eye. It hurts.


    He finally realised, that, with the hatch here and the second floor of the Dollmaker¡¯s in the Tower being so obvious¡­ Why would those Missiontakers that have once been here, never say anything about it?


    It¡¯s a trap! A bait to make people do their exploring for them!

 Volume 1 - CH 4

    The doll of the little girl looks as if it has never walked before. It is shambling, unsteady.


    The ten or so metres between them almost makes Glasses feel like it¡¯s been a whole lifetime, as countless tragic scenes of death play out in his mind.


    All the pain and hopelessness from once having died and come back to life again in the Nightmares rush at his mind. His feelings of fear and desperation finally reach a breaking point, and he angrily tightens his fist to yell, ¡°what do you want! Are you going to kill me? Come on!¡±


    The doll still slowly, unsteadily makes her way towards him. In fact, she has her head lowered to watch the way carefully.


    Glasses gulps, with his fingers burying into his palm, his mind reaches a sort of clarity from the pain, and he yells, ¡°go away!¡± His voice grows a little more hoarse as he continues, ¡°don¡¯t come here, stop coming here! Don¡¯t¡­ don¡¯t kill me¡­¡±


    Slow as she may have been, it was merely some distance away.


    The little girl doll in a red dress is right in front of him.


    With cold sweat all over his face and body, shaking, his lips tremble as they part to utter, ¡°what¡­ do you¡­ want¡­ please no¡­¡±


    The doll tilts her head. Her black glass beads for eyes, like real eyes, are reflecting the man¡¯s form.


    ¡°Eyes,¡± the doll says, ¡°I want, eyes.¡±


    Glasses, and those quietly observing viewers in the stream, all feel cold sweat form on their backs.


    Suddenly, a comment barrage erupts in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s stream. There are just four viewers, yet they manage to make it seem like a whole army of them.


    ¡°AAAAAAA¡ª¡ª¡±


    ¡°eye protection eye protection eye protection¡±


    ¡°shes a cute little girl but why is she so creepy!¡±


    ¡°I just made a yell, embarrassing, but thank god this guy with glasses is doing even worse than I am hahahaha¡±


    ¡°Covering my eyes¡­ I wanna cry. I didn¡¯t want to see this going into the gaming section of the streaming site today¡±


    ¡°then leave!¡±


    ¡°im never watching horror streams¡­ but this one is funny, hehe¡±


    ¡°really, the host never speaks, it makes me panic¡±


    ¡°Oh right, where¡¯s the host?¡±


    ¡°quickly more comments so i can forget the doll¡¯s eyes¡­¡±


    The comments trying to summon him draw nothing but silence from X¨¹ Beijin, mainly because there¡¯s other people around.


    Never mind Lin Qin, but even Ponytail and Quarrelsome seem to be discussing something quietly. Probably about what to do after this. Occasionally they give him a glance as well, so he can only maintain that mysterious smile on his face to sit quietly.


    Naturally, X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t say a thing to his audience like this.


    And also¡­ he¡¯s actually a little bit unsure about how to explain this situation to them. The viewers think he is a player, but he isn¡¯t a player in the normal sense of the word.


    More importantly, the Server does not allow them Actors to reveal their identities at all.


    The Server monitors the acting of all Actors at all times. Any word related to acting, NPC, missions, if there is a shred of suspicion whether they are potentially trying to subjectively suggest their own identity, it will silence them.


    The Server is inflexible and mechanical, but it is still pretty capable in that respect.


    X¨¹ Beijin does not speak, so the viewers are also bored. One of them even leaves the stream altogether. The three remaining viewers end up looking over at Glasses instead.


    Like they said, his performance really is abysmal here.


    After the doll said the word ¡®eyes,¡¯ he could feel a pain in his own eyes. He doesn¡¯t even know if it¡¯s real physical pain, or just his own hallucinations.


    He is shaking all over, gasping for breath. This big man, over 1.8m (TL: ~5¡¯11¡±) tall, is trembling before a 50cm, girl doll, sweating all over.


    The man gulps, and says with a parched tone, ¡°eyes¡­ what kind of¡­ eyes do you want? I, I¡¯ll search them for you!¡±


    He¡¯s really worried any delay and the doll will just say ¡®give your eyes to me¡¯ or something like that.


    The doll, motionlessly staring at Glasses with her beady eyes, tilts her head to say, ¡°ok. You take me, to search.¡±


    Glasses quickly nods and shakily stands back up.


    The doll continues, ¡°quickly, quickly. If you don¡¯t find them for me, I will get angry.¡±


    ¡°What will you do¡­ if you¡¯re angry?¡±


    Glasses musters his courage to ask.


    The doll opens her mouth to smile, and says with a cute tone that really is like that of a little girl, ¡°da-gege (TL: Big, older brother. Used as a term of address here as an affectionate way to refer to an older male individual) has pretty eyes. I really like them.¡±


    Glasses ¡°¡­¡±


    No, he doesn¡¯t deserve that like¡­


    Terrified, he is also staring at the doll with a slightly desperate, hateful look; after realising he wouldn¡¯t be dead for now, his hopelessness has been replaced for now.


    He doesn¡¯t dare show it plainly to the strange doll, of course; his hate is directed towards those Missiontakers that withheld information in the first place. If he knew¡­ If he knew, he would have been more careful! Or run right for the second floor already the moment the doll comes to life!


    He has no time to regret, now. He can only take the doll with him to look for the damned eyes¡­ Who knows where the eyes she want would be!


    Irritated, the doll¡¯s slow, uneasy movement only makes him more impatient.


    He is wondering what¡¯s wrong with the doll. Why is it so slow? Not like the other dolls at all.


    Or¡­ perhaps this isn¡¯t the normal state of the doll?


    Like the usually immobile dolls that begin running madly once the chase begins. Perhaps the girl doll needs to get ¡®angry,¡¯ like she said, to be rid of this restriction from her doll body?


    But why could she move in the first place?


    He is pondering this undocumented situation carefully in his mind. This situation is evolving out of his control.


    In the stream, the three viewers are engaged in a discussion all by themselves, perhaps to alleviate boredom.


    ¡°id bet a whole cent he doesnt find those eyes¡±


    ¡°i wanna know whats on the second floor¡­ new clues maybe?¡±


    ¡°A new scene must definitely have new clues, but why is the host still not here to explain what¡¯s going on? That makes no sense¡±


    ¡°what host, dont come cockblock our drama viewing experience! [doge.jpg]¡±


    Meanwhile, Glasses takes one last look at the store before walking up the stairs with the doll, and notices something off.


    There are not many dolls still remaining after the first and second wave of chase. This is probably all that¡¯s left of the third wave¡­ Right. Then why is it still not beginning?


    He searched all about the first floor, and even spent some time dealing with the damned girl doll¡­ No matter what, the third wave should have begun.


    They¡¯re not moving, because¡­


    His gaze slowly fixes onto the girl doll, who is stumbling along, using all fours while struggling to climb up the stairs.


    The doll here?


    Obviously, Ponytail and Quarrelsome, still in the bookstore, waiting for the third chase, also notice what Glasses did.


    They went to the bookstore because they wanted information, true, but also to look for Lin Qin.


    It is either Ponytail or Lin Qin for the third wave. To know clearly who they¡¯re after, Ponytail decided to find and stick to Lin Qin (TL: That sounds like the opposite of what she should do, but oh well).


    Yet, after all this time, no doll has come after them.


    Ponytail and Quarrelsome are looking at each other nonplussed.


    She immediately concludes that, as all three of them are here, only Glasses could have done something behind their back. The guy that kept emphasising ¡®running was useless.¡¯


    Did he discover something?


    Ponytail furrows her brows, and declares, ¡°we have to go back to the store to check! That other guy might have discovered something.¡±


    Quarrelsome follows suit.


    Lin Qin gives a bored ¡®tch,¡¯ but doesn¡¯t move. Instead, he turns to X¨¹ Beijin to ask, ¡°X¨¹-laoban, can I sit down?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin says expressionlessly, ¡°certainly.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    And Lin Qin really does just take a seat and blank out then.


    X¨¹ Beijin gives him an odd look.


    Lin Qin asks with a lazy tone, ¡°what, wanna fight?¡±


    ¡°No no no,¡± X¨¹ Beijin immediately shakes his head, then voices his curiosity, ¡°why didn¡¯t you go back to the Dollmaker¡¯s with them?¡±


    The question seems to make Lin Qin react more dramatically than X¨¹ Beijin expected with him suddenly cocking his head right in his direction. It looks like X¨¹ Beijin has triggered some unspoken feeling in Lin Qin; under the dim lighting of the bookstore, X¨¹ Beijin suddenly realises that Lin Qin¡¯s pupils aren¡¯t actually black, but is actually slightly amber instead.


    It really doesn¡¯t suit this guy that only talks about fighting and brawling. Speaking of which, so is his baby face¡­ X¨¹ Beijin is quietly dissing in his mind.


    He only dares thinking so, though. X¨¹ Beijin can only say, under the intense stare, ¡°I was just asking. Never mind if you don¡¯t want to answer.¡±


    Lin Qin continues to stare for a long time, before suddenly smirking inexplicably.


    He retracts his gaze and, after sitting for a bit longer, answers, ¡°because I¡¯m not interested.¡±


    Not interested?


    X¨¹ Beijin is a little confused.


    If he¡¯s disinterested, then why is he going into Nightmares at all?


    ¡®Escape¡¯ doesn¡¯t actually force Missiontakers to go into these instances, these Nightmares. Of course, anyone wanting to ascend the Tower must challenge these Nightmares to do so, but if someone really does just want to repeat the eat-sleep cycle forever, then the bottom floor of the Tower is still big and sufficient enough to accommodate anyone like that.


    X¨¹ Beijin is aware, for example, of some Missiontakers that ended up abandoning all their struggling to spend their days like living corpses, acting even more like Tower residents than the residents themselves.


    And while there isn¡¯t exactly material wealth or abundance, but Lin Qin¡¯s fighting strength means he can definitely live in comfort if he so wishes.


    If he isn¡¯t interested in Nightmares in the first place, and can live a good life in the Tower, then why does he even enter Nightmares at all?


    Despite his curiosity, X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t really dare to question him any more. He thus instead looks back at his stream.


    It is still fixed on Glasses, who is now on the second floor of the Dollmaker¡¯s. At the same time, Ponytail and Quarrelsome are back on the first floor already.


    When they arrive, they see the store, in an even more disorganised mess than before, and a wide-open, hidden hatch that opens into the second floor.

 Volume 1 - CH 5

    The first thing one would see on the second floor is a long, dark hallway.


    The corridor that was once painted a warm brown is no more. It is marred and only adds to the weight of the atmosphere. Corners of the ceiling and the floor are visibly full of dust and cobwebs. The ill-maintained floorboards are either poking up or broken altogether. It creaks with every step.


    There are two doors on each side of the corridor. The end of the corridor is a dead-end with a painting of a doll that has fallen to the ground. The once vibrant colours have been buried in dust. The subject can no longer be seen clearly.


    Of the four doors, one is open, on the left of Glasses. It¡¯s the bathroom. Just one peek and he skips the room entirely, because of the stench. The stench of human excrement.


    If possible, he doesn¡¯t want to look for eyes in that bathroom.


    He turns to the other doors.


    They all look similar, and are all shut tight.


    He glances down at the doll, to see her little beady eyes fixed right at one of the doors; it is the door opposite the bathroom.


    He thinks for a little bit before gritting his teeth, walking over and puts his hand onto the handle.


    The old copper handle is so cold it made him shiver reflexively. He relaxes his stiff fingers first, before applying a force until it could go no further.


    The little girl doll quietly stands behind him, tilting her head and looking at him.


    He is trembling slightly. His back is growing cold. Even though he is just opening a door¡­ Just opening a door!


    With a heavy push, and the door is open.


    The clearly worn hinge makes a rather noisy creak, but it, fortunately, does not wake the sleeping man within.


    Yes, a man is sleeping inside.


    Glasses immediately widens his eyes in surprise and relief. He quickly examines his surroundings.


    It¡¯s a bedroom. A rather small bedroom, perhaps 7 or 8 square metres at best. In the narrow space are a bed, a wardrobe and a small desk. There is nothing else.


    The curtains are down, so the inside is extremely dark. Just opening the door sent murky air drifting. The man is lying on the bed with his back to Glasses. His chest is rising and falling rhythmically, deep asleep. Despite the noise from the door, he wasn¡¯t spooked awake.


    Glasses suddenly stops when he spies, on the little desk in the bedroom, some kind of notebook!


    Overjoyed, he is going to go grab it¡­


    When the doll suddenly mutters, ¡°it¡¯s been, five minutes.¡±


    Glasses immediately freezes up again. He turns to tell the doll, ¡°no no no¡­ Wait, just a little bit more, a little bit longer¡­ No! NO!!!¡±


    The doll, tilting her head, says with an unhappy tone, ¡°eyes. You lied¡­ you didn¡¯t find them.¡±


    She walks closer, and raises her short, thin arms.


    Smooth, white, reflective. It could almost be said to be a human arm, but devoid of blood. Now, that arm slowly extends right into his eye socket. Blood begins oozing out, leaving a trail of blood on her skin.


    The doll, with her head still raised, like she is watching a dream of her desires, her aspirations, ends up disappointed by the pair of eyes; the eyeballs are bulging, widened. The pupils have dilated. It is filled with burst blood vessels.


    She throws the eyeballs to the ground, complaining quietly, ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t like them anymore.¡±


    Ponytail and Quarrelsome happen to make it to the second floor right this moment.


    The doll, with her head tilt, is looking at them. Her red dress makes it uneasy to make out the blood of Glasses scattered on it. Meanwhile, Glasses is covering his face. Blood is gushing out of his eyes, leaking through the gaps between his fingers. He is making broken wails of pain, and is ignored entirely.


    Ponytail is observing the doll warily; Quarrelsome is darting his gaze between her and the doll.


    The beady eyes of the doll almost seem to sparkle when she mutters, ¡°two¡­ new pairs of eyes!¡±


    She really does resemble a little girl that is talking about her favourite toy, full of childish charm, at least if the two eyeballs she despised weren¡¯t on the ground right there.


    Then, the Nightmare restarts.


    On the first floor, all four Missiontakers have reapppeared.


    Lin Qin still looks like he can¡¯t be bothered to deal with anything.


    The other three, as soon as they regain consciousness, are looking at the display cabinet in the storefront, right at the doll of the little girl in a red dress.


    Glasses shudders reflexively. His eyes still hurt.


    He reflexively touches them to confirm they are still in place, and sighs in relief.


    In ¡®Escape,¡¯ Missiontakers do not die, or rather, they do not stay dead. Since, as soon as one of them dies, the Nightmare restarts. All the dead Missiontakers will come back to life.


    It could certainly be said to be blursed.


    On the one hand, they do come back to life, but the pain and anguish of the moment of their death stay with them. Can a human truly become used to death? Wouldn¡¯t that make them a mental patient instead?


    On the other hand, through death and resurrection, and the restart of the Nightmare, it increases in difficulty. Death comes easier and easier. If one ends up lost in the cycle of death, hopelessness and madness, then, they become forever succumbed to an endlessly repeating Nightmare, never to see the light of day again.


    A great number of Missiontakers have entered a Nightmare, only to never be seen again.


    Everyone knows that, they¡¯re still alive. They¡¯re just trapped inside the Nightmare.


    Trapped, forever.


    Therefore, Glasses has taken off his glasses, and is still touching his eyes repeatedly, as if reassuring himself, that he is alive. This is real. Forget the death you just experienced.


    If he keeps thinking about it, perhaps, he might succumb to the Nightmare. Then, he would spend the rest of his life only reliving the moments before his death.


    Quarrelsome glances at him then sarcastically remarks, ¡°what, already going mad?¡±


    Glasses does not respond. A short while later, he speaks up, ¡°we need to cooperate.¡±


    After dying once, he seems to have become slightly more grounded, more mature.


    His brain is still replaying his death. While annoying, it did allow him to remember some details.


    After the doll took his eyes away, he was blind, but he could hear the creak of the floorboards, so that means, someone was on the second floor then.


    Probably not Lin Qin, then it must be Ponytail and Quarrelsome, back from the bookstore; they already know about the second floor now.


    Then it goes without saying that what follows is cooperation.


    If nothing else, these two people who are working together anyway would still definitely go to the second floor to investigate. So Glasses might as well mention it himself.


    No matter what, after they finally resolve this Nightmare together in the end, if they reach a True End, then all the Missiontakers may ascend to higher floors, and perhaps be one step closer to true escape from the Tower. Everyone wins.


    Under this context, cooperation is an inevitability.


    Glasses can only regret how, because he wanted to be careful, he didn¡¯t choose to enter a Nightmare alone.


    Now, Lin Qin is out of the question. Ponytail and Quarrelsome are together, but he has to ask to work together.


    Glasses tightens his fist, as he calmly lays down his own stake, ¡°there is a man sleeping on the second floor. There is also a notebook in the same room.¡±


    Ponytail¡¯s expression brightens, but before she could ask more, the first wave of dolls are assembling already, out for blood.


    She quickly says ¡°deal!¡±


    This is already the fourth run of this Nightmare. Runs one and two were wasted, and all three were justifiably pissed about that; they found something in the third run, but still didn¡¯t manage to get anywhere.


    By run four, the dolls¡¯ chase is going to grow harder and harder.


    The duration hasn¡¯t changed, but the dolls move slightly quicker. Originally, a lap about the streets outside would lose them for good, but now they have to run quicker and even make sure to strategically use obstacles in the road to block them.


    The target of the first wave ends up being Ponytail, who runs outside without a word. Glasses then just moves his gaze over to Quarrelsome, who is also looking at him; Lin Qin has turned to leave already, and nobody dares to ask where he is going.


    Though Lin Qin is just bored of the Nightmare already, so he is heading for the bookstore to try and get X¨¹ Beijin to fight him.


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He puts up his most serious face to make him look as tough as possible, before answering, ¡°I refused already.¡±


    ¡°That was then,¡± Lin Qin says, ¡°now is now.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Oh yes, he certainly can see he is skilled in the art of sophism!


    X¨¹ Beijin rolls his eyes at him in his mind before firmly refusing again, ¡°I do not want to fight.¡±


    Lin Qin sits back down again, upset as always.


    An awkward silence ensures.


    X¨¹ Beijin is really tired of it, so he decides ¡®out of sight, out of mind,¡¯ and turns his attention to the stream instead, spectating from afar the three Missiontakers¡¯ thrilling and exciting exploration of the Dollmaker¡¯s.


    Speaking of, the little girl doll¡¯s undeniably graphic act of scouring eyeballs sent the stream into chaos.


    The viewers have definitely not been regularly exposed to such a direct, gory scene, and the comments of ¡®AAAA¡¯ have completely covered up the screen; their panicked screams made X¨¹ Beijin who was himself in slight discomfort want to laugh.


    The comments are still ongoing right now. The mere three viewers of the stream seem to be chatting.


    X¨¹ Beijin is watching them chat while observing the Missiontakers¡¯ progress.


    Ponytail managed to lose the first wave of dolls. After returning to the store, they waste no time heading for the second floor.


    They discussed who should push the hatch on the wall open, as it might be the factor deciding the girl doll¡¯s target; Glasses has already contributed his side of the bargain with that piece of information of these second floor, so Ponytail upholds her side of the bargain by having Quarrelsome deal with the doll.


    As expected, while Quarrelsome pushes the boxes away, the doll also walks out from her display cabinet.


    The pretty, but frail-looking doll following behind them really did make their hair stand on end.


    But they all know there is five minutes before she goes berserk. They waste no time and quickly look for the book first.


    In thirty second¡¯s time, Ponytail has already pushed open the second floor bedroom door. After giving the sleeping man a glance, she quickly walks to the desk to grab the notebook.


    It¡¯s a really small book, about palm-sized. The corners are worn on the leather cover. It feels slightly icky to the touch, making Ponytail slightly iffy.


    But time is of the essence, so she anxiously and quickly flips through this thin¡ª¡ªdiary, it turns out to be.


    The first sentence is, ¡°xiao-Chun has been missing for three days straight!¡±

 Volume 1 - CH 6

    ¡°XXXX/XX/XX


    Xiao-Chun has been missing for three days!


    My wife says she could have already¡­ No, no no no, how could anyone do that to xiao-Chun! She¡¯s just six years old! She was going to start primary school sun. Daddy already bought a new schoolbag for her. Xiao-Chun was so happy¡­


    Xiao-Chun, you will come back to daddy¡¯s side, right?


    XXXX/XX/XX


    It has been a week


    We already have posters all the way in the neighbouring cities, but there isn¡¯t any news. As if the whole world has just forgotten about her. My wife is staying by the phone all the time now, she¡¯s on leave from her work.


    She told me again that xiao-Chun may have¡­ Fuck! What does she know! How could xiao-Chun¡­ Impossible!


    A regular customer was here today for dolls, asking if I made any new ones recently. How would I even have the time¡­ xiao-Chun, xiao-Chun, xiao-Chun. My daughter¡­


    XXXX/XX/XX


    My wife told me today, if I keep going like this, we might end up dead before ever finding her.


    She¡¯s right. I don¡¯t even think I can live anymore. It has been a month. When xiao-Chun just went missing, I felt like the world was over. I couldn¡¯t live any longer, but now, I am practically a living corpse. Still alive.


    A customer who didn¡¯t know about xiao-Chun going missing was here to order a doll today, joking that I was almost becoming a doll myself, stiff and rigid¡­ Looking like I¡¯m just trundling by every day.


    I am thinking about my daughter¡­ my xiao-Chun. What happened to her? Is she scared? Would she cry? But my xiao-Chun loved to smile. She is like a ball of pure joy, my angel¡­


    Why would anyone ever hold ill-will against her?


    XXXX/XX/XX


    I had an argument with my wife.


    She said we have to give up on looking for xiao-Chun¡­ Or, at least, not searching for her madly like we have been doing.


    She said, if this continued, we¡¯d have to give up on the store.


    She said, we are still young, we could still¡­


    ¡­ She quit her job already to look for xiao-Chun, but why did she change now?


    XXXX/XX/XX


    X¨¹ Beijin has pulled the camera of the stream closer to read the diary with the viewers.


    Ponytail flips through it pretty quickly, but it¡¯s enough for them to get a gist of what¡¯s going on. X¨¹ Beijin also feels like the audience might be taking screenshots like mad too.


    There were some happy daily moments recorded in the front, but since the daughter has gone missing, the diary¡¯s owner has become increasingly depressed. The words are filled with a father¡¯s love and yearning for his daughter, and his own depression and misery.


    The missing young daughter was a heavy blow to the couple. It seems the wife of the dollmaker got through it, but the father didn¡¯t.


    And the information X¨¹ Beijin received indicated that the couple ended up divorced after the daughter went missing; a common end, perhaps for many couples that lost their children.


    Meanwhile, the viewers of the stream are also discussing the information from the diary.


    One of them, perhaps someone who¡¯s into true-crime or detective novels, can no longer hold their imagination back, typing a whole passage of analysis on the comments.


    ¡°Such an interesting game! With all this attention to detail even in a diary!


    ¡­ Sorry sorry I¡¯m a bit worked up. Let me share my own two cents.


    This game is clearly based around the case of a missing girl. Not a lot of info so far, nor many clues about the incident itself in the diary, but I can provide several examples for similar missing cases ¨C


    First, we have to consider those close of kin as suspects. Her parents, friends, relatives, even neighbours. Also, a possibility is that the girl ran away from home or just plain got lost.


    She¡¯s six, and kids this age already have a vague sense of ¡®familiar¡¯ and ¡®unfamiliar¡¯ people. Parents would usually have also reinforced that concept by that point. It¡¯s unlikely she would have just left with a stranger. Those close to her are likely suspects.


    Second, if it really is a stranger, kidnapping is also a possibility, but I am leaning more towards the former, because most importantly, this is a game. A game means that the scriptwriter is unlikely to just point his fingers randomly at an unknown, never-before-seen character to say that he is the perpetrator. Players will feel anti-climatic and even betrayed.


    Therefore, the criminal must have been someone seen in-game. We haven¡¯t explored all the scenes yet, therefore, we may not have seen the full cast of characters.


    However, taking a step back from the game, considering that we are viewers here, we can spot something suspicious here.


    In the analysis here, one factor has been conveniently left out.


    That is¡ª¡ªThe host!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°?¡±


    This viewer is obviously excited, convinced that they have found a perfect point for dissecting the whole thing.


    ¡°First, what is this game, really? I¡¯m not sure yet, but this is likely some kind of mystery-solving, exploring kind of game, with parts from action-adventure.


    Therefore, the problem is, what are the roles in play? Who are the players in this game? What is their objective for doing this? What is the game¡¯s ultimate goal?


    The players we¡¯ve been observing seem to suggest their detectives or some kind of investigator, here to investigate the case of the dollmaker¡¯s missing daughter.


    Also note that, this is a multiplayer game. What would be an important element of any multiplayer game? The stances of different characters! Therefore, it stands to reason that there must be competition (TL: Or cooperation, for that matter) between the players. Or there would be no fun in playing.


    Next question, why has the host, the streamer themselves, not appeared up to this point? Not even speaking? He changed the camera view just now, so it means he must be right here, and not afking.


    This means that he must be playing this game as well. Why won¡¯t he at least greet us? It must mean that something is going on on his side! Something that might even potentially affect the entire game progression and even spoil the plot for the audience! For a stream, it is obviously something to be avoided at all costs.


    So, a new problem, what is that situation?


    I couldn¡¯t figure it out at first, and I was even mulling over it when I made comments earlier¡­ But I¡¯ve got it now. Or rather, I stumbled upon it. The problem of the roles of the players.


    What if this game, needed someone to act as the criminal? What if the host, is the criminal?


    He cannot change the camera over to him, because he has the missing girl there! He does not even dare to connect his sound because the girl¡¯s cries could be in the background!


    I¡¯m not sure yet what the dolls chasing the players are about, or why that doll of a little girl is looking for eyes, why the stairs to the second floor are blocked off¡­ But, one thing is for sure.


    The host, is the kidnapper here!¡±


    The whole dump of analysis makes the other viewers applaud in turn.


    ¡°i got it, i understand! the proof is in the pudding!¡±


    ¡°nice bro, i bet the host is now shaking behind the scene he got busted immediately!¡±


    ¡°Haha, thank you, you praise me too much. It is just my personal opinion. For reference only, you know. Of course, I still think what I said is highly likely the case.¡±


    ¡°i completely agree! its well reasoned! no other way the host wont appear¡±


    ¡°yeah the host must be the one behind all this!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    His jaws are on the floor.


    No wait, bro! Your very premise is wrong!


    A wrong premise, leading to a wrong conclusion.


    Even though his logic was pretty sensible!


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t even defend himself here, because the Server would never allow him to talk about himself merely ¡®acting¡¯ his role. Not to mention that even if he did tell them he¡¯s acting¡­ that detective here could clearly just say that that proves he¡¯s acting as the criminal!


    He¡¯s slightly depressed at this point.


    The viewer, confident with his own reasoning, ends up even more confident when five minute passes and the doll strikes again for the Nightmare to restart, during which the host never makes an appearance.


    He declares confidently, ¡°the host must be the kidnapper!¡±


    The heck you so harsh on him about!


    X¨¹ Beijin retorts in his mind, as harshly as he can.


    Before he can think of some way to deal with this bunch of silly viewers in his stream, the door to the bookstore is pushed open. Three people walk in, Ponytail, Quarrelsome and Lin Qin.


    X¨¹ Beijin pauses, while thinking that it seems like the dolls are after Glasses first on its fifth run.


    The camera is still fixed on Glasses right now, so it¡¯s a good thing he¡¯s the one chased by the doors¡­ At least, it means X¨¹ Beijin wouldn¡¯t be exposed to the viewers just yet.


    And the moment they stand in front of X¨¹ Beijin, he suddenly receives some additional information from the Server.


    It¡¯s the first time he has ever experienced such a development. It is slightly surprising for him.


    As Missiontakers explore the Nightmare more, the Actors would also receive more information in turn to support their acting. The question here is, X¨¹ Beijin is just an extra in this. He shouldn¡¯t have to possess so much information.


    Then he gets it.


    Normally, these Missiontakers should have tried to wake up the owner of the Dollmaker¡¯s, yet perhaps they¡¯ve been misled by previous Missiontakers to assume X¨¹ Beijin is the only NPC to provide information in the Nightmare.


    They have already explored the requisite amount, but they wouldn¡¯t go to the appropriate NPC. Therefore, the Server had to deal with this flexibly, allowing X¨¹ Beijin to receive extra information even as an extra in this Nightmare.


    It¡¯s slightly exciting for X¨¹ Beijin too, since¡ª¡ªIt really is his first time ever participating in a Nightmare properly.


    His usual roles as extras were usually the corpse on the ground or a simple background NPC in a store. It was unbelievably boring; at least he can talk to the Missiontakers now and spy on their mission progress through the streaming system¡­


    Colour is coming into his life.


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks, while standing up, showing a friendly smile to the Missiontakers¡ª¡ªEven though the annoying Lin Qin is among them.


    He asks, ¡°hello, can I help you?¡±


    Ponytail is about to talk when she suddenly knits her brows and examines X¨¹ Beijin with narrowed eyes, then suddenly asks, ¡°laoban, have you ever run into the daughter of the owner of the store next door?¡± (TL: The raws are more ¡®have you ever had contact with the daughter¡¯ which feels misleading in English so I changed it. I hope this is closer to the actual meaning)


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Really really really? Can she also be suspecting that he is the kidnapper?!


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s smile slowly fades away.

 Volume 1 - CH 7

    Ponytail is suspecting X¨¹ Beijin for one simple reason.


    He looks nowhere like a good person.


    Pale skin, dark eyebags, a deep, unreadable gaze, and a slightly worn white shirt, half of which is casually tucked inside his pants. He is the definition of the word ¡®dishevelled.¡¯


    When Missiontakers see him, he always has his messy hairdo, with a glass of water in his hands, calmly and apathetically looking at everything outside. The occasional yawn is a sign of his sleep deprivation.


    What is he looking at? What is he thinking about? Why does he not sleep?


    In the Tower, many Missiontakers desperately wanted to enter X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s nightmare to challenge it for that reason, until they could see that X¨¹ Beijin really was a monster that never slept before giving up.


    And now, Ponytail is suspicious because of both X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s appearance and his identity in this Nightmare.


    A haggard, possibly asocial man in a dilapidated bookstore, living right next to the dollmaker whose daughter has gone missing. He is awfully suspicious no matter what.


    Also, in the third run of the Nightmare, they¡¯ve been here once, where X¨¹ Beijin told them that the daughter was missing and the couple was divorced.


    Why would he know all that? Even if he¡¯s their neighbour.


    After they¡¯ve got more information and come around again, why did the handsome, lazy man show a strange, mysterious smile?


    Besides, the past Missiontakers all said that this man would provide basic information, yet as Glasses said, they concealed information on the second floor of the Dollmaker¡¯s. Could it be possible that they also muddied the bookstore owner¡¯s information?


    Especially when even the dalao Lin Qin consistently comes over here these few runs of the Nightmare. True, many Missiontakers take Lin Qin to be a brainless fighting maniac, but Ponytail is not one to go by appearances or rumours.


    Could Lin Qin have discovered something?


    The information so aligned, Ponytail decided to suspect X¨¹ Beijin. If the bookstore owner provided even more information after this, then it will only incriminate him further.


    If X¨¹ Beijin knew what she was thinking, he¡¯d be begging for mercy right about now.


    Why does he know everything? The Server arranged him so!


    He¡¯s just an extra! You Missiontakers shouldn¡¯t be here talking to him so much in the first place! Look at that owner of the Dollmaker¡¯s lying right up there! Wake him up and talk to him, please? Why look for him, why look for X¨¹ Beijin instead!


    And Lin Qin consistently coming over¡­ The heck does that have to do with him! Ask Lin Qin instead!


    Unfortunately, the number one suspect X¨¹ Beijin knows nothing of such.


    The audience suspects him because he wouldn¡¯t appear. Yes, that makes sense.


    Yet beyond that, he feels like his performance in this Nightmare so far has been perfectly adequate, right? Everything proceeded normally, no different from any other time.


    So it must have been his appearance, the clothing, the scene, that is drawing suspicion to him, isn¡¯t it.


    Helpless, X¨¹ Beijin wants to sigh.


    He looks like an evil antagonist, sure, but he¡¯s really a good person! Don¡¯t judge a book by its cover!


    And after all that brief thought, which merely appeared to be X¨¹ Beijin mulling over his memories, he answers, ¡°no, I haven¡¯t run into that little girl.¡±


    He answered frankly and truthfully, yet Ponytail takes the pause and mulling to be even more evidence for culpability.


    And¡­ little girl?


    If he hasn¡¯t ever run into or knew the daughter of the owner next door well, how did he know she was a little girl? She asked ¡®daughter,¡¯ which could refer to someone between a baby to a girl a few years old to possibly a teenager and even an adult woman.


    This means that the bookstore owner did know about her.


    Yet it is still not direct proof that he is the criminal.


    Without changing in expression, Ponytail continues asking, ¡°I heard the little girl has gone missing. Has she been found?¡±


    ¡°Not yet,¡± X¨¹ Beijin shakes his head to sigh, continuing, ¡°the owner next door and his wife¡­ Oh, his ex-wife, now; sigh, never knowing what happened to their daughter is surely torture.¡±


    Ponytail nods and asks, ¡°did the store shut down because of it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. The owner loved his daughter very much. She has gone missing for so long¡­ He once told me his wife didn¡¯t want to keep searching anymore, but he would still keep going, no matter what. They ended up closing the store altogether.¡±


    ¡°His wife didn¡¯t want to continue? Did she not love her?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin hesitates before saying, as per the new information provided by the Server, ¡°that¡¯s not it¡­ But, she is pretty¡­ strict, towards her daughter. Perhaps she expects a lot of her. Sometimes the daughter is beaten.¡±


    ¡°Beaten?¡±


    Ponytail¡¯s eyes seem to sparkle, while Quarrelsome and Lin Qin who has been listening quietly behind her also looks over.


    This clearly indicates a second suspicious person.


    X¨¹ Beijin nods to explain, ¡°before she has gone missing, I used to hear cries coming from next door in the dead of night, along with the woman¡¯s scolding¡­ I asked the owner about it once, but he didn¡¯t want to talk about it, I guess. He would only say that his daughter did something wrong and made her angry; the wife left him about two months after the girl has gone missing.¡±


    Ponytail nods, seemingly in thought.


    There are now two suspicious targets. The bookstore owner, and, the girl¡¯s mother.


    She tries asking for more information, but X¨¹ Beijin shakes his head in return. He does not know any more now.


    Not that Ponytail thinks so. She is convinced that she just hasn¡¯t acquired the requisite clues yet so they couldn¡¯t trigger more information.


    So thinking, she decides to head back for the doll store immediately. Quarrelsome follows, but Lin Qin stays behind.


    When they are alone, Lin Qin is about to speak.


    X¨¹ Beijin intercepts to say, ¡°no fighting.¡±


    Lin Qin gives him a strange look before saying, ¡°I know. I just wanted to ask, ¡®can I sit down¡¯?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He¡¯s slightly embarrassed.


    ¡­ What the hell is with Lin Qin suddenly going off the rails!


    X¨¹ Beijin expressionlessly says, ¡°feel free.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡±


    Then silence ensues. Again.


    X¨¹ Beijin, again, decides to check on the others using the stream. He¡¯s also slightly intrigued by the truth and developments of this Nightmare now.


    ¡­ Not because he¡¯s being suspected here, mind you.


    Meanwhile, Glasses, after surviving the first wave of dolls, has returned to the store to meet back up with Ponytail and Quarrelsome.


    When Ponytail glances at Glasses, still gasping, and then at the hatch leading up to the second floor, something hits her and she yells out, ¡°no way!¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Glasses is about to push the boxes open to head to the second floor again when Ponytail yells out. He pauses to ask, ¡°what is it?¡±


    ¡°We always thought the Difficulty of this Nightmare lies in the dolls¡¯ chase, but it¡¯s wrong! No Difficulty would still remain easily dealt with after over four restarts!¡±


    Her eyes glimmer. She looks like she¡¯s convinced she has grasped a key aspect of this Nightmare.


    Every Nightmare has Difficulties, or in other words, obstacles to the completion of the Nightmare. On the other hand, since they¡¯re an obstacle to solving the Nightmare, it is also actually a hint pointing to the True End.


    Ponytail nods to explain, ¡°you were right. In this Nightmare, the chase isn¡¯t the Difficulty. We can¡¯t find a single clue during the chase. It¡¯s a distraction. The true Difficulty must lie somewhere else!¡±


    Glasses looks stunned; perhaps a little bit awkward too.


    Quarrelsome chimes in with a smirk, ¡°you really think he knows something? He just stumbled on it.¡±


    Glasses gives him a glare.


    Ponytail quickly mediates, saying, ¡°alright alright. No matter what, we should quickly head to the second floor and check for clues in the rest of the rooms. We¡¯ll skip the bedroom entirely!¡±


    Quarrelsome asks, confused, ¡°are we not waking up the owner?¡±


    Glasses taunts him back in turn, ¡°I¡¯m really getting the vibe that you¡¯re surviving this long only through relying on others. We still haven¡¯t finished exploring or learnt anything useful about the case of the missing daughter. Wake up the owner now? Who knows if he¡¯d lie to us.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Ponytail agrees, saying, ¡°we must focus on gathering intel and scrutinise anything the NPCs say.¡±


    It¡¯s two on one, so Quarrelsome just says, ¡°fine fine fine. We¡¯ll do it your way.¡±


    Though he is dissing inside, ¡®then why did you believe the bookstore owner so easily.¡¯


    They now head for the second floor after reaching a temporary consensus. Glasses is the one to push the boxes away this time. In fact, his hands are still shaky while doing so, again reminded of the feeling leading up to his previous death.


    Though that said, everything is possible in the Tower, except actual, real death.


    No one can truly die. They can only struggle and resist the chaos and madness between the Tower and the Nightmares.


    Some continue to go through Nightmare after Nightmare not even to escape anymore, but to be able to¡­ die for good.


    Glasses takes another deep breath and shakes his thoughts away. The girl doll jumps off the cabinet again, and quietly walks to his side.


    He gives the doll an odd look, perhaps wondering why she didn¡¯t say she wanted eyes this time.


    Ponytail is hurrying him along already, though, since time is of the essence. He quickly follows.


    The doll follows behind them, using all fours to slowly climb up the stairs. Inside, she is actually pretty upset, thinking how it¡¯s the pair of eyes she disliked this time.


    There¡¯s just the three of them. She liked neither pair of eyes from before, but the big sister there wouldn¡¯t lead her either¡­ Hmph, then she¡¯ll also ignore her!


    She follows behind them while pouting inside, as nobody can read her mind from her rigid, unmoving doll face.


    The three of them have made up their mind this time and heads right for the two unopened doors. Ponytail chooses the one on the right, the one right next to the bedroom door after little deliberation.


    After pushing it open, she is ecstatic to see that this is a bedroom/study combo. On the reading desk, there are several opened letters!

 Volume 1 - CH 8

    After the trio has entered the room, they quickly begin to search.


    Only Ponytail entered the bedroom next to them before because they were afraid of waking up the man inside, but they¡¯re not worried about that now. They tacitly divide into three sections to search individually and quickly.


    Ponytail rushes right for the desk and picks up the letters on the desk.


    There¡¯s three of them. Looking at the address and names, and skimming through the content, she realises this is communication between the dollmaker and his friend.


    The first letter, addressed to the dollmaker from his friend, was asking about how he was and asking about his missing daughter.


    Nothing important there, mostly platitudes and statements of blessing and hope.


    She skips to the second letter, the reply from the dollmaker to his friend, written about a pretty long time after the little girl has gone missing and the couple has divorced already.


    ¡°¡­


    Thank you, my old friend.


    I was busy looking for xiao-Chun and couldn¡¯t really attend to business like usual, so I replied late [¡­]


    Xiao-Chun¡­ xiao-Chun. I do not know if we can still find her. I should know that kids eventually leave their parents to venture out into the world, but xiao-Chun was [¡­] perhaps, the Heaven¡¯s punishment to me [¡­]


    She went missing in the store. I was making dolls upstairs, and my wife went to work. She was playing alone, but when I realised, she had already gone.


    I asked to see the report from the police. They have looked at CCTV footage, but haven¡¯t found xiao-Chun at all, but as you know, this street sees a lot of foot traffic and there are a lot of CCTV blind spots. Whether she just got lost or did someone just¡­ We don¡¯t know.


    They¡¯re still sifting through CCTV footage further away. There¡¯s no news yet. It can¡¯t be helped. There¡¯s too many. The police are also busy in general too. My wife and I always searched outside every day. We¡¯ve practically gone through every nook and cranny of the city. We found nothing [¡­]


    Say, is that even possible? How could she have just vanished without a trace? How is that even possible [¡­] My wife said she might have already¡­ she doesn¡¯t want to continue anymore. She feels like we¡¯ll eventually just find a corpse at this point. I had an argument, and we ended up divorced. I didn¡¯t agree with what she thought. I can¡¯t¡­ xiao-Chun can¡¯t be dead!


    I was angry. I knew she didn¡¯t like xiao-Chun. No¡­ not that, but she¡¯s jealous¡­ She¡¯s jealous! She¡¯s jealous of the attention I give to her!


    She already felt that way when xiao-Chun was born. Always complaining I wasn¡¯t caring for her. She complained about her body losing curves after giving birth. She complained about the stretch marks, she complained about her irregular periods, she complained about her ageing skin [¡­]


    I can still remember all her complaints. So much of them. She¡¯s always like this, and so xiao-Chun was always distant to her. She would ask me, if mommy didn¡¯t like her.


    She always lashed out at her, making xiao-Chun scared and hide behind me. When xiao-Chun liked reading, she¡¯d say she¡¯s too weak and should go out and work out more; xiao-Chun liked dolls, she¡¯d say she¡¯s too introverted and won¡¯t be able to make friends.


    I remember all that. I know she also wants the best for xiao-Chun, but now, she went missing¡­


    She¡¯s our daughter! Both mine and hers [¡­] now she¡¯s missing, but she says she doesn¡¯t want to look for her anymore. I really want to give her a slap on the face. I was trembling. That¡¯s how angry I was!


    What kind of mother is her?!


    Sometimes, I¡¯d think, if it was because of her attitude to xiao-Chun, that she decided to run away from home altogether [¡­]


    It¡¯s possible. She was already six. She knows things already. She wouldn¡¯t just leave with a stranger.


    Perhaps, because of the scary woman, she left! She left our family! [¡­]


    I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m getting worked up.


    It¡¯s been two whole months and more. I¡¯d sometimes think that she might have really¡­ She¡¯s so young. Even if she did run away from home, how is she doing? Is she happy? If someone did kidnap her, what would they do to her [¡­] I¡¯m scared just thinking about her.


    If possible, I¡¯d also like to ask you to help search for her over at your neighbourhood. You might come across some clues [¡­]


    I already, did everything I possibly could [¡­]¡±


    After the letter, Ponytail makes an involuntary sigh of relief.


    The viewers in the stream are also discussing.


    ¡°the owners wife wasnt a good person i think¡±


    ¡°Hard to say. Sometimes detective novels would set up this kind of antagonistic person as a scapegoat when they¡¯re actually innocent¡±


    ¡°a missing daughter¡­ sigh, i dont have a daughter, but just trying to picture a cute, little girl thats just now gone from the world is already making me sad¡±


    ¡°not only do u not have a daughter, u dont even have a girlfriend¡±


    ¡°? why the ad hominem qaq¡±


    ¡°You should make a comeback like this: I don¡¯t have a girlfriend, sure, does that mean you have a boyfriend yourself?¡±


    ¡°oh shit, detective dalao, mercy!!¡±


    The viewers, already familiar enough with each other, begins ripping into each other; Ponytail looks into the third letter in the meantime.


    The friend¡¯s reply to the owner¡¯s reply.


    Yet in his letter, the friend not only mentioned the missing daughter, but even talked a little bit about the owner¡¯s relationship with his wife. The wording would indicate that his position is quite subtle.


    ¡°[¡­]


    I¡¯m also searching for xiao-Chun myself, having asked some friends of mine to also distribute posters and make a missing person¡¯s post online. Now we can only wait. She was right there, she can¡¯t have disappeared without a single trance.


    By the way, I think I would like to put a word down about you and the missus [¡­] all those years of you already spent together; you know how she is. She¡¯s a bit temperamental, sure, and xiao-Chun might set her off often. Their relationship is strained.


    Since xiao-Chun was born, you also did ignore her more and more. It was all the store and xiao-Chun, xiao-Chun. It¡¯s not like business in your doll store was booming either. It was all her working long hours at her job to feed the family. She handled all the house chores besides too [¡­] must have lots of pent-up emotions. The anger is understandable.


    Of course, naturally, I believe she was also at fault. If she really just wanted to abandon xiao-Chun¡­ Then leave such a wife by all means! No parent can possibly just up and decide to give up on their child altogether. But, lao-Ping (TL: ¡®lao-¡® is a prefix, a term of address for someone of equal status that is likely middle-aged, at least), have you actually properly talked to the missus? Your divorce [¡­] really was rushed.


    And I¡¯m going to say no more about it. It still depends on your own thoughts. I don¡¯t want to meddle in your family affairs much either [¡­]


    I know you¡¯re wallowing in regret over xiao-Chun going missing, but what happens, happens. Xiao-Chun definitely wouldn¡¯t want to see you dejected forever. Keep searching, by all means, but can you even last much longer searching like this?! [¡­]¡±


    Ponytail furrows her brows slightly, then decides to glance down at the wastepaper basket on the floor. As expected, there are several rolled up pieces of paper inside.


    She kneels down to unfurl a few of them. She realises that, as expected, they were the owner¡¯s replies, but he wrote several greetings without getting any further. He ended up sending nothing, it seems.


    She throws the paper back down and stands up, mulling over it.


    And she is not alone. X¨¹ Beijin, who also read it all, is also in thought.


    Did the wife of the owner really end up kidnapping or even killing the daughter?


    Ponytail is suspecting X¨¹ Beijin and the owner¡¯s wife, but X¨¹ Beijin knows that he¡¯s just an extra, so he must be innocent. Therefore, the only remaining suspect is the wife who remains unseen to this point, said to be temperamental and on bad terms with her daughter.


    From the owner¡¯s diary and letters, it seems she is highly suspicious. She toiled between family and work ever since giving birth. Her husband did not care much for her. She may have suffered from postnatal depression, and took it out on her child.


    And while they¡¯re at it, the owner also said it was possible she just ran away from home.


    That is, without considering the reply from the friend, which seems to suggest there is more to this situation than these guesses. His words were slightly subtle, but clearly, he¡¯s on the side of the wife (TL: Don¡¯t worry, it wasn¡¯t much subtler in the raws either, but you get the point), blaming the owner for neglecting her, and the friend seems to blame him for agitating the wife¡¯s tempers in the first place with all his accusatory arguments with her.


    Before they can talk to the both of them, it¡¯s really up in the air at this point.


    Ponytail seems to think so as well. After thinking briefly, she decides to stop and calls out to Quarrelsome and Glasses, to quickly sneak a peek at the room next door in the last bit of the five minutes¡¯ time.


    Glasses and Quarrelsome didn¡¯t discover any clues of value, by the way.


    In two simple words, the room is just ¡®dirty¡¯ and ¡®messy.¡¯


    It¡¯s piled up with all sorts of everyday trash. Remains of leftovers, cans, wilted plants; blankets on the bed are so dirty mould is even growing. Everything is a sign of really how desolate the owner¡¯s life has been since his daughter went missing.


    No wonder the wife would throw tantrums at him, really.


    Glasses didn¡¯t want to search the bathroom, but this room¡­ really isn¡¯t any better in any sense. He¡¯s really glad Ponytail called off their search through what is effectively a landfill.


    Ponytail briefly summarises her findings while walking outside.


    When they leave the room to try and examine the next, suddenly, the bedroom door next to them creaks and opens from the inside.


    The sleeping man is awake. He is stretching himself, slowly walking out of the bedroom, running right into the three Missiontakers.


    He then looks warily and confusedly at these strangers in his home, yelling, ¡°who are you?! Why are you in my house?!¡±

 Volume 1 - CH 9

    The atmosphere was growing awkward.


    Ponytail reacts first and immediately says, ¡°we¡¯re here to investigate the case of your missing daughter! We called out downstairs but there was no response for a long time, so we went upstairs to check. Sorry about that.¡±


    The dollmaker¡¯s facial expression visibly calms, saying, ¡°is that so¡­ I was sleeping, so I didn¡¯t hear, perhaps,¡± he then begins to show a slightly more expectant face, ¡°then, did you come up with anything?¡±


    The dollmaker, named Wu Shen, should be in his 30¡¯s, but looking at his tired, unkempt form, he could probably pass for being in his 40¡¯s.


    Ponytail smiles to say, ¡°well, we¡¯re here to ask you about it. We had collected clues, but we still wanted to ask you for more information.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Wu Shen quickly asks, ¡°what clues did you collect?¡±


    Ponytail says frankly, ¡°perhaps we can talk about it somewhere else.¡±


    ¡°Sure, sure,¡± Wu Shen nods, looking slightly nervous, ¡°this way.¡±


    He is clearly really drawn to the information Ponytail said she has; he doesn¡¯t know that they¡¯re actually here to try to fish something out of him instead.


    He brings Ponytail into the study, which is basically the only room that can receive a guest. Just barely.


    The moment they step inside, Ponytail¡¯s heart skips a beat. They combed through the room just now, which means decorations and books are all out of place. The letters are not where they were, either.


    Fortunately, Wu Shen doesn¡¯t seem to notice at all, making Ponytail sigh in relief.


    After they¡¯re inside, Quarrelsome is about to follow when he spies Glasses stealing glances at the corridor. He asks, ¡°what¡¯chu looking at?¡±


    Glasses gives him a glance and asks coldly, ¡°you don¡¯t see anything wrong?¡±


    Quarrelsome furrows his brows to say, ¡°so what, can¡¯t you say what¡¯s wrong directly? Is it fun to answer a question with a question? I can tell you, ¡®I, don¡¯t,¡¯ ho.¡±


    Then he follows the two people into the room.


    Glasses can¡¯t help but roll his eyes and looks back at the corridor a little longer.


    He kept track of the time carefully; it is well past five minutes. Therefore, while Ponytail was negotiating with Wu Shen, his eyes were darting across the corridor, looking for the girl doll.


    Yet, it has disappeared, who knows when.


    She isn¡¯t here to kill him even after five minutes.


    Glasses is confused and worried.


    Before he entered this Nightmare, he was confident that he had information that other Missiontakers didn¡¯t.


    Now, he is faced with the fact that the situation is entirely out of his control.


    The second floor of the Dollmaker¡¯s¡­ This nominally insignificant scene seems to belie some terrifying secrets.


    After blanking out briefly, he takes a deep breath, and turns to walk into the study as well.


    The moment he turns around, a little silhouette in a red dress, pokes its little head out from the stairwell at the end of the entrance. The glass beads that are her eyes watching the man¡¯s back.


    Glasses doesn¡¯t notice, but he is the source of the video feed of the stream right now. Under their scrutinous views¡ª¡ªAnd X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s too¡ª¡ªThey see it clearly.


    Immediately the ¡®AAAA¡¯ comment barrages begin.


    X¨¹ Beijin was also spooked himself, cocking his head away to avoid his gaze.


    Unfortunately, the screen is locked to his vision. He fails to look away, and instead, his sudden movement attracted Lin Qin¡¯s attention.


    Lin Qin, who was sitting there and blanking out, comes back to ask curiously, ¡°what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin awkwardly smiles and responds, ¡°nothing¡­ never mind.¡±


    Lin Qin narrows his eyes and says, ¡°I do not know what you were thinking about¡­ But my instincts tell me, when you say ¡®nothing,¡¯ there is definitely something.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s really nothing.¡±


    Lin Qin gives him a glance, which translates to, ¡®sure, keep going.¡¯


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He gives up.


    He does want to conceal his thoughts, but Lin Qin is an instinctual monster. The people in the Tower were right, perhaps. Lin Qin perhaps isn¡¯t particularly smart.


    Yet his instincts are unbelievably sharp. Coupled with his supreme fighting power, at least in ¡®Escape,¡¯ he¡¯s wholly unrivalled.


    ¡­ Meaning, he is an especially effective counter to people like X¨¹ Beijin ¨C ones who don¡¯t think what they say, and whose face doesn¡¯t correspond to their character.


    Like how the Missiontakers all take X¨¹ Beijin to be deep, conniving, scheming, antagonistic, but Lin Qin isn¡¯t at all deterred and is even excitedly inviting him to fight every time.


    Or it might just be he¡¯s that confident in his fighting strength.


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but wonder how the Tower would have such an unimaginable fighting power.


    The Missiontakers all wonder about X¨¹ Beijin, ¡®the Monster that Never Sleeps,¡¯ but isn¡¯t it equally strange that someone with as much monstrous fighting power as Lin Qin came up?


    As X¨¹ Beijin becomes absorbed in his thoughts, his expression begins to turn stony.


    Shortly, though, he snaps out of his thoughts and turns back to the stream, where the Missiontakers are talking to Wu Shen.


    They say they¡¯re going to talk about the clue, but after they begin to talk, Ponytail first asks, ¡°I would like to confirm first. When your daughter has gone missing, you were making dolls on the second floor, and your wife¡­ your ex-wife, was working?¡±


    Wu Shen can only answer despite his impatience, ¡°yes. I was making dolls in my workshop opposite this room that afternoon. It was always like this. On workdays, my ex-wife had to go to work, so xiao-Chun would play by herself in the store. She is a good girl, she doesn¡¯t wander around.¡±


    Ponytail nods.


    It seems the room they haven¡¯t explored yet on this floor would be Wu Shen¡¯s workshop. The structure of this store is clear, now.


    A two-storey building. The first floor is the storefront. There is likely another bathroom and kitchen that¡¯s buried within the mountainous pile of boxes and dolls and trash.


    The second floor is the living area with a bathroom, bedroom, study and workshop. Wait, wouldn¡¯t a child¡¯s room be missing¡­ Ponytail glances around a bit.


    In terms of area, this study/bedroom was likely the master¡¯s bedroom? That makes the smaller room next door xiao-Chun¡¯s room?


    After xiao-Chun has gone missing, the father moves over to sleep in his daughter¡¯s room¡­


    For nostalgia¡¯s sake? It sounds really perverted, though.


    Ponytail ¡®tch¡¯s inside but continues asking, ¡°and, was there no CCTV in your store?¡±


    Wu Shen looks embarrassed, saying, ¡°the camera¡­ broke. It broke a pretty long time ago, and because we never actually used it, we didn¡¯t fix it¡­¡± He says, looking frustrated, ¡°it¡¯s all my fault. Sigh, it¡¯s all me!¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t blame yourself. I believe xiao-Chun wouldn¡¯t wish for you to be like this either.¡±


    Wu Shen seems slightly out of it. After his daughter has gone missing, it is apparent his mental state has been impacted. From both his diary and his letters to his friends, it is easy to see he has become utterly lost.


    Suddenly, he buries his face into his hands to cry, murmuring xiao-Chun¡¯s name with a scratchy voice. His body curls up. It is painful to watch.


    Ponytail patiently waits for him to calm down.


    A long while later, Wu Shen wipes his tears away to reply with a tone that is still slightly hoarse, ¡°I apologise¡­ After xiao-Chun has gone missing, I often have these episodes,¡± he lowers his head to hide his reddened eyes, adding, ¡°perhaps, it really is the Heavens¡¯ punishment for me¡­¡±


    ¡°Why do you think the Heavens are punishing you? If you didn¡¯t do anything wrong¡­¡±


    ¡°No, I did wrong,¡± Wu Shen suddenly raises his head and widens his eyes, ¡°I did something wrong!¡±


    Ponytail is shocked by his bloodied eyes, but still reflexively asks, ¡°what is it?¡±


    Wu Shen grits his teeth to say, ¡°I should never have married that woman! If only I didn¡¯t marry that woman, then xiao-Chun wouldn¡¯t¡­ wouldn¡¯t¡­¡±


    Quarrelsome reflexively counters, ¡°if you didn¡¯t marry her, xiao-Chun couldn¡¯t have been born in the first place!¡±


    Wu Shen trembles and freezes, then, his neck slowly turns in his direction. He is looking at Quarrelsome with a terrifying expression.


    Quarrelsome can feel a chill seeping down his back. The man sure did end up going insane because of his missing daughter¡­ pitiful.


    His wife killing xiao-Chun, or, xiao-Chun running away from home due to her mother¡¯s wrath, may be mere guesses of Wu Shen.


    And, all the man can do is to throw useless tantrums here, blaming his missing daughter on his wife¡­ But fundamentally, the day xiao-Chun went missing, he was in the store. He failed to look after xiao-Chun. It¡¯s his responsibility.


    The situation has turned frigid.


    Suddenly, Wu Shen stands up, and points at the door, saying ¡°get out.¡±


    Ponytail seems spooked, saying, ¡°Mr Wu, we¡­¡±


    ¡°Get out!¡± Wu Shen, with widened eyes, grim expression and veins popping on his neck, yells, ¡°I¡¯m telling you to get out! How could people like you ever find xiao-Chun!¡±


    The insane father has chased the three Missiontakers out of his store.


    They still seem dazed even after they have been hustled out.


    Quarrelsome seems slightly embarrassed, saying, ¡°no¡­ really, did he just¡­¡±


    It was his quarrelsome retort that set off Wu Shen¡­ Still, his attitude seems over-the-top. Is the rift between the man and his wife already so deep?


    Ponytail seems to be in thought. She begins walking while saying, ¡°something is off with his emotional state. I suspect¡­¡±


    Quarrelsome asks, ¡°what?¡±


    Glasses mockingly says, ¡°tch, really need to spell it out for you? This father, who loves his daughter so utterly-nutterly much is also a suspect.¡±


    ¡°He too?¡± Quarrelsome is genuinely surprised, saying, ¡°he looks like he¡¯d kill whoever dared hurt xiao-Chun any¡­ what could he have done to her?¡±


    Ponytail reminds him, ¡°don¡¯t forget that one of the information we got was that, the day xiao-Chun went missing, she was in the store alone with Wu Shen. Although everyone seems to have conveniently ignored his suspicion because he is her father, why can¡¯t he be the ¡®thief crying out ¡°thief¡±¡®?¡± (TL: Chinese saying meaning the perpetrator yelling out about his deeds)


    Quarrelsome seems astounded, saying, ¡°it¡­ I suppose it makes sense.¡±


    Glasses gives him a glance, speechless, and asks Ponytail, ¡°why did you even team up with this guy? For his stupidity and obedience?¡±


    Quarrelsome gives Glasses a ferocious glare.


    Ponytail can¡¯t be bothered with their argument again, so is murmuring to herself, ¡°the bookstore owner, the dollmaker, the dollmaker¡¯s wife¡­ who could have laid their hands on xiao-Chun?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is also listening intently.


    While it is paining him that Ponytail listed him alongside the couple, but he really is curious now about the development and truth behind this Nightmare.


    He watches the stream while listening in¡­ when suddenly, something feels off.


    Where are they going? Does it look like, they¡¯re heading for the bookstore?


    ¡­ Then he¡¯s going on camera? And will have to be exposed to the viewers? Wouldn¡¯t they be convinced that this ¡®bookstore owner next door¡¯ is even more like the perpetrator???


    Panicked, X¨¹ Beijin tries to fiddle with the video source.


    Unfortunately, he¡¯s too late.


    As Glasses has just come into view in the entrance. The viewers of the stream also end up seeing the man behind the bookstore counter.

 Volume 1 - CH 10

    When Glasses enters the bookstore alongside the video feed of the stream, the audience is in a heated discussion over the information attained.


    The three viewers happen to have three distinct views.


    ¡°the wife looks like a bad person¡­¡±


    ¡°That kind of setting really screams the distraction in detective novels!¡±


    ¡°but she really didnt treat her daughter well, according to both the diary and the letters between the owner and his friend¡±


    ¡°and isnt the owner sus? whats with the reaction when ppl talk well about his wife? it feels like guilt after committing a crime; also he was sleeping in his daughters room, isnt that just perverted? maybe he has ill thoughts towards his daughter¡±


    ¡°His reaction may just have been because of him suspecting that these people are here to try to clean up his wife¡¯s name for her, despite his well-established suspicions of her.¡±


    ¡°never mind all that, which one do u think is true?¡±


    ¡°owners wife +1¡±


    ¡°The owner +1¡±


    ¡°? so i get to decide? oh wow let me think¡±


    ¡°Oh, a new scene. A bookstore? Interesting. Mm, but wait, this bookstore owner¡­¡±


    ¡°looks like a bad guy¡±


    ¡°hes so handsome tho!¡±


    Meanwhile, a new viewer has joined the stream, unaware of all the previous events, nor that the stream¡¯s host has yet to appear at all. Seeing the camera pointed at the man behind the counter, the person makes a comment, ¡°yo, that¡¯s the host? handsome!¡±


    The three viewers that are still happily debating suddenly stops and is about to make a question mark to clarify when the dalao detective viewer has a spark of genius and thinks, ¡®that¡­ isn¡¯t impossible?¡¯


    Soon after, a new wave of comment barrage begins.


    ¡°I give it a thought and this bookstore owner really does feel like he may be the host we¡¯ve been searching for!


    It is his first appearance in the stream, despite all the details we¡¯ve already gathered in this missing person¡¯s case. All the potential suspects should have already been introduced, with the perpetrator among them!


    (TL: The comments continue thusly, but it feels like it¡¯s getting too long without a line break)


    Next, the geographical location of this bookstore, being right next to the Dollmaker¡¯s. The day xiao-Chun went missing, he could easily have avoided all surveillance to take xiao-Chun into his store.


    If he and xiao-Chun already knew each other, and she isn¡¯t on guard against him, then all the easier; not to mention that, as their neighbour, he may very well be aware that the CCTV camera in the Dollmaker¡¯s is broken.


    And lastly, from a streaming host¡¯s perspective, knowing that he¡¯s the perpetrator after entering the game but the audience doesn¡¯t know yet, then how can he best achieve a successful stream?


    Obviously, it¡¯s to conceal his identity. Not just against other players, but also with us, the viewers, creating a battle of wits centred about our screens!


    And he also has to arrange for his erstwhile identity to appear at an appropriate time, while letting the audience join the game¡¯s mystery-solving for increased viewer satisfaction (I admit that I¡¯m really excited right now).


    Put simply, from my analysis of Suspect Hostism, this bookstore owner, is likely the stream¡¯s host = the perpetrator!¡±


    And now, the rest of the viewers feel enlightened and all incline to agree,


    ¡°dalao! i got it, i really understand now!¡±


    ¡°hey, if nothing else the host really is good looking¡±


    Meanwhile, the latest viewer understood nothing, but the conclusion, ¡°what? the host is the perpetrator?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He¡¯s pretty sure this detective dalao would have a field day talking with Ponytail.


    And, what in the world is ¡®Suspect Hostism¡¯¡­!


    X¨¹ Beijin is angry, angry!


    This causes him to show a slight frown when the three Missiontakers come in.


    Ponytail, looking at his expression, seems to fall into thought.


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    What now!


    X¨¹ Beijin finally realises that, humans, once they begin to suspect something of their own accord, they¡¯ll manage to dig up all sorts of supporting evidence from them, discovering all sorts of suspicious points everywhere.


    The truth is, because of the strange behaviour from the dollmaker, Ponytail has leaned towards him being the perpetrator instead of the bookstore owner, though he remains entirely on the table as a suspect.


    Since, up to this point, the total number of NPCs has been the bookstore owner and the dollmaker. She could eeny, meeny, miny, moe her way out and still have a 50% chance to be right.


    Though for the Missiontakers, just knowing who the perpetrator is won¡¯t resolve the Nightmare completely.


    After thinking about it, Ponytail tells X¨¹ Beijin, ¡°laoban, we just got chased out by the dollmaker.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin knew what happened to them, therefore he is doing his best to put on a very convincing ¡®surprised¡¯ face, asking, ¡°chased out? Why?¡±


    Quarrelsome explains, ¡°because we told him that, we thought it was unlikely the owner¡¯s wife could have done something to her own daughter.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin seems to mull over his words for a little bit before answering, ¡°I¡¯m actually inclined to agree.¡±


    All three Missiontakers turn towards him. X¨¹ Beijin explains, according to the information the Server has provided, ¡°I haven¡¯t moved here for long so I didn¡¯t know them very well, but I know that the missus always left for work early and returned home late. She was always busy.


    Once, I was about to shutter the store when I saw her return from work with lots of bags in her hands¡­ I asked if she needed help.


    She seemed impatient and in a hurry but still told me that she bought it all for her daughter. She complained that the daughter was really high-maintenance and always wanted the sweets and whatnot, so she had to make a detour to buy them every day when she got off work;


    She does love her daughter very much, I think.¡±


    After X¨¹ Beijin has finished, Ponytail slowly nods and then asks curiously, ¡°but when we asked, it seemed xiao-Chun¡­ the daughter, after she went missing, it was the owner that was more in pain and was adamant about searching for her, but the owner¡¯s wife wanted to give up early¡­ Is that true?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin quickly concludes from only the pieces of information provided by the server to say, sighing, ¡°that¡¯s right. Before they divorced, the owner complained to me once that his wife always said xiao-Chun might have already¡­ Perhaps she is just more rational.¡±


    Ponytail furrows her brows. Her mind is suddenly telling her something is off.


    What is wrong here¡­


    During their conversation, all the words of the diary and the letters they read¡­ Something, something is terribly off!


    She is mired in her thoughts when Quarrelsome suddenly yelps.


    ¡°Wha¡­¡± She turns her head around reflexively only to widen her eyes in shock.


    Outside of the bookstore is wave after wave of dolls, rushing forth into the bookstore in nought but a few seconds.


    The narrow, cramped store provided them nowhere to escape. A countless amount of dolls are squeezing on their bodies. She feels like she is running out of hair. Endless pairs of frigid little hands are touching her. The chill that is as long as death (TL: Don¡¯t ask me. That¡¯s what it says in the raws) are overwhelming her senses.


    The next second, her eyes go dark.


    Did she die? Did someone else die?


    Was that her death¡­?


    A long while later, she snaps her eyes back open. Her fear, shock and regret make her cuss out, ¡°fuck!¡±


    They all forgot one important thing!


    True, after they went to the second floor, the girl doll follows after them, and the first-floor dolls settle down.


    Yet after they left the second floor, equivalent to avoiding the girl doll¡¯s kill condition¡­ Then, would the first-floor dolls reactivate?


    Well, they do.


    Not much grace period after they return to the first floor and before the army of dolls rushes for them.


    Their carelessness has caused a death and a restart, making Ponytail unable to subdue her anger anymore. She has maintained her calm up to this point, but now, she¡¯s had enough, spouting, ¡°shit, I¡¯m taking back what I said! The dolls¡¯ chase is a Difficulty for sure!¡±


    On their fifth run, they were making good progress already. The letter, the talk with the dollmaker too, but because they completely ignored the problem of the dolls¡¯ chase, the problem of time, they failed.


    Worse, on successive runs after the first few, the dolls quicken and increase in quantity. And¡­ they would eventually switch to targeting all the Missiontakers, not just picking a random one.


    On this sixth run, almost as soon as they have opened their eyes, an endless sea of dolls are already rushing out of all the godforsaken corners of the Dollmaker¡¯s to grandly rush at them like a raging river.


    Truly a terrifying scene.


    Ponytail and Quarrelsome both can¡¯t help but scream; Glasses is trembling. Lin Qin stands up straight, looking impatient.


    The next second, they all rush outside the store.


    Even if Lin Qin¡¯s strength can easily deal with these weak-ass dolls, but the numbers also mean there is nothing he can do, unless he¡¯s willing to deal with them one-by-one patiently¡­ which he clearly isn¡¯t.


    X¨¹ Beijin can see them being chased through both the stream and the entrance of the bookstore.


    Therefore, for now, nobody will be here to divert his attention.


    After hesitating slightly, he resolves himself and switches the stream¡¯s video source back to the bookstore.


    The four viewers seem confused by the sudden change in perspective, as they come face-to-face with the man directly in the camera¡¯s view.


    The man greets them, ¡°hello. I¡¯m your host, X¨¹ Beijin.¡±

 Volume 1 - CH 11

    X¨¹ Beijin, after deliberation, still decided to meet the viewers.


    Mainly because, he really wants to use this chance to learn about the world outside.


    One day, humanity just woke up and realise they are all inexplicably locked up inside this game called ¡®Escape.¡¯ They have struggled inside now for countless days.


    Both the Tower residents and outsiders all still remember their lives back on Earth. They still remember everything. Occasionally, they might even run into people who were once their relatives, friends, acquaintances.


    Yet¡­ It seems they would never be able to return to their former lives.


    They want to ascend the floors, to truly ¡®Escape,¡¯ because, they wanted to know, what happened? What happened to Earth? Are they all that¡¯s left? What is going on outside?


    Can they, still be free of the Nightmares of the Tower?


    They have so many questions, one of which, the stream might provide an answer for.


    After streaming for this short while, X¨¹ Beijin has observed the viewers, and to be honest, he can¡¯t see anything wrong with them. It seems they really are just regular people that are relaxing in their free time by watching a host¡¯s stream. It¡¯s perfectly normal.


    Well, the detective dalao is a bit oddly serious, but that¡¯s still quite possibly his true personality.


    The viewers, are all very ¡®normally¡¯ watching this stream of a game.


    Which is the biggest abnormality, in comparison.


    All the humans know they are in a game, a game that is, somehow, their entire lives. Why, can this game, even be streamed? It is connected to the Internet outside?


    Frankly, X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s first reaction was to recall those theories of the brain in a jar or the Truman show.


    Perhaps they are performing on a shapeless stage, unaware that, behind the fourth wall that none of them can see, the countless audience are cheering on for them.


    Perhaps their deaths, their struggles, their failures, their hopelessness¡­ Are merely grand shows that the audience would applaud and would talk about for days to come.


    Just look at them, the residents of the Tower. They¡¯re all Acting already, aren¡¯t they?


    This sure is a possibility that X¨¹ Beijin would despise.


    He could accept that, under the Server¡¯s orders and suppression, they are forced to act like NPCs and even be forced to hide this fact from the Missiontakers. He can treat the Acting as a mission themselves. A different pathway to escape, perhaps.


    Yet, he cannot accept himself, and all the Actors and Missiontakers, being treated as monkeys performing tricks under someone¡¯s arrangements, unaware of their conditions, weary and desperate.


    Who is it that is acting almighty and controlling other¡¯s fate? Who even deserves such a role? (TL: Since this point potentially conflicts with plot points that will be revealed in like, over a hundred chapters, I¡¯ll just clear up right here that X¨¹ Beijin cannot accept there might be humans outside that are treated differently to them, knowingly so, and still acting nonchalant about it; all he is willing to begrudgingly accept is that humanity as a whole has equally fallen)


    Nobody!


    X¨¹ Beijin is sitting down quietly. His gaze is calmly, but also deeply aimed to the front, at nothing in particular. He knows the stream¡¯s camera is pointed right at his face¡ª¡ªObviously, since he could see the screen right there.


    Honestly, it¡¯s almost a bit like looking at a mirror.


    An invisible camera floating in the void is slightly uncomfortable, to be fair, but he decides to keep his thoughts to himself.


    Brain in a jar, or the Truman show, or whatever else, are still only his guesses, or perhaps even delusions. He doesn¡¯t know what¡¯s truly going on outside. And the viewers¡­ Really, there¡¯s no saying whether they might be innocent or complicit.


    X¨¹ Beijin decides to be a bit more careful for now. Since the audience acts nothing unlike normal viewers, he¡¯s already prepared to be like a normal game stream host.


    And if, what he does does not cause the viewers any confusion¡­ That must mean that the cultural entertainment outside, or at least, game streamers, are normal and accepted.


    It¡¯s hard to say whether that would be good news or not, though.


    After mulling for a short while, he begins speaking to the viewers, with a normal speed and tone, ¡°I didn¡¯t greet you all at first to try to give you an impactful first impression, though, there¡¯s always unexpected circumstances¡­¡±


    ¡°Hahaha I get it, I know, host, you definitely didn¡¯t expect us to work out that you¡¯re the perpetrator!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin almost chokes. He is quiet for a moment before saying, ¡°I¡¯m not.¡±


    The viewers are going ¡°? lolol dont try to weasel out anymore, we got it already!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin says with a slightly quieter voice this time, ¡°I¡¯m actually not.¡±


    The detective dalao is going ¡°¡­¡±


    Shortly after, he gives a slightly awkward comment, ¡°oh, ha ha. Ha ha.¡±


    Every ¡®ha¡¯ belies an embarrassment from guilt.


    His very confident reasoning now only makes him feel like burrowing into the ground.


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but smile and says, ¡°now that the misunderstanding is cleared up and you saw me, then let¡¯s continue spectating the other players.


    Right, first, let me introduce the rules of the game for you. This is an Instance, but we call them ¡®Nightmares.¡¯ When players enter Nightmares, they have to investigate its situation, in order to resolve its owner¡¯s¡­ crux, let¡¯s say. In addition to finding out the truth about the Nightmare.


    The players¡¯ actions in the Nightmare directly affects the ending of the Nightmare. There are three main types of endings. True Ends, Normal Ends and Bad Ends. Endings other than those three are rare, and all known as Special Ends.


    At the same time, Nightmares also carry their own particular dangers. For example, in this Nightmare, the dolls all come to life to try to kill the players. Any players dying would result in the Nightmare restarting and the players resurrecting.


    However, as the Nightmare is restarted over and over, the situation begins to deteriorate and it grows more dangerous. At the same time, information becomes easier and easier to access. Therefore, whether to resolve a Nightmare quickly, or to contend with danger to be able to gather more information more easily, is also a choice for the players.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin gradually lays out the rules of Nightmares, skipping over the parts about Actors and the fact that ¡®Players¡¯ are actually real people that are going to life-or-death trials again and again. Also, he kept some information regarding the Tower, utility cards and Collapsed Nightmares to himself.


    He assumed the role of a newbie streamer, and explained the main idea of the game as he expects a normal audience to interpret how ¡®games¡¯ and ¡®players¡¯ would.


    The audience also seems to be receptive. They begin discussing as they come to understand.


    ¡°sounds like an interesting mystery solving/escape the room kinda game¡±


    ¡°I like this game! Working through the clues to look for the truth¡­ sounds amazing!¡±


    ¡°so host, what kind of role are you?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin answers, ¡°after some players enter the game, they may end up with special roles.¡±


    He is skirting by the limits of what the Server would permit him to say to try to hint at his situation as much as possible.


    And the viewers do not fail his expectations, since the detective dalao did make a bunch of reasoning along the same lines already, so the audience quickly gets it.


    ¡°Oh, got it! The game really does sort the players into different stances. Different players possess different roles and learn different information in the beginning.¡±


    ¡°wow cool, but it sounds like its a big brain challenge¡±


    ¡°i feel like the host knows a lot more than the players? is that so?¡±


    ¡°They probably had different roles. The host said he has a special role as well, but it is because of this so he cannot explore and can only stay in the bookstore, I think?¡±


    ¡°and other plays come to ask for information from the host too¡­ ur rly like an npc lol¡±


    ¡°not exactly an NPC, per se¡­ I feel like it¡¯s more an MMORPG like mafia or something, a player is the killer, a player is the detective, and a player is a witness, they all know different information from the start¡±


    ¡°I really want to play too, though I can¡¯t find anything about this game online. Another host-exclusive game? Uwuwu I¡¯m going to cry.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is reading everything the viewers are saying carefully, while thinking about how he should act and behave in the future so he isn¡¯t busted.


    Though the last comment makes X¨¹ Beijin slightly surprised.


    A host-exclusive game?


    It is clearly an important piece of information to him, but given how X¨¹ Beijin is now, not only must he not ask anything, but he even has to just nod nonchalantly to imply ¡®right, that¡¯s it.¡¯


    He is really frustrated inside, so to distract himself, he tells the viewers, ¡°right, we¡¯ll be looking over at the others now to see how they¡¯re doing.¡±


    How are the others doing?


    Honestly, not well.


    Starting from this sixth run, the dolls have crossed a threshold in their chase. Other than Lin Qin who still looks completely carefree, the three are all stumbling and barely making it along.


    Fortunately, they did get out of the first wave alive and are now back on the first floor of the Dollmaker¡¯s.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have much time left. There¡¯s at most a few minutes before the second wave starts,¡± Ponytail quickly says, ¡°we have to decide what to do next.¡±


    Quarrelsome says, ¡°we still haven¡¯t checked out the last room on the second floor.¡±


    Glasses says, ¡°that doll of the little girl disappeared after the dollmaker woke up, and the five-minute time limit was gone too. We should talk to Wu Shen again.¡±


    Ponytail is also thinking while listening, and says, ¡°I have to go to the bookstore again. I feel like he still has more information we haven¡¯t found out yet.¡±


    The spark she had right before restarting was triggered in her conversation with the bookstore owner. She hasn¡¯t managed to figure out what¡¯s wrong in that conversation yet, though, so she must go talk to him some more.


    They then look at each other and quickly says in unison, ¡°let¡¯s split up!¡±


    Ponytail then turns to Lin Qin and gives him a slightly ingratiating smile, asking, ¡°dalao, can you help a little? I want to talk with the bookstore owner for a bit. Can you watch out for if the dolls are chasing after me? You don¡¯t need to fight, only keeping an eye out.¡±


    They really don¡¯t dare impose on Lin Qin too much, because if he lost patience, he can just simply immobilise all moving objects of the entire Nightmare, people or not, and force the Nightmare onto a Special End.


    Not just Ponytail, but all three of them feel like there¡¯s hope for a True End this run!


    Lin Qin gives her a glance and nods slightly.


    He¡¯s going to the bookstore anyway, and he can keep an eye out in the meantime too, or rather, he has to, so that he doesn¡¯t end up troubled either; Lin Qin does not think of himself as the kind of demon lord that just screams murder and violence all the time.


    Ponytail seems overjoyed and immediately rushes for the bookstore. Lin Qin is following behind her with casual steps, almost like a stroll in comparison.


    Quarrelsome and Glasses both abandon their grudges and immediately rush for the second floor.


    The doll of the little girl in a red dress is sighing inside as she carefully jumps off the display cabinet, and begins making her way up the stairs again.


    It¡¯s again the eyes she doesn¡¯t like¡­


    The doll, forced to Act again, is again climbing the stairs diligently today.

 Volume 1 - CH 12

    Ponytail is hurrying to the bookstore like a gust of wind to take advantage of the time before the next wave of dolls. Her speed even sends the neatly placed newspapers by the counter flying to the ground.


    She stops, then tries to adjust her breathing while kneeling down to pick the newspaper back up, and inadvertently notices the content on the newspaper. She suddenly has a revelation, turning to X¨¹ Beijin, asking, ¡°laoban, do you have newspapers from earlier here?¡±


    ¡°Earlier?¡±


    ¡°Like¡­¡± Ponytail says, ¡°when the owner¡¯s daughter next door went missing.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is slightly surprised too, pausing for a moment before answering, ¡°that would be more than two months ago. I¡¯m not sure if they¡¯re still around¡­ You can search for them,¡± he points to the cabinet beneath the shelves, ¡°they¡¯re inside there.¡±


    Ponytail hesitates a little bit before kneeling to open the cabinet and search through the newspapers. Her line of thought is that, since these newspapers are all here, with proper print, content and everything, then there must be some deeper meaning to them.


    X¨¹ Beijin also walks out from the counter to help search.


    Lin Qin is standing outside the door, acting like a guard.


    The newspaper in the cabinet are all arranged neatly chronologically, so soon enough Ponytail yells out in joy, ¡°found it!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, meanwhile, is recalling how he¡¯s nowhere as organised usually¡­ They should thank the Server for this.


    The Server is actually in charge of all the details in the scenery in these Nightmares; they are not necessarily entirely dependent on the Tower residents. Therefore, Ponytail was right on point there.


    If these detailed newspapers exist, then some reason must exist to justify so. They do not pop in randomly.


    The newspapers, meanwhile, are the local ones mainly reporting on local occurrences. Ponytail is carefully perusing the front page of one of its editions.


    ¡®DOLL STORE OWNER¡¯S DAUGHTER MYSTERIOUSLY MISSING! POLICE ¡°RESIDENTS SHOULD PAY SPECIAL ATTENTIONS TO SURROUNDINGS¡±¡®


    This is the news on xiao-Chun¡¯s missing case!


    ¡°[¡­]


    The missing little girl, Wu Chun, is just six years old.


    Two days ago, she mysteriously went missing in her own family store. Nearby CCTV cameras all failed to capture how she went missing or any suspicious individuals [¡­] investigation by police has entered a standstill [¡­]


    ¡°We cannot rule out if she just got lost wandering outside,¡± says the police spokesperson, ¡°therefore, we advise the general public to keep an eye out for [¡­] and provide clues at [¡­] if [¡­] to help us search for this missing child.¡± [¡­]


    Wu Chun¡¯s parents have also requested help from the media, including this newspaper, hoping to draw attention and to search for clues.


    During the interview, the parents were visibly distressed. ¡°Xiao-Chun is a cute, caring little girl. I can¡¯t imagine what she might be going through outside,¡± Wu Chun¡¯s mother said with reddened eyes, ¡°if anyone knows her whereabouts or any clues, please tell us! Xiao-Chun, come back to mommy and daddy soon. We miss you.¡± [¡­]


    A recent photo of the missing girl, Wu Chun, can be seen here. If any readers or residents have any clues, you may contact this newspaper directly, or call [¡­] police and Wu Chun¡¯s parents.


    [¡­]¡±


    Ponytail gives a glance at Wu Chun¡¯s photo, printed specifically in colour against the greyscale newspaper.


    It certainly is a cute little girl. She has two ponytails herself. Her smile is endlessly innocent. Her eyes are bright. She looks really likeable.


    Ponytail can¡¯t help but think if anyone might really do something to such a cute little girl. What sick bastards they must have been in that case. If she did just wander outside and got lost, though, would there really have been no clues and no witnesses after so many days?


    Besides¡­


    Ponytail reads the news report in detail again, focusing on the part describing xiao-Chun¡¯s parents.


    It had a whole segment on the mother but not the father¡­ Why? Perhaps the mother was acting much more devastated and left an impression on the reporter, compared to the father? She looked more in pain and saddened?


    Or perhaps just for editorial reasons, they needed to establish a woman, a motherly figure in desperation to help draw the readers¡¯ sympathies and better spread the news out?


    If it¡¯s the latter, then sure; if it¡¯s the former, then it seems to conflict with the information they have received thus far.


    From the diary to the letters to their conversation with Wu Shen on the second floor, or even information from the bookstore owner, it all seems to paint an overly rational and cold attitude of a woman after her daughter went missing¡­


    No wait, actually, this bookstore owner also said Wu Chun¡¯s mother did still love her and spoil her, even going so far as to take detours after a busy day of work to buy sweets she wanted.


    What is the reason for this discrepancy?


    Suddenly, her mind seems to have vaguely stumbled on the same spark again, but just like before, she is still very much in the dark.


    Why¡­


    That is when Lin Qin, who is keeping watch at the entrance, says, ¡°the dolls are coming.¡±


    Ponytail quickly snaps back to reality and cusses, ¡°shit!¡±


    She still hasn¡¯t talked to the bookstore owner!


    Yet the emergency affords her no time to think. She throws the newspaper back onto the counter and runs outside. It would be tragic if they were trapped immobile in the cramped bookstore until they suffocated to death like last time.


    If this Nightmare were to restart once again¡­ Her thoughts are digressing, but she thinks she might begin to use the utility cards then.


    They¡¯re rare, hard to acquire and are always limited in use. These factors combine to mean everyone is averse to using them.


    In this situation, they¡¯re facing the dolls¡¯ chase that would be great if it could be resolved simply by running, but she is worried.


    This is the sixth run already, and the chase has grown more ruthless already; if they¡¯re still unable to truly resolve this Nightmare¡¯s truth¡­ Then, what kind of change would occur to these dolls as the Nightmare restarts again?


    Ponytail is already losing trust in what the Missiontakers said, that they could just avoid the dolls, again and again, to reach a Normal End to leave the Nightmare if they needed to.


    True End means they can ascend to a higher floor; Normal End means they stay whichever floor they¡¯re on, which is, of course, leaps better than succumbing to a Nightmare forever.


    Yet¡­ Can they really avoid the dolls¡¯ chase again and again? It¡¯s still feasible now, but what about in future restarts?


    Did they perhaps overlook some information? Did they still have important clues yet to be discovered?


    Running, running, Ponytail can only hope that Quarrelsome and Glasses could discover something in their latest second-floor excursion.


    X¨¹ Beijin is now watching Quarrelsome and Glasses through the stream directly, and he can tell Ponytail that, she is probably in for some deep disappointment.


    Even the viewers are all going ¡®tch¡¯ and lamenting, ¡°sure is hard on them to have to be in the same place together¡±


    Yes. They are moving together, but not cooperating at all. They just do whatever they want; the flames were lit in the very beginning by an argument.


    Quarrelsome said to explore the last room first, Glasses said to wake up Wu Shen first;


    Quarrelsome said the doll of the little girl will go berserk in five minutes, enough for them to investigate the mysterious workshop first. Go to Wu Shen first and who knows if he¡¯ll let them in at all;


    Glasses asked why he is so certain Wu Shen would not let them in there. And they should first confirm whether the doll¡¯s disappearance was related to Wu Shen¡¯s appearance first. They could move about freely on the second floor if that¡¯s true.


    Quarrelsome, perhaps reflexively, retorts, ¡°why are you so sure the doll will disappear if we looked for Wu Shen? The only safe period we¡¯re sure of is the five-minute time limit;¡±


    Glasses¡­ He was convinced.


    While Quarrelsome basically has no stance, being the one to first suggest looking for Wu Shen and now suggesting the workshop instead, but Glasses would admit that what he said made sense.


    Yes, true, the doll¡¯s disappearance is a complete toss-up at this point. He cannot waste this chance for a gamble, not least on the sixth run of a Nightmare.


    Thinking about that, Glasses can¡¯t help but want to complain about that Missiontaker that forced himself out being so scared.


    If not for him, they wouldn¡¯t have wasted their first two chances¡­


    After the consensus, they skipped Wu Shen¡¯s room for the room on the left of the end of the corridor.


    It seems the door hasn¡¯t been opened in a long time, as when Glasses opened it, the axle made an unbearably loud screech that even made the two of them look instinctively at the room Wu Shen is sleeping in, afraid they¡¯d woken him up.


    Fortunately, they heard nothing after waiting two seconds, so they sigh in relief and turn to the mysterious workshop instead.


    It¡¯s not large, perhaps 10 square metres across in area at most.


    It¡¯s mainly occupied by a large wooden workbench. It certainly looks well-used, with the table already turning into a dark brown where it is often used. It looks like it has been paved over by paint and glue, sticky and mucky.


    On the right side of the workbench is a rack that reaches all the way up to the ceiling where all sorts of parts for dolls and tools are placed. There are several heads for dolls, for example, uncoloured, white as skeletons, without the bead in their eye sockets yet either, just staring blankly at the two invaders with their empty holes.


    Glasses takes an instinctive step back, almost crashing into Quarrelsome; he is reminded of the time his eyes were scoured from his eye socket by the doll, again.


    Quarrelsome, avoiding Glasses, knocks over the trash can by accident. There¡¯s a thump.


    Spooked, he looks down, only to find a pile of paper with messy words written all over it. He picks one up and begin examining the pile.


    They¡¯re all torn letters, in fact, curled into a pile. It¡¯s hard to distinguish what was written on the mess of paper.


    Quarrelsome opens a ball up to check.


    ¡°You are¡­ insane¡­,¡± he reads out loud what he is reading, ¡°¡­ I was wrong¡­¡±


    Glasses has also turned around and saw the mass of paper. Furrowing his brow, he also kneels to check.


    That is when¡­


    ¡°What¡­ are you doing?!¡±


    While they are reading the torn letters in the second-floor workshop, there is suddenly a shadow looming over them from the entrance. It is Wu Shen. Nobody knows when he walked over, but the moment they looked up, they see him staring at them in shock and fury.

 Volume 1 - CH 13

    When Wu Shen suddenly came into view on screen, it shocked both X¨¹ Beijin and the viewers.


    Seeing X¨¹ Beijin himself scared, though, the viewers immediately begin joyously teasing him back.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s face looks pretty grim. He¡¯s regretting listening to the viewers and casting his own view into the stream!


    Yes, this streaming service has a feature called multi-window mode.


    The host can lock a certain video source in and fix it in place on the bottom right of the streaming screen, so that the audience can see both at once and choose the one they want.


    The most common application is to allow the host to be seen while the main screen turns somewhere else.


    X¨¹ Beijin didn¡¯t know this mode existed, but when he switched the camera over to the second floor of the Dollmaker¡¯s, the viewers told him so and he agreed to do it.


    So¡­ That happened.


    His own shocked face was in full view of the audience.


    Or not full view, exactly; X¨¹ Beijin is quite the expressionless poker face, the poker face always looking rather serious or scheming. He always looks like he¡¯s planning something or should just simply be left alone.


    Yet when he is scared, his gaze very obviously drifts up away from the screen and his mouth opens slightly, so the eagle-eyed viewers immediately bust him open.


    ¡°oho, so the host is scared too, im satisfied¡±


    ¡°Oh fuck! Why did he pop in suddenly? The sound from the trash bin falling over woke him up? And then suddenly appearing at the door¡­ Okay, I¡¯ll go the owner is guilty +1¡±


    ¡°sob, no one is buying hostism anymore¡±


    ¡°hey even the detective dalao has given up on that, you wanna be faceslapped still saying [emoji]¡±


    ¡°Insane¡­ Wrong¡­ Could this be, the owner¡¯s letters to his wife?¡±


    ¡°oh, as expected of dalao, when were laughing at host ur working out the truth [thumbs up]¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem conclusive. While the wife¡¯s image is not exactly good, but we haven¡¯t seen adjectives like ¡®insane¡¯ up to this point. The contents of the letters are really key here¡­ I got screenshots! I¡¯ll go study them¡±


    ¡°were cheering for u dalao¡±


    ¡°too bad the owner suddenly appeared, we can¡¯t study the fragments like this¡­¡±


    Yes, after Wu Shen showed up, Quarrelsome and Glasses got chased away immediately..


    They tried to reason with Wu Shen like Ponytail did the last run, but they were still in the corridor that time, and this time he found them snooping about his room already. It is beyond a reasonable doubt at that point.


    It¡¯s lucky they were quick on their feet and Wu Shen didn¡¯t manage to beat them up.


    And, even more dramatically than last time, Wu Shen ends up locking up the glass door to the first floor entirely, stunning both Quarrelsome and Glasses.


    On the abandoned streets, the two stare blankly at each other. The mood is frigid.


    Glasses then bursts out angrily, ¡°I told you! I told you we should go to Wu Shen first. Now great¡­ Great! What next?!¡±


    Quarrelsome is being quarrelsome, ¡°I¡­ It¡¯s your fault for chickening out of arguing with me back then in the first place!¡±


    Glasses ¡°¡­¡±


    Never mind. Humans cannot communicate meaningfully with Homo Quarrelsomus.


    He¡¯ll just end up driving himself mad.


    Glasses tightens his fists.


    That is when Ponytail and Lin Qin, finally free of the second wave of dolls, rushes back from the other side of the street.


    Lin Qin glances at the locked Dollmaker¡¯s before continuing his way towards the bookstore.


    He¡¯s been disinterested in the whole Nightmare and dolls situation in general. Now that it¡¯s locked, obviously he¡¯s going to go to X¨¹ Beijin instead, maybe he¡¯ll end up agreeing to fight if he continues clinging to him?


    Ponytail, meanwhile, is patiently dealing with the pointless argument and blame-shifting between Quarrelsome and Glasses.


    After listening to the whole ordeal, Ponytail is quiet and, instead of laying blame, suddenly throws out a critical question, ¡°if the door is locked, can the dolls still come out of the first floor to chase us?¡±


    Dolls that have already participated in the chase wouldn¡¯t come back to life again and add to the chase. Every chase is done by newly emerged dolls.


    So now that the first floor is locked, won¡¯t the dolls be locked inside?


    The three of them look at each other, nonplussed.


    Ponytail begins whispering to herself, ¡°if so, this might be a chance, perhaps.¡±


    When suddenly, Quarrelsome raises his hand, ¡°I¡­ uh, have something to say.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Ponytail asks, ¡°say it.¡±


    Quarrelsome splays his palm open to reveal several crumpled pieces of paper, explaining, ¡°just now, in the chaos, I grabbed some out.¡±


    Ponytail¡¯s eyes seem to shine as she slaps his shoulders to say, ¡°good job, pretty quick on your feet, huh! Then let¡¯s hurry to the bookstore now. We can also talk to him while piecing together the words on the paper.¡±


    Glasses interjects, though, going ¡°wait¡± and glaring at Quarrelsome, asking, ¡°why didn¡¯t you say anything just now?¡±


    Quarrelsome rolls his eyes at him and says with this cheerful tone, ¡°oh, I didn¡¯t wanna. What¡¯chu gonna do about it?¡±


    Glasses ¡°¡­¡±


    He is pointing his fingers at the damned guy while trembling from anger. He almost feels like tearing up their cooperation at this point.


    They almost got it all figured out anyway, and know everything that¡¯s in the second-floor rooms now. Even if there¡¯s information on those torn pieces of paper¡­ What, can¡¯t he check them out the next time?!


    This attitude of Quarrelsome¡¯s makes him worry he¡¯d be angered to actual death before getting a True End.


    Plus¡­


    His thinking takes a dark turn as he is certain these two know nothing¡­ Here, only he has the most key piece of information.


    He¡¯s almost about to talk about terminating their cooperation when Ponytail furrows her brows to order Quarrelsome, ¡°apologise.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Quarrelsome widens his eyes and says, ¡°please, look at that attitude of his. The two of us can¡­¡±


    ¡°Apologise.¡±


    Quarrelsome takes a deep breath and says stiffly to Glasses, ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    The guy only ¡®tch¡¯s and bumps into his shoulder before walking away.


    Quarrelsome takes a step back and angrily complains, ¡°look, he¡¯s¡­!¡±


    ¡°Then what about you?¡±


    Quarrelsome widens his eyes again, going ¡°huh?¡±


    Ponytail coldly says, ¡°what about your behaviour? How many times have I told you to stop picking fights with other people at a whim. Many Missiontakers in the Tower have information and utility cards we have no way of knowing about!¡±


    Quarrelsome is still trying to excuse himself, ¡°but, sis¡­¡±


    ¡°No buts!¡± Ponytail explains, ¡°remember that Missiontaker that just up and disappeared? He may just happen to have a Trick card that lets him forcibly leave this Nightmare. Do you think that guy with glasses wouldn¡¯t have any similar cards as a precaution?¡±


    Quarrelsome goes quiet.


    Ponytail says slightly coldly, ¡°we all do. So, stop jumping into everyone¡¯s crosshairs. As long as any of us manages a True End, all the Missiontakers in that Nightmare can ascend to higher floors. We are in a cooperative relationship, not a hostile one.¡±


    Quarrelsome slowly nods.


    Ponytail nods in turn, saying, ¡°right, then let¡¯s move. We¡¯ll see what the paper has to say. We also need to organise all the information we¡¯ve got so far.¡±


    A few minutes later, everyone is studying Quarrelsome¡¯s pieces of paper in the bookstore.


    The bookstore owner, X¨¹ Beijin, is looking at them with that usual unreadable expression of his.


    Though the Missiontakers now all know how this is just his front¡­ Or rather, they know at least that he¡¯s a harmless, information-providing NPC here.


    They can always see these residents in other Nightmares too; Nightmares always feature Tower residents, the least unexpected of which is of course the owner of the Nightmare, and as for the rest, some are important and provide lots of information to the Missiontakers, but most of them are just there to be background objects.


    These Missiontakers here have all been through a lot of Nightmares and know that by heart by this point.


    Other than Ponytail who suspected X¨¹ Beijin at first, and Lin Qin who is still keenly interested in him, the other two Missiontakers have completely ignored his presence.


    And to be frank, this is the attitude X¨¹ Beijin is most familiar with.


    A nameless extra kind of role is most often taken by the Missiontakers as background NPCs. While he is slightly worried the audience would grow suspicious of how the players are treating him, but a look at the comments and he sighs in relief.


    As the detective dalao has imposed his image of him being a player with a special role, the rest of the viewers also seem to have been convinced, even saying, ¡°poor host, basically just a tool-person NPC lol.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is also bitterly smiling inside. He truly is.


    Now finally back in his comfort zone, X¨¹ Beijin just quietly sits behind the counter, pouring a glass of water down, and takes a sip. Then, he focuses his attention to listen in on the Missiontakers¡¯ discussions.


    Quarrelsome just grabbed whatever paper he could in the chaos, and now that they¡¯re working through them, they see that he only grabbed four crumpled balls, and of those only two have something written on them. They unfurl them and there¡¯s a lot of weird sticky stains obscuring the words. It¡¯s really hard for them to discern anything.


    ¡°¡­ Wake up to reality¡­¡± Ponytail reads out, narrowing her eyes, ¡°¡­ never be back¡­ impossible¡­¡±


    She tries to look more closely, even scratching at the stains using her fingernails, but ends up sighing to say, ¡°it¡¯s useless. Those are the only characters recognisable.¡±


    Glasses is holding up the other piece of paper and slowly reading out, ¡°¡­ I don¡¯t believe¡­ all my fault¡­ don¡¯t say¡­ nobody loves¡­ more than me¡­¡± He furrows his brows and mutters, ¡°loves what?¡±


    Ponytail puts the pieces of paper aside and mulls over them for a second before saying, ¡°never mind then. Since the dolls are probably not going to come, we can organise our thoughts.¡±


    Glasses begins by saying, ¡°sure. First off, this Nightmare is about the case of the missing child, Wu Chun. The Nightmare¡¯s owner is her father, Wu Shen, the owner of the Dollmaker¡¯s. She has been missing for over two months at this point.¡±


    Ponytail follows from that, ¡°this case is unresolved. When xiao-Chun went missing, Wu Shen was making dolls in his second-floor workshop. His wife was off at work. No surveillance camera captured her form at all.


    After her disappearance, xiao-Chun¡¯s parents argued and ended up divorcing. Wu Shen believes that his wife does not care about their daughter, and even suspects xiao-Chun ran away from home because of her mother¡¯s strict attitude towards her.¡±


    Glasses interjects at this point, ¡°however, according to the letter from Wu Shen¡¯s friend, this friend does not believe that the owner¡¯s wife is at fault here, but suggests Wu Shen should reconsider who¡¯s truly at fault here.


    The bookstore owner also said that she would go out of her way to buy snacks for her daughter. It does not seem like she doesn¡¯t like her daughter. She may have just had high expectations for her.¡±


    Ponytail nods and concludes, ¡°that¡¯s right. So all in all, the owner¡¯s wife seems to be a strict, but still loving mother. Of course¡­ Wu Shen¡¯s view of her may also be correct. Her image to the outside world is not necessarily reflective of her real self.


    The bookstore owner also mentioned having heard a woman¡¯s scolding and a child¡¯s cries in the middle of the night. It is possible she is someone who would beat up and chastise her kids behind doors.


    And the diary also recorded that not long after xiao-Chun disappeared, the wife began to say if something terrible might have already befallen xiao-Chun, and even suggested to give up their search for her.¡±


    Glasses can¡¯t help but sigh, ¡°the clues are all contradictory¡­¡±


    So is the wife a good person or a bad person?


    There¡¯s proof backing both claims of her either being a strict but loving mother, or a temperamental madwoman that lambastes her daughter and ends up driving her to run away from home.


    And it is also merely a guess that xiao-Chun ran away from home. She is only six years old. It is hard to say if she is able to independently think of something as mature as ¡®mommy always beats me up, so I should leave this home.¡¯


    And what if someone did kidnap her?


    X¨¹ Beijin also falls into thought.


    When suddenly, a comment rolls over the stream, from the detective dalao.


    ¡°Everyone! I have a new theory!¡±

 Volume 1 - CH 14

    ¡°So just now, I was looking through the pieces of torn paper and comparing the penmanship with the previous writing we¡¯ve seen. There have been two recognisably distinct handwriting, between the dollmaker and his friend.


    Of course, I¡¯m not a professional, so this is my preliminary analysis only. Thankfully, the handwriting really is exceptionally distinct, perhaps as intended by the game¡¯s designers.


    Anyway, onto the main point, the handwriting on the pieces of paper are from two persons. One, from the owner Wu Shen himself. The other one is not from his friend, though, but from an entirely unseen third party.


    After working through the information acquired thus far, I have come up with this bold hypothesis ¨C this handwriting belongs to the owner¡¯s wife!


    Here, let¡¯s first go through the known information on the pieces of paper. We know they consist of these fragments-


    1: You are insane; I was wrong.


    2: Wake up to reality; never be back; impossible.


    3: I don¡¯t believe; all my fault; don¡¯t say; nobody loves; more than me.


    I numbered them 1, 2, 3 to distinguish the ones found in the same crumpled up ball of paper. These fragments are all too fragmented to tell what they originally meant, but if we identify by the handwriting, 1 and 2 belong to one person, and 3 from the other.


    The first time I saw 1, I thought it was Wu Shen, who also said his missing daughter was a punishment for him; however, I found out later when comparing handwriting that only 3 is Wu Shen¡¯s handwriting consistent with the diary and letters.


    Therefore, I can only conclude that 1 and 2 must be letters from someone else to him, presumably his wife, and 3 is his reply, that was not sent but instead torn up and thrown into the trash alongside the letters from his wife.


    With that context, 2 and 3 are easy to explain. They¡¯re still the wife telling him xiao-Chun will never be back and hopes for Wu Shen to get back on his feet; Wu Shen does not want to consider the possibility and still says it is his fault. ¡®Nobody loves xiao-Chun more than me.¡¯


    So, a question, what is 1 about?


    Why would Wu Shen¡¯s wife be accusing Wu Shen of being insane and saying she was wrong?¡±


    Here, the detective dalao¡¯s comment barrage finally pauses, leaving some time for the rest of the viewers to take it all in.


    In the bookstore, X¨¹ Beijin rubs his own chin and murmurs, ¡°Wu Shen?¡±


    And soon enough, comments begin to fly in the stream again.


    ¡°got it! wu shen is sus!¡±


    The dalao begins typing to explain, ¡°this is a conclusion drawn from two perspectives.


    One, after the two players were discovered by Wu Shen, they were chased out of the doll store entirely and he locked up the door to the store entirely as well. This is definitely an overreaction, practically telling everyone there are secrets that must never be known inside the second-floor workshop.


    Two, the wife¡¯s accusation of insanity is actually a wake-up call to demolish Wu Shen¡¯s image thus far.


    Currently, we have no direct proof. What I mean is that we do not even know what is happening to xiao-Chun. We are severely limited by this in our investigation, and we can only try to hypothesise through indirect evidence. So, what was the indirect evidence telling us about Wu Shen?


    From the diary, to the letters, to the information the host was dispensing, Wu Shen was merely a father that doted on his daughter, and even seemed to spiral into endless depressing and near madness after her disappearance.


    ¡®It is unfathomable he may be the one behind it all, for how much he loved his daughter. He couldn¡¯t possibly do anything to her.¡¯


    This is the image we have of him from all the indirect evidence. This all meant Wu Shen was less and less suspicious.


    Yet under this favourable impression, what points of suspicions have we thus ignored of this seemingly daughter-loving father?


    First, we know that he is practically alone with xiao-Chun the day she disappeared!


    This is a game. I have emphasised this point before, and long story short, the game will never arrange for someone we do not know at all to be the perpetrator. Therefore, that point only should have pointed Wu Shen to be our number one suspect!


    Next, the news from the newspaper mentioned the mother¡¯s sorrow in particular, but nothing about Wu Shen himself, when normally they should have received near-equal coverage.


    And, those two players before were chased out after invading his workshop, true, but that is even after they told him they were here to investigate on xiao-Chun¡¯s disappearance. This attitude really screams guilt to me.


    Finally, after his daughter¡¯s disappearance, why is Wu Shen sleeping in his daughter¡¯s room? For nostalgia¡¯s sake? But a father doing something like that definitely screams perversion to some degree.


    Four points of suspicion, of which the latter three are possibly reading too much into things, but the first point is also what I was most concerned about!


    And of course, I still cannot rule out that these points are all here to distract from a truth where the wife of the owner did end up laying her hands on xiao-Chun, or a truth where the little girl did just run away from home for her mother¡¯s attitude.¡±


    In the stream, the viewers all seem to be terribly stupefied from the long arduous analysis.


    ¡°uh¡­ pretty amazing couple¡­ yeah¡±


    ¡°from both positive and negative analysis, they could both be innocent or both be guilty¡±


    ¡°they could both be the thief yelling ¡®thief''¡±


    ¡°thief yelling ¡®thief¡¯ yelling ¡°thief¡±?¡±


    ¡°im spinning in circles lmao¡±


    ¡°my eyes: you understand; my brain: no, you don¡¯t¡±


    ¡°its mainly the contradictory clues from everyone involved, and even from the same person himself, like our host who said both the wife beat her daughter at night and the wife would make a detour to buy snacks for her daughter¡±


    ¡°actually¡­ it¡¯s not contradictory either¡­¡±


    ¡°I heard those players say earlier that Nightmares all have particular Difficulties, which also serve as hints. If we could settle on a Difficulty, then we can probably manage to resolve these clues?¡±


    That comment makes X¨¹ Beijin turn towards the Missiontakers in a heated discussion similar to the four viewers.


    He is spectating them just as someone with zero participation would. Then he glances over at Lin Qin, equally hovering above everything, and can¡¯t help but feel like he could sympathise with this dalao who is stupidly sterong.


    Lin Qin, meanwhile, is blanking out leaning on the doorframe. He notices X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s glance and immediately turns to him and opens his lips to make the word, ¡®fight?¡¯


    X¨¹ Beijin quickly averts his gaze, frightened.


    Lin Qin then makes a bored expression, but he does feel slightly amused seeing how X¨¹ Beijin is desperately avoiding him.


    His lips perk up slightly as he glances towards those noisy Missiontakers.


    The Missiontakers are now in the same conundrum as the viewers of the stream. They do not know which of the myriad of clues can lead them to the truth and which are merely distractions.


    Ponytail almost feels like her head is going to explode, saying, ¡°if only we can decide what the Difficulty actually is¡­¡±


    ¡°That would fundamentally resolve basically the entire Nightmare. It won¡¯t be easy,¡± Glasses says with a serious tone, ¡°for now, a key point is verifying the rest of the torn letter fragments.¡±


    Quarrelsome says dejectedly, ¡°but the first floor is already locked up. What else could we do?¡±


    Glasses and Ponytail ignore that remark for now, the latter mentioning, ¡°not just the fragments in the workshop too. If the wife really did send this unidentified third handwriting over, then there might be other information left behind in the store too from her. Any messages or other letters she sent over after she left.¡±


    Glasses nods.


    Ponytail then begins to murmur, ¡°that¡¯s right¡­ Even though the store was also where she lived for a long time, but there isn¡¯t a single shred of her having once resided there. Or, did the relationship between this long-time couple really fall apart so completely after their divorce?¡±


    Glasses is quiet for a moment before saying, ¡°if xiao-Chun was still missing after all this time, even after she has left, she should at least have sent messages or wrote letters asking about the search for her daughter, right? If she didn¡¯t do even just that¡­¡±


    Ponytail immediately adds as she gets what he wants to say, ¡°then the wife really is too cold and uncaring for her daughter. That makes her suspicions higher.¡±


    Quarrelsome¡¯s head is throbbing.


    Yes, he isn¡¯t as smart as either of them.


    Yet he is also at least aware of how their suspicions seem to keep jumping back and forth between the Dollmaker¡¯s owner and his wife.


    This clue? Yeah, the owner is suspicious.


    That clue? Yeah, the wife is also suspicious.


    This¡­ isn¡¯t this utterly strange? (TL: And can¡¯t they both have conspired? Ta-da! Well actually not, as you¡¯ll see soon enough)


    Quarrelsome can¡¯t help but speak up, ¡°so from all the information we have, we still can¡¯t settle on the most suspicious individual?¡±


    Both Ponytail and Glasses shake their heads.


    Then Quarrelsome says, ¡°but¡­ but we don¡¯t even know where the wife of the owner is right now¡­¡±


    His words seem to suddenly pull the rug out from under their mist, as Ponytail and Glasses immediately give fiery stares at him while the detective dalao in the stream also makes an exclamation mark in the comments.


    ¡°Uh, what¡­¡±


    Ponytail yells out, ¡°that¡¯s right! The wife is also essentially going missing!¡±


    Glasses starts to quickly spit out words, ¡°Wu Shen said he divorced her, yes, so where is she? Wu Shen¡¯s friend wrote him a letter; he clearly also didn¡¯t seem to know where she went¡­¡±


    The detective dalao is practically showcasing his typing speed as his comments bombard the stream,


    ¡°Right now, every opinion and judgment cast on the wife is stemming from Wu Shen alone. We have never once heard her actual perspective nor how she saw Wu Shen herself, except for ¡®insane¡¯¡­ Everything was Wu Shen himself speaking!¡± (TL: And before you ask, remember that X¨¹ Beijin said it was Wu Shen who told him after the fact that the ¡®woman scolding and child crying¡¯ was her beating her daughter up. It was not first-hand evidence)


    X¨¹ Beijin quietly murmurs, ¡°is Wu Shen lying to all of us?¡±


    Quarrelsome says blankly, ¡°so¡­ what now?¡±


    ¡°Go to Wu Shen!¡± Glasses shoots up and quickly walks to the door, ¡°we go question him directly! We have no time now. We must at least try¡­ See if Wu Shen would at least panic in guilt.¡±


    Shortly thereafter, the three Missiontakers begin yelling in front of the store.


    ¡°Wu Shen! We knew you killed your daughter!¡±


    ¡°And you killed your wife, didn¡¯t you?! You still sleep on the second floor every day, are you not worried your daughter and your wife¡¯s spirits will haunt you forever?¡±


    ¡°Wu Shen, you¡¯re shameless! You killed your daughter and still dared to tell everyone over and over again about how much you loved xiao-Chun, you¡¯re sick!¡±


    A little bit of yelling immediately draws out an angered Wu Shen from the second floor, who leans out of his bedroom window, obviously irate, and yelling firmly, ¡°what the hell are you going on about?! I could never have done anything to xiao-Chun or my ex-wife! If you keep spouting nonsense I¡¯ll be calling the police!¡±

 Volume 1 - CH 15

    (TL: The title is a rather controversial saying in Chinese, because depending on context, it can either mean ¡®rumours are just rumours¡¯ or ¡®rumours may very well necessarily imply something)


    The trio¡¯s probe of Wu Shen ended in failure.


    He really behaved too normally and without guilt. His resolve has now caused Ponytail, Glasses and even the detective dalao in the stream to reconsider their suspicion and doubts of him.


    Meanwhile, the trio is checking on the doll store¡¯s locked door, and it does seem to be doing a good job of stopping the dolls.


    The dolls of the third wave, or perhaps even the fourth, are squeezing on the first-floor glass door, staring viciously at the Missiontakers outside.


    Even more dolls are yet gushing forth from deep within the store from who-knows-where. The innumerable dolls continue to push harder and harder until¡ª¡ª


    A crack, as a doll¡¯s plastic face has been completely squashed against the glass door. Its glass bead for an eye falls to the ground and rolls through the gap beneath the door, then stops by Glasses¡¯ feet, dirtied.


    The man immediately backs off reflexively like he¡¯s been electrically shocked, which draws a snigger from Quarrelsome.


    Ponytail had to glance at him for him to stop and look back down expressionlessly, keeping quiet.


    Ponytail looks at the dolls rushing at the door and squeezing the ones in the front to death, and sighs.


    She suddenly begins to think about how the Nightmare has really been like reality up to this point.


    Even if they are only capable of exploring up to the ends of this abandoned street, and the only locations open are the bookstore and the doll store, but Wu Shen¡¯s reaction meant that this isn¡¯t just an illogical, fantastical dream.


    It is only when these endless, aggressive dolls appear that it is a sign this is someone¡¯s Nightmare.


    But speaking of Nightmares¡­


    Ponytail suddenly asks, coming out from her thoughts, ¡°do you think Wu Shen¡¯s behaviour was too normal?¡±


    Glasses is still angrily staring down Quarrelsome and answers reflexively, ¡°isn¡¯t he behaving exactly like he should¡­ Wait, you mean?¡±


    The man falls silent.


    Ponytail begins pondering, ¡°Wu Shen is the Nightmare¡¯s owner, and usually owners are always behaving strangely in Nightmares. They could be extremely terrified, paranoid, insanely excited or agitated¡­ But Wu Shen, is too normal.¡±


    Glasses thinks a little more before nodding in agreement, saying, ¡°while he is unusually temperamental, but that is still normal for a father who lost his daughter, and Nightmare owners are usually ¡®abnormal¡¯ instead.¡±


    ¡°You just said he is ¡®behaving exactly like he should,''¡± Ponytail repeats Glasses¡¯ reflexive remark, and asserts, ¡°but no Nightmare owner is like that. His normalcy is the biggest abnormality here!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, observing them from afar via the stream, can¡¯t help but bitterly smile inside.


    ¡®Normal, is the biggest abnormality,¡¯ huh¡­


    Isn¡¯t this exactly what he thought about the viewers of the stream earlier? (TL: See Chapter 11)


    To behave as normal under unusual circumstances is itself the strangest thing, really.


    The audience, of course, not knowing what X¨¹ Beijin is thinking about them, are confused by the Missiontakers¡¯ statements and are asking around.


    ¡°what? so they concluded something new?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ The host says the instances of this game are called ¡®Nightmares.¡¯ That seems to be more than a name, but it is really some form of Nightmare. Therefore, the person dreaming of this in the first place, would clearly look odd inside of the dream.¡±


    ¡°i see! wu shen does look just like a father who lost his daughter, but this isn¡¯t reality, but his nightmare, so if he¡¯s making a nightmare about his daughter going missing, then he should behave even more madly than this¡±


    ¡°wow thats a whole other angle, if so then WS must have some more info to be dug up? lol im cheering 4 u all, i wanna know whats going on!¡±


    ¡°Speaking of¡­ Host, is your role really that pathetic? You can¡¯t leave the bookstore at all?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin momentarily pauses at this question.


    Can he leave the bookstore, actually?


    That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s a good question.


    Because he has never tried to.


    He has always done as the Server instructed, quietly staying exactly where he entered the Nightmare and finish all the tasks assigned to him as an extra until the Missiontakers have reached an ending. Then he will be removed from the Nightmare, and end up back in the Tower to await the next one¡­


    Repeat ad infinitum.


    Because he has neither the motivation to raise his level as an Actor, nor has he ever let anyone into his Nightmare, he ended up merely scraping by as an extra Actor in everyone else¡¯s Nightmares the whole time. This means his life is really a dead pool of stillwater.


    The streaming system did change his attitude somewhat, but it is when the audience directly show their curiosity to ask why X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t leave the bookstore, that he thinks for himself for the first time, ¡®that¡¯s right, why not?¡¯


    Since he¡¯s committing to this change already, and is even inquisitive for information on the outside world, then¡­ The least he can do is put in some more effort here as well, right?


    And his interest in the truth behind this Nightmare has been piqued as well.


    The doll store¡¯s owner, Wu Shen, being a neighbour of X¨¹ Beijin in the tower, with their entrances are right next to the other¡¯s, means they occasionally run into each other in the Tower.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s impression of Wu Shen is that he really is a hardworking person.


    An Actor can ascend to a higher floor by secretly pushing for the Missiontakers to resolve their assigned Nightmare for good without raising the Missiontakers¡¯ suspicions for their Acting at all.


    In other words, they have to Act extremely professionally, and somehow present the corresponding clues and evidence to the Missiontakers covertly, convincing the Missiontakers that yes, they did discover and come up with everything themselves.


    If it is judged that the Actors did not proactively push and provide clues for Missiontakers, or at least, what they did was unrelated to how the Missiontakers achieved the True End in the Nightmare, then Actors do not receive the choice for promotion.


    For Missiontakers, any one of them achieving a True End will benefit all the other Missiontakers. A true embodiment of ¡®an ascended immortal grants sentience to even the chickens and dogs of their village.¡¯


    Therefore, some capable Missiontakers are in the career of transporting people up the Tower¡­ Yes, even the Tower has the phenomenon of ¡®carrying.¡¯ (TL: The raws read ¡®carry boss¡¯ literally. It is a phenomenon in recent Chinese culture that is especially prevalent in gaming where a capable player will protect and guide (i.e. ¡®carry¡¯) another player/client that has paid for them to do so)


    Unfortunately, this business and convenience have no relation to Actors at all.


    In general, it is very difficult for an Actor to go up a floor.


    Despite all his time lazing about on the bottom floor of the Tower, he has only heard of a handful of Actors that succeeded. Note, he only heard of them.


    The same way one hears about that Trick card making the rounds that supposedly allows one to forcibly leave a Nightmare¡­


    Is it true? Nobody knows.


    Then is it false? But rumours must have a source, right?


    This is definitely that Schr?dinger¡¯s statement that exists in Chinese¡ª¡ª¡¯A gust in a tunnel¡¯¡ª¡ªcoming to life. Whenever you hear someone use that phrase, you have no idea whether they actually refer to the rumour as being reliable or unreliable until you ask for clarification.


    The same can be said of all these rumours circulating in the Tower.


    While X¨¹ Beijin has no ambition for the higher floors, but he can¡¯t help but be curious about any form of ¡®the truth.¡¯ Therefore, now that his curiosity is piqued by the viewers¡¯ nonchalant statement, he is also getting restless, wanting to explore himself.


    Uh, if nothing else¡­ He can at least go to Wu Shen and ask for spoilers.


    Since Actors have no restrictions on talking to each other whatsoever.


    X¨¹ Beijin has made a decision, and thus tells the viewers, ¡°later, depending on how everything is going, I can leave the bookstore to explore.¡±


    The viewers cheer him on.


    No matter what, X¨¹ Beijin is still their host. While the players seem really dedicated to the playthrough, but are they a smidgeon as handsome as X¨¹ Beijin? Can they even communicate directly with them?


    Of course not! That¡¯s why they¡¯ve basically drawn a big circle around X¨¹ Beijin, categorising him as ¡®one of them.¡¯


    And even if there are only four viewers in the stream, as everyone is cheering, X¨¹ Beijin is also finally feeling slightly festive, for the first time in a very long time.


    He has always been alone in the Tower, used to the solidarity here.


    The arrival of the streaming system has really put some gears into motion, perhaps.


    X¨¹ Beijin has lowered his head slightly awkwardly, smiling in response to the passionate cheers from the viewers, who begin teasing him.


    ¡°woah, i just realised my impression of the host at first was waaaaay off, hes like a super pure angel¡±


    ¡°Hey host, what are you acting all coy for? Live up to that handsomeness and raise your head back up!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is dissing inside. He rarely interacted with others in the Tower and he¡¯s also just not a good social butterfly either. He often relies on his face to distance people so now, the direct teases and laughs the viewers have of him makes him unable to really respond appropriately.


    He decides to ignore them and turn his attention back to the stream instead, to act like he¡¯s all serious.


    The viewers begin to ¡®hahaha¡¯ again. The mood has become quite lighthearted indeed.


    Meanwhile, in the stream, after concluding the Dollmaker¡¯s owner, Wu Shen, is abnormal, the Missiontakers are talking about their next step.


    Ponytail, the first to realise, is deep in thought, ¡°so why is the Nightmare¡¯s owner behaving so normally in this Nightmare?¡±


    Glasses asks, ¡°what makes him unique compared to all the other Nightmare owners?¡±


    The three of them are staring at each other, thinking, going over everything Wu Shen has been doing in the Nightmare since he appeared¡­


    Suddenly, almost in unison, they shout, ¡°he¡¯s sleeping!¡±


    Yes, in all the Nightmares they have gone through, Wu Shen is the only Nightmare owner to be sleeping inside his own Nightmare.


    Now that they recall their two meetings with him, neither were because of them actively seeking out Wu Shen, but he himself waking up.


    If they checked on Wu Shen while he slept¡­ Could it, bring something different?


    ¡°Even if we want to check on him in his sleep, we¡¯ll have to wait until the next run,¡± Glasses says, sounding annoyed, ¡°but we finally have this run with the dolls¡¯ chase eliminated entirely. Are we letting it end so soon? Isn¡¯t there anything else we can do?¡±


    Quarrelsome suddenly interjects, ¡°hmph, I told you way back we should wake up Wu Shen but none of you agreed. Now great, look what we have to do?¡±


    Ponytail and Glasses give him a speechless glance while thinking in unison, ¡®the dumb have dumb luck.¡¯


    Ignoring Quarrelsome, they begin to ponder what they should do about this situation.


    Yes, this is an unprecedented, fortuitous situation. With the dolls trapped behind the locked door of the first floor, unable to come after them, it would be amiss not to seize this opportunity for further exploration, for example¡­ they can climb onto the second floor?


    All three of them are looking up at the doll store¡¯s second-floor window.


    That is when a certain Lin Qin, who looks exceedingly bored, has strolled back around from the street.


    The three Missiontakers all turn their heads to him, speechless again. They can¡¯t help but really feel a mysterious aura exuding from this dalao, who has been calm ever since the beginning.


    What do these Nightmares even mean for Lin Qin, really?


    A little relaxing trip? Casual exercise?


    It really might grind some of the Missiontakers the wrong way seeing how Lin Qin is all laid-back while they¡¯re anxiously putting their lives on the line, but in the end, Lin Qin is still an ultimate get-out-of-jail-free card, so they must still appeal to this dalao well.


    All for the sake of, if all else fails, they can provoke him and make him irritated enough to go berserk and reach a Special End, which is infinitely more preferable to being trapped for eternity inside a Collapsed Nightmare.


    Ending up in a Nightmare with Lin Qin is, at its core, an auspicious occurrence.


    In fact, when Lin Qin¡¯s mood is content, he might even offer the occasional help.


    For example¡­ right now, with Lin Qin suddenly furrowing his brows at them and yelling, ¡°dodge!¡±


    What?


    Their sharpened instincts react soon enough to make them hold their heads with their hands and jump off to the side, but it¡¯s too late.


    They can all hear the sharp sounds from the glass storefront as it begins cracking in several places, resembling a cobweb. The dolls immediately move to push hardest at where the cracks are the largest.


    In less than a second, a great force explodes the glass door of the first floor of the store entirely. Pieces of glass fragments, alongside dolls that are rushing out like cannonballs, pierce and ram right into the three mere mortals of Missiontakers that are trying in vain to run away.


    A scream, and soon enough, everyone¡¯s consciousness goes dark.


    The seventh run of this Nightmare, has begun.

 Volume 1 - CH 16

    Runs 1, 2 ¨C A certain missing player caused them to be wasted entirely.


    Run 3 ¨C Glasses went to the second floor alone and discovered a diary; his eyes were scoured before he could even read it.


    Run 4 ¨C Cooperation established. Wu Shen¡¯s diary revealed; the doll of the little girl killed them again.


    Run 5 ¨C The trio learned information from X¨¹ Beijin and discovered the letters between Wu Shen and his friend in the study on the second floor, but then they ran into Wu Shen who was now awake. A miscommunication caused them to be chased out. After hearing some more information from X¨¹ Beijin, dolls rushed at them and killed them.


    Run 6 ¨C They split up after the first wave of dolls. Ponytail discovered a news report on xiao-Chun¡¯s disappearance in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore; Glasses and Quarrelsome discovered torn pieces of paper in the second-floor workshop, before being discovered by Wu Shen again and being chased out. They organised information in the bookstore and then ended up swarmed by an army of dolls that crashed through the storefront.


    And now, they¡¯re at the seventh run of this Nightmare.


    Just like the previous run, the moment they are conscious again, the dolls are already starting their chase.


    The four Missiontakers dodge the doll¡¯s chase without much difficulty, but Ponytail realises in the meantime that Lin Qin is clearly looking impatient now.


    The endless chase has irritated him.


    After the first wave is over, Lin Qin didn¡¯t even pause for breath before rushing right for the bookstore and, gritting his teeth, he says to X¨¹ Beijin, ¡°let¡¯s fight!¡±


    Not just X¨¹ Beijin, but even the viewers are spooked by this terrifying Lin Qin who is exuding a killing intent already.


    ¡°? i thot this babyface was harmless, but hes scary right now¡±


    ¡°holy shit, i thought the guy was going to kill our host!¡±


    ¡°the host is kind inside despite his gloomy appearance; this guy is scary despite his gentle appearance, so theyre both gap moe [emoji]¡±


    ¡°Oi, rather than moe, this kind of personality is clearly an unstable factor in a mystery-solving game that needs cooperation!¡±


    ¡°the dalao is still the dalao, of course, but i just wanna know why he wants to fight the host?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ Could it be¡­¡±


    ¡°the host is sus?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    You¡¯re still not over that suspect hostism thing?! Enough, oi!


    Faced with yet another invitation to fight, X¨¹ Beijin replies, ¡°sorry, I can¡¯t possibly win in a fight against you. You can really let the matter go.¡±


    Lin Qin glares at him with narrowed eyes for a short while. Then, he says, ¡°no, I¡¯m still not sure.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin sighs. He really does have a good temperament in spite of his appearance. He continues to patiently explain, ¡°but even so, why must we fight?¡±


    ¡°Because only you are special,¡± Lin Qin says matter-of-factly, ¡°no one else can win against me.¡±


    ¡®He even sounds a little bit proud of that¡­?¡¯ Thinks X¨¹ Beijin, who then continues with ¡®And that includes me, you know!¡¯


    Why would Lin Qin think that he could possibly win in a fight against him?


    And more importantly, is he unaware of how his clinginess is more than slightly annoying at this point?


    Though that said¡­ From Tower residents to these outsiders, almost everyone has developed quirks at some point. X¨¹ Beijin has become used to them by this point.


    X¨¹ Beijin once met someone in the Tower that was also an Actor, but the person inside seems to have gone mad. The moment they see each other, his arm would be grabbed tightly and he¡¯d be bombarded with ¡°the apocalypse is coming!¡± and loud cries and screams that could burst his eardrums.


    There is also a woman he knew that¡¯d always be crouching on the floor, trembling. And if anyone touches her, or just was plain noisy walking by her, she¡¯d go mad and begin biting and tearing at the person¡¯s face and arms with her teeth, not stopping until blood begins gushing out.


    Really, compared to those, this quirkiness of Lin Qin can even be said to be harmless.


    Especially when his invitation to fight is refused by X¨¹ Beijin, he would do nothing against the person himself but just sulk himself.


    The only thing that makes this specifically annoying for X¨¹ Beijin is that Lin Qin only ever wants to fight him. Really, can¡¯t he just relieve some of that bursting ball of fight inside with some other battle maniac?


    X¨¹ Beijin ¨C The man who, if he can fight with words, will never move his finger one inch.


    And thus, Lin Qin, yet again refused from fighting, can only take a seat on the side while gripping his fists, looking awfully pissed off. The man is now trying to come up with ways to get X¨¹ Beijin to fight him for good.


    ¡­ Can he perhaps anger him as much as possible?


    Lin Qin looks around and starts to imagine if he demolished X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore in the Tower, would he be angry enough to fight with him?


    After carefully, seriously considering this possibility¡­ He concludes, it¡¯s both too childish and too over-the-top. He thinks he is someone far more reasonable than that.


    But then how can he force X¨¹ Beijin to fight him?


    He is wrapping his head in frustration.


    He does not want his simple, black and white¡ª¡ªThat¡¯s not right, more like completely black right now, given no one can win against him¡ª¡ª, neatly divided world to have a jarring spark of brightness that is X¨¹ Beijin.


    Meanwhile, X¨¹ Beijin, blissfully unaware of his bookstore narrowly avoiding a dreadful fate, glances at Lin Qin who is sitting all sulking and pouting, feels like chuckling at the scene.


    Really, he looks so cute and well-behaved when he¡¯s quieted down.


    Too bad that he is, fundamentally, an unpredictable, out-of-control piece of blade.


    X¨¹ Beijin sighs again, and instead decides to divert his attention to the three Missiontakers instead.


    It seems they¡¯re also worried about Lin Qin¡¯s state of mind. Is he going to go berserk?


    Ponytail is curiously pondering, that while Lin Qin certainly is powerful enough to deal with these weak dolls, but the numbers are massive. How will be individually immobiliser all of them?


    Of course, her curiosity is definitely not enough to make her want to see it happen. She is sure they¡¯re very, very close to the truth.


    Therefore, she tells Glasses and Quarrelsome after Lin Qin has headed off to the bookstore, ¡°we must work harder. The dalao seems impatient.¡±


    Quarrelsome says nothing but Glasses seem slightly tense.


    He is also confident they¡¯ll get a True End eventually, and naturally, Lin Qin interfering would be undesirable.


    Ponytail takes a deep breath before continuing, ¡°therefore, if you happen to have any appropriate utility cards, it¡¯s time to start thinking about using them.¡±


    She¡¯s speaking specifically to Glasses; Quarrelsome would listen to Ponytail regardless anyway.


    The man is silent for a while before solemnly nodding.


    They wouldn¡¯t reveal their trump cards, of course ¨C a very normal wariness for everyone to have in the Tower, when it comes to the utility cards.


    Most importantly, because¡­ they can be stolen or robbed.


    It¡¯s simple to do so too ¨C by touching someone¡¯s body.


    The Nightmare restarts as soon as a Missiontaker dies, of course, but before that happens, there¡¯s always up to a few seconds of free movement time. If someone was quick-witted, or well-prepared, they can just simply move their hands all over the body, and there will be a more-than-average chance they¡¯d end up with whatever utility card the corpse possesses.


    Like some real game, where after a player has died, their items would drop.


    Of course, if no one ends up touching the card the entire time the player is dead, the card continues to follow to the next run of the Nightmare; if someone touched it, though¡­ Congratulations, your entire possession is now theirs.


    This is mainly because these utility cards are physical cards that cannot be bounded. And while moving the hands all over a corpse in hopes of making physical contact with the card is one way, even during regular gameplay, it¡¯s possible for utility cards carried on the body to be pickpocketed.


    In fact, that¡¯s how the ¡®profession¡¯ known as Carddealers come to be. Both merchants and thieves, they either target other people¡¯s utility cards or go after dead players in Nightmares to acquire them and then resell them in the Tower.


    On the surface, everyone bashes Carddealers; in private¡­ Who could confidently state they have never secretly made excursions to browse the utility card catalogue of the Carddealers?


    And the utility card being a physical card even gave birth to a special career in the Tower. They¡¯re the Tailors, professionals who would help sew unseen hidden pockets on clothes to store utility cards.


    Of course, there are rumours that the Carddealers and Tailors are secretly working in tandem; the Tailors sew hidden pockets and tell the Carddealers where they are, then the Carddealers can steal their customer¡¯s cards.


    Therefore, Missiontakers often visit multiple Tailors for one piece of clothing to create lots of diversions, or ends up sewing a hidden pocket themselves besides all that. It¡¯s an arms race to ensure the Carddealers can never tell where their utility cards are.


    Under all these environmental factors, unspoken rules gradually emerged in the Tower.


    For example, do not bring all of your utility cards with you, but instead, pick what you think is useful only so that you do not end up with all your eggs in one basket.


    And in addition, the optimal number of utility cards would be two or three, so that they do not become obvious by volume. Only those who are seriously cowardly or afraid they would end up completely succumbing to a Nightmare would bring as many as they can.


    Another example of the rules is that no one will ever ask anyone else about their utility cards under any circumstances whatsoever. Whether it¡¯s what cards they brought, or how many, or even if they brought cards at all, are all entirely taboo.


    What is also taboo is everyone¡¯s clothing. Even including shoes and hats. They must not be asked about or touched casually; when someone is going to die, they must all distance themselves from the person¡¯s body as they await the Nightmare restarting. Otherwise, anyone witnessing would automatically assume the person breaking these rules to be a Carddealer.


    Therefore, Ponytail can only indirectly and vaguely tell Glasses that, because their time is running out, he should use his utility card if he has them.


    Unless he wants to see the dalao go berserk.


    Right now, Lin Qin is the heaviest weight in their minds, even more so than those dolls that are out for their lives.


    Glasses understands, and thus they reach a consensus. Then, they head back for the store.


    They all take a deep breath and quickly walk inside, heading right for the second floor, going to Wu Shen¡¯s bedroom. The girl doll slowly follows along¡ª¡ªQuarrelsome, who is in charge of opening the hatch this time.


    Upstairs, they push the bedroom door open, looking at Wu Shen who is lying on his side.


    The air really is awfully bad in this dimly lit room. It makes them reflexively hold their breaths. Treading as lightly possible, they look about the room but doesn¡¯t discover anything out of place.


    Finally, the trio¡ª¡ªAnd X¨¹ Beijin and his viewers who are observing them in the stream from afar, all cast their gaze at the man sleeping with his back to them.


    The three of them are looking at each other, but none would take that first step.


    Finally, Ponytail, after giving the two men death glares, takes a shaky first step.


    In the stream, meanwhile, the viewers are already impatient. They¡¯re urging X¨¹ Beijin.


    ¡°host host, just move the camera over!¡±


    ¡°We have a God¡¯s eye view! We don¡¯t need to wait for the players.¡±


    ¡°quick quick quick, i want spoilers spoilers spoilers!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin hesitates as he looks at the man lying on his side on the stream.


    That is the neighbour he knows well. When they meet every so often, they would greet each other. Even in the Nightmare, he seems normal enough, crying in pain for his missing daughter.


    It should be fine, just¡­ moving the video source over, right?


    The comment barrage is still ongoing about ¡®spoilers plz,¡¯ but X¨¹ Beijin really isn¡¯t optimistic because he has already seen countless Nightmare owners who behave as if they¡¯re seriously mad. They were all much more terrifying than Wu Shen has ever been.


    Still, since the audience wants it, then X¨¹ Beijin steels himself and, after glancing at Lin Qin who is still sitting nearby, he changes the camera to focus directly on Wu Shen without warning.


    And then, even X¨¹ Beijin, who was mentally preparing himself already, still can¡¯t help but feel a suffocating blanket of terror overtaking him for that moment.


    Wu Shen¡¯s eyes are wide open!


    The man, with his back to them, with regular, rhythmic breathing, looking like he¡¯s sound asleep, has always had his eyes wide open, just staring blankly at the air in front of him!


    It is almost as if he has somehow noticed the stream camera that is pointed right at him, as the next second, his lips suddenly part, to reveal a silent, malicious smile.

 Volume 1 - CH 17

    Ponytail¡¯s senses are tingling.


    She could almost feel the air freezing in place. The source of all this, being from the man lying on his side.


    She circles around in front of him and, in abject terror, she quickly takes two steps back with widened eyes. Her lips tremble, but she doesn¡¯t dare utter a sound.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Quarrelsome, confused and worried about Ponytail, takes a few steps forward and also glances over at Wu Shen.


    The next second, he yells out, ¡°oh fuck! You¡¯re awake?!¡±


    Wu Shen, who everyone took to be asleep, has always been awake.


    And in fact, his eyes are even fixed right at Ponytail and Quarrelsome, with a weird smile printed on his face. His posture is still unchanged. He is still on his bed.


    After the initial scare, the Missiontakers calm down quickly.


    While Wu Shen looks unquestionably eerie, but they have all seen even weirder and unhinged Nightmare owners. The strangeness about these Tower residents are often amplified in their Nightmares, turning even more irrational and paranoid.


    Ponytail takes a deep breath to calm down, before speaking out, ¡°Mr Wu?¡±


    The man gives no response, still staring straight at the three people in front of him without blinking.


    That is when Ponytail suddenly recalls a description from the diary.


    Wu Shen wrote that a customer jokingly remarked that he is turning into a doll, stiff and rigid. It was after his daughter went missing, and as a matter of fact, doesn¡¯t this Wu Shen look exactly like a doll?!


    Recalling the dolls that would chase after them, Ponytail could feel chills down her spine.


    Quarrelsome isn¡¯t as absorbed in thought, and therefore simply asks after no response comes from Wu Shen, ¡°so now what? He¡¯s completely unresponsive.¡±


    Glasses says, ¡°perhaps¡­ he needs to be stimulated awake?¡±


    ¡°Both times we saw Wu Shen wake up right after reading some of his letters,¡± Ponytail quickly comes to a conclusion, saying, ¡°maybe we can test it?¡±


    ¡°We will certainly have to test it,¡± Glasses turns around and is about to walk outside when he furrows his brows and asks directly this time, ¡°where¡¯s the doll?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°The little doll in a red dress that wants eyes! She¡¯s gone!¡±


    Ponytail knits her brows and thinks about it, before saying, ¡°it seems like it really must be linked to Wu Shen somehow. Perhaps it¡¯s a doll Wu Shen personally made after his daughter went missing? In her image perhaps¡­ To remember her?¡±


    Glasses is rubbing his brows too. Something feels off but he can¡¯t put his finger on it, and he can only say, ¡°perhaps¡­ you might be right.¡±


    Quarrelsome, more of an active man of action than a thinker, immediately walks outside, saying, ¡°I¡¯ll grab the letters from the other room!¡±


    When he¡¯s out of sight, Ponytail and Glasses immediately focus their attention on Wu Shen.


    As expected, soon enough, Wu Shen¡¯s eyes suddenly move. Though his expression is still rigid and only slowly asks when he sees two strangers in his own room, ¡°who¡­ are¡­ you?¡±


    ¡°Is he awake or not?¡± Glasses can¡¯t help but ask, ¡°it¡¯s really giving me the creeps.¡±


    Ponytail also answers quietly, the creases on her brows not smoothing out, ¡°not sure.¡±


    She turns back to Wu Shen, who is now slowly sitting up on the bed. All his joints and limbs are moving in an excessively mechanical manner, as if he really is a doll. Or rather, he is even clumsier than the dolls he made.


    When Wu Shen is about to stand up, putting his stiff legs forward, Ponytail suddenly speaks up.


    ¡°Xiao-Chun; Wu Chun. Your daughter. She has gone missing.¡±


    Wu Shen stops right where he is sitting on the bed. It takes a long while before he speaks up again, ¡°yes¡­ Yes¡­ xiao-Chun, my daughter¡­¡±


    His reaction is also different from before. That melodramatic pain and hopelessness have disappeared, only leaving behind a deep, cavernous exhaustion feeling of being lost forever in some maze, the kind that suggests he has had to endlessly face this fact, and all he can do now is admit it, numb to all the pain.


    He repeats, ¡°xiao-Chun¡­ is missing¡­¡±


    Glasses examines Wu Shen all over once, and gives his critical judgement, ¡°to be honest, I can¡¯t really see him doing anything to his own daughter.¡±


    Ponytail turns to him and slowly nods in agreement, saying, ¡°true. He looks like he terribly dotes on xiao-Chun.¡±


    Wu Shen is sitting there, all murmuring by himself. His unfocused gaze is drifting all about the murky air. It seems like he is already unable to discern reality and dream. He has lost himself entirely.


    The next second, he suddenly stands up, and his expression goes back to normal as well. He ignores Ponytail and Glasses entirely, though, and just walks outside by himself.


    The moment leaves the room, the entire Nightmare is changed. All the messy, dirty scenery is gone. Instead, it is a clean, tidy room with floorboards that look recently polished.


    The stink that has permeated the entire space is gone. A light, refreshing fragrance fills their every breath instead.


    In the room, the dirty old bed has suddenly turned into a cute white princess bed with elegantly chiselled wooden patterns.


    Ponytail looks at the curtains to see that the yellowed, mouldy curtains have reverted back to their white, slightly transparent lacy self. Its ends lay gently on the floor alongside the rays of sunlight.


    Glasses says, ¡°the Nightmare has changed.¡±


    Ponytail nods affirmatively, and hypothesises, ¡°it seems we have triggered a special event.¡±


    Then she looks outside at the street through the window.


    While the house is tidied and bright, the street outside is still entirely deserted, with only the bookstore next door being open.


    Ponytail tells Glasses, ¡°only the Dollmaker¡¯s has changed. I suppose this is¡­ regressing to the past? Something might have triggered Wu Shen¡¯s memories and now the Nightmare has conjured up a new scene.¡±


    She and Glasses look at each other and says in unison, ¡°the day xiao-Chun disappeared.¡±


    Occasionally, Nightmares have similar situations.


    Nightmares, being dreams, will have strange or fantastical happenstance. For example, in this Nightmare, they can only move about between the abandoned street, the bookstore and the Dollmaker¡¯s. It is completely different from reality, of course.


    Sometimes, as Missiontakers explore the scene more, or through direct psychological stimulation on the Nightmare owner, changes can happen. A new scene to explore may appear, new characters may appear, and¡­


    Like right now, Wu Shen, the owner of the Nightmare, is having a flashback of the past.


    These are not hard-and-fast rules for Missiontakers, because each Nightmare is unique. For them, every resident of the Tower has a Nightmare belonging to their unique past, which gives rise to their unique Nightmares.


    And even exactly what happens in the Nightmare may be different for different groups of Missiontakers.


    This added complication, plus the Missiontakers¡¯ tendencies to obscure their own experiences in the Nightmares, means that to this day, knowledge about Nightmare progression and associated rules still consists only of unfounded rumours. Nobody knows whether anything is true or not.


    Though if you ask X¨¹ Beijin, these rules are actually very simple for the Actors.


    It is merely impromptu performance or interpreting their assigned scripts differently.


    Actors, performing according to the scripts provided by the Server, are severely hampered from acting at all out-of-place when compared to the scripts handed to them.


    But that does not apply to Missiontakers.


    Missiontakers are unpredictable. They may act brashly or unabashedly and sometimes end up outside of the Server¡¯s predictions.


    That is when the Server has to react appropriately and adjust the scripts as needed.


    Meanwhile, the Actors are also provided with an opportunity, because the adjustment means possible oversights or contradictions may occur. These make for excellent opportunities to reinterpret everything in their favour to secretly give clues to Missiontakers.


    Not that X¨¹ Beijin has anything to do with it.


    Reinterpreting their own roles are only ever possible for the lead or important side characters themselves.


    An extra like him?


    Never mind that. Extra do not get extra performance from script adjustments.


    Meanwhile, because of the sudden change in the scenery, the viewers in the stream are also expressing their shock.


    ¡°woah! suddenly an amazing setpiece!¡±


    ¡°I really do want to try this game¡­ Too many of these mystery games are clich¨¦d and rely solely on tropes. You get assigned to a crime scene, a bunch of suspects and a bunch of witnesses. Those ¡®rocking chair detective¡¯ games with you just getting to each person one by one have been boring since centuries ago!¡±


    ¡°dalao, dalao, its cuz ur too dalao¡­ for little chickens like me, i cant even find the criminal in those simple games u described [emoji]¡±


    ¡°never mind that! the players are following wu shen already!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is also watching the scene with curiosity.


    He actually feels a little bit like going outside for a walk.


    As the stream shows, the three Missiontakers, plus Wu Shen, are all inside this new scene named ¡®Wu Shen¡¯s Memory,¡¯ which means the Dollmaker¡¯s is empty. He can definitely go for a stroll.


    Unfortunately¡­


    He glances over at Lin Qin who is standing at the entrance like a guardian angel, and gives up, sighing inside.


    Although he¡¯s not sure whether an extra walking outside of their designated activity area is running afoul of the Server¡¯s restrictions or not, openly committing acts contrary to Nightmare requirements in public view of Missiontakers clearly counts!


    The Server, really¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin sighs and looks back at the stream. His mind is not in it, though. His thoughts digress, and his expression turns deep and somewhat dark and gloomy.


    Lin Qin suddenly turns his head towards him.


    He can¡¯t help but notice X¨¹ Beijin in this state¡­ He looks, powerful. Invincible.


    He only ever feels this way when the aura comes from X¨¹ Beijin.


    Yet X¨¹ Beijin is unwilling to fight with him¡­


    Lin Qin sighs inside, and goes back to sitting quietly and blanking out.


    The two men in the bookstore are both irritated by the other person.


    Meanwhile, Ponytail and Glasses follow Wu Shen out of the room, meeting the confused Quarrelsome outside of the other room, whose hands are empty¡ª¡ªThe letters he held in his hands disappeared just as the scenery abruptly changed.


    Ponytail quickly explains the situation to him and he nods, understands, and casts his gaze towards Wu Shen.


    He is acting like they are invisible ghosts. He walks right over to his workshop, sits down, and begins working hard on making a doll.


    As expected of a dollmaker, he is serious in his craft.


    Glasses goes to the stairs to take a glance, and the first floor is now also a bright, colourful doll store, the type that would clearly draw children¡¯s attention.


    He tries to go downstairs, but somehow there is a force in the air blocking him. He can only return and wait for a change to happen at Wu Shen¡¯s side.


    A while later, while the three Missiontakers are losing their patience, suddenly¡­


    ¡°Daddy!¡±


    A little girl is calling out from the first floor.


    It sounds normal, exactly like how a daughter might call her father as something unexpected but not out-of-the-norm occurred. She is not in a hurry, scared, or glad or even surprised.


    Wu Shen, who was absorbed in his work, quickly stops and stands up. Then he wipes his hands and says, ¡°xiao-Chun, what¡¯s wrong? Daddy¡¯s coming now.¡±


    He takes off his apron and closes the door to the workshop. He walks to the stairs, ready to descend the stairs to see what his daughter was on about.


    The three Missiontakers follow behind him like ghosts.


    When suddenly, like a blackout, the bright, homely scene of the second floor goes dark. When light comes back in, the three Missiontakers are already back inside the dirtied, dilapidated doll store.


    Ponytail says, shocked, ¡°what happened? The flashback was cut off?!¡±

 Volume 1 - CH 18

    ¡°There are two possibilities,¡± says Glasses.


    ¡°One, Wu Shen lost his memory of the occurrence, perhaps because something really shook him to the core, like watching the criminals drag his daughter away right before his very eyes, or even seeing her killed this way. The heavy trauma means he has instinctively chosen to forget the memories.


    Two, it could be that¡­ Wu Shen doesn¡¯t want anyone to see that part of his memories! Probably because it was of him attacking Wu Chun!¡±


    In the stream, the dalao adds to Glasses¡¯ fiery analysis, typing, ¡°When the players were speaking to Wu Shen, he never mentioned the fact that he once went downstairs the day Wu Chun disappeared. I was also led to think that he stayed in his workshop the whole day and didn¡¯t notice his daughter¡¯s situation. He should not have omitted the fact under any circumstances.¡±


    Ponytail furrows her brows to ask, though, ¡°yet, from what his expression, action and body language suggested before he walked down the stairs, he looked absolutely normal. What drove him to suddenly go mad and attack his own daughter?¡±


    Glasses goes silent.


    Yes. It makes no sense. Why would a father getting called downstairs by his daughter suddenly turn against her?


    Quarrelsome says impatiently, ¡°so the first guess was more plausible?¡±


    Glasses seem convinced Wu Shen is the one behind it all, somehow, still visibly wanting to argue, but he doesn¡¯t seem to have reliable proof.


    Wu Shen is suspicious¡ª¡ªOk, and so is his wife. And so is the bookstore owner next door.


    But what about definitive proof?


    Up to this point, they¡¯ve been merely circling outside of it. They got a whole mess of clues around, but they can¡¯t find a link through it all.


    Not even following Wu Shen¡¯s own flashback back to the day his daughter disappeared did they discover any useful clues whatsoever.


    Why is the flashback cut off there?


    And there are yet many questions remaining as well.


    Why did someone (suspected to be Wu Shen¡¯s ex-wife) call him mad?


    Did Wu Shen¡¯s ex-wife treat her daughter well or badly?


    Why is Wu Shen sleeping in his daughter¡¯s room?


    Why are the dolls even after them in the Nightmare in the first place?


    Why does the doll of the little girl want eyes?


    These are all questions that may be very easily answered if they know the truth, but they don¡¯t, and that¡¯s what they¡¯re here for.


    The mood is rather sombre among the three Missiontakers.


    Right now, they¡¯re still standing on the second-floor corridor, on top of the creaky floorboards. Wu Shen is lying on his bed again, perhaps staring at the air with his eyes open like a doll. The doll of the little girl is still missing.


    A while later, Ponytail says, ¡°let¡¯s go to the workshop first. We¡¯ll check what is written on the pieces of paper.¡±


    Quarrelsome says, ¡°I feel like nothing would come up.¡±


    Glasses suddenly interjects, ¡°if triggering Wu Shen could change the Nightmare, then if we trigger him some more, could we somehow end up in a time before the letters were torn?¡±


    Ponytail agrees, saying with sparkling eyes, ¡°makes sense, it might work!¡± She quickly begins to think about putting it to action, ¡°talking about his missing daughter sends him into the flashback of the day she disappeared. If the paper fragments really were letters from his wife, then if we talk about her¡­¡±


    Quarrelsome says, ¡°let¡¯s do it!¡±


    Glasses ¡°¡­¡±


    He quietly gives Quarrelsome a glance. The guy really looks like he¡¯s sarcastically mocking him.


    So he ends up slapping his own face by saying, ¡°we should still split up. One can check out those paper, the rest will deal with Wu Shen.¡±


    Ponytail nods and they both look towards Quarrelsome, who rolls his eyes and says, ¡°fine, fine, I¡¯ll go through the trash.¡±


    Then he quickly walks to the workshop; Ponytail and Glasses (TL: Raws read Quarrelsome, which is probably an oversight by the author) walk into the bedroom to wait for Wu Shen to sit back up and look strange again.


    The viewers in the stream are also talking about if they can succeed and whether it will really play out like they hope it would.


    Wu Shen still has his eyes open in the second-floor bedroom. A long time passes, and even after Quarrelsome has finished looking at all the paper fragments and runs over, looking all enthused, Wu Shen is still showing no response.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Ponytail asks, furrowing her brows, ¡°does one run allow only one Nightmare change?¡±


    ¡°Who knows,¡± Quarrelsome skips to question to instead say, ¡°you¡¯ll never believe what I found out from the trash!¡±


    Ponytail and Glasses, despite being concerned with Wu Shen¡¯s unresponsiveness, turns to Quarrelsome now that he said that.


    None of them see, therefore, that Wu Shen¡¯s eyes have turned as they moved.


    The viewers of the stream did, though.


    ¡°holy shit!¡±


    ¡°no no no no no this is so scary!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m really curious about the difference in his reaction. Do the letters in the study and the workshop imply different things? Wu Shen seems to be reacting differently when players are touching different things¡±


    ¡°dalao, plz, were super scared right now aaaa!¡±


    ¡°host doesn¡¯t look scared though, I¡¯m disappointed¡±


    ¡°or maybe hes scared stiff as a rod¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    No, you!


    He just¡­ Uh, he didn¡¯t even notice Wu Shen¡¯s eyes turning.


    He heard Quarrelsome say he discovered something, so he looked over instead. Was that strange¡­


    Look, not even the dalao is concerned with his eyes, ok?!


    X¨¹ Beijin quietly touches his nose in slight guilt. With Lin Qin by his side, he can¡¯t speak comfortably to them, so he tries to keep a poker face on while continuing to watch the stream.


    But thinking of Lin Qin¡­ X¨¹ Beijin reflexively takes a look.


    The babyface kept sitting here, neither speaking nor moving. He really just screams ¡®I¡¯m bored.¡¯


    Lin Qin gives him a look as well, asking, ¡°what is it?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin asks, ¡°are you not bored? Why don¡¯t you go look for the truth with the others?¡±


    Lin Qin, sitting there, leaning his back on the wall, smirks out of nowhere and says, ¡°I¡¯m not interested.¡±


    ¡°But you still went into this Nightmare.¡±


    ¡°That I did,¡± Lin Qin says, looking at X¨¹ Beijin with his amber eyes as he explains, ¡°because I need to move about. Like running.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    So getting chased by the dolls is equivalent to a jog for this dalao?


    X¨¹ Beijin is speechless.


    ¡°And¡­ to me, there¡¯s nothing in this world that makes me interested at all,¡± Lin Qin continues, ¡°besides you.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is looking visibly surprised, even feeling slightly touched by it. Perhaps it is because no one is interested in him in somewhere as dark and depressing as the Tower¡ª¡ªOther than the Missiontakers all determined to enter his Nightmare.


    In other words, he is special to Lin Qin; and this pure curiosity and interest in him, is also special to X¨¹ Beijin in that sense.


    Then Lin Qin says, ¡°so let¡¯s fight.¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    Lin Qin turns his head away, ignoring him.


    X¨¹ Beijin feels like chuckling. Well, it¡¯s annoying Lin Qin keeps wanting to fight with him, but perhaps, incidentally, he could use it to toy with¡­ No, that¡¯s the wrong word. To tease the dalao.


    He packs his emotions back in to look back at the stream.


    Which is just as well, as Quarrelsome has unfurled a piece of paper in his hand and says proudly, ¡°look what¡¯s written here!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin moves the camera closer to take a closer look at it.


    The handwriting is still smudged as always, but it is already legible enough to read.


    ¡°¡­ perhaps love me and xiao-Chun, but you love those dolls even more than¡­¡±


    ¡°Those dolls?!¡± Ponytail says, clearly shocked, ¡°this sentence¡­¡±


    Glasses is looking at the paper with furrowed brows. His expression is changing frequently.


    The detective dalao in the stream makes a few more exclamation marks before typing, ¡°That¡¯s confirmed! The paper really must be from Wu Shen¡¯s wife to him!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, resting his chin on his arm, thinks quietly.


    The sentence could be interpreted in several ways.


    The dollmaker¡¯s wife accuses him of loving those dolls more. Does this ¡®love¡¯ just simply mean to be passionate about his career, or¡­ Does it mean something else?


    Given prior information that the wife is a busy worker, juggling both her job and household matters at once, perhaps the letter is simply her complaint that Wu Shen is all too fixated on making dolls and neglected his wife and daughter.


    Yet, in the context of Wu Chun¡¯s disappearance, the implications are much more subtle.


    Put most simply, she could merely be blaming Wu Shen for being too absorbed in dollmaking to notice his own daughter disappearing from the store the day she went missing.


    That seems unlikely given the flashback they just saw.


    Wu Chun called out to her father, and he replied, ready to go downstairs immediately. This is evidence that Wu Shen was not wholly indulged in his job. He may not be by his daughter¡¯s side, but he is definitely keeping an ear out for anything on the first floor.


    Given that, what the wife wrote¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin continues watching the stream while thinking, when suddenly, his gaze turns sharp.


    ¡°Who are you?¡±


    While the three Missiontakers are talking about the information on the piece of paper, Wu Shen is already sitting up quietly, without so much as a sound.


    He looks at them with this grim expression, questioning, ¡°why, are you in my house?¡±


    The trio is rightly spooked.


    Ponytail almost instinctively pulls out her excuse from before, saying, ¡°hello, we¡¯re here to investigate the case of Wu Chun¡¯s disappearance. There was no response when we called from downstairs, so¡­¡±


    Wu Shen is staring straight at them with his black pupils. After a short while, this stinky, dirty man begins chuckling, ¡°heee~, for my daughter¡¯s disappearance?¡±


    Both Ponytail and Glasses furrow their brows.


    The attitude is off. When they said this before, whether he was hopeful or frustrated, he is at least not entirely disinterested like this.


    It feels like Wu Shen¡­


    Suddenly, became another person.


    The two Missiontakers look at each other, and confirmed their thoughts.


    While the Missiontakers are standing off against Wu Shen, the viewers suddenly begin to barrage the comments in shock.


    ¡°the door!!!¡±


    The doll of the little girl, that has been missing this whole time, is now quietly poking her head out of the door that was left ajar, and looking at the people inside.


    She is murmuring, ¡°eyes¡­¡±

 Volume 1 - CH 19

    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    What is the character setting of the dollmaker, Wu Shen?


    When he suddenly sits up from the bed to show a grim smile at the Missiontakers present, X¨¹ Beijin, watching this unfold in the stream, is thinking.


    The information known so far is that he is a doting father. That seems to be it. Everything he does or says seems to entirely revolve around the girl, xiao-Chun.


    Outside of this, we only know that he has run into conflicts and disagreements with his ex-wife.


    His ex-wife who, in the letters she sent, accused him of being insane, loving his dolls more than his wife and daughter.


    While in Wu Shen¡¯s diary entries and letters, he accused her of being a violent, overbearing mother instead. A mad woman who drove her own daughter to run from home.


    Who should be believed? Who is speaking the truth?


    Given Wu Shen¡¯s appearance right now, the Missiontakers all lean towards his wife being more trustworthy.


    Prior to this, Wu Shen was in pain and desperation due to his daughter going missing, but right now, faced directly with the fact his daughter is missing, he is going ¡®hee~¡¯¡­ What kind of reaction is that, even? Has he truly gone insane?


    This distinctly contradictory behaviour made both Ponytail and Glasses recall a mental illness ¨C split personality.


    More professionally known as dissociative identity disorder, the name sounds complex but ¡®split personality¡¯ is an apt description.


    If his personality is split¡­ perhaps Wu Shen really is insane?


    Wu Shen shakily stands up from the bed with his head tilted to the side. He speaks to the three Missiontakers present, ¡°you are looking for my daughter¡­ Hehe, xiao-Chun¡­ Oh, xiao-Chun¡­¡±


    Ponytail asks, cautiously wording her question, ¡°do you have any clues?¡±


    Wu Shen stands with his arms akimbo and leans a little towards Ponytail. His limbs look absurdly uncoordinated. The man says, ¡°no, no¡­ She must be glad right now¡­ Glad¡­ No, that¡¯s not right. There is still one thing to do¡­ One more thing¡­ xiao-Chun, hehe, xiao-Chun¡­¡±


    The lack of logic or coherence makes Ponytail furrow her brows.


    Glasses asks instead, ¡°what do you mean by xiao-Chun being glad? Where is she?¡±


    Wu Shen suddenly turns to him and says, emphasising each syllable, ¡°xiao, Chun, must, be, feel, ing, glad! For daddy did what she asked for¡­ hehe, daddy did it¡­¡±


    He begins flailing his arms about in an excited gesture. He seems ecstatic about something.


    He enthusiastically explains, ¡°xiao-Chun must be feeling glad! If she could see what daddy has done for her¡­ xiao-Chun¡­¡± then, he turns sombre in tone as he continues, ¡°but, xiao-Chun¡­ xiao-Chun, oh, xiao-Chun, she still cannot see¡­¡±


    ¡°What did you do for her?¡±


    Wu Shen suddenly stops moving entirely. He answers, ¡°I did what daddy promised xiao-Chun he would do.¡±


    Ponytail asks, ¡°what was it?¡±


    Wu Chun¡¯s neck, almost like that of a real doll, begins churning Ponytail¡¯s way in locked steps. Staring with his empty, soulless eyes, he really does resemble a real doll. It is disquieting.


    He says, ¡°xiao-Chun, wants the world¡¯s most perfect¡­¡±


    And he pauses.


    His face begins contorting in a complicated expression. Everyone is staring, and they become fearful when they see both terror and grimace on his face. What did he think of? Why is he terrified?


    What is the most perfect thing in the world that Wu Chun wanted?


    Ponytail really wants to keep asking, but the next second, Wu Shen begins emitting a strange ¡®kuh kuh¡¯ sound from his neck as his face flushes red. His eyes roll upwards, and the next second, he faints.


    Ponytail yells out, exasperated, ¡°why! Why is it always cut off right before the important bit!¡±


    The flashback was cut off the moment Wu Shen was going to go down the stairs the day Wu Chun went missing; this time they were cut off right before Wu Shen was going to say the most important word.


    Glasses is mulling over it, ¡°the most perfect¡­ what?¡±


    ¡°Mommy, maybe?¡± Quarrelsome says nonchalantly, ¡°she treats her badly, right?¡±


    Glasses smirks and taunts back, ¡°then it could also be daddy, no?¡±


    Ponytail takes a deep breath before joining in the discussion, ¡°it seems awfully unlikely a six-year-old little girl would indirectly criticise her parents this harshly.¡±


    Quarrelsome then says, though, ¡°kids these days¡­ but still,¡± he says casually, ¡°maybe she just wanted to ask for trivial things like toys or snacks.¡±


    Glasses then says, ¡°she said ¡®perfect,¡¯ though. What kind of toys or snacks would you describe with ¡®perfect¡¯?¡±


    Quarrelsome goes, ¡°hey, are you being quarrelsome?¡±


    Glasses rolls his eyes at him.


    ¡°Stop arguing!¡± Ponytail is out of patience. She then tells them to begin organising their current information.


    None of them gives so much as a glance at Wu Shen, lying flat on the floor, nor do they feel like it.


    Ponytail begins speaking, ¡°Wu Shen said that he finished what his daughter wanted, but Wu Chun could not see. Does this mean that the request was completed after Wu Chun went missing?¡±


    Glasses rubs his chin and adds, ¡°yet he said there is still one more thing to do¡­ Mm, does he mean letting Wu Chun know her wish was completed?¡±


    Quarrelsome looks at Ponytail on his left, and Glasses on his right, and says, speechless, ¡°are you guessing riddles?¡±


    Ponytail makes a weary sigh and says, ¡°yeah¡­¡±


    Even the viewers in the stream concur, ¡°my head hurts¡­¡±


    The detective dalao is typing ¡°We must have overlooked something!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin agrees that everyone knows they overlooked something, or perhaps missed some important clues.


    Yet they have no idea what it might be. That is the crux of the issue.


    It truly is difficult to venture forward in a dense fog with no sense of direction.


    In the doll store¡¯s second-floor bedroom, Ponytail is still sighing, saying, ¡°as expected of a Nightmare in which no one has ever achieved a True End. It really is difficult.¡±


    Glasses says, impatiently, ¡°but Wu Shen¡¯s suspicious actions at least confirms he killed Wu Chun!¡±


    Ponytail suddenly glares at him, questioning, ¡°what do you actually know?¡±


    Glasses seems taken aback, merely repeating, ¡°what?¡±


    ¡°You said, Wu Shen killed Wu Chun,¡± Ponytail repeats what he said before, then asks, ¡°why do you think that? Why are you so adamant that, Wu Chun is already dead?¡±


    Glasses is completely silent.


    Ponytail continues, ¡°when we tried to probe Wu Shen before, you also mentioned, ¡®to be honest, I can¡¯t really see him doing anything to his own daughter.¡¯ How are you so certain it is Wu Shen now? Why do you no longer suspect his wife?¡±


    Glasses seems to be holding in some panic. He forces an explanation out, ¡°because Wu Shen is just suspicious. He looks like his personality is split. Why would it be any other person that lay their hands on Wu Chun?¡±


    ¡°Yet nobody said his split personality cannot be from the trauma of Wu Chun going missing.¡±


    Ponytail takes another steps and stares straight into Glasses¡¯ eyes, who inadvertently adverts his gaze. She continues pushing him, ¡°you said that there might be two reasons for the flashback to cut off. One is that some great trauma caused him to forget everything that happened, two is that he did not want us to know what happened next.¡±


    Glasses says, ¡°yeah, I think it¡¯s the latter, and Wu Shen is suspicious! He might have done something to Wu Chun the point after it cut off!¡±


    Though Ponytail counters his point, ¡°yet in the memory, Wu Shen ignored us entirely. He didn¡¯t even know we were present. Why would he not want us to know what happened next if we¡¯re not even there?!¡±


    Glasses freezes up again.


    Ponytail coldly chuckles and says, ¡°all your analysis is based on the premise that Wu Shen is the one who laid his hands on Wu Chun. You made your conclusions by assuming this position first.¡±


    Glasses is silent. His head hangs low, and he does not respond.


    ¡°Those three points are obvious enough,¡± Ponytail concludes, then she relaxes her tone to say, ¡°we¡¯re still in cooperation. Can you explain, honestly, what you know? Why are you so certain Wu Shen killed Wu Chun.¡±


    Ponytail¡¯s sudden interrogation not only shocked Glasses and Quarrelsome whole, but also the viewers in the stream and X¨¹ Beijin himself.


    The detective dalao is slamming his thighs and typing, ¡°That¡¯s right! Holy shit, I got completely led astray by this player in glasses! His logic was actually completely faulty!


    Even though in Wu Shen¡¯s flashback he didn¡¯t know at all the players were there, he could never have stopped it because he wanted to conceal his actions from the players! It makes no sense!


    ¡°super amazing ponytail girl! ur the best!¡±


    ¡°um¡­ I have my own thoughts. since host is a player with a special role, then could this guy in glasses also be? maybe he knew something when he entered this nightmare, like who the killer is?¡±


    ¡°its possible, but probably not the truth itself, thats cheating¡±


    ¡°yea, and its definitely gonna limit him, just look at our all-knowing host who cant do a thing but wait for detective dalao to carry him¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    What do you mean ¡®carry¡® when playing a game? You call¡­ you call it winning without even moving!


    Besides, X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t in a role that¡¯d play a part in this Nightmare anyway!


    X¨¹ Beijin has some built-up tension now. He is thinking about showing his capabilities later, otherwise it¡¯ll be quite vexing for him too to get scolded all the time by the viewers, he thinks, without showing it on his face.


    Meanwhile, back in the stream, after quietly standing still for a long time, Glasses finally concedes.


    He says, ¡°before this, I actually came across a utility card, back in the doll store of the Tower¡­¡±


    Ponytail¡¯s eyes light up as she is ready to listen to the information.


    When suddenly, the door that was left ajar makes a creak. Everyone looks over there, only to find, to their dismay, that the doll of the little girl in the red dress, is walking into the room.


    ¡°Shit! Why is she here all of a sudden!¡±


    Ponytail yells out and instinctively tries stepping back and looking about the room, trying to find a way out of this.


    Yet, it is too late.


    ¡°Eyes,¡± they hear the doll say, ¡°I want, eyes.¡±


    Then, the next second, she raises her thin, little arms. The fingers of them suddenly stretch and disperse, shooting at the Missiontakers like bullets. There is a squelch as their eye sockets are pierced through.


    The moment blood begins oozing, they can all hear their hearts racing rapidly, until they slowly came to a stop.


    The Nightmare, restarts again.

 Volume 1 - CH 20

    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    The eighth run of the Nightmare has begun.


    The moment it did, they are again faced with a terrifying chase from the dolls. Lin Qin is getting more impatient as well.


    He is about to make a move when Ponytail suddenly yells out in the middle of their running, ¡°dalao! Please give us another chance!¡±


    Lin Qin narrows his eyes and quietly stares at her.


    To be perfectly honest, Lin Qin really is looking rather unsettling by this point. He is still a smiling baby-face with lips perking up, but his smile has a rather cold and merciless feel to it.


    Lin Qin is never one that is easy to converse with. When X¨¹ Beijin refuses him, he only quietly sulks because he isn¡¯t sure whether he can win against him in a fight.


    Yet when it comes to those trash that can¡¯t win against him in a fight, and yet still dares to impose on him¡­ Then his temper only turns for the worse.


    In this Nightmare, he might have helped the Missiontakers, because he didn¡¯t care¡ª¡ªHe might not even recall those trivialities anymore by now.


    If it comes to someone begging for mercy when he¡¯s about to blow¡­


    There are two possibilities. Either he does not relent at all, or¡­ He is even more ruthless.


    Which is why Lin Qin¡¯s life is so utterly boring in the first place. Those that cannot win against him are but mere dust beneath his notice; however, his entire world ends up therefore being an empty void.


    And so he has come to accept his world being entirely dark, with him being the lone wanderer aimlessly toiling inside. He has the fighting strength but no target to lash out against. His past, his present, and his future are all the same.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s appearance is both a good thing and a bad thing. While he did at least make Lin Qin, the high-maintenance dalao, properly see someone exists for once, but X¨¹ Beijin is quite possibly annoyed by this attention on the contrary.


    At the same time, this attention is quite noticeable for the others as well, like the quick-witted Ponytail.


    While the Missiontakers have focused on the Dollmaker¡¯s this whole time, and they do not dare question where Lin Qin is heading off to, but their frequently sighting Lin Qin in the bookstore is undoubtedly significant.


    Therefore, Ponytail has a sudden spark of inspiration, shouting, ¡°dalao! I know something about the bookstore owner!¡±


    Lin Qin furrows his brows slightly. His facial expression changes rather rapidly, before asking, ¡°what about him?¡±


    They¡¯re, of course, still in the middle of the first wave of the dolls¡¯ chase. Lin Qin is dealing with it effortlessly, contrasting with the gasping Missiontakers about him. This inhuman physical prowess really does make them jealous.


    ¡°Dalao¡­ Please, after this wave, first,¡± Ponytail says, all gasping for breath as she continues, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you in detail then!¡±


    Lin Qin is slightly irritated, but he decides to tolerate it anyhow.


    He is even considering just dragging the girl who is slow on her feet along with him.


    Then he looks down at his hand and back at Ponytail¡­ And decides against it. He doesn¡¯t want to touch her, in case he might accidentally cripple her. She¡¯ll have to endure.


    A few minutes later, finally free of the dolls and back outside the Dollmaker¡¯s, the Missiontakers are so tired they could faint at any time. Sweat is raining down from them while they lean against the wall. Their visions are already out of focus.


    Lin Qin, wholly unfazed, is looking at Ponytail.


    The girl takes a deep breath before explaining, ¡°dalao, I once heard about this bookstore owner back in the Tower ¨C He never sleeps, therefore no one has ever entered his Nightmare.¡±


    Lin Qin nods and says, ¡°I know that.¡±


    Ponytail continues her explanation, ¡°I know a secret¡­¡± She then glances at Glasses and falls into a brief thought. She does not avoid him in the end when she directly says, ¡°while the bookstore owner does not let anyone into his Nightmare, but if you bring him drinks he likes, then he¡¯ll give you clues about Nightmares of other Tower residents.¡±


    Glasses seems shocked as he blurts out, ¡°drinks?!¡±


    Ponytail nods to confirm, saying, ¡°this is what the dalao Mu Jiashi told me.¡±


    Glasses looks downright astonished by this point, ¡°you know Mu-dalao?! He should already really high up the Tower already¡­¡±


    Quarrelsome sniggers, remarking, ¡°you¡¯re like a sentient piece of congealed surprise.¡±


    Glasses ¡°¡­¡±


    Lin Qin has no interest in their argument, and just nods to confirm, ¡°so, he likes drinks?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Lin Qin nods again, telling them, ¡°you can keep going.¡±


    Then he leaves them.


    Their conversation is also captured in its entirety by the viewers in the stream.


    Naturally¡­ That includes X¨¹ Beijin himself.


    ¡­ How did the fact that he likes drinks get out?!


    And also¡­ that guy with the glasses. Why the astonishment?! What problem does he have with liking drinks? Sure, water works, but does he think water is tasty?!


    In the Tower, with its abysmal quality of life, it is such a blessing to be able to enjoy tasty, refreshing drinks!


    The man looks like he doesn¡¯t understand simple joys in life at all!


    It is tragic he can no longer enjoy bubble tea like he once did on Earth¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin so laments.


    Liking various drinks is a small quirk of X¨¹ Beijin, which, when compared with the multitude of strange quirks of the Tower residents, could surely be said to be wholly harmless.


    Given that X¨¹ Beijin is a good person at heart, when one time, a dejected Missiontaker who kept trying and failed to enter his Nightmare ended up leaving the drinks he collected with X¨¹ Beijin. Feeling slightly guilty, X¨¹ Beijin told him a hint from a Nightmare of some resident he knew.


    And that Missiontaker really did achieve a True End thanks to his hint, and ascended to a higher floor.


    That Missiontaker¡¯s name¡­ Was Mu Jiashi, probably?


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t remember well either. It was probably a really long time ago.


    No wonder there was a short period of time back then when he kept receiving drinks every so often. Mu Jiashi must have spread the news of that transaction.


    Yes, for X¨¹ Beijin, it is solely a transaction.


    While he is absorbed in his recollection of the past, the audience of the stream are also asking, curious.


    ¡°bookstore owner¡­ it means the host, right?¡±


    ¡°The host¡¯s character trait is enjoying drinks¡­ Is this a role-playing game? Or is it a real-life preference of the host? And you can craft your own character from scratch in this game?¡±


    ¡°i want it to be the latter, sounds more interesting¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin gives the audience as simple an explanation as he can, ¡°a Nightmare is the instance, and the Tower is the main hub world of the game. As for the characters each player uses¡­ You could say they built it themselves, yeah, but the different roles they employ are randomly assigned.¡±


    This is the best of what X¨¹ Beijin could say under the strict supervision of the Server, though it is enough to make the viewers all satisfied for now.


    ¡°got it! just like the detective dalao said, diff players use diff identities and get diff info¡±


    ¡°host really is lucky to end up with some amazing role in the beginning!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin almost wants to smile helplessly at that remark.


    An amazing role, huh?


    Actors might know more than the Missiontakers do, but they are also much more severely hampered. All they can do is to Act out their assigned scripts as much as possible.¡±


    If this streaming system ended up with a Missiontaker, then the audience might have immediately been informed that, oh, this isn¡¯t really a traditional ¡®game,¡¯ per se, but a real Nightmare in the guise of an escape game. Humans are trapped inside this game, struggling against succumbing to eternal damnation.


    X¨¹ Beijin, meanwhile, cannot possibly divulge such information.


    Of course, Missiontakers might just as well be worried and suspicious of such a streaming system suddenly spawning out of nowhere.


    All this time X¨¹ Beijin has been telling half-truths precisely for this reason. He does not know how the outside world is and therefore does not even dare hinting at it.


    Though he won¡¯t be able to keep up the informational blackout on the Tower forever. X¨¹ Beijin is mentally prepared for when that day is to come.


    After this long period of interaction with the four viewers, X¨¹ Beijin is also confident he knows them a little better now.


    They really are just normal viewers in a gaming stream. Nothing stands out about them in particular. Their usage of words and their way of talking are no different from their own language use in the game ¡®Escape.¡¯


    Of course, this may also be attributed to a robust translating system, since there are players of all the diverse nationalities in-game but there is no obstacle to their communication at all.


    The only special phrase so far is likely the ¡®host-only game¡¯ that X¨¹ Beijin saw way back.


    Though the phrase has only ever popped up once, and X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t really have a chance to reference it indirectly or probe it. He can only keep this question to himself for now.


    Compared to grander problems like the streaming system or humanity¡¯s predicament, he is much more concerned about the crisis in action.


    Lin Qin has learned about the fact that he likes drinks¡­


    He probably, wouldn¡¯t end up, doing anything serious, right?


    X¨¹ Beijin is rather uneasy thinking about it.


    He glances at Lin Qin¡¯s location through the streaming system, which shows him still firmly under the category of ¡®Abandoned Street;¡¯ either he¡¯s walking towards X¨¹ Beijin, or taking a stroll like when he was bored earlier.


    He stops thinking about it, because in the stream, the three Missiontakers are finally talking about something important.


    ¡°Earlier, I said that I found a utility card in the doll store inside the Tower,¡± Glasses explains, ¡°it was an Infocard.¡±


    An Infocard is one of the more common cards in the Tower. It is used to examine basic information about other things (including Tower residents, outsiders, other utility cards, etc.).


    One Infocard can reveal information about one entity, and is single-use.


    Each Tower resident and each outsider has their own information panel. They are able to check their own physical status and Mission progress (TL: This is probably an oversight on the author¡¯s part, because nowhere does this really useful-sounding feature ever come up again) on them.


    Of course, for the others, especially Missiontakers, Infocards are sometimes particularly useful, as every so often, certain resident¡¯s panel would reveal their Nightmare¡¯s secret.


    Naturally, the Infocard does not reveal the fact that the Tower residents are Actors nor do they show everything these Actors know. The information panel displays only basic character stats and information.


    The same way that, if one such card is used on a Missiontaker, only up to how many cards the person holds would be revealed, but not the actual cards possessed.


    Therefore, the well-supplied Infocards do still end up called ¡®filler¡¯ material every so often. Every Missiontaker would have one or two stored on them.


    And clearly, Ponytail also knows what Glasses wanted to express by saying it was an Infocard¡ª¡ªHe meant that, given it¡¯s not exactly a valuable utility card, it¡¯s not worth it for you to eye it for yourself. The information in his hands is more important.


    She nods; she gets it.


    Quarrelsome, clearly unable to grasp such fine subtleties, just asks impatiently while the two of them are making knowing nods at each other, ¡°so? What about that Infocard?¡±


    Glasses takes a deep breath, barely suppressing his urge to beat the hell out of Quarrelsome, and spills the beans entirely in one go, ¡°the name of the card is, ¡®A Daughter Killed By Her Father.''¡±

 Volume 1 - CH 21

    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Everyone hearing him is in shock.


    An Infocard with the name, ¡®A Daughter Killed By Her Father¡¯?!


    The utility card appears just like a normal piece of card when held in a person¡¯s hands, but if it is checked through the personal information panel, then there are four parts of additional description ¨C


    Card Name, Card Illustration, Description, and Uses.


    Utility cards can be acquired through multiple means, most commonly through a lottery after successfully surviving a Nightmare. Occasionally, like Glasses did here, picking them up in the Tower is also possible.


    When it is the rarer latter case, information on the utility card usually also reveals hints or clues regarding one particular Nightmare.


    For example¡­ ¡®A Daughter Killed By Her Father.¡¯


    A card which basically spoils the entire plot of this Nightmare.


    Ponytail is surprised, saying, ¡°so Wu Shen did kill Wu Chun? Even when he looked so doting? Why?¡±


    Quarrelsome concurs, ¡°yeah. And to still look so distraught even after killing someone in cold blood, and badmouthing his wife in his diary entries and letters¡­ Eugh, yuck.¡±


    The comment barrage is expressing shock too.


    ¡°srsly? a thief crying thief!¡±


    ¡°and¡­ he kept saying how he still loved xiao-chun all the time¡­ what a piece of shit.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m thoroughly disgusted.¡±


    ¡°dalao ur amazing! that guy deduced wu shen is the murderer cuz he had the plot spoiled for him, but u already suspected him long time ago. so this is the miracle of gut feeling?¡±


    That¡¯s right. Glasses has had the plot spoiled for him.


    Not that he is happy about it, though, explaining, ¡°but, it¡¯s useless even if I knew the answer right from the beginning. We want to achieve a True End. Now, we know Wu Shen killed Wu Chun, but¡­ a True End isn¡¯t just the truth!¡±


    It puts a stop to the enthusiastic Ponytail and Quarrelsome.


    Yes, Wu Shen killed Wu Chun.


    And then what?


    Why did he kill her? Why does he look like he has a split personality? Why did his flashback abruptly end the day Wu Chun went missing?


    Ponytail mulls over it for a short while before saying, ¡°no matter what, working backwards from a conclusion is still definitely easier.¡±


    Glasses nods to agree.


    Then Ponytail continues slowly, ¡°Wu Shen killed Wu Chun¡­ If we take that as given, then that would resolve many questions.¡±


    Glasses begins listing, ¡°his many accusations of his ex-wife were all slanderous.¡±


    Quarrelsome retorts reflexively, ¡°it isn¡¯t necessarily untrue that she treated her daughter harshly before Wu Shen killed his daughter, is it?¡±


    Glasses has to take a deep breath to calm down before saying, ¡°don¡¯t tell me you think Wu Shen felt that he was relieving his daughter of her suffering given that his wife was torturing her?¡±


    Quarrelsome blinks a few times and says, ¡°that works?¡±


    Glasses ¡°¡­¡±


    Why was he even wasting time arguing with him!


    ¡°No matter what, let¡¯s go to the second floor first,¡± Ponytail ignores their argument once again, thinking about something else, ¡°I remember that when we asked Wu Shen about it earlier, he rejected the notion firmly. What if he¡­ really believed that he did not kill Wu Chun?¡±


    Glasses knits his brows, ¡°what do you mean?¡±


    Quarrelsome sniggers, saying, ¡°perhaps Wu Shen has a green hat above him (TL: To wear a green hat means to have one¡¯s partner cheat on them), and he¡¯s not Wu Chun¡¯s real biological father? Then the ¡®father¡¯ that supposedly killed Wu Chun wouldn¡¯t be Wu Shen.¡±


    Ponytail then says with a slightly eerie tone, ¡°the word ¡®father¡¯ might not necessarily point to Wu Shen, but in the same way, even if I¡¯m not your father, I can still make you kneel and call me ¡®daddy.''¡± (TL: If you don¡¯t get it¡­ Then you¡¯re probably not at the age you¡¯re supposed to know about this, sorry, teehee)


    Quarrelsome ¡°¡­¡±


    He makes an awkward smile.


    Ponytail then shakes her head to say, ¡°let¡¯s quickly go to the second floor now. We don¡¯t want to run into the second wave of dolls.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s already the eighth run of this Nightmare,¡± Glasses can¡¯t help but mention, asking, ¡°could the doll store already have undergone other changes?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, who switched the video source over to the first floor ahead of them, would really like to blame Glasses for jinxing it!


    Right now, the first floor of the doll store is already entirely different from what they once saw.


    Because, before they could push the boxes open to rediscover the hatch leading to the second floor, the doll of the little girl has already put herself in front of it. Despite her small physical form, she stands there imposingly with her arms akimbo.


    This is the shocking scene greeting the three returning Missiontakers.


    Ponytail tries to communicate, saying, ¡°we¡­ will look for eyes for you upstairs?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± she shakes her head, saying, ¡°you, all lied, to me; did not, find eyes.¡±


    ¡­ She knows! She has already recalled what happened in the previous runs of the Nightmare!


    Ponytail cusses, ¡°damn it! Why is this happening!¡±


    The Missiontakers all know that the Tower residents in the Nightmare have a chance to remember what happened in previous runs of that Nightmare. This is dependent on factors such as the degree the Nightmare has collapsed thus far, the Nightmare¡¯s progression and the Missiontaker¡¯s progress, etc.


    In other words, just like the sudden flashback to Wu Shen¡¯s past, these are all RNG elements that pop up with no prior warning. It is a ¡®surprise¡¯ for the Missiontakers.


    The Missiontakers are all used to them now, since Nightmares are always full of the unexpected.


    Speaking of which, how do they view the strange behaviour of the Tower residents here?


    The Missiontakers can only say that, in their view, the bunch of NPCs¡ª¡ªThat being what they are to them¡ª¡ªhave always been weird and positively unhinged. They wouldn¡¯t be surprised to see them doing anything.


    The doll of the little girl tilts her head, staring at them with her black glass beads for eyes. Her jaws open and close to say monotonously, ¡°I, am angry. You, kept lying, to me. Eyes¡­¡±


    She raises her arms, and, just as in the last run of the Nightmare, her fingers begin to turn long and thin, extending their way.


    Ponytail yells out, ¡°use utility cards now!¡±


    She also pulls out a card herself, activating it in the doll¡¯s direction.


    A light begins emerging from the illustration on the card. The illustration is that of an arrow.


    In the blink of an eye, a small but nonetheless real arrow of light floats out from the surface of the card, and follows Ponytail¡¯s mind, and shoots out with an audibly zip, making a sudden turn along the way, targeting the doll of the little girl from the side.


    The doll is struck, and falls to the ground with a thud. She makes a yelp of ¡®aiya,¡¯ and light begins to glimmer off her beady, glossy eyes. She looks to be crying; she struggles to stand back up.


    Nobody is paying attention to her anymore, because the hatch she was blocking is now right open!


    Ponytail quickly throws away the card which has now run out of uses, yelling along the way, ¡°to the second floor!¡±


    Then she immediately rushes for the stairs ahead of everyone.


    Quarrelsome follows right after, and so does Glasses, who is gritting his teeth.


    He is still a bit bitter in his mind though.


    That was an Attack card!


    An Attack card, as its name implies, can attack others, including Tower residents, outsiders, and actual NPCs in the Nightmares¡ª¡ªWhile many ¡®NPC¡¯ roles are filled out by Actors, but there are also some that are purely game data.


    Attack cards are subdivided into many categories according to the illustrations present on the card. There is a wide consensus that the division is sword, lance, axe, bow, hammer; more exotic weaponry like frying pans also exist. Of course, the difference is in name only. The effects are largely the same.


    Given that the Tower forbids player-on-player killing, Attack cards are never lethal.


    Yet, just the fact that it attacks makes them highly coveted!


    Therefore, Attack cards are de facto the most popular cards in the whole Tower.


    The rest of the utility cards might take some crafty mind to explore their applications, but that is not the case for Attack cards. When you¡¯re in danger, you can use them already! You can go as wild as you want!


    Naturally, supply is extremely limited.


    And it is widely rumoured their Uses are seriously limited. Once, and they are gone forever.


    Therefore, when Glasses sees how Ponytail just threw the trashed card away, he can¡¯t help but feel so sour inside.


    What a flaunt of her wealth! To just throw away a trashed card like this!


    Even selling them back to Carddealers would be better!


    Though it would merely be helping them deceive others¡­


    Yes, Carddealers could sell trashed cards with their Uses already at zero to Missiontakers that are inexperienced in this regard.


    Cards, being physical objects that can only be checked on someone¡¯s own personal information panel, can easily mislead others in how it is used and whether its Uses is already depleted via visual inspection alone.


    Some Carddealers abuse this property to exclusively deceive others and swindle their valuables. This is also one factor that leads to them being universally despised.


    Missiontakers can only deal with it as it comes. In trading, a buyer often requests to check the information panel of the card before paying.


    That has not curbed waves after waves of Missiontakers falling victim to trashed cards, though.


    Meanwhile, there is also another private market sector of utility card trading ¨C Dealing particularly in trashed cards.


    Other than deceiving people, there is actually a sizeable market for their collection.


    There are Carddealers that openly declare they deal only in trashed cards. And of course supplies of such cards are much more abundant than new, usable ones. Many Missiontakers who are not auspicious enough to acquire one would buy a trashed card for cheap as a sort of consolation prize.


    And for some trashed card connoisseurs, their house may be home to thousands of such trashed cards.


    Sure, they¡¯re not making much progress in actually winning and conquering Nightmares or going to floors above, but they certainly are good at other, less ¡®respectacle¡¯ trades.


    Glasses is an example of the kind of Missiontakers that can never bring himself to throw away or sell trashed cards. The few depleted utility cards he has have all been carefully stowed away.


    Therefore, when he saw Ponytail just abandoning that trashed card without batting an eye, he really wants to rush to collect it!


    ¡­ Though, when he takes a look behind him, he sees the doll of the little girl has finally stood back up. She is making her wobbly way up the stairs again. Shaken to the bone, he quickly rushes up the stairs, multiple steps at a time.


    On the second floor, Ponytail directly says, ¡°to Wu Shen!¡±


    The trio pushes the door into Wu Shen¡¯s room.


    And they freeze right where they stand.


    Because Wu Shen is standing right there!


    His head is tilted. His gaze is soulless. His smile is vicious.


    Ponytail is tearing her hair at this point, yelling, ¡°is the eighth run this corrupted already?!¡±


    Glasses is warily looking behind him, watching out for the girl doll, while saying, ¡°possibly because we now all know Wu Shen killed Wu Chun, so the situation has changed; Nightmares are always adaptive like this.¡±


    Yes, that¡¯s how Nightmares are. The Missiontakers are a huge influence on the Nightmare, possibly causing it to change drastically and unpredictably at times.


    Ponytail stares at Wu Shen who is merely standing there and begins murmuring, ¡°because we know he killed Wu Chun¡­ If he has a split personality¡­ If it was, another personality that killed Wu Chun¡­¡±


    Glasses is out of patience, yelling, ¡°the doll is upstairs!¡±


    ¡°Fuck!¡± Ponytail immediately responds, yelling, ¡°I only got that one Attack card! What else did you bring? Use it now!¡±


    While they do resurrect after they die, and the Nightmare would restart.


    Yet this is already the eighth run of the Nightmare. The dangers in this Nightmare are growing more and more perverse¡­ What if they never end up completing it? What if they are forever trapped in the Nightmare?


    Ponytail is beginning to succumb.


    Yet, she is also thinking, thank goodness¡­ Thank goodness for Lin Qin. When Lin Qin is here, there is always hope for escaping the Nightmare, always.


    Glasses is too panicked to think of him, though. Staring at the doll of the little girl that is walking here step by agonising step, he is trembling already.


    Quarrelsome is also repeating the obvious in his dismay, saying, ¡°Wu Shen is walking towards us!¡±


    Two dolls¡ª¡ªWu Shen is himself practically behaving like a doll, too¡ª¡ªare coming at them from both sides.


    Glasses is about to succumb to despair for good.


    Because he has no utility card with him! He just happened to pick up such a major spoiler of an Infocard in that doll store! And he was so elated he just decided to come to this Nightmare to try his luck!


    Gritting his teeth, he is grimacing at the doll of the little girl walking towards him. In desperation and absolute fright, he tries whatever he can, like activating the only utility card in his hand¡ª¡ª¡¯A Daughter Killed By Her Father.¡¯


    Immediately, his vision is filled up by a simple information panel.


    His gaze starts glossing over the words hopelessly, but he suddenly halts.


    Wait, the information displayed in this panel, this name¡­


    Glasses looks at the doll of the little girl with his jaw dropped to the floor.


    She, she¡­ She is Wu Chun herself!

 Volume 1 - CH 22

    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    ¡°Xiao-Chun¡­ Wu Chun!¡±


    What the Glasses yells out towards the doll of the little girl shocks everyone else.


    Quarrelsome reflexively asks, ¡°what? Wu Chun? Her? Isn¡¯t this a doll?¡±


    Ponytail almost immediately gets it and turns to Wu Shen, shouting in terror, ¡°you made your daughter into a doll?!¡±


    Wu Shen stops walking towards them, and just stands there with a vicious, uncanny smile. What he says is even stranger, ¡°you¡¯re afraid? But¡­ daddy, is making xiao-Chun¡¯s wish come true.¡±


    Ponytail angrily retorts, ¡°how could xiao-Chun have wished to be made into a doll?!¡±


    Wu Shen cackles at the remark, before eerily continuing, ¡°what else could I do? I can only make dolls. Daddy is so useless¡­ Uwuwu, just like your mother said that night. Daddy is so useless. Xiao-Chun, daddy is useless¡­¡±


    Then he begins crying for real.


    Ponytail¡¯s anger slowly turns into unease and fear. She wants to ask why. Why did Wu Shen end up like this? Was his love towards his wife and daughter evident in the diary entries fake? How is he so depraved and twisted?


    She recalls the letters Wu Shen¡¯s wife wrote to him. She said he was, insane.


    And¡­ She told Wu Shen off for being useless that night?


    Could this be, what the bookstore owner heard a certain night? The night when Wu Chun was crying and the wife was scolding somebody? Yet Wu Shen told the bookstore owner that Wu Chun got on his wife¡¯s nerves and she snapped.


    ¡­ But, it could very well be that, she was crying because her parents were arguing.


    If that was true, then Wu Shen is completely untrustworthy.


    And with the corridor being only as long as it was, no matter how wobbly the steps of the girl doll was, she is already next to the Missiontakers.


    Yet, instead of attacking them, she is looking at Wu Shen, calling out, sounding slightly anxious, ¡°daddy¡­¡±


    Wu Shen¡¯s face is still frozen in his twisted, unreadable expression. His attention seems to drift away when he turns his head towards the doll.


    And suddenly, the appearance of the doll store changes once again, back to its once pristine glory. Wu Chun¡¯s room is still a clean, tidy princess¡¯ room.


    Yet both the Missiontakers and the viewers in the stream are feeling complicated seeing this scene.


    This is the day that disaster befell Wu Chun.


    Since this day, this normal little family, with its occasional squabbles, with its occasional sweetness, fell apart entirely. The owner¡¯s wife would no longer make detours to buy snacks for her daughter. Wu Shen would no longer record his family¡¯s banal, trivial daily lives in his diary.


    Everything has changed.


    All that is left, is Wu Chun, now a doll, put inside the display cabinet in the storefront, and Wu Shen, that merely wallows in hopelessness and dread, on the second floor, day in, day out.


    ¡­ Wu Shen.


    Why did he do that?


    Did he go mad? If he didn¡¯t, how could he ever have done something so cruel to his daughter?


    The moment the scene of the day Wu Chun went missing has come to life, the doll of the little girl and Wu Shen both disappeared instead this time. The trio walk out into the corridor, to see Wu Shen stopped at the stairs.


    Ponytail looks over Wu Shen¡¯s appearance and his current posture, and concludes, ¡°this is where the flashback cut off earlier.¡±


    Glasses says, knitting his brows, ¡°so it¡¯s really like you said, Wu Shen¡¯s other personality has killed Wu Chun? And the flashback was stopped because Wu Shen¡¯s main personality didn¡¯t actually know anything?¡±


    Ponytail nods, ¡°it¡¯s highly possible,¡± she thinks, before adding, ¡°and it is also possible that the main personality was aware and knew what was happening, but the trauma made that personality forget entirely.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense.¡±


    Then they stop talking to follow Wu Shen down the stairs.


    Wu Shen has a really strange facial expression right now. Unlike the loving, doting father, he now has a creepy smile instead. When he descend the stairs, his joints seem awfully rigid; he is jumping his way down the stairs with stiffly straightened legs.


    He looks just like a real doll ¨C during his time making dolls, he has slowly become a doll he used to make himself.


    The Missiontakers follow after him, and finally see the little girl for themselves on the first floor.


    A cute cheek that reminds them of a little apple, with two ponytails, Wu Chun is lying on the counter right now, looking squarely at a doll inside the display cabinet.


    They also follow her gaze.


    It is a doll in a red dress. It resembles a princess. Despite its plastic limbs and facial features, it is a beauty to behold.


    Wu Shen follows her gaze, and after staring at it for a while, he suddenly asks, ¡°xiao-Chun¡­ do you like this doll very much?¡±


    Wu Chun nods firmly, and holds up her face with a big beaming smile, saying, ¡°daddy is amazing! I love the dolls daddy make!¡±


    ¡°Daddy made this doll in the image of xiao-Chun,¡± Wu Shen says, his tone then turns ugly, ¡°xiao-Chun, if you like this one, do you want daddy to make another doll specifically for xiao-Chun?¡±


    ¡°Hurray! Daddy, I want, the most perfect¡­¡± Wu Chun happily says, ¡°doll in the whole world!¡±


    Wu Shen seems to twitch visibly.


    Wu Chun continues, ¡°I see daddy make dolls a lot, but they are all for other people. So if daddy is giving xiao-Chun a doll, then, I want the most perfect doll in the whole world!¡±


    ¡°The most perfect¡­ doll?¡± Wu Shen tilts his head and shows an unsettling smile, saying, ¡°of course. It is, a promise from daddy.¡±


    The young little girl shows a lovely smile, saying, ¡°daddy is the best!¡±


    Then Wu Shen slowly trudges along towards Wu Chun.


    The three Missiontakers quickly try to stop Wu Shen, but they realise that they can¡¯t actually affect Wu Shen at all.


    All the audience in the stream are hurriedly typing, ¡°jesus christ! dont smile! run!!!¡±


    Wu Shen, cooing Wu Chun along the way, is holding her little hand as he takes him to his second-floor workshop.


    He will turn his own daughter, into the most perfect doll in the world.


    The three Missiontakers are now looking at each other in abject terror. They all know they should walk upstairs to keep an eye on the process, knowing there might be some hints or clues for a True End, but¡­ They do not want to.


    The stream has gone silent.


    No one would ask X¨¹ Beijin to move the video source over.


    A cute, lively little girl, has become a stiff, poker-faced doll.


    They do not know how Wu Shen did it; they do not know what insane thoughts must be driving Wu Shen to do this. Just imagining the scene already makes their hair stand on end. It must have been terrifyingly gory, yet Wu Shen was even able to show how much he loved and missed Wu Chun afterwards, just like a father that ended up losing his daughter inexplicably¡­


    It truly is impossible to empathise with the mentally insane.


    A while later, the mood in the stream has lightened up a little.


    ¡°why r the players just standing around¡±


    ¡°id be totally petrified in the situation too, and theyre probably unable to leave until the memorys over¡­¡±


    ¡°It truly is heartrending, the SAN value is falling through the floor.¡±


    ¡°still theres lots of info here, they could get a true end soon enough!¡±


    ¡°but wait¡­ host, i feel like the other players are almost done with an ending, y r u still lazing about in the bookstore¡­¡±


    ¡°The host really is a player that wins by doing nothing.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin has finally gathered his wits about him to show them an embarrassed smile.


    Then he glances over at the stream, to see that Lin Qin is still hanging out in the abandoned street. The rest of the players are all inside ¡®Wu Shen¡¯s Flashback.¡¯


    What better time to leave than now?


    X¨¹ Beijin stands up immediately and switches the main view to himself, putting the flashback scene into the corner. He then talks to the viewers, ¡°then¡­ should we take a walk now?¡±


    The stream is filled with cheers.


    Other than the detective dalao who is still focusing on the three Missiontakers¡¯ progress, the rest of the viewers have been distracted already.


    They are chirping over where X¨¹ Beijin should go first, like a tour guide leading a tourist.


    ¡°the bedroom first! for the diary!¡±


    ¡°hey hey what about the letters in the study?¡±


    ¡°at least nobodys gonna search thru the trash in the workshop (murmur)¡±


    ¡°lolol, these scenes are all explored anyway, lets find new clues!¡±


    The stream is growing a bit sombre again, just like every other time they mentioned Wu Chun. This is a game, but a highly engaging one, no less.


    X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t good at mediating the mood either; his communication skills are lacking. He can only sigh alongside them.


    Though, he can¡¯t help but wonder, whether the Nightmares in the Tower, really are just ¡®games¡¯?


    This is something he doesn¡¯t dare thinking too deeply about.


    He is fortunate as he doesn¡¯t run into Lin Qin on the streets. Soon enough, he¡¯s inside the first floor of the doll store.


    It is just like what they saw on the stream, but such a filthy, messy location and the stench still makes X¨¹ Beijin furrow his brows.


    The Tower is mostly scenes just as dirty as this, but they are especially nasty in Nightmares.


    And a comment quietly flies through the stream, ¡°how much is this stench from wu chuns blood and corpse after her death, you think?¡±


    A critical hit.


    X¨¹ Beijin tries to take a deep breath¡ª¡ªAnd immediately coughs because of the putrid air.


    He begins exploring around the first floor.


    There are mountainous piles of boxes and dolls strewn all about. It is difficult to navigate.


    The entire southern wall is the glass door plus the glass display cabinet. The area the Missiontakers cleared up with a way to the hatch to the second floor is in the northeast corner, while the counter itself is at the northwest corner.


    X¨¹ Beijin runs the floor plan through his mind and then walks towards the counter.


    In Wu Shen¡¯s flashback, this is where Wu Chun was sitting when she was on the first floor. She looked to be keeping watch on the store from here.


    There are lots of boxes and dolls piled up around the counter. These are probably boxes once used to pack dolls within, but most of them are broken or worn down now. The dolls all similarly look soiled.


    These dolls do not attack X¨¹ Beijin. Perhaps because he is only an Actor. Perhaps because this is the safety period between the waves of doll chasing.


    He pushes the boxes and the dolls, and circles around the counter. He glances over it, and pulls open the single drawer installed in it. Then, his gaze fixes onto the letter lying squarely inside.


    The viewers in the stream are all celebrating.


    ¡°nice, host! u got a clue now!¡±


    ¡°woah, did u know this host? how did u find this so quickly!¡±


    ¡°I did think there might be something everyone missed on the first floor, so it¡¯s a letter! Host, quick, look inside to see what¡¯s written!¡±


    ¡°feels kinda distant to keep calling him host¡­¡±


    ¡°we shud give him a nickname!¡±


    ¡°[laugh_cry emoji] With just the four of us plus the host, this really is like some family stream¡±


    ¡°x¨¹ beijin¡­ lets go with beibei! ill take no objections!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He says while sighing inside, ¡°I don¡¯t mind. You can call me whatever you like.¡±


    The comment barrage immediately ends up overtaken by ¡®Beibei.¡¯


    Only X¨¹ Beijin and the detective dalao are still focusing on this heretofore unseen letter.


    He examines the envelope. The sender¡¯s name suggests it¡¯s a she. Perhaps this is the owner¡¯s wife¡¯s name? It could be a letter from her to Wu Shen.


    There is also a sender¡¯s address near her name. It¡¯s beyond reach in the Nightmare, but at least it should imply that the wife herself was fine. She only moved away after divorcing Wu Shen.


    X¨¹ Beijin opens the envelope and checks the contents on the letter.


    ¡°[¡­]


    You accused me of not caring for xiao-Chun? If she knew that after she went missing, her daddy is still all obsessed with the dolls he hasn¡¯t finished yet, I wonder how sad she must be!


    When there was the press interview earlier, you were even walking around with that doll, saying things like ¡®xiao-Chun will definitely be by my side forever.¡¯ You even moved to sleep in xiao-Chun¡¯s room afterwards, saying she never left and is always by your side [¡­] you¡¯re really sick, Wu Shen. You have gone insane.


    We have once loved each other very much, so I still want to tell you, and ask you, if xiao-Chun really isn¡¯t coming back, are you going to keep living like this? Spend your entire life with your dolls? [¡­]


    You may think I¡¯m heartless. You may accuse me of not caring for xiao-Chun [¡­] my own daughter! I wish, I damned wish it was me who ended up [¡­] I am still holding out hope, how ever small a glimmer of hope it might be. I still dream ¨C I fantasise about a day when xiao-Chun might return to my side, but [¡­]


    Wu Shen, our daughter, could really, be in some other, happier place.


    Call this a mother¡¯s instinct or whatever. I feel like something really did befall her. You do not believe me, nobody does. Everyone thinks I do not love xiao-Chun. Everyone thinks I am saying that because I hated my daughter.


    Of course not. xiao-Chun¡­ I felt it. Something really¡­ really happened to xiao-Chun!


    She was so young [¡­] only six. When she was born, her little body was so little. She was clinging to my side [¡­]


    [¡­]¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is quite absorbed reading the contents of the letter alongside the viewers in the stream.


    When suddenly, a hand comes out of nowhere, and takes the letter right out of his hands!

 Volume 1 - CH 23.1

    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    X¨¹ Beijin is spooked and almost yells out. He turns to the side and asks in shock, ¡°Wu Shen? Why are you here?!¡±


    It is precisely Wu Shen who is standing in front of him.


    Shouldn¡¯t he be inside the flashback? Why is he suddenly on the first floor of the doll store?


    The viewers of the stream are equally in shock, and begin the usual comment barrage. They were also absorbed in reading earlier, and didn¡¯t notice him appearing at all.


    While X¨¹ Beijin does not understand why he¡¯s suddenly here, Wu Shen also says curiously, ¡°took the words out of my mouth¡­ Why are you here instead?¡± Then he waves the letter in his hand, saying, ¡°and you found this thingy too.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin adjusts for a little bit before replying, ¡°I was curious.¡±


    Wu Shen gives him an odd look, ¡°curious? Really? Everyone is just Acting anyway;¡± then the man smiles and adds, ¡°if you really wanted to know what happened here, I could tell you about it in secret if you just asked, you know.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Really, the man was still an insane DID sufferer who made his daughter into a doll just now and is immediately telling a friendly joke with him the next second¡­ It really is kind of hard to adapt to.


    In a sense, Wu Shen truly is an immensely skilled actor.


    X¨¹ Beijin and Wu Shen are¡­ familiar strangers.


    In the Tower, they are neighbours living right next to each other. They would greet each other if they met, too, but that¡¯s it. In the Tower, people come and go, and they might just end up disappearing one day. Therefore, there are few genuine friends.


    And of course, it means there are no eternal enemies either, outside of the universally despised Carddealers.


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t know that much about Wu Shen other than him being a very career-oriented Actor. At least, from what he could remember, he has been dragged into Wu Shen¡¯s Nightmare as an extra over a dozen times already.


    Though¡­ Perhaps the Missiontakers each time are too imperceptive, or Wu Shen¡¯s Nightmare has True Ends that are all too obscure, in any case, even after so many different restarts, he has never truly succeeded.


    That said, after all this time, X¨¹ Beijin still only knows very little about this Nightmare, given he is merely an extra.


    If the streaming system didn¡¯t intervene and allow him to observe the Missiontakers from afar, he would probably have never become curious in the first place.


    Each resident in the Tower is assigned their own Nightmare; if he were curious about each and every one of them, he¡¯d have become the proverbial dead cat from his curiosity a long time ago.


    This is the first Nightmare ever, since he has become an Actor, that he is proactively participating in the Nightmare¡¯s progression; well, proactive enough that he left his bookstore and went to another scene, of course.


    Wu Shen¡¯s friendliness sends shock waves through the viewers of the stream.


    The detective dalao is typing furiously, ¡°I knew it! I knew a player must have randomly been assigned as the perpetrator! I guessed it was the host before, but it¡¯s actually Wu Shen; he¡¯s also a player! Fuck me, this game is amazing!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Well, duh, too bad you guessed wrong earlier.


    Though honestly, that ¡®suspect hostism¡¯ thing was still a little thorn of a misunderstanding in his mind.


    Meanwhile, Wu Shen knocks at X¨¹ Beijin lightly with his shoulder, asking with a smile, ¡°well? Want spoilers or not? Quickly now, we don¡¯t want the Missiontakers to see us chatting casually here.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin hesitates for a second before asking, changing the topic too, ¡°where did the Missiontakers go, anyway?¡±


    ¡°In the flashback,¡± Wu Shen shrugs, ¡°I might be diligent in my work, but I really don¡¯t want to go through¡­ making a doll out of a little girl¡­ you know.¡±


    There is visible disgust on Wu Shen¡¯s face.


    X¨¹ Beijin sighs in relief, almost out of reflex.


    That is because Wu Shen¡¯s attitude towards the whole thing is actually, contrary to expectations, rare among the Actors.


    Many Actors would end up completely assuming the role themselves. The characters they were acting as would become them entirely. They would genuinely chase after the Missiontakers, or actually commit those terrible, completely maniacal acts themselves.


    They should have been Acting, but if they¡¯re unable to snap back to reality, then they would eventually end up as the character in the script.


    Wu Shen is still saying, ¡°I would much rather not become that perverted man, thank you very much. I¡­ I do still want to check out the higher floors, you see.¡±


    When they change floors, the Actor will be assigned a new role in a new script. For the Actors who have already become one with their roles in the bottom floor of the Tower, they always have a really hard time adapting if they change their roles like that, X¨¹ Beijin would imagine.


    Which explains why more career-oriented Actors, ones like Wu Shen, would try to keep their reason and sanity about them.


    X¨¹ Beijin then says, ¡°and you¡¯re about to succeed, too.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Wu Shen then tells X¨¹ Beijin all about his hardships, concluding with a ¡°¡­ really, it was worth it to leave a utility card that basically spoiled the entire plot back inside the store in the Tower so that a Missiontaker would find it¡­ I just hope that he¡¯d be a bit cleverer and get that True End, then carry me along to a higher floor.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin smiles in response.


    Glasses probably thought it was fortune smiling upon him. He could never have guessed that it was actually a Tower resident pushing him along from behind him.


    Wu Shen suddenly remarks, after watching X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s face intently, ¡°you really¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin asks, confused, ¡°what?¡±


    Wu Shen seems reluctant, but still tells the truth in the end, ¡°did you know how much you looked like a villain with that smile?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡­ Ok ok ok! He knows he looks really antagonistic, ok!


    Wu Shen then asks, ¡°I also heard rumours about you¡­ Are you really not considering, letting the Missiontakers try your Nightmare out?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is silent.


    Wu Shen then says, ¡°I¡¯m guessing you refuse because you have to Act as someone so obscenely terrifying in the Nightmare so you do not even want to try, right? But it¡¯s still bad not sleeping at all, you know? And you have to keep drinking to keep yourself awake, too.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin sighs, but still firmly and resolutely shakes his head, telling him, ¡°I would never let others into my Nightmare,¡± then he asks in turn, slightly perplexed, ¡°how¡¯d you come to know me so well, anyway?¡±


    Wu Shen gives a slightly awkward smile and answers, ¡°sorry about that, it¡¯s just a habit at this point; spend enough time in the Tower and really, you have to keep yourself entertained somehow. I think a lot about everything around me, or I¡¯d¡­ go rusty.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin nods in understanding.


    Yes, that¡¯s how the Tower is.


    Everyone in the Tower would never age or die. They might end up succumbing to the Nightmares themselves, true, but that is uncommon across Actors.


    Add to that the fact that they cannot reveal their identities at all or join in on the mad debaucheries some of the Missiontakers arrange, most of the Tower residents end up spending their days in a haze.


    Wu Shen really is an exception here. He is career-oriented. He does whatever he could to ensure he keeps his calm and reason. Over time, he has built up skills for analysis and deduction that are almost like instincts.


    And the man in question looks at X¨¹ Beijin again, thinking about how this neighbour of his¡­ sure is mild-mannered.


    His direct, completely inappropriate psychological profiling of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s actions didn¡¯t actually make him mad ever so slightly.


    Well, he also knows that X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t some saint with no principles; once, a Missiontaker tried to knock X¨¹ Beijin unconscious to enter his Nightmare, but he ended up thrown out of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore.


    Nobody knew how he did it, since the Missiontaker is apparently pretty physically strong. Not to Lin Qin¡¯s degree, but is still someone renowned and feared locally for his prowess alone.


    Yet, he was thrown outside by X¨¹ Beijin in utter disgrace.


    That happened a long time ago, and was also the turning point for the Missiontakers trying to get into his Nightmare; and eventually, when most of them have become convinced that X¨¹ Beijin really is a monster that never sleeps, they gave up.


    Nowadays, the bookstore owner, once infamous in the Tower, once the person whose Nightmare is the most sought-after mystery that all wanted to investigate, has become a shut-in in his bookstore. That, and lazing about in all the other Nightmares.


    Oh, right, and his strange trades with drinks.


    These drinks are actually simple to obtain. Some Tower residents are shopkeepers themselves, or something similar. Daily necessities could be obtained from them.


    Other than that, each time a Missiontaker achieves any ending in a Nightmare (TL: Not too sure, but given what I¡¯ve read later on, it seems this includes Bad Ends, just with reduced odds), they get one go at the prize pool. There are both the coveted utility cards and also everyday supplies.


    The living conditions in the Tower are appalling. That said, they¡¯re all ¡®characters in a game¡¯ in a sense, so they do not have hunger or thirst, and theoretically, neither do they have drowsiness.


    On their personal information panel is a setting called ¡®stamina,¡¯ though, which does mean they would gasp for breath when they are engaged in serious physical exercise, but a brief rest later and it will naturally recover.


    In any case, humanity really is a species with ¡®pursuit of life quality¡¯ etched in their genes, perhaps, which means all the supplies the prize pools give out have become a currency in the Tower. There is simple commerce in the form of bartering.


    And that¡¯s it.


    From Carddealers, to the Tailors, the Collectors, the Necessities Traders, to Food Hawkers and Marketplaces¡­ Anything and everything is built solely on the basis of Nightmares.


    Suddenly, Wu Shen¡¯s expression changes as he says, ¡°oh damn, the flashback is almost over. Time to get back to work. I have to go back up, and you should head back too,¡± he then tells X¨¹ Beijin sternly, ¡°curiosity is a good thing, but it must be behind the Missiontakers¡¯ backs.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin nods and thanks him for his time and advice.


    He watches Wu Shen quickly climb back up to the second floor as he puts the letter from the owner¡¯s wife back in the counter¡¯s drawer.


    It is something that would complete her image in this Nightmare, but there probably isn¡¯t a need for the Missiontakers to read it by now.


    He quickly heads back to the bookstore.

 Volume 1 - CH 23.2

    In the stream, the viewers are in a heated discussion.


    ¡°woah, im really curious what the rules of the game actually are now¡±


    ¡°wu shen said they¡¯ll have to do it behind the missiontakers¡¯ back even if he¡¯s curious¡­ what could it be? I feel like there might be two different factions?¡±


    ¡°Beibei y u not telling us? or u want us to guess?¡±


    ¡°host always makes us think over his riddles anyway lol¡±


    ¡°I have a hypothesis now¡±


    ¡°its the dalao! ill wait and listen!¡±


    ¡°Watashi ga kita! Was typing just now.


    So Wu Shen said the Missiontakers cannot know, but it¡¯s obvious he is in with our Bei, therefore, we know at least two different factions in the hub map of this game.


    He mentioned our Bei having to ¡®act¡¯ earlier, so let¡¯s call their faction the Actors, and the other is, as they say, the Missiontakers.


    What would the difference be?


    The answer is simple, the Actors must have blend into the NPCs in-game! And they ¡®Act¡¯ as the NPCs!


    The reasoning is simple and straightforward. Think about how we thought Wu Shen was an NPC because he was so convincing at being one; if he didn¡¯t bust himself, he was practically no different from one.


    And going back, we joked earlier that the host was practically being used as an NPC, and in fact, his role did appear to agree with the remark.


    Given that Beibei once told us some players receive special roles and identities after logging it, it seems that it would be referring to the Actors and Missiontakers precisely.


    At this stage, there seem to be advantages and disadvantages to either role, respectively.


    The Actors clearly know a lot, and the keyword, ¡®Act,¡¯ would imply that they are performing some fixed script verbatim. This is their limitation;


    The Missiontakers look to be wholly uninformed when they enter the Nightmares, but they are free to explore and do other things. They are unrestricted.


    We do not yet see a clear conflict of interest between these two factions, but that is not necessarily true or false for now.


    PS, I like how Beibei is pacing this right now, hiding clues and key information in everyday conversation and actions, so that we can figure out the truth of the Nightmare and the mechanics of the game itself! Please keep it up!¡±


    ¡°woah, as expected of a dalao, i got it!¡±


    ¡°tho i cant get half the info just listening to Beibei talk (pout emoji), but theres the detective dalao for me (flowers emoji)¡±


    ¡°hahahaha our Beibei really is good at keeping us on the edge! we (I mean the dalao) like this!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He isn¡¯t keeping them on edge! He just simply can¡¯t say a thing more to these people from the outside!


    Realising how far away the viewers¡¯ thoughts have drifted from the truth, X¨¹ Beijin is sinking into hopelessness.


    Worse, he can¡¯t even try to clear his name or action up, and can only watch that certain overly imaginative individual continuing to fire the mood up¡­


    Even worse, up to this point, every statement that imaginative monster has conjured up has been technically correct¡­ Besides that ¡®suspect hostism¡¯ thing, of course.


    X¨¹ Beijin is back at the bookstore at this point, and is quietly blanking out behind the counter, with his glass of water in hand. His gaze is empty and unfocused; he could be described as having lost meaning in life.


    With the camera source having been moved back to the Missiontakers, he is able to take a sip of his water in solitude. It cheers him up somewhat, readying him to keep watching the stream.


    Earlier, Wu Shen worried over his lack of sleep. That is definitely true. Although the Tower¡¯s special circumstances mean there isn¡¯t exactly a problem with that, but mentally, he has always felt endlessly exhausted.


    He is easily bummed out. His mind is often dozing off to recover. Most of time, despite his poker face, he is actually deep in idle, meaningless thoughts. His eyebags is part of his regular facial feature at this point ¨C Mentally, he is convinced he severely lacks sleep, therefore it is reflected on his surface as seriously needing and wanting to sleep.


    Drinking juice¡ª¡ªOr, if nothing else, just water¡ª¡ªIs one way he has of raising his mood slightly.


    Of course, that also goes for food and snacks, but they¡¯re nowhere as economical as drinks. There are also showers, strolls and the occasional exercises. Every little thing helps.


    As for actually sleeping¡­


    That is not something X¨¹ Beijin can consider at the moment (TL: Will be explained in about a hundred plus a dozen chapters or so. Yup, the pacing is that slow).


    His attention is drifting towards the stream when the bookstore door is suddenly pushed open to reveal a wild Lin Qin.


    X¨¹ Beijin turns his head around to gawk at him.


    Because¡­ There is a whole pile of drinks in Lin Qin¡¯s crossed arms (TL: Something like this picture).


    Then Lin Qin walks over, throwing all the soft drinks and canned drinks onto the counter, saying, ¡°it¡¯s for you.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He is still blinking, stupefied.


    A strange idea begins forming in his head.


    Lin Qin is¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin looks up at the dalao who is inhumanly powerful. Seeing his face that is expressionless save for furrowed brows and the fixed gaze at him¡­ He can almost predict the words that will come out next.


    ¡ª¡ªLet¡¯s fight.


    ¡°Let¡¯s fight,¡± says Lin Qin.


    X¨¹ Beijin suddenly begins chuckling.


    Lin Qin knits his brows tighter, looking at him with this displeased expression. He has already handed the man the drinks he supposedly likes. What is with the reaction?


    Laughing? What is there to laugh at.


    Lin Qin then adds, ¡°I heard you like drinks.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin nods.


    So Lin Qin goes on, ¡°so let¡¯s fight. I already brought the drinks you like over.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin counters, saying, ¡°you can¡¯t force a gift on me though, right?¡±


    Lin Qin nods and says, ¡°I am negotiating with you.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin answers, ¡°I don¡¯t want to fight.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Lin Qin remarks, as he takes the drinks away, saying, ¡°I¡¯ll ask again.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but chuckle again.


    Lin Qin examines his expression for a while before asking, ¡°do you not like these drinks?¡±


    ¡°I do,¡± X¨¹ Beijin nods, and then questions him, ¡°where did you find so many, anyway?¡±


    Lin Qin is still examining him over, and perhaps he has finally concluded this isn¡¯t working for now, he answers casually, ¡°from the street outside.¡±


    ¡°The street? Is there even anything there?¡±


    Lin Qin gives him an odd look, telling him, ¡°there¡¯s a supermarket. It¡¯s closed, but I went inside and there are still some drinks that haven¡¯t expired yet.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    How did you even ¡®go inside¡¯ in the first place?!


    Weren¡¯t the storefronts supposed to be part of the unexplorable fa?ade background?


    X¨¹ Beijin is already picturing the Server hastily patching up some products for that abandoned supermarket somewhere¡­


    And X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s strange expression probably makes Lin Qin misunderstand something, and he explains to him, ¡°the supermarket had a glass front door, so I smashed it and went inside. I searched the racks and found all these. I checked and none of them are expired yet, so you can drink them without worrying.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks all speechless and conflicted, but still genuinely tells Lin Qin, ¡°thank you for doing all this.¡±


    Just for the sake of fighting him, they even troubled the Server like that¡­


    Lin Qin says, though, ¡°I wanted to do this myself, so it wasn¡¯t hard work for me,¡± and then asks, ¡°but, can¡¯t you at least¡­¡±


    ¡°I am sure I can¡¯t win in a fight with you,¡± X¨¹ Beijin tries to make himself sound as sincere as possible, continuing, ¡°I mean it. You can easily break the glass window of a supermarket, but I definitely can¡¯t do that at all.¡±


    Yet Lin Qin says, ¡°breaking glass is nothing, really.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Yeah, for you, maybe!


    X¨¹ Beijin is feeling genuinely troubled by now, and asks, ¡°why do you even think I can win against you?¡±


    It is already his second time asking this exact question, and Lin Qin gives him an answer as seriously as he can.


    The man with the baby face tells him, ¡°because, I think you are really special,¡± he then tries to describe it more concretely, ¡°in the Tower, everyone has their own secrets and trump cards, but yours must be the strongest.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin turns expressionless for a second, asking, ¡°why do you think so?¡±


    Lin Qin gives a simple answer, ¡°instincts.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Even someone as patient and soft-spoken as X¨¹ Beijin has had enough, and says, ¡°I can¡¯t win in a fight against you, dalao, so please don¡¯t ask me to fight anymore.¡±


    Lin Qin gives him a silent stare for a while before sighing, then he says, ¡°alright. I got it.¡±


    Then, with the drinks he grabbed from the supermarket in his arms, he casually strolls out of the bookstore.


    The lonely silhouette somehow makes X¨¹ Beijin feel slightly guilty.


    ¡­. Guilty, his arse!


    Fighting with Lin Qin would put his arse on the line! Nobody can die in the Tower, but it is still 100% without question he would suffer being a complete punching bag!


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t enjoy feeling pain (TL: Well, neither do I, and everyone el- I mean, almost everyone, other than the good little Ms, I suppose? Hehe).


    He can only hope that Lin Qin is giving up for good this time around.


    He shakes his head a few times and decides to stop thinking about it.


    It was a good thing the viewers didn¡¯t hear any part of that conversation as the source of the sound in the stream follows the main character. If they heard it, he¡¯s sure the comment barrage would have had a field day.


    The conversation took some time, too, so when X¨¹ Beijin finally looks back at the stream, the three Missiontakers, back on the second floor of the dilapidated, run-down doll store, are already talking to Wu Shen.


    When the flashback ended, the doll of the little girl is still looking at them, the Missiontakers, standing on the corridor with her head tilted, but after learning who she truly is, the Missiontakers don¡¯t fear her¡­ as much; they¡¯re at least also sympathetic towards her now.


    Wu Shen is back on his bed, with his eyes wide open and unresponsive inside the room.


    The three Missiontakers in the corridor look at each other, nonplussed, and Ponytail is the first to speak after a deep breath, saying, ¡°let¡¯s organise the information first.¡±


    ¡°It seems certain that Wu Shen is mentally disturbed,¡± Glasses follows-up, ending with a ¡°and killed his own daughter because of it.¡±


    Quarrelsome still seems unconvinced somehow, saying, ¡°he really looked normal all the while before¡­¡±


    Ponytail is quiet for a bit, pondering before murmuring, ¡°that¡¯s right. There are two personalities to him¡­ we were pulled into his flashbacks twice, both because of mentioning Wu Chun, but the situation was different inside the flashbacks¡­¡±


    Glasses then says, suddenly realising something, ¡°the first time is the normal Wu Shen; the insane one the second.¡±


    ¡°The former heard her name while he was in this half-awake state and the memory was of the day his daughter disappeared¡­¡± Ponytail continues murmuring, ¡°the latter¡­ was when, was when he was full-on dollified, and saw Wu Chun as she currently is¡ª¡ªAs a doll¡­¡±


    ¡®Dollified.¡¯


    This is a word she made up entirely, but refers to the state of Wu Shen¡¯s sick form, when he looked completely doll-like.


    The first time they went into a flashback, Wu Shen was not completely dollified. He still had some reason about him, but was also acting slightly insane.


    The second time, he has become completely dollified.


    In other words, under the influence of his different personalities, Wu Shen¡¯s memories are not entirely the same. When he was insane, the doll-like personality is the true culprit behind Wu Chun¡¯s death.


    The problem now is, does the main personality of Wu Shen, know that he killed his own daughter?


    He looks like he didn¡¯t know, but what if he just stayed blind to everything on purpose?


    Besides¡­


    Ponytail speaks up again after thinking a little more, ¡°I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve noticed, but the result of going through different letters brought different influences to Wu Shen as well.¡±


    Glasses and Quarrelsome both turn towards her.

 Volume 1 - CH 23.3

    In the stream, the detective dalao is also typing.


    ¡°That¡¯s right!


    Wu Shen has always been lying there with his eyes wide-open but looking like he¡¯s asleep otherwise. We can actually interpret this as him being in the middleground between normalcy and madness.


    When the players go through the letters from Wu Shen¡¯s friend in the study, Wu Shen would actually slowly be de-dollified and regain his sanity. His flashback at that time would be the memories the main personality remembers of Wu Chun¡¯s disappearance.


    Yet when the players go through the torn letters from Wu Shen¡¯s ex-wife in the workshop, Wu Shen would entirely dollify, with his insane personality taking over his body completely.


    Since the eighth run began, Wu Shen directly begins having dollified completely. I believe this is a result of what was mentioned as the gradual crumbling of the Nightmare, but after the players happened to open up the flashback again, Wu Shen regressed back to the chaotic state between his insanity and normalcy.


    This actually means that the players could influence Wu Shen¡¯s state in order to communicate with him.


    Of course, the most key question remains. How do they achieve a True End? We know almost the entire truth by now, but it is still a mystery what the ending involves.¡±


    Meanwhile, in the stream, Ponytail has made an analysis that is almost entirely the same as the detective dalao, and also adds in the end, that, ¡°do you remember when Wu Shen almost managed to tell us what xiao-Chun wanted, but became stuck halfway, and showed a terrified expression before fainting?¡±


    Quarrelsome immediately chimes in, ¡°I do!¡±


    Glasses asks with furrowed brows, ¡°what do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I feel like, it wasn¡¯t actually Wu Shen¡¯s insane personality in full control back then¡­ Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have fainted, would he?¡± Ponytail says with equally furrowed brows. Then she shakes her head, and changes the topic, ¡°never mind that, but I have a guess on the Ending. I think the most key thing in this Nightmare is to make the main personality aware that he has killed his own daughter.¡±


    Glasses nods in agreement, saying, ¡°or, we would have to conclusively prove xiao-Chun¡¯s final whereabouts.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Ponytail then adds, ¡°and also¡­¡±


    Then the two both say in unison, ¡°why Wu Chun is looking for eyes!¡±


    They glance at each other, and both nod.


    Glasses says, ¡°we¡¯ll have to communicate with the insane personality first, somehow.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be difficult,¡± Ponytail says with a slightly exasperated tone, ¡°he¡¯s completely mad, through and through.¡±


    Quarrelsome blinks and has lost interest in their conversation a while ago. Instead, he looks towards the doll of the little girl, that is, Wu Chun.


    Based on appearance alone, she really is just a normal, unremarkable doll. One wonders what Wu Shen must have done to her body to cause such an unbelievable thing to happen.


    It almost sounds fantastical.


    But hey, Nightmares. Nothing is impossible.


    Perhaps, back in reality, Wu Chun, who was made into a doll, was just an ugly, dried-up corpse; in the Nightmare, Wu Shen¡¯s rose-tinted memories instead gave her life as this pretty little doll.


    Nightmare does not reflect reality entirely. It is merely a reflection, or an extension based on reality.


    When Quarrelsome keeps staring at Wu Chun, the little doll tilts her head and asks curiously, ¡°gege (TL: Older brother, not necessarily biological when used as a term of address), why do you keep staring at me?¡±


    Wu Chun¡¯s reaction spooks everyone present, including Ponytail and Glasses who were in a discussion.


    Even if they know the doll is Wu Chun herself, but in the Missiontakers¡¯ eyes, she is still no different from the background army of dolls that would chase after them, thirsty for blood.


    Her past was lamentable, but the Missiontakers, who have seen much worse, will offer nothing more than a sigh.


    Yet, Wu Chun¡¯s rather human and nimble reaction suddenly made Ponytail and Glasses realise this doll is intelligent enough to be a source of information.


    Ponytail is the quickest to react, immediately asking, ¡°xiao-Chun, can jiejie (TL: Older sister, not necessarily biological when used as a term of address) ask you a question?¡±


    The doll¡¯s mouth opens a little. She seems to be trying to smile as she answers, ¡°of course.¡±


    Ponytail asks, ¡°why do you want eyes?¡±


    ¡°Because xiao-Chun¡¯s eyes are gone,¡± she says with a saddened tone. Then she lifts up her thin, plastic doll arms to touch her glass beads for eyes, and explains, ¡°these are not my eyes; I borrowed them from my other doll geges and jiejies. I need to find my own eyes and return this pair to them.¡±


    Ponytail knits her brows slightly, asking, ¡°do you know where your eyes are, then?¡±


    Wu Chun says confidently, ¡°it¡¯s in here,¡± but then she looks around the house, slightly less certain this time, saying, ¡°inside my home.¡±


    Glasses speaks up this time, asking, ¡°did your daddy take your eyes?¡±


    Wu Chun makes an ¡®ah¡¯ sound and blurts out, ¡°daddy, daddy,¡± then tilts her head to say, ¡°daddy¡­ I don¡¯t know. He wasn¡¯t like daddy.¡±


    Ponytail carefully asks for clarification, ¡°you mean¡­ the person, did not look like your daddy?¡±


    ¡°Mommy said, daddy was becoming stranger and stranger. She said, she will take me away from daddy,¡± Wu Chun explains, ¡°but, mommy was gone one day. Xiao-Chun turned into this. Xiao-Chun¡¯s eyes were missing.¡±


    ¡°¡®Strange¡¯? Do you know why mommy said daddy is strange?¡±


    ¡°Daddy used to care about xiao-Chun a lot. He liked xiao-Chun a lot,¡± Wu Chun says with a quieter tone, ¡°but there was one day, when daddy started to stay in his room all the time. He doesn¡¯t talk to xiao-Chun anymore. And when he was talking, he looked strange.¡±


    ¡°His room? The room where he makes dolls?¡±


    Wu Chun tilts her head to think, and then nods, answering, ¡°yes.¡±


    Glasses quietly whispers to Ponytail, ¡°this proves Wu Shen did go insane making his dolls.¡±


    ¡°I agree,¡± Ponytail says, then mulls over everything for a bit before asking again, ¡°xiao-Chun, do you no longer like daddy because he is now strange? You would stay away from daddy when he is here?¡±


    She is asking about how Wu Chun disappeared every time Wu Shen was in the vicinity.


    Wu Chun shakes her head and answers, ¡°xiao-Chun likes daddy, no matter how strange daddy is,¡± but then her tone changes a little, ¡°but daddy cries every time he sees xiao-Chun like this; xiao-Chun doesn¡¯t want to see daddy crying, but, when daddy is strange, he would smile when he sees xiao-Chun.¡±


    The young little girl even looks slightly proud saying that.


    Ponytail pauses, and can¡¯t help but sigh.


    It¡¯s pretty obvious. The normal Wu Shen would cry when he saw the doll, but the strange Wu Shen smiles. That¡¯s why, when the former is here, the doll avoids him; the latter is here, the doll would not avoid them specifically.


    Yet¡­ Why would the normal Wu Shen cry when he sees the doll of the little girl?


    Did he know he killed Wu Chun himself and made her into a doll?


    Or, does this doll in a red dress simply remind her of that doll that was made in the image of Wu Chun? He cried because of the resemblance; the connection?


    Ponytail is rubbing her chin in thought.


    Quarrelsome suddenly says, ¡°I think it¡¯s been more than five minutes at this point.¡±


    The rest of the trio seem taken aback and immediately look towards Wu Chun, who is still standing there motionlessly. She no longer seems interested in their eyes anymore.


    Ponytail decides to ask, choosing her words carefully, ¡°xiao-Chun, are you, not angry at us now?¡±


    Wu Chun says, ¡°I have seen gege and jiejie¡¯s eyes already. I did not like them, so I don¡¯t want them anymore.¡±


    Quarrelsome, being his quarrelsome self, goes, ¡°then why were you blocking us downstairs?!¡±


    ¡°Xiao-Chun could not find her eyes, so xiao-Chun was angry and wanted to scare you. And jiejie used that, that thing,¡± Wu Chun is waving her hands all about dramatically while explaining, ¡°and hit me with it!¡±


    Ponytail apologises, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, xiao-Chun, jiejie was wrong.¡±


    Wu Chun says, slightly awkwardly herself, ¡°I am sorry too. Xiao-Chun should not have tried to scare you.¡±


    All three Missiontakers almost sigh in unison.


    This means that, at least for now, Wu Chun is unlikely to target them.


    Glasses then says, ¡°Wu Shen is likely the bigger danger here, now.¡±


    Ponytail falls into thought before saying, ¡°Wu Shen probably has xiao-Chun¡¯s eyes; why did he take his daughter¡¯s eyes away, though?¡±


    Quarrelsome says, ¡°who knows what a madman is thinking.¡±


    Glasses follows up from that to say, ¡°so we have to ask Wu Shen himself.¡±


    Quarrelsome looks at him in shock, saying, ¡°hoh? You actually agreed with me?¡±


    Glasses rolls his eyes at him, speechless, and says, ¡°it was always you who was always¡­ Never mind. I¡¯m not going to argue with you.¡±


    Quarrelsome goes ¡®tch,¡¯ bored.


    Ponytail is not in the mood to deal with them; their quarrels really seem so childishly quaint. Instead, she says, ¡°so we¡¯re going to wake up the mad Wu Shen? That¡¯s going to be risky.¡±


    Quarrelsome asks, ¡°so are we doing it or not? If we are, then I¡¯m going to go kick that bin over.¡±


    Ponytail quickly thinks over every clue they have obtained thus far, and nods, saying, ¡°go.¡±


    Then she heads into Wu Chun¡¯s original room with Glasses. The doll does not go inside, but merely continues poking her head through the door to see.


    A short while later, with Quarrelsome probably having picked up the pieces of the letter in the bin, Wu Shen, in the manner of a doll, suddenly, and stiffly, sits up on the bed. He has a twisted, sick smile on his face.


    Ponytail strikes first with a powerful statement, ¡°Wu Shen, you killed your daughter, Wu Chun.¡±


    Wu Shen smiles to answer, ¡°hehe, did you, not see already?¡±


    Ponytail and Glasses are coldly staring down at the madman. Ponytail asks with a frigid tone, ¡°who are you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Wu Shen,¡± the man answers, ¡°who else but the¡­ doll store owner. The dollmaker, Wu Shen.¡±


    Glasses then interjects, ¡°so you made your own daughter into a doll?¡±


    ¡°A doll¡­ A doll is good,¡± Wu Shen takes a deep breath, and says, almost looking possessed, ¡°immune to pain, to death, to rot and decay, to thirst and hunger, to sleep and¡­ to blink. Every day, every day, just looking at you with wide-open eyes¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­ You are insane.¡±


    Wu Shen starts chuckling again, ¡°hehe, you say the same thing as my wife. She also said I¡¯m insane, but I know, I feel good, I have never felt so amazing! Why do humans try to deny dolls? What grounds do humans have to cast judgement on that?¡±


    Quarrelsome is at the door now, he blinks and begins being his quarrelsome self, ¡°at least humans are still alive.¡±


    ¡°I am also alive,¡± Wu Shen asks; he sounds confused, ¡°and so is xiao-Chun.¡±


    Ponytail says, ¡°no, xiao-Chun has already died. You killed her.¡±


    ¡°She is alive! She is going to live forever, as a doll! She will be by my side, forever¡­¡± Wu Shen¡¯s voice slowly drifts off and sinks in tone, ¡°my daughter¡­ my xiao-Chun¡­¡±


    ¡°Stop dressing up your excuses in pretty dresses,¡± Ponytail says emotionlessly, ¡°xiao-Chun said she wanted the most perfect doll in this world, so¡­¡±


    ¡°So I made xiao-Chun into the most perfect doll in this world,¡± Wu Shen continues her sentence without hesitation, ¡°that¡¯s right.¡±


    The statement stuns the three Missiontakers.


    Wu Shen starts chuckling again, ¡°what was that saying¡­ ¡®The burden of proof is on the one proposing.¡¯ If xiao-Chun wanted the most perfect doll in this world, then xiao-Chun must be used to prove that, she is the most perfect doll in this world.¡±


    ¡°¡®Used¡¯¡­¡± Ponytail quietly repeats the word Wu Shen used, and adds, ¡°you really disgust me.¡±


    ¡°You people are weird¡­ Xiao-Chun likes dolls, what¡¯s wrong with allowing her to accompany her beloved dolls?¡± Wu Shen retorts, ¡°I did it for her sake.¡±


    Quarrelsome¡¯s jaws are on the floor from this logic, ¡°what kind of parents would say something like ¡®it¡¯s for their sake¡¯ and turn their children into a doll alive?!¡± (TL: ¡­ Pretty scathing social commentary there, author. I¡¯ll give you an ¡®A¡¯ for effort, but try being less jarring next time, hehe)


    Wu Shen is quietly murmuring, ¡°xiao-Chun likes this¡­ xiao-Chun, likes¡­¡±


    Wu Chun, meanwhile, is poking her little head through the door secretly. Her glass beads for eyes are spinning around aimlessly. She is wondering what her daddy is talking about with these geges and jiejie.


    ¡°Then, what about her eyes?¡± Glasses takes a deep breath and asks, ¡°why, is xiao-Chun looking for her own eyes?¡±


    At the door, Wu Chun is touching her own beady eyes.


    She also wants to know. Where are her eyes?


    Wu Shen is tilting his head. This haggard-looking man is chuckling again, slowly licking his lips with his tongue.


    He says with a highly disturbing tone, ¡°you see, she wanted the most perfect, most good-looking doll in this world. If I did not take her eyes away, how is she¡ª¡ªeven going to ¡®see¡¯ that? Daddy thought ahead for her, and that¡¯s why I took her eyes away!¡±

 Volume 1 - CH 24.1

    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Wu Shen¡¯s words shocked everyone.


    Wu Chun is touching the glass beads in her eye sockets. She is asking with a lost tone, ¡°daddy¡­ took my eyes away?¡±


    Wu Shen is cackling, saying, ¡°xiao-Chun, aren¡¯t you happy daddy did that for you?¡±


    Wu Chun is tilting her head in confusion.


    Ponytail has had enough. She faces Wu Shen head on, asking, ¡°Wu Shen, you killed your daughter and continued to torture her like this after that! Can you even call yourself a father?!¡±


    Wu Shen suddenly stops his laughter. His neck turns stiffly towards Ponytail.


    ¡°I did this, for her¡­ Why is it torture?¡± Wu Shen asks, ¡°This is¡­ for xiao-Chun¡¯s sake.¡±


    Quarrelsome quietly remarks, ¡°what a madman.¡±


    Glasses is of the same opinion, for once.


    Ponytail continues, ¡°you¡¯re the dollmaker right now. If you¡¯re so innocent, then why not let your other personality out ¨C let Wu Shen out, and have him explain everything!¡± Then she tells Quarrelsome, ¡°go get the letters from the study.¡±


    Quarrelsome quickly rushes out of the room.


    The doll-like doll store owner is silently standing in place, staring straight at Wu Chun.


    When suddenly, he closes his eyes, and when he reopens them, he is looking at everyone with bewilderment, asking, ¡°who¡­ are you?¡±


    The doll makes a little yelp and is about to run away when Quarrelsome, who just left the study, picks her up.


    Wu Chun asks, worried, ¡°will daddy cry?¡±


    Quarrelsome says coldly, ¡°¡®cry¡¯? Him? If he¡¯s sick, then get a doctor; don¡¯t fucking kill his own daughter and then still dare to act pitifully in front of us.¡±


    Ponytail and Glasses both nod at the remark before looking at Wu Shen.


    The man has a really complicated expression that is changing again and again. He is looking blankly at the doll of the little girl, before finally, he begins tearing up.


    Ponytail immediately says, ¡°so you knew.¡±


    Wu Shen is shaking his head violently, going, ¡°no¡­ I don¡¯t, I don¡¯t know¡­¡±


    Ponytail says harshly, ¡°I mean, you knew about the existence of that damned split personality!¡±


    Wu Shen, shocked, raises his head pitifully, before sagging his head down again. After crying a long time, he finally says, ¡°I did¡­¡±


    ¡°Then how dare you¡­¡±


    ¡°He just¡­ At first, he just¡­ liked making dolls,¡± Wu Shen takes a deep breath before facing them with his eyes wholly reddened, ¡°after xiao-Chun was born, I didn¡¯t feel like running the doll store anymore; the personality came to be about that time, though, and I felt¡­ I felt like, I¡¯d have time to spend with xiao-Chun.¡±


    ¡°¡­ And you killed her.¡±


    Wu Shen makes a pained whimper and his legs give out. He collapses onto the floor and, after staring at nothing for a while, he suddenly makes a screeching wail.


    Wu Chun is looking at him all stunned, murmuring, ¡°daddy¡­¡±


    Glasses suddenly asks, ¡°where are xiao-Chun¡¯s eyes?¡±


    He is not particularly empathic like Ponytail nor righteous like Quarrelsome. He is the typical Missiontaker ¨C a little brave, a little smart, a little emotional at times, but also knows his place well.


    He would sigh learning about Wu Chun¡¯s past, but of course, he is more concerned with their progress in the Nightmare.


    He came into this Nightmare gambling on that utility card he found! He didn¡¯t come here to see some melodrama.


    Wu Shen continues to cry.


    Glasses says, sounding impatient already, ¡°you took your daughter¡¯s eyes away so, do you know where? Don¡¯t tell me only the other personality knows!¡±


    Wu Shen suddenly raises his head at him, glaring at him with his reddened, bloodied eyeballs; he is grimacing at him.


    Glasses is shocked.


    Wu Shen murmurs at him, ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ I do not know¡­¡±


    Quarrelsome, with the doll in his hand, can¡¯t help but diss him some more, ¡°what the fuck do you even know, then! You¡¯d be more useful turning yourself in and waiting to be executed!¡±


    ¡°I also rather¡­¡± Wu Shen is wailing again, looking at his daughter, ¡°I¡¯d also rather, I died instead of xiao-Chun¡­¡±


    Even now, he still cannot bring himself to say that ¡®Wu Chun is already dead.¡¯


    Feeling as if it would really be confirming that this happened if he did; if he continued to act as if he didn¡¯t know, then everything is still fine.


    Yet¡­ He really would. If his own death could bring his xiao-Chun back¡­


    Wu Shen is lying flat on the floor again like some dead corpse, making whimpers and wails from his throat. His xiao-Chun is so cute. Who would ever do something so cruel to her?


    He would. He did. It is him, the irresponsible father, the mad father who turned his own daughter into a doll.


    He has become completely irresponsive, and is only capable of crying.


    He says, ¡°I¡¯d rather, save xiao-Chun¡¯s life, in place of mine¡­¡±


    Suddenly, the moment he said that, the used utility card that was put back into Glasses¡¯ clothes zips into the air.


    The next second, the card, ¡®A Daughter Killed By Her Father,¡¯ suddenly begins to warp; before it did, the illustration, that was the silhouette of a happy little girl, suddenly changed into a pair of eyes (TL: The raws say the card ¡®melted,¡¯ but that didn¡¯t correspond with what is about to happen below, so I changed the wording a little).


    Wu Chun yells out, ¡°my eyes!¡±


    The Missiontakers are in shock.


    Ponytail blurts out, ¡°so the card sealed a pair of eyes! ¡­ No wonder. No wonder the information panel¡¯s existence could be ¡®seen.''¡± (TL: Not too sure what this is referring to)


    Glasses is petrified right now. He can feel his heart bleeding just staring at his used card then melt down into a pair of eyes.


    Wu Shen is also staring blankly at them.


    The pair of eyes slowly spin about in the air, but they are not floating towards Wu Chun, despite her attempts to extend her little hands in Quarrelsome¡¯s lap.


    Wu Shen suddenly begins to smile. It is a forced, unhappy smile. He says, ¡°I see, I see,¡± then he turns to Wu Chun, and says with a sobbing tone, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, xiao-Chun. Do not forgive your daddy. Your daddy did something unforgivable to you.¡±


    ¡°Daddy¡­¡± Wu Chun tilts her head in confusion.


    Wu Shen then tells Quarrelsome, ¡°please cover up xiao-Chun¡¯s eyes.¡±


    The man furrows his brows at the strange request, but then realises something, and uses his hands to cover up xiao-Chun¡¯s glass beads for eyes. Ponytail also takes a step forward and gently covers up Wu Chun¡¯s eyes that are floating in the air.


    Wu Shen finally sighs in relief, and quietly says, ¡°xiao-Chun, daddy loves you¡­¡±


    Then, he takes a deep breath and pokes his own fingers into his eye sockets. He thinks he is feeling pain, but his mind is digressing ¨C was this how xiao-Chun felt when she died¡­?


    Finally, when Wu Shen is holding his own eyes, and slowly breathes his last on the floor, the Wu Chun¡¯s pair of eyes that Ponytail is gently holding, finally floats towards Wu Chun.


    Wu Shen¡¯s own eyes begin to float up form his hand. It turns into a new utility card, and floats back to Glasses.


    He sighs in relief as well. Then begins checking the card in his own information panel.


    ¡®Card Name: A Father¡¯s Salvation


    Card Illustration: (A pair of eyes that are tearing up)


    Glasses widens his eyes and grows ecstatic; yet he still has to hold that expression in, somehow. He looks awfully constipated as a result.


    The card actually turned out to be a Defence card!


    Defence cards are the opposite of Attack cards. While it sounds like it would merely defend against attacks and damage, but in fact, they are all cards that would block death!


    Put simply, if someone is dying in a Nightmare and the run is about to restart, if there is a Defence card, that death and restart would be nullified.


    Whenever Missiontakers are almost about to reach a desired Ending, this type of card would be a godsend.


    And also because of how rare they are, too. Their usefulness and rarity mean they are always extremely popular in the utility card trade.


    If Glasses wanted, he could even look for those teams that carry their clients through a True End and use this Defence card to trade for one guaranteed pass to a higher floor!


    You have to know how many godly professionals are in those teams to truly appreciate the value of this.


    That dalao they mentioned, Mu Jiashi, was once part of those teams before he left to look for further opportunities to go higher.


    And it is when he was doing that that he acquired the clue for a Nightmare from X¨¹ Beijin and successfully achieved a True End.


    Glasses would have been part of those insignificant fodder looking up to those dalao, but this Defence card could change his place in the Tower indeed.


    Doing his best to hide his excitement, he quietly puts the card away.


    Neither Ponytail nor Quarrelsome is looking at him or his card, though, because they have their eyes glued dead onto the doll of the little girl, until the eyes have firmly, perfectly locked into her eye sockets.


    And then, finally, the Server¡¯s androgynous voice, rings out next to their ears.


    ¡°Congratulations on achieving the Nightmare¡¯s True End. Please choose whether to ascend to a higher floor: Yes/No¡±

 Volume 1 - CH 24.2

    All three Missiontakers choose ¡®Yes¡¯ without hesitation.


    Their forms immediately disappear. And so does Lin Qin¡¯s form. And so does X¨¹ Beijin, the doll of the little girl and Wu Shen himself.


    After that, the Nightmare begins to disperse like fog. It slowly dissipates and fades into the endless grey smog.


    X¨¹ Beijin opens his eyes back up in his bookstore in the Tower.


    His bookstore in the Tower has two stories. The first floor is the storefront, full of shelves and books. The second floor is his personal space.


    Right now, X¨¹ Beijin is sitting on his usual deck chair. On the wall that is also part of the wall of the bottom floor of the Tower, there is dim rays of light cast through the window. The bookstore is quiet, in contrast to the liveliness in the stream.


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but find it humorous. The moment he was heading to Wu Shen¡¯s Nightmare, he was thinking about how he could laze about again. Yet, what he did gain in this Nightmare, seems like it would upend his entire life.


    He turns his attention to the stream.


    ¡°woah, didn¡¯t expect the true end to be like that¡±


    ¡°but wait, so w/o the utility card they couldnt have achieved the true end?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ The relationship between Actors and Missiontakers seem to be even more interesting than we thought, given that Wu Shen confessed he went to great lengths to ensure the Missiontakers picked up that utility card¡­¡±


    ¡°wouldnt that mean theyre helping each other not?¡±


    Though X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but add, ¡°actually, the most key thing is to realise that every single line of ¡®evidence¡¯ against the owner¡¯s wife originated from Wu Shen himself.¡±


    ¡°eh?¡±


    ¡°that sounds¡­ right?¡±


    ¡°Beibei is right! Once the problems with the diary entries, the letters, and the information Beibei spoke of became clear, it¡¯d be obvious that Wu Shen is smearing his ex-wife¡¯s reputation!¡±


    ¡°wait wait, even tho dalao and beibei are both saying that, i didnt see that?!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin chuckles before saying, ¡°then let¡¯s have a little summary session, shall we?


    We acquired information through Wu Shen¡¯s diary, Wu Shen¡¯s letters to and from his friend, his ex-wife¡¯s letters that he tore apart, and one more letter from her that was put in the first floor counter. There¡¯s also the information I told, but we¡¯ll leave that aside for a moment.


    Our first impression of Wu Shen¡¯s ex-wife is from Wu Shen¡¯s diary. He painted her as someone apathetic towards her own daughter¡¯s disappearance, even going so far as to tell him that she thought something has already happened to her so they should stop searching.


    This would make us suspect her immediately.


    Then, in Wu Shen¡¯s letters with his friend, the image has actually been reinforced, because the friend did agree that Wu Shen¡¯s wife is temperamental.


    However, if we analysed the contents of this letter, which actually concluded with the friend disagreeing with Wu Shen, along with the two letters she sent herself, it paints a whole other picture.


    She wasn¡¯t one to treat her daughter harshly or ignore her; these were all Wu Shen¡¯s own delusional accounts of her.


    And now, the information I told the Missiontakers.


    They also had a clear distinction ¨C Personal accounts, and second-hand information from Wu Shen.


    The former included the fact that I saw her carry bags of sweets home, telling me she made a detour to buy them for her daughter. The information is first hand.


    The latter included the ¡®fact¡¯ that she assaulted and told off her daughter at home at night, told to me by Wu Shen. This means the information depended on whether Wu Shen was trustworthy himself.


    In conclusion, we can definitely see that every piece of news that negatively portray Wu Shen¡¯s ex-wife came from Wu Shen himself. She herself didn¡¯t even so much as appear inside this Nightmare.


    I believe this is actually the Difficulty in this Nightmare. If the information was carefully scrutinised, particularly in terms of their source, the truth would have been revealed easily.


    ¡­ That¡¯s what I think.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin adds that last sentence as an afterthought after that long analysis, then he scratches his hair awkwardly.


    Divulging all his own analyses and thoughts in front of an audience is an unfamiliar experience. The Tower is definitely not a place conducive to communication, so he has become used to keeping his thoughts to himself.


    Though that kind of introverted habit is definitely not good for a stream.


    Despite there only being four viewers, the number of comments has been significant, especially ones asking for the host to do things like exploring outside. No audience enjoys watching an ¡®autistic¡¯ host, so to speak.


    And it is also worth mentioning that the viewers continued viewing the stream in its entirety not just because the Nightmare was thrilling, but also because X¨¹ Beijin was handsome.


    Well, even in spite of his heavy eyebags and his drowsiness that means he¡¯s always expressionless, and despite his muted self during streams. As long as his face remained in the bottom right corner of the stream, the viewers can only say, ¡®our Beibei sure is handsome.¡¯


    Therefore, this first time that X¨¹ Beijin has shown off his ability for careful thought and analysis, the viewers excitedly showering petals, applauds, cheers and praise and ¡®666¡¯ (TL: Typing lots of ¡®6¡¯ in comment barrages means you¡¯re impressed in a Chinese context), all enthusiastic, makes X¨¹ Beijin slightly awkward.


    He quickly thanks them.


    ¡°hehe, no need to be humble Beibei, you¡¯re amazing!¡±


    ¡°i didnt expect that at all¡­ nice, Beibei!¡±


    ¡°i think i got it¡­ but y did wu shen smear her in the first place?¡±


    The detective dalao begins typing, ¡°I believe I have a hypothesis for that.


    Wu Shen might be ¡®unaware¡¯ he killed his own daughter, but that does not mean he doesn¡¯t subconsciously ¡®know.¡¯ There must have been blood in the workshop, strange stenches in the air, the new doll he had no memory of making, etc. These were all hinting at the truth.


    The flashback cutting off reflects that fact well; he did not want to face this reality, and chose to forget the horrible truth.


    There is also the fact that the dolls would chase after the Missiontakers which I believe can be explained by this. Wu Shen forgot, but his subconsciousness didn¡¯t. Therefore, his fear of his own dolls, of his own insane personality, manifest as the dolls chasing and killing people.


    In the end, he did commit a grave sin.¡±


    The detective dalao sighs in front of his screen, and so do the viewers and X¨¹ Beijin.


    X¨¹ Beijin is suddenly wondering, as the Actor himself, what does Wu Shen think of the Nightmare, and that owner of the Nightmare he was acting as?


    Though unfortunately, they will never meet each other again. His curiosity is unlikely to ever be answered.


    X¨¹ Beijin packs his emotions away and, after a few idle chats with the audience, promising to stream again soon enough, he ends his first ever gaming stream.


    He isn¡¯t sure how many hours the stream has been, either.


    Meanwhile, there are four new ¡®Follows¡¯ on his stream interface. He falls into a bit of thought staring at the number, before closing the stream entirely. Then he sinks back into his chair, sitting in solitude for a while.


    The lively stream and its comments having departed, the loneliness and emptiness of the Tower flows back in to surround him. He yawns and blanks out for a while, leaning by the table next to him.


    Later, he gathers his self back and stands back up. Then he takes a coat with him as he heads out of the bookstore for a stroll.

 Volume 1 - CH 24.3

    The bookstore entrance is located in a run-down, deserted alley. Once, it was filled with Missiontakers hoping to enter his Nightmare, but it is devoid of people now.


    The entrance to Wu Shen¡¯s door store used to be opposite of his in the alley. It is already empty now.


    Though more strictly speaking, their stores are not actually ¡®neighbours.¡¯ These doors are different from doors in the traditional sense. It might be more accurate to call them portals. Portals for transportation.


    When a door is opened, you will actually be met with a cloud of fog instead. You have to take another step forward to actually arrive at the respective residences or whatever location it was. Nobody knows where these stores and residences and houses are located, but at least, they are definitely not directly behind the visible ¡®doors¡¯ in the Tower.


    And it isn¡¯t just limited to the Tower residents¡¯ residences. It is also the same for the outsiders¡¯ houses.


    Or rather, it is true for every single place where there is a ¡®door.¡¯


    Why are these teleportation portals-cum-doors made in this way?


    Nobody knows why. At least, no one in the Tower knows.


    No matter what, though, this did have a benefit; when the Missiontakers end up ascending to a higher floor, their own homes would follow along, so they did not have to worry about losing all their belongings.


    In the Tower, the ways twist, and turn, and reach unexpected places. There are roads, alleys, corridors, and even secret passageways. They are like a whole grid of mazes spread out over each floor. Doors are located at the ends and sides of the roads.


    Only owners of a place can use these doors directly to enter their own private space, but at night, the outsiders can also use these doors as well, but not to enter the actual residences or whatever, but to enter the respective resident¡¯s Nightmare.


    And of course, the owner of a place can also set entry rights themselves (TL: There is a very minor plot hole here ¨C It remains unexplained how that one Missiontaker in the past entered X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore to be thrown out by him a long time ago when he probably would have refused any Missiontaker entering his store back then in the first place).


    If you think about how Glasses could have picked up the utility card Wu Shen left in the store on purpose, it was probably Wu Shen deliberately setting the rights for entry to his door as ¡®Everyone Allowed¡¯ to draw outsiders in to discover that utility card.


    There are always a minority of outsiders that would excitedly try any door they could see in the Tower.


    They do not care whether the door would simply refuse to open for them, or what danger might lurk behind the door, but for the mentally ill, repressed outsiders, an adventurous spirit is never in short supply.


    X¨¹ Beijin walks through the alley, and several twists and turns later, he ends up on a wider road.


    Sometimes he would hear the outsiders calling the end of this wide avenue the ¡®Respawn Point,¡¯ because, at the end of a Nightmare, if the Missiontakers failed to ascend to a higher floor, they will be back at the Respawn Point.


    And naturally, the road ends up being called ¡®Respawn Avenue.¡¯


    Respawn Avenue is a ring road (TL: ¡­ So how does a ring road have an end point marked as the ¡®Respawn Point,¡¯ again?) encircling the entire outer reaches of the bottom floor of the Tower. It is connected to virtually every single other road in this floor of the Tower. It really does live up to being an ¡®avenue.¡¯


    Of course, in reality, it is merely slightly wider than the alleys between the rooms. One side of the avenue is the wall of the Tower itself, allowing light in from the occasional glass (TL: You can imagine the Tower itself not being exactly cylindrical ¨C there are lots of rooms poking out or dent inwards, or imagine the avenue turning and snaking a lot, which would both explain why X¨¹ Beijin can have his store facing the outside when the whole wall of the ¡®circular¡¯ Respawn Avenue is supposed to face the outside as well).


    Though anyone looking out of the window can can see the endless grey fog; look up, and it is the body of the Tower piercing right into the sky.


    What is the Tower, anyway?


    It is really just a narrow building tall enough to pierce into the clouds. It is surrounded by a dense, impenetrable fog. Nobody knows what lies outside the fog.


    Apparently, some Missiontakers have tried to explore the fog (TL: Which would imply there is an entrance/exit to the Tower on this floor, or they broke out of the windows¡­ But I know it¡¯s the former because I¡¯ve read the later chapters. Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s not a spoiler/it¡¯s fine to know about this whenever), only to never return. Since then, nobody dares to explore this grey smog out of curiosity anymore.


    The world beyond the Tower is unknown. And so are the higher floors of the Tower.


    Of course, a lot of Missiontakers have gone to the higher floors, some of whom, after achieving a few consecutive Bad Ends, are demoted back down to the bottom floor. According to these people, higher floors seem to be not much different from the bottommost floor.


    And nobody has reached the actual highest floor, apparently.


    X¨¹ Beijin slowly strolls along the Respawn Avenue. The occasional outsider or Tower resident passing by him give no attention to this expressionless man trundling along.


    There are countless quirky personalities in the Tower. X¨¹ Beijin really does not stand out at all among them.


    A little ways out, he suddenly stops when an argument is breaking out from the alley to his left. Despite all the heavy shouting, just a moment of hesitation from X¨¹ Beijin later, the voices have already disappeared.


    He glances over curiously, only the hear the disinterested voice of a man, saying, ¡°don¡¯t block my door.¡±


    That voice¡­


    Lin Qin?


    X¨¹ Beijin is surprised. What is going on? Didn¡¯t the Missiontakers achieve a True End? He should be on a higher floor with them. Why is he still on the bottom floor?


    He knows about the rumours that circulated about before talking about how dumb Lin Qin was that he never got a True End and could never go to a higher floor. While X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t know Lin Qin¡¯s IQ, but he saw his True End with his own two eyes.


    So¡­ why?


    There is no time to think, as the people that were arguing in front of Lin Qin¡¯s door have quickly run outside.


    One says, ¡°damn it, why is that monster Lin Qin here?! I saw the little boy running this way for sure¡­ Fuck! Was I blind or what?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, of course you are, and not just that, but your brain must have been waterlogged too! Didn¡¯t I damned well tell you you¡¯re delusional just for thinking you can trick the truth of a Nightmare out of that boy just because he¡¯s a kid?! Wake up to reality, would you?!¡±


    The third person does not join in on the argument, but is instead murmuring to himself, ¡°why would the boy keep repeating a set of numbers¡­?¡±


    ¡°Shit, laosan (TL: Lit. ¡®old-three,¡¯ referring to the man as the third (probably in age or experience) among the group), rather than that, we have to find out where the brat¡¯s gone! If we don¡¯t find his home¡¯s portal, we can¡¯t even enter his Nightmare.¡±


    All three of them are in tattered T-shirts with unkempt, oily hair. They¡¯re probably ones that no longer cared for personal hygiene anymore. They seem to be in a hurry, anxious about the whereabouts of a little boy.


    They completely ignore X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s existence as they chat and dash away.


    X¨¹ Beijin is used to this treatment too; he is a Tower resident, so in the eyes of the outsiders, they can ignore him entirely if they are not looking for clues to his Nightmare.


    As for that little boy they¡¯re talking about, X¨¹ Beijin has zero idea.


    The bottom floor of the Tower is big. And they might call it a ¡®floor,¡¯ but they don¡¯t even know how many ¡®storeys¡¯ there even is to this single floor that houses all the humans that have never ascended to another floor, or one that failed and was sent back down from a higher floor.


    Sometimes, people discover a staircase in some corner of the bottom floor, either leading up or down, and rush in gleefully¡­ only to be told by the new people they encounter, that they¡¯re right at the bottom floor of the Tower.


    Nobody knows how many staircases there are. Therefore, nobody knows how many areas there even are in this ¡®one¡¯ bottom floor.


    The trio seems to have chased the boy back here, so there¡¯s no way of knowing where they¡¯re actually from, either.


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t even know his own local area well, not to mention anywhere else.


    Before this, he only knew Wu Shen, who was opposite his door, well. Oh right, now he also knows that the door ¨C the portal ¨C to Lin Qin¡¯s home is not far from his bookstore.


    It¡¯s quite far away making a detour through Respawn Avenue; starting from the corridor outside X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore, though, it¡¯s like, one turn.


    And X¨¹ Beijin didn¡¯t even know about how close they were before¡­


    He blinks, and then turns to leave without hesitation.


    A sign of being mature is that one knows one¡¯s own place, one knows one¡¯s capabilities, one knows when to lay-low and retreat¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin quickly leaves.


    So he didn¡¯t notice at all, that Lin Qin actually walked out of the alley soon after he turned, and just stood there, quietly going ¡®hmph¡¯ and perking his lips at his retreating silhouette.


    It seems laying-low doesn¡¯t always work, either.


    X¨¹ Beijin escapes to his bookstore (TL: Through the newfound shortcut, probably) soon enough and sighs. He decides not to leave his store for the next few days.


    He has enough drinks in stock anyway, and the endless books in the store are good enough company for him.


    A few days pass. X¨¹ Beijin is blanking out on his chair like usual. He is holding a book in his hand, but he hasn¡¯t flipped a page for a long time.


    Suddenly, his vision goes dark. His consciousness seems to sink somewhere deeper. He slowly closes his eyes to relax. He knows this is the start of a new workday.


    The time and location of his workdays are all arranged by the Server. There is no advance announcement. There is no choice, unless he decides to open up his own Nightmare.


    The next second, light floods into his vision. He reflexively narrows his eyes to observe.


    This isn¡¯t the decrepit little bookstore in Wu Shen¡¯s Nightmare, but instead, he is actually in the service area of an expressway. He is still the owner of a bookstore, though.


    He knows nothing about this particular Nightmare, and the Server hasn¡¯t provided him with any information at all.


    It seems that in this Nightmare, he really only needs to be a background extra. Basically, being his usual self. It is actually uncommon for an extra to have to relay information and talk to Missiontakers like the last Nightmare.


    The store is empty, and so is the lay-by outside. The Missiontakers are nowhere to be found.


    X¨¹ Beijin stretches his body to relax, then suddenly recalls that he once promised the viewers he would stream again.


    So he calls the system out and begins streaming.


    The viewer remains zero for now, which is unsurprising for X¨¹ Beijin. Though it¡¯s alright as long as he can be the audience himself.


    He glances at the names of the camera sources in this Nightmare. He can see several scenes and Missiontakers¡¯ names here¡ª¡ªWait, Lin Qin?


    X¨¹ Beijin is in shock.


    What kind of luck does he have¡­ Almost running into Lin Qin in the Tower the last time, and then actually running into Lin Qin in this Nightmare?


    He can feel his head throbbing with pain already, and sighs. His mind begins to digress, and is thinking that although Lin Qin hasn¡¯t left the bottom floor of the Nightmare for some reason, but he did probably give up on having a fight with him, right¡­?


    Probably.


    ¡­ Definitely!


    So thinking, X¨¹ Beijin picks a random scene to see.


    ¡°Number off!¡±


    The voice of a man rudely yelling out blasts off right next to his ear.

 Volume 2 - CH 25.1

    This is a dark room.


    The four Missiontakers in the room can¡¯t see anything clearly in the pitch darkness, but thanks to the Night Vision function on the stream, X¨¹ Beijin is able to barely discern things in the room.


    The very greyish/greenish camera feed shows that this is a bedroom, perhaps a bit over a dozen square metres across. There is a large bed right in the middle of the room, with bedside cabinets on both sides. There is also a wardrobe close to the door.


    The curtain is wide open, but somehow there isn¡¯t a speck of light coming in through the window. It is equally pitch black right outside ¨C a night without stars or the moon, perhaps.


    It seems this dark room would be a major scene for the Nightmare¡¯s owner.


    That is all that could be distinguished through the murky scene.


    X¨¹ Beijin could at least see that, but the four Missiontakers in the room could see even less. Soon after they entered this Nightmare, while still in their panic, a thunderous voice suddenly yells out at them.


    ¡°Number off!¡±


    Number off? What number off?


    The four people have to physically feel their way around the room and finally figures out there are four of them here. They begin to talk about the situation.


    And in the meantime, one of them warily yells out a ¡®one¡¯ as the disembodied voice demanded.


    About a minute later, another wrathful ¡®number off!¡¯ is yelled right next to their ears.


    The man that first spoke out says nervously, ¡°no¡­ this won¡¯t do¡­ What, let¡¯s see what¡¯s nearby first?¡±


    Someone answers, ¡°sure, laosan. Stand still, and we¡¯ll fan out and search about you.¡±


    Laosan stands in place, saying, ¡°got it, er-ge.¡± (TL: Literally ¡®second brother.¡¯ Referring to his older brother who is the second oldest. Also, no matter how much I hate this, since we never learn their names, I¡¯ll have to use these as names, I hate how the Chinese language allows all these weird terms of addresses that are hard to translate instead of just calling each other by name like sensible people do)


    The three Missiontakers remaining quickly disperse to search.


    Though¡­ ¡®laosan¡¯? It makes X¨¹ Beijin recall how, a few days ago, in the middle of the Respawn Avenue back in the Tower, he managed to listen in on a conversation between three men.


    He knits his brows, trying to recall what the people were talking about. Then he thinks, so this is the Nightmare that they talked about then, the Nightmare of the boy that murmured a string of numbers?


    And he remembers that, back then, one of the trio said that he saw the boy running towards where Lin Qin was but didn¡¯t see him there. Then the annoyed Lin Qin chased them away¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin suddenly has a strange conclusion.


    Did Lin Qin end up in this Nightmare because, he actually met the boy?


    Speaking of Lin Qin, he isn¡¯t in this dark room right now. It seems the Missiontakers have been divided into two groups after arriving in the Nightmare.


    After all that thought, when he turns his attention back to the stream, he notices comments floating across the stream already.


    Some viewers are here.


    ¡°Hey Beibei!¡±


    ¡°Beibei! ur finally on! missed u so much these few days sob [heart emoji]¡±


    ¡°eh? new host? new host that dares streaming the slog that is horror games? nice, I¡¯ll follow you just for that courage alone!¡±


    ¡°new viewer! welcome, our Bei is handsome and cute, and theres a detective dalao in the stream too, this is a super amazing place¡±


    ¡°i just checked on the number of followers for Beibei, a sad, lonely 5, poor us¡±


    ¡°yea, and only 4 viewers¡­ poor, poor us¡±


    ¡°Really, horror games are not popular nowadays¡­ No host is brave enough, and no audience is brave enough either. If not for the handsome Beibei I might not have watched it through either¡±


    ¡°once there was the time when hosts could face the ghosts on 2D screens without flinching, but in full immersion days¡­ ha, they all got too scared¡±


    ¡°hosts courage cant keep up with the technologies¡±


    ¡°but Bei, you¡¯re a host! how could you only open a stream every few days? you can¡¯t get popular like this!¡±


    The very passionate audience makes X¨¹ Beijin a little helpless. He greets them, and then, after they shower him with sweet nothings, he falters entirely¡ª¡ªAnd agrees to stream more in the future.


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Not that he can decide whether he can stream!


    Or, perhaps, he could tour the inside of the Tower with the viewers? He could go visit those livelier areas where the Missiontakers gather, too.


    He thinks about it a little, but decides to stop thinking about it for now and focus on the stream.


    The audience starts to sigh again, typing, ¡°oh, today our Bei is also a tool-person today¡±


    ¡°? if so, wont Beibei be able to spoil the plot to us?¡±


    ¡°No no no, that would be boring¡±


    ¡°[laugh_cry emoji] the detective dalao is still the dalao lol¡±


    The viewers are chatting while also relaying information about this game to the new viewer. They are also paying attention to the exploration of the four Missiontakers in the pitch black room.


    They have managed to feel their way about a bed, a wardrobe and the bedside cabinets. They understand by now they are in a bedroom.


    Laosan is murmuring to himself, ¡°a bedroom¡­ numbering off¡­ a little boy¡­¡±


    His companion asks nonchalantly, ¡°laosan, think we should get a ¡®two¡¯ out first?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± Laosan hesitates before saying, ¡°we have to be careful the first run¡­ mmhm, yes¡­ collect as much information first.¡±


    Laosan seems to be lacking in confidence, even though he is probably the brains of the trio. He is always asking the others whether he can say or do something.


    Instead, his ¡®er-ge¡¯ is the one that would come up with actionable plans.


    As for their ¡®laoda¡¯¡­ (TL: Similar to ¡®boss,¡¯ but just refers to the eldest in this case; also the way he is referred to, like Ponytail, Glasses, etc.)


    ¡°Oh, fuck!¡± He is yelling out, going, ¡°what the heck did I run into? It hurts like hell, oh piss off!¡±


    Just a very agitated bro.


    ¡°Laoda, shut the fuck up,¡± Erge calls out, then yells out at the air, ¡°two!¡±


    A short while later, nothing has happened.


    The Missiontakers are perplexed. Could this Nightmare just simply be them numbering off until the end?


    Right now, there are four Missiontakers in he room. Besides the three men who know each other, the last person suddenly speaks up with a soft voice, ¡°I¡¯m thinking¡­ should we try leaving this room first?¡±


    After she speaks up, the rest of the Missiontakers realise she¡¯s a woman. She didn¡¯t participate in their conversation at all up to that point. It seems she is shy.


    ¡°Yes, we can try¡­¡± Laosan also responds with a soft voice, ¡°we should¡­ finish exploring the room first, though.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    Then the shy woman stops talking entirely.


    They continue to touch all about the room, and gives up soon enough.


    Laoda says, ¡°fuck, what¡¯s with this damned wardrobe, it won¡¯t open!¡±


    Erge says, ¡°and the damned cabinets and windows are all locked. Looks like there¡¯s not a thing to explore. What is with this stupid Nightmare?¡±


    A short while later, the shy woman says softly, ¡°I think¡­ I am touching the door handle, but, it won¡¯t open either.¡±


    Doors and windows are both shut; wardrobe and bedside cabinets that wouldn¡¯t open either. The bed is the grounded type, meaning there isn¡¯t space down there for hiding. So basically, this bedroom is no different from an empty, featureless, unexplorable room.


    Laoda is irritated at this point, going, ¡°so what is this even?¡± He is yelling out, ¡°I said that boy is suspicious, and you wouldn¡¯t listen!¡±


    ¡°Enough, stop blabbering,¡± Erge rolls his eyes at him, saying, ¡°even yelling so loudly won¡¯t conceal the fact that you¡¯re afraid of the dark.¡±


    ¡°Who, who are you saying that¡¯s afraid of the dark! Make yourself clear, you fucker!¡±


    Everyone ignores Laoda.


    None of them are speaking. This pitch black room and vision really does make them anxious inside.


    At least the audience in the stream are requesting, ¡°Bei, Bei, plz, show us some normal sunny human world, plz?¡±


    Even if the stream was just pitch blackness, then that would still be better than this murky greyish Night Vision mode plus several pairs of glowing eyeballs. The viewers are too spooked at this point.


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t really mind himself, because he¡¯s thinking about what this black room signifies in the Nightmare. Perhaps the detective dalao that has gone silent is thinking the same.


    Though since the audience are telling him so, X¨¹ Beijin puts his thoughts aside and adjusts the camera sources. He opens a little window to put his own view on the bottom right corner.


    There are several scenes in this Nightmare, and a cursory glance later, X¨¹ Beijin can see there¡¯s the Bedroom, Corridor, Car park, Expressway, Expressway Service Area, with many sub-scenes down the lay-by too, like Bookstore, Supermarket and Petrol Station, etc.


    Even though there are all these scenes, the Missiontakers are only divided into two, one group in the Bedroom, the other in the Corridor.


    Though the Corridor contains Lin Qin who X¨¹ Beijin would rather avoid, but he only hesitates a little before changing the scene over.


    The Missiontakers in the corridor are running and arguing.


    There are also four Missiontakers here, one of whom is Lin Qin. The three others are all men, with two arguing, and the last one, is someone X¨¹ Beijin feels like he¡¯s seen before.


    Before he could even start to speculate on who that is, his jaw is already on the floor.


    Since when did it become so easy to meet people he know in the Nightmares?!


    As for the two people arguing ¨C


    ¡°Damn you! Why did you push me?¡±


    ¡°What else could I do then? Prop you up in some baby stroller and protect you? Wake up, fam, we¡¯re in a Nightmare and I don¡¯t want to die!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t want to die, so I can die instead? Wow, I sure haven¡¯t met someone as selfish as you are in a long time!¡±


    ¡°Selfish? Everyone is just doing their best to survive in this shitty game. You¡¯re calling me selfish on what grounds, on you being some saint? Then sure, help block me from danger later, then? I will definitely thank you very very much.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re retarded! Just wait and see, I¡¯ll push you out when that man in that black coat catches up with us!¡±


    ¡°Hoho, aren¡¯t you just doing the exact same thing I did?¡±

 Volume 2 - CH 25.2

    Finally, the last man, the one X¨¹ Beijin feels like he recalls, interrupts their argument, ¡°hey¡­ can we stop the childish bickering for a second? I thought we were in a life-or-death chase situation¡­¡±


    Just as he said, they are being chased by a man running quickly in black clothes and a black mask with a big machete in his hand.


    As for the reason the two Missiontakers were arguing? It¡¯s very simple.


    The moment they entered this Nightmare, one of them¡ª¡ªThe one being told off for being selfish, was shocked that someone was suddenly chasing after them with a big machete , and so instinctively pushes the Missiontaker next to him out towards the chaser.


    And that person in question is obviously disgusted. While he avoided the knife alright and ran away immediately, he also kept chastising Selfish the whole way. He looks like he would gladly kick him into the path of that man in black clothing.


    Selfish is also rebuking everything thrown his way.


    The Missiontakers cannot kill each other, sure, but more indirect methods like pushing someone out to their deaths are extremely commonplace.


    Even though such scenarios¡­ typically result in the entire Nightmare failing.


    Never mind a True End. Just a Normal End would be miraculous at that point.


    Therefore, that Missiontaker that almost ended up a scapegoat for Selfish retorts thus, ¡°you think I want to argue? We¡¯re not in some fucking DOTA game here when he set me up. This is a Nightmare for fuck¡¯s sake!¡±


    What Scapegoat said makes that third man go quiet. His expression turns complicated for a second, but he says nothing.


    Lin Qin is out of patience already, saying, ¡°just escape before doing anything else.¡±


    How in the world are they so nonchalantly blabbering when being chased by some shady figure with a machete? Do they think the figure in black is just casually strolling along or what?


    Even someone as uncaring as Lin Qin is speechless.


    He starts seriously considering how it might be him entering Nightmares too frequently that he keeps meeting these weirdos that would argue in Nightmares. Maybe he could enter less frequently for a while¡­?


    For Lin Qin, entering Nightmares is basically just a question of whether he might end up too bored in the Tower.


    His pondering doesn¡¯t slow him down any, though, as he is already outside of the corridor now.


    Light immediately pours in from the outside. There is an open space here, with one road connecting this car park with the wider expressway outside.


    There are several cars here, too.


    The man that has been pretty unenergetic so far says in shock, ¡°a road chase? Seriously?¡±


    So thirty seconds later, when the man in black is also outside and enters a vehicle, the rest of the Missiontakers glare at the guy that jinxed it all.


    The man quietly murmurs, ¡°so¡­ who¡¯s driving?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ I¡¯m a piece of trash,¡± he sighs, and says, ¡°I¡¯m not good at driving. The man might catch up to us in a road chase.¡±


    Scapegoat cusses a few times before saying, ¡°fine, I¡¯ll drive.¡±


    Selfish taunts him, ¡°just admit it, you¡¯re a hopeless saint.¡±


    Scapegoat is already pulling his sleeves up to brawl when he notices the man in black is turning their way with his car. He stops, and the four Missiontakers all quickly board the nearest car. Lin Qin is in the passenger¡¯s seat and the two remaining are in the backseats.


    They quickly leave this car park on the car, and the unenergetic man then looks outside the car window at the remaining parked cars.


    He is murmuring, ¡°different cars¡­ different specs, it seems. If the Nightmare crumbles later on and the man in black speeds up, we might have to grab the best car in time, or maybe we should split up? One car each¡­ No, anyone dying would restart. How about splitting up by driving skill¡­¡±


    ¡°What are you blabbering about?¡± Scapegoat is asking with an irritated tone while driving, ¡°that man is ridiculously slow too. I¡¯m only at 60 kph and he¡¯s already gone.¡±


    Yet the man that was murmuring replies, ¡°he¡¯s slow now, but not necessarily so in the future.¡±


    Everyone else, besides the expressionless Lin Qin, all turn silent.


    ¡°Never mind, never mind; I¡¯m just a piece of trash, so you don¡¯t have to listen to me¡­¡± The man sighs and scratches his head, then says, ¡°don¡¯t take anything I say seriously. I just blabber a lot.¡±


    He says, but what he said was all reasonable.


    Scapegoat furrows his brows, perplexed.


    At the same time, X¨¹ Beijin is also knitting his brows in confusion watching the stream.


    He already recalls who this slightly familiar-looking man is.


    His name, is Mu Jiashi.


    A very, very long time ago, he once interacted with Mu Jiashi. It was when a lot of Missiontakers were curious about X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, so a lot of them began buggering X¨¹ Beijin incessantly, including Mu Jiashi.


    Though because X¨¹ Beijin would never let a word out regarding his own Nightmare, once, a frustrated Mu Jiashi just ends up leaving a drink he once had with X¨¹ Beijin, who, feeling awkward, decided to gift him with a clue about a Nightmare he knew, which Mu Jiashi used to secure a True End.


    In fact, before this happened, Mu Jiashi was already famous in the bottom floor, for his ¡®carrying¡¯ business¡ª¡ªOr, bringing customers up to higher floors.


    This is a simple enough business, because a True End in a Nightmare means all the Missiontakers present can go up to a higher floor. It is a mutually beneficial thing.


    And those carrying the customers are called Carriers, though they are more commonly referred to as the Golddiggers (TL: I don¡¯t think an explanation for this nickname is provided even up to the end, but I might just have forgotten).


    In the Tower, Golddiggers belong to different organisations. Some are famous, some are small. All in all, because there are no rules or regulations, both screwing with people and getting screwed are common occurrences in their line of work.


    After Golddiggers bring their customers up, they will then go through several Bad Ends on purpose to return to the original floor to take new customers. If they feel like they¡¯ve brought a lot of customers already or just plain don¡¯t want to return anymore, then they can stay at the higher floors.


    Though the difficulty of the Nightmares in the higher floors are clearly incomparable to those of the bottom floor. So success rate is also difficult to maintain.


    Many Golddiggers end up drifting up and down the floors but fail to maintain a good enough success rate. Many of these businesses fail inevitably.


    Not Mu Jiashi, though, a dalao who is a dalao because his success rate is 100%. Even if he only carries people up from the bottom floor, this is still a record to boast.


    However, soon after he became known for this record, the dalao chose to leave the Golddiggers Group he founded to go it alone. That was when he received the clue from X¨¹ Beijin and ended up going to a higher floor, never being seen in the bottom floor again.


    Until¡­


    Right now, when clearly he¡¯s returned to the bottom floor for some reason?


    X¨¹ Beijin is curious.


    Why is he back? Did he end up failing the upper floor Nightmares?


    He is¡­ also calling himself a ¡®piece of trash.¡¯ Did he suffer some trauma, perhaps?


    Once, the Mu Jiashi X¨¹ Beijin met, while not exactly showy or flashy, was definitely confident. Since he did have the 100% success rate under his belt. He was a true dalao.


    It is hard to imagine this dispirited, unenergetic man was once that dalao Mu Jiashi.


    What happened to him?


    X¨¹ Beijin is mulling over him when suddenly, someone knocks on his counter.


    He raises his head in surprise to see there is a young man standing in front of him, greeting him with a smile, ¡°hello, nice to meet you. Are you interested in joining our ¡®Operation Defeat NE¡¯?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Hah?


    After he picks his jaw back up from the floor, he shakes his head and responds dryly, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t.¡±


    The young man doesn¡¯t seem surprised at the answer. He shrugs and then simply says, ¡°I see. I¡¯ll ask again when you feel like joining.¡±


    Then he leaves.


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Did he, perhaps just meet a Lin Qin #2?


    No, that can¡¯t be right. Lin Qin is way clingier than the young man.


    X¨¹ Beijin begins sighing as his head throbs in pain.


    Somehow, starting from the last Nightmare, things seem to be getting out of hand in his life as dull as dishwater.


    Then he turns towards the stream, where the comment barrage is already going ¡°Bei Bei Bei Bei, what is NE?¡±


    Like some yipping chicks eager for tasty worms from mommy hen.


    X¨¹ Beijin adjusts himself before replying, ¡°There is a Server that controls this game ¡®Escape,¡¯ which we call NE.¡±


    ¡°oh¡±


    ¡°even the game server had a special name too? cool¡±


    ¡°hey since detective dalao said players could end up npcs, so maybe the server would also¡­?¡±


    ¡°? That imagination¡­ Though someone randomly assigned to the Server would just be invincible, wouldn¡¯t they? Their gameplay experience would be dreadful.¡±


    ¡°hey, wont it be fun getting godlike cheats with god armour and weapons in a game?¡±


    ¡°compared to that, I¡¯m more interested in why they want to defeat NE¡­ something fishy behind the scenes?¡±


    ¡°detective dalao, wanna try analysing?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s too little information¡­ The only thing I can think of, is that with how much the Server restricts the Actors, they might feel oppressed and so want to rebel?¡±


    ¡°wouldnt a normal person just complain to the game company lol?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin maintains his poker face while bitterly smiling inside.


    Yes, players¡­ Players.


    They are players. Players who cannot leave their game. The only object they could feasibly resist is the Server.


    Really, ¡®Operation Defeat NE¡¯s main objective isn¡¯t even NE, but those Actors that have succumbed, that have mentally fused with the roles they are playing as.


    Therefore, some Actors are trying to prop up a pretty hope that could be a beacon of light for the Actors nearing the hopeless precipice, to at least maintain their reason and sanity for as long as possible.


    What next?


    Nobody knows what the future would be like.


    Whether they might actually escape, or die for good, or¡­ succumb to a Collapsed Nightmare.


    The viewers might take it as the players finding their own fun in-game, but they can never imagine, that this is just the ridiculous, desperate way humanity has came up with to save themselves, when they are pushed to their absolute limits.


    The young man whose attitude was laid-back at best, perhaps, is just trying to¡­ rescue him? Even when he has no idea whether it might succeed.


    He might already see X¨¹ Beijin as hopeless now.


    Meanwhile, another comment flows across the screen.


    ¡°speaking of which, NE¡­ ¡®huh¡¯?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    His facial expression finally changes. He looks like he has a lot to say.


    Though he does hold it in in the end.


    Sure, ¡®huh.¡¯

 Volume 2 - CH 26.1

    The road chase is still ongoing while X¨¹ Beijin was talking to the young man.


    Yet, along the way, when Scapegoat checks the rear-view mirror, he suddenly yells in shock, ¡°the car is gone!¡±


    Nobody responds.


    Not that it¡¯s unexpected¡ª¡ªLook at everyone present on this car. One Lin Qin who¡¯s popular like this. One Selfish, One Trash.


    Scapegoat is feeling pretty hopeless by this point.


    It¡¯s going to fall to him to carry them or what?


    ¡°Keep going,¡± Mu Jiashi is the one that couldn¡¯t take this dead atmosphere anymore, and he adds, ¡°try and see if there are any other scenes to explore. There are no clues so far in the corridor and on the road.¡±


    Scapegoat goes ¡®phew¡¯ as he maintains a steady speed.


    Where did the man in black go?


    X¨¹ Beijin has a guess, and when he turns the stream back to the bedroom, it is filled with screams just as expected.


    ¡°Fuck! What¡¯s going on?! Why is there someone else here?!¡±


    ¡°Shouting out ¡®three¡¯ was incorrect¡­ Why¡­¡±


    Just now, when the third ¡°Number off!¡± was ringing in their ears, Laosan quickly said ¡°Three¡± in response.


    Yet, the moment he said that, the wrathful male voice chastises them even louder than before, ¡°you trash can¡¯t even number off properly!¡±


    The Missiontakers are looking at each other nonplussed in the pitch dark room. Why is ¡®three¡¯ wrong? Aren¡¯t you supposed to number off going 1, 2, 3, 4?


    Before they can discuss what this means, the shy woman suddenly yelps.


    ¡°What?¡±


    She says with a trembling voice, ¡°some¡­ someone¡­ someone is touching me.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re all away from you!¡±


    In a Nightmare, never casually approach other Missiontakers is an unspoken rule. This is to eliminate suspicions of Carddealers stealing cards.


    The shy woman says with a really anxious tone, ¡°no, no, I mean¡­ someone, suddenly appeared!¡±


    The next second, the familiar tone coldly chuckles¡ª¡ªthe tone of the man that told them to number off¡ª¡ªwho then goes on to say, ¡°a useless piece of trash that can¡¯t even count properly can just go to hell!¡±


    Then the man starts randomly swinging his big machete everywhere.


    The four Missiontakers wanted to dodge, but they can¡¯t see a thing in this pitch darkness. They do not know where the weapon is coming from or whether they are about to be slashed next. They don¡¯t even know whether the person next to them is friend or foe anymore.


    The woman is yelling out in pain while crying in desperation.


    The three men are trying to fight against this man that suddenly appeared, yet it is as if he has some kind of cheat. He can dodge all their attacks, but his machete keeps swinging accurately at their heads, their torsos, their arms and legs.


    Soon enough, the room is filled to the brim with the sickening smell of blood, but they are still alive.


    They will die eventually, but not yet. This is a slow torture until death. Blood continues to flow out of the wounds on their exposed skin. Their clothes are completely drenched.


    They haven¡¯t any strength to resist anymore, and yet, it seems the man knows as well. He continues to chuckle along merrily and cruelly as he slows his pace down. The big machete is still slashing down their skin, slash, by agonising slash.


    Laosan is gritting his teeth. He can faintly hear the shy girl crying, and his dulled mind is wondering if they are all about to die. Can¡¯t it be quicker? This torture¡­ this torture¡­


    His nose is chock-full of the stench of blood. He wants to puke.


    His body is already overtaken by a sense of weakness. Somebody has already fainted next to him, it seems. He is glad he can¡¯t see the terrifying scene in the room clearly. In this dark, completely unknown space, plus the wounds on his body and the smell of rusted iron, he could go mad.


    When suddenly, a voice shouts out besides them yet again, ¡°count off!¡±


    Laosan is blanking out wondering if this is his hallucination before death.


    His fingers are already growing stiff and cold. The man that was swinging the big machete¡­ Is he even in the room anymore? Did he disappear as quickly as he appeared?


    Laosan can barely hold himself up. His vision is red. Just red. It is probably the blood from his head covering his eyes.


    Crimson¡ª¡ªDarkness¡ª¡ªCrimson¡ª¡ªDarkness. It¡¯s so damned dark.


    He lightly whispers, ¡°four.¡±


    Then he holds his breath, waiting for the voice that might ring out in the air¡­ Then, he sighs in relief. It seems he was correct.


    ¡­ One, two, three four. One, two and four are correct. Why is only ¡®three¡¯ incorrect?


    Is this counting error going to keep happening after that? What number is it besides ¡®three,¡¯ anyway?


    He is trying really can¡¯t focus due to the pain and weakness. Why is the man gone? Are the other Missiontakers still alive? Are all of them just hurt and not yet dead?


    He coughs. His throat is full of blood too. He tries to speak up, even if his voice is but a whisper, ¡°is anyone awake?¡±


    No answer comes.


    His eyes are wide open, but he is practically blind. He is alive, but in this pitch black space, he is practically dead.


    Laosan¡¯s mind is digressing again.


    Though his instincts are still counting in his mind, counting the time ¨C a skill that all Missiontakers in the Tower possess by heart.


    Tools for measuring time, watches or whatever, are extremely rare in the Tower, but grasping the flow of time in the Nightmare is extremely important, so all Missiontakers have to force themselves to keep time.


    Some Missiontakers can even count extremely accurately, completely in step with time passed in reality, though most Missiontakers are only capable of roughly keeping an accurate time. If it goes on for too long, the inaccuracies become wild.


    Laosan can do nothing in his weakness from losing too much blood. He is still counting inside, all dazed. About one minute has passed when another ¡°Count off!¡± rings out.


    He almost sighs in relief.


    One minute.


    That is the amount of time between two counts. It means they must produce one number in a minute and also think about the number to report next.


    He knows one, two, three and four are actually 1, 2, ? and 4, then five¡­


    He is hesitant.


    If he is wrong, the man with the machete will probably appear again.


    The man that has tortured them in this dark room for a whole minute.


    This is the first run of the Nightmare, so he probably isn¡¯t too powerful yet. It is likely to change, however. At least right now, though, the man is only here for a minute, and after slashing his way about for a minute, a new round of ¡®count off¡¯ begins, and he is gone.


    It seems that he appears whenever the number is wrong as a punishment. He attacks for one full minute.


    If they are able to stay alive for minute after minute, they might just finish counting off all the numbers and then achieve an ending.


    But¡­


    But how could they possibly survive another session like this?


    Laosan coughs again. He is sitting on the ground while leaning on the bed behind him. His consciousness is drifting. He might be gone soon.


    All the other three are unresponsive. They haven¡¯t died yet because the Nightmare is still ongoing. They might have all fainted, though.


    Laosan is smiling in bitterness. He is fearful of the number he is about to say. What if the fifth one isn¡¯t 5? Then a fresh round of punishment begins, the man with the machete will be here¡­


    He is trying to curl up as much as possible, but his slight movement tears his wounds open again. The pain makes his fright even greater. Still, gritting his teeth, he shakily says, ¡°five¡­¡±


    Then.


    ¡°You trash can¡¯t even number off properly!¡±


    ¡°No!!!¡±


    Laosan screams out, as the man emerges in the room again. He is coldly chuckling, and mercilessly slashing with his big machete again.


    They do not last the minute.


    The Nightmare restarts.


    Laosan¡¯s eyes shoot open again. They are back in the pitch darkness. He is still breathing heavily from shock.


    In the stream, the viewers are all screaming ¡®aaaaa¡¯s watching the mad murderer in black under the night vision camera. They are terrified.


    ¡°BEIBEI AAAAAAAA¡±


    ¡°Bei, plz, my san is dropping!!!¡±


    ¡°this man is just a psychotic murderer¡­ he looks so excited when he is killing¡­¡±


    ¡°urgh, is he pure npc or actor like Beibei? if hes actor¡­ is he insane?¡±


    ¡°Hard to say. In fact, if Beibei wasn¡¯t the host, I¡¯d have assumed he was an NPC¡±


    ¡°someone said earlier ¡®that boy is suspicious,¡¯ does that mean¡­ the boy is the owner? then who is the man in black? whats their relationship? maybe the boy fears him cuz this is nightmare?¡±


    ¡°who knows¡­ or the boy is diff in the nightmare and grown up to become this crazy murderer? maybe he is scared of himself¡±


    ¡°so y r they counting in the first place?¡±


    ¡°? why¡¯s everyone analysing?¡±


    ¡°uwuwu¡­ that scene was too scary, u know¡±


    ¡°AAAAARGH im finally thinking again after swinging that scene out of my head! y did u mention it!¡±


    ¡°but jeez, even a scene like that wasn¡¯t censored to oblivion? I¡¯m guessing there¡¯s someone behind the host hehe¡±


    ¡°stop with the scary ¡®look behind u¡¯ ok?! quit scaring ppl!¡±


    ¡°¡­ are you even viewers of a horror game stream or not¡­ you¡¯re all chickens lol¡±


    ¡°i wanna hear the detective dalao¡¯s analysis¡±


    ¡°¡­ Watashi ga kita! Let me put this out first, since we don¡¯t have much information, most of this is my imagination for the sake of consistency.


    First, the only concrete piece of information ¨C The Missiontakers are divided into two groups, and because Actors act as NPCs, we will not consider the Actors themselves for now.


    The most direct problem with the Missiontakers divided like this is Prisoner¡¯s dilemma ¨C Cooperation is much more difficult at this point.


    While the Missiontakers in the bedroom are still unaware of the other Missiontakers, but I guarantee that the Missiontakers over at the corridor are already cussing after this restart.


    In this situation, with unequal and limited access to information from the other side, especially given this mutual pulling-your-leg in the very beginning, a True End is likely difficult; it seems even a Normal End, potentially by counting off to completion, is at least equally as difficult?


    All in all, I am really pessimistic about how this Nightmare will play out.¡±


    When the detective dalao mentioned the corridor, X¨¹ Beijin has also switched the camera source over, and as expected, the four Missiontakers all look like they¡¯re doubting the value of living.

 Volume 2 - CH 26.2

    Scapegoat is cussing, ¡°damn it, all four of us were still alive, why did it restart?¡±


    Selfish sneers and says, ¡°must be Missiontakers in the other scenes that were so incompetent they held us back.¡±


    Mu Jiashi is murmuring, ¡°no way, why are there two groups? There are definitely cooperative elements, then, but we didn¡¯t even meet each other¡­ Were they in the service area or¡­¡±


    The mention of the service area makes Selfish super irritated, saying, ¡°we were almost inside too, now we have to run away again! Dumbasses! We wasted a run.¡±


    They drove along the road the last time and the entrance to the area was already in sight. Then, the restart drops onto them like a cold blanket.


    It sure makes them pissed as all hell.


    And that spiteful language from Selfish makes everyone uncomfortable too.


    Selfish and Scapegoat hate each other, Mu Jiashi wants to have nothing of it, and Lin Qin is silent the whole time.


    Both the bedroom and the corridor teams are in rather bad shape at this point.


    The stream is applauding the detective dalao¡¯s analysis again¡ª¡ªAs he thought, the corridor team is already lambasting the other team.


    And given how inactive X¨¹ Beijin has been this entire stream, that new audience even types, ¡°i feel like the dalao is even more of a host than the host?¡±


    ¡°lolol, Beibei ur just the director who changes cameras¡±


    ¡°hahaha, btw Beibei, gonna go explore this round?¡±


    ¡°everyone else¡¯s nightmare: thrilling escape and chases; Beibei¡¯s nightmare: a casual stroll¡±


    ¡°Beibei ¡®the lazy salted fish''¡±


    ¡°Beibei, you¡¯ve been pretty quiet¡­ You decided to change the camera to the bedroom earlier from the road, right? What led you to that decision?¡±


    The detective dalao¡¯s comment makes X¨¹ Beijin think a little.


    When he realised the car of the man in black was gone entirely, he wagered something must have happened in the bedroom, that¡¯s why he changed the camera over.


    He didn¡¯t talk about his thoughts because, well, he¡¯s used to it and also¡­ he¡¯s also interested in hugging the detective dalao¡¯s thighs.


    Though normally viewers wouldn¡¯t look too kindly at that. It would look just like X¨¹ Beijin is a noob host that has zero presense even in his own stream.


    While this audience is more tolerant thanks to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s appearance, but he has been too quiet nonetheless.


    X¨¹ Beijin rubs his nose and hangs his head in shame, realising that he didn¡¯t even try to adjust to being a newbie host. In the last stream, there was someone in the bookstore most of the time, so it was reasonable to avoid talking and focus not on the stream but on the Nightmare.


    Yet, it is he who wants more information on the outside world from the audience, so he should be much more proactive.


    He is definitely not a natural extrovert, and because he looked so antagonistic, he was avoided a lot. And after all this time spent idly in the Tower, to try to fish out information from unsuspecting strangers in their interactions¡­


    Sure sounds like mission impossible.


    Though he still has to try.


    On the surface, it looks like X¨¹ Beijin mulled over it for a few seconds before apologising, ¡°I¡¯m really sorry, everyone. I was too quiet.¡±


    ¡°lol its fine, Beibei you can keep being you, I like the TV drama experience [doge emoji]¡±


    ¡°Beibei, you can start by talking with our comment barrage!¡±


    ¡°is this genuine kindness i see u guys displaying? no! u merely lust for our Bei¡¯s body!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s face is flushing at this point. He quickly says, ¡°I understand now. I will try to talk with the comments more from now on,¡± then he ponders a little before saying, ¡°would you like to hear my own thoughts about the Nightmare?¡±


    The detective dalao types to cheer him on, ¡°Beibei go go! I also want to hear what you think about the Nightmare¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin then begins speaking after a few seconds, ¡°in the road chase just now, the man in black disappeared abruptly, that led me to suspect something has happened in the bedroom.


    And¡­ if I could confirm that the bedroom had an incident and the man in black stopped chasing the Missiontakers on the road because of that, that would suggest the man in black cannot appear in both locations at once.¡±


    The detective dalao agrees, typing, ¡°That¡¯s right! If the man in black could only be on one side at a time, then that would give a lot of leeway to the Missiontakers. The problem now, though, is whether they can work with each other in the first place.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin sighs to say, ¡°also, there really is too little information at this point.¡±


    As an extra, he really knows nothing¡­


    Really, he¡¯s not even much different to the Missiontakers in this respect, besides having way more limitation than them.


    Suddenly, X¨¹ Beijin recalls that young man he saw earlier.


    He must also have been an Actor, and he was probably in this same service area, seeing how he was able to come that early.


    X¨¹ Beijin closes his eyes to think. His memories span out like a large painting, with scenes in the past still vividly visible on them. His memory has always been pretty good, even though he rarely tries to recall past events.


    Suddenly he murmurs, ¡°the supermarket¡­¡±


    ¡°?¡±


    The viewers all type question marks in response on the comments.


    X¨¹ Beijin sees as soon as he opens his eyes and explains, ¡°that Actor from earlier was wearing the clothes of a supermarket cashier,¡± he explains how the Actor must also be in the service area, and then hesitantly asks, ¡°we could check on the Missiontakers¡¯ progress. If they aren¡¯t coming over to the service area for a while, we could go chat with the cashier if you want to see it?¡±


    ¡°owo sure!¡±


    ¡°Beibeis gonna go for a walk? lets go!!¡±


    ¡°he could know more info too! Beibei fight!¡±


    While the detective dalao is still absorbed with analysing the truth of this Nightmare, the rest of the audience are cheering¡­ Well, ¡®the rest,¡¯ meaning 3 among a grand total of 4 viewers.


    X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t any less enthused himself, though, and knowing that horror game streams are apparently not popular on the outside, being able to win 4 followers (with his handsome face, but never mind) is already good enough for a first ever streamer.


    He then turns his attention back towards the camera. The four people in the corridor should be escaping now, but he realises that, in fact, in this short period of time the corridor team has actually already run into the bedroom team!


    He can see all eight people yapping on the screen. The scene is quite chaotic.


    X¨¹ Beijin listens carefully with furrowed brows and finally understands what happened. After the Nightmare restarted, the bedroom team decided not to number off immediately first, but to try to leave the bedroom. And they actually succeeded.


    In the last run, after they gave a ¡°one,¡± the bedroom door was locked dead; this time, they directly tried the doorknob and succeeded. The exit led into a corridor, and they saw the other four people immediately.


    Laosan here is really surprised.


    He really thought there were only the four of them in the entire Nightmare.


    The three brothers walked into the ¡®door¡¯ to the boy¡¯s house, so naturally they were together. It was already surprising that there was another shy girl besides them, but four other Missiontakers here¡­ Aren¡¯t there way too many Missiontakers in this Nightmare?


    Each Nightmare has a minimum and maximum number of participants possible. Some are purely solo Instances for one person only, and some are required to have at least some number of people.


    At night time, all Tower residents sleep¡ª¡ªbarring X¨¹ Beijin¡ª¡ªand doors can now be opened to enter Nightmares.


    During the night, as long as a resident is still asleep, Missiontakers can step into the door and wait for the Nightmare to start.


    If the maximum number of participants is reached, the Nightmare starts early; otherwise, it will continue to wait for new Missiontakers until some time before dawn to start.


    If the number of Missiontakers waiting does not even meet the minimum requirement, the Nightmare will not start.


    They might end up wasting a night, of course, but for Missiontakers, they are actually unconscious when ¡®waiting¡¯ for a Nightmare to start, as if they are sleeping, and they wouldn¡¯t notice the passage of time at all.


    An implication of this is that unless a Nightmare starts and they can see each other, nobody would know exactly how many Missiontakers are in a Nightmare and who they all are.


    This modus operandi that is no different to randomly grouping irks many Missiontakers who swear it forces them to relive the terrible experience of being assigned a terrible teammate in certain games before everyone ended up in ¡®Escape.¡¯


    And now, Laosan is exhausted watching everyone argue in front of him.


    Yet his meek personality means that when he sees them¡ª¡ªBy them, he mainly refers to Selfish, Scapegoat and his own Laoda¡ª¡ªviciously bickering, he is but helpless.


    According to what they just said, this is the first time any of them ever entered this Nightmare. None of them have heard a useful thing about this Nightmare in the Tower. Yet, despite this severe lack of information, they still have time to keep pointing fingers at others and chastising.


    Selfish is accusing the bedroom team of sabotaging their efforts with almost intentional timing; they were almost at a key scene, but they died and the Nightmare restarted.


    Laoda retorts by asking how there is, quote, ¡°any fucking way¡± they can know their progress, and then questions Selfish back¡ª¡ªWhere were they and what useful things were they doing when their team was being slaughtered by the man in black in the bedroom?


    Scapegoat is just furious at everyone. Whenever someone scolds someone else, he argues in favour of the scolded person, fanning the flames on both sides and pissing everyone off.


    Meanwhile, Mu Jiashi glances at the merrily arguing trio, then back at the door from which the bedroom team exited. The door has already gone back shut now. He hesitates for a moment before walking forth to try to open the door.


    It wouldn¡¯t budge.

 Volume 2 - CH 27.1

    Mu Jiashi is not the only one to notice the problem with the door. The only woman present has also quietly approached to test the handle. Then, she gasps in silence.


    Mu Jiashi glances at her.


    Her appearance is fine, but what is most striking about her is her blue-green hair. Mu Jiashi is suddenly reminded of something and reflexively says, ¡°you must be¡­¡±


    The woman nods and says softly, ¡°sorry, but please keep my identity secret.¡±


    Mu Jiashi nods.


    He knows this woman with grue hair. Her name is Ding Yi.


    She is a famous Necessities Merchant of the bottom floor, known as the ¡®Billionaire.¡¯


    Mu Jiashi knew her because long ago, when he was still in the carrying business, she introduced customers to him. They didn¡¯t interact much beyond that, but she left a deep impression on him.


    Especially because of the grue hair. It is rare enough on its own, and rumours say that Ding Yi once had black hair, but because of a special utility card, her hair became this mystical blue-green colour.


    Though¡­ a utility card?


    Besides the Modification cards and Fusion cards, what other utility cards can even affect appearances? Yet, if it were one of those two types, isn¡¯t it lasting way too long?


    While curious, Mu Jiashi couldn¡¯t just ask Ding Yi outright, either.


    Her appearance aside, another reason she is well known may be because of the contrast between her personality and her role. She is a Necessities Merchant, but for some reason, she is extremely introverted in her daily life. She never speaks much. It is hard to imagine what led her to becoming a merchant.


    Though¡­ Later, Mu Jiashi speculated that it was perhaps because Ding Yi came to know many Tower residents.


    The Necessities Merchants had to acquire their goods from the Tower residents. As outsiders, the Missiontakers¡¯ quality of life is directly affected by their relationship with the Tower residents.


    And especially so for the Necessities Merchants.


    In the Tower, most of the Missiontakers treat Tower residents like the three men treated X¨¹ Beijin a few days ago ¨C ignoring them entirely.


    Some Necessities Merchants, and other Missiontakers who came to assume special roles, would instead need to establish a good relationship with the residents.


    The Tower is filled with an endless grey fog and hopeless black Nightmares, but the occasional special career and role is able to brighten up the daily lives on the bottom floor of the Tower a little with some colour.


    Mu Jiashi and Ding Yi¡¯s conversation, and the two¡¯s checking of the door handle lasted but a moment, and nobody paid any attention¡­ but Lin Qin.


    He narrows his eyes to examine those two a little.


    She has secrets¡­ Who is she?


    Though after a second of curiosity, it has faded already and Lin Qin looks away already, disinterested. He is the Crownless King of the Tower, and he is often disinterested in many things.


    Many would even question his humanity, too. Other than seeing him occasionally leave the house to wander aimlessly or go into Nightmares, he¡¯s practically unseen anywhere else.


    Though he does possess that enviable fighting strength.


    Many Missiontakers wanted to take advantage of that, but could never manage to align themselves with his thought processes. In general, Lin Qin isn¡¯t exactly temperamental, even too lazy to respond to people provoking him on purpose sometimes.


    That said, sometimes the well-tempered baby-face Lin Qin would go berserk and go completely mad.


    Nobody has managed to stop him when he is mad all the way up to this point.


    Missiontakers ending up in a Nightmare alongside Lin Qin often both revere and fear him.


    Not that Lin Qin himself cares. He is leaning on the wall right now while the argument between the three men is playing out right beside his ears. He can¡¯t help but wonder how this bunch of Missiontakers can be so¡­ dumb.


    Even he could figure out that this Nightmare probably requires some cooperation¡ª¡ªOr rather, all Nightmares on the bottom floor require Missiontakers¡¯ cooperation, just perhaps up to different degrees.


    And now, they¡¯re arguing?


    Lin Qin is a little irritated already.


    He usually treats Nightmares as a way to kill time. Therefore, the performance of the Missiontakers in the Nightmares naturally plays a role in that. He treats the Nightmares as something akin to interesting novels, or TV dramas, or movies.


    And now, he can only see a bunch of terrible third-rate actors displaying their incompetence in all their inglorious form.


    In this sense, Lin Qin would certainly be nodding along the viewers of the stream if he could see them.


    ¡°slowly typing a question mark.jpg¡±


    ¡°what r they doing? srsly???¡±


    ¡°¡­ Perhaps this is just human nature¡±


    ¡°no wait where¡¯s the psycho murderer in black? where is he?¡±


    That is when Erge coldly, impatiently orders, ¡°shut the fuck up you all!¡±


    Selfish, Scapegoat and Laoda all turn towards him with the last of them shutting up. The other two still want to keep going when Erge slams them to the wall with his legs, one by one.


    He didn¡¯t use enough force to cause injuries, and the Server doesn¡¯t go so far as to ban even something as mild as that. Though it was enough to intimidate.


    Scapegoat couldn¡¯t say anything before Selfish is already about to cuss with his red steaming face while getting up from the ground.


    ¡°I suggest you wake up,¡± Erge coldly says, ¡®tch¡¯ing, and adding, ¡°and take a good look around.¡±


    ¡°Look around what?¡± Selfish retorts, saying, ¡°look at how safe we are?¡±


    Erge then says, ¡°hoh. Yeah¡ª¡ªSo, where is that man in black, who you said were chasing you before?¡±


    Selfish goes quiet. His head has finally cooled enough to allow him to realise the strange mood in the corridor. He hesitates for a bit before shutting up entirely.


    Laosan says with a worried tone, ¡°we¡¯re locked out of the bedroom,¡± he also tested the handle already, and concludes, ¡°this means we might be trapped in this run of the Nightmare.¡±


    ¡°Trapped?¡±


    Laosan says, ¡°we¡­ we could go to the end of the corridor. I suspect¡­ We can¡¯t get out anymore.¡±


    A minute later, they¡¯re at the end of the corridor, and the door that was supposed to lead them to the car park outside is inexplicably gone, leaving only the empty wall blocking them out entirely.


    Laoda is widening his eyes, going, ¡°fuck, this means we¡¯re just gonna wait and die here?!¡±


    ¡°Not exactly,¡± Erge might not be as smart as Laosan, but he could make simple deductions too, ¡°with that man in black they said would chase them also gone¡ª¡ªWe can¡¯t even wait for something to kill us.¡±


    Laoda ¡°¡­¡±


    He kicks the wall out of spite.


    Selfish speaks up with a bleak smirk, ¡°why did you even run outside, if you didn¡¯t¡­¡±


    Erge turns to him and says with a frigid tone, ¡°what about, if you blabber a single sentence more, then go kill yourself and restart the Nightmare for us?¡±


    Selfish retorts, ¡°I¡¯m not the only one speaking, even!¡±


    Laoda gives him a good hard kick.


    Selfish falls down, wailing.


    Erge praises his Laoda, ¡°nice kick.¡±


    Although Laoda isn¡¯t much better than a reckless pile of temperamental muscles, but at least he listens to people.


    ¡°Umm¡­¡± Laosan suddenly asks, ¡°about the man in black that was chasing you¡­ Did he have a weapon?¡±


    Scapegoat is gloating over Selfish¡¯s misfortune while answering, ¡°yes, a big machete.¡±


    Laosan¡¯s eyes seem to glow as he murmurs, ¡°a big machete¡­ The man that was slashing us was using something similar¡­¡±


    Mu Jiashi is the only one to immediately realise what he¡¯s getting at, and restates, ¡°when the man in black was chasing us on the road, he suddenly disappeared once.¡±


    And the two of them look at each other to say, ¡°so he can only ever appear in one place at a time!¡±


    Erge doesn¡¯t exactly understand why they¡¯re talking about that, and asks, ¡°can we use that somehow?¡±


    ¡°If he can only appear in one scene at a time, we can cooperate,¡± Mu Jiashi says, matter-of-factly, ¡°according to you, the man in black appears in the bedroom for exactly one minute. This means that if we can somehow force the man in black to stay with us for a minute, then the bedroom would be safe. You would have time to try out more numbers.¡±


    After saying all that, the man suddenly pauses and gives an awkward smile when everyone is looking at him, and adds, ¡°but, you don¡¯t have to listen to me. I¡¯m just a piece of trash, a loser¡­¡± He sighs as he says it.


    Laosan and Ding Yi both look at him with strange gazes.


    The two of them are possibly the only people present who fully realise the value of Mu Jiashi here.


    From what he spoke of, they can see that Mu Jiashi is someone who puts teamwork above all else.


    In Nightmares, because only one person needs to achieve a True End for all of them to be offered to ascend to higher floors, theoretically, if the Missiontakers were all selfless and cooperative, then it would not be too hard to achieve a True End for any Nightmare.


    For example, this one, where if they did as Mu Jiashi just said, with the corridor team focusing on keeping the man in black occupied without letting him teleport to the bedroom, then the bedroom group could ignore the penalties for a wrong number and keep trying. No matter how many times it took, they could eventually stumble on the correct sequence.


    This is definitely one piece of key information in this Nightmare guaranteed.


    So the problem lies on the corridor team. Mu Jiashi, who proposed it, and Lin Qin, whose physical prowess is unparalleled, might agree, but what about Selfish and Scapegoat?


    And as expected, almost as soon as Mu Jiashi said his laments ago Selfish has climbed back up from the ground to yell, ¡°you¡¯re kidding me! Keeping the man in black here? You¡¯re mad! You can¡¯t be so selfish! You can be a flowery saint all you want, but don¡¯t involve me in this!¡±


    Mu Jiashi responds to the criticism with silence.


    Laosan and Ding Yi both look like they have something to say, but the two rather shy persons ends up staying silent as well.


    Erge is much more straightforward though, cracking his knuckles to say, ¡°so, you ready to die?¡±


    Selfish¡¯s expression immediately changes. He loudly chastises everyone and says spitefully, ¡°die? Why me?! You bunch of uncaring, miserly miscreants!¡±


    Laoda rolls his eyes, feeling like giving him another kick again. He is mentally exhausted at this point.


    How did he even spend so long arguing with someone like him? He must have been out of his mind, or just trying to loosen himself after that terrifying, suffocating experience being slaughtered to death by the man in black in the bedroom.


    They are at a standstill.


    This run of the Nightmare is ground to a halt in the corridor now, but what should they do to start the next run?


    And¡­ in theory, the Server never arranges a true dead end no matter what, right?

 Volume 2 - CH 27.2

    While the eight Missiontakers fall into silence in the corridor, X¨¹ Beijin is already out of his bookstore and walking about the service area with the audience.


    The viewers kept egging him on, and he is interested as well, so he stopped observing the Missiontakers.


    The service area is actually pretty lively, with eateries, a supermarket and tuck shops. Even though there are no Missiontakers in sight, the Actors are still diligently going about their work.


    Some of them give X¨¹ Beijin odd looks when he appears, though they do not pay him further attention. Many Actors have become used to the routine already; they might even mistake X¨¹ Beijin for being a Missiontaker given what he¡¯s doing too.


    In a sense, many of the Actors have truly become ¡®NPCs.¡¯


    X¨¹ Beijin takes a deep breath and also pays those Actors no mind. After circling the area once to get a sense of its layout, he walks straight for the supermarket.


    ¡°Welcome to¡­ Oh, it¡¯s you,¡± behind the register is the young man from before, who smiles and asks, ¡°so, here to join our ¡®Operation Defeat NE¡¯?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin shakes his head.


    The viewers are typing the myriad of questions they have on the comment barrage. X¨¹ Beijin takes a look and decides to go with the flow and ask about this Nightmare.


    ¡°I¡¯m just curious what the truth of this Nightmare is.¡±


    The young man¡¯s eyes seem to glow a little when he replies, ¡°that kind of curiosity is rare around here.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin sighs and wonders if this is the young man¡¯s attempt to segue into his¡­ ¡®Operation Defeat NE¡¯?


    He can understand what he is trying to do given most of the Actors have lost interest in Nightmares entirely. Their lives are emotionless, meaningless. They live like true NPCs ¨C only following predetermined scripts and repeating their lives day after repeated day.


    Perhaps it couldn¡¯t even be called ¡®living¡¯ anymore.


    And so, someone like X¨¹ Beijin, who is still proactively exploring the Nightmares and curious about their truths, is exceedingly rare.


    Though that is of course because he got a streaming service that allows him to spy on the Missiontakers from afar, so his interest would naturally be piqued; his original life as dull as dishwater has already changed.


    The young man shrugs as he continues examining X¨¹ Beijin with a pleasantly surprised expression, before getting back on track to say, ¡°I¡¯m just a side character here¡­ I don¡¯t have too much information here.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin nods to say, ¡°I¡¯m just an extra.¡±


    ¡°An extra?¡± The young man repeats and remarks, ¡°I thought you would be more¡­¡±


    ¡°Antagonist?¡±


    The young man smiles in response and nods, ¡°alright, I admit I was thinking that.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He frowns.


    ¡°See? See? That¡¯s it. The face you¡¯re making seriously screams ¡®the big bad guy behind everything¡¯ here,¡± the young man is guffawing when he continues, ¡°nobody says extras are definitely nobodies. Sure, a lot of them do blend entirely into the background, but in some movies, these insignificant roles are actually the heart and soul of them.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin pauses for a second before speaking up, ¡°movies¡­ huh.¡±


    He can feel his memories stretching far back into the past, back before the days he entered the Tower. It is no exaggeration to say that for many of them, it is as far as a lifetime ago.


    The young man here just casually mentioned it, as if it was the everyday, regular topic that it used to be.


    He is sharp, too, immediately asking, ¡°you¡¯re thinking about the Tower?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is quiet for a moment before slowly nodding.


    The young man thinks before patting X¨¹ Beijin on the shoulder and answering, ¡°be more optimistic, bro,¡± then his gaze drifts towards the heavy eyebags on X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s face and he can¡¯t help but ask, ¡°you haven¡¯t slept for a really long time, huh?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is surprised by the question and glances at the young man curiously, before nodding in the end.


    ¡°Think of it this way. We¡¯re just experiencing a ¡®second life¡¯ of sorts,¡± the young man has a big grin on as he continues, ¡°on the other hand, though, a ¡®second life¡¯ means greater stress, that¡¯s for sure.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin couldn¡¯t help but smile at the response, ¡°you¡¯re really living the life.¡±


    The young man shrugs, answering, ¡°how else would you survive in the Tower?¡± Then he changes topics, ¡°so, anyway, back to this Nightmare¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is taken aback, only now realising that the topic has digressed way off the rails.


    He checks the comments, but it seems the comments are not too confused. The viewers are probably taking their conversation to be two players who ended up unfortunately as Actors complaining about the Server and the game company behind it.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s face turns gloomier as his thoughts digress again. When he snaps back to reality, the young man in front of him happens to be retrieving a packet of soft candy from the shelves, handing it over.


    X¨¹ Beijin receives it with a blanked out face.


    The young man then inexplicably chuckles before answering, ¡°wouldn¡¯t it be boring if I told you the truth right now? Actually, in that bookstore you¡¯re in, there are some clues already. The Missiontakers would probably visit later, too,¡± then he points to the packet of sweets he handed over, saying, ¡°take the sweets as my apology. Too bad we can¡¯t take them outside of Nightmares, but they taste pretty well.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He is hesitant, and makes a glance at the stream before replying, ¡°alright,¡± and finishes with a ¡°thank you.¡±


    ¡°No problem,¡± the young man replies, ¡°I also don¡¯t want to lose another companion.¡±


    The young man¡¯s expression could almost be said to be sombre when he says that.


    They¡¯re quiet for a moment.


    Then the young man speaks back up, ¡°oh, I haven¡¯t introduced myself, have I¡­ I¡¯m Dai Wu.¡±


    ¡°X¨¹ Beijin.¡±


    Dai Wu nods and puts his smile back on to say, ¡°ah, so you¡¯re the rumoured ¡ª I should¡¯ve guessed when I saw those eyebags¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin nods, slightly awkward from embarrassment this time.


    Dai Wu remarks, ¡°and you¡¯re actually harmless, huh.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin falls into thought for a second before shaking his head, saying, ¡°no, I¡¯m not,¡± then his face turns serious. The pale man with the dark eyebags beneath his eyes says calmly, ¡°I just do not mind how things are most of the time.¡±


    Dai Wu¡¯s eyes widen a little.


    It is difficult to describe all the complex thoughts going through his mind right now.


    Perhaps his eyes really deceived him? Perhaps X¨¹ Beijin really is a terrifying person? Well, there¡¯s at least that ability to switch between his faces on demand¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin suddenly puts on a harmless smile to ask, ¡°¡­ see, it¡¯s more frightening than harmless, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Dai Wu ¡°¡­¡±


    He angrily speaks up, ¡°oi oi, man, you¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin raises his hand with the packet of sweets and waves at Dai Wu with a smile before leaving the supermarket.


    The viewers are expressing their awe in the stream.


    ¡°woah, pretty naughty huh Beibei¡±


    ¡°more like only our Bei can act naughty that way¡±


    ¡°hahaha look at the dude with his frightened face.¡±


    ¡°Sigh, there wasn¡¯t any useful information¡­¡±


    ¡°the detective dalao¡¯s career minded heart is really impressive¡±


    ¡°look at the other camera! the missiontakers look like theyre about to do something!¡±


    Since X¨¹ Beijin left the bookstore, he has set the scene of the corridor at the bottom right corner of his stream.


    The Missiontakers spent the whole time thinking about how to resolve this dead-end too.


    The whole corridor is really like the kind of scene you¡¯d see in a dream, too. The open windows are blocked by some kind of invisible wall. Even though it is brightly lit close to the car park, but the other end grows darker and eerier with every step inside.


    Still, they checked every door, window and all the corners, until they were forced to conclude¡ª¡ªThere is nowhere to go.


    Laoda is saying dejectedly, ¡°seriously? Is this a Server bug? A real dead-end?¡±


    Erge coldly retorts, ¡°there¡¯s never been any Nightmare that has trapped Missiontakers in a dead-end besides those Collapsed Nightmares¡­¡± He pauses before saying, ¡°there is definitely a way out. We just haven¡¯t discovered it yet.¡±


    It really is fortunate that the moment he said that, the stream¡¯s audio source wasn¡¯t fixed on them, or the viewers should be questioning what a ¡®Collapsed Nightmare¡¯ is.


    Suddenly Laosan says hesitantly, ¡°do you hear something?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    The Missiontakers all look at each other and quiet down. Then, there is suddenly a series of strange noises approaching them from afar.


    Erge furrows his brows and listens for a bit before saying, ¡°it¡¯s the bedroom.¡±


    They look at each other and quietly approach the bedroom.


    What kind of¡­ noise is that?


    The horrifying wailings of a woman in pain. Cries and yells, and a series of¡ª¡ªThump. Thump. Thump. What sounds like chopping meat.


    The Missiontakers¡¯ steps become slow and hesitant. They can sense the fear crawling on their backs, as if the thumping meat-chopping sounds are chopping directly on their backs.


    Laosan is murmuring like a sleepwalker would, ¡°that man, was holding¡­ a big machete¡­¡±


    Suddenly, he recalls that, in the last Nightmare, he remembers hearing a woman¡¯s cries in his dizziness. He thought it was Ding Yi¡¯s whimpers, but¡­ perhaps they weren¡¯t?


    It was like, there was another simultaneous bloody slaughter in that dark room. It was right next to them, but they didn¡¯t even realise.


    ¡°What is going on in the room?¡± Scapegoat forces himself to ask, ¡°who is he¡­ killing?¡±


    They are standing right in front of the door in silence. The woman¡¯s screams have disappeared by now, rendering the whole corridor silent again; outside, the Missiontakers are indecisive and standing still.


    Mu Jiashi quietly murmurs, ¡°perhaps¡­ this is related to the truth in this Nightmare. The Nightmare plays out, with or without the Missiontakers¡­¡±


    He is about to say something else when suddenly, the man dressed in black, with his big machete in hand, bursts out of the bedroom door. On the blade of his machete, is fresh, red blood that is still dripping!

 Volume 2 - CH 28.1

    Run three of the Nightmare begins.


    The Missiontakers are all breathing heavily where they stand, still in shock.


    Just now, that coldly cackling man in black was rushing at them with his big machete, immediately slashing all over the place in the corridor.


    The Missiontakers that were practically tortured to death by him the first run almost faltered immediately; they were killed in full brightness this time as opposed to in the dark.


    Lin Qin didn¡¯t even have time to respond before someone has breathed their last on the floor of the bloodied corridor alongside the limbs that were hacked off.


    Then, the Nightmare restarted.


    Fortunately, right before someone died, Laosan and Mu Jiashi immediately finalised the deal of Mu Jiashi helping to keep the man in black preoccupied as much as possible to buy time for the bedroom team.


    And now, after the Nightmare has restarted, a ¡°number off!¡± fires off next to their ears again. Laosan yells out ¡°one¡± without hesitation, then waits nervously¡ª¡ªFortunately, the first number is still one.


    At least it seems the numbers to be reported don¡¯t change as the Nightmare restarts. That is good news, at least.


    Laosan sighs in relief. He is nervous in the dark, especially when he is aware that man in black might suddenly pop out. This is the third run already, so who knows if it might just start crumbling somewhere.


    Normally, Nightmares begin to change or deteriorate starting from the third run.


    Therefore, most of the Missiontakers would choose to go straight to an Ending between the third and sixth run; any more and they risk the Nightmare crumbling to an irrevocable degree.


    Of course, some Missiontakers still choose to take the risk because, the more the Nightmare has crumbled, the more information would be forced to the surface, and the greater the probability to achieve a True End when the more conservative Missiontakers would quietly leave with a Normal End.


    Laosan is nervously working out the time. There is one minute¡ª¡ªNo, he knows the second number already, so two minutes¡ª¡ªHe doesn¡¯t know the third number, so he has to guess¡­


    His thoughts suddenly digress recalling the scene he saw when the man in black rushed out of this bedroom earlier.


    A woman that was terribly chopped up, all bloodied and gory, on the bed¡ª¡ªThis bed, that is right next to them.


    A woman¡­ The man in black, killed that woman.


    What does this mean?


    What was their relationship? Why did he kill her? What did this have to do with the corridor, a road out from there and the service area?


    And most importantly¡­ The owner of the Nightmare, is a little boy.


    So the most straightforward explanation would be¡­


    Laosan is thinking when someone quietly approaches and whispers, ¡°later¡­ the third number, what should we say?¡±


    While spooked, realising it was just Ding Yi, Laosan quickly calms down to think before saying, ¡°we can only test them one by one.¡±


    ¡°Earlier, when you were counting, one, two, three, four and five, only one, two and four were correct. So for the third and fifth number¡­¡±


    Laosan then says, ¡°since the third number wasn¡¯t three, we¡¯d have to start from five.¡±


    Ding Yi hesitates before asking, ¡°what if the numbers could repeat?¡±


    Laosan freezes.


    In the stream, when Ding Yi voiced her question, the viewers also falls into shock.


    ¡°yeah, what if the numbers can repeat? there isn¡¯t even any pattern anymore, so why can¡¯t they repeat?¡±


    ¡°but¡­ fuck! frankly, if the numbers can repeat, is this damn game even possible?¡±


    ¡°Before we talk about repeating, there¡¯s another question as well¡­ What if they needed to say ten numbers, but one of them is actually above ten? Not even a single digit number anymore? The possibilities become endless at that point¡±


    ¡°true, and who knows how many numbers they have to count even? and if the third number was actually a few billion? I¡¯m exaggerating but if it really was a big number, are they gonna have to test them all?¡±


    ¡°I believe NE wouldn¡¯t come up with an unsolvable conundrum¡±


    That¡¯s right.


    X¨¹ Beijin is nodding in the bookstore seeing what the detective dalao just typed.


    He has been through quite a number of Nightmares already, and he has already seen Missiontakers die countless times because of dangers in the Nightmares, and countless complaints and curses directed at the high difficulty of them, but there is never truly a dead-end in that sense of the word.


    All Nightmares have an underlying logic to them.


    ¡°Numbering off¡­ numbers¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin is quietly muttering those numbers to himself, when suddenly, his eyes widen.


    Meanwhile, Laosan¡¯s face also changes drastically as he yells out, ¡°numbers!¡±


    Erge is leaning on the wall, all irritated, when he hears Laosan yelling, and asks, ¡°Laosan, what¡¯s got into you now?¡±


    ¡°The numbers!¡± Laosan sounds excited for once, saying, ¡°that little boy, back in the Tower, he kept repeating a string of numbers!¡±


    Ding Yi pauses before immediately asking, ¡°so you¡¯re saying that string of numbers are¡­¡±


    ¡°The numbers we have to report right now! It¡¯s possible¡­ There are always clues about the Nightmares themselves in the Tower!¡± Laosan¡¯s voice begins lowering in tone at this point, as he dejected says, ¡°I didn¡¯t memorise them, though.¡±


    ¡°Those numbers?¡± Laoda suddenly interjects to say, ¡°I remember some of them.¡±


    All the other three immediately turn towards him.


    Laoda shrugs and explains, ¡°I just remember three of them, though. One, two and seven. They were the beginning, and the brat kept saying it over and over again, so it was drilled into my head. It was one, two, seven something something¡­¡±


    Laosan is enthused, again.


    When suddenly, another ¡°number off!¡± fires off. Laosan almost reflexively shouts a ¡°seven¡± in return, but he quickly bites himself on the tongue to stop himself with the pain.


    And he quickly says, ¡°two!¡±


    It is correct.


    He sighs, relieved.


    ¡°Looks like you saved our asses,¡± Erge pats Laoda on the shoulder, saying with a smile, ¡°good on you.¡±


    Laoda chuckles with an awkward ¡®hehe.¡¯


    After that second number, Laosan quickly begins to churn his brains while discussing with Ding Yi.


    They have four numbers now, one two seven four.


    No repeated numbers yet, so if they discount that possibility for now, they would try other numbers for the fifth position.


    ¡°So, what would the fifth number be?¡±


    Laosan gives it a thought before saying, ¡°I don¡¯t recall what the string of numbers the boy was repeating was, but it wasn¡¯t a long string; it¡¯s definitely less than ten numbers long, and they were all single numbers¡­ Up to ten, at most. They were all just one character.¡± (TL: This is possible to tell because Chinese numbers are all single-syllabled from zero to ten)


    Ding Yi nods and says, ¡°if there¡¯s no repeated (TL: Or skipped) numbers, then that string would be between seven and ten numbers long.¡±


    ¡°One, two, seven, four¡­¡± Laosan murmurs, ¡°the remaining ones are three, five, six, eight, nine and ten¡­¡±


    ¡°Would there be a zero?¡±


    Laosan furrows his brows and says, ¡°you wouldn¡¯t number off with a zero normally, right?¡±


    Ding Yi nods and accepts; they don¡¯t have too much time to ponder about that anyway, and asks, ¡°so, we¡¯ll be going with three for the fifth number?¡±


    Laosan is still hesitant, though.


    It¡¯s hard to decide. Of course, even if they got a number wrong, the corridor team would still try to keep the man in black over at their side as much as possible, but¡­ It¡¯s as unreliable as they come.


    Worst-case scenario, the moment they got the number wrong, the man in black and his machete comes for them immediately; this is not a pleasant thought for sure.


    Though this is only the third run, so even if the man in black was here, they could perhaps still make it through two rounds of numbering off¡­


    ¡°Alright,¡± Laosan agrees after some thought, but then adds, ¡°we will still report the numbers in order after that.¡±


    Ding Yi is surprised to hear that.


    Laosan explains, ¡°we reported five for the fifth number before, so we¡¯ll go with three this time. Then six for the sixth one, and seven¡­ we¡¯ll think about it if we make it, and then eight for the eighth, etc. I think we should try all the numbers at their expected positions first, what do you think?¡±


    He asks everyone else¡¯s opinions again first, as usual.


    Right now, they know that the third and fifth numbers were wrong and the third is actually seven, but one, two and four are correct.


    This proportional of correct numbers means it isn¡¯t guaranteed that the number corresponding to its position in the string would definitely be wrong.


    What if the sixth number was actually six, for instance?


    Of course, they know the seventh number isn¡¯t seven, assuming the numbers do not repeat¡­


    Laosan is growing anxious again, and subconsciously turns towards Erge for help, asking, ¡°Erge, what do you think?¡±


    Meanwhile, Erge, annoyed at the unchanging darkness, just answers tersely, ¡°that¡¯ll do.¡±


    Laosan then sighs in relief.


    Ding Yi also goes with the flow and accepts to do as Laosan says.


    It would seem the bedroom team has come to a productive agreement. Meanwhile¡­


    The other team is very troubled indeed.


    Since X¨¹ Beijin saw that the bedroom team has already come up with a plan, he switched the camera over to the corridor, feeling quite profoundly like he is just a director cutting scenes.


    And right now, it has merely been two minutes and a bit since the new run began.


    And in just these two minutes, the corridor team has been locked in a heated argument.


    Of course, mainly between Selfish and Scapegoat.


    Selfish is chastising Mu Jiashi for agreeing to help Laosan¡¯s team out of their pinch; he is unwilling to risk dying from the man in black.


    Scapegoat lambastes Selfish for being selfish.


    But telling Scapegoat to be Laosan¡¯s team¡¯s scapegoat? Then, no way.


    And that¡¯s what they¡¯ve been arguing about for the whole two minutes after the third run began.


    Even when they are being chased by the man in black.


    Mu Jiashi heaves a weary sigh.


    When they arrive at the empty parking lot, ready to speed chase their way to the service area, Mu Jiashi suddenly says, ¡°I¡¯ll stay.¡±

 Volume 2 - CH 28.2

    Everyone is looking at Mu Jiashi.


    ¡°I¡¯ll stay,¡± Mu Jiashi repeats himself.


    Selfish makes a disdainful smirk and says with a surprised tone, ¡°oh? I can¡¯t believe I was right, you¡¯re actually some selfless saint?¡±


    Then, the man that has always been unenergetic and unmotivated raises his head, giving Selfish a stony gaze, as he makes himself clear, ¡°in this situation, to leave this Nightmare, we have to work together. If you¡¯re unwilling to sacrifice yourselves, then I can only sacrifice myself. At least, I have the right to decide when I¡¯ll sacrifice myself.¡±


    Selfish goes silent.


    Scapegoat can feel a frigid chill down his spine as he realises that, Mu Jiashi isn¡¯t just some kind, saintly figure ¨C He isn¡¯t. He is solely driven by risk and reward.


    Right now, because neither Selfish nor himself want to sacrifice themselves, and it is not the time to abandon them for good yet, therefore, Mu Jiashi chose to sacrifice himself.


    Yet, if the situation calls for it, then Scapegoat is sure that Mu Jiashi will immediately act in the most pragmatic way to maximise the gains from the situation, all in the name of the best interest for the team. He would not hesitate even if he had to betray every single one of them.


    A na?ve saint?


    No! He¡¯s a damned profit-driven demon that can even sell himself out if it means the greater good to him!


    Scapegoat is shuddering, and is also thinking about the fact that there are all these monstrous Missiontakers in this Nightmare¡­ Terrifying.


    The Tower is a place filled with people of hidden talents¡ª¡ªAnd that is not necessarily a praise; it implies there are all sorts of perverse, mad, insane people in the Tower, especially when the situation in the Tower often drives people to their limits and cause their values to change for the worse; death is no longer a deterrent or a haven.


    They cannot die, so they can do whatever they want.


    Scapegoat even knows a true nutcase himself ¨C that person seeks the joy in death itself.


    No matter what Nightmare they were together in, if they ended up with that nutcase, then the Missiontakers will have to wait until that person has had enough thrilling deaths, namely by experiencing all the possible ways to die in the Nightmare, before they can actually try to resolve it.


    They¡¯ll already have restarted the Nightmare several times by that point, and the difficulty of it would have risen sharply.


    Though strangely enough, though the nutcase always seeks the thrill of death in those Nightmares, yet each and every time they at least achieve a Normal End, and even sometimes secure a True End.


    Because of that, some Missiontakers who are truly desperate for a chance to ascend to a higher floor, would actually seek out the nutcase to join whatever Nightmare the person ends up in.


    Though people like that nutcase are really the minority here. People that are merely weirdos¡ª¡ªAre infinitely more common.


    In any case, Scapegoat really is feeling under the weather by now.


    He has never seen this man before; Mu Jiashi has an unremarkable appearance and was apathetic and self-loathing the entire time, calling himself a piece of trash and a loser, and yet, his ruthless attitude and behaviour means Scapegoat could never afford to underestimate him.


    Selfish, meanwhile, couldn¡¯t care less, and heads directly for the closest vehicle nearby.


    Mu Jiashi is standing at the exit of the corridor. He turns his head around to look at the man in black; this time, they ran away more quickly, and so the man is still about two hundred metres or so behind them. He¡¯ll be here in at least thirty seconds.


    While he has the big machete in his hand, ¡®chasing¡¯ them, but he is moving at a sluggish pace.


    Mu Jiashi is dissing inside, but then glances back at the Missiontakers and can¡¯t help but mention, ¡°I suggest that car closer to the road¡­ never mind, just choose whatever you want.¡±


    He suddenly loses motivation in the middle of speaking again.


    Though Selfish and Scapegoat listened and headed for the car further away. In the car, Scapegoat honks and pokes his head out of the window to ask loudly, ¡°dalao?¡±


    Lin Qin hasn¡¯t boarded yet.


    He is leaning lazily by the wall on the right side of the exit to the corridor, saying, ¡°I¡¯ll stay here; leave me be.¡±


    Mu Jiashi almost looks moved.


    Lin Qin doesn¡¯t even so much as lift his head to say, ¡°not for your sake.¡±


    Mu Jiashi ¡°¡­¡±


    His mood sinks back down immediately.


    Lin Qin rubs his chin as he recalls what happened right in the final moments of the last run.


    During all the chaos, gore and noise, Laosan and Mu Jiashi quickly finalised their cooperation, but Ding Yi also quickly approached Lin Qin.


    That was also a factor that made Lin Qin unable to stop the man in black from killing someone in the end, otherwise, given his mood, he might have helped moved them out of harm¡¯s way.


    The woman with the grue hair walked to his side to quietly whisper, ¡°dalao, please help out a little.¡±


    Lin Qin ignored her at that point.


    Ding Yi did not seem discouraged, when she continued, ¡°I am aware that you are searching for drinks recently¡­¡±


    Lin Qin furrowed his brow to look up at her with a cold gaze.


    ¡°I am a Necessities Merchant,¡± Ding Yi was perhaps aware that Lin Qin would not physically hurt someone no matter what, so she wasn¡¯t deterred, explaining, ¡°I could provide you with a shipment of the drinks you want. They are already packed up in a certain empty house in the Tower. If you help stop the man in black the next run of the Nightmare, I would tell you where that house is.¡±


    Unoccupied houses are open to anyone in the Tower, though most people aren¡¯t in the mood to acquire any, outside of Necessities Merchants like Ding Yi.


    Lin Qin thought about it for a second before agreeing and also adding, ¡°just this once.¡±


    He did happen to be looking for drinks, for the sole purpose of trying to get X¨¹ Beijin to fight him. He collected them openly without keeping anything under wraps, so naturally, well-connected Merchants like Ding Yi would learn of that news.


    Still, it is an invasion of privacy, so he is slightly annoyed.


    Therefore, despite Ding Yi offering him drinks for practically nothing in return, he is not at all friendlier towards her.


    He saw it as her way of making it up to him; an equivalent exchange.


    Merchants being Merchants, even if Ding Yi is taciturn and introverted in the Tower, she still possesses certain qualities.


    And it has to be said that Ding Yi¡¯s information network and her use of the information were intriguing.


    Nowadays, Missiontakers like Ding Yi, who has managed to forge her own empire in the Tower through her efforts, rarely enter Nightmares anymore.


    In fact, that was why Mu Jiashi was surprised to see her in the first place.


    The reason is that they now value their lives and the faction they have built up. If they did end up losing themselves forever in a Collapsed Nightmare, all that work would have been for naught.


    The Tower never forces any Missiontaker to go into a Nightmare, so many Necessities Merchants would, of course, stay inside the Tower and not visit Nightmares barring extraordinary circumstances, and that applies to Ding Yi as well.


    She hasn¡¯t entered a Nightmare for nigh-on three years now, and the fact that she chose to enter this one, should mean she has prepared herself to the bone; even if she wasn¡¯t able to achieve a True End, she should at least have means to guarantee her safely leaving the Nightmare in the end.


    Mu Jiashi didn¡¯t know what the guarantee was.


    Meanwhile, right now, seeing Lin Qin staying at the entrance of the corridor, the curious Mu Jiashi asks, ¡°dalao, why did you stay?¡±


    Lin Qin gives him an idle peek, but still answers, ¡°that Necessities Merchant promised to give me drinks for free. In exchange, I¡¯ll stay here.¡±


    Mu Jiashi has figured out Ding Yi¡¯s guarantee by now.


    It¡¯s Lin Qin. And not just because Lin Qin is here, either, but because, Ding Yi has acquired information¡ª¡ªInformation that can influence even Lin Qin. Even if it was a method that would only work once, and even if she may very well anger Lin Qin, Ding Yi still had to gamble.


    Perhaps¡­


    Is Ding Yi genuinely disinterested in ascending to a higher floor? No. Of course not. No normal person would be.


    She could always look for the Golddiggers, but that is not a foolproof course of action either. Even the most famous of Golddiggers could still fail.


    And the one and only Mu Jiashi who had maintained a 100% track record was on the higher floors, as far as she knew.


    Thus, Ding Yi still decided to seize the opportunity and gamble on Lin Qin.


    As for the ¡®seized opportunity¡¯ known as Lin Qin, what he would feel about that¡­


    Right, he¡¯s not happy about it, at least.


    Nor is he ever really happy, in any case. Like right now, he is more preoccupied with wondering whether the drinks Ding Yi has prepared would be enough to persuade X¨¹ Beijin to fight him seriously for once.


    If it could, then all is well; Lin Qin is not one to mind using his martial prowess to help out a little.


    That¡¯s how he has been all these years in the Tower. He pays no mind to whoever it was that received his help every now and then, but many of them probably remembered the favour¡ª¡ªAssuming they haven¡¯t succumbed to any Nightmares yet.


    This was a part of how even someone behaving as strangely as Lin Qin could still live carefree in the Tower and to be crowned the ¡®dalao¡¯ by all the Missiontakers. Otherwise, not everyone would have just stood by watching him idly hanging out about the different Nightmares.


    Many a Missiontaker have a sliver of hope that, somehow, one day, Lin Qin would suddenly ¡®activate¡¯ and save them all from the Nightmares, you see. Even people like Ding Yi would think this way.


    While Lin Qin looks to have agreed to Ding Yi¡¯s deal, though if even those drinks aren¡¯t enough to make X¨¹ Beijin agree to fight him¡­


    Well, Lin Qin would never go back on his word; he will deal with the man in black, alright, but Ding Yi would not exactly look good in Lin Qin¡¯s eyes anymore, either.


    All this is to say that, X¨¹ Beijin is the crux of everything right now.


    And the person in question himself¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin, he¡­


    He¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Wait, what?!


    What did Lin Qin just say?!


    The Necessities Merchant agreed to provide drinks, so Lin Qin is helping out in this Nightmare?


    £Ä?£Ò?£É?£Î?£Ë?£Ó?!


    X¨¹ Beijin is sitting stone-faced behind the bookstore counter, seriously pondering a question.


    If, he did brawl with Lin Qin in a Nightmare, then, he probably, could revive¡­ couldn¡¯t he?


    It just feels like it would hurt. Bad.


    But¡­ How should he say it? What Lin Qin is doing is actually really troubling him.


    X¨¹ Beijin heaves a weary sigh, trying to ignore all the friendly teases from the viewers in the stream. He could just about picture those comments, but hopefully they won¡¯t start to fantasise about the relationship between him and Lin Qin.


    He chooses to see no evil.


    With his mood now souring, he feels like eating the soft candies Dai Wu gave him, but he only remembers when he is going through his pockets, that the Nightmare has restarted, and so the free candies have been ¡®respawned.¡¯


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He sits there quietly, yawning, bored with living already.


    So sleepy¡­


    Then he decides to try to energise himself a little. He pokes his head out above the counter to look at the water dispenser in a corner of the bookstore, and grabs some warm water from there. He takes some sips as he returns to the counter, when his casual glance notices something, and he stops.


    ¡°Eh? This is¡­¡±


    He has actually kept what Dai Wu said in mind, that there were clues about the Nightmare in the bookstore.


    Though he didn¡¯t find any when he was back. Until now, that is.


    X¨¹ Beijin puts his cup of water onto the counter and extends his hand to grab a newspaper from the shelf below the counter.

 Volume 2 - CH 29.1

    When X¨¹ Beijin picks up the newspaper, the viewers in the stream are still paying attention to the corridor team.


    Selfish and Scapegoat have driven away.


    These two have been on bad terms ever since the beginning. Despite all their arguing, though, they somehow ended up in a team. Quite the mysterious scene, it sure is.


    The man in black is already near the parking lot now.


    With both Lin Qin and Mu Jiashi stopped at the entrance to the corridor, the man in black raises the big machete in his arms while chuckling fiendishly; his steps are a bit quicker than before, too.


    Mu Jiashi asks, slightly nervous, ¡°dalao, how do we stop him?¡±


    Lin Qin is now standing straight and, giving him a glance, asks, ¡°how else?¡±


    Mu Jiashi is looking at him all confused.


    Lin Qin takes a step forward while the man in black is about to slash at them, and, through some inexplicable procedure that Mu Jiashi¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t discern, Lin Qin has managed to dislodge the machete and taken it for himself!


    Mu Jiashi ¡°!¡±


    Lin Qin, with the big machete in hand, pointing the blade right at the black mask of the man in black, orders with a frigid tone, ¡°you¡¯d better bloody stop there!¡±


    The man in black ¡°¡­¡±


    Who is trying to kill who here? Oi!


    Mu Jiashi is completely stupefied.


    In the stream, after some mass barrage of exclamation marks and ellipses, one comment slowly trudges along going ¡°i feel a bit sorry for the man in black¡­¡±


    ¡°even thru the mask u can also tell the man must be questioning life right now¡±


    ¡°Too bad he¡¯s a mass murderer¡±


    ¡°he¡¯s just a poor little lamb shocked by the dalao, so never show mercy!¡±


    ¡°btw, with that fighting power, wouldnt he just breeze thru all the nightmares? wouldnt the game balance be off then? whyd a player like that exist?¡±


    ¡°he feels almost like a bug, huh¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin has been reading the newspaper in the meantime when he notices these, and after realising what happened, he also begins sighing.


    As expected, there is no way he can even hold his own against such a Lin Qin in a brawl.


    Nope, no way at all.


    Maybe he should refuse, after all¡­ No matter how rare, how valuable, how much he likes the drinks Lin Qin acquired for him, he would refuse¡­


    While X¨¹ Beijin is mulling over this, Ding Yi, currently on high alert inside the bedroom, can feel a chill down her spine.


    Is her danger sense tingling?


    She reflexively begins to recount her course of actions, trying to work out if she ever overlooked anything, or did anything that could cause catastrophe later on.


    No matter how much she scoured her memories, though, the most risky thing she has done recently is the deal with Lin Qin.


    If that¡¯s the case, though, she¡¯s gone so far now, and she can only keep going. She doesn¡¯t want to be trapped in the bottom floor of the Tower forever, and besides¡­


    When suddenly, another ¡°number off!¡± blasts through their eardrums.


    This time, it is asking for the fifth number.


    They have already gone through one, two, seven and four. From the fifth number on, they know nothing at all.


    Ding Yi almost subconsciously turns towards Laosan, even though she can¡¯t see him at all, but he knows approximately where he is; right now, in Ding Yi¡¯s mind, this timid man is already the second most reliable person in the Nightmare.


    The most reliable of course being Mu Jiashi.


    Yes, she knows him, of course, having introduced clients to him; in fact, she was informed almost as soon as Mu Jiashi returned from the higher floors.


    Combine that with knowing that Mu Jiashi has actually chosen this Nightmare for his return run (TL: Implying what Mu Jiashi was speculating in the last chapter was partly wrong), and also that Lin Qin is in this Nightmare as well, convinced Ding Yi to gamble on this Nightmare in the end.


    Other than that, given Ding Yi¡¯s experience, she could certainly have also negotiated with Lin Qin in a much better manner and avoid angering him at all; she chose to provoke him instead, because, obviously¡­


    She¡¯s readying him for a Special End when he goes berserk in the future.


    It can really be said that Ding Yi has armed herself to the teeth for this Nightmare. In fact, she has already laid out her plans for her business in the future with her subordinates, just in case. Though all she has done to ready herself makes her confident that she¡¯ll at least achieve a Normal End or a Special End courtesy of Lin Qin in this Nightmare.


    Ding Yi is thinking about this in the room, while Laosan also shouts a ¡°three!¡± as per their previous plans to shout the same numbers as per their position, excluding those that are wrong, which will be tested with the first number that hasn¡¯t been reported yet ¨C this translates to three for the fifth number and six for the sixth number. As for whether that is going to work¡­


    Laosan is waiting anxiously.


    The next second¡ª¡ª¡±a useless piece of trash that can¡¯t even count properly can just go to hell!¡±


    ¡°Fuck!¡± Laosan cusses.


    Everyone is tensed and fearful.


    Yet, even after a while, the heavy breathing of all four of them is still the only sounds to be heard in the pitch black bedroom. That man with the big machete is nowhere to be found.


    ¡°He¡¯s stopped¡­¡± Laosan murmurs, ¡°that man in black¡­ They managed to stop him!¡±


    He is so elated he is almost dancing in place. He is glad he asked Mu Jiashi for help¡ª¡ªWhile Ding Yi is also glad that she asked Lin Qin to help. As for which of their preparations worked best, they¡¯ll probably only be able to find out the next time they meet them again.


    Laosan calms back down quickly enough. He knows that while the man in black is stopped this time around, it doesn¡¯t mean they will be able to keep him at bay every single time. That man in black will likely become more powerful over time as the Nightmare crumbles more and more later on.


    Laosan is murmuring to himself, ¡°if only we knew what the numbers were¡­¡±


    Yet, the minute is fixed. However anxious or unwilling they are, they can only wait until time continues to tick along slowly.


    This feeling, akin to waiting for one¡¯s eventual death in the dark, is definitely not a good one.


    Laosan takes a deep breath an says, ¡°we¡¯ll go with six for the sixth number.¡±


    Ding Yi replies, ¡°that fifth number just now¡­¡±


    ¡°Assuming the numbers don¡¯t repeat, and three and five are both wrong, then the fifth number can only possibly be six, eight, nine or ten.¡±


    ¡°That range is small enough, but¡­¡± Ding Yi hesitantly continues, ¡°what about the seventh number, then? Should we keep trying three, or¡­?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait until after we see how six goes,¡± Laosan chuckles bitterly, ¡°this is like the world¡¯s most frustrating riddle.¡±


    Ding Yi concurs, ¡°yeah¡­ And we have to bide as much time as we can. This run, we have to at least figure out how many numbers there are in total.¡±


    Then the room falls into silence for a while.


    Soon enough, another ¡°number off!¡± hits them.


    The sixth number.


    Laosan takes a deep breath and says with a trembled tone, ¡°six.¡±


    He is so nervous that he can feel his body shaking. He has made a decision for once ¨C He doesn¡¯t know if it¡¯s correct¡­ When the fifth number wasn¡¯t three, he was shaken greatly already.


    The man in black was stopped then, but they might not be able to stop him every single¡­


    Suddenly, he realises it¡¯s all quiet around him¡­ Quiet for too long.


    Ding Yi asks, her tone equally shaky, ¡°we¡¯re¡­ right?¡±


    A moment later, Laosan yells out, ¡°we¡¯re right! The sixth number is six!¡±


    He exhales heavily and can feel his whole body giving out after all that tension. His brain is just blanked out now. He is still in disbelief that they are correct.


    ¡°Then the seventh number¡­¡± Ding Yi gulps to make her parched throat a little more comfortable, before continuing, ¡°what should we try for the seventh number?¡±


    Laosan has calmed back down a little, starting to think after taking a few deep breaths, ¡°the seventh one¡­ We only have three, five, eight, nine and ten.¡±


    ¡°Six is gone¡­ So, the fifth one would be either eight, nine or ten.¡±


    Then suddenly, their gazes meet in the dark as they shout in unison, ¡°three!¡±


    Since the fifth number wasn¡¯t three or five, then the possibility of the seventh one being three or five is now much greater; no guarantees, but it is at least much more likely than eight, nine or ten (TL: Because they don¡¯t even know if the string of numbers is that long).


    Between three and five, since they decided to go in numerical order, they¡¯ll start with three.


    One minute later, after another ¡°number off!¡±, Laosan steels himself to shout, ¡°three!¡±


    Silence ensues.


    ¡°We¡¯re right!¡±


    He proclaims loudly, and being so excited, he directly embraced Ding Yi, only realising what he just did after they separated¡­


    Not that he¡¯s too concerned about their different genders, but more so that he could easily be accused of being a Carddealer for that.


    With a wet blanket draped over him all at once, Laosan hesitantly and quietly explains, ¡°sorry, I wasn¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s alright,¡± Ding Yi is smiling, even though nobody could see it in the dark; she then says, ¡°let¡¯s keep going.¡±


    Laosan sighs in relief even though he¡¯s still uncertain, but the excitement and ecstasy has faded for sure. He can feel a little frustration at the Nightmares and the Tower in general, and also, a deep-seated sense of hopelessness.


    Yes, they¡¯re almost done with the mysteries in this Nightmare.


    Yet, who would help them solve the mysteries chaining them here?


    He takes a deep breath and then says with a slightly more gravelly tone, ¡°then, the eighth number¡­¡±


    Meanwhile, in the stream, after Lin Qin took away the big machete from the man in black, they enter a standstill.


    Or more like, the man in black and Mu Jiashi are both simply in shock. Lin Qin does a few practice swings and offers a compliment while nodding, ¡°this is pretty good.¡±


    Mu Jiashi & the man in black ¡°¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin then quietly moves the stream over to the pitch black bedroom and bore witness to the whole number guessing charade alongside the viewers.


    The viewers seem underwhelmed, typing, ¡°hey, looks like the counting isnt too hard either¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s merely non-repeating integers from one to ten, they can even try listing all possibilities and trying them out one by one, since it¡¯s not many; they are definitely lucky though that they remembered how the little boy counted outside the Nightmare¡±


    ¡°makes sense, dalao, because if they didn¡¯t know, everything¡¯d really be up in the air¡±


    ¡°hey, even if there are all these unreliables here, there are also more reliable ppl here than the last it looks like¡±


    ¡°it remains to be seen whether the reliable people can carry the unreliable ones¡±


    ¡°so the 8th number¡­¡±


    ¡°Beibei! Beibei, any thoughts?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin turns his attention to the comments when he sees his name floating across the comments, and gives the question some thought before answering, ¡°the eighth number could now be five, eight, nine or ten, though according to what they discussed, they¡¯ll probably pick eight.¡±


    ¡°Eh? Beibei, do you think the eighth number isn¡¯t eight?¡±


    ¡°Probably not,¡± X¨¹ Beijin shakes his head and explains, ¡°you see, all seven numbers up to the seventh one were one, two, seven, four, unknown, six and three. There are four numbers, five, eight, nine and ten remaining. Do you notice something odd about them?¡±


    ¡°¡­ ill admit im stupid¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m so not suited for this game [cry emoji]¡±


    ¡°Beibei, you also noticed?¡±


    ¡°it¡¯s the dalao! i knew it, the dalao has telepathic abilities with Beibei¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin couldn¡¯t help but smile noticing that comment.


    Then he explains, ¡°the reason it¡¯s strange, is that the three consecutive numbers from eight, nine and ten are still unassigned at this point, because there are only four potential numbers remaining.¡±


    ¡°eh¡­¡±


    ¡°uh, i got the first part i guess¡±


    ¡°If ten numbers are required in total, from one to ten, (TL: And given some numbers are randomised), it is highly unlikely, statistically, for eight, nine and ten, all three consecutive numbers to still remain entirely unassigned by the seventh number¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin nods to concur, ¡°this means that, for the fifth, eighth, ninth and tenth place to happen to exactly be the numbers five, eight, nine and ten, would approximately occur with a probability of¡­¡± he pauses only briefly before answering, ¡°four percent.¡± (TL: Haven¡¯t done the maths myself, but this is probably just calculating the likelihood that 5, 8, 9 and 10 just happen to be arranged in some random order in the 5th, 8th, 9th and 10th position)


    ¡°oh, ok, i see that probability is low¡±


    ¡°We know that the seven numbers prior were all jumbled up, so the fact that there are still three consecutive picks available by the eighth number is highly unlikely. This unlikeliness increased the more numbers they reported without having assigned eight, nine and ten at all.¡±


    ¡°¡­ wait i still dont understand! so what if the fifth eighth ninth and tenth were 5 8 9 and 10, maybe 10 is the fifth and 5 8 and 9 for the eighth ninth and tenth positions respectively, that¡¯s still jumbled right? it could just have been some rare case?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin smiles to explain, ¡°you¡¯re correct, but since we are guessing, we would first consider situations that are most likely to occur, therefore¡­¡±


    Before he could finish explaining, though, the pitch black room is filled with another wrathful ¡°number off!¡±


    The sudden hug with Ding Yi meant their thoughts were pretty chaotic for the minute. They didn¡¯t think about the numbers all that much, so going with what they discussed, Laosan immediately says, ¡°eight¡­¡±


    The moment he spoke, Ding Yi reflexively yells out, ¡°wait¡­¡±


    Too bad, that the simple, single-syllable word has already jumped out of Laosan¡¯s throat at that point.


    The bedroom is all silent.


    The moment the Missiontakers are about to celebrate¡­


    That is when, back in the corridor, among the three people still in a standoff, the man in black suddenly makes a vicious chuckle and say, ¡°a useless piece of trash that can¡¯t even count properly¡­¡±


    The next second, his form disappears!


    Mu Jiashi mutters in shock, ¡°how could this be¡­¡±

 Volume 2 - CH 29.2

    The man in black has teleported inside the pitch black bedroom again. His big machete, once taken by Lin Qin, is now also back in his hand. In the narrow, cramped space, he is slashing all around, making thrilled, uproarious laughter as he does so.


    Laosan is barely holding onto consciousness from the pain.


    When they didn¡¯t even hear that ¡°go to hell¡± remark, he was almost convinced the eighth number was eight! But¡­ why did the man in black still appear?!


    His emotions having been through such a rollercoaster, it is hard for him to keep calm. While howling in pain and clumsily trying to avoid the attacks from the man in black, he is also trying to work out what went wrong ¨C It couldn¡¯t be! It couldn¡¯t have been?!


    Laoda and Erge are both in even worse shape mentally, cursing at the other four Missiontakers already while still trying futilely to resist the big machete; however, the man in black can see them, but they can¡¯t see him at all.


    Slowly, the sounds grow quiet.


    The thick, sickening scent of blood has again filled up this small, dark, empty room.


    Yet, no one has died yet. This is an arduous torture through-and-through. The merciless psychotic murderer would not stop his slaughter just because they have fainted. In fact, how his victims stop resisting in a defenceless posture only seems to trigger his desire for bloodlust even more.


    There is an even more gravelly, terrifying cackle and roar coming from his throat. He is almost inhuman at this point, resembling more an untamed, wild beast.


    Ding Yi is biting her lips hard. She shrunk into a corner in the very beginning, so she had the lightest of injuries among them. Right now, she is still capable of reasoning.


    Without a question, what summoned the man in black must have been because of them calling out a wrong number. Yet why did he appear so suddenly this time, without that sentence he would blurt out every time¡­


    And this must have implied that Lin Qin failed to stop this man in black. That is simply inconceivable!


    Ding Yi knows Lin Qin¡¯s martial prowess all too well, that is why she now concludes that this must have been a scripted event ¨C a punishment stemming from their previous, incorrect course of action, that cannot be resisted or thwarted.


    So the reason is, what led to this scripted mass murder?


    Is it simply because the eighth number was wrong¡­


    Wait, eighth number?


    A spark of brilliance flashes through Ding Yi¡¯s mind as she shouts, ¡°eight numbers! There are only eight numbers in total!¡±


    One of the pieces of information they knew was that the little boy¡¯s string of numbers was not exactly long. It was definitely less than ten numbers in total.


    And this strange event occurring right at the eighth number can only imply that, in fact, they have already finished numbering off, haven¡¯t they?


    This scripted event only triggered because several of the numbers they yelled out were wrong. Therefore, at the end of the numbering sequence, the man in black would appear no matter what to commit his murder.


    When Laosan hears what she just said, he realises what¡¯s been going on.


    He makes a weakened cough and tries to move his body a little to avoid the big machete, but he fails. He foregoes dodging altogether and tries his best to ignore the pain to focus on reasoning.


    Eight numbers in total.


    Yes, they only need to report eight numbers in total.


    When the seventh number was confirmed, his mind has had a subtle sense of incongruence all along already. Ding Yi was trying to stop him from saying eight earlier too¡­ Now, he finally gets it.


    The chance that the three consecutive numbers of eight, nine and ten still being unassigned towards the end is too small!


    This means that nine and ten probably weren¡¯t part of the string in the first place. And they only had to assign the numbers from one to eight.


    And now, only five and eight remained unassigned; the eighth number isn¡¯t eight, so that can only mean¡­


    The eighth one is five, and the fifth number is eight!


    This makes the string one, two, seven, four, eight, six, three and five.


    They know all of the numbers now! They just have to verify it once in the next run of the Nightmare!


    Laosan is ecstatic again, and when death comes knocking at his door, he is thinking, perhaps, this is what they call the silver lining?


    ¡­ Selfish and Scapegoat would beg to differ, however.


    The moment the Nightmare restarted, they have an equally grim expression as they ask Mu Jiashi, ¡°did you die in the last run?¡±


    Mu Jiashi doesn¡¯t understand why they¡¯re asking, but shakes his head honestly.


    Therefore, the both of them rush right for the door at the end of the corridor, and Selfish opens it right up, yelling angrily, ¡°did you fucking do that on purpose?!¡±


    The fresh light is almost blinding to the four Missiontakers in the pitch dark room, who are looking at them, almost in shock.


    For once, Scapegoat is agreeing with Selfish to scold them, ¡°we almost managed to dig up clues about this Nightmare!¡±


    In the third run of the Nightmare, the bedroom team remained in the bedroom. Mu Jiashi and Lin Qin stopped the man in black, while Selfish and Scapegoat drove along the road to reach the service area they couldn¡¯t explore in the first run.


    Laosan¡¯s lips are still trembling from the wave of emotions that have washed over him earlier. His brain processed the information they talked about just fine, though, and so he reflexively asks, ¡°what did you find out?¡±


    Selfish rolls his eyes at him, clearing not wanting to talk.


    Scapegoat takes a deep breath to force himself to calm down before explaining, ¡°we met a cashier there; I told him we were being chased by a man dressed in black who was trying to kill us, and he said, he knew who that man was.¡±


    Mu Jiashi, who followed the duo into the room, immediately asks, ¡°who is the black man?¡±


    ¡°Fuck! That¡¯s where we were stuck at!¡± Scapegoat blurts out angrily, saying, ¡°the last time we got to the service area, you died; this time we almost got some key information, and you died again. What the actual fuck, man?!¡±


    Selfish coldly sneers, saying, ¡°y¡¯all kept dying and dying and dying, why wouldn¡¯t you just die for good, then?!¡±


    ¡°Oh? Then why don¡¯t you die in my place then?¡± Erge¡¯s tone is frigid. He orders, ¡°I¡¯m talking about you! Go and die!¡±


    Selfish¡¯s face is all red.


    Erge points his finger right at him, and says with a death glare, ¡°stop fucking acting like some bitch here. Die, die, die¡­ Tell that after you have fucking died to that once in this Nightmare!¡±


    In a pitch-black bedroom, dying in fear and discombobulation, unaware who it even was that was killing them, and bleed their last in gore, in pain, in hopelessness, in a mortally wounded body¡­


    Erge asks, ¡°well? Are you ready to die then? Or are you not even brave enough to try it once?¡±


    Selfish¡¯s chest is rising and falling dramatically; he feels livid and insulted all over. He is mad, maddened by all these Missiontakers in this Nightmare, since a long time ago.


    He yells out, ¡°fine! You bunch of inept useless pieces of shit! Get out, all of you! Get out! I¡¯ll do it!¡±


    Erge is chuckling mockingly while he walks out of the dark bedroom.


    Selfish knocks his shoulder past him when entering the bedroom.


    ¡°Erge¡­¡±


    Laosan is calling out.


    Erge stands to the side, crossing his arms in front of his chest, saying, ¡°out, all of you. He can stay in there alone.¡±


    Laoda follows suit without question. Laosan and Dingyi hesitate a little before walking outside as well.


    Finally, the door to the pitch black bedroom is about to be shut, leaving Selfish alone inside.


    Before the door goes shut, Laosan suddenly recalls and yells out, ¡°remember! One two seven four eight six three five! One two seven four eight six three five!¡±


    He repeats it twice loudly, and it looks like Selfish¡¯s mouth is mumbling along.


    The door shuts entirely.


    Laosan seems to be lost for a few seconds before asking, ¡°so now¡­¡±


    Mu Jiashi seems to have finished thinking and heads for the corridor¡¯s other end without hesitation. Everyone else follows.


    Ding Yi approaches Lin Qin and quietly tells him where she stored the drinks and how to enter that house; the erstwhile owner of a house could set up how they want the door to be protected, from passwords to passphrases.


    Lin Qin nods; he has memorised it.


    A short while after the door to the bedroom has gone shut, the man in black has appeared out of nowhere again, chasing after them from the end of the corridor.


    Meanwhile, that door leading to the car park outside is still wide open instead of disappearing outright like how it was in the second run. They can drive to the service area freely this time.


    The Missiontakers are looking at each other, nonplussed, before turning to Erge.


    They opened the door to the pitch black bedroom both times, so why is the door still wide open only this time? Is it really just because someone was still in the bedroom?


    Well, yes¡­ Though, why did Erge just trade places with Selfish so confidently? Did he know or guess something?


    ¡°I just felt like trying,¡± Erge shrugs to say, ¡°alright, I¡¯ve had enough of that stuffy black place, anyway. Let¡¯s go somewhere else.¡±


    Soon enough, the seven Missiontakers, aboard two cars, are speeding along the expressway to reach the service area.


    As for Selfish, left behind, alone, inside the dark bedroom¡­


    Nobody seems to care about him at all.


    In the stream, the viewers have all been shocked by this turn of events.


    ¡°woah, what a way to get revenge and get out of danger at the same time!¡±

 Volume 2 - CH 30.1

    Out of the corridor and into the car, then rushing as fast as they can to the service area takes about three minutes.


    And they¡¯ve also wasted two minutes in the corridor already.


    Selfish numbering off eight numbers should take eight¡­ no, seven minutes in total. This means they only have about two more minutes to gather information in this service area.


    ¡­ Because they are not sure what would happen when all the numbers have been said correctly.


    Laosan can¡¯t help but feel slightly regretful now.


    They should have left someone there, after all. Now they can¡¯t be certain what happens after all the numbers are reported correctly.


    As for Selfish telling them honestly?


    Yeah, right. Laosan isn¡¯t one to consider meaningless assumptions.


    Meanwhile, since Scapegoat is also on the car he¡¯s in right now, he hesitates for a bit before asking, ¡°what did you actually come across in the last run of the Nightmare?¡±


    Scapegoat rolls his eyes at him and says, ¡°you wanna know? Well, you know what, sure¡­ just remember that it was all going well until your side screwed it up.¡±


    He complains a bit more, looking quite frustrated and angry.


    Laosan stays quiet.


    Shortly after, he seems to have done complaining and begins to detail what happened after he and Selfish reached the service area the last run.


    ¡°When we were at the service area, we didn¡¯t know when something might happen over at your side¡­ We were already scared from the first run, you know. So we decided to get an idea for the place first and walk around. That supermarket was at the far back, and it was really big, so we took a look inside.


    I was arguing with him about the man in black back then, and the cashier reacted strangely, so we asked if he knew anything¡­ Then, that was it. Ho. Ho.¡±


    He coldly chuckles in the end.


    Meanwhile, in the driver¡¯s seat, Erge asks, ¡°looks like you also want to stay a while inside that dark room?¡±


    Scapegoat shrinks back into his seat and goes quiet.


    Laosan thought about what the guy said carefully, and it all seemed to add up, though¡­


    To be fair, he doesn¡¯t trust Scapegoat or Selfish much. He trusts Laoda, Erge, and can tentatively offer trust to Ding Yi, Mu Jiashi and even Lin Qin for now, but he cannot say the same for these Missiontakers that have been disagreeable with each other and them since the beginning.


    So he is suspecting foul play.


    Though he cannot find any issue with what he just told them for now¡­


    Was it¡­ Really the truth?


    Laosan is growing worrisome. He has a feeling that something unexpected will happen in this run of the Nightmare.


    In the stream, X¨¹ Beijin knew the Missiontakers have arrived as soon as seven names popped up under the scene ¡®Expressway Service Area.¡¯ So he switches the camera source over to the service area from the dark bedroom, where he and the viewers have been watching Selfish all along.


    By the way, after the other Missiontakers left, Selfish seemed completely unfazed inside the pitch black space alone. He even remembered that string of long numbers Laosan told him just before leaving, and so was just counting nonchalantly in absolute darkness.


    The viewers were surprised, typing, ¡°eh? hes been hiding his true strength?¡±


    ¡°doesn¡¯t look like he¡¯s dumb or stupid either¡­ why was he even going contrarian against everyone before?¡±


    ¡°maybe its on purpose? so that he alone can enjoy whatever reward it was after numbering off¡±


    ¡°¡­ but he doesn¡¯t even know if the numbers they said were correct or if it was all the numbers?¡±


    ¡°Actually¡­ I have a question.¡±


    ¡°dalao, go ahead¡±


    ¡°Have you all noticed the issue of time?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin suddenly has a spark of brilliance and asks, ¡°you mean, they lied to the other Missiontakers?¡±


    ¡°what what?¡±


    ¡°aw man! Beibei and the detective dalao have the same brain wavelength but I still can¡¯t understand a thing [cry emoji]¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­ in their last run, there were at least eight minutes in total; two minutes and some in the corridor and the time spent on the road meant that they should have only less than three minutes when they reach the service area to gather information.


    Do you think that three minutes is enough for them to even realise which person holds valuable information in the entire service area?


    Beibei already walked us through the service area earlier. We know that it¡¯s big and even crowded in places. How did they even manage to come across the supermarket cashier in less than three minutes? When there¡¯s even Beibei here to detract them?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin couldn¡¯t help but chime in, though, ¡°but then, this creates a contradiction¡ª¡ªIf they already knew the cashier in the supermarket knows something, then isn¡¯t three minutes already enough for them to head straight for him to get that information?¡±


    ¡°oh shit! Beibei¡¯s also right!¡±


    ¡°then they didnt conceal the key info on purpose¡­ but is there even a need? i thought true ends mean all the missiontakers get to go up floors together?¡±


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because they have been at each other¡¯s throats for the whole time? Their anger seemed genuine. Maybe they really were about to get the key information but it was ruined halfway because of the death in the bedroom¡±


    ¡°im more curious about¡­ how this arguing duo actually joined forces?¡±


    ¡°or maybe¡­ they separated to ask for information, and the one now in the bedroom learned something¡­?¡±


    ¡°but they lashed out at the bedroom Missiontakers together earlier?¡±


    ¡°hey say¡­ could the missiontakers present have already discovered the problem with time? maybe they did but they didnt wanna say? cuz they also dont wanna cooperate with the guy left in the bedroom?¡±


    ¡°im dead¡­ im not only stuck with the instances riddles, i dont even know what the missiontakers are thinking anymore¡±


    ¡°this kind of game really isn¡¯t suitable for me either lol¡±


    ¡°dalao, your turn, please¡±


    ¡°Hm? Ok¡­ So what I was thinking was that they probably did end up learning some information that meant they had to go inside the bedroom to secure an initiative¡­ or something? Maybe they were calling the bedroom team ¡®inept useless pieces of shit¡¯ in order to smooth their way into the bedroom, too¡±


    ¡°sigh¡­ we shouldve watched the two of them in the stream back then¡±


    ¡°but the numbering off was tense and thrilling too; so basically, when there are too many scenes, even Beibei can¡¯t change the scenes in time anymore¡­ his director skills need improving (no lol)¡±


    ¡°apologies, so its actually director bei? [hold_fist_greeting emoji]¡±


    ¡°that¡¯s fine really, even TV dramas need some cliffhangers for tension¡­¡±


    ¡°yea¡±


    The comments are having fun again. For the viewers with a bird¡¯s eye view on everything, they might be troubled and curious, but they are sure they¡¯ll learn about everything eventually.


    X¨¹ Beijin is a little more concerned than them, though, since Selfish is behaving really differently inside the dark bedroom from how he usually was, that is, temperamental and dumb.


    And since he didn¡¯t know what Selfish and Scapegoat ran into in the third run of the Nightmare either, there is nothing for him to base his speculations on.


    Perhaps, he could go ask Dai Wu again¡­?


    This is definitely an advantage of the Actors.


    Though, the last time he went, that guy was already all mysterious; he isn¡¯t sure whether he would tell him about everything this time.


    While thinking so, he turns his attention back to the service area.


    All seven Missiontakers are proudly marching into the service area before fanning out to search for clues individually.


    The service area layout resembles the ¡®»Ø¡¯ character with the opening in the middle down below as the entrance. There are some tuck shops and eateries lined up right beside either side of the entrance. The left side contains the public restroom and drinking fountains. The large supermarket is at the very back. The right side contains some shops, including X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore.


    There is also a plaza in the middle containing some flowerbeds and benches.


    Scapegoat just told them he almost got the identity of the man in black from the cashier in the supermarket, and so, this time, he also heads straight for the supermarket.


    Laosan, Ding Yi and Mu Jiashi all follow him, but Laoda and Erge have decided to explore elsewhere.


    Nobody asks Lin Qin where he¡¯s going; and the man in question ends up following Scapegoat, heading for the supermarket.


    The purpose is¡­ of course, for X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s drinks problem.


    Lin Qin is quite the simpleminded but stubborn individual. He¡¯ll try his best to do whatever he¡¯s decided to put his mind to.


    Since they¡¯re headed for the supermarket, they¡¯ll have to circle around either the left or the right of the plaza (TL: Why don¡¯t they just go through the plaza? Unless it has no path through the middle for some inexplicable design reasons), and naturally, they steer clear of the public restroom and take the right side.


    Thus, Lin Qin immediately spies X¨¹ Beijin inside the bookstore.


    And his steps naturally diverge from the others towards him, and leads him right into the bookstore.


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    The viewers follow the rest of the Missiontakers towards the supermarket, so none of them notice that, in the little window on the bottom right of their screen, their host is now in trouble.


    Lin Qin heads straight for the counter and greets him, ¡°hello again.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is quiet for a moment before deciding to ignore Lin Qin entirely and pretend he does not know him in the Nightmare¡ª¡ªYes, that¡¯s how it always should have been. Lin Qin doesn¡¯t know about Actors anyway!


    All the Missiontakers thought that the Tower residents are just game NPCs.


    They do not confuse the Nightmares with the Tower. They believe that Tower residents remember nothing inside the Nightmares, and even if they did, they probably treat them as real nightmares in the first place; and it¡¯s the other way around in the Nightmare, they think the residents remember their memories in the Tower, and if they¡¯re not the owner of the Nightmare who is usually mentally insane in one way or another, then their personalities would be similar as well.


    In fact, that is why some Missiontakers would take advantage of that to do whatever in the Nightmares and act like nothing happened back in the Tower. Because the Server prohibits Actors from blowing their covers, they can only swallow the pain and, in the end, it is always the Actors who mentally suffer.


    Even when Actors that did end up mentally insane show how they remember what happened in the Nightmare indirectly, the Missiontakers would somehow come to the conclusion that, ¡®oh, these residents did end up turning into their mad self in their Nightmares, huh.¡¯


    In other words, since the Missiontakers have all already bought into the whole ¡®NPCs are NPCs¡¯ premise, no matter what the Actors do, they will find a way to rationalise from that false context, especially when many of these Missiontakers don¡¯t pay close attention to Tower residents most of the time in the first place.


    This conundrum has troubled endless Actors and dragged them into a hopeless abyss. Many times they have tried to hint at their roles as Actors in all sorts of indirect ways, but their compadres, their own kin, would never pick up the cues.


    And apparently, how the Missiontakers came to largely dismiss the Tower residents was a habit that developed after seeing how the Tower residents would do all sorts of weird attention-seeking things that made the Missiontakers think they¡¯re insane instead of digging deeper into their identities.


    Some Missiontakers would even remark on how advanced NE¡¯s AI must be to simulate madness so vividly.


    No Missiontaker would consider the possibility that these Tower residents are humans, just like them, at all.


    Tower residents all have all sorts of disabilities, physical or mental ¨C This is the image that causes Missiontakers to disregard the possibility of working with them or sympathising with them.


    Their thoughts are ¡®confirmed¡¯ even more unquestionably when they meet the owner of a Nightmare that they¡¯ve seen in the Tower; Missiontakers do end up quirky or devastated from all the mental stress, but what the Nightmare owners do in the Nightmares can only make them question, whether humans are truly capable of turning into¡­ that.


    Therefore, unless it is to acquire information in the Nightmare, no Missiontaker would interact with Tower residents in or out of the Nightmare.


    Thus, someone like Lin Qin, who chased after a resident from the Tower to the Nightmare and back, is really rare and even strange, not to mention the fact that every single time he¡¯d just ask X¨¹ Beijin to ¡°let¡¯s fight¡± over and over again.


    Over time, X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t really remember whether he has actually properly Acted his role each and every time he has met Lin Qin now. Has he ever slipped up anywhere?


    None of that matters, though, because this time, he is ready to ignore Lin Qin¡¯s requests entirely.

 Volume 2 - CH 30.2

    X¨¹ Beijin stands up, and, in accordance with his status as an extra, he shows a business smile and asks Lin Qin, ¡°welcome, are you looking for any book in particular?¡±


    Lin Qin asks in turn, ¡°if I bought all the books in your store, would you fight with me?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He is looking at Lin Qin with this mystified expression, while the man with the baby-face is looking at him with his head tilted slightly and a serious expression that suggests he doesn¡¯t consider this proposal absurd at all.


    X¨¹ Beijin is silent for a moment before slowly saying, ¡°no, I wouldn¡¯t.¡±


    Lin Qin makes a disappointed ¡®oh,¡¯ before replying, ¡°I¡¯m preparing drinks for you, though¡­ I¡¯ll give them to you later.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is surprised to hear that, but then he sighs; he should say something, but he can¡¯t find the words.


    Lin Qin has an expectant look on his face.


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but wonder, what does it mean to Lin Qin for him to brawl with him? Why is Lin Qin so insistent on this?


    For someone to be so driven in the Tower¡ª¡ªEven though he is the target driving him¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin lowers his eyes, calmly apologising, ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    It was the answer he expected to get, so Lin Qin makes a disinterested sigh. He then stares back at X¨¹ Beijin, asking, still not ready to give up yet, ¡°is there anything else I can do, then? I heard you like drinks, so I was keeping an eye out for you; is that not enough for you to agree to fight with me? I really wanted to know¡­¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t win against you,¡± X¨¹ Beijin answers, ¡°I also really want to know why you would think that¡­¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Lin Qin interrupts him in turn, ¡°it is possible you could win against me. You¡­ You¡¯re special.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin asks, slightly exasperated at this point, ¡°I do not know what you see in me that makes me special, but¡­ I can tell you I don¡¯t know how to brawl, and I am not going to fight you, either,¡± he then firmly adds, ¡°even if you try to bribe me with drinks.¡±


    ¡°A hundred bottles.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin almost bites his tongue saying so, ¡°no!¡±


    Lin Qin stands up straight and furrows his brows, then asks, ¡°not even if I would pay for everything you drink forever?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He shakes his head resolutely while feeling speechless inside.


    What do you think this is; what even is this ¡®paying for a lifetime of drinks¡¯ thing?


    If X¨¹ Beijin didn¡¯t have such a good temper, he might already have been annoyed to death by Lin Qin¡¯s clinginess, or rather, he¡¯s already close.


    Lin Qin then suddenly says, ¡°you look like you¡¯re clearly tempted by the offer, though.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes you are,¡± Lin Qin explains, ¡°you clearly like drinks, so I can give you what you like. Then, can¡¯t you also think about giving me a fight, that I like? My instincts are telling me you were definitely interested in the drinks I am preparing.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Seriously annoyed, he makes himself clear by pronouncing each word separately, ¡°not, fighting, means, not, fighting.¡±


    Lin Qin, refused yet again, sits sulking on the chair at the entrance to the bookstore.


    ¡­ D¨¦j¨¤ vu?


    X¨¹ Beijin is pouting inside, thinking about how he¡¯s going to take that damned chair away the next run of the Nightmare!


    It is almost like a repeat of the last Nightmare, where Lin Qin sat at the entrance to his bookstore, and X¨¹ Beijin sat behind his counter, quietly watching the stream, and being unable to interact with the viewers at all.


    He can¡¯t help but wonder, if Lin Qin was born just for the sake of annoying him?


    Instincts¡­ seriously?


    ¡­ Oh sure! He¡¯s super interested in the drinks Lin Qin mentioned, alright!


    But he is also firmly in the camp of not fighting Lin Qin!


    It sounds like it¡¯ll basically just be him getting a pummelling¡­ X¨¹ Beijin can only hope that time will gradually chip at Lin Qin¡¯s interest in him.


    He sighs inside, and takes a sip of his glass of water in silence.


    Lin Qin very timely interjects with a ¡°drinks¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to fight.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    The bookstore is enveloped in awkward silence yet again.


    X¨¹ Beijin feels hopeless already.


    This is just like that last Nightmare, isn¡¯t it?


    Is it? Yeah, it is.


    Same bookstore, his same self, the same Lin Qin, a same chair, and same silence.


    They say it¡¯s a gift to be able to meet someone during their short lives; he and Lin Qin would meet time and time again instead.


    ¡­ He should really be chasing Lin Qin out, but someone who treasures their life as much as X¨¹ Beijin definitely doesn¡¯t have the courage to.


    He has probably used up his whole life¡¯s worth of courage on refusing to fight with Lin Qin.


    In the end, all X¨¹ Beijin could do is just turn his attention back on the other Missiontakers in the stream.


    Acting as if this could save him from his embarrassing predicament somehow.


    In the stream, meanwhile, the four Missiontakers, Scapegoat, Mu Jiashi, Ding Yi and Laosan, have run into the cashier Scapegoat and Selfish talked about earlier, that is, Dai Wu, who X¨¹ Beijin talked to earlier.


    Though Dai Wu did not tell him about the clues he had, and so, X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but be curious about what Dai Wu knows.


    Mu Jiashi, Laosan and Ding Yi all stay quiet, so it is Scapegoat who instead is talking with Dia Wu.


    ¡°Hello, we just met someone dressed in black who was trying to kill us¡­¡± Scapegoat¡¯s lack of acting skills is on full display here ¨C the danger of the event he is talking about and his lacklustre, monotonous tone is in full contrast ¨C ¡°do you know who he is?¡±


    In the Missiontakers¡¯ eyes, Dai Wu is just a simple information-providing tool-person NPC, and so they just need to trigger the appropriate keyword and the NPC will tell them the key information associated with it.


    Just as they expected, the cashier looks quite nervous at the mention too, asking, ¡°man dressed in black¡­? Is he, holding a machete?¡± (TL: The appropriate response would have been the cashier calling the police, I think, but this is also an equally likely scenario in this novel ¨C for reasons you will see much, much later)


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    The cashier seems really frightened and wouldn¡¯t really say anything useful. It is only after some prodding from the Missiontakers that he says, ¡°I¡­ I heard some rumours. They say that, the town had a case of a wife being murdered¡­¡±


    ¡°A wife murdered?!¡±


    The cashier nods to say, ¡°after that, the killer was missing. The townsfolk were all saying that the weapon he used was a big machete, that is how he could turn his wife into¡­¡±


    He wouldn¡¯t speak anymore; he looks terrified and disgusted.


    The four Missiontakers are standing in a row in front of him.


    Laosan then asks, ¡°and so that man in black was the killer?¡±


    The cashier hesitantly nods, quickly adding, ¡°I¡¯m not too sure, really. If you mention a machete, though¡­ I can only think of that.¡±


    ¡°Do you know anything else about that murder case, then?¡±


    The cashier shakes his head to say, ¡°I don¡¯t know much¡­¡± He looks like he¡¯s trying to remember, then he adds, ¡°oh right, the couple had a young son that was about ten years old, or so I¡¯ve heard.¡±


    ¡°A son?¡± Mu Jiashi repeats what he said reflexively.


    Ding Yi suddenly interjects to say, ¡°Laosan, your group said that before you were in this Nightmare, you met a boy, would he have been this surviving child?¡±


    Laosan is hesitant, but he nods in the end to say, ¡°possibly.¡±


    ¡°And that kid is the owner of the Nightmare?¡± Mu Jiashi asks, then says, ¡°that would explain the source of this Nightmare; his father killed his mother¡­¡±


    Ding Yi nods but asks, ¡°you don¡¯t know who the owner of this Nightmare is? I¡¯m sorry, I mean¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± Mu Jiashi tells her honestly, ¡°I just picked whichever door to go inside. I didn¡¯t find out what the Nightmare was.¡±


    Ding Yi is shocked.


    She thought Mu Jiashi came back to the bottom floor to try and reestablish his name once more, and therefore would only enter a Nightmare when well-prepared, so that it would be all but guaranteed he¡¯d succeed.


    She didn¡¯t imagine he would have picked a random Nightmare at all.


    Was he that confident that he wouldn¡¯t lose himself in a Nightmare he did not prepare for at all?


    There weren¡¯t much information on this Nightmare back in the Tower, but Ding Yi chose to enter because she knew that both Lin Qin and Mu Jiashi went inside; this was her source of confidence.


    And she was even more confident when she learned that the trio that Laosan is part of had direct contact with the boy in the Tower.


    They came well-prepared, but so it turned out that Mu Jiashi¡­


    The man in question has his head down. He makes a bitter chuckle.


    He said, ¡°I believe you know the reason that I returned to the bottom floor of the Tower,¡± he rubs his cheeks and sighs to say, ¡°I can only tell you, that I am just a complete, total failure of a man, miss.¡±


    Ding Yi is silent. She really wants to ask, if he is seriously just going to wallow like this just because of that one failure.


    The introverted and cool side of her prevailed, though, and given there are other Missiontakers present, she would not pry at Mu Jiashi¡¯s wounds at this very moment.


    Also, what Mu Jiashi has shown through his actions this Nightmare is evidence that he is definitely still that powerful Golddigger that was once a game changer in the bottom floor.


    Though¡­


    That one failure of his sure was devastating.


    Scapegoat is impatiently speaking up next to them, ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re going on about¡­ But can you at least keep in mind where we are right now? We don¡¯t have much time left!¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Mu Jiashi quickly apologises, then thinks for a bit before asking the cashier again, ¡°do you know anything about that son of the couple?¡±


    The cashier shakes his head to answer, ¡°not really. He¡¯s¡­ been missing for a long time, I think.¡±


    Mu Jiashi nods and falls into thought.


    The mother is killed, the father is at large, the son is missing. It sounds like these would be the key issues they need to solve in this Nightmare.


    He turns around to discuss it with the others, when he suddenly spies, out of the corner of his eye, that after hearing what the cashier said, Scapegoat clearly looks shocked.

 Volume 2 - CH 31.1

    ¡°What else did you know?¡±


    When Mu Jiashi noticed Scapegoat¡¯s strange expression, Laosan speaks up before he does.


    The guy has been suspicious about Scapegoat and Selfish for a long time already, and so seeing Scapegoat like like confirms his suspicions inside even more.


    Really, none of them trust each other at all, but at least Laosan can swear he has never misled or lied to the two of them; in fact, when Selfish went into the dark bedroom, he even told them the sequence of eight numbers they found out with their lives at stake.


    Therefore, Selfish and Scapegoat clearly hiding something from them makes Laosan deeply infuriated.


    Especially¡ª¡ªWhen back in the car, Scapegoat was confidently retelling them what the two of them did the last run of the Nightmare. Is any of that even true now? Did they make it all up?


    Scapegoat is acting shifty and wouldn¡¯t say anything concrete, which is already proof that he definitely hid something.


    X¨¹ Beijin, watching this play out inside the stream, feels like talking to the viewers ¨C while his screen is only on the bottom right of the stream right now, but he can just choose to open ¡®host¡¯s audio source¡¯ to keep talking with the viewers.


    In just a short period of time, X¨¹ Beijin has already come around to the idea of talking with the viewers and sharing his thoughts. It is both because of the viewers¡¯ wishes that caused X¨¹ Beijin to feel a sense of responsibility as a host, and also¡­ it was a source of liveliness for X¨¹ Beijin, who has always been alone up to this point.


    Before he says anything, though, realising Lin Qin is still present, he can only swallow his words back into his throat.


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡­ Never mind.


    The comment barrage in the stream is having a riot, meanwhile.


    ¡°i knew it!!! they were sus!!!¡±


    ¡°though we don¡¯t know if it¡¯s this one or that one in the bedroom who¡¯s behind it¡±


    ¡°then ask! lol i really wanna know what they were trying to hide¡±


    ¡°It has been eight minutes¡±


    ¡°?! dalao reminded me! this means the bedroom is done right?¡±


    ¡°director Bei, time to work!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin smiles and changes the screen over to the dark bedroom, but is taken aback.


    There is no one in the bedroom!


    The door is wide open; some light has pierced through the darkness from the outside, so the night vision was no longer needed either. The screen now looks normal.


    The viewers all type question marks into the comments.


    X¨¹ Beijin glances over at the list of scenes on the right, where names of the Missiontakers also are. Seven of the names are still inside the Expressway Service Area, but one name alone is under the Expressway scene.


    X¨¹ Beijin moves the camera source over.


    Selfish is driving, or rather, escaping from the car driven by the man in black who is inexplicably chasing after him again.


    The man is clearly not a good driver.


    Even though the man in black hasn¡¯t exactly sped up by this fourth run of the Nightmare, but because Selfish doesn¡¯t know cars or driving, he picked a car that¡¯s bad at acceleration (TL: Should be low maximum speed here), so the car of the man in black is casually following behind and Selfish isn¡¯t able to lose him.


    Selfish is all sweaty right now, murmuring, cussing, shaking, mumbling, ¡°I don¡¯t want to die¡­ I don¡¯t want to die, man¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin checked out the car chase from a bird¡¯s-eye view first before pulling the camera closer to observe Selfish in the car¡ª¡ªAnd gets surprised, because Selfish isn¡¯t alone in the car.


    There is even a boy who is sitting in the backseats, quivering!


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s eyes widen reflexively as information suddenly links up and forms a logical chain in his mind. He feels like he knows the truth of this Nightmare now, or at least, part of the truth, but¡­


    What about the endings?


    Right now, among the viewers of the stream, the detective dalao is perhaps the only one who is able to parallel X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s thought process, though he is also typing on the comments, ¡°No wait, this makes no sense, why is he driving towards the service area? What does he actually know?¡±


    The rest of the viewers are all acting cute, but that doesn¡¯t help the fact that they have no brains.


    ¡°my head cant deal with all the difficult info¡±


    ¡°where did this boy come from? is he the owner of the nightmare?¡±


    ¡°hmm, he looks normal, unlike that dollmaker who was so¡­ insane¡±


    ¡°looks a little pitiful sitting there¡­ wait, hes not the bad guy right?¡±


    ¡°are you having some ¡®Nightmare owners are bad guys¡¯ PTSD?¡±


    ¡°anyway so i was thinking, the guy was numbering off in the dark bedroom and probably correctly too, so the correct sequence makes the boy appear?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin nods when he sees this comment.


    Yes, the boy must have been hiding inside the wardrobe, and once the Missiontakers said the correct sequence, the door can be opened¡ª¡ªOr the boy would leave the wardrobe.


    Instead of numbering off, it¡¯s more like they¡¯re yelling out a verbal password.


    Everyone has understood up to this point now, but¡­


    ¡°y¡¯s he taking the boy to the lay by tho?¡±


    ¡°and why was he hiding in the wardrobe?¡±


    Because¡­


    He was afraid.


    X¨¹ Beijin closes his eyes and answers the question in his mind.


    When Mu Jiashi, searching for Lin Qin, enters the bookstore, this is the scene he runs into.


    An expressionless, handsome man, with his eyes closed and a serious poker face. He is sitting behind the counter, upon which is a single glass of water.


    Perhaps he is tired. Perhaps he is troubled by Lin Qin¡¯s presence. Perhaps he is uncomfortable with this Nightmare overall, but in any case, he doesn¡¯t look very well. There is a rather discouraging aura about him.


    It makes Mu Jiashi pause a little, but not because of his appearance or his countenance.


    He is looking right at X¨¹ Beijin, his eyes widen a little but returns to normal soon enough¡ª¡ªHe recognises this Tower resident.


    He has once interacted with him.


    He knows this person runs a bookstore. He is always dressed in a white shirt and has heavy eyebags under his eyes. His hair is unkempt, and his appearance is devilishly handsome¡­ These are all remarkable features. So remarkable that, despite the time passed ever since he last saw him, Mu Jiashi still recognised him immediately.


    He once had a vivid impression of him and was morbidly curious as well, desperately wanting to enter his Nightmare. Yet, after he failed, the man, for some reason, provided him with a clue about another Nightmare. This is something that he never understood.


    Why would this unkempt, asocial bookstore owner know clues about other Nightmares? Why does he never sleep? Why does he not let Missiontakers into his Nightmare?


    And also¡­


    Mu Jiashi tilts his head to glance at Lin Qin.


    Why is Lin Qin here? Did he come here seeking for this Tower resident? Does he know him, or¡­


    Even though his brain is filled with all these questions, on the surface, he just looks like he stopped in front of the door for a bit before coming back to himself.


    True, he was once really interested in X¨¹ Beijin, and even in Lin Qin, too, who was once the topic du jour between him and his friends in his Golddigger team, when they excitedly talked about ways they could pull the dalao into their team¡­


    The past is in the past, however.


    It has to be said that while that failure in the upper floors of the Tower destroyed him, and many Missiontakers think so, too, but, given his strength and intellect, it was definitely not out of the question that he could rebuild.


    The point is that, even before that, and really, starting from the moment he decided to leave Golddigging behind, he has already deviated from the daily life he has become used to.


    The Tower¡­


    He so laments, before packing his emotions back in. He decides against greeting X¨¹ Beijin at all.


    He asks Lin Qin, ¡°dalao, we plan to go back to the corridor and check it out. Are you coming with us?¡±


    After realising Selfish and Scapegoat have concealed something, because Scapegoat wouldn¡¯t talk, they could only return to the corridor and back to the dark bedroom to check out what happened.


    Also, because the Nightmare still hasn¡¯t ended after the expected eight minutes, it means that Selfish must have avoided being killed by the man in black by numbering off the correct sequence of numbers.


    Would this also cause changes in the bedroom?


    They will also have to find out.


    Laoda and Erge are still somewhere in the service area, so after some discussions between Mu Jiashi, Ding Yi and Laosan, they went separate ways and Mu Jiashi and Laosan would head for the bedroom. Ding Yi would stay.


    Mu Jiashi happens to see Lin Qin on his way out, though, and decides to tell him.


    Although Mu Jiashi looks unenergetic, he is unable to bring himself to act aloof throughout the Nightmare and do nothing even if he has already come to learn things.


    His personality that puts the team above all else also makes him prioritise the team member of Lin Qin, who is disinterested but whose every action still carries an immense weight.


    ¡­ Yes, as far as Mu Jiashi is concerned, Lin Qin is also obviously part of the team; at least, in the last Nightmare, he helped them (TL: Out of obligation only, though).


    He¡¯s at least much better than Selfish or Scapegoat ¨C even someone as disheartened as Mu Jiashi already is still can¡¯t help but be annoyed at the two of them.


    Mu Jiashi would rather not show his anger blatantly on his face like Laosan, though. In fact, he hasn¡¯t even told the whole thing to Lin Qin, merely telling him what they¡¯ve decided to do right now.


    In the bookstore, both X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin turn towards Mu Jiashi.


    At the same time, because Mu Jiashi has dragged the video feed of the stream over with him, the audience also suddenly realised Lin Qin is again by their host¡¯s side.


    ¡°eh? why¡¯s the dalao by Beibei¡¯s side?¡±


    ¡°since Beibeis first stream hes been here to try to fight with Beibei, but hes here again¡­ hmm¡±


    ¡°his name was¡­ linqin right?¡±


    ¡°hahaha the little apple is so fixated on our Bei¡±


    ¡°? little apple?¡±


    ¡°¡®Lin qin¡¯ may refer to two different plants. Either apples or sugar-apples¡ª¡ªAccording to Baidu Encyclopaedia¡±


    ¡°holy shit little apple lolol¡±


    It takes everything X¨¹ Beijin could muster to force himself not to break into laughter.


    Connecting Lin Qin¡¯s image with an apple¡­ Seriously? The name really is a bit unusually casual, though.


    Lin Qin, blissfully unaware of X¨¹ Beijin and the viewers joking about his name, just gives a disinterested glance at Mu Jiashi and says lazily, ¡°I¡¯m not going.¡±


    Mu Jiashi nods and is about to leave when he spies X¨¹ Beijin and hesitates before nodding to say goodbye too. Then his gaze lowers onto the newspaper right in front of the counter below.


    Just like Ponytail, he also instinctively realises that the Server, NE, would never just randomly place printed magazines and books anywhere. Any legible information is definitely useful.


    He walks forward and takes the topmost newspaper from there, and his gaze locks onto one of the article headlines.

 Volume 2 - CH 31.2

    [WOMAN MURDERED IN SLEEPY TOWN!]


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s gaze fixates on the headlines for a little bit, but because he¡¯s in a hurry, instead of continuing to read, he looks back up at X¨¹ Beijin, asking, ¡°laoban, how much is this?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s free. Take it with you,¡± X¨¹ Beijin shakes his head and smiles, mentioning, ¡°I remember you.¡±


    Mu Jiashi appears surprised, and hastily responds, ¡°thanks¡­ Not just for the newspaper, and also¡­¡±


    ¡°No problem,¡± then he points towards Laosan, looking all anxious outside, ¡°I think that is your companion outside?¡±


    Mu Jiashi follows his finger and murmurs, ¡°that¡¯s right¡­¡± Then he hesitantly asks, ¡°laoban, later, can I look for you in the Tower to talk?¡±


    He knows where X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore is.


    Well, that is pretty much assuming they¡¯ll not have a True End in this Nightmare too; if they did, the meeting may be postponed practically indefinitely.


    X¨¹ Beijin nods and says, ¡°certainly.¡±


    Mu Jiashi gives him a complicated look before leaving with the newspaper in hand.


    He knows that, he is interested in this particular Tower resident because¡­ outside of him not sleeping and liking drinks, X¨¹ Beijin is far too normal.


    That is not how the Tower residents are. They know they¡¯re insane, disorderly. Their actions are chaotic, desperate and full of hopeless self-loathe.


    They are like mould growing inside this decrepit, narrow tower structure. They are some rotten, stinky stain that all Missiontakers would rather avoid;


    And not¡­ Not like X¨¹ Beijin.


    He owns a bookstore. He enjoys sweet drinks. He wears a shirt that has been washed so many times it is decolouring¡ª¡ªHis hair is messy and unkempt, but, he is definitely clean. And, his gaze is always calmly, unreadably cast onto all the outsiders.


    If he appeared more insane, evil, twisted, then the Missiontakers wouldn¡¯t have taken much interest in his Nightmare in particular ¨C with so many Tower residents, why should they fixate on him alone?


    Because he is far too normal.


    All the strange behaviour and odd aspects of the residents have left X¨¹ Beijin alone.


    Such a special Tower resident will, naturally, attract the Missiontakers¡¯ attention, suspecting whether he carries some secrets related to the Tower, or even, if he might hold secrets to leaving the Tower for good.


    Mu Jiashi was one of those adhering to that line of thought.


    He, who just left his Golddigger team behind, desperately needed to prove how correct his decision was. Therefore, he chose X¨¹ Beijin. Even though he ended up failing to uncover his secrets in the end, but he did successfully go up to a higher floor.


    Although he has since met with another failure. And this failure¡­ could be permanent?


    When Mu Jiashi leaves the bookstore, X¨¹ Beijin is also mulling about him, staring at his retreating silhouette.


    That is when Lin Qin slowly speaks up besides him, ¡°you would let him visit you in the Tower but not fight with me?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He turns his attention back to Lin Qin, looking at him with this vexed expression; he doesn¡¯t exactly know how to explain.


    Lin Qin asks, ¡°I can give you drinks forever. Can he?¡± He says, matter-of-factly, ¡°no, he can¡¯t. So, why wouldn¡¯t you agree to fighting with me?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin opens his mouth but no words come out. He is thinking that, Lin Qin¡¯s world¡­ sure is simplistic to a fault.


    It seems that Lin Qin treats fighting no differently from casual greetings.


    So his logic would be, Mu Jiashi wants to visit X¨¹ Beijin, and X¨¹ Beijin agreed; so Lin Qin wants X¨¹ Beijin to fight with him, X¨¹ Beijin should also have agreed.


    X¨¹ Beijin ponders how he should reply, then tells them, ¡°but, for me, having a fight is a completely distinct thing from receiving a guest.¡±


    ¡°Oh, then can I go visit you?¡±


    Lin Qin continues his brute-force logic to conclude, that if he is able to visit X¨¹ Beijin in the Tower, he may be able to more easily figure out why X¨¹ Beijin is unwilling to fight with him ¨C and then, deal with that reason directly.


    X¨¹ Beijin looks like he just choked on his words hearing Lin Qin¡¯s sincere question.


    Recalling how he has endlessly refused Lin Qin¡¯s invitation without hesitation; and how he just agreed to Mu Jiashi visiting him, while Lin Qin makes the exact same request¡­


    Although hesitant, X¨¹ Beijin ends up relenting, ¡°of course.¡±


    He almost feels like he is opening the cage to an untamed beast with that answer, though.


    Lin Qin¡¯s eyes seem to light up as he makes a beaming smile with that adorable baby-face. Then he asks, ¡°where do you live?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin tells him his address.


    Lin Qin seems elated to hear, remarking, ¡°oh, so it¡¯s actually just around the corner from where I live!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is quietly thinking how misleading Lin Qin¡¯s appearance is, especially when he is smiling. He looks so sweet and gentle, though¡­ What do you know, under this innocent fa?ade is actually a ferocious, uncontrollably wild beast.


    The same way that, what do you know, despite the sharp features, the sombre, abyssal mood surrounding X¨¹ Beijin which convinced all the Missiontakers he is hiding some big, big secret, fundamentally, he is merely a harmless, righteous, traditional ¡®good person.¡¯


    No one could believe either at first glance, though.


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but sigh.


    Then, when he thinks about it, he suddenly realises that this means that after the Nightmare is over, he will be receiving two old acquaintances.


    Putting Mu Jiashi aside, he actually knew Lin Qin for quite a while now, too. Though because Lin Qin would only ever ask him to fight tirelessly, he basically knows nothing about him.


    After the Missiontakers have accepted the fact that he is a monster that never sleeps and lost interest in his Nightmare over time, his bookstore has rarely seen any liveliness like this.


    X¨¹ Beijin is even feeling a little nervous by now.


    He is wondering if he should open up some rarer drinks he collected which he couldn¡¯t bring himself to waste to treat them.


    Meanwhile, after leaving X¨¹ Beijin behind for now, Mu Jiashi is walking outside with Laosan while looking over the newspaper in his hand.


    This is probably one of the most heinous news that the local newspaper has ever had to report. It is given a horrifying subtitle and is dedicated this whole long section in the newspaper.


    Mu Jiashi quickly skims through the text and extracts some pieces of information from it to compare with what the cashier told them.


    The newspaper contained more detailed information, such as the fact that after the killer has murdered his own wife, he used his machete to chop the corpse into mincemeat, and then flush it down the toilet to destroy evidence.


    And also, when the neighbours heard these loud, inexplicable noises and smelled the strange scent coming from the house, they called the police, who arrived after the killer has already escaped. The ten-year-old boy, hiding in the wardrobe, was discovered then.


    The newspaper doesn¡¯t mention where the boy went afterwards, though.


    There is also an additional warning in the newspaper saying that because the killer is at large, the residents are advised to stay alert, stay safe, and to call the police immediately upon spotting any suspicious individuals.


    Mu Jiashi hands the newspaper over to Laosan for him to read while thinking that this must be the background story of this Nightmare.


    The Nightmare¡¯s owner is that little boy, and the dark bedroom is likely the crime scene. The woman¡¯s cries they heard were probably the reenactment of the murder case.


    But then, what does that make the corridor, the car park and the service area?


    There are a lot of people in this service area too. Would any of them know anything else?


    Mu Jiashi hopes there would be; he and Laosan would be heading back for the bedroom, but they left Ding Yi here to continue gathering information. Let¡¯s hope something turns up.


    And then, after Laosan has finished reading the news, he also realises the important clue and blurts out, ¡°the wardrobe!¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Mu Jiashi nods slightly, saying, ¡°the little boy was likely inside the wardrobe.¡±


    Laosan discusses with him, ¡°we never found out where the Nightmare¡¯s owner was, so he was in the wardrobe all along? Then how do we free him from there¡­ Wait¡­ we numbered off¡­¡±


    He begins murmuring, ¡°would numbering off correctly allow us to find him?¡±


    ¡°We are still not sure what the Difficulty of this Nightmare is,¡± Mu Jiashi sighs and continues, ¡°I doubt it¡¯s just something as simple as numbering off. Remember, we have eight total Missiontakers in here. We don¡¯t know if this is the minimum, maximum or somewhere in between, but no matter what, this is a lot of people.¡±


    On average, there might be five or so Missiontakers in a Nightmare.


    Therefore, a Nightmare with eight Missiontakers in total can be said to be crowded already ¨C it is also a probable indication that the Nightmare is more difficult than usual.


    Laosan is biting his lips in the meantime. It looks like he wants to say something, but he doesn¡¯t.


    In fact, he wanted to ask ¨C the three of them entered the Nightmare together, but he is really curious where the other five people, including Mu Jiashi, came from.


    The little boy is rarely seen inside the Tower; he is always shivering in fear in some forgotten corner.


    It was really through sheer luck they discovered where the little boy¡¯s house was. And before this, they have never even heard about this Nightmare at all from any Missiontakers.


    But even so, there were somehow five others alongside them inside this Nightmare tonight. This is mysterious.


    Laosan can¡¯t help but suspect if Lin Qin is involved, somehow.


    They chased after the boy in the Tower, and Laoda said that he saw the boy disappear near some region which turned out to contain Lin Qin¡¯s house. That was why they were loitering around Lin Qin¡¯s house in the first place.


    After Lin Qin chased them away, they couldn¡¯t find where the boy was anymore.


    So, in the Tower, as far as they are aware, Lin Qin is the only other Missiontaker besides themselves that has interacted with the little boy.


    Yet they also know that Lin Qin is a lone wolf. Even if he might have entered the Nightmare because he knew the little boy, where did these four other people come from?


    Laosan can¡¯t help but feel slightly uneasy.


    An unease that formed as soon as he realised Selfish and Scapegoat were hiding something.


    Mu Jiashi, who is walking right next to him, is also a target of his suspicions.


    They hurry along through the service area and arrive outside where the car they came here in is parked. They are about to board.


    Suddenly, they hear car brakes.


    Laosan and Mu Jiashi both look over.


    And they watch as Selfish exit the car, and then drag a little boy out from the backseats.

 Volume 2 - CH 32.1

    Selfish stops the car and then quickly turns to the rearview mirror to look at the scenery behind. He gulps. He is anxious.


    Right before now, the car of the man in black was still chasing after him, almost catching up by the end. His foot was pushing on the petal to the absolute limit as he rushed into the vicinity of the service area¡­


    And now, the car of the man in black, is gone.


    Selfish pushed hard on the brake immediately afterwards and, with heavy breathing and a stern expression, he pokes his head out of the window to check behind him. His face immediately relaxes when he sees the car is really gone.


    He gets out of the car and drags the boy on the backseats outside.


    Before he can do anything, though, there are suddenly people blocking his way. Selfish raises his head reflexively to see two angry men standing right before him.


    A few minutes later, many Missiontakers have assembled by the flowerbed in the middle of the service area.


    Laoda and Erge are nowhere to be found, but the rest of the six Missiontakers are all present, even Lin Qin who didn¡¯t feel like moving was convinced out here by Mu Jiashi¡¯s patient persuasion to keep order.


    So X¨¹ Beijin is now able to see the Missiontakers all on the stream and also talk freely with the viewers again.


    Four of the Missiontakers seem to be standing near each other, while Selfish and Scapegoat look like they¡¯re cosying up. The little boy is crouched on the ground, shivering, only revealing a pair of eyes to sneak peeks at the adults.


    With Laoda and Erge absent, Lin Qin silent, and Ding Yi and Mu Jiashi both quiet, Laosan speaks up in the end.


    He seems to be holding back some anger as he asks, ¡°in the final moments of the last run of the Nightmare, did you really not hear that key piece of information?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Selfish says, looking all ¡®what¡¯chu gonna do,¡¯ ¡°I told you we almost got the answer when one of you died. Ha, you bunch of useless cretins¡­¡±


    ¡°What I am saying,¡± Laosan¡¯s eyes are reddened, glaring, and saying, ¡°is that, you are lying.¡±


    Selfish rolls his eyes at him, makes a mocking ¡®ha¡¯ to say, ¡°do your worst digging up the truth, then.¡±


    He is clearly admitting to Laosan¡¯s accusation, then. They really did learn something in the last run of the Nightmare, but he doesn¡¯t plan to divulge.


    Laosan angrily complains, ¡°we should be cooperating¡­¡±


    ¡°Cooperating?¡± Selfish gives him another ¡®ha¡¯ and says, ¡°lemme make this clear to you. I, never, fucking, said, that, I will be working together with you bunch of useless dumbasses.¡±


    ¡°You¡­!¡±


    Mu Jiashi takes a step forward and puts his hand on Laosan¡¯s shoulder, calmly telling him, ¡°we don¡¯t need to waste time talking to him.¡±


    Laosan glances back at him, clearly not ready to give in yet, saying, ¡°but¡­¡±


    Mu Jiashi instead turns his gaze over to Selfish and continue to calmly say, ¡°the problem is, this little boy.¡±


    They both look down at the boy crouching on the ground, who, noticing their gaze, tries to shrink even further. He is still trembling. He is in clothes that are too big, unfit for him. Perhaps he took them out of his parents¡¯ wardrobe. He is in fear, but he is silent. He isn¡¯t even crying.


    Mu Jiashi is quiet for a moment before telling Selfish, ¡°I believe you brought him here for a reason. Since we¡¯re also here, though, we want to ask for information from him.¡±


    ¡®Since we¡¯re also here¡¯ is quite the manipulative logic here, though it¡¯s not like Selfish wasn¡¯t himself a manipulator. He looks at the crowd in front of him with this ugly expression.


    Lin Qin takes a step forward impatiently, scaring Selfish, who is taken aback and yelling out sharply, ¡°whatever, just ask!¡±


    Lin Qin gives him an odd look but isn¡¯t interested in analysing his emotions. He just tells the rest of them, ¡°you guys keep going.¡±


    Then he leaves the flowerbed, headed for who-knows-where.


    Mu Jiashi doesn¡¯t dare asking either, and in fact, he¡¯s slightly amused seeing Selfish¡¯s face going white and blue. He didn¡¯t expect this surprising result after inviting Lin Qin here.


    Then he crouches down to maintain equal eye level with the boy and gently asks, ¡°little boy, do you remember¡­¡±


    Though the boy in question seems unresponsive to Mu Jiashi. Or rather, he has just covered up his ears to whimper. He is clearly unreceptive.


    Selfish makes a mocking ¡®tch,¡¯ but Mu Jiashi is unaffected. He merely furrows his brow to sigh.


    Then, he stands up and examines the Missiontakers on his side, falling into thought, before tentatively asking, ¡°missus¡­?¡±


    Ding Yi was blanking out by the side, but she is the only ¡®missus¡¯ present. She pauses for a moment, looking at Mu Jiashi, and gets it. She walks forward.


    When she kneels down in front of the little boy, even Selfish can¡¯t help but hold his breath a little.


    While he was driving here, he also tried to get the boy to talk, of course, but he ignored him entirely. In fact, if he spoke any harshly, the boy looks like he would just start bawling then and there.


    This Nightmare owner really is a pain to deal with.


    Though, while the rest of them might be able to interrogate nothing, Ding Yi could prove differently because she is female.


    Assuming the boy¡¯s father did kill his mother, then he might naturally become fearful of men. Women might work better in this case.


    This is going to be an important test, now, and everyone is nervous.


    Even the viewers aren¡¯t typing as many comments in the stream right now.


    X¨¹ Beijin is also slightly nervous, but he did also divert part of his attention to focus on where Lin Qin is going, worried he might suddenly pull a ¡®The Lin Qin Strikes Back.¡¯


    Though he didn¡¯t end up in the bookstore, instead, according to the stream, his name is now below a slightly surprising place¡ª¡ªThe supermarket.


    Why is Lin Qin at the supermarket.


    Right, there are also Laoda and Erge. X¨¹ Beijin glances down to find them hanging out at the gas station¡­ What are they even doing there?


    X¨¹ Beijin is so curious he wants to switch the camera source over, but he knows that the most important thing here is the conversation between Ding Yi and the boy.


    So he forces himself to turn his attention back to the video.


    Ding Yi has knelt down before the boy, who was always secretly sneaking peeks at the outside world, and when Ding Yi shows up in his vision, he looks a little bit dazed.


    Ding Yi isn¡¯t really good at talking to boys, so she can only show the most gentle smile she thinks she can muster.


    ¡°Mommy¡­¡±


    The boy is muttering.


    Ding Yi is about to speak up when the boy suddenly says, ¡°no, no. Mommy, she was¡­ daddy, he¡­¡± He opens his mouth but doesn¡¯t say a word for a while before finally producing the word, ¡°it¡¯s¡­ killed. I know. I saw it. Killed.¡±


    He begins whimpering after that, but looks like he¡¯s trying hard to keep his voice down.


    Ding Yi puts her hand on her head and gently caresses the crying boy, whose body tenses up and shakes in fear for a moment before calming back down.


    After a small while, Ding Yi softly asks, ¡°you saw it?¡±


    The boy begins to murmur while whimpering, but because he is crying pretty hard now, it¡¯s difficult to discern his words. Behind him, Selfish and Scapegoat both look impatient.


    Finally, after a hiccough, the boy says, ¡°daddy¡­ made me count.¡±


    The Missiontakers all pause in surprise.


    The boy continues, ¡°when he slashes, I have to count up¡­¡± The boys says with tears streaking across his face, ¡°when I count a wrong number, daddy would call me ¡®trash,¡¯ but, but mummy was crying¡­¡±


    He says, before succumbing to crying again.


    Did he understand what was going on? He probably did. Yet, what else could he have done?


    In the stream, after three seconds of total silence, the viewers explode.


    ¡°??? so numbering off meant¡­¡±


    ¡°I thought that last nightmare¡¯s father was as perverted as anyone could be, I was wrong, I¡¯ll repent¡±


    ¡°oh¡­ uh¡­ poor kid¡±


    ¡°I was wondering why the numbers spoken when numbering off went off the rails after one and two¡­ So it was because the boy was witnessing his own mother being slaughtered and told to count, like some sort of countdown for his own mother¡¯s life?¡±


    ¡°no wonder the numbers were wrong¡±


    ¡°i dont know what to say¡­ maybe, thank god this is just a nightmare, just a nightmare in a game¡±


    ¡°¡­ someone is acting as the boy, right? like an actor just like the host? if this was just someone¡¯s script, that is a bit of a relief¡±


    The comment makes X¨¹ Beijin fall into thought.


    That¡¯s true, if the Nightmares in the Tower were mere scripts inside a mere game, then it would really be a relief.


    Meanwhile, by the flowerbed in the middle of the service area, besides the boy¡¯s cries, everyone has fallen silent.


    The boy¡¯s fear, cowering, cries, all seem justified now. Also, the wrathful man yelling ¡°number off!¡± and ¡°a useless piece of trash that can¡¯t even count properly can just go to hell!¡± in the dark bedroom is also explained with that.


    He is chastising his son for being unable to count properly to ten while simultaneously killing his own wife.


    Ding Yi takes a deep breath. There seem to be tears appearing in her eyes. She continues softly caressing the boy¡¯s head to soothe him.


    Mu Jiashi, crouched opposite her, can see her watery eyes. He can¡¯t help but furrow his brows.


    Something feels off. While he has heard about Ding Yi¡¯s characteristics and her accomplishments, he never came to know her well, therefore, he can¡¯t tell exactly what feels off to him right now.


    He turns his attention back to the boy.


    He is slowly calming down. His eyes are all reddened, bulging, and wide open, looking at the woman in front of him with this stupefied look.


    Ding Yi softly asks, as if she is afraid she would spook the boy further, ¡°did you know, why daddy was doing that?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know,¡± the boy replies without much change in his tone, ¡°I didn¡¯t know, why daddy suddenly¡­¡±


    The Missiontakers all furrow their brows.


    Ding Yi then tries asking some more questions, but the boy¡¯s responses are unhelpful.


    Right now, they know basically nothing about the truth of this Nightmare besides the counting. Mu Jiashi, Laosan and Ding Yi huddle together for a heated discussion. Selfish and Scapegoat are standing to the side all quiet.


    Selfish¡¯s lips are moving. He looks like he¡¯s muttering something to himself.


    Scapegoat looks much more anxious. His gaze keeps drifting from Selfish, to the boy, to the supermarket. He appears restless.

 Volume 2 - CH 32.2

    In the stream, seeing the Missiontakers stuck in progress, the viewers begin their own discussion in the comments.


    ¡°the key is this murder case, right?¡±


    ¡°definitely, but the problem is how we analyse that case?¡±


    ¡°could there still be clues left in the bedroom?¡±


    ¡°I think the boy left there is the only clue? don¡¯t think the woman¡¯s corpse would be included, you know, this is the boy¡¯s Nightmare, would it really¡­ you know?¡±


    ¡°makes sense¡­ but i thought the murder already happened once in the second run? so if the bedroom door is shut with nobody inside, the boys nightmare still plays out the murder from before¡±


    ¡°but if missiontakers are there, the nightmare focuses on them numbering off instead¡­ sigh¡±


    ¡°I am more curious about why the service area exists, for the boy to include this in his nightmare, it must mean something happened here?¡±


    ¡°could his dad have escaped here after killing?¡±


    ¡°sounds¡­ possible?¡±


    ¡°we¡¯re the only ones talking, do dalao and Beibei have anything to add?¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m still thinking. Beibei?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is also thinking, but when he sees the comments calling for him, he is quiet for a moment before telling them, ¡°I am more concerned about something else, but it is from a more unusual angle.¡±


    ¡°tell us Beibei! dont keep us waiting!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin makes a slightly awkward smile before telling them, frankly, ¡°well, they discovered the two people were hiding things because one of them had a weird look when hearing that cashier Dai Wu talk.


    So why did what Dai Wu say make him look odd? I think one possibility is that what Dai Wu said in this run of the Nightmare was different from the last.


    The contents of their conversation this time revolved around the boy¡¯s whereabouts. Dai Wu said he didn¡¯t know where he was and that the boy seems to have been missing for a long time. That is when the Missiontaker looked odd.


    Combining that with what the two Missiontakers did in this run, heading into the bedroom alone and bringing the boy to the service area immediately, I am able to take a bold guess that, what Dai Wu told them the last run, must be related to the little boy.


    In fact, they may have directly been told, that the boy was hidden inside the wardrobe, or something similar.


    Currently, the only way we know for sure that explains what happened to the boy is through the newspaper in my store, but in the last run, they did not come here, so the only possibility is that they learned about it from other Actors or NPCs, with Dai Wu being the most likely, all things considered.


    That said, there is still another possibility¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin pauses.


    ¡°what is it? keep going Beibei!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks about it before deciding to spill the beans to say, ¡°it is possible this is not the first time they have entered this Nightmare.¡±


    Nightmares can be entered more than once, of course.


    Even if the Nightmare¡¯s owner is moved to a higher floor, other Actors will end up taking that role and their script.


    Besides that, while this time X¨¹ Beijin is the bookstore owner in this Nightmare, but that doesn¡¯t mean that every single time X¨¹ Beijin would end up being this extra. This is also random.


    Therefore, there is no way for X¨¹ Beijin to know whether Selfish or Scapegoat has once been in this Nightmare when it opened previously.


    One exception was Wu Shen¡¯s Nightmare, though.


    He has been an extra lazing about in Wu Shen¡¯s Nightmare for more than dozens of times, without fail. X¨¹ Beijin suspects that this is because he was neighbours with Wu Shen back in the Tower, so the Server tried to replicate that in Wu Shen¡¯s Nightmare.


    Perhaps a clue was tied to that fact, too. If the Missiontakers knew that X¨¹ Beijin was his neighbour in the Tower, they might be able to make the connection that X¨¹ Beijin would hold clues in the Nightmare.


    That really is a rare exception, anyway. Now that Wu Shen is away on some higher floor, X¨¹ Beijin is also wondering if he might end up neighbours with a new Actor soon enough.


    As an Actor himself, it is easy for him to realise and question whether some Missiontakers might have been in this exact Nightmare before.


    Though it shocks the viewers in the stream nonetheless.


    ¡°???¡±


    ¡°holy shit, i didnt think about that at all¡±


    ¡°oh yeah! this is a game instance! the kind you can try and fail endlessly!¡±


    ¡°This makes sense! Why they have additional information is likely because they already came here but did not achieve a True End. So they¡¯re here to try again


    X¨¹ Beijin interjects, ¡°I am more inclined to say that the Missiontaker who went into the bedroom to take the boy to the service area knows more information, or at least, has the initiative. The other one seems more ambiguous¡±


    ¡°I agree with Beibei. In this run of the Nightmare, only the former has been actively making progress. The latter is more following the flow of everyone else¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin nods.


    Considering how the situation transpired after the fourth run of the Nightmare began, it is easy to see that since the very beginning, it has been Selfish who first lashed out at the others. He is the one that is more aggressive towards the bedroom team, and he also took the boy directly from the bedroom to the service area.


    What did Scapegoat do in the meantime?


    He acted in line with Selfish and explained what happened the last run. He brought everyone else to the supermarket, that¡¯s it¡­ In other words, he didn¡¯t really do anything on his own. He wasn¡¯t exactly important.


    The only meaningful thing he has done is explaining what happened to him and Selfish on the third run.


    This is actually also a problem. Because, Scapegoat was the only source of explanation for what happened the last run.


    Thus, the division of roles is clear, with Selfish in the bedroom and Scapegoat following the others to the service area, Scapegoat is the only one that the Missiontakers could talk to. Therefore, Scapegoat should be the one to talk about what happened alone, so that there wouldn¡¯t be an additional retelling of events from Selfish that could contradict things.


    X¨¹ Beijin still clearly remembers that when this Nightmare just started, any information relating to their last actions the last run was told by Scapegoat; Selfish remained silent.


    Even when they are both clearly mad and furious, so much so that Selfish was kicking down the door, but they have ensured that information would only flow through Scapegoat¡¯s mouth.


    This division of roles was so perfect that it could only have been fake.


    Therefore, he can say that it is likely Selfish has been here before and learned about the facts beforehand (TL: Or they learned about it from Dai Wu. Author seems to have forgotten this possibility already, though); when he was alone with Scapegoat, he chose to persuade him, or at least, convince him to a deal.


    Well, another potential explanation is that, because they are of the impression that they are in cahoots, so they look back in their memories and ¡®convince¡¯ themselves that everything they saw was suspicious.


    X¨¹ Beijin is quite focused for once and does not look tired at all now. He adds with a serious expression, ¡°of course, these are all only guesses from me. We will see what the truth actually is when the two of them confess.¡±


    ¡°i feel like everything Beibei said is right!¡±


    ¡°+1. I agree with the analysis, and also, here¡¯s my view.


    I am also considering from an unusual angle. Mainly, if the man in black really is the killer, the father of the boy, why would he appear like this in his Nightmare?


    In tight black clothes with a black mask, just a whole smudge of black?


    This is the boy¡¯s Nightmare, so his father is his source of fear, so shouldn¡¯t his appearance resemble when he killed the boy¡¯s mother?


    Yet we see that in the boy¡¯s Nightmare, the image of the father has been fixed into this, psychotic murderer with a big machete? It does not look like a father at any rate¡­


    So I am thinking that, after the murdering case, or perhaps before, there would have to be some parts of the plot yet to be discovered, that cause the man to appear in this form in the Nightmare. It is likely this is related to the service area and the expressway itself.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin scrutinises the dalao¡¯s words and then nods in agreement.


    He is suddenly wondering what information Dai Wu did know. He¡¯s curious.


    Unfortunately (TL: With the possibility of OoC if he just left the store right now in full view of Missiontakers), the Server means he must stay in the bookstore to keep Acting as the bookstore owner, instead of being like Missiontakers who can explore the scene freely.


    It really is a testament to, ¡®you gain some, you lose some.¡¯


    In the stream, the viewers are showering confetti for the detective dalao; they¡¯ve already showered a wave for X¨¹ Beijin when he was talking about his own analysis, and now this is a second wave.


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but smile.


    Then he recalls how he was still deeply wary against these viewers in the last Nightmare because he didn¡¯t know what the world outside was like, so he couldn¡¯t put his full trust in them yet.


    But now, after streaming for so long, he is at least able to trust that these particular viewers in his stream are harmless.


    ¡­ And really, if the viewers did know what was going on in the Tower but are still deceiving him with this completely innocent, ¡®we know nothing¡¯ pretension for laughs, then X¨¹ Beijin can only admit defeat.


    Since he really can¡¯t see if the audience is in any way special.


    They really just looked like normal viewers of a horror game streamer. They would scream with ¡®AAA¡¯s, they would try their best to solve mysteries, they will cheer for the host, they will try to persuade the host to go elsewhere and show them, they will play with puns and gags in the comment barrage, they will be scratching their heads when the game gets too complicated¡­


    They are cute, frank, passionate ¨C real.


    Sometimes, X¨¹ Beijin can even feel them warming up his cold, empty life a little.


    Perhaps, it is because, no one else has ever been able to intervene in his daily lives this much, in the Tower, or anywhere else.


    ¡­ Well, only in the Nightmare, for now.


    As for whether he should stream in the Tower, X¨¹ Beijin is still hesitant.


    The Nightmares are still easily explained away with comparison to games, players and instances, but in the Tower, those Tower residents and outsiders, would be just too realistic.


    Not to mention the detective dalao in his stream¡ª¡ªA monster of logic. X¨¹ Beijin really doesn¡¯t dare to tread lightly.


    He doesn¡¯t want to attract attention from NE. That is a principle.


    And after all that intense thought, X¨¹ Beijin is a bit tired now.


    He puts his own head onto his arm as he turns his attention back to the stream.


    Laosan, Mu Jiashi and Ding Yi¡¯s discussions went nowhere, it seems, but they have settled on some action plan, and are headed for the supermarket.


    Meanwhile, two people walk into view in the camera (TL: Raws say ¡®service area entrance,¡¯ but that makes no sense), it is Laoda and Erge, who have been gone for a while.


    They seem to be happy; perhaps they have discovered something.

 Volume 2 - CH 33.1

    ¡°You¡¯ll never believe what we found out!¡±


    Laoda is proclaiming as soon as he comes into view, full of excitement and gloat. He probably came across some major discovery.


    Erge immediately notices how the Missiontakers all seem to be upset by the flowerbed, though, and that whimpering boy crouching on the ground.


    The boy they once chased after and searched for.


    Laoda also notices, and asks, surprised, ¡°oh hey, isn¡¯t this that brat?¡±


    Mu Jiashi immediately notices something from that question, but he hesitates a little, and decides against asking.


    Erge gives Laoda a glare before telling the truth to them, ¡°we met this boy in the Tower before, but¡­¡± He shrugs, adding, ¡°we couldn¡¯t get anything useful out of him.¡±


    Mu Jiashi nods and asks instead of fixating on this, ¡°what did you find out, then?¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah, this boy¡¯s father killed his wife,¡± Laoda answers without concern, explaining, ¡°there¡¯s a TV over at the petrol station showing the news. It was talking about that and there was even a warrant issued.¡±


    Erge adds, ¡°though the warrant is for an average-looking middle-aged man, and not that man in black, I think.¡±


    Mu Jiashi murmurs, ¡°that¡¯s odd¡­¡±


    Yes, that is odd.


    In fact, right now, he also realises the question.


    Why is the father of the boy, the killer, a masked man in black in his Nightmare, instead of his father¡¯s usual appearance?


    Was he demonising his father into some murderous psycho somehow, perhaps basing it off some TV drama he may have seen? Or, perhaps, is he trying to forget his father¡¯s cruel, inhuman actions because of his fear and shock witnessing his mother¡¯s murder?


    The latter sounds more reasonable, but in the Nightmare, the warrant shows the boy¡¯s father faithfully.


    A Nightmare is definitely based on a Nightmare owner¡¯s memories, this can only mean that the boy did not distort the image of his father¡­


    Or was it some subconscious, psychological effect?


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s thoughts come to a standstill.


    They feel like they have learned a lot already, but they still haven¡¯t a single clue regarding the endings of this Nightmare. And also, where is the man in black right now? They do not know.


    It is possible they could extract information from the man in black himself, too, despite his madness (TL: See volume 1 and Ponytail, Quarrelsome and Glasses¡¯ interrogation of Wu Shen).


    Laosan reminds him, ¡°let¡¯s go to the supermarket first.¡±


    Mu Jiashi shakes his thoughts clean first and nods.


    Ding Yi has soothed the boy enough that he isn¡¯t crying anymore. Then, she holds the little boy¡¯s hand to walk towards the supermarket with him.


    Laoda and Erge follows behind them.


    Selfish looks all frustrated. He brought the boy here, yet right now, all the Missiontakers took his ¡®prize¡¯ away.


    Scapegoat is sweeping his gaze across all the Missiontakers repeatedly. He is nervous and wary. It was Selfish who proposed to work together, yet in the end, every one of them has ignored him entirely.


    Treating him like¡­ he really is just some scapegoat.


    He is also frustrated and angry, partly towards the Missiontakers, partly towards Selfish, and even partly towards himself.


    When the two of them slowly follow the people ahead, Selfish suddenly asks Scapegoat, ¡°you¡¯re regretting?¡±


    Scapegoat seems taken aback in panic.


    Selfish just gives him a cold smile and says, ¡°I don¡¯t care whether you regret it or not. We have more information than them. So there¡¯s no way¡­¡±


    There is a rather concerning madness and ruthlessness in his expression, worrying Scapegoat even more.


    He is questioning why he agreed to work together in the first place? The man is clearly just a madman¡­ A factor out of his control.


    To Selfish, his needs alone are prioritised more than anything else¡­ No, not just his needs, either. Anyone, or any thing, going against his will, will be on the receiving end of his hate and scorn, as if he was the definition of correct in this world somehow.


    Scapegoat is more and more certain it was wrong to agree to working together with him, but he cannot back off now.


    He can only hope that, the information Selfish holds, is useful.


    The agitated man hastens his steps to leave Selfish behind.


    The Missiontakers over at the front do not notice the conversation or the interaction, but it was in full view of the viewers in the stream.


    They are typing, ¡°woah, quite the snakey due this guy is¡±


    ¡°must be ceo of fence-sitter, inc.¡±


    ¡°got a laugh outta that, thx¡±


    ¡°he¡¯s neither able to appeal to one side nor able to leave the other side¡±


    ¡°Not just that, but in the eyes of the other Missiontakers, he is no longer trustworthy at all. Even if he tries to make up for the rift formed for his previous deception, it wouldn¡¯t be useful anymore¡±


    ¡°im more curious what the other guy knows? he still looks confident¡±


    The Missiontakers runs into Lin Qin at the entrance to the supermarket. He has come outside with a whole shopping trolley of drinks, covering almost all possible bases. It¡¯s piled mountain high.


    He is expressionlessly pushing the trolley along while the Missiontakers are all standing there with nervous expressions.


    The scene is quite awkward.


    Laoda is the first to blurt out, ¡°dalao, you¡¯re shopping?¡±


    The Missiontakers can¡¯t help but be in awe, almost feeling like they¡¯re actually no longer in a Nightmare in the Tower, but just in some unnamed supermarket near some busy expressway, while someone is making a big shopping trip.


    Mu Jiashi is looking at Lin Qin in shock, too, and is in thought while glancing over the mountain of drinks in the trolley.


    Lin Qin shakes his head, answering, ¡°I wasn¡¯t shopping,¡± he then gestures towards the supermarket, saying, ¡°they didn¡¯t ask me to pay.¡±


    The Missiontakers ¡°¡­¡±


    The audience in the stream ¡°¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He takes a deep breath.


    The comment barrage begins after a moment of jaw-dropping shock.


    ¡°hahahaha he¡¯s giving it to Beibei! I knew it!¡±


    ¡°holy shii, the little apple def has something something for our Bei, right?¡±


    ¡°Excuse me, I thought I was in a horror game stream? Am I in the wrong genre?¡±


    ¡°im laughing so much my mom is asking me what funny variety show im watching¡±


    ¡°¡­ hey, at least on the good side, this dalao with such a buggy fighting power has goodwill towards Beibei, right?¡±


    ¡°yeah, i bet thats what the missiontakers think too¡±


    After a brief awkwardness, the Missiontakers continue onto the supermarket while Lin Qin goes about his own business.


    He smoothly pushes the trolley into the bookstore.


    X¨¹ Beijin looks up at him, and is struggling to reason Lin Qin¡¯s course of action.


    Does he seriously need to do all this just so he can fight with him?


    ¡­ Well, thankfully, he¡¯s had this whole affair postponed to deal with when Lin Qin comes to visit.


    X¨¹ Beijin just quietly watches Lin Qin as he pushes the trolley in front of him, and points to it, telling him simply, ¡°it¡¯s for you.¡±


    Lin Qin gives him a look of shock that has ¡®and you¡¯re being picky?¡¯ written all over it.


    Then he asks, ¡°so which flavours do you like?¡± He adds, sincerely, ¡°I¡¯ll only gift you ones you like from now on.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He feels like laughing.


    Just¡­ It¡¯s humorous what Lin Qin is doing.


    He has finally, very clearly, understood how simple Lin Qin¡¯s world is. It¡¯s so easy to see and read¡­


    The man has clear goals, clear motives, clear actions and clear speech. He is so straightforward, as though he never needs to dress up his actions in deceiving words, ever. He¡­ He is the exact opposite of X¨¹ Beijin.


    It makes X¨¹ Beijin fall into thought a little.


    Seeing him not answering immediately, Lin Qin knits his brows, then retrieves a can of drinks from the trolley and takes a good look¡ª¡ªA peach-flavoured soda?


    He has never had one.


    Maybe X¨¹ Beijin would like it?


    He asks, ¡°do you like this one?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin turns his attention back to him, examines the drink, and answers, ¡°no, this brand adds way too much sweetener to all their drinks,¡± but he adds, ¡°I might drink them sometimes, though, if I¡¯m in a bad mood.¡±


    Lin Qin calmly says, ¡°I see. I¡¯ll remember that,¡± then he picks up another can, asking, ¡°what about this one?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like this one,¡± X¨¹ Beijin tries to answer as straightforward and sincerely as Lin Qin speaks while explaining, ¡°this tastes yucky. It¡¯s really bad value for money, too.¡±


    Lin Qin gives the can an odd look¡ª¡ªAre ¡®beer-flavoured soda¡¯s yucky? His mouth muscles contort slightly before throwing the can over at the trash can nearby. Then he retrieves another soft drink to ask, ¡°this one?¡±


    ¡°I like this one a lot.¡±


    Lin Qin then gives the apple juice in his hand a good look, asking, ¡°¡­ you seem to like fruit juices a lot?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m slightly lactose intolerant,¡± X¨¹ Beijin answers, sighing, ¡°even though I like milk, it¡¯s uncomfortable if I drink too much.¡±


    Lin Qin gives him an odd look, and thinks for a little while before telling him what he thinks honestly, ¡°you live very¡­ humanly.¡±


    Among both Tower residents and outsiders, despite them being humans, few try to have as mundane yet human a life as X¨¹ Beijin.


    This is a game ¨C where, even if they do not shower or brush their teeth for months on end¡ª¡ªWe¡¯re exaggerating, but¡ª¡ªit doesn¡¯t affect their hygiene any.


    They do not hunger. They do not thirst. They do not need to eat, drink, or even excrete. They might feel an appetite or sleepiness, but as long as their stamina value on their information panel isn¡¯t zero, then they can do whatever.


    Their body really is a string of ones and zeroes. While the game is realistic, but, it¡¯s just a game.


    In a sense, while the Missiontakers and Actors are all extremely distressed by ¡®Escape¡¯ the game, but in fact, they can never die. They just cannot leave this game at all, or at least, they haven¡¯t discovered any means to do so yet.


    The optimism of Dai Wu, the ¡®second life¡¯ view, is also quite rare among them.


    What is so contradictory about that view is, they all know this is just a game, all of them know, that this is just a mere game, and this is not reality. This is not the real life they are pursuing.


    The painful contrast also drags many of them deep in pain.


    A realistic life in the real world¡­ is already beyond these humans¡¯ reach.


    Necessities Merchant are viewed fondly in the Tower, not because the Missiontakers really needed the necessities, but only because, it is part of the apocalyptic fest of the Missiontakers.


    They madly consume food, drinks, madly entertain themselves and do whatever pleases them. Some Missiontakers have not entered a Nightmare for years, merely spending their days in decadence on the bottom floor of the Tower, letting all their desires free.


    It would seem that this is the life, the fate awaiting all of them.


    X¨¹ Beijin is not someone like that.


    He may be a Tower resident, but he lives his life more meaningfully than the Missiontakers.


    When Lin Qin hears X¨¹ Beijin describe how he is ¡®lactose intolerant,¡¯ it could almost convince him that they are just in reality, hearing a friend complaining about his annoying illness.


    Lin Qin¡¯s mind goes blank for a bit. His thoughts empty out.


    While X¨¹ Beijin lowers his eyes and gives a vacuous smile. He understands what Lin Qin is getting at, but he can only reply, ¡°this is how it is.¡±


    What else could he have done otherwise?


    Silence ensues.

 Volume 2 - CH 33.2

    X¨¹ Beijin takes a deep breath and tries his best to put on a smile, ¡°thank you for the drink¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t smile.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin asks out of surprise, ¡°what?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t smile,¡± Lin Qin answers with a deep tone, explaining, ¡°when you don¡¯t want to smile, you don¡¯t have to.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is quiet for a moment before ending up sighing in front of Lin Qin, saying, ¡°you know, Lin Qin¡­¡±


    Lin Qin tilts his head in response.


    ¡°If you really want to have a fight with me, you¡¯ll have to act much more brutish than that.¡±


    Lin Qin seems to fall into thought before putting in some effort on forming an expression that, to him, best fits the word ¡®brutish,¡¯ before asking, ¡°does this work?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is so amused he just blurts out, ¡°that looks really cute, you know.¡±


    Lin Qin furrows his brows glaring at X¨¹ Beijin before saying, ¡°don¡¯t describe me as ¡®cute.''¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin takes the hint and nods, promising, ¡°alright, I won¡¯t anymore.¡±


    Lin Qin ¡°¡­¡±


    He doesn¡¯t feel a tinge of sincerity in that.


    For the first time ever, Lin Qin feels slightly troubled by his own appearance.


    After the two of them went through the shopping trolley, it¡¯s no longer as full, while a small pile has formed about the trash can. Lin Qin, as if possessed by some OCD ghost, arranges the cans of drinks neatly on X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore counter, one by one.


    And then, he confidently declares, ¡°I have memorised it. I will give you these from now on.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks like he wants to say something, but he doesn¡¯t.


    Lin Qin is staring at him, then says, ¡°just say it if you want to.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin tells him, ¡°even if you give me all these drinks, I wouldn¡¯t fight with you.¡±


    Lin Qin ¡°¡­¡±


    He looks like he might blow up at any moment.


    Therefore X¨¹ Beijin is also asking himself, yeah, he shouldn¡¯t have said it. Why did Lin Qin push him to ask?


    In the end, Lin Qin takes a deep breath before saying with this unfriendly tone, ¡°that¡¯s your thing.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is surprised.


    Lin Qin continues, ¡°I would not force you to fight with me.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin pauses for a moment before slowly nodding.


    He can¡¯t help but feel slightly guilty. Lin Qin¡¯s appeals and frankness have made X¨¹ Beijin, the benefactor that be, a little ashamed.


    But all the talk of violence¡ª¡ªEspecially talks of a one-sided violence on him by Lin Qin¡ª¡ªIs making X¨¹ Beijin wallow in the question of whether he might only be free of this after a sound beating by Lin Qin.


    He heaves a weary sigh.


    Then, he hands a can of peach soda to Lin Qin.


    Lin Qin asks, mystified, ¡°what?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin replies, ¡°try it. It¡¯ll be gone once the Nightmare is over.¡±


    Lin Qin stares for a moment before taking the can of drink. He examines it a bit longer, before telling him, ¡°I don¡¯t need you to cheer me up.¡±


    ¡°¡­ What?¡±


    ¡°You said it yourself. When you are in a bad mood, you drink this sweet kind of drink,¡± Lin Qin says, ¡°you don¡¯t need to cheer me up. I¡¯m used to you refusing me already. I¡¯ll be irritated, but you don¡¯t have to give what you like to me.¡±


    There is an inherent sincerity and forthrightness to his tone ¨C because he is speaking exactly as he thinks.


    He is always bored, angry or irritated, but, this can of peach soda is something X¨¹ Beijin would like. He doesn¡¯t need X¨¹ Beijin to give him what he likes just to cheer him up.


    Just the same way that, he wouldn¡¯t force X¨¹ Beijin to like fighting either.


    Even if he wants to fight with X¨¹ Beijin.


    The man in question also realises that, and is truly impressed with how simple Lin Qin¡¯s character is.


    Though he smiles and asks a question, ¡°isn¡¯t it normal to share drinks I like with my friend?¡±


    Lin Qin clearly wasn¡¯t expecting such an answer. He murmurs to himself, ¡°oh¡­ is that what it was?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± X¨¹ Beijin continues smiling and answering, ¡°I think it tastes well (TL: i.e. This is a different brand of peach soda) so I want you to also try it.¡±


    Lin Qin thinks about it, and then, his simplistic brain also points him to a clear chain of logic. He says, ¡°we are friends. I like to fight. Friends share what they like with each other. So¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin immediately adds, ¡°no fighting.¡±


    Lin Qin holds the can tightly, saying, ¡°¡­ oh.¡±


    He goes back to sit down by the entrance of the bookstore.


    ¡­ Friends share what they like each other? Ha. X¨¹ Beijin lied to him.


    His unhappy mood made his gaze slowly turn towards the can of soda. Then, after briefly thinking about it, he opens it to take a sip.


    ¡­ It¡¯s really sweet.


    Though, his mood might have improved. Maybe.


    Confused, he is thinking about how X¨¹ Beijin wasn¡¯t lying to him about that.


    Meanwhile, our liar in question has sat back down behind the counter already, while a sense of farce has filled up his mind. He is also wondering if Lin Qin realised the point of that statement is in ¡®friends¡¯ and not whatever it was he noticed.


    In the Tower, ¡®friends¡¯ are really in short supply.


    Lin Qin did not deny that claim at all. His acting like it was a completely appropriate word did make X¨¹ Beijin feel a little happy.


    Though¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin is now pondering another question. Why would Lin Qin¡¯s thoughts be so simplistic?


    Sometimes, what the man does truly did seem to suggest there was something to those rumours in the Tower regarding Lin Qin¡¯s intellect.


    Yet he¡¯s clearly not intellectually challenged. His world is simple, his usual habit may be just to abuse his prowess to resolve everything, which to everyone else makes him look mad, but he is definitely both a sharp and an honest person.


    In a sense, this is so much better than those temperamental Missiontakers with all those complex relationships between them.


    ¡­ And yes, he is specifically referring to this bunch of Missiontakers, currently seen arguing in the camera of the stream. Again.


    X¨¹ Beijin quietly sighs inside.


    He might be getting used to Missiontakers resolving everything by arguing at this pace.


    Once, when he was an extra, he was just a background set-piece in bookstores. He wouldn¡¯t know what the Missiontakers are doing. Yet, after these two Nightmares where he could observe how the Missiontakers actually go about solving the Nightmare, he can only feel¡­


    That grace afforded by the mystique of the unknown has long disappeared by now.


    The argument du jour is regarding the conversation with the cashier this time.


    Earlier, when they took the boy with them to the cashier in the supermarket, he looked odd.


    ¡°You know who this is?¡± Laosan asked after picking up the cues.


    Dai Wu nodded hesitantly, answering, ¡°I do. He¡¯s the kid¡­ that surviving kid,¡± and quietly added, ¡°pitiful, really¡­¡±


    ¡°We brought him over, but aren¡¯t you curious where we found him?¡±


    That was the question Mu Jiashi set up with a trap inside. Before this, Selfish and Scapegoat had asserted that they had almost acquired important information from Dai Wu.


    Yet it was clear from their course of action that they definitely had some kind of plan and likely had extracted key information. Therefore, what the cashier had once told them the last run of the Nightmare became extremely important.


    Mu Jiashi also knew that Scapegoat¡¯s face had changed when Dai Wu had said that the boy had been missing. Therefore, this time, he set up the boy¡¯s whereabouts as a question and asked it to the cashier instead.


    Did he really know nothing?


    What is the role this supermarket cashier is playing inside this Nightmare as a whole?


    Even though Mu Jiashi did not know about Tower residents being Actors, but his mind happened to think about the word ¡®acting¡¯ then.


    He wasn¡¯t aware that Dai Wu had this Actor level of ¡®Side Character,¡¯ but he correctly deduced that he is an important character in this.


    And Dai Wu lived up to that level with his brilliant Acting skills¡ª¡ªWholly unlike the lazy salted fish extra known as X¨¹ Beijin.


    He made a curious expression and asked, ¡°of course, nobody knows where this boy went. Where did you find him?¡±


    When he asked this, Scapegoat¡¯s expression was twisted again. His brows were furrowed. He looked like he wanted to say something.


    Laosan was observing him this whole time, and he couldn¡¯t help but think, this guy¡¯s acting really¡­ he didn¡¯t even know if it¡¯s bad or actually good anymore. He was practically openly hinting at them that what the cashier said was somehow strange.


    Though, how was it strange, anyhow?


    Before he could think about it, though, Selfish coldly mocked them again, ¡°you really are a bunch of braindead trash, aren¡¯t you? Still suspecting me instead of thinking about the truth and endings of this Nightmare?¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t you fucking shut up?!¡± Laoda said tersely, continuing, ¡°if the Tower let us kill each other, you¡¯d the first on my list!¡±


    Selfish retorted, ¡°too bad you couldn¡¯t, so? Hahaha.¡±


    Erge muttered, ¡°this is going nowhere.¡±


    Scapegoat discreetly nodded.


    Among the chaos, and as X¨¹ Beijin tuned in, they suddenly hear the boy speak up, still almost sounding like he¡¯s about to cry.


    ¡°This big gege,¡± the boy, who ended up in front of the cashier counter who-knows-when, has his eyes widened, staring at the cashier, saying, ¡°I remember. I have seen you.¡±

 Volume 2 - CH 34.1

    Everyone¡¯s eyes are fixed on this supermarket cashier.


    ¡°You¡¯ve seen him?¡±


    Laoda is the first to ask with a dumbfounded tone.


    Laosan, Ding Yi and Mu Jiashi all exchange glances before their gaze ends up on Selfish whose expression has clouded over.


    The three of them have concluded that, given Dai Wu knew the little boy, the question of what Selfish knew has become of paramount importance.


    The atmosphere surrounding the Missiontakers is now downright eerie.


    ¡°I have seen this¡­ big gege,¡± the boy whispers, ¡°the day daddy killed mommy¡­ I saw, you.¡±


    Some of the Missiontakers have their jaws on the floor now.


    Dai Wu says in a panic, ¡°oi oi, brat, don¡¯t go spreading lies, now.¡±


    ¡°What actually happened?¡± Mu Jiashi asked sternly, ¡°what did you conceal?¡±


    ¡°Nothing¡­¡±


    ¡°You saw this family the day of the murders?¡±


    Dai Wu scratches his face before frustratingly owning up, ¡°sigh, I did, alright¡­ I didn¡¯t dare to tell anyone. It wasn¡¯t anything to do with me anyway, but who knew that madman would kill his wife after going home¡­¡±


    Laosan urges him to continue with furrowed brows, asking, ¡°what really happened?¡±


    He has an inexplicable sense of urgency in time. The missing man in black is feeling like a time bomb.


    This Nightmare¡¯s time has always been tight.


    From being chased by the man in black, to going back and forth between the scenes, to the one-minute sharp interval between yelling out numbers, to the effect of different cars in the car park affecting the speed on the expressway, to them having to quickly extract information from NPCs in the service area¡­


    It all comes down to having quick reflexes and good time management skills.


    And now, they haven¡¯t faced a chase from the man in black for a while.


    This is the fourth run of the Nightmare. It shouldn¡¯t be like this. The situation should have devolved further, rather than them being able to saunter about hoping to stumble into clues and information to figure out the truth.


    This should not be.


    Laosan takes a deep breath to try to calm himself down first.


    When the three of them entered the Nightmare, they, of course, had fantasies like maybe achieving a True End in the first run, or getting rare cards during the rewards phase¡­ They can dream, you know.


    Yet the reality is even more depressing than usual ¨C They¡¯ve somehow made it to the fourth run of the Nightmare while remaining mostly in the dark, in chaos, in argument.


    Even now, they are still wary of each other, hiding things. Nobody knows what the Difficulty really is up to this point either.


    Laosan glances back at the cashier, who is recalling and recounting,


    ¡°back then¡­ I was working, you know. It was a normal day.


    Then this family ¨C on a trip for pleasure, I think ¨C the wife¡­ the one killed, made small talk when she was paying, but then her husband got all mad from that. He erupted into an argument right then and there with me and the woman. He was calling her shameless and slutty, you know.


    I was just totally shocked. She just talked about the service area and asked about what route to take. We talked a little, then I told her how much everything was. Everything was just normal¡­ Yet somehow, that husband was acting like she cheated right in front of him.


    Oh, and from what my coworkers said later, that man was raging all the way outside, too. Yelling and acting like a prat near the gas station and the parking lot. All the other travellers were looking.


    Someone thought that the woman didn¡¯t deserve all this and wanted to help, but the husband then told him off for being some sexual creep who must have been ogling for his wife and had been trying to feel her up. Then he scolded her again for being unfaithful¡­ Just, fucking speechless, you know.


    Anyway, a few days after that, news came out about a wife being killed. I didn¡¯t think about it until I saw the photo of the murderer and the dead person¡¯s portrait in the news, when I¡­ recalled, all this.


    Sigh, but¡­ I really don¡¯t want anything to do with this, you know?! What the heck was it to me?


    We weren¡¯t anybody to anybody. I just scanned their items when they were shopping, and someone died because I smiled at her?! Like, what the hell, man.


    So¡­ the police didn¡¯t come interrogate me either, and I didn¡¯t want to tell anyone about it.¡±


    After explaining all that, Dai Wu sighs and shows a bitter smile at the little boy, speaking with a slightly eerie tone, ¡°I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d remember me, or¡­ that it would be the day your mother passed away,¡± then he turns to the others to ask, ¡°you understand my position, right?¡±


    The Missiontakers have no time for his story, though.


    From the long wall of text, they have managed to connect many clues.


    The boy¡¯s father kept suspecting his wife of cheating on him. In order to improve their relationship, the victim decided to go on a family trip that day with her husband and son.


    Yet when they were resting at a service area and going shopping, because the wife made small talk with the supermarket cashier, the husband is all but convinced she has cheated on him. After going home that day, he killed his wife in his rage.


    The boy¡¯s Nightmare, besides the dark bedroom that symbolised the death of his mother, also included the car park, the expressway, and the service area and everything, perhaps because, this is his mother¡¯s¡ª¡ª


    Road to Hell.


    In the bookstore, X¨¹ Beijin heaves a weary sigh.


    He knew, or, he was at least aware, of some scripts the Actors had been assigned.


    Whether it was through chatting he overheard, or from information Missiontakers unintentionally spread, he knew.


    Those were all just rumours, though, the kind that leads to¡­ ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yeah, crazy, right?¡± and similar conversations.


    He had a rough idea about these Nightmares, but he didn¡¯t know them in detail.


    Up until¡­ this point.


    When he has a streaming system, it means he would be able to understand the development of the entire Nightmare as a passive observer.


    And he seems to have way underestimated how much evil really lies beneath these Nightmares.


    He wishes these Nightmares are fake. Wishes scripts are mere scripts, not reality. He sincerely wishes for it to be so.


    Yet¡­ what about the Actors?


    For many of these Actors, the Tower¡ª¡ªAnd these Nightmares¡ª¡ªare their life. Plays resemble lives; lives resemble plays.


    They end up growing into their roles as NPCs. They begin to identify with the character the Server assigned them. They actually start¡ª¡ªBecoming, that character in the script.


    Like this man in black here. Perhaps, he actually thinks that, he really is the man who was overtaken by jealousy and killed his own wife. He is the man dressed in all black who holds a big machete in his hand to go after everyone in his son¡¯s Nightmare to kill them all (TL: In case you were wondering, because the Server supposedly reassigns all roles in Nightmares randomly besides the one for the Nightmare owner ¨C remember how X¨¹ Beijin owns a bookstore in the Tower and keeps getting assigned as a bookstore owner? Yeah, the man in black is probably someone who keeps getting assigned as ¡®psychotic murderer¡¯ ¡®killing psycho¡¯ etc., which would explain the following sentence).


    He has become the psychotic murderer.


    This means, that the tragedy in the script, is no longer an artificially constructed tragedy, but it is coming to life.


    Actors who, like Wu Shen, is unwilling to actually turn a six-year-old little girl into a doll, unwilling to live up to the role assigned, unwilling to do anything that contradicted basic human decency and moral ethics, unwilling to forget the fact that, he is just someone trapped in a game Acting, belong to a minority.


    As for Actors like Dai Wu, optimistic, fearless, able to find their own meaning regardless, they are an even smaller minority.


    X¨¹ Beijin has been trudging along as a cold, emotionless, machine-like extra for many years. It is already impossible for him to be like the audience in the stream, who are currently lamenting the tragic fate of the boy¡¯s family, and also cheering themselves up by reassuring themselves that this is just the setting of a game.


    He is incapable of that.


    All he could do, is open his eyes halfway with a tired face, ruining his handsome features with the heavy eyebags, always looking half-asleep, or like he has never slept in, well, forever.


    He is always in a haze. His mind is all blanked out to the most extreme degree, feeling like it would shut down to asleep if he used his brain any slightly more intensely.


    Yet, he also knows clearly, that the humans in the Tower¡ª¡ªare over.


    It¡¯s over for them. Actors, Missiontakers, all the humans trapped in the Tower. It is all going to be over, for all of them.


    X¨¹ Beijin sits there in silence.


    He wonders if it might be the drinks Lin Qin gave him, that has energised his thoughts. He is now thinking about questions he never wanted to ponder in the first place.


    ¡­ Yup, he should never ever fight with Lin Qin.


    X¨¹ Beijin decides to put the thoughts aside, just as he has always done.


    He relaxes himself and yawns. Because Lin Qin is sitting not far away, he carefully tries to make this yawn as elegant as possible.

 Volume 2 - CH 34.2

    Meanwhile, in the stream, the viewers are still discussing the tragedy of the family with a literal barrage of comments.


    Even though there are just four viewers¡ª¡ªfive. Someone new has popped in, though the person hasn¡¯t followed X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s account¡ª¡ªBut their comments feel like an army a thousand strong on the screen.


    X¨¹ Beijin checks out what comments he can make sense of, but fails to dig up anything substantial. His whole chain of thought from before has made him exhausted, though he is still doing his best to be a good host, or rather, director?


    At least what he is doing is to switch to the best views and angles for the viewers.


    As for the Missiontakers, they are currently more preoccupied with the use of the messages revealed by the cashier.


    Now that they know about the complete context of this Nightmare, about what the scenes signify, then¡­ What about the endings?


    Laosan gives it some thought and hesitantly shares his thoughts, ¡°since the death of the victim was merely a misunderstanding, then¡­ The crux of the issue the Nightmare owner needs resolved could be, making the killer realise this, and admit he was at fault?¡±


    ¡°That makes sense for adults,¡± Mu Jiashi calmly analyses, adding, ¡°but for a ten-year-old boy, he may not actually understand at all why his father suddenly killed his mother. It is likely he does not understand all the nuances and complexities playing into his parents¡¯ psychologies.¡±


    The Missiontakers all turn their attention towards the boy, who is currently dragging on Ding Yi¡¯s clothes behind her, looking at them with a slightly frightened expression.


    Mu Jiashi then rubs his nose and says awkwardly, ¡°though you don¡¯t really have to listen to me. I¡¯m¡­¡±


    Selfish immediately follows up, ¡°you¡¯re a piece of trash, a loser, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Mu Jiashi gives him a glance then admits it frankly, ¡°I am a piece of trash and a loser.¡±


    Selfish almost chokes on his words.


    He didn¡¯t expect Mu Jiashi to just shamelessly admit those two terms of address.


    ¡­ Was it something worth boasting about, even?


    Erge impatiently says, ¡°please stop, ok? We don¡¯t have so much bloody time to argue with you.¡±


    Selfish takes a deep breath before saying, ¡°oh really? I was going to tell you about what I know¡­¡±


    Besides him, Scapegoat looks like he wants to say something; he looks agitated.


    Selfish¡¯s tone is longer than usual, as if hoping someone would ask him to tell them, but everyone ignores him and begins discussing what the endings of this Nightmare might be.


    He takes a frustrated breath and then yells out, ¡°alright, fine, since everyone basically figured out everything, I¡¯ll tell you the last piece of information.¡±


    The supermarket entrance is quiet.


    Selfish finally feels a little better, somehow. He says with a smile, ¡°I have been to this Nightmare before.¡±


    The stream is filled with ¡®Beibei strong woohoo¡¯s.


    The rest of the Missiontakers also finally take him seriously.


    Selfish explains, ¡°that time, we also basically learned about as much as you did. We basically guessed our way to the correct number sequence and got the little boy out. It wasn¡¯t that hard, really.


    Then, that other team of Missiontakers in the corridor went to the service area, and they heard from this guy too that it was a misunderstanding that the woman was killed. So we felt like resolving this misunderstanding would be a True End¡­¡±


    Laoda, always the impatient one, quickly asks, ¡°then? Did you succeed?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be stupid, since I¡¯m bringing this up, obviously it just ended up being a Normal End,¡± Selfish rolls his eyes at him, and adds, ¡°also, if we succeeded, you think I¡¯d still be standing here?¡±


    Then Laoda rolls his eyes right back at him.


    Although the guy has helped them eliminate an incorrect way forward like this, but¡­ He¡¯s still really irritating!


    Yeah, hateable guys remain hateable, as usual.


    Selfish is still lamenting over there, sighing and going, ¡°if only I got into the bedroom this time instead¡­ Shitty Server, if it were me, I¡¯d have carried you all¡­¡±


    Not just one Missiontaker is rolling his eyes now.


    Erge, impatient as ever, asks, ¡°why didn¡¯t you tell us before, then? Was it that interesting? And how do we even trust you?¡±


    Selfish goes ¡®hoho¡¯ and retorts, ¡°yeah, I just didn¡¯t want my fruits of labour given away for free, so? I¡¯m a lone wolf, so?¡± Then he points to Scapegoat and says, ¡°oh, and I told some of this to him. It all came true. So that¡¯s enough verification for ya?¡±


    The Missiontakers all turn towards Scapegoat.


    While Scapegoat is basically stunned.


    Great. Now that guy has come clean, but what about him?


    When Laosan and the others tried, they didn¡¯t manage to pry a single word out of him. He sure was valiantly keeping his lips sealed, while he ended up on bad terms with basically everyone.


    He did all the offending, and now, great, Selfish bailed on him, and is even using him to build a monument to himself?


    Scapegoat can¡¯t help but begin wondering, if he, really, was just a scapegoat, from the beginning to the end?


    Scapegoat¡¯s nonreaction makes Selfish a little annoyed.


    He is about to chastise him when suddenly, screams erupt from near them.


    In this Nightmare, while it looks like the Missiontakers have only talked to two Tower residents, Dai Wu and X¨¹ Beijin, but in fact, there are a lot of other residents here. They make this service area look like it¡¯s running normally, business as usual.


    Right now, a staff member at the entrance of the supermarket has collapsed onto the ground, screaming.


    The Missiontakers all look at the door in shock, because they can see the man dressed in black, wearing a black mask and holding a machete, standing right there at the entrance!


    Laosan almost reflexively looks at the boy. He can see that young boy now crouching on the floor in fear, beginning to mumble again ¨C that string of numbers?¡ª¡ªThe string of numbers, the boy¡¯s father forced onto him; the countdown for his own mother¡¯s life.


    ¡°Twelve minutes!¡± Laosan suddenly yells out as a spark of brilliance flashes over his head, saying, ¡°it¡¯s twelve minutes! After the boy reached this place, the man in black must have been back at the bedroom, the starting point, spending eight minutes there numbering off, and then left the bedroom, the corridor, and drove here right for the boy¡­¡±


    Eight minutes, and three minutes on the expressway, and about a minute spent walking through the corridor and from the service area entrance to the supermarket, adds up to around twelve minutes.


    Exactly the amount of time that has passed since then.


    While they were able to work out the man in black¡¯s whereabouts at any time through the time spent, but he doesn¡¯t know why the man in black returned to the bedroom to count after the boy reached the service area in the first place.


    This doesn¡¯t seem to make sense at all.


    So Laosan¡¯s voice begins quieting down. He throws his concerns over the path the man in black has taken away for now, murmuring, ¡°so, right now, we¡­¡±


    What should they do?


    Should they really just do as Selfish said and finish everything with a Normal End;


    Should they resist and try to achieve a True End in a fifth run?


    The man in black is cackling. He is slowly walking their way with the big machete in hand. Everyone else in the supermarket is screaming out in fear. That cashier from earlier has already run off to hide somewhere.


    The boy is crouching on the ground, covering his ears and closing his eyes, also making pained cries and whimpers.


    Laosan looks all hesitant, turning towards Erge instinctively, hoping the decision-maker in their little group could make up his mind for him.


    Erge gives him a lighthearted smile and says, ¡°why the hesitation? A True End, of course!¡±


    Selfish also loudly proclaims, ¡°that¡¯s right! I won¡¯t let this opportunity go to waste!¡± He sweeps his fierce gaze across the rest of the Missiontakers, saying, ¡°True End or nothing!¡±


    Erge is in agreement for once, ¡°we¡¯ve come this far already, wouldn¡¯t it be a shame if we didn¡¯t at least try for a True End? Besides¡­¡± He pauses before continuing, ¡°we know what the Normal End is now. We can just get that if we can¡¯t have a True End.¡±


    Laosan, ever indecisive, finally nods.


    Laoda would follow Erge, as usual.


    Scapegoat is silent. He is feeling hopeless right now.


    Ding Yi is looking at the little boy at her feet. She is in thought.


    Only Mu Jiashi looks like he has something to say. There is an inexplicable sense of premonition in him, but he can¡¯t put his finger on it.


    True, they have come this far. They finally know what is happening in the Nightmare. They know how to get a Normal End, then why don¡¯t they try to achieve a True End? Not like it¡¯ll cost them anything.


    Yes¡­ That¡¯s it. He tries to convince himself and force himself to calm down.


    However, a few minutes later,


    When the man in black, holding his big machete, killed them in gleeful laughter;


    When the Nightmare restarted, and all eight Missiontakers are back where they started;


    When Mu Jiashi is standing inside the corridor, and takes a cursory glance backwards¡­


    Everything in his mind grinds to a halt.


    He tremblingly asks, ¡°where, is the man in black? Where¡­ is he?¡±


    Among the four present, only Lin Qin looks completely out of it.


    Selfish and Scapegoat both also look behind them immediately at the end of the corridor¡ª¡ªWhere there is nothing to be seen. They can directly see the door to the dark bedroom at the end of the corridor.


    While the man in black that should be there and coming after them, is gone.


    Mu Jiashi suddenly shudders. He can feel the situation completely, irrevocably, falling into a sorry abyss beyond their control.


    Where is the man in black?


    In the stream, X¨¹ Beijin is quickly going through all the scenes. The bedroom, the corridor, the expressway, the gas station¡­ None. The man in black is nowhere to be seen.


    When suddenly, he is able to hear, the cries and screams coming from outside the bookstore.


    He is surprised; the stream¡¯s camera source, is currently positioned right over at the flowerbed in the central of the plaza in the service area.


    The man in black, like a wolf barging into a group of innocent, defenceless lambs, is merrily slaughtering all the confused, helpless Tower residents¡ª¡ªHe is slaughtering the Actors!


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but stand up and leave the bookstore behind, stepping onto the pavement, looking at this scene in astonishment. By his side is Dai Wu, who came over who-knows-when.


    He whispers, ¡°he¡¯s gone mad.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin turns his head towards Dai Wu.


    ¡°The Actor,¡± Dai Wu says with a strange, unreadable tone, ¡°has already become the psychotic murderer¡ª¡ªThe actual monster that has killed his wife and chopped her corpse into mincemeat, then flushed it down the toilet.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is quiet for a moment before saying, ¡°we have to save them.¡±


    Dai Wu shakes his head. His tone is still jumpy and casual. It makes X¨¹ Beijin uncomfortable; ¡°don¡¯t be silly, this is a scripted event. The Server won¡¯t let you out into the plaza.


    X¨¹ Beijin gives him a perplexed look when he suddenly says, ¡°you mean¡­¡±


    The detective dalao is excitedly typing, meanwhile.


    ¡°This is the fifth run of the Nightmare where it has begun to unpredictably crumble!


    This man in black is now in some indiscriminate slaughter mode!¡±


    A while later, an Actor has died. The Nightmare restarts again.


    The Detective dalao continues his passionate typing,


    ¡°I thought that the Nightmare only restarted when a Missiontaker died, but it seems that, Nightmares restarted whenever a death occurs, whether it¡¯s the Actors, Missiontakers or even the NPCs. Any death causes a restart.


    The man in black¡¯s indiscriminate slaughter results in a death in about five minutes. I do not know if this time would shrink even further as the Nightmare continues to restart, either.


    These Missiontakers need at least three minutes just to hurry here immediately to stop the slaughter; if they want to take the boy with them, that would add at least seven minutes for the counting¡ª¡ªIt is impossible to make it on time!


    And worst, did they even realise, that it was in the service area that the man in black is committing mass murder?


    No matter what, time is of the essence for these Missiontakers. They must come to a decision soon!¡±

 Volume 2 - CH 35.1

    In fact, the Missiontakers reacted sooner than the detective dalao has expected.


    As soon as the fifth run of the Nightmare began, the bedroom team has already geared up for numbering off despite their lack of information.


    No matter how anxious they were, the time spent numbering off was fixed ¨C at least seven minutes was needed.


    Laosan, in the meantime, was more worried whether that eight-number sequence was really correct.


    Fortunately, as they number off one by one, the man did not wrathfully descend upon them to reap their lives away. It makes them sigh in relief.


    Dying in such a dark, cramped space slowly is an agonising experience, even if it wasn¡¯t the first time any of them had died in a Nightmare, but it is still vividly burnt in their minds nonetheless.


    The situation was looking up¡ª¡ªIf the Nightmare didn¡¯t restart five minutes in.


    Right now, the Nightmare has just restarted. For these people in the dark, they couldn¡¯t actually feel it at all. Visually, they cannot tell the scenery has reverted about them; sensually, it just felt as if they blanked out for a moment.


    The four of them are all on high alert, of course, but they would only conclude they might have lost focus for one brief moment.


    Although Laosan is feeling odd, but he is also more preoccupied with other things¡­


    When suddenly, the door to the bedroom is opened from the outside.


    The almost blinding rays of light are shining on the four shocked Missiontakers.


    Mu Jiashi says, all anxious, ¡°something¡¯s wrong!¡±


    When the fifth run of the Nightmare began (TL: Raws say fourth run, but I¡¯m pretty sure it means the fifth. Might be a slip-up of the author) and Mu Jiashi realised the man in black was gone, he immediately questioned Selfish, who has been here, what was going on.


    Yet, even Selfish didn¡¯t know.


    Now, Mu Jiashi forced himself to calm down and, after thinking a bit, he immediately thinks of the crumbling of Nightmares.


    Yes¡­ He is already in the bloody fifth run of the Nightmare! How could he have not noticed!


    Mu Jiashi is chastising himself inside.


    Selfish has clearly also made the same conclusion. He says fearfully, ¡°the last time, we didn¡¯t come as far as the fifth run¡­¡±


    In other words, he also has no idea the degree to which the Nightmare will have crumbled by the fifth run.


    The mood sinks in the corridor.


    Mu Jiashi has to take charge ¨C Lin Qin couldn¡¯t care less, and Selfish and Scapegoat both look on edge already.


    So he takes a deep breath and says, ¡°we¡¯ll split up. You go to the service area with me,¡± he pulls Selfish over and tells Scapegoat, ¡°stay here with the dalao, and keep an eye on the bedroom.¡±


    Selfish asks, ¡°we¡¯re not opening the door?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Mu Jiashi answers quickly, ¡°right now, we must figure out what the change in this Nightmare is. Most importantly, at the service area. They also have to number off in the bedroom so that they can take the boy away; don¡¯t disturb them.¡±


    Selfish is fine with that, but Scapegoat couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°what if the man in black is killing them in the bedroom right now?¡±


    Mu Jiashi glances at him, answering calmly, ¡°then, the service area will be business as usual.¡±


    Scapegoat looks at him with this stupefied look.


    Again, he is met with the realisation that Mu Jiashi really puts the team above all else. The life of the four of them in the bedroom? Irrelevant.


    Most importantly, they are currently stuck.


    If they do not know where the man in black was, then they wouldn¡¯t even be able to ensure a Normal End. Forever being entrapped in this Nightmare is no longer an impossibility.


    Therefore, what they have to prioritise is understanding what the change in the Nightmare was, and most importantly, where is the man in black.


    That is why Mu Jiashi is heading to the service area. In the last run, the man in black had killed them there. Therefore, one possibility is that the man in black is still over there this time.


    No matter what, starting from the corridor all the way to the service area would have them traversing the entire Nightmare¡ª¡ªother than the dark bedroom.


    It is really the first target they should check, but, just as Mu Jiashi said, they are not sure what the change in the Nightmare would be.


    What if there was enough time? What if they could just number off for seven minutes straight so that they could bring the boy out?


    Since the fourth run of the Nightmare, the bedroom team will definitely number off without delay to buy as much time as possible.


    And right now, in the corridor, they have already wasted a small amount of time. If they open the bedroom door now, and interrupt their numbering, causing it to fail¡­ Then, with even the owner of the Nightmare gone, this run is headed for catastrophe for sure.


    Opening the door, means a greater chance of them failing this Nightmare.


    Not opening the door, means the situation is still potentially salvageable.


    Of course, the four Missiontakers of the bedroom team dying is also on the scales here, but when compared to endings of this Nightmare, they are, to Mu Jiashi, irrelevant. The choice is obvious for him ¨C Do not open the door.


    Their deaths are irrelevant¡­ in his cold, calculative mind.


    They can come back to life soon enough, anyway.


    Also, building from that, if, before he could confirm the change in the Nightmare, it has entered another run already, then as soon as the next run starts, he will open the bedroom door without hesitation.


    Because it would mean a change has definitely occurred somewhere. He could ask the bedroom team about whether or not there had been, instead of trying to drive in vain to the service area and look for signs again.


    At this point, though, this Nightmare is still salvageable¡ª¡ªBecause they do not yet know what happened¡ª¡ªSo Mu Jiashi will chase after this possibility and acquire information.


    All his activities are for the sole sake of ensuring they can leave this Nightmare.


    Scapegoat can¡¯t help but shudder looking at Mu Jiashi like this.


    This is certainly reliable, in a sense of the word, since all Missiontakers of a Nightmare are naturally teammates.


    However¡­


    Mu Jiashi is treating the lives of the four Missiontakers in the bedroom, like pebbles thrown out to probe the way forward.


    Yes. They are all tool-persons ¨C tool-lives.


    Those are the words floating into Scapegoat¡¯s mind.


    In fact, to Mu Jiashi, perhaps that is all his own life amounted to as well.


    If Ding Yi were here right now, she would probably be nodding ¨C this really is, that Golddigger who once had a 100% track record on the bottom floor of the Tower.


    That is who he was, and who he is. In the Nightmare, achieving an ending is top priority. All his teammates¡¯ lives, items, even bodies, are evaluated per their usefulness.


    Anything and everything, is for the sake of the customer¡¯s wishes being fulfilled.


    Which just means¡ª¡ªTrue Ends.


    It really has been a pretty long time since Mu Jiashi has shown such a side.


    After he left the Golddigger group he was in and became a lone wolf;


    After he fell from grace from a higher floor in the Tower, back to his origins;


    After he called himself a piece of trash, a loser, unreliable, untrustworthy¡­


    He was so dejected he was even unwilling to tell his thoughts to everyone else.


    Yet, the sudden crumbling of the Nightmare seems to have reawakened a particular part of this disheartened man. That ruthlessness, strength, that domineering, decisive aura, makes even Selfish shut up and quietly follow behind Mu Jiashi.


    Three minutes later, they can already hear the screams coming from inside the service area in their car at the entrance; it was clear what was the change in this Nightmare by this point.


    They leave the car and observe the bloody scene happening in the central plaza of the service area at the entrance.


    Mu Jiashi is murmuring, ¡°so it really was¡­ indiscriminate slaughter?¡±


    Selfish is wondering, ¡°the NPCs¡­ won¡¯t be a problem even if they died, right?¡±


    Mu Jiashi gives him an odd look, and shakes his head, explaining, ¡°no. We always say that ¡®a Nightmare restarts when anyone dies¡¯¡ª¡ªIt really means any death.¡±


    Selfish can feel his cold sweat dripping down as he asks, ¡°including, these NPCs?¡±


    Mu Jiashi nods.


    Selfish looks like he could cry, cussing, ¡°shit¡­ what do we do?¡±


    Mu Jiashi ignores him to focus on the issue of time.


    Naturally, he has also noticed the issue of time the detective dalao mentioned in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s stream.


    How long does this slaughter here last? When will the first Tower resident death occur?


    What if it was too short for the bedroom side to finish and take the boy here?


    Seven minutes numbering off. Three minutes on the road. Just in case, add another minute for good measure. Then, eleven minutes.


    Though¡­


    Mu Jiashi glances over at the flowerbed in the central plaza, where the residents lay strewn about. To be honest, it seems unlikely.


    They hurried here in three minutes flat, but adding about a minute for the time spent thinking and discussing, this is at least four minutes, yet, four minutes is far too short of the eleven minutes he needs!


    ¡°There must be a way,¡± Mu Jiashi murmurs, ¡°there must be a way to stop that man¡­¡±


    The Server never creates a Nightmare without a solution. At least, he has never run into any like that. Though that said¡­ (TL: This is a flag. It¡¯ll be explained in¡­ I dunno, a hundred chapters later? Hehe)


    His thoughts pause for a moment before he immediately shakes the thoughts aside to focus on this.


    In this mission, they have Lin Qin. It means they can try to come up with ways to force the dalao¡¯s hand and suppress this man directly.


    He saw Lin Qin fight earlier. He could dispatch this man in black without sweat.


    The problem is, how do they force Lin Qin¡¯s hand.


    And really, there is no way other Missiontakers could have been fortunate enough to run into Lin Qin every single time anyway. This must mean there is a method in this Nightmare that they can utilise to resolve this slaughter.


    What, would that be?


    Selfish hesitantly asks besides him, ¡°should we¡­ use utility cards?¡±


    There is a risk to him asking; anyone mentioning utility cards in the Nightmare would be suspected for being a Carddealer.


    So Selfish quickly adds, ¡°I¡¯m not thinking about stealing anything, of course!¡±


    Mu Jiashi snaps out of his thoughts and explains simply, ¡°I don¡¯t have them.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Selfish looks at him in shock, repeating, ¡°you don¡¯t¡­¡±


    Mu Jiashi nods, reaffirming, ¡°I don¡¯t have utility cards. None.¡±


    Selfish has his jaw on the floor.


    None? How could that be?


    Seeing what Mu Jiashi has done so far, Selfish is convinced he is a dalao, a super capable dalao; perhaps he had a slip-up on a higher floor, which is why he is now on the bottom floor.


    Even so, why would he not have a single utility card on him?


    Even if a Carddealer has stolen from him or touched his corpse, but he must still have cards at home. Unless his home was burgled clean.


    Unless¡­


    Selfish suddenly has an idea.


    Unless, someone Mu Jiashi trusted deeply, who had rights to enter his home, stole all his utility cards.


    After that thought, Selfish is looking at Mu Jiashi with even wider eyes.


    He¡¯d obviously understood something even Scapegoat could work out; Mu Jiashi is fundamentally, an emotionless, pragmatic Missiontaker.


    Nobody can ever truly trust each other. Could Mu Jiashi, who has such a mindset himself, fail to heed that truth?


    Well, there are still many possibilities; someone forcing Mu Jiashi to hand over his utility cards, or Mu Jiashi having traded those cards away already in this Nightmare in a secret deal.


    Yet Selfish couldn¡¯t chase away the thoughts in his mind.


    Or rather, the moment he thought about that, his mind was also adding¡ª¡ªis it any surprise that such a cruel, merciless man in Nightmares has been betrayed?


    Selfish knew he had a terrible personality, but even so, he still can¡¯t be like Mu Jiashi, and be completely unfazed by others¡¯ deaths.


    If it comes to life or death, Selfish would still feel stressed.


    Yet Mu Jiashi looks like he¡¯s built differently. He is used to deaths in the Nightmares already.


    Thinking so, Selfish sniggers, and mutters, ¡°then I won¡¯t use any utility cards either¡­¡±

 Volume 2 - CH 35.2

    To use or not to use a utility card is often a question asked in the Nightmares.


    Most Missiontakers would never use a utility card in the first few runs assuming they haven¡¯t got themselves stuck in a hopeless bind, they aren¡¯t unbelievably rich or they aren¡¯t 100% sure they¡¯ll achieve a True End after using the card.


    Otherwise, wasting one use of the utility card would be quite the loss for Missiontakers.


    And because of the rampant Carddealers¡¯ threat, they have all become used to hiding their own utility cards in the Nightmares.


    So, even if Selfish has a utility card that could help with the situation, he¡¯s not planning to use it either. There is no need¡ª¡ªNor is he willing.


    While Mu Jiashi falls into thought again.


    Selfish talking about utility cards reminds him that if he has an appropriate utility card, then they could stop the mass slaughter of the man in black without Lin Qin¡¯s help.


    Though¡­ There is no way that this is the solution the Server expects.


    Basically, utility cards are a means of cheating, but not a normal method of passing Nightmares.


    Naturally, if a utility card is related to a Nightmare, then it may certainly be an important or key object or clue itself. Otherwise, utility cards are outright cheating.


    Not that they would look down on using utility cards, though.


    The bigger problem is that, in this situation, the Missiontakers will never make public what utility cards they have brought.


    This is the complete opposite of the situation Mu Jiashi was used to as part of a Golddigging team. In Nightmares, he knew exactly what utility cards his teammates brought. Therefore, he could summarily dictate when and which utility card to use to prevent waste.


    This is something unachievable in a team of strangers.


    Therefore, after Mu Jiashi became a lone wolf, he has adapted his thinking to ignore utility cards entirely.


    And so he did, as he continues thinking about a what the normal way of resolving this situation would be.


    Not even until the fifth minute passes, the Nightmare restarts, does Mu Jiashi manage to come up with a solution.


    The sixth run of the Nightmare, begins.


    Meanwhile, the viewers in the stream are also discussing about how this Nightmare can continue to be solved.


    It seems that the unexpected breakdown of the Nightmare has caused the situation to devolve massively out of hand. The great progress the Missiontakers made in the fourth run of the Nightmare has been upended by the nightmare crumbling.


    The comments are numerous.


    ¡°damned scriptwriter has got them stuck!¡±


    ¡°i could feel the evil inside the scriptwriting lol¡±


    ¡°srsly, i dunno what they can do anymore¡±


    ¡°can¡¯t the little apple just beat the man in black up?¡±


    ¡°but lin qin is like a bug himself, other missiontakers wouldnt be able to fight nearly as well?¡±


    ¡°that means, there must be another way to get out of this¡±


    ¡°¡­ I have no idea anymore, might as well ask lin qin to do it at this point¡±


    ¡°though whether the little apple is willing is also a question¡­¡±


    ¡°our Beibei is here though?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, whose name popped out of nowhere, shows a blank expression.


    Just like Mu Jiashi, he is thinking about how to resolve this predicament, but he is out of ideas as well.


    Or rather¡­ He can feel that all the things that have happened thus far after entering the Nightmare seem to be connected somehow, like a string of pearls on a necklace. They possess the individual pearls, but they do not have the string that connects the pearls into an elegant jewellery.


    What would it be¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin is thinking while staring at the screen in the stream.


    After the nightmare restarted, just like the audience in the stream suggested, without a way to break through this bottleneck, Mu Jiashi asked for Lin Qin¡¯s help without hesitation.


    Lin Qin refuses, as expected.


    Mu Jiashi takes a deep breath, as his brain quickly churns through relevant information, then rapidly says, ¡°dalao, I have met you and X¨¹ Beijin, the bookstore owner, earlier in his store before. I take it you are interested in him; I have once worked with him for a while, so here¡¯s my proposal ¨C I will tell you about what I knew back then while we are hurrying to the service area later. What do you think?¡±


    He used a very deferential tone; he doesn¡¯t seem to think there¡¯s a problem with such a humble gesture.


    Lin Qin really is the crownless King of the Tower, because all Missiontakers will definitely come to rely on Lin Qin¡¯s strength eventually.


    Even though they call Lin Qin a mad dog behind his back, but this mad dog does not kill; at most, it goes berserk, suppressing everyone in the Nightmare¡­


    It¡¯s embarrassing to admit for sure, but isn¡¯t achieving a Special End in the Nightmare also a way of leaving safely?


    To Mu Jiashi, Lin Qin might as well be their lucky star here.


    He obviously made the proposal because he realised Lin Qin¡¯s interest in the bookstore owner.


    The young man was seated at the bookstore entrance when he was looking for him; later, Lin Qin had a whole shopping trolley of drinks. The keyword ¡®drinks¡¯ had triggered some memories inside Mu Jiashi¡¯s mind.


    Of course he remembers how X¨¹ Beijin provided him clues for a Nightmare because he gave him his drink after he gave up on him entirely.


    Therefore, what Lin Qin did seem to point to one thing.


    Lin Qin is interested in X¨¹ Beijin¡ª¡ªthis earlier conclusion gave Mu Jiashi confidence in his proposal.


    As expected, after a brief hesitation, Lin Qin agreed to help them once.


    In the stream, the viewers are ecstatic.


    ¡°hahaha, i knew Beibei was the weakness of the little apple!¡±


    ¡°this is already the second time Lin Qin is making a move for Beibei! oh what a better love story than twilight (no lol¡±


    ¡°let¡¯s interview our Bei ¨C are you touched this great dalao is doing all this because of you?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Uh¡­ no, not really.


    X¨¹ Beijin is actually feeling slightly embarrassed.


    He remembers how, in the last Nightmare, information on him, provided by Mu Jiashi, no less, was exactly what Ponytail used to make a deal with Lin Qin for him to help.


    This time, Mu Jiashi himself is doing the same ¨C asking for Lin Qin¡¯s help with information he knew about X¨¹ Beijin.


    Not to mention how Ding Yi also got Lin Qin to help by using drinks, even though she didn¡¯t know this was fundamentally related to X¨¹ Beijin.


    Lin Qin agreed, all three times.


    It is really making X¨¹ Beijin embarrassed.


    He can¡¯t help but feel like he is the reason Lin Qin has basically become a mercenary for hire for the Missiontakers in the Nightmare¡­


    ¡®I do not kill Bairen, but Bairen died for me.¡¯ (TL: Classical Chinese saying referring to how someone died for another person that could but did not kill him (i.e. it¡¯s kind of like a favour; I don¡¯t really know this story well either))


    Though X¨¹ Beijin has no intention of ever killing Lin Qin, but his embarrassment is basically the same.


    In another sense, Lin Qin could be said to be taken advantage of due to X¨¹ Beijin. Not that helping the Missiontakers was any trouble for Lin Qin, but¡­ Lin Qin did agree implicitly, that they were friends.


    X¨¹ Beijin does not want a friend of his to suffer such treatment.


    Lin Qin may be willing, but X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t.


    Plus, there¡¯s three times now. It may not seem much yet, but if more Missiontakers knew in the future, that Lin Qin would agree to a deal for matters related to X¨¹ Beijin; if all these unscrupulous Missiontakers aren¡¯t like Mu Jiashi, who really did have information he want, but just takes advantage of him with some deception, trying to bluff their way to easy mode¡­


    That¡¯ll be a catastrophe.


    X¨¹ Beijin has made a decision. He¡¯ll talk about this sternly with Lin Qin in his meeting later.


    Though¡­ He starts awkwardly thinking about how Lin Qin fundamentally agreed to these deals so that he could fight with X¨¹ Beijin; he wanted to learn about him more in order to know how he can successfully persuade X¨¹ Beijin to fight with him.


    So, if X¨¹ Beijin did not want himself becoming a weakness for Lin Qin¡­


    Wouldn¡¯t that mean the goalpost is now moved onto him ¨C He will have to provide the answer of ¡®how X¨¹ Beijin will agree to fight with Lin Qin¡¯ to Lin Qin himself?


    That¡¯s basically suicide.


    X¨¹ Beijin is in a conundrum.


    Not long after, though, he again decided he will tell Lin Qin about it.


    No matter what, principles are principles.


    X¨¹ Beijin exhales while rubbing his nose in exhaustion.


    He may have decided, yes, but regarding how to face Lin Qin and explain all the intricacies and his own mindset while also dissuading him from fighting with him at all are still things that are paining him.


    He sighs again, wondering why Lin Qin, the Missiontaker¡­ is always just thinking about fighting instead of literally anything Missiontaker-like.


    Why can¡¯t he just be like the other Missiontakers on-screen, all frustrated just dealing with the ever-changing Nightmares?

 Volume 2 - CH 35.3

    Meanwhile, as soon as Lin Qin agreed to help, Mu Jiashi then immediately turns to open the door to the dark bedroom, anxiously but still clearly telling them, ¡°something¡¯s wrong!¡±


    Mu Jiashi quickly explains the current situation to four shocked pairs of eyes ¨C about the crumbling Nightmare, the slaughter of the man in black in the service area, the limit of five minutes, and what they plan to do now.


    He asks the four Missiontakers in the bedroom to continue numbering off, and to take the boy to the surface area after he leaves the wardrobe.


    Laosan takes a deep breath. He didn¡¯t expect this run¡­ wait, no, the last run of the Nightmare to have undergone such an abrupt and frightening change.


    And they¡¯re even in the sixth run of the Nightmare already.


    He nods firmly, and says, ¡°understood.¡±


    While the woman with the grue hair raises her head to say calmly, ¡°we will get it done.¡±


    Her gaze meets with Mu Jiashi¡¯s for a split second before they separate.


    Mu Jiashi knows clearly, though, that the ¡®Billionaire¡¯ already knew that he abandoned the four Missiontakers in the dark bedroom the last run of the Nightmare and headed straight for the service area.


    This is something Mu Jiashi-like. He isn¡¯t about to hide it either.


    Besides, with how sharp Ding Yi is, she definitely would have figured it out. Even if their roles were switched, Mu Jiashi believes Ding Yi would have made the same choice.


    Instead, Mu Jiashi is more curious about why Ding Yi has maintained that introverted stance and hid her abilities.


    Would a billionaire of a Necessities Merchant really not be more arrogant or prideful in a Nightmare? Also, given Ding Yi¡¯s possessions, she could certainly have hired Golddiggers.


    Why did she try to pass through a Nightmare alone?


    ¡­ Or is there someone she hired among these Missiontakers present?


    These questions and curiosity pass in but a second. With hurried steps, he quickly heads for the service area with Lin Qin, Selfish and Scapegoat.


    They take two cars, he and Lin Qin ride on one, Selfish and Scapegoat on the other.


    On the way, Lin Qin reminds Mu Jiashi, ¡°what you talked about before.¡±


    Mu Jiashi was too preoccupied thinking about all the information in this Nightmare, so he had to pause for a moment when Lin Qin reminded him to remember what he was going to say.


    ¡°Sorry, sorry,¡± Mu Jiashi quickly apologises, ¡°the bookstore owner, right. I once got into contact with him. I knew he never slept, liked drinks¡­¡±


    Lin Qin says unhappily, ¡°I knew all that.¡±


    In other words, what Mu Jiashi just told him was useless to him.


    Nor was he expecting to satisfy Lin Qin with trivia, but he had to tell him all of these so that he wouldn¡¯t misunderstand and think he was still keeping some information to himself.


    Not that Lin Qin would have cared to think that deeply.


    So Mu Jiashi answers, ¡°dalao, I was just setting up. I will tell you something that, besides myself, nobody would have known.¡±


    In the stream, not just the viewers, but even X¨¹ Beijin is curious what is coming. He still remembers clearly when he was acquainted with Mu Jiashi.


    What about him could be something that nobody but Mu Jiashi knew?


    The man answers, ¡°I was trying to enter X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, but I found out he never slept. I wanted to find another way to break through, so, trying what I could, I asked the Tower resident who lived next to the bookstore then.


    She was the one who told me that this bookstore owner drank drinks often. At the same time, she told me another thing.¡±


    Mu Jiashi pauses for a moment here out of habit before continuing, ¡°she told me that this bookstore owner has been living there since a very, very long time ago. He has never left the bottom floor of the Tower.¡±


    Lin Qin then pauses for a moment before asking, ¡°so what?¡±


    Not just he is confused, but the viewers in the stream are also wondering.


    ¡°is it weird Beibei liked to shut-in at home?¡±


    ¡°actors¡­ or rather, game NPCs being somewhere the whole time is normal, right?¡±


    ¡°or is there something special about the ¡®bottom floor of the Tower¡¯?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is pretty surprised himself.


    He always thought that it was just coincidence that Mu Jiashi ended up giving him his drink. He didn¡¯t expect there was a whole other layer to it.


    His neighbour, huh¡­


    The neighbour Mu Jiashi was referring to is not Wu Shen. He is referring to the neighbour before that.


    Tower residents come and go, so, in the Missiontakers¡¯ eyes, these mad people just don¡¯t have a fixed home.


    Sometimes, when a Missiontaker has decided to target a certain resident, and scouted and researched their way so that they could enter the resident¡¯s Nightmare, they may end up discovering that the residence has disappeared out of nowhere.


    That is actually because the Actor has successfully played a significant enough role in helping Missiontakers resolve their Nightmare and headed to a higher floor to be assigned a new script.


    So obviously, X¨¹ Beijin has had more neighbours than Wu Shen. In fact, that neighbour might not be assigned the doll store owner¡¯s role either. After Wu Shen has headed up to a higher floor, X¨¹ Beijin was wondering whether a new Actor or even Missiontaker ¨C an outsider ¨C might move in next to him.


    Missiontakers and Actors living opposite sides of the same street is rare, but not unheard of. It all comes down to luck.


    Though X¨¹ Beijin is surprised that Mu Jiashi has once interacted with his neighbour.


    He digs through his memories to figure out who the neighbour was when Mu Jiashi was at his bookstore¡­ Then, he recalls a face.


    It¡¯s a woman. A pretty smooth-talking Actor, which was why she knew about his preference for drinks.


    Though, close neighbours as they were, that was it. X¨¹ Beijin never even ended up Acting in her Nightmare once. That Actor went to a higher floor really quickly too.


    She was the one that told Mu Jiashi the information, huh.


    X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t really angry; it has to be said that conversations between Actors and Missiontakers, especially when it comes to Nightmares, even if it¡¯s the Nightmare of someone else, is still under the management of the Server.


    Therefore, this was the equivalent of an unavoidable, scripted event. In fact, perhaps the Actor didn¡¯t even want to tell him, but the Server ordered her to tell Mu Jiashi when he came to her.


    So X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t really care about that conversation he didn¡¯t know about.


    He just felt that this was really satisfying his curiosity that he could find out about the truth of something that happened way back even after so long.


    Really, after spending so long in the Tower, X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s emotions have really been ground to almost nothing. He just blanks out in his bookstore in the Tower, or does some reading, and then the day passes. When he doesn¡¯t have to Act, his life is as dead and unchanging as stillwater.


    Yet the arrival of the streaming system has changed his life and also punched right through the calm layer settled on his life. It is even revealing new secrets he never knew before.


    How exciting.


    He was never really interested in Missiontakers¡ª¡ªA natural result because of the different circumstances facing the Actors and the Missiontakers, especially when the latter never figured out who the former, the Tower residents, really were.


    Therefore, X¨¹ Beijin was never someone interested in Nightmares or Missiontakers throughout the whole Tower.


    Yet, thanks to the screen of the stream feeding all these events and information and clues right into his eyes, nobody can resist thinking about them besides those who are truly dead inside.


    Mu Jiashi has no idea the person he is talking about is actually observing him quietly through a hidden stream camera.


    He continues to explain, ¡°there is a high mobility to Tower residents on the bottom floor. As far as I am aware, this is the only resident who I¡¯ve been told has never left the bottom floor.¡±


    Mu Jiashi really is humbling himself when he explains. In fact, given his prior standing among Golddiggers and in his own team, he practically knew most residents on the bottom floor of the Tower.


    Therefore, ¡®as far as I¡¯m aware¡¯ basically means the information was true, at least at that time.


    He did leave the bottom floor for a long time, so he doesn¡¯t know about if anything has changed and what the current situation is, so he is using words that are more conservative. Even though he didn¡¯t really need to for what he just said.


    The two pieces of information he got when he asked X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s neighbour about him, was that one, X¨¹ Beijin never slept and liked drinks, and two, X¨¹ Beijin has never left the bottom floor of the Tower.


    So, Lin Qin, who isn¡¯t as dumb as some Missiontakers always say he is, is able to ask, ¡°so what you¡¯re trying to say, is that his Nightmare is related to the fact that he has never left the bottom floor?¡±


    Mu Jiashi nods confidently, answering, ¡°I believe so.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, who hears that in the stream, looks like he has something to say, but stays quiet.


    In the stream, the detective dalao is quick to type, ¡°Bei! My Bei! Don¡¯t be a spoil sport, please! I want to be able to work out what Nightmare the game gave you!¡±


    The Nightmare the game gave him?


    X¨¹ Beijin has a terribly grim expression as he lowers his head to look at his own hand. He is trembling slightly.


    Slowly, but firmly, he grips his fist tight, so tight his fingernails are digging into the flesh in his palm. It is a bit painful; in this game, even pain is unbelievably realistic. He is trying to suppress his trembling with the pain.


    Calmly, he thinks¡ª¡ªYou wouldn¡¯t want to know.


    It isn¡¯t the first time he has thought so either.


    When once, Missiontakers were all headed for him, all endlessly curious about his Nightmare, X¨¹ Beijin has thought so countless times.


    In fact, after that wave of enthusiasm passed, X¨¹ Beijin has never thought like this for a long time.


    Though right now, it feels almost like he has time travelled back to that time.


    Not even he is able to put a finger on what he is thinking about in this very moment; his thoughts feel like they have descended into a cold, bottomless, empty abyss. Tangled, frozen.


    Yet, the next second, he hears something.


    ¡°But I¡¯m not interested in his Nightmare,¡± says Lin Qin.


    X¨¹ Beijin cocks his head right up to watch the stream.


    Unlike the shock of Mu Jiashi and the ruckus in the comment barrage, Lin Qin just flatly states, ¡°I just want to fight him. I don¡¯t want to go into his Nightmare.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin gives a deep, hard look at Lin Qin, who just said that.


    Mu Jiashi begins smiling bitterly, saying, ¡°oh¡­ I see. Dalao, that¡¯s all I knew, so¡­¡±


    Lin Qin is pretty forgiving, though, saying, ¡°that¡¯s alright. I promised, so I won¡¯t go back on it.¡±


    He promised to deal with the man in black with Mu Jiashi, for the price of what he knew about X¨¹ Beijin. Mu Jiashi upheld his end of the deal, so Lin Qin will comply, of course.


    Just like Ding Yi, who asked Lin Qin for help using drinks. Despite her invasion of his privacy displeasing him somewhat, but he still completes the deal regardless.


    By the same vein, despite it being pretty much useless, that is irrelevant to the proposal Mu Jiashi made.


    The man in question sighs in relief before asking curiously, ¡°dalao, can I ask why you want to fight with the bookstore owner?¡±


    He¡¯s asking indirectly, but honestly, he doesn¡¯t think X¨¹ Beijin can win against Lin Qin.


    Lin Qin nods to answer, ¡°I feel like he might be able to win in a fight with me,¡± then he emphasises, ¡°possibly, but I¡¯m not sure.¡±


    Mu Jiashi is shocked enough just with that answer, though.


    Lin Qin also rubs his chin, meanwhile, muttering, ¡°hmm, you said he has never left the bottom floor¡­ Then maybe I can just keep an eye on the bookstore entrance forever? If he doesn¡¯t move¡­¡±


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s mouth twitches.


    Dalao, even if you¡¯re a dalao with an ungodly fighting strength, you don¡¯t have to act like such a stalker against a poor little NPC, do you?


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He is once again questioning his decision to invite Lin Qin over.


    Really? Really really?


    This is definitely a clingywart who will never let go once attached!


    But unfortunately¡­ He has already leaked his address to him earlier!


    He woefully taps his forehead onto the counter. All hope is lost. He is picturing how, in the future, there will always be a little apple lying outside of his door¡­


    Ptoo, little apple, his arse.


    He¡¯s been totally led astray by those naughty viewers in the stream!


    While Lin Qin is thinking, Mu Jiashi is speechlessing, and X¨¹ Beijin is despairing, they finally reach the service area, where, the slaughter of the man in black is still ongoing.


    They made it in time. Nobody has died yet from his big machete.


    In the stream, the viewers begin working through everything Mu Jiashi has done since the fifth run began, and they are all expressing their impression at how decisive and influential the man has been once he started to act.


    Up to this point, Laosan was the most brilliant one among them. He didn¡¯t make many decisions, but his process of analysis and thought was paramount to their progress.


    They didn¡¯t expect how Mu Jiashi basically took over after the unexpected change occurred.


    Meanwhile, the corridor group has left their two cars behind. Lin Qin is walking straight for the central plaza flowerbed, so quickly that the rest of the Missiontakers are having trouble keeping up with his steps.


    When they finally arrive at the plaza, running, among the bloody scene, they spot Lin Qin, already holding the big machete, bored, while locking the man in black in place with a foot planted on his chest.


    It seems, the man in black would not be able to get back up for a while.

 Volume 2 - CH 36.1

    Compared to the Missiontakers are who just shocked seeing Lin Qin suppress the man in black so quickly, the audience, who were in full view of how he completely dominated the man, have their jaws on the floor instead.


    X¨¹ Beijin has made up his mind of not fighting Lin Qin ever even more after a brief silence.


    They have no idea how to describe how Lin Qin did it. They just saw Lin Qin stroll over casually, and then just take that big machete out of the man¡¯s hands, then he just extended his foot to kick the murderous man over.


    Lin Qin is looking down at the guy, and, impatient, applies more and more force through his feet gradually.


    He is quite annoyed at him.


    The man in black, lying on the ground struggling, soon gives up all resistance after a few hard tramples as he begins yelling in pain, though really, it isn¡¯t particularly notable among all the other screams and wails of the other terribly wounded Tower residents.


    The Missiontakers ignore his suffering directly.


    Mu Jiashi is heaving a sigh of relief and relaxes a little.


    After forcing the man in black down, the only thing they need to do now is wait until Laosan¡¯s team finishes numbering off in the dark bedroom and take the boy over here.


    As for whether they should finish up with a Normal End first or try their luck at a True End, Mu Jiashi isn¡¯t sure either.


    He falls into thought.


    In the stream, after a brief ruckus, the audience comes around to discussing the endings of the Nightmare too.


    Not that they have many thoughts either, instead expecting the dalao and X¨¹ Beijin to help, and before then, they¡¯re aimlessly talking about everything.


    ¡°weird, making the father realise his misunderstanding is only a normal ending¡±


    ¡°dont really understand, the last nightmare was a true end when the dollmaker acknowledged the truth and repented, exchanging eyes with xiao chun, wasnt it? whys it different this time?¡±


    ¡°uh¡­ maybe because this time the nightmare owner is the victim and not the perpetrator?¡±


    ¡°kinda hard to think from the boys perspective tho¡±


    ¡°it¡¯s still kind of hard to guess, wasn¡¯t there supposed to be particular clues for the purpose of leading to a true end? but this nightmare didn¡¯t have anything special like that¡±


    ¡°yeah, like that utility card last nightmare, without that then they have no eyes or xiao-chun or means to a true ending¡±


    ¡°so¡­ what about this nightmare?¡±


    Mu Jiashi, of course, is also aware of what even the viewers could notice, however, the Difficulty discovered doesn¡¯t mean they can necessarily resolve it.


    He works through the information acquired in the Nightmare again.


    The boy¡¯s father thought his wife had cheated on him, so he killed her, forcing the boy to number off as he did so.


    ¡­ Yes, the summary is that simple.


    So why isn¡¯t the True End just resolving the original misunderstanding?


    Mu Jiashi is also keenly aware that True Ends also don¡¯t come without some luck. They either need some special tools, run into some special scenes, or come across some special, rare clues. Something they can¡¯t expect to do in just one mere attempt at this Nightmare.


    Why Golddiggers could keep their reputation is because, they would first achieve Normal Ends in Nightmares to ensure they have a means to leave safely, before taking it on over and over again to look for clues within.


    Naturally, there are risks. Over countless attempts at a single Nightmare, many Golddiggers have come to realise that as they enter a Nightmare again and again, changes become more and more likely, independent of reruns inside. These changes will also be different each time.


    It may be the dangers within increasing and becoming more omnipresent. It may be that the location of an important clue has changed. It may be that the terrain of the Nightmare becomes less traversable¡­ In summary, just entering the same Nightmare again and again is already a risk.


    A risk that is necessary to achieve a True End.


    Simply because, very few of them human Missiontakers really are willing to stay at the bottom floor forever.


    Of course, a lot of them have already given up, but that is because they believe there is no hope. If some Golddigger suddenly told them, though, that they are willing to take them to a higher floor for free, would anyone be completely disinterested in the offer?


    Perhaps the door to where they could sign up would be broken down, even.


    The difficulty in achieving a True End is that, it demands utmost attention from the Missiontakers for the most minute details¡ª¡ªIn fact, oftentimes, the key to the True End might lie outside of the Nightmare, and is in the Tower instead.


    ¡­ In the Tower instead?


    Mu Jiashi suddenly recalls that Laoda, Erge and Laosan said they had encounters with the boy back in the Tower.


    They said they didn¡¯t dig up anything useful from him.


    However, it may be equally possible they just haven¡¯t realised the value of the information they obtained from him!


    Mu Jiashi has made up his mind now. When Laosan brings the boy here later, he¡¯ll ask them to recount their entire encounter with the boy.


    After this, he focuses back on the scene at hand. His subconsciousness has kept counting in the meantime to keep track of time.


    Right now, six minutes have passed in this run of the Nightmare. If all is well, then they should almost be done already by the dark bedroom. Then they¡¯ll bring the boy over.


    So, they¡¯ll be at the service area in about four or five minutes.


    Before then¡­


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s gaze lands on the man in black.


    He walks over, and hesitantly leans down to remove the mask of the man.


    ¡­ Shockingly, beneath the mask, is another mask.


    The man in black makes a hoarse chuckle, mocking Mu Jiashi¡¯s actions, perhaps.


    Selfish comes along and takes a peek, then yells out, ¡°still another mask? What in the world? Isn¡¯t he supposed to be the wanted guy?!¡±


    Mu Jiashi also falls into thought.


    He was already wondering earlier why the boy¡¯s father had such an image in the boy¡¯s own Nightmare.


    A mask still beneath a mask¡­ perhaps, because, in the boy¡¯s mind, his father has already become a devil through and through?


    Before he could think about it more deeply, someone suddenly asks, ¡°what¡¯s happening¡­ here?¡±


    All the Missiontakers present turn to look to see it¡¯s the supermarket cashier, standing at the supermarket entrance and looking at the bloody scene in the plaza with his mouth agape.


    Only Mu Jiashi is really invested in the Nightmare among the four present, so only he replies, ¡°this man in black¡­ was killing people here.¡±


    ¡°He?¡± The cashier¡¯s gaze lands on the man in black, staring at him for a while, before gulping and asking, ¡°this is the man in black you said were trying to kill you guys earlier?¡±


    Mu Jiashi is stunned.


    First thought, the Nightmare has crumbled so much that the NPCs are recalling what happened the last few runs already?


    Mu Jiashi is also familiar with this kind of change. There¡¯s both advantages and disadvantages. Some NPCs would recall how badly the Missiontakers treated them and would take revenge; others would sometimes provide unexpectedly useful information after recalling everything.


    It¡¯s a pretty common type of change to occur as Nightmares crumble, especially for someone as experienced as Mu Jiashi.


    Besides that, what is attracting Mu Jiashi¡¯s attention as well is the use of the word ¡®kill¡¯ by Dai Wu.


    Did they tell Dai Wu about the man in black trying to kill¡­ no, wait.


    In the third run of the Nightmare, Selfish and Scapegoat went to the service area, when later as the fourth run started, Selfish said that he told Dai Wu a man in black was after them and trying to kill them in his angry tirade. The Nightmare restarted when Dai Wu was about to talk about who the man in black was.


    Mu Jiashi thought it was part of the story Selfish and Scapegoat concocted as a lie.


    Though it seems¡­


    He turns towards Scapegoat reflexively.


    The man is pale and his lips are trembling. Clearly, he wasn¡¯t expecting the Tower resident to recover memories from the previous runs right now.


    Selfish goes ¡®hmph¡¯ and says, ¡°what. That¡¯s how it was. We didn¡¯t say a false thing at all.¡±


    Mu Jiashi knits his brows reflexively.


    Though it¡­ could very well be true.


    Selfish said he knew all the information because he has been here before.


    If so, then whether they did, and what information they dug out of Dai Wu becomes unimportant.


    Well¡­ Not exactly; Selfish did look terribly strange when Dai Wu told them he didn¡¯t know the boy¡¯s whereabouts. Dai Wu must have told them something back then.


    The man in black¡­ The little boy¡­


    Mu Jiashi suddenly realises something, asking, ¡°how many questions did you ask in total?¡±


    None of them thought about the possibility that Selfish and Scapegoat could have asked the cashier more than one question.


    ¡°Well, with how it is, there¡¯s no point in hiding anything,¡± Selfish splays his hands and shows a fiendish smile, telling him, ¡°we asked two things. One, where was the boy when the crime took place; two, who the man in black was. Before the cashier could reply to the second question, the Nightmare restarted.¡±


    Mu Jiashi furrows his brows as he finally understands.


    In the fourth run, when they asked Dai Wu if he knew anything about the boy, he didn¡¯t specify whether it was about the boy during the crime or after the crime.


    Dai Wu assumed they were asking where the boy was right that instant, and replied the boy was missing, so he didn¡¯t know; Scapegoat, whose memories from his experience the last run still fresh in his mind, naturally understood it as the cashier replying he didn¡¯t know where the boy was when the murder happened.


    So, to him, it became a case of Dai Wu knowing where the boy was during the crime, but replied that he didn¡¯t know where he was.


    That contradictory information would certainly have made a bad actor like Scapegoat show an expression of surprise.


    However, while Scapegoat tried to hide the fact that he was working with Selfish and also the fact that the boy was at the scene when his father killed his mother, everything else was true.


    They did tell him a man in black was chasing after them. Dai Wu did tell them he might know who that man was; they did die before they could hear Dai Wu¡¯s answer.


    Which all played into their argument with everyone else the start of the next run.


    Selfish shrugs to say, ¡°I told you I never lied.¡±


    He didn¡¯t. He just kept some facts to himself.


    When he asked those questions, he wanted to work with Scapegoat, so he was proving what he knew to him.


    He told Scapegoat the boy was in the bedroom, but Scapegoat didn¡¯t believe him immediately; he asked Dai Wu where the boy was when the murder took place¡ª¡ªThe boy was at the scene. So Scapegoat agreed to work with him.


    It was too bad they couldn¡¯t confirm the second answer, but fortunately, Scapegoat was willing to trust him with that one answer.


    The moment the Nightmare restarted, the two of them quickly made an arrangement; Selfish didn¡¯t believe in Scapegoat¡¯s acting, so he said, ¡°tell them we didn¡¯t hear an answer in time!¡±


    The quick sentence was enough for Scapegoat to figure out what he should say and shouldn¡¯t.


    And with that, finally, all the misunderstandings between the Missiontakers have been resolved.

 Volume 2 - CH 36.2

    Mu Jiashi still says sternly, though, ¡°you shouldn¡¯t have kept this information to yourself.¡±


    Selfish and Scapegoat didn¡¯t lie, true, but hiding crucial information is still a kind of distrust, a deception.


    Selfish just goes ¡®tch¡¯ and replies, ¡°I¡¯m a lone wolf,¡± then adds, coldly, ¡°really, I was going to resolve this Nightmare myself. If this guy,¡± he points to Scapegoat, ¡°wasn¡¯t with me at the service area, I wouldn¡¯t have worked with him.¡±


    Scapegoat¡¯s face is all red. His lips are trembling, yet he keeps them shut in the end.


    He knows how lone wolves are.


    Lone wolf-types in the Tower never believe in teams. They are selfish. They value themselves above all else. They are cold and scarcely offers any trust. They keep a clear distance between themselves and other Missiontakers.


    Mu Jiashi might technically be a lone wolf now, but having been in a Golddigging team, he still has habits of cooperation from back then¡ª¡ªOr rather, he is someone who values the team above all else.


    Lone wolves, more usually, resemble people like Selfish, and even more typical Missiontakers for that matter.


    Scapegoat stayed speechless the entire time.


    He is also someone who acts alone and doesn¡¯t team up; he knows lone wolves, but someone like Selfish, who openly shows ¡®I don¡¯t care a single bit about any of you,¡¯ is quite rare itself.


    Scapegoat looks down on the floor, while thinking to himself, all the eight Missiontakers in this Nightmare are all quite¡­


    The three ¡®brothers¡¯ that are their own team, the woman with the greenish-blue hair¡ª¡ªPerhaps she¡¯s that Necessities Merchant, though he hasn¡¯t seen her, so he can¡¯t be certain¡ª¡ªthe dalao with the game-breaking level of fighting power, the ruthless pragmatist, and an atypical lone wolf.


    Oh, and himself¡­


    While Scapegoat is all mulling over stuff, Mu Jiashi is temporarily shocked by Selfish¡¯s response. Then, he sighs dejectedly and says, ¡°I don¡¯t really want to know what you lone wolves are thinking¡­ anyway, just tell us everything you know, now that it¡¯s come to this.¡±


    Selfish shakes his head, answering, ¡°I¡¯ve said everything; I told you already that the last time I was in this Nightmare, we didn¡¯t head into the fifth run.¡±


    Mu Jiashi is still confirming with him, though, ¡°are you sure there is nothing else to say? Was there not a single difference between the Nightmare you experienced earlier and this time?¡±


    Selfish makes an impatient ¡®tch¡¯ but is still cooperative for now. He is recalling, ¡°if I have to say¡­ The fourth run, when we met each other at the service area, that guy¡­ Laosan, was he? He was holding a newspaper, I think. We didn¡¯t discover that clue the last time.¡±


    Mu Jiashi gives him a surprised look.


    ¡°What, didn¡¯t think I have good memory?¡± Selfish ¡®tch¡¯s again, as hateable as ever, as he continues, ¡°I told you I¡¯m a lone wolf. You think lone wolves rely on nothing but being lonely?¡±


    Mu Jiashi isn¡¯t interested in arguing for now, murmuring to himself, ¡°so¡­ You didn¡¯t get the clue from the bookstore.¡±


    To be honest, Mu Jiashi himself came across that news entirely coincidentally and understood part of the background information of this Nightmare from that.


    In this Nightmare, with how tight the time is, it is difficult to explore the entire service area thoroughly.


    After a rough exploration, if people naturally come to the conclusion that only Dai Wu is an important NPC with information, then naturally all the other scenes in the service area are no longer significant.


    But¡­ Insignificant? Impossible!


    The existence of any explorable scene must definitely be self-justified. Without a doubt, they must definitely provide clues related to the endings of the Nightmare.


    Even the NPCs who look unimportant were the tool-persons to allow the scene of the man in black¡¯s mindless slaughter to play out back in the fifth run!


    Nothing is ever useless in Nightmares;


    In the fifth¡­ No, wait, this is the sixth run. Dai Wu has recovered his earlier memories.


    Then¡­ what about X¨¹ Beijin in the bookstore? What about people in the gas station?


    Would there be any unexpected changes there?


    Mu Jiashi quickly tells Selfish, ¡°go check out the gas station. I¡¯ll go to the bookstore.¡±


    If Laosan or Ding Yi were here, he¡¯d definitely have asked them instead of Selfish, but this is what it is.


    Then he runs right for the bookstore.


    Selfish has his brows furrowed. He doesn¡¯t see a point to it, but follows the order while cussing still.


    Meanwhile, the Nightmare enters its eighth minute. The bedroom team is probably already hurrying this way. Mu Jiashi rushes into the bookstore.


    X¨¹ Beijin, shocked, raises his head at Mu Jiashi.


    Mu Jiashi stares at him, asking, ¡°laoban, do you remember our promise? I said that I¡¯ll go visit you in the Tower after the Nightmare is over.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin hesitantly but firmly nods.


    Of course he nods because he was allowed to¡ª¡ªActors of course remember everything that happened in the Nightmare, damn it, but whether they can reveal that they have ¡®recovered their memories¡¯ depends on permission from the Server. It decides when they can look like they ¡®remember.¡¯


    The lower the level of an Actor, the less free they are in the Nightmare, though as Nightmares crumble, Actors can act more and more freely in Nightmares in general.


    Since X¨¹ Beijin saw that Dai Wu was all ¡®I remember,¡¯ he followed suit to also look like ¡®I remember,¡¯ pretending he just now recalled what Mu Jiashi planned with him earlier in the Nightmare.


    Though it seems to make Mu Jiashi misunderstand, somehow.


    Mu Jiashi gives X¨¹ Beijin ¨C this mysterious, handsome man with pale skin ¨C a rather deep gaze.


    From what he now know, not just in the Tower, but even in Nightmares his identity seems rather strange as well.


    Mu Jiashi thought that it was reasonable the cashier recovered his memories because of how important his role is in the Nightmare; he was the trigger for the whole case of the murdered wife, despite his complete innocence.


    But why would X¨¹ Beijin recover his memories too? Did he still have more information to tell?


    Right now, Mu Jiashi is suspecting X¨¹ Beijin.


    If the man in black wasn¡¯t outside and still yelping in pain, then he would even begin suspecting X¨¹ Beijin of being the killer that killed his wife in the first place¡ª¡ªThis Nightmare never said anything about the job of that murderer, now, did it?


    Or rather¡­ There¡¯s another possibility.


    Dai Wu told them that, after leaving the supermarket, the jealous husband was still lashing out at his wife, and their argument drew in a crowd. There was someone who was sympathetic to the wife and wanted to help, but was scolded all the same by the husband instead.


    Assuming this bookstore owner was also part of the service area staff at the time, then perhaps, he was among the crowd, and even, he might be the person scolded himself.


    The person is handsome, and more specifically, devilishly handsome. He definitely leaves a big first impression of being a big, bad guy, which would explain why the paranoid husband might have suspected his intentions.


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s logic is leaping several steps ahead as he continues to speculate on X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s role in the Nightmare.


    If X¨¹ Beijin knew what Mu Jiashi was thinking about, he would surely leave two clear trails of tears.


    Speaking of which, no matter which Nightmare he was in, he would always be suspected of being an antagonist¡­


    Mu Jiashi looks like he still wants to say something, but he pauses and keeps his mouth shut for now, instead, first looking down at the newspaper in front of the counter.


    Then, his eyes widen.


    He immediately grabs a copy, staring right at the title.


    ¡°POLICE: ¡®KILLER STILL AT LARGE;¡¯ WARRANT ISSUED!¡±


    The title has changed!


    This is no longer the previous newspaper. Both the contents and the date have changed.


    The issue number and the date suggest it is a few editions after the previous one¡­ At least, in terms of content, the previous one described the crime, while this one mentions directly that the killer is at large and the police are still searching for him.


    Mu Jiashi quickly skims through the contents in the news¡ª¡ªThere was no more substantially different information.


    Yet why would the date have changed? Is this part of the crumbling of the Nightmare at the fifth run?


    While thinking about it, Selfish is walking towards the bookstore quickly.


    As soon as he enters, he says, ¡°the news showing on the TV in the gas station is not the same one those two people said earlier!¡±


    Mu Jiashi, speaking with an excitation and aspiration not even he could understand very well, asks, ¡°what was on the news?¡±


    Selfish answers, ¡± the reporters are doing a live broadcast, it seems the police have largely isolated the killer, and have now fanned out to search for him.¡±


    Mu Jiashi pauses to think.


    The TV in the gas station seems to be showing events that take place even later than the newspaper in the bookstore, which actually makes sense, because of the inherent differences in recency between televised and paper media, not to mention the TV is showing a live broadcast.


    But if that¡¯s the case¡­


    Mu Jiashi falls deep into thought.


    A factor that they have ignored us thus far is gradually bearing its fangs.


    X¨¹ Beijin, through the screen of the stream and watching the two people directly on-scene, has understood what¡¯s happening even though he didn¡¯t see the newspaper or the news on the TV.


    After thinking for a moment, a word suddenly strikes his mind.


    The time!


    In the stream, the detective dalao has also understood, typing on the comments excitedly, ¡°The time! The time in this instance is not static!¡±

 Volume 2 - CH 37.1

    With Missiontakers present right now, X¨¹ Beijin cannot speak, but thankfully, the detective dalao saves him from awkwardness by typing his own conclusions on the screen.


    ¡°In this Nightmare, time has always been a critical factor.


    In the dark bedroom, there was one minute exactly between each number; in the best-case scenario, it takes exactly three minutes to reach the service area driving from the car park outside the corridor; after the Nightmare begins crumbling, the mass slaughter of the man in black causes the first death, and subsequently a restart, in exactly five minutes¡­


    These pieces of information are all signs that Missiontakers must pay very careful attention to time, with the tolerance for this time lower and lower as the Nightmare continues to crumble.


    I thought that noticing the Difficulty with time would be enough to successfully resolve this Nightmare, but it seems that this is far too insufficient for a True End from current circumstances!


    That is because, as the Nightmare crumbles, the Nightmare¡¯s time flows forward!


    In other words, the Nightmare should have reverted to its most original state in restarts; since the fifth run, however, the scenes and events no longer remained the same, they are also changing!


    The killer who was at large, was issued a warrant later. ¡®Now,¡¯ the police have isolated him and are proceeding to capture¡­ These are all because the Nightmare¡¯s time has passed.


    I believe that this is the change that the fifth run of the Nightmare and its crumbling brought.


    However, we notice an interesting question arise from all this.


    Why is it that the man in black began his mass murder in the fifth run? I thought this was the crumbling itself, which would have brought unpredictable changes.


    Yet, if I combine that with the fact that the time in the Nightmare is now flowing, then now, with the man in black being a killer at large at this point in the timeline¡­ It makes me suspect, whether he would have escaped to this service area at this time too, and began murdering?


    What I am saying, is that, not just the fixed scenes and information have changed, but this flow of time is also affecting the action patterns of the NPCs (Actors?)! Their modus operandis also change!


    If so, then I suspect that the change to occur next may be the police surrounding this service area, ready to apprehend the killer, while the man in black continues to resist and slaughter people en masse.


    We know that as the Nightmare starts over again and again, changes must come more rapidly and more substantially. Therefore, the next run of the Nightmare may also carry changes beyond that as well. The situation is in jeopardy.


    Also, one more thing to note is that these changes happen after the Nightmare began crumbling¡­ In other words, if the crumbling did not occur, the Missiontakers would not have been able to learn about all these or even achieve a True End on top of that!


    Even for those who enter this Nightmare a second time, I am highly doubtful that a True End can be achieved in its normal status with static, frozen time.


    ¡­ That¡¯s about everything I¡¯ve got.¡±


    The detective dalao¡¯s analysis has shocked all the viewers present.


    ¡°holy, i can feel the evil intent coming from the scriptwriter¡±


    ¡°so basically it means true ends are only possible after at least run #5? isn¡¯t this no different to that nightmare of the dollmaker where that utility card was necessary to achieve a true end? no one could have guessed any of these requirements!¡±


    ¡°so it all comes down to luck¡­¡±


    ¡°i just wanna ask if these changes also affect actors, then why is our Bei not doing anything different?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡­ Because he¡¯s just an extra!


    The cashier and the man in black are clearly important side characters in this Nightmare, compared to X¨¹ Beijin, the insignificant extra, who oversees the newspapers and, like a good tool-person, presents them to Missiontakers when needed.


    X¨¹ Beijin is sure that there are also extras similar to him over at the gas station, whose role solely consists of watching the TV the whole time so that the Missiontakers would notice the news playing on-screen.


    They are all just means utilised by the Server to the end that Missiontakers would notice such clues.


    X¨¹ Beijin, a highly experienced slacker, long-time extra, knows such things by heart already.


    Though that said, when the viewers in the stream mention it that way, he still can¡¯t help but feel a little embarrassed and rubs his nose in response.


    The viewers are happily teasing him again when they notice.


    Though the comment earlier and this reaction from X¨¹ Beijin seems to have been enough for the detective dalao, who replies with an uncertain tone, ¡°Yeah¡­ Why is Beibei unchanging? Perhaps Actors are also subdivided? There are different categories?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks, bingo.


    Because the detective dalao insists on figuring out the settings of the game by himself or herself, so the other viewers have also been led astray, now all of them are locked in a discussion of the game setting of ¡®Escape,¡¯ mainly surrounding the topic of what kind of role their Bei would play in this game as a whole.


    X¨¹ Beijin does not participate in their discussion, but instead raises his head to look at the two Missiontakers in front of him.


    Mu Jiashi mutters, ¡°¡­ time.¡±


    He also notices the problem, and further, manages to connect another fact to it.


    ¡°But this is a Nightmare,¡± murmuring, he continues, ¡°time flows in this Nightmare, but it can never play something from beyond reality¡¯s own timeline¡­ So whatever is happening in this Nightmare right now, is still in the past.¡±


    He ponders in silence.


    Selfish suddenly interjects, asking, ¡°what do you think the ending is?¡±


    Mu Jiashi asks, ¡°what?¡±


    ¡°The man in black; that brat¡¯s father,¡± Selfish shrugs and asks, ¡°the police are trying to arrest him, so would he be successfully captured?¡±


    Mu Jiashi pauses. A hypothesis is emerging.


    That is when they can hear ruckus play out from the central plaza ¨C most notably, there is the scream of a little boy.


    Mu Jiashi quickly puts his thoughts aside to leave the bookstore¡ª¡ªLaosan and co. must be here with the boy!


    The boy was screaming because he saw the man in black, yet the moment he did, the man in black disappears out of nowhere. This strange, impossible scene cuts the boy¡¯s scream short; he looks lost.


    Laosan¡¯s eyes seem to glimmer as he murmurs, ¡°eleven minutes!¡±


    Back in run four, when the boy appeared in the service area, the man in black was also gone; it took him twelve minutes or so to arrive at the supermarket in the far back of the service area.


    Laosan believes the man in black must now be back in the bedroom, restarting his eight minutes of numbering off, before hurrying here in three minutes, which adds up to eleven minutes.


    He took another minute or so in run four to reach the supermarket walking, which explains the extra time.


    Since they are at the central plaza right now, they should consider the time they have to be eleven minutes to be safer.


    In this Nightmare, where time is measured so precisely, Laosan wants to play it safe.

 Volume 2 - CH 37.2

    Mu Jiashi asks with a curious tone when he hears Laosan murmuring, ¡°what eleven minutes?¡±


    At the same time, he also notices the man in black¡¯s disappearance¡ª¡ªalong with Lin Qin¡¯s. After his target went poof, Lin Qin just walked away, since this flowerbed in the plaza of the service area, really is too crowded.


    Not just crowded, but chaotic. The Missiontakers are talking, the wounded Tower residents are crying, and also frightened from how the man in black just disappeared.


    All of these to take in has Mu Jiashi push aside the reason for the man in black disappearing and the question he just asked Laosan for now, because he is still considering the issue of the flow of the timeline and the question Selfish just asked¡ª¡ªDid the man in black actually get arrested or not?


    Laosan gives him a brief explanation of how he came to the conclusion of the man in black¡¯s whereabouts through the time he has taken. He adds, ¡°although I am not sure why the the killer has to restart his journey once the boy reaches the service area.¡±


    Something in that sentence has ticked off Mu Jiashi¡¯s nerves.


    His gaze suddenly zeroes in on the little boy, still standing, shuffling behind Ding Yi¡¯s back. He is a cowardly crybaby of a little boy. It¡¯s hard to think he¡¯s already ten years old ¨C if one did not consider everything he has been through thus far. Really, he is a pitiful victim.


    Though not in the eyes of someone like Mu Jiashi, wholly absorbed in solving the mysteries of the Nightmares. Instead, he has managed to connect some dots and come to another conclusion.


    Mu Jiashi takes a deep breath shortly after, nodding at Laosan and saying, ¡°the duration of safety is eleven minutes, right? Then let¡¯s talk about this situation.¡±


    The Missiontakers do not notice, though, that Dai Wu is just leaning on the fence of the pathway in the service area, observing them with a a peculiar expression.


    Mu Jiashi first explains their discoveries in the service area just now¡ª¡ªThe change on the newspaper, and the new live TV broadcast in the gas station.


    Laosan and Ding Yi both nod, seemingly falling into thought.


    Mu Jiashi says, ¡°and what you just told me about how the man in black must restart his journey after the boy reaches the service area, has made me realise the third level of subtlety in the meaning of time in this Instance.¡±


    All Missiontakers¡ª¡ªAnd viewers in the stream, too, are looking at him with blank stares.


    Only a few of those present suddenly widen their eyes and feel their heartbeats racing.


    Mu Jiashi continues to explain, ¡°the three meanings¡­ Or rather, the three implications.


    First, the tightness of time ¨C In this Nightmare, everything we did, had an exact corresponding duration attached to it. Whether it¡¯s one, three, seven, or eight minutes, it is exact down to the second. Therefore, during our course of action, we must take time into account more than usual. This is the easiest implication to notice.


    Second, the flow of time ¨C By the fifth run of the Nightmare, time is pushed forward in the Nightmare. Police issue a warrant, the killer will slaughter innocent people during his escape. The police close in on him. Simultaneously, the Tower residents regain their memories. This is also an important point ¨C why now, but not earlier?


    That is because, time was static during the previous few runs. Each Nightmare was the same moment in time played out again and again. Of course they do not remember.


    Yet, when time changes and moves forward to the next locality in the timeline, then our questions from the past few runs become a past set in stone ¨C the scenario no longer plays out from the beginning again or changes. Naturally, the residents remember.


    However, what is notable is that the chaos in the Nightmare convolutes their memories as well; the cashier, for example, remembers both the third and fourth run.


    Third, the cyclical nature of time ¨C This is what Laosan mad me realise and I completely missed. By cyclical, I do not refer to the Nightmare entering new runs, but¡­ The scenes we experience. The dark bedroom, the corridor, car park, service area. They are all in a linear, and repeating process, aligning with the death of the boy¡¯s mother.


    The dark bedroom, or, their home, is where the family started their journey. Through the corridor, to the car park, to the drive, to the road, to the service area where they rested. Then, the couple argued, and drove home through the expressway¡ª¡ªThe mother died afterwards.


    In the boy¡¯s Nightmare, this situation looped repeated. His Nightmare, is his mother¡¯s death, the endlessly repeating road to death. Their home was both the start and the end.


    Now, we can analyse the patterns of movement of the boy and the man in black.


    The boy started from the bedroom, the bedroom where the crime was taking place¡ª¡ªAs evidenced by the numbering off and the woman¡¯s screams during the second run.


    When he is able to leave the bedroom, that is after the crime. In other words, the mother has died, so the road to death restarts. When the boy begins, the mother is still alive.


    As for the man in black, he starts from the corridor, but it is unknown whether it is before or after he has killed his wife, but from how he was chasing after us directly with the machete in hand, I suspect it is the latter, where he is starting his escape.


    So the question is, why did the boy¡¯s route not include his father¡¯s escape after the death of his mother? I¡¯ll talk about that later.


    Anyway, the path of the man in black also goes from the corridor to the car park to driving to the service area, and perhaps hiding there from then on.


    In the fifth run, the Nightmare changed and the man in black was killing everyone in the service area, proving the flow of time, and perhaps his motive was revenge for his wife¡¯s ¡®unfaithfulness.¡¯ The police were alerted to this and begins their operation.


    These are the two separate paths of the boy and the man in black, but there is a contradiction here.


    That is when Laosan hesitantly interjects with a question, ¡°but, the moment he arrived, he started killing immediately¡­¡±


    ¡°I believe that the man in black did not represent the boy¡¯s father literally,¡± Mu Jiashi pauses after saying that as some thoughts flash through his mind, then he continues, ¡°there is a mask underneath his mask, which means he is just a product of the boy¡¯s Nightmare, a caricature fixed to be a murderer with a big machete, ready to kill at any time.¡±


    Laosan¡¯s brows are furrowed and he looks like he has something to say. He thinks Mu Jiashi¡¯s explanation for this still feels forced in places, but he has no better explanation for now.


    Though he decides to add his own opinion to Mu Jiashi¡¯s analysis, ¡°I believe that the flow of time happened only outside of the dark bedroom. We still had to number off during the fifth and sixth run of the Nightmare.¡±


    ¡°That is true,¡± Mu Jiashi nods, confidently stating, ¡°like I said, the bedroom is the starting point and the end. It is a place fixed in time, at the exact moment of the death of the mother.¡±


    Laosan nods while in thought. He seems supportive.


    While the rest of the Missiontakers all look amazed or impressed.


    The detective dalao himself is nodding like mad.


    The rest of the viewers are typing on the comments, though, ¡°me brain hurts¡±.


    This striking contrast makes X¨¹ Beijin amused indeed.


    ¡°Beibei plz stop smiling, it makes me feel like im the #1 retard of the month¡±


    ¡°i¡¯m different, i thought i understand, but when Beibei smiles, i¡¯m now doubting i did¡±


    ¡°i dont know, but i feel like my IQ is being scoffed at by Beibei¡±


    ¡°Beibei¡¯s smile¡­ such a terrifying weapon¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Did he mean to do that? Of course not!


    Well, in any case, he did understand Mu Jiashi.


    Everyone else is in agreement except for Selfish, who says, ¡°I have a question.¡±

 Volume 2 - CH 37.3

    Selfish said, ¡°I have a question.¡±


    ¡°What question?¡±


    Selfish scratches his hair to say, ¡°you know¡­ Nightmares have no logic to it right? Is there even any use in analysing them?¡±


    Mu Jiashi ¡°¡­¡±


    He just wanted a way to interpret everything that happened in the Nightmare!


    Erge rolls his eyes and mocks, ¡°tch, now I know why you¡¯re a lone wolf.¡±


    Selfish asks, ¡°ho, what, I can¡¯t even point out mistakes now?¡±


    Mu Jiashi takes a deep breath and ignores Selfish¡ª¡ªReally, the Tower forbidding Missiontakers from killing each other is definitely a fortunate thing.


    He turns to Laosan to say, ¡°so the question at hand is that, if we fail to resolve this Nightmare during this run, then if the Nightmare¡¯s time continues to push forward in future runs, we will lose our initiative eventually!¡±


    Laosan nods and hesitantly says, ¡°I get what you¡¯re saying, but¡­¡±


    He also knows that the information they have right now will slowly turn worthless as the Nightmare¡¯s timeline moves forward, because they have no idea what change there might be next, and what they will be facing afterwards.


    Mu Jiashi wants to secure the initiative, staying one step ahead of the Nightmare, to know what will happen next in the Nightmare beforehand.


    But¡­ it¡¯s seriously difficult.


    Mu Jiashi says, ¡°a question I just talked about was why the journey of the boy did not include his father¡¯s escape,¡± he pauses before adding, ¡°in the TV in the gas station, the police were arresting the killer live.¡±


    Laosan nods and suddenly, he stops and raises his head to say, ¡°so you want to say his father was arrested! The escape journey is a path of no return. That is why it could not be included in the infinite loop!¡±


    Mu Jiashi nods, and explains, ¡°another point is that, when his father was escaping, he did not bring the boy with him. Obviously, the boy¡¯s path could not include what he did not experience.¡±


    Then, after a brief silence where he was thinking some more, he adds, ¡°the boy is the owner of the Nightmare, so the scenes, journeys and timelines are all based on his subjective experience. Therefore, even though his father was arrested, when his nightmare restarts, the man in black will still reappear¡­ That makes more sense.¡±


    ¡°Who cares if it makes sense or not!¡± Erge impatiently says, ¡°anyway, what you¡¯re saying is, the next run of the Nightmare, the situation could change again, and the killer would already have been arrested?¡±


    Mu Jiashi nods, ¡°that¡¯s what I think.¡±


    Selfish goes ¡®tch¡¯ next to him and says, ¡°why can¡¯t it just go back to the very beginning?¡±


    The question makes Mu Jiashi blank out a little. Hesitant, he doesn¡¯t answer immediately.


    Yes, as the Nightmare we started over and over again, the Nightmare¡¯s time is also pushing forward.


    There is no guarantee that the time never loops back.


    Just as Selfish said, Nightmares have no inherent logic. They can try to logicise and rationalise it, but the result may not be as they wish.


    Selfish taunts him, saying, ¡°you really are a piece of trash.¡±


    Laoda goes ¡®hey¡¯ and starts rolling his sleeves up.


    Mu Jiashi stops him and bitterly snickers, saying, ¡°you¡¯re right,¡± then he heaves a weary sigh, wipes his face with his hand, the confident expression perishing from his face, returning to his gloomy form from when he just arrived in this Nightmare. He says, ¡°you don¡¯t have to listen to me. I¡¯m a failure of a Missiontaker.¡±


    Laosan looks like he wants to say something.


    It¡¯s painfully obvious Mu Jiashi must have been through something, but¡­


    In places like the Tower, words of encouragement are not easily uttered. People are full of wariness, suspicions, and doubts.


    In the end, Laosan stays silent.


    All about the bloodied flowerbeds, the Missiontakers are covered in a blanket of suffocating silence.


    In the stream, the viewers are deeply astonished at what they¡¯re showing, and are all asking on the comments, typing, ¡°isnt this way too serious?! its just a game!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is hesitant before suddenly saying, ¡°it¡¯s different. The game ¡®Escape,¡¯ you know¡­¡±


    He¡¯s testing them.


    He really wants to know, what these audience refer to as ¡®host-only game¡¯ is.


    The viewers fall for it immediately.


    ¡°ah, makes sense, these closed games are always a bit more solemn¡±


    ¡°i wonder what this games status is¡­ i heard about similar games where the players all looks so serious just like them, like its some kinda life or death thing¡±


    ¡°maybe it¡¯s because their livelihoods are at stake [laugh_cry emoji]¡±


    ¡°too bad hosts have these ndas¡­ they can stream, but they can say nothing, like seriously? you can stream it already, why can¡¯t you tell anything about it?¡±


    ¡°dalao, any clues and deductions, maybe?¡±


    ¡°Not really¡­ These NDAs are usually very strict in terms. The hosts all have extremely tight lips. Sigh, I suddenly feel like Beibei really is a dummy, having leaked so much information to us already without thinking.¡±


    ¡°the more popular streamers would all refuse these kinda streams too cuz of all the stringent agreements, only newcomers like Beibei end up falling for them¡­ uwu, our poor Bei¡±


    ¡°maybe even Beibei¡¯s stream will mysteriously disappear one day¡­¡±


    ¡°no plz, im scared¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He¡¯s almost mad at this point.


    It looks like the viewers have typed a lot, with all these waves of comments on the screen, but none of them are of any use!


    He wants to know what the outside world is like. He wants to know what the place for these humans in the Tower is, and whether the outside world still knows about them.


    The only useful information he could extract is that¡­


    There are other games like ¡®Escape¡¯?


    What does it mean? Does it mean there are other groups of people, just like them, trapped in some other game of suffering and unable to escape?


    X¨¹ Beijin only feels more hopeless at this point.


    These normal viewers all seem blissfully unaware of what¡¯s going on. They do not seem the least bit aware of what these ¡®game footage¡¯ and players they are seeing actually represent.


    Nor can X¨¹ Beijin reveal the truth to them.


    Right now, both the flowerbed in the central plaza and the bookstore have fallen into silence.

 Volume 2 - CH 38.1

    In the end, it was Scapegoat who ended the stalemate.


    He was not as arrogant and pushy as Selfish, or smart like Mu Jiashi, Laosan or Ding Yi. And he is most unlike Laoda, Erge and Lin Qin who could just ignore everything else.


    He wants out of this Nightmare, or more specifically, he wants to reach a higher floor.


    Thus, he takes a deep breath, and speaks up clearly, ¡°so¡­ Now, all we are doing is waiting for the man in black to come?¡±


    Silence ensues, but a short while later, Laosan still responded hesitantly, ¡°any other information, we might not have discovered?¡±


    He glances over at Mu Jiashi.


    The man takes a deep breath, then mutters an ¡®apologies¡¯ before saying, ¡°I happen to have a question still.¡± He points to the little boy, asking, ¡°when you saw this little boy in the Tower, was there anything special about him?¡±


    Laoda, Erge and Laosan all pause.


    Laosan looks at the little boy, and furrows his brows to answer, ¡°nothing, really.¡±


    ¡°Did he say anything?¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± Laosan shakes his head, explaining, ¡°when the three of us met the little boy, he was crouching in the corner and shaking. When we bumped into him accidentally, he ran away.


    We were close enough to hear a string of numbers and thought it was a clue for his Nightmare, so we chased after him, but then¡­ when we were close to Lin Qin the dalao¡¯s home, he was nowhere to be seen anymore.¡± (TL: This explains why only Laoda remembered only a few of the digits)


    Mu Jiashi then asks, ¡°how did you know where his house door was, then?¡±


    ¡°Pure coincidence. We didn¡¯t want to give up, so we were still pacing about the place, and we happened to see the boy run back out of his house,¡± Laosan explains, ¡°so we tried the door at night, and here we are.¡±


    Mu Jiashi is silent.


    Laosan tries to ask, ¡°do you think there was anything wrong?¡±


    Mu Jiashi shakes his head and looks over at Lin Qin¡¯s direction. He is standing quite far away, so he has to raise his voice to ask, ¡°dalao¡­ have you ever seen this little boy before?¡±


    Lin Qin looks like he was blanking out, but he then glances at the little boy and nods, saying, ¡°yeah.¡±


    ¡°Did he say anything?¡±


    ¡°He said¡­ that his Nightmare had a supermarket. That¡¯s why I wanted to check his Nightmare out,¡± Lin Qin then adds, ¡°I wanted to check out the types of drinks they sell.¡±


    That shocks the Missiontakers present, some are surprised at his interest in drinks, some are surprised, that the boy said his Nightmare had a supermarket?


    Laosan anxiously follows up and yells out his question, ¡°dalao, what did he tell you, can you tell us in detail?¡±


    Lin Qin nods. In this Nightmare, his temper is unexpected mild¡ª¡ªX¨¹ Beijin is speechless for now.


    Lin Qin recalls, ¡°the boy was running when I was leaving my house, and he crashed into me. He apologised, and I said I have to buy drinks and told him to get out of the way; he then said, the day his mother died, she also went to the supermarket to buy drinks because he asked, then she argued with his father. After that, he started crying and repeating some nonsense numbers. Then some people came along and he ran away.¡±


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s eyes seem to sparkle as he looks down at the little boy, who is still looking at all the adults present with a frightened look.


    Laoda looks almost broken, though, saying, ¡°we chased after this brat for half an hour and all he would do was just mutter some numbers like he was possessed the whole time, and then¡­ he got super docile when it was the dalao?! He even apologised?!¡±


    He can¡¯t help but recall a saying from the Internet ¨C these days, even NPCs in games know to pick their targets.


    Although he also knows it might just be the fact that Lin Qin mentioned drinks that triggered the boy¡¯s answers and subsequently the information, but¡­


    But he¡¯s still mad!


    Even a damned brat knows who he can and cannot cross?!


    Everyone else is too preoccupied to care about Laoda¡¯s ¡®mental breakdown,¡¯ though.


    Mu Jiashi is murmuring, ¡°makes sense then, it fits with why they came to the service area and why the supermarket appeared in the boy¡¯s Nightmare.


    The supermarket shouldn¡¯t necessarily appear in the Nightmare if it was just because of his parents having argued inside, but it was exactly because the mother was buying drinks for the son that indirectly led to the argument¡­ That is why, the boy¡¯s Nightmare contains the supermarket.


    He, is blaming himself.¡±


    All the Missiontakers focus their gazes on the little boy.


    He still looks all scared while hiding behind Ding Yi¡¯s back. He looks overly fearful and rejective of everything in this world.


    A Nightmare owner like him really is unusual, too. Many Nightmare owners are themselves the ¡®bad guy¡¯¡ª¡ªOr, Actors have to assume evil, unforgivable roles most of the time.


    It is a rare occasion when an Actor¡¯s plot, like the little boy¡¯s, depicts that of a pure, innocent victim. They must Act and put on frightened, worried, nervous, panicked looks. Most often, they remain silent but harmless in the Nightmares, and occasionally they can even help Missiontakers.


    This shy, introverted, fearful boy, is one of them.


    Mu Jiashi is about to say something, when suddenly, screams erupt from the outside.


    ¡­ Outside?


    Outside here is just the expressway and the gas station!


    Of course, there are people in the gas station!


    Mu Jiashi could feel his heart racing as he quickly heads for the exit to the service area to observe. The rest of the Missiontakers follow.


    They can see a black silhouette there, murdering people in the gas station.


    The man in black is at the gas station? Why?! Shouldn¡¯t he have headed for the depths of the service area?


    Suddenly, Mu Jiashi¡¯s brain, like stuck cogwheels, stops churning.


    Ding Yi speaks up softly besides him, ¡°the Nightmare has been crumbling, could the situation have changed already from the fourth run?¡±


    ¡°Shit! The time is wrong!¡± Laosan yells out, ¡°it has already pushed forward!¡±


    Hearing that, Mu Jiashi, who was completely stunned at the man in black¡¯s sudden appearance, begins thinking again, and realises something¡ª¡ªLin Qin just said, ¡°he then said, the day his mother died.¡±


    Yet, from his previous hypothesis, the little boy¡¯s mother has not yet passed away at this moment in time on his journey. Why is he not reacting to that?


    In the fourth run of the Nightmare as well, after the boy arrived at the service area, he himself also talked about his mother¡¯s death.


    The boy even said that he had seen the supermarket cashier then, but, if he was supposedly in a time when his mother wasn¡¯t yet dead, how could he have ever seen Dai Wu?


    That point would completely destroy his hypothesis that once the boy leaves the dark bedroom, he returns to the time when his mother has not yet passed away!


    He made an error. He was wrong.


    His confident analysis and subsequent hypothesis of this Nightmare¡¯s structure, was completely false!


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s face is pale.


    The most recent runs, he was leading everyone already. And truly, it did reinvigorate his confidence and his drive. For that period of time, he almost seems to have forgotten about his previous tragic failures.


    And yet, he has failed again.


    When he said he was a piece of trash and a loser earlier, he wasn¡¯t saying it genuinely. He was more self-mocking but also self-lamenting. It was more like, since he¡¯s a piece of trash, then him performing above average would already be perfectly satisfactory.


    ¡­ But, is he?


    The Golddigger that once had a 100% success rate, famous across the entire bottom floor of the Tower?


    He fell from grace for his one failure. His confidence, as brilliant and robust as diamond, has cracked. Since then, he used words of self-mockery to play it down.


    He could still, of course, head to a higher floor if he wanted to. At least, he believed in it.


    Failure isn¡¯t something shameful to talk about, but¡ª¡ªHe can¡¯t help but think, what if, he failed, again?


    Mu Jiashi is completely silent.

 Volume 2 - CH 38.2

    Meanwhile, Laosan is too absorbed in the scene to notice Mu Jiashi¡¯s oddness.


    He murmurs, ¡°the man in black is at the gas station¡­ he killed his wife, escaped, was pursued¡­ he ran to the service area. He was isolated at the gas station¡­ Or rather, he hid in the gas station? All along?¡±


    He starts organising his thoughts.


    By this point, he has also realised that Mu Jiashi¡¯s analysis was faulty.


    Not the first part, but perhaps starting from his analysis of the boy and the man in black¡¯s journeys. The boy¡¯s path wasn¡¯t actually just the loop of his mother¡¯s road to death. It was more, an addendum to his father¡¯s escape.


    While Mu Jiashi said that the man did not bring the boy along in his escape, but this being the boy¡¯s Nightmare, whichever path he goes through must still incorporate all the factors they have seen so far in this Nightmare.


    The boy¡¯s reaction towards Dai Wu also proves that his mother was already dead when he leaves the dark bedroom himself.


    However¡­ How should they explain the disappearance of the man in black when both he and the boy appears in the service area together?


    Why can¡¯t they appear at the same time?


    Wait, at the same time?!


    ¡­ When the word leaps into Laosan¡¯s mind, he suddenly understands.


    Why can¡¯t they appear together?


    Because they aren¡¯t supposed to in the first place!


    The contradiction is that, when this event actually took place, when the boy¡¯s father reached the service area, the boy may still well be inside the dark bedroom, as the newspaper attested, waiting for the police to rescue him.


    So of course it is impossible for the man in black to meet the boy at the service area.


    This is the contradiction between reality and Nightmare.


    In fact, because the Missiontakers brought the boy outside of the bedroom after the numbering off was over ¨C the death of the mother, they changed the sequence of events in the Nightmare as well.


    Without Missiontakers present, the Nightmare, playing out the same as reality, should have been ¨C


    The boy¡¯s family had a family trip. At the service area, the mother went to the supermarket to buy drinks for the boy. She made small talk to the cashier, which the boy¡¯s father took as proof of her unfaithfulness. They argued, and the father then lashed out at all the people in the service area.


    After they returned home, the father killed the mother, forcing the boy to number off next to him. After she died, the boy hid in the bedroom wardrobe as the man fled for the service area. The neighbours called the police, who broke in to discover the crime scene and the boy.


    Then, the police issued a warrant. Soon enough, the father begins his murderous spree in the service area which immediately attracted police attention. They went after him as he retreated to the gas station, or he has been hiding in the gas station all along, and in the end, he began another killing spree in the gas station.


    Whether the father was arrested and what the boy¡¯s journey was after the police discovered him are still unknowns for which the Missiontakers have found no clues yet.


    The only information they have so far is what Dai Wu told them, that when the man in black was at large, the boy was already missing.


    Outside of these uncertainties, the Nightmare should be going in a loop in that order¡ª¡ªBoth for the road to death of the mother of the boy, and his father¡¯s escape journey.


    The Missiontakers who brought the boy out of the bedroom changed this, which caused the man in black, who shouldn¡¯t see the boy in the service area, to see him.


    Because the Nightmare revolves around the Nightmare owner, therefore, when the boy is in the service area, and because the owner himself cannot disappear, naturally, the man in black has to disappear.


    His disappearance happened exactly as he was about to begin what he would do after reaching the service area. What happens after he disappears is what Laosan thinks Mu Jiashi got right.


    That is, because all others behave accordingly to the Nightmare owner, the man in black should undergo a journey fitting with the little boy¡¯s. At least, nominally.


    Mu Jiashi thought that the boy¡¯s journey is the journey when his mother was still alive, and that the man in black was slaughtering in the service area because he is already a caricature for a murder psycho that would blow up at any time¡ª¡ªLaosan sees these as rather forced explanations, but they were reasonable enough at the time Mu Jiashi explained them right after the analysis. Nobody had a better hypothesis.


    But in fact, the boy¡¯s journey must be after his mother¡¯s death. If so, the journey of the man in black heading back out from the dark bedroom and reaching the service area is not actually recreating the process of the family¡¯s original trip out, but his escape after his murder.


    Which would be a better explanation for why he would start murdering as soon as he arrived here.


    This is his readjusted, repeated route. It can explain everything that happened in the fourth run.


    However, in the fifth run, the crumbling of the Nightmare caused the time to move forward; or more accurately, caused the time beyond the dark bedroom to flow forward, while the time in the dark bedroom continues to be fixed at the eight minutes of the mother¡¯s death¡ª¡ªSuddenly, something brilliant feels like it has flashed through Laosan¡¯s brain.


    Because of the flow of time, so their confusions only compounded during the chaotic development of the fifth and much of the sixth run.


    But in essence, when they first opened up the Nightmare, the time was when the father killed the mother.


    In the dark bedroom, the murder was ongoing; outside, was the journey of the man in black¡¯s escape. This would explain why the man in black cannot appear in both places at the same time when they got a number wrong.


    Since the fifth Nightmare¡¯s crumbling, though, the Nightmare began slightly off-course. The time shifted to when the man in black has already escaped to the service area.


    The dark bedroom was still when the mother was dying; outside, it was one step quicker.


    This step quicker is like a wrong cogwheel; the one step ahead means the whole timeline will be shifted one step ahead forever. The crumbling of the Nightmare brought catastrophically adverse changes to this tight repeating cogwheel set.


    Therefore, when the man in black disappeared the second time, instead of locking in step with the boy¡¯s journey, he was going one step ahead on his own route instead¡ª¡ªSo, just like the TV said, the police are closing in on the man in black, who, by now, went a step ahead to the gas station.


    And committed the mass slaughter.


    This time, they failed to stop him in time.


    Because this is already the sixth run, the man in black¡¯s attacks have become much more lethal.


    When the Missiontakers finally hear the commotion, blood has already soaked the floor over at the gas station. They do not even have time to work out how long the man in black has been slaughtering people over there already.


    The Nightmare, restarts again.


    As soon as the seventh run of the Nightmare begins, the mood is especially strange.


    The team in the dark bedroom is naturally numbering off again. X¨¹ Beijin switches the camera source over at the corridor team, where, never mind Lin Qin and Scapegoat, Mu Jiashi has this sombre expression and Selfish is taunting already.


    Selfish says, ¡°I knew it. All these analysis and thought experiments are futile. They were all fucking wrong.¡±


    Mu Jiashi gives him a glance, the gloominess in him makes Selfish spooked.


    Well, this¡­


    This wouldn¡¯t do, Selfish thinks.


    He has seen many a Missiontaker enter such a phase in Nightmares, only to never return, alongside all the other Missiontakers who entered alongside them.


    In fact, some desperate Missiontakers will choose to drag everyone down and wallow in Collapsed Nightmares alongside them.


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s look makes Selfish wary.


    And also irritated.


    Shit, why does he have to take care of this?!


    Mu Jiashi, unaware of Selfish¡¯s thoughts, merely sighs and, after a brief pause, just says with an exhausted tone, ¡°let¡¯s go. To the service area.¡±


    They board a car in silence. Mu Jiashi is driving.


    Although he mentioned he isn¡¯t much of a driver, but because the man in black is no longer here anyway, Mu Jiashi¡¯s driving skills will do.


    Nor does he really care about such trivial things anymore.


    They split into two cars the last run, as Mu Jiashi suggested; this run, Mu Jiashi said nothing, and Selfish and Scapegoat are happy to just go. They board the backseats without question.


    As the car drives along the expressway, Mu Jiashi has slowly calmed down. Then, his analysis of the Nightmare starts bubbling in his mind again.


    After a period of silence, he says, ¡°perhaps this time, we will need to use utility cards to deal with the man in black.¡±


    Mu Jiashi would not count of Lin Qin to do it again now, of course.


    Though what he said seems to agitate Selfish a great deal.


    ¡°Hah? Utility card? You don¡¯t even have one, you¡¯re expecting me to use one?¡± Selfish mockingly chuckles, ¡°Wake up, sonny.¡±


    He did think about measures he might have to take now that Mu Jiashi looks odd, but utility cards aren¡¯t one of them. He is just merely thinking about if he should take a more active role now.


    Utility cards?


    No bloody way.

 Volume 2 - CH 38.3

    Mu Jiashi was expecting Selfish to be uncooperative, but it was worth a try. So he just responds in silence to Selfish¡¯s taunts.


    He isn¡¯t someone good at winning verbal assaults anyway, and would rather not waste his saliva talking to people like Selfish; he¡¯s had his fair share of selfish people who are even more so than Selfish in his days working for customers.


    At least Selfish wasn¡¯t getting in the way of them trying to figure out the Nightmare. Some customers, though¡­


    Oho.


    So in the Nightmare, Mu Jiashi has been pretty calm up to this point¡ª¡ªPerhaps excessively so, both to others and to himself.


    In the Nightmare, maintaining a calm mind is top priority, because nobody knows when danger might suddenly come in the Nightmares.


    You might think Selfish is extremely temperamental given his spewing bullets, but he might be calmer than anyone would think.


    He is a lone wolf.


    Lone wolves that have survived this long in the Tower, are never characters to underestimate.


    This is the bottom floor?


    So what. People make mistakes all the time. See, even Mu Jiashi could end up retreating to the bottom of the valley from time to time. There is no way to tell what the ¡®companions¡¯ one meets in Nightmares have experienced and what past they have had.


    Missiontakers in the Tower are distant and wary of each other.


    Mu Jiashi is nonresponsive because he has become too used to these things, but Scapegoat, clearly much more inexperienced than any of them are, is retorting, ¡°how nasty are you? He doesn¡¯t even have a utility card!¡±


    Selfish then targets him instead, going, ¡°then if you¡¯ve got a utility card, use it!¡±


    Scapegoat then grows hesitant.


    Of course he does. All Missiontakers who have utility cards will definitely take a few with them when entering Nightmares. True, Carddealers are always a risk, but nobody wants to ever actually end up lost in Collapsed Nightmares forever.


    Missiontakers in the Tower all know that if they can¡¯t leave a Nightmare, then all they would do is forever repeat a wholly crumbled, Collapsed Nightmare. It is a fate worse than death.


    Of course, whether this information really is true, and where it came from, is no longer known. It was just a kind of common knowledge by now.


    Besides¡­ it can never be proven anyway.


    The same way that dead people cannot just jump back up to tell the living what happens after they die; Missiontakers who have lost themselves in Collapsed Nightmares cannot just appear suddenly either to tell them what happened to them.


    Really, it is entirely unknown whether Nightmares really have a Collapsed, repeating state either, but the Missiontakers¡ª¡ªAnd even Actors¡ª¡ªbelieve so.


    Especially when nobody wants to use their own life to test whether the claim is true.


    The Tower is bad enough; if they are lost forever in those inexplicable, repeating, endless Nightmares, that would be hell on earth.


    Which is also a reason many of the Missiontakers have grown tired and hopeless. They do not enter Nightmares again, but instead, join in the apocalypse fiestas hosted by some Missiontakers.


    And even Missiontakers who still enter Nightmares, unless a True End is visibly in sight, are all more prone to playing it safe and finishing with a Normal End first before retrying, like Selfish, who is challenging the Nightmare again with information he already acquired from the last run.


    They also avoid using utility cards as much as possible.


    Naturally, that includes Scapegoat, who is now hesitant, unsure, and working out the pros and cons.


    Selfish just goes ¡°ha, I¡¯m telling you hypocrites, just be a true fiend like me and you¡¯ll at least be free of all those moral responsibilities and ethics. I said I would not give up my utility card and I mean it¡­¡±


    Scapegoat¡¯s face is all red when he yells, ¡°you¡­ you¡¯re calling me a hypocrite? You shameless¡­¡±


    Selfish and Scapegoat are arguing at the backseats.


    ¡°Enough,¡± Lin Qin says impatiently, ¡°I¡¯m going back to the Tower now. I¡¯ll suppress the man in black when we¡¯re there.¡±


    The car falls silent; all three Missiontakers look at him in shock.


    Though somehow, Mu Jiashi is even sighing in relief inside. This Nightmare¡­ The whole way they came along for this Nightmare, has made him deeply exhausted.


    From both the physical trip, to the back-and-forth between all the Missiontakers present, or the annoying issue with the time in this Nightmare, or even his own failure, are all making him feel like¡ª¡ªHe should just be a piece a trash like he said.


    A true piece of trash, that has given up on himself, who never wants to do any work anymore.


    Therefore, when Lin Qin said he is planning to deal with the man in black himself, Mu Jiashi is even cheering for him inside.


    They¡¯ve got all the information already. If they really want to get a True End, they can just try again later. The first few times a Nightmare is opened wouldn¡¯t cause too much change to it anyway, nor will a Nightmare crumble already in the first few runs.


    Mu Jiashi is silent, and the other two Missiontakers don¡¯t dare to go against the dalao either, worried they¡¯ll be dealt with first¡ª¡ªEven Selfish is flexible with his modus operandi now.


    Thus Lin Qin nods and says with a pleased tone, ¡°then it¡¯s decided. Not that any of you look like you can get a True End anyway.¡±


    The Missiontakers ¡°¡­¡±


    Dalao, please, mercy, dalao.


    Lin Qin doesn¡¯t know how his words are arrows to the Missiontakers¡¯ knees, but instead, is looking outside the window, glad he¡¯ll be leaving the Nightmare soon.


    After figuring out X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s preference and securing a chance to visit him, he doesn¡¯t want to wait a second more already.


    In fact, given his personality, the reason he still put up with everything for so long still was because he was thinking carefully about what to do next.


    He definitely overestimated both himself and the group of Missiontakers this time, though. After all this time, he couldn¡¯t come up with a plan, and these Missiontakers couldn¡¯t come up with a plan either.


    Having lost his patience, Lin Qin decided to end the Nightmare already.


    This is actually something he does all the time, but this time, for once, not because he¡¯s been pissed off, but because there is something that makes him really, desperately want to be back in the Tower.


    Thinking so, when the four of them reach the service area, Lin Qin exits and walks straight for the flowerbed in the plaza¡ª¡ªThen he stops.


    Mu Jiashi, who was running along following him, also makes an ¡®eh¡¯ sound reflexively.


    The man in black, is nowhere to be seen in the service area.


    In fact, even many of the many Tower residents that were hanging out before have disappeared. The entire service area is almost empty. The bloody, chaotic murder scene from before is gone, replaced by this unsettling silence.


    Mu Jiashi widens his eyes in shock and murmurs, ¡°what happened? Did the Nightmare change again¡­¡±


    After that brief moment of confusion, he quickly rushes for the service area supermarket. Selfish and Scapegoat follow right behind.


    Inside, Dai Wu is still working at his post, showing a strange expression when he sees the three of them run over.


    ¡°You guys again? Still for the killer?¡± He then asks, curiously, ¡°but after that guy killed his wife and slaughtered people in the service area, he¡¯s been apprehended and sentenced to death already. Didn¡¯t you watch the news?¡±


    What Dai Wu just said makes Mu Jiashi stop as a realisation finally hits him.


    In the bookstore, X¨¹ Beijin, who was observing with the stream, puts his head on his upright arm to mutter, ¡°I see¡­¡±

 Volume 2 - CH 39.1

    ¡°what what? did Beibei understand something?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin sees the pile of miserable comments¡ª¡ªWhere the detective dalao is nowhere to be seen¡ª¡ªand can¡¯t help but sigh inside.


    Then he says, ¡°I¡¯ll organise the information for you again, and tell you what I just understood.¡±


    ¡°nice! Beibei go go!¡±


    The viewers all look cheerful.


    Yeah, they don¡¯t get it, but then they can just ¡®borrow¡¯ their Bei¡¯s smart little brain, can¡¯t they?


    X¨¹ Beijin smiles and mulls over how to talk about it for a moment. First, he gives a brief rundown of the background story in the Nightmare so far, while also framing it in the context of what the Missiontakers experienced over all the runs.


    Then he begins to explain, ¡°you can imagine this Nightmare as an obstacle course with two tracks. The boy occupies one track, the man in black another.¡±


    ¡°The rule of this race is that, they cannot barge into someone else¡¯s track, and false starts are banned as well. Each runner has their own set of obstacles.


    The boy starts in the dark bedroom, regardless of the state of crumbling of the Nightmare¡ª¡ªWhich in this context can be treated as the rules of the race changing. The boy¡¯s start never changes; it is his Nightmare, it is his race, so he obeys his own rules for the course no matter what.


    When the rules crumbled, after the boy was forced to take the man in black¡¯s route again thanks to intervention from the Missiontakers, the man in black had a false start instead. He was a quicker runner than the boy anyway, so, even after the boy stole his course, the man in black was still ahead of the boy, and crossed over some of the obstacles before the boy did.


    Missiontakers are the main source of uncertainty in this race, because they are above all the rules of this race; which means, for example, they could open the door to the dark bedroom.


    This is an act equivalent to forcibly merging the two courses from beginning to the end, but the course will still end up re-separating no matter what when the door closes.


    One possibility is that a Missiontaker or more have been left behind in the room ¨C as in run four. Nothing spectacular happens.


    When the boy left the bedroom that run, he robbed the course, which resulted in the man in black disappearing, and then starting the car chase when he did. His goal was actually to reach the next obstacle before the boy.


    The other possibility is that no Missiontakers remained in the bedroom ¨C as in run two.


    With both the boy and the man in black being forced onto a single lane in this situation, they have to secure the right to start their run first. Therefore, the door to the room and to the corridor either remain shut or disappear entirely. The obstacle course has been locked up.


    Unfortunately, the man in black only needed to kill the boy¡¯s mother to be able to force his way out and start his own race. That explains what happened in the second run.


    (TL: ¡­ (raises hand) I don¡¯t understand QAQ)


    X¨¹ Beijin has slowly laid out his analogy.


    In the stream, the viewers all finally understand.


    The boy¡¯s journey and the man in black¡¯s journey, and flow of time and fitting into the Nightmare owner¡¯s journey¡­ They are all just accidents that occur because the Missiontakers took the boy out and committed false starts!


    ¡°suddenly feel like the man in black is very office-slave to keep obstacle racing¡±


    ¡°and having to vault over every obstacle too, I don¡¯t even know how many times by now, poor guy¡±


    ¡°what a diligent respectable man, so dont let him off scot free lol¡±


    ¡°I understand how the nightmare operates now! so Beibei, what did you understand just now?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin glances at the stream¡¯s camera to see the four Missiontakers at the service area now waiting for the bedroom team to arrive with the boy.


    So X¨¹ Beijin begins to look through the different camera sources, checking through all the different scenes. The viewers go from confused to dumbfounded, having no idea what X¨¹ Beijin is doing.


    The detective dalao is finally here, hinting, ¡°The man in black is missing.¡±


    ¡°oh right! that guy is missing!¡±


    ¡°cuz the nightmare is already at the pt where the guy was arrested?¡±


    ¡°wait, then isn¡¯t this already a complete crumbling? it¡¯s not even a false start, the man in black zipped right to the goal at the start lol¡±


    ¡°yeah, wouldnt this just mean the nightmare is over¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin explains, ¡°this is the issue I think I understood just now. The man in black was arrested, as per the development of this event in reality, which means, the boy¡¯s father has been apprehended by law.


    That said, the boy is still trapped in the Nightmare of his mother dying. This is an experience that keeps reliving itself in his dreams, repeating endlessly¡­


    The man in black has always been a phantom, an image in his Nightmare. It was something that represented his insane father, despite him having been put down already. The boy could not forget about the experience.


    Therefore, this Nightmare¡¯s ending¡­¡±


    ¡°ah! i got it!¡±


    ¡°so the boy trapped himself in his nightmare?¡±


    ¡°his dad has already been judged, and may even have been sentenced to death already; well, i know im speaking carelessly, but i think the boy needs to move on from his childhood trauma¡±


    ¡°¡­ ah yeah, poor guy. he has to keep reliving numbering off in the dark bedroom, and without the missiontakers, he¡¯ll keep hearing his own mother¡¯s screams, perhaps¡±


    ¡°But¡­ sigh. I also really hope he can move on from the pain and suffering. I believe his mother would wish for her son to stay well¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin murmurs, ¡°that¡¯s right¡­ He has trapped himself in his childhood Nightmare forever. Therefore, what needs to be done is helping him move on.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin has got it, and so does Mu Jiashi, Selfish, and Laosan, Ding Yi and others who have arrived at the service area by this point.


    At this point, the Nightmare is already on its seventh run. With its background story already known and laid out in front of them, these experienced Missiontakers are able to make the correct judgement soon enough.


    Even Laoda is touching his head and muttering, ¡°the killer got sentenced already, so what¡¯s the brat still doing recalling the scene of his mom dying over and over again? Masochist?¡±


    His words are horribly senseless, but that is to be expected of Missiontakers whose brains are only filled with True Ends, Nightmares and a drive to reach a higher floor with no place for the laments of a little boy.


    Well, it¡¯s not like they¡¯re absolutely steel-hearted, but that emotional space is severely limited.


    They themselves are trapped in the Tower, drifting through other people¡¯s Nightmares day in, day out. They really don¡¯t have much space for sympathies and pities for NPCs.


    Even X¨¹ Beijin, who knows the boy is actually a human, a human Acting in accordance to the script of the boy assigned to him, can only express his surprise at the human tragedy depicted in this script.


    Real? Reality?


    Searching for that in the Tower is terribly misguided.


    Even though, X¨¹ Beijin also can¡¯t help but wonder¡ª¡ªWhat if there really has been such a little boy? And just like the last Nightmare too, he¡¯d wonder what if there really existed such a little girl who experienced the insanity.


    Childhood. Children. Nightmares. Violence.


    X¨¹ Beijin sincerely hopes that all of this really is just an in-game setting. A script. An Act.

 Volume 2 - CH 39.2

    Quietly sitting behind the counter, X¨¹ Beijin is observing the stream with a heavy heart that has wandered off somewhere, until the Missiontakers look like they¡¯re taking a move, when he gathers his wits about him.


    Furrowing his brows, he sighs inside. Men really do need sleep. Even though in-game, he theoretically needs no more sleep, but prolonged insomnia is still doing a number on his mental state.


    He does not dare to fall asleep, however.


    He yawns and bitterly chuckles, finding it morbidly humorous that the only monster in the Tower who does not sleep only does so so that others do not enter his Nightmare.


    It makes him sound even less human.


    He has stood fast for how many years again? Well, since he entered the Tower, at least, right until now. As long as humanity has been trapped in the Tower.


    Sleepy¡­ Yes, he really is sleepy.


    For so long, he has not enjoyed a warm blanket, homely sleep-ins and pleasant dreams. Not that anyone could experience the last one in the Tower, though.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s thoughts are digressing again, and this time, when he turns his attention back on, the boy is already crying in the stream.


    When he was distracted, Laoda ¡®the brute¡¯ already blurted out, that, ¡°your dad got sentenced to death already, you know?¡±


    Unable to stop him in time, the rest of the Missiontakers can only stand back to observe the boy¡¯s reaction to it.


    And¡­ as expected, he cries.


    Laosan sighs, mentally exhausted, and says, ¡°this run¡­ might be our last chance in this Nightmare.¡±


    It is run seven already.


    Who knows how long this Nightmare could last for?


    There is a split second where Laosan is thinking that they counted off eight numbers in their numbering off. Perhaps, the Nightmare only has eight runs, after which, if it does end¡­ Who knows whether it might just be a Bad End or Collapse altogether?


    Mu Jiashi slowly nods, adding, ¡°yes. The man in black has been arrested, which means his journey is now complete. There is no obvious danger in this run anymore, but, who knows what the next run of the Nightmare will turn out to be?¡±


    This Nightmare is quite severely crumbled already, though all in all, the greatest danger hid in the fifth and sixth run. If they didn¡¯t acquire any information and restarted twice when the man in black slaughtered indiscriminately, it would truly have been hopeless.


    Though as Selfish said, Nightmares do not have any sensible threads of logic; Mu Jiashi¡¯s overt and Laosan¡¯s internal analysis may not serve any purpose whatsoever, but understanding the operations of the Nightmare itself can help them understand and estimate what the Nightmare might look like in further crumbling, and it is also a good way to keep sanity during the endlessly repeating Nightmare.


    Not that anyone expected this predicament they fell into, with even Lin Qin now powerless to do anything, though he¡¯s still standing off to the side, looking like he¡¯s daydreaming.


    With the man in black gone, there is no hope they can even achieve a Normal End now.


    The boy himself clearly refuses the fact that his father has been arrested or even possibly put to death. He just keeps crying and running out of breath. There looks to be no convincing him.


    ¡­ Yeah, so what if his father was arrested? Can it bring back his dead mother? Can it bring back his family?


    It cannot.


    The Missiontakers are thinking pessimistically, if there¡¯s anything they can still do to prevent the Nightmare from continuing to crumble.


    That is when Ding Yi, who was silent the whole time, or rather, was silent throughout much of the Nightmare, suddenly speaks up, ¡°so, right now, we just need to convince the boy that he should move past this Nightmare?¡±


    Mu Jiashi and Laosan nod simultaneously.


    Then Ding Yi nods.


    Under everyone¡¯s watchful eyes, she kneels in front of the boy, caressing his head gently. The boy hiccoughs, but stops crying. Right now, there seems to be a sort of soothing, reliable strength on Ding Yi.


    To the boy, this woman with grue hair almost looks like his dead mother.


    The scene makes Mu Jiashi somewhat curious, though.


    Since the beginning, the boy has trusted Ding Yi more than anyone else, only willing to talk to her or hide behind her. Well, there is her gender, but isn¡¯t this bonus rather over-the-top already?


    Would this Nightmare owner not have interacted with a single soul if there weren¡¯t a female Missiontaker among them?


    Or, could it be¡­


    While Mu Jiashi is still thinking, Ding Yi speaks up gently, ¡°did you like mommy?¡±


    The boy is looking at her, all stupefied, before making a big nod and says, his words still broken, ¡°mommy¡­ mommy made tasty food for me, and also, bought things I liked for me. Mommy loved me. So¡­ So Xiaohe also like mommy.¡±


    ¡°Oh, your name is Xiaohe?¡± Ding Yi says, ¡°Xiaohe¡­ are you having Nightmares that have mommy in them?¡±


    Xiaohe¡¯s mouth twitches. He looks like he is going to cry again, but holds it back and nods slightly, whispering, ¡°mommy¡­ is gone.¡±


    A child of his age already had a vague grasp of the terrifying power of death. He watched with his own two eyes the death of his own mother.


    Ding Yi says, ¡°mommy wouldn¡¯t want Xiaohe to have Nightmares. Mommy must wish that, in Xiaohe¡¯s dreams, she would forever be her prettiest, most good-looking selfish.¡±


    Xiaohe blinks. He looks like he does not understand well, saying, ¡°but¡­ I cannot forget,¡± then, after a brief moment of silence, he says, ¡°1, 2, 7, 4, 8, 6, 3, 5. I still remember it.¡±


    Even Ding Yi falls silent. For a second there, she doesn¡¯t even know how to comfort this little boy.


    That string of numbers. The countdown to his own mother¡¯s life.


    Ding Yi sighs inside. She embraces Xiaohe, and gently tells him, ¡°your mommy just became a star. Does Xiaohe like stars?¡±


    Xiaohe¡¯s eyes seem to light up a little. He nods, ¡°I like stars! Mommy said, when we go on a trip, we can see stars!¡±


    Ding Yi explains to him, ¡°your mommy has become a star. She will keep shining on you. If you miss mommy, just raise your head and look up at the sky. You will be able to see your mommy, who is now a star.¡±


    ¡°A star¡­¡± Xiaohe mumbles, then says, ¡°I also want to be a star.¡±


    Ding Yi is surprised, asking, ¡°what?¡±


    Xiaohe explains, ¡°I want to be a star, so that I can also shine on mommy;¡± then, he adds, ¡°the bedroom is so dark.¡±


    Ding Yi quietly looks at him.


    She is wondering whether, in reality, outside of the Nightmare, outside of the Tower, the boy that was missing according to Dai Wu, perhaps, became a star?


    She sighs inside, but smiles on the surface, gently telling Xiaohe, ¡°of course you can, Xiaohe.¡±


    Finally, the boy seems no longer as troubled. He also gathers his courage to show a smile to Ding Yi.


    The rest of the Missiontakers soon follow with their own smiles.


    While they do not understand how Ding Yi managed to persuade the boy with just a few words, but the result is good, so they couldn¡¯t care less.

 Volume 2 - CH 39.3

    Mu Jiashi, observing close by, finally understands now.


    Ding Yi¡¯s grue hair, her introverted, rather business-unfriendly countenance, and the unique way she enamours people¡­


    A Trick card.


    Modify cards and Fusion cards might change Missiontakers¡¯ appearance too, but they do not last for a long time. Meanwhile, the Necessities Merchant, Ding Yi, has always had this signature grue hair colour ever since she became a well-known name.


    Such a long-lasting, unnatural appearance can only have been caused by Trick cards.


    One Use of the Trick card allows one attempt at deception, with success hinging on a check between each other¡¯s ¡®charm¡¯ value. In general, double or above the opponent¡¯s value would be a guaranteed success.


    However, as the quantified charm value is only visible to the person in question via their information panel, and because Infocards do not give exact numbers on others either, so it mostly comes down to luck, really.


    Of course, Missiontakers can also choose to collect Charm cards that temporarily or even permanently increase their own charm value, which would raise the probability of success when using Deception and Trick cards.


    No matter what, though, these types of utility cards relating to charm, including Deception, Trick and Charm, are cards that unlucky Missiontakers hate the most.


    Though if Mu Jiashi could see the Trick card¡¯s information on Ding Yi¡¯s personal information panel, then he will definitely be sighing and questioning why even escape games like ¡®Escape¡¯ has to become a test of everyone¡¯s fortune?


    ¡®Card Name: Unconditional Trust


    Finally, when the boy is smiling and nodding firmly, like a promise to live his life well, that gender-neutral voice from the Server, NE, coldly seeps into the Missiontakers¡¯ ears.


    ¡°Congratulations on achieving the Nightmare¡¯s True End. Please choose whether to ascend to a higher floor: Yes/No¡±


    Alongside the voice is the scenery of the Nightmare turning into grey fog and dispersing. The forms of the Missiontakers and the Actors disappear among the endless fog one by one.


    Some are headed to floors above. Some are staying behind on the bottom floor.


    Just before this happened, Dai Wu, standing right next to the flowerbed in the centre of the service area, glanced over at the boy¡¯s form as he disappears.


    He muttered, ¡°congratulations. Your wish came true.¡±


    The boy heard that, though, and turned to gloat at him, before disappearing entirely.


    Before the Nightmare began, the Actor, the little boy, had heard about Lin Qin gathering drinks. He recalled how his Nightmare had a supermarket, and so, he made a gamble.


    Although the Missiontakers managed to somehow bumble into a True End in the end, but really, by the seventh run, even the boy himself had given up. With the man in black no longer in play, the True End he had in his script was then out of reach ¨C A True End, with Lin Qin beating the breathing sunlights out of the man in black, until he suddenly went poof and disappeared¡ª¡ªBecause, this man in black, wasn¡¯t even really a ¡®person,¡¯ but just a phantom, a ¡®face,¡¯ with an Actor.


    If this powerful dalao Lin Qin would just use a bit more force, the man in black would have been forced to despawn (not ¡®die¡¯), which would technically be him having overcome the monster that dwelled and plagued him in his Nightmares.


    It¡¯s really a rough improvisation, but the boy believes it could be enough to achieve a True End. Even if worst comes to worst, he just has to be quick on his feet and come up with some nice Acting to lead these dummies for Missiontakers on, and pull the rugs right out from under the Server.


    In fact, when he reflexively yelled the moment he had entered the service area earlier as the man in black was trampled under Lin Qin¡¯s foot¡ª¡ªThe Missiontakers thought he was scared, but it was more out of surprise.


    It was truly a shame Lin Qin still held back, back then, or they would have reached a True End by that time.


    Thank goodness the rest of the Missiontakers were not too incompetent¡­ Or not. Really, when the Nightmare crumbled the fifth and sixth run, they were still basically relying on Lin Qin¡¯s strengths entirely. It would be foolish to assume they could have resolved the Nightmare through the intended means.


    The intended means being ¨C opening the door to the dark bedroom, which forces the frozen time to flow inside the bedroom, and also forces the boy¡¯s journey to link up to the man in black¡¯s.


    In the last few runs, the man in black was going through the rigmarole of escape after his ¡®mother¡¯s death. The police have not discovered the boy hidden in the wardrobe yet, which was why it was locked.


    Yet, by the fifth and sixth run, because outside the bedroom the police have already issued a warrant, they must clearly have also found the crime scene before then and, logically, the boy.


    Therefore, by this time, the normally locked wardrobe door would be unlocked the moment the bedroom door was opened. Numbering off was no longer necessary.


    The Missiontakers could have taken him directly to the service area, with an ample five minutes provided for them. Then, using the property that the man in black disappeared as soon as he arrived in the service area and saw him, that ¡®totally unsolvable conundrum¡¯ would be resolved.


    The useless Missiontakers only thought about hugging dalao¡¯s thighs, though.


    Although he, the boy himself, was also hugging his thighs to go to a higher floor¡­ But so what! He will gloat at Dai Wu! Finally, now he¡¯ll get to go to a higher floor! Ha!


    Dai Wu says to himself in the last moments, ¡°hmph, a higher floor¡­¡±


    Then, a cheery smile emerges on his face.


    A higher floor, so what?


    In the Tower, everyone is always a prisoner.


    X¨¹ Beijin opens his eyes to find himself face-to-face with his empty, lifeless bookstore again.


    The stream is pretty lively, in contrast, with the viewers still discussing the Nightmare that just ended. They are discussing how much of a coincidence this was plus how smart the Missiontakers must have been to finally achieve that True End.


    Many normal Missiontakers would have been totally helpless just trying to stop the indiscriminately slaughtering man in black already.


    The Difficulty?


    The Difficulty, is in somehow figuring out how to dislodge the gears that were running smoothly along, obeying their own rules, by the time they learn that the murderer has already been arrested and taken offscreen in the seventh run after making it through runs five and six.


    Somehow, they must force the gear of the boy, forever stuck in the tragedy of his mother¡¯s death and locked in place in the timeline, to match with the gear of the time in the ¡®present¡¯ where the murderer has already been sentenced to death, or possibly even been put to death already.


    They have to make him realise that, all is over now. He should move on.


    The Nightmare really is a nightmare in the sense that it is the childhood trauma that the boy could not overcome, even when the source of this nightmare, the mad man who killed his own wife, the boy¡¯s mother, like some kind of unrestrained beast, has long gone.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s thoughts digressed for a moment, before he said his goodbyes to the viewers in the stream and ended this long streaming session.


    Light is coming through the windows. Another unremarkable day is to begin.


    X¨¹ Beijin is having a hard time deciding between three choices ¨C taking a walk, blanking out and reading a book.


    Suddenly, there is knocking on the door.


    While visitors outside cannot walk inside through the strange ways the doors operate, but people in the house can still hear knockings from outside normally.


    X¨¹ Beijin raises his head to look, and the moment he realises who was knocking, he is completely shocked.


    ¡­ The moment he¡¯s out of the Nightmare, Lin Qin already ran over?!

 Volume 3 - CH 40.1

    Lin Qin is always saying how X¨¹ Beijin is special in his world.


    For X¨¹ Beijin as well, Lin Qin is of course, also special, not just because Lin Qin wants to fight with him so unusually passionately, but also because, he is disinterested in his Nightmare.


    The disinterest is precisely what makes X¨¹ Beijin sigh in relief for real.


    He is really troubled by the interest the Missiontakers show in his Nightmare. He wants no one to enter it, ever, but he is also deeply aware of how unusual and attention-grabbing this would be.


    After refusing sternly a very long time ago, and revealing how he was a monster that never slept, X¨¹ Beijin did finally have some peaceful days for a while since.


    Though after he picked up this streaming system, and after this unexpected attention from Lin Qin, and even Mu Jiashi, who wished to meet with him¡­ All these are convincing the sharp X¨¹ Beijin that, there seems to be some worrying undercurrents flowing through the decrepit Tower.


    More immediately, though, his peaceful life would be leaving him behind as well, it would appear.


    X¨¹ Beijin is uneasy, and of course, slightly restless. Any humans in the Tower, both Missiontakers or Actors, would any of them have never thought about leaving the Tower?


    The streaming system¡ª¡ªOnce again, X¨¹ Beijin is appreciative at such a tool. It not only lit the way forward for him, but also gave him hope. Hope, that he has not ever sampled in very many years.


    ¡­ Even though he still has to deal with this troublesome visitor somehow.


    After the Nightmare was over, Lin Qin immediately ran over all excited, not even hurrying where Ding Yi told him the drinks were stored first. In absolute distance, his own home is at most a hundred metres away from X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s store.


    Lin Qin has brought along drinks he collected already, and has spent all the time running over thinking about how to communicate with X¨¹ Beijin. He does not realise that he is filled with positive expectations, happiness and also unease. In some sense, those are emotions one might feel in another type of situation.


    No matter what, though, as soon as X¨¹ Beijin opened the door, Lin Qin has raised the drinks in his hand, but he does not follow up with any words of confession, but a rather mood-dampening¡ª¡ª


    ¡°Let¡¯s fight.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He sighs morosely.


    After staring at each other blankly for a moment, X¨¹ Beijin moves aside to let Lin Qin in.


    It is so early in the morning, so nobody should have noticed Lin Qin hurrying here. Also, he went along the direct, unfrequented paths, instead of the much wider and livelier Respawn Avenue outside. That makes X¨¹ Beijin feel safer.


    The only one that could notice¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s gaze drifts over to the opposite door and windows. Doors are mysterious teleportation devices, but so are the windows, which show exactly what you would expect it to show ¨C people inside could very well see what is happening in the Tower through them.


    He doesn¡¯t know whether a new resident has moved in opposite him. These are all random, decided by the Server, NE, who knows precisely which house is occupied by whom, which house is once occupied by whom, and which house is about to be occupied by whom.


    X¨¹ Beijin closes the door. He was merely glancing over, so he did not know that, there really were a pair of eyes¡ª¡ªEyes of a woman, looking outside with distress.


    She wasn¡¯t keeping an eye on her neighbour specifically. In fact, she is acting like this because the script demanded her to do so, especially because the Missiontaker Lin Qin is present. The Missiontaker did not notice this show the Tower resident was forced to put on, though, instead, she notices Lin Qin and X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s interaction instead.


    After they are gone, the woman seems to fall into thought shortly, before pouting and sighing.


    Her Nightmare is not like that boy¡¯s Nightmare that can be True Ended with brute force alone. Lin Qin¡¯s strengths are a terrible mismatch with her Nightmare.


    So in the end, she basically just watched some unrelated intrigue play out.


    She knows her neighbour, the one that has once unexpectedly aroused the Missiontakers¡¯ attentions. When she was on the bottom floor of the Tower, when it was the most lively, hundreds of Missiontakers would bugger her neighbour incessantly.


    There were even Missiontakers who tried to get information on him via her.


    Though she went to a higher floor afterwards. She doesn¡¯t know how it played out in the end.


    The moment she¡¯s back, she sees Missiontakers looking for her neighbour again.


    Though¡­ what is it to her, even?


    She just went from a higher floor back to the bottom floor, back, with the Nightmare that once tortured her for so long.


    She turns around to lean on the wall. She looks about the house she once lived in, then, gradually, a real, genuine fear begins creeping into her expression.


    X¨¹ Beijin didn¡¯t expect Lin Qin to arrive so soon and so was unprepared.


    And also¡­ another True End; another time Lin Qin did not ascend.


    Though the surprise was only a moment for X¨¹ Beijin ¨C Right, Lin Qin said he was disinterested in Nightmares in general. Why would he even go to higher floors, then?


    Makes sense he would choose ¡®No¡¯ when the Server asks.


    While X¨¹ Beijin thinks so, he feels it would be a bit awkward to talk about and ask directly. Perhaps when he¡¯s closer to Lin Qin, but not now.


    He receives Lin Qin, and stores the drinks the guest brought along slightly awkwardly. After leaving what was once society behind for so long, he has almost forgotten about the basics of serving a guest.


    He does manage to recover fragments in his memories, though, and pours good drinks for the both of them in cups he collected over time, then puts the cups on the small table.


    One cup for himself, the other for Lin Qin.


    When he sits down, X¨¹ Beijin is thinking how rare such a scene would play out in the Tower.


    Really, if Lin Qin wasn¡¯t always itching for a fight, he¡¯s pretty easy to be around with. He is straightforward and speaks what he thinks.


    Lin Qin brought a variety of drinks over. From soft drinks in cans to beverage in glasses. Everything.


    ¡°I collected these before,¡± Lin Qin says, ¡°you might not like some of them, but since they came into my hands, I took them over as well. I learned about what drinks you like earlier in the Nightmare, so I will try to stick to those in the future.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is holding his cup hesitantly. He is not sure what to reply.


    Is it alright for him to expose how he remembers what happened in the Nightmare?


    He waits for a moment, but nothing comes from the Server, so he replies ¡°thanks,¡± then adds, a pause later, ¡°but, you don¡¯t have to¡­ give it all to me.¡±


    Lin Qin asks because of the strange way X¨¹ Beijin phrased it, ¡°but you like them?¡±


    ¡°I do, but¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin thinks about how to put it, and finally explains, ¡°you do not necessarily have to shower me with presents just because I like them.¡±


    Lin Qin looks like he does not understand, knitting his brows to say, ¡°but¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin explains gently, ¡°it could very well make people take advantage of you. They could rope you into doing things for them in Nightmares. I do not wish to see that, because of our close relationship, that others would start using you.¡±


    Lin Qin looks at him and thinks for a while, then finally seems to get it, replying, ¡°I do not mind. For me, other people¡­¡± He thinks a bit more, before continuing, ¡°are like grass on the side of the road. I do not really care if they live or die. Only you are special, and so I am willing to do things for you.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is silent. Somehow, it seems to make sense how others would call Lin Qin a mad dog or dumbass. There seems to be something fundamentally wrong with his values.


    He sighs before asking, ¡°you said before that you aren¡¯t interested in Nightmares, so I¡¯m curious, what does the Tower mean to you?¡±


    Lin Qin looks at him, seemingly hesitant and doubting. The harmless-looking young man, after a while, slowly replies, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°I do not know,¡± Lin Qin repeats himself, saying, ¡°I just¡­ live inside. Live here.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is looking fixedly at him.


    Lin Qin awkwardly explains, ¡°they all have their pasts. I heard the Missiontakers talk about theirs, about how they were on Earth. They say how much they missed about them, but¡­ I¡¯m different. I don¡¯t have a past.¡±


    Astonished, X¨¹ Beijin quickly asks, ¡°what do you mean? You do not remember your life back on Earth?¡±


    Lin Qin nods, saying, ¡°I was in the Tower the moment I opened my eyes.¡±

 Volume 3 - CH 40.2

    X¨¹ Beijin is just blankly staring at Lin Qin now.


    Lin Qin remembers nothing? It makes X¨¹ Beijin feel like there is some conspiracy behind it all.


    From his physical strength that¡¯s basically a bug, to his simple, stubborn logic, to his empty past¡­ It all makes X¨¹ Beijin fall into thought.


    Perhaps, what the Missiontakers cruelly slander Lin Qin for regarding his intellect is just because he remembers nothing? Sometimes he¡¯s unbearably dense, but sometimes he¡¯s extremely sharp. He is often completely blank on interacting with other human beings, maybe, precisely because he is a blank sheet of paper?


    But¡­ Why?


    Why would there be such a Missiontaker here?


    What was his past like? How did he even acquire his prowess in the first place?


    X¨¹ Beijin has held his cup in his hand for a really long time now.


    When his consciousness finally snaps back to reality, he can see Lin Qin is already over on the other side of the store, browsing the books on display, probably because he was bored.


    ¡°Sorry, I dozed off,¡± X¨¹ Beijin hurriedly puts down his cup and walks over to apologise.


    Lin Qin just nonchalantly replies, ¡°that¡¯s alright.¡±


    He continues browsing the collection of books. To be honest, even X¨¹ Beijin himself has only seen a small portion of this endless pile of books. Lin Qin looks like he is interested in one of them, pointing at it, asking, ¡°can I borrow it?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin glances at it and nods, ¡°sure.¡±


    These books in his bookstore¡­ are mostly just random articles, novels or essays. Also diaries from obscure authors. When X¨¹ Beijin is bored, he¡¯d also grab one at random to read.


    Lin Qin seems to have picked a horror novel which has a pen and a bloodied paper on its cover. This shelf consists mostly of books X¨¹ Beijin has already seen. They¡¯re not exactly important, and of course Lin Qin can read them if he wants to.


    Lin Qin takes the novel out and thanks X¨¹ Beijin politely.


    X¨¹ Beijin is hesitant before asking, ¡°that problem with your memory¡­ Have you ever told anyone else?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Lin Qin is examining the horror novel¡¯s cover from all over while answering, ¡°you¡¯re special, that¡¯s why I told you. I know that, we must remain vigilant in the Tower.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is feeling pretty complicated.


    Some surprise at Lin Qin having such a principle; some shock and a slight happiness that Lin Qin would tell him this private part about him; and some confusion as this whole thing is just perplexing.


    Lin Qin has no memories, but he is behaving nowhere like a baby. He isn¡¯t really a blank slate, either ¨C he knows what the Tower is. He knows Missiontakers, Nightmares, utility cards, and even unspoken rules in the Tower. He also knows how to communicate with others in general.


    For example, he was able to reason out, that, if he gave X¨¹ Beijin drinks, he might be able to persuade him to fight with him.


    This is a definite sign of having been societised.


    Though in other words, despite Lin Qin having lost his past memories, and in fact, may only have ever heard of Earth in passing mentions from other Missiontakers, he still possesses a personality and experience developed under obvious influences from human society.


    It makes X¨¹ Beijin deeply concerned.


    What caused Lin Qin to lose his memories?


    What was the past of this young man standing besides him?


    Even though this should be Lin Qin¡¯s own problems to work out, but right now, X¨¹ Beijin looks far more concerned over it than Lin Qin. He is glancing at Lin Qin several times in rapid succession, thinking, the typical scenario where the eunuch is more anxious than the Emperor.


    ¡­ Not that he¡¯s trying to imply he¡¯s castrated. Bad analogy.


    Lin Qin seems satisfied having borrowed a book. Then, he looks back at the cup on the table ¨C the porcelain cup looks extra elegant under the yellowish light.


    Lin Qin asks, seemingly having some thoughts, ¡°do you like collecting cups?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is a little surprised, and answers after a short while, ¡°I¡­ guess?¡± Then he bitterly chuckles, explaining, ¡°life in the Tower really is too boring.¡±


    Sometimes, he would retrieve a different cup from within his cabinet, and pour a different drink, then turn on the porch light outside and sit on the slightly worn sofa to read a book¡­ Alongside the dust floating up and down through the lit air.


    Drifting slightly in and out of consciousness would almost make him feel like he was back on Earth all of a sudden.


    Though he¡¯d wake back up soon enough, and realise, he might never be back on Earth ever again.


    The realisation would always cut itself deep into him.


    Therefore, even though he would collect drinks and cups and other household utensils, even going so far as to decorating his bookstore when he suddenly felt the urge to, oftentimes, the acts themselves would remind him of this long, dull pain.


    X¨¹ Beijin sighs and decides to make it clear to Lin Qin, explaining, ¡°Lin Qin, I wish that you wouldn¡¯t just accept requests easily because you want to fight with me, or because you want to collect drinks or cups or anything else. Can you promise me? It is not fair for you.¡±


    It would not only embarrass and trouble X¨¹ Beijin, but most importantly it would be dragging Lin Qin into endless trouble.


    Lin Qin does not understand, because it feels like equivalent exchange is a fair, normal deal to do, but since X¨¹ Beijin said so, Lin Qin agrees without raising his doubts, saying, ¡°sure, I¡¯ll not do that again.¡±


    Inside, he is instead, thinking, since requests from others are bad, then why don¡¯t he just ask them instead?


    Yup, the logic holds.


    X¨¹ Beijin is blissfully unaware of the massive distortion to his wish that Lin Qin just did, just sighing in relief that Lin Qin agreed so readily.


    Then he asks, ¡°want to eat something? I have snacks collected.¡±


    Lin Qin gives him an odd look that basically reads, ¡®what sorts of baubles and trinkets are you collecting all the time?¡¯


    Neither Tower residents nor Missiontakers ever really treat life in the Tower as ¡®life,¡¯ do they?


    Though X¨¹ Beijin seems to be doing exactly that.


    Lin Qin gave it a thought before nodding to accept the gesture. He is suddenly realising how, since learning about X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s predisposition towards drinks, he has been slowly unravelling X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s lifestyle, discovering along the way that X¨¹ Beijin didn¡¯t seem like how he imagined he would be.


    What he is trying to say is that¡­ He felt X¨¹ Beijin was special and might actually be able to win in a fight against him. That is why he was comparing and contrasting their lifestyles, and X¨¹ Beijin seems to be totally different from him.


    Lin Qin is looking curiously at the pile of sweets X¨¹ Beijin is still adding onto.


    There are many cabinets in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore. While the shelves and all the spaces without doors are filled with books, looking totally businesslike and serious, but all the cabinets with doors are instead holding all the weird keepsakes X¨¹ Beijin has.


    Though if Lin Qin went to the second floor and saw X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s private quarters, then he would definitely exclaim in shock over all the things X¨¹ Beijin has collected over the years in the Tower ¨C From drinks, to snacks, to cups to bowls and chopsticks. Even if X¨¹ Beijin just put them wherever was convenient, it is still a worthy collection to meet the eyes.


    It is at the point when X¨¹ Beijin saw the surprise written on Lin Qin that he understood how his impression of him must have crumbled to dust.


    In the Tower, no one has ever been so close to his daily lives as Lin Qin had. Discounting all the Missiontakers that just wanted in on his Nightmare, only someone as simpleminded as Lin Qin could actually have let X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s guard down like so.


    Smiling slightly awkwardly, he pushes the snacks he likes over in Lin Qin¡¯s direction, and opens up another two cans of drinks he likes, saying, ¡°try some.¡±


    Thus, this is the day that Lin Qin falls in love with the things X¨¹ Beijin uses to kill time almost instantaneously.


    Books, drinks and snacks.


    Before he leaves, Lin Qin asks, ¡°I don¡¯t know what the world outside the Tower is like, but I have also never experienced in the Tower before what you just showed me. Is this how life was outside?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin pauses.


    Then, seeing the clear curiosity written on Lin Qin¡¯s face ¨C and perhaps anxiety¡ª¡ªwhich might have been X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mind playing tricks on him, he smiles to finally answer, ¡°yes.¡±


    Lin Qin nods. He is in thought again as he parts ways with X¨¹ Beijin and leaves.


    While he did not successfully entice X¨¹ Beijin to a fight this time, but he seems to have made unexpected advances instead.

 Volume 3 - CH 40.3

    X¨¹ Beijin saw Lin Qin off. This is the first time he has ever spent a day with someone else in the Tower. True, he had the stream¡¯s audience with him in the Nightmares now, but accompaniment over the Internet is still nonetheless different from real connections.


    He can¡¯t help but recall the other Missiontaker who said he will visit ¨C Mu Jiashi¡­ That said, they did get a True End, so Mu Jiashi should be on a higher floor now, right?


    Thinking so, X¨¹ Beijin couldn¡¯t help but chuckle, not for happiness, but for some more complex thoughts. It was bitter.


    Even if Mu Jiashi did come to visit, it is still most likely because he was interested in his Nightmare, huh.


    Quite the demoralising thought he¡¯s having.


    He can¡¯t help but be awed at how simple and straightforward Lin Qin is, again. He likes being with and talking to someone like Lin Qin, someone so simple he can read like the back of his hand.


    ¡­ That¡¯s definitely not a diss at Lin Qin, by any means. Lin Qin has sharp instincts himself, and other aspects he cannot even hope to match.


    After the short silence standing at the doorway, X¨¹ Beijin is wallowing in his complex thoughts.


    Then, he retreats back into the bookstore to clean up, putting everything where it should have been. When the bookstore returned normal, X¨¹ Beijin just sat there quietly.


    He is regretting all of a sudden.


    Perhaps he should have left the things disorganised for a bit longer; he could have made the aftereffect of having a friend visit last longer.


    These are but laments, meaningless, really.


    He sighs, and sits until it was well into the night.


    When suddenly, another disorienting feeling overtakes his brain ¨C he is shocked. A working day again after just a day of rest? It has never been so frequent in the past¡­


    Though he cannot oppose the Server, so he just peacefully closes his eyes as his consciousness sinks deeper into the dark.


    When he opens his eyes, the Nightmare is also at night time.


    He looks around to find himself yet again the owner of a bookstore, though he is again without information on this Nightmare at all. Looks like he¡¯s going to be a casual extra again.


    Outside the bookstore is a vibrant commercial complex. The night is no deterrent to any business, though none of that is affecting his decrepit, ancient bookstore any.


    In fact, X¨¹ Beijin is choked to coughing by the dust emanating the atmosphere in the bookstore. Both surprised and shaking his head, he is sure this old bookstore is even more of a mess than his own in the Tower.


    Those books randomly strewn about the shelves really resemble antiques¡ª¡ªWithout the usual price tag attached, because he is merely using the noun to give a sense of the thickness of the layer of dust above; they look like they have only been recently excavated out of some ancient tomb.


    The only source of light within the bookstore is the single lightbulb above his head. The dim, yellowish light is not even remotely as bright as the illumination from outside.


    X¨¹ Beijin opens the window to finally help lower the dust content a little, before turning the stream on.


    The viewers wouldn¡¯t come rushing in immediately, which X¨¹ Beijin is used to already. He takes a look at the right of the screen to decide which view to switch to.


    ¡­ Then he falls into shock.


    On the list of scenes on the right of the stream, under the option for switching scenes, the list is so long even the screen does not fit.


    X¨¹ Beijin takes a closer look to realise that these scenes in the list are even divided into sub-lists, like the ¡®Luoke Apartment Floors 1-11.¡¯ Clicking on one of the floors reveals a list of different room numbers of each respective floor. It runs from 0101 to 1111, 121 rooms in total.


    That is still excluding the corridors on each floor, the stairs, the lobby, the elevators, the security room, the electrical room, and underground carpark and even the outside green space and other such apartment complex facilities. And most importantly, none of that is barely touching on the large commercial complex X¨¹ Beijin is in.


    There must be a massive amount of information buried in this Nightmare.


    In his first ever streamed Nightmare, X¨¹ Beijin only found the Dollmaker¡¯s and his bookstore; the second one was larger, but the number of meaningful scenes were not comparatively much higher.


    Though this Nightmare has over a hundred items already, just counting the apartment rooms. A skim also puts the number of stores in the commercial complex at ¡®dozens.¡¯


    Just the number of Actors involved must be tremendous this time.


    Though X¨¹ Beijin then looks at the number of Missiontakers, to find there are seven this time (TL: Which would usually be a lot, but is definitely low in terms of Missiontakers/scene).


    ¡­ Lin Qin is among them.


    X¨¹ Beijin is in shock.


    Why is Lin Qin, that guy in Nightmares again? Didn¡¯t they say he enters Nightmares less than once every 10 days or even half a month? Is he here to look for new varieties of drinks?


    X¨¹ Beijin then slowly turns his head over in the direction of the commercial complex outside the bookstore. It looks like it is trying to prove something to him.


    ¡­ His head hurts.


    Though he doesn¡¯t know the names of any of the six other Missiontakers. So he is sure that he has never met them in the previous two Nightmares, at least.


    Which makes sense, given they have had two True Ends already. Besides the weirder Lin Qin, the rest of the Missiontakers should have all chosen to ascend to a higher floor.


    X¨¹ Beijin decides to pick a Missiontaker-occupied room at random to check out what this Nightmare today is about.


    The room number is, 807.


    On-screen is a brightly-lit, well-furnished high-class apartment unit. A female Missiontaker is standing right in the middle of the living room. She looks like she just regained consciousness, and is looking around her in a daze.


    After living in the dark, dilapidated Tower for so long, she has been practically stunned suddenly seeing what perfectly resembles a high-class apartment unit that looks like it belonged back on Earth. She is in disbelief that she is seeing this in a Nightmare¡­


    Like, a Nightmare!


    What kind of Nightmare could happen in a warmly lit, homely, artistically decorated, very obviously expensive apartment unit outfitted with even smart furniture all around?


    The Nightmare of a house loan?


    The female Missiontaker has her brows furrowed. Something feels strange to her.


    She reflexively touches her waist, where in a pocket inside her clothes are the two utility cards she readied for this Nightmare. The two most powerful ones she has collected among all the ones she collected over the years.


    For this Nightmare, she brought them without hesitation.


    Yet¡­ This oddly serene scene in the Nightmare means these two utility cards are practically stunted right now.


    When suddenly, she feels a chill down her spine, shocking her and making her immediately turn around to look behind her.


    There is nothing behind her, even though the feeling is still so asininely real. They are creeping into her bones and marrow; she is having waves of chills.


    Trembling, she keeps turning around and around, but finds nothing. There are warm lights in the apartment, plus the several smart LEDs decorating the room make the room as bright as day.


    Everything is so normal, but she can only feel fear.


    She cannot see her back.


    Yet, it feels like someone, is staring right at her back.

 Volume 3 - CH 41.1

    The female Missiontaker continues pacing about the apartment unit, unable to discern where the gaze troubling her is coming from.


    This is a 2LD apartment, but she is alone.


    Something feels off to her, because she entered with her younger sister, but she is nowhere to be found here.


    She makes towards the entrance, trying to open it and leave, but finds the door locked in place by some mysterious force.


    Therefore, this female Missiontaker now knows that she likely cannot leave this room in the beginning of the Nightmare.


    Taking a deep breath, she tries to calm herself down.


    The stare¡­ is still pointed at her back.


    She can feel goosebumps climbing on her back, along a chill which is enveloping her hair, seeping into her brain, turning all her thoughts into mush.


    She shudders, and turns around yet again, this time putting her back to the cold, front door. Her gaze is swimming everywhere in the room.


    She can only see the quiet, normal living room in her vision. Outside is the balcony, the glass door leading to which is closed and the curtains have been let down, covering up most of it, but part of the vibrant nightlife is still visible outside.


    The living room lights are all on, casting a slightly dirty, aging yellow shade on the white walls. Before the beanbag sofa is a wooden coffee table. There is a remote there, the TV that it is controlling isn¡¯t powered on. It is all dark.


    Two doors on the far side of both the left and right of the living room lead to the bedrooms. To the left of the apartment entrance is the bathroom with white light and clean white porcelain tiles. To the right is the dining table and the kitchen. All the lights have been turned on.


    There is central heating in this building, switched on. Warm air is slowly filing down from the vent, maintaining a pleasant temperature inside, but somehow, the female Missiontaker continues dripping cold sweat.


    Everything is normal¡­


    Everything is normal is the biggest abnormality!


    Her attention is deeply focused, but everything seems to be acting as they should in this quiet, dead room.


    Until she suddenly sees that the curtain has moved.


    It is suffocating¡­ The door to the balcony is shut. The window to the balcony is also tightly shut. Why did the curtain move?


    She clenches her fists, perhaps trying to give herself courage. She slowly walks over, step by step, carefully, until she is next to the glass door, and quickly pulls the curtain open.


    The blank wall is revealed. Nobody is hiding there.


    The female Missiontaker sighs in relief, finally.


    This is also when the strange, unsettling feeling of being stared at, being ogled at, is gone.


    She lets the curtain back down, and knits her brow to think if the movement of the curtain was a hallucination because she was too tensed up?


    ¡­ Perhaps. This is her first Nightmare after a very long hiatus. It took all her courage just to enter. She wants to achieve a True End.


    Her expectations, the changes in this Nightmare, and the inexplicable stares have made her too tensed up.


    She sighs and turns to examine the apartment unit again, with less wariness this time. She is more interested in figuring out what clues might be hidden in this apartment unit.


    Though unfortunately, the viewers of the stream can reassure her, responsibly, that she did not hallucinate.


    Because they also saw the curtains move!


    As if there was a breeze or something had grabbed it, so its lower part fluttered, just for a moment, before falling back down and going back to normal.


    ¡°AAAAA does this game have ghosts?!¡±


    ¡°¡­ i, uh, um¡­ Beibei, see u next nightmare¡±


    ¡°unscientific! totally unscientific!¡±


    ¡°Beibei, can you change the audio source over to yourself? thanks [polite emoji]¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin obliges with what is almost a smile on his face.


    There are four viewers tuning in right now, three of them are familiar faces, with a new viewer, who seems to be pretty easily frightened, already going ¡®AAAAAA¡¯ all over the comment barrage.


    Unfortunately, the detective dalao isn¡¯t here yet.


    So X¨¹ Beijin has to provide commentary for the Nightmare himself.


    He explains, ¡°right now, the stream is pointed to one of the Missiontakers. The main scene of this Nightmare appears to be this apartment complex and the commercial complex I¡¯m in.


    This Missiontaker is inside Room 807 in the Luoke Apartment. Six others are in different rooms. We can check on each of them later.


    I don¡¯t know much about this Nightmare either. We just saw the curtain move, but there was nobody behind it, and the door and windows were all closed. It may be an actual ghost, or¡­¡±


    He pauses. Instead of giving his preliminary guess and thoughts, he says, ¡°it might be anything else.¡±


    The viewers agree, typing, ¡°the nightmares just begun, huh¡±


    ¡°i wonder what this nightmare is about¡±


    ¡°would it also have ridiculous conditions for true end like the first two?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin skims over the comment barrage, then lands back on the long list of scenes on the right of the screen.


    Luoke Apartment.


    His thoughts digress for a second.


    The host quieted down, but there are music and chatter coming in from the commercial complex outside, providing background noise to the stream, so the viewers don¡¯t mind. They continue observing the female Missiontaker¡¯s actions.


    Her name is Jiang Shuangjie. She has a younger sister, Jiang Shuangmei (TL: Shuang meaning ¡®double¡¯ or ¡®two,¡¯ referring to the fact they are twins; jie is ¡®older sisiter,¡¯ mei is ¡®younger sister). They are twins.


    Many years ago, maybe it was when they just arrived at the Tower, with what may have been an inexplicably unscientific bond between twins, they managed to find each other.


    Since then, they have been inseparable.


    In the Tower, many people are unable to place trust in and rely on others as they do, even though¡­ This close relationship did not seem to have brought much fortune for their trips in Nightmares.


    They drift to-and-fro the bottom floor and slightly higher floors. Every time they happily ascend to a higher floor, they would have a streak of Bad Ends and be forced back down to the bottom floor.


    Many Missiontakers share similar fate, and like them, they are thus unsatisfied with their unremarkability and the infrequent spark of brilliance that brings them the occasional True End.


    They continue going through Nightmares, wishing to prove themselves¡­ Or, perhaps, to achieve the dream of heading to a higher, higher floor.


    True, Normal, Normal, Bad, Bad, True, Normal, Bad¡­


    It was like some never-ending magic curse.

 Volume 3 - CH 41.2

    One day, when they were back on the bottom floor of the Tower again, Jiang Shuangmei suggested to her older sister, ¡°jie (TL: Older sister, not necessarily always biological as a term of address, but very certainly is in this case), can we stop?¡±


    A twin¡¯s instinct immediately allowed Jiang Shuangjie to understand what her younger sister was suggesting.


    She was tired. She had enough of the Nightmares. At least, not then.


    So, they stopped. A few years at that.


    When they stopped, that was precisely when X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s name was well-known among the Missiontakers on the bottom floor. The tired sisters did not pay attention to the liveliness du jour back then, though, and instead, they were drifting from the crowded marketplaces to the bars and decadent raves only Missiontakers who gave up went to.


    When some Missiontakers were putting their sanity on the line in the Nightmares, the two of them, and some other Missiontakers, were indulging in laughs, debauchery and falling deep into the abyss. They no longer worried about the Nightmares, or concerned themselves with what the Tower was, what happened to the world outside, whether they can leave the Tower and other such frustrating questions.


    Only the alcohol by their lips, and the mad dance and celebration every night, is real.


    That was such a beautiful dream, but dreams end, and people wake up.


    These days, changes were occurring in the Tower. Many people had their minds reignited.


    It was apparently some news that might have been delivered from the floors above, another rumour like that Trick card supposedly allowing one to forcibly exit the Nightmare that nobody has actually ever seen.


    Or maybe it was an old rumour with some new spice in it, mixed with strange tidbits of information inside the Nightmares, and became retold more and more distorted.


    Anyway, it was to the point that even the Jiang sisters heard rumours about it in some of the raves©¤©¤They say, a Missiontaker has left the Tower.


    For real? But if they got out, how did the news come out?


    So it¡¯s fake? But¡­ Just like they believe that Collapsed, eternally repeating Nightmares do not simply mean death, they had to believe it, just in case.


    Therefore, even some Missiontakers that have indulged in debauchery for a long time already have crawled back out from their pits of alcohol and other mind-numbing substances, power-washing their brains, and rubbing their hands to try ascending the floors once more to see for themselves.


    The Jiang sisters are among them.


    They made their move even earlier than other Missiontakers, too, because they knew that the ¡®Billionaire¡¯ has already gone to a higher floor, so they immediately made their move the following night.


    They knew Ding Yi, or more accurately, they were once partners of Ding Yi. It was always easier to place trust in their fellow girls.


    Later, when Ding Yi excitedly shared her newfound card with them, the one she pulled out of nowhere from the rewards at the end of a Nightmare, they slowly, tacitly drifted apart.


    From then on, Ding Yi quietly assumed the role of her Billionaire status, while the Jiang sisters continued drifting to and from the lower floors of the Tower. Some time later, after they stopped, they even once bought alcohol from Ding Yi.


    Yet, the woman with the grue-coloured hair, and the twin sisters, all pretended they didn¡¯t know each other.


    Now, Ding Yi has gone to a higher floor. And the sisters, without saying anything outright, decided to leave their house late at night the next day.


    It has been so long since they have been in Nightmares, but they at least still retained basic techniques. Right now, Jiang Shuangjie is searching inside the apartment.


    A few minutes later, she stands back up, and furrows her brows again.


    There is nothing.


    Rather than a real, lived in room, it is more like a hotel room. There are all these household objects, of course, but they all look unused.


    There are no clothes to be found in the wardrobe. No food in the fridge. Not even a shred of hair in the bathroom. All the rooms are empty; they are so clean it is unsettling.


    She thought she would come across some clues ¨C notes, newspaper, communication devices, anything, but there is nothing to be found here.


    She tries to turn the TV on, but it seems to be broken. It would not turn on, just like how the door to the apartment unit wouldn¡¯t open. There seems to be an intentional malice lying underneath everything.


    Jiang Shuangjie is standing in the living room and looking around, confused.


    Her thoughts expand further ¨C what about her? What about the Missiontakers? Who are they in this Nightmare? Why are they in this apartment?


    This Nightmare¡­


    Jiang Shuangjie is regretting now. She should not have entered the Nightmare so callously. They should have tried to gather information about this Nightmare first.


    They were just wandering about the Tower when they stumbled upon two familiar figures heading into the teleporting door of a Tower resident earlier, and they followed behind directly.


    Who could have thought, that after the Nightmare began, they would immediately be separated?


    One person per room instead of spawning together, it seems. They¡¯re locked out, too¡­


    Jiang Shuangjie looks anxious and dumbfounded.


    Is this fact already hinting at something in the Nightmare?


    While Jiang Shuangjie is all blanking out in the middle of the apartment unit living room, X¨¹ Beijin has already gone through the rest of the Missiontakers¡¯ situations through the stream.


    The six other Missiontakers are all placed randomly in different rooms and floors in the apartment complex. There is no pattern to be found.


    Most of them, just like Jiang Shuangjie, are combing through everything in the unit carefully for clues, but they find nothing, so they are all stuck thinking.


    When they saw one particular Missiontaker, both X¨¹ Beijin and the viewers were shocked to find her looking exactly the same as Jiang Shuangjie. They are clearly twins. Seeing twins in the Tower really is a rare occurrence.


    Then they also happen to see a male Missiontaker giving strange gazes to the scene of the commercial complex visible outside the window.


    Of course©¤©¤There is Lin Qin. He is deep in thought in this apartment, staring at stuff. X¨¹ Beijin is wondering whether this man who remembers nothing of Earth is currently perplexed or mystified thinking that this was how homes on Earth look like.


    After looking through everyone, X¨¹ Beijin switches the camera source back to the man with the strange expression on his face.


    He¡¯s young, looking to be in his 20s. Humans entering the game do not age, though, so, this is probably just how he was when he entered the Tower.


    He looks deep in thought, staring at the commercial complex, yet¡­ instead of surprise or shock or thought at having discovered a clue or something like that, it was more confusion, disbelief and even fear.


    It was like he was looking at some fierce, wild beast about to lunge at him instead of a brightly lit commercial complex.


    What is he thinking about?


    X¨¹ Beijin is now curious about him because of that expression.

 Volume 3 - CH 41.3

    The viewers of the stream do not understand why X¨¹ Beijin is giving camera time to this average-looking young adult, and ask about it in the comment barrage. X¨¹ Beijin then tells them what he thought.


    ¡°oh, lotsa possibilities¡±


    ¡°since the detective dalao isn¡¯t here, time for me to shine! hmm¡­ maybe he found some clues?¡±


    ¡°damn, ur an amateur, arent u? Beibei just said he doesnt think he found clues¡±


    ¡°¡­ maybe he¡¯s been to this nightmare before? just like that other missiontaker the last nightmare; he must know about some important clue in the commercial complex to show that expression?¡±


    ¡°maybe¡­ dunno¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t sure either, but the young man¡¯s look suggests something is going on.


    What would that something be, though?


    X¨¹ Beijin does not know.


    In the stream, the viewers, confused, have already moved on to pastures anew.


    ¡°hey, since all the missiontakers are over at the apartment, then can¡¯t Beibei go out for a walk?¡±


    ¡°super big scene this nightmare! we can have a good look around¡±


    ¡°the missiontakers looks like theyll be quiet for a while¡±


    ¡°Beibeibeibei, let¡¯s go out and play!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is hesitant, but agrees in the end. The viewers cheer, each more excited than the last. The new viewer is confused and is typing question marks instead, looking quite out of place among the comments.


    Hey, you guys, isn¡¯t this the gameplay stream of a horror game?! What do you mean ¡®go out and play¡¯?!


    X¨¹ Beijin changes the main view of the stream to himself and puts the strange man¡¯s view over at the bottom right in a little window. He stands up, walks out of the bookstore, and shutters the store, then turns to observe the vibrant commercial complex.


    This is an area formed by two large, connected buildings. There are four storeys of stores above ground and two storeys underground, then two storeys of parking lots follow.


    Other than an access point from the main road, there is also a sky-bridge on the third floor and an open-air plaza on floor B1 that allows for entry into the buildings.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore is over at a corner of the open-air plaza.


    It really is an unremarkable, antique bookstore, with dusty glass and cramped interior, scaring off what remained of the few visitors venturing this way.


    As soon as he left the bookstore, he can feel the liveliness of the commercial complex. The Server must have worked hard to arrange so many Actors here. There are a dozen people or so already in the plaza.


    While it is definitely not comparable to the spectacular carnage such locations see back on Earth, but in the Tower, in a Nightmare, such a crowded, lively and prosperous scene still does make X¨¹ Beijin feel unreal for a moment.


    As if, he really was back on Earth.


    He slowly trudges along, brushing past the diligent Actors. He walks past bubble tea stores, fried chicken stands, sushi shops, seafood restaurants, hotpot emporiums, ramen places, bakeries¡­ His nose is completely filled with the scent of food.


    Practically unable to restrain himself, he runs to queue up at a bubble tea store.


    He has no money on him, of course, but being fellow Actors, his coworker generously took his order on the house.


    X¨¹ Beijin watches with doggy eyes as the machine seals up the bubble tea bottles with a layer of plastic each. A few minutes later, he receives his bubble tea, and is elated. He¡¯s declaring in his mind now ¨C this Nightmare is now his favourite one, the one and only!


    ¡­ Well, the one and only he likes after acquiring the streaming system, anyway.


    In the past, even if such stores were present in Nightmares he was in, he didn¡¯t dare to step out of a line one bit, worried that the Server would punish him for going OoC. Now, though, being able to check on the other Missiontakers through the stream, he has it much easier.


    He is even able to enjoy bubble tea.


    In the stream, the viewers appear to be amused.


    ¡°well damn, Beibei, you sure are taking it easy¡±


    ¡°milk tea, mah milk tea, i also want milk tea¡­ [thirsty emoji]¡±


    ¡°drinking milk tea in game¡­ why didn¡¯t I ever think of that, oh man, drinking in the game means I don¡¯t grow fat IRL¡­ I¡¯m getting my nutrient pod now¡±


    ¡°nutrient pod! ur a dalao!¡±


    The viewers are excitedly discussing the pros and cons of ways of immersing brainwaves.


    According to their discussion, nutrient pods are the best because, through the nutrient mix installed inside, they are able to keep the user¡¯s body sustained and healthy. They could even solve more biological needs as well (TL: Referring to human waste).


    Nutrient pod users are also able to experience things almost completely indistinguishable from reality.


    Many nutrient pod users can stay a whole day in their pods without any problems.


    Then there are the more average game pods; nutrient pods are a high-class variant of those.


    Normal game pods, unlike nutrient pods, cannot provide for the user¡¯s needs. Players must disconnect every so often to eat and drink and go to the restroom.


    Besides that, game pods also cannot achieve total realism. There is an obvious difference between the senses when compared to reality.


    In terms of price, nutrient pods are exorbitant. Game pods are a fraction of that, about the cost of a passion project for an average household, and then there are cheaper products like gaming helmets. Gaming glasses are at the very bottom of the hierarchy.


    X¨¹ Beijin drinking his bubble tea in-game has made the audience assume he is using nutrient pods. X¨¹ Beijin himself does not say anything about this, instead, he is quietly observing the viewers¡¯ comment barrage.


    Hmm¡­ nutrient pods?


    He isn¡¯t even sure how he is really ¡®living¡¯ now either.


    Thinking so, X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s gaze loses a bit of light. It turns grim; it feels like the bubble tea in his mouth is turning bitter as well.


    The viewers are happily chatting away, while X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mind is drifting; nobody notices, that in the lower right corner of the screen, the young man who looked odd, has already turned around. He is walking back into the living room, no longer looking at that colourful, lively commercial complex.


    When he steps into the living room, which just has the night lights on in his case, and appears slightly dim, he stops.


    He can feel an intense glare at him, it is coming right at him from the front. It feels cold, malicious, maddening, terrifying. It feels like it wants him dead right this instant.


    The brows of the young man in his early 20s twitches. He raises his gaze to look for the owner of this gaze.


    His eyes fix onto the peephole on the door.


    It would also seem like the peephole is staring right at him.

 Volume 3 - CH 42.1

    The situation is odd.


    The young man, whose name is Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, so thinks.


    His gaze is fixed right at the peephole as cold sweat drips down his forehead, seeping into his eyes and causes him pain.


    The peephole looks normal, but the gaze¡­


    He is imagining a shadow, leaning right behind this door, widening its eyes full of burst blood vessels, staring right at him with evil, frigid intent.


    A while later, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ starts walking rigidly to the door. He extends his icy hand to cover up the peephole.


    Immediately, the gaze is gone.


    ¡­ Perhaps he should have checked the peephole with his own eye, but he doesn¡¯t dare to see what lies hidden beyond the door. So, shakily, he can only cover up the peephole with his hand, hoping the person will now be gone.


    And now, he has a dilemma on his hands.


    ¡°Shit¡­¡±


    The word squeezes out of his teeth.


    All the other Missiontakers save for Lin Qin are also facing the same problem.


    The stares¡­ the gazes. They can all feel one, or even several silent gazes pointed right at them, despite the warm, brightly lit apartment units. The gazes are staring all the time, everywhere they go.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s was simple enough because he just has to cover it up. Yet some Missiontakers are facing gazes that point right at their backs.


    Humans cannot see their own backs. Their weak, rigid spine does not support such an operation.


    So, when they turn around, and turn around again, and again, again¡­ No matter what they do, they cannot get out of the gaze.


    Just over half an hour has passed since they entered the Nightmare. After a thoroughly futile carpet search effort, the Missiontakers have basically all assembled by the doors to the apartment units, waiting to see when they can leave this damned place.


    Only Jiang Shuangmei is cowering at a corner of her apartment unit¡¯s bedroom, sticking her back close to the wall. Her eyes are open wide, sweeping across the whole room again and again in her paranoia.


    She doesn¡¯t dare moving. As soon as she does, or, as soon as her back is exposed, the unseen gaze immediately latches onto her.


    It is cold, sticky, and full of malice and hatred. It sticks onto her back like glue.


    The only solution for her is to stick close to the corner of the room, forcing her back onto the wall at all times. Even so, she can still feel, someone, something, still looking at her, still staring.


    It feels like there are little bugs on her back. Crawling, crawling into her skin.


    Jiang Shuangmei is hugging her own thighs, pleading in her mind©¤©¤Sis, sis, save me, save me¡­


    Perhaps there really is a telepathic connection between twins, so right now, Jiang Shuangjie also finds herself restless.


    She tries the door again and again anxiously, but it still would not budge. The handle can be pushed down, but the door feels like it¡¯s part of the wall. It wouldn¡¯t move.


    She is stamping her feet in her frustration; what is this Nightmare, even, why is it separating the Missiontakers in different rooms? Why wouldn¡¯t it let them out? Could there even be any danger in this empty¡­ unit?


    Jiang Shuangjie¡¯s heart suddenly sinks.


    The gaze¡­ the gaze¡­ When she turns around to focus on the door, her back is exposed to the balcony right again.


    Compared to her younger sister, though, Jiang Shuangjie is fortunate, because her gaze doesn¡¯t seem to hold ill intentions against her. It is just, quietly, silently, staring¡­


    ¡­ [THEO], why can she feel this so clearly! She is even able to tell exactly what emotions are conveyed through the gaze!


    This is absolutely unscientific!


    Just like the audience in the stream, Jiang Shuangjie¡¯s instincts, when first faced with the situation in this Nightmare, are to ponder the possibility of ghosts in this Nightmare.


    Yet, among the tens of thousands of Nightmares in the Tower, not a single Missiontaker has definitively confirmed that there is a Nightmare centred about ghosts or spirits.


    Among the Nightmares of the residents are murder cases, madmen and even deviants; there are illogical crumbling of logic, but truly anti-science substances such as poltergeists or magic has apparently never been observed.


    These Nightmares all seem to be based on some reality the Tower residents have experienced.


    If they are able to meet the Nightmare owner in the Tower, then the Missiontakers are able to gather information on their lives, which often ties into their Nightmares somehow, despite merely being idiosyncratic, mundane everyday elements.


    Based on this, Nightmares, really do fit the traditional definition of being something formed in the human consciousness from real things they know.


    Therefore, in this Nightmare, no matter how ridiculous these inexplicable gazes feel like ghosts, the Missiontakers still threw the option out the window immediately.


    ¡­ Though what else could it have been if not ghosts?


    While the Missiontakers are all trapped in their predicament, X¨¹ Beijin looks like he¡¯s been playing an entirely different game. He¡¯s already toured most of the commercial complex guiding the viewers along.


    Despite this being inside a Nightmare, the commercial complex really does allow X¨¹ Beijin to pretend he is right back on Earth.


    The two underground floors are all eateries. The first floor sells clothes and cosmetics, the second and third has more clothes and electronics, and the fourth just contains a cinema and gym. When X¨¹ Beijin is on the fourth floor, he walked about the entrance of the cinema a few times, looking at the movies advertised on the wall.


    ¡­ His forgotten memories are reawakening. These movies really do feel like they were the ones that were hits right before he was transported into the Tower.


    In the cinema, the Actors are all moving about. It felt just like any other day.


    X¨¹ Beijin, with his bubble tea in hand, examines this scene in a trance. He walks in, unable to control himself.


    ¡°Welcome¡­ Eh? It¡¯s you again.¡±


    Behind the popcorn counter is a familiar figure, dragging X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s consciousness back down.


    It¡¯s Dai Wu. He¡¯s a cashier again.


    With hundreds of Actors filling roles in this Nightmare, it¡¯s not surprising to meet familiar figures, but, just in case, he still moves the source of the audio over to the Missiontakers, so that nothing accidental can be leaked from his conversation with Dai Wu.


    The viewers in the stream don¡¯t have much of a reaction, probably assuming that X¨¹ Beijin met a close acquaintance of a player so he wants to chat in private. The viewers all respect hosts¡¯ privacies.


    Though despite the understanding viewers and meeting a familiar figure, X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mood is still rather sombre. He just greets Dai Wu flatly and politely, ¡°hello again.¡±


    Dai Wu gives him an odd look, then asks, ¡°you can¡¯t be curious about the truth of this Nightmare as well, right?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is silent.


    Awkward. He really just wants to re-experience the joy of window-shopping and hanging out back on Earth, but can he just say that? He wants to drink bubble tea, and watch movies¡­ Well, he¡¯s been single since birth back on Earth, but at least those were comfortable, halcyon days.


    The Tower, huh¡­


    Ha. Ha.


    Who would want to spend days without hope if they could choose?


    So, seeing the liveliness, the crowded shopping malls, even if he knows this is fake, X¨¹ Beijin allowed himself to immerse a little, and be accompanied by the passionate comment barrages of the viewers in the stream, acting like it could alleviate the loneliness in his soul some.


    Besides, it¡¯s not like there is any other means of experiencing something like this outside of Nightmares.


    In this Nightmare, with the Missiontakers all stuck in their apartment units and unable to gather any useful information, it was a perfect opportunity to slack.


    So, after all that thought, to answer Dai Wu¡¯s question, X¨¹ Beijin finally nods, before adding, ¡°if you don¡¯t want to tell me, like last time, then never mind.¡±

 Volume 3 - CH 42.2

    Hearing X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s hesitance, Dai Wu can¡¯t help but chuckle, replying, ¡°pretty good at remembering grudges, aren¡¯t we?¡± Then he shrugs, telling him, ¡°I really don¡¯t know this time though. In this Nightmare, I¡¯ve been assigned as extra instead.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin gives him a suspecting look.


    ¡°Believe in me, bro,¡± Dai Wu explains, ¡°my level might be ¡®side character,¡¯ but this Nightmare needs way too many Actors. I was just conscripted.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin nods for now, then his gaze slides down over at the popcorn in the glass container. His appetite is restless again. The sweet smell has been troubling his nose for a while now.


    He knows about a psychological phenomenon called the Proust Effect, referring to the fact that particular smells could awaken some memories in the human brain, more vividly than memories triggered through other senses, too.


    Although science is yet ill-equipped to explain it completely, but at least, when X¨¹ Beijin is taking in the scent of the popcorn, he is recalling his days back on Earth, when he went to the movies with his friends, he definitely bought popcorn with him.


    He¡¯d most likely not be able to finish a bucket by the time the movies finish, too.


    Those are memories of the distant past, yet, just like this commercial complex in the Nightmare that has such a verisimilitude, he can almost feel his awakened memories dragging him back to Earth, too.


    Dai Wu asks, ¡°want some?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin pauses before nodding honestly. He awkwardly smiles, telling him, ¡°I just feel like remembering the past.¡±


    ¡°Earth?¡± Dai Wu gives him a cup of popcorn, answering, ¡°here you go. Did you eat that candy I gave you? That was pretty tasty; how ironic it is we can only try to remember the Earth through these Nightmares.¡±


    The tone when he said the word ¡®ironic¡¯ is so light and insincere that it makes X¨¹ Beijin slightly uncomfortable.


    With his bubble tea finished, he throws the plastic bottle into the trash. Then he starting dropping the popcorn into his mouth one by one; that is how he used to eat them. This time, he is especially slow and careful, too.


    He praises, ¡°it¡¯s delicious.¡±


    Dai Wu has a slightly odd look when he asks, ¡°it¡¯s pretty rare to see someone like you; still reminiscing about the time back on Earth?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin eats a few more popcorns in silence. He doesn¡¯t really want to dive into the question, so changes the topic in the end, ¡°you treat the Tower as a ¡®second life¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Dai Wu, picking up on the cues, just lets it go, answering, ¡°the fact is, nobody knows if we can leave this damned Tower, so¡­ might as well just try to find our own enjoyment somehow. In this world that is also a game, there are actually more possibilities around than reality, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°Then what¡¯s with defeating NE?¡±


    ¡°Eh, you know,¡± Dai Wu says, looking slightly frustrated, ¡°never mind the Missiontakers, but some of the Actors¡­¡± He points to the numerous Actors hanging out in the corridor, ¡°do you think they are really clear on treating this as a performance instead of their actual lives?¡±


    ¡°I told you clearly this is the second life; I know how to distinguish reality from a game. These people, though, are already treating the game as the ¡®first life¡¯ already.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks where the finger is pointing, chewing his popcorn in silence.


    A second life¡­


    Well, if he put it that way, he is really just chewing on data. Garbage data. Bits in a server that looks like popcorn, tastes like popcorn, smells like popcorn, but is not, in fact, popcorn.


    He loses interest almost immediately.


    Dai Wu is still passionately continuing over there, ¡°I¡¯m not as dumb as them. My principle is that, ¡®live and stay awake,¡¯ and at the same time, ¡®live and find enjoyment.¡¯


    We cannot just treat the game as our ¡®first¡¯ life and just lie flat on the floor like salted fish, close our eyes and just forget where we came from, spending our days like dumbasses.


    However, it also would not do if we just wallow in it forever, always pessimistically thinking how we are trapped forever in the Tower and how it is all hopeless and it is all over¡­ Don¡¯t you think?


    Defeat NE is an ideology ¨C An ideology that, NE trapped you in this game. So, remember that. This is just a fucking game. Do not confuse the game with reality.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin quietly mutters, ¡°a game with no escape.¡±


    Dai Wu¡¯s smile collapses, then says, dejected, ¡°did you really have to put it like that?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin smiles.


    Dai Wu gives him a deep, profound look. He looks like he wanted to say something, but in the end, he just says, ¡°bro¡­¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You do know something, don¡¯t you?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s eyes widen slightly. He¡¯s not sure he understands.


    ¡°When you smile, it just feels like¡­¡± Dai Wu is knitting his brows, struggling to come up with a description, ¡°it makes me feel like, you seem to¡­ know a lot.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    That¡¯s why he¡¯d say Dai Wu and Lin Qin really do fit each other!


    One feels like his smile suggests he knows everything, one feels like he is hiding big, big secrets inside¡­ What do the two of them even see in him?!


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t want to comment on that, and instead, just shakes his head and waves goodbye to Dai Wu.


    When he is some distance away, Dai Wu suddenly recalls something, apparently, and yells at X¨¹ Beijin, ¡°watch out behind you!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin stops and turns around to look at Dai Wu, confused.


    Dai Wu is smiling brilliantly, waving at him from afar with his usual, unbridled optimism, but does not say a word more.


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    This guy definitely doesn¡¯t know exactly nothing. An extra? Him¡­? Really¡­


    Still, what does he mean by ¡®watch out behind you¡¯?


    Although he is sure that the Actors¡¯ scripts wouldn¡¯t specifically contain instructions to harm an extra like him, but since Dai Wu reminded him, X¨¹ Beijin decides to tread more carefully.


    Besides, while the Missiontakers are all still gathered in the Luoke Apartments, meaning none of them are here, but who knows if their actions might indirectly cause something to happen here?


    Nightmares are often devoid of sensible logic.

 Volume 3 - CH 42.3

    In the end, our cautious, careful X¨¹ Beijin chickens out and returns to his bookstore, sighing in relief.


    Of course, along the way, he got another order of bubble tea, which he gleefully put on the bookstore counter. Just admiring it allows X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mind to prance with joy.


    He likes the liveliness in this commercial complex. He likes the food and the scenes that look straight out of yesterday¡¯s Earth, not that that affected his jaunt back to the bookstore any.


    The streaming system has granted him the ability to monitor all happenings at the same time, so X¨¹ Beijin feels like he doesn¡¯t need to take any unnecessary risks. Plan, and act, is his motto.


    ¡­ It¡¯s definitely not because he¡¯s a scaredy chicken.


    Anyway, X¨¹ Beijin did end up spending about half an hour showing the viewers around before retreating back behind his bookstore counter. Now, he¡¯s controlling the streaming system to check the Missiontakers¡¯ actions in detail.


    Lin Qin looks unfazed as always, instead, curiously poking at all the electronics and furniture inside his apartment unit. The viewers are used to seeing him by now.


    And the rest of the Missiontakers aren¡¯t exactly doing anything different to what X¨¹ Beijin saw in the beginning.


    The female Missiontaker they saw in the very beginning is currently staring right at the curtain, whose corner is currently inexplicably raised up in the air.


    The other twin of that Missiontaker is still crouched at the corner, burying her head into her legs, looking like she plans to oppose whatever she is frightened of through such a method.


    The male Missiontaker who had an odd look while observing the commercial complex is still covering the peephole on his door with his pale hands. He is unable to make a move, and so has a rather ominous look on.


    A male, muscular Missiontaker is showing a fearful expression quite unlike his physical appearance. He¡¯s gasping while sweeping his gaze across the ceiling of his apartment unit again and again. He looks extremely agitated.


    One female Missiontaker who looks like a teenager a dozen years old or so is definitely ruthless beyond her years, holding a pair of scissors she found who-knows-where, staring straight at¡­ the air.


    As for the last Missiontaker¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s jaw drops.


    On the stream¡¯s screen, he can see a tall and thin man with quite the impressively narrow waistline, currently looking hysterical and muttering nonsense while holding a toilet brush facing downwards with a pale face.


    He is in a stand-off with the toilet.


    This farcical scene has the viewers all typing question marks.


    ¡°the hell? whats wrong with the toilet?¡±


    ¡°no no, you should ask, what¡¯s wrong with the player¡±


    ¡°hes gone mad [serious emoji]¡±


    ¡°oh fuck, I was thinking this was super spooky but now I cant stop laughing¡±


    ¡°i see¡­ hes trying to duel with the toilet!¡±


    The toilet¡­


    Some thoughts flash across X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mind watching this ridiculous scene.


    And in fact, ¡®ridiculous¡¯ is the right adjective for what the Missiontaker just experienced himself.


    Before he was in the Tower, he had a strange medical condition that, in extreme anxiety, his bowels rustle and diarrhoea ensues.


    In-game, the sickness has been long gone. All these years, he has never experienced an urge to excrete ever again¡­ In the Tower, all basic human needs are nonexistent.


    Yet, just now, when he was nervously waiting for leave this apartment, he could suddenly sense rumbling coming from his stomach. It was like his rectum was blowing bubbles. The next second, he felt off.


    ¡­ He feels like he has to go?!


    What¡­ In the Tower? In a damned Nightmare???


    His head is going to burst with question marks, but still, he hurriedly rushes into the toilet and, with an embarrassed look, sits rigidly onto the toilet.


    He suspects his brain is playing tricks on him, and he is also questioning whether he still knew how to piss and shit properly.


    Thankfully his body¡­ It might be a basic instinct kind of thing, but it remembers, so, with this expression of pure hopeless, he buries his head in his hands, but, somehow, it felt, alive.


    ¡­ Why did he have to experience this sign of being ¡®alive¡¯ of all the signs, though?! This is so awkward!


    Then, an awful stench fills the room, so much so he wants to puke. His hands reach for the back, for the buttons to flush and to send those dirty, stinky things away.


    When he felt the buttons and was discerning which one was for number twos to press¡­


    He felt, the button leave his finger behind¡­ it has been pushed.


    ¡­ But he didn¡¯t even push yet! His fingers didn¡¯t move! How is this even possible?!


    ¡®Schwa¡ª¡ª¡¯


    The sound of water flushing down the toilet is already filling his ears.


    Thus, this tall, thin Missiontaker, as if he was electrocuted, shoots up from the toilet, without even time to pull up his pants, just grabs onto the only weapon in this toilet¡ª¡ªThe toilet brush, and is examining his surroundings carefully.


    He is muttering, ¡°no way¡­ no way¡­¡±


    The bright white light in the toilet is unable to dispel the fear and unease bubbling in his mind. Everything still looked just as usual. There¡¯s the sink, the showerhead, the washing machine, the toilet¡­ Nothing is out of the ordinary.


    But who pushed the button to flush, then?


    His head is filled with hypotheses while he is cleaning himself with one hand and holding the toilet brush with the other. Then he haphazardly pulled his pants back up, and thus still at least appeared decently when X¨¹ Beijin moved the stream¡¯s camera over. Nothing untoward happened.


    Though his alert, restless form did not evoke a single sympathy from the viewers, who are laughing madly instead.


    ¡°help this bro is def trying to make me laugh to death lolololol¡­¡±


    ¡°I got it! the brush is immensely powerful! he must be thinking about getting intimate with the head of the brush¡­¡±


    ¡°shut up, im gonna throw up¡±


    ¡°y r u all like this? think about the toilet! no, u only think about urselves [doge emoji]¡±


    ¡°across all the missiontakers, outside of the apple dalao still being the apple dalao, the rest of the missiontakers can all be described thusly ¨C man vs air¡±


    ¡°maybe there are ghosts?¡±


    ¡°how do you prove ghosts exist?¡±


    ¡°how do u prove ghosts dont exist?¡±


    ¡°fighting online is meaningless, I suggest you duel offline¡±


    ¡°holy shit! the toilet must be broken, why is it flushing itself?!¡±


    Yes, under the watchful eyes of all the viewers, X¨¹ Beijin, and the thin, tall Missiontakers, the toilet decided to flush itself again.


    And, painfully, the Missiontaker can feel that, his stomach¡­ is acting up again.

 Volume 3 - CH 43.1

    While the Missiontaker is using the toilet again, X¨¹ Beijin understandably switched the camera to somewhere else.


    The viewers weren¡¯t exactly paying attention anymore, though, instead heatedly discussing the mysterious flush and whether there are ghosts in Nightmares.


    Because the detective dalao is absent, so their discussion is rather disorganised, illogical, and headed everywhere. In the end, the four viewers gave up on it rather quickly.


    X¨¹ Beijin lets them discuss freely without his input, and instead, he is switching the camera source all over to observe the Missiontakers.


    Then, the viewers instruct this newbie host on another way to use the streaming system, telling him, ¡°Bei, you can actually put multiple views on at once.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks rather shocked reading the comment, asking, ¡°wha¡­ where?¡±


    ¡°simulcast, right? it should be that function, and u can show multiple screens at once¡±


    ¡°yeah, try it Beibei!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin does as they say, and successfully arranges for all six Missiontakers¡¯ views to display together, naturally skipping over the thin man still in the bathroom.


    Recalling him, X¨¹ Beijin is feeling a bit sympathetic.


    Playing a game but suddenly the stomach is acting up would, of course, give birth to shouts of ¡®shit,¡¯ not to mention when it happens somewhere like ¡®Escape.¡¯


    Still¡­ X¨¹ Beijin is sure this is strange.


    In the Tower, the need to eat, drink and defecate are eliminated. You can eat and drink, of course, but pissing and shitting¡­ Nobody misses them, really.


    Just like X¨¹ Beijin who has forgone sleep for so long but only suffers a mild mental exhaustion and sleepiness and mild loss of focus, nothing else is particularly troublesome.


    That¡¯s how it is in the Tower, and obviously, it should at least remain the same in Nightmares.


    Discounting the possibility that the Missiontaker just has a fetish with defecation, X¨¹ Beijin is able to conclude that this may be a special setting in this Nightmare. Or¡­ this fact alone may, in fact, be hinting at something already.


    Besides the Missiontaker with the strange symptoms, the other Missiontakers are all staying on high alert, each one locked in a stand-off with the invisible stares in the apartment units.


    Being invisible, it can¡¯t be helped the viewers just think they¡¯re fighting against the air instead.


    Time passes.


    When Lin Qin has had his fill exploring all the things in the apartment unit, Jiang Shuangjie, who has been trying to open the door to the apartment all along, finally reaches a breakthrough.


    With a smooth mechanical clink, the door to the room that remained shut up to this point, is suddenly unblocked.


    It has been about an hour since the Nightmare began. The clock hanging on the room¡¯s wall is a clear indication of such.


    The long, fruitless wait meant that Jiang Shuangjie, after confirming the passage of time, opens the door without a second thought and leaves.


    There is a shapeless, cold gaze sweeping over her back over and over. It feels like several such gazes are cast directly on the apartment owners¡¯ backs whenever they leave their homes.


    Jiang Shuangjie almost freezes up, but still straightens her form and leave.


    The door gradually closes behind her, and another ¡®clink¡¯ later, it indicates the door has been locked.


    Jiang Shuangjie is hesitant to directly go explore immediately, instead, she turns around to first check the fingerprint sensor on the door. She uses her own finger, and with a beep, it is successful. Jiang Shuangjie sighs in relief.


    Yet, when she then reflexively pushes on the door handle to open, she fails. Just like how it locked her up inside, this time, the door has locked her out of the apartment unit.


    Jiang Shuangjie furrows her brows and is standing in place, thinking. In the end, she just keeps it in mind before turning around to check out the structure of this apartment building.


    The complex is clearly an expensive, high-class one, as evidenced by the marble floor and the crystal chandelier hanging in the elevator lobby. The apartment is a long, rectangular block with three elevators each on both ends of the corridor. There are eleven units each floor.


    The room Jiang Shuangjie just left from was Room 807. Room 808 is right next door.


    She doesn¡¯t know if anyone is in 808, or if even anyone is inside room 808.


    That is when, suddenly, she could feel a light-hearted feeling in her chest. She knits her brows in pain.


    She murmurs, ¡°Shuangshuang¡­¡±


    The pain goes away as mysterious as it came, and soon enough, she is all fine, but her brows are still locked in a worried crease. She is worried about what might be happening to her younger twin sister.


    They always seem to share this inexplicable connection with one another. Sometimes, Jiang Shuangjie might even mistake it for her own hallucination; she is sure her heart is fine.


    However, in Nightmares in the Tower, the strange phenomenon has saved them many times already. Jiang Shuangjie suspects this may be due to the fact that this is a game, and the game decided to amplify their connection as twins (TL: As for why no one has figured out this property of twins given there should be many of them? It¡¯ll be revealed in, eh, a hundred chapters or so. I know. Hehe).


    Jiang Shuangmei herself doesn¡¯t seem to mind it at all; she would mention with a smile when her older sister brings it up, that, ¡°oh, my dear sis, this is a good thing! They call it a ¡®golden finger,¡¯ you know!¡± (TL: Golden fingers is a Chinese term referencing ¡®cheat¡¯-like abilities a protagonist may possess in certain genres of novels)


    Jiang Shuangjie¡¯s twin younger sister has always been a bit happy-go-lucky like that. Living under the protection of her more capable older sister, she is usually the mindless drone that executes all the instructions while Jiang Shuangjie acts as the brain.


    Even earlier, when they were still with Ding Yi, the rather inconspicuous and unnoticeable Ding Yi would be in charge of collection of information, handing them over to Jiang Shuangjie; Jiang Shuangjie analyses and decides; Jiang Shuangmei is in charge of executing those decisions.


    Perhaps there really is some connection between brains and brawn, but Jiang Shuangjie¡¯s information panel does reveal a significantly lower strength value compared to her healthy, jumpy younger sister. Though really, if they were fighting one-on-one, then Jiang Shuangmei, who refuses to think, is certainly no match for Jiang Shuangjie.


    Jiang Shuangmei is rather easily frightened, too. She¡¯s not really smart, or has strong mental fortitude¡­ But, she¡¯s Jiang Shuangjie¡¯s younger sister. Jiang Shuangjie¡¯s only companion, only family member, in this lonely, creepy Tower.


    ¡­ She does not know if something might be happening to her younger sister.


    On the up side, the Nightmare is still continuing, so at least, no one is dead yet; however, if what Jiang Shuangmei is experiencing is similar to her, with the frigid gazes and the odd furniture in the apartment unit¡­ Then Jiang Shuangjie is even more worried about her younger sister.


    She knows Jiang Shuangmei really fears these supernatural things.


    And in this Nightmare¡­ At least, at this point, Jiang Shuangjie hasn¡¯t been able to figure out what is going on in this Nightmare at all.


    She is regretting again. They acted way too rashly.


    Even if it was because of Ding Yi¡¯s¡­ They still shouldn¡¯t have rushed head-first into it. They should at least have chosen a Nightmare they knew better, instead of following behind the two Missiontakers they knew and push open that teleporting door.


    Yes, she is certain that those two Missiontakers are capable¡­ Or rather, she still believes in the men under Ding Yi.


    But¡­ They should still have been more careful.


    Jiang Shuangjie takes a deep breath, leaving all the guesses for this Nightmare and thoughts about the past with Ding Yi behind for now. Instead, she must first find her younger sister.


    She walks towards the elevator lobby.


    That is when the light on the corridor, as if the electricity was unstable, flickers twice in rapid succession, scaring Jiang Shuangjie. She keeps walking forward, but her steps inevitably slow.


    She grips her fists tight, warily keeping an eye on her surroundings.


    Everything is quiet. The apartment building looks like it¡¯s sleepy as always in the night. She can only hear the barely audible sound of the machinery of the elevator and the central AC working.


    And then¡­


    Some kind of shapeless eyes must have awakened, casting a gaze that almost felt physical onto Jiang Shuangjie¡¯s back all of a sudden.


    Behind her¡­!


    She turns around with barely any hesitation, but there is nothing behind her, again. The gaze feels like it has moved along her perfectly, spinning around, still cast fixedly at her back. Wherever she turns to, wherever opposite her the gaze is staring.


    Jiang Shuangjie has cold sweat on her forehead. She turns around a few more times before giving up on this futile course of action.


    Instead, she hurries her steps, and ends up running in front of the elevator, quickly pushing down the button or ¡®Down¡¯ without hesitation. She is still being stared at. Her goosebumps are flaring. She murmurs, ¡°come on¡­ quickly, come on¡­¡±


    Soon enough, the elevator arrives with a ¡®ding,¡¯ and Jiang Shuangjie walks inside, hesitates, before pushing on the number ¡®4.¡¯ Then, she crouches down at a corner of the elevator box, shivering.


    Right now, her expression is practically the same as that of her younger sister¡¯s.

 Volume 3 - CH 43.2

    In the stream, the viewers have become confused watching Jiang Shuangjie¡¯s series of actions. They do not know about the gazes that are everywhere, staring at the Missiontakers at all times. So they cannot understand their fear.


    ¡°? whats wrong? some kinda monster in the corridor?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t get it¡­ all the missiontakers look scared of something, but I can¡¯t tell what from the stream¡±


    ¡°theres a man who raised his toilet brush in broad daylight; theres a woman who ran into the elevator fleeing from nothing¡±


    ¡°the concluding phrase: this condo is toxic¡±


    ¡°Beibeibeibei, any thoughts?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is watching the stream closely, observing the woman crouching at the corner. It was not until the elevator reaches the fourth floor and the male voice robotically reminds her of such, that she shakily exits the elevator, still looking anxious as ever.


    He mulls over it for a moment, then says, ¡°thoughts¡­¡± He pauses by habit before explaining, ¡°it¡¯s pretty simple, really. The Missiontakers were all inside of their own apartment units since the beginning, which implies something must have been wrong with these units, even though no Missiontaker has identified the source of it.¡±


    ¡°Beibeis right!¡±


    ¡°but Beibei, do u know what the problem is then?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin replies hesitantly, ¡°I think¡­ I do,¡± but he does not elaborate, instead, he changes the topic with ¡°she¡¯s met up with a Missiontaker already.¡±


    On the stream, Jiang Shuangjie has met a Missiontaker on the fourth floor.


    It¡¯s the muscular and tough-looking Missiontaker who just left Room 408, running into Jiang Shuangjie, who just left the elevator.


    He left slightly later than Jiang Shuangjie did, because he explored his room once more carefully after realising the door is open.


    The stares are still glued to him, like some insane, stubborn madman. The muscular guy hates dealing with people like that, but, he¡¯s calmed down by now.


    He¡¯s been through so many Nightmares already.


    Thinking this way, he is even showing a dismissive smirk on his face.


    After he checked his apartment but came up with nothing, the muscular man left his apartment unit. Yet, the moment he stepped outside, before he even closed the door, he hears a woman¡¯s yelp.


    ¡°Missiontaker?!¡±


    A sly thought flashes across the muscular man¡¯s mind as he turns around to put on a dumb smile, saying, ¡°yeah, finally, a companion!¡±


    His cooperative attitude also makes Jiang Shuangjie sigh in relief. She also gives a smile, and exchanges information with this Missiontaker.


    X¨¹ Beijin enlarges the camera source showing them and pushes the other camera views to the side.


    He listens intently to their conversation, but when he looks closely at the exaggerated, obsequious smile on the muscular man¡¯s face, his brows furrow.


    Wait, this expression¡­ Looks familiar.


    He didn¡¯t think the man looked familiar before nor does he think has this man really appeared in his memories, but the expression¡­ The un-Tower-like, ingratiating, social smile, has suddenly reawakened X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s memories.


    He stands there thinking, and soon enough, he recalls the smile in his memories.


    It was when the Missiontakers were extremely interested in his Nightmare.


    Really, X¨¹ Beijin didn¡¯t know why he attracted so many Missiontakers¡¯ attention at once all of a sudden. True, nobody did ever enter his Nightmare, but with so many Tower residents around and so many unexplored Nightmares still, why his own in particular?


    Wasn¡¯t he just some mundane bookstore owner in their eyes?


    It was when X¨¹ Beijin overheard some rumours from Missiontakers that he found out, apparently, a Missiontaker had targeted him and so waited outside his store the whole night, not knowing that he didn¡¯t sleep.


    After that fruitless waste of time, the Missiontaker became frustrated and angry, so he exaggerated X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare and spread rumours all about, hoping to trick even more Missiontakers into falling into this trap like he did.


    The rumours then compounded and compounded, colliding with the rather maddening paranoia abound in the Tower back then, and it escalated.


    In the end, somehow, the rumours were talking about the bookstore owner¡¯s Nightmare hiding some unknown secrets related to the Tower itself. There were even Missiontakers who asserted that a True End in this Nightmare is a key to exit the Tower itself.


    Naturally, X¨¹ Beijin knew what his own Nightmare was, but he could not stop the Missiontakers¡¯ wild imaginations.


    Therefore, the Missiontakers lunged forth for X¨¹ Beijin and his Nightmare with hope in their eyes, conversing with him, staying outside his door, day by day, they would wait for an opportunity to enter his Nightmare.


    When it was the liveliest, there have been hundreds of people, all crowded into the little alleyway outside of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore, even spilling into Respawn Avenue outside.


    Yet X¨¹ Beijin never slept.


    Which was only further proof for the rumours that, his Nightmares contained secrets. If it were just some normal Nightmare, why would this Tower resident refuse to allow Missiontakers into his Nightmare at all?


    Still, over a long period of time, many Missiontakers still lost patience and left, but many more were still lying in wait.


    One of them, actually did something rather nasty.


    He declared that this bookstore owner isn¡¯t actually a Tower resident, but a Missiontaker©¤©¤Well, more specifically, he claimed he was an ¡®outsider¡¯ in the Tower residents¡¯ eyes.


    Though the Missiontakers all knew each other, so they could verify that X¨¹ Beijin wasn¡¯t one of them. Yet the guy kept accusing X¨¹ Beijin to be an ¡®outsider¡¯ who pretended to be a Tower resident.


    He proclaimed that X¨¹ Beijin is merely a celebrity wannabe, trying to become famous in the Tower through this.


    Everyone knows that Tower residents all have some strange quirks about them, bodily, mentally, but, no matter what, Tower residents are definitely insane in some obvious sense.


    Yet the bookstore owner wasn¡¯t like this. He was exceedingly normal, even looking like he was trying to enjoy the little pleasantries of life.


    How could such a person even be a Tower resident? Only an ¡®outsider¡¯ could act like this!


    That was the provocation. An attempt at forcing X¨¹ Beijin to admit he was a Tower resident. The most direct proof, then, is of course, to open his Nightmare.


    And from what they knew of the game¡¯s setting, a Tower resident must feel insulted to be accused of being an outsider, because they themselves hate outsiders and reject them.


    They knew how they would, as ¡®outsiders¡¯ themselves, do whatever they want in the Tower, even chasing after and cornering the Tower residents just to find out clues about their Nightmares. Some of them would even act way over the line in Nightmares.


    Therefore, they are certainly extremely hated among the Tower residents, the ¡®NPCs¡¯ of the game.


    If X¨¹ Beijin really was labelled an ¡®outsider,¡¯ then he would be abandoned by the Tower residents while never being accepted by the Missiontakers either. He will be isolated, exiled.


    Even if the Tower residents, all being Actors, will naturally never actually act as that Missiontaker hoped, but because the Server intervened, they still had to act like they hated the outsiders, or rather, the ¡®outsider who pretended to be a resident.¡¯


    That, was the first time X¨¹ Beijin lost his temper in the Tower.


    He left the bookstore he always holed up in. He opened the teleporting door the Missiontakers were all dying to enter. He watched the Missiontaker, with his sly, obsequious, gleeful smile, as he tried to push X¨¹ Beijin away to enter his bookstore.


    The Missiontaker probably thought, with X¨¹ Beijin being an NPC without an actual will, could only surrender entirely, allowing them into his Nightmare. He was opening the door for them because of that.


    Well¡­ It hinged on X¨¹ Beijin being an actual in-game NPC.


    So X¨¹ Beijin threw that Missiontaker out. Literally.


    All the Missiontakers watching were in shock.


    They have never seen such a scene. Tower residents dislike the outsiders, true, but they have never seen one lash out against an outsider. It was everyone¡¯s consensus that, in this game, the NPCs cannot do anything to the players outside of the Nightmares.


    And back then, it was the first time, that a Tower resident attacked a Missiontaker outright.

 Volume 3 - CH 43.3

    Back then, X¨¹ Beijin was leaning on the doorway, sighing, exhausted, casting a deep gaze at all the Missiontakers present, and says, with this calm, but frigid tone, ¡°I would like for everyone not to intrude on my life too much.¡±


    The Missiontakers were all silent. From the man standing right there is an unprecedented kind of aura that makes them feel wary and unsafe.


    They watched the man¡¯s dark eyeballs, handsome features, cold lips, and felt the vibe the man was giving off that resembled an ocean frozen over.


    They were uncontrollably trembling. For the first time, they had come to realise that, they seem to have angered this man.


    X¨¹ Beijin then continued, ¡°I¡¯ll be taking that as a ¡®yes.¡¯ Also¡­¡± He furrowed his brows, perhaps trying to word what he is about to say better, and continued with the most straightforward words possible, ¡°I will never allow anyone into my Nightmare.¡±


    In the setting of the game ¡®Escape,¡¯ Tower residents were aware that the outsiders visited their Nightmares for an adventure. Sometimes, Tower residents will be pleased that the outsiders achieved a True End and resolved the crux of what was tormenting them.


    Therefore, X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t worried the Server will punish him for saying something suggesting he was aware of outsiders entering Nightmares.


    Despite this, his absolutely staunch attitude and choice of stern words still sent the Missiontakers into an uproar anyway. They were quiet because they were in shock at what X¨¹ Beijin just did to the Missiontaker©¤©¤That guy was buffed!


    How was he just thrown outside in an arc, lying on the ground like some corpse, wailing in pain?!


    The Missiontakers were definitely shocked and awed, but they didn¡¯t give up yet.


    That was good enough for X¨¹ Beijin though, whose expectance for his fellow men was never high in the first place.


    Of course, he also held true to his words.


    To this day, despite the increasingly prominent eyebags, he still kept his promise©¤©¤Not letting a single person into his Nightmare.


    The Missiontakers¡¯ patience is nothing compared to his own resolve, therefore, a really long time ago, they have already abandoned their curiosity for X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare.


    All in all, though, X¨¹ Beijin still remembered the Missiontaker who restlessly tried to enter his house while showing this cheeky smile well.


    And he continues staring at the Missiontaker with the exact, exaggerated smile printed on his face in the stream.


    From what he could remember, that Missiontaker did not look the same as this muscular Missiontaker, but in the Tower, appearances are never completely reliable. Many Missiontakers would use different means to alter their appearance when entering Nightmares.


    They do not wish to be recognised.


    Thinking so, X¨¹ Beijin sighs, then takes a sip of his bubble tea. Right, he isn¡¯t exactly sure if this Missiontaker is the same one that once pissed him off, so X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t going to assume blame just yet.


    ¡­ At least, not until he¡¯s confirmed his identity.


    He yawns and turns to the comment barrage instead, which reads, ¡°Beibei! to your right! a players struggling!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is surprised, and checks on the screens on the right, zooms into one of them and his surprise turns into shock. He can feel a chill down his spine.


    A Missiontaker©¤©¤One of the twins, probably the younger sister, judging by the appearance; her head is down underwater. She is struggling against the water in the bathtub.


    The viewers in the stream all furious type in shock.


    ¡°[THEO] [DEFE], what¡¯s happening?!¡±


    ¡°i also wanna ask, was just listening to the two players, didnt pay attention¡±


    ¡°she¡­ she¡¯s gonna drown!¡±


    ¡°so scary¡­ thank god its only a game¡±


    A game?


    The realism in ¡®Escape¡¯ means it¡¯s almost like dying in real life.


    X¨¹ Beijin knits his brows. He is decidedly unnerved. He sighs, feeling the aura of death also seemingly encapsulating him. He knows that, when the Missiontaker dies, the Nightmare restarts and she also comes back to live. But¡­ death, is still undeniably a death.


    He quietly shrinks the size of the screen back down. In contrast, the older sister of the twin is still happily exchanging information with the other Missiontaker.


    Not long ago, when it was an hour past the time they entered the Nightmare, Jiang Shuangmei didn¡¯t realise the apartment door was already open. She was still shivering in the corner of her bedroom.


    Until¡­


    A slight whirring spooked her up.


    She lifts up her head blankly, and finds the source of the noise to be©¤©¤the Roomba, cleaning in the quiet apartment.


    It seems the white cleaning robot has reached its designated cleaning hour. It automatically activated, spinning its body, slowly cleaning its way along the pre-configured route.


    It was by Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s side, but it did not smartly navigate around her, but instead, it kept crashing into her leg.


    Once, twice, thrice, quartice¡­


    Jiang Shuangmei was nervous. She was already anxious because of the unseen gazes, but this strange behaviour from the Roomba further made a chill go down her spine.


    She got up and walked outside the bedroom, when she heard a strange noise.


    It¡¯s coming from the bathroom. It sounded like¡­ water being let into the bathtub.


    Jiang Shuangmei froze in place almost immediately.


    Water? Where¡¯s the water coming from?


    Back then, she was no longer feeling the gaze that was piercing at her like needles, but the sound of the robot and the water in the bathroom were making her extra agitated.


    She took a deep breath. Even if her older sister wasn¡¯t by her side, she could at least tell there must have been something wrong with the apartment unit. This was a Nightmare¡­ This could be a clue of the Nightmare.


    So she slowly approached the bathroom. Behind her, the Roomba also slowly approached her. When she was by the door, she hesitated before turning the doorknob open. It was so cold to the touch that she was shaking, and the scene inside was frankly chilling.


    The faucet of the bathtub was letting water out without stop. The whole tub has been filled with water already, but it still kept letting water out. It has spilt over. There was already a thin layer of water on the bathroom floor, reflecting the bright light in the bathroom.


    Jiang Shuangmei took a step forward, and was examining all around her with what she thought were careful movements.


    That was when the Roomba crashed into her hard, again, from behind her.


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei yelps, her hands flailing in the air in her panic to regain a balance, but the Roomba crashed into her legs yet again, and finally, she slipped on the wet floor, falling right into the bathtub full of water. That was what X¨¹ Beijin saw.


    The faucet is still letting water out. The Roomba is crashing into her legs from all sorts of directions. The central heating opened up all by itself, blowing on the smart curtains, helping it move along, floating, wafting, tying itself about her hands.


    She keeps struggling, and struggling, until, she stops.


    She has been killed by the bathtub.

 Volume 3 - CH 44.1

    ¡°The electronics¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin whispers, but then clarifies, ¡°or rather, smart electronics.¡±


    After the Nightmare restarted, X¨¹ Beijin is again sitting inside his bookstore. The scene that just played out in the stream still has him somewhat shaken, and the viewers are still screaming in terror.


    A bathtub that killed someone? Who could have guessed that the furniture could turn into sentient killing machines?


    Recalling the odd behaviour from all the Missiontakers earlier, X¨¹ Beijin finds himself now able to understand them better.


    Jiang Shuangjie and her stand-off with the curtain that wouldn¡¯t be let down;


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and his stand-off with the peephole he covered with his hands;


    The thin Missiontaker and his stand-off with the toilet;


    Jiang Shuangmei, and her killers, the Roomba and the bathtub¡­


    Also, the phrase Dai Wu told him, ¡°watch out behind you.¡±


    The Missiontakers are all inside their homes. What could be behind them? The answer is their ¡®home.¡¯ The furniture, inside of their homes.


    The Missiontakers could likely have never expected that the normal furniture would suddenly come alive and treat them with cold, malicious, hateful or spiteful gazes, staring at their backs.


    Even the most ¡®positive¡¯ emotions, the one Jiang Shuangjie experienced, amounted to ¡®cold disinterest.¡¯


    The furniture that have come to life all seems to hold deeply adversarial feelings to the humans. In fact, the furniture in Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s apartment unit even wanted her dead.


    Though¡­ it isn¡¯t completely illogical.


    Never mind things like curtains, but a toilet¡­ Try putting yourself in its shoes. It would seem inevitable that toilets hate humans.


    In the stream, the viewers have all managed to connect the dots with X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s hint, and are now positively terrified.


    ¡°uwuwu ima hug my doll tight¡±


    ¡°your doll is also sentient now [cute emoji], it¡¯ll pat on your little face when you¡¯re asleep [cute emoji]¡±


    ¡°¡­ stop scaring me!!!¡±


    ¡°i, uh, um, oh¡­ im sitting on the toilet right now¡±


    ¡°man, raise your toilet brush high! we won¡¯t laugh, promise [doge emoji]¡±


    ¡°youre watching the stream on your phone??? careful now¡­¡±


    ¡°have u raised today?¡± (TL: A joke on the Yakult advertisements in the Sinosphere, with the catchphrase ¡®have you drunk Yakult today?¡¯)


    ¡°raising, raising, thx¡±


    ¡°no but why are these furniture coming to life? can I wish for my bed to turn sentient and be my boyfriend?¡±


    ¡°more likely, ur bed has had enough of u snorting on him, and decides to smother u to death with the blankets and the mattress in the middle of the night¡±


    ¡°¡­ shit, come on¡±


    ¡°oh no, with the detective dalao gone, the only serious person left behind is Beibei now¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He sighs.


    Once, he thought he could obtain information on the outside world through these viewers, and was even once extremely wary, feeling like he might be a marionette dancing to these viewers¡¯ whims.


    He might be some sort of experiment lying in those nutrient pods, and they¡¯re the researchers or whatever.


    As for right now¡­


    Ha. Ha.


    If researchers these days just amount to jumpy viewers who chat away happily on some streaming platforms, then he, X¨¹ Beijin, must already be some advanced senior researcher!


    X¨¹ Beijin is feeling slightly helpless.


    Meanwhile, with the Nightmare restarted, the stream shows the Missiontakers trying the door immediately again©¤©¤And fail just like last time.


    This means they may have to wait for a whole hour before they can leave the apartment. This makes all the Missiontakers, who have obtained exactly zero clues the last run, incredibly nervous.


    And outside of Jiang Shuangmei herself, and also the host of the stream and the viewers, the Missiontakers have no idea how the Nightmare restarted, or what the danger really was.


    They only know for certain, that someone has died.


    However, because the death occurred over an hour into the Nightmare, in other words, after the door opens to let them leave the apartment unit, so did that death occur outside of an apartment unit? Was that person even in the apartment complex?


    Everything remains unknown. Despite their heightened attention and wariness, though, whether the mystified Missiontakers are able to realise that it is the furniture within the apartment unit that wants them dead¡­ is really up in the air.


    Some may be suspecting so, but there is no evidence at all.


    It took X¨¹ Beijin watching the whole process of Jiang Shuangmei dying that he could definitively confirm that there is a problem with the furniture in these apartment units. However, how will the Missiontakers trapped within ever discover so?


    At least, watching everyone¡¯s actions in the stream at once, it looks like nobody has worked out the problem with the furniture in general yet.


    There is even someone©¤©¤Ok, it¡¯s Thin, that Missiontaker. He¡¯s visiting the loo again.


    X¨¹ Beijin wishes him luck.


    Not that a toilet can really kill¡­ Can it?


    Still, it might be a mutually assured assault if a human really ever goes against a sentient toilet¡­


    The most restless of the Missiontakers here is probably Jiang Shuangjie. In the last run of the Nightmare, she met with the muscular Missiontaker and exchanged information.


    The man said he also appeared in the apartment unit right in the beginning and noticed the gazes as well. The commonality sends Jiang Shuangjie into thought.


    She also shared her own experience, but soon enough, the Nightmare restarted.


    While there was information, but Jiang Shuangjie is more focusing on her younger sister. After that inexplicable gripping feeling in her chest, she can¡¯t help but suspect whether it was her own sister¡¯s death that triggered the restart of the Nightmare.


    Desperate, she tries all the ways possible of leaving the door, but fails.


    ¡°Damn it!¡± She cusses, ¡°why did we have to be in different units in the apartment¡­ wait!¡±


    Apartment?


    She suddenly turns around to examine the unit again. Just as her sudden spark of inspiration says, this resembles an apartment hotel, more than some residence. It¡¯s furnished lavishly but devoid of personality.


    During their short meeting with the muscular man, she caught a glimpse of the apartment unit of the man through the door before it was shut. She is certain they were identical.


    And if this is really an apartment hotel¡­


    She murmurs, ¡°there must be security on the ground floor¡­ Maybe management is also there, with records of occupancy¡­¡±


    It¡¯s a guess, a guess based on common sense back on Earth. She does not know whether this Nightmare does conform to her speculations¡­ Nightmares are illogical, after all.


    Even if there are records, whether it would have changed to fit with the Missiontakers appearing is another problem.


    She has no better idea either, though. She can¡¯t just go check every single room, now.


    She pushed on ¡®4¡¯ in the elevator earlier without deliberation. She thought the Nightmare was finally beginning when the door opened, but who could¡¯ve known that soon after leaving, the Nightmare just restarted?


    She believes the rest of the Missiontakers would have concluded the same. Therefore, they must also try to work out general information on the apartment while looking for other Missiontakers.


    Given how quickly the first run ended, it means the apartment must have some sort of innate danger within. It is a driving force to ensure Missiontakers assemble quickly and exchange information.


    If so¡­


    Jiang Shuangjie, after deliberation, decides to immediately head to the ground floor after leaving her apartment unit without stopping anywhere.


    One, she could look for occupancy records, and two, to look for Missiontakers who would also head down to look for each other.


    Now Jiang Shuangjie can only hope that her younger sister could work out that she should head for the first floor to have the maximum chance of running into others¡­


    She thinks Shuangshuang should be able to do this much, at least, right?


    If Jiang Shuangjie knew, though, that in the first run of the Nightmare, Jiang Shuangmei didn¡¯t leave the unit, or even know the entrance opened up after an hour passed¡­ She would surely reconsider her misplaced confidence.


    Yet she didn¡¯t know.

 Volume 3 - CH 44.2

    After the Nightmare restarted, X¨¹ Beijin left the bookstore once again.


    Since his first stream, when he left his bookstore tentatively, X¨¹ Beijin has become used to acting freely in Nightmares.


    The Server does not completely dictate what Actors do every single moment, only requiring that Actors not do anything unbefitting their assigned roles as judged subjectively by any Missiontaker that are aware of them in the vicinity. They must keep up the perfect performance of a Tower resident in front of them.


    Really, the very first Actors had also once tried to oppose NE somehow, but unfortunately, over the long period of time and a continued dread at seeing the hopelessness, most Actors have given up.


    Even X¨¹ Beijin has become used to life in the Tower now. Peaceful, hopeless, without a future.


    Dai Wu told him he treats this game as a ¡®second life,¡¯ not forgetting about reality at the same time¡­ X¨¹ Beijin is not confident he can also do so. Dai Wu¡¯s fearless optimism is something X¨¹ Beijin wishes he had himself.


    But he does not. In other words, he has also submitted himself to NE already. He¡¯s given up already.


    The only principle he still upheld is that no Missiontakers will ever enter his Nightmare. For that sake, he has had to come up with all sorts of ways to elevate his spirit. A harmless little habit was born thusly, too.


    That was it.


    Yet, after he acquired the streaming system, and left©¤©¤escaped the bookstore again and again, it finally dawns on him; freedom¡­ When one is buried deep in the muddy swamp, trapped, unable to move, when suddenly, the surface breaks and they gasp and see the blue skies again¡­


    Freedom. What a nostalgic concept.


    It might have reawakened part of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s sleeping soul.


    ¡­ Well, anyway, it is now more ultimately surfacing as X¨¹ Beijin once again queueing up in front of the bubble tea store.


    What else could he do when his legs have a mind of their own?


    X¨¹ Beijin so depressively thinks.


    When once again, a plastic film is wrapped onto his bubble tea drink, he freezes in place.


    He can sense a gaze from behind him, staring. It is calm, cold, distant, but it is stuck to his back like glue. It is not going anywhere.


    X¨¹ Beijin shuts his eyes for a moment; his happier expression soon fades. He takes the bubble tea the staff hands him, turns around, and checks his surroundings. As expected, not a single Missiontaker is looking at him, even while the gaze is ongoing.


    He takes a sip, and furrows his brow to wonder, is this the situation faced by the Missiontakers?


    When he noticed the gaze, X¨¹ Beijin already recalled the advice from Dai Wu. Now, he has made the logical connection ¨C if the electronics in the Luoke Apartment was acting strange, then who is to say the commercial complex is unaffected?


    Compared to the Missiontakers¡¯ panicked states, X¨¹ Beijin is much calmer. While he is uncomfortable with the gaze stuck to his body, but as a Tower resident who once faced hundreds of Missiontakers surrounding his store, this is quite the quaint little scene instead.


    Though©¤©¤biting his straw, X¨¹ Beijin is slightly exasperated to think©¤©¤if the gaze was still following him when he returned to the bookstore¡­ That would be slightly troublesome.


    He takes a few steps to the side so he does not block any other Actors¡¯ ways. He combs through everything in his vision calmly, from decorations to electronics to items, to try to figure out what is casting the gaze.


    He is now on the first floor of the commercial complex. There is a bubble tea store here whose brand he has never tried before, so he lined up here earlier.


    He stands to the side of the store, observing the whole structure of the complex he could see here, from the automatic glass doors at the entrance, to the elevators and escalators accessible in the open court area, to the little pieces of electronics in the bubble tea store¡­


    And the air conditioner above that.


    X¨¹ Beijin raises his head reflexively to check the vents of the central air conditioning.


    It is a type of electronic device frequently ignored. People are often more drawn to the vibrant storefronts lining the walls, and not the obscure air vents above them on the walls.


    Yet, it is also everywhere.


    Though when X¨¹ Beijin casts his eyes at the air vent to the side of him, the gaze that has been stuck glued to him, immediately disappeared.


    X¨¹ Beijin reflexively sighs in relief, but finds the whole situation inexplicable.


    He¡¯s an Actor. Not even the Nightmare¡¯s owner at that. Really, he was no different from even the true NPCs present here.


    So, why did the sentient air conditioning¡­ stare at him?


    X¨¹ Beijin tilts his head to think, murmuring to himself, ¡°right, maybe it¡¯s¡­ because they¡¯ve never seen someone act like me?¡±


    He chuckles in amusement. He has also realised now that Actors like him, who slack off on his ¡®workdays¡¯ and go to other Actors for bubble tea is really rare.


    Other Actors might be assuming he is assigned a role to wander about in the commercial complex, but X¨¹ Beijin knows himself best, that he just left and came here to visit at the behest of the viewers in the stream, when it escalated indefinitely.


    But that was still an actual hour no matter what happened. If he were just waiting in the bookstore all along, that would have been exceedingly boring.


    ¡­ X¨¹ Beijin never once felt that ever in the past. He was merely a slacking extra who still abided by the Nightmare¡¯s scripts. Unfortunately, he now has the streaming system.


    It is difficult to adapt back to a worse condition from a better condition.


    He glances over at the air-conditioning vent one last time. Although he still isn¡¯t sure why it stared at him, but, now that it is here, and with Dai Wu¡¯s previous warning too, ¡°watch out behind you,¡± X¨¹ Beijin decides to adopt his wary stance once again.


    He returns directly to the bookstore with his bubble tea.


    The strange gazes did not once appear along his way.


    In fact¡­ X¨¹ Beijin has suddenly noticed that in his bookstore, there is not a single electronic device.


    Wooden shelves and counter. Ancient, dusty books. Marred, crumbling paint¡­ No TV, no air conditioning. Not a single common household device.


    The only thing that is ¡®electronic,¡¯ so to speak, is the lonely light bulb hanging off the ceiling, yet he cannot even find the switch controlling it. It seems the Nightmare merely arranged for this light to build up a gloomy atmosphere.


    Noticing this oddity, X¨¹ Beijin puts his bubble tea away on the counter, then scrutinises his bookstore in detail. He fails to come up with anything useful, however.


    In the two past Nightmares, his bookstore had newspaper. Not this time, though. All the books present are dirty, illegible ancient scriptures. Most of the characters are beyond recognition.


    There is really something off about this place, though.

 Volume 3 - CH 45.1

    Five minutes later, Jiang Shuangjie has arrived on the ground floor of the Luoke Apartment.


    She immediately spies the tall and muscular Missiontaker, and grits her teeth, rushes over to tell him off, ¡°you damned Carddealer! Fuck off from this Nightmare!¡±


    The rest of the Missiontakers present all seem shocked and pause, instinctively moving away from the muscular man.


    The man in question makes a blank expression, asking, ¡°wh¡­ what Carddealer?¡±


    ¡°You stole my utility card!¡± Jiang Shuangjie yells out, ¡°in the last run, on the fourth floor, you stole my utility card!¡±


    The man furrows his brows saying, ¡°what are you saying¡­? I haven¡¯t even seen you the last run of the Nightmare.¡±


    So positively irate, Jiang Shuangjie can only point her trembling fingers at Muscular here, not so much as managing to utter another word.


    Haven¡¯t seen?! This guy dare say he didn¡¯t see her?! Are all Carddealers so shameless?!


    And¡­ the explicit denial from the muscular man makes Jiang Shuangjie stuck.


    She has no definitive proof even if she knows that this guy is the thief. Nobody knew about their meeting in the last run of the Nightmare.


    How¡­ how shameless of this man just to deny it!


    Jiang Shuangjie takes a deep breath then says, ¡°your apartment is Room 408. This at least proves we have seen each other in the last run of the Nightmare!¡±


    Muscular stares at her, then shows her a dismissive smirk.


    Thin then interjects tentatively, explaining, ¡°um¡­ we actually found the occupancy records, with the rooms we are in written there. We don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve seen this the last run or¡­¡±


    ¡°I saw the inside of your apartment unit as well,¡± Jiang Shuangjie cuts him off, and glares at him, continuing, ¡°if it weren¡¯t¡­¡±


    Muscular shrugs to say, ¡°everyone has the exact same unit.¡±


    Jiang Shuangjie just blurts out, ¡°I¡¯ll pat you down!¡± She yells out, ¡°you stole my utility card! Don¡¯t try to bluff out of it!¡±


    ¡°Pat me down?¡± The man then retorts with this surprised expression, ¡°what¡¯s wrong with you? I brought utility cards here, so if you find them, you¡¯re going to treat them as yours?!¡±


    Jiang Shuangjie is so angry she¡¯s shivering. Her gaze is vicious. Her lips are trembling. She looks like she really wants to kill this man.


    ¡°You madman,¡± Muscular just stares right back at her, even revealing a victorious smile, ¡°you¡¯re not just trying to bluff me because you just carelessly lost your own card? Why me instead of literally anybody else?¡±


    He then cracks his knuckles and shows off his muscles, saying, ¡°I¡¯m no pushover. I suggest you choose another person to play your trick on instead.¡±


    Jiang Shuangjie couldn¡¯t say anything else.


    The rest of the Missiontakers are looking at the both of them with suspicion. They do not believe either of them. They do not dare to dismiss either of them.


    They have to both believe, for now, that the muscular man really is a Carddealer, and also that Jiang Shuangjie is a madwoman who tries to rob other¡¯s cards in broad daylight. Both situations could compromise them.


    So they can only take a step back and hand the stage over to these two persons.


    Muscular is gloating inside right now.


    He did steal Jiang Shuangjie¡¯s utility card, of course, but she cannot prove it, because he can never possibly accept being stripped and searched¡ª¡ªNor can any Missiontaker accept that, ever.


    Besides¡­ those cards he stole aren¡¯t even on him. He only brought the cards with him that he originally brought along. The stolen ones are stowed away back in Room 408.


    If the Nightmare now restarts, naturally, they will return to him; if they achieve an Ending in the second run, then even better, the spoils return to the Tower with him.


    These are things Muscular only learned after much experience as a Carddealer.


    In this current situation, even if somehow the victim forced a frisk search on him, they could still never find the missing utility card. Even more unfortunately for them, Room 408 cannot be entered right now, because it only recognises his fingerprint.


    Backup keys, you say?


    Ha, they¡¯d have to confirm the utility card isn¡¯t on him, first. Besides, he could still always pull some tricks to force a restart of the Nightmare before the door is opened.


    All in all, it was such a blessing to have accidentally run into Jiang Shuangjie the last run.


    He¡¯s got his eyes on the sisters for a long time now.


    As a Carddealer, he would occasionally visit the raves of the Missiontakers, and enjoy himself sometimes. The sisters are pretty well-known there, given they¡¯re twins.


    Muscular has once heard second-hand that after intoxication, the sisters once boasted about how many utility cards they¡¯ve accumulated over the years. He became interested, though unfortunately, the sisters weren¡¯t planning to return to any Nightmares soon.


    Yet it all changed with that rumour that someone managed to leave the Tower. Countless Missiontakers that have faded into obscurity over time are growing restless, and Muscular believed the twin sisters would definitely be interested as well.


    So he spied on their home. Not a few days passed when, one night, the sisters left their home and he tailed them, to see them enter a Nightmare of some Tower resident for the first time in a very long time.


    Muscular isn¡¯t even interested in achieving any good Endings here at all. He¡¯s here for their utility cards¡­ he didn¡¯t expect either that his plan went so smoothly!


    He is almost unable to hold back his glee from his face. His muscles are twitching on his face already. It almost resembles a wicked smile.


    Jiang Shuangjie grips her fists tight, and threatens him with a ¡°you¡¯ll pay for this.¡±


    She cannot physically win against him. Also, after that reverse accusation from Muscular, no other Missiontaker will possibly back her up to demand a strip search of Muscular either.


    And she¡¯s only become duller, not dumb. She knows he might not actually be carrying her utility card on him. If nothing turned up when she forced the issue further, it would make her claim of being a victim even shakier than it is now.


    Instead, she has to concede. She will have to deal with this later.


    Jiang Shuangjie glares at Muscular, and slowly, gradually, shows him her most vicious, murderous smile.


    In the stream, after witnessing that drama, the viewers are all in shock, typing their fury into the comments.


    ¡°wow damn! even games are so society and dark?!¡±


    ¡°im impressed with the balls it takes to lie so convincingly¡±


    ¡°poor girl¡±


    ¡°Beibeibeibei! aren¡¯t the utility cards bound?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin answers the question, saying, ¡°They aren¡¯t. The Tower is a rather¡­ realistic game world. The ¡®utility cards¡¯ are actually just a little card that physically exist, and of course, can physically be stolen away from wherever you put them on your body.¡±


    ¡°¡­ i tried picturing the rare card i just won with luck for once and it was stolen by someone who is then all confident and accusing me back¡­¡±


    ¡°!!! I feel like killing!¡±


    ¡°fuck, I want this thief to know what is the real darkness of humanity!!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is amused by the comment barrage, but then, the smile fades. He casts a neutral gaze at the disdainfully smirking muscular man on the stream.


    The way he laundered facts is as familiar as ever, huh.


    In fact, X¨¹ Beijin really didn¡¯t remember that man that once accused him of being an Outsider outside of his bookstore well. After the man slinked off in shame, and after the crowd that kept bugging him gradually dispersed.


    He had put that period of memory away already.


    Though for Tower residents and the Missiontakers both, it really was a chaotic, absurd period of time. Everyone was rushing for the higher floors. Everyone was rushing to get out of the Tower.


    Now¡­ That is no longer the case. Let¡¯s put it this way. A few years ago, the Tower was like a raging fire. The Tower right now, are the ashes remaining.


    People have become hopeless and withdrawn. They resemble more corpses on legs, and¡­ There is no more aspiration.


    It¡¯s hard for X¨¹ Beijin to recall how it was in that past when the current looks nothing like that.


    Though fate really is fickle if nothing else. He once again came across Mu Jiashi, and also¡­ once again, came to see this unlikeable guy.


    So he¡¯s turned into a Carddealer now, huh? Hmm, perhaps he could¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin falls into thought holding his bubble tea.

 Volume 3 - CH 45.2

    On-screen, the Missiontakers are finally focusing on the Nightmare at hand.


    The mood is still off, of course. Jiang Shuangjie is staying quite the distance away from Muscular. The rest of the Missiontakers are standing quite far from the both of them in turn.


    Jiang Shuangjie has calmed down by now, but would rather not interact at all with the man. Instead, she asks, ¡°excuse me¡­ Did you find the occupancy records, you say?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we are the new renters here,¡± Thin replies, handing her a file, explaining, ¡°we found this in the management¡¯s office. Seven names are written there.¡±


    Jiang Shuangjie examines the file and seemingly casually remarks, ¡°you moved quickly, huh.¡±


    Thin smiles but does not say anything else.


    Five Missiontakers are present here. Other than Jiang Shuangjie, Muscular and Thin, there is also a girl who looks to be a teenager, and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, who earlier showed a strange expression looking at the commercial complex.


    Neither of them spoke the entire time, only observing coldly at the farce playing out between Jiang Shuangjie and Muscular.


    Jiang Shuangjie glances at the two of them, as well as Thin, but says nothing else. The files on her hand indicate that her younger sister is staying in Room 1104.


    And she checks out the other room numbers while she¡¯s at it, then says with a surprised tone, ¡°Lin Qin? The dalao¡­?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Thin looks rather glad when he says this, ¡°it¡¯s fortunate the dalao is here.¡±


    Jiang Shuangjie doesn¡¯t reply. She only knows about Lin Qin in name, but nothing about his personality or anything else. Lin Qin¡¯s name began its rise to meteoric fame only after Jiang Shuangmei and her stepped down to revel in the raves.


    Lin Qin has been in the Tower a long time too, of course, but a few years back, every Missiontaker and, to a certain extent, even Actors in the Tower were all rather reckless and, for lack of a better word, mad.


    The Missiontakers tried everything they could think of in the Nightmares, even means that are rather unsavoury, to see if they could achieve True Ends. When the whole world was behaving so, Lin Qin, with his habitual non-action, in spite of his obscene physical strength, was rather obscure in the crowd.


    When the embers died down, and the Tower really did turn the people as destitute and hopeless as its dilapidated scenes were, and when humans lost hope, Lin Qin instead became a straw of some kind.


    Many Missiontakers lament the fact that Lin Qin has always been stuck at the bottom floor of the Tower, never having been seen any floors above. Even when Missiontakers have achieved True Ends in Nightmares with him, but he has never headed up.


    Perhaps there might also be Missiontakers in the floors above who wants to borrow his thighs, too¡­


    But no matter what, knowing Lin Qin is here does make Jiang Shuangjie sigh in relief inside.


    ¡°Um, I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± While Jiang Shuangjie is looking at the files, Thin also decides to ask after hesitation, ¡°are you Jiang Shuangjie or Jiang Shuangmei?¡±


    The names are really too obvious to ignore. It¡¯ll be odd to ignore it entirely or not question the connection between the names at all.


    Jiang Shuangjie replies, ¡°I¡¯m the older sister.¡±


    She turns her head towards the elevator with a slightly anxious expression¡­ It¡¯s been over ten minutes now, but Jiang Shuangmei still isn¡¯t anywhere to be seen.


    It also makes Thin think and ask, ¡°are you worried about your younger sister?¡±


    She nods frankly and says, ¡°I plan to look for her,¡± she hesitates but decides against revealing the strange feeling gripping at her chest in the last run of the Nightmare, only vaguely adding, ¡°I¡¯m a bit worried.¡±


    Muscular just has to interject and ask, though, ¡°you¡¯re not dragging us with you now, are you?¡±


    After he has succeeded in his heist, the honest and straightforward front he has put up is also gone in an instant; this is what he usually does to reduce the other Missiontakers¡¯ wariness and look for opportunities and potential targets to practise his art on.


    And really, that last few seconds of the last run of the Nightmare was such a perfect opportunity that the man couldn¡¯t hold back from taking the utility cards away. If it were his usual self, he would only have done something at the precipice of an Ending being achieved.


    By then, even if the victim realised they were missing their utility cards, with all of them having left the Nightmare already, they will never be able to find Muscular ever again.


    Because he has a Trick card.


    ¡®Card Name: The Devil¡¯s Mask


    Card Illustration: An exquisitely decorated mask


    Description: When the devil is committing evil, it always requires a mask to hide its looks. You will share this ability. If you use it for evil, then it will surely please the devil. That said, using a devil¡¯s ability will always carry a price.


    Uses: 2/3 (If you commit sins while using this utility card and remain undetected, then your Uses will be returned to you)¡¯


    For a Carddealer¡­ No, not just them, but for any Missiontaker wishing to do anything shady in the Tower, this is a powerful utility card.


    Though this Trick card doesn¡¯t guarantee success, either.


    He acquired the card a few years back, and wasn¡¯t sure how to use it yet.


    It just so happened that the Missiontakers were all interested in the famous bookstore owner back then, too, so, in an impromptu act, he used the utility card and went fanning the flames of the Missiontakers outside the bookstore owner¡¯s store.


    That was the reason why X¨¹ Beijin never saw the guy in the Tower ever again, because his appearance was changed. He rarely appears in public with his actual face nowadays, too.


    It was unfortunate that his first ever use failed by the bookstore owner who suddenly retaliated. That was why ¡®The Devil¡¯s Mask¡¯ had one Uses short.


    After that, Muscular kept his head down for a while.


    Until he discovered a much more appropriate use for the card, that is, using it to steal utility cards.


    As long as he wasn¡¯t caught in the act, and the stolen card wasn¡¯t returned to the victim, then his act of evil would be considered successful and his Uses immediately replenishes.


    And that ¡®price¡¯ it said¡­ Muscular is dismissive entirely. It merely increases his greed and boldness. Yet, since he¡¯s already decided to become a universally infamous Carddealer, then that price is just turning him more into the person he is aspiring to become, anyway.


    Right now, under the influence of the greed in his mind, Muscular is already eyeing each of the Missiontakers present with lustful eyes. He is even thinking, perhaps¡­ He could succeed more than once in this Nightmare?


    The Missiontakers are currently on guard against him already, of course, but¡­ with his technique and acting, maybe¡­


    An extreme greed and arrogance is rooting itself in the Missiontaker¡¯s thought process.


    The wave of emotions even caused him to abandon the pretense immediately earlier, to gloat and taunt Jiang Shuangjie. Otherwise, he would probably have acted more pretentiously for a while.


    Jiang Shuangjie ignored that, of course, but inside, she still can¡¯t help but think how great it would be if they could kill each other in the Tower. Unfortunately, the Server prohibits all direct hostility aimed at their ¡®companions.¡¯ And even if she did kill him, he¡¯d just come back to life the next run.


    Jiang Shuangjie¡¯s expression grows cold.


    She is out of patience with them already. So she says dryly, while handing the files back to Thin, ¡°I¡¯ll just look for my younger sister myself.¡±


    Thin hesitantly says, ¡°we should still move together.¡±


    Muscular looks dissatisfied, but then he seems to fall into thought.


    The teenage girl who has been quiet the whole time suddenly takes a step forward. In spite of the tone of the speech itself still being that of a child, but the confidence and maturity in her words leave much more of an impression.


    She says, ¡°we have discussed earlier. In the last run, none of us died. While we haven¡¯t asked,¡± she raises her chin slightly at Jiang Shuangjie to indicate her, saying, ¡°you also do not look like you died. So, it has to be your younger sister.¡±


    She skips over Lin Qin entirely. ¡®Lin Qin has been killed¡¯ is not an option even worth consideration.


    Thin then adds, ¡°we haven¡¯t any information right now, so if we can find out what happened to your younger sister, that would be best.¡±


    He glances over at the teenage girl, as if by habit, before turning his attention back to Jiang Shuangjie.


    She examines the two of them for a short while before nodding to agree, ¡°sure, let¡¯s go together.¡±


    The three of them are about to move.

 Volume 3 - CH 45.3

    Muscular is quick to add, ¡°I¡¯m not going. I plan to explore this apartment elsewhere,¡± then he turns to the young man who hasn¡¯t spoken the whole time, ¡°well? You with me?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ looks all cold and distant, even in the Missiontakers¡¯ eyes he seems overly devoid of emotions.


    After arriving in the lobby with the others, other than introductions and recounting his experience in the first run of the Nightmare, he hasn¡¯t spoken another word.


    The young man glances at Muscular.


    The smile on Muscular slowly fades away. While he is sweating in secret, suspecting his intentions may have been discovered, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ unexpectedly nodded.


    Muscular looks happy all of a sudden.


    It is so painfully obvious on his face that the thin Missiontaker gives him an odd look then looks back at Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹. He is hesitant, but still decides to say, ¡°be careful.¡±


    Muscular didn¡¯t think otherwise of that remark, and just nods to say, ¡°we will.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ also nods slightly.


    Jiang Shuangjie and the teenage girl ignored their interactions entirely to wait on the elevator themselves, planning on heading for the eleventh floor directly. The thin Missiontaker is following behind them, all worried-looking.


    He has realised that, in this Nightmare, the things to keep an eye out for is, perhaps, more than just the Nightmare itself.


    In the stream, the viewers are sighing for them, typing, ¡°oh, it¡¯s over for them, why are they not heading for the commercial area?¡±


    ¡°exploring in the apartment now? theyre trying to shoot another final destination lol¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is holding his milk tea and blanking out with a neutral expression.


    The viewers of the stream have become used to their host¡¯s silence and taciturn nature, too. X¨¹ Beijin is often blanking out like that, but it¡¯s not easy to say whether he¡¯s thinking or just zoning out because of mental exhaustion.


    He¡¯s always been rather obscure in the Nightmares, both for the audience and the Missiontakers. He maintains a certain distance from all of them. Not that he would reject suggestions from the viewers, of course.


    Though¡­ Even when he¡¯s quietly blanking out, the viewers still can¡¯t help but turn their attention to him.


    Anyway, X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s consciousness has returned now after seeing that question float past the comment barrage. He hesitates, but doesn¡¯t mention Muscular, because he still hasn¡¯t any proof.


    Instead, he asks, ¡°I¡¯m wondering where the owner of the Nightmare is.¡±


    ¡°!! oh yeah, we havent seen them yet¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin then chimes in to ask, ¡°¡­ a safehouse?¡±


    ¡°yeah!¡±


    ¡°makes sense¡±


    ¡°great, without the detective dalao here, weve gotta pick ourselves up by the bootstraps¡±


    ¡°lolol you guys are praising me too much, it was just a thought, call me the new dalao and I might just let my ego go to my head¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ignores the viewers¡¯ teases at each other and instead straightens himself and murmurs, ¡°the commercial and apartment complex; where would they be¡­? Safehouses are in the commercial complex¡­ No, he should be a tenant at the apartment¡­¡±


    Deductions about the owner of Nightmares should always take the Nightmare¡¯s scenes into consideration.


    There was a Dollmaker¡¯s in the first Nightmare, which means the owner of the Nightmare must have been related somehow. The second Nightmare owner was a little boy, whose family bedroom tied into the whole family business with him.


    In this Nightmare, there is a commercial complex and an apartment complex. These scenes must tie into the Nightmare owner somehow.


    He may be a tenant in the apartment, or equally a store owner of the commercial area.


    Or even the management, but this is more unlikely, because the Missiontakers went straight into the apartment unit in the very beginning of the Nightmare.


    An apartment complex, and a commercial complex¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin is speculating on scenes. In his mind, he is picturing the unknown owner of this Nightmare realising their apartment¡¯s electronics were acting weird. They ran outside and right into the nearby commercial area, only to run into similar troubles there.


    It¡¯s a simplest possible of conjectures.


    Of course, some other more outlandish conjectures may also be possible. For example, imagine the Nightmare owner being a delivery driver who delivered some takeaway to the apartment complex, during which they became terrified as he realised the electronics have gone sentient and rogue.


    No matter what, though, it all remains speculation before they can find the Nightmare owner.


    Sentient electronics¡­ the Luoke Apartment¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin is staring right at the screen of the stream, watching it play out, while wondering, what those terms might imply here.


    It might be something that leads him to deep despair.


    Meanwhile, the audience start typing, ¡°theyve gone to the 11th floor!¡±


    They have arrived right outside of Room 1104 on the eleventh floor.


    They knocked on the door for a while, but no response comes. It¡¯s really quiet inside, too, nothing could be heard. Jiang Shuangjie is feeling the fixed gaze on her back again, making her uncomfortable.


    ¡­ After arriving in this Nightmare, the situation has turned up so many times that Jiang Shuangjie is becoming numb. She still has no idea what¡¯s going on, or what¡¯s happened in this apartment building.


    She takes a deep breath and knocks on the door hard again, yelling, ¡°Shuangshuang! It¡¯s sis! Are you in there?!¡±


    No response comes.


    The thin Missiontaker quietly interjects, ¡°could she¡­ have left her apartment unit already? We just missed each other?¡±


    Possibly, because there are six whole elevators in the apartment building. They cannot be certain if Jiang Shuangmei has taken another elevator down. It would be awkward if she went down as they went up.


    The teenage girl just simply says, ¡°we just need to check the elevators then.¡±


    They arrive at the elevator hall to check them out. There are six of them, and besides the one they came up in, which is stopped on floor eleven, one is on floor eight, and the rest are all on the ground floor.


    The elevator on floor eight is still slowly coming up.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± The thin Missiontaker murmurs, ¡°who¡¯s coming up?¡±


    They are waiting. The elevator might be Jiang Shuangmei, or Lin Qin, or the Muscular and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ pair.


    The dozens of seconds felt much longer than that.


    Finally, with a ¡®ding,¡¯ the elevator arrives at the eleventh floor. The door slowly opens.


    All three Missiontakers are in full view of its interior.


    ¡­ There is nobody inside!

 Volume 3 - CH 46.1

    The empty elevator is stopped on the eleventh floor in solitude.


    ¡°What in the¡­¡± the thin Missiontaker subconsciously mutters, but swallows the rest of the words after seeing the faces of the two ladies by his side.


    Even the teenager girl¡¯s usual coldness is changing slightly. There is a shred of shock remaining.


    Jiang Shuangjie is so shocked, meanwhile, that she takes a whole step back.


    They are so spooked because when the elevator door opened, there was a gaze accompanying it. It felt as if the elevator door were the eyelids, and someone has opened the eye.


    The elevator door remains open right there for a long time without closing. Is it urging them to get on? The situation is so absurd that all three Missiontakers carefully chooses to retreat.


    Also¡­ They do not dare boarding any other elevator now.


    ¡°What do we do now?¡± Asks the thin Missiontaker, looking at Room 1104 while saying, ¡°we¡¯re not even sure where¡­ your younger sister is.¡±


    Jiang Shuangjie furrows her brows, murmuring, ¡°yeah¡­ Where is she?¡±


    Where is Jiang Shuangmei?


    The viewers on the stream would be able to answer them.


    ¡°oh my dear lord, plz¡­ ur sis is right in 1104!¡±


    Yes, Jiang Shuangmei is right inside Room 1104 right now. She did not come open the door because she is trapped.


    Trapped in her bedroom.


    This average-looking bedroom, about a dozen square metres across, is currently mired in an eerie atmosphere. Jiang Shuangmei has curled herself up in her blankets, shivering.


    Her feet are so cold they are growing stiff, or perhaps they are losing sensation because of fear.


    But it¡¯s so cold.


    This should have been a typical autumn night. The temperature should be hovering about the 20 mark (TL: ~72¡ãF). Yet, the central air-conditioning system that is always on in the room, has somehow set itself to be 16¡ãC (TL: ~60¡ãF) in cooling mode, not budging an inch no matter what buttons she pushed.


    ¡­ It¡¯s freezing.


    She cannot leave the bedroom because the door has been locked. The Luoke Apartment, considering possible situations of tenants renting individual rooms out, has set individual electronic locks for each bedroom.


    And now, the electronic lock has trapped her in the bedroom.


    She thought about opening the window, but it would not open (TL: Raws say ¡®the Nightmare probably does not allow escaping the bedroom this way,¡¯ which makes no sense). She thought about breaking down the bedroom door or window, but she couldn¡¯t find any useful tool here.


    In the end, she has to admit that she really didn¡¯t have as much smarts as her older sister. The frigid, shivering Jiang Shuangmei has wrapped herself up in the blankets.


    The gaze¡­ is still on her. This time, from above her head. She already knows about the furniture being evil in her apartment, but she has nothing she could do¡­


    What, how does she even begin to fight some air-conditioning installed in the structure?!


    Jiang Shuangmei is desperate. She could hear some noises outside, but she can¡¯t even leave the bedroom. It feels like she would really freeze to death if she left the blanket, too.


    The air-conditioning unit seems to be pumping all the coolants it has remaining. The cold air coming from its vents are like gusts from the winter months that try their best to turn people into ice sculptures.


    Jiang Shuangmei didn¡¯t even want to let her hand out of the blanket.


    When the Nightmare¡¯s second run began, Jiang Shuangmei was still dazed from suffocating to death. She spawned inside the bedroom in the very beginning, and after spending some time reworking her emotions, she realised she was locked up.


    She wanted out, of course!


    If possible, she wants out of this apartment unit, or rather, just outside of the apartment in general.


    She is already fully aware of the dangers now. She wants to tell her older sister¡­ But, she can¡¯t anymore. This run¡­ Is she going to die again? In some fresh, unprecedented ¡®frozen to death by the household air-con¡¯ kind of way?


    Her consciousness is drifting. The extreme fear and anxiety has turned her cognitive abilities to mush. She can only keep wondering ¡®what to do what to do what to do¡¯ while burying herself deep in the blankets like an ostrich.


    This is her first foray into Nightmares again after several years; this is her first time ever having to face the horrors of a Nightmare alone, away from her older sister.


    She can¡¯t help but question, how much of a useless sack of meat she really was.


    Curled up into a pile, she turns to wailing pathetically in the blankets. She is cursing the world, the Tower, all of humanity, anything and everything¡­ that she could remember.


    Her voice is cracking now, like death is still surrounding her side. Her cries are so pitiful it makes one wonder whether she¡¯s going to breathe her last the next moment.


    She doesn¡¯t even know how long has passed¡­ Until her voice has gone hoarse, until she felt, hot.


    She realises she is drenched in sweat inside the blankets.


    Huh¡­?!


    She immediately gets up, throwing her blanket off. She doesn¡¯t know when the central air-conditioning has stopped operating. Even the door to her bedroom is no longer locked.


    She can leave!


    But¡­ Why? Why¡­ just because she cried? Shit, how is that even possible?!


    Jiang Shuangmei is sitting there, with her jaw on the floor, her eyes still reddened and wet and swollen, but, she could leave the damned bedroom!


    She hastily gets up to her feet, and without thinking, she rushes outside of the door. She leaves the bedroom, not even leaving a glance for the half-open toilet.


    She manages to leave the apartment unit behind entirely.


    Then, she runs into the empty corridor.


    Jiang Shuangjie has already left the eleventh floor with the thin Missiontaker and the teenage girl.


    After they have knocked for a long time, Jiang Shuangjie can only conclude that Jiang Shuangmei must have left the apartment unit, but didn¡¯t come meet up with them.


    Because of that inexplicable, empty elevator, they do not dare travelling by that anymore, taking the stairs instead.


    The thin Missiontaker suggested, ¡°if so, why don¡¯t we check the entire apartment while we¡¯re at it? There are stairs on both sides of the corridor, so each floor down we can walk across to get down at the stairs opposite.


    We¡¯ll be able to get a general idea for the whole apartment building, and if possible, we could run into other Missiontakers, like the dalao Lin Qin.¡±


    Then he glances over at Jiang Shuangjie.


    She doesn¡¯t say anything, though, still deeply worried for her younger sister.


    She has realised how she may really have spoiled her younger sister too much, so much so, that¡­ She isn¡¯t even sure if Jiang Shuangmei could survive on her own without her in the Nightmares.


    Jiang Shuangjie is in regret.


    However, they only had each other, and they could trust each other implicitly. She knew how Jiang Shuangmei was also unwilling to use her head much, so in this situation, there was no way she could not have helped her younger sister, you know?


    So her regret is really, not having tried to nurture the independent survival abilities of her younger sister while she was at it.


    Locked in her thoughts, she didn¡¯t pay attention to what the thin Missiontaker said and just nodded nonchalantly.


    The Missiontaker also sighs in relief. While Muscular could have been a Carddealer, but¡­ he doesn¡¯t know either of them, and Jiang Shuangjie had no proof as well. He didn¡¯t know who to trust.


    Or rather, he¡¯d prefer to trust nobody.


    However, this being the second run of the Nightmare, they are still completely devoid of any useful information. The only possible source of information is the Missiontaker who probably died the last run©¤©¤Who likely was Jiang Shuangjie¡¯s younger sister!


    This is why the thin Missiontaker was still willing to talk to Jiang Shuangjie earlier. Otherwise, he would have kept a distance from her like how he distanced himself from Muscular.


    In any case, now the three of them have started their investigation floor-by-floor from the eleventh floor down.

 Volume 3 - CH 46.2

    Right now, four separate scenes are playing out in the stream.


    Three people walking down the stairs, Jiang Shuangmei, who just managed to leave her apartment unit, the Muscular and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ pair exploring the ground floor, and¡­ Lin Qin.


    All the other Missiontakers thought Lin Qin is still inside; they have all heard at least a little about how much he dislikes moving around, even in Nightmares, where he would stay in one place if he could help it.


    This also contributes to people lamenting the waste of his absurd physical prowess.


    Countless Missiontakers wish they had fighting strength as great as Lin Qin, and¡­ whatever they want, starting some tyrannical reign in the Tower, doing whatever they want in the Nightmares, anything they might want to do.


    But Lin Qin¡­ Lin Qin more resembles some ascetic monk.


    It really isn¡¯t surprising people say there¡¯s something wrong with him in the head.


    He is so powerful physically, but he would still participate in the Nightmares as if he were any other Missiontaker; he does not go to higher floors at all, only hanging out on the bottom floor forever©¤©¤Like some Missiontakers say, it¡¯s like he¡¯s just here to bully newbies.


    The Missiontakers cannot understand his modus operandi, nor has Lin Qin himself ever bothered to explain.


    X¨¹ Beijin also knows now that Lin Qin is disinterested in Nightmares, and even the Tower in general. The underlying reason might tie heavily into the fact he has no memories of his days on Earth at all.


    He does not know where he comes from. His memories began in the Tower. Naturally, he wouldn¡¯t think about leaving.


    Besides, with that strength of his, even in the Tower, he is able to keep up the good life.


    He is the crownless King of the bottom floor of the Tower©¤©¤Meaning, just look at the clothes he wear. They are all sent from the occasional Necessities Merchant who wanted to maintain a good impression.


    While Lin Qin wouldn¡¯t say anything, but if he did meet a Necessities Merchant he remembered, or their subordinates, or other people who have displayed goodwill to him, if they asked and made it clear who they were, Lin Qin isn¡¯t stingy on offering small help either.


    But¡­ more recently, Lin Qin seems to have changed as well.


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks so as he watches Lin Qin leave the apartment complex behind him.


    Lin Qin happened to miss Muscular and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ while leaving, and the man then aimlessly wandered about the apartment area.


    He seems to be going after something, but nothing has come up. Then, he realises he could leave the apartment to head to the commercial complex, and quickly walks this way.


    He clearly looks like he has a goal in mind. X¨¹ Beijin is curious©¤©¤What would he be looking for?


    Though X¨¹ Beijin is also simultaneously curious about many other things.


    In all four screens are notable things happening to the different Missiontakers. X¨¹ Beijin is unable to keep up.


    Nor can the audience, who are wailing already.


    ¡°y do we only have two eyes!¡±


    ¡°why can¡¯t I watch two screens when I have two eyes!¡±


    ¡°help, i¡¯m missing director Bei already¡±


    ¡°Beibei, plz change the cameras urself, im not gonna complain about how ill miss info on some players when theres only one screen, sob sob sob¡±


    It¡¯s a given some information will be lost when they only have eyes for one focus group in the stream, but¡­ putting everything up on the stream itself isn¡¯t helping at all!


    Until an hour after the Nightmares started, with all the Missiontakers acting similarly in similar settings, the viewers were all bored, even; right now, with the Missiontakers all separate and exploring, the viewers feel like their eyes are no longer sufficiently equipped.


    The whole screen of screams for ¡°separating scenes, please¡± troubles X¨¹ Beijin, because he also isn¡¯t sure which of the groups he should focus on.


    Lin Qin? Yeah, he doesn¡¯t know whether Lin Qin would actually come across him©¤©¤It¡¯s possible; he¡¯s been through enough of that overly sharp instincts of Lin Qin.


    As for Jiang Shuangmei, she¡¯s in the elevator, just having pushed on ¡®1¡¯ when she suddenly wonders©¤©¤What if the elevator is also sentient?


    Jiang Shuangmei, the teenage girl and the thin Missiontaker¡¯s side seems calmer in general©¤©¤Sweeping across every corner of the apartment complex, floor by floor. If they missed them finding out something on the stream, then that clue is probably lost on them for good.


    As for Muscular and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, they¡¯re similar to the trio above©¤©¤And both X¨¹ Beijin and the viewers know that the muscular man himself is the Carddealer. What if he tries to make a move against Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s utility cards?


    X¨¹ Beijin is in a dilemma.


    But thankfully, his dilemma is forcibly resolved soon enough.


    Because Lin Qin is here.


    ¡­ How many minutes has it even been?!


    X¨¹ Beijin watched on the screen as Lin Qin headed directly for the open plaza on the underground floor¡­ Impossible! How could he know he was on this floor?


    X¨¹ Beijin is completely baffled.


    He still reflexively picked a scene on the stream to show the viewers ¨C the one featuring Muscular and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, enlarging it and hiding the rest of the scenes. The viewers do not suspect a thing about his trying to hide the fact Lin Qin is visiting.


    Soon enough, Lin Qin pops up at his bookstore entrance.


    When he sees X¨¹ Beijin, the young man looks so excited he is waving his hands as he walks in, saying, ¡°you¡¯re really here. I was worried you wouldn¡¯t be.¡±


    Before X¨¹ Beijin could even spend time appreciating the dead accuracy of Lin Qin¡¯s instincts, his words have piqued his curiosity, asking, ¡°wait, you were looking for me?¡±


    ¡°You could say that,¡± Lin Qin rubs his chin, telling him, ¡°I wanted to tell you about two people¡­ Wait, would you still remember this after leaving the Nightmare?¡±


    ¡°I would,¡± X¨¹ Beijin answers, then asks, ¡°what two people?¡±


    Lin Qin nods, seemingly not curious why X¨¹ Beijin remembers things after leaving Nightmares©¤©¤What hasn¡¯t been possible on Tower residents, you know? Missiontakers are so used to the quirkiness they have that Lin Qin wouldn¡¯t be surprised if anything was anything for them.


    He explains, ¡°two people were casing outside of your home.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin pauses for a moment, before asking with a surprised tone, ¡°you mean¡­ in the Tower?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± replies Lin Qin.


    X¨¹ Beijin is curious now.


    Why would two people be hovering outside his home so much Lin Qin even described them as ¡®casing¡¯?  Why did Lin Qin even know about this? Most importantly¡­ Why did Lin Qin looks for him in the Nightmare to tell him?


    Questions are flooding his mind.

 Volume 3 - CH 46.3

    X¨¹ Beijin sighs, feeling a bit exhausted. He pinches his nose to say, ¡°let¡¯s see. When did you see those two people?¡±


    Lin Qin honestly replies, ¡°during the day, I finished reading that book you lent me and I wanted to return it so I came over. I saw them outside your home then.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin continues looking at him.


    Lin Qin patiently explains in detail, ¡°one of them was tall and thin, the other looks like a younger girl. They spent a while dawdling outside your home, before entering your neighbour¡¯s door.


    I remember your neighbouring Tower resident having moved away, and thought it was empty and they might be talking about why they came over inside. Then I followed after them.


    I didn¡¯t know a resident had already moved in, so I ended up in this Nightmare instead. You were next door to the neighbour, so I thought you might be here as well, and came searching. I was mainly going after the two people though.¡±


    Lin Qin explained the whole event that played out once, and then spent some time running his memories through again, and finally nods satisfactorily and adds, ¡°that¡¯s right.¡±


    He looks pretty proud of his memories.


    X¨¹ Beijin gives him a speechless look.


    He pushes the bubble tea he ¡®bought¡¯ earlier over the counter towards Lin Qin, and says with a friendly tone, ¡°thanks for telling me. Want some bubble tea? This one is still fresh and I thought the taste was pretty good.¡±


    Lin Qin looks shocked and receives it hesitantly, without saying anything in the end despite clearly having something on his mind; Lin Qin thought the words would have been inappropriate.


    He was thinking©¤©¤As expected of you.


    While drinking the bubble tea, Lin Qin is looking at X¨¹ Beijin and a new thought arises. A thought that gradually formed in his mind possibly since he visited X¨¹ Beijin at his home not long ago.


    He is curious how the guy©¤©¤the Tower resident, really was underneath. Why was he¡­ so normal?


    Just like the Missiontakers of the past, Lin Qin has also developed a curiosity because of how special X¨¹ Beijin is, but the difference is that he has no interest in the young man¡¯s Nightmare itself.


    He¡¯s thinking of something else instead.


    Before, X¨¹ Beijin said that they were friends. If so¡­ can he ask about this directly? Something like his daily life or habits.


    But crucially, he doesn¡¯t want to make X¨¹ Beijin unhappy, because he still wants to fight with him to determine who is stronger, once and for all.


    However, right now, X¨¹ Beijin has possibly triggered some other interests in him besides physical fighting.


    Lin Qin is taking a seat at a chair by the bookstore entrance again. Tilting his head, biting the plastic straw of the bubble tea, he quietly examines X¨¹ Beijin.


    ¡®Why would X¨¹ Beijin be different from the Tower residents?¡¯ Wonders Lin Qin.


    He knows that the Tower, or, at least, the scenes in the Nightmares and all the stories were based on humans of Earth. This is common knowledge among Missiontakers.


    However, X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s habits, this¡­ outlook on life in the Tower, is different from all the other humans he has run into in the Tower. Why is he even more ¡®human¡¯ than the Missiontakers?


    Could this be a setting of NE? Some kind of background information?


    Is this actually the lifestyles of people that belonged to the Earth but not the Tower, which Lin Qin has wholly forgotten?


    If he continues interacting with X¨¹ Beijin, would he be able to regain his past memories? But¡­ would he still be him? There is a Lin Qin with amnesia; there is another Lin Qin with his memories intact. Which one is truly him?


    ¡­ Which of them would X¨¹ Beijin acknowledge to be his friend?


    Lin Qin falls deep into thought.


    X¨¹ Beijin, unaware of Lin Qin¡¯s plight, might have otherwise stopped Lin Qin¡¯s runaway thoughts; he would have seen them as unforeseen effects he brought upon Lin Qin.


    He has no idea that Lin Qin, who has been disinterested in everything, even Nightmares and the Tower, will suddenly, due to growing familiar with him, grow an interest in his lost memories of Earth.


    In fact, he is growing an interest in X¨¹ Beijin, the person, as well.


    Under more peaceful circumstances, this curiosity might have been a good thing, perhaps even be the petri dish from which more specific hormonal interactions may be brewed; however, they are in the dark, destitute Tower. It is difficult to say whether this is positive or negative.


    X¨¹ Beijin would rather others stay disinterested in him.


    Though right now, X¨¹ Beijin is too preoccupied with the information Lin Qin has brought to notice Lin Qin¡¯s expression.


    ¡­ Someone tall and thin, and a young girl?


    Lin Qin said he followed them into the Nightmare, and X¨¹ Beijin almost immediately connects the image description to the two Missiontakers he saw.


    Though that isn¡¯t exactly helpful, either, because he still has no idea why someone might be lollygagging outside of his bookstore.


    A long time ago, Missiontakers have generally lost interest in him entirely. X¨¹ Beijin was able to spend some peaceful days afterwards. Yet now, is an interest in his Nightmare rekindling?


    X¨¹ Beijin finds that possibility unlikely.


    He himself is still all tired, sleepy, eye-bags-ridden, definitely not looking like he is going to deliberately sleep anytime soon, or open his Nightmare for that matter.


    He takes strolls outside every so often, and even if a Missiontaker recognised him, they should have noticed the signs and not suddenly become curious about his Nightmare again.


    So X¨¹ Beijin clears himself out of the possible suspicions first.


    Then he starts thinking about what might cause interest in him among Missiontakers to rise¡­


    And¡­ And he glances at Lin Qin.


    ¡­ Right, how did he actually ignore him as a factor?


    Lin Qin, the unspoken, uncrowned King of the bottom floor of the Tower¡­ Implying that there are countless eyes on him. Lin Qin probably couldn¡¯t care less, and they don¡¯t dare bothering Lin Qin either.


    So when that Lin Qin suddenly started collecting drinks and visiting one Tower resident in particular¡­ This might have already escalated to the latest gossip in town among parts of the Tower already.


    See, Ding Yi even used this information to strike a deal with Lin Qin the last Nightmare, didn¡¯t she?


    Who knows who could have sent those two here? The goal must be pretty clear, though ¨C they¡¯re here to snoop around on the relationship between X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin.


    X¨¹ Beijin feels a bit frustrated when he concludes so, because he definitely didn¡¯t think about the troubles he could get into just knowing Lin Qin.


    Not just troubles for himself, but also for Lin Qin.


    Lin Qin, the dummy probably didn¡¯t even realise¡­ Yet, X¨¹ Beijin is most exasperated at himself, for failing to notice it himself. That is unacceptably dumb.


    Did these few years of dull, monotonous life finally numb his mind and thought processes?


    Yet, even if he were to go back in time to when Lin Qin asked, he couldn¡¯t have been able to bring himself to¡­ refuse Lin Qin from visiting him. Really, after living solo in the Tower for so long, he desperately craved normal, human interactions.


    Like making a new friend¡­ or something.


    Lin Qin was the only Missiontaker, or at least, the only Missiontaker that X¨¹ Beijin has met, who was not interested in his Nightmare. This point is far, far too important for X¨¹ Beijin.


    Well, he¡¯ll never brawl in any case, not even if his life is on the line.


    X¨¹ Beijin is now mulling over how to deal with the coming troubles, though he also didn¡¯t spend time to confirm whether the duo of Missiontakers really is here to check on him and Lin Qin. It would not do to slander good, innocent people.


    ¡­ Really, this Nightmare happened to bring a lot of coincidental happenstances, huh.


    The Carddealer, the two people spying on his home¡­ And, that young man that looked strange staring at the commercial complex.


    Even now, X¨¹ Beijin is still unable to let it go. Borrowing from Lin Qin¡¯s dictionary, his instincts are telling him that underneath that strange expression must be some hidden secret.


    He can feel his head throbbing more and his mental consciousness decreasing as he continues thinking about all this.


    That is when he suddenly notices a large influx of comments on the comment barrage.


    ¡°fuck! is the guy trying to steal again?!¡±

 Volume 3 - CH 47.1

    Dispensational Rules


    Muscular kept trying to get cosy with Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹.


    Though employing the usual honest face and ingratiating tone doesn¡¯t seem to really work on this young man with a cold face.


    In the end, Muscular is basically out of options, looking awkward while cursing this poker face guy in his mind.


    The heck is that attitude! What a poseur!


    Perhaps because he has already had ¡®achievements¡¯ in this Nightmare already, Muscular has lost patience in acting. So after a few more failed attempts at starting a conversation, he rolls his eyes and turns away, not talking anymore.


    He does look self-satisfied for sure.


    Though Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ still looks the same whether Muscular was appealing to him or treating him coldly. He¡¯s shut him off entirely.


    These people aren¡¯t rare in the Tower either. Some people jokingly refer to them as ¡®zombies,¡¯ because, they look like they have spent too long in the Tower and have lost all the emotions that was part of what made them human.


    The ¡®zombies¡¯ always have this poker face, doesn¡¯t speak, and are unenergetic. Rather than humans, they more resemble the undead as portrayed in popular media.


    Muscular has seen such people, of course, but they normally at least still reacted like normal people would, instead of being like Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, even ignoring people actively talking to him entirely.


    In fact, though, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ is just blanking out subconsciously while his mind is wholly dedicated to a question he can never find an answer to.


    ©¤©¤He has once seen that commercial complex back on Earth.


    Exactly where it was¡­ He can¡¯t remember. He just managed to dig up some familiar fragments from his entirely decimated memories; or rather, it is more accurate to say that the commercial complex triggered a familiar feeling in him.


    Two buildings, a bridge connecting them in the air on the third floor, an open-air underground plaza¡­ Just seeing the commercial complex from afar is enough to remind him of its most notable features.


    But¡­


    He remembers nothing outside of these features.


    He is using all his mind to remember, to recall, to dig up the name of the commercial area from his mind; where it was, when he went there, what shops were there.


    He thought about it for two whole runs of the Nightmare already, but he could remember nothing.


    His memories, just like the apartment unit they were inside in the first hour of the Nightmare, has been locked up. He does not know if he cannot remember because it really was too far ago in the past, or because¡­


    Because of something else.


    He, or rather, they, the Missiontakers©¤©¤The humans, all inexplicably appeared in the Tower one day, right? So in theory, there should be¡­ a culprit, behind all this¡­ shouldn¡¯t there?


    Thinking this way, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s face turns paler and paler. His poker face, typical of a ¡®zombie,¡¯ is only exacerbating the stiffness and lifelessness.


    It is the first time he has realised, his memories may be patchy.


    He does not know, really; it¡¯s just an inkling¡­ He does not know if it¡¯s just him overthinking things right now.


    Perhaps, it was just him having walked past the commercial complex that one time, and the rather noticeably prominent structure has left an impression in his mind, which is why he can recall nothing of how and when after-the-fact now.


    But, but¡­ but, it¡¯s also possible, that it is the culprit that sent them into this game, who has messed with their memories, right?


    Otherwise, how could not a single Missiontaker in the whole of the Tower manage to recall how they were transported here?


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ is almost trembling entirely, gritting his teeth, mustering all his courage just to face this possibility head-on.


    He never thought so deeply about this before. There are a lot of Missiontakers like him, too, who never dares thinking too much, about why humans went into the game ¡®Escape.¡¯ They do not dare probe too deep, or ask about something as heavy as their future.


    They¡¯ve become ostriches (TL: Famous for ¡®sticking its head in the dirt,¡¯ i.e. running away/hiding from problems instead of solving them, which is a myth), become zombies, become anything that could keep their attention away from these terrifying hypotheses. They try their best to live in ignorant bliss.


    Some of them are like Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, still trudging meaninglessly between Nightmares; some of them are like the Jiang sisters, who just decided to stop one day, and sink deep into gratuitous indulgences.


    The Tower¡­ Ha. The Tower.


    They¡¯re so cowardly, all of them, that they don¡¯t even want to hear a word of all the rumours and conspiracies floating around.


    So, when Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ was so suddenly plunged into the sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu brought on by that commercial complex©¤©¤By this whole Nightmare!©¤©¤His immediate emotional response, was fear.


    He doesn¡¯t want to know about them¡­ He doesn¡¯t want to face them!


    But his brain is still futilely combing through his memories, only to make him realise for good that his memories are tattered. He finds himself unable to recall his parents, his job, his friends.


    They are fragments. Fragments that cannot link up. Fragments that cannot tell him anything.


    It, it might just be, because they were so far in the past, right? It can¡¯t be¡­ It can¡¯t be because something has messed with his memories!


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s face is so stiff and frozen right now. He has completely ignored the man¡¯s blabbering next to him, because he is face-to-face with something far scarier. A demon. A monster, baring its fangs right at him.


    While the two of them are preoccupied with their own thoughts now, they have finished exploring the ground floor of the apartment.


    There are no apartment units on the ground floor, as they only begin from the second floor upwards. The ground floor contains the lobby, security, the management offices, and other functional rooms like the electrical room.


    After one hour passed since the second run of the Nightmare began and the Missiontakers were allowed to leave their apartment units, the first few Missiontakers to come down to the ground floor has already explored it, but only rudimentarily.


    This time, the two of them have discovered something far more interesting in the security office.


    Muscular picks up the letter of complaint and smacks it with his curled finger, handing it over to Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and ask, ¡°look, what¡¯s this?¡±


    A paper shoved right into his presence makes even Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ come back to his wits. He takes the piece of paper from Muscular to read.


    Meanwhile, Muscular is also now approaching Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ quietly, planning to sneakily steal the young man¡¯s utility card while he is distracted reading.


    Most Carddealers work with the Tailors, but not Muscular, because of his utility card, which means he tends to avoid revealing his true appearance anywhere in public.


    Therefore, he had to really learn his own techniques for stealing ¡®from the ground up.¡¯


    He has observed this young man¡¯s clothing closely, and finally settles on the thick layer of his clothes under the left armpit, because he noticed how, when the young man was walking, his left arm barely moved at all, remaining close to his body the whole time.


    This is not the easiest of jobs, but¡­ Muscular already has a blade pinched between his fingers. As long as he does not directly cause harm to Missiontakers, then the Server would not have anything to say about his using a sharp blade.


    As soon as he slices open the clothes using the blade, while the young man is distracted reading the complaint, he can steal the utility card. Then, he can try to cause this run to end prematurely, and everything will be hidden under the rugs, just like the last run of the Nightmare¡­


    Greediness is swelling up in Muscular¡¯s expression.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ does not notice anything off, as he lowers his head to read the complaint.

 Volume 3 - CH 47.2

    ¡°Luoke Apartment Management:


    These few nights, the lights on the eighth floor corridor kept flashing on and off. I¡¯ve told the security guards many times, but no repairs have been arranged thus far. I am writing to inform you to take immediate actions.


    I have dutifully kept up my monthly payments to management. It cannot have disappeared off to other avenues overnight, I believe.


    Earlier, I¡¯ve heard from our homeowners¡¯ chat group that an elevator inexplicably goes to the 11th floor by itself, empty, all the time, before going back down. What is this? Has no one come to fix it after so long?


    The last time I rode the elevator down from the eighth floor, it fell right down the shaft like I was in space or something, and I thought I was going to die! It turned back normal on the 3rd floor, thank goodness¡­ but this is ridiculous!


    Three months have passed since I moved in to Luoke Apartment, and the problems have been nonstop, whether it¡¯s the TV turning on in the middle of the night, waking me up, or the air conditioning ¡®gasping¡¯ when blowing through the vents, I stayed quiet through it all; maybe it was just bad luck I rented a buggy apartment unit.


    Yet, even the communal spaces are full of issues¡­ I cannot overlook this anymore!


    This apartment complex sells itself on being high-class and elegant, but it is rotten inside! I cannot fathom how all these expensive electronics and facilities can have so much issues so often.


    If you do not resolve this in a timely fashion, I will work with the other homeowners to start an inquiry and investigate where all the money we paid you have disappeared to!


    Signed,


    Homeowner [ILLEGIBLE]


    30 September, [ILLEGIBLE]¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ is scrutinising the letter of complaint carefully, until he comes across the date written, and reflexively looks up at the calendar on the desk of the security office. The front-most page has all dates of October but the 31st crossed out.


    Which means this letter must have been from one month ago.


    Some contents in the letter allows Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ to hypothesise about the contents of the Nightmare.


    He has drifted from Nightmare to Nightmare, so it¡¯s safe to say he has seen a lot. Now that he¡¯s read the letter of complaint, he¡¯s connected the dots to conclude that, the furniture¡­ No, more specifically, it¡¯s the electronics that have a problem.


    ¡°I believe¡­¡± He turns around a little to say something to the muscular man, and notices the glint of a blade in between the man¡¯s hands. His pupils narrow for a moment, but he continues speaking calmly, ¡°I know what the deal is with this apartment building.¡±


    Muscular is regretting how he did not manage to commit his crime in time and also frustrated how quickly this cold young man in front of him reads. He retracts his hand and act like nothing is wrong, asking, ¡°yeah?¡±


    He doesn¡¯t realise Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ has discovered his intentions already.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ hands the letter back to him, whispering, ¡°the facilities in the building are acting up.¡±


    After seeing the muscular man¡¯s incriminating action, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ has not a shred of goodwill left to tell him the truth, so he just tells him a vague answer.


    Muscular skims through the contents of the letter and fails to grasp the core idea, merely nodding to concur, ¡°yes, I see. The facilities have many issues, and the Management in this building may be guilty, too.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ merely glances at him, but doesn¡¯t respond, only maintaining that cold face of his.


    Muscular can only ask, ¡°what do we do now?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ is about to speak when they suddenly hear a woman¡¯s scream coming from outside the security office!


    Spooked, they look each other in the eye and run outside.


    Jiang Shuangmei thinks that she has never faced such a hopeless situation before.


    In this damned Nightmare, life really is just up and down and down and down and down and down and down.


    When she left the cursed Room 1104, she¡¯s practically rushing on adrenaline only. She saw an empty elevator stopped on her floor¡¯s elevator shaft, and ran inside and pushed ¡®G¡¯ without hesitation, only wishing to leave as soon as possible.


    She is distraught, anxious, her mind is empty¡­ save for fear and aftershocks.


    Why was the air-con suddenly normal? Why was the lock on the door suddenly gone? Why¡­ Why, was the bathtub filling with water? Why would the Roomba keep crashing into her like it¡¯s gone mad?


    Right now, that apartment, in Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s eyes, resembles hell, filled with nameless, lethal dangers.


    Just like her older sister once did, she crouched whimpering at a corner of the elevator.


    Soon enough¡­ ¡®Ding. Ground floor.¡¯


    An emotionless, mechanical male voice reminds her that the elevator has arrived.


    The elevator has stopped. The door has opened, and Jiang Shuangmei stands up by reflex, walks outside, and¡­


    The doors close in on her.


    It is more like a prank on her than trying to actually hurt her, but Jiang Shuangmei is completely spooked senseless. She is making terrified screams, waving her arms about, slamming on the elevator door and stomping hard on the ground.


    It feels like even her soul must have been gone. After the elevator door has reopened and goes back to normal, Jiang Shuangmei just collapsed onto the floor, crawling out of the elevator haggardly on all fours.


    Then, she glues her back dead to the wall. Tears are streaking down her face. Her tense facial muscles resemble more of the recently deceased than the freshly alive.


    That is the helpless, smouldering wreck of a Jiang Shuangmei that Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Muscular see when they leave the security office.


    When they tried approaching her, Jiang Shuangmei would just scream and wave her arms about madly. She wouldn¡¯t let anyone approach her.


    She has let her long hair down, draping over her forehead and face, like a hat for herself. The person would merely observe the world with a wary, scared gaze through the gaps between her hairs.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Muscular are looking at each other nonplussed, having no idea what to do with her.


    Muscular scratches his head, asking, ¡°she¡¯s¡­ who we saw earlier?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ shakes his head.


    Somehow, Muscular gets what he means, and says, ¡°so that¡¯s her younger sister?¡± Pausing, he recalls something, and adds, ¡°the one that probably died the last run of the Nightmare, right?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ agrees through silence.


    So Muscular examines her all over, and remarks quite frankly, ¡°what could have killed her to almost turn her mad like this?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ glances at the elevator that Jiang Shuangmei crawled out from.


    Immediately, he recalls that, in the complaint he just saw, was an entry about an elevator going to the 11th floor by itself, empty, and coming back down empty.


    And he also remembers that Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s room number is 1104. On floor eleven.


    Coincidence, or?


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ falls into thought, and so Muscular also shuts up, not interested in being seen talking to himself.


    So the three of them have now grouped up, in a sense, and on the other hand, the trio with Jiang Shuangjie have already made it down through the whole apartment building without discovering anything that was out of place. They arrive back down on the ground floor lobby.

 Volume 3 - CH 47.3

    Jiang Shuangjie saw Jiang Shuangmei, who is currently crouched down, hugging her thighs by the wall almost immediately. She reflexively yells out, ¡°Shuangshuang!¡±


    That call seems to have triggered something, and Jiang Shuangmei just shot right back up from the ground like a spring and flies over to hug Jiang Shuangjie, her body still trembling ceaselessly from the horror.


    Jiang Shuangjie hurriedly embraces her and quietly coos her.


    Thin looks like he wants to say something. While he is curious what really happened the last run of the Nightmare, seeing how unstable Jiang Shuangmei seemed mentally isn¡¯t a good sign that they¡¯ll get anything useful out of this.


    He looks towards the Muscular instead, or more specifically, towards the paper he is holding.


    Muscular shrugs and hands the letter over to Thin, who is about to say something after having finished reading it when Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ interjects, ¡°it looks like there is something wrong with the facilities in the apartment building.¡±


    Thin then remains silent.


    Muscular nods, saying, ¡°that¡¯s right.¡±


    Thin looks at Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ then at Muscular in silence. He hands the piece of paper over to the teenage girl, who also says nothing after reading.


    The entire ground floor lobby is silent.


    Muscular looks around with a curious expression, but he¡¯s not sure if anything is wrong, so he assumes they are thinking; he himself doesn¡¯t like to think, he has always been so.


    Whatever Nightmare it was, he¡¯d always put that honest, trustworthy look on his face and do whatever was told to him and win other Missiontakers¡¯ trust. Sometimes those Missiontakers¡¯d still guide him out of Nightmares even though he¡¯d stolen their utility cards already.


    By luck, he might reach a higher floor, unfortunately, he does not have the capability to remain on a higher floor.


    Nightmares on the higher floors are unlike ones on the bottom floor. They are more dangerous, more mad, more¡­ cruel.


    On the bottom floor, Missiontakers could often resolve a Nightmare through simple cooperation. In that case, while True Ends remain elusive, Normal Ends are easily within reach.


    And, Bad Ends aren¡¯t exactly as problematic, since there isn¡¯t a lower floor for them to go to. Though he¡¯s heard that people who achieve Bad Ends might end up succumbing to a Collapsed Nightmare¡­ Who knows, it¡¯s just another of those common circulating rumours.


    On higher floors, the theme of competition between Missiontakers is much more apparent. They no longer belonged to a single cohesive group. In fact, they might be deposited into multiple, or even rival factions.


    They¡¯d drag each other back, which causes a more barbaric kind of ruthlessness to permeate the Nightmares across the upper floors of the Tower. Some Missiontakers even hold the attitude of ¡®Rather the world burns with me than I suffering alone.¡¯


    Therefore, after a few times on the upper floors, Muscular was no longer interested. He felt like if he was going to sink to the depths of depravity, he¡¯d rather do that on the bottom floor.


    Besides, his greediness tells him, that stealing utility cards on the bottom floor of the Tower is much easier than doing it on a higher floor.


    So he stayed on the bottom floor. So he became lazier and lazier in thinking.


    He waits for the rest of the Missiontakers to speak.


    Thin looks at Jiang Shuangjie, who is still coddling her younger sister. She continues cheering her up while raising her eyes to meet Thin¡¯s gaze coldly.


    Shortly thereafter, Thin nods slightly.


    He suddenly turns towards Muscular, telling him, ¡°please go into a room and do not come outside again.¡±


    Muscular freezes for a moment before yelling with a beet-red face, ¡°what¡­ what the hell?! I told you I wasn¡¯t a Carddealer! Why are you believing in that madwoman?!¡±


    ¡°I saw,¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ suddenly interjects, ¡°I saw it, a blade between your fingers.¡±


    He stares at the Missiontaker with the typical distant gaze of a ¡®zombie.¡¯


    Muscular is all trembling. A few minutes ago, he was still fantasising about how he could ¡®succeed¡¯ twice in this Nightmare, but now, the rest of the Missiontakers are sending him into exile.


    ¡­ You¡¯re kidding him!


    Muscular yells out angrily, ¡°that¡¯s not¡­ You all don¡¯t have proof! Carddealer¡­ What the actual fuck!¡± Then he glares intensely at Jiang Shuangjie, threatening her, ¡°¡­ madwoman, just wait and see!¡±


    He wants to walk towards Jiang Shuangjie, but Thin and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ both take a step forward. Jiang Shuangjie caresses her younger sister¡¯s hair while calmly uttering, ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting.¡±


    Muscular grips his fists tight, while most of his body is now the same redness as on his face. He cannot accept this failure, so he just makes a loud, dismissive chuckle. He ignores Thin¡¯s demand for him to retreat into an empty room and stay put, and rushes out of the apartment complex completely.


    Thin wipes his face with slight frustration, and tells Jiang Shuangjie, ¡°I apologise.¡±


    Jiang Shuangjie shakes her head at him, and says gently, ¡°you don¡¯t need to¡­ Thank you, to everyone.¡±


    Thin then says, ¡°he might have put your utility cards in his apartment unit,¡± he hesitantly proposes, ¡°we could grab a master key from Management and then search his house?¡±


    Somehow, those words seem to trigger something in Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s fear reflex, and she screams, ¡°no! Don¡¯t go to the apartments! You¡­ You mustn¡¯t!¡±


    The rest of the Missiontakers are taken aback.


    Jiang Shuangjie continues smoothing her younger sister¡¯s hair as she gently asks, ¡°Shuangshuang, what happened before?¡±


    ¡°Madness¡­¡± Jiang Shuangmei is shaking as he recounts her experience, ¡°jiejie, those furniture were mad. All the furniture. The bathtub filled with water¡­ the Roomba kept knocking me over¡­ the air-con¡­ the bedroom locked up¡­  They, they are trying to kill me¡­ You can¡¯t go¡­¡±


    Her sentences are fragmented and her logic is a mess, but the Missiontakers are able to understand now.


    ¡°Electronics!¡±


    They simultaneously proclaim.


    Then Thin exasperatedly asks, ¡°the household devices¡­ have gained sentience? What kind of unreal Nightmare is this?¡±


    When suddenly, he recalls how he went to the toilet and it flushed itself. Suddenly, he felt oddly uncomfortable.


    ¡­ No no no, he shouldn¡¯t be trying to humanise a toilet.


    He tells himself that inside.


    Fortunately, because the first run of the Nightmare prepared him mentally, he was able to forcibly relax himself when the second run of the Nightmare started. He succeeded in ignoring the anxiety and therefore avoided the stomach-aches.


    Though he¡¯s probably going to have PTSD reactions to toilets for the rest of his life.


    The rest of the Missiontakers may never figure out what Thin is thinking, because none of them have redeveloped the biological needs of hunger, thirst, and excretion in this Nightmare either. Even Thin himself¡­ isn¡¯t sure why he suddenly needed to do a number two.


    Could this Nightmare just have had an ultrarealistic setting?


    In any case, the Missiontakers have all achieved a basic level of understanding of this Nightmare.


    Thin asks, ¡°so¡­ what now?¡±


    ¡°The Management office,¡± replies the teenage girl, ¡°we¡¯ll search again, for a master key and other things. We probably missed something.¡±


    Thin thinks about it and adds, ¡°we¡¯ve went through the whole apartment but Lin Qin, the dalao was nowhere to be seen. We don¡¯t know where he is, so we¡¯ll have to look for him.¡±


    The rest of the Missiontakers nods.


    Jiang Shuangmei, who has thoroughly recovered already, looks like she really wants to dissuade them. She really, really doesn¡¯t want back inside the apartment units. They¡¯re dangerous.


    But¡­ With her rationale returned, she knows that if they do not explore, then how ever are they going to be able to leave this Nightmare?


    So, she stays silent, but is gripping on her older sister¡¯s sleeve tightly, not willing to be separated from her at all.


    They head for the Management office directly.


    On the other hand, Muscular, who has left the Luoke Apartment complex by now, naturally heads for the commercial area instead. He manages to run into X¨¹ Beijin after a few minutes.

 Volume 3 - CH 48.1

    Muscular saw that bookstore that was tucked away in the corner of the open-air underground plaza by accident.


    He left the apartment complex in a fit of anger and panic. He doesn¡¯t understand at all how he was busted, which frustrated him.


    It was already after he had left the apartment building and was on the way to the commercial complex that he realised, when he left like that, didn¡¯t he just implicitly admit his guilt?


    But he also didn¡¯t want to head back¡­ Staying inside a room and never leaving? No way!


    Muscular arrogantly thought that perhaps this time, he alone would be enough to resolve this Nightmare!


    He really has failed to realise that as he ends up using that utility card called ¡®The Devil¡¯s Mask¡¯ more and more often, his personality has changed to be far more paranoid and arrogant. His emotional swings are strange and intense.


    In this Nightmare, the moment he abandoned his usual routine and stole Jiang Shuangjie¡¯s utility card as soon as his greed flared up in the first run, it was a critical collapse.


    He still failed to realise it, however.


    Excitedly rushing for the commercial area, he thought he was the first one to be there, and completely forgot about the frustration and exasperation of being exposed in front of everyone.


    Laziness also overtook him, so instead of heading a few more steps into the first building, he decided to take the escalators down that were right besides him.


    As soon as he arrived on the plaza, he took a look around and spies the bookstore containing¡­ Lin Qin and X¨¹ Beijin.


    Right now, Muscular is thinking, for once, using his dulled brains.


    He recognises both persons, but he doesn¡¯t know about their current relationship; the news that Lin Qin is actually collecting drinks for a Tower resident¡¯s sake hasn¡¯t travelled far yet.


    Instead, Muscular recalls how he was once kicked outside of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore, ashamed and in pain.


    He hasn¡¯t remembered that for a long time, because that experience of being booted out and slinking off in shame has already long become a scar he doesn¡¯t want to touch since becoming a Carddealer.


    Now, he recalls.


    What he also recalls, is his desire and greed to see X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare.


    Once, the rumours in the Tower were all but certain that X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare must contain secrets for leaving the Tower. Nobody knows where the rumours originated from (TL: Hint, pretty big flag here, might want to take a note of this sentence for¡­ Oh, about a hundred chapters in), or why there is even such a rumour, or, if it was even true.


    Muscular is one of the adherents of the claim, though, and in fact, right now, seeing X¨¹ Beijin once again, has only solidified his impression of his Nightmare being useful.


    Like¡­ Just look at this bookstore owner! This man, this handsome, evil man, who sits behind his bookstore counter, with such a deep gaze and pale skin, with that attitude that wouldn¡¯t see him lift an eyebrow if the sky collapsed on him, or rather, he might actually be the one to have collapsed the world in the first place¡­ He definitely isn¡¯t any regular old NPC.


    Just his appearance alone meant Missiontakers were all more interested in his Nightmare than usual.


    Among them is Muscular, and so, because he himself feels this way, he is also justifiably suspecting Lin Qin is also here to investigate X¨¹ Beijin for the same reason.


    Many Missiontakers are unable to understand why Lin Qin is always so lazy inside the Nightmares. They might conclude that it¡¯s because Lin Qin sees the Nightmares as being too simple, matters he could solve with his own two fists, so that¡¯s why he¡¯s always lacklustre like that.


    They do not believe that Lin Qin truly is disinterested in Nightmares in general, just like Muscular, who is assuming his own emotions and feelings on Lin Qin.


    He¡¯s interested in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, so of course Lin Qin must also be interested!


    People are not generally keen on critically examining their held beliefs, especially when it comes to someone as self-absorbed as Muscular.


    So, that moment, with courage and shamelessness he dug up who-knows-where, he just barges right into the bookstore to ask with this ¡®I knew it¡¯ tone, ¡°dalao, you¡¯re also interested in his Nightmare?¡±


    It almost sounds like he¡¯s saying X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare is some kind of product he intends on acquiring.


    X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin both look at him in surprise.


    Before Muscular entered, Lin Qin and X¨¹ Beijin were just sitting there peacefully. They weren¡¯t talking, and the bookstore was peaceful and serene. The Missiontakers were all busy staying alive, in stark contrast to their relaxed forms.


    Since he borrowed a book from X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore some time ago, Lin Qin has found an interest in reading, and luckily, X¨¹ Beijin remains a bookstore owner in this Nightmare, so he was able to retrieve a more well-preserved piece of literature from the shelves for Lin Qin to read.


    So Lin Qin is sitting at the bookstore entrance, quietly reading.


    This scene really did make X¨¹ Beijin feel for the first time that, the baby-face can¡¯t be said to be wasted on him when it¡¯s like this, huh. When he¡¯s settled down¡­


    And that was when the muscular man slammed that serenity to bits.


    Lin Qin, who is interrupted, raises his head gradually; his gaze turns ominous, and he faces Muscular, telling him, ¡°I normally do not beat people up.¡±


    Muscular seems confused by what he is saying.


    Lin Qin then adds, ¡°and two, I¡¯m not interested in his Nightmare.¡±


    Then, he closes the book with a loud clap, stands up, and raises Muscular up by his collar, drags him outside the bookstore him with, and throws him right into the fountain in the underground plaza.


    Muscular, probably, had over 10 metres of air distance from what he could see.


    The corners of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mouth are twitching.


    And thus it adds to the countless times X¨¹ Beijin has already reaffirmed his conviction that he will never, ever, fight with Lin Qin. Even if Nightmares grant you resurrection and immortality, and even if Nightmares restart once an Ending is achieved and be reset entirely¡­ He still has no interest in making himself suffer.


    Fortunately, the stream is pointed elsewhere at the other Missiontakers right now, otherwise, who knows what the silly audience will start yell-typing about.


    After Lin Qin has simply and straightforwardly ¡®dispatched¡¯ Muscular, he goes back to the bookstore to announce to X¨¹ Beijin with this solemn tone, ¡°I am not interested in your Nightmare, and I do not want to enter your Nightmare. I only want to fight you, so please don¡¯t misunderstand.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is holding in his laughter real badly, and tells him, ¡°I know¡­ Wait,¡± he suddenly realises something and asks, ¡°you¡­ knew?¡±


    That was a rather vague question, but Lin Qin understood what he meant. He nods and answers, ¡°I did,¡± and he gives X¨¹ Beijin a weird look, explaining, ¡°I¡¯ve been on the bottom floor of the Tower for a long time. I know a lot of people were trying to go into your Nightmare back then, but I wasn¡¯t interested.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is surprised.


    He didn¡¯t have full consciousness of this fact before. For him, the matter was settled a really long time ago, and really, the batch of Missiontakers on the bottom floor from back then have mostly been displaced already.


    Though¡­ He did realise rather late, that is, now, that Lin Qin has been in the Tower, on the bottom floor, for a really long time as well.


    It was just that, when Lin Qin¡¯s name was finally rising in prominence, X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s name has long since faded into obscurity already.

 Volume 3 - CH 48.2

    Besides that, Lin Qin and X¨¹ Beijin only came to know each other only really long after the Missiontakers¡¯ Siege event.


    It was in a Nightmare, around¡­ a year ago, or maybe several months ago; stay long enough in the Tower and your sense of time will become distorted as well.


    Lin Qin, someone disinterested in Nightmares, left the other Missiontakers that time to take a walk around by himself. He ran into the bookstore owner X¨¹ Beijin who was diligently fulfilling his role as an extra.


    Then¡­


    Then Lin Qin inexplicably became interested in X¨¹ Beijin.


    After that, X¨¹ Beijin ran into Lin Qin when he was strolling outside in the Tower once, and, he accosted him for the same topic of having a fight.


    X¨¹ Beijin was annoyed, so much so he reduced the frequency of his outings.


    Then, in the Nightmare, Tower, Nightmare¡­ going back and forth, endlessly repeating the same questions and answers.


    Now that he tries recalling the whole affair, X¨¹ Beijin is baffled that Lin Qin had such consistent, unwavering conviction and resolution that he could keep asking him the same question whenever he met him, and no matter how many times X¨¹ Beijin has sternly refused him already. The young man would never give up.


    In fact, X¨¹ Beijin is even feeling slightly fearful of that conviction.


    Though, thanks to some coincidences, now they¡¯ve become closer as acquaintances, so X¨¹ Beijin thinks that, perhaps they would not necessarily only talk about fighting in the future when they meet¡­ One day, Lin Qin might even abandon the whole silly notion altogether.


    Not now, however.


    X¨¹ Beijin also isn¡¯t sure how best to deal with this. Lin Qin is not interested in his Nightmare, great; Lin Qin still wants to fight with him, not so great.


    He rubs his nose, feeling a bit tired.


    Lin Qin has been observing the myriad of emotions on his face the whole time, and somehow, perhaps, his instincts played a role again, and he suddenly says, ¡°it is only my own opinion that I want to fight with you. If you really think that it is troubling you, then I won¡¯t talk about it so often anymore. Please don¡¯t be angry.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡­ X¨¹ Beijin feels a genuine tinge of guilt hearing that.


    Lin Qin gifted him drinks, dealt with annoying ghosts from the past for him, is thankfully uninterested in his Nightmare¡­ Yet, the only thing he has interest in, X¨¹ Beijin cannot oblige.


    And in fact, this crownless King of the bottom floor of the Tower, the target of countless adoration or fear, really is so well-behaved like a little apple sitting in front of him.


    This concession of his, if it were actually a move to make X¨¹ Beijin yield, then it definitely succeeded, succeeding very well against someone like X¨¹ Beijin ¨C a good person who can¡¯t deal with soft nudges instead.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡±


    Therefore, even though it has been Lin Qin who wants something from him the whole time, it is now X¨¹ Beijin who is feeling too guilty and apologising (TL: Like a Canadian, haha).


    Lin Qin tilts his head in slight confusion, honestly replying, ¡°I don¡¯t understand why you¡¯re apologising to me.¡±


    Someone like Lin Qin would always do things because of his own intention.


    It may make him look happy-go-lucky, like offering arbitrary little helping hands unpredictably, but for his deeply held convictions, he will be persistent and indefatigable.


    Which means, he cannot comprehend X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s apology.


    His wanting to appeal to X¨¹ Beijin¡­ is his own thing.


    Not that that is at all dispelling this feeling of restlessness and being spoilt that X¨¹ Beijin is feeling. He¡¯s become used to sampling loneliness by himself in the bookstore. Therefore, this little apple in front of him just approaching him and getting comfortable and snuggling up with this complete lack of self-awareness has made him unable to react.


    There is a habit, called a ¡®clingy until you become used to them¡¯ habit.


    Not that he¡¯s completely used to Lin Qin¡¯s existence, per se, sometimes he is still annoyed with him, but he could definitely say that Lin Qin¡¯s candid and sincere self has truly made X¨¹ Beijin look at him in a different light.


    If Lin Qin didn¡¯t have that physical strength to go with him, with that personality, in the Tower, he would have long since become bottom feed to the merciless Missiontakers.


    What is actually laughable, though, is that it is precisely Lin Qin¡¯s personality, and not that physical strength, that has caused X¨¹ Beijin to harbour such complicated views and opinions.


    ¡­ It could all come down to him simply being able to feel something different from the Tower, something originating from Earth, from Lin Qin¡­ When, ironically, Lin Qin has no memories of his days on Earth at all.


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but bitterly smile at that thought. He pats Lin Qin on the shoulder, but doesn¡¯t say another word.


    Lin Qin just looks at his own shoulder nonplussed¡­ Maybe he really is a dunderhead, that he couldn¡¯t understand what X¨¹ Beijin could have been thinking the whole time.


    He is quietly dissing X¨¹ Beijin inside.


    On the surface, though, he is still happily holding the bubble tea X¨¹ Beijin handed him, sitting next to the bookstore entrance to read, like a guard dog of an extra-large build.


    Loyally defending its owner at all times.


    Just like how he threw Muscular outside of the bookstore ruthlessly¡­ Though he may not have thought much about it.


    All of this played out, of course, in full view of Muscular, through the glass door of the bookstore.


    He angrily cusses, ¡°Fuck! What kinda dalao is this even¡­ Trying to flirt with an NPC?! Shameless!¡±


    Yes, as he sees it, what would make Lin Qin angrily target him? What could make Lin Qin behave so obediently in front of X¨¹ Beijin?


    And why would X¨¹ Beijin, who, according to most Missiontakers, at least, is an unreadable, and even temperamental and, at times, paranoid Tower resident, treat Lin Qin with such courtesy?


    Love. There is no second answer possible.


    Muscular subscribes to the saying that ¡®even heroes fail to pass the obstacle known as ¡°beauty,¡±¡¯ and while the bookstore own can¡¯t exactly be described as pretty, but he¡¯s certainly handsome and attractive.


    As a Carddealer who has also witnessed the many dark sides of the Tower, he knows how common it is that Missiontakers sometimes want something more than pure friendship with the Tower residents.


    True, everyone would be dismissive of the Tower residents on the surface; the Tower residents hate these self-absorbed outsiders, while the outsiders also hate these mad Tower residents.


    Key word ¨C on the surface.


    There are only so many people in the Tower. The many pent up hormones of humans, other than being directed at their own members, can only turn towards Tower residents who are at least humanoid enough next.


    Muscular even know some Missiontakers who enjoy dumping Tower residents.


    They would flirt and seduce the Tower residents in the Nightmares, and back in the Tower, they coldly abandon those Tower residents who become infatuated¡­ Seriously, fuck those sick bastards!


    Well, there are also some Missiontakers too, who madly go after, court, and appeal to Tower residents. Simping is an activity that remains unchanged from the Earth to the Tower, beyond life and death. It¡¯s almost worth an ode on its own.


    The reason, besides interest in the Tower residents¡¯ Nightmares, may also have to do with physical, carnal desires.


    Muscular is equally dismissive of this. At least, he would never be interested.


    The most important thing¡­ Is that this is a fucking game! They are players, humans! what kind of human would end up falling for an NPC character in a game?!


    Muscular cannot fathom how fellow members of his species fall for 2D characters.


    Not that it is any deterrent to him selling some utility cards with rather unique effects, of course.


    But anyway, it is because he has seen such Missiontakers, or even know some quite well, that he has completely¡­ misunderstood what was going on between X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin.


    Compared to the news that Lin Qin is seeing someone, the information that this someone is male is positively mundane already.


    Also, if Lin Qin really is together with X¨¹ Beijin, then, wouldn¡¯t Lin Qin know all about the bookstore owner¡¯s Nightmare? And then, all those Missiontakers that have once madly chased after X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, after so many years of hopelessness, could the embers relight in full blaze?


    So, after blanking out in shock for a moment, Muscular realises, elated, that this is such a damned valuable piece of information! Enough for him to exchange for some very generous amount of resources with certain members of the bottom floor of the Tower!

 Volume 3 - CH 48.3

    Muscular isn¡¯t content with only staying a Carddealer. ¡®The Devil¡¯s Mask¡¯ has amplified the malic, greed and ambition in his mind, which is causing him picture increasingly outlandish scenarios in his mind ¨C he shall use this scene he saw, to be able to stir the waters beneath the bottom floor of the Tower, and achieve prominence in life¡­


    He¡¯s just trapped in a game, you say?


    For someone as ambitious as Muscular is, so what?


    Others see a hopeless future, but Muscular is seeing the barren present.


    Couldn¡¯t he as well establish a name for himself in the Tower, and cause waves and dictate movements within? Whether he gets to be the hand behind it all who secretly manipulates everything, or just simply being an outright ruler of the entire Tower¡­ These have all become within reach for him!


    The imagination is running high in his mind. Right now, he could almost chuckle at the vision of his dreams coming true. The feeling of defeat he felt when Lin Qin launched him out of the bookstore has entirely dissipated.


    He quietly retreats before running away. He will have to find somewhere safe and hide¡­ If the Nightmare is resolved this run, great; otherwise, the next run on, he will not leave his apartment unit again.


    He will leave this Nightmare alive, and achieve his ambitions.


    X¨¹ Beijin saw Muscular leaving, but he only learns where he is heading from the panel on the right side of his streaming screen.


    He is once again grateful for the convenience the streaming system brought to him.


    He has a vague idea of what Muscular must be thinking right now¡ª¡ªNaturally, not the part where Muscular thought Lin Qin is courting him, of course.


    X¨¹ Beijin only thought that Muscular would conclude Lin Qin must know what his Nightmare was, or at least clues about what it was.


    Someone as cunning as Muscular would definitely try to do something with that information, whether it is himself or, like he did in the past, incite a mob of Missiontakers into doing it.


    Those are things he can only get to doing after leaving this Nightmare and returning to the Tower, though.


    So X¨¹ Beijin is able to deduce that Muscular must be planning to hide somewhere and rely on free labour from the other Missiontakers and leave this Nightmare as effortlessly as possible.


    Maybe not this run yet, but if there is another run coming, then Muscular would definitely stay put inside his apartment unit and never leave again.


    However, up to this point, Muscular is still unaware that, in this Nightmare, it¡¯s all electronic devices having possibly gone rogue, and not a vague, general sense of ¡®there¡¯s issues with the facilities in the apartment building¡¯¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin, sitting behind the bookstore counter, rests his chin on his hand, and smiles when he thinks of that.


    ¡­ Fine, he¡¯ll admit that he is finding amusement at Muscular¡¯s expense, for the potentially tragic fate that awaits Muscular.


    Not like it¡¯s anything he¡¯d rather hide, anyway, right?


    X¨¹ Beijin turns his attention back to the stream with a smile. Muscular¡¯s arrival, and the events following, has distracted him from the stream for a while.


    Right now, he can see the Missiontakers having made some discoveries, apparently.


    In the Management offices, there was a drawer where they found the master keys inside¡­ Or, more accurately, a file recording the emergency passcode that applies to all electronic locks in this apartment building.


    Of course, the drawer was locked, but Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ retrieved a hammer from the Security office and smashed it open to reveal the paper records inside.


    None of them know whether Management offices would contain such items in real life, or if this is just a clue the Server put here on purpose to aid in their quest.


    No matter what, though, Jiang Shuangjie heaves a big sigh of relief. She really wants those two utility cards back, they¡¯re too important!


    Other than this file recording the passcode, after investigating the Management office further, they found other documents.


    Maintenance records for the facilities of the apartment building, a whole pile of letters of complaint from the tenants, all dated earlier than the letter in the Security office, and a Summons from the court dated a few days ago.


    It would appear the Luoke Apartment Management didn¡¯t just ignore the tenants¡¯ complaints, but in all the reports of the regular and additionally ordered maintenance checks, the result was universally ¡®No issues found.¡¯


    That Court Summons was stashed beneath a whole pile of useless documents, seemingly ignored by the Management already, but it is some information in this Summons that triggered a reaction in Thin, making him yell out.


    The rest of the Missiontakers all come to his side to check.


    Thin quickly summarises the information gleaned from the Summons, saying, ¡°about one week ago, one of the tenants, because of the elevator¡¯s unpredictable, sudden dropping down the floors, had a heart attack and died inside the elevator!


    So the tenants have filed a Class Action suit against Luoke Apartment Management, citing their failure to maintain the facilities in the apartment building and asking for damages.¡±


    Jiang Shuangjie falls into thought, saying, ¡°the records from the Management show that everything was normal even in the most recent maintenance records.¡±


    Thin gulps, and nervously asks, ¡°it couldn¡¯t really be¡­ the devices have gone sentient?¡±


    ¡­ He really doesn¡¯t want to face the possibility of a rogue, sentient toilet!


    The teenage girl just coldly replies, ¡°other than the fact these devices are acting up inexplicably, we still know nothing else.¡±


    Thin bitterly smiles and says, ¡°let¡¯s keep going, then.¡±


    They check the Management offices one last time, but does not find anything they may have missed.


    Then Jiang Shuangjie says, ¡°well¡­ I¡¯ll be going to that guy¡¯s house to look for my utility cards, then.¡±


    Thin nods, ¡°sure,¡± and hesitantly adds, ¡°do you¡­¡±


    They have confirmed that there are definite dangers in this apartment building. It would be best if they moved together.


    He doesn¡¯t voice it out loud, though, because Jiang Shuangjie is recovering her utility cards. If they seemed too enthusiastic, it could be taken as them showing too much interest in her utility cards.


    Jiang Shuangjie understands, and shakes her head, saying, ¡°you do you. I¡¯ll just go with my younger sister.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei reflexively pinches her older sister¡¯s sleeves tightly.


    For the first time ever, she feels like going against what her sister says. She is sure that her older sister has no idea¡­ No idea, how unsettling, hopeless it all was.


    In fact, she is even feeling slightly angry at her decision to take her with her.


    Although she still complied and didn¡¯t say a word, but she¡¯s still fearful in her mind, and would rather bolt from heading into an apartment unit again.


    Then Thin, the teenage girl and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ decided to go outside of the apartment unit to look for clues, while the sisters head for Muscular¡¯s apartment unit on the fourth floor.


    They don¡¯t dare ride the elevators anymore, and choose to walk on the stairs.


    Their footsteps echo in the otherwise silent stairwell.

 Volume 3 - CH 49.1

    Restart


    A few minutes later, the Jiang sisters are outside of Room 408.


    They didn¡¯t speak the whole way here. Jiang Shuangjie is busy thinking about where Muscular could have hid her utility cards, while Jiang Shuangmei is just seized by fear.


    Even though they are ascending the emergency stairs instead, but clearly, this high-class apartment complex still spared no budget. It is bright, definitely not feeling as cramped or eerie as normal emergency stairwells do. Even the green ¡®Exit¡¯ sign isn¡¯t giving off that special, fluorescent vibe.


    But Jiang Shuangmei still inexplicably feels uncomfortable.


    She knows that this is her still unable to adjust to the trauma from her earlier death; she realised then, that it was several years since she last died in a Nightmare.


    They stopped. Stopped for a whole few years. They¡¯ve practically forgotten, the fear and hopelessness that accompanies struggling in the Nightmares.


    This is a Nightmare, that¡¯s right¡­ Not just that of the Tower residents, but also that, of them. The Missiontakers.


    Finally, Jiang Shuangmei takes a deep breath and slowly calms herself down, because she knows deep down, that this is not a time for her to wallow in her fright and cowardice; or, in other words, she is finally coming to terms with where they actually are.


    This is a Nightmare. What use is there in being frightened?


    Even when she was all mentally unstable down at the lobby, the rest of the Missiontakers didn¡¯t just simply abandon her for that, possibly because she still had a normal-looking older sister.


    Jiang Shuangmei is looking at the round as she bitterly smiles, thinking, she truly¡­ did over-rely on her own older sister.


    Jiang Shuangjie cannot sense her twin younger sister¡¯s mind, though; they may talk about everything, they may be the only family for each other in the Tower, but, they are still two separate individuals. Jiang Shuangjie does not harbour possessive feelings for her twin sister, and only protectiveness instead.


    Right now, she is also too preoccupied to take a detailed look at her emotions, too; she has opened Room 408 already using the emergency passcode.


    She is slightly surprised and pauses, because she didn¡¯t expect it to proceed this smoothly. In the last run of the Nightmare, when she left her own apartment unit, she realised that even if the fingerprint was recognised, the door still locked her outside when she wanted to go back in.


    It is either that the door will only unlock again using the emergency passcode, or¡­ That smart lock of her apartment unit, was acting up?


    Jiang Shuangjie decides to store that thought inside for now, and enters the apartment, giving it a good look around.


    This apartment unit is an exact mirrored replica of her Room 807.


    She walks towards the furniture and begins searching through all of them; Jiang Shuangmei (TL: Raws read Jiang Shuangjie, but it makes no sense) is still standing still, over at the door, mentally preparing herself. Jiang Shuangjie doesn¡¯t hurry her either, merely searching in silence.


    After a dozen seconds, Jiang Shuangmei finally enters the apartment.


    That is the moment when she swears she could smell the scent of death again.


    A gaze has turned to her the moment she walked inside the door; it felt exactly like when she has died, again¡­ Her lips are trembling as her gaze swims about the apartment unit.


    Which furniture, which furniture is looking at her this time?!


    Jiang Shuangmei has gathered up her guts, and with nearly bulging eyes, she is examining everything in the apartment unit, even ignoring her busy older sister searching for her utility cards in turn.


    Finally, her gaze lands onto the light fitting on the ceiling.


    The lights¡­ It¡¯s right on top of her. It is quietly, calmly illuminating; yet ironically, it feels like the light it cast is like a shadow blanketing her.


    It is looking at her quietly.


    There isn¡¯t the¡­ malice, or hate, Jiang Shuangmei could feel in Room 1104. Quite the opposite, this light fitting emitting a warm yellow light, really does feel as gentle and soothing as the colour would suggest.


    Could it be real¡­ Jiang Shuangmei is shaking her head intensely. She is in disbelief.


    The feeling still does not go away. She could still feel a gaze from the light. In fact¡­ there is even a feeling of warmth.


    She only shudders at that realisation, however.


    ¡°¡­ Shuangshuang?¡±


    Jiang Shuangjie has turned around to say something, when she noticed Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s strange countenance, and asks reflexively.


    Jiang Shuangmei replies fearfully, ¡°sis¡­ Do you feel, that¡­ being stared at?¡±


    Jiang Shuangjie is hesitant before shaking her head.


    ¡°Impossible!¡± Jiang Shuangmei is screaming with a cracked voice, ¡°is it only looking at me?!¡±


    Jiang Shuangjie approaches her from the side and caresses her hair, asking, ¡°calm down, Shuangshuang; which furniture is it?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei pauses before looking up at the light fitting on the ceiling. It is a light with a spherical shade, resembling the full moon, or perhaps, an eyeball.


    Jiang Shuangjie also tries to examine but light, but only says in the end, ¡°if it¡¯s too much for you, just stand there at the door, ok?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei is unhappy with that; her older sister doesn¡¯t believe her, she can hear it. Maybe she is even thinking that she has started hallucinating because of her previous death, falsely feeling like something is staring at her.


    It can¡¯t be helped, because Jiang Shuangjie actually does not feel any gaze at all.


    The older sister sighs inside, exhausted, and out of options to cheer Jiang Shuangjie up. She glances and stares at this apartment unit¡­ She has already searched the living room thoroughly, but she doesn¡¯t find the two utility cards.


    She suspects Muscular would have split them up and hid them separately.


    Yet, this apartment unit itself is basically empty, and there isn¡¯t really anywhere to store things. But, speaking of which¡­


    Jiang Shuangjie enters the bathroom with an inkling in her mind. She looks around, and opens the toilet tank. A few seconds later, she extends her hand to retrieve a utility card from the bottom of the tank.


    She flings the water from her hand and smiles with relish.


    Hiding it there, huh¡­ Not too difficult, was it.


    Thinking so, she continues rummaging through the apartment unit, from the kitchen, to the dining area, to the bedroom¡­ Yet this time, no matter where she searched, she couldn¡¯t find it.


    Now her relish has disappeared, instead giving way to bafflement and creased brows.


    Jiang Shuangmei is still frozen by the door.


    The gaze¡­ The gaze from above her, is still staring. You see, humans cannot see the top of their own head, nor can they see their own back.


    So, if there really was something staring at the top of your head or back, you wouldn¡¯t know what they are actually looking at.


    Jiang Shuangmei is looking down at the ground, her body trembling. She doesn¡¯t dare moving, she doesn¡¯t even dare talking to her older sister; it¡¯s like she¡¯s back at Room 1104.


    Even though the gaze is calm and soothing, but Jiang Shuangmei does not trust it.


    Although¡­ A really, really long while later, in absolute silence, Jiang Shuangmei moves her stiff legs a little.


    Nothing happened.


    She takes a deep breath and tremblingly looks up at the light fitting, right above her, slightly in front of her, illuminating. She stares at the light.


    And the light stares back. A while later, that gaze, is now hurrying, encouraging her.


    Wait¡­ what?


    Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s eyes are wide open. She thinks she must have actually gone mad.


    Yet, a few minutes later, after they have removed the light¡¯s shade, unpeeled a section of duct tape, and retrieved the utility card stuck to the ceiling using the duct tape, the Jiang sisters are looking at each other with serious ¡®What? Where? How?¡¯ faces written on their faces¡­ What even is this?


    Jiang Shuangmei gulps and monotonously asks, ¡°it¡­ They, were hinting at us?¡±


    Jiang Shuangjie reinstalls the light¡¯s shade and gently pats the dust away.


    Then she says, ¡°this means that, even if the furniture has become sentient, there are still good intentions among them,¡± then, she falls into thought for a moment, and asks,, ¡°are there any facilities that can speak in this apartment building? We might be able to¡­¡±


    Suddenly, they look at each other and simultaneously blurts out, ¡°the elevator!¡±


    The Jiang sisters both exit Room 408 rushing, but no elevator is stopped on the fourth floor right now; they choose instead, to run back down to the ground floor to look for an elevator.


    The moment they arrive on the ground floor¡­


    The Nightmare, has restarted.


    Jiang Shuangjie reopens her eyes in Room 807, cussing immediately, ¡°Fuck! What the hell!¡±

 Volume 3 - CH 49.2

    Ten minutes earlier, following the stream¡¯s camera, we would arrive at the commercial complex.


    Muscular was already gone somewhere, and the rest of the Missiontakers have split into two, one looking for their missing utility card, while this group left the apartment building altogether.


    X¨¹ Beijin chose to focus on Thin, the teenage girl and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ mostly because he is still rather curious about the expression Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ once showed towards the commercial complex.


    They found nothing useful about the apartment building, and decided to head towards the commercial complex, when Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ showed that strange look on his face again.


    He could feel that something unreasonable, terrifying was approaching him, so he was restless, agitated, fearful, but he had to hold back from showing it, lest the monster notices and rushed his way.


    Thin and the teenage girl were preoccupied talking about something else, meanwhile, on things regarding this Nightmare.


    They basically knew what was happening in this Nightmare, but have yet to discover the Nightmare¡¯s owner or found out anything about the Ending of the Nightmare.


    Thin complained, ¡°if only we knew it wasn¡¯t an empty house¡­¡±


    Just like Lin Qin, they thought the house next to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s in the Tower was empty.


    The Tower resident moved away a few days ago, and nobody expected a new resident would have moved in without so much as a noise barely a few days in?


    So they have basically been surprise-included into this Nightmare.


    ¡°Watch your words,¡± the teenage girl uttered coldly, ¡°regarding this Nightmare¡­ I might have heard something about it.¡±


    Thin¡¯s eyes sparkled and he turns to take a glance at Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, seeing if he was far enough away that the girl could just tell him then and there, only to notice his lingering fear and being so distracted that he didn¡¯t even notice Thin looking at him.


    Thin went hesitant.


    They were at the commercial complex¡¯s entrance already, they¡¯ll be inside in a moment.


    Thin asked, ¡°¡­ are you alright?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ was looking up at the electronic display of the commercial building when he answered with such a gravelly voice, ¡°no¡­¡±


    Both Thin and the teenage girl paused.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ bitter smiled, saying, ¡°not doing too well.¡±


    Thin thought carefully about what words to say, and asks, ¡°uh¡­ If it¡¯s something about the Nightmare¡­ Of course, we¡¯re not necessarily forcing you¡­¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ looked up at the commercial building and said with this dream-like, floating kind of tone, ¡°I¡¯ve been here¡­¡±


    Thin and the girl both looked shocked


    In the stream, X¨¹ Beijin was quite visibly shaken just hearing that too. He glanced at the comment barrage where the viewers were now speculating that the young man might have been to this Nightmare already¡­ But X¨¹ Beijin was anxious.


    Clearly, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ wasn¡¯t talking about the Nightmare, or even the Tower, but¡­


    ¡°¡­ on Earth,¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ finished his sentence, ¡°I¡¯ve been to this place on Earth.¡±


    Now even the viewers in the stream are in shock, ¡°woah, what did he mean?¡±


    ¡°he meant the artists of this game were so lazy they ported buildings on earth directly into the game! there might even be copyright issues!¡±


    ¡°so, he¡¯s basically a physical cheat? [doge emoji]¡±


    ¡°as a usual player, id like to express my disdain at this behaviour¡­ game companies, plz look at buildings ive been to!!!¡±


    The viewers have veered off the rails completely to laugh at themselves, completely failing to realise what implications Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s words carried.


    X¨¹ Beijin was truly relieved the detective dalao was absent then, and wasn¡¯t here to watch the stream.


    Otherwise, when he had the clues of ¡®a host-only game¡¯ plus what the players assert ¡®to have once seen these on Earth,¡¯ he may come to rather unfortunate conclusions.


    At least, X¨¹ Beijin could come up with unfortunate conclusions.


    His expression was changing a lot as he stared at the young man in the screen¡­ This should be impossible.


    ¡°¡­ That¡¯s impossible!¡± Thin almost looked like he was stung by a hornet, loudly disagreeing, ¡°how could buildings on Earth be in the Nightmare?!¡±


    Even the usually calm and collected teenage girl had her face contorted and muttering something to herself.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ chuckled coldly out of reflex. He just told them he had once been to this commercial complex on Earth. He hasn¡¯t even told them that he could not find out where this feeling of familiarity came from in any of his memories.


    He was certain he had been here, but he could remember nothing more, so he believed¡­ His memories, were faulty.


    He didn¡¯t dare say anything about this, though.


    He didn¡¯t dare face the issue or share this issue with anyone else, because everyone knew that the Server, NE, was monitoring them 24/7.


    There have always been rumours in the Tower, or rather, conspiracies in the Tower, that involve NE.


    A common theme among them is that there is some kind of unseen hand moving things behind it all, monitoring them through the means known as NE.


    Even though NE is just an artificial intelligence, whether it could recognise itself as being an accomplice in such a terrible act is yet another question, but the Server, undoubtedly, is monitoring everything in Nightmares around the clock.


    There was a moment when Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ really was going to talk about the problem with his memories, because he alone could never ever shoulder such a hefty, horrifying truth, and he needed to share, no matter what, he did not want to face this truth alone.


    Yet fear has made him give up on the idea.


    For the current Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, whether he said it out loud or not, it would seem some terrifying fate was awaiting him, regardless. That¡¯s why, in the end, he said part of the truth.


    The other part may, one day, end up driving him mad.


    X¨¹ Beijin gave a good, hard look at this rigid, pale young man. He was also curious about what this young man knew. If he has already told them everything that gripped him, then why was he still so fearful?


    Also, the other question, just like the audience has said, what if this commercial area was really just a product of laziness, of deciding to borrow something from somewhere in reality? Why could that not be a possibility?


    This was a simple, straightforward enough conclusion, easy to make, since all in all, this was just a game.


    So¡­ What was it that Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ feared?

 Volume 3 - CH 49.3

    At this moment, both Thin and the teenage girl have been led astray by the way Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ worded everything, perhaps thinking that while the Tower is part of the game itself, but the Nightmare has transported them back onto Earth somehow.


    They would realise soon enough, though, that Nightmares were undoubtedly still part of the game, of course.


    As X¨¹ Beijin expected, after the initial shock, Thin has calmed down enough to point out, ¡°it is just one scenario. It might not actually be whatever that place was¡­ in reality.¡±


    The teenage girl also nodded to add, ¡°Nightmares always featured structures found on Earth. It¡¯s normal to find some of them eerily similar.¡±


    ¡°Is that so¡­¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ still seemed out of it, though.


    Thin and the teenage girl both furled their brows subconsciously.


    The girl wasn¡¯t good at cheering people up, so Thin said instead, ¡°brother, the most important thing right now is resolving this Nightmare, rather than¡­ thinking about other things,¡± he sighed and added, ¡°it might sound harsh, but¡­ what use is there mulling over them?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ stared straight at him for a while before forcing a smile onto his face, answering, ¡°yeah¡­ you¡¯re right¡­ Focusing on these is meaningless.¡±


    Though it¡¯s still driving him mad as they spoke.


    Thin thought he got over it, however, and so nodded before leading the three of them into the building in front of them.


    As soon as they were inside, Thin remarked, ¡°it sure is lively.¡±


    There was a warm breeze in the crowded commercial complex, at just the right temperature to send one to sweet dreams. The people walking around are almost touching shoulder-to-shoulder; the three Missiontakers could be convinced they have returned home, returned to Earth.


    Though the teenage girl was merely looking at them with this poker face, asking, ¡°how do we find the person who can provide us with information from all of the people here?¡±


    Thin ¡°¡­¡±


    What a very good question.


    X¨¹ Beijin chuckled silently with his head resting on his arm.


    In the last Nightmare, if it wasn¡¯t for someone having already been to that Nightmare before, the Missiontakers would have had difficulty isolating Dai Wu in the service area too. That was merely on the scale of a dozen or two Missiontakers as well.


    Here?


    The commercial complex contains at least hundreds of Missiontakers, most of them are like X¨¹ Beijin ¨C they don¡¯t know a thing about this Nightmare.


    Quite the demanding task they had at hand, it was.


    Thin also came to the same conclusion soon enough, and said, ¡°the Server would never come up with impossible situations. Perhaps the point of this isn¡¯t actually about the Tower residents.¡±


    The teenage girl nodded in agreement.


    Thin then glanced at Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, and fell into thought for a moment before saying, ¡°let¡¯s split up and search? You¡¯ll go underground, we¡¯ll be above ground?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ nods slowly.


    They separated, and after Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ has left them, Thin and the teenage girl didn¡¯t begin searching. Instead, Thin asked, ¡°what was that, about having heard something¡­ on this Nightmare?¡±


    The teenage girl answered, ¡°this Nightmare was apparently one of the Nightmares on the bottom floor many years ago.¡±


    Thin was astonished to hear that.


    While he and this teenage girl were erstwhile companions in the Nightmare for now, they only teamed up recently; they didn¡¯t even know each other a while back.


    Therefore Thin couldn¡¯t help but be surprised to hear her talk about the bottom floor from years past, because, a few years ago, he was still on a higher floor.


    The teenage girl explained, ¡°you might not have known,¡± she knew about Thin¡¯s past, and continued, ¡°but there was once a bookstore owner that caused a period of general unrest in the Tower.¡±


    Back in the bookstore, X¨¹ Beijin was shocked to hear his name again, and shocked that this is yet another thing tying to him now.


    He bitterly chuckled and felt more genuinely than ever that the arrival of the streaming system did upend his entire understanding of this place he lived in.


    The Tower¡­


    He sighed.


    The teenage girl continued her explanation, ¡°back then, the Missiontakers employed all sorts of methods in their craze to enter his Nightmare, including, of course¡­ trying their luck with his neighbour. Some Missiontakers merely tried talking to her, but some entered her Nightmare instead.¡±


    His neighbour¡­ X¨¹ Beijin suddenly recalled that, in the last Nightmare, Mu Jiashi also mentioned his neighbour.


    ¡­ That¡¯s right. A few years ago, all while the Missiontakers all had their sights set dead on his Nightmare, his neighbour had been a female Actor. It was her the whole time.


    And, if he remembered correctly, it was around the time the Missiontakers gradually lost interest in his Nightmare that the Actor moved out of the bottom floor.


    X¨¹ Beijin recalled for a while and confirmed that she was the Actor the whole time.


    Wait, if so¡­


    Visible confusion seeped into X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s expression.


    And Thin also couldn¡¯t help but ask, after hearing the teenage girl say that, ¡°you mean, this Nightmare, is the exact Nightmare of that ex-neighbour of the bookstore owner?¡±


    ¡°Sentient electronic devices¡­¡± The teenage girl muttered this specific characteristic of the Nightmare, then nodded to say, ¡°yes.¡±


    Thin seemed visibly baffled, and asked, ¡°but I remember that the Nightmare of the neighbour to the bookstore owner isn¡¯t this¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the one before,¡± the teenage girl answered, ¡°a woman that moved away after someone achieved a True End in her Nightmare, just like the rest of the Tower residents. That was when that man you must be thinking of moved in. A short while ago, this man also moved away¡­¡±


    Thin continued, ¡°and the woman moved back?¡± He couldn¡¯t help but chuckle, ¡°what, so they could move back to their old addresses?¡±


    The teenage girl shook her head to say, ¡°who knows?¡±


    Thin also left that question behind and instead said, ¡°so any info you¡¯ve got on this Nightmare of hers?¡±


    They have started walking about the ground floor of the commercial complex by now, observing the stores and the Tower residents.


    ¡°I only know that, it seems there was more than just the issue of the electronics going rogue,¡± the teenage girl then added slightly ominously, ¡°the Missiontakers that have gone through this wouldn¡¯t say much, but apparently¡­ some of them were gone.¡±


    ¡°Gone?¡±


    ¡°They say, even if they got a Normal End and can leave the Nightmare¡­ They would still find part of the Missiontakers missing, almost like¡­ you know.¡±


    Thin was silent.


    He knew she was referring to the ¡®Collapsed Nightmares,¡¯ ones that crumbled completely and endlessly repeated. Normally, they do not touch on this topic, because they all have companions that have been lost to them, never to return.


    Thin took a deep breath, and murmured, ¡°but¡­ how could that be?¡±


    They already had a Normal End but they still lost themselves in a Collapsed Nightmare? How is that even possible?


    The teenage girl was about to say something when suddenly, they realise the crowd¡¯s noises were getting rowdier and there were also unease and terror on some of the faces here; suddenly, from the underground floor, there were outright yells and screams.


    They look each other in the eye and almost immediately came to the same conclusion ¨C Something happened where Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ is!


    Yet they didn¡¯t have time to act, because, the next second, their eyes go dark.


    The Nightmare has restarted.


    And right now, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ has his eyes wide open in terror, taking a few steps back in reflex, falling onto the sofa with dilated pupils and bulging eyes. It looks like he just bore witness to some most horrifying, nightmarish scene.

 Volume 3 - CH 50.1

    Value for Money


    Third run of the Nightmare.


    Sitting behind his bookstore counter, X¨¹ Beijin is deep in thought.


    ¡­ This is the Nightmare once assigned to his ex-neighbour?


    So, quick question ¨C Did a new Actor get assigned this Nightmare and be its owner, or¡­ Could that female Actor who has once lived next to him, returned to the bottom floor of the Tower?


    The Missiontakers do not know that the Tower residents are also just designated human players, so both possibilities would be functionally the same for them ¨C That female Tower resident who once moved away is back.


    In some sense, Actors take the role of an NPC in-game exactly. The Missiontakers only ¡®know¡¯ the NPCs; the Tower residents have always been Tower residents. Their countenance and personality never change, because only the Actor beneath it all changes (TL: Rather obscured plot point here ¨C Tower residents can have their appearances changed at the whim of the Server by virtue of the role they are assigned to; this point doesn¡¯t do anything else in the future as far as I remember, but it¡¯s such an underutilised and interesting writing potential).


    So obviously, the Missiontakers who do not have all the information, will assume that it is the same person moving around.


    However, for Actors who are in-the-know, so to speak, like X¨¹ Beijin, two possibilities emerge ¨C could the Actor wearing the resident¡¯s skin have changed, or not?


    The first possibility is, well, just that, a new Actor has come to take the role of this Tower resident. It¡¯s the common occurrence. In this case, besides the Tower resident and the associated Nightmare, everything else could change.


    Like their house¡¯s address, the Difficulty in the Nightmare, and even which floor of the Tower they are on, and so on.


    Apparently a Missiontaker once ran into this exceedingly rare situation. After achieving a True End in a certain Nightmare on the bottom floor of the Tower and going up to a higher floor, he meets that exact Tower resident, (possibly with a different Actor underneath the skin), and their associated Nightmare again, and with information he already has, he managed another True End.


    What else could one say¡­ But that he must have been the God of Fortune in a past life.


    Meanwhile, the second possibility, that the exact same Actor is back on the bottom floor¡­ Is what confuses X¨¹ Beijin.


    An Actor dumped back onto a lower floor and reassigned the role of a Tower resident they have once Acted as?


    X¨¹ Beijin has never heard of such a thing.


    Missiontakers ending up with Bad Ends on higher floors could be forced back down, but Actors are not part of the system.


    Also, if that Actor has already been to a higher floor once, then she already has some experience from that success; could it have been intentional that she opened her Nightmare this one?


    So many questions now occupy X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mind.


    He sighs in exhaustion. Really, his life has become so much more complicated after picking up this streaming system.


    ¡­ Not that it was even his to begin with; like he said, he picked it up.


    And that¡­ game streamer? Ever since the first Nightmare, X¨¹ Beijin has never met the person again, but X¨¹ Beijin still has some deep-seated anxiety regarding him.


    When the streamer left the game, it must have been some bug that dumped this streaming system¡ª¡ªOr rather, a data access point for a stream?¡ª¡ªbehind in this game, ¡®Escape,¡¯ to be picked up by X¨¹ Beijin.


    This brings with it a new question. If that streamer can enter this game, then couldn¡¯t others also potentially enter?


    Earth¡­ The viewers in the stream knows about Earth as well. They are also humans. Then, that streamer that once appeared in the Tower, was he also Earthian?


    However, if they all were, then why, during the stream, would his viewers not know about these people in the Tower being trapped? For that matter, why are they trapped and unable to leave the game?


    The viewers also implied there were many other games like ¡®Escape,¡¯ too, where normal players cannot enter¡­ Why?


    If a normal player cannot enter, how could that streamer, or other hosts, even stream them?


    If normal people have heard of, or have even seen these streams, why are they unaware that they are trapped in the game and not voluntary players inside?


    What actually happened¡­ outside?


    X¨¹ Beijin, so worried, can only sigh in exasperation and frustration.


    He has always been averse to thinking about these questions, because the world outside the Tower post-Tower-entry has always been both a source of curiosity and frustration for X¨¹ Beijin.


    All the helplessness piled up and, after enough time, X¨¹ Beijin went numb.


    Just like all the residents who have truly become lost in the Tower, their minds are muddled, their countenances unremarkable. He didn¡¯t want to think about the future, or harbour nostalgia for the past, or even grasp the present.


    It was exactly as Dai Wu said ¨C he¡¯s already gone on to treat this game as his ¡®first life.¡¯ He let it happen, because he was powerless. He couldn¡¯t do anything.


    The streaming system, brought him a ray of hope.


    Yet, is this light ray good, or bad?


    The Server¡­ NE. Does it know he is streaming right now?


    X¨¹ Beijin closes his dried eyes, and rubs between his eyebrows. He is tired, both physically, and mentally.


    After staying quiet for a moment, he opens his eyes back up and turns his attention back to the stream.


    With his mood thus dampened, he doesn¡¯t even feel like taking another walk outside, even though there¡¯s another hour until the Missiontakers can leave their apartment units.


    A long, arduous hour.


    Jiang Shuangjie and Jiang Shuangmei are both frustrated over their incomplete investigation.


    They have already realised that, among the facilities gone rogue in the Luoke Apartment, not all of them harbour pure malice for humanity.


    Many certainly are, like the bathtub and the Roomba and the air-con and even the electronic door lock that wanted Jiang Shuangmei dead; there are others, like the curtains in Jiang Shuangjie¡¯s apartment unit, that is merely cold.


    And in fact, in Room 408, of Muscular, the light fitting on the ceiling is even friendly to humans.


    Therefore, the Jiang sisters have made the logical conclusion that they must attempt to communicate with these sentient pieces of furniture. At this point, the only device that can ¡®talk¡¯ that they know of, are the elevators of the apartment building.


    More importantly, at this stage, they do not yet see the elevators holding explicit grudges towards humans. They seem to prefer teasing and trickery. That said, one resident has died because of a trick-induced cardiac arrest. They can¡¯t help but be wary.


    Who knows if that was really just another tease, or a premeditated murder?


    There are six elevators, so they are also unable to immediately identify which ones are good or bad.


    Of course, that aside, they still had to make a move somehow; it was only that, when they were going to make a move, the Nightmare restarted.


    What happened?


    Jiang Shuangjie is slightly worried. She is definitely not a fan of these sudden incidents, just like how Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s unexpected death caused the Nightmare to restart in the first run, any unknown deaths in the Nightmares always cause commotion to take root in the Missiontakers¡¯ minds.


    Though¡­


    Jiang Shuangjie touches the inside pocket of her clothes and sighs in relief. No matter what, she¡¯s found both utility cards again. That is a good thing for sure.


    In contrast to her joy, Muscular is certainly irate right now.


    The moment the Nightmare restarted, he touched his pocket to realise his two stolen utility cards have disappeared already, and only the few he brought along to this Nightmare originally are still with him. He ¡®tch¡¯s.


    Damn. They actually found them.


    Yes, the one in the bathroom¡¯s toilet cistern wasn¡¯t too difficult, but he¡¯s hid the other one stuck to the inside of the lamp shade with duct tape. How could anyone have found it so quickly?


    He glances up skeptically at the lamp.


    The round lamp is giving out light peacefully, as always.


    Failing to see anything weird, the man just sighs and gives up, kicking the sofa in his frustration, then turns around and tells himself that, hey, he¡¯s got information that nobody else know now, hasn¡¯t he?


    Just that piece of news makes this trip in the Nightmare worth it.


    ¡­ Though, it was originally two utility cards plus one piece of information, and even several utility cards lying in wait just for him, and now he is only left with one piece of information¡­ Muscular can¡¯t help but think that it¡¯s his loss.


    Standing there, he tries to persuade himself to stand down. Safety comes first. It is a good thing he could leave the Nightmare.


    However, he still keeps involuntarily looking up at the light, and at the bathroom. He¡¯s getting more frustrated by the minute.


    The more he thought about it, the more angry he got; the more he conceded, the more he is going to lose.


    In the end, his eyes are turning red as he paces about his apartment unit, muttering, ¡°shit, my utility cards¡­¡±


    Even though they were Jiang Shuangjie¡¯s utility cards, but after stealing them, he just assumed ownership of them.


    He¡¯s so angry he is breathing heavily and gripping his fist. A moment after, he walks next to the entrance to wait for the hour to pass¡ª¡ªHe has thrown his original intentions out and decided not to stay inside his apartment unit.


    He has decided, he will go retrieve ¡®his¡¯ utility cards!

 Volume 3 - CH 50.2

    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Similarly trembling right now is Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, the contrast being, Muscular was trembling from anger, but Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ from fear.


    He is sitting there with a poker face but trembling hands and legs. His gaze is actually unfocused, rather similar to the immediate expression of Jiang Shuangmei after her death. It is because they have both perished under something they were not expecting.


    Jiang Shuangmei died in the bathroom;


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ died on an escalator.


    An escalator.


    After separating with Thin and the teenage girl, he took the escalator down to the underground floor. After a look around, rather than finding some clues, he found his mouth watering at all the smell of delicious food drifting through the air.


    Too bad he had no money. He could only watch the delicious food from afar.


    Then, he sauntered towards the escalator, to head to the second floor underground.


    The escalators are the stairs kind, instead of the smooth but much longer flat escalator they build in big shopping malls as usual, so Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ had to be more careful and watch his step so that he didn¡¯t tumble.


    Yet, when he was sure he was correctly walking onto the escalator, he could feel an utterly hateful gaze aimed straight at him. The cold, dark feeling embedded within made him shake even in the warm air.


    Right as it happened, he saw with his own two eyes, the step he was going to take, suddenly shift forward; he was supposed to get on safely; he was careful, but, seemingly unwilling to let him board, the whole escalator nudged forward.


    It was too late for him to take his step back, so he tumbled, head-first, rolling down the escalator.


    He was bleeding all over already, rolling towards the glass door installed after the escalator, which should have opened when it detected weight coming its way, but it didn¡¯t. He crashed into it, the glass door shattered, and its shards stabbed right into his hands, his legs, his torso, and his head.


    Then, he bled to death.


    The vomit-inducing tumble, the suffocation, the taste of blood, the pain of what must have been his spine snapping, the dizziness as he crashed into the glass door, the pain of glass shards stabbing into his flesh, the way his consciousness drifted and numbed while drenched in a puddle of his own blood¡­


    Basically, the moment the Nightmare restarted, he coughed and nearly threw up.


    Death¡­ Some Missiontakers may be used to dying already; some can never get used to it.


    He sits on the sofa for a while with a pale face until he could calm back down ¨C it has been half an hour since the Nightmare restarted already. He is finally able to think again.


    There is a problem with the escalator. This means that the commercial complex isn¡¯t safe either.


    The apartment complex and the commercial complex next to it. The sentient electronics. An excessive, oozing malice¡­ Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ falls into thought. However, he is unable to continue thinking soon enough, because another gaze has locked onto him.


    He almost reflexively shudders again; he tries to clam himself down as much as he could, however, to check each and every corner of his apartment unit¡­ No. No¡­ Not here, everything is normal.


    Finally, he turns towards the peephole on the door.


    In the first run of the Nightmare, he thought that there was someone leaning on the door, using the peephole to stare at him with this twisted, evil gaze.


    Now he knows better.


    The peephole, is the eye.


    He stares right back at the peephole, until¡­ for some reason, the gaze suddenly goes away, as suddenly as it came.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ exasperatedly exhales in relief. Then, he furrows his brows again, nonplussed.


    What the heck¡­ why did the peephole glare at him fiercely with that evil intent, and then, just go away? Why did it just give up?


    If Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ is able to share his feelings right now, he would probably find a sympathetic companion in Jiang Shuangmei, because she also just met with the same conundrum.


    In the first run of the Nightmare, the bathtub killed her; in the second run, she almost froze to death in her own bedroom by a coordinated effort from the bedroom door smart lock and the central heating.


    She knew that all the sentient pieces of furniture in her apartment holds nothing but contempt and intent to kill for her, so she took in her surroundings immediately when the Nightmare restarted.


    She left the bedroom almost immediately, then quickly runs for the door and crouches down by its side, leaning on the wall, burying her head in her legs and was ready to wait out the first hour of the Nightmare.


    Half an hour later, she moved her stiff and numb legs a little, when she suddenly realises, that half an hour has passed, but nothing in her apartment unit is acting up.


    Shocked, she begins pondering why.


    Not just the furniture is quiet, but she doesn¡¯t even sense any malicious gazes.


    She can¡¯t help but wishfully wonder ¨C did the furniture, finally let her off the leash?


    She might not have thought anything of it if this was the first time something like this has happened, but it¡¯s already the second time. The last run of the Nightmare, the central heating and the bedroom door let her go inexplicably; the elevator playfully closed its doors on her, but wasn¡¯t doing anything to threaten her life.


    This time, the apartment unit is so quiet that, it feels there is no danger around at all.


    She may not be as smart, but now, she has also made the possible connection in her head, that could it be that after having died in the Nightmare already, the sentient electronic devices will no longer target her?


    Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s mood improves almost immediately. She really isn¡¯t good with these faux-supernatural things. If you ask her to fight with some murderer, sure; dealing with these weird sentient ghost-like things? No way.


    She is even thinking if this is really the case, then perhaps she can also convince her older sister to die once¡­? It¡¯ll be painful, but then, they¡¯ll be safe for a few runs at least.


    Though¡­ she immediately dissuades herself from the thought. This is not yet certain, so of course she shouldn¡¯t tell her older sister to take the risk.


    It is still, death. They resurrect, of course, but they still die before that. Not in the same sense that a character you control in a video game dies and, well, you can¡¯t feel it anyway, but rather¡­ A death that they experience personally.


    So Jiang Shuangmei gives up on the thought.


    Her mood has lightened, so she stops crouching by the door. The trauma from before means she would still rather avoid the bathroom and bedroom, though, and she just blanks out daydreaming by the door instead.

 Volume 3 - CH 50.3

    Time drags on.


    X¨¹ Beijin hasn¡¯t left the bookstore. He is still blanking out behind the counter, thinking about the Tower, Nightmares, all the uncomfortable stuff, and sometimes thinking about this weird Nightmare and his strange neighbour, and sometimes, his thoughts drift towards the clingy Lin Qin, and, sometimes, he snaps back and turns his attention back on the stream for a moment¡­


    The viewers sure are bored.


    They all still want to know what the truth behind this Nightmare is, though, and instead of leaving, they¡¯re having fun meming each other on the comment barrage instead.


    Right now, all seven scenes are visible on the comment barrage, showing each Missiontaker clearly. So, they are having some fun guessing what sort of sentient device each of them is dealing with by looking at their reactions on camera.


    Of course, the most nonchalant one here is Lin Qin. Nobody can tell if he¡¯s met any weird gazes. Maybe the furniture also have sharp survival instincts, but no matter what, it is clear Lin Qin looks absolutely no different from normal.


    The viewers all go,


    ¡°eh never mind never mind, little apple is still just a little apple today¡±


    Next, would be¡­ wait, the most relaxed one otherwise, is Jiang Shuangmei?!


    ¡°this makes no sense!¡±


    ¡°wasn¡¯t this girl crying like mad the last run?¡±


    ¡°weird¡­ shes suddenly so relaxed? even singing and smiling?¡±


    After noticing her odd behaviour, X¨¹ Beijin has moved the source of the audio over to her.


    Therefore, the viewers become the unwilling audience of the Missiontaker, who was still fearing this apartment building so much she looked mad the last run around, singing happily to herself.


    X¨¹ Beijin is shocked as well, and is carefully scrutinising the facial expression of Jiang Shuangmei on the stream, and realise, she really shows no sign of fear anymore.


    Why? Did she figure out what the deal is with this Nightmare? Did she figure out how to escape, or at least, mitigate the murderous sentient electronics?


    At least that is the only reason X¨¹ Beijin could think of that could explain her much more casual stance.


    He then recalls Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s experience the last run of the Nightmare. It was fortunate that, both times she was attacked, it was caught on-camera.


    X¨¹ Beijin starts to show a more interesting expression as he thinks about it.


    She has escaped harm twice now¡­ Once, the central air-conditioning and the door lock unexpectedly fixed themselves. The other time, the elevator doors closed in on her as a joke, basically.


    Compared to the first run of the Nightmare, the dangers toned down dramatically. It was more like they were threatening or scaring her, not actually trying to kill her anymore.


    More importantly, the bathtub and the Roomba, both of which went after Jiang Shuangmei in the first run, did nothing in the second run at all.


    Does this mean that, after Missiontakers are killed and then resurrected by the sentient furniture, they will understand that killing is useless and then give up on it?


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s guess goes slightly deeper than Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s.


    To verify his own guess, he immediately checks out Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s view in the stream.


    In the last run, although X¨¹ Beijin failed to see Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s death directly, but because his death occurred right at the escalator down to the second floor underground, he heard the chaotic screaming coming directly into his bookstore.


    Plus, because he could see where every Missiontaker was in the stream, he knew who it was immediately.


    Right now, just like Jiang Shuangmei, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ appeared more relaxed than before.


    X¨¹ Beijin decides that his guess holds for now, and shares his thoughts with the viewers.


    While the audience applauded, X¨¹ Beijin paused before adding, ¡°this may be a sign of more troubling news in the future, however.¡±


    The viewers all type question marks.


    X¨¹ Beijin sweeps his gaze across the seven Missiontakers visible on his screen, and explains, ¡°dying once in exchange for safety in the Nightmare sounds like a very good value-for-money for the Missiontakers,


    And given that Nightmares often crumble chaotically, resulting in more dangers in later runs, the difficulty of the furniture¡¯s murders will definitely change compared to how it was in the beginning.


    If so, then for the Missiontakers, it would be safer to only trade their lives away in further runs; there is no guarantee how long this safety net lasts, you see?


    In other words, if Missiontakers come to this conclusion, they may very well decide to commit suicide as the number of runs increases, instead of trying their best to survive.


    The viewers all nod in unison and in understanding, while loudly chastising the game developers for being so utterly morally bankrupt and conniving.


    X¨¹ Beijin smiles seeing that.


    Without the detective dalao leading them on, the viewers in the stream sure are both well-behaved and amusing. They¡¯re all so cute with their decorative brains on display, trusting anything and everything X¨¹ Beijin says.


    X¨¹ Beijin was almost going to remark on them all being so ¡®lovely¡¯ to be around with, but hesitates since they might take it as him mocking their intelligence, especially with his appearance too, if the viewers misunderstand¡­ He gives up quietly.


    He sighs and silently turns his attention back to the stream.


    An hour has passed since the third run of the Nightmare started.


    Jiang Shuangjie immediately opens the door to leave her apartment.


    After leaving, she once again tries her fingerprint on the lock, but fails. She even tries the emergency passcode she remembered from earlier, but it also fails.


    So she looks at the door lock while pondering, and just takes a deep breath in the end, telling herself to ignore this thing.


    Other than locking her out of the apartment unit, the lock hasn¡¯t exactly done anything else. Let¡¯s put a ¡®harmless¡¯ label on it for now.


    She walks towards the elevator lobby, hesitating between the options of calling the elevator up or walking all the way down to find an elevator.


    That is when the lights on the eighth floor corridor starts flickering again.


    The first run of the Nightmare, the damned lights have been flickering; the second run, Jiang Shuangjie was too preoccupied going after Muscular for the utility cards, so she didn¡¯t pay attention to the lights at all; this time, it¡¯s flickering again¡­ Quite annoying, actually.


    Jiang Shuangjie looks up at the light with this frustrated look on her face.


    When she suddenly freezes.


    Three short flashes, three longer flashes, followed by three shorter flashes again.


    Three dots, three dashes, three dots.


    ¡­ Jiang Shuangjie¡¯s jaw is on the floor.


    Isn¡¯t this that fucking Morse code for SOS?!

 Volume 3 - CH 51.1

    Coincidentally


    Jiang Shuangjie thinks she must have run into the most laughable thing in the world.


    A light bulb©¤©¤A light bulb in the corridor, is fucking asking for help from her!


    She is looking back at the corridor with a poker face, suspecting she must be dreaming©¤©¤Ha, of course she has to be, she is in a Nightmare, after all.


    She takes a deep breath to calm herself down, and asks tentatively, ¡°are you¡­ asking for help? If yes, then blink once¡­¡±


    Before she has even finished speaking, the light on the corridor blinks once.


    ¡­ Just fucking once!


    Jiang Shuangjie feels dizzy. She cannot comprehend such a supernatural phenomenon.


    Besides¡­ A light¡­ Why is a light asking her for help?!


    ¡°I¡­¡± Jiang Shuangjie gulps; her throat feels parched. She asks, ¡°how, do I help you?¡±


    In the corridor, the light bulb and the person fall into silence.


    A light bulb cannot speak, nor can Jiang Shuangjie understand anything from blinking lights. She only recognises SOS in Morse code, but she can¡¯t remember a single other letter.


    She isn¡¯t one of those geniuses who remembers everything seen once, or a know-it-all.


    In the end, the light on the corridor just maintains its luminescence throughout. It seems to have given up entirely.


    Jiang Shuangjie gives a deep look at the light hanging over the eighth floor corridor and recalls how Jiang Shuangmei incoherently blabbered about the light in Room 408 hinting them¡­ She wonders, if there might be some kind of commonality between these events?


    They¡¯re both lights. They¡¯re both friendly or at least cooperative in attitude¡­


    She cannot make sense of it otherwise, and looks back at the elevator lobby instead.


    Taking a deep breath, she decides to take the stairs in the end. No matter what, safety first. Nobody knows if the elevators are hostile towards them. Nobody can guarantee anything.


    A few minutes later, the Missiontakers again assemble on the lobby of the ground floor, save for Lin Qin and Muscular.


    Thin doesn¡¯t mind that neither have shown up. X¨¹ Beijin, perhaps in a fit of OCD flaring up, checks out where they¡¯re going, and sees that Lin Qin left the apartment building before anybody else came downstairs, perhaps heading for the commercial complex.


    While Muscular¡­ Muscular¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin is surprised to find Muscular where nobody expected.


    Room 807.


    ¡­ Isn¡¯t this Jiang Shuangjie¡¯s apartment?


    How did he even make it inside? X¨¹ Beijin remembers that in the first run of the Nightmare, Jiang Shuangjie already tried returning to her apartment unit, but the door would not open.


    Could only Missiontakers who are not the designated tenant re-enter an apartment unit of some other Missiontaker? Or could it be that the lock of Jiang Shuangjie¡¯s apartment was acting up somehow?


    X¨¹ Beijin is tending towards the latter.


    Though there isn¡¯t really any danger in Jiang Shuangjie¡¯s apartment unit¡­ Other than the curtains that float up and the door lock that refuses its owner.


    Still, it is strange for Muscular to be inside her apartment unit in any case. What is he even doing here?


    Wait¡­ Is he thinking that Jiang Shuangjie could have placed her utility cards in the apartment unit?


    X¨¹ Beijin finds himself speechless at the possibility.


    And that is exactly what Muscular is assuming ¨C in the last run, after he stole Jiang Shuangjie¡¯s utility cards, he hid them inside his own apartment unit.


    After realising how valuable the two utility cards were back then, he believes that Jiang Shuangjie would be much more careful with them now.


    Therefore, Muscular thinks that she may have only brought one card out with her and left the other one in her apartment unit so that it wouldn¡¯t be stolen. If he could break into her apartment unit, then he might be able to retrieve that utility card with zero effort, no?


    In some sense, Muscular is correct, because Jiang Shuangjie did become more cautious and wary after having her cards stolen, but, he was assuming himself on her too much.


    Because utility cards are worthless to Missiontakers if they are put away unused in Nightmares no matter what, you see?


    Still, Muscular went to Room 807.


    He didn¡¯t have the emergency passcode, so he was just here to try his luck.


    However, when he arrived at the door to Room 807, somehow, the door was ajar, leaving a small gap. Muscular is elated, thinking even the Heavens are helping him out©¤©¤Jiang Shuangjie forgot to shut the door properly when she left!


    He slips into Room 807 and shuts the door.


    The door makes a ¡®click¡¯ sound as it locks back up.


    Jiang Shuangjie doesn¡¯t know Muscular has sneaked into her apartment. If she did, she would surely just be speechless at it all.


    Only Carddealers who treat utility cards as merchandise would think about storing valuables somewhere safe. Missiontakers who try their best in Nightmares, like Jiang Shuangjie herself, would of course always keep useful utility cards on their persons.


    What if they suddenly need to use them, right?


    These Missiontakers are unable to sympathise with Carddealers, who have a wholly more greed-filled view rather than a pragmatic one. While the Carddealers are also baffled at the mere notion of using the utility cards rather than selling them when they would be worth so much more.


    Neither of them can understand one another, and so the reality is that, Carddealers are increasingly viewed with contempt and disdain. That said, some Missiontakers would still hypocritically criticise Carddealers on the surface but still strike deals with them in private.


    Still, fortunately, in this Nightmare at least, the Missiontakers have a universal consensus among them©¤©¤They do not want to work with the Carddealer at all.


    It¡¯s rather simple. Lin Qin does not need utility cards; the Jiang sisters have years of stockpiling behind them; Shen ¡®the Zombie¡¯ Y¨¹nj¨¹ was almost the unwitting victim, and so naturally hates Muscular now,


    As for Thin and the teenage girl¡­


    They have their ways, so they do not have a need to deal with lone Carddealers like Muscular.


    So none of them really care about where Muscular went, instead, they¡¯re sharing new information about the Nightmare.


    Jiang Shuangjie talks about everything she found out with her younger sister without ado, including the fact that she recovered her utility cards, the problem with the lights in Room 408 and the eighth floor corridor, and also their thoughts on attempting to converse with the elevators.


    All the Missiontakers were most shocked at hearing about the lights asking for help on the eighth floor.


    Thin falls into thought before speaking up, ¡°the eighth floor¡­? Do you remember that letter of complaint?¡± He pauses before saying, ¡°I remember that the letter was written by a tenant of that floor, who mentioned that the light bulb on his floor¡¯s corridor kept flickering.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± Jiang Shuangjie awkwardly asks, ¡°why is the light asking for help? Is it¡­ Are they trapped? But¡­ It¡¯s a light bulb.¡±


    The teenage girl suddenly mentions, ¡°perhaps¡­¡±


    Everyone turns their attention to her.


    She says coldly, ¡°are you all familiar with the story of the drowned corpses looking for scapegoats to replace them?¡± (TL: Chinese folk legend ¨C People that drowned become poltergeists that are confined to where they died, so they lurk in the waters, waiting to drag passers-by down to be chained instead, replacing the corpses themselves and go free)


    The Missiontakers all seem taken aback.


    Thin is the first to understand the connection, and looks rather uneasy, dryly asking, ¡°you mean¡­ these sentient furniture, want someone alive to take their place, so that, they no longer have to be stuck to fixed furniture?¡±


    When the teenage girl talked about the possibility of that, all Thin could think about is the toilet in his apartment unit¡­ Shit, he doesn¡¯t want to be a toilet!


    Jiang Shuangjie is trembling, even, saying, ¡°so, that ¡®SOS,¡¯ was just¡­ just tricking people into a trap where they might be able to take them as scapegoat?¡±


    She is seriously worried and relieved, since she was actually putting that light bulb in the friendly category.


    The teenage girl nods, but cautions, ¡°I have only proposed a hypothesis. It is not necessarily exactly what is behind this Nightmare,¡± then she turns towards Jiang Shuangmei and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, adding, ¡°and we already have deaths from the previous runs, but we see that they haven¡¯t taken the place of the electronics yet.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps it is just not yet time!¡± Thin says, his voice sinking in tone more and more, ¡°if the Nightmare starts crumbling¡­¡±


    He and the teenage girl glance at each other for a moment.


    The two of them know that there have been cases where Missiontakers in this Nightmare have inexplicably disappeared. What if those missing Missiontakers were actually taken to be the scapegoats? What if¡­


    What if, these sentient electronics they are facing right now, are those missing Missiontakers?


    Somehow, Thin is feeling a heavy mood settling down his chest.


    He is sure that his companion, the teenage girl, perhaps has been thinking about the truth behind all these sentient electronics since she entered the Nightmare, especially in the context of the Missiontakers having disappeared.


    It may have been an earlier conclusion of hers that they have become scapegoats similar to the drowned corpses in Chinese folklore.


    The Missiontakers fall silent, each preoccupied with their own thoughts.

 Volume 3 - CH 51.2

    Jiang Shuangmei is looking at everyone, looking ever so slightly helpless. She hasn¡¯t even had time to talk about the possible safety net she deduced earlier, when the Missiontakers have already begun worrying over other things?


    She scratches her hair, asking, ¡°but, scapegoats¡­ Nightmares in the Tower have never had elements of actual ghosts?¡±


    The rest of the Missiontakers suddenly snap awake from that reminder.


    Yes. Nightmares in the Tower are always based in some reality. There have never been outright fantastical elements.


    Jiang Shuangjie is the first to remind her younger sister, though, ¡°but furnitures gaining sentience is really already supernatural in itself¡­¡±


    The lightened mood dampens again.


    Thin just says, sounding a bit helpless, ¡°speaking will do us no good¡­ Let¡¯s check the elevators out.¡±


    They then walk towards the elevators, along the way, Jiang Shuangmei is able to share her experience from the past run.


    Thin gives Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ a look, asking, ¡°was it the same for you?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ doesn¡¯t speak, but nods.


    Therefore, all five Missiontakers present, besides Jiang Shuangmei and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ who have both died once now, the rest have rather heavy looks on their faces.


    They all immediately make the connection that, as the Nightmare enters further runs with increasing danger and uncertainty, if they want to test this special rule out¡­ This might be, the best run to do it.


    But, death¡­ Who would really want to try to test the rules of a Nightmare with their own lives? No one would.


    The Missiontakers arrive at the elevators.


    Thin stops and, hesitant, he looks at the teenage girl, who nods, and thus, he says, ¡°I¡¯ll also confess, then. Let¡¯s put it all on the table. I actually knew something about this Nightmare before coming here.¡±


    He skipped the fact that the girl told him this; in Nightmares, the two of them are used to giving the teenage girl the more ¡®wise but meek¡¯ image to lower everyone else¡¯s guard.


    Thin is rather tall and looks slightly paranoid in appearance, so it¡¯s not easy for others to put trust in him. Therefore, he would take a more active role and try to secure initiative and leadership in Nightmares.


    The two of them deal with Nightmares thusly, both overtly and covertly. It has been effective so far.


    Right now, Thin also puts all the attention on himself, as is their modus operandi.


    The rest of the Missiontakers are listening to him intently, while the viewers in the stream are all typing,


    ¡°look at all these fake masks on their faces¡±


    ¡°its the girl who said it¡­ oh wait, I get it, its a strategy?¡±


    ¡°interesting, they¡¯ve never shown that they know each other either¡±


    ¡°howd they even up playing an escape game like mafia instead? noobs like me rly rnt suited, uwuwu¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m so cute so, why do you ask me to think?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is watching the scene play out while also checking out the lively audience discussions. His mood is rather affected, rising and falling and rising again. It feels both depressing and humorous, so he can only keep up a helpless poker face.


    Still, the chit-chat from the viewers are good for adjusting his mood.


    On-screen, Thin has already made public the information they know, and thus, the Missiontakers have all made the logical connection, wondering, if these sentient furniture might be Missiontakers who have been lost in this Nightmare?


    Could the ¡®rule¡¯ of exchanging for safety with their own deaths, be a trap?


    This is a Nightmare, where even Normal End does not preclude succumbing to forever being trapped inside?


    Right now, all their faces turn grim.


    Thin sighs and, he looks like he wanted to add something more, but only says in the end, ¡°let¡¯s just deal with the Nightmare as soon as possible.¡±


    They all nod.


    The viewers in the stream do not understand, and X¨¹ Beijin hasn¡¯t come up with a way to explain the term and concept of ¡®Collapsed, Forever Repeating Nightmares¡¯ yet, so he just vaguely implies, ¡°perhaps this is just that creepy of a Nightmare.¡±


    The audience is distracted by his train of logic, when the Missiontakers also push the button to open the elevator doors, and thus, their attention is diverted.


    X¨¹ Beijin is once again really feeling fortunate that the detective dalao is absent today.


    Without him, he could trick the viewers that are¡­ simple in the head; if the dalao is here, though, this run would be rather difficult to explain.


    Perhaps¡­ he should prepare. Though, without knowing what is actually happening in the outside world, he is also rather limited in options.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mood sinks again thinking about it.


    In the stream, he watches as the Missiontakers have already started a conversation with one of the elevators.


    After the door has opened, Thin asks tentatively, ¡°hello?¡±


    The calm, mechanical male voice, actually responds, ¡°¡­ hello.¡±


    Immediately, all the Missiontakers sigh in relief.


    They chose the elevators on the left side of the building, closer to the lobby. This is the empty elevator Jiang Shuangjie, Thin and the teenage girl saw when they left Room 1104 behind, and the one that teased with Jiang Shuangmei when she was leaving it on the ground floor.


    This is likely also the one that always heads up to the roof and then comes back down by itself, empty.


    According to the previous information from the letters and the Court Summons, among the six elevators, two are special ¨C one of which they are talking to right now.


    The other one, is the one that the tenant on the eighth floor complained about, the one that fell out of nowhere and scared a resident so much they had a cardiac arrest and passed away.


    It seems that this former elevator is more harmless, so the Missiontakers chose this one.


    The elevator also responded with quite the normal greeting.


    Thin is bitterly smiling ¨C look, ma, the elevator is talking to me!


    What a joke this is.


    ¡­ Well, elevators could always talk, but nobody would say that it is talking talking when actually riding an elevator instead of just some prerecorded voices being played back at them.


    Hey, put it this way ¨C perhaps there is actually someone handing you money inside ATMs?


    Thin is trying his best to think about whatever to distract himself from thoughts of the toilet.


    He pauses for a while before finally asking one question, ¡°since when have you gained consciousness?¡±


    ¡°A very long time ago,¡± the elevator answers, ¡°I¡¯m a good elevator, though.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei is widening her eyes in anger, asking, ¡°weren¡¯t you scaring me earlier?!¡±


    The elevator just answers, ¡°that was a simple greeting. You look awfully shaken when coming downstairs, so I teased with you to help you relax.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei ¡°¡­¡±


    Teasing? That was bloody murder!


    Jiang Shuangjie stops her sister from a rampage while holding a little chuckle in, and asks the elevator another question, ¡°you¡¯re a good elevator, does that mean, that there are others that are not good like you?¡±


    ¡°Some are different from me, true,¡± the elevator remarks, ¡°some of them really hate you, to the point they want you dead. As for me, I¡¯m an elevator that tries to find my own fun, and I dare say I¡¯m pretty good at it.¡±


    ¡­ That¡¯s the reason why you go up and down the floors empty?


    The elevator is sighing though, as it continues, ¡°hey, do you know how tiring it is to carry you guys up and down every day? As long as it¡¯s just barely not overweight, you would squeeze in even if you would suffocate to death. It¡¯s really hard on me, you know?


    Can¡¯t you guys hear that rackety sound when the elevator is running? Oh, right, never mind, I suppose you dont. It¡¯s the steel cable¡ª¡ªThe sound of the steel cable wearing down, you can¡¯t hear it?¡±


    The elevator continues its endless tirade of complaints.

 Volume 3 - CH 51.3

    Thin is speechless at the elevator¡¯s complaints. He is not here to listen to the Confessions of an Elevator.


    Who would even sympathise with an elevator?! Like¡­ Who would sympathise with a toilet?


    ¡°Alright, alright,¡± he can only speak as nicely as possible, ¡°do you know anything else? Like¡­ Why did you suddenly¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­ Wake up?¡± The elevator answers, ¡°I call it ¡®waking up,¡¯ but I¡¯m just an elevator. If only¡­ Then I could have had other things to do. It¡¯s a shame I can¡¯t leave this shaft. I can only go up and down.


    I know some that can move around, like the Roombas. Sure is glad to be them. Some can¡¯t move but are still much happier, like the TVs. They can switch themselves on to watch programmes. Super nice.


    Some have it much worse, though, like the central heating vents. They can¡¯t move, and keep coughing as well. Their health is really abysmal¡­ Tch tch, poor them.


    Here¡­ Well, I guess I¡¯m not much different. I have nothing. Nobody will talk to me. I¡¯m not brave enough to try to chat with the passengers because they might be scared¡­ Ha, what a good elevator I am.¡±


    Thin looks a bit speechless.


    This elevator sure has a billion complaints. The voice is husky and magnetic, sure, but that stream of negativity only makes people annoyed.


    A moment later, Thin finally finds a good opportunity to interrupt, ¡°so, why did you wake up?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ What a good question.¡±


    Thin swears he could hear a disdain in that tone aimed at them.


    The elevator almost sounds like it chuckled before saying, ¡°though, I would not answer.¡±


    Jiang Shuangjie can¡¯t help but ask, ¡°why?¡±


    The elevator says, ¡°because¡­ that is the rule. You know, even if I¡¯m firmly in the camp of the lawfully good¡­ Well, I don¡¯t really know if I am, but let¡¯s say I am, since I am averse to killing anyone.


    I¡­ Yes, I¡¯m a good elevator, but some are not like me¡­ I¡¯m not specifically naming names here, but I can tell you, that if I spoke the truth, they will not be happy. I¡¯m scared, you know¡­¡±


    The teenage girl immediately catches on to a bug here, though, asking, ¡°you¡¯re an elevator, and most of those ¡®others¡¯ can¡¯t even move¡­ Why would you be scared? They can¡¯t even do anything to you.¡±


    The elevator is quiet for a moment before sighing, saying, ¡°¡­ oh, just a slip of the mouth,¡± then he pauses and ends the conversation, going, ¡°alright, I¡¯m not saying another word, then. I wish you all luck.¡±


    He goes quiet after that. No matter how the Missiontakers are calling out to him, he ignores them.


    A short while later, he closes the elevator door to head to a higher floor himself.


    The Missiontakers all look at each other, baffled.


    Thin murmurs, with furrowed brows, ¡°so, he did actually tell us something he wasn¡¯t supposed to?¡± He looks confused, though, wondering, ¡°I didn¡¯t realise it at all.¡±


    The teenage girl replies, ¡°the last words he said. ¡®Alright, I¡¯m not saying another word, then.¡¯ It sounds like¡­ a response to someone else¡­¡±


    ¡°Something is forcing him to stop talking to us,¡± Jiang Shuangjie concludes, and adds, ¡°but¡­ how would these separate, sentient facilities in the apartment building even talk to each other?¡±


    She turns to her younger sister. When Jiang Shuangmei was describing how she died earlier, it was evident there was cooperation between these strange devices and facilities. A Roomba that would intentionally bump into someone to knock them into a bathtub full of water¡­


    How would the Roomba know that the bathtub is full of water?


    The teenage girl nods and says, ¡°one more thing, from what¡­ mister elevator said, he seems to know about these other¡­ entities similar to him very well. But, he is only an elevator that can go up and down. How did he even know all of that?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­¡± Thin mutters quietly, ¡°how did he know all that?¡±


    It was almost as if something intangible has formed some kind of communication platform for these sentient apartment facilities.


    Intangible¡­


    Thinking so, X¨¹ Beijin raises his head to look about his bookstore one more time.


    From what he knows, this is a safehouse, similar to the other few other safehouses he has found so far. Largely devoid of electronic devices, out of the main way, few traffic outside.


    Only that couldn¡¯t exactly guarantee a safehouse, though, since even this old, run-down bookstore still has one single, lonely light bulb emitting light on the ceiling.


    What is it here, or rather, what is it not here that makes it a safehouse¡­?


    X¨¹ Beijin falls deep into thought, and slowly, his gaze turns dark and gloomy as he lowers his head slightly with an unreadable expression. If anyone saw how he looked right now, they would probably be mistaking him for a scary antagonist hiding some big, big secrets once again.


    Soon enough, X¨¹ Beijin turns his attention back on the stream and quietly changes the source of the camera over to Muscular.


    The Missiontakers on the ground floor have been silent for a while, so the viewers aren¡¯t particularly surprised X¨¹ Beijin looked elsewhere.


    However, the moment the camera goes over to Jiang Shuangjie¡¯s apartment unit, all of them are astonished.


    Because Muscular is currently embroiled in a fight with what appears to the curtain having come to life.


    The man is sprawled over the sofa with his neck currently strangled by the curtain. His face is almost a purplish red. He has wrapped his foot around the sofa to try and stop himself from being dragged over by the curtain.


    He is desperately trying to cling to anywhere that could let him free, but his arms can¡¯t reach anywhere. So he quickly claws for the curtain instead, tearing at it with all he has got. Even his fingernails are cracking and bleeding under the intense adrenaline rush to survive.


    ¡°AAAAARGH!!¡±


    He is roaring out loud, fighting, struggling. His muscles are all tensed up and bulging. Veins are popping on his forehead. He can feel the cold, shapeless gaze staring right into him, staring with the coldness and grimness of a snake lurking in the shadows, in the corners. It is highly disconcerting.


    The threat of death is making him tremble. He is drenched in sweat all over.


    Finally, when the curtains slightly loosened a little, he seizes the opportunity to slip it out and crash forward.


    In his panic, he has slammed himself right at the TV cabinet, so forcefully the router on the cabinet has been knocked off and its power cord unplugs in the ensuing fall. The green light indicating its power has disappeared.


    The next second, that cold gaze has disappeared out of nowhere. The madly swaying curtains also immediately fall back into place and turns back stationary.


    He is in absolute shock, and thinking, the router¡­


    The Internet?!

 Volume 3 - CH 52.1

    When Muscular just entered Room 807, everything was normal.


    The apartment was quiet. Everything was where it was. It did not help him realise that, it was not just the facilities of the apartment, but even all the electronic devices in the apartments, that have gone wrong.


    Before, in his own apartment unit, he could feel a gaze, but there was no danger. While this time, with his mind wholly muddled by the valuables that were the utility cards and Lin Qin¡¯s private life, he has gone completely ignorant of what was happening in the Nightmare itself.


    It would be hard to pin it down on whether it was his own inherent carelessness and hubris, or the amplified stubbornness and arrogance from the effect of the utility card ¡®The Devil¡¯s Mask,¡¯ but the result was that he was completely reckless when going through Room 807, trying to find at least one utility card.


    He was sure it was hidden in this apartment unit somewhere.


    A few minutes later, nothing has turned up, and the apartment was in complete chaos. He didn¡¯t care to be cautious, unlike when Jiang Shuangjie was when she was searching for her missing utility cards at his apartment, where she was extra careful when touching anything because of wariness for the sentient electronic devices; instead, he wished he could just upend everything.


    Wardrobes? Opened wide. Pans and bowls and utensils? Throw them all away, on the ground or wherever, the noises not even fazing him the slightest. The sofa was pushed aside and, when he found nothing, he kicked at the walls and doors and tables and chairs in his rage.


    At this point, several shapeless eyes seemed to have opened up in the apartment unit, but Muscular didn¡¯t notice them at all.


    All until he walked next to the sofa, when the curtains suddenly latched onto his throat.


    It took all he had just to finally untangle the curtain, but he knocked the router over as well¡­ When, he discovered that, the curtains suddenly stopped acting up.


    Muscular is currently standing there with jaws agape, looking at the router, and back at the curtains that were going mad just a mere second ago.


    Even if he were retarded he could still figure out the connection between them.


    Meanwhile, in the stream, the comment barrage are at it again.


    ¡°!!! oh fuck me! its the internet!¡±


    Then the conversation gets back on track.


    ¡°oh right, so Beibei¡¯s bookstore really is a safehouse, there¡¯s no internet [laugh_cry emoji]¡±


    ¡°that means the devices cant reach their sentient claws here¡­ I say, didnt that elevator say there were the good and the bad among them?¡±


    ¡°howd you even tell? no other furniture can talk besides elevators anyway¡±


    ¡°also, there¡¯s no time for players to look for each electronic one by one in such a big nightmare, who knows how many runs it¡¯d even take¡±


    ¡°hey¡­ if the root cause is the internet, what if they just cut the internet off? would the nightmare end?¡±


    ¡°!! nice!¡±


    ¡°I suggest just going to the electrical room and shutting it down instead¡±


    ¡°[laugh_cry emoji] are we playing smartass questions right now?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin also can¡¯t help but try to think along the lines of the simple, drastic solutions proposed by the viewers of the stream, and then concludes that this¡­ might actually work?


    It¡¯s definitely not how the True End can be achieved, though. A Normal End is more like it.


    Would the Missiontakers be happy with a Normal End?


    X¨¹ Beijin rubs his chin, and thinks that Thin and the teenage girl would probably be happy with that.


    Since, just like Lin Qin, they stumbled into this Nightmare by accident.


    The two of them were apparently snooping outside of his bookstore too, who knows if someone might have sent them¡­ X¨¹ Beijin is annoyed just thinking about that.


    He¡¯s not sure about the others. Going after a True End would be the logical aspiration when one enters a Nightmare¡­ Or not, perhaps, for people like Muscular.


    X¨¹ Beijin just sighs and makes a tired yawn. He¡¯s a bit drowsy again. Maybe he should go for a walk again, he thinks. He felt more energetic the first two runs; maybe it has to do with his bubble tea.


    Almost dozing off, he snaps back to reality when he sees someone enter and spook him awake. He focuses his gaze and sees, yup, it¡¯s a Lin Qin alright.


    Lin Qin greets him and hands him a can of drink. X¨¹ Beijin thanks him and takes a few sips. He feels much better.


    ¡­ Then, he finally finds the astonishment he should have felt when this streamlined course of actions was taking place.


    What are they doing? Lin Qin is, feeding him drinks?


    He looks down to examine this can of¡­ apple juice.


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He is quiet for a moment before asking Lin Qin, ¡°where did you get this?¡±


    Lin Qin looks at the drink in his hand and answers, ¡°I went to the tuck shop and the owner gave it to me,¡± he then looks up at X¨¹ Beijin, asking, ¡°not sleepy anymore?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin takes another sip quietly before replying, ¡°I¡¯m better now.¡±


    Lin Qin goes ¡®oh.¡¯


    X¨¹ Beijin is looking at him, and can¡¯t help but ask, ¡°did you know that¡­¡±


    Lin Qin tilts his head at him.


    X¨¹ Beijin continues, ¡°your name¡­?¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Lin Qin gives another glance at the apple juice in his hand, and tells him, ¡°I don¡¯t mind.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    What, he thinks he cared that way about this when he asked him the question?!


    X¨¹ Beijin, who actually didn¡¯t mind, is now actively aware of this because of Lin Qin¡¯s answer.


    ¡­ So what if he was drinking apple juice! What, you¡¯ve got a problem with him drinking apple juice?!


    X¨¹ Beijin is speechless.


    Lin Qin then adds, ¡± I really don¡¯t,¡± then he furrows his brows and asks, ¡°why are you overthinking this?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­ I¡¯m not.¡±


    Lin Qin examines him from top to bottom, asking, ¡°really?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks like he¡¯s going to blow any time soon.


    Lin Qin says, ¡°just drink it. Though I¡¯m an apple, you¡¯re not actually eating me.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is quiet for a moment before repeating, word for word, ¡°you, are, an, apple¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I am an apple,¡± Lin Qin takes a seat at the chair next to the bookstore entrance, telling him, ¡°if you¡¯re willing to fight with me, I¡¯ll be anything. Apple, grape, pear, pineapple, orange¡­¡±


    As if he¡¯s listing ingredients for a salad, he lists a whole bunch of fruit.


    Then he asks X¨¹ Beijin, ¡°which one do you like? I¡¯ll give you fruit juice of that flavour later.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He feels like Lin Qin has gone weird.


    Really weird.


    ¡­ He was mocking Lin Qin just now! He wasn¡¯t praising him!!!

 Volume 3 - CH 52.2

    X¨¹ Beijin takes a deep breath as he places the apple juice on the counter, and then replies very politely, ¡°I like none of those,¡± and adds before Lin Qin could tell him anything else infuriating, ¡°at least, not right now.¡±


    Lin Qin is giving him an odd look. From his perspective, the conversation that took place just now was earnest and frank from his side. He is unable to understand why X¨¹ Beijin appears so angry and irritated.


    What does he even mean by ¡®not right now¡¯? Would he suddenly like them in the future? Should he even prepare them, then?


    Why is it so hard to appeal to someone?


    That said, he still nods with a serious expression. His instincts tell him, it would be better to go along with it and not talk to X¨¹ Beijin for now.


    X¨¹ Beijin gives him this resigned look, while wondering why there could be such a monster of instinct in the world.


    ¡­ Really, he¡¯s completely got him examined like the back of his hand.


    He watches Lin Qin just sitting at the bookstore entrance, already having retrieved a book and reading at his own pace. Quite the accustomed customer he is, surely.


    How did they even end up so familiar in the first place?


    X¨¹ Beijin stares at him for a while and concludes it was probably since¡­ he learned Lin Qin was disinterested in his Nightmare, and the fact that there was something wrong with Lin Qin¡¯s memories?


    When someone shares a personal secret with someone else, a level of trust, and familiarity, for that matter. Shared secrets are always the key to quickly growing intimate with each other.


    Most importantly, Lin Qin is not interested in his Nightmare.


    Instead, he is caring about the tiredness brought on by his never sleeping, like asking if he was tired just now. He has accepted the fact that X¨¹ Beijin never sleeps, and that it does not matter in the context of their relationship.


    ¡­ Yes, they are already friends.


    X¨¹ Beijin is hesitant for a bit before asking, ¡°what you told me earlier, the two people snooping around in front of my store¡­¡±


    Lin Qin looks up and gives him a ¡®go on¡¯ look.


    X¨¹ Beijin stares into the young man¡¯s eyes, and finally chooses to tell him honestly, ¡°do you think that, it might be because they learned that you collected drinks and gave them to me¡­¡±


    He grows pretty awkward in tone as he says it out loud himself.


    Lin Qin seems to be confused for a moment before suddenly getting it, reassuring him, ¡°I understand.¡±


    Then he lowers his head to continue reading his book.


    X¨¹ Beijin is nonplussed, asking, ¡°¡­ what, did you understand?¡±


    Lin Qin answers, ¡°I¡¯ll deal with it. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    That¡¯s exactly why he is worrying right now!


    X¨¹ Beijin is getting restless wondering how Lin Qin would ¡®deal with¡¯ it, and decides to try asking, ¡°so, how are you going to ¡®deal with it¡¯ exactly?¡±


    Lin Qin answers without hesitation, ¡°warn them not to disturb you or snoop in on us.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin still doesn¡¯t understand exactly what course of action Lin Qin would take by ¡®warning¡¯¡­ that answer was as vague as they come.


    He feels like asking a bit more, but, Lin Qin is an adult, right, and, should he really intervene in his personal and interpersonal interactions?


    X¨¹ Beijin knows, though, that Lin Qin has no memories of Earth. Would he be employing overly simplistic and straightforward means to deal with this? Like telling them exactly word for word¡­?


    ¡­ Wasn¡¯t this trouble brought here by Lin Qin in the first place? Why is he the one having a headache over it, again?


    Shortly after, Lin Qin has probably realised the inconvenience he is causing X¨¹ Beijin, and immediately says, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t expect such a problem to crop up. Please don¡¯t be angry.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin opens his mouth but no words come out, as he does not know what to say, in the end, he just replies, ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m not angry at you?¡±


    So Lin Qin smiles at him, seemingly in relief, before turning back to his book again.


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He somehow feels that, his previous attitude for dealing with Lin Qin ¨C the cautiousness, wariness, humility, indirectness¡­ were all fucking wrong! The guy, Lin Qin, accepts nothing short of direct, straightforward hits!


    Just like how he asked Lin Qin not to agree to others readily just because of him¡­ and Lin Qin promised him, nice and simple.


    So X¨¹ Beijin just says directly, ¡°you should tell them clearly, but do not try to force them to listen by beating them up. That is bad, understand?¡±


    Lin Qin raises his head again and furrows his brows to think for a moment before nodding to say, ¡°I understand.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin asks again, ¡°really?¡±


    ¡°Do I look that dumb to you?¡± Lin Qin answers, clearly annoyed, ¡°do you really think I¡¯m just a little apple or something?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    When, sometimes, the name just pops in naturally in his mind, he would¡­


    He¡¯s sorry.


    With all that said, X¨¹ Beijin can only leave Lin Qin to deal with this however he sees fit.


    Well, this is how it can only be anyway. X¨¹ Beijin is an Actor. He has no way of directly interacting with the Missiontakers anyway. Many an Actor have been troubled to no end by the Missiontakers already, but have no way out of it but to keep enduring.


    Therefore, X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t exactly look too irritated at a mere two Missiontakers snooping behind his back. It is even better now that Lin Qin can deal with this himself.


    Though¡­ He¡¯s still curious about how Lin Qin is actually going to handle it.


    X¨¹ Beijin bitterly smiles thinking about it.


    How did he even end up living as casually as he is now¡­ So lazily he can¡¯t even be bothered to be lazy? Why is he even here thinking about all these practical questions?


    So X¨¹ Beijin gives up on thinking altogether, blanking out both his brain and his mind, when he suddenly recalls something and checks out the stream.


    Muscular is still looking for the utility card like mad in Room 807, while the rest of the Missiontakers¡­ X¨¹ Beijin checks out their view, to find that they have all arrived at the commercial complex already!


    The five of them are moving together.


    In the second run, some of them have come to the commercial area as well, but they did not have time to explore thanks to various circumstances. So they¡¯re here again.


    Jiang Shuangmei is still dumbly asking, ¡°are you guys not trying to get furniture to kill you first? Maybe you might not even have to actually die¡­?¡±


    The rest of the Missiontakers ignore her.


    Jiang Shuangjie looks rather resigned and amused at the same time, and just simply tells her indirectly, ¡°Shuangshuang, it¡¯s more important for us to try and resolve this Nightmare right now.¡±


    ¡°Ok¡­¡± Jiang Shuangmei murmurs.


    She looks somewhat unhappy, probably because she thinks she discovered this big loophole in the Nightmare, but the Missiontakers do not value it, not even her own older sister.


    But these sentient furniture will never go after you again after you die once!


    Though¡­ to tell them all to die once? They can¡¯t possibly synchronise their deaths that precisely, so they can only do it one by one.


    This is already the third run of the Nightmare. Another restart and who knows what changes and risks the crumbling Nightmare will introduce? They do not know. So, instead of gambling, they should dive head-first.


    Get this Nightmare done with as soon as possible and leave. Quit thinking about death and whatnot.


    Thinking so, the Missiontakers split into three groups to explore the whole area.


    The Jiang sisters explore from the top floor down. Thin and the teenage girl will check out the ground and second floors, while Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, having checked out the first floor underground already, will head for the bottom floor this time.


    Even if he knows now that the sentient facilities probably won¡¯t go after him anymore, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ still chooses to walk the stairs for safety.


    The escalators are to Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ what bathtubs are to Jiang Shuangmei, and toilets are to Thin now. They all have traumatic experiences with them already.

 Volume 3 - CH 52.3

    After a dozen minutes or so of investigating, the five Missiontakers reassemble at the entrance to the shopping mall on the ground floor of the commercial complex. They all look disappointed, an indication of their fruitless preliminary searches.


    In fact, even the sentient facilities seem to be staying quiet.


    Thin is feeling a bit hot, wiping his sweat, he asks, ¡°we¡¯ve already gone through the whole interior of the building once, let¡¯s go outside?¡±


    Jiang Shuangjie nods, when suddenly, she gives Thin an odd look, asking, ¡°are you hot?¡±


    Thin seems surprised.


    ¡°You keep sweating¡­¡± Then suddenly, her eyes widen as she yells out, ¡°the heating!¡±


    All of them raise their heads at the air conditioning vents installed high up in the wall in unison.


    The red string indicating airflow is flailing madly about.


    It¡¯s too hot¡­


    Certainly, such a large commercial complex with huge foot traffic would employ powerful, industrial air conditioning, cooling people in the summer, warming them in the winter.


    But this is still autumn. It¡¯s merely the end of October, where the highs of the day still reached over 20 degrees Celsius outside (TL: About 68¡ãF). Why is the heating on inside such a commercial complex?


    Jiang Shuangmei seems frightened as she blurts out shakily, ¡°sis¡­ sis! Before, I, there was a sentient air-con!¡±


    Jiang Shuangjie quickly holds her hand and turns her head to look at Thin; they both yell out, ¡°run!¡±


    They have responded as quickly as they could, but, the facilities, interconnected via cables electronically, did not offer them such a chance at escape.


    The glass doors of the entrance have already been locked.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, quickly coming to a solution, says, ¡°the underground floor! There is an open-air plaza there!¡±


    They quickly run for the first floor underground. They avoid the escalators, of course, instead, taking the emergency stairs. Their journey can certainly be described as eventful.


    The plastic sealing machine in the bubble tea store is doing all it could to block them; the claw machine is (TL: Presumably having broken its own glass cylinder) launching and throwing its own dolls at them like cannons¡­


    The CCTV cameras along the way are all pointed right at them. All of these shapeless, cold, murderous gazes, alongside flickering red LED lights, are making them feel a tangible fear that seems to want to grip their hearts stopped as they run¡­


    The commercial complex is heating up more and more. It is so stuffy that breathing is no longer easy, especially when they are still running. All the Tower residents seem to be blocking their way one way or another. They¡¯re squeezing and moving about; Jiang Shuangmei almost lost the main group.


    Right at the stairs, Jiang Shuangmei, irritated, pushes people away forcefully. A whole mess of falling over ensues. It is a riot.


    Chaotic footsteps ring out, spreading through the dark, unlit emergency stairs. In the dark, they only fear they might miss a step and end up like Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ ¨C having their spines snapped. They can only hear their own ragged breathing and irregular heartbeats.


    Other than that, all they can feel is a pair of eyes that feels like it has opened up in the void ¨C even here, CCTV cameras are installed.


    Something, there is something, observing them through the lens of the camera. Tauntingly, arrogantly, like cat-and-mousely, watching them run, watching them fear; there is an unseen, but very real pressure.


    They do not know what mundane object might suddenly go after them next; even Jiang Shuangmei and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, who have died once already, is tense and close to snapping at this point.


    Chaos. Chaos. When they finally reach the open-air plaza, they are all breathing madly, looking around them with scared, anxious gazes. Their guts feel as equally disrupted and messed up as their minds.


    Thin gulps, and finally asks, ¡°are, are we safe?¡±


    Jiang Shuangjie has her hands on her kneecaps, all curled over. The intense physical strain, and that murky, stuffy air in the commercial building, almost made her vomit.


    It takes her a while to recover and answer Thin¡¯s question, ¡°I think¡­ we should be.¡±


    Among them, only the teenage girl has maintained her cool; even the ¡®zombie¡¯ is all pale right now.


    She is even observing her surroundings carefully, in fact. Then, she suddenly remarks, ¡°this place is empty.¡±


    Thin asks, unable to understand, ¡°wh¡­ what?¡±


    The teenage girl gives her a glance and answers, ¡°this is a safety area,¡± she points to the escalators right at the edge of the plaza, adding, ¡°as long as we don¡¯t use those.¡±


    As soon as she said that, the escalators suddenly stop.


    The next second, it looks like it has gone mad. The steps suddenly reverse, and then reverse again. The few Tower residents that were riding on the escalators are certainly frightened to no end.


    One fell down sitting on the steps, while a more fortunate person has grabbed onto the side rail firmly, but then, suddenly, the rail is no longer moving in sync with the steps.


    The rail goes up while the steps suddenly go down. Someone wails, perhaps having snapped their waist, but they quickly move away to leave the ¡®malfunctioning¡¯ escalator.


    Fortunately, a pitiful death like that of Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s did not occur.


    The teenage girl falls silent.


    The scene is equally silent, until Thin breaks the silence with a murmur, ¡°it seems like, there is nowhere safe.¡±


    The whole mess happening in the open-air plaza was of course, in full view of X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin, who were inside the bookstore that is here as well.


    X¨¹ Beijin has followed the Missiontakers¡¯ painful journey from the ground floor to this first floor underground. He is feeling some relief after-the-fact, since the strange air conditioning did also stare at him before.


    Right now, X¨¹ Beijin finally understands fully, what Dai Wu meant by ¡°watch out behind you.¡±


    Human vision only stretches for 188 degrees in the front. This means that, you will never be able to see, what it is like behind you.


    X¨¹ Beijin is sitting there in silence, feeling a whole layer of dense goosebumps popping up on his back, all biological reflexes from his own imagination scaring him.


    Lin Qin also watched the ridiculousness playing out at the edge of the plaza, and looks at the problematic escalator from afar, then back at X¨¹ Beijin, and hesitantly calls out to him.


    ¡°Beijin¡­? Can I call you that way?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin so answers, thinking, even if Lin Qin were like the viewers and called him Beibei¡­ No, never mind, that is still too cringy.


    He asks, ¡°what is it?¡±


    ¡°Was this what Earth was like?¡± Lin Qin asks curiously, ¡°the escalators randomly threw tantrums?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    How is he supposed to answer that question?

 Volume 3 - CH 53.1

    An Attempt, II


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    X¨¹ Beijin could not answer Lin Qin¡¯s question in time¡ª¡ªNor could he have produced an answer anyway.


    Outside the bookstore, the Missiontakers spotted Lin Qin from the glass door, and came to meet up with him. Oddly enough, they would feel more secure by Lin Qin¡¯s side.


    X¨¹ Beijin finds it amusing, but he is staying quiet and ignores them so that the Missiontakers do not pay undue attention to him; he prefers no unnecessary interaction.


    The Missiontakers, though, after some muffled discussion, sends Thin X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s way, asking, ¡°laoban, we just came here from that apartment complex there. Did something happen there? We saw nobody there.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin stands up to answer, but pauses.


    The Server, NE, just suddenly opened up some information on this Nightmare for him.


    He realises, unfortunately, that while he may want to relax and slack off as an extra, as the Missiontakers decided to come get information from him, he can only be his good tool-person NPC self without complaint.


    After that brief pause, he answers, as is his job, ¡°you came from there? It was¡­ virtually abandoned in face of unexpected events already. I thought nobody would live there anymore.¡±


    He said that with a smile on his face. It was a smile that certainly looked to be mocking their choice of tenancy.


    Thin is quiet as he examines this Tower resident anew.


    Before he talked to him, he thought he might know some information, but when this, undeniably sarcastic smile has appeared, Thin cannot help but think more deeply.


    Is he someone key to this Nightmare?


    Could he be¡­ behind it all?


    He is close enough to the Luoke Apartment that he knows exactly what happened inside. Would a normal NPC know that much?


    Also, the dangers in this Nightmare all arise from the electronics, which happen to be absent entirely in this rundown bookstore. A coincidence? Or¡­ something else?


    Thin is suspicious of this man in front of him.


    Before Ding Yi went into the Nightmare and ultimately went up some floors, ordering them to keep an eye on the Tower resident Lin Qin has been paying attention to recently as one of her final pieces of advice, Thin and the teenage girl didn¡¯t pay particular attention, nor did they, even when they realise that this Tower resident was the bookstore owner directly causing the chaos a few years ago on the bottom floor.


    Thin himself was on a different floor then, and didn¡¯t experience the whole mess himself, the fervent desire the Missiontakers had for X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare; the teenage girl is herself unusually calm, and did not allow curiosity to take over her senses.


    They still investigated Lin Qin¡¯s relationship with him, though.


    Not that they were expecting to actually meet X¨¹ Beijin in the Nightmare¡­ Although, come to think of it, this Nightmare belongs to the man¡¯s neighbour, so it is natural he appears here.


    However¡­


    Thin is now questioning what role this mysterious man plays in the Nightmare?


    They know Tower residents always appear in different Nightmares, employing different roles and even functions within them as long as they aren¡¯t the Nightmare owners themselves. They would know differing amounts of information.


    It is kind of like¡­ laziness on the game company¡¯s part for reusing NPC character models, causing the Tower residents to employ multiple background roles in different Nightmares in addition to everything else.


    Missiontakers certainly wouldn¡¯t expect that this guess of ¡®being background extras¡¯ is in fact actually a spot-on description for the Actors, though.


    As far as they know, these Tower residents in others¡¯ Nightmares, would sometimes know nothing, or sometimes have key roles, or even play key parts in the entire story of the Nightmare itself, being someone the Nightmare owner fears, etc.


    In this Nightmare, the Missiontakers have yet to isolate the owner of this Nightmare. So this mysterious man, who inexplicably seems to know some information on this Nightmare, has become important in Thin¡¯s eyes now.


    Especially when combined with his slightly derisive smile, Thin is estimating, that perhaps¡­ his stance would more lean towards the antagonistic side?


    X¨¹ Beijin, of course, does not know that his smile has caused him to be antagonised again.


    It was a bitter, self-loathing smile at his own poor fate as a tool-person! Who the heck wants to ¡®mock¡¯ these Missiontakers! They¡¯re seriously just judging by the cover of the book!


    What else could he do when he has such a face? He¡¯s equally distraught¡­


    It really is fortunate he doesn¡¯t know.


    So our X¨¹ ¡®the Misunderstood Nightmare Boss Character¡¯ Beijin is still diligently recounting everything that has occurred in the Luoke Apartment to the Missiontakers, ¡°there has been quite the commotion with that apartment building this month.


    I heard a tenant has died, so the rest of the tenants sued the entire apartment management, citing some issues with facilities in the apartment, though what those issues actually are, I¡¯m not sure.


    However¡­¡±


    That is when X¨¹ Beijin hesitates.


    He just realised something.


    The Server never allows Actors to mention anything regarding ¡®Acting.¡¯ This is inviolable.


    Then, what about what the Actors know about the Nightmare itself?


    Normally, Actors in the Nightmares will only know what the Server tells them about the Nightmare. There wasn¡¯t anything additional they could leak to the Missiontakers.


    For example, the extras. They come and go in all the Nightmares, but know not a single thing about them all.


    Some extras, afraid Missiontakers might go after them seeing how often they appear, would even stay put the whole time in Nightmares and hide themselves somewhere safe. They really do know exactly nothing as the Nightmare comes to an end.


    X¨¹ Beijin was part of this group of extras.


    Circumstances have changed, however, because X¨¹ Beijin is now able to monitor the progression of the Nightmare through his streaming system. Compared to other Actors, he is practically omniscient.


    Given that, could it be possible for him to relay what he learned of the Nightmare from the stream to the Missiontakers?


    X¨¹ Beijin is always risk-averse, so he is quickly going through his memories for any similar situation he could use to reference this attempt.


    He then recalls, that Dai Wu once told him, ¡®watch out behind you.¡¯


    If Dai Wu did mean what he meant, despite being an extra in this Nightmare, which means the Server also could not possibly have given him any additional information at that point, then, while the source of the information he obtained remains unknown ¨C perhaps he learned about it from the owner of the Nightmare, or from when he once Acted in this Nightmare and saw the Missiontakers¡¯ plight ¨C this still means that, outside of information the Server has provided them Actors, Actors could still relay information about the Nightmare that they came to learn themselves.


    (TL: tl;dr ¨C the server cannot have provided the extra, Dai Wu, with information in the Nightmare this time when they met each other, so the fact that he has still told X¨¹ Beijin to watch out means it was at least permitted for Actors to give spoilers to other Actors)


    X¨¹ Beijin is feeling an epiphany¡­ This means he has a lot of room to test things out!


    He knows that Missiontakers often misunderstand him because of his appearance, assuming he must play some important role in Nightmares, like what happened the last two Nightmares around.


    Of course, he himself knows best he has always been an Extra, so the Server never provided him with information on the Nightmare beyond what an extra should have known.


    So, when the fact he knew nothing on the Nightmare was exposed, the Missiontakers would then turn around to be disappointed that, oh, he isn¡¯t some important character, he just had that handsome face.


    It is different now; he may be an extra, but through information obtained in the stream, he could make changes! Even try to lead them to an Ending in the Nightmare!


    He thinks he must have been an extra for too long, for him to have completely forgotten, that information¡ª¡ªis such a valuable weapon!


    If he hinted to the Missiontakers the issue with the Internet, then they will definitely draw the correct conclusions immediately, especially about the truth behind this Nightmare.


    Oh, and hoping that Muscular, who already knows about this, to tell the Missiontakers? Ha, you might as well rely on X¨¹ ¡®Actually Not an Antagonist¡¯ Beijin instead.


    At least, X¨¹ Beijin really is a good person at heart.


    It might not actually be anything substantial he is doing, because he still cannot expose the fact that he is Acting; he is yet powerless against the chaotic underflows of the Tower.


    However, going against NE is itself a happy thing!


    Dai Wu may have casually mentioned ¡®Defeat NE¡¯ a few times, but for some Actors, it really would be their sole driving, teeth-gritting motivation.


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t share that burden nearly as heavily, but where he could, giving little helpful nudges to the Missiontakers to also disrupt NE¡¯s settings and plans for the Nightmares¡­


    Is something he would so happily oblige!

 Volume 3 - CH 53.2

    X¨¹ Beijin was clearly quiet for too long, so Thin questions him again, ¡°however¡­?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin finally snaps back to reality and smiles apologetically, saying, ¡°however, something similar is also going on here,¡± he first relays the information as given by the Server, ¡°I¡¯ve seen the elevator doors close in on someone and then continue to got up, so in the end¡­¡± (TL: Yes, it¡¯s that thing in the original Resident Evil film again)


    The Missiontakers all furrow their brows.


    Then X¨¹ Beijin starts adding his own twists, ¡°that¡¯s why I¡¯ve ended up cleaning out the electronics and devices and whatnot outside gradually,¡± he continues with a poker face, ¡°it was all those that were acting up.¡±


    Thin suddenly asks, ¡°do you know why they were acting up, laoban?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin deliberately pauses before shaking his head.


    And Thin interprets this hesitation as X¨¹ Beijin actually knowing something, but is unsure or unwilling to divulge¡­ Or, he is actually the one behind it.


    Locking himself here, where there is no danger from the rogue electronics¡­


    Thin narrows his eyes slightly, asking, ¡°laoban, can¡¯t you tell us a bit more? The escalators in the shopping mall was after our lives and chased us here; we don¡¯t even know how to leave, now.¡±


    Jiang Shuangjie, seemingly also picking up the cues, adds, ¡°yeah, this is all too ridiculous. Laoban, if you know something, please tell us. They¡¯re already going to kill us, so I think we also deserve the truth?¡±


    The teenage girl even coldly asserts, ¡°if you¡¯re hiding the truth, it merely makes you complicit in murder.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin still looks like he¡¯s pondering when suddenly, someone pops up next to the counter.


    Lin Qin says unhappily, ¡°what kind of way of asking is that?! How do you know Beijin here definitely knows the truth?¡± Then he turns to X¨¹ Beijin to say, ¡°you are acting too much like a pushover!¡±


    The Missiontakers ¡°¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    The viewers in the stream are happily typing their thoughts,


    ¡°hahahaha i knew it! the little apple is on Beibeis side!¡±


    ¡°the little apple was so cool! it was too arrogant how these missiontakers are pounding on Beibei!¡±


    ¡°they¡¯re seriously just treating Beibei as a game NPC, yeah, so they¡¯re coercing him and morally trapping him¡±


    ¡°arent they also at fault for assuming Beibei isnt a good person¡­¡±


    ¡°I think so too to be honest¡­ but Beibei is definitely a kind and harmless good person¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He wouldn¡¯t exactly agree to being gentle or harmless himself.


    He takes a deep breath and pats Lin Qin on the shoulder, saying, ¡°thanks,¡± and then turns to the Missiontakers to say, ¡°while I can tell you what I think, I am under no obligation to do so.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin actually didn¡¯t think much of the Missiontakers pressuring him to give them what he knows, having become used to the Missiontakers treating Tower residents extremely impolitely.


    Since Missiontakers still only see them as game NPCs, no?


    But what Lin Qin did standing up for him does make X¨¹ Beijin both touched and amused, as he suddenly realises that, he doesn¡¯t have to necessarily be proactive in helping and friendly either¡­ He mustn¡¯t sadden his close friends to appease those who do not treat him well, you see.


    Lin Qin¡¯s intervention has made the Missiontakers, used to bullying the ¡®weak-willed¡¯ Actors, shocked. And X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s words send their minds into haywire.


    What in the world¡­ are these game NPCs which are the Tower residents doing? Has the Server gone mad?


    Lin Qin is crossing his arms standing to the side with a fierce glare on his face, acting like he really is a loyal guard of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s.


    Thin is speechless, and suddenly recalls how Ding Yi told them to investigate the relationship between Lin Qin and X¨¹ Beijin. She sure¡­ was on point. He discreetly examines Lin Qin, before turning back to X¨¹ Beijin.


    He has a strange thought all of a sudden.


    Now, he has never seen a Missiontaker being so helpful to Tower residents, even going so far as to protect a Tower resident¡¯s pride.


    Outside of¡­


    Outside of people who, for whatever reason, wants to romantically pursue a Tower resident.


    Thin ¡°¡­¡±


    He gives Lin Qin another serious look from top to bottom, and then turns back towards X¨¹ Beijin again.


    No, it can¡¯t be¡­ But, if he now knows the dalao¡¯s secret, would the dalao silence him?


    Thin is mired in his own thoughts.


    Jiang Shuangjie still seems all confused, so the teenage girl has to take over the lead, saying, ¡°apologies, we were really stressed here,¡± she tries her best to paint a friendlier smile despite her cold appearance, saying, ¡°our lives were in serious danger back then, when those things¡­ we are seriously distressed because of it.¡±


    Not that she¡¯s really even lying, as X¨¹ Beijin himself saw their entire journey to reach this plaza. ¡®Distress¡¯ would be putting it mildly. Think about what you might feel if the things you are used to in life suddenly came to life, with outright hostility. The mental pressure from that, even when these people are Missiontakers, is clearly significant.


    Thin and Jiang Shuangjie react quickly enough and also apologise, then give doggy-eyed looks towards X¨¹ Beijin.


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but glance over at Lin Qin seeing the difference in attitude, but replies with a friendly smile, ¡°it is really just an idle guess of mine,¡± and he murmurs something inaudible before saying, ¡°that¡¯s why I unplugged the ethernet from my bookstore.¡±


    When he said what he did, he looked neutral but in fact he was nervous and restless inside. He is worried NE will pay particular attention to him just for this one attempt. He has always avoided it as much as possible.


    This was a risk¡­ Yet, he thinks, after taking this streaming system, is he still to maintain this dead, unchanging life of his? The situations, the stakes have changed, beyond his own wishes.


    Just watching the stream itself has caused ripples in his fixed life.


    He can even sense, that there is an inexplicable undercurrent brewing and overtaking the Tower.


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s return to the bottom floor, Ding Yi¡¯s choice to ascend after so many years, and¡­ Lin Qin. Lin Qin, who has no memories of Earth at all, for reasons unknown.


    X¨¹ Beijin has been running away for years, like the other Actors, lamenting their own powerlessness, but right now, he wants to work a bit harder¡­ Work some changes.


    When he realised this streaming system is actually a port to the outside world, he already has the awareness to identify this as an opportunity; his wariness to NE has delayed him, causing him to first cautiously observe the situation and the feedback from the viewers.


    This time, his attempt to relay information he knew via the stream, via other means, and its tacit permission from the Server in the form of him being able to divulge without being stopped, has helped strengthen X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s resolve.


    That is why there is now a hint of a stability only achieved when one feels like an act is over, ¡°that¡¯s it.¡±


    Though the Missiontakers aren¡¯t paying attention to minute details in tone anymore.

 Volume 3 - CH 53.3

    Thin is all astonished, repeating, ¡°the Internet¡­? The Internet?!¡±


    He and the teenage girl glance at each other, and instantly works out the answers to their suspicions from before after the initial shock.


    Jiang Shuangjie quietly mutters, ¡°so¡­ we should disconnect the Internet of the apartment building¡­ Or just shut down the electricity?¡±


    ¡°It might be a way,¡± Thin replies, ¡°it might not be the True End, however.¡±


    Jiang Shuangjie says, ¡°we don¡¯t necessarily have to achieve a True End this time,¡± and she continues, looking at Thin and the teenage girl¡¯s rather unexpected expressions, ¡°we have enough information now for a Normal End, so we can leave first before trying for a True End in the future¡­ Isn¡¯t it safer this way?¡±


    Thin and the teenage girl say nothing else.


    This is what many humans would refer to as the mystical Save/Load cheat ¨C saving for safety, loading for a redo.


    Many Missiontakers follow that in principle as well. Still, it¡¯s rare to say it out loud like Jiang Shuangjie just did, although that¡¯s what the Jiang sisters have been doing since many years ago.


    True, they know about the problem with this method ¨C causing them to become lethargic, to hesitate and doubt themselves when in a critical moment of decision, however, the sisters that have been floating up and down the bottom floor and the few floors above that could suggest no other more effective methods anyhow.


    They have to at least ensure they don¡¯t become lost in a Collapsed Nightmare.


    In fact, neither Thin nor the teenage girl wished for a True End either; they¡¯re here by accident, so they¡¯re happy to leave earlier, returning to the bottom floor of the Tower for their unfinished assignment.


    Besides¡­ Thin glances over at X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin discreetly, thinking about how they¡¯ve managed to uncover more information than expected in this Nightmare.


    Thin thus says, ¡°if so, we would aim to achieve a Normal End as soon as possible, to leave safely?¡±


    Jiang Shuangjie nods.


    Thin then looks at the others, who also all nod, and Lin Qin also just shrugs to indicate he¡¯s fine either way; Thin is relieved, then suggests, ¡°how about we return to the apartment building, then, and try to see if we can shut down the electricity?¡±


    They nod, and all five of the Missiontakers leave the bookstore.


    X¨¹ Beijin then glances back at the stream, to only realise all of a sudden, that Muscular is already out of Room 807, and is walking through the eighth floor corridor.


    X¨¹ Beijin is surprised. Why did Muscular leave the apartment unit? Did he give up on the utility card?


    Since Thin and co. would take time to return to Luoke Apartment as well, X¨¹ Beijin then switches the stream over to Muscular.


    The viewers become surprised in turn, all typing,


    ¡°ah! its director Bei working!¡±


    ¡°morning director Bei! director Bei is also hardworking directing today!¡±


    ¡°every time Beibei changes the camera to someone else, I really feel like I¡¯m watching a TV drama¡­¡±


    ¡°speaking of which, this stream has been three hours already¡­ i couldnt feel the time pass at all¡­¡±


    ¡°cuz Beibei¡¯s handsome!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    So his handsomeness is a solution to any and all problems?


    If only that were truly the case¡­


    He sighs quietly, then rests his chin on his hand to focus on the stream.


    Muscular is currently waiting for the elevator, all frustrated-like.


    The rest of the Missiontakers are now aware that elevators, both in the apartment building and the commercial complex, are dangerous. Other than the elevator that enjoyed self-deprecating humour and complaining, the rest of the elevators are uncharted territory.


    However, Muscular didn¡¯t miraculously end up waiting for the known harmless elevator; in fact, he doesn¡¯t even have the awareness that the elevators spell trouble at all.


    He should be behaving much more cautiously, but he isn¡¯t, because, ¡®The Devil¡¯s Mask,¡¯ the utility card has worked with and amplified his nature of being reckless and arrogant, so that he is much more uncaring and careless at this point ¨C qualities that are often lethal in Nightmares.


    When once, as someone who concealed his own Carddealer identity, the other Missiontakers may have carried him all the way to the finish line together, but this time, he has already been exiled by the rest of the Missiontakers. So he really did know nothing about this Nightmare at all, and he himself isn¡¯t interested in exploration either.


    Therefore, when the elevator reached the eighth floor, he just walked inside and pushed on ¡®1¡¯ without concern.


    He is still thinking about how he wants to retrieve ¡®his¡¯ two utility cards.


    Even though, back on the ground floor, in the letter of complaint that he and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ has found, it was clearly written that a tenant on the eighth floor experienced the elevators suddenly falling through the shaft when descending, but he does not recall it here.


    Not only did he not recall, but when the elevator similarly started to fall, he goes into panic and cusses, kicking at the elevator body and smacking on the elevator door, as if it would somehow stop because of that.


    Suddenly,


    The elevator did stop. And, the elevator doors opened as well.


    Muscular is already sitting on the floor anxiously at this point, and he wants to leave the elevator reflexively. Gasping, with cold sweat dripping down his forehead, he is climbing outside the elevator on all fours.


    He realises the elevator has stopped between some two floors, with only a small exit opened up right down there. He tries to push his head out, and then squeeze his shoulders out to allow himself out of this damned elevator.


    Then, he¡¯s stuck.


    Then, the elevator starts moving.


    Then, he watches as his own head, with a terrified expression, rapidly approaches the floor below.


    Smack, ¡®crack¡¯¡ª¡ª


    ¡­ X¨¹ Beijin moves the camera away instinctively.


    Then, the screen goes dark¡ª¡ªThe Nightmare has restarted.


    The viewers ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­ have you ever seen watermelons¡­ never mind¡±


    ¡°I thought, this nightmare was more the spooky, uncanny kind, but not the gory¡­ eugh¡±


    The rest of the audience agrees, but X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t say anything.


    The viewers of the stream do not know that, deaths in the Tower, actually do mean experiencing death as realistically as possible. X¨¹ Beijin hasn¡¯t tried it himself, of course, but he can imagine the terror.


    If death is also a kind of punishment¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin sighs discreetly, deciding to drop these annoying thoughts from his mind.


    With the Nightmare restarted again, an hour of boring waiting awaits. He glances at the list of locations on the right of his streaming screen while thinking about which one to focus on this time¡­ Or should he set up that simultaneous seven small screens schtick again?


    Yet he looks up and down, and suddenly realises, something is off.


    Then, he quietly counts the number of names following the names of locations in the list on the right.


    One, two, three, four, five¡­ six?


    ¡­ Only six names?


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s eyes widen.


    ¡­ Muscular, who died the last run, is missing!

 Volume 3 - CH 54.1

    What the teenage girl talked about has come to pass.


    A Missiontaker has inexplicably disappeared, after being killed by a sentient facility.


    ¡­ A scapegoat, huh?


    The viewers in the stream have yet to know this, but even if they did, they would probably assume a player has just quit the game.


    Plus the tragic death he suffered and his thus far ¡®fruitless¡¯ exploration, would probably justify someone rage-quitting in extreme anger and fear; the viewers should draw the obvious conclusion.


    Yet X¨¹ Beijin knows that it is far from being as simple as that.


    A disappearance¡­ In the Tower, that is practically the same as concluding they have succumbed to a Collapsed Nightmare; however, this Nightmare has yet to Collapse. The fact is, only the Missiontaker has gone missing.


    Rumours say, that in Collapsed Nightmares, events in a Nightmare would repeatedly occur, and the Missiontakers will also go crazy eventually in the cycle of death, resurrection, and death again.


    There is no way out of the particular Nightmare anymore, and they will only fall deep into the abyss with the Nightmare; they truly become living husks, and are unable to escape the fate at all.


    Like a pile of game data with a bug, that can only be treated as junk, despised by the Server, NE, in its server capacity.


    Sentient furniture¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin is wondering whether the missing Missiontakers have really ended up ¡®scapegoats¡¯ in the furniture, waiting until someone could take their place this time.


    A chill is seeping into his spine. After a moment of pondering, he fixes the camera over at Jiang Shuangjie, but has also opened up an additional view down at the bottom right of his screen; not showing him, but the elevator that killed Muscular.


    What X¨¹ Beijin just did piqued the viewers¡¯ interest. He explained thusly, ¡°this elevator just killed someone the last run. I want to see what it might do this run, and to find out whether it was on purpose.¡±


    The viewers are led astray almost immediately,


    ¡°I think yes!¡±


    ¡°its smashed the head against the ground already¡­ yes+1!¡±


    ¡°omg it was super scary! im not riding the elevator today or tomorrow!¡±


    ¡°the stairs have cameras that secretly spy on you¡­ (demonic whisper)¡±


    ¡°aaaaargh shut up! your light is staring at you from above!¡±


    ¡°¡­ please, im really scared, i still wanna sleep tonight¡­¡±


    ¡°the bed¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­ rejected, the bed has no electricity or internet connection, no way it can become sentient¡±


    ¡°wasn¡¯t someone wishing for the bed to become sentient and be her boyfriend earlier?¡±


    ¡°my bad! im gonna look for a real human for a boyfriend, definitely!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but smile.


    On-screen, the elevator is stopped at the eighth floor, unmoving, staying exactly where Muscular boarded it earlier. What X¨¹ Beijin is suspecting ¨C whether Muscular is now the elevator ¨C seems like it would remain a mystery for a while.


    He checks out the rest of the Missiontakers and sees that they are all quietly staying in their apartment units, waiting for the first hour to pass.


    Thus, X¨¹ Beijin stands up to enjoy another stroll around. The last run, he didn¡¯t leave the bookstore and slogged through an hour of sleepiness, so this time, for his own sake, he should go outside, if only for a change in mood.


    Really, his usual state is depressed and lonesome. So it is a good thing he can come across this livelier setting and take a walk around, if only to chase the loneliness away a little.


    The stream is still directed at the Missiontakers and the killer elevator instead of X¨¹ Beijin himself; he would also take a look every so often, so that he doesn¡¯t miss anything important.


    He is really distracted, of course. A few minutes in, he has a bubble tea in each of his hands.


    When he queued up again, that Actor colleague of his gave him odd looks as well, but still allowed him two bubble teas on the house. It made X¨¹ Beijin happy for sure.


    For a moment, he was even glad he has been assigned as an Actor instead of a Missiontaker.


    If he was a Missiontaker, then these Actors acting as staff would certainly not let him have bubble tea for free. Hmm¡­ Except Lin Qin.


    Even Actors still have survival instincts, you see.


    He is walking around the commercial area, and when he walks past a hotpot restaurant, he spies a big bald guy sitting in front of a table alone, chewing on the ingredients in the spicy hotpot with a terrifying expression and sweat all but drenching him entirely.


    He is able to see him clearly thanks to the half-open design of the storefront.


    X¨¹ Beijin gives him curious glances.


    The bald guy notices his gaze and greets him.


    X¨¹ Beijin is hesitant as he walks over and then asks, ¡°do you not like the spicy hotpot¡­?¡±


    ¡°Of course I do¡­¡± the bald guy continues stuffing veggies into his mouth, and continues, ¡°not, my arse!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is baffled.


    ¡°Bro, poor me,¡± the bald guy is actually tearing up at this point, ¡°NE told me to eat hotpot, but the Missiontakers kept restarting over and over, so I¡¯ve been fucking trapped here, eating hotpot for over four hours already! I want to puke!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    The bald guy desperately wails, ¡°and I can¡¯t handle spiciness at all! Shit-eating NE¡­ kill me!!!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin opens his mouth, but in the end, just raises him the bubble tea he hasn¡¯t had any yet, telling him, ¡°have this, and relieve your tongue a little.¡±


    The bald man ¡°¡­¡±


    Ha. Ha. Thanks.


    X¨¹ Beijin is hesitant handing the bubble tea over.


    The bald guy doesn¡¯t curtsy either, and quickly gulps down while gesturing for X¨¹ Beijin to take a seat.


    Going with the flow, X¨¹ Beijin also starts eating the hotpot.


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Somehow, this is really making him feel like he¡¯s back on Earth, and has just run into an eccentric who is eating hotpot alone in some commercial complex. They had a pleasant chat, and so they¡¯re now eating the hotpot together.


    Yet, even though the hotpot is steaming, even though people are walking all around, all lively¡­ This is still the Nightmare.


    He can¡¯t help but end up recalling what Dai Wu jokingly remarked, as their ¡®Second Life.¡¯


    A game, a Nightmare, but it can still be, a second life¡­?


    X¨¹ Beijin looks reluctant as he picks up a bok choi from the hotpot. Then, he ends up with watery eyes from the spiciness immediately. The bald man cackles, going, ¡°bro, you¡¯re doing even worse than me!¡±


    ¡­ X¨¹ Beijin realises that both Dai Wu and this bald man seem to enjoy calling him ¡®bro;¡¯ is that the latest fad in friendly conversations?


    The bald guy introduces himself, telling him, ¡°I¡¯m Wei Lezhang (TL: Pronounced more like Lrzharng), the ¡®le¡¯ from happiness, the ¡®zhang¡¯ from essay.¡±


    ¡°X¨¹ Beijin,¡± our man answers, and mimics Wei Lezhang, ¡°the ¡®bei¡¯ from north, the ¡®jin¡¯ from end.¡±


    Wei Lezhang gives it a casual remark, ¡°oho, a pretty interesting name, huh.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin smiles a bit awkwardly.


    Wei Lezhang is a pretty happy-go-lucky and straightforward guy. Instead of Dai Wu¡¯s unconvincing casualness and vague words, he is much more nonchalant talking about Nightmares, the Tower and the Server.


    He says, ¡°who the fuck cares. As long as the Server doesn¡¯t throw me into this Nightmare again and tell me to eat hotpot for four hours, I¡¯d be calling it daddy!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin hasn¡¯t eaten much, but he has taken a few bites, and says, ¡°at least it¡¯s better than being the furniture¡­¡±


    But then, he pauses.


    It was like a joking remark when he replied to Wei Lezhang, also talking about this Nightmare, but he suddenly realises another thing.


    These sentient furniture¡­ Are they actually Actors too?

 Volume 3 - CH 54.2

    Before X¨¹ Beijin could think about it more deeply, Wei Lezhang asks, ¡°oh, so you knew as well?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin blinks in confusion.


    Wei Lezhang sells out his acquaintance immediately, telling him, ¡°you know, an Actor I know, poor guy, always gets assigned as the toilet in this Nightmare.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    His stomach is acting up.


    Wei Lezhang continues to tear into his friend, though, adding, ¡°so whenever he ends up in this Nightmare, I¡¯d avoid him for a whole three days after.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks back down at the red, spicy hotpot, and quietly puts his chopsticks away.


    Wei Lezhang is still saying, completely without self-awareness, ¡°well, I know nobody actually feels like eating or drinking or pissing or shitting in Nightmares, but being a toilet¡­ Oh man, haha, poor guy, but it¡¯s so funny!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is thinking, how he must be unaware, that a certain Missiontaker¡­


    Never mind.


    He¡¯s eating. What is he even thinking about?


    So he changes the topic by asking, ¡°this Nightmare has Actors for all the furniture, huh?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Wei Lezhang is clearly not suspecting a thing about X¨¹ Beijin, answering, ¡°that Actor I knew? He told me that this Nightmare had some¡­ Internet? It let them furniture-Actors communicate and even move about. But him? He could at best move from this toilet to that other toilet¡­ Hahaha, I¡¯m so sorry for him!¡±


    He says ¡®I¡¯m so sorry¡¯ the same way you¡¯d say ¡®I¡¯m so amused.¡¯


    ¡°Not just Actors here, though, I think,¡± Wei Lezhang adds, ¡°there are Missiontakers too.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin pauses before asking, ¡°Missiontakers?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ similar to succumbing to Collapsed Nightmares,¡± Wei Lezhang explains, ¡°I don¡¯t know the details, but some Missiontakers would end up in the Internet of furniture Actors¡­ Well, not just furniture, but also other stuff. It¡¯s a mess.¡±


    ¡°Then, what about the original Actor?¡±


    ¡°They get squeezed back out,¡± Wei Lezhang says, ¡°but I haven¡¯t Acted as them in this Nightmare even after so long, so I don¡¯t know much, but the Actor I knew complained a lot about it; oh right, there¡¯s that cinema upstairs¡­ he¡¯s the cashier this time, I think? He was a furniture once, and was fortunate enough to be squeezed out by a Missiontaker.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is wondering whether he could be referring to¡­ Dai Wu?


    Is that why Dai Wu told him to ¡®watch out behind him¡¯? As he was once the target to be watched out for?


    Speaking of which, what kind of role did Dai Wu once Act as?


    A dozen minutes or so later, X¨¹ Beijin waves goodbye to Wei Lezhang and heads to the fourth floor for Dai Wu, and asks him.


    Dai Wu ¡°¡­¡±


    He rolls his eyes at him while saying with this deadpan tone, ¡°how did you know this. And¡­¡± He then gives X¨¹ Beijin an odd look, specifically, looking at the bubble tea in his hand, remarking, ¡°aren¡¯t you too casual about this?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin shrugs, Dai Wu-style, going, ¡°it¡¯s rare to be in this kind of Nightmare.¡±


    A Nightmare that is lively, prosperous, filled with food and open stores, is certainly a rarity. Most Nightmares feature some desolate, decrepit scene. Some look downright apocalyptic.


    Dai Wu chuckles, asking, ¡°so you¡¯re here to enjoy life a little?¡± He then says, ¡°well, I suppose that¡¯s good enough¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°don¡¯t change the topic.¡±


    Dai Wu ¡°¡­¡±


    He rolls his eyes again, sighing, ¡°do I really have to tell this embarrassing story?¡±


    ¡°So what were you?¡± X¨¹ Beijin asks, with curious eyes, but, the good person that he is, adds, ¡°if you ended up a toilet or something like that though, then never mind.¡±


    Dai Wu is so shocked he nearly chokes, asking, ¡°what? Someone actually¡­ well, never mind. I wasn¡¯t; I was an¡­¡± He is quiet for a moment before replying, ¡°extractor hood.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    The corner of his mouth twitches.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t kill anyone, ok?¡± Dai Wu explains, ¡°the missing Missiontakers are randomly stuffed into a device and replaces the Actor instead. I just had my fortunes explode for once.¡±


    Oh, it¡¯s actually random¡­ X¨¹ Beijin falls into thought.


    In that case, Muscular, who died the last run of the Nightmare, must have actually been transported into that special Internet platform. What would he be?


    X¨¹ Beijin is feeling pretty complicated. While he deserved it all, this method of death and what happens even after death is still chilling him to the bone.


    Though¡­ with that personality of his, if Muscular ended up as some lethal-capable facility, then the Missiontakers remaining in the Nightmare, especially people like Jiang Shuangjie and Thin, may be in danger.


    Right now, thirty minutes have passed since the fourth run of the Nightmare began.


    The screen on the stream is showing some changes already.


    While Jiang Shuangmei already knows that, since she has died in the first run of the Nightmare already, and is now exempt from the murderous spree of the rogue facilities, but her fear, wariness and cautiousness still urged her to choose to stick right next to the door since the fourth run started.


    That trauma from her previous death still haunts her. She does not want to fall to such depths ever again.


    She spends half an hour of the Nightmare quietly like so. Her legs are feeling a bit numb after standing for so long, so she tries to relax a bit, but she accidentally trips and falls towards the door.


    ¡°Oh oh¡­ ouch!¡±


    She ends up hitting the handle with her forehead; it pushes down.


    The next second, she is shocked to realise, the door is open!


    She tries it with her hand this time, and opens the apartment door without much effort. It seems the limitation that they must wait for an hour has vanished already!


    ¡­ Why? How?


    She looks up at the clock to confirm that, it has only been half an hour since the Nightmare restarted. The window is showing pitch darkness outside.


    Is it, part of the¡­ crumbling? In the fourth Nightmare? So they can exit a bit earlier?


    Jiang Shuangmei suspects no one would have guessed it, since this hasn¡¯t been the case in the first three runs of the Nightmare. They probably wouldn¡¯t have tried the door this time.


    Yet¡­ What if, during this time that they are essentially squandering in waste, they end up missing out on necessary clues for the Endings?


    Jiang Shuangmei isn¡¯t good at logic and deduction, but she has experience in many Nightmares in the past, and is familiar with how often the Server would trick and trap them.


    So she realises that she must find her older sister quickly, to tell Jiang Shuangjie about this.


    Sometimes, these straightforward people who don¡¯t like to think, can be much more decisive when need be.


    The next second after she made her decision, she is on the move, without first pondering whether the door lock opening is a trap, without wondering what other changes the crumbling of the Nightmare may have brought.

 Volume 3 - CH 54.3

    Jiang Shuangmei has left her apartment unit and is now running for the stairs to head for Room 807. When she¡¯s on the eighth floor, she¡¯s about to knock and pauses when she spies something out of the corner of her eye.


    She sees an elevator with its entrance open. While on the ground, are what appears to be¡­ several utility cards?


    A few minutes later, Jiang Shuangmei has reunited with her older sister, telling her excitedly, ¡°sis! Look what I picked up?¡±


    Three utility cards. An Infocard, an Attack card, and a rare, useful Trick card, named ¡®The Devil¡¯s Mask.¡¯


    Jiang Shuangjie is shocked, not even asking how Jiang Shuangmei left her apartment unit so early, and quickly asks, ¡°where did you pick them up from?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei replies, ¡°from the elevator outside.¡±


    Jiang Shuangjie is confused for a bit before suddenly recalling the fact that the Nightmare restarted out of the blue the last run¡­


    A wet blanket has suddenly smothered her all over.


    Jiang Shuangmei seems slightly confused by Jiang Shuangjie¡¯s nonreaction, asking, ¡°sis, what is it?¡± Then she looks at the cards in her hand, asking, ¡°is the card no good?¡±


    Jiang Shuangjie sighs and asks her hapless younger sister, ¡°Shuangshuang, think about it for a second. Why would there be some utility cards on the floor out of nowhere?¡±


    ¡°I picked it up though,¡± Jiang Shuangmei blinks and says, ¡°I don¡¯t plan on giving it back either.¡±


    Jiang Shuangjie ¡°¡­¡±


    She¡¯s looking at her younger sister with a rather exasperated expression. She¡¯s not sure how she can explain it to her.


    This is such an eerie thing too, but her younger sister is unwilling to think¡­ She knows that it¡¯s because she is used to relying on her.


    In Nightmares, she is always the one doing the thinking and her the ¡®actioning¡¯; it¡¯s such a natural instinct now, that obviously, Jiang Shuangjie could mull over where the utility cards come from, but Jiang Shuangmei can just pick them up and be done with it.


    Besides that, Jiang Shuangjie is also aware of why Jiang Shuangmei is so glad.


    This is their first attempt at going through the floors of the Tower after so many years outside of Nightmares. They have experience from before, and a stash of utility cards from back then, but it is still difficult for them.


    Therefore, picking up valuable utility cards must mean a lot for Jiang Shuangmei as she happily picks them up for herself.


    The older sister understands what she is thinking, but she is not sure how to convey her worries.


    The sisters fall silent.


    In the stream, meanwhile, the audience is practically yelling out typing,


    ¡°oh shit! did the dead guy drop those?!¡±


    ¡°? its like a chance to drop your items after death? super unfriendly to us unluckies, oi!¡±


    ¡°we never saw dead people drop items though¡­ I¡¯m scratching my head here¡±


    ¡°what¡¯s even going on?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t say anything even though the viewers clearly seem curious. While normally Missiontakers do not drop utility cards when they die, but in this Nightmare, Missiontakers dying is clearly treated abnormally.


    In the third run, after Muscular has been killed by the elevator, and the Nightmare restarted, he¡¯s gone.


    His item being dropped is probably because he has succumbed to a Collapsed Nightmare¡­ No, rather, he has been made to succumb.


    He has been turned from a Missiontaker into an Actor, an Actor who is specifically tied to this Nightmare forever, acting as the specific furniture here.


    Actors, obviously, cannot hold or use utility cards themselves.


    In the Tower, a Missiontaker succumbing or not can be verified by checking if their residence is still locked up.


    There are, in fact, seasoned thieves who would go after doors that haven¡¯t seen anyone enter for a while; they might be holding all the valuables of a succumbed Missiontaker.


    Some Missiontakers did manage to strike it rich this way.


    They¡¯re nicknamed Vultures, because they live with corpses. And strangely, while these Vultures are equally the lowest of the rungs among Missiontakers, their reputation isn¡¯t as abysmal as the Carddealer¡¯s. They¡¯re also more rarely seen and well hidden.


    Perhaps Muscular wouldn¡¯t have ever expected that, one day, that prey in his eyes would end up a temporary Vulture who grabbed everything he brought.


    No matter what, though, his entire disappearance must mean that the Nightmare has already crumbled by the third run. Even if it were someone else that ended up dying in the third one, that Missiontaker would have been gone.


    Therefore, in fact, Missiontakers must not let themselves die anymore since the third run.


    ¡­ How arbitrary. No wonder the teenage girl heard about how some Missiontakers would be gone forever even after a Normal End was achieved.


    This Nightmare begins with the Missiontakers having been separated into different apartment units. The scene is so large that the Missiontakers cannot discover that one of them is gone in a timely manner.


    It must be after a long exploration, investigation and information-gathering that they might be able to tell what¡¯s gone wrong; more likely, however, is that they wouldn¡¯t even be able to definitively state how many Missiontakers are present in this Nightmare.


    X¨¹ Beijin himself only knew there were seven Missiontakers present via the streaming system.


    These Missiontakers are unable to track everyone else in real-time. In fact, it is completely possible they would never be able to find every last person in the Nightmare before one of them disappeared entirely and they wouldn¡¯t be any the wiser.


    ¡­ In a Nightmare, information really is immensely valuable.


    For example, Jiang Shuangjie, right now. Her instincts have convinced her that something must be behind these utility cards popping up nowhere, but she does not know what, or why. Unlike X¨¹ Beijin, she lacks information.


    She would even prefer Jiang Shuangmei just putting those cards back where she found them. She doesn¡¯t want to take any more risks in this unconventional Nightmare. Also, what they should do right now is to look for Thin and the others, to try and shut the electricity off to leave this Nightmare for good.


    However, Jiang Shuangmei is unwilling to do as her older sister says.


    Who knows which Missiontaker could have had these cards? Who cares why it is in the elevator? Nobody!


    She is even stating, ¡°maybe it¡¯s a surprise package from the Server?¡±


    Jiang Shuangjie ¡°¡­¡±


    She is completely looking at her younger sister anew. How did she not know before that her younger sister actually had such a positively na?ve side?


    Her head is throbbing.


    Did she really overprotect her younger sister?


    Jiang Shuangmei is stubborn in refusing to put the cards back, even saying, disappointed, ¡°sis, we really need utility cards; did you forget we want to head for a higher floor¡­?¡±


    ¡°Of course I do!¡± Jiang Shuangjie says frustratedly, ¡°but Shuangshuang, don¡¯t you think that there¡¯s something wrong with the utility cards just lying there for no reason?!¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± Jiang Shuangmei firmly replies, ¡°I¡¯m keeping them even if they¡¯re suspicious. After we leave this Nightmare, who would care or know where we got them from?¡±


    Jiang Shuangjie opens her mouth, but no words come out.


    She doesn¡¯t want to fight with her here. She is really genuinely questioning if she has spoiled her younger sister to the point of uselessness. She is even lacking in basic judgement in a Nightmare.


    The point isn¡¯t in who even owned these utility cards, but w?h?y they ended up in the elevator.


    Kindness from the Server, even?


    Impossible!

 Volume 3 - CH 54.4

    Jiang Shuangjie, not wanting to scold her younger sister outright, is trying her best to explain what she means, but Jiang Shuangmei is having none of it. She stuffs the cards into her pockets and leaves the apartment unit.


    She says, without turning back towards her older sister, ¡°I¡¯m not saying another word, sis. I picked it up, so I can deal with it¡­ right?¡± She sniffles, and with a hint of sadness, says, ¡°don¡¯t you think that these utility cards can be useful? I picked them up!¡±


    She is feeling wronged, even; she presented these utility cards to her older sister like treasure she stumbled upon, but all her older sister would say, is that these are ¡®dangerous,¡¯ like she merely picked up some dirty rags off the road.


    Yet¡­ they are useful!


    She feels really like a kid¡­ a kid cared for and loved by her older sister, but not equally respected and trusted. She really wants to prove herself useful, to show her older sister that, she isn¡¯t the child that needs her protection anymore.


    However, she does not realise that the more desperately people want to prove they are no longer a child, the more they look immature, like a child.


    In this Nightmare, Jiang Shuangmei almost collapsed because of that death. Now, she gets scolded just for picking up utility cards that came about mysteriously¡­ She suddenly understood that, she could not prove herself. In fact, her older sister is thinking even less of her.


    She really did think that her older sister would have praised her.


    Disappointed, she asks, ¡°sis, did you think that¡­ what I did was immoral?¡±


    She does not hear a reply.


    So she sighs, and just leaves without looking back at her older sister. Outside of the apartment unit, she just quietly says, ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you outside, sis.¡±


    What she does not know, however, is that, behind her back, her older sister has her veins all popped up and her eyes bulging and bloodshot, from being strangled by the curtains in the apartment unit. She is powerlessly stretching her arms towards her younger sister¡¯s silhouette, only to watch her leave the apartment unit in the end.


    The door to the apartment unit shuts with a bang that reverberates in both the room and the eighth floor corridor.


    Until, she dies.


    When Jiang Shuangmei is just waiting grumpily outside, the Nightmare restarted all of a sudden. She is all confused.


    What happened?


    X¨¹ Beijin, alongside the viewers in the stream who watched the whole debacle play out ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡­ What the hell?!


    ¡°oh bollocks! is that the power of the bratty kid?!¡±


    ¡°I feel so sorry, I¡¯m gonna go give my younger sis a good spanking right now¡±


    ¡°the innocent younger sister: ???¡±


    ¡°¡­ her older sister¡­ did she hear nothing?!¡±


    ¡°part of the curtain stuffed itself into her mouth¡­ fuck, this is tragic¡±


    ¡°watching her own younger sister leave her behind¡­¡±


    ¡°and for such a ridiculous tantrum too¡­¡±


    Even X¨¹ Beijin is sighing. When the Nightmare restarts and he sees that Jiang Shuangjie is nowhere to be found, his feelings are even more complicated.


    It may be thoughts mixed with a helpless exasperation, sympathy, condolence, and even sorry for the many Final Destination-esque events leading up to Jiang Shaungjie¡¯s demise.


    If only Jiang Shuangmei turned around once to check on her older sister¡­


    She did not, however.


    She could not see behind her. Therefore, she can no longer see her older sister.


    When the Nightmare restarted, Jiang Shuangmei, besides bewilderment, also has a strange, ominous feeling that eerily resembles what her older sister felt for her when she met danger back in the first run of the Nightmare.


    That ominous feeling is not strong, but it would not let up.


    She is restless enough that, as soon as the Nightmare restarted, she immediately tries to leave the apartment unit. She succeeds, and runs for the stairwell, and heads downstairs with blurry steps.


    There is a mysterious thought bubbling in her mind, but she¡­ No, no way! I can¡¯t be¡­ How?!


    She stops in front of Room 807.


    She can see the door is ajar. She stops, murmuring, ¡°¡­ no, that¡¯s not¡­ it¡¯s not possible?¡±


    She pushes the door and enters in disbelief, only to find the apartment unit deserted. She looks around the apartment unit, and finally, sees the few utility cards dropped besides the sofa.


    She picks them up. She recognises them. Her older sister brought these cards with her.


    She freezes.


    Not even she herself knows for sure what she has just realised at that moment.


    Shortly after, she chuckles inexplicably.


    She is murmuring, ¡°sis¡­ nah, you¡¯re kidding. You should know I would have come looking for you as soon as possible, right?¡± Then she looks around and says, ¡°you¡¯re playing a trick with me¡­ and went downstairs before I did?¡±


    She squeezes the utility cards in her hand tightly. She continues murmuring and turns around to leave Room 807.


    In the apartment unit, the curtain moves a little, but perhaps realising it could do nothing, stops.


    X¨¹ Beijin sees it, though, and his gaze turns slightly dimmer. He is wondering, if¡­


    If the curtains are Muscular, perhaps?


    Jiang Shuangmei doesn¡¯t know that she has just left her older sister¡¯s murderer behind. She is heading towards the stairs in a daze, when she stops.


    Stopping right at the elevators.


    The elevator, the elevator that made them argue¡­ She stares at it in a trance, and takes a deep breath, and enters with a poker face.


    Finally, something in her mind has clicked.


    She recalls¡­ a possibility. A question. A question about whether her older sister has died. A question about what Thin said, about disappearing Missiontakers.


    She is thinking that, if her older sister has died, then so should her. They¡¯ve been relying on each other, entrusting each other with their own lives for so many years in the Tower now.


    They were born the same year, the same month, the same day. Therefore, so should they die the same year, the same month, the same day.


    ¡­ She is really looking to kill herself now. Would her older sister ever abandon her? She didn¡¯t¡­ she really¡­ she wants to be by her older sister¡¯s side. She is in deep regret. Why did¡­


    Perhaps the elevator will kill her. Perhaps¡­ the elevator should kill her. Utility cards¡­ No utility card can ever be as important as her older sister.


    Sometimes, though, people argue and even fight with their most beloved, their most important person in their hearts because of things far more trivial than them.


    Jiang Shuangmei is wallowing in regret.


    If¡­


    She pushes ¡®1,¡¯ and then drifts to a corner of the elevator, burying her head in her knees, and finally, cries.


    The elevator slowly descended for a while before stopping.


    Jiang Shuangmei hears a gentle female voice say, ¡°ground floor. Please stand clear of the opening doors.¡±

 Volume 3 - CH 55.1

    Rumours


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Thin doesn¡¯t feel like being anywhere near the toilet, so he tries the door looking bored and uncomfortable, only to realise the door is unlocked. Thus, he leaves the apartment unit.


    When he reaches the first floor of the Luoke Apartment, he runs into Jiang Shuangmei, currently wailing madly against the entrance of the elevator.


    He¡¯s shocked.


    Also, while Jiang Shuangmei is inexplicably crying, the elevator door isn¡¯t shutting either. It is just staying open, as if it is quietly listening to her cries.


    This scene is¡­ strange.


    Recalling the last run¡­ or rather, the two unexpected restarts to the previous runs, Thin falls into thought.


    He stands there for a while quietly, but Jiang Shuangmei doesn¡¯t look like she¡¯s going to calm down any time soon, so he just sighs and leaves her be without a word, and goes upstairs.


    He knocks and gets both the teenage girl and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ out. As expected, other than Jiang Shuangmei and Thin, who basically opened the door by pure dumb luck, the rest of the Missiontakers are all still quietly hanging out in their apartment units.


    This positively malicious setting from the Nightmare surely managed to disgust the Missiontakers.


    They¡¯re cussing at NE as they head down.


    The viewers in the stream are teasingly remarking instead,


    ¡°lol at blaming the game server, it¡¯s just an AI, AI! go blame the scriptwriters instead¡±


    ¡°typical ¡®bully the weak but spare the strong¡¯ behaviour¡±


    ¡°although but, this nightmares setting really is evil¡±


    ¡°why did the elevator become a woman, by the way? wasnt it a man? or was my memories playing tricks?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin quietly watches for a short while but decides that the true reason won¡¯t elude the viewers for long anyway, so he might as well chime in now¡­


    Still, risks are abound, he can¡¯t help but think.


    He sighs inside before speaking up with a poker face, ¡°I suspect that it is because the Nightmare has crumbled, which has caused the penalty for death to be altered.¡±


    The viewers are all going ¡°???¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin pauses before explaining, ¡°when players died in Nightmares before, it only causes a restart in which the players¡¯ states are reverted to how they were. This is how it is, normally.


    However, in some particular Nightmares, the crumbling of the Nightmare will also cause the fundamental rules of the game to change ¨C rules that govern player deaths included. Therefore, death may begin to see other punishments.


    By taking that into account, and also the facts that the elevator¡¯s voice changed from male to female, the inconsolable younger of the twin sisters, and the death of the older sister from before, this conclusion becomes obvious ¨C


    That is, the older sister has become the elevator.


    This is completely unimaginable in real life, of course, but in-game, the player¡¯s aggregate consciousness can be attached to any object ¨C not just their game account¡¯s character, but even traditionally inorganic things like elevators.


    X¨¹ Beijin finishes up, and the stream is all ¡®wowie¡¯ and clapping. They have alleviated the guilt X¨¹ Beijin is feeling from lying to the viewers somewhat.


    He rubs his nose and gives an awkward smile.


    The audience takes it as embarrassment for such direct compliments; no one suspects that X¨¹ Beijin has hidden anything.


    X¨¹ Beijin is still averse to testing the absolute limit that NE will tolerate, so he still does not dare to lay out the exact truth, or question what the world outside the Tower is like. Harmless as the viewers may seem, he is keeping the silence.


    While the viewers seem to have accepted the analysis without question, X¨¹ Beijin changes the topic to say, ¡°it seems the Missiontakers are infighting.¡±


    Yes, the Missiontakers are having another argument.


    They were not on the best of terms thanks to the Carddealer, Muscular, before, but after his ¡®exile,¡¯ the mood has turned for the better already between the rest of them. Yet, that atmosphere has turned sour once again.


    The source of the conflict is that Jiang Shuangmei would not let the rest of the Missiontakers go cut off the power in the electrical room.


    Thin is furrowing his brows, saying, ¡°cutting off the power is what your older sister agreed with us the last run,¡± and he looks like he¡¯s not finished, but he does not ask that question in the end¡ª¡ªWhere is your older sister?


    He probably knows the correct answer already; he made a detour to the eighth floor and took a peek at Room 807. It was empty.


    Not just Jiang Shuangjie is gone, either. Muscular is nowhere to be found as well. This is making Thin deeply nervous.


    He would really prefer leaving the Nightmare now, not just because he and the teenage girl stumbled in here accidentally, but also, because he can feel the initiative in this Nightmare slipping from him entirely.


    It seems that¡­ for many reasons, they have failed to gather too many crucial information. There is no way they can deal with this Nightmare as it is.


    ¡°No¡­¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s eyes are swollen. Her voice is clearly parched and it is not difficult to tell she has been crying. There is something to her tone, a resolve that borders on insanity, perhaps, as she begs the rest of the Missiontakers, ¡°please let me try! At least¡­ give me some time¡­¡±


    The teenage girl just coldly asks, ¡°what did you find out?¡± She takes a look around and asks, ¡°where¡¯s your older sister? Let her speak to us.¡±


    Clearly, she isn¡¯t interested in conversing with Jiang Shuangmei any further; in the whole Nightmare, Jiang Shuangmei has behaved like nothing more than a shadow of her older sister. She follows around, but she is useless otherwise.


    The teenage girl is cold and straightforward like that, but she is shocked by the reaction.


    Because, it looks as if some invisible fist has just struck Jiang Shuangmei. She falls to the floor right after hearing what she said. Lying on the ground, she is whimpering once again.


    The teenage girl is looking at her oddly with creased brows. Then, she glances at Thin.


    Thin sighs to say, ¡°her older sister may have¡­¡±


    ¡°Disappeared?¡±


    That unmitigated word makes Jiang Shuangmei shudder again, but she slowly lifts her body up to say, ¡°no, I know where she is.¡±


    Everyone is shocked to hear that.


    Jiang Shuangmei points to the elevator that carried her down.


    The Missiontakers are all silent.


    Thin is furrowing his brow, asking, ¡°how did you know¡­ wait,¡± he pauses, before asking, ¡°Infocard?¡±


    Checking an elevator with an Infocard? That sounds outrageously decadent, but, if it really did confirm that the missing Missiontakers actually ended up as the sentient furniture and facilities, then, that¡¯s a whole other issue.


    In fact, this would be extremely valuable information!


    Proactively harming other Missiontakers is forbidden, not to mention killing in cold blood, but, what if¡­


    Thin¡¯s thoughts are digressing far away.


    But then, he sighs.


    If they learnt this information a few years ago, or rather, just a few months ago, even, he would have treated it with utmost urgency and reported it to Ding Yi immediately for her to strategically value this information.


    They were still competing with other Necessities Merchants back then, both openly and under-the-wraps-ly. Some would always resort to unsavoury tactics. Whether they use it is another thing, but they must have the means to self-preservation.


    Though¡­ it is different, now.

 Volume 3 - CH 55.2

    With Ding Yi already having moved on to a different floor, Thin and the teenage girl, and some others as well, after figuring out some facts, will also be departing the bottom floor of the Tower to head upwards.


    Knowing how the Tower is, even if they established a successful business here¡­ so what? It¡¯s almost like playing house. It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s just fucking playing house!


    Yes, many people in real life dedicate absurd amount of their attention and wealth into games, but that is because it is something extra for their real lives¡ª¡ªThe real lives that they have! However, humans in the Tower do not have the luxury of reality; what, you expect them to look for reality in the virtual simulation?


    It is solely something that demotivates people.


    Thin became a subordinate of Ding Yi about a year or two back, when he was tired of his life of moving up and down the bottom rung of the floors of the Tower. He chose to stop.


    Unlike other Missiontakers, though, he didn¡¯t let himself sink to the depths of the apocalyptic raves. Instead, he applied to be a subordinate, to become¡­ employed?


    It¡¯s quite the laughable word to use, but Thin was dedicated to his new craft. He had some passion in his work. Therefore, he didn¡¯t exactly have time to comprehend the changes in his emotional state back then.


    Though he heard in passing from his companions¡ª¡ªincluding, but also not limited to the teenage girl¡ª¡ªthat, recently, the Tower itself has become a more and more dreary place. Even people like them are increasingly desperate; rotten.


    Cue the people having orgies and raves, for example. When in the past, after a night of debauchery, they would head home for a sound sleep, now they would just lie flat exactly where they were in the grounds of the partying itself.


    It has become hard to even tell the dancing floor from a final resting place.


    Under the circumstances, that piece of rumour coming down here from on high, is like a sudden adrenaline shot for the Missiontakers of the bottom floor. Whether that is actually more terminal lucidity than being actually alive¡­


    Who knows.


    Humans are only living when there are goals and hopes to look forward to. Living without aspiration is no living at all. It is merely being biologically alive.


    Thin at least had some motivation to dedicate himself, but some others¡­ some others he know, are more walking corpses.


    Anyway, whether someone managed to leave the Tower for good, and whether that success can be replicated¡­ are questions that will require more time to be answered and verified.


    Thin only hopes that time will give closure to these questions, unlike other rumours that frequently circulate in the Tower that end up dispersing into the fog outside the Tower, never to be heard about again.


    Thin just sighs, stopping his thoughts from digressing further, to ask, ¡°did you know that using an Infocard?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ Yes¡­¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei still seems to be out of it when answering.


    She is recalling how it was just now. Almost immediately when she heard the female voice, she used an Infocard. She can¡¯t even explain what she was thinking to just use it without the slightest bit of thought¡­


    She saw the result, which robbed her of her breath.


    ¡®Item: Elevator (Jiang Shuangjie)


    Note: Permanent effect; cannot be dispelled¡¯


    ¡­ Cannot be dispelled? What¡­ How?!


    When Thin was downstairs and saw Jiang Shuangmei crying like mad, she has already futilely wasted a Split card, which failed to fire.


    Cannot be dispelled.


    Sorrow overtook her immediately.


    Although the elevator accompanied her quietly, this older sister, trapped in an elevator forever, ¡®dead,¡¯ would not say anything.


    Now, perhaps, Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s wish will finally come true.


    She will mature, as is her wish, to become a grown, dependable adult, only for the price of her guardian forever disappearing.


    She feels like a little animal being abandoned into the wild. She has become used to warm surroundings with a dedicated caretaker and caring family. She cannot even fathom¡­ How?! Why?!


    This is just one Nightmare, just, the first Nightmare¡­ after they made up their mind to fight through Nightmares, once again?!


    In the very first Nightmare, her older sister has left her behind.


    No, no¡­ This must be a bad joke, it can¡¯t be¡­


    Jiang Shuangmei is shaking. Besides despair, there is also an anger and frustration built up in her chest, that she does not know to whom she should direct.


    Herself, perhaps. She should have been angry at her despicable self¡­ But she only finds herself hating this world, this Tower, these Missiontakers in the Nightmare, and even¡­


    Even her older sister.


    Death¡­ Ha, death. Your death absolved you of all your responsibility. Death has allowed you to detach, to become wholly innocent.


    Death, rather than the end, it was a means.


    When Jiang Shuangmei was ¡®younger,¡¯ she even saw death as her only means to defy this shitty world they find themselves trapped in, but now, she finds herself being that ¡®world¡¯ that was left behind¡­


    She is inconsolably wailing on the floor, but a moment later, she suddenly raises her head at Thin and the teenage girl, revealing a sharpness, and an unreasonable vibe, that has never once appeared on her before, as he yells out, ¡°you¡­ you, and you, are useless! Aren¡¯t you Planners under Ding Yi?! Aren¡¯t you guarantees for resolving Nightmares?! Ha¡­ Useless! All of you are useless¡­¡±


    She goes back to crying again.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ turns his poker face towards Thin and the teenage girl for a glance.


    ¡­ Planners?


    That is not something Missiontakers often talk about.


    Planners are part of the Merchants, and they are the ones that sell methods, or ¡®Plans,¡¯ in the Tower, that allows one to achieve the Ending they want in the Nightmares. Compared to Golddiggers like Mu Jiashi, Planners obviously have it easier, but they also shoulder an additional risk.


    If a Missiontaker failed after buying a Plan, that associated Planner¡¯s career would be ruined.


    Customers take the Plan provided as the gold standard, the standard answer. Instead of the Golddiggers¡¯ being able to largely direct the flow of the Nightmare personally, Planners and their customers would be seen as lazy.


    There is more profit in play, though, because Golddiggers have to expend much more effort and time leading customers.


    Planners were on the rise generally after the gold standard among Golddiggers, Mu Jiashi, left, and became a kind of substitute replacement. Their Plans are cheaper, of course, but they still didn¡¯t find mainstream appeal.


    There is no guarantee either whether the Plan they bought was even real. The only way of verifying is through practical testing.


    If someone with a grudge arranged for someone to pretend to be a Planner and sell you a fake Plan that would actually succumb you to a Nightmare instead, it¡¯ll be all over.


    Only wealthy, trusted, reputable Necessities Merchants like Ding Yi could possibly keep and supervise Planners openly, not just because time and money was needed to build them up in the first place, but also because the Planners would then be able to borrow reputation from the Merchants themselves.


    That still doesn¡¯t help Planners to become a trustworthy or popular career in general, of course.


    In some sense, they are like people offering walkthroughs in real life. However¡­ this is the Tower. These are Nightmares.


    Somehow, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ can feel a fire in his chest for once. He asks, grimly, ¡°anything is for sale¡­ is it?¡±

 Volume 3 - CH 55.3

    Thin does not respond. The teenage girl gives Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ a cold glance, but she does not respond either.


    In the end, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ just lowers his head in disinterest.


    ¡­ What¡¯s the use in assigning blame anyway?


    Silence ensues.


    In the end, it is Jiang Shuangmei who suddenly speaks up, asking, ¡°did anyone bring an Infocard?¡±


    The Missiontakers are all in shock.


    Nobody ever directly talks about utility cards in the Tower, especially in a Nightmare, in such a circumstance, talking about a specific utility card.


    Jiang Shuangmei raises her head, showing her stiffened, wilted face, saying, ¡°I¡¯ll exchange with some other card¡­ How about an Attack card?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ almost immediately responds, ¡°I¡¯ll do it!¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei smiles silently. She throws the Attack card in her pocket to Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹. After he has confirmed it, he hands his Infocard over to Jiang Shuangmei, while examining her all over anew.


    How rare it is that a ¡®Zombie¡¯ loner like Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ can ever see such a rare Attack card? While Jiang Shuangmei just took one out to trade¡­ for an Infocard of all things?!


    Infocards are the common agates to the diamond that is an Attack card!


    Jiang Shuangmei couldn¡¯t care less what the other Missiontakers thought of her, only remarking, ¡°I just want to check, the killer of my older sister, who it is. Please¡­¡± Her tone turns slightly quavering again as she continues, ¡°at least, let me confirm that.¡±


    Thin has a difficult expression as he glances at the teenage girl, before finally agreeing on a condition, ¡°can you let us come with you?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei doesn¡¯t respond, and just walks straight to the elevator¡ª¡ªThat is, her older sister.


    The rest of the Missiontakers take the stairs instead.


    A few minutes later, they are all at Room 807.


    X¨¹ Beijin, watching the scene through the stream, is feeling rather complicated inside. When the Nightmare began, he pointed his camera here out of sheer coincidence.


    Who would have thought that this might also be where the Nightmare ends?


    Jiang Shuangmei is standing right next to the sofa where she picked up the utility cards and sweeping her gaze across. Ignoring the pain and self-loathe bubbling within her, she tries to recall to the best of her ability what happened the last moments of the last run of the Nightmare.


    Finally, her gaze fixes onto the settled curtains nearby, hanging down near the corner of the room.


    No matter how she considered it, among the sentient furniture in the living room, the only object that could move and kill someone in a short period of time¡­ would be this.


    Also, she recalls how her older sister told her before, that in the first run of the Nightmare, she saw the curtains lift up for no reason.


    ¡­ She hates how vividly she can recall the past, as if her older sister is still actually living, just in her memories, but she is not anywhere to be found.


    Is this fake reality, even meaningful?


    Jiang Shuangmei points her Infocard shakily at the curtains.


    She is quiet for over a dozen seconds, until the three other Missiontakers have become restless and anxious from the long silence, when Jiang Shuangmei suddenly makes a move.


    She is not moving outdoors.


    Instead, the Missiontakers watch in bafflement as she retrieves a pair of scissors from the kitchen, and then¡­


    She cuts the curtains apart.


    Her expression is still so completely calm, as if her facial muscles have all rotted away, as if she is merely venting out her anger and not avenging her older sister. She is cutting it into elaborate strips, looking like making it resemble a broom is her intent all along.


    The curtains have become tassels¡­


    It makes the Missiontakers uncomfortable and even fearful.


    They do not even dare ask what the results from the Infocard was, even though they already have some form of an answer in their minds.


    In the first run of the Nightmare, Jiang Shuangmei died;


    The second run, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ died;


    Neither of the deaths resulting in them disappearing.


    In run four, Jiang Shuangjie died. She has disappeared.


    What about the third run?


    Who died in the third run? Did the person disappear? Did he¡­ become the curtains?


    The curtains which killed Jiang Shuangjie¡­


    The only person with a clear grudge against Jiang Shuangjie¡­


    Almost immediately, Thin has connected the dots and saw through the reasoning that made Jiang Shuangmei act in such an insane manner.


    A while later, Jiang Shuangmei seems to have finally calmed down. She finally stabs the scissors right through the curtains, and then calmly nods towards the rest of the Missiontakers, telling them, ¡°apologies. Let¡¯s head back down.¡±


    Thin could almost mistake her countenance for her older sister.


    They are back on the ground floor.


    With suppressed pain in her chest, she touches the button on this elevator. She gently murmurs, ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± and pauses, before promising, ¡°I will keep going, sis. I will¡­ leave this damned game.¡±


    She could swear when she looked back on this memory, that she heard a sigh.


    The elevator is all quiet, though. They could probably hear even a grain of dust falling to the ground.


    Jiang Shuangmei is still sniffling, but she is no longer tearing up. She has come to terms with what happened.


    She is clutching the utility cards tightly in her fist, including the card named ¡®The Devil¡¯s Mask¡¯ ¨C what nobody else knew, was that when she checked the curtains with the Infocard, which revealed information on Muscular, she came to learn some unimaginable terror.


    After using the card ¡®The Devil¡¯s Mask,¡¯ the price paid, is not just limited to an amplification of stubbornness and arrogance.


    When the card is lost, the ¡®Devil¡¯ will only view its former owner with disdain.


    Therefore, anyone using an Infocard on this abandoned Missiontaker, will cause not just current information to pop up, but even reveal all the past deeds of the person without fail.


    Jiang Shuangmei has now come to learn where Muscular lived, what utility cards he had, what Nightmares he has been through, what contacts he knew, what information he has procured, and so on. In some sense, she will be able to pull off a perfect identity theft as ¡®Muscular.¡¯


    And even, the fact that the bookstore owner strikes Lin Qin¡¯s fancy¡­


    Jiang Shuangmei takes a deep breath as some thoughts go through her head.


    After her older sister has departed for good, she will have to rely on her own abilities to live. The information she gleaned through that Infocard might be able to help her establish herself on the bottom floor.


    Love, huh¡­


    Jiang Shuangmei is bitterly smiling, out of nowhere in the perspective of the others.


    She is wondering, if anyone could actually ever experience genuine¡­ love? In the Tower of all places?


    Then, she gathers her thoughts and rubs her face again to make herself look calmer before joining back up with the other Missiontakers.


    A few minutes later, they have broken the lock of the electrical room with a hammer they found in the security room. Then, they broke the circuit breakers.


    After that, the Server¡¯s cold voice rings out. They have reached a Normal End.

 Volume 3 - CH 55.4

    X¨¹ Beijin finds himself back in his bookstore when he opens his eyes.


    He stands motionless for a moment, before telling the viewers goodbye.


    This stream was really long. It was roughly four hours long from his estimate, but really, it isn¡¯t truly over yet for him ¨C the impact of this Nightmare on X¨¹ Beijin is still ongoing.


    Bubble tea¡­


    Uh, no, not that, the other thing.


    The thing about how he could intervene more proactively in Nightmares.


    The Server did not prohibit his leaking of information he acquired through other Actors and the stream itself. It seems NE has interpreted them as information he can know and can disseminate to others, the same way Actors can all tell each other about their own experiences.


    There is still the fundamental divide between Actors and Missiontakers, though.


    So X¨¹ Beijin is thinking about doing more in-depth attempts and analyses in the next Nightmare.


    Though while his thoughts churn enthusiastically ahead, his body involuntarily yawns from sleepiness.


    He stands up and walks next to the window.


    Not the big, street-side window, but the opposite side. In the Tower, the physical location of your door, your house, is irrelevant, because there is always a window opposite your door when inside that shows the scene outside the Tower.


    A dense fog. The heavy, grey smog smothers the entire world, wherein lies the Tower.


    There has never been a ray of sunlight; there has never been a drop of rain. This desolate, barren wasteland is and always has been so. It plants fear and anxiety into all who gaze upon it.


    The curiosity the Missiontakers had towards this vastness of grey ended quite early on, when some of the nosier Missiontakers treaded into the grey fog, only to never return again. Those sacrifices occurred so long ago, it was almost right after humans realised they were trapped in the Tower.


    Back then, perhaps X¨¹ Beijin was doing the same thing; standing next to his bed in the bookstore, watching the dense fog outside of the Tower in silence, in gloom.


    He allows his memories to further digress, not even noticing the passage of time. He is recalling things from many years ago, recalling he when he just arrived in the Tower¡­ It really was so long ago.


    He is even allowing himself to remember what it was like on Earth, perhaps no doubt inspired by revisiting a shopping centre so reminiscent of home in the last Nightmare.


    ¡­ Then, he recalls Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ all of a sudden.


    He regrets his thought exercise already, because he has no interest in facing those things at all.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ has said that he knew the commercial area back on Earth.


    He was hiding something further still, X¨¹ Beijin could see it, and he even has a vague idea on what it might be.


    But¡­ There is no meaning to it. Whether Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ decided to talk about it or not, the situation remains unchanged. In fact, he can¡¯t have been the first person to ever realise something is off about all of this after all these years.


    Yes, certainly, someone must have.


    Then why do their lives remain unchanged?


    Or¡­ not¡­ perhaps¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin is looking at the swirling greyness outside of the air.


    Recently, haven¡¯t there¡­ been undercurrents¡­ no?


    Though, so what? He can¡¯t¡­ X¨¹ Beijin is about to activate his habitual, pessimistic inner cynic when he suddenly remembers that, this is not correct anymore. He is now able to use the information in the stream¡­ to intervene, to actively participate in Nightmares!


    He is energised thinking about that again, when suddenly, knocking interrupts his thought processes.


    ¡­ Who¡¯s here for him?


    X¨¹ Beijin tilts his head in confusion; Lin Qin? It can¡¯t be?


    ¡­ Oh shit, that possibility is actually quite high.


    He slowly trudges over to the door, and takes a deep breath before opening the door¡­ Then, his eyes widen in surprise.


    Outside the door, presenting a friendly smile with some cans of drinks in his hand, is the self-anointed ¡®loser,¡¯ ¡®useless trash¡¯ ¨C Mu Jiashi.


    He is here to visit X¨¹ Beijin, as was his promise.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s surprise is genuine as he introduces Mu Jiashi inside, his brain wholly distracted with other questions.


    Mu Jiashi¡­ He didn¡¯t go back to a higher floor? Did he choose not to head up, or¡­ did he, once again, fail on a higher floor?


    It is an awkward question to ask; Mu Jiashi brings it up himself, though, telling him, ¡°I did not head to a higher floor.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks slightly uncomfortable with the awkward opener, asking, ¡°and the reason being¡­?¡±


    Mu Jiashi seems surprised he followed up, but then shakes his head to explain, ¡°oh, sorry about that, it¡¯s not because I had the promise with you, but¡­¡± he sighs before continuing, ¡°I¡¯m a loser, do you get it? If I can¡¯t come to terms and adjust my state of mind, there is no point in me going back to higher floors.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin stays quiet as he doesn¡¯t know what to say.


    Mu Jiashi changes the topic then, saying, ¡°I was going to come right after that Nightmare ended, but I felt like bringing some drinks along¡­¡± he pushes the drinks he brought towards the front, offering, ¡°it took me a while to gather all these, so I couldn¡¯t come as soon as possible.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin asks, ¡°a while?¡±


    Mu Jiashi is hesitant to answer, ¡°you know¡­ the dalao, Lin Qin¡­¡±


    Oh, great. He¡¯s managed to artificially cause a market shortfall, hasn¡¯t he?


    X¨¹ Beijin maintains his poker face while feeling speechless inside.


    What he does not know, though, is that it was actually Ding Yi, who, in preparation for that Nightmare from before, has procured all the stock on drinks she could and put them all into a single house to trade with Lin Qin ¨C it was a stock constituting more than half of the supplies on this bottom floor of the Tower.


    While the most common brands of drinks on the bottom floor have also been seized by Lin Qin prior, it was still nothing compared to what Ding Yi could get her hands on.


    Even the raves and orgies of the Missiontakers fallen to debauchery are filled with complaints these days.


    Though because X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t know, he is speechless towards Lin Qin instead.


    Mu Jiashi is actually observing X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s expression; he sees the man as calm as usual, and looking as deep as usual. Even the mention of the name Lin Qin did not seem to bring any disturbance to that mask, save for some minor reactions.


    He is wondering why. Perhaps X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t on such good terms with Lin Qin yet? Or¡­ is he just acting like he doesn¡¯t care?


    Mu Jiashi cannot tell.


    Just like a few years ago, if X¨¹ Beijin did not suddenly lash out and throw that over-the-top Missiontaker out of his bookstore, then all the Missiontakers will probably still have thought of this bookstore owner as someone without a temper, ever.


    The truth, though, is that angering him really is not a commendable course of action.

 Volume 3 - CH 55.5

    Though Mu Jiashi is thinking again, that judging from his gifting some drinks to X¨¹ Beijin a few years ago and receiving boons in return, it would seem that this bookstore owner operates on a principle of equivalent exchange.


    If he had the ambition, he could possibly use this to do some more trades, just like that time, and to even farm clues for other Nightmares potentially.


    Though¡­


    Mu Jiashi is feeling tired.


    He doesn¡¯t want to repeat what is bound to repeat that he has already experienced over the years anymore. He chooses to remain on the bottom floor for the simple reason that, he wants to stop. He is feeling burnt out¡ª¡ªburnt out because of his failure, but, it wasn¡¯t just a failure, it was more¡­


    A defeat, because there is no longer a path forgeable forward.


    So here, he ends up making small talk about their daily lives with X¨¹ Beijin, and about life in the Tower.


    He is recounting his life on a higher floor in the Tower outside of the Nightmares, in a somewhat derisive tone.


    Apparently, life in the upper floors is ever so slightly more comfortable than on the bottom floor, but the damp veil of dead atmosphere hangs even lower ¨C the higher one goes, the more that is the case. The cause being, the increasing difficulty of the Nightmares the higher one goes, and the more hopeless the whole affair seems.


    Missiontakers become increasingly convinced that leaving the Tower is impossible. They become less and less optimistic, and move ever closer to mentally collapsing. So if he has to comment, he¡¯d say that the bottom floor is the more lively place to be.


    At least, raves are still possible, however much they are not places to be notwithstanding, but you can still feel the liveliness of it.


    ¡°While higher floors¡­¡± Mu Jiashi says, ¡°all the Missiontakers would ever do is to talk about the Nightmares, their Plans, and even the best configurations of utility cards to bring.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin continues to listen attentively.


    Mu Jiashi bitterly chuckles, adding, ¡°Carddealers are extinct, even,¡± he then sighs, and says with this complicated tone, ¡°everyone is simply¡­ a Missiontaker. Only, a Missiontaker, that moves in and out of Nightmares¡­ They are nothing more.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s expression changes slightly.


    He suddenly recalls, when in the last Nightmare, as he was explaining the concept of the Carddealers and Tailors to the viewers, one of them posed this question jokingly, which received a joke of an answer from another fellow commentor.


    ¡°what do these missiontakers even do everyday anyway?¡±


    ¡°anything but actually going on missions¡±


    Missiontakers on the bottom floor are devoid of work ethic, but Missiontakers on the higher floors have turned into workaholic automatons instead.


    This stark contrast makes a smile emerge on X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s face. Not that he found it laughable, really, but because he also harbours so many bitter secrets he has to keep inside.


    Though to Mu Jiashi, that smile only means one thing¡ª¡ªScorn.


    Mu Jiashi ¡°¡­¡±


    He is a bit surprised. Why is the bookstore owner showing such an expression to what he just said?


    The two of them are now looking at each other, nonplussed.


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t know why Mu Jiashi suddenly stopped speaking as well.


    Mu Jiashi is quiet for a bit before tentatively asking, ¡°have you ever come to learn about the higher floors of the Tower?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin shakes his head.


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s brows furrow ever so slightly. He can¡¯t bring himself to believe it. That expression from X¨¹ Beijin just now, plus his current answer, only makes Mu Jiashi feel like he is hiding something.


    So instead, Mu Jiashi tells him, ¡°before I returned to the bottom floor, there have been rumours circulating about the higher floors.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t understand how that topic came out of left field, because he doesn¡¯t know how utterly observant and analytical Mu Jiashi gets, so that one micro-expression from him ends up fuelling Mu Jiashi¡¯s ridiculous misunderstandings.


    Mu Jiashi says, ¡°it said¡­¡± and he intentionally lowers his speed of talking to scrutinise X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s face some more, ¡°someone has successfully left the Tower.¡±


    It is probably obvious he is trying to see how X¨¹ Beijin will react to that.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s eyes are widening reflexively. This expression is clearly that of being slightly surprised.


    ¡­ Slightly?


    Something seems fishy. If it were Missiontakers, regardless of the validity of the rumour, hearing that someone had left the Tower would definitely bring them astonishment, or even elation.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s reaction is far more peaceful in comparison.


    Though Mu Jiashi is also wondering if he is overthinking things.


    No matter what¡­ This man here is a bookstore owner, who is an NPC in the game. What is he even doing expecting him to react the same way they players do?


    Though Mu Jiashi is aware that some Tower residents share their sentiments in hate for this Tower. They might also enjoy the idea of leaving the Tower.


    Mu Jiashi finds the thought amusing, but he doesn¡¯t actually smile.


    Ah¡­ Tower residents. Game NPCs. A stream of data. Do they really comprehend concepts like freedom, escape, hope, and whatnot?


    Even the Server NE, the AI itself, might not be able to understand such human concept. Not to mention NPCs who are even more definitionally a mere stream of data.


    Mu Jiashi sighs inside, and wonders if he might have been led astray by all the unusual actions of X¨¹ Beijin.


    Perhaps X¨¹ Beijin appears much more normal than a normal Tower resident, but then, wouldn¡¯t that ¡®normalcy¡¯ exactly be what is ¡®abnormal¡¯ about him?


    It could be that¡­ he just overthinks things too much.


    X¨¹ Beijin has no idea Mu Jiashi¡¯s imagination is running all wild, instead, he is thinking about the serendipitous aspect of Mu Jiashi¡¯s news.


    So that was the rumour circulating about the Missiontakers. No wonder he felt there was an undercurrent throughout the bottom floor of the Tower.


    This would be a satisfactory explanation for why even a Necessities Merchant like Ding Yi would decide to take the leap of faith to ascend to a higher floor.


    Someone has successfully left the Tower¡­


    ¡­ Successfully, huh.


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but sigh a little.


    This will be the very last straw that the desperate Missiontakers clutch at, perhaps?


    Or¡­ even the desperate Actors, perhaps?


    Though the Actors really didn¡¯t have a good information network. Unlike the Missiontakers where the rumour is already spreading like wildfire, X¨¹ Beijin only just learnt about it.


    Regardless, this storm is sure to spread over to the Actors¡¯ side.


    Would it be a good thing? Or a bad thing?


    X¨¹ Beijin falls into thought.


    While the two of them both mull in silence, there is a knock on the door. X¨¹ Beijin pulls himself out of his thoughts, feeling confounded.


    Oh, wait¡­


    With an unspoken speechlessness, he walks over to open the door.


    Yep, it¡¯s Lin Qin.


    He is feeling slightly amused inside.


    Just like Mu Jiashi, Lin Qin brought drinks along as well. Much more than Mu Jiashi brought, even.


    ¡°I picked the ones you like, and this is part of it. There are some more too,¡± Lin Qin is speaking while walking inside like it¡¯s the natural thing to do, saying, ¡°I want to borrow a book¡­¡±


    He suddenly stops, as Mu Jiashi, sitting by the counter, comes into view.


    He gives Mu Jiashi a good, scrutinising examination.


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    What an utterly awkward scene.

 Volume 4 - CH 56.1

    Originally, Lin Qin was going to visit X¨¹ Beijin the night before.


    Though because he found the two sneaky persons snooping about X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s door, it ended up delayed; in the Nightmare, X¨¹ Beijin also wanted him to deal with it.


    So when the Nightmare was over, and they were all back on Respawn Avenue, Lin Qin immediately accosted Thin and the teenage girl.


    Thin was spooked, and was eyeing Lin Qin cautiously, asking, ¡°dalao¡­?¡±


    He was worried that Lin Qin discovered their private investigation into the relationship between him and X¨¹ Beijin, and why else would Lin Qin have entered that Nightmare¡­?


    As expected, Lin Qin said, ¡°I saw you two poking around outside Beijin¡¯s door,¡± he says matter-of-factly, and then, with a slightly threatening tone, orders, ¡°don¡¯t interfere with his life; don¡¯t interfere with us.¡±


    Thin ¡°¡­¡±


    That first sentence from Lin Qin almost made him hold his head down and kneel, worried about being beaten by Lin Qin¡¯s uncontrollable temper.


    Though Lin Qin only¡­ warned them?!


    Thin was looking all astonished, and had lost the ability to speak.


    ¡°We understand,¡± the teenage girl immediately interjected, breaking the usual appearance of calm and coldness. She triedher best to put on a smile to reassure him, ¡°we will never do that again.¡±


    Lin Qin nodded.


    If X¨¹ Beijin didn¡¯t tell him repeatedly not to resort to violence and beating people into submissions, he might actually have done so. Though, he was satisfied with how effective his mere presence has shocked and awed them.


    He was happy concluding that he accomplished what X¨¹ Beijin wished for him to do well.


    Then he thought some more and added, ¡°same goes for all the others as well.¡±


    Thin asked, hesitantly, ¡°the others? You mean¡­¡±


    ¡°People like you,¡± Lin Qin answered, ¡°there are a lot of people curious about us, I think.¡±


    Lin Qin didn¡¯t think of it before, but after X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s reminder, he realised that this was bringing some trouble; he does not know on whose orders these two are acting, nor is he interested. He only needed the two of them to be the messenger.


    It is notable that since Lin Qin started interacting with X¨¹ Beijin, especially after gifting him drinks, he seems to have become¡­ smarter. At least, there is a hint of employing foresight in that course of action.


    He realised that only warning these two people is insufficient, because many people have their eyes on himself. Lin Qin didn¡¯t care before, but, learning that this was bringing unwanted troubles to X¨¹ Beijin, then he would deal with it.


    He wanted to solve everything as efficiently as possible, so that he could also tell X¨¹ Beijin about it proudly, of course.


    Thin was completely astonished, though, of course.


    Well¡­ Lin Qin was the crownless King of the bottom floor, that was a consensus, but Lin Qin never did ¡®exercise¡¯ any of that reputation for anything. He was basically ¡®out of the loop,¡¯ drifting outside of it. Not a single Missiontaker knew a single thing about his life.


    Though here, Lin Qin has decided to intervene for a Tower resident¡¯s sake?


    Merely for the fact that people were conducting surveillance right outside of the bookstore, that he would put the kibosh on anyone attempting to glean anything from the bookstore owner¡¯s lifestyle?


    Thin was staring at Lin Qin all frozen. His mouth was answering affirmatively, but only one word filled his mind.


    ¡®Keeping the toy boy in your gilded house¡­¡¯ (TL: A Chinese four-character proverb, which means about exactly as I translated here)


    He shook, in spook.


    When he finally came to, Lin Qin was already gone. The teenage girl still hasn¡¯t put her calm face back on, as she was visibly troubled thinking about something.


    Thin asked, ¡°what¡¯s wrong? Are we not going to do what the dalao asked?¡±


    The teenage girl glanced at him, before coldly chuckling and saying, ¡°this isn¡¯t at all that simple.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Thin seemed taken aback.


    His entire mind was still preoccupied imagining the possibly amorous relationship between Lin Qin and X¨¹ Beijin.


    The teenage girl explained, ¡°did you forget what this bottom floor is like right now? Did you forget all the chaos that bookstore owner¡¯s Nightmare caused¡­ Oh, right, you weren¡¯t here.¡±


    Thin wasn¡¯t on the bottom floor of the Tower back then, but the teenage girl told him a summarised version recently, so just giving it some thought was enough to bring sudden changes to Thin¡¯s expression.


    The teenage girl said with an ominous tone, ¡°with that rumour burning throughout the Tower, do you think the Missiontakers will, or will not, rekindle their interest in figuring out the truth about the bookstore owner¡¯s Nightmare?¡±


    Thin stayed silent.


    Naturally¡­ the answer was obvious.


    Thin himself returned from a higher floor, so he knew what it was like up there. In some sense, he was worried about the rumour because¡­ It couldn¡¯t be? How could someone have actually managed to escape the Tower?


    One of those Missiontakers? Those Missiontakers who were even more dead inside than those on the bottom floor???


    Utterly inconceivable!


    Well, yes, a sliver of delusion still occupied part of him. The possibility wasn¡¯t, and never was, zero¡­ Yet, he was still largely pessimistic and without hope.


    Though he was also aware of how this rumour would definitely energise the enervated Missiontakers into visiting Nightmares once more, and going through another possibly futile journey of conquering all the Nightmares.


    ¡­ And at this point in time, Lin Qin wanted to stop all others from prying on X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare?


    That would be pitting him against the greed, the desires of all the other Missiontakers.


    Thin bitterly smiled, replying, ¡°as expected of the dalao,¡± he could be said to have been impressed, even, commenting, ¡°perhaps this is what love means.¡±


    The teenage girl ¡°¡­¡±


    She appeared lost for a moment, blurting out, ¡°wait¡­ what?! Love what?!¡±


    ¡°What else could possibly make the dalao, Lin Qin, care for a Tower resident so much and on such a scale? Even deliberately, openly pronouncing his protection?¡± Thin explained with confidence, ¡°you must also know how many Missiontakers had feels for the Tower residents that can be described as¡­¡±


    Thin thought for a moment and finally settled on a word, ¡°maniacal.¡±


    The teenage girl ¡°¡­¡±


    Right now, the two of them are the only ones present at the point of respawning.


    All five Missiontakers were here when they just left. Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Jiang Shuangmei left immediately. After they did, Lin Qin came to talk to them, and after saying what he had to, he also left.


    Therefore, the teenage girl has been completely convinced of the wrong idea that Thin had after his ¡®forceful¡¯ persuasion.


    It makes no sense that love is the only possible explanation for a Missiontaker being nice to a Tower resident.


    Though perhaps it was those Missiontakers who are accurately madly in love with the Tower residents that are to blame¡ª¡ªAt least, on a higher floor, Thin had once seen such a person. That deep impression left on him has completely led him astray.


    The same way Muscular has led Jiang Shuangmei astray.


    In the end, one additional rumour has been added to the sizzling pile of undercurrents swirling throughout the bottom floor of the Tower¡ª¡ªDid you hear? That dalao with the physical prowess that must surely be a bug, Lin Qin, he has fallen in love with someone. He has hidden the person away, not allowing anyone to sneak even so much as a glance at them.


    Though strangely enough, this does end up helping X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s privacy a little on the surface. The other effect, though, is that more people have become curious about the person, and not in the sense of wanting to get to the bottom of his Nightmare.


    X¨¹ Beijin has no idea that telling Lin Qin to deal with this ended up causing such a misunderstanding; the same way that Lin Qin had no idea that he now has a brand new romantic interest.


    After he left the point of respawn, he was headed for X¨¹ Beijin directly; just as he said, he finished a book. He wanted to come return it and also borrow another one.


    Though when he was making a turn, he stopped as that house Ding Yi told him before popped into his mind. He then made a detour to where Ding Yi once told him, and walked inside.


    Then, even someone like Lin Qin was shocked to a halt.


    The entire house has been vacated and then made into a large, flat warehouse-like space. There might be dozens of racks at a cursory glance. The drinks are placed neatly within. There are different brands, even different types. All of them enchantingly dazzling under the bright lighting.


    Lin Qin couldn¡¯t help but think, that that Necessities Merchant, was certainly¡­ generous?


    He didn¡¯t know that Ding Yi, in fact, had abandoned her entire business empire to return to her old days of Missiontaking. That is why she placed basically her entire stock of potable items here.


    Yes. Even this large space can only hold the drinks she had.


    Anyway, Lin Qin was definitely satisfied.


    He walked among the racks, searching for drinks X¨¹ Beijin said he liked with eagle eyes. He even had an idea inside, that instead of bringing everything to X¨¹ Beijin at once, he could only bring him some from each, every time.


    A while later, with his hands full, he headed for X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore immediately.


    ¡­ Then he saw Mu Jiashi.


    Lin Qin was surprised and perhaps even slightly unhappy, possibly because, he came to visit X¨¹ Beijin full of eagerness and earnestness, only to run into him catering to another customer.


    Though Lin Qin then realised that this was the Missiontaker who said he was going to visit X¨¹ Beijin in the Nightmare before, before.


    So his mood completes a u-dive, and is even feeling a bit full of himself right now.


    Look, he came earlier than Mu Jiashi!

 Volume 4 - CH 56.2

    X¨¹ Beijin examines Lin Qin¡¯s poker face in thought. He looks like he¡¯s trying to act it cool, but it¡¯s apparent he¡¯s conflicted inside.


    ¡­ Lin Qin really isn¡¯t good at hiding his own emotions, huh?


    Mu Jiashi can also see it, naturally, and stands up, and gives a cautious greeting to Lin Qin.


    In that Nightmare back then, he saw Lin Qin by X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s side already. He didn¡¯t think much of it, but now, seeing him visiting the bookstore in the Tower again¡­ It can¡¯t be a coincidence anymore, can it?


    Why does Lin Qin keep visiting X¨¹ Beijin? Does he want to visit his Nightmare? No¡­ In the Nightmare, Lin Qin said out loud that he wasn¡¯t interested in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare. He only wants to fight.


    Though why would he be so close and do so much if he wasn¡¯t interested in the Nightmare of a Tower resident? Even if you do suspect they are hiding something and are much more powerful than they seem, so you want to brawl¡­


    Wait?!


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s lips are twitching as all the serious thought vanishes like a bubble. He is suddenly observing these two men in front of him anew discreetly.


    What dots Thin could connect are clearly ones Mu Jiashi, himself a returnee from the higher floors, could do as well.


    Lin Qin not being interested in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare does not preclude him from being interested in X¨¹ Beijin, the person!


    So ¡®brawl,¡¯ he says¡­


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s feelings are beyond what words could describe.


    He blanks out for a whole second before immediately saying goodbye to X¨¹ Beijin. He really doesn¡¯t want to interfere¡­ Well, whatever it is. At least, he¡¯s not interested in being an eyesore anywhere.


    Before he left, he notices a book in Lin Qin¡¯s hands.


    He sees that the book¡¯s cover is pitch black in colour, highlighting the imagery of the pen and a paper with what appears to be blood-written letters on it.


    ¡®A horror novel?¡¯ is the thought flashing through Mu Jiashi¡¯s mind.


    After Mu Jiashi left unexpectedly, Lin Qin returns the book to X¨¹ Beijin.


    X¨¹ Beijin asks, ¡°what did you think of it?¡±


    Lin Qin replies, ¡°while it is a horror novel, but¡­ does the author have some grudge against this protagonist?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin seems surprised by the question, and glances down at the cover before telling him, with a rather unreadable expression, ¡°I heard it is, yeah. Apparently, the author wrote the person they hated into the novel, so¡­¡±


    ¡°No wonder,¡± remarks Lin Qin.


    Then he suddenly glances at X¨¹ Beijin oddly.


    Why would he know about the background of this novel? He didn¡¯t see anything that suggests this reasoning in the book anywhere.


    Before Lin Qin could ask, though, X¨¹ Beijin changes the topic, ¡°you said you wanted to read another one? What genre do you want?¡±


    So Lin Qin dismisses that idle question in his mind from earlier, just saying, ¡°I¡¯ll take anything you recommend.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is putting the book Lin Qin returned away, then stands there and looks across the shelves while thinking about what book to give Lin Qin. Lin Qin himself walks next to him and quietly watches him.


    X¨¹ Beijin rubs his chin for a while before pulling a book out for Lin Qin from the shelves.


    Lin Qin checks it out. It seems to be a detective novel, with the common ¡®XXX Murders¡¯ as the title. He asks, ¡°what¡¯s this about?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not spoiling,¡± then X¨¹ Beijin smiles, adding, ¡°try and pinpoint the culprit yourself.¡±


    Lin Qin then turns the book around, saying, ¡°oh¡­ looks like the culprit will be unexpected.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin smiles but does not speak.


    Lin Qin is watching his smile and can¡¯t help but ask, ¡°it can¡¯t be that, the narrator, ¡®I,¡¯ am the culprit, or all of them are culprits¡­ right?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. This one isn¡¯t that kind of special, but¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin is hesitant, before explaining, ¡°this kind of detective novel, you see, its culprit, victim, crime scene, time of crime, methodology¡­ At least one of these would be out of place.¡±


    Lin Qin waves the book a little and seems interested, replying, ¡°then I¡¯ll have to see what kind of ¡®out of place¡¯ it is.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is still smiling.


    Then Lin Qin tells him, ¡°I also told the two people as well not to come probe the bookstore anymore, or to interfere with your daily life.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is quiet for a moment, then his smile turns more genuine, as he thanks him, ¡°thank you.¡±


    Lin Qin then says, ¡°so¡­¡±


    ¡°No fighting.¡±


    Lin Qin ¡°¡­¡±


    He isn¡¯t really even angry anymore, just feeling¡ª¡ª¡¯I knew it.¡¯


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but chuckle.


    Then he starts sorting the drinks Lin Qin and Mu Jiashi brought as if he has some kind of OCD, putting everything in some kind of proper face with a serious expression.


    Lin Qin tries to help, but if it doesn¡¯t exactly fit with where X¨¹ Beijin wanted it to be, then X¨¹ Beijin would look irritated.


    Lin Qin really is astonished by this man in front of him. He refused what he asked him to do, and then complains when he tries to help?


    He asks with this heightened tone, ¡°so what¡¯s the difference between putting it in this cabinet and that cabinet?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin answers, with all due seriousness, ¡°I refuse to have the juices under the shelves hosting biographies.¡±


    Lin Qin asks, completely confounded, ¡°what¡¯s the difference, even?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin knits his brows for a moment, thinking, before answering, ¡°it tastes different¡­?¡±


    Lin Qin ¡°¡­¡±


    It was always X¨¹ Beijin who felt that it was hard to deal with Lin Qin sometimes, but for the first time, Lin Qin is feeling how hard it is to deal with X¨¹ Beijin.


    So, Lin Qin, like his namesake, is spinning around like a little apple, moving as X¨¹ Beijin ordered. Put this here, put that there. A while later, all the drinks, whoever brought them here, have been sorted neatly and tidily.


    X¨¹ Beijin finally feels vaguely happy.


    He gives this sorry smile to Lin Qin, asking, ¡°want any drinks?¡±


    Lin Qin replies, ¡°anything is fine.¡±


    The bookstore. The Tower. Still the bookstore in the Tower. What is old and rundown is still old and rundown. There are no means to fix them either. Whatever furniture you find in the house is what you get. They won¡¯t replenish or change.


    Sometimes, X¨¹ Beijin thinks, perhaps the reason he will never be able to treat the Tower as a ¡®Second Life¡¯ is because, it is all so unreal. It all looks like some sick figment of imagination.


    Yet, this is the first day, ever, since he has arrived in the Tower, where he isn¡¯t cognisant of the imitated verisimilitude of the Tower, or the fact that this is a mere game.


    He orders Lin Qin all around, watching him do whatever pleased him and looking too tired to even diss him inside, he can¡¯t help but laugh out loud.


    And Lin Qin¡­ Lin Qin, with several cans of drinks in his hands, is looking at him with narrowed eyes. Then, he harrumphs, before putting all the cans where X¨¹ Beijin told him to, to the places where they all belonged.


    They really are different from others in the Tower.


    ¡ª¡ªWhen they stop, they take a seat, and read their separate books, drink their separate drinks, and eat their separate snacks, that¡¯s the thought that entered X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mind.


    For once, he could feel the damp fog covering his mind, being pierced by what appears to be a small ray of light.


    He is too distracted to read properly, thinking inside, ¡®seriously¡­ seriously. Lin Qin, that guy, has way too much presence here!¡¯


    X¨¹ Beijin sighs inside.


    Still¡­ As long as Lin Qin isn¡¯t trying to get him to fight. Thank the Heavens for that.

 Volume 4 - CH 56.3

    Mu Jiashi has just left X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore, but his steps abruptly come to a stop.


    He can see the neighbour opposite the bookstore.


    It¡¯s a female Tower resident. The female Tower resident.


    The resident who was here when he made his way up the Tower; the resident who is now here, after he has come back down.


    They are staring into each other through the window.


    In the end, Mu Jiashi is allowed into the Tower resident¡¯s house. He greets her, ¡°long time no see.¡±


    The woman in the house, with her back right on the wall, quietly mutters, ¡°it¡¯s really been long.¡±


    She once saw this Missiontaker on the bottom floor of the Tower. She did again, when she was on a higher floor.


    Both times, they looked different from this rather tired, unenergetic man.


    She recalls the Nightmare which caused his failure, because she was also in that Nightmare, and interacted with this man¡­ On the higher floor, of course.


    It was her newly assigned Nightmare as she was assigned to be a different Tower resident after she went up a floor. So that Nightmare was hers.


    Mu Jiashi doesn¡¯t know, of course, that this Tower resident, or rather, the Actor underneath the identity, is the owner of the Nightmare which caused him to fail utterly.


    However, he is still giving her a rather meaningful glance.


    In a sense, this Tower resident changed his fate, because she was the one who told him that X¨¹ Beijin liked drinks. He would not have brought drinks along otherwise and gave it to him. That was how he ended up receiving a clue, setting him off on the journey above.


    The floors above¡­


    Mu Jiashi is blanking out again involuntarily.


    The woman asks, though, ¡°are you here to ask about my neighbour again?¡±


    Mu Jiashi is silent as he slowly shakes his head, and finally says, ¡°no,¡± he does not know what the Tower resident may be thinking, but explains, ¡°I have been through some tragedy. You might have heard about it¡­ or not, but, I¡¯m no longer interested in Nightmares for now.¡±


    The woman furrows her brows.


    Mu Jiashi continues, ¡°in any case, I¡¯m still thankful for the information you told me. It indirectly allowed me to head to a higher floor of the Tower¡­¡±


    Though then his words trail off, as he can¡¯t help but wonder if he is actually thankful, or perhaps, more blaming her for it in the first place?


    The woman asks, ¡°what is it like on a higher floor?¡±


    Mu Jiashi is remembering the dialogue he just had with X¨¹ Beijin. It was calm, deliberately calm, and even slightly self-teasing. He told X¨¹ Beijin, that it was somewhere not as lively as the bottom floor of the Tower.


    Here, though, he answers, ¡°it is not somewhere a useless guy like me should be. So, I chose to return to the bottom floor.¡±


    There seem to be a particular fixation on his repeated use of the word ¡®return.¡¯


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I¡¯m asking,¡± she ignores the man¡¯s self-degradation, and instead, asks, subtly inquisitive, ¡°what I¡¯m asking is¡­ about the Nightmare. On the higher floor. The one where you failed in.¡±


    Mu Jiashi freezes for a moment, as if something sharp just pierced him; a pointed, almost threatening pain and shock has overtaken his mind.


    The Nightmare? The higher floor one¡­ which caused his failure? This Tower resident¡­


    He is staring right into her eyes, and so is she.


    Then, he suddenly puts up a poker face and puts his emotions away, asking with a cold but resolute tone, ¡°what are you trying to find out?¡±


    ¡°The failure,¡± the woman says almost in a whispering tone, as if she is afraid someone, or something might hear. She is cautiously asking, ¡°about the failure. What actually happened in the Nightmare?¡±


    Mu Jiashi replies, ¡°the Nightmare defeated me, but I did not actually fail in the Nightmare itself,¡± he stares right into the eyes of the woman, asking, ¡°what is it that you know about this?¡±


    After returning to the bottom floor of the Nightmare, while he has since gone into a Nightmare, but he never ever told anyone what actually is the failure itself that caused him to return to the bottom floor.


    He keeps telling others that he is a failure, a useless piece of trash, but he never told anyone the truth.


    Perhaps a Necessities Merchant as well-connected as Ding Yi might be aware; but this¡­ Tower resident? How could she possibly know?!


    He did not return to the bottom floor because he got a Bad End in that Nightmare; in fact, he succeeded, with a True End, but, he also failed, because the Nightmare destroyed him.


    Not¡­ physically, in the flesh, but mentally. He came to face with a nightmare, an unfathomable, unacceptable nightmare. So, he was defeated. He failed countless times.


    He cannot escape from the nightmare. So, he has succumbed to the abyss.


    Mu Jiashi takes a deep breath, trying to suppress his shivering.


    His gaze is cold. A reflection of his self that never did disappear fully beneath his new dispirited, hunched look¡ª¡ªThe side that belonged to the Golddigger, who once held a record for a one hundred percent success rate on the bottom floor of the Nightmare.


    Once again, he asks, ¡°what is it that you know?¡±


    The woman continues staring at him, until she reveals a mysterious smile.


    Then, she says, ¡°I fear so many, yet the only exception, would be death.¡±


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s eyes widen greatly.


    The woman continues, ¡°it seems, you still recall.¡±


    Mu Jiashi is silent. His brain has been exposed to too much information. It is basically stuck right now.


    The only reason being¡­ Why, would this woman, this Tower resident who lives on the bottom floor of the Tower, know about the exact sentence he once heard in the Nightmare on a higher floor???


    This makes no sense!


    The woman chuckles with a low tone, telling him, ¡°my name is Su Enya,¡± she watches Mu Jiashi, visibly distressed and uneasy, and continues, ¡°I¡¯m afraid I cannot tell you anything else.¡±


    Mu Jiashi also watches her for a moment before nodding. He does not ask why he cannot be told anything more. Or, perhaps he knows the reason himself.


    He recalls that Nightmare again. About a particular woman within.


    Not that he felt anything chemical towards her, but merely, because of who the woman was in the Nightmare, and the events that transpired in that Nightmare.


    The sentence¡ª¡ª¡¯I fear so many, yet the only exception, would be death.¡¯¡ª¡ªAre word-for-word, what the woman once said, that has now once again been told through this female Tower resident¡¯s mouth.


    He thinks he has understood something, but perhaps they are more questions.


    Mu Jiashi only quietly says, ¡°I see. Goodbye.¡±


    He parts ways with Su Enya, and heads home full of bewilderment and worry.


    At a corner, he ends up tripping over a Tower resident lying down. He stands back up, still in pain, but apologises while observing the resident.


    He looks like a typical vagrant. He is lying on the ground, flat, without so much as a reaction to what he did. His chest is still rising and falling, but his gaze is unfocused. There is a dumb smile on his face. He looks like he is looking at somewhere far, far away.


    He is holding a pen in his hand.


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s brows crease as he recalls that book Lin Qin held earlier.


    He wonders, if this could be connected.


    But then, he realises that this reflexive connection is completely unfounded logically. He saw a book with the image of a pen on its cover, which somehow connects to this Tower resident holding a pen?


    He looks at the Tower resident lying flat on the ground for a while, and tries to greet him, but no response comes. He can only retract his gaze and leave this deserted alley.


    Over a dozen nights later, Mu Jiashi has left his house. After hesitating for a short while, he chooses to walk into the door of a certain Tower resident. Some time must have passed in the darkness, but to him, he has opened his eyes basically instantaneously.


    All he could see, is a field of rubble.


    At the same time, X¨¹ Beijin also opens his eyes somewhere else in the same Nightmare.


    He checks out his surroundings, and thinks, right, a bookstore owner he is again.

 Volume 4 - CH 57.1

    Three Groups


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Among the ruins is one single building that still stands, although it is clearly not staying up for long either.


    X¨¹ Beijin is the owner of the bookstore, on the first floor of this building.


    This building looks like an office building while his bookstore is more one that seems to sell stationeries and artistic tools, in addition to books.


    Still, this store is extremely dilapidated now, not looking much different from that old rundown bookstore in the last Nightmare. And, perhaps, it will be joining the ranks of the rubble outside soon enough.


    ¡ª¡ªAre the conclusions X¨¹ Beijin has drawn after a walk in the bookstore.


    Then, he opens the stream.


    Once again¡­ This is a Nightmare with a complicated arrangement of scenes.


    X¨¹ Beijin is almost speechless watching the list of scenes that show close to 60 scenes in total. Fortunately for him, this time, the six Missiontakers have been spawned in the same location after entering.


    On X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s list of scenes, that location is named ¡®Ruins 1.¡¯


    Other than that area 1 which is the starting point of the Nightmare, there are also areas 2 through 49. In total, forty-nine different location of the ruins are present.


    X¨¹ Beijin points the stream at the six Missiontakers.


    That is when some viewers have rolled in.


    ¡°Beibei! yo!¡±


    ¡°long time no see Beibei! i missed you uwu¡±


    ¡°Beibei you haven¡¯t streamed for so long! I thought you were abandoning us forever, sob¡­ stream more, pwease?¡±


    ¡°Beibei, whats this nightmare? spoil it for us before the detective dalao comes!¡±


    ¡°eh? the dalao is absent again?¡±


    ¡°ah¡­ you know, recently¡­ the situation¡¯s a bit worrying¡±


    ¡°did something happen to the dalao IRL?¡±


    ¡°¡­ dont jinx it, nothing we can do, you know how its like¡±


    ¡°yeah, let¡¯s move on, we don¡¯t wanna spoil Beibei¡¯s stream¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Please don¡¯t!


    Spoil it all you want!


    Talk some more! What do you mean by ¡®you know how it¡¯s like¡¯?!


    X¨¹ Beijin is swearing inside.


    Though all he can do is act as if nothing¡¯s wrong, telling the viewers where he is, while still utterly curious about what the viewers were mentioning just now.


    What is ¡®IRL¡¯ referring to¡­ something that possibly affected the detective dalao in reality?


    That specific word, ¡®situation,¡¯ only makes X¨¹ Beijin worried inside.


    Clearly, all these viewers in his stream are just normal, everyday citizens. What kind of situation could cause disaster befalling any regular folk the new normal?


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s first thought, goes to war.


    But, war?


    When the humans, including X¨¹ Beijin, entered the Tower, the globe has reached a relatively calm period of development. Actual, heated warfare is rare enough. War is basically a fantasy tale to any regular resident of their age.


    Yet, to the audience, that ¡®worrying situation¡¯ is like some kind of¡­ usual, accepted part of their lives.


    Why is that?


    What happened¡­ to the world outside the Tower?


    A marked anxiety and worry has filled X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mind, but he is unable to share it with anyone.


    ¡­ This time, Lin Qin is absent from the Nightmare.


    In fact, Lin Qin seems preoccupied with something. He didn¡¯t maintain daily visits to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore.


    Speaking of which, since he borrowed that horror novel from X¨¹ Beijin in the beginning, he seems to have developed a deep interest in the books on the shelves of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore, so he came to borrow a book every single day. He would finish reading it that day, and come exchange for another one the next day.


    X¨¹ Beijin was suspecting if he was doing that only to be able to fight him and was trying to establish common ground by reading on purpose, but after asking about it, Lin Qin¡¯s replies showed that he did actually read the books in detail.


    Hmm¡­ A tiger lives within his heart, but he would still delicately smell roses? (TL: Haven¡¯t heard of this saying at all, so I¡¯m offering only the literal translation. I only have a vague guess on what it might mean, which you probably thought of as well)


    So, Lin Qin came to the bookstore every day, sitting there, reading for a long while, lasting for over a week. X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore is usually deserted, and so, they are able to share the space in private all day long. They had reading sessions, with drinks and snacks. They also chatted every so often.


    In fact, X¨¹ Beijin even felt out of place when Lin Qin didn¡¯t come to visit regularly these few days.


    He¡¯s a bit interested in what Lin Qin is doing, because before he stopped regularly coming, he told X¨¹ Beijin that he had something to do so he might not make it the next few days.


    Although X¨¹ Beijin is also thinking that he shouldn¡¯t be so inquisitive about Lin Qin¡¯s own life.


    Lin Qin has already made his way into his daily life with the drinks, not to mention the reading sessions. He has become used to Lin Qin appearing in his bookstore, arriving and leaving on time¡­


    Though, sometimes, X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but wonder if any of this brings changes of substance. To the monotonous lives in the Tower, to the workdays in the Nightmare¡­ To everything.


    Nothing would change.


    Someone new has come to appear in his life. One day, they may leave. Lin Qin approached him because he wanted to fight him, wanting to know about his ¡®physical abilities.¡¯


    If, one day, he got tired of this, or went up floors, then the accompaniment and the familiarity will be over. X¨¹ Beijin will always be on the bottom floor.


    Besides, Lin Qin is a Missiontaker. X¨¹ Beijin is an Actor. Missiontakers are unaware of the roles of Actors, merely treating them as game NPCs, as streams of data, but not actual people.


    All these pessimistic thoughts would interfere with X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s calm and unchanging life, but he¡¯s already used to being a pessimist, so he¡¯s even able to make self-degrading jokes, like, ¡®hey, look, that¡¯s still a friend you get to enjoy for a while, no?¡¯


    He never did have a friend in the Tower.


    Anyway, while Lin Qin is absent, there is still someone he knows among the Missiontakers.


    Mu Jiashi.


    Since his last visit, X¨¹ Beijin never saw Mu Jiashi again afterwards. He doesn¡¯t leave the bookstore much, nor did he go to work in the Nightmare for over a dozen days, nor did Mu Jiashi come visit again.


    Before, X¨¹ Beijin was wondering if Mu Jiashi was still interested in his Nightmare, although, right now, it would seem that the passion of this man, having experienced some form of failure on the higher floors, really did burn out.


    ¡­ Not that he is looking much the part in this Nightmare for now.


    Because none of the rest of the Missiontakers, seem even remotely reliable.

 Volume 4 - CH 57.2

    Mu Jiashi ¡°¡­¡±


    He suddenly wants to know as well, if the fact that the Missiontakers have been quite troublesome to deal with for both of the Nightmares he¡¯s faced since returning to the bottom floor of the Tower, is because of his mindset of ¡®I want to become a useless loser too.¡¯


    Of the five Missiontakers present besides Mu Jiashi, a rather jumpy teenager introduces himself as a Collector, a male-female pair who are looking all around their surroundings with wary, paranoid eyes, and two physically imposing men with red, bulging eyes and terrifying facial expressions.


    None of them happen to know about this once-famous ex-Golddigger of the bottom floor, which lets Mu Jiashi breathe a sigh of relief, at least.


    The Collector rubs his chin and smiles to say, ¡°ah, how nice. It looks like all of you have utility cards in your hands. If you use up one in this Nightmare, wouldn¡¯t you consider selling it to me? If you would give it to me as a present, then I will even be overjoyed!¡±


    The two men with bloodshot eyes give him disdainful glances.


    To Missiontakers, the Collectors, or the ¡®Purveyors of Depleted Utility Cards,¡¯ are like childish brats who can¡¯t get over toys.


    Most Collectors have notably vivid personalities, case in point, this young man, who, even in a Nightmare set among a pile of rubble, can mention used, depleted utility cards with a happy smile.


    They are also the only group of Missiontakers who can mention utility cards without a care in the world in Nightmares; everyone else would be worried about being robbed or pickpocketed or be misunderstood as a Carddealer.


    The Collectors couldn¡¯t care less, though, because their only interest lies in depleted cards. If they actually happen to pick up cards with Uses left, they would actually return them to the original owners, or just give them out randomly as presents.


    Some Missiontakers choose to maintain good relationships with Collectors because occasionally, Collectors would pick up such types of cards.


    Either perhaps some Carddealer finds disposing of certain ¡®goods¡¯ they ¡®acquired¡¯ would be more trouble than it¡¯s worth, or just utility cards that have been lost for whatever reasons or even¡­ as some Missiontakers suspect, that Collectors would work with Vultures.


    It is believed that some Vultures would take the pile of depleted, now-useless utility cards they acquired from the missing Missiontakers¡¯ homes, and give them all or sell them all to Collectors. There might be rare, valuable, or even yet-usable utility cards among them that have been missed.


    Collectors do not care for utility cards that are still usable, though.


    Because of this, it could very well be possible that they actually facilitate more utility card exchanges than Carddealers.


    Though it isn¡¯t notable for others because the vast majority of those are depleted cards.


    In any case, most Missiontakers agree that Collectors are dumbasses. They collect depleted cards but would ignore and dispose of normal utility cards? They must be either insane or retarded.


    And in fact, most Collectors agree. They self-identify as insane.


    This damned Tower, in this bedamned world¡­ Who else but the insane could fit here?


    Therefore, the Collector is still looking at the rest of the Missiontakers with a smile, saying, ¡°I¡¯ll be taking the silence as a ¡®yes,¡¯ since the depleted cards are of no use to you, but for me¡­¡± he inhales deeply, before exhaling again, and says, ¡°that is such a most valuable, most dazzling jewellery.¡±


    One of the Missiontakers present, a bald guy, rubs his arm with this exaggerated motion, and rolls his eyes while saying, ¡°you¡¯re mad,¡± then he claps his hands to get the others¡¯ attention, saying, ¡°right, this is a Nightmare. Time for us to get down to business instead of faffing about with someone like him.¡±


    The young Collector, ¡®someone like him,¡¯ does not seem at all irritated at the remark. He is still smiling, as if that is the natural facial expression he was born with.


    In the stream, the viewers are clearly disquieted by this eerie display.


    ¡°why can someone still smile so happily in an escape game? is he mad?!¡±


    ¡°that is such a most valuable~ most dazzling jewellery~!¡±


    ¡°¡­ please, i dont get why someone might treat trash as treasure¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin just gave them a crash course in the species that is Collectors, and as expected, they are taken aback¡ª¡ªWhy would anyone be interested in something like that?!


    X¨¹ Beijin still gives a more neutral remark, explaining, ¡°while the utility cards each have unique appearances, I¡¯ve heard that some of the utility cards appear to actually form a set. It is something that would definitely satisfy those people who enjoy collectibles in games.¡±


    While the viewers can agree with that sentiment, but they are still of the opinion that someone who can smile so happily in such a setting is definitely not one of the good guys.


    ¡­ Because this is just ruins.


    A world of concrete rubble, detached bricks, snapped steel rebar and broken tiles. The air is visibly dusty. While it looks mostly like some kind of strange-coloured haze, that greyish, yellowish vagueness would always remind people of something else.


    For example, in those movies with apocalyptic settings, the scene of the setting sun with the dying sunlight.


    It looks like as if something, some kind of unspeakably malignant weapon, has landed in a cruel moment, and destroyed this city in an instant. THey can see countless collapsed buildings and buried homes. They can see the tilted, rickety bones of the Ferris wheel not far away.


    And there is only silence.


    Sometimes, a few silhouettes pass through the murk, turning around the cracked roads of the corner on hunched backs, and disappearing into the dust as soon as they appeared.


    The Baldie takes a deep breath, trying his best to ignore the Collector¡¯s uncanny smile behind him.


    He says, ¡°we¡¯ll have to explore this place, split into groups.¡±


    On the stream, though, the comments are all going ¡°cannon fodder.¡±


    Everyone knows that in these Escape-type things, the team should always stick together. However, this Baldie, who basically just assumed leadership without protest, is suggesting they split up?


    X¨¹ Beijin speaks up for him, though, ¡°this is too big of a Nightmare. If they have to explore it together, they would waste a lot of time.¡±


    This is also what Mu Jiashi thought.


    He looks around him, and notices that, a bit further back behind where they¡¯re standing, the smog is so unnaturally thick in particular they cannot see a thing at all.


    Does this mean that they cannot leave this part of the area?


    Meanwhile, the rest of the Missiontakers have agreed or, at least, not opposed Baldie¡¯s suggestion. Mu Jiashi himself nods nonchalantly.


    Baldie seems vaguely satisfied that everyone has agreed and he seems to have an unchallenged leadership. So he tells everyone part of what he knows, ¡°this is me and my bro¡¯s second time entering this Nightmare.¡±


    The rest of the Missiontakers¡¯ interests are piqued. Even the Collector blinks his eyes and look at him curiously.


    Baldie¡¯s ¡®bro¡¯ is referring to the Missiontaker with massive, tattooed biceps besides him, though they clearly do not look alike outside of their physique, which suggests they are definitely not actual brothers.


    Baldie¡¯s gaze sweeps across every Missiontaker; it seems he is trying to affirm his own leadership role.


    Mu Jiashi still looks as dejected as ever, allowing Baldie to gaze without so much as a flinch, as his mind is preoccupied thinking about his last Nightmare, where he also met another Missiontaker who entered the Nightmare a second time.


    Compared to Baldie¡¯s talking about it upfront, though, that person was much more selfish and even hypocritical.


    That said¡­ there have been many repeating people in Nightmares, huh?


    As soon as that thought strikes Mu Jiashi¡¯s mind, he has already worked out the reason.


    Because recently, the mood among the Missiontakers of the bottom floor of the Tower has shifted towards what could even be described as ¡®radical.¡¯ Practically everyone and their dog are entering Nightmares nonstop.


    A True End is their ticket out of the bottom floor, of course, but even a Bad End or a Normal End wouldn¡¯t discourage them any. Instead, they try their best once again and enter the same Nightmare immediately the next night.


    Unless they suffer several defeats in a row and it becomes risky enough for that repeatedly restarted Nightmare to change unpredictably, they would continue challenging the same Nightmare without switching over to another one.


    Ultimately, it is, of course, mainly because the more they enter a Nightmare, the more information they have and the more likely they can achieve a True End.


    Savescumming really is the best.

 Volume 4 - CH 57.3

    All in all, savescumming has seen the number of Missiontakers noticeably decrease on the bottom floor of the Tower. It has been a few weeks, and with the amount of Tower residents with Nightmares hanging around, the Missiontakers have enough options.


    Even if they really are no good themselves, they could still get a free ride from other pros carrying them, you see.


    This means that, by this point, the majority of the Missiontakers who still remain on the bottom floor right now have their own motivations. Some might really be bad at solving the Nightmares and had zero luck in getting carried, while the rest probably have some kind of agenda in mind.


    Of course, there are still people like Lin Qin and Mu Jiashi who legitimately do not want to head on to higher floors; and a very obscure minority of Missiontakers who still choose to continue their decadent partying lifestyle until the bitter end.


    In any case, the current climate of the bottom floor has definitely changed from usual.


    X¨¹ Beijin is still unaware of this, however. There is no way he could have imagined that, in a scant dozen days, the Nightmares and the bottom floor itself has so radically livened up and died back down again.


    Therefore, he is surprised as always hearing Baldie and tattooed Biceps here are trying this Nightmare for the second time, while also reflexively recalling the second Nightmare he ever streamed with the system.


    In this ruins of a Nightmare, X¨¹ Beijin is again without information from the Server, so he is paying close attention to Baldie instead, hoping to see what the guy knows.


    The Baldie in question, seemingly satisfied with the attention he has garnered, nods and, with a rather prideful tone, talks about his previous expedition in this Nightmare.


    ¡°This expanse of ruins is largely rectangular, surrounded by a hazy fog that cannot be passed through¡­ You know, the last time we were here, a dumbass tried walking through it and somehow got the Nightmare to restart immediately.


    While the area is mostly rubble, there is still one building left standing, that is itself on the verge of collapsing. Apparently, some¡­ apocalypse happened on this land, and there are many people searching for food here. We are part of them as well.


    Then, Baldie seems to ponder for a while before concluding, ¡°that¡¯s it.¡±


    Collector is rubbing his chin and asking excitedly, ¡°but none of that is really key information. We will realise all that soon enough after we begin exploring. Was that all the information you had the last time you went into this Nightmare? What about the endings?¡±


    Baldie gives him a despising gaze, but answers, ¡°in our last attempt, we didn¡¯t find food in the end¡­¡± His voice slowly sinks in tone as he says, ¡°we all starved to death. It was a Bad End.¡±


    Collector¡¯s eyes seem to sparkle for a moment as he murmurs, ¡°oh¡­ a Bad End¡­¡±


    The viewers are chatting in the stream, meanwhile.


    ¡°so basically, a postapocalyptic survival game?¡±


    ¡°look for food, and¡­? they got that BE, so the NE, it can¡¯t simply be finding food and not starving to death?¡±


    ¡°wow, talk about normal¡±


    ¡°if the biggest features of the scene are the rubble and a single building, then clearly there must be information in the building¡­ right?¡±


    ¡°the baldie didnt talk about it much, so maybe its just a setpiece? oh right, Beibei just said this is an office building, so theres no food to be found?¡±


    ¡°that doesn¡¯t make sense, Beibei¡¯s bookstore is here, there must be clues inside?¡±


    While the stream is focused on the Missiontakers, X¨¹ Beijin has set a smaller screen showing himself and the bookstore on the lower right. Right now, the viewers can see that, in the small window, X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s face is as pale as a corpse. His lips are visibly trembling.


    A moment later, he seems to have suddenly snapped out of it, hurriedly muttering, ¡°sorry, I was¡­ distracted.¡±


    The viewers are generous as always, but they¡¯re curious about what X¨¹ Beijin just thought of, why his expression suddenly looked so awful, like he was¡­ in fear.


    X¨¹ Beijin is silent for a while, during which he subconsciously leans on the back of his seat. His fingers are curled tight into a grip. There is a damp, heavy pain and darkness glooming over him.


    He tries to make a smile, explaining, ¡°I was just thinking about¡­ something IRL.¡±


    ¡°oh¡­ hugs for you, Beibei¡±


    ¡°Beibei is streaming this kinda game because it¡¯s not doing that well in reality right¡­ everything¡¯s gonna get better! believe me!¡±


    ¡°Beibei, lets not think about the sad things, then youll be happier¡±


    The viewers are trying to cheer X¨¹ Beijin up, and X¨¹ Beijin is also gently thanking them. His face still looks as worried as ever though, so almost immediately, the viewers¡¯ thoughts go off the rails.


    ¡°really¡­ Beibei resembles more an angry final boss than a poor cutie right now¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Oi! He really is a good person from the bottom of his heart!


    Though this episode of the viewers did transform his mood from literal depression into merely frustration.


    Well, both feels like there¡¯s a stone on his chest, but it¡¯s subtly different.


    He sighs, not knowing how to react otherwise, and turns his attention back to the stream¡ª¡ªTowards Baldie.


    He said, this Nightmare, is the ruins after an apocalypse.


    An apocalypse¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin is propping his head up on his arm with a disinterested expression. It¡¯s quite hard to pin down what exactly he is thinking about, because his thoughts and memories are all jumbled together right now. He might even confuse the past and the present as it is.


    ¡­ The apocalypse.


    It¡¯s almost a word of taboo in the Tower. Circumstances have once led to the term being propelled into fiery prominence in the Tower once, when suddenly, nobody would utter that word as if it was prohibited overnight.


    X¨¹ Beijin hasn¡¯t thought of that word, or particularly its implication, for a long time.


    He turns his head to look at the ruins outside the window¡ª¡ªThe apocalypse, huh?


    ¡­ It might not just have been, a simple apocalypse.


    While he is distracted with his own thoughts, the Missiontakers have been divided up already.


    Taking the ruins itself as a rectangle, then they are currently all situated in the most desolate northwest corner.


    Therefore, from where they are as the starting point, Baldie will be heading due east with Biceps; the paranoid male-female would not separate, so they are assigned due south; Mu Jiashi ends up lumped with Collector and are sent down southeast, passing through the middle of the ruins.


    Five minutes after the Nightmare began, the six Missiontakers have begun their exploration.


    So X¨¹ Beijin thinks for a moment before dividing the stream into four equally large screens, showing his bookstore, and each of the three groups for the viewers.

 Volume 4 - CH 58.1

    Biceps is complaining to Baldie right now.


    They are walking together on the north side of the ruins, heading due east from the west, passing through the road that cuts straight through the ruins towards that single building.


    Biceps actually talks in a manner rather unimaginable from that appearance ¨C he is an extremely talkative guy with a quick-fire manner of speech. In essence, his mutterings are complaints directed at Baldie for sharing so much information with the rest of the Missiontakers.


    Baldie simply replies with a ¡°enough! I didn¡¯t tell them the most important piece of information, now did I?¡±


    Biceps sounds equally irritated, though, ¡°but that¡¯s what they¡¯ll figure out as the Nightmare progresses anyway! If you¡¯re gonna tell them what we knew from the last trip into this Nightmare then tell them every single thing! Half and half and we¡¯ll lose trust with them!¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ll forget,¡± Baldie says, ¡°so that¡¯s why I only told them so much. They collect new information, we enjoy the spoils. How¡¯s that sound?¡±


    Biceps open his mouth slightly, perhaps in shock, then he pokes at Baldie¡¯s arm with his elbow, ¡°nice one, so you set them up as tool-persons, right?¡±


    Baldie says with a cold tone, ¡°ha, or what else? This place is way too big. The two of us can never explore everything effectively. Might as well tell them about that now so that they understand this Nightmare and end up helping us.


    They¡¯ll forget we hid information from them eventually, anyway.¡±


    This is the second time they said ¡®they¡¯ll forget.¡¯


    The stream happens to be picking up audio from their scene, because no one else was speaking in the other scenes and so X¨¹ Beijin chose to listen to the pair of ¡®bros.¡¯


    And this key information just popped up.


    What does it mean¡­ ¡®they¡¯ll forget eventually¡¯?


    Forgetting¡­ Is it some mechanism in the Nightmare? A certainty?


    The viewers are also engaging in heated discussion, but the brothers keep talking riddles to each other, so while they¡¯re successfully piquing the appetite of the viewers, they¡¯re unable to receive a definitive answer.


    So for now, the cute little viewers are rather frustrated.


    Soon enough, the brothers stop talking altogether, even Biceps who wouldn¡¯t shut up when talking to Baldie. They¡¯re merely walking along the way, seeing others walk past them every few steps.


    In fact, besides the fact about an ¡®amnesia,¡¯ Baldie also kept some things to himself.


    For example, the road they are walking through contains the most survivors of the apocalypse, because it leads directly to the lone standing, prominent building, which is somewhere the survivors all seem to assemble.


    They wouldn¡¯t dare enter the building though, for fear it might collapse at any time, so instead, they set up impromptu marketplaces for trade in hidden corners radiating out from the building, the kind similar to the marketplaces in the Tower.


    Baldie and Biceps know that heading towards the marketplaces is the easiest way to find food because they¡¯re the most abundant nearby.


    The building, which is at the northeast corner of this whole ruined cityscape, is just north of what was once a major supermarket, so many survivors head there to look for expired but nonetheless edible food. That is also where the brothers are heading for.


    In the centre of the ruined cityscape is an amusement park. It might have once been a popular spot for family trips or for couples to have some alone time in private, but it has now become a collection of rubble and dust, and a hiding place for some other things.


    That frame of a Ferris wheel that looks like it could fall at any time is also quite a notable landmark, to be honest.


    Baldie and Biceps don¡¯t dare heading in that direction, though, instead assigning it to Collector, who they despised.


    As for Mu Jiashi, who just got dragged in? Too bad he didn¡¯t know any other Missiontaker here.


    True lone wolves are rare enough in the Tower nowadays, especially while that rumour is still spreading rampantly.


    Everyone knows that the priority is to move up the floors right now regardless of the validity of that piece of rumour; they might still be able to make it in time if they hurry, or they risk missing key information entirely.


    The Missiontakers all worry that they¡¯ll miss out on stuff.


    Therefore, they are much more open to forming teams before heading into Nightmares than before. Of course, they would prefer people they already knew; the gap of distrust between unknown Missiontakers has only widened recently.


    ¡­ The plague known as Carddealer has spread. Now, everyone could possibly be a Carddealer.


    Not because they plan to deal in utility cards, but for True Ends¡¯ sake.


    That is why there isn¡¯t any solid trust in that young man who calls himself a ¡®Purveyor of Depleted Cards¡¯ being an actual Collector. It could be a ploy to lower others¡¯ guard.


    At least, Baldie and Biceps hold significant contempt towards him.


    Mu Jiashi himself doesn¡¯t care, because he didn¡¯t bring a single utility card anyway.


    In the last Nightmare he went into, he told a Missiontaker he hadn¡¯t a single utility card. It was the truth.


    Of course, they reached a True End in that Nightmare, so while he chose not to head for a higher floor, he still got one go at the lottery. He dare say he was rather fortunate as well.


    He immediately sold that card he got, though, purchasing some life necessities in its stead, which included the drinks he gifted X¨¹ Beijin.


    Though it might still only be a partial truth when saying he hasn¡¯t a single utility card. The more accurate phrase is that he is completely broke ¨C he entered a Nightmare so soon after returning to the bottom floor because he had to earn a living.


    Sometimes, he would suspect whether he really didn¡¯t want to go into Nightmares anymore, because what he is doing suggests he is actually wishing for living well deep down.


    In Nightmares, he often questions his choices as if his brain disagrees with himself ¨C ¡­ After that utter defeat on the upper floor, why is he still so serious here, now?


    Mu Jiashi is thinking about that with a dejected mindset.


    Though he chose to go into this Nightmare with some slight purpose behind it this time around.


    He wanted to investigate the female Tower resident who calls herself Su Enya, but he¡¯s completely broke. There is nothing he could offer to trade for or buy information he needs, so he¡¯s went into this Nightmare to try his luck once again.


    It would be remiss not to note how this is similar to his original career as a Golddigger; besides carrying the customers to a higher floor, they, of course, must also scout and gather clues about Nightmares before hand, which themselves would be valuable in the market as well.


    Which is still luck-based, of course. So as soon as he came into this Nightmare only to see this unreliable bunch of Missiontakers, Mu Jiashi only feels a hopeless dread.


    ¡­ Maybe he should just stick to idly hanging around. What use is there investigating that woman? It¡¯s just another mysterious, paranoid Tower resident¡­


    Speaking of which, this Nightmare seems to have gained some reputation among the Missiontakers recently.


    Mu Jiashi is thinking about it while the Collector is hopping around with some pure happy energy in his leaps. He seems to be pretty happy with whatever.


    Until suddenly, a group of people stops them.


    They¡¯ve been walking for about ten minutes or so, and they were slow because they didn¡¯t want to miss anything, so they¡¯re just past a kilometre only from the starting point. There wasn¡¯t really a ¡®road¡¯ they took, so to speak, because they were basically walking up and down piles of rubble the entire time carefully.


    Though they¡¯ve reached a rather open, flat area now, with quite a lot of people gathered around, seemingly talking about something.


    Mu Jiashi takes stock of his surroundings, and notices a collapsed entry point with what appears to be a ticket reception, and large fencing stretching out from there. Then, he also notices the giant Ferris wheel in the background, and concludes, that this might have been an amusement park.


    Amusement parks are usually pretty open spaces that mainly feature small attractions, so while those have been put out of commission or even collapsed of rust all together, the grounds are still pretty recognisable.


    And it seems, some group of people have claimed this place for their own.


    The group of people that surrounds them ran for the two of them as soon as they saw them, glaring warily and¡­ hatefully towards Mu Jiashi and Collector. They did not know the two of them.


    So one of them calls out at them, ¡°impurities!¡±

 Volume 4 - CH 58.2

    Mu Jiashi is currently pasued, thinking.


    ¡­ What? ¡®Impurities¡¯? Did he hear that right? Is that a passphrase or something?


    The man that spoke up is still glaring at these unexpected guests, and says again, ¡°impurities!¡±


    Collector gives a giddy response, ¡°magazine?¡±


    The man furrows his brows immediately to say, ¡°wrong!¡± And like some kind of loyal captain of the knights, he calls for several bulky guys from the side, and with backup, says with this cold, threatening and stern tone, ¡°invaders, leave!¡±


    ¡°Eh, why are you so nervous?¡± The Collector does not seem fazed at all, instead, he looks downright excited in that smile. He asks, ¡°we¡¯re just here, so we don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on, can¡¯t you explain? What do you mean by ¡®impurities¡¯?¡±


    The man is still creasing his brows, but is more hesitant. In the end, he still stands his ground, saying, ¡°please leave.¡±


    That tone certainly improved, if nothing else.


    That is when Mu Jiashi notices that, behind the rusted fences of the amusement park, many people are approaching towards them like ghosts drifting through the air.


    The people have stopped talking. The murmur-like background noises have disappeared already, only leaving behind a stagnant silence.


    It almost feels like all those who are present in the ruins, are already dead.


    ¡­ All these living people in front of them, but Mu Jiashi can only see people that have no soul, that are cold and disinterested.


    They are not at all welcoming Mu Jiashi and Collector¡¯s visit. Instead, they show an extreme xenophobic, hateful response.


    Where does this kind of animosity¡­ come from?


    Mu Jiashi is suspecting that bald Missiontaker of hiding some information already. He glances at Collector besides him, and thinks, he might just happen to be collateral damage this time.


    ¡­ Never mind.


    He just sighs, and drags Collector away while calmly nodding towards and telling that ¡®captain,¡¯ ¡°we¡¯re sorry. We¡¯ll be leaving.¡±


    They will choose to avert this amusement park.


    When Mu Jiashi is pulling him away, Collector is still incessantly going on about ¡°eh, impurities, what¡­ you, stop! We could have got the answer!¡±


    Mu Jiashi just tells him, ¡°don¡¯t be in such a hurry. This is only the first run of the Nightmare, so instead of going up against these guys head-to-head, it¡¯ll be better to check elsewhere and see if there¡¯s anything we can dig up on them.¡±


    Collector seems surprised by the answer, then gives Mu Jiashi this dramatic thumbs-up, saying, ¡°woah, nice! You¡¯re already ready to pull the blankets from out under them?¡±


    Mu Jiashi ¡°¡­¡±


    His brows furrow slightly as he looks puzzlingly at the young man in front of him.


    Since when did he say he was going to take them on directly?


    Collector isn¡¯t interested in whether he misunderstood Mu Jiashi, though, as he continues his leaping steps¡ª¡ªHe should be thankful for his still-youthful appearance, otherwise he would look too terribly, absurdly childish.


    Not that Mu Jiashi could really get used to that behaviour, since he knows too well that Collector may still pass for a teenager in appearance, but considering the number of years he must have spent in the Tower¡­


    No Missiontaker are really young in any sense.


    It is only their age, along with their physical bodies, being frozen in time forever the moment they woke up in the Tower.


    If you ask him, Mu Jiashi feels he¡¯s more a forty-something middle-aged uncle, even though he only appears to be just in his 20s.


    His physical body may not have changed, but what¡¯s inside, is different as night and day.


    Sometimes, Mu Jiashi can¡¯t help but wonder, even if they do leave the Tower, can they readapt to life outside? After all the years they have spent living inside the Tower, inside Nightmares like these¡­


    Whenever he thinks about that, he can only sigh.


    He continues forward with Collector.


    They agreed to meet up at that building.


    In terms of the route they take, the Baldie-Biceps pair have the shortest route, which Baldie said he should have been allowed because of the information he provided.


    While Mu Jiashi and Collector has the medium-length route, but it is terribly unfriendly terrain, especially when they are circling by the amusement park only to realise the way forward is completely ruined, the kind without any single flat surface to speak of¡­


    Even Collector¡¯s smile twitches for a moment.


    Meanwhile, as the back-and-forth took place between Mu Jiashi and Collector, and the people in the amusement park, as they head south-east, X¨¹ Beijin was outside of his bookstore, checking out his surroundings at the entrance to the building.


    The mere scale of this ruinous landscape only implants fear in people, because it looks more to be destruction by some weapon that descended on them without notice, than anything that could have been attributed to time and decay.


    The amusement park looks more like ground zero for that hypothetical weapon, because buildings and ruins are noticeably, dramatically more broken down, decimated the closer one approaches.


    Even the ground is more buckled the closer one is to the centre of the amusement park.


    What kind of weapon can cause such a terrifying, mass destruction?


    X¨¹ Beijin stands there with a poker face, observing the ruins with a calm but deep gaze. There is a breeze from afar, providing some background howling to this scene.


    He is recalling the long, long past.


    A long while later, when even the viewers of the stream are asking why he is standing here doing nothing, X¨¹ Beijin finally snaps back from his past, returning to reality.


    He awkwardly smiles as he switches the source of the audio over to his side, and guides the viewers on a tour of the nearby rubble.


    Well, he may say rubble, but there are still places where some walls remain standing, sometimes forming a barebones, makeshift shelter from the elements. These have been claimed as places where the survivors gravitate towards, or more straightforwardly, their marketplaces.


    They never come to a stop in these places, though. Like some kind of phantom, they would drift between different places of assembly. When X¨¹ Beijin spots a survivor and tries to get a detailed look, he would find the person already gone.


    In the end, he can only note one man. One man with visibly more tattered clothes and a lifeless expression. He is so emaciated his cheeks have collapsed and his eyes look like the soul has been drained from them. He is doing whatever he could to look for food.


    His steps are slow and sluggish, snail-pace compared to any other survivor. There is a ceramic bowl in his hand, perhaps it is used for trade, perhaps it is used for begging.


    The man walks from here to there, and then, a while later, X¨¹ Beijin sees him reemerge from behind a wall, with what appears to be a loaf of bread in his hands, as he walks away lifelessly again.


    The audience are all in shock by how drained that man looked.


    ¡°oh man¡­ such an apocalyptic game setting¡­ is just unfriendly to me!¡±


    ¡°everyone else¡¯s ¡®apocalypse¡¯ game: *tut tut tut* *boom*; my ¡®apocalypse¡¯ game: I¡¯m so hungry I¡¯m about to die¡­¡±


    ¡°im suddenly curious watching these people¡­ Beibei, how are you so casual? you dont need to look for food and even has that basically functional bookstore under you?¡±


    ¡°!!! makes sense! Beibei, did you finally rise up in this nightmare?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He rubs his nose with a bitter smile, while telling his viewers, ¡°no, I¡¯m still just an extra.¡±


    The viewers sigh in disappointment.


    Someone remarks, however, ¡°but so¡­ wouldnt players suspect Beibei of being a bad guy?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Suddenly, he has come to the realisation of the high possibility of what the viewer just said.

 Volume 4 - CH 58.3

    Speaking of being mistaken for an antagonist, X¨¹ Beijin is actually more curious about his current role as an extra now. The fact remains that he did not receive information from the Server NE, which means he is an extra.


    Yet, just as Dai Wu once said, in some media production, an extra is not necessarily unimportant either¡ª¡ªInstead, in fact, he is more like some kind of friendly cameo who is actually someone important in the plot?


    Look, while the rest of the Actors are struggling for survival in this apocalypse, but he¡¯s still his settled down bookstore owner. Never mind hunger, but he at least has a shelter above him.


    But¡­ Why?


    Why would the survivors allow him to stay in this bookstore in the first place? Why do they not occupy the building themselves?


    True, the building does not look like it will be standing for long, but at least it must be better than staying in open air? They could just leave as soon as there are signs it is going to tumble.


    Looking at the downcast weather outside, it would not be odd for raindrops to fall at any moment, yet all the survivors are still entirely ignoring this perfect building for shelter from the rain¡­ This makes no sense.


    X¨¹ Beijin is furrowing his brows, murmuring, ¡°the building¡­ what is this representing?¡±


    Looking at the streaming system, he can see only three locations for viewing under the heading of ¡®Building,¡¯ there is the ¡®Bookstore,¡¯ ¡®Stairwell¡¯ and ¡®Rooftop.¡¯


    This means the rest of the building must have been deserted. Those abandoned office cubicles must be decorative only. It would suggest that the Missiontakers are expected to explore the bookstore, and then walk straight through the stairs to the rooftop.


    ¡­ That¡¯s it.


    This is what the role of the building is here.


    Then what does it represent? Is there something on the rooftop?


    A few minutes later, X¨¹ Beijin is now on the rooftop of the building, which itself is thirteen storeys high, and because all the buildings visible nearby have all collapsed, so on the rooftop, he is able to get a good view of the entire ruined area.


    In fact, this is a good place to install a monitor to understand the big picture.


    Here, he can easily spot the rickety shell of a Ferris wheel in the amusement park, and¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin narrows his eyes in an attempt to let himself see more clearly.


    He can see many assembled in the amusement park. The congregation of heads look almost like ants gathering by an anthill.


    What are they doing there? X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but wonder.


    Curious, he turns his attention to his stream, and then opens up a window specifically for the amusement park.


    According to the stream, just the amusement park itself occupies five whole ¡®areas,¡¯ from ¡®Area 21¡¯ to ¡®Area 26.¡¯ It certainly is notably bigger than other areas.


    X¨¹ Beijin fiddles with the camera position until it is pointed right where the people are, and then switches the audio over.


    ¡°Impurities! Impurities! Impurities!!!¡±


    The crowd is yelling. Just a single word.


    X¨¹ Beijin listens for a short while, but all the crowd is doing is continuing the meaningless chant.


    Almost 20 seconds later, the chanting finally dies down. X¨¹ Beijin is looking more closely at the surroundings, and sees that this is taking place in what must have been the central plaza of the amusement park. It is vast and empty.


    If this was on Earth, and without some sort of apocalypse, then this might have been where a family would decide to spend some quality time on. Doves might fly overhead. There might be an elegant fountain in the middle of the plaza, surrounded by a ring of restaurants and souvenir shops.


    However, the statue in the middle of the fountain has already collapsed. This, is the ruins post-apocalypse.


    X¨¹ Beijin almost couldn¡¯t distinguish whether he is still in a Nightmare, or¡­ if he was back on Earth.


    When he gathers his wits about him once more, the impromptu crowd is already quiet, and are casting their fanatical gazes towards a man in the very front. A man who is slowly, resolutely walking onto where the fountain was.


    They have built some stage there. He is walking up there.


    He appears to be a man in his 40s. He has long hair and a long, black robe. His nose is prominent like an eagle, and there is always the hint of shadows between his brows and in his eyes.


    He gestures for the crowd to settle down, and then clears his throat to begin his speech.


    ¡°When man act overtly decadent, that is when the Lord punishes. The Lord sends His messengers. The Lord destroys all.¡±


    He is speaking with a mysterious tone.


    X¨¹ Beijin is creasing his brows deeply.


    This cultish occurrence is making X¨¹ Beijin both unsettled and amused. Like, this is the Tower, this is a Nightmare¡ª¡ªThis is just a fucking game!


    And they are all Actors!


    The Tower has very, very few true NPCs, so few that, some Actors suspect they are only Actors who have lost their sense of self. In this game, perhaps no real NPCs exist.


    So, this group of fanatics, they are really just Acting in accordance with the scripts assigned by the Server, right? But they look so utterly serious, devoted, pious, even.


    Their eyes, their expressions, that passion, that impregnability, seem to show that they really do take what the man is saying as the gospel. They really do seem to believe the fact that this scene of ruins straight out of a post-apocalyptic movie is punishment from that ¡®Lord.¡¯


    The farcical scene merely makes X¨¹ Beijin disgusted inside. He is gripping his palm, and regretting how he forgot to take a glass of water with him.


    In the stream, the viewers are all laughing loudly at the man¡ª¡ªA fake apostle.


    He said a whole bunch of things, and the people beneath him, like the devoted followers that they are, are still watching him piously, maniacally.


    Finally, the man ends his speech with, ¡°humans are the Impurities of Earth!¡±


    The people are once again chanting, ¡°impurities! Impurities!!!¡±


    The volume of the shouts is carrying it all the way to the Missiontakers far away, even.


    The male-female pair who walked south from Area 1 seem to hear something. They immediately stop and take a quick look around. They seem terribly agitated and paranoid.


    Their gazes are jumpy, suggesting they think something is staring at them, or there might be some monsters lurking in the void, waiting for the perfect opportunity to kill them.


    They seem to be living in a world even more irrational than others.


    ¡°¡­ Did you hear something?¡±


    The woman is biting her lips, leaving a deep red bite mark on her pale lips. It is habitual for her. Sometimes, she even bites so hard that it would bleed.


    The man is also looking about warily, and a while later, he answers, ¡°it seems safe for now.¡±


    But the woman seems even more distressed.


    Not that the man is doing any better, with his back drenched in cold sweat. He tries to cheer himself up with deliberate words, ¡°don¡¯t worry. It could be¡­ nothing, at all.¡±


    The woman is staring at him.


    The man is finally unable to maintain the expression he has been holding. So he just quickly blurts out, asking the woman, ¡°do you think, this Nightmare¡­¡± He gulps, and continues, ¡°could be the one we have always been looking for?¡±

 Volume 4 - CH 59.1

    Fei, Wu Jian


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    The moment that man asked about if this was the correct Nightmare, the woman¡¯s expression turns gloom immediately as she blurts out with a lower tone, ¡°I said, don¡¯t mention it! Act like we¡¯re just here to solve this Nightmare!¡±


    The man quickly nods and apologises.


    The woman bites her lips again as she sternly says, ¡°listen, never, never ever let anyone else know, otherwise¡­¡± she looks around nervously, finally adding, ¡°you know.¡±


    The man looks even more fearful as he murmurs, ¡°shit, it couldn¡¯t, could it; just one single sentence¡­¡± Then, he hurriedly says, ¡°I got it, Fei.¡±


    The woman who he called Fei sighs in relief. She nods, then says, ¡°we¡¯ll keep going, Wu Jian.¡±


    Wu Jian (TL: Î×ÒŠ), forming the two radicals of the ¡®xi¡¯ (TL: Ò ) character, means a ¡®male shaman.¡¯ That is the codename of this man. The woman¡¯s codename is Fei.


    They have both practically forgotten their old name now, only referring to each other by codename. In their small, secretive organisation, they only refer to each other by codename.


    These organisations can always serve to link its members together more intimately and closely than usual. They take pride in their organisation, in the fact that they have become a member of their organisation.


    Among the members of this one, is Fei and Wu Jian.


    Being secretive, other Missiontakers are unaware of their existence, even if they are aware, of the countless unverified rumours, most of which are conspiracies, floating through the Tower. All the rumours which, unbeknownst to them, originate from the organisation to which Fei and Wu Jian belong.


    That said, Fei and Wu Jian do not think those are mere conspiracies. They believe they are justified, and are therefore always searching for definitive clues that can prove them right.


    This is the ultimate goal for which they have entered this Nightmare today.


    In fact, some of the members would be angry that their theories are treated as conspiracies.


    You cannot call them conspiracies.


    Those are¡­ deductions. Deductions of the truth behind the Tower, the Nightmares, the Missiontakers, and everything else, based on all the things that Missiontakers have experienced¡­ and their own imagination.


    ¡­ Fine. They will admit they know that many of their deductions are baseless. That is why they are searching for evidence so diligently.


    For years, they have not achieved much, but recently, some changes have occurred in the Tower, causing the deafening silence to give way to rekindled passion and liveliness.


    Fei and Wu Jian, in fact, had access to even deeper, well-hidden information. They verified the information in their small organisation, and finally, they descended the Tower as soon as they can, reaching the bottom floor of the Tower, and entered this Nightmare.


    Everyone else is heading up when they are desperately going ¡®down,¡¯ which would explain why many Missiontakers think these conspiracists as insane.


    Even if quite a lot of them do believe in the conspiracies themselves.


    ¡­ If nothing else, they¡¯re possible explanations, no?


    In the Nightmare, Fei and Wu Jian are assigned the path down south, turning east at the end, and finally heading north to reach the building they agreed to meet up at. In terms of distance, they are the farthest, but the road is not as difficult to traverse.


    Along the way are all desolate, abandoned scenes. They cannot see a single speck of greenery. There are only the remains of what follows after a city of concrete and steel collapses.


    Perhaps years past, flora and then fauna will resettle these ruins. Vines will climb onto the walls. Animals give chase to each other. Whether humans would still be around to see it all, though, would be an entirely separate question.


    Wu Jian, watching these scenes, only looks more and more downcast, and his steps closer and closer.


    Finally, he stops entirely, unable to take another step.


    He just shakily asks, ¡°the apocalypse¡­ is it?¡±


    Fei answers coldly, but even her fingernails have already dug right into her palms, ¡°there is no proof, that it is real.


    ¡­ Nor proof, that it is not what happened.¡±


    Fei bites her lips again to calm herself down with pain. Taking a deep breath, she then changes the topic, ¡°we haven¡¯t met a single person yet on this road. I doubt we will be able to make a discovery¡­¡±


    Suddenly, she stops.


    Wu Jian tries to bury his emotions and look forward at the man that causes Fei to fall silent.


    The man is walking, or rather, trudging along so slowly. There is a piece of bread in his hand, and he does not react at all even seeing Fei and Wu Jian. He is just quietly taking his steps forward, like some kind of numbed down zombie.


    That emaciated face, pale cheeks and parched lips do not help his image any.


    A short while later, he has quietly gone past the duo without making a single noise. It calls into question whether he actually saw the two of them or not.


    Wu Jian does not understand why Fei stopped and has now even turned around to stare at the man¡¯s silhouette.


    They are currently along the way east from the southwest corner of the ruins. There is a bleak wind scattering the dust on the ground. They continue to stare at the man, watching his silhouette retreat further and further¡ª¡ª


    Until he is swallowed right into the dense fog surrounding the land. He has disappeared.


    Wu Jian, astonished, says, ¡°impossible! That bald guy said the fog cannot be entered, didn¡¯t he?!¡±


    ¡°For Missiontakers,¡± Fei is thinking and adding, ¡°but not for NPCs necessarily.¡±


    Wu Jian is knitting his brows, saying, ¡°is it something unique to this one Tower resident? But then, wouldn¡¯t this imply that there is a meaning to this fog existing other than delimiting the extent of this game¡¯s scene? A fog¡­¡± His expression suddenly changes as he goes, ¡°could it be¡­?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t overthink it!¡± Fei chastises him, saying, ¡°everyone might take our deductions as conspiracies, but you can¡¯t just go and link every single thing that you see because of that! Or it will really just be scaremongering conspiracies.¡±


    Wu Jian looks apologetic.


    He actually wants to say, though, his companion¡¯s complete disregard for any potential thing, dismissing them entirely as conspiracy, is itself a bit overreactive.


    After so many years, finally having a clue that might actually turn out to prove their judgment, how are they not supposed to feel excited, nervous, vindicated?


    The apocalypse¡­


    Wu Jian mutters this word in his mind.


    They continue walking forward.


    Compared to Fei and Wu Jian, Mu Jiashi and Collector were much closer to the amusement park. So they have been bombarded nonstop by the word ¡®impurities¡¯ for a while now.


    Collector is asking, seemingly bemused, ¡°what are they really talking about¡­ What impurities?¡±


    Mu Jiashi shakes his head. Instead, his mind is more preoccupied by something else, asking Collector, ¡°do you feel hungry?¡±


    Collector seems surprised. He rubs his stomach and says curiously, ¡°I really do feel like my stomach is empty.¡±


    They have never ever once felt that in the Tower.


    Whether it was hunger or even fullness. None of that. They can, of course, eat and drink in the Tower, but, other than psychologically satisfying themselves, it would not cause any distress to their digestive system.


    But now, in this Nightmare, for once, they are re-experiencing the feeling of hunger.


    Mu Jiashi furrows his brows, saying, ¡°this is not good. It has just been a dozen minutes at most. If we¡¯re already feeling like eating right now, then in an hour at most, we will have to find something to eat already.¡±


    Collector is still holding that upbeat smile as he asks, ¡°so what?¡±


    ¡°This can only mean that, in this Nightmare,¡± Mu Jiashi says, facing the young man, ¡°fighting over food becomes inevitable.¡±


    Collector rubs his chin and goes ¡®mm,¡¯ before putting on a brighter smile to say, ¡°I see, we will have to rob the food from the Tower residents, is it?¡± He is even chuckling, ¡°so interesting¡­ it is like this is really some kind of genuine apocalypse game.¡±

 Volume 4 - CH 59.2

    Mu Jiashi gives Collector a glance. He doesn¡¯t hold much goodwill towards the restless young man.


    Most Missiontakers in the Tower¡­ Perhaps not ¡®powerful,¡¯ but they are at least serious. Even the morally questionable ones are serious in their moral decrepitude.


    But people like this Collector here, happy-go-unlucky, unscrupulous, carefree about anything and everything. He is definitely a troublesome Missiontaker to be teammates with.


    At least, Mu Jiashi does not like Missiontakers like him.


    Though he then takes another perspective and concludes, so what. In Nightmares on the bottom floor, even a Bad End isn¡¯t exactly consequential anyway. He¡¯d be his usual useless self and play along¡ª¡ªHe thinks, self-degradingly again.


    This is reflected in the lazy expression on his face.


    Collector is observing him with this interest in his eyes, though. His smile is unchanging.


    The restless, jumpy young man is now hopping in front of Mu Jiashi, and a while later, he suddenly hops back to happily report, ¡°someone is fighting over food in front of us!¡±


    ¡­ Why are you smiling so happily that people are fighting over food?


    Mu Jiashi is speechless as he sighs, holding his head in pain. He can also hear the fights and cusses coming from not far away.


    He hurries his steps and vaults over two collapsed walls, coming into full view of the chaos unfolding.


    It is true that Collector looks like he is holding imaginary popcorn for the scene, because that is how lively it is. Mu Jiashi takes in his surroundings and observes the people fighting, and comes to a conclusion regarding how the fight began.


    There is a small grocery store with the metal shutter shattered. This was one of those kinds with the inventory of food at the back, filled with preservative-laden food that doesn¡¯t expire for a long time, alongside things like cigarette packs and cheap alcohol. Naturally, the survivors love these places.


    Seven or eight people here are fighting over food with their lives on the line, even though they are all thin as a stick and in tattered clothing. Their faces and hands are all dirtied, and even their fights seem to be filled with an animalistic wildness and barbarism.


    Three of them seem to be erstwhile allies while the rest are fighting for themselves, though the ones acting alone seem more dexterous and even ruthless than the three in a team. It looks like they really couldn¡¯t care less about losing their lives.


    In the end, the three who should have held their advantage, after screams and wails, had to abandon part of their spoils. In fact, one of them had their finger bitten right off.


    With all their spoils in hand, they seem to be wary of Mu Jiashi and Collector¡¯s arrival. They disperse quickly with what food they have.


    Collector seems disappointed, quietly muttering, ¡°tch, I thought it was something bigger¡­¡±


    Mu Jiashi gives him a glance, wondering what kind of ¡®bigger¡¯ thing can happen among the survivors in a post-apocalyptic, ruinous landscape?


    Fights over food, drinking water, shelter, clothing, medicine, or maybe weapons, but seeing how none of that group were armed, this place probably didn¡¯t have much weaponry.


    Maybe there are, but none of that belonged to the survivors they saw.


    Mu Jiashi shakes his head without responding. He looks at what was once the local grocery store, and hesitantly says, ¡°let¡¯s check it out.¡±


    Collector doesn¡¯t object. Other than the rather unnaturally energetic words and facial expression, he followed Mu Jiashi along alright, without doing anything over the top.


    Though the moment he entered the grocery store, he coughed reflexively. The ruins outside are dusty, of course, but they¡¯re practically immaculate compared to this half-crumbled store interior.


    Collector couldn¡¯t help but retreat outside, poking his head out of the store to take a few breaths before recovering. He then turns around to look back at the dim interior.


    Among the chaos, a few stands still barely maintained their forms, but every item that was on them has already been taken.


    Mu Jiashi sweeps his gaze across the store, then his eyes stop on the few pens haphazardly strewn across the glass countertop.


    Something flashes across his mind all of a sudden.


    Collector doesn¡¯t notice him pausing, and just says, ¡°hey, nothing else to be found here. Let¡¯s just leave.¡±


    He knows what Mu Jiashi is trying to do; they¡¯re already feeling like having a little something, so finding food now will be a guarantee for their journey in the Nightmare to come.


    But¡­ as far as he can see, this store has already been stripped clean.


    The moment Collector finished his sentence, though, he sees Mu Jiashi kneel down all of a sudden and pokes his hand deep into a cabinet, and retrieves a wrapped sausage from the dark, empty corners within.


    Collector immediately facepalms himself and happily praises him, ¡°nice one for spotting that!¡±


    Mu Jiashi gives him a nondescript glance.


    Collector immediately says, ¡°you can just give me a bit. I don¡¯t need half,¡± he smiles and says, ¡°I¡¯ll be happy with just a bit.¡±


    Mu Jiashi rolls his eyes and gives the young man half directly.


    Nothing about this situation is clear yet, so it¡¯s better not to waste mental energy on things like this. Mu Jiashi never treats his teammates unfairly, even if they are only temporary.


    ¡­ And in the same sense, he will not hesitate when he has to utilise them for the Nightmare¡¯s end.


    Collector, unaware of the true nature of his erstwhile ally, merrily receives the sausage and is about to eat.


    Mu Jiashi reminds him, ¡°wait until you¡¯re actually hungry, or you¡¯ll be wasting it.¡±


    Collector stops and then nods with a smile, then throws that sausage into his pocket.


    Then they head for the building once again.


    Right now, they are only about 10 minutes on foot from the building; Baldie and Biceps have reached the destination already.


    Before they did, X¨¹ Beijin already saw they were coming through the streaming system, so he went back down into his bookstore to do his job as the extra.


    The brothers estimated the time remaining until the other Missiontakers would reach them, and walks past the building discreetly, planning to first secure some food if possible in the abandoned supermarket slightly south of there.


    The moment they walked past the building, though, through the dirty glass front of the building, they happen to spot the bookstore and X¨¹ Beijin inside.


    Baldie is so surprised his eyes look like they could pop out as he yells out, ¡°hell! Since when did the bookstore have an NPC?!¡±

 Volume 4 - CH 59.3

    The last time Baldie and Biceps were in this Nightmare, they remember the bookstore being empty, instead of how it is now, with this man sitting behind the counter.


    Baldie and Biceps look each other in the eye, nonplussed.


    Biceps says, with knit brows, ¡°that¡¯s weird¡­ Absent last time, but present this time. Did the Nightmare already change on this entry? That makes no sense. It¡¯s only our second time. The Nightmare couldn¡¯t possibly have¡­¡±


    Baldie thinks for a moment before coming to a realisation, saying, ¡°the last time we went to this building was already late in the Nightmare. We¡¯re here at the building early in the first Nightmare¡­ That¡¯s the difference!¡±


    They look at each other and simultaneously say, ¡°missed information!¡±


    So they hurriedly rush into the bookstore, completely forgetting about looking for food in the supermarket and the fact that they were supposed to meet with the other Missiontakers.


    A new NPC in the Nightmare! An NPC they missed the last time around! Obviously, the correct thing to do is to rush over for information.


    X¨¹ Beijin, blanking out drowsily behind the counter, is still thinking about the man in the black robe yelling about ¡®humans being impurities of the Earth¡¯ on that fountain-stage, when suddenly, Baldie and Biceps popped right out of nowhere, spooking him.


    Though his poker face is still maintained, only his furrowed brows are still in full view. It looks terribly like he is dissatisfied with these two uninvited guests.


    In this dusty, mouldy bookstore, that man sitting behind the counter in a simple white shirt has such a cold gaze and handsome appearance that, the moment you look at him, you¡¯d think¡ª¡ªHe definitely isn¡¯t just any normal NPC!


    Baldie and Biceps are even more excited, the former even just saying out loud, turning towards Biceps, ¡°bro! We¡¯ve hit the jackpot!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    In the stream, the viewers are terribly amused.


    ¡°as expected, now showing: Beibei and the fate of the poor tool-person¡±


    ¡°tool-person? non, the fate of the ¡®suspect hostism¡¯!¡±


    ¡°uwu that makes me miss the detective dalao, whens he coming back? quickly come lay down the foundation for the host being the perpetrator!¡±


    ¡°oho, look who¡¯s the yin yang master of the stream here¡±


    ¡°offending 2 with the price of 1 sarcasm, good on you man¡±


    ¡°Beibei, dont stare at us, even if you do, we all know ur a cutie, hehehe¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Cutie? Cutie who! Hey, you wanna say that to my face, huh?!


    Frustrated inside, he decides to focus  his attention on Baldie and Biceps instead.


    That is when Baldie is also fixing his bloodshot gaze at X¨¹ Beijin, standing at a distance too close for comfort, and asking with an imperative tone, ¡°do you know anything about the ruins outside?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s expression is still unchanged. He doesn¡¯t even stand up. He merely raises his head slightly to stare straight at Baldie.


    Even though he is objectively below Baldie¡¯s height here, but in this silent bookstore, Baldie inexplicably feels like the young man is actually looking down on him.


    There is a terribly suffocating pressure, perhaps from the overly dim lighting, perhaps from the vibe and the appearance of the man; he even ends up averting his gaze subconsciously, breaking off the staring contest.


    X¨¹ Beijin is not answering, and thus Biceps also takes a few steps forward, saying, ¡°hey, did you hear the question? Do you¡­¡±


    He also stops his question abruptly as soon as X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s gaze moves onto him instead. He does not know what¡¯s going on, but his body even shudders in response.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mouth turns into a slight arc of a smile; he is finding the two of them rather amusing for that discrepancy between their tough appearances and rather meek insides, but suffice it to say that, the smile, coupled with his pale, even ghostly face, makes both Baldie and Biceps shudder in tandem.


    Baldie is even swallowing out of fear. What kind of NPC are they even facing here? Who is this man, manning the bookstore in the building, and what is his role in this Nightmare representing the ruins after an apocalypse?


    Baldie is too stunned to talk, so Biceps forces himself to take over. He utters, ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ That manner was on us¡­ You, I mean, mister, (TL: Switching from a normal to honorary form of ¡®you¡¯ here in the raws), would you mind telling us what could be going on in the ruins that surround us?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin knows nothing; at least, the Server didn¡¯t tell him anything.


    That said¡­ Through the stream, he was able to see some interesting things earlier. Though, since the two Missiontakers in front of him have once come to this Nightmare, they might know more than he does.


    While X¨¹ Beijin is now open to the idea of using information he gathered through the stream itself to guide the Nightmare¡¯s progress along, but he is still cautious. If he backed off now by saying he knew nothing, though, that would be a serious setback.


    He can also see that this duo in front of him has seemingly concluded that he is some bigshot in the Nightmare rather than an extra.


    If so¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin maintains his smile as he explains, ¡°I operate on the principle of equivalent exchange.¡±


    Baldie and Biceps look at each other, confounded.


    Though in the stream, the viewers figure out his intentions immediately, typing ¡°hahahaha Beibei! you just trying to get them to spit out info for you!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin continues smiling.


    Exactly. He is trying to get Baldie and Biceps to divulge whatever they knew for nothing¡­ Or, at least, the information they were still hiding. X¨¹ Beijin is still rather curious about what Baldie said regarding ¡®they¡¯ll eventually forget.¡¯


    An amnesia¡­ If that really is an integral part of this Nightmare, then it certainly lends this Nightmare a unique touch.


    After a brief hesitation, Baldie asks, ¡°what would you like to know about?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin slyly pushes that question back onto Baldie, ¡°it depends on your offer and exactly what information you seek from me.¡±


    That subtly illogical answer actually convinces Baldie that X¨¹ Beijin must actually know something, otherwise he could not have possibly said that; the confidence in the tone can only stem from someone who knows what¡¯s going on.


    Baldie then turns his head around to exchange a glance with Biceps. The two brothers have seemingly resolved themselves to something through talking with their eyes alone.


    So Baldie then turns to face X¨¹ Beijin, and tells him, ¡°we only just arrived here, but we¡¯ve heard, that there seems to be some kind of virus in the area that causes people to eventually forget about their past once they enter.¡±


    Forget about the past?


    X¨¹ Beijin is shocked inside, but remains largely expressionless.


    Seeing that reaction, Baldie concludes that the information he provided wasn¡¯t enough to be acknowledged by X¨¹ Beijin. He grits his teeth.


    Then, he realises that this person is still a Tower resident. He isn¡¯t remotely related to Missiontakers and whatever they do anyway, so there is no problem with telling him everything they knew¡­ Yes, that¡¯s right.


    Convincing himself thusly, he adds, ¡°and when you have forgotten everything since you have entered this area, you restart and repeat everything.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s eyes visibly dilate slightly this time.


    Finally, Baldie says, ¡°time here, forms a loop.¡±

 Volume 4 - CH 60.1

    Treasure Trove


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    X¨¹ Beijin has come to a startling realisation.


    This Nightmare does not restart on death, but restarts on the degree of memory loss!


    This is X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s first time ever facing such a Nightmare. He hasn¡¯t even heard about one at all, not to mention Acting in one.


    Everyone, from Missiontakers to Actors, know one thing for certain¡ª¡ªDeath means the Nightmare restarts.


    But in this Nightmare, this fundamental law, seems to have been upended?


    X¨¹ Beijin is sure something must be wrong.


    He is wondering if Baldie didn¡¯t mean what he just concluded? Maybe Baldie didn¡¯t imply that the Nightmare restarts, but rather, the Nightmare is in a time loop.


    X¨¹ Beijin knows about Nightmares that are locked in some sort of infinite loop, which occurs independently to whether the Nightmare restarts or not. Merely, some setting or story in the Nightmare would occur over and over again.


    Yet, Baldie chose to say ¡®restart,¡¯ which, for Missiontakers, always clearly meant the restarting of the Nightmare, the game Instance itself.


    X¨¹ Beijin is hesitant. As an Actor, he cannot just ask which ¡®restart¡¯ Baldie is trying to say either, so there are possibilities for what he meant.


    One, this Nightmare is one with some setting that is locked in an infinite loop. A memory loss represents one loop;


    Two, this Nightmare has a different condition for restarting ¨C from death, to memory loss.


    Though, thinking about that, X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s thoughts digress again. What difference is there between complete memory loss, and death?


    You could call it a complete death.


    He seems to recall something, and his expression turns rather gloomy and cold.


    While Baldie and Biceps are spooked by the response to the information they provided, X¨¹ Beijin puts his poker face back up again, and nods at them calmly, saying, ¡°an interesting piece of information.¡±


    His seemingly unpredictable mood swings has just made the duo even more wary.


    X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t in the mood to laugh at them, though, merely sighing to say, ¡°then in exchange, I¡¯ll tell you something.¡±


    The two Missiontakers focus intently on X¨¹ Beijin, who then says, ¡°in this building, there is nothing worth exploring,¡±


    Baldie is disappointed to hear that; he already knew.


    That is when X¨¹ Beijin casually adds, ¡°besides the rooftop,¡± then, glances around his bookstore, and says, ¡°oh right, and this bookstore.¡±


    Both Baldie and Biceps felt stuffy in the chest for that way X¨¹ Beijin worded the information.


    Though it did open up new avenues for thought for them, because¡­


    ¡°Rooftop?¡± Baldie murmurs, with rather confused undertones, ¡°it¡¯s possible to climb up the roof?!¡±


    The last time they were in this Nightmare, they never climbed the stairs, because they didn¡¯t realise that the rooftop can be explored as well.


    They only checked out the interior of the building before leaving.


    The bookstore, though, while the NPC, X¨¹ Beijin, was absent, they also had a simple search, but they didn¡¯t find anything useful.


    Biceps can¡¯t help but ask, looking at X¨¹ Beijin, ¡°laoban, what is there on the rooftop?¡±


    ¡°That is your second question,¡± X¨¹ Beijin chuckles, asking, ¡°anything interesting you want to tell me before that?¡±


    Baldie hesitates for a moment.


    Which allows X¨¹ Beijin to conclude, that they were still hiding something.


    ¡­ Wait, Baldie said earlier that they haven¡¯t told the most crucial piece of information to the other Missiontakers, before remarking that ¡®they¡¯ll eventually forget,¡¯ so does this mean that the most crucial piece of information isn¡¯t the fact that they would have amnesia?


    What else could it be?


    X¨¹ Beijin stares straight back at the two men.


    Biceps is clearly not as able to hold his cool, just like how he couldn¡¯t help but question why Baldie leaked the information, he is also unable to really hold himself back from telling everything he knew to X¨¹ Beijin in the hopes of digging information out from him.


    He begins, ¡°there is something¡­¡±


    But he is stopped.


    Baldie has grabbed his arm to stop him, before turning back to X¨¹ Beijin to show the friendliest smile he could force onto his face, saying, ¡°laoban, then we¡­ will check the rooftop out first; you don¡¯t mind?¡±


    Biceps reacts in time as well, and nods to say, ¡°right, right! Laoban, we¡¯ll be back later.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°hahaha Beibei, your mooching failed!¡±


    ¡°Beibei: why are you so uncooperative¡±


    ¡°my poor Bei, it takes skills to rob things from wolves unscathed¡±


    ¡°ah, insolent! do you mean to suggest my Bei is unskilled?!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks through the comments speechlessly¡­ So what if his ¡®mooching¡¯ failed! Not even mooching¡­ Why are you calling ¡®equivalent exchange¡¯ mooching?!


    Clearly, Baldie and Biceps would rather not exchange with him here.


    What else could he do, but show a peaceful, uncaring smile, and says, ¡°I look forward to your next patronage.¡±


    That simple sentence allows Baldie and Biceps to sigh in relief.


    In fact, they¡¯re worried they would anger X¨¹ Beijin, though the bookstore owner¡¯s temper seems much milder than they thought it would be.


    Outside the bookstore, Biceps is heading towards the stairs when Baldie pulls him back.


    Biceps is confused, asking, ¡°what? You¡¯re not going up to the rooftop?¡±


    Baldie rolls his eyes at him, feeling the guy is getting dumber by the Nightmare, and says, with this frustrated tone, ¡°look at the time! We should be meeting up with the others already!¡±


    They¡¯ve spent over 5 minutes in the bookstore, so if the rest of the Missiontakers are quick on their feet, they might be close to the building already.


    Baldie and Biceps had the shortest route, so they should have been waiting for the Missiontakers early.


    Baldie doesn¡¯t want to the arouse the suspicions of the rest of the Missiontakers just yet¡ª¡ªWhether about the information they have concealed, or their overfamiliarity with the locations in this Nightmare.


    Biceps is just slow, but not dumb, and gets it immediately. Then, he asks, ¡°you¡¯re not planning to tell the rest of them about the rooftop?¡±


    What Biceps means is that, they¡¯ll act like they came here early and waited up there for them.


    Baldie says, ¡°we¡¯ll see how it goes,¡± and a cold smile emerges from the corner of his lips. His bloodshot eyes make his face seem extra ominous, ¡°let¡¯s see if the rest of them would tell us everything they found out.¡±


    While it was a Bad End the last time they arrived in this Nightmare, but they¡¯ve practically explored the entirety of the Nightmare.


    And, when they finally left the Nightmare, all the memories they lost came right back to them.


    Baldie doesn¡¯t know if his memories of this Nightmare will once again fade with time, but at least, right now, no one is as familiar with this Nightmare as they are.


    So, he will wait and see if the rest of the Missiontakers will choose to report everything they found out along the way to them truthfully.


    Baldie really is the embodiment of double standards; he hid the most important information in the very beginning, but is demanding that the rest of the Missiontakers tell him everything before he would tell them about the rooftop.


    His reasoning is that, while cooperation in Nightmares here are beneficial, they are not compulsory.


    Some lone wolves would even go out of their way to stay far from other Missiontakers. Whether they work together¡ª¡ªCompletely, as a team, should be a personal choice.


    And so should he be able to choose whether and how he cooperates, even though he also knows they are double standards.

 Volume 4 - CH 60.2

    Baldie and Biceps are outside of the building now. The former glances back and murmurs, ¡°they¡¯ll see if they walk over like this¡­¡±


    Then, he drags Biceps with him towards the south, ensuring that when the rest of the Missiontakers are coming, they¡¯ll see them, but not that there is someone sitting behind the counter in the bookstore.


    About five minutes later, Fei and Wu Jian are here. After that, though, Mu Jiashi and Collector would not show up for a long time, even though they should have had to walk less than the man and the woman there.


    A while later, finally, a yell, and a ¡°hey! Look what we found here!¡±


    It is Collector. Fei and Wu Jian are clearly spooked, while Baldie and Biceps look each other in the eye, knitting their brows almost in sync.


    The direction¡­


    Walking over, just as they expected, Mu Jiashi and his erstwhile companion have found the entrance to the abandoned supermarket.


    This is a rather large store, and its first floor used to sell daily goods, clothes and electronics, while the second floor contained a market for fresh produce and other foods.


    After the building collapsed, the merchandise trapped down under the first floor will probably forever stay buried unless large excavation equipment is secured. Food that was on the second floor, however, is scattered everywhere.


    As long as the survivors could move the pieces of rubble over, they could find what they seek.


    Collector is holding a bag of cookies, ecstatic, smiling and saying, ¡°look, I got a bag of cookies already,¡± then he looks at the four other Missiontakers present, asking, ¡°you must also be hungry, right?¡±


    They nod frankly.


    So, they fan out across the area, looking for their own food. They end up skipping over the important information sharing that they should have done as soon as they met up.


    Besides them, many other survivors are here looking for treasure. Not just food, either, but anything valuable they could possibly exchange away at the marketplaces.


    Though it¡¯s kind of hard for them to observe the survivors. Again, they seem to be silhouettes that merely pop in and out of view every so often.


    Baldie and Biceps are moving together. Biceps sounds frustrated as he complains, ¡°that guy¡­ he was doing it on purpose, wasn¡¯t he?¡±


    Mu Jiashi isn¡¯t even anywhere to be seen, possibly just looking for food nearby. Collector called them over, though, looking like he¡¯s happy to share, but really¡­


    Who knows.


    Could Biceps and Baldie, who have been in this Nightmare before, not know about this large supermarket here? They had to, but they did not tell everyone else.


    So they are sure the male and female pair are already suspecting them.


    Biceps feels uneasy and also irritated at the fact. He still wants to say something, but Baldie picks up a bag of candy from the ground, tosses it in the air, and says, ¡°they don¡¯t trust us, nor do we trust them.¡±


    Biceps looks hesitant, not understanding what Baldie is getting at.


    Baldie rolls his eyes at nothing in particular, saying, ¡°I mean, we don¡¯t have to care, besides¡­¡± He kicks the broken brick near his feet, and adds, ¡°food, huh?¡±


    Biceps finally understands.


    Meanwhile, Wu Jian has leaned over to move a large piece of rubble over. His face is squeezed a tomato red, with veins bursting on his forehead, until finally, he moves the heavy stone over, only to find that, disappointingly, it is an empty plastic bag underneath.


    Fei, watching him all along, just says, ¡°you can stop now.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not really scavengers. The Server could not have had us enter this Nightmare only to sift through rubbish and look for food, doing all the post-apocalyptic survival stuff.¡±


    Wu Jian also gets it now.


    They, the ¡®conspiracists,¡¯ while having a rather ¡®intriguing¡¯ view of the state of the world, still must have exceptionally fluid thought processes and even overly imaginative minds to have come to those views.


    Mu Jian is muttering, ¡°the Server wouldn¡¯t set us up on a Sisyphean task on purpose¡­ Which means, there must be a reliable source of food.¡±


    Some other survivors©¤©¤NPCs, basically©¤©¤are holding something in their laps, possibly food, as they skirt by warily.


    Wu Jian spots them, and thus asks, ¡°are we to rob food from the survivors?¡±


    ¡°Possibly,¡± Fei says, ¡°but don¡¯t forget about the key to this Nightmare. What use is there in just accruing food? Bringing food with you is meaningless if you can always just come back to this area to dig up some more food.¡±


    Wu Jian also sighs and says, holding his head, ¡°that¡¯s right, food has to be eaten immediately too, or it¡¯ll be forgott¡­¡±


    He suddenly realises what he is saying and shuts up to glance around. Nobody seems to have taken notice, and he sighs in relief.


    Fei makes a cold chuckle to taunt the man mercilessly, ¡°that was your second slip-up of the day.¡±


    Wu Jian knows how strict Fei can be, and just owns up to his mistake with this pitiful expression, saying, ¡°I¡¯ll just keep my mouth shut as much as possible. You do the talking.¡±


    He¡¯s really careless with words; he can¡¯t be expected to keep secrets.


    Before Fei and Wu Jian entered this Nightmare, they have thoroughly prepared. They might not know the grounds of this Nightmare as well as Baldie and Biceps, but regarding its implications and even possible Endings, they are certainly in the lead.


    Because, once, they have garnered information on this Nightmare from another Missiontaker who claims to have entered this Nightmare.


    In fact, that Missiontaker¡¯s assemblage performed better than Baldie and Biceps¡¯, because they managed a Normal End, and have told Fei and Wu Jian about the core of this Nightmare. It is unfortunate that those people still failed to achieve a True End.


    With the recent madness enveloping the Tower, countless Missiontakers are burrowing through Nightmares like moles; this Nightmare being one of those frequented.


    The fact is, this Nightmare¡¯s True End has never been achieved, even including Missiontakers who have gone through this over and over again before having to give up in shame and choose some other Nightmare.


    The apparent impossibility of this Nightmare naturally causes some of those Missiontakers who have since succeeded in ascending to higher floors to talk of this Nightmare as a topic du jour or even self-derision. They dramatically lay out elements of this ¡®unique¡¯ Nightmare.


    An apocalypse. Endless expanse of ruins. A lone, tall building. A fog. ¡®Impurities¡¯¡­


    Survivors. Food scarcity. Amnesia. Even, a bookstore¡­


    This is a Nightmare of many clues. Many complex, unrelated clues. In this Nightmare, no matter how far the Missiontakers got, they only achieved a Normal End at best.


    Rumours abound in the upper floors about this Nightmare, even elevating it to the stuff of oral legends. Just like how once X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare fanned a fanatic fervour, this Nightmare has also attracted much infamy.


    They¡¯re all curious about the True End of this Nightmare.

 Volume 4 - CH 60.3

    Everything surrounding this Nightmare has also penetrated its way into Fei and Wu Jian¡¯s information network; they were once Missiontakers who ascended from the bottom floor of the Tower, but they have not been to this particular Nightmare either.


    Almost as soon as they¡¯ve heard about it, they have connected many dots floating about their minds, and matched them with all those conspiracies©¤©¤deductions©¤©¤they¡¯ve come up with.


    So they almost immediately found a Missiontaker who achieved a Normal End, and through¡­ satisfactorily effective means, extracted necessary information from him, and then hurriedly fell through Bad Ends to descend the Tower, and arrive on the bottom floor, and into this Nightmare.


    When Baldie was explaining this Nightmare to the rest of the Missiontakers, among the six present, only Mu Jiashi and Collector actually knew nothing at all about this Nightmare.


    Though, thanks to the path Baldie pointed the two of them through, they also managed to secure some rather interesting pieces of information from the amusement park themselves.


    On that topic, after Collector called everyone over, he excitedly heads back for Mu Jiashi.


    This ¡®treasure trove,¡¯ as formed after the large supermarket crumbled, has almost the entire southeast portion of the ruins covered. The initial destruction must have been of an unimaginable scale to end up scattering the food everywhere.


    Collector clearly seems ready to hold up some imaginary popcorn, saying, ¡°I knew it. The two of them hid things from us.¡±


    Mu Jiashi just shakes his head.


    Exposing Baldie and Biceps¡¯ deception©¤©¤According to Collector, who also set out this plan of action, right after they unintentionally stumbled into this area.


    After they gave an arduously wide berth to the amusement park, their path has already largely deviated south. They decided to head due east after that, thinking about turning north later, when they saw survivors who seem to be holding something in their arms.


    The survivors all looked exhausted and covered in dirt. It looks like they were just engaging in heavy manual labour.


    When they saw Mu Jiashi and Collector, they were immediately wary and quickly slunk into obscure corners, disappearing out of sight.


    So Mu Jiashi and Collector decided to head in the direction where the survivors came from for a bit, and then, Collector stumbled upon a piece of chewing gum by luck.


    In exchange for that, he asked a survivor nearby about the general situation of the ruins. The survivor wasn¡¯t willing to talk to them face-to-face, in private, but accepted the gum and yelled out information about this place from afar instead.


    They learned about what was once the supermarket then, which the survivors also called the ¡®Treasure Trove.¡¯


    And immediately, Collector understood Baldie¡¯s bias against him.


    If they actually made a detour via the north of the amusement park, or did not head due east after circling about the amusement park from the south, then they would not have passed through the Treasure Trove. Instead, Fei¡¯s and Wu Jian¡¯s path would have led them straight through it.


    Assuming Baldie and Biceps knew about this area©¤©¤Not that it seems likely they do not©¤©¤And Fei and Wu Jian would have to have gone past here, then of the six Missiontakers here, only the two of them would have missed this place.


    Missed what is a perfect place to look for food.


    Add to that the animosity and xenophobia exuding from the amusement park, Collector realises the full extent of Baldie¡¯s malice towards him.


    He rubs his chin, sounding somewhat confused, ¡°was it even necessary¡­?¡± Then, he smiles once more, adding, ¡°oh, well, who cares if he found it necessary. I got set up, so I¡¯ll set him up in turn.¡±


    Mu Jiashi now understands that Collector bears grudges. He bears them hard.


    Though what neither he nor Collector knows, is that as the Nightmare goes on, they would eventually forget about everything. Baldie knew, which was why he saw fit to give this guy he hated a hard time.


    And also, have him scout the way for them.


    He and Biceps didn¡¯t know that much about the people in the amusement park either.


    Both getting back at the guy that irked him, and gathering information©¤©¤At least, Baldie was thinking that Mu Jiashi looked reliable enough to give him accurate information about their approaching the amusement park©¤©¤killing two birds with one stone, classic.


    And thus, the six Missiontakers present at the Treasure Trove, are all preoccupied with their own thoughts and intentions.


    Mu Jiashi ¡°¡­¡±


    He just sighs wearily hearing Collector¡¯s schemes.


    He is seriously suspecting that since returning to the bottom floor of the Tower, all the Nightmares he entered have been cursed one way or another.


    This must be malice from the Server¡¯s part!


    Mu Jiashi couldn¡¯t care less what information Baldie did or did not reveal, because as the Nightmare went on, it would have become clear anyway. Partial truths? Men are selfish creatures. You must be delusional to count on a Missiontaker you just met for the first time to entrust you with everything.


    As long as he¡¯s not another of that lone wolf he met in that last Nightmare, who even conspires in factionalism and showers everyone equally with pure spite, then Mu Jiashi is thankful.


    Though, even that lone wolf from back then, after they bust his cover and actions entirely, ended up agreeing to cooperate©¤©¤With a snarky attitude attached, but cooperative nonetheless.


    Suffice it to say, that on the bottom floor of the Tower, all Missiontakers in the Nightmares are natural allies for each other, regardless of their intent to work together.


    Instead, he¡¯s seeing¡­ some kind of intense, impromptu rivalry between Baldie and Collector?


    Mu Jiashi is seriously tired of these. He hates these Missiontakers in Nightmares the most; they cannot tell business from personal grudges. They do as they please. Just one of them is irritating enough, and now, great. There¡¯s two of them.


    Oh, great, so great! Even the Heavens will him to be a useless piece of trash. He¡¯s decided now. He¡¯ll be lazing about, super casual style, the entirety of this Nightmare!


    But then, some clues for the Nightmare, in order to trade for information on that certain Tower resident¡­ Next time, maybe.


    Mu Jiashi, who is quietly resolving to laze about, would perhaps find a common ally in the past X¨¹ Beijin.


    The past X¨¹ Beijin whose goal in life is to laze about in Nightmares. As long as Missiontakers do not bother him, he could blank out to the end of the universe in the Nightmare. Or at least, until ¡®sunrise,¡¯ when they are pulled out of the Nightmares.


    After the streaming system barged into his life, though, that once simple, salted-fish-like life of his, seems to be nowhere in sight.


    In fact, he is plotting along to intervene more actively in Nightmares.


    He pulls the camera away from the Treasure Trove a bit to be able to see all the Missiontakers there at once.


    The stream shows that they have each made some gains. Of course, because they can¡¯t carry most of the food with them, they stop their efforts soon enough, and reassemble on the road between the building and the Treasure Trove. They start their discussion.


    And what Mu Jiashi worried about plays out in all its glory.


    Collector and Baldie are playing nice with each other like a Unionist cat plays nice with a Real IRA dog. Whenever Baldie says anything, Collector would definitely follow up with an eerie tone and a creepy smile; whenever Collector is sarcastically mocking Baldie, the man would immediately look close to blowing up, with bloodshot eyes and all his muscles on his upper arm visibly bulging.


    A fight looks inevitable.


    Right now, more than half an hour has already gone past since they entered the Nightmare.


    Fei yells out all of a sudden, pointing to the building, ¡°what is that?!¡±


    The Missiontakers all turn their gaze in the direction she is pointing, even including the arguing Collector and Baldie.


    They can see someone standing on the rooftop, with a person visible behind him.


    The person in the front looks to have been pushed by the other one, and falls straight down from the rooftop of the building. Not a few seconds later, a splat, a scattering of blood, a few twitches, and then, silence.


    The Missiontakers are looking at each other now, as their jaws drop onto the floor.


    ©¤©¤Someone was pushed to their death from the rooftop of the building. He is dead.


    However, the Nightmare is not restarting.

 Volume 4 - CH 61.1

    Mu Jiashi is looking at this worldview-shattering scene while murmuring, ¡°impossible¡­ impossible¡­¡±


    It is common knowledge that death in the Nightmare causes the run to end and another to begin.


    Now, someone is clearly dead in the Nightmare, killed, even, but the run is not ending.


    Why?


    Compared to the Missiontakers who all seem genuinely or acting genuinely in shock, X¨¹ Beijin is thinking a bit more deeply.


    A bit more deeply about what Baldie told him.


    In this Nightmare, memory loss causes the Nightmare to restart instead¡­ or, at least, to restart the loop.


    With his head quietly throbbing in pain a little, he digs up all the knowledge regarding those necessary, essential conditions from his memories, and realises, these aren¡¯t of any use.


    Because, all this time, everyone has come to accept that death leading to restart is a fundamental, unbreakable, essential fact of Nightmares. Death must imply restart. Restart must imply death.


    This principle has now been shattered!


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks for a while, and feels that, until the Nightmare finally restarts for once, to allow him to verify for himself what conditions lead to the Nightmare restarting, everything he is doing here isn¡¯t particularly meaningful.


    This is his usual delay tactic for whatever challenges he came to face these years that are beyond his capabilities.


    He is able to throw away the mess of thoughts in his mind thusly, and instead focuses his attention back on the stream, on the reactions of the six Missiontakers present.


    The most notable reaction comes from Collector, who is showing an impassioned smile while rubbing his chin to say, ¡°this Nightmare¡­ is really, so interesting!¡±


    Well, duh.


    Mu Jiashi just gives him a tired look. This man, aiming to be as dispirited as he can be, is showing an expression that suggests he succeeded.


    In the many Nightmares Mu Jiashi has been to, this is the first Nightmare to break the fundamental principle that death must lead to a restart.


    He takes a deep breath. He knows this cannot just be some kind of coincidence. There must be unique forces at play.


    While thinking so, he forces his gaze to detach from the corpse.


    They are already at the base of the building right now, watching the body, and have confirmed his death up close©¤©¤Well, anything with brains leaking out of their broken skull after falling down a tall building can be assumed dead, can¡¯t they?


    Biceps is hesitant, but mentions, when no one else speaks up, ¡°perhaps¡­ Uh, you know, the guy might be dead before he was pushed down the building? It might have been a corpse already?¡±


    Some Nightmares feature already dead corpses, more as background setting instead of actually emphasising their deaths.


    Baldie refutes his brother¡¯s claim, though, ¡°look at the blood flowing out of the body, and that oozing brain there; come again?¡±


    The corpse is, quite¡­ fresh.


    Almost as soon as the adjective popped into Mu Jiashi¡¯s mind, he felt like throwing up.


    Suffice it to say, that, with Nightmares restarting at most 3 seconds post any death, so none of the Missiontakers present have really taken a good, hard look at a corpse for a really, really long time.


    Particularly when the corpse is as mangled as this one.


    Mu Jiashi averts his gaze once again, and notices Fei¡¯s and Wu Jian¡¯s expression, and his eyes widen slightly.


    Among the howling ruins, none of the Missiontakers are looking comfortable; more specifically, they all look as grey and defeated as the collapsed buildings.


    Whether it¡¯s because of the death, or the fact that the death is not causing a restart, they can all feel that something is out of place. This Nightmare, seems to defy all previous experience.


    Though Fei and Wu Jian are noticeably different in the feelings they exude compared to others.


    Not exactly fear, anxiety, or nervousness, but more, an inexplicable¡­ absolute shock, excitement?


    To that degree?


    True, the Nightmare did not bring forth a restart, but Nightmares are nothing if not full of surprises. Perhaps they are just facing some ridiculous aspect of this Nightmare; perhaps the guy really was dead before he jumped.


    Then, there¡¯s the¡­ excitement. What in the world?


    Mu Jiashi disses inside.


    Then he firmly turns his head around, pretending he didn¡¯t see them acting odd at all. He will remember it, though, even if he can¡¯t just rush over to ask as it is.


    There is even a moment in there when he is feeling like the people in this Nightmare, are all kind of interesting.


    Collector, a ¡®purveyor of used cards,¡¯ a man and a woman who are paranoid, with nerves tensed, and a pair of brothers who¡¯ve been in this Nightmare before, but kept lots of information to themselves¡­ and him.


    The next second, he sighs out of nowhere.


    Compared to X¨¹ Beijin, whose state of mind defaults to exhaustion, Mu Jiashi¡¯s mood is more of a rollercoaster ride.


    He might just pop up for a second, and force his powerful hand down while carrying all the other Missiontakers to victory, before losing all steam all of a sudden and yell about being a ¡®useless trash¡¯¡­ Like what happened the last time around.


    Just like what he told X¨¹ Beijin, he will have to readjust himself while on the bottom floor. He has been, and is still continuously brought to deeper levels of Hell by that Nightmare he experienced, which destroyed him, but he is not giving up on crawling back out just yet.


    And so his thoughts digress, while the rest of the Missiontakers are all silent.


    Collector finally breaks the silence with a ¡®hmph¡¯ and a smirk, saying, ¡°you guys¡­ how are you all ignoring such an obvious question?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Baldie is on seriously bad terms with this young man with the perpetual smile, so Biceps had to ask instead, in spite of that burning glare from his companion Baldie.


    Collector seems to be too absorbed in his little discovery to notice Baldie, though. He says, ¡°that person who pushed this guy down the building,¡± he says with this nonchalant tone, ¡°as I recall, after we moved in here, nobody has left the building yet, right? So, the person should still be in the building.¡±


    The Missiontakers glance at each other as they realise the truth in the claim (TL: Assuming there is no other exit in this building, of course, but it¡¯s just a small thing).


    After this guy fell down the building, the Missiontakers have all gathered near the entrance to the building. Nobody has left, and of course, nobody has walked inside.


    Therefore, they¡¯ve assigned Fei to stay and watch the entrance, while the rest of them disperse into the building, heading to different floors and looking for the possible murderer.


    While Fei is spared from the physical exhaustion here, but she is still slightly uncomfortable staying with a corpse. She bites her lips and moves a bit further away, while her gaze stays locked on the entrance to the building. She pays no mind to the ruins surrounding her.


    She is also in thought.


    After her initial shock, she realises, that this Nightmare may actually be the one they¡¯ve been looking for. The¡­ unique, Nightmare.


    Among the countless conspiracies circulating the Tower, one of them, in fact, has wide consensus accepting its truthfulness. Or at least, they are all willing to take it as the truth.


    That theory being, that there exists an ¡®Ultimate Nightmare¡¯ among the countless Nightmares of the Tower. Anyone who wins a True End in that Nightmare, can escape the Tower.


    This makes intuitive sense, the same way that games all have main, story missions, which ultimately lead to one last boss. The game, ¡®Escape,¡¯ is still fundamentally, a game.


    Though that begs the question ¨C which is the Ultimate Nightmare?

 Volume 4 - CH 61.2

    Countless Missiontakers are head over heels for the possibility of the Ultimate Nightmare, but no one has claimed that they have actually found it.


    In fact, the madness surrounding the bookstore owner¡¯s Nightmare on the bottom floor in the past, may have partly been fuelled by the Missiontakers¡¯ desire for the Ultimate Nightmare.


    Of course they want out of the Tower, regardless of whether they are Missiontakers or even¡­ Actors. Perhaps, that chaos back then might even have involved Tower residents as Acted by Actors, who were also curious about whether X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare might hold any secrets.


    A few years have passed since then, and while there might still be restless bravado in the dark wishing for X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, but at least, on the surface, there is not. Especially after Lin Qin has made it clear he is taking X¨¹ Beijin under his protective wing.


    Of course, some people are also guessing at their relationship, even adding some coloured thoughts into their imagination shamelessly. It has to be said, though, that the reputation of the crownless King of the bottom floor is still effective.


    So what X¨¹ Beijin was fearing all along has not come to pass.


    That said, besides Lin Qin¡¯s own influence, the sudden prominence of this Nightmare also helped alleviate the pressure from X¨¹ Beijin some, as some people are suspecting this Nightmare of being the Ultimate Nightmare.


    Look, an apocalypse, some survivors, endless ruins, and a fog that surrounds it all¡­ All the symbolism and scenes are there, in eerie correspondence with the Tower itself. Add to that, the loss of memory and even the fact that death does not lead to the Nightmare restarting, it is all the more suspicious!


    The first group of Missiontakers who failed to ascend through this Nightmare and ended up going up via other Nightmares, dressed these facts up in dramatic words, and retold their stories.


    Now, the situation has spiralled completely out of hand, just like how X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare did it all those years back.


    It is like you have thrown a piece of floating log to all those mad, desperate, hopelessly struggling swimmers.


    Would it be useful? Would it just sink outright?


    Nobody knows.


    But these Missiontakers, with no other way out, will never just let the floating log pass.


    For example, just counting the ones Fei and Wu Jian know about, besides them, many others have also descended the Tower in search of this Nightmare. At least¡­ they¡¯ll try.


    Those people were here earlier than Fei and Wu Jian, too, because the rumour still took time to climb the Tower, and they needed time to descend from as high that floor was that they were at.


    So in summary, while the Missiontakers of the bottom floor are trying desperately to go up the floors because of that rumour of ¡®someone having escaped the Tower,¡¯ the Missiontakers of the higher floor are also abandoning everything they¡¯ve achieved to fall through the floors for the rumour that ¡®the Ultimate Nightmare has appeared on the bottom floor.¡¯


    Basically, it¡¯s a good tale about the dangers of unsubstantiated rumours.


    Though whether these rumours are actually unsubstantiated or the truth, nobody knows.


    The same way that, even for the secret organisation behind Fei and Wu Jian, who started those conspiracies©¤©¤Ok, deductions©¤©¤They could not have imagined that one of those schools of thoughts they had has actually become an unspoken tenet in the Missiontakers¡¯ minds.


    The one about¡­ the Ultimate Nightmare.


    In fact, Fei and Wu Jian didn¡¯t even actually come here for the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare¡¯ crap.


    Because they weren¡¯t expecting at all that that almost jokingly unrealistic proposal of there being an Ultimate Nightmare would actually be the most widely accepted conspiracy among the Missiontakers, and is now fuelling the crazed wave of them abandoning everything they built up in the upper floors to come back down to the bottom floor.


    It only makes one wonder if the unrest a few years back that involved X¨¹ Beijin and his Nightmare might have actually involved desperate Missiontakers from the upper floors as well.


    Mu Jiashi once told X¨¹ Beijin, that the upper floors of the Tower, are somewhere even more dead and lifeless than the bottom floor of the Tower.


    However, picture this ¨C the Missiontakers who really have lost all semblance of positivity, if they had their life reignited, for one last straw, one final, ultimate gamble, one last chance to free themselves, then, the results might actually be quite terrifying as well.


    At least, that is what Fei is worrying about.


    All these thoughts swirl about inside her head, until time slowly passes, until¡­


    The rest of the Missiontakers, all five of them have returned to the lobby of the building.


    There are thirteen storeys, so it took a while to investigate, but the office building was built with largely open office space, and not too much time was wasted looking at every nook and cranny.


    It was perhaps a quarter of an hour after they started searching, and the reassembled Missiontakers all shake their heads.


    No one has found the murderer inside the building.


    Baldie¡¯s eyes widen in slight disbelief, the effect being rather ominous given the bloodshot state of his eyes, as he says exasperatedly, ¡°but all of us saw someone behind that, and that no one has left the building!¡±


    ¡°True,¡± even though they have not found any useful clues, Collector¡¯s smile isn¡¯t at all affected. He continues, ¡°or, perhaps, someone found them, but is keeping it secret?¡±


    Baldie is visibly irate.


    He knows what Collector means exactly©¤©¤He¡¯s mocking him for having kept information from them earlier.


    As expected of someone who can double standard without blinking an eye, he says without hesitation, ¡°I can guarantee that I found nothing!¡±


    Biceps adds, ¡°me neither.¡±


    Collector just goes ¡°ho, I don¡¯t really mean that,¡± then he raises his chin to say, ¡°look who¡¯s there.¡±


    So, Fei, who has walked over to meet up with them, and the rest of the Missiontakers, all turn to look, through the glass door, at the person behind the bookstore counter©¤©¤X¨¹ Beijin, with a poker face.


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He might really, ever so slightly©¤©¤be frustrated right now.


    ¡­ As the Heavens are his witness, other than climbing up to the rooftop at the beginning of the Nightmare, he really, never, ever, left his bookstore after that!


    Though clearly, that does not allay any suspicion of him from the Missiontakers.


    They did see someone push another person off the building on the rooftop. They did not see anyone walk out of the building. They did not find any single other person in the building, besides themselves¡­


    Before the Missiontakers are even in front of X¨¹ Beijin to question him, X¨¹ Beijin is already out of excuses.


    ¡­ Because the streaming system didn¡¯t have any view for the locations in the building outside of the stairwell, the rooftop and the bookstore, so he couldn¡¯t even try to look for that murderer himself¡­


    No, wait!


    That can¡¯t be it!


    X¨¹ Beijin suddenly realises something.


    The streaming system is independent of all this, basing itself, in fact, on the settings of the game. In other words, this is actually a potential way of ¡®cheating¡¯ by checking the internal files of the game itself.


    So basically, only the scenes that the streaming system offers are meaningful to the Nightmare. Where the stream offers no scene, can only mean that they are useless background set pieces.


    Of course, for a game as realistic as ¡®Escape,¡¯ the Server would naturally set the scenes as realistically as possible, allowing the Missiontakers to explore the map as they please, meaning that, the Missiontakers wouldn¡¯t actually know which scenes are worth exploring. They would visit everywhere, of course, but through the stream system, X¨¹ Beijin can know.


    While in the building, there are only three scenes that are worth exploring¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin falls into thought.


    Does this mean©¤©¤That the murderer, really isn¡¯t anywhere to be found in the building anymore?

 Volume 4 - CH 61.3

    X¨¹ Beijin knows what he was doing the entire time, of course, so he cannot be the murderer. This means that there is someone else here, that murdered the person; however, the streaming system shows no unfamiliar names in the unseen set pieces of the building, and all that he could see, from the rooftop to the stairwell, are empty.


    So all this could mean, is that there is nobody else in the building?


    There is, and is not, anyone else in the building???


    Such a contradictory conclusion can only suggest one of those is wrong. X¨¹ Beijin believes in the streaming system©¤©¤At least, believes that it is not broken©¤©¤So, in the building, besides X¨¹ Beijin and the Missiontakers, there is no one else.


    So where is the murderer?


    How could they have left the building without being seen by anyone?


    If nothing else, the fact that they even slipped past X¨¹ Beijin and the streaming system is already beyond belief.


    It is a ¡®God¡¯s eye view,¡¯ you know?!


    And also, X¨¹ Beijin himself is sitting right there, able to see both the inside and the outside of the first floor of this building through the large glass windows!


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s brows are creasing more and more.


    This Nightmare, he can¡¯t help but conclude, really has something strange going on.


    A death that does not lead to another run. A murderer that can phase out of existence in a building¡­


    That latter observation begs quite the absurd conclusion as well©¤©¤A fresh new impossible crime like those depicted in detective novels?


    He is mired in his own thoughts, while the six Missiontakers are rushing forth into the bookstore to confront the ¡®suspect.¡¯


    Because they were looking for a murderer who was on the rooftop, so after leaving someone at the entrance to keep watch, they rushed for the stairwell and fanned out searching downwards from the top.


    When Collector pointed out the existence of the man, besides Baldie and Biceps who knew beforehand, the rest of the Missiontakers actually ignored the man behind the counter in this dirty old bookstore.


    Before they noticed X¨¹ Beijin, somehow, he had quite the obscure presence; the moment they did notice, though, they can¡¯t help but wonder how they managed to ignore him in the first place.


    He is such a prominent beacon of light.


    As for Mu Jiashi, the moment he saw the man¡¯s appearance, his pupils contract reflexively and he is shocked, thinking, why him? Why is he the bookstore owner here???


    Because of his previous encounters and interactions with X¨¹ Beijin, Mu Jiashi has already labelled X¨¹ Beijin as ¡®harmless¡¯ in his mind. He feels like X¨¹ Beijin would not be the kind of person who ends up a murderer, much less one that remains sat comfortably after committing a murder.


    Though, that said, no one has ever entered his Nightmare, so no one can really say that they know him well.


    Don¡¯t judge a book by its cover¡­ Or, rather, given X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s appearance, the saying should be, ¡®do judge a book by its cover.¡¯


    Mu Jiashi is now reminding himself inside that Tower residents in the Nightmare are not exactly the same person as the Tower residents back in the Tower, unless the person is the owner of the Nightmare.


    ¡­ Though, the last time he met X¨¹ Beijin in a Nightmare and told him he planned to visit later, X¨¹ Beijin clearly remembered when he went to his bookstore afterwards.


    Right now, this rather complex, even contradictory image of X¨¹ Beijin is confusing his mind.


    X¨¹ Beijin also notices Mu Jiashi¡¯s odd gaze that looks like he has a thousand questions. He could guess what he wants to ask ¨C just like how once the detective dalao suspected him of being the perpetrator behind the disappearance of the dollmaker¡¯s daughter, Mu Jiashi is suspecting him. Justifiably so.


    Well, at least that is better than the five other Missiontakers who seem to have drawn the obvious conclusion already.


    Since no actual paranormal or supernatural occurrence happens in Nightmares, with X¨¹ Beijin being the only other person inside the building, who else could have been that murderer?


    Faced with their messy, noisy accusations and questioning, X¨¹ Beijin just sighs wearily and bites his lips a little. He waits for a bit, but the Missiontakers are still going on and on and on.


    So he, who has his head downcast the entire time, suddenly raises his head to calmly ask, ¡°are we done yet?¡±


    The Missiontakers all stop talking simultaneously.


    Really, the only people that were incessantly blabbering were just Baldie, Biceps and Collector. The three others remained largely silent. Although after X¨¹ Beijin spoke up, Collector is now looking at him with this rather gleeful expression.


    X¨¹ Beijin gives this young man with a perpetual smile a glance, before telling them, ¡°you have the wrong person.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t try to deny it!¡± Baldie has to gather his courage to finally voice his dissent, ¡°you are the only person in the building. Who else but you could have pushed the person off the building?!¡±


    What he said is also largely justified to himself. As Baldie and Biceps were here earlier than the rest of the Missiontakers, he knew X¨¹ Beijin really stayed in the building the entire time.


    Baldie doesn¡¯t want to draw attention to the fact that he interacted with X¨¹ Beijin before them, though, and so worded his accusation to avoid that.


    After the person fell off the rooftop, they saw no one enter or leave the building, so X¨¹ Beijin, who was in the bookstore on the first floor the entire time, is especially suspicious.


    X¨¹ Beijin also does not know how to defend himself in this situation, so¡­


    He leans back on his chair, and looks up at the Missiontakers, without any appreciable guilt or panic, and then changes the topic by asking, ¡°is this satisfactory verification for what I told you before?¡±


    The Missiontakers all seem taken aback.


    Baldie and Biceps have especially drastic changes in expression.


    Mu Jiashi notices that immediately, and so quickly closes in on them to ask, ¡°what did he mean by that?¡± And then he turns towards X¨¹ Beijin to ask, ¡°what did you tell them?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks like he is making an inaudible chuckle before saying, ¡°something related to the corpse you saw outside,¡± then he says, ¡°I operate on the principle of ¡®equivalent exchange;¡¯ the two of them told me some information earlier, so I, in turn, provided information to them.¡±


    Mu Jiashi furrows his brows immediately.


    Equivalent exchange¡­ He gives a deep glance at X¨¹ Beijin. He knows best that this is exactly how X¨¹ Beijin is, better than all the others here.


    Though¡­


    Is this really the man who just sat quietly behind his counter in his bookstore, and gave him a key piece of information to a Nightmare for merely providing him a can of drink?


    ¡­ This pale man of a profound complexion, mysterious, and perhaps even imposing?


    Mu Jiashi cannot help but once again be deeply curious about, and even suspect X¨¹ Beijin©¤©¤What kind of person is he, really?


    Before he could work out anything in his mind, Baldie has squeezed two words unwillingly through his mouth already, ¡°the rooftop.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin told him before, that in this building, only two places are worth their time to explore ¨C the rooftop, and the bookstore.


    Now, it seems the former has come to pass already. Someone fell from that rooftop, and died; the latter? Well©¤©¤This mysterious bookstore owner who seems to hold some information, is right here.


    Baldie¡¯s lips are trembling. His face is going pale. He is looking at this man with deep fear in his eyes, so much so that even X¨¹ Beijin is feeling slightly odd.


    X¨¹ Beijin wonders what he is thinking about. He only mentioned his previous arrangement with Baldie and Biceps to clear his own name. So what¡¯s going on now?


    Rather than that a murderer, he just wants to shift his image in their minds towards that of a mysterious person who seems to know things instead.


    ¡­ So why is Baldie looking all weirdly fearful right now?


    That is when Baldie finally yells out, overcoming his fright, ¡°so to prove that what you said was right, you ran up to the rooftop to kill someone?!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He opens his mouth, only to find words eluding him.

 Volume 4 - CH 62.1

    ¡­ How could someone come to that illogical conclusion?


    The viewers of the stream are already rolling on the floor, laughing.


    Who could have guessed that X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s indirect attempt to clear his suspicions for murdering people without giving up his image would end up backfiring so badly?


    ¡°Beibei, just never mind¡±


    ¡°Beibei, oh¡­ well, that¡¯s life¡±


    ¡°Beibei, your looks, you know¡±


    ¡°Beibei, look at the poor, frightened peoples in front of you¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Still reeling from Baldie¡¯s senselessness, the viewers successfully pummel him down some more.


    After a bit of time entertaining themselves ripping on X¨¹ Beijin, the viewers go back to serious mode.


    ¡°poor Beibei, they all think hes the murderer already, so explaining wont do anything¡±


    ¡°¡­ and Beibei has his natural antagonistic face too¡­¡±


    ¡°oi! I love antagonists! these players have no eye for aesthetic at all!¡±


    ¡°though that said, im more curious where the murderer actually went¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is also wondering, yeah, the murderer©¤©¤Where is he?


    Anyway, he¡¯s at least managed to calm down by now, but now he notices that the Missiontakers have all been taken aback by what Baldie yelled out.


    They¡¯re not interested in talking to X¨¹ Beijin for now, and instead, are pressuring Baldie to spill the beans about what ¡®rooftop¡¯ he¡¯s talking about.


    The main person fanning the flames is, you guess it, Collector.


    Baldie is absolutely furious at the weird and accusatory tone of Collector. He grits his teeth hard as he tells everyone else what he talked about with X¨¹ Beijin earlier.


    Then the Missiontakers all fall into thought at the content of the conversation.


    ¡°The rooftop and¡­ bookstore?¡± Wu Jian turns to glance at X¨¹ Beijin, but quickly turn his head away when he notices the hint of the smile on X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s lips, and asks, ¡°I get the bookstore, I guess, but why¡­ the rooftop?¡±


    They are now standing right there judging the bookstore in front of X¨¹ Beijin himself.


    Somehow, no matter the scariness in the appearance or identity of the Tower residents, the Missiontakers still only see them as Tower residents, that are mere NPCs.


    Mu Jiashi, while he does treat X¨¹ Beijin with slightly more tact and reservation, is also too deep in thought over what Baldie told him right now.


    After a period of thought, though, he seems to realise something and turns to X¨¹ Beijin to ask, ¡°you knew someone would die?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is relieved that he finally got part of what he wanted them to think; though the inferred accusatory attitude for just letting someone die is an unwelcome side effect.


    He couldn¡¯t possibly have done someone would die! It¡¯s his first time Acting in this Nightmare, for goodness sake!


    He is even digging through his memories thoroughly, and yes, it is his first time in this Nightmare.


    Baldie suddenly interjects, though, saying, ¡°the last time we went into this Nightmare, we didn¡¯t see him,¡± he points towards X¨¹ Beijin, and, as if noticing that oddity for the first time, says, ¡°we don¡¯t know why.¡±


    Fei asks, ¡°could it be, that someone is bound to happen that would see him leave?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is blanking out a little.


    While the Missiontakers are talking about him, but only Mu Jiashi is showing some awareness of him being next to their conversation. The rest of them have completely ignored his presence.


    He tells Mu Jiashi, ¡°I did not know for certain that someone was going to die, but, the rooftop is somewhere worth checking out, that I guarantee,¡± then he turns to the rest of the Missiontakers, saying, ¡°if you¡¯re not here to buy anything, then I would ask you to leave.¡±


    The Missiontakers look shocked that X¨¹ Beijin is chasing them away.


    X¨¹ Beijin is feeling a bit more sleepy than usual. He narrows his eyes slightly, smiling, and says, ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting here if you need me.¡±


    What he wants to say is just simply, that he isn¡¯t in the mood to entertain guests right now, come back later, since he¡¯ll be staying here the entire time anyway; he¡¯s sleepy, too, and these people are being really noisy and inconvenient in his bookstore.


    He would rather look at them through the streaming system from afar.


    However, his words come out subtly different to how he probably intended it.


    The Missiontakers seem hesitant, save for Baldie, who looks like he¡¯s in a hurry to leave instead.


    That is when Collector chimes in, with a slightly intrigued tone, ¡°I remember you just said that you do equivalent exchanges? So, can we trade information right now?¡±


    This is quite the slap in the face for Baldie, and a pretty intentional at that.


    Baldie stops in place, and is giving the guy a death glare. Although Biceps doesn¡¯t want such a frequent, fiery conflict between his partner and the rest of the Missiontakers, he¡¯s not sure what to do.


    Really¡­ He¡¯s not even sure why Baldie is behaving so aggressively. Is there a benefit to instigating and prolonging a personal conflict with Collector? Is he going after him merely because he didn¡¯t like his first impressions?


    Biceps is feeling odd.


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t pay much attention to the subtle undercurrents between the Missiontakers, and just answers, ¡°certainly.¡±


    ¡­ Although he is still tired from their conversation before.


    Collector gives it a thought and says, ¡°not long ago, in the centre of the ruins, we found where an amusement park was. There is a group of people there, and they seem to hold some secret.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin then asks with an unenergetic tone, ¡°and what would that be?¡±


    Collector answers, ¡°that is the information I want to trade for,¡± he shrugs, and maintains his smile as he explains, ¡°I do not know what the secret is, but I know there is a secret; like a treasure map, nobody knows what the treasure might be, but you cannot say the treasure map is worthless because of that, right?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin smiles and answers, ¡°inside the amusement park is a man dressed in a black robe. He knows what the secret is.¡±


    He pits Collector¡¯s own tactic against him.


    ¡°Aw¡­¡± Collector claps his hands together in defeat, but is still smiling when he asks, ¡°you know it, don¡¯t you©¤©¤What that secret actually is?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin merely yawns in response, exhausted.


    ¡­ This is why he likes interacting with simple, straightforward people like Lin Qin more. What is the point, even, chatting with some riddler whose every sentence turns into a garden path?


    He might as well just ask what price it would take for X¨¹ Beijin to divulge that secret.


    Yet, Collector does not ask.


    This young man with the permanent, fixed smile and a restless personality, looks more like he is doing so to keep up a cover, over all his thoughts and whatnot.


    So X¨¹ Beijin just coldly says, ¡°if you really want to know, trade for it, with your own secret.¡±


    ¡°¡­ Huh?¡±


    Collector seems surprised.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s piercing gaze almost looks like it is burning right through the deepest corners of his mind as he says, ¡°a treasure map for a treasure map. A secret for a secret. That is what equivalent exchange means.¡±


    Collector opens his mouth, but cannot produce a word.


    His secret¡­ What secret?


    Thinking so, he ends up digging up a certain scene from a certain Nightmare in his mind.


    An apocalypse¡­ Collector¡¯s gaze turns outside the window. The young man is silently immersed in his own thoughts for once.


    Fei just impatiently says, ¡°stop wasting our time!¡± Her gaze glances over Collector and Baldie as she continues, ¡°I couldn¡¯t care less about your fighting, but please understanding that we are in a Nightmare right now, and not some childcare nursery!¡±


    Nursery¡­


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s lips are twitching a little.


    He looks at the woman, and thinks, great, he can idle around for sure.

 Volume 4 - CH 62.2

    Mu ¡®The Lazing Master-to-Be¡¯ Jiashi continues listening to the Missiontakers¡¯ discussion.


    After Collector has retreated from his failed attempt, Fei successfully exchanged for a piece of slightly more useful information with the information that she ¡®saw a survivor walk into the fog.¡¯


    X¨¹ Beijin tells them, ¡°I was sitting here this whole time. I did not see anyone enter. I did not see anyone leave,¡± then he glances over at Baldie and Biceps, saying, ¡°these two people came to the store once, but that¡¯s it.¡±


    All the Missiontakers fall into thought for a moment.


    Fei couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°what you mean is that¡­ those two, the one who killed and the one who died, you saw neither of them enter in the first place?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin nods, and adds, ¡°about fifteen minutes before the person who died fell, I was on the rooftop myself, but back then, there was nobody up there.¡±


    Right now, he is seriously feeling like he¡¯s currently inside a detective novel. The kind with the impossible cases. We have one suspect, but nobody knows where the murderer or the victim came from¡­


    And, being told from the suspect¡¯s perspective, he knows for sure he is innocent.


    He is still watching Fei, as he can already imagine what Fei¡¯s next question would be.


    Fei asks, ¡°why were you on the rooftop?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin couldn¡¯t help but chuckle, and the Missiontakers give him weird glances for that.


    ¡°There is a good view on the rooftop.¡±


    He knows all too well that this isn¡¯t really even much of an excuse or reason, but he can¡¯t just say that it¡¯s because his streaming system listed the rooftop as a location that he went to explore, now can he?


    ¡­ Oh well, just like the viewers said. He ought to take into account his own characteristics some more.


    Although for some reason, Fei doesn¡¯t seem to be any more suspicious of him for that answer. X¨¹ Beijin is also not keen on answering more things, so just says, ¡°our deal is complete. You can go now.¡±


    The Missiontakers leave as instructed, but Mu Jiashi, at the end of the group, gives him a rather complicated glance.


    X¨¹ Beijin gives him a slight nod as a greeting, which seems to make Mu Jiashi even more conflicted.


    Soon enough, though, the bookstore returns to peace.


    X¨¹ Beijin sighs in relief.


    Oddly, he thinks that perhaps his years of involuntarily solitary lifestyle has cause him to lose part of his social skills, which must be what was causing him to be uncomfortable talking to multiple Missiontakers at once.


    Through the large glass window, he can see the Missiontakers standing around the corpse some more, before leaving the building altogether. They seem to be looking for clues elsewhere.


    X¨¹ Beijin watches their retreating silhouette and falls into thought a little.


    His gaze then turns towards the body©¤©¤The one pushed down the building. Since the very beginning, nobody has seen him, or the murderer enter the building. Nobody saw anyone leave either.


    The only moment they appeared was when they were on the rooftop.


    X¨¹ Beijin is regretting after-the-fact that he didn¡¯t switch his camera over to the rooftop in time because it was too sudden. The Missiontakers were assembled at the body and talking, too, so he chose to focus on them instead.


    Though¡­ This murder, really is unusual.


    He tries to think more deeply.


    Once, he told Lin Qin, all the detective novels rely on tricks, and there must be something wrong with either the murderer, the victim, the crime scene, the time, the method, the clue, the witness¡­ any of those.


    In this case, then,


    The murderer©¤©¤Is nowhere to be found.


    The victim©¤©¤No one knows him; he¡¯s dead.


    Crime scene©¤©¤Nobody saw it clearly. The Missiontakers looked from afar back then, and when they went up later to look, up to now when X¨¹ Beijin changes the camera over, it looks all normal.


    After combing through those, X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t any closer to an answer. Instead, he had a few more questions.


    One, the motive. Why kill him? What is the objective here?


    Two, the relationship. Who is the victim to the killer and vice versa?


    Three, what does this death mean in the context of this Nightmare?


    Four, why did this death not cause the Nightmare to restart?


    X¨¹ Beijin had no answers for those either.


    Now he is really missing the detective dalao. At least he could have had someone to discuss with.


    X¨¹ Beijin sighs and then yawns.


    There is no water to be found in this bookstore, or any other drink for that matter. Though he did find a roll of sweets from the drawer. Though when praying that they aren¡¯t expired, he suddenly remembers that expiration dates have become meaningless in the Nightmare.


    Perhaps feeling relieved, or perhaps more feeling exasperated, he opens the package and eats one of the sweets to cheer himself up, as much as a piece of candy could, anyway.


    In a sense, he thinks, he is already interfering actively with the Nightmare.


    While Mu Jiashi, who knew him better than anyone else, may still have reservations, the others are clearly treating him as an important character in the Nightmare, even though he actually is not.


    All he is doing is using information he gathered through the streaming system, and taking advantage of the information gap and timing, to paint an image of someone who is mysterious and knowledgeable.


    It would seem the attempt has paid off. At least, the Missiontakers look to be convinced he isn¡¯t the actual killer for now.


    Of course, what Baldie suggested about him premeditating the murder is still a possibility, but that would require quite the perversion in personality on X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s part. After that brief conversation, the Missiontakers have naturally discovered that X¨¹ Beijin is a much more mild-mannered man.


    Thought the fact is, X¨¹ Beijin himself doesn¡¯t know that much about this Nightmare yet either. His identity might be busted eventually.


    Finishing the candy, and feeling a bit more cheerful than before, he starts going through all the information he gathered so far in this Nightmare in his mind once again.


    While absorbed in his own thoughts, suddenly, someone else walks into his bookstore from the outside.


    The person walks towards his counter, and knocks on it. Then, X¨¹ Beijin looks up, only to blurt out in shock, ¡°Dai Wu?!¡±

 Volume 4 - CH 62.3

    X¨¹ Beijin is thinking, aren¡¯t there too many acquaintances in this Nightmare so far?


    ¡°Kuhum, technically, you should not know who I am right now,¡± then Dai Wu shrugs and adds, ¡°but who cares. Just come with me.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is baffled, and asks, ¡°is this part of the Nightmare?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Part of the plot. No escape from it,¡± explains Dai Wu, ¡°it¡¯s in no danger to you, though.¡±


    After that chat, the Server seems to have judged this part of the plot complete©¤©¤There isn¡¯t a Missiontaker around to see this happen anyway©¤©¤So, it then transmits the relevant information to X¨¹ Beijin.


    Dai Wu is smiling as he says, ¡°you know, in this Nightmare, the bookstore owner might not exactly be unimportant, but he¡¯s not that irreplaceable either; any Actor could have got the role, I just wasn¡¯t expecting it to be you. My character¡¯s the same.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin stands up and follows after Dai Wu to leave.


    He thinks, this is probably why Baldie and Biceps never saw the bookstore owner the last time they came to this Nightmare.


    Because, in this Nightmare, as time passes, the bookstore owner would, at a certain moment in time, leave the bookstore behind.


    X¨¹ Beijin checks on the time immediately©¤©¤Almost an hour has passed.


    One hour or so after the Nightmare began, X¨¹ Beijin has left the bookstore following Dai Wu, and the Missiontakers are unaware that the mysterious bookstore owner has already left.


    So what are they doing? They¡¯re currently standing on a more open section of space nearby the Treasure Trove. No other survivors are nearby, and the dust on the ground are still being blown around by the ceaseless wind, carried to ruins further away.


    Collector is still smiling as he says, ¡°are we in a bind? Why not start using your utility cards now? And if the Uses run out¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll rip that utility card right in half!¡±


    Baldie¡¯s wrathful tone makes all the Missiontakers look at him oddly.


    Biceps is hesitant in tone as he asks, ¡°bro, are you¡­¡±


    Baldie looks at him, and shuts his eyes for a moment, calming himself down. He does not speak.


    Collector is still staring at him with that cheerful expression of his, until he murmurs, ¡°a utility card.¡±


    Everyone knows what he is talking about ¨C perhaps Baldie¡¯s inexplicable hatred of him, is because of a utility card having caused a shift in mentality in Baldie.


    That utility card¡¯s existence might be the root cause of why whenever Collector mentions utility cards, Baldie becomes more aggressive towards him, treating him worse and worse.


    This is exactly what is happening, too.


    ¡®Card Name: Mad Scientist


    A Transform card.


    Those are rare utility cards, which changes part of the user¡¯s body temporarily (or permanently) into another state or state of existence.


    Transform cards are different from Trick cards like ¡®The Devil¡¯s Mask¡¯ in that their effects are not actually predetermined. They are empty in the beginning.


    A Missiontaker who gains a Transform card will have to first select a target for reference when using the Transform card. Then, the final effect of the transformation, the number of uses, the duration, etc. are all determined when the target is selected.


    After Baldie acquired this card, he never used it, until he went into this Nightmare and made his decision after the Bad End.


    He went to another Nightmare he remembered and set the target as a Tower resident inside, completing this Transform card.


    His target was naturally, an experiment of the mad scientist in that Nightmare, who did rather unethical experiments on the brain of his patient, which resulted in the patient acquiring hyperthymesia.


    Baldie targeted that Tower resident, and although he did not acquire autobiographical memory as severe or painful as people with hyperthymesia, his memory was strengthened nonetheless, which was his goal all along.


    Though he was not expecting for the side effect of the utility card to be that severe still, which caused him to end up in this fruitless conflict with that ¡®purveryor of used cards¡¯ that he merely disliked in the beginning.


    He is consciously aware of the effects of the utility card already, but even so, his mouth still feels like something has sewn it right shut. He cannot bring himself to say the words ¡®I¡¯m sorry.¡¯


    In fact, there is another anger bubbling inside of him©¤©¤Why should he apologise? Why is it his fault?


    Baldie is so shocked by that thought that he is pinching his own arm to calm himself down with pain.


    He is regretting already. If he knew someone as unlikeable as Collector would appear and how badly the utility card was going to affect him¡­


    Is it still possible for them to achieve a True End if things keep going like this?


    And, of course, his mind is forcing him to blame Collector being here for everything going south. He is frustrated and feeling baleful towards Collector.


    Fei is biting her lips, leaving a clear teeth mark on her lower lip. The pain helps her calm down, although she is still feeling vexed inside.


    Shit. They were just here to investigate, what in the world is going on with all these troubles boiling around them?!


    She was expecting that, never mind True Ends or whatnot, that they would come to investigate the Nightmare normally and she and Wu Jian would also be able to gather some information on the side.


    But now¡­ Oh fuck, they aren¡¯t actually going to succumb to this Nightmare now, would they?


    Fei may not be confident right now, but at least, she is not as bad as Mu Jiashi, who is currently still in his ¡®rejection¡¯ phase.


    She sighs deeply, and after exchanging a mutual look with Wu Jian, she ends up deciding to shoulder the leadership position.


    ¡­ Which belonged to Baldie. At least, it should have¡­


    She says, ¡°let¡¯s recap on all the information we have for now.


    First, the Nightmare involves the ruins after some form of apocalypse, and we are its survivors. Hunger forces us to gather food, which can be found among the ruins.


    I think that there is no way the Server¡¯s goal is for us to really act like survivors, though. This is a Nightmare, which means our ultimate goal is to resolve whatever issues plague the owner of this Nightmare¡­¡±


    ¡°But, we do not yet know where the Nightmare¡¯s owner is right now,¡± Mu Jiashi couldn¡¯t help but mention, ¡°have any of you met anyone that looked like the owner of the Nightmare?¡±


    Fei furrows her brows slightly, then says, ¡°that survivor that walked into the fog seems suspicious to me.¡±


    She is also recalling the information she gathered beforehand. According to the Missiontaker who had once tried this Nightmare, the Normal End they achieved tied into this man walking into the fog.


    Mu Jiashi then says, ¡°we can head over there later.¡±


    Fei nods, and says, ¡°it was at the southwest corner.¡±


    Mu Jiashi then falls back silent, while wondering, didn¡¯t he make a decision to stay silent during this Nightmare and laze about?


    Fei has no idea what is going through the man¡¯s mind as she is glancing over at Biceps and Baldie. They seem to have nothing to add, and she thinks, since they had a Bad End the last time they were here¡­ It could explain why they didn¡¯t know much of anything.

 Volume 4 - CH 62.4

    Fei then moves on with her recap, and says, ¡°there is also the amusement park at the centre of the ruins, where a large crowd is assembled.


    That is when Mu Jiashi glances over at Collector, and seeing that he isn¡¯t about to speak, Mu Jiashi speaks up, ¡°we passed by the amusement park before, and we were stopped. They seem to hold strong animosity for people outside of their group, and keep saying something about¡­ impurities.¡±


    Fei¡¯s eyes seem to glimmer as she immediately asks, ¡°you are sure it was ¡®impurities¡¯?¡±


    Mu Jiashi is a bit surprised by the reaction, but nods nonetheless.


    ¡°Impurities¡­¡± Fei is now murmuring the word to herself.


    Mu Jiashi is now looking at her oddly while knitting his brows. Does Fei know something? She seems to know what ¡®impurities¡¯ imply.


    He wants to ask, but Fei has already come around, and says, ¡°I apologise, but I cannot tell you anything right now. I will be talking about it on our way to the amusement park, though.¡±


    That¡¯s what she said, so Mu Jiashi stays quiet for now.


    Fei continues, ¡°and now, the third thing, and something I think is important to this Nightmare©¤©¤The person pushed down the building and fell to his death.


    Who was he? Why was he pushed over the roof? Who killed him? Where did the killer go? Why, did his death not cause the Nightmare to restart?¡±


    Fei allows some time for thought after the series of questions, which she uses to think about it herself, until she shakes her head to say, ¡°these questions could also be saved for later, as it is definitely complicated. I think that if the death of this person really is as important as I believe it is, then we will probably come across more clues about it in the future.¡±


    Mu Jiashi nods.


    Possibilities abound, for example, the person dying is something fixed in the Nightmare, and might be part of the source of the trauma in the Nightmare owner¡¯s mind.


    Just like the Nightmare with the little boy Mu Jiashi last went into, where the mother of the boy continuously repeated the fate of being killed, but, being part of the defined background setting, it did not cause the Nightmare to restart.


    Though the nature of it being part of the background setting meant that the death of the woman isn¡¯t actually shown directly, but instead implied in numerous ways.


    In this Nightmare, though, the person falling down the building happened right in front of their very eyes.


    ¡­ Has there ever been another such Nightmare?


    While Mu Jiashi is thinking, Fei has moved on to her fourth topic, saying, ¡°¡­ and the bookstore owner.¡±


    All the Missiontakers fall silent.


    That is when Collector suddenly excitedly propose something, ¡°say, could he be the owner of the Nightmare?¡±


    The rest of the Missiontakers pause at the suggestion.


    ¡°Look, he¡¯s shown how special he is in this Nightmare¡­¡± Collector explains, ¡°holding all those information¡­¡±


    Fei furrows her brows to say, ¡°it¡¯s a possibility¡­¡±


    Mu Jiashi has to speak up lest the rest of the Missiontakers be led astray, ¡°he is not the owner of this Nightmare.¡±


    Collector immediately turns to him to ask with this curious expression but a dead serious tone, ¡°why? On what basis do you say that?¡±


    He does not seem happy to be openly contradicted, as evidenced by his lips going flat in spite of the smile.


    Mu Jiashi gives him an odd look. The guy seems¡­ inexplicably arrogant.


    Not interested in arguing, he sweeps his gaze across all the others with this ¡®are you all for real right now¡¯ look, and turns speechless before asking, ¡°are you really all Missiontakers of the bottom floor?¡±


    An awkward silence ensues.


    Mu Jiashi ¡°¡­¡±


    Oh great, they¡¯re all people fucking descended from on high.


    Right, and he himself is also¡­


    Mu Jiashi is suddenly filled with the urge to ask, ¡®are you serious?!¡¯ A Nightmare on the bottom floor of the Tower, is seriously eluding all six Missiontakers descended from the higher floors, and after an hour they still know basically next to nothing?


    He just sighs, while holding his head, which is throbbing with phantom pain.


    He says, ¡°right. I¡¯ll not pry into where you all came from, but anyway, this bookstore owner was once a very famous¡­ infamous person on the bottom floor of the Nightmare. Many Missiontakers tried to get into his Nightmare, but he has never ever opened his Nightmare up for any single person¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait, you mean,¡± Fei suddenly interjects, ¡°he is the bookstore owner?!¡±


    The Tower had many bookstores and many owners of bookstores, which is just one of the many possible careers the Tower residents had. Though if you are talking about a bookstore owner that all Missiontakers hailing from the bottom floor knew, and possibly even some of the Missiontakers above the bottom floor still, then, only X¨¹ Beijin fits the bill.


    Fei continues asking, ¡°that was him all along?!¡±


    Fei knew about X¨¹ Beijin, of course, but she was not part of the crowd back then, so she didn¡¯t recognise him on sight.


    She was already on the higher floors and went by the codename ¡®Fei¡¯ when the fiasco blew up. She was seriously considering getting into X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare when she heard about it, actually, especially as the rumours were already exaggerated way beyond its original scope by the time it reached Fei¡¯s ears.


    Though as the developments came, she learnt that X¨¹ Beijin didn¡¯t fold to the Missiontakers no matter what, and so regrettably abandoned her plans.


    She definitely wasn¡¯t expecting that, the first Nightmare she went into after coming to the bottom floor, would see her meet with X¨¹ Beijin directly.


    Mu Jiashi nods, and replies, ¡°if you had to pick the most well-known bookstore owner out of all of them in the Tower, he would be the one.¡±


    He then observes everyone else¡¯s expressions out of the corner of his eye, and it is easy to tell, that they have all heard of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s existence, at least, they just haven¡¯t actually seen him.


    Even the most jumpy and carefree Collector is showing an interested face here.


    While this Nightmare they¡¯re in is also rumoured to be the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare¡¯ for now, since everyone can enter here, it¡¯s certainly less mysterious than X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare.


    Really, is there even one Missiontaker who could genuinely say they don¡¯t want to leave the Tower? (TL: Well, yes, one, one we¡¯ve already met, but I¡¯m not spoiling anything)


    Mu Jiashi is feeling slightly apologetic inside for the trouble he might be bringing to X¨¹ Beijin, but soon buries that emotion away, because X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare does still hold appeal, and it¡¯s only a matter of time that troubles come flocking to him.


    And also¡­


    Mu Jiashi couldn¡¯t help but digress and think about Lin Qin, who has helped ¡®subdue¡¯ many of the discreet attempts to pry at no matter what, already.


    Fei is now saying, ¡°since we know this bookstore owner cannot be the owner of the Nightmare, then we will have to pay attention to suspicious persons now.¡±


    A Nightmare¡¯s owner might be hidden in any corner of the Nightmare, or possibly only appear when certain conditions are met, and¡­ it is also possible for them to look dramatically different from how they were inside the Tower.


    So, if in this Nightmare, ¡®figuring out the true owner of the Nightmare¡¯ is also one of its difficulties, then they might be in for a gruelling time.


    Mu Jiashi can definitely offer his sympathies, since in that last Nightmare he went into, they had to crack the ¡®password¡¯ before the Nightmare owner popped up.


    In any case, though, Fei has finished her recap of their explorations and clues gathered since the Nightmare began. The situation may be no less clearer, but at least they have identified objectives.


    When they¡¯re about to go ahead, Wu Jian seems slightly embarrassed as he asks, ¡°um¡­ is no one else feeling a bit hungry?¡±


    The Missiontakers all stop and then realise one by one that yes, they are already slightly hungry.


    An hour has come and passed in the Nightmare, and with the many developments that occurred in that short window of time recently, they completely forgot about their hunger. When Wu Jian mentioned it, though, they can all feel a slight burning sensation in their stomachs already.


    ¡°How about this,¡± Fei says, ¡°we¡¯ll get some food here first. Ten minutes should be enough since we¡¯ve already searched¡­¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Wu Jian seems shocked as he reflexively asks, ¡°we¡¯ve been here before?¡±


    The rest of the Missiontakers are either going to look for food or taking out food they¡¯ve already got to eat when Wu Jian said that, and they all stop and look at him weirdly.


    Wu Jian is feeling spooked and also baffled.


    Slightly desperate, he starts recounting himself, ¡°we¡­ we entered the Nightmare, and split into three, and then met at the building directly, right?¡± His tummy rumbles at this point, and he says, ¡°we haven¡¯t been here before, but I¡¯m really hungry right now, so I¡¯ll¡­¡±


    His words trail off as the rest of the Missiontakers are giving him exceedingly strange looks.


    He is just as confused as they are.


    ©¤©¤Because he has already forgotten, the fact that they met up, and then went to look for food here, in the Treasure Trove.

 Volume 4 - CH 63.1

    Blissful Unawareness


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    In this Nightmare, ¡®forgetting¡¯ itself is a random occurrence.


    No one knows when it happens, to whom it happens, to which memory it happens¡­ It¡¯s entirely luck-based.


    Or, at least, Baldie and Biceps, who¡¯ve been here before, have not figured out the process of how amnesia happens in this Nightmare at all.


    Because, it leaves you with a foolproof rationalisation!


    Cue Wu Jian, who lost the memory of all of them having been to the Treasure Trove, which doesn¡¯t seem odd for him at all.


    Even with that part of the memory missing, he can still remember starting from the beginning, splitting into three, and going through the south with Fei, and meeting a strange survivor, before meeting with the other Missiontakers at the building, seeing someone pushed off of it, and then talking with the bookstore owner¡­


    Yes. That is all they did in the past hour according to his memories.


    Treasure Trove? Food? He doesn¡¯t remember any of it.


    They headed directly to the building to meet up, didn¡¯t they?


    After figuring out exactly what Wu Jian¡¯s memories are, Fei is knitting her brows with her hand.


    She has realised a terrible truth¡ª¡ªIf this amnesia in the Nightmare does not occur jarringly, and they cannot notice it consciously, then perhaps, they might have all lost memories while unaware?


    This causes additional burden for communication ¨C cue Wu Jian again, who is looking positively mystified. He would probably even be annoyed at them at this point if not for Fei¡¯s trustworthiness and position in his mind.


    He really cannot feel anything wrong with his memories¡ª¡ªMemory loss? What are you talking about?


    This blissful unawareness that he is displaying, completely trusting of his own memories, is making Fei fearful.


    If this amnesia is random, then as the Nightmare develops, and all the information they¡¯ve gathered slip out of their minds over time, then every Missiontaker only has incomplete, unequal hold over information. They might even all forget the same crucial information as well¡­


    This will only lead to doubts and suspicions. The chaos ensuing will guarantee that they can no longer dedicate their full attention to the Nightmare. Instead, they will only be clawing for their missing memories in futility.


    ¡­ Fei already knew that something would go wrong with their memories in this Nightmare, but she wasn¡¯t expecting something as dire as this.


    She sighs wearily, and says, ¡°let¡¯s first head for the amusement park. We can also confirm what we remember with each other along the way¡­¡±


    That is when Collector suddenly interrupts her, asking, ¡°since this is how it is already, why not first let us question our¡ª¡ªpioneers. The last time you were in this Nightmare, did this happen to you? If so, why didn¡¯t you say anything?¡±


    Biceps opens his mouth to explain, but Baldie just coldly answers before he does, ¡°I have no obligation to tell you anything, have I?¡± His gaze sweeps across all the Missiontakers present, and then smiles smugly, going, ¡°besides, nothing was going to change even if we did tell you. You¡¯ll know it yourself when it starts happening anyway.¡±


    Fei, irritated, says, ¡°stop fighting¡ª¡ªAlright, kids?¡±


    Collector and Baldie both shoot her unfriendly looks at once.


    Fei bites her lips and just says with this slightly muffled tone, ¡°you¡¯re men. Start acting like one, ok?¡±


    No replies there.


    Mu Jiashi, hovering outside of the conflict the whole time thinking, asks, ¡°perhaps we could try something else too?¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    Mu Jiashi says, pointing towards Collector, ¡°he and I went along the way south when we were steering clear of the amusement park. When we passed through a grocer¡¯s, we found some pens inside¡­¡±


    Fei already understands what he is getting at, her expression brightens.


    Before she could say anything though, Collector looks completely shocked, yelling, ¡°what?! Since when did we visit some grocer¡¯s?¡±


    Mu Jiashi gives him a look, and tells him without so much as raising his eyebrows, ¡°you can go through your pockets. I handed you half a sausage we found when we were there.¡±


    Collector really puts his hands in his pockets at that, and retrieves half of a sausage. He stares at it, with ¡®where the hell did this come from¡¯ written all over his face.


    Collector¡¯s expression returns to normal soon enough, though, and smiles, commenting, ¡°oh my, how interesting¡­¡± Then he starts chomping on the sausage, slowly devouring it and keeps murmuring, ¡°really interesting¡­¡±


    Memories¡­ He mutters inside.


    Fei retracts her gaze from him and says, ¡°let¡¯s get some food first. We¡¯ll go to the amusement park five minutes later.¡±


    They disperse.


    Fei and Wu Jian are now somewhere some distance away from the rest of the Missiontakers.


    Wu Jian looks pretty bitter when he asks, ¡°did I really forget¡­? That makes no sense. I really don¡¯t feel like anything is wrong with my memories. I can¡¯t even tell you when I forgot.¡±


    Fei says with a straight enough face, ¡°focus on food. And you know, human brains are mysterious constructs.¡±


    Wu Jian¡¯s eyes widen, though. He is hesitant, but still asks, ¡°are you saying¡­¡± he is also gulping and darting his gaze about him, as if checking to see if anything is listening in on him, before quietly mumbling, ¡°this has to do with how we ended up in the Tower?¡±


    Fei merely gives him a silent gaze for a while before saying, ¡°I¡¯m saying, your tummy rumbling is already annoying my ears.¡±


    Wu Jian ¡°¡­¡±


    Awkwardly smiling, he quickly goes looking for food.


    And so does Fei. She flips some rubble over, and finds a small bag of biscuits. She opens it up to eat, but while eating, she couldn¡¯t help but focus her mind on what Wu Jian just said.


    The question of how they entered the Tower.


    ¡­ Nobody could remember at all. It is like some sort of mysterious, inexplicable mass amnesia.


    Some Missiontakers would just leave it at that. They¡¯re already in the Tower now, so they should just focus on dealing with the present instead.


    Some Missiontakers would rather not think about the implications. They don¡¯t dare. Amnesia, for them, is a small price for a peace of mind from what must have been some terrifying incident.


    There are also Missiontakers who suggest that it would be weirder if they didn¡¯t lose their memories ¨C picture this, some kind of entity behind all of this, who could move all the humans into some kind of game without any of them knowing. Is it even possible that entity wouldn¡¯t have also tweaked their memories along the way?


    But Fei and Wu Jian, and the other Missiontakers like them, who wish to know the truth, is definitely unable to give up.


    Why did they lose their memories? Why did they end up in the Tower? Why are they endlessly repeating the process of Nightmares and dying in this dark, depressing place?


    Fei finishes the last biscuits and then pats her hands together.


    Then she grips her fists, and thinks, despising those Missiontakers¡ª¡ªthose cowards. Those cowards, who cannot bring themselves to face the ruth, and would much rather bury their heads in the sand and behave like braindead dumbasses.


    She is not like them.


    She will go after the truth no matter the cost. If she cannot know the truth, then, she will never be able to rest in peace.


    Fei closes her eyes, and makes a long sigh. Then, noticing the time, she goes to meet up with the other Missiontakers.


    As Mu Jiashi suggested, they first head for the small grocery store for the pen.


    They are going to write down the clues they have already got, so that the information is not lost.


    Though Biceps is glancing over at his brother Baldie, who is remaining silent, and so he can only stand and watch the Missiontakers doing their work in silence himself, though he is muttering inside ¨C this is useless¡­


    They found the pens, but they have no paper, even after thoroughly searching through the small store and wasting a lot of time. Fei had to call it off in the end to say, ¡°let¡¯s go to the amusement park first. We¡¯ll leave finding something to write on for later.¡±


    So they start heading back north from the south towards the amusement park.

 Volume 4 - CH 63.2

    Meanwhile, X¨¹ Beijin and Dai Wu have arrived at the amusement park. Neither spoke a word along the way.


    Finally, Dai Wu breaks the ice, jokingly asking, ¡°why are you so quiet?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin gives him a glance and answers, ¡°I¡¯m thinking.¡±


    Dai Wu raises his brow in response, wondering, ¡°curious about the Nightmare again?¡±


    Hesitant, X¨¹ Beijin still nods.


    Dai Wu looks a little complicated, and tells him, ¡°this Nightmare¡­ To be honest, I haven¡¯t seen the owner ever either, so I have no idea what¡¯s going on. It¡¯s just¡­ this really looks like ruins after an apocalypse, even¡­ even the Actors¡­¡±


    He is looking around the ruins as he speaks. His face looks grimmer.


    X¨¹ Beijin is also standing there, listening to the howling winds, perhaps coming from afar, from beyond the fog, but they, the humans, the humans in the fog, do not know what the outside world is like. They do not know what it has become.


    He shuts his parched eyelids, while sighing inside.


    They did not stand for long before entering the amusement park.


    Apparently, Dai Wu was there for his own shift¡­ That¡¯s what they say.


    According to him, the survivors of the amusement park have all joined together into some sort of cult, led by the middle-aged man in the black robe X¨¹ Beijin saw in the stream earlier.


    These survivors believe that humans are the impurities of Earth. This so-called ¡®Apocalypse¡¯ is divine retribution from the Gods for punishing their indulgence and hubris.


    Therefore, these survivors observe self-restraint, moderation and abstinence. They live like ascetic monks atop the ruins of civilisations past, wishing to absolve of their sins thusly, to ascend.


    ¡­ A doomsday religion, or rather, a cult, that truly lives up to its name, so comments X¨¹ Beijin.


    The survivors are largely based in the amusement park, but they have also radiated their influence outside. Here in the Nightmare, they have virtual control over the entire ruins.


    The building itself is the furthest ¡®outpost¡¯ of these people. The bookstore still exists as a sort of listening post, a forward base.


    Additionally, the building also served as a site of execution¡ª¡ªThe man that was pushed from the building, for example, as seen by the Missiontakers.


    Information from the Server indicates that these ¡®faithfuls¡¯ of the amusement park hosts one sermon every week, which was what X¨¹ Beijin saw on the stream earlier.


    During that sermon is a trial for heretics. If a unanimous sentence is passed, then the ¡®traitor¡¯ who has been excommunicated will be executed via falling, being pushed off the rooftop of the building.


    It¡¯s just a glorified murder, but the survivors do not seem to find anything wrong with it.


    Every week, after the execution, the shift of the person stationed at the bookstore ends.


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks that this may be to prevent the person stationed at the bookstore from developing a rebellious attitude, so they switch the person out regularly.


    So that¡¯s the background setting of this Nightmare, it seems.


    An extremist cult developed after some apocalypse, featuring judgement, execution by falling, and shifting of personnel¡­ What do any of these mean in the context of the Nightmare, though?


    X¨¹ Beijin has a wooden expression while being led deep into the amusement park following after Dai Wu. Then, as per the Server¡¯s script, he monotonously reads out what is assigned to him, which largely amounts to information on the bookstore and the building.


    ¡­ Who knows if reading the words out loud is even meaningful here. Did the Server write these itself?


    The viewers seem amused at the scene, though, at least.


    X¨¹ Beijin can feel, in any case, that there is a certain lifeless, creepy and disquieting atmosphere enveloping the amusement park. He finally gets why he is feeling like this when he stares into the dark pupils of the middle-aged man in the black robe.


    This is also why Dai Wu said this really did resemble ruins after an apocalypse, and so did the Actors¡ª¡ªBecause it is notable how absorbed they seem to be into their roles. They are indistinguishable from actual survivors of an apocalypse, ones fanatically heeding Black Robe¡¯s words.


    The eyes of the survivors give him the creeps.


    Compared to them, though, Black Robe, who he dryly reported his past week of activities to, and who then calmly allowed him to excuse himself, does not actually seem to have lost himself in his role as far as X¨¹ Beijin can see.


    Has he managed to stave off becoming the ¡®Humans are the impurities of the Earth!¡¯ madman?


    Observing more clearly, X¨¹ Beijin feels like his eyes are clean, lucid, and even seems to contain some hint of sadness.


    There is a grim aura he is giving out, sure, but there is a moment ¨C when he told X¨¹ Beijin and Dai Wu to leave, he seemed to have relaxed a little more, ¡®becoming himself again,¡¯ for lack of a better phrase.


    Right now, there are only the three of them in this tiny room, which looked to have once been the ticket booth for the haunted house, which the middle-aged man has made his residence.


    X¨¹ Beijin is hesitant, but still decides to speak up, ¡°about this Nightmare¡­¡±


    As soon as right now spoke up, the middle-aged man put up his Acting once again, but then stops when the word ¡®Nightmare¡¯ comes out of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mouth.


    The man remains silent for a while before saying, ¡°just stay out of this; all the Actors have gone mad,¡± his voice is gravelly and hoarse, chuckling a little before saying, ¡°that motto of ours, ¡®humans are Impurities of the Earth,¡¯ might actually hold some truth after all.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks at him closely. It would appear the man has still completely given up on himself already even if he¡¯s still lucid, and left, feeling slightly helpless.


    He and Dai Wu walk across the amusement park to the other side, where there¡¯s almost nobody. Some form of collapsed styrofoam and ¡®mountains¡¯ litter the place. This may have been where the rollercoaster of the amusement park passed through in the past.


    It is all ruined beyond recognition, though.


    Dai Wu says, ¡°you see? So many Actors are already beyond salvation.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin bitterly smiles.


    ¡°And me,¡± Dai Wu¡¯s tone is somewhat inquisitive, ¡°I actually do wish genuinely to defeat NE, and leave this Tower behind for good. But, some people, regardless of whether they are Missiontakers or Actors, even if they could leave ¨C they¡¯ve been useless, and they will continue to be useless.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin asks out of the blue, ¡°can you really leave the Tower after defeating NE?¡±


    Dai Wu looks surprised, as expected.


    ¡°¡­ A lot of people are saying that NE is merely the AI assigned to monitor us by whoever is behind all this.¡±


    Dai Wu chuckles, saying, ¡°so you also listen to the conspiracies, huh,¡± then he stretches and says, ¡°well, who cares? It¡¯s really just a beautiful goal to hang in the sky, like a carrot on a stick in front of a donkey.


    Defeat NE¡­ A Second Life¡­ Anything. I just don¡¯t want to become like those Actors.¡±


    He raises his chin to point out that he¡¯s referring exactly to these Actors in the amusement park, who have already lost themselves in the roles they are Acting as.


    Dai Wu says, ¡°if you look at them like this, doesn¡¯t this Nightmare look just like a Collapsed Nightmare?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is silent for a moment before replying, ¡°if the Actors really cannot distinguish reality from Acting anymore, then a Collapsed Nightmare wouldn¡¯t be any different to them,¡± his tone turns rather conflicted, ¡°to be honest, the situation the Actors face is much more of a conundrum than that of the Missiontakers.¡±


    Dai Wu gives him a slightly odd look, before smiling to say, ¡°that¡¯s true.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s thoughts are digressing as he starts thinking about¡­ Collapsed Nightmares.


    Missiontakers could succumb to Collapsed Nightmare, but so can Actors.


    As Nightmares are opened over and over again, the Nightmare starts crumbling independent of the crumbling when the number of runs grows high; and when that reaches a critical threshold, then it will Collapse entirely and irrevocably.


    How many times it takes for it to happen, and what the situation is like after actually Collapsing, or even whether they will definitely succumb alongside the Nightmare, are all unknowns. But these occurrences are all real, or at least, the Missiontakers and Actors all believe them to be real.


    X¨¹ Beijin also knows, though, that in general, whether Missiontakers and Actors would actually succumb to Collapsed Nightmares, also depended on their own, conscious will.


    If they are able to maintain clarity of mind and rationale, calm thinking and hold a will to escape, then they are guaranteed not to succumb.


    If, instead, the Missiontakers have all mentally collapsed already, beyond the capability of dealing with what happened in the Nightmare, or the Actors have become one completely with their characters, and are no longer able to distinguish reality from fantasy, the Tower and Nightmares from reality and Acting, then, it is highly possible for them to stay in the Nightmare forever.


    The eternal, irrevocable Collapse of a Nightmare must necessarily mean the Collapse of the Missiontakers and Actors as well.


    If any of them, from either the Missiontakers or the Actors, could still remain calm, then not all hope is lost; the rapid transmission and infectiousness of negative emotions notwithstanding, which means, in the end, Nightmares Collapse, and drags everyone inside with it.


    X¨¹ Beijin himself hasn¡¯t been in a Nightmare as hellish as that, ever, at least, not that he could tell when he never proactively intervened in the progress of Nightmares in the past. He can imagine, however, how terrifying it could be.

 Volume 4 - CH 63.3

    After a period of silence, Dai Wu speaks up again, ¡°regardless, I just want to be able to live a normal life, even in the Tower.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin smirks.


    Dai Wu, shocked, asks, ¡°you can¡¯t be laughing at that, can you?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He puts up his stern face and says with a serious tone, ¡°of course not.¡±


    Dai Wu then shrugs and says, ¡°just kidding,¡± then he seems hesitant, but still can¡¯t help but ask, ¡°did you know¡­¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Dai Wu is struggling to speak, ¡°you know¡­ the Tower¡­ these days¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s brows are furrowing.


    Dai Wu fails to clarify himself in the end, and just awkwardly smiles, saying, ¡°never mind, I guess I¡¯ll not ask.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    What in the world?


    Meanwhile, there is some ruckus coming from further in the amusement park, and the Server has also just told them what to do right now.


    When Nightmares are large in size, such as this one, and the Missiontakers had too many possible things to do, NE would have a greater presence. It always appears at crucial moments to tell the Actors what to do.


    So Dai Wu parts with X¨¹ Beijin to head where he is ordered to.


    While X¨¹ Beijin is also heading towards the rowdiness as per the Server¡¯s instructions.


    He is feeling pretty surprised, even, because by his account, what he is doing seems a bit more than what is expected for an extra. Of course, he¡¯s misled the Missiontakers into thinking he¡¯s an important character too. Maybe that¡¯s why the Server made an impromptu arrangement to put him where the Missiontakers are certain to pass by next?


    This definitely is something fresh for him.


    He walks forward step by step, pretending he is only passing by accidentally when the Missiontakers, who are here to gather information, see him. He meets Mu Jiashi, Collector and Fei.


    The six Missiontakers have split into two groups. Collector cannot go with Baldie or Biceps, so this is how the team had to be split.


    Fei also intentionally split up with Wu Jian, because she only trusts him here, so she needs him to check on what the other side is doing, and also to keep an eye on Baldie, who seems like a loose cannon.


    Now, they have chosen to barge into the amusement park, literally.


    Mu Jiashi and Collector approached the entrance the last time around, but many survivors were guarding, and so they made a detour.


    But it goes without saying, that, after the amusement park has been ruined, it has already become a largely open area. They tried to enter through somewhere else, and though there were still survivors and resistance, but they managed to enter the grounds after a small brawl.


    Though they have certainly announced their presence loud and clear, and survivors are converging on their location.


    Mu Jiashi and co. saw X¨¹ Beijin as he was heading towards the crumbled fountain to meet up with the other survivors.


    The Server ordered him to go via a path that put him in a deliberate collision course with the Missiontakers, though, in order to be their expositional info-dump du jour.


    Fei almost immediately spots the man with unkempt hair and wearing a white shirt. She murmurs, ¡°the bookstore owner¡­?¡±


    Collector rubs his chin, wondering, ¡°why is he here?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is all ready to tell the survivors about the amusement park and the survivors when they rush towards him to ask, ¡°do you remember us at all?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Forgive him for almost choking on his words.


    He knows why they¡¯re asking, though; they fear he might have lost part of his memories as well, but¡­ can they not make it sound like he has terrible memory?


    X¨¹ Beijin is dissing inside, but on the surface, he is giving the three of them a casual glance followed by a casual nod.


    ¡°Great!¡± Fei makes herself look elated to hear, and says, ¡°we¡¯ve just arrived here, so we¡¯re not sure what¡¯s going on¡­¡±


    And there the initiative passes over to X¨¹ Beijin, who still insisted on an equivalent exchange, though.


    The Missiontakers didn¡¯t have much to say other than they realised their memories would be wiped out here.


    X¨¹ Beijin knew that already, and tells them so, because that¡¯s what Baldie and Biceps used to get information from him in the first place. Then, he calmly says, ¡°well¡­ never mind. You owe me one.¡±


    Fei is rapidly nodding her head.


    In the stream, the viewers saw through the trickery, and are typing out their disdain, ¡°don¡¯t fall for it missiontakers! Beibei is leading you on, hard!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, glancing at the comments, can¡¯t help but smile a little.


    The Missiontakers are visibly tense, clearly taken aback somewhat by the smile; it looks awfully like he has some evil scheme in his head.


    X¨¹ Beijin has no idea the Missiontakers are already treating him as some chaotic neutral character as he explains the information he is given to the Missiontakers, even adding in information about the residence of Black Robe.


    Fei looks shocked, falls into thought, and then say, ¡°ah, I got it now, don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll get it done.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    You¡¯re going to get what done now?


    The viewers of the stream are hysterical already.


    ¡°oh oh oh! she must have thought Beibei wants to topple the black robe guy!¡±


    ¡°see, Beibei, you¡¯re even telling her where he lives, it¡¯s clear as day what you want¡±


    ¡°no wonder shes misunderstanding, even id wonder why Beibei is telling me so much if i was listening¡±


    The corner of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mouth is twitching as he creases his brows. He is wondering what he could do now, because that is definitely not what he wants to do. But if he intentionally clarified that he had no such intention, wouldn¡¯t the Missiontakers misunderstand even more?¡±


    While hesitating, Collector suddenly points forward, asking with a smile, ¡°is that the man in question?¡±


    Fei looks up and her eyes glimmer. She replies, ¡°a black robe, middle-aged, eagle nose¡­ that¡¯s him!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin had no other option but to say, ¡°you don¡¯t have to do anything¡­ He can also tell you something,¡± they¡¯re coworkers, you know, so some modicum of respect is necessary, though he still needs to save his image, and says, ¡°you owe me two pieces of information now.¡±


    Fei quickly thanks him and goes after him with Collector.


    Mu Jiashi doesn¡¯t follow them, though, instead, asking, ¡°I want to stay with him,¡± pointing to X¨¹ Beijin, he continues, ¡°can I?¡±


    Fei knits her brows, but then her expression eases again. This bookstore owner is important in the Nightmare, so someone should stay by his side, and Mu Jiashi is at least the most reliable choice present ¨C he has largely kept to his own and has not done anything outlandish since the Nightmare began.


    There is also another thing to consider. That is, why did X¨¹ Beijin move here from the bookstore? Is there some meaning behind it? Is the Nightmare about to enter another phase?


    Keeping track of X¨¹ Beijin would be helpful.


    Fei then nods to Mu Jiashi and then leaves with Collector quickly, following behind Black Robe¡¯s steps.


    X¨¹ Beijin then turns to Mu Jiashi, and can¡¯t hold himself back from asking, ¡°did you need something that you¡¯re looking to talk one-on-one?¡±


    He is still heading towards the fountain slowly right now, because the rules dictate that when strangers have come into the amusement park, they must assemble by the stage on the fountain, so that¡¯s where he has to go.


    He is curious why Mu Jiashi is following him, though ¨C mostly because, given Mu Jiashi¡¯s recent state of mind of being useless, it seems odd for him to suggest staying by another Tower resident to gather information or anything else¡­ It does not line up with what he said.


    That is why X¨¹ Beijin wondered if Mu Jiashi actually had something to say to him instead, and so left the other Missiontakers behind.


    He is right on the money, but Mu Jiashi says, ¡°well, yes, I did have something I want to talk to you alone about, in the Tower, but¡­ well, it¡¯s good I met you in the Nightmare anyway.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin blinks, confused.


    ¡°You might not know what¡¯s been going on in the Tower recently¡­¡± Mu Jiashi looks like he¡¯s fumbling for words, and reconsidering his wording over and over, ¡°anyway, you know, basically, because of the dalao, Lin Qin, his¡­ uh, fascination? Infatuation? Well, feelings, in any case, towards you¡­ So¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin interrupts Mu Jiashi, though, asking with his jaws on the floor, ¡°wait¡­! You mean, Lin Qin, likes me? Like romantically?¡±

 Volume 4 - CH 64.1

    Changes in the Tower


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Mu Jiashi is sweating inside. Oh wait, did he disrupt dalao Lin Qin¡¯s plans for courting X¨¹ Beijin?


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t look the least bit aware of Lin Qin¡¯s feelings for him!


    Oh shit oh shit oh shit¡­ The two words keep looping inside Mu Jiashi¡¯s mind. Now how is he going to salvage this?


    He is also slightly surprised inside at X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s shock©¤©¤The Tower resident in question isn¡¯t the least bit aware even though the entire bottom floor is talking about it?!


    What Mu Jiashi doesn¡¯t know, however, is that the rumours have even spread to the floors above by now.


    Mainly because of the uproar the decadent Missiontakers have caused because a certain crownless King of the bottom floor has confiscated almost the entire supply of drinks of the floor to appease his target of romance.


    The collapse of the supply is even affecting many downstream Necessities Merchant, too.


    In fact, Mu Jiashi has even been approached by an acquaintance from his Golddigging days, asking if he might be able to pull any strings to help dissuade Lin Qin from the utterly disruptive chaos he¡¯s causing in his romantic pursuit.


    That acquaintance promised to return the favour how ever he could; Mu Jiashi thought of Su Enya, and asked.


    The acquaintance did not know her well, but he knew somebody who does, and told Mu Jiashi that that somebody is interested in this Nightmare©¤©¤this possible candidate for the Ultimate Nightmare, and so if Mu Jiashi could dig up valuable information from the Nightmare, or even achieve a True End, he would have good stakes for bargaining for information on Su Enya.


    That is why Mu Jiashi is here.


    He didn¡¯t expect to meet X¨¹ Beijin here, of course, but since he did, he could also mention what the acquaintance asked him to help with to him.


    Mu Jiashi is aware that the drinks Lin Qin has is what Ding Yi handed over before she left. He is also equally speechless at the market chaos it¡¯s caused so far, as he is acutely aware that, rather than actually going after Lin Qin¡¯s supply of drinks, the chaos from the Missiontakers and Necessities Merchants, for that matter, is largely to do with the gap in the market left behind by Ding Yi¡¯s departure.


    Everyone has eyes on what she left behind. The inventory is one, but the her market connections even more so; she left most of that to her subordinates, of course, but who knows who that large amount of regulars she had might decide to choose after she has left?


    That is why they need to see a response, a signal, a direction¡­ a decision, from Lin Qin.


    They might call Lin Qin the ¡®Crownless King¡¯ of the bottom floor, but Lin Qin is utterly unaware himself. That is no deterrent, however, to how the pragmatic and sly Missiontakers of the bottom floor enjoys pushing him to the forefront instead of themselves.


    If someone really does acquire the ¡®go-ahead¡¯ from Lin Qin©¤©¤Or at least, something that could constitute a firm ¡®go-ahead¡¯ in other¡¯s eyes, to allow them to take over the operations as a representative for Lin Qin, then that would certainly grant them an immensely powerful cover.


    This isn¡¯t just some fantastical scheme either, because they all know two things about Lin Qin if nothing else,


    One, his fighting strength practically makes him a bug;


    Two, he is a bit, eh¡­ simple, in the head.


    So, in other words, if they really managed to rope Lin Qin in, to be some kind of front for themselves for real¡­


    Up to this point, though, no one has managed to convincingly elicit a permission from Lin Qin, nor has anyone managed to get away with anything by stating that Lin Qin is behind their backs, for now.


    However, since Ding Yi has left the bottom floor of the Tower in the wake of the rumours that someone has left the Tower, and now with the new rumours of the Ultimate Nightmare circulating around as well¡­ Someone is getting impatient.


    Regardless of their trade, from Necessities Merchants, to Tailors, Golddiggers, Carddealers, Vultures¡­ All of them, and the powers behind them, and the forces beneath the surface, are all ready to muddy the waters themselves.


    Departure from the Tower notwithstanding, they¡¯re interested in advancing their own powers, at least.


    All of that, led to Mu Jiashi being asked for help.


    Is that acquaintance that concerned over some drinks?


    No, of course not! Mu Jiashi gets it. He is tired of it, even©¤©¤This is the Tower! This is the fucking Tower!


    Why is it that even in somewhere like the Tower, where everyone is trapped in a hyper realistic escape game, where it is so dark and depressing that everyone is a living corpse, humanity¡¯s squabbles are still ongoing?


    ¡­ Humans, really¡­


    In the Nightmare, when he heard X¨¹ Beijin tell them about the motto, ¡®Humans are the Impurities of the Earth,¡¯ there is one moment in there where he, exhausted, exasperated, actually felt a concerning¡­ concordance¡­ with the sentiment.


    He could actually agree with the school of thought that humans are impurities on Earth.


    No matter how much he agreed with that, though, he still packs his emotions up immediately, and then relay to X¨¹ Beijin what his acquaintance asked him, about the drinks.


    The acquaintance knew about the fact that Mu Jiashi once got a clue to a Nightmare from X¨¹ Beijin using drinks, so he asked if Mu Jiashi could talk to X¨¹ Beijin.


    Mu Jiashi never thought that X¨¹ Beijin wasn¡¯t actually aware of Lin Qin¡¯s advances on him!


    Mu Jiashi is in a bind.


    Keep rushing, and he might ruin dalao Lin Qin¡¯s efforts; retreat, and he¡¯ll have to go back on the promise with his acquaintance.


    Frustrated, he is thinking, damn, can¡¯t this world just go boom already?


    Since Mu Jiashi has experienced that unprecedented defeat on the upper floors, it seems his mental stability is crumbling more and more¡­


    Meanwhile, back to our X¨¹ Beijin, whose jaw is on the floor.


    In the stream, the audience are plastering the comment barrage with exclamation marks before going ¡®hahahaha.¡¯


    ¡°i knew the little apple wanted something something with Beibei!¡±


    ¡°called it!¡±


    ¡°hmm, yes, a brawl¡­ the kind taking place on the bed!!!¡±


    ¡°little apple, little apple, so you were such a kind of little apple¡±


    ¡°Beibei, you can¡¯t lose your self to the little apple, ok? [cry emoji]¡±


    ¡°Beibei, you cant lose yourself in the little apple, ok? [cry emoji]¡±


    ¡°mommy doesnt approve of the date! you hear me Bei???¡±


    ¡°looking at Beibei¡­ ok, Beibei does not know, dense Beibei is sad¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    What do you mean by dense?! Since when did Lin Qin like him? It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s just Mu Jiashi talking bullshit!


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s ears have gone red and, after patching up his cracked facial expression, says seemingly exceedingly calmly, ¡°you misunderstand. Lin Qin does not like me in that sense.¡±


    Mu Jiashi gives him a strange look.


    Really¡­?


    Mu Jiashi is unconvinced, and instead concludes that X¨¹ Beijin is helplessly dense. Or rather¡­ you know, Tower residents. They are a stream of data in the game.


    So Mu Jiashi suddenly understands.


    Right! Of course! How could an artificial intelligence comprehend feelings a human might hold towards some 1s and 0s?


    He is even giving a glance that reads pity, sympathy and relief at X¨¹ Beijin; if X¨¹ Beijin had to translate that face into words, he would try ¡®don¡¯t worry about it my boy, that¡¯s how utterly depraved humans are.¡¯


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    What are you thinking about this time, man?!


    X¨¹ Beijin is positively vexed.


    Now, only two thoughts occupy his mind,


    One, go back to the Tower and have a comprehensive talk with Lin Qin;


    Two, have a comprehensive talk with Mu Jiashi.


    Though after thinking about it somewhat, X¨¹ Beijin realises, sadly, hopelessly, that he might be able to convince neither¡­


    A rather long time passes, until even the Server is hurrying him along, that X¨¹ Beijin finally picks up his stiff legs to walk towards the fountain again.


    Also, there seems to now be some sort of unspoken agreement between him and Mu Jiashi now, that Mu Jiashi would not mention how Lin Qin likes him, nor would X¨¹ Beijin act like he is the least bit aware.


    ¡­ Seriously, how could Lin Qin even fall in love with him!


    That dumb little apple about as smart as his namesake¡­?!


    Does he even have the capacity for romance right now¡­?!


    Countless questions flash through X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mind, each of them possibly leading to a more serious minefield of topic, like ¡®what kind of people would actually fall in love with someone without EQ while being excessively clingy?¡¯


    X¨¹ Beijin does not know, but X¨¹ Beijin can say it is not him.


    Apparently, X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t aware of how big of a flag he just planted for himself there to be recovered in the future.

 Volume 4 - CH 64.2

    Finally, X¨¹ Beijin has patted his panicking heart back down, and asks, ¡°so what were you going to ask me about?¡±


    Mu Jiashi, following behind him, concludes from the young man¡¯s expression that he has probably abandoned processing the previous topic, and switched to another one.


    ¡­ How very artificial intelligence indeed.


    Mu Jiashi thought about it and, since X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t know Lin Qin¡¯s intentions, he chose to approach the topic another way, ¡°you see, previously, dalao Lin Qin wished to have a brawl with you¡­¡±


    He reflexively stopped here for a moment.


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    What, why are you stopping?! What¡¯s wrong with a brawl! What are you even thinking?!


    X¨¹ Beijin is feeling extremely awkward.


    So, he decides to blame it all on the damned little apple¡­!


    Mu Jiashi clears his throat again before continuing, ¡°anyway, so there was this Necessities Merchant, who traded with him, do you know about her?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin pauses for a moment before asking, ¡°Ding Yi?¡±


    Mu Jiashi looks at him, slightly surprised he knows the name, before nodding and continuing, ¡°yes, Ding Yi. She made a deal with dalao Lin Qin¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°I know that.¡±


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s gaze turns weirder; though it is still mostly surprise that Lin Qin told him that.


    Even though X¨¹ Beijin actually knew via the stream.


    Then Mu Jiashi tries his best to put the problem into words, ¡°the drinks¡­ they are quite numerous in quantity. You know how the bottom floor is, with the usual scarcity¡­ so¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s brows furrow slightly as he asks, ¡°you want to say, there¡¯s a market disruption?¡±


    Mu Jiashi hesitates, but decides he shouldn¡¯t lay other¡¯s intentions out in the open, so says with a suggestive tone, ¡°that¡¯s one thing, and another thing is¡­ they are wishing that, the drinks, could be an opportunity for them to¡­ get in touch, with the dalao.¡±


    Mu Jiashi realises, sadly, that he is almost resembling those weird strategists-kind that appears in TV dramas scheming with the main antagonists.


    X¨¹ Beijin falls silent for a moment.


    Finally, he understands, what Mu Jiashi¡¯s garden paths are leading him!


    Basically, strangers, assuming Lin Qin likes him, is here to have him be Lin Qin¡¯s earworm!


    ¡­ X¨¹ Beijin then gives it a good, hard though, and, while it is the same fundamentally, ¡®earworm¡¯ is still quite the oddly unappealing term to describe himself with.


    His brows remain furrowed as he sighs. He looks tired and exhausted.


    He knew it¡­ He always knew his halcyon days are behind him already.


    X¨¹ Beijin knows many things about the bottom floor of the Tower, but that does not mean he wants in on the factional infighting playing out. And as far as he can see, neither does Lin Qin.


    All the guy does is running to his bookstore day in, day out, to read, or ask if he is in the mood to fight that day¡­ You¡¯re seriously telling him he¡¯s the ¡®Crownless King¡¯ all Missiontakers feared and respected?


    Well, yes, duh.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s expression is dull, which intrigues Mu Jiashi.


    X¨¹ Beijin then says, ¡°about that, you can tell Lin Qin yourself.¡±


    Mu Jiashi says nothing in response.


    True, he is thinking a bit¡­ right. He is trying to rely on X¨¹ Beijin to whisper suggestions into Lin Qin¡¯s ears. At least, X¨¹ Beijin is closer to Lin Qin than he is, which makes him the better candidate for breaking this to Lin Qin.


    He completely wasn¡¯t expecting them to still be¡­ in the close acquaintance zone. He would not have asked X¨¹ Beijin if he knew.


    He paused for a bit before directly apologising, ¡°sorry about that. I¡¯ll ask dalao Lin Qin later myself.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin nods, and then shakes his head, saying, ¡°make sure you don¡¯t talk about this ¡®like¡¯ business in front of him.¡±


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s eyes widen slightly.


    X¨¹ Beijin is mulling over how to put it. He knows about Lin Qin¡¯s overly simplistic worldview and the fact that he does not remember Earth. So he can imagine that Lin Qin knows nothing about romance.


    Now add in a Mu Jiashi who just runs up to him and say, ¡°dalao, since you like the bookstore owner¡± or something, and Lin Qin could easily be led astray.


    X¨¹ Beijin is not interested in dealing with the horrifying fallout.


    What if Lin Qin really took it as gospel and thinks he ¡®likes¡¯ X¨¹ Beijin? What if he wished to romantically pursue X¨¹ Beijin with the will and tenacity he had asking to fight X¨¹ Beijin?


    There is no way letting the little apple cling to him is still going to end well then.


    So he stops his steps on purpose, and turns to Mu Jiashi, giving him his best grumpy cat impression, and says with a slightly threatening tone, ¡°I believe you also don¡¯t want Lin Qin to know that you have come looked for me, do you? So, don¡¯t talk about ¡®like¡¯ or anything like that in front of him.¡±


    Mu Jiashi seems baffled for a moment before an imaginary light bulb goes off above his head and he nods, promising, ¡°don¡¯t worry, I will definitely keep my mouth shut.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is eyeing Mu Jiashi with suspicion as he looks like his thoughts are digressing somewhere again, but they¡¯ve reached the fountain already, and so X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t exactly talk anymore. He gives Mu Jiashi a final nod.


    Mu Jiashi is regretting inside, though.


    Why did he have to inadvertently step into the private lives of the two of them?


    The bookstore owner threatened him about not telling Lin Qin, and the only reasonable explanation is that, X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t want Lin Qin to know that he is already aware of the latter¡¯s advances, right?


    Maybe they have already fallen for each other, but they both think they have mutually unrequited feelings, so everything is still hush-hush and so, now that X¨¹ Beijin accidentally learned about the other¡¯s true feelings, he has his own plans and doesn¡¯t want Mu Jiashi to ruin the surprise¡­


    Mu Jiashi already has an entire romance novel worth of plot generated in his mind by now.


    He is sighing while thinking, hey, at least he ended up being a good matchmaker, right?


    However, when he recalls X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s genuine shock hearing about Lin Qin¡¯s feelings, he is doubting himself again.


    Could it be, that Lin Qin actually does not like X¨¹ Beijin in the romantic sense¡­?


    But then, furrowing his brows again, Mu Jiashi thinks about the scenes he saw of their interactions in the bookstore and Nightmare, and shakes that thought out of his head.


    Impossible. Lin Qin must love X¨¹ Beijin! Very, very much!


    Having concluded his thoughts, Mu Jiashi sighs in relief and then takes a deep breath. He puts all the drama between X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin to the back of his mind to focus on the unfolding chaos in front of him.


    Right now, a great crowd has assembled by the fountain. Black Robe is also hear.


    And so are the Missiontakers, of course.


    X¨¹ Beijin is standing at the end of the crowd; Mu Jiashi, an outsider, at any rate, is discreetly following behind him.


    Because they know some outsiders have blended in with them, so the survivors are here to do a head count.


    Mu Jiashi was on alert the whole time, and both stood near the fringes and ducked, escaping attention. Fei and Collector weren¡¯t as lucky, however; like all Missiontakers, they treat normal NPCs of Nightmares as dumbed down artificial intelligences, so they followed Black Robe without so much as concealing their presence.


    They got caught, and are still thinking right now, that this is part of the plot. This is an unavoidable event in the Nightmare.


    ¡­ In this Nightmare, though, the situation is slightly different.


    Fei and Collector, with their hands tied, are led to stand on the side of the platform formed on the ruins of the fountain. The two of them seem shocked to see the survivors in tattered clothes looking so fanatically fervent and having lost all sense of reason up close.


    Meanwhile, the three other Missiontakers are nowhere to be seen. They¡¯re not here.


    Among the spectating crowd is Mu Jiashi, who managed to escape by dumb luck, but he is feeling slightly anxious.


    According to what X¨¹ Beijin told them earlier, these two Missiontakers that have been caught might be facing a rather dire dilemma. It might be another execution¡­


    Mu Jiashi anxiously awaits for the final sentencing while suppressing his nervousness as much as he could.

 Volume 4 - CH 64.3

    The Missiontakers assembled on the plaza are maintaining an absolute silence. This allows Mu Jiashi to hear what Black Robe is saying.


    Ignoring the unimportant, almost brainwash-like parts regarding this cult that X¨¹ Beijin already summarised earlier, he is focusing on how the crowd plans to deal with these outsiders.


    If it ended up more peaceful than he thought, then the Nightmare¡¯s key might actually lie on them.


    If not, for example, a direct execution¡­ then perhaps, these people in the amusement park, are only serving as the obstruction to solving the Nightmare, like serial killers and whatnot in other Nightmares.


    This is the Nightmare, so death results in the Nightmare restarting. So if these people would kill them outright, then it¡¯s hard to distinguish if they play any roles in the Nightmare in the first place.


    That said¡­


    Mu Jiashi suddenly remembers the fact that in this Nightmare, death does not bring restart.


    He recalls the person falling to his death from the rooftop, and a chill seeps through his spine.


    To this point, they are still trying to work out why there are all these exceptions to the rules in this Nightmare.


    Not just them, but all the Missiontakers that have come before them have all failed, otherwise, this Nightmare wouldn¡¯t have been suspected to be the Ultimate Nightmare anyway.


    Mu Jiashi didn¡¯t actually buy that saying at first, because the rumour goes that the Ultimate Nightmare allows an exit from the Tower, but, in the other rumour that ¡®someone has left the Tower,¡¯ no ¡®Ultimate Nightmare¡¯ was mentioned at all.


    Does the Ultimate Nightmare really exist? Or¡­ is it just what the desperate, the greedy, and the opportunistic of the Missiontakers have concocted?


    If you ask Mu Jiashi, who has had to deal with these groups of people a lot, he is naturally suspecting the possibility.


    Perhaps they want to sell their services, perhaps they want to reap some kind of benefit, perhaps they want utility cards to sell better, and then they decided to start this rumour of an ¡®Ultimate Nightmare,¡¯ deliberately heating up the markets.


    Since there¡¯s also the rumour of ¡®someone has successfully left the Tower¡¯ going around, any sharp-eyed individual can see the profits that lie therein.


    Mu Jiashi is thinking so, but he does not know that, the one who actually proposed the existence of the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare¡¯©¤©¤Or, at least, the first one to say so publicly, is currently standing on top of the platform of the fountain, being watched by a crowd of survivors.


    ¡­ And is also being sentenced by Black Robe.


    Execution!


    Black Robe calls out, ¡°humans have never taken steps to heal the planet; instead, humans are indulging in conflicts with each other, for thousands, tens of thousands of years. There has never been peace. And the Earth©¤©¤Has had enough!


    We are assembled here, we are living our lives on top of this ruins, because we have to change our lifestyles. We do not want to become Impurities to Earth, therefore we must try all we can to live peacefully, calmly, stably.


    We will coexist with Earth! We will not fall to the apocalypse! We will turn from Impurities, to Treasure! We will be, forever!


    ¡­ However, someone is here to disrupt our lifestyles.


    I ask you, what should we do?¡±


    Black Robe has thrown the question to the crowd, whose chants of ¡®execution¡¯ seem to satisfy him.


    Mu Jiashi is furrowing his brows and watching the two Missiontakers onstage intently. Neither seems to be frightened or even the least bit worried.


    Fei just still has that thinking face, while Collector even seem excited to observe what the Missiontakers are doing; he looks like he¡¯s intrigued by the fanaticism.


    For the Missiontakers, this scene before them--©¤©¤A cult leader and his faithful. A judgement. Ruins after an apocalypse, etc., are all just elements specific to this Nightmare here, set pieces to enrich the narrative.


    This is just a game. Even though Missiontakers still experience pain and death in the Nightmare, but they still only treat this as a game.


    All that said¡­ There is still an odd feeling in Mu Jiashi¡¯s chest.


    He turns his head to look at X¨¹ Beijin, standing right next to him.


    X¨¹ Beijin looks like he is watching everything going on here, but his gaze is unfocused. From the people, to the things happening, to all the chorus of noises¡­ Nothing seems to be able to leave an impression on his pupils; yet he seems to also already have everything known close to his heart.


    What is he thinking about?


    What are his deep, cold facial expressions trying to signal?


    In this Nightmare, atop this post-apocalyptic ruins, who is he? What kind of past does he hold? What was his life like?


    Mu Jiashi is having a hard time stopping himself from asking.


    Because X¨¹ Beijin is not like any of the other Tower residents who merely look like husks of their former selves. He is almost behaving like a person, other than the fact that he would not go to sleep.


    Even if he does not go to sleep, still, compared to other Tower residents, he looks much more¡­ alive.


    Sometimes, Mu Jiashi couldn¡¯t even imagine that X¨¹ Beijin is actually an in-game NPC, merely code whose courses of action has been pre-programmed.


    If X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t ¡®alive,¡¯ then what is?


    ¡­ What kind of existence, is this game, in the first place?


    Mu Jiashi is now worrying a little.


    That Nightmare¡­ That Nightmare, that led straight to his defeat¡­ That woman in the Nightmare¡­ That sentence. He heard that sentence once again, on the bottom floor, once again.


    ¡®I fear so many, yet the only exception, would be death.¡¯


    ¡­ What do all this mean?


    Sometimes, Mu Jiashi feels like his darned fate is just watching all of this from the sidelines with interest.


    Well, the only person who is standing by his side right now, is X¨¹ Beijin, though.


    Meanwhile, X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s thoughts are also drifting away. Perhaps what he is thinking about could be said to be similar to Mu Jiashi; also the Tower, but also, something else.


    An apocalypse¡­.


    He is thinking about, the apocalypse.


    This scene playing out in front of him seems to have dug some long-buried memories out from the deepest corner of his mind, those that he wished he would never recall again.


    But he did.


    From the depths of his memory hall, he has rediscovered the memories he treat as trash, as rubbish, as ashes, that he never wanted to remember.


    Memories, about the apocalypse.


    He has once lost himself entirely in those grey, depressing recollections. A very long time passed before he finally chose to forget about it and recover himself; although by recovering himself, he meant quietly hanging out on the bottom floor, rotting along, until he decayed into nothing.


    Almost every Nightmare, he would have stayed exactly where the Server told him to, and quietly, ignorantly spend all his time in solitude.


    Now, though, the situation has changed.


    ¡­ X¨¹ Beijin closes his eyes. His face is pale for sure. It is clear to anyone that he is seriously drowsy and exhausted; the fished up memories have temporarily dragged him back into the past.


    He can¡¯t help but think, that these scenes in the Nightmare, are too seriously realistic.


    After the sentencing is over, a few survivors are escorting Fei and Collector out ¨C they are going to immediately execute them.


    Mu Jiashi thought about it, and then says goodbye to X¨¹ Beijin to follow behind them. When he¡¯s nearly out of the amusement park, the three other Missiontakers pop out of nowhere, with Wu Jian exclaiming, ¡°look what we found!¡±


    Baldie is looking at him, and then looks around the survivors hanging out in groups of two or three, and asks, mystified, ¡°what¡¯s happened? And where¡¯s the other two?¡±


    Wu Jian also calms down to ask, ¡°yeah, why are you alone?¡±


    Mu Jiashi explains what happened, and then, while the other three all looked taken aback to different degrees, he says, ¡°let¡¯s follow behind them first.¡±


    The Nightmare seems to be spiralling out of control.


    And back in the Tower, the situation is rather volatile as well.


    This night, when all of them entered the Nightmare, Lin Qin himself has entered a certain house of the bottom floor.

 Volume 4 - CH 65.1

    The Latest with Lin Qin


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Before X¨¹ Beijin has been summoned into the Nightmare, Lin Qin has not visited X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore for days in a row.


    He had something he had to do, he said.


    Lin Qin did not tell X¨¹ Beijin what it was, but it was actually related to X¨¹ Beijin.


    Not long before that, he had just warned the two Missiontakers who had been subordinates of Ding Yi not to pry on X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore, and told them to spread the news to the rest of the Missiontakers of the bottom floor©¤©¤Especially those powers that be.


    At first, it played out like Lin Qin wanted it to, but as time passed, especially, when two other certain rumours began spreading through the Missiontakers like wildfire, something has changed subtly.


    The change being, that Missiontakers on the bottom floor were growing restless for X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare once more.


    Not because of Lin Qin recent actions, but just simply for the fact that this Tower resident has never once opened up his Nightmare.


    Rumours that X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare is what is effectively the Ultimate Nightmare has never stopped; even some Missiontakers on the higher floor still believe it to this day.


    Because X¨¹ Beijin never did sleep for so many years, though, most Missiontakers have put the thought aside.


    But¡­ They might be coming back, ever stronger, to try again this time.


    That was what Lin Qin heard about, when a few days ago, the two ex-subordinates of Ding Yi came to him and told him first. They had finished dealing with the fallout of Ding Yi¡¯s departure and were heading up to higher floors themselves. They told Lin Qin about this change in mentality and what things were happening right then.


    Lin Qin once warned them about spying on X¨¹ Beijin, so they thought Lin Qin must like X¨¹ Beijin©¤©¤Or at least, consider him an important person to him.


    So they were using this to garner a small favour from him, allowing him to notice that X¨¹ Beijin was already being noted by others before he would discover it on his own later.


    This was also, in their mind, a loose end they had to tie up before leaving the bottom floor.


    After that, Lin Qin, who has been living a hermit¡¯s life all this while with X¨¹ Beijin, left that small zone of comfort for a while, to deal with all these fixed gazes on them©¤©¤Lin Qin thought that spying on X¨¹ Beijin is the same as spying on him.


    Lin Qin was pretty irritated as well, especially as he has already warned some Missiontakers, including those who Missiontakers in positions of power who have been on the bottom floor a very long time.


    This time, those people were still opportunistic, hoping that pulling together enough stray Missiontakers could force Lin Qin to give up on protecting X¨¹ Beijin, so that they could try and force him to open up his Nightmare.


    Of course, they wouldn¡¯t employ means nearly as savage as that Missiontaker in the past, but inflaming other Missiontakers to probe him would certainly not be out of the question.


    Ding Yi¡¯s ex-subordinates told Lin Qin about their plans, so Lin Qin paid a personal visit to all of them to smother those restless flames one by one.


    He didn¡¯t care about whether their interest was in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare or in the relationship between he and X¨¹ Beijin.


    He just knocked them all down a peg.


    Well, he says ¡®knock,¡¯ but as X¨¹ Beijin instructed, he refrained from employing physical force. At worst, he just, snapped a table or two in half¡­ and so.


    It took a few days, but Lin Qin finally confirmed to his satisfaction that these restless Missiontakers have all wisely given up on their schemes.


    They admitted as well that they were actually planning to instigate a mob of Missiontakers to gather on X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore, like a few years back, to force his Nightmare to open.


    Lin Qin merely smirked dismissively at the preposterous idea, asking them in turn, ¡°the power to open the Nightmare still lies within his hands. Didn¡¯t you know that?¡±


    It goes without saying that only when X¨¹ Beijin himself volitionally, voluntary enters a state of sleep, can the Missiontakers visit his Nightmare that night through his teleportation door.


    Simply knocking him out cold does not work.


    If a Tower resident is unwilling to let others into their Nightmare, no amount of coercing will work.


    The person that Lin Qin was warning also replied with a deferential posture, ¡°yes, yes, we know now¡­ we understand completely.¡±


    Understood, that, in this damned hellhole of a structure that is the Tower, how utterly devastating it is to actually possess fighting strength as much as Lin Qin has.


    While both fear and greed flashed through the person¡¯s mind, they ultimately abandoned the thought.


    Everyone knows that Lin Qin is beyond control©¤©¤Save for that person he holds dearly for now¡­ Look, how many people have he personally paid a visit to for his sake by now?


    The problem, is that if the Missiontakers really went after the Tower resident, and angered Lin Qin beyond redemption, Lin Qin might really end up a tyrant of the Tower.


    They did not want all their toil and sweat building their business gone overnight, so they gave up on going after Lin Qin entirely.


    Before Lin Qin left the Missiontaker, though, they were quick to scratch other¡¯s backs, saying, ¡°dalao, you know, actually, we¡­ although we¡¯re interested in that person¡¯s Nightmare, but we all know, that¡­


    That person, he never sleeps. We weren¡¯t planning on wasting our efforts, so we just thought about it, and we didn¡¯t do anything, but¡­ I know that, some people, you know¡­


    Eh, how should I say it? Those Missiontakers that were all indulging in raves before, they have now also ¡®woken up,¡¯ saying they want to see the higher floors and leave the Tower.


    Here¡¯s the thing¡­ someone seems to have gathered them all up, not that long ago; you might not have heard about it¡­ Now, they seem to have designs on that person¡¯s Nightmare¡­¡±


    The person is saying with quite the greasy, ingratiating tone, ¡°you see, you might want to deal with them before that comes to pass?¡±


    Lin Qin furrows his brows looking at him, and asks directly, ¡°do you simply not want them to be anymore, or merely not want them working with each other?¡±


    The person is having cold sweat. His mouth trembles, but no words come out.


    Of course there is no way they want them grouping up! They don¡¯t even want to see them waking up! Just keep partying on forever¡­ wouldn¡¯t that be nice?


    How many are the Necessities Merchants¡¯ life blood that hinges on them!


    Lin Qin just says with an irritated tone, ¡°don¡¯t take me for some fool you can sway easily.¡±


    The person almost chokes on his saliva.


    Lin Qin pauses, and recalls what X¨¹ Beijin told him before with a rather complicated feeling.


    In fact, if X¨¹ Beijin did not tell him not to agree to others because of his sake, then he might have really rushed to deal with those Missiontakers without a second thought.


    What X¨¹ Beijin told him has paid off in full, after all.


    ¡­ Humans sure are messy, Lin Qin complains inside.

 Volume 4 - CH 65.2

    Lin Qin did not go deal with the ex-decadents that other Missiontaker mentioned the other day, because who knows if it¡¯s really true? Are those people really planning to do something with X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare?


    Although he had no such intentions, some kind of rumour about it seems to have spread out after the meeting. Those people apparently concluded that Lin Qin was going after them.


    So soon enough, some were anxious enough to invite Lin Qin in for a talk. Their talk is hosted at this empty house that Lin Qin is entering right now.


    What is unexpected for him is that, the leader of these Missiontakers present, is Jiang Shuangmei, who he only just met in the Nightmare not long ago.


    Was it this woman who managed to gather the ex-decadents under one banner¡­?


    The moment Lin Qin is inside, before he could say anything, Jiang Shuangmei speaks up first.


    ¡°Dalao, I arranged for this meeting in order to clarify one thing to you clearly,¡± Jiang Shuangmei takes a deep breath, and says, ¡°knowing that you like X¨¹ Beijin¡­¡±


    Lin Qin is stupefied.


    He was listening half-heartedly at what Jiang Shuangmei wanted to say, but here, he is suddenly astonished.


    ¡­ Wait.


    What?


    He likes X¨¹ Beijin?


    Why did he not know that?


    Lin Qin looks at Jiang Shuangmei like looking at a member of the intellectually challenged, as he says, ¡°how did you know I like X¨¹ Beijin?¡± Then he pauses, as he realises the problem with his wording, and adds, ¡°I mean¡­¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei immediately sighs in relief when Lin Qin ¡®admitted¡¯ the fact, and quickly says, ¡°we promise that, because we know you like him, we definitely won¡¯t be bothering him, or spy on your private lives. Definitely.¡±


    Lin Qin ¡°¡­¡±


    Yes, that is exactly what he asks of everyone, but why does this logic seem terribly iffy to him¡­?


    ¡­ Wait, so, like, on what basis is Jiang Shuangmei convinced that he likes X¨¹ Beijin in the first place?!


    Lin Qin, furrowing his brows, asks, ¡°what I mean is, what is it that made you think I like X¨¹ Beijin? How did you come to that conclusion?¡±


    Though thinking about it some more, the meaning still feels off; it is still failing to imply that he did not, in fact, like X¨¹ Beijin¡­ He¡¯s confused.


    Jiang Shuangmei thinks about the young man¡¯s words for a moment before a light bulb goes off in her head. She gets it!


    Dalao Lin Qin¡¯s feelings must still have been a secret right now! He must have thought he hid it so well that it couldn¡¯t have been discovered! He¡¯s feeling unhappy because she just spilled the beans!


    Jiang Shuangmei is also dissing inside, that with how obviously he¡¯s making it all look by warning basically the entire power structure of the bottom floor, and he still thinks he has it under wraps?


    Not that she dares to frustrate him even further, and so just quickly tells Lin Qin the information she knows with this half-probing, half-ingratiating attitude.


    She leaves out the involvement of Muscular and ¡®The Devil¡¯s Mask¡¯ while telling him about everything she has seen within thus far, with a healthy dose of rumours she¡¯s heard sprinkled in.


    While it¡¯s a total lie how she got these information, but she is confident everything she said was what Lin Qin did so far, action for action, without a shred of doubt!


    After hearing Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s explanation, Lin Qin is in a daze.


    Giving presents without expecting anything in return, trying to learn about his likes and preferences, involving himself in his life, worrying about angering the person and causing him to dislike him, spending free time with him, feeling an inexplicable joy when meeting and seeing the person¡­


    So, this is ¡®like¡¯?


    Lin Qin falls silent


    Like, or more generally, romance, is a topic far too complex and mysterious for Lin Qin¡¯s simple worldview. He has never considered it, even though in the Tower, matters related to love and romance have become completely open, straightforward, and even cold.


    He has never considered if he ¡®liked¡¯ a person, just like he has never considered his missing memories, or felt pity about it. Nor has he ever thought about, if it was possible to remember his past.


    His life, only contains the present.


    But, X¨¹ Beijin¡­?


    X¨¹ Beijin has brought something different into him. He is like the only source of brightness inside his life that is pitch black, like an abyss. He lit up his world, somehow, although Lin Qin¡¯s first reaction to that was feeling irritated at how sudden and blinding it was.


    So he wanted to snuff the light out when he saw it, just like no OCD patient can stay calm seeing a sentence like ¡®it¡¯s so simple to endlessly frustrate an OCD patient, isn¡¯t that right.¡¯


    The most fundamental reason he wanted to have a brawl with X¨¹ Beijin is that, for him, besides actual, physical conflict in a fight, he cannot come up with any other way to make the light in his life go away.


    He was¡­ frightened. Anxious. He felt instinctively that X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s existence was going to change something of him. Whether it was his life, or his soul. Something about this mysterious man¡­ That something, frightens him.


    That is why he desperately wanted to fight with X¨¹ Beijin.


    ¡­ Since when did that change, he wonders?


    Was it when he knew that X¨¹ Beijin liked drinks, and gave him drinks of his own volition?


    Was it when he visited X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore of his own volition?


    Was it¡­ when he invited himself into X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s lonely, still, tedious lifestyle?


    X¨¹ Beijin, in turn, has invited himself into Lin Qin¡¯s own lifestyle as well.


    What was Lin Qin¡¯s daily life like?


    Perhaps it was even less meaningful than X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s. He spends even more time blanking out than X¨¹ Beijin; he has told people he isn¡¯t interested in Nightmares, but, besides entering Nightmares, he had nothing else to do in the Tower.


    The whole stuffiness of it may be the reason why he sometimes throws temper tantrums like some mad dog.


    Ever since he came to know X¨¹ Beijin, though, his temper has improved for the better. The only time he felt like intervening in a Nightmare, was even because he couldn¡¯t wait to visit X¨¹ Beijin again.


    ¡­ Is this, ¡®like¡¯?


    Lin Qin does not know. He searches fruitlessly in his vast, empty mind, but there is no explanation he can come up with. Therefore, he forgoes that path, and instead makes an analysis based on what Jiang Shuangmei said.


    Giving presents without expecting returns, learning what his preferences are©¤©¤He wanted to pinpoint a possible course for X¨¹ Beijin to agree to fighting with him;


    Spending free time with X¨¹ Beijin¡­


    His smooth analysis comes to a sudden halt. Lin Qin¡¯s brain, like cogs out of step with each other, stops, as it keeps repeating this sentence on loop.


    ¡­ Why did he visit X¨¹ Beijin? Even if it was only for giving presents to X¨¹ Beijin, why would he stay in the bookstore, spending the whole day there afterwards?


    Lin Qin thinks for a really, really long time, long enough that Jiang Shuangmei is feeling anxious, until he finally realises, that is because, when he is by X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s side, he does not feel bored anymore.


    ¡­ Is this, ¡®like¡¯?


    He doesn¡¯t understand.


    There are a lot of things Lin Qin does not understand. His great physical prowess allows him to do as he pleases, to ignore all the things he cannot understand or comprehend; however, this powerful cheat he has been blessed with, no longer seems useful, when it comes to X¨¹ Beijin.


    He is unable to ignore the problem like usual either. He feels like he has to get to the bottom of this.


    That said, he is likely not going to find an answer here for now.

 Volume 4 - CH 65.3

    Lin Qin, having sorted his thoughts, raises his head back up to tell the woman who looks rather uneasy, with a slightly cold tone, ¡°I see.¡±


    He pauses, but then, he seems unsure if this was too unclear, so he clarifies, adding, ¡°no matter what, I do not want people monitoring his life, or his Nightmare. If he does not want anyone in his Nightmare, he must have his own reasons.¡±


    He has to get this done quickly and then go ask X¨¹ Beijin about everything. He does not plan on asking any other Missiontaker; he does not trust them.


    Besides, he is sure they are misunderstanding his interactions with X¨¹ Beijin in any case.


    He is not sure whether he likes or doesn¡¯t like X¨¹ Beijin right now¡­ No matter what, though, it remains that he will not stand by idly if any Missiontakers try to disturb X¨¹ Beijin.


    That is what he promised X¨¹ Beijin. That is also what he wants to do.


    If he could not so much as do that for him, then on what grounds is he even trying to get X¨¹ Beijin to fight with him? Whether he likes X¨¹ Beijin aside, he definitely does not want X¨¹ Beijin to dislike him.


    Even if he does not like X¨¹ Beijin, then for being able to fight¡¯s sake, Lin Qin is willing to go to these lengths to deal with the problem; if he does actually like X¨¹ Beijin, then all the more reason to.


    In Lin Qin¡¯s barbarically simplistic mind, is an extremely straightforward piece of logic©¤©¤Who are all you people who dare to bully the person he likes?!


    He is not sure of the latter yet¡­ Who cares, he¡¯ll act like he does in the mean time!


    Lin Qin, thus determined, deals with everything he needed to with the literal speed of a raging storm. Jiang Shuangmei just watched in a daze.


    After the man then stormed out of the house, Jiang Shuangmei finally murmurs quietly, ¡°tch, so even the mad dog has found an owner for himself¡­¡±


    Yet, she has lost her older sister, her only older sister.


    All this time, she has returned to that Nightmare, several times, even, looking for her older sister, but she never met her again. The elevator¡¯s voice was male the entire time.


    This means, either her older sister has been bumped into some other obscure electronic device, or¡­


    Whichever the case, though, she seems, to have no chance of rescuing her older sister, Jiang Shuangjie, ever again.


    The moment she came to the realisation, there was a period when only an intense sadness and hopelessness enveloped her.


    After leaving the house, Lin Qin stopped for a moment before heading for X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore.


    Because he stayed in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore day in, day out for a while before, and always came extremely early in the morning, and leaving at wee hours in the morning, so X¨¹ Beijin, for the first time ever, allowed him the permission to use his bookstore¡¯s teleportation door without him having to invite him in.


    This now means that Lin Qin can enter his bookstore at any time he pleases, as long as X¨¹ Beijin is inside.


    X¨¹ Beijin was feeling awkward about it at first, but then thought, actually, Lin Qin is just here to read books, which would make this situation, the equivalent of him receiving any regular customer in a store. So what¡¯s the problem?


    X¨¹ Beijin is satisfied with that explanation.


    What he wasn¡¯t expecting, though, was for Lin Qin to come at night while he was summoned away by a Nightmare.


    Lin Qin knew that X¨¹ Beijin does not sleep, so he just pushed the door open to enter, however, when he saw the man sitting behind the counter, with his eyes closed, he couldn¡¯t help but be confused for a moment.


    He¡¯s asleep¡­?


    But then, he gets it; it must be that this Tower resident is participating in someone else¡¯s Nightmare.


    Oddly enough, Lin Qin is actually feeling slightly irritated with the thought.


    The same kind of unhappiness that he felt when he was here visiting X¨¹ Beijin earlier, only to find Mu Jiashi already in the bookstore.


    He thinks for a moment, and concludes, it must be because, it feels like someone is trying to keep X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s attention away from him.


    ¡­ That said, Tower residents being present in others¡¯ Nightmares seem to be a completely random thing as arranged by the Server. Therefore, unhappy as Lin Qin may be, he can only sit down with a long face, watching X¨¹ Beijin and waiting for the Nightmare to end.


    In the Nightmare, X¨¹ Beijin is feeling an inexplicable chill down his back.


    Of course, there is no way he could know that a certain little apple has invaded his home and is now glaring intently at him.


    It would be nightmarish just to imagine¡­ Get it?


    Right now, the sentencing has just been over, and it seems whatever tasks the Server wanted X¨¹ Beijin to do is also complete, as there are no further orders for him.


    Not that it means he could just start doing whatever he wants to do, though.


    What extras in Nightmares could possess in terms of freedom is in the sense of choosing a more comfortable posture when they¡¯re lying down as a corpse.


    X¨¹ Beijin is¡­ different from that, at least after acquiring the streaming system. As long as he could stay out of the Missiontakers¡¯ attention, then he could basically do whatever he wants without a warning from the Server.


    So now, he hesitates between snooping around for clues in the amusement park and settling down somewhere obscure to watch the Missiontakers¡¯ activities via the stream.


    Before he could come to a decision, though, Dai Wu, who is coincidentally passing by in front of him, sees him standing there, and so approaches him to remark, ¡°it¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve ever seen Missiontakers being so good at stirring up trouble.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is surprised, and asks, ¡°you mean¡­ in this Nightmare?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± replies Dai Wu, ¡°this Nightmare keeps starting every single night recently; I¡¯ve been here for days.¡±


    A few days in a row?


    X¨¹ Beijin pauses to think.


    It¡¯s been more than a dozen days since he has been in any Nightmare; he has not ever been inside of this Nightmare in particular, in other words, it¡¯s his first time Acting here.


    He thought this was a rare Nightmare, or a Nightmare assigned to an Actor on the bottom floor for the first time.


    This latter is not actually that rare, because when Actors are allowed to the higher floors, then the new characters assigned to the Actors to fill the gap are randomly picked.


    But, from what Dai Wu is saying, this Nightmare has been here for a while?


    X¨¹ Beijin furrows his brows a little©¤©¤Why has he never been inside of this Nightmare? (TL: especially when, clearly, this one has so many extras) Did the Server do this on purpose?


    Dai Wu does not know what X¨¹ Beijin is thinking about, so he then changes topic to say, ¡°the Tower is pretty noisy recently too. It just reminds me of a few years ago¡­¡± He looks X¨¹ Beijin in the eye before moving his gaze away again, ¡°you know, when the Tower was especially rowdy.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin pulls the corners of his lips up to show a wooden smile.


    That¡¯s true, to an extent. It was lively a few years ago, followed by a few years of frigid chilliness.


    Now, the ashes are relighting, is it?


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t make the connection that his Nightmare might attract people again like moths to a flame for now, instead, he is thinking about what Mu Jiashi told him ¨C the rumour that ¡®someone has left the Tower successfully.¡¯


    That is certainly big enough news to cause restlessness in the Tower.


    Dai Wu is showing a rather shady smile all of a sudden, saying, ¡°hey man, do you know what those Missiontakers are calling this Nightmare?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin asks, confused by how often the topic is changing, ¡°what?¡±


    ¡°The Ultimate Nightmare.¡±


    Dai Wu speaks each syllable slowly and clearly, while watching X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s face closely.


    As expected, the moment those words leave his mouth, X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s face contorts noticeably.


    Dai Wu smiles, and quietly asks, ¡°hey, bro, my man, since I told you so much already, won¡¯t you tell me a favour? Do you actually know¡­ what the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare¡¯ is?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks at him solemnly, and shortly after, finally opens his mouth to say, ¡°you would not want to know about it.¡±


    His voice is slightly hoarse, dry; it sounds miserable, even.


    Dai Wu seems somewhat surprised, asking, ¡°so¡­ you do know?¡± Then, looking at X¨¹ Beijin, his expression changes drastically as well, when he recalls that long-lasting rumour of the Tower, asking, ¡°oi oi, you can¡¯t mean, it¡¯s actually your Nightmare?¡±


    ¡°No. No, it is not,¡± X¨¹ Beijin exhales a little as he calms back down, and, unexpected, a smile emerges, ¡°why does everyone seem to think my Nightmare has secrets?¡±


    Dai Wu ¡°¡­¡±


    He can¡¯t help but wonder, if X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare isn¡¯t the ultimate Nightmare, then why, would he not let others into it? What he is doing is of course going to draw deliberate attention to his own Nightmare.


    Dai Wu continues staring at the young man©¤©¤at his acquaintance, with a complicated expression.


    What secrets does he hold?


    The conversation has reached a cold, dead end. On the other hand, the Missiontakers have reached a pinch as well.


    Mu Jiashi, with deeply creased brows, is glaring at the piece of white paper in front of him.


    Not long ago, Wu Jian, Baldie and Biceps actually found paper that is good enough for writing somewhere in the amusement park.


    So the four of them, while following behind the survivors and Fei and Collector, tried to write down all the clues they have already gathered in the Nightmare.


    Biceps seemed like he wanted to speak up, but with Baldie remaining quiet, he also does.


    So Mu Jiashi began by testing the ink of the pens.


    When suddenly, he just felt his vision¡­ acting up, for lack of a better verb, when the next second, the few clear characters he wrote down, suddenly turned into illegible scribbles right there on the paper!

 Volume 4 - CH 66.1

    Mu Jiashi is staring at the piece of paper in front of him with a ghastly expression.


    And ghastly is the appropriate word, because what is on the paper might as well have been written by ghosts; a jumbled mess of strokes, numbers and symbols, plus traces of erasing and scratching and correcting.


    Yet, he knows full well that just a few seconds before, they were still perfectly legible words.


    ¡°How in the world¡­¡±


    He murmurs, before looking back at the three other Missiontakers.


    Neither Baldie nor Biceps show much of a reaction, so Mu Jiashi realises that the two of them may have known in the very beginning, and stayed quiet while watching them look for pen and paper.


    They knew it was an exercise in futility.


    It is extremely easy to come up with the solution of recording clues down with pen and paper when Missiontakers realise they would lose memories in this Nightmare, especially when they¡¯ve found pens in the grocer¡¯s earlier.


    As soon as they tried, though, they¡¯ll realise that pen and paper are objects rendered unusable in this Nightmare. Clues cannot be written down.


    This Nightmare seems to be doing all it possibly can to force them to forget about the clues and information after they acquire them¡­ They gain something, and they lose it soon enough. It feels like some kind of sick joke.


    And then¡­ Mu Jiashi turns towards Wu Jian, and starts murmuring, perhaps in an attempt to communicate, ¡°if pen and paper cannot be used, then why are there pen and paper in the first place? Is it some kind of implication?¡±


    Hearing that, Wu Jian tries to suggest something, ¡°could it¡­ not just be some useless objects?¡±


    Nightmares contain background objects a lot. It¡¯s unfathomable if every single thing in a Nightmare is actually implying something, right?


    Just like this broken piece of brick lying amongst the ruins. What meaning could it even possibly hold?


    Mu Jiashi is silent as he looks back down at the strange strokes on the paper. He¡¯s already forgotten what actual characters he wrote down already, only remembering this string of nonsense in its place.


    ¡­ No. It must have some meaning.


    If he is able to write normally, then that would actually have proven to be ¡®normal¡¯ background set pieces; when what you write turn into illegible scribbles, that must necessarily mean that pen and paper are behaving abnormally in this Nightmare.


    But, why?


    Countless questions circulate through Mu Jiashi¡¯s mind¡ª¡ªWhy did the Nightmare not restart when someone fell down the building to his death? Why do they keep forgetting things over time in this Nightmare? Why would things you write down turn awry?


    Pen, and paper¡­


    He can¡¯t help but suddenly recall the book Lin Qin was holding the day he went to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore; and also, that same day, when turning a certain corner in the Tower, a Tower resident who is chuckling and lying down on the floor holding a pen tripped him over¡­


    Could those be related to this Nightmare?


    The logic is extremely strained here, but there is a common theme to all these scenes here, that is tying them together somehow.


    Deep in thought, he is then interrupted by Wu Jian.


    ¡°Um¡­¡±


    Mu Jiashi snaps back to reality and turns towards him.


    The man says with this bitter expression, ¡°do you¡­ feel hungry?¡± He rubs his tummy to say, ¡°I¡¯m so hungry.¡±


    Mu Jiashi asks him almost by reflex, ¡°we just ate half an hour ago; you¡¯re hungry again?¡±


    Wu Jian immediately retorts with a question, ¡°wait what? We ate something half an hour ago?!¡±


    The two of them look at each other, baffled, and so they turn towards Baldie and Biceps.


    Baldie stays silent, but Biceps answers, ¡°we did.¡±


    Wu Jian still seems doubtful, saying, ¡°but I really am hungry¡­¡± He tries to convince others with this question, ¡°if I¡¯ve already eaten half an hour ago, how could I still be hungry right now?¡±


    Mu Jiashi furrows his brows deeply, saying, ¡°if you forgot you¡¯ve already eaten, then you¡¯ll even forget that you¡¯re full¡ª¡ªYou¡¯d feel hunger once again¡­¡±


    What in the world? This is already beyond a sick joke, this Nightmare.


    Baldie, irritated, reminds them, ¡°those people are in the building already, we have to go after them!¡±


    They were actually tailing the survivors escorting Fei and Collector. They are already near the building.


    So all four of them keep going, while along the way, they do a memory check.


    Wu Jian does his best to scour his memories and lays out all their actions thus far, ¡°we started from the beginning, Fei and I headed south, and then east, and then north to the building to meet up with you all.


    We exchanged information, and then decided to investigate the amusement park. We got the pen and paper in one team, while Fei and that other guy was caught in the other team. So we¡¯re following after them¡­¡±


    Wu Jian¡¯s voice is trailing off by this point. He looks hesitantly at the Missiontakers, asking, ¡°uh, is there something wrong with my memories?¡±


    Something wrong?


    Mu Jiashi answers inside, most things are wrong, in the sense that they¡¯re gone.


    Clearly, Wu Jian has already forgotten most of their experiences here thus far.


    The man that ventured into the fog; their search of the Treasure Trove; the man that fell off the building; their conversation with the bookstore owner; how they ate a little something before going to the amusement park¡­ He¡¯s forgotten all of them.


    All he still remembered, is that they have shared and analysed information underneath the building, before deciding to head to the amusement park, and found pen and paper as they did.


    The scariest thing still, is that Wu Jian does not seem to feel at all how his memories are jarring. He felt that all they did before was the same as what he just told. It was uneventful, simple, straightforward.


    And because Wu Jian believes wholeheartedly that this is the sequence of what happened, so after seeing the rest of the Missiontakers¡¯ uncomfortable looks, he is equally confused.


    Without Fei here to remind him, he would not have ever realised he ever lost memories in the first place, too.


    Mu Jiashi, after a brief silence, says, ¡°one and a half hours¡­¡±


    He has not yet forgotten anything.


    Complementary to what Wu Jian has said, he is able to fill in all the gaps of their experiences thus far in the Nightmare¡­ At least, he thinks that is the case. He is also unable to tell if he might have forgotten anything.


    It is now about one and a half hours since the Nightmare began, and during which, Wu Jian and Collector have already lost some of their memories.


    It seems reasonable to say that, in the beginning of the Nightmare, amnesia does not occur to every person present.


    However¡­ As the Nightmare continues on, crumbling, they might all end up forgetting everything¡­ How are they even supposed to face this Nightmare then?


    A blind redo? While the situation in the Nightmare has already deteriorated to a dangerous degree?


    ¡­ In that sense, the first run of this Nightmare is actually their safest ¨C they must also acquire all the necessary information during this time.


    Otherwise¡­


    Mu Jiashi is deeply worried.


    Just like the Nightmare that he got a True End from earlier, that first Nightmare since he returned to the bottom floor, this is one of those Nightmares where, if one or two key piece of information are missed as it develops and crumbles, the situation would immediately turn south, direly.


    Mu Jiashi takes a deep breath.


    Before entering the building, he stops, and looks at Baldie and Biceps.


    All four of them are reflected in the window of the bookstore ¨C it looks just like a standoff. Wu Jian seems nonplussed by the development, while Mu Jiashi has a stern expression. Biceps looks like he has something to say, but Baldie remains silent.


    Mu Jiashi calmly says, ¡°by this point, shouldn¡¯t you be telling us everything you¡¯ve kept to yourself from us?¡±


    Biceps also looks at Baldie, with a slightly derisive gaze, that reads, ¡®see, keeping stuff did us no favours.¡¯


    Either tell it all, or tell nothing.


    Tell half, and the rest of the Missiontakers will never trust them once it is exposed.


    They might forget, sure, but before they do, the situation could already have devolved to breaking point.

 Volume 4 - CH 66.2

    Baldie is still silent. He is currently in an¡­ odd state of mind, like he was doubting reality itself, despite the fact that he was just telling them to get a move on, his attention wasn¡¯t actually on this Nightmare then, or now.


    Because he is too preoccupied thinking about the utility card¡¯s effect on his psyche, and his thought digressed from that.


    He wants to ask, if those kinds of effects from the utility card, is common, or rare in the entire Tower?


    He hopes it¡¯s the latter, but his experience tells him, the former is likely correct.


    This makes him feel ominous.


    Nobody has paid much attention to the side effects on Missiontakers from the utility cards, because they are in the mindset that this is a game, with utility cards merely being items in that game.


    What changes could they even bring?


    But after experiencing this subtle but significant change himself, Baldie can only feel his hairs standing on end. Even Biceps could tell it; did he seriously not notice?


    He did not. Before that, he did not consciously acknowledge that he was affected by that utility card, or did he think any of his actions were out of ordinary, whether it was hiding stuff from the other Missiontakers, or feuding with Collector.


    ¡­ Somehow, he is also unable to imagine, if he wasn¡¯t affected by the utility card, how he would have interacted and resolved this matter.


    The change is unseen. He does not feel anything wrong with himself. He feels like this is part of who he is, naturally.


    Just like Wu Jian and Collector¡¯s amnesia in which they do not feel any of their memories are missing, they are also convinced this is how it is.


    ¡ª¡ªThe brain does not suspect itself.


    Along the way, Baldie is quieter than usual, but the others haven¡¯t an idea what he¡¯s thinking about.


    Anyway, in response to Mu Jiashi, Baldie decided to go against his ¡®nature,¡¯ and honestly tell them what happened after some thought.


    He tells him, ¡°in the first run of the Nightmare, a third of the Missiontakers start losing their memories; two thirds in the second run; everyone in the third run.


    When any single Missiontaker has forgotten all their memories of the Nightmare entirely, it restarts.¡±


    Mu Jiashi seems shocked, before knitting his brows, asking, ¡°all memories, referring to only that particular run, or of all the runs?¡±


    Baldie dryly replies, ¡°all the runs,¡± and he bitterly smiles, adding, ¡°those Missiontakers who have forgotten everything the previous run, as soon as the next run begins, they start forgetting about their current run¡­ again, until everything is forgotten.¡±


    Mu Jiashi really could not hold himself back from making an absurdly frightened look.


    Even X¨¹ Beijin, hearing that from the stream, is furrowing his brows as well, feeling pity for the Missiontakers.


    The viewers do not seem to get why they are both so concerned, though.


    X¨¹ Beijin explains, ¡°this means that, as the Missiontakers forget everything in turn, their hold over differing amounts of information will fuel conflict; and because they, all of them, will eventually forget everything about this Nightmare, this means¡­


    A certain run later, they will actually think, that they are in their first run.¡±


    The viewers respond by typing exclamation marks, and going,


    ¡°endless loop???¡±


    ¡­ Exactly. A futile, repeated process, just like the mythical Sisyphus who has to keep repeating rolling a stone uphill, where it rolls back downhill, and so he has to move downhill once again to move it uphill.


    That was the punishment of the Gods for Sisyphus, though; what implications are there in this Nightmare, for the action of repeatedly forgetting and recollecting information?


    Something seems to flash through X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mind; he feels a familiarity, but he does not know why he is feeling that.


    At the same time, he worries about something else.


    In this Nightmare, with Missiontakers set to all forget about everything some time, where they would actually start to think they¡¯re in the first run and know nothing about the Nightmare, if this kept happening, wouldn¡¯t that be equivalent to the Missiontakers having succumbed to the Nightmare, forever?


    So it seems that, in this Nightmare, the Missiontakers look to be much more likely than other Nightmares to succumb, and for the Nightmare to then Collapse.


    It worries X¨¹ Beijin.


    While Missiontakers succumbing sounds like it doesn¡¯t have too much to do with them, as it is rare for Actors to encounter such an event, especially if they can still tell the characters they are Acting apart from who they are.


    But seeing such a cruel turn of fate happening right before his eyes still make him feel unhappy and worried.


    ¡­ They are all humans, after all.


    He sighs quietly.


    He has already parted with Dai Wu, who looks like he has a rather important role in this Nightmare. Maybe he¡¯s the second-in-command to Black Robe, as he¡¯s now busy with other things¡ª¡ªAt least, the Server has arranged for him to be busy.


    It certainly is hard, though, for X¨¹ Beijin to imagine someone like Dai Wu yelling ¡®humans are the Impurities of the Earth¡¯ or something similar.


    He looks more the kind that doesn¡¯t care if they really are Impurities or not, as long as he is living life to the fullest.


    X¨¹ Beijin, meanwhile¡­


    Doesn¡¯t think that much of the sentence or its implications.


    He knows full well that humans are full of countless thoughts and views, sometimes even holding contradictory ones at once¡ª¡ªFor example, you say that Humans are Impurities of the Earth, which causes the Gods to punish humans, then how is that you, a human, was not punished alongside them?


    All the noisy, messy, conflicting noises, surrounding X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s ears, dull down to nothingness.


    That said, if that is what is being repeated in a Tower¡¯s Nightmare, it would cause his thoughts to drift in a certain direction, for sure.


    X¨¹ Beijin is blanking out again as his mind recalls something else.


    When he comes to, though, on the stream, all six Missiontakers are on the roof of the building already.


    The Missiontakers have already dragged Fei and Collector to the edge of the rooftop when the Missiontakers arrived, and they are there right as Fei was pushed over!


    ¡°Fei¡­!¡± Wu Jian watched Fei disappear off the side with a face full of terror, he lunges to the edge of the rooftop, yelling out in shock, ¡°what happened?! Why did you push her off?!¡±


    Clearly, he¡¯s forgotten about what Mu Jiashi just told him, about the trial and sentencing that happened in the amusement park.


    Mu Jiashi closes his eyes, feeling exhausted. He does not even know if his own memories are complete anymore; it is all unfathomable.


    How could people doubt their own brains? Doubt their own past, their own memories? To doubt them is to doubt their sense of self.


    In this Nightmare, that is exactly what is necessary for them, however.


    The survivors have paused because of the sudden appearance of these Missiontakers. Still holding Collector down, they are chastising the Missiontakers for their recklessness barging up here, but because the Missiontakers caught them by surprise, they also seem a bit lost right now.


    That is when¡­


    ¡°Huh¡­¡± Amidst the silence, is Collector¡¯s voice. He sounds like he is just waking up from a stupor, ¡°quite the tense starting point for a Nightmare, no?¡±


    Mu Jiashi immediately turns in his direction.


    He can see Collector looking genuinely intrigued and also slightly baffled. He really seems to be curious why the Missiontakers are in a standoff with the Tower residents in a Nightmare as soon as he opened his eyes.


    He has forgotten everything in the first run of the Nightmare.


    ¡­ The Nightmare is restarting!


    The moment Mu Jiashi turned towards Wu Jian, also wishing to confirm whether he has lost his memories for the first run entirely, his vision goes dark.


    The Nightmare, has restarted.

 Volume 4 - CH 66.3

    The first thing Mu Jiashi does after his vision clears up is to analyse one thing©¤©¤Whether the Nightmare restarted because Collector lost all his memories of the first run, or because of Fei¡¯s death.


    If it really was the latter, then that means the Nightmare restarted more than 3 seconds after the death, which makes that unlikely. It is more likely due to Collector¡¯s amnesia.


    ¡­ The second run of the Nightmare has begun.


    Mu Jiashi is standing in place in silence.


    They are, once again, at the northwest corner of the ruins.


    Collector seems mystified, he asks, ¡°eh? What happened? Why did the scenery change?¡± Everything happened so quickly he couldn¡¯t even maintain his smile anymore, and he continues, ¡°uh, hello¡­? Can anyone tell me what¡¯s going on?¡±


    No response comes.


    Another few seconds of silence passes, and Wu Jian is the second to speak, asking, ¡°uh, shouldn¡¯t we be, you know, exploring the scene? We didn¡¯t find a single clue the last run around¡­¡±


    The rest of the Missiontakers all glance at him, and sigh in tandem. Silence ensues. Again.


    Wu Jian ¡°¡­¡±


    He and Collector share a look, and they both look equally nonplussed.


    What is going on?


    Fei is extremely pale, crossing her arms quietly by the side. Her body is still trembling. Her teeth is biting hard on her lower lips.


    She is yet to recover from the impact of her death earlier, it seems. Her brows are furrowed subconsciously, as she falls deep in thought.


    A long while passes until Fei finally heaves a weary sigh, and says with a dry tone, ¡°perhaps we could continue what we didn¡¯t finish the first run of the Nightmare¡­¡±


    With Collector¡¯s ¡°what? This is already the second run?¡± as the background noise, Fei and Mu Jiashi share a look, and she continues, ¡°and look for the man that disappears into the fog.¡±


    No objection is raised.


    Along the way, they told the two people who have already lost their memories what happened before. Wu Jian believes everything Fei says, of course, but Collector still looks unconvinced.


    Mu Jiashi also tells Fei about the problem with the written word along the way.


    It takes some time for them to walk from the northwest corner of the ruins due south, so X¨¹ Beijin, who is back in his bookstore once again after the Nightmare has restarted, stands up from behind his counter, and examines his bookstore.


    ¡­ His bookstore.


    After seeing the written word turn into nonsense through the stream earlier, X¨¹ Beijin immediately thought about the books in his store.


    If words written down turn into jumbled mess, then what do books in his bookstore look like inside?


    The audience of the stream notices X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s activities, so X¨¹ Beijin switches the audio source over to tell them about what he thought.


    ¡°oh right! if Beibei has books or something that isnt jumbled up, they must be clues!¡±


    ¡°not necessarily, but looking first will be helpful¡±


    ¡°since the bookstore is like, an obvious place, wouldn¡¯t there definitely be clues?¡±


    ¡°yeah¡­ Beibei could tell them stuff earlier because he had gods eye view, but any other actor couldnt have had them if they were the bookstore owner¡±


    ¡°basically: the bookstore must contain clues in and of itself¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is in agreement.


    Oftentimes, he would say that the point to the extras is to indicate that clues can be found somewhere.


    For example, in the last Nightmare Mu Jiashi went into, extras were in the bookstore to indicate the newspaper; in the gas station to indicate the TV to the Missiontakers.


    Now that X¨¹ Beijin is in this bookstore, which has been decked out with books and all the titbits that make a bookstore, it must imply the Server has placed special clues in this space.


    X¨¹ Beijin wasn¡¯t usually one to look for clues actively himself, as he never had an interest in the Nightmares themselves. It has changed now, and in fact, he almost looks giddy checking out the nooks and crannies of the bookstore.


    He pulls out a random book, and discovers without surprise, that when he focuses his gaze onto the book¡¯s title, and flip it open, all the words, and even illustrations inside turn into illegible scribbles and unidentifiable splotches of colour in just a moment.


    The next, and the next next¡­ the next next next¡­


    Are all the same.


    Ten books in a row with the same response, so X¨¹ Beijin stops for now, furrowing his brows, and concludes that a majority of books in this store are reduced to nonsense. The contents are unknowable.


    There must be at least one, though¡­ that is not the same.


    How can he find them, though? This is practically fishing out a needle in a haystack, or isolating a particular strand of hair from among nine cows. It¡¯s luck, that¡¯s what it is.


    Collecting clues in the Nightmare, however, are never truly based on luck. There must be some kind of hint, that points to where the clue is in the bookstore. What might that indication be¡­?


    X¨¹ Beijin walks to the entrance of the bookstore, and stands there as he looks back inside. He wants to try and see if viewing the bookstore from the outside would be any help. Or if there might be any obscured clues outside that point to a book within.


    He stands there for a short while, and the viewers are already asking what he¡¯s doing.


    He answers, ¡°I¡¯m thinking, if someone enters this bookstore, where would they be looking at instinctively?¡±


    ¡°emm i usually look at shelves closest to the door¡±


    ¡°I¡­ turn right, by habit¡±


    ¡°hey hey, you¡¯re not actually window shopping at a bookstore ok? [laugh cry emoji] this is an escape game! obviously you go to the npc!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s eyes widen slightly as his eyes glimmer!


    Of course. Players would head exactly where the NPC is at! The NPC here is him, sitting right there, behind the counter!


    So X¨¹ Beijin heads back for the counter immediately, and examines it. The counter is a low-lying rack attached to the wall on its short side. It marks out an area where the cashier sits, around which are similar low-lying shelves, on top of which must have been some sort of recommendation corner with books placed prominently, although they are mostly yellowed and there is a light layer of dust covering everything.


    Finally, X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s gaze settles onto one single book placed on top of the shelf directly behind where he sat.


    All the other books are still placed standing, leaning against the wall, except for this single one that has fallen over, and has even flipped open to some page. A simple glance from afar tells X¨¹ Beijin that, the words on there, still look like words.


    Shortly after, he takes the book, and flips through it.


    Just as he thought. This toppled, flipped-open book©¤©¤Contained legible characters.

 Volume 4 - CH 67.1

    The End Times


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    The Missiontakers are now on the south side of the ruins.


    The last run, Fei and Wu Jian met the man who walked into the fog here. Now, after waiting a short while, they see the man once again.


    Through the stream, X¨¹ Beijin can also see the unsteady, emaciated man in tattered clothes, and is surprised.


    He realises that this is the survivor he saw outside of the building in the first run. The ghastly man left quite the impression on both him and the viewers of the stream.


    X¨¹ Beijin is able to draw a path of his action patterns in his mind.


    The man arrives at the ruins near the building, finding an obscure marketplace in some hidden corner, and exchanges for bread with the porcelain bowl in his hand. He then turns southwest until he arrives at the southwest corner of the ruins, and walk into the fog.


    ¡­ The bread remains in his hand the entire time.


    X¨¹ Beijin rubs his chin, thinking if this might be a key person in this Nightmare. Could he even be the owner of the Nightmare, perhaps?


    Meanwhile, Mu Jiashi and Fei have accosted the survivor already.


    The man really looks like he¡¯s on the verge of collapsing of hunger. His attention is all over the place, and his consciousness appears to be drifting away, until the moment Mu Jiashi tentatively points to the bread in his hand, when he suddenly snaps back to reality, taking a wary step back, and squeezing the bread harder into his hold.


    He looks a bit more lucid, but Fei can still hear the rumbling of his stomach from way over.


    She can¡¯t help but ask, ¡°if you¡¯re so hungry, why don¡¯t you eat the bread?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± the man replies with a horribly parched voice that suggests days of dehydration, ¡°I must only eat at home.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Home¡­ is safe,¡± the man repeats these words again, ¡°home is safe¡­ Outside home, unsafe.¡±


    Fei and Mu Jiashi share a glance.


    Then, Mu Jiashi asks, ¡°where is your home?¡±


    The man lifts his hand, pointing to the end of the road, ¡°further¡­ ahead.¡±


    ¡°Outside the fog?¡±


    ¡°Fog?¡± The man¡¯s eyes widen slightly in surprise, ¡°no. No fog.¡±


    Mu Jiashi furrows his brows.


    No fog?


    Baldie told them before that Missiontakers cannot enter the fog, and Mu Jiashi is leaning towards him not having lied about it ¨C There is no benefit to Baldie misleading them whether the world outside the fog really is related to the Nightmare itself or not.


    Only truly malicious Missiontakers will give false information to mislead others.


    Especially on the bottom floor of the Tower, where Missiontakers are on the exact same side, sharing in success, and in failure. There is no incentive for ruining their progress. At best, they might hide information or commit other shenanigans, but they would not outright lie and mislead.


    Assuming Baldie told the truth, then that means this fog, is in fact a limitation placed on them by the Server©¤©¤At least, that¡¯s what Mu Jiashi thought the entire time.


    So, a question. If this fog really delineates where they can make a move in this Nightmare, then why can Tower residents enter it? If NPCs can go outside the fog, does that not indicate that there are clues outside in the fog as well?


    Mu Jiashi is genuinely feeling puzzled.


    Fei is also baffled that the reply of ¡®no fog¡¯ came, but other than that, she is also feeling deeply worried inside ¨C which is related to the reason she and Wu Jian came here in the first place.


    Her expression almost immediately took a turn for the worse due to the worry.


    No other Missiontaker noticed, save for Collector, who still seems giddy despite being told he has lost his memories, and is looking all around curiously.


    He narrows his eyes as his smile deepens. Oh, my, it seems a lot of people are keeping little secrets in this Nightmare.


    He exhales, happily.


    He¡¯s holding back from asking because they are asking for information on this Nightmare. He is not a bad guy, so he will put them on the spot later.


    He¡¯s definitely curious what secrets they are all holding.


    After losing his memories of the first run, it seems fair to say Collector¡¯s modus operandi has turned even stranger.


    Many Missiontakers have the question of what exactly do the Collectors of Used Cards see themselves collecting? Why would they want cards that have no Uses left?


    Well, yes, as mentioned before, some Missiontakers really do have an interest in collecting them, like stamps, for various reasons.


    Collector here, in this Nightmare, though, is different. Different because, he actually has no interest in the cards themselves, but interested instead, in the Missiontakers who use them, or rather, in the reasoning behind the Missiontakers who use them©¤©¤He, is interested in the story behind the utility card.


    He is someone who is interested in learning about the secrets hidden in the deepest parts of people¡¯s minds. Why do they choose to use this utility card? Why this one? Why that time?¡­ He is curious about these things.


    He is curious, about humans.


    Since a long time ago, this Collector has been quietly observing, and collecting the stories of the Missiontakers he met. Each used card he has, represents a story he has collected, or, perhaps¡­ represents a Missiontaker?


    Suffice it to say, he has a natural, unique curiosity, and is always able to observe interesting things.


    Like right now.


    See, he has found out that the woman is hiding some sort of secret, hasn¡¯t he?


    Collector is smiling really happily©¤©¤Do you see why he is never angry at the unwarranted animosity directed at him from Baldie? Do you see why, he can still smile, even while walking the ruins of a great civilisation?


    Because he really is, genuinely, happy.


    What the Missiontakers have been doing©¤©¤Performing©¤©¤satisfactorily pleases him.


    How truly marvellous it was he decided to return to the bottom floor to collect more used cards. He knew it. He knew it would be the most lively, the most exciting during this period here.


    The higher floors©¤©¤Are filled with paranoid people. Paranoid workaholics with no meaning, no purpose, nothing but a drive to enter Nightmares and scout the Tower.


    Even when this place is so interesting, with so many Nightmares, so many utility cards, and so many people here. He cannot fathom how someone could feel the Tower is depressed and burnt out and even hopeless, because all he can see, are interesting things.


    This unique environment, he thinks, has nurtured unique beings; unique beings, stemming from humans.


    That is why this is so interesting.


    People like him must be rare in the Tower, he thinks, but, look at all the people partying without end every day, every night, all the time. Why could there not be someone that would be interested in people-watching every day, every night, all the time, in Nightmares?


    At least, Collector is happy with this lifestyle.


    His gaze settles down on Fei for a second, pondering how he could best fish out the secrets the woman is hiding.


    What was that word that agitated her, again?


    ¡­ The, fog?


    Collector narrows his eyes, falling into thought.

 Volume 4 - CH 67.2

    Fei, completely unaware of someone¡¯s prying eyes on her, decides to continue asking the man, ¡°do you go look for food every day?¡±


    ¡°¡­ Yes.¡±


    ¡°Do you know anything about these ruins?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ I¡­ I just look for food.¡±


    Mu Jiashi suddenly asks, ¡°before, we saw someone being pushed off the rooftop of that building far away¡­¡±


    His words trail off.


    Because he can see the strange look the man has. He looks fearful, even.


    Mu Jiashi, after pausing, says, ¡° you know about it.¡±


    He is going to keep asking when the man suddenly yells out, ¡°no! Don¡¯t ask! Don¡¯t ask me!!!¡± He is flailing his hand about, and holding the bread even more tightly with his other hand, while his pupils are darting around in fear. He even starts running away, as best as he can run with a limp, as he keep yelling, ¡°I know nothing¡­ I know nothing¡­¡±


    He has made it into the fog.


    The Missiontakers want to give chase, but the fog stops them dead.


    Mu Jiashi furrows his brows to say, ¡°why did he¡­ Did he know the dead person?¡± He gives it some thought, and then poses another possibility, ¡°perhaps, he even had something to do with his death, somehow?¡±


    Fei also fell into thought, and follows up, ¡°this is strange¡­¡± but then she shakes her head to say, ¡°looks like we won¡¯t get an answer. Let¡¯s hurry to the building instead; see if we can save the man from his death, and¡­¡±


    ¡°What man?¡±


    That is when Biceps suddenly, blankly asks.


    All the Missiontakers¡¯ gazes fall onto him, which merely confounds him.


    He asks, ¡°what death? Has anyone died?¡±


    Mu Jiashi is silent for a moment before heaving a weary sigh, and rubbing the crease between his brows as his head throbs.


    Baldie simply puts a stop on it, telling him, ¡°we¡¯ll tell you along the way. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Biceps trusts his brother, and so keeps quiet while following after them. Along the way, Baldie recounts what happened thus far to him.


    Biceps remarks with surprise, ¡°I¡¯ve already started to lose my memories?¡± He voices his curiosity out loud, ¡°I don¡¯t notice anything wrong with my memories at all.¡±


    Hearing that, both Fei and Wu Jian¡¯s looks turn weird for a split second.


    Collector¡¯s mouth perks up again. Oho, so the both of them share a secret?


    Memories, and fog¡­ What could their secret be?


    The other Missiontakers are too preoccupied to think about that, because more and more people are forgetting, which worries Mu Jiashi, saying, ¡°this means, we¡¯ve already got one down and one to go for the people who are going to forget this run.¡±


    Baldie said that the proportion of people losing their memories went up by a third each run; two-thirds on the second run, which translates to four people.


    Thus far, Collector, Wu Jian and Biceps are the three people with amnesia. Collector has the worst case, having lost the entirety of his memories of the first run.


    And now, at least one of Mu Jiashi, Fei, and Baldie, who still have their memories intact, will lose their memories gradually, starting soon.


    Fei looks somewhat pale, remarking, ¡°perhaps, we might have already forgotten something. We just don¡¯t know about it yet.¡±


    Mu Jiashi opens his mouth, but he does not know what to respond. So in the end, he simply asks, ¡°want to do a memory check?¡±


    Fei just whispers, ¡°wouldn¡¯t that be a waste of time¡­ if we have to confirm everything every single time with everyone¡­¡±


    ¡°You can count me out,¡± Baldie suddenly interjects, ¡°I am certain my memories are unaffected.¡±


    Everyone gives him inquisitive looks.


    Baldie tells them straight to the point, ¡°I used a utility card, with an effect of strengthening my memories. You can expect me to be the last one to lose his memories.¡±


    Mu Jiashi nods and doesn¡¯t ask anything else. Instead, he turns to Fei to say, ¡°so just the two of us. Let¡¯s check our memories?¡±


    Fei looks more hesitant, but still shakes her head. There is an odd fear in her mind against checking her own memories. It makes her feel unsafe, somehow.


    Her refusal is the perfect excuse for Collector to speak up, though; with a smile, he asks, ¡°are you sure you¡¯re not just trying to hide the fact that you¡¯ve already lost your memories?¡±


    Fei immediately retorts, ¡°what are you talking about? I just feel like it would waste too much time along the way¡­¡±


    ¡°But if so, then why did you look so weird earlier?¡± Collector replies, ¡°not just before, but also when we were talking to the survivor¡­ You looked, well¡­¡± He tilts his head, before saying, ¡°frightened?¡±


    Fei falls silent immediately.


    Wu Jian looks like he wants to chime in, but Collector immediately targets him instead, asking, ¡°you also know it, don¡¯t you? You¡¯re together¡­ Could you actually know something about this Nightmare, but kept it to your self the whole time? Oh man, poor us¡­¡±


    He says ¡®poor us¡¯ with the most cheerful, excited smile they¡¯ve ever seen on his face.


    ¡°¡­ Enough,¡± Fei sighs. She has a rather grim expression, while nobody else ¨C nobody else but Wu Jian, seems to understand the source of her anxiety. She adds, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you.¡±


    Wu Jian asks in shock, ¡°are you sure? Wouldn¡¯t¡­¡±


    Fei turns to him to answer, ¡°we¡¯re in a Nightmare.¡±


    Wu Jian immediately shuts up.


    Fei almost looks like she is murmuring as she goes, ¡°no matter what¡­ Nightmares have to be solved. They are top priority. And the Tower¡­ maybe they have their attention more on the Tower instead¡­¡±


    Fei looks up and opens her mouth.


    That is when X¨¹ Beijin suddenly realises that the comment barrage on his stream is gone©¤©¤No, not just the comments, but even the viewers.


    The list of viewers on the right had several usernames there, but now, as if they have all disconnected at once, it is showing no names.


    Shocked, X¨¹ Beijin wonders, what is going on?

 Volume 4 - CH 67.3

    The next second, Fei¡¯s voice comes out of the stream. She says, ¡°about¡­ memories. Have you never felt as if something was wrong with our memories? How did we¡­ enter the Tower? Does nobody know?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mind feels as if a wet blanket has been dropped onto it, calming down practically immediately.


    In fact, he has finally understood why the viewers just dropped out of the stream. Rather than the viewers having disconnected from him, it¡¯s more like¡­ he was disconnected from them.


    In the audience¡¯s own terms, the game he is streaming right now, is a game ¡®exclusively open to hosts of streams only,¡¯ and there are even non-disclosure agreements he allegedly had to observe.


    This means that, this game truly is off-limits to the regular folk. There are special secrets within.


    For example¡­ Why there are actual humans in the Tower.


    Therefore, perhaps this streaming system comes with emergency breaks installed, where if some critical point comes up in the stream, then the stream is immediately cut short, so that the viewers cannot see or hear anything sensitive.


    Though X¨¹ Beijin then recalls, that the time the viewers dropped off, was before Fei ever uttered a single word¡­ That is strange.


    Could this streaming system even detect psychological state of humans subjected to its camera? Recognise that Fei is about to utter some taboo and is able to cut the stream off with precognitive precision?


    And you¡¯re saying this is just a regular streaming system he picked up off the ground?


    ¡­ No. It can only have been the Server, NE.


    There¡¯s always been that conspiracy theory, which alleges that their entry into the Tower is part of some massive, global conspiracy, and its perpetrators had NE here to monitor the humans. It is a co-conspirator.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s face is even paler as his expression turns seriously dark. His black pupils are fixed right at the video of the stream. He can still see and listen to Fei, what does this mean?


    Is NE, watching them?


    If NE found out about this livestream, if NE knew an Actor is attempting to sneakily inform the outside world via obscure means¡­ What would happen?


    X¨¹ Beijin can feel a deep chill. He shuts his eyes, and he settles his emotions back down, more depressed than before.


    Fei does not know that she has brought some sizeable trouble for X¨¹ Beijin, of course. She is continuing, ¡°nobody seems to care about it at all, like our entry into the Tower is just some natural conclusion, expected happenstance. But nobody actually knows why we¡¯re here. It is a fact that¡­ we have all lost that particular memory.¡±


    The rest of the Missiontakers are listening quietly.


    Wu Jian tries to stop her, though, saying, ¡°are you mad?! Aren¡¯t you¡­¡± His voice quickly grows quieter as he asks, ¡°worried, that NE might hear us?¡±


    As the source of the conspiracies, Fei, Wu Jian, and the organisation behind them, are of course afraid of the ¡®co-conspirator,¡¯ NE.


    But Fei just says, ¡°so what?¡± She makes a pale smile, asking, ¡°did you feel anything wrong? Even though we told you that you have lost your memories without you being the least bit aware, did you manage to connect the dots? You didn¡¯t, and this is only, merely, inside of a Nightmare.


    This is a game Instance controlled by the Server, NE©¤©¤A Nightmare. Then, what about outside of the Nightmares? That is equally inside of this game.


    She bitterly chuckles.


    Collector finds it rather jarring to hear. He has never been interested in the conspiracies circulating the Tower, but he didn¡¯t expect the secret Fei and Wu Jian are hiding to be related to them.


    So he immediately counters, ¡°but for an AI like NE, it must be operating on some set code, right? That we lose memories is the rule of this Nightmare, so NE arranges for that. Outside, though, why would it need to alter our memories?¡±


    Fei, even paler, answers, ¡°perhaps, that is also a rule?¡± She looks all around her, seeing solemn expressions on all of the Missiontakers¡¯ faces, as she continues, ¡°it could be the case, that the perpetrators do not want us to know the truth.¡±


    Mu Jiashi states with a wooden expression, ¡°so you think NE has changed our memories, and it could do so any time it decides to do so?¡± He sighs, and comments, ¡°you could have just said so in the first place.¡±


    Fei responds with silence.


    Collector goes ¡°oh¡± and then again smiles and says, ¡°so what you are saying is that©¤©¤Yes, NE can do whatever to our memories, create, read, update and delete them whenever it wants, as if we¡¯re the poor internal storage of some sort of computer.¡±


    The rest of the Missiontakers are furrowing their brows at this description.


    ¡°Oh my¡­¡± Collector suddenly chuckles, saying, ¡°jeez-Louise, look at you. Even someone like me knows that humans are trapped in the Tower and we have no escape. So what if there is a rumour that someone did leave? Who knows if it¡¯s real or fake?


    Collector seems quite excited indeed. He continues blabbering on and on, even in spite of the increasingly uncomfortable looks from the other Missiontakers.


    ¡°¡­ Enough!¡±


    Mu Jiashi exclaims with a slight anger in his tone.


    Collector rubs his chin to ask, ¡°oh? Then would you enlighten me as to the reason, then?¡±


    Mu Jiashi stares down at him coldly, until finally saying, ¡°we only want to leave the Tower.¡±


    Collector just shrugs to say, ¡°give it up. It¡¯s impossible.¡±


    Mu Jiashi takes a deep breath, saying, ¡°don¡¯t try to force your own opinions on others,¡± his tone has never been this cold, ¡°we are willing to fight, to struggle for what is effectively an impossibility. If you are not willing, then you can just go and die somewhere alone.¡±


    Collector seems taken aback, before saying, ¡°I can¡¯t exactly die in the Tower, now, can I?¡±


    ¡°If you do not think that being succumbed in Collapsed Nightmares is a form of death¡­ Then yes, you can¡¯t die in the Tower.¡±


    Collector has finally run out of steam, and has nothing more to say.


    Nor does Mu Jiashi want to say anything, for that matter. He adjusts his emotions and tells Fei, ¡°let¡¯s just focus on this Nightmare, then. Don¡¯t overthink things.¡±


    Fei is looking at him.


    Mu Jiashi sighs, and finally tells her what he thinks, ¡°so what if we know that NE can do whatever it wants to our brains? There still isn¡¯t anything we¡­¡±


    Fei interrupts him to ask, ¡°what kind of existence do you think we are in the Tower?¡±


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s eyes widen slightly.


    In front of the stream, X¨¹ Beijin also subconsciously straightens his sitting posture with his brows creased. He almost reflexively wants to remark on Fei¡¯s question, but then, he just shuts his eyes in frustration.


    He can still hear Fei speaking.


    ¡°Here is the scene of an apocalypse,¡± Fei¡¯s voice is almost shaking, ¡°do you think, that the Earth might have been through the same? Then¡­ we, maybe, just maybe, we¡­ have all, died?¡±

 Volume 4 - CH 68.1

    Impossibility


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    ¡°That is impossible¡­¡± Mu Jiashi is almost retorting by reflex, ¡°this is just a game!¡±


    Fei keeps staring at him as she asks, ¡°a game¡­ with scenes that are virtually indistinguishable from the reality on Earth?¡± She adds, with a firm tone, ¡°do you not think that it is some form of indication?¡±


    Mu Jiashi cannot respond.


    ¡­ The Apocalypse.


    Words that humans in the Tower once used abundantly, but, before they even noticed, the word had faded out of use, or rather, was deliberately avoided altogether.


    Scenes in the Nightmares have always been desolate, barren, blighted. Sometimes, there might even be clear post-apocalyptic scenes, as seen in this Nightmare.


    It seems the Tower, or rather, the setting of the game itself, is survival in a post-apocalyptic world. Those Tower residents who are not so much living, but just surviving, are its survivors.


    They are surrounded by an endless expanse of grey fog; perhaps, outside of the Tower, in the fog, are unspeakable horrors and monstrous entities. The last survivors all had to squeeze into this tall, decrepit Tower to survive.


    That is why, in their Nightmares, themes of apocalypse, ruins, murderers, madmen, etc. are the overwhelming majority. At some point, even they, the humans, can¡¯t help but suspect if their Earth also met a similar fate?


    Is it a disaster that forced them here in exile? Did something really happen, but they all forgot? Or even¡­ like what Fei said, have they all already died?


    A few years ago, while the Missiontakers were going after X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare passionately, the Apocalypse was the mainstream hypothesis for why they are in the Tower.


    Back then, anyone thinking otherwise would be told, ¡®well, yes, this is a game, but on what basis was this game created?¡¯


    Obviously, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ was not the first person to ever feel an inexplicable d¨¦j¨¤ vu among the scenes in the Nightmare.


    In fact, the earliest Missiontaker who ever felt that sense of nostalgia, was the founder of Fei and Wu Jian¡¯s organisation. He discovered the correlation many years ago, and then, was the first one to truly question the problem with their memories and the implications.


    ©¤©¤If this game really did set itself up based on Earth, then, could what have happened in the Nightmares, actually be based on real events that took place on Earth?


    A possibility that is beyond what any Missiontaker could hope to live with.


    Never mind some unknowable ¡®Apocalypse,¡¯ but just see all those terrible crimes in the Nightmares. The massacres, madness, fervour, might have what have once occurred on Earth, occurred to them, the Missiontakers, before being forgotten¡­ That is something no Missiontaker is ready to face.


    So they would rather continue guessing at the Apocalypse, excitedly, even.


    Slowly, though, even that Apocalypse hypothesis slowly lost favour with them in the Tower.


    People have become increasingly sensitive and fragile. They cannot handle any imagination anymore. They cannot at all imagine©¤©¤That an apocalypse really did happen once on them, once on Earth!


    No, impossible!


    Therefore, when faced with Fei¡¯s pointed question, Biceps couldn¡¯t hold back from yelling out, ¡°stop joking! Implications my arse! This is just a game!¡±


    Fei merely sighs.


    Yes©¤©¤A game. That is what Missiontakers coo themselves to sleep at night with.


    They have already concluded, beyond all reasonable capacity for doubt, that this is just the background setting the game went with. So what? There have been a lot of games like that. Escaping from some apocalypse, or fighting zombies, or even players spreading the zombie virus to bring planetary doom¡­ (TL: References to Plague Inc., maybe? Cor, and for people my generation, it would be Pandemic 2 and Infectonator, huh¡­ I¡¯m feeling nostalgic) The humans of Earth are quite acquainted with the culture indeed.


    Obviously, they have no idea why they¡¯re trapped in one such game, but if Fei had to say that it is because there was an apocalypse, they all died, and someone just put them into some virtual game afterwards¡­


    See, Occam¡¯s razor would discourage all extra propositions for an explanation that are unnecessary.


    Those group of people like Fei, in order to explain how humans ended up in the game, just added all these unverifiable claims and assumptions!


    ¡°You all keep spouting nonsense about some apocalypse,¡± Baldie makes a cold chuckle asking, ¡°ha, you might as well say aliens abducted all of us.¡±


    Fei furrows her brows to say, ¡°that is not what I¡¯m saying.¡±


    Collector claps his hands together to say, ¡°I know what you mean,¡± he explains with a smile, ¡°so you¡¯re thinking that, an apocalypse sounds real cool, right? Cooler than some green aliens, no?¡±


    Baldie ¡°¡­¡±


    It sounds awfully like Collector is making a dig at him as well.


    But in any case, they¡¯ve finally arrived in front of the building, and can see the bookstore owner sitting inside the bookstore right now, through the dirty glass. Mu Jiashi shuts his eyes and calmly says, ¡°let¡¯s get the Nightmare done with before anything else.¡±


    Collector begs to differ, though, interjecting, ¡°oh no, please don¡¯t. I¡¯m super interested in all of this, please, keep going,¡± he continues with his usual chipper tone, ¡°tell me more about that apocalypse¡­ I like that word, by the way. You think we might all be dead? Then are we ghosts right now? Or just data?¡±


    Fei ignores Mu Jiashi¡¯s rather pained look, and glances over at Wu Jian, who looks awfully disapproving, and then, moves her gaze over to Baldie and Biceps, who both look rather agitated, before firmly saying, ¡°yes, that is what I am insinuating.¡±


    Wu Jian reflexively yells out, ¡°you can¡¯t¡­!¡±


    Both he and Fei are holding their breaths in, as if waiting for something.


    Shortly after, when they see that nothing has happened, they both sigh in relief simultaneously.


    Wu Jian is still extremely anxious when telling Fei, ¡°you shouldn¡¯t have said that¡­ Fei, you shouldn¡¯t. You knew that¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± Collector raises his brow and interrupts them, ¡°please©¤©¤No riddles, alright?¡±


    Fei just quietly says, ¡°let¡¯s head up to the rooftop. I¡¯ll talk up there,¡± she looks awfully poignant as she continues, ¡°no matter what¡­¡±


    That paranoia that was on their faces when they first entered this Nightmare is once again present. Mu Jiashi can¡¯t help but furrow his brows.


    But then, he rubs the crease away, and thinks, he shouldn¡¯t worry himself over them. He promised himself he¡¯s going to laze about, didn¡¯t he?


    On the stairs, Fei and Wu Jian remained silent, and still looked pretty much out of it.


    Finally, when they¡¯re on the rooftop, they realise it¡¯s empty, just as it was when they checked the last run. Neither the victim nor the murderer is here.


    Mu Jiashi ignores what Fei said earlier entirely, and speaks while thinking, ¡°so neither the dead person nor the killer is here yet?¡± He takes a note of the time, and then adds, ¡°while there is still a bit more time, but¡­¡±


    But this shouldn¡¯t be.


    According to X¨¹ Beijin, he was behind the counter of the bookstore the whole time, and besides Baldie and Biceps, he saw no one enter or leave the building at all.


    And this run, the moment they were outside of the building, X¨¹ Beijin was already there. In other words, ever since X¨¹ Beijin has been there, no one could have entered or left the building.


    ¡­ So where did the victim and the killer come from? Are they in the building right now?


    The last run, though, when they saw the dead person and searched for the culprit in the building, there was still no one at all!


    So where could they be?


    Why did they suddenly appear, before the victim died, and after which the murderer disappeared without a trace?


    Well, they are at an impasse, just like how it was in the last run.

 Volume 4 - CH 68.2

    Mu Jiashi is pacing about the rooftop with furrowed brows. He also walks to the edge of the rooftop to have a complete view of the ruins, but there are still no clues.


    He turns around, and then sees how the rest of the Missiontakers all look like they couldn¡¯t care less what¡¯s happening and are just idly standing around, he can¡¯t help but feel a deep frustration.


    Then he rubs his nose dejectedly, and thinks, these Missiontakers¡­ What a bunch of inept Missiontakers!


    Oh well. It¡¯s just a Nightmare on the bottom floor. At worst they just all starve to death and reach a Bad End. It couldn¡¯t get any worse anyway.


    Perhaps he could come try this again the next time; or, maybe, just the information he has obtained so far is enough for him to exchange for information on that woman, Su Enya, already.


    He sighs inside, and then slumps his shoulders, looking like he¡¯s done with the Nightmare, and just walks over to the rest of the Missiontakers.


    Fei, meanwhile, is still looking blankly at nowhere in particular on the rooftop, murmuring, ¡°there¡¯s nobody here¡­¡±


    ¡°Hey, can we get back on track?¡± Collector suggests with a smile, ¡°what were the two of you actually talking about downstairs?¡±


    ¡­ Back on track? The track that was the result of you derailing the conversation in the first place?


    Even X¨¹ Beijin, who is only observing the Missiontakers from afar through the stream, couldn¡¯t help but want to diss.


    He has been observing the Missiontakers the whole time, but the viewers of the stream has yet to reappear; it seems his stream really has been cut off from reality entirely.


    He is still able to operate it just fine, though, like switching to another camera¡¯s view, and watching what they¡¯re doing.


    As the stream was cut off, X¨¹ Beijin was waiting anxiously for a moment earlier, afraid that the Server, NE, would just pop up right in front of him and give him a bad time, say.


    But then nothing happened for a while, so X¨¹ Beijin gradually calmed down.


    Of course. NE is a busy system. Obviously, he¡¯d have no time to pay attention to this little insignificant Actor; besides, he did meet the original streamer of this streaming system that one time, which means that this game is obviously open to livestreaming, and NE must also be aware of that¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin is trying to think more positively by coming up with all the reasoning that are in his favour.


    True, he¡¯s afraid of the Server for sure, since NE really is the artificial intelligence, practically demonised by all the Missiontakers, ruling over them from on high.


    This artificial intelligence has absolute control over all that happens in this game called ¡®Escape.¡¯ No one can do anything without its knowledge¡­


    NE is watching them. Always.


    Despite the artificial intelligence being fair and logical to a fault, without a single hint of emotion or impulse, they still more resemble the face of the disciplinary officer, plastered on the little window of the backdoor to the classroom that you see out of the corner of your eye when you, the student, are doing something inappropriate¡­


    ¡®Having a heart attack¡¯ doesn¡¯t even come close to accurately describing what was going through X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mind earlier.


    All this time he has limited his own actions, never doing anything out of place while in possession of the streaming system. At best, in the lull between Acting sessions in front of Missiontakers, he¡¯d sneak out for a bottle of bubble tea, or have a chat with the other Actors, or something.


    Suffice it to say, he just did not wish for the Server NE to notice the issues surrounding him.


    That said, he has never come to realise, as vividly as now, that©¤©¤If NE could react promptly to the issue with him earlier, then it must have also known when X¨¹ Beijin just started streaming. It didn¡¯t need to wait until now to take any action against him (TL: Which means, if NE really wanted to target X¨¹ Beijin, it would have done so in the very beginning already).


    X¨¹ Beijin then scolds his brain for failing to realise that sooner.


    He is, in fact, already shedding the shell of protection that is his usual template for doing things. For example, in this Nightmare, he has even taken on the identity of some mysterious, powerful figure that interacts prominently with the Missiontakers.


    Even though, just now, when he realised the Server might have finally decided to pay attention to him, he felt it was seriously over¡­ But, nothing is over!


    This is emboldening him, even¡­


    In some sense, he thinks, both Missiontakers and Actors are still players of the game, technically. So what¡¯s wrong with any of these players streaming game content? Huh? Huh huh? NE, you pure, managerial supervisor of this game, you can¡¯t possibly raise a finger to that, can you, huh?


    Thus, X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s gaze, then slowly settles onto the book he just found earlier.


    He thinks, perhaps, he could be playing an even more active role than before, and deliver this clue to them proactively?


    But first, what is his game here¡­?


    Assuming his, or rather, their ultimate goal, is to leave the Tower for good, and by ¡®they,¡¯ he refers to the entirety of humanity, then what can he do, to help facilitate that goal?


    A goal that is, admittedly, completely, hopelessly beyond reach?


    Gradually, X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mood is settling back down. He is a bit tired, and sleepy again. He is even almost feeling like just giving up entirely and going to sleep, but¡­


    ¡­ Hmm, opening his Nightmare to the Missiontakers, huh?


    It is the first time in so many years that the thought has even ever crossed his mind. This has always been a firm red line for him. He chose, resolved, to become a monster that never slept.


    And he, of course, knew full well that this odd behaviour would ironically attract attention to his Nightmare.


    However¡­ X¨¹ Beijin is showing a rather bitter, self-derisive smile right now.


    That was his only possible weapon, the nuclear option. It was a future that was crystal clear to him ¨C all of them would lose. No one will emerge a winner.


    He sighs inside again, and can¡¯t help but wonder if it was because of all the unexpected twists that have happened in this Nightmare thus far, that has caused even him to imagine the ludicrous.


    After some time with his idle thoughts, X¨¹ Beijin finally turns his attention back to the stream. He sees that the Missiontakers have already moved on from the topic of the Apocalypse¡­ Well, not that he¡¯s complaining, because really, X¨¹ Beijin himself has had enough with the words too.


    He is able to sympathise with Fei and Wu Jian too, actually¡­ The nervousness and anxiety that are the result of being afraid of catching NE¡¯s attention.


    The artificial intelligence, that holds full rein over the entire progress of the game¡­ Where the rules are concerned, it is practically omnipotent.


    X¨¹ Beijin takes a deep breath, and then checks the Missiontakers¡¯ progress on-screen in detail.


    He can see, though, that the Missiontakers seem to be having trouble.

 Volume 4 - CH 68.3

    Right now, the Missiontakers are bearing the full brunt of harsh, cold winds on the rooftop, but the victim and the killer who pushed him, are yet to appear.


    Mu Jiashi is murmuring, ¡°it¡¯s almost time¡­ are the two of them still nowhere to be found?¡±


    Almost by instinct, he glances at Fei, who has proven to be the most reliable in the Nightmare so far©¤©¤Notwithstanding her paranoia and¡­ creativity, of course. He is at least able to vet for her seriousness in investigating the Nightmare.


    Although, the face Fei is making, is making Mu Jiashi¡¯s chest clench.


    The next second, he hears Fei ask, ¡°um¡­ What are we doing¡­ here?¡±


    Mu Jiashi ¡°¡­¡±


    He turns his poker face away from her.


    All the Missiontakers are silent.


    Fei looks at the other Missiontakers oddly, and is quiet for a moment, before suddenly, a look of terror overtakes her and she asks, ¡°did I¡­ forget something?¡± She reflexively turns to Wu Jian, yelling, ¡°did I?!¡±


    Wu Jian is rubbing his face and saying with a parched tone, ¡°yeah¡­ Fei, yes, you have forgotten,¡± he looks more exhausted and even frightened than usual, ¡°I did, too. Yeah. I forgot lots of things, but¡­¡±


    Fei is pale as a ghost when she follows up, ¡°but, I do not feel that anything is wrong.¡±


    Almost as soon as she said that, she looks practically petrified with fear and hopelessness.


    Mu Jiashi looks like he wants to interject. Like©¤©¤Enough, the both of you. This man and this woman have managed to instil nothing but fearmongering and panic in the Nightmare so far, that even the three other normal¡­ Well, ¡®normal,¡¯ Missiontakers have ended up focusing too much attention on their conspiracies.


    Even though¡­ Even though they¡¯re in a Nightmare right now!


    Mu Jiashi takes a deep breath, as he compares how he is feeling right now to how highschoolers close to gaokao feel when all their friends are instead talking about what job they¡¯re going to take when they graduate university.


    ¡­ Like, what¡¯s wrong with all of you?!


    While quietly observing, he also sees Collector still looking at Fei and Wu Jian with that glint of intrigue in his eyes, while Biceps and Baldie look like they¡¯re just daydreaming instead. Fei and Wu Jian¡­ are the paranoid, worrying Fei and Wu Jian, yes.


    Mu Jiashi has to speak up, telling them, ¡°now get yourselves together, please.¡±


    The rest of the Missiontakers seem surprised by the slightly threatening tone with which Mu Jiashi said it.


    In this Nightmare so far, he has always looked like some unenergetic goody two-shoes. So when he suddenly steels his face and tone to warn everyone else, they are all stupefied.


    Mu Jiashi, standing there, his hair currently fluttering wildly (TL: Like Boris Johnson¡¯s, perhaps, hehe) in the strong winds, is exuding a strong, firm aura through his firm gaze. He starts speaking.


    ¡°We¡¯re in a Nightmare. What we need to do is get this Nightmare done with, and not to talk about how to escape the Tower.


    If you keep getting distracted with other topics, we might just end up all succumbing to this Nightmare instead. The future will be never.¡±


    His gaze sweeps across each and every Missiontaker present, piercing through their helplessness, coldness, disdain, and shame, before he tells them, ¡°there¡¯s a time and place for everything,¡± and then he specifically turns to Fei and Wu Jian to say, ¡°don¡¯t talk about that anymore. The apocalypse¡­¡±


    His expression turns too complicated to analyse as he comments, ¡°even if it¡¯s true, so what? What can we even do?¡±


    Both Fei and Wu Jian seem taken aback for a moment before they both look like they want to speak up, but Mu Jiashi has already changed topics, saying, ¡°it¡¯s almost the time when we saw the two of them the last run.¡±


    Fei and Wu Jian had to swallow their questions back in.


    Fei has started forgetting, but she still remembers what happened the last run, and so is able to easily work out why they¡¯re up here on the rooftop with a little thinking.


    She knows what Mu Jiashi said is correct, that is why she is now doing her best to focus on the scene in front of her for now.


    On the first floor of the building, X¨¹ Beijin sees that they have finally got back on track to deal with the Nightmare, and also sighs in relief inside, because the moment they did so, the viewers of the stream are also back.


    He observes the comment barrage, to see it¡¯s all along the lines of ¡°suddenly dc¡¯ed,¡± ¡°Beibeis signal is bad?¡± and ¡°aaaah did i miss anything.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is quiet for a bit, and decides against following along the viewers¡¯ line of thought, and tells them, ¡°something happened just now, I¡¯m sorry about that¡­ It¡¯s, you know, something I had to sign¡­¡±


    ¡°oh! an NDA!¡±


    ¡°got it got it, we all understand, yup¡±


    ¡°these games really are mysterious¡­ i wonder who actually gets to even play, like tbh, the host is here to show us, but we can just see no touch, it pains me¡±


    ¡°if only the detective dalao is here, sob, he could definitely have analysed lots of things¡±


    ¡°hes probably caught up in %&#$?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is stunned for a moment, seeing garbled text suddenly appear in the middle of the comment barrage.


    ¡®He is probably caught up in %&#$¡¯?


    ¡­ What happened? Why is there this garbled text in the comment? What did the viewer actually type?


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s brows are furrowed, but he isn¡¯t going to act lightly. He observes the responses from the other viewers, and nothing suggests that it was out of place.


    ¡­ A censor? What did the viewer say that had to be censored?


    After that, the string of jumbled text is repeatedly mentioned on the comment barrage, and the viewers¡¯ attentions have become focused on it, and are entering a discussion.


    ¡°oh¡­ %&#$? seriously? I didn¡¯t think the detective dalao would be involved in %&#$?¡±


    ¡°unexplained disappearances these days can only be cuz of %&#$, i think?¡±


    ¡°but¡­ but I¡¯m still worried about the dalao¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    How did the conversation completely go off the rails and steam right ahead towards him? Talk about the %&#$ some more!


    X¨¹ Beijin is cussing inside.


    The viewers did mention that the general situation seemed bad before, and now, with the inexplicable %&#$ here¡­ He can¡¯t help but wonder, would it be war?


    There is too little to go on, so he decides to drop the question in favour of another.


    Why was it jumbled up? Is it the streaming system¡¯s inherent filter for sensitive words, or¡­ is it NE?


    If it¡¯s the former, then with the sudden drop out of his stream already earlier, then something like censoring sensitive topics is to be expected.


    But if it¡¯s the latter¡­


    Is NE really onto him, watching him already?


    X¨¹ Beijin rubs his nose at the thought. He¡¯s worried, of course, but, he also can¡¯t help but even feel relieved.


    But¡­ But, if NE really knew he was livestreaming all along, why did he not stop it? Why is he letting it pass?


    X¨¹ Beijin is now watching his control panel floating n the air while feeling deeply confused, and suspecting.


    He is suspecting, if something¡­


    He narrows his eyes a little, and recalls how he did not have a single workday for over a dozen days straight. Does this imply that NE is tacitly permitting his streaming? (TL: And so is curating which Nightmares he gets to enter and thus, stream)


    Then he thinks about how the Tower has been filled with both rumours of ¡®someone has successfully left the Tower¡¯ and ¡®the Ultimate Nightmare,¡¯ and falls deeper into thought.


    Is NE just watching idly by while these rumours spread?


    He does not believe that NE wouldn¡¯t know about how lifeless the general mood has been in the Tower these few years, nor does he believe that NE wouldn¡¯t know about the changes those rumours could bring to such a Tower, nor, in fact, does he believe that NE wouldn¡¯t have prepared any emergency measures for tackling such rumours emerging.


    So, could NE even be part of the forces fanning the rumours along?


    ¡­ To what end?


    The question posed in front of X¨¹ Beijin has a quick, dirty conclusion; a conclusion which makes X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s expression turn sour.


    Both the rumours of a ¡®successful escape¡¯ and an ¡®Ultimate Nightmare¡¯ can only lead to one certain conclusion, that is, both the Missiontakers and even Actors of the Tower desperately seeking for that uncertain glimmer of hope.


    The Tower will be reignited. People will once again get fired up climbing the storeys.


    In fact, if he puts it like that, the rumour that ¡®someone has successfully left the Tower,¡¯ could actually bring about the result that ¡®someone has successfully left the Tower.¡¯


    ¡­ But could someone actually really leave the Tower during this upheaval? Can anyone really escape ¡®Escape¡¯? And then what happens¡­ after they actually escape?


    X¨¹ Beijin finds his own fingers trembling. He knows that there could be fright, anxiety, paranoia, and other emotions behind it, but somehow, he seems to be detached from all those emotions at the same time; he would describe himself as being entirely encased in ice, isolated from the world.


    He can¡¯t help but faintly recall, that many, many years ago, he was in a similar state.


    That is because, back then¡­

 Volume 4 - CH 68.4

    ¡°Aaaah!!!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin has been snapped back to reality by the screams coming from the stream.


    He turns to the stream instinctively, and then, his eyes widen, and his pupils heavily shrink.


    The Missiontakers are feeling even more helplessly cheated by the Nightmare.


    Yes, someone was pushed to their death by someone else; yes, his death did not restart the Nightmare; yes, they did not find the murderer, as if the person just vanished into thin air¡­


    But none of them were expecting, that the killer actually, literally did appear out of thin air, and then disappear into thin air!


    Both Mu Jiashi and Fei are staring right at the edge of the rooftop with their jaws agape.


    Just now, two silhouettes blinked into existence from nowhere, like two blotches of ink dropped onto a blank canvas, before one of them was pushed down the building, and the other person was wiped off the canvas in an instant.


    Collector has his eyes widened with a thick smile when he comments, ¡°interesting; a sudden appearance, and a sudden disappearance, all for the sake of falling off the building¡­ Just falling off the building?¡±


    Suddenly, an idea seems to have flashed across his mind.


    Mu Jiashi, with his brows furrowed, says, ¡°no¡­ This makes no sense. That bookstore owner from before once told us that falling off the building is a punishment, for those who share different views from them.¡±


    Fei then follows up, ¡°the last run, he and I were escorted here by the survivors too. How did these two people appear out of nowhere?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re like¡­ shadows that shouldn¡¯t exist,¡± Mu Jiashi analyses, saying, ¡°a sudden appearance and disappearance¡­ Shit, why?!¡±


    He suddenly turns towards Baldie and Biceps, asking, ¡°did this happen when you were in this Nightmare before?¡±


    Both Baldie and Biceps shake their heads.


    Baldie tells him, ¡°we didn¡¯t see the dead person,¡± and he can¡¯t help but look agitated, ¡°why¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­ Could it be, that we passed by the amusement park the first run of the Nightmare?¡± Mu Jiashi murmurs a suggestion, and asks, ¡°when you were in this Nightmare before, did you go to the amusement park in the beginning?¡±


    Baldie falls into thought before answering, ¡°no¡­ we didn¡¯t,¡± then he seems confused, wondering, ¡°what¡¯s it got to do with the amusement park? That¡­ that¡¯s weird. Wouldn¡¯t we experience only whatever the Nightmare presents unconditionally?¡±


    Mu Jiashi does not respond, as he is thinking that something¡­ some detail, they must have ignored some detail all along¡­


    Finally, he says, ¡°no matter what, we still have to go downstairs, and check if the dead person is the same one we met.¡±


    Biceps is murmuring, meanwhile, ¡°he¡¯s dead, but the Nightmare hasn¡¯t restarted.¡±


    Baldie then says, ¡°we could stop by the bookstore too. That owner might still have more information to give.¡±


    Fei asks, surprised, ¡°what bookstore owner?¡±


    Mu Jiashi rubs his temples in exhaustion, ¡°you forgot again?¡± He furrows his brows, and says, ¡°I keep feeling like the rate of forgetting in the second run is much faster than in the first run?¡±


    At this point, they are all just staring into each other, and among them, only Baldie and Mu Jiashi has yet to forget anything.


    So finally, only Baldie answers him, ¡°yes, the more the runs of the Nightmare, the quicker they start to forget.¡±


    Mu Jiashi says, ¡°that is truly terrible.¡±


    He is silent for a while before turning to Fei.


    Fei just tells him, ¡°no need to explain. Go downstairs for that bookstore you guys said. It¡¯ll save time.¡±


    ¡°Alright, the bookstore¡­¡± Mu Jiashi suddenly pauses, and exclaims, ¡°wait, books?!¡±


    An idea firmly takes root in his mind.


    Just like X¨¹ Beijin from before, he also made the connection ¨C if pen and paper produces nothing but jumbled text, then, what about the books in the bookstore?


    Hurriedly, he shares his thoughts with the other Missiontakers as they descend the stairs. They first check on the dead person on the ground, and he turns out to be the same person they saw dead in the run before.


    Fei asks the pertinent question again quietly, ¡°but what could it mean? Why did he suddenly appear¡­ It looks like he only appeared in order to die?¡±


    Biceps goes ¡®tch¡¯ and murmurs, ¡°sure are oversuspicious as always.¡±


    Collector just says with that usual smile, ¡°if you¡¯re not sure about who he is, just use an Infocard? And you can give me the used card too, how nice would that be.¡±


    Baldie just coldly chuckles and retorts, ¡°keep that last bit to yourself, and someone might actually have done that. Now no one will use it at all.¡±


    Mu Jiashi heaves a weary sigh.


    Are these seriously Missiontakers from higher floors? ¡­ Humanity can really just perish.


    Not that they could achieve much staring at a dead person, so they are heading back for the bookstore and X¨¹ Beijin, when suddenly, they all stopped in place.


    ¡°Is that¡­ the man that walked into the fog?¡± She asks, with an almost inaudible tone.


    All of them have turned their heads in the direction to see, that in the ruins nearby, that man, emaciated, with sunken cheeks, and unsteady steps, and soulless eyes, is once again drifting about like an apparition. He is holding a glass bottle, and it seems he is searching for food again.


    They watch from afar as the man slinks off into some obscure corner of the ruins, and when he reemerges, he is holding a piece of bread again. Then the man turns around and slowly departs.


    Mu Jiashi furrows his brows.


    Biceps, confused, asks, ¡°wasn¡¯t he holding a piece of bread already? Is he hungry again?¡±


    Mu Jiashi and Fei share a look as they run forward without a word, stopping the man in his track.


    The wary man holds his bread tightly and yells out with his parched tone, ¡°no¡­ robbing!¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t want to rob your bread,¡± Mu Jiashi observes his reaction, and it seems he really has forgotten about their meeting not long ago, and he adds, ¡°we just want to ask you something.¡±


    The man is visibly less distressed, and nods, saying, ¡°ok.¡±


    ¡°Are you here to look for food?¡±


    The man nods.


    ¡°But what about the food you found earlier?¡±


    The man gives Mu Jiashi an odd look, answering, ¡°I¡­ have no food.¡±


    The Missiontakers all remain quiet.


    The man explains, ¡°I have no food¡­ so, I look for food.¡±


    This makes Mu Jiashi feel inexplicably like d¨¦j¨¤ vu, and he tells him, ¡°but, we saw you earlier today, and you were holding a piece of bread in your hands.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The man widens his eyes in shock, saying, ¡°no, no way, I never saw you. You got wrong person. I got food first time today, and met you first time.¡±


    Fei whispers to Mu Jiashi, ¡°he forgot as well.¡±


    Mu Jiashi nods.

 Volume 4 - CH 68.5

    Fei and Mu Jiashi both agree that the tattered man in front of them has lost his memories as well. He seems to have entirely forgotten about the fact that he already got a piece of bread, that he already had food.


    He feels like he did not, so he is still hungry, like how Wu Jian felt hungry a very short time after forgetting he has already eaten.


    This is like some terrible curse, a curse that he will gain food but forget about it, ending up as much ado about nothing.


    But¡­ why? Are other survivors in the Nightmare similar? Why are the ruins causing this shadow of forgetting and endless exercise in futility to blanket the area?


    The Missiontakers try whatever they could to spur the forgotten memories of the man of their previous meeting, but the man only impatiently denies it all along, and is now looking wary, no longer willing to cooperate.


    Hugging the bread, he looks like he is nervous to get away.


    Fei suddenly says, ¡°someone has died.¡±


    The man stops in place.


    Fei observes the man¡¯s micro-expressions and movements, while explaining, ¡°someone pushed the person down from the building, but the killer has gone missing.¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± The man suddenly reveals a violent, angry look he has never shown before, while yelling at them, ¡°you, stop pestering me! I know nothing!¡±


    Fei is quite spooked by the reaction, and doesn¡¯t react.


    Mu Jiashi follows up instead, ¡°but you actually know something, right? Was the dead person¡­ someone you knew?¡±


    The man almost wrathfully proclaims, ¡°no, I know nothing! Stop pestering me!!!¡±


    Then he forcefully drags his hunger-addled feet up to get away from them. He slowly disappears from view.


    It seems he is once again headed to his self-proclaimed home off the southwest corner of the ruins, inside the fog.


    Mu Jiashi stares at his retreating silhouette as he analyses, ¡°it seems this Nightmare has another hidden rule¡­ This man is also losing his memories, forgetting about the food he got and return to the Treasure Trove for food.¡±


    Fei asks, ¡°but, why?¡±


    Mu Jiashi sighs and says, ¡°I have no idea¡­ the last run, we didn¡¯t even realise he came back.¡±


    Fei nods to say, ¡°sorry about that, it¡¯s on me,¡± she is apologetic as she continues, ¡°I should have paid more attention to the ruins behind me when you were looking for the killer in the building¡­¡±


    ¡°Never mind the blame game,¡± Baldie impatiently interjects, ¡°what we should be doing right now is going to the bookstore.¡±


    Mu Jiashi nods.


    Collector isn¡¯t in any hurry to move, however, as he is observing the survivors busy as bees nearby, while inhaling some of the muddled, but distinctly recognisable air of the ruins of the apocalypse.


    Then he asks, ¡°do you not feel, how this Nightmare felt erratic in places?¡±


    The rest of the Missiontakers turn their attention to him.


    Collector, with shimmering eyes and a glowing smile, explains, ¡°the amusement park people may say ¡®Humans are Impurities of Earth,¡¯ but why do they not have to look for food? Then there¡¯s the dead person, who the bookstore owner says is punished by those people¡­


    But why did that death not cause any visible changes to this Nightmare? And why did the other man keep looking for food fruitlessly? Do you not feel like, there might actually be no underlying logic to it? There is a very clear¡­


    Sense of erratic delineation.¡±


    Mu Jiashi asks, ¡°delineation of what?¡±


    Collector shrugs, and answers, ¡°the area itself?¡±


    ¡°I know what you are trying to say,¡± Fei suddenly speaks up, ¡°in this Nightmare, there is no single thread, or a single event, that links up the Nightmare;


    it is much of a stretch if we say that the man who fell off the building is linking up the group of people from the amusement park, and the man that walks into the fog.¡±


    Mu Jiashi slowly nods, saying, ¡°the clues in this Nightmare so far can be described as erratic.¡±


    Fei then follows up smoothly, ¡°but in all Nightmares, there must be one single core that gives rise to the Nightmare itself¡ª¡ªGiving rise to the fear or trauma of the Nightmare¡¯s owner.¡±


    ¡°¡­ That said,¡± Baldie then asks, ¡°who is the owner of the Nightmare in the first place?¡±


    The Missiontakers then look at each other, nonplussed.


    Fei murmurs, ¡°could it be that guy? Collecting food every day but still feel hunger; or a survivor of the amusement park who fears the apocalypse, or even fears the ruins itself? Or¡­¡± Then she suddenly comes up with another option, ¡°the man that was pushed off the building?¡±


    Wu Jian widens his eyes to say, ¡°the dead person¡­ the owner of the Nightmare?¡±


    Collector has an intriguing smile on, commenting, ¡°we can¡¯t rule that out, especially since his death did not cause the Nightmare to restart. This is a clear enough sign that there is something wrong with him.¡±


    Wu Jian meekly suggests, ¡°it might just be part of the fixed plot¡­¡±


    The rest of the Missiontakers all give him looks.


    Wu Jian immediately shuts up.


    Mu Jiashi then gives it some thought and idly suggests, ¡°what if¡­ it¡¯s a book?¡±


    When he says that, he is recalling the book Lin Qin returned to X¨¹ Beijin; recalling the book¡¯s cover of a bloodied piece of paper and a pen; recalling how, that day, at a certain intersection, he ran into the Tower resident holding a pen in his hand.


    He then changes topic to say, ¡°in this Nightmare, all that we write turns into nonsense, but there is still one bookstore here, with countless books inside¡ª¡ªwhat would those books be like?¡±


    Collector is the first to react, but is to his earlier point, and so asks with this shocked but also excited tone, ¡°are you suggesting we might be experiencing events of a book?!¡± (TL: Going by Mu Jiashi¡¯s answer of ¡°what if it¡¯s a book¡± to the earlier question of ¡°who is the owner of the Nightmare)


    Mu Jiashi shakes his head, and selectively mentions only his encounter with that particular Tower resident, and then says, ¡°so not exactly, but I believe it is a direction that is possible to explore.¡±


    Baldie isn¡¯t interested in working through the leaps of faith in logic here, and just says, ¡°then let¡¯s hurry up and go.¡±


    A short while later, the Missiontakers arrive in the bookstore.


    Mu Jiashi takes a step forward, and tells X¨¹ Beijin, who is sitting behind the counter, ¡°owner, we¡¯ve come looking for a book. A book, that we can read clearly.¡±


    He observes this man with pale skin while asking, and notes that he seems to have the hints of a smile on his face.


    ¡­ A smile? Why?


    Mu Jiashi is now wondering once again, whether his image of X¨¹ Beijin in the Tower, can really be applied to the man here inside of the Nightmare.


    ¡­ Although X¨¹ Beijin is just merely feeling touched, even proud of the intelligent thinking the Missiontakers have displayed thus far.


    He, with this face that is almost gentle to a fault, is feeling so glad for the Missiontakers who have come to him for help, which in the Missiontakers¡¯ eyes, merely resembles how a demon would look seeing prey fall right into his trap.


    Well, technically, it¡¯s similar in how they¡¯re both reactions to ¡®people coming to him.¡¯


    Mu Jiashi could almost be convinced his earlier thoughts about a key book is wrong at this point.


    ¡°A book?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin repeats the word with a quiet tone.


    Then, he abruptly breaks into a chuckle.


    Then, using his long, pale, and elegant right hand placed on the counter, he lifts up his right index finger, to tap lightly on a particular book.

 Volume 4 - CH 69.1

    Mu Jiashi is staring at the book blankly.


    A pen, and a paper with what appears to be bloodstains are all that is depicted on the cover.


    ¡­ He snaps his head right back at X¨¹ Beijin, quick as if he was electrocuted, only to once again, see the mysterious smile on X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s lips.


    He is petrified.


    In the silence, X¨¹ Beijin is waiting awkwardly for a reaction from Mu Jiashi and the other Missiontakers.


    Hello? Is anyone here? Don¡¯t look like you¡¯re lagging or something! This hint is like, obvious enough, right? Why are neither Mu Jiashi nor any other Missiontaker reacting at all?!


    Finally, about five or six seconds later, when X¨¹ Beijin has had enough of the depressing silence and is about to speak, Mu Jiashi finally reacts, with whatever bizarre thoughts that must have plagued his mind, as X¨¹ Beijin can see how both his expression and even tone of voice is much more carefully calibrated.


    He asks, ¡°this book¡­ would you¡­ allow us, to borrow it temporarily?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin sighs in relief inside, and then hands to book to Mu Jiashi, saying, ¡°of course.¡±


    Then he glances over at the stream, and just as expected, the viewers are amused and making witty remarks about how overcautious the Missiontakers are.


    Of course, the viewers know X¨¹ Beijin is a good person at heart, so they¡¯re free to just rip the Missiontakers a new one, even though when they first saw X¨¹ Beijin themselves, they were also slightly frightened of him because of his appearance.


    Not that they could really say why it was, perhaps it was merely X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s cold, distant appearance, or that exhausted, uncaring expression.


    And now, the Missiontakers are somewhat wary because of that hint of a smile on his face.


    They¡¯re more preoccupied with the book though.


    Mu Jiashi takes the book and immediately starts flipping through it. The words are not scrambled, just as he thought.


    He looks back at the title ¨C ¡®The Repeating Nightmare.¡¯


    ¡­ Was this the book Lin Qin borrowed from X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore? This is clearly an important item in this Nightmare though, why would it be in his bookstore in the Tower?


    In fact, could it be that the clue to the Nightmare he once obtained in exchange for drinks, was also acquired through this means?


    Recalling how the bookshelves in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore reach all the way up to the ceiling, he can¡¯t help but feel a chill down his spine.


    ¡­ Who is this bookstore owner, really? Why would his bookstore have so many books related to Nightmares? Is every single book there representing another different Nightmare?


    But¡­ how could that even be possible? Why, would a bookstore on the bottom floor, have documentation on Nightmares of other Tower residents?


    Could this bookstore owner, be the Server NE?!


    Mu Jiashi has just came to conclude the absurd.


    Of course, it cannot be possible.


    Everybody knows that the Server NE is on the top floor of the Tower.


    There have been Missiontakers who have been to the highest floor, but there were no rumours of whether he successfully left or not, but the person did manage to pass information on¡­ Like the existence of NE.


    Nobody knows what NE looks like, but all the Missiontakers of the Tower are all vaguely aware that the Server is on the top floor of the Tower, and that leaving the Tower must be something done through NE.


    As for how that actually works, nobody really knows.


    They say, just like Tower residents, NE also counts as an NPC in the Tower, which means, it also has a Nightmare¡ª¡ªNot that anyone knows anything about what that Nightmare would be like.


    Mu Jiashi is among those who have once heard about that rumour, and he has always been dismissive of the notion of an ¡®Ultimate Nightmare¡¯ here, because if the Tower really has to have an Ultimate Nightmare, he cannot imagine anyone but the Server NE possessing it.


    Once, X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare was speculated to be the Ultimate Nightmare by some Missiontakers on the bottom floor. While Mu Jiashi does agree that X¨¹ Beijin may be hiding some secrets in there, but if his Nightmare really is the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare¡¯¡­


    Then, what could the Nightmare of NE possibly be?


    But then, when reminding himself of how it went down a few years back, he falls further into thought. He knew that one Missiontaker tried to invade X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore physically, but ended up being thrown out by X¨¹ Beijin.


    In that sense, perhaps the secret lies in his bookstore instead?


    That said, when Mu Jiashi visited X¨¹ Beijin in his bookstore, X¨¹ Beijin didn¡¯t seem to mind at all. In fact, Lin Qin was borrowing books from him directly as well¡­


    Wait, no no no, this cannot possibly be the same case. You know how Lin Qin and X¨¹ Beijin are.


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s thoughts are digressing now, drifting to the rumours circulating between Lin Qin and X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s relationship.


    He is distracted for so long that Baldie, impatient, asks, ¡°what are you thinking about?¡± And he also looks slightly anxious when eyeing the book, commenting, ¡°this is way too thick. How long will it take to read?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a horror novel.¡±


    Suddenly, X¨¹ Beijin chimes in calmly from the side.


    The Missiontakers all stop to look at him, as they suddenly realise, that of course, X¨¹ Beijin is the owner of the bookstore, who is even hinting at them directly that this book is important. So it is reasonable to assume that he would be familiar with its contents as well.


    Fei immediately asks, ¡°can you please tell us what the book talks about?¡±


    ¡°As I said earlier,¡± X¨¹ Beijin lightly chuckles again, saying, ¡°I operate by the principle of equivalent exchange. I could be a storyteller, but what will you offer me in return?¡±


    Mu Jiashi thinks for a second before gritting his teeth to say, ¡°we are investigating the book¡­ We suspect that its contents, are possibly, playing out right in these ruins.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin seems surprised for a moment as he gives Mu Jiashi a meaningful glance.


    In the stream, though, the viewers have lost it.


    ¡°look at you, you righteous looking boy, now trying to fish information out with nothing too!¡±


    ¡°speak the truth! did you learn it from Beibei?¡±


    ¡°Beibei, never do to others what they might do to you¡±


    ¡°and always do grab the leader before the band of thieves¡± (TL: Reference to a classic Chinese saying¡­ I guess, I¡¯m not too sure, though)


    ¡°¡­? slowly types out a question mark¡±


    ¡°my man, hello, the lord of rebuttals checking in, are we?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin almost fails to maintain his poker face to break into laughter, but he manages to hold it in.


    Then, using his Acting skills as befits an extra, he tells them with a flat, serious tone, ¡°an interesting piece of information.¡±


    His almost-failure in hiding his smile, though, in the Missiontakers eyes, merely add to the mystique of his character. Mu Jiashi is even nervous enough that he almost trembled.


    But then, he convinces himself that, since the Server arranged for him to sit here in the bookstore, it must have intended for him to tell the Missiontakers something.


    The ¡®equivalent exchange¡¯ thing might also have been put in place to confirm what clues the Missiontakers have thus far before deciding which information could be conveyed to them.


    That is his educated guess, according to what he knew of Nightmares.


    He also manages to calm down slightly with those idle thoughts.

 Volume 4 - CH 69.2

    Having calmed down, Mu Jiashi then puts the question to X¨¹ Beijin, ¡°was that information sufficient for you to tell us what the book is all about?¡±


    They can read, but the explanation from X¨¹ Beijin will clearly save some time; they really need time.


    ¡­ Especially when, just now, he noticed both Collector and Wu Jian looking distinctly lost. They look like people just woken up their first day on holiday in a hotel, wondering why they¡¯re there, or¡­


    Well, Collector is wondering why they¡¯re there, just as he thought, but Wu Jian is actually wondering who the man sitting behind the counter actually is.


    Wu Jian probably forgot what happened the entire first run already, and is now already forgetting about the second run. If he completely forgets, then the Nightmare will be restarting again.


    Mu Jiashi also has a feeling that this book right here would actually be the key to them finally figuring out what is going on in this Nightmare.


    He is looking intently at the bookstore owner in front of him, hoping for him to tell them critical information.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s gaze, meanwhile, lowers onto the book on his counter.


    ¡­ A horror novel.


    He begins describing, ¡°I heard that the inspiration for the protagonist of this novel, is actually someone to whom the author holds a grudge; the author wrote his enemy into the novel on purpose, setting his character to do meaningless things over and over again, as a revenge.¡±


    That last part of what he said has made Mu Jiashi¡¯s face turn sour.


    Dryly, he mutters, ¡°¡­ forgetting, too?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin does not directly answer the question, and instead continues his description, ¡°this protagonist is some survivor on some nondescript, post-apocalyptic land. Every day, his everyday life consists of collecting the food he needs.


    The ruined lands are dangerous, so he doesn¡¯t dare eating food out in the open. He had to first move the food back home, putting it into his small warehouse where he stored all his food.


    However, the moment he put his food inside, he¡¯ll forget the fact that he acquired food. Then, as hunger continues to plague him, he will have to leave his house once again, and head to the ruined lands to look for food once more.


    Every day, he repeats this process, until his very demise. He will have a hoard of food in his warehouse, but ignore all of it, until he died in fear, desperation and starvation.¡±


    As the monotonous story retelling went on, the ruins itself seemed to have jolted slightly. A low rumbling sound then followed, until it all subsided, and all appeared to be unchanged.


    When X¨¹ Beijin is finally finished with the story, Collector, who is standing next to the window, says with a rather surprised tone, ¡°the fog is gone.¡±


    ¡°The fog is gone?!¡±


    Compared to the other Missiontakers, Fei and Wu Jian had the biggest, quickest reaction. They rush to the window and lean their entire body on it, staring at the edges of the ruins in shock and horror©¤©¤The fog, has really gone missing.


    And they can see, from a distance, the silhouette of the rubbles further afoot in the city.


    Both Baldie and Biceps also make their way to the window, and they are equally shocked, asking, ¡°a new location?¡±


    All of them ignored X¨¹ Beijin entirely, save for Mu Jiashi, who wholeheartedly thanked X¨¹ Beijin for the help, and then, looking at his erstwhile companions, he adds an apology on their behalf.


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t really mind, and just shakes his head.


    He is keeping the time in his mind, and Dai Wu should be here for him soon.


    Though the Missiontakers learning about the contents of the book seems to have fundamentally changed the Nightmare somehow. The fog is gone, and the explorable area has visibly expanded.


    If so, perhaps the sequence of events to follow would change as well?


    X¨¹ Beijin eyes the book thoroughly, and sinks into thought.


    He¡¯s wondering, if the Nightmare¡­ is really just the book?


    Something doesn¡¯t add up.


    After all, Nightmares are, in essence, dreams, not books or plots. Even if the Nightmare may be related to the book, it is at best a by-product or some other relationship.


    ¡­ Does that mean, that the owner of this Nightmare, would be the author of the book? Or even that enemy he holds a grudge towards, i.e. the protagonist? Or some other largely unrelated individual entirely, like someone who has read the book?


    He checks out the list of camera sources he can switch to on the right of his streaming screen, and sees that the fog dissipating did not, in fact, add any new locations. Does this mean that the stream already included all the places outside of the fog?


    It¡¯s possible. Although the Missiontakers have basically gone through the entirety of the ruins already, according to their positions on the stream¡¯s list the whole time, they haven¡¯t been to the half of everything.


    Over fifty locations are listed in the stream, but he estimates the Missiontakers having been to a third or so of them.


    It can only be because those other locations are hidden behind the fog, right?


    While thinking, Fei and Wu Jian¡¯s helpless yelling drags him back to reality.


    ¡°Impossible!¡± Fei¡¯s tone is sharper than usual, almost uncomfortably screeching at the ears. She is looking at the scenery outside in a trance, still saying, ¡°impossible¡­ How can the fog be gone?!¡±


    Meanwhile, Wu Jian is clearly calmer than Fei. Or possibly, just more disappointed and dejected. He says, ¡°this Nightmare, is not the one we¡¯re looking for¡­¡±


    Collector immediately raises his eyebrows at that, asking, ¡°oh? Excuse me¡­ If I understood you correctly, you mean you came to this Nightmare on purpose?¡±


    Fei gives Wu Jian a death glare. Damn him and his big mouth.


    Then she had to explain, ¡°uh¡­ Yes, you can understand it as so, but please do not misunderstand. We are only here to¡­ to verify something.¡±


    Collector asks, clearly intrigued, ¡°and what might that be?¡±


    Fei remains silent for a bit before finally explaining, ¡°about the amnesia, and¡­ the Impurities, the Apocalypse. In some other Nightmare, these words would also appear, and it all seemed to point to¡­¡± She bites her lips before continuing, ¡°at least, we think it is trying to imply something.¡±


    Collector¡¯s interest merely deepens, and asks, ¡°so, in this Nightmare, your objective is to¡­¡± He picks his next words very carefully, ¡°seek the truth?¡±


    Fei takes a deep breath, and says, ¡°basically, yes,¡± then she glances at Wu Jian, and adds, ¡°when we knew that this Nightmare had elements similar to how it is ¡®outside,¡¯ we decided to check it out; there is a¡­ question, we wanted to try and prove.¡±

 Volume 4 - CH 69.3

    Mu Jiashi barely let his eyes off the Missiontakers for a moment and they¡¯re talking about the Apocalypse again.


    Not long ago, Fei has already told them their thoughts about the apocalypse in this Nightmare, the fog, the survivors, the memories, etc. But¡­ so they were aware of those elements before they came here?


    Mu Jiashi just sighs and rubs his throbbing forehead, asking, ¡°can we first get back on track?¡±


    Collector answers with a question, ¡°are you saying that what they¡¯re talking about isn¡¯t on topic?¡±


    Mu Jiashi gives him a cold gaze and says, ¡°if you feel like being trapped in this Nightmare forever, then sure; I¡¯m going to take a look at the ¡®home¡¯ of that man instead.¡±


    Collector seems hesitant, but relents soon enough.


    Fei instead apologises, ¡°sorry, we were¡­ we shouldn¡¯t have kept it to ourselves, perhaps,¡± then she offers a compromise, ¡°let¡¯s go. I¡¯ll explain everything along the way.¡±


    Then they waved X¨¹ Beijin goodbye and left the bookstore.


    They then discover the body outside the building gone already, but given how mysterious the killer and this dead person were, the Missiontakers were only slightly surprised.


    Mu Jiashi still has some comments to say, ¡°the bookstore owner didn¡¯t mention this murder case in his story¡­ So is this not part of the plot in the book? Could this Nightmare be following the plot of that book only partially?¡±


    Fei quietly answers, ¡°possibly.¡±


    Mu Jiashi gives her a look, while thinking about how everything in this Nightmare is hiding secrets.


    From the pair that came together on purpose, Fei and Wu Jian, to that jumpy oddball Collector, to Baldie and Biceps, who were pretty flashy early on but have gone quiet for a while¡­ And even the bookstore owner.


    In fact, he dare say that everyone in the Nightmare seems to be hiding secrets.


    ¡­ That sentence once again fills Mu Jiashi¡¯s ears, and so he really wants to know, what the secrets could that woman, Su Enya, be hiding. She said, she couldn¡¯t tell him more.


    The mere implications of that sentence makes Mu Jiashi fearful enough.


    Why would a Tower resident on the bottom floor know about a key sentence from a Nightmare on a higher floor? Does she know that woman in that Nightmare?


    Mu Jiashi closes his eyes and grips the book in his hand©¤©¤He borrowed it from X¨¹ Beijin, by the way©¤©¤more tightly, and forces himself to turn his attention back on the Nightmare at hand.


    He was going to laze about in this Nightmare. He didn¡¯t want anything to do with these Missiontakers or even this Nightmare, even if taking charge and being responsible seems to be his second nature. Right now, though, he can say that what is driving his involvement in this Nightmare, isn¡¯t actually that sense of responsibility, but in fact, it is because of fear.


    He does not want himself to wallow in a Nightmare ever again©¤©¤To be swallowed whole by the abyss.


    Mu Jiashi mutters those words to himself repeated.


    Then, he forces himself to look back up, turn around, and tell the others, ¡°let¡¯s go.¡±


    They head towards the southwest.


    When passing by the Treasure Trove, they stopped for a moment to look for food and alleviate the hunger, during which both Collector and Biceps almost started a conflict with other survivors, who seem to have taken to the food they found, somehow, and rushed at them to try and rob them of what they found.


    Collector, with that usual smile of his, just immediately threw the food he found to the ground and used his shoe to grind it to bits.


    Biceps wasn¡¯t as decisive and bold, however, and so his food was stolen in the ensuing scuffle. Baldie had to pitch in some of his for him.


    What was fortunate was that they didn¡¯t actually need food, and so aren¡¯t as mad as the survivors. They are merely following the game¡¯s settings to look for food to eat.


    To them, those survivors robbing food are merely data as controlled by NE. Not even Collector paid them any second thoughts, assuming it is just some kind of plot element.


    X¨¹ Beijin, who saw the debacle play out through the stream, couldn¡¯t help but furrow his brows slightly.


    First off, he is sure that this whole group of survivors acting independently must be Actors, but their Acting was so impeccable that he cannot think of them as anything other than survivors who are actually scraping together everything they could to survive atop these ruins.


    Then he inevitably recalls the survivors who would chant ¡°Humans are Impurities of the Earth,¡± and his heart sinks.


    And second, this is not the first time the Missiontakers looked for food in the Treasure Trove. Why did nothing happen then, and right after the fog dissipated, this happened?


    Could it be, that the dead calm appearance of the ruins, belie some unknown currents moving underneath?


    X¨¹ Beijin is seriously worried.


    The Missiontakers, entirely oblivious, continue heading to their destination.


    Afraid of the memory loss, and given how writing stuff down is useless, starting from the second run of the Nightmare, they have never split up.


    Now, Fei starts her explanation, ¡°I think¡­ I should be talking about it now. We did come to this Nightmare intentionally,¡± she gives a weary smile, and says, ¡°perhaps you have heard about rumours regarding an ¡®Ultimate Nightmare¡¯ in the Tower.¡±


    She pauses for a moment before continuing, ¡°win the Ultimate Nightmare, and you can leave the Tower©¤©¤That¡¯s what the rumours say.¡±


    They continue walking along the uneven road built up through rubble and rock. Despite the disappearance of the fog, none of the other survivors seem to have taken notice, still continuing their routine of looking for food in groups, confined to the rectangular area.


    A dreary sense of hopelessness and destitute still fills the air of the ruins.


    ¡­ What was the fog actually representing, even?


    Meanwhile, Fei continues telling their story, ¡°not long ago, Wu Jian and I heard people say that this Nightmare must be the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare;¡¯ we were dismissive.


    But then¡­ when we learnt of the elements of this Nightmare, from the amnesia, to the ruins of an apocalypse, to the fog, we¡­ we chose to come here.¡±


    Mu Jiashi, surprised, interjects with a question, ¡°so you do now feel like this is the Ultimate Nightmare?¡±


    Fei is hesitant when replying, ¡°not really¡­ Not exactly, I think,¡± but then suddenly, her attention turns to the book in Mu Jiashi¡¯s hand, ¡°where did that book come from? The characters¡­ ah, I see. Never mind.¡±


    Her smile is awfully unconvincing.


    Wu Jian seemed to hesitate for a bit before continuing where she trailed off, ¡°we were, we came¡­ because, we thought, this Nightmare shared similarities with the Tower, and so, we might have been able to find some¡­ clues, say, related to the Tower here.¡±


    Collector raises his brow to say, ¡°I see! You see yourselves as journalists looking for the truth behind the Tower, is it? And whether it¡¯s the ¡®Apocalypse¡¯ or the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare,¡¯ you¡¯d take that as foregone conclusions?¡±


    Wu Jian glances at him, and says, frustrated, ¡°I want to emphasise that we do not believe them outright. We treat them as hypothesis, and look for evidence that prove or disprove them in meticulous detail.¡±


    Fei takes a deep breath, looking like she¡¯s calmed down a little, and says, ¡°since the fog would disappear, this can only mean that this fog in the Nightmare seems different to the one we wish to learn more about.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just the setting in the Nightmare,¡± Baldie suddenly chimes in, ¡°it is unrelated to the grey fog outside of the Tower, as you might be thinking.¡±


    Fei turns to him and concurs with a quiet tone, ¡°yes, we know that now.¡±


    Collector goes ¡®tch,¡¯ saying, ¡°in the end, it¡¯s all just endless busywork, huh?¡± He is chuckling again, before saying, ¡°well, it¡¯s all interesting to listen to, I¡¯ll give you that much. Hm¡­ It¡¯s a shame there isn¡¯t a used utility card for me to commemorate. Why are y¡¯all not using any?¡±


    No one answers that question.


    While everyone may not be comfortable with how paranoid Fei and Wu Jian always looked, Collector, with his slightly creepy fixed smile and carefree demeanour only makes them want to avoid him altogether.


    Collector makes a weary sigh.


    Then, Mu Jiashi says, seeing the timing is right, ¡°with that out of the way, can we get back to the Nightmare?¡±


    Fei nods to say, ¡°apologies¡­ Of course.¡±


    Mu Jiashi then continues, ¡°alright. Let¡¯s take stock of our current situation and what we know, then.¡±

 Volume 4 - CH 69.4

    As Mu Jiashi announces another information organising session, the viewers in the stream have followed suit, asking X¨¹ Beijin, who has been quieter than usual in this Nightmare, to analyse the Nightmare for them.


    Mu Jiashi might be clever in their eyes, but obviously, their favourite is still X¨¹ Beijin, their very own streaming host.


    X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t really good at saying ¡®no¡¯©¤©¤Lin Qin¡¯s invitations to brawl notwithstanding.


    So while still nominally listening to Mu Jiashi, he says, ¡°one thing in this Nightmare has been bugging me the entire time, actually ¨C who is the owner of this Nightmare?¡±


    ¡°oh right, the owner of the nightmare is still unknown¡±


    ¡°more notable npcs so far include: the man in the fog, the dead person, the killer, black robe guy, and thats it I think?¡±


    ¡°the missiontakers might want to add Beibei to that list¡±


    ¡°(whispers) but Beibei never lets people into the nightmare he owns right?¡±


    ¡°¡­ kuhum, anyway, that¡¯s the four of them!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, amused, smiles and says, ¡°so which one of the four do you think is it?¡±


    ¡°got it Beibei, we¡¯ll investigate!¡±


    ¡°imma prove ma IQ!¡±


    ¡°time for me to show off my brain skillz!¡±


    ¡°one vote for the man in the fog, because like he¡¯s the character based on that someone from real life right? makes sense to be frightened¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin was watching the discussion unfold quietly the whole time, but now that someone¡¯s asked, he responses, ¡°what I said was all that you needed to know.¡±


    He read the novel before, back in the Tower, true. When Lin Qin was picking his novel, he was picking from the shelf which X¨¹ Beijin has went through already, which was why he allowed Lin Qin to pick as he likes.


    It was really long ago when he read the book, though, so he actually couldn¡¯t remember much of it by now. In fact, the description of the contents of that book was provided verbatim by the Server.


    So that means, according to the Server, only those information was required to resolve this Nightmare.


    The viewers are shocked to hear the answer, and shortly after, the comment barrage starts up with an entire screen of ¡°Beibei! help us with the analysis!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin rubs his nose, feeling slightly bashful.


    He slowly lays out his thoughts, ¡°I¡¯ve had many guesses myself, and considered all the people you mentioned just now, but they all seem to fall short of actually embodying the image of this Nightmare owner we know so far.


    So in the end, I recalled another clue ¨C the fact that both runs of the Nightmare, death does not cause the Nightmare to start over.¡±


    He pauses appropriately, allowing time for the viewers to react.


    Then he continues speaking, without paying much attention to the comments, ¡°why would it be the case that the complete loss of memory, rather than life, would become the condition for the Nightmare to restart?¡±


    At the same time, Mu Jiashi is also talking about this exact question over at the other side of the ruins.


    He also has his arm holding the book raised in the air.


    So both the Missiontakers and the audience of the stream figure it out almost simultaneously, yelling and typing, ¡°the Nightmare is the book?!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin corrects them, ¡°more accurately, the Nightmare is based on the plot of this book.¡±


    The viewers then ask him, ¡°so the fog?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin has his own explanation, ¡°the fog surrounding the area may actually be what demarcates the extent of the locations and scenes in the plot. So when the Missiontakers figure out the fact that this is a novel and it exists in this Nightmare, the fog naturally disappears.


    ¡°oh i got it! a dimensional upgrade!¡±


    ¡°they turned from 2d chars into 3d char models!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Uh¡­ figuratively, yes?


    Not sure how to respond to that, he just says, ¡°well, you¡¯re right, I guess.¡±


    He pauses to watch with a smile as the viewers cheer.


    Then he continues his explanation, ¡°so basically, as this Nightmare is based upon this novel, it can explain why the condition for restart is based on memories, because that must be how the novel¡¯s setting was; the Nightmare has arranged for the novel¡¯s setting to become the fundamental rule in this Nightmare.¡±


    The viewers confidently type, ¡°I see!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin nods, then falls into thought for a moment and adds, ¡°although I¡¯m still not sure about one thing¡­ assuming this Nightmare is based on this novel, then who would the owner of the Nightmare even be?¡±


    The audience ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°i dont see anymore!¡±


    ¡°so¡­ so what if I don¡¯t get it! not even Beibei knows!¡±


    ¡°nor do the dum-dum missiontakers it seems¡±


    ¡°you, why are you even comparing with the missiontakers! we even have gods eye view here [pain emoji]¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is trying hard to hold his laughter in, covering his mouth with his hand quietly so that the viewers don¡¯t notice.


    Yes, he is a good streamer. He would take care of the viewers¡¯ fragile little pride.


    Then, his attention turns back onto the Missiontakers in the screen of the stream, who have already reached the southwest corner of the ruins.


    The man would walk directly into the fog previously, but now that the fog is gone, they can see what it looks like beyond.


    Well, not that it is any less desolate from the ruins in the fog. The same abandoned rubble, rebar and bricks with a dreary backdrop. It looks like the scene extends as far as the eye can see.


    They could even spy from afar, a collapsed lighthouse, dark, still seas, and Missiontakers by the shore, digging up dead fish and rotten shrimps for food.


    Fei¡¯s heart sinks even further. Even if she has already promised not to talk about the conspiracies anymore in this Nightmare, but she still can¡¯t help but question once again, what the apocalypse could have been in this Nightmare.


    What did this world ultimately become, after that apocalypse?


    She cannot control her thoughts from digressing, but as she continues thinking, suddenly, her mind goes blank.

 Volume 4 - CH 69.5

    At that moment, Fei was feeling really odd.


    Like how sometimes, when you stand up, you¡¯d forget about what you were going to do entirely, or you open a drawer and forget about what you were going to retrieve, or you open your mouth and forget what you wanted to say¡­


    The memory has been cut off.


    After the momentary blanking, her next thought becomes, huh? Was she even thinking just now?


    She stands there in a daze.


    Then, she starts wondering, why is the fog gone?


    No one is paying attention to the drastic changes on Fei¡¯s face, because they are still too absorbed in the world beyond where the fog was.


    Mu Jiashi mumbled to himself for a bit before asking, ¡°so, where is that man¡¯s home?¡±


    He looks around, and notices that most of them look more confused than not, and chuckles bitterly. True, maybe they¡¯ve already forgotten their meeting with the man who walked in the fog from before.


    This makes him lose motivation somewhat.


    But hey, look at it this way ¨C at least the Missiontakers are much more cooperative now, as they know they are going to forget stuff, so they are keeping their mouths shut, and listening well to Mu Jiashi, who still has his memories intact, it seems.


    Even Collector, who still looks largely beset by doubt, is not raising any objections¡­ Or, maybe, he just simply doesn¡¯t care much about this Nightmare.


    If the Missiontakers were more uncooperative ones, they would probably have been complaining, arguing or fighting by now. People always hold their opinions up as truths rather than opinions, so if others told them something that fundamentally contradicted with what they believed was reality, they would probably be outraged.


    Mu Jiashi is feeling relieved, but also troubled.


    In the end, he turns to Baldie.


    This Missiontaker was the de facto leader in the beginning, now he¡¯s almost managing to fade into the background. Seeing Mu Jiashi stare at him, Baldie furrows his brow to ask, ¡°what?¡±


    ¡°Do you still remember any clues? About where the person¡¯s home is.¡±


    Baldie asks, with an odd tone, ¡°have you forgotten?¡±


    Mu Jiashi is surprised, asking, ¡°huh?¡±


    ¡°Earlier, the man said, his home is a bit further out from this road,¡± Baldie points to the west, saying, ¡°there was still the fog there, but it should still be to our west.¡±


    Mu Jiashi says, ¡°you sure have good memory.¡±


    Baldie just replies, ¡°thanks to a utility card,¡± but then he hesitantly asks, ¡°do you seriously not recall?¡±


    Mu Jiashi furrows his brows, scouring his memories, and says, ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ think I have heard such a thing at all.¡±


    He and Baldie share a glance, and then Mu Jiashi exclaims in shock, ¡°I¡¯m starting to forget already?! But¡­ this is just the second run!¡±


    Fei says, ¡°could it possibly be related to the fog having dissipated?¡±


    ¡°But if that¡¯s the case¡­¡± Collector almost looks excited to say the next part, ¡°then we¡¯d have even less time left.¡±


    He really sounds like he¡¯s savouring the conundrum facing them.


    Mu Jiashi is feeling really ominous inside. He then says, ¡°if we¡¯ve all started forgetting, other than you with the utility card,¡± pointing to Baldie first, he speaks up again, ¡°then we should keep going forward while telling each other what we still know.¡±


    They keep heading west while reporting on what they remember, one by one.


    Soon enough, Mu Jiashi realises that they are in dire straits.


    Neither Collector nor Wu Jian can remember a thing about their first run. Their memories of the second run is also severely deficient.


    Fei and Biceps have largely forgotten about everything that happened during the second run, and they starting to lose those about their first runs.


    Mu Jiashi himself has started to forget about things in the second run. Only minute details so far, that doesn¡¯t affect his ability to analyse the Nightmare broadly.


    Baldie, thanks to his utility card, still has the most complete, intact memories, but that said, because of how he kept information to he and his ilk in the beginning, Mu Jiashi cannot trust him at all!


    While still maintaining a calm demeanour, Mu Jiashi is almost panicking inside.


    Shit¡­ How did he end up being in the leadership position in the Nightmare, again?!


    He takes a deep breath, and is about to say something when his gaze suddenly falls on a certain intersection in the ruins of the road;


    With the background being a dreary grey all over, it should be difficult to find a specific hiding spot, but they have all subconsciously turned their heads over to that area.


    Because there is a rolling shutter there, in remarkably pristine condition, as if¡­


    Fei asks, ¡°the warehouse where he stored food?¡±


    Fei has already forgotten about their entire interaction with the bookstore owner earlier, but Mu Jiashi spent some time briefly recounting what happened.


    They wasted a slight bit of time like that, but they were also doing it while still moving along, so it wasn¡¯t that bad.


    They continue heading in the direction, and realise the atmosphere seems to have changed for the worse. They can see more and more unfriendly-looking survivors assembling here.


    Those survivors, perhaps seeing the six of them without a single piece of food, or perhaps because they look like they¡¯re in too big of a group to hunt down, ends up giving up, fortunately.


    However, if the Missiontakers didn¡¯t head this way with all six of them present, the situation might have gone down differently. They might have come to face with another attack by the survivors, like what happened at the Treasure Trove earlier.


    Mu Jiashi can¡¯t help but feel relieved that they seem to have dodged a devious bullet fired by the Nightmare here.


    This larger area of ruins revealed by the dissipated fog seems to be a riskier and more dangerous place as a whole than the original limits of the Nightmare.


    More strangely, here, where there seems to be judgmental gazes coming from every hole in the walls, and eyes hidden in every corner, there is not a single survivor who seems to show the slightest bit of suspicion or malicious interest in the pristine rolling shutter and the massive space there must be behind it.


    They all seem to be tacitly ignoring the area, whether the man who walks into the fog is here or not. They just do not seem to register its existence at all.


    ¡­ The Missiontakers arrive in front of the shutter.


    Mu Jiashi can feel as if the entirety of the survivors in the ruins are staring straight at them. It is a heavy, shapeless, suppressive pressure. It feels like even the sky is sinking on them, merely because they are approaching this place.


    Approaching this place, where the man is suspected to hide his stock of food.


    Collector looks around and suddenly asks with a smile, ¡°eh, that place,¡± he points over to a nearby location that is formed out of several large pieces of rubble, which looks like it could provide some minimal protection from the elements, where some pieces of clothing and blankets can be seen, and continues, ¡°that¡¯s the home of that man, right?¡±


    His home isn¡¯t behind the shutter, behind where there looks to be sufficient safety and warmth. Instead, he sleeps where the wind howls, where the dust can be seen settling down on the ground right in front of their very eyes.


    Mu Jiashi murmurs to himself, ¡°is this¡­ the revenge towards that enemy of the author?¡±


    Somehow, he can¡¯t help but recall the Tower resident he met, with a pen in his hand, looking inexplicably cheerful while lying on the ground.


    ¡­ Suddenly, he is wondering, what kind of revenge even is this? Indulging themselves in a fantasy world where they could, like, disgust that person in question?


    A grudge¡­ What kind of grudge does the author actually hold towards that enemy?


    He turns his gaze over to the novel on his hand, but decides to give up on the thought. Perhaps the backstory wouldn¡¯t be evident from the novel itself.


    Maybe there are other Tower residents in this Nightmare that know about this?


    He puts his hand on the handle of the shutter, and is about to open it.


    That is when suddenly, the grey, overcast sky is suddenly lit up by a streak of lightning, followed by a rumble from the thunder, spooking Mu Jiashi.


    A lightning?


    He subconsciously stopped his actions for a few seconds there, when suddenly, he realises his vision has gone out.


    When he comes back to, he finds himself right back where the Nightmare began, and he can see the fog surrounding the edges of the ruins roiling and boiling where they were, as if they have never been gone.


    Mu Jiashi looks around him, confused, and tries to confirm the memories of all Missiontakers present.


    Nobody has lost their memories of the past entirely.


    However, the Nightmare still restarted.

 Volume 4 - CH 70.1

    Garbled Text; Descent


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Fei is completely befuddled, asking, ¡°why did the Nightmare restart this time?¡±


    ¡°Death isn¡¯t a condition for restarting,¡± Mu Jiashi lays out what they know so far, ¡°but none of us lost our entire memory either¡­¡±


    Baldie furrows his brows, and asks, ¡°there was the fog disappearing the last run, though, what if it changed the condition for restarting back to death?¡±


    Mu Jiashi agrees with the possibility, and says, ¡°possibly. If so¡­¡± he hesitates to think, and then puts forth a suggestion, ¡°the amusement park?¡±


    Overall, the last run they skipped the amusement park entirely. If, after the Nightmare was fundamentally changed, and it caused something to happen in the amusement park, they wouldn¡¯t know.


    Thinking so, Mu Jiashi can¡¯t help but sound frustrated, ¡°the last run, we should have made a stop in the amusement park as well¡­¡±


    Fei quietly says, ¡°no use thinking about spoilt milk, now.¡±


    Collector¡¯s gaze darts between Mu Jiashi and Fei.


    Mu Jiashi looks more depressed than usual. For a short while, he doesn¡¯t utter a single word, nor does he even know whether he should utter a word. It seems he has once again erred in a Nightmare, just like how it happened the last Nightmare he was in.


    Though that said, nobody can avoid mistakes forever.


    ¡­ Once, he suffered incredible defeat on the upper floors of the Tower. Since then, he was like a sparrow, easily spooked, jumpy, irritable, but sometimes, he can¡¯t really say for certain if it was the defeat that crushed him, or if it was merely because¡­


    He wanted to avoid some terrifying, horrifying truth.


    While he remains silent, Fei decides to try asking, ¡°so that¡¯s that¡­ uh, now, what should we do?¡±


    Baldie glances at Mu Jiashi before saying, ¡°we are in the third run of the Nightmare already, and the fog is back in place. The Nightmare still has some time before it crumbles, so, should we still try to trigger that change in this Nightmare? We didn¡¯t manage to get to the bottom of the clues the last run¡­¡±


    Suffice it to say, they had great progress in clues of the Nightmare the last run, but with the book in hand, they failed to materialise the advantage into useful information in time.


    They do not know what is behind the rolling shutter; they do not know who is the person that died, or who killed him, and what relationships they had to the man that walked into the fog; they do not know how the dead person and the killer can appear and disappear into thin air; and they do not know¡­


    Mu Jiashi takes a deep breath. He raises his hand instinctively, before recalling the fact that the Nightmare has restarted, and so the book in his hand is gone.


    He then says, ¡°I think that there may be other Tower residents in this Nightmare with information outside of the bookstore owner. And about the dead person, and also the author who wrote his enemy into this book¡­ I¡¯m afraid there are still more details we¡¯re missing here.¡±


    Fei nods in agreement, and asks, ¡°so, should we go to the amusement park right now?¡±


    Collector is mumbling, ¡°what amusement park?¡±


    Wu Jian looks equally lost.


    Biceps doesn¡¯t actually remember anymore either, but because he has once been to this Nightmare already, he is still calm in demeanour, but he is also asking himself quietly, ¡°what run of the Nightmare are we in? I can¡¯t remember a thing that happened earlier¡­¡±


    It is not so different from Fei, either, who can still remember some of what happened the last two runs, but only insofar as she heard it relayed to her from Baldie and Mu Jiashi; she is unable to consciously appreciate how she actually went through them as herself.


    This is quite the awkward feeling. It sounds like she experienced and did lots of things, but she herself has no recollection. The only thing she can recall, is what Mu Jiashi told her that she did.


    And¡­


    She cannot remember why the fog was gone the last run already. It is only compounding to her innate mental stress, which is already heavy thanks to her thoughts about the Apocalypse, their memories, the Tower, and everything else resurfacing in her mind.


    She takes a look over at Wu Jian, and sees him looking deeply worried as well.


    So while the six of them are heading for the amusement park, she quietly whispers to Wu Jian, ¡°perhaps, we can still come to this Nightmare next time.¡±


    Wu Jian looks up at her.


    Fei¡¯s tone is trembling slightly. She tries all she can to maintain her calm, but she is still enveloped in this shapeless fear and anxiety.


    People in their organisation are often sensitive and even paranoid, which only contributes to them coming up with bolder, bolder and even outlandish claims.


    She says, ¡°we have both forgotten what happened in this Nightmare, so if we come back here the next time, we could probably perform much better early on.¡±


    Wu Jian does not at all sound optimistic, though, ¡°but, what if we kept forgetting?¡± He looks almost terrified when he continues, ¡°what if, NE would just make us¡­ forget, forever?¡±


    He doesn¡¯t dare make his words too explicit, but he knows Fei would get what he is saying.


    They are trapped here. By they, he means humanity, trapped in this desolate dump of a Tower. They seem to be able to escape, or at least, rumours say that someone has successfully escaped.


    It is a claim that nobody can verify, though.


    Where NE can control, and even delete human memories, what if those Missiontakers who did actually ¡®win¡¯ the game, merely just have their memories wiped and put right back onto Respawn Avenue?


    What if¡­ What if Missiontakers like them, all the humans, are merely analogous to the man who keeps bringing bread into the fog ¨C repeatedly going through a Sisyphean task?


    All they have been doing is going into and out of Nightmares. This seems to ominously resonate with that hypothesis.


    ¡­ They do not know any actual person that has left the Tower, the same way that they do not know, what has actually happened to those humans who succumbed to Collapsed Nightmares.


    They know nothing. And, even if they did know, would that actually be any relief?


    Those ¡®zombies,¡¯ and the decadent Missiontakers, they do not want any part in this truth. They just want to keep living on under the guise of ¡®this is fine¡¯ they put up themselves¡­ Or at least, to keep ¡®surviving.¡¯ They refuse to know the truth.


    And behind all that, is the high and mighty NE. Would it actually allow them to pry into the deepest, the fundamental secrets of the Tower?


    There are also clearly distress and pain on Fei¡¯s facial expression now. Trying to lighten the mood, she says, ¡°at least, when we¡¯re talking about these, NE doesn¡¯t jump out and seal our mouths shut.¡±


    Wu Jian also makes a forced smile.

 Volume 4 - CH 70.2

    Meanwhile, X¨¹ Beijin is like ¡°¡­¡±


    Right, NE isn¡¯t shutting you guys up, but the stream got disconnected again!


    Sure is fortunate his livestream isn¡¯t particularly popular, only having a few puppies and kittens for viewers. Even if the stream is cut off, at worse the audience would just quietly unsubscribe and leave¡­


    Though, he is still feeling pissed off.


    Not just because of the stream being cut off either, but more¡­


    A more desperate, frustrating, depressing, painful¡­


    He wants to ask, do you even know what that is? What the truth behind all of it is? You know nothing, and yet you still seek?


    If you really did know, would you be sure you would not deeply regret knowing it?


    X¨¹ Beijin sits there expressionlessly, in dim natural lighting thanks to the grey skies outside. He feels his brain is equally clouded.


    He has suppressed his emotions all this time, all these years. In this Nightmare, however, after the livestream has been forcefully disconnected twice, he finds his emotions bursting at the seams.


    He feels detached for a moment, casting judgment on himself floating from on high.


    Look at you, you pale man with heavy eyebags and a shirt that is decolourised already from all the washing¡­ And that hair, oh man, it is ruffled and flying in all directions. What an unkempt, unscrupulous man. What kind of life must he have led all these years?


    It felt like, during countless lonely, hopeless nights, half falling into a deep slumber, he¡¯d be struggling against the ashes of his memories.


    ¡­ A fire.


    He suddenly wonders, if they really can even handle the truth?


    There is, that Nightmare¡­


    Perhaps feeling more spiteful, or perhaps, pitiful, but X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s lips twitch slightly, into what might have been a smile.


    The lack of lighting is making X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s face rather concealed; he is hesitating. And the result of his hesitation is¡­


    A murmur, ¡°where did that Actor live again?¡±


    Some people want the truth. All these years, X¨¹ Beijin has ignored those people entirely. He knows about the conspiracy theories floating around the Tower, and some other unwritten rules and information.


    He saw them, but did not pay attention to them. He heard them, but did not listen. He has locked himself up in the cage, the cage known as sleepless nights.


    Until the streaming system arrived, and a window was opened¡­ Or rather, a mere crack. That¡¯s it.


    Only he can motivate himself to walk outside of the nights, the memories, the past, the things he can never forget, but is gradually buried deeper and deeper.


    So someone wants to know the truth here¡­ If so, he might be able to help.


    He can¡¯t help but chuckle.


    Although what he is recalling immediately, is how, once, in a Nightmare, Lin Qin told him¡ª¡ªYou don¡¯t have to smile if you don¡¯t want to.


    X¨¹ Beijin lowers his head and puts his hand to his lips. He slowly pulls the bitter angles back flat. With the poker face restored, he thinks, certainly, he will not smile when he does not want to smile.


    Then he closes his eyes, to feel the dryness and the dull pain within.


    He has calmed down somewhat. All the emotions that were threatening to boil over like bubbling water in a kettle has been forcefully suppressed once again, only leaving behind a helpless self-loathe and self-derision in his chest.


    However, this time, the conclusion has been etched deep into his mind.


    ¡ª¡ªTo show the truth, to those Missiontakers seeking the truth.


    He might never be able to open up his own Nightmare; at least, he doesn¡¯t have the resolve yet, but¡­ he knows some of the Nightmares, the Nightmares that, far better than this Nightmare they¡¯re in right now, implies the ¡®truth¡¯ with a much more heavy-handed approach.


    He is still considering if what he is doing is logical, appropriate.


    Fundamentally, it all boils down to his realisation¡ª¡ªA realisation that asks, if he can really still rot away quietly on the bottom floor of the Tower, in his despair, in his solitude? Can he really just sit on the sidelines?


    He cannot.


    Not just because of his personality, but more importantly, because he can see with his own eyes, the pain and hopelessness in succumbing, in Collapsing. He has made it through a year, two years, five years, a decade; but, can he still go on, forever?


    The lack of sleep meant he is now already spending the majority of his days daydreaming and blanking out. He is unbearably weary and exhausted all the time. It is perhaps all in his mind, but what is in his mind, is threatening to topple him over.


    He is not a god, he is a human. Mere humans with limits.


    At that moment, X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t too sure what he was thinking about; it may have been a simple, decisive resolve¡ª¡ªA thought that, it is time for some change.


    He finally turns his attention back to the stream.


    He doesn¡¯t know a lot of Missiontakers; or rather, it is odd for Actors and Missiontakers to have mingled at all. His most familiar Missiontaker would be Lin Qin, but circumstances surrounding Lin Qin himself are somewhat odd.


    Lin Qin remembers nothing of Earth, and also possesses that level of prowess that could be said to be a bug¡­ X¨¹ Beijin really can¡¯t help but have guesses and doubts regarding his situation.


    No matter what, letting Lin Qin in on this will be a risk, and all the more so when whether Lin Qin is actually interested in that so-called ¡®truth¡¯ is called into question. His worldview really is far too simple for that.


    So, X¨¹ Beijin turns his attention to that other Missiontaker he¡¯s an acquaintance with ¨C Mu Jiashi. Then next, also to the duo that brought up questions regarding the Apocalypse, memories, and the fog ¨C Fei, Wu Jian.


    X¨¹ Beijin is deeply torn inside. He is still trying to make up his mind.


    Speaking of, Mu Jiashi has already been to that Nightmare, hasn¡¯t he? X¨¹ Beijin suddenly recalled, even if Mu Jiashi might not have realised back then, what that Nightmare was signifying underneath.


    Meanwhile, the Missiontakers are unaware that on the other side of this Nightmare, an Actor is restlessly trying to shoehorn in some changes here.


    They¡¯ve arrived at the outskirts of the amusement park, and a brief search later, they find a survivor that is clearly acting odd.


    It¡¯s Dai Wu.


    X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t at all surprised to see Dai Wu in his stream.


    Seeing how Dai Wu was back in the first run, he is sure the Actor plays a unique role in this Nightmare. X¨¹ Beijin suspects he might have been an important side character once again.


    Though, that said¡­ Why would someone like him have been in Nightmares of the bottom floor of the Tower all along?


    X¨¹ Beijin rubs his chin, falling into thought.

 Volume 4 - CH 70.3

    At this point, the stream has gone back online already. X¨¹ Beijin has to explain himself to the viewers once again, with the exact same excuse, although the comments are visibly less lively.


    X¨¹ Beijin is feeling slightly pessimistic, thinking the viewers might be about to unsubscribe already.


    What follows, though, shocks him a little.


    ¡°uwuwu Beibei i thought id lose you forever¡±


    ¡°Bei! I will never leave you as long as you¡¯re still streaming!¡±


    ¡°my Bei, make sure you pay attention to what might get censored, a lesson learnt, am i right? [sigh emoji]¡±


    ¡°yeah, the detective dalao might be interested in the truth, but I¡¯ll be fine with rubbing my nose on Beibei¡¯s handsome face! [shy emoji]¡±


    ¡°Beibei, kisses, cheer up!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin lowers his head awkwardly while thanking them quietly. He can feel their kindness and concern for him, which allows him to more quickly shed his almost frigid emotional state from earlier.


    He can¡¯t help but think, if Lin Qin were here, he¡¯d definitely say he¡¯s overthinking things again.


    ¡­ Hmm, why does he keep bringing up Lin Qin?


    X¨¹ Beijin reflects for a bit. When this is done and over with, he checks the stream to find the Missiontakers having a chat with Dai Wu already.


    The Missiontakers met Dai Wu slightly east of the amusement park, as he was heading for the building. X¨¹ Beijin can see that he must be heading to him to tell him to come back to the amusement park when the execution here is over.


    That said, if that¡¯s the path he took, he shouldn¡¯t have been so late arriving at his bookstore the last run, and even the first run too¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks about it, and then realises it must be the Missiontakers both times.


    The first run, the Missiontakers were right there to see the execution, and then went inside to search, before coming back down to talk to him. To maintain secrecy and keep their mission from being compromised, Dai Wu had to come no earlier until the Missiontakers have left for good.


    The second run, the Missiontakers came to see the execution, and later, they dispelled the fog. The circumstances must have changed because of that.


    This third run, the Missiontakers have managed to stop him right in his tracks, even.


    Compared to the other survivors in their tattered clothes, Dai Wu is quite visible among them thanks to his comparatively much cleaner, formal clothing. That is how he stood out to the Missiontakers when they searched around.


    Mu Jiashi is wondering quietly, ¡°is he some higher ranking member among the amusement park cult¡­? But why would he be outside?¡±


    Having been stopped on his way, Dai Wu shows a wary, uncomfortable stance, asking, ¡°who are you? What are you doing? You won¡¯t get away trying to do as you please here!¡±


    Mu Jiashi and Fei glance at each other before Mu Jiashi asks, wording himself carefully, ¡°we know that, soon, someone will be pushed down the rooftop of the tall building¡­¡±


    Dai Wu¡¯s expression visibly changes.


    ¡°We heard it is a form of punishment,¡± Mu Jiashi says, ¡°but, what is the punishment for?¡±


    He is trying to fish information out, but it is clear right now from how Dai Wu is acting that there is something behind the death of the person.


    Dai Wu is quiet for a moment before asking, ¡°will you let me go if I do not answer?¡± Then he glances over at the rather bulky build of Baldie and Biceps, and sweeps his gaze across the rest of them, before finally saying, ¡°I presume it¡¯s a no.¡±


    Baldie and Biceps are now quietly standing on either side of Dai Wu, just in case he tries to run.


    Dai Wu is unexpectedly cooperative, however, merely making a bitter ¡®heh¡¯ and saying, ¡°oh please, I¡¯ll answer whatever questions you have, ok?¡±


    ¡°So, can you tell us the answer?¡±


    ¡°We¡­ we host a tribunal for heresy every week. All the survivors who have been sentenced will be executed,¡± Dai Wu then points towards the building, ¡°normally, that involves jumping off that building.¡±


    ¡°So what about the person that¡¯s going to die? What did he do to get sentenced?¡±


    ¡°He¡­¡± Dai Wu seems hesitant.


    Baldie furrows his brows and starts cracking his knuckles.


    Dai Wu looks intimidated, and says, ¡°don¡¯t, please, I¡¯m just¡­ trying to put it into words,¡± he pauses for a bit and continues, ¡°our beliefs involve self-restraint and maintaining calm, but he¡­


    Once, when he was looking for food, something happened; we have these fixed teams who search for food regularly, and that time, he¡­ his food, was robbed by other survivors, is what we heard.


    Then he had this extreme hatred for that person. He felt that we were doing nothing to help him, when in fact, it was simply that we didn¡¯t know who was the survivor who stole his food in the first place.


    After that, he became more paranoid and even schizophrenic, and even accused us of trying to rob his food, calling us thieves and other names¡­¡±


    The Missiontakers all look odd, their faces all have ¡®are you saying you are not?¡¯ written all over it.


    Dai Wu doesn¡¯t know what they¡¯re thinking, and merely looks somewhat disgusted and disdainful when saying, ¡°he really¡­ went overboard.


    He said he was writing a novel, he¡¯ll write everyone he hates into the novel and make them suffer inside to achieve catharsis. We didn¡¯t think much of it back then.


    But his obsession seemed to only worsen more and more. It looks like he ended up unable to distinguish the imaginary from reality. He became even more deranged and worrying, so¡­ we have declared him a ¡®heretic¡¯ to be exiled.¡±


    When they heard about how that dead person wrote characters into the novel to suffer, the Missiontakers all had slightly weird looks as they start thinking about some possibilities, but then, they are in shock at the outcome.


    Mu Jiashi is the first to ask, ¡°that¡¯s the reason you¡¯re executing him?¡±


    ¡°Like I said, it was only an exile at first, but he doesn¡¯t want to, and even wanted to attack us. That¡¯s why it¡¯s been raised to an execution,¡± Dai Wu says plainly, ¡°he has become an Impurity.¡±


    The Missiontakers feel like laughing at the absurdity of it all inside.


    From the dead person, to those survivors in the cult, to even that enemy of the author, who they don¡¯t even know if he could be said to have deserved it¡­ It all seemed unusually twisted and unbelievable.


    Someone robbed someone else¡¯s food one day, and suddenly, this mysterious, peculiar Nightmare arose.


    Dai Wu says, ¡°that¡¯s everything, so can you let me go now?¡±


    He is eyeing the Missiontakers warily.


    Mu Jiashi asks, ¡°so what are you going to do?¡±


    Dai Wu tells them, ¡°to deal with the eventual corpse,¡± he pauses, and adds, ¡°and also tell the guy in the bookstore to change shifts.¡±


    Mu Jiashi is surprised to hear that this is related to that bookstore owner at all.


    ¡°Do you know about there being a book in the store¡­¡± Then Mu Jiashi stops himself, realising that something feels off, ¡°did you just say that the person wrote a novel? Was it finished?¡±


    Dai Wu is knitting his brows in thought, and then tells them, ¡°I don¡¯t know. It probably¡­ isn¡¯t finished. It only happened recently, and he proclaimed about writing us into his novel only a few days ago.¡±


    It¡¯s incomplete?


    Mu Jiashi asks with a shocked tone, ¡°It¡¯s incomplete¡­ Then why is there a completed novel in the bookstore?¡±


    ¡°What completed novel?¡± Dai Wu is clearly baffled, ¡°what are you talking about?¡±


    Fei gets it, and also appears spooked, suggesting with hesitation, ¡°could it be, that this is a dream, so the novel¡¯s contents have been extrapolated to completion?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ I mean to say¡­¡± Mu Jiashi explains, ¡°a dream¡­ Right, this is a dream, but, it is also internally consistent, logic-wise.¡±


    Fei doesn¡¯t understand what Mu Jiashi is saying.


    Instead, it is Collector who asks with a deep interest, ¡°you are simply saying, that at the same time, a person says the book is incomplete, but there is another person that possesses the completed version, and this is contradictory?¡±


    Mu Jiashi nods.


    ¡°So why would that be?¡±


    They fall into thought for a moment.


    Suddenly, Mu Jiashi asks, ¡°what you write down is nonsense; people falling out of the sky¡­ Does that ring any bells?¡±


    The other Missiontakers all look at each other nonplussed.


    In the bookstore, X¨¹ Beijin is also murmuring the words, ¡°all words are gibberish, falling¡­¡±


    Then, he suddenly gets it.

 Volume 4 - CH 71.1

    The audience of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s stream are currently silent.


    Since they began watching X¨¹ Beijin stream Nightmares, and paid attention to all the mysteries surrounding this escape game, they¡¯ve had to realise again and again that their intelligence is being called into question.


    Not that it¡¯s their fault, but merely, someone has got the answer before they did with less information, so they¡¯re extra ashamed.


    ¡­ But hey, what can¡¯t be helped, can¡¯t be helped, right?


    So the viewers quickly turn to X¨¹ Beijin for help©¤©¤Too bad the detective dalao isn¡¯t here, or they would probably have excitedly typed all their analysis onto the comments, and the viewers could just go ¡®ooooh I see.¡¯


    X¨¹ Beijin is the opposite, staying quiet most of the time. He is especially mysterious, and if the audience doesn¡¯t ask, he would rarely share what he thought about and managed to analyse about the Nightmare and the truth behind it.


    The viewers have had to get used to asking for help from him proactively.


    Meanwhile, X¨¹ Beijin, after his very brief excitement, awkwardly smiles and explains, ¡°it¡¯s actually really simple. Did you know that falling in dreams often spooks people awake from them?¡±


    ¡°oh¡­ I¡¯ve heard about it.¡±


    ¡°they use falling in lucid dreaming to wake up, right?¡±


    ¡°uhm¡­ yeah, I got that, but Beibei, are you saying that¡­ this execution by falling, is to escape the dream? but¡­ this is the nightmare? like hows he even waking up?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin knows what the viewer meant despite the incoherence. These ¡®Nightmares¡¯ in the Tower, while they do involve a Tower resident falling asleep and ¡®dreaming,¡¯ but this is still an Instance in a game at the end, so you can¡¯t just ¡®exit the dream¡¯ by falling.


    So he says, ¡°what if you consider another clue? The fact that all pen and paper can only produce illegible scribbles here, and even the books only contain words of nonsense?


    ¡°im crying¡­ Beibei, please, just give us the answer¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll admit I¡¯m no detective dalao, and so no guesses sob sob¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin chuckles and explains, ¡°because this is inside of a dream in the Nightmare. A dream in a dream, if you will.¡±


    He ignores the pile of exclamation marks flying past in the comment barrage, and continues, ¡°the most obvious sign cluing us in lies in the fact that someone is even falling off the building in the first place.


    For the sake of execution, clearly, it is far more intimidating and effective to employ more direct means. Why did they choose to push someone off the rooftop instead?


    Also, more strangely, among all that the eye can see, including even the scenes beyond the fog, they are all collapsed ruins. This building here is the only one standing.


    Sure, it is shaky and unstable, but we have to remember that this is a game. Each and every scene¡¯s existence must be able to justify itself.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin pauses at this point.


    The viewers come to some strange realisation, typing, ¡°i know! so that means the missiontakers must also jump!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Not exactly, but¡­ oh well.


    He decides to smile instead and just say, ¡°kind of, yeah.¡±


    Meanwhile, not far from the building, Mu Jiashi is looking firmly at Fei, asking, ¡°you were once pushed off the rooftop¡­ Did you feel anything?¡±


    He also told her about the possibility of this being a dream in a dream, though compared to how easily the audience bought everything, the Missiontakers here are far less convinced.


    Put simply, the crux of the matter is that they cannot prove it.


    Mu Jiashi is still collected, however, and asks Fei this question with confidence still in his tone.


    Fei also seems surprised at the question.


    She suddenly realised that, despite having forgotten entirely about falling off the rooftop, yet the moment Mu Jiashi mentioned the incident¡­ she reflexively shivered.


    It¡¯s not simply fear, or hopelessness from facing certain death,


    But more¡­


    Fei is quite a sharp person, that is for sure, and so, after thinking for a bit, she tries her best to describe the odd feeling to him, ¡°I felt like¡­ it must have been a very¡­ disorienting experience. I feel like it was a falsehood, that instead of just weightlessness from falling, I felt¡­ like I was on the verge of ¡®waking up,¡¯¡­ a dream coming to an end¡­¡±


    Mu Jiashi suggests a succinct phrase to her, ¡°would you say it was like snapping awake?¡±


    ¡°Snapping awake¡­¡± Fei seems hesitant to call it as such, ¡°I cannot say for certain, but it certainly¡­ certainly possessed a peculiar, a mind-numbing¡­ Yes, possibly. Yes¡­ I would agree with your hypothesis to a degree, in fact.


    The hypothesis of this being a dream in a dream.¡±


    Or more accurately, a dream in a Nightmare.


    They are inside of a Nightmare, whose owner is dreaming inside, so they are currently inside the second layer of the dream.


    If they really want to resolve this Nightmare, or at least, to achieve a True End, they will definitely have to leave this dream in a dream, to head outside into the real Nightmare, and look for the owner of the Nightmare there.


    ¡°So, what do you think is the purpose for this dream in a dream?¡± Collector asks the most pertinent question, ¡°who might be the owner that is dreaming?¡±


    Mu Jiashi doesn¡¯t seem too certain himself, saying, ¡°I cannot guarantee that my guess is correct¡­ But I think, the owner might be the dead person.¡±


    ¡°The dead person?¡±


    ¡°He might be the author of the novel itself,¡± some guesses flash through Mu Jiashi¡¯s mind, and he continues, ¡°that would explain why the completed version of the novel would be inside of this Nightmare, and why he is falling off the rooftop in the first place; that might be his way of leaving this dream of his.


    So the reason the killer and the victim both fade in and out of existence would be because of this as well. After falling off the rooftop, maybe he is outside of this dream in a dream, and back in the Nightmare itself.


    It could be that he set up the fall to be a wake-up call on purpose. That explains how the killer disappears into thin air; in fact, the killer might even have been a copy of himself as well¡­ a virtual projection of himself in this dream in a dream.¡±


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s explanation sends shockwaves through the minds of the other Missiontakers, but after giving it some detailed scrutiny, they all have to agree, that what Mu Jiashi said is plausible.


    ¡°The dream in a dream¡­¡± Mu Jiashi thought about it in the meantime, and comes up with more hypothesis, ¡°first, it might be that he, the Tower resident, had his food robbed on the post-apocalyptic ruins. He is starving because of that.


    So he had a nightmare, dreaming about how his food was stolen. From the information we¡¯ve acquired thus far, this is the only possible source of fear for him.


    ¡°Now, inn this dream he came up with, he followed the plot of the novel he wrote. The man who stole his food would repeatedly, futilely retrieve food and then forget, every single day.


    To have enough food but to continuously forget and restart, struggling, suffering, but with no way out. That is what the Nightmare owner, the novelist, intended as his revenge against that person who robbed his food.


    And this ¡®fog,¡¯ might have been a subtle difference between the setting of his novel, and the actual dream he is having.


    In his novel, to maintain a suspense and veneer of serious writing, it is unlikely for the plot to reveal early on that the man has lost his memories every time, or reveal the warehouse where he stored his food the whole time.


    The fog delineates where the plot can take place in the novel, but when we realised that, or, perhaps, when the novel¡¯s ending comes and passes, when the truth is all but revealed, the fog is naturally gone.¡±


    ¡°The final section of the novel probably involved this protagonist the author hated dying to starvation in agony. Not stopping that, could be what leads to the Bad End; if we stopped his death, it might be a Normal End at best.


    Because all in all, the person made to suffer in the dream, the man walking into the fog, is not actually the person the author hated, but a product of the author¡¯s mind, the author¡¯s trauma.


    So, that is why, when we mentioned the person falling off the rooftop to that man who walks into the fog, he would be so apprehensive, because the dreaming person doesn¡¯t want to know the truth; he only wants to indulge himself in his petty revenge.¡±


    ¡°The problem here is, in the actual Nightmare outside, he is still starving. At least, according to the Nightmare. That is why his survival instincts would kick in to drag him out of his dream, even if only back into his own Nightmare.


    That is the reason for the building to exist in his dream in a dream. It is the path to retreat as constructed by his own subconsciousness.


    Its only use is to wake himself up, so other survivors in this dream ignores this perfect place for shelter entirely. At the same time, the bookstore and that single book within are the clearest of indicators.


    While those survivors arranging for his ¡®execution,¡¯ may be a group of people he met in the Nightmare outside, or even in his reality.


    They may be people that do exist in the post-apocalypse, and are related to the Nightmare owner, even. They end up being projected into this Nightmare as some sort of background characters, in charge of waking him up when required.¡±


    Here, Mu Jiashi checks through his stream of logic, and then nods with satisfaction, ¡°yes, I think that¡¯s all.¡±

 Volume 4 - CH 71.2

    The rest of the Missiontakers remain quiet for a moment, until most of them agree simultaneously, ¡°that does hold up.¡±


    Fei and Wu Jian are absolutely impressed, because Mu Jiashi has even managed to correctly deduce the Normal End they knew about ¨C preventing the man walking into the fog from starving to death.


    Collector raises his objections at an inopportune time, however, questioning with that usual smile that looks awfully insincere given the circumstances, ¡°so what about the True End? You¡¯ve got the analysis of the Nightmare down pat, but what about the Ending?¡±


    Mu Jiashi pauses.


    He can¡¯t help but recall how, the last Nightmare he was in, he was also faced with similar criticisms.


    Certainly it is the case that it might be meaningless to analyse the Nightmare and what the truth is behind it all; their ultimate goal is the resolution of the Nightmare, and not working on amateur deductions.


    This time, though, Mu Jiashi isn¡¯t reacting as mopey as last time. Perhaps his recent days spent on the bottom floor of the Tower recovering did help a little.


    Besides, while he was all about slacking off and giving up on the Nightmare, he still did need to acquire clues for this Nightmare, in exchange for information on Su Enya.


    Therefore, Mu Jiashi merely bitterly chuckled, answering, ¡°I still do not know what the True End might entail, but I believe there is a certain need for analysis of Nightmares.¡±


    Meanwhile, Fei has a much more prudent question at hand, ¡°so what should we do? Jump off the rooftop and leave this dream in a dream?¡±


    ¡°Wait, I have another question,¡± Baldie interjects, ¡°what is the reason the last run of the Nightmare restarted?¡±


    Mu Jiashi shakes his head, replying, ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± then he adds, with an unsure tone of voice, ¡°I have some guesses, but completely unsubstantiated.¡±


    Baldie looks at him and doesn¡¯t question him further.


    He largely agrees with what Mu Jiashi said, and therefore, he is perhaps thinking the same thing as he is.


    That there is some unknown changes to the Nightmare, occurring outside of this dream itself.


    In the second layer of the dream, the condition for restart is the complete loss of memories©¤©¤Although it might be more accurate to say that it is the restart of the novel¡¯s contents rather than the Nightmare itself.


    They are practically the collateral damage in that sense, being forced to repeat the fruitless in the same manner as that man that walks into the fog.


    In the first layer of the Nightmare, the surface dream, however, the condition for restart is still likely physical death. It is possible that someone died in that surface Nightmare and¡­ caused the Nightmare to restart completely?


    If that is the case, then it would actually turn out to be that they are currently only in the second run of the Nightmare.


    ¡­ Not that it¡¯s useful to crunch numbers here, other than confusing themselves even further. Whichever run it currently is, they have enough information already. And in fact, right now, they may be well on their way to attempt a True End.


    Though Mu Jiashi is feeling deeply wary inside.


    The closer their journey is to fruition, the more anxious he is for whatever unforeseen changes may occur in the Nightmare. For example¡­ a sudden crumbling?


    Worried as he is, there is nothing he can do.


    Fei continues to ask once again, without losing patience, ¡°what should we do now?¡±


    Mu Jiashi isn¡¯t much the wiser either. They have analysed enough information for now, but he still thinks that there are clues to be found in this dream in a dream.


    However, if he chose to remain conservative in action, it might end up just like the last Nightmare he was in ¨C forced to come to face the full brunt of a near-Collapse.


    So he is full of doubt at himself.


    Meanwhile, someone has finally made their merry way to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore. It¡¯s Dai Wu.


    Not long ago, while the Missiontakers were still preoccupied thinking about the dream in a dream, he has slipped away from them already. They noticed, but they weren¡¯t in the mood to stop him further.


    This time, the situation is drastically different from both previous runs.


    In those two runs, thanks to circumstances, Dai Wu never arrived before the victim was pushed off the rooftop. This third run, though, he made it in time.


    The moment seems too convenient, and so X¨¹ Beijin stands up, asking Dai Wu with a surprised tone, ¡°did changes happen to the Nightmare?¡±


    ¡°Ever so slightly, yeah,¡± Dai Wu is smiling. In some inexplicable sense, he might be said to be similar to Collector. The man continues, ¡°though the beginnings of crumbling only affords me ever so slightly more freedom in Acting, Even becoming a higher level Actor merely bestows such measly rewards, but better than nothing.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin concurs, ¡°that¡¯s true.¡±


    He is looking at Dai Wu with this ¡®I want to talk¡¯ face. He wants to know if those slightly peculiar choice of wording he heard, really was trying to imply something.


    Dai Wu is already saying, though, ¡°heh; you know, I came for you specifically.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin has no response for a while, before slowly asking, ¡°what do you want with me?¡± He looks somewhat tired and disinterested continuing his question, clearly being fed up with the topic, ¡°is it about my Nightmare?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to be on guard. Really, bro,¡± Dai Wu says with his most genuine tone possible, ¡°you know, we aren¡¯t really¡­¡±


    ¡°You, plural?¡±


    Dai Wu nods, smiling again to explain, ¡°of course. Us. We are pretty high level Actors in general. See me, a side character, at your service. We all get to be a bit less restricted in the Nightmares; maybe you could consider it as well?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin merely stares at him for a long time.


    Dai Wu doesn¡¯t pay much attention to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s gaze, and instead says, ¡°anyway, I came here to invite you to work with us. Remember what I told you in the very beginning, when we just met?¡±


    He is saying the words more and more slowly, trying to articulate each and every word carefully, and sample their meanings carefully, before accurately conveying them.


    What they talked about, when they first met?


    X¨¹ Beijin pauses to recall for a moment, and then asks, ¡°Defeat¡­ NE?¡±


    Dai Wu nods with what definitely couldn¡¯t pass for a solemn expression.


    X¨¹ Beijin is feeling a deep incongruence and even slightly sick sense of amusement inside. When he heard Dai Wu talk about this that time, he felt so much suffocating pressure and unease.


    Then Dai Wu clarified to him that it was just his way of pursuing his goal of having a ¡®Second Life¡¯ ¨C a way for him to remember that, they are in a ¡®second¡¯ life. This is not their ¡®first.¡¯


    X¨¹ Beijin accepted the explanation, and is rather casual and collected in subsequent interactions with Dai Wu hence.


    He really did think that, Dai Wu¡¯s almost farcical goal of ¡®Defeat NE,¡¯ really is a joke.

 Volume 4 - CH 72.1

    A few minutes later, Dai Wu is outside of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore, standing there as per the Nightmare¡¯s development, waiting for the executed survivor to fall.


    Though his mind is still distracted with what X¨¹ Beijin told him earlier.


    Dai Wu feels like he can still hear his words echoing in his mind.


    He can hear the bookstore owner calmly, orderly speaking. It reminds him of the ocean, deep, but also impenetrable beneath the surface, dizzying him.


    ¡°How many Nightmares regarding the Apocalypse have you gathered up so far? I doubt it¡¯s a lot, otherwise, you would have stopped pursuing the truth altogether, and merely dedicate yourself fully to your Second Life.


    ¡­ I might be simply pushing what I would do onto you. It is understandable, I think, that a lot of people sincerely seek the truth.


    ¡­ Anyway, there is one Nightmare that I know of, and I plan to send Missiontakers wishing to know the truth that way. I believe you have means to ¡®coincidentally¡¯ reveal the Nightmare¡¯s information to the Missiontakers without arousing suspicion, no?


    At least, as a side character level extra, you should be quite familiar with these means of giving Nightmares a push from behind.


    ¡­ I¡¯m sure a lot of people want to know how much I know, but¡­ there is no benefit to knowing.¡±


    Dai Wu heard the young man speaking with an expression so rich in emotions it is impossible to put into words, as he solemnly, or perhaps, soullessly, say, ¡°sometimes, memories are a curse.¡±


    Dai Wu can¡¯t help but wonder, what memories? What does he know about?¡±


    Could it be, memories of how they ended up in the Tower?


    Dai Wu only has that one guess, because if you mention memories and loss of memories, that is all that anyone would know. Neither Missiontakers nor Actors know, or remember, or were forced to forget, about that period. About how, they ended up in the Tower.


    But, does X¨¹ Beijin remember?


    Dai Wu does not know if his guess is correct, but he is feeling deeply unsettled inside. Imagine, if no one else remembers, except for X¨¹ Beijin, and he has kept the secret to himself all these years¡­


    Then he really could understand the existence of the dreadful, dark aura that he exudes sometimes.


    It is a pain wrought upon by the ceaseless march of time.


    Soon, Dai Wu takes a deep breath and stops imagining the dark ages X¨¹ Beijin must have experienced all this time. It really is too tragic a tale.


    Forcing him to divulge the secret itself is cruel enough now that he has come to appreciate the circumstances.


    ¡­ Although it is for the greater freedom of the other Missiontakers and Actors.


    A difficult decision that has Dai Wu shuffling his steps. He thinks he may have been too hasty to put everything out in the open with X¨¹ Beijin.


    However, the restless mood in the Tower is also urging him that the time is right. He wishes to take advantage of the flow and reach the truth. Then, to escape the Tower.


    So he merely sighs while focusing on what X¨¹ Beijin asked of him instead.


    To know the truth, then Missiontakers must be arranged into the Nightmare X¨¹ Beijin told him.


    What Nightmare could that be?


    Dai Wu is definitely curious, but X¨¹ Beijin didn¡¯t detail it any, merely telling him to head to his bookstore for a more thorough discussion after this Nightmare is over.


    So Dai Wu can only keep his curiosity down.


    Although that Nightmare aside, the motivation behind X¨¹ Beijin is also bugging him. He can see how much of a burden this is all putting on X¨¹ Beijin, but he does not understand why that is.


    If X¨¹ Beijin really has been guarding the truth in solitude all this time, then Dai Wu can sympathise with his mental state. This does not explain what he is doing, though.


    Why was X¨¹ Beijin so adamant in keeping this secret to himself and himself only, anyway?


    He doesn¡¯t look at all like he doesn¡¯t want out of the Tower either, nor does he think that no one else but him should know the truth. It feels more like, he is fearful of something, and exhausted.


    Which ultimately leads to the question of¡­ What could X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare be?


    He said his Nightmare isn¡¯t the Ultimate Nightmare; is he implying, that there is an Ultimate Nightmare somewhere else? Or merely, that such a thing does not exist?


    Dai Wu¡¯s expression is growing bitterer by the second. He rubs his hair while thinking, if only he really was what he told X¨¹ Beijin he was, that he was a guy merely wishing to enjoy a Second Life with the interim goal of ¡®Defeat NE.¡¯


    That was actually all that he was doing in the beginning, until the situation gradually changed.


    Really, would anyone really willingly indulge in an artificial reality, forever?


    They are the prisoners, trapped within this giant gaol. They do not even know, however, for what crime they are being subjected to this incarceration.


    Could they have been innocent? What if they aren¡¯t supposed to be locked up here?


    Why can¡¯t they know the truth behind everything? Why shouldn¡¯t they seek freedom beyond this damned cage?


    As far as Dai Wu can see, X¨¹ Beijin is concealing and keeping information to himself, in what might be a self-indulgent fantasy of ¡®pity¡¯ and ¡®mercy,¡¯ that has him shouldering the secrets alone. He can only wonder if there even is meaning in that; is that not simply torturing both X¨¹ Beijin himself and all the others?


    That said¡­ He might really be unable to convey the information to anyone else.


    In the conspiracies, NE has always been the overseer of things from the topmost level. And X¨¹ Beijin, might be its most important target of supervision of all the people here.


    Dai Wu sighs, and then raises his head just in time to see the silhouette falling out of the sky. Against the backdrop of light, he narrows his eyes.


    He¡¯ll be picking up the corpse afterwards.


    That is what Dai Wu¡¯s role is in this Nightmare. The owner of the Nightmare, or more accurately, the body of his self in his happy dream within a Nightmare, has to be dealt with.


    After that, the owner of the Nightmare will use the body again, or use some other body that has already died before, to relive his dream within a dream once more.


    He might become awake briefly because of the suffocation the chest feels upon falling, but soon enough, he will decide to indulge in his happier dream once again. And Dai Wu, is the one who keeps and maintains his body in his dream.


    In fact, if the Missiontakers were more patient and observant when they were exploring the different scenes, like the amusement park and other places in the ruins, they¡¯ll have realised, that among those survivors, some would share the exact same features and appearance with the body lying here on the ground.


    However, other than the man specifically heading into the fog, the Missiontakers have paid no attention to the other mundane survivors.


    Dai Wu can only sigh for how inattentive and dense the Missiontakers have been.


    Wasn¡¯t looking for the true identity of the man fallen from the rooftop one of their objectives from earlier?


    He is still positively hoping for the Missiontakers to be more capable, of course, in order to end the Nightmare sooner.


    Dai Wu is dying to know the truth from X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mouth.


    After all these years, after all the years these humans here have already spent in this Tower, some of them have even become used to the boring, monotonous life already.


    Even so¡­ perhaps, thanks in no small part to the liveliness that has engulfed the Tower recently, Dai Wu can¡¯t help but be hopeful as well.


    What if, this is the chance, for them to take back the ¡®First Life¡¯ that was robbed from them?

 Volume 4 - CH 72.2

    Meanwhile, the Missiontakers in whom Dai Wu had so much high hopes for, are currently scouring through the Treasure Trove for food due to hunger. After having their stomach¡¯s fill, they are in front of the building, witnessing Dai Wu¡¯s removal of the corpse in the process.


    It seems as good an explanation as any for why the corpse would disappear the last run.


    Dai Wu gives him a wary glance and a wide berth as he quickly departs the region.


    The Missiontakers merely let him go, and instead, head into the bookstore for the book, and ask X¨¹ Beijin to recount its details once more, which dissipates the fog all the same.


    They decide they will still head first for the home of the man walking into the fog.


    A few minutes of hurried steps later, they¡¯re already at the southwest corner of the ruins. They keep heading out, and arrive right outside of the perfectly pristine rolling shutter.


    Unexpected, the man is also there.


    Looking at the time, it is about when he has come home with the first item of food and heading out for the second item. Soon enough he would have left to exchange for food near the Treasure Trove.


    The Missiontakers have stopped his routine, however.


    He is currently lying down in his ¡®home¡¯ consisting of a few broken sections of wall, looking rather lost and helpless, while also appearing to be in pain from starvation, due to his memories fading away.


    The Missiontakers tried talking to him, but they do not get any answer.


    In the end, they can only focus on the rolling shutter. Mu Jiashi simply pulls it up with raw force, and unexpectedly, it slides rather easily.


    The next second, his eyes expand wide.


    Bread, piled up like a small mountain, like a collapsing dam, spews forth from the warehouse interior behind the shutter. Mu Jiashi is now knee-deep in bread, and the height of bread is still rising.


    ¡­ What in the world?!


    Did all the bread that ever existed in the area of the ruins assemble here?


    That man¡­ Mu Jiashi reflexively turns his head around to look at the pale, starving man that looks like he is on the verge of dying.


    He possesses what is effectively a mountain of gold, but is unaware, all because he once robbed someone else¡¯s food, and in revenge, the person wrote him here.


    Mu Jiashi is feeling chills down his spine, not exactly for what the man is experiencing, but for this dream in the dream, in the end, being no better than a nightmare itself.


    Being sympathetic to either side of this seems equally laughable.


    Instead of that, the Missiontakers might as well pity themselves, pity themselves, who are trapped in the Tower with no way out. Repeating the same routines day-in, day-out, by heading to higher floors, and becoming ever more desperately hopeless¡­


    Humans.


    Perhaps even more tragically, they are unable to forget anything.


    It is even a fortune that this man who knows nothing of his fate can have his memories forcefully removed; memories, for some, are nothing but a curse.


    After staying still for a while, Mu Jiashi raises his feet to leave the onslaught of bread.


    The man seems ignorant of everything happening besides him, as he wobbles up to his feet like a ghost, and starts wandering outwards for his food.


    Right now, only Collector can still smile to say, ¡°oh wow¡­ How intriguing.¡±


    Wu Jian, meanwhile, is picking up the bread from the ground all dazed, murmuring to himself, ¡°why are there so many bread around¡­¡± Then he takes in his surroundings with a stupid look on his face, asking, ¡°what are all these bread doing around the spawn of the Nightmare?¡±


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s expression contorts greatly.


    ¡­ Fuck! This Missiontaker has forgotten everything about this Nightmare already! It¡¯s going to restart!


    Why is it so quick this time?!


    While feeling surprised, Mu Jiashi can also sharply feel his own memories fading away at a rapid pace. All his memories of the Nightmare so far, and all the scenes he remember are greying out.


    Just like what Baldie said, at the third run, all the Missiontakers begin losing their memories©¤©¤But what he wasn¡¯t expecting was it forcefully zeroing out all the memories of all Missiontakers at once!


    ¡­ Maybe Baldie didn¡¯t even know it¡¯d happen like this.


    The memories are like a pile of sand in his hand, rapidly seeping through the gap between his fingers, and the more forcefully he tries to grab onto them, the quicker the sand flows.


    But¡­


    At this critical juncture, Mu Jiashi realises during his daze, that if he really didn¡¯t do anything here, when the Nightmare restarts, he will remember exactly nothing.


    It seems the rest of the Missiontakers are undergoing something similar to him. He can see their faces turn from terror to stupefaction. It could be that, when the Nightmare reaches the fourth run, they will all really think they¡¯re in the first run.


    In those two or three seconds, Mu Jiashi can feel a hopeless despair fill his mind. Then, he snaps out of it to struggle, as if it was some last dignity of a piece of trash. He keeps repeating in his mind, a dream in a dream in a dream in a dream in a dream¡­


    Darkness descends. Then, it raises back up like a curtain rising.


    Mu Jiashi snaps his eyes awake, wondering with a sense of bewilderment ¨C what dream in a dream?


    While blanking out, some Missiontakers have started to argue. He looks around at the unfamiliar strangers, and feels mystified.


    Why are they arguing so badly during the first run of the Nightmare?


    Collector is currently excitedly detailing his desire to collect used cards. Baldie gives him a look of disdain, and the two are basically going at it like cats and dogs already.


    ¡­ Seriously? Again¡­


    Again, what?


    Meanwhile, he sees the woman furrowing her brows, saying with this tired tone, ¡°we should be gathering information now, and not have some childish quarrel.¡±


    Baldie says, ¡°this is my brother and I¡¯s second time coming to this Nightmare.¡±


    Mu Jiashi takes in his surroundings while feeling a sharp, needle-like pain in his head. He rubs the space between his eyebrows, feeling like he must have missed something.


    ¡­ A dream in a dream?


    What, they¡¯re in a dream, in a dream right now?


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s gaze is getting out of focus again, as if something is about to break through the barrier in his mind, but something tougher blocks it from happening.


    A lot of people have said a lot of things, but he is too distracted to listen to any of it.


    Then, someone¡¯s voice drifts into his ears as a sound wave, ¡°¡­ we¡¯ll assemble by the building¡­¡±


    Building¡­?


    Mu Jiashi freezes up.


    No, not exactly ¡®freezing up,¡¯ but his gaze merely turns into one of shock and anxiety, as if his mind just got knocked senseless by a hammer.


    Then he snaps his head up to look around him, and finally notices the building in the far distance at the end of the ruins.


    He stares at it, standing still for a while.


    And suddenly, while the rest of the Missiontakers are still talking about the routes through the ruins during exploration, Mu Jiashi is already dashing away on his feet, aiming right for the building.


    The rest of the Missiontakers all look at him in shock, but are standing in place, merely turning to each other with nonplussed expressions.


    Baldie and Biceps, who¡¯ve been to the Nightmare before, are being told by their brains that this is the first run, having lost their entire memories of the previous runs.


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s strange behaviour, though, is making their danger senses tingle.


    A brief hesitation later, Baldie overturns his earlier decision, announcing, ¡°we¡¯ll follow him!¡±


    Nobody is going against his order for now, not even Collector.


    They all think that Mu Jiashi has probably gone mad, but they still have to question the slim possibility that, maybe Mu Jiashi knows something.

 Volume 4 - CH 72.3

    Through the stream, X¨¹ Beijin can see Mu Jiashi sweating profusely while running for the building. He can say he is definitely impressed.


    When he and the audience all saw the Missiontakers treat this as the first run of the Nightmare, they were all certainly feeling anxious for them.


    This is already the fourth run of the Nightmare¡­ Or maybe the third, but no matter what, it is still definitely different from the first run. If the Missiontakers were at all as lacklustre and inattentive as they were in the very first run, then they are bound to completely miss some key rapid developments.


    Just like the man walking into the fog, they may end up with much ado about nothing substantial.


    Though it would appear that, Mu Jiashi seems to still recall something?


    Honestly, X¨¹ Beijin is amazed.


    Just as he was behaving in the Nightmare with the little boy, Mu Jiashi is just as you would expect a Golddigger with a perfect track record of True Ends on the bottom floor of the Tower to be.


    Mu Jiashi may keep chiding himself for being a useless loser, but his once unparalleled, peerless achievements, must have been chiselled right into his very essence, forming a permanent shade of colour, tinting his soul.


    He is, without a doubt, still the capable Missiontaker.


    Mu Jiashi is dashing forward madly. He can feel his lungs on the verge of exploding, but some unseen sense of looming dread is driving him to speed up even more.


    Finally, he rushes right into the building, and comes to an abrupt stop right in front of the bookstore.


    Mu Jiashi can see X¨¹ Beijin, and after recovering his breath, he greets him with a wave.


    X¨¹ Beijin looks at him with the hint of a smile, and deliberately asks, ¡°here for the book again?¡±


    This is allowed by the Server as it has determined that this is the run where the Actors are allowed to ¡®remember¡¯ what happened the previous runs.


    Though with the notable exception of the man walking into the fog who will keep forgetting and keep on doing his exercise in futility.


    Mu Jiashi is stunned.


    Never mind the ¡®book,¡¯ but he is more taken aback by the word©¤©¤Again?


    Mu Jiashi murmurs with his throat still largely parched, ¡°so, I, we¡­ did forget something.¡±


    Right now, the gasping Missiontakers have also finally reached the bookstore.


    They heard what Mu Jiashi just said, and Baldie and Biceps immediately widen their eyes in shock, while the other three appears confused.


    Baldie, looking downright paranoid, says, ¡°we already forgot everything that happened? What run of the Nightmare is this even¡­ Shit!¡±


    Mu Jiashi does not respond, because he doesn¡¯t know either, but he can feel that something is off, and now, he has acquired definitive proof from X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s wording.


    He trusts X¨¹ Beijin the most, among all the people present.


    Then he remembers the strange phrase lingering in his mind earlier ¨C ¡®dream in a dream.¡¯


    He suddenly looks up at the building©¤©¤A really tall building. Why is there a lone, tall building still standing among a pile of collapsed ruins?


    Mu Jiashi suddenly asks out of the blue, ¡°laoban, is it possible to climb onto the rooftop of this building?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin nods, and says, ¡°certainly.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    Then he immediately turns around and rushes for the rooftop. There is no elevator, and so they can only choose to climb up on foot.


    His body is still completely exhausted from the run, but right now, he is still forcing his aching legs to move, climbing faster and faster.


    He has an inexplicable feeling that time is slipping away. He doesn¡¯t know if it¡¯s true, but he will believe in his instincts.


    The rest of the Missiontakers are all baffled, but Baldie and Biceps have decided to follow, and the rest of the Missiontakers do as well, out of a strange feeling of flocking together.


    However, when Mu Jiashi is rushing right for the edge of the rooftop to jump, even Baldie who was following without question yells out ¡°hey©¤©¤!¡±


    Not another word, and Mu Jiashi has already disappeared off the side.


    It is a¡­ suffocating sense of weightlessness. It feels as if each cell in his body is yelping from the insurmountable pressure.


    At the same time, though, the weight that is overloading his heart and lung, is rushing for his brain. An excessive fear is attacking him alongside the feeling of falling endlessly into an abyss.


    ¡­ He gasps, and suddenly shudders awake.


    He can still remember that sensation of free fall, that felt like it would go on forever, until the end of his life, a life spent cruising down through the air, forever, never able to escape.


    Falling into an abyss forever, huh.


    He woke up, though.


    He has managed to escape the dream inside the dream, and as he did so, all his lost memories of the past runs came back. All around him are the Missiontakers still fast asleep.


    Before they choose to jump, they may never be able to wake up on their own.


    Mu Jiashi is still breathing rather intensely, perhaps from the lingering fear, perhaps from the frankly malicious mechanism this Nightmare operates by.


    It takes him a rather long time to finally calm back down and stand up to check his surroundings.


    This is also a ruined landscape.


    According to his earlier analysis, this Nightmare is a figment of the book¡¯s author¡¯s fear, anger and hunger, stemming from his food being robbed in the ruins in reality.


    Therefore, this Nightmare, the surface one, must contain the Nightmare¡¯s owner and the person who robbed his food at the very least. If what Dai Wu told them is taken into account, they may find the survivors of the amusement park as well.


    Though if those cultish survivors are only what the Nightmare owner arranged as a failsafe for his waking back up, then perhaps this surface layer of the Nightmare might only contain the two survivors.


    When Mu Jiashi sees what is happening around him, he realises that it is much more special than he was thinking.


    Grand ruins©¤©¤Alongside a grand deal of survivors.


    Still the same post-apocalyptic ruins.


    Rather than the owner fearing the prospects of his food being stolen all along, it might be more accurate to say that the target of his fears, is the ruins itself.


    The Apocalypse--©¤©¤That is what he truly fears.


    Mu Jiashi is bitterly smiling at the thought.


    He couldn¡¯t care less what the owner fears. He is instead confounded thinking about how to find the owner of the Nightmare in this situation.


    The rest of the Missiontakers are still trapped in the dreams inside of this Nightmare. He can only rely on himself.


    Besides¡­ That sudden restart back at the second run is still troubling Mu Jiashi.


    If it was due to some development in this surface layer of the Nightmare, then what could that be?


    A death?


    Whose death?


    It couldn¡¯t be¡­


    ¡­ Wait.


    Mu Jiashi is suddenly frozen, pondering the possibility.


    Why couldn¡¯t it be the death of the Nightmare owner himself?

 Volume 4 - CH 73.1

    Oh, no


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Why would the Nightmare owner die?


    After considering briefly, Mu Jiashi has come up with a simple reason¡ª¡ªStarvation.


    The Nightmare owner might have starved to death.


    If the building in the dream in a dream, is really what the Nightmare owner has set up as a failsafe to wake him up from the dream-ception, then there must be some condition that would make trigger the failsafe. For example, a dire situation in the Nightmare¡¯s surface layer.


    He would have to realise that he is dreaming. He has to leave the dream. He has to wake up¡­


    The surface layer is the Nightmare, and inside of that is his fantasy dream. It goes without saying that the owner wants to stay in his fantasy more, unless¡­ He has to wake up.


    Because if he does not wake up from his artificial construct, then he might die.


    Die of hunger.


    After reaching the conclusion, Mu Jiashi sighs in relief. He believes he has managed to unravel the main structure of his Nightmare. Once again, he is recalling the Tower resident he met at a corner of the street in the Tower that one time, who was holding a pen and just smiling dumbly.


    A Nightmare owner who, indulging in his fake, loving dream, ignores all that is happening outside, including the pain of his own body.


    This sounds positively ridiculous.


    Why would there be anyone who could fall victim to such folly?


    Yet humans really are such fragile, complex creatures.


    Even back in the Tower, Mu Jiashi knew about all the Missiontakers that would rather indulge, and feast themselves upon alcohol and raves. They refuse to participate in the Nightmares, to investigate the Tower, or to seek the truth.


    If some temporary, delusional happiness can fill their empty chests, then why should they pursue the painful reality?


    Happiness is a drug.


    Mu Jiashi sighs. He can understand their motivations, but he does not approve at all. Sometimes, he might retort in his mind, that it is all fake¡ª¡ªWhy would anyone see value in falsehood?


    But it is a fact that humans are creatures driven by their own emotions.


    So Mu Jiashi has stopped thinking about them.


    In the end, as a cold, resolute, even merciless man, despite his new sluggish countenance, underneath, the fire, the ambition that once pushed him up through the floors, is still burning fresh.


    Just like what he told X¨¹ Beijin that time, his return to the Tower is merely a respite for him to readjust himself, before he dives right back onto the higher floors.


    If that defeat he suffered did destroy him, then from the ashes will be reborn a brand new Mu Jiashi, who will sincerely wish that he would not falter twice.


    ¡­ Though, what else could he do even if he really were destroyed again?


    In the Tower, it is easy to lose all hope and motivation.


    After all the incoherent thought, Mu Jiashi is finally focusing back on the Nightmare, thinking about ways to identify the mysterious Nightmare owner.


    That is when he hears a gasp from nearby, then he sees a body shudder.


    Looking around, he finds Fei waking up, and then shortly after that, Wu Jian, Baldie and Biceps all wake up in turn. Finally, Collector also shivers, and wakes up.


    Mu Jiashi blinks while thinking, huh, not as unreliable as their actions suggested they were.


    ¡­ Well, this is at least the bare minimum of Missiontakers who descended from higher floors.


    So when the Missiontakers have calmed down, Mu Jiashi summarises the current situation with them, then asks for ideas.


    ¡°So, we¡¯re looking for the Nightmare owner here?¡± Baldie seems to be in thought, ¡°are you sure that pointing out the futility in his actions is enough for a True End?¡±


    Mu Jiashi explains with a serious tone, ¡°or more accurately, I doubt he would wish that his end would be like that of his enemy in his own book. It will definitely lead to an Ending, an Ending out of this Nightmare, but I am unsure if it will be a True End either.¡±


    ¡°Though wouldn¡¯t a Normal End merely be stopping him from starving?¡± Collector chimes in, with his usual fixed smile, ¡°Normal Ends typically don¡¯t require that much effort anyway.¡±


    Fei asks, ¡°so¡­ would we have to find the man he holds a grudge to as well?¡±


    Mu Jiashi nods at the question.


    Fei is looking at Wu Jian with hesitation in her eyes, but she relents to say, ¡°I have a Search card still. Two uses left.¡±


    Almost instantly, the rest of the Missiontakers turn their eyes to her, with gazes that show shock and even admiration.


    Utility cards that are capable of identifying and investigating are extremely rare, not to mention useful. All of those types of cards are.


    A Search card can point to locations, clues, key items or NPCs that are not yet found in a scene. Quite the mouthwatering property there.


    While a Scrutinise card would be able to reveal secrets of others, regardless of Missiontaker or Tower resident status; then there are even Foresight cards, that would give pointers hinting at the developments and changes that are due to occur in the Nightmare in further runs. It is obscenely powerful and decisive.


    Those are the utility cards belonging to the series for identifying and investigating, which is one of the five series of utility cards. Each series contains three types of cards, and that gives a total of fifteen.


    There is also the charisma series of cards that are extremely appearance (and luck) dependent; then there is the practical series of cards for fighting; the transformation series of cards that are the most unpredictable and mysterious; the identifying series that was detailed just now; and finally, the information series¡­


    Mmhm, the information series of cards that are the most awkward in use.


    Though in fact, other than the Infocard, the two remaining cards in the series are actually rather intriguing. Both Definition and Knowledge cards have very useful applications, but unfortunately, in contrast to how common and almost unwanted the Infocards are, the other two cards here are phenomenally rare.


    Therefore, when mentioning the information series, it¡¯s practically unspoken convention that one is merely referring to Infocards. Though, Infocards¡­


    Are certainly phenomenally awkward to use.


    Awkward as they are, there are still places where they could shine, but in general, all the situations where Infocards are required would be better resolved with other rarer utility cards.


    Anyway, back to the Missiontakers looking at Fei with their jaws all on the floor.


    ¡­ She¡¯s practically a charity at this point.


    Though immediately Fei names her price, ¡°in exchange, I wish for you to tell me about¡­ any Nightmares you know, with apocalypse as the underlying theme.¡±


    Almost immediately, X¨¹ Beijin is worrying that his stream would be cut off, but luckily, since it is merely mentioning Nightmares with no overt implications, so his stream remains safe.


    The Missiontakers all agree to Fei¡¯s request, but they¡¯re not going to exchange their clues right here; each one of the Missiontakers have their own little scheme inside, for example, not wishing for other Missiontakers than Fei learning about what they know.


    They¡¯ve struck a deal that, while searching for the Nightmare owner and his enemy, they would each talk to Fei separately.


    Then Fei tells them that they can also tell the clue to Wu Jian, which would speed things up.


    They reach an agreement, and so Fei fires up her utility card.

 Volume 4 - CH 73.2

    ¡®Card Name: The Kind Messenger


    After the card was used, a white feather abruptly appeared in the air.


    Fei says, ¡°we just have to follow the feather.¡±


    Using the utility card wasn¡¯t particularly hard for her, because the post-game rewards pool where this card can be drawn and its respective Nightmare, has been pretty thoroughly investigated by the organisation behind her.


    In other words, besides the factor of luck and frequency of entry which may affect the Nightmare crumbling, they are almost able to mass grind for utility cards.


    It is quite the relief that they do not mean to rule over the Tower.


    Meanwhile, following after the feather, the Missiontakers tell Fei and Wu Jian about Nightmares they know of each.


    They first went after the person to whom the Nightmare owner holds a grudge. The feather¡¯s floating speed is slightly faster than them, so the Missiontakers are hurrying along, worried about changes too.


    Collector came to Fei first, while Baldie went to Wu Jian.


    However, Collector doesn¡¯t offer a clue for a Nightmare with the Apocalypse as its theme immediately. Instead, he talks about the utility card with a smile, ¡°missus, when your card¡¯s uses are depleted, would you mind letting me have it?¡±


    ¡°And in exchange?¡±


    Collector seems to think for a bit before saying, ¡°I came from rather up in the Tower, and so to reach the bottom floor quickly, I went to a Nightmare that is said to be extremely difficult, achieving a Bad End there.¡±


    ¡°That Nightmare being?¡±


    Collector smiles to answer, ¡°a Nightmare, where the doomsday is ongoing.¡±


    Fei narrows her eyes, and then says quickly, ¡°alright, the deal is on!¡±


    Then Collector tells her where the Tower resident is, and then leaves with a cheerful expression, waiting for the utility card to be done for and end up in his hands.


    The next person by Fei¡¯s side is Mu Jiashi, who mulled over it for a while and in the end, chooses to tell her about a certain Nightmare he went through on the bottom floor.


    ¡°¡­ A Nightmare in which I had a True End, when I made the decision to head up.¡±


    He says with a monotonous tone and a rather complicated expression.


    What he doesn¡¯t mention, however, is the fact that he only got a True End in this Nightmare because several years back, X¨¹ Beijin once told him a clue for this Nightmare.


    He says, ¡°it is a Nightmare mainly revolving around elevators, but¡­ right outside the windows, are scenes of an apocalypse.¡±


    Fei looks interested, and nods to ask, ¡°on the bottom floor?¡±


    Mu Jiashi reaffirms her, and then adds with a rather serious tone, ¡°it was the case then, but I do not know if it is still here. We can go check on it later.¡±


    Fei nods again.


    At the same time, the viewers are having the time of their life discussing all these new Nightmares they¡¯re talking about, while X¨¹ Beijin is blinking and going, ¡®huh, even the Heavens are helping me out?¡¯


    In fact, the Nightmare he wanted these truth-seeking Missiontakers to go to, is the Nightmare Mu Jiashi mentioned.


    Though¡­ He¡¯s pretty sure Mu Jiashi failed to grasp the ¡®truth¡¯ within the Nightmare, he¡¯s afraid.


    The point isn¡¯t the Apocalypse playing out outside, but¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin falls into thought.


    Currently, he¡¯s still inside the dream in the dream, in spite of the Missiontakers having escaped it already. X¨¹ Beijin is still inside the bookstore.


    And it¡¯s probably safe to say that he can¡¯t leave even if he goes jumping off the building.


    Suffice it to say that both the dream in the dream and the surface Nightmare itself are part of this game Instance, so the ¡®NPCs¡¯ over here are probably bound to their respective scenes.


    It¡¯s also a fact hinted at by the list of the scenes shown on the right side of the stream. The scenes are not split into ¡®surface layer¡¯ or ¡®second layer,¡¯ but instead, they all employ a simple numerical scheme, as if these ruins all lie on some equivalent ¡®plane of existence.¡¯


    X¨¹ Beijin was already feeling off earlier when, despite there being these fifty-odd scenes in total on the stream, and despite the Missiontakers having been to almost all corners of the ruins, he¡¯s not had to switch to nearly as many scenes during the livestream.


    Now that the Missiontakers are out of the dream in a dream, their names are now appearing under the headings of the scenes he¡¯s not streamed from at all earlier.


    X¨¹ Beijin almost thought these scenes were outside of the fog at first; he didn¡¯t expect them to be ¡®somewhere else¡¯ entirely.


    ¡­ The streaming system has misled him big time.


    He can¡¯t help but think, hey, streaming system, you¡¯re basically letting him cheat already with that god¡¯s view, so why didn¡¯t you just tell him the answer directly? Like some kind of parentheses after the first area, saying that it is ¡®Second Layer¡¯ or something.


    For example, where the Missiontakers are right now, Area 39, could also use a phrase like ¡®First Layer¡¯ appending it at the end with parentheses.


    That¡¯d be much clearer.


    While dissing the streaming system for being unwieldy, X¨¹ Beijin also knows he is just fantasising the impossible here.


    In any case, the Missiontakers have already found that ¡®enemy¡¯ of the Nightmare owner¡¯s in the stream.


    It is a man in his thirties or forties, but compared to how pitiful he looked in the inner layer of the dream, he looks exceptionally proud and pompous here. It looks like he¡¯s become some kind of leader figure atop these ruins, even capable of ordering others to find food for him.


    The feather reaches him and then disappears.


    Seeing the Missiontakers that appeared out of nowhere, the man looks both wary but also provocative.


    This place, despite being in the ruins, has been cleared up quite a lot. The rubble has been repurposed into building a small house. There is even a beach chair here, and the man is lying rather comfortably on it.


    The Missiontakers are all having rather complicated feelings looking at him, when they recall the man who walks into the fog with the bread, looking no better than a living corpse.


    Mu Jiashi clears his throat to ask, ¡°have you robbed someone else¡¯s food before?¡±


    The man goes ¡®tch¡¯ and says dismissively, ¡°¡®rob¡¯? How quaint,¡± he looks rather arrogant when he says, ¡°I only take from others.¡±


    The Missiontakers are feeling even more awkward inside.


    ¡­ Right, no matter what, both this man and the other man in the other layer of the dream, are both figments of imaginations long past, inside of a Nightmare.


    Fei asks, ¡°then, I¡¯ll use the utility card again?¡±


    Mu Jiashi continues staring at the man for a bit before saying, ¡°alright, do it. I feel like¡­ I think I know what the True End of this Nightmare would be.¡±


    Fei uses the card one last time, and the feather appears again. She throws the used card over to Collector directly, and Collector gives the card a thorough examination before stowing it away with a gleeful smile.


    Mu Jiashi doesn¡¯t pay attention to that, instead, he asks, ¡°if the Nightmare owner leapt from his dream in a dream to wake up, and after ¡®waking up,¡¯ he sees the man directly¡­ How do you think he would react?¡±


    Fei seems surprised by the question.


    Baldie thinks and answers, ¡°he¡¯d feel like¡­¡± He tries to mimic the Nightmare owner¡¯s mindset, and then answer, ¡°what use was all that happy dreaming, after all that?¡±


    A dream, in the end, is just a dream.


    ¡°I agree,¡± Mu Jiashi nods, and then says, ¡°in reality¡­ Or rather, in the surface Nightmare, nothing has changed.¡±


    The Missiontakers all seem to fall into thought.

 Volume 4 - CH 73.3

    Soon enough, guided by the feather, the Missiontakers find the owner of the Nightmare.


    What is shocking is that the Nightmare owner is still fast asleep. He is right nearby his mortal enemy, at best a hundred metres apart. While his enemy has a shelter, lackeys who heed his call and endless food, this Nightmare owner, like the man walking into the fog in his own dream, can only stay in this shabby corner of rubble that wind and rain can breeze right through.


    Just one or two articles of clothing, or more like simple fabric, is laid beneath him as his bed. It is extremely filthy, with so much black oil and grease that it is even reflecting light.


    It should not take the keenest of eyes to see that it cannot be comfortable sleeping here.


    The Nightmare owner appears to be a young man in his twenties. He is so emaciated his bones are highly visible. The bags beneath his eyes are almost entirely dark. He is clutching a pen in his hand tightly, and there are messy pieces of paper strewn about, filled with words.


    They can see that some of the words there are red, possibly written in blood, thanks to the ink in his pen having run out.


    Seeing this scene reminds Mu Jiashi of that completed novel, ¡®The Repeating Nightmare.¡¯ Not just the one in the dream in a dream, but also the one in the Tower, inside of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore.


    He wonders if this could be the source of those bloody words on the cover of the novel.


    Even though the Nightmare owner is still deep asleep right now, the Missiontakers feel like they can still hear the rumbling of his stomach from hunger.


    His face doesn¡¯t suggest any discomfort at all, however. In fact, it looks downright cheery with that smile. He is murmuring things like ¡®karma,¡¯ ¡®you deserve this,¡¯ ¡®let¡¯s see you look for food now.¡¯


    It sure sounds like he¡¯s having a good time venting, having arranged for his enemy to be messed with in his horror novel and his own dream inside of this Nightmare.


    The Missiontakers are furrowing their brows subconsciously, though.


    Fei asks, ¡°we found them both. Now what?¡±


    Mu Jiashi doesn¡¯t answer the question immediately. Instead, he just stares at the Nightmare owner for a bit before asking, ¡°has anyone got a mirror?¡±


    Fei seems confused, asking, ¡°what?¡±


    ¡°A mirror¡­¡± says Mu Jiashi, taking a deep breath, and then explaining, ¡°perhaps we could show him how he looks like right now.¡±


    He is the one trapped deeper and deeper because of his grudge and imaginary joy.


    Since they are still minutes away from the Nightmare owner waking up, the Missiontakers go searching all around, both for the mirror, and for food items.


    Even after waking up from the dream in a dream, they can still feel the hunger.


    A hunger that is quite a curious experience for Mu Jiashi, since he¡¯s never felt that after entering the Tower. Just an idle thought about all the underlying reasons, though, makes his mood sour straight back down.


    This Nightmare may be over soon¡­ But what about the Tower?


    A few minutes later, they did find a shard of a broken mirror from the ruins nearby. Wu Jian has picked it up and wiped it with his clothes.


    He takes a look at his own appearance through the mirror.


    Since entering the Tower, his appearance has stayed frozen. Time stopped marching forward for them, though it¡¯s hard to say whether it¡¯s more of a blessing or a cruelty. Wu Jian can see fear and anxiety flashing through his face.


    He no longer dares watching himself through the mirror; it is like a shadow of his younger, much younger self, but it is no longer him.


    On the other hand, Baldie and Biceps, the two burly men, have brought the Nightmare owner¡¯s enemy here.


    There wasn¡¯t much resistance. Perhaps the Server is letting them off without much obstructions after they¡¯ve made it this far already.


    Mu Jiashi realises that it was really thanks to Fei¡¯s utility card that they¡¯ve managed to skip an entire arc of the Nightmare, having avoided the need to search for the Nightmare owner and his hated enemy across these vast ruins.


    ¡­ Truly, utility cards are a means of cheating.


    But of course, nobody would say ditching classes isn¡¯t a practise demanding technique in and of itself.


    Why wouldn¡¯t you use utility cards if you have them?


    If they had that Transform card of Ding Yi¡¯s, they might have been able to get the Nightmare done ages ago. Never mind having to look for a mirror and stuff.


    Mu Jiashi sighs, anticipating this to be another ending requiring a deft tongue.


    Can they really convince the owner of this Nightmare¡­?


    The situation went completely in the opposite direction, it turns out.


    Mu Jiashi merely started with a few sentences about how it is futile to wallow in imaginary dreams, paining himself and people who care for him while letting those who harmed him go on their way unobstructed, as he handed the mirror over to tell him to see who really is the one suffering right here.


    He was going to keep talking, when the young man just up and grabbed the mirror and stared right into the emaciated form reflected within.


    The man sitting on the ground, so thin that you¡¯d worry a gentle breeze and he¡¯d be gone with the wind, then turns his head around to stare at the paper around him blankly, and then at the pen he is still clutching tightly.


    Then he finally looks up at the man to whom he holds the irreconcilable grudge, the man who, not even recalling the fact that he once stole the food this Nightmare owner found, having been brought here unwillingly, and is now merely cussing and cursing. He still looks as arrogant and highfalutin as ever.


    All that happened in his dream, stayed in his dream.


    He remains silent for a long time, as if the wind coming from afar has also blown his brain clean.


    Suddenly, he jumps off to throw the pen far, far away, and yell out, ¡°you¡¯re right! I¡¯m just a fucking piece of shit!¡± He continues yelling and then crying, and then asking with a parched tone, ¡°what use is there¡­ in dreaming?!¡±


    He glares at his enemy hatefully, hopelessly complaining, ¡°he doesn¡¯t even know why I hate him to the core.¡±


    In the end, he turns to the Missiontakers to thank them, with a hoarse voice, ¡°you¡¯ve woken me up. Thank you.¡±


    He gives special attention to Mu Jiashi, while maintaining his actually genuine cry. It was sure worth it to lie down there and then take advantage of this legendary, undefeated True End dalao of the bottom floor. His Nightmare has finally been solved.


    The Missiontakers ¡°¡­¡±


    Uh¡­ This Nightmare owner, seems really¡­ really easy to trust others?


    The result is good for them, of course, but the whole situation looks just a tad mystifying¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Uh, dear co-worker, are you sure you¡¯re not Acting too cooperative here?


    Even the Missiontakers are looking at you oddly now.


    The desperation for wanting to go up a floor is too obvious here. The Acting is downright atrocious¡­ Would the Server really let him through?


    X¨¹ Beijin is worried, but it seems the Server has been fooled.


    Because soon enough, the cold, mechanical voice of the Server has come to announce,


    ¡°Congratulations on achieving the Nightmare¡¯s True End. Please choose whether to ascend to a higher floor: Yes/No¡±


    Some left, others have not.


    When X¨¹ Beijin has finally come back to from his slumber of a boundless, dark expanse, before he opens his eyes, he is thinking about his deal with Dai Wu.


    He is still trying to remember where that Nightmare owner and the Actor lived on the bottom floor.


    He really hasn¡¯t explored outside in a long time. It¡¯d take a while for him to dig through his long, long memories.


    When he nonchalantly opens his eyes, though, he¡¯d almost had his soul spooked right out of his body.


    Why is Lin Qin in his bookstore?!


    Noticing him waking up, Lin Qin immediately turns his fiery gaze his way, and asks with a deadpan tone, ¡°Beijin, do you think I like you?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡­ He is quite certain Lin Qin¡¯s brain must have been broken, somehow.

 Volume 5 - CH 74.1

    X¨¹ Beijin is just staring at Lin Qin in bafflement.


    As they sit in the bookstore, the window is brightening up. Even the perpetual grey fog outside seemed spooked by Lin Qin¡¯s words, and is sneakily rolling back, resembling the dense, damp, dewy fogs of early mornings.


    Seeing X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s silence, Lin Qin probes him again, ¡°please tell me. Do you not feel anything like that?¡±


    ¡°Feel that¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin very slowly speaks up, repeating the question, ¡°that you like me?¡±


    Lin Qin merely nods as usual, and asks, ¡°so, do you feel it?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    His palm is itching, itching to slap right onto Lin Qin¡¯s head to wake him back up.


    Though considering the difference in their physical prowess, X¨¹ Beijin can only give up on the thought regretfully.


    He sighs and stands up from the chair to move his stiff limbs about. Sitting down the entire night has left him some fatigue, or at least, his mind is convinced of that.


    Lin Qin tilts his head to ask, ¡°why are you not answering me?¡± Then he narrows his eyes to add, ¡°why do you look like you¡¯re embarrassed?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡±¡­¡±


    You¡¯re asking that? You¡¯re really asking that?! You¡¯re seriously still asking about that¡­?!


    He¡¯s on the verge of bursting thanks to Lin Qin.


    X¨¹ Beijin stretches his arms to calm down. He takes another deep breath, and then finally asks, ¡°why are you talking about that all of a sudden?¡±


    Lin Qin is looking at him oddly, but doesn¡¯t point out the obvious. Instead, he mentions another thing, ¡°do you still remember the two people who once loitered outside of your bookstore?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks confused, asking, ¡°I do, but what¡¯s it got to do with this?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve given them a warning before, and before they headed off to a higher floor, they told me that some people were interested in your Nightmare,¡± Lin Qin decides to improvise some drama into his parts, ¡°and so I decided to warn those people once more.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is looking at him, speechless, and then says, ¡°thank you.¡±


    Although he is wondering if this really wouldn¡¯t backfire in his mind.


    And also¡­ He recalls what Mu Jiashi told him in the Nightmare earlier, and is now able to understand a little better.


    No wonder Mu Jiashi told him that Lin Qin likes him. It¡¯s probably the headlines earlier on the bottom floor of the Tower that ¡®Lin Qin has gone berserk for his significant other.¡¯


    ¡­ X¨¹ Beijin is a bit restless again, feeling like his reputation has been utterly tarnished by the little apple in front of him.


    While pondering those frustrating thoughts, he continues listening to Lin Qin¡¯s explanation.


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome; anyway I warned them, and then someone told me, that how I¡¯m running all around for your sake, is a sign that I like you.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Wow. Hurray.


    X¨¹ Beijin definitely wasn¡¯t expecting that, while he was warning Mu Jiashi in the Nightmare not to tell Lin Qin his strange fantasies so that Lin Qin wouldn¡¯t misunderstand, the Missiontakers in the Tower have already misled Lin Qin completely!


    X¨¹ Beijin heaves a weary sigh. He¡¯s unsure of what to do.


    The embarrassment in the beginning waning, he is now more troubled by how he should explain this thing to Lin Qin.


    Never mind the rumours circulating around©¤©¤By the way how nosey were all those Missiontakers causing all these in the first place?©¤©¤Forcing Lin Qin¡¯s completely twisted impressions around will be quite the monumental task itself.


    ¡­ In the end, Lin Qin merely helped him with a favour. How did those Missiontakers interpret it as evidence for romantic interest?! What even is the logic here?!


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks about it for a long time, and finally comes to a decision to say, ¡°it is not true that you like me romantically. What you did was a gesture of goodwill, which was misunderstood by other people.¡±


    That¡¯s the truth.


    X¨¹ Beijin looks closely at Lin Qin to observe his reactions after hearing that.


    Lin Qin blinks with a blank face. His natural baby-face is only exacerbating the innocence and confusion within. He wonders, ¡°is that so¡­? It is just a misunderstanding?¡±


    ¡°Of course it is,¡± replies X¨¹ Beijin.


    Lin Qin stays quiet for a moment.


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks that Lin Qin¡¯s simple worldview might not be able to interpret what ¡®love¡¯ is. If someone told him that ¡®love¡¯ is just that, then Lin Qin might really just believe it without questioning.


    He remembers nothing of Earth. He is like a blank piece of canvas, and has only revealed his secrets to X¨¹ Beijin.


    X¨¹ Beijin does not want Lin Qin to end up skewed.


    If X¨¹ Beijin was at all malicious, intent on bringing the crownless King of the bottom floor of the Tower under his fold, then he could just simply admit it, and coo Lin Qin into being his ¡®beloved.¡¯


    Lin Qin¡¯s trust, and his emotional understanding that is akin to a blank canvas, is obviously easy pickings for someone like X¨¹ Beijin to ensure his lifelong obedience as a lackey or underling.


    If he really did that, X¨¹ Beijin can basically do whatever he wanted on the bottom floor.


    But X¨¹ Beijin does not want to do that. He has said it many times already ¨C he is a good person, regardless of whether people believed him.


    He is telling Lin Qin the truth, no more, no less.


    He hasn¡¯t any of those kinds of feelings towards Lin Qin either, so obviously he shouldn¡¯t toy with Lin Qin¡¯s emotions like that.


    Though the fact that Lin Qin is so fixated asking him about this like business, perhaps having waited for him the entire night to do so, does make X¨¹ Beijin feel rather complicated inside.


    A feeling that he is treated cordially, courteously, respectfully, as Lin Qin carefully, meticulously asked for confirmation of something, the core of which lies with him, X¨¹ Beijin.


    He is a rational, reasonable being, of course, in fact, he is even a pessimist, but this is still, inevitably, leading to a tinge of vanity inside of him, but more importantly¡­ a feeling that, Lin Qin has moved him.


    He really likes interacting with someone like Lin Qin.


    For Lin Qin, X¨¹ Beijin is the unexpected speck of light appearing in his dark, abyss-like world; but who is to say, that it is not also the case for X¨¹ Beijin?


    In this lone Tower, standing in the grey fog, where hopelessness is so permeated it can be felt in the air itself, X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin are both outcasts. Lin Qin is an outcast of the Missiontakers. X¨¹ Beijin is an outcast of the Actors.


    By pure chance, they now share a connection with each other.


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but feel impressed inside.


    ¡­ That said, Lin Qin has been quiet for a while now.


    To be honest, Lin Qin is really struggling inside. His mind is boggled in ways he cannot explain clearly to X¨¹ Beijin, so he ends up being quite confused as well.


    What first flushed over him, is actually a feeling of rebelliousness.


    He might not know about those creatures back on Earth as exemplified by Quarrelsome in the first Nightmare X¨¹ Beijin ever streamed, but what he has this urge to do is reminiscent of what Quarrelsome felt like the entire time back then.


    He trusts X¨¹ Beijin very much, true, but X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s rather dismissive tone to the whole thing, the attitude that he doesn¡¯t seem to care at all for his ¡®like,¡¯ and the tone that sentences it a mere ¡®misunderstanding,¡¯ suddenly makes Lin Qin think that©¤©¤What, just because you say I don¡¯t like you, then it¡¯s true that I don¡¯t like you how?


    How do you even know? How can you be sure this is a misunderstanding?


    ¡­ What does that make him, sitting here alone the whole night, and fidgeting, anxiously, excitedly awaiting X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s return to tell him the answer©¤©¤Whether he could feel his like for him or not©¤©¤What was the meaning in all that?


    When this man, who knows not the first thing about different emotions, heard about ¡®like,¡¯ and how it is a positive, and not a negative emotion, and when he, despite some doubts, still decided he wants to come ask X¨¹ Beijin about it, for clarification, for details¡­


    He would want to have an affirmative answer, regardless of his own, actual, truthful, material feeling.


    He has heard about this brand new, unique thing. So, he wished that he also had that.


    That¡¯s it.


    So now, after all that silence, he merely gives a muffled ¡®oh,¡¯ and remains largely unresponsive.


    X¨¹ Beijin said it is a misunderstanding ¨C he thinks it is a misunderstanding, yes, and even told him so with that firm tone, that Lin Qin does not like him¡­ This must mean that X¨¹ Beijin really doesn¡¯t feel anything from him that can convince him he ¡®likes¡¯ him.


    Suffice it to say, that Lin Qin is willing to trust X¨¹ Beijin has a better understanding of ¡®love¡¯ than he does.


    So he is going with what X¨¹ Beijin says for now.


    That said, he is still wondering, if he really likes©¤©¤Romantically, love, X¨¹ Beijin, then, what would that be like? If it were true¡­ What kind of feeling would like be?


    What sort of display from him will convince X¨¹ Beijin that he likes him?


    Lin Qin is curious, the same way he is curious about X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s lifestyle not long ago.

 Volume 5 - CH 74.2

    Besides the curiosity, Lin Qin is also feeling slightly frustrated and even slightly angry.


    Not just because X¨¹ Beijin denied the possibility of like¡­ While it is something that relates to X¨¹ Beijin, it is ultimately a thing that exists solely in Lin Qin¡¯s own mind.


    But also, something which X¨¹ Beijin also thought about a little ¨C the fact that Lin Qin, expectant, curious, troubled, went to his bookstore, and then waited for him to wake up, waited for his answer.


    Lin Qin already had an answer in his mind, but X¨¹ Beijin denied that answer.


    Lin Qin can only choose to believe that answer as well, because he does not know at all, what ¡®like¡¯ really is.


    Even so, that rebellious feeling dies hard, boiling in his chest. It is his feelings. Whether he likes X¨¹ Beijin is his own thing. Why can X¨¹ Beijin just deny that?


    ¡­ Long afterwards, when X¨¹ Beijin is already standing by his bookshelves to pick the book to read for the day, Lin Qin adds out of nowhere, ¡°but I think, my own answer is the most important here.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin gives him a look that shows he¡¯s not getting it.


    ¡°¡¯I like you,¡¯¡± says Lin Qin, ¡°the subject in that sentence is ¡®I,¡¯ isn¡¯t it?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He pauses for a moment, before turning to the good little apple, and then slowly say, ¡°the object refers to me. So, I also have the right to participate.¡±


    Lin Qin is furrowing his brows. He thinks what X¨¹ Beijin said is sensible, but he is feeling ever more rebellious because of that. It is getting stronger, clearer¡­


    Finally, he knows why he is feeling like that.


    Once, he desperately wanted to brawl with X¨¹ Beijin, but X¨¹ Beijin has shrugged him off with a similar excuse.


    Yes, ¡®Lin Qin wants to fight with X¨¹ Beijin.¡¯ The subject is ¡®Lin Qin,¡¯ the object is ¡®X¨¹ Beijin.¡¯ The subject wants something, but the object will not let him.


    ¡­ This is basically a repeat of that.


    The problem, though, is that while Lin Qin can agree that ¡®being brawled¡¯ is at least dangerous and risky, but being liked? Isn¡¯t liking him or not Lin Qin¡¯s own, volitional act?


    Therefore Lin Qin, having justified himself so, says, ¡°I want to fight you and you refused. Now I like you, and©¤©¤You refuse again?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is speechless. Shortly after, he says, ¡°Lin Qin, you do not actually like me¡­ it¡¯s true. This is a different thing from brawls.¡±


    He furrows his brows from the stress.


    ¡°But¡­ but¡­¡± Lin Qin seems to be grasping for the right word, and finally tells him, ¡°isn¡¯t it the same kind of drive that makes me want to fight you, and makes me want to like you?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Please, unless you are talking about a very specific kind of ¡®brawl,¡¯ then of course not.


    X¨¹ Beijin can only sigh and then explain, ¡°Lin Qin, I have to say, you¡¯re too dense for this. Don¡¯t think about it, you won¡¯t understand. Just remember that you really don¡¯t like me. No, you don¡¯t.¡±


    Lin Qin ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡­ Say.


    Isn¡¯t X¨¹ Beijin getting more and more uppity here? No fights, ok. Now he won¡¯t even let him like him¡­ Why?!


    And, why is he too dense? Why will he not understand? Isn¡¯t this¡­ you know, just ¡®like¡¯?! Why does he know he cannot understand ¡®like¡¯?


    Lin Qin is very pissed off!


    He is eyeing the young man standing in front of the bookshelf coldly. He thinks, yeah, he¡¯s mad. He doesn¡¯t want to see the guy, let alone doing favours for him, or even fight him. Appeal to him? Yeah, right, he¡¯d¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin then says, ¡°come try this book.¡±


    ¡°Coming,¡± says Lin Qin.


    Recently, there have been new rumours circulating the bottom floor of the Tower.


    Not that that is any surprise, as all sorts of rumours are always floating about the bottom floor. From the unverifiable conspiracy theories, to ¡®news¡¯ that came out of nowhere, Missiontakers have always been immersed in the flows, inevitably being dragged along the whirlpools of gossip.


    Not long ago, there were rumours from higher floors that ¡®someone has left the Tower successfully,¡¯ so Missiontakers on the bottom floor scrambled madly for the tickets up, even stirring up those Missiontakers who have idled around for years.


    Many among them ended up talking about their fired-up experiences when they reached the higher floors. When the talks dispersed in many forms, the higher floors ended up birthing the rumour of an ¡®Ultimate Nightmare.¡¯


    So, Missiontakers of higher floors are descending down in droves.


    This caused a rapid change of climate on the bottom floor in a short period of time, and the atmosphere also drastically soured when the many Missiontakers from the upper floor realise they have been misled, and that the rumoured ¡®Ultimate Nightmare,¡¯ that is related to the Apocalypse, memories and grey fog, isn¡¯t actually related to the Tower itself.


    It is simply the Nightmare of an ordinary Tower resident.


    It may be implying some truth behind the Tower, but who knows if it¡¯s merely a setting from the game or if it is really the truth of Earth?


    The Missiontakers are truly burned out.


    So much so that a majority of them has decided to just stay at the bottom floor like this. Many of them were established Missiontakers on very high floors, who have abandoned everything to return to the very first floor, wishing for an answer to everything.


    Only for it to turn out to be some product of manufactured bullshit, it seems?


    Most of them, perhaps unsatisfied with this bitter end, or no longer have to will to fight their way up, have stopped on the bottom floor of the Tower.


    No matter what, though, there are still some who rushed down excitedly, and left disappointed, but have steeled themselves once again to climb the floors.


    All in all, the situation on the bottom floor now is a renewed peace after everything boiled over for a second.


    Those original Missiontakers on the bottom floor that remained in the chaos for various reasons, and those Missiontakers that have arrived and decided to stay on the bottom floor, have reached a rather strange stalemate of sorts for now.


    And it is in this atmosphere that, the situation has changed all of a sudden.

 Volume 5 - CH 74.3

    The winds of change likely stemmed from one Missiontaker, who overheard some Tower residents. Soon enough, this spread through word of mouth, until it blew up, spiced up with speculation and imagination.


    The fundamental idea that gave credibility to the rumour, or the evidence that backed up all that, is that, if the Tower is a typical building, then why would its door not be on the bottom, or ground floor, but on the very top?


    Maybe the scenery will be excellent up there, maybe there is even the truth to be found there, but¡­ An exit can only be built on the ground, right?


    So, that so-called ¡®Ultimate Nightmare,¡¯ can only possibly exist on the bottom floor.


    That previous rumour of there being an ¡®Ultimate Nightmare on the bottom floor¡¯ is correct. They just had the wrong Nightmare.


    Many Missiontakers that have descended from the higher floors are firm supporters of this rumour, because, when they ascended the floors more and more, mired in the endless Nightmares and countless transfers up and down the floors, when they see how many Nightmares they¡¯ve been through, but are still unable to see the end of everything, to see hope¡­


    Perhaps, deep down, they¡¯ve also questioned, if the Tower¡¯s exit is really above them, and not below them instead?


    In the very beginning, when all the Missiontakers spawned on the bottom floor, they all assumed that the correct way forward is up. That is where the truth of everything lies.


    They are now willing to believe in this possibility because when that rumour earlier about how someone has left the Tower successfully, nobody knew who that person actually is.


    In fact, even information from Missiontakers on the floors that are practically the limit of current Tower exploration efforts similarly reports ¡®we don¡¯t know who that could be,¡¯ and even, ¡®is there really such a person?¡¯


    As the very forefront of Missiontakers, they know basically everyone who are also at the very top. They had a census, and realise that everyone is still there.


    What is the scariest is that, while the rumours flared up immensely downstream, nobody knew where it actually came from. They don¡¯t even know from which floor the rumours first originated.


    The Missiontakers on the lower floors say it comes from the higher floors, but those Missiontakers in question only first came to hear about those rumours with shocked faces when the former ascended the floors.


    That rumour practically appeared out of nowhere, making people suspect whether there are ghosts in the Tower, that ended up spreading the news somehow.


    After all searches turned out fruitless, when the new rumour came about that ¡®the Ultimate Nightmare has appeared on the bottom floor,¡¯ the Missiontakers of the higher floors quickly come to a realisation.


    Could that rumoured Missiontaker, have actually left via the very bottom floor?


    ¡­ It¡¯s possible, isn¡¯t it? Maybe the rumoured Missiontaker M and the other Missiontakers like themselves represented the two possible paths; one down, one up. M succeeded, and they failed.


    The Missiontakers of the higher floor knew about Missiontakers on their floor and even further up, true, but they would never spend the time to investigate population dynamics of the bottom floor.


    And if someone, or, some kind of entity, organisation, perhaps, that paid attention to M¡¯s progress, and one day, realise that they can¡¯t find M anymore, and that M has gone missing on the bottom floor¡­


    Then naturally, they should suspect that M has found the exit to the Tower.


    Perhaps these hidden powers-that-be do not even know whether M actually succeeded, and decided to spread the rumours in the first place, hoping that someone can give an answer, or even better, for M to pop out to explain that they haven¡¯t actually succeeded.


    So when the rumours did not flush M out, they are forced to conclude that M is really out of the Tower; even if they do not know how M left, and only know for sure that M was last seen on the bottom floor.


    All they can do is spread a new rumour that the Ultimate Nightmare is on the bottom floor.


    Simply put, they suspect M has left the Tower via the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare¡¯ of the bottom floor, but they do not know which Nightmare that is, and so, they wish to take advantage of numbers and suss the Nightmare out.


    These Missiontakers from the higher floors, who descended in a mad search for the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare,¡¯ might have merely been unwitting pawns in some grand scheme.


    Not that they¡¯re unwilling, though. The Missiontakers who abandoned everything to come down here is, of course, because they¡¯re going after the Ultimate Nightmare¡­ Going after freedom from the Tower!


    They can even scarcely imagine how many of the Missiontakers that have yet remained on the bottom floor since the whole debacle began, were all going after the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare¡¯ since the very beginning.


    Which has caused the dead, dampened air of the bottom floor to change once again.


    All thanks to the one piece of information allegedly coming from overheard Tower residents.


    And that information, is actually as follows. A Tower resident that seemed rather dazed was overheard murmuring the word ¡®apocalypse¡¯ again and again. A curious Missiontaker came up to him to ask for more details, and after some fiery back and forth, the Tower resident brought the Missiontaker to another Tower resident.


    The Missiontaker hears that Tower resident murmuring stuff like ¡®it¡¯s burning,¡¯ ¡®they¡¯ve gone mad,¡¯ ¡®it¡¯s the end of us,¡¯ ¡®don¡¯t leave me,¡¯ ¡®it¡¯s dark,¡¯ etc. Thrilled hearing all that, the Missiontaker then told everyone else about it.


    Then the rumour spread, until it clashed and fused with the ongoing rumour about the Ultimate Nightmare, until©¤©¤Someone has finally decided, to enter the Nightmare, and see for themselves.


    That night, sitting beside his bookstore counter, blanking out, X¨¹ Beijin suddenly feels his mind shutting down. His consciousness is gradually sinking into an expanse of darkness.


    It¡¯s a workday tonight.


    Before actually entering the Nightmare, a curious thought flashes across his mind. He wonders which Nightmare he¡¯ll enter this time. Could it be¡­ that Nightmare?


    Previously, he requested for Dai Wu to spread information relating to this Nightmare in secret.


    Dai Wu didn¡¯t personally visit him afterwards, however, and instead sent another Actor on the bottom floor to ask for the details, including who the Nightmare owner is, and where it is.


    So X¨¹ Beijin suspects that Dai Wu has either went up floors, or merely doesn¡¯t want to see him despite being on the bottom floor. X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t really mind, though.


    Earlier today, that Actor visited the bookstore once again to tell him that all is going well. Some Missiontakers are poised to take the bait and investigate soon enough.


    The Missiontakers are clearly desperate for an answer.


    A few days back, X¨¹ Beijin looked for that Nightmare¡¯s owner, a female Actor on the bottom floor. Many years ago, he once Acted in her Nightmare, and so came to be acquaintances with her. She even asked X¨¹ Beijin back then, imploring him to tell reliable Missiontakers about her Nightmare.


    X¨¹ Beijin did so, passing the information about this Nightmare onto Mu Jiashi, who actually achieved a True End. Though X¨¹ Beijin learned later that she did not ascend to a higher floor.


    It was all in the long past, and X¨¹ Beijin was pretty bogged down by the sudden attention on his Nightmare and being cornered by the Missiontakers back then, so he didn¡¯t, and couldn¡¯t spare his mind for much else.


    Later, when everything settled down, X¨¹ Beijin did run into that Actor once more during a casual stroll on the bottom floor; however, she has already¡­ gone insane.


    Or rather, she has, finally, completely forgotten about her role as an Actor. She truly became¡­ the victim in that Nightmare.


    She may be yet to be dragged into a Collapsed Nightmare, but that isn¡¯t a meaningful consolation to her or to him anymore.


    This time, X¨¹ Beijin merely checked from afar to ensure that she is still there, and did not try to talk to her. She probably cannot recall him anymore either, considering how she was simply crouching down, burying her head in her thighs, shaking the entire time, in a dark corner of the Tower.


    Only when it is night out, does she return to her home, dragging her own body forward like a living corpse, and then fall asleep, to wait for possible Missiontakers to enter her Nightmare.


    It is a lie to say X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t shaken at all seeing what has happened to her, but there is nothing he can do. Those Actors who have lost themselves entirely to the role they Act as in their assigned Nightmare isn¡¯t even that rare in the Tower.


    X¨¹ Beijin has seen a lot of them over the years, both in the Tower and Nightmares too.


    Though his memories for the Nightmare of this female Actor is especially vivid, because of¡­


    The Apocalypse.


    The female Missiontaker¡¯s Nightmare, shows the Apocalypse.


    ¡­ X¨¹ Beijin does not at all regret having surreptitiously pushed Missiontakers towards this Nightmare, though he is still dragged into serious thoughts because of this Nightmare itself, and what it implied.


    After Dai Wu¡¯s subordinate Actor has left, X¨¹ Beijin sat there behind his counter, thinking the entire time, and appearing to be daydreaming.


    Until the Server summoned him into a Nightmare.


    From the darkness, his consciousness returns, and X¨¹ Beijin opens his eyes.


    He is inside of a dim indoor space. There is a choking, worrying and irritating scent in the air. A window further out reveals flickering flames. Outside, the cityscape is burning.


    X¨¹ Beijin, surprised, widens his eyes.


    ¡­ He really ended up in this Nightmare.


    The Apocalyptic scene of the ¡®Raining Hellfire.¡¯

 Volume 5 - CH 75.1

    This is an unsteady skyscraper barely still standing amongst a burning city.


    The fire seems to have spread to every corner of the city already, with humans completely at a loss at such a terrifying scene. Cries and wails have already faded away amongst the smoke of the fire, leaving behind only a deathly silence.


    The city, is silent.


    The rolling smoke is so thick that the people within this building can only see what is two, three hundred metres away at best. Things further away are silhouettes hidden away in the almost dream-like haze, but that is already terrifying enough.


    Even more so is the state of the building on the verge of collapse. Dim, unlit interiors, with all the facilities and tools strewn about, broken. It almost looks like an earthquake has struck.


    The windows allowing one to peer into the outside world already has its aluminium frame charred, charred by what is presumably a fire. If people inside can see the exterior wall from outside, they will certainly be more in awe of whatever caused this disaster in the first place.


    Glass on the window has long since shattered, scattering extremely dangerous glass shards on the ground near the windows.


    The Missiontakers do not appear by the windows, fortunately.


    The moment X¨¹ Beijin arrived in the Nightmare, he first takes in his surroundings, before turning his streaming system on.


    The lights are off in this tall building, so it is rather dark inside, but things are still barely visible, so the night vision mode of the stream isn¡¯t triggered. X¨¹ Beijin checks out the list of locations on the right of his stream, and sees that, again, a large amount of locations are visible.


    A light skim reveals that there are about these categories ¨C each single floor of this 36-storey building, the interiors of all seven elevators, and the emergency stairwell, among others.


    The Missiontakers¡¯ names are all over on the 36th floor, the highest floor of this skyscraper.


    X¨¹ Beijin moves his stream¡¯s camera source over, while looking at the names listed carefully.


    ¡­ Oh wow.


    Eight Missiontakers in total, five of whom he already knows.


    Lin Qin, Fei, Wu Jian, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, and Jiang Shuangmei.


    It¡¯s a shock to X¨¹ Beijin that all of these people are in the same Nightmare at once.


    ¡­ Maybe praises for the efficiency of Dai Wu¡¯s work is in order.


    Also, why is Lin Qin even in this Nightmare?


    Meanwhile, some viewers have already trickled into the stream, and, also noticing the Missiontakers present, are laughing in the comments.


    ¡°hahahaha we know them all¡±


    ¡°so something like a team game this time with the 5?¡±


    ¡°hey Beibei! what kinda nightmare do we have this time?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin leaves the awkwardness he is feeling from seeing the five acquaintances behind, and then goes to analysing information he has on this Nightmare in this mind.


    He has been to this Nightmare before, with the same identity as an Actor, so he knows some information already. That was pretty long ago, though, and so X¨¹ Beijin has to take some time to recall the relevant information about this Nightmare.


    He speaks up, ¡°this Nightmare takes place in this skyscraper. There are 36 floors in total, and the Missiontakers are on the 36th floor right now, so the top floor.


    This is a Nightmare depicting the aftermath of some disaster which has also affected this building. Three hours after the Nightmare begins, it will collapse. So before then, the Missiontakers must escape this skyscraper. Of course, the exit is on the 1st floor.¡±


    Here, X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s thoughts can¡¯t help but digress.


    He is recalling the Tower.


    Earlier today, when Dai Wu¡¯s subordinate Actor came to report on the progress, he was told that among the Missiontakers, a rumour that ¡®the Tower¡¯s exit is actually on the bottom floor and not the top¡¯ is making the rounds.


    Here, there is a skyscraper ¨C a tower in the Nightmare, but the Missiontakers face an opposite challenge. They appear on the top floor, and must reach the exit at the bottom.


    Would it trigger some thoughts on the Missiontakers¡¯ parts?


    Fei and Wu Jian are certainly on those lines of thought.


    They were already paying attention to this Nightmare because Mu Jiashi told them that this Nightmare contained elements of an apocalypse, so after the True End last Nightmare, instead of going up, they remained on the bottom floor for a bit, and also asked Mu Jiashi for more information.


    Among the information included the fact that the Nightmare takes place in a tall building, the exit is on the bottom floor, and the fact that Missiontakers appear on the top floor. These were enough to give Fei and Wu Jian ideas.


    Mu Jiashi didn¡¯t tell them about how to reach a True End; he tried to do so, but Fei and Wu Jian stopped him, saying that they did not want to form an impression beforehand and instead, collect information from the very beginning.


    So, after confirming the residence of that Tower resident, Fei and Wu Jian went to look. They didn¡¯t expect, though, that the Tower resident would not be at home at all by day, and instead spends all that time crouching in some dark corner of the Tower.


    Fei and Wu Jian wanted to try communicating with the Tower resident, so they spent some time investigating the Tower resident¡¯s daily schedule.


    They found out what they wanted to, and while they didn¡¯t obtain any useful information from the woman who held her head down and shivered the entire time, in just a few days rumours about that particular Nightmare was suddenly all the rage on the bottom floor, even with information that ¡®the exit to the Tower should be on the bottom floor¡¯¡­ This certainly caught Fei and Wu Jian completely by surprise.


    Through what Mu Jiashi told them, they did have some thoughts regarding the possibilities of the ¡®exit to the Tower,¡¯ even considering if the Nightmare could be the rumoured ¡®exit,¡¯ or even be the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare.¡¯


    Though¡­


    These were all still hypotheses in their own minds! How did all of it become topic du jour of the bottom floor?!


    ¡­ Shit, did they accidentally leak information out somehow?


    Fei and Wu Jian were rightfully terrified.


    It was after they traced the footsteps of the rumours and understood what happened, that it was merely what a Missiontaker overheard incidentally, that they could sigh in relief.


    That said, the fact that this was now the hottest rumour of the bottom floor of the Tower worried Fei and Wu Jian, as they did not know whether the Server, NE, would react to this at all. Of course, the possibility of that is very slim.


    ¡­ Actually, though, it is bad news whether NE reacted or not.


    If NE reacted, they can only speculate fearfully of what he might do; if not, then wouldn¡¯t that mean, the information is actually, definitively, worthless?


    A rock and a hard place, for sure.


    In the end, they used some method to smuggle all these information up to companions of the higher floors, and then entered the Nightmare.


    After entering the Nightmare, they set their sights outside of the window, and now, they finally realise, why Mu Jiashi told them that the scene in this Nightmare, is an apocalypse.

 Volume 5 - CH 75.2

    ¡­ Compared to the last Nightmare, featuring post-apocalyptic ruins, the apocalypse in this Nightmare is ongoing.


    Fei is staring blankly at the silently burning sea of fire, she could almost smell the inferno and heat.


    She is suddenly wondering, that if this is also a Nightmare in progression, then what might be the theme of the apocalypse also in progression that Collector told them about?


    Will it be the same scenery as this burning cityscape?


    Though in the last Nightmare, there was no sign of the burning at all. Why would that be?


    Could there actually be different types of Nightmare? Or, did they really have it wrong, and these Nightmares are all mere settings in a game, and is not related to what they are looking for ¨C to the truth of their appearing in the Tower?


    These thoughts occupy and tangle up in Fei¡¯s mind, twisting her thought processes into a knot.


    While thinking, the rest of the Missiontakers have already started talking with each other, introducing themselves and analysing this Nightmare


    Fei looks up and checks on the rest of the Missiontakers.


    Besides Wu Jian, standing beside her, there are six other Missiontakers, four men and two women. She¡¯s not familiar with any¡­ no, wait, isn¡¯t that¡­


    Lin Qin?


    Fei matches the appearance of this young man with the description in her memories. The crownless King of the bottom floor, is still a somewhat renowned figure even on higher floors.


    His unreasonable, bug-like physical prowess, is like the kind of players that are a cheating software unto themselves, the kind destined to slap gaming companies in the face.


    Why could there be anyone who has such a terrifying fighting power in an escape type of game?


    The organisation behind Fei and Wu Jian also paid attention to Lin Qin for this remarkable quirk, but all their investigations only reveal that Lin Qin basically popped out of thin air. He suddenly made the news one day, when he already had that absurd fighting power with him.


    It was many years ago already. In spite of the fighting power, Lin Qin has stayed on the bottom floor all these years.


    Basically, this was unfathomable to other Missiontakers.


    That¡¯s how the rumours that Lin Qin had problems with his intelligence of brain got started.


    Of course, no one dares mentioning it in the presence of Lin Qin, but honestly, many Missiontakers believe in that on the bottom floor, in a perhaps compensationally relieved and even spiteful kind of way.


    So what if you, Lin Qin, had that super strength under your belt?


    Though other Missiontakers, including Fei and Wu Jian, beg to differ.


    How many Nightmares in the Tower do you wager can be resolved by physical violence alone?


    Countless of them.


    So, being able to stay on the bottom floor the entire time like Lin Qin did, wouldn¡¯t make sense at all in their context!


    Similar to his mysterious fighting power is why he stays on the bottom floor the whole time. In fact, there are many mysteries surrounding this man.


    Thinking so, Fei can¡¯t help but realise that she sure will have lots of things to pay close attention to in this Nightmare.


    While Fei is preoccupied with her troubles, Lin Qin is also feeling somewhat vexed.


    He went into this Nightmare largely because, recently, X¨¹ Beijin has been treating him subtly differently. It feels colder than usual.


    Not that he¡¯s ignoring him, of course, but the usual snacks and drinks that the bookstore owner puts onto the table for them to share, is now what Lin Qin needs to reach into the shelves himself to grab.


    Since then, whenever Lin Qin went to the bookstore, he¡¯d bring a few cans of drinks and some snacks that X¨¹ Beijin likes. He wants X¨¹ Beijin to act like how he used to.


    Of course, even someone as dense to human interactions as Lin Qin currently is can tell, that the key problem here, is in how he mentioned ¡®like¡¯ to X¨¹ Beijin before.


    Lin Qin¡¯s instincts tell him, X¨¹ Beijin is still feeling awkward.


    That is why X¨¹ Beijin is trying to deal with this by deliberately establishing a distance.


    Or¡­ not exactly deliberately, but more, X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t seem like he knows how he wants to deal with the problem, or how to interact with the source of the problem, him, Lin Qin. That is why he is trying to act like he can¡¯t see anything wrong with them so far.


    Lin Qin is not sure about how to fix this. He is already confused by the problem of ¡®like,¡¯ but now the bigger issue lies in how he should have finally become better acquaintances with X¨¹ Beijin, and even friends with him, which means they¡¯re closer to when X¨¹ Beijin might relent and fight with him.


    Simply put, Lin Qin¡¯s impression of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s ¡®fighting power¡¯ is the same kind of impression a cat has on a cat toy. It scratches at his insides, clawing for him to lunge forth and grab it.


    So he really, really doesn¡¯t want X¨¹ Beijin to start pushing him away.


    He can¡¯t even blame X¨¹ Beijin for how the situation has developed so far©¤©¤Not that he¡¯d dare to, anyway. He feels like if he places the blame on X¨¹ Beijin, he¡¯d provoke him again.


    Yes, having provoked X¨¹ Beijin so many times already, he¡¯s already an expert.


    So Lin Qin can only ponder and tear himself apart over it by himself.


    Lin Qin, whose thoughts are failing to lead him anywhere, finally decided to try and change his mood by going into a Nightmare. Maybe he might even meet X¨¹ Beijin within¡­ He has once heard that ¡®people are more honestly themselves in dreams,¡¯ and they¡¯d reveal their real thoughts subconsciously in them.


    Lin Qin doesn¡¯t even know where he got this weird snippet of information from, or realises that Nightmares in the Tower aren¡¯t your typical ¡®dream,¡¯ but he ended up in this Nightmare anyway.


    The reason he chose this Nightmare? It was simply, when he was buying snacks in the marketplaces©¤©¤He had so many drinks, but not much food©¤©¤He overheard other Missiontakers talking about this Nightmare in hushed voices.


    A keyword they kept mentioning was ¡®apocalypse,¡¯ and he then recalled the Tower resident who visited X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore the last time.


    Although he tried to keep Lin Qin¡¯s ears away from their conversation, but Lin Qin, his heightened senses absurdly inhuman, could still make out some of the words.


    Including the word ¡®apocalypse.¡¯


    So Lin Qin decided to come investigate in this Nightmare. He also wanted to know what X¨¹ Beijin was talking about with the Tower resident¡­ Why did they have to whisper and avoid him?


    Was there something he cannot know about?


    Lin Qin, brushed aside by the bookstore owner, was certainly irritated, despite looking nonchalant about it on the surface.


    Read only at Travis Translations


    boilpoil''s notes:


    This part of the chapter talks about some background information Fei knows, and about why Lin Qin came to this Nightmare.

 Volume 5 - CH 75.3

    The appearance of Lin Qin here isn¡¯t only surprising to Fei, but also, Jiang Shuangmei, although she is currently employing another face, having used the Trick card ¡®The Devil¡¯s Mask.¡¯


    She¡¯s not planning to commit any evil, so the card will only have exactly two uses for her. She knows this, but because she deeply loathes the card, she doesn¡¯t care.


    She actually came to the Nightmare to both look for the supposed ¡®truth,¡¯ and also to possibly find a path forward for both herself and her current companions.


    Because of the importance of these objectives, to be on the safe side, she chose to use this utility card.


    With one use gone, there is still one left as well. She¡¯ll stow it away for when it is really necessary in the future.


    Jiang Shuangmei was actually planning on using the face of the original owner of this card, Muscular, but just in case, she decides to come up with a new look.


    When she¡¯s now here in the Nightmare, she can¡¯t help but applaud herself for her foresight.


    Who¡¯d have thought that both Lin Qin and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ would be here?


    Lin Qin hasn¡¯t been frequenting Nightmares lately, and by lately, she means over a month. Nobody who¡¯s anybody has seen Lin Qin in Nightmares for over a month now; as for Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡­


    Although they failed to achieve a True End in the Nightmare they met, but after this long time, with even the lively festival where Missiontakers scrambled to get to a higher floor already over, she¡¯s surprised Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ is still here.


    Was he really unlucky? Or did he¡­ choose to stay?


    Jiang Shuangmei is aware of Missiontakers who choose to stay on the bottom floor of the Tower deliberately.


    A long, long time ago, when the Jiang sisters were still their decadent, partying selves, they¡¯d hear about these people talking about a ¡®long, long time ago.¡¯


    They¡¯d say, that when the Missiontakers were just moved into the Tower, nobody had any idea what was going on. While at first, some dashed right for the higher floors, but some people stayed from the very beginning.


    They might even go up a floor or two over time, but they will eventually return to the bottom floor.


    ¡°Why?¡± Asked the largely drunk Jiang Shuangmei.


    ¡°Cuz¡­ haha, you know, how could a building¡¯s exit, be built on a higher floor?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei largely treated this as a drunken episode, all the way until very recently, when she still didn¡¯t think much of it, even when she knew about all these Missiontakers who have chosen to stay on the bottom floor.


    It is blatantly obvious that while the Tower is a building, but this is inside of a game, and not reality. Why would it be weird if a game has installed doors wherever?


    However¡­


    Soon after those rumours emerged, Jiang Shuangmei has come to make a U-turn on her judgement. She looked at that drunken conversation anew, and tried to remember the tone of the Missiontaker who said it. In the end, she decided to try her luck in this Nightmare.


    Of course, she didn¡¯t expect to meet acquaintances here.


    Never mind Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, but Lin Qin being here forces her to recall her previous meeting with him, and the implications that the meeting brought.


    ¡­ The Nightmare of the bookstore owner.


    To be honest, many a Missiontaker are scheming to get into that Nightmare, but Lin Qin¡¯s reputation, and X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s own quirk of never sleeping, and also, the abundance of rumours distracting the Missiontakers as of late, has kept attention away from X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare for now.


    It is definitely no long term solution, though.


    Of course, if this Nightmare turned out to be the one, and people could leave the Tower, then never mind; but if not, then the ever-disappointed, desperate Missiontakers, might finally lay their eyes back on their failure several years back.


    Lin Qin may be powerful, but is he able to stand alone against every single Missiontaker of the bottom floor?


    So, X¨¹ Beijin is in for trouble, no matter what.


    Several years ago, he managed to shock and awe the Missiontakers, but now, it is different.


    If these Missiontakers of the current bottom floor are really unable to enter X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, they might actually start going to drastic, self-destructive means. Even if they cannot force X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s hand, they will be able to at least disgust him.


    This is the new flame born from the extinguished ashes of that year. These Missiontakers who have been fired up, once again, who knows if they are really drummed up altogether again, or merely¡­ showing terminal lucidity.


    If it is the latter, then all hell breaks loose. Nobody can tell what they might do when all hope is lost.


    Jiang Shuangmei is feeling anxious just thinking about it. She never used to care about these things, or even had the mind to notice these things. Yet, when her sister departed, she realised, she had to care, she had to be mindful, she had to analyse.


    There was a while when she was agonising in distress, but then finally, it dawned on her that, after losing her sister¡¯s guardianship, nobody cared for her sadness anymore. If she wanted to live carrying her sister¡¯s legacy, then she has to suck it up and steel herself.


    ¡­ Unless she wants to go back and join the decadent revellers in their orgies.


    But, she has made a promise to her older sister.


    Coincidentally, that was also the time when the majority of the indulgent Missiontakers decided to forgo their partying lifestyle and return to Nightmares, and return to the Tower-climbing. Jiang Shuangmei met a lot of old acquaintances of Missiontakers who all asked about Jiang Shuangjie and then offered their laments and condolences.


    They are aware that the Jiang sisters actually has quite the stock of utility cards saved up over their earlier years, which must now all belong to Jiang Shuangmei after Jiang Shuangjie died. Does this younger sister actually have the agency to keep it all to herself, though?


    In any case, soon enough, a group of ex-decadents formed around Jiang Shuangmei.


    Jiang Shuangmei can easily tell their true intentions, though her older sister¡¯s departure, besides washing away her childish fa?ade, seems to have also caused a tendency in her to mimic, or even ¡®become¡¯ her older sister.


    In a short time, she picked out some reliable companions among the group, and formed an ¡®inner circle.¡¯


    She stayed put and merely observed while many of those Missiontakers gathered, impatient, left. Soon enough, the bottom floor¡¯s makeup has already changed.


    Even the Necessities Merchants are no longer the ones Jiang Shuangmei knew.


    For that bookstore owner of Lin Qin¡¯s, this is perhaps fortunate, because this means many of those now on the bottom floor would have never heard of or not care much for his Nightmare; on the other hand, Lin Qin¡¯s warning from before the demographic shift has largely had its effects undone.


    Though now, Jiang Shuangmei knows she is clearly digressing.


    Why is she thinking so much for her casual acquaintances?


    Then she jokingly comes up with an explanation©¤©¤Eh, you know, she did have half a foot stuck in the romance between the dalao Lin Qin and the bookstore owner, right?


    Jiang Shuangmei has been pretty stressed lately, so she can¡¯t help but want to lighten her mood whenever she can.


    She sneaks a glance over at Lin Qin, wondering nosily how their relationship has been going recently.


    After all that thought that¡¯s crossed her mind, she finally turns to look at the other people, specifically the people she doesn¡¯t know.

 Volume 5 - CH 75.4

    Jiang Shuangmei already knows that Lin Qin is trustworthy and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ is also largely reliable, but she is unable to say the same for the five other people present.


    There is a man and woman pair that is clearly a pair, and they look rather nervous and agitated; of the three remaining, two men are also clearly companions, one is going with full formal attire with a suit even in the Nightmares, the other one appears to be a teenager. He looks seriously young.


    The last person¡­


    Jiang Shuangmei falls into thought seeing the last woman.


    She looks almost like some kind of medium, wearing a long, black robe that covers all the way to her ankles. She also has heavy, smokey makeup on. Her long hair is slightly curly, and while she looks calm, she is murmuring something.


    Jiang Shuangmei listens, only to hear her saying, ¡°to end up in this Nightmare after all¡­ I see, it must be that my connection with the bottom floor is yet to entirely dissipate¡­¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei ¡°¡­¡±


    Oi oi, is she really alright in the head?!


    Jiang Shuangmei has so many disses in her mind, so she can only try to cheer herself up, thinking, at least everyone else looks vaguely competent.


    If she knew that, right now, Lin Qin is worrying over his relationship with X¨¹ Beijin, Fei and Wu Jian are entirely preoccupied thinking about the Apocalypse and the Tower and the exit, then she would probably go back on her thoughts.


    She does not, of course, and so she is very blindly optimistic.


    The image she chose in this Nightmare for herself is one of an average-looking, taciturn woman. She gives a fake name, Liang Shuang.


    The first one to speak up to them is Mr Suits over here.


    He, and the young Teen beside him, take over the initiative with veteran ease. They immediately set everyone on tasks to be done later, which is truly a relief to hear for Jiang Shuangmei, who has already become used to how chaotic the bottom floor Missiontakers can act sometimes.


    She also learns another thing, that these two men¡­ come from higher floors. They perhaps thought this is the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare,¡¯ and so entered on purpose, to look for an ¡®exit to the Tower.¡¯


    Meanwhile, the Missiontakers have already exchanged names and what they know about this Nightmare; however, on the stream, Fei and Wu Jian do not reveal that they are from the higher floors, or that they have acquired information from Mu Jiashi. The strange woman is the last one to introduce herself.


    She gives them no name, and instead, just identifies as ¡®Mystic,¡¯ even though she doesn¡¯t actually know fortune-telling, or divination for that matter. She says she just enjoys the mystique afforded.


    She also tells them she is from the higher floors, but after having come up with nothing thus far, she is still not ready to give up just yet. This is going to be her last fight; if she still fails to make any meaningful gains, she may return to her journey upwards, climbing the Tower.


    Then, she starts blabbering something, ¡°but¡­ something feels strange in this Nightmare¡­ It¡¯s, yeah, a feeling,¡± she takes a deep breath, and looks slightly absent-minded as she continues, ¡°something¡­ the truth, or some other thing¡­ is hidden in this Nightmare¡­¡±


    Some of the Missiontakers ¡°¡­¡±


    Wow. Is this what Missiontakers from higher floors look like?


    Jiang Shuangmei and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, both regulars of the bottom floor, are glancing over at Suits and Teen who also introduced themselves as having from the higher floors with slightly complicated gazes.


    The pair ¡°¡­¡±


    The 36th floor of the building, is currently enveloped in an offputting atmosphere.


    In the stream, the viewers are all having a great time laughing.


    ¡°whats with the mental image in my head!¡±


    ¡°are these the pros of the higher floors? colour me impressed¡±


    ¡°reality is always cruel [cry emoji]¡±


    ¡°Looks like the Missiontakers have no idea the building will be tumbling in three hours? They should have been looking for a way out instead of talking otherwise, right, Beibei?¡±


    ¡°eh? that tone¡­¡±


    ¡°dalao! the detective dalao is back! we really missed you, so so much!¡±


    ¡°sob sob, when the dalao is not here, we get our brains f¡¯ed inside out by Beibei¡¯s iq!¡±


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s me again! I¡¯m back to Beibei¡¯s stream! I got something going on at home these two weeks, so I was pretty stressed out. Finally got some free time now, and I saw Beibei¡¯s stream is on~ Happy~!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin also notices the dalao¡¯s comment, and before he can even feel relief or curious that he is back, something else draws his attention.


    These¡­ two weeks?


    Only, two weeks?!


    X¨¹ Beijin suddenly comes to realise a problem.


    There is a difference in the flow of time between the Tower and the world outside the Tower? Time is quicker here in the Tower, and slower outside?


    Between now and the first time X¨¹ Beijin ever streamed, if they go by the number of times the outside scenery of the Tower has brightened and dimmed, then it should have been close to two months already; within which the detective dalao has disappeared for over a month already.


    According to him, however, it has merely been two weeks.


    Then X¨¹ Beijin recalls how it has actually already been twenty days between his last stream and the stream before that.


    Any normal livestreamer with such an irregular, infrequent schedule would normally have been completely forgotten by the viewers. They might not even remember why they followed the streamer in the first place.


    However, X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s viewers never reacted halfway as dramatically.


    They¡¯d go ¡®long time no see,¡¯ but their ¡®long time no see,¡¯ doesn¡¯t actually seem to be as long a time as X¨¹ Beijin understood it to be.


    If he goes by the more than a month¡¯s time that the detective dalao has been gone and the ¡®two weeks¡¯ he himself admitted to, and calculate, then the ratio of time¡¯s passage between reality and within the game is at least 1:2.


    What could this mean?


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s line of sight slowly lowers onto his own hand. He can¡¯t help but form a fist, and then dig his fingernails into his palm, to feel the very real sense of pain coming from it.


    This can only mean that, he thinks, that they are definitely trapped in some hyperrealistic game, which is the only possible explanation for the flow of time being different; it¡¯s a setting not unheard of in creative media like novels and movies and such.


    But, what about their physical bodies?


    They should have been projected into the game through some kind of device, maybe one of those ¡®pods¡¯ the viewers mentioned in the very beginning, which is what it takes to support them as their consciousness spends an obscenely long amount of time in the game¡­


    Of course, another possibility exists.


    Their bodies have perished a long time ago, in the Apocalypse that befell Earth. Only their consciousness, in what could be a pattern of electrical signals in the brain, has been saved in a ghost-like manner, and then deposited into this game called ¡®Escape.¡¯


    X¨¹ Beijin looks closely at his released fist. He can see the patterns on his palm clearly, without any telling technical artefacts.


    Then, he slowly rolls his hand back into a fist.


    ¡®If we are already dead,¡¯ he whispers to himself, so quietly that no voice comes out for the stream to hear, ¡®then is there even meaning in putting us into this ¡®game¡¯?¡¯

 Volume 5 - CH 75.5

    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mouth barely noticeably curls into a sarcastic angle, but he then takes a deep breath and calms down. He feels he is unexpectedly calm and even easygoing when recalling those things now.


    Perhaps it could be because of how long it has been that he has immersed himself in those memories, so he has become used to it. He is numb. Or possibly, merely because he has boxed himself in for a very long time.


    He has allowed himself to laze about in countless Nightmares, keeping those emotions and memories at bay by habit. That is how he stays sane in the long, nightmarish nights, withstanding the solitude and hopelessness during the nights of the Tower alone.


    The state has lasted so long that, when he is remembering those memories long past, it felt like a lifetime ago, so much so he could barely feel any emotional impact.


    So now, only a kind of laughable pity remains.


    He thinks that, even to this day, he is still unable to face the truth. He can¡¯t.


    Once, Mu Jiashi had a chat with him, and said that he is a loser, a complete, utterly useless piece of trash. He never remarked on why he was defeated. X¨¹ Beijin thinks, though, that his cowardice, fear and helplessness when facing the truth¡­


    Is just a failure all the same.


    He slowly breaths out.


    While X¨¹ Beijin is thinking about these things, the Missiontakers have already finished exploring the floor.


    Leaving Mystic¡¯s cryptic words behind, they moved rather quickly. While the building is over a hundred square metres in area, but the collapsed structural beams, walls, bricks, tables, chairs and whatnot, have actually blocked off much of it.


    Their approximate area of movement is limited to around a few hundred metres from where they spawned.


    To the left, they can walk to the very end, where there is a restroom, locked; to the right, is the emergency stairwell, the door to which is unexpectedly wide open, like an invitation letter drawing the Missiontakers in.


    Further out, are shards of glass leading out to a burning city; while in the interior, they can access the elevator shaft located in the centre of the floor.


    There are four elevators here. Suits and Teen, who checked them out, tried pushing the down button on all four, but only the elevator which was already stopped on this floor responded. The rest had no reaction. They have no idea on which floor they might be.


    Suits asks, ¡°what do you think?¡±


    ¡°Two paths, it seems,¡± Teen says after a bit of thought, and adds, ¡°the elevator, or the stairs.¡±


    Suits then says slowly, ¡°the situation cannot be so simple, so there must be corresponding difficulties to either path. We can try both out first, though.¡±


    Teen nods.


    So soon enough, after the exploration of the floor is complete, the eight Missiontakers are assembled where they spawned, to discuss on their progress.


    Suits concludes in the end, ¡°there isn¡¯t much to explore on this floor, and the stairs and the elevator are the obvious ¡®paths¡¯ forward pointed to us.


    Given the scenery outside, some kind of disaster may have befallen this city; this building was no exception. We are here, on the highest floor, and given access to the stairs and elevator. This can only imply that we must go down.


    According to the signage of the emergency stairs, this is the 36th floor.


    Our ultimate goal could be to leave this building. Whether the Ending of the Nightmare points to the world outside is unknown, but the most sensible thought process given we appeared here, is that we should head for the exit on the ground.


    Just similar to¡­¡±


    His analysis suddenly trails off.


    All the Missiontakers present are silent. They all know, that Suits mean to say, ¡®similar to how they appeared on the bottom floor of the Tower, so naturally, they go up.¡¯


    After the silence, Suits continues, ¡°so, we must leave this place, either via the elevator or the stairs. Whether we should split up though, is a topic for another time.


    First off, should we try to break the door to the restroom open?¡±


    The door to the restroom?


    All the Missiontakers reflexively look to the left, where, at the very end, are the locked restrooms, both the male and female ones. Only the sinks can be seen here.


    Jiang Shuangmei can¡¯t help but ask, ¡°would pure force work?¡±


    Suits smiles to say, ¡°we would never know if we don¡¯t try.¡±


    So they tried, but even after using force, it still would not budge, and so Suits had to remark sombrely, ¡°perhaps there really are no clues on this floor.¡±


    ¡°Not necessarily,¡± Teen suddenly speaks up, ¡°there might be keys in the floors below.¡±


    Suits nods and then adds, ¡°or there might be a management office.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei asks, confused, ¡°management offices are often on the 1st floor. Are we still going to come back up when we¡¯re there?¡±


    Suits looks at her and makes a light chuckle, and does not explain anything else; Missiontakers from the higher floors would generally pay more attention to the ¡®truth¡¯ of the Nightmare, rather than just the ¡®Ending¡¯ of the Nightmare.


    They, of course, despise how pressed for success these bottom floor Missiontakers are.


    His attitude, though¡­


    Jiang Shuangmei ¡°¡­¡±


    She¡¯s speechless, while also realising that this Missiontaker from the higher floor, seems rather full of himself.


    The two of them possibly chose to take initiative, and even order the other Missiontakers about, perhaps because, they do not trust the Missiontakers of the bottom floor. They might even¡­ look down on them.


    Jiang Shuangmei, who can tell she is being silently judged and treated with disdain, takes a deep breath to calm down. She¡¯s not going to say anything extra from now on.


    Then Suits say, ¡°so we¡¯ve come to an agreement? No objections, then¡­¡±


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± Mystic suddenly speaks up, with a somewhat strange tone, ¡°I feel like, we should be on the move as soon as possible. I have a very, very bad feeling about this¡­ We should waste no more time¡­¡±


    What she said makes Suits furrow his brows, but he doesn¡¯t raise any objection. Instead, perhaps owing to her also coming from a higher floor, Suits nods after giving it some thought, and then says, ¡°you might be right.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei gives the stuck-up man a look.


    Teen seems entirely oblivious to how tense the atmosphere has become the entire time. He just asks, ¡°so? Who¡¯s going to the stairs.¡±


    ¡°Just in case, we should split it up evenly,¡± Suits says, ¡°since Lin Qin is here, though, 5-3, or even 6-2 could be¡­¡±


    Lin Qin slowly raises his head and narrows his eyes, interrupting Suits, ¡°who gave you the right to decide where I go?¡±


    Suits¡¯ voice abruptly cuts off.


    Jiang Shuangmei has a little chuckle to herself with her head down. Mystic gives her a look, then looks over at Suits and Teen, and also chuckles.


    Suits seem apprehensive, and says, ¡°you can go whichever way you want, of course.¡±


    Teen furrows his brows slightly, but doesn¡¯t say anything.


    Fei and Wu Jian has been absent-minded since the very beginning, and are still clearly distracted right now.


    Although as soon as Lin Qin starts walking to the stairwell alone, Fei gives Wu Jian an eye, and so Wu Jian suggests, ¡°I¡¯ll follow dalao Lin Qin.¡±


    The rest of the Missiontakers acknowledge that, and he then follows.


    Lin Qin gives Wu Jian a glance, but also says nothing, and only continues on the stairs. The staircase is unlit, but the green light indicating the emergency exit is still on. The tinge is rather eerie, frankly.


    Wu Jian sneaks a glance over the fence of the stairwell, and the endless stairs down without end resemble an enormous, abyssal mouth. There is only the sound of their footsteps ringing throughout.


    He could feel his hair standing on end, and so quickly follows Lin Qin¡¯s footsteps. It is more reassuring this way.


    Hey, Lin Qin the dalao being here is still pretty good.


    On the 36th floor, after Lin Qin and Wu Jian has left, the rest of the Missiontakers turn to the elevators. They board the only elevator that is open on the 36th floor.


    Then Suits looks at the buttons present, and knits his brows.


    He can see only four buttons that are on among all the buttons. They are seven, eighteen, twenty-nine and thirty-two. While above the panel of buttons, the LED screen showing which floor the elevator is on, has already broken.


    Suits pushes seven directly without consulting with any of the others present.


    Jiang Shuangmei looks at him, slightly irritated, but doesn¡¯t say anything.


    Fei is the last one to step inside. She turns around as the elevator door closes, and Fei looks closely at the narrowing gap.


    She suddenly wonders, what might the scene be like when the elevator door opens up again?


    The elevator slowly churns. It should take a rather long time to reach the 7th floor from the 36th; however, a mere dozen seconds or so later, the elevator already goes ¡®ding,¡¯ to indicate that they are already at their destination.


    Then, the elevator door opens.


    ¡­ A group of people, completely drenched in blood, with vicious, wrathful looks on their faces, turns to them with reddened eyes and extends their hands, yelling, rushing for the open elevator door.


    The quickest one there, is almost about to touch Fei, who is standing there, dazed, on the face with his cold fingertips!

 Volume 5 - CH 76.1

    Strange Elevators


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Two screams erupt from the elevator.


    Jiang Shuangmei, who is close to the accessibility button panel, has quickly pushed on the close button and not letting go.


    After the brief shock, Fei, biting her lips, shaking, is still doing what she can with Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ right next to her to kick the madmen reaching for them, allowing the elevator door to close successfully.


    She now stares blankly at the centre line of the elevator door. She could almost see through it, to the rushing crowd outside©¤©¤Those people are still rushing towards the metallic door, squeezing it.


    Fei¡¯s fingertips are deathly cold and she is clearly distraught, murmuring, ¡°what in the world is going on¡­¡±


    ¡°The 7th floor is dangerous,¡± Suits furrows his brows, and says, ¡°however, it looks like these are the only floors we can go to. We will have to check the others out.¡±


    The rest of the Missiontakers are still reeling from the impact of the terrifyingly chaotic scene before.


    Teen suddenly asks, ¡°are we really on the 7th floor?¡±


    Suits knits his brows as well. He cannot offer a definitive answer.


    ¡°I saw¡­¡± Mystic¡¯s voice is floating across the air almost inaudibly, ¡°I just saw, the scenery outside the broken windows¡­ it wasn¡¯t much different, to the 36th floor.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei, still pushing heavily on the close button without relenting, joins the discussion, with a more methodical approach, ¡°if this is a building with 36 floors, the elevators should travel at around 2 m/s. It was about a dozen seconds only, so at best, we are 10 storeys down.¡±


    Suits gives Jiang Shuangmei an odd look, clearly surprised at her knowledge of elevator intricacies.


    Jiang Shuangmei is quiet now, not explaining where she learnt the information, or why she wanted to know about elevators in the first place.


    What, is she going to tell the others, that she desperately wanted to know because her older sister became a ghost trapped in an elevator?


    The information has been chiselled into her memories, but, even if she returned to the Nightmare, she could not find her older sister anywhere. In a sense, these knowledge has become useless to her¡­


    Except for moments like this.


    Suits doesn¡¯t ask, and merely nods approvingly, saying, ¡°that is useful to know. Then we can conclude, unfortunately, that the buttons in the elevators, do not lead to their respective labelled floors.¡±


    In the elevator, the Missiontakers who are still listening to their stand-off with the madmen outside the elevator fall into a contrasting silence. With no outspoken Missiontaker here, none of them express what they feel much.


    The comment barrage on the stream is a good representation of their frustration, however.


    ¡°how the hell do you even go from here?!¡±


    ¡°this elevator is like a labyrinth¡±


    ¡°if you push down a button in the elevator, but not know which floor it actually is, or what dangers lurk in that floor¡­ question: how do you descend safely?¡±


    ¡°ps. the elevator only goes to some specific, unknown floors¡±


    ¡°what a good question; i choose the stairs¡±


    ¡°with how risky the elevator is, would the stairs really be safe? I¡¯m doubtful¡±


    ¡°uh, but isnt there the painted floor number on every floor in the emergency stairs? they can just go check to confirm which floor each button in the elevator leads to?¡±


    ¡°assuming, of course, you can safely reach the emergency stairs, for example, going through, I don¡¯t know, a crowd of mental patients?¡±


    ¡°and we have no idea what dangers there are on other floors¡±


    ¡°¡­ i choose, death.¡±


    ¡°why do I feel like since the detective dalao is back, everyone has gone too serious¡­ [whisper emoji]¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is also chuckling seeing the comment barrage, and sits up straight to wait for the dalao¡¯s analysis©¤©¤He¡¯s also inherently lazy, so with the detective dalao here to take up the mantle, he¡¯ll have it easier for a while.


    The detective dalao first, slowly, types a few question marks onto the screen, before typing out fully what he thinks of the Nightmare so far, ¡°First, they should figure out the relationship between the button in the elevator and the actual floor they are transported to, and whether the other elevators worked the same way, and if so, which floors those lead to.


    I speculate that the elevators and floors they lead to form an intricate web of connections, which the Missiontakers must navigate.


    Currently, it is too early to tell if there is a pattern between buttons and floors transported, so the best way is simply writing the connections down for now.


    With how seven doesn¡¯t lead to the 7th floor, and the dangers within, though, this may prove difficult and complicated for the Missiontakers to do. It is possible that there is a method for reliably telling which floor they are on from the elevator, but the Missiontakers merely haven¡¯t discovered that yet.


    ¡­ Speaking of which, seven isn¡¯t 7, this is reminding me a lot of the Nightmare I saw on the stream before, with the numbering off session.


    Anyway, now the Missiontakers have only been on one elevator thus far, so there isn¡¯t much else to say. I¡¯m also worried, in the meantime, what if buttons in other potential elevators could lead to the same floor?


    For example, we know in this elevator, seven represents some floor x. If button number y in another elevator also leads to floor x¡­ Then what? Are they really going to have to try every single floor?


    Although that also pales to the possibility that the Missiontakers become impatient and just try any button without regard, until they¡¯ve lost track of where they are, how they reached there, or even what dangers each floor has¡­


    Then, they¡¯ll have become victims of the web of connections.


    That¡¯s all from me. So Beibei, you said you¡¯ve Acted in this Nightmare before, right? Do you have any non-spoilery clues you can share for this Nightmare? [cute emoji]¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks a tad complicated seeing the last comment from the detective dalao.


    He mulls over it for a while, and then asks, ¡°do you want to take a guess, which floor we¡¯re on?¡±


    ¡°!!!¡±


    ¡°oh yeah, where Beibei is, there must be clues!¡±


    ¡°Beibei, are you the bookstore owner again? the first floor again?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin smiles and explains, ¡°not the first floor, and I¡¯m also not a bookstore owner for once, although the role is somewhat similar.¡±


    ¡°something similar to a bookstore owner?¡±


    ¡°what kind of role could it be in this building? its an office tower right?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t work out who Beibei is¡­ but at least, it must be safe where you are right? Is this the safe zone of the Nightmare?¡±


    ¡°woah nice¡±


    ¡°detective dalao is super on point today¡±


    ¡°¡­ Hello? Can we be a bit more serious, ok? Lol¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but smile when seeing the viewers tease each other. After a long time spent in the dim, lightless environment, the viewers have been quite the relief for him.


    Then he turns to check on the Missiontakers¡¯ situation.

 Volume 5 - CH 76.2

    Right now, the stream has split into three windows, the large one in the centre above featuring the Missiontakers in the elevator, the small one on the lower left featuring Lin Qin and Wu Jian, while the one on the lower right features X¨¹ Beijin.


    Wu Jian has been following after Lin Qin, so the camera shows more Lin Qin than him.


    Which means¡­ Lin Qin and X¨¹ Beijin, each is occupying a corner rather prominently, and even symmetrically.


    ¡°man, even the stream is pairing Beibei and the little apple¡±


    ¡°Bei ¡®???¡¯¡±


    ¡°the little apple sure is patient to walk thirty odd floors without a word¡­ robot like will¡±


    ¡°but the little apple probably doesnt want anything to do with the other missiontakers either, like the two arrogant guys from the upper floor¡­ eugh¡±


    ¡°yo, wanna bet on when the little apple will find Beibei this nightmare?¡±


    ¡°ill bet the second run¡±


    ¡°I bet he would not find him¡±


    ¡°? are you underestimating the little apple?¡±


    ¡°hahaha I¡¯m more curious whether the little apple will ask ¡®can I fight with you¡¯ if he finds Beibei¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Nope, you¡¯re wrong.


    If he did find him, Lin Qin would more likely ask, ¡°can I like you now?¡±


    ¡­ X¨¹ Beijin is really finding the situation with Lin Qin absurd.


    Does he really like him? Probably not. But Lin Qin is somehow fixated on the topic, and is even looking at X¨¹ Beijin with that odd, ¡®I have something to say¡¯ look every day. It makes X¨¹ Beijin want to avoid speaking to him more and more.


    Seriously, such an un-self-aware, unlikeable, overly present¡­ inexplicably close and lovey-dovey little apple.


    X¨¹ Beijin disses him inside.


    He treats Lin Qin as a good friend, but he feels like Lin Qin already has the relationship subverted in his mind.


    ¡­ It has not! For what reason can Lin Qin assert that their relationship has evolved?!


    X¨¹ Beijin sighs again, his head throbbing. He knew it¡­ He knew how, for Lin Qin¡¯s simple worldview to be introduced to some complex concepts, would have been risky.


    And those Missiontakers of the Tower¡­ So much snooping, so much excessive imagination!


    X¨¹ Beijin, recalling how he has been misunderstood as the big bad guy behind everything more than a few times by now, has really had enough already.


    He takes a few deep breaths, to finally calm himself back down.


    Though while he doesn¡¯t say it out loud, his interactions with Lin Qin©¤©¤The ¡®interaction¡¯ in ¡®normal, everyday interactions¡¯©¤©¤is actually rather positively meaningful for X¨¹ Beijin.


    In a sense, Lin Qin has, alongside the viewers of the stream, dragged X¨¹ Beijin outside of his jail, freed him from his chains, from the dark, depressing, hopeless emotions.


    Although X¨¹ Beijin is always both pissed and amused by Lin Qin¡¯s antics, but at least, he is no longer as dull as dishwater now, is he?


    So really, in his mind, X¨¹ Beijin is even grateful to Lin Qin.


    ¡­ Not that that is enough for him to agree to fighting, ever. As for romance¡­ Nope, never, never ever, X¨¹ Beijin thinks.


    Now that his thoughts have gone back to normal, he takes a look around to take in his surroundings.


    Just as the viewers guessed, X¨¹ Beijin is in a safe zone. A safe zone, with clues.


    Or rather, all the relevant information to this building, and how it turned out like this, can be easily deduced by coming to this floor.


    Because this floor, contains the staff break room.


    Many of the office workers, after the disaster, considered their food and water supply, and headed here. Then, they became trapped here.


    With provisions still sufficient here, the white-collars here are still largely sane, not at all aggressive or even insane like the people the Missiontakers met earlier.


    The employees and staff trapped on this floor, while they are also scared and anxious, they still share the same goal as the Missiontakers ¨C they wish to leave this crumbling building before it tumbles.


    Of course, that¡¯s on the surface. The Actors aren¡¯t going to leave. It is merely what their plots demand.


    The plot also demands that X¨¹ Beijin sit right here, and have to Act like he¡¯s given up and is now merely observing all the proceedings.


    In this Nightmare, he is actually the role of the manager of this floor-wide break room.


    Perhaps ¡®he¡¯ suffered some sort of concussion or something when the disaster happened, but the plot demands X¨¹ Beijin to sit there looking uncomfortable and wait for Missiontakers to come.


    In this Nightmare, X¨¹ Beijin the extra, is more confined as a guiding light, basically, to indicate that there are clues here.


    At least, he only has to Act like he has a concussion, and not actually be in a concussion. He just has to look like he¡¯s dazed and empty-headed, which is basically how he usually is before the stream came into his life.


    So when he was assigned to this Nightmare in the past, he has always been able to laze about well.


    But also, in this Nightmare, he has actually interacted with the owner once. It was, really, really long ago; it was even before the incident where his bookstore was besieged by Missiontakers.


    X¨¹ Beijin is now looking quite blanked out©¤©¤As the Server would probably be pleased to see©¤©¤Though only because he is currently recalling the distant memories of his interactions with the yet-sane Nightmare owner.


    Suddenly, he hears some rather loud voice call out, ¡°eh, it¡¯s you¡­ X¨¹ Beijin! I saw you before!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin snaps back to reality to look at the big, bald dude standing before him.


    ¡­ Wei Lezhang.


    When they were in the Nightmare featuring the commercial complex, this frank and straightforward guy was eating hotpot for four hours straight as per the Server¡¯s instructions. He looked like he would rather die.


    When X¨¹ Beijin greeted him, he was duly invited to join in his hotpot session with enthusiasm.


    This time, he¡¯s also here, huh.


    And also¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin, with a slightly odd gaze, first greets Wei Lezhang back, before asking, ¡°are you Acting as someone related to food again?¡±


    Wei Lezhang, with a pained expression, replies, ¡°oh, yeah. The Server must hate me, right? Bollocks to this.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He can¡¯t help but want to chuckle.


    Every Missiontaker usually has some sort of commonality to their assigned role in the Tower, their assigned Acting role in the Nightmares of other Tower residents, and their own assigned character as their own Nightmare owner.


    For example, X¨¹ Beijin, the bookstore owner in the Tower, often gets to be a bookstore owner in other Nightmares, or, failing that, something similar, for example, he is the owner of the break room which sold food and stationery to others here.


    While Wei Lezhang, assigned as a hotpot customer in the Nightmare before, is now here in the break room as someone related to food.


    Which does make X¨¹ Beijin curious, admittedly, wondering what he could be in the Tower.

 Volume 5 - CH 76.3

    Wei Lezhang seems to have noticed X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s curiosity, and shakes his head to lament his misfortune, ¡°I¡¯ve got it hard, man. I got assigned as the owner of a hotpot place.¡±


    ¡°A hotpot place¡­¡¯s owner?¡± X¨¹ Beijin repeats the phrase with a raised tone.


    ¡°Yeah, you must be wondering what my Nightmare is now,¡± Wei Lezhang shrugs, resigned, and tells him, ¡°well, in my Nightmare, the Missiontakers¡­ Hah, they get their bodies drenched in boiling hot hotpot soup.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    That sure is, quite the nightmarish scene and event.


    Wei Lezhang also seems like he has seen a lot, going ¡®tch tch¡¯ and looking both sympathetic but also slightly amused at the Missiontakers¡¯ misfortunes.


    Then he starts making faces at X¨¹ Beijin, asking, ¡°you seem pretty interested in Nightmares in general?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin seems surprised to be asked, but he replies plainly, ¡°I¡¯m just curious.¡±


    ¡°Curious, I see,¡± Wei Lezhang then examines X¨¹ Beijin, and wonders aloud, ¡°are you also someone related to food and drinks? The last time you were holding bubble tea¡­ Bubble tea store owner?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin quietly corrects him, ¡°a bookstore owner.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ A bookstore owner,¡± Wei Lezhang suddenly changes topic, and excitedly asks, ¡°hey man, have you ever heard about that super infamous bookstore owner of the bottom floor?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He opens his mouth, but isn¡¯t sure what words to say.


    Uh¡­ ¡®man,¡¯ the bookstore owner you¡¯re referring to, might¡­ be him¡­


    Wei Lezhang, the oblivious man that he is, completely fails to notice X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s expression, and just simply says with a face of gossip, ¡°that guy really is legendary. They say that all the Missiontakers of the bottom floor, we¡¯re talking thousands or tens of thousands of them, all besieged him in his bookstore for three whole days, just so they could enter his Nightmare.


    Then¡­ Hey, guess what, he never let the Missiontakers in! Man, what a chad! Even now I¡¯ve not heard that anyone has entered his Nightmare successfully, whether the Missiontakers or us¡­ I, ol¡¯ Wei, can certainly call him the most badass guy in the world!


    Never mind the Missiontakers even, he¡¯s even ruthless to himself! Not sleeping for all these years, huh, I wonder if his kidneys are doing alright¡­ Man, he¡¯s a real legend.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    This excessively dramatised and emotional retelling of Wei Lezhang¡¯s merely makes X¨¹ Beijin endlessly embarrassed.


    How come he never learned that there were actually thousands or tens of thousands of people who besieged him for three days straight outside of his own store? Is that how they tell the events outside?


    And also¡­


    His. Kidneys. Are. Fine.


    X¨¹ Beijin emphasises that in his mind expressionlessly.


    While in this damned game, it seems like a useless thing to mention, since there isn¡¯t exactly someone with whom he can activate its functions¡­


    Lin Qin?


    X¨¹ Beijin is spooked, wondering why in the world he just thought of Lin Qin.


    ¡­ Must be the fault of the damned little apple for going like and stuff! He¡¯s been led astray! Oh, woe be their poor friendship!


    Once again, X¨¹ Beijin is dissing Lin Qin inside.


    And because Wei Lezhang just accused him of having kidney problems, the very begrudging X¨¹ Beijin is not going to admit that he is the bookstore owner he¡¯s talking about. Ever.


    This damned straightforward guy really has too big a mouth!


    Wei Lezhang still completely fails to notice the aura coming from X¨¹ Beijin, perhaps thanks to the dim conditions in the building, or perhaps, because X¨¹ Beijin has always looked largely calm and expressionless on the outside.


    He¡¯s still blabbering on passionately about the ¡®legendary bookstore owner of the bottom floor,¡¯ even waving his hands and miming whenever he got to exciting points. X¨¹ Beijin is now so awkward he¡¯s burying his face in his hands.


    Then, he quietly retrieves two cans of drinks from the side©¤©¤Inventory of this staff break room, so obviously the ¡®owner,¡¯ X¨¹ Beijin, knows where the stuff are. One for Wei Lezhang, another for himself.


    He thought the drinks would allow Wei Lezhang to pause, and then¡­ it backfired!


    The big bald guy is even more fired up!


    X¨¹ Beijin glances over at the stream in despair, hoping to distract himself with what the Missiontakers are up to so that the loquacious orator wouldn¡¯t mentally cripple him.


    Lin Qin and Wu Jian¡­ They¡¯re still going down the stairs, of course.


    The six other Missiontakers, meanwhile, are already going to the other floors.


    Where the button seven led to was a floor full of madness, so they don¡¯t dare exploring there at all. If any Missiontaker perished in the attack and caused the Nightmare to restart, that¡¯d be tragic.


    That¡¯s why they¡¯re going to other floors to investigate instead.


    Since this is the only elevator accessible from the 36th floor, and has four choices for destination, there must be at least one location that is safe for them to go to.


    ¡°And, it is not necessarily only one either,¡± Suits adds with an authoritative tone, ¡°the first run being generally safer, I believe that there would be at least two safe options of the four present.


    It may be the case that this would change once the Nightmare starts crumbling. Dangers lurking beyond the elevator door may also change.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be unreasonable difficulty?¡± Jiang Shuangmei, with her moniker Liang Shuang, can¡¯t help but speak up, ¡°even whether there¡¯s danger after opening the door wouldn¡¯t stay constant?¡±


    Suits glances at her but doesn¡¯t speak.


    Teen spitefully chuckles, seemingly having run out of patience, and simply says, ¡°is this how the bottom floor is? Your understanding of the Difficulty in Nightmares really is barren.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s face is beet-red from being chided, but she doesn¡¯t know how to retort.


    Yes, because she has also once been on higher floors, albeit only for short periods and at intervals, but she knows what the Nightmares above are like in terms of difficulty.


    Nightmares crumble earlier. The dangers are less predictable. The Missiontakers would even be split into factions.


    Which explains why Suits and Teen act so arrogantly. They are used to a different climate from the bottom floor, where Missiontakers are natural allies due to their common interests when entering a Nightmare.


    In higher floors, Missiontakers may very well be on opposing sides, and may even have to fight to the death.


    To be frank, compared to the disdain oozing from Teen, with how he doesn¡¯t even seem inclined to deign talking with Missiontakers of the bottom floor, Suits can even be said to be kind.


    At least he is not directly mocking Jiang Shuangmei and Missiontakers of the bottom floor like her.


    Although he also doesn¡¯t seem at all concerned with what Teen said, neither apology nor concurrence. He merely skips the topic to ask, ¡°so¡­ we have three choices now. Which floor should we go with?¡±


    Nobody responds.


    Jiang Shuangmei has just been hit directly by an AoE attack from Teen and isn¡¯t going to readily work with these arrogant Missiontakers again immediately; Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ is quiet, as usual; Fei still seems spooked from the encounter earlier and is largely out of focus; Mystic is murmuring stuff to herself, and ignores Suits.


    Suits doesn¡¯t seem fazed at all, and just turns to Teen.


    Teen has no intention of caring about these bottom floor Missiontakers at all©¤©¤Mystic is from the higher floors, true, but not even people from even higher floors than where he came from can necessarily earn his respect.


    He¡¯s a pretty demanding guy.


    He and Suits come from rather high up. and only entered this Nightmare in search of the ¡®exit to the Tower.¡¯ They don¡¯t actually care much for this Nightmare itself.


    Frankly, he thinks Nightmares of the bottom floor are beneath him.


    He ¡®hmph¡¯s, and then glances at the panel in the elevator to say, ¡°just go with thirty-two.¡±


    Suits presses the button as instructed.

 Volume 5 - CH 76.4

    A stiff, cold atmosphere has permeated the elevator. The moment Suits pressed the button in the elevator, it starts moving. Not up, though, but down.


    ¡°Just as we thought¡­¡± Suits says, ¡°the elevator buttons do not correspond to their supposed floors.¡±


    No one followed up, not even Teen. Suits seems used to his companion¡¯s coldness, though, nor does he care much about the other Missiontakers.


    The elevator runs for about three seconds, so about two or three storeys later, it stops. Then, the elevator door opens.


    The Missiontakers are on high alert.


    Though it is quiet out there. There are no madmen. It doesn¡¯t look like there are many dangers here either. After the elevator has opened, what is revealed is a scenery not unlike that of the 36th floor.


    Messed up office cubicles, charred window frames, a silently burning city beyond the window. There is almost a tragic sense of beauty to this scene of a city if frozen in frame¡­ Heartbreaking as it is.


    ¡°Is this¡­¡± Fei asks with a soft voice, ¡°safe?¡±


    Suits replies, ¡°it looks so.¡±


    So the Missiontakers leave the elevator, but just in case, only Suits, Fei and Jiang Shuangmei entered the floor first, so that nothing might happen to the elevator while they are all gone.


    Later, Suits discovers something, and alerts the rest of the Missiontakers.


    ¡°There is another elevator stopped on this floor,¡± Suits says, ¡°we must now decide whether to switch to this one.¡±


    Teen says, unprompted, ¡°this is the first run, so we should stick to the original elevator¡­ Hm, let¡¯s call it Elevator One.


    We do not know where Elevator Two here might take us to, and we still have yet to figure out where all four buttons on One lead us to, so I¡¯m against switching.


    If nothing else, we can finish checking all four buttons before coming to this elevator.¡±


    ¡®Can¡¯ is the word he uses, but his tone suggests otherwise.


    Jiang Shuangmei has had enough, and says, ¡°why don¡¯t we just split up?¡±


    Suits and Teen shares a look, then they both turn towards her.


    She speaks with a genuine tone of mockery, ¡°you and I both hate being with each other, so let¡¯s split up, then we¡¯ll both be happier.


    We won¡¯t necessarily be able to solve the Nightmare in the first run, so we can just exchange information by the second run. How¡¯s that? I believe we will not be withholding information to ourselves.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei said that because one, she knows she wouldn¡¯t lie; two, while she doesn¡¯t have much goodwill for these Missiontakers from the higher floors, given how arrogant they¡¯ve been, she finds it unlikely they¡¯d go so far as to deceive them.


    Most importantly, she really wants to spend no more time with the two. She¡¯s worried she won¡¯t be able to hold her fists back.


    Suits seem hesitant to say something, but Teen just nods to say, ¡°sure, then let¡¯s do it this way. Three each,¡± he turns to Mystic to announce, ¡°you¡¯ll come with us.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei ¡°¡­¡±


    How discriminatory are you towards them Missiontakers of the bottom floor?!


    Mystic looks at Teen hesitantly, but then she murmurs, ¡°necessary¡­ it is necessary¡­¡±


    Then she slowly drifts along to Suits and Teen.


    Fei and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ seem complacent with the arrangement as well.


    With the team split, they finally get to exploring the floor proper.


    This is a safe floor, is the conclusion the Missiontakers come to after spending some time around. Though safe also implies that there isn¡¯t much clue to go on.


    ¡°Do you remember the madmen of ¡®floor seven¡¯?¡± Suits asks after some thought, ¡°what drove them to madness? Why were they killing each other?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei was about to ask about the ¡®each other¡¯ part when she suddenly recalled, that on the hands, faces and even mouths of those people were traces of blood. It couldn¡¯t have been Missiontakers¡¯ blood here, right? So naturally, the Missiontakers can conclude that it¡¯s the product of their fighting.


    Jiang Shuangmei feels slightly unhappy right now. She feels like she has at least been to the higher floors with her older sister once, but now it feels like her intelligence is being ousted as subpar.


    She asks, ¡°could it be hunger?¡±


    Based on the fact that there is blood around the madmen¡¯s mouths, she suspects they may be eating each other.


    Suits remains silent for a bit, then seems to realise that this is merely a possible hypothesis, so he responds to it, ¡°that¡¯s not the point I¡¯m trying to say. The problem is, why? What caused the conflict in the building? If it is hunger, so much that they are committing cannibalism and turning into savages, then why did they not leave the building? And why¡­ did they go mad?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei has no answers to give, so she murmurs, ¡°this is probably touching at the truth in this Nightmare already.¡±


    Suits glances at her, but doesn¡¯t say another word.


    ¡­ Jiang Shuangmei knows that he is questioning her IQ once again, but this time, she feels too tired to come up with an excuse. She suddenly wonders, if it could be the case, that her older sister, really did spoil her too much?


    But she really can¡¯t think of any explanation!


    Maybe these two Missiontakers from the higher floors really do have different logic pathways in their brains. She pays more attention to the immediately phenomena in the Nightmare, and wish to resolve the Nightmare as soon as possible; Missiontakers from the higher floors, though, seem determined to figure out the truth behind the Nightmare instead.


    A different motivation causes a difference in opinion and understanding.


    They reach the stairwell, but they do not see Lin Qin or Wu Jian who should be descending the stairs. Perhaps they have already reached a lower floor.


    ¡°¡­ This is, the 24th floor,¡± Suits says, ¡°there is an elevator each on both the 36th and 24th floor.¡±


    Fei asks, ¡°could it be a pattern that holds?¡±


    Suits shakes his head.


    It is too early to tell. There are only four elevators in total in the elevator shaft situated at the elevator lobby, but they still haven¡¯t found out the two elevators yet.


    Also, a skyscraper like this usually has more than four elevators by design. Either additional elevators, or perhaps elevators for goods.


    They run another detailed sweep through the floor, and finally, under the dim lighting, they manage to make a detour somewhere in the offices, and pass through a fire safety door to find the elevator well for two cargo-used elevators. No elevators can be seen or called here, though.


    ¡°So six elevators in total,¡± Fei concludes, wondering, ¡°though if there are only a few usable buttons in every single one of them, who knows when we¡¯ll be able to get to the 1st floor to leave the building.¡±


    Then, she reflexively stops.


    Once again, she is recalling the Tower©¤©¤This Nightmare, in a sense, is oddly corresponding with the situation in the Tower, although they only need to take the elevators here, while in the Tower, they must complete Nightmares one by one, forever and ever.


    Though, wouldn¡¯t that unknown risk of the elevator door opening also feel like stumbling into an unknown Nightmare?


    Thinking so, something suddenly flashes through Fei¡¯s mind.

 Volume 5 - CH 76.5

    Fei murmurs, wondering, ¡°where could the Nightmare¡¯s owner¡­ be?¡±


    Suits shakes his head and simply replies, ¡°we have zero clues right now, but at best, we¡¯ve moved just over ten storeys down. It would certainly only become more dangerous the more we descend, too.¡±


    Though as he speaks, he also develops an odd feeling. There seems to be a strange sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu caused by the Nightmare.


    He quickly pushes aside the initial dismissiveness he had towards this Nightmare at the beginning, as he realises that, this Nightmare, might actually be related to the truth in the Tower somehow. At least, this strange sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu coming from the exploration so far is worthy of a reminder for him to reconsider his past experiences in Nightmares.


    In the complete silence, Teen seems to have found some stationery from the surroundings. He is writing on it on his own.


    While writing, he speaks up for all to hear, ¡°first, elevator One, stopped on the 36th floor, with buttons for seven, eighteen, twenty-nine and thirty-two. Thirty-two corresponds to the 24th floor where we are, and is safe. Elevator Two is stopped on this floor.


    We do not know for certain which floor number seven corresponds to, but it must be between the 24th and 36th floor. It is likely to be the 26th or 27th floor, but it is beyond our capabilities of verification for now; the floor is dangerous.


    Now, we can check on eighteen and twenty-nine; and also, elevator Two.


    Currently, we have found four elevators and two cargo elevators. It seems the elevators cannot be called to another floor. They are only usable when the elevator is found on the floor it is stopped.


    If so, when we first reach a floor, we should first check for dangers, then check for stopped elevators and cargo elevators, and check for the actual floor number, before finishing off with sweeping for clues over the entire floor.¡±


    He puts the pen down with a clank to conclude, ¡°that¡¯s all.¡±


    Teen then lowers his head to mull over what he said for a bit, and everything seems to be in place, so he makes a copy of the material and hands it and a pen over to Jiang Shuangmei, telling her, ¡°write down the information on elevator Two as you learn of them. If we end up meeting up later, we can exchange the paper.¡±


    Besides, writing things down helps reinforce memories; human recollection is notoriously unreliable, but Teen is not going to mention that.


    Jiang Shuangmei takes the piece of paper without making any fuss.


    They check the 24th floor thoroughly once more, and is certain there are no clues left behind. They¡¯re about to leave.


    Just before they enter the elevator lobby, Mystic suddenly asks, ¡°do you¡­ not feel anything?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Mystic takes a few deep breaths, and closes her eyes to speak with a voice so soft it is barely audible, ¡°feel¡­ the weakness¡­ in the building. Shaking¡­ We don¡¯t have much time!¡±


    That last sentence was yelled out loud, spooking the Missiontakers.


    Suits stares at her for bit before asking, ¡°are you the Mystic? I didn¡¯t want to assume, but¡­ Well, I¡¯ll believe in you.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei can¡¯t help but ask, ¡°what?¡±


    Mystic remains silent.


    Suits explains, ¡°Mystic¡­ They say that this Missiontaker has once used a special utility card for which she paid a rather strange price. It made her extremely sensitive, even downright schizophrenic, but she is also able to notice things that no one else can.¡±


    Teen adds, ¡°however, a defining feature of schizophrenia is that Mystic herself cannot tell if her senses and what she is feeling is actually a hallucination or if it is really happening.¡±


    Suits nods, not commenting on the medical accuracy, and instead tells them, ¡°although I think that what Mystic just said would also make sense. There must be a time limit of some sort for leaving the building.


    We can still focus on collecting information for the first run, but from now on, time is of the essence. Everyone should also prepare themselves so that you¡¯re adjusted for it by the time the second run starts.¡±


    ¡°Mystic, can you tell when that danger you are feeling would come to pass?¡± Teen asks.


    Mystic seems to fall into thought for a while, but shakes her head, ¡°I cannot tell, but¡­ there is still a bit of time,¡± she murmurs, ¡°not a lot, but some time remains.¡±


    Suits nods, and translates it, ¡°it seems that there would be one more, or two more hours at best.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei ¡°¡­¡±


    Oi, how did you actually manage to communicate the information?!


    Though¡­ Would there really be such mysterious, almost supernatural-like powers? You know, the Tower doesn¡¯t actually have any supernatural or fantasy-related Nightmares. So what¡¯s this¡­ Intuition?


    Jiang Shuangmei is looking at Mystic curiously, but she also doesn¡¯t ask.


    She turns to look at her companions ¨C Fei is already following her, but Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ is still standing there hesitantly, looking out at the burning city and the scenery around him. He looks like he¡¯s somewhat out of it.


    Jiang Shuangmei calls out to him a few times to stop his thinking. Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ comes back around, and follows her.


    Then they enter elevators One and Two respectively to head for different floors.


    In the meantime, Lin Qin and Wu Jian are still descending through what feels like countless stairs.


    Wu Jian could almost see himself as walking down into the depths of Hell.


    ¡­ Terrifying.


    Thankfully, the presence of the dalao Lin Qin is making him feel secure.


    Wu Jian, and Fei, for that matter, isn¡¯t that much like other Missiontakers who have come down from the higher floors. He¡¯s not really arrogant, and in fact, he can admit without shame that yes, he¡¯s exactly the kind of powerless Missiontaker who needs the dalao¡¯s fighting strength to help.


    Yup, he finds no shame in that.


    Anyway, despite the weariness he is feeling from the stairs and the rather spooky atmosphere, all in all, the two of them have been safe the entire time. They do not meet any of the dangers the other Missiontakers have faced thus far.


    They have kept a steady pace while descending the stairs. Soon enough, they¡¯re already in the tens of the floors.


    Suddenly, Lin Qin stops.


    He looks up at the paint that identifies the floor number of this floor.


    This is the 16th floor.


    Lin Qin furrows his brows. He seems to be mulling over something, like some sort of doubt has suddenly beset him, before he suddenly pushes open the fire exit on this floor to enter.

 Volume 5 - CH 77.1

    Unrequited Feelings


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    The first question Jiang Shuangmei faces, is which button to press first in elevator Two.


    On the button panel of elevator Two, only three buttons are lit up. They read thirteen and twenty-five, but the most notable one, is certainly, the very well-lit button for ¡®one.¡¯


    ¡­ Jiang Shuangmei swears she could hear the cacophonous laughter of the demon in her ears the moment she saw the lit button.


    Without a doubt, she is compelled.


    Obviously, she knows that it is nigh impossible this button actually corresponds to the true 1st floor, and in fact, it could be a trap that leads straight to severe danger when the elevator door opens on whatever floor it is.


    However, that is still not enough a deterrent to extinguish Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s restlessness.


    What if it really went to the 1st floor? What if, right?


    See, if you push it down right now, you might be able to leave the horrible Nightmare behind immediately. Leave the labyrinth consisting of mismatched elevators¡­


    Do it, and she would no longer be viewed with despise and derision by those two Missiontakers from the higher floors. They will acknowledge her wisdom and bravery¡­


    All the thoughts and even delusions that has flashed through Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s mind when she saw the lit button reading ¡®one,¡¯ has corrupted her mind like the most vile and beautiful of fantasies. She is barely a fingertip away from pushing it.


    The moment her hand registers the cold button, however, a great will manages to force her to pull her hand back.


    She takes a deep breath. She is in disbelief that such a thought almost entrenched in her mind as if she was enchanted, possessed in the mind¡­


    It was some emotional aggregate of arrogance, aloofness, adamant assertiveness and an aggressive audacity. Jiang Shuangmei, who lived©¤©¤used to live©¤©¤her whole life under the aegis of her older sister¡¯s protection, and even so who, along with her older sister, were yet always cautious and observantly meticulous. It was a principle that should have been etched in their souls.


    Missiontakers like them, who drifted from floor to floor near the bottom the entire time, would all grow to be quiet and careful.


    So Jiang Shuangmei can conclude, that the rush she was feeling, the inexplicable decision she almost put into action of just pushing the button for ¡®one,¡¯ cannot have been her own will.


    ¡­ ¡®The Devil¡¯s Mask.¡¯


    Just now, Suits mentioned a similar occurrence, regarding the price for using utility cards.


    They more often than not immediately come into play, affecting the personalities of their users in inconspicuous ways, until their psychological profile is unrecognisable. Yes, the price is often mental, although there are also cases where the physical body is affected.


    For example, Ding Yi¡¯s card, which changed her hair to grue in colour.


    The price of the utility cards are often hinted at or even blatantly written as-is in their Descriptions. Whether the Missiontakers are able to keep a mental note of that to identify their own changes in time, though, is entirely dependent on how perceptive the Missiontaker is.


    Jiang Shuangmei has already witnessed the power of this utility card from its former owner. It is a side effect that might occasionally positively influence the situation, instead of being completely random like Mystic¡¯s ability.


    Jiang Shuangmei is now quietly pondering her entire course of action since her entry into the Nightmare, to see if the card might have been affecting her insipidly the whole time.


    For example¡­ Why was she so hung up on how arrogant the Missiontakers from the higher floors have been?


    It¡¯s not like it¡¯s the first time she¡¯s had to work with one!


    Plus, she has also been to a higher floor, even if it was only floor two or three. Even so, there is already a marked disdain in those Missiontakers¡¯ regard for the Missiontakers of the bottom floor, as if their possibly one and only True End is quite the badge of honour that it is not.


    Missiontakers even higher up, when, or if, they do happen to deign paying attention to Missiontakers of the bottom floor, act almost like deities, that are peering down at the ants on the ground and interacting with them.


    It has always been so. As if the number of floors one is on is some kind of sick, material representation of a class system.


    Jiang Shuangmei has already grown numb to it.


    And precisely because she is numb, and knows how this is the norm, that besides the one over-the-top all-encompassing insult from Teen, and that since they can even be described as decidedly average in their attitude towards them, just as she remembered how Missiontakers from higher floors behaved¡­


    Why did she react so dramatically? Where was that anger in her coming from?


    This Nightmare is important, and it should be her sole focus. She confirmed that to herself before entering the Nightmare.


    So, in conclusion¡­ She has been affected by price of the utility card all along already, without a shred of awareness.


    Immediately, Jiang Shuangmei has thought it through and decided to more frequently reflect on herself, so that she wouldn¡¯t be entirely clueless even while the card is playing her like a fiddle.


    The power of the utility card means nothing when its side effect is as powerful as this, and most importantly, as surreptitious as this.


    ¡­ Really, this utility card is detestable, just like its last owner.


    Jiang Shuangmei bitterly smiles inside, and then files all her thoughts away, then turns to the two other Missiontakers to ask, ¡°which floor should we choose?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ is silent, his face as dead as a corpse looks distracted still. He is probably still caught up in whatever grabbed his attention earlier, so he¡¯s not even in the conversation right now.


    Jiang Shuangmei already knows how he is well enough, and skips him altogether.


    Fei is looking at the panel of buttons hesitantly, before saying, ¡°what about twenty-five?¡± She provides a reason, ¡°since we are on the 24th floor, which should not be too far away from the 25th floor, we would be able to estimate the actual floor it corresponds to.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei nods to agree, and glances over at Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, who has also nodded quietly.


    So Jiang Shuangmei pushes the button.


    The elevator starts with a shudder, and about five seconds later, it slowly comes to a stop.


    Jiang Shuangmei and Fei look at each other while doing the maths in their heads. Then Fei says, not sounding much confident, ¡°it feels like¡­ between the 19th and 21st floor?¡±


    The elevator slowly opens up. What is revealed in their eyes, is a dim, quiet floor.


    ¡°There does not seem to be much danger¡­¡± Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s tone is slightly shaky, however. She continues, ¡°should we have a look?¡±


    Fei takes a deep breath and replies, ¡°let¡¯s go.¡±


    The three Missiontakers leave the elevator.


    Almost at the same time, the three other Missiontakers are also walking out of the elevator.


    They chose ¡®eighteen¡¯ in their elevator, since it was a simple 50-50 that can only be left to fate, so they chose it at random.


    They were quiet the whole time the elevator moved.


    The elevator also started on the 24th floor, but in contrast, their elevator ascended instead. It was about 10 seconds before the elevator came to a stop.¡±


    Teen remarks, ¡°why does it feel like we¡¯re almost back at the top floor?¡±


    Suits calculates the floor in his mind and says, ¡°that¡¯s probably right. Must be 30-something-th floor here.¡±


    Teen shakes his head, and says, ¡°tch, what a waste of  the time we spent descending,¡± then he rubs his temples to wonder, ¡°is this Nightmare trying to test our memorisation too?¡±


    Suits simply says, ¡°just write it down. It¡¯d help you remember too.¡±


    After the casual talk, Teen has written something on his piece of paper, just as the elevator opens.

 Volume 5 - CH 77.2

    They peek outside of the elevator door©¤©¤it¡¯s quiet, save for some slight noise. It sounds like¡­ sobbing?


    Suits and Teen share a look, slightly surprised.


    They step out of the elevator, and first confirms that no other elevator is present on this floor. Mystic is following after them slowly, while murmuring, ¡°I can feel it. A fear, a tiny hope¡­ the power of tears¡­¡±


    ¡°Stop the meaningless word soup, Mystic,¡± Teen calls out to her, and says, ¡°let¡¯s go. We have to check the cargo elevators too.¡±


    They check the other elevator lobby, and no other elevator is stopped here either.


    During this time, that whimper continued ceaselessly, drifting in and out of their ears. Only Mystic looks somewhat tensed up, though, and Suits and Teen both seem entirely unfazed.


    Teen is even dismissing it, saying, ¡°tch, what an elaborate performance. Is this all that NE can pull on the bottom floor?¡±


    Suits glances at him, and doesn¡¯t respond.


    He knows how Teen¡¯s personality is. His companion has always been one to diss and mock. Never mind these Missiontakers of the bottom floor. Even ones on higher floors still have their days of being ripped a new one by him.


    At first, everyone was like, ah, as expected of rebellious teenagers.


    Although then they immediately recall how this appearance is only reflective of when they entered the Tower. Shouldn¡¯t he have matured with how many years it has since been?


    So in conclusion, he¡¯s just simply temperamental, and also lacking in self-awareness.


    Suits is used to it already after working with him these years, the occasional times where he is still pissed off at him notwithstanding; in fact, interacting with him so often has even turned his own temperament worse over time.


    Since no one is responding to Teen, he shuts up.


    They head for the emergency stairs.


    ¡°31st floor¡­¡± Suits remarks with his eyes on the painted number, and says, ¡°so there¡¯s no pattern to be found in the Nightmare¡­¡±


    Teen says, ¡°considering it from the Nightmare owner¡¯s perspective, this might be a tale where they are trying desperately to escape the building, but is trapped by the elevators, and ends up lost and confused, going from floor to floor?¡±


    ¡°Possibly, although we have nothing conclusive,¡± Suits says, falling into thought to ask, ¡°so where might the owner be? In an elevator?¡±


    Teen nods, but then shakes his head, saying, ¡°possibly trapped in a certain floor as well, given the main scene in this Nightmare is the entire building itself.¡±


    If the other Missiontakers of the bottom floor are here to hear their analysis, they would likely be shocked at the sharpness of the wit on display.


    Missiontakers on the higher floors tend to be able to analyse Nightmares from a much more macroscopic perspective. They consider things from the Nightmare owner¡¯s perspective, which is also what they often consider starting from the very beginning ¨C a marked far cry from the bottom floor way of doing things.


    Because very often, the latter are too preoccupied just responding to the dangers and changes in the Nightmare.


    The three of them are unable to answer Suits¡¯ question for now, but having done everything on their procedure for floor exploration in the building by now, the only remaining thing is¡­


    Teen¡¯s grin is slightly cold. He says, ¡°let¡¯s go check out where that annoying crying is coming from.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin was watching the stream in peace.


    After incessantly blabbering for a long time, Wei Lezhang finally left, and so X¨¹ Beijin was going to check on the Missiontakers¡¯ progress.


    After the six Missiontakers further split up, he also split up the windows in his stream. Now there are four of them, and ignoring his own and Lin Qin¡¯s camera view, it is still largely within his ability to follow on.


    However, what is unexpected is that, not a while has even passed when the Actors on this 16th floor suddenly erupt into murmurs. Something inexplicable seems to have happened.


    X¨¹ Beijin thought it was quite early for the Missiontakers to have already found the 16th floor by now, but then, he thinks about it more carefully, and then looks at the lower left corner of his stream¡­


    Oh great. Lin Qin has managed to find his way here.


    ¡­ Question. How did Lin Qin find his way here? Is his intuition really so powerful that not even Mystic can hold a candle to him?


    X¨¹ Beijin is in absolute shock, even standing up in response, although the next second, a reminder from the Server urges him to sit back down.


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    So he can only sit back down to revert to looking like he¡¯s having a concussion, while thinking about it inside.


    Shortly after, the noises at the front slowly dies down as the murmurs also do. Lin Qin is slowly making his way into the furthest corners of this dim floor, with Wu Jian close by his tail. The rest of the Missiontakers move out of the way, to let him pass.


    X¨¹ Beijin lifts his head up to look at him.


    Lin Qin walks until he is right in front of X¨¹ Beijin, and finally, can¡¯t help but say, ¡°found you.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Uh¡­ What, should I praise you now?


    He merely asks, having nothing else to respond, ¡°how did you find me?¡±


    Lin Qin simply says, ¡°I heard chatter coming from this floor, so I guessed there are people in here.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is amazed at how sharp Lin Qin¡¯s senses are, though when you take into account how physically capable the young man is¡­ He calms back down immediately.


    This is probably what ¡®normal¡¯ for Lin Qin is.


    Meanwhile, Wu Jian is poking his head around behind Lin Qin, looking effectively constipated. He can recognise X¨¹ Beijin, having had a deep impression on this Tower resident from the last Nightmare, then also having learnt of ¡®legends¡¯ surrounding him on the bottom floor since.


    Including, of course, the tales of¡­ the birds and the bees situation surrounding this bookstore owner and the dalao, Lin Qin.


    ¡­ Not that Wu Jian was expecting that relationship to have already progress to such a degree that, merely background noises has alerted Lin Qin to rush straight for X¨¹ Beijin.


    Ah, the power of love!


    Wu Jian is currently feeling touched at the ¡®genuinely romantic¡¯ situation.


    Although he is of course slightly concerned right now, since they are technically still in the middle of exploring the stairs. He wonders if the dalao will continue to head downwards, since he seems to be happily indulging in his romance right now.


    Though that said, Wu Jian is mainly¡­ scared, to go back to the dark, endless staircase.


    Yes, he is scared.


    So Wu Jian merely stands there like a pole that can¡¯t read the atmosphere, waiting for Lin Qin¡¯s response further on.


    Not that Lin Qin cares about him in any case.


    He merely looks at X¨¹ Beijin with his sparkling eyes, like a doggy seeing his favourite Frisbee, elated and ecstatic. He remarks, ¡°so you are in the Nightmare too¡­ I thought you wouldn¡¯t be.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    What in the world are you going on about?


    He gives the guy a rather speechless glance.


    Of course, he is largely looking like this only because of the Nightmare¡¯s requirement, but not because his actual mood is ¡®can¡¯t be bothered, go away.¡¯


    Though Lin Qin¡¯s look changes somewhat seeing how he is, it seems.


    X¨¹ Beijin always looked kind of like that, in general ¨C expressionless, distracted, looking like he¡¯s daydreaming the whole time. Though¡­ though Lin Qin is not too sure. He just feels like, right now, X¨¹ Beijin is looking, off.


    Even though X¨¹ Beijin asked him a question in complete lucidity and normalcy.


    Lin Qin is hesitant, but then settles to ask, ¡°are you unwell?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin remains silent for a moment, and slowly shakes his head.


    ¡°I see, you¡¯re unwell,¡± Lin Qin murmurs for a bit, ¡°want any drinks? Anything you want to eat?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mouth twitches, as he holds back to urge to speak.


    Then Lin Qin asks, ¡°is it the Nightmare¡¯s setting, then? You are not actually feeling unwell.¡±

 Volume 5 - CH 77.3

    X¨¹ Beijin, shocked, looks up at Lin Qin.


    Lin Qin stares at him for a while with widened eyes. X¨¹ Beijin is unable to discern much meaning from the look. Lin Qin sure did have nice features with that baby face of his, but he always had that unimpressed poker face on. He always seemed to show barely any outward emotion.


    Though when it comes to X¨¹ Beijin, he¡¯s always subverting expectations.


    ¡­ What would the little apple be thinking about right now?


    Suddenly, Lin Qin rolls up his sleeves to say, ¡°got it. I¡¯ll deal with the owner of the Nightmare right now. So that you don¡¯t have to keep suffering here,¡± he then starts complaining, ¡°seriously, why would there even be Nightmares that make you ill in the first place?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He holds his forehead with his hand, feeling the situation grow out of hand.


    Lin Qin, concerned, immediately asks, ¡°are you alright?¡±


    ¡°Lin Qin, oh man, Lin Qin¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°I¡¯ve told you before, but if you really want to fight with me, then you can¡¯t treat me so well. You have to act tougher, to make me angry.¡±


    Lin Qin seems to freeze up for a moment before giving a muffled ¡®oh.¡¯


    He sure looks pretty obedient right now, though then he can¡¯t help but say, ¡°but¡­¡±


    But, he thinks he can¡¯t really act tough towards X¨¹ Beijin much.


    Right now, there are no other Actors near them. Only Wu Jian is standing a slight distance away, still within earshot of what¡¯s going on.


    ¡­ Wu Jian¡¯s eyes are the widest they have ever been thus far.


    Oh fuck fuck fuck! What is this he¡¯s hearing?!


    Gossip!


    While he is part of that underground organisation, he still largely behaves no different from any unremarkable normal person, including the fact that gossips intrigue him. Lin Qin and X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s conversation is seriously knocking it out of the park for Wu Jian, though.


    Lin Qin, dalao, man, you¡¯ve fallen¡­ in love.


    Wu Jian rubs his eyes a little dramatically, feeling like he¡¯s so touched he could be tearing up.


    Though X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s words have also petrified him.


    ¡®Fight¡¯? ¡®Tougher¡¯?


    Right now, Wu Jian¡¯s mind is being subtly infiltrated by rather unsavoury things¡­


    Reflexively, he clears his throat, to dispel those largely impolite thoughts from his mind.


    Which also successfully breaks the tense atmosphere that has settled in just now between X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin, and also, that sentence Lin Qin has yet to finish.


    Both of them turn towards Wu Jian, X¨¹ Beijin with his usual, expressionless gaze, but Lin Qin looks slightly unfriendly.


    ¡­ Finally he¡¯s managed to get hold of X¨¹ Beijin to talk to him, to explain what he thought, and now the guy is here to interrupt him?


    Wu Jian gasps, feeling like he might become a freely mouldable sandbag in Lin Qin¡¯s hands soon enough, and thus shocked, he immediately produces an excuse, ¡°um¡­ dalao, are we still going to descend the stairs?¡±


    Descend the stairs?


    Lin Qin finally recalls his unfinished mission.


    X¨¹ Beijin exhales slightly in relief. The strange mood that just enveloped him and Lin Qin is largely gone now, so he also asks, ¡°are you going then?¡±


    Lin Qin gives him a look, as if confirming something, and asking, ¡°are you feeling alright?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin opens his mouth, looking rather dazed while wondering what Lin Qin is worried about, and answers, ¡°uh¡­ yes?¡±


    Lin Qin looks at him for a while before finally nodding, and tells Wu Jian, ¡°we¡¯ll keep going then. Get this Nightmare done with as soon as possible.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, speechless at the thought that Lin Qin is probably trying to get him out of this Nightmare quickly because he is feeling unwell, is both amused and honestly, touched. His heartstrings have been tugged.


    X¨¹ Beijin has always been one for whom soft tactics work better.


    Lin Qin, perhaps entirely coincidentally, has struck him right with this weakness. So, even if this has never been directly related to X¨¹ Beijin, he still ends up caring about it, with his attitude towards Lin Qin growing softer and softer.


    When those Missiontakers besieged X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore, he was nowhere near as gentle with the heavy-handed response.


    He is feeling pretty complicated inside as he sees Lin Qin and Wu Jian off to descend the stairs.


    Just before he leaves, Lin Qin pauses, and then, after a bit, makes up his mind not to waste the opportunity. He turns around, and wants to clearly convey to X¨¹ Beijin that©¤©¤he wants him to stop ignoring him.


    Lin Qin, with his side profile and front face to X¨¹ Beijin, tells him, ¡°you know¡­ Just like how, when it comes to me wanting to fight you, I don¡¯t want to force you to do it; similarly, the thing with me liking you, is also my¡­¡±


    He mulls over his words for a really long time.


    Finally, he says, ¡°also my own volitional, unrequited feeling.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    What¡¯s with the tragic undertone in that?


    X¨¹ Beijin is having goosebumps all over hearing that.


    And from his angle, he can very clearly see Wu Jian¡¯s expression that has ¡®shock¡¯ written all over it. He feels tired. Can he have some time to explain to Wu Jian, that what Lin Qin is saying doesn¡¯t actually mean what those words are supposed to mean¡­?


    Nope, he can¡¯t.


    Since he is merely an ¡®artificial intelligence.¡¯


    So he can only sigh wearily inside, while nodding with his poker face on the surface.


    Lin Qin continues, ¡°so, please stop ignoring me; please stop being angry at me.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is silent once again. The feeling of lost in translation is stronger and stronger with this one.


    He really, really wants to know all of a sudden, what kind of image does Lin Qin actually hold of him? What does he really mean when he asks whether he, X¨¹ Beijin, can feel that he, Lin Qin, likes him?


    What, is Lin Qin seriously feeling romantically inclined towards him?


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks that is absurd, but can also feel the initiative of the situation slipping from his hands.


    He glances over at Wu Jian in his silence. This is really private between him and Lin Qin now, so it would be rather inappropriate to discuss in front of a stranger. Maybe, when they¡¯re back at the Tower¡­


    So finally, X¨¹ Beijin answers, ¡°got it.¡±


    So Lin Qin, thus satisfied, leads Wu Jian out of the floor.


    Though Wu Jian is currently bitterly embroiled in his negative vortex of emotional tsunami from how tragic the love story of dalao Lin Qin is, and especially the phrases ¡®unrequited feeling¡¯ and ¡®please stop ignoring me.¡¯ He is crying a river in his mind already.


    To be fair, this member of the organisation, codename ¡®Wu Jian,¡¯ who is overly imaginative, and would occasionally end up loosening his lips, has always been a source of worry for Fei.


    Though this time she was thinking that, nothing could go wrong with simply going down the stairs behind Lin Qin, probably.


    Of course¡­


    Murphy¡¯s law is here to ruin Fei¡¯s intended script.


    Speaking of which, it wasn¡¯t until Wu Jian has left the 16th floor behind, and is now several storeys down, that he slaps his thighs, realising how much he screwed up.


    Look at all those Tower residents who look sane and communicable on the 16th floor, and look at the bookstore owner, X¨¹ Beijin, there! It must have been a really special floor! They should have collected more information there!


    Too late to cry over spilt milk, though, since they are already on the verge of realising, that something is off, after descending those several storeys.


    They are currently on the 9th floor.


    Wu Jian is poking his head out in bafflement, saying, ¡°what in the world?! The stairs have all collapsed down there!¡±


    Before their eyes, the stairs leading down from the 9th to the 8th floor has completely snapped off and collapsed down from the walls. And even if they can carefully parkour their way across the stubs of protrusion among the ruins downwards, they can already see the sea of rubble filling up the bottom from here.


    Facing a totally blocked off way forward, Wu Jian is subconsciously furrowing his brows.

 Volume 5 - CH 78.1

    Little Girl


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Lin Qin is also poking his head out to stare at the dead-end of the collapsed stairs expressionlessly.


    Wu Jian is murmuring, ¡°looks like the stairs is the wrong way forward¡­ Or not, since the path is safe from the 36th to the 9th floor¡­ Though whether the stairs would remain safe after the Nightmare starts crumbling is a whole other matter¡­¡±


    He appears pretty conflicted right now.


    As a Missiontaker from the higher floors, he¡¯s at least got the basic wit you¡¯d expect of such.


    When Nightmares go into further runs, there will be more information, but there may also be unpredictable circumstances Missiontakers have to face. The question is always, whether to get it dealt and done with, or to collect more information above all else.


    Though Wu Jian abandons the question soon enough, throwing it to Lin Qin instead with, ¡°dalao, are we still going downwards? I might not be able to make it back up if we do¡­¡±


    He knows about the rumours surrounding Lin Qin¡¯s intelligence, of course, but he thinks that¡¯s nonsense. In the short period of time he has spent walking down the stairs with him, he did not see any signs of such.


    In the end, rumours have always been speculations made in jealousy or in malice.


    Although, going by the rumoured physical prowess Lin Qin possessed, he¡¯d probably be able to make it down the collapsed stairs easily.


    As the one dragging him back here, he raises the question first, stating that he won¡¯t be able to make it back up ¨C implying that Lin Qin would never have a problem with that.


    Lin Qin gives him a glance and leaves him with a simple ¡°wait here, I¡¯ll check it out.¡±


    Then he leaps forth before Wu Jian can even react. His mouth only opens wide when he hears Lin Qin land on the next safe piece of rubble without a yelp. He pokes his head out over the side with his widened eyes peering downwards.


    It¡¯s dark, and he can¡¯t see anything.


    Wu Jian is worried, both for Lin Qin and himself.


    At the same time, the viewers in the stream, alongside X¨¹ Beijin, has also witnessed the feat.


    ¡°!!! woah the little apple is amazing!¡±


    ¡°he just went and gone like poof¡±


    ¡°cough cough, what do you mean poof, he just jumped!¡±


    ¡°He jumped, yes, but I feel like¡­ He won¡¯t be able to make it past the rubble¡­¡±


    ¡°i think the detective dalao is right!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is looking at the comments but not saying anything.


    When Lin Qin jumped, he couldn¡¯t help but knit his brows, which only loosens slightly when he reassures himself that Lin Qin is seriously physically capable.


    Although he is still thinking he should remind Lin Qin to keep safety in mind in the future.


    He can be powerful, sure, immensely so, but he still can¡¯t just be reckless about it. What if he did mess up one day?


    The troubled X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but smile bitterly. He sure is getting worrisome.


    Growing softer once again, because he has been on the receiving end of Lin Qin¡¯s worries himself, huh¡­


    He sighs inside.


    From the stream, it is clear that bricks and stones have blocked off the space down under where the stairs collapsed. It is very likely any stairs down there have collapsed as well instead of remaining intact. At least, light from sources like the emergency exit sign isn¡¯t making it through at all.


    In any case, the camera focusing on Lin Qin is already in night-vision mode now, rendering his figure grey.


    Not that that is concealing Lin Qin¡¯s agile, dexterous form any. Barely ever stopping, occasionally adjusting his form when he is searching for the next safe ledge to stand on ¨C the aesthetic combining speed and strength, and the foreboding sense watching someone dancing about danger, worrying about a slip of the foot, makes X¨¹ Beijin hold his breath subconsciously, while watching Lin Qin¡¯s silhouette intently.


    Soon enough, Lin Qin reaches the end.


    He is standing on a slab of concrete which is snapped in the middle, as he watches the scene in front of him with furrowed brows.


    The collapsed rubble of the stairs have blocked the way down entirely. Even if Lin Qin can clear the rubble out, there is no telling how long it would take.


    He glances over at the chipped paint on the wall, to see that this is the 5th floor already. He has managed to leap four storeys down, but there is no way downwards.


    Lin Qin is standing there quietly for a few seconds. While the stream under the night vision cannot show his expressions in exceptional detail, but X¨¹ Beijin swears he can paint the frustrated and irritated look he must have on his face right now.


    ¡­ X¨¹ Beijin breaks into a sudden grin as he leans back onto his chair, still keeping his eyes on Lin Qin.


    Oh, this little apple.


    Lin Qin is certainly frustrated and irritated right now. After standing there quietly for a few seconds, he starts rolling his sleeves up.


    So finding the owner of the Nightmare and then dispatching them would be more convenient.


    He makes the decision almost instantaneously, and then quickly heads back to the 9th floor. Even if he is Lin Qin, though, it still takes him a while to return upwards.


    The unstable pieces of concrete that might fall over at any time has added difficulties to his manoeuvre.


    When he is back on the platform for the 9th floor, he looks at the white stains formed on his palms, and recalls the effort he spent on this little excursion, to estimate the possibility that other Missiontakers can explore down there.


    ¡­ Hm. Zero it is, basically.


    Just like what Wu Jian said, he might be able to make it down there, but there is no way he can make it back up.


    Lin Qin tells Wu Jian his conclusion and what he saw down there among the rubble of the stairs.


    Wu Jian looks quite distressed to hear that, and he quickly asks, ¡°what about the doors of those floors?¡±


    Lin Qin says, ¡°they are all completely blocked shut; also, the numbers identifying the floors are either blocked or have collapsed. Only seven was still visible in the middle.¡±


    There is visible cold sweat drenching Wu Jian¡¯s clothes.


    In the stream, the viewers ask, curious, ¡°whats wrong? why is his reaction so intense?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin explains, ¡°Lin Qin can still make it back up there, but none of the other Missiontakers can. This means that, if other Missiontakers went down to check during the first run, the most likely outcome is them getting stuck there.


    Until¡­ the three hour time limit runs out, the building collapses, and they are trapped in the rubble, until someone dies, or if no one else did, then until they die of blunt trauma, suffocation or hunger, when the Nightmare restarts.¡±


    ¡°!!! the damned scriptwriters, man!¡±


    ¡°so the little apple has helped the others avoid a big pitfall here¡±


    ¡°hard to imagine how much fear they would feel if theyre trapped totally in the dark down there¡­¡±


    ¡°Besides what Beibei said, there is another thing to take into account. If the doors to the stairs are all blocked shut down there, and most of the numbers indicating the floor is unreadable, then if the Missiontakers took the elevators to reach a lower floor, then they would be unable to confirm their actual floor through the emergency stairs.


    In other words, from the 9th floor down, there is no way for them to know which floor they are on.¡±


    ¡°oof, then theyre totally lost?¡±


    ¡°if there¡¯s an elevator that goes from the ninth to first floor directly¡­ never mind, I¡¯m just joking [bye emoji]¡±


    The comments quickly turn to focus on X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s handsomeness instead.


    Only the detective dalao is still worried, going, ¡°This feels like it¡¯s hiding another trap still¡­ Beibei did say three hours is the time it takes for the building to collapse completely.


    Looking at the stairs though¡­ would small-scale collapses happen during these three hours?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s pupils dilate slightly, but he merely smiles and does not speak.


    The detective dalao ¡°¡­¡±


    Yup. Got it.


    The detective dalao starts praying for the pitiful Missiontakers, wishing that they would not end up the unfortunate squashed sandwiches under a collapsing ceiling.

 Volume 5 - CH 78.2

    In the meantime, having finished exploring the stairs, Wu Jian and Lin Qin are going back up once again.


    Seeing the exits to the stairs completely blocked down there has convinced them to forgo elevators altogether and rely on the reliable stairs for now; they¡¯re not going to take any risks having zero knowledge of them.


    Though Wu Jian had an idea as well, asking, ¡°dalao, since the Nightmare is still ongoing, everyone else is probably still exploring normally. Why not go back to the 16th floor then? We can ask the Tower residents for clues.


    Oh, and you can also be with the guy you liked.¡±


    Lin Qin was already nodding nonchalantly, until the unexpected addendum from Wu Jian makes him speechless and even, inexplicably, nervous.


    He is hesitant but still resolves himself to ask, ¡°you feel like¡­ he is someone I liked?¡±


    Wu Jian completely sold out the rest of the Missiontakers on the bottom floor of the Tower with, ¡°oh man, dalao, with how obvious you¡¯ve been going at it? Everyone knows already.¡±


    Lin Qin widens his eyes to ask, ¡°everyone knows?¡± Then after the surprise faded a little, he asks another question, ¡°was it really obvious? How I liked him?¡±


    Wu Jian nods, replying, ¡°dalao, to me, it looks like you¡¯re seriously¡­¡± He mulls over his words a little, and goes with, ¡°infatuated with him.¡±


    Lin Qin nods, seemingly falling into thought.


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Why, why in the world did he decide to connect the audio, to Lin Qin and Wu Jian?


    Why?!


    ¡°hahaha the little apple is infatuated with Beibei! for real! i saw it myself!¡±


    ¡°mommy doesn¡¯t approve your marriage! date for three years longer at least!¡±


    ¡°eh eh eh? Beibei! why did you move the audio away! no, Beibei!¡±


    ¡°Beibei, youre just mad weve got the truth¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Mad with whose what truth now?!


    X¨¹ Beijin gives an exasperated glare at these ruckus-loving viewers in his stream, before grinding his teeth at the sight of Wu Jian.


    ¡­ You, you are the one who has lethally backstabed him, right!


    X¨¹ Beijin is wholly aware that what Lin Qin asked and what Wu Jian answered are on completely wrong channels.


    Lin Qin has zero idea what romance or love really is about. Put simply, he doesn¡¯t even know whether he actually liked X¨¹ Beijin or not. Instead, he has merely adopted the word as an overarching label for what he has done after comparing it step-by-step with what other people told him ¡®love¡¯ is.


    When it matched, he goes ¡®oh¡¯ and concludes he likes X¨¹ Beijin.


    When it didn¡¯t¡­ well, the awkward thing is that, since he¡¯s been ingratiating himself to X¨¹ Beijin for the brawl thing, and having done things like asking for his preferences, visiting him¡­ The misunderstanding is too deep to clear up by then.


    If Lin Qin were someone experienced with the social facts of life, someone like Mu Jiashi, then he would have had no trouble over knowing to back it off once he learned that this is simply normal, unremarkable courtesy.


    However, Lin Qin is not. He is effectively a blank canvas, clean and immaculate. While someone, presumably stemming from a real understanding, or possibly just wanting to see the world burn, has misled him.


    Truly, X¨¹ Beijin is unwilling to see Lin Qin being led astray like so.


    Even if Lin Qin really is to like him, or anybody else, it should have been from Lin Qin¡¯s own will. Why would he have to line up his intentions with what the worldly values dictate it to be, and if it fits with what society labels ¡®like,¡¯ then he would also just identify it as like?


    Therefore, X¨¹ Beijin is certain that Lin Qin has simply been misled. This is a complete and utter misunderstanding.


    Even though it seems X¨¹ Beijin is going up against the whole world here.


    Lin Qin is also a stubborn person at heart, so, in his troubled, anxious mind, when someone inserts into him this concept ¨C ¡®yeah, what you¡¯re doing is definitely like. Everybody knows.¡¯


    Lin Qin would have an epiphany. Ah, so he liked X¨¹ Beijin after all.


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡®Like¡¯?! Like Hell he does!


    ¡­ Um, no, he is not referring to himself as ''Hell'' there.


    X¨¹ Beijin is now instead pondering, with how straightforward, simplistic, and honest-to-a-fault Lin Qin is, how he actually managed to survive somewhere like the Tower, and not only that, but become the crownless King of the bottom floor?


    Was it simply the law of the jungle, and King of the Hill?


    X¨¹ Beijin rubs his brows in frustration, as he grabs a can of drink to dump it down his throat, hoping to calm himself down.


    Lin Qin and Wu Jian, meanwhile, are slowly making their way back up to the 16th floor; ascension is always more tiring than descent, not to mention they just climbed down stairs for how ever long it was. Even if Lin Qin is still completely fine, Wu Jian is seriously drained. Lin Qin, impatient as he was, had no solution but to slow himself down for him.


    X¨¹ Beijin, deciding to simply go with the principle of ¡®out of sight, out of mind,¡¯ checks on the other Missiontakers instead.


    Suits, Teen and Mystic have already found the source of the strange sobbing on the 31st floor.


    It¡¯s a little girl crouched under one office desk.


    She is wearing a little dress, and her little face is pretty messy. She is shaking, and there are some emptied bags of food surrounding her.


    The three adults took some time to finally isolate where the weak sobbing voice was coming from. They also basically explored the entire floor in the meantime, but found no other clues.


    Now they are looking at each other, nonplussed.


    ¡°Why would there be a little girl here in the office?¡± Suits is completely ignoring the fact that the teenage girl can technically hear them, and is simply working out cause and effect without the slightest shred of sympathy, ¡°could it be¡­ that before whatever disaster happened, her parents brought her here?¡±


    Teen says, ¡°and then just forgot her here?¡±


    ¡°Possibly.¡±


    Then Suits and Teen attempts to communicate with her, but the little girl instead tries to cower herself further into the corners under the office desk.


    The appearance of strangers has made her stop crying. Instead, she is showing merely her scared eyes, her scared, but still clean and pretty eyes, staring at the three people outside fearfully.


    Finally, Mystic went to communicate with the little girl instead, spending some effort to soothe her. The little girl then crawls out from under the office desk.


    They can all hear the loud rumbling from the little girl¡¯s stomach then.


    She looks down at her tummy but doesn¡¯t dare to speak. She then merely looks up at the Missiontakers with widened eyes.


    The little girl appears to be around seven or eight years old. She is stuttering, and given how spooked she seems and who-knows-how-long she¡¯s spent curled up down there, she still looks largely tranced and isn¡¯t able to express herself well.

 Volume 5 - CH 78.3

    Mystic tires her best to talk to the little girl their group found on the 31st floor, and finally, her expression turns from daze and fear, to that of normal anxiety and wariness. Blood is also returning to her pale face.


    Then finally, Mystic asks, ¡°why did you end up here alone?¡±


    The little girl blinks her eyes, seemingly confused, saying, ¡°¡­ something¡­ something went boom¡­ And mommy and the uncles and aunties went outside¡­ Mommy told me to hide here¡­ So long ago. Mommy hasn¡¯t come back¡­ I¡¯m hungry¡­¡±


    The little girl rubs her tummy.


    Mystic doesn¡¯t have food on her, and she looks hesitantly over at Suits and Teen.


    Though neither of them are paying attention to the hungry girl.


    Suits says, ¡°so she wasn¡¯t abandoned here, but something has happened instead.¡±


    ¡°Dangers of a certain floor? Trapped somewhere? Or¡­¡± Teen narrows his eyes to suggest, ¡°the elevators? That group of people may have lost their way and even sense of which floor they¡¯re on because of the elevators.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound likely if they can still see the floor number from the stairs¡­¡± Suits then pauses to correct himself, ¡°or not. There might be some danger on some floors that does not allow them to get to the emergency stairs at all.¡±


    Currently, they are still unaware that the stairs beneath the 9th floor is inaccessible, which would render confirming the floor impossible even if the floor itself remains accessible by elevators. This may also errors and discrepancies in the records on which elevator button led to which floor.


    Teen concludes in the end, ¡°no matter what, though, at least there should be a group of sane survivors in this building.¡±


    A conclusion made for the fact that, given there is still a little girl alive up here, there must be further clues to be found. It¡¯s possible they¡¯re dead, but an adult would be an excellent source of information.


    Suits nods in agreement, saying, ¡°we can try searching later.¡±


    Only trying, however, as they have also merely explored only a small part of the Nightmare. Further down could be other obstacles waiting for them.


    Then they continue to ask the little girl for more information. Beyond the weird ¡®boom¡¯ and how her mother left with her coworkers, though, she doesn¡¯t seem to have more information.


    So Suits and Teen have decided to leave.


    Mystic then naturally holds the little girl by her hand.


    Suits furrows his brows, asking, ¡°what are you doing?¡±


    Mystic seems surprised to be asked, but then replies, seemingly even surprising herself with her answer, ¡°are we not bringing her¡­? Clue¡­ This is, a clue,¡± her speech gets more incoherent by the second, ¡°I can feel, she, this is, hope, breakthrough, of the Nightmare!¡±


    ¡°Stop that blabbering, Mystic. I don¡¯t need you messing with us with that often-misfiring ability of yours,¡± Teen makes a cold chuckle, and asks, ¡°what use is there dragging this letdown with us? She knows nothing, and you say she can help with the truth, make a breakthrough with the Nightmare?¡±


    Suits concedes this way, ¡°how about this, we¡¯ll come back for her if we find her mother.¡±


    Mystic still wants to say something.


    Teen, impatient, simply says, ¡°enough! If you want to be with this girl so badly, you can stay her with her¡­¡±


    Suits intervenes, though, telling him, ¡°no, we can¡¯t let Mystic stay here. There are still too many unknowns in this Nightmare. This is an unnecessary risk.¡±


    Teen pouts, but acquiesces.


    Mystic would surely love to yell out ¡®you can¡¯t tell me what to do¡¯ like Lin Qin did, but she is simply feeling powerless here.


    She looks at the little girl, and after thinking a little, she takes a bracelet off of her hand, and gives it to the little girl.


    Mystic tells her, ¡°good girl, we¡¯ll come back for you soon enough,¡± she points to the desk where the little girl was hiding, and says, ¡°if you¡¯re scared, you can stay under there, alright?¡±


    She is offering the little girl, hope.


    Then, she obediently but quietly follows after Suits and Teen to leave the floor behind. Suits pushes the button reading twenty-nine in elevator One.


    The little girl is still standing there, staring at them blankly, holding the bracelet in her hand. She still seems shellshocked.


    The viewers in the stream seem positively irate, typing,


    ¡°fuck! what the hell!¡±


    ¡°they just left the cute sweet little girl behind without flinching!¡±


    ¡°¡­ well yes but, this is a game, and she is an npc, so priorities with empathies¡­¡±


    ¡°but she is still a person! an actor!¡±


    ¡°which makes me feel less sympathetic¡­ its all an act¡­¡±


    ¡°even if she was an NPC, I¡¯m still torn¡±


    ¡°¡­ well, im not saying i cant sympathise¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin almost feels like smiling at the absurdity of the comment barrage, before turning his attention to the little girl who was left behind, helpless.


    Mystic was right. The little girl is the hope that can help breakthrough this Nightmare.


    Though, speaking of¡­ the mother f this little girl¡­


    He looks out at the common area of the 16th floor, where a particular woman is among the group of office workers gathered here.


    She is in a smart, elegant suit, but it is largely creased and dusted now. She looks quite on edge, with her hair scattered, her delicate makeup all messed up. She is biting her nails in her nervousness as she listens to the others speak.


    ¡®Acting,¡¯ as it were, but who knows if any of these Actors have already ended up completely assuming their roles?


    X¨¹ Beijin looks at her quietly for a moment, wondering if the Missiontakers would treat this woman as the mother of that little girl, given how prominent she appears among the other survivors.


    This ties into the importance of the role of the little girl in this Nightmare. For example, if the little girl was important, then so would be the mother of the little girl. God knows, she might even turn out to be the owner of the Nightmare.


    At least, the Missiontakers should be aware that the owner of this Nightmare is a woman.


    X¨¹ Beijin narrows his eyes at the thought.


    Though that is when Lin Qin and Wu Jian have made it back up to the 16th floor. The woman on edge, and the other Tower residents here, all turn to look at them.


    It¡¯s their second time here already, so the Tower residents, recognizing them, parts away as if it was the natural thing to do.


    Though this time, Lin Qin, and especially Wu Jian, isn¡¯t here for X¨¹ Beijin. Instead, they¡¯re here for clues on the Nightmare.


    X¨¹ Beijin is sitting down as per the Server¡¯s instructions, showing a dazed look reminiscent of the victim of a recent concussion, in accordance with his assigned plot.


    While he does so, X¨¹ Beijin glances over at the stream out of habit.


    This time, he is checking in on Jiang Shuangmei, Fei and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹.


    They have explored the empty, unlit floor, and didn¡¯t find a single clue. There isn¡¯t an elevator or cargo elevator here, or any other form of danger. The floor is the 21st.


    This floor is so quiet that it is unsettling. Jiang Shuangmei can feel her hair standing on end on her back.


    All of a sudden, though, she realises the source of the oddness she has been feeling. It¡¯s the floor she has been stepping on. Her steps feel subtly heavy, sticky, even.


    She couldn¡¯t see much in the darkness, though.


    Could the floor be wet¡­? While the city burns outside, the air indoors is much cooler here. Did this perhaps make the moisture in the air condense on the floor?


    It sounds plausible enough.


    Thinking so, Jiang Shuangmei crouches down to look at the floor closely.


    Under the dim rays of light, she can see, that the ground is covered in a layer of thick, half-dried, icky blood.

 Volume 5 - CH 79.1

    Re-Create


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    ¡°Ack!¡±


    Yells Jiang Shuangmei, taking a few steps back while a chill freezes down her spine.


    Both Fei and Shun Y¨¹nj¨¹ stops to look at her oddly.


    Jiang Shuangmei swallows while telling them with a shaky voice, ¡°blood¡­ There¡¯s blood, on the floor.¡±


    So the other two Missiontakers also reflexively look downwards at their feet. Shun Y¨¹nj¨¹ is subconsciously furrowing his brows, while Fei is lifting her legs up out of reflex. Both of them are at a bit of a loss at what to do next.


    The layer of blood is thin, almost fused together with the deep colour of the flooring. If it weren¡¯t for the stickiness under their feet, they would probably have never come to realise the problem with this floor.


    They might have just assumed this floor is quiet and nothing more, even if this quiet itself is what is disquieting about this floor.


    With the layer of blood in the picture, though, all three Missiontakers are staring at each other, not knowing how to react. They then start observing the blood to figure out its range and source, but it turns out that blood has the entire floor covered.


    Even though they could find no bodies.


    The grim spectre of death is haunting the 21st floor like a thick fog, burying them in, layer after layer. Jiang Shuangmei has ominous feelings in her chest. There is a moment when she even realises she has lost her breathing.


    She clears her throat immediately, to stop herself from panicking


    Doing what she can to steady herself, she tells Fei and Shun Y¨¹nj¨¹ behind her, ¡°other than the blood on the floor, there doesn¡¯t seem to be clues on this floor.¡±


    Although that is when Shun Y¨¹nj¨¹ suddenly turns his head towards the glass on the floor close to where the windows were.


    Then, he murmurs, ¡°the reflections¡­¡±


    Almost immediately, all three Missiontakers seize up, with no one daring to look up at the ceiling. They suddenly realise, that the deep colours of the walls, are not natural either.


    It is practically painted on with highly viscous blood. It might have just been flowing down, until it all solidified and stuck onto the walls.


    On those shards of glass, they can see the reflections of fingers, of feet, of shreds of meat, of dead, bloodied eyes. They are hidden in the shadows, where the lights do not reach. They are right above their heads.


    In the stream, when the camera reveals what the glass is reflecting, the viewers are screaming bloody murder, pleading X¨¹ Beijin to please do not show them the ceiling on camera.


    Above the Missiontakers¡¯ heads, is a whole ceiling of dismembered body parts. They have been sliced into many, many fine pieces, and then stuck onto the ceiling. They¡¯ve been practically blown dry at this point.


    Perhaps the dismemberment was too fine, so when the Missiontakers first set foot on this floor, they did not realise at all that the dark ceiling is actually full of corpses.


    ¡­ Even X¨¹ Beijin is having a hard time stomaching this.


    His stomach is churning while he fixes the camera in place, so that it does not show the scary scene in its full form.


    As for the three Missiontakers currently occupying the same space as the scenery, they are currently in so much shock that they cannot move at all. They are straining their necks to stay in place, afraid that they might spot anything that sends their good sleep goodbye for a while.


    Fei is muttering to herself, ¡°what in the world, happened here?¡±


    Why are there so many bodies stuck to the ceiling? Who did it? Why did they do it? Are they¡­ still in this building?


    Fei has so many questions, but there is no answer.


    Then, the three Missiontakers leave the 21st floor behind. When they are back in the elevator, they almost simultaneously sigh in relief, even if it isn¡¯t as obvious on that zombie-like poker face of Shun Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s.


    Jiang Shuangmei isn¡¯t in the mood to talk, so she simply looks at the panel with one and thirteen there, and asks, ¡°which one?¡±


    Fei says, sounding less enthusiastic by the minute, ¡°well¡­ thirteen?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei nods and Shun Y¨¹nj¨¹ raises no questions either. Their experience on the 21st floor has alerted them to the full dangers of this building, even if it feels decidedly surreal.


    After pushing down on thirteen, the elevator slowly ascends upwards.


    Fei takes a deep breath, and starts speaking while staring at the slit in the elevator doors, ¡°of everything I have ever seen, this has been the most Nightmare-like Nightmare¡­¡±


    While all of them are known as ¡®Nightmares,¡¯ but they are fundamentally different from dreams. It is almost like a projection of another real world, rather than the nonsense that people have in dreams.


    Many Missiontakers say that Nightmares are Instances of a game, and leave it at that. So of course, physical laws of real life still apply there. Otherwise, how are they supposed to resolve the mysteries and look for clues within?


    They believe that the scenes and stories in the Nightmares are actually a re-creation of what really happened to the particular Tower resident. Even if there are often stretches of unfathomable logic within, it is still possible if largely unbelievable.


    But¡­ This Nightmare?


    Chopping up people¡¯s corpses, and then sticking them onto the ceiling?


    What in the world could that possibly do?


    Fei can¡¯t help but suspect that the owner of this Nightmare must be completely deranged, or, they must have met with such a deranged person, that the terrifying scene continues being repeated in the Nightmare owner¡¯s mind.


    In general, while Tower residents are all weirdos and strange individuals, but for a Nightmare to have these mess of elevators, to have scenes with an entire floor of corpses¡­


    Fei can¡¯t help but be spooked.


    What has actually happened to the owner of this Nightmare?


    Other than that¡­ Is this scene, at all related to the burning cityscape outside the windows?


    Fei suspects there is a connection, even if she wishes there is not.


    As the rambling thoughts carry on, the elevator gradually slows, coming to a stop.


    Fei is somewhat surprised, and looks over at Jiang Shuangmei, who has the same hesitant look on her face. It has been barely a few seconds since the elevator starting ascending. At best, they are two storeys up.


    The elevator has come to a stop, but that is when Fei realises, looking back at the elevator doors, that a mysterious red liquid is already squeezing its way in through the gap in the elevator door.


    ¡­ Huh?


    Fei yells out, ¡°don¡¯t let it open!¡±


    She is far too late.


    The elevator door has opened automatically.


    An ocean of blood, vast as the oceans, rushes in from the world outside, drenching the three Missiontakers within from head to toe. Their senses are bombarded by a sickeningly thick stench of rust. It almost feels like the world they can see is entirely composed of crimson, blood and flesh.


    At that moment, Fei is thinking, she is probably going to have PTSD with elevator doors the rest of her life, isn¡¯t she?


    Eh, in a sense, elevator doors are also portals to a new world.


    The viewers are also screaming.


    Almost a third of the screen area of the stream has been overtaken by a flood of red.


    ¡°fuck me, if i were playing this game¡­ id wanna die by now [bye emoji]¡±


    ¡°to be completely drenched in blood? I supposed these missiontakers will have quite a bit of sympathy for the ceiling they just saw¡±


    ¡°¡­ please, just stop¡±

 Volume 5 - CH 79.2

    Soon enough, the sea of blood is already submerging half the interior space of elevator Two, and still rising fast. The three Missiontakers, struggling the entire time, splashing about in the blood, has finally managed to get the elevator door shut. The rate of blood inflow has quickly diminished.


    They are all currently neck-deep in blood.


    Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s expression is quite horrid. She feels extremely uncomfortable her whole body over. The sea of blood that has barged in out of left field has their clothes fully soaked. The cold, sticky feeling is making her imagine that there are as if countless vipers crawling on her skin.


    Currently, elevator Two is a box of sloshing blood with three heads poking out of its surface, and all three have an expression of abject horror on their faces.


    Jiang Shuangmei is commenting with a stiff tone, ¡°why is this elevator Two only heading for floors that are so¡­¡±


    Fei¡¯s mouth remains shut. She does not want to try opening her mouth at all.


    It feels like the blood stuck to her face would flow into her mouth the moment she does.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ suddenly asks, though, ¡°could the blood on the ground of the 21st floor, have come from the blood permeating down from this floor?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei, listening to the young man proposing the idea with a frigid tone, is feeling the chilliness descend her spine. She quietly affirms it, ¡°perhaps¡­ it is possible.¡±


    Although that still doesn¡¯t answer the question of what the body parts on the 21st floor are for.


    ¡­ Decoration?


    Jiang Shuangmei finds the morbidity of that thought amusing, but she is unable to smile at all.


    A moment later, she asks, ¡°now where do we go? All these¡­ blood, in the elevator, needs to go somewhere.¡±


    The three Missiontakers glance at each other, and Fei says, ¡°the 21st floor.¡±


    They still do not know where button one leads to, so heading to the more familiar 21st floor would be a better idea. It¡¯s a pretty revolting place in its own right, but at least, there doesn¡¯t seem to be any danger.


    Jiang Shuangmei nods, and then looks over at the panel of buttons currently completely submerged in blood. She furrows her brows in disgust while moving her hand over, and tries to feel for the button leading to the 21st floor, which was twenty-five, and pushes on it.


    A few agonising seconds later, the elevator stops, and the door opens.


    The sea of blood in the elevator immediately drains out, until it has formed a thin layer across the whole floor.


    Looking at this scene, Jiang Shuangmei can¡¯t help but shudder and ask, ¡°hey, do you guys feel like¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t,¡± Fei, biting her lips, with her face in a deep, contrastive pale against her blood-soaked clothes, is staring straight into the floor. Her tone is colder than ever, almost like the desperate last gasps before death. She repeats, ¡°don¡¯t say it¡­¡±


    Shun Y¨¹nj¨¹ glances at the two Missiontakers with soulless eyes.


    He knows what they mean.


    Look©¤©¤Doesn¡¯t the blood on the ground of the 21st floor, resemble what has happened after they ¡®transported¡¯ blood down from the upper floor?


    This makes no sense. This makes no sense at all. They have been to the 21st floor already. They have seen how the blood on this floor has been there all along. But now, they have returned from where they went next, and poured blood onto this floor.


    The act itself could have been said to have paved blood onto this floor in the first place.


    It is a sense of logic that suggests a M?bius strip, making all three Missiontakers present feel seriously disoriented, in addition to fear.


    Finally, the elevator closes automatically, and in a sense, also isolating and leaving their fears in the floor beyond.


    Jiang Shuangmei suddenly turns to Fei to ask, ¡°what were you going to say earlier?¡±


    Fei, confused, asks, ¡°huh¡­?¡± Then, hesitant, she asks, ¡°The most Nightmare-like¡­ Nightmare? ¡­Nightmare?¡±


    She suddenly realises what Jiang Shuangmei is getting at, and is looking at her with this shocked face.


    Jiang Shuangmei, perhaps merely muttering to herself, quietly ponders, ¡°in a sense, we could also be playing the part of a person in this Nightmare, to some degree.¡±


    ¡°That is impossible!¡± Fei retorts, ¡°how could Nightmares possibly control what we do¡­¡±


    She suddenly comes to a stop.


    Jiang Shuangmei says, ¡°you¡¯ve got it,¡± she pauses, and then explains, ¡°our action so far could only rely on either the elevator or the stairs. In short, there is a manipulability.¡±


    Fei, knitting her brows, asks, ¡°but then what¡¯s the point? Even if we can be made to do things that affect the Nightmare¡¯s scenes, so what? We are still only after the truth of this Nightmare, ultimately.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei looks like she still wants to say something.


    But Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ cuts her off, saying, ¡°assuming that we really did cause the floor to be covered in blood on the 21st floor¡­¡±  He stops momentarily, as he notices the two other Missiontakers¡¯ faces going pale at the same time, but he still decides to continue, ¡°but shouldn¡¯t we still first consider the factor of time?¡±


    Both Jiang Shuangmei and Fei stop to think.


    Then, Jiang Shuangmei starts asking, confused, ¡°so we first went to the 21st floor, where there was already blood on the floor; and then, we travelled up the elevator, and brought the blood from up the floor down to the 21st floor¡­ Does this mean we travelled to the past?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ shakes his head to show that he doesn¡¯t know either. He is merely throwing out suggestions.


    Fei sighs, going, ¡°don¡¯t overthink things. The blood on the 21st floor might not even have had anything to do with us.¡±


    The other Missiontakers can only nod.


    Then, they finally look towards the panel in elevator Two, and Jiang Shuangmei finally pushes down, on that button she¡¯s been mentally reminding herself of. The button reading one.


    While the three Missiontakers in elevator Two have stopped discussing the issue with the origin of the blood on the ground of the floor, the stream is still currently host to a heated debate.


    No matter what, the fact that the blood flowed down onto the 21st floor would perfectly resonate with what the Missiontakers encountered earlier. This would cause a mismatched sense of cause and effect ¨C


    Could it be, that their decision to dump the box of blood onto the 21st floor, is what caused the ground of the 21st floor to be covered in a thin layer of blood in the first place?


    The audience are holding opposing views, and the arguments are flying through the barrage.


    ¡°im!po!ssi!ble! they already went and saw the blood on the 21st floor beforehand! it was already solidified! solid!¡±


    The viewers debated lots of possibilities, but they can¡¯t even settle on fundamentals like whether these instances can be attributed to coincidence or not.


    Finally, the detective dalao concludes and shuts down everyone, ¡°We will have to wait and see, when more elevators are found for them to head to other floors. Too bad Beibei is busy, or he¡¯ll be able to help us out.¡±


    That¡¯s right, right now, X¨¹ Beijin is busy dealing with other things.

 Volume 5 - CH 79.3

    Since Lin Qin and Wu Jian came up to the 16th floor, they started talking to the Actors to collect information, although by ¡®they,¡¯ it mostly refers to Wu Jian.


    While Fei would worry over Wu Jian quite a lot, he is still capable enough when it comes to basic information gathering like that. In fact, he is quite skilled at it, which is what allowed him to stand his ground in the higher floors of the Tower in the first place.


    A few minutes later, he runs back to report his work to Lin Qin, being the very good lackey he just turned out to be.


    Lin Qin, meanwhile, has quietly moved over to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s side, not speaking or doing anything else, but merely sitting there, occasionally looking at X¨¹ Beijin.


    X¨¹ Beijin is quite unsettled by this, while thinking about how his happy consecutive days spent together with Lin Qin in the store reading their own books, eating their own snacks and drinking their own drinks.


    He can¡¯t help but conclude that, pure friendship, when particular feelings come to roost, would fundamentally change.


    What is even more annoying is how unaware Lin Qin seems to be of the whole thing.


    And because Lin Qin keeps staying here, X¨¹ Beijin is unable to talk to the viewers on the stream at all. He couldn¡¯t say a single word regarding the absurdity that the Missiontakers have experienced on the 21st floor.


    ¡­ It feels like he¡¯s back at that decrepit bookstore of the first Nightmare again, with Lin Qin sitting down just outside of the bookstore, is what X¨¹ Beijin is dissing about inside.


    Wu Jian coming to report has helped lift the silence, which makes X¨¹ Beijin sigh in relief a little.


    Though Lin Qin gives a slightly unfriendly eye to Wu Jian, but he holds whatever grievances he wants to air inside in favour of helping X¨¹ Beijin leave the Nightmare as soon as possible.


    Wu Jian¡¯s summary goes as follows, ¡°more than a dozen people are gathered here, all people who have been working when whatever it was happened to this office building. For various reasons such as food supply, they¡¯ve gathered on this floor¡­¡±


    ¡°Various reasons?¡± Asks Lin Qin.


    ¡°It¡¯s quite vague, but from what I could tell, it sounds like¡­ they lost their way and wandered here? They also said the elevators are acting strange or something. We can ask the other Missiontakers about it later,¡± replies Wu Jian.


    Lin Qin nods.


    Then Wu Jian continues, ¡°about the thing that actually happened in the first place, they don¡¯t have much of an idea either. They say that there was a big boom, an explosion of some kind, followed by the glass of this building shattering.


    Several of the office workers here suffered concussion as well, and even if they didn¡¯t, they still don¡¯t have a good idea of what happened.¡±


    The word concussion prompts Lin Qin to look over at X¨¹ Beijin.


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Yeah, he has a concussion, according to the script, anyway.


    Of course, he is also well aware that if he gives up Acting like that, then the Server would certainly not shy away from actually giving him a real concussion¡­


    That¡¯s how dry and uninteresting the Actors¡¯ lives in the Nightmares are.


    Wu Jian has failed to take notice of the mini-interaction between Lin Qin and X¨¹ Beijin as he keeps explaining, ¡°these people are trapped here, and they also know that the stairs below the 9th floor are gone. They also wouldn¡¯t dare stepping into the elevators¡­¡±


    Here, Wu Jian swallows and his explanation turns more into a whisper, ¡°dalao, listen, I¡¯ve heard some pretty damning news here, regarding the elevators.¡±


    Lin Qin raises his brows.


    Wu Jian says, ¡°they say that they are not sure either, but something seems to have fried the circuits of all the elevators awry, and now the elevators go to completely random floors.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is like, yeah, he knows already.


    Though¡­ Wait.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s expression changes slightly.


    Lin Qin, as if sensing his thoughts, immediately asks, ¡°completely random?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Wu Jian nods a few times, saying, ¡°they say that where the elevators can go to is completely random after the button is pushed. There is no pattern either.


    Nobody can tell which floor the elevators will go to. It is completely¡­ dependent on luck.¡±


    What Wu Jian does not mention here, though, is that when those office workers heard he had friends who took the elevators here, they looked both horrified and sympathetic.


    It would appear that, by reflex, at least some of those lucky survivors gathered here have also once used the elevators ¨C a natural product of people living in a modern society having become used to industrialised equipment.


    Though what they relied on has proven to stab them in the back right now.


    And also, stab Wu Jian in the back, however, it is merely for the fact that they, the Missiontakers, still need to solve the Nightmare.


    He is anxiously wondering how they are ever going to leave the building if every time they end up on a random floor when they push a button in the elevator. Rely on dumb luck?


    This information is sending shcokwaves through the viewers as well.


    ¡°wait, completely random?!¡±


    ¡°but the three people in elevator two managed to return to the 21st floor just fine?!¡±


    ¡°actually¡­ they haven¡¯t went to check the stairwell, so who knows if it actually is the 21st floor¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­but the blood on the ground¡­¡±


    ¡°no no no, I¡¯m a bit confused, do you still remember when they reached the floor, whether there were giblets up on the ceiling?¡±


    ¡°theyre in the elevator too, so the camera actually wont see the ceiling outside¡­¡±


    ¡°so¡­ so they, like, they might have released the blood on who knows what floor???¡±


    ¡°by that logic, the deja vu theory is invalid right? its a coincidence, and the blood on the 21st floor cannot have been from elevator two¡±


    ¡°agreed, like it can¡¯t have been that they just happen to end up on the same floor after pushing on twenty-five¡±


    ¡°¡­ why not?¡±


    ¡°fuck, you again? then why can¡¯t mystic have been the little girl¡¯s mother?¡±


    The viewers fall into quite the conundrum here, while the three Missiontakers of elevator One have arrived on the floor represented by the button twenty-nine after leaving the 31st floor, where the little girl is.


    Among the four buttons lit up in elevator One, seven represents a dangerous, impassable floor; eighteen and thirty-two, representing the 31st and 24th floor respectively, are safe.


    It is a toss-up whether button number twenty-nine would lead somewhere safe.


    Teen says with an irritated tone, ¡°the Server is probably more gentle with these Missiontakers of the bottom floor, right?¡±


    Suits coldly replies, ¡°heh, who knows.¡±


    The elevator door opens.


    Madmen, drenched wholly in blood, rushes towards them.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± Teen yells out, ¡°why is it this floor again?!¡±

 Volume 5 - CH 80.1

    D¨¦j¨¤ vu


    Translated by Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by Edited by boilpoil


    Teen is quick to slam on the ¡®close¡¯ button, while Suits is kicking all the madmen out of the elevator as best he can, with Mystic¡¯s help.


    Finally, they manage to buy enough time to keep the madmen at bay, though the price is that the three Missiontakers all end up with various bites and scratches on their faces and hands.


    Teen is looking at the wound on his arm, and asks, ¡°would this Nightmare have anything related to viruses or sickness?¡±


    Suits shrugs.


    Mystic is looking at the bite on the back of her own hand as her thoughts drift away. A madman whose age she can¡¯t tell bit her as hard as he could. There was blood immediately, and the mark of the teeth is still plain obvious, but it resembled more the tearing a wild animal would do.


    She can¡¯t help but shudder and murmur, ¡°mad, they¡¯re all mad¡­¡±


    Nobody responds to her words, as Teen and Suits are currently focused on the panel of buttons.


    Shortly after, Teen writes down something on his piece of paper, wondering, ¡°seven and twenty-nine correspond to the same floor¡­ Do you think that could really be the case?¡±


    Suits says, ¡°just state your conclusion.¡±


    Teen nods to say, ¡°is it possible that it is random?¡±


    Suits rubs his chin and analyses, ¡°possibly, but then¡­ wouldn¡¯t this be far too difficult for Missiontakers of the bottom floor? And the probability to end up on the same floor twice if it really is completely random is much slimmer than the other possibilities.¡±


    ¡°But then, why would it lead to the same floor?¡± Teen mutters, and then decides to reject his hypothesis and say, ¡°¡­ this is a game, so it is purely digital, which means it is deterministic in the end. ¡®Randomness¡¯ still has a pattern here, a pseudo-pattern dictated by machinery, computers, artificial intelligences.¡±


    Suits glances at him and warns, ¡°never mind your ¡®personal opinions,¡¯ we¡¯re in a Nightmare right now.¡±


    ¡°¡­ What I mean is that, the only plausible explanation for us ending up on the same floor twice, is pseudo-randomness,¡± says Teen.


    ¡°So what?¡± Irritated, Suits retorts, ¡°that is not an explanation for why we would end up on the same floor twice¡­¡±


    Suddenly, Mystic interrupts them to ask ,¡±why are you sure, that it was the same floor?¡±


    Both Teen and Suits pause.


    Mystic asks, ¡°what if, madmen have filled multiple floors to the brim?¡±


    Suits is furrowing his brows, but he nods to concur, ¡°that¡¯s also an explanation.¡±


    Teen is staring at Mystic, not sounding exactly pleased, ¡°so you were thinking that the whole time we were discussing the much less probable possibilities? You poking fun at us?¡±


    Mystic ignores them entirely, merely murmuring, ¡°this building, is filled¡­ with the scent of insanity¡­ Insanity, truly.¡±


    Teen sniggers. He, a rational, objectively driven Missiontaker, has never been one to appreciate vague mutterings from mystic types.


    Obviously this building is filled with insanity, all of them are insane!


    Suits knows Teen would be in a bad mood for a while having had a faceslapping, and wisely ignores him for now. Then he looks back at the elevator panel to say, ¡°looks like there is a need to try again.¡±


    This proposal receives the support of the other two Missiontakers in the form of a nod.


    Suits pushes on thirty-two once more. The last time they pushed the button, they ended up on the 24th floor. It was safe, and was where elevator Two was.


    However, this time, when the elevator door opens, they end up not on the 24th floor, but instead, on the 20th floor, where blood can be seen splattered about on the floor.


    ¡°Still safe,¡± Teen, who has finished exploring the 20th floor concludes, and then says, ¡°the blood on the floor notwithstanding, which clearly flowed out from the elevator lobby¡­ Could this mean that there is an elevator filled with corpses?¡±


    Suits shakes his head; he has no idea either. Instead, he talks about the another important clue, ¡°there is also an elevator on this floor.¡±


    This is in addition to elevator Two that they found when they pushed down thirty-two; this is now elevator Three.


    Teen says, ¡°tch, so this button definitely takes us somewhere with an elevator parked?¡±


    He looks towards Mystic, with derision and sarcasm in mind, looking forward to hearing Mystic¡¯s supernatural take on this event, though he finds Mystic is currently fixated looking at something on the ground close to a section of wall.


    Teen walks over.


    It is a large group photo that probably hung from the wall, but the disaster shook it loose. It fell down, shattering its glass frame.


    Teen takes the photo and spreads it flat across the wall.


    Now that there is a clue, Mystic is beneath his concern.


    He reads out the few characters on the photo, ¡°Gaoge¡­ Company, Limited, All Employees of Sales with Some of Their Family Members,¡± he narrows his eyes and tries to identify the persons depicted in the dim lights as best as he can, and says, ¡°eh? Isn¡¯t this that little girl? Is that her mom next to her? Why is the photo on this floor?¡±


    The little girl was hiding on the 31st floor, but this photo is on the 20th¡­ Makes no sense for it to be so far apart.


    Besides¡­


    Teen is feeling off looking at the photo, and suddenly turns to Mystic to ask, ¡°hey Mystic, do you feel like¡­¡±


    The woman on the photo, looks a bit like you?


    And also, on the wrist of that little girl, isn¡¯t the bracelet she¡¯s wearing looking quite a bit like what Mystic gave her earlier?


    But¡­ Isn¡¯t this the backstory of the Nightmare? Why is it on the photo? Is it a pure coincidence, or¡­ is this Nightmare intentionally trying to blur them into itself?


    A dream world, that is unreasonably chaotic, and ever-adapting?


    What Mystic said, that this Nightmare is actually filled with, true insanity? Does it mean an insanity that is beyond all reason and logic?


    Teen looks at Mystic.


    But Mystic is looking downright frightened and even terrifying all at the same time. She has probably never imagined that, one day, she would have her image depicted in a photo found in a Nightmare. This¡­ This¡­ How could this even be possible?


    She yells out, backing off, still fixing her eyes straight on the photo. Her face is twitching. Her face is visibly paling.


    It is as if she saw something utterly inexplicable, or perhaps, she didn¡¯t imagine at all, that this could simply be a trick the Nightmare is employing to fool them.


    After freezing up briefly, she suddenly dashes away, like she is avoiding some terrible ghost. Almost instinctively, she rushes for the elevator, the small, cramped, safe space they were just in, which makes her feel safe.


    She runs right into the elevator lobby, repeatedly pushing the open button. Then, she immediately slips into the elevator.


    When Suits and Teen have quickly overcome their initial shock to rush after her, they find that there is only one elevator left in the elevator lobby of the 20th floor. Mystic is nowhere to be found.


    ¡°What the flying fuck?!¡± Teen is cussing, ¡°Is she sick? NE¡¯s tricks are that effective on her?!¡±


    Suits, though, takes the devil¡¯s advocate, explaining, ¡°you know Mystic has always been said to be paranoid since she used her utility card.¡±


    Teen sneers to say, ¡°even so¡­ Ha, what a Missiontaker from a higher floor indeed,¡± he then looks at the elevators, and furrows his brows, immediately asking, ¡°did she just go into the new elevator parked on this floor?¡±


    Then he quickly adds, ¡°oh bloody hell!¡±


    Suits doesn¡¯t seem to mind as much, shrugging and saying, ¡°well, now we have someone scouting ahead for us.¡±


    Teen snaps back, ¡°ha, you think with her state of mind, she can properly scout?¡± He then shakes his head and pulls his piece of paper out to start furiously writing ahead. And finally, he also decides to mention, ¡°that photo, do you think¡­¡±


    The viewers in the stream are also looking at where Mystic is going, but they¡¯re also pretty spooked and intrigued by that photograph.


    Meanwhile, Lin Qin and Wu Jian has already left the 16th floor behind.


    On the one hand, the 16th floor has no clues to explore besides the lucky, sane people, and on the other, Lin Qin is in quite the hurry, having become determined to resolve the Nightmare via the direct way of dispatching with the owner of the Nightmare, so he¡¯s off to search for them.


    So, from the 16th floor downwards, he¡¯s going to sweep each floor. Since they¡¯ve explored the entirety of the stairs already, without the Nightmare restarting, so it means the other Missiontakers must still be exploring and searching for clues, probably above.


    Meanwhile, Wu Jian just wants to say that, he feels much safer with the dalao around.


    Lin Qin actually even wanted to drag X¨¹ Beijin along for the ride, as it is in this Nightmare that Lin Qin has first realised that even X¨¹ Beijin would have times when he feels unwell©¤©¤The usual drowsiness stemming psychologically from his lack of sleep notwithstanding.


    This seems to have compelled Lin Qin into an odd decision process where he feels like he wants to know what X¨¹ Beijin is thinking and feeling at all times, and would be happy to have him tag along everywhere.


    Though Lin Qin then recalls that X¨¹ Beijin is feeling unwell, so resting on the 16th floor is the better choice for him. It is also quite clear here that the 16th floor appears to be some kind of sanctuary in the building.


    So he has left with Wu Jian in tow, leaving X¨¹ Beijin sitting there with complicated feelings in his mind.


    While he would never say it out loud, he is definitely feeling warm and fuzzy inside.


    It¡¯s always nice to know someone cares about you.


    ¡­ Though X¨¹ Beijin is also suspecting if Lin Qin is trying to nudge into his heart the same way a frog is boiled in gradually warming water.

 Volume 5 - CH 80.2

    Soon enough, though, what is happening to the other Missiontakers in the stream drags X¨¹ Beijin back from thoughts about Lin Qin, and forces him to consider the clues of this Nightmare.


    To be honest, while the clue he leaked to Mu Jiashi allowed him to achieve a True End, X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t too sure what that True End and the truth behind this Nightmare entailed.


    The clue he provided Mu Jiashi was actually extremely simple. It was simply the fact that ¡®the 16th floor is a safe zone with clues.¡¯


    Since back then, he only knew the most basic premise of this Nightmare. This was all that he could tell the others as an Actor under Server¡¯s management.


    As for how Mu Jiashi achieved that True End, since he obviously didn¡¯t have any streaming system to cheat back then, he couldn¡¯t see it directly with his god¡¯s eye view.


    While he once interacted with the owner of this Nightmare, that was still only thanks to some Missiontaker having found the particular Tower resident and brought her to the 16th floor, which allowed them to talk while behind the Missiontakers¡¯ backs.


    So he only had a general, but not any detailed knowledge of what this Nightmare was.


    Therefore, when the ¡®inexplicable sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu¡¯ happened twice, and add to that Mystic¡¯s appearance in the company¡¯s group photograph, X¨¹ Beijin is quite surprised.


    The Nightmare¡­ would seem to be far more intriguing than he thought?


    Meanwhile, viewers in the stream are having another heated debate.


    ¡°this is not the first time already! once a happenstance, twice a coincidence, thrice, and it¡¯s deliberate!¡±


    ¡°took the words right outta my mouth¡­ but the question, so what? how is it gonna help solve the nightmare?¡±


    ¡°uh, if everything is here to imply the nightmare¡¯s ending and truth in some way, then could it be that these little episodes are helping recreate the nightmare owner¡¯s past actions, to subtly tell them where the nightmare owner has gone?¡±


    ¡°!!! makes sense!¡±


    ¡°oh man, its a new detective dalao!¡±


    ¡°so that makes the nightmare owner the little girl¡¯s mother? the nightmare involves her having her daughter over, but something happened outside, and she left her daughter at the office only to never see her again?¡±


    ¡°emm¡­ so much is still glossed over¡±


    ¡°perhaps, that¡¯s not the only reason? the missing daughter could make her regret or blame herself, but the core of nightmares is still fear right?¡±


    ¡°maybe she fears the building itself?¡±


    ¡°well given what the missiontakers have seen so far, I think thats justified¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­ thanks, I¡¯m definitely in fear here¡±


    ¡°what kinda audience of a horror stream are you?!¡±


    ¡°by the way, Beibei, any thoughts?¡±


    Before the stream, X¨¹ Beijin has stopped digressing his thoughts. He was reading the comment barrage and what the viewers thought, but he was also thinking about something else at the same time.


    He saw the audience clamouring for him though, and after a brief consideration, he voices his question.


    ¡°I agree with that comment, but what I¡¯m wondering now, is the timing of when the Missiontakers arrive. Is it after, or during, the events that are happening to the Nightmare owner?


    Put simply, are they in the Nightmare owner¡¯s past, or present?


    If the former, then part of the objective would simply be to find where the Nightmare owner should be; however, the fact that Missiontakers are forced into mini-scenes that cause a feeling of d¨¦j¨¤ vu, makes me think they are more participating alongside the Nightmare owner.


    So would the latter case be it? If so, it is unlikely they will find the Nightmare owner directly. They would probably have to gather clues to know what to do; however, this would be unable to explain why the little girl has already been left behind by her mother.


    Could it be that there is a third possibility? Both situations are concurrent.


    Everything in the Nightmare is technically in the ¡®past,¡¯ as memories of the Nightmare owner. So when the Nightmare owner has the Nightmare, it is like they are reliving their past experience in a sort of ¡®present,¡¯ but they are also aware that this happened in the past.


    That is why, the Missiontakers, are both participating and not participating in the Nightmare.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin has packed some subtle hints in that long monologue.


    Though the viewers are perhaps, not the brightest.


    ¡°that¡­ uh, makes sense?¡±


    ¡°¡­ so basically, the missiontakers are, ¡®involved¡¯ in the nightmare owner¡¯s experiences? they are not participating, but merely involved, during which, deja vu happens¡±


    ¡°!!! Yeah! Beibei must be right! I got it!¡±


    ¡°wait what did you get detective dalao? aaaaaargh please tell me, pleeeeease!¡±


    ¡°Kuhum, sorry about that, I was typing the whole time, but what Beibei said has completely enlightened me.


    I was wondering before, that since the three Missiontakers in elevator One discovered a large puddle of fresh blood on the 20th floor, coming from the elevator lobby, then could it mean that this is actually where the Missiontakers of elevator Two ended up at?


    Elevator Two first discovered dried blood on the ground of the 21st floor, then they went up a storey or two to be drenched in the ocean of blood, and then they descended a bit to dump the blood away.


    So if they actually ended up dumping the blood not on the 21st but the 20th floor, then that would explain why nobody noticed anything with the amount of time the elevator travelled.


    So in this case, Missiontakers have a d¨¦j¨¤ vu of ¡®creating¡¯ the scene in Nightmares; what purpose does this have?


    The explanation Beibei provides, or the ¡®RPG Theory,¡¯ where Missiontakers are going through some kind of ¡®Main Story¡¯ plotline, then that all makes sense!


    The buttons of the elevator head to completely random floors©¤©¤is our surface-level hypothesis. But what if which floors the elevators go to is actually sequenced after where the Nightmare owner once went?


    Here, many members of the audience have an epiphany. Even X¨¹ Beijin has found his thoughts much clearer thans to the explanation. He can certainly say that having someone to think and to talk together helps a lot.


    And in fact, just now, what Teen suggested also contributed to his thoughts.


    Nightmares, fundamentally being inside a digital game, cannot have true randomness. It is ¡®pseudo-random.¡¯


    Besides, logically thinking, Nightmares should still tend to have correct solutions for Missiontakers to solve. Therefore, what Missiontakers see and experience must be meaningful.


    Anything that is ¡®completely random¡¯ in this case is counterproductive as the players¡¯ actual experiences become unpredictable. That would make ¡®Escape¡¯ completely different from other games in reality.


    So, by that line of thought, where Missiontakers only experience meaningful events, then what they went through so far cannot have been generated ¡®completely randomly.¡¯ Some patterns must hold.


    Now, when you also take into account the story behind the Nightmare itself, then the patterns will start to seem to the keen-eyed bystander that it reflects what the Nightmare owner might have experienced.


    This is a convincing explanation for why there are those inexplicable episodes of d¨¦j¨¤ vu.

 Volume 5 - CH 80.3

    Meanwhile, a member of the audience has a question, ¡°but there are currently three elevators, so which one is the one representing where the nightmare owner went?¡±


    This is certainly a good question, one that X¨¹ Beijin was thinking about earlier as well.


    He looks at the remaining Actors of the 16th floor, and continues muffling his voice to answer the questions without behind heard, ¡°I believe the current focus is still on the fact that there are the strange d¨¦j¨¤ vu episodes.


    In other words, what is important here is the fact that elevator One has abandoned the little girl and elevator Two has dumped blood onto the ground. These are the main events they are experiencing, or as a comment aptly put, ¡®Main Story.¡¯


    Here, the aspect to focus on is the fact that these main events occurred, relating to where the Nightmare owner has gone to.


    While the madmen, the body parts on the ceiling, the sea of blood, seem to be some kind of ¡®side quest¡¯ of this Nightmare, or rather, the building. They come auxiliary with the building, and perhaps do not have direct impact on the truth of the Nightmare.


    The reason I say this is because the actions of the Missiontakers are still ultimately up to themselves. While the floors they go to can be planned forward, but what they would choose to do in the floor is unknowable.


    However, when it comes to the main events we talked about, they are fundamentally different.


    When they met the little girl on the 31st floor, by rationale of any Missiontaker, it is unlikely they would ever take her along; even if they decided to take her, the Server could have made her unwilling to leave the desk.


    ¡°In addition¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin remains quiet for a moment before explaining, ¡°it is possible that what the Nightmare owner has gone through would be in a different order to what the Missiontakers have experienced in turn. The events may occur independently.


    It remains to be seen if a pattern can be found, but we will be able to tell once they¡¯ve experienced everything the elevators cause them to relive.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin has finally laid out everything he thought about in general.


    ¡°wow thats amazing Beibei¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin remains silent.


    He actually has thoughts regarding why Mystic¡¯s image is visible on that photo, but he cannot share it with the viewers of the stream.


    His gaze then drifts towards the quietly burning inferno of the ruins of the city outside.


    The Apocalypse of Raining Hellfire¡­


    His thoughts drift far, far away.


    Meanwhile, on the stream, the viewers have grown bored of discussing the fruitless question already, and are instead backtracking to how amazing the detective dalao and X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s analyses are.


    They were certainly highly plausible.


    ¡°That said,¡± the detective dalao types, ¡°regrettably, the Missiontakers do not share our God¡¯s eye view, so it is also problematic depending on when they can figure this out.


    Hopefully the second run, but, if the third run, or, after the Nightmare¡­ starts crumbling?

 Volume 5 - CH 81.1

    The detective dalao probably wasn¡¯t expecting to be right on the money.


    Up to this point, meanwhile, the Missiontakers have been to many floors already.


    Even discounting the two (or three?) storeys full of madmen or blood, then the Missiontakers have been to four floors, the 20th, 21st, 24th, and the 31st floors. They were able to gather information there as well.


    Not to mention what Lin Qin and Wu Jian found out on the 16th floor.


    Currently, the two of them have gone down to the 15th floor.


    The stream is starting to get a bit crowded, with X¨¹ Beijin himself on a screen, one each for elevators One, Two and Three, and one for Lin Qin and Wu Jian.


    The viewers are finding themselves stretched too thin.


    X¨¹ Beijin thought about it, and decides that a God¡¯s eye view is detrimental to the feeling of surprise, and completely revealing everything in real time would also contribute to an unhealthy feeling of dominance and assertiveness in over everyone¡¯s heads.


    While in the Tower, he cannot possibly have such an angle of¡­


    No, wait, that¡¯s not necessarily true.


    X¨¹ Beijin is shocked by his own thoughts for a moment as his brows furrow.


    He has yet to attempt streaming inside the Tower itself. To be honest, he isn¡¯t sure what the list of locations on the right would read if he was streaming in the Tower itself. Would it have just been a mess of number IDs?


    Although that said, he does genuinely wish that he would never have a need to stream in the Tower.


    If he really did choose to do so, then it may also be the final showdown, where he has decided to go all in, to put every single thing on the line for an all-or-nothing¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s thoughts are digressing again, and he stops it with a bitter grin. He uses a can of drink to hide that from view, as he looks down wearily at the ground.


    Right now, he suddenly, desperately wants to know, if his future self still remembers how he felt right now, then what would he think of it? What would his future self say, regarding the hope of escaping the Tower brought forth by this streaming system?


    Hope, is no stranger to becoming poison.


    Shortly thereafter, he recovers himself, and sets the main view of the stream to the 15th floor, where Lin Qin and Wu Jian are, and ignores the pile of witty comment barrages that follow.


    ¡­ What, he knows Lin Qin the best among this group of Missiontakers. So what if he¡¯s checking on him first? You got a problem?


    No, you do not.


    X¨¹ Beijin is very self-assured here.


    On-screen, everyone can see the 15th floor clearly.


    It is almost like a scene after a devastating storm has ploughed through. Almost all the office desks and chairs, and other stationery and utensils, have been strewn and piled up on the wall furthest from the window. It¡¯s a mess.


    It is difficult to say if it was pushed over by the shockwave that must have accompanied whatever caused the disaster outside, or if it was merely thrown over at the wall, because¡­


    One single set of office desk and chair, are still standing right in the middle of the emptied office grounds. Alone.


    Against the backdrop of the fire from the burning city outside.


    Even the shockwave that has shattered all the glass of the building, that has charred all the window frames and walls, has not seemingly moved this desk and chair a single inch from where they were.


    Lin Qin and Wu Jian entered this floor via the emergency stairs to the side, and they are able to see the situation with a casual glance. It is blatant how ¡¯empty¡¯ the floor feels, and also notice how blatant the desk and chair combo are on the eyes.


    Wu Jian, confused, wonders, ¡°why a lone desk in the middle of nothing? Did anyone do that on purpose?¡±


    Anyone would have the same question when they see it.


    Assuming that someone has deliberately placed this particular desk and chair in the middle of the floor-space.


    They walk over, and the very adept atmosphere reader, Wu Jian, elects to check out other locations of the storey. In the meantime, Lin Qin is checking on the scene depicted outside the window standing behidn the desk.


    He sees that at this height, it is perfect for showcasing the inferno burning outside.


    Lin Qin is staring at it with his usual poker face. No matter how shocking the scene may be to any other person, he isn¡¯t particular shocked or surprised by it. It is a city. It is burning. That¡¯s it.


    So what?


    Instead, he is currently feeling rather irritated, even slightly wrathful just thinking, would he seriously have to go through every single floor down until he finds the owner of the Nightmare?


    What if they are actually below the 9th floor?


    Wouldn¡¯t he have to use those supposedly random elevators then?


    Lin Qin knits his brows. The frustration and annoyance is slowly inching towards a critical threshold.


    Shortly after, though, Wu Jian is back, reporting, ¡°there are no elevators stopped on this floor. The bathrooms are locked, as usual, and I don¡¯t see anything else remarkable¡­¡±


    Lin Qin suddenly asks, ¡°if the Nightmare¡¯s owner is hiding in a toilet¡­¡±


    Wu Jian seems surprised by the question, and then considers it, replying, ¡°then we would have to reach the management offices that could be on the 1st floor, and after taking the keys, we¡¯d have to¡­ man, that¡¯d be a pain in the arse.¡±


    Lin Qin shakes his head.


    They¡¯re going to leave the floor behind and head downstairs.


    Though before they do, Lin Qin¡¯s temper flares when he bumps into the chair on his way out. He throws it towards the pile of furniture at the wall.


    Then, seeing the desk left behind, and still pretty pissed off in general, he throws it over as well.


    The floor is finally empty, as all the desks and chairs and office supplies, have ended up in a landfill at the far side of the wall. The weirdly upright and stable office desk and chair that is inexplicably being an eyesore is finally gone.


    Lin Qin is satisfied.


    He calls on Wu Jian to leave, but the man is just standing there, enchanted, staring at the now emptied space where the desk once stood, and then, at the pile of office supplies.


    Wu Jian asks, ¡°dalao, do you feel like¡­¡±


    Lin Qin is looking at him oddly. He doesn¡¯t ¡®feel like¡¯ anything.


    Although the viewers in the stream are completely on the same channel as Wu Jian.


    ¡°holy shit!!! the way the little apple threw the desk and chair adding to the pile of desk and chair on the wall¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, looking at the comments rolling past, can¡¯t help but chuckle.


    The viewers of the stream really are good at dragging the topic du jour to the most hilarious conclusion in the most solemn of settings. Oh how talented they are, and how seriously stupid in hindsight he was even wary of them.


    Currently, he hasn¡¯t many viewers either, and it averages about 10 or so viewers the entire duration of the stream. As they themselves say, streaming of horror games don¡¯t seem to be at all popular in their circles.


    Though compared to what he was ambitious about when he first acquired the streaming system, his current use is largely limited to just finding out more about the Nightmares, and his progress towards using it to escape the Tower has been basically null.


    He can¡¯t help but sigh.

 Volume 5 - CH 81.2

    Casting those thoughts aside, X¨¹ Beijin is focusing back on this Nightmare, particularly on the ¡®re-creations¡¯ and ¡®d¨¦j¨¤ vu¡¯s¡­ whatever you want to call it. It is like something that is trying to imply some sort of truth.


    Not just the truth in Nightmares, but also a truth relating to the nature of the Tower, beyond the Nightmares.


    In fact, this d¨¦j¨¤ vu has already reared its head the moment the Missiontakers appeared in this Nightmare, even though back then, the Missiontakers were merely idly entertaining the thought of ¡®escaping the Tower¡¯ and ¡®escaping the building¡¯ being quite similar.


    ¡­ Actually, going even earlier, when the news of this Nightmare first spread throughout the bottom floor of the Tower, people were already guessing this Nightmare related to the truth of the Tower, right?


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but feel slightly demotivated and tired. He asked Dai Wu to point out this Nightmare to the Missiontakers, but it seems, this first group of Missiontakers here, are still far away from the truth.


    He glances over at the list of locations on the right of the stream, to see some Missiontakers have already arrived on a new floor. He switches the camera over.


    It¡¯s Jiang Shuangmei, Fei and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, finally settling on where the button for one led to.


    They have already confirmed this floor, the 18th, did not have additional elevators. In pure numerical terms, this is already the lowest floor they have ever reached via an elevator.


    Although they don¡¯t exactly have time to think about it, because they have met someone alive here.


    ¡­ Well, you might find it difficult to call him a living human, in any case.


    He is sitting on a chair. There is what appears to be a corpse on the office desk in front of him, from which he is currently peeling off slices of meat using a cutting knife, before more finely chopping the piece down, and place it into a paint bucket by his side.


    There is another bucket beside him, possibly there to catch the blood dripping from the corpse; it is more than halfway through.


    The ceiling of this floor already has its majority paved with the thing that was in the paint bucket.


    And every so often, giblets fall from the ceiling. The person would stand up again and again to grab a ladder and ¡®paint¡¯ them back on again. He doesn¡¯t so much as glance over at the group of people visiting at all, instead, he is merely concentrated on his work.


    Fei is remarking blankly, ¡°so, what we saw on the 21st floor before¡­¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s tone is parched as well, ¡°was from this¡­ lunatic¡¯s doing?¡±


    All three Missiontakers are pale as corpses.


    They were never expecting to see such a ridiculously fantastical, gory and disquieting. More concerning is the fact that the person doing this doesn¡¯t seem to realise how he is doing anything that seems abnormal.


    All three Missiontakers are looking at him with worried or frightened gazes. The man instead merely furrows his brows at the gaze, seemingly finding the three behaving oddly instead of him.


    It takes all the courage Jiang Shuangmei can muster to even greet the person, ¡°he-, hello?¡±


    The person puts his cutting knife down with visible impatience before finally turning to face the group. He has a frigid, monotonous voice, ¡°what do you actually want? Stop interfering with my work.¡±


    ¡°Your-, your work¡­¡±


    The person explains, ¡°yes. The explosion from before destroyed so much of our company¡¯s facilities. I got assigned to redo the paint job, and I¡¯m really pressed for time. I¡¯ve only finished one floor so far. There is too little material to go on, damn it!


    So, I would ask you to kindly move out of the way for me, alright?¡±


    After the unfriendly conversation, he picks up his cutting knife again to continue his ¡®work.¡¯


    The three Missiontakers now turn to each other with frankly horrified faces.


    Fei takes a deep breath, but that doesn¡¯t help her tone stop quavering any, ¡°so, he was assigned to redo the paint job¡­¡± She almost gagged saying the phrase, before continuing, ¡°so does that imply there are other assignments? Are they all so¡­¡±


    Repulsive?


    Jiang Shuangmei voices her thoughts directly, ¡°I thought that disaster they kept referring to was some kind of natural or physical one, a great explosion of some kind, but¡­¡±


    She glances over at the person wholly dedicated to this current job with confusion.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ follows up, ¡°it looks like their mental states are equally concerning.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei agrees, ¡°something is definitely wrong with their values and ethics. He seemingly treats this ¡®job¡¯ as something normal¡­ He must actually be clinically insane, right?¡±


    Fei opens her mouth, but isn¡¯t sure of what to say.


    That is because she is suddenly remembering something, the fundamental reason that led her to enter this Nightmare.


    In fact, she also thought at first, that the burning city outside of the building was what the ¡®apocalypse¡¯ was for this Nightmare, and one that could plausibly be connected to the aftermath she experienced in the Nightmare of the ruins she experienced before.


    So it was all in all some kind of natural, or manmade disaster that led to some catastrophic¡­ explosion, or something, that completely undid civilisation, and people had to scramble to survive, to run away, to live in the ruins afterwards¡­ That was what she assumed.


    She never considered the possibility that the apocalypse led to any mental health issues.


    This may have been a more intangible, but also more terrifying apocalypse because of that.


    This Nightmare¡­


    Suddenly, she can¡¯t help but wonder another question.


    Why would there be rumours circulating around for this Nightmare in the first place?


    She, and Wu Jian, were told of this Nightmare by Mu Jiashi, who must know this Nightmare well.


    But if he already knew that much and has already traded this Nightmare with Fei and Wu Jian as part of a deal, it seems unlikely Mu Jiashi himself would try to spread further rumours of this Nightmare.


    Fei and Wu Jian, of course, didn¡¯t tell anyone about this Nightmare either.


    So why is it, that this Nightmare would suddenly explode in popularity among the people of the bottom floor of the Tower, even attracting so many Missiontakers¡¯ attention?


    Fei gives it some thought, before concluding on¡ª¡ªTower residents.


    The information first came from a Tower resident. A Missiontaker saw a Tower resident that kept mumbling about the Apocalypse, and came to discover this Nightmare owner.


    But, a Tower resident¡­?


    In general, Missiontakers viewed Tower residents as ¨C insane, having all sorts of quirks, disabilities, even mental health issues¡­ They would ascribe them the same essence as this Tower ¨C dirty, depressing, deeply discomforting.


    As for this Nightmare they are in right now¡­


    Fei looks profoundly at the person sitting in front of his office desk, diligently completing his ¡®work,¡¯ and falls into thought.

 Volume 5 - CH 81.3

    Fei is thinking that this ¡®painter¡¯ in the Nightmare¡ª¡ªSupposedly, a victim of the apocalypse too¡ª¡ªDoes resemble a typical, unhinged Tower resident, doesn¡¯t he?


    The Missiontakers know that Nightmares often feature the Tower residents, which they see as the simple, economical solution the game designers employ for efficiency¡¯s sake. They reuse the character models by adding them into the Nightmares ¨C their game¡¯s Instances.


    But¡­ What if it actually isn¡¯t some economical use, but something done deliberately?


    What if these Tower residents were the ones who have personally went through the Apocalypse? What if their quirkiness arose exactly because of this apocalypse, which seemingly also has unspecified effects on the psyche?


    If that¡¯s true, then, they, the Missiontakers, who the Tower residents identify as ¡®outsiders,¡¯ who are they? Are their identities and their role solely a setting based within the game, or¡­


    Outside the game?


    What happened, to Earth, their Earth?


    Fei is deeply concerned. A form like a deep shadow is looming over them at all times.


    She can¡¯t help but draw parallels to the grey fog that never dissipates, to the Nightmares that are countless in sight, to the sombre atmosphere that surrounds the Tower at all times¡­ Not just surround them, but permeate them, through their blood and flesh.


    Right now, Fei¡¯s silence draws no attention from the others. Never mind Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, but Jiang Shuangmei is also preoccupied.


    Jiang Shuangmei retrieves the piece of paper Teen handed her earlier, which is now unfortunately just a soggy mess from the sea of blood that flooded into the elevator earlier. It is impossible to write¡ª¡ªFor that matter, their own clothes are also drenched. They are the colour of blood, from their hands to their faces to their bodies.


    The pen, too, after being drenched in blood, would not produce ink.


    The three Missiontakers talk about what to do next as they return to the elevator lobby, having nothing else to do. They¡¯re going back in the elevator.


    That is when a ¡®ding¡¯ rings out from within earshot. An elevator has reached the 18th floor.


    The three Missiontakers exchange gazes and quickly run for the gradually opening elevator door. They see only one person inside.


    Before they can even see who the person is, though, a scream, and the elevator door quickly closes back up.


    ¡°Eh, wait!¡± Jiang Shuangmei extends her hands quickly to try and stop the elevator door from closing, yelling, ¡°it¡¯s us¡­!¡±


    Then she gives up on her fruitless gesture.


    The elevator door has already closed. The metallic door of the elevator is faintly reflecting Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s completely crimson-soaked silhouette. She can¡¯t help but think, right, if it was her inside, and saw people outside that looked like this¡­


    Wait!


    She suddenly stops and turns to Fei and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, asking, ¡°do you feel like¡­¡±


    She doesn¡¯t even need to ask anymore, because Fei and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s faces say¡­ ¡®yes, exactly.¡¯ They feel the same.


    The mysterious, subtle sense of¡­ ¡®d¨¦j¨¤ vu.¡¯


    Not long ago, they have seen a group of bloodied madmen reach out for their elevator, and so they quickly shut the door in terror.


    Right now, they have become the ¡®group of bloodied madmen¡¯ here.


    Jiang Shuangmei is holding her forehead in frustration. She doesn¡¯t understand why or how this sense of ¡®having been here¡¯ is coming up so often. The fact that it occurs so frequently must be a sign that this is an integral part of the Nightmare.


    But then, what would this mean?


    Jiang Shuangmei ends up falling silent, and she forcefully switches the topic when she speaks up again, asking, ¡°was it¡­ Mystic, in the elevator? I feel like the sound was her.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s definitely a woman,¡± Fei says, ¡°possibly her, but why would she have gone on separately from those two?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei murmurs, ¡°who knows¡­¡±


    Although she is thinking with a slightly twisted mind, that perhaps even Mystic can¡¯t stand the duo¡¯s superciliousness already.


    That is when a low rumble suddenly comes in out of nowhere. Spooked, she quickly turns to the two other Missiontakers present.


    Fei clearly hears it as well, asking, ¡°what is this?¡±


    Right now, it has just been an hour since the Nightmare began.


    Shortly after, the noise gets louder and louder, clearer and clearer, very obviously¡­ coming from above them!


    The three Missiontakers reflexively raises their heads.


    The next second, their visions go dark¡ª¡ªThe Nightmare, is restarting.


    ¡­ Who died?


    In the stream, the detective dalao is furiously typing, ¡°I knew it! An hour after the Nightmare began and the shaky building is collapsing!¡±


    The collapse started from the highest floor of this building, spreading all the way down to the 26th floor. While Suits and Teen, who are unfortunately right in the middle of the storeys, end up minced meat.


    The moment the second run of the Nightmare started, when the Missiontakers come back to be, Teen¡¯s face is bleak.


    ¡­ In many senses of that word.


    Because just now, the one who ended up smacked dead by the collapsing ceiling, was him. When instead, Suits, standing right next to him, was luckily missed.


    Teen is irate, and also frightened from his recent death, and is even feeling a sense of disbelief.


    What? He died?


    In this Nightmare? A Nightmare of the bottom floor?


    You¡¯re kidding him.


    Before coming to this Nightmare, it has already been a long, long while since Teen has ever died in Nightmares.


    He is arrogant, but that is also because he has the capability to deserve to be arrogant. Thanks to his young appearance as well, even when he runs his mouth off on the higher floors of the Tower, the other Missiontakers would just keep quiet and move on.


    That is how his temper grew more and more.


    In fact, there are even people who wonder if he might be acting temperamental with zero consideration for time and space because of the ¡®price¡¯ he must have paid for some utility card.


    He doesn¡¯t think so, however.


    This return to the bottom floor, while he didn¡¯t seem too bothered on the surface, is actually something that he deeply despised. A source of his pride being the fact that he is from a higher floor, forcing him back to the bottom floor is tantamount to killing him.


    He scorns Missiontakers of the bottom floor, and even Nightmares of the bottom floor. A catchphrase he has is wondering if the Server is more lenient to Missiontakers of the lower floors.


    Now, he has died, in this Nightmare he merely had contempt for.


    The Nightmare, has restarted.

 Volume 5 - CH 82.1

    Different Possibilities


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    When the second run of the Nightmare begins, the mood between the Missiontakers is particularly odd.


    Mystic seem much more fearful, nervous and paranoid than before, even more so than the conspiracists Fei and Wu Jian; the rest of the Missiontakers immediately want to find out who it was that died in the last run of the Nightmare.


    Though when they look around only to see Teen¡¯s gloomy face, they turn to each other instead, looking rather subtle.


    Then there¡¯s Suits, Teen¡¯s companion, who doesn¡¯t save much face for him either, explaining, ¡°this guy died the last run, from the collapsing ceiling.¡±


    Teen looks rather offended and wants to retort, but there is nothing to object to. He can only turn his head away and take it.


    Jiang Shuangmei audibly snickers, then the next second she immediately reflects whether she was being affected by the utility card.


    Although she is leaning more on the morbid amusement in her being genuine¡­


    Teen gives her a harsh glance, not that it looks at all intimidating right now.


    Suits is still going, ¡°we didn¡¯t have time to check the floor number back then, but I think we were between the 28th and the 30th floor.


    So now we can safely say that an hour after the Nightmare has begun, the building will undergo a collapse, which¡­ well, let¡¯s assume it goes at least ten floors.


    As time goes on, and possibly as the Nightmare crumbles, the collapse would spread to the lower floors, until¡­ the building crashes to the ground entirely.


    Suits¡¯ mention of the little girl seems to make Mystic want to say something, although she seems to have trouble expression herself, so she just murmurs, ¡°¡­ no, it can¡¯t be¡­¡±


    No one is listening to her closely either, since everything she says has always been cryptic and possibly false alarms.


    While the rest of the Missiontakers aren¡¯t even aware of there being a little girl.


    Suits then pauses for a moment, and decides to first exchange information at the beginning of this run of the Nightmare, otherwise they might meaninglessly repeat exploring the same or useless space.


    He tells them about the little girl they met, and also their conclusions regarding the potential randomness of the elevator floors. There is also a remark about the photograph they found on the 20th floor. He tells them everything.


    He then goes into more detail before listening to the experiences of the other Missiontakers, ¡°first, on the button of the elevators, they should reach a ¡®random¡¯ floor after we press them.


    This ¡®random¡¯ means that it does not necessarily lead to the same floor every push, but it is not true randomness.


    From our experience, we think that each elevator can only reach a designated allotment of floors, and it is randomly picked from that allotment.


    As for why that is, we have no answers for now.¡±


    Then he pauses to look over at Teen to see if he has anything to add, though he then concludes that Teen is still probably ashamed and angry at his last death right now, and skips him, continuing, ¡°as for the little girl on the 31st floor, and also the related question of Mystic¡¯s face appearing on the company group photo of the 20th floor¡­


    My guess, is that this little girl, is in fact, already dead.¡±


    He speaks of the shocking with a pure unchanging expression.


    Jiang Shuangmei can¡¯t help but ask, ¡°so you¡¯re saying you met a ghost?¡±


    Teen glares at Jiang Shuangmei with a look that says ¡®are you dumb,¡¯ before explaining with an irritable tone, ¡°he means in reality! This little girl is already dead. So this Nightmare is her mother¡¯s Nightmare.


    Here, though, Teen gives Mystic a death glare.


    He is still mad that Mystic snapped out of nowhere and rushed into elevator Three by herself. What an embarrassment to veteran Missiontakers of the higher floors!


    That said, nobody is paying attention to what Teen is thinking, not even the viewers with their God¡¯s eye view.


    Because they are having an epiphany.


    ¡°so thats it!¡±


    ¡°makes sense!¡±


    ¡°nightmares¡­ yeah, are still just dreams, so the story should develop in a way that the nightmare owner thinks it would¡±


    ¡°basically mystic had such a big reaction that spooked our thoughts away¡­¡±


    ¡°but mystic being those kinda people, maybe she is really feeling something?¡±


    ¡°¡­ just shut up, don¡¯t speak if you have nothing good to add¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t surprised seeing Teen¡¯s view resonating with the viewers.


    What Suits and Teen propose is the most logical conclusion, possibly thanks to them having experienced similar kinds of Nightmares on higher floors and being more experienced in general.


    Though, in fact, X¨¹ Beijin has a different, and possibly subjective interpretation.


    ¡­ Why can¡¯t Mystic have been the little¡¯s mother?


    This is a hypothesis based on what could be said to be ¡®wishful thinking.¡¯


    Since these Nightmares the Tower residents are assigned, in the game¡¯s own setting, is something based on what that Tower resident has experienced, and as Actors, they also know that they are not actually the Tower residents themselves, but they are merely ¡®Acting¡¯ as the Tower residents, that means, the actual source of these Nightmares, would be called into question.


    Naturally, it is possible that they all stem from some game designer and scriptwriter that may or may not exist, but there is a question here ¨C how many Nightmares are there in the Tower? Can any single team really have designed all of it?


    There are even related conspiracies in the Tower, basing itself off of people like Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, who is certain that they have been to some particular scene in the Nightmares, and have a strong sense of a familiarity, telling them that this is a scene from back on Earth.


    So why, can these Nightmares not have been based on reality¡ª¡ªon their Earth?


    Of course, more questions arise from that.


    For example, if they are based on Earth, then why does no one remember those stories at all?


    That is essentially in the same vein as those asking why they end up in the Tower.


    There is an answer in the form of Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s example, who is certain the commercial complex looked familiar, but he is unable to remember at all why it iwas familiar.


    The questions regarding the memories and regarding the brain are beyond the humans of the Tower to answer.


    Speaking of which, another question. If these stories really are based on Earth, then¡­ could all these ridiculous events really have happened on Earth?


    A father who made his daughter into a doll; a husband who killed his wife for baseless delusions; electronics in some apartment complex that have gained sentience¡­ Can they really have actually happened?


    And also, the ruins of a post-apocalyptic world in the last Nightmare, and the burning city and an office building full of insanity in this Nightmare¡­ Can they all, have been reality?


    This would force another deeply despairing conclusion.


    Even if it can explain why Mystic¡¯s face would appear on that photograph.


    Perhaps it is simply because, when Mystic was still on Earth, she went through this; she might have been, the true owner, of this Nightmare, of this horrifying story.


    The Server generated this Nightmare based on her story, based on her memories.


    The explanation holds, doesn¡¯t it?


    Though here¡¯s the unfortunate circumstance ¨C Mystic¡¯s face, was on that photo, and Mystic saw it.


    This must have been a tragic, demoralising bug for the Server NE, who failed to foresee the bug in the first place. A clear mistake from the artificial intelligence.


    Although he must have also had trouble understanding how Mystic ended up in this Nightmare in the first place. The Server must have failed to take into account the unpredictability of humanity.


    Mystic was on a higher floor. This Nightmare was on the bottom floor of the Tower.


    However, because of mere rumours in the Tower, Mystic abandoned everything she fought for, and returned to the bottom floor without a shred of doubt.


    And, because of this, she may be closer to the truth behind it all, ever.


    Her life, her past story, ended up as this Nightmare; this Nightmare which, for forces beyond human comprehension, has already been erased from her dreadful past.


    X¨¹ Beijin only has one question ¨C is this ¡®forgetting,¡¯ a good thing, or a bad thing?

 Volume 5 - CH 82.2

    X¨¹ Beijin is looking intently at the pale-faced, fearful and distracted-looking woman on the stream.


    He wonders if she could sense the wrongness here. Would she remember? Her daughter, her escape, her mistake.


    Her past.


    X¨¹ Beijin does not speak anything, of course; the viewers of the stream? He might get his livestream cut off again; Missiontakers? Actors? He would be unable to provide any supporting evidence.


    So, he merely sighs in the end, with a stuffy feeling in his chest.


    All those years past, he has been stuck in a similar kind of gloomy mood. Thankfully, at least for now, the viewers of the stream¡ª¡ªPlus Lin Qin, how ever X¨¹ Beijin wouldn¡¯t want to admit it¡ª¡ªare giving him the warmth of accompaniment.


    A warmth he has not experienced for a long time.


    After the brief interlude, X¨¹ Beijin sighs and continues listening in on the Missiontakers while sitting there.


    Suits and Teen couldn¡¯t convince Mystic, but they¡¯re successful with the rest of the Missiontakers with the explanation for the photograph and what they would do next.


    Also¡­ what to do with the little girl.


    That is when Fei suddenly poses a question, ¡°you said the little girl was on the 31st floor, while you were some floors beneath her, so when the building collapsed, wouldn¡¯t she have died first?


    Suits and Teen look at each other. After briefly considering it, Suits replies, ¡°the building¡¯s collapse wasn¡¯t spread evenly throughout the building, and¡­ if the little girl, as per Mystic¡¯s instructions, hid under the office desk the entire time, she could have been safe.¡±


    Fei nods and then says, ¡°so this run, we¡¯ll have to look for her again,¡± she continues, ¡°from all the floors we¡¯ve looked through so far, only the little girl is open to communicating¡­¡±


    Before she can finish, Wu Jian interrupts her, ¡°there¡¯s people on the 16th floor!¡±


    Fei stops, quickly asking, ¡°the 16th?¡±


    So Wu Jian tells them what they saw climbing down the stairs with Lin Qin the entire way, while keeping the gossip regarding Lin Qin out of the way, since he still does treasure his dear life very much.


    When he says they left the 16th floor for the 9th, Suits interrupts, knitting his brows, ¡°so you only knew there are people on the 16th floor, not asking them anything?¡±


    Wu Jian rolls his eyes, thinking about how he didn¡¯t interrupt Suits when he was blabbering on earlier and now he¡¯s gone to interrupt him instead. Also, the situation for the 9th floor and below is crucial here, and never mind that?


    Though looking at Fei, Wu Jian sees his companion also furrowing her brows, possibly disappointed in his information gathering¡­ So Wu Jian skips to when he returned to the 16th floor.


    Soon enough, he finishes.


    Suits sounds utterly disappointed still, ¡°that¡¯s nothing useful.¡±


    They¡¯ve already figured out the elevators are random.


    Fei glances at Wu Jian, then says, ¡°perhaps we can head for the 16th floor once again later.¡±


    Wu Jian ¡°¡­¡±


    Ok fine, he can tell he¡¯s being despised.


    Well¡­ He knows how straightforward Fei can get, and not sternly rebuking him for his ¡®worthless questions¡¯ is already saving his face here.


    Wu Jian rubs his nose, and decides to shut his mouth wisely.


    ¡­ Then he recalls how he still hasn¡¯t talked about what he saw below the 9th floor and what he experienced on the 15th, and hurriedly tells them about that.


    The former is simply completely bad news, while the latter¡­


    Jiang Shuangmei sounds surprised, asking, ¡°you got that as well?¡± Before Wu Jian can react, she goes through what her group thought the last run. The Missiontakers all seem surprised to hear it all.


    Once a happenstance, twice a coincidence, but thrice, quadrice and quintice, happening to every Missiontaker as well. That is well beyond the realm of incidental occurrence. Something must be behind it.


    Suits is pondering about it, ¡°this d¨¦j¨¤ vu seems entirely based on scenes of the ¡®dream¡¯ itself but not our own memories¡­ So that is saying these recreated scenes must relate to this Nightmare.¡±


    Fei agrees, and additionally replies, ¡°because the little girl you met on the 31st floor also provides the sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu, we can assume for now that these strange feelings all tie into what the Nightmare owner personally experienced.¡±


    Wu Jian looks at everyone, and can¡¯t help but ask, ¡°are you all that sure, that the Nightmare owner really is the mother of the little girl?¡±


    All the Missiontakers turn their heads to him.


    Wu Jian, spooked, asks, ¡°what? Was it¡­ weird to ask?¡±


    ¡°No. It was definitely a fair question,¡± says Teen with a derisive smirk, ¡°assuming you didn¡¯t realise one thing yet ¨C the logic this Nightmare operates by.¡±


    Fei explains it more plainly, ¡°by what we have figured out regarding Nightmare¡¯s operations earlier, it is an eventuality that elevator One would end up on the 31st floor, causing us to notice the existence of the little girl.


    That can only mean that the little girl is deeply connected to the Nightmare, which makes her mother a probable candidate for the Nightmare. Besides¡­¡±


    She seems hesitant to say the next, but she still tells Wu Jian, ¡°most importantly, everyone here knows that, the Tower resident in question, is female.¡±


    Gender is the most direct way of confirming who could be and could not be the Nightmare owner. It is what many Missiontakers take to be common knowledge.


    It is because they already know that the Tower resident is female, so after arriving in this Nightmare, they would instinctively look for female Tower residents to confirm who the Nightmare owner is.


    In this Nightmare, the little girl¡¯s mother, is a very prominent, possible option.


    They are not yet certain the little girl¡¯s mother is the owner, but by analysing everything with this assumption, they find that a lot of things they experience become reasonable and predictable.


    Teen isn¡¯t interested in dealing with Wu Jian¡¯s questions anymore, instead continuing the earlier topic, ¡°so all these things we experienced that feels like d¨¦j¨¤ vu, it could be our unintentional re-creation of certain scenes, but also possibly deliberately arranged by this Nightmare.


    So, is this implying the truth behind the Nightmare?¡±


    Fei thinks about it but says, ¡°no, that¡¯s not only the case. You said earlier that the 20th floor contained a large spilling of blood coming from the elevator lobby?¡±


    Suits nods.


    Fei then says, ¡°it could have been from us. The 20th floor¡­ Yes, it¡¯s highly probable,¡± then she turns to Mystic to ask, ¡°when you were riding the elevators alone, and reached some floor, did you meet people completely drenched in blood again?¡±


    Mystic seems to have heard the question in her daze. It takes her a few seconds of blanking out, but she finally nods.


    Then, perhaps in a moment of lucidity, she seems to regain herself, asking, ¡°was¡­ was that, you?¡±


    Fei nods.


    Suits, knitting his brows, concludes, ¡°so it is also possible for this phenomenon to occur with actions involving only us.¡±


    Teen just asks impatiently, ¡°isn¡¯t that just exactly the two situations I said?¡±


    ¡°What I mean is that,¡± Fei says, ¡°these two situations, are still fundamentally the same. That we unintentionally re-create the scenes is irrelevant, because that is in fact a certainty, that is guaranteed to occur due to the intricate machinations of the Nightmare.¡±

 Volume 5 - CH 82.3

    Teen is surprised to hear Fei¡¯s conclusion.


    He can¡¯t help but wonder, if it really could be that easy to manipulate, to dictate what they do.


    Wu Jian asks, not sounding too confident, ¡°but what dalao Lin Qin did on the 15th floor doesn¡¯t seem to fit with what you describe.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s also possible, that it is exactly the opposite of what you think?¡± Fei says, ¡°the dalao threw the desk and chair away, but if I was on the 15th floor myself, it is likely I would have looked through the desk and chairs a little for clues.


    By habit, I would move them into the upright position as I do so. The moment one set of desk and chair are put upright, wouldn¡¯t that exactly replicate the scene of a set of office desk and chair inexplicably placed properly in the middle of the floor?¡±


    When Fei finishes saying that, Wu Jian is already having the shivers.


    Yes, what Fei said is entirely possible.


    And of course, people like Lin Qin, who are already irritated and ends up trashing the desk and chair and throwing them to the wall, is also a ¡®re-creation¡¯ of some kind.


    Though others would certainly choose to put the desks and chairs strewn about by the wall into familiar positions to aid with searching for clues possibly hidden within.


    If a set of desk and chair is placed properly¡­


    Then well, the middle of the floor wouldn¡¯t be home to only one single inexplicably normal set of office desk and chair.


    Wu Jian thinks, whether it was order or chaos reacting, it seems NE has them entirely calculated through. Whatever they do, his schemes will go through.


    He falls silent.


    As he looks into Fei¡¯s eyes, he knows his companion is also now considering a similar question. Regarding¡­ the Server, NE.


    Not that they dare to say anything out loud. It¡¯s possible that they could just worsen the situation with chaos, but that said, they, and the members of the organisation they belong to, they believe firmly that NE is the accomplice of whoever was behind all this, here to keep constant surveillance on the humans.


    And they are definitely not interested in losing memories ever again.


    Jiang Shuangmei looks around, slightly confused at how all the Missiontakers have fallen silent, and tentatively raises a question, ¡°so¡­ where do you think the Nightmare owner could be?¡±


    The silence is broken.


    Suits thinks about it for a moment, and provides an answer, ¡°I previously thought that there could be two possibilities ¨C


    One, the Nightmare owner is still inside the building, whether trapped in one of the restrooms, on a floor we haven¡¯t been to, or inside an elevator we¡¯ve not yet found, they¡¯re all possible.


    Cannot be exited?


    Some look confused, some others fall into thought.


    Of course, some still look entirely unfazed¡ª¡ªSpecifically, Lin Qin and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹. The former is occasionally flashing an impatient look, the latter¡­ merely resembles some collection of nondescript poker faces.


    What Suits said has Fei somewhat unsettled, who asks, ¡°so what you mean, is that we would have to, and it is actually the case, for us to resolve the entire Nightmare staying within this building?¡±


    Suits nods, explaining, ¡°from the information we have so far, leaving the building through the stairs is impossible; the elevator is completely beyond our control.


    However, these ¡®d¨¦j¨¤ vu¡¯s we keep running into has me consider something else ¨C it could be implying that we would solve the Nightmare not by leaving the building, but by actively looking for them all over, to piece together the truth of this Nightmare¡­¡±


    While Suits is explaining, Fei nods along, but she is feeling very complicated inside.


    Of course, she knows that is how Missiontakers from higher floor of the Tower deal with Nightmares. They settle for nothing less than True Ends, which would oftentimes require Missiontakers the dig up the ¡®truth.¡¯


    From their perspective, the way the bottom floor Missiontakers deal with Nightmares, namely, dealing with things when and if they strike them, is practically heretical.


    But never mind that, because this isn¡¯t much related to what she is concerned about right now.


    What she is actually thinking is that, if this Nightmare can be solved just within the building alone, then what could that mean for the burning city outside?


    Is that really just some kind of meaningless background set piece?


    Then what this Nightmare is implying, that ¡®apocalypse¡¯ it hints at¡­


    In the meantime, the rest of the Missiontakers have already moved on to other topics.


    What Suits said has more or less been accepted by the Missiontakers present, but that is not a short-term issue they can resolve immediately, so they are turning to more important topics.


    Suits, seeing Mystic¡¯s reactions earlier, judges her to be lucid, and asks, ¡°what buttons are lit up in elevator Three?¡±


    Mystic gives him a slightly paranoid look, a look that surprises Suits, but she then answers without delay, ¡°there are four buttons that were lit up. I tried one, which led me to them, and I was¡­ shocked¡­ before the Nightmare restarted.¡±


    She answers the question with a slightly distant tone.


    Although Teen then interrupts them, having suddenly thought of an important point, ¡°so this means, elevator Three that stops on the 20th floor, can bring us to the 18th floor, where elevator Two can go,


    ¡­ No, I mean, like, elevator One has also been to where elevator Two probably dumped the blood on the 20th floor. This must mean¡­ that the floors these elevators can go to is not as independent as we thought?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei asks with a tone of mockery, ¡°so doesn¡¯t that completely overturn what you suggested, that each elevator only went randomly through separate, arbitrary lists of floors they could go to?¡±


    Teen looks at her with knit brows, but doesn¡¯t deny it. Instead, he merely says, ¡°it is possible this ¡®list¡¯ is longer than we all thought.¡±


    ¡°So long that they include all 36 floors in them?¡±


    Teen looks positively pissed off at the repeated provocations.


    Suits tries to defuse the situation, ¡°never mind that, but we have to settle on a course of action now.¡±


    He knows if Teen is allowed to wallow in his own thoughts, he can probably be stuck in his mind until the Nightmare restarts yet again, so switching the topic, he proposes, ¡°looks like we will still have to split up this time.¡±


    The rest of the Missiontakers nod in agreement.

 Volume 5 - CH 82.4

    Suits thinks about it for a moment before suggesting, ¡°it¡¯s safe over at the stairs, while the elevators are highly uncertain; people-wise, we need four going down the stairs, two of whom will take the little girl with them on the 31st floor, and check the photograph on the 20th floor. Also, they will attempt to enter every floor they pass by when there is no obvious danger, in order to confirm whether there are elevators stopped there.


    Fei interrupts to ask, knitting her brows, ¡°is it not enough of a ¡®d¨¦j¨¤ vu¡¯ that we ended up spooking Mystic the last run?¡±


    Suits shakes his head and explains, ¡°it is difficult to say whether that is a ¡®d¨¦j¨¤ vu¡¯ belonging to elevator Two or Three. And I still think that we influencing each other may be a different mechanism to the scenery itself recreating what happened¡­


    No matter what, though, there are still three buttons in elevator Three to be tested at the very least.¡±


    Fei nods.


    Suits looks around, and seeing nobody with questions, asks, ¡°so let¡¯s split¡­ uh, Lin Qin, dalao, where do you want to go?¡±


    Lin Qin was listening nonchalantly, thinking of X¨¹ Beijin, and since he needed to solve this quickly, he clamped his temper down to listen it through. As for how much of the conversation he actually understood, that is a whole other question.


    Of course, having read lots of detective novels by now, he might be sharper than anyone here would think.


    In any case¡­


    Lin Qin says, ¡°I¡¯ll go to the 16th floor.¡±


    ¡­ As expected of Lin Qin.


    Suits nods, and this time, Wu Jian is banned from going with Lin Qin, and so Fei volunteered to head down to the 16th floor with Lin Qin instead.


    As for the other team heading down the stairs, Mystic is a must. Then five remains ¨C Suits himself, Teen, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, Wu Jian, Jiang Shuangmei¡­


    Suits¡¯ mouth is twitching. Great, there¡¯s no other choices.


    Jiang Shuangmei is giving the Missiontakers from higher floors odd looks, but ends up playing along nonetheless, saying, ¡°I¡¯ll go.¡±


    Since Teen isn¡¯t really compatible with Mystic or Jiang Shuangmei here, he¡¯ll have to pair up with his familiar Suits anyway. In fact, as both of them are more pragmatists than idealists, they would both pair badly with Mystic.


    As for Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, Wu Jian and Jiang Shuangmei, since Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ appears to be a ¡®zombie¡¯ that cares for nothing, Wu Jian has already lost credibility, besides looking paranoid and irritable, so both are bad choices for going with Mystic.


    Mystic has an odd personality, so having Jiang Shuangmei deal with her would be the wiser choice here for now.


    Finally, the teams are split, and so without delay, they quickly head for their target locations.


    Before leaving, Suits again tries the bathroom door, undeterred, but obviously, he failed.


    Shaking his head and sighing, he heads for elevator One with Teen, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Wu Jian.


    Lin Qin has already left with Fei a long time ago.


    Finally, Mystic and Jiang Shuangmei head for the stairs last.


    In the stream, the viewers seem impressed how quickly they got a move on, typing,


    ¡°the missiontakers do get stuff done when it needs to, huh¡±


    ¡°they wont see each other eye to eye, but they can cooperate when need be¡±


    ¡°(are you implying something from how it was before¡­)¡±


    ¡°more like blatantly stating¡±


    ¡°I wonder how missiontakers behave on higher floors¡­ it feels like it¡¯ll be, subtly¡­ more competent¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, reading the comments along, feels the need to help improve the image of Missiontakers of the bottom floor a little, and explains, ¡°the difference is mainly because Missiontakers of the bottom floor are always unified in their objectives no matter what in Nightmares.


    While in Nightmares of higher floors, Missiontakers may belong in different factions since the beginning, and it is possible for those factions to be irreparably opposed to each other; it might even be the case that Missiontakers that are enemies in one Nightmare end up having to cooperate fully in the next.


    So these different environments end up breeding different styles of Missiontakers, I think.¡±


    ¡°hahaha it sounds like Beibei¡¯s saying higher floor missiontakers can read between the lines more than those on the bottom floor, who are easily tricked by an artificially imposed ¡®common goalpost''¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is speechless seeing how the viewers react to his explanation.


    Sometimes, the effects of being bred in different environments may be much greater than they could ever anticipate.


    Though¡­ never mind that.


    X¨¹ Beijin decides to give up on explaining further.


    Because it is futile, since he can never head to a higher floor to show them anyway, which means he could never bring up actual examples to establish counter-points.


    And there are always people like Mu Jiashi on the bottom floor, and literal winners in life that can just laze about and still end up squeezing into others¡¯ True Ends. There are always unfair exceptions to general trends.

 Volume 5 - CH 82.5

    When X¨¹ Beijin is going to switch up his stream, someone suddenly pops up in front of him.


    Looking up, and yup, it¡¯s Wei Lezhang.


    The guy came chatting almost as soon as the last run started, and he¡¯s here this run again? X¨¹ Beijin is feeling the warmth drain out of his body just picturing the guy accosting him for half a day after this.


    ¡­ Especially if it¡¯s to only talk about that bookstore owner of the bottom floor of the Tower!


    X¨¹ Beijin truly regrets not having told him his true identity. Right, he deliberately kept quiet before, but now he really wants to let it out.


    Man, Wei Lezhang, you¡¯re seriously annoying for an Actor.


    A different kind of annoying to Lin Qin, who is at least less loquacious¡­


    Thankfully, this time Wei Lezhang has something else to add to the table besides the legendary ¡®bookstore owner.¡¯ He¡¯s here to talk about the Nightmare itself.


    He seems pretty irate at the Missiontakers, complaining, ¡°what¡¯s wrong with all the Missiontakers this time? That entire first run and only two people even made it to this floor.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, feeling a stroke of inspiration, asks, ¡°you know something about this Nightmare?¡±


    Wei Lezhang is grinning and adding mystique to his tone, ¡°I knew you¡¯d be interested in things related to Nightmares. And that is exactly¡­ what this Nightmare is.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is all ears.


    Wei Lezhang then begins explaining, ¡°I¡¯m the nth-male lead, so basically, something better than being an extra.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Well, technically, he, an extra, would be slightly lower in rank than an nth male lead¡­


    He is looking at Wei Lezhang with this rather exasperated expression, hoping the big bald guy would quickly get to the point and tell him what he knows.


    Wei Lezhang does as he wishes, and points to the burning scene outside of the window, and asks X¨¹ Beijin, ¡°this looks pretty terrifying outside, right?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is surprised at the suddenly topic switch, but nods.


    Wei Lezhang then asks, ¡°so, if it¡¯s that terrifying outside, and this building is kind of a shelter, even with food¡­ Why do you think all of us would be trying to escape outside?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks for a second and answers, ¡°for two possible reasons. One, this building wouldn¡¯t last much longer before crumbling, or two¡­ there is something in this building, more dangerous than whatever is outside?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Wei Lezhang claps his hands, and says, ¡°but there¡¯s a third reason.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin raises his brows to ask with curiosity, ¡°what is it?¡±


    ¡°Bro, pretty late on the uptick, are you?¡± Wei Lezhang tells him, ¡°well, there is ¡®food,¡¯ that¡¯s what I said, but do you really think, that in this office building without a canteen and only this little staff break area, there really is enough food?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin gets it, and says, ¡°of course not,¡± he pauses, and asks, ¡°so¡­¡±


    Wei Lezhang shrugs, commenting, ¡°I wonder if those Missiontakers would meet the cannibals? They¡¯re probably¡­ down from the 16th floor or so. I wonder what floor they¡¯ve made it to already¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°isn¡¯t it something they¡¯d only realise if they searched the 16th floor thoroughly¡­?¡± Then, curious, he asks, ¡°so why didn¡¯t you tell the two people about this when they were on this floor before?¡±


    Wei Lezhang shrugs, ¡°they haven¡¯t managed to trigger some corresponding¡­ thing?¡± He seems unsure as well, saying, ¡°who cares, NE always have these strange rules governing the Nightmares. If it wants me to say it, then I do; if it doesn¡¯t, then not.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin then teases the big bald guy, ¡°so why were you so pissed off when NE had you eating hotpot the last time around?¡±


    Wei Lezhang is staring at X¨¹ Beijin in shock, with ¡®omg! so you¡¯re such a X¨¹ Beijin after all!¡¯ written on his face, before sighing, and saying, ¡°but it¡¯s really hard to eat hotpot for four hours straight,¡± then, he adds, ¡°also, I have to keep eating hotpot even in my own Nightmare.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    So basically, hotpots are to Wei Lezhang probably what the doors peepholes were to Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and toilets to whatshisname.


    PTSD.


    Wei Lezhang then cusses at the Server, ¡°damn NE! One day, I¡¯ll also force you to chomp down on four hours of hellish spicy hotpot!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He¡¯s giving the bro a pretty complicated look. Does Wei Lezhang know that NE might actually be watching the Missiontakers and Actors 24/7?


    He probably does not.


    So that means, next time, Wei Lezhang would probably have to endure four hours of hellish spicy hotpot again.


    Poor him.


    X¨¹ Beijin swears he isn¡¯t finding this morbidly amusing inside.


    He is just wondering about¡­ right, about this Nightmare.


    The Missiontakers¡¯ progress aside, X¨¹ Beijin is more concerned about¡­ for example, where the Nightmare owner is. What happened to her?


    In the Tower, he knows she has basically lost herself to this Nightmare, to her assigned role. Why? When she first met X¨¹ Beijin in the Nightmare, she was still completely sane.


    And another question, coming from X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s hypothesis that this Nightmare is based on what once happened to Mystic on Earth, then if the Nightmare owner did come face to face with Mystic, what would happen?


    There truly are many questions in this Nightmare waiting to be answered, thinks X¨¹ Beijin.


    He then turns his attention back to the stream, which is currently focused on Jiang Shuangmei and Mystic. They¡¯re heading for the 31st floor from the 36th, which means they would probably be the first pair of Missiontakers to encounter something. So X¨¹ Beijin has the stream pointed at them.


    They haven¡¯t talked at all along the way, silently checking each floor they pass by. Lin Qin and Fei, who headed off early for the 16th floor, is nowhere to be seen by now.


    Jiang Shuangmei and Mystic didn¡¯t find any elevators or dangers at all these few floors.


    Jiang Shuangmei wonders, ¡°could it be that the situation only deteriorates from the 31st floor, where the little girl is?¡±


    She is surprised for all these floors to be without dangers.


    Mystic is silent to Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s questions, and the latter is used to it by now. She also knows that Mystic is a pretty paranoid and probably overthinks things too much.


    Though when they reach the stairs of the 31st floor, and Jiang Shuangmei is about to pull on the door for this floor, Mystic suddenly speaks up.


    Her voice is exceptionally soft, as if it was drifting down from somewhere high above some dreams. She asks, ¡°have you ever felt, the pain¡­ of watching your own close kin lost in the Nightmares?¡±

 Volume 5 - CH 83.1

    Mental State


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s hand is frozen.


    She almost thought, at that instant, that Mystic has seen through her guise known as ¡®Liang Shuang,¡¯ seen through the helpless, desperate Missiontaker who has lost her older sister, her only family.


    The next second, though, she calms herself down immediately, asking with a completely neutral tone, ¡°I have not, why?¡±


    Mystic is silent for a moment before replying, ¡°I thought I have not either.¡±


    But¡­


    Jiang Shuangmei is sure, that her next sentence will begin with a ¡®but.¡¯


    But, Mystic does not continue speaking. She merely continues looking at Jiang Shuangmei with sad, almost pleading eyes. She looks deeply worried, anxious, and perhaps even, lost.


    She might not even know what in the world she is¡­ feeling right now.


    She murmurs, ¡°I wish I have not¡­ I think¡­¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei is looking at her with furrowed brows.


    Speaking in riddles and disconnected phrases can be really annoying to listen to, even if Jiang Shuangmei thinks she can grasp what she¡¯s getting at, but¡­ honestly, she¡¯s not interested in sympathising herself with Mystic.


    In the end, no one can truly understand what Mystic is saying.


    Finally, Mystic manages to produce a more coherent thought.


    She tells her, ¡°when I saw the photograph¡­ I know they all say it¡¯s how the Nightmares get to you. Tricks from the Server. But, I don¡¯t think so.


    What is strange is that I am so sure it was me. The person on the photograph, was me¡­ It was a really strange feeling, a feeling I wouldn¡¯t even feel if I was looking at myself in the mirror¡­¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei impatiently cuts her off, ¡°perhaps that is how the Server is trying to scare you using this Nightmare¡­¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Mystic yells out, but her voice immediately lowers back down as she explains, ¡°I understand the feeling. When you look in the mirror, you can suspect it is actually something happening in another world. That is what you are doing in the other world inside the mirror. Perhaps, the other you would treat you as their mirror image in that world.


    But this photograph is different. It feels like, a section of my life was frozen in there. It is a piece of my life, that is you¡­ that is me¡­


    And¡­ the little girl. I feel like, she is my child. My child, who was lost in the Nightmares. But¡­ is she really my child?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei isn¡¯t interested in listening anymore.


    Mystic is still blabbering on, but Jiang Shuangmei pushes open the door to the 31st floor all the same.


    In fact, not just Jiang Shuangmei has lost her patience, but so have the viewers of the stream. They are speechless after hearing all the inexplicable nonsense from Mystic.


    ¡°a mystic¡¯s a mystic¡±


    Looking through the comments, X¨¹ Beijin thinks, he actually knows what Mystic is trying to say.


    ¡­ Though in a sense, he is glad that Mystic isn¡¯t able to explain herself well, otherwise, his stream would face another ¡®communication disruption¡¯ like last time¡­


    That¡¯s how ruthlessly real it gets.


    In fact, X¨¹ Beijin wishes that Mystic would never be able to put her thoughts into words directly¡­ Not just for his livestream¡¯s sake, of course.


    Because sometimes, there is no solace in knowing the truth. It only brings further despair.


    ¡­ X¨¹ Beijin smiles bitterly while supporting his chin.


    Ha, he really is a¡­ He¡¯s the one who pushed indirectly for these Missiontakers to get into this Nightmare, for the purpose of allowing them, or at least, allowing ones like Fei and Wu Jian, who seek the truth, to find the truth.


    Yet when the moment approaches, he is getting cold feet.


    This Nightmare¡­ Certainly, implies some truth. A real ¡®truth.¡¯


    Though who could have predicted Mystic¡¯s arrival here? When the photograph popped up, even X¨¹ Beijin was in shock.


    Is this what fate is? He made the lightest of pushes, and it spiralled into a result not even X¨¹ Beijin himself was expecting at all.


    His thoughts drift towards the Server, towards all the rumours in the Tower recently, towards how the bottom floor was a lifeless cesspool, towards how, according to Mu Jiashi, the higher floors are even more dead than the bottom floor¡­


    He thinks, perhaps, it¡¯s time.


    Perhaps, it is finally the moment, when they, the humans trapped in the Tower, have reached their wits¡¯ end.


    Perhaps, it is finally the moment, when change is necessary.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s dark pupils point quietly at the video feed on his stream, but he is daydreaming; he always daydreams like this, and even the viewers have become used to this.


    However, nobody could tell, that X¨¹ Beijin is making a decision in his mind right now.


    Not long ago, he made his first decision, the decision to push some Missiontakers towards this Nightmare, a decision to expose this Nightmare to the general Missiontakers¡¯ community.


    Now, he is considering a second decision.


    The ¡®truth¡¯ in this Nightmare, as it stands, merely scratches the surface. It is the tip of the iceberg, even if it does carry significant implications. People like Fei and Wu Jian would clearly be able to glimpse a lot through this Nightmare.


    However, this is still not at all related to how they entered the Tower.


    So, if they want more of the truth, then they need to go into another Nightmare.


    ¡­ A Nightmare not on the bottom floor of the Tower.


    In fact¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin suddenly remembers his neighbour. The female Actor who returned from a higher floor to the bottom floor.


    It is downright absurd. There has never been an Actor for whom the punishment was so severe they were sent back down floors. This is something that should never have happened. Due to the unique, more stringent circumstances facing the Actors, they would never be allowed to turn back around.


    So why is it¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s eyes are glimmering. He has a guess, but before he can confirm it with his neighbour, it stays a mere theory.


    Perhaps, after this Nightmare is over, it is time for him to pay a visit to the female Actor.


    Before now, he never even thought of giving her any mind at all. He was entirely disinterested, you see.


    Just like how he was similarly disinterested when he first acquired the streaming system.


    ¡­ But now, it is the time for change.


    He can even feel the air of life spread throughout the Tower. It is hot, passionate, and on its way to burn itself out.


    Whatever the case, he is the one who has to make a choice. And even if he has isolated himself, spent so much time alone by himself, for so many years, is he really happy¡­ just to keep rotting, decaying on the bottom floor until there was nothing left in the Tower?


    He puts his hand to his chest, to ask for an answer, an answer from his years of solitude, from his months of sleepiness, from his endless days of tiredness.

 Volume 5 - CH 83.2

    A long time later, X¨¹ Beijin shuts his dried eyes.


    He has no concrete answers, and at least, he hasn¡¯t resolved to open his own Nightmare up yet¡ª¡ªPerhaps he never would, but he has realised that it is already difficult for him to return back to how he has been.


    He has the streaming system, a way to contact the outside world¡ª¡ªAn outside world beyond his little bookstore.


    It¡¯s hard to go back to simplicity after experiencing opulence.


    X¨¹ Beijin chuckles bitterly, wondering if it was possible for him to see this happening ahead of time, when he first acquired the streaming system, when he was simply excited at the prospects.


    It¡¯s almost instinctual, what someone does when they finally see the rays of dawn after being in the dark so long.


    However, right now, he is even feeling a sense of fright.


    Is the light real? Is it what he can touch? If he, if people like them, really did go and touch the light, would they be scorched?


    X¨¹ Beijin is confused what he is even feeling right now.


    ¡­ No matter what, though, the ray of sunlight, is still hope, right?


    A hope he has been waiting for.


    The Server, NE, being entirely quiet on this matter, has made him more acutely aware of this.


    X¨¹ Beijin takes a deep breath, leaving the chaotic thoughts aside to focus back on the Nightmare.


    He wonders, to what degree, can the Missiontakers achieve.


    The little girl is still hiding under a certain office desk of the 31st floor.


    With the bracelet Mystic gave her on her own wrist.


    Almost as soon as she saw the bracelet, Mystic looks so pale she could faint on the spot, standing no more steadily compared to the building itself.


    At least, Jiang Shuangmei is worried she¡¯d trip over the next moment.


    In fact, Jiang Shuangmei is also really surprised here to see the bracelet; she didn¡¯t even know in the beginning, or realise that it¡¯s the exact bracelet Suits and Teen said Mystic gave the little girl.


    She understood it immediately when she saw Mystic¡¯s reaction, though.


    This is what surprised her, and now she understands better why this was so impactful to Mystic.


    So, more importantly¡­


    Is this Nightmare, already crumbling, from the second run onwards?


    Jiang Shuangmei falls into thought.


    Other than the bracelet on the little girl¡¯s wrist, though, nothing else seems to have changed. Can it really be called crumbling?


    Mystic¡¯s lips are trembling as she stumbles forward to the little girl.


    She is hiding under the office desk, widening her eyes in wariness, and looking quietly at Mystic, who incoherently blabbers, ¡°look, see¡­ I¡¯m here for you, I promised; do you remember?¡± She points to the bracelet on the little girl¡¯s wrist, saying, ¡°here¡­ I gave you the bracelet.¡±


    The little girl is blinking her eyes in confusion, even backing off a little reflexively when Mystic points to the bracelet.


    When Mystic said she gave it to her, the little girl quietly but firmly refutes it, ¡°no, mommy gave it to me!¡±


    Mystic¡¯s face goes completely pale again.


    Jiang Shuangmei analyses it, ¡°this seems to corroborate with what the guy said¡­?¡± She pauses and turns to Mystic to say, ¡°she does not remember you, but remembers what you did the last run, and is cognisant of the act as something her own mother did.


    ¡­ Jiang Shuangmei is quite sure the last sentence is not good for the situation, but it takes everything she has to stop herself from saying it.


    It¡¯s difficult to say whether Mystic understood her, because her attention is focused elsewhere entirely ¨C she is looking intently at the little girl, glaring, with a pleading aura, almost.


    She seems desperate for an answer, even if she would never have the courage to face it if she did find one.


    When Jiang Shuangmei said the owner of the Nightmare was ¡°trying to run away from the fact that she abandoned her daughter,¡± Mystic¡¯s body almost immediately twitched in response.


    She looks deeply ashamed and even hates herself, but the next second, she is confused; she doesn¡¯t know why she is feeling all of this.


    Though Jiang Shuangmei has already moved on, murmuring, ¡°this run we have to take the little girl away, if so, then we will probably be breaking out of the role of being her mother¡­ Which would bring us back to reality.


    Speaking of which, what if there were only male Missiontakers? Would they also fill the role of being her¡­ mother?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei is thinking of the concept of a ¡®male mommy¡¯ with a complicated expression.


    Would the Nightmare even recognise this being a thing?


    Jiang Shuangmei then puts that largely absurd thought aside, and kneels down to coo the little girl, until finally, she comes out of her hiding place from under the desk.


    She looks at Jiang Shuangmei with her big, clean eyes, asking, ¡°jiejie, where are we going?¡±


    While feeling guilty inside at how gullible this little girl is and worrying what she¡¯s going to do if it was a bad guy persuading her, she suddenly feels like she is prematurely experiencing child-rearing before ever falling in love.


    She caresses the little girl¡¯s hair to say, ¡°jiejie is going to find mommy with you, ok?¡±


    The little girl immediately responds enthusiastically, ¡°hurray! Thanks jiejie!¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei takes her hand and turns to Mystic to say, ¡°let¡¯s go?¡±


    Mystic nods, looking somewhat slow, and still fixing her gaze on the little girl, when she suddenly adds clumsily, ¡°we go, now¡­ to look, look for your mommy¡­¡±


    The little girl seems somewhat uneasy when she looks at this strange-looking woman.


    Jiang Shuangmei has to cheer the little girl up again, as Mystic does her best to appear unsuspicious and normal. The three of them depart the 31st floor.


    After this, they will be heading to the 20th floor to look at the suspicious photograph.

 Volume 5 - CH 83.3

    From the 31st to the 20th floor are the 21st, 22nd and the 24th floors, which the Missiontakers have already visited, so they only need to explore the rest of them.


    Jiang Shuangmei is explaining where they will be going to the little girl patiently, and the clever girl asked, ¡°the floors we are skipping, are they because mommy isn¡¯t there?¡±


    ¡°Yes, some gege and jiejie have already checked them out before.¡±


    The little girl nods.


    She seems a little shy and mostly keeps to herself, unlike many children who usually acts more spoilt and entitled. It¡¯s been a relief to Jiang Shuangmei as she leads her along.


    Perhaps, she thinks, this is deliberately set up by the Nightmare.


    If the little girl is a brat, then perhaps the Missiontakers would have had a hell of a time merely trying to interact with such kids.


    Though it seems the little girl is much more calm than the Missiontakers described her as the first run.


    Jiang Shuangmei discreetly examines her, and notices, as expected, that she is actually holding the bracelet on her left wrist really tightly with her right arm. She is also trembling ever so slightly.


    She is still terrified, but she has to look for her mommy.


    Jiang Shuangmei can¡¯t help but sigh.


    She turns to Mystic, who still looks distracted and in fear of something, as usual. The object of her distraction seems to mainly be the little girl.


    Jiang Shuangmei is merely mystified, but if she asked, Mystic would probably tell her some more mystifying riddles, so she decides against it.


    Now, they have reached the 30th floor. Jiang Shuangmei is peeking inside, and there doesn¡¯t seem to be any worrying colours or any weird noises.


    For safety, she has Mystic keep the little girl by her side and give the floor a broad sweep first. She confirms that there are no dangers; however, there are no elevators on this floor either.


    She shakes her head and sighs at the fruitless endeavour, then returns to the stairwell.


    ¡­ Only, to discover, with her jaws on the floor, that Mystic and the little girl are gone!


    She¡¯s absolutely enraged. What in the world is this unreliable Missiontaker ¡®from a higher floor¡¯! Where are the two of them?!


    Looking at the empty stairwell, she can feel the breeze leaking through the hole in her heart.


    Great, now, she has to search alone in this dangerous, insane building.


    ¡­ Is it a bit too late to rush down the stairs to hug dalao Lin Qin''s thighs at this point?!


    What in the world is going on with Mystic?!


    This is a question that the viewers of the stream can perhaps help answer.


    ¡°uhh¡­ whats mystic¡­ doing?¡±


    ¡°she¡¯s not trying to head to the 20th floor with the little girl directly right?¡±


    ¡°a moment of silence for that other missiontaker, oh boy she probably never thought her companion would ditch her lol¡±


    ¡°hsss, if I¡¯m left to this creepy building alone, I might just go die instead¡±


    ¡°why did mystic even do that anyway? theyre going to the 20th floor already, why must she go alone with the little girl?¡±


    ¡°¡­ no idea, or maybe she¡¯s not going to the 20th floor?¡±


    ¡°the little girl is crying so much, poor her¡±


    Right now, the little girl¡¯s pitiful, meek whimpers are accompanying Mystic¡¯s descent through the stairwell. With an inexplicable but unusually adept form, Mystic is holding her and calming her down.


    The little girl seems to sense something familiar. She looks confused, whispering, ¡°mo-¡­ mommy?¡±


    Is this woman her mommy?


    She is examining Mystic with tearful eyes.


    Mystic didn¡¯t react much to being called ¡®mommy¡¯ other than her body tensing up a little, but she does not stop.


    Finally, they make it to the 20th floor, but Mystic is not stopping.


    ¡­ In the end, Mystic has made it all the way down to the 9th floor.


    Even if it was only descending the stairs, but at the pace she was going, plus the little girl in her lap, Mystic was still terribly exhausted.


    The little girl isn¡¯t tired, but she still does not understand why Mystic did that. She was still sobbing earlier, but now she is looking more curious than worried, asking, ¡°where are we going?¡±


    The little girl isn¡¯t calling Mystic ¡®mommy¡¯ anymore, because she doesn¡¯t know whether she is her mommy. It feels like it, but she doesn¡¯t know.


    The little girl isn¡¯t able to comprehend such contradictory information. Though, subconsciously, she is beginning to depend on and trust the woman a little.


    Mystic caresses the little girl on her face, but she still looks somewhat hesitant.


    She looks up at the paint indicating the 9th floor.


    She actually realised she had a question when the Missiontakers were talking about their last run while in her daze earlier.


    Wu Jian said that rubble has buried the staircase from this floor down, and it is impossible to make it back up if they fell.


    It seems no other Missiontaker had the same question as she did¡ª¡ªWhat, then, is the situation with the 9th floor?


    Perhaps Lin Qin and Fei would have made it down here this run of the Nightmare, but here¡­ Mystic is the first.


    She isn¡¯t sure why she needed to come here, even she feels like there should be some clues related to the Nightmare on the 9th floor, even when she had a companion she shouldn¡¯t have abandoned.


    It felt like something instinctual was at play, a particular something, that perhaps¡­


    Some kind of pain flashes through her expression.


    Some instinctual drive forced her here, even if she does not know where it comes from.


    Taking a deep breath, she takes the little girl with her into the 9th floor.


    Compared to the higher floors, this floor is much closer to the ground and to the burning city. This floor even had its interior walls equally smoked black. It looks even more desolate and ruined by the apocalypse.


    Mystic thinks she can smell the charred scent in the air here.


    She lets the little girl down, and holds her hand gently as she explores the floor once, and confirms that this floor seems to be safe.


    There is an elevator here, though. A cargo elevator.


    Mystic is unable to describe what she is feeling, but something drives her to push the button, and open the cargo elevator.

 Volume 5 - CH 83.4

    ¡­ There is someone curled up inside the cargo elevator.


    Someone with dirty clothes, blood-stained feet and hugging his kneecaps tightly.


    When the elevator door opened, like a spooked sparrow, the man quickly raised his head to look at the two people outside the elevator, and then lower his head immediately to pretend he didn¡¯t see anything. He¡¯s like an ostrich.


    The cargo elevator is spacious, yet the man is curled up in the most distant corner, while Mystic and the little girl take up the position of the side closer to the elevator door.


    The door shuts soon enough, and the three of them peacefully coexist within this confined space. Nobody would make any noise.


    The little girl gets tired standing after a while, and sits down on the ground where she stood. Mystic looks at her but doesn¡¯t react otherwise, nor does she push on any floor on the cargo elevator. She merely stands there quietly.


    This mystifying scene baffles the livestream¡¯s audience.


    ¡°what in the world? I dont understand mystic at all¡±


    ¡°it feels like¡­ she took the little girl here on purpose?¡±


    ¡°its her face time here right? why did she know theres a cargo elevator this floor?¡±


    ¡°uh, a possible explanation, is that since shes the mother of the little girl the last run, which makes her the nightmare owner, so somehow, that gave her information on the nightmare?¡±


    ¡°¡­ that sounds like a load of utter bollocks¡±


    ¡°I think it makes sense, kinda¡­¡±


    ¡°so¡­ mystic¡¯s a mystic after all?¡±


    ¡°fine, let¡¯s say she got information, then why here, still? why not go solve the nightmare instead? the little girl is clearly key to this nightmare, but why is she hiding here with her?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin finds himself in concurrence with the viewers in general, especially regarding the motivation of her taking the little girl to the 9th floor ¨C to provide the little girl a safe shelter.


    Mystic is also staying perhaps because there is still someone else in the elevator. She¡¯s worried leaving her there alone, so she¡¯s staying with her.


    Although what Mystic is doing here would clearly be highly troublesome to the other Missiontakers.


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but sympathise with other Missiontakers of this Nightmare, especially the rather diligent ones.


    Speaking of, he goes to check on the others.


    Of the three groups, Mystic and Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s pair has fallen out entirely. The four men are still trying their luck to replicate the path over to the 20th floor for elevator Three¡ª¡ªHonestly, X¨¹ Beijin thinks it would have been quicker if they just took the stairs instead.


    Meanwhile, Lin Qin and Fei are finally down on the 16th floor, having missed Mystic''s mad dash downwards entirely.


    In order to facilitate collection of information, Lin Qin is even going against his own instinct to immediately stick himself to X¨¹ Beijin, merely greeting him from afar and then going back to listen to Fei¡¯s chat with the other survivors here.


    He wishes to solve this Nightmare as soon as possible.


    Not that it is stopping him from peeking at X¨¹ Beijin every so often, as if he¡¯s worried he¡¯d disappear into thin air somehow.


    ¡­ And even in spite of the fact that he feels like X¨¹ Beijin might possibly be as adept a fighter as he is. Yet the moment X¨¹ Beijin looked slightly unwell, Lin Qin¡¯s actions also turn erratic.


    X¨¹ Beijin of course notices Lin Qin¡¯s occasional glances, and after some uncertain deliberation, decides to rule it as ¨C protectiveness¡­?


    Why, though? Does he look that meek?


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but wonder with an unimpressed look.


    That said, being cared about, being cared for, the feeling that is spreading in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s chest, reaches a climax when Lin Qin walked past him and asked if he wanted anything to eat or drink.


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but wonder, if Lin Qin¡­ really did like him romantically? Why is he doing all this?


    It¡¯s making X¨¹ Beijin increasingly unsure of how he should respond.


    Well, that lasts for all of a single moment until he suddenly has an epiphany.


    It must be because Lin Qin is worried that he¡¯s unable to fight well with him if he¡¯s sick, so he is showing all this care to him.


    This brings X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s fluffy feeling back down to earth, and he even rubs his nose slightly shamefully, wondering how he could ever think that the little apple was trying to accustom him to him.


    Even if this guy could only figure out whether he likes him or not based on what others tell him¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but sigh, but he¡¯s also not sure what he is now feeling instead.


    While X¨¹ Beijin is confused over himself, Lin Qin and Fei are also stuck in an awkward impasse, especially for Fei.


    Fei did think that it was because Wu Jian failed to ask the right questions or simply failed to word his questions well, that they failed to obtain more information from the survivors on the 16th floor.


    However, the awkward truth is that, when she¡¯s now where he has been, asking all the different questions over and over again, she also fails to obtain worthwhile information.


    The survivors do not know what actually happened outside or even to this building; they do not know any way of leaving the building safely ¨C if they did, they say, they wouldn¡¯t even be stuck here in the first place.


    Additionally, they know nothing about some specific little girl, never mind finding her missing mother.


    So Fei ends up knowing, awkwardly, that she might really have blamed Wu Jian prematurely. It was not his failure to obtain information, but actually that these survivors of the 16th floor, knew next to nothing.


    All these people here, but nobody holds any substantial clues.


    But then¡­


    Fei has some confusion.


    If this is the case, then what is the point of this large safe zone on the 16th floor, with all these survivors assembled here? From a game design perspective, this makes no sense.


    Over a dozen people, but nobody knows anything about what happened to the building?


    It¡¯s reasonable they know nothing about the burning city outside, but do they seriously have no idea about the madness in the building, those deranged people and all the blood and gore?


    How did they even come to the 16th floor then? All of them took the stairs?


    Fei looks around, and her keen eyes tell her that these people did not reach this place safely ¨C there are bloodstains, scratches, wounds. They only arrived in this shelter after fear, after pain, after desperation, after feeling lost.


    And observing the anxiousness and tenseness they have, Fei suddenly understands.


    They do not dare tell her the truth.


    No matter what she asked, they do not dare tell her what they know. There is something that intimidates them ¨C they could be afraid that something would take notice at them.


    So, they do know something, but the Missiontakers have not figured out a way to make them talk.


    Fei takes a deep breath in frustration, and then immediately throws the useless emotion out of the window.


    She has to move on. Things far more important than her ending up defeated here by momentary setbacks yet remain.

 Volume 5 - CH 83.5

    Finally, Fei looks forward, at the last survivor she has yet to question¡ª¡ªX¨¹ Beijin.


    Fei, in fact, noticed this man sitting there in the very beginning, specifically noting at his familiar appearance.


    And based on her previous interaction with the bookstore owner in the Nightmare featuring the post-apocalyptic ruins, Fei instinctively believes that this Tower resident here likely holds extremely important information and will be of great help to them.


    ¡­ Probably thanks to the mysterious and puzzling aura X¨¹ Beijin exuded back in that Nightmare which left a deep impression on Fei.


    After returning to the Tower from that, Fei and Wu Jian went to collect information on him as well. When they learnt that X¨¹ Beijin still did not disclose information on his Nightmare, they were deeply disappointed.


    Whatever his Nightmare is like, whether it would just be a disappointment itself, the mysterious aura surrounding X¨¹ Beijin and his mysterious bookstore are both factors that contribute to a desire to enter his Nightmare.


    Especially for Fei and Wu Jian.


    This bookstore owner¡¯s Nightmare has been rumoured to be the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare¡¯ oftentimes for very good reasons, you see.


    Missiontakers have already tired Infocards and some such on this bookstore owner a long time ago, of course, but nothing came up. It was the info panel for a stock-standard kind of Tower resident, as if all his peculiarities lie in the Missiontakers¡¯ imaginations only.


    Although the Missiontakers can¡¯t help but think that something must lie beyond that overly perfect, normal info panel.


    They are certain this Nightmare owner has some secrets even in spite of the panel. It¡¯s plain obvious in the eyes of these obsessed Missiontakers.


    Though the Missiontakers couldn¡¯t do anything with a Tower resident that obstinately refuses to sleep anyway.


    Besides Nightmares, though, the strange, possibly amorous relationship between X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin has also been the dinner topic for Missiontakers of the bottom floor of the Tower recently.


    Even when the demographics of the bottom floor has shifted quite dramatically by now, this gossip has spread even quicker amongst the new Missiontakers, until everyone knew that, the crownless King of the bottom floor of the Tower, has a secret lover he has hidden away very well.


    So, when Lin Qin is now feeling odd that Fei is merely staring at X¨¹ Beijin blankly instead of asking, Fei simply pleads with him, ¡°dalao, since he¡¯s the target of your affections, why don¡¯t you go ask instead? It might be more effective than me doing it.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Hello? He¡¯s right in front of you. He can hear everything.


    Not just him too, but also the Actors nearby.


    ¡­ X¨¹ Beijin is in full view of the shock on Wei Lezhang¡¯s face. And, remembering how in the last Nightmare, the completely undisciplined mouth of Wei Lezhang sold out his friend, who was turned into a toilet, and Dai Wu, who was turned into an exhaust hood in no time¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin would like to bury his head in sand.


    He gives Lin Qin an indiscreet glare. It¡¯s all this little apple¡¯s fault.


    Now great, not just the Missiontakers¡­ but even the Actors will¡­!


    Lin Qin is confused to be glared at by X¨¹ Beijin, and remarks inside that the young man¡¯s temper seems to be worsening over time.


    ¡­ Oh well. Apparently, you do not tear yourselves over it if it¡¯s someone you love.


    Yes, he¡¯s heard somewhere that lovers have something called a ¡®lover¡¯s spat.¡¯


    So Lin Qin, calm as always, approaches to ask, ¡°are you still feeling well? Maybe you were staring at me because you¡¯re not feeling so good?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s face is twitching, but he replies, ¡°not really. I¡­ feel fine.¡±


    Lin Qin gives him a suspicious look. It seems he has doubts as to whether X¨¹ Beijin can take good care of himself.


    X¨¹ Beijin was quietly indulging in Lin Qin¡¯s overly affectionate caring heart for him, but now, he is just frustrated being seen as unreliable by Lin Qin.


    Lin Qin, the prat¡­ he might not know how anything works, but he sure is experienced in igniting X¨¹ Beijin.


    Since Fei is still present, X¨¹ Beijin grits his teeth to hold his emotions back down.


    He asks, ¡°so, do you need something from me?¡±


    Lin Qin thinks about it and asks, ¡°we want to know information about this building,¡± then he looks over at Fei and thinks some more, then tells her, ¡°you should come ask questions instead.¡±


    Lin Qin knows he isn¡¯t fit for this monumental task.


    So, being self-aware, he pushes this task onto Fei. He instead turns around and stands next to X¨¹ Beijin, like some kind of loyal guard of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s, who is worried for his health and thus inevitably spends his days by his side at all times, worried about anything happening to his charge if he left.


    And besides worry, there might be some other, much better hidden emotions stirring in him.


    Lin Qin is quietly savouring this new, curiously rich emotion. Compared to his simple, happy and peaceful interactions with X¨¹ Beijin before, after he questioned X¨¹ Beijin on liking him, their relationship seems to have fundamentally changed in the meantime.


    Even someone as blank on emotions as Lin Qin is feeling that.


    So he is even less willing to leave X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s side.


    He can feel that, the tiny speck of light that simply popped up in his dark, inside world, is now slowly expanding its influence. It is providing his mind with warmth.


    How curious, he wonders.


    ¡­ Fei can¡¯t help but feel that, for some reason, the crownless King of the bottom floor, is somehow showing off.


    Showing off how happy he is by the side of the bookstore owner.


    Fei gives the pair a slightly puzzled look, but she is now a firm believer in that rumour circulating the bottom floor now. While she merely proposed for Lin Qin to question X¨¹ Beijin out of caution earlier, now she genuinely believes that X¨¹ Beijin is the one Lin Qin likes.


    ¡­ X¨¹ Beijin, of course, cannot possibly know that his love story with Lin Qin has gained another devout faithful.


    He merely looks at Fei to ask, ¡°what do you want to know?¡±


    ¡°We met many people that act erratically in the building,¡± Fei says, ¡°do you know why they are here, or rather, why, they ended up in such a manner?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin does not respond immediately.


    Because at this moment, the Server is transmitting something into his mind.


    He thinks he has probably been temporarily delegated the task of some other Actor.


    Uh, possibly Wei Lezhang¡¯s, even. Even if he¡¯s not sure either, under what situation, would Wei Lezhang have been allowed to divulge these information to the Missiontakers¡­ Maybe, it was supposed to be the key development of the little girl being brought to this 16th floor?


    Well, understandable, because good-effing-luck to him waiting for that to happen.


    ¡­ X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t feeling at all morbidly amused. Truly.


    He merely starts reading his script monotonously.


    ¡°The spread of the madness started one single moment,¡± X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°it was in an instant that the people in the entire building was separated into two kinds. The Insane, and the Sane.¡±

 Volume 5 - CH 84.1

    Fresh Ideas


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    X¨¹ Beijin explains the situation of the building with a rather calm and straightforward tone.


    ¡°I am not sure exactly what happened; there was an explosion, in the city centre outside, the shock of which sent me tumbling to the ground¡­ My memories are hazy, and I can¡¯t remember much.


    However, many people went mad immediately after that.


    Something strange seems to have affected their psyche fundamentally, causing hallucinations¡­ Or, rather, drastically altered their senses and perceptions.


    They would treat blood as paint, and gore as wallpaper¡ª¡ªYes, many of them are currently ¡®working on¡¯ rebuilding this building, which they seem to treat as their job¡¯s ¡®task,¡¯ somehow, using humans themselves as materials.


    We call them the ¡®Renovators.¡¯ They are harmless, as long as you move about and speak in front of them. They will register you as living humans and wouldn¡¯t do anything to you.


    If you ever faint, or even just stand there in front of them in silence without talking, though, the situation would, let¡¯s say, shift to your disadvantage. I would dissuade you from attempting to do so.¡±


    That is when X¨¹ Beijin remembers that Fei already met a ¡®Renovator¡¯ earlier with Jiang Shuangmei and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ before, and so smiles to remark, ¡°you look like you¡¯ve already met someone like that.¡±


    Fei seems surprised, but nods, ¡°that¡¯s right¡­¡±


    She wonders how X¨¹ Beijin could tell. Was her expression that obvious?


    Or, possibly¡­ This mysterious bookstore owner of the bottom floor, really has some form of powerful omniscience?


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s image turns ever more terrifyingly capable in Fei¡¯s mind.


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t know Fei is currently terrorising herself with her own thoughts, or know that his impromptu teasing of her has strayed her this far from the truth as he continues, ¡°while Renovators are harmless, others are much less so.


    There are some that see their own kind of food. While I know this is something that has occurred in desperation in emergencies, for survival¡¯s sake, true,


    But here, the Cannibals treat this as a normal means of consumption rather than a last ditch resort.


    That is why I say something seems to have changed their minds¡ª¡ªcompletely, fundamentally, altering their perceptions so much that their moral and ethics standard have faded away entirely. It is like being enchanted.¡±


    At this point, seeing how pale Fei is looking, X¨¹ Beijin couldn¡¯t help but bitterly chuckle ¨C well, he says he¡¯s bitterly chuckling, when to Fei, it looks more like a smile out of malice or scorn.


    ¡­ What a common misunderstanding this is for X¨¹ Beijin.


    Then, he says, ¡°I suppose you haven¡¯t met any Cannibals yet.¡±


    Fei is quiet for a while before nodding.


    X¨¹ Beijin points to the floor and explains, ¡°they¡¯re downstairs from here to the 10th floor or so. It¡¯s easy to identify their turf, as they paint the windows leading to the emergency stairwell blood red.


    If you enter, they¡¯ll assume you¡¯re seeking help because of hunger, and will happily provide you with ¡®food.¡¯


    I¡¯ll let you imagine the ingredients¡­


    Fei¡¯s face has had all blood drained from it already. She thanks him, ¡°thank you for your¡­ reminders. We¡¯ll steer clear.¡±


    Fei is in awe at all the malice hidden away in this Nightmare. In fact, this really does have all the elements of a normal, nonsensical nightmare.


    X¨¹ Beijin then moves on from the Renovators and Cannibals, explaining, ¡°while those two types are the most numerous peoples in the building, there are also ¡®Mushrooms¡¯ that hide away in safe corners of the building, and ¡®Janitors¡¯ who are bloody all over and look like they are murderers that just escaped from a slasher movie¡­ you might run into them occasionally, but they¡¯re not a common sight.¡±


    Fei falls into thought.


    She could understand the ¡®Mushrooms,¡¯ for example, that little girl would probably fit X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s definition of one.


    But¡­ ¡®Janitors¡¯?


    Fei can¡¯t help but ask, ¡°what do the ¡®Janitors¡¯ do?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t really keen on explaining it either, but since she triggered the question¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin maintains as calm a voice as he can while speaking, ¡°they deal with the leftovers generated by the ¡®Renovators¡¯ and ¡®Cannibals¡¯¡ª¡ªand by leftover, I mean corpses. Whether it¡¯s leftovers from the renovation work, or leftover food¡­ since Janitors are always short-staffed, whenever they meet someone alive, they try to drag them into their ranks.


    Some floors, meanwhile, are where they use to store the trash. They are exceedingly messy, full of¡­ what they would classify as trash. Anyway, I do wish you good fortune in never stumbling into their grounds.


    If they successfully take you away, then congratulations, you¡¯ll have a newfound lifelong career of being a Janitor.¡±


    Fei¡¯s lips are trembling slightly. She is instinctively recalling how, in the first run of the Nightmare, when the elevator door opened in front of her, the whole cohort of Janitors were rushing on for them.


    The closest Janitor, with his cold, bloodied finger, was almost touching her face.


    It truly was a maddening, disgusting scene.


    She can¡¯t help but feel relieved she wasn¡¯t taken away that time. Even if she would like to know more about this ¡®effect¡¯ on the psyche, she doesn¡¯t want to go through it now at all.


    ¡°That¡¯s about it for the people who have gone insane. There are still more categories¡­ though, I¡¯m also not sure whether any of them are still alive by now.


    The Renovators and Cannibals have already killed most of the people in this building. Perhaps they¡¯ll be looking to ¡®use¡¯ the Janitors next, or even each other.


    Oh, and strictly speaking, ¡®Mushrooms¡¯ aren¡¯t really insane by themselves. They¡¯re harmless, but they absolutely detest having to interact with strangers at all. It¡¯s very rare to find one.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin continues explaining.


    Fei listens with a serious expression.


    Meanwhile, Lin Qin has just been staring at X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s side profile intently. It¡¯s difficult to tell whether he¡¯s been listening to X¨¹ Beijin at all. Maybe he did, but in his mind, he¡¯s still convinced the best way to resolve this Nightmare is to, find the Nightmare owner, and then beat them up?


    X¨¹ Beijin concludes with, ¡°and finally, beyond all the people who have gone Insane, are those who have stayed Sane.¡±


    Fei hears him pause, and so asks, ¡°where are the Sane people distributed then?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin remains quiet for a while longer and tells her, ¡°right in front of you. All on this 16th floor.¡±


    Fei looks back around her, at the dozen people on this floor-space or so, and is astonished. She can¡¯t help but ask, ¡°that¡¯s it?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin smiles to answer, ¡°that¡¯s it.¡±


    Fei can¡¯t help but wonder, where would the Nightmare owner be, then?


    Would she be a Mushroom? Or even a Renovator, a Cannibal, a Janitor? Or perhaps even¡­ on the verge of, dying?


    That last thought gave Fei some more ideas. Yes.


    An hour after the Nightmare begins, the building collapses once. The last run, they had an unexpected Nightmare restart because of that.


    When the Nightmare goes on to two hours, could there be another set event that forces another restart?


    If it were another collapse, it seems to be too avoidable for the Missiontakers if they are prepared for such a type of change again, even though they all know how deeply malicious these Nightmares are.


    So¡­ could it possibly be the death of the Nightmare owner, whose whereabouts remain unknown up to this point?


    This is Fei¡¯s guess for now, and she finds it quite likely. More generally, Fei believes the Nightmare owner would very likely meet some kind of danger in this Nightmare, at least.


    Fei is furrowing her brows, thinking about how, in this Nightmare, they might not only need to take the little girl, but have to go protect her mother as well.


    If so, and considering the Nightmare becomes more dangerous generally the longer it goes on¡­


    But, in the end, what would the Ending even look like for this Nightmare?

 Volume 5 - CH 84.2

    Fei has guesses for the truth behind this Nightmare, and has made inroads in figuring out what the apocalypse in this Nightmare is.


    Though she says that, she still does not yet know what thing, event, or even source of this apocalypse could be. Now she only knows about the apocalypse is not merely a physical one.


    Fei¡¯s instincts tell her, for some reason, that this apocalypse, could not simply be the setting of some game.


    Perhaps, this is exactly what happened on their Earth, what happened, in the memories they can no longer recall.


    And the Tower residents¡­


    Fei is examining X¨¹ Beijin closely.


    She is now questioning, even, if these Tower residents really are mere data points of this game.


    X¨¹ Beijin has no idea that Fei is already questioning the Actors¡¯ identities as he watches Lin Qin and Fei leave for the floors beneath the 16th.


    Lin Qin actually seemed unwilling to leave, but he probably convinced himself it was more important to get this Nightmare done with.


    Before leaving, he told X¨¹ Beijin, ¡°if you really do feel unwell, you must tell me.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin continues looking at him.


    Then Lin Qin tells him, ¡°I¡¯ll just demolish the building.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Perusing his expression, X¨¹ Beijin finally confirms that Lin Qin is not just kidding. He is serious.


    X¨¹ Beijin gasps slightly, trying to pull off a smile, and reassures him, ¡°don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m feeling fine.¡±


    Lin Qin is eyeing X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s pale face, deep eyebags and parched lips doubtfully; it¡¯s actually no different to how unhealthy X¨¹ Beijin has looked all this time, although it seems like it is Lin Qin¡¯s first time ever realising that.


    He nods, seemingly in thought, and says, ¡°got it.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He watches Lin Qin leave, confused as to what he meant he understood when he says he ¡®got it.¡¯


    Worried, he nonetheless turns his attention back to the stream. He really couldn¡¯t understand what ingenious stroke the little apple brain of Lin Qin¡¯s could have produced.


    ¡­ It better not be something as dramatic as a virtual monopoly over drinks which indirectly spread rumours of them throughout the bottom floor, he hopes of the little apple.


    Just now, when Fei asked X¨¹ Beijin, he also discreetly moved the source of the stream¡¯s audio over to his side, allowing the viewers to listen to his exposition regarding the situation with the building.


    Though he didn¡¯t have time to switch the camera view over as well, which kept showing Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s solo adventures.


    After stamping her feet and throwing a meaningless tantrum, Jiang Shuangmei calms back down.


    Is it that rare to ever have one¡¯s rug pulled out by erstwhile teammates in the game? Of course not!


    Her disproportionate anger must also have been because of the influence of ¡®The Devil¡¯s Mask¡¯¡­ Yes, it must be!


    And now, compared to the fact that Mystic abandoned her, what Jiang Shuangmei is more concerned about is where she took the little girl to. Would it affect the Nightmare in some way or another?


    And if she went to the 20th floor like this without Mystic, would any appearance in that photograph be of value?


    Jiang Shuangmei cusses, and after some thoughts, decides to skip the middle floors and head directly for the 20th. She suspects the source of Mystic¡¯s erratic behaviour to be caused by something with the photograph.


    ¡­ She wonders what that something could be.


    Another reason is that Jiang Shuangmei is also a bit iffy about exploring the other floors herself. It feels risky.


    A few minutes later, Jiang Shuangmei is now on the 20th floor, down from the 31st. The way down is safe, just as Wu Jian said. According to Suits and Teen, this floor should be safe as well.


    Jiang Shuangmei decides to play it safe, and carefully opens the door to take a peek first. She finds it entirely empty and quiet. Then she sneaks in.


    She is also concerned about the blood Mystic and the others said they saw on the ground of this floor, which they suspect were the blood dumped from elevator Two when Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s group let the blood out from their elevator.


    When she turns the corner to the elevator lobby, as she suspected, there is a layer of blood on the ground, coming from one of the elevator doors. Spooked, Jiang Shuangmei then thought of the bracelet on the little girl¡¯s wrist.


    If the bracelet really was what Mystic gave the little girl the last run, and if this blood here really was what was left of what the three of them did the last run in elevator Two¡­


    Then why would they have persisted into the second run of the Nightmare?


    A somewhat ominous feeling envelops Jiang Shuangmei as she keeps staring at the blood.


    She can¡¯t help but ask, if it were her older sister here, how would she have interpreted this?


    Jiang Shuangmei admits that she is feeling a bit lost right now. Not just because she is exploring this terrifying building alone, but also because¡­ deep down, she knows, she is truly alone now.


    She closes her eyes to try and chase all the pessimistic thoughts away. She then recalls that, apparently, one elevator is stopped on this floor.


    Setting her curiosity aside for now, she first goes for the photograph.


    She looked around before finally seeing the ¡®company group photo¡¯ on the wall. When she saw the photograph, Jiang Shuangmei is positively stunned.


    ¡­ It really is exactly Mystic and the little girl!


    Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s eyes are widened as much as they can.


    She is asking why and how. In the first run, it was coincidental that Mystic ended up playing the role of the little girl¡¯s mother, which caused the person depicted on the photograph to change¡­


    But this is already the second run!


    What, could Mystic really be the little girl¡¯s mother or something?


    This absurd thought occupies Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s mind, but she shakes her head to throw it out.


    She is certain that only one possibility lies behind this. The Nightmare is crumbling¡ª¡ªunexpectedly, during the second run of the Nightmare.


    Another question she has is, assuming Mystic really is playing the role of the little girl¡¯s mother, somehow, then¡­ what about the Nightmare¡¯s owner? Are they really the little girl¡¯s mother, what they guessed?


    If the mother really is the Nightmare¡¯s owner, then, what would happen if she saw this photograph, and saw ¡®herself¡¯ as this unfamiliar face?


    Jiang Shuangmei has a complicated expression imagining what she thinks would definitely be a strange scene.

 Volume 5 - CH 84.3

    Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s thoughts continue digressing as she stares at Mystic depicted in the photograph¡ª¡ªalongside the little girl and her bracelet. She can feel chills going down her spine.


    To be honest, while the Mystic depicted in the photograph is similar in features to the Mystic in the Tower, they give off absolutely distinct vibes. In the photograph, Mystic appears accomplished, with an air of success and a business smile on her lips as befitting a high-achieving careerwoman.


    And Mystic in the Tower¡­ is, well, a mystic.


    That complete difference in essence is why Jiang Shuangmei is more inclined to believe that the appearance of Mystic on the photo is only because of the Nightmare crumbling.


    While thinking, she makes her way over to the elevators to check out elevator Three.


    That is when a ¡®ding¡¯ suddenly comes up from the lobby. An elevator is here.


    Jiang Shuangmei blanks out for a moment before turning to look, just in time to spot Suits, Teen, Wu Jian and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s exit.


    ¡­ She subconsciously sighs in relief, having finally met up with other Missiontakers.


    The other four Missiontakers were not expecting to meet Jiang Shuangmei here, but an even more shocked Suits asks, ¡°why are you here alone? What floor are¡­¡±


    ¡°This is the 20th floor,¡± Jiang Shuangmei answers and briefly summarises her previous journey, concluding with, ¡°Mystic took the little girl away while I was scouting ahead in the floors. I have no idea where she went. The photograph still shows Mystic¡¯s appearance.¡±


    Suits is knitting his brows immediately.


    Wu Jian is muttering, ¡°that¡¯s pretty ridiculous¡­ to just leave the teammate behind like that.¡±


    Teen¡¯s face is as black as charcoal.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ is, well, having his poker face on, as usual.


    There is an awkward silence thanks to what Mystic has done.


    Then Suits breaks the silence to say, ¡°never mind her for now. Liang Shuang, you¡¯ll come with us in the meantime. It¡¯s bad to separate,¡± she nods towards Jiang Shuangmei and says, ¡°then let¡¯s try elevator Three out.¡±


    Elevator Three is stopped on this floor, and as Mystic says, four buttons can be pushed. They are six, eleven, nineteen and thirty-five.


    Suits doesn¡¯t immediately pick one of them, and instead recaps, ¡°elevator One had us leave the little girl, and elevator Two was dumping blood on a certain floor; the stairs had the office desks and chairs.¡±


    ¡°There is also the moment when we scared Mystic being all drenched in blood,¡± Jiang Shuangmei chimes in, ¡°does the photograph count for that matter?¡±


    Suits doesn¡¯t answer the question, and instead focuses on something else entirely, ¡°drenched in blood? Blood¡­¡± He suddenly turns to Jiang Shuangmei to ask, ¡°I realise we completely glossed over this. What was that¡­ sea of blood you ran into the last run of the Nightmare?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei shakes her head and says frankly, ¡°we have no idea. We¡¯re not even sure which floor it was exactly. It¡¯s around¡­¡± she looks up to say, ¡°two or three storeys up.¡±


    Suits is thinking in silence.


    Then shortly, he says, ¡°events on related floors of this building seem to be connected, for example, the sea of blood with the puddle of blood on the ground between the 20th and the 23rd.¡±


    Teen makes a derisive chuckle, and says, ¡°you¡¯re kidding. Unless we have information on every floor, we can never verify that. Do you think we have that much damned time on our hands?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei ignores the remark and asks hesitantly, ¡°should I take the stairs again with someone else?¡±


    Since her original teammate has left her, she can choose another one.


    Suits looks around the elevator, and says, ¡°sure. We don¡¯t really need five people working together here. Who do you want to go with?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei looks at the four Missiontakers.


    Leaving Suits and Teen behind, among Wu Jian and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡­ Jiang Shuangmei points to Wu Jian.


    If nothing else, Wu Jian is at least more like a normal person than Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡­


    Suits nods, so Jiang Shuangmei and Wu Jian starts leaving the elevator.


    That is when Teen suddenly calls out to stop them. He stares at Jiang Shuangmei for a bit with furrowed brows, before asking, ¡°do you not feel that something is off?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei is looking at him, confused.


    ¡°I mean¡­¡± Teen doesn¡¯t seem too sure of what he¡¯s thinking either, so his tone is rather calm instead. He asks, ¡°if this round of the Nightmare, Mystic is still playing the part of the mother of the little girl, then wouldn¡¯t that make you, who was left behind by Mystic, the little girl this time?¡±


    Bullseye.


    Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s jaw is on the floor.


    Even detective dalao in the stream is highly impressed by this thought from Teen out of left field.


    ¡°A very interesting proposal! Never mind the bratty mood swings, but the deductions on display are impeccable!¡±


    ¡°although but, wouldnt this just be some matryoshka doll?¡±


    ¡°its an impressive connection, but is it actually useful to consider¡­¡±


    ¡°so if we say liang shuang is now the role of the little girl, what would happen to her? she doesn¡¯t seem at all scared like her mother¡­ and the nightmare¡­ uhm¡­¡±


    ¡°dont tell me ur thinking the same thing as I am¡±


    ¡°im suddenly feeling like the stream is raising our IQs here¡±


    ¡°? what are you guys on about?¡±


    ¡°has anybody confirmed if the nightmare¡¯s owner really is the little girl¡¯s mother¡­?¡±


    ¡°!! omg I know what you mean now!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, reading the comments roll out, can¡¯t help but smile and chime in quietly, ¡°why can¡¯t the little girl be the Nightmare¡¯s owner instead?¡±

 Volume 5 - CH 85.1

    Mushroom


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Why couldn¡¯t the little girl be the Nightmare¡¯s owner?


    Neither the Missiontakers nor the viewers of the stream have considered the question previously, the reason being, the Missiontakers all know that the Tower resident in question is a female adult, definitely not the age of a little girl.


    The viewers of the stream have clearly had their thoughts led astray by them as well.


    Yet, the fact is that Actors in the Nightmares do not necessarily play roles completely identical to their roles in the Tower. Just like how X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t necessarily always a bookstore owner in Nightmares while being so in the Tower.


    It is no exception for any Nightmare owner, whose identity in the Tower may hint at clues in the Nightmare, but may also mislead, as is this case.


    Possibly, the little girl has all grown up outside of the Nightmare, but the experience here has been an unhealed childhood trauma. So, even becoming an adult isn¡¯t helping her move on from it for good.


    Also possibly, in this Nightmare, the Nightmare owner only felt deeply helpless and terrorized because of the apocalypse and the insanity of the building, so her own image changed to that of a meek little girl befitting that image.


    This is her Nightmare, and obviously, anything could happen in dreams.


    The existence of the photograph means X¨¹ Beijin is more inclined towards the first possibility.


    In the stream, the viewers are in excited discussion again,


    ¡°yeah! why couldn¡¯t the little girl be the owner of the nightmare!¡±


    ¡°wasnt there a nightmare owner whose image in the nightmare was a little boy?¡±


    ¡°if she really is the nightmare owner, then it seems to make even more sense that mystic ended up in the role of her mother¡­¡±


    ¡°so, cuz mystic gave her the bracelet, she subconsciously mistook her for her mother, which retroactively affected the photo?¡±


    ¡°oh damn, im sold¡±


    ¡°wanna bet? whether the nightmare owner, is the little girl, or her mother¡±


    ¡°since we¡¯ve already seen the little girl but not her mother ever, I choose the little girl¡±


    ¡°umm, but Beibei just told us so much background of the nightmare, it sounds too much to be what a little girl her age would know, so I vote the mother¡­?¡±


    ¡°did you forget the little girl outside the nightmare could have grown up? so the nightmare is her childhood trauma¡­ makes sense right?¡±


    ¡°¡­ sorry but I¡¯m too confused, staying neutral until there are more proof¡±


    ¡°so why cant the nightmare owner be someone else, with the mother and daughter both being traps? [evil emoji]¡±


    After the debate, the viewers fail to come to an agreement.


    The same happens to the Missiontakers.


    They are also considering if the little girl can be the Nightmare¡¯s owner, but this is not helpful to their current exploration at all. They still need to make the rounds through the floors and look for a way out in the madness and gore.


    Teen¡¯s proposal that Jiang Shuangmei may have played the role of the little girl ended up casting doubt on who the Nightmare owner truly is, but it didn¡¯t end up going anywhere.


    Jiang Shuangmei and Wu Jian still leaves elevator Three as planned, while the three that remained inside continues on their ¡®adventure.¡¯


    Suits doesn¡¯t dwell on which of the four lit buttons in the elevator to press for too long, and pushes the button for six directly.


    Before they reached the 20th floor earlier, they tried for a really long time in elevator One to reach the floor. It¡¯s naturally even less efficient than taking the stairs, but they managed to work out some details.


    First, the floors an elevator can reach, is probably fixed, but this set of floors can overlap with that of other elevators.


    Second, the buttons that light up in one elevator could each represent one or more floors in that set; it is possible that, for some floors in the set, only one button can ever take them there.


    Based on these two facts, if the Missiontakers want to explore all the floors the elevator can theoretically reach, they will have to try all the buttons instead of just one.


    And there is also a third, which is that, of the set of floors an elevator can reach, some would be safe, some would be unsafe. This would not change, and they do not have to worry about changes to a floor, making it dangerous during exploration.


    ¡­ These could change by the time the Nightmare crumbles, however.


    Although Suits is recalling what Jiang Shuangmei told them, which is that the little girl has Mystic¡¯s bracelet on her wrist in the very beginning.


    Could the Nightmare already be crumbling right now, then? A restart should not have allowed such a thing to happen. However, if the little girl really is the Nightmare¡¯s owner, who subconsciously mistook Mystic to be her mother, then that changes the whole story¡­


    The Nightmare owner has quite the control over the Nightmare itself, given that it is their own dream.


    With both the little girl and Mystic missing entirely, Suits can feel his head throbbing. They could have pulled out Infocards to cheat, but the target for using it on is now nowhere to be found.


    Nor does Suits like using utility cards for that matter.


    As Missiontakers on higher floors, they are more accustomed to looking for the truth with their own efforts.


    There is also an unspoken sort of knowledge between the Missiontakers, which is that in any Nightmare where a utility card is used to cheat ahead, the post-Ending lottery will have massively reduced odds of producing rare utility cards.


    Therefore, much like a hoarding hamster, these Missiontakers of higher floors would try to refrain from using utility cards as much as possible in Nightmares and only solve the Nightmare by their own hands, while doing whatever they can to ensure they acquire high quality utility cards.


    ¡­ That said, Suits wasn¡¯t expecting for this Nightmare of the bottom floor to be this difficult.


    He can¡¯t help but glance over at Teen, at the young adolescent who was sure he was just going to breeze through this easy-mode adventure on the bottom floor, who is now instead thinking hard with his head lowered. He seems to be stuck in his thoughts about this Nightmare.


    Being a self-proclaimed logician, this Nightmare must truly be nightmarish for him.


    Suits shakes his head. Compared to his companion, he is much more of a realist. He only wishes that, when he sees the little girl after this, he would be able to obtain an answer to whether she really is the Nightmare owner.


    And also, he wishes that Lin Qin and Fei would be successful in their explorations as well. Otherwise, their second run of the Nightmare will have produced no new answers and only a whole host of new questions.


    Then, with a ¡®ding,¡¯ the elevator has finally reached its destination.


    Suits immediately gets to work converting the time and distance. Starting from the 20th floor down, it was at most 4 seconds.


    So¡­ that makes this the 17th or 18th floor?


    Suits remembers that Fei, Liang Shuang and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ said that they have reached the 18th floor on elevator Two during the first run, and they already know that there is some kind of insane painter there. So this time, he wishes that the elevator would reach the 17th floor instead.


    And if the 17th floor is right above the 16th floor, which they know is a safe zone, then what might there be on the 17th floor?


    Feeling somewhat anxious, Suits watches the elevator door open.


    The next second, Suits¡¯ pupils rapidly shrink in shock.

 Volume 5 - CH 85.2

    Fei and Wu Jian are on the 14th floor.


    They checked out the 15th floor earlier, and see that the desks and chairs are still strewn about over at the wall.


    What concerns Fei, though, is the fact that the pair of properly placed office desk and chair that Wu Jian and Lin Qin saw in the last run in the middle of the room, is nowhere to be found.


    Lin Qin walks in to take a look, then says, ¡°it¡¯s there,¡± pointing over to the pile of desks and chairs, he says, ¡°exactly where they ended up after I threw them over last run.¡±


    Fei murmurs, ¡°has the Nightmare changed already?¡±


    Lin Qin knows what she is talking about, but says, ¡°this is only the second run.¡±


    Fei remains silent for a while and slowly asks, ¡°so, the desk and chair in the middle of the floor¡­ What could they mean?¡±


    Lin Qin thinks about it, and tries his best to answer, ¡°because it has full view of the burning city outside?¡±


    ¡°Full view¡­ burning city¡­¡± Fei repeats the phrases, and suddenly turns her head outwards.


    The silent city is still burning quietly. It feels as if only this building still contained barely living beings in the entire city.


    ¡­ Why would there only be people trying to escape, but no one ever comes inside?


    A question suddenly pops onto Fei¡¯s mind.


    This seems to point to a staggering conclusion.


    Because there is nobody else outside.


    Lin Qin is looking at Fei oddly. Because of what he said earlier, Fei looks to fall into thought, and then her face went pale, until she looked as mentally unstable as the insane people X¨¹ Beijin talked about that he heard earlier.


    ¡­ The thought of X¨¹ Beijin here makes him feel slightly complicated, and when he thinks about how he and X¨¹ Beijin is sharing this view on insane people, he manages to dig up a term from his memory----©¤©¤Couples look alike? Or think alike, here.


    He thinks about it, and concludes that it makes sense.


    So Lin Qin has cheered himself up.


    He is different from X¨¹ Beijin when he is happy. No matter what kind of smile X¨¹ Beijin pulls, people would always assume he is scheming something bad. While Lin Qin, with is harmless, baby-like innocent face, would look so cute when he smiles, the kind that older people enjoy doting on.


    Though people who are truly familiar with Lin Qin would probably be feeling slightly spooked by that smile.


    Well, in any case, he is now convinced that he and X¨¹ Beijin are born to be a couple.


    So from that, he deduces, once again, that he must truly like X¨¹ Beijin©¤©¤if not, where would their couples thinking alike part come from?


    ¡­ Of course, surely, an astute outside observer would point out that logic has been an early casualty through this chain of thoughts.


    Lin Qin doesn¡¯t seem the least bit self-aware, though.


    While thinking, Lin Qin nonchalantly strolls after Fei towards the 14th floor.


    Before entering, Fei carefully checked the glass of the door leading to the floor. She would very much not like to enter the Cannibal¡¯s turf. There is no strict need to yet, either.


    ¡­ At least, for now.


    The 14th floor shows a scene rather unexpected to Fei, because outside of the missing glass on windows, everything looked unchanged.


    Neatly segregated office desks; a printer by the wall with a pile of A4 paper; locked cabinets; drinks still on the desk, alongside the computers, documents, calculators, stationery¡­ Everything would suggest that someone was still working hard in this office the last second.


    Until they all disappeared the next.


    Compared to the absurd, the insane, and the horrifying floors, this scene is making Fei feel downright creepy instead.


    Clearly, if all the other office areas has been so thoroughly devastated on the other floors, then whenever that ¡®something¡¯ happened, so should have the 14th floor fallen to chaos.


    But why, would this place look so normal?


    ¡­ Could it be that the ¡®Renovators¡¯ have worked on it?


    Fei takes in her surroundings with as much spook as confusion.


    That is when Lin Qin¡¯s ears pick up something. He turns towards where the source of the noise is coming from©¤©¤the noise being breathing and meek sobbing.


    Shortly after, the pair are over at the restroom on the left side of the floor.


    Just like how the floor itself appeared entirely intact, the restrooms of this floor were not locked up like those of the other floors.


    By this point, Fei can also hear the weak sobbing coming from the male restroom already.


    Fei and Lin Qin are looking at each other blankly.


    Then Lin Qin moves his hand to open the door to the male restroom, and it¡¯s immediately obvious. Someone is curled up at the far side of the wall, and the appearance of strangers has intimidated him into not crying anymore.


    A ¡®Mushroom¡¯?


    Lin Qin can¡¯t be bothered to go fetch him, and just says, ¡°come out.¡±


    The Mushroom¡­ Well, the person, at least, probably intimidated fully by Lin Qin, shakily stands up, and then slowly shifts his way outside.


    The two Missiontakers can finally see his appearance clearly.


    He is a middle-aged man around 40 years of age. His hairline is receding, but he is smartly dressed. Of course, the trail of tears covering his face is ruining the whole look.


    Who knows how long he has been crying in the restroom. He doesn¡¯t even seem the least bit embarrassed; he merely holds his head down and his body is trembling. He still seems utterly terrified.


    Fei tries her best to make her voice non-threatening to this rare living person here, ¡°are you alright?¡±


    The man does not answer.


    Fei asks again, ¡°do you know what happened on this floor?¡±


    Perhaps some word there triggered something in the man, but he reflexively twitched. Some sort of memory or recollection has overtaken him, as he yells out, ¡°no! No!!! Don¡¯t remind me of that¡­! Please¡­¡±


    Then, he collapses back onto the ground, and curls up.


    Before Fei could make it up to him, the man is already explaining.


    ¡°Those people, they were here, they were going mad and saying that this is their canteen; they need the place fixed up.


    They had the Renovators turn it back to how it was, but they stopped coming. They said the situation has changed, and they don¡¯t need to keep this up anymore¡­


    Nothing, nothing is going back to normal¡­¡±


    The man is falling to the ground in pieces and sobbing again, and Fei has also understood what happened.


    It¡¯s the Cannibals.

 Volume 5 - CH 85.3

    The Cannibals treated the 14th floor as their canteen, perhaps because they once worked here, so they decided to revamp the place to how it was, so that they could act like it was before whatever it was that happened. They could keep eating, working, resting and chatting here.


    But because the situation continued deteriorated, so the Cannibals finally understood that they didn¡¯t need to keep doing what they were doing. Something has fundamentally changed.


    Finally, they left the floor behind, heading to floors below this one, and stopping there, even painting the windows red with blood.


    The Cannibals have completely abandoned their original ways.


    ¡­ And this, was the Apocalypse? Something has altered their minds? They were all normal people, doing normal work, but one day, they turned into the Cannibals.


    Their criminality doesn¡¯t change the fact that their motivations are weird.


    Fei continues listening to the ¡®Mushroom¡¯ in silence.


    According to him, he quietly sneaked here after the Cannibals left. Because everyone recognised this as ex-Cannibal turf, nobody dared come here.


    He used this to his advantage to hide, until now, when Fei and Lin Qin found him out.


    And that¡¯s all he knows about what happened to this floor.


    Fei can¡¯t help but ask, ¡°if you¡¯re hiding here alone, then where do you get food? Are you not thirsty or hungry?¡±


    The man looks at Fei oddly and explains, ¡°I¡¯m a ¡®Mushroom.¡¯¡±


    Fei takes a moment and finally realises why, according to X¨¹ Beijin, these Mushrooms have also been classified as part of the insanity.


    Because they do not hunger or thirst. Like their namesake, they stake out some dark, damp corner, and has no more senses of normal humans. All they have left are fear of and apprehension towards others.


    Fei is wondering if this is also the effect of whatever ¡®thing¡¯ happened outside that nobody knew the details of.


    Without warning, humans had their brains fundamentally altered. Their lives took a turn off Main Street and Bananas, and they do not at all seem alarmed by it, as if they are convinced they made this choice themselves.


    ¡­ Fei is now recalling the Tower, recalling the memories they have lost.


    And, more particularly, she is now thinking of the ¡®price¡¯ associated with the utility cards.


    She knows many Missiontakers on the higher floors who are reluctant to use any.


    Beyond that pretty justification of how using utility cards affected the prize pool after the endings, the more pragmatic reason would be, that they fear the price of activating utility cards.


    Nobody wants to end up like Mystic, who herself is merely one example of the many that have used utility cards.


    Utility cards produce¡­ particular effects on one¡¯s psyche without any awareness from the person in question at all. The Missiontakers would find it completely justifiable, even. This is exactly how they should be thinking and acting.


    But any outside observer would see how obvious the effects are.


    It is immensely difficult for the Missiontakers to realise it themselves, though. No human would ever suspect their own brain. How could the brain ever doubt itself?


    Like this man in front of Fei, who firmly believes he no longer feels hunger or thirst. or the need to sleep. The meaning of his life is to curl up in a corner and cry.


    If it were not for the fear, he wouldn¡¯t even have stood up and answered Fei¡¯s questions. He probably would have continued rotting his life away in the corner there, forever.


    Fei cannot fathom such a mindset, but what can she say when the man is so thoroughly convinced of his beliefs?


    In the stream, the viewers also seem taken aback by how the Mushroom reacted.


    ¡°you know, the nightmare never really showed the apocalypse or let the missiontakers experience it, but¡­¡±


    ¡°this feels as bleak as any real apocalypse would probably be like¡±


    ¡°so this nightmare had this kind of apocalypse? the last one had one, but it was more¡­ different¡±


    ¡°(whispers) this kinda effect on the brain itself is horrifying I think¡±


    ¡°well¡­ but you know¡­


    ¡­ eh nevermind¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is somewhat surprised reading the viewers¡¯ rather timid discussions.


    Usually, they¡¯re few in number, and so familiar with each other, that talking openly in the comments is nothing new. They are extremely straightforward as well, seeing how many times they¡¯ve teased Lin Qin and X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s ¡®thing.¡¯


    Those viewers, would go ¡®never mind¡¯?


    X¨¹ Beijin is suspecting this might have something to do with that¡­ real world situation, which caused the detective dalao to disappear for a long time. The viewers back then remarked ¡®¡­ with how the ¡°situation¡± is¡­¡¯


    ¡­ It should be safe to assume these viewers are normal people, right? What could ever happen to them?


    X¨¹ Beijin is feeling somewhat down thinking about this.


    Even more frustratingly, even if he wants to know more, he doesn¡¯t dare asking about it directly.


    So all X¨¹ Beijin can do is pretend he didn¡¯t see what the viewers were talking about at all. Instead, he turns his attention to the video feeds on display.


    Here, he sees Jiang Shuangmei and Wu Jian arriving on the 22nd floor by stairs.


    This is probably the floor with the sea of blood. X¨¹ Beijin switches the main camera over to them.


    Looking through the glass window is pretty unhelpful here. The sea of blood can¡¯t be seen at all. However, the last run of the Nightmare, Jiang Shuangmei, Fei and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ definitely had their entire bodies drenched in blood from the blood rushing in from outside the elevator.


    Pushing the door without resistance, they enter the 22nd floor.


    Then, confusingly, Jiang Shuangmei confirms that not a drop of blood is to be seen anywhere on this floor.


    Was it the 23rd floor, then?


    It¡¯s not impossible, so does that mean this floor is just normal?


    Jiang Shuangmei and Wu Jian explore the floor thoroughly to no avail.


    Wu Jian still seems doubtful, asking, ¡°could this floor have nothing?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei replies, ¡°I don¡¯t know either,¡± she pauses, and adds, ¡°but I feel like this wouldn¡¯t possibly be as simple as that.¡±


    She¡¯s not sure what she is feeling exactly, either.


    This floor seemed to be no different to the other floors, save for a rather faint smell. Well, faint, but getting stronger, and stronger, to the point that Jiang Shuangmei is sniffling and rubbing her nose now.


    She asks, ¡°do you smell¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­ Blood?¡± Wu Jian finishes the question, with a hesitant tone.


    The two of them look at each other, and then immediately look all around them.


    The next second, there it is. A trickle of some dark-coloured liquid. Coming down from the vents of the central heating. Soon enough, all the vents begin discharging liquid.


    It smells thickly of rusted iron now. Blood, blood is spewing forth from the air conditioning¡­ or rather, from the airducts, via the shafts above them?


    No matter what, soon enough, there is already a thin layer of blood on the ground.


    Jiang Shuangmei, feeling a chill down her spine, quickly yells out to Wu Jian, ¡°run!¡±


    They quickly retreat to the stairs, and squeeze their heads at the small window of the door. They watch, with widened eyes, how the blood first turns into a stream, then into a waterfall that smashes the plating of the conditioning units right open, until they flood the entire floor.


    Somehow, the blood is remaining within the floor. It doesn¡¯t even spill over the windows whose glass is long gone.


    The entire 22nd floor is like some kind of airtight container, filling up with obscene quantities of blood.


    Finally, the rising blood floods over the window on the door to the 22nd floor. They can no longer see what is happening inside.


    ¡­ Looking at the scene, Jiang Shuangmei is rubbing the goosebumps on her arms while muttering, ¡°what a Nightmare this is¡­¡±

 Volume 5 - CH 86.1

    A billion question marks fill the screen on the stream.


    ¡°the aircon is bleeding??¡±


    ¡°seriously, did whoever install the furniture in that nightmare with sentient furniture come around or something?¡±


    ¡°im confused why the blood is coming out from there¡±


    ¡°I have a guess that would be hard to verify. This maybe be how the Janitors deal with their ¡®trash¡¯¡­ Using the ventilation shafts as their garbage chute¡±


    ¡°!! what the dalao said makes sense!¡±


    ¡°but¡­ could there really possibly be that much blood¡­¡±


    ¡°maybe the entire building had the ventilation shafts modified¡­ for um, automatic trash disposal¡±


    ¡°this still makes me feel like it¡¯s the nightmare¡¯s¡­ ¡®special fx¡¯? maybe the nightmare owner subconsciously made this creepy scene¡±


    ¡°agreed! I definitely cant bear if the real world had something similar¡­¡±


    ¡°its just a game lol [laugh cry emoji]¡±


    After some enthusiastic discussion, the viewers turn to less heavy topics. Though neither Jiang Shuangmei nor Wu Jian can feel at all at ease with this scene right in front of their eyes.


    After a brief silence, Jiang Shuangmei takes a deep breath to say, ¡°let¡¯s go, and see the other floors. I doubt anything useful remains here.¡±


    They keep heading up.


    Wu Jian can¡¯t help but ask, ¡°where do you think all that blood could come from?¡±


    ¡°Honestly?¡± Jiang Shuangmei says, ¡°I think the Nightmare¡¯s owner might be completely insane.¡±


    Wu Jian is visibly surprised.


    Jiang Shuangmei explains, ¡°we know that this is her Nightmare, right? So whatever scene is in play here is based on her memories. So this might simply be because she is delusional.¡±


    Wu Jian¡¯s mouth is twitching, even if he can¡¯t find any words to retort.


    It is true that this Nightmare still ultimately belonged to the Tower resident. Sometimes, when Missiontakers interact with Nightmare owners, they could even trigger changes in the Nightmare itself.


    That said¡­


    Wu Jian looks back at the red glass on the door to the 22nd floor.


    He wonders what kind of memory or delusion could make a Nightmare owner recreate such a terrifying scene in turn.


    There was blood spewing from every corner of the floor, flooding it entirely.


    If the Nightmare¡¯s owner is the little girl¡¯s mother, then did she experience it herself, or¡­ could it be related to what she remember of her child?


    If the Nightmare¡¯s owner is the little girl herself, what kind of dismal experience could have contributed to leaving such a deep impression on such a young child?


    What if the Nightmare¡¯s owner is some other person?


    Wu Jian is shuddering and decides against thinking any deeper.


    This building is full of memories of madness and desperation. Perhaps not only having belonged to the Nightmare¡¯s owner, but this is something reflecting what has befallen all the survivors and casualties of this apocalypse.


    After the last conflicted glance at the 22nd floor, he climbs up to the 23rd floor alongside Jiang Shuangmei.


    The floor contains nothing unusual, neither dangers nor elevators. It¡¯s also entirely deserted.


    The two of them are able to calm back down.


    They¡¯ve gone to the 24th floor the first run already, so their next target is the 25th. That is when Jiang Shuangmei pauses to tell Wu Jian, ¡°it¡¯s almost an hour now.¡±


    Wu Jian gets it, and says, ¡°should we stop here?¡± He can¡¯t help but wonder, ¡°nobody would die from it this time, right?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei shrugs and says, ¡°who knows? Let¡¯s just hope nobody has such bad luck.¡±


    They wait in the stairwell for a while, and finally, a rumbling sound can be heard coming from the floors above, alongside moderate shaking. Something is clearly collapsing.


    It takes about thirty seconds for the movements to subside.


    Jiang Shuangmei and Wu Jian look at each other; the Nightmare doesn¡¯t restart, and so, sighing in relief, Jiang Shuangmei says, ¡°let¡¯s go. We¡¯ll keep going up.¡±


    Wu Jian nods and follows her.


    Along the way, the silence gets to Wu Jian, who speaks up, ¡°where do you think the rest of the elevators might be?¡±


    ¡°What I think?¡± Jiang Shuangmei says, ¡°never mind elevator One, but elevators Two and Three were both on the 20-something floors. So I suspect the rest would be distributed below, not far away.¡±


    ¡°On the 10¡¯s?¡± Wu Jian says, ¡°there might be elevators below the 9th floor still.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei dryly replies, ¡°who knows.¡±


    She¡¯s quite disinterested in the awkward banter, but Wu Jian seems to cope pretty badly with the suffocating silence. Fortunately, they have reached the 26th floor now.


    Jiang Shuangmei is thinking that, it seems the dangers from the 20th to the 30th floor are still largely manageable¡­


    Yet the moment they push open the door to the 26th floor, they see countless eyes suddenly point to their way, as their blood-drenched owners suddenly starts yelling at the top of their lungs.


    Nobody can tell what they¡¯re speaking, but they immediately rush for Jiang Shuangmei and Wu Jian, who are standing at the door, like a wave.


    ¡°Fucking hell!¡± Jiang Shuangmei cusses, ¡°the madmen are on the 26th floor!¡±


    They immediately turn to retreat, but it is too late.


    The lunatics have grabbed them.


    Jiang Shuangmei and Wu Jian have their hands twisted to a knot behind them. Then the bloody people dragged the panicking Missiontakers to the restroom of the floor.


    It has been modified into a cleaning closet already, with lots of clothes and plastic buckets placed within.


    Bloody clothes are forced onto the two Missiontakers, alongside a plastic bucket each. Then they are shoved by the other lunatics to stand underneath each of the air conditioning vents.


    They stand there in silence, as if waiting for something.


    It might really be insufficient to simply call these madmen lunatics, because their faces look so serene with such a fanatically pious expression. They seem to be boundlessly ecstatic about what they are doing.


    Jiang Shuangmei is making eyes at Wu Jian. She doesn¡¯t know if he can read her, but Jiang Shuangmei is feeling pretty scared right now, though she knows better than to act rashly.


    Also, this is a chance to see what these madmen really are doing.


    She recalls the formation of the sea of blood down on the 22nd floor, and can¡¯t help but wonder, with goosebumps and chills, whether the lunatics could be waiting for the blood to come, and then use it to ¡®shower¡¯¡­?


    Well, nothing that happens in the building can surprise her anymore¡­


    A while later, Jiang Shuangmei suddenly hears an odd noise coming from the ceiling.


    Almost immediately, the madmen besides her come to life. They form a human ladder, with the topmost person moving the flaps for the conditioning unit out of the way with calculated, professional motions.


    Then, Jiang Shuangmei can hear a dragging sound coming from the vents.


    The noise must be enchanted somehow, as Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s consciousness is now drifting. Suddenly, the world seems to have refreshed itself. Some kind of knowledge, information, or instinct has overtaken her¡­


    She picks up the plastic bucket she put on the ground earlier.


    Her vision shows that opposite her, Wu Jian looks similarly dazed, while picking up his own plastic bucket in silence.


    A mangled corpse drops out of the vent, somehow.


    Jiang Shuangmei, Wu Jian, like the other Janitors, robotically and mechanically moves forward and picks up the pieces without delay, putting separate pieces of human material into their own plastic buckets.


    Then, they hand the plastic buckets to others.


    The others take the plastic buckets off-camera, while the two of them stand there, holding new and empty plastic buckets, to wait for the next wave of garbage.

 Volume 5 - CH 86.2

    Suits is standing there, blanking out looking at the things on the ground, with Teen and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ by his side.


    Just as Suits has planned to, they¡¯re on the 17th floor; however, the scene at play here, is far beyond their wildest imaginations.


    This almost looks like a factory warehouse.


    Countless bodies are stored here, perhaps one day, to end up as the ¡®materials¡¯ for the Renovators above, or to be the ¡®food¡¯ for the Cannibals below.


    Of course, the trio here doesn¡¯t yet know about Renovators and Cannibals. They can only extrapolate, through the different experiences each group of Missiontakers had last run, what all these things in this Nightmare, in this building could mean.


    Suits is crouching down. He is watching the bones of a section of finger there.


    Bones are nothing unusual in and of themselves, but what is remarkable is the fact that they have been cleaned thoroughly, and piled up together into a plastic bucket.


    Moments later, he stands up, and asks Teen, dryly, ¡°what do you think this is?¡±


    Teen glances at the bucket, but quickly retracts his gaze. He rather forcefully asks, ¡°what else could it be? Merchandise?¡± He then comments, ¡°disgusting.¡±


    Then Suits sighs and stands up, looking away from the mountains of corpses, and asks, ¡°it seems, we¡¯re in some sort of¡­ storage?¡±


    Teen just hurries him impatiently, ¡°are you done? Let¡¯s just go,¡± his brows are furrowed as he says, ¡°I have a bad feeling about this.¡±


    That is when Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ suddenly looks over at the cargo elevators to say, ¡°I can hear elevators run.¡±


    They glance at each other and quickly walk over towards the passenger elevator lobby; while the lobby is separated only with glass, but they can still lean over at the walls to conceal themselves. The three Missiontakers poke their heads out to observe.


    They are hiding instead of facing the unknown visitors because they have already realised how great the unknown risks are in the building. They are also powerless to stop any of it.


    Suits quietly wonders, ¡°could the Nightmare have changed because an hour has passed? If so¡­ would there be more dangers later? What would happen when two hours have passed?¡±


    Teen scowls at him to make him shut up and keep quiet.


    Suits complies, but rolls his eyes at him.


    The cargo elevator has arrived.


    It came from the floors below. It moves slow, and so it was more than 20 seconds after it was heard that it finally reached the floor.


    The Missiontakers are waiting anxiously.


    Not just the Missiontakers, but also the viewers of the stream too.


    A cargo elevator coming from an unknown floor, destination being the warehouse for corpses on the 17th floor. When you think about what X¨¹ Beijin told them of the types of insane people in the building earlier¡­


    ¡°uwuwu im scared¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not even there but I can feel the sweat on my back¡±


    ¡°seriously, this building feels something like a¡­ stranded on a desert island, and all the survivors might be living, but theyve all gone weird.¡±


    ¡°¡­ I know its just a nightmare, but I still wanna ask if these people can be saved? like, it¡¯s just a mental illness?¡±


    ¡°the renovators and janitors maybe, but the cannibals¡­¡±


    ¡°this would depend on your view of the criminal code of the law¡­¡±


    ¡°stop, we¡¯re not gonna have law 101 here¡±


    ¡°honestly, this nightmare feels like it¡¯s different from all the other nightmares before¡­ looking at how even the missiontakers from the higher floors are having trouble, could this really simply be a normal bottom floor nightmare?¡±


    ¡°just ask Beibei¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin can only answer honestly, ¡°it is certainly a Nightmare on the bottom floor.¡±


    ¡°what kinda difficulty is this for the bottom floor?!¡±


    ¡°Beibeis also on the bottom floor! maybe Beibei has a super difficult nightmare?¡±


    ¡°oh i remember now, the detective dalao hasnt worked out what Beibeis nightmare could be yet¡±


    ¡°!!! Don¡¯t remind me. I seriously have no clues¡­¡±


    ¡°Beibei, spoilers please? this anxiety is too burning to cope¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin pauses with his words, until he explains, ¡°my Nightmare is¡­¡± Then another pause, and finally, ¡°related to Nightmares.¡±


    ¡°related to nightmares?¡±


    ¡°a nightmare of nightmares?¡±


    ¡°a collection of nightmares?¡±


    ¡°maybe Beibeis nightmare is like some kinda hub world that can randomly land you in any other nightmare¡­ just like the elevators in this nightmare?¡±


    ¡°oh damn! that would make sense!¡±


    ¡°Which is why Beibei doesn¡¯t want to open his nightmare, because what if the Missiontakers of the bottom floor got randomly assigned to a super high level nightmare of the higher floors¡­ He¡¯ll have murdered them¡±


    ¡°!!! this is really consistent with Beibei¡¯s personality, amazing detective dalao!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, reading the comment on the stream, is wondering how this is at all representative of his personality.


    Does he behave like he¡¯s really a good person?


    ¡­ Well, he is a good person at heart, although his appearance suggests the opposite.


    Regarding the viewers¡¯ guesses, X¨¹ Beijin neither confirms nor denies, not even making a remark at all. Though, for the detective dalao, that mere information X¨¹ Beijin gave earlier is enough for him to go on.


    The detective dalao soon types, ¡°Beibei sure is lucky to randomly get such a Nightmare in a game. You must also have an amazing game role to get such a Nightmare I think¡­ The God of Luck must be on your side, Beibei!¡±


    The audience are in happy agreement, but X¨¹ Beijin can only give a tortured smile in response.


    Lucky?


    He is sure, that the moment he was assigned this Nightmare, and this identity, might have been the unluckiest moment of his entire life.


    Well, he did learn the truth thanks to this, but can it really be called luck still?


    X¨¹ Beijin has no answers.


    While he falls into thought, the situation on the stream is rapidly and unexpected changing.


    The cargo elevator is now on the 17th floor, from which emerged several burly men. In groups of two or three, they each carry a corpse and transport it back to the cargo elevator. They do it several times.


    Suits is murmuring to himself quietly, ¡°transporting the bodies? What could they be doing that for¡­?¡±


    His voice is no louder than a whisper, but the group of people doing things in relative silence almost immediately drop the bodies they¡¯re transporting to yell out, ¡°who is here in the ¡®Warehouse¡¯ against the rules?!¡±


    Teen is looking at Suits with this scary expression like he wants to chew him out, cussing, ¡°you fucker! I told you to keep quiet¡­!¡±


    Suits¡¯ expression is souring rapidly, as he furrows his brows looking at Teen¡¯s response.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, who has been quiet the whole time, glances at the pair.


    Soon enough, the men have found the trio hiding out in the elevator lobby.


    They¡¯re massively outnumbered and out-physique-d, so the three Missiontakers are pushed along without much resistance, until they are brought to who seem to be the leader of this group of men. He appears to be the most physically fit and experienced men of the group.


    He has a calm and neutral expression as he eyes the three Missiontakers like they¡¯re merely some kind of inanimate object. Soon enough, he says, ¡°they look good enough to taste and sample.¡±


    Suits and Teen almost immediately flinch as they realise what the man is actually referring to. They are astonished.


    What in the world?! This, in a Nightmare on the bottom floor¡­?!


    The man, obviously not knowing what Suits or Teen might be thinking, merely points to the pile of corpses and tells the others, ¡°slaughter them and pile it on.¡±


    Teen, looking at the pile of corpses, and recalling what they¡¯ve encountered so far, suddenly realises a strange¡­ a special¡­ d¨¦j¨¤ vu.


    The corpses. Them.


    They are getting added on to the pile.


    Teen, after acting momentarily stunned, yells out, ¡°this is the d¨¦j¨¤ vu of elevator Three?!¡±


    His sudden speech spooks the others carrying the bodies around.


    Teen is too absorbed to notice, though, murmuring, ¡°since abandoning the little girl, to the sea of blood on the 20-something floors, to this floor ¨C busted by this group of people and caught¡­ Dead? Could she be dead?¡±


    Suits, following Teen¡¯s thought processes easily, also looks to fall deep into thought.

 Volume 5 - CH 86.3

    On the stream, the detective dalao has clearly got it as well, and is now piling on with the comments.


    ¡°I got it! The ¡®d¨¦j¨¤ vu¡¯s of elevators One, Two and Three respectively really could establish the journey of the little girl¡¯s mother! Going from the floors down!


    First, she left the little girl on the 31st floor, and went down the floors with her coworkers, perhaps to look for ways to leave the building, to confirm the safety of the floors, or for food etc.


    The d¨¦j¨¤ vu of elevator Two recreated the scene of blood in the elevator pouring out onto the floor. This confirms the ¡®experiencers¡¯ of the event should be inside the elevators then. So we can confirm they descended the floors via the elevators.


    They could have met the sea of blood on the 22nd floor and caused blood to flow onto the 21st floor. This was likely their first setback, considering the safety from the 31st to the 22nd floor.


    However, they likely realised the problem occurring in the building since the sea of blood, so to explore the building as quickly as possible, they probably split up like the Missiontakers did while still ensuring the minimum people together for safety.


    And I just noticed, actually, the first d¨¦j¨¤ vu should be in how naturally the Missiontakers decided to split up in the first place. Isn¡¯t this awfully reminiscent of what must have once played out in the building?


    I suppose some of the group went through the stairs directly to the 9th floor, only to return when they find out it¡¯s obstructed; others might have ended up in the middle floors as food for the Cannibals or even turned to Cannibals themselves.


    In this process, the group must have separated more and more. Here, we also add in that unknown but likely significant event that must have occurred on the 15th floor.


    And the little girl¡¯s mother, possibly with two others, reached the 17th floor, and like these Missiontakers, they were found out by these labourers moving bodies about.


    ¡°thanks detective dalao! i got it!¡±


    ¡°Haha, I just like analysing stuff, and really grateful if you don¡¯t just find my wall of texts annoying. Anyway, Beibei, do you have anything to add?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin also read through the detective dalao¡¯s analysis thoroughly, then comments, ¡°so my question is, given the Nightmare¡¯s procession and viewpoint seems tied to the movements of the little girl¡¯s mother, then who could the Nightmare¡¯s owner really be?¡±


    ¡°ah! the million dollar question from Beibei again!¡±


    ¡°Beibei¡¯s question is important though¡­ if the nightmare¡¯s progress is tied to the little girl¡¯s mother, then how could the little girl under the office desk on the 31st floor ever know what she did and have a nightmare about it?¡±


    ¡°if its a nightmare, then why couldnt it simply be that the little girl actually didnt know? after being abandoned by her mother, and having never seen her again, she grew up, and then imagined what her mother must have went through over time in her nightmares?¡±


    ¡°oh fuck, that makes perfect sense, so in this sense, the little girl is excusing her mother leaving her behind?¡±


    ¡°I think so¡­ look, mommy was caught by the bad people, and wasnt trying to leave her behind¡­¡±


    The viewers fail to come to a conclusion, and so do the Missiontakers.


    Not that they have much luxury afforded for thought.


    The group of people have probably concluded that these three people are mad. The leader goes ¡®tch¡¯ and turns his head away disinterestedly, merely saying, ¡°just slaughter them,¡± before turning around to take that cargo elevator of bodies down with him first.


    The rest of the group moves in on the three Missiontakers.


    Teen is too absorbed in his thoughts to notice the situation rapidly turning against them.


    When the people are almost onto them, Suits suddenly extends his hand calmly, and pushes Teen out.


    Teen turns to him in shock, but the next second, it turns to terror as he is grabbed by those transporting the corpses.


    They are entirely disinterested in the infighting between the ¡®food.¡¯ Death is death, earlier and later, it makes no difference to them.


    So Teen¡¯s fall right into their hands would simply mean they¡¯ll kill Teen first.


    Teen is looking at Suits with disbelief. Even as he breathes his last, he is still staring right at Suits¡¯ calm demeanour. He suddenly realises, that he has never truly come to understand his companion deeply.


    Suits opens his mouth in the end, and says, with the hint of a smiling tone, ¡°I don¡¯t want to experience death.¡±


    So, how about you take the fall for me instead.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ glances at Suits, then at Teen, and finally, he quietly takes a step back.


    The moment the third run of the Nightmare begins, when Teen comes to be, he immediately rushes for Suits, and grabs him by the collar in his rage, yelling, ¡°what the fuck--©¤©¤!¡±


    Suits pushes him away immediately.


    Teen¡¯s eyes are now bloodshot as they glare wrathfully at Suits.


    Besides Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, and the viewers plus X¨¹ Beijin, who watched the whole conflict play out, nobody else knows what happened between them.


    Suits is tidying up his collar when he coldly ¡®tch¡¯s and says, ¡°do you know how terrible your temper really is?¡±


    Suits is looking at Teen coldly as he says, ¡°I¡¯ve really been putting up with you for long enough.¡±

 Volume 5 - CH 87.1

    Key Conflict


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Fei is rolling her eyes at the debacle. What, are they in some sort of weird scene that can only happen in soap operas?


    These Missiontakers from higher floors seem to have all been broken by the Tower at some point. They have all sorts of mental instability. Sometimes, Fei can¡¯t help but ponder how similar they are becoming to the Tower residents.


    Then Fei shakes her head and ignores the ongoing spat, believing in their ability to resolve this Nightmare in spite of their falling out. Instead, she looks towards her companion, who she finally notices is looking quite out of it.


    She furrows her brows to ask, ¡°what¡¯s wrong?¡± She examines him closely and continues, ¡°you almost look¡­¡±


    Wu Jian comes back to himself, and slowly raises his head to look at Fei.


    Then, with a face that could burst into tears at any moment, he pleads, ¡°Fei, this Nightmare is too much. Let¡¯s never come back to this Nightmare again¡­¡±


    Fei, shocked, quickly asks, ¡°what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Wu Jian then tells her what happened to him and Jiang Shuangmei on the 26th floor in the end.


    Fei grimly announces, ¡°you were caught by the Janitors!¡±


    Wu Jian blinks, and asks, ¡°you¡­? You know what the deal with those madmen are?!¡±


    The rest of the Missiontakers all turn their attention this way, even Suits and Teen who were bickering have turned their shocked faces here.


    Suits is quite pleased with the development. It seems Wu Jian and Fei have made good discoveries.


    Fei nods and quickly tells him, ¡°first, tell me about what happened in detail,¡± then she furrows her brows to wonder, ¡°why were you even with Liang Shuang¡­ Never mind. We¡¯ll leave that for now.¡±


    The mention of Liang Shuang, i.e. Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s fake name here, makes Wu Jian reflexively glance over at Jiang Shuangmei.


    He can see that her face is awfully pale, probably similar to himself. Wu Jian is still absolutely paranoid, touching his forehead, as if confirming if his brain is still working properly.


    Fei merely looks at him, confused.


    Wu Jian then tells her the detail of his ¡®janitorial duties¡¯ with Jiang Shuangmei.


    ¡°That¡¯s not the point though!¡± Wu Jian looks awfully fearful when he says this, ¡°it is more about how we both were completely brainwashed! We both felt what we were doing, was normal, it was what we had to do, but it couldn¡¯t¡­ It¡¯s impossible!


    How could we ever feel like doing something like that, it¡¯s unreasonable! But we were¡­ like hypnotised, hexed, brainwashed¡­¡±


    His speech turns into a murmur.


    Fei can¡¯t help but overthink, now, and she goes pale as well.


    She knows Wu Jian must also be thinking about that as well, which is why he is so terrified. What was happening was a completely undetectable influence. And here, being in the Nightmare, the effects of it fizzles out the moment the previous run ends, and the undetectable influence is gone.


    But¡­ What if it isn¡¯t just limited to Nightmares? What if something similar can happen in the Tower?


    Like what Fei has suggested in the previous Nightmare with the ruins, that if NE can delete their memories in the Nightmares, then what¡¯s stopping it from doing so in the Tower itself?


    Here, if NE can affect their brains undetected in Nightmares, then what¡¯s stopping it from doing so in the Tower itself?


    This is already way beyond the scope of some game mechanic!


    It is not simply rules in a game; they cannot leave this game, so this is their fucked up life now!


    Fei bites her lips, cussing.


    So many Missiontakers treat the Tower as the game that it is, and so act unrestrained, perhaps due to the hopelessness, perhaps due to simply wanting to. Fei knows about the many Missiontakers indulging in decadence on the bottom floor, some of whome still remaining so even despite the huge fiery passion burning across the entire bottom floor recently.


    ¡­ But, BUT, Fei wants to ask, do they really know what is actually going on?


    They are inside of some game, some game that exposes their brain to what is essentially open air; there is no protection. They are at the free whims of NE¡­ They do not even have the privilege of choosing.


    Not even a privilege to know what the truth is!


    There is a moment, where Fei is pinching her own arms, almost shuddering.


    The other Missiontakers cannot understand the fury she seems to be exuding, or possibly assuming she is just irate and empathetic at the terrible fate that has befallen her companion.


    Looking at it, even Jiang Shuangmei has managed to snap out of her stupor entirely to offer condolences, ¡°it¡¯s alright. It¡¯s in the past, now.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei is even speculating if Fei and Wu Jian could have a more intimate relationship, like being family, or even lovers. That is why Fei is reacting so severely to the predicament.


    Among all that are present, perhaps only Fei and Wu Jian, through each other¡¯s pale faces, can understand what they both thought of and are terrified of simultaneously.


    The 36th floor falls silent.


    That is when Suits starts walking over. He doesn¡¯t mention his conflict with Teen earlier, acting as if nothing happened at all.


    He calmly poses a question, ¡°so, Fei, could you tell us what you know about the mad people in this building?¡±


    Fei looks at him, then glances at Teen, who is still glaring at Suits. Thanks to his awfully youthful appearance, the adolescent-looking Teen could almost garner more sympathy points.


    Of course, this is not her fight, or any other Missiontakers¡¯ fight.


    So she turns her attention back to tell them what she has heard from X¨¹ Beijin. Regarding the Renovators, Cannibals, Mushrooms and Janitors¡­ and the fact that the only remaining sane people are all those that are assembled on the 16th floor.


    The Missiontakers are able to weave this into the context of what they have experienced seamlessly.


    And their faces gradually turn sour accordingly.


    When Fei is finished, the floor falls silent once more.


    Finally, Suits says, ¡°no matter what, I suppose the information is more the dangers we have to confront in the building, as opposed to the ¡®truth¡¯ we need that will guide us to the Ending.¡±


    The other Missiontakers seem to be in agreement.


    What has happened in the building thus far, revolting as it were, is the setting inside of some game©¤©¤they tell themselves that, at least. As for whether it really is as disconnected as such, only time will tell.


    ¡­ For zombies like Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, unlike Fei and Wu Jian, they never think about the meaning behind Nightmare or the Tower of their own initiative, and especially not the truth behind it all. They only choose to stay wilfully blind.


    He has still maintained quite the unassuming, low profile in the Nightmare so far.


    His almost corpse-like poker face, though, actually still belies the terror he felt and still lingers to this day, from a certain Nightmare he went through before. And in this building that suggests some even greater cataclysm, he finds himself mired deep in the muddy waters.


    ¡­ D¨¦j¨¤ vu.


    He thinks about the word in silence.


    Obviously, it¡¯s not his first time experiencing this. It¡¯s not even the same kind of ¡®recreating¡¯ some event, but actually, by definition of the phrase¡­ Something screamed familiarity, but he cannot ever remember having recollection of it.


    That commercial complex.


    After that Nightmare, he chose to ditch the feelings as much as he can. His fear, his helplessness, and the hopelessness of it all, has him lower his head, close his eyes, and shut it all out.


    Yet, when he stops moving to take a rest, something yet clings to him. He cannot fall asleep, even while his self-hypnosis is successful. He is frustrated, that he has no idea what he is frustrated about, or worried about.


    What, did anything ever happen that should have his attention?


    Is he not just going through his usual routine?


    Has anything different ever happened?


    Then, there will come a moment, a tortuous, even masochistic moment, when the fa?ade breaks and he remembers the event again.


    ¡­ Recently, when he was drifting around the Tower like an emotionless ghost as always, he overheard some conversation. With how little presence he ever had, and how loud those Missiontakers were, they didn¡¯t notice him eavesdropping at all.


    He learned about his Nightmare.


    After thinking for a while, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ chooses to enter this Nightmare, holding some kind of last resort kind of resolve as he did so.


    As for why that is¡­ He is not sure himself. Maybe, after shutting out everything for so long, he himself has had enough of his own cowardice. Maybe, simply, he just wants to the torturous noises to end.


    He just wants an answer.


    He just wants to sleep again.


    That¡¯s all.

 Volume 5 - CH 87.2

    That said, since entering the Nightmare, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s mind becomes confused even more by something else plaguing him.


    While the other Missiontakers are feeling an inexplicable d¨¦j¨¤ vu, as if they are repeating the actions of some certain people in this Nightmare, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, instead, feels like¡­ he is repeating something, every single moment instead.


    Walking¡ª¡ªHe was probably walking some time before.


    Taking an elevator¡ª¡ªHe was probably taking an elevator some time before.


    Well¡­ Of course he has done something like that. That was daily life.


    But¡­ But, why is he concerned about it? What makes him feel this dissonance? What is it, that makes him feel like some part of his memory is trying to imply something?


    Finally, he realises, that it is this building.


    The moment the third run of the Nightmare started, while the Missiontakers were talking about what happened the last run, just as Fei and Wu Jian were thinking about NE¡¯s unstoppable authority, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ turned his gaze outwards beyond the window.


    ¡­ The burning city.


    He thinks about the citywide inferno, with the charred scent always lingering in his nose. There are broken glass by his feet, a blood-strewn ceiling atop his head. People, people navigated through this building, to escape, but they all died in the end.


    He is even more puzzled. Why would he not notice the familiarity this gave him immediately?


    ¡­ It must be because he did not experience this himself.


    It is like, at some moment, like when you were chatting with a friend, your glance over the TV reveals it is currently showing some kind of tragedy.


    So you end up remarking to your friend, ¡°oh, so something like that happened,¡± then, you forget about it. Maybe some time in the future, a suitable trigger word could jumpstart your memory and let you recall the tragedy again.


    Now, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s memories¡ª¡ªHis brain, has been retroactively triggered. Something was clicking in his mind, but then again, maybe nothing was clicking.


    Maybe he remembered for a split second, and then forgot about it again.


    You open your mouth, but forget what words you were going to say; you stand up, but forget what you were about to do next; you open the cabinet, but forget what you were going to grab.


    There is a rift in his memories, a rift so utterly astonishing, that reflexively, he closes his eyes, as if it could somehow allow him to ignore and see no evil thing.


    No other Missiontaker is paying attention to how Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ is looking in the corner, as he is a mere Zombie, which, to the Missiontakers, basically mean they¡¯re dead weights in Nightmares. They¡¯ve just happened to wander into a door, is the consensus Missiontakers have of them.


    So, in their heated discussion, they pay no attention to what Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ may be thinking about; now, Fei and Wu Jian, the more observant, paranoid ones, are too absorbed in their thoughts as well to notice Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ looking odd.


    If Fei and Wu Jian knew what he was thinking, they would definitely recall how, in the last Nightmare, the Nightmare with the post-apocalyptic ruins, they had the same ¡®rifts¡¯ in memories. An instantaneous sort of forgetting.


    Maybe they will even make further deductions from that, and realise that what they have always been a worrywart about has already happened, maybe even a long time ago. But of course, these are mere hypotheticals.


    Now, the discussion topic has moved on, to something which also grabs Fei and Wu Jian¡¯s attention.


    It is the question of why Jiang Shuangmei ended up with Wu Jian in the last Nightmare.


    Suits, looking at Mystic, is trying his best to sound neutral, but his tone still comes off as upfront, ¡°Mystic, the last run, what you did, are you going to explain why you did so?¡±


    Mystic, though, looks at everything oversuspiciously. She almost looks possessed.


    Her attention seems to leave her for lengths at a time, until she would suddenly snap back to take in her surroundings carefully, until her attention drifts away again, rinse and repeat. She no different to any other mentally handicapped persons.


    Suits¡¯ question manages to cut her stunned state short, as after briefly staring blankly at Suits, perhaps working out what he was talking about, she becomes communicable; it seems all sorts of useless information have filled up her brain, making her unable to focus on anything.


    She asks, piecing together words, ¡°what¡­? Last, run¡­ I did, what?¡±


    Mystic¡¯s words are like a numbing, incoherent murmur.


    Suits asks, ¡°where, did you take the little girl to?¡±


    ¡°Little girl¡­¡± Somehow, that seems to have been the right word to kick Mystic¡¯s memories into motion. After some silence, she answers, ¡°the 9th floor. I, took her¡­ to 9th floor. Cargo elevator.¡±


    ¡°The 9th floor?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a cargo elevator on the 9th floor?¡±


    The Missiontakers are all repeating the keywords in their amazement.


    ¡°If so, the whereabouts of the two cargo elevators are clear by now. Only elevator Four remains to be found,¡± Suits summarises the information, then furrows his brows to ask Mystic, ¡°how did you know the 9th floor¡­ Well, never mind.¡±


    He gives up asking Mystic, realising that, for all practical purposes, Mystic probably can¡¯t explain it at all.¡±


    Suits continues to say, ¡°so it looks like our next goal will be to find the last elevator¡­ Before that, though, we must find the little girl first¡­¡±


    That is when Teen suddenly interrupts Suits to say, ¡°I know how to solve this Nightmare.¡±


    He sounds confident.


    Suits, interrupted, knits his brows openly. Having fallen out publicly, Suits doesn¡¯t need to force himself to tolerate Teen¡¯s temper.


    Of course, what Teen said is quite relevant to their common interests, so he does so regardless.


    So do the rest of the Missiontakers.

 Volume 5 - CH 87.3

    Teen has a smug face on as he looks around and says, ¡°the Normal End, would be finding the little girl¡¯s mother for her; the True End, would be making the little girl realise, that her mother is already dead. So there is no need for her to keep waiting for her.¡±


    Suits furrows his brows to ask, ¡°wait, if her mother is already dead, then how¡­¡± He pauses as he suddenly realises what Teen is suggesting, ¡°you¡¯re saying, Mystic?¡±


    The Missiontakers¡¯ attention immediately turn to Mystic, who merely stares back at them with confused eyes.


    Teen continues explaining, ¡°in this Nightmare, Mystic has already been subconsciously identified as the mother by the little girl¡¯s subconsciousness, possibly owing to what she did the first run of the Nightmare.


    Regardless, the bracelet on the photograph, and how Mystic took the little girl to the 9th floor before, has already proven the hidden role of ¡®mother¡¯ Mystic is now playing in the Nightmare.


    The fact that she took the little girl to the cargo elevator, is likely in the sense of, wanting to provide safety for her. If she was still at all thinking like a Missiontaker, it is unfathomable.


    In other words, Mystic, the root cause of your actions is proof enough that you are under the influence of this Nightmare.


    If anyone has Infocards lying around, I suggest trying it on Mystic and the little girl.


    My guess is that the little girl would be the owner of the Nightmare, who probably knows her mother has already died, but refuses to admit it. It is what formed this Nightmare.


    In the beginning of it is when her mother has already abandoned her, but still very much alive.


    After this, Mystic appeared, and because she ¡®recreated¡¯ what the little girl¡¯s mother did, so subconsciously, the little girl has picked her to be her mother instead.


    And because she is the Nightmare¡¯s owner, she is able to impart this understanding to Mystic, causing her to act completely irrationally.


    If we want this Nightmare done with as soon as possible, then just treat Mystic as the little girl¡¯s mother. Period. When we¡¯re out of the Nightmare, the issue with identity of self would resolve itself just like those two ¡®Janitors¡¯ here that were affected.


    If we want the True End instead, we¡¯ll have to convince the Nightmare owner that, see, it has already happened. Everything is already set in stone.¡±


    Teen finishes laying out his thoughts.


    When he was at the conclusion, he glances over at Suits as well, still looking as provocative as ever.


    Though Suits doesn¡¯t acknowledge the taunt at all. He simply concurs, ¡°I¡¯m in agreement.¡±


    The rest of the Missiontakers all nod as well.


    The viewers in the stream understands what Teen is proposing as well, and so start typing comments in response, but still focusing on issues like, ¡°why is teen so sure the little girls mother is dead?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin sees it, and since the detective dalao hasn¡¯t answered it for a bit, he helps explain instead, ¡°it is because of the last scene they encountered in the second run of the Nightmare.


    The scene recreated through elevator Three, they believe, documents the fact that they were discovered by the Cannibals transporting corpses, and ended up killed as their food.


    Assuming these ¡®flashbacks¡¯ belong to the little girl¡¯s mother, then logically, she also probably ended up food for the Cannibals, being slaughtered and then thrown onto the pile of corpses.


    Of course, I do not actually think the little girl¡¯s mother being dead is a foregone conclusion yet.¡±


    Here, X¨¹ Beijin pauses as he glances up at the woman standing among the still sane survivors. The one dressed smartly, looking very concerned and restless.


    Then he continues, ¡°exactly from whom these d¨¦j¨¤ vus come from remains unproven for now.


    If it comes from the little girl¡¯s mother, then I see the question as being, given the Nightmare¡¯s owner is the little girl, then how can she imagine such a logically consistent and detailed route, or otherwise know of what happened to her mother?


    After X¨¹ Beijin has finished speaking, his audience quickly express their support through the comments.


    ¡°great analysis from Beibei!¡±


    ¡°I was actually also concerned about this. The Missiontakers have concluded that their ¡®d¨¦j¨¤ vu¡¯ is a ¡®recreation¡¯ of some sort, based on the assumption that the little girl¡¯s mother was the Nightmare¡¯s owner.


    But now that it turned out the little girl is more likely the Nightmare¡¯s owner, they should have once again retraced their steps to question where the ¡®d¨¦j¨¤ vu¡¯ came from.


    I am also not entirely convinced that what the three people experienced on the 17th floor is actually a d¨¦j¨¤ vu.


    In addition, there remains three buttons to push in that elevator; they¡¯ve only explored one floor. There could very well be other objects on the other floors still waiting for them.¡±


    ¡°what the detective dalao said also makes sense!¡±


    ¡°[cheer emoji]¡±


    ¡°i already have very good self awareness of my own iq [laugh cry emoji]¡±


    ¡°um, I¡¯m still actually confused with what the little apple did on the 15th floor¡­ what could the desk and chair mean?¡±


    The viewers are communicating their thoughts. In the meantime, having shared each other¡¯s experiences the last run and did an analysis, the Missiontakers are wasting no time in heading for the 31st floor for the little girl.


    Now, of course, they already have a method of resolving this Nightmare immediately, depending on whether they need it.


    Fei thinks about it and then says, ¡°let¡¯s just have a Normal End first?¡± She looks over at Lin Qin before saying, ¡°we¡¯ve acquired quite a lot of information already. If we really want a True End, we can simply try it again next time.¡±


    Wu Jian is looking at her, puzzled, but Fei tugs on him to stop him from speaking.


    The rest of the Missiontakers look like they¡¯re all surprised with the request out of the blue.


    Lin Qin is pulling his sleeves up to say directly, ¡°I want this Nightmare to be done with as soon as possible.¡±


    For X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s sake.


    Regardless of whether the Missiontakers are aware of that, they all immediately relent.


    ¡°Oh, right, sure, dalao. No problems at all.¡±


    ¡°Sure, sure, we¡¯ll just try for a True End another time.¡±


    Lin Qin glances at them and adds, ¡°in exchange, I can help all of you out with one favour, as long as it is something I can do.¡±


    Now the Missiontakers are actually satisfied.


    Lin Qin, meanwhile, is thinking about how, before, X¨¹ Beijin told him not to agree to others¡¯ requests too easily, and he accepted and also abided by it. Now, he is the one making the request here, so it doesn¡¯t count as going against what X¨¹ Beijin said, right?


    No, no, it definitely doesn¡¯t.


    Lin Qin tilts his head a little, and shows a slight, sly smile on his face.


    They¡¯re now heading right for the 31st floor.


    The emergency stairwell is quiet, but a sudden creak breaks the silence. The doors to the emergency staircase on the 31st floor have been pushed open.


    A little girl pokes her head out, and looks out into the dark, eerie stairwell.


    She is a little bit scared, and grips her little fist tightly, which is also holding the bracelet Mystic gave her. Then she gives herself some encourage, ¡°I have to go quickly. Mommy is waiting¡­¡±


    She nods firmly, then, she puts her foot forward.

 Volume 5 - CH 88.1

    On the 31st floor, the Missiontakers are all astonished at the emptiness.


    They all simultaneously exclaim, ¡°the Nightmare is crumbling?!¡±


    True, this is the third run already, and normally at this point, Nightmares would begin to show abnormalities.


    Yet this time, the result is the direct disappearance of the little girl!


    This is quite the headache of a situation they have to deal with.


    Some Missiontakers are looking directly towards Lin Qin, to see that the extremely powerful dalao is already showing an expression of displeasure. Although if he did go berserk¡­ the result would be similar, wouldn¡¯t it?


    So they manage to calm themselves down.


    Suits immediately makes a decision, ¡°there are no elevators on the 31st floor. The little girl can only have gone by the stairs. We split into groups. One group takes the stairs and see if they can catch up to the little girl. Another head for the 20th floor directly and take elevator Three. The last group head to the 9th floor to look for the cargo elevator.¡±


    This time, Suits and Teen would never work together again.


    During this, the impatient Lin Qin has already starting running down the stairs.


    Wu Jian glances at Fei and Suits before dashing out after him.


    Teen coldly chuckles and says, ¡°elevator Three.¡±


    Fei elects herself to go with him, and then drags Mystic with her, saying, ¡°you¡¯ll come with us.¡±


    The other group is going to look for the cargo elevator on the 9th floor, where Mystic inexplicable took the little girl the last run. Fei is worried Mystic heading there would cause any troublesome reactions.


    Besides, there is also the photograph on the 20th floor and elevator Three, which Mystic once took on the first run. Perhaps they can go through the procedures again to see if they make any new discoveries this time.


    Suits also understands her position, and nods to tell the two remaining Missiontakers, ¡°alright, let¡¯s go to the 9th floor.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ are the ones following him.


    The eight Missiontakers head their separate ways, and leave elevators One and Two behind, instead paying attention to more important matters.


    For example¡­ where the little girl is.


    Lin Qin and Wu Jian quickly run downstairs and they fail to spot the little girl anywhere all the way to the 16th floor. A little girl can never possibly outrun two fit, grown men here, so it must mean otherwise.


    Lin Qin furrows his brows, but his instincts can¡¯t tell him which floor the little girl could be on. So he walks through the door to the floor instead.


    He heads right for X¨¹ Beijin to ask, ¡°did you see a little girl?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Looking up at the little apple that popped out of nowhere, he¡¯s left speechless inside.


    Wu Jian is hanging around behind Lin Qin, still rather breathless. He hears X¨¹ Beijin answer after a brief silence, ¡°I didn¡¯t.¡±


    Lin Qin then continues asking, ¡°where do you think she could be?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin wants to ask Lin Qin if he¡¯s treating him as his mobile brain.


    He sighs and then says, ¡°I can¡¯t possibly know¡­¡± Then he suddenly pauses when his glance passes over the streaming system, and feels somewhat guilty about it as he says, ¡°there is no way I can even deduce it. I¡¯m not some kind of seer.¡±


    He says so with a straight face.


    The viewers are having a fit of laughter in the stream for how their Bei has learned to lie with a completely straight face.


    Lin Qin, though, is looking at him, and says with this serious tone, ¡°I can tell you everything you need to know. In this Nightmare, or rather, in the entire Tower, I only trust you, and trust your deductions.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is silent. Something soft has crashed right into his heart.


    Lin Qin only trusts him.


    Why does Lin Qin only trust him?


    Does he even deserve such unwavering devotion?


    ¡­ Could Lin Qin, actually love him?


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but chuckle in his mind.


    Has he been too stubborn about this? Is he assuming stuff? Did he unfairly, presumptuously assume Lin Qin can never like someone else romantically, and least of all himself?


    What if Lin Qin has really, actually, decided to present this genuine feeling to him?


    He remains silent for so long that Lin Qin is tilting his head in confusion.


    Then he asks, ¡°what kind of information do you need?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin opens his mouth but he still isn¡¯t sure what to say. He would really like to discuss what Lin Qin meant by what he said earlier, but circumstances mean he can only choose to keep it to himself here.


    Just like how, not long ago, when Lin Qin showed genuine care for his well-being, he also chose silence and dodging topics.


    Lin Qin¡¯s passion is making X¨¹ Beijin somewhat flustered.


    So finally, he says, ¡°the little girl¡­¡±


    He is going to ask, but that is when a slightly unsure and worried voice chimes in, ¡°excuse me¡­ I¡¯m sorry, but I really wanted to ask¡­ is the little girl you¡¯re referring to, my¡­ my daughter, by any chance?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, Lin Qin and Wu Jian then reflexively turns to the woman.


    Wu Jian, shocked, asks, ¡°when we asked you all about the little girl earlier, didn¡¯t you say nothing? So why¡­¡±


    The woman seems confused, she asks, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, when was that?¡±


    That is when Wu Jian realises that this woman has not yet had her memories of the previous runs unlocked.


    This run of the Nightmare, she came out to admit being the mother, possibly because they are asking for the little girl¡¯s whereabouts this time, which would imply that the little girl has gone missing¡­


    But wait a minute, the little girl¡¯s mother? Isn¡¯t she dead???


    Wu Jian¡¯s jaws are wide agape with more shock.


    The woman can¡¯t help but ask again, ¡°what happened to my girl? I heard you ask him if he saw a little girl; does this mean she left the 31st floor? Why would she leave? I told her to wait there for me¡­¡±


    The woman is blabbering on, but no one is paying close attention to her now.


    This woman who calls herself the little girl¡¯s mother who came out of nowhere, has given shock to both the Missiontakers and the stream¡¯s audience.


    ¡°holy shit! Beibei was right! the little girls mother is alive!¡±


    ¡°i suspect Beibei knew she was the mother already, isnt she an actor as well?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin merely smiles on at the question.


    ¡°¡­ yeah, got it¡±


    ¡°Beibei! you really are some saint of patience, i wouldn¡¯t have been able to hold back from spoiling it!¡±


    ¡°Beibei wouldn¡¯t even tell us the clues to his own nightmare!¡±


    ¡°¡­ so now, the question is, if the little girls mother isnt even dead, then what is going in this nightmare? are the endings that teenage boy missiontaker came up with even valid anymore?¡±


    ¡°but like, a normal end where you take the little girl to her mother, can still be done right?¡±


    ¡°so what about the true end? if the little girl¡¯s mother is still alive, the true end can¡¯t be that anymore¡±


    ¡°¡­ I was actually thinking the true end the missiontakers came up with was too simple


    everything Beibei has streamed so far has never had such a straightforward true end¡±


    ¡°yeah, the missiontakers still had so many places to explore first, like anywhere below the 9th floor, like elevator four, like the three other buttons on elevator three¡­¡±


    ¡°+1, its too early to talk about the true end¡±


    ¡°¡­ really guys? who was really impressed with all the deductions before? now you¡¯re all in denial¡­¡±


    ¡°just call me ms indecisive¡±


    ¡°i go with whatever anyone else says [smile emoji]¡±


    The viewers have then jokingly moved on from the fact that their opinions are about as reliable as a strand of grass swaying in the wind.

 Volume 5 - CH 88.2

    Meanwhile, the 16th floor is still shrouded in a rather awkward silence.


    Lin Qin is looking at the woman with a puzzled expression, and then turns back to X¨¹ Beijin to ponder if he should still ask X¨¹ Beijin to deduce where the little girl went.


    While Wu Jian¡­ has been dumbfounded entirely.


    Of course, he knows what the problem now is. The moment this ¡®mother¡¯ of the little girl pops up, some assumptions the Missiontakers took for granted earlier would be overturned.


    Wu Jian tries to weave through the fabric of logic ¨C it is now a given that the ¡®d¨¦j¨¤ vu¡¯ of elevator Three was probably not what happened on the 17th floor. In that case, it could be on a floor that is reached via the three other buttons. The 17th floor can be said to be a trap for the Missiontakers¡­ in both senses of the word.


    Wu Jian manages to piece together an understanding.


    What happened on the 17th floor, was a complete red herring.


    If the Missiontakers wrongly concluded that what happens on the 17th floor, which is to be found and slaughtered by the Cannibals carrying the corpses, as part of the ¡®re-creation¡¯ process, then they could reasonably falsely conclude that the little girl¡¯s mother is already dead.


    Yet, in the second run, when Fei is here to ask these sane survivors for clues, for reasons yet unknown, they avoided talking about what they knew, especially the mother of the little girl herself.


    Wu Jian isn¡¯t sure what to say of her either.


    She left her little girl on the 31st floor alone and then turned off her radar entirely, even when others are asking about the little girl herself. Yet, the moment it turns out she went missing, she pops up all flustered to ask what¡¯s going on.


    ¡­ What a mother this is.


    Wu Jian can¡¯t help but think.


    To be honest, if the Nightmare¡¯s owner really is the little girl, then he can certainly understand why the little girl has Nightmares.


    That said¡­ His thoughts come to a pause.


    So, now the question is©¤©¤is the little girl really the owner of the Nightmare?


    Even ¡®d¨¦j¨¤ vu¡¯s have traps set to mislead, then who¡¯s to say the same wouldn¡¯t happen for possible owners of the Nightmare?


    In fact, it is prudent to remember that, both the little girl and her mother, are still only candidates right now. They have yet to find concrete proof for either being the Nightmare¡¯s owner.


    And some key piece of the puzzle seem to be missing in both cases.


    If it¡¯s the little girl, then how did she come to know all these things related to the elevator? Where could these ¡®d¨¦j¨¤ vu¡¯ have come from?


    If it¡¯s the mother, which is this woman right in front of him, she looked distinctly not scared or traumatised about her daughter to the point of having a Nightmare about it until very recently.


    This is getting nowhere.


    Before, the Missiontakers have thought that the little girl¡¯s mother is the Nightmare¡¯s owner because she was in deep regret and fear over abandoning her own daughter, and is subconsciously trying to excuse herself, pushing the role of the mother onto Mystic here.


    But clearly, this woman who claims to be the little girl¡¯s mother here, does not seem remotely as ashamed as she was suspected to have been.


    So there¡¯s issues with pinpointing either the mother or the daughter as the Nightmare¡¯s owner.


    What about the others? Could these two both be red herrings?


    Wu Jian finds this even less likely, though.


    Because Mystic¡¯s interactions with the little girl suggests that there must be some significance to the mother and daughter pair in this Nightmare.


    Unless one of them is the Nightmare¡¯s owner, it is unfathomable that Mystic would end up on the photograph in the first place, or all the uncharacteristic actions she has been taking, or even why the bracelet of hers ended up on the little girl¡¯s wrist on the second run.


    All these thoughts are making Wu Jian¡¯s head throb. The Nightmare feels like a tangled web to him.


    Certainly, he knows that the Normal End, the simpler one, could certainly only entail taking the little girl to her mother, or perhaps, leading this person here to her daughter.


    But what could the True End be about?


    Everyone knows that nothing short of the absolute truth can bring about a True End.


    With everyone keeping their mouths shut, the woman is already distressed enough to sound hysterical, ¡°tell me! What happened to my daughter?!¡±


    Wu Jian snaps back to reality, and takes a deep breath before answering, ¡°we did not see your daughter on the 31st floor. We suspect she went downstairs to look for you.¡±


    The woman seems stunned by the answer.


    She murmurs, ¡°that can¡¯t be¡­ That can¡¯t be¡­ I told her, to stay somewhere safe. To wait for mommy to go back for her¡­ It can¡¯t be¡­¡±


    Wu Jian can¡¯t help but ask, ¡°what were you even thinking telling such a young kid to wait on an empty, deserted floor?¡±


    The woman looks back at him, and answers, ¡°the 31st floor is the safest place out there.¡±


    Wu Jian¡¯s eyes widen.


    The woman explains, ¡°the Renovators ignore the higher floors because the damage was relatively light there. Unless they manage to figure out some genius scheme that allows them to patch up the broken windows, they would never consider going up.


    The Cannibals also ignore those floors entirely because everybody wants out, and has since either¡­ ended up in the Renovators¡¯ buckets, or the Cannibals¡¯ stomachs.


    We¡¯re trapped on this floor because the 16th floor happened to end up a blind spot. The Cannibals chose the 14th floor for their canteen, because¡­ that was where the first of them went mad. Then they descended down the floors and didn¡¯t check upstairs.


    Well, they did decide to make the 15th floor their spot for execution¡­ If anyone wanted out of their group, then they take them to the 15th floor, to watch the burning city outside. That kills all ideas of rebelling.


    There aren¡¯t many people like that nowadays, and since a few days ago when it was last used, the Cannibals haven¡¯t taken anyone there now. I suppose only the table and desk used for execution remains there.


    Anyway, while the Cannibals and Renovators ignore each other, but in the beginning, the Cannibals were wary the Renovators might try to steal their food, so they picked a floor to be their outpost and keep watch.


    Since Renovators are based on the 18th floor, the Cannibals took over the 17th floor. Since then, they¡¯ve realised that the Renovators would stick to their own jobs and ignore them entirely, they transformed the 17th floor into their food storage instead.


    So that¡¯s why, this 16th floor has ended up a safe spot for us.¡±


    Here, the woman looks slightly more bitter, and says, ¡°of course I know my girl would be scared on the 31st floor alone, but there was nothing else I could even do.¡±

 Volume 5 - CH 88.3

    What the woman has told him has cleared the light on some of the questions, for example, how the 15th floor came to be.


    However¡­


    After thinking about it, Wu Jian says, ¡°if the 16th floor is safe, then you can just¡­¡±


    ¡°Temporarily safe,¡± says the woman, glancing over at X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s direction, ¡°when food finally runs out here, we will no longer be as cordial.¡±


    Wu Jian falls silent.


    He wants to tell her, that from what he has heard from the other Missiontakers, when the little girl was once found on the 31st floor, there was only empty food packaging littered about her. The little girl¡¯s tummy was rumbling with hunger.


    In other words, even staying on the 31st floor isn¡¯t much better for the little girl.


    But¡­ but what else could he say to this woman?


    When the situation is as dire as this¡­


    So, Wu Jian merely keeps his silence.


    That is when X¨¹ Beijin asks, ¡°if the little girl left the 31st floor to look for you, then have you ever told her where you would be?¡±


    The woman opens her mouth in vain, only to shake her head in embarrassment.


    ¡°So she does not know where you are,¡± X¨¹ Beijin says with an impersonal tone, then he turns to Lin Qin and Wu Jian to ask, ¡°did you take the little girl anywhere before she went missing?¡±


    Lin Qin was going to tell the exact facts when Wu Jian quickly says, ¡°after we brought her out of the 31st floor, Mystic¡­ someone took her to the 9th floor.¡±


    He doesn¡¯t know if the little girl can already remember what happened the last run, but given she left the 31st floor on her own, she probably remembers, and is now going to look for her mommy.


    In any case, since X¨¹ Beijin asked, Wu Jian answers thusly.


    Lin Qin gives Wu Jian a death glare, but since the matter at hand is more pressing, he doesn¡¯t do anything.


    Instead, he shifts his attention to observing X¨¹ Beijin, making sure he doesn¡¯t look to be doing any worse, before nodding with satisfaction.


    Then he starts to wonder, is this what it is to like someone?


    Why would liking someone produce emotions like worry?


    Although he is slightly blue pondering such, it doesn¡¯t show on his expression; all anyone can see is that he is staring at X¨¹ Beijin in silence.


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t know what Lin Qin is thinking about either, and merely says, ¡°so if the little girl last went to the 9th floor but doesn¡¯t find her mommy, then would she start searching floor by floor this time?¡±


    Wu Jian nods in agreement, but then he says, ¡°umm¡­ but I think she knows, we told her we¡¯ve been to some floors and her mommy wasn¡¯t there¡­ Those other floors¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin follows up, ¡°are dangerous?¡±


    Wu Jian¡¯s face is going pale.


    The 20th floor looks the same as ever.


    When Teen, Fei and Mystic have reached the 20th floor for elevator Three, they do not find the little girl.


    Teen is complaining, ¡°where did the little brat run off to?¡±


    Nobody answers, and so Teen can only roll his eyes and stop talking.


    They checked the photograph again; Mystic is still on there, and the little girl is still wearing her bracelet.


    Mystic is slightly dazed looking at the photograph. When Fei is watching her closely, worried she might do something weird, Mystic merely looks away from the photograph, looking disinterested.


    Teen says, ¡°I¡¯ve told you that you are not the mother of the little girl. The Nightmare has affected your cognition,¡± then he asks, ¡°have you never been to such a Nightmare before?¡±


    Mystic seems to think for a really long time before gently replying, ¡°I did.¡±


    In Nightmares of higher floors, Missiontakers might sometimes have some sort of¡­ faux setting applied to them. It was similar to what Wu Jian and Jiang Shuangmei experienced, like being hypnotised, but it begins the moment they enter the Nightmare.


    If it was severe enough, Missiontakers might even forget their own identities and start ¡®living¡¯ in the Nightmare.


    So Teen really sees Mystic¡¯s performance as abysmal and bringing all of them higher-floor-Missiontakers shame. This isn¡¯t even one of those settings, but merely a suggestive nudge planted by the Nightmare¡­


    Seriously?


    Teen wants to ask her.


    Mystic glances at the photograph again before taking a deep breath and turn back normal somewhat.


    They reach elevator Three.


    The last Nightmare, Suits picked six. This time three buttons still remain ¨C eleven, nineteen, thirty-five.


    Teen spends no time pondering before he pushes down eleven.


    He suddenly turns to Mystic to ask, ¡°do you still remember which button you pushed in the first run?¡±


    He doesn¡¯t expect Mystic to be able to answer, but it wouldn¡¯t hurt asking. Mystic might have still remembered something despite her extreme state of distress.


    Mystic does produce an answer, though, looking at the panel of buttons, ¡°it was eleven.¡±


    ¡°Eleven,¡± Teen murmurs, ¡°and it went to the 18th floor.¡±


    The elevator continues churning down, but the time it takes was beyond any of their imagination. Teen is calculating the time in his mind, and when the elevator stops, they spent almost as much as twenty seconds.


    Teen blinks and says, ¡°I suspect we¡¯re already below the 9th floor.¡±


    His suspicion is justified when they walk out of the elevator to see that the scenery outside appears very close nearby. This is probably already close to the ground.


    The emergency stairwell access from the elevator lobby is blocked, not even allowing them to see the paint indicating the floor number. The time taken would suggest they¡¯re on either the 7th or the 6th floor.


    This floor is even dimmer than the floors above.


    The Nightmare was already taking place at dusk, and all the lights are out. On higher floors, the burning city helps to be the light source, but on this floor, buildings being so close together meant light is blocked off. (tl: Plus buildings being close together usually means the shared sides would be bereft of windows)


    This floor is so dark they cannot even see the ground in front of them.


    They start walking about the floor, although soon enough, both Teen and Fei yell out in pain.


    They have stepped on something sharp, maybe broken glass, or some other object, that tore even right through their shoes, slashing them on the foot.


    Mystic, instead, is somehow avoiding all danger like she has clairvoyance.


    Teen seems mystified, wondering, ¡°is this floor designed to just hurt people?!¡±


    Fei says nothing, but her brows are furrowed deep.


    After bumbling through the floor, they do not find anything of value, but they can say that sharp objects, whether it be glass shards, scissors, knives or blades, have scattered about the ground, some even being put upright.


    Even Mystic¡¯s luck ran out, and she has wounds on her feet as well.


    Finally, they return to the elevator lobby in pain.


    Teen, utterly frustrated, knitting his brows, smacks his hand right on the call button for the elevator.


    That is when he sees something surprising.


    Because, after the button was pushed, the elevator that responded wasn¡¯t elevator Three on which they arrived.


    But an elevator that was stopped on this floor all along.


    ¡­ Here, is elevator Four.

 Volume 5 - CH 89.1

    Special Rule


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Teen furrows his brows tightly as he stares intensely at the opened elevator Four.


    Instead of entering, he murmurs, ¡°this doesn¡¯t make sense¡­¡±


    His instincts are blaring alarms, but he can¡¯t tell what is out of place.


    Why is elevator Four here anyway? Below the 9th floor? Suddenly, he realises that they have never considered this matter©¤©¤What is the significance of the floors on which there are elevators?


    Elevator One is stopped on the topmost 36th floor.


    Elevator Two is stopped on the 24th.


    Elevator Three, the 20th.


    Elevator Four, the 6th or 7th.


    Cargo elevator One, the 9th.


    Cargo elevator Two, is in the hands of those Cannibals, but presumably, they can just treat it as parked on the 17th, since they couldn¡¯t possibly invade the Cannibals¡¯ turf, so it can only be encountered on the 17th floor.


    There doesn¡¯t seem to be a common pattern to where these elevators are, but the fact that elevator Four is parked beneath the 9th floor, is definitely bothering Teen.


    It is, so far, the only elevator to be parked under the 9th floor.


    He turns around to look down towards the ground, where the floor was littered with broken glass and other sharp instruments. He can still feel his feet aching.


    Thinking for a while, and knitting his brows, he turns to Fei to ask, ¡°have you realised something?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Fei has no idea, asking in turn, ¡°what do you mean?¡±


    ¡°The elevators,¡± Teen tells her, or possibly, is just mumbling to himself, ¡°is it possible to work out the whereabouts of the survivors and those who perished through the floors on which they are parked on?¡±


    ¡°Work out how?¡± Fei asks, ¡°they couldn¡¯t all have taken elevators, especially after they realise the elevators are faulty. We are taking them because we need to figure out where they lead us to¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­ Right, that¡¯s right, none of them would ever take the elevator!¡± Teen proclaims, ¡°unless they want to leave! Because the stairs have collapsed past the 9th floor! The elevator is their only choice!¡±


    Fei is furrowing her brows and asks, ¡°what are you trying to say?¡±


    Teen says, ¡°I¡¯m trying to say, that isn¡¯t it suspicious, where this elevator, elevator Four, is parked?¡±


    Fei remains silent.


    Teen explains more clearly, ¡°there is danger on this floor itself, which is different from all the floors on which we discovered new elevators. It might be a coincidence, but I believe it is more likely, that¡­ the situation beneath the 9th floor, is different to how it is from the upper floors.¡±


    Fei is stunned, falling into thought.


    Not just because of this Nightmare, but also¡­ the phrase ¡®the upper floors.¡¯ She is feeling like she has experienced all this before ¨C a d¨¦j¨¤ vu, but of the Nightmare itself, corresponding with the Tower outside. It¡¯s a building as well, with escape being the only goal.


    One, downwards; one, nominally upwards.


    She can¡¯t help but start wondering once more, if the rumours regarding the exit of the Tower being located on the bottom floor could be true. Is the exit really not on the upper floors?


    That is why Missiontakers of those upper floors have never managed to work out, who the Missiontaker that ¡®successfully left the Tower¡¯ in the earliest rumour was.


    Fei¡¯s silence isn¡¯t hampering Teen¡¯s thoughts at all. In fact, he is immersed in his analysis now, ¡°this building, can be divided into four stages.


    Stage one, with floors of leading digit 3. These ones are safe, but contain no clues save for the little girl; she is quite the walking trove of clues herself.


    Stage two, with floors of leading digit 2. Janitors have taken over here, but stay away from them, and it is still generally safe. There are also two elevators to be found. In other words, this is the place to collect information en masse.


    Stage three, with floors of leading digit 1, The Renovators and Cannibals have taken over here. It¡¯s dangerous, but also contains the absolute safe zone of the 16th floor. From the floors of this stage we¡¯ve been to so far, clues regarding this building are abundant.


    Stage four, the single-digit floors from the 9th floor and down. Stairs are inaccessible here, which means trying our luck with the elevators is the only means of exploration.


    I agree with that guy on the suggestion that it may not be possible to leave this building after all. We can only resolve it from within.¡±


    Here, Teen can¡¯t help but pause.


    He doesn¡¯t buy any of those baseless rumours of the bottom floor of the Tower himself; this is all in spite of him having followed Suits here¡­ Maybe, it was simply to try their luck.


    Though, when he said that last sentence, he also couldn¡¯t help but digress©¤©¤what if, it was also not possible, to leave the Tower itself?


    They¡¯re in the Nightmare, and as soon as they resolve it with an Ending, then it will end, and they will have ¡®escaped¡¯ the building.


    But what about the Tower?


    Could there possibly also be some kind of ¡®Nightmare¡¯ they can resolve within the Tower?


    ¡­ The Ultimate Nightmare?


    He is quiet for a moment, but then he derisively chuckles.


    After that he continues analysing the Nightmare at hand, ¡°so the problem now is, Stages 1, 2 and 3 had increasing levels of risk¡­ So, could Stage 4 have a decreasing level of risk instead?


    And yet, there is one elevator here¡­ When, in fact, we have only ever found elevators on floors that are themselves without danger¡­ The circumstances are different now.¡±


    ¡°There is also cargo elevator One,¡± Fei adds to the analysis, ¡°which is on the 9th floor exactly.¡±


    Teen nods and continues, ¡°yeah. That¡¯s how it is¡­ Which makes the blocked floors under the 9th floor all the more suspicious,¡± he stares at the doors to elevators Three and Four for a moment, and says, ¡°I suspect, we¡¯re trapped.¡±


    Fei is surprised to hear that, not managing to logically follow the leap. She ponders it for a short while before asking, ¡°you mean, the floors under the 9th are a trap?¡±


    ¡°If it was safe below the 9th floor, or, at least, if the dangers were not any greater, then why would the survivors have stopped on the 16th floor? There are over a dozen of them. They could have forced their way through whatever.


    We have zero information on what is on the 9th floor and below. We don¡¯t even have a clue what might have happened here¡­¡±


    Fei knits her brows and interrupts him, ¡°but¡­ what has that got to do with us getting trapped?¡±


    Teen said they¡¯re trapped, but Fei looks at those two elevators as well, and wants to say they can just leave if they need to.


    Unless¡­


    Fei suddenly blurts out, ¡°so what you¡¯re saying, is that we can¡¯t leave here, because, under the 9th floor, besides this marginally ¡®safe¡¯ floor, the rest are all landmines?!¡±


    She is shocked by her own conclusion.


    Mystic is also speaking up for once, ¡°but then we can just take the elevator¡­¡±


    ¡°The elevator would not carry us out!¡± Teen proclaims, ¡°think about it! Why is elevator Four parked on this floor alone?! Someone must have arrived on this floor, just like us, but they could not continue descending!


    They¡¯ve reached all the way here, there is no way they would randomly stop on this floor! But there is nobody ¨C not even a corpse ¨C on this floor! Elevator Four is still right here! How could that possibly be?


    Don¡¯t tell me NE just set it up that way; NE does not set things up for no reason at all!


    I was wondering the whole time why the elevators ended up on the floors they did. Why they can only possibly go to some set floors. Why the survivors treat the elevators with much harsher suspicion than they should¡­


    What if, someone, or something, is lurking behind the scenes, controlling the elevators themselves?¡±


    Fei¡¯s lips are trembling at the suggestion, wondering, ¡°there¡¯s¡­ someone, under the 9th floor¡­ controlling where the elevators go? What, what in the world, why?¡±


    ¡°Who knows?¡± Teen has a malicious smirk on, as he speculates, ¡°they might just be another group of madmen, who are amused by all this?¡±


    Fei falls silent.


    They are in a terrible predicament.

 Volume 5 - CH 89.2

    At the same time, the viewers of the stream that watched the whole conversation and interaction are clearly deeply confused.


    ¡°wait, can anyone tell me what those two are talking about?¡±


    ¡°it sounds like riddles¡±


    ¡°¡­ thank you, but I want my spoilers¡±


    ¡°paging detective dalao uwu, your cuties need help.¡±


    ¡°[laugh cry emoji] Alright, then I¡¯ll try to analyse the thought process of the Missiontaker.¡±


    ¡°hurray! go go go detective dala!¡±


    ¡°First off, I suspect he was thinking about the elevators¡¯ mode of operations.


    Elevator One, parked on the 36th floor, has gone to the 20th, 24th, 26th and 31st floors, which was largely harmless save for the Janitors occupying the 26th floor, which brought some clues to the Missiontakers.


    Elevator Two, parked on the 24th floor, has gone to the 18th, 20th, 21st and 22nd floors. The dangers are mounting, but it can be said to be around as dangerous as elevator One only. Tis is also where the Missiontakers are first introduced  to the Renovators.


    Elevator Three, parked on the 20th floor, has gone to the 17th and whichever floor they are on right now. They have found lethal dangers by now, and in fact it has already managed to wound them rather harshly


    Unlike dangers in elevators One and Two, which might be mitigated as long as you have good enough reflexes, elevator Three is markedly different.


    After the detailed explanation from the detective dalao, the audience is finally satisfied.


    ¡°got it! so like elevator four, shoo!¡±


    ¡°hmm I get this, but then whats the thing about someone manipulating the elevators?¡±


    ¡°I think I have an explanation, because if you look at the ¡®random¡¯ floors the elevators land on, there still seems to be a pattern somewhere, and so if it is as the detective dalao has analysed, then there is still some semblance of logic to be found.¡±


    ¡°i finally understand¡±


    ¡°but Beibei never mentioned the madmen under the 9th floor?¡±


    ¡°Beibei himself is on the 16th floor, so as an actor, he probably doesn¡¯t know about them either¡±


    ¡°¡­ oh fuck, yeah, then does that mean weve been misled by our Bei?¡±


    This is the exact dilemma faced by the Missiontakers.

 Volume 5 - CH 89.3

    Teen, Fei and Mystic are looking at each other in awkward silence, lost.


    Just like what Lin Qin said ¨C beyond the 9th floor, ascending up the stairs is impossible for anyone but him.


    Finally, Fei breaks the silence to suggest, ¡°if there really is someone controlling the elevators below the 9th floor, then the goal of leaving the building itself may have been a massive trap. All we need to do, is instead, resolve this Nightmare before the building collapses entirely.¡±


    Teen snickers, ¡°who knows. Maybe it is possible to escape? Let¡¯s just push random buttons in this elevator and push our luck.¡±


    Fei bites her lips to say, ¡°but there must be some serious danger on these lower floors, the madmen might be monitoring our every movement there¡­¡±


    Suddenly, she cuts herself short.


    That moment, a d¨¦j¨¤ vu she kept experiencing in the Nightmare so far fired up again, but this time, not in reference to anything in the Nightmare in particular¡­ But, between the Nightmare itself, and the Tower.


    The 1st floor of this building may be host to some madmen that are monitoring the whole situation. They have control of the elevators, and maybe they even have control over what is left of the surveillance system of the entire building, which wouldn¡¯t be too farfetched considering the elevators are still running.


    ¡­ Then, what about the Tower?


    All the Missiontakers agree that NE is an accomplice in whoever was behind it all, so, could it also have been monitoring the movements of the entire Tower¡­? From where?


    Before all this, Fei always believed firmly that NE is on the topmost floor of the Tower.


    Who was it that first suggested this, though? Honestly, now that she thinks about it, there isn¡¯t a single piece of evidence other than things like¡­ ¡®because that¡¯s where the antagonist¡¯s lair usually is.¡¯


    Why can¡¯t it be the bottom floor instead, though?


    The rumour¡­ Fei is nervously recalling the veracity of that claim that the exit to the Tower is on the bottom floor.


    If it¡¯s true, then¡­ All these years, the Missiontakers will have expended their efforts climbing higher and higher moot.


    If it¡¯s fake, then¡­ How, in the world are they even supposed to leave the Tower? Do they, keep going up what looks to pierce endlessly into the sky, or¡­


    She is gripping her fists so tightly her nails bite into her palms, until she is furrowing from her own pain.


    While these three Missiontakers are tearing their hairs out over somewhere beneath the 9th floor, and while Lin Qin and Wu Jian are staring blankly at the woman claiming to be the little girl¡¯s mother awkwardly, the three remaining Missiontakers are making good progress.


    They went to the 9th floor, and found the cargo elevator Mystic talked about.


    At the same time, they also saw the Mushroom inside the elevator.


    Unlike Mystic, who ignored him entirely, they tried communicating with him immediately for information. Perhaps their numbers are too intimidating, because the person would not open his mouth save for some broken syllables.


    The man¡¯s voice is hoarse and highly damaged, perhaps he has been crying excessively, or screaming excessively in fear. The Missiontakers have a hard time even trying to reimagine his original voice.


    The ¡®Mushroom,¡¯ curled up in the corner, says, ¡°I¡­ I hide, here. I know noth-nothing. The 9th, floor¡­ cannot, I must not go.¡±


    ¡°Must not?¡± Suits, quick on his feet, is able to grab the word, and he asks, ¡°do you know what it is like under the 9th floor?¡±


    The Mushroom merely widens his eyes in surprise.


    The Missiontakers exchange looks.


    Finally, the Mushrooms speaks up, ¡°I,,, climbed, up.¡±


    ¡°Climbed?¡±


    The man ignores the question entirely, merely explaining with this almost inaudible tone, ¡°down-, downstairs, a floor, of glass¡­ knives. I was in, e-le-va-tor, but, my feet, hurt¡­¡±


    The Missiontakers look down to the man¡¯s feet, and sees exactly that, with dried blood on his skin. There are also some very well-hidden, dark-coloured footprints on the equally dark ground. It is already solidified, and hard to notice.


    The man is still curled up at the corner, saying, ¡°my friends¡­ on that floor; we split, we were scared¡­ and, the elevator went down, and came, came back up, empty; I knew some-, something must have happened, to them.


    I did-, didn¡¯t go down, but, others still wanted, try, and, they said, maybe they were already, out. No¡­ it was, not. Im-pos-si-ble, I knew. It was.


    So, they went; I climbed up fa-, fa?ade here, through broken glass, and I stood on edge, on fence. I had, bad, str-, strength, and only 2 or 3 floors. I stopped¡­ I hid here.¡±


    Suits furrows his brows, and asks the important question, ¡°if you¡¯re already out of the window, then why didn¡¯t you head down directly? To leave the building behind?¡±


    The man suddenly shudders.


    That is a sign Suits asked something extremely important.


    Soon enough, the silence breaks, and the hoarse voice continues, ¡°I, because, saw bodies¡­ all the bodies¡­ outside. Hanging. The city, was burning, charred, charred dry; everyone¡­ is dead.


    My friends, who tried to leave. I saw, I saw them, thrown out; my friends¡¯¡­ bodies, were on the ground. The people throwing the corpses, yelled¡­ bored¡­ I did, did not, could not¡­ climb down.


    I must, hide, hide here¡­ it is safe¡­ I can, hide, forever¡­¡±


    Finally, the words trail into a murmur.


    Jiang Shuangmei turns to the scenery outside almost as soon as it was mentioned.


    A burning city.


    The fire charred the bodies of the people, and engulfed the city.


    ¡­ How?


    Where did this fire come from? What could the loud bang the little girl described have been? A nuclear weapon?


    Jiang Shuangmei is confused.


    Although then, she realises how futile she is being thinking about those. This is merely a Nightmare, what¡¯s she doing pondering its backstory? This is a background setting. It is to add authenticity and atmosphere.


    They are fake, manipulative tricks of the Server.


    The same way that Mystic cannot have been the little girl¡¯s mother, this apocalypse in this Nightmare, must also be fake.


    Jiang Shuangmei looks away, and calms herself by telling herself that.

 Volume 5 - CH 89.4

    Afterwards, the trio ask the ¡®Mushroom¡¯ for details on what he saw on the floors below; outside of how there¡¯s one elevator there, and the ground being littered with glass, though, the man seems to know nothing.


    Besides that, this person only knew that his friends were murdered downstairs and had their corpses thrown out. He knows nothing about who those perpetrators were.


    Suits then asks, ¡°what kind of office was it downstairs?¡±


    The Mushroom is staring blankly into the void for a while, before shaking his head, ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know. This, building. It was rented out, out to different, companies.


    There is a, con-struc-tion company above, and food, and real estate¡­ I think. And a waste, waste manag-, management company; they had, they gave, gave us brochures¡­ Yes. For meth-ane, when we, my, place, just moved in.


    But, I don¡¯t exactly¡­ no, not exactly know, what they do. When¡­ before, this, we would¡­ would not, hang out.¡±


    Suits asks him, ¡°what was your job?¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± The curled-up man thinks for a while before replying, ¡°it, was¡­ plants?¡±


    Suits stares at the man for a bit while thinking inside, and then nods to mutter, ¡°it seems these people¡¯s madness have to do with their original companies.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei also can¡¯t help but nod, but then asks, ¡°so what kind of company could it be below the 9th floor? They¡¯re murdering¡­¡±


    ¡°Who knows?¡± Suits then guesses, since they¡¯re inside of a game right now, ¡°maybe it¡¯s a game developer.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei also smiles at the joke.


    None of them notice that, when Suits said the phrase ¡®game developer,¡¯ the Mushroom on the ground showed a somewhat shocked expression.


    Suits decides not to dwell on the topic, as there must be some survivors in the building who knows about the 9th floor and below in detail, or this Instance would have been unwinnable.


    That said¡­ Teen and the others are exploring elevator Three, aren¡¯t they? They probably wouldn¡¯t be so unlucky that they¡¯ve ended up in those floors right? From the Mushroom¡¯s description, the situation seems quite dire once you go past the 9th floor.


    Suits shakes his head to move on to other thoughts.


    Meanwhile, Jiang Shuangmei asks, ¡°should we try this cargo elevator then?¡±


    Suits looks hesitant as his gaze shifts towards the control panel of the cargo elevator.


    There are still only eight numbers that are lit up on the panel; few, but it¡¯s double the passenger elevators, at least. Suits takes a deep breath and says, ¡°let¡¯s do it.¡±


    Yet, the moment he extends his hand towards the buttons, the ¡®Mushroom¡¯ who was all curled up into a ball on the ground suddenly yells out and grabs for Suit¡¯s hand while chomping his mouth repeatedly.


    Suits retracts his hand by reflex, then the man calms down.


    It seems his sudden madness was only to stop Suits from pushing the elevator buttons.


    Though, furrowing his brows, Suits was going to say something when suddenly, his eyes widen when he can see the ¡®man¡¯s form clearly, and he asks, ¡°you¡¯re a woman?¡±


    The extremely hoarse and almost burnt voice of the curled-up, horribly messy woman had them assuming. It is only when she stood up that the Missiontakers could discern her gender.


    While Suits wouldn¡¯t be so surprised whether she turned out to be a man or a woman in the first place, it is notable that, during the second run, Mystic took the little girl here¡­ into the cargo elevator, where the woman is, during some kind of trance.


    Jiang Shuangmei can¡¯t help but ask, ¡°you couldn¡¯t be that little girl¡¯s mother, could you?¡±


    The woman looked at the Missiontakers with eyes out of focus, but then seems to ¡®snap awake¡¯ all of a sudden to ask, ¡°you¡­ you¡¯re, talking about my daughter?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei nods, ¡°the little girl on the 31st floor. Is she your daughter?¡±


    The woman nods immediately, saying, ¡°yes! Yes! My poor girl! How is she? I didn¡¯t dare going up to look for her. There are dangers¡­ I didn¡¯t want the dangers getting to her¡­ the 31st floor is safe¡­


    How is she? Was she afraid? Did you see her? Did she run out of food? ¡­ Oh, my girl. She must be so scared to be there alone¡­


    And I, I couldn¡¯t even go look for her. It¡¯s too dangerous¡­ too dangerous down here¡­¡±


    Her hoarse voice now has the hint of sobbing. It¡¯s increasingly saddening.


    At least, Jiang Shuangmei is furrowing her brows at this scene of a family tragedy.


    Suits is much more detached to the whole thing, and asks, ¡°what kind of danger do you think you could bring to her? Why did you curl up here and not go up to look for her after climbing back up?


    Also¡­ The little girl was here, the cargo elevator of the 9th floor, earlier. She came here with one of our companions. She didn¡¯t recognise you.¡±


    The woman just asks, though, shocked, ¡°my girl¡­ she was here? When?¡±


    Suits then knows the woman doesn¡¯t have her memories of the second run yet, and feels his head throbbing.


    The woman said the little girl is her daughter, but her attitude is suspicious to Suits. Especially when it is true that the little girl couldn¡¯t even recognise her mother during the last run, even when she was brought here.


    Besides, if she really is so genuinely worried for her daughter¡­


    Then why didn¡¯t she leave the 9th floor and go up to reunite with her daughter? Dangers? Really?  And she didn¡¯t so much as ask about her daughter until they mentioned her in passing?


    Suits is doubtful whether she really is her mother.


    Read only at Travis Translations


    boilpoil''s notes:


    Surprise! It¡¯s kind of hard to do this twist of the gender because it¡¯s fine to actually say ¡®human¡¯ to reference some person when you don¡¯t want to specify a gender, but in English, trying to call someone a ¡®person¡¯ instead of ¡®man¡¯ or ¡®woman¡¯ or ¡®guy¡¯ or ¡®lady¡¯ once would be fine, but more than that would be suspicious already. So I decided to run with it instead. Anyway, otherwise, this part of the chapter showed the Mushroom would stop anyone from moving this elevator from where it is parked

 Volume 5 - CH 89.5

    Seeing the three Missiontakers remain quiet to her inquiries, the female Mushroom gets more anxious, biting her finger, pleading, ¡°did something happen to my daughter? Please tell me. I need to know, please.¡±


    Suits is unconvinced, telling her, ¡°if you¡¯re really worried for your daughter,¡± he says, sharply, ¡°then right now, you should be going to the 31st floor yourself.


    I understand not taking the elevators, but you can still take the stairs, can¡¯t you? Still, you remain in this cargo elevator, even trusting us strangers on whatever we tell you¡­ Why?¡±


    The woman explains, ¡°I cannot¡­¡± Her words turn increasingly vague, ¡°I don¡¯t dare. I must not leave this place. It is¡­ the rule.¡±


    The three Missiontakers are surprised.


    Jiang Shuangmei asks, bewildered, ¡°rule?¡±


    Suits examines her expression closely and says, ¡°if you really want to know what happened to your daughter, then tell us¡­ what rule?¡±


    The woman looks like she is mentally struggling.


    The Missiontakers are convinced this must be a piece of key information. If her daughter really is as important as she claims she is, then she should have told them immediately.


    But her hesitation and doubts, is telling the Missiontakers, that whatever she knew, it was possibly even more important than what a daughter could mean to a mother.


    That, or¡­


    Suits has an idea.


    Perhaps the woman really isn¡¯t the little girl¡¯s mother, after all.


    In any case¡­ What might that rule be?


    Finally, being stared down by the three Missiontakers, the woman slowly explains, ¡°I must stay here. It¡¯s¡­ the rule, for a ¡®Mushroom.¡¯ That is why¡­ I must stay.¡±


    The Missiontakers gawk at her in astonishment.


    She knows she is a ¡®Mushroom¡¯? Is she even really insane? Would any insane person have been able to diagnose their own insanity? A self-conscious madness?


    Yet the way she said it, there was no insanity, no cowardice, and no fear. She was like anyone who was sharing a little secret, quietly, but firmly, telling them what she knew.


    And¡­ She knows she¡¯s a ¡®Mushroom,¡¯ who has to abide by ¡®Mushroom¡¯s rules¡­ Is she merely putting on an act? What kind of strange setting does this Nightmare have?


    The three Missiontakers look at each other nonplussed, simultaneously baffled.


    The moment the woman spoke of the ¡®rule,¡¯ X¨¹ Beijin, sitting on the 16th floor, almost immediately sits upright.


    In a sense, of all the Nightmares in the Tower, this one, at least on the bottom floor of the Tower, is the only one he knows of that allows Actors to imply a sense of ¡®Acting¡¯ within.


    This means that, in this Nightmare, Actors are actually able to double-imply on their own assigned Acting roles, and it only comes down to whether the Missiontakers are able to pick up on that.


    That is because, in this Nightmare, the Actors, are Acting as the characters that are pretending to act like survivors. Put simply, it¡¯s Acting within an acting performance.


    Because of this set up with survivors acting themselves in this Nightmare, so in order to facilitate Missiontakers¡¯ progress through this Nightmare, the Actors can imply the ¡®rule¡¯ for this Nightmare in a certain sense. That is, the fact that they are acting as their respective assigned roles in this building.


    The Mushroom Actors Act as ¡®Mushrooms;¡¯ the Janitor Actors Act as ¡®Janitors;¡¯ the Cannibal Actors Act as ¡®Cannibals;¡¯ the sane survivors Actors on the 16th floor, Act as the ¡®Sane¡¯ in this building.


    In fact, before this, there were also parts of this Nightmare that shared qualities with the Tower itself. The frequent ¡®d¨¦j¨¤ vu¡¯s were not only limited to scenes in the Nightmare, but also outside, featuring the Tower.


    So, X¨¹ Beijin is sure that, if they are sharp enough, then perhaps they would be able to draw a connection between the similarities of the survivors of this apocalypse-ruined building, and Tower residents.


    Unfortunately, after the ¡®Mushroom¡¯ has said the ¡®rule¡¯ for this Nightmare out loud, the three Missiontakers do not look disproportionately surprised; then they sink straight into thoughts regarding this Nightmare.


    ¡­X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but lament the misfortune; if only it were Fei and Wu Jian here.


    The two conspiracist-Missiontakers, could certainly have gleaned much more information.


    Unfortunately, those present here are Suits, Jiang Shuangmei, and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹.


    All three, who have never had a reason to suspect the Tower residents.


    X¨¹ Beijin sighs and buries his emotional stirrings away to calm back down.


    Before him, Lin Qin and Wu Jian are discussing what to do next.


    More accurately, Wu Jian is explaining his plan, while Lin Qin is asking X¨¹ Beijin, whether that plan is feasible.


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Wowzers. This actually is his first time ever seeing someone treat the Tower residents as Missiontakers.


    He can¡¯t help but recall how, what the Missiontaker who crossed him way back in the past said, was actually right all along. He really is like some outsider that is pretending to be a Tower resident¡­ At least, in Lin Qin¡¯s eyes.


    Speaking of, there are probably also only two groups of people in this world in Lin Qin¡¯s eyes.


    One group, consisting of himself and X¨¹ Beijin; the other, consisting of every other moving object.


    X¨¹ Beijin is having a devil of a time concentrating to be honest, so he merely replies, ¡°I feel like his plan is pretty good.¡±


    Wu Jian suggested that searching for the little girl can definitely take place alongside exploring the building.


    The last run, Lin Qin and Fei didn¡¯t have time to go through all the floors between the 16th and 9th thoroughly, so this time, instead of blindly searching for the little girl, they could get something important done as well.


    With X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s seal of approval, Wu Jian quickly nods to reaffirm his position, ¡°yeah, we don¡¯t even know where the little girl could be even if we want to search.¡±


    Lin Qin also nods.


    That, though, is when the ¡®mother¡¯ of the little girl, standing beside them, yells out, ¡°wait! No! Search for my daughter first! Please go look for her first!¡±


    Wu Jian is surprised, and merely remarks, ¡°then why don¡¯t you go look for her yourself?¡±


    The woman falls silent.


    X¨¹ Beijin also watches in silence, feeling like the woman is building a lead-up into the matter of ¡®Acting¡¯ any time soon. She is an Actor Acting as a character who is trying to pretend to be a sane survivor, so by that ¡®rule,¡¯ she cannot leave the 16th floor.


    Just as ¡®Mushrooms¡¯ cannot leave where they are hiding, unless they are forcibly, threateningly, removed from where they were, like a certain other Mushroom Lin Qin handled before.


    Unfortunately, and to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s great disappointment, the woman did not mention the ¡®rule,¡¯ and instead, merely walks quietly back to the side, standing there in silence, even reverting to how she looked merely mildly concerned previously.


    Wu Jian is still staring at her, confused.


    That is when he realises that something must be terribly wrong here. The woman definitely didn¡¯t look like she didn¡¯t love her daughter, then why, would she not search for her at all, even when it is clear she may be in great danger?


    Then, inevitably, he wonders, is this woman really the little girl¡¯s mother? What kind of mother is she even being, here?


    Unlike the woman on the cargo elevator, though, she didn¡¯t mention the ¡®rule,¡¯ and so, all Wu Jian can do is merely stay confused at her, until finally, he shakes his head and turns his attention elsewhere.


    Lin Qin has already said his goodbyes to X¨¹ Beijin, and is walking towards the emergency stairwell. Wu Jian hurriedly follows.


    Yet, the moment Lin Qin¡¯s hand grabs onto the door handle of the 16th floor, their visions go out.


    The Nightmare has restarted.


    Wu Jian opens his eyes, even more baffled than he was.


    So, this time, who died?

 Volume 5 - CH 90.1

    Did Not See


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    It¡¯s quite obvious that those who died were the three Missiontakers below the 9th floor.


    Almost as soon as the Missiontakers opened their eyes, Teen, Fei and Mystic all started breathing heavily, while they recovered themselves from their intense fear.


    Especially Teen, who, unfortunately, has already seen his third death in this Nightmare so far. He really isn¡¯t doing too well.


    Resurrections do not mean much when the feeling of death is so genuine. Having died three times in rapid succession, the Missiontaker¡¯s face is so pale, he looks like he could faint at any time.


    Suits is furrowing his brows looking at the trio, and asks, ¡°what happened to you?¡± Then, he adds, ¡°did¡­ the three of you all die together? What happened?¡±


    A bit later, Fei has finally reoriented herself enough.


    She gradually reveals how they discovered elevator Four under the 9th floor, saying, ¡°we concluded we were trapped, so we were not sure what to do.


    That is when, though¡­ one elevator¡­ suddenly, arrived on our floor out of nowhere.¡±


    Suits is shocked, asking, ¡°there¡¯s one more elevator?!¡±


    Fei nods, telling everyone, ¡°there are seven elevators in total in the building.¡±


    ¡°How did we miss the seventh elevator shaft in the first place?¡± Suits is mystified, continuing, ¡°we¡¯ve thoroughly looked through¡­ wait, was it, like an elevator installed for the 9th floor and below?¡±


    Fei seems to be thinking and then concurs, ¡°I suppose the company there added it themselves for their staff only, the staff being¡­ the madmen on the 9th floor and below for now.¡±


    Fei clearly looks terrified when she mentions those madmen, seemingly having been through much trauma dying in their hands.


    Teen takes another deep breath, and having recovered, he follows up with a nervous, impatient tone, seeing Fei stopping, ¡°the elevator is situated a corner away from elevators One, Two, Three and Four.


    The floor was basically pitch black, so we didn¡¯t notice there being an additional elevator at all¡­ Regardless, those people just suddenly popped up, and said things like¡­ ¡®you¡¯re making it boring just stopping here,¡¯ ¡®the game can¡¯t continue like this¡¯¡­


    Then, they killed us.¡±


    The information the three Missiontakers gathered with their lives is certainly significant, significant enough that the rest of the Missiontakers all exclaim, ¡°a game?!¡±


    Suits then says as a flash of brilliance strikes him, ¡°a game, and considering the ¡®Rule¡¯ the woman was referring to¡­¡± He looks awfully unamused as he concludes, ¡°so it really was a game company below the 9th floor?!¡±


    Fei hurriedly asks, ¡°what do you mean by ¡®Rule¡¯?¡±


    Seeing Suits quite absorbed in his thoughts, Jiang Shuangmei takes over to explain what they saw happen in the cargo elevator on the 9th floor, and the rules about ¡®pretending,¡¯ and also, her claim of being the little girl¡¯s mother.


    Jiang Shuangmei then casually remarks, ¡°so if we want the Nightmare done, we can just take the little girl to¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?!¡± Wu Jian cuts her off with a tone of astonishment, ¡°she, she said she¡¯s the little girl¡¯s mother? Then who was the woman dalao Lin Qin and I met on the 16th floor?!¡±


    The other Missiontakers look confused, so he quickly tells them what happened to them on the 16th floor, and also realising something, ¡°a ¡®Rule¡¯? Could it be that her Rule is that she cannot go look for her daughter, like the woman in the cargo elevator¡­ Are sane survivors unable to leave the 16th floor maybe?¡±


    Teen is having information overload, and after a bit of reorganisation, he focuses on the big issue, asking, ¡°so why would there be two people claiming to be the little girl¡¯s mother?¡± Then he murmurs, ¡°no, wait, in the second run of the Nightmare, Mystic already took the little girl to the 9th floor.


    If that woman there really was the little girl¡¯s mother, then the Nightmare could have already ended; why did the little girl not recognise her mother? That makes no sense!¡±


    He is thoroughly confused.


    For now, the Missiontakers are all baffled by what has happened so far.


    While they wanted to look for the little girl¡¯s mother, they failed; when they wanted to see if Mystic can be a substitute for the role, two people jumped out, both claiming to be the little girl¡¯s mother.


    Is this Nightmare¡­ for real?


    Suits is furrowing his brows, when he suddenly remembers something important, and quickly says, ¡°regardless, we have a problem; we must stop the little girl from wandering around.¡±


    Lin Qin, having no interest in listening to analysis anyway, tells them simply, ¡°I¡¯ll go.¡±


    Then he quickly dashes for the stairs.


    Suits glances over at Wu Jian, thinking he might be following after Lin Qin as usual, but for some reason, he seems to be absorbed in some thoughts, not noticing Lin Qin leaving at all.


    Suits knits his brows, but, seeing everyone else also absorbed in their thoughts, he decides to let Lin Qin go alone; anyone could fall victim to the insanity in the building, except Lin Qin, with that physical prowess of his.


    What has Wu Jian completely stunned, is Fei¡­ Or more precisely, what Fei just concluded.


    After Jiang Shuangmei told everyone about the ¡®Mushroom,¡¯ Fei was visibly blanking out. When Wu Jian was too overwhelmed and looked towards Fei for help, he noticed Fei murmuring.


    ¡°Pretending? Acting?¡±


    Fei¡¯s voice was extremely quiet, her lips barely moving. If Wu Jian wasn¡¯t standing right next to her, he probably couldn¡¯t have discerned what words she was even muttering.


    Fei keeps going, ¡°Acting in a Nightmare? In a Nightmare¡­ Dreaming¡­ in a Nightmare?¡±


    Her memories flash right back into her last Nightmare, where she acquired information on this Nightmare from Mu Jiashi; the Nightmare was a ¡®dream within a dream,¡¯ a format Fei had never experienced, which piqued her curiosity.


    And now, this Nightmare.


    Fei¡¯s thoughts detracted momentarily, and Wu Jian remained confused.


    Fei continued muttering, ¡°a dream in a dream¡­ a performance in a Nightmare¡­¡± slowly, the word are rearranged, ¡°a performance? An act¡­ An act in an act.¡±


    The last phrase her mind landed on has her silently gasp. She turned visibly distressed¡ª¡ªWhat in the? Why is she linking up the two Nightmares like so?


    A nightmare in a Nightmare; a scripted plot in a scripted plot.


    There are Nightmares in the Tower¡­ but, are there scripts, in the Tower?


    Fei¡¯s teeth were chattering. The pain was flashing through her forehead. Her brows were deeply furrowed. She was wide awake.


    Her hands were trembling, her fingers a death grip on Wu Jian¡¯s, making him feel the same pain. He looked at her, wondering what was going on.


    ¡°An act in an act!¡± Fei yelled at him in a whisper, ¡°an act in an act! A dream in a dream! Do you get it?! An act in an act! Those Tower residents! In the last Nightmare, that Nightmare owner¡­


    We convinced him of the futility of torturing his nemesis in his own nightmare with barely a few words¡­ Do you not find that suspicious?! The Tower residents¡­ Nobody suspected them!¡±


    Wu Jian, staring right at her, slowly turned pale; he seemed to slowly understand what Fei was implying.


    He looked like he had his soul sucked out of him as he muttered, ¡°no, no way¡­ no damned way¡­ how could something like that¡­¡±


    Fei¡¯s throat was parched, she was breathing even more heavily than before. With trembling lips, darting eyes and a hopeless gaze, she said, ¡°we¡­ us, we¡­ humans¡­ no, impossible¡­ all those years¡­¡±


    Fei is overwhelmed by disbelief.


    When she saw the madness of the people in this building earlier, she already thought that these madmen resembled the Tower residents somewhat. Yet¡­ That sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu¡­


    These mad people are merely Acting! It¡¯s all play pretend!


    Then, those Tower residents¡­ are they, also, Acting?


    Fei murmurs, ¡°it¡¯s fake, all of them, fake¡­ Who, are they?¡±

 Volume 5 - CH 90.2

    On the 16th floor, through the stream, X¨¹ Beijin is able to see Fei and Wu Jian¡¯s reactions first-hand.


    Are they finally having an epiphany? He wonders.


    They probably worked out that Tower residents are Acting, but, have they managed to make the logical leap to question whether the Tower residents are just as human as they are?


    Given Fei and Wu Jian¡¯s ability to connect dots, if they also take into account how Missiontakers can feel an inexplicable, unrecallable sense of familiarity in specific, corresponding scenes in Nightmares; if they also take into account the strange dynamic that has been going on between Mystic and the little girl¡­


    If they take into account, the very fact, that this whole Nightmare was thrust into prominence because someone overheard a Tower resident¡­


    Then, it may not be too difficult to cast doubt on Tower residents, perhaps.


    This is also one of the reasons why X¨¹ Beijin asked Dai Wu to spread the news of this Nightmare on the bottom floor.


    Not just to attract Missiontakers¡¯ attention over this Nightmare with the apocalypse as its central theme, but also more importantly, to cause them to realise and question the incongruity of the Tower residents¡ª¡ªto imply the existence of the Actors.


    He could have asked Mu Jiashi, who already knew of this Nightmare, or even Lin Qin, instead of any Tower resident, but he asked Dai Wu for it instead.


    Because this very Nightmare is one which can persuasively cause Missiontakers to suspect Tower residents, to make them conclude that the Tower residents are Acting there.


    And naturally, it¡¯s fortuitous the apocalypse and how it is portrayed here is the way it is.


    So now, it seems the key development, of forcing these Missiontakers, who have ignored Tower residents¡¯ plight and their paradoxical nature for so long, to discover the ¡®truth.¡¯


    Speaking of which, X¨¹ Beijin is aware that this suspicion has probably already happened on higher floors.


    Because Actors, if they want to ascend the floors, they need to be a notable force themselves in helping Missiontakers resolve their Nightmares.


    Any action taken will leave behind clues, however obscure.


    Like that Actor in the last Nightmare with the ruins, who was probably extremely desperate, enough that the Missiontakers could also notice his strangeness.


    The more experienced Missiontakers on the higher floors must also have noticed the fact that they seem to be helped along by Tower residents, but the most logical conclusion they should make from that is that this is the game¡¯s way of assisting the players who have already worked things out.


    Eventually, though, the strangeness may pile up in just the right manner that one of them will realise that there is something wrong with the Tower residents more fundamentally as NPCs.


    What X¨¹ Beijin did, is give them a push.


    If they really are going to escape the Tower, then this massive rift and barrier driven between the Missiontakers and Actors must be mended. They must realise that they are their same species, their same kin, their companions who are equally trapped in this bedamned Tower.


    That is what would give them a fighting chance.


    That is the only way that¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin takes a deep breath sitting on his seat, and quietly looks out at the city burning outside. His gaze is settled, calm.


    He has been to this Nightmare numerous times, but since the Actor who is this Nightmare¡¯s owner has succumbed to her role, the Nightmare has rarely ever opened again. The Missiontakers probably lost interest in this Nightmare then.


    Perhaps those Missiontakers who were the regulars of the bottom floor back then would be baffled to find the current Missiontakers suddenly gaining renewed interest in this Nightmare they¡¯ve since left alone for a long time.


    The demographics of the active Missiontakers and Actors of the bottom floor have already changed dramatically. Maybe the former will rush into this Nightmare. Maybe, X¨¹ Beijin would be summoned into this Nightmare to Act quite often from now on.


    Right now, though, staring at the burning city, at the blinding flames, at the cloudless sky, X¨¹ Beijin is sure he does not want to enter this Nightmare again.


    Not a single bit.


    He slowly closes his eyes, and the dryness of his eyelids covering over his eyeballs brings a searing pain that makes him reflexively twitch.


    He puts his hand on his eye, and lets his eyelids open up again after a while.


    He knows he can wish all he want¡ª¡ªBut that is meaningless.


    What he wants is meaningless, and useless¡ª¡ªHe does not want to be trapped in the Nightmare. Not at all. But would ¡®not wanting¡¯ let him out?


    He does not want into the Nightmares, but would the Server¡ª¡ªNE, let him?


    Things are never decided by someone wanting or willing to do something.


    All the years of silence in which he never spoke a word of what he knew, because he is powerless. He hates himself for it, hates his powerlessness, hates his inability to bring change to this predicament.


    He wants to, but he cannot.


    And so the pain is long and deep. Torturous. For years, in every sleepless night, in every smoky morning, in every summon into Nightmare, where he sees the apocalypse, sees Missiontakers, sees other Actors¡­


    And watch them, with sober, melancholic eyes, as they plunge into an abyss they do not know of.


    And be powerless to stop them.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s thoughts digress further and further as he sits with a poker face there. It is like there is some kind of devil stretching itself in his mind.


    All the mess of things, those he wants, or never wants to remember again, those that he forgot, or never managed to forget¡­ Are welling up.


    Here, look, everything is coming together. Fei and Wu Jian are probably questioning the Tower residents¡¯ identity already. They might try to prove it soon enough.


    What you set out to do, you¡¯ve done it.


    So what¡¯s with all the pessimism? Why are you still wallowing in pain and desperation? Why are you refusing to see the hope?


    ¡­ X¨¹ Beijin puts his hand to his chest, to ask, if he can really see hope in front of him right now.


    Finally, he concludes, he cannot.


    How depressing. How suffocating. How hopeless is the word ¡®hope.¡¯


    Calmly, peacefully, exhaustedly, he sighs.

 Volume 5 - CH 90.3

    About the same time that X¨¹ Beijin had drawn his depressing conclusion, the door to the emergency stairs of the 16th floor was pushed wide open with a bang. Lin Qin is here with the little girl.


    In Lin Qin¡¯s simplistic mind, he doesn¡¯t care which of the women on the 9th and 16th floor is the real mother of the little girl. He just has to take the little girl to the both of them and force a conclusion that way.


    So he rushed down to the 31st floor, and happens to run right into the little girl who is sneaking out of the floor, and grabs her right to the 16th floor.


    The little girl has not put up much resistance, and was pretty quiet being carried the whole way down the flight of the stairs. Now, he puts the little girl down to take her into the 16th floor.


    Almost by reflex, he glances over at X¨¹ Beijin before he looks around for the woman who claims to be her mother.


    Though the moment he glanced over at X¨¹ Beijin, he stopped. His heels turn on the spot to barge right for X¨¹ Beijin, and the little girl follows along, looking dumbfounded.


    Lin Qin asks X¨¹ Beijin, ¡°are you feeling ill?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, confused, asks, ¡°what?¡±


    Lin Qin examines X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s appearance, and says frankly, ¡°you just look¡­ pretty unwell,¡± then he changes his words after thinking for a moment, ¡°or more, unhappy?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin blinks in response.


    Lin Qin explains, ¡°I just feel like you¡¯re not happy. My instincts say so,¡± then he tilts his baby-face to ask, ¡°what happened? Can you tell me?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin remains quiet, not answering immediately.


    He wonders why Lin Qin is thinking so.


    So Lin Qin continues regardless, ¡°I¡¯m worried about you,¡± then, perhaps in a stroke of genius, he adds, ¡°it¡¯s probably because I like you, that I care about you so much?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He looks over at the little girl by Lin Qin¡¯s side, who is staring at him with pure, innocent eyes. It makes X¨¹ Beijin feel extremely awkward.


    Embarrassed, he says, ¡°there¡¯s a kid here!¡±


    That topic is a big no-no.


    Lin Qin narrows his eyes and turns to the little girl.


    She blinks, and makes a meek smile.


    Lin Qin stares at her for a bit before turning around to call the woman who claims to be her mother here, and tells her, ¡°here, your daughter; keep an eye on her, and make sure she stays out of adult business.¡±


    The woman looks utterly baffled, ¡°adult¡­ business?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Oh, bollocks to this!


    Go like the little apple all you want! He doesn¡¯t like him or care about him anymore, ok?!


    The little girl looks at Lin Qin, then at X¨¹ Beijin, then at the woman¡­ and seems completely lost, asking, ¡°are you my mommy?¡±


    Lin Qin looks at X¨¹ Beijin again to ascertain his condition, and thinks for some time, before telling him, ¡°we¡¯ll talk about this later, after the Nightmare is done. I¡¯ll come by yours.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin calmly, and speechlessly, nods.


    Lin Qin then crouches down to be on eye level with the little girl to ask her, ¡°do you not remember your mommy?¡±


    He hasn¡¯t much common sense, but he isn¡¯t dumb; the little girl¡¯s behaviour here obviously implies that her relationship with her mother, and her mother¡¯s identity, are no simple matter.


    The little girl shakes her head, and looks a bit more anxious now, saying, ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know. Mommy told me to stay; she gave me this bracelet.¡±


    Lin Qin looks at the bracelet on her wrists. It¡¯s still the one given by Mystic.


    Lin Qin is confused; does this mean Mystic is her mother?


    But then, why would Mystic not know about this before?


    X¨¹ Beijin looks at the little girl in thought. Then he looks over at the woman, whose face is stiff and is merely standing to the side as ordered by Lin Qin, not at all joyous in response to her ¡®daughter¡¯ appearing, or at all saddened when the little girl didn¡¯t know her.


    She merely stands there quietly. In fact, she even looks somewhat impatient.


    When faced with questions beyond him, Lin Qin subconsciously turns to X¨¹ Beijin, and then, noticing where he is looking, turns to the woman, of the sane survivors.


    He tilts his head, examining the woman, and then, something seems to have joined the dots in his mind, and he asks, ¡°is it also part of the ¡®Rule,¡¯ for you to admit being the little girl¡¯s mother?¡±


    The woman is clearly astounded with how wide her eyes are. She looks at Lin Qin, almost like she is looking at some last straw to clutch onto for dear life.


    She asks, ¡°do you know? You know what¡¯s happening in this building?!¡±


    Lin Qin, as his honest self, replies, ¡°not very clearly, no.¡±


    The woman¡¯s spirits visibly dampens hearing so.


    She looks down at the little girl, at her innocent face, and suddenly, and wrathfully, scolds her, ¡°shit, shit¡­ why must we all stay here to play house with you?! Shit, why?!¡±


    The little girl is clearly terrified, and mutters, ¡°what¡­ play house¡­?¡±


    ¡°Listen,¡± the woman glances all around with this nervous expression, as if some pair of invisible eyes is watching her, and she says, ¡°I don¡¯t know how much you know.


    Lin Qin raises his brows at her, and asks with an inquisitive tone, ¡°so, what happened?¡±


    ¡°This building,¡± the woman explains, ¡°on the 9th floor and below, is a game company. Actually, the entire building is theirs, but they leased the floors they didn¡¯t use.


    After that¡­ I-don¡¯t-know-what happened, just something, maybe it¡¯s the end of the world, I don¡¯t know, but it wasn¡¯t just physical, it was mental.


    And so those people downstairs went mad. They changed how the elevators moved, and blew the stairs up to lock us in.


    Then they turned the entire building into some kind of game¡­ You know? That game they were developing, something that was similar to what is happening right now.


    An apocalypse that traps an entire building of people in, with many people having gone insane and dangers all around. The elevators¡¯ circuits were fried, and so led people to random floors¡­ It was some kind of roguelike game, with randomness being the whole point.


    Everything we experience in the building is from those insane people who modified it all to fit with their game.


    And the plot of the game, is a little girl trapped on some floor, and the protagonist¡­ the protagonist of that game they made, the player character¡­ must take the little girl, and find her mother¡­ you know, the kind of generic action RPG plot.


    So¡­ hell, the apocalypse really came, and those people¡­ just went bananas! They treated their game as reality! They modified the entire building and forced us to play the roles of those madmen and characters in the game!


    Some people who were forced to pretend ended up so mentally disturbed they also went insane. The Cannibals, Renovators, Janitors, they¡¯ve all nuts now; I suspect it is only us on the 16th floor, and those Mushrooms who are hiding, that still remembers who they are.


    We couldn¡¯t¡­ we couldn¡¯t, there was no way to escape. They blocked the roads, they control the elevators. Climbing down outside¡­ Even if we climbed, they would still grab us on the 1st floor and send us right back¡­


    I heard they were even adding multiplayer elements in the game; not teaming up, but what each player encounters in the building affects others¡¯ progress. They can help or hinder each other¡¯s progress¡­


    God knows if they can actually implement the thing in reality. Jesus, are we even going to have to act as players? I¡¯m at my wit¡¯s end here¡­


    They¡­ We, we¡¯re all going crazy¡­¡±


    The woman¡¯s words turn into a murmur; her body is shaking. She is still fearful and hopeless, but she also seems to have lifted a heavy weight off her chest for revealing the truth.

 Volume 5 - CH 90.4

    As the woman spoke, the comments have started pouring in nonstop onscreen. Listening to the woman in front of him, X¨¹ Beijin also finds his attention divided catching up with the comments. He sure felt busy.


    ¡°oh fuck me!!! thats the truth of the building!¡±


    ¡°no wonder the missiontakers affected each other when they separated¡­ this must be that ¡®multiplayer¡¯ feature!¡±


    ¡°I can finally understand!¡±


    ¡°but like¡­ you know, this feels so arbitrary¡±


    ¡°only taking the little girl to this floor will trigger this most important info? and if they have to play the game as designed by that company, the players had to take the little girl with them to even be doing the main quest properly?¡±


    ¡°¡­ oh man, can it get any more railroady?¡±


    ¡°this building sure is interesting¡­ no, this apocalypse sure is interesting¡±


    ¡°all I can say is that thank goodness its all just a game¡±


    ¡°ah, but are you referring to this game outside? or this game inside? [doge emoji]¡±


    ¡°oh stop it! im gonna end up with game PTSD¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin skims through the discussion and then glances back at Lin Qin, who is listening to the woman carefully.


    Although looking at his expression, X¨¹ Beijin is half sure the young man has become lost in all the buzzing.


    So after the woman has finished speaking, Lin Qin is quiet for a moment, before asking clearly, ¡°so, according to this game, where would the mother of the little girl actually be?¡±


    He didn¡¯t understand anything the woman was implying, but that¡¯s fine. He just needs a concrete answer.


    The woman tells him, ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she explains, ¡°from what I¡¯ve heard, they haven¡¯t actually implemented the mother in their game yet, so none of us know where she is supposed to be according to the game.¡±


    Lin Qin furrows his brows and looks towards the little girl, asking, ¡°you say that this little girl is a game character? Then where did this little girl come from?¡±


    There is¡­ also the photograph. Is this Nightmare one that mixes up both the game and reality?


    The woman says, ¡°this mother-daughter pair is actually inspired by real people, an employee in the game company and her daughter fit the bill for the cast perfectly, they say, so they were the prototypes put into the developing game.


    When that whatever happened, the mother-daughter pair might have been in the building too. They¡­ would probably have gone mad, and thought themselves truly the characters of this game.


    Well, I can¡¯t say for this girl, actually, but her mother is definitely insane¡­ She is probably one of those people below the 9th floor now, and¡­ she actually abandoned her own daughter


    They even said that the woman put one of their companies¡¯ group photo on the 20th floor on purpose before going back down, probably for the game¡¯s setting¡­ ha. What a lunatic she is¡­¡±


    Listening the woman¡¯s story, X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but look over at the little girl.


    She is definitely a very mature and smart little girl, but her insane mother has left her alone on the 31st floor. Missiontakers would have been unlikely to sympathise her as well.


    ¡­ That, was the apocalypse.


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but wonder, a physically destructive apocalypse, and a mentally destructive apocalypse, which would be more devastating for humanity?


    Then, looking at the burning city outside, he wonders again ¨C what if, both happens at the same time?


    Lin Qin does not seem at all bothered by the little girl¡¯s tragedy, instead, he furrows his brows to ask, ¡°so you know who her mother is supposed to be, then why would any of you claim to be her mother?¡±


    The woman takes a deep breath to yell out, ¡°because it¡¯s set up that way!¡± She adds, ¡°the game hasn¡¯t implemented the mother yet, so the role is left hanging, which means¡­ the plot could be assigned, to any single woman in the building!¡±


    Lin Qin blinks, seemingly confused.


    The woman, staring intently at him, like she¡¯s trying to say something beyond what her words entail, ¡°¡­ even if, that woman is the protagonist, the player of the game.¡±


    Lin Qin remains quiet for a moment, but fails to understand what she was trying to imply. Instead, he asks, ¡°how do you know all this?¡±


    The woman, looking definitively deflated, says, ¡°I was also part of the game company, but I wasn¡¯t part of the team working on that game,¡± then she sniggers, ¡°madness¡­ madness as far as the eye can see¡­¡±


    Her tone turns rather sinister as she continues, ¡°that woman left her own daughter to die, and let the brat go accost new moms wherever she went.¡±


    That malice in her tone is even spooking the little girl, who tries to shrink herself behind Lin Qin¡¯s back.


    Lin Qin, meanwhile, merely stares at her, nonplussed. Impatient, he is about to drag the little girl back out when he notices the little girl¡¯s trembling body. He glances at X¨¹ Beijin, and stops himself, in spite of his irritation.


    He is thinking that he shouldn¡¯t let his rude and unsympathetic side show in front of his love.


    ¡­ Yes, he has a hunch that this is the way it is.


    He thinks about it more carefully; before, he used what X¨¹ Beijin liked to appeal to him when he wanted X¨¹ Beijin to fight him. So now, if he wants X¨¹ Beijin to like him back, it seems logical to assume what has worked before will continue working.


    And it seems most people do not like when others show malice to other people.


    ¡­ Like this woman in front of him, who is so filled with hatred she is barely holding herself back from lashing out at an innocent girl.


    The woman has poured all the information she knew like beans into Lin Qin¡¯s mind. Then, glaring at the little girl one last time, she goes back to where she was, leaving them with a very stiff ¡°I do wish you can make it out of the building; that is when, we will also see salvation.¡±


    When her glances brushes past X¨¹ Beijin, he swears he could almost see a desperate plea in her expression.


    Thinking about what she said last, he is pretty sure the female Actor was attempting to implicate the Tower when talking to a Missiontaker, but unfortunately, her only listener being Lin Qin, he would be unable to make damning connections in his mind.


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but feel helpless as well.


    Not that he is putting any blame on Lin Qin whatsoever.


    When the woman has left, the little girl stands back out from behind Lin Qin¡¯s back, standing there quietly, and looking at the two adult men in her presence with wide eyes and tilting her head.


    Lin Qin glances at her then back at X¨¹ Beijin, knitting his brows to ask, ¡°now¡­ I¡¯m taking her to the 9th floor?¡± Then he stops, and realises something, adding, ¡°oh right, you don¡¯t know yet¡­¡±


    Then X¨¹ Beijin sits there speechless as Lin Qin explains what happened to each group of Missiontakers the last run.


    The viewers are delighted with amusement.


    ¡°Bei, karma bites for lying to the little apple [doge emoji]¡±


    ¡°Bei, I know you¡¯re a bad guy now, you even lied to someone as honest as the little apple [doge emoji]¡±


    ¡°oh my Bei, the little apple must be interested in you! look, he¡¯s trying to come up with topics to talk with you, do you not see?!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, reading the comments, feels even more lost.


    Lin Qin is trying to talk to him on purpose?


    Is he really, now?


    X¨¹ Beijin watches Lin Qin¡¯s poker face closely. He can see some hints of confusion there from the difficulty of this Nightmare, but he¡¯s still unsure. Given Lin Qin¡¯s current emotional quotient, it is likely he would be unaware even if he was doing so.


    ¡­ Hmph, let¡¯s just put it down as ¡®impossible.¡¯

 Volume 5 - CH 90.5

    After Lin Qin has finished recounting what happened to the Missiontakers the last run, he asks with a straight face, ¡°so, what do you think I should do now?¡±


    Calmly, openly watching X¨¹ Beijin, he looks like he would really do anything X¨¹ Beijin tells him to. Like he said, in the Nightmare, and even in the Tower, he only trusts X¨¹ Beijin alone.


    So he would ditch his companions without a second thought and look for X¨¹ Beijin, to ask for his advice.


    ¡­ Not that he would have had the patience to deal with them regardless.


    But so what? A chance to interact with his love is not to be squandered for anything. His instincts allow him to ignore all obstructions, doubts and hesitations and get to the point.


    Lin Qin is pretty sure he likes X¨¹ Beijin. Yes.


    In his life, there has never been someone like X¨¹ Beijin. His black-and-white, fleeting memories have been largely replaced by X¨¹ Beijin alone, now.


    That eyesore of a little speck of light has now already turned into something inalienable from his whole world; X¨¹ Beijin is already part of what makes Lin Qin, Lin Qin.


    So Lin Qin would say, could X¨¹ Beijin just come and go in his mind as he pleases? Of course not.


    For the empty cave is filled, and echoes rebound ceaselessly.


    X¨¹ Beijin appeared. He made him care for him, so¡­ it¡¯s normal for Lin Qin to feel that he likes him, yes?


    Thus, he escaped all other lines of thought and meaningless confusions. That is who he is. Straightforward, simplistic, ploughing through problems like a storm, instead of thinking.


    And his conclusion has been--©¤©¤If everyone says his actions can only have been motivated by romantic affection, then obviously that makes his motivation romantic affection.


    This means he likes X¨¹ Beijin.


    He will worry for his body, wonder about his likes and dislikes, want to impose on his life, wish to indulge in times spent with him, wander to his side subconsciously¡­


    So, he must like him. Yes.


    Lin Qin continues the internal monologue as he watches X¨¹ Beijin.


    --©¤©¤Without a doubt, he likes him.


    Lin Qin is happy and actually gloating a little in his expression. See how hard he thought about the problem, and has come up with a satisfactory answer?


    In his empty world, is now finally, a refreshing, vibrant splotch of colour.


    He likes how it feels. He likes how it feels like when he likes X¨¹ Beijin.


    He watches X¨¹ Beijin, looking like he could keep staring, staring, staring, until their lives are extinguished.


    X¨¹ Beijin, meanwhile, has goosebumps all over from the stares. He has been on the receiving end of the gaze for a long time now, whether it was when Lin Qin bugged him to fight, or when Lin Qin confessed to him out of nowhere.


    X¨¹ Beijin is used to it, but right now, at this very moment, he finds Lin Qin¡¯s gaze somewhat¡­ diabetically sweet.


    He takes a deep breath, and tries to shake what must be his imagination playing tricks on him out.


    Instead, X¨¹ Beijin decides to focus on the Nightmare at hand.


    He looks at the little girl to think, then finally says, ¡°perhaps you could try to take the little girl below the 9th floor.¡±


    Lin Qin blinks, and blurts out, ¡°fight fire with fire?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡­ If you really have to say so¡­


    ¡°¡­ Yeah, kind of.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, not having anything better to reply with, says.


    Lin Qin tilts his head to ask, ¡°do you not happy with what I said?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin tries to clarify himself, ¡°I feel like that analogy isn¡¯t too keeping in with reality, but it is quite the compelling imagery¡­¡±


    Lin Qin simply, cheerfully responds, ¡°then I¡¯ll just not use it,¡± and he switches the topic to praise X¨¹ Beijin with a genuine tone, ¡°you¡¯re amazing, I didn¡¯t think of that method at all.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡­ Oh bugger off! Are you even Lin Qin anymore?! What is that supposed to mean? Give me back the real Lin Qin!


    X¨¹ Beijin is now looking at Lin Qin like looking at a monster.


    Lin Qin returns the gaze with confusion.


    The little girl is looking up at the two of them, seemingly confused but inquisitive.


    While they are having a staring contest, the rest of the Missiontakers have finally hurried their way to the 16th floor all the way from the top floor.


    Along the way, they looked at the 31st floor and the 20th floor, where the photograph was, but nothing fruitful turned up.


    That is when Wu Jian suggested, ¡°the dalao might have found the little girl and took her to the 16th floor.


    ¡°Possibly,¡± Suits nods but then asks, ¡°why are you sure it¡¯s the 16th and not the 9th?¡±


    Wu Jian ¡°¡­¡±


    He awkwardly smiles. Haven¡¯t you heard about the fiery rumours on the bottom floor? You already know the target of his affections is on the 16th floor¡­


    Though, that said, have they actually told Suits it was the bookstore owner on the 16th floor that they talked to¡­? Right, no. Suits couldn¡¯t have known even if he knew the rumour.


    Talking behind the dalao¡¯s back is not exactly on Wu Jian¡¯s mind, as he¡¯s kind of terrified of Lin Qin¡¯s fighting strength. He keeps his mouth shut on the matter in spite of his urge to share, and merely tries to explain Lin Qin as he understands him, ¡°Lin Qin dalao is a pretty straightforward guy. So, if he found the little girl, he¡¯d probably head for the closest floor with a woman claiming to be the little girl¡¯s mother; I would have done the same if it was me, I think.¡±


    Suits nods and says, ¡°I see, that makes sense,¡± he then counters the point, ¡°but if he really did take the little girl to that woman, then the Nightmare should have ended. So¡­ What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Fei then suggests softly, ¡°regardless, we can go and check the 16th floor first.¡±


    And also, she thinks, she has some¡­ things, she would be interested in conversing with the bookstore owner about.


    The mysterious bookstore owner. The Tower resident with a fearsome reputation on the bottom floor, with a Nightmare that not a single soul knows about¡­ Could he be keeping some enormous secret hidden?


    As soon as Fei realised a problem with who the Tower residents really are, she has been dying to talk to X¨¹ Beijin.


    Regarding¡­ regarding, what she has decided to label ¡®Acting.¡¯ Regarding her guesses.


    So, the Missiontakers have arrived on the 16th floor.


    Lin Qin was just about to take the little girl down below the 9th floor, but with the other Missiontakers here, he decides to stop and wait.


    Then he tells them what the woman explained briefly, which allows them to finally grasp what happened in this Nightmare.


    Suits looks at the little girl and murmurs, ¡°it looks like only taking the little girl with us to explore would have yielded the most information.¡±


    Fei nods and glances over at Teen before hesitantly suggesting, ¡°so, if we brought her below the 9th floor¡­¡±


    Hearing that, Lin Qin says with a kind of kindred pride, ¡°Beijin also told me to take her below the 9th floor.¡±


    Beijin?


    Those who know X¨¹ Beijin looks at him with seriously odd gazes; those who don¡¯t, noticing the others¡¯ gazes, also look at X¨¹ Beijin with bafflement.


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Finally, he has experienced what it feels like to commit social suicide, he thinks, with a poker face expression.

 Volume 5 - CH 91.1

    Look at what Lin Qin has done here.


    Involving a Tower resident in their thing directly, and declaring so openly.


    Does he think it¡¯s so impressive to ask a Tower resident for help or something?!


    ¡­ Actually, looking at Lin Qin¡¯s face there, he¡¯s not only being impressive, but even gloating.


    The whole place is shrouded in a mist of awkwardness, like a random lovestruck guy barged in on some serious work setting, and is currently very inappropriately showcasing his affections for his target to the entire world.


    The Missiontakers who know of Lin Qin¡¯s ¡®love¡¯ to X¨¹ Beijin, like Fei, Wu Jian and Jiang Shuangmei, are all casting rather complicated gazes in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s direction, so much so he¡¯d like to bury his head in the ground.


    What else could he do, though, but sit there like nothing has happened?


    ¡­ Yes. This is average NPC #01 of the game. An artificial AI knows nothing. No.


    Suits is the one to break the awkward silence, saying, ¡°that works, but¡­¡± he glances over at Mystic and says, ¡°should we let Mystic try it? We might be able to end the Nightmare like so.¡±


    They made that decision in the third run of the Nightmare, but it¡¯s already the fourth run now. Keep going, and more unknowable crumbling may be in place. Whether they should even try for a True End at this point is the Missiontakers¡¯ call.


    The Missiontakers look at each other, and no one objects.


    Here, no one is paying attention to how Lin Qin is still staring in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s direction with narrowed eyes.


    Fei is walking towards X¨¹ Beijin.


    She wants to communicate with him, over the Tower residents. She is too distracted to even notice Lin Qin¡¯s gaze. After giving Wu Jian a heads-up, she sneaked over. The rest of the Missiontakers are focused on Mystic, and take no notice of her.


    She¡¯s now in front of X¨¹ Beijin.


    X¨¹ Beijin sits there calmly, looking up at her.


    He interacted with this Missiontaker once last Nightmare, and that¡¯s it. X¨¹ Beijin saw her many guesses shared with Wu Jian through the stream, and is aware of how imaginative and perceptive they are.


    So he knows that, as soon as Fei realised the question with the Tower residents, she would have come for him.


    ¡­ X¨¹ Beijin is at least aware of his own reputation on the bottom floor of the Tower.


    Fei, standing in silence, finally breaks it to ask, ¡°in this Nightmare, are you all just Acting?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, looking at her with the calm and coldness she is familiar with from the last Nightmare, tells her, ¡°¡­ life is like a performance, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Fei then quietly mumbles, ¡°and so does performance imitate life.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Oops. Maybe he shouldn¡¯t have tried to speak cryptically.


    He lifted his own image on so high in the beginning that X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t even sure how to continue this conversation from here.


    He knows that Fei is probably suspecting the Tower residents are ¡®Acting,¡¯ the same thing the survivors in this building are nominally doing. They could be forced to take part in this survival game under coercion, too.


    Yet, of course, it could still merely only be a setting in a game.


    In the escape game, ¡®Escape,¡¯ where the NPCs are ¡®Acting,¡¯ as per the game¡¯s settings. NE is their final boss¡­ Something like that.


    So X¨¹ Beijin has to convince Fei that, in fact, Tower residents, the Actors, are the same humans, the same species as them, the same players in a game as them.


    So he knocks on the desk with his finger, and suddenly breaks out a smile to say, ¡°in fact, are you not also playing the part of the players of the game in this building? Acting is merely one other way of participating in the game¡­ to become a player within.¡±


    Fei seems lost.


    ¡°You are the players in this game,¡± X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°and so are we.¡±


    Fei continues staring at him blankly, until suddenly, all colours drain from her face.


    She is looking at X¨¹ Beijin with fear and confusion. She opens her mouth, but no words come. She is even fearing that the words X¨¹ Beijin told her would be gone from her memory the next second¡­ Like¡­ Is this seriously something that could be told?


    All these years, and no one has ever suspected the Tower residents. Yet right now, right here, in a simple sentence from X¨¹ Beijin, she has been told the truth? These Tower residents¡­ They, they are not merely the NPCs in a game?!


    They are equally players?!


    Is this what X¨¹ Beijin wanted to tell her?


    He is definitely referring to the ¡®game¡¯ taking place in the building on the surface, not necessarily the ¡®game¡¯ ¡®Escape,¡¯ right?


    But¡­ but¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s eyes, that are so deep, so serious, so lifeless, are staring right into her. No, no¡­ He must be implying something. He has chosen his words to mean exactly what he wants them to. He is not referring to this Nightmare alone. He is trying to use this Nightmare to tell her some¡­ information, that he cannot talk about.


    Fei is thinking more deeply about what X¨¹ Beijin just implied.


    She opens her mouth, and says with this dry tone, ¡°perhaps¡­ perhaps¡­ I might know what you mean¡­ I, no, I mean¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, looking at her gently, tells her, ¡°you don¡¯t have to push yourself here. You know who I am on the bottom floor,¡± then he smiles again, telling her, ¡°no? You can come see me when you need to.¡±


    Fei falls silent, and nods, then returns to the Missiontakers in a daze.


    Then, when she has finally adjusted herself, and listens in on the Missiontakers¡¯ discussion on information related to this Nightmare, she finds a morbid hilarity taking over her thoughts.


    Obviously, they are laughable thoughts stemming from some the position on her high horse¡­ These Missiontakers know nothing. That is why they can only see what is right in front of them.


    Yet, the fact that they know nothing, is what is making Fei feel ridiculous.


    She bites her lips tightly, afraid that the next second, the tears she has been holding back down her throat would come pouring out alongside her emotional clutches, and she would be reduced to a mindless, sobbing mess.


    Wu Jian, seeing her like this, asks worriedly, ¡°Fei, are you alright?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ No, I¡¯m not,¡± Fei makes a bitter smirk, and adds, ¡°but¡­ but, I¡¯m better than I have ever been.¡±


    The truth is excruciating, but for people who pursue truth at all cost like them, knowing the truth here, is the best result they could have asked for.


    Fei is willing to live with the excruciating pain and open eyes; she finds no bliss in ignorance.


    She thinks about it some more, before taking a deep breath to focus back on the Nightmare at hand. They should be out of this Nightmare soon, and she will have plenty of time to think about it all back in the Tower.

 Volume 5 - CH 91.2

    Fei watches Mystic walk in front of the little girl, and kneels.


    Her usually unfocused, soulless eyes are staring intently at the little girl, who has her head raised, nonplussed, looking right back at her.


    Mystic then looks at the bracelet on the little girl¡¯s arm, and suddenly asks after a bit, ¡°do you remember me?¡±


    The little girl blinks her eyes, confused.


    Mystic says, ¡°I gave you the bracelet,¡± she points to the little girl¡¯s wrist, and says, with as gentle a tone as she can muster, ¡°before, on a floor above.¡±


    The little girl stares at her for a bit, and replies, ¡°¡­ then you left me behind.¡±


    That is when some sort of indescribable pain seems to have overcome Mystic; she is screaming, but there is no voice. She is feeling so much guilt towards the little girl, but there is also an odd feeling like these emotions should not belong to her.


    Finally, she faces the little girl.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she says, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t want to either.¡±


    The little girl stays silent. Her expression remains unmoved.


    She continues staring at Mystic without a word; it seems Mystic¡¯s answer was not what she wanted.


    What should people do to get through to a little girl, one that was abandoned and left for dead by her mother who has gone off the deep end? More importantly, what must they do to count as having resolved the Nightmare? What counts as the True End?


    Mystic also stares at the little girl, until, a very, very long while later, she murmurs, ¡°I think I understand¡­ how to solve this Nightmare now,¡± she pauses, and adds, ¡°a True End.¡±


    She stands back up with wobbly feet.


    Teen can¡¯t help but ask, ¡°how?¡±


    Mystic explains, ¡°this building, is the physical manifestation of a game. To achieve an Ending in this Nightmare¡­ We either get to an Ending for the Nightmare, or, get to an Ending for the game in the Nightmare.¡±


    The other Missiontakers are completely bewildered.


    Suits looks at the little girl, seemingly in thought, before pointing out, ¡°this little girl must be the Nightmare¡¯s owner.¡±


    By this point, this is a certainty; the Nightmare revolves around her. She is the co-protagonist of the game that is being developed, and also, the little girl that was abandoned by her mother in reality.


    ¡°She has confused fiction for reality,¡± explains Suits, ¡°or possibly, at her young age, she is unable to tell whether her mother abandoning her was because of the effects of the apocalypse, or her actual, genuine will. She ends up confusing what happens in the game for this because of that.


    Possibly, in that game¡¯s development, the little girl heard about contents of the game while participating with her mother and working with the development; she might have come across the storyboard again when she grew up.


    Mystic answers without a shred of doubt, ¡°her mother.¡±


    Suits looks at her.


    Right now, Mystic looks like she had come to understand everything, and even looks, somewhat ashamed; she seems to be empathising with the mother figure, if not outright starting to identify as the little girl¡¯s mother.


    Suits is furrowing his brows. Are Nightmares on the bottom floor already supposed to have this kind of effect?


    On the higher floors, sure they are used to them, and when they wake back up from the Nightmare, sometimes they even end up feeling like an age has passed, and they are no longer themselves.


    Why would this Nightmare on the bottom floor also feature this kind of effect?


    Thinking of the rumours he¡¯s heard about this Nightmare on the bottom floor, Suits is having complicated thoughts.


    The Nightmare¡­ The building, the Apocalypse, and those survivors and madmen. Could these really be related to the Tower itself?


    He might not be thinking about them as deeply as Fei has, but he is also getting worried deep down.


    Mystic keeps going regardless of other Missiontakers¡¯ actions, saying, ¡°she needs her mother¡­ her mother¡¯s promise, her mother¡¯s presence. She wants her mother never to abandon her, never to leave her alone under that dark, cramped space of the office desk.


    In the Tower, even if the little girl has grown up into an adult herself, she is unable to let go of the trauma she felt being abandoned. She hides away in dark corners, crying, curling up, refusing others¡¯ attempts to approach her¡­


    Because, she is still waiting for her mommy to come pick her up¡­¡±


    Mystic concludes, with her signature, slightly off-putting tone.


    Teen coldly sniggers, though, saying, ¡°for all we know her mother is probably dead,¡± he then expands on his previous idea, and says, ¡°in that case, if we can convince her that her mother is already dead¡­¡±


    Mystic says, ¡°then that would be a Bad End, wouldn¡¯t it?¡±


    Teen pauses, and knits his brows.


    He doesn¡¯t seem offended being rebuked. Instead, it seems to have sparked some thoughts in him, as he widens his eyes to murmur, ¡°so death¡­ is a Bad End?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei, looking at him, and looking back at Mystic, asks, ¡°so this is what you refer to, by the Ending of the game in this Nightmare?¡±


    Mystic nods.


    Then Jiang Shuangmei starts explaining with some confidence, ¡°if that game¡¯s main questline involves taking the little girl and looking for her mother, then there must be some sort of gameplay challenge, either in the form of a time constraint, or in other material conditions¡­


    For example, the little girl¡¯s mother will face danger and die in a certain length of time; the main quest will fail if she is not found in this timeframe.


    And, if I were this Nightmare¡¯s owner¡­¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei is looking rather meaningfully at the little girl, and says, ¡°I will definitely not wish, that my most important family would pass away.¡±


    Her tone is filled with complex emotions. After saying that, she finds it too difficult to continue speaking, and lowers her head and eyes.


    It¡¯s easy to empathise with the little girl for her. Of course it is. Objectively, her mother abandoned her by her own volition then, but the little girl probably didn¡¯t have the mental capacity to comprehend what her mother was doing.


    So it could really be as simple as the little girl still waiting in vain for her mother to pick her up; it might not be until she has matured and grown into an adult that she finally figured out, oh, she was actually abandoned.


    Out of the Nightmare, she is a grown-up, mature form; in the Nightmare, she is still the young, na?ve little girl.


    A childhood trauma she has yet to treat.


    A gradual, numb sort of pain that throbs only in time. In her Nightmares.


    But, it is most probable still that the little girl would not wish for the person she is still waiting for to be dead. She is waiting for an ultimately futile hope, but, it is still a hope.


    The Missiontakers fall silent for a while.

 Volume 5 - CH 91.3

    After the silence, Teen asks, ¡°so, how will we get a True End?¡±


    Mystic says with an unusually calm tone, ¡°I already know,¡± she looks at the other Missiontakers, then at the burning city outside, and at the survivors gathered on the 16th floor, she again says, ¡°I really know¡­¡±


    She crouches down to the little girl¡¯s level, and caresses her on the head. Then, she touches the little girl¡¯s bracelet, and tries to smile as gently as she could, saying, ¡°my good girl, mommy is here to pick you up.¡±


    The little girl merely stares blankly, like she hasn¡¯t yet registered this properly, before shortly emitting a happy yelp and going, ¡°mommy! Mommy, you¡¯re finally here!¡± She hugs her mother tightly, and says with this tearjerking tone, ¡°you were so late¡­¡±


    Mystic caresses her hair some more, and promises, ¡°mommy will never leave you again.¡±


    The little girl nods happily.


    That is when the Server¡¯s announcement comes.


    ¡°Congratulations on achieving the Nightmare¡¯s True End. Please choose whether to ascend to a higher floor: Yes/No¡±


    The Missiontakers have their eyes widened in shock.


    So, from the very beginning, to the bitter end, all the little girl wanted, was for her mother to come back for her; and if possible, to never leave her behind again.


    Fei and Wu Jian are standing around the spawning point on Respawn Avenue. They look around themselves.


    Suits and Teen are gone, probably having chosen to go back up the floors, as expected. Whether they would come back in the future is unknowable.


    Lin Qin, well, he¡¯s been on the bottom floor for as long as anyone knew.


    The rest of the Missiontakers present are surprises, though.


    Missiontakers of the bottom floor like Jiang Shuangmei and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ who choose to remain behind even if they can go up are rare enough; the most shocking one is that Mystic is also here!


    She chose to stay?!


    Didn¡¯t she also say out loud she was going up if she got a True End when the Nightmare began? What happened?


    Mystic has noticed Fei and Wu Jian¡¯s surprise, so she makes a forced smile and explains, looking away, ¡°I promised her¡­ I would never leave; she is my daughter.¡±


    Fei knits her brows immediately.


    Wu Jian, insensitive after the high intensity mental workout, simply goes, ¡°that¡¯s just for the Ending in the Nightmare¡­¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡± Mystic shakes her head and interrupts Wu Jian.


    The paranoia and cryptic aspects of her seem to be fading. In fact, the calm and much more reliable aura around her¡­ Is making her resemble the woman in the photograph in the Nightmare more and more.


    She explains, ¡°it¡¯s different. If I really went up to a higher floor, I would have abandoned her again¡­ Perhaps, I already did so in the past, but it was in the Tower¡­¡±


    Wu Jian is speechless, and can only conclude, yup, Mystic is still that mystic.


    Fei falls into thought, though, and looking at her, she can¡¯t help but speak up, ¡°what if¡­¡±


    But then, she cuts herself off.


    Mystic is tilting her head at her, but also doesn¡¯t ask further questions. She parts with them to look for her daughter, and leaves the respawn point.


    Wu Jian¡¯s gaze darts between Mystic¡¯s silhouette and Fei; he¡¯s confused.


    Fei asks ,¡±what if she was really the mother of that little girl?¡±


    Wu Jian reflexively denies the possibility, saying, ¡°that¡¯s impossible! She¡¯s¡­ she¡¯s, a Tower resident¡­¡±


    Fei then smiles bitterly, and says, ¡°what if¡­¡±


    Once again, she cuts herself short.


    What if the Tower residents are all simply Acting? If Mystic was the little girl¡¯s mother, then¡­ what about in the Tower? Could the little girl, who is the female Tower resident, actually be Mystic¡¯s daughter?


    Is she acting as her daughter? Or maybe, has she lost her mind and thought herself¡­ Or, could she really have been Mystic¡¯s actual daughter?


    Is Mystic, the little girl¡¯s actual, biological mother?


    Fei shakes her head at her mind full of the questions.


    There are no answers. They want an answer, and maybe their lost memories contain an answer, but if their memories are lost, then could they still find the answer?


    ¡­ Could Missiontakers and Tower residents really be related? Is that an actual possibility?


    Wu Jian looks rather frightened and nervous, saying, ¡°but, if¡­ If that really is true, what your conclusion was, then¡­¡± He murmurs, ¡°drastic changes will be coming.¡±


    Fei says calmly, ¡°very few people will buy it; we don¡¯t even have proof. At least, those words alone won¡¯t be enough proof in others¡¯ eyes,¡± then she proposes the absurd that just popped into her mind, ¡°if only a Tower resident would jump forward to prove who they are¡­¡±


    Wu Jian seems to find it morbidly amusing to imagine, saying, ¡°that will never happen. If they really wanted to¡­ Then why has none of the Tower residents ever come forward to say something? It¡¯s been so many years¡­¡±


    Fei says, ¡°it could be because of NE.¡±


    Wu Jian opens his mouth, but he finds himself unable to come up with a counter-argument.


    Finally, dejected, he says, ¡°if it really were because of NE, then we couldn¡¯t even know the truth anyway.¡±


    Fei bites her lips while falling into thought. Then, she says, ¡°no¡­ not necessarily. We¡¯ll go to his place first.¡±


    ¡°His place?¡± Wu Jian asks curiously, ¡°¡­ the bookstore?¡±


    Fei replies, ¡°oh, no¡­ I mean, Mu Jiashi,¡± she pauses as she walks away from the respawn point with Wu Jian, before continuing, ¡°Mu Jiashi has also been to the Nightmare before and achieved a True End. I¡¯m curious to hear his experience.¡±


    Wu Jian looks puzzled, ¡°you think there might be a difference in what he went through?¡±


    Fei says, ¡°who knows. Nightmares don¡¯t necessarily have only one True End.¡±


    Wu Jian nods.


    It is true that True Ends, or rather, methods to achieve a True End is not necessarily limited to one; in fact, if the paths taken were sufficiently different, the effects they might achieve, and other details, might end up different.


    That is also why Planners are having it pretty hard recently.


    Nobody can ensure that the ones purchasing the walkthroughs would be able to replicate it without problems even if they think they are following the steps precisely; Nightmares are also notorious for unexpected surprises that interfere with replication.


    Recently, with how Missiontakers of the bottom floor have been rushing upwards so madly, even Golddiggers had quite a lot of business, but the Planners still had mediocre business all along.


    With the effects on achieving a Nightmare Ending so uncertain, not many would be willing to spend a great deal to buy a walkthrough for a Nightmare, even if it has been certifiably reproduced.


    By the way, another way the ¡®effectiveness¡¯ of the walkthrough can be seen is through the lottery draw at the end of the Nightmare.


    It can be said to be a hidden score of sorts, with people having used utility cards to ¡®cheat¡¯ in the Nightmare worsening the quality of the draws in the end.


    The way the Ending is achieved, especially the means employed by the Missiontakers during that, would also factor significantly into the lottery.


    Well, of course, these are all speculation; nobody knows exactly how NE evaluates them. If they tried to pry too much into it, the question then becomes, is NE actually keeping an eye on them at all times.


    The answer to which is quite possibly, ¡®yes.¡¯


    So Missiontakers are prone to burning out, like the topic of the ¡®Apocalypse¡¯ that was the only thing anyone talked about for some time that quietly ended up buried and made into a taboo. Discussions surrounding NE also died down similarly.


    Along the way to Mu Jiashi¡¯s house, Fei and Wu Jian both quietly move away from topics relating to Tower residents and Acting; maybe it¡¯s an instinctual feeling, but they feel like, compared to back in the Nightmare, here on the bottom floor of the Tower, they feel closer to NE, somehow.


    Fei once again wonders if NE could actually be on the bottom floor instead.


    Nobody knows.


    They¡¯re finally at Mu Jiashi¡¯s place. Before they entered the Nightmare, Fei and Wu Jian have already talked with him many times, and so obviously they¡¯d know where he lived.


    What is unexpected, though, is that Mu Jiashi is not home.


    While Fei and Wu Jian is looking for him, Mu Jiashi is actually heading for X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore¡­¡¯s opposite side, where Su Enya resides.


    He knocks on the door, which swings open. Then, he enters this Tower resident¡¯s house. He stares closely at the woman with her back to the wall and crouching on the ground, hugging her thighs tightly.


    He tells her, ¡°I¡¯m here to talk¡­ about, the Apocalypse.¡±

 Volume 6 - CH 92.1

    Equivalent?


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Su Enya.


    The female Tower resident who is well-known, more thanks to her neighbour being the bookstore owner, than herself.


    Years back, when the Missiontakers of the bottom floor assembled outside of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore, quite a lot of Missiontakers also set their sights on Su Enya, wishing to learn more about X¨¹ Beijin from her.


    However, besides Mu Jiashi, no one else succeeded.


    Not that it means they left empty-handed, but they instead had information on Su Enya¡¯s Nightmare instead of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s.


    Information which Mu Jiashi exchanged for using the information he found out on the Nightmare with the ruins earlier.


    ¡­ Information, on her Nightmare.


    A lot of people have been in her Nightmare and know about the apartment complex and commercial complex with the sentient pieces of electronics. Yet, he found out that there didn¡¯t seem to be anyone who has ever resolved this Nightmare.


    The True End?


    Nobody knew.


    Perhaps those Missiontakers who achieved it have already moved on to the higher floors, but it is still quite odd for the bottom floor not to have a single piece of information on that, thinks Mu Jiashi.


    Why is information on this woman¡¯s Nightmare so scarce when he actually investigated? There isn¡¯t even a single clue hinting at what the True End is?


    The consensus seems to be that electronics turn sentient in the Nightmare, and many know that Missiontakers also end up as things after dying. This is probably the reason why none of the Missiontakers dare to explore her Nightmare again.


    Why is that the case, though? How did that strange phenomenon even come to be?


    Nobody knows.


    Her Nightmare, like the tens of thousands out there, were left alone, until¡­ she suddenly disappeared.


    Nobody knows when she left the bottom floor of the Tower, as after the Missiontakers have lost interest in X¨¹ Beijin, so did the interest in his neighbour dwindle, and nobody would even be watching her movements in the first place.


    She disappeared suddenly one day.


    Now, after several years, she suddenly reappeared, here on the bottom floor of the Tower.


    The mysterious woman¡­


    Mu Jiashi stares at her, and then slowly speaks up, ¡°¡®I fear so many, yet the only exception, would be death.''¡±


    Su Enya, crouching on the ground, with her back to the wall, seemingly finding safety only in such a posture, quietly replies, ¡°that is how it is.¡±


    After a moment in silence, Mu Jiashi says, ¡°if you knew the sentence, then you should know the Nightmare as well, and¡­ you would know that, when I learnt what happened in your Nightmare¡­¡±


    ¡°You would be reminded of a Nightmare on a higher floor,¡± Su Enya says, quieter this time.


    ¡°¡­ You are a resident of the bottom floor of the Tower,¡± Mu Jiashi says, ¡°why would you know anything about a Nightmare on a higher floor?¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡±


    Mu Jiashi, knitting his brows with his fingers quietly, stares at her.


    Of course not.


    Tower residents¡­ True, Missiontakers can see them making guest appearances in others¡¯ Nightmares, but it is limited to Tower residents who are on the same floor. A resident of the bottom floor of the Tower would only ever appear in a Nightmare on the bottom floor.


    There are no exceptions.


    As for Tower residents commuting¡­ True, they knew Tower residents would disappear from their floors inexplicably, but could it really have been such a big coincidence?


    There have been a scant few rumours that someone met Nightmares that were uncannily similar on different floors, but outside of that one rumour, nobody ever jumped out to declare themselves as having met the same thing.


    Mu Jiashi, looking at Su Enya, is also sure, that he did not see this woman  in the Nightmare on the higher floor either.


    ¡­ Something does not add up.


    He hesitates before speaking, ¡°I want to talk about the Apocalypse with you.¡±


    The woman quietly asks, ¡°what do you want to know?¡±


    ¡°It is split into two types, right?¡± Mu Jiashi says, ¡°a physical one, and a psychological one. In your Nightmare, it was the latter. People would become electronic appliances¡­¡±


    Su Enya remains quiet.


    ¡°¡­ In the Nightmare, people also went mad¡­¡±


    Su Enya says, ¡°in the Tower, mad people are everywhere.¡±


    Mu Jiashi stops his words abruptly.


    He knows Su Enya must be implying something, but he is not sure what that is. More importantly, what does that have to do with her Nightmare, and with that Nightmare on the higher floor?


    Su Enya is now looking up at her, but after a while, she seems disappointed, and gently says, ¡°you do not understand yet¡­ you do not. You resolved the Nightmare, but, you have yet to resolve the most fundamental issue at play¡­¡±


    Mu Jiashi furrows his brows, and feels frustrated inside.


    After he has convinced himself of being a loser, he is more and more unwilling to admit that he, in fact, did resolve the Nightmare. He had a True End, but it was meaningless, because the True End was too much for him to bear.


    A truth that he discovered, that he understood.


    He says, ¡°if you really are trying to clue me into something, then you should simply stop talking in riddles with me.¡±


    Su Enya replies, ¡°but you also know, that that is only a clue. I cannot tell you the truth directly. Nobody can,¡± her tone is almost pitiful when she says, ¡°when I saw you on the bottom floor in the past, I realised it was an opportunity, but¡­¡±


    Looking at him, her eyes are in a deep, melancholic sorrow.


    Mu Jiashi stands there, and simply asks with a solemn tone, ¡°in any case, that sentence¡­ how did you come to know?¡±


    In the end, what Mu Jiashi is most concerned about, is why a Tower resident of the bottom floor is able to reproduce the words of a sentence from a Nightmare on a higher floor. The mysteries surrounding this woman only came to his attention when he investigated her.


    Mu Jiashi is extremely confused about her.


    ¡°You believe I merely ¡®know,''¡± says Su Enya, with a complicated expression, and with her eyes staring straight at Mu Jiashi as she continues, ¡°but, why is it not possible, for ''I'' to have said the exact same words?¡±


    Mu Jiashi is in shock, ¡°you¡­!¡±


    Su Enya lowers her eyes and says, ¡°I can say nothing more on the matter.¡±


    Mu Jiashi stands there, and stares deeply at Su Enya. He thinks he understood something, but he cannot believe it. He murmurs, ¡°so you¡­? It¡¯s because¡­ of the Nightmare? Of the, game?¡±


    Su Enya does not answer his question.

 Volume 6 - CH 92.2

    Not having received an answer from Su Enya, Mu Jiashi remains quiet for a moment, before parting with her and leaving the house.


    He can see the bookstore opposite, but he decides not to knock, because he is too shellshocked and flabbergasted right now. He cannot hold any intelligent conversation.


    His mind is a mess. How could it be? How could it possibly be?


    Su Enya, and that woman in the Nightmare¡­ They¡¯re the same? How? Why did she end up¡­ Why¡­


    Mu Jiashi returns to his house, mired in his own thoughts.


    He happens to just miss Fei and Wu Jian; if they met, Fei and Wu Jian would certainly have been able to answer some of his confusion, unfortunately, they didn¡¯t see each other.


    When realising that Mu Jiashi was not home, Fei and Wu Jian wasted no time in moving on.


    The top priority is relaying the problems with the Tower residents to members of their organisation, especially their founder.


    While Fei is writing down her hypotheses, Wu Jian is excitedly muttering to himself, ¡°this is definitely a big one! A never-before-realised¡­ Terrifying¡­¡±


    Having written down several lines by now, Fei asks, ¡°have you realised it yet?¡±


    Wu Jian, surprised, asks, ¡°what?¡±


    ¡°Assuming they do have such baggage dragging them down,¡± says Fei, using vague words, ¡°then, how come they have never tried anything for so many years? Or rather, they must have tried, but they failed.¡±


    Wu Jian looks shocked.


    But after a while, he sighs, and repeats the phrase, ¡°they tried, but they failed.¡±


    ¡°Could the Missiontakers have failed to understand what they mean, or¡­¡± Fei seems hesitant to suggest, ¡°that?¡±


    ¡°I suppose the truth getting out is something that¡­ NE will definitely try to stop,¡± replies Wu Jian, bitterly smiling as he continues, ¡°that¡­ or possibly, none of us just ever thought in that direction, because who could have suspected, NPCs in a game¡­¡±


    Fei remains silent.


    Yeah. Who could have thought that the NPCs in-game could be their kin?


    Presumptuous assumptions meant that to this point, nobody knew that in those ages long past, whether those insane Tower residents ever tried to hint at their own identity, or maybe they simply fell victim to the madness.


    Fei said, ¡°that woman on the 16th floor¡­ She said, they were first pretending to be mad, but some of them eventually became truly insane.¡±


    Wu Jian opens his mouth, and murmurs, ¡°but, if they really were one of us¡­ Then why would there have been that difference in the very beginning? When we¡¯re¡­ all players in this.¡±


    If the Tower residents and they, the outsiders, are both players, then why did they have to face such stark differences in the situation from the very beginning?


    Fei¡¯s thoughts are firing up. The Tower. The Nightmare. The Apocalypse. There were forms of the Apocalypse¡­


    She quietly wonders, ¡°what if, it was actually more than one single Apocalypse in the first place?¡±


    Wu Jian is staring at her blankly; he doesn¡¯t get it.


    Fei shakes her head and frankly says, ¡°we have zero proof of that; it¡¯s all only speculation,¡± she puts on an equally bitter smile while bitting her lips, but still decides to say, ¡°we might be simply overthinking it.¡±


    Everyone else may treat their speculation as mere conspiracies. Only they themselves are convinced they are reliable, scientific, rational deductions. Yet Fei can¡¯t help but wish, but plead, that it was merely overthinking, merely overanalysis.


    Otherwise, oh lords, how hopeless must it all have been for the Tower residents?


    Fei shakes her head and gives up thinking. She finishes writing her analysis on paper, and then folds it neatly, before retrieving a utility card from her pocket.


    She carefully, meticulously separates the utility card; after all, the utility cards are still mere physical cards that can be damaged or torn. This is exactly what Fei has done, separating the pieces of paper making up the card into two stacks, solely for transmitting information.


    She puts the piece of paper in the gap created, before reattaching the sides of the utility card. From the surface, other than some creases, the utility card looks good as new.


    She repeats this whole process two more times, creating three such utility cards, and then draws a small, inconspicuous marking on the corner of the utility card.


    Then, she stands up to tell Wu Jian, ¡°I¡¯ll be going. Check on Mu Jiashi once again, see if he¡¯s there. I¡¯ll go there once I¡¯m done.¡±


    Wu Jian nods.


    Then they leave their house behind.


    Wu Jian heads for Mu Jiashi¡¯s house once again. It¡¯s in a far corner of Respawn Avenue, but it is convenient that it can be reached merely by following Respawn Avenue along all the way.


    On the way there, he brushes past a female Missiontaker. The person felt slightly familiar to him, so he reflexively turns his head around to her silhouette, but he is unable to recall the person¡¯s appearance anywhere in his memories.


    Wu Jian mutters, slightly bewildered, ¡°did I mistake her?¡±


    It was actually Jiang Shuangmei.


    In the last Nightmare, she adopted the identity of Liang Shuang, having used her utility card, but it did not change the physique of her, that is why Wu Jian noticed her looking somewhat familiar.


    She¡¯s hurriedly passing by Respawn Avenue for Lin Qin.


    In the last Nightmare, Lin Qin once said that, as he wanted the Nightmare resolved quickly, he can help the each of the rest of the Missiontakers present once, within his capabilities.


    They did not manage to promptly resolve the Nightmare, so Jiang Shuangmei does not know if Lin Qin will still make good on that promise.


    But she is at the end of her rope. She has to try it.


    When Jiang Shuangjie disappeared, Jiang Shuangmei was practically a toddler with riches beyond her control, flashing her wealth inadvertently wherever she went; the decadent Missiontakers were highly interested in the utility cards they once amassed, so they quickly approached her; it was an ¡®alliance¡¯ held flimsily together, but it did form into some kind of coherent force.


    Jiang Shuangmei never forgot, however, that they were here for the utility cards her older sister left behind.


    She might be a brute, but she¡¯s not that dumb. She quickly sorted her companions into who she thought reliable and those that are not, and formed a small clique with the former, while trying her best to avoid familiar acquaintances in the latter. She even moved houses.


    Yet, she clearly didn¡¯t have eyes for people as good as she thought she had.


    The simple Jiang Shuangmei, scouted in that Nightmare from before, alone, having bought into the excuses from those who she thought were her reliable companions.


    Yet when she quickly came home to report, she realised that her house is emptied; all the utility cards her older sister left behind, have been taken away wholesale.


    Now, the only utility card she had left on her, was ¡®the Devil¡¯s Mask,¡¯ what she actually took away from her older sister¡¯s killer.


    She stood there expressionlessly; she might have been thinking about things.


    She knew that it was probably ¡®the Devil¡¯s Mask¡¯ whispering, deceiving, and trying to corrupt her again, even if she finds what it is saying endlessly appealing.


    ¡­ Why? How?


    Oh, she was truly useless.


    Her older sister is gone; she was not even able to protect what her older sister left behind. Who she thought reliable were equally opportunists who rose to the occasion for the utility cards. Now, she is alone. Once again.


    So¡­ lost, confused, she wondered, what to do now.


    After a bit, her empty brain suddenly recalled, that promise from Lin Qin.


    She knew it was only an oral promise. Who knows if Lin Qin would even help her? But she has been left destitute, devastated, betrayed. If Lin Qin really could help her out just a little¡­


    Jiang Shuangmei thought, what if?


    She needed a bit of hope to cling to, to leave this terrifying abyss of despair that is swallowing her up whole.


    She did not want to be swallowed up by the malicious sweet nothings.


    ¡­ She wants those people dead. She wants to do it. Kill them. Take the utility cards back. Then, she would hide in her house forever, accompanied only by dust, and what her older sister left behind.


    She wants to kill them.


    But, a voice tells her, her older sister would not have wished to see that.


    Jiang Shuangmei stood there, murmuring, ¡°I must listen to my older sister¡­¡±


    Then, with hurried steps, she leaves her house behind.


    And most likely, this house with nothing but heartbreak will never be her house anymore.

 Volume 6 - CH 92.3

    A few minutes later, Jiang Shuangmei is outside of Lin Qin¡¯s house, but she is utterly disappointed to find Lin Qin not home.


    She blankly stares at the door for a while, feeling her depression and hopelessness coming back all the stronger. She finally realises, that not even Lin Qin could be her messiah. Nobody could. It was laughable to even depend on Lin Qin for help in the first place.


    Did she really think there would have been another person who would shower her with affection as genuinely as Jiang Shuangjie?


    No. There is no one else.


    And she has already lost her older sister forever.


    She lowers her head in a daze, looking at her fingers. She starts trudging along the bottom floor of the Tower slowly, slowly; she does not know where she is going, but she is merely walking.


    It feels cold on her face. She touches it, and realises, she is crying.


    ¡­ What use are tears! You useless trash!


    She cusses at herself, cursing, as if she could expel her uselessness, her powerlessness, and all those other emotions like this.


    Finally, she comes to a stop.


    She realises, her walk, has taken her to Ding Yi¡¯s house.


    ¡­ Ding Yi.


    When she remembers the name, she can¡¯t help but feel ashamed.


    Why did she subconsciously seek out Ding Yi? She¡¯s even left the bottom floor a while ago; even if she hadn¡¯t, the three of them had split up an even longer time ago.


    So many years past, they were the best of companions, the most excellent of comrades. They were inseparable, they had no secrets, they reigned supreme over Nightmares. By the time Ding Yi stopped, Jiang Shuangmei and Jiang Shuangjie still pressed on.


    Yet, when even they come to a stop, they realised, Ding Yi was already completely beyond their reach.


    Sometimes, the more na?ve Jiang Shuangmei would wonder, what would have happened if Ding Yi didn¡¯t leave? Actually, why did Ding Yi leave in the first place?


    Wouldn¡¯t it have been nice for the three of them to just keep going in this grey cesspit that is the Tower?


    Then, Jiang Shuangmei only had her older sister. Then, Jiang Shuangmei lost her older sister. Then, Jiang Shuangmei lost any ¡®companions¡¯ she thought she had.


    Ah, she chose companions so haphazardly. The others probably just saw a group of people trying to cling to the thighs while it was worth something. To her companions, she was probably only ever Jiang Shuangjie¡¯s little follower, a burden.


    ¡­ Not that she thinks they had it wrong.


    After being forced away from her older sister, she has achieved nothing. She failed completely.


    She lowers her head again. She should leave now.


    Yet that is when the door to the house behind her suddenly opens up. A familiar female voice calls out, ¡°¡­ Shuangshuang?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei freezes up.


    ¡­ Ding Yi, she came back?


    Lin Qin went to find X¨¹ Beijin.


    Obviously.


    He didn¡¯t even make a stop back at his own house before he went straight for X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore.


    When X¨¹ Beijin has come back to be from the Nightmare, it wasn¡¯t long before Lin Qin, as if he¡¯s back at his own place, just lightly knocks on the door before going straight in.


    X¨¹ Beijin has yet to remove himself from his complicated thoughts and give some time to think about the complicated relationship between himself and Lin Qin. So he couldn¡¯t help but complain, seeing Lin Qin like this, ¡°you might as well just move in entirely.¡±


    Lin Qin is looking at him, surprised, asking, ¡°I can?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Gritting his teeth, he replies, ¡°you can¡¯t .¡±


    Then, he hears the little apple give a muffled ¡®oh.¡¯


    ¡­ X¨¹ Beijin then puts up his best ¡®puffed up¡¯ face.


    Lin Qin doesn¡¯t wallow in his sadness for long before looking over X¨¹ Beijin closely; he has never observed X¨¹ Beijin as closely as he is now, making X¨¹ Beijin feel like he¡¯s being treated as some object of scientific research.


    Feeling very awkward indeed, X¨¹ Beijin asks, ¡°what are you trying to do?¡±


    He immediately has bad feelings about what he just asked, because he should be very well aware that Lin Qin¡¯s mysterious brain is wired in such a way to misinterpret the topic and take it to some illogical extreme.


    Lin Qin replies, ¡°I want to see how your body is doing.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin tells him, bemused, ¡°I¡¯m already out of that Nightmare, so I¡¯m fine.¡±


    ¡°But you never sleep,¡± Lin Qin says, ¡°do you not feel unwell in the Tower?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He gives Lin Qin an odd glance, wondering if the little apple is¡­ concerned for his body?


    ¡­ They¡¯ve known each other for a while now, haven¡¯t they? (tl: i.e. Lin Qin should know better)


    X¨¹ Beijin makes a sigh while simultaneously feeling exasperated and amused, saying, ¡°Lin Qin, I don¡¯t necessarily require sleep here¡­¡±


    ¡°But is whether you need or not need sleep, anything to do with my caring about how your body is when you do not sleep?¡± Lin Qin poses a question, ¡°I¡¯m simply worried about your body.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin averts his eyes slightly awkwardly.


    Lin Qin stares at him for a while before saying, ¡°so you do feel uncomfortable.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin remains quiet for a bit before reiterating, ¡°I cannot let others into my Nightmare.¡±


    ¡°If¡­¡± Lin Qin seems hesitant, but then suggests, ¡°if you trust me, then you can sleep here. I will keep watch for you. I won¡¯t let anyone touch your door.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s eyes widen.


    It¡¯s a solution¡­ well, a ¡®solution¡¯ in Lin Qin¡¯s eyes, at least, which would be a good solution if X¨¹ Beijin simply did not want anyone into his Nightmare. Then he would simply need someone to guard his door.


    With Lin Qin¡¯s physical prowess and his reputation on the bottom floor of the Tower, this would not have been difficult for him.


    But X¨¹ Beijin has never thought to do that.


    Because¡­


    It is not simply a matter of whether he trusted Lin Qin or not, but that aside, why would Lin Qin go so far for him? Merely because he wants to help him sleep well for once? Simply worried or his physical well-being?


    Is there even a need for Lin Qin¡­ to worry about his body so?


    Everyone knows this is just a game. Not sleeping or taking any rest whatsoever in the game merely gives him mental fatigue, but nothing physical. And with how much of a big, big, exaggerated deal Lin Qin is making this out to be¡­


    Could it all fundamentally boil down to, Lin Qin liking him?


    X¨¹ Beijin looks at him in silence.


    Lin Qin then tilts his head to ask, ¡°do you not want to sleep well for once?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin answers in his mind. Of course. Of course he does, but¡­


    But¡­


    He sighs, and calls out, ¡°Lin Qin.¡±


    Lin Qin looks at him, waiting for his next words.


    ¡°You are making me troubled,¡± X¨¹ Beijin tells him, ¡°if¡­ if what you are doing, and what you are suggesting, is all because you say you like me.¡±


    Lin Qin furrows his brows, not understanding him well.


    Then, parsing the logic again, Lin Qin seems to understand now and so tells X¨¹ Beijin frankly, ¡°it is my thing to decide to like you, so you don¡¯t have to feel troubled.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He watches the little apple for a bit, before suddenly coming to a realisation.


    Could the little apple have thought, that liking someone romantically, is the same as brawling?

 Volume 6 - CH 93.1

    Recooperation


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    X¨¹ Beijin feels like Lin Qin is getting tough to deal with.


    He can see that Lin Qin is too genuinely into this, convinced he must be in love with ¡®X¨¹ Beijin.¡¯ Is that truly ¡®like¡¯? Even if what he has doesn¡¯t fit the bill, he has seemingly managed to convince himself of it.


    Lin Qin has somehow completely forced himself into it¡­ what should X¨¹ Beijin even do now?


    Not that he hates Lin Qin, despite how ever many times he has frustrated him.


    But¡­ he also doesn¡¯t like Lin Qin in that way.


    His head just hurts.


    ¡­ Really, it was much more comfortable when it was that pure friendship from before. Love? Couple?


    With¡­ Lin Qin? Him?


    He can¡¯t imagine it at all.


    X¨¹ Beijin feels really awkward just thinking about it.


    From Lin Qin¡¯s affectionate care to his sucking up to him, it all seem to be tinted with roses in the background now. Even if X¨¹ Beijin also didn¡¯t feel too comfortable accepting it all before, it¡¯s become worse now¡­


    Sitting there, X¨¹ Beijin thinks about it all, exasperated, in silence.


    Lin Qin is still blabbering on, ¡°so you really don¡¯t have to be troubled or care about what I think at all. I like you, so I care about your wellbeing. I want to stay by your side¡­ This is all my own thing.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Hello? All the objects in those sentences are him! How is he not going to feel troubled?!


    X¨¹ Beijin glares at Lin Qin, speechless, while the young man stares at him straight back.


    It sure is making him feel like this young man would listen to him, he would follow his orders obediently and gladly. He is subservient because he has feelings for him, but not because he is powerless to fight back.


    ¡­ In fact, in the Tower, Lin Qin really is the apex predator.


    But because he would only look straight at X¨¹ Beijin with this intense but also unsure expression, it looks almost like he¡¯s troubled by whatever X¨¹ Beijin is being troubled by.


    X¨¹ Beijin exhales a little and says, ¡°so¡­ if I reject your confession, would you feel sad?¡±


    ¡°Sad..?¡± Lin Qin repeats the word, and asks, ¡°so normally, if the feeling of liking someone is rejected, they would feel sad?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin has a hard time answering the question.


    Lin Qin then furrows his brows to think for a bit more, and then seems to come to an understanding, explaining, ¡°I see, but I haven¡¯t confessed to you yet, so you cannot reject it. Confess, and then comes the rejection©¤©¤that¡¯s the logic, right?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Well, yes, and it is the correct train of logic¡­! As long as he never confessed, he would never get a rejection from him, now, huh?!


    X¨¹ Beijin can feel his frustrations boiling in his chest.


    Besides¡­ What do you mean you haven¡¯t confessed yet, Lin Qin? Are you denying the obvious? Strawman? Trying to stop X¨¹ Beijin from refusing him how ever he could?


    X¨¹ Beijin stares at Lin Qin, still speechless, feeling like his impression of Lin Qin must be terribly off. Lin Qin isn¡¯t dumb, in fact, he is extremely sly.


    And, right, Lin Qin is the one who likes him, then why is he the one feeling so conflicted about this? Lin Qin is looking pretty happy over there, as if he is in the right all along.


    Looking closely at Lin Qin, X¨¹ Beijin is certain that the guy is serious.


    He seriously thinks that he hasn¡¯t confessed, and so there does not exist the possibility of X¨¹ Beijin refusing him, which means he can stay by his side as is, and so he isn¡¯t saddened at all.


    X¨¹ Beijin gasps slightly. Is it really a good thing to have met and tangled himself up with someone like Lin Qin? X¨¹ Beijin is somewhat worried thinking about that.


    On the other hand, someone as simple-headed as Lin Qin ending up tangling himself with one as scheming and calculating as X¨¹ Beijin, is that actually a good thing?


    Fortunately for him, he¡¯s a good person, thinks X¨¹ Beijin.


    Lin Qin seems to have noticed his thoughts digressing, and so reminds him, ¡°so what do you think about my suggestion?¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­?¡± X¨¹ Beijin is momentarily stupefied until he remembers that Lin Qin was talking about letting him sleep, and so replies earnestly, ¡°no, but thanks. I cannot sleep.¡±


    It is true. He cannot fall asleep.


    With the Tower as it is, how could he even possibly go to sleep? Staying awake might make his mind more at ease at this point.


    Lin Qin is looking at him all over, and seems to have concluded that he is telling the truth, but still asks, ¡°but are you really not feeling ill? After not sleeping all the time?¡± He then adds, ¡°you do not want other people in your Nightmare, even if they are all very willing to.¡±


    ¡°They are, but I am not willing.¡±


    ¡°And you think it is better this way?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin answers firmly, ¡°Yes, I do.¡±


    Lin Qin looks at him, before quietly sighing.


    X¨¹ Beijin is baffled. What? Lin Qin is sighing at him? Seriously?¡±


    Lin Qin tells him, ¡°I don¡¯t think the others will be understanding, while you still feel tired from it,¡± then he asks, ¡°you think it is worth it?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is quiet for a little while before chuckling and answer, ¡°well, it¡¯s up to me, isn¡¯t it? I am the one deciding not to sleep¡­¡±


    ¡°But it hurts me to see,¡± Lin Qin gestures in front of X¨¹ Beijin, saying, ¡°I think you look really unwell right now. Your eyebags are really heavy. There are flakes on your lips¡­ I feel unhappy seeing that.¡±


    ¡°If you would do what is best for the others, then why would you not do it for me? I feel really bad for you.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin falls completely silent.


    He tries to say something, anything, but he cannot find the words. So in the end, he can only say, ¡°oh, Lin Qin¡­¡±


    Lin Qin tilts his head in response.


    X¨¹ Beijin continues, ¡°you really do trouble me.¡±


    Lin Qin ¡°¡­¡±


    What kind of guy is t his X¨¹ Beijin here?! How could he say he¡¯s troubled when someone actually cares about him?! Lin Qin stares at him with this expression of disbelief.


    It even amuses X¨¹ Beijin so much he chuckles, saying, ¡°you¡¯re really something, Lin Qin.¡±


    Lin Qin puffs up his cheeks and looks at him all serious-like.


    X¨¹ Beijin, looking at him, shakes his head awkwardly, and then stands up to pat him on the shoulder. He has decided to keep all the feelings on the back-burner for now.


    Instead, he says, ¡°I have to leave for a while. Keep an eye out here, would you?¡±


    Lin Qin asks, curious, ¡°where are you going?¡±


    Although Lin Qin feels oddly satisfied with being ordered to ¡®keep an eye out here.¡¯ It feels quite sweet, and so he is simply enamoured with the feeling.


    X¨¹ Beijin replies, ¡°opposite here. I need to talk to the Tower resident for something.¡±


    Lin Qin goes ¡®oh,¡¯ and then says, ¡°see you soon.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin smiles and points to the bookshelf, ¡°you can grab any that strikes your fancy.¡±


    After X¨¹ Beijin has left, Lin Qin sits there, somewhat bored, before turning to the bookshelf X¨¹ Beijin pointed to.


    These days, Lin Qin has been quite the avid reader, although when seeing the mountainous pile of books stacked to the ceiling here, looking like they¡¯d never run out, Lin Qin is quite aware that what he has seen could be said to be but a snippet.


    He can¡¯t help but be intrigued by X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s life thus far. Has he spent all his years merely reading the books to pass time?


    Lin Qin stands up and walks over to the bookshelf.


    All along he has only been picking books out of one particular shelf filled with rather interesting novels. Right now, since he is more interested in what kind of life X¨¹ Beijin has lived thus far, he is interested in looking at the other books in his collection.


    He looks up and down the shelf; as X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t here, he is only checking the titles out instead of flipping them through a little.


    ¡°What is this?¡± Lin Qin suddenly sees one peculiar book, and murmurs to himself, ¡°Update¡­ Log?¡±


    He looks at the plain white cover and default black characters. The book¡­ Or rather, instead of a book, it looks more like some report stapled together in a simple, even haphazard manner.


    It is simply stuffed into a corner of the bookshelf and its top is covered in dust. If Lin Qin wasn¡¯t reading the titles of the books out of curiosity, he would never have noticed it, perhaps.


    Though while the title intrigues Lin Qin, he doesn¡¯t pick it up, instead, he puts it in the back of his mind to ask X¨¹ Beijin later.


    He then takes one book out of the familiar shelf of all the novels, and sits back down, reading quietly.


    Soon enough, the weird ¡®Update Log¡¯ book falls completely out of his memories.

 Volume 6 - CH 93.2

    When X¨¹ Beijin is heading towards Su Enya¡¯s, he has imagined several possibilities.


    For example, she didn¡¯t have anything special to note, and was simply transported back to the bottom floor. Maybe she was just unlucky.


    Or, she knew nothing at all worthwhile, regarding the Apocalypse, the Tower, or her Nightmare.


    She might believe her Nightmare is a simple Nightmare, regardless of what implications the electronic appliances coming to life carries. Su Enya doesn¡¯t necessarily have to know either, does she?


    Yet, the moment he is allowed into her house, and sees the eyes of the woman, X¨¹ Beijin knows that, he is wrong.


    The female Actor clearly knows things.


    They stare at each other in silence for a while.


    Finally, the woman is the one to break the silence, greeting him, ¡°I¡¯m honoured you¡¯re visiting.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin still stares at her quietly.


    She then mutters, ¡°you would not believe what happened to me¡­ even if you are also an Actor.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks at her, and asks, ¡°what was your new Nightmare after you got to a higher floor?¡±


    The woman smiles, but it looks somewhat odd. She says, ¡°I feel like fate is sometimes¡­ against me, you know? On the bottom floor, the Nightmare has plagued me for so long. After I finally managed to break free of it, I had a new Nightmare¡­


    A new one that explained why my old Nightmare was like that¡­ It explained everything. That is how I realised, that all those Missiontakers, were dumbasses.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin furrows his brows slightly; there is a hypothesis his mind is starting to form.


    The woman continues looking at him with this strangely piercing gaze as she says, ¡°you should have asked, how I went to a higher floor, and why I ended up coming back down.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin already has some thoughts, but he complies with what the woman asks regardless, ¡°so? How?¡±


    ¡°I did not end up on a higher floor by helping facilitate a True End in my old Nightmare,¡± the woman giggles strangely and tells him, ¡°I knew there was this other Nightmare and what its True End was all about. I also knew its owner had become insane.


    So I managed to fool the Missiontakers into thinking that I was the owner of that Nightmare all along, and I helped them find a True End there; they thought I was that little girl¡¯s mother¡­ Ha. They had ¡®gullible¡¯ written all over their dumb faces.


    I didn¡¯t know if the Server would accept this subterfuge, but¡­ I succeeded.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is pretty stunned.


    That¡¯s how she went to a higher floor?


    And¡­ could Su Enya actually be referring to the Nightmare he took advantage of mere hours earlier? The coincidence is strong with this one.


    Somehow, after the Nightmare owner has gone insane, Su Enya managed to take advantage and even trick the overseeing entity itself, several years ago. About the same time as the Missiontakers gave up on his Nightmare.


    What a fantastical tale it ended up turning out as; he never could have imagined there was so much more drama taking place in the Tower back then.


    And that was one Su Enya alone. Could other Missiontakers and Actors have pulled similar, unfathomable, legal, or downright illegal tricks? And all that, only so that they could get to a higher floor.


    But then, with Su Enya already having cheated her way to a higher floor, why did she end up back here? Did the Server realise her deception?


    He asks curiously, ¡°so why are you back down here now?¡±


    ¡°Because of that Nightmare,¡± the woman¡¯s voice starts trailing down in tone, ¡°that Nightmare¡­ let me understand everything. I thought, I should let others know that truth as well. I tried to clue them in, but they didn¡¯t understand.


    But¡­ the Server did, and came for me. Maybe I pushed my luck too far, or overdid it; as punishment, the Server dumped me back down onto the bottom floor, but¡­ I can¡¯t stand it! Why! Why must we remain trapped in this damned Tower?! We don¡¯t deserve any of this!¡±


    Of course not¡­ X¨¹ Beijin reflexively concurs with her in his mind, of course they do not deserve to be locked up here.


    He is speechless for now, having finally understood what happened to Su Enya.


    Then, slowly, he opens his mouth, to ask, ¡°that Nightmare you had¡­ could it have had something to do, with the Space Agency?¡±


    He can see extreme astonishment and also fear manifest themselves on her expression.


    Su Enya¡¯s lips are trembling madly. She is forcing herself onto the wall even harder, asking, ¡°how, how do you know?! Who¡­ who in the world are you?!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin does not answer immediately. Instead, he smiles and tells her, ¡°I do not want to explain in detail. I¡­ I simply know about that Nightmare. That¡¯s all.¡±


    Su Enya is glaring warily at him.


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°if I wanted to go after you at all, NE would be onto you right about now, no? Trust me.¡±


    Su Enya replies, ¡°I trust no one.¡±


    ¡°¡­ I see.¡±


    Though Su Enya then follows up, ¡°I need no trust, but, I need, I need you to help¡­ Help me¡­ Help the Missiontakers realise the truth. Make them, enter that Nightmare.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is surprised. Moments later, he asks, ¡°why would you want the Missiontakers to know the truth?¡±


    Su Enya bitterly replies, ¡°because I know about it. I am tortured, I am in deep agony. Why should they enjoy a happy, blissful ignorance while I suffer so?¡± There is a gloomy glint in her eyes as she says, ¡°I must make them know, what that truth is.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin furrows his brows.


    Su Enya then adds, ¡°and I know a lot of people who really want to know the truth,¡± she sniggers to say, ¡°and their wish shall be granted; is that not a good thing?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks like he wants to say something.


    Su Enya holds basically the opposite opinion as he does; recently, he¡¯s also been considering letting the Missiontakers in on the truth¡­ Not simply knowing the truth about Actors, but also the Apocalypse, and what lies behind the Apocalypse ¨C what actually caused them to end up in the Tower in the first place.


    He wasn¡¯t planning to achieve any of that by letting Missiontakers into that particular Nightmare; in fact, he didn¡¯t even know Su Enya ended up being the Actor who owned that Nightmare up there.


    Unlike Su Enya, he harboured no dark intentions, revenge or otherwise.


    He is merely wondering, instead, if it is possible, for them to escape the Tower?


    ¡­ Also, NE punished an Actor by dumping them back to the bottom floor? Has there ever been such a development? And for her to coincidentally have been X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s past neighbour too?


    Once again, X¨¹ Beijin is entertaining the idea of something having happened to NE.


    The same way the mysterious rumours sowed anxiety in the Tower before, this Actor who suddenly returned to the bottom floor of the Tower, who claims to want to expose the truth to all Missiontakers¡­ is what she said genuine?


    Could she be simply coming up with an excuse to convince X¨¹ Beijin?

 Volume 6 - CH 93.3

    X¨¹ Beijin thought about the Nightmare with the Space Agency for a bit, before saying, ¡°even so, that Nightmare is on the upper floors¡­¡±


    ¡°No,¡± quietly mutters Su Enya, ¡°at least, not anymore.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, surprised, furrows his brows in confusion.


    Su Enya explains, ¡°when I returned to the bottom floor of the Tower¡­ I brought the Nightmare along.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin appears absolutely aghast, exclaiming, ¡°that¡¯s impossible!¡±


    Su Enya starts chuckling with a lower tone of voice.


    Something is changing in her appearance. From her voice, to her physique, to her facial features. They are all gradually changing.


    She, or, right now, he, says, ¡°NE must have screwed up somehow. It punished me by sending me back down here, but did it mean to let me return here and reprise my original role on the bottom floor, or, return to the bottom floor, as that Tower resident?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin watches the Actor, now appearing rather androgynous, in silence. His expression seems more grave than usual; it is hard to deduce what he might be thinking about.


    The Actor continues to tell him, ¡°I have already secured another house for this. I only need you to spread the news. Let the Missiontakers know to enter that Nightmare. Let them¡­ learn the truth.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin narrows his eyes. He is seeing the situation crumbling drastically now.


    What is NE even doing? Could such a bug really have occurred by coincidence? Of letting any Actor to have two roles simultaneously, and two Nightmares to boot?


    That sounds downright outlandish.


    ¡­ Or, there must have, as he suspected, some dramatically unexpected changes to have occurred.


    Under Su Enya¡¯s gaze, X¨¹ Beijin remains quiet for quite a long time, but he finally acquiesces, ¡°alright;¡± this is not the first time he has needed to do something like this, as his earlier cooperation with Dai Wu would attest, but he continues, ¡°there is one more thing, however.¡±


    The strange-looking Actor asks, ¡°what is it?¡±


    ¡°Not only the Missiontakers want the real truth,¡± X¨¹ Beijin looks like he is staring straight at Su Enya, or perhaps, straight through him, at something else. He then continues, ¡°but so do the Actors.¡±


    Su Enya seem to have thought of something from that, and murmurs, ¡°right, right¡­ Some Actors, they¡¯re¡­ unlike me. They do not know the truth or what happened, but they only want to spend their days in ignorance¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin tells him, ¡°I know an Actor who has this organisation he runs¡­¡±


    Su Enya cuts him off to ask, ¡°Dai Wu, presumably?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is looking surprised.


    Su Enya looks at X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s reaction, and then starts giggling out of nowhere, ¡°whatever Dai Wu has told you, I would advise you against putting your trust in him.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin raises his brows, nonplussed, and asks, ¡°why?¡± Then he adds after a moment of thought, ¡°he seems interested in the truth as well.¡±


    ¡°I suppose you would know about his principle of the ¡®Second Life,¡¯¡± says Su Enya, ¡°but you cannot forget that this is only a game! How can it ever be anything more than that, to be a ¡®Second Life¡¯?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks at Su Enya, and merely sighs, but doesn¡¯t say anything else.


    Seriously, the Actors, and the Missiontakers, for that matter, why do they all have their own adamant convictions and beliefs? Isn¡¯t it better to purely be in pursuit of the truth like Fei and Wu Jian, or in pursuit of escaping the Tower like Mu Jiashi?


    These people always want everything to conform to their own views in addition to that. They try to cram their own rules into this world based on their own conjectures; they want the world to revolve around them.


    And obviously, the world couldn¡¯t care less for what they wish it to be.


    X¨¹ Beijin finally answers, ¡°whether it¡¯s a Second Life, a game, or anything in between; I¡¯m a pragmatist, so I only need to find a solution to the current challenge. Working with Dai Wu is the most efficient way forward here.¡±


    Su Enya is still knitting his brows. He still seems reluctant.


    Did he have any personal grudges with Dai Wu? X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but wonder why he seems oddly against the idea of working with Dai Wu.


    Though the curiosity doesn¡¯t last long, before it is overshadowed by the poignant tragedy of how these Actors are still hating and undermining each other even when everything is coming to a head. Humans will be humans, huh.


    Missiontakers bicker, quarrel, and pull the rug out under each other in Nightmares, and so do the Actors.


    X¨¹ Beijin shakes his head at the thought, then concludes, ¡°and honestly, I know of no other Actor who can even help you with this.¡±


    ¡°What about Missiontakers?¡± Su Enya seems to be in disbelief staring at X¨¹ Beijin, asking, ¡°you¡¯re absolutely famous on the bottom floor of the Tower; can¡¯t you ask any of them you know?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is feeling a bit offended right now.


    He asks out of nowhere, ¡°I¡¯m curious, why you¡¯re not doing it yourself but asking me instead. If I didn¡¯t visit you today, would you have done nothing?¡±


    ¡°I would, but since you visited already, I¡¯m sure you want the truth as well. So¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin cuts her off, ¡°what I¡¯m curious about, is why you seem convinced I do not know the truth?¡±


    Su Enya looks like he¡¯s confident X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s desire for the truth will compel him to work for him as he pleases, for example, rejecting X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s suggestion to involve Dai Wu.


    The Actor seems almost childishly na?ve to be as confident as he is that he knows the truth ¨C and yes, he is already completely a ¡®he¡¯ now, as his feminine features have already been completely wiped away.


    ¡­ It is almost like he is one of those Missiontakers from the higher floors, becoming arrogant and insufferable simply for having achieved some True Ends.


    Su Enya, after being stopped, then starts murmuring, ¡°right, I see. You even know about that Nightmare already¡­¡±


    The Actor starts curling up a bit more. He is looking at X¨¹ Beijin with fear again; probably wondering again who X¨¹ Beijin really is, and is deeply unsettled by the thought.


    X¨¹ Beijin calmly tells him, ¡°I will do it, but I will be deciding on my own thoughts and methods. As for Dai Wu¡­¡± he says, ¡°I will consider your advice, but it isn¡¯t a bad thing to work with him.¡±


    Su Enya remains quiet.


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°ultimately, we all have the same goal.¡±


    Su Enya looks like he wants to say a word, but in the end, he merely nods.


    X¨¹ Beijin parts with him, and leaves the house to return to his bookstore.


    It has been a few days.


    X¨¹ Beijin opens his eyes in a certain Nightmare.


    He takes in his surroundings, and narrows his eyes. Ah, this settles it. NE must really be up to something.


    This is a library.


    X¨¹ Beijin is currently in some office of this library; he is probably an employee here, but it doesn¡¯t matter what precise job he has.


    His mind is really only occupied by one thought right now, that yes, he really is in that Nightmare now.


    ¡­ Su Enya¡¯s, Nightmare.

 Volume 6 - CH 94.1

    X¨¹ Beijin thinks that this is unrealistic.


    Before entering the Nightmare, he did imagine if he would end up Acting in it.


    The Nightmares he end up having workdays in is pretty random, dependent on the Server¡¯s arrangements. Ever since he picked up that streaming system, though, the Nightmares he end up in seem to have fallen into some regular pattern.


    Like the last Nightmare with the elevators, which X¨¹ Beijin asked Dai Wu to help promote and arouse the Missiontakers¡¯ interests. He wasn¡¯t expecting to end up inside of it.


    Yet it ended up with him Acting inside nonetheless.


    Now, he is in this Nightmare.


    Huh, why is NE starting to fulfil the players¡¯ wishes?


    ¡­ That is impossible.


    Something must be wrong.


    How could NE be taking action benefiting him? How could he let an Actor enter any Nightmare he was wishing to?


    Yet it happened like that¡­ So, what¡¯s wrong with NE?


    Even earlier, when the news of ¡®someone has left the Tower successfully¡¯ and the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare¡¯ was making the rounds, X¨¹ Beijin has already concluded this can do nothing but revitalise the Missiontakers.


    There would certainly have been a higher possibility of them stumbling out of the Tower like that, you know? It¡¯s not unheard of for things like this to go awry.


    So then, who spread this news?


    All the ruckus but not a single Missiontaker managed to work out the source of the rumours.


    ¡­ So it can only be NE.


    NE is the ghost inhabiting this Tower.


    Why did it do that? Why spread such rumours, why allow them to spread like so?


    Why have Su Enya returned to the bottom floor? As the neighbour of X¨¹ Beijin again? Alongside the Nightmare she dragged along with her?


    ¡­ It is really as if NE is helping X¨¹ Beijin.


    Impossible.


    Why would NE do that?


    X¨¹ Beijin, sitting there with his poker face, finds the whole affair damned unamusing.


    Everyone assumes NE is the eyes of whoever was behind it all, some kind of omnipresent overseer, but from what he can ascertain, NE is even secretly nudging Missiontakers and Actors along¡­ at least, in helping them recognise the truth.


    He sighs, find his thoughts going nowhere, and his mind tiring out.


    He knows a lot, but he also does not know much. He does not know what NE is like, or what the world outside the Tower is like right now. All the years they¡¯ve spent in the Tower¡­ could mean that nothing has remained the same.


    Yes. It may even have been a long enough time that, even NE is deviating from his set programming.


    Perhaps¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin is seriously contemplating if it is the moment to open up his Nightmare to the Missiontakers.


    It would probably be quite the farcical scene, too. Everyone assumes his Nightmare must hold some kind of amazing secret, but that¡­ Well, it¡¯s not the kind of big secret they were hoping for, that¡¯s for certain¡­


    It is simply, a Nightmare relating to Nightmares.


    And by opening up his Nightmare¡­ it is more accurate to say that, he wants to enter his own Nightmare. There is a necessity, he believes, to enact attempts and changes. Or at the very least, he needs to confirm something.


    NE¡­


    The light in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s eyes is flickering like a candle in the wind. It is deep and unreadable.


    But if he really is to enter his own Nightmare, then he¡¯ll definitely need some suitable personnel¡­ Just him, or just him and Lin Qin, could never do it.


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks some more, before abandoning them altogether, to focus on the stream; he has already opened up the stream, and the viewers are quickly popping in.


    ¡°hey Beibei!¡±


    ¡°Beibeis been streaming more often lately, nice!¡±


    ¡°quietly admires Beibei¡¯s handsome face¡±


    ¡°oh fuck off! Beibeis handsome face is all mine, mine!¡±


    ¡°fuck you off! its the little apples!¡±


    ¡°What kind of Nightmare are we looking at today, Beibei?¡±


    The detective dalao¡¯s question finally drags the atmosphere of the whole stream back to normal.


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks about it, and smiles to say, ¡°if I tell you anything, it¡¯ll already be spoilers.¡±


    ¡°uwu i actually wanna be spoiled¡±


    ¡°¡­ but the detective dalao doesn¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°oh well I dont have a brain anyway, good luck detective dalao!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin reads the comments rolling past with a smile, before looking over at the list of locations on the right to focus the camera on someone.


    Then, he finds himself staring at the names of the Missiontakers.


    Mu Jiashi. Fei. Wu Jian. Lin Qin. Ding Yi.


    ¡­ What kind of insider game is this?!


    Well, the four remaining names he doesn¡¯t recognise, but the fact that he knows five of them is enough to make X¨¹ Beijin speechless.


    He shakes his head at this. He would wager that Fei, Wu Jian, and probably Mu Jiashi as well, would not be too far away from the truth after going through this Nightmare.


    That said¡­ Ding Yi?


    Why¡¯s she back at the bottom floor again? What happened to her on the higher floors?


    X¨¹ Beijin feels curious about her as he switches the camera over to them. Currently, the nine of them are all assembled on the block near the library.


    Compared to how there was a post-apocalyptic ruins and an Apocalypse in progress the last two Nightmares, this time, the city looks distinctly pre-apocalyptic and bustling.


    It seems to be a hot summer day with how much the cicadas are singing on the tall trees growing by the roadside. The ground is scorched from the burning sun, but some people would break the peace.


    Every so often, some people who look hysterical would rush from some place to somewhere else.


    The nine Missiontakers all look somewhat unsettled appearing at the intersection of some road facing this scene.


    The summer heat has them sweating profusely very soon enough.


    Mu Jiashi brushes the sweat on his forehead away as he examines the rest of the Missiontakers.


    He came here with Fei and Wu Jian, so he¡¯s not surprised to see them here; in fact, it is Lin Qin who is surprising him a little, since the dalao is usually pretty random in whether or not and what Nightmare he goes to.


    The other Missiontakers he doesn¡¯t know.


    Save for¡­ Ding Yi?


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s gaze stops momentarily on her, as the woman with the grue-coloured hair also looks back at him calmly, nodding to greet him.


    What? Why? How¡¯s Ding Yi back on the bottom floor?


    She abandoned everything she ever worked for on the bottom floor so that she can ascend; now she¡¯s back?


    Mu Jiashi has a hard time understanding what this ex-¡®billionaire¡¯ is thinking.


    Then he checks out the four Missiontakers he doesn¡¯t know; they presumably chose to come here based on the latest rumour of the bottom floor of the Tower.


    The rumours relate to a new Nightmare.


    It should be noted that having this new rumour circulating on the bottom floor, like, again, Mu Jiashi can¡¯t help but wonder where these mess of rumours come from. And are they, the Missiontakers, seriously busting their asses chasing location after location for all these unverifiable hearsay?


    Though when he learned the content of the rumour, and investigated himself, he was in full shock.


    He realised, this Nightmare¡­ it, it¡¯s the exact Nightmare he met on a higher floor in the Tower!


    What in the world?!


    He immediately suspects that Su Enya is involved¡­ Actually, she is definitely involved somehow.


    Yet, when he tried looking for her again, he finds out that she has gone missing.


    That moment, Mu Jiashi only felt an inconsolable fear take over him. The fact that Su Enya is missing seem to be some kind of premonition; some kind of invisible hand seem to be tucking at the strings of fate behind the scenes, pushing everything to go forward.


    The question is, would the owner of this hand, harbour goodwill? Or ill will?


    When he was worried and planned to go home, he saw X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore right opposite Su Enya¡¯s house, and decided to pay him a visit after some hesitation.


    Then, in the conversation with X¨¹ Beijin, what he remembers the most vividly, is how the pale man with a heavy presence sitting behind his counter tells him, with this solemn, but cold tone,


    ¡°To know the truth is a terrible predicament, but if you do not come to learn the truth right up to the day you are buried six feet under, would you regret it?¡±


    Mu Jiashi replied to that firmly, ¡°if the truth would lead where I want myself to go, then¡­ Yes. I will. I will want to know the truth.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin stared at him hard for a minute, before telling him, ¡°then go. To that Nightmare.¡±


    Mu Jiashi was confused for a moment.


    Then X¨¹ Beijin clarified, ¡°to that Nightmare that is the topic of the latest gossip of the bottom floor. That one.¡±


    So Mu Jiashi ended up in this Nightmare¡­ again, he should clarify.


    He is actually somewhat curious if X¨¹ Beijin would know he has been to this Nightmare; he should not, but some kind of mysterious aura always seem to surround the bookstore owner. Mu Jiashi cannot help but feel like everything is in that man¡¯s control.


    Even if he was only a Tower resident.

 Volume 6 - CH 94.2

    ¡­ A Tower resident.


    The phrase means a bit more to Mu Jiashi now. Beyond an artificial intelligence, Beyond a string of data anymore.


    Before he came to this Nightmare, he also visited Fei and Wu Jian. They agreed to come to this Nightmare together.


    And before they agreed to come together, they had a meeting, during which Fei and Wu Jian told him about their experience in that Nightmare with the burning city and the elevator. The truth behind the Nightmare and the True End they had completely upended Mu Jiashi¡¯s own understanding.


    He had no idea the survivors in that building were acting. That was information he never came to learn. When he challenged the Nightmare, all he did was take the little girl to her mother©¤©¤the woman on the 16th floor©¤©¤and then the Server congratulated him for reaching a True End.


    Fei had a bitter smile when she listened to him, and said, ¡°I see. What you achieved, was the ending of the ¡®game.¡¯¡±


    In the Nightmare, the madmen beneath the 9th floor had orchestrated this huge, hyper-realistic, but completely fictitious and plot-driven ¡®game world¡¯ with the building as its grounds. Reaching the end of that ¡®game,¡¯ i.e., reuniting the little girl with her mother, seemed to have been one way to reach the Ending of the Nightmare.


    Yet, ironically, that True End is fake.


    Is a false truth at all meaningful?


    Mu Jiashi furrowed his brows at the realisation.


    Though it was also meaningless to dwell on the implications of the authenticity of the Endings. What Fei and Wu Jian told him was far more damning.


    ¡°Acting¡­¡± murmured Mu Jiashi, ¡°could that mean¡­¡±


    Fei stopped him, ¡°don¡¯t. Don¡¯t say it.¡±


    Mu Jiashi looked at her.


    Fei bit her lips, and her body was trembling when she said, ¡°if NE knew what we were up to¡­¡±


    Mu Jiashi knew the duo¡¯s personality very well, and so kept quiet as they wanted. The three of them looked at each other in silence, nonplussed.


    So in the end, Mu Jiashi changed the topic and told them about Su Enya, including the fact that he had already been to this Nightmare once on the higher floor.


    That was when he suddenly realised, regarding the ¡®truth,¡¯ he knew the Apocalypse, and Fei and Wu Jian knew about the Tower residents.


    But¡­ was that all?


    So why were they in the Tower? Why were they prisoners of this building in the fog¡­ Nobody knows. They were closer to the truth, they knew a little, but they did not know it all.


    In that meeting, they were stuck with what all the information could have meant. Then they made plans to enter this Nightmare together.


    This¡­ Nightmare, that has been quite popular on the bottom floor lately.


    The rumours circulating about the Missiontakers say that, apparently, this Nightmare is here on the bottom floor for the first time, but what¡¯s weird is the Tower resident ¨C this Nightmare¡¯s owner, claiming to have descended from a higher floor.


    That owner blabbered about how the Apocalypse was coming and they, all of them, were going to die.


    Quite the effectively taunting intimidation that was, and it got the Missiontakers of the bottom floor of the Tower listening.


    Ah, the Apocalypse? The Apocalypse??? Woah, that could be the Nightmare they need!


    Recently, any Nightmare where a theme of ¡®Apocalypse¡¯ seem to have the label ¡®Ultimate Nightmare¡¯ attached to it.


    The Missiontakers seem to have reached some consensus that the game ¡®Escape¡¯ has a background setting where some Apocalypse decimated life and the survivors had to live on in this tall building. While they, the outsiders, the Missiontakers, were the ones here to resolve this Apocalypse situation, or at least to work out what the Apocalypse was.


    The survivors, that is, the Tower residents, had Nightmares based on their own experiences in this Apocalypse; the outsiders learn of the Apocalypse through them and then one way or another free these Tower residents from the clutches of the Apocalypse and the Tower.


    And to them, the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare¡¯s existence is the key to resolving this Apocalypse.


    By resolving this Ultimate Nightmare, the Missiontakers will have finished the game, and logically, they will then be booted out of this nightmarish game.


    Many of the Missiontakers now share this sentiment, and so they are chasing incessantly after any Nightmares featuring stuff about the ¡®Apocalypse,¡¯ to reach True Ends in there. If the Nightmare happened to be the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare,¡¯ then great, they can leave the Tower altogether.


    Well, and there are of course some people who think a layer deeper.


    If this ¡®Apocalypse¡¯ exists, then why couldn¡¯t it have been on them, the Missiontakers, instead of the Tower residents?


    It could be that the Earth went through something apocalyptic©¤©¤whatever that means©¤©¤that they ended up in the Tower like so. The backstory of the game is actually an analogy for them.


    They were the ones who truly lost their home, their own planet, and were here as refugees, as survivors, in this dark, decrepit Tower.


    Both layers of interpretations have gained converts among the Missiontakers.


    While the third layer of interpretation is probably the most obscure one here, unknown to many of the Missiontakers of the lower floors, even.


    It asks©¤©¤why can¡¯t the Tower residents also be human? Why couldn¡¯t the Tower residents and them, the outsiders, the Missiontakers, be facing the same dilemma?


    This theory and some more information are more in circulation on the higher floors, completely unbeknownst to the Missiontakers of the bottom floor.


    The source, happens to be the utility cards Fei sent upwards.


    She made three copies of the information as a safety measure in accordance with traditional protocols of her organisation, to ensure the information will be able to reach the hands of the appropriate person in full.


    Yet this time, only two utility cards have been successfully recovered up the floors. One was lost.


    The only way they could move these tampered utility cards is to have subordinate Missiontakers head to Nightmares their organisation were familiar enough about and go up via True Ends. It¡¯s a downright primitive means of communication, but there was no other way to do it.


    Yet, in a Nightmare, one subordinate Missiontaker must have met a Carddealer (or possibly, everyone is Carddealing at this point), and so had the tampered utility card stolen while completely remaining unaware.


    The Carddealer then probably went to some other Nightmare and realised they couldn¡¯t use the card and tore it up in a rage or, somehow or another, discovered the secret hidden within.


    That Carddealer, possibly plus all the other Missiontakers in their vicinity and close acquaintance, would have learnt the news©¤©¤there is something wrong with the Tower residents.


    Actually, the information Fei wrote down was brief and even terse, but precise enough ¨C ¡°Tower residents/Acting/Human Players?¡±


    So, starting from then, some Missiontakers started paying renewed attention to Tower residents.


    Those Tower residents who reached the higher floors, while some did go insane after all, but more often than not are capable enough remaining clearheaded.


    For example, the Actor who X¨¹ Beijin knew quite well for some time, named Wu Shen. He almost seized the opportunity and took advantage as soon as he noticed.


    When one Missiontaker asked him directly whether he is a human Acting as some other role with some predetermined plot, he answered, ¡°why would you think I¡¯m not?¡± Then he says, ¡°you have eyes and so do I; you have a nose and so do I; you have a mouth and so do I; what makes you think I¡¯m different from you?¡±


    The Missiontaker was astonished, and spread the news out when he was out.


    Soon enough, the news spread through the upper floor like wildfire.


    The upheaval facing Missiontaker society was immense.

 Volume 6 - CH 94.3

    While some find the kerfuffle to be nothing but hot air, some have become diehard converts of the theory, going on lengths together with other Missiontakers who believe in this newfound revelation of the Actors simply Acting.


    They do not dare doing it in the open for fear of NE and the possible surveillance of whoever was behind all this, but they would exchange information in cryptic messages, to discuss their guesses.


    Though it didn¡¯t take too long for all the eddy currents beneath the surface to settle back down.


    Since¡­ You know, what use is there?


    Even if they realise that the Tower residents are players trapped in this Tower, just as they are, or are even their own fellow humans, what they would feel finding out would not be joy, but a momentary shock followed by¡­ a deeper depression.


    Yes. New victims have emerged.


    But so what? Even if the Tower residents themselves are working with them, they still cannot leave the Tower.


    Besides, after their short interaction these few days, they¡¯ve already realised from the indirect words of the Tower residents, that they are under even more stringent limitations and shackles from NE. They are barely able to act out of character at all, and have even stricter class divide within them.


    For example, an extra-level character, who basically knows no clues regarding the Nightmare itself.


    And even if they did know things and want to relay the information to them, what they say must still pass NE¡¯s own scrutiny. They cannot just tell them everything.


    After coming to life briefly, the Missiontakers of the higher floors have, therefore, returned to a state even less energetic than before.


    While the news itself has yet to spread downwards to Missiontakers on the bottom floor of the Tower, the more information-savvy of them are already aware of the rather inexplicably bleak atmosphere surrounding the upper floors right now.


    But they¡¯re currently too preoccupied to investigate with how much has been going on here.


    Right now, the Missiontakers of the bottom floor are still pouring into the Nightmare featuring the post-apocalyptic ruins, many are now ready to storm through the Nightmare with the malfunctioning elevators, and now, this mysterious Nightmare that was supposedly from the higher floors.


    They¡¯re too busy.


    Many of the Missiontakers still haven¡¯t even thoroughly gone through the two Nightmares yet when this new possible candidate for the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare¡¯ has emerged. They find themselves torn between which Nightmare to go through first.


    Of course, some of the Missiontakers did choose to go through this third Nightmare first.


    Why?


    Because some people have realised something.


    They came down to the bottom floor having heard the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare¡¯ is on this floor; when they did come, they realised the Nightmare in question wasn¡¯t the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare.¡¯


    But then, ¡®the exit to a building should be on the bottom floor and not the top floor¡¯ has convinced them to stay.


    So where does that leave the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare¡¯?


    Nobody knows.


    Now suddenly, this Nightmare owner claiming their own Nightmare comes from a higher floor sounds almost like a hybrid that might just be it.


    If it were some kind of Nightmare that randomly, unpredictable appears on some floor of the Tower¡­


    Imaginations have gone wild.


    They¡¯d wondered how nobody turned up to verify or disprove the rumour that ¡®someone has left the Tower successfully¡¯ from any floor. What if, it was because, nobody was sure which floor it even came from?


    ¡­ What if, the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare,¡¯ is one that precisely resides on no particular floor?


    Once, Missiontakers all convinced themselves the ¡®exit,¡¯ the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare,¡¯ must be on top, but nobody from the forefront of exploration has found out where that is.


    That is why they are now looking back down in retrospect.


    While it was fruitless at first, but hearing about this Nightmare which supposedly should have been on the higher floor, suddenly emerging on the bottom floor¡­


    So they¡¯re wondering, could this be it? No doubt nobody figured its precise location out if it changed every now and then, right?


    For all these reasons and possibly some more, some of the Missiontakers are prioritising this Nightmare.


    The others with less information at hand or are simply too late to the party, are as established, still meticulously working through the Nightmare with the ruins.


    Mu Jiashi looks the four unknown Missiontakers over. People who have hurried to this Nightmare already at this point in time, would be more capable than not, with sharp vision for current affairs, perhaps.


    So this Nightmare¡­ time to laze about, then?


    He thinks, almost as a joke.


    He¡¯s been to this Nightmare, and knows what its True End is about, but this time, he¡¯s here for a different purpose; besides, Bad Ends on the bottom floor aren¡¯t exactly that threatening.


    Especially when Lin Qin is around.


    The serendipitous circumstances mean he can search for the information he is after without reservations for what the other Missiontakers might be facing.


    Simply brilliant.


    While thinking so, he suddenly hears someone making a deep breath.


    Looking over, he can see a male Missiontaker who has very long hair.


    He looks like he is enjoying himself very much, his face almost a drunken shade of red, and he says, ¡°I can smell it; it is the fragrance of my beloved death.¡±


    Mu Jiashi ¡°¡­¡±


    Oh bollocks. Some kind of deviant is in this Nightmare, it would seem.

 Volume 6 - CH 95.1

    Teamwork


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Mu Jiashi is speechless looking at the man with long hair.


    In the Tower, there are quite the number of¡­ deviant Missiontakers.


    For example, this one, whose strangeness Mu Jiashi gets almost as soon as he spoke.


    Resurrection is possible immediately after death in Nightmares in the Tower.


    This, in turn, has attracted types who pursue death; with death¡¯s consequence drastically reduced, then it is also far less terrifying. Death in reality turns you into a corpse, but death in the game merely sets you back somewhat.


    If you make the horrible experience of near-death into something repeatable, it would simply become a rare, even valuable experience instead. It would even¡­ become addictive for some.


    Of course, the other Missiontakers hate them to the bone.


    They can chase death all they want, but when any death also restarts the Nightmare, then numerous deaths will mean the Nightmare isn¡¯t far from crumbling. There are some of the more ¡®moral¡¯ Deathseekers that would just enjoy a few deaths before letting the other Missiontakers get on with resolving the Nightmare.


    But some people really do look like they¡¯re tumbling straight for Collapse on purpose.


    Dragging the others along for a horrifying ride.


    If a Nightmare threatens to Collapse during a session, it doesn¡¯t necessarily mean all Missiontakers will end up succumbing to it and be unable to escape, but a Bad End will practically be guaranteed.


    Suffice it to say more than a handful of Missiontakers on the upper floors end up tossed back down some floors by these group of people.


    The Deathseekers have a reputation in the Tower possibly comparable, or, for some, even worse than that of Carddealers. Though thanks to their ceaseless pursuit of death, one by one, they¡¯ve succumbed themselves to Collapsed Nightmare. At this point in time, Deathseekers are already a rarity to see.


    ¡­ At least, it¡¯s been years since Mu Jiashi ran into one in the Tower.


    Right now, right here, at this critical juncture, though, he has ended up with one.


    Mu Jiashi finds it hard to swallow.


    The rest of the Missiontakers have caught on as well. They are all showing sour expressions.


    The man goes ¡®hehe,¡¯ saying, ¡°don¡¯t worry,¡± he then licks his lips, looking like he can almost burst just from his excitement, and saying, ¡°I won¡¯t go kill myself freely, but if an opportunity comes, do let me die and don¡¯t try to stop me.¡±


    The other Missiontakers have various spots on their faces twitching, as they wonder ¨C what¡¯s the difference between that and seeking death, even?


    They decide to ignore the man entirely.


    Fei glances at Mu Jiashi, and sees him currently deep in thought, and so picks up the slack and has everyone do the introductions.


    Of the nine Missiontakers present, besides Lin Qin, Mu Jiashi, Ding Yi, Fei, Wu Jian, and the man with long hair, there are three others, one man and two woman. The man and one woman say they are a couple, while the other one, the young adult female Missiontaker, speaks with quite the cheery tone.


    She calls herself He Shuj¨¹n, and apparently she¡¯s from the upper floors, and is here looking for the Ultimate Nightmare and for an exit to the Tower.


    Her forthrightness lets the Missiontakers present relax a little as well.


    Before she bluntly broke the veil, the Missiontakers present in the Nightmare had an odd tension ¨C everyone was thinking about the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare,¡¯ but no one would come out to save it.


    The couple there seem especially relieved, thumping their chests, even.


    The male Missiontaker of the couple says, ¡°since we¡¯re all here for the Ultimate Nightmare, let¡¯s quickly get to investigating then.¡±


    They take in their surroundings more closely.


    The intersection they¡¯re in seems to be part of the CBD of this city; not far from where they stand, they can see many highrises with markets, department stores, and also a collection of bank branches and some hotels.


    Oddly, though, despite how prosperous this area should be, there is nobody else around except for the occasional people that run around like they¡¯re out of their minds. Here, the many highrises seem to have formed some sort of labyrinth, housing countless more psychotics within.


    And that¡¯s not to mention the great amount of trash, mess of things and leaves scattered around; it almost looks as if the entire city¡¯s janitorial services have disappeared. The trash has all rotted soon enough in the searing summer sun. The smell is quite indescribable, and the buzzing of flies is almost as loud as the cicadas chirping.


    The Missiontakers are also wiping their sweat profusely.


    Looking around, the most notable building seem to be a library that isn¡¯t far away from where they are.


    It looks like it has seen its fair share of history, with its architectural style and the calligraphy in its highly visible plaque of ¡®Cangcheng Library¡¯ having people realise that, this is probably at least a landmark in this city.


    ¡°Cangcheng?¡± Wu Jian is murmuring, ¡°Cangcheng¡­ Cangcheng?¡±


    Fei asks him quietly, ¡°do you feel familiar with it?¡±


    Wu Jian is looking at the building, and slowly nods in a daze, he says, ¡°I think, I might¡­ I might, have been someone from Cangcheng.¡±


    Fei, shocked, quickly asks, ¡°are you sure?¡±


    Wu Jian puts on a bitter smile, saying, ¡°I¡¯m not sure. I don¡¯t remember anything anymore, or rather, it¡¯s been blocked off,¡± then, staring at the library, he says, ¡°it does look so familiar. It¡¯s like I was still borrowing and returning books here not long ago¡­¡±


    Fei quietly listens.


    Wu Jian continues saying, ¡°I think there were many buses passing through this place¡­ There was this tourist bus that headed straight for the museum too¡­¡±


    Fei comments, ¡°you don¡¯t seem like you can¡¯t remember it.¡±


    Wu Jian doesn¡¯t seem to be sure of himself either, adding, ¡°it feels really off, though; I know I¡¯m familiar with this, but it doesn¡¯t feel real at all. It feels like my brain is making up these memories¡­ It¡¯s like, I dreamt about it.¡±


    Fei pats him on the shoulder, quietly supporting him.


    Wu Jian shakes his head and says, ¡°I¡¯m going to stop thinking about it,¡± and then he quietly adds, ¡°it¡¯s meaningless too, isn¡¯t it? We all know already. It¡¯s Earth¡­ That Apocalypse, happened on Earth.¡±


    His companion takes a deep breath but doesn¡¯t continue the topic. She bites her lips hard while she turns to the others.


    They have already split up.


    Lin Qin is staring straight at the library; the couple is checking out the bus stop nearby; the man with long hair is looking both ways on the street, possibly contemplating if a car might come along and crash into him; Ding Yi is checking out the bank through the glass alongside He Shuj¨¹n.


    Mu Jiashi is still thinking about something there, looking around him.


    He told Fei and Wu Jian before that he had been to this Nightmare already, but he didn¡¯t talk about it in too much detail, as they were still pretty shellshocked from how ¡®the Tower residents are Acting.¡¯


    Then when they heard that this Nightmare was here on the bottom floor all of a sudden, Fei and Wu Jian told him not to tell them all the details, for the same reason they did when they were worried Mu Jiashi¡¯s experience with the Nightmare featuring the malfunctioning elevators would have caused them to form misleading first impressions.


    In fact, if they already knew about Mu Jiashi¡¯s ending back then, they might not have been able to make the connection to ¡®Acting¡¯ and Tower residents in the Nightmare.


    Which means, in this Nightmare, only Mu Jiashi would know details about it right now.


    Right now, Mu Jiashi is looking all around him, feeling a bit confused; he can see that this Nightmare really is the exact same as the Nightmare he experienced on the higher floors.


    ¡­ Could it really be the same Nightmare?


    He was still doubtful before he really entered the Nightmare; could it possibly just be a Nightmare that has a similar sort of setting? It could be another Nightmare from the one he entered on the higher floors.


    Yet, when he is now here, he can feel the special, even familiar vibe all around him¡­


    Then, he turns his head in the direction of Ding Yi and He Shuj¨¹n, who are checking out the bank branches.


    If this really were the same as he experienced, he thinks, then the two Missiontakers should already¡­


    That is when He Shuj¨¹n quickly turns her head around to tell them, ¡°there¡¯s something here!¡±


    Mu Jiashi can feel his mood sinking.


    While the rest of the Missiontakers are heading over with some excitement in their steps, Mu Jiashi¡¯s mind is only filled with endless questions.


    The same Nightmare? What about Su Enya? Who was she, even?


    Fei walks next to him, asking, ¡°how is it?¡±


    Mu Jiashi tells her, ¡°compared to the Nightmare I remembered, this is exactly the same.¡±


    Fei falls silent.


    It must mean that there is something behind it all.

 Volume 6 - CH 95.2

    Fei and Mu Jiashi approach the bank.


    He Shuj¨¹n points to the glass exterior, saying, ¡°look, they¡¯re all dead inside; it looks like they killed each other, while still holding cash in their hands. Was it some sort of dispute over money?¡±


    ¡°But why would the staff of the bank be killing each other for cash?¡± The male Missiontaker of the couple asks. He has a neat buzz cut that makes him look sharp and intimidating.


    His girlfriend is quite petite in contrast, and she appears to be quite introverted and speaks very little. She has let Buzzcut speak the entire time.


    They call themselves a couple, but their relationship status remains questionable; very few Missiontakers are able to maintain close relationships over time in the Tower.


    He Shuj¨¹n shrugs, saying,, ¡°who knows. That was a meaningless question in the first place.¡±


    Buzzcut doesn¡¯t seem offended, he smiles but doesn¡¯t speak anymore.


    The Missiontakers check out the bloody, chaotic scene in the bank for a bit, seeing that there aren¡¯t anymore people alive within and the doors are locked, so checking inside is impossible. This scene, and the prosperous void surrounding them, has cast a shadow on the Missiontakers¡¯ minds.


    The Nightmare looks peaceful and even nostalgic on the surface, but it might just as well be deadly.


    Fei glances at Mu Jiashi, and mulls for a bit, before saying, ¡°let¡¯s split up to explore? We can assemble back at the library.¡±


    Buzzcut asks, ¡°are we not going to explore the library now?¡±


    The male Missiontaker seems to be pretty proactive since entering the Nightmare; he probably does treat it as a pretty serious matter.


    Fei is hesitant, but asks, ¡°we should, of course, so does anyone want to go to the library?¡±


    Mu Jiashi glances at her but doesn¡¯t tell them what he knows. He checks out his surroundings again, surrounded by his own, unknowable thoughts.


    Finally, the couple, plus Lin Qin and Wu Jian, the four of them have elected to go to the library.


    When Lin Qin speaks up to say he¡¯d go to the library as well, the rest of the Missiontakers all look at him, surprised. They¡¯ve never heard of the crownless King of the bottom floor being this proactive himself.


    Wu Jian reflexively blurts out, ¡°dalao, looking for your lover?¡±


    Lin Qin gives him a nondescript glance.


    The rest of the Missiontakers are giving Wu Jian cold stares, for how thoughtless, blunt and ridiculous he was.


    Wu Jian quickly shuts his mouth, but he feels wronged inside.


    The viewers in the stream are uproarious, believing they know the truth.


    ¡°but like he¡¯s right!¡±


    ¡°hahaha Beibei! does the little apple know you¡¯re here?¡±


    ¡°must be couples¡¯ instinct [doge emoji]¡±


    ¡°this is amazing, the last nightmare the little apple said he heard noises on the 16th floor and came for Beibei directly, which kinda made sense, but now¡­ hes coming to the library straight on? this is already romance novel territory!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, with a stoic face, wants to reply, what romance novel?


    Clearly, since X¨¹ Beijin is a bookstore owner in the Tower, his identity in the Nightmare would quite often relate to books or being an owner of some kind of establishment.


    When you put such a prominent library here, given Lin Qin¡¯s instinct intelligence, he would of course make a beeline for it.


    Speaking of, X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but wonder if Lin Qin¡¯s sharp senses are based on some inexplicable primal instinct, or¡­ could it be thought processes that take place so quickly that the self cannot even realise?


    The wisest would appear dumb?


    Since he has realised how Lin Qin built a strawman to avoid the possibility of his confession being rejected, X¨¹ Beijin has eyed the little apple with suspicion.


    Is there actually a possibility, that Lin Qin is merely acting dumb or useless like protagonists of face-slapping novels?


    X¨¹ Beijin watches Lin Qin on the stream doubtfully.


    Right now, X¨¹ Beijin is already outside of his office, and is on the ground floor lobby of the library.


    It is completely deserted right now. In contrast, when everything is normal, it should at least have many visitors, if not packed. From people coming to check out the catalogue, borrowing, reading on site, or having booked a room for some meeting or activity; people should have filled this place up quite a lot, instead of this.


    Well, perhaps there are people here, but X¨¹ Beijin just has yet to run into them.


    He checks out the list of many locations listed under the Library. He believes that, of these locations that are waiting to be explored, many must contain clues, possibly even relating to the Nightmare itself.


    Not that X¨¹ Beijin feels like checking them out one by one on his own.


    ¡®Hey, aren¡¯t there free labour in the form of the Missiontakers lying around anyway?¡¯ He thinks.


    He ignored the locations along his way, as he descended from the large, circular hallway that linked the ground and second floors of the library, and arrived at the side of the entrance to the library on the ground floor. This is the information desk of the library, serving to answer any questions a visitor to the library may have.


    For example, on what shelves can I find books relating to this?


    X¨¹ Beijin feels more at home at this location.


    When he plops down on the chair of the information desk, the four Missiontakers have also made it into the library. Almost immediately, they could see the man sitting upright on the information desk.


    Lin Qin¡¯s eyes are practically glowing as he walks straight over, and says with this happy tone, ¡°you really are here.¡±


    The couple and Wu Jian follow closely behind, the former seem confused, while the latter is screaming in his mind, see, see, see?! His guess was spot-on! The dalao really is here for his man!


    Oh, the hubris of youth! So laments Wu Jian, in his mind.


    He looks at the self-proclaimed Missiontaker couple by his side, who looks distinctly without a hint of love between them.


    Well, would you look at these posers right here? He thinks some more.


    Then, looking back at X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin, he concludes ¨C yes, this is what a couple should look like.


    X¨¹ Beijin hasn¡¯t the faintest idea of Wu Jian¡¯s delusions, or he would probably have chased them out the library altogether instead of communicating.


    Though, look at the trouble Lin Qin has brought along! Since when has he been leered at with such inquisitive eyes!


    X¨¹ Beijin cusses inside, glancing at the three Missiontakers.


    But he has adjusted his attitude soon enough. When the three Missiontakers are over at this desk as well, his usual warmth and gentleness when talking to Lin Qin in private is gone, as he asks with a somewhat business-like tone, ¡°can I help you?¡±


    Lin Qin says nothing, as expected.


    While the woman among the couple, who has never spoken since entering the Nightmare, seems especially worried, and even fearful when X¨¹ Beijin looks closely. Buzzcut is looking at X¨¹ Beijin with a somewhat confused expression.


    Since no one else is speaking, poor Wu Jian can only take over and ask, like the good tool-person he is, ¡°we want to know what happened outside. Why is there nobody else around?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin glances over outside, before asking in turn, ¡°you didn¡¯t know?¡±


    Wu Jian doesn¡¯t look like he knows.


    ¡°People have gone mad,¡± replies X¨¹ Beijin, ¡°the madness spread in a very short time. A lot of the people went mad instantly, while some fortunately didn¡¯t, but they would much rather avoid the madmen altogether. So, those that remained sane have gone into hiding.¡±


    Wu Jian¡¯s jaws drop further and further hearing X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s description.


    Um¡­ does it sound familiar to anyone else?


    Why is it that what is happening in this Nightmare, sounds so utterly like the last Nightmare, with the building full of mad people?


    Well, at least, in terms of the people going mad.


    The city in this Nightmare hasn¡¯t started burning yet.


    The similarities are already striking enough, though, especially the part with ¡®the madness spread quickly, and people split into the mad ones and the sane ones.¡¯ It makes Wu Jian feel ominous instantly.

 Volume 6 - CH 95.3

    Opening his mouth but finding himself in a stutter, Wu Jian asks, ¡°madmen¡­ what kind of madmen, are you referring to?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks at him for a while before smiling a little, answering, ¡°shouldn¡¯t you already know? You¡¯ve already met them at that building.¡±


    There are some unsubtle meanings X¨¹ Beijin meant to convey through that blatant sentence, but Wu Jian didn¡¯t get it yet. He is merely looking at X¨¹ Beijin in shock, asking, ¡°that building? You mean, earlier, when we were in that¡­¡± Nightmare?


    What in the world? These two Nightmares are having some crossover event?


    While Wu Jian is getting astonished to no end, Buzzcut suddenly says, ¡°I remember now.¡±


    The rest of those present look at him.


    He looks at X¨¹ Beijin, saying, ¡°you¡¯re that bookstore owner, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, surprised, wonders what that bookstore owner could possibly have been otherwise.


    Buzzcut says, ¡°a few years back I left the bottom floor, when the Missiontakers were all obsessed with a Nightmare¡­ your Nightmare, right?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin furrows his brows and replies, ¡°that has nothing to do with this Nightmare.¡±


    ¡°You still haven¡¯t opened up your Nightmare yet,¡± Buzzcut mutters, and his stare starts having a fire to it, ¡°your Nightmare, might actually be the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare¡¯¡­¡±


    It seems this Missiontaker¡¯s desire to leave the Tower is already so hopelessly deep that any opportunities presenting themselves in front of him would be able to trigger his sensitive nerves immediately.


    He is blabbering on and on, looking like he wants to force X¨¹ Beijin to tell him about his Nightmare.


    X¨¹ Beijin is furrowing his brows deeply.


    Lin Qin looks at him, then at Buzzcut, and, displeased, he knocks on the desk in front of him, saying, ¡°wait a minute.¡±


    Buzzcut stops, and turns to Lin Qin with an expression going ¡®what.¡¯


    Wu Jian¡¯s heart almost skips a beat. Oh no. The dalao is pissed.


    Though Lin Qin responds with remarkable constraint, considering, and says, ¡°the Nightmare is his, not yours, do you get it?¡± Then he adds, ¡°if you really want to force his Nightmare, I could let you experience a nightmare right here, right now first.¡±


    He starts cracking his knuckles.


    Buzzcut¡¯s mouth twitches, and, like the observant sycophant that he suddenly turns into, replies, ¡°I understand now, dalao, I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    Lin Qin, satisfied, nods.


    X¨¹ Beijin gives the young man a speechless look. A threatening Lin Qin like this is making him feel somewhat complicated.


    ¡­ Like a lioness protecting her cubs? Him being the cub?


    X¨¹ Beijin is honestly surprised.


    Then Lin Qin turns to him and complains, ¡°you really are too gentle and kind that these people keep appearing in droves. If you let me beat them all up when I asked last time¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin rubs his nose awkwardly and silently.


    Is he really ¡®gentle and kind¡¯?


    X¨¹ Beijin starts reflecting on himself.


    Looking at Buzzcut, and at Lin Qin, then at X¨¹ Beijin, Wu Jian meekly attempts to inject himself into the conversation, ¡°um¡­ I would like to ask, what does this library¡­ uh, have?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin then ignores Lin Qin immediately and puts on his business expression to answer, ¡°there are five floors to the library, and on the first and second floors, there are the usual categorised collection of books and quiet rooms for reading.


    The third floor contains more reading rooms and also multimedia rooms, plus some books that are not for borrowing; the fourth floor has a grand hall and activities centre, while the fifth floor are the librarians¡¯ offices.


    If you need any particular book, there is a computer at the western end where you can look it up.¡±


    Wu Jian thanks him, and then tries to get a read on Lin Qin¡¯s current mood, then quickly decides to ask the couple, ¡°let¡¯s split up?¡±


    Lin Qin, glancing at X¨¹ Beijin, says, ¡°I¡¯ll do the first floor.¡±


    Wu Jian sighs in relief, and says, ¡°then I¡¯ll do the second floor.¡±


    Buzzcut nods and says, ¡°we¡¯ll take care of the third and fourth floors, and leave the fifth for the last. We might need to be guided up there, too.¡±


    He almost reflexively looks at X¨¹ Beijin again, but he stops himself. While he does have a strong desire for the Ultimate Nightmare, it is still quite possible that it isn¡¯t X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, and so provoking Lin Qin is unwise here.


    So they quickly disperse.


    X¨¹ Beijin finally sighs in relief and looks over at the stream¡¯s image, ignoring all the teases and ¡®lol¡¯s the viewers are plastering all over his screen.


    ¡­ No! He¡¯s not looking! He knows they¡¯re laughing at him and Lin Qin! Who cares!


    X¨¹ Beijin instead checks out the movements of the rest of the Missiontakers.


    The five of them have split into two groups, one heading north from the library, and the other to the south.


    Fei, Mu Jiashi and Mr Suicide is to the north, while Ding Yi and He Shuj¨¹n are heading to the south.


    Mu Jiashi feels like discussing with Ding Yi but couldn¡¯t find a good time to do so; since she¡¯s back on the bottom floor, now, a chance should come up regardless, and he doesn¡¯t have to hurry himself. He only wants to ask her about the higher floors¡¯ current situation, too, which he is somewhat interested in.


    Maybe Ding Yi can tell him more about the latest of the weird developments they say have occurred there.


    So that isn¡¯t urgent or too important right now. Instead, he should focus more on this Nightmare.


    He is pretty worried, looking up at the sky every so often. There are no clouds today, and the sunlight is almost blinding by itself. Each and every sign he can see seem to indicate that it is going to be great beach weather today.


    Mu Jiashi is only feeling the gloom over his mind, however.


    The long-haired Mr Suicide is almost window-shopping along, stopping every so often to look around. He looks distinctly not like he¡¯s here to resolve a Nightmare.


    Which means that, of the three present, only Fei is currently seriously trying to deal with the Nightmare.


    She is observing the shops and storefronts around closely for clues or someone who can provide them with clues.


    Suddenly, she pauses.


    There is a bookstore by the street, which reflexively reminds her of X¨¹ Beijin. She wonders if the mysterious bookstore owner might appear in this Nightmare, as a bookstore owner, no less?


    Thus she approaches the location, while also checking out the neighbouring stores.


    Next to the bookstore, is a dollmaker¡¯s.

 Volume 6 - CH 96.1

    Museum


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Disappointingly, Fei found the bookstore deserted, and the bookstore owner she wanted to meet was not there.


    Sighing, she left the bookstore.


    In fact, the stores next to the bookstore were also empty.


    The dolls in the Dollmaker¡¯s already had a layer of dust on them. A doll of a little girl in a red dress is staring out at the empty streets outside with lifeless, plastic eyes.


    The Missiontakers continue to the north, perhaps for hundreds of metres, but they do not find anything.


    Yet, what they do not know is that, the viewers in the stream are already having a field day.


    ¡°that doll¡­!¡±


    ¡°was it the first nightmare Beibei streamed? that one?!¡±


    ¡°fuck me, did you see the doll with the red dress?! what the fuck is with this nightmare! this is madness!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m also in shock¡­ does this Nightmare incorporate elements of other Nightmares? But Beibei, you said your Nightmare was related to Nightmares, so I actually pictured this as your Nightmare instead¡­¡±


    ¡°Uh, so I have two lines of thought. One, it¡¯s coincidental, which is pretty much a non-option; two, isn¡¯t the game¡¯s backstory about an Apocalypse? Perhaps that links up these Tower residents¡¯ Nightmares?


    Their Nightmares would all be based on their experiences through the Apocalypse, and with their past shared under the same, common background. Some have more limited Nightmares that spanned only a small area, that wouldn¡¯t reveal much of the background.


    Others had large Nightmares, that might occasionally envelop where other people had Nightmares of the Apocalypse.


    But of course, that doesn¡¯t mean they will replicate others¡¯ circumstances in the Nightmares, or the ones in their experience of the Apocalypse. Each Nightmare is based solely on the Nightmare owner¡¯s memories, after all.


    That is why there is nobody in the Dollmaker¡¯s or the bookstore, and only the scenes remain; the Dollmaker and xiao-Chun wouldn¡¯t necessarily appear here.¡±


    ¡°i see!¡±


    ¡°got it! I actually understand!¡±


    ¡°this is an interesting worldview! so like, in this nightmare, clues for other nightmare could actually be found? assuming the nightmare covers big enough¡±


    ¡°now im more curious what Beibeis nightmare is; related to nightmares, but not the kind that is this¡­?¡±


    ¡°I also wanna know if the nightmare only had this specific scene inside? maybe if we¡¯re lucky all the nightmares we¡¯ve seen with Beibei could be linked up?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m doubtful¡­ The Dollmaker¡¯s is already astonishing enough!¡±


    The viewers continue their happy discussion.


    They remembered the first Nightmare where they met X¨¹ Beijin very well. Even for viewers who haven¡¯t been there for it, the four original viewers¡¯ discussions clued them in quickly enough.


    Thanks to their God¡¯s eye view, the audience already know about the peculiarity of this Nightmare, but the Missiontakers haven¡¯t.


    Fei, Mu Jiashi and Mr Suicide haven¡¯t been to Wu Shen¡¯s Nightmare at all, and thus missed the chance to uncover a secret here.


    But with the setting of this Nightmare being so grand, they still have enough time.


    Mu Jiashi is looking up at the sky every so often. He seems agitated.


    Fei asks, ¡°what is it?¡±


    Mu Jiashi says vaguely, ¡°looking for¡­ signs, in the Nightmare.¡±


    Fei¡¯s eyes widen slightly, but she stops asking. She doesn¡¯t want to know too much about this Nightmare yet; not just for avoiding forming predispositions, but also because¡­ she has some slight anxiety and fear towards this Nightmare.


    ¡­ Because she already knew that this is the Nightmare which defeated Mu Jiashi; when Mu Jiashi talked about this Nightmare, his vague attitude and general unwillingness to answer has hinted her thus.


    But what could actually have been in this Nightmare that could impact Mu Jiashi so deeply?


    He¡¯d call himself useless, trash and brand himself a loser, but when Fei and Wu Jian were back on the bottom floor, and have heard of his past exploits here, they were put off by it.


    This Missiontaker whose reputation still managed to precede him on the bottom floor after years, would feel defeat and more importantly, self-denigrate because of one single Nightmare?


    What actually happened?


    What kind of failure had him almost ¡®killed,¡¯ so to speak?


    Fei is definitely curious what Mu Jiashi went through in this Nightmare, but she also doesn¡¯t want to ask directly.


    At an intersection where the traffic lights have stopped working, Fei comes to face the dysfunction of societal order during an Apocalypse in full.


    She wants to cross the street, but she is still worried about sudden oncoming cars.


    That is when some deranged fellow suddenly rushed out from a store on the intersection, yelling as he went, as he crashed into the Missiontakers on purpose and does absolutely nothing else other than head-butting them. It¡¯s like he means to chase them away right this instant.


    Mr Suicide has his arms opened wide in excitement, calling out, ¡°come! Kill me!¡±


    The madmen is still adopting the stance to headbutt Mr Suicide, who tumbles over, and then sighs, disappointed.


    Fei also got knocked over onto the ground, and Mu Jiashi pulls her back up, before glancing at the madmen and checking the store he rushed out from.


    ¡°Baldie¡¯s Haircuts?¡± He mutters with a strange tone.


    Fei¡¯s mouth is twitching. Looking at the madmen, she says, ¡°it¡¯s true¡­ they¡¯ve gone mad.¡±


    She reflexively recalls what she went through in the last Nightmare.


    Mr Suicide seems unhappy, calling to them, ¡°boring! Let¡¯s just leave.¡±


    The madmen continues glaring at them with fearful, even hateful eyes, before retreating back into the salon he rushed out from.


    The Missiontakers continue forward, before coming to a stop and looking at each other, baffled.


    They can see a lively and even crowded hotpot store that is right there by the street. Business is booming.


    Many people are waiting for seats, and the amount of smoke rising in the establishment must be obscene. The boiling hotpots are emitting so much steam that the customers¡¯ faces are all obscured. They all seem pretty preoccupied with eating.


    And it seems that they are eating, in a mechanical, uncaring manner.


    Meanwhile, the people waiting outside with the numbered slips in their hands look absolutely impatient. They can see a boy smushing his face against the glass window to watch the people eating hotpot. It looks like he would start drooling the next second.


    Normally, this scene wouldn¡¯t be too out of place, but when the entire block is so quiet, the liveliness surrounding this hotpot place is quite unexpected.


    Fei, mystified, asks, ¡°have they gone insane, or¡­ not?¡±


    Mr Suicide, still yet to encounter death at all in this Nightmare, is behaving quite normally right now.


    He makes a cynical remark, ¡°of course they are; what they are doing is not the societal norm here, so to those ¡®normal people,¡¯ what are they but insane?¡±


    Mu Jiashi glances at him, thinking, what a petty view of society, and in this context, too.


    From a practical standpoint, he says, ¡°let¡¯s go inside and check it out. There¡¯s at least people there.¡±


    They head towards the strange hotpot store.

 Volume 6 - CH 96.2

    The closer the Missiontakers approached, the more they can feel the liveliness and even passion emanating from the hotpot store. It is almost subconsciously infecting the three Missiontakers, who simultaneously gulps, in anticipation of biting down into their favourite meal the next second.


    That is why, they all reflexively stopped in place.


    Fei says, ¡°something¡¯s wrong,¡± she says, staring at the store, ¡°something¡­ feels off.¡±


    Mu Jiashi says, ¡°this madness, might be infectious.¡±


    Fei murmurs, ¡°how hopeless that must be.¡±


    Mr Suicide is staring at the hotpot store and continuously gulping down saliva. He can feel his appetite burning, but the more it burns, the less willing he is to move. He seems to be enjoying this almost torturous sensation.


    Neither Fei nor Mu Jiashi pay any attention to him.


    Then Fei yells out to someone waiting for a seat, ¡°hello? Can I ask you a question?¡±


    Perhaps dozens of metres separated them yet, but Fei really would rather not walk any closer. It feels dangerous.


    The person raises his head, looking rather stunned, pointing to his own chest in confusion.


    Fei nods, saying, ¡°yes, you! I want to ask something.¡±


    She chose this person because all the others were here in pairs or groups, but he alone is by himself at the end of the queue, cowering, seemingly tortured by his hunger.


    Fei asks, ¡°is the hotpot here good? There are so many people queueing we don¡¯t know how long it¡¯ll take!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s amazing!¡± Says the person, giving her an awkward thumbs up. He then adds, with an almost religious fervour, ¡°but, we¡¯re all mainly here for the hotpot bath.¡±


    Hotpot bath?


    Fei asks him what that is.


    The person explains, ¡°you pour boiling hot hotpot soup base onto your head, until it flows down right up to your toes¡­ I heard some people can do it all the way, and I wish I can, too.¡±


    Fei¡¯s expression looks quite complicated as she wonders, wouldn¡¯t that send someone straight to the hospital?


    She then asks, ¡°does it have some kind of special meaning?¡±


    ¡°Cleansing of the self,¡± the person says, widening their eyes, ¡°that is the meaning of the hotpot bath.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you just use water?¡± Fei asks, ¡°hotpot is piping hot too.¡±


    ¡°The hotter the better,¡± murmurs the person, ¡°it kills bacteria¡­¡±


    Fei ¡°¡­¡±


    Who in the world would use hotpot to kill bacteria, oi!


    Fei remains vehemently opposed, and is about to keep arguing, when Mu Jiashi tugs at her clothes, saying, ¡°they¡¯re too far gone,¡± he then adds rather sombrely, ¡°you shouldn¡¯t waste your time with them.¡±


    Fei snaps back to reality, realising she seemed kind of obsessed earlier.


    She quietly wonders, still in shock, ¡°that is¡­ the infectious madness?¡±


    ¡°Possibly,¡± Mu Jiashi says, looking at the booming business of the hotpot store, ¡°they seem to treat hotpot as some kind of religion¡­ the hotpot soup base as holy water or something.¡±


    Fei feels a malicious chill down her spine, as if tiny worms were squirming on her back. Under the searing summer sun, her sweat has gone all cold.


    Shakily, she says, ¡°but, it couldn¡¯t be that only this hotpot store is crazy¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s infectious¡­¡± Mu Jiashi quietly says, ¡°say, how many in the world, are in this kind of madness?¡±


    Fei bites her lips, and, looking in the direction of that hotpot store for a bit longer, says, ¡°let¡¯s keep going. I want to know, what would be waiting for us still in front.¡±


    ¡°The Nightmare itself is more important,¡± says Mu Jiashi, ¡°these deranged people are merely a ¡®danger¡¯ in the Nightmare.¡±


    Fei forces a smile, and says, ¡°I know, I get what you mean. I just¡­ I just¡­¡± her expression almost goes blank, ¡°I¡¯m just thinking, what really happened, back then¡­¡±


    It is difficult for them to still treat these scenes as a mere game setting. They couldn¡¯t anymore. These once happened back on Earth. Their Earth. Perhaps, on themselves personally, on their closest family, friends and neighbours.


    Even if all those terrifying memories have been taken from them, it is not hard to empathise.


    That¡¯s why, when Fei sees these mad people in the Nightmare, she is not thinking about how scary or terrible the Nightmare is. Instead, she is wondering, back then, on Earth, did humans once face such similar desperation?


    A sudden, unexpected, madness, that has destroyed human civilisation?


    The three Missiontakers leave the hotpot store behind, each mired in their own thoughts.


    Ding Yi and He Shuj¨¹n didn¡¯t immediately start heading south.


    Earlier, the couple studied the sign at the bus stop before Ding Yi and He Shuj¨¹n realised the bank contained something crazy. The couple didn¡¯t report the bus stop as having anything suspicious.


    Yet, right when Ding Yi and He Shuj¨¹n were walking by the bus stop, they hear the engine sound of a large vehicle heading their way from the intersection.


    A bus is coming.


    He Shuj¨¹n turns to check the bus stop sign out, and confirming it with the oncoming bus, she is surprised, saying, ¡°it¡¯s the tourist bus, headed for the last stop, museum¡­ two stops away. How about it? Want to get on?¡±


    Ding Yi nods, silent.


    He Shuj¨¹n, being quite the bombastic, energetic ball of energy herself, doesn¡¯t seem at all miffed at Ding Yi¡¯s muted responses. Smiling, she boards the bus.


    Ding Yi follows after her.


    They haven¡¯t any money on them, but the bus doesn¡¯t take any either; the tourist bus line is free of charge.


    The bus driver looks to be a guy in his forties, and merely glances at Ding Yi and He Shuj¨¹n when they board, before looking back at the road to start the bus back up.


    He Shuj¨¹n quietly mutters, ¡°I have a bad feeling about this.¡±


    She looks at the rest of the passengers on board.


    There are seven, eight of them. Every one of them merely gives them a glance like the bus driver, before looking away, disinterested.


    Ding Yi and He Shuj¨¹n take a seat at the very back of the bus.


    He Shuj¨¹n quietly speaks to Ding Yi, ¡°I suspect there¡¯s something up with this bus.¡±


    Ding Yi responds quietly as well, ¡°if it¡¯s still operating as normal like this, then that¡¯s guaranteed.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n nods in agreement.


    They look out the window quietly. They can see the scorching sun causing the road outside to look almost like it¡¯s undulating.


    The rather wide sidewalk could let them imagine how, when everything is normal, there should be all the tourists there happily clamouring along even in spite of the sun shooting deadly laser at them.


    ¡°Cangcheng¡­¡± He Shuj¨¹n whispers to herself, sounding baffled, ¡°I feel like I¡¯ve definitely heard that name before somewhere.¡±


    Ding Yi glances at her, but then lowers her head back.


    The bus continues chugging along normally, not malfunctioning or anything as they imagined it would. The bus driver obeys the traffic rules as normal, even when the traffic lights are all off.


    The only time the bus stopped on the way, which shocked the two Missiontakers, by the way, turned out to be because some lunatic has suddenly leapt at the road and towards the bus, seemingly trying to kill himself.


    The driver slammed on the brakes and stopped the bus.


    Inertia dictates that Ding Yi, He Shuj¨¹n, and the rest of the passengers were all sent tumbling. He Shuj¨¹n, who was sitting at the aisle seat, yelped out in pain, but then, she immediately retracts her voice, looking around her with doubtful eyes.


    None of the seven or eight passengers, made a single noise.


    They were merely disturbed from their seating posture, and has straightened themselves back up. They could convincingly pass for nothing having ever happened. They merely sit there with unflinching, unchanging expressions, like lifeless, artificial golems.

 Volume 6 - CH 96.3

    He Shuj¨¹n is finding the interior of the bus to be way too quiet. Furrowing her brows, she turns to Ding Yi, asking, ¡°don¡¯t you think it¡¯s strange?¡± She looks towards the passengers, ¡°these people¡­ They might as well be in a vegetative state.¡±


    Ding Yi replies, ¡°perhaps the way their madness manifest is to sit in a bus carriage quietly and be a good passenger?¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n can¡¯t help but chuckle, and teases Ding Yi, like the good friends they are not, ¡°well that¡¯s quite the madness indeed. Maybe they were right on the bus when whatever happened and they got trapped¡­ here¡­?¡±


    She blinks, and asks again, ¡°no way, right?¡±


    Ding Yi is staring at her in silence.


    He Shuj¨¹n knits her brows, wondering, ¡°really?¡± She starts muttering to herself then, ¡°this is seriously creepy¡­¡±


    Ding Yi shakes her head, and then, suddenly says, ¡°we¡¯re at a stop.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s this one?¡± He Shuj¨¹n reflexively asks, and then answers herself, ¡°I think it was¡­ some art gallery?¡±


    The bus stops. When the two Missiontakers thought no one would be alighting here, a few passengers shoot up like bamboos and walk mechanically off the bus.


    Now, three passengers, the driver, and Ding Yi and He Shuj¨¹n remained.


    He Shuj¨¹n gulps, and says, ¡°I think I¡¯m starting to regret boarding this bus. Something feels really not right here¡­¡±


    In what way, though? What kind of madness does this bus have?


    It should be fine. Yes. The bus allowed passengers to board normally and started up normally. It could be that its madness is simply repeating the tourist line forever. That¡¯s it.


    That said, there was still the bloody murder at the bank and the lunatics who run onto the streets every now and then. It makes He Shuj¨¹n nervous, and she can¡¯t help it.


    Slapping herself on her cheeks lightly, she murmurs, ¡°oh xiao-He, xiao-He, you chose to return to the bottom floor and enter this Nightmare yourself¡­ You¡¯ll have to stay strong¡­¡±


    Ding Yi, glancing at He Shuj¨¹n who is cheering herself up a little next to her, can¡¯t help but feel like laughing.


    Shaking her head, she turns to look at the buildings flying past her view in a blur.


    Suddenly, she asks, ¡°do you feel like¡­¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Ding Yi sounds hesitant, but then says firmly, ¡°this bus seems like it¡¯s accelerating over time.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n, surprised, then pokes her head out the window to observe the distance to the next stop. Normally, this would be an extremely dangerous thing for a passenger to do, not to mention this is a Nightmare which would increase the risk even further.


    Though it is not in He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s concerns right now.


    Barely a few seconds passes before she sits back down and says with a serious tone, ¡°it¡¯s true. We¡¯re already closing in on the final stop¡­¡±


    Ding Yi asks, ¡°could it be¡­ a road to death?¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n seems shocked, then asks, ¡°you mean, the last stop means death? This bus would crash into something later willingly?¡±


    Ding Yi says, ¡°it¡¯s possible. It keeps accelerating and accelerating, like it¡¯s trying to smash itself hard.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± She looks over at the few remaining passengers on the bus, and her lips tremble a little when she asks blankly, ¡°then wouldn¡¯t the first run of the Nightmare end really quickly?¡±


    ¡°Possibly because we boarded the bus,¡± Ding Yi is still analysing rationally, ¡°it could have triggered some mechanism. You remember how the driver and passengers both looked at us earlier.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n appears quite uneasy, and she mutters, ¡°it, it can¡¯t be¡­ Or maybe it¡¯s simply trying to avoid something, so it¡¯s speeding up, right?¡±


    Ding Yi answers, ¡°yes, that is also possible.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n has explanations, but none of that helps their situation any. The bus is still speeding up, and He Shuj¨¹n can almost hear the sounds of the wind whipping past.


    Finally, she rises to her feet and rushes for the driver.


    Ding Yi, shocked by her sudden course of action, quickly follows.


    They see the driver is still expressionless like some mechanical doll, but according to the speedometer, the speed of the bus is still rising.


    He Shuj¨¹n can already see the bus stop sign with the grand structure of the museum next to it, and yells out, ¡°driver! Please stop! We¡¯re getting off, it¡¯s the stop already!¡±


    The driver¡¯s mouth opens, and he speaks, ¡°the last stop, is voided. You, alight later.¡±


    ¡°Why is the stop voided?!¡± He Shuj¨¹n asks in astonishment.


    ¡°Museum stop, is voided,¡± the driver says with really rigid stutters, ¡°no stop, here. There was, announcement; you, did not read.¡±


    ¡°What announcement?¡± He Shuj¨¹n asks hurriedly, ¡°what happened here?!¡±


    The bus has already whirred past the museum.


    The driver immediately lets go of the pedal then, and the bus immediately starts decelerating until it comes almost to a crawl. Some kind of emotion seems to have passed through the driver¡¯s soulless eyes as he steps on the gas again and head for the terminal parking lot.


    He quietly says again, ¡°the Museum. Must not go.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n, her brows still furrowed, asks, ¡°were you driving that quickly because you were scared of the Museum?¡±


    Ding Yi quietly adds next to her, ¡°your guess was right. The bus was avoiding something and so it was accelerating.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n mutters, ¡°but what, exactly? What could be there in the Museum?¡±


    The driver doesn¡¯t speak, he maintains his unchanging expression.


    The two Missiontakers hear footsteps coming from further in the bus. Turning their head around, they see the three remaining passengers have already stood up, and are quietly standing before the door to alight at the back of the bus, waiting.


    The driver continues driving, and doesn¡¯t answer them.


    The atmosphere is so cold that He Shuj¨¹n finds it suffocating.


    Finally, after half a minute or so, the bus has come to a stop at the open bus parking lot, right opposite a somewhat unsteady-looking building. The door to the bus opens, and the passengers alight one after another.


    The driver undoes his seatbelt to alight as well.


    So she stops the driver to ask, ¡°what actually happened here? Why are you still driving right now? Why do you not stop at Museum?¡±


    The driver is staring with his cold and unfeeling eyes, then he speaks, ¡°the Museum, is insane. We, origin-ally, stopped running, but, they did not, let us.¡±


    ¡°The Museum¡¯s people asked you to keep the tourist line open?¡±


    ¡°They said, they need, visitors, and people, visiting, or it affects, tourism. They, forced us, to keep going, so, the depart-ment issued notice, we do not stop, but, the bus, still drives. I, have to, keep working.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n takes some time to understand the driver¡¯s words, and then expresses her shock, ¡°the Museum is fighting against the what, Department of Transportation? One forces the city to keep operating for tourists, the other suspended the corresponding stop, but¡­ but¡­ it¡¯s already like this. Why do you even keep working?¡±


    The drivers eyes are empty, merely standing there like a husk.


    Ding Yi asks, ¡°don¡¯t you think that he looks just like a robot?¡±


    ¡°A robot¡­¡± He Shuj¨¹n murmurs, ¡°is this how he has gone insane? To become a slave to working?¡±


    Ding Yi says, ¡°possibly, or a slave of this bus, or of the tourist line itself.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n shudders a little, murmuring, ¡°that¡¯s horrible,¡± then she shakes her head to add, ¡°and so are the people of the Museum¡­ some mad pursuit of quarterly figures? Number of visitors?¡±


    She guesses, while moving to the side to allow the bus driver to alight. He is probably off work at this hour, and after seeing He Shuj¨¹n and Ding Yi alight as well, he shuts the door to the bus.


    As he moves away from the bus, his steps seem to become slightly more natural. The pace seems to suggest he is relaxed.


    Soon enough, he is out of the Missiontakers¡¯ sights.


    He Shuj¨¹n sees him off, before turning around to look in the opposite direction. Her tone cheers back up again, ¡°let¡¯s go. We still have to go see the Museum.¡±


    They start walking back.

 Volume 6 - CH 96.4

    While the bus didn¡¯t stop at Museum, but compared to the route they would have taken if they walked from the Cangcheng Library to the Museum, this is still much closer.


    He Shuj¨¹n says, ¡°I feel like this Nightmare¡­ there are lots of mad people for sure, but there still seems to be some kind of order. Is this long after the Apocalypse? Some kind of post-everything civilisation?¡±


    ¡°Do you think this is the Apocalypse-proper?¡± Ding Yi says, analysing rationally, ¡°merely having those mad people around doesn¡¯t seem to be enough to have caused things to deteriorate as much as the Ruins the people talk about.¡±


    ¡°What if some of those mad people had access to switch to some weaponry? They launched something they shouldn¡¯t have?¡± He Shuj¨¹n suggests, with a kind of lax, jokey tone, ¡°you know that¡¯s how humans¡­¡±


    She cuts herself short, and falls silent.


    ¡­ Humans are always like that.


    But then, could it follow that this Apocalypse really could have just happened to human society? To their Earth?


    He Shuj¨¹n came from the higher floors very recently, and from her own circle of contacts, she heard rumours about this Apocalypse not merely being a setting in a game, but possibly, something that happened to Earth, to them.


    It is because of this Apocalypse that humanity had to enter the Tower.


    He Shuj¨¹n felt like the explanation was forced and illogical. An Apocalypse, sure, something like that could have happened, but how does it lead to them having to enter this Tower and get stranded here?


    The logic doesn¡¯t follow.


    He Shuj¨¹n is highly sceptical, and she knows many Missiontakers would share her opinion.


    It is only when she is actually in a Nightmare related to the supposed Apocalypse, that she realises, her subconsciousness has probably bought into this hypothesis already.


    Why, though?


    She asks herself.


    And the only reason she can come up with, is that she cannot come up with anything else anymore.


    All this time they¡¯ve spent trapped in the Tower, a long enough time that, people have to wonder¡ª¡ªWhy? Why is no one coming to save them? They can¡¯t get out, but what about outside? Does no one know about their situation? Is no one interested in saving them?


    Just like how Fei, in the last Nightmare, watched the burning cityscape in the burning building, and wondered ¨C the building still appears to be a safe shelter with food, then why would people in it only think of escaping, and no one outside would try to enter?


    Then, He Shuj¨¹n draws the same conclusion.


    Because, there is no longer anybody outside.


    ¡­ The Apocalypse.


    He Shuj¨¹n mutters it quietly in her mind.


    She thinks, maybe the Apocalypse has destroyed everything, and so, they, the humans in the Tower, are already the last of their species.


    How terrible, she laments, with no other emotional strings attached. She simply ponders on the Apocalypse.


    In any case, this is how she is willing to believe in the forced, nonsensical explanation. She would believe in the Apocalypse that killed off most of humanity, and only left them behind.


    Whether the Tower itself is safe or dangerous, whether it is a haven or a birdcage, those are all questions best left to the future.


    She merely needed an explanation. She needed to know why she was fighting at her wit¡¯s end so many times. She needed to know why there were so many years of desperate struggles. She needed to know, why she was never contacted ever, all these years.


    ¡­ Really, if anyone is still outside, then why, aren¡¯t they saving them?


    He Shuj¨¹n has no answers. She doesn¡¯t even want to mentally process the possibilities that could lead to an answer.


    So, she forces herself to think about other things.


    Like this Nightmare at hand.


    As they silently walk ahead, He Shuj¨¹n and Ding Yi reach the tall, majestic structure of the Museum soon enough.


    The Museum, or the ¡®Historic and Cultural Museum of Cangcheng,¡¯ has a grand footprint. There are structures, plus a whole surrounding area of greenery and even recreational facilities. It resembles more a city¡¯s tourist area than a simple Museum.


    He Shuj¨¹n says with a slightly mocking tone, ¡°I guess I understand why the madmen in the Museum need the tourist figures.¡±


    They walk into the Museum.


    As soon as they do, the scorching heat outside leaves them behind.


    He Shuj¨¹n sighs in relief at the air-conditioning indoors. In the Tower, the weather is fixed to some nondescript, cloud-covered sunless day, and she hasn¡¯t been exposed to the spirit of summer for a very long time.


    In this Nightmare, she swears she could feel herself drying up; grilled in the terribly passionate rays of the summer sun.


    This friendly Museum is air-conditioned, thank goodness.


    That said, this sure is odd. He Shuj¨¹n can¡¯t help but wonder why the air-conditioning is still on.


    Madmen are all that can be seen outside. Societal order is basically nonexistent. Litter and rotten leaves fill the streets but there are no janitors in sight. And yet, this Museum of Cangcheng, is clean as new inside, and looks ready to receive tourists at a moment¡¯s notice.


    ¡°Greetings.¡±


    Suddenly, someone speaks up besides them.


    Spooked, the two Missiontakers look to the side, to see an elderly figure with white hair who came from nowhere. He looks both surprised and highly relieved.


    He says, ¡°welcome to the Historic and Cultural Museum of Cangcheng. Can I ask the fair ladies what they would be interested in hearing about?¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n and Ding Yi look at each other for a moment.


    They suspect this elderly man must be the lunatic in the Museum, but he still looks communicable, so He Shuj¨¹n answers, ¡°it¡¯s our first time here, so could we ask you to show us around as you please?¡±


    ¡°Show you around¡­¡± Repeats the elderly man, who then says, ¡°then let us make our way to the Cityscape Hall first. It features the history and the past of this city. Recently, however, the Museum is transferring some of its collection, so regrettably, there would not be too much to see.


    Can I ask if the two ladies are here at Cangcheng for the first time?¡±


    ¡°We are.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n and Ding Yi follow behind the elderly man as they head for the large hall on the west side.


    Along the way, like real tourists, with the man being their guide, they are introduced to this Museum and the city in general.


    Everything seems so normal, yet by the time He Shuj¨¹n arrives at the Cityscape Hall, the atmosphere already has her back filled with cold sweat.


    She did not see a single other person the entire way here. There would seem to be nobody but the three of them in this vast, empty Museum. The elderly man walks with a silent, completely inaudible pace ¨C he almost feels more ghost than man.


    He is almost like the Museum itself ¨C historic, serene, gentle, but feels aged and decayed, as if he would disappear the next second.


    If this was more crowded, with people walking around, watching, shoulder-to-shoulder, then He Shuj¨¹n would surely feel that the place was more alive and welcoming, and perhaps that the city was lively all the same, but, not like this.


    Walking on the Museum¡¯s grounds, is like walking on some kind of long rotten corpse. It is soft. It is cold.


    The air-conditioning might be a bit too strong in here. The cold air that helps alleviate the heat off thousands, maybe even ten thousand tourists at once, is directed at solely the three of them. He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s back is chilled to the bone. It only adds to a cold eeriness surrounding the whole place.


    With all that said, though, He Shuj¨¹n does not actually find the elderly man to be exhibiting any sort of insanity at all.


    Well, if you really push it, he might seem to have a bit of an obsession with the Museum itself¡­?


    But given his age, he might have worked his entire life in this Museum. This is his second home, and, after whatever happened, people have all gone mad.


    Museums are not usually the top of the list of places people feel like hanging out in normally, and after that, it is more likely shunted out of the list altogether.


    The elderly man must feel a sadness in his chest from all this. It isn¡¯t impossible to imagine him being saddened by all of this¡­


    While watching the elderly man leading them ahead, He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s eyes are starting to lose their focus.

 Volume 6 - CH 96.5

    Seeing He Shuj¨¹n like that, Ding Yi pulls on her and interrupts her thoughts.


    He Shuj¨¹n goes ¡®ah,¡¯ and snaps back to reality, looking at Ding Yi with this bewildered expression.


    Ding Yi asks her with a harsh tone, ¡°what were you thinking about?¡±


    ¡°I was thinking¡­ his insanity, was uh¡­ understandable¡­?¡± She says, and finds herself ending up with even more cold sweat, ¡°why would I ever think that?! That¡¯s too scary!¡±


    The two Missiontakers are whispering to each other there.


    The elderly man walked a few more steps forward before seeing the two visitors not following after him, and so turns around to ask, ¡°is anything the matter?¡± Then he sees how pale He Shuj¨¹n looks, and asks, ¡°are you feeling unwell? We have a doctor onsite.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n thinks about it, and then nods to agree with going.


    She really doesn¡¯t look terribly well right now.


    Then the elderly man turns to Ding Yi to ask, ¡°would you like another guide to show you along?¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s alright,¡± replies Ding Yi, ¡°I¡¯m worried for her.¡±


    The elderly man nods understandingly, and leaves the Cityscape Hall with them.


    The doctor¡¯s room is over on the east side of the Museum, opposite the west wing of the Museum they¡¯re in, and so they would have to pass through basically the entire building to get there.


    Along the way, neither Missiontakers felt like chatting with the elderly man anymore.


    He Shuj¨¹n asks, quite concerned, ¡°is this madness¡­ infectious? Or is it because of this place?¡±


    Ding Yi responds frankly, ¡°I have no idea, but¡­¡± she says, looking at the silhouette of the elderly man in front of her, ¡°maybe we can ask?¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n doesn¡¯t hesitate before saying, ¡°alright! It¡¯s the first run, if not now, then we¡¯ll never¡­¡± and recalling how she was almost enchanted before, adds, ¡°it¡¯d be better if we can figure out what¡¯s going on right now.¡±


    So He Shuj¨¹n asks the elderly man, ¡°mister, we arrived on the bus, but does the tourist bus no longer stop at Museum?¡±


    The man stops, and turns around, revealing an expression of both appal and fury, ¡°what?! They dare¡­ they dare to do that!¡±


    The two Missiontakers look at each other, and look back at the man.


    Ding Yi tries to ask, ¡°are you¡­ unaware of this?¡±


    The elderly man replies angrily, ¡°I had no idea!¡± He takes a deep breath, and then gives the Missiontakers an apologetic smile, saying, ¡°I¡¯m sorry about how¡­ excited I was. It was quite simply¡­ Oh, excuse me. I shouldn¡¯t have said anything.


    The doctor is right in front of here, straight ahead. I will ask a member of our staff to continue showing you around when you recover, but I have to take my leave here. My apologies, and goodbye, m¡¯ladies, I wish you a pleasant experience ahead.¡±


    Then the elderly man hurriedly drags his heavy feet away.


    He Shuj¨¹n, slightly surprised by the turn of events, says, ¡°I think I¡­ might have asked a wrong question?¡±


    ¡°Not necessarily, no,¡± Ding Yi reassures her, while looking at the silhouette of the retreating elderly man, ¡°he does seem to be insane, now, rather than lucid. In any case, do you still remember what he told us earlier?


    ¡°What?¡±


    Ding Yi quietly says, ¡°he said the Museum is transferring its collections¡­ but why?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s really strange to be moving valuable relics and stuff when societal order has descended into anarchy like this?¡± He Shuj¨¹n nonchalantly replies, and then adds, ¡°it could be for safeguarding.¡±


    ¡°Possibly.¡±


    While the Missiontakers had a chat, they suddenly hear someone speak up with shock and nervousness, though the tone of distress seems to suggest this person is yet sane.


    ¡°Who are you people?!¡± The person asks, ¡°Why are you even here? The entire Museum has gone mad, didn¡¯t you know?¡±

 Volume 6 - CH 97.1

    Discovery


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    He Shuj¨¹n and Ding Yi reflexively turn to look at the person speaking.


    It¡¯s a man in his thirties or so, not easily discernible thanks to his sallow face and serious expression. He is looking at the two Missiontakers like he is looking at some kind of monster. He doesn¡¯t speak too loudly, but he sure can babble, going, ¡°what in the world¡­ why are you even coming to some cursed place like this?!¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n replies, ¡°we didn¡¯t know¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s still people in this city who doesn¡¯t know the Museum is filled with crazy people?!¡± The man seems amazed in a sense, and continues, ¡°shit, shit¡­ did the announcements from the Department of Transportation not reach everyone? Are you trying to kill yourselves coming here?!¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n rolls her eyes, and says, ¡°please¡­ we really don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on. Can you explain it to us?¡±


    The man stares at them for a bit before slumping his shoulders and say, ¡°come with me. I¡¯m the doctor in the Museum.¡±


    ¡®Museum,¡¯ ¡®doctor,¡¯ sure are two words that doesn¡¯t fit each other well, but it seems, at least, he is the only person still sane in this Museum so far.


    ¡°They¡¯ve all gone mad,¡± says the doctor, right after he sits back down at his office.


    He seems a pretty straightforward, even brash individual, with a bitter, harsh tone in every sentence he speaks. Given how he led the two ¡®tourists¡¯ who mistakenly entered the Museum back to his office, though, he is probably good at heart.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Ding Yi asks, ¡°there was an old man we met¡­¡±


    ¡°You met the ol¡¯ Director? Hah, that¡¯s amazing. You actually escaped from his clutches before being guided through the entire Museum.¡±


    ¡°¡­ That¡¯s how he¡¯s mad?¡±


    ¡°He believes this Museum is a record of anthropology and history and stuff, so people should all visit, and know about all the collections and relics and whatnot,¡± the man coldly chuckles, ¡°call me a weirdo, but who¡¯d actually visit a Museum every day of the fucking week?¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n is listening while also observing the office in the meantime.


    It¡¯s small, but it¡¯s largely clean, though the things are placed somewhat haphazardly, so it can be inferred the owner of the room doesn¡¯t hold it in that much value.


    She decides to change the topic, and ask, ¡°so what were you doing outside just now?¡±


    The man has a bitter smile on as he answers, ¡°that, is thanks to the new rules our ol¡¯ Director issued after he¡¯s gone mad,¡± he takes a deep breath, before saying, ¡°he demands every single member of staff, to go to Reception at the entrance hall each hour, and report on their duties.


    He thinks that people aren¡¯t coming to the Museum because, one, the Department of Transportation and the Tourism Board is being negligent in their duties, and two, us staff members are not working hard enough. All the other staff are insane for agreeing with it, word-for-word, I say.


    If you now try to head to the different sections of the Museum, dozens of staff would be lining up to show you around. It¡¯s gonna go in their ¡®hourly review,¡¯ after all.¡±


    The tone gets more and more sarcastic by the minute.


    He Shuj¨¹n thinks about it for a bit, then comes to a conclusion, ¡°if that¡¯s true, then the Museum¡­ doesn¡¯t seem that dangerous, actually?¡±


    ¡°Not dangerous?¡± The doctor rolls his eyes at her, ¡°I¡¯ll say this much. You will never get out once you come in. If you want out¡­ congratulations, you¡¯ll be the next contestant on the ol¡¯ Director¡¯s ¡®Ten Thousand Trivia Questions about the Museum¡¯ quiz show.¡±


    ¡°¡­ And if I couldn¡¯t answer correctly?¡±


    ¡°The ol¡¯ Director will berate you for being a useless piece of shit with memories comparable to that of a goldfish, and kept here in the Museum forever until you can answer every question correctly.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s jaw is on the floor, and she asks, ¡°by kept, you mean¡­?¡±


    ¡°Exactly,¡± the doctor tells her, ¡°there¡¯s a bunch of people hard at work jamming knowledge into their memories at the back of the Museum, wanna go and see?¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n shakes her head slowly in a daze.


    ¡­ So these days, just looking around a Museum requires you to have photographic memory or something?


    Ding Yi then asks, ¡°I heard the Director mention that the Museum is transferring its collections?¡±


    For some reason, she can¡¯t let this piece of information go.


    Hearing that, the doctor goes silent for a moment, before seemingly snapping back to reality for a moment and say, ¡°yeah, the collections are being transferred.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°All the mad people around, duh,¡± replies the doctor, ¡°this Museum does house some valuable artefacts, I¡¯ll give it that, so the Director is the one who proposed for them to be moved somewhere safe.


    Well, the actual trigger for that, is actually one of those people locked up in the back. One of them escaped and somehow smashed some valuable porcelain¡­ or something else? Anyway, it was probably on purpose.


    The Director must have been horrified. That¡¯s why he¡¯s moving the collections away.¡±


    Ding Yi nods. She finally understands what¡¯s going on now.


    He Shuj¨¹n, seeing the topic resolved for now, starts asking something else, ¡°so besides you, is there anyone else still sane in the Museum?¡±


    The doctor says, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I also act like I¡¯m mad like them outside. The ol¡¯ Director is too far off the deep end, and anyone who doesn¡¯t follow his steps would be punished ¨C in the form of reciting stuff and doing quizzes, I think¡­ there¡¯s no way to escape the Museum, either.


    I caved, yeah, and I do whatever he wants, since I¡¯m just an on-site doctor, and I have nothing to do. I check in, check out on time every day, and report on the nothing in my day¡¯s work every day. The Director knows best no tourists ever comes around anyway, so I¡¯ve got it easy.


    Maybe the other staff are just like me; oh, but definitely not those in charge of the different Halls of the Museum, they are 100% certifiably, organically insane. They¡¯re in bonkerland with the Director, so I suggest you avoid them if at all possible.


    As for who¡¯s definitely guaranteed to be sane¡­ maybe those in charge of moving the collections, I suppose.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n then asks curiously, ¡°isn¡¯t it the Museum¡¯s staff who are moving the collections?¡±


    ¡°No, not all of them. Some are from the insurance company, and some are from the transport company, besides the staff of the Museum there cataloguing the relics,¡± explains the doctor, ¡°I see them every hour I go to report on my work. They seem lucid enough, always looking worried and anxious.¡±


    ¡°Worried and anxious equals lucid?¡±


    ¡°Ha, you haven¡¯t seen how the other staff who¡¯ve gone bananas look. They have ¡®I love work, work loves me¡¯ written all over their faces. Only those that look annoyed having to move everything are awake.¡±


    The corner of He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s mouth is twitching, but she cannot come up with anything else to say.


    What the doctor has said so far has all lined up perfectly¡­

 Volume 6 - CH 97.2

    Ding Yi gently asks, meanwhile, ¡°can we still leave here now? Or are we also stuck in the Museum?¡±


    ¡°Have you been to any of the Halls and listened to the ol¡¯ Director¡¯s explanation?¡± The doctor asks a key question, ¡°if you haven¡¯t, I suppose there¡¯s a chance the Director won¡¯t pester you and let you leave. If you have, then never mind. I can only wish you luck.¡±


    ¡°We haven¡¯t,¡± He Shuj¨¹n quickly answers, ¡°so we can leave now, right?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll still have to tell the Director first,¡± the Doctor says, but he furrows his brows and asks, ¡°but wait, you¡¯re already in here, but you haven¡¯t been to the Halls yet?¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n and Ding Yi look at each other, before telling him what happened to them before coming to this office.


    The doctor is shocked, saying, ¡°you¡¯ve¡­ you¡¯ve sure managed to divert his attention, alright. Man, looks like the Department of Transport people are going to have more headaches because of these mad people.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve mentioned the Department earlier as well,¡± Ding Yi can¡¯t help but ask, ¡°they sound like they¡¯re still sane?¡±


    The doctor answers, ¡°for what it¡¯s worth, yeah, but rather, it¡¯s just that all the sane people have been transferred over to that Department. Since the madness just cropped up out of nowhere and it looks infectious, so the government did what it could to limit the spread of the madness in itself, so the Department of Transportation, and some others I think, made some efforts in that direction, though unfortunately¡­¡±


    The doctor looks out his window, and can¡¯t help but sigh.


    He concludes, ¡°there are too many of them.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n, straightforward as always, just asks, ¡°but the madmen don¡¯t seem to be that aggressive either, right?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t seem aggressive?¡± The doctor retorts coldly, ¡°I know an area where the people are currently obsessed with some real-life battle royale. Most of the populace are already dead, and they¡¯re pestering for other areas to send people there to get to 100 people again.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s jaws are on the floor. She has no words with which to respond anymore.


    While it¡¯s true she and Ding Yi didn¡¯t see any overtly aggressive mad people along the way, but they¡¯ve already seen the tragedy in that bank branch before.


    And clearly, this infectious madness is already damaging normal societal order and security greatly.


    The doctor sighs and says, ¡°if you can leave, just do it quickly. You might even be able to sneak under the ol¡¯ Director¡¯s radar if you¡¯re careful,¡± then his expression looks somewhat lost as he says, ¡°in this world, just surviving along is lucky enough.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n, looking at him, nods quietly.


    Then the two of them leave the doctor¡¯s office behind.


    Soon enough, the two Missiontakers are back at the entrance of the Museum.


    He Shuj¨¹n asks Ding Yi, ¡°should we leave?¡±


    Ding Yi seems hesitant, and after some thoughts, she says, ¡°I don¡¯t think we have to. It¡¯s the first run, so we should gather more information if possible. We¡¯ve come this far, so we might as well go further.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n nods in agreement, and then says, ¡°so let¡¯s go find those people transferring the collections?¡±


    Ding Yi nods.


    They then turn to head for the depths of the Museum.


    In the meantime, the viewers of the stream have also been observing their actions.


    X¨¹ Beijin has let the pair¡¯s activities fill the main screen of the stream, mainly because he saw them approach this large, brand new scene of ¡®Museum,¡¯ which also has a whole host of explorable locations under it listed, and it just goes to show how important this location is.


    The information the two Missiontakers have acquired so far has also been a treasure trove for the viewers to happily debate about.


    ¡°interesting, sanity in insanity? order in chaos?¡±


    ¡°but something feels wrong, given the current situation, isnt this nightmare way too big in comparison? and never mind that, but I still cant see any linked storyline from all the clues?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, watching the stream, sees the comment asking for progress update at the library, and so switches the scene to Wu Jian after thinking about it instead of to Lin Qin. Very unsuspicious and ¡®nothing to see here¡¯ indeed.


    ¡­ Because Lin Qin is right next to him.


    When it comes to looking for clues, no one can beat the extremely quick at running, extremely intuitive and smart, and extremely ¡®I have no common sense so I didn¡¯t see any value in that¡¯ Lin Qin. He basically went through the entire first floor of the library in no time, and discovered no clues and nothing he thought out of place.


    So after that, Lin Qin very honestly and openly walked right back to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s side.


    ¡­ What¡¯s wrong with wanting to spend time with the person he loves! He¡¯s done everything he has been asked to do, too!


    X¨¹ Beijin gave him a slightly frustrated but also bemused stare in return.

 Volume 6 - CH 97.3

    Lin Qin stood there, idling for a while, until X¨¹ Beijin couldn¡¯t take it anymore and flips the board allowing entrance to the reception up, and tells him, ¡°come and take a seat inside.¡±


    Lin Qin¡¯s eyes seem to sparkle as he hurriedly walks in and sits right next to X¨¹ Beijin.


    ¡®He¡¯s always said he likes X¨¹ Beijin, but doesn¡¯t act at all like he does, now, does he?¡¯ X¨¹ Beijin thinks, glancing at him. Does he really even like him?


    Lin Qin seems confused by the gaze, and asks, ¡°why are you looking at me like that?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin answers quite frankly, ¡°I can¡¯t feel how you like me.¡±


    Lin Qin tilts his head to ask, ¡°why don¡¯t you feel that?¡± He seems surprised, ¡°even after everything?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Feeling speechless, he asks, ¡°do you think I¡¯m a mind-reader?¡±


    Lin Qin goes ¡®oh,¡¯ and then starts thinking hard about what he could do to make X¨¹ Beijin feel his like.


    X¨¹ Beijin puts his arm straight up on the desk, and props his head on it, looking at Lin Qin with a subtle smile. This dum-dum of a little apple¡­ sure is interesting.


    Lin Qin thinks for a while and then speaks up, ¡°I read a novel before?¡±


    ¡°Mmhm?¡±


    ¡°In the book, there was a couple. One of them would always tell the other when they wake up in the morning, ¡®I love you.''¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°too cheesy.¡±


    Lin Qin complains, though, ¡°you don¡¯t even fall asleep, so how am I even supposed to say ¡®I love you¡¯ when you wake up?¡±


    It takes X¨¹ Beijin a second to process Lin Qin¡¯s amazing logic. Almost flabbergasted, he says, ¡°so, to prove that you do like me romantically, I should go to sleep? Lin Qin, I¡¯d almost say you¡¯re doing that on purpose¡­¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Lin Qin suddenly gets all serious, and says, ¡°I really wish you can go to sleep, and it is also true that I like you.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin falls silent.


    Lin Qin¡¯s crispy clear, and especially piercing eyes are looking right at X¨¹ Beijin. He then says, gentler and more serious than ever, ¡°I love you, X¨¹ Beijin, that¡¯s the truth. You cannot deny my feelings.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin simply blanks out there for a pretty long time before he forces a smile and says, ¡°alright, fine¡­ I know you love me already¡­¡±


    Lin Qin asks, ¡°you¡¯re not trying to run away again, right?¡±


    ¡°¡­ What do you mean ¡®again¡¯?¡±


    ¡°You always change the topic on this.¡±


    ¡°¡­ It¡¯s supposed to be ¡®you¡¯ liking ¡®me,¡¯ so now why is it my thing again?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that the object is ¡®you,¡¯ which also makes you a part of it?¡±


    ¡°But you also said that I don¡¯t need to feel troubled by this?¡±


    ¡°I just want you to give serious consideration to my feelings,¡± Lin Qin¡¯s eyes widen a little as he says, ¡°and if you still feel troubled, then¡­¡±


    ¡°Then what?¡±


    ¡°Then just put it on hold for a bit,¡± Lin Qin gestures, ¡°for a very tiny bit.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He swears he¡¯s frustrated enough to chase Lin Qin right out.


    Seemingly picking up on something, the very sharp and witty Lin Qin says, ¡°you were the one to invite me to sit here.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin narrows his eyes looking at Lin Qin, who adds, ¡°you¡¯ve let me into your world, so you can¡¯t chase me away after that; just like how you barged into my world, and you can¡¯t just expect me to sit there and do nothing.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin goes quiet.


    Huh, that doesn¡¯t make sense. Since when did Lin Qin learn speechcraft like that?


    ¡­ It was basically a flirt; so the little apple could also actually say something like that, given time?


    X¨¹ Beijin is amazed, frankly.


    Maybe, he shouldn¡¯t have let Lin Qin have full access to those weird novels.


    The meaning carried through X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s gaze also makes Lin Qin ask in return, slightly gruntled, ¡°oi, what is that shocked expression supposed to mean?¡±


    ¡°¡­ Who in the world would call the person they love ¡®oi¡¯?¡±


    Lin Qin is stupefied for a moment, before asking, ¡°darling?¡±


    ¡°¡­ No thanks, my name is ¡®oi.''¡±


    Lin Qin ¡°¡­¡±


    He¡¯s miffed, as he thinks he¡¯s being made fun of here.


    ¡­ But never mind, he thinks, since he knows X¨¹ Beijin, and the more agitated and emotional he becomes, the more doubtful and unsure of himself he must be inside.


    Tilting his head, Lin Qin observes the quiet X¨¹ Beijin closely, wondering if it really is true X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t know he, Lin Qin, likes him?


    ¡­ No way. X¨¹ Beijin must know that well.


    Lin Qin believes that, when it comes to emotions, X¨¹ Beijin must be far more perceptive than he is. Lin Qin¡¯s world is a blank, but clearly, it¡¯s the opposite for X¨¹ Beijin, who still remembers his days on Earth, and has definitely heard enough stories even if he hasn¡¯t experienced any.


    Yet for some reason, it is X¨¹ Beijin who would dodge the topic and try to avoid talking about it altogether.


    What¡¯s wrong with him calling him ¡®darling¡¯ anyway?


    X¨¹ Beijin would ask ¡®do us friends need to be so cheesy¡¯ and resolve Lin Qin¡¯s straightforward attack altogether. If he doesn¡¯t plan to even accept Lin Qin¡¯s emotions, then his personality means he should have responded frankly to that effect.


    But he hasn¡¯t. Instead, he relies on his instincts to dodge and escape.


    Because he must be unsure. Lin Qin must have managed to get at some part of his emotional heartstrings. That is why he acts like so. He is hesitating. He is wondering. He cannot find an appropriate countermeasure to resolve this.


    The more unsure X¨¹ Beijin becomes, the more certain Lin Qin becomes in return.


    Lin Qin thinks that, something like love, would be most effective when one is straightforward and unwavering, right?


    And he happens to be one such person.


    He doesn¡¯t want to leave X¨¹ Beijin. He wants to be by this man¡¯s side forever. If that is not love, then what could he use to explain this burning, fiery emotion he has in his chest?


    Sometimes, he would really wish X¨¹ Beijin could feel what he is feeling.


    It is burning, gnawing, titillating¡­ The motions, the thoughts; the obsession, when Lin Qin realised the weight of the word ¡®to like,¡¯ has tied him firmly to this single route.


    There is no way to back out of this anymore.


    Lin Qin has always had his way on the bottom floor, with his physical prowess meaning he can always do whatever he wants to in the Tower. It is only his disinterest in doing so that has stopped him from doing that, so in a sense, he is actually proactively stopping himself.


    His deeply emotional gaze is pointed right at X¨¹ Beijin. It seems like it would not move away even if the Heavens shall fall.


    In the silence, he simply thinks, this is the person he likes. He is¡­ his.


    He opens his mouth to smile.


    Oh yes, he will hold the ray of light¡ª¡ªin his own hands.


    What he wants done, will always be done. There has never been an exception.


    So many people have forgotten, and even X¨¹ Beijin himself has largely overlooked how, while Lin Qin has largely kept his temper in check recently, but in the beginning, Lin Qin was named the crownless King of the bottom floor, because he was basically a mad dog.


    While he seems to have been domesticated now, but his actual violent nature, is still etched right into his very soul.

 Volume 6 - CH 97.4

    ¡­ X¨¹ Beijin has failed to notice Lin Qin¡¯s gaze entirely.


    Or rather, he¡¯s been successfully irked by the little apple again.


    Exasperated, X¨¹ Beijin is ignoring Lin Qin on purpose, and instead, turns towards the stream instead.


    That is when he sees that Wu Jian seems to have discovered something on the second floor.


    It¡¯s a book on the far side of the desk of the service counter on the second floor.


    While it is generally well organised, but perhaps the shortage of staff, or their lack of enthusiasm therein, has resulted in some areas where the books are rather haphazardly organised.


    That one book was just put back at the service counter without anyone caring to put it back where it belongs.


    Wu Jian didn¡¯t see it immediately because his attention was first attracted to the gigantic electric clock, which is showing the current date and time.


    23/07/20XX, 15:15.


    He checks the clock out and notes the time, and so failed to notice the somewhat obvious book over at the service counter.


    He then went through the floor without finding anyone or special clues, and was blanking out looking at the thousands of books on the shelves when he incidentally noticed the book.


    Before then, he was somewhat frustrated at the thought of this Nightmare possibly requiring him to locate a specific book among the massive bookshelves, which would have been akin to finding a needle in a haystack.


    In general, Nightmares of the Tower do not have such ridiculous requirements.


    Though with the entire second floor devoid of clues, he was making a sour face and walking towards one of the bookshelves when he was near the service counter and saw the book.


    He picks it up.


    ¡°¡®Madness: A Record of the Last 200 Days¡¯¡­¡± Wu Jian reads the title out loud reflexively, and then murmurs, surprised, ¡°is this documenting the madmen?¡±


    He then checks the date of publication against the electronic clock.


    ¡­ It was published merely one month ago?


    ¡°If so, the madness probably started spreading some two hundred and some days ago?¡± Wu Jian continues murmuring to himself, ¡°or not. It could have been spreading for like a year, like last summer¡­¡±


    Then he puts up a long face again, going, ¡°but then, that is only the time when it began, what use would knowing that do¡­¡±


    With no one else around this vast, empty second floor of the library, he can only murmur to himself to quell the stress some.


    He takes a deep breath, then gets to reading.


    Not perusing, but merely checking the table of contents, and then skimming through what looks to be important.


    In the book, there is much more documentation of happenings than any speculation on its reasons. It seems the author didn¡¯t try to investigate the source of the madness, but is focusing more instead on the mad people themselves.


    Of note as well is the fact that the spread of the madness is global, which causes the writing to take a more radical and helpless tone.


    ¡°¡­ Urban traffic was the first to crumble and then restore itself. I¡¯ve heard that most of the people in the Department of Traffic was transferred from what was the Space Agency. Hey, talk about a silver lining¡­


    ¡­ Rather than the lunacy that freshly overtook the patients and doctors in the hospitals, the much more tragic and obscure were the patients and doctors in the mental institutes. Besides an immediate overcrowding problem adding to the full capacity of insane patients, just imagine what a whole lot of good lunatics treating insane patients would do¡­


    ¡­


    I recall a joke on how human development is so rapid that, while people of the ancient civilisations transmigrating to medieval times wouldn¡¯t have thought the changes were that drastic, but anyone from the medieval times transmigrating to the modern world would have had a heart attack at the pace of development.


    Therefore, it may be logical to ask¡­ how would someone from ten years ago transmigrating to this point react? Would they despair at how hopeless human civilisation has become, or simply express amazement at how the future played out?


    There are already rumours that scientists are discussing if the madness should be left alone as is. A school of thought is that this form of madness is one of the possibilities of continued civilisation development.


    Those who do not go mad, do not get to live?


    But, have humans really already reached such a desperate, unavoidable stage of having to fight for their own survival with lunacy in this vast, endless universe? Are our situation already that volatile?


    I must say, even the scientists have all gone off the deep end.


    ¡­


    A hundred days since the mad people took over the world, people started discussing the basic rights these mad people should enjoy.


    Some of those lunatics aren¡¯t that bad, especially the ones that merely work hard, as long as they don¡¯t try to force me to work as hard as they do¡­


    My own safety aside, I¡¯m actually more concerned about the number of lucid people remaining. As their numbers dwindle, how do you define ¡®normal¡¯ and ¡®insane,¡¯ and which of them are now truly insane? I have no easy answers here¡­


    ¡­


    After the madness spread, many people took it as a sign of the coming Apocalypse. They worship it, even, as some sort of punishment from God, and as God wills it, it heralds true destruction, the Day of Judgement, soon enough.


    They have taken on the view that humans are the impurities of the blue marble, and we are the ones that are to be eradicated. Madness is the first step to internally exhaust us, before the true Apocalypse is to descend unto us.


    Really, these religious fanatics who yell ¡®Impurities¡¯ all over are the ones that are clinically insane, I believe. It is even more laughable that many people are buying into their doctrine. Religion seems to have come to a dead end by this point.


    In spite of the crumbling of societal order, humans are still doing their best to get by. The only problem is, we do not know how long we will last.


    It is at this hour that these people are further grinding away at humanity¡¯s will to live. They call for us to lie flat and allow fate to dictate our future¡­ how dare they?


    We are still not ready to give up. We can still go on. We can still do our best to remain sane. I write this book, because I believe that, this is the moment, when someone should speak up and tell everyone¡ª¡ªWe should do our best to keep going.


    Two hundred days hence, and society is recovering. We have found a way through the madness. At least, humanity¡¯s productivity is rising back up. We have learned to live and let live with the mad people. In the future, perhaps, we might even be able to recover, to return everything to how it was gradually.


    Speaking optimistically; no. I must speak optimistically, and I believe that this will end eventually. It must.


    ¡­¡±

 Volume 6 - CH 97.5

    Flipping through the book, Wu Jian¡¯s gaze turns from shock to blanking out to pain to despair. His emotions are roiling. He can¡¯t calm down at all.


    He is wondering if this is what once happened on Earth. Did this once happen to human civilisation?


    ¡­ An endless disease of madness?


    At the end of the book, the author tried whatever they could to stave off the bleak and probably insane mood of the book to sound positive and optimistic, to wish for humanity to overcome this challenge and return to normalcy and leave the strange madness behind.


    Yet, would it succeed?


    Wu Jian does not know, but he is simply wondering, if humanity really succeeded against the madness, then why would they have still ended up in the Tower?


    And the other confusing thing for him is¡­ ¡®impurities¡¯?


    The very specific keyword is triggering Wu Jian¡¯s memories of an equally specific Nightmare ¨C the one featuring the dream in a dream atop the ruins.


    It was also a Nightmare of the bottom floor, though this one currently boasts to have inexplicably came down from the higher floors of the Tower.


    Is there some sort of connection? Why is this book mentioning that Nightmare? Would this kind of phenomenon be an isolated, coincidental example in this Nightmare, or would it be a common occurrence?


    No, wait, X¨¹ Beijin already said something hinting at that building from another Nightmare; if that is also an example, then this Nightmare would certainly be at least somewhat special?


    ¡­ Wu Jian has made the astute conclusion that, if this Nightmare really contains such traces of other Nightmares, then could this really be the one? The so-called Ultimate Nightmare?


    Wu Jian hopes so, but his mind is telling him, no way.


    He knows it cannot be this simple. If the Ultimate Nightmare really would surface so easily, then even if it only visits random floors, there is no way for there to have been no news of it for so long.


    Besides, Mu Jiashi already said he¡¯d once been to this Nightmare, hasn¡¯t he? If he has been to this Nightmare, and got a True End to boot, then why is he still in the Tower?


    So in that sense, this Nightmare cannot possibly have been related to the Ultimate Nightmare.


    Even so, reading about all these types of phenomena on the book, Wu Jian can¡¯t help but think with a glimmer in his eyes, that this book¡­ certainly looks important. Besides the mentioning of ¡®impurities,¡¯ it is also a pair of eyes that helps them look into the past.


    He falls into a trance just watching the cover of the book.


    Suddenly, he slaps himself on the face, going, ¡°no, that¡¯s not it. The book being here must mean it has some critical clue about this Nightmare¡­¡±


    He kept thinking about the Apocalypse this, the Apocalypse that, and he¡¯s forgotten even the most basics.


    They¡¯re in a Nightmare. They¡¯re dangerous, ruthless and bloody. He can¡¯t afford to be so casual around here.


    Even if Mu Jiashi does know how to resolve this Nightmare already.


    (TL: And Lin Qin is also here)


    ¡­ Oh damn, he feels like he can slack off even more.


    Wu Jian holds the book in his hands with a long face. He¡¯s not sure what he should be doing for now.


    That is when someone suddenly pops up ¨C its the female Missiontaker of the couple, poking her head down the spiral staircase not far from where he stands.


    She says, ¡°come quick, we found a normal person.¡±


    Let¡¯s reverse time to around ten minutes ago.


    While Wu Jian was engrossed in his readings, the Missiontakers who claim to be a couple has arrived on the third floor.


    They first went all the way up to the fourth floor before going down to the third floor.


    Since according to what X¨¹ Beijin told them, the fourth floor should contain big and empty rooms while the third floor contains smaller reading rooms. Clearly, the fourth floor would be much quicker to explore, so the couple went up there first.


    While Wu Jian was doubting them of being a couple, they at least have the tacit cooperation part down pat. They¡¯ve made it through the entire fourth floor without a word.


    Finally, when they were about to head back down, Buzzcut said simply, ¡°nothing on my side.¡±


    ¡°Nor here.¡±


    Buzzcut then says, ¡°I see. Then let¡¯s go to the third floor, Ye Lan.¡±


    The woman whom he addressed as Ye Lan nods without another word.


    If any of the other Missiontakers were here, they would probably be surprised to see Ye Lan, who looked all introverted and worried before, look so cold, calm and at ease here.


    Then they would probably diss how these Missiontakers who came down to the bottom floor sure enjoy putting up an act of weakness.


    That is exactly what Ye Lan and her companion planned, including the part about pretending to be a couple, because that would be a simple relationship that would put other people at ease generally. Not that they were planning to engage in any conflict with the rest of Missiontakers, but they did that to ensure an easier time during the division of roles in a Nightmare.


    Ye Lan would act like a woman of few words that seem anxious, which would largely put her off the radar of other Missiontakers, and allow her to observe their actions in turn and also to think about the clues for the Nightmare more quietly.


    As for whether this is effective¡­ Well, maybe insofar as the placebo effect can play out.


    It is simply because the bottom floor of the Tower doesn¡¯t require any of these scheming at this point. The Missiontakers from the higher floors have decided to work together and reach a consensus much faster than those Missiontakers of the bottom floor who have ascended to higher floors.


    They need to work together.


    And especially because Nightmares of the bottom floor do not require competition anyway, so the efficiency-minded, pragmatic Missiontakers immediately adopted new modus operandi.


    The Missiontakers who still remain on the bottom floor now must either know some rumours or have their own plans, or¡­ they are still not yet ready to give up on the possibility of the Ultimate Nightmare.


    That last possibility describes Buzzcut and Ye Lan perfectly.


    Or it is more accurate to say that, after struggling and making it through day after day in Nightmares on the upper floors, they have already lost hope of ever leaving the Tower. So for them, their best way out is to wish that the existence of the Ultimate Nightmare is true.


    Compared to an Ultimate Nightmare, the prospects of them reaching True Ends over and over again endlessly and rise higher and higher until they finally reach the highest floor of the Tower¡­ is so much lower, it is practically zero.


    Well, or rather, it is zero.


    They can never do it.


    Much smarter, wiser, stronger people than them have failed, so the two of them know they cannot do it.


    Therefore, perhaps wisely, or perhaps simply being hotheaded, they¡¯ve come back down to the bottom floor of the Tower, to chase another possible but implausible light of hope.


    How many people are on the bottom floor right now that are like these two Missiontakers?


    Wu Jian follows Ye Lan up to the third floor, and sees the ¡®normal person¡¯ Ye Lan described in one of the reading rooms.


    He¡¯s a¡­ 17- or an 18-year-old student, it seems, wearing thick round glasses.


    Meanwhile, the Missiontakers who¡¯ve headed north from the library have finally come across something.


    Fei stops in her tracks.


    She can see the sign in front of her, and narrows her eyes to read it out loud by reflex, ¡°500m ahead, Space Agency?¡±

 Volume 6 - CH 98.1

    Half Past Three


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Fei, Mu Jiashi, and Mr Suicide¡¯s journey has been straining their psyches all along.


    Since encountering the lunatic at the salon, their exploration seems to have run into some kind of problem. The Nightmare might as well have pre-crumbled for them.


    Never mind that hotpot restaurant;


    They then came across a karaoke place that has patrons sing until their throats bled, a flower shop that uses upside down human skulls as flower pots, a tuck shop that sells finger snacks made of real children¡¯s fingers, a VR store that lets people ¡®experience¡¯ VR headsets by using the helmets to zap electric current directly into customers¡¯ heads¡­


    By the end, even Mr Suicide is walking forward moping.


    All three Missiontakers can feel as if their brains have been thoroughly bleached. The craziness the entire way has made their own sanity unstable.


    The calmest of the three of them, though, is likely Mu Jiashi.


    Fei, glancing at him with a pale face, thinks, oh right, this Missiontaker has been to this Nightmare before.


    That¡¯s¡­ probably a good thing.


    Fei heaves a weary sigh, then looks on towards the road sign some ways ahead.


    If they still don¡¯t make any discoveries after this, other than encountering more SAN-depleting locales, Fei swears she would go insane.


    They¡¯ve walked forward for a long time©¤©¤this main avenue goes straight forward without major turns--©¤©¤until finally, they¡¯re at a large intersection.


    Forward, and they would leave the ¡®prosperous¡¯ streets behind, and wander into the suburbs.


    Fei says out loud, looking at the signage, ¡°Space Agency?¡± She then looks back at the CBD merely a few kilometres behind them at best, and can¡¯t help but say, ¡°this Cangcheng has weird city design.¡±


    Mu Jiashi replies calmly, ¡°it may have been that this Nightmare kept key locations close together.¡±


    Fei nods and agrees with the possibility.


    Though she then starts murmuring, ¡°if so, then this Space Agency must be something important if the Nightmare plopped it down on purpose.¡±


    Mu Jiashi replies with a poker face, ¡°that¡¯s right.¡±


    Fei and Wu Jian told him not to share any information on the Nightmare, and so he¡¯s going to comply.


    Though he can¡¯t help but wonder a little, given how difficult this Nightmare is, that if he didn¡¯t give any hints whatsoever, it might not be too long before these Missiontakers failed entirely.


    Mu Jiashi is worrying a little.


    He was able to achieve a True End back then, solely because, he was referred to it as a Golddigger, no less, to help a customer win.


    In other words, he was provided with more than sufficient information before entering the Nightmare, and he¡¯s had planning sessions and plan Bs and more before finally deciding it is time to enter the Nightmare. It took all that to achieve a True End.


    If he really did enter this Nightmare on a whim and without knowing anything, even Mu Jiashi doubts his capabilities will be enough to see him through to a True End.


    And this is talking about the pre-defeat Mu Jiashi, confident, powerful, and once had a 100% success streak on the bottom floor of the Tower.


    Mu Jiashi, following behind Fei, is now walking towards the Space Agency with her.


    He can¡¯t help but smile bitterly inside.


    The environments he still remember vividly and the scenery he walked past are all making him recall his defeat.


    His mood is pretty sombre, and he¡¯s quieter than usual. Fei might have thought he¡¯s quiet because he promised not to divulge information, but in fact, this is more reflective of his state when he just barged through Bad Ends after Bad Ends and returned to the bottom floor.


    When Fei and Wu Jian met him in that Nightmare with the ruins before, he stood up to the task because he had to investigate the Nightmare for information on Su Enya, the woman who has very successfully attracted his attention.


    Speaking of¡­


    Mu Jiashi is feeling even darker inside, as well as being confused.


    What actually happened?


    Why has Su Enya gone missing?


    Is it related to what she has told him?


    What is the relationship between her and this Nightmare? Why would she know that sentence?


    Thanks to Fei and Wu Jian¡¯s information and bold theories, he has already understood what Su Enya was trying to tell him before.


    Tower residents¡­


    Now Mu Jiashi is viewing the Tower anew.


    Not that it was especially effective in revitalising his lazed state. He¡¯s still feeling defeatist, still laughing at himself inside, still chastising himself for his failure.


    ¡­ A failure, huh? Is it really, though?


    Well, at least, what it was, was something his proud, and perhaps even arrogant self could not accept, so all he could, was retreat, run away, and despair.


    What he felt back then was direct indication that he definitely was nowhere near as strong as he thought he was.


    He¡¯s a complete, total failure of a loser.


    A loser, who lost entirely to himself.


    Mu Jiashi is looking down, and only occasionally raising his head to look at the sky, but all in all, he maintains a poker face, with eyes that are devoid of any colour or glint.


    That is when Fei suddenly stops, shocked, and asks, ¡°we¡¯re¡­ here? Is this the Space Agency?¡±


    Her voice trails off¡­


    Mu Jiashi raises his head a little lazily, and then says with a mechanical tone, ¡°yes. This is, the Space Agency, of this Nightmare.¡±


    When they walked past the bus stop named ¡®Space Agency,¡¯ Fei thought what awaited them would be a grand, solemn structure, but what she could see, this ¡®Space Agency¡¯ seems more like some ¡®amateur astronomers¡¯ gathering.¡¯


    The building of the Agency itself seems abandoned entirely, with broken windows and everything.


    A bit further in the distance is what seems to be a large telescope pointed at the sky. The instrument still looks operational enough.


    Though what is most shocking is the group of people assembled in front of them, on the plaza before the Space Agency building.


    They¡¯re in ridiculous, flashy clothes, mostly consisting of overly long dresses and oversized clothing, with various space-themed imagery either drawn or printed on them. The imagery include ¡®Big Bang¡¯ style explosions, constellations, or equations of astronomical interests.


    They all look quite passionate and excited, so much so they could be said to look almost insane. Of course, none of that could hide that, underneath, everyone still looked worried or anxious.


    For example, they¡¯re currently in some sort of extremely heated debate.


    Under the background of the abandoned Space Agency building, this hysterical scene is even more disconcerting.


    Fei can¡¯t help but murmur, ¡°what actually happened here¡­¡±

 Volume 6 - CH 98.2

    If Wu Jian were here ¨C especially the Wu Jian who has read ¡®Madness: A Record of the Last 200 Days,¡¯ then he would probably be able to pinpoint an exact page in the book to explain it to her.


    Because, after madness has spread throughout humanity, humans have decided to abandon their desire and pursuit of the universe.


    It is beyond their power to explore outside when simply maintaining current societal order has drained all their capacity.


    That is why, for humanity, any institutions, agencies and departments related to aerospace have been either restructured or disbanded outright. Many of them who remained sane have been put into the Department of Traffic, for example.


    And therefore, the only ones who remain who are still interested in the universe, are the amateur astronomers.


    Of course, they are not the top professionals themselves. In fact, a great majority of them are armchair astronomers at best. Not even amateur astronomers, but simply astronomy enthusiasts, perhaps.


    They¡¯re the ones that would be interested in the stars, looking up the dates when comets would make a passing and checking the best spots for viewing. They are a far cry from actual aerospace engineering work.


    Though they did promise and ensure that any already existing achievements wouldn¡¯t end up in the hands of lunatics, or worse, destroyed. They are also going to learn and study hard by themselves.


    Of course, there is an argument to be had, that these people, who were not part of the profession in the first place, being suddenly so obsessed with it, would be a form of madness in itself.


    But then, when everything has gone absurdly bananas, what they¡¯re doing is already benign enough, no?


    And here, the group assembled outside of the abandoned Space Agency, are part of those astronomy enthusiasts.


    Meanwhile¡­


    When Fei approached them and heard what they were arguing about, her expression turns somewhat strange.


    Huh. These people actually produced some result?


    Wait, no. More accurately, they¡¯ve managed to observe something?


    Most of the people here are interested in stargazing. When madness took over their brain, they¡¯d almost tirelessly calculate, study, and conduct astronomical observations as often as they could afford to.


    They¡¯re now infatuated with those stars, with those celestial bodies that quietly dot the night sky.


    However, during a probe a few days ago, they¡¯ve discovered something unusual.


    ¡°I¡¯m telling you, it must be a dwarf planet! Falling right towards us! It can¡¯t be anything else, because I saw that there were the usual valleys and geological features on that thing!¡±


    ¡°Bullshit! You saw? Who saw? No one saw clearly! They must be aliens! Those ¡®Impurities¡¯ cultists might go on about how madness is a punishment for humanity¡¯s disrespect to God, but there¡¯s obviously no God in this bedamned world, so they must be aliens! They made humans go mad and are now here for more! Here for more crazy thing!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the one bullshiting! Aliens? My goodness, are you on crazy pills? If there really were such a hostile and also omnipotent existence, we¡¯d all be dead already!


    Not to mention all these years of probing and looking into space without seeing a single shred of evidence for aliens existing, and you were saying?¡±


    ¡°You must be mad to be so confident in human technology! What we cannot observe cannot possibly exist? What if these aliens exist in some higher dimensional form?¡±


    ¡°You were just saying what we observed were aliens, now you say we can¡¯t observe them. Must be pretty nice to enjoy slapping your own face, huh?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t try to redirect the argument, oi!¡±


    ¡°Ok, fine, then I¡¯ll ask, what if the aliens actually exist in some lower dimensional form and they¡¯re easily subjugated?¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding me? If we haven¡¯t been able to observe any of them all these years, they must be much more advanced than us!¡±


    ¡°Hah, you¡­¡±


    Fei listened in for a while and largely understands what¡¯s going on.


    These enthusiasts were routinely observing the skies using the large telescope in the distance when they saw an unidentified object flying towards them.


    And apparently, reports have come in from all over the world regarding the observation of this same object.


    So now they¡¯re deeply divided on what this object could be.


    One side insists it is a dwarf planet or an asteroid. The other side insists they must be aliens.


    Though both sides are largely in agreement that the thing would be planet-ending.


    The grim reaper.


    While both sides continue to incessantly argue, one voice yells out, ¡°enough! Stop it, y¡¯all!¡±


    Everyone looks over.


    The person yelling was a woman, wearing a dress with imagery of the Big Bang printed on. She looks utterly exhausted, probably having worried herself sick over the things they observed recently.


    Her voice is also pretty hoarse. Right after stopping her companions from arguing, her volume immediately goes back down.


    She asks, ¡°the bigger question, is whether we should tell normal people about this.¡±


    Everyone falls silent.


    Someone then mentions, ¡°didn¡¯t you already¡­¡±


    Then someone else tugs on that persons¡¯ sleeve, stopping him from asking.


    Fei quickly glances around.


    There are around thirty-odd people here, so Fei and the two other Missiontakers don¡¯t stand out too much.


    All of them now look deeply worried, quite different from how excited they were arguing earlier.


    The sense of worry and anxiety that was not as evident before is now in full view.


    One of them murmurs, ¡°regardless of whatever the thing is¡­ We¡¯ll be dead in a while anyway. Xie Ji, why even bother?¡±


    The woman named Xie Ji turns pale at the comment.


    Fei, hearing that, can¡¯t help but quietly mutter, ¡°in a while?¡±


    Someone probably heard Fei, and goes bawling all of a sudden, ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t wanna die!¡±


    Everyone else erupts into discussion.


    Now Fei finally understands fully, that whatever the thing was, it was on a direct collision course to this planet!


    Fei¡¯s face goes pale.


    Though unfortunately, the viewers of the stream haven¡¯t noticed what¡¯s going on here at all.


    Because, while Fei was listening in on the enthusiasts, the stream¡¯s camera was instead pointed at He Shuj¨¹n and Ding Yi in the museum.


    The two Missiontakers have found the staff in charge of transferring the relics.


    Just as the doctor said, they do look quite unhappy to be here.


    They¡¯re actually working near the side door of the first floor of the museum, off the east side of the back of the museum, accessible when going through the entrance hall directly, and then turning to exit the building.


    The searing summer sun has drenched the staff in sweat.


    There seems to be both the museum¡¯s staff cataloguing what was being relocated, and people from insurance companies ascertaining the relics¡¯ value¡ª¡ªAlthough, really, when the world is like this, does insurance even have any meaning?


    He Shuj¨¹n is doubtful¡ª¡ªAnd also, there are people from the moving company carefully storing the relics for transportation.


    He Shuj¨¹n and Ding Yi are hiding nearby to observe them.


    Suddenly, Ding Yi points to one of them, and says, ¡°look at that museum staff¡­ that one, the one who looks like he would throw a tantrum at any time.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n looks over, and easily identifies the person among the group of people.


    He really is too noticeable.


    Even though summer is hot and irritating, but it¡¯s probably a bit much to have a reaction like that guy, who looks like he might go on a murder spree soon enough.


    With locked brows and a grim expression, he stands there with his arms crossed, not speaking nor moving, merely glaring at the rest of the people present with eyes that are as chilly as the sun is searing.


    And it isn¡¯t exactly accurate to say he is focused on his work, either. He is merely standing there, possibly even daydreaming about something else and not caring at all for his drenched coworkers.


    When observing him, He Shuj¨¹n realises that he would rub his left hand¡¯s ring finger with his left hand every so often.


    The others also seem to fear him somewhat, possibly owing to either his being someone they cannot complain about or simply being wary of his temperament. Everyone would avoid him implicitly and not arouse his attention.


    He Shuj¨¹n can¡¯t help but comment, ¡°well, that guy sure looks like a walking powder keg.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s distracted thinking something,¡± Ding Yi says firmly, ¡°and so he is not joining in the work.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense. We can try asking,¡± then He Shuj¨¹n points to the door they exited through, ¡°and this entrance is also a lucky discovery too. The next run, if we still need to go into the museum, we can take this shortcut.¡±


    Ding Yi nods.

 Volume 6 - CH 98.3

    The two Missiontakers were about to go to the irritated man when suddenly, a well-worn, and also tired voice speaks up from behind them, ¡°ladies, how are you feeling right now?¡±


    It¡¯s the old Director of the Museum!


    He Shuj¨¹n and Ding Yi gave each other a look and immediately abort going to the man. Instead, they turn around to speak with the Director.


    He Shuj¨¹n smiles, saying, ¡°I feel much better. The doctor is very good at his job.¡±


    ¡°Certainly, certainly,¡± the Director nods at the remark, saying, ¡°he¡¯s a very good member of our staff, doing his work diligently during work hours. We may have few visitors nowadays, but he still clocks in timely and gives his best for the job. He is a true exemplar of a good employee.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n forces a smile along.


    Then the Director asks, ¡°if you¡¯re feeling better, should we be resuming our tour of the Cityscape Hall?¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n would rather not, and so changes the topic, ¡°we looked around the Museum a little, and saw these people moving the collections,¡± she points to the people outside the side door to the Museum, then asks, ¡°what¡¯s going on?¡±


    The Director also looks in the direction of the people, and after a brief silence, he tries his best to smile and answer, ¡°they are¡­ transferring them to safety. They are moving the relics and valuable items to safe locations.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n then asks a pointed question, ¡°you definitely do not seem willing to let them go?¡±


    ¡°Willing?¡± The Director murmurs, ¡°of course I¡¯m not willing. These antiques have spent far longer a life in this Museum than I, and they should have continued their retirement here forever, even after my own passing.


    But¡­ the world has changed.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n is certainly surprised at the amount of sadness pouring out of the old Director, who says, ¡°I cannot bear to see them go, but I have to. This place is no longer safe, and I¡¯m only doing my best to hold on myself¡­¡±


    His eyes almost seem as clear and crisp as that of a child when he then says, ¡°there might be people who would tell you, that I¡¯ve gone mad.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n blanks out, not knowing what to say.


    Ding Yi shakes her head subtly.


    The Director isn¡¯t paying attention to their reactions either. Instead, he is looking at a painting being loaded onto the truck.


    He then speaks up, ¡°that painting depicts the year Cangcheng was formally granted city status. The painter focused on the prominent, vast fields of nanohana blooming in brilliant blossom outside of the city. I suppose young ones these days would find all the yellow boring, but they have never known how useful as well as aesthetically pleasing a field of them were as a crop¡­¡±


    Both Missiontakers are listening quietly.


    Neither could discern any longer whether they are listening to the Director¡¯s words because they want to resolve this Nightmare, or simply because, they are the laments of an old man.


    They cannot tell anymore.


    They merely listened on.


    The Director then says, ¡°everything on display in the Museum, I can speak of its origin, speak of its own story. Each one of them has a rich narrative woven intricately into the development of this city. They shine just as brilliantly as the great residents of this great city.


    We should remember them, even if many people can¡¯t, but at least someone has to; our past, our stories that built us up into who we are¡­ I believe it is important people know.


    Maybe I really am mad¡­¡±


    The Director blabbered on.


    He Shuj¨¹n comments rather dryly, ¡°but the spread of the madness has changed everything.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± The old Director turns around to face her, and says, ¡°you¡¯re absolutely right! That is the reason I¡¯m doing all this! This is all that I have the power to do. I have to, I must¡­¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n, looking at the somewhat unhinged look the Director now sports, is regretting her choice of words.


    ¡°No one is coming to the Museum anymore, nobody¡­ but why? Why would no one come?¡±


    I must identify the reason. I must resolve this situation. It has lasted all these years. I cannot allow the Museum to fall into obscurity in my own hands¡­¡±


    The Director trails off into a murmur.


    He Shuj¨¹n feels really complicated about this.


    ¡°Without the Museum, we will no longer remember our past, neither our glory nor our pains¡­¡±


    The Director suddenly starts sobbing, and says, ¡°if we lose our memories, we will lose anything and everything!¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n and Ding Yi both fall silent at this moment.


    They are unable to retort.


    They are sure the Director is insane, insane because of what has befallen the Museum, but¡­


    They still cannot refute.


    ¡°Losing memories, is losing everything.¡±


    Ding Yi quietly repeats the words.


    She is falling into thought.


    Thoughts about themselves, the Missiontakers, the humans trapped in the Tower.


    She looks at the Director, at the Museum, at this city, which is still standing tall, yet to be defeated by the Apocalypse.


    She is thinking about the present, and the past.


    What really happened? What was it that the Missiontakers have forgotten? Why are they in the Tower, why did they forget everything, why are they forced into these Nightmares that all seem to imply something?


    Even someone as usually collected and calm as Ding Yi, cannot help but tighten her fists at the thoughts.


    Pain grips her heart like thorns. Her eyes inevitably well up.


    Losing memories, is equal to losing everything.


    They have already lost, everything.


    When they forgot about the past, when they know nothing of the truth, when they have no way of fighting back against what faces them right now¡­


    Tears streak across Ding Yi¡¯s face, but she has turned her head around in time, so no one present could see.


    At the same time, the viewers on the stream saw that the camera has abruptly switched over to someone else.


    They type some question marks on the comment barrage, confused that X¨¹ Beijin switched that when¡­ the Museum is still quite lively with everything, isn¡¯t it?


    Clearly, the Director has told everything he could yet. Why did X¨¹ Beijin already change scenes?


    But it is precisely thanks to the camera cutting away, that no viewers noticed the moment Ding Yi teared up.


    And when the new scene came up, the viewers are immediately faced with a shocked tone of voice. It is from Wu Jian.


    ¡°What did you just say?!¡±


    Wu Jian is staring at the teenager dressed like a student in front of him.


    The teenager pushes his thick glasses up a little, and repeats himself, ¡°I looked through dozens of newspaper articles, checked dozens of news channels and other media, and finally, I found this piece of news in this obscure publication. I finally have the time pinned down¡­¡±


    Wu Jian is still looking at him in disbelief.


    Then the teenager merely gives him a cold smile and says, ¡°just read it yourself. It¡¯d be far more effective than my own words.¡±


    Wu Jian then reads the news article carefully.


    ¡°Unknown Extraterrestrial Object on Collision Course with Eksu?¡±


    The subtitle reads, ¡®Experts estimate impact at 1600 hours, July 23.¡¯


    Wu Jian almost reflexively looks up at the large electronic display of the clock on the third floor.


    Right now, the time reads, 15:30.

 Volume 6 - CH 99.1

    Permission Denied


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    ¡®In another half hour, huh,¡¯ so thinks Wu Jian, numb.


    Some kind of hopeless trigger has kicked in, and he¡¯s almost robotically calm and rationally analysing everything.


    So basically, they have to resolve this Nightmare before the disaster strikes in half an hour.


    In other words, from the moment of entry into the Nightmare, they have approximately an hour to look for clues and resolve the Nightmare.


    That catastrophe, assuming it¡¯s as terrible as the news has made it out to be, would probably be endlessly tragic. Not even experienced Missiontakers would be able to escape, not to mention humans that already exist in this Nightmare.


    So death is a guarantee, and so will the Nightmare restart.


    Wu Jian then concludes, that they¡¯re pressed for time here.


    After that brief clarity in logical thinking, a cold has taken over his thoughts, spreading throughout his limbs.


    He realises he is gripping the newspaper so tightly, that the paper is being torn.


    He also realises, that the two Missiontakers by his side, are looking equally horrified.


    He suddenly realises, that the student-teenager sitting in front of him, with his hand on the table, has fingers that are trembling nonstop.


    Then, he exhales loudly, and then puts his equally shaking hand, onto the teenager¡¯s shoulder.


    He tells him, ¡°don¡¯t worry.¡±


    Even though his own voice is already trembling from fear. His throat feels really parched, and his voice broke in several places.


    The teenager is looking at him with a blank face. It takes a while for him to respond with a quiet question, ¡°are we going to die?¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡± Wu Jian hears his own voice bleeding out like dream-talk. It almost sounds like it is drifting in from some far corners of the world.


    He doesn¡¯t even know what he¡¯s speaking anymore ¨C ¡®no, how could us humans be so weak as to be ended by that?¡±


    ¡°But that is a total extinction event,¡± the teenager says, ¡°our society is already unravelling from all the mad people, and now a natural disaster is coming.¡±


    Wu Jian opens his mouth, but he fails to find an answer to this question.


    All he can do, is dryly reply, ¡°but, I need to say something hopeful, right?¡±


    The teenager speaks nothing in return.


    Even now, Wu Jian¡¯s occasional completely alien logic in speech popped up.


    The viewers of the audience are certainly impressed.


    ¡°amazing, the entire mood just broke¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but want to chuckle at the ongoing discussion in the stream.


    But since Lin Qin is sitting by his side, he has to hold his laughter in a little.


    Seriously, why is Lin Qin right by his side all the time when he¡¯s streaming?


    X¨¹ Beijin, glancing at Lin Qin, sighs inside.


    Then he attempts to subtly influence Lin Qin, asking, ¡°do you think they could find clues upstairs?¡±


    Lin Qin tilts his head to think, and then answers, ¡°probably yes?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is surprised at the answer seemingly leaning affirmative.


    Lin Qin then adds his reasoning, ¡°since you¡¯re here, it must mean the library has clues?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    What a perfectly logical line of thought. He can¡¯t even find a way to refute.


    It makes sense to say that, if an Actor is arranged to stay over here, then the Server must be implying there is some value to look around in that place.


    Still, X¨¹ Beijin finds how matter-of-factly Lin Qin stated that mysterious.


    Could Lin Qin have actually worked out this small trivia himself?


    The Lin Qin who enjoys bossing his physical prowess around? Is this his ¡®instincts¡¯ at play again?


    X¨¹ Beijin falls into thought wondering about Lin Qin.


    As far as he knows, most Missiontakers have yet to realise that, wherever someone is alive, clues would be found there without exceptions. The only limiting fact is whether the Missiontakers could ask the correct questions or reach specific triggers to allow the Server to relay information via these Actors.


    Many Missiontakers have assumed that, if they couldn¡¯t get information after some questioning, then this Tower resident would know nothing about the Nightmare, and is merely there to be background filler;


    When in fact, it is more accurate to say that, the Missiontakers didn¡¯t find a way to correctly fish the information out.


    Yet Lin Qin, inadvertently or otherwise, just stated that unspoken, and largely obscure piece of Nightmare trivia verbatim.


    ¡®If you are here, that must mean there are clues here.¡¯


    Is the ¡®you¡¯ in that sentence referring to him, an ¡®Actor,¡¯ or him, ¡®X¨¹ Beijin¡¯?


    Does he really know that rule that most Missiontakers are unaware, and only Actors know of, or is he simply¡­ assuming X¨¹ Beijin to be a special existence?


    He¡¯s often made statements to that latter effect, and X¨¹ Beijin is also used to that already.


    Though¡­


    Thinking so, X¨¹ Beijin grows slightly dispirited.


    Why is he trying to overthink this anyway? Maybe it really is just Lin Qin¡¯s instincts doing its wonders again.


    Seriously, of all the Actors around, why did Lin Qin even manage to single him out in the first place, and assert that he doesn¡¯t know if he can beat him in a fight?


    It is equally mystifying indeed.


    Speaking of, there is also that unreasonable strength he has, and how he has no memories of his past¡­


    Lin Qin also has secrets buried within him, a lot of them, and not even Lin Qin himself knows why.


    While X¨¹ Beijin also keeps secrets, but he definitely knows, very clearly, what circumstances gave rise to them.


    Then, looking back at the stream, ah, they¡¯re still talking about the meteor?


    No, that¡¯s not right¡­ It was the ¡®Apocalypse of the Raining Hellfire.¡¯


    At least, that was what they named for the catastrophe.

 Volume 6 - CH 99.2

    X¨¹ Beijin makes a somewhat tired yawn. Some of his accumulated emotions are roiling again.


    This Nightmare¡­ This Nightmare, is a recreation of some of the past.


    A recreation completely true to the original.


    What this Nightmare depicts, once also happened on Earth, at some period of its past.


    Even if both the Missiontakers and Actors have forgotten, X¨¹ Beijin¡­ hasn¡¯t.


    He once told Dai Wu, memories, sometimes, end up as a curse.


    It¡¯s true.


    If he could, he would also prefer to forget.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mouth makes a sad upturn for a bit.


    That is when the familiar, calm and magnetic voice of Lin Qin speaks up besides him, ¡°if you don¡¯t want to smile, then you don¡¯t have to.¡±


    Then X¨¹ Beijin notices a warm touch at the corner of his mouth.


    Lin Qin is putting his finger on his lips, and gently brushing the bitter angle away.


    X¨¹ Beijin turns to look at Lin Qin on reflex.


    He can see Lin Qin¡¯s eyes. It¡¯s not easy to tell what Lin Qin must be feeling, because they are too close together. It is when X¨¹ Beijin has realised for the first time, that Lin Qin is already someone that can step into his social comfort zone at will, and he will remain at ease.


    He looks at him blankly.


    Lin Qin tilts his head, and suddenly asks, ¡°should I be kissing you at a time like this?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He immediately snaps out of the mood he¡¯s fallen into, and sternly pushes Lin Qin away, answering with a stoic expression, ¡°no, you must not.¡±


    ¡°You said must not, instead of should not. That means, I should have kissed you¡­¡± Lin Qin goes analysing, ¡°but you would not grant permission?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    How could someone as frustrating as Lin Qin even exist!


    Lin Qin has successfully pissed X¨¹ Beijin off, once again.


    Though this time he decides to keep his frustration in check, and simply says, ¡°that¡¯s right. I would not grant permission.¡±


    ¡°Then at what time, would it be when I both should, and you would permit¡­ And then, that is the time I can kiss you, right?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s ears are flushing red.


    He¡¯s going to ignore Lin Qin now.


    While Lin Qin, looking at X¨¹ Beijin like this, thinks he has an answer, even if X¨¹ Beijin wouldn¡¯t answer.


    And he believes, that time, would be soon, right?


    At least, his instincts says so.


    He cheerily smiles at the thought.


    Fei has walked away from the premises of the Space Agency.


    Behind her, the group of astronomy enthusiasts are still bickering.


    Fei has already managed to acquire information from them.


    For example, the thing they observed, would be making imminent contact with the planet in 20 minutes to half an hour. The impact wave would pulverise everything in the vicinity in no time.


    Which means, depending on where it lands, this may be the last moments of their lives.


    Also, after the thing was observed, many people have decided to lump it together with whatever it was that drove humanity mad a year ago or so.


    Maybe the thing approaching has undetectably messed with the magnetic fields and how human brain signals work somehow.


    Someone was advocating that theory loudly earlier, even though no one else buys it. Fei doesn¡¯t believe in it either.


    If it directly affects the brainwaves, then how could it be that some are left unaffected, but some are completely transformed into someone else?


    But then, could it also simply be, that all the people who still are sane, are merely looking like it?


    Fei doesn¡¯t want to entertain that possibility, so she forces herself to turn her attention back onto the Nightmare at hand, murmuring, ¡°so basically, we don¡¯t have much time in this Nightmare anymore.


    The Missiontakers originally planned to assemble back at the library building to share findings after they individually finish their explorations. Fei didn¡¯t even suspect this Nightmare might have had a time constraint.


    Since starting from the library, it took them about 20 minutes on foot just to reach here, and that is without counting time lost dealing with all the mad people on the way.


    They probably wouldn¡¯t have time to hurry back to the library before whatever it was in the sky falls down.


    Suddenly, Fei thinks she realises why, in this Nightmare, Mu Jiashi would keep looking up at the sky subconsciously.


    He probably knows what¡¯s coming.


    Fei and Mu Jiashi share a look, and knows what the other person is thinking, and worrying about.


    Mu Jiashi seems like he¡¯s about to speak, but then the sounds of a vehicle¡¯s horn interrupts them from not far away.


    It¡¯s a bus sounding its horn.


    Mr Suicide sounds tired enough when he asks, ¡°so can we just get back to the library by bus?¡±


    Fei answers quietly, ¡°I don¡¯t know. We can try asking¡­¡±


    Mr Suicide nods.


    Although Mr Suicide is quite the perverted individual in other Missiontakers¡¯ eyes for chasing after death, but in this Nightmare, he might actually go mad from all the different insanities playing out.


    He was going to just seek out fresh new ways to die in this Nightmare, but then¡­


    He sure is feeling down in the dumps.


    He doesn¡¯t really remember either when his obsession with death began; it wasn¡¯t exactly accurate to simply describe it as an urge to die, either.


    He enjoys the different ways in which he dies, it¡¯s like a way of proving¡­ or pursuing something.


    When he heard those enthusiasts mention ¡®something falling out of the sky,¡¯ Mr Suicide can feel a sudden grip on his heart.


    It¡¯s like a voice yelling in his ears, ¡°that¡¯s it! That¡¯s it!¡±


    Yet even Mr Suicide himself can¡¯t exactly tell, why that was.


    He¡¯s been looking for¡­ an experience. A particular feeling. A certain¡­ experience in death.


    The moment of a death, which he has been chasing after all along, searching for all this time, but has always failed up to this point.


    So many people have died and come back to life in Nightmares in fear, because of the pain afflicted at the moment of their death.


    But it is different for Mr Suicide. He enjoys death, not because there is pain in death,


    But because¡­ when he is resurrected after death, there was like one single moment, a moment of daybreak, like awakening from a bad dream.


    He feels like he has once experienced that before, too.


    Not long ago, at the mention of the falling object from the sky, and the mention of how everything would be pulverised in an instant when it makes contact with the planet¡­ Some feelings were stirred inside of him.


    It might be fear, but possibly, there is also an expectation among that fear.


    He is, therefore, standing there in quite the daze. He is still trying to figure out his feelings.


    Of course, neither Fei nor Mu Jiashi have time to focus on Mr Suicide; all Missiontakers agree that Missiontakers who pursue death are effectively insane. No communication is possible. They just want to die.


    No one would try to rationalise or sympathise with such a twisted, sick mind.


    The Tower has already forced the Missiontakers to twist the tranquil garden in their hearts for the much, much worse, and it was all so that they could fight against these maddening Nightmares.


    They have no time to care for others¡¯ mental processes, or psychologically analyse others¡¯ states of mind.


    They might lose their own lives soon enough. What time do they have to care for someone else¡¯s?


    You could say, that they¡¯re simply automatons trying to prolong their own lives.

 Volume 6 - CH 99.3

    Fei is looking at the bus approaching from the end of the road, until it gradually comes to a stop by the Missiontakers.


    The door opens, and the three Missiontakers, looking at each other, do not take a step yet.


    The driver isn¡¯t hurrying them along either, and merely waits there in silence.


    Finally, Fei speaks up to ask, ¡°excuse me, sir, but does this bus stop at the library?¡±


    The driver makes a somewhat stiff nod.


    So the three Missiontakers board the bus.


    They probably won¡¯t make it back in time to share everything on foot, but with the bus, they¡¯ll arrive at the library soon enough, hopefully.


    There are no other passengers on the vehicle; it¡¯s almost like the Space Agency is the line¡¯s starting terminal.


    Fei is also amazed at the fact that there are still busses running in this Nightmare when it¡¯s like this.


    She looks up at the clock installed on the bus itself, and sees that it reads 15:30.


    Taking a note of the time, she thinks that given what she¡¯s heard, the thing in the sky might be impacting them at around 4 pm, with about half an hour left for them¡­ probably.


    The Server, NE, could almost be said to have a quirk in obsessing itself with time arrangements in Nightmares. It¡¯s an unspoken rule that pretty much everyone knows on the higher floors.


    Of course, they might say it¡¯s a rule, but exceptions would certainly arise as well.


    Fei is finding her mind wandering a little, so she decides to chat with the bus driver.


    ¡°Mister, is it not dangerous for you to still be driving the bus when it¡¯s like this?¡±


    ¡°There are, of course, dangers,¡± the driver replies very slowly, ¡°but, it was, required, by the de-part-ment. I, also love, my job.¡±


    Fei gives the driver a slightly odd look, realising that he might also be insane.


    She then continues, ¡°we just left the Space Agency, and those people were saying that something is going to fall out of the sky¡­¡±


    ¡°Do not, believe, in them,¡± the driver suddenly interrupts Fei, ¡°those people, all, liars. Mad. They, preach, their ideas, but, all, lies.¡±


    Fei is astonished.


    Lies?


    She then looks out at the sky by reflex.


    It is still the cloudless, sunny day out there.


    It is true that nothing appears anomalous. If some great disaster really was to befall this planet in half an hour, there should be signs. At least, the object should already be visible in the sky, right?


    It¡¯s flying through the universe and about to land here, you know.


    And also, those people are only amateur astronomers at best. Who knows if they might have simply mistaken some space junk for a meteorite?


    And how could they confirm that the object is on a collision path with this planet? Did it go through rigorous, precise measurements and calculations?


    What the driver said gave Fei countless thoughts, but since the driver himself has also gone insane, it is unknowable how reliable what he says is.


    She can¡¯t help but smile bitterly and bite her lips. She asks, ¡°mister, how are you so sure?¡±


    ¡°Because, I just, know,¡± the driver is shaking his head monotonously, and continues, ¡°lies; all, lies. Those theories, explainers, only to show, where, madness, came from. They, are, liars.¡±


    Fei takes a moment to comprehend the driver¡¯s meaning.


    Since earlier, she also heard the enthusiasts claim the object flying through the sky to be the culprit for causing the madness in humanity; either through some undocumented changes in the magnetic field, or simply pointing their fingers at ¡®aliens.¡¯


    It may very well be the case that these theories have widespread appeal in broader society.


    The weird madness came out of nowhere, and whatever the human scientists did, they couldn¡¯t come up with a unanimous verdict.


    They do not know how to cure it, nor know where it came from.


    Humanity¡¯s research into the brain is still very much at the beginning. So in the face of such a madness, they can only put their hands up in defeat.


    This only ends up being a breeding ground for conspiracy theories, either grounded in reality or completely absurd, regarding the origins of the madness.


    After all this time, the information has become so saturated and contradictory that people, like this driver, would not believe in any of them.


    That said, the situation does give Fei another idea.


    While most of the conspiracy theories would clearly be baseless and ridiculous, but what if there are also some that are correct by pure, dumb luck?


    Especially, theories that incorporate the object about to fall out of the sky¡­


    Since, they have to remember, they¡¯re in this Nightmare to resolve whatever it was haunting the Nightmare¡¯s owner.


    The fact that their entry was at that moment in time, then the core of Tower resident¡¯s Nightmare must also be related to whatever happens, or is about to happen at that time.


    What might haunt a person more than the disaster about to strike their home planet, sparing no one?


    Fei takes a deep breath.


    This logically leads to another, even more fantastical idea.


    What if, to resolve this Nightmare, they actually need to resolve this disaster itself?


    How could that even be possible?!


    Fei finds the thought morbidly amusing, and decides she must have simply drawn the wrong conclusion. There are probably more clues to be found first.


    Several minutes pass with Fei in this nervous state.


    And finally, after around 10 minutes, the bus is right at the library.


    By this time, Wu Jian is already waiting at the door to the library.


    Not long ago, Wu Jian just found out about the newspaper report on the ¡®unidentified object¡¯ and all the related guesses.


    The teenager showed the Missiontakers the results of his several days¡¯ worth of research efforts in full.


    Though it is notable that, despite how much of a key piece of information Wu Jian has come to obtain, he still can¡¯t help but feel disheartened at the whole affair.


    He had the same train of thought as Fei¡­ What, they are supposed to stop this disaster from happening?


    And also, if this thing really did happen in the past, to their Earth¡­


    Then, could this have been, the Apocalypse, which they experienced, and then forgot about?


    Wu Jian exhales loudly, depressed.


    The Missiontakers have left the third floor and gone back down to the first floor; the teenager followed after them.


    They were there to ask X¨¹ Beijin if he could lead them up to the fifth floor, the staff-only area. They were sure he could.


    Buzzcut went to negotiate with X¨¹ Beijin, while Wu Jian walked out of the library to see if any Missiontakers have finished their exploration and are making their way back.


    He hears the sounds of an engine when he walks out. Looking in the direction, he sees a box truck driving past the road, heading to the north. Wu Jian can only wonder where it came from.


    Looking north towards the road, he then sees another small black dot appear in his vision, moving past the box truck, and getting larger in his vision.


    Wu Jian narrows his eyes to watch carefully, and now sees clearly that it is a bus.

 Volume 6 - CH 100.1

    Apocalypse Now


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Fei¡¯s arrival is a big relief to Wu Jian.


    Although now he can¡¯t help but worry about the two Missiontakers that took off to the south.


    He Shuj¨¹n and Ding Yi are still not yet back¡­ what¡¯s wrong? Did they run into some difficulty?


    Or maybe they still haven¡¯t learnt of the time constraint in this Nightmare, or possibly have yet to investigate their location properly, so they¡¯re not in a hurry to come back?


    Though soon enough, he decides to put the worries away.


    Regardless, when this run of the Nightmare is over, they will have plenty time to talk the next run.


    He calms himself down and then briefly tells Fei and the others the discoveries in the library.


    Then Fei tells him about the Space Agency.


    ¡°So¡­¡±


    They simultaneously utter, and then keep looking at the other person blankly.


    They¡¯ve realised, that the other person has understood what this can only imply for what truly happened.


    Finally, with trembling lips, Fei is the one to say, looking like she doesn¡¯t know whether to smile or cry, ¡°so, it was that kind of Apocalypse¡­¡±


    First, this whole year of some sort of madness that came out of nowhere, and then, a natural disaster, civilisation-ending class, that fell out of the sky.


    That is how they lost everything, and end up trapped in the decrepit, eerie Tower, never able to leave.


    Wu Jian¡¯s fingers are trembling as well, but he¡¯s trying his best to hide it from the others.


    He quietly says, ¡°after that Apocalypse¡­ what could have happened?¡± He then wonders, ¡°how did we end up in the Tower?¡±


    Compared to that, Fei is more interested in something else.


    She asks, ¡°have you noticed it yet?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°This Nightmare.¡± Fei whispers, ¡°why did it suddenly come to our attention? Why is this truth laid bare to us?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because¡­¡± Wu Jian almost immediately answers subconsciously, but then he stops and thinks for a bit before mumbling, ¡°because, that Tower resident, returned from a higher floor!¡±


    Yes, this Nightmare is from the higher floors.


    How many Nightmares are there on the higher floors?


    Nobody knows. They don¡¯t even know how many floors there are in total.


    So naturally, if this Nightmare was one of those Nightmares on the higher floors, nobody would have paid close attention.


    Of course, it¡¯s possible they might stumble upon it by pure luck and try to go through it©¤©¤or fail to do so.


    Regardless, for Fei and Wu Jian, they may never have ended up in that Nightmare.


    Because they¡¯ve already missed it. While they were on whatever floor that Nightmare was on, they did not enter it, and after they left that floor, it is very unlikely they would have gone back for this Nightmare alone.


    They returned to the bottom floor of the Tower for that Nightmare with the ruins on purpose because that Nightmare had the suspicious property of ¡®forgetting.¡¯


    Then they stayed on the bottom floor thanks to the continuous waves of rumours; the other Missiontakers for those of the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare,¡¯  but Fei and Wu Jian, for those of the ¡®Apocalypse.¡¯


    In any case, they¡¯ve finally come face-to-face with this one Nightmare.


    If this Nightmare didn¡¯t end up on the bottom floor at such a timing, they probably wouldn¡¯t have paid any special attention to it too.


    Even when Mu Jiashi has already experienced it, even if he also seemed to have come to know something intriguing because of what can be seen in this Nightmare, and this is evident because, before Fei and Wu Jian had doubts about the identities of Tower residents, Mu Jiashi himself failed to glean any useful information from Su Enya¡¯s suggestive words.


    Fei and Wu Jian didn¡¯t know about the Apocalypse, and Mu Jiashi didn¡¯t know about the Tower residents.


    How big of a coincidence did it have to be, that they met, and pieced together the truth?


    All the coincidences; when so many coincidences had to pile up for something to happen, can it still have been coincidental?


    It¡¯s almost unfathomable, enough that they have to suspect, whether there is an invisible hand moving something along behind-the-scenes. Yet, who could have such power to arrange for all these coincidences?


    Fei can feel a storm battering her thoughts asunder in her mind, until all the clear and logical thoughts have become much more muddled.


    She shuts her eyes, feeling overwhelmed, before saying firmly, ¡°never mind all that then. We have to get this Nightmare dealt with first.¡±


    Wu Jian nods.


    He has also realised, that just now, they might have touched on some possibility they never ever would have considered before.


    Who could be so omnipotent in the Tower that they can dictate circumstances for them to discover the truth through countless coincidences?


    NE.


    When the letters pop up in Wu Jian¡¯s mind, he manages to frighten himself.


    He reflexively looks around in fear, in fear of his thoughts being seen.


    Seen by whom?


    By NE.


    NE is the ruler of the Tower. It can erase memories, and can certainly control the mind.


    It is an invisible tyrant, an invisible hand. It is the only possibility, and nothing else.


    But how could that even be possible?!


    Wu Jian gulps; what he was thinking must have been absurd.


    Then he shakes his head to chase the thought away, and gets back into the library along with the other Missiontakers.


    By now, Buzzcut has already convinced X¨¹ Beijin to take them to the staff¡¯s office on the fifth floor.


    Fei and the others are also here, so they¡¯re naturally going together as one big group.


    X¨¹ Beijin is leading them, with Lin Qin naturally taking the place by his side. Plus the Missiontakers and the teenager dressed like a student behind them, it was quite the company. Everyone is keeping thoughts to themselves too.


    When Fei saw X¨¹ Beijin, she certainly blanked out for a moment.


    Not long ago, when she walked past the bookstore on the street outside, she was wondering if the bookstore owner might be in this Nightmare. Unexpectedly, he is really here, but not as the owner of the bookstore.


    He¡¯s the librarian instead.


    Even now, Fei is still curious about what X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare could be.


    When X¨¹ Beijin has made it clear time and again he would not let others in, and Fei understood that Tower residents are humans just like them, she has stopped pursuing the matter.


    Not to mention it was X¨¹ Beijin who ultimately revealed to her that Tower residents have more to them than the eyes can see.


    That said, Fei also has hypotheses.


    Bookstore, library¡­ with X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mysterious identity and his tendency to speak in riddles, Fei is sure he is holding important secrets.


    A bookstore of the bottom floor of the Tower¡­ A bookstore¡­ Fei, looking at the countless collections of books in this library, and thinking about what Wu Jian said about that book containing secrets of other Nightmares, is now trying to link it to an entire bookstore worth of books that X¨¹ Beijin has.


    This Nightmare contains elements of other Nightmares.


    And just now, Wu Jian also said, with this peculiar tone, about how X¨¹ Beijin referenced their experience in the last Nightmare, talking about those mad people in that building the last time.


    He knows about the Nightmares, and he showed them how Tower residents are not just what they seem.

 Volume 6 - CH 100.2

    Other than that, Fei also heard from Mu Jiashi that he once used some drinks to exchange for clues of one Nightmare ¨C the Nightmare that she and Wu Jian visited the last time.


    Equivalent exchange¡­


    Fei is muttering this word in her mind.


    She thinks that X¨¹ Beijin holds goodwill for them, even if she hasn¡¯t had any in-depth conversation with him yet.


    The bottom floor of the Tower¡­ The bottom floor¡­


    Fei once asked, why would it be the case that NE can only be on the highest floor of the Tower?


    She is now doubting another aspect of the tale. Is the Server, NE, definitely on the adversarial side to humanity?


    It would seem, thus far, that the invisible hand pushing them along to discover the truth, can only belong to one who can do as he pleases and arrange all the circumstances correspondingly¡­


    Which means, it can only be NE.


    NE is helping them. X¨¹ Beijin is helping them.


    NE is not necessarily on the highest floor. X¨¹ Beijin is on the bottom floor.


    NE must know every clue in the Nightmares. X¨¹ Beijin has a bookstore.


    X¨¹ Beijin has never let others into his own Nightmare.


    Most importantly, the name.


    Isn¡¯t that actually obvious?


    NE, North-End, where it terminates to the north.


    X¨¹ Beijin (tl: Here¡¯s the grand reveal for non-Chinese readers ¨C The name Beijin is written with the characters for ¡®North¡¯ and ¡®End,¡¯ so any Chinese reader with an adequate knowledge of English could have seen this coming a long time ago)¡­


    Fei takes a deep breath. Her face is pale, because her mind is in shambles from what she just guessed.


    She knows there are many illogical assumptions in her guess.


    For example, why would NE help them?


    For example, how could X¨¹ Beijin, who is clearly human, be an artificial intelligence?


    For example, if X¨¹ Beijin really is NE, and holds goodwill for humanity, then why has he done nothing all these years until this very moment?


    Fei doesn¡¯t have an answer.


    She lowers her head, and makes a forced smile. She decides to write the idea off as delusional for now.


    NE couldn¡¯t possibly be human anyway.


    Maybe it was simply coincidence.


    That¡¯s what Fei chooses to believe, as she lets the guess go.


    Finally, they¡¯ve reached the offices on the fifth floor.


    X¨¹ Beijin takes a ring of keys from his pocket to open the door to the fifth floor. They all enter the corridor to the floor.


    X¨¹ Beijin tells them, ¡°I¡¯d ask that you do not go through the private items of my colleagues,¡± though he then bitterly smiles and adds, ¡°not that they¡¯d ever come back for them, I guess.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Fei asks in turn, ¡°what happened to the other librarians besides you?¡±


    She realises that Wu Jian has not told her anything regarding the other employees of the library.


    She gives Wu Jian a glance, who return a somewhat embarrassed smile to her.


    It¡¯s not too late to ask, at least, since they¡¯re here.


    X¨¹ Beijin remains quiet here, not answering it immediately, because¡­


    He doesn¡¯t know the answer either.


    In fact, the Server, NE, is filling the information to him in real-time, and he¡¯s busy going through them.


    His pause before answering ends up rather apt, allowing the Missiontakers to imagine some unfortunate fate for them.


    X¨¹ Beijin then sombrely says, ¡°they¡¯ve all gone insane.¡±


    ¡°Insane?¡± Fei asks, surprised, ¡°but aren¡¯t the insane people hanging out at their own workplaces?¡±


    ¡°The library¡­ was different,¡± X¨¹ Beijin answers, ¡°after the spread of the madness, people changed¡­ like in the Museum. If it were not for the insistence and hard work of the grizzled Director there, perhaps no one would have continued to work there.¡±


    NE didn¡¯t give him information regarding the Museum, but X¨¹ Beijin already saw it on his stream, so he¡¯s able to smoothly incorporate it.


    The Missiontakers then naturally assume he has some important role given he knows things happening around the Nightmare.


    Even though the fact is simply that he cheated with his streaming system.


    Fei then asks, ¡°so you¡¯re saying, the original staff of the library and the Museum¡­ neither wanted to keep working?¡±


    ¡°They probably didn¡¯t see their work as all that essential,¡± X¨¹ Beijin replies, ¡°they thought it meaningless; not just them, but some of the staff left the library at the behest of their own family as well.¡±


    Meaningless, huh¡­


    Fei quietly recalls the empty, abandoned Space Agency.


    It¡¯s quite easy to see that this human society here no longer has the luxury to continue valuing the stars, the past, and culture.


    They¡¯re certainly face-to-face with a much more terrible reality. They have a lot to do, but, caring about the humanities and its past isn¡¯t one of them.


    The world is in chaos.


    Outside of survival and struggling, nothing else holds much meaning.


    Why is it that the progress of civilisation always falls in the face of chaotic times?


    It seems to be some unspoken, mutually understood eventuality.


    The Missiontakers all decide to forgo this topic without saying a word. They then disperse throughout the fifth floor to look for possible clues.


    What is immediately clear is that there is no one else alive on the fifth floor.


    A short while later, Fei and Wu Jian joins up.


    Wu Jian sounds surprised, asking, ¡°so this library only had two people alive inside?¡±


    Fei says, ¡°it¡¯s not necessarily only those alive that can carry clues.


    Wu Jian nods.


    Suddenly, Buzzcut turns around to call out to everyone, ¡°come look at this office!¡±


    Everyone approaches.


    Most offices have their doors wide open, and this is one of them. It seems to be some sort of study for ancient documents, with a large amount of yellowed, historic books piled onto the desk. There are even bamboo slips.


    Wu Jian is shocked, asking, ¡°why would these things be scattered around?!¡±


    ¡°Because no one is working anymore.¡±


    They look around, to see it is the teenager dressed like a student.


    He continues, ¡°no one is working here anymore except X¨¹-ge (tl: Older brother, not necessarily biological as it can be used as a simple friendly term of address, which is what is happening here),¡± pointing to X¨¹ Beijin, he continues, ¡°originally, management was arranging for valuable pieces of literature like these to be transferred away to safety after the madness began to spread, but before it could be halfway done, the employees have stopped showing up. They made the library a mess too before they left, saying that these are already useless anyway¡­


    I worked here as a part-timer last summer holiday. Then, my own family also¡­ went insane. So I spent time here often, not that I have anything else to do with my time. X¨¹-ge and I tidy them up little by little when we have time.


    These books and artefacts here were summarily removed from storage very early on, so we don¡¯t know where they should be put back in. We couldn¡¯t arrange for anyone to pick these up either, so we¡¯re just putting them here temporarily.¡±


    The Missiontakers understand now.


    They may feel sympathetic for what happened to the library, but compared to what¡¯s going on here, they must prioritise the truth of the Nightmare instead of concerning themselves over some books.


    The teenager sees them seemingly unmoved, and looks over at X¨¹ Beijin.


    X¨¹ Beijin shakes his head a little at him.


    Fei, Wu Jian, and Mu Jiashi, watching their little interaction, can¡¯t help but wonder, are these two really Acting according to some script?


    Since they realised something was wrong with the Tower residents, they¡¯ve become unable to immerse themselves in what is happening in Nightmares; they end up looking at it simply as a massive drama starring both themselves and others.


    Who knows if it¡¯s a good or a bad thing.


    They continue their exploration of the fifth floor, but then a few minutes pass, and Buzzcut suddenly puts his finger to his mouth and goes ¡®shh¡¯ to everything. Then he asks, ¡°do you hear anything?¡±


    The Missiontakers look at each other with confusion, but then, when they focus on their hearing, they do hear some static noises coming from one of the offices.


    ¡°Is that¡­¡± Wu Jian sounds hesitant, ¡°a radio?¡±

 Volume 6 - CH 100.3

    While the Missiontakers are listening to the radio static on the fifth floor of the library, He Shuj¨¹n successfully left the Museum and are hurrying back to the library.


    The old Director still wanted to show them around, but He Shuj¨¹n said she still wasn¡¯t feeling too well, and so she¡¯s going to get a medical check-up at a proper clinic, and asked to leave.


    Perhaps because they haven¡¯t started their tours, so the Director let them go without another word.


    When they left, they saw the box truck that was used to transfer the relics leave the side door as well.


    They wonder where it is going to. Maybe it¡¯s another scene in the Nightmare.


    Ding Yi and He Shuj¨¹n are heading back along the road the bus carried them on.


    Yet not too far in, they¡¯ve run into the company of a huge crowd of mad people. They¡¯re pretty distracting and disorienting, besides simply blocking their way forward, forcing them to take detours.


    Here, He Shuj¨¹n says, somewhat exasperated, ¡°how long is it until we¡¯re at the library?¡±


    She finally realises now, that since they came through on a bus, which was even speeding through its last leg of the journey, they have vastly underestimated how long this road actually is.


    They¡¯ve been walking for more than ten minutes without seeing the stop of the bus before the Museum, the Art Gallery. Never mind their original spawn point of the library.


    He Shuj¨¹n can¡¯t help but sound dispirited.


    Then she thinks about it, and says, ¡°let¡¯s just give these shops on the way a look as well. We were on a bus when we came, so we didn¡¯t check them at all.¡±


    Ding Yi agrees.


    So they slow way down too, to check on the shops along the streets.


    So many mad people ¨C is what He Shuj¨¹n thinks after actually paying attention.


    She is already vaguely aware of what¡¯s going on here thanks to the doctor¡¯s explanations, but they didn¡¯t personally run into any such insanity along the way to the Museum.


    On the bus, while the drivers and passengers there are also ¡®insane,¡¯ they didn¡¯t really seem to be that dangerous. The same can be said for the staff of the Museum.


    Their insanity still seems manageable and harmless enough.


    What they are encountering here, though, is completely different.


    He Shuj¨¹n is watching the scene happening through a huge glass window with astonishment and disgust.


    This seems to be some cram school, helping secondary school students with their homework after classes.


    What is surprising is that, even when the world is like this now, this place is still packed.


    Parents and teenagers have filled the space to the point of suffocation. Most of them are queuing up to have lessons, and only lucky few are inside the rooms to be ¡®educated¡¯ by the cram school teachers.


    That room has glasses on both sides that face the street on the one hand and the parents waiting in the school on the other.


    The parents and kids waiting to get in all look at the people ¡®studying¡¯ inside with heavy jealousy.


    The room didn¡¯t just have the students, either, but also the parents. In this special cram school, the teenagers are accompanied by their parents in their studies.


    And the parents are accompanying not to provide emotional support or to keep an eye on their own children, but¡­


    He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s brows are furrowed looking at what is playing out in front of her.


    The parents all have their arms outstretched, with tubes inserted onto their arms. Blood is removed from their bloodstreams, and gathered into a little bowl on their child¡¯s desk.


    The students all have fountain pens, calmly and attentively focusing on writing. Occasionally, they dip the tips of their pens into their parents¡¯ blood, and then keep writing.


    The parents all look exceptionally pleased to see their children working hard.


    Even though they all look unhealthily pale, exhausted and weakened, but they are proud ¨C they are a part of the hard work and result evident on their children¡¯s work.


    He Shuj¨¹n can feel goosebumps all over her. All the little bowls of fresh, crimson blood, makes her nauseated and unwell. Her lips are trembling, muttering, ¡°madness? Madness¡­¡±


    Ding Yi quietly averts her gaze from the scene.


    He Shuj¨¹n then shuts her eyes close, disgusted, and stamps her way away from the window of this cram school.


    When Ding Yi has caught up, He Shuj¨¹n complains to her, ¡°it¡¯s insane!¡±


    Ding Yi says, ¡°these types of insanity seem to have some form of connection with their experiences before they went mad.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n retorts, ¡°my mom and dad were never like that,¡± she then pauses, thinking, before continuing, ¡°nor was I like any of those children. Could this madness really have originated from something in their lives?¡±


    Ding Yi gives a somewhat sad smile.


    She can see that, even if she¡¯s ended up in the Tower, but He Shuj¨¹n has clearly managed to hold onto some semblance of her probably optimistic, amicable self back on Earth.


    It really is hard to imagine how such a straightforward and kind young woman could have survived for so long in the Tower.


    Or perhaps, life and luck has managed to spare her the worst so far?


    She doesn¡¯t answer He Shuj¨¹n, nor does He Shuj¨¹n pose any more questions.


    They¡¯re going to keep going.


    Yet that is when they hear some low rumbling coming from afar.


    It must be some kind of collapse, destruction or even explosion.


    Looking up by reflex, the two of them suddenly discover the skies ahead to have already turned grey and dull. The brilliant azure sky has suddenly been covered up by dust, smoke and other things.


    Ding Yi is in shock, and murmurs, ¡°wha-, what¡¯s¡­¡±


    Then a wave overcomes her and knocks her to the ground. It was some massive gust of wind. She hears the sound of many things crashing, knocking, falling around her. Her consciousness is drifting.


    Then, she hears something next to her¡­ It¡¯s some kind of terrifying, indescribable, heavy squelch.


    What?


    Ding Yi turns her head around almost subconsciously, while her pupils narrow massively.


    All the way until the Nightmare restarts, she can do nothing but stare at this scene burning her eyes, that she will most likely never forget for the rest of her life.


    A giant piece of rubble flying through the sky from afar, has crashed and buried He Shuj¨¹n under it alive. The lively young girl has perished in an instant without another word. Blood is flowing down to Ding Yi¡¯s gradually.

 Volume 6 - CH 101.1

    A Communiqu¨¦ to All Humans


    AD


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    When the Nightmare restarts, Fei kneels down and starts shaking uncontrollably, curling herself up.


    Through the window of the library, they all saw what happened.


    Something fell out of the sky, crashed, and then, an inferno stretched throughout the city. A shockwave, a loud rumbling, then dust clouded over the skies¡­ They saw it all.


    But they didn¡¯t die.


    Fei¡¯s habits had her instinctively analyse it all.


    The Missiontakers inside the library didn¡¯t perish.


    The shockwave shook the library, breaking all the glass windows, sending them tumbling to the ground.


    They were bleeding from scratches and received some blunt trauma from the glass and rubble, but none of them suffered anything fatal.


    If they didn¡¯t stay near the windows, they wouldn¡¯t have had serious injuries either.


    The Nightmare still restarted very promptly, though.


    Someone must have died.


    Was it one of the mad people around, or¡­ the two Missiontakers that didn¡¯t make it back to the library?


    AD


    The moment Fei thought of that, she looked up to check on Ding Yi and He Shuj¨¹n.


    Then, she realises that everyone is looking at He Shuj¨¹n, including Ding Yi.


    They realise, that the lively, talkative young woman, has basically gone insane.


    She looks all depressed, moody and grey. She keeps murmuring about ¡®Apocalypse,¡¯ ¡®we¡¯re going to die,¡¯ etc., like she has suddenly contracted terminal stage cult membership.


    What happened to her?


    Ding Yi explains, ¡°just now¡­ She, was struck and killed by rubble flying through the air.


    And ended up like this.


    Fei says somewhat vaguely, ¡°but, how¡­¡±


    Buzzcut, examining He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s state, says, ¡°she looks no different from those succumbed to Collapsed Nightmares.¡±


    The rest of the Missiontakers are surprised to hear that.


    Ding Yi asks, ¡°you¡¯ve seen one before?¡±


    ¡°Just once,¡± Buzzcut looks somewhat fearful but also mocking as he continues, ¡°they end up prisoners of the Nightmare, losing all sense of reason. They¡¯d claim to belong to the Nightmare, repeating everything they experienced in the Nightmare©¤©¤not just verbally, but even physically.¡±


    Their gaze falls back on He Shuj¨¹n while he explained.


    Wu Jian still seems to be in disbelief, and he says, ¡°so, in this Nightmare¡­ being killed is equal to succumbing forever? That¡¯s nonsense!¡±


    ¡°More accurately, it is to be killed by the ¡®Raining Hellfire,¡¯¡± Mu Jiashi suddenly interjects. The other Missiontakers look at him oddly, and he adds, ¡°I learned this before coming to the Nightmare, directly from the Tower resident, who uttered¡­ Raining Hellfire.¡¯¡±


    Fei knows that this information is actually from Mu Jiashi¡¯s previous experience in the Nightmare instead, but the rest of the Missiontakers will probably take this to mean that he overheard the Tower resident who is the Nightmare owner before coming in or something similar.


    At least Buzzcut chimes in, ¡°eh¡­ I didn¡¯t get squat when I tried to question the Tower resident beforehand.¡±


    Some more meaningless banter later, they quickly focus back on the Nightmare itself.


    ¡°So, that disaster was the ¡®Raining Hellfire¡¯?¡± Fei wonders, ¡°and dying to it, causes one to become a husk belonging to the Nightmare itself.¡±


    She almost instinctively wants to look around to check on the lunatics in this Nightmare. It¡¯s hard not to think about how, among those mad people, could there be some who are actually Missiontakers who ended up succumbing to the Nightmare in the same manner as He Shuj¨¹n did?


    That said¡­ nobody knew what a truly Collapsed Nightmare looks like.


    Some people guess that those disappeared Missiontakers are gone for good, but some suspect they are merely trapped somewhere ¨C in Nightmares, or possibly somewhere in the Tower.


    They still have no idea what the full layout of the Tower is, and it is practically impossible to know anyway. Who could even claim to know the many nooks and crannies, for a start?


    Regardless, He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s abrupt changes have made the Missiontakers much more wary of the Nightmare.


    While the young woman herself is still uttering ¡®Apocalypse,¡¯ fire¡¯ and ¡®no escape,¡¯ the Missiontakers only had a moment of pity for her before getting down to serious analysis.


    The Missiontakers report on their findings; Ding Yi does so as well, and besides the information on the bus and the Museum, the others took particular note of where the two were when the Raining Hellfire began.


    ¡°That means¡­ you were outside?¡± Buzzcut falls into thought, wondering, ¡°so would staying indoors have helped avoid the disaster?¡±


    ¡°A shelter? Or safe zone?¡± Wu Jian murmurs, glancing at the library not far from where they are.


    Fei says, ¡°even if such shelters exist, they are probably not just any building either. They have to at least be prominent places in the Nightmare, for example¡­ Cangcheng Library?¡±


    ¡°The library is definitely one of them,¡± Buzzcut nods in agreement, ¡°then there¡¯s¡­ the Museum? The Space Agency? Then, uh¡­ the popular hotpot store?¡±


    Fei sounds hesitant to agree on that last one, ¡°the hotpot store¡­ I don¡¯t really think so?¡±


    Buzzcut also seems to have realised after the fact how dumb a suggestion it was. Embarrassed, he says, ¡°regardless, the library is safe for certain now. We can¡¯t take too many risks here¡­¡±


    Fei agrees, and says, ¡°now we can try to summarise our information.¡±


    She sweeps her gaze across the Missiontakers, when she notices Mr Suicide with his long hair.


    She suddenly realises that something has been off with him.


    Why is he not reacting much?


    Not merely how down and quiet he was around the lead-up to the disaster the last run, but more notably, when Raining Hellfire happened, he did nothing too. Didn¡¯t he say he desired death?


    When the Nightmare started, he even proclaimed that he would seize any opportunity to die when circumstances conspire correctly, and told other Missiontakers not to stop him.


    He didn¡¯t do a thing when Raining Hellfire happened, though.


    Well, it could be that he was too injured to move outside, or he was too in awe at the amazingly grand and destructive scene, but his current silence and non-responsiveness is still odd.


    His expression is too¡­ He¡¯s looking up worriedly, deep in thought.


    Chasing after death¡­ A spark flew across Fei¡¯s mind.


    Though she then shakes her head and abandons the thought.


    She has way too much on her hands already.


    The other Missiontakers have already started talking without her.


    ¡°Clearly, the Nightmare owner¡¯s fear must come down to fearing the Raining Hellfire,¡± declares Buzzcut, ¡°but it would be difficult to deal with¡­¡±


    ¡°Does that mean we would need to find and keep the Nightmare owner safe from the Raining Hellfire?¡± Wu Jian makes a guess, ¡°and the last run might have ended and restarted anyway when the Nightmare owner ended up dying without us?¡±


    Buzzcut nods, but then he becomes troubled, ¡°alright¡­ so the elephant in the room, who is the Nightmare owner? To this point, we haven¡¯t seen the Tower resident directly.¡±


    ¡°We still have two areas not yet explored, for that matter,¡± says Fei.


    The last run of the Nightmare, they headed north and south.


    The avenue went straight through the city without any turns, with one way leading to the Space Agency, and the other going all the way to the parking lot for the busses, with the Museum, and even the Art Gallery along the way.


    And at this intersection where they spawned, there is also a major roadway running east to west. They don¡¯t know what clues this might have or where the roads lead to.


    So Buzzcut makes a final decision, ¡°this time, let¡¯s walk along the east and west, and mainly focus on finding the Nightmare¡¯s owner.¡±

 Volume 6 - CH 101.3

    It is when the Missiontakers have separated, and Fei, Wu Jian and Mr Suicide are heading due east, that Wu Jian glances at Mr Suicide and confirms he is still in some kind of trance that he turns to Fei to talk.


    He had this burning question for a long time now, saying, ¡°Fei, that radio we heard before¡­¡±


    Fei is quiet.


    She knows what Wu Jian wants to talk about, but she also doesn¡¯t know how to talk about it.


    What came from the radio¡­ was the government of the nation in this Nightmare, announcing the truth in the very last minute.


    They already observed and confirmed the thing flying towards the planet earlier than the amateur astronomers had, of course.


    What it was, they did not know either.


    Not when the world¡¯s nations¡¯ resources were solely devoted to maintaining national stability due to the madness spreading a year ago.


    In fact, some countries and territories actually gave up struggling altogether, resulting in bloodbath in their own lands.


    Where they are is already one example that has kept society running, so to speak, even if that order¡­


    Isn¡¯t exactly easy to be called ¡®societal order,¡¯ as it may simply have been an ¡®adaptation¡¯ to the way the madness runs.


    Regardless, the inexplicable madness has seen humanity abandon their efforts to explore space.


    They had to, because they didn¡¯t even have the reach to maintain the original systems and society.


    Civilisation crumbled in just a moment¡­ after a year.


    The thing that was flying towards them were observed by the governments as well as the amateur astronomers, but they couldn¡¯t do anything about it.


    Rumours were overflowing amongst the sane, while the mad people are already happily worshipping Apocalypse cults.


    All the official channels of media under government control, however, have kept quiet; in the last days that followed, society looked to be collapsing once again.


    Finally, at the very last minute, a Communiqu¨¦ issued to the whole of humanity, as relayed by their government through the radio and other sources, has been delivered to as many living humans as possible.


    The world is going to end. Humans, at least, should have the right to know about it.


    Even if one minute is far too short for a full-fledged explanation.


    Humans were only informed that something was falling towards them. Their lives may be extinguished soon afterwards.


    At that moment, all the Missiontakers could hear wails and cries coming from everywhere in the Nightmare.


    Was it from the mad people? Does even insanity not preclude a primaeval fear for death?


    Though, is that really even a broadcast of the truth?


    They were just informed of their impending doom; what is causing their death, actually? Literally a rock falling from the sky?


    Many people have already struggled to survive in this madness through the year. They might have gone mad themselves during it, but they¡¯re still doing their best to survive.


    One day, they would just expire in another inexplicable, all-encompassing disaster.


    And they only realise they were going to die one minute before their expected deaths.


    What would they think about in that minute?


    Would they do their best to escape? Look for a ¡®safe¡¯ shelter? Would they just give up everything and end their own lives before the world could get to them? Would they, unable to cope with the disaster, lash out and make death fall to others before them?


    They have so many questions.


    Yet, when the Nightmare restarted, no Missiontaker mentioned a word to that effect.


    They all mutually ignored the communiqu¨¦ of the final minute. Instead, they just focused on the Nightmare; even if they all know, that something was fundamentally different.


    That minute of announcement, wasn¡¯t just an announcement to the people in the Nightmare, but also, to them.


    To them, the humans who were still struggling along in the Tower.


    So, when Fei has stomached everything, she started wondering. Whose Nightmare could this be, actually?


    Would it seriously just be the Nightmare of a Tower resident that screams ¡®the Apocalypse is going to destroy everything¡¯?


    Or, is it simply a Nightmare of all of humanity?


    Fei is silent for a long time, before finally telling Wu Jian, ¡°what we should do, is to find the truth. And then, we leave this place forever.¡±


    Wu Jian looks at her.


    He knows what she means.


    ¡®This place¡¯ isn¡¯t just the Nightmare, but the despicable Tower.


    So soon enough, Wu Jian nods and promises, ¡°we will¡­¡±


    They continue walking forward, while Mr Suicide follows closely behind them.


    Meanwhile, Lin Qin and He Shuj¨¹n is now in the library.


    The young woman still looks extremely gloomy, completely different to how cheery she looked not long ago.


    She has been affected by this Nightmare deeply, becoming the Nightmare¡¯s ¨C the Apocalypse¡¯s ¨C prisoner through-and-through.


    She walks to the sofas for the visitors near the entrance of the library, sits down, and then remains motionless there.


    Lin Qin observes and confirms she doesn¡¯t look like she¡¯s going to escape somewhere, before taking big strides towards X¨¹ Beijin.


    X¨¹ Beijin, glancing at him, once again confirms how clingy Lin Qin really is. Maybe he should just suck it up at this point¡­


    Sticking to him whenever and wherever in the Nightmares, never mind in the Tower.


    Is this how his ¡®like¡¯ manifests itself?


    X¨¹ Beijin wonders, with a slightly strange expression.


    Lin Qin approaches X¨¹ Beijin, and instead of sitting down immediately, he merely looks at him with a hint of a smile, asking, ¡°are you tired?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is surprised at the question, and looking at him rather suspiciously, replies, ¡°I¡¯m sleepy all the time,¡± then he adds, as sternly as possible, ¡°I don¡¯t want to sleep, however.¡±


    Lin Qin then says, ¡°you keep yawning all the time, so how can you say you don¡¯t want to sleep?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin makes an exasperated expression. Even though before coming to this Nightmare, Lin Qin has already given up on making him sleep, what is he on about now? Is this that important to him?


    Recalling how Lin Qin once annoyed him to no end trying to make him brawl with him, and how he was so adamant in figuring out exactly what ¡®like¡¯ is until he managed to fool himself completely blind¡­ Then, he thinks about how fundamentally, these things were only connected by the fact that they relate to X¨¹ Beijin.


    X¨¹ Beijin remains quiet.


    Lin Qin finally shows his true intentions, going, ¡°do you not sleep because of your Nightmare? In that case¡­ what really is your Nightmare?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks at Lin Qin in shock.


    Just now, he was still wondering if Lin Qin is now interested in his Nightmare.


    He had no idea how to deal with him if he said he is. He was even sure before that that Lin Qin is disinterested in his Nightmare, given that he said it himself.


    So he just threw the idea away when now, Lin Qin is talking about his Nightmare!


    X¨¹ Beijin has a complicated expression. What kind of intuition is that between he and Lin Qin?


    Though¡­


    Now that his thoughts have come to pass, X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t know how to deal with them.


    He did consider if he needs to open his Nightmare up to the world, with Lin Qin being one of the candidates he¡¯s considering. He admits he has realised the necessity for this gesture.


    What happened recently in the Tower had this invisible but highly prominent hand behind it all. The hand most likely belonged to¡­


    NE.


    What actually happened to him?


    X¨¹ Beijin has come to the conclusion that he needs to investigate the current state of NE.


    While his Nightmare¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin is looking at Lin Qin with a piercing gaze so deep that Lin Qin has never seen it before. Now Lin Qin is wondering what X¨¹ Beijin is thinking about while quietly awaiting his response.


    The moment X¨¹ Beijin is about to speak up, his vision takes in something and realises, that something is different about the library in front of him.


    Where is He Shuj¨¹n who was supposed to be seated at the sofa?!

 Volume 6 - CH 102.1

    Little Couple


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Lin Qin follows X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s gaze, and is then surprised.


    While it is the case that Lin Qin had his back to He Shuj¨¹n, and had his attention on X¨¹ Beijin, but regardless, if she made any noise at all, she could not have slipped under Lin Qin¡¯s radar.


    Lin Qin is practically a bug in this game by himself.


    Even so, He Shuj¨¹n still managed to disappear? In those few minutes of time?


    After the shock has passed, Lin Qin feels somewhat displeased; or perhaps¡­ embarrassed?


    He gives a discreet glance at X¨¹ Beijin, acting like he did something wrong.


    Though X¨¹ Beijin hasn¡¯t noticed, because he finds it odd enough, and stands up with brows locked deep.


    Never mind He Shuj¨¹n leaving quietly like a cat, but why did she leave in the first place?


    Just a few minutes ago, she was already sitting there motionlessly. He is sure a dark mood had come over her. It is therefore hard to imagine anything suddenly grabbing her attention, thoughts or visuals, that made her leave.


    Lin Qin has already walked over to investigate where she could have gone, but X¨¹ Beijin stops him.


    Lin Qin seems confused.


    X¨¹ Beijin, meanwhile, has part of his attention divided on his stream.


    The comments are also surprised at He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s disappearance.


    X¨¹ Beijin scrolls through his list of locations and finally finds where she went to.


    He Shuj¨¹n is on the third floor reading room.


    X¨¹ Beijin narrows his eyes. In terms of the route she took, it could not have been through the stairs over to the side of the library, because it would certainly have attracted their attention.


    So her only choice must have been through the emergency stairs that are on the other side of the library.


    Assuming she left as soon as their attention were occupied, she had just enough minutes to make it up to the third floor.


    So¡­ it¡¯s the same question again. Why is she going to the third floor? Did she know something, or¡­ did she see something?


    X¨¹ Beijin is quite amazed, frankly.


    Lin Qin, meanwhile, has his arms crossed, waiting for X¨¹ Beijin to answer him.


    While the rest of the Missiontakers has asked him to keep an eye on the young woman, but clearly X¨¹ Beijin is higher priority.


    He¡¯s never going to ignore the one he likes for someone inconsequential.


    Now, he is tilting his baby face while getting a good look at X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s features.


    He doesn¡¯t exactly appreciate beauty or ugliness; instead, he simply finds X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s face appealing to him. So this, is the person he likes?


    He sure has good taste.


    Back when X¨¹ Beijin first popped up in his life, he found him to be a speck of light that deviated from his normal world. He wasn¡¯t happy.


    He finds it strange, surprised, that there was such an exception in his world.


    By now, he thinks, instead of a surprise, it is more of a ¡®serendipity.¡¯


    And he will surely win over this serendipity and keep him.


    Starting with letting him have a good sleep.


    Proud of his imaginary achievements, Lin Qin is smiling while checking out X¨¹ Beijin.


    So when X¨¹ Beijin is finished checking the streaming system, Lin Qin¡¯s gaze immediately sends goosebumps all over him©¤©¤What in the world is Lin Qin doing looking at him with that gaze!


    X¨¹ Beijin, speechless, then says, ¡°follow me. I think I know where she is.¡±


    The viewers of the stream are teasing him harshly.


    ¡°hahahaha Beibei youre cheating with the stream again!¡±


    ¡°you can¡¯t call a miracle a cheat, now [doge emoji]¡±


    ¡°look at the little apple obediently clopping along with Beibei; ah, this must be what it is like to be in love¡±


    ¡°can you not use such a word?¡±


    ¡°once, I thought I was watching a horror game stream; then, I realised it was more a detective drama stream; now¡­ its more like a romance game, ha. ha. ha.¡±


    ¡°really? even though you have no guts, or intelligence, or even love, for that matter?¡±


    ¡°[knife emoji] [knife emoji] [knife emoji]¡±


    ¡°stop spying on my private life, please!¡±


    The extremely farcical dialogue almost made X¨¹ Beijin laugh out loud when he should definitely not in this serious mood.


    Lin Qin, going up the stairs after X¨¹ Beijin, asks curiously, ¡°so where is she?¡±


    ¡°Do you know where in this library holds the most valuable information?¡± X¨¹ Beijin asks with a pretentious tone.


    Lin Qin answers honestly, ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡±


    Then X¨¹ Beijin answers, ¡°it¡¯s the reading room on the third floor.¡±


    Lin Qin¡¯s eyes widen.


    X¨¹ Beijin then explains, both to Lin Qin and to the viewers of the stream, why He Shuj¨¹n would head upstairs, ¡°in the last run of the Nightmare, everyone was distracted because they found the student there. They didn¡¯t check the items placed in the reading room there carefully©¤©¤More specifically, I refer to the newspapers and magazines placed there.


    It was an honest oversight. Perhaps He Shuj¨¹n overheard them when they were recounting events earlier outside. She then heads to the third floor based on that fact.¡±


    Lin Qin understands, but he also has a new question, in the form of how X¨¹ Beijin knew what the Missiontakers were talking about outside.


    Or how he knew the results of their exploration from the last run for that matter.


    But Lin Qin does not ask.


    He tilts his head; maybe it¡¯s just a coincidence. Maybe X¨¹ Beijing heard them.


    At the same time, X¨¹ Beijin completely failed to realise what he just exposed to Lin Qin without conscious thought.


    He has completely let his guard down around Lin Qin by this point, which has led to him spilling his secrets by proxy.


    Thankfully, Lin Qin has no intention of pushing or capitalising them.


    Or more accurately, Lin Qin has no need to push or capitalise on them, as far as he sees it.


    If it were matters relating to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s health, or liking him, or brawling, then Lin Qin would be far more stubborn and resilient than anyone. Something X¨¹ Beijin is keenly aware of at this point.


    On the third floor reading room, they find He Shuj¨¹n and the teenager who looks like a student in a stand-off, locking eyes on each other.


    He Shuj¨¹n didn¡¯t look much different; the teenager seems confused, though, looking at He Shuj¨¹n like looking at a madwoman.


    When he sees X¨¹ Beijin come up, he calls out to him, ¡°X¨¹-ge, what¡¯s wrong with her?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks over at the teenager; he already knows his name at this point.


    This Actor is named Lu Chengzhe. His role is exactly as he stated earlier.


    He worked part-time in this library for the summer holiday last year. With the spread of the madness and the loss of his home, he came to the library instead to help organise it.


    Of course, he also holds secrets himself. For example, he did not tell the Missiontakers that his job is, in fact, to sort out the newspaper delivered to the reading room.


    After the madness spread, news and media did not completely collapse.


    Quite the opposite, in fact, as the madness seems to have generally caused the journalists and media professionals to be far more attentive and serious about their work.


    In some sense, the madness taking ahold of their minds has gave them more pronounced acuity, acumen and even honesty.


    Perhaps, you could seriously call the mass media insane at this point.


    While humanity was gripped by madness, humanity was kept informed by completely factual, honest, fair and unbiased reporting worldwide. It is something practically unfathomable before it.


    It means the library got to enjoy a status quo, with its subscription to various print media still delivered on time every morning.


    Each physical outlet the library had a subscription to, continued delivering after the madness spread around.


    So, in terms of this Nightmare¡¯s setting, Lu Chengzhe has spent his days in this reading room, voraciously consuming the information, clues and details¡­ regarding, the Raining Hellfire.


    That is why the Missiontakers saw Lu Chengzhe on the third floor as soon as they arrived, and saw the newspaper he was holding, realising what was about to happen.


    The secrets held inside the reading room of the third floor is far more than that, though.


    As the only Actors in this library, X¨¹ Beijin and Lu Chengzhe had a comparatively high amount of information fed into them by the Server regarding the library, besides basic information of the Nightmare.


    Though they cannot simply divulge it to the Missiontakers unprompted.

 Volume 6 - CH 102.2

    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s eyes are on He Shuj¨¹n.


    After she died the last run of the Nightmare, some qualities of the Nightmare appears to have rubbed on her. She¡¯s no longer sane. She¡¯s moody and unresponsive. Why would she walk to the third floor, then?


    Everyone is looking at He Shuj¨¹n.


    And it seems that, for a brief moment of lucidity, He Shuj¨¹n also realised something wrong with her behaviour.


    So, after mumbling something nobody can hear clearly, she says, ¡°I¡­ want to, read the newspaper.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Lu Chengzhe sounds surprised, ¡°why do you want to read it?¡±


    ¡°I heard¡­ the newspaper, wrote about, it,¡± He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s lips are trembling as she continues, ¡°the Apocalypse¡­ it¡¯s coming¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks at her quietly.


    In this moment, this young woman is quite strikingly similar to the owner of the Nightmare, who would also bumble about muttering about ¡°the Apocalypse is coming,¡± which is what helped gather the Missiontakers¡¯ eyes on her.


    Rather than He Shuj¨¹n having come off with qualities of this Nightmare, it seems, then, that she is more being affected by the owner of the Nightmare.


    If that is the case, then she can still be saved if the Missiontakers can leave the Nightmare successfully. A True End would be the best, too.


    But the True End of this Nightmare, huh¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin falls into thought.


    Lu Chengzhe, meanwhile, has handed a newspaper to He Shuj¨¹n without another word.


    He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s fingers are trembling while receiving it. A short while after reading it, she suddenly breaks into a sobbing wail.


    She¡¯s sitting there on the ground, crying like some mad woman.


    She really does resemble a member of this Nightmare, one of those who are in despair and sorrow for the coming Apocalypse.


    It seems the fact that this is only a Nightmare and she is only a Missiontaker is now lost on her.


    Seeing this, Lu Chengzhe can¡¯t help but think to himself, while this is something not unheard of on the higher floors, but this is merely a Nightmare of the bottom floor.


    Or rather, this Nightmare belongs to a Tower resident who ended up shunted back down to the bottom floor.


    It¡¯s quite unfathomable for this to have happened to an Actor.


    Lu Chengzhe finds the situation baffling.


    In fact, this teenager dressed as a student, belongs to the organisation of which Dai Wu is a member.


    Not long ago, he was asking Wu Jian, ¡°would we die,¡± with this desperate tone; it was genuine.


    He has also come to wonder if this Apocalypse truly happened to their Earth in the past. Could they have perished in the Apocalypse already? Could they¡­ have really died already?


    It is an emotional state no adjective is severe enough to describe.


    It was in the past. Everyone agrees on it, believes in it. Yet this also means, that it cannot be changed. Everything has come and gone.


    As an Actor, Lu Chengzhe may know more than the Missiontakers do, but he¡¯s realised, the Nightmares¡­ At least, their Nightmares, severely limit their possible course of action.


    Actors can rank up, but it is highly restricted and bound, and requires proactive participation in others¡¯ Nightmares.


    It is something difficult to achieve alone, so cooperation between Actors is needed, plus luck, for that matter.


    Lu Chengzhe is someone lucky in that respect. He managed to become a Side Character level in a comparatively short period of time.


    That said, he¡¯s always been on the bottom floor. He hasn¡¯t physically been to the higher floors.


    Because he is also incredibly unfortunate. No one has managed a True End yet in this Nightmare up to this point. Not a single Missiontaker.


    Even worse, despite the hypersensitive climate about the bottom floor right now, his Nightmare, which has never yielded a True End, hasn¡¯t been widely labelled as an ¡®Ultimate Nightmare¡¯ like the others and receive a surge of visits.


    But then again, there is also the fact that he doesn¡¯t plan on leaving ¨C Dai Wu believes that the key to escaping the Tower lies on the bottom floor rather than on any higher floor.


    Therefore they¡¯ve remained on the bottom floor all this time.


    More than a month ago, they ended up seeing off one of their companions. He was a young boy.


    He said he¡¯s done waiting around. He¡¯s going to try and leave the bottom floor to try his luck on the upper floors.


    It was almost a direct challenge to Dai Wu¡¯s position, but Dai Wu didn¡¯t seem to mind at all. That young man who always had this jokey attitude with everything, quietly saw his companion off.


    Lu Chengzhe heard Dai Wu comment on that companion after he has already left, ¡°are those higher floors really any different to the bottom floors?¡± Dai Wu asked, then says, ¡°if we want to treat it as a Second Life, then anywhere we could have a Second Life; if this is a prison instead, then you¡¯re still in the prison wherever you go.¡±


    Lu Chengzhe found himself at a loss of words to that remark.


    He knows what Dai Wu means. It¡¯s a sarcastic mockery of Actors having so many differing attitudes and lifestyles in response to this, but he couldn¡¯t find his own words.


    It may be that¡­ while he agrees with Dai Wu on his ideas and his vision, but, he cannot commit.


    Because there is no hope forward for him to strive towards.


    He knows Dai Wu can see nothing forward either.


    Though that Dai Wu suddenly changed at some point.


    First, Dai Wu suddenly and enthusiastically spread the news of some particular Nightmare;


    Then after that, Dai Wu switched targets. He promoted this one, this Nightmare they¡¯re in.


    Lu Chengzhe is not sure what Dai Wu is trying to accomplish here, but he knows¡­


    He discreetly looks in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s direction.


    He knows it all has to do with this man standing in front of him.


    This man with an unkempt mess for a hairstyle, with a pale face, extremely heavy eyebags, but is still somehow so handsome it burns to eyes to look at him.


    And underneath all that, of what he could charitably describe as a look of being ¡®under the weather,¡¯ seem to be rather deep and intriguing secrets.


    If it was merely his appearance, though, Lu Chengzhe isn¡¯t too convinced why Dai Wu believes X¨¹ Beijin holds the key to their leaving the Tower.


    Is it simply because of his Nightmare?


    And what really is his Nightmare, for that matter?


    It has to be said that not just the Missiontakers, but the Actors also have keen interests in it.


    It truly is a shame that he has never let others into his Nightmare.

 Volume 6 - CH 102.3

    What Lu Chengzhe is not aware, of course, is that X¨¹ Beijin already has plans to open up his Nightmare to Missiontakers for the first time. He was even going to tell Lin Qin the details just now, only interrupted by He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s sudden disappearance.


    Of course, Lin Qin remembers, and Lin Qin, the stubborn little apple, will make sure the person he likes still remembers it and open up to him again.


    Now that X¨¹ Beijin found He Shuj¨¹n and has confirmed her continued state of being irrational and insane, he switches the stream over to Buzzcut and Ye Lan.


    It is the result of careful consideration and elimination. Both Fei and Wu Jian, and Mu Jiashi and Ding Yi might end up discussing untoward things that gets his streaming system cut off.


    He is also acquainted with people of both teams already. If they really have decided on some course of action, they will end up at X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s, one way or another. He knows how attractive his Nightmare is to all Missiontakers.


    That¡¯s why the only viable targets are Ye Lan and Buzzcut.


    They headed out west.


    From a bird¡¯s eye view, the western area seems to be more residential in nature. The wide road has given way to a maze of many small alleyways.


    All the narrow alleys and footpaths form a web-like structure.


    There are many people here©¤©¤Madmen is a more appropriate word, perhaps. In fact, here, the two words would practically be synonymous.


    To live is to be insane. Only insane people are living.


    From those silhouettes that suddenly pop up on the windows, to some forms that poke a head out the corner of the alleys and immediately dart to the other side, to the little snack stands with their owners selling whatever it was they were attempting to sell¡­


    It all looks normal. It all looks surprising.


    After a short ways in, the pair realise they¡¯ve lost themselves in this labyrinth of residential blocks.


    They look at each other blankly, and stop where they stand.


    ¡°This is¡­ strange?¡± Buzzcut is taking in his surroundings. His tone is somewhat off, ¡°the insane people here are like¡­¡±


    Ye Lan is also squeezing the words through her teeth, ¡°like they have formed a community.¡±


    They are both furrowing their brows, wondering what is happening.


    The mad people who look towards them have calm, unflinching gazes. It seems that they have recognised the insignificance of themselves in the grand scheme of things at some point, and come to terms with the fact that they are due to perish. They¡¯ve given up struggling, becoming enervated husks in turn.


    They all seem to be quietly waiting for something.


    Buzzcut and Ye Lan approach a small restaurant whose owner is sitting there, daydreaming in silence.


    He looks to be a man in his 50s. His hair has gone grey. His focus is muddy.


    When the two Missiontakers stand in front of him, he snaps back to reality, looking up at them.


    Buzzcut tries to ask, ¡°laoban¡­¡±


    ¡°I sell nothing, I sell nothing,¡± the owner repeats the phrase, ¡°I sell nothing.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not buying anything,¡± Buzzcut replies, and asks, ¡°we want to ask something instead.¡±


    The owner is watching him blankly.


    Buzzcut assumes he¡¯s ok with it, and asks, ¡°have you heard about the thing that is falling towards us from the sky?¡±


    The owner seems unresponsive for a moment, before suddenly saying with a snide, ¡°yes, of course I do. There¡¯s that couple living near here that argued about it nonstop last night.¡±


    ¡°A couple?¡± Buzzcut repeats the phrase, curious.


    ¡°Yeah, the guy and the girl are both young¡¯uns. They¡¯re pretty lovey-dovey usually, but last night they argued, they argued bad¡­¡±


    Buzzcut nods, seemingly in thought.


    ¡°Because of that,¡± the owner¡¯s voice starts sinking in tone, ¡°everyone in the neighbourhood has heard. Even an old man like me heard it clearly. Something, is falling towards us.¡±


    ¡°The guy wouldn¡¯t believe it, the girl sounds like she¡¯s half scared to death; then they argued. They argued the whole night, only dying down when the sun is coming up. They¡¯re mad. They must be mad. What kind of people would argue in the dead of night all night long¡­ if not mad people?¡±


    The corner of Buzzcut¡¯s mouth is twitching. This old man sure has an interesting way with words.


    He is still blabbering on, ¡°dying is fine. It¡¯s basically time for me anyway. This year has been a mess. Even me and my wife had enough. She was so angry she¡¯s left home¡­¡±


    Left home?


    Buzzcut doesn¡¯t know how to respond.


    Suddenly, the owner of the small restaurant shows a strange smile, and opens his steamer, saying,¡± ah, customers. Would you like a hot, steaming breakfast?¡±


    Buzzcut, looking straight into the steamer, right at the severed head of an elderly woman inside, finds butterflies battering in his stomach. Yup. He knew it.


    He immediately says, his face twitching, ¡°no, no thanks, we¡¯re fine¡­¡±


    He quickly leaves the restaurant with Ye Lan in tow.


    After leaving the storefront of that insane owner, Buzzcut complains loudly, ¡°what a raving mad lunatic!¡±


    Ye Lan, speechless, says, ¡°tell that to him instead.¡±


    Buzzcut makes an awkward smile.


    Then Ye Lan says, ¡°the more valuable information is¡­ what he said, about the couple¡¯s argument.¡±


    ¡°You think it has something to do with this Nightmare?¡±


    ¡°The owner says the entire neighbourhood heard it.¡±


    Buzzcut seems hesitant at first, but soon gets it, ¡°you mean, if we ask the others, they¡¯ll also all tell us about it? Then it must surely be something key to this Nightmare.¡±


    Ye Lan nods and says, ¡°that man said the couple is young; how many young man were there according to the other Missiontakers?¡±


    ¡°The doctor of the Museum?¡± Buzzcut says, ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s many others. The one in the library is still a student.¡±


    Ye Lan says, ¡°it¡¯s quite possible it¡¯s the doctor,¡± then she thinks about it and says, ¡°he might be a red herring, though.¡±


    Buzzcut shakes his head, remarking, ¡°this Nightmare really is complex. We can¡¯t even isolate the owner of the Nightmare at this point.¡±


    Ye Lan says unenergetically, ¡°that¡¯s how it is. You thought it¡¯s going to be simple? If it really were simple, it couldn¡¯t have been the Ultimate Nightmare we were searching for in the first place.¡±


    Buzzcut quickly adds, ¡°yeah, I see. What you said makes sense.¡±


    Ye Lan ignores the offhanded compliment. She¡¯s a pretty cold person anyway, and she has her attention on this Nightmare only, and nothing else.


    She then says, ¡°let¡¯s keep going and ask some more people. It¡¯ll verify what we just said.¡±


    Then she takes off.


    Buzzcut follows after her, but he has a long face; he¡¯s really not keen on having to be exposed to another sanity-defying scene like that¡­


    He shakes his head, trying his best not to think about the scene again.


    They¡¯ve made some gains, but in the meantime, Ding Yi and Mu Jiashi are still yet to reach the Museum.


    The two Missiontakers are currently on a bus. Ding Yi already knows the bus is harmless from their last run, so this time, to save time, they still boarded it.


    They¡¯ve been discussing possibilities in this Nightmare, but in the end, the topic ends up back on Ding Yi herself.


    Mu Jiashi asks, ¡°did something happen on the higher floors that made you return to the bottom floor?¡±

 Volume 6 - CH 103.1

    ¡°Not exactly¡­¡± replies Ding Yi, ¡°it is more, I realised something.¡±


    Mu Jiashi looks at the Necessities Merchant, waiting for her answer.


    Ding Yi asks, ¡°are you worried I¡¯ve come to meet failure similarly to you?¡±


    Mu Jiashi looks taken aback a little. He sighs and says, ¡°well, I am a loser¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve come to learn, instead, of some details surrounding your ¡®failure¡¯ on the higher floors,¡± says Ding Yi.


    Mu Jiashi does not look too chipper right now.


    Ding Yi makes a little smile, and says, ¡°it seems to have some distinctions with the failure you assert to have encountered. You achieved a True End in the penultimate Nightmare you entered on the higher floors before crashing down.¡±


    Mu Jiashi remains quiet for a bit before nodding.


    ¡°The Nightmare in question, is where we are now.¡±


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s brows are quite furrowed. He stares at Ding Yi for a bit before asking, ¡°so, you¡¯ve also learned a little bit more about this Nightmare?¡±


    Then he pauses and says, ¡°no, wait. I¡¯ve asked a question, so why are you the one asking?¡±


    ¡°Because, I¡¯m not interested in talking about what troubled me,¡± Ding Yi answers, sighing. The man is being obtuse in such matters again. Then she asks, ¡°you understand now?¡±


    Mu Jiashi thinks about it, then says, ¡°right, I understand,¡± then he adds again, ¡°so what is it?¡±


    A strand of Ding Yi¡¯s grue-coloured hair has been sacrificed at that remark.


    Then she says, ¡°if you would tell me fully what defeated you, then I¡¯ll tell you about the predicament I ran into.¡±


    Mu Jiashi then falls into thought.


    He also doesn¡¯t know either, why he wants to know exactly why Ding Yi ended up back on the bottom floor.


    Maybe it¡¯s because they achieved the True End together in that Nightmare through which Ding Yi ascended;


    Maybe there are things about the current state of the higher floors he wants to learn more about.


    But more crucially, the fact that Ding Yi has returned to the bottom floor at this junction in time has caused some instinctual alarm to fire in Mu Jiashi¡¯s mind.


    Why is she back now? Why exactly now?


    Is her return to the bottom floor being coincident with this Nightmare dropping down floors a simple coincidence?


    What Ding Yi just said has already given away the fact that she knows this Nightmare is where he, Mu Jiashi, met his utter defeat. This only makes Mu Jiashi even more wary.


    It might simply, be some kind of sixth sense he is feeling.


    Mu Jiashi narrows his eyes, and finally says, ¡°fine. I agree to it.¡±


    Now, it¡¯s Ding Yi¡¯s turn to be surprised.


    She¡¯s fully aware of how, despite the matter being something Mu Jiashi talked about constantly, but it is actually a taboo with Mu Jiashi.


    He never once hinted at what exactly happened to him that made him so utterly dejected he slumped his way back down to the bottom floor.


    Ding Yi was once curious, but she also didn¡¯t want to get on Mu Jiashi¡¯s bad side, so she put her curiosity aside then.


    She wasn¡¯t expecting him to be ready to talk about it at all.


    So this can only mean that Mu Jiashi is now slowly climbing back out from whatever it was that dragged him behind. Ding Yi thinks she may soon see him pick himself up and recover the confidence and pride of his past.


    What about herself, though?


    Is she able to walk away from her own predicament?


    The onslaught of emotions she felt when¡­ she learned that Jiang Shuangjie ended up literally trapped inside an elevator?


    Why she returned to the bottom floor is actually deceptively simple.


    She met two of her former subordinates on the upper floors. While reminiscing, they mentioned the twin sisters who were famous among those indulging in orgies and all-night partying. They said, that older sister of the couple, has succumbed to a Nightmare.


    She was shocked. Jiang Shuangjie¡­ was forever trapped in a Nightmare?


    Then what about Jiang Shuangmei?


    She finds her mind wandering to the thought often.


    She, who finally returned to the Nightmares, and climbed up the floors step-by-step from the bottom floor, can still vividly recall the days when the three of them girls fought together in the past. She was the one who left them behind first. She abandoned them.


    Well, ¡®abandon¡¯ may be putting it harshly.


    In any case, Ding Yi has never personally let the friendship go in her heart.


    Perhaps no other Missiontaker would be as melancholic and indecisive as she is, but the years of working as an honest merchant has ground away at her willpower. In fact, after heading up the floors, she finds herself only sporadically succeeding in finding True Ends.


    She has realised that, many years ago, she stopped;


    And now, trying to pick it back up where she stopped, is an exceedingly difficult, uphill struggle.


    All this culminated in her return to the bottom floor.


    She has seen the path of thorns that lie forward to even higher floors. She, alone, may never successfully be able to traverse it.


    In her night¡¯s dreams, she often relived happier days when she was part of a group that went through Nightmares together. The memories gnawed at her. They intimidate her. Finally, she decides to abandon everything again, and go back to the bottom floor.


    Does she regret any of it?


    All the years ago, she left her companions behind. Now, she has lost one of them for good.


    It was her own choice.


    People are responsible for their own actions, regardless of what the consequences may be. The fruit of one¡¯s own labour, as they say.


    If she was returned to any of those moments in time, she may have very well made the same choices all over again.


    Since she acquired that one utility card, why should she fight with her life on the line anymore? Why can¡¯t she enjoy a more peaceful, a more stable life?


    Nightmares are lethal; the Tower is depressing, but at least, it is calm.


    There have been many people who¡¯ve wondered why Ding Yi could just leave behind everything she built up without batting an eye and choose to head up the floors.


    Not even Ding Yi can answer why, now, after she¡¯s resolved herself once more, that she still chose to go back down to the bottom floor again, when she heard about what happened to Jiang Shuangjie.


    Where she abandoned everything; where she wants to regain everything


    Even if, it seems, she is far, far too late.


    The utility card¡­ Ding Yi thinks the utility card, was both a stroke of fortune, and also a stroke of misfortune. Gifts from fate often have their own prices due.


    When she returned to the bottom floor, and met Jiang Shuangmei, the two woman sat together, without saying a word.


    They can never go back to their old friendship. There was just¡­ whatever this was.


    Whatever this face-to-face silence, this rift of the times they never saw each other, never talked, never struggled together anymore in the Nightmares, was.


    And this rift, named Jiang Shuangjie.


    Later, Ding Yi heard rumours about this Nightmare here. She decides to enter. Maybe, she wasn¡¯t as able to let go of her curiosity of Mu Jiashi¡¯s experience as she thought she was.


    She wanted to know, how Mu Jiashi was doing ¨C the man who ended up back on the bottom floor after his catastrophic loss.


    Would she, perhaps stoop down herself until they could see each other? Would she, perhaps be able to energise herself once more, just like him?

 Volume 6 - CH 103.2

    The engine of the bus continues buzzing along while it takes Ding Yi and Mu Jiashi to the parking lot at the end of the road.


    After disembarking, Mu Jiashi doesn¡¯t immediately head for the Museum, though. Instead, he stands there, and asks Ding Yi, ¡°does this parking lot remind you of something?¡±


    Ding Yi falls into thought on the spot.


    ¡°A parking lot¡­¡± She murmurs, taking in her surroundings, then says, ¡°you¡¯re saying¡­ That¡­ that Nightmare? That one?! With the little boy in the wardrobe?!¡±


    She has never been in any other Nightmare together with Mu Jiashi besides this one, and¡­ the Nightmare with the little boy.


    There was a parking lot in that Nightmare.


    Mu Jiashi says, ¡°this parking lot is at the southern end of the road, and beyond here is the countryside¡­ accessible via the highway there.¡±


    Ding Yi seems stunned.


    Mu Jiashi continues, ¡°in this Nightmare, though, the little boy isn¡¯t here. His insane father isn¡¯t here. It¡¯s just a scene. This parking lot isn¡¯t even an exact match; the lengths of the roads are different.


    You know, after I left that Nightmare, I was wallowing in my memories. I was kept awake by my thoughts. I was in pain because of my defeat.


    That is when I remembered this area in this Nightmare. More accurately, a companion explored and told me about it as an aside¡­ There was a parking lot at the end of the southern road, leading onto the highway. There is a service area not too far away by car.¡±


    Ding Yi opens her mouth, but she does not know what to say.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think much of the information at the time, because it was simply a data point in their exploration. The kind we gather a lot before Golddiggers enter a Nightmare with a True End in mind.


    I thought this piece of information had no value even after resolving the Nightmare on the higher floors, because this Nightmare had no use of the parking lot, the highway or the service area beyond. There isn¡¯t a single Tower resident in any of them to provide information either.


    They¡¯re just, scenes.¡±


    Ding Yi comments, ¡°but these scenes actually hint at other Nightmares.¡±


    Mu Jiashi has a bitter smile, and he says, ¡°do you know just how many scenes of different Nightmares this one Nightmare contains?¡±


    Ding Yi shakes his head.


    ¡°Look over there,¡± Mu Jiashi points somewhere not too far away from the parking lot, ¡°see that tallest building that might tumble over there?¡±


    Ding Yi looks in the direction.


    Then, she says, ¡°as far as I can see, it doesn¡¯t look at all structurally unsound. It¡¯s just a normal office building.¡±


    ¡°Just a normal building¡­¡± Mu Jiashi murmurs, ¡°some time over an hour later, when the Raining Hellfire comes, this city would burn. The building would have its glass shattered, and the survivors beneath the 9th floor would host a real-life game of escape¡­¡±


    Ding Yi looks more and more concerned, then asks, ¡°so that¡¯s another Nightmare? You¡¯ve been there?¡±


    ¡°I did, a long time ago,¡± Mu Jiashi is now chuckling bitterly, ¡°so did Fei and Wu Jian pretty recently. They haven¡¯t come close to the building enough to recognise, so they wouldn¡¯t know yet.


    But they¡¯ve headed off to the east¡­ the east side¡­ you wouldn¡¯t want to know what they would come across to the east.¡±


    Ding Yi is confused looking at him. The logic in Mu Jiashi¡¯s speech is jumping all over the place.


    Mu Jiashi then drops the bomb, ¡°I¡¯ve heard about what happened to an old companion of yours. Those who indulged themselves spread the rumour of that Nightmare basically everywhere¡­ They coveted what she left behind a lot.¡±


    Ding Yi connects the dots, and she looks utterly horrified, ¡°she¡¯s there?!¡±


    ¡°Just the scene itself,¡± Mu Jiashi reassures her, ¡°it is merely a husk of what that Nightmare featured.¡±


    ¡°Merely a husk¡­¡± Ding Yi quietly repeats the phrase to herself, before smiling bitterly.


    The two of them stand there in silence.


    Finally, Ding Yi asks, ¡°so this is what you realised in this Nightmare? Are you seriously saying this completely devastated you? A Nightmare, that featured other Nightmares?¡±


    While Ding Yi is quite shocked indeed, it comes nowhere near any breaking points for her.


    So what if this Nightmare had scenes of other Nightmares? Maybe this is just the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare,¡¯ that would explain how special it is, right?


    After all, this Nightmare focused on the Apocalypse. While scenes of other Tower residents¡¯ misfortunes are featured in this gigantic, Apocalyptic set piece, could it not be¡­


    Wait!


    Ding Yi freezes in place.


    This Nightmare¡¯s scene encompasses the happenstances of many other Tower residents?


    A gigantic¡­ scene, of the Apocalypse.


    Ding Yi¡¯s face slowly loses colour.


    Mu Jiashi says, ¡°looks like you¡¯ve noticed as well,¡± he takes a deep breath, and says, ¡°the key question lies, in the Apocalypse.¡±


    Ding Yi is still listening, if only because she cannot react any other way.


    Mu Jiashi, staring at the tall building in the distance, feels his mood sink just like how the building will eventually collapse into the abyss.


    He says, ¡°first things first. Everyone knows the Tower residents are insane. They are full of misfortune and gloom.

 Volume 6 - CH 103.3

    Ding Yi is listening in silence, but Mu Jiashi suddenly turns to look at her and ask with a whisper, ¡°have you heard of anyone who has undoubtedly left the Tower for good? Has anyone really escaped?¡±


    Ding Yi slowly, but firmly shakes her head.


    She hasn¡¯t. Nor has anyone else.


    While it¡¯s true that not long ago there was the rumour of ¡®someone has successfully escaped the Tower,¡¯ it sounded more like a self-delusion to make themselves feel better. Perhaps even an invisible hand is trying to get people and events to move to their designs.


    In any case, there has been nobody, nor have any of them met anybody, who can confidently state that they know someone has escaped and they are certain of it.


    Not a single person.


    So these Missiontakers, are not that different from the mad people in the Tower; they are equally survivors of the Apocalypse, equally suffering to get by in the Tower.


    Ding Yi has a pretty tragic smile when she finally says, ¡°I understand what you mean.¡±


    Mu Jiashi then looks around the area, taking in the city that is about to meet its cataclysmic end.


    And the planet, too.


    ¡°This is their Apocalypse;¡± says Ding Yi, ¡°this is our Apocalypse.¡±


    If mirrors reflect people¡¯s true forms, then the Tower residents are their mirrors.


    The moment they arrived into the Tower, they were themselves Tower residents.


    Fei and Wu Jian are heading along the way east.


    Along the way, they come across some more insane and unhinged people, along with weird storefronts.


    Wu Jian was in the library the whole last run and has no idea what it¡¯s truly like out here, but thanks to Fei, the pair of proceeding smoothly, avoiding any suspicious areas.


    Finally, they come to a stop in front of a cordoned off area at the end of the road.


    Wu Jian is poking his head around, wondering, ¡°what¡¯s going on here?¡± He checks the restricted area more closely, and says, ¡°a commercial area, an apartment complex¡­ Why is it blocked off? Is there anything special about it?¡±


    Fei asks, ¡°how should I know?¡±


    Wu Jian awkwardly smiles.


    Fei then says, ¡°we might¡­ be able to get answers from other people, but¡­¡±


    Her tone starts falling as she continues, ¡°if this is an area that needed to be blocked off even with this kind of backstory in the Nightmare, then what could have happened here?¡±


    Wu Jian wants to answer, ¡®how should I know?¡¯


    Though Fei holds quite the formidable position in his mind, so he doesn¡¯t dare say that out loud.


    He looks around, and suddenly, he notices something, and points out, ¡°someone seems to be guarding the entrance there.¡±


    They walk over and see that it¡¯s the security booth to the whole apartment complex.


    The restricted area extends as far as the security booth which was probably once overseeing the entrance to the community here, but is now used to keep an eye on the apartment complex and keep people out.


    Quite the interesting development, huh.


    Fei and Wu Jian walk over.


    The person sitting in the booth appears to be in his sixties already. The old man seems quite active and attentive for his age though, with piercing eyes.


    When he sees Fei and Wu Jian walk over, he immediately looks at them and loudly deters them, saying, ¡°this is a restricted area! No unauthorised entry!¡±


    Though since Fei and Wu Jian aren¡¯t exactly doing anything out of line yet, he doesn¡¯t look like he¡¯d move to chase them away first.


    Fei and Wu Jian give each other a look. They both conclude, that whatever it is that is happening in the area, its nature is probably known well enough, otherwise the guard should be chasing them away immediately already.


    Of course, in a world where you can¡¯t tell if anyone¡¯s gone mad, this elderly guard¡¯s behaviour isn¡¯t exactly a reliable source of information either.


    Fei asks the elderly man, ¡°mister, we¡¯re not going in. We are just curious¡­¡±


    ¡°Curious?¡± The old man¡¯s wrinkles deepen as he scolds them, ¡°you ought to abandon whatever curiosity you have for places like these!¡±


    Wu Jian feels like this old man is lucid enough, though¡­ when recalling the old Director of the Museum Ding Yi mentioned, he shouldn¡¯t come to hasty conclusions yet.


    He tries examining the guard¡¯s facial expression more closely.


    He realises that this old man is clearly uncomfortable and wary when mentioning this area. He seems to fear, or at least want to avoid, something in the area.


    Despite that, he is still keeping guard here.


    Wu Jian has some thoughts forming in his mind.


    Fei continues asking in the meantime, ¡°it¡¯s our first time in Cangcheng, so we¡¯re not sure what¡¯s happening here¡­¡±


    ¡°Is it already that chaotic outside?¡± The old man makes a disdainful smirk. One can still imagine him as perhaps a fiery and passionate youngster back in the day. He says. ¡°this restricted area is the most dangerous area of Cangcheng, that¡¯s why it¡¯s blocked off. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve met mad people elsewhere in the city already, but I can tell you, they¡¯re all harmless babies compared to this whole area.¡±


    Fei, astonished, asks, ¡°we did see a lot of them, but why would this area be more dangerous than them? Can you tell us?¡±


    The old man eyes them with suspicion, until finally, it gives way to one with hints of frustration.


    He is probably assuming that Fei and Wu Jian would really try to barge in if he says nothing, so he puts up an even sterner expression and explains clearly, hoping to dissuade these two young adults from recklessness.


    He says, ¡°inside here¡­ everything¡¯s gone sentient.¡±


    Fei and Wu Jian both appear stunned.


    ¡°Sentient?¡± Fei asks, ¡°what do you mean¡­ sentient? What in the world?!¡±


    The old man explains, ¡°all manners of things¡­ the elevators, the air conditioning, the smart doors, the bathtubs¡­ Any ¡®thing¡¯ you can imagine, in both the apartment and commercial complex, have become sentient.¡±


    Fei continues asking, ¡°but¡­ how did it happen? Did it happen after the madness spread across humanity?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly when either,¡± the old man replies, ¡°I was transferred here to keep people out at the start of the year. Before that, who knows how long it¡¯s been like that already.


    What¡¯s really weird is that this cursed possession thing has only ever happened in this location and hasn¡¯t appeared anywhere else, thankfully.


    So as long as you stay out, all is well. If you do enter, all the things that have gone sentient will try to kill you. Stay out of it, and they can¡¯t reach you.


    Apparently, before news of this area blew up, a lot of people have already died. It was when the whole world just collapsed from the madness as well, so no one in power noticed anything here. When they finally figured out what¡¯s going on, they still couldn¡¯t find out the source of it, so they kept it sealed up.


    Who knows how many areas in the world have already been blocked off like this. An old rusted guy like me had nothing to do after being discharged from the military anyway, so they sent people like me around to keep watch. It¡¯s a thankless job, but it¡¯s all for the best if I get to keep bold and reckless young¡¯uns like you out!¡±


    Both Fei and Wu Jian give an awkward smile at that remark.

 Volume 6 - CH 103.4

    In any case, this elderly man seems lucid and communicable, and he has information too.


    Fei reviews what they¡¯ve said so far, and asks, ¡°mister, then do you know of any other such restricted areas nearby?¡±


    ¡°Nearby? In Cangcheng?¡± The old man seems displeased with the question, ¡°no! Nowhere else! You think it¡¯s good some place is blocked off? Just one of these restricted areas is enough for Cangcheng to deal with!¡±


    Fei nods.


    If so, then this single restricted area in the Nightmare probably means something as well¡­


    Though if they aren¡¯t allowed in, then how are they going to get the clues from there?


    So Fei¡¯s gaze lands on the old man once more.


    It seems, that rather than the guard teaching them about the restricted area, it might be equally possible that the restricted area is so that they can come across this knowledgeable and lucid old man.


    Fei starts asking about more things, ¡°mister, we just came from the library, do you know anything about that?¡±


    ¡°Obviously I¡¯d know about the library. Some of the young people like going there for research.¡±


    The old man seems conflicted when he continues, ¡°it¡¯s usually a good thing, but sometimes¡­ getting to the bottom of something isn¡¯t exactly comforting either.¡±


    Fei is surprised at the answer, asking, ¡°why?¡±


    The old man gives Fei and Wu Jian a fierce gaze, saying, ¡°I suppose you two are asking all this stuff because you¡¯re curious about what¡¯s going on in Cangcheng, aren¡¯t you? There are always people like you, wanting to figure out what¡¯s going on in this world.¡±


    Fei hesitates, but then firmly answers, ¡°yes. We want to know the truth.¡±


    ¡°How useful will that truth be?¡± The old man asks coldly, ¡°humanity is already at its wit¡¯s end. There is nothing left of us.¡±


    Fei is getting more astonished by the second.


    Does this old man know something?


    Then the old man says, ¡°what do you think people can do at this point? There is nothing. Back in the halcyon days, studying the things are good. They get turned into useful inventions. They improve lives.


    Can you say the same for the present day? Trying to think about what to do, what to do, what to do¡­ What else is there to do but recognise the futility of it all and come to terms with it.¡±


    Fei is starting to get a strange vibe from what the guard is saying. She is now looking at him with wide eyes.


    The old man continues on, ¡°a bit that-a-ways is a large garbage dump. Don¡¯t you think we¡¯re just like a bunch of large-sized garbage occupying the face of the Earth?


    When I was young, my mother would tell me, that if one day, I felt that I was no longer useful to society, then I should just end myself.


    I thought that way, until the madness spread throughout society. I¡¯m sure I¡¯ve not gone crazy, and I feel like I still have value.


    Now, being transferred here to keep an eye on the door¡­ This is my calling. When I have nothing to do I just feel weird all over.¡±


    Fei is speechless. She feels weirder having listened to it all.


    She thought the old man is sane, but he is definitely not.


    He¡¯s mad, and he doesn¡¯t know he¡¯s mad.


    In fact, from what he¡¯s saying, he might even be a part of those Impurities cult.


    What in the world was his mother even teaching him, by the way?


    Fei takes a deep breath, instead shifting her attention to what the old man talked about previously.


    He said some young people liked to study things at the library¡­ Maybe he¡¯s referring to the teenager they met in the library who looks like a student.


    Clearly, though, ¡®some young people¡¯ would mean more than one¡­


    Fei gives it a thought, and takes a guess that he is referring to the amateur astronomers.


    A library would be a great place to find information they need should they need to from its vast collection.


    Fei has connected dots in her mind, and is about to wave the guard goodbye when she recalls the Museum and its occupants. She asks offhandedly, ¡°mister, then would you happen to know about the Cangcheng Museum?¡±


    The old man widens his eyes, and doesn¡¯t respond immediately.


    His stance suggests to Fei that she just hit him with an interesting question.


    Wu Jian immediately pays attention as well.


    A bit later, the old man wipes the sweat off his forehead with slightly trembling hands.


    While the weather is unforgivingly hot, they didn¡¯t see sweat on the guard earlier.


    It seems that they might be more accurately cold sweat after the mention of the Museum.


    Fei is finding it strange that the mere mention of the admittedly weird Museum can scare the old man so much.


    He mentioned the restricted area here with some sort of disdain or dismissive attitude, but the mention of the Museum has him look so utterly taken aback instead?


    Shortly after, the old man finally speaks up, ¡°the Museum¡­ the Museum, my good old friend is there. He¡¯s become the Director of it already.


    I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s a good thing or a bad thing. He probably thinks it¡¯s a really good thing though.¡±


    Fei is astonished that this guard in a security booth here would know the old Director of the Museum.


    Well, they do look to be the same generation appearance-wise, but such an explicit relationship in Nightmares seems like it¡¯s hinting at some special connection instead.


    Could the Director possibly be the Nightmare¡¯s owner here?


    It¡¯s true the age would be off by quite a margin, but given their last Nightmare with the adult woman in the Tower corresponding to the little girl in the Nightmare, it¡¯s not implausible.


    Fei is forming many guesses, but is still continuing to listen to the old man¡¯s story for now.


    ¡°The Museum¡­ is practically an obsession of his. I was in the same company as him, and well, our many compatriots from back then didn¡¯t have much luck. Many left the world at a young age. He was not one of them¡­


    After discharging, he went to university. He became cultured. His first job after graduation is getting hired by our very own Cangcheng Museum.


    He was the guide back then. He¡¯s one of those handsome hunks when he was young. The ladies really like him, and visit him to listen to his explanations of the Museum. I told him to take the chance to find love, too.


    He didn¡¯t want to, though. He said, he wanted those people to see the¡­ whatever it was, ¡®the cultural values of these treasured collections,¡¯ he¡¯d say.


    He was always a big fan of big words like that. He didn¡¯t marry by his twenties, and when he was in his thirties and forties, he was really going to go it alone.


    And he did. Protecting all his valuable relics too. Now¡­ now he¡¯s really gone mad.


    When he did, I didn¡¯t even think he was insane, because he was almost always like that.


    He wanted people to spend some time in the Museum, but his wish never came true.


    The vase was broken?


    Fei thinks this is probably the trigger for the transfer of the relics that the doctor mentioned.


    ¡°I hurried over when I heard, since he¡¯s only got me left as a friend at our generation. He¡¯s gone insane enough that the Museum¡¯s staff had to call me over to see, to see him¡­


    Oh Gods, he really has gone crazy. So crazy I couldn¡¯t even recognise him on sight. He¡­ he killed the person who broke the vase.¡±


    Fei is in shock.


    While she hasn¡¯t heard of it, but¡­ the old Director still got to keep being Director after murdering someone?


    ¡°It was¡­ it was a messy time. This big of a news didn¡¯t get around at all. People died left and right back down.¡±


    The old man¡¯s tone is quite nonchalant compared to how astonished Fei is. He sighs, telling her, ¡°with this sickness around, the world goes around differently than it used to.¡±


    Fei is seriously concerned.


    Yes, it is different, but isn¡¯t it exactly moments like these when lives would be much more at stake?


    She finds it unfathomable.


    After the madness has spread through humanity, between the clinically, biochemically insane, others seem to have also become utterly apathetic and even cold to the idea.


    It is almost as if the mask civilised society has put on humanity has completely eroded away, revealing the beasts the lie underneath.


    All merely stemming from the madness that came from nowhere.

 Volume 6 - CH 103.5

    Fei now knows very well that the Apocalypse had two stages, but¡­ why?


    Why did the Apocalypse happen in the first place? Why did such a ridiculous thing happen to humanity?


    Fei doesn¡¯t look too calm right now, and the old man is probably assuming she¡¯s scared of hearing about the old Director murdering people.


    He can¡¯t help but go ¡®ha,¡¯ and say, ¡°you¡¯ve seen my old pal, haven¡¯t you? A looker, isn¡¯t he?¡±


    Then he nonchalantly remarks, ¡°too bad that nowadays, appearances are truly deceiving.¡±


    Fei continues looking at him.


    Then the guard says, ¡°besides killing people, he¡¯s sure done a lot as well. The Museum is more like a prison, with him the warden.¡±


    Fei furrows his brows, trying to work out what he means.


    Then he clarifies, ¡°even if some people weren¡¯t mad before, they¡¯ve been driven insane in there.¡±


    Fei¡¯s eyes widen.


    That is when she has another idea.


    Could it be, that the old Director of the Museum, is the target of the fear of the owner of the Nightmare?


    Basing it on what this old security guard says, and this insane Director has become the source of others¡¯ madness; fear often accompanies madness, and could it be, that the owner of the Nightmare is some staff in the Museum?


    The doctor?


    Ding Yi¡¯s description doesn¡¯t exactly paint him as fearful though, more paranoid.


    Fei sighs quietly. The last Nightmare they¡¯ve been struggling to identify the Nightmare owner, and now they¡¯re stuck with the same question again? Are the Nightmares out of tricks already?


    She finally waves the old man goodbye and leaves the restricted area with Wu Jian.


    Wu Jian asks, ¡°where are we going then? Continue forward?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s keep going. There¡¯s still half an hour left,¡± Fei says, ¡°although I suspect there won¡¯t be any clues even further in.¡±


    Wu Jian asks blankly, ¡°why?¡±


    ¡°Whatever Nightmare it is, it has to be based on the experiences of the Nightmare owner. It recreates and sometimes reinterprets scenes, stories and the closed loop. Therefore, there must be one clear thread of logic going through it, if only we can find it.¡±


    Wu Jian understands now, and says, ¡°besides the bits about the Apocalypse, the guard only talked about the Museum, so that¡¯s what this whole Nightmare is about?


    But then¡­ how does the library fit into this? You know the bookstore owner¡­ that Tower resident, he¡¯s right there.¡±


    Thanks to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s own performance, they have all come to the conclusion that he must hold some important secret. He must also be an important character whichever Nightmare he participates in.


    This has led Fei and Wu Jian to believe that any scene featuring X¨¹ Beijin is of paramount importance.


    That was certainly true in the Nightmare with the post-Apocalyptic ruins;


    And the 16th floor of the last Nightmare in the building almost about to collapse did also feature enough clues to allow them to resolve the Nightmare.


    So naturally, this Nightmare¡­


    Fei bites her lips, and says somewhat anxiously, ¡°perhaps our exploration of this Nightmare is still too shallow. We haven¡¯t uncovered a main plotline that can tie the whole truth together and save ourselves.¡±


    Wu Jian nods in agreement.


    They continue heading east.


    Meanwhile, after confirming that He Shuj¨¹n isn¡¯t going to run away again, X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin head back to the lobby of the library.


    They asked Lu Chengzhe to keep an eye on He Shuj¨¹n, who has also promised to make sure this mad woman doesn¡¯t leave his sight.


    When he declared that, He Shuj¨¹n was holding the newspaper in her hand and reading it with a gloomy and unfocused expression.


    A far cry from her earlier cheery countenance.


    That is why X¨¹ Beijin also genuinely wishes that the Missiontakers can achieve a True End and help the Missiontaker recover.


    With Mu Jiashi here, that probably isn¡¯t too tall an order.


    X¨¹ Beijin sits back down behind the reception.


    Lin Qin takes a seat next to him, and brings his attention back to what was interrupted before, ¡°so, what really is your Nightmare?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is surprised at the sudden question, and his thoughts are pushed aside.


    While his Nightmare is special, it is still a Nightmare of the Tower.


    In other words, as its owner, he is still under the control of the Server, who will never let him simply tell a Missiontaker what his Nightmare is.


    How he told his viewers that his Nightmare was a ¡®Nightmare about Nightmares¡¯ is already the limit of what he could imply.


    Though if he¡¯s going with negating what his Nightmare isn¡¯t¡­ He certainly has a lot of wiggle room there.


    So after a brief silence, X¨¹ Beijin tells Lin Qin, ¡°my Nightmare is not the Ultimate Nightmare.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ I¡¯m not interested in it anyway,¡± replies Lin Qin confidently, ¡°what I want to know is, why don¡¯t you want to let people into your Nightmare? Do you think it is better for them?¡±


    ¡°Because I don¡¯t have any Nightmare, that can be resolved.¡±


    Lin Qin, surprised, takes some time to think.


    X¨¹ Beijin continues explaining, ¡°I don¡¯t have a Nightmare with Normal End, or True End, or Bad End. I don¡¯t have a Nightmare that can be entered and exited safely, without succumbing.¡±


    Lin Qin continues staying quiet, until finally, he suddenly says, ¡°you¡¯re lying.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, surprised, can¡¯t help but say, ¡°I¡¯m not¡­¡±


    ¡°You are lying,¡± Lin Qin says, ¡°I can see it.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    What in the world is with this little apple! What kind of living cheat is he?!


    X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin lock gazes for a while, until finally, X¨¹ Beijin, defeated, says, ¡°I¡¯m really not¡­ Ok. I was not telling the whole truth, but I didn¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°Can you tell me the whole truth, please?¡±


    The little apple¡¯s worldview is extremely simple. He does not know love, or relationship; he always has this hopelessly sharp instinct.


    Yet when X¨¹ Beijin hears him say that, and sees Lin Qin¡¯s eyes when he asks, he can¡¯t help but think, of how gentle he is.


    It surely must be a joke to associate the word ¡®gentle¡¯ with the mad dog Lin Qin.


    Amused, but also moved, X¨¹ Beijin is feeling a whole vortex of emotions. Alongside his earlier sombre mood at mentioning his Nightmare, and his speechlessness when Lin Qin messed what he said all up, he is smiling pretty helplessly.


    Oh, the little apple¡­


    He tells him, ¡°I cannot tell you the truth. I cannot say anything. NE is watching over us.¡±


    Lin Qin blinks.


    X¨¹ Beijin then tells him firmly, ¡°if you want the real truth, you must enter my Nightmare.¡±


    And if he does, the situation would be in nigh-hopeless jeopardy. They must be emotionally ready, for it to be an all-or-nothing gamble with lives on the line.


    If not, X¨¹ Beijin cannot imagine any other situation in which he would open up his Nightmare.


    While he can continue showing the Missiontakers the way to other Nightmares that offer a glimpse of what happened on Earth, but the truth about the Tower itself is only revealed when they enter his own Nightmare.


    Additionally, even though his Nightmare is not the Ultimate Nightmare, but if they want to open the Ultimate Nightmare¡ª¡ªAt least, the one that fits the Missiontakers¡¯ definition of one¡ª¡ªIt must also be done through his own Nightmare.


    Lin Qin says, though, ¡°but you haven¡¯t opened up your Nightmare ever. Why are you so certain they would fail and succumb?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks at Lin Qin, then bitterly smiles and tells him, ¡°Lin Qin, that¡¯s not it. My Nightmare¡­ is not the kind of Nightmare¡­ you have in mind.¡±


    ¡°I have in mind?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°it is common knowledge that any Nightmare must have a corresponding main thread of logic and a backstory. It relates to what the Nightmare owner fears. The Nightmare is born from that.


    But¡­


    But, my Nightmare, is not like that; my Nightmare, is a Nightmare about Nightmares.¡±

 Volume 6 - CH 104.1

    A Nightmare about Nightmares.


    It is certainly about as vague as it gets; Lin Qin is baffled, at least.


    Lin Qin¡¯s thought processes are simple enough, so taking it at face value, he asks, ¡°so your Nightmare has other people¡¯s Nightmares?¡±


    ¡°Not exactly¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin tells him, ¡°but that¡¯s the main idea.¡±


    ¡°So to win your Nightmare, the Missiontaker must succeed against all the Nightmares inside?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin has a complicated expression at that remark. As expected of something Lin Qin might say©¤©¤Quite logical but outlandish.


    So he asks, ¡°Lin Qin, do you know how many Nightmares there are in the Tower?¡±


    Lin Qin shakes his head.


    ¡°It¡¯s countless,¡± X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°and if you really have to resolve all of the Nightmares in my Nightmare, that is equivalent to saying, you will be resolving basically the entire stock of the countless Nightmares in the Tower.¡±


    Lin Qin then looks at him and asks, ¡°does this mean that your Nightmare really does contain all the other Nightmares of the Tower? The people dream inside your Nightmare?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not a dream inside a dream,¡± X¨¹ Beijin replies, and then simply shuts him down, ¡°you can stop guessing, Lin Qin¡­ if you don¡¯t enter my Nightmare in person, you wouldn¡¯t understand it.¡±


    ¡°Then will you let me into your Nightmare?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly.¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯re hesitant. I know. Beijin, you¡¯re at your limit.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin goes silent.


    He knows what Lin Qin means; he is also amazed at how sharp Lin Qin is.


    That¡¯s right. X¨¹ Beijin may have withstood all the years past, but he does feel like he might not last any longer.


    It is the inevitable sum of mental fatigue. His increasingly pale face and ever darkening eyebags are the physical proof.


    Lin Qin has come to this conclusion by a deceptively simple observation ¨C he has noticed that X¨¹ Beijin is blanking out increasingly often recently.


    It¡¯s like, his lack of sleep for keeping his Nightmare secret, is finally suffocating him.


    This is the reason that Lin Qin is so adamant that X¨¹ Beijin sleep. His instincts are warning him, again and again, that he must do something to help the body of the person he likes.


    Though¡­ Lin Qin looks at X¨¹ Beijin. He doesn¡¯t understand why, despite his weariness of it all, why X¨¹ Beijin would not be willing to take a rest


    Really, by now, even if he did sleep, perhaps only very few Missiontakers on the bottom floor would even chance his Nightmare being open and try it.


    Besides, Lin Qin¡¯s previous proposal is definitely feasible; he can absolutely guarantee that no one will get in.


    Even with all that, X¨¹ Beijin still refused.


    X¨¹ Beijin might say it¡¯s ¡®just in case,¡¯ but Lin Qin can feel¡­ There must be some other reason. Some reason that X¨¹ Beijin cannot tell him frankly.


    Lin Qin, recalling what X¨¹ Beijin said earlier, suddenly says, ¡°I understand now.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± X¨¹ Beijin, surprised, isn¡¯t capable of following Lin Qin¡¯s quickfire thought processes.


    ¡°You¡¯ve said, that anyone going into your Nightmare, will succumb without fail.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­¡±


    ¡°Then what about yourself?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin falls silent.


    ¡°As the Nightmare¡¯s owner yourself, would you also be unable to leave the Nightmare?¡±


    Lin Qin is so sharp that he might as well have been looking at an answer sheet instead of deducing the answer through X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s actual wording and microexpressions. He says, ¡°that¡¯s why you must not sleep, not simply because you are worried for the others.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin remains silent.


    Lin Qin is still going. He has managed to deduce all of this simply because he cares about X¨¹ Beijin, the person, and nobody else. That is why he found X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s apparent ¡®altruism¡¯ unfathomable.


    He cannot imagine that the person he cares would simply forgo sleep for years, or even dozens of years, on end, simply because of a worry that others might stumble upon and then succumb to his Nightmare.


    Never mind when the timing is when the interest in his Nightmare has dwindled to negligibility and Lin Qin even offered additional, foolproof guarantee¡­


    It is inconceivable for X¨¹ Beijin to still refuse.


    That must mean that, his Nightmare, cannot solely have been dangerous to the Missiontakers. It must be equally dangerous to the owner himself.


    Lin Qin then speculates, ¡°is it NE? Does NE want to kill you? Or¡­ trap you forever?¡± Lin Qin then wonders, ¡°why, though?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin cannot answer the question, the same way that he cannot tell Lin Qin the absolute truth of his Nightmare.


    Of course, X¨¹ Beijin identifies as, and is certainly, a good person, but he is not a saint without deal-breaker.


    When Missiontakers had his bookstore besieged, he was furious and wrathful;


    When he cannot sleep for a long time, he is tired and exhausted;


    While his Nightmare was all the rage on the bottom floor of the Tower, he did not sleep chiefly for condemning other Missiontakers to an unfortunate end ¨C succumbing to it, never to leave again; but he also did not sleep before, or after that.


    In fact, the moment he was transported into the Tower, he has never gone to sleep.


    Some Missiontakers may have wondered, if there was a night when a hypothetical Tower resident¡¯s Nightmare was not visited by a single Missiontaker, does the Nightmare still happen?


    The answer is ¨C yes. The Nightmare would still play out in the Tower resident¡¯s dream.


    However, the other Tower residents definitely did not have X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s resolve or resilience. They would eventually go to sleep from mental exhaustion, and then suffer torture in their own Nightmares.


    Take Su Enya, for example. The Nightmare with the sentient electronic devices has tortured her enough that she ended up going through extreme means to escape the bottom floor.


    Therefore, it might actually be a good thing for the Actors that Missiontakers come to their Nightmares.


    As for X¨¹ Beijin, whether Missiontakers enter his Nightmare, he would not sleep.


    Because, he must never enter his own Nightmare.


    If he does enter his own Nightmare, it will ensnare him forever as well. He will never be able to leave, to keep his sanity or rational thought. He would have become a mindless husk of a madman. A monster that can no longer be reasoned with.


    It would be what some certain parties would have wanted.


    X¨¹ Beijin would refuse to allow that to happen.


    That said, just as Lin Qin said so eloquently, ¡®he¡¯s at his limits.¡¯


    The streaming system¡¯s arrival serves as a beacon of hope, but, frankly, he still doesn¡¯t see the light at the end of the tunnel.


    Instead, the more crucial factor, lies in the rather subtle changes to how NE is doing things. It is giving him possible ideas.


    That is why he is hesitant. He is hesitant, because he is now considering if changes are necessary on his end, too.


    There will only be one chance, however.


    His Nightmare, can only be opened and entered once. If they fail, then all would be over.


    X¨¹ Beijin smiles, though it looks forced as always, as he finally tells Lin Qin, ¡°let me think about it some more first, Lin Qin. I have to think about it. We will need more people, more support. It cannot just be the two of us in my Nightmare¡­¡±


    Lin Qin nods with a serious face on the surface, while in his mind, he is already chuckling cheerily. Look, his Beijin just referred to the two of them as ¡®we¡¯ and ¡®us.¡¯


    The two of them are together. Even X¨¹ Beijin has basically assumed that Lin Qin would be in his Nightmare.


    Lin Qin, looking at X¨¹ Beijin, tentatively raises his hand over, and rubs his finger on the corner of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s lips to help him get rid of the bitter angle. Then, he gently pulls X¨¹ Beijin into a hug.


    X¨¹ Beijin let him do it without protest, which gives Lin Qin quite a joyous feeling.


    Riding on his success, Lin Qin proposes the outrageous, ¡°so is this a good time for me to kiss you?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s face goes expressionless immediately, and he says, ¡°no, this is not¡­¡±


    Lin Qin ¡°¡­¡±


    He can only give a muffled ¡®oh, I see¡¯ to it.

 Volume 6 - CH 104.2

    The Missiontakers have no idea that, when they are busting their asses looking for clues, two men are flirting with each other©¤©¤Or something akin to that, at least.


    They do not know, so their morale is maintained.


    Mu Jiashi and Ding Yi are now inside the Museum, entering through the side door.


    Ding Yi has already told Mu Jiashi why she returned, and Mu Jiashi is surprised, too.


    He doesn¡¯t understand the motivation at all, perhaps because their personalities are completely different.


    Not that Ding Yi was aiming for Mu Jiashi¡¯s understanding. She is simply doing what she believes is right.


    Not having another word the whole way, they have arrived at the Museum.


    Ding Yi knows that the old Director would be waiting for them at the entrance; they escaped his ¡®guiding tour¡¯ by luck, having informed him of the Department of Transportation¡¯s latest plan to foil him. This time, though, they aren¡¯t taking any risks.


    Since they still need to get back to the library at the end; so far, only the library is known to be safe.


    And Mu Jiashi and Ding Yi are talking about that as well.


    Ding Yi says, ¡°I suspect the Museum is a safehouse as well.¡±


    Mu Jiashi does not comment on it.


    Ding Yi doesn¡¯t mind either, as she knows Mu Jiashi has been to this Nightmare already. Rather than a discussion, it¡¯s more her one-sidedly giving her own thoughts.


    On one higher floor, she also heard a little bit about this Nightmare herself. From what she could gather, the Missiontakers, and especially Golddiggers, are actively wary of this Nightmare.


    Information she dug up has largely related to the pre-entry and post-exit reasons and consequences of the Nightmare, rather than the Nightmare itself.


    She was informed that Mu Jiashi took the job as a Golddigger once more that time, because a Missiontaker offered a sought-after Defence card and asked for Golddiggers to take him to a higher floor, right when the organisation is studying this Nightmare in particular, so they formed a contract to take that Missiontaker through this Nightmare.


    It was only during more detailed exploration afterwards that the Golddiggers realised the Nightmare far exceeded the difficulty they were expecting.


    To protect their own reputation, though, and also, because the Golddiggers really wanted their hands on that ¡®A Father¡¯s Salvation¡¯ Defence card, they reached out to Mu Jiashi.


    And they persuaded Mu Jiashi through none other than an exchange of benefits.


    Ding Yi herself personally suspects, though, that Mu Jiashi¡¯s pride and confidence as his quite famously capable self back then, played a role in provoking his fighting instincts, that he decided to enter the Nightmare.


    Finally, the truth contained in the Nightmare has defeated him. He returned to the bottom floor with nothing in tow, not even the treasure trove of utility cards he has acquired over the years, all of which he simply relinquished to the Golddiggers.


    Just like Mu Jiashi himself put it, it was an utter, devastating defeat.


    And it was the Nightmare which defeated him, but himself.


    What truly broke him, was when he realised, that he could successfully build up a reputation, prestige, an empire in the Tower. He can even be its #1. He can be undefeated in Nightmares. He can have all the admiration and adoration and obsequious sycophants praising him in the world.


    For what, though?


    He is the strongest of the prisoners in a prison;


    He is the most powerful of the animals put on display in a zoo;


    He is the most respected, renowned¡­ character on stage.


    He realised it was all for nought. To build a success on the Tower? The Tower? The Nightmares?


    He¡¯s proud of having built success on top of this fucking dumpster fire?!


    It was the Apocalypse!


    He is standing on the edge of oblivion, and he is gloating about it.


    He finally sees himself as no more than fate¡¯s little clown, and he cannot come to terms with it. His defeat comes from within, from him having lost himself in his fame and glory.


    He entered Nightmares, because he wanted out of the Tower.


    He left the Golddiggers, because he wanted out of the Tower.


    Yet, he finally abandoned progress on being out of the Tower, simply to enter a Nightmare, for the sake of some customer.


    Mu Jiashi saw how minor, insignificant, hypocritical, despicable, sold out he has become. And that is the moment he was defeated.


    He is slowly recovering, for sure, but he is still not interested in telling anyone the details.


    It is a moment when he has lost face, when he topped himself from his own high and mighty pedestal. He is no longer the Golddigger with the 100% track record of the bottom floor, nor will he ever be again.


    Was it a good thing? Was it a bad thing?


    Mu Jiashi does not have an answer.


    He walks inside the Museum after Ding Yi, casually taking in his surroundings. He notes that his memories of this Nightmare is actually far more vivid than he was expecting.


    For example, right now, he can close his eyes entirely, and still point out which person they truly needed in this scene.


    Out the side door. The box truck. The man, standing there, with a wrathful aura about him.


    He tilts his head to check on Ding Yi, and sees that the female Missiontaker with the grue-coloured hair, is also looking at that man.


    He asks, ¡°did you not talk to him the last run?¡±


    Ding Yi answers, ¡°we couldn¡¯t in time. The old Director caught us.¡±


    Mu Jiashi understands now.


    In this Museum, that old Director is like some phantom apparition. Whenever visitors come into the Museum, the Director may appear without warning by their side and then take them to some specific gallery.


    After which comes the inevitable, endless deluge of information, recitation and examination.


    Mu Jiashi is amusing himself thinking that the old Director sure found the wrong calling here in the Museum. He should have been a teacher¡­


    Of course, those stay thoughts, because he knows the ends to which the Director would employ. What is hidden underneath the gentle and wise appearance is a cruel, and tragic madman. He is already the twisted impersonation of this Museum coming to life.


    Mu Jiashi continues his thoughts as they approach the irritated man.


    He seems to be quite young still, perhaps 25 or 26 years of age. The short sleeves of his T-shirt is inadequate for holding back his powerful upper arm muscles. He¡¯s certainly able-bodied, though while his colleagues are busy moving the relics about, he himself is blanking out.


    Under the blazing sun, he has deeply furrowed brows. He seems deeply troubled over something.


    After approaching him, Ding Yi notices that the middle finger of the man¡¯s left hand, put akimbo to his waist, has a ring.


    He must be engaged.


    The man is rubbing that ring with his right hand every so often; from a distance, it would merely seem like he¡¯s fidgety because he¡¯s nervous, when he is actually touching the engagement ring.


    Ding Yi is certainly wondering what the man may be anxious about. Is whatever troubling him in this Nightmare?


    The previous discussion before the Missiontakers split up has isolated the Nightmare owner to any young man. This one here fits quite well.


    Most importantly, Mu Jiashi¡¯s reactions seem to suggest that this man is vital in some sense.

 Volume 6 - CH 104.3

    Curious about the man, Ding Yi is standing in front of him and tries to ask, ¡°hello?¡±


    The man snaps back to reality, without seeing who it is, simply furrows his brows and yells, ¡°who? Leave me alone!¡±


    Ding Yi can¡¯t help but think that this man sure is hard to talk to.


    When the man sees that it is a young lady in front of him, his attitude doesn¡¯t improve any. He is still impatiently going, ¡°I¡¯m busy. Go bother someone else.¡±


    Busy?


    Ding Yi eyes the man¡¯s empty hands suspiciously.


    The man reflexively flushes with red.


    Ding Yi realises that the man¡¯s temper and mood seem to be severely affected by something. She wonders what it could be.


    Of course, the possibility still remains that the man is simply a wrathful man who lazes about on his job.


    Ding Yi says, ¡°we just arrived at Cangcheng, and so we came to the Museum. We wanted to know¡­¡±


    ¡°The Museum?¡± The man smirks, saying, ¡°what are you even doing here when there¡¯s nothing to see? The stuff they have are all being moved, the heck you walking about for?¡±


    ¡°Are you in charge of that?¡±


    The man sounds less willing to answer now, ¡°so what, what¡¯s it to you? Why should I tell you?¡±


    The man¡¯s temper is quite a lot for Ding Yi to take in. Thanks to her utility card, the man still answers Ding Yi¡¯s questions and trusts what she says implicitly, but it¡¯s hard to deal with the attitude.


    She isn¡¯t sure what to do, but Mu Jiashi helps her out.


    He dryly says, ¡°we came to the Museum because we met a woman, she told us her fianc¨¦ is at the Museum.¡±


    The man¡¯s expression goes blank.


    Ding Yi immediately presses on, ¡°did you argue with your fianc¨¦e?¡±


    Seeing the man¡¯s reactions and how he kept rubbing his engagement ring, Ding Yi has concluded that his anxiety probably relates to his fianc¨¦e.


    The man looks quite irritated now. He doesn¡¯t deny what Ding Yi said, possibly somewhat thanks to the utility card.


    Regardless, he just tersely tries to end the conversation, ¡°it has nothing to do with you.¡±


    ¡°Why did you argue, though?¡± Ding Yi then borrows what Mu Jiashi said and tell him, ¡°we saw your fianc¨¦e. She asked if we could talk to you.¡±


    The man, instinctively trusting what Ding Yi says, smoothens up a lot.


    Mu Jiashi watches the changes intently, and is once again impressed with the effectiveness of that utility card.


    If she could make this terribly irritable and unfriendly man warm up to her in but a few words, he can scarcely imagine any Missiontaker or Tower resident being able to resist it.


    No wonder Ding Yi was able to garner a great wealth in such a short period of time.


    Meanwhile, the man that stands in front of them suddenly smiles rather coldly after a brief silence, perhaps finding what his fianc¨¦e did amusing, and tells them, ¡°she wants you to talk to me? Tell her why not just think about it carefully herself.¡±


    Ding Yi is slightly baffled.


    The man continues, ¡°visitors from the sky? Flying UFOs¡­ She¡¯s not 8 anymore. Is she for real? She thinks we might all die today¡­ Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s insane?


    I¡¯m already so bloody busy working every day, and when I get home she¡¯d keep droning in my ears about some Apocalypse and how we¡¯re all going to die¡­ I don¡¯t know if she¡¯s tired saying it yet, but I bloody well am. Rather than talk to me, I¡¯d rather you talked some sense back into her instead.¡±


    Ding Yi finally understands why the man looks so irritable and distracted.


    His fianc¨¦e is in deep with the conspiracies of the newspapers that claim that whatever is in the sky will result in the doom of humanity. She¡¯s fallen to despair.


    This is affecting the emotional state of her fianc¨¦. He¡¯s become increasingly irritable.


    Although judging from his current reaction, he seems lucid and sane enough.


    Though his fianc¨¦e is sure making him increasingly troubled. He doesn¡¯t believe in those visitors nonsense, nor does he want to know what¡¯s going to fall on top of their heads.


    He tells them, ¡°our wedding is next month already. Can you tell her to focus on that instead of all those baseless rumours? She¡¯s not the smartest tool in the shed, so just stop acting like she is.¡±


    The word choices are still quite unpleasant, but the tone has become audibly gentler when he mentions the upcoming wedding.


    He probably wants the two of them to convey this attitude to this fianc¨¦e.


    Though Ding Yi remains unsure here.


    Should she tell him that his fianc¨¦e is right, and something really is coming down to this planet?


    Humanity will, as expected, face an unprecedented crisis in this terrible catastrophe?


    And their wedding¡­ will never happen.


    The man will probably lash out at them if she said any of that.


    So Ding Yi remains silent.


    The man misunderstands the silence, though, and gives them a cold glare, saying, ¡°looks like you still believe in her.¡±


    He sarcastically mocks them, ¡°visitors from the sky? Armageddon? Those ¡®experts¡¯ sure have you completely fooled!¡±


    ¡°Experts?¡±


    Ding Yi suddenly notices that they actually didn¡¯t know that much about the unidentified object hurtling to Earth. If there are already experts talking about it, is it like some¡­ topic of research at this point?


    The man tells them, ¡°yeah, the kind that popped up ever since humanity¡¯s gone crazy, with all their theories and conspiracies, bollocks like that.


    I don¡¯t get what makes any of them different, so I just call them all ¡®experts.¡¯ At least they style themselves like that.


    A few days ago, when news broke out that something was observed in the skies, those ¡®experts¡¯ all dramatically overreacted.


    Let¡¯s see¡­ God¡¯s Punishment? Coming of Christ? The appearance of whoever drove us all mad in the first place? Humans going to die in complete ignorance?


    I don¡¯t buy any of that. Bunch of smart-asses.¡±


    The man ends his tirade with a snide remark.


    Ding Yi, though, is saying inside, that it is what humans end up as in the future¡­ The end of humanity, in absolute ignorance.


    They don¡¯t even know what killed them in the end.


    Even the Missiontakers, during the Raining Hellfire from earlier, had no idea what fell towards them either. They just know it caused gigantic shockwaves and made the city a living inferno.


    They know nothing about the source of the disaster itself still.


    Ding Yi can¡¯t help but feel discouraged.


    A discouragement not stemming from the Nightmare in particular, because she knows the Missiontaker by her side already knows the truth and how to resolve this Nightmare, but more, a feeling that wonders, if they could ever truly rescue humanity from this predicament.


    That is what really troubles Ding Yi.

 Volume 6 - CH 104.4

    Right now, as a good Missiontaker, Ding Yi is still asking for more information on the matter, ¡°then would you happen to know where those ¡®experts¡¯ opinions and results are?¡±


    ¡°The results?¡± The big, irritable hunk of a man dismissively snorts, and answers, ¡°at the library, I guess. They put their ¡®results¡¯ on those specialist periodicals or whatever they call them. They¡¯re no better than gossipy tabloids now, I¡¯d say.¡±


    Ding Yi falls into thought. It seems that, back at the reading room on the third floor of the library, they haven¡¯t found all the clues yet.


    Though would they be information critical to the Nightmare? Or simply coverage of the Apocalypse?


    Ding Yi then asks the man, ¡°so are you free? We can go see your fianc¨¦e together if you are.¡±


    ¡°Free?¡± The man replies, ¡°I¡¯m not. I¡¯m at work, you know. I have to drive these stuff elsewhere soon.


    If she¡¯s still at the Space Agency, I¡¯ll go talk to her myself. I don¡¯t need you to play telephone for me.¡±


    The Space Agency?


    That¡¯s where his fianc¨¦e is?


    Fei has already said that the Space Agency had nobody else but astronomy enthusiasts around, though¡­


    Could it be that his fianc¨¦e is one of them? Maybe one of those who observed the falling object herself, that¡¯s why she is certain the Apocalypse is coming?


    Maybe it¡¯s the woman named Xie Ji?


    Though why would this man not believe in his fianc¨¦e, though? Assuming the fianc¨¦e saw it herself, but her fianc¨¦ does not believe in her. Would it have been devastating for her?


    If the man really did take a detour to his fianc¨¦e while transferring the relics, while the Raining Hellfire happened¡­ Would it be enough despair for him to qualify as a Nightmare owner?


    It sure would be enough fear and suffering. Ding Yi thinks this man is a likely candidate for the Nightmare owner.


    That said¡­ it¡¯s not just him who might be.


    Ding Yi shakes her head. If only she had an Infocard and can check the man¡¯s status directly. It would show if they are the owner of the Nightmare.


    The points against her guess would be how this man doesn¡¯t seem at all fearful of the coming Apocalypse, even though he¡¯s yelling like a doomsday cultist back in the Tower.


    The stark contrast in behaviour is a bit too obvious. Can the fear of the Raining Hellfire really have had such a dramatic and instantaneous effect on him?


    Now Ding Yi is slightly more doubtful that he might be the Nightmare owner.


    Her thoughts are tangling up, but it doesn¡¯t show on the surface. The conversation with the man has ended thus, as the man is now moving to join his colleagues in helping categorise the relics and pack them for transport.


    Ding Yi then looks at Mu Jiashi, saying, ¡°do we still need to enter the Museum?¡±


    Mu Jiashi says, ¡°depends on you.¡±


    Ding Yi hesitates, then finally comes to a decision, telling him, ¡°let¡¯s go somewhere else.¡±


    ¡°Not going to try conversing with the old Director of the Museum?¡±


    ¡°I meant, somewhere else in this Museum.¡±


    Mu Jiashi is surprised.


    Ding Yi seems slightly pleased he managed to trick Mu Jiashi a little.


    She then shakes the thought out of her head to explain, ¡°we©¤©¤I, still don¡¯t understand the secret held in the Museum yet. If the Director really has gone insane, I suspect there would be far more tragedies hidden within this Museum.¡±


    Mu Jiashi listens, then nods, and says, ¡°let¡¯s go then¡­¡±


    They enter the Museum once again through the side entrance.


    Meanwhile, Buzzcut and Ye Lan have had new discoveries.


    X¨¹ Beijin has his stream focused on them, too; the viewers are currently in a discussion.


    ¡°this person looks like the nightmare owner!¡±


    ¡°why? just cuz he looks fearful?¡±


    ¡°good, the first step of becoming a great detective is questioning every single thing other people say!¡±


    The young man seen on camera appears to be in his 20s, perhaps just a few years older than Lu Chengzhe, but he is clearly much more distressed than the latter.


    The moment he saw Buzzcut and Ye Lan, he tried to run away. Buzzcut managed to catch him by the arm, though. He¡¯s now standing there, shaking.


    Buzzcut and Ye Lan found him just outside of a kindergarten.


    It¡¯s one of those kindergartens exclusively serving the apartment complex surrounding it. It¡¯s right in the centre of the community.


    Right now, they can hear the cheerful sounds of the children laughing and playing inside. The teacher seems to be playing some sort of game with them.


    This is quite the unexpectedly wholesome and also terrifying scene, given the context.


    Buzzcut and Ye Lan are numb already, though.


    They saw largely similar scenes walking into this residential area.


    The residents seem to be living their everyday lives undisturbed, but deep down, it¡¯s obvious the madness has already turned their lives upside down.


    Buzzcut went from disgust, to speechlessness, to simply being numb to it all.


    Maybe he¡¯s being assimilated into the environment, he thinks. He suspects he is coming to an understanding of how and why these people are living like that in an environment of madness. All their crazy actions¡­ he can sympathise.


    The moment that thought crossed his mind, he¡¯s in shock. He quickly gathers other thoughts to chase it away.


    He knows that such hypnotised thoughts that are almost like memetic hazards would disappear as soon as he leaves the Nightmare behind.


    Though what if they fail to leave the Nightmare? Buzzcut thinks they should be more careful.


    He glances at Ye Lan, unsure whether this cold and expressionless Missiontaker is experiencing something similar as him, being corroded by madness, inch by inch.


    He wants to ask, or advise her to be careful, but he feels like he need not do so.


    His companion is far more rational, calm, and unfeeling than him.


    Along the way, they¡¯ve come across people who can still communicate effectively; they¡¯re crazy, that¡¯s for sure, but they all had a common piece of information to give, the same information the restaurant owner told them ¨C that a couple argued overnight.


    The owner was right, everyone around the community heard the arguing couple last night.


    The information largely adds up as well ¨C it was a young couple, the woman believed in the rumour, the man did not; they argued, and the argument was heated.


    Other than that, though, no one knew who the couple was, or their address, or even who they are. They just know there was a couple arguing.


    The vagueness of the identity of the arguers has Buzzcut and Ye Lan stumped. They might have to¡­ find the couple by exhaustively asking everyone.

 Volume 6 - CH 104.5

    Ye Lan and Buzzcut saw the fidgeting, anxious young man standing outside the kindergarten right when they were walking, thinking about the arguing couple.


    Buzzcut almost immediately connects him to the couple in question, and immediately rushes forward to accost him.


    Buzzcut can see that this residential area is full of insane people, all living their lives like normal on the surface, but deeply twisted down below; this young man, though, is markedly different. He feels normal, and especially¡­ wary and fearful.


    It¡¯s more like how a normal person would react to all this, rather than a madman.


    So Buzzcut rushed over.


    Though the young man is clearly afraid of them, asking with a trembling tone, ¡°who¡­ who are you?!¡±


    Ye Lan is furrowing her brows looking at Buzzcut, possibly disapproving of his crass actions; she¡¯s not going to say anything while they¡¯re getting results, though.


    She tells the man, ¡°we should be asking why you¡¯re acting suspicious outside a kindergarten instead.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m waiting for my girlfriend!¡± Yells the flushed young man, ¡°she works here! I¡­ I¡¯m worried about her.¡±


    ¡°Worried?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ The thing that¡¯s going to fall out of the sky¡­¡± The young man¡¯s tone is much less assertive now, ¡°you, you¡¯ve heard it right? I¡¯m worried something is going to happen, so I¡¯m here to pick her up. She¡¯s a kindergarten teacher here.¡±


    Buzzcut and Ye Lan give each other a glance. It must be him!


    They are very possibly the arguing couple everyone heard about!


    However, the young man continues in a way that sends doubts to the both of them.


    The young man says, ¡°I think it¡¯s really something we should be wary of. Assume the worst, they say, and so we should prepare ourselves a little¡­ but she doesn¡¯t think that way. We argued because of that.¡±


    Here, while still scared, the young man also looks somewhat pitiful.


    He tells them, ¡°she thinks I should believe in actual science instead of conspiracists. My girlfriend, she¡¯s an¡­ especially just and uncompromising person. She doesn¡¯t believe anything published in the magazines and tabloids.


    I know¡­ I know they must all be full of hot air too, but just, what if¡­ what if? What if they¡¯re right?


    If they are, we need to save ourselves already! Our lives are at stake, really, why would she not believe me this once¡­¡±


    The young man lowers his head, slumping.


    Buzzcut and Ye Lan are still looking at each other.


    The couple definitely fits the description and events. Young, having an argument overnight, but somehow, their roles are flipped.


    In this couple, the boyfriend believes in the conspiracy instead, while the girlfriend doesn¡¯t.


    Everything fits, except for one single piece.


    Buzzcut and Ye Lan are confused.


    Buzzcut has let the young man off, but he doesn¡¯t look to be running away anymore. He just stands there, all sappy.


    That is when a specific piece of music starts playing from the kindergarten. The young man raises his head immediately, and looks inside the kindergarten.


    A bunch of children rushes out the building, and starts playing games at the grounds outside.


    ¡°Their¡­ class is over?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s their playtime,¡± the young man says, visibly excited, ¡°my girlfriend is going to be off work now. Her shift is done.¡±


    Soon enough, as expected, a young lady in a long dress comes outside from the kindergarten.


    She seems happy to see the young man waiting outside the kindergarten.


    Although that smile gives way to disappointment as soon as the man opens his mouth to say ¡°Lianlian, the Apocalypse could be coming!¡± She asks, speechless, ¡°why are you still going on about that?¡±


    The young man tries to explain stuff but he¡¯s stuttering. The woman shakes her head, and instead turns to face the two others present, slightly curious. She asks, ¡°hello. Are you here to pick your kids up? You¡¯re early.¡±


    The woman, Zhang Minglian, is certainly a gentle and understanding person, as befits a kindergarten teacher.


    She doesn¡¯t look at all like she would argue loudly even when she and her boyfriend have a great disagreement.


    She looks very much unaggressive.


    Therefore, Buzzcut is even more confused©¤©¤Can such a gentle-looking couple really have argued so loudly that the entire community could hear?


    That doesn¡¯t sound right.


    Though what they¡¯re doing, and how they look, seem to suggest they would play key roles in the Nightmare regardless.


    Ye Lan, meanwhile, reminds Buzzcut, ¡°we should be going back to the library now.¡±


    ¡°The library?¡± The young man reflexively wonders aloud, but then immediately cuts himself off, and he looks quite gloomy all of a sudden.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think about it anymore, Xiaoli. Auntie only wanted the best for you.¡±


    Zhang Minglian says, trying to cheer her boyfriend up.


    The man, X¨¹ Xiaoli, looks like he¡¯s going to say something, but no words come out.


    Buzzcut asks, ¡°did something happen at the library?¡±


    X¨¹ Xiaoli remained silent for a bit before explaining, ¡°I used to work there, but after the, madness¡­ the madness came out of nowhere and infected people, my mom didn¡¯t let me go to the library anymore.¡±


    ¡°Why is that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡­¡± X¨¹ Xiaoli seems lost when he says, ¡°she just kept saying that it¡¯s a dead-end of a job. I won¡¯t have a future with that job, and so she didn¡¯t let me go anymore. Whenever I looked like I was going to go to the library, she¡¯d lock me up at home.


    Even if I¡¯m not working, and doing other things, my mom still stalks me. Lianlian and I have seen her following behind us a few times already.


    His smile is really hard on the eyes.


    Buzzcut and Ye Lan listens calmly, without a word. There is nothing to add here.


    Though if X¨¹ Xiaoli is related to the library as well, the possibility that he is the Nightmare owner would not be insubstantial.


    It is important to remember that Nightmares are ultimately based on someone¡¯s personal experience.


    This Nightmare mainly surrounds Cangcheng, with the library at the centre; X¨¹ Xiaoli is a local, and clearly related to the library itself. If they add in his fear of the Apocalypse and the anxiety brought on when his girlfriend would not believe in him no matter what, it certainly makes it plausible that he could have Nightmares about it.


    The only question is that, this couple, has a gender mismatch with the information making the rounds in the residential area¡­


    Regardless, they should think about if they should take Zhang Minglian and X¨¹ Xiaoli with them back to the library.


    It¡¯s also possible the other Missiontakers could have found critical clues.


    So Buzzcut tells them, ¡°we found some clues related to the possible meteorite, would you like to check it out with us?¡±


    X¨¹ Xiaoli and Zhang Minglian give each other a look. They seem unsure, but they nod in the end.

 Volume 6 - CH 105.1

    Restart (II)


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    When Buzzcut and Ye Lan is back at the library, Fei, Wu Jian and Mr Suicide are already there.


    They headed east, and after heading past the restricted area with the elderly security guard, they found nothing further afoot and headed back immediately for the library.


    Here, they see the two Missiontaker bring with them strangers.


    Fei gives the male and female couple a curious glance.


    Buzzcut tells the other Missiontakers what they went through, focusing on the fact that there was a ¡®couple¡¯s spat.¡¯


    Fei, falling into thought, says, ¡°so they fit everything in the description, other than the gender?¡±


    An idea forms and fades away in her mind immediately; she fails to catch it.


    She observes the pair, who are looking at the people in the library, somewhat confused.


    Meanwhile, Wu Jian has told them about what happened to them.


    Buzzcut looks surprised, and he says, ¡°so the Museum is also important?¡±


    They¡¯ve already explored the four cardinal directions by this point.


    With the library at the centre, in the east is the strange, blocked off area with an elderly security guard; the west is residential with a couple; the north is the Space Agency with amateur astronomers; the south is the Museum with its Director.


    Well, and possibly others. They¡¯ll be able to confirm when Ding Yi and Mu Jiashi are back.


    Regardless, this couple seems to be important enough, giving them food for thought, and also more questions.


    Buzzcut then voices his concern, ¡°it seems these two are clearly not related to the Museum or the Space Agency, though¡­¡±


    Fei nods, looking at them.


    They relate merely to the west and the library in the centre; they do not seem at all related to the other sceneries and structures.


    If X¨¹ Xiaoli really is the Nightmare¡¯s owner, he must certainly have something to do with all of these scenes.


    They can see no clues indicating such, though!


    Nothing is adding up, and it¡¯s vexing Fei.


    At the same time, viewers of the stream are also pooling their intelligence together to analyse what is going on in this Nightmare.


    Unfortunately, without knowledge of what happened at the Museum just now, their thoughts are also going nowhere.


    ¡°basically, the boy of the couple is a good candidate who satisfies some of the conditions, but not all¡±


    ¡°which nullifies him, really¡±


    ¡°if only their genders were switched¡±


    ¡°The gender is one thing. Another thing is that, the couple is of the residential area, and are at best tangentially related to the library. They have too much of a disconnect with the other scenes!¡±


    ¡°what the detective dalao said is right!¡±


    ¡°In fact, at this point, one thing is clear in this Nightmare ¨C the owner fears the Raining Hellfire itself.


    The players appear about an hour before it happens, because the owner has lingering feelings for the world before the Apocalypse, which destroyed the world entirely, giving the owner great emotional trauma. That is why he keeps reliving the beginning, middle and end of the event, lost in the repeating loop of the Nightmare.


    According to what they say about the Tower resident in the Tower, the owner must have been a survivor of this disaster, and has been absolutely devastated emotionally by the Apocalypse. That¡¯s why he keeps saying, the Apocalypse is coming, and everyone will die.


    Of note is the mental state of the person, though. In a way, he is almost on the ¡®side¡¯ of the Apocalypse, terrifying other humans, his natural companions. Why is there this kind of almost vicious attitude to dooming his fellow man?


    What if, for example, he¡¯s lost the one he loved in this disaster?¡±


    ¡°oh man I got it! the detective dalao, as expected!¡±


    ¡°so a petty revenge kinda attitude right? ¡®i went thru hell and you should too; see the one you love die just like me,¡¯ something like that right?¡±


    ¡°woah, what a totally twisted mindset¡±


    The discussion of the viewers are veering off course, while the Missiontakers remain at an impasse.


    The problem here is that, in the Nightmare, after ensuring their own safety, they must also look for the Nightmare¡¯s owner as soon as possible to resolve the Nightmare.


    Just imagining this Nightmare starting to crumble¡­ with that Raining Hellfire there, if there is some Ultimate Super Hellfire Reborn waiting for them, that¡¯d be a truly nightmarish scenario indeed.


    The Missiontakers are looking at each other, and finally, Zhang Minglian is speaking up to ask, ¡°uh¡­ excuse me, you said earlier you had clues on the Apocalypse. Where would it be?¡±


    Buzzcut replies, ¡°it¡¯s in the library. This way.¡±


    They enter the library.


    The clock is fast approaching four. It seems the Raining Hellfire would be unavoidable during this run too.


    Fei looks outside the library, slightly worried.


    The seven Missiontakers are back already, but Ding Yi and Mu Jiashi remains nowhere to be seen¡­ Did something happen to make them miss the bus back? Could they have simply forgot to check on the time?


    If they¡¯re at the Museum, and it really is a safe shelter in this Nightmare, then the situation isn¡¯t unsalvageable yet.


    Though if they¡¯ve already left the Museum, and cannot make it back to the library in time¡­ that would be extremely troublesome.


    Fei is worrying they might become He Shuj¨¹n ¨C they are not even sure here, after leaving the Nightmare, if He Shuj¨¹n can go back to normal.


    If she can¡¯t, then this Nightmare, really would be the proverbial abyss.


    Entering this Nightmare would be a death sentence for the unprepared¡­


    Though if Mu Jiashi has been here before, with a True End, no less, then it is unlikely he¡¯d let himself be exposed to danger. He must know the importance of shelter better than anyone else.


    Fei shakes her head at her thoughts, and enters the library after everyone.


    Maybe it¡¯s simply something happening that has Ding Yi and Mu Jiashi preoccupied, and they¡¯re not really in danger.

 Volume 6 - CH 105.2

    Fei¡¯s guess has proven correct. Ding Yi and Mu Jiashi are in no danger, though, it isn¡¯t exactly safe either.


    Because they are currently in the presence of the old Director of the Museum.


    When they left the irritable man behind and entered the building through the side door, the Director is already standing there like a ghost. The unpredictability of his appearance sure gave them creepy vibes.


    But as Ding Yi did not have the full picture of what the Director has done, she¡¯s not too worried.


    When the Director greets them, she is able to return a smile.


    They head for the Gallery Hall closest to where they are, and Ding Yi can see why the irritable man told them that nobody in their right mind would come tour the Museum anymore. In fact, most of the relics here have been moved.


    Even so, the Director, with a perpetual smile, facing an empty wall, is still able to fluently and eloquently detail exposition, as if the object of his description is still hanging there, the image vivid in the listener¡¯s mind.


    Ding Yi almost finds her breath taken away.


    There is no better demonstration of how desperate this civilisation has already devolved into, before the Raining Hellfire even struck.


    Though¡­ that is when, she realises something else.


    If the madness is also something they, the Missiontakers, have once experienced, then are they, in fact, insane right now? Or are they still sane?


    It¡¯s the first time Ding Yi has ever questioned her own psyche like that, and her introspection can yield no possible results anyway.


    She cannot ascertain her own mental condition ¨C she thinks she¡¯s fine, but then, no insane person would go around telling people they¡¯re insane.


    Speaking of which, the Tower residents, they do seem to act the part of the humanity who has gone insane, inside the Tower¡­


    Some dots are rapidly linking up in her mind. Her face goes pale all of a sudden.


    Mu Jiashi has tuned the Director¡¯s speech out, and is idling when he immediately spots Ding Yi¡¯s change in expression. He asks, ¡°what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Ding Yi remains silent for a bit, before muttering, ¡°the Tower residents.¡±


    Mu Jiashi is confused.


    The two are chatting quietly, and so the Director¡¯s passionate, fiery speech, will have to fall on deaf ears.


    Ding Yi says, ¡°after I returned to the bottom floor of the Tower, I learnt about the many new developments. Including the deeper question, and the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare,¡¯ and how the Apocalypse may have happened to Earth.


    Now, I¡¯m wondering, if the Tower residents¡­ Could they, have been survivors as well? Just like us? Are they the victims who fell to the madness?¡±


    Her tone is pretty eerie by this point.


    Insanity in the mentality and catastrophe in the physicality. Two states. Two factions. Two factions in the Tower. Could it be possible they have once been members of the same planet?


    Mu Jiashi is not at all surprised to see Ding Yi now questioning the existence of the Tower residents. He simply replies, ¡°perhaps¡­¡±


    From his own judgment of what Fei and Wu Jian discovered, it¡¯s definitely not just ¡®perhaps,¡¯ but a ¡®definitely.¡¯ Mu Jiashi doesn¡¯t want to affirm that, however.


    If they have to question the Tower residents, more unfortunate questions arise like, why have the Tower residents never implied or even explicitly indicated their identity to them?


    Sure, the Missiontakers are dense as all hell, but the Tower residents gave up too easily themselves, didn¡¯t they?


    Unless, like what Fei and Wu Jian have heard in the crumbling building with the malfunctioning elevators©¤©¤


    After Acting as a character for a very long time, it is difficult to cling onto one¡¯s own sense of self.


    That is definitely a disaster in the making.


    If they truly, ¡®succumb¡¯ to their roles, it means their own will is now meaningless in this game named ¡®Escape.¡¯ This would be the nail in the coffin, that firmly settles the matter of whether NE is their enemy ¨C it must be.


    That¡¯s why Mu Jiashi did not answer concretely; he wants to avoid attention from NE.


    Ding Yi, though, must also know that, since he did not explicitly deny her hypothesis, it must mean¡­


    Ding Yi, standing in silence, is gripping her fist so tightly her fingernails are biting into her flesh.


    They continue following the old Director of the Museum along.


    Certainly, the Museum does not host anything spectacular or awe-inspiring anymore. It is all the more desolate wandering through the empty Halls and galleries.


    When they leave the Gallery Hall behind, and are heading to the next one, the Director suddenly stops, and morosely says, ¡°my guests, I do apologise, but I¡¯m afraid there is nothing worth visiting here for anymore.¡±


    Both Mu Jiashi and Ding Yi are surprised. Is the Director¡­ ¡®waking up¡¯ at this final moment?


    ¡°We. The humans. When we lose our memories, when we lose our past and our histories, when we care not, fear not the past, the civilisation is doomed to fail.¡±


    Ding Yi and Mu Jiashi both listen quietly.


    The Director continues, ¡°if we cannot pick up our scattered pieces, nothing we do in our struggle will matter.¡±


    The two Missiontakers give each other a glance. The Director sounds like he¡¯s trying to get at something here.


    Though then, the Director¡¯s topic switches, ¡°today is the last day of the relics being transferred out of the Museum to a secure location. Therefore, even if I want to show you around, there is nothing else to see.¡±


    Ding Yi almost sighs in relief.


    Then the Director asks, ¡°would the two of you like to know about anything else?¡±


    Mu Jiashi remains quiet, leaving the matter to Ding Yi.


    After thinking a bit, Ding Yi asks the Director, ¡°you refer to the memories, to the past¡­ Can I ask if that past is related to Cangcheng?¡±


    The Director smiles at the question, and explains, ¡°of course. I suppose not even many locals in Cangcheng remember, but once, our nation¡¯s foray into space, began at Cangcheng.


    Ding Yi¡¯s eyes widen.


    She¡¯s wondered if the Space Agency had anything to do with anything else like the Museum when Fei described it.


    Since these buildings, the Museum, the Space Agency, and Cangcheng Library, are quite exceptionally eye-catching.


    She questioned their relationship, and now, when the Director is talking about the city¡¯s history of space exploration, her mind goes ¡®a-ha.¡¯


    It seems it is possible to gather clues about the other locations from a particular location.


    The past, Ding Yi thinks. They are learning about history, they are learning about the past.


    Taken in the context of this Nightmare, Ding Yi realises, that this Nightmare, is also trying to tell them something about the past. About the past of humanity.


    Ding Yi is looking at the Director intently. ¡®Even if he is not the Nightmare¡¯s owner,¡¯ she thinks, ¡®he must still certainly be an important person within.¡¯


    He knows Cangcheng like the back of his hand.

 Volume 6 - CH 105.3

    As the Director continued his explanations, he makes a proud smile and tells them, ¡°while I¡¯ve been single my entire life, one of my fellow men who passed away early had a daughter, and we took her in.


    He says, but the Director still looks really glad for his friend¡¯s daughter. He must have been really proud that she was a researcher of the Space Agency, even if that was cut short by this disaster.


    That said¡­


    The Space Agency? The astronomy enthusiasts?


    Ding Yi can¡¯t help but recall the irritable man who was in charge of moving the relics.


    She then asks, ¡°when we came to visit, I believe we met your adopted daughter¡¯s¡­ fianc¨¦?¡±


    ¡°Oh, that brat,¡± the Director doesn¡¯t seem all too pleased when talking about him, ¡°he¡¯s getting married already, yet all he does is work. When the collections are safe, I¡¯ll have him spend more time with a-Ji.¡±


    ¡°A-Ji¡­¡±


    ¡°My girl. Her name is Xie Ji,¡± the Director explains, ¡°she lost her mother when she was very young, and she was only a teenager when her father, my fellow pal, also passed away. She was very independent and capable, and she was stubborn for wanting to go the Space Agency, too. You don¡¯t see many girls as headstrong as her these days.


    But then again, her name really was appropriate¡­ the clear skies after the rain; there is light at the end of the tunnel.¡±


    Ding Yi nods while listening.


    As expected, Xie Ji is related to him.


    And she also realises that, when mentioning Xie Ji, the Director finally looked a lot more human.


    Even if it is rather unsettling when everything else about him is quite subtly wrong.


    So Xie Ji is this Director¡¯s adopted daughter, and also the irritable man¡¯s fianc¨¦e. She is also the person who saw the unidentified object hurtling towards Earth via the telescope.


    In that case, it is highly possible that the man is the Nightmare¡¯s owner.


    Then, while thinking, Ding Yi happens to glance over at a nearby clock. Then she exclaims, ¡°oh damn! We won¡¯t make it back to the library in time!¡±


    The minute hand is pointing at 40 on the clock. It¡¯s only 20 more minutes before the Raining Hellfire will come down.


    If they could board a bus immediately, they¡¯ll certainly make it back in time; unfortunately, the bus doesn¡¯t even stop at the Museum right now.


    So now, their only choice is to take shelter in the Museum.


    Is the Museum really a safe shelter?


    Ding Yi wonders, a bit anxious.


    While she is worried for the coming catastrophe, X¨¹ Beijin has moved the camera over, right as the Director was explaining everything.


    He changed the camera when he realised that every other Missiontaker has already made it back to the library, while the two of them are still listed as being under the ¡®Museum¡¯ heading.


    They spent some time listening to the Director guiding them in the Museum and time passed quickly. They will not make it back to the library in time.


    Though the viewers, after listening to the Director, believes they have obtained key information.


    ¡°xie ji! she sounds important!¡±


    ¡°shes a link for the museum and the space agency! and the old man at the blocked area at the east, he is probably also one of the fellow soldiers of xie jis dad, right?¡±


    ¡°so does it make her fiance the nightmare owner?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, reading the comments, and spotting the phrase ¡®control group,¡¯ can¡¯t help but be amused at how appropriate it is.


    X¨¹ Xiaoli and Zhang Minglian, and Xie Ji and her fianc¨¦, if you think about it, they really are like an experiment sample and its control.


    Why would such an obviously contrasting couple be featured in a Nightmare? What would they mean to the Nightmare¡¯s owner?


    In terms of attitude towards the Apocalypse, the two couples are almost polar opposite to each other.


    The guy buys it in one of them, the gal buys it in the other. And, the personalities of the couples also seem to be the exact opposite.


    What would this all mean?


    While X¨¹ Beijin is thinking, the hour hand of the clock has quietly moved past ¡®IV.¡¯ They have also conveniently ignored the noises coming from the radio on the third floor.


    As a low rumbling finally hits them, X¨¹ Xiaoli and Zhang Minglian are both looking outside the window with their jaws on the floor.


    The Missiontakers who have already experienced this before are looking at each other. They should make it through this time.


    Yet, when they are going to sigh in relief, their visions go out.


    The Nightmare, is restarting.

 Volume 6 - CH 106.1

    Who died this time?


    Fei is reflexively looking for Ding Yi and Mu Jiashi as soon as she opened her eyes.


    In her mind, though, another question remains.


    Mu Jiashi has been to this Nightmare, and he has achieved a True End. In other words, he cannot possibly have died to the Raining Hellfire. He must have had means of avoiding the disaster.


    She can¡¯t imagine him leaving Ding Yi to die, either©¤©¤


    Perhaps when it is for the absolute necessity in achieving the maximum progress in a Nightmare, but Mu Jiashi is familiar enough with this Nightmare that there is no way that that was the case.


    Of course, Mu Jiashi also isn¡¯t someone generous enough to have told them what dangers to avoid as the Nightmare started, but¡­


    Regardless, he knows the True End, so he needn¡¯t say anything. Everything remains as it is, the moment the Nightmare is over.


    He wasn¡¯t fazed by He Shuj¨¹n, after all.


    Mu Jiashi is a cold person at heart, and Fei knows. She¡¯s heard of his reputation on the bottom floor of the Tower by now.


    She is also sure that Ding Yi wouldn¡¯t be dumb enough that she would split up, which means she would have been safe as long as she was with Mu Jiashi.


    So if neither Mu Jiashi nor Ding Yi could be dead, then why did the Nightmare restart?


    Finally, Fei sees Ding Yi and Mu Jiashi for herself ¨C they look normal, as expected. The change that happened to He Shuj¨¹n has not afflicted them.


    Which means, it was not a Missiontaker that died to the Raining Hellfire.


    Buzzcut, meanwhile, also notices Ding Yi and Mu Jiashi being normal. They clearly don¡¯t look like they¡¯ve just died.


    The Missiontakers are now looking at each other, until Wu Jian quietly proposes a possibility, ¡°so we¡¯re¡­ in a Nightmare that loops? As long as the Raining Hellfire happens, an NPC would die to it and force a restart?¡±


    The rest of the Missiontakers have to nod.


    When the situation is like this, this remains the only possibility.


    Fei and Wu Jian are both looking at Mu Jiashi right now.


    Wu Jian is mentioning the possibility, because naturally, they¡¯ve experienced something similar in another Nightmare, alongside Mu Jiashi.


    Well, more ¡®dissimilar,¡¯ because in that Nightmare, death doesn¡¯t even cause the Nightmare to restart.


    In this Nightmare, though, what happened to He Shuj¨¹n is proof that this absolute rule is still in place.


    Well, or maybe not. Since He Shuj¨¹n died to the Raining Hellfire, it¡¯s impossible to tell if it¡¯s He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s death, or someone else¡¯s death at the same time or just before her, triggered the restart.


    Though looking at He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s behaviour, none of them would be interested in giving it a test.


    Even Mr Suicide has gone quiet and secluded himself, see. There is no sign of how demented he was when he entered, never mind any other Missiontaker.


    Even though Fei and Wu Jian know that Mu Jiashi knows this Nightmare through-and-through, they¡¯re still careful to keep themselves safe, just in case the side effect of dying and resurrecting would irreversibly harm their mental state.


    In a sense, how He Shuj¨¹n is behaving is almost like someone successfully brainwashed and transformed by NE, isn¡¯t it?


    Even if Fei and Wu Jian are questioning NE¡¯s true stance right now, they¡¯re not going to test the possibility at all. What if NE is still fundamentally their enemy?


    Fei¡¯s thoughts are diverging to ever more distant directions. Countless possibilities present themselves to her.


    So she decides to bitterly smile, and bite her lips, and pack the thoughts in to calm down.


    Then she looks at Ding Yi, asking, ¡°what happened at the Museum the last run? Why couldn¡¯t you come back in time?¡±


    Ding Yi also lays out clearly what happened at the Museum. As for what Mu Jiashi told her regarding this Nightmare and the Apocalypse in general, though, she decides to keep them secret.


    The Missiontakers look increasingly shocked as she continued her explanations, though, and soon enough Ding Yi pauses, confused.


    The biggest clue they found was probably about Xie Ji and her fianc¨¦, she thinks.


    That¡¯s why Ding Yi placed particular emphasis on clues regarding the engaged couple.


    The other Missiontakers are reacting really strangely, however.


    Wiping the sweat on her forehead, formed from the hot summer sun, she asks, ¡°what¡¯s wrong? You all look¡­ surprised.¡±


    Fei then starts telling her what they found on their two paths.


    In fact, the clues regarding Xie Ji has linked her up with the elderly security guard to the east.


    The security guard also had a comrade-in-arms die early; it must have been Xie Ji¡¯s father.


    The problem is¡­ that Tower resident of this Nightmare, was a man!


    This means that Xie Ji¡¯s fianc¨¦ is likely the Nightmare owner, but he is utterly unremarkable in this Nightmare. Besides the Museum, he has no links to any other locations himself.


    Did Xie Ji¡¯s fianc¨¦ also have some extraordinary clues they haven¡¯t¡¯ found out about?


    Anyway, besides considering that, X¨¹ Xiaoli and Zhang Minglian are also important to think about ¨C and in fact, they seem to fit the bill better still.


    At least X¨¹ Xiaoli had something to do with the library, and he believes in the Apocalypse, which tangentially links him up with the Space Agency.


    He might even be an amateur astronomer himself?


    And if it comes to the owner of the Nightmare, Lu Chengzhe, who is in the library, is also possible in that case.


    In fact, if you think about it, there are also many young men among the amateur astronomers outside the Space Agency.


    There is also the possibility for either the Director of the Museum or the guard standing watch outside the restricted area to be the owner as well. Maybe somehow, they got a rejuvenated appearance in the Tower?


    Fei thinks she must be going mad.


    She shakes her head to make herself focus, and then ask, ¡°X¨¹ Xiaoli, Lu Chengzhe, and Xie Ji¡¯s fianc¨¦¡­ What was his name again? Does anyone know?¡±


    Ding Yi shakes her head a little.


    Mu Jiashi chimes in, though, ¡°his name is Ke Zhu.¡±


    Fei nods, and then says, ¡°so these three people will be our primary targets for observation.¡±


    Ding Yi, though, is subconsciously glancing over at Mu Jiashi.


    His actions have made Ding Yi suspect Ke Zhu; he was the one who pointed him out to her attention when they entered the Museum.


    Now, Mu Jiashi has broken his silence thus far to tell them the irritable man¡¯s name, Ke Zhu.


    Does this mean that Ke Zhu is of paramount importance in this Nightmare, or is even¡­ the Nightmare¡¯s owner?


    But they do not have anything to link this man with the other scenes yet. Without such links, how could his memories have constructed such a grand, elaborate scene?


    Ding Yi finds herself confused.

 Volume 6 - CH 106.2

    Buzzcut agrees with Fei¡¯s suspects for the Nightmare owner, but then he says, ¡°if Xie Ji herself is at the Space Agency, would we have to visit there again this run?¡±


    ¡°I suppose so¡­¡± Fei says, ¡°time is of the essence too. It¡¯s the third run, and we don¡¯t know which part may have crumbled.¡±


    ¡°Also, there aren¡¯t any buses from the library to the Space Agency. There¡¯s only the reverse,¡± laments Wu Jian, ¡°if only there are buses both ways. It¡¯d save time.¡±


    The first run, he saw Fei and some others return from the Space Agency via the bus, passing by a box truck along the way.


    Fei seems suddenly reminded of something, and asks Ding Yi, ¡°did you just say, Ke Zhu was going to talk to Xie Ji?¡±


    Ding Yi recalls and then nods affirmatively, ¡°yes. He said he was going to talk to her if he drives past the Space Agency.¡±


    Wu Jian then tells them what he knows, ¡°this is the main way going north-south, and I saw his truck headed north from here, so he will definitely pass by the Space Agency.¡±


    Buzzcut already knows what Fei wanted to say, and asks, ¡°so we¡¯re going to wait for Ke Zhu to come at the Space Agency?¡±


    Then he adds, ¡± we still need to go to the residential area to confirm which couple it was that argued.¡±


    Fei nods and then concludes, ¡°so we¡¯re splitting into two teams.¡±


    Ding Yi, however, says, ¡°I want to go to the third floor of the library. We heard from Ke Zhu about some¡­ texts? It¡¯s apparently written by some experts. I think it¡¯d be better to take a look.¡±


    There is an implied meaning that the others did not look through the texts thoroughly, but that doesn¡¯t need to be said, nor does she want to put blame on any other Missiontaker.


    So they split into three once again.


    Fei, Wu Jian and Mr Suicide are going to the Space Agency;


    Buzzcut and Ye Lan to the residential area;


    And Ding Yi, Mu Jiashi, Lin Qin and He Shuj¨¹n will stay at the library.


    Buzzcut and Ye Lan leave immediately. They have a lot of residents to ask, so they will need to bide their time.


    Mu Jiashi, though, stops Fei and Wu Jian for a moment.


    Mr Suicide is looking at all this play out quietly. He¡¯s feeling really weird, and also stressed from this Nightmare. It has made him silent and even a bit unsure of himself. He thinks, he might really have died in the Raining Hellfire.


    Or at the very least, he¡¯s experienced it.


    That is why he seeks death so much¡ª¡ªOr rather, he¡¯s looking for the familiar feeling he felt during his death.


    One way or another, his instincts are trying to remember things through this. Yet the moment he stepped into this Nightmare, and witnessed the Raining Hellfire, experienced the overwhelming pressure and familiarity, he finds his guts utterly shattered.


    He¡¯s suddenly realised, that perhaps having forgotten, is not exactly a bad thing, huh?


    So he¡¯s made up his mind; he will refuse to seek and remember the truth. He will go along with the flow, and let the rest of the Missiontakers dictate whatever happens to him.


    He knows they¡¯re worried he might look to kill himself, but¡­ but he would probably never do so ever again.


    A gamey, largely consequence-free death emboldens people, but what if, that way of death, ended up being exactly how he perished in reality?


    Mr Suicide, no longer wants to attempt to commit suicide.


    He¡¯s daydreaming, blanking out in a daze. In a daze, where the Nightmare is trying to horrify him.


    He can¡¯t help but think, if only he had a utility card that allows forced ejection from the Nightmare¡­


    It¡¯s just a rumour, though. Mr Suicide, in fact, knows a bit more detail than the average Missiontaker. He knows the rumour came about because there was once when a Missiontaker disappeared from a Nightmare entirely.


    It¡¯s unbelievable, like someone¡¯s connection has dropped from the game. Everyone, though, knew they cannot ¡®log off¡¯ of this damned game named ¡®Escape.¡¯


    Therefore, there must have been a utility card that can expel themselves from the Nightmare¡­ That¡¯s how the Missiontakers interpreted it, but nobody knows for sure.


    Mr Suicide is wallowing in his depression.


    He knows he has no way out of his predicament. And what is more hopeless than this, is a realisation sinking in, that he may forever be trapped, helpless, unable to escape like this.


    Perhaps, he can already see the far end of his long life, being exactly the same as he is right now.


    And he is forever keeping his silence.


    Mu Jiashi, meanwhile, is discussing a way out of the Tower with Fei and Wu Jian.


    Fei is surprised at his suggestion, ¡°the Nightmare of¡­ that bookstore owner?¡±


    Mu Jiashi nods firmly.


    ¡°But¡­ how are you so sure that his Nightmare would be the one to save us?¡± Asks Fei, ¡°can we even convince him to open his Nightmare to us?¡±


    ¡°Those are two questions, and my answer would both be, I¡¯m not sure,¡± Mu Jiashi says with a sombre tone. There is a hopelessness in there, stemming from an implicit declaration of a last resort.


    His tone grows more firm, however, when he says, ¡°but it is worse just to do nothing, is it not?¡±


    Fei bites her lips. She¡¯s anxious again.


    That¡¯s right. They cannot just do nothing, but, what they ought to do, is an important question.


    She recalls how she hastily abandoned a line of thought that X¨¹ Beijin and NE¡¯s relationship is¡­ well, it¡¯s probably bollocks, but, what if it is true?


    Fei finds herself distracted, only listening to Mu Jiashi absent-mindedly.


    Mu Jiashi explains, ¡°I believe it¡¯s pretty safe to say he¡¯s on our side, even if simply considering how he revealed the problem with the identity of the Tower residents to us.


    If he holds goodwill, then it becomes exceedingly unusual he would not open his Nightmare up. Therefore, I suspect it must be intricately linked to some kind of¡­ important, or possibly debilitating¡­ secret.¡±


    Wu Jian can¡¯t help but be the devil¡¯s advocate, ¡°it may also simply be your wishful thinking.¡±


    Speaking of a unilateral ''wishful'' thinking, Wu Jian can¡¯t help but immediately recall Lin Qin.


    He then rubs his nose. Man, why is he recalling their love story when they¡¯re in an important discussion¡­ Wait, their, love, story?


    Wu Jian blinks a few times, and suddenly, he thinks he gets it.


    He immediately gets to sharing his views, ¡°for the bookstore owner, if he really does hold goodwill for us, he would have already tried everything he can for us, or have opened his Nightmare to help us.


    Therefore, I believe that, during all these years, his attitude towards Missiontakers and the Tower instead went from being indifferent to being empathetic; his stance went from neutral to being on our side¡­ The trigger, may be the dalao, Lin Qin.¡±


    Fei and Mu Jiashi look at each other, completely baffled.


    They¡¯ve completely ignored the possible role of Lin Qin on this.


    Actually, Lin Qin¡¯s attitude towards the Tower and Nightmares also seems to be rather cold and apathetic.


    He never looked at all bothered or frustrated at the current situation. He enters Nightmares like he¡¯s taking a stroll, or simply letting off some steam.


    The difference in martial prowess meant that Missiontakers have thus ignored his role in largely everything.


    Yet, this is the very moment when the other two Missiontakers find that, what Wu Jian is suggesting, may actually be possible.


    If X¨¹ Beijin has held goodwill since the very beginning, and wanted to help the Missiontakers¡ª¡ªAnd the Tower residents¡ª¡ª


    Then why did he not do what he did in the very beginning? Why did he never attempt to open his Nightmare up to the others?


    These changes seem to have occurred rapidly after Lin Qin has become close to X¨¹ Beijin and his life.


    It means¡­


    Mu Jiashi murmurs, ¡°was he moved by Lin Qin?¡±


    The three remain silent while casting glances at Lin Qin simultaneously; right now, he¡¯s already entering the lobby of the library, giving the other Missiontakers only the silhouette of his firm form. He walks towards the person he likes, and he doesn¡¯t need to notify anyone of that.


    Because everyone already knows he likes him.


    Mu Jiashi then says, ¡°if that¡¯s true¡­ Then it is more likely I could convince him to open his Nightmare.¡±


    Fei and Wu Jian also nods.


    Fei is even thinking deeper. If X¨¹ Beijin really is NE¡­ Then it seems to explain why NE¡¯s stance has perceptibly shifted over recent times.


    It is really fortunate that the camera is pointed over at Buzzcut and Ye Lan right now, otherwise X¨¹ Beijin should be burying his face in his hand from frustration listening to the conversation.


    The ultimate reason that his attitude has changed is because of the streaming system, not Lin Qin, ok? ¡­ Well, yes, maybe Lin Qin did play a role. But, a very, very minor role, you see?


    He did not change his attitude simply because of Lin Qin.


    And also¡­ Also, because it is time to make a change.


    X¨¹ Beijin can sense that, it is not just him, but the entire humanity in the Tower seems to be approaching a breaking point.


    They¡¯ve held strong all these years, but nobody has come to save them. They can only save themselves.


    Yet, X¨¹ Beijin himself knows, that it would be a true last resort to have people enter his Nightmare; because not even he knows, how his Nightmare might ever be resolved¡­


    Yes, other Tower residents would know how to resolve their own Nightmares for sure, because they are the owners.


    But, X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, has no solution.


    So, not even he knows, what a True End¡ª¡ªor even a Normal End¡ª¡ªin his Nightmare would look like.


    He cannot even imagine a possibility.


    It might be beyond the human capacity for imagination.


    Therefore, even if he may have, after deliberation, come to disclose some vague clues regarding his Nightmare to Lin Qin, he is still not yet sure. He will still have to think about it carefully, think about it very deeply, whether there really is a need.


    Though really, even if entering his Nightmare is a foolish ¡®suicide,¡¯ but staying in the Tower like this, is itself practically a slow, agonising suicide, isn¡¯t it?


    So perhaps, in his mind, X¨¹ Beijin already has an answer.

 Volume 6 - CH 106.3

    Right now, X¨¹ Beijin has no idea Mu Jiashi is going to come persuade him, as he¡¯s looking at what Buzzcut and Ye Lan are doing.


    The two Missiontakers took off early and went to the nearest residential block. Soon enough, they¡¯re right back at the restaurant where they first heard about the arguing couple.


    ¡°Hello, laoban,¡± Buzzcut says, greeting the lone owner of the restaurant.


    The owner looks at him with murky eyes, when a long time passes and he suddenly snaps ¡®awake¡¯ to ask, ¡°hello, there. Would you like a breakfast?¡±


    He¡¯s about to lift the cover off his steamer.


    ¡°Oh, no, no, thanks,¡± Buzzcut stops him immediately, and says, ¡°I came to ask something.¡±


    The owner stops, and looks rather disappointed, then asks, ¡°what is it?¡±


    Then he looks Buzzcut over to add, ¡°you don¡¯t look like you¡¯re from here, are you?¡±


    Buzzcut then says, ¡°it¡¯s the first time we¡¯re here in Cangcheng.¡±


    ¡°First time? You¡¯ll find lots of places to go to,¡± the owner immediately suggests, ¡°we¡¯ve got lots of great food and fun around.¡±


    Buzzcut thinks, yeah, lots, lots of madmen everywhere.


    He vagues his way out of t he conversation before finally getting to his question, ¡°laoban, I want to ask, was there a couple arguing here last night?¡±


    The owner of the restaurant seems surprised.


    Buzzcut immediately produces an excuse, ¡°we¡¯re a couple here, and we think we like the city, so we¡¯re thinking about moving here. But we heard there were all these arguments¡­¡±


    ¡°All these?¡± The owner quickly denies the claim, ¡°there¡¯s only the one last night. The couple was always lovey-dovey, and it was just last night when who-knows-what happened, and made them argue loud enough the whole community could hear.


    But eh, this is a good place to live. Don¡¯t believe in those rumours. They¡¯re fake.


    Our neighbourhood may be old but it¡¯s close to the city centre. We also all know each other here, so it¡¯s really safe!¡±


    Buzzcut nods nonchalantly, while analysing what the owner said.


    Always lovey-dovey, except last night?


    This clue doesn¡¯t isolate their candidates any.


    So he asks, ¡°do you know why they argued, then?¡±


    ¡°You know the news, they said something is falling from the sky and our world is gonna end¡­ You know those experts. Anyway, there are always gonna be people who buy it and people who don¡¯t.¡±


    Buzzcut is slightly surprised that it seems like the ¡®experts¡¯ aren¡¯t exactly seen in a good light around here.


    Though perhaps, after the madness spread throughout humanity, people became increasingly paranoid and distrustful of others. They¡¯re probably much less accepting of others¡¯ opinions.


    What might the ¡®experts¡¯ have written on the third floor of the library¡­ Buzzcut¡¯s thoughts digress for a moment.


    Meanwhile, the owner of the restaurant is still speaking, ¡°the girlfriend believed in the experts, and thinks the Apocalypse is coming. The boyfriend didn¡¯t, so they argued.¡±


    Buzzcut is furrowing his brows. It¡¯s the exact information as the last run.


    X¨¹ Xiaoli and Zhang Minglian didn¡¯t fit this description, and instead, Ke Zhu and Xie Ji would fit.


    So Buzzcut asks, ¡°do you know who they are? We would like to get to know them.¡±


    The restaurant owner gives them an odd look. It¡¯s kind of strange how persistent they are in asking about the couple, but he couldn¡¯t help either way, saying, ¡°I have no idea. I merely heard about it from my wife.¡±


    Wife?


    Buzzcut is almost reflexively going to look at the steamer, but he stops himself in time.


    But wait, does this mean, that the wife of this owner, has been alive up to last night, or even until this morning?


    Buzzcut wonders if there is an implication to be found.


    Like the owner of the restaurant has only gone insane this morning?


    Well¡­ More importantly, the owner himself didn¡¯t actually hear the argument?


    He¡¯s relaying what others said? What about the other residents he asked the last run, were it also all hearsay?


    Buzzcut suddenly realised, that just as the owner said, this is an old neighbourhood. Everyone knows everyone, and so, in the space of one morning, everyone would have heard about the ¡®great argument¡¯ last night.


    And the exaggerated way the owner put it, that they argued loud enough for everyone here to hear¡­ That¡¯s unlikely. No modern human is this curious about others anyway.


    Unless they¡¯re the age of this old owner here, where they might gossip about it during their idle chatter.


    And in this neighbourhood, as expected, most people are the middle-aged and elderly.


    The only young people he¡¯s seen has only been X¨¹ Xiaoli and Zhang Minglian, the latter being a teacher at the kindergarten. They might not even live here.


    In other words, perhaps the rumours became distorted as it went through what was basically a game of ¡®telephone.¡¯ The subtle things changed.


    Finally, Buzzcut realises, that they don¡¯t actually need to waste time here. They could probably get a more concrete answer directly from X¨¹ Xiaoli and Zhang Minglian.


    He¡¯s a bit frustrated thinking so.


    He should have realised that as soon as he learned that this neighbourhood has such a demographic.


    Gossips and rumours would make up the bulk of chatter here, and information flows quickly and inaccurately.


    While thinking about it, the owner continues speaking, ¡°I couldn¡¯t care less about people arguing anyway. What couple would you be if you never argued, am I right? They¡¯ve probably made up by now, too.


    Buzzcut is forcing a smile while listening to the owner drone on.


    Then, when the owner had a pause, he immediately seized the opportunity to say goodbye and leave. After leaving, he shares his thoughts with Ye Lan, who agrees in principle.


    After that, they quickly head to the kindergarten.


    The viewers of the stream are also excited to see them go there.


    X¨¹ Beijin is also watching closely.


    Though that is when Mu Jiashi suddenly arrives at the reception in the library, smiling and telling X¨¹ Beijin, ¡°hello, long time no see.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, hearing that, quickly snaps back to reality and, before he can even greet him, Lin Qin, who is sitting next to him, suddenly shoots up, glaring at Mu Jiashi.


    He doesn¡¯t say anything, but merely expressionlessly stands straight up right there, like he¡¯s trying to look imposing or something.


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Looking at such a Lin Qin, X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but sigh.

 Volume 6 - CH 107.1

    Oversight


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Even if Lin Qin can remain calm and expressionless under the gazes of both X¨¹ Beijin and Mu Jiashi, he still can¡¯t help but blink.


    Though he is still standing there unflinching; acting like if he left or sat down, he¡¯d have ¡®conceded defeat¡¯ to Mu Jiashi.


    X¨¹ Beijin also stands up, while looking at Lin Qin with a complicated expression.


    Mu Jiashi, observing their interactions, feels a bit more confident in his attempt.


    X¨¹ Beijin can feel his head throbbing in pain, having already experienced how headstrong Lin Qin gets when he¡¯s in the mood. He acts like nothing is out of the ordinary and ignores Lin Qin, and asks Mu Jiashi, ¡°do you need me for something?¡±


    Mu Jiashi starts considering his words carefully, and decides to go with a straightforward approach, ¡°it¡¯s about your Nightmare¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s expression almost immediately sours. His brows are furrowed, and his gaze is piercing. Mu Jiashi finds himself on the receiving end of an unreadable aura.


    He still continues, ¡°the situation in the Tower has changed substantially. Are you still equally determined about not opening your Nightmare?¡±


    The aura from X¨¹ Beijin lessens a little as he falls into thought.


    Lin Qin, though, looking to one person and the next and back again, seizes the opportunity to interject, ¡°Beijin is already considering it, but he says he still has to think about it some more.¡±


    Mu Jiashi, astonished, first looks at Lin Qin, before turning his eyes back onto X¨¹ Beijin.


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He turns his expressionless, piercing gaze over at Lin Qin.


    Lin Qin tilts his baby face to say, ¡°you can¡¯t get angry. It¡¯s exactly what you told me.¡±


    The corner of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mouth is twitching. He remains silent for a moment, before confirming it with Mu Jiashi with a heavy tone, ¡°yes. It¡¯s as he says.¡±


    His tone is heavy because frankly, he¡¯s just going to give up.


    Yes! That¡¯s right! He is considering, but he is not yet determined! So, just let him procrastinate and ¡®think¡¯ some more!


    Okay?!


    Lin Qin has failed to dress it up in pretty words, but it¡¯s precisely what X¨¹ Beijin wants to get across; and to be frank, his straightforwardness has helped out X¨¹ Beijin, who was still mulling over the choices of words.


    Really, it¡¯s even secretly a relief to him.


    Anyway, now, he has finally committed¡­ been committed, to this path¡­ To this choice.


    For someone like X¨¹ Beijin, if he¡¯s in the stages of ¡®considering¡¯ opening his Nightmare, it means that, a certain day in the future, he will open his Nightmare.


    He still just needed some more time to work out the costs and effects and minimise risks.


    Well, not that he really has that much time to begin with.


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but feel exhausted thinking about it again. He closes his eyes, to let his parched eyes be moisturised in a little respite. Then he opens his eyes, faces Mu Jiashi, and tells him, ¡°I still need a bit more time to consider the matter. So if¡­ if you want into my Nightmare, please come visit me at the bookstore within three days after leaving this Nightmare.


    Also, you should expect that the principle of ¡®equivalent exchange¡¯ is still in effect.¡±


    Mu Jiashi is listening pretty closely up to this point, when he gets a little surprised.


    Exchange¡­ for what?


    X¨¹ Beijin clarifies, ¡°therefore, you may still trade in things of worth for clues on my Nightmare.¡±


    Mu Jiashi suddenly gets it.


    He¡¯s helping them cheat! He¡¯s trying to clue him in to what his Nightmare is!


    But¡­ can Tower residents really do that? Or is it a rule that they have to do that?


    Here, Mu Jiashi starts recalling the many Nightmares he has been to. Some guesses start bubbling up his mind.


    Oh man, this sure is¡­


    He turns to look at Lin Qin, and back at X¨¹ Beijin again. He¡¯s thanking the dalao Lin Qin in his mind.


    He¡¯s brought this powerful golden thigh on board for them.


    Mu Jiashi was slightly worried earlier when Lin Qin interjected, that X¨¹ Beijin might be unhappy about it; he didn¡¯t seem too terribly displeased, though.


    Or really, how gentle he¡¯s been about it contrasts quite starkly against how he treated the people who besieged his bookstore all those years back.


    It¡¯s pretty clear who X¨¹ Beijin treats as someone close to him.


    Mu Jiashi is really glad that the dalao Lin Qin has helped sway this mysterious, probably neutral, occasionally morally ambiguous bookstore owner over to their side¡­ Thank the lucky stars.


    Yes. To Mu Jiashi, this bookstore owner whose principle is guided by ¡®equivalent exchange,¡¯ would therefore sometimes commit to acts that run¡­ evil to more traditional ethical judgement.


    This is not helped by X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s usual cold, apathetic attitude, and his almost fiendish, dastardly villainous and handsome face.


    It means even Mu Jiashi would feel pressured simply interacting with X¨¹ Beijin.


    It can¡¯t be helped when first impressions keep screaming to him that X¨¹ Beijin is a¡­ great villain.


    The mystique X¨¹ Beijin established in the Nightmare with the post-Apocalyptic ruins through his talk of his ¡®principles,¡¯ the aura that always surrounded him as a results, plus his own identity as this impenetrable bookstore¡¯s owner, meant he is absolutely seen as hard to approach.


    That is why Mu Jiashi has been very hesitant to touch on anything related to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare.


    He is also one of those deeply interested in the Nightmare, of course, both for curiosity¡¯s sake, and for the possibility of escaping the Tower.


    Especially after he has concluded that X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare must hold some key secret.


    Though¡­ it wasn¡¯t easy to act on that urge.


    Mostly because X¨¹ Beijin really is such an imposing figure to deal with.


    That is why, when Wu Jian suggested a relationship between X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin, that Mu Jiashi, while in a bit of a suspension of disbelief and some last-ditch effort sort of hope, approached X¨¹ Beijin, and talked about his Nightmare.


    He thought it not unlikely that this would backfire spectacularly.


    But X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s stance is actually shifting!


    Mu Jiashi would attribute a majority of the praise for that to Lin Qin.


    Could X¨¹ Beijin have changed his opinion of his own accord? Nonsense. Just before entering this Nightmare, X¨¹ Beijin was still telling him with his usual mysterious tone to look for the truth in this Nightmare himself, and not tell him the truth of anything.


    Mu Jiashi finds it exceedingly unlikely for X¨¹ Beijin to have changed his mind in this short a timeframe.


    Maybe he¡¯s been showing goodwill towards the Missiontakers, but his Nightmare has always been a very rigidly enforced, immovable red line!


    Yet, it seems Lin Qin has done the impossible, and convinced X¨¹ Beijin to reconsider.


    Mu Jiashi was already losing hope and steam in the few seconds of silence earlier; he didn¡¯t see a single sign of X¨¹ Beijin relenting when he was asking about it himself.


    Yet as soon as Lin Qin intervened, X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s microexpressions completely changed. Perhaps it was almost a ¡®coerced¡¯ expression, but X¨¹ Beijin was implicitly agreeing with Lin Qin.


    Though one can imagine that ¡®coerce¡¯ would only happen because it was Lin Qin that he changed his attitude, no?


    Mu Jiashi is frankly, amazed.


    It¡¯s essentially common knowledge now that the crownless King of the bottom floor has romantic attraction to someone.


    People talk about how he is moving all the obstacles out of the way for him, how infatuated he is with his romantic interest.


    But as Mu Jiashi sees it now, the feeling looks to be mutual.


    Regardless, Mu Jiashi is thankful to Lin Qin.


    If it were not for Lin Qin¡¯s intervention, they may not have this opportunity to enter X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, now or ever in the future.

 Volume 6 - CH 107.2

    X¨¹ Beijin has no idea his antagonistic face had Mu Jiashi assume the worst in the very beginning, or how he holds untold amounts of gratitude towards Lin Qin, as he thought it was Lin Qin who changed him.


    Though seriously¡­ Why wouldn¡¯t anyone believe that X¨¹ Beijin is simply a traditionally ¡®good¡¯ person?


    X¨¹ Beijin is still looking at Mu Jiashi with a smile of blissful ignorance, as he heads for the third floor to check for clues with Ding Yi.


    If he knew how Mu Jiashi actually saw him, then¡­


    He might reconsider what his true image looks like to the outside world.


    He did not, and so he was talking normally with all involved.


    Meanwhile, together with Ding Yi and a He Shuj¨¹n under watch, Mu Jiashi reaches the third floor, and once again comes across the teenager dressed like a student.


    Lu Chengzhe seems surprised they¡¯re here; so Mu Jiashi concludes that he hasn¡¯t come to recall the last runs yet.


    Speaking of which¡­ recalling everything only makes X¨¹ Beijin look all the more special, doesn¡¯t it?


    The bookstore owner of the Tower seems to always recall what is happening beyond Nightmares and in the Tower. In fact, more often than not he talks about the Tower more than he does any Nightmare.


    Mu Jiashi didn¡¯t know that this is simply because X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t have in-depth knowledge on most Nightmares either; he is simply assuming it is part of his riddling and mysterious aura; he knows, but he¡¯s not simply going to tell them.


    That¡¯s how it was in the Nightmare with the post-Apocalyptic ruins, where X¨¹ Beijin told them about the roof being an important location.


    He¡¯s directly pointing to the way to resolve the Nightmare, and it solely falls onto the Missiontaker whether they can decode the clue successfully.


    Mu Jiashi can¡¯t help but self-derisively smile, though; it certainly must have been amusing to him to give rather vague riddles instead of concrete answers; they are the ones who have to figure out the truth, after all.


    Even if there might really be some terrible truth or insider knowledge in his Nightmare, it¡¯ll be well hidden, waiting for the Missiontakers to uncover it.


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s thoughts continue to idle along as he scans the third floor.


    The main scenes of interest here are the reading rooms and the self-study rooms, into the latter of which Lu Chengzhe has put the newspapers and magazines from the former.


    The self-study rooms contains low shelves with neatly ordered newspapers and articles sorted by genre and date. This must be Lu Chengzhe¡¯s hard work.


    Ding Yi is not going to just go look for the needle in the haystack. Instead, she asks Lu Chengzhe which of the publications he¡¯d recommend to catch up to speed.


    Lu Chengzhe, while he isn¡¯t a staff of the library anymore, still answers her question in detail.


    He tells them, ¡°the most important among these would probably be the ¡®Cangcheng Nightly,¡¯ it¡¯s a local newspaper;


    if you need a more recent, but possibly inaccurate update, you can read the ¡®Cangcheng Bulletin.¡¯


    As for magazines¡­ the one with the most readership right now would be the ¡®Astronomical Journal Weekly.¡¯¡±


    ¡°The ¡®Astronomical Journal¡¯?¡± Ding Yi thinks for a moment and asks, ¡°can I ask what¡¯s inside? Does it relate to¡­ whatever is falling towards us?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s why it¡¯s popular; it¡¯s not even published weekly anymore, but daily. They send a thick volume here every day at this point.¡±


    Lu Chengzhe is bitterly smiling as he continues, ¡°since news of the object broke a few days ago, it feels like the entire world has gone even more insane than they were before.


    Ding Yi listens quietly.


    She feels pretty anxious; she thinks she doesn¡¯t want to listen to any of this anymore, especially when these probably don¡¯t play a role in this Nightmare¡¯s truth or its Endings. It¡¯s just a piece of background setting. She shouldn¡¯t waste her time listening.


    On the other hand, though, she finds her legs too stiffened to move. They¡¯ve been pumped with lead. It¡¯s heavy. It¡¯s tiring. It¡¯s painful.


    The story of the past, is not just the past of this Tower resident, but also¡­ possibly their own past.


    So Ding Yi continues listening, despite how painful it is.


    Lu Chengzhe then dryly adds, ¡°of course¡­ I mean, those might still only be rumours.¡±


    He tries to ease the situation and say, ¡°if there really were something tumbling right for us, the astronomers should have observed them months or years in advance, shouldn¡¯t they?


    It¡­ it can¡¯t be that it¡¯s only observed a few days prior, right?¡±


    Ding Yi, surprised, thinks about it as the gears in her brain churn.


    If it really were some comet or meteorite, the astronomers should have been able to observe it a long time ago.


    They would also have calculated whether it would actually impact the planet, when, and where it might end up, and what sort of disaster would be expected¡­


    Earth has been no stranger to rumours of a meteor falling towards us. They¡¯re basically passing conversation topics at this point.


    Thanks to the astronomers, who¡¯d have announced way in advance what object is going to make a near miss when with what probability of impact.


    The situation seems completely reversed in this Nightmare; with human technology, something that should have been observed a long time ago is only discovered a few days earlier. This unidentified object is suddenly flying towards Earth?


    That doesn¡¯t make sense.


    Lu Chengzhe then explains, ¡°the academic circles are in an uproar; there has been no time for peer-reviewed studies, so instead, the experts simply decide to publish everything they are currently thinking without review¡­ Of course, reports are trickling in more and more about there really being an object hurtling down.¡±


    Ding Yi remains silent.


    According to Ke Zhu, the ¡®experts¡¯ were publishing randomly in magazines because they¡¯ve failed academic standards by this point. Lu Chengzhe¡¯s retelling of the events would sound more believable, though.


    It is because, there has not been enough time.


    Ding Yi looks out at the sky outside by reflex.


    The sun is still shining brightly, the sky is a brilliant azure. It¡¯s the kind of irritating day that only cools a little by dusk.


    But¡­ how many people would never be able to see that dusk come?


    Ding Yi stops her thoughts there. The scene of He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s death is still replaying in her mind over and over again. She thinks she will sure have nightmares for a long time to come after leaving this Nightmare.


    She thanks Lu Chengzhe for his time, and quickly walks into the reading room, followed by Mu Jiashi.


    Ding Yi first looks for the ¡®Astronomical Journal Weekly,¡¯ which, as he said, isn¡¯t so much a Weekly anymore.


    There are several hundred pages of ¡®Special Issue¡¯ that are all merely dated yesterday. What an unbelievable occurrence.


    She picks up the book, and reads the table of contents. She confirms that it is true that there is a fiery, ongoing debate about the nature of the unidentified object.


    Lu Chengzhe probably told them what he understood that corroborates with the first article in place, which is one that refutes the claim of the sudden object identified. Instead, the author insists it must be space junk that is being misidentified in people¡¯s telescopes and causing panic.


    All those years of astronomical observations and they never saw this object in the sky, ever? And it¡¯s shooting right for Earth barely moments after being observed?


    This is being quite ignorant of the true speed of travel in the vast emptiness of the universe.


    For example, the Moon that looks close enough on the sky is actually an unfathomably long distance away from us.


    And besides, if the object really is travelling at such a breakneck speed, then relativistic effects and different forces should have torn the object apart already.


    But that has not happened.


    At the conclusion, the author is even accusing the other people of creating panic on purpose, perhaps as a ploy to eliminate all the mad people that has pervaded human society.


    This ¡®unidentified object¡¯ fiasco is merely the shiny fa?ade they are holding up in the meantime, they insist.

 Volume 6 - CH 107.3

    As Ding Yi continues reading the magazine, she was actually convinced for a moment.


    With reference to how the Nightmare plays out, it is evident that this madness that started over a year ago has led to the near downfall of human civilisation.


    Scientific advancement, international trade and travel, and many other industries, have been severely affected or downright stalled by this development.


    Even the final frontier of Space has been wholly abandoned in response.


    It is because humanity has been pushed to the limit. They are completely preoccupied simply maintaining a semblance of normalcy. The bloodied bank right there in the centre of Cangcheng is a sign of what all would become without it.


    And what about the other cities on Earth? What about nations and territories whose social order has crumbled entirely?


    It is already hopeless enough to talk about.


    That¡¯s why Ding Yi had momentarily agreed with the conclusion in the paper. Yes. The madmen¡­ are a source of problem that some might see fit to simply eliminate entirely.


    Though Ding Yi snaps back to reality soon enough.


    They¡¯ve been through two Raining Hellfires already.


    That said, the disaster actually didn¡¯t seem completely inescapable. People could survive if they were already in sturdy buildings.


    Of course, those at the centre of the impact are probably lost entirely.


    It is at a distance away from the most destructive shock wave where survivors would begin to be found.


    He Shuj¨¹n died only because they were utterly unprepared for it. They were completely frozen in place by shock, exposed to the dangerous flying debris.


    Ding Yi was fortunately not to have been mortally wounded until the Nightmare restarted.


    Cangcheng, it seems, was not the site of impact, but it was within the sphere of destruction around it.


    Whenever the disaster struck, if any of the madmen around still had survival instincts, they could have ducked into the nearby buildings.


    So with that in mind, if the disaster was aimed that eliminating all the insane people, the efficiency¡­ would be abysmal.


    Or is this simply a first strike?


    Ding Yi finds herself confused.


    While trying to straighten her thoughts out, she tells Mu Jiashi, ¡°I realise that this Nightmare contains many¡­ contradictory clues.


    We have the arguing couple, for example. Both X¨¹ Xiaoli and Zhang Minglian fit most of the bill except for their gender; Ke Zhu and Xie Ji fit the gender and everything else, but the link between Ke Zhu and the other scenes are practically non-existent.


    Then there is the Raining Hellfire. Why was the object only observed a few days prior to its impact? The distance at which humans could observe an astronomical object of that scale, and how far it travelled in such a duration, does not correspond. It would have to have been flying at a ludicrous speed to have become observable and then cause a deep impact in this short a time.


    A lightyear is the amount of distance light travels in a whole year. The unidentified object traversed through a significant fraction of that in mere dozens of hours instead of a year? Has it always even been in this solar system, or even our solar neighbourhood?


    Why would it only have been observed that late in time?¡±


    Ding Yi finds it all the more absurd the more she thinks about it.


    While she didn¡¯t think about it deeply, and simply bought into the whole ¡®an unidentified object observed a few days ago is falling towards us¡¯ earlier, and, because of the Raining Hellfire they personally experience, she didn¡¯t question it, but, it would appear that the keyword of ¡®a few days ago¡¯ is itself quite problematic.


    No wonder the astronomers are in an uproar, trading flurries of words through newspapers and magazines. No wonder so many people think they must be out of their minds.


    Even the experts are suspecting this to be some elaborate hoax or great misunderstanding.


    It is something that contradicts humanity¡¯s knowledge of the cosmos.


    It is completely running against fundamental laws and laws of probabilities that humanity has proven.


    Mu Jiashi then says, ¡°the two questions, are certainly¡­ important. In fact, that latter question serves as a reference or your first question.¡±


    Ding Yi¡¯s eyes widen, then immediately says, ¡°wait, let me think. I¡¯ll think about it a bit more.¡±


    She looks down at the special issue of the ¡®Astronomical Journal Weekly¡¯ in her hand.


    A reference?


    What does he mean by reference between the observation of the object, and whether it is situated close to us in the universe?


    Wait, or does he mean, between the discussion of the unidentified object, and the two different arguing couples?


    Ding Yi knows Mu Jiashi cannot elaborate further without tainting her understanding. So she falls into thought to think about it. She is also wondering if the other Missiontakers have made other progress. Have they confirmed who the arguing couple the residential block is talking about actually is?


    Right now, Buzzcut and Ye Lan have found X¨¹ Xiaoli.


    He is still standing in the blazing sun, waiting for his girlfriend outside the kindergarten.


    If the Missiontakers haven¡¯t taken him away, one wonders where he and his girlfriend would have been during the Raining Hellfire.


    Though Buzzcut and Ye Lan have just barged right over instead, to interrupt X¨¹ Xiaoli¡¯s worried thoughts.


    ¡°Hey there¡­¡± Buzzcut says frankly, ¡°we heard that you were arguing with your girlfriend because of the object falling from the sky?¡±


    X¨¹ Xiaoli seems utterly stunned for a second by the suddenly confrontation.


    He isn¡¯t an assertive man at the best of times, and when a stranger suddenly accosts him with such a tone, he goes, ¡°uh¡­ yes, yes. What is it? Is something wrong?¡±


    ¡°No, not really,¡± Buzzcut shakes his head, and explains, ¡°we just heard from the others in the neighbourhood that you were arguing.¡±


    ¡°Oh, um?¡± X¨¹ Xiaoli looks confused then, ¡°but¡­ but we weren¡¯t here last night.¡±


    Buzzcut and Ye Lan give each other a look. They¡¯ve realised the problem here.


    X¨¹ Xiaoli seems a little embarrassed now as he explains, ¡°my girlfriend and I are getting married already. We moved out after I got a down payment; it was last month.


    Did my mom say something to you? ¡­ My parents are still in this neighbourhood, but I¡¯ve moved out.¡±


    Buzzcut has realised that earlier, when they heard about this couple having had an argument, they simply assumed it was an argument taking place in this neighbourhood!


    But that was not the case!


    Zhang Minglian works here, but not necessarily lives here; X¨¹ Xiaoli mentioned offhandedly that he lived near the library while he worked, which they took as meaning to be here.


    However, the key thing to note, is that what he technically said was that his home was close to the library when he was working there.


    So if he lived here while he worked, and, as he said, his mother forced him to quit his job after the madness spread, that would still put it at possibly up to a year ago.


    After all this time, they should not have assumed that X¨¹ Xiaoli was definitely still living here.


    The Missiontakers assumed that he did, living in this residential area, and also assumed that this was the couple the residents said were arguing, when instead, only X¨¹ Xiaoli¡¯s parents still lived here, and Zhang Minglian only worked in the neighbourhood; they themselves lived elsewhere.


    So Buzzcut murmurs, ¡°So it can only mean that the argument the residents heard¡­ was in fact, Ke Zhu and Xie Ji,¡± he pauses, then says, ¡°well, we should confirm it carefully.¡±


    Of course, the Missiontakers heading for the Space Agency would confirm that carefully already.


    The Missiontakers Fei, Wu Jian and Mr Suicide would confirm it, and as Buzzcut and Ye Lan were questioning X¨¹ Xiaoli, they just reached the Space Agency.

 Volume 6 - CH 108.1

    This is Wu Jian seeing the Space Agency for the first time, so he was understandably shocked when he sees how dilapidated the building was.


    ¡°It¡¯s already got this bad, huh¡­¡±


    Human society placed a rather serious emphasis on technology. Maybe it¡¯s not really on the everyday citizen¡¯s radar, but scientists would always work diligently where they don¡¯t see them.


    If it wasn¡¯t for extreme circumstances, Wu Jian cannot imagine humanity just abandoning space exploration altogether.


    He looks at the building with both a feeling of lament and a little bit of fear.


    Wu Jian is making connections in his mind already. Is this what perhaps once happened on Earth?


    Well, yes, of course.


    Wu Jian then stops looking at it and follows Fei, walking towards the plaza outside of the Space Agency, where many amateur astronomers are assembled.


    Fei recalls how she knew practically nothing about this Nightmare during the first run.


    But now, she understands well enough what things this Nightmare is showing.


    The Apocalypse¡­ The Apocalypse, of two stages.


    If she received this information unprompted, she would probably have been overcome with dread when she understood what it all meant.


    Fortunately, she has mentally steeled herself when she entered.


    Therefore, after reining in her digressing thoughts, she walks forth to the nearest amateur astronomer and ask him, ¡°hello, we¡¯re looking for Xie Ji. Is she here?¡±


    ¡°Xie Ji?¡± The person replies, ¡°she just left.¡±


    Fei immediately furrows her brows; curses. She asks, ¡°did she say where she¡¯s going? We have something urgent!¡±


    Perhaps Fei¡¯s expression was anxious enough, but the person did not hesitate long before nodding and turning around to ask around.


    Then he tells Fei, ¡°Xie Ji said she¡¯s going to the Museum to look for her boyfriend; it¡¯s probably been an hour since she¡¯s left, so I suppose she should have arrived by now.¡±


    Fei, thinking about how the Museum is at the southern end of the main road¡­ oh goodness, she¡¯s a broken woman.


    They hurried along to the library without stopping anywhere else and it still took them twenty odd minutes.


    Now to hurry back to the Museum¡­ Even with the bus, when they are there, this run of the Nightmare will also be about over.


    Wu Jian says, sighing, ¡°this is the third run¡­ well, it¡¯s started crumbling.¡±


    Then he pauses before adding, ¡°this Nightmare is ridiculous too, setting the Space Agency and the Museum on opposite ends¡­ We wouldn¡¯t know it¡¯s crumbled until we¡¯re here, and we can only turn around here, even if we don¡¯t know if we can still make it.¡±


    Wu Jian¡¯s face is pretty sour.


    Fei takes a deep breath. She clears her thoughts, and then says, ¡°whether it¡¯s Xie Ji going to look for Ke Zhu or vice versa, it would have resulted in the same thing ¨C the two of them being together by the time the Raining Hellfire strikes.


    So as long as we manage to hurry and make it at the very end. The Museum is also likely a shelter, so it will be fine.¡±


    Wu Jian knows what Fei is getting at, too, ¡°so witnessing his fianc¨¦e¡¯s death caused Ke Zhu to produce this Nightmare in his trauma?¡±


    ¡°If Ke Zhu really is the owner of this Nightmare, then that would be the most likely reason,¡± replies Fei, ¡°but the current issue is that this Nightmare¡­ doesn¡¯t have many clues that point to Ke Zhu being the owner in any way.¡±


    In fact, his fianc¨¦e Xie Ji has more of a relationship with the scenes in the Nightmare, even.


    Wu Jian doesn¡¯t share her concern, though, arguing, ¡°if it¡¯s because of his fianc¨¦e¡¯s death that this Nightmare is formed, then it is normal that the Nightmare features largely Xie Ji¡¯s memories of locations she frequent, isn¡¯t it?


    Ke Zhu himself works at the Museum and knows about the library, and maybe they also lived in the residential area; his fianc¨¦e was once the Space Agency¡¯s employee¡­ If we count it like this, then it is only their link with the restricted area to the east that remains unclear.¡±


    Fei¡¯s brows loosen slightly as she points out, ¡°that¡¯s true¡­ but, we still don¡¯t have direct evidence.¡±


    Wu Jian shrugs to say, ¡°it¡¯s just troublesome that this Nightmare has no one that looks exactly like the Tower resident in question.¡±


    In more than half of the Nightmares, the owner would have the same look they have in the Nightmares;


    The ones that don¡¯t are in the minority, like the little girl in the last Nightmare.


    The Nightmare owner can differ from the corresponding Tower resident in age, appearance or even personality.


    And if, in this Nightmare, it is because Ke Zhu went through such a traumatic experience of both the world ending and his fianc¨¦e dying right in front of his eyes, then it seems understandable his entire person changed dramatically.


    Finally, Wu Jian shakes his head and asks, ¡°so are we heading back now?¡±


    Fei thinks about it, but shakes her head as well, then says, ¡°since we¡¯re here already, let¡¯s try to gather more information on Xie Ji.¡±


    So they went for the person they asked about Xie Ji¡¯s whereabouts just now.


    Currently, he is engaged in some heated argument with others.


    Fei listens in, and understands that this person believes firmly that the unidentified object is sent here by aliens, who have also caused the madness to spread over a year ago.


    Fei finds herself distinctly unamused.


    Aliens? Are you for real?


    Humanity has definitely been on the lookout for possible extraterrestrial life since the very inception of space exploration. Many people have wondered, if at a certain spot in this vast universe, some intelligent, sentient life like humanity would exist.


    They have found nothing, though, not even the faintest of signs. It¡¯s like humans are the lone, insignificant existence that inhabit this vast expanse of space.


    To come up with an explanation for this, humanity has had to invent theories like the Great Filter, or simply propose the absurd like aliens existing in some other dimensions or form.


    Humans are social creatures by birth, and so is humanity, not wishing to be alive, alone.


    Though¡­ when humans who are about to meet utter destruction is spouting such nonsense, Fei still can¡¯t help but lament the absurdity of it.


    This kind of guess is even worse than the ¡®conspiracies¡¯ the Missiontakers of the Tower accuse their organisation of producing!


    Fei is even wondering if this is what the Missiontakers in the Tower feel after hearing about them? Do they feel equally speechless and unamused?


    Aliens?


    Ha. Ha.


    And clearly, Fei is not alone in the sentiment. The rest of the amateur astronomers think the same.


    They are proud of the technological advancements of humanity, and trust the consensus reached when their exploration of space plateaued.


    They do not believe that any intelligent species and their civilisation would have left zero signs of their existence from the devoted search humanity has been conducting for them.


    ¡°But what if¡­ you know, what if we are the target of prey?¡± The person is arguing, ¡°maybe we are simply incomprehensibly behind on the Kardashev scale, and they are completely beyond our comprehension, so we couldn¡¯t even discover them. They could wipe us out with a flick of their fingers, or something like that?¡±


    He says that with a completely straight face, even while everyone else is laughing.


    ¡°There¡¯s no point in even discussing such existences,¡± someone mocks him, ¡°such higher class civilisations? Spiritual existence? Maybe even subdimensional species? If they are something like that, we¡¯re equivalent to ants to their civilisation.


    Humans don¡¯t care the least for what ants are going to do, because they¡¯re not even consciously aware of us!¡±


    ¡°Hey, maybe it¡¯s like some of those novels; they¡¯re building some highway through the Milky Way and the Solar System is right in the way, so we got ¡®sterilised¡¯ along the way, hahaha.¡±


    Someone is jovially remarking, ¡°are you sure you¡¯ve not read one too many sci-fi dark forest type novels?¡±


    The man proposing everything is positively fuming. He¡¯s not even speaking with them anymore.


    Fei walks over, right as this happens.

 Volume 6 - CH 108.2

    Fei isn¡¯t here to join to astronomers¡¯ argument, even if the possibilities they are raising intrigues her a little. Most of what they¡¯re talking about are ridiculous anyway.


    She wants to ask more about Xie Ji instead.


    ¡°Xie Ji?¡± Someone is looking at them oddly, ¡°why are you asking about her?¡±


    ¡°Xie Ji¡¯s fianc¨¦ asked us to come,¡± Fei borrows Mu Jiashi and Ding Yi¡¯s excuse, and tells them, ¡°they¡¯ve been quarrelling, and so he wanted us to come and talk a little. Since she¡¯s a part of your group, I was thinking you might know her thoughts on all this¡­¡±


    ¡°Quarrelling¡­ Oh, I know, I heard Xie Ji complain that he didn¡¯t believe in the object, right?¡±


    Fei nods.


    Someone makes a snide remark, ¡°Xie Ji deserves it; the way I see it, what use is there telling people about a catastrophe beforehand? We were the ones who knew first-hand, so there was no helping us, but her fianc¨¦ didn¡¯t know. Why did she have to tell him and make him panic anyway? We don¡¯t even know if it¡¯s actually true.¡±


    ¡°Hey hey, what do you mean by true or false? We all saw it, so obviously it¡¯s true.¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah, but Xie Ji¡­ I didn¡¯t even dare tell my parents about it. They¡¯ve got a bad heart at their age, so I don¡¯t want them panicking¡­ Maybe, it¡¯ll be fine?¡±


    ¡°Are you even listening to yourself? The experts are all arguing because they¡¯re just armchair theorists! They might not even have the equipment at home to observe it, and they¡¯re simply working off existing theories, but we¡­¡±


    The person then points to the great structure of a telescope behind them, and asserts, ¡°we saw it ourselves!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we all did¡­¡±


    Fei has to interrupt them now, ¡°I wanted to ask more about Xie Ji¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, I know what you¡¯re here for. You want to mediate and have us help soften Xie Ji up a little. Tell you what, though, Xie Ji, she¡¯s just like her fianc¨¦. They¡¯re both stubborn as a mule. I doubt Xie Ji would even be happy seeing someone intervene in their relationship.¡±


    The person saying that looks cold as he says it.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, when Xie Ji came today, she looked really depressed so we asked her about it. That¡¯s when she told us; we also told her to go easy on him, but she wouldn¡¯t budge an inch on the matter.


    When she left earlier, she was huffed up again. Maybe she¡¯s going to the Museum to argue with her fianc¨¦ again¡­¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t they say Xie Ji comes from a family of soldiers? She sure got the personality down pat¡­ I suspect it might be bad enough that their engagement would be called off this time around¡­¡±


    ¡°Nothing doing. Their views are unreconcilable¡­¡±


    Here, Fei narrows her eyes, as she gives Wu Jian a glance.


    Wu Jian is muttering, ¡°why do I feel like this might have actually happened?¡±


    Fei then ominously continues, ¡°then Ke Zhu sees with his own eyes, that his girlfriend who wanted to break up because he wouldn¡¯t trust her, die in the Raining Hellfire that he was adamant was fake¡­¡±


    Wu Jian gasps, and murmurs, ¡°that must be a lifelong trauma.¡±


    Fei is still slightly concerned though. Something isn¡¯t adding up.


    But thinking more about it, she can¡¯t pin it down exactly.


    She decides to let go of her concern for now, and ask, ¡°do you all happen to know Xie Ji¡¯s fianc¨¦, then?¡±


    ¡°Well yeah¡­¡± Someone replies, pointing to the Space Agency behind them, ¡°it¡¯s quite run down now, but there¡¯s far more than the eye can see underground. I heard that they¡¯re emptying out the Museum, and securely storing the collections here.¡±


    Oh, so that¡¯s why Ke Zhu is driving his box truck here. Fei gets it now.


    ¡°We saw them move all the valuables around these few days when we¡¯re camping out here. It¡¯s a shame¡­ we¡¯re all going to die anyway.¡±


    Someone laments.


    Some dissenting voices are also heard, though, ¡°if Xie Ji didn¡¯t see that thing¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t blame her. To be honest, I¡¯m glad I at least know why I¡¯m going to die.¡±


    Fei, though, picks up something from the wording, ¡°Xie Ji, she was the first person to observe the unidentified object?¡±


    ¡°The first in the entire world!¡± Someone says proudly, and then bitterly smiles, adding, ¡°not that that¡¯s something you¡¯d ring home about, though.


    It was less than a week ago, I think, when we had one of our regularly scheduled space observation activities; after the madness spread, we would come here every so often to try and maintain and clean the telescope.


    Anyway, at that activity a few days ago, Xie Ji saw that thing¡­ I don¡¯t really know why or how, but like, her face went ghostly pale after she saw it.


    She wouldn¡¯t tell us what she saw, but it was painfully obvious something was wrong from the way she looked. And after that, we all saw it.


    A few of us who were there that day who weren¡¯t regulars were on the verge of fainting, too. We get why she wasn¡¯t willing to say anything¡­ Who could have thought? Something is flying right for you overhead, and you have no idea since when it¡¯s been there!¡±


    ¡°Tch, you¡¯re the one who was close to fainting!¡±


    ¡°Shut up; anyway, then the news got out and the world knew¡­ Well, I suppose it would have been someone else if not us, but we saw it the earliest, probably because we happen to be in the right place at the right time¡­ To see the bell that is due to give us our death knell. Ho.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you know Xie Ji is actually pretty admirable in that regard, and we can all learn from her¡­ She said that, what, ¡®I fear a lot, but death is not one of them¡¯ or something like that when she broke the news?¡±


    ¡°Who cares about that. I¡¯m scared of death; it¡¯s only human.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m still in my 20s. I haven¡¯t even had a date with anyone. I haven¡¯t even enjoyed life. When our boss went mad and gave us a year of paid leave, the next second you¡¯re telling me the world is over¡­ Damn it, damn it all, what the hell.¡±


    The mood is at its lowest so far.


    Someone then asks, ¡°how long do we have?¡±


    ¡°An hour¡­ or less. Maybe just 40, 50 minutes.¡±


    ¡°A countdown to finality, huh.¡±


    ¡°Just fucking shut your trap. I¡¯m going to live, I¡¯m going to live long after this. I¡¯ll hide inside when it comes; maybe it can¡¯t kill me.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, good luck with that.¡±


    ¡°Ha, I¡¯m going to take you up on that¡­¡±


    Fei stops tuning into their arguments. Instead, she mutters, ¡°so Xie Ji was the first person to see the object? The very first one?¡±


    Wu Jian quietly points out, ¡°it seems¡­ like an important identity?¡±


    Fei is quiet for a bit, and finally, she says with a forced smile, ¡°if we didn¡¯t know the Tower resident was a guy, I¡¯d have put Xie Ji down as the only possible owner of this Nightmare.¡±


    ¡°Yes, if we simply look at all the clues we have in the Nightmare so far. Xie Ji is the most owner-like candidate here, but¡­¡± Wu Jian points out, ¡°how could that possibly be?!¡±

 Volume 6 - CH 108.3

    Fei finds this equally strange.


    Given the clues presented in the Nightmare, Xie Ji is a central figure to the Nightmare, and even the first person to ever observe the object causing Raining Hellfire. That seems far too significant a role.


    It feels like this entire Nightmare has been formed revolving around her.


    The problem is, this Nightmare¡¯s owner is a man.


    Could it really be what Wu Jian is suggesting? The exceeding trauma of Xie Ji¡¯s death has caused Ke Zhu to dream but wholly from Xie Ji¡¯s perspective? It¡¯s not completely unreasonable.


    Fei kept getting a feeling that, for a Nightmare owner, Ke Zhu would be quite out of place, though.


    She thinks about it, shaking her head, and finally says, ¡°in any case, let¡¯s hurry to the Museum.¡±


    Wu Jian says, though, ¡°when we¡¯re there, it¡¯ll be barely 10 minutes to the hour I think. It¡¯s almost going to be the Raining Hellfire.¡±


    ¡°If we happen to be on the bus¡¯ scheduled arrival, it¡¯ll save a bit of time riding. Regardless¡­¡±


    Fei bites her lips. If they don¡¯t make it to the Museum in time when the Raining Hellfire strikes, and they died without shelter, they¡¯d end up like He Shuj¨¹n.


    But she has chosen to the face the actual truth. And, she trusts Mu Jiashi.


    So she says, ¡°let¡¯s go then¡­¡±


    Wu Jian nods sombrely, not saying another word.


    Fei then turns to Mr Suicide and tells him, ¡°we¡¯re going to the Museum, but if we don¡¯t make it¡­ You can get off at the library.¡±


    Mr Suicide looks at her, and says, ¡°I¡¯ll stay with you guys.¡±


    Fei is slightly surprised, but then, thinking about Mr Suicide¡¯s quirky desire for death, he might actually want to die in that Raining Hellfire.


    So she leaves it at that, and asks Wu Jian, ¡°you brought your Infocard, right?¡±


    ¡°Just one,¡± Wu Jian then asks, ¡°who do you want to use it on?¡±


    Fei seems to hesitate, and finally says, ¡°Xie Ji. If she doesn¡¯t end up being the owner, then it must be Ke Zhu.¡±


    Wu Jian nods.


    So they quickly start making their way across the city to the Museum.


    The viewers of the stream are watching their actions, and they comment,


    ¡°man, who is the owner of this nightmare even?¡±


    ¡°the owner: let¡¯s play hide and seek [doge emoji]¡±


    ¡°but it looks to be KZ¡±


    ¡°eh? but I think xie ji sounds more likely¡­ like, the whole nightmare is about her¡±


    ¡°here we must be wary of the evil scriptwriters intentions! maybe they want you to suspect that XJ is possible¡±


    ¡°Has everyone else noticed the three major conflicting points in this Nightmare so far?¡±


    ¡°three?¡±


    ¡°detective dalao! im sitting comfortably, so please begin your performance!¡±


    ¡°*quietly perks up ears*¡±


    ¡°Conflict #1: The arguing couple. Both options have qualities that do not match.


    Though it is likely this is referring to Xie Ji and Ke Zhu.


    Going with that piece of fabric analogy, what happened to tear the hole in the clothes itself, is also a matter worth considering.


    But first, an offhand mention to Occam¡¯s razor is due. Explanations that hinge on the fewest assumptions are preferable. So here, our piece of fabric is the least amount of things that must have happened, in my opinion, to give rise to this argument for Ke Zhu to be the Nightmare owner. But in fact, there may be other explanations, one that doesn¡¯t even require us to fix an imaginary ¡®hole in the clothing,¡¯ that is much simpler, much more elegant, to the question.


    Why I am saying that, is because of the possibility that Xie Ji is the Nightmare¡¯s owner herself. She would fit a lot of the usual characteristics we expect, for example, her link to all but one scene in this Nightmare. It would also be natural to expect her knowledge to be reflected in the magazines and journals in the library.


    Besides that, we already know from the discussions of the astronomy enthusiasts that her initial attitude towards the unidentified object is to avoid talking about it. Even if she came out to break the news later, it is only because circumstances, that being that other people are also observing the object, has forced her hand.


    This means that it is completely reasonable to expect her to subconsciously refuse to detail the unidentified object, just like how she thinks about it by default, and explains the object¡¯s lack of presence in the whole Nightmare.


    Why we are not going with this razor-sharp explanation is only due to one fundamental issue, which I will term Conflict #4: The players are adamant that the Nightmare owner is a man.


    Phew¡­¡±


    The wall of text from the detective dalao has finally made it through the screen. The viewers have all had to manually pause to read it all.


    Although in the middle of that, X¨¹ Beijin has switched the camera¡¯s view.


    Well, with Fei, Wu Jian and Mr Suicide heading off to the Museum, their perspective is likely going to be uneventful for a while, so it¡¯s understandable¡­ What is strange is where X¨¹ Beijin has changed his view to.


    The viewers are watching with great bafflement.


    It¡¯s the intersection right outside of the library, where neither Missiontakers nor mad people can be seen.


    And yet, just off the side of the road, a box truck is parked there.


    Author¡¯s note: The science fiction novel mentioned in part 2 of this chapter, refers to the Hitchhiker¡¯s Guide to the Galaxy.

 Volume 6 - CH 109.1

    Information Panel


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    A box truck?


    After a momentary shock, the viewers are immediately flooding the comment barrage.


    ¡°is this the one from the museum?!¡±


    ¡°why is it here¡­¡±


    ¡°there are¡­ two people on the truck? they kinda look like KZ and XJ, dont they?¡±


    ¡°this makes no sense¡±


    ¡°anyone want to guess what they¡¯re doing here?¡±


    ¡°I suspect xie ji visited ke zhu, then they argued again? or xie ji wanted to prove herself to him so she had him go to the space agency with her?¡±


    ¡°then why are they stopped at the library?¡±


    ¡°better question, why are they not getting off?¡±


    The box truck is simply parked there quietly. The viewers can see clearly, through the glass window, that a man and a woman are seated on the driver¡¯s and the passenger¡¯s seat. They are definitely having a quarrel, which a commenter points out, ¡°they¡¯re arguing?¡±


    But because this is not actually a meaningful location, and without Missiontakers here, X¨¹ Beijin cannot adjust where the camera views anything, so they cannot hear what they¡¯re arguing about.


    Soon enough, though, help comes.


    About a few minutes later, Ding Yi and Mu Jiashi are here.


    They came down after hearing the screech of an engine coming to an abrupt stop.


    Ding Yi looked out of the third floor window, and saw the box truck parked right at the entrance.


    She realised the Nightmare must be changed somehow after the third run, as this box truck should have only headed north from the Museum towards the Space Agency way past 3:30. It is just past three in the afternoon here.


    Ding Yi does not know what happened, but since the change has already happened, she immediately puts the clues she is rifling through aside.


    This clue refers to information she found that was unrelated to the argument over the unidentified object, but it¡¯s important nonetheless ¨C not to the Nightmare, but for helping them to uncover the past.


    It¡¯s an attempt to trace the source of the madness that spread throughout humanity.


    Wu Jian has already told them about the book he found on the second floor, which was more of a record or log. The information Ding Yi found, though, is a much more scientific and formal pursuit of the source.


    The author and his fellow researchers spent over a year to source and identify the precise moment when madness developed in different areas, until they finally found the source of this madness©¤©¤


    Well, at least, a source. It¡¯s not like they have any means of verifying the answer at this point.


    In their studies, they concluded that the source of the madness, or at least the centre of the spread of the madness, is in this city centre. More accurately, it¡¯s in the restricted residential/shopping complex in the CBD of Cangcheng.


    ¡°If this madness can be treated as a form of contagious epidemic, then its source (or more precisely, where we have found the most likely patient zero) would be a tenant of the apartment complex,¡± the information concludes.


    Ding Yi didn¡¯t have time to read through the methodology or analysis due to the limited time she has to work with, so she can only devote her time to the conclusion.


    But, the apartment complex? The blocked off area?


    Fei and Wu Jian have told them about it, and they did not seem to see the area itself as important.


    They emphasised the old security guard outside the area instead.


    Ding Yi, though, is a bit more concerned about the area.


    She has already made the connection that this area is most likely the Nightmare which trapped Jiang Shuangjie.


    Her subordinates have told them about the Nightmare in detail, and she received confirmation and further information from Mu Jiashi earlier.


    She knows now that that Nightmare was the Nightmare of the neighbour of the mysterious bookstore owner.


    The relationship has become quite tangled and stretched, but Ding Yi has firmly held onto the idea that that Nightmare is key.


    Here, it says that a tenant there was the source of all the madness?


    Ding Yi furrows her brows deeply.


    If she understood correctly, in that Nightmare, in the apartment and commercial complex, there weren¡¯t actually anyone insane.


    The sentient furniture©¤©¤The consciousness, or possibly humans, trapped in its own intranet¡­


    Ding Yi suddenly finds herself stuck pondering the idea.


    Stuck in the intranet?


    Isn¡¯t that, like, a description of themselves as well?


    Ding Yi is suddenly feeling a little shook up inside. Did she just stumble upon a damning piece of information?


    She tries to keep the thought in her head, then she moves on ¨C here, the question is that sentient electronics and insane humans are not exactly candidates for equivalency.


    Why did this researcher and their coworkers agree on the conclusion that that area is the source of the madness, when the two forms of the ¡®madness¡¯ manifest there are clearly distinct?


    Ding Yi decides to check the chain of logic, and finally, she realises that, there actually are records of mad people in the restricted area.


    In fact, this report has solely focused on the appearance of the madness-inflicted persons, and avoided touching on the sentient electronics at all.


    And in that respect, true, the earliest an insane person has been documented, is at that restricted area.


    Ding Yi wonders why, though, the sentient electronics are not mentioned¡­ What could it mean? Is it really also part of the madness? Or was it something else entirely?


    She¡¯s confused.


    Also, she is a bit indescribably fearful.


    She is blanking out with the information in her hand.


    Until finally, she hears the engine and the subsequent screech coming from outside the library.


    At the window, she identified the vehicle as the box truck from the Museum, so she put the information down, and went downstairs with Mu Jiashi. He Shuj¨¹n trundled along after them.


    They immediately sees the quarrelling man and woman in the box truck, one of whom is Ke Zhu, who Ding Yi met at the side entrance to the Museum the last run.


    She furrows her brows a little, and continues forward until she¡¯s at the side of the truck. The argument can be heard clearly even before she¡¯s in range for a greeting.


    Ding Yi pauses, and focuses to listen.

 Volume 6 - CH 109.2

    Back at the stream, X¨¹ Beijin has put the stream in the perspective of Ding Yi, which means the viewers can finally hear what the argument is about.


    ¡°Stop thinking about those things, a-Ji. We¡¯re getting married next month, so stop being so pessimistic! We will not die, and the world will be fine¡­¡±


    Unexpectedly, Ke Zhu sounds like the one pleading for normalcy in his tone, completely unlike the irritated, wrathful person he was earlier. If nothing else, this is quite telling for how he treats his fianc¨¦e compared to others.


    Xie Ji, though, is inconsolable.


    She is yelling, ¡°no! No! The Apocalypse is coming! It is¡­ Believe me, Ke Zhu, you really have to believe in me.¡±


    Ke Zhu sounds like he is rapidly losing his patience, ¡°believe in you? But why should I believe in that? Why should I believe that we will die soon and end up in the afterlife together?!¡±


    A-Ji, wake up. I do want to believe in you, but¡­ this is just ridiculous to say. Something is falling out of the sky and we¡¯re all going to die? Do you not see how bad of a joke that sounds like?¡±


    Xie Ji is already sobbing quietly, saying, ¡°that¡¯s why I want you to go to the Space Agency, see it for yourself. Ok? We are going to fail. I¡¯m not lying. Please¡­ we, we¡¯re all going to die¡­¡±


    Ke Zhu is breathing in and out heavily. He doesn¡¯t want to argue anymore. They¡¯ve already argued so loudly the whole community knew last night. He doesn¡¯t want to repeat that.


    But he also really cannot see any meaning to believing in what Xie Ji said.


    He does believe her, but he finds it impossible to want to believe her.


    He is gripping his steering wheel tightly, with trembling hands. Why does Xie Ji not understand this¡­


    Why does she not understand, that it is a problem of pointless futility and death, rather than whether he believes in her or not?


    Death¡­ Death. An encroaching death.


    Admit he¡¯s definitely going to die? And then what, embrace it with open arms? ¡­ You¡¯re kidding.


    Who could face the oncoming, eternal silence without a flinch? They¡¯re not in some video game. If they die, they turn into cold coffins, buried six feet under a gravestone.


    There is no revive button. There is no restart button. They die, and they¡¯re dead.


    That is why Ke Zhu has had enough of talking about it.


    He is staring blankly at the asphalt road in front of him. He can see the heat distorting the vision. Maybe the asphalt will melt.


    The incessant begging is fuelling some nameless anger and hopelessness within him; he is doing all he can to stop himself arguing with Xie Ji.


    Because that was exactly what happened last night.


    If Ke Zhu told Xie Ji he¡¯s afraid of thinking about dying, Xie Ji tells him, that she fears a lot of things, but death is not one of them; why should he fear death?


    If Ke Zhu instead said, he does not want to believe in her, then Xie Ji would ask, no, why? Why can he not believe in her? It was something she saw. She saw the eventuality of the object crashing onto the planet.


    So all in all, Ke Zhu can only conclude, that Xie Ji just wants him to admit that he¡¯s going to die.


    And their wedding, will never come.


    Here, Ke Zhu can¡¯t help but slam on his steering wheel; his face is contorted from anxiety, from fear.


    The box truck makes a loud blaring noise, spooking even Ke Zhu himself.


    He looks around outside in reflex, when he finally notices, that a few people are standing around there.


    Furrowing his brows, his bad temper is flaring up again, ¡°what are you all doing standing so close?!¡±


    Ding Yi, observing his reactions, thinks Ke Zhu does not yet remember what happened the last Nightmare.


    So then she thinks and says, ¡°we just heard you arguing¡­ About the object in the sky.¡±


    Ke Zhu¡¯s face is quite sour, but Xie Ji has interrupted him before he can say anything.


    Xie Ji just opened the door and jumped off, then the woman in her Big Bang dress comes to Ding Yi to hurriedly ask, ¡°you know it¡­ You know it, don¡¯t you?! You know about this! It¡¯s true! Please help, please help convince Ke Zhu, my fianc¨¦¡­¡±


    ¡°Enough!¡± Ke Zhu has been pushed over the line, and disembarks, yelling, ¡°I¡¯ll admit it! I trust you! And then what? So we¡¯re going to die, so what?!¡±


    Xie Ji is looking at him, all stunned.


    Ke Zhu is so angry he is shaking all over. He doesn¡¯t even know why he¡¯s so angry.


    He¡¯s never been known for having a good temperament, but when it comes to his fianc¨¦e, he has always been as gentle as he could be. But right now, something has boiled over, and anger has overtaken him like a searing flame.


    He asks, ¡°so you want me to admit we¡¯re going to die, don¡¯t you? Fine! I¡¯m going to die, then, and we¡¯re both going to die together! So? What now that I¡¯ve said it?¡±


    During the argument last night, he actually stayed quiet in the beginning, but as Xie Ji looked increasingly agitated blabbering on by herself, it seemed to have finally infected him as well, and they bickered.


    He thought it was already over, though. He thought that, after the argument last night, Xie Ji has already given up convincing him. He doesn¡¯t want to face or acknowledge the possibility. He doesn¡¯t want to believe.


    Not that he does not believe, but he just doesn¡¯t want to commit to such a reality.


    A reality¡­ That they¡¯re all about to die.


    It¡¯s funny, isn¡¯t it?


    The woman he loves, whom he is prepared to spend the dozens of years left in their lives together, told him, we¡¯re all going to die. We have no future.


    She even wants him to say it out loud with her. How cruel.


    Ke Zhu is giving Xie Ji a hateful glance that he has never done before, and blurts out, ¡°so are you happy now?! If you are, then just shut up! I beg you, stop talking about it!¡±


    Xie Ji looks completely shocked. She is frozen after Ke Zhu finally snapped.


    Her face is going pale, and she tries to quietly explain herself, ¡°Ke Zhu, I¡¯m not afraid of dying¡­ I¡¯m not. What I¡¯m afraid is, that I couldn¡¯t know, why I¡¯m dying¡­¡±


    Ke Zhu retorts, ¡°but I am afraid of dying,¡± he adds, ¡°I¡¯m happy to just die without knowing a word or experiencing a moment of pain. Please just let me die in ignorant bliss. A-Ji, I beg you.¡±


    Xie Ji looks like she is finding this painful to accept. She doesn¡¯t seem to understand why the man she loves so dearly would think that way. Why is it the complete opposite of how she thinks people would react?


    Perhaps, in quieter, more mundane times, the couple would have been a happy, lovey-dovey couple that spends sweet, unremarkable days together. But when disaster strikes, and their lives are upended, their fundamental differences in attitude means they are destined to fall out.


    Xie Ji just crashes to the ground, a sobbing mess.


    Ding Yi has watched this play out in complete silence. She has no idea what¡¯s going on. How did this couple that both love each other so much come to such bitter ends? In the face of a coming catastrophe, they are still bickering about trivialities, not conceding any ground to the other.


    Maybe it¡¯s a lack of time. There is not enough time for reflection, only enough time for them to argue, to wrestle their clashing principles.


    Xie Ji kept repeating to Ke Zhu about the Apocalypse ad nauseam, but maybe, all she really wanted deep down, is simply for Ke Zhu to reassure her, ¡°it¡¯s alright. Even in death, we shall be together. We will die together, and we will still be with each other forever.¡±


    But clearly, Ke Zhu is not the type of person to pick up such cues.


    So Ding Yi can only remain silent as the atmosphere sinks and breaks.

 Volume 6 - CH 109.3

    Finally, Ding Yi takes a step back metaphorically, to have a better look over the Nightmare itself. She looks over the distraught couple, and murmurs, ¡°now, who¡¯s the Nightmare¡¯s owner here?¡±


    Her gaze first lands on Ke Zhu.


    All signs have come to point out that Ke Zhu is the true owner of this Nightmare; he¡¯s a guy, and he has a backstory which would motivate the formation of the Nightmare ¨C his fianc¨¦e most likely died in the Raining Hellfire.


    If they want to be on the safe side, the Missiontakers can try and track to see if it is Xie Ji who dies during the Raining Hellfire.


    Although Ding Yi doesn¡¯t exactly like the idea. They should avoid letting the Nightmare crumble more and more.


    If it were anything like the Nightmare Ding Yi once went through with Mu Jiashi, then it would become nigh impossible to resolve.


    If Mu Jiashi had not fully intervened, they might have had a really, really bad time in that Nightmare.


    That¡¯s why Ding Yi is hoping that they can resolve the Nightmare this run. There is still some time left.


    While she is thinking, two men and women are approaching from the west. It¡¯s Buzzcut and Ye Lan, with X¨¹ Xiaoli and Zhang Minglian in tow, having used the same excuse as last time.


    The two Missiontakers returning to the library seem surprised at this scene in front of the library.


    Buzzcut cracks a joke, ¡°yo, everyone¡¯s here? Quite lively here.¡±


    The Missiontakers, plus the couples, all give him speechless glances.


    Buzzcut, unabashed, simply ¡®tch¡¯s and then asks about what¡¯s happening.


    After that, he looks over the distraught Ke Zhu and Xie Ji, and says, ¡°Ke Zhu must be the owner then, right?¡±


    Ding Yi still has reservations about that.


    She thinks something doesn¡¯t add up, but she can¡¯t put her finger on what.


    Ding Yi doesn¡¯t know the detective dalao¡¯s great three-point Conflicts thesis in the stream, but she has already subconsciously noticed the underlying strangeness permeating through the Nightmare and its clues.


    Buzzcut, seeing her reservations, thinks about it and says, ¡°how about this. We¡¯ll use an Infocard.¡±


    Ding Yi is surprised at the abrupt mention.


    Buzzcut explains, ¡°they¡¯re cheap and everywhere anyway. Might as well put them to use.¡±


    He made the decision, not simply because of how ubiquitous Infocards are, of course.


    More importantly, when he sees that Ke Zhu and Xie Ji are here, he has immediately realised that Fei and Wu Jian¡¯s group would not have made any progress on their front; this means they should try to resolve the Nightmare quickly.


    And if all else fails, they can still re-enter the Nightmare in a the future, at least for a while, to try getting a True End.


    As someone from the higher floors, Buzzcut is all too keenly aware of how dangerous a Nightmare that has began crumbling is.


    He would much rather not succumb to a Collapsed Nightmare, especially not when he has abandoned everything, when he is at the possible cusp of discovering a possibility of escape after returning to the bottom floor.


    He wants to ensure safety above all else ¨C his own safety.


    And hence, the proposal.


    Normally, Missiontakers would avoid mentioning utility cards in the Nightmares, worried about pickpockets, and also worried being mistaken for a pickpocket.


    Missiontakers generally go through Nightmares completely ignoring the existence of utility cards.


    Buzzcut doesn¡¯t share the usual concerns, though.


    Since, when he and Ye Lan came in here, he only brought a single Infocard©¤©¤


    Yes. An Infocard that everyone and their mother would carry. Since Buzzcut and Ye Lan decided that, for the first time entering this Nightmare, they should focus on information gathering, instead of forcing their way to a True End.


    So he can simply tell them about the Infocard here without restraint.


    It¡¯s a good shortcut, in this case.


    As it is usually not the case that Missiontakers would have such an awkward situation of being completely unable to isolate the owner of the Nightmare down.


    Some Nightmares have red herrings, but they still clear up soon enough as exploration progresses, like the Nightmare with the malfunctioning elevators Fei and Wu Jian was in. The more they explored, the clearer it was that only the little girl could have been the Nightmare¡¯s owner, even if her age wildly differed with the Tower resident in question.


    In this Nightmare, though, the situation is completely different.


    This is the third run of the Nightmare, but they have not isolated even candidates for the Nightmare¡¯s owner;


    Ke Zhu, Xie Ji, and to a lesser extent, the other Tower residents, are all unable to be completely proven, or disproven to be the Nightmare owner.


    Of course, Xie Ji is the wrong gender, but¡­ what if? She has the strongest connections to all the important locations here.


    Maybe she had gender reassignment surgery. Or¡­ maybe, for example, in the Nightmare, she¡­ he, decided to interpret himself as a woman? Who knows what insane people would dream about?


    Or maybe it¡¯s Ke Zhu who died in the Raining Hellfire, and in her grief, Xie Ji started hallucinating about her fianc¨¦, and has confused reality for hallucinations, you know? Or she simply started dressing like him and acting like him, and they wouldn¡¯t know because no one would be quite unhinged enough to physically confirm a Tower resident¡¯s gender in the Tower.


    They have, at best, an educated guess based on the tone of voice and body size of the Tower resident in question. Maybe the ¡®he¡¯ is a woman?


    Anything and everything goes at this point.


    The Infocard will at least help them ascertain, if someone is or is not the Nightmare¡¯s owner.


    So after the brief shock, Ding Yi says, ¡°please do,¡± and then she pauses before adding, ¡°if you need compensation, I can provide.¡±


    As the ex-billionaire of the bottom floor of the Tower, even after giving her entire commerce kingdom away, Ding Yi¡¯s wealth is still quite beyond the grasp of any other average Missiontaker.


    Buzzcut flat out cuts her off, though, explaining, ¡°sure are generous, aren¡¯t we? But no, no need. It¡¯s just an Infocard.¡±


    Ding Yi nods, and stops pushing the issue. Her utility card would have subtly affected Buzzcut and make him trust what she says implicitly. For example, here, Buzzcut isn¡¯t rightfully thinking about whether she had any exterior motives to offer a utility card like that.


    Of course, the clause is an if-conditional, so Buzzcut¡¯s willingness to accept the offer wasn¡¯t at all affected.


    Since Buzzcut turned her offer down, Ding Yi has left it at that.


    Meanwhile, Mu Jiashi, standing to the side, gives Buzzcut a discreet glance. Ha, these foolish higher floor Missiontakers.


    They must have not been down here on the bottom floor for an exceedingly long amount of time. They¡¯ve probably never heard of Ding Yi, nor would they even be aware of the absurd amount of favours they could pull having Ding Yi owe them one.


    Buzzcut, who is ¡®blissfully unaware¡¯ of the advantages he¡¯s missed, takes an Infocard out, and points it over at Ke Zhu.


    Then shortly after, he says, ¡°that¡¯s it. He¡¯s the Nightmare owner.¡±


    Ding Yi responds with surprise, ¡°it¡¯s really him?¡± She pauses, and then starts muttering, ¡°not that it was completely out of the blue¡­¡±


    Ke Zhu seems to be confused by what they¡¯re doing.


    Buzzcut, rubbing his chin, and looking at Ke Zhu, says, ¡°what he fears, what bugs him¡­ is likely Xie Ji¡¯s death? So if we can avoid Xie Ji¡¯s death, the Nightmare should reach an Ending.¡±


    ¡°A Normal End, most likely,¡± Ding Yi adds, ¡°considering the likelihood that identifying the owner is the Difficulty of this Nightmare, now that we¡¯ve skipped that step, that seems the most probable outcome.¡±


    While they¡¯re in the middle of the discussion, though, they hear someone calling out to them.


    Fei, Wu Jian and Mr Suicide are finally back at the library from the Space Agency. At the same time, X¨¹ Beijin, Lin Qin and Lu Chengzhe have left the library to come check the ruckus out.


    This means that, other than the old men ¨C the Director of the Museum and the elderly security guard ¨C all the possible key persons of this Nightmare have assembled here.


    Wu Jian, after listening a bit to the discussion, though, wonders aloud, ¡°you¡¯ve confirmed that Ke Zhu is the owner?¡± He can¡¯t help but add, ¡°Fei and I both think Xie Ji is much, much more likely to be the owner, though.¡±

 Volume 6 - CH 110.1

    Convoluted


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    When the Missiontakers come to learn that Xie Ji is the first to discover the unidentified object in space, they were all shocked.


    Even Mu Jiashi.


    He didn¡¯t know that; this clue is, evidently, only provided when the Nightmare has crumbled in a way that makes Xie Ji leave the Space Agency early, and then the other astronomy enthusiasts are probed with the right questions.


    When Mu Jiashi was in this Nightmare, he was at the Museum the third run; he was also quite ¡®distracted,¡¯ to put it mildly, by the truth he was becoming able to glimpse by that time.


    He went through the Nightmare in a daze, without caring much for the details after that.


    All be damned, he can¡¯t actually care, lest he be led to terrifying conclusions!


    Now, looking at the rather lost and helpless woman, he feels that something is off more than ever.


    There is such a stark contrast between when she is with her fianc¨¦, and when she is alone.


    When Xie Ji was almost hysterical earlier, Mu Jiashi is almost in disbelief; is this really the woman who told him ¡®I fear so many, yet the only exception, would be death¡¯? (tl check)


    Perhaps, this is what ended up traumatising her enough to cause this Nightmare, so thinks Mu Jiashi.


    The woman who did not fear death still ended up with a Nightmare that embodied death, after all that ¨C she does not fear her own death, but she fears deeply for her own love¡¯s death.


    Although Mu Jiashi finds his mind returning to the fact that Xie Ji was the first ever observer of the object. Is this perhaps just a simple background setting in the Nightmare?


    Considering the Apocalypse in their past, however, for them, her role could not have been more pivotal.


    Well, maybe Xie Ji is only Acting as a ¡®Xie Ji,¡¯ but it seems clues could probably be found on that script she holds¡­


    Also, Su Enya. Su Enya also repeated that phrase to him. Would Xie Ji know her? What kind of relationship would the two of them have?


    Or perhaps, could they even, be the same person¡­?


    The moment the thought crossed Mu Jiashi¡¯s mind, he has managed to shock himself.


    If they really are the same person, then, the Tower¡­ The Tower residents¡­ The secrets herein, may be far more than Mu Jiashi can ever fathom.


    He¡¯s getting anxious.


    He wonders, what kind of secrets would there be to find in the bookstore owner¡¯s Nightmare?


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s mind continuously wanders around, despite his usual collected and methodical self.


    The rest of the Missiontakers are focusing alright, but they¡¯re also confused.


    Buzzcut, who confirmed Ke Zhu is the Nightmare owner using his Infocard, asserts so, and asks, ¡°at least Infocards never have false information, right?¡±


    Wu Jian says, less confidently than before, ¡°yes, the Server does not deceive Missiontakers¡­¡±


    His attempt at ironic humour completely falls flat.


    Finally, Fei manages to turn the atmosphere around, stating, ¡°I still plan to try it.¡±


    Buzzcut is unimpressed, saying, ¡°it¡¯s already been confirmed; if you want to waste a perfectly good Infocard, then be my guest.¡±


    Fei gives an apologetic smile, then, spotting the rather cold expression Mu Jiashi has got, simply states, ¡°I don¡¯t think this Nightmare is that simple.¡±


    This is the Nightmare that destroyed Mu Jiashi, a Nightmare of the higher floor, after all.


    While Mu Jiashi had a True End, with his ¡®defeat¡¯ stemming more from a spiritual defeat within him, considering the Apocalypse, but, there must have been other effects on his psyche as well.


    He has experienced defeat here. The Nightmare, where he experienced his defeat, will definitely carry some connotations to him from then on.


    If it was quite a farcical lead up to his failure, then Mu Jiashi would probably have found it an amusing but cruel joke from fate, and should be able to laugh after-the-fact.


    However, with how serious he has looked so far, Fei is convinced this Nightmare is far more complex than they¡¯re treating it right now.


    Sometimes, Fei can sense a sort of¡­ schizophrenic tendency on Mu Jiashi.


    He¡¯s a ball of contradictions. He says he¡¯s a failure, a loser, a useless piece of trash.


    But he is still as bright a guiding light as ever in the Nightmares; of course, he¡¯s been pretty mute in this Nightmare, but in the Nightmare with the post-Apocalyptic ruins, it is with his capabilities that they tore through the veil of amnesia at the very end, and struck the truth.


    He is the exact opposite of a ¡®useless piece of trash.¡¯


    In fact, that conflicting description reminds Fei of this Nightmare they¡¯re currently in.


    Thinking about the clues they have, it¡¯s easy to notice the signs of contradictions.


    The actual Nightmare owner, being possibly Ke Zhu and Xie Ji and even others, but all of them possess an irreconcilable flaw.


    The Tower resident was a man, so Xie Ji could not have been the owner;


    Ke Zhu had nothing to do with areas other than the Museum, the residential area and the Space Agency at best, so he could not have been the owner either;


    Lu Chengzhe, the only person to have direct links to the library, had nothing else, and no more mention from the Missiontakers after listing him as a candidate. He¡¯s treated about the same as the tool-persons providing clues outside the Space Agency.


    That is why Fei remained doubtful even when Buzzcut is adamant he¡¯s already used the Infocard and confirmed that Ke Zhu is the Nightmare¡¯s owner. She thinks they¡¯re walking right into the Nightmare¡¯s trap.


    That is why, she is saying firmly, ¡°let¡¯s check on Xie Ji¡¯s information panel.¡±


    She hands the Infocard to Wu Jian, who looks around, and since no one else says anything, he walks up, in front of Xie Ji.


    Buzzcut rolls his eyes and mumbles, ¡°ha, what a waste, but it¡¯s just an Infocard¡­ It¡¯s useless enough that it¡¯s good to serve as a lesson¡­¡±


    Before he can finish talking, though, Wu Jian is shocked, yelling, ¡°she¡­ Xie Ji, she is the owner of the Nightmare!¡±


    Buzzcut goes ¡®bwuh?¡¯ for a moment, before immediately going, ¡°impossible! I saw with my own eyes that Ke Zhu is the Nightmare¡¯s owner¡­ I¡­¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re both owners of this Nightmare?¡± Wonders Fei, aloud.


    Then the entrance to the library falls entirely silent.

 Volume 6 - CH 110.2

    The viewers of the stream are having an uproar.


    ¡°they¡¯re both the owners? both?? are you serious?!¡±


    ¡°its not exactly impossible¡­ this is a nightmare, so perhaps, the owner¡­ is dreaming as both of them?¡±


    ¡°like I can get normal nightmares, but then¡­ who is the actor outside the nightmare? how do you even control two characters at once?¡±


    ¡°im confused, i dont get what kinda¡­ state the owner is in?¡±


    ¡°schizophrenic state (literal)¡±


    ¡°no, but i mean¡­ is there really ke zhu and xie ji in the world, or are they actually the same person but just different personalities?¡±


    ¡°if they¡¯re actually the same person, I think I get why the nightmare has all the conflicts¡±


    ¡°but¡­ still, if theyre already the same person, then how did the nightmare even come about?


    it makes sense if one of them died while engaged and the other one is traumatised and has ptsd in nightmares, but if not¡­ it makes no sense¡±


    ¡°clinical narcissism?¡±


    ¡°not that it looks like that from how they¡¯ve been acting so far¡­¡±


    ¡°another possibility is that they both exist, but one died in the hellfire, that¡¯s why the one left behind, in his or her pain, decided to act like they¡¯re the one they loved, and then acts out this drama in their nightmare forever, as if everything is stopped just before the apocalypse;


    it restarts as soon as the hellfire strikes, because thats what the nightmare owner wants to see¡±


    ¡°it¡¯s just a nightmare though, isn¡¯t that lying to their own selves?¡±


    ¡°so maybe the owner is KZ and XJ is who he fantasised himself to be in the nightmares from extreme pain and regret, and he¡¯s reliving everything¡­?¡±


    ¡°hmm¡­ i think i understand now¡±


    ¡°but confirmation will depend on who dies in the hellfire; we have no idea who it was in the last two runs¡±


    Of course, it¡¯s not just the stream¡¯s viewers who are completely stunned, but so are the Missiontakers.


    Especially Buzzcut, who is looking at Wu Jian and Ke Zhu like they have just told him ¡®the piece of chocolate you just ate is one of those piles of shit with a chocolate flavour.


    It¡¯s quite the disgusting metaphor, but it does convey about the same amount of shock factor.


    He murmurs, ¡°so this Nightmare really has two Nightmare owners?¡± Then he immediately backtracks on the thought, ¡°or possibly, a simple split personality? The subconscious of his self has been reflected in the Nightmare?


    This means that one of them did die, and the other person had a Nightmare because of that.¡±


    Fei thinks about it and analyses it deeply, before bitterly chuckling to say, ¡°although it¡¯s equally likely to be either of them¡­¡±


    Ding Yi ponders about it, before proposing, ¡°if it¡¯s uncertain, then why don¡¯t we simply put it aside to think about the Ending instead?¡±


    The other Missiontakers seem to snap awake, and immediately agree.


    If this path of thought is a complete dead-end, then they might as well think outside the box to figure out an Ending for this Nightmare.


    Then they stumble onto that question ¨C to live or to die?


    Would Ke Zhu and Xie Ji, want to survive together, or to die together?


    The Missiontakers are now looking at the engaged couple.


    As the Missiontakers had their epiphany, the couple has been looking at each other with this complicated gaze, of both longing, and of anxiety.


    They both have a lot they want to say, but neither can produce a word. They hold irreconcilable opinions, but they still deeply love each other.


    The Missiontakers fall into thought.


    Lin Qin is looking at the couple, and then tilts his head to ask X¨¹ Beijin quietly, ¡°is this how people who like each other behave?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin was watching the Nightmare¡¯s progress along, and feels the mood has taken a left turn at Fifth and Bananas when he hears that out of nowhere.


    After a brief, awkward silence, he answers, ¡°no, not normally,¡± he explains, ¡°at least, an Apocalypse isn¡¯t something that should be expected to befall anyone¡¯s life.¡±


    ¡°But it has befallen us, rather than not,¡± Lin Qin responds, ¡°that¡¯s what all the other Missiontakers are saying.¡±


    The corner of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mouth twitches.


    He knows what Lin Qin is getting at ¨C he wants to say, since they have met it already, then in the future, they will not have to argue about it again in the future.


    Oh goodness, why is he able to follow Lin Qin¡¯s strange brain logic now?


    Then Lin Qin adds, ¡°but even if another Apocalypse happens to us, we will definitely not argue.¡±


    Here, X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s interest has been piqued, ¡°how do you see the Apocalypse, then?¡±


    Lin Qin, though, asks, ¡°what do you mean how I see it?¡±


    ¡°Uh, for example, if I told you, the Apocalypse is coming, and you are going to die¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin finds himself less and less sure about what he¡¯s saying, but he keeps going, ¡°and something like that, what would you think?¡±


    ¡°Think?¡±


    Lin Qin falls silent, thinking about it for a while, and answers, ¡°I think I¡¯d want to know, who caused me to die.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is surprised.


    Lin Qin says, ¡°if only the Apocalypse can simply be punched away¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    What in the name of all that is good and holy is the little apple going on about?!

 Volume 6 - CH 110.3

    Lin Qin can see how X¨¹ Beijin is thinking him the fool, and quickly explains, ¡°I¡¯m not some kind of violent manic! You know as well the Apocalypse cannot possibly be solved like that. I was just, I want to finish dealing with it quickly.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin rolls his eyes, again, and asks, ¡°what if death is inevitable? What if¡­ you really, have to die?¡±


    Lin Qin seems taken aback; his instincts tell him X¨¹ Beijin is not thinking about what he thinks he is. Even after some thought, though, he still has no idea what might actually manage to kill him.


    So he can only answer as his heart wishes to, ¡°will you be by my side?¡±


    Huh?


    X¨¹ Beijin blanks out looking at Lin Qin.


    Lin Qin says, ¡°if you¡¯re by my side, then I¡¯ll be glad to be facing death with you.¡±


    Then he adds, just for good measure, ¡°nobody else would work. It must be you who is with me.¡±


    A very special kind of emotion has struck X¨¹ Beijin right in the feels.


    Oh man, what¡­ what in the¡­ what in the world is Lin Qin spouting! Does he even know what he¡¯s talking about?


    As if he can telepathically read his mind, Lin Qin says, ¡°I know it sounds childish, but¡­¡± He looks at X¨¹ Beijin with such genuine emotions in his eyes, and says, ¡°I like you, and isn¡¯t it a wonderful thing to be able to pass away together with the one you like?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin falls silent for a moment, before saying, ¡°you¡¯re lovestruck¡­¡±


    Lin Qin furrows his brows and says, ¡°I¡¯m not¡­¡± Then he adds, ¡°you were the one who asked what if I really have to die.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin then says, ¡°if I¡¯m not by your side then¡­¡±


    Lin Qin answers without a second thought, ¡°only if you are by my side would I be willing to die.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin goes speechless.


    Seriously. This childishly brutal honest quality of Lin Qin, it is showing X¨¹ Beijin how much of a blank canvas his worldview is. It¡¯s like he can paint whatever colours he wants in his world.


    Is this a good thing? Is this a bad thing?


    But X¨¹ Beijin is definitely touched for sure.


    All these years he¡¯s spent in the Tower alone, by himself. Everywhere in his bookstore has he left a lonely, exhausted, solitary silhouette.


    Before he realised it, the cold feeling of solitude has seeped straight into his own soul.


    So when the little apple barged in for hugs and company, while X¨¹ Beijin was uncomfortable, he was also finding himself enchanted with the warmth of human accompaniment.


    That is why, when Lin Qin wished for their relationship to progress, X¨¹ Beijin was merely hesitant and not unwilling.


    Just now, Lin Qin, he actually said, that if he was by his side, he would be willing to die?


    What in the world, little apple¡­ This talk of death. X¨¹ Beijin thinks that, no, it will never reach such a degree.


    He doesn¡¯t want or need Lin Qin to pass away. He needs him alive. He needs all of them alive; only living people can have hope.


    And hope¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin tries his best to go against the negative thoughts, and thinks, he can give out hope.


    Looking at the Missiontakers, the Actors, the people who know nothing of the real truth, he says, ¡°Lin Qin¡­¡±


    The young man in question answers.


    X¨¹ Beijin asks, ¡°do you want to leave the Tower?¡±


    Lin Qin thinks about it, and asks, ¡°will you be there?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± X¨¹ Beijin answers, almost like he¡¯s talking to himself, ¡°if I can leave the Tower, then I¡¯m sure I will¡­ leave.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll follow you,¡± Lin Qin says without a shred of doubt, ¡°I don¡¯t remember Earth anyway, and the Tower is boring. I¡¯ll follow you.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is feeling extremely complicated. He gives Lin Qin a deep, long glance, and finally, he says, ¡°sure, then follow away.¡±


    Lin Qin smiles, narrowing his eyes as well.


    Then he tilts his head and asks, ¡°if I follow you my whole life, then is it the same as us being a couple?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He slaps Lin Qin on the wrist with a stoic expression and says, ¡°don¡¯t get ahead of yourself.¡±


    Lin Qin looks saddened, and makes a muffled ¡®oh.¡¯


    It¡¯s not the first time he¡¯s heard that in the Nightmare already.


    Sigh. Even though Beijin is already hesitant¡­ Why is he unwilling to acknowledge their relationship?


    X¨¹ Beijin, looking at Lin Qin, shakes his head and then turns to the Missiontakers.


    He¡¯s been talking with Lin Qin at nothing louder than a whisper, during which the Missiontakers have been busy as well.


    They have been talking to Ke Zhu and Xie Ji to see what they really think.


    They confirm that their thoughts are divergent.


    Xie Ji does not fear death; she¡¯s happy if her fianc¨¦ would spend their final moments together and die.


    Ke Zhu fears death; he wants to live together with his fianc¨¦e.


    Buzzcut, annoyed, talks to the others, ¡°maybe they should just finish arguing it out¡­ Why can they be so different on even this? Was that Tower resident this conflicted in his mind in the Tower?¡±


    ¡°Who knows?¡± Wu Jian shrugs, ¡°maybe we can achieve both their wishes at once? Is it possible to get these two conditions to unify? We haven¡¯t considered that possibility¡­¡±


    Fei immediately asks, ¡°how would you unify them, then?¡± She suddenly says after that, ¡°unify¡­ To achieve both of them?¡±


    Ding Yi then tentatively suggests, looking at her, ¡°deaths in the Nightmare, aren¡¯t¡­ deaths in the tradition sense, are they?¡±


    Fei then falls into thought, before yelling out loud in tandem with Wu Jian, ¡°a death in the Nightmare!¡±


    Naturally, deaths in the Nightmares aren¡¯t truly deaths. This is a dream ¨C in fact, that Tower resident is still sleeping soundly in the Tower.


    ¡°How long do we have until the Raining Hellfire?¡± Fei asks.


    Ding Yi answers, ¡°about half an hour.¡±


    Buzzcut then rubs his chin, saying, ¡°then are we just going to wait? Watch them die? Is there anything else we can do?¡±

 Volume 6 - CH 110.4

    When everyone least expects it, Mu Jiashi suddenly speaks up.


    With his eyes right on Xie Ji, he asks, ¡°you¡¯re the first person to see the unidentified object in the world¡­ So, what does the object actually look like?¡±


    The other Missiontakers are surprised.


    They also know Xie Ji was the first person to visually confirm the object, but then in this Nightmare, the Raining Hellfire still happens regardless, so they have largely ignored it afterwards.


    Why? Maybe they cared more about the Nightmare itself. Naturally, they¡¯re more concerned about its endings, the truth, the Nightmare¡¯s owner, etc. So they didn¡¯t pay much thought to anything else.


    Also, the Raining Hellfire is like some kind of natural disaster. The Apocalypse that humans are entirely powerless against. There is no meaning in knowing more about it.


    What, are they going to board some spacecraft and plant nukes on it?


    Though that said, here, at least one person has seen it for herself.


    Fei and Wu Jian give each other a glance, as they also pay attention to Xie Ji immediately.


    They also ignored the question entirely!


    Possibly, because they have already heard the astronomy enthusiasts argue about its nature outside the Space Agency, that she thought they didn¡¯t have a clear idea what the object looked like either.


    The same cannot be said for Xie Ji, of course. She saw it first, so she may know something.


    Fei is thinking about it more deeply, too ¨C why did they largely ignore this possibly monumental question that should naturally arise?


    They entered this Nightmare to investigate and learn the truth about the Apocalypse; why are they ignoring things that are pointing directly at it?


    Could it be, that NE is manipulating their thoughts behind the scenes?


    Fei¡¯s face goes rather pale. She bites her lips hard, afraid a terrified scream would explode the moment she relaxed.


    Their brains. Their consciousness. It¡¯s wide open to danger.


    The other Missiontakers like Buzzcut are also looking at Xie Ji, but for different reasons, related to this Nightmare.


    After Mu Jiashi asked the question, Buzzcut suddenly realised©¤©¤this is the quickest way to confirm who the Nightmare¡¯s owner really would be back in the Tower!


    Only Xie Ji has ever seen what that object looks like; Ke Zhu has never seen it, nor could he ever have seen it.


    They¡¯ll be able to identify the true owner of the Nightmare with this.


    Even if they both are, they¡¯ll at least figure out which is the main consciousness that gave rise to this Nightmare in the first place.


    So who is it?


    Buzzcut stares right at Xie Ji.


    Will she be able to describe the unidentified object?


    Of course, the Missiontakers have not seen it, so they won¡¯t know if it¡¯s accurate if she does speak up.


    Maybe they can use the large telescope at the Space Agency themselves, but none of them know how to operate such a thing in the first place.


    Here, Buzzcut is watching the expressions of Ke Zhu and Xie Ji very closely.


    Xie Ji, the focus of everyone present, instead turns to Ke Zhu first.


    After a moment of contemplation, Ke Zhu quietly says, ¡°don¡¯t mind me. If they want to know, then just tell them.¡±


    Xie Ji opens her mouth.


    But Ke Zhu immediately adds, ¡°but I don¡¯t want to hear it! I don¡¯t want to know!¡±


    After yelling, he immediately walks into the library, leaving his fianc¨¦e alone with a group of strangers.


    Xie Ji is shaking, gripping her hand tightly. She wants to stop her fianc¨¦, but she couldn¡¯t say a word even as he disappeared into the library entirely.


    She doesn¡¯t seem to comprehend at all, why Ke Zhu is unwilling to admit the Apocalypse is coming;


    The same way that Ke Zhu doesn¡¯t understand why Xie Ji demands him to acknowledge it.


    Whether the Apocalypse comes or not, really, life has to go on. Maybe death would have took everything with it, but parting is itself, a part of the cycle of life.


    On this matter, the couple could not be reconciled.


    The Missiontakers who are watching the exchange, are once again feeling the¡­ rift. A conflicting rift, that seems to be running through the Nightmare. Ke Zhu and Xie Ji are opposite poles of one single magnet. It seems to imply something.


    Buzzcut isn¡¯t thinking about it too deeply, as he doesn¡¯t care about the Apocalypse at all. He hurries Xie Ji along, ¡°so, what did it actually look like?¡±


    He¡¯s seriously dying to know who the real consciousness behind this Nightmare is, which will hinge on what she says next.


    It kind of looks like Xie Ji knows something, assuming Ke Zhu wasn¡¯t simply bullshitting them.


    Missiontakers are normally this cruel and heartless.


    Xie Ji seems to have recovered a little. She takes a deep breath, and her tone sinks.


    After her fianc¨¦ has left, the weakness and loss on her face has all but dissipated. What replaced them would be the confidence and collectedness as expected of Xie Ji, a woman who became an astronomical researcher in the prestigious Cangcheng Space Agency while still in her 20s.


    Although there is also a worry in her tone.


    She tells them, ¡°it was¡­ metallic.¡±


    ¡°Metallic?¡±


    Several Missiontakers repeat the phrase subconsciously.


    Xie Ji nods affirmatively, and explains, ¡°it¡¯s hard to describe, but the thing¡­ resembled a liquid metal like mercury, but the colour was much more on the dark side, which made it hard to distinguish from the dark background of space if it were not for its reflectiveness. Even so, it¡¯s easy to mistake it for being a faraway, dim star.


    That was actually what I thought when I first observed it, until the moment¡­ it moved.


    It moved so quick that I thought my eyes or the atmospheric scattering was playing a trick on me. I confirmed once again, and it was rediscovered outside the view of the telescope from earlier.


    You might not understand how telescopes work, but suffice it to say, the distance traversed was astronomical.¡±


    The Missiontakers nod, despite their varying levels of understanding.


    Meanwhile, Ding Yi, who had the opportunity to read some analyses on the third floor of the library, asks, ¡°would this be proof against what some people speculate, that the object existed in the solar system all along?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­¡± Xie Ji goes a bit quieter as she continues, ¡°many of them have only started observing today or yesterday, after hearing about it, and none of them have seen its almost metallic form that my friends at the Space Agency and I did in the beginning again.¡±


    She sounds pretty frustrated at this point.

 Volume 6 - CH 110.5

    It would appear that Xie Ji is well aware of the experts¡¯ opinions, but she is in disagreement with them.


    She seems to hold complicated feelings towards the unidentified object ¨C perhaps excitement and honour from observing it for the first time, anxiety from its strange metallic tinge that suggests harm, and simple curiosity and question surrounding the whole thing.


    She was going to change the world with this discovery ¨C though not necessarily in a good direction.


    Xie Ji falls silent.


    Fei nods after listening to all that, and can¡¯t help but ask, ¡°you said it looked metallic, so, would you say¡­ it was manmade?¡±


    ¡°Manmade?¡± Xie Ji gives a weird chuckle, as she says, ¡°no, mankind cannot have created such a thing. That¡¯s ridiculous¡­ Something that crosses light-years in mere days, through the vastness of space, to land on this planet¡­


    It would be a terrible joke.¡±


    Xie Ji looks like she could almost cry when she says, ¡°and we, we are going to die in this terrible joke.¡±


    There seems to be a detachment from reality in the whole story; it¡¯s like Xie Ji herself doesn¡¯t really want to treat it as true.


    In fact, since her first observation of the object a few days ago, she has lived almost in a daze.


    Everything is like a dream; a mix of a happy dream and a nightmare. Everything felt unreal, it was all mirages.


    When she wished Ke Zhu would acknowledge the Apocalypse, she is like a demanding girlfriend that wants to hear her boyfriend say that the romance drama they watched was a really good movie; she was unreasonable, hysterical, only able to accept one single answer.


    If Xie Ji was able to express herself more clearly to the Missiontakers here, they would have been able to conclude with certainty that she is the owner of the Nightmare.


    But the Missiontakers have probably also realised, that Xie Ji is the only possible candidate left to be the owner of the Nightmare.


    Because only then could it explain how Xie Ji knows all the materials in the library by heart; only then, could it explains how Xie Ji¡¯s memories of the unidentified object are so vivid.


    Even if Ke Zhu felt remorse and longing for his girlfriend that he had this Nightmare, he could not have generated such detailed, specialist knowledge of what Xie Ji did, based on his own memories.


    So here comes the obvious question.


    The Tower resident, was a man.


    He spoke with a male voice. He had a male build; even if Xie Ji deluded herself to act like Ke Zhu, she still shouldn¡¯t have had a full on transformation in the ¡®reality¡¯ outside the Nightmares.


    This is the problem if Xie Ji were the owner of the Nightmare, that the Missiontakers must take into account when analysing this Nightmare.


    It¡¯s not impossible to come up with forced explanations; she could have went through gender reassignment surgery, or she got a simple plastic surgery after the Apocalypse, somehow¡­ Since none of them have confirmed the identity of the Tower resident back in the Tower, after all.


    But a more unsettling thought stemming from that, would be¡­ is the Tower, actually reflective of ¡®reality¡¯?


    In other words, they might assume the Tower outside the Nightmares correspond to their ¡®reality,¡¯ but if Xie Ji¡¯s gender change was not something she did, then the Tower itself may be home to rather supernatural elements.


    Changing genders¡­ is a bit over the top.


    Fei can understand how a grown woman might imagine herself as her much younger self in her own Nightmare, when she met the event that traumatised her for life; but gender?


    How did the Tower resident end up a man when she is clearly a woman here?


    The Missiontakers find themselves stunned beyond belief, looking at each other blankly.


    They¡¯ve managed to confirm the Nightmare owner¡¯s identity, sure, but now they have a new, basically guaranteed unanswerable question in place of that.


    Honestly, maybe they still shouldn¡¯t rule out Ke Zhu being the Nightmare owner entirely.


    Not just the Missiontakers, but the viewers of the stream are confused as well, but the mood is much lighter there.


    ¡°wow, gender bender¡±


    ¡°hey, nightmares, anything goes, amirite?¡±


    ¡°you act like a guy, dream like a guy, dont be surprised when you wake up a guy [doge emoji]¡±


    Clearly, the viewers can¡¯t figure it out, and are messing around already.


    X¨¹ Beijin, meanwhile, looking at Xie Ji like that, was both surprised and also, had an epiphany.


    He also realises that Xie Ji was probably the Nightmare¡¯s owner ¨C and he can explain it, because he once saw, in the Tower, the full process of how Su Enya turned into a man.


    This transformation of a Tower resident from female into male, would be a hint to a truth in this Nightmare, if the Missiontakers saw it.


    But X¨¹ Beijin still wonders the reason behind it. Could it really be, that because she missed her fianc¨¦ so much, that she fantasised herself to be him? That she started acted like her late fianc¨¦?


    As for the shock the Missiontakers feel over the gender, X¨¹ Beijin finds it a much less pressing question.


    In any case¡­ Tower residents are, fundamentally, Actors Acting ¡®mad.¡¯ There are a not insignificant amount of androgynous Tower residents around, too. Maybe the Missiontakers simply mistook her©¤©¤His?©¤©¤gender¡­


    Instead, X¨¹ Beijin is more interested in why this status has arisen.


    Maybe Xie Ji has become insane the moment she observed the unidentified object?


    If the madness that spread through humanity really was related somehow to this unidentified object hurtling for Earth, then one could imagine that it would have had far more possible effects than simply causing Raining Hellfire.


    X¨¹ Beijin continues watching Xie Ji closely, with a deep, unreadable expression.


    Time continues passing along, as the Missiontakers reanalyse the Nightmare with the premise that Xie Ji is the owner.


    The Difficulty lies in the Tower resident¡¯s features not matching up exactly with any of the candidates for the owner within.


    Thinking outside the box, then it would be easy to see that Xie Ji is the most likely candidate for the owner.


    The reason it was so utterly difficult is because humans scarcely question their own brains ¨C when they¡¯ve subconsciously assumed the owner to be male, they end up juggling different candidates that are all false, until¡­ the intervention using utility cards.


    Also, until Mu Jiashi¡¯s question.


    Buzzcut is suddenly looking at Mu Jiashi now ¨C Even after Wu Jian used the utility card to confirm who Xie Ji was, he still thought Ke Zhu was the true owner, as it was what he had confirmed.


    That would be part of the Difficulty as well ¨C to doubt the premise that Nightmares had only one owner to begin with. Who could have thought? There are two here.


    Maybe they are the same person inside, but here in the Nightmare, it was nightmarish for the Missiontakers.


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s question was a light piercing through the foggy haze ¨C the Missiontakers could leave the trap behind almost instantly.


    Buzzcut largely saw Mu Jiashi as a man of few words who was quietly tagging along for the ride, but now, with that valuable question, he is forced to question another of his impressions ¨C is Mu Jiashi actually a capable Missiontaker? Or did he dumb luck his way through it?


    He has no answers.


    Mu Jiashi, meanwhile, is focused somewhere else, staring at Xie Ji, still confused.


    It is close to when the Raining Hellfire should happen, so the Missiontakers all retreat into the library, leaving behind Xie Ji, still standing outside, under the blazing sun, blanking out.


    She is proving her resolve with her death.


    She does not fear death, as long as, he does not pass away;


    Ke Zhu shuts his eyes to everything, in a corner of the library.


    Then, the Raining Hellfire strikes.


    Suddenly, the Server, NE, notifies them of the completion of the True End.


    Mu Jiashi is standing by the doorway of the library, watching Xie Ji as she is swallowed up by the dust and debris, when suddenly, she turns to face Mu Jiashi.


    Mu Jiashi is surprised; this seems out-of-character, all of a sudden.


    Then Xie Ji extends her hand, wrapping herself up, until her palms touch her back, in a sort of foetal hugging posture, as if something is scaring her from behind. Something cruel. Something dark.


    She looks like¡­ just like, Su Enya, when she has her back to the wall, shivering, cowering.


    Just before she is swallowed up to die, she shows Mu Jiashi an explicitly suggestive smile.


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s pupils contract rapidly, as he finds himself fall deep, into a metaphorical abyss.

 Volume 7 - CH 111.1

    Just A Thought


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    When Fei and Wu Jian sees Mu Jiashi back at the Tower, he immediately tells them, ¡°Su Enya and Xie Ji are the same person.¡±


    Fei and Wu Jian have a bomb dropped on them before they could even greet him.


    Wu Jian immediately asks, ¡°are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Su Enya spoke what only Xie Ji would say,¡± Mu Jiashi¡¯s tone is pretty down, but he sounds certain, ¡°Xie Ji did something only Su Enya would do¡­ In their respective Nightmares.¡±


    Fei quietly mumbles, ¡°so it means, they, the Tower residents¡­ They actually are¡­¡±


    Mu Jiashi says, ¡°and they can change identity as well,¡± he furrows his brows and says, ¡°the reason is unclear¡­ but, well, I have a guess.¡±


    Fei and Wu Jian have inquisitive looks.


    They might know a lot and have vivid imagination, but when it comes to observation of details and analysis of idiosyncrasies, they fail to measure up to Mu Jiashi¡¯s mind.


    Mu Jiashi mutters, ¡°equivalent exchange¡­ the bookstore owner provides clues for the Nightmares¡­ In essence, he¡¯s providing spoilers.¡±


    Fei gets it immediately, and asks, ¡°X¨¹ Beijin? Did you realise something from how he has conducted himself thus far?¡±


    ¡°Here¡¯s an interesting question to consider. Why is he providing the opportunity for us to exchange things with him?¡±


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s eyes start to sparkle as he says, ¡°it must be for some purpose¡­ He is trying to point a path forward for the Missiontakers, even if it wouldn¡¯t become clear in the near future.


    But he said it¡¯s an ¡®equivalent¡¯ exchange. What things of equivalent value could the Missiontakers have provided? He already knows all there is to know¡­


    Yes, if he could tell the Missiontakers such intricate details about the workings in any Nightmare, he must already know whatever it was that us Missiontakers could gather to tell him¡­ He¡¯s omniscient.


    What could the Missiontakers give him, then? I once provided him drinks for which he told me one piece of clue.


    It¡­ it doesn¡¯t add up. Would the drinks have meant anything to him? No. Of course not. He could have procured them himself if he needed to.


    What the Missiontakers provide him, must be the opportunity to conduct equivalent exchanges itself.¡±


    Wu Jian, looking at Fei, and back at Mu Jiashi, is confused, asking, ¡°uh¡­ what does that mean? I don¡¯t think I understood.¡±


    Fei thinks she has an idea, and is working through her thoughts, ¡°you mean, what we see as an exchange, an exchange of information of equivalent value, is not. The information we provide, is in fact, worthless in his eyes. He already knows all there is to know about the Nightmares.


    He still conducts the exchanges regardless, because there is something to be gained on his side as well. He gives us the information on the Nightmare, and in exchange, we¡­¡±


    Fei seems to have lost her train of logic.


    Mu Jiashi helps her out, firmly asserting, ¡°we have an easier time reaching the Ending of the Nightmare; he¡¯s pushing us along, like he¡¯s the puppet master, controlling us, the puppets in his hands.


    He points us to the correct direction, so that we proceed according to his plans¡­¡±


    Fei mutters, ¡°that¡¯s, the equivalent exchange.¡±


    She and Mu Jiashi are looking at each other.


    Wu Jian is scratching his head. He doesn¡¯t understand the motivation. Whether or not the bookstore owner really knows all there is to know already doesn¡¯t seem to follow how he even needs the Missiontakers to solve the Nightmares as his puppets¡­


    It makes it sound like he can¡¯t solve them himself¡­


    Oh right! He can¡¯t solve them himself!


    Wu Jian finally understands, now.


    They are now aware that Tower residents must be under far stricter restrictions from the Server compared to the Missiontakers.


    With that being the case, all X¨¹ Beijin can do is establish some ¡®equivalent exchange¡¯ so that he can indirectly influence how the Missiontakers solve the Nightmare and what they do next.


    That was how it was in the Nightmare with the ruins.


    And in the Nightmare they just left, it was the same ¨C X¨¹ Beijin already gave them a hint in the very beginning.


    He told them, that if there were any books they want to look up, they can search on the computer on the far west side of the library.


    It¡¯s just that, after finding Lu Chengzhe and receiving directions from him, they forgot about it entirely.


    Wu Jian relayed this piece of information offhandedly when they met back up the first time back then, but the Missiontakers didn¡¯t realise its significance.


    They forgot, and it meant that, in the third run, if Ding Yi and Mu Jiashi simply checked the computer for relevant information, they would probably have had an easier time collecting the crucial clues.


    Wu Jian has understood what Mu Jiashi is getting at.


    Then Mu Jiashi continues, ¡°I have also realised that X¨¹ Beijin is not the only Tower resident doing so. I tried to recall as many Nightmares I¡¯ve been through as possible, and there were always times when I felt like the Nightmare¡¯s owner, or the Tower residents present, would do the same.


    More specifically, when we ask the Tower residents for the clues on the Nightmares, they would always tell us directly what they know;


    We¡¯ve always thought it was a game mechanic that ensured a good player experience, and the NPCs do not lie, but, what if it is something that is in their interests as well? What if, through telling us the clues, they are hoping we can push through and resolve the Nightmares?


    I¡¯ve never thought of it like that, until¡­ the bookstore owner told me, that he operates by ¡®equivalent exchange.¡¯


    An equivalent exchange? When what we get in return and what he gets in return is laughably unequal?¡±


    A few years ago, when Mu Jiashi acquired a piece of information to a Nightmare using drinks, he thought it was dumb luck or he triggered some game event.


    Since Su Enya did tell him that this neighbour of hers liked drinks.


    But if you think about it, and Mu Jiashi certainly didn¡¯t ¨C a requirement that Su Enya knows X¨¹ Beijin likes drinks, must be that she saw him drinking them. And if he¡¯s drinking them, that means he must already possess drinks. So there was no point to accepting the drinks he gave him and then also giving him a clue in return.


    So was it dumb luck that Mu Jiashi got clues in exchange for some cheap drinks?


    No.


    What X¨¹ Beijin needed, was exactly an opportunity to ¡®give clues on Nightmares¡¯!


    He needs the Missiontakers to do something for him, using the clues he has provided! That is his real objective.


    That¡¯s also the objective of the Tower residents. That is why, there is a system of ¡®equivalent exchange.¡¯


    Mu Jiashi feels really complicated when he next utters the phrase, ¡°so, equivalent exchanges¡­¡±


    The phrase has finally dragged them out of the haze, that they finally have a glimpse, of what is happening the Tower underneath the surface.


    They¡¯ve realised the possibility of the identities of the Tower residents already, but they still had no idea what the Tower residents were doing in spite of that.


    They always look like they¡¯re just trudging along in the Tower within the endless fog, and falling asleep to let Missiontakers into their Nightmares.


    The Missiontakers resolve the residents¡¯ Nightmares; then what would the residents be doing?


    ©¤©¤Letting the Missiontakers solve their Nightmare! Helping to push this circumstance along!


    Mu Jiashi really feels utterly and wholly upended right now.


    It¡¯s like, you fall in love with someone, and tries to court them, only to realise, the other person has already schemed all they could, so that you would see them, fall in love with them, and court them.


    This upside-down mess of identities, objectives and positions, means the initiative was never in their hands.


    The Missiontakers thought they were doing all the heavy lifting, but it is only now, that they realise, they¡¯re only the marionettes. They knew, and still knows, nothing, about the Tower.


    The three Missiontakers feel completely overwhelmed and emotional.

 Volume 7 - CH 111.2

    If X¨¹ Beijin knew what the ¡®imaginative¡¯ Missiontakers were thinking about, and what they concluded, he would probably facepalm quite hard indeed.


    Mu Jiashi had a correct conclusion, based on an entirely false premise©¤©¤That X¨¹ Beijin did not need their information nor the drinks Mu Jiashi gave him.


    Well, did he really need them?


    Maybe X¨¹ Beijin would find that he has certainly achieved the highest level of fraud that is humanly possible.


    He acquired what he wanted, with the person swindled completely willing and voluntary, and even thankful that he has been set up.


    Anyway, after all that, Mu Jiashi says, ¡°I¡¯ll have to head to the bookstore to talk with him. We might have had some severe misunderstanding previously,¡± then he sighs, and asks, ¡°right, what did you come to me for, by the way?¡±


    Fei seems lost for a few more seconds before snapping back, and tell him, ¡°oh. It¡¯s about the Tower residents.¡±


    ¡°You have new clues about their identity?¡±


    ¡°No, not that¡­ but, now, the news broke, in the higher floors up. The Missiontakers, they all know.¡±


    Mu Jiashi remains stunned for a while before asking blankly, ¡°what do you mean, the Missiontakers all know?¡±


    Fei and Wu Jian, embarrassed, tells him of the unexpected failure that occurred during their communication, that a Carddealer stole a utility card they primed with the information, and somehow managed to get the information from within. The higher floors are now abuzz with the news.


    And maybe the Tower residents of the upper floors are simply more daring or if they¡¯ve gone mad ¨C after the news broke, they Acted even more blindingly obvious that they¡¯re performing an Act. They might as well have yelled it out using loudspeakers with all the subtlety they¡¯re having.


    Fei is terribly apologetic, and says, ¡°we were informed by our peers from the upper floors just before we came here. Apparently, the Missiontakers up there¡­ They¡¯re close to rioting. This is completely on us¡­.¡±


    Mu Jiashi remains stunned for a long time, until he finally says, ¡°it¡¯s alright. You¡¯re not to blame;¡± then he adds, ¡°if it¡¯s a fait accompli anyway, then so be it. Everyone should have a good shake-up after how long we¡¯ve spent in blissful ignorance¡­¡±


    He says, as his smile turns bitter.


    A lot of the Missiontakers must find the news too cruel to swallow.


    Since they knew this was a game, they played it like one. Then it turns out, the game, including the NPCs, all featured their own brethren.


    This ¡®game¡¯ thing is only here to divide and deceive them.


    Mu Jiashi wonders, rather heartlessly, so what?


    If they want out, naturally the Tower residents¡¯ help is needed. Also, they would certainly know more than the Missiontakers do¡­ about, this ¡®game.¡¯


    They can¡¯t do anything about chaos in floors above, anyway. The bottom floor cannot provide any help. So soon enough, their topic switches back to the bottom floor.


    Fei says, ¡°we were the first group to head into the Nightmare of the Raining Hellfire on the bottom floor. We can expect many Missiontakers to follow suit, so about that¡­¡±


    Her words trail off.


    Mu Jiashi, confused, asks, ¡°what?¡±


    Fei then says, ¡°it just feels like¡­ It¡¯s just a hunch, but¡­ it feels like someone is pushing everything along.¡±


    Mu Jiashi seems a little surprised, but he exhales deeply and says, ¡°I think so, too.¡±


    That Mu Jiashi shares their unease makes Fei and Wu Jian a little more at ease.


    Fei says, ¡°everything felt a bit off ever since the rumour spread of someone leaving the Tower successfully. The entirety of the Tower¡­ has a strange atmosphere about it.


    Whenever a new rumour arose afterwards, everyone rushed for it, ad infinitum¡­ Well, it¡¯s in the nature of humans to flock like sheep, but the, let¡¯s say, pervasiveness¡­¡±


    Her imagination means that she is able to imagine a much deeper, secretive objective behind it all.


    Mu Jiashi shakes his head, though, telling them, ¡°regardless, I think it¡¯s a good thing, if we look at what has happened so far.¡±


    Wu Jian asks, though, ¡°you think so too? I also think¡­ that maybe, NE is actually on our side.¡±


    Something twitches on Mu Jiashi¡¯s forehead, as he gives them an odd glance, and asks, ¡°you feel like, it¡¯s NE?¡±


    ¡°We only think so because it is only NE who is capable of such,¡± replies Fei, ¡°if it were any other person, would it have gone that smoothly¡­ if at all?¡±


    Mu Jiashi thinks about it more deeply, and tells them what he thinks, ¡°I had the idea because of something different ¨C because of Su Enya. I thought someone was manipulating something behind it all because of her.


    In fact, I suspect the bookstore ow-¡­ never mind that. It doesn¡¯t seem too important to me, and I haven¡¯t thought about it deeply.


    It might be reasonable to suggest NE. Yes, it¡¯s possible.¡±


    ¡°Did you just think of something?¡±


    Mu Jiashi mulls over it for a bit, explaining, ¡°assuming the Tower residents are under more constraints than us, we can safely say that it is part of this game¡¯s setting.


    An example of that is having to call us ¡®outsiders.¡¯


    NE could be seen as the overseer, maintaining this order in the Tower. If our guess from earlier holds any water, that Tower residents have to  push us to solve their Nightmares, then it¡¯s probably as another setting of the game; an objective.


    Then, could the identity sharing between Su Enya and Xie Ji, also be part of that setting?


    Going off from that, I doubt that the switch from either identity to the other is voluntary. Then there might be what we call¡­ ¡®criteria¡¯ that the Tower residents have to reach?


    I say that, because Su Enya should have revealed everything to me much earlier if she had any control over it.


    Instead, though, she can only imply she is Xie Ji, and vice versa, through different methods. Therefore, the Tower residents probably have no control over that.


    In that case, it¡¯s reasonable to assume that, as the overseer of this game and its order, NE would reign above the game¡¯s settings, and thus is able to determine the criteria, and maybe also overwrite the residents¡¯ identities.


    Tentatively, this might also be able to explain how, being a Tower resident from a higher floor, Xie Ji was shunted down floors, and she also had the identity of Su Enya.


    The reason might be as you suspect, that NE really is on our side, and is helping us.¡±


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s explanations rambled on a bit, but came to a conclusion quite similar to what Fei and Wu Jian brought up.


    It¡¯s almost a habit of his, that when he is in the mood to pry to the very truth, he would force himself to make sense of every aspect, from the background to the aftermath of an event.


    Fei is bitterly smiling when she next says, ¡°even if NE is helping us, though¡­ could we do anything in response? We can¡¯t even find it.¡±


    To find NE¡­


    Fei once suspected X¨¹ Beijin of being the Server, NE, which would have made locating and communicating with NE much, much easier.


    In fact, when Mu Jiashi said X¨¹ Beijin is omniscient, the thought crossed her mind once more.


    What is contradictory, though, is that if X¨¹ Beijin really is the omniscient, even omnipotent Server, NE, then why would he have stayed on the bottom floor quietly? And more importantly, why did he need to prod the Missiontakers along to solve Nightmares?


    Wouldn¡¯t an omnipotent entity be able to do whatever he pleases without opposition?


    It¡¯s true that X¨¹ Beijin had any aspects that makes him look similar to NE, but also a great deal that does not actually fit.


    In fact, Fei is noting, in her mind, how this is almost analogous to Ke Zhu and Xie Ji in that Nightmare earlier.


    The engaged couple also shares the quality, of one side fitting some aspects of the criteria for the Nightmare owner, and the other side some other aspects.


    The final truth of that Nightmare, is that they are two manifestations of the same mind; they were, dualistically, both owners of the Nightmare.


    A dualistic existence?


    Something flashes through the mind of Fei.


    No. It can¡¯t possibly be¡­ Could the Nightmare, actually have possibly be hinting at the true nature of the Server, NE, as well?


    No way.


    Fei simply dismisses it as her mind having been on hysterics lately.

 Volume 7 - CH 111.3

    Fei, Wu Jian and Mu Jiashi sit there in silence for a while, when finally, Mu Jiashi stands up to say, ¡°I¡¯ll visit X¨¹ Beijin now. I have to talk to him, about his Nightmare. Maybe he will provide some clues.


    Fei and Wu Jian nod, and leave the house, seeing him off.


    After Mu Jiashi has left their earshot, Wu Jian asks, ¡°what do we do now?¡±


    ¡°NE,¡± answers Fei.


    Wu Jian seems stunned for a moment, before asking, ¡°uh, we¡¯re going to kill it?¡±


    Fei ¡°¡­¡±


    She gives her companion an amused ¡®are you for real right now¡¯ look.


    Wu Jian seems embarrassed.


    Fei says, ¡°we¡¯re going to collect information on NE, and also tell our people to relay a message before they leave ¨C bring information on NE down to the bottom floor.¡±


    Wu Jian says, ¡°isn¡¯t the information we have on NE just vague nothings? Do you think there are new clues that could be found?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Fei answers honestly, and forces a smile, saying, ¡°regardless, we have to do something, and¡­ the bottom floor of the Tower, here.¡±


    Wu Jian looks confused, not knowing where she is going with this.


    Fei tells him, ¡°maybe, there are also rumours about NE here we don¡¯t understand yet.¡±


    Wu Jian suggests, ¡°we can try the Marketplace; with all the original Missiontaker demographic of the bottom floor basically gone, though, I¡¯m not sure if there might be many merchants left.¡±


    Fei nods, and says, ¡°let¡¯s go, then¡­¡±


    When Mu Jiashi arrives at the bookstore, Lin Qin is also here.


    Another True End, another time Lin Qin has chosen to stay.


    If people asked why he stayed, his answer is probably still going to be, he¡¯s not interested.


    X¨¹ Beijin seems used to his visit, too. He merely waved a greeting before turning around to look for whatever he is looking for right now.


    Lin Qin walks over, curious, and asks, ¡°what are you looking for?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°I¡¯m looking for¡­ a book,¡± he says hesitantly, ¡°yes, it¡¯s a book.¡±


    ¡°A book? What for?¡±


    Before Lin Qin even arrived, X¨¹ Beijin has already been searching, but he couldn¡¯t find it.


    The bookshelves in this bookstore reach all the way up to the ceiling. They¡¯re not particularly neatly organised, either.


    There is a categorisation by genre, but to find the book he¡¯s looking for from the tens of thousands in the store, is probably too tall an order.


    X¨¹ Beijin stops searching, and asks, ¡°do you know what all these¡­ all these books in my bookstore imply?¡±


    Lin Qin, looking around the bookstore, shakes his head honestly.


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°they¡¯re clues on Nightmares¡­ direct or indirect ones.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see,¡± Lin Qin has a largely neutral tone. He doesn¡¯t seem to be able to appreciate the weight of what these clues in books would carry. Then he says, ¡°so are you looking for the clue that corresponds to your Nightmare?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin nods.


    Lin Qin¡¯s rather muted response was a relief to X¨¹ Beijin.


    Would Lin Qin actually not know the value of what he just said? Of course not. He¡¯s unaware, but he¡¯s not dumb.


    He just didn¡¯t care; when X¨¹ Beijin said it, he¡¯ll give him an ¡®oh¡¯ or ¡®I see,¡¯ to acknowledge what he said.


    Or maybe, his instincts know to rein in his reactions a little?


    Lin Qin says, ¡°but, it¡¯s your own Nightmare¡­ you don¡¯t already know about it?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°what I¡¯m looking for, is not the kind of clue you¡¯re imagining¡­ spoilers or directions. None of that.¡±


    He looks like he has a hard time explaining, ¡°it¡¯s something I have no idea where to even begin with, but put simply, it¡¯s something special.¡±


    Lin Qin blinks, seemingly lost.


    X¨¹ Beijin sighs, and tells him, ¡°a really long time ago, I found it, and I¡¯ve even read it, but it¡¯s been too long, so¡­ I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s still helpful. I have to see what it looks like now¡­¡±


    As he mumbled along, X¨¹ Beijin is sinking down into his own thoughts, and his words trail off into silence.


    Lin Qin is used to him becoming distracted by himself already, and knows this is not him being rude or unfriendly.


    In fact, he prides himself on it, as a sign that X¨¹ Beijin is able to wholly relax in front of him.


    Shortly after, X¨¹ Beijin snaps back to reality, and tells him, ¡°I don¡¯t know where I last put it¡­ Anyway, I¡¯ll keep looking for it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll help,¡± Lin Qin says, ¡°what is the title?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin seems frustrated as he explains, ¡°that¡¯s the problem. I have no way of telling you anything about it.¡±


    Lin Qin says, ¡°it¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll look for it.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, recalling Lin Qin¡¯s almost beast-like instinct, thinks it might help a little.


    A minute later, he receives the ¡®Update Log¡¯ Lin Qin hands him with a blank facial expression.


    Lin Qin is still mumbling over there, ¡°the last time I already saw this book, and I was going to ask, but I forgot. It¡¯s still there, though¡­ so what kind of book is this, actually?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin receives it, and answers, ¡°it¡¯s exactly what it says on the cover. It¡¯s the thing I¡¯m looking for, thanks for helping out.¡±


    Lin Qin nods, not seemingly feeling at all weird that he found what took X¨¹ Beijin hours of looking in under a minute.


    He¡¯s simply wondering, ¡®exactly what it says on the cover¡¯?


    So it is an ¡®update log¡¯?


    But an update log of what?


    Lin Qin, having no idea what it could be about, can only watch X¨¹ Beijin read through it quietly.


    A while later, X¨¹ Beijin slaps the thick ¡®Update Log¡¯ shut, furrowing his brows a little. He looks both relieved and concerned at the same time.


    Lin Qin asks, ¡°so did you find what you were looking for inside?¡±


    ¡°I did; well, more accurately, I didn¡¯t¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin narrows his eyes, ¡°which should not have been the case.¡±


    ¡°So is it a good thing?¡± Asks Lin Qin.


    X¨¹ Beijin mumbles, ¡°it is a good thing, even if it is really strange¡­¡±


    ¡°So what was it that you were looking for?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin remains quiet for a bit, and answers, ¡°a bug.¡±


    Bug?


    Lin Qin turns his attention to the ¡®Update Log,¡¯ and wonders, so a ¡®bug¡¯ is recorded inside the log?


    He can¡¯t help but wonder again what kind of log this is. What bug does X¨¹ Beijin mean by that?


    Though he decides not to ask anymore when X¨¹ Beijin looks as troubled as he is right now. Instead, he tells him, ¡°don¡¯t think too much about it. It¡¯s already a good thing, right?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin smiles, although it looks a little forced. He then pushes the Update Log into some random slot on the shelves without care.


    Then he mumbles, ¡°you¡¯re right¡­ at least, the bug is still there. That is good.¡±


    He still can¡¯t help but wonder, though, why the bug is still there. Did NE not report it? There were no lines about the bug being fixed in the ¡®Update Log.¡¯


    It¡¯s inexplicable.


    Could NE really have switched over to the human¡¯s side?


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but recall ¨C for him, it was the streaming system©¤©¤And Lin Qin©¤©¤That he overcame his slump. But then, what spurred NE into action? What could have motivated him?


    He¡¯s an AI, the Server to a game. Why would he have gone against his presumed original protocol?


    X¨¹ Beijin cannot figure out an answer after a while of thought, and shakes his head.


    He shouldn¡¯t think too much about it. It¡¯s not like he can understand NE, anyway.


    Human brains operate on a fundamentally different scheme to artificial intelligences. They cannot mutually understand one another.


    In any case, looking at the corner of the shelves into which he just shoved a book, X¨¹ Beijin concludes, that it is a good thing.


    That¡¯s it.


    With the bug still intact, there is some hope that he can escape the Nightmare unscathed. In fact, he might even¡­


    His gaze is deep, piercing and dark, Anyone else seeing it would have suspected him to be scheming something.


    However, Lin Qin is merely looking at X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s eyebags, and thinking about how to make his Beijin sleep.


    Didn¡¯t he say that he¡¯s going to make a decision in three days, by the way?


    Lin Qin moves to ask X¨¹ Beijin about it.

 Volume 7 - CH 111.4

    That is when Lin Qin and X¨¹ Beijin hear a knock on the door.


    X¨¹ Beijin goes to open the door, wondering who it could be, to see that it¡¯s Mu Jiashi.


    He ran all the way here, so he¡¯s panting while greeting X¨¹ Beijin. Then he almost audibly stops seeing Lin Qin in the bookstore.


    Lin Qin ¡°¡­¡±


    He¡¯s glaring at Mu Jiashi, thinking about why he¡¯s here.


    X¨¹ Beijin can only act like he doesn¡¯t notice the strange mood in the bookstore, and ask Mu Jiashi, ¡°how can I help you?¡±


    He also moves aside to let Mu Jiashi in.


    Mu Jiashi enters under a piercing gaze, while saying, ¡°it¡¯s for¡­ the Tower residents.¡±


    Lin Qin moves to the side of X¨¹ Beijin, and he¡¯s about to speak when X¨¹ Beijin tugs on his arm to stop him, giving him a smile.


    The forgivingly gentle expression he has stuns Lin Qin, who, like a little animal being comfortably pet, immediately settles down where he sits and not say a word.


    Ok. Beijin has business. He is going to be good.


    Meanwhile, he¡¯s casting a rather unfriendly face at Mu Jiashi.


    Fortunately, the man in question has a heart of steel; he manages to organise exactly what he wants to talk about, telling X¨¹ Beijin, ¡°I want to ask about one thing. Are you providing clues of Nightmares to us, because of settings in the Tower?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is surprised by the question somewhat. He wasn¡¯t expecting anyone to have figured it out already.


    He cannot answer, though. With NE filtering out their words, Actors cannot enunciate the keyword of ¡®Acting.¡¯


    It is only because that Nightmare with the crumbling building had elements of sticking to a script within, that the word is permitted, which X¨¹ Beijin took advantage of to relay information to Fei, Wu Jian and Mu Jiashi.


    The fact that X¨¹ Beijin is remaining silent instead of reacting any other way is telling enough.


    Mu Jiashi takes a deep breath. He says, ¡°I ask because¡­ I realised, that the ¡®equivalent exchange¡¯ you provide, isn¡¯t simply the exchange of equivalent information that it looks like.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, very slowly, blinks.


    What¡­ What do you think it is? What did I say?


    X¨¹ Beijin is currently stupefied by Mu Jiashi¡¯s firm, confident tone.


    He can¡¯t help but suspect if he did something weird that sent the wrong signals without his knowledge to Mu Jiashi.


    Mu Jiashi seems almost, if not more imaginative, than conspiracists like Fei and Wu Jian.


    But well, regardless of how he drew that conclusion from this strange thing©¤©¤Probably some insane logic X¨¹ Beijin can never hope to achieve©¤©¤


    That Mu Jiashi now understands the Tower residents so well is a great relief to X¨¹ Beijin.


    Mu Jiashi also has no idea what X¨¹ Beijin is thinking, of course, as all he could always see is how X¨¹ Beijin is looking calm and mysterious over there.


    In fact, when facing X¨¹ Beijin, he finds himself mentally strained for some reason.


    And the more he does so, the greater the stress.


    Not from some physical or social position aspect, but simply because X¨¹ Beijin knows much more than he does¡­ At least, regarding the Tower.


    Mu Jiashi gulps nervously, while asking, ¡°so, can I ask if that is also the case, for your Nightmare?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He is looking at Mu Jiashi quietly, as he realises why Mu Jiashi is mentioning that Actors would reveal clues to Missiontakers.


    What he¡¯s doing, is trying to score free clues about his Nightmare from him, isn¡¯t he?


    X¨¹ Beijin finds himself a little speechless.


    Although X¨¹ Beijin thinks he shouldn¡¯t pay it any mind, as Tower residents do need to convey clues one way or another, so it¡¯s true;


    While the ¡®equivalent exchange¡¯ Mu Jiashi mentioned, was itself an excuse to gather free clues on X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s part.


    You might even call it a ¡®karmic retribution.¡¯


    That said, X¨¹ Beijin finds he is still curious about something else, so instead of answering, he asks, ¡°I am interested in hearing what else you have found out, about the Tower residents.¡±


    In the livestream earlier, worried about it being cut off again, X¨¹ Beijin did not dare keep the camera on Mu Jiashi, Ding Yi, Fei or Wu Jian much. He gave much more prominent showing to the Nightmare itself instead.


    That¡¯s why, he actually isn¡¯t sure, how much they know right now.


    Mu Jiashi has to take some time to organise his thoughts, and he says, ¡°we now know that the Apocalypse is split into two parts, a mental illness that spread madness, and then, a physical Raining Hellfire.


    But how it gave rise to this Tower and Tower residents is completely unknown for now.


    It tends to be that the Tower residents who have Nightmares featuring the Apocalypse in any form, would likely reveal nothing about the Tower itself.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin does not comment on Mu Jiashi¡¯s guesses and possible probing of information from him.


    He knows Mu Jiashi is quite curious about how humans ended up in the Tower. In fact, most Missiontakers and Actors are equally curious.


    It remains a curiosity, only because they have never received an answer. It¡¯s like a small obsession.


    Some people might not want to know the truth, but more people, like Mu Jiashi said, would find themselves devastated if they were to never know the truth.


    But even if X¨¹ Beijin does know the truth, he can¡¯t tell them easily either.


    Partly because of restrictions and the attention he receives from NE. And also, because unlike Su Enya, he cannot bring himself to do something like drag others down with him solely because he is in pain having learnt the truth.


    Where he can help it, X¨¹ Beijin really is a traditionally ¡®good person.¡¯


    The silence is somewhat disappointing Mu Jiashi, but then he recalls the question on NE.


    He says, with this conflicted tone, ¡°also, we are suspecting¡­ Where NE stands on all this.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is more than mildly surprised.


    Mu Jiashi says, ¡°there have been many rumours flying around recently, as I believe you are aware, such as one that says only NE is capable of pushing such things along¡­ At least, my companions also believe in that.


    They believe NE may really be helping us, or at least, is finally letting us into the truth.


    And about Xie Ji¡­ Su Enya, your neighbour, we think it¡¯s also a deliberate move by NE to send her back down here.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin finally speaks up, asking, ¡°you said that is what your companions believe. So, what about yourself?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ What I was originally suspecting, was¡­¡± Mu Jiashi is looking at X¨¹ Beijin with this complicated gaze.


    It makes X¨¹ Beijin feel awkward, but he asks, gently, ¡°and you think it is¡­¡±


    ¡°I suspected, that it was you.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Oho¡­


    He narrows his eyes slightly at Mu Jiashi, while giving him an expression that reads ¡®are you dumb?¡¯


    Mu Jiashi seems relieved he finally got that off his chest, however, and says with a forced chuckle, ¡°you might find this ridiculous, but Su Enya, she was your neighbour, and it was you also guided me, to look for her before.


    Then there was also the time a few years ago, you once provided a clue on the Nightmare with a building that¡¯s about to collapse, and also featured¡­ ¡®Acting.¡¯ I did not realise at all what you were trying to expose to me back then. I¡¯ve surely disappointed you.¡±


    Mu Jiashi seems quite embarrassed.

 Volume 7 - CH 111.5

    No no no, X¨¹ Beijin wants to tell Mu Jiashi he is wrong. He wasn¡¯t intending anything like that.


    He really just told him a clue about a random Nightmare.


    Clearly, though, Mu Jiashi has become convinced of his own flawless deductions, believing that X¨¹ Beijin already tried to give him clues years ago, although he ¡®did not realise¡¯ that at the time.


    He was even happy that he got to a higher floor successfully.


    Until a sudden defeat shattered his confidence, and sent him back down to the bottom floor, where he reevaluated the place from whence he started.


    Now, he has discovered that there are so many secrets hidden here as well.


    ¡°Now¡­¡± Mu Jiashi continues, ¡°I¡¯m also suspecting NE¡¯s circumstances, courtesy of my companions¡¯ information.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks about it a little, and nods, then says, ¡°I would agree that that is the only possible source which can create so many rumours in the Tower.¡±


    Mu Jiashi is looking at X¨¹ Beijin now.


    But X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t dwell on the topic much, saying, ¡°and about my Nightmare, since you¡¯re here already, I¡¯ll make a decision right now. The night the day after tomorrow, I will open my Nightmare.¡±


    Mu Jiashi is clearly glad to hear that.


    ¡°However¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°I will not just let anybody into my Nightmare, and so I would also ask you keep this a secret. I am sure it is in all our interests that the tragedy from a few years back do not repeat itself.


    Also, I would like you to be the one screening the people heading into my Nightmare. I expect ten at most¡ª¡ª


    Including you and Lin Qin, which means you can appoint eight others at most. The condition for the candidates¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin stops, falling into thought here.


    Mu Jiashi, meanwhile, glances over at Lin Qin, sitting by X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s side, and thinks, as expected.


    It is because of Lin Qin that X¨¹ Beijin opens his Nightmare.


    Even Mu Jiashi finds himself not too sure how to react to such a circumstance.


    X¨¹ Beijin would never know how speechless Mu Jiashi was glancing over at Lin Qin.


    To break with principle because of love, on someone like X¨¹ Beijin¡ª¡ª


    Specially, on someone with the appearance like that of X¨¹ Beijin, is quite unfathomable.


    But that is what¡¯s happening here.


    Mu Jiashi finds himself really, really relieved by that.


    X¨¹ Beijin has finished thinking now, and tells Mu Jiashi, ¡°the condition is that, they must have been to as many Nightmares as possible.¡±


    ¡°Alright¡­¡± Mu Jiashi then pauses, and asks for clarification, ¡°as many Nightmares as possible, but not having had as many True Ends as possible?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin nods, ¡°that¡¯s right. It doesn¡¯t matter if they have ever even had a True End, but they must have been too as many Nightmares as possible, the more the better.¡±


    Mu Jiashi is quite surprised. What kind of requirement is this? Is it not True Ends that are more reflective of the quality of Missiontakers in general?


    Or could this also be hinting at some nature of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare?


    But whatever he asks afterwards, X¨¹ Beijin does not answer anymore. Finally, he shakes his head and says, ¡°you will know the rest when you¡¯re in my Nightmare. And also, as a final warning, my Nightmare¡­ is truly dangerous.¡±


    Mu Jiashi looks taken aback.


    X¨¹ Beijin looks really tired ¨C his voice threatens to trail off at any point. It sends chills down anyone who can hear.


    He says, ¡°succumbing will be extremely likely within. You must be mentally adjusted for that.¡±


    Mu Jiashi nods with a stern expression.


    Then he leaves, mired deep in his worry, while looking for candidates to enter X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare.


    When he is gone, Lin Qin looks at X¨¹ Beijin and asks, worried, ¡°are you going to let others into your Nightmare?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks at him, and asks, curious, ¡°didn¡¯t you wish for me to sleep? Why do you still sound worried?¡±


    ¡°Because, it should still be your own will,¡± Lin Qin, ¡°but you are already too tired¡­ It¡¯s really problematic. If only you don¡¯t have to go into the Nightmare when you sleep.¡±


    ¡°Sleeptalking already?¡± X¨¹ Beijin looks like he is smiling when he says, ¡°it¡¯s been so many years already, in any case¡­ Maybe, everything will be over this time.¡±


    Lin Qin says, ¡°I believe in you.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin stares at Lin Qin with widened eyes, then suddenly, he asks, ¡°are you really going to go into my Nightmare?¡±


    Lin Qin then asks, ¡°do you not want me to?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s really dangerous¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not worried about dangers,¡± Lin Qin leans over, and stares straight back at X¨¹ Beijin, saying, ¡°you know what I want. If you really falter or something in your Nightmare, then I¡¯d happily lie in rest with you.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin moves his gaze away awkwardly, but doesn¡¯t push Lin Qin away.


    Lin Qin, happy, is about to say something.


    X¨¹ Beijin immediately says, ¡°no kissing¡­¡±


    Lin Qin ¡°¡­¡±


    Fine! No kisses, fine! Why did you even have to say it! Can¡¯t he at least imagine it?!


    He leans back a little, giving X¨¹ Beijin a glare from his unthreatening babyface.


    X¨¹ Beijin, amused, ruffles the young man¡¯s hair, and then says, ¡°I have to go out now.¡±


    ¡°Where are you going?¡±


    ¡°I have to look for a Tower resident.¡±


    ¡°The neighbour with the indeterminate gender?¡±


    Even if Lin Qin was just hovering about the last Nightmare, he at least knows the Missiontakers were having a hard time because of the gender of the Nightmare owner ¨C Xie Ji, who is also Su Enya, is X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s neighbour.


    ¡°No, not her,¡± X¨¹ Beijin is chuckling from Lin Qin¡¯s description, as he explains, ¡°I have to look for Dai Wu. This time, I¡¯ll probably be able to meet him in person.¡±


    Lin Qin nods, and finally, he asks, as expected, ¡°can I go with you? It¡¯ll be safer¡­¡±


    ¡°What danger is there in the Tower?¡± X¨¹ Beijin stands up and casually adds a, ¡°watch the shop for me, little apple, thanks.¡±


    So the little apple is on watch duty.


    X¨¹ Beijin leaves the bookstore, and falls into thought while walking towards the Tower resident who is Dai Wu¡¯s subordinate.


    To this day, Dai Wu has yet to meet him in person in the Tower, which strikes X¨¹ Beijin as a bit odd.


    Is there something more to it¡­


    Compared to the Missiontakers, it seems true that the Actors really are less and less like normal people of human society.


    While thinking, he suddenly notices someone walking towards him from the corner of his eye.


    The person seems slightly familiar, even though he can¡¯t exactly recall who he is, or when he met him.


    Finally, when the person notices him as well, and then looks shocked and even fearful, that X¨¹ Beijin remembered the expression.


    It¡¯s the livestreamer.


    The game livestreamer, who, in Wu Shen¡¯s Nightmare, left his streaming system behind, in this game.

 Volume 7 - CH 112.1

    The Only Opportunity


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    For the streamer Olai, this is certainly an unlucky day.


    His stream of the game ¡®Escape¡¯ that is several months late, is now finally, after incessant annoyed prodding from the viewers and Olai still failing to overcome his fear, going to restart.


    A few months ago, Olai promised his viewers he would pick a random game from the absurdly large library of all video games, and unfortunately for him, he matched with a survival horror type game named ¡®Escape.¡¯


    These games right now are exceptionally unpopular in streaming ¨C normal players are too easily scared, and hosts avoid them because viewers aren¡¯t exactly dying to watch normal hosts get scared just like them¡­ with the notable exception of extremely scaredy hosts.


    Since the joy from seeing cowards completely losing it to fear and screaming is apparently enough to overcome normal viewers¡¯ fear.


    Therefore, even though Olai wanted to use the error he suffered to give it the cold shoulder, the viewers are still flushing his stream with comment barrages to remind him to remember to stream this horror game whenever it¡¯s fixed.


    Olai sure has it hard.


    The last time he went into this game, he was so scared he got forcibly ejected offline twice.


    The second time some bug or something even broke the streaming system his immersion pod came installed with.


    So it took some time before the immersion pod was fixed after being sent back to the manufacturer. His stream paused several days, too.


    Even after that, the viewers were still bugging him to stream this game.


    Olai would much rather¡­ stay far, far away from this game.


    Although that is but a brave idea when faced with the onslaught of passionate viewers. Whenever he streamed some other game and had some new viewers checking him out, his regulars would immediately give the new viewers Cliff¡¯s notes of the deal with ¡®Escape,¡¯ and they¡¯d all start teasing him and urging him to stream it.


    Olai, he, he complied in the end.


    But he decided to pull a trickery.


    ¡®Escape¡¯ contains both a hub area in the ¡®Tower¡¯ and the actual game Instances called ¡®Nightmares.¡¯


    When players first enter, they¡¯re dropped directly in one of the Nightmares as a sort of tutorial, before they can enter the hub area.


    Players can, of course, choose to skip the tutorial and get shunted into the Tower directly.


    Olai didn¡¯t know that the first time, but this time, before streaming, he studied whatever little information he could find on this game and came across this information ¨C amazing, he thought.


    The information he got was what was beyond the viewers¡¯ reach, too, because this is a game that only streamers can enter, so naturally, some information would be off-limits.


    Olai then entered the game with his eyes shut, and then chose to skip the tutorial immediately, and entered the Tower.


    He hasn¡¯t started streaming yet, as he¡¯s going to familiarise himself here first, so that the viewers find nothing to laugh at him about¡­ Yes. Olai is the perfect exemplar of the coward who still wants to act tough.


    But this is an unfortunate day, as we said, because, the moment he entered the Tower, barely a few steps away he can see the man who scared him so much he was kicked offline a few months ago.


    The man who looked exactly like the Devil.


    Olai is frozen, and shaking.


    Maybe his mood was calm enough earlier that he is still able to remain in the game for now.


    But he doesn¡¯t dare face the man yet. He can only shuffle his feet a little, so that he can move past him on the sidelines.


    That is when he hears the calm but inquisitive voice speaking, ¡°hello, I believe we¡¯ve met each other in a Nightmare before.¡±


    Olai immediately stops. He doesn¡¯t dare not answering, as this man is already like some kind of PTSD trauma that haunts his darkest nightmares.


    With trembling lips, and a pale face, he says, ¡°uh¡­ yes, yes. It¡¯s, it¡¯s been a while¡­ And, you still seem to recall? Aha, haha¡­¡±


    Olai is so stressed he is laughing.


    X¨¹ Beijin examines the young person from top to bottom, somewhat surprised.


    He does not look too old; at least, in the Tower, he appears to be a young adult.


    He looks so utterly gripped by fear though, that even X¨¹ Beijin can only wonder, if he really does look so downright frightening.


    So X¨¹ Beijin tries to give the young adult a reassuring smile, asking, ¡°don¡¯t worry, I just want to ask a few questions.¡±


    Olai looks even more scared though ¨C to him, the smile is like the Devil waving at him already. All he can do, though, is answer, ¡°yes, yes sir.¡±


    He is doing his best to make¡­ puppy-dog eyes and an obedient gesture.


    The two of them now stand at a corner just off Respawn Avenue, right next to a window showing the grey smog continuing to ebb and flow outside without dissipating; it¡¯s somewhere quiet that no one will mind. The hour is too early for many people to be walking about Respawn Avenue, too.


    X¨¹ Beijin starts talking with Olai here.


    He asks, ¡°have you just started playing this game?¡±


    ¡°Ye-, yes,¡± Olai answers, with his trembling tone of voice, ¡°I¡¯m here to stream.¡±


    He answers really tersely and mechanically, trying not to reveal too much about himself.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s expression turns somewhat serious, though, as he has already realised an abundance of information from Olai¡¯s answer.


    He asks, ¡°so where are you from?¡±


    Olai is a bit taken aback by this somewhat personal question. He wonders why X¨¹ Beijin is asking him for this detail.


    He answers with the bare minimum of details, ¡°I¡¯m a Biler, so I¡¯m on Brunok in the Bilera system. I was born there.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is momentarily stunned, but he doesn¡¯t show it, and keeps asking, ¡°how are the Bilers doing right now?¡±


    ¡°How we¡¯re doing?¡± Olai tilts his head a little, and then answers, ¡°you know we never really¡­ participate in those conflicts across the universe. We are pretty easily spooked, yeah? At least we can live peacefully like that, with the ¡®Common Treatise of the Universe¡¯ protecting our rights.¡±


    Mentioning his own people seems to make Olai a little more relaxed with pride.


    Then he continues, ¡°but uh, I guess it¡¯s not all that good. I overheard the elders, and they said it¡¯s been a hundred years of conflict already, and they don¡¯t know if it might still end up dragging the other peoples into the war¡­¡±


    Then his voice trails off; he¡¯s failed to keep himself from talking too much.


    X¨¹ Beijin is having quite the shock at the amount of information, though.


    The situation across the universe is still bad? The war is still ongoing? Then if so¡­


    Could this be, what the ¡®situation¡¯ the viewers of the stream were referring to? Could this be what the garbled text in the viewers¡¯ chats was about?


    X¨¹ Beijin has never forgotten what few information he gleamed from the stream¡¯s comment barrage.


    They put it really vaguely, perhaps trying to avoid talking about them as much as possible, but even then, the seriousness of the situation was conveyed perfectly well through the screen.


    But X¨¹ Beijin wasn¡¯t expecting that war to still be ongoing right now!


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s rather long period of silence is worrying Olai again a little, moving his arms a little, stressed, and watching X¨¹ Beijin carefully.


    Then X¨¹ Beijin comes back and asks something else, ¡°you said you are a streamer, so are the other players also streamers?¡±


    Of course not. He knows that, but X¨¹ Beijin is trying to pry more information away from Olai.


    As expected, Olai says, ¡°of course not. The game is only accessible to streamers, but there are also some other players¡­ Well, nobody knows why they¡¯re here. I¡¯m not sure, and I don¡¯t talk to them much. It¡¯s not like we can understand each other all that well; the Common Universal Translator still has a long way to go.¡±


    ¡°And you usually stream these types of games?¡± X¨¹ Beijin asks.


    ¡°Not really. Many popular streamers who have big fanbases would pick these games to make their streams surprising and fresh. I¡¯m still a new streamer, so I usually stream from games that are open to the public and trending.


    But well¡­ I got unlucky. I promised to pick a truly random game from every single game, and it landed on this.¡±


    Olai is sighing.


    X¨¹ Beijin listened with a patient expression. It is probably really unlucky for Olai, as he¡¯s easily scared.


    But his arrival, coincidentally, has given humanity trapped in the Tower, a great ray of hope.


    In that sense, Olai, the average, unremarkable Biler, might well become the saviour of humanity.


    Then Olai says, ¡°and the game chose a really creepy theme too, I wonder what the developers were even thinking.¡±


    He raises his hand and points to his arm, complaining, ¡°you might not know this, but this form is the image of the Devil in our people¡¯s legends.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin continues listening quietly.


    He knows that the ¡®Devil¡¯ Olai is referring to is quite unlikely to be what the Western civilisations commonly describe as ¡®demons¡¯; it is probably just the closest concept the Common Universal Translator picked for it.


    No wonder Olai gets spooked offline just from seeing him. X¨¹ Beijin knew he looked quite evil, but definitely not to the degree of scaring someone shitless.


    It seems like it was just an unfortunate coincidence of that, plus their forms being similar to what the Bilers feared as ¡®Devils.¡¯

 Volume 7 - CH 112.2

    Seeing X¨¹ Beijin listen quietly without looking impatient or looking annoyed, Olai seems somewhat more relaxed, and he asks, ¡°is there anything else you want to know?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks Olai over with a rather complicated gaze.


    This Biler is the only person from outside the game among all of humanity here.


    He might not know about the universe in all that much detail, but he¡¯s free. He¡¯s not trapped in the Tower like all of them.


    So after thinking about it, X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°I want to ask for a favour, to deliver a message, if you¡¯re willing.¡±


    Olai immediately answers, ¡°of course, I¡¯ll definitely finish the job perfectly.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is slightly surprised by the attitude, and says, ¡°don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s nothing so dramatic¡­¡± He then thinks some more, before carefully telling Olai the message he needed delivered.


    Olai is listening, and he suddenly looks rather down. He says, ¡°I can ask the elders if any of them know a Maerton, or have a way to access their network, but they¡¯re extremely isolated and rather xenophobic. With the war raging on, too¡­ I might not be able to¡­¡±


    ¡°In return¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you about a Nightmare that has zero dangers and no shocking scenes at all.¡±


    Olai¡¯s attitude immediately turns around, and he says, ¡°I¡¯ll walk to the ends of Hell for you!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is smiling gently. Then, he tells Olai about that Nightmare.


    As for whether Olai will really listen to X¨¹ Beijin and deliver the message to the Maertons¡­ X¨¹ Beijin thinks it is pointless to dwell on it. He¡¯s going to leave it up to fate.


    It is not that difficult a task, considering it would be fine as long as he can inform any single Maerton individual, or leave a message in their network.


    Even if Olai succeeds, whether the Maertons will consider the information important enough to act on, is also unknown. Though, it might be the only way to help humanity out of this prison.


    X¨¹ Beijin can find no better alternative plan that has a greater odds of success for leaving behind this dark, creepy Tower.


    After telling Olai to do that, X¨¹ Beijin then leaves a message in a certain unoccupied house of the bottom floor.


    He knows they might never meet ever again, and a ¡®Friendlist¡¯ isn¡¯t even a feature in this game. That¡¯s all he could do.


    Then X¨¹ Beijin leaves Olai behind.


    A bit later, when Olai is out of sight, the calm X¨¹ Beijin suddenly stops, and props his hand on the wall to support his form. He looks utterly relieved and also excited.


    His mind is filled with countless thoughts, and he looks up, mumbling, ¡°you¡¯re watching, aren¡¯t you, NE? You must have seen what he and I talked about; you must also know what I told him to deliver¡­ but, you did not stop me.¡±


    The Tower remains quiet as always. It¡¯s like nothing has changed.


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°so, you did change your modus operandi.¡±


    After that, he waits a short moment, but nothing happens. He seems both surprised and further relieved, as some rather convoluted mood slowly untangles itself from X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s heavy chest, and he stands there, blanking out, as he heaves a weary sigh.


    Here, he can finally say, he has a not insignificant chance of success.


    Oh, hope, hope. Finally, at long last, he can see hope.


    He does not know why NE is switching sides. He does not understand how Olai ended up in this game. He does not have the faintest idea, how the streaming system ended up in his hands.


    He only knows, that perhaps, they might actually be able to leave the Tower. Not a fantasy or a dream, or some kind of excuse or lying to themselves to make themselves feel better, but literally, part of the wall has been chiselled through, letting a beacon of hope in.


    Right now, X¨¹ Beijin is even feeling a little dizzy. After the joy, comes the even greater sense of anxiety and dread. He¡¯s worried these are all fake.


    However, that is also the moment when X¨¹ Beijin recalls something else, which drains all the remaining happiness from his expression. He stands there expressionlessly, as if it was a psychotic episode he just had where he manically and excitedly trembled; he has recalled something else.


    After some more time spent idling in his thoughts, X¨¹ Beijin finally chuckles bitterly at himself, and takes another step forward.


    He knows that everything has been put into motion. It is unstoppable now, so all he can do, is do what he can.


    Well, he knows that well enough, but his steps are slowing down again.


    His fingers brush past the coarse concrete walls of the Tower. This is the place where he has lived for so, so many years.


    He murmurs, ¡°if I really have to stay here my whole life¡­ no, for an eternity¡­¡±


    His feet stop. His expression is growing grim.


    If Olai can see what he looks like right now, with his deathly piercing gaze, his cold appearance, his lips which are curled into an angle of mockery, then the scaredy Biler would certainly have been forced offline once more.


    However, soon after, X¨¹ Beijin smiles again, sighing, and mutters to no one in particular again, ¡°I really am a good person, aren¡¯t I? Even if I can¡¯t leave, I should still do what I can to let the others leave.


    Isn¡¯t that the right thing to do, NE?¡±


    No answer comes for his question.


    Then, X¨¹ Beijin remembers Lin Qin. What about him, though?


    Will he be able to leave the Tower? With his empty memories and experience in life? Why are they empty in the first place?


    What, was his past?


    X¨¹ Beijin is mocking himself again, going, ¡°look at you, X¨¹ Beijin¡­ you say you can¡¯t feel the little apple¡¯s feelings for you¡­ you¡¯re kidding yourself¡­¡±


    Then he closes his eyes. His Adam¡¯s apple bobs up and down several times, as he tries to keep his boiling emotions in check.


    Then, he finally reopens his eyes, and picks his calm and controlled demeanour back up, as he ghosts through the narrow alleys and passageways through the Tower, reaching the house of Dai Wu¡¯s subordinate in the end.

 Volume 7 - CH 112.3

    X¨¹ Beijin finds Dai Wu at Dai Wu¡¯s subordinate¡¯s residence.


    What is surprising is the fact that Dai Wu is actually wheelchair-bound.


    ¡°Surprised?¡± The casual, almost jumpy young man shrugs dismissively.


    Then he says, ¡°this is why I call it a Second Life, literally. I don¡¯t like the Tower. I like being in Nightmares instead.¡±


    Even with a disability, he might still be the only person in the world to say he enjoys Nightmares.


    X¨¹ Beijin asks, ¡°why didn¡¯t you try heading to higher floors?¡±


    He is aware of some people who claim their myopia was partly alleviated by ascending floors.


    Dai Wu shakes his head, though, saying, ¡°I¡­ My body is already like this. Even the information panel displays a physical disability.¡±


    He says with a nonchalant tone of voice, ¡°it¡¯s going to be the same wherever in the game.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is at a loss for words.


    He didn¡¯t know Dai Wu had such circumstances.


    Now that he thinks about it, Dai Wu was always standing up in Nightmares, whether as a cashier, ticker sales reception, or more crucially, a survivor in the post-Apocalyptic ruins, he stood there, talking about a Second Life with a smile.


    Missiontakers have a sense that Tower residents all have at least one debilitating ¡®quirks,¡¯ whether mental, or physical.


    Dai Wu quickly skips over the topic on his physical form, and asks, ¡°so what do you need?¡± Then he looks over at his subordinate, and adds, ¡°or maybe you¡¯re here for him?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here for you,¡± replies X¨¹ Beijin, and he gets straight to the point, ¡°I¡¯m planning to let others into my Nightmare.¡±


    Dai Wu is completely shocked.


    X¨¹ Beijin then explains, ¡°there will not be many people in my Nightmare, though.¡±


    After the shock, Dai Wu smiles, and nods, saying, ¡°I¡¯m really curious what would be in your Nightmare¡­¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t be inside,¡± X¨¹ Beijin immediately clarifies, and tells him what he¡¯s here for, ¡°I¡¯m here for a related matter¡­ preparations for the worst, say.¡±


    Dai Wu wasn¡¯t paying much attention to the last part, though, as he¡¯s pretty fixated on the first part, wondering, ¡°why are you so sure? Why would I not be inside of a Nightmare on the bottom floor? Is your Nightmare really that special?¡±


    Then he immediately jumps to the most obvious conclusion.


    X¨¹ Beijin confirms what he¡¯s thinking. He nods and tells him, ¡°yes, there are no Actors in my Nightmare. Not a single one, save for myself.¡±


    Dai Wu is now absolutely astonished. He says, ¡°now I¡¯m really starting to believe that there is some great secret in your Nightmare. But you¡¯ve also told me, your Nightmare isn¡¯t the Ultimate Nightmare¡­ Then, what could that really be?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin remains silent.


    Dai Wu then gives X¨¹ Beijin a fierce stare, asking, ¡°you know about it, don¡¯t you? The Ultimate Nightmare.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin wasn¡¯t going to move at first, but then he slowly nods.


    He recalled NE¡¯s rather ambiguous stance on all this, so he doesn¡¯t need to be so careful anymore. He is trying to work together with Dai Wu, so there is no need for subterfuge.


    Dai Wu seems quite enthusiastic getting a positive response, and he asks, ¡°what¡¯s the Ultimate Nightmare like? Is there really an exit inside?¡±


    And¡­ How does X¨¹ Beijin know?


    Dai Wu doesn¡¯t ask that last question out loud, of course. Pretending he wasn¡¯t thinking about that last question, he simply looks eagerly at X¨¹ Beijin.


    X¨¹ Beijin appears to fall into thought opposite Dai Wu, and finally, he says, ¡°well, yes¡­¡±


    Dai Wu appears stunned for a moment before immediately exclaiming, ¡°there¡¯s really an exit?! I really thought it was a rumour!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin sighs inside, though. The ¡®exit¡¯ is probably not what they¡¯re imagining the ¡®exit¡¯ to the Tower to look like.


    At least, it is not one in the traditional sense.


    X¨¹ Beijin would rather not give puzzles to Dai Wu, or give him false hope.


    Whether or not the Ultimate Nightmare even will or can open up to the Missiontakers is for later, even if that is related to what he¡¯s here for.


    So he decides to use it to bait Dai Wu, ¡°I¡¯m here partly because of the Ultimate Nightmare.¡±


    Dai Wu continues to listen, still visibly shocked and excited.


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°if you want the Ultimate Nightmare to open up, then I need you to get as many Actors as possible on your side. Prepare as many available men and women as you can.¡±


    ¡°On what grounds?¡± Dai Wu asks astutely.


    X¨¹ Beijin simply replies, ¡°I cannot tell you at this moment.¡±


    Dai Wu then furrows his brows, ¡°that doesn¡¯t sound a lot like an equivalent exchange.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin goes speechless. Why would he hear ¡®equivalent exchange¡¯ even here?


    But that¡¯s beside the point. He tells Dai Wu, ¡°this is the condition for the Ultimate Nightmare to open. If you cannot do it, then the Ultimate Nightmare will never open up.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is asking Dai Wu to do this largely because Dai Wu must have an enormous web of connections in the Tower. At least, when it comes to Actors.


    His suggestion to treat all of this as a Second Life has likely helped many an Actor to stay sane and lucid.


    After this, X¨¹ Beijin is planning to visit Su Enya, but he doesn¡¯t need to hurry exactly; he¡¯s sure Mu Jiashi would have headed for her right after him.


    Perhaps it would be better, too, that Mu Jiashi would talk about X¨¹ Beijin opening his Nightmare up with her. He can expect her to be primed and ready mentally.


    And then there are¡­ the Missiontakers.


    X¨¹ Beijin is quietly thinking about it.


    Shortly thereafter, he continues telling Dai Wu, ¡°remember. Gather up the Actors, as many as you can, and for the rest, you should try to figure out the movement patterns and, better yet, where they are at all times.¡±


    Dai Wu¡¯s face is turning pretty serious, even if his tone is still quite light.


    He¡¯s clearly still trying to take in the stringent and all-encompassing nature of this condition to open the Ultimate Nightmare. He asks, ¡°I won¡¯t say I can¡¯t do it¡­ but, what are you trying to achieve with all the Actors?¡±


    ¡°A successful exit from the Tower.¡±


    ¡°Bold words, but talking will get us nowhere.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin shrugs, and nonchalantly tells him, ¡°that¡¯s why I¡¯m trying to convince you to act.¡±


    It almost sounds like something Dai Wu would say to people; the latter looks speechless.


    He gives the gloomy young man a glare, and asks with a threatening tone, ¡°can you even call this ¡®convincing¡¯?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin raises his brow.


    Then Dai Wu simply breaks into a smile, and says, ¡°it¡¯s a friend¡¯s request, so I¡¯ll do it. No convincing needed.¡±


    He pauses, but still cautions X¨¹ Beijin, ¡°of course, while I¡¯ll do as you ask, but for the truth behind the Tower¡­ it¡¯s at least time to let me in on what I can know?¡±


    So then he turns to his subordinate nearby, and has him leave the room for now. Then he smiles as he looks back at X¨¹ Beijin, asking, ¡°will that do?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Well, yes. He thinks about it, and says, ¡°so, I¡¯m planning to open up my Nightmare¡­¡±


    ¡°And?¡±


    ¡°My Nightmare, is some sort of prerequisite for the Ultimate Nightmare to open up,¡± X¨¹ Beijin then tries to word it as carefully safe as possible to get what he needs across, ¡°therefore, it is important for me that everything is arranged properly before I enter my Nightmare. When it starts, everything must already be in place, because there is only one possible chance. I can only have one go.¡±


    Dai Wu quietly listens.


    X¨¹ Beijin gives him the sternest expression he has ever put up so far, ¡°this one chance, is all or nothing.¡±


    Dai Wu is holding his breath at this point at the seriousness of it all, until finally, he exhales slowly.


    He says, ¡°I see,¡± then he pauses, and adds, ¡°not that we¡¯d have had a chance for a redo even if there could be a second go.¡±


    Then he looks down, at the stumps where his legs end, and then, looks outside the window, where the fog continues forming and dissipating.


    Finally, he turns to X¨¹ Beijin, and says, ¡°I, would definitely, never be complacent, just having some ¡®Second Life¡¯ in this fake, videogame-land.


    Even if my legs are completely healed within Nightmares, even if I can once again walk freely, even if I can be rid of this cursed, weak form¡­


    A fictitious reality, holds no meaning to me.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin watches him quietly.


    Dai Wu concludes, ¡°even if only death awaits, I will have my final moments, on Earth.¡±


    A short while afterwards, X¨¹ Beijin nods firmly, and tells him, ¡°you will¡­ We will succeed.¡±


    For the first time ever in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s memories, the giddy smile is wiped from Dai Wu¡¯s face. He nods heavily, solemnly.


    While X¨¹ Beijin walk talking with Dai Wu, just as X¨¹ Beijin thought, Mu Jiashi went straight for the residence of Xie Ji©¤©¤Of the residence of the purported Tower resident from a higher floor.


    He¡¯s going to look for Su Enya.

 Volume 7 - CH 113.1

    Logical Development


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Xie Ji, or rather, Su Enya.


    Mu Jiashi knows her from a long time ago, but he never imagined then, that he would end up having to interact with her so much, and definitely not as someone who is completely different from the confident Golddigger of the bottom floor of the Tower.


    Su Enya also changed a lot herself, for that matter.


    When Mu Jiashi first came to know her, she was much more ¡®tame.¡¯ At least, she wasn¡¯t at all easily startled, or at all misanthropic, holding nothing but contempt and hostility for the rest of the world.


    When Mu Jiashi sees Su Enya cursing them with her ¡®The Apocalypse is coming. Everyone will die,¡¯ he feels really complicated.


    Does this emotion belong to Su Enya? Or perhaps, does it belong to the astronomer known as ¡®Xie Ji¡¯ in that script, or perhaps, ¡®Ke Zhu¡¯?


    Mu Jiashi has no answers. It could be as simple as Su Enya having become one of those Tower residents who have been completely subsumed by their own roles, and have gone completely mad.


    Su Enya is quite active for sure, almost like a staff member who sells her¡­ his?¡­ products by yelling out loud on the street.


    Remembering that problem with the gender makes Mu Jiashi feel even more helpless at her situation.


    He walks over.


    Su Enya almost immediately stops calling out to passers-by. She looks at Mu Jiashi nervously. She is shifting a little, and looks like she would sprint away the next second.


    ¡°Su Enya¡­¡± Mu Jiashi calls out.


    But Su Enya shows no response. She is still looking warily at Mu Jiashi.


    A little bit lost, Mu Jiashi then realises something, and calls out, ¡°Xie Ji¡­¡±


    This time, Xie Ji has a little reaction; her tone is all over the place, though, as you might expect someone who has gone insane to be.


    She asks in shock, ¡°you¡­ you know me?! There are still people who know me on the bottom floor of this Tower?!¡±


    Mu Jiashi looks at her, and only feels a chilly sorrow in his chest.


    He thinks Su Enya¡¯s entire identity has probably collapsed. She is now some amalgam of Su Enya, Xie Ji and Ke Zhu.


    If Mu Jiashi calls out ¡®Ke Zhu¡¯ instead, he might be the one to respond.


    Su Enya has lost herself. Her life is now solely a predetermined, uninteresting plot whose ending has already been written in stone.


    When he realises this, Mu Jiashi can¡¯t help but wonder, why did he look for her in the first place?


    Well, it is because of what Xie Ji did in the Nightmare¡­


    No, no, wait.


    Mu Jiashi suddenly recalls something.


    In the Nightmare, Xie Ji only showed that cowering stance lucidly, for lack of a better word, at the very end of the Nightmare, which prompted him to think more deeply about this. Here, back in the Tower, she¡¯s become mad instead?


    Could it be, that it is because Nightmare owners would have the most control within their own Nightmares?


    Which means that she is able to¡­ deviate from the script, to some degree? Or maybe she took advantage of the chaotic moment, to put up a posture?


    Regardless, she was without a doubt, lucid. She was aware of her surroundings.


    But in the Tower, perhaps she cannot show that side of hers at all.


    A script. An extremely restrictive script. She must Act as Xie Ji and Ke Zhu strictly to the letter of the script.


    What if it were other Actors looking for her, though? Since they would be the same type of people, unlike Mu Jiashi himself, who is a Missiontaker.


    He thinks it¡¯s likely the case; Tower residents have to hide their own identities from Missiontakers only, don¡¯t they? This could be how it has been for all these years.


    Perhaps she wouldn¡¯t have to continue the charade in front of other Actors.


    After all that thought, finally, he decides to tell ¡®Su Enya,¡¯ ¡°I¡¯m here to tell you, that X¨¹ Beijin¡­ the bookstore owner, your previous neighbour, is planning to open up his own Nightmare.¡±


    The woman still looks paranoid and unresponsive to what he said. Just looking at this, he can¡¯t tell at all if she even understood him or not.


    Then he adds, ¡°I¡¯m in charge of picking someone to enter his Nightmare. By the way¡­ I think I understand what you meant in the past.


    About, the Tower residents. And some kind of special, I don¡¯t know¡­ evaluation system you have?¡±


    Xie Ji continues looking at him confusedly but warily.


    Mu Jiashi tries his best to analyse her microexpressions while she continues looking like this, and finally nods, then says, ¡°I think you got what I needed to tell you. So finally¡­¡±


    He pauses for a moment here, before saying, ¡°let¡¯s wish we can both escape the Tower.¡±


    After that, he parts with her, with a final ¡°goodbye. I have to look for suitable Missiontakers.¡±


    He turns to leave.


    But then, the woman behind him, barely audible at his distance, mutters, ¡°the Apocalypse once came, but eventually, it, too, has to leave.¡±


    Mu Jiashi stops, and then says, ¡°we will not be frozen forever at the moment of the Apocalypse. Never.¡±


    Some kind of emotion threatens to show itself on the woman¡¯s face, but she stands there, blanking out, and finally, after a moment or two, she starts spouting her speech to terrorise bystanders once more.


    A while later, she returns to her residence, and tunes out entirely.


    After some indeterminate amount of time, something is knocking on her door, with a regular and slow rhythm.


    Xie Ji does not seem to hear it. She is still blanking out.


    The person outside is still knocking patiently.


    Finally, Xie Ji slowly raises her head.


    Then the door swings open by itself, and in walks X¨¹ Beijin, who looks at Xie Ji, and greets her normally.


    There is some kind of glint in Xie Ji¡¯s eyes; she makes a long and weary sigh, before saying, ¡°just now, Mu Jiashi came to me. He told me you¡¯re going to open up your Nightmare. I was wondering how long it¡¯d take you to come look for me.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin nods; his guess was correct. Then, he says, ¡°I went to Dai Wu just now, and told him to do something, which I also want to ask you to do for me.


    I would wager that you and Dai Wu each have Actors you can contact?¡±


    Xie Ji raises her eyebrows, before smirking dismissively, and saying, ¡°you know I hate that guy.¡±


    Then she mutters something too quietly to hear, before telling X¨¹ Beijin, ¡°but well, as long as I don¡¯t have to work with him personally.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin realises that Xie Ji and Su Enya¡¯s personalities don¡¯t exactly seem to match up.


    He¡¯s a bit curious what kind of state this particular Tower resident is in.


    Is she holding too many roles in her head that she is behaving a little schizophrenically?


    He¡¯s curious for a moment, but then he decides to eschew the question; it is Su Enya-slash-Xie Ji¡¯s own issue to consider.

 Volume 7 - CH 113.2

    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    To be honest, X¨¹ Beijin is more curious about the conflict between Xie Ji and Dai Wu.


    Xie Ji actually said once, that she hated the ¡®Second Life¡¯ tomfoolery Dai Wu proposed. She is against the idea of the Tower being a Second Life; but in truth, Dai Wu also thinks the same.


    It is simply because of his physical condition, that he has longing for healthy limbs in the Nightmare.


    He knows his own ¡®Second Life¡¯ theory is an indulgence in convenience. He is letting himself enjoy a mirage of happiness.


    That is actually why he keeps calling it a ¡®Second Life.¡¯ His ¡®First Life,¡¯ is not there.


    He would let himself enjoy the moment, but he would not let reality be confused with it.


    In essence, that means Dai Wu and Xie Ji thinks exactly the same, even if the former appears far more relaxed and at ease than the latter. His pain in understanding humanity¡¯s condition, does not preclude finding joy in life.


    Xie Ji, meanwhile, is wholly distraught at the whole affair.


    X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t one to judge this difference in attitude. It¡¯s how other people decide to live; his own life is already in shambles right now.


    No, that would not do.


    He shakes his head inside. Time to get back to business.


    Ignoring Xie Ji¡¯s misgivings towards Dai Wu, he decides to avoid the landmine, as befits his usual modus operandi, even if, as Xie Ji and Dai Wu represent two majority factions among the Actors, facilitating this cooperation would mean X¨¹ Beijin still has to keep in touch with the both of them, and possibly mediate in the future©¤©¤


    He might still have to say a few words, even while dodging the ¡®ideological differences¡¯ as much as he can.


    Then, he says, ¡°so about the favour I have to ask; I need you to convince as many Actors as you can, to help me out at a certain moment in the future.¡±


    ¡°Help out with what?¡±


    As expected, Xie Ji has a similar question to Dai Wu.


    So X¨¹ Beijin simply repeats what he told Dai Wu verbatim.


    Xie Ji nods, falling into thought, and commenting, ¡°the Ultimate Nightmare¡­ huh,¡± there is a slightly ominous smile on her face as she then says, ¡°oh, so the Ultimate Nightmare is real. I always thought, it was another lie.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin nods, but then also shakes his head.


    He corrects her, ¡°it is an opportunity.¡±


    Xie Ji also sounds hopeful when she then says, ¡°I do wish we can succeed, too,¡± she almost looks joyful, for once, ¡°we can¡­ can¡¯t we?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin cannot give her a watertight guarantee, but if you ask him, the chances for succeeding, are probably 60-40.


    Why a 60% chance of success? He¡¯s hedging his bets on NE being on their side.


    Though 60% is nowhere near a great chance of success, he still nods, and tells Xie Ji, ¡°yes, we can.¡±


    Mu Jiashi continues walking forward.


    He has more important things to do than trying to talk with Xie Ji some more; and her location happened to be on the way he has to go, too.


    ©¤©¤Picking out members to enter X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare.


    Besides Mu Jiashi and Lin Qin, Fei and Wu Jian would certainly enter as well.


    They know Nightmares. They might not even have been into many of them, but they definitely have good information on many of them.


    So with that, six slots remain.


    X¨¹ Beijin wants people who have been to the most Nightmares¡­ which is slightly strange, but Mu Jiashi will do ask he asks, even if he cannot comprehend the reasoning behind it.


    As many Nightmares as possible, huh¡­ It¡¯s a requirement that reminds Mu Jiashi of his days back in the Golddigger organisation.


    In those large groups of competent Missiontakers, some would be in charge of scouting ahead in new Nightmares.


    They might not have had many True Ends under their belt, but they would have been to an unimaginable amount of Nightmares. They would fit X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s requirements to a t.


    Mu Jiashi is currently considering it. Perhaps this grand adventure would even involve one or two of his old friends? They would have been the support staff up to now, but putting their skills to the test, they would be the main firepower here.


    That is why, Mu Jiashi is heading over to a front for the Golddiggers.


    Naturally, such organisations that are on the bottom floor would not be the best choice. That¡¯s why he¡¯s hoping to get into contact with other branches on higher floors, so that they can send one or two experienced Golddigger Scouts down.


    It should be just enough time, if they continuously achieve terrible Bad Ends in quick succession.


    This is something Golddiggers in large organisations are used to.


    Mu Jiashi doesn¡¯t plan to tell the Golddiggers the real purpose of needing the scouts; he is simply going to say, he¡¯s discovered a promising new Nightmare, so he¡¯d like some help exploring.


    Letting Golddiggers learn that X¨¹ Beijin is going to open his Nightmare up is not going to end well.


    With Mu Jiashi¡¯s own contributions to the Golddiggers, namely his flawless achievements, plus how he gave all his utility cards up to them before returning to the bottom floor, it would not be difficult to pull a few strings.


    Soon enough, a satisfactory response comes from the Golddiggers.


    Mu Jiashi nods. Good. Now, he still has a few slots left.


    It¡¯s no easy matter to think about, now, as the entry is planned for the night on the day after tomorrow.


    Which means he has two days at most to figure it out. Even if he knows a lot of Missiontakers that fit X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s requirements, getting into contact with them in such short notice is going to be tremendously difficult.


    So the most efficient way forward is to look for such people on the bottom floor itself.


    He turns to the marketplace on the bottom floor for help.


    Marketplaces where bartering takes place is a common feature on all the floors of the Tower, and usually the liveliest places, discounting the nightly parties hosted by those indulgent Missiontakers.


    In fact, it is not simply utility cards and simple everyday necessities that the marketplaces showcase, but also where Golddiggers and Planners try to find business. And possibly, some even shadier kinds of deals would also happen.


    Mu Jiashi would have a best shot finding someone he needs here.


    Though first, he finds Fei and Wu Jian standing in front of a stand.


    He walks over, greets them, and then asks, curious, ¡°are you here to buy something?¡±


    ¡°No, we¡¯re not,¡± Wu Jian says, keeping his voice down, ¡°we¡¯re investigating what rumours NE are spreading on the bottom floor.¡±


    Mu Jiashi is already used to the two¡¯s flirting with conspiracies, and casually asks, ¡°so did you find anything?¡±


    Mu Jiashi wasn¡¯t expecting anything when he asked, as he finds it highly unlikely to find clues directly traceable back to NE here.


    This is simply of the standard marketplace of the Tower.


    No Missiontakers have ever managed to gleam much information on NE in the first place. What fresh information could the two hope to find after simply listening in on stuff in a short period of time?

 Volume 7 - CH 113.3

    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Mu Jiashi is in shock ¨C Fei and Wu Jian nodded to his question; they actually found something worthwhile!


    Fei tells him, ¡°we found several Missiontakers who sells information here. They are based here, or at least, based here since the farce in the bottom floor began to play out.


    According to them, they say that NE has been pretty good to Missiontakers on the bottom floor lately.¡±


    Mu Jiashi asks, confused, ¡°what do you mean¡­ pretty good?¡±


    ¡°The prize pool,¡± Wu Jian says unceremoniously, ¡°you know utility cards that can be drawn after reaching an Ending in the Nightmares? The prize pool of the bottom floor is apparently spitting out exceptionally rare and powerful cards every so often.


    NE probably adjusted the probabilities¡­ It¡¯s hard to say, but the information has been spreading here quietly for now, and many Carddealers are now in the Nightmares, testing the prize pools themselves.¡±


    Wu Jian¡¯s information is quite shocking. The Carddealers, the bunch that are lazy and entitled and happy to take others¡¯ fruits of labour, are now so attracted by the potentially altered prize pools that even they are on the move?


    The Carddealers are seriously considering that, drawing cards in the Nightmares is more lucrative than stealing other Missiontakers¡¯ utility cards?


    Mu Jiashi is furrowing his brows right now. The odds Wu Jian just told him are definitely unusual. Is NE really helping them out on purpose?


    Wu Jian then starts talking to Fei, ¡°I didn¡¯t realise this at all, because the prize pool didn¡¯t seem too out of place for us in the few Nightmares we¡¯ve been since we¡¯re here. But it was actually in comparison to the Nightmares in far, far higher floors.


    I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s unnatural now that I think about it. What do you think the odds are of getting more than one Attack card from just three, four Nightmares resolved here¡­¡±


    Fei¡¯s forehead is twitching as she says, ¡°the last sentence was unnecessary.¡±


    Even if the odds are raised, for already extremely unlucky Missiontakers, it¡¯s basically negligible ¨C for Missiontakers like Fei, for example¡­


    Mu Jiashi is thinking about something else that he didn¡¯t have time to care about Fei and Wu Jian¡¯s little spat©¤©¤He¡¯s basically broke now, too, when he gave up everything to come back down here©¤©¤


    What is more interesting to him, is the meaning behind a gesture of raising the odds of rare and powerful utility cards in the prize pool. Why would NE do so?


    Could it be, to help Missiontakers get through Nightmares more easily?


    Mu Jiashi is confounded.


    Then Fei concludes, ¡°in conclusion, this means we have more proof of NE¡¯s new stance towards us.¡±


    Mu Jiashi nods. That is certainly a piece of good news among the usual bad ones.


    Then Mu Jiashi tells Fei and Wu Jian about what X¨¹ Beijin told him.


    ¡°That¡¯s amazing¡­¡± Fei can¡¯t help but say, ¡°I¡¯ve always wondered what his Nightmare could be.¡±


    Wu Jian seems a bit inquisitive, though, saying, ¡°really? Why are you all so focused on that bookstore owner, anyway?¡±


    Fei is hesitant, but then, she still decides to tell Wu Jian about her almost farcical thoughts.


    That X¨¹ Beijin, is the Server, NE.


    ¡°Hah?!¡± Wu Jian is shocked, understandably, and is doubting the idea immediately, ¡°how could that be possible? If he were NE, why would he be trapped in that bookstore? And why would he be doing all this equivalent exchange bollocks with us?¡±


    ¡°I know, I know,¡± Fei sighs, and murmurs, ¡°that¡¯s why, it was more like an¡­ unreasonable hunch that I have.¡±


    Wu Jian¡¯s lips seem to tremble a little. Finally, he says, ¡°I suppose, it isn¡¯t entirely impossible.¡±


    Fei bitterly smiles, saying, ¡°you don¡¯t have to try and stand with me on this. If NE really were a human, then how could he have ignored humanity¡¯s plight for all these years? The bookstore owner clearly wasn¡¯t apathe¡­¡±


    Wu Jian butts in, ¡°what if it¡¯s because of dalao Lin Qin?¡±


    Fei looks at him with a suspicious gaze.


    Wu Jian quickly explains, ¡°look, NE has always been uncaring to us for all these years, but ever since the dalao Lin Qin started to interact with X¨¹ Beijin, and they ended up together¡­ sort of; the attitude of NE shifted basically in the same time period.


    So I ask ¨C what evidence do you have that proves X¨¹ Beijin is not NE?¡±


    Fei opens her mouth, but finds that she is at a loss for words.


    She actually thinks what Wu Jian said logically follows.


    In the end, that X¨¹ Beijin is suddenly willing to open his Nightmare might also be something related to Lin Qin.


    As Mu Jiashi just told them, it was Lin Qin vouching for them that X¨¹ Beijin changed his mind.


    So, X¨¹ Beijin changed his attitude because of Lin Qin, while NE is also inexplicably starting to help out Missiontakers¡­ Would this not be simple proof, that X¨¹ Beijin equals NE?


    Fei finds the whole logic to be consistent here.


    But, no, that can¡¯t be. If X¨¹ Beijin really were NE, then why should he need Missiontakers to help him out? He¡¯s already invincible in this Tower.


    Fei recalls the Nightmare with the Raining Hellfire again.


    In that Nightmare, it was at the very end that they realised who the true owner of the Nightmare was.


    It was thanks to Mu Jiashi having asked a question that only Xie Ji could know the answer to.


    If it were not for that, they would have still been stuck on whether Xie Ji or Ke Zhu was the true owner of the Nightmare.


    With that said, is there some kind of question, that only NE could know the answer to?


    Fei suddenly turns to Mu Jiashi.


    Mu Jiashi seems to have tuned out their conversation. He¡¯s disinterested in the argument between Fei and Wu Jian regarding whether X¨¹ Beijin could be NE, as he finds the whole idea preposterous. How could NE possibly be a human?


    And this matter is unhelpful to their current situation, too. What his main objective right now is, is to think about the people to take into the Nightmare with him, and not whether X¨¹ Beijin is NE.


    Fei asked Mu Jiashi the question loudly enough to get him to answer, though.


    ¡°Something only NE would know the answer to?¡± Mu Jiashi repeats the question asked, with a strange tone of voice.


    He¡¯s once again amazed at how the thought processes of his two companions would lead them to the most outlandish corners.


    Deciding to go along just for the sake of it, he proposes one off the top of his head, ¡°hmm, where the exit to the Tower is?¡±


    Fei¡¯s eyes glimmer as she claps her hand and say, ¡°yes, that is something only NE wouldk now! Perhaps we can try to use this question the next time.¡±


    ¡°The exit to the Tower, huh,¡± Wu Jian comments, ¡°I always thought it was just the proverbial carrot-on-the-stick, but perhaps, there might really be an exit? Could it be in the Ultimate Nightmare?¡±


    Fei says, ¡°what would the Ultimate Nightmare be?¡±


    The two of them fall silent.


    Here, Mu Jiashi has to drag them back on track, and say, ¡°hey, about the candidates for entering X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, know any good Missiontakers?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Fei and Wu Jian look at each other, and answer, ¡°we only just got here recently, so we¡¯re not familiar. We can try to ask our organisation, but time would be an issue¡­¡±


    Wu Jian adds, looking a little embarrassed, ¡°we don¡¯t actually know that many Missiontakers outside of our organisation.¡±


    Mu Jiashi sighs. To be honest, even he doesn¡¯t know that many Missiontakers down here on the bottom floor after those demographic shakeups.


    He wasn¡¯t back down here much earlier than Fei and Wu Jian descended¡­ As for the people he knows, it solely amounts to those at the Golddigger organisations, but outside of it, he¡¯s also a lone wolf.


    Would anyone know the bottom floor of the Tower really well? Or have some broad social connections?


    Mu Jiashi pauses, as a name pops into his mind.


    Ding Yi¡­


    The legendary, ex-billionaire of the bottom floor. She definitely knows the bottom floor well, and knows enough Missiontakers within.


    Besides, she was only gone from the bottom floor for two, three months at most before.


    So here, Mu Jiashi makes a decision immediately, saying, ¡°I¡¯ll go to Ding Yi.¡±


    ¡°Ding Yi?¡± Fei says, ¡°you mean, the Missiontaker we met in the last Nightmare?¡±


    ¡°Yes. She was once a Necessities Merchant on the bottom floor,¡± Mu Jiashi explains, ¡°so she might know good people who can help us. She herself could even join if she wanted to.¡±


    Fei and Wu Jian both nod.


    Soon after, Mu Jiashi is at Ding Yi¡¯s residence.


    Hearing what Mu Jiashi came here for, Ding Yi has a pretty serious expression.


    She says, ¡°I¡¯ll try putting you in contact with a few suitable Missiontakers. And, thank you for the invitation, but¡­¡±


    She pauses slightly first, and then says, ¡°I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t enter the Nightmare; I don¡¯t fit his requirements.¡±

 Volume 7 - CH 114.1

    Participants


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Ding Yi doesn¡¯t fit X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s requirements.


    After briefly thinking about it, Mu Jiashi realises the problem immediately.


    X¨¹ Beijin wishes for Missiontakers who have been to as many Nightmares as possible, which Mu Jiashi thought was the case for Ding Yi at first glance, but then, maybe she was active in the very beginning, going through Nightmares frequently, but she has likely decreased her frequency once she gained that utility card.


    She didn¡¯t need to enter the Nightmares anymore.


    While she went back into the Nightmares recently, she ended up back down on the bottom floor afterwards.


    Mu Jiashi feels a bit embarrassed for realising it this late. After a brief silence, he says, ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± Ding Yi gently replies, ¡°I certainly could be said to be¡­ an unprofessional Missiontaker.¡±


    Mu Jiashi is even more embarrassed.


    Once, he was also an ¡®unprofessional¡¯ Missiontaker, being a Golddigger.


    Necessities Merchants, Golddiggers, Planners¡­ in a sense, while they¡¯re more reputable than Carddealers, Zombies or people like Mr Suicide, they are still pretty far out from their objective.


    Their ultimate goal is to resolve Nightmares and ascend, but they were focused on inconsequential side activities.


    Not that Mu Jiashi regrets having spent his time this way, as his Golddigging experience has allowed him to pass through Nightmares with ease.


    Though¡­ those time spent was also quite detrimental to their willpower.


    For example, Ding Yi.


    They are talking about the Ultimate Nightmare¡­ Well, at least, something closely related to the Ultimate Nightmare. This is the opportunity to fight for their own fate, but Ding Yi gave up on the chance without a second thought.


    Looking at each other, they remain silent.


    That is when Ding Yi produces a utility card from a hidden pocket, and hands it to Mu Jiashi.


    The man receives it, looking a little bewildered.


    When he sees the information panel on this utility card, and see Ding Yi¡¯s hair return to its original black colour instead of grue, he immediately asks in shock, ¡°you just¡­ why?¡±


    Ding Yi says, ¡°this is the help I can offer,¡± she sits there, smiling, but it looks quite forced, and she says, ¡°whatever happens, I also want to help out in this. For me¡­¡±


    She stays silent for a long time after that, until finally, she mutter, ¡°there is someone I want saved.¡±


    Mu Jiashi almost immediately recognises who she is referring to, but decides against brusquely pointing it out. She continues listening quietly.


    Ding Yi says, ¡°I regret it. I never regretted anything since becoming a Necessities Merchant, nor did I think I will. It isn¡¯t¡­ really my thing.


    With this utility card in my hand, I thought this career was my destiny.


    But¡­ I regret it now. You should also know utility cards have corresponding consequences. Do you know what the consequence for this utility card is?¡±


    Mu Jiashi looks closely at the utility card.


    ¡®Card Name: Unconditional Trust


    Card Illustration: [An image of a faceless woman with her hair dyed a grue colour]


    Description: Your hair shall turn grue.


    Anyone looking at you, will trust whatever you say; the insane woman dyed her hair grue, and, when her beloved¡¯s guard was down entirely, she killed him.


    Uses: This card is Permanently Active when you do not initiate an attack against someone. The moment you do, any effect from this card is immediately nullified and forfeit.¡¯


    After reading this, Mu Jiashi shakes his head, and answers, ¡°I can¡¯t tell.¡±


    Ding Yi says, ¡°when you use this utility card, others trust you more and more easily, while you©¤©¤lose trust in yourself more and more.¡±


    Mu Jiashi is astonished.


    Ding Yi murmurs, ¡°I¡¯m doubting myself more and more. I cannot tell if what I chose to do was correct. Should I have stayed by my companions? Should I have left this utility card alone?


    If I simply sold this, I might have brought a better life for the three of us. If I do this, then¡­ I keep thinking about stuff like that.


    Maybe, if I didn¡¯t leave, she would not have ended up trapped in the Nightmare¡­ hopelessly.¡±


    Ding Yi turns quiet for a bit before saying firmly, ¡°yes. I believe in that.¡±


    Her expression relaxes a little, then she explains, ¡°even so, I would wonder, am I thinking that way because of the utility card¡¯s effects? Maybe even with me there, she would still have met danger.


    In the Tower, Missiontakers always have to take risks. I can¡¯t just simply say that I would be able to help her avoid the danger. I might deeply regret not having saved her from this, but in reality, there was nothing I could have done.¡±


    Mu Jiashi continues listening quietly.


    He can hear the struggle Ding Yi is going through, but no one else can help Ding Yi with this but herself. This is her own issue to overcome, and she knows that as well.


    Does she regret it? But even if she does, can she really save Jiang Shuangjie from succumbing?


    And also, while Jiang Shuangjie is trapped, what if the other Missiontakers out in the Tower could leave? What happens to those Missiontakers that have succumbed to Collapsed Nightmares?


    Are they even still alive?


    Ding Yi wants to save Jiang Shuangjie, but they all know, that this is simply an unattainable wish.


    Ding Yi has been stressed to breaking point because of this conundrum. She can¡¯t forgive herself. She can¡¯t convince herself. This is her fault. Is this her fault? She wasn¡¯t even in the Nightmare.


    Ultimately, it boils down to this utility card¡¯s effect maximising thanks to the incident.


    Ding Yi probably felt at least a little guilty, and this utility card amplified it endlessly.


    Ding Yi used the utility card for far, far too long. and its price is perhaps written into her soul at this point.


    Maybe she left the bottom floor of the Tower in search of salvation, but then, learning about what happened to Jiang Shuangjie, devastated her.


    She realised that while she built up her massive commercial empire using the utility card so many years ago, the price for that, was always lying in wait, waiting to pounce at her at some point in the future.


    A mirage. A fictitious mirage. A ¡®reality¡¯ inside a dream, that merely deceives.


    That is not what she wants.


    Ding Yi is looking blankly at the utility card in Mu Jiashi¡¯s hand. It looks like chains have been cut off from her, but it also looks like a treasure has been robbed from her.


    She takes a deep breath, and then says with a solemn tone, ¡°I have handed it to you, now. Please use it well, or otherwise, destroy it.¡±


    Mu Jiashi looks like he still wants to say something, but in the end, he simply nods, and says, ¡°I understand.¡±


    He is going to keep talking about X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare when someone walks into Ding Yi¡¯s residence. It¡¯s Jiang Shuangmei.


    She greets Ding Yi, while looking at Mu Jiashi curiously.


    She knows him, and he also knows her, even if they have never met the other person before.


    Ding Yi asks gently, ¡°Shuangshuang, did you need something?¡±


    Her relationship with Jiang Shuangmei has gradually improved since their reunion. They have picked their friendship back up.


    More importantly, the conviction that they want to save Jiang Shuangjie, has unified them.


    Jiang Shuangmei says, ¡°not really. I was going to ask about your Nightmare last night.¡±


    She knows Ding Yi went to a Nightmare last night. She went to another one.


    Nowadays, they enter Nightmares regularly. Sometimes they are together, sometimes not.


    In the latter case, the following day, one of them would go and visit the other at noon, but it is more often that Jiang Shuangmei goes to Ding Yi.


    Because Jiang Shuangmei doesn¡¯t really like going back to where she lives ¨C where she was betrayed, where she lost everything her older sister left behind for her. It¡¯s not uncommon for Jiang Shuangmei to stay over at Ding Yi¡¯s as well.


    Ding Yi then nods, and, glancing at Mu Jiashi, she thinks about it and says, ¡°perhaps Shuangshuang could go to the Nightmare.¡±


    The person in question seems confused, asking, ¡°which Nightmare?¡±


    Mu Jiashi then tells her about X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare.

 Volume 7 - CH 114.2

    After listening to Mu Jiashi, Jiang Shuangmei shakes her head and says, ¡°I can¡¯t. I¡¯ve indulged in the parties for a few years.¡±


    Then she gives it some thought, and says, ¡°perhaps Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ can? He¡¯s a ¡®zombie,¡¯ and from what I¡¯ve heard, he¡¯s always going into Nightmares, never having stopped.¡±


    The ¡®parties¡¯ obviously refer to the days when Jiang Shuangmei gave up and just let themselves enjoy the endless parties.


    And after going back into Nightmares, she¡¯s been through two with him, including the one where she lost Jiang Shuangjie.


    If anyone left an impression on her during this short period, he¡¯s the only one.


    And from what she can observe of him during the Nightmares, this ¡®zombie¡¯ is pretty reliable as a Missiontaker.


    Though then Jiang Shuangmei shrugs, and says, ¡°I¡¯m just saying, because I don¡¯t really know other Missiontakers all that well.¡±


    She hasn¡¯t anyone else she thinks is suitable for entering X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare.


    ¡°Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹?¡± Mu Jiashi repeats the name, and says, ¡°being a Zombie is alright. If you think he¡¯s reliable, then I¡¯ll talk to him.¡±


    ¡°Sure¡­¡± Jiang Shuangmei answers.


    Then Ding Yi also advises, ¡°in the last Nightmare, the couple we met might be suitable too? They are from the upper floors, and have worked hard to look for an exit, which means they must have been through many Nightmares.¡±


    Mu Jiashi nods, and mentions, ¡°right. And He Shuj¨¹n¡­ I wonder if any of them left the bottom floor.¡±


    ¡°Picking from our past companions?¡± Jiang Shuangmei then says almost jokingly, ¡°what about Mystic? She¡¯s from the upper floors, and such a Missiontaker in a Nightmare may be helpful in unexpected ways.¡±


    Mystic?


    Mu Jiashi thinks about it, and suddenly recalls, ¡°you are referring to the Nightmare with the crumbling building and the little girl?¡±


    ¡°You knew that Nightmare too?¡± Jiang Shuangmei, surprised, asks.


    Mu Jiashi says, ¡°I¡¯m working with Fei and Wu Jian.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei looks a little put off, but then she says, ¡°I see. If you¡¯re serious about inviting her, Mystic has largely rooted herself to the little girl¡­ Uh, not a little girl anymore, but, Mystic is staying by the side of the woman she insists is her daughter.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    Ding Yi then says, ¡°so about the couple, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and He Shuj¨¹n, I¡¯ll try and see if I can find them. You¡¯ll have a reply tonight at the earliest.¡±


    Mu Jiashi then thanks her genuinely, ¡°thank you¡­¡±


    Then he falls into thought.


    He himself, Lin Qin, then Fei and Wu Jian, the couple, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, He Shuj¨¹n and Mystic¡­


    Nine. Plus the people coming down here from the Golddiggers, maybe one or two. He¡¯ll have enough people, and maybe even room to adjust.


    While thinking so, a hand suddenly pops into sight.


    Jiang Shuangmei is handing him a utility card.


    Mu Jiashi receives it, looking bewildered.


    Then Jiang Shuangmei explains, ¡°this is a pretty useful card, and there¡¯s one Use left, but it despises me. I¡¯m handing it to you; this Nightmare is really important. Good luck.¡±


    Mu Jiashi then reads the card over.


    ¡®Card Name: The Devil¡¯s Mask


    Card Illustration: [An elegantly detailed mask]


    Description: When the Devil is out to do evil, he always needs a mask to hide his appearance.


    You will possess this ability, and the Devil will be pleased if it is used to commit evil;


    That said, using the Devil¡¯s ability, will always have its price.


    Uses: 1/3 (Automatically replenished if you commit evil and remain undiscovered)¡¯


    This is an exceptionally useful Trick card among the utility cards, but one must remain wary of the price it says.


    Mu Jiashi, grateful, thanks Jiang Shuangmei, who waves her dismissively and casually says, ¡°it¡¯s for leaving the Tower,¡± then, she pauses, and continues in a sombre tone, ¡°and also¡­ for my sister.¡±


    Mu Jiashi glances at Ding Yi, then says, ¡°I see. Um¡­ Let¡¯s pray that all goes well.¡±


    He says dryly.


    Then, he waves goodbye to Ding Yi and Jiang Shuangmei, and returns to his own residence.


    Fei and Wu Jian are waiting for him, and, after listening to the candidates so far, they nod.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ surprised the two of them a little, though.


    Mu Jiashi explains, ¡°the Zombies have quite the unexpected survival ability and are able to keep themselves safe better than even many Missiontakers. If he could at least survive all the way in that Nightmare, the hope will be carried on.¡±


    In short, it is an exceptionally pessimistic preparation if the worst were to happen, but Mu Jiashi knows it must be done.


    If they can know for sure what X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare is, they could perhaps have had more specific measures.


    But in this game, clearly, the Tower residents cannot elaborate on the nature of their Nightmare at all, or tell them how to resolve it.


    So, all Mu Jiashi can do, is to add as many safeguards as he can, based on information X¨¹ Beijin has told him.


    Fei and Wu Jian both look like they still want a word, but in the end, they both sigh, and let Mu Jiashi carry on.


    Yes. They definitely need a Missiontaker who can at least survive to the end.


    In a sense, whether X¨¹ Beijin did warn them about his Nightmare¡¯s dangers or not, when they enter his Nightmare, they are all going to be ready for death when they enter.


    When the rest of the Missiontakers are assembled, including those from the Golddiggers, Mu Jiashi will also tell them honestly about how dangerous this whole ordeal is. They will decide themselves, if they are still willing to enter.


    He would not force them if they don¡¯t want to.


    This is no simple Nightmare. Their lives are on the line.


    Even if they wouldn¡¯t definitely die inside the Nightmares, but succumbing is not much different from dying.


    ¡°Oh, also¡­¡± Mu Jiashi recalls something, and asks, ¡°about utility cards. If you¡¯ll pardon my asking¡­ how many do you have?¡±


    Fei answers honestly, ¡°we brought some of our inventory with us, so we have dozens, of many types. When everyone is gathered up, we will offer them up. They are consumables in our organisation, so we can use them as we wish.¡±


    Mu Jiashi ¡°¡­¡±


    Wu Jian cannot see how speechless Mu Jiashi is, and is commenting, ¡°if only we knew¡­ I would have brought along all the rare strategic reserves down with us,¡± he then goes ¡®tch,¡¯ and says, ¡°we can always draw more if we need to.¡±


    There is also no time to have members of their organisation send some down. The Golddiggers are able to send people down, simply because, by virtue of their career, their business model can only extend so far up the floors, so they¡¯re pretty close by.


    Fei and Wu Jian¡¯s organisation, though, is far, far higher up.


    Wu Jian is seriously lamenting not having brought more utility cards down and ensure success.


    Mu Jiashi opens his mouth, and says with a pretty dry tone, ¡°it¡¯s alright.¡±


    That night, Mu Jiashi received a reply from Ding Yi, and also contact from the Golddiggers. He busily ran around to personally talk to every invited Missiontaker.


    Finally, the male Missiontaker of that couple from the last Nightmare chose to withdraw. It is because the Golddiggers sent two Missiontakers down, and so, considering X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s requirements, the two of them would be better suited to the task than him.


    After understanding that, the Missiontaker chose to stay behind in the Tower.


    Now, the ten Missiontakers to enter X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare are settled.


    Among them, A-One and A-Two are from the Golddiggers. Simply looking at their serial designation, Mu Jiashi is amazed by how helpful the Golddiggers are.


    The two Missiontakers are the current top-1 and top-2 of the Golddiggers. After Mu Jiashi asked for help in ¡®exploring a new Nightmare,¡¯ the organisation he was once a part of sent the two of them down to the bottom floor, along with really warm regards.


    Mu Jiashi was simply astonished. It looks like the utility cards he left behind for the organisation were worth even more than he thought they would.


    Well, now isn¡¯t that just being a spoil-sport, though¡­


    Though even if they¡¯re practically being ¡®mercenaries for hire¡¯ in this case, but when they returned to the bottom floor, and got into contact with Mu Jiashi, Mu Jiashi still told them about what was going on, emphasising on the potential danger.


    He told the same piece of information to all the Missiontakers that were told about X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, but their responses were unexpectedly unanimous.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ replied, ¡°I¡¯ve had enough of being a Zombie, and being trapped in this coffin of a Tower like a corpse.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n replied, ¡°thanks for saving me the last time. Escaping the Tower? Of course I¡¯m in! I came to the bottom floor for that, after all!¡±


    Ye Lan replied, ¡°thank you for asking. I¡¯m glad to join¡­ In fact, I¡¯m honoured.¡±


    Mystic replied, ¡°my daughter told me, she doesn¡¯t like living in the Tower¡­ I can feel it¡­ I can feel it! I can feel an opportunity for freedom!¡±


    A-One, A-Two, who thought this was simply another job, after listening to Mu Jiashi, both appear shocked and yells almost in unison, ¡°for real?!¡±


    They get to do their job and save the world along the way?


    Mu Jiashi ¡°¡­¡±


    His old pals, seem a little, unreliable all of a sudden.


    Regardless, the list is settled.

 Volume 7 - CH 114.3

    After having confirmed everyone¡¯s intentions, Mu Jiashi immediately went for X¨¹ Beijin without delay to tell him about the candidates.


    X¨¹ Beijin is naturally surprised at the expedition with which Mu Jiashi has assembled Missiontakers.


    And as Mu Jiashi lists the people out one by one, X¨¹ Beijin is speechless.


    What, is this a highschool reunion?


    Never mind. At least people that know each other in general would be more reliable than strangers.


    Mu Jiashi explains, ¡°some of the Missiontakers were recommended by Ding Yi and Jiang Shuangmei. I was going to invite the two of them, but¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin interrupts him to ask, ¡°Ding Yi?¡±


    Mu Jiashi blanks out for a moment, and asks, ¡°yes¡­ what is it?¡±


    ¡°She was a¡­ Necessities Merchant?¡±


    ¡°One of the most well-known and prominent Necessities Merchant¡­ once upon a time. Yes¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin falls into thought for a moment, and tells Mu Jiashi, ¡°please, ask her to come here for a bit. I have a favour to ask of her. Also, the list is good. Let¡¯s go with that.¡±


    Mu Jiashi nods, and is curious why X¨¹ Beijin is looking for Ding Yi.


    He wastes no time, though, and gets ahold of Ding Yi as soon as possible. She¡¯s also confused that X¨¹ Beijin wants to ask her a favour, but regardless, they¡¯re back at X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore.


    When they arrive, they see X¨¹ Beijin standing by the window, staring out at the grey fog intently.


    But his expression is tired, and his eyelids look like they might snap shut at any moment; he is deep in thought.


    Mu Jiashi, curious again, observes X¨¹ Beijin quietly.


    He is really interested in knowing what this mysterious and puzzling bookstore owner knows.


    Was it really Lin Qin who changed his stance? Wu Jian seems adamant, but Mu Jiashi still finds it hard to believe.


    After all, X¨¹ Beijin looks nowhere like someone who acts on impulsion or love. Actually, it might be the other way around, with Lin Qin¡¯s brawn overshadowing his brain¡­


    Perhaps X¨¹ Beijin could change because of Lin Qin, but it¡¯s hard to imagine him completely reversing a stance because of love.


    How did it happen? Would it relate to his identity as a Tower resident somehow?


    But wait¡­ A Tower resident?


    Mu Jiashi suddenly realises something.


    This is contradictory, but they have never noticed it before.


    That is, if X¨¹ Beijin were a Tower resident, it must mean he is one of them. A human.


    Then why, through all these years, would he have done nothing about it? Why would he not want his Nightmare to open up?


    Clearly, some circumstances must be at play, here.


    And his stance, too. He should naturally be on the side of the humans! He is a human, after all!


    There must be something more to it.


    Mu Jiashi so thinks.


    After interacting with him more, he has come to understand that while X¨¹ Beijin often acts rather mysteriously and enjoys speaking in riddles, but he is definitely not a difficult person to deal with. And he has seen nothing that would suggest that he is antagonistic in any way.


    So what could lead to him staying silent for years on end?


    He knows the truth. Then why is he unwilling, or more likely, unable to save the humans trapped in the Tower?


    With the list of Missiontakers and everything else settled, and only tomorrow night¡¯s entry into X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare awaiting them, Mu Jiashi has time to overthink things.


    X¨¹ Beijin heard them come in already, and so turns around, only to see Mu Jiashi looking odd. He asks, ¡°what¡¯s wrong? Do you have something you still don¡¯t understand?¡±


    Mu Jiashi hesitates a bit, but he finds the question too gnawing not to ask, ¡°can I ask why¡­ all these years, you have not said a single word?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s eyes widen a little.


    Then shortly after, he sighs, and says, ¡°to put it in your words¡­¡±


    Mu Jiashi, confused, looks at him closely. What do you mean to put it in his words?


    X¨¹ Beijin then says, ¡°I¡¯m a loser.¡±


    Mu Jiashi ¡°¡­¡±


    Ding Yi reflexively wants to chuckle, but then, realising what X¨¹ Beijin must be referring to, her expression becomes more conflicted.


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°before this time¡­ I have been powerless,¡± then he forces a smile and tells them, ¡°I do apologise. Maybe I should have done this earlier¡­¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Mu Jiashi interrupts him, saying, ¡°this is not your fault.¡±


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s rather sharp, and perhaps uncompromising nature is showing through his tone, ¡°a defeat will always come to pass. There will come one day, when we can leave this damned place,¡± he says, ¡°yes. One day.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is looking at him with a heavy complexion. He does not even at least affirm Mu Jiashi, who can see that there is something he wants the both of them to know. Something he cannot put into words.


    But soon enough, X¨¹ Beijin puts his mask back on. He calmly smiles, and says, ¡°of course. And good luck.¡±


    Mu Jiashi, surprised by the development, still wants to ask something.


    But X¨¹ Beijin has already turned around to speak to Ding Yi, ¡°there is something I need to ask you to do.¡±


    Ding Yi nods firmly, ¡°yes, sir¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is already too used to it to care about the Missiontakers using weirdly deferential terms of address¡ª¡ªThere¡¯s Mu Jiashi, and now there¡¯s Ding Yi. Is he really that much of a high and mighty figure that they have to put distance between them while speaking?


    Of course, it¡¯s too petty to point that out right now.


    ¡°If you want to leave the Tower, you will need to trigger¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin pauses before continuing, ¡°what you call, the Ultimate Nightmare.¡±


    Mu Jiashi and Ding Yi both appear stunned.


    Then X¨¹ Beijin explains, ¡°I will need you to convince as many Missiontakers as possible, to perform a certain action at a certain moment in the near future¡ª¡ªIn order to open up the Ultimate Nightmare.¡±


    Ding Yi nods solemnly, and then, she seems hesitant, but still asks, ¡°what is there in the Ultimate Nightmare?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin pulls the excuse he gave Dai Wu and Su Enya back out, ¡°in a certain sense, the exit to the Tower, is inside the Ultimate Nightmare.¡±


    Hearing that, while Ding Yi didn¡¯t seem to react strongly, but Mu Jiashi¡¯s face quickly pales.


    He is recalling the humorous discussion he had with Fei and Wu Jian.


    What kind of information would be something that only NE would know about?


    ¡ª¡ªWhere the exit to the Tower is.


    X¨¹ Beijin says that the exit to the Tower is in the Ultimate Nightmare. He is also implying that he knows exactly how to get into the Nightmare.


    So that means, X¨¹ Beijin is NE?!

 Volume 7 - CH 115.1

    Nightmare II


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Mu Jiashi leaves X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore almost in a trance.


    When he tells Ding Yi his thoughts, the number of people in a trance increases by one.


    Ding Yi thought about it for a long time, with many information coming in and out of her mind; she thinks she understood more, but there are yet more questions that she finds she has.


    Then, she takes a deep breath, and says, ¡°never mind all that. Whether he is, or isn¡¯t NE, what we need to do now¡­ Is get this over with.¡±


    Mu Jiashi also nods.


    He knows that even if they accuse X¨¹ Beijin of being NE, the person in question would never actually answer them. It¡¯s a one-sided guess.


    He parts with Ding Yi and leaves to do what he needs to do ¨C to form a consensus among the nine others about what to do after entering the Nightmare.


    Notably, Lin Qin is joining in. Mu Jiashi wonders if this is of his own accord, or¡­ a request from X¨¹ Beijin.


    No one dares asking, of course.


    Wu Jian seems restless and wants his curiosity satiated, but he practically peters out immediately as soon as he recalls Lin Qin¡¯s fighting power.


    They say curiosity killed the cat; he¡¯s no cat, he¡¯s a human, and he intends to continue being one.


    Mu Jiashi, meanwhile, is actually quite curious why Lin Qin joined; sure, he¡¯s powerful, and that is meaningful all on its own, but considering X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s requirements, Lin Qin doesn¡¯t seem to fit.


    But after actually probing the matter, Mu Jiashi is shocked to discover that, Lin Qin has actually been to a truly staggering amount of Nightmares.


    Other Missiontakers¡¯ impressions of Lin Qin is that he is disinterested in Nightmares and almost never intervenes in a Nightmare¡¯s progression unless they¡¯re dragged down enough to bore him to irritation. Otherwise, he simply takes strolls in them casually.


    Therefore, when Lin Qin is in a Nightmare, the Missiontakers therein usually factors him out, as a sort of ¡®when-all-else-fails¡¯ Abort button.


    So even Mu Jiashi failed to take into account that, during these years when he¡¯s active, Lin Qin actually also frequented Nightmares almost nonstop. Maybe even more than most Missiontakers.


    It¡¯s simply that he has never left the bottom floor, or showed any opinions, positive or negative, towards the Tower, that everyone treats Lin Qin like a looming but manageable shadow.


    The crownless King that everyone acknowledges, but no one really takes seriously.


    Thinking about it, that Lin Qin is able to proceed through all sorts of Nightmares unscathed, is itself interesting even in spite of his overwhelming power.


    Of course there are a lot of Nightmares that can be resolved with violence and brawn, but there are also a lot that target the mind and psyche.


    Brainless brawn can only get you so far in those.


    So now, Mu Jiashi can¡¯t help but suspect Lin Qin a little.


    Only momentarily, though. He doesn¡¯t have time to waste thinking about this, as he has to come up with countermeasures for whatever happens in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare.


    Would they be separated in the beginning? Would they encounter an unreasonable Bad End right at the beginning? Would they succumb in no time?


    These are all things he must consider, as he is responsible for his companions¡¯ wellbeing.


    Then, there¡¯s the matter of distribution of the utility cards.


    Some Missiontakers want to keep and use their own, and gently made clear that they are opposed to sharing utility cards;


    Some need more help, or a happy to help. Regardless, it is now Mu Jiashi¡¯s problem to help arrange them.


    Besides matters directly relating to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, they also talk about other stuff sometimes, like the Apocalypse, or information they have, from possibly different floors, and their own hypothesis for what actually happened.


    The only consistent theme of the discussions, is the many sighs that end up filling the air, marking the end of all discussions.


    The general mood is sinking as well, as everyone begins avoiding topics unrelated to Nightmares. In the end, they talk about nothing but Nightmares.


    Meanwhile, Ding Yi didn¡¯t have much difficulty doing what X¨¹ Beijin asked of her. With the phrase ¡®Ultimate Nightmare¡¯ there, many Missiontakers would be happy to comply for a little. It does take some time, of course, for Ding Yi to get into contact with some old acquaintances to help the matter.


    They all become quite busy in the end.


    At the same time, X¨¹ Beijin, who is seemingly living in the eye of the storm at the moment, isn¡¯t actually as calm as he would appear to be.


    He looks expressionless, but he is actually anxiously awaiting an update.


    An information update from Olai.


    A day before his Nightmare is due to open, he arrives at the empty residence he told Olai about.


    Inside, he found a note from Olai. He did what X¨¹ Beijin asked him to do©¤©¤To leave a message in the Maertons¡¯ network.


    He probably has no idea at all why X¨¹ Beijin asked him to do that, nor did he understand what the information actually meant. He might not even have comprehended it.


    But, all that said, he did it.


    They¡¯re the Bilers. Scaredy, introverted, play-it-safe, but absolutely keeps promises.


    X¨¹ Beijin is gripping the note tightly. At that moment, some kind of deep emotion is swirling within his chest. He is dazed.


    He stands there for a long time, until finally, he starts smiling.


    Hope, he thinks. Hope is what he now holds in his hands.


    As for the Missiontakers who do not have the faintest idea what is actually going on behind everything, all they could notice, is that since some certain point in time, the Tower suddenly came to life.


    The liveliness first appeared among the Tower residents, until it spread all the way through the Missiontakers.


    At first, Missiontakers are shocked to discover that, the Tower residents who usually spend their days idling and trundling along like salted fish, are suddenly traveling to each other and communicating just out of sight.


    They are rushing about, looking clearly excited under the usual disguise of madness, relaying the messages of joy to everyone.


    Missiontakers who try to gather more information about it from them receives naught but heads shaking.


    The Missiontakers, though, are now aware that the Tower residents are also humans like them, merely under more restrictions.


    While many Missiontakers are still taking their time to come to terms with this, there are also some that are exclaiming in joy©¤©¤We refer to those Missiontakers who have rather unsavoury desires of the Tower residents.


    Of course, there would also be a very small minority who dislike humans already and find solace in the NPCs, now ending up looking utterly devastated as if they¡¯ve just had their heartstrings manipulated and dumped.


    But we digress, as the matter at hand, is that the Tower residents¡¯ abnormal elevated excitement has attracted the Missiontakers¡¯ attentions.


    They all realise that something must be happening in the Tower, even if they have no idea what the Tower residents are communicating to each other about.


    What are they all running along to tell each other about? Why is there such a change in their endlessly repeating lives in the Tower?


    And after a short period of time, some Missiontakers find that other Missiontakers are also acting weird, looking at each other with weird winks and gestures.


    ©¤©¤Did you hear?


    ©¤©¤Of course. You did as well?


    ©¤©¤Yeah, for sure.


    Something has been set in motion.


    The information swept through the entire bottom floor of the Tower in but one or two days like a storm.

 Volume 7 - CH 115.2

    When Dai Wu, Su Enya and Ding Yi spread their rumours, they made sure it wouldn¡¯t be kept a secret.


    So the excited Tower residents and Missiontakers quickly spread the news out.


    Well, ¡®in private.¡¯ Publically, everyone is just watching each other quietly, as if no one know what¡¯s really going on.


    Yet the six degrees of separation tells us, that you need six other intermediaries at most to link two complete strangers.


    So these Missiontakers and Tower residents innocently hanging out, may have both learned the explosive news from the same person.


    ¡ª¡ªWhat is it?


    ¡ª¡ªHey man, I¡¯m telling this to no one else but you! Some time soon, the Ultimate Nightmare¡­ is going to open up! We¡¯ll have a chance to leave the Tower!


    The Ultimate Nightmare?


    Both Missiontakers and Tower residents who heard it are astonished and question its veracity immediately.


    Regardless, they can all feel a flicker of hope suddenly light up in front of them, brightening up the whole world for them.


    So, like the others, they begin to run.


    At some point, the Tower, like a real, functioning building, contains lively people conducting lively business. It finally feels at least as alive as any inhabited community on Earth.


    ¡°It will all depend on if we succeed in the Nightmare or not,¡± Fei mutters with a dreamlike tone, ¡°if we failed¡­¡±


    Wu Jian doesn¡¯t know what to say, so he simply says, ¡°we will succeed.¡±


    They are gathered outside X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare right now. It¡¯s dusk, and now, they are waiting for X¨¹ Beijin to fall sleep and enter his Nightmare.


    The Missiontakers¡ª¡ªIncluding Ding Yi and Jiang Shuangmei, who are here to see them off¡ª¡ªare having a chat.


    Some remain quiet, though, like Mu Jiashi, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, and the rather anxious looking A-One, A-Two.


    There are also more extroverted Missiontakers like He Shuj¨¹n who is having a great chat with Jiang Shuangmei, Mystic, etc.


    The only person still absent but scheduled to enter X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare would be Lin Qin. He¡¯s inside.


    The rest of the Missiontakers are gathered outside, standing there rather than enter, is both because of their wary respect towards X¨¹ Beijin, and also¡­


    They¡¯re not going to be the third wheel here.


    Right now, X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin¡¯s relationship is basically public knowledge, but unfortunately, it is still not acknowledged by X¨¹ Beijin.


    Not that it¡¯s at all inconvenient for Lin Qin, who believes X¨¹ Beijin is merely still embarrassed and doesn¡¯t actually feel that way inside.


    Tilting his head, he tells X¨¹ Beijin, ¡°it¡¯s time you slept.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    The little apple is staring straight at him! How is he supposed to sleep!


    Speechless, he says, ¡°I can¡¯t sleep when someone is looking at me.¡±


    ¡°Alright¡­¡± Lin Qin averts his gaze, and then continues to stand there, and says, ¡°now you can sleep¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    They¡¯re currently inside the second floor of the bookstore, inside X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bedroom, with X¨¹ Beijin being covered up by his blankets.


    There is a glass of apple juice on the bedside cabinet¡ª¡ªDid Lin Qin put it there?


    Of course, this bedroom hasn¡¯t ever been formally used for its purpose, as X¨¹ Beijin would, at most, lie down and shuts his eyes for a moment. He has never let himself truly fall asleep.


    Which is why he finds himself a little uncomfortable just lying there.


    Well, and there¡¯s Lin Qin, sitting on the single sofa by the bed¡­ his presence is too strong.


    X¨¹ Beijin sighs, and says, ¡°I really can¡¯t fall asleep like this.¡±


    Lin Qin seems to fall into thought, and then says, ¡°do you want to hear a bedtime story?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, amused, rolls over to face him, and says, ¡°are you really going into my Nightmare?¡±


    ¡°I thought the topic was already over.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin does not answer to that.


    Maybe you can call him selfish. Anyone else entering his Nightmare and succumbing wouldn¡¯t elicit much of a response from him, with maybe a sigh at most. But he finds himself unwilling to put Lin Qin through something like that.


    Not that he can say it out loud. You¡¯re not asking him to admit that he¡¯s worried that Lin Qin would succumb, which is why he doesn¡¯t want him to enter, right?


    Lin Qin is in his Nightmare as a last resort or ultimate break key. Besides, they both agree fundamentally that Lin Qin should be in the Nightmare¡ª¡ªNot to mention Lin Qin wants to know what X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare is as well.


    It¡¯s unfair to have others experience X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare but then have Lin Qin barred from his beloved¡¯s Nightmare, right?


    He really wants to know what it was that could have troubled X¨¹ Beijin for so many years.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry¡­¡±


    Lin Qin has already moved to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s side before he could notice. Crouching by the bed, he is looking at X¨¹ Beijin with his babyface and bright eyes, like a good little apple.


    He tentatively pokes at X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s cheeks, then says, ¡°don¡¯t worry about me. I¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is quiet for a moment. Then, he says, ¡°you have no idea what¡¯s in my Nightmare.¡±


    ¡°What else could be there?¡± Lin Qin then dramatically says, ¡°whatever it is, it can¡¯t win in a fight with me, can it now?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin breaks into a smile.


    ¡°So don¡¯t overthink it. Or your hair will go grey.¡±


    ¡°Nobody has aged a day in the Tower.¡±


    ¡°But what about when we leave the Tower?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks about it, and suddenly asks, ¡°say Lin Qin, how old are you?¡±


    Lin Qin thinks about it, before asking in turn, ¡°with or without the amount of time spent in the Tower?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin chuckles and says, ¡°of course not. Our numbers would be ridiculous if we did,¡± he gently adds, ¡°we¡¯d all be wizened old geezers.¡±


    ¡°Then I don¡¯t know how old I would be either,¡± answers Lin Qin, ¡°I don¡¯t remember anything.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin then gives Lin Qin¡¯s babyface a thorough examination. The appearance really is deceiving. Maybe he¡¯s actually pretty old¡­ Right, right, he¡¯ll stop teasing Lin Qin.


    Holding his laughter in, he tells Lin Qin, ¡°when I entered the Tower, I was 25. I¡¯ve barely inherited my family bookstore after graduating university¡­¡±


    But suddenly, Lin Qin says, ¡°stop¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is abruptly interrupted.


    Lin Qin explains, ¡°you can tell me everything after we leave the Tower. If you say it now, it almost sounds like you¡¯re trying to leave behind an epitaph¡­ Don¡¯t. Beijin, we will leave. Successfully.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin does not answer him.


    Then, he asks, ¡°what if I can¡¯t leave the Tower?¡±


    ¡°Why is your voice suddenly hoarse?¡± Lin Qin asks, then looks at him intently, ¡°and, why won¡¯t you be able to leave the Tower?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin does not answer either of the questions. He asks, ¡°what if?¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll be with you,¡± Lin Qin says casually, ¡°I like you, you know? I don¡¯t remember a thing outside. So you¡¯re my¡­ life.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks at him closely.


    Lin Qin says, ¡°you are the meaning in my life.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin remains silent for a while, before finally chuckling, ¡°you really like me so much now, huh?¡±


    ¡°Love. It is love¡­¡± Lin Qin says frankly, ¡°I don¡¯t know or care how other people like and love others. But this is how I like you, love you. If you can¡¯t leave the Tower, we¡¯ll just stay here together, what do you think?¡±


    He tilts his head, and doubtfully asks, ¡°it could be something like, an eternal honeymoon in this Tower?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin breaks into a full laughter, and says, ¡°who would want a honeymoon somewhere like the Tower? Oh my little apple, how simple you are.¡±


    Lin Qin is staring at him quietly.


    He doesn¡¯t really mind being called little apple. He¡¯s actually a little happy about it, too. But¡­ childish?


    He¡¯s not. He wants X¨¹ Beijin to be happy, and books say that this is a way to cheer up the person you like.


    X¨¹ Beijin would probably be amazed to know what ridiculous books and novels Lin Qin has read.


    After the laughter dies down, X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin stare at each other for a moment. Then, he finally says, ¡°alright, it¡¯s time to get the Nightmare going.¡±


    Lin Qin furrows his brows, though, and says, ¡°wait. You¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin asks, ¡°what is it?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to let me out of the Tower and then spend the rest of your entire life in the Tower, are you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not¡­¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, speechless, reassures him, ¡°really¡­¡±


    Lin Qin is still eyeing him with suspicion, and again emphasises his point, ¡°I don¡¯t want to separate from you, do you get it? You can¡¯t leave me behind.¡±


    A moment later, X¨¹ Beijin smiles and answers, ¡°I get it. I won¡¯t leave you behind.¡±


    Lin Qin blinks, with some thoughts clearly still occupying his mind.

 Volume 7 - CH 115.3

    X¨¹ Beijin pushes Lin Qin away lightly, and tells him, ¡°I should go to sleep now.¡±


    Lin Qin then says, ¡°wait, shouldn¡¯t you tell me something in return first?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± X¨¹ Beijin acts like he doesn¡¯t know what Lin Qin is going on about.


    Lin Qin, slightly miffed, narrows his eyes and says, ¡°I like you¡­ and?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin then asks as if shocked, ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t want to hear a rejection.¡±


    Lin Qin ¡°¡­¡±


    Bollocks! Why can there be someone as shameless as X¨¹ Beijin!


    X¨¹ Beijin is laughing. He rubs Lin Qin on the head, and then says, ¡°I¡¯m kidding¡­ Don¡¯t rush it. Be patient.¡±


    ¡°When do I have to wait until, then?¡±


    ¡°Your beloved wants to be a bit more coy about it.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be. I¡¯m already here. I¡¯m all ready to go.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    His forehead twitching, X¨¹ Beijin pushes Lin Qin away again, and says, ¡°get your priorities in order.¡±


    Lin Qin is clearly unwilling to go, saying, ¡°so after the most serious thing, we can move onto less serious things, right?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin answers, ¡°depends on how well you complete the most serious thing.¡±


    Lin Qin nods and says, ¡°alright¡­¡± He takes a few steps, but then turns around all of a sudden and asks X¨¹ Beijin, hesitantly, ¡°but¡­ the Tower, does allow us to¡­ do less serious things, right? Does it support the feature?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is speechless, and if you look closely, you¡¯ll find a pair of bright red earlobes.


    He speaks with as calm a tone as he can, ¡°we can try.¡±


    Lin Qin stares at X¨¹ Beijin for a moment, before saying, ¡°so that means you already acknowledge my feelings, right?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin simply says angrily, ¡°leave!¡±


    Lin Qin makes a prideful smirk, and waves his hand at X¨¹ Beijin before quickly leaving like he knows what¡¯s coming next. He¡¯s pissed X¨¹ Beijin off enough for the day.


    X¨¹ Beijin, both frustrated and amused at the same time, watches Lin Qin¡¯s retreating silhouette, and takes some time to calm down.


    His gaze drifts over to the apple juice on his cabinet. Since some time ago, the various brands of different canned drinks he has seems to have all but vanished save for this particular brand of apple juice. God knows where Lin Qin found so many cans of this.


    This is a simple aluminium can with the imagery being that of a few apples.


    Lin Qin would pull the tab up for him, stick a straw in, and hand it over to X¨¹ Beijin.


    Lin Qin is already quite adept at this gesture that would usually be done for babies¡­ and X¨¹ Beijin has become used to it.


    X¨¹ Beijin blanks out a bit looking at the drink, before closing his eyes and relaxing himself, looking for that familiar but estranged feeling of losing his consciousness, just before one falls asleep.


    Maybe he¡¯s been too mentally drained for too long, or maybe Lin Qin¡¯s presence relaxed him a lot. He falls deep asleep in but a few minutes.


    At the same time, outside the bookstore, over a dozen Missiontakers simultaneously cast their eyes on the door leading into the bookstore.


    They all receive the same mental suggestion in their minds ¨C that is, if they step through his door, they will enter a Nightmare.


    This is like a guiding hint from the Server, NE, which exists for all the Nightmares. This time, though, there is an added sense of dread within.


    Among them, possibly only Lin Qin is still relaxed.


    Finally, Mu Jiashi says, ¡°let¡¯s go, we¡¯re heading in.¡±


    The Missiontakers all follow.


    Ding Yi sees them off as Mu Jiashi leads the Missiontakers into the door of the bookstore.


    To anyone observing, Ding Yi almost looks enchanted staring at the mundane-looking door to the bookstore. It takes until Jiang Shuangmei calls out to her from behind to wake her up.


    Ding Yi snaps back to reality, turns around, then gently says, ¡°Shuangshuang, let¡¯s go.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei nods.


    They, will also head for their own battlefields.


    Mu Jiashi has imagined countless times what he¡¯d see inside X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare as he opens his eyes.


    Perhaps an endless wave of madmen all rushing for him? Perhaps the terrifying scene of an ongoing Apocalypse? Perhaps, even the moment in time when they entered the Tower?


    But all that happens, is that he¡¯s stunned as he opens his eyes.


    A grey fog.


    A vast, endless expanse of grey fog is rolling gently before his eyes. He is standing inside the fog.


    There is nobody else nearby. He is completely alone in the fog. There is nothing, but he swears, he could hear countless, barely perceptible mumblings, slipping into his hearing.


    He immediately wonders where his companions may be. Where are they? If they are separated in some place like this, can they even meet back up?


    Yet, the next moment, Mu Jiashi¡¯s brain blanks out ¨C what fills his brain in turn, is the essence of this grey fog. An emptiness. A calmness. A silence. A void.


    He thinks he has forgotten a lot of things, but in return, he gained an understanding. An understanding of what this place is.


    He should be shocked by this new understanding, but all he could muster, is an absurd calmness and apathy.


    This is the landfill of the Tower.


    A landfill not for the traditional forms of household garbage, but for, Nightmares, and those who succumbed.


    There are two types here ¨C a Collapsed Nightmare, and succumbed Missiontakers, representing either a Nightmare owner who has lost their sense of self, or a Missiontaker who has lost their sense of self.


    Ultimately, they¡¯re the same. Humans whose wills have succumbed and gone insane. They cause the Nightmare or themselves to Collapse.


    When a Nightmare owner goes mad, the Nightmare Collapses. The corresponding Tower resident is never seen again; as for when a Missiontakers goes mad¡­


    It¡¯s difficult to say what effects they might cause on a Nightmare in progress, but one common feature is that they would all disappear from the Nightmare.


    No one in the Tower knows where they¡¯re gone, but they do know that, sometimes, Tower residents would inexplicably disappear from the Tower; and sometimes, so will Missiontakers.


    They coined this phenomenon ¡®succumbing to Collapsed Nightmares.¡¯


    But in reality, it isn¡¯t a disappearance. They have simply been dumped to the ¡®landfill¡¯ of the Tower©¤©¤At the grey fog outside of it.


    They¡¯re trapped here forever, reliving the repeated Nightmare over and over again. They cannot leave, and become prisoners of the landfill forever.


    They have lost their sense of self, and their sense of reason. They will only fall further and further into the abyss through Nightmares.


    Never, ever returning to the warm embrace of the sun again.


    The same thing has happened to the Missiontakers who dared venture out into the grey fog.


    Many years ago, when the Missiontakers were still trying to figure out what happened outside, some elected to walk into the fog to investigate.


    Not a single one returned, and so the people had to put their curiosity aside, and rule that the world outside the Tower is hostile to them.


    Here, and now, Mu Jiashi has gained an understanding. In fact, the people were not simply swallowed up by the grey fog, but have become its prisoners.


    But Missiontakers like Mu Jiashi, who have entered the fog through X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, may bring a wind of change to all of this ¨C because, they are still rational, and may still have a chance to remember.


    The way to do that would be¡­


    Ideas flash through Mu Jiashi¡¯s mind, but before he could figure out a way to remember, a deeper, more disorienting, more depressing feeling rushes through him.


    His weak, unprotected brain loses itself in the drowsiness in almost no time.


    Mu Jiashi stands there, dazed, blanking out for a long, long time. He has no idea what he was, has been, and is doing.


    When his thoughts gather up enough to support conscious thoughts, he looks around with murky eyes, and then, looks down at this hands. He is standing here¡­ What was he doing? Why is he here?


    Mu Jiashi tries to think about it, but no answers would come. So he looks up.


    There, is a door that is almost entirely obscured by the grey fog.

 Volume 7 - CH 116.1

    Door


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    All ten Missiontakers are now in their respective doors.


    X¨¹ Beijin watches it unfold.


    He is currently in some kind of special trance; he hasn¡¯t opened his stream, because he knows this time there will be far too many secrets that would interrupt the livestreaming, so he decides not to open it.


    He can still see what all the Missiontakers are doing, however.


    On the one hand, his Nightmare is pretty special. On the other, this Nightmare is also special.


    Before the Missiontakers entered, when asked about his Nightmare, even if it was Lin Qin, X¨¹ Beijin responded uniformly.


    He cannot tell them what his Nightmare actually is.


    In addition, even if he could tell, the Missiontakers would probably be unable to comprehend it fully.


    His Nightmare, a Nightmare about Nightmares, is an amalgam of Nightmares.


    But it isn¡¯t a ¡®dream in a dream¡¯ that Lin Qin suspected it to be, or a Nightmare that has other Nightmares¡¯ scenes in it like the one with the Raining Hellfire. His Nightmare is different from them.


    His Nightmare, is the other Nightmares. It¡¯s like an album collection of Nightmares.


    His Nightmare contains all the succumbed Missiontakers and Tower residents, and the associated Collapsed Nightmares.


    They¡¯re each like a ¡®cell¡¯ in the human body, eventually linking up and forming this massive, chaotic and inescapable world of ¡®Nightmare.¡¯


    A door is the only way of traversal in this Nightmare.


    When Missiontakers enter a door, they can head to another ¡®cell.¡¯ Find another one, and they can head to a new ¡®cell.¡¯


    These doors are analogous to the ¡®doors¡¯ of the residences of Tower residents.


    Those doors lead to the Tower residents¡¯ respective Nightmares, while in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, they lead to Nightmares in each of the cells ¨C they lead to ¡®Cell Nightmares.¡¯


    Cells. He likes the term he¡¯s coined, thinks X¨¹ Beijin.


    In his Nightmare, the number of Cell Nightmares reaches hundreds of millions.


    Once, Lin Qin asked him, if solving all of the Nightmares in his Nightmare would resolve it, but if he saw the number of Cell Nightmares here, even Lin Qin must realise that brute force¡­ well, is still possible, after a long delay from the shock.


    It¡¯s not absolutely impossible to resolve countless Nightmares, if given infinite time, after all.


    However, the catch is, these Cell Nightmares cannot be solved. They, and the humans within, are all completely Collapsed.


    If something could be done about them, NE would not have had to put them in this ¡®landfill¡¯ in the first place.


    The fact is, these remain useless, literal garbage data. In fact, they¡¯re worse than useless, because they¡¯re more like harmful and hazardous garbage.


    What is happening in these Cell Nightmares is that the succumbed humans would keep repeating the last moments of their lucidity. The Cell Nightmares continue to loop, while the humans within continue to repeat their last actions.


    They continue this ad infinitum, from dawn ¡®til dusk, like Sisyphus.


    That is why X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare does not have a restart to speak of. All that would happen to the Missiontakers, is that they would lose their sense of self eventually, as there is no exit.


    If they die in the Cell Nightmares before then, it¡¯s simple¡­ They join that Cell Nightmare.


    This place is dangerous, disordered, and full of mad people and inexplicable phenomena. This is the landfill of the Tower.


    The game ¡®Escape¡¯ has been running for so long; in the beginning, all the Nightmares were in the Tower.


    Then, as groups of people end up succumbing, and Nightmares end up Collapsing, these most dangerous Nightmares all ended up in the fog.


    In other words, the current generation of Missiontakers, especially those on the higher floors, would have only experienced a curated selection of Nightmares that are already the tamest of the bunch, sorted by years of brute force.


    The Nightmares that are actually so utterly dangerous and ruthless to no end, have already ended up in the fog, after all.


    Unfortunately, the ten Missiontakers that want to find an exit to the Tower, now have to face X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, and challenge all these Nightmares that have already ¡®killed¡¯ countless Missiontakers.


    They cannot even resolve them, either. All they must do¡­ is buy time.


    If they¡¯re lucky enough, or, if NE really is on their side, then X¨¹ Beijin expects a certain happenstance to arise in short order.


    It would depend on NE¡¯s attitude, true.


    Since X¨¹ Beijin has no control over which door the Missiontakers choose to enter, or where those doors lead.


    Right now, the situation in all the cells are clearly shown to X¨¹ Beijin.


    X¨¹ Beijin is inside the grey fog right now as well ¨C in a certain corner of his Nightmare. If the Missiontakers did not choose to enter the door in the first place, they might even stumble upon him if they search around.


    He is still in his original clothes, possessing his usual clarity and lucidity; while Tower residents generally head down the path to insanity in their own Nightmares, X¨¹ Beijin, for some reason, appears entirely immune.


    But he himself knows best, that when he entered this Nightmare, his brain and body have clearly began crumbling. They¡¯re rotting away, so to speak.


    He doesn¡¯t have much time.


    X¨¹ Beijin is looking on with his usual calm expression, even despite the hardship playing out. To be honest, it¡¯s not like panicking will do him any good, because all he can do, is wait for a happenstance.


    He looks closely at ten particular cells in front of him, which are only the size of the dust that floats around, forming the grey fog, but he can see them amplified, forming ten simultaneous, live scenes of what is happening.


    He can see the silhouettes of the people within walking, struggling, dying, resurrecting, and doing it all over again inside.


    His mind drifts away for a second, as thoughts occupy his mind.


    The Missiontakers in the Tower, and the Actors, too, are wailing. They decry their tragedy of confinement in the Tower, but, they have never once imagined, that in the grey fog outside the Tower, others are living through far, far worse fates than them.


    Well, calling it ¡®living¡¯ might be too much of a stretch, too.


    X¨¹ Beijin can firmly say they exist there, but whether they are even ¡®alive,¡¯ or if they can even comprehend the meaning and the hope of ¡®escape¡¯ there, are questions whose answers are long gone from their hands.


    X¨¹ Beijin has been powerless to help them for many years.


    He avoids talking about his Nightmare at all, because he knows what his own Nightmare©¤©¤ what is beyond the Tower, contains.


    Every morning, for all these years, he would stand by his window, looking at the roiling fog outside.


    Pain reaches for his chest, biting at his heart, but he can do nothing.


    In theory, the moment he entered his own Nightmare, he would immediately dissipate and die.


    Not the metaphorical ¡®death¡¯ in your typical Nightmare, but actually being wiped away from reality, unlike the humans trapped in this fog.


    Therefore, only after he has confirmed for himself what the current attitude and stance of NE really are did X¨¹ Beijin consider entering the Nightmare.


    When he¡¯s inside, as he is now, and sees that he is heading towards death, but at a much more delayed, gradual pace, he finds that his gamble has paid off ¨C NE is allowing him time to save himself. It is only through NE¡¯s intervention that this is possible.


    NE has most definitely changed.


    But why?


    NE is a simple artificial intelligence. Why would it undergo change?


    It doesn¡¯t make sense at all.


    So what could have happened to lead to his change?


    X¨¹ Beijin wants to know, and the best way to know, is asking directly.


    And the only way to contact NE directly¡­


    Is through his Nightmare.

 Volume 7 - CH 116.2

    X¨¹ Beijin is watching the Missiontakers closely.


    He is praying for them to be faster, quicker, go work out the secret of this Nightmare quickly, and head for the next Cell Nightmare. Now. Go find¡­ find the Cell Nightmare he needs quickly.


    While watching the Missiontakers, X¨¹ Beijin is also trying his best to look for the one ¡®pivot¡¯ Nightmare he needed of all the Cell Nightmares present as particles in the wind, but it is really a torturously long process.


    And nightmarishly difficult, too.


    After a mere ten minutes, he finds his vision swimming already.


    And of the cells he¡¯s observed, the insanity of the ex-Missiontakers and ex-Actors are also highly discouraging.


    He must keep his disgust down, however, if he were to look for what he needs to. He is also paying some attention to the Missiontakers every so often.


    The one he observes the most often, is obviously Lin Qin.


    Not because©¤©¤Not simply because, at least--©¤©¤of the relationship he has with X¨¹ Beijin, but also, because of his extraordinary instincts, which gives X¨¹ Beijin hope that he has good prospects of finding the one Cell Nightmare he needs.


    The Cell Nightmare Lin Qin ended up inside is also quite surprising to X¨¹ Beijin, though.


    Because it is the very first Nightmare to have Collapsed, meaning that this Nightmare owner, is the very first Actor, to have lost their sense of self in the entire Tower, completely subsumed by the identity of the script they have been assigned.


    X¨¹ Beijin knows this because he once read a log entry about this as reported by NE in the ¡®Update Log¡¯ that he read.


    However, the target to whom NE reported this to, did not make any comment or implement any measures.


    In fact, they have told NE not to report on this in the future. They do not seem to care about humans losing their minds.


    By now, Collapsing Nightmares and humans who succumb are rare enough sights, but this large, boundless landfill also has enough rubbish data to be a Nightmare to NE.


    In the very beginning, the grey fog was merely a fog;


    Until later, when it became the name of this whole place.


    In any case, that¡¯s why X¨¹ Beijin remembers this first Collapsed Nightmare so well.


    This Nightmare happened to a middle-aged person©¤©¤A man, or a woman.


    It¡¯s difficult to tell, because this is a loving couple, married for over twenty years, and after what happened to them was used to generate a Nightmare, the Nightmare owner had to Act as the both of them, similar to Ke Zhu and Xie Ji.


    When the madness spread among human society, the couple¡¯s parents and children both gone mad, and treated the couple as a meal. They cooked and ate the couple, and left the bones for the stray cats and dogs of the community.


    The poor Actor had to relive this abhorrent situation over and over again, and has gone completely mad, or succumbed, in basically no time.


    However, succumbing doesn¡¯t mean peace from the suffering and the Nightmare stopping, but merely, it means the Missiontaker has become the couple completely, repeating the fate of being eaten, over and over again.


    In this disturbing Nightmare, the scene is rather large, and the Actors included not just the family, but coworkers of the couple, the family¡¯s neighbours and close friends.


    The Nightmare itself plays out like a detective noir story.


    First, the neighbours called the police because the couple living next door has been missing for a while, and their apartment unit is giving off a really pungent smell now, along with the occasional fragrance of cooking meat.


    During the preliminary investigations, the police discovered that the apartment unit has been using an extremely abnormal amount of water and electricity recently, far above their average consumption.


    Then in interviews, the granny of the unit would complain that the kitchen¡¯s pipes are clogged;


    The children would complain that the fridge is too small to put ice cream in;


    There are also reports of the stray cats and dogs acting violently towards people.


    The police also visited the company where the couple worked. The two worked in the same company, and they have many complaints ¨C the couples¡¯ parents are old and need constant care, their children need to go to cram school, they need to visit neighbours, friends, socialise, and it all costs money.


    They are barely scraping by, so they¡¯re always looking really exhausted.


    That all lasted until one day, they just vanished from everyone¡¯s eyes.


    The Missiontakers in this Nightmare acts as the investigators of this case.


    When they enter the Nightmare, it is just before the couple has been killed;


    And it lasts until the final pieces of the couple are cannibalised, when the Nightmare finally restarts.


    The Missiontakers can reach the simplest Normal End by stopping the heinous murder of this couple;


    The True End involves making the couples¡¯ parents and children realise, that they are not eating normal food, but their own blood relative.


    The Nightmare isn¡¯t actually too difficult to resolve, but unfortunately, the Actor in charge is so traumatised that before they can do anything to help the Missiontakers along, they¡¯ve already gone mad.


    Which means, the fate has become set in stone for them.


    Unless, there comes a day¡­ when they regain lucidity and sanity, and can leave the Tower.


    Perhaps this nightmarish experience would still stress the Missiontaker mentally; maybe they¡¯d gone irrevocably insane, even out of the Tower, with or without professional psychiatrists, but there is hope, that one day, the Missiontaker can heal, if they escape.


    All of this, would depend on, what the ten Missiontakers achieve.


    The moment Lin Qin entered the door, he feels his vision dimming out, and then, he finds himself situated in the unlit corridor of some building.


    He¡¯s a bit irritated. He wants to find X¨¹ Beijin, but he finds his instincts bugging out right now. It doesn¡¯t point to where X¨¹ Beijin is at all.


    So X¨¹ Beijin wasn¡¯t behind the door he entered? Where would he be?


    Lin Qin is confused.


    On the outside, Lin Qin doesn¡¯t look like he¡¯s forgotten why he¡¯d entered X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, still reacting and responding with the speed of his usual self.


    But the truth is, Lin Qin only recalls X¨¹ Beijin.


    He doesn¡¯t know why he¡¯s in this Nightmare. He doesn¡¯t even remember when he ended up here. He just knows, he wants to find X¨¹ Beijin©¤©¤That is the person he likes, so he must find him.


    But where is X¨¹ Beijin?


    Lin Qin tries to think about it, but he can¡¯t come up with anything.


    He knows one thing though, at least. If X¨¹ Beijin is not here, then he should leave this place.


    Leave how?


    Lin Qin takes in his surroundings, and then slowly casts his gaze up towards one particular apartment unit upstairs.


    There are strange noises coming in from there.


    Lin Qin listen closely. His inhuman hearing allows him to make the sound out clearly.


    Someone is chopping meat¡­ Directly off-the-bone. The knocking noise is unmistakable.


    Any unprepared Missiontaker hearing this would feel disturbed for sure.


    In fact, the more imaginative ones, or ones that have been avid readers of horror novels on the internet before entering the Tower, may have stumbled upon the crucial point of this Nightmare already.


    But Lin Qin does not have that experience backing him.


    He does not have memories from Earth, nor is he easily spooked by such creepy environment.


    In fact, Lin Qin hasn¡¯t ever felt fear.


    Merely curious about the noise, and thinking the most important part of this scene is probably where the noise comes from, he walks up.


    X¨¹ Beijin finds himself at a loss to describe what happens next.


    Lin Qin first knocked on the door, then when nobody came to open the door, he destroys the door with brute force, and walks in.


    Ignoring the granny and gramps with blood all over their bodies, and a little kid that is holding up a finger bone, and licking the blood off of it, Lin Qin paces about the room once, and then his instincts guides him to the fridge.


    He opens the door.


    A rolling grey fog spills out of the door to the fridge, obscuring Lin Qin¡¯s vision immediately.


    The thick scent of blood also starts to dissipate. The people of the apartment unit also look obscured from the fog.


    Then Lin Qin sees a door, still largely hidden away in the fog.


    He has a feeling that this is the way to leave this scene and head to the next one. This is the way to X¨¹ Beijin.


    Lin Qin walks in without hesitation.


    He leaves the Cell Nightmare with almost cheat-like efficiency.

 Volume 7 - CH 116.3

    The other Missiontakers are having a far less easy time compared to Lin Qin.


    They have basically all treated the world behind their first door as a real Nightmare and are trying to resolve it.


    They forgot they are in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s own Nightmare, or what their ultimate goal was.


    They may not have succumbed to the Nightmare yet, but they¡¯re definitely not of sound mind by this point.


    Fruitlessly, they toil amongst the Collapsed, looping Nightmares, resolving them to no end.


    Among the nine Missiontakers, the first one to finally suspect something, is Mu Jiashi.


    Right now, Mu Jiashi is inside of a bank.


    A teller ended up having an argument with an elderly person who was here to deposit because of the latter¡¯s attitude; then, the argument spread to the other tellers.


    The quarrels escalated until finally, blood is drawn.


    When everyone in the bank has died, the scene restarts.


    Mu Jiashi got involved in the bloodbath in his daze, but the pain of death has shaken him. He thinks he needs to stop it.


    But he kept failing. When he stopped the teller from arguing with the elderly man, another customer barged in to grab the pile of cash; when he stopped both the teller and the elderly man, the elderly man still arrogantly pissed off the rest of the people in the bank¡­;


    Then there¡¯s now, when he, out of ideas, forced the shutter of the bank down before the elderly man can enter the bank, he finally realised something is wrong.


    A locked shutter;


    Blood in the bank;


    The hot summer street outside through the glass windows; a crossroads; a library on the opposite corner of the intersection;


    A lively city centre with not another single soul walking around on the streets.


    The scene makes him stand and fall into thought for a very long time. He thinks he has seen this place before.


    He didn¡¯t pay any attention to the situation outside of the bank in the beginning, because he¡¯s distracted enough by the chaos caused by the madmen in the bank.


    But this involuntary glance out the bank, made him feel so familiar©¤©¤


    Though he cannot remember where he has seen this at all.


    His brain is like a mush. Everything feels so muddy and unclear.


    He doesn¡¯t know why he¡¯s here. He is stopping the bloodbath in the bank and his own death, but to what end?


    He has locked the old man who started all this out.


    But that is when, he wonders, why is he even staying in the bank? He could just leave?


    There is practically no solution to the predicament. Certainly, he can stop the old man, but he is still with the clearly unhinged bank staff. Eventually, something else is going to set off their anger and bloodlust.


    The bloodbath cannot be stopped. He should give up struggling and just leave.


    Mu Jiashi mutters and repeats the thoughts. Some kind of mysterious motivation is driving him, but there also seems to be a force in his mind making him hesitant to stay. He continues to anguish.


    He thinks he shouldn¡¯t be this indecisive of a person, but something is binding him.


    His brain. The intelligent mind he is so proud of.


    But wait. Why would he be proud of his mind? What has he been through?


    Mu Jiashi is trying to make sense out of chaos.


    His instincts tell him he should already leave, because he has explored everywhere in the bank. There is nothing of value to discover except insane people. There is still so much else to explore outside.


    He needs to go and see. He must collect information. That is the first priority.


    So what is it that is making him hesitate?


    A mental hint? Some inexplicable order from on high? He feels an unexpected and extraordinary emotion spreading through his chest.


    He blinks, bewildered, looking at the locked door to the bank, staring, thinking. Then, finally, he pulls it right open.


    Mu Jiashi thinks he can hear the staff of the bank yelling out from behind him. They hate him. They want him to stay©¤©¤


    He has died several times at their hands already, just through these few short loops.


    The staff of the bank, seem to be lashing an unknown anger out at him.


    It¡¯s possible that this is beyond instincts. The fear and pain of death is beyond what he can take, and so even his survival instincts is making him leave.


    As he opens the door to the bank, and take a step out, all the noises behind him, the sunlight casting down onto the asphalt road outside, the rather pungent air all around, that carries a certain rotten tinge to it¡­


    All the things that make him uncomfortable, disappear into the heavy, grey fog.


    Mu Jiashi can see a new door, right in front of him.


    He steps inside without hesitation.


    Then, he arrives at a brand new, unfamiliar scene.


    This is a pretty dilapidated house. Brickwork is exposed, and the dirtiness makes one feel eeriness. It feels like dust is hidden amongst every corner of this.


    Through the window, Mu Jiashi sees rolling verdant hills, and several yellowish dirt paths.


    These paths lead to a village at the bottom of the hill.


    Mu Jiashi can hear nothing around him except for the chirping of insects.


    Even though it is near dusk, when usually, these little hamlets in the hills would be scenes to warm smoke rising out of chimneys as everyone starts preparing their meals. Villagers would hurry from their fields back to their homes, leading an aging, mooing cow behind. They would greet their neighbours as they pass by, and giddy children would be waving goodbye to their friends for another day.


    But not here. There is not a single lively noise here. It is quiet.


    The heavy, suffocating silence threatens to deafen Mu Jiashi straight out, pouring into his ears, stuffing him.


    Mu Jiashi stands on the second-floor bedroom of the house, looking at the village outside. He feels nothing but dread.


    After a while, he takes a deep breath, and heads downstairs. Maybe his experience in the bank has allowed him to regain his thoughts a little, as he has realised, that in order to leave, he should be looking for a special door in this scene.


    Finding the door is the only way out of certain death.


    Mu Jiashi can¡¯t help but wonder, if this scene is as dangerous as the bank.


    If he could decide, then he wishes the two to be as different as possible. At least, he doesn¡¯t want to die anymore.


    Dying really is very hard to accept.


    At the garden outside this small country farmhouse, he sees a woman who looks a little familiar©¤©¤When she is nervous, she would bite her lips, he thinks.


    Mu Jiashi almost immediately concludes so upon seeing her.


    He can¡¯t help but wonder, how does his mind know that? Does he know this woman?


    This rather paranoid, anxious woman with trembling lips that look like they¡¯re always muttering something¡­


    Is she someone he knows?

 Volume 7 - CH 117.1

    A Gamble


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Fei is so anxious she could faint.


    This is already the fourth time she¡¯s experiencing this village that came out of nowhere.


    Each cycle is so utterly long and draining, repeatedly filling her with hope and shattering her into hopelessness by dropping her into inevitable doom.


    If everything just keeps repeating, and her failure just keeps repeating, then what¡¯s the point of restarting it all?


    Simply to experience more failure?


    Just as Mu Jiashi was in his previous scene, Fei hasn¡¯t realised at all that she can leave this scene;


    She is stuck thinking about how to resolve it, not finding a way to escape this¡­


    This is a conservative village rather out of touch with modern society. The people living here are still getting by with traditional subsistence agriculture.


    They farm for their daily necessities, supplemented by hunting and gathering.


    The younger generation of the village has largely left the rural life behind, accepting the modern way of living and thought.


    Something must have gone wrong in the process, as the village only turned more and more xenophobic as a result.


    According to the clues Fei has gathered the few cycles, it is likely because, one of the children that has left the village, thought his home village was a matter of ridicule and disdain which lowered his standing among his fellow students, so in a fit of rage, he chose to cut off ties with his parents and relatives entirely.


    Since he departed, he never came back again.


    For such a conservative and closed-off village, it is quite the burden to support a child studying abroad. They have everything they need in this small place, but when they leave it behind, they realise all too tragically how much they are unable to adapt to modern life.


    So with the latest incident of that child they now call the ¡®traitor,¡¯ the village elder sorrowfully and angrily proposed for all children to stay and never go to school anymore. They live well enough off the land.


    They would become their own Shangri-La.


    However, there are still a few of the children who were the same generation as the traitor and studying outside.


    The village decided that if they wanted, and their parents agreed, then the elder would turn a blind eye on their continued studying, but he still demanded that they must return to the village after graduating, otherwise, they¡¯ll disown them.


    Fei finds the xenophobia difficult to comprehend, but she is treating this as a dream, as somewhere fictional, so she would not think too much about the essence of how this thought came to be.


    She is more focused on how to resolve her current predicament.


    She is supposed to be a fellow university undergraduate student of those children that went to school outside the village; the remaining children applied to the same university during the Gaokao, and kept close to each other during their studies.


    A student of theirs was curious about their rural upbringing, so after she graduated with them, she asked to join them as they returned to the village, as a sort of graduation trip, to experience life here a little.


    The children, now adults already, are also keeping their promise of returning to the village to live out their lives with their relatives and parents.


    With that, the elder was happy, and also approved of Fei, and some other students that were curious, to come visit.


    They rented a whole minivan to all arrive at this isolated village.


    While the village is xenophobic to what they perceive as toxic outside influences, the villagers, especially the parents of the children, warmly welcomed these fellow university undergraduates of their children who were here to experience their way of life.


    The trip went smoothly as well. They tried their hands at farming, hunting, looking for edibles in the forest, tending to farm animals, etc.


    They were quite happy with what was basically a village-sized farming trip. They would have had a great time just hanging out with their friends who were familiar with life in the village, not to mention they were also receiving warm hospitality from the others in the village.


    The trip is supposed to be for a week. The first five days came and went without incident. However, it was the sixth day when something changed.


    Or rather, many idiosyncrasies of the trip and the village were already changing.


    The students visiting from the outside world simply failed to take notice.


    Well, more accurately, they themselves, were also changing, becoming part of the danger.


    ¡ª¡ªThey have, supposedly, brought madness to this isolated village.


    Just as it was the last few times, Fei finds herself standing alone on the evening of the sixth day. She knows that, a short while later, her identity¡¯s ¡®fellow student¡¯ would be here to call on her, to partake in a parting meal.


    The meal is, unfortunately, a Banquet at Hongmen.


    In the first cycle, Fei didn¡¯t know the danger, and went directly to the feast, and died.


    The second, she chose to leave the village directly, but the villagers caught up to her and immediately killed her.


    The third, she hunkered down and asked what she could, to finally understand what was going on¡ª¡ª


    Some form of madness is currently spreading through this little village. The remaining sane villagers then concluded that it must be the arrival of these outsiders that made such a madness spread.


    With the approval of the elder, then, they chose to kill their purported ¡®perpetrators,¡¯ to see if the madness would be resolved.


    Even if Fei now knows the reason for her death, she still has no way out.


    Because her ¡®fellow undergraduates,¡¯ the ones who came along to experience the rural life with her, also seem to be affected by the paranoia of the villagers.


    There were seven children of the village who went to the university outside and came back, bringing along twelve of their acquaintances at university with them, eight of whom are now already on the side of the villagers, looking and acting as mad as the villagers are.


    As mad as the villagers are¡­ How mad, exactly?


    Fei realises all of a sudden, that after three cycles, she still hasn¡¯t investigated what the madness that was spreading through this small, sleepy village, was.


    Thinking about it, a man suddenly walks downstairs from the second floor. She doesn¡¯t look at him, and simply asks monotonously, ¡°finished resting?¡±


    This man is part of the students that are not on the villagers¡¯ side, but Fei is too tired to talk about how to resolve this predicament with him, because she knows it is fruitless after three cycles, and she¡¯s anxious and irriated.


    But then, she hears the man greeting her, ¡°um¡­ hello? Do you know what¡¯s going on here?¡±


    Fei immediately turns her head towards the man, and looks him over, to see that his appearance is completely different ¨C even if her mind is telling her, that this man is exactly who she knows, the man who is killed alongside her by the crazy villagers the last three cycles.


    Even if¡­ his appearance is completely changed, into one that is vaguely familiar to her.


    The familiarity gets put aside quickly, as Fei continues to think about the current predicament.

 Volume 7 - CH 117.2

    Biting her lips, Fei suddenly comes up with a possibility, and asks excitedly, ¡°wait, could it be, that you also don¡¯t belong here? You came here from somewhere outside?¡±


    ¡°Outside?¡± The man seems surprised by her question, then he asks, ¡°I did¡­ come from somewhere else. I passed through a door, and ended up here for some reason. I have no idea what¡¯s going on either.¡±


    ¡°A door¡­¡± Fei reflexively repeats the phrase, then she finds herself recalling forgotten memories, ¡°yes¡­ a door¡­ in a grey fog¡­ Nightmares? A grey fog, it was, a door in a grey fog, right?¡±


    The man, looking surprised, nods as well, ¡°yes! It was a door in the grey fog!¡±


    ¡°I see!¡± Fei exhales dramatically, and says, ¡°we¡¯re from the same place.¡±


    Like spies whose passphrases have matched up, they quickly familiarise with each other and exchange information.


    Mu Jiashi, as his instincts tell him to, recounts what he encountered in the bank to her.


    Fei is astonished, and comments, ¡°really? I didn¡¯t think about it at all. I was trapped in this village for a long time, and I thought I could resolve it in some way¡­ So you could just leave?¡±


    ¡°But how?¡± Mu Jiashi asks her, ¡°did you find out any way of leaving this place after spending all that time here?¡±


    ¡°A way¡­ to leave¡­¡± Fei bites her lips again, and says, ¡°the only way I know is to board the regular bus headed to the county seat over the side of that mountain; we came here on a different vehicle, apparently, and planned to leave on that bus; but that bus only leaves every day at midday, so the earliest one would depart tomorrow, which means¡­ I¡¯ll have to survive the night first.¡±


    ¡°A bus?¡± Mu Jiashi thinks about it, and then says, ¡°that isn¡¯t it. We are looking for a door. We are leaving this scene, and not this village.¡±


    He repeats what he just said, ¡°yes. We need to find a door.¡±


    ¡°A special door?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± Mu Jiashi seems a little lost as he continues, ¡°when I wanted to leave the bank, I simply opened the door to it. Yes, I was leaving the bank¡­¡±


    Fei seems confused.


    Mu Jiashi explains, ¡°for example, this village, and the bank I was in, we can call it the main scene. So in trying to leave the bank, I was actually ¡®leaving¡¯ the main scene.


    But in this scene, we do not have the time to ¡®walk away¡¯ from it. Assuming there is a legitimate way of exit, then that means, we should be able to ¡®leave¡¯ even without stepping outside of this main scene.


    So we should look for a door in this scene which can help us out of here.¡±


    Fei nods, and asks, ¡°a door¡­ what kind of door? Any special characteristic?¡±


    Mu Jiashi shakes his head, bitterly smiling and says, ¡°it¡¯s hard to say¡­¡±


    Fei sighs, and stares at the gate to the little residence they¡¯re standing in, murmuring, ¡°if only it was this door.¡±


    Mu Jiashi says, ¡°it¡¯s probably not that one. The door, should be something quite¡­ emblematic? Representative? Of the main scene, I think. A door that indicates some kind of truth?¡±


    ¡°Possibly¡­¡± Fei thinks, and says, ¡°we will have to find out the secret hidden in this village, then, about what the villagers call the madness.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s do that, then, but¡­¡± Mu Jiashi seems doubtful, and he asks, ¡°are you doing alright?¡±


    Fei has died three times already. That would be a bad omen.


    Fei, all pale, says, ¡°yes, I am¡­¡± something stirs in her chest, and she says with a complicated tone, ¡°we must keep on doing whatever it was we needed to do, whatever the challenges we face.¡±


    Mu Jiashi falls silent.


    Some kind of confused thought crosses his mind momentarily, but he didn¡¯t notice it.


    He is simply thinking, yes, they have to leave the main scene, or they might succumb to an endless cycle of death and resurrection.


    That is when someone knocks on the gate to this residence.


    ¡°Oh no!¡± Fei blurts out, ¡°the people are calling us to the meal!¡±


    They exchanged information and spent time thinking, so they failed to notice the time.


    Anxious, she calls out to Mu Jiashi, ¡°whether we went or not, we¡¯d die. Do you think we should go or not go?¡±


    She says while walking towards the door.


    Mu Jiashi thinks about it, and suddenly approaches it from another angle, ¡°what if we pretend we¡¯re not here and not open the door?¡±


    Fei¡¯s hand is on the handle, but then she immediately backtracks like the metal was scorching hot, and whispers, ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know. I haven¡¯t tried.¡±


    Mu Jiashi thinks about it, then says, ¡°let me open the door and go to the meal with them. I¡¯ll try to look for that madness on the way. I¡¯ll tell them you went to take a stroll outside, and you¡¯ll be back soon.


    You died several consecutive times already, and you¡¯re mentally stressed. You should stay, and you can also think about the information you¡¯ve got more thoroughly, and see if you might have overlooked anything.¡±


    Fei nods, looking slightly embarrassed.


    Mu Jiashi can see that Fei¡¯s face really is rather ghastly pale, and there¡¯s a chance she¡¯d be counterproductive if she tagged along in her current state. So it is better for her to stay and pretend she¡¯s not present, to see where this new attempt leads to¡ª¡ª


    Whether she still dies or manages to stay alive, there would be valuable information, so thinks Mu Jiashi, rather heartlessly.


    On the surface, he merely smiles at her and reassure her, ¡°it¡¯s alright. Get a good rest now.¡±


    He watches Fei walk back into the house, before opening the gate, and act like he has just been woken up from a nap, complaining, ¡°who is it? I was having such a good dream¡­¡±


    A slightly tense-looking fellow young adult is standing outside. According to what Fei told him, he is Tan Ming, one of the children originally from this village who went to study outside.


    He looks at Mu Jiashi, then peeks inside, and asks, ¡°where¡¯s Fei?¡±


    The scene sure is pretty smart to replace their names naturally, thinks Mu Jiashi.


    He acts like he¡¯s dumbfounded as well, and says, ¡°huh? ¡­Oh, right, before I went to take a nap, she said she wanted to take a stroll outside. Looks like she¡¯s not back yet.¡±


    He yawns, and says, ¡°maybe she¡¯s gone to sit at the little waterfall. Who knows.¡±


    There is a waterfall nearby, he¡¯s told, and Mu Jiashi names it to mislead the villager. It¡¯s because the waterfall is rather far from the village, and it takes an hour or so on foot to reach it and come back. It¡¯ll be more than sufficient time to investigate.


    As expected, hearing that explanation, Tan Ming looks a little less agitated, perhaps because he now knows where to look for Fei.


    He nods and tells Mu Jiashi, ¡°we¡¯re having a goodbye feast for you guys now that you¡¯re leaving.¡±


    Mu Jiashi acts like he¡¯s hesitant and asks, ¡°wait¡­ but Fei¡­?¡±


    ¡°Someone else will go fetch her, don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Tan Ming says, ¡°don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re not eating without her by your side, huh?¡±


    Mu Jiashi hurriedly says, ¡°hey, my stomach is more important obviously.¡±


    They say as they walk outside of the residence, and Mu Jiashi also locks the door behind him, just in case someone might enter and discover Fei.


    Tan Ming sees it, but as Mu Jiashi and Fei¡¯s belongings are still inside the residence, does not suspect a thing.


    He tells Mu Jiashi to go on ahead to the house he¡¯s pointing to first then leaves his line of sight. He¡¯s probably asking someone to go look for Fei at the waterfall.


    Mu Jiashi is also glad to be snooping without supervision; but after walking alone just for a bit, Tan Ming is already back here from god knows where, walking up to him.


    Mu Jiashi realises that, compared to the outsiders like them, these native villagers like Tan Ming who spent most of their lives here must know all the little roads and alleys that blanket the village.


    This means he should avoid ending up in a situation where he has to escape a chase, he thinks.

 Volume 7 - CH 117.3

    On the surface, meanwhile, Mu Jiashi appears entirely normal, simply asking offhandedly, ¡°hey, Tan Ming, why is there no one else around? Where¡¯s everyone?¡±


    Tan Ming smiles rather awkwardly and replies, ¡°you know¡­ they¡¯re all busy preparing the farewell feast for you guys.¡±


    Then Mu Jiashi disses with an intentionally overfamiliar tone, ¡°you guys¡­ don¡¯t people always make the welcome feast the grandest instead of the farewell feast, huh?¡±


    Tan Ming, looking slightly embarrassed but also a little proud, says, ¡°that¡¯s how it is here. We¡¯re different from outside.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. I experienced that first-hand in just a few days,¡± Mu Jiashi smoothly transitions the topic along to the village, ¡°no wonder you kept talking about coming back here in uni. It¡¯s really distinct from the city.¡±


    Every word of his sentence is an indirect praise for the village, which makes Tan Ming turn from awkward embarrassment to pride immediately.


    Then Mu Jiashi continues, ¡°and what a timing it was to have a meal with everyone, too. I was going to ask to see if I can come live with you guys.¡±


    Tan Ming, shocked, asks, ¡°what? Wh¡­ Why are you saying that?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no stress living here. You go out at sunbreak and then rest at sundown, all living off the land, self-sufficient-like. It¡¯s completely different from life in the city.¡±


    Mu Jiashi then comments, with a possibly genuine tone, ¡°if I can, I¡¯d love to live out the rest of my life here. Better than spending my entire life toiling away only to find an apartment unit costs more than my entire life¡¯s savings.


    Seriously, what kind of life is that? If nothing else, remember how bad I¡¯m having it these days just looking for a simple job? It¡¯s excruciating!


    Really, do you think your elders and the mayor might let me live here if I ask at the meal later?¡±


    Tan Ming¡¯s expression suggests he is struggling deeply inside.


    Mu Jiashi waits for him patiently.


    He has noticed from the very beginning this young man is fidgeting a lot. He should be more determined and cold if he were completely in on his closest relatives¡¯ scheme of atrocious murder.


    His state is more of that of someone who doesn¡¯t dare oppose his elders and relatives, but who is also really conflicted about hurting his own fellow student.


    Though it still has to be said, that between his morally bankrupt villagers and his fellow students, he chose the former.


    But of course, now that Mu Jiashi is showing¡­ what, to Tan Ming, would seem like a sort of ¡®redemptive¡¯ quality, it tips him over the scale immediately.


    After all©¤©¤Mu Jiashi narrows his eyes©¤©¤Tan Ming is no longer the simple farm boy he once was, ever since he left the village.


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s mention of the stresses in the city dragged Tan Ming¡¯s mind right back to the urban lifestyle, in which, Mu Jiashi is his more familiar companion, rather than his blood relatives and fellow villagers.


    Tan Ming wouldn¡¯t help but end up recalling the messy, but happy and upbeat days spent with them, his fellow undergraduates.


    To be honest, returning from the lively and prosperous city back to this backwater village that is still cooking food with firewood, is probably not something to which Tan Ming has managed to reacclimatise himself.


    Mu Jiashi isn¡¯t expecting this to drag Tan Ming completely over to his side, but at least, he should be telling him the truth, so that his ¡®fellow undergraduate¡¯ doesn¡¯t die in ignorance.


    Just as Mu Jiashi thought, after a while of internal struggling, Tan Ming sighs, and says, ¡°no, don¡¯t say that.¡±


    If Mu Jiashi really told the village elders that, they would probably blow up immediately and kill him outright.


    Mu Jiashi then asks, apparently surprised, ¡°why?¡± He pauses, and asks, ¡°could it be, that just like the big cities, you guys also need the citizenship documents and all that malarkey?¡±


    ¡°No, of course not,¡± Tan Ming looks speechless, and he explains, ¡°you think we¡¯d have those identity bollocks in this sleepy village? There¡¯s practically no education or medical or whatever services here. Moving a citizenship here is practically worthless.¡±


    Mu Jiashi shrugs and says, ¡°but the land¡­¡±


    Good. Tan Ming¡¯s mind has been brought back to his urban life.


    Though the mention of the ¡®land¡¯ seems to have triggered something in Tan Ming.


    Although hesitant, Tan Ming finally explains, ¡°I¡¯m serious here¡­ these days, the village isn¡¯t exactly in a chipper mood.¡±


    ¡°A chipper mood?¡± Mu Jiashi continues to act dumb, saying, ¡°I thought it was pretty relaxing and laid-back these few days.¡±


    Tan Ming rolls his eyes at him.


    Then they continue walking along in silence for a while.


    Over the hills, despite its best efforts, the sun inevitably sinks below the horizon. After that, Tan Ming also finally opens his mouth to tell Mu Jiashi what happened.


    He says, ¡°a few people¡­ have gone mad.¡±


    ¡°Gone mad?¡±


    Tan Ming says, ¡°they¡­ they seem to¡­ be worshipping some kind of, ¡®Spirit of the Land.¡¯¡±


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s expression changes a little.


    ¡°No, not the kind you¡¯re thinking, not the simple reverence of nature¡­ it¡¯s not that,¡± Tan Ming bitterly smiles, and explains, ¡°when I first heard about it I also thought the same¡­ I even told my mom, ¡®yeah so?  People did that all the time historically.¡¯¡±


    Mu Jiashi continues to listen attentively.


    Tan Ming continues, ¡°it turns out it wasn¡¯t the kind of¡­ normal, respecting the Spirit of the Land with some incense and stuff, but¡­¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Human sacrifice¡­¡± Tan Ming is looking nervously around when he mentions it, before continuing with a quieter tone, ¡°they say the outsiders have disgraced the honour of the Spirit of the Land, they say that it¡¯s you¡­ well, us, farming, and hunting recently, that is disrespecting the land.


    That¡¯s why, they plan to use your¡­ our blood, to appease to that Spirit of the Land and make it have mercy on the village.¡±


    Mu Jiashi nods, falling into thought.


    Ah, so that¡¯s the reason these students would die¡­ but, something¡¯s off.


    Tan Ming clearly looks like he¡¯s completely against the side of those insane cultists, then why would he be bringing them to the fateful ¡®feast¡¯¡­


    Something suddenly clicks in Mu Jiashi¡¯s mind, and he asks, ¡°and what do the other villagers think?¡±


    Tan Ming doesn¡¯t answer for a bit, but finally, he dejectedly replies, ¡°they believe that the outsiders are the ones who drove those madmen insane in the first place.¡±


    Mu Jiashi furrows his brows a little, but then he rubs them apart.


    Tan Ming, looking at what is basically a non-reaction from Mu Jiashi, then says with an almost threatening, but almost desperate tone, ¡°if, after you guys are dead, the situation doesn¡¯t improve, then it¡¯ll be our turn to die.¡±


    Mu Jiashi is surprised. So basically with the cultists there, they¡¯re all going to die regardless of if they are natives of the village?


    No wonder Fei still died even when she refused to attend the feast and escaped. She must either have been caught by the villagers who blame her for driving the cultists mad, or she was caught by the cultists themselves.

 Volume 7 - CH 117.4

    It¡¯s a sticky situation for Mu Jiashi.


    In the village, besides their fellow students, all the villagers are quite likely enemies.


    Even among the fellow students, there may be almost-traitors like Tan Ming, and outright traitors who Fei told him about.


    Never mind their goal is to escape, which is best achieved if they can clearly identify who is an ally and who is not.


    He shakes his head. His senses tell him the key to resolving the situation would not lie on the villagers.


    They are all merely Difficulties¡­ He thinks.


    He has confused himself immediately with that thought.


    ¡®Difficulty¡¯? What ¡®Difficulty¡¯? Why would he be describing the villagers with this peculiar terminology?


    And, ¡®merely¡¯? What is lethally threatening to their lives would be described with this limiting adverb?


    He is trying to work out his thought processes, but he has no answer. It¡¯s like the grey fog has also smothered his brain shut. He cannot remember. He does not recall, the important, and shocking truth behind these questions of concern.


    Mu Jiashi gives up thinking soon enough after realising its futility.


    He then asks Tan Ming, ¡°if it¡¯s that bad¡­ Are you not going to fight back?¡±


    Tan Ming shakes his head, looking over the rolling hills in the far distance with a rather unfocused gaze.


    Then he mutters, ¡°no¡­ this might be, what this land wants of me¡­ yes¡­ I was born here, raised here, and now, it¡¯s time I paid my debts¡­¡±


    Mu Jiashi can¡¯t help but steal a glance at his ¡®fellow undergraduate.¡¯


    Great. It looks like all the villagers are insane. Only that they¡¯re insane to different degrees.


    He sighs, deeply.


    Quite possibly because of this topic, their conversation ends abruptly, and along the rest of the way to the feast, they do not utter another word. The mood is at its lowest.


    About three to five minutes, they finally arrive at the location of the feast©¤©¤The elder¡¯s house.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Ye Lan are looking at each other nonplussed.


    Of the ten©¤©¤Well, now eight©¤©¤Cell Nightmares in front of X¨¹ Beijin, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Ye Lan had the most bewildering experience.


    They two first went into different cells, and either by luck or by skill, they¡¯ve found the doors to the Cells and escaped their first scene.


    Then they run right into each other, and start staring silently at each other like this.


    This is because of the environment they¡¯re in. They¡¯re on this empty plaza, where tens of thousands of people are sitting around in black robes. So are the two of them.


    They are sitting there quietly, like they¡¯re waiting for some grand ceremony.


    The silent, solemn mood is heavy enough to drain the air out of Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Ye Lan¡¯s lungs.


    The two of them happen to almost face each other, but there is still a slight angle, which allows them to see slightly different things.


    Some kind of strange sixth sense crept into both their minds, telling them that the other person is different, just like them.


    They¡¯re distinct from the atmosphere of this whole place. There is no way they would fit in, either.


    Though the heavy mood is still heavily suffocating, robbing away their ability to speak.


    Perhaps the sound of conversation would break the peace. Perhaps, it¡¯s just some kind of preservation instinct in face of danger.


    Their senses continue tingling, warning them not to speak, not to move randomly.


    So they sit there in silence, waiting.


    Both of them are the patient kind of Missiontaker, fitting well with their rather taciturn and collected personality.


    Even if the air is scorching hot and the sunlight is burning their backs through the black robes like flames, they are still maintaining their forms expressionlessly. They merely exchange glances every so often.


    If it were He Shuj¨¹n or Wu Jian here, it¡¯s about time they¡¯d give up and yelp out in discomfort.


    Eventually, after a very, very long time, so long that even Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ finds himself drowsy, a sudden rumbling sound originating from the centre of this plaza strikes him head on, snaps him awake, and he looks up reflexively.


    What is that?


    His eardrums could rupture©¤©¤Or quite possibly have ruptured, as a burning, disorienting guff of hot shockwave knocks him over immediately, and he is flying far up into the sky. He is completely frozen.


    What an¡­ unforgettable experience.


    Shortly after, he dies.


    It¡¯s like something being ground to dust, dissipating in the air¡­ it¡¯s difficult to put into words.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ finds himself unable to describe the experience. He merely finds that, his consciousness seems to have shut down.


    He doesn¡¯t even have a clear sense that he is dead.


    He has simply, literally, been wiped away from this world. Chemical, physical changes, and he ends up a pile of mush unceremoniously, then¡­ darkness.


    When everything restarts, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ is still wondering, if he really experienced all that.


    Maybe it was simply a fake dream he had during a slip of consciousness? It should be. It didn¡¯t feel realistic at all¡­


    However, when he looks up, and sees that at the near opposite of where he sits, Ye Lan¡¯s face looks as pale as a ghost, he realises that, no. It wasn¡¯t a dream. It was real. It was something they experienced. It was¡­ death.


    He faces Ye Lan, nonplussed for a moment, before simultaneously jumping up into the air together. Ignoring all the cusses and curses from the nearby robed men, they are desperately prying their way through all obstacles, to escape.


    It was definitely not a good experience, to melt in extreme heat.


    Even if it happened so quickly, quickly enough that Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s brain didn¡¯t even know what happened before he died, but¡­ what a Nightmare.


    They escaped without further incident; and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ thought the same again.


    As far away from the plaza as possible. Their survival instincts are driving their rickety ol¡¯ feet forward still, to leave the terrifying experience behind, until¡­ Ye Lan suddenly says, ¡°stop¡­¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ did, and then he heaves a weary sigh, saying, ¡°running won¡¯t do any good.¡±


    Ye Lan looks back at the plaza where the robed men in black are seated, packed like sardines. They¡¯re at least three, four hundred metres away, now.


    But that¡¯s useless. They are right at the centre of some kind of disaster. This short distance will do no good.


    Ye Lan turns to Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ next, and asks calmly, ¡°how long do we have?¡±


    ¡°Half an hour¡­ or 40 minutes, possibly,¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ says, ¡°I can¡¯t recall clearly.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got about the same estimate,¡± Ye Lan nods and says, ¡°so the problem is, we have to find a door¡­ a door, so that we could leave.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ quietly adds, ¡°yes. That¡¯s how, I escaped before.¡±


    The two of them look at each other, then simultaneously wonder aloud, ¡°but where¡¯s the door?¡±


    This is a plaza, maybe something like a central park of a city, surrounded by empty space and greenery©¤©¤Although most of it is wilted here.


    But then, where could the door be? This place is completely empty. There isn¡¯t even a single building in sight.


    Ye Lan thinks for a moment, before saying, ¡°should we, keep going?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ nods to agree.


    Regardless, the secret and the truth are likely hidden in the surrounding scenery, whether it¡¯s information relating to the robed men in black, or¡­ the door.

 Volume 7 - CH 117.5

    When Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Ye Lan look around, they discover that there are actually bystanders looking at the spectacle.


    Maybe they¡¯re curious, simply joining the crowd, maybe they¡¯re potential participants, but they¡¯re still conflicted inside for various reasons.


    The two of them look at each other, and quickly head for a spectator each to ask about this place.


    A few minutes later, they group back up and exchange information.


    ¡°The ¡®Impurities Cult,''¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ says with a heavy tone, ¡°they seem to be¡­ waiting, for some kind of miracle?¡±


    ¡°Raining Hellfire.¡±


    Ye Lan replies by reflex. She finds herself stunned by the answer, because she does not know why she knows the phrase, or why she would utter it at this moment.


    She tries to work out the reasons she may utter the word¡­ maybe the disaster they went through was the Raining Hellfire?


    Why would she be aware, though? Why is it that she knows?


    It¡¯s ridiculous, but as the shock passes, she merely appears frozen for a second before returning normal, and murmurs, ¡°could it¡­ relate to our missing memories?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ adds, ¡°was it like a d¨¦j¨¤ vu for a specific moment in time?¡± Then he goes silent, before explaining, ¡°I don¡¯t know why I said that, but it feels like the correct way to describe this phenomenon. It¡¯s almost like¡­ I¡¯ve been through something that exploited d¨¦j¨¤ vus.¡±


    He is clearly bewildered by this, though, bewildered because he both finds this disquieting and also, completely normal. The grey fog has only clouded his memories, but not his instincts and senses. His mind feels that it is normal, and he should know this.


    He only forgot; or more specifically, something is blocking access to his eyes, to his brain, so he cannot see, so he cannot remember.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ finds his thoughts digressing a little, but then he shakes his head, saying, ¡°all that aside,¡± he stresses, ¡°we still have half an hour.¡±


    ¡°Raining Hellfire¡­¡± Ye Lan repeats the phrase rather slowly, ¡°if the disaster lives up to its rather ominous name, then there is likely no escape.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ tries to recap everything, ¡°so these believers of the Impurities Cult, are waiting here for the Raining Hellfire to come.


    They will die in the disaster, and then immediately be reborn, repeating the experience for eternity¡­ that is absolutely nightmarish.¡±


    ¡°We should try to leave as soon as possible.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ nods in agreement.


    Some kind of danger sense is also urging him.


    He thinks about it, and says, ¡°so about the door¡­ the person I asked said that there are streets further out from here, and I¡¯m sure there are doors there.¡±


    ¡°But that does not relate to what is happening here,¡± Ye Lan replies quickly and calmly, ¡°the door that let me leave the previous scene was directly related to the incident inside that scene.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, looking over at the centre of the plaza, murmurs, ¡°but, there are no doors to be found here.¡±


    Ye Lan furrows her brows, looking hesitant. She thinks for a moment, and says, ¡°could it be¡­ that the door does not physically exist?¡±


    ¡°So something only superficially or metaphorically serving as a door? Like a passageway? Or a simple road?¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ asks, ¡°can you think of something like that?¡±


    Ye Lan looks straight at the centre of the plaza.


    Countless people dressed in black robes sit there, looking like ants under the blue skies, and they certainly are about equally vulnerable when considering how easily the thing falling from the sky would reap their lives.


    Then Ye Lan narrows her eyes, and mumbles, ¡°a passageway?¡±


    She extends her fingers, and puts it in front of her. She closely watches as her fingertips depict what looks like a gargantuan object falling down from the great beyond of the sky down through to the middle of the plaza.


    With a slow, confused tone, she says, ¡°a road?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ sees what she is doing and falls into thought, wondering hesitantly, ¡°you¡¯re talking about¡­ the trail, of the thing that fell? Its pathway?¡±


    ¡°A pathway that connects the earth to the heavens,¡± Ye Lan replies, ¡°like a door that is not a door.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ gulps at the rather outlandish nature of this suggestion. Nervous, and perhaps sounding a little defeated, he meekly says, ¡°it¡¯s right in the middle of the Raining Hellfire,¡± but then a moment he later, he firmly says, ¡°let¡¯s go, then¡­¡±


    Ye Lan is surprised by this in turn.


    ¡°We have no other choice,¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ says dryly, ¡°we¡¯ll have to go and try. It¡¯ll take about all the time we have left just to reach it now.¡±


    Ye Lan wants to say it is merely a sparkle, a figment born of hot fever dreams. Look around at this empty place without any signs of doors. It can¡¯t be helped her thoughts are digressing from reality greatly.


    But then again, they call them ¡®doors,¡¯ but it is actually the way out it opens up to, that they truly need.


    The way¡ª¡ªWould the trail of the thing that falls down, count as a way?


    She is merely postulating intuitively from the lexical definition of the words they are using.


    She wasn¡¯t even expecting Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ to run with the idea.


    Not that they have any other options.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ can¡¯t come up with other possibilities, so he¡¯s willing to try Ye Lan¡¯s suggestion out. Even if they die, there is insight to be gained.


    They turn around, and return to where the robed men and women assemble.


    Perhaps they are happy that they have ¡®come around,¡¯ the cultists do not object to their ¡®jumping the queue¡¯ towards the centre.


    Over twenty minutes later, they finally reach the small, empty zone in the middle of the plaza, about three metres squared in area at best; circular, and filled with the cultists from its circumference and out.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ sighs in relief. He would throw the heavy robe away if he could, as the heat is really getting to him now.


    After gasping, he looks up at the sky quietly. And so does Ye Lan. They are waiting for the object to come.


    Seven or eight minutes later, some kind of strange buzzing sound can be heard. It¡¯s still quiet but the tone is sharp. It¡¯s like if someone has turned air into guitar strings, and wind into fingers, performing some rather atrocious piece of music.


    The music gradually worsens in severity.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ can hear Ye Lan saying quickly, ¡°the thing¡­ is falling!¡±


    He narrows his eyes to search immediately, and then realises, he doesn¡¯t even need to do that. The object is already here, right in front of his eyes. It¡¯s just shy of a hundred metres away now, perhaps, and still continuing to widen in his eyes quickly.


    It¡¯s an oval object perhaps ten metres in diameter at its widest. Some kind of sleek, metallic finish smoothly covers its surface.


    The smoothness runs out at its edges, which are quite rough, and looks to have some strange symbols carved in.


    What really is this thing?


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ would like to look more closely, but they¡¯re out of time. The object is already making contact. The sky has darkened out. Air is pushed away at great volumes.


    Yet the very moment the object is about to strike them on the head, a surge of grey fog peters out the impact;


    The fog covers up the sun, covers up the object, covers up all the insane people dressed in black robes.


    There looks to be the silhouette of a door inside the fog.


    Ye Lan exclaims, ¡°we were right!¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ sighs, greatly relieved, and says, ¡°thanks to your imagination.¡±


    Ye Lan smiles a little, as they walk towards the door together.


    When they open their eyes up, they discover, to their shock, that this place¡ª¡ªlooks weird?

 Volume 7 - CH 118.1

    Where We Have Been


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    They think this is an ¡®Escape the Room¡¯ type experience©¤©¤At least, theoretically, this is a game.


    But when they walk into the door leading to another scene, the situation changed all of a sudden.


    They¡¯re playing, and there should be staff observing them from behind-the-scenes, and when they are stuck or if they clearly look distressed, the staff should open the door and help lead them away.


    Yet, something must be wrong in this place. Trapped in this dark, locked house, there is no one coming to save them.


    ©¤©¤A real life escape room?


    But why would their companions also be wholly in on the thing still? They seem to have forgotten that this is a game. They forgot they paid money to come in. They think something has actually happened here. They are actually©¤©¤


    Investigating a crime. The kind where you are in the same room with the cruel murderer.


    ¡°So, what¡¯s the whole plot about?¡±


    Ye Lan asks.


    The use of the word ¡®plot¡¯ draws condemnation from someone else, ¡°this is no mere plot! Lady, be more serious, or we might really end up dead!¡±


    Ye Lan ¡°¡­¡±


    But isn¡¯t this clearly the room of an attraction used to play Escape Room?!


    There is even a sticker on the wall that says, ¡®in an emergency, call [this number] through the phone installed on the wall.¡¯ The phone number belongs to the owner, presumably.


    Unfortunately, when Ye Lan and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ tried to use the phone despite everyone else¡¯s reprimands, the phone wouldn¡¯t connect. It was a waste of effort and time.


    Someone rolls their eyes and mutters, ¡°seriously, can you treat your lives a little more seriously¡­ I would rather not die because of others¡¯ clumsiness.¡±


    Ye Lan furrows her brows and is going to keep trying to persuade these potential companions when Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ quietly whispers to her, with an almost defeatist tone, ¡°they¡¯re hopeless. They must be here in this shop when everyone has gone mad. They¡¯re prisoners of this locked house.¡±


    Ye Lan is still pretty sure that this must be some cruel joke, and these people here are merely having something like mass hysteria.


    However, their madness is incurable. They really do believe they are investigating some real life murder case, and that is what they have to do.


    With the madness taking over the world, even the fake murder case has become genuine in their eyes.


    Ye Lan¡¯s lips are trembling somewhat. This cold and determined woman is showing an unprecedented lost look. Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ stays quiet when seeing her looking like this.


    He knows Ye Lan is not looking like this simply because of what he said, but also¡­


    What did they actually forget?


    All the words and sentences they end up speaking seem to imply they know quite a great deal about what is going on here. They know why these people are so deeply immersed in this ¡®realistic¡¯ escape room.


    But they cannot remember any of it©¤©¤They have lost their memories.


    How can they regain their memories?


    They don¡¯t know.


    They can only head through the doors again and again, hoping that they can find something new in all these Nightmares.


    Nightmares?


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ thinks about this inexplicably familiar word that just popped into his mind.


    He also said ¡®when everyone has gone mad¡¯ earlier.


    He said it. The whole sentence feels natural to him, but¡­ What ¡®madness¡¯? Why does he not remember anything about it?


    He said the term basically on reflex, like it is some intuitive thing, but in fact, he is sure he knows nothing of what the term entails.


    His memories. His damned memories. If his brain started keeping secrets from himself, then what can he even do about it?


    Human brains are truly, all too easily affected, both in memories and in thought©¤©¤


    Shit. Where did that other part come from? He does not know how he has drawn this conclusion. He can either choose to believe in what he just thought about, or not.


    But what is more important right now, is to find the door and leave this place.


    Not wallowing in his brain¡¯s reflexes and amnesia.


    The situation is not going to change by his thinking about it. He simply needs to resolve©¤©¤To search.


    So after a moment of silence, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ abandons the trails of thoughts in his mind.


    They¡¯re all distracting him from the matter at hand. So he asks Ye Lan, ¡°where do you think the door is in this scene?¡±


    The two of them slowly follow along behind the rest of the people in this escape room. They¡¯re not splitting up, but also not going to participate in those people who are conversing with the pretence that this is all real. The people ahead can talk about it themselves.


    Ye Lan says, ¡°the simplest way out might be to resolve the case in this escape room and then walk outside the entrance to this shop©¤©¤The shop¡¯s door, yes. That is the most likely.¡±


    ¡°But can they really solve this?¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ thinks and says, ¡°if we go by what we went through the past scenes, these people are continuously trapped in the scene, unable to leave, so¡­¡±


    ¡°We might be able to, though,¡± Ye Lan suggests, ¡°we could be able to solve it and then leave.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ nods, and then says, ¡°I wonder when this scene will repeat. Will it be when the mystery is in a deadlock? Or perhaps¡­ when someone dies?¡±


    In the plaza before, after the Raining Hellfire, the entire scene repeats.


    What about here? Is it when everyone has died? Or would it be some time after they get to solve the mystery?


    Ye Lan shakes her head quietly. She doesn¡¯t know either.


    They¡¯re currently inside a room of the house, in which the people ahead are discussing some numerical digits, and how it might relate to the lock on the drawer here.


    It¡¯s a riddle of the escape room; after looking on a bit, Ye Lan talks with Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ for a second before rushing forth and kick the drawer violently.


    Maybe it¡¯s not of good quality, or maybe it¡¯s simply from being worn down over time, but the lock breaks in half, and the drawer reveals a slip of paper within.


    The rest of the people are looking at her, stunned.


    Ye Lan is testing to see if forcefully resolving the riddles can work here.


    She waits for a while, and no insane shopkeeper seem to be popping out to yell at her for breaking the furniture in the shop.


    Yet when she turns around, she sees that the ¡®companions¡¯ seem to look rather angry. She furrows her brows a little.


    Then she hands the piece of paper to them, and says, ¡°the clue is here,¡± and adds, ¡°I¡¯m in a hurry. Please.¡±


    They don¡¯t reply, but they grab the piece of paper, and after looking at it for a bit, their anger starts to subside as they enter another heated round of discussions.


    Ye Lan walks back over to the side of the slightly nervous Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ ©¤©¤He is on the lookout for if any of them turn violent. He would be running away with Ye Lan if that happens; that hasn¡¯t happened, and he says, ¡°looks like they merely need to solve the mystery.¡±


    ¡°It might be because we¡¯re ¡®special,¡¯ so they are letting us off more easily,¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ takes a guess. He actually wasn¡¯t too keen on helping Ye Lan with her experiment. He then says, ¡°but we did save time thanks to this.¡±


    ¡®Save time¡¯©¤©¤Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ is blanking out again.


    Why do they have to save time? Why can¡¯t they just stay here forever? Just like this¡­


    Stay in this place forever, repeating the same fate and tragedy, forever and ever¡­


    Isn¡¯t it the same as eternal life?


    But Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ snaps awake soon enough.


    He tells himself ¨C he¡¯s here in order to escape from that fate in the first place. He cannot succumb to this. He will definitely go back to¡­


    Back where? He doesn¡¯t know.


    But he does know, he wants desperately to leave this place.


    They keep pressing forward.

 Volume 7 - CH 118.2

    After Ye Lan¡¯s physical altercation with the drawer to gather the clues within, their erstwhile companions seems to have taken inspiration.


    They stop following along the usual rules of Escape Rooms. Instead, they proceed by breaking down the scenery and tools, taking shortcuts.


    It means they are proceeding extremely rapidly, even if Ye Lan and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ still have no idea what kind of mystery this place is.


    And, the more they proceed along this locked house, the more Ye Lan and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ feel that they¡¯re going around in circles. The number of rooms and scenarios in this Escape Room seems unusually big.


    Finally, they end up stuck in some room. They do not find a key to leave this room, or more accurately, they do not even know where it might be hidden.


    So they stand there, expressionless.


    Ye Lan and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ look at each other, and are about to go search for it themselves or simply kick the next door open, or maybe just go root through everything not nailed down. They¡¯re not going to remain in this room.


    However, something seems to have entered their minds, suppressing their thoughts. They feel dazed and their heads are throbbing. It¡¯s like the whole world is twisting and twirling in front of their eyes. Their vision is blurring.


    They stand there, blanked out, for a long time.


    Did they do something wrong?


    While their minds remain muddled, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ tries his best to keep thinking despite everything. He tries to work through everything they¡¯ve done carefully, to see if any of them might have been a trigger.


    Until Ye Lan points out quietly, ¡°we may have missed something, when we simply knocked everything over¡­¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ gets it.


    The dizziness is gaining in severity, until finally, he finds his consciousness lost in a sea of noise. He can only stand there, just like everyone else in the room, like a mannequin, forever locked up inside this room.


    Some time passes, when suddenly, the lock clicks. It opens up.


    A few people pour in from outside. They complain that these customers have broken the objects, and they¡¯ll have to reimburse them for the losses incurred.


    They appear to be the staff of this Escape Room.


    When they walk into the room, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ can feel his mind suddenly coming back to him. It¡¯s like waking up from a drunken stupor.


    Though he continues to act like he¡¯s knocked out, while listening to the conversation and thinking about this scene.


    If there are still staff members in this place, then that must mean, that only these customers here have ended up treating the Escape Room as a real murder case in progress. These staff members are still lucid¡­ or, not?


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ listens to the staff complaining.


    ¡°What a mess, they¡¯ve broken whatever they could get their hands on.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like the audience don¡¯t like it this way¡­ You know they¡¯re not excited enough by people being intelligent anymore.¡±


    ¡°They should just pack it up and go watch cockfights then! We run on people being intelligent.¡±


    ¡°Shit. They¡¯ve got the Damage Report in. You might as well rebuild this whole damned place with that figure, fucking hell!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s lucky we stopped them in time¡­ I wish we could just leave these people here. Not like they¡¯re even sane anymore¡­¡±


    ¡°Hey, we can¡¯t, you know they¡¯re that, ¡®victims of the madness.''¡±


    ¡°Oh please, that again? What else are these mad people good for if not being streamed for the audience¡¯s pleasure? And it¡¯s not like they hate this, either. We¡¯re not even treating them inhumanely, right?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re probably not exactly liking this place either, are they? At least, I wouldn¡¯t like it.¡±


    ¡°These people are convinced this place is real, though¡­ like, actors being immersed in their roles, whatnot?¡±


    ¡°As long as it makes money. Who cares? They¡¯re helping to pay our bills.¡±


    ¡°I heard management found some new people¡­ They treat some entire action adventure game about saving a little girl as real¡­ I bet it¡¯s far more impressive than these dingy escape rooms. Maybe we¡¯ll lose our jobs sooner than we think.¡±


    ¡°Damn it, are the audience not happy even with that Battle Royale Livestream in that wherever? I thought those were popular?¡±


    ¡°There are always people who like other kinds of games, why else would there be so many genres¡­ If nothing else, if just one rich guy likes a genre, then they can choose to make whatever streams. Who knows which ones they¡¯ll choose?¡±


    During their idle chatter, the staff quickly moves the unresponsive people inside the room out. By sheer coincidence, they¡¯ve left Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Ye Lan who are standing around on their own for last.


    And just when they¡¯re finished moving everyone else and are coming to get these two people last, they suddenly look at each other and immediately run for their lives.


    When they run through the original entryway to this room, a grey fog suddenly bursts out.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ yells, ¡°when we know the truth hidden behind the scene¡­ We can leave through any door?¡±


    They already went through that door to enter, but the grey fog didn¡¯t appear then.


    When they understood the truth behind the scene, the door immediately became their ticket out.


    The truth here, is that this is a real-life Escape Room attraction, where the mad people have treated it as reality.


    Others, somehow, saw this ¡®verisimilitude¡¯ as a selling point, and started broadcasting their struggles as if they¡¯re mere entertaining clowns, and are making dosh off of it.


    How many people have gone mad in the world already? How many audience would be willing to dish out ungodly amounts of money just to watch their suffering?


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ does not know the answer to the question.


    He is simply lamenting, that no wonder there were proposals to ensure the rights of the mad people¡ª¡ªWait, rights of the mad people?


    How did he know this? Is it part of the memories he has forgotten?


    A familiar confusion takes over him, as he glances over at Ye Lan.


    She has the usual heavy tone. It seems she isn¡¯t particularly excited or glad to be able to leave the scene.


    She responds to Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s shouting from earlier, ¡°perhaps, this door simply means, ¡®this is the truth.''¡±


    ¡°Like a door of truth?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ mutters.


    If so, then he can¡¯t help but wonder, what would that first door that led them to these endless, bizarre scenarios, mean?


    If X¨¹ Beijin could hear Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s thoughts, then he would certainly answer, that that is equally, a door of truth. Of the truth to the grey fog, beyond which, they will learn of the most tragic of the circumstances of the Tower.


    So it¡¯s hard to say, whether having lost their memories, is a strictly good or bad thing for these Missiontakers.

 Volume 7 - CH 118.3

    Currently, X¨¹ Beijin is still searching for what is practically one grain of sand among tens of thousands, while also checking on the rest of the Missiontakers¡¯ progress.


    He can feel that his body and soul is approximately a quarter gone.


    It¡¯s an estimate only.


    Even if many Missiontakers have managed to group back up and understand the truths underneath these strange scenes, and are heading for new Cell Nightmares increasingly quickly, but they¡¯re still yet to stumble upon the one X¨¹ Beijin needs.


    While X¨¹ Beijin is disappointed, he was mentally ready for this result.


    Entering his Nightmare was itself a gamble, after all.


    Even if he¡¯s the Nightmare¡¯s owner, all he can do is look for a particular Cell Nightmare, while also seeing where everyone is. He cannot dictate where the Missiontakers end up next.


    Put more simply, he has the right to read these Cell Nightmares, but not to create, update or delete.


    Well, he can enter the Cell Nightmares if he wants, but he can never break out of them ever again. No one can, unless¡­


    There are two ways to exit his Nightmare.


    First, reaching an Ending in his Nightmare.


    These Missiontakers entered the grey fog via his Nightmare, unlike those who practically committed suicide by leaving the Tower and venturing into the grey fog.


    In other words, these Missiontakers a literally dreaming ¨C having entered the grey fog as some kind of metaphysical representation.


    What occurs in the grey fog does not extend to their real selves, assuming, they can leave here alive.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare has no resolution¡ª¡ªTechnically, anyway, but X¨¹ Beijin has countermeasures he¡¯s not too unconfident about.


    He has a way of forcing an Ending in his Nightmare, if they can find the Cell Nightmare he needs.


    Second¡­


    Swaying NE.


    Only NE can retrieve the Missiontakers from the trash heap. Maybe. NE has absolute, unchecked control over the entire game, but that is not really the case for the trash heap.


    The great amount of useless data clogged here is also quite the burden on NE itself.


    Asking NE to retrieve someone from here means asking it to find a short piece of useful data among a pile of useless garble.


    Never mind a needle in a haystack, but this is more a needle from somewhere in the entire world¡¯s oceans.


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t think of a third option.


    Outside intervention? Modifying the logic of the game ¡®Escape¡¯?


    Yeah, let¡¯s stick to counting on NE, thanks.


    X¨¹ Beijin chuckles at his own derisive thoughts. Then he shuts his eyes for a single moment to relax a little.


    Overstretching his mental capacity is tiring him out. Sleep should be a relaxing experience, even more so for X¨¹ Beijin, who has not fallen asleep for a simply absurd amount of time. The moment of deep sleep he achieved just after he fell asleep and before he was pulled into his Nightmare, is quite the experience for him to savour once again.


    Well, he opens his eyes back up soon enough, to deal with the troublesome reality.


    X¨¹ Beijin lets his mood simmer out for a little, then sighs slowly, and refocuses himself on the Cell Nightmares in which there are Missiontakers.


    Other than Lin Qin, Mu Jiashi, Fei, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Ye Lan who he¡¯s paid attention to, the rest of them are making good progress as well.


    Mu Jiashi picked Missiontakers both following X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s requirements and also in terms of how capable the Missiontakers themselves are.


    A-One and A-Two are already the cr¨¨me de la cr¨¨me of the top Golddigging organisation, but the performance from the rest of the Missiontakers are no worse compared to them at all.


    Even the ¡®Zombie¡¯ Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ is extremely experienced. It is simply that he does not participate in other Missiontakers¡¯ discussions, or generally care about whether the Nightmare is resolved well or not.


    In any case, the capable Missiontakers have discovered the relationship between Cell Nightmares and the ¡®doors¡¯ soon enough.


    They have understood that, for the door to appear which lets them on their way, they need to figure out some sense of the ¡®truth¡¯ behind the Cell Nightmare;


    And usually, when they¡¯ve figured out the truth, they¡¯d have a good idea of where to find such a door already.


    Also, even if they have all suffered amnesia so severe they cannot even recall where they come from, but they are all able to perceive some form of¡­ hint from their instincts, perhaps?


    They are not irrevocably handicapped, because occasionally, they find themselves spouting information that can only come from the memories they have forgotten by instinct or coincidence; maybe it¡¯s an effect of the grey fog, or maybe, NE is helping them along?


    X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t too sure which one it is, since he has never been in his own Nightmare before. All he knows is the mechanism by which it operates, but not how the Missiontakers will fare inside, and he has never let anyone inside up to this point.


    He suspects it¡¯s the latter, to be honest.


    Even the Missiontakers know to suspect NE for having manipulated their brains and memories, naturally X¨¹ Beijin would know and question even more.


    Rubbing his chin, he wonders if it is actually true that NE is completely on their side.


    But why? What could change NE¡¯s unwavering stance after all these years?


    NE is an artificial intelligence. He is no human, who would be home to countless contradictory thoughts fighting for dominance in their minds.


    Artificial intelligences have a simple, straightforward mind. It has one objective, set from the very beginning of its manufacture¡­


    Here, X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s thoughts grind to a halt for a moment.


    He has a guess. For how farcical and laughable this guess is, X¨¹ Beijin feels just as much deep sorrow thinking about it.


    And, his mind knows, that this guess, may actually¡­ be the circumstance that changed everything.


    Here, X¨¹ Beijin sighs in sadness. As he¡¯s alone in the grey fog, he simply lets his disappointed, defeated self show freely. Humans. Ha, what a joke of a species.


    They live in a theatrical act, go through dramatic melodrama, until they meet a laughable end.


    No. To live, to survive, is never laughable.


    It¡¯s hard. It¡¯s fake. It¡¯s tedium. But living, means one holds hope. When all of them, all of humanity, are living in a fictitious game, a game where one cannot die, and cannot exactly live¡­


    Does a fake reality have any meaning to it?


    X¨¹ Beijin once again asks himself the pointed question ¨C does he think a constructed, artificial reality, has any bearing to anything?


    He has no answer.


    Especially when¡­ it¡¯s highly possible, he will never be able to leave this artificial reality.


    Once again, he remembers what Lin Qin told him.


    Lin Qin told him, that if X¨¹ Beijin cannot leave, he will stay with him.


    But¡­ X¨¹ Beijin thinks, and wants to tell Lin Qin no, he cannot. He cannot stay with him.


    This is a slow, gradual way of killing oneself¡ª¡ªAs slow as an eternity feels like. Death awaits him, beyond a finish line he will never be able to reach.


    They will get closer, but they will never reach it.


    For as long as this game exists. For as long as NE still has a source of energy. For as long, as signals would fire in their brain¡¯s nerves.

 Volume 7 - CH 118.4

    X¨¹ Beijin finds himself bewildered.


    They are living in a game. A game with a verisimilitude that makes it hard to distinguish from reality.


    Their physical bodies may be inside of some pod hooked to an IV, or maybe they¡¯re suspended in liquid inside some cylindrical glass jar¡­


    Possibly, their brains have lost control of their physical bodies.


    They, are the metaphorical brain in a jar.


    In that sense, isn¡¯t this an inadvertent proof of the scientists¡¯ hypothesis of that?


    Having placed a brain in a jar, and provided all the appropriate signals and stimuli which corresponds to environmental stimuli of the real world, then would the brain treat it as real?


    It will, X¨¹ Beijin thinks. He knows the brain will.


    The same way that, while he has never slept in this game, and his body hasn¡¯t deteriorated at all because of it, because this is a game where sleep is unneeded, his brain is still telling him, you¡¯re tired, you should sleep; this is the real world, so you should feel tired.


    Here, X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but smile bitterly.


    Why is he even thinking about that? Having realised he is living¡ª¡ªOr dead, as it were¡ª¡ªLike a brain in a jar, wouldn¡¯t provide him the tiniest of comfort after all.


    No, he¡¯s actually utterly furious, for that matter.


    Damn it all, you¡ª¡ª


    A certain noun is on the tip of his tongue, almost ready to be sputtered.


    A noun he has not been thinking about for years, but now, he almost spoke it out of reflex.


    He stops.


    This is the moment he realises, he has never really let anything go in spite of time.


    The two¡ª¡ªOr more accurately, three¡ª¡ªstages of the Apocalypse that happened on Earth, to humanity, the memories of himself being powerless, are still torturing him on the inside.


    X¨¹ Beijin stands there with a gloomy, suppressed expression. He puts his gaze back onto the grey fog rolling before him. The fog, and every speck of dust within, is a Cell Nightmare.


    His fellow humans are enduring hellish repetitions within.


    So¡ª¡ªNE, if you really have changed your stance, then please hurry up. Do more. Humans, and him, are not going to last at this rate.


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t want to gamble on NE, he really doesn¡¯t, because he does not trust NE at all.


    The truth though, is that all he can do, is put hope on the faraway, unknowable NE.


    He stands there blanked out for a long time, before putting his attention back on the Missiontakers.


    He decides to look at one Cell Nightmare, where He Shuj¨¹n and Mystic have met up.


    Personality-wise, they couldn¡¯t be more different. He Shuj¨¹n is straightforward and extroverted, optimistically interpreting every situation to give herself hope; while Mystic is a literal fortune-teller type, speaking in riddles, and depressed and pessimistic¡­


    Here, they¡¯ve met in a Cell Nightmare, which fits more with Mystic¡¯s atmosphere in a sense ¨C the kind of atmosphere born from ostensibly supernatural occurrences.


    He Shuj¨¹n tugs at her pants and complains, ¡°oh bugger, why in a place like this¡­ Ok. It¡¯s not like ¡®you¡¯ could decide where you go, let¡¯s just go through it quickly.¡±


    She starts naturally cheering herself up.


    Mystic can¡¯t help but glance at her.


    He Shuj¨¹n is similar in age to her daughter in the Tower, which makes her a bit more noticeable in Mystic¡¯s eyes. That is when she widens her eyes a little.


    ¡°My daughter?¡± She mutters, ¡°companions?¡±


    Mystic continues mumbling something while everyone else is distracted with something else.


    They seem to be among some sort of¡­ ruins?


    There are people in the world whose interests involve exploring the abandoned buildings or areas in or nearby cities.


    Whether they are buildings never finished, or finished but left to the elements, or ones left to rot in the elements after falling from grace, or ships having run aground¡­ They are all valid targets for their exploration.


    It¡¯s like some grand urban adventure, and they label what they¡¯re doing ¡®Touring Abandoned Places.¡¯


    When the madness spread through humanity, these people banded into a small, harmless but close-knit community.


    Their passion for exploration of the abandoned and ruined have intensified, and it¡¯s certainly a godsend for them that many buildings are becoming abandoned from lack or inability to maintain maintenance due to the madness.


    Since they¡¯re all recently abandoned compared to their traditional targets, they call these new buildings ¡®Maddened Ruins.¡¯


    The madness has also swept through these buildings. Death, blood and all sorts of unkind or deviant things have taken place within.


    Maddened Ruins dot countless places throughout the world already. The governments have no idea what to do with them, and any yet sane inhabitants or commuters have long since moved away.


    These Ruins have quickly deteriorated in condition after losing maintenance and liveliness, becoming prime targets for these urban trekkers.


    The global madness has left a unique imprint on these buildings, after all.


    It is so much, in fact, that explorers occasionally lose themselves inside. They end up immersed in that stench of mad, broken, rotten death.


    They end up prisoners of these place, and if they, by luck, or rather, misfortune, as it were, and wander out of it, then the madness that should have died within the building, would spread to the rest of humans once again.


    Now, He Shuj¨¹n, alongside Mystic, and some other ¡®explorers,¡¯ are in front of an old apartment building.


    They look like they¡¯re waiting for someone, so they stand there unmoving in the lobby.


    The ground has a thick layer of dust. The light is very dim; it¡¯s night outside.


    He Shuj¨¹n can hear some kind of¡­ buzzing from electricity nearby. It¡¯s like some information they can never hope to comprehend is being transmitted through the wires.


    The continuous buzzing makes He Shuj¨¹n shake her head in irritation. She looks around her ¨C security room, admin office, elevator lobby, sofas in the lobby¡­ Everything seems to have been left as they were.


    Though one can already surmise that everything in the apartment is not as it seems, simply by looking at the torn fabric on the sofa and the blood splattered on the wall, and what looks like handprints.


    They are breathing quietly, but it also sounds like the building itself is inhaling and exhaling gradually, rhythmically.


    And even though this building is abandoned to this degree, there is still an inkling to them, that it is ¡®alive.¡¯


    They wait there for a few minutes, until someone runs in from outside, all panting.


    He complains quietly, ¡°shit, the old man watching the door is so hard to avoid¡­ Lucky I¡¯m good at running.¡±


    Someone asks, ¡°he didn¡¯t see you entering, right?¡±


    ¡°Nope¡­¡± The person gloats, ¡°I circled around the other side, and I saw the commercial complex there. If we have time, we can also check it out. I bet it¡¯s far more interesting there than here.¡±


    ¡°Commercial area? Where people would shop and eat and have fun?¡± Someone nods and says, ¡°interesting.¡±


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s cut the chatter and go up. The stairs are there. Careful, we¡¯ll investigate floor by floor,¡± says someone who looks like the leader of this group.


    Everyone else quiets down and follows his steps quietly.

 Volume 7 - CH 118.5

    When the group of people pass by the corridor to the admin office, He Shuj¨¹n steps on a piece of paper. She reflexively curls to pick it up, but the others stop her.


    Someone says, somewhat upset, ¡°didn¡¯t you read the ¡®Common Charter¡¯ before you came? Do not touch anything in the ruins; you may become afflicted with madness if you pick up anything in them.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a rule for exploring the ruins,¡± someone else says with a gentler tone, ¡°we¡¯re merely visitors taking a glimpse into the past, but we must not disturb the past.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n blinks. She nods, to indicate that she understands.


    Though she is wondering inside, that if they all think it¡¯s dangerous, then why are they even here?


    If it were more peaceful times, then it¡¯s understandable to be curious about the history of places that came to be abandoned. But everyone knows these are abandoned in the madness. It¡¯s different from before.


    Though He Shuj¨¹n decides to cast the thought aside. She lowers herself to read the paper, and the rest of the explorers also surround her to take a look.


    Only Mystic is standing by herself, looking around with unfocused eyes.


    She is muttering, ¡°danger¡­ is all around¡­ Watching, from the back.¡±


    She seems confused that she said that.


    He Shuj¨¹n isn¡¯t paying attention to her, and hesitantly concludes after reading the paper, ¡°this apartment¡¯s devices¡­ are hurting people?¡±


    ¡°The madness can spread even onto electronics?¡± Someone jokes, ¡°oh man, I¡¯m done for, I¡¯ve got a phone on me.¡±


    A phone?


    Some strange, fleeting feeling comes and goes in He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s mind. It¡¯s like some sort of worry, or maybe a form of inexplicable¡­ disdain?


    Why would she feel that way? Solely because this person brought his phone with him into the building?


    What does the apartment even represent? What would be different if there is a phone or not?


    She can¡¯t imagine a phone acting up and managing to hurt people like the facilities in this apartment building.


    Amused by her thoughts, she shakes her head, ignoring the tinge of worry she has in her mind.


    After reading, they¡¯re planning to head upstairs via the staircase, but when they move through the elevator lobby, someone exclaims, ¡°hey, look, the button is on!¡±


    Everyone looks where the person points, and it¡¯s true. The up and down buttons of the elevator are glowing in the dim background light.


    The explorers all look at each other.


    He Shuj¨¹n, confused, wonders, ¡°the apartment still has electricity¡­ after so much time?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible the apartment building has backup generators, but the elevator¡­¡±


    The person responding also seems bewildered, ¡°it¡¯s weird. Without maintenance or active use, even the cables should have deteriorated¡­. Woah!¡±


    The person yelps, as everyone looking at the elevator all show an expression of terror.


    Because the elevator door suddenly opened.


    At that moment, both He Shuj¨¹n and Mystic look mystified, because they can feel some sort of emotion hurrying them on, telling them to enter the elevator¡­ No, that¡¯s not it. It¡¯s urging them to pass through the elevator doors!


    ¡°The door!¡± He Shuj¨¹n yells, ¡°the door is already here?!¡±


    The others do not understand her, and Mystic remains silent, because when she is looking at the door, she is thinking¡ª¡ª


    ¡°Have you ever felt the pain¡­ of watching a loved one succumbing to a Nightmare?¡±


    She thinks she has said that to someone in the past.


    The voice is swirling around some stairwell, some stairwell in her mind.


    Who did she say that to? When did she say it? What did she mean by this? What did this mean to the person she said it to?


    Why would she remember that when she sees the elevator door open?


    All the questions are making Mystic dizzy.


    Her silence doesn¡¯t deter He Shuj¨¹n any. The young, lively girl starts talking to herself, ¡°should we go in?¡±


    That is when Mystic says with an inexplicably grave and hoarse voice, ¡°yes, we have to.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n looks at her, somewhat surprised.


    Mystic slowly adds, ¡°someone is helping us.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n, curious, asks, ¡°how do you know?¡±


    Mystic¡¯s mind is all empty, so she cannot answer, but she thinks her instincts are guiding her.


    She ¡®explains,¡¯ if the tone can even be called that, ¡°it is an¡­ instruction, from the past. It is a response of the past.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n doesn¡¯t understand, but that¡¯s fine. They ignore the others¡¯ dissuading them, and step right through the elevator door, and as she does so, a grey fog rolls out, and blurs their vision.


    A new door appears in front of them.


    He Shuj¨¹n, overjoyed, says, ¡°hurray! We did it!¡±


    Mystic is also, barely noticeably, smiling. Before she enters the door in the fog, her hand waves a little, like she is waving goodbye to someone.


    After they leave, the door to the elevator once again quietly, gradually closes, like someone closing their eyes to sleep, as they await a kind of final release¡ª¡ª


    Whether good or bad, but, it would free her from her suffering regardless.


    X¨¹ Beijin has kept his eye on He Shuj¨¹n and Mystic¡¯s whole journey in the apartment complex. He looks closely at the elevator, while recalling what happened once, in a certain Nightmare.


    He can¡¯t help but wonder, whether the people ¨C consciousness ¨C trapped in that Nightmare, are insane, or lucid?


    Jiang Shuangmei and Ding Yi revisited that Nightmare to look for Jiang Shuangjie a few times, but they have failed every single time.


    That is because Jiang Shuangjie is already inside the grey fog by then. She has ¡®succumbed,¡¯ but she hasn¡¯t necessarily gone insane; how much rationale has remained with her?


    Nobody knows.


    Perhaps, one day, when and if they free all these succumbed Missiontakers, will they find the answer.


    X¨¹ Beijin sighs, exhausted, as his mood dips a bit lower into his depressive phase.


    After a moment of adjusting, he leaves the mood behind, to check on the other Missiontakers.


    Then his gaze settles on one Cell Nightmare¡ª¡ªWhere Fei, and Mu Jiashi, who have left their previous Cell Nightmare, are currently somewhere, where Mu Jiashi finds himself in utter shock, as soon as he enters.


    Because the scene¡ª¡ªThe Nightmare¡ª¡ª


    This place¡­


    He knows this place!

 Volume 7 - CH 119.1

    Recovering Memories


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Fei and Mu Jiashi successfully escaped from the little village in the mountains.


    It was really a serendipitous stroke of luck that they escaped successfully.


    The villagers couldn¡¯t find Fei by the waterfall, and skipped looking where they lived directly to head for the meal and explain.


    So Mu Jiashi, who reported on her hanging out there, was under immediately suspicion. He denied it, telling them he thought she might have went to the waterfall, but doesn¡¯t know if she did go there or elsewhere.


    However, when the rest of the villagers have looked around the village without finding Fei, someone asked, with a shaky voice, ¡°could she¡­ have been taken away by them already?¡±


    Mu Jiashi gave the villager a discreet glance, thanking him in his mind.


    As expected, the rest of the villagers present were uproarious.


    They were going to kill these people before the madness they spread would cause the cultists to sacrifice them in cold blood, but it seemed they have succeeded first?


    So they quickly rushed for the cultists, so soon enough, barely anyone remained in the village elder¡¯s house.


    Mu Jiashi then excused himself to the bathroom to look about the elder¡¯s house, finding a locked side door by sheer luck.


    After forcing it open, he saw a cowering, frightened person inside. Finally, he has understood what happened.


    The first child, the one the villagers labelled a ¡®traitor,¡¯ was locked up right here.


    Why?


    He was locked up, alive, with clear scraps of food nearby. Was he¡­ the elder¡¯s child?


    Since when has he been here? He was still dressed in urban clothing, completely distinct in style from the village¡¯s mundaneness.


    He probably wasn¡¯t back here for a long time yet. He might have felt regret about leaving the village without a word, so he came back to visit?


    If that¡¯s really the case, then the madness spreading throughout the village, is it really because of they, the outsiders, or¡­ him?


    Standing there, Mu Jiashi fell into thought.


    That was when he heard something behind him. Looking around in surprise, it was Fei.


    ¡°Don¡¯t ask!¡± Fei hurriedly said, ¡°I remembered something!¡±


    Mu Jiashi was surprised. Fei remembered clues?


    Fei told him, ¡°there was this small detail ¨C the minivan we came here on, it had 20 seats. It was fully booked out.


    But think about it ¨C there were twelve of us foreign visitors, and seven university undergraduates from this village¡­ there¡¯s a missing passenger!¡±


    Mu Jiashi nodded quietly, then moves aside to let Fei look inside the door.


    ¡°He¡¯s¡­¡±  Fei is shocked, before quickly understanding, saying, ¡°so he¡¯s the one who¡­ came here with us? He was locked up here all along?!¡±


    Mu Jiashi nodded again, saying, ¡°I suspect so.¡±


    Fei felt a deep chill.


    She looked at the locked student blankly. He was cowering, shaking because of the strangers.


    His hands were pushing down on the ground, as if trying to gather strength.


    She quietly muttered, ¡°how laughable¡­¡±


    Who? The ¡®traitor¡¯ who regretted his own choices? Or the villagers?


    She shook her head, then says, ¡°this must be the door we¡¯re looking for.¡±


    Mu Jiashi nodded, again.


    So there they went, and the grey fog rolled, and here they are, with Mu Jiashi in total astonishment.


    They¡¯re in a station terminal. People are crowding around, and it¡¯s really busy. Fei, standing by his side, asks quietly, confused, ¡°do we¡­ have to get on a bus?¡±


    Mu Jiashi doesn¡¯t answer immediately.


    Something subtly strange is coming over him, unrelated to his experience so far, but purely, because of this scene, this area, something special is triggering. His body is screaming, ¡®yes! This is it!¡¯


    He¡¯s been here before!


    Fei, worried, asks Mu Jiashi, ¡°are you alright?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been here!¡± Mu Jiashi quickly explains, ¡°I¡¯ve been¡­ No, not this place exactly, but the¡­ Nightmare.¡±


    When the words ¡®Nightmare¡¯ pop out of his mouth, some kind of deep daze overcomes him entirely, as he spaces out.


    Fei looks at him, bewildered.


    Mu Jiashi, in a rare display of frustration, yells, ¡°how could¡­ why is his Nightmare like this?!¡±


    Anxious, he turns to Fei, and sees that she still clearly remembers nothing.


    But he remembers everything, now, about the Tower, and why they¡¯re in this Nightmare, and also why, X¨¹ Beijin told him to find Missiontakers who have been to as many Nightmares as possible.


    Because, that is the only way they could recover their memories in the Nightmare.


    Thanks to a bug.


    Theoretically, if Missiontakers end up in the grey fog, somehow, they must have¡¯ succumbed.¡¯ Their status is Succumbed, and they lose their sense of self, mired in some unending Cell Nightmare in the fog forever.


    However, when Mu Jiashi and friends enter, and they end up inside of a Nightmare they have already went and achieved an Ending in, a contradiction occurs©¤©¤


    They have already been through this Nightmare, without becoming Succumbed before an Ending ¨C a marker of completion of the Nightmare ¨C is assigned to them. So, what happens if they end up in a Nightmare whose Ending tag they already own, while being in the state of being Succumbed?


    If they are indeed Succumbed, they can never have had an Ending tag, because they would have been trapped in it forever;


    They are in the grey fog, though, so being Succumbed was a given.


    Suffice it to say, entering the grey fog through X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare was a shortcut.


    And the occurrence of the ¡®doors,¡¯ part of the feature of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, allowed Missiontakers to traverse between Cell Nightmares.


    If they are lucky enough to end up in a Cell Nightmare whose Nightmare the Missiontaker has already been through and achieved an Ending, then the bug occurs.


    And fortunately, the way the logic is handled in the game, this bug results in the illegal Succumbed tag that was assigned last being removed. So the Missiontakers would regain their sense of self.


    This bug shouldn¡¯t even have ever occurred, because it was expected that X¨¹ Beijin, the Actor, would have entered this Nightmare via sleeping the first day he became trapped in Escape, and disappear from this world entirely, when there are no Missiontakers who have completed Nightmares who could accidentally trigger the bug. Then with X¨¹ Beijin eliminated, no more Missiontakers will be able to enter the grey fog through his Nightmare.


    No one was expecting for X¨¹ Beijin to never go to sleep from the very moment he entered the Tower.


    So this bug that should never have been remained here forever, until finally, this group of Missiontakers, and X¨¹ Beijin himself, decided to gamble it all, and enter the grey fog with their lives on the line.


    Or rather, their consciousness. So they have to use this special bug, to help themselves remember everything about the Tower, and Nightmares. Otherwise, there was nothing they could do except Succumb to these Cell Nightmares.


    When Mu Jiashi works out the rough logic of this entire debacle, he can¡¯t help but cuss. It¡¯s completely dependent on luck whether they regain their sense of self, and if NE had anything to say about it¡­ unless it¡¯s on their side.


    That is when Mu Jiashi realises, that this is only the third scene he¡¯s in ¨C the third Cell Nightmare ¨C so if he¡¯s able to regain his sense of self in this short period of time, it must mean¡­


    A smile starts floating onto his face.


    Ah. NE really is on their side this time, it seems.

 Volume 7 - CH 119.2

    Mu Jiashi is immediately backtracking on his own conclusion.


    If NE really was on their side, then he should have recovered his sense of self in the first scene he entered.


    Yet it was only after three doors that he went into a Nightmare he¡¯s been to.


    Is this a¡­ test? Or, is it some kind of restriction NE has to abide by?


    But, this is X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s own Nightmare!


    Mu Jiashi is very much confused.


    Who would be the one to control where the Missiontakers end up after entering doors?


    Given this is X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, theoretically, he should have complete control over it.


    In fact, after realising the problem surrounding the Tower residents, Mu Jiashi decided to reflect on all his experience dealing with Tower residents in Nightmares.


    He has managed to prove to himself that whatever they do, the Tower residents are likely aware, and can exert control.


    That is how the Nightmare owner helps to push along their progress resolving Nightmares.


    So this time, with X¨¹ Beijin being the owner of the Nightmare, then he should have complete omniscience and omnipotence over it.


    Yet this time, there is this contradiction, with him only being able to step into a ¡®correct¡¯ Nightmare after three doors. Why, if X¨¹ Beijin can really exert complete control, will he arrange the progression of the Nightmare like so?


    NE¡¯s stance is yet to be determined beyond reasonable doubt, but X¨¹ Beijin is definitely on their side, isn¡¯t he? Why would he employ delaying tactics?


    Which means, the more likely explanation, is that NE, overseeing the whole Tower, is also exerting influence over this Nightmare.


    So quick question¡­ Since when has NE ever directly intervened in a Nightmare? Never, as far as he¡¯s aware!


    As every Missiontaker will say, NE is the overseer that reigns above them, coldly but fairly.


    While every Missiontaker and also Tower resident would know of it, but they know nothing other than its name and its purpose as the main server running this game.


    They do not know its form, its actual abilities, and simply suppose that it is omnipotent in the Tower.


    In fact, even its name has only been revealed while being passed around as a rumour from who-knows-where.


    So, would NE really participate in any same-old Nightmare so proactively? No.


    Mu Jiashi, therefore, can¡¯t help but wonder once again ¨C is there something between X¨¹ Beijin and NE?


    Fei was the first to ask, having come around to the possibility after jumping through some logical hoops, perhaps.


    When he first heard the idea, Mu Jiashi was dismissive.


    But then, when X¨¹ Beijin revealed he knew the exit to the Tower was in the Ultimate Nightmare, and also how to open it up, Mu Jiashi started pondering the question more seriously.


    Now, Mu Jiashi concludes, that yes, there must be at least some tangential relationship between X¨¹ Beijin and NE.


    It¡¯s difficult to elaborate on that, but simply looking at the Nightmare they¡¯re in©¤©¤


    The grey fog. Where the succumbed go, like a landfill. Can you imagine any simple Nightmare of any simple Tower resident taking place in this?


    In what, to the game, amounts to unusable save slots and corrupted memory?


    If he didn¡¯t knew this was X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, Mu Jiashi would have assumed this to be NE¡¯s Nightmare instead.


    Mu Jiashi is slightly amused by the thought.


    Meanwhile, standing at his side, Fei looks confused as ever.


    So, after some thought, Mu Jiashi tries to explain all this in a way Fei can understand, ¡°I mean, I¡¯ve once been here. It¡¯s like¡­ reliving my worst nightmare, you know?¡±


    ¡°Nightmare, huh?¡± Fei, anxious, replies, ¡°all those other scenes we¡¯ve been through have been nightmarish, too.¡±


    Mu Jiashi parts his lips a little, but he can¡¯t think of what to say.


    He knows Fei is right.


    Soon enough, he puts his emotions aside and says, ¡°let¡¯s go. We¡¯ll have to look for a door here.¡±


    When he understood fully what this so-called ¡®Nightmare about Nightmares¡¯ is, he also realised that the key to resolving it wouldn¡¯t lie in the countless ¡®little Nightmares.¡¯


    The Ending can only lie outside, within the grey fog, where they stood when they entered.


    But the question becomes, how to leave these little scenes.


    At the same time, Mu Jiashi is also wondering why X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare is like this.


    Why is his Nightmare¡­ about the Tower itself? Unlike the other Tower residents whose Nightmares are about the Earth, the Apocalypse, or madness.


    Scratching his head, he doesn¡¯t know how to make sense of it, so he decides to focus on the scene at hand instead.


    Walking along with the crowd, Mu Jiashi also explains what he remembers of this Nightmare to Fei.


    This is¡­ in fact, the very first Nightmare he went in after coming to the Tower.


    So this is in the far distant past, but Mu Jiashi¡¯s memories of it are far more vivid than usual. Perhaps, it¡¯s because he couldn¡¯t resolve the Nightmare completely back then.


    It would niggle at the back of his mind every so often, during periods of downtime, when he would think about if there was something he could have done to resolve it.


    This Nightmare stems from an event at the Cangcheng Intercity Terminal. More specifically, on an intercity bus shuttle heading right for the Terminal.


    ¡°Cangcheng?¡± Fei mutters the name of the city, commenting, ¡°it sounds oddly familiar.¡±


    Mu Jiashi is also looking at the electronic display showing the arrivals schedule with some nostalgia. He already forgot the detail that the bus was headed to Cangcheng after all that time.


    He never expected he would be able to dig up more idiosyncrasies about this Nightmare; a long time ago, he already tried to look for the Nightmare to achieve a True End, and sever his regrets.


    Unfortunately, he never found it again. Then when things got more busy for him, having become a Golddigger, he didn¡¯t have the time anymore.


    Now, then, he suspects, the owner of the Nightmare may have succumbed entirely.


    So the Nightmare ended up in the grey fog, never to show up in the Tower again.


    Would such situations be a rarity? Or something common?


    Mu Jiashi can¡¯t help but feel a little sympathy inside.


    He thinks he can understand a little, why X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t talk about his Nightmare much.


    If that is what his own Nightmare looks like, he would probably also want to avoid the topic.


    He can also understand why X¨¹ Beijin wouldn¡¯t want to let others inside, because this is a Nightmare that lives up to its name, more than merely an ¡®instance in a game.¡¯


    Mu Jiashi sighs heavily, then murmurs, ¡°Cangcheng, huh?¡±


    Mu Jiashi smiles bitterly, nodding and saying, ¡°yeah¡­ We might have been there once.¡±


    He¡¯s hoping that this could help Fei recover her memories a little, but disappointingly, it doesn¡¯t happen so easily.


    It seems they would have to revisit their past Nightmares before they can recover their sense of self, which seems unlikely outside of hoping that NE would be kind to them.


    And with this situation being what it is, all the utility cards they¡¯ve prepared are probably going to waste¡­


    Mu Jiashi can¡¯t help but shake his head.

 Volume 7 - CH 119.3

    While thinking about the situation, Mu Jiashi hears Fei asking, ¡°our shuttle¡­ is that it?¡±


    Mu Jiashi looks at the departure information on the display board, and tells Fei, ¡°yes, we should go.¡±


    They pass through the entry gate without incident, and boards a large shuttle bus that transports people between this city and Cangcheng on a daily basis.


    The clock shows 13:15. It¡¯s a simple afternoon; slightly hot. There aren¡¯t that many passengers, with only a third or so of the 40-odd seats filled.


    The driver starts the shuttle after checking everything with the station staff and counting the passengers.


    No one could have known what was to happen to them on the journey.


    About half an hour into the journey, someone asks the driver how long they have left. The driver tells them they still have about an hour to go.


    Most of the passengers are in advanced stages of falling asleep. The murky air, mixed with the scent of cheap fabric and summer sweat, plus some of the exhaust lingering around the asphalt road around, is quite the effective sleeping gas.


    Although the people affected definitely doesn¡¯t include Fei or Mu Jiashi. Fei is clearly paranoid, continuously checking the clock, calculating the time in her mind.


    According to her companion, the situation would change about forty minutes into the ride.


    Mu Jiashi didn¡¯t explain in detail what the change entails, as it was quite difficult to put into words.


    Fei asked if they could just not board the shuttle altogether, but Mu Jiashi shook his head, and told her it was for the best they boarded.


    He tried avoiding that when he was in the Nightmare, and leave the terminal altogether, not knowing the nature of Nightmares well enough yet; he ended up discovering how risky it was staying behind at the terminal turned out to be.


    To put it briefly, there are tens of thousands of times more people crowded around the terminal than on the shuttle.


    So their only choice is to get onto this shuttle bus that may lead them to death.


    Time slowly passes, until finally, Fei watches as the clock ticks over, and it has now been forty minutes since departure.


    Nothing has happened yet.


    The driver is still driving, the passengers still fast asleep, the sun still shining overhead, countless cars still whizzing past on the road.


    Then Fei feels a gust of wind blow past the window of the shuttle, touching her.


    It was sudden, and oddly enough, gentle. It brushed past her cheek and ear.


    Was it really a gust of wind, she didn¡¯t hear the wind howl like usual. In fact, she doesn¡¯t think the air was moving about her at all.


    It was like, something was touching her nerves directly. Spooked, she looks around carefully.


    Maybe it was the wind, and she¡¯s overthinking things.


    The vehicle bumps a little, and Fei¡¯s vision blurs momentarily ¨C it feels oddly like her brain shut off for a moment ¨C before everything goes back to normal.


    She thinks there wasn¡¯t any change observable in her.


    So she turns to Mu Jiashi, as only he knows what is really happening, even though her mind is telling her, that nothing has changed at all.


    But she sees Mu Jiashi looking out the window, focusing on a small car.


    There seems to be a young couple in the driver¡¯s and passenger¡¯s seat. The man is driving, and the woman¡¯s head is tilted; she appears asleep.


    Suddenly, a small toy probably put under the windshield by them jumps and falls, and Fei swears she could hear the porcelain shatter in her mind.


    The man merely gives it a nonchalant glance.


    The woman wakes up, and it seems she is irate, and possibly criticising the man¡¯s driving skills©¤©¤Something like that.


    But then, the situation escalates. She tries to take control of the steering wheel. Then after that, the man lets go of one hand to slap the woman on the face.


    The woman then starts wildly pushing and pulling on the steering wheel.


    The car quickly meanders in a worrying path, until it smashes right into the road divider, and explodes in flames.


    The shuttle bus is right next to this explosion, and Mu Jiashi and Fei both watched it unfold before their eyes.


    The bus continues moving. Oddly, not another car on the road slowed down or stopped from the scene. It was like they were entirely disinterested in this car crash.


    Fei, astonished, mutters, ¡°what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°The first spread of the madness,¡± Mu Jiashi says, with a deep, agonising sorrow, ¡°It spread outward from near Cangcheng, and we¡¯re close enough that the effects were near instantaneous here as well.¡±


    ¡°Madness?¡± Fei asks, ¡°just like what was happening in that little village?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡±


    Fei seems to mumble something to herself, before asking, ¡°so you¡¯re saying, these scenes are all connected to some single worldview?¡±


    Mu Jiashi nods and says, ¡°yes, they are.¡±


    ¡°Then, where would the door be this time?¡±


    Mu Jiashi looks hesitant, and then he shakes his head to show he doesn¡¯t know either.


    He suspects it¡¯s related to the setting of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, but he has no way to conclusively prove or utilise it.


    Fei didn¡¯t seem to be holding out hopes for Mu Jiashi to have an answer, either.


    She¡¯s going to keep talking, when she hears yelling coming from the front of the shuttle bus. She looks ahead, and finds herself stunned frozen.


    The passengers who were asleep or about to fall asleep, have suddenly started lambasting each other and even fighting.


    When Mu Jiashi boarded the bus, he took Fei to the very back of the shuttle to sit. They¡¯re quite the distance away from the ruckus, but who knows how long the illusion of safety will last.


    Fei quickly asks, ¡°would the door we need to find be the door to the bus? We can leave after it reaches the destination?¡±


    Mu Jiashi says, ¡°no¡­¡±


    Fei seems confused.


    Mu Jiashi stops to think a little, then explains, ¡°do you think the driver is afflicted with the madness as well? Do you think he would keep working hard, or go insane in some way after becoming afflicted?¡±


    Fei falls silent for a long time.


    Finally, she mutters, ¡°so all we can do, is wait?¡±


    To wait, for this shuttle bus ride, to take them to unknown horizons.


    Mu Jiashi is the first Missiontaker to regain his sense of self in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, but he¡¯s certainly not the last one.


    At the same time, in another Cell Nightmare, as X¨¹ Beijin looks on, Wu Jian, A-One and A-Two are also arriving at the special Nightmare.


    This Nightmare makes Wu Jian look quite conflicted indeed.

 Volume 7 - CH 120.1

    Amusement Park


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    If you ask Wu Jian, he wasn¡¯t actually that interested in joining the conspiracists.


    He¡¯s quite passive in personality. So about all that truth behind the scenes stuff, or the real culprit of their suffering, whatever, like, it¡¯s good to know;


    But even if he can¡¯t, life still goes on. He¡¯s happy to just scrape by.


    Even when he¡¯s inducted, his rather brusque and careless personality would show up in the organisation quite often.


    It was really dumb luck in the beginning that he was inducted at all.


    In a past Nightmare, he happened to meet the founder of that organisation¡­ Or rather, it was more because of that Nightmare, that the Missiontaker chose to found an organisation, to look for information related to the truth.


    So all the other Missiontakers inside that Nightmare, for the sake of maintaining secrecy, were half forced into the newborn organisation at the coercion of the founding Missiontaker.


    This means Wu Jian is actually a founding member of the organisation because of that.


    Not that he¡¯s that interested in his role, especially when all he wants to do is to go along with everything. He¡¯s joined simply because it would have been troublesome to refuse.


    In the organisation, he¡¯d often feel subtly excluded. He sees the other fellow members as rather unusually serious and stubborn, utilising their overly imaginative minds to conjure up all sorts of ludicrous theories.


    While he¡­ Well, he¡¯s not incapable, and being in the organisation does mean he has become rather receptive to their ideas, but this also means he ended up viewing the Tower through rather fearful, disgusted and hopeless eyes.


    If anything, it didn¡¯t actually make him want to know the truth any more than he once had been.


    There is anxiety, there is fear, so in turn, there comes a pushback against wanting to know the truth.


    In fact, he would largely share the same sentiment as the Missiontakers outside of the organisation ¨C that those¡­ conspiracies, really are just that. He doesn¡¯t want to accept that reality could be as grim as they make it out to be.


    But nowadays, when he thinks back to that very Nightmare that got him inducted, when he thinks about how casually he went about it, it felt like¡­ fate, having already arranged everything for him, in time.


    He followed Fei and went back down to the bottom floor only for a simple, investigative mission. He and Fei were assigned, and Wu Jian was happy to deal with something simple.


    He definitely wasn¡¯t expecting, to be involved in such¡­ convoluted affairs.


    They actually stumbled upon the truth all by accident, and now, they¡¯re even here to try and save all of humanity from the predicament.


    They¡¯re going to be the messiahs!


    The grandeur of the whole achievement contrasts starkly against his minute, insignificant form. It makes him positively rapt with fascination both before entering this Nightmare, and now, after having recovered his memories.


    He can¡¯t help but think, wish, that someone is pushing all this along;


    NE, X¨¹ Beijin, whoever, but to shoulder the deep burden of this ultimate quest, he would need a helping hand.


    Because, what if he failed?


    Can mankind really continue to endure the endless solitary confinement? Will all hopes of leaving the Tower successfully be dashed?


    It¡¯s been dozens of years since they have entered the Tower in the first place.


    Just thinking about that length of time is enough to dampen Wu Jian¡¯s spirits down to hell.


    He¡¯d still try to cheer himself up. He tells himself, they won¡¯t fail. They will not. They cannot.


    He has companions with him, so many of them, working hard alongside him¡­ one day¡­ there will come a day when dawn breaks, won¡¯t there?


    He really wants out of the Tower.


    Cangcheng. Maybe it was his hometown. He thinks it is, because in that Nightmare, he felt an ungodly amount of inexplicable familiarity with the whole place.


    He knows the d¨¦j¨¤ vus are likely coming from what he has forgotten; from the memories of Earth that he has lost.


    Forgetting. This is also what happens in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare.


    Thinking about it makes Wu Jian worried and even anxious.


    No one could have imagined his Nightmare to be like this. X¨¹ Beijin never told them about it¡­


    Or maybe he couldn¡¯t. Anything that was too direct was likely to be stopped by NE;


    Just giving them vague, incomprehensible words would have been less than helpful when it inevitably leads to them drawing the wrong conclusions.


    Since X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, is truly, principally, different from all the Nightmares in the Tower!


    His Nightmare is like a gargantuan, majestic platform, where they can travel into other Nightmares.


    It¡¯s a common speculation that X¨¹ Beijin has a unique status as a Tower resident. They¡¯re all curious about what his role in the Tower could be.


    Even so, nobody could have expected his Nightmare to be so utterly unique, completely distinct and even directly contravening of what Missiontakers have taken for granted as the basic constitution of a Nightmare.


    They are entirely unprepared.


    It is really fortunate¡­ that NE seems to be on their side.


    Wu Jian, feeling extremely conflicted inside, looks at the scene in front of him with a deep, piercing gaze.


    This Nightmare that changed his fate, that took his future path on a wild rollercoaster ride¡­ It was in a stadium.


    A large, all-purpose stadium, probably known officially as some ¡®Olympic centre¡¯ or something like that. It was likely a landmark structure in whatever place it stood.


    Though at the time of the Nightmare, it seems to be functioning as more of a community exercise centre for the residents of the city. Every night, many people would gather here to jog or train.


    The incident in this Nightmare takes place on the greenery of the grounds.


    A group of people plays football there, but half of the grounds is also used for another group to perform Taiji there. It¡¯s actually not that big of a deal, because the football players are actually playing futsal, so they don¡¯t actually need the entire area of the football field.


    The older aunts and uncles, here to participate in Taiji, already negotiated with the footballers in the past, and they split the grounds without a problem.


    There are at most a dozen or so people who want to play football in the community anyway, and with not everyone present, the arrangement suited both groups.


    So half of the field played futsal, the other half had people doing Taiji. The arrangement went on for some time until the accident happened¡­ When was it?


    Scouring his memories, Wu Jian is finding it rather difficult to recall the details of a Nightmare in the long past.


    Then he remembers it.

 Volume 7 - CH 120.2

    A football ¡®unfortunately,¡¯ ¡®tragically¡¯ landed right on the head of a runner doing his nightly laps. This runner is the grandson of one of the elderly present who practises Taiji.


    The runner was knocked over, his head smashing right onto the concrete staircase nearby, and was sent to the hospital. The trauma sent him into a permanent vegetative state.


    No one could have expected this to happen. It was a pure, simple, accidental, tragedy.


    The footballers pooled together compensation and paid for the medical bills, and the stadium management also took up part of the cost. The patient¡¯s immediate family accepted the mediation.


    After the incident, the stadium has decided to take measures to divide up the grass field area with removable barriers to prevent similar accidents.


    But before that could happen, some hate is already in the process of manifestation. With some particular insanity going around, it festered out of control.


    The grandpa of that victim has already gone mad, but no one realised as he acted completely normal. He came to do Taiji again without looking at all strange, greeting the footballers like normal.


    No one even knew he was the grandfather of that victim, so no one could have been any the wiser when he pulled out a knife.


    Screams erupt from the grass fields.


    Wu Jian looks up, and watches the crime taking place in front of him, murmuring, ¡°how terrible¡­ Killing someone wouldn¡¯t have let your grandson wake up either way. Even if he did, I¡¯m sure he would only feel sorrow upon hearing this¡­¡±


    A-One asks, confused, ¡°bro, you know what¡¯s going on here?¡±


    Wu Jian nods.


    He knows neither A-One nor A-Two have recovered their memories of the Tower yet, so he thinks about it, and decides not to explain in detail, telling him, ¡°I¡¯ve been here before.¡±


    ¡°Oh, really?¡± A-One then asks, ¡°so what¡¯s happening here?¡±


    Wu Jian then gives them a brief summary.


    A-Two furrows his brows, ¡°but¡­ compared to the scenes we¡¯ve been through, this feels¡­ normal?¡±


    A tragic accident brought forth an even more tragic revenge.


    To be honest, with or without a madness, this feels like it could have happened in everyday life, regardless.


    Wu Jian is about to say something when another terrifying round of screams emerge, alongside sounds of vomit and puke.


    He sighs, then says, looking rather exhausted, ¡°you¡¯ll know when you see it.¡±


    A-One and A-Two look at each other, and walk over carefully.


    The high-power floodlights of the stadium makes the grounds bright as day even during the middle of the night.


    The two men see a group of people huddled around the place. When the grandpa started killing the footballers, the rest of the people are simply looking.


    Some called the police, and some others seem like they want to try to stop him.


    But then, when the heavy, disgusting scent of blood and gore spread out through the stadium, the mood shifts immediately.


    Wu Jian also joins the two Missiontakers, and whispers, ¡°I suppose you¡¯ve heard of something like¡­ self-care, and the myth that whatever you eat will strengthen the corresponding body part; these old people practising Taiji are at least in their forties, and obviously lead rather satisfactory lives.


    Most of them are probably well-accomplished in society, with happy marriages and capable sons and daughters. So their topmost worry in life, would be their declining physical bodies¡­ The inescapable march to death.


    You¡¯ve also heard those stories, right? That tyrants and other power-mad people would try to maintain youth by drinking virgin girl¡¯s blood¡­


    Look, here. Blood. Fresh blood of young, active people.¡±


    The three of them watch as the blood drenches the white Taiji uniforms of the old people present, splattering onto their wrinkly, dried skins.


    They look like desiccated apples ¨C folded, soft, rotten, possibly home to worms that would burrow out at any moment.


    But perhaps thanks to what Wu Jian just told them, A-One and A-Two swear that, when blood starts to soak the mouths of the old people, they really do look a little more youthful and energetic.


    A dozen or so old people, against a dozen or so young men and women.


    The surroundings are so quiet it makes one want to puke. Even the songs of the cicadas of the summer night are gone.


    A-One and A-Two both take a deep breath; A-One is even fanning himself with his hands, to chase away the revolting smell lingering nearby.


    Wu Jian looks closely at one of the elderly men present.


    He quietly adds, ¡°this grandpa seems to be convinced, that if he could suck the perpetrator¡¯s blood dry, then his grandson will wake back up. An illogical but simple form of revenge.¡±


    A-One then looks at him, and looks a little bewildered. He asks, ¡°you said you¡¯ve already been here¡­ so¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re wondering if I have anything to do with this place?¡± Wu Jian then drops a bomb, ¡°I¡¯m not directly related, but¡­¡± Thinking about their supposed roles in this Nightmare, he then explains, ¡°a friend of mine is.¡±


    A-One and A-Two are even more confused.


    ¡°He¡­¡± Wu Jian makes it look like he¡¯s hesitant to reveal rather private details, so he just vaguely tells them, ¡°he is one of the people directly involved in this incident.¡±


    A-One and A-Two look at each other, and can¡¯t help but both think of the same person.


    ¡ª¡ªThe victim.


    Looking at Wu Jian¡¯s age and how much he knows about the entire event, it would seem that Wu Jian¡¯s friend must be that victim.


    Wu Jian¡¯s tone is rather conflicted, possibly because, without even realising it, he is actually giving the grandpa an excuse.


    Of course, it is tragic for grandpa that his grandson ended up in a vegetative state through no one¡¯s fault, while the one who did it is still playing football with his youthful, healthy body.


    This is definitely not a reason for one to attack someone else directly and open the curtain to this ¡®bloodbath,¡¯ though.


    After a while, A-One breaks the silence. Shrugging, he says, with a tone as casual as he can put it, ¡°alright, then. So where would the door be? We¡¯ve figured out what¡¯s going on in this scene, so the door should be here?¡±


    A-One is always a little happy-go-lucky like that. He¡¯s able to help morale quite a lot in the Golddigging organisation, too, with his optimism and cheery mood. He would always help change the topic as naturally as can be when moods turn awkward.


    Wu Jian thinks about it, then widens his eyes and suggests with a doubtful tone, ¡°could it be¡­ the goal?¡±


    The goal of the football field?


    The three of them look at each other, and then look over at the field.


    Wu Jian tries to recall and explain, ¡°from what I remember¡­ the football that hit the runner in the first place, only smashed with so much force and at that horizontal angle because the net was broken in a spot, so it flew right out without being stopped¡­¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go and find the goal with the broken net,¡± A-Two says, ¡°but it sure is tragic that this all just happened by coincidence.¡±


    Of course it is, thinks Wu Jian. The runner was simply doing a night run. No one could have thought.


    It¡¯s really like fate was trying to play a trick.


    Thinking about that, he can¡¯t help but look up at the night sky.


    A thought crosses his mind ¨C but doesn¡¯t what happened to the runner have an almost comical parallel in what happened to all of humanity to trap them all in the Tower, in a sense?


    The thought spooks Wu Jian deeply, and he is full of goosebumps.

 Volume 7 - CH 120.3

    Wu Jian quickly shakes his head and turns his thoughts elsewhere. He realises that this scene may not only have been to help him regain his sanity, but also to help them know the truth without having to investigate.


    It¡¯s like a cheat.


    This lets them leave the scene smoothly, without even having to go through the repetitions of the Nightmare.


    It sure is pretty easy.


    Though when Wu Jian sees the door floating into existence in the grey fog, he can¡¯t help but look back around, to look at the people in the stadium, insane, or silent, or confused, and thinks, please wait for us.


    We will save you, all¡­ We definitely will.


    X¨¹ Beijin is a bit stumped.


    As he finds his consciousness drifting away and his vision tunnelling ¨C the Nightmare is eating at his mind more and more deeply.


    Even being inside the grey fog can¡¯t alleviate his sweating any. He feels completely drained ¨C likely something delusion from the effects on his brain.


    If someone is hypnotised and convinced he is dead, and his brain believes it without a doubt, then would it make sense to call him dead?


    While trying to resist the feeling, X¨¹ Beijin tries to use black humour to consider the matter piquing his curiosity all this time ¨C what state is NE really in?


    He¡¯s trying to kill him, and also trying to save him?


    For an artificial intelligence, would such a conflicting command just cause it to shut down directly?


    While mocking NE inside, X¨¹ Beijin is already gasping in pain. Half of his vision has gone dark; or is it simply that his eyelids are shut in one eye?


    He doesn¡¯t think he can see what is in front of him clearly, but that¡¯s not the case¡­ No. He can feel it. He can feel something chaotic.


    He is both awake and asleep. He is both lucid and insane. He is going to become a walking corpse.


    He wonders if this ending is what those people wish for him. Or rather, it is what they arranged for him.


    It is simply because he has avoided the Nightmare all these years that this end for him has been delayed for so long.


    Long enough that even he is surprised to actually come across a ray of hope after the delaying tactic.


    This supposed end of his has become more subtly uncertain, like having a veil cast on it, from NE himself switching stances.


    He can¡¯t help but want to laugh at the absurdity of it all.


    He can feel wave after wave of a dizziness taking over his mind, his nerves, like a strengthening earthquake. It makes him feel as if his head is filled up with water, sloshing, sloshing¡­


    A long time later, X¨¹ Beijin thinks he has adapted to the sensation a little.


    He touches his forehead, and thinks his fingertips would come across a whole streak of cold sweat, but in actuality, there was nothing.


    Just like how his physical exhaustion is merely a trick on his mind, the mental pain and suffering, seems not to have been reflected on the body he is using in this game at all.


    It¡¯s all fake.


    X¨¹ Beijin quietly mumbles.


    Then he suddenly feels a rather deep sense of doubt. He always thought he could deal with it all, and he can stay by himself in this damned Tower forever. But now, he can¡¯t help but feel like backtracking. His confidence is wavering.


    Some kind of cold, authoritative consciousness from a higher plane of existence is telling him from on high, that he must.


    X¨¹ Beijin is wondering, though, that wouldn¡¯t he really go crazy? He¡¯s genuinely, humorously wondering, if he really wouldn¡¯t?


    If you ask him, he doesn¡¯t think he¡¯s really that¡­ stalwart in mind.


    Even if he did manage to resist sleep all these years.


    X¨¹ Beijin is not sure what he really thinks, now.


    He quiets down for a little, before mustering what attention he could to look at the Cell Nightmare that Lin Qin is in.


    Why Lin Qin? He wonders.


    Then he hastily gives himself an excuse ¨C because Lin Qin has such a powerful and inexplicable intuition that can understand what he thinks, right? That¡¯s what Lin Qin has always done.


    Though to be honest, right now, Lin Qin is possibly more frustrated than X¨¹ Beijin is.


    He is trapped in an amusement park.


    Amusement park¡ª¡ªWhen the madness spreads through humanity, ha, surely an amusement park would be near the top of the list of locations by danger. No doubt about it.


    Though in reality, the Missiontakers in the Tower only encounter Nightmares related to amusement parks very rarely.


    Fundamentally, it probably has to do with the fact that the Nightmares featuring amusement parks, have Collapsed a long time ago as the Nightmare owners have succumbed.


    The more difficult, or rather, the more nauseating a Nightmare is, the quicker it crumbles.


    Even in Nightmares in the higher floors, the Tower residents still cannot compare to X¨¹ Beijin in how resilient they are mentally and maintain their lucidity all these years.


    They might last a while, but they will also fail eventually and end up sleeping while both sane and insane.


    Then¡­ it¡¯s over. They are ensnared by their Nightmares. They know best how dangerous their Nightmares, and as the Nightmare owners, the most terrifying part of the Nightmares they are assigned to, would obviously first afflict the Nightmare owners with mental degradation.


    This means that Nightmare owners who end up seeing amusement parks are extremely unfortunate. They would be mentally ground without fail, and then¡­ there is nothing else.


    A mind may fail over time from continuous stress, but also possibly break from a momentary burst of pressure.


    In any case, right now, Lin Qin finds himself inside of a Nightmare whose owner may have gone insane in a single moment.


    It¡¯s a Nightmare about an amusement park.


    If you ask some people what¡¯s the scariest ride in an amusement park, a lot of people might answer the haunted house, or the rollercoaster ride, but if anything is equally as terrifying as its name would suggest it to be, it is likely the drop tower.


    Literally.


    This amusement park features one about a hundred metres tall ¨C the drop from the top is about equivalent to falling down from the thirty-something floors of a tall building.


    Of course, a normal, regulated amusement park, in consideration for guest safety, would clearly employ much more gradual and safe mechanisms for movement during the fall.


    But imagine this ¨C if the drop tower featured no deceleration or gradual acceleration, and simply went up and down at its topmost speed, and never stopped to let its guests off¡­ What would you feel?


    Well, it turns out Lin Qin doesn¡¯t feel much. He is even looking at the scenery in boredom.


    He isn¡¯t at all terrified of this ¡®trick.¡¯


    The sensation of weight loss and rapid changes in the forces applied to his body practically has no effect on his body and mind.


    At most, he just feels that it¡¯s quite blurry to see, but it doesn¡¯t affect him too much either.


    This is simply like a boring, silly and detestable physical test to him.


    The wind continues whirring past his ears, making him feel sleepy. He yawns quietly.


    Right now, the carousel is at the very top of the drop tower.


    Then it pauses momentarily, and then, slowly slides down, until it comes to a complete stop.


    Lin Qin tries to move the restraining bars of the carousel, but it doesn¡¯t budge. He¡¯s about to use his full force on it when someone approaches the stopped drop tower.


    The person has an elegant swallow tail coat on with brilliant blond hair, and he stops in front of Lin Qin.


    He says with a heightened and somewhat pretentious tone, ¡°I welcome you, mister¡­ to the Colosseum.¡±

 Volume 7 - CH 121.1

    School


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    The Colosseum¡­


    The word confuses Lin Qin a little.


    He had no knowledge of Earth, with his memories being blank.


    So the only thing he knows of human culture is from what snippets of conversations regarding it he can overhear, and from the books he¡¯s read in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore.


    So he doesn¡¯t realise at all the implied blood and glory behind the word.


    He merely asks, confused, ¡°I thought this was an amusement park?¡±


    The person almost seems to chuckle, and says with an indirectly prideful tone, ¡°mister, the amusement park is merely the surface. Amusement parks are where humans go to play; the Colosseum is where they go to become playthings for others.¡±


    Lin Qin tilts his head to parse the logic, and simply concludes, ¡°you¡¯re trying to confuse me.¡±


    The person looks at Lin Qin with a slightly less friendly look.


    This servant of the Colosseum sees serving it as an honour. In general, the ¡®beasts¡¯ who head to the Colosseum after being traumatised on the drop tower would be scarred and gasping for breath.


    They would have already been broken by it, so they would fight to their limits without holding back in the struggles to follow.


    They don¡¯t want to die, so if gore and slaughter is the only ticket to surviving, they would hold onto it for dear life.


    Unfortunately, they are never going to be let out of the Colosseum. The hope is merely the hopeful carrot on the stick.


    The Colosseum gets away with it too in the fine texts and in the subtle wording of the promises and clauses offered.


    When the people truly do become bereft of hope to escape and tries to resist, they can just say, ¡°you signed this yourself.¡±


    Resistance, means death.


    The Colosseum is one of the demented products of the madness spreading through humanity.


    Everyone knows about the pompous battle royale which was bussing people in by the truckload from all over the world, but very few know about the Colosseum. Even fewer want to talk about it at all.


    Therefore, the servant in front of Lin Qin is sure that this rude beast merely does not yet know of the awe of the Colosseum. He does not know what terrible fate awaits him.


    So his expression softens back up a little, and he smiles to say, ¡°I see you do not understand yet. Come, and you shall be enlightened.¡±


    Lin Qin nods nonchalantly.


    They walk past the different facilities of the amusement park until they arrive at the large open-air theatre. The place where the amusement park would arrange exaggerated shows for children, assuming they haven¡¯t gone mad, of course.


    Now that they are, what is put on show is quite markedly different.


    While approaching, Lin Qin can hear the cheering that threatens to rend the sky asunder, and is quite surprised to learn that amusement parks contained such an attraction.


    ¡°Oh! Our new contestant number three has arrived! And he¡¯s already challenged the ¡®Beast King¡¯ who¡¯s on a roll!


    Is he confident? Or simply foolhardy to treat Beast King with such disdain? Is he truly that powerful?!


    Oh goodness me, youngsters nowadays. And he¡¯s a first-timer too!


    Great, the fight is on! Contestant three is approaching Beast King without delay, fitting with his image so far. Beast King, meanwhile, is¡­ still zoning out!


    In his eyes, this is merely a bunny who does not know his place! That¡¯s right, that¡¯s our Beast King! The ultimate contestant!


    We see that the first round of skirmish is over in failure. Contestant three is trying a new approach. Oooh¡­


    No, my dear audience, I¡¯m not making that noise on purpose, but because I¡¯m simply too excited! Contestant three is choosing to strongarm his way forward!


    They¡¯ve exchanged blows and wounds! Contestant three¡¯s left arm looks to be at a weird angle, and Beast King¡­ His right leg is limping!


    Did the Beast King underestimate his opponent?! With his leg out of commission, that is definitely an ominous signal!


    Oh gracious! Contestant three is truly wild! It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve ever seen such cruelty, brutality and savagery on the grounds!


    Even the Beast King is forced back by the relentless attacks! Oh dear, his right leg is truly dragging him back!


    Are we going to see the first loss of the proud Beast King?! My word, this is truly a time to be alive!


    Oh, ok. This looks like, uh, a misstep from contestant three¡¯s inexperience? Well. Beast King is an experienced veteran. He must have seen through to the core of contestant three¡¯s attacks.


    Ouch. Well, that¡¯s it folks. It was anticlimactic, but the results tell us that contestant three¡¯s bravado isn¡¯t enough to overcome an experienced Beast King. Let us congratulate him on his a hundred and first victory in a role!


    As for contestant three, I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll come around to a deep realisation of his own powerlessness and Beast King¡¯s formidability, uh, assuming he survives.¡±


    Lin Qin is listening to the narration with interest, but the last words make him a little surprised.


    Then he walks into the amphitheatre.


    The wave of heat, the noise of people, the revolting stench of blood. Some kind of unusual passion is burning fervently throughout the venue. Countless people are cheering, because someone has died.


    Lin Qin glances at the person collapsed on the stage, and the other person standing next to him making proud, excitable poses, then looks away, bored.


    The servant next to him gently asks, ¡°are you interested in participating in this grand game?¡±


    Lin Qin looks at him, and tersely replies, ¡°no.¡±


    ¡°If you are interested¡­¡± The servant continues by reflex, before reacting and saying, ¡°huh? You¡¯re¡­ not interested?¡±


    Lin Qin, now looking expressionless, repeats himself, ¡°no.¡±


    If any other Missiontaker from the bottom floor is here, they would probably see that the Crownless King of the bottom floor of the Tower here, is already irritated. The signs leading to his berserk is quite easy to spot.


    Unfortunately, the servant is not at all aware of his reputation.


    After momentarily being stunned, the servant chuckles and says, ¡°oh, but unfortunately, you have already qualified. I¡¯m afraid¡­¡± He points to the stage, and says, ¡°that would be your home sweet home for the foreseeable future. Otherwise, you may never be able to leave the Colosseum.¡±


    Lin Qin heaves a weary sigh.


    The servant thought he¡¯s going to concede.


    Though Lin Qin then pops his knuckles and mumbles to himself, ¡°you see, I¡¯ve avoided resolving things with my damned fist for a while now, because Beijin doesn¡¯t like that.¡±


    The servant is bewildered. Beijin? Beijin who?


    Then Lin Qin continues, ¡°but Beijin¡­ isn¡¯t here,¡± then he shows a rather predatory smile at the servant, looking rather pissed off, ¡°so, I do apologise in advance.


    It¡¯s easier to just beat everything into submission.¡±


    In just ten minutes, Lin Qin¡¯s form moves through the amphitheatre almost in a flash. Wherever he went, people fall over like weeds that have lost the essence of life.


    Even the showy Beast King couldn¡¯t lift a finger as Lin Qin approached and sent him tumbling over with a kick.


    He didn¡¯t kill anyone. Everyone is just knocked out cold, perhaps ready to wake up after a while.


    But the mystifying level of control Lin Qin must have over his power to achieve this is once again, on full display.


    Then he returns to the servant, still expressionless, and says, ¡°I need to find a door.¡±


    The servant, shaking all over, says, ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll show you the way.¡±


    Lin Qin, satisfied, nods and smiles.


    He¡¯s solved the problem without Beijin finding out about it¡­ Ka-ching.


    Lin Qin then walks with confident strides behind the servant towards the backstage of the amphitheatre.

 Volume 7 - CH 121.2

    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Well, that marks the first time he¡¯s seeing the real little apple when he sheds the obedient form he has in front of him.


    He¡¯s both a little miffed and amused. It sure would be interesting if the viewers of the stream could see this. They¡¯ll probably be teasing Lin Qin¡¯s little acts of defiance, comparing it to, perhaps, a wife finding the hidden stash of cash when her husband is hiding it away¡­


    Though X¨¹ Beijin does approve of what Lin Qin¡¯s methods, as any soft negotiating tactics would be lost on such a madman. Employing force is the correct way out.


    On this occasion, X¨¹ Beijin is in tune with Lin Qin.


    Besides, a Colosseum like this would be far more receptive of Lin Qin¡¯s overwhelming physical power than other Cell Nightmares, perhaps.


    Lin Qin didn¡¯t even find the person who succumbed in this Cell Nightmare or understood what happened beneath everything. Instead, when he crossed the curtain dividing the backstage, a grey fog rolls out, and a door appears.


    So Lin Qin left the nightmarish carnage behind without delay¡­ Well, Nightmarish, perhaps.


    X¨¹ Beijin watches his movements quietly. Compared to the other Missiontakers, Lin Qin is certainly having an easy time around.


    He just follows his instincts or use his unreasonable force to resolve everything.


    While Lin Qin is domineering all around, X¨¹ Beijin is now pondering what Lin Qin¡¯s idiosyncrasies would imply.


    The closer he is to eventually meeting NE, the more X¨¹ Beijin finds a heavy, wet blanket smothering his mind.


    Why did NE change? Can they really leave the Tower? What about Lin Qin?


    X¨¹ Beijin is invariably depressed, quite possibly a lingering effect from his near loss of consciousness experience earlier.


    First, Mu Jiashi and Wu Jian, then, He Shuj¨¹n.


    X¨¹ Beijin has come to realise that NE seems to be manipulating things so that at least one person among the groups of Missiontakers that have met up would regain their consciousness.


    He Shuj¨¹n and Mystic are currently in a certain classroom of a school. Probably the classroom of some secondary six students, as it is full of slogans, banners, textbooks and most importantly, mountains of test papers.


    Well, perhaps the verb should be ¡®was,¡¯ given that most of the slogans have fallen off and the textbooks and test papers are buried under piles of dust all over.


    From a window left open, there is even a sneaky ivy peeking inside.


    This is a relic of the past, like a screenshot. While the scene in the shot remains frozen in time, outside, time continues marching forward.


    As soon as He Shuj¨¹n arrived, she seems to blank out entirely.


    Mystic looks at her, then looks around her, and seems to come to an understanding. Then she decides to stand there quietly and gently wait for her.


    After a long, long time, He Shuj¨¹n snaps out of it, and forces a smile, saying, ¡°sorry about that¡­ I remembered something from the past.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright¡­¡± replies Mystic, ¡°what¡¯s important is that we do not let the past become our prison. We can spend our whole lives making up for past regrets, but the present is the only time in our control.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n gives Mystic a deep glance.


    What does she know? She probably doesn¡¯t know anything. She is just speaking in riddles as she usually does.


    But, Mystic is so damned right this time.


    He Shuj¨¹n takes a deep breath, and lets her boiling emotions calm. Rather than being shocked as she regained herself, she is far more shaken by what this Cell Nightmare represents.


    She says, ¡°let¡¯s go. I know where the ¡®door¡¯ is in this scene.¡±


    Mystic follows, and hesitantly comments, ¡°you don¡¯t seem to want to move forward, though.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n goes ¡®tch¡¯ with a mocking smile. In this place, she can¡¯t even bother putting up her usual cheery demeanour.


    Her emotions are threatening to boil up once more, but she isn¡¯t even sure where they come from, or how.


    She knows she has been here. In a time long lost to the past. Yes, it is from a timeline that is beyond recovery ¨C it is from outside the Tower. From Earth.


    She says, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you a story,¡± she looks around and mutters, ¡°but damn¡­ NE, why do you have to put me back here?¡±


    After the complaint, she quiets down for a moment.


    They leave the classroom, and start descending the stairs.


    ¡°Where are we going?¡± Asks Mystic.


    He Shuj¨¹n thinks, and replies, ¡°the dormitory¡­¡±


    Mystic, curious, asks, ¡°the dormitory? When the classrooms are already¡­¡±


    Already abandoned?


    He Shuj¨¹n thinks about it, then asks Mystic, ¡°say, after the madness has spread throughout humanity, what do you think people¡¯s attitude towards the Gaokao will be?¡±


    Mystic answers, sounding unsure of herself, ¡°I have a daughter¡­ If I try to think as a mother, then I might be really paranoid about her Gaokao result?¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n realises that when Mystic is talking about her daughter, both her attitude and tone is unremarkably normal. Does this mean that Mystic is entirely sane right now?


    But the curiosity gets put aside soon enough, as He Shuj¨¹n answers, ¡°you¡¯re right. The madness leads to all kinds of extremes.¡±


    She says, ¡°not just to the kids, but even the parents themselves. Well, those that never cared continues not caring, but it is more common for people¡¯s concern over Gaokao to be amplified to maddening heights. Though honestly, the normal Gaokao is an exercise in madness already, if you ask me.¡±


    When she says that, she is recalling how, in the Nightmare with the Raining Hellfire, she once saw a cram school where the parents¡¯ blood is let out to be the ink of their children.


    Her expression turns to disgust from the thought.


    He Shuj¨¹n knows her parents are not like that. They are forgiving, gentle, and understanding. At least, when it came to exams¡­ But, the people around her, her fellow pupils, friends, relatives, they all have vastly different experiences.


    When Missiontakers see He Shuj¨¹n, they often end up overlooking her age.


    They just think that ¡®this is a young woman,¡¯ even if she¡¯s especially cheerful and jumpy, but no one would take her to be a teenage girl.


    There are no teenage girls in the Tower. Even children have been conditioned to become uncharacteristically mature and experienced by the Tower, so naturally, it¡¯s the same for He Shuj¨¹n.


    She looks to be just about 20 or so; if she dressed smartly, and put down her fa?ade of youthful optimism, people would naturally conclude that she¡¯s a normal office lady, and not some barely-legal 18-year-old adult.


    So no one could have suspected, that when He Shuj¨¹n entered the Tower, she was actually just 18.


    It¡¯s barely been months since Gaokao has ended for her¡­ She thinks. Since her memories about those times are really foggy, just like everything else.


    But she thinks she knows she must have entered the Tower post-Gaokao, because she has this impression of herself. She remembers herself to be a secondary school graduate.


    But how did she spend her last year of school? She remembers nothing.


    When other Missiontakers talk about the problems with their memories, He Shuj¨¹n would listen quietly, looking like she doesn¡¯t even care. Or she¡¯s happy-go-lucky enough that she wouldn¡¯t mind.


    But in fact, she is averse to mentioning her memories, because she doesn¡¯t want to talk about¡­ the Gaokao.


    Only she knows why.


    Because¡­ of this Nightmare. This Nightmare, in a sense, revealed to her why she subconsciously didn¡¯t want to remember anything either. A situation where ignorance is bliss;


    In this scene, they could perhaps see some even more terrifying, irrational things.


    And remember, a Nightmare is not quite simply a Nightmare.


    Everyone already knows the Apocalypse is real. Those that went into the Nightmare X¨¹ Beijin pointed them to, would even know that it was in two stages.


    So they can¡¯t help but wonder, if the things in the Nightmares, really happened in their surroundings, or even to them, then¡­?


    Of course, the sentiment isn¡¯t universal.


    Cue Exhibit A and B, A-One, A-Two, who are in this Nightmare with the mindset of enjoying a paid vacation.


    There are also some, that while the people speculate on the implications of the Apocalypse being real, would exchange meaningful glances to each other.


    They are the ones that have entered certain Nightmares, which were directly related to their forgotten past.


    They would take care not to mention or ask about what the Nightmares are about.


    But¡­ X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare is allowing them to experience the past, the exact scenes anew. They are revisiting.


    Revising Nightmares that have ended up in the trash heap outside the Tower; in a sense, it¡¯s almost as if their memories are also in the bin, where no one cares to look, useless and worthless.


    Thinking so, He Shuj¨¹n has a slightly weird expression on.

 Volume 7 - CH 121.3

    He Shuj¨¹n and Mystic are approaching their destination©¤©¤The dormitory. Along the way, Mystic asks, a little put off, ¡°isn¡¯t it¡­ too quiet?¡±


    Obviously, the school would contain students from other grades. Even if the secondary six students are cramming hard, why would the remaining students be completely silent?


    He Shuj¨¹n, though, merely gives Mystic a mysterious smile and says, ¡°that is because, this is just that. A school exclusively¡­ for secondary six students.¡±


    Mystic seems surprised, saying, ¡°all in one place?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. To nurture an atmosphere, I think?¡± He Shuj¨¹n shrugs and says, ¡°well, when the entire society has gone to the dogs, including the parents and teachers and students, do you think the Education Department would fare any better?¡±


    Mystic shakes her head and mutters, ¡°there is a mood. The society is uneasy.¡±


    ¡°Well, I might not call it ¡®uneasy.¡¯ I¡¯d just go and call it insane,¡± says He Shuj¨¹n.


    She doesn¡¯t think it¡¯s right to call it uneasy, but there¡¯s an argument to be made that, the madness may have simply amplified the strongest emotions around, whatever they are.


    They walk past the empty, abandoned classrooms, sports courts, and the canteen, the tuck shops, the medical centre¡­ There¡¯s not a single person anywhere.


    Mystic then asks the obvious question, ¡°if they¡¯ve assembled all the secondary six students here to study, then why would the classrooms be abandoned, with dust settled on the books inside and the students nowhere to be found?¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n says, ¡°we¡¯re about to find the students right now.¡±


    ¡°In the dormitories?¡± Mystic looks confused, muttering, ¡°not in the classrooms? They¡¯re¡­ studying in their dormitories?¡±


    ¡°To save time.¡±


    Mystic looks speechless.


    The heavy layer of dust means no student has set foot inside for a long time, months on end. They¡¯re currently on the crisp of summer, but even if they add the half a month of holiday from the Chinese New Year¡­


    The only explanation, is that since the second and last semester of the academic year began, the secondary six students have abandoned their classrooms altogether, to simply have lessons in their rooms?


    Mystic mutters, ¡°they¡¯re crazy.¡±


    ¡°They sure are,¡± He Shuj¨¹n replies, ¡°no one would do these if not completely insane.¡±


    Mystic seems hesitant to agree, but she nods in the end. He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s ¡®these¡¯ in her reply didn¡¯t only refer to studying in the dormitories. There is something deeper to it.


    What would it be?


    Mystic both wants to know, and thinks she shouldn¡¯t try to know.


    If something like this were to happen to her daughter, she would be devastated.


    But the madness spreading through humanity, seems to have already become some sort of¡­ principle. An excuse.


    Mystic thinks she can¡¯t possibly accept her daughter going through this right now, but it was all permitted because of the madness.


    Because of the unreasonable, inexplicable insanity.


    If a madmen does normal things, then they¡¯re not a madmen, are they?


    But¡­ it¡¯s still not right.


    Mystic tries to find her moral footing.


    Here, she can¡¯t help but realise that, when the madness spread through the Earth for real, humans have completely succumbed and adapted.


    They are now in front of the dormitories, silent.


    There are five buildings in the dormitory area. Two boy¡¯s, two girl¡¯s. The first floor of each student dormitory houses the teachers, and everything upstairs are the students¡¯ rooms.


    He Shuj¨¹n says, ¡°because they don¡¯t have many students here, they are able to arrange one room for each student. They¡¯ve also renovated the rooms and refurbished it to be comfortable.¡±


    Mystic nods, then asks, ¡°what about the last building?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s where the parents live.¡±


    Mystic is astonished, but then, these are students and people who don¡¯t even want to waste the time traveling from the dormitory to the classrooms. It seems downright normal to have the parents simply living with the students.¡±


    Then He Shuj¨¹n explains, ¡°each floor of the dormitory has an activity centre, which are now acting as the students¡¯ actual classrooms. When self-study periods come around, they return to their dormitories to study.


    Each room is fitted with surveillance cameras, and the teachers patrol the corridors nonstop and look inside rooms to make sure the students are properly studying.¡±


    Mystic then asks, as expected, ¡°then what if¡­ they¡¯re not studying?¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n almost reflexively shuts her mouth as she can feel something clogging her voice. The emotions are threatening to explode in her chest. It¡¯s agony.


    An agony she can¡¯t identify the source of.


    She knows what the scene looks like when they enter the dormitory, but she still can¡¯t remember what it was outside the Tower.


    Is it more tragic and depressing, to know, or not know, the truth?


    Right now, He Shuj¨¹n thinks, she wants to.


    Those who know wishes they don¡¯t;


    Those who don¡¯t wishes they do.


    Humans. Contradictory. Laughably farcical.


    With an almost elegiac mood overtaking her, He Shuj¨¹n says, ¡°you¡¯ll know when we enter.¡±

 Volume 7 - CH 122.1

    Beyond Salvation


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Mystic thinks, she should have known.


    Madness in schools meant to study;


    Those who do not, are punished.


    What they are seeing inside the public bathhouse, are two children, with their clothes on, as boiling hot water is poured onto their heads.


    Soon enough, their skin suffers deep burns. Blood and sweat mix together, and flow freely across the ground.


    Their clothes are inseparably stuck to their skin, until they get casually pulled and torn away.


    ¡°One of the physical punishments,¡± He Shuj¨¹n explains at Mystic¡¯s side, ¡°they are seen as not being passionate enough about studying, so they must fire up their passion more. Naturally, they chose a method that also happens to save time having to shower later.¡±


    ¡°And the parents have nothing to say about this?¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡± He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s tone is sinking, ¡°the parents undergo the same punishment as their children. When the children are studying, their parents supervise 24/7 by their side. So naturally, if their children are distracted, the parents are held equally responsible.¡±


    ¡°Their punishment takes place at night.¡±


    ¡°But then¡­¡± Mystic thinks and says, ¡°they¡¯ve put all the blame on the family? What happens to the teachers?¡±


    ¡°The teachers don¡¯t have as severe of a punishment, per se, because they have to be in charge of dozens of students, and the effort they put in can¡¯t be compared.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n explains with a conflicted tone that she¡¯s had since entering the dormitories, ¡°the teachers are judged by the results of the weekly tests. The students¡¯ performance seals their fate.¡±


    Hesitant, Mystic musters enough will to ask, ¡°what if the results were bad?¡±


    ¡°Then the teacher did not do their job well enough,¡± He Shuj¨¹n replies, ¡°a teacher whose class ranks last among the others would be publically punished, by a secret ballot of the students voting on a punishment.¡±


    Mystic shakes her head, and says, ¡°never mind. Let¡¯s drop the topic.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n tries to put a smile on.


    Then later, she turns around and tries to be cheery, asking, ¡°so are we ready to leave?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s do that¡­¡± Mystic gently replies, ¡°you don¡¯t like it here either, right?¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n then looks up, feeling her eyes blinded by the clean, white tiles lining the ceiling of the dormitories. It is so cold and mechanical. It¡¯s freezing.


    She says, ¡°I don¡¯t. Maybe my friends have once been through the ¡®heat punishment.¡¯¡±


    Mystic asks, ¡°these two kids. Should we save them?¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n remains silent for a long time, before saying with a gravelly tone, ¡°even¡­ even if we did, it wouldn¡¯t have helped; but, we still have to. Perhaps, we could succeed this time?¡±


    ¡°Succeed¡­¡± Mystic appears confused, though then she adds, ¡°yes. We will succeed. Everyone is counting on us.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n really can¡¯t tell if Mystic did or did not regain her sense of self.


    Curious, she wonders if this is the true purpose that Mystic was included in this operation. Her extraordinary, inexplicable senses are a form of shelter and support.


    At least, He Shuj¨¹n knows she is feeling much better with Mystic by her side and saying those things.


    She repeats what Mystic just said, ¡°yes, everyone is counting on us.¡±


    Mystic looks quietly at He Shuj¨¹n.


    After meeting back up with her daughter, the paranoia and anxiety in her demeanour seem to have faded a lot.


    They shut off the tap in the bathroom, even ending up all wet themselves in the process. They can¡¯t help the students further, though, other than to move them to the benches in the changing room and letting them lie down there.


    ¡°Would they die?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± He Shuj¨¹n says, shaking her head, ¡°but they¡¯ll be in considerable pain for a while. A doctor will come check on them soon enough.¡±


    Mystic is speechless. Then she looks at the two students, completely mute to their involvement at this point, and asks, ¡°why don¡¯t they run away?¡±


    ¡°Because the students actually share the sentiment,¡± He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s tone turns cold, ¡°they are equally crazed because of the madness. They¡¯ve become¡­ the personification of studying.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s terrifying¡­¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n looks at the students, whose faces are covered in blisters from the hot water. The scars might be from similar, earlier experiences; there are always those troublemaking kids at every class in a school.


    Finally, she says, ¡°let¡¯s go. We should leave this Nightmare now.¡±


    ¡°Nightmare?¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n realises she¡¯s let the term slip, but she decides against covering it up, and explains, ¡°scenes like these¡­ are called Nightmares.¡±


    She takes Mystic towards a certain bedroom, and says, ¡°Nightmares are what happened after humanity has gone mad, and¡­ after the world was destroyed in the Raining Hellfire.¡±


    Mystic listens, but it is hard to tell whether she understood anything. She also doesn¡¯t seem bothered to have missing memories, and she solely asks, ¡°but how are these Nightmares created? And¡­ able to be visited by us? This is truly curious indeed.¡±


    ¡°This is¡­ a game.¡±


    ¡°A game?¡± Mystic seems even more confused, ¡°but by games, you mean what we create and play for entertainment, right?¡±


    Entertainment¡­


    Yes. Obviously people play games to be entertained. Regardless of market developments, games that could bring simple joy to people would be popular.


    And ¡®Escape¡¯ is a game.


    Who, though, could extract entertainment from it?


    Obviously not humanity¡­ So, is it the one behind all this?


    Those people that put them into the Tower, are they watching people¡¯s ¡®dances¡¯ in the Tower like watching a theatrical performance?


    He Shuj¨¹n doesn¡¯t think it holds up, though, because if there really are people who can do that, then humans would be equivalent to naught but mere ants. Who¡¯d extract entertainment from ants, even?


    Children? Perverts?


    A laughable hypothetical. It was simply an idle thought of He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s.


    After all, they do not even know who the actual perpetrators are, or whether they even exists or are mere figments of their imagination. They do not know. They do not even know how or why all of humanity ended up in the game.


    So in the end, He Shuj¨¹n just says, ¡°I don¡¯t know the details either. Let¡¯s just say, it was like the Apocalypse.¡±


    The Raining Hellfire certainly does deserve to be described as the Apocalypse.


    Mystic still looks confused and surprised, but she doesn¡¯t ask anything else either, as they¡¯re already at the door to a certain dorm room.


    He Shuj¨¹n whispers to herself, ¡°she might not have wanted to study a lot, but she¡¯s by no means a bad kid. She just wants out from this school, and got labelled as one.


    Bad kids, end up receiving punishments for being a bad kid.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n takes a deep breath, and then says, ¡°inside, the child is the owner of this Nightmare.¡±


    Mystic looks around them, and sees that this is the room at the furthest corner of the corridor. It is the gloomiest, the darkest, the dampest room.


    She can feel the cold and the dark seeping into her at this female dorm room.


    She mumbles, ¡°this is a bad place to be.¡±


    ¡°Certainly¡­¡± He Shuj¨¹n is smiling, but it does not look like she is glad at all, and she says, ¡°it bodes only misfortune.¡±


    She pushes the door to the room open.

 Volume 7 - CH 122.2

    The door to the dorm room was not locked.


    Mystic can see a little girl, whose arms and legs are all tied to the sides of the bed. Her father is holding up the book for her to see.


    Something is forcing her eyelids open at all times. Her mother, with eye drops in her hands, standing at the side, gives her a drip with anxious hands every so often.


    Mystic can¡¯t help but shudder.


    While He Shuj¨¹n looks at the girl closely.


    This Nightmare owner, if you only went by this scene, is certainly pitiable. But if you really ended up in her Nightmare, and has to help her escape from the school, she will become a ¡®companion¡¯ in name only.


    She sells out whoever helps her in the blink of an eye. If Missiontakers are caught by the school, they will also end up bound and forced to read and study, until the punishment period is over.


    During this period, they are offered no food or water or even the right to use the bathroom. The period lasts for as long as a day or two.


    They will lose bowel control on the bed. They will feel the encroaching starvation and dehydration. If they struggled, the remaining time bound will be doubled, or until the teachers can confidently confirm that they are willing to study.


    And how to convince the teachers of that is also quite the subtle task.


    Some teachers still have some conscience, and you only needed pretty words to have them let you go;


    While some are utterly incommunicable.


    Also, if you struggled without end, then the punishment would be escalated to a physical degree.


    The school says that they do not want to employ violence either, but they would also say, that some students really would never listen to anything but force.


    It is how it is. Some students died; some parents died; some teachers end up horribly scarred thanks to the punishments.


    But no one would bat an eye. Everyone knows the Gaokao is important; well, it is, but the madness has only exaggerated the anxiety, and fundamentally twisted it.


    The students, parents and teachers, who spend their entire stay and tenure torturing each other, are practically living in a nightmarish hell. The same can be said for any unfortunate Missiontaker who took on this Nightmare.


    In fact, if the Missiontakers successfully helped the girl escape from the school, they receive a Bad End.


    If they remain oblivious of the school¡¯s treatment of the girl, becoming guilty by complicity, they receive a Normal End.


    He Shuj¨¹n isn¡¯t sure what the True End is; in fact, she suspects, this Nightmare might not even have a True End.


    Helping the girl escape the school, is simply running away from the problem, moving the girl from this ¡®prison¡¯ to another, bigger ¡®prison.¡¯ That is why they get a Bad End ¨C you¡¯ve done nothing to help her truly free herself.


    How are people supposed to even escape from the permeating madness?


    No one knows.


    A Nightmare without a solution.


    It¡¯s like when the Missiontakers discussed Nightmares they¡¯ve been to before entering X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare¡­ And, they mentioned Su Enya¡¯ Nightmare.


    Su Enya¡¯s Nightmare is the one about the furniture becoming sentient.


    How is that Nightmare to be resolved? How could a True End be achieved in that?


    Even if they take the Nightmare owner away from the apartment, again, it¡¯s moving from a smaller ¡®prison¡¯ to a bigger one.


    How are they supposed to resolve humanity¡¯s entire conundrum? Rather than just one person within?


    A true, unresolvable, predicament.


    He Shuj¨¹n gives the girl a deep, complicated look, before stepping through the dorm door, and watching the grey fog roll out.


    She reflexively sighs in relief.


    The fourth person to regain their sense of self, is Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹.


    He is somewhere both he and X¨¹ Beijin will be familiar with.


    The building on the verge of collapsing, with malfunctioning elevators.


    He almost immediately recalls what happened, and after the brief shock, he heads for the stairs with Ye Lan, who asks, curious, ¡°you know this place?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ nods.


    He wonders which door would be the one they need.


    Though, let¡¯s backtrack a little.


    Moving onto the ¡®door¡¯ immediately means his thoughts are distracted from something else.


    These Nightmares in the grey fog are not completely the same as the ones in the Tower. While the ¡®Nightmare owner¡¯ always exists conceptually, they are not always present.


    For example, in this building, the little girl is still in the Tower. So obviously, she can¡¯t be in here.


    This means that this scene is born courtesy of a succumbed Missiontaker who lost himself in this Nightmare in the Tower.


    Who would the Missiontaker be? From what they already know of the content in this Nightmare, he thinks there isn¡¯t anything to drive one completely mad.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ is wondering now. There are two types of scenes in the Nightmares of the grey fog. One, belonging to a succumbed Nightmare owner¡¯s Collapsed Nightmare; two, a partial Nightmare replicated here due to a Missiontaker succumbing only, so the Nightmare would not feature the complete roster.


    Of course, it¡¯s quite likely both Missiontakers and the Nightmare owner would succumb in quick succession, but it¡¯s not rare for them to happen independently.


    Though¡­ if a Nightmare owner succumbed after some previous Missiontakers have succumbed, would they end up in the same Nightmare in the grey fog?


    Or would each instance produce a brand new scene here?


    It seems both would be plausible, but considering the chronological implications of both¡­ Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ finds the latter more likely.


    That is, each new succumbing produces a new scene.


    But then, that would put the estimate for the total number of scenes here in the fog to a staggering number.


    Each succumbing reproduces, at least, a majority of a Nightmare here? The amount of useless, tied-up data must be astronomical.


    Rather than X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ thinks, it¡¯s more like it¡¯s NE¡¯s Nightmare.


    Yes. An artificial intelligence must find the grey fog to be a terribly space-hogging burden.


    Speaking of which, they¡¯ve been questioning X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s relationship to NE for a while now.


    If X¨¹ Beijin really is NE, that would lead to strange questions, like how X¨¹ Beijin clearly doesn¡¯t act like a robotic, monotonous AI should. Can AI even process emotions like love?


    Besides, X¨¹ Beijin didn¡¯t sleep for years so that people can¡¯t enter his Nightmare; if he really were NE, why would he be worried about that? He could just set it so that no one could use his bookstore¡¯s door or something.


    NE is omniscient in the Tower, after all.


    Entering X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare results in all of them ¡®faux-succumbing,¡¯ which is clearly a demonstration of NE¡¯s power ¨C powerful enough to affect their brains and will. It¡¯s difficult to imagine NE is trapped on the bottom floor in any sense, as X¨¹ Beijin apparently is.


    So basically, while X¨¹ Beijin seems like he would be NE, with much supporting evidence, there are just as much evidence to the contrary for now.


    When Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ listened to the discussion about the Nightmare with the Raining Hellfire, he noted the prominent contradictory nature of the Nightmare owner within.


    He can¡¯t help but draw a connection between Ke Zhu and Xie Ji¡¯s connection, and the condition between X¨¹ Beijin and NE.


    Though he can¡¯t exactly come up with an explanation for why X¨¹ Beijin and NE would have ended up in a dualistic situation in the first place.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ cannot understand.

 Volume 7 - CH 122.3

    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ isn¡¯t too worried about not knowing, though, as he isn¡¯t one of those conspiracists with an unparalleled imagination.


    Sometimes, even if you put the truth in front of him, he would refuse to accept for the cruelty of it.


    He¡¯s used to being quiet, silent, taciturn, and immersing himself in his own dry, desolate little world.


    Listening to Mu Jiashi, Ding Yi, Fei, Wu Jian and co. discuss the prospects of X¨¹ Beijin being NE was quite astonishing to him back then.


    NE is an AI, you know?! X¨¹ Beijin is a Tower resident. A human, isn¡¯t he?


    How could an equal sign be put between them?


    Even now, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ is more leaning on X¨¹ Beijin not being NE.


    On this point of thought, the nine Missiontakers would also have their own opinions.


    Of course, Lin Qin is excluded from the discussion. In fact, they¡¯re wary about Lin Qin learning about it.


    Speaking of, they¡¯re also a bit curious about Lin Qin and X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s relationship.


    Not that they¡¯d ask, again.


    So here, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ wonders if Lin Qin is performing well in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare. Would he be peerless?


    Looking at the Nightmare in front of him, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ imagines Lin Qin just tearing it apart through sheer force.


    Though Lin Qin can, they do not have his ability.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ sighs, and starts backtracking again to that question ¨C who would be the Missiontaker to have succumbed?


    The question is important because it relates to the door they¡¯re looking for. Would it be directly involved in the resolving of this Nightmare? Or simply be related to what the succumbed Missiontakers experienced themselves?


    Clearly, the answer to the question will point to different answers.


    The former, the truth of the Nightmare, means they just need to head downstairs.


    Given their discoveries of the stairs being out beyond the 9th floor, maybe if they took the elevator randomly until it went below the 9th floor, maybe the grey fog will come as soon as they step outside somewhere below the 9th floor.


    If it¡¯s what the Missiontakers have gone through, though, they must explore the building to uncover what the Missiontakers have experienced.


    In comparison, it¡¯s clearly a much more intensive task.


    Ye Lan sees Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ fall into thought after only a few steps down the stairs, so asks, ¡°what¡¯s wrong? Did you remember something new?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ knows Ye Lan hasn¡¯t recovered their memories from the Tower yet, so she doesn¡¯t know what¡¯s going on.


    He thinks about it, and tries to describe the current situation in simpler terms, ¡°do you think the door we want is related to the scene, or related to the people in the scene more?¡±


    Ye Lan, surprised, asks, ¡°is there even a difference?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ explains, ¡°if it¡¯s related to the building, then we should head somewhere below the 9th floor. Those people have modified this building into a real-life mystery game.


    If it¡¯s related to the people here, then we would have to look for someone¡­ who is clearly different from everyone else in personality. That¡¯s what I think.¡±


    Ye Lan thinks about it, and thinks she is getting it, asking, ¡°you mean, the people might be like us, and came here from outside, until they became trapped?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ says with an uncertain tone, ¡°basically, yes¡­ They may have been the cause for this whole scene. It¡¯s like, their appearance created a fork in a large stream, and now we are visiting this smaller stream of theirs.¡±


    ¡°Then we should look for them,¡± Ye Lan concludes, ¡°perhaps they can tell us more about¡­ this place.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, though, suspects they might have lost their sense of self entirely at this point.


    Though following what Ye Lan said wouldn¡¯t hurt either. Their exploration of this Nightmare was largely limited to areas above the 9th floor. They were largely in the dark when it came to the floors below.


    Even though what happened here was certainly sanity-defyingly disgusting, but Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ thinks the disgust itself is not enough to send someone¡¯s lucidity down the drain.


    Perhaps what was there below the 9th floor was what truly caused the Missiontaker to go mad, and send them and this scene out into the fog.


    After thinking a little, he says, ¡°let¡¯s go to the 16th floor first.¡±


    ¡°You think they¡¯re at the 16th floor?¡±


    ¡°Possibly¡­¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ explains, ¡°because that is the safezone in this building.¡±


    ¡°A safezone?¡± Ye Lan seems surprised, commenting, ¡°if there is a safezone in this building, then in contrast, the other areas¡­ are all dangerous?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ says, ¡°not necessarily. And with this being a fork of a stream, it may not be as turbulent as the main one itself. Though the stairs would still be the safest option.¡±


    ¡°The elevators are dangerous?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ answers, ¡°that¡¯s right¡­¡±


    Ye Lan shakes her head at the answer, feeling a little frightened.


    When Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ said they should head for the 16th floor, she involuntarily glanced right over at the elevators, not knowing about the possible dangers and risks at all.


    She follows Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ to the stairs, while saying, ¡°it sure takes advantage of our usual mode of thinking.¡±


    ¡°There is always danger lurking even in our everyday lives,¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ replies with a grumbly tone, ¡°where we are completely used to and relaxed.¡±


    Ye Lan nods to that.


    They walk downstairs in silence, until they arrive on the 16th floor. There wasn¡¯t any danger on the way, and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ couldn¡¯t see anything out of place on the small glass window of the emergency doors.


    Until, finally, they arrive on the 16th floor.


    In the Nightmare, this was the safezone, with many survivors huddling and looking for an opportunity to bust out of the building, even if they would ultimately fail.


    When Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Ye Lan arrive here, though, there is no one to be found.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ almost instantly looks over at the chair nearby, but does not see the man named X¨¹ Beijin seated there.


    It¡¯s empty.


    The two of them look at each other, not sure what to do next, when suddenly, some noise comes from the elevator lobby.


    They run over to see someone lying on the ground, pushing their head against the elevator doors, peeking inside.


    It¡¯s certainly a strange scene to see, so Ye Lan asks, confused, ¡°is he it?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go and ask.¡±


    They approach the person, who appears in his thirties or so. He is distinctly ragged, in the sense that he seems to have crawled here the entire way. His eyes are wide open, as if he is being heavily spooked.


    When Ye Lan and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ approached, he didn¡¯t notice at first, still staring right at the gap between the elevator doors; there is carpeting on the floor here, which makes their footsteps muffled.


    Finally, when they are nearly standing over him, the man notices the unannounced visitors and immediately yells out in terror. It seems his legs are not functioning properly, as he is desperately trying to trawl himself to safety with his arms.


    Ye Lan is knitting her brows at this pitiful and worrying display from the man.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ says, ¡°we don¡¯t mean you harm. We just want to ask some questions.¡±


    Then the person stops crawling, and looks at them suspiciously, before suddenly breaking into a strange chuckle.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ could be convinced he is a different person from just now


    The man says, ¡°you also came from outside? Oh, sucks to be you. It¡¯s over, it¡¯s over, hahaha¡­¡±


    He is laughing out loud at the top of his lungs, seemingly using all the life he has left in him, just to make sure Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Ye Lan can see how morbidly amused he is.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ asks, ¡°what do you mean?¡±


    ¡°You will never be able to leave here again,¡± the man says with a strangely hypnotic tone, ¡°forever, just like me. You will be stuck here forever.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ seems stunned for a moment before asking, ¡°forever? Why forever?¡±


    The man seems displeased, and explains, ¡°are you retarded? I mean, this place is beyond saving©¤©¤We are beyond saving©¤©¤¡± He chortles, and yells again, ¡°Beyond! Saving!¡±

 Volume 7 - CH 123.1

    A Meeting Of Five


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    X¨¹ Beijin immediately pays close attention to this man in the Cell Nightmare.


    His appearance suggests him to be an average¡­ middle-aged, man? Well, he is extremely dirty and ragged right now.


    Normally, though, he¡¯s the kind of person you would overlook in a crowd. He is also seemingly quite paranoid.


    Though what he just said and what he was doing earlier, seems to suggest he isn¡¯t completely insane.


    It seems he is only half mad. He knows he is somewhere special, and he can never leave.


    He probably tried many times over the years, but he failed, and ultimately, gave up.


    So he just observed everything in the building. If there¡¯s no one else on the 16th floor, perhaps there really aren¡¯t anyone else to be found in this scene anymore.


    He may have only ended up in this grey fog alongside the empty shell of the building.


    Just like other Missiontakers who have lost themselves entirely, he didn¡¯t enter through X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, which means he wouldn¡¯t be able to utilise the door in the fog, so all he can do, is wait for a slim sliver of hope unto eternity.


    He might have lost all hope already after all these years.


    His legs are already broken after all the endless walking. Now all he could do, is drag his wooden legs along and crawl in the building.


    His entire life is now just the building, and the city that burns outside.


    Nothing more.


    X¨¹ Beijin observes the man quietly as he works out the behaviour patterns and mindset of the man over the years.


    He probably succumbed entirely in the beginning, until chance had it and he regained some sanity along the way.


    But, given that it¡¯s inside the grey fog, would it be better for one to regain sanity or remain insane?


    X¨¹ Beijin has no answer.


    He is merely wondering, if the man can maintain such a strange state of existence in the grey fog, then why would he have succumbed in the first place?


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ seems to think the same, and asks directly.


    Not that he¡¯s that curious about the man¡¯s past, but maybe he¡¯s a bit sympathetic. Each one of them in the Tower is equally pitiable. And what they¡¯re doing, is trying to end it once and for all.


    The man immediately becomes wary, though, saying, ¡°why are you curious about that? Could it be¡­ that you can leave this place?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ is astonished at how sharp the man is.


    What kind of circumstances must it have been for such a person to have succumbed?


    Ye Lan calmly says, ¡°yes, we do,¡± then she adds after thinking a little, ¡°but it¡¯s unlikely to be applicable to you too.¡±


    Ye Lan still hasn¡¯t remembered X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, but when they left these strange scenes behind earlier, the other people present in the scenes never seemed to notice the door or the grey fog.


    So she thinks it¡¯s likely this person wouldn¡¯t be able to leave either.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ nods. He knows a little more than Ye Lan does, too, and says, ¡°we entered here through a special channel. So we¡­¡± Then, considering that he wants the man to speak up, he tells the truth, ¡°we are trying, to save people like you for good.¡±


    ¡°Save us for good?!¡± The man immediately asks, ¡°do you mean¡­ death?¡±


    ¡°Oh, no. We mean escape. Escaping the grey fog. Escaping the Tower.¡±


    Tower? Ye Lan glances over at Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s direction. The terms seems to carry a strange familiarity with it, but she doesn¡¯t know where it stems from.


    Though, it sure doesn¡¯t have positive connotations, by the sounds of it¡­


    Hearing Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s explanation seems to stun the man. Then, in front of Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Ye Lan, who have crouched down to talk, tears start streaking down the eyes of the man.


    He desperately asks, ¡°is it really possible?¡±


    ¡°We think so¡­¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ replies earnestly, ¡°we¡¯re working hard for that goal.¡±


    The man blanks out for a while, before suddenly smiling ominously and says, ¡°then there¡¯s no way I can let you leave.¡±


    Both Ye Lan and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ are shocked.


    The man yells, ¡°you¡¯re lying! You want to leave me staying here forever¡­ Liars! Never! I won¡¯t go down like this!¡±


    He is fuming at this point, ¡°go away! Leave! I¡¯ll tell you nothing!¡±


    The two Missiontakers are going to try persuade the obstinate man, but he is too agitated, so much so that he is coughing up blood from his throat, from his rough degradation of his vocal cords having yelled insanely for too long.


    And he refuses to communicate further, too. He just tells them to leave him alone.


    So finally, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Ye Lan leave him be so that he can calm down.


    They¡¯re both quiet and calm by nature, which means this is quite the difficult situation for them.


    Ye Lan says, ¡°he clearly doesn¡¯t buy anything we say,¡± then she analyses from a more practical angle, ¡°do you think we can find the door without involving him?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ thinks and says, ¡°we can try to check out the 9th floor. I suspect that, after being in this building all this time, he would have caused a fair amount of changes.¡±


    Ye Lan furrows her brows, then shakes her head and says, ¡°I suppose so. He needs time to calm down, too.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ nods.


    Then they take the stairs down to the 9th floor. As expected, it looks completely different from how it was back in the Nightmare.


    All the rubble that piled up at the bottom of the stairwell has been moved and rearranged into a pathway leading down, and is itself largely covered in bloody hand prints and foot prints.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ observes this pathway under the dim lighting for a bit, and then says, ¡°he probably did this.¡±


    Ye Lan asks, ¡°what do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Under where this staircase stopped is originally empty, collapsed, and down there was a pile of rubble reaching up to the 6th, 7th floors,¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ says, taking a deep breath, and then adds, ¡°but now, a new path has been built.¡±


    Ye Lan is clearly shocked, and murmurs, ¡°it looks like that man did spend a really long amount of time here.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ looks at the much less chaotic ¡®stairs¡¯ ahead, and speechlessly compares it to the rubble-filled stairwell from the last Nightmare. Going back up the stairs would have been impossible after jumping down to the rubble there.


    After a moment of silence, he says, ¡°let¡¯s move ahead carefully then. With the path here, I suppose the 9th floor and below wouldn¡¯t be the same as I knew it either¡­ We might find out something.¡±


    When he previously visited this Nightmare, none of the group of Missiontakers had ever visited a floor under the 9th one properly.


    Not that they knew about the true nature of the Apocalypse back then, either.


    Here, though, it seems they might be able to reevaluate what happened in this building with the new knowledge.


    The madness that occurred in this building, doesn¡¯t seem to be that far away from where the Raining Hellfire took place in the city.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ isn¡¯t sure which occurred first here, but they must have coexisted for a long time.


    That leads to the current scene ¨C with the building of mad people and a burning city outside.


    This means that, even after the Raining Hellfire, the people did not successfully escape the clutches of madness.


    After a whole year of the madness spreading, people have started to re-establish a semblance to normal society, even if the new ¡®order¡¯ is itself rather chaotic and messy.


    They might have gone on to become some sort of twisted civilisation if that continued, but after the Raining Hellfire, all simply became naught.


    An Apocalypse of both the physical and mental variety, brought human civilisation to its very knees.


    Meanwhile, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Ye Lan found a strange document on the 7th floor of the building.


    It is titled ¡®A Proposal for the Reconstruction of Civil Order,¡¯ and entirely handwritten with multiple distinct handwritings.


    It¡¯s probably the game company¡¯s employees who wrote this.


    The ones who, with their misguided, insane passion and focus, turned this whole building into a real-life game.


    And in this Proposal, they expanded this idea to the scale of the whole world, and believes that this is the way to restore order to society.


    If everything were a game, then it would be so much simpler.


    The game would assign everyone some initial default setting.


    They would be able to understand their mental state, health, past experiences, relationships, etc. in detail, as if they¡¯re playing some highly realistic life simulation game.


    Madness will simply become a label, or special debuff of their game character.


    Perhaps, for some rather na?ve children, they would even call having an ¡®Insanity¡¯ status effect as ¡®damned cool.¡¯


    They see it as a way to diminish the paranoid discrimination people have to the madness. Just like some scholars were suggesting, they¡¯d have to become used to living and coexisting with the madness.


    Humans still had, and still have, no idea where this madness came from and why it happened to Earth.


    They were powerless to stop its pandemic-level spread. All they can do, is live and let live.


    So this game company made this proposal as a way of implementing that principle.


    They¡¯ve largely skimmed on the actual entertainment value of the game, and instead, emphasises it as being a practical implementation of a way to rein in the madness. They love games, so they want to use games to achieve this.

 Volume 7 - CH 123.2

    When he reaches the end, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ finally understands. There are likely many similar proposals globally, under different names and principles, as a global effort for humanity to save itself from desperation.


    They are about to face societal collapse. So, if you have any ideas, say it.


    The last struggle, the last gamble, for everyone to fight against the madness.


    Did they succeed?


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, while worrying himself over it, flips over to the last piece of paper.


    This thick document of over a hundred pieces of paper was entirely handwritten with even detailed illustrations showcasing the game¡¯s design. It¡¯s an elegant, complete game design document.


    However, the last page, is entirely blank, save for a few words.


    ¡®They¡¯re here.¡¯


    It¡¯s messy, written hastily, like some kind of note. Of course, it¡¯s difficult to tell what the person was thinking when they were writing. Maybe it was just a simple graffiti?


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ falls into thought.


    What could this mean, though?


    Who are ¡®they¡¯? Why are they coming?


    What is the meaning behind this sentence? Were they excited? Calm? Relieved? Despaired?


    Why did they write this down? Who, exactly, came?


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ finds his thoughts turning to a pessimistic angle.


    Ye Lan also sees the sentence, then says, ¡°did that man write this? Or would there be someone else other than him here?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ blanks out for a moment and realises that Ye Lan believes the mad man on the 16th floor wrote it down.


    He didn¡¯t think of that possibility at all, as he thought the ¡®Proposal¡¯ was information related to Earth and the Apocalypse.


    Though it certainly is possible, that the man wrote that down?


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ gives it a thought and says, ¡°we can check the handwriting. See if any of them could have¡­ written the phrase.¡±


    Ye Lan doesn¡¯t seem really willing, but with that man already being repulsed by them as much as he is, they might as well try this more practical method of checking.


    Though it might not exactly help their current situation, it might at least help, their purpose for being here in the first place.


    They quietly flip through the thick document. Neither of them have ever compared handwriting, and so they¡¯re simply improvising.


    Finally, they do manage to find a piece of paper with similar handwriting from the pile.


    ¡°Is this it?¡± Ye Lan¡¯s eyes are widened, staring into the paper on which suggestions for game mechanics are written.


    She hands it over to Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, who furrows his brows and reads it carefully.


    He skimmed through this earlier without noticing, as it was a list with too many handwritings.


    It seems this game company had many divisions, and in the Proposal, the employees in different departments also suggested mechanics fitting their own style.


    For example, an employee, probably from the mobile department that makes gacha style games, suggested they could use gacha for the players to buy happiness¡­ Targeting the players who are more materialistic, maybe?


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ only read the first few in detail before giving up and just skimming. They¡¯re short on time, and he¡¯d also rather check out important details in the document itself rather than the minutiae.


    Now, the section Ye Lan is pointing out is in front of him, perhaps destined to be read in detail.


    It seems Ye Lan was able to identify it quickly because this person¡¯s handwriting is atrocious. It¡¯s like he¡¯s in a hurry and impatient.


    The last part of every character is connected to the beginning of the next one. It would almost look like a musical sheet.


    However, when Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ reads this in detail, cold sweat starts erupting all over him.


    This suggestion clearly comes from a detective-style game designer.


    Perhaps as a joke, he mentioned that, after the madness spread throughout society, it has caused huge disruption. During this time, both the death rate and criminal activity shot to unprecedented levels. As a side effect, the huge disaster also produced many enigmatic mysteries. Many people tumbled and fell to the depths of the abyss, forever mentally trapped in their loss and terror.


    The game designer probably loved the genre very much, and suggested a main mechanic based on people investigating these past events that would have been lost to time and obscurity forever.


    To investigate the truth, discover secrets, and reveal the sins.


    So that those who died innocent, those humans who would be driven mad by all those happening around them, could see the light of justice and hope, could find relief in this nightmare.


    This is probably what the game designer thought of, when his superior asked as they were gathering suggestions for the game mechanics.


    Nobody really cared how people died since the madness spread. Like, insanity makes people do insane stuff, right? People have become used to that.


    He might be one of the few who are interested in the underlying mysteries. Or maybe, he¡¯s just out of ideas. So he just came up with something in line with his usual line of work, while tying it in to their contemporary lives.


    But Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ swears his mind is going crazy just reading this game design.


    Ye Lan¡¯s confused questions seem to be so far, far away from his ears. He almost feels like a literal Zombie ¨C one that feels no stimuli from the outside world, and knows nothing of what they are doing. Always just shuffling their steps mindlessly.


    Yes, he feels a little like that again. Like he¡¯s out of this world, and is merely a little wisp of consciousness drifting through the air.


    He thinks he can hear something speaking to him ¨C a game design? A game design?! The building¡­ the Tower¡­


    Was this the design document for the Tower?!


    ¡°ARE YOU OK?!¡±


    Ye Lan¡¯s voice booms and drags Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ back to reality; his face looks as pale as the dead, and Ye Lan is certainly worried. She yells out at her companion loudly, hoping he would respond.


    A moment later, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ says, ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­¡± He exhales, long and hard, then repeats himself, ¡°I¡¯m fine. Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    Ye Lan looks at the section in the piece of paper again, confused about what¡¯s happening. She asks, ¡°is there something wrong with the handwriting?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ shakes his head.


    He wonders, is the Tower actually based on a human design? Were they really cast into the game by their fellow humans? But, has human technology even reached such a stage?


    And that still doesn¡¯t explain, what this game designer wrote in the end ¨C what do they mean ¡®they¡¯re here¡¯? Who are ¡®they¡¯?


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ doesn¡¯t understand.


    He can¡¯t help but wish that Fei, Wu Jian, or even Mu Jiashi were here. They would be able to hypothesise and brainstorm their way through it, but Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ isn¡¯t smart as they are.


    He¡¯s quite average, and remains generally constrained. He isn¡¯t used to letting his thoughts run free. In fact, he avoids it, almost by instinct.


    So he just closes his eyes a little. He finds his eyes and brain all too fixated on the contents of that section, creating a vivid memory.


    Then he says, ¡°let¡¯s just go. I suppose, we might even be able to leave the scene already.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t need that man anymore?¡± Ye Lan looks surprised, ¡°he might have calmed down, too.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ then glances over at the thick ¡®Proposal¡¯ again, then says, ¡°no, it¡¯s alright,¡± he calmly says, ¡°I believe we already have the entire truth here.¡±


    Ye Lan doesn¡¯t understand, but still nods.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ then repeats himself, quieter this time, ¡°yes, I¡¯m sure we do.¡±


    And when they step through the emergency door to this floor, the familiar grey fog and the door in the fog both appear in front of them.

 Volume 7 - CH 123.3

    While Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ was thinking about Fei and Wu Jian, the two in question just happened to run into each other.


    Fei and Mu Jiashi, arrives into the same Cell Nightmare with Wu Jian, A-One and A-Two.


    This is a Nightmare Fei and Wu Jian once went in together, so Fei is able to immediately regain her sense of self.


    The two look each other in the eye, and both understands this Nightmare is set here to guarantee their regaining their sense of self. Then they both look at Mu Jiashi, who nods nonchalantly at them.


    Fei reflexively sighs in relief.


    They managed to escape from the strange and maddened intercity bus; the driver drove them off the road into some unknown countryside, almost like he¡¯s going to kill them in secret.


    Though when the vehicle came to a stop, he just left the car, raving and yelling, before disappearing into the wilderness.


    Fei, completely flabbergasted, asked what was going on with the driver.


    Mu Jiashi answered that, possibly, the driver was just tired of his urban life and a repetitive line of work just moving between two cities forever.


    ¡°The madness¡­¡± Mu Jiashi said, ¡°made all the normal considerations that would stop him from just abandoning everything irrelevant.¡±


    Whatever the driver thought, Mu Jiashi and Fei left the scene without further trouble. Now, they¡¯ve regained their memories and have met up with other companions.


    Fei, still anxiously biting her lips, says, ¡°we did meet up here, but we still don¡¯t know how the other five are doing.¡±


    She pauses, then says, ¡°is NE trying to do something by gathering us up?¡±


    Mu Jiashi says, ¡°it would appear that NE is on our side given everything that¡¯s happened so far, but X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare¡­¡± he makes a smile, but it looks quite bitter, ¡°is quite a bit beyond the wildest imaginations I had.¡±


    Mu Jiashi never thought he would describe any Nightmare with those words.


    He¡¯s an accomplished Missiontaker. He might call and even think of himself as a loser, but that still doesn¡¯t erase all the success he¡¯s had in Nightmares.


    Yet, in actuality, if it were not for X¨¹ Beijin telling them what to do to prepare, and NE seemingly pulling strings to help them recover their senses, then clearly, they would all succumb to this Nightmare without question.


    In fact, right now, Mu Jiashi still hasn¡¯t the faintest idea how this Nightmare could be resolved.


    If it isn¡¯t ever resolved, then wouldn¡¯t X¨¹ Beijin also end up succumbing like them?


    They haven¡¯t even managed to spot the young man in this Nightmare at all. There isn¡¯t even a guarantee that he is in this Nightmare at all.


    The thought crosses his mind for a moment. Looking at Fei and Wu Jian, he has to say that regrouping with these two is quite the reassurance for him.


    Regardless, feeling like he¡¯s the only one that knows anything and everything is quite the burden to carry.


    Here, Mu Jiashi is also wondering if this is what X¨¹ Beijin has been thinking about all these years. No wonder he¡¯s always so unreadable and distant in demeanour all these years.


    All he¡¯s done is scratch the surface of what this Nightmare entails, and the ¡®landfill of the Tower¡¯ is already causing him immense suffering; X¨¹ Beijin, who¡¯s known what this grey fog outside the Tower was, all along; would he have felt nothing but absolute despair?


    Mu Jiashi then comes to a profound realisation.


    If it were him, he would also not want to enter this Nightmare at all, or open it up to the outside world.


    First, entering this Nightmare would guarantee Missiontakers succumbing without intervention from NE. It¡¯s like a bottomless abyss, swallowing each and every one that dared enter.


    Even if Mu Jiashi isn¡¯t a good person at heart, he will be averse to doing something meaningless like this.


    And on the other hand, without the Missiontakers help, would the Nightmare owner also be quite limited in what they can do?


    Through observation of the Tower residents so far, Mu Jiashi is quite sure the answer is affirmative.


    Because he¡¯s now aware that Nightmare owners can¡¯t ever resolve the Nightmares themselves. They must secretly hand clues over to Missiontakers to push along their progress.


    But X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare already makes Missiontakers nigh impossible to regain their sanity without NE¡¯s help, never mind solving it at all.


    Unless some literal personification of luck is able to land in a Nightmare they¡¯ve already been in to trigger the unexpected bug.


    Mu Jiashi would rather not talk of luck in Nightmares, though, and utility cards for that matter¡ª¡ª


    Though speaking of utility cards, all the ones they¡¯ve prepared for entering this Nightmare, are practically useless.


    Unless they run into some very specific scene which calls for some very specific utility card.


    And even if they do resolve this Nightmare after all, there¡¯s no guarantee it¡¯d get rid of the grey fog outside the Tower


    To be honest, this means this Nightmare can never be truly resolved. It will be a fake, disingenuous lie, unless they can somehow be rid of the Tower¡¯s bounds on them.


    No wonder, it is only after they have come to learn of more and more of the truth, and confirming NE¡¯s stance, that X¨¹ Beijin decided to open this Nightmare once and for all.


    In this Nightmare, without NE¡¯s help, it¡¯d be assisted suicide for both the Nightmare owner and the Missiontakers¡­ It¡¯d be meaningless deaths all around.


    But even if they did regain their sense of self, they¡¯re still practically bumbling around like flies without a purpose. It¡¯s quite frustrating.


    Fei also knows this, and wonders, ¡°what are we actually supposed to achieve in this Nightmare?¡±


    Meanwhile, A-One and A-Two are exclaiming about how the three people actually know each other.


    Mu Jiashi ignores the boisterous guys and tells Fei, ¡°perhaps we¡¯re waiting to come across a special scene; it would explain why we have to keep going through the doors.¡±


    ¡°But we are already meeting up with each other,¡± Wu Jian is worried, saying, ¡°then we¡¯re going to head into new scenes less and less frequently, no?¡±


    ¡°If NE really is on our side, then it will surely deliver the scene we need to us.¡±


    Fei chimes in and says, ¡°of course, that is under the condition that we keep moving forward.¡±


    Wu Jian mumbles, ¡°but if it could do that, why didn¡¯t it do so as early as it could?¡±


    ¡°Maybe this Nightmare has its own sets of rules?¡± Mu Jiashi proposes, ¡°even NE must abide by them.¡±


    ¡°What kind of rules?¡±


    Fei thinks and says, ¡°for example, some scenes can only be reached after some conditions are reached?¡±


    If X¨¹ Beijin is listening to Fei, he would surely be deeply moved.


    Since the bug he needs triggered did require some luck plus some preconditions to trigger.


    But he¡¯s not looking at the group of five that¡¯s gathered up here.


    Instead, he¡¯s looking at Lin Qin.

 Volume 7 - CH 124.1

    A Special Scene


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    After leaving the Colosseum, Lin Qin finds himself in a special scene.


    Right out of an amusement park, into a zoo.


    Although here, the ones put into the cages, are humans.


    Not that humans aren¡¯t a type of animals, though.


    Disinterested, Lin Qin casts his eyes away.


    If other Missiontakers were here, they¡¯d probably be scouring the depths of their imaginations to add details to their mind¡¯s ¡®Records of the Post-Apocalyptic Human Life,¡¯ but Lin Qin has no such tendencies.


    He only wants to find X¨¹ Beijin.


    Yes. He remembers everything, because he¡¯s been to this Nightmare once.


    So he has regained his sense of self, not that it made much of a difference to him, whose world was empty save for X¨¹ Beijin.


    When he regains his memories, he still only remembers X¨¹ Beijin.


    In fact, remembering himself in this scene was worse, too, considering; he finds himself slightly irked.


    Because he once went berserk in this Nightmare.


    Berserk, is what the other Missiontakers use to describe when he¡¯s gone mad.


    He is also acutely aware that he would act crazy, but ever since he¡¯s become closer to X¨¹ Beijin, he¡¯s never gone berserk again.


    However, many Missiontakers still clearly remember his crazed berserk form. Honestly, it looks like he¡¯s out to kill.


    His eyes are bloodshot, with a violent and unrepressed aura all about him.


    Almost subconsciously, he¡¯ll knock and pummel everything that can move until they stay in place; once, when he¡¯s back in control, he¡¯d found he had kicked a bicycle wheel broken because it was spinning.


    He was insane. He knows. Everyone knows.


    Not that Lin Qin did feel much; he doesn¡¯t think it was a good thing, but he also doesn¡¯t think it makes him a monster what everyone sees him as.


    Instead, he attributes losing control as some¡­ quirky, state, that he has to accept.


    He follows X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s orders, and no longer deals with things using violence. He knows X¨¹ Beijin downright dislikes his ¡®berserk¡¯ state, so Lin Qin does everything he can now to keep his temper in check.


    It has to be said that Lin Qin used to be called the ¡®Mad Dog¡¯ by the Missiontakers.


    This Nightmare was where he last went berserk, because he met X¨¹ Beijin soon afterwards, and they got closer together, and he has been controlling his temper well ever since.


    Why did he go berserk here?


    Lin Qin tries to recall, and then casts his gaze over at the cage in front of him.


    A woman and man are locked up within. The placard on the side shows that this is an enclosure where ¡®one can interact with the animals.¡¯


    Someone happily strolls in and takes the woman, then after hesitating a little, also takes the man along.


    There are many more similar areas in the zoo. For the crazed humans, these ¡®animals¡¯ are not part of their kind; they¡¯re just animals.


    The madness seems to have overwritten their senses somehow. So even if the ¡®animals¡¯ would scream out in pain and in desperation, and curse and chastise them, the people would still fail to ¡®understand.¡¯ It¡¯s like some artificial language barrier was erected.


    They don¡¯t understand, so whatever they end up doing isn¡¯t going to be reprehensible.


    Lin Qin starts moving, before the scene would dirty his eyes once more.


    There are also other enclosures in the zoo, and inside them are all humans. There isn¡¯t a single other species on display.


    Just humans, being assigned to various ¡®uses¡¯ and appearances, locked in different cages.


    They¡¯re arbitrarily ¡®demoted¡¯ to something lesser than humans, and so they can be treated, used and thrown away casually.


    If one asks how many people among the visitors are really insane, and how many are actually sane but acting out their depraved, unspeakable desires¡­ No one knows.


    Order was lost after the Apocalypse struck the world.


    It was once a hypocritical veil that protected them during times of peace.


    Yet, at times of chaos, the law falls silent. Even the spark of civilisation is almost extinguished.


    Lin Qin stops. He looks deeply annoyed.


    He doesn¡¯t understand¡­


    He doesn¡¯t know any of this. He just thinks the air, the atmosphere, everything is so deeply twisted and disgusting.


    He has no idea what human civilisation once looked like. He doesn¡¯t know how any of these people here behaved on Earth.


    He is just astonished¡ª¡ªHow can these nominally ¡®fellow humans¡¯ of his have acted like this? Are they even really his same kind?


    It may be because of what he¡¯s seen and heard in the Nightmares, that left an impression for Lin Qin, such that he never had any remotely positive feelings for them at first glance.


    Well, except X¨¹ Beijin.


    Thinking of X¨¹ Beijin makes Lin Qin calm down a lot.


    Door. He needs to find the door, leave this place behind, and find X¨¹ Beijin.


    What kind of door would there be in the zoo? Could it be the gate to the cages?


    Lin Qin glances over at a locked cage, then shakes his head.


    No. He doesn¡¯t want to go inside that door. His instincts refuse, believing the door to be elsewhere.


    So he thinks about it, and then, comes up with a very logical conclusion¡ª¡ª


    He should find the zoo¡¯s owner. They must know where the door he needs is.


    Lin Qin does not consider the possibility of this owner refusing to answer him at all.


    He then starts moving, and locates the closest map and reads its markings. Then, in just a few minutes, he arrives in front of a short building.


    This is the Visitor Centre of the zoo, and according to the map he saw, this is also where the office of the staff is.


    It¡¯s crowded, and everyone looks brilliantly, unrealistically happy, bright as the midday sun.


    Some children can be heard laughing, as usual. Even a zoo after the madness has spread is still, evidently, somewhere children enjoys.


    The parents, though, surprisingly, are equally joyous instead of being bored out of their minds.


    Here, there is a couple, holding the children¡¯s hands in each of their hands, and using their other, free, hand to play rock, paper, scissors.


    When Lin Qin walks past them, he can hear their conversation.


    ¡°I won!¡±


    ¡°You already went to the Interactive Enclosure last time¡­ damn.¡±


    ¡°When can we try the Game Enclosure? I heard it¡¯s lively there.¡±


    ¡°Meh, too many people there. The kid¡¯s still young, too.¡±


    ¡°I suppose.¡±


    The conversation drifts away to the wind, carrying other similar, or even more despicable conversation with it.


    Lin Qin stops listening, and ignores the people altogether. He thinks the madness and Raining Hellfire, even if there are lots of fuzzy details, at least live up to their names.


    There really is raining fire, and there really is madness.


    He walks into the Visitor Centre.


    The air conditioning is so cold that it feels more like an icy coffin. Many visitors are resting here, though, visibly exhausted.


    Some are sleeping on the seats with clothes unbuttoned and a sky-rending snore;


    Some are feeding their baby with formula.


    Lin Qin heads up to the second floor, towards the zoo owner¡¯s office at the end of the corridor.


    As this isn¡¯t that big of a zoo, there aren¡¯t many staff, and the owner¡¯s office is mixed in with the rest of the staff¡¯s, only distinguishing that it is the owner¡¯s by a simple sign.


    Lin Qin pushes the door and walks in.

 Volume 7 - CH 124.2

    The door to the zoo owner¡¯s office is not locked; the owner is currently on the phone.


    ¡°Oh, we need new animals, of course. We¡¯ll need fresh blood to keep the tourists interested if we want to stay in the business, no?


    I heard that some old fart in Cangcheng is in some standoff with the whole government department; I¡¯d rather not stoop to such silly means.


    I just need a few more ¡®animals¡¯ from you¡­ Yeah! You get it! You know what I mean.


    Ah, you¡¯ll be happy with the compensation, I guarantee that. Hey, if I¡¯m not as old as I am, I¡¯d even go hunting with you in the wilds. It¡¯s all good money; time waits for no one, a shame.


    Right, right. I know. Just keep that in mind, but you¡¯ll have to excuse me. I have a visitor.¡±


    The owner puts his phone away and stands up, showing a rather greasy smile, ¡°mister, how can I help you?¡±


    There is a rather calculative mind behind that business fa?ade, and the friendliness belies a judging and examining eye. If Lin Qin can¡¯t give him a reasonable answer, it appears he would immediately drop the pleasantries without blinking.


    Lin Qin, though, only knows that he doesn¡¯t like this owner at first glance.


    He says, ¡°I¡¯m here to look for a door.¡±


    ¡°A door?¡± The smile on the owner¡¯s face fades. Confused, he says, ¡°we don¡¯t make doors here.¡±


    ¡°Then what do you do here?¡±


    ¡°Run a zoo,¡± the owner appears completely confounded by this young man, and says, ¡°you don¡¯t even know what we do here? Why did you even come here?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m asking.¡±


    The owner¡¯s face turns completely sour and is going to chase Lin Qin away.


    Lin Qin, though, buries his fist on the ashtray on the desk. The glass shards fly all over, but Lin Qin¡¯s hand is entirely unhurt.


    The owner¡¯s eyes are widened in terror.


    Lin Qin says, expressionlessly, ¡°I¡¯m asking you with this. Do you understand now?¡±


    The owner¡¯s legs are shaking. He gulps, and tries to make an even more obsequious smile while dryly replying, ¡°right, right¡­ Um, mister, what do you want to ask?¡±


    ¡°I said, I¡¯m looking for a door.¡±


    God knows what door you¡¯re looking for! The owner wants to curse at Lin Qin.


    Lin Qin raises his brows, though, saying, ¡°you seem unhappy with something I said?¡±


    ¡°Nonono¡­ of course, not. I wouldn¡¯t dare¡­¡±


    The owner is fumbling over his words. Finally, he straightens his tongue out and explains, ¡°um, by a door, can you please be more specific? I do not know which one you might be talking about if you only say ¡®a door.¡¯¡±


    Thinking about it, Lin Qin asks, ¡°did you build this zoo?¡±


    The zoo owner doesn¡¯t understand how the logic has jumped over. He replies, ¡°well¡­ yes, but also no, not really. I took over more than a year ago.¡±


    Lin Qin listens without a word.


    The owner is bewildered and doesn¡¯t know what Lin Qin wants, so he keeps going, ¡°my brother-in-law, he was the owner before; he likes wild animals and his family is rich. So he opened one up.


    But there weren¡¯t enough visitors or business, and it was going to close down, when¡­ you know, humans went mad.


    My brother-in-law also¡­ looked a bit off. He seemed to treat humans as the targets for his hunt, while treating the animals as if they are humans.


    He just went insane¡­ He hunts humans out there, and then locks them up into the cages of the zoo.


    Since the zoo was without management anyway, I just took over and¡­ started to run it.¡±


    Lin Qin slowly nods.


    The zoo¡¯s ¡®business¡¯ is already insane, but the gathering of ¡®animals¡¯ behind it is even more so.


    How many people would there be that have returned to the wild and treated their fellow urbanites as enemy or prey?


    Probably, not just a few.


    Just now, the owner also said, that this hunting is a lucrative business.


    Even Lin Qin can¡¯t help but go, ¡®ah, just as he thought.¡¯


    After the idle thought passes, he turns around to leave.


    The owner seems shocked, ¡°you¡¯ve¡­ found your door?¡±


    Lin Qin isn¡¯t in the mood to answer; the moment he steps out of the wooden door to the office, the grey fog rolls out, and a door appears in front of him.


    He isn¡¯t looking for an actual, physical door, but the ¡®door¡¯ in the grey fog.


    He steps in.


    After a moment of discombobulation and darkness, Lin Qin opens his eyes, and after taking in his surroundings, he notices several people here. People who came to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare with him.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, Ye Lan, He Shuj¨¹n and Mystic are all here.


    They are now all looking at each other, nonplussed.


    Lin Qin merely gives them a glance, before looking back at the scene here.


    It¡¯s a Nightmare he¡¯s never been to.


    So he¡¯s lost interest immediately.


    Though Ye Lan, who seemingly blanked out for a short while, suddenly yells out, ¡°why here?!¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and He Shuj¨¹n, who¡¯ve both regained their sense of self, turn to ask, ¡°you¡¯ve been here?¡±


    Ye Lan nods after a moment of hesitation. She tries to smile, saying, ¡°yeah. I¡¯ve regained my memories, too.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n then says, ¡°it seems NE really is letting us come back to ourselves gradually.¡±


    ¡°Why, though?¡± Ye Lan mumbles, ¡°it could have just let us off the hook immediately when we entered the Nightmare. Why are there these rules still in place?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ gives his speculation, ¡°perhaps there is some rule of a higher authority that supersedes NE?¡±


    ¡°Possibly¡­¡± Ye Lan mutters, distracted in her thoughts.


    They go quiet for a moment.


    Then Ye Lan takes a deep breath and explains, ¡°this Nightmare¡­ was one I experienced on a higher floor. Specifically, this is the last Nightmare I went through before returning to the bottom floor with my companion.¡±


    Which implies that, it is this Nightmare that ultimately caused her to lose faith in looking for an exit upstairs, and return to the bottom floor for an arguably, equally unrealistic hope.


    What kind of Nightmare could have made Ye Lan give up like so?


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ looks up as he ponders he question, to check out the scenery around him more closely.


    Ye Lan then adds, with a quieter tone this time, ¡°we actually ended up with a Bad End here, too, and in fact¡­ I can¡¯t even say I understood the Nightmare.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ furrows his brows.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright¡­¡± He Shuj¨¹n then chimes in cheerily, shrugging and saying, ¡°time for a retry; we¡¯ll get it this time.¡±


    Ye Lan smiles.


    Obviously, He Shuj¨¹n had nothing to do with this Nightmare in the first place. She also knows that, because of the rumours, many Missiontakers on the higher floors chose to descend.


    Rather than being ashamed of her defeat here, she is, more accurately, concerned.


    Did this end up here because a Missiontaker succumbed? Or, because the owner, succumbed?


    If the latter¡­ It¡¯s not been that long since she went in. How did the owner succumb so suddenly?


    The former would not have been too difficult to imagine, by contrast. The bottom floor had many Missiontakers rushing up the floors, and some of them may not have prepared adequately for the mechanics of the Nightmares upstairs. They might have ended up ensnared.


    It¡¯s nothing surprising, but which also means, would this have caused there to be a massive influx of these tragic scenes in the grey fog? Did it affect X¨¹ Beijin? Or NE?


    Ye Lan finds herself worrying about the physical realities because of this scene being here.


    They should not dither around anymore.


    If they could simply explore these scenes indefinitely in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, then there shouldn¡¯t be any reason X¨¹ Beijin would refuse to let people in for so many years.


    As time goes on, Nightmares would crumble, without exception; even if X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare is special, could it have escaped this one ironclad rule?


    Ye Lan thinks she has an answer.


    She takes a deep breath again, and says, ¡°we¡¯ll have to move on as soon as possible.¡±


    The other Missiontakers agree.

 Volume 7 - CH 124.3

    Ye Lan is introducing this Nightmare to the others.


    This is a rather large setting for a Nightmare ¨C it is a mountain mansion next to a snow-capped peak. They¡¯re all currently on the first floor of this mansion.


    It appears this is the property of a rich person, who rents it out to visiting tourists as a lodge for when they are not using it.


    ¡°Have you ever read any of those detective noir novels, where some people travel to some isolated location, and then each of them ends up dead but the killer remains at large?¡±


    Ye Lan says with a flat tone, ¡°this is the story that began this Nightmare.¡±


    Before she even finished speaking, on the second floor of this snowed-in, sleepy mansion, a scream from a woman erupts.


    He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s breathing stops for a moment, shocked, and looks up.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, though, notes the peculiar use of the word, ¡°¡¯began¡¯ this Nightmare?¡±


    Ye Lan explains quietly, ¡°this takes place after the madness has spread, after all.¡±


    So nothing is as it appears. Got it.


    The story goes thus ¨C a couple that is about to engage decided to go on a skiing tour and also test the waters of their married life.


    There are eight people in this tour, plus the tour guide, leader, drivers, translator and cook, a total of fifteen people are on this trip. They moved into this mansion on a snowy afternoon.


    During this first day, they unpacked and rested;


    Though this is also the night, when the groom was tragically murdered.


    His girlfriend hadn¡¯t had much of an appetite, and hadn¡¯t eaten much for dinner; she, therefore, had headed to the dining room on the first floor to get a little something for the night.


    When she was done, she returned to the room to find it locked from within; knowing her boyfriend was inside, she didn¡¯t bring the key in the first place.


    She asked the tour lead for help, and opened the door, revealing her boyfriend¡¯s corpse inside.


    This is also where the scream came from.


    Yet it is only the harbinger of what¡¯s coming.


    The snow is already a blizzard, blocking off the path to the skiing range and the road back to the city;


    They will realise that their coach¡¯s engine is too cold to start up. Food is still plenty, but the electricity ends up cut off. The mansion turns cold in the blink of an eye.


    During this time, the murders continue to take place.


    Who is the killer, though?


    He Shuj¨¹n isn¡¯t a fan of this kind of setting. Her voice is a little shaky as she asks, ¡°so what was really going on here? Are they fans of detective novels so they¡¯re recreating some serial murder case here? Or are they trying to mimic some detective novel?¡±


    ¡°We suspected that, because all the clich¨¦s of such a case were here,¡± Ye Lan says, ¡°but we couldn¡¯t find any proof pointing to that. Incidentally¡­ the Missiontakers who enter this Nightmare, do so as stranded tourists who were lost in the blizzard outside on the mountain.


    In other words, we are on a fundamentally different side to the tour group in the mansion originally. And the setting seems to dictate that, we the tourists also have conflicts and squabbles. At the same time¡­ a murder is also taking place among us.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n reflexively blurts out, ¡°so this Nightmare is one where NE plants roles in Missiontakers?!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­¡± Ye Lan replies, with a face as chilly as ice, ¡°simply put, we also had to immerse in assigned roles here©¤©¤NE would force us to do so, and force us to kill each other.¡±


    The only Missiontaker present who hasn¡¯t been to the higher floors, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹©¤©¤Discounting the bored Lin Qin, of course©¤©¤looks around, confused.


    He Shuj¨¹n explains to him, ¡°on higher floors, some Nightmares are much more repulsive to go through compared to the bottom floor. Missiontakers are put into different factions, and usually forced to work against each other.


    Sometimes, it goes as far as changing or even wiping our memories to do so.


    Of course, it¡¯s never as severe as wiping everything from our memories like this Nightmare did, but Missiontakers instead receive a new ¡®character sheet,¡¯ so to speak, and memories in the Nightmares, and they are always¡­ subconsciously, acting them out, as if they are hypnotised.


    It is only when we leave the Nightmare that the influence ends. It is not a common occurrence, but it¡¯s revolting every single time.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n shrugs as she says the last sentence. Clearly, she¡¯s also been disgusted by such Nightmares.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ understands now. He was confused hearing these unfamiliar mechanics Ye Lan mentioned. So these Nightmares operate differently to Nightmares of the bottom floor.


    The difficulty would be much higher, by the sounds of it.


    After being impressed a little, he puts his attention elsewhere, asking, ¡°if so, then would we be affected here ourselves? I don¡¯t think I feel any subtle influence here.¡±


    Ye Lan shakes her head, and says after thinking a little, ¡°possibly, it¡¯s because this scene is born from a succumbed Missiontaker? Like what we met before.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n looks confused, so this time, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ explains it.


    In the meantime, Mystic looks around, and starts spouting riddles again, ¡°I can smell it. It is the scent of death.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ gives her a glance, then falls into thought. Finally, he says, ¡°we should go to the second floor first, regardless. If they live on the second and third floors, there might be more clues to be found, too.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n makes a pouty face while complaining, ¡°so how are we supposed to find the door in this scene¡­¡±


    Though that is when Lin Qin, who hasn¡¯t been in the conversation at all, suddenly interrupts to say, ¡°we just need to ask everyone in here once, no?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ feels a little honoured Lin Qin is suddenly appearing to help. He¡¯s going to say that the people might not be willing to answer, when he remembers Lin Qin¡¯s fighting power, and stops himself doing so.


    Lin Qin adds, matter-of-factly, ¡°it¡¯ll be the quickest way.¡±


    He pops his knuckles as he says it.


    The rest of the Missiontakers all wisely keep their mouths shut.


    Lin Qin nods, satisfied, and heads upstairs. A few minutes later, all the people in the mansion are gathered up in the great hall of the first floor. They are all visibly perplexed but none dare make a move, in fear of Lin Qin¡¯s violent iron fist ended up pummelling into their heads.


    Even if the scene just loops, no one wants to end up dying for nothing. Even insane people would have life preservation instincts; those who seek death deliberately excluded, of course.


    Lin Qin seems more and more accustomed to resolving these scenes with straightforward and rough means, as if some nature of his has been restored.


    When he¡¯s back by X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s side, one can expect him to go back to being the good little apple, but he isn¡¯t yet, so Lin Qin would appear to be moving back towards his usual Mad Dog demeanour.


    Of course, that is good news for any Missiontakers present.


    Hopefully Lin Qin will keep going like this, and free them from this scene early.

 Volume 7 - CH 124.4

    After Lin Qin has shoved everyone down to the hall, he indicates for the other Missiontakers to gather information, while he starts blanking out.


    He Shuj¨¹n looks around. Lin Qin is daydreaming. Ye Lan looks cold as ice. Mystic is mumbling something again. So she speaks up, ¡°now, who killed the victim?¡±


    The rather restless bunch of people go dead silent.


    When Lin Qin was on the second floor, the other Missiontakers followed, and saw first-hand how these people argued in fear and accused each other. The sudden murder seemed to have made them lose their minds.


    They saw the murdered groom, too. He was young, athletic, muscular, and lied flat on the ground in front of the bed on his back. A knife went through his chest.


    According to Ye Lan, the kitchen knife belongs to the kitchen; the chef would that he¡¯s never seen this knife since arriving at the mansion in the afternoon.


    This is information Ye Lan already got from exploring the Nightmare in the past.


    The Missiontakers would have had a harder time investigating if not for Ye Lan¡¯s valuable information, and for Lin Qin¡¯s presence.


    He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s question cuts to the chase so directly that the people seemed taken aback for a while. Finally, after a while, someone speaks up.


    Ye Lan also pays close attention. She¡¯s also curious who the real murderer is in this case.


    A woman says, ¡°I killed a-Hao.¡±


    The victim¡¯s name was Zhang Quanhao; this woman, though, wasn¡¯t his girlfriend, even if she¡¯s referring to him with an affectionate prefix.


    He Shuj¨¹n is looking at her weirdly. Is there some relationship drama going on?


    Suddenly, another thinner and meeker, and also rather tired-looking woman who looks like she just bawled her eyes out, raises her head to glare at the first woman who spoke.


    Ye Lan furrows her brows. She tells He Shuj¨¹n, ¡°you won¡¯t find any answers this way. We also ended up with these two suspects when Zhang Quanhao was murdered.


    The woman that spoke just now was Zhang Quanhao¡¯s ex. She was unhappy Zhang Quanhao was marrying Ning Xi, and so tagged along on this trip.


    Zhang Quanhao only realised this at the airport, and apparently he admonished her advances. Her love possibly turned to hate.


    She immediately admits to having killed Zhang Quanhao when asked.


    I don¡¯t think she¡¯s the real murderer, because more murders would happen, but she would have a perfect alibi then and no motive.¡±


    The people of the tour group sans Zhang Quanhao all turn pale when they hear Ye Lan nonchalantly commenting that more murders would take place. Not that anyone is paying attention to them for now.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ then asks, ¡°what about the other suspect then? Is she Ning Xi?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Zhang Quanhao¡¯s fianc¨¦e-to-be,¡± Ye Lan glances over at her, and says, ¡°she¡¯d claim she knows nothing of Zhang Quanhao¡¯s lingering relationship with his ex, but she clearly behaves with open hostility towards her.


    Also, Ning Xi enjoys detective novels, and joins a lot of escape room and similar escapades. In fact, she met Zhang Quanhao on one such occasion when a mutual friend introduced them.¡±


    Ye Lan¡¯s information contained a lot of clues for the Missiontakers.


    Then He Shuj¨¹n asks for follow-up, ¡°so do the people who die later have any relationship with Ning Xi?¡±


    Ye Lan explains, ¡°we couldn¡¯t dig up much on that front, but we did conclude that Ning Xi had something going on with all the rest of the people in the tour group.¡±


    They all then look at the woman sitting on the ground haggardly with bloodshot eyes. She seems devastated her boyfriend died.


    Would such a lovestruck girlfriend really have killed her beloved?


    As for the ¡®alibi¡¯ Ning Xi has for Zhang Quanhao¡¯s death, it isn¡¯t watertight.


    Whether Ning Xi had the room¡¯s key with her, and whether the door was locked by her or whoever else, are all questions whose answers only she knows.


    It¡¯s possible she finished her snacks downstairs, then killed Zhang Quanhao, and used some trick to lock the door, before calling the tour¡¯s leader here.


    A murder in a locked room is one of the most abused tropes of the genre both in literary form and on screen.


    The Missiontakers¡¯ goal right now, is only to figure out the motives and truth.


    However, their seeming ignorance of possible methods Ning Xi could have used appears to anger her.


    She yells out, ¡°that¡¯s right! I killed the damned dog of a man! And I¡¯m going to kill all the people who wronged me!¡±


    Her sharp yells reverberate through the cold mansion.


    She suddenly starts chuckling and asks, ¡°are you not curious how Zhang Quanhao died?¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n tells her without delay, ¡°not really¡­¡±


    Ning Xi seems to choke on her words, glaring at these outsiders angrily.


    Meanwhile, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ knits his brows a little and asks Ye Lan, ¡°so who¡¯s the Nightmare¡¯s owner? With all the people in the Nightmare present, it must be the owner who¡¯s succumbed rather than the Missiontaker, right?¡±


    Ye Lan nods, but then shakes her head, ¡°sorry, but we didn¡¯t figure out who the owner was.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ falls into thought a little. He isn¡¯t too surprised.


    Clearly, any victim who might have to face death, and even Ning Xi herself, could have been the Nightmare¡¯s owner.


    Not to mention this has to be those kinds of Nightmare where plot-triggered deaths don¡¯t cause restarts, and only a full wipeout of everyone would start the next run.


    It would mean that even Zhang Quanhao can possibly be the Nightmare owner.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ still can¡¯t help but feel a little tired, even though uncertainty over Nightmare owners is already a staple for him at this point.


    He Shuj¨¹n is still asking questions, meanwhile, ¡°so what kind of wrongs did you suffer at the hands of them?¡±


    Ning Xi appears happy she is asked, and starts declaring with this confident look, ¡°a very good question. I¡¯ll tell you one by one. Then you¡¯ll realise that all of these people deserve to die.


    That old man there was my junior high school homeroom teacher. He¡¯s retired now, but I¡¯ll never forget how he punished me and my friend physically for failing our maths test.


    The two aunties there are coworkers of my future mother-in-law. A-Hao and I were all fine and well together, but they chimed in and said how girls¡¯ dowry should have a house.


    When it comes to Zhang Quanhao¡¯s ex, Ning Xi¡¯s tone turns much sharper. Clearly, this is the person she hates and despises the most of the bunch.


    He Shuj¨¹n is already looking at Ning Xi really weirdly at this point.


    The woman is laughing all happily, and says, ¡°what do you think? Gathering all my enemies together and killing them all. It was such a pain to arrange¡­¡±


    ¡°But what about the people from the tour agency?¡±


    Ning Xi says, ¡°the last time a-Hao and I went on a trip, this agency had such a shitty attitude. They didn¡¯t make up for the delayed flight in any way, so this time I chose them again. Too bad I couldn¡¯t get them to give us the tour leader and guide from last time¡­ But I¡¯ll get ¡®em next time.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n is speechless.


    This woman¡­ is this what she truly thought? Or perhaps is it simply another product of the madness, having amplified the part of her that held an inordinate amount of grudges?


    Maybe she really was this kind of person, too.


    He Shuj¨¹n can never understand the thought process of someone like her anyway.


    It¡¯s like her mind doesn¡¯t know of any suitable comeback except killing people.

 Volume 7 - CH 124.5

    He Shuj¨¹n shakes her head in her mind while thinking about what Ning Xi said carefully. Then she asks her two companions, ¡°do you think that was enough information?¡±


    They¡¯ve already figured out that Ning Xi is the one behind everything, and how this tour to hell came to be. If so, should they be looking for the door next?


    He Shuj¨¹n looks over at the door to the mansion. They should be able to leave via the door if they already know everything.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ voices his concerns, though, hesitantly suggesting, ¡°I feel that it was¡­ far too simple?¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n thinks about it in detail, and says, ¡°you mean, this Nightmare, didn¡¯t have some clear¡­ influence of the Apocalypse?¡±


    ¡°While you can say that Ning Xi was ¡®insane¡¯ for doing this, but it¡¯s not unheard of for someone to do this out of pure malicious paranoia.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ explains, ¡°there are sometimes those murder cases in real life that are just plain bizarre. Some people¡¯s minds have nothing but grudges held within.


    Purely from the information we¡¯ve acquired, it could even be argued¡­ this place isn¡¯t affected by the madness at all.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n nods along, and says, ¡°I see! The atmosphere is certainly too normal.¡±


    But she can¡¯t think of anything that is really out of place. If she had to point something out¡­ she suggests with a doubtful voice, ¡°it seemed suspicious Ning Xi gathered all the people she held a grudge towards without any trouble.¡±


    How did Ning Xi even pull off arranging only her enemies into the tour?


    However much she schemes, it¡¯s ultimately up to the tour agency who determines the makeup of people coming along for the tour. Ning Xi herself said she didn¡¯t have a good experience with the tour agency last time, too, and picked it again to take revenge.


    And from the description of the people present, there are also people who knew Ning Xi from a long time ago, or plain didn¡¯t know her at all.


    Why would they be willing to tag along for the ride?


    For example, that high school graduate. Would his parents really have just let him go to this remote and isolated location after his Gaokao for a trip alone without insisting on coming along?


    And even more so for that retired elderly teacher. Going on a skiing holiday? Can his body even handle it?


    Thinking about it this way, He Shuj¨¹n realises that there is this deep, unsettling wrongness underlying the whole thing.


    This is not a novel, after all, but something that apparently took place in reality.


    Another suspicious point is how Ning Xi, this thin and powerless-looking woman, actually managed to kill her boyfriend. Zhang Quanhao is physically imposing, but there wasn¡¯t even the slightest sign of struggle in the room.


    Zhang Quanhao gave up on fighting entirely? For love? Even when faced with mortal peril?


    It sounds almost delusional.


    He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s questions also allow Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Ye Lan to come to the same conclusions.


    Mystic is staring at Ning Xi in the meantime, and also at the others in the tour group. She mutters, ¡°they are one¡­ they do not resist their fates¡­ They are slaves to their fate, and welcome their deaths¡­¡±


    Her words both shock and cause an epiphany in the Missiontakers.


    Ye Lan immediately focuses on the rest of the people in the tour group, and sees that they are far too calm considering they just heard Ning Xi¡¯s confession.


    Impossible! They definitely heard her, and even if they know Ning Xi wanted them dead, their reaction is far too mundane! This makes no sense.


    They were all going pale and panicking when the Missiontakers mentioned more deaths taking place in the future. Why do they look so unaffected right now?


    Missiontakers ignore Tower residents when they do their analysis. This is what they do in this and other Nightmares.


    Having treated Tower residents as NPCs for so long, it¡¯s almost by habit that they fell to the trope of thinking the NPCs wouldn¡¯t pay attention to their words.


    But in fact, Tower residents, of course, have their own opinions and perspectives as assigned by their scripts. It is just that they mostly only listen quietly.


    Here, though, the clear conflict is that, hearing the Missiontakers tell them they will die, made them panic, but the imminent death threat from Ning Xi elicited no reaction.


    Here, upon seeing the confusion of these unexpected visitors, Ning Xi starts giggling.


    She asks, ¡°now, are you more interested in hearing how Zhang Quanhao died?¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n decides to play along, asking, ¡°how? What did you do to be able to kill him?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because, a-Hao simply committed suicide!¡± Ning Xi starts cackling manically, adding, ¡°he agreed, he will sacrifice his life for our grand performance!¡±


    The others start nodding along, and says, ¡°yeah¡­ we all, all of us, agreed.¡±

 Volume 7 - CH 125.1

    Ning Xi loves detective novels.


    And since she was young, she was aware that she is quite unwilling to forgive and rather extreme.


    She didn¡¯t worry because of that, though. Instead, she would hide these sides of her, like some kind of instinct to make herself fit in.


    Though she would indulge herself in detective noir style productions, from literary works to shows and movies.


    Others see themselves in the shoes of the detective; she sees herself in the perpetrators.


    She would look at these novels from on high, casting judgement on how well the murderers did.


    She is happy inside, thinking she has the capability to put all the countless methods of murder into practice if she so wanted.


    But she is also all too lucidly aware, that they are only artistic depictions and productions.


    She can never try them out in real life. Novels and such contrive lots of specific conditions and scenes to allow the methods to succeed.


    In reality, coincidence and luck would have stopped these methods dead in their tracks. They are fictional.


    Like so, Ning Xi grew up, and spent her days like that.


    She immersed herself in all those bloody cases. After novels, came true crime documentaries.


    After learning about all the real-life murders, she started running after the activities in real life, tours, trips, pretend-cases, playing Mafia, etc. It makes her feel like she is truly involved in the cases; she decides who lives and who dies.


    Every time she participates in them, she would be visibly excited.


    But going back and forth between dull reality and exciting make-believe has made her desirous. Desirous of all these to no longer be confined to screens, limited to games, but reality.


    Then, the madness happened.


    Suddenly, the mad bloodlust engulfed her blood and soul. There are no longer fictional stories and classic murders gathering dust in history books, but simply¡­ the new normal.


    She desperately wanted to become¡­ yes. The kind of protagonist in detective novels, the character of ¡®I¡¯ is the person behind everything. She wants to enact this trick.


    Ning Xi thinks she must have gone mad, but she feels like, this is who she should be. It¡¯s perfect. She likes this.


    So she actually started to prepare.


    It was absurdly difficult in the beginning. She had no candidates; she is too painfully aware of how weak she is. She can¡¯t actually kill someone¡­ unless the other person is cooperating.


    Meanwhile, she acts normal on the surface. She dated, prepared for a trip, prepared to be proposed to by her to-be-fianc¨¦.


    That is when she came to learn that Zhang Quanhao actually had an ex who still couldn¡¯t leave him alone.


    Some kind of murderous lust overcame her. Her sharp anger and need for murder made her have ¡®the big one¡¯ kind of argument with Zhang Quanhao.


    At the end of that, she completely spilled the beans on how much she desired to kill, so much so, that Zhang Quanhao appeared entirely stunned.


    Then Ning Xi heard it. Zhang Quanhao said, with a tone that can only be described as being ¡®possessed,¡¯ ¡°then why not¡­ just kill me.¡±


    Ning Xi then looked at him. She felt like she was dreaming.


    Then Zhang Quanhao repeated himself. More firmly this time.


    Ning Xi was in astonishment.


    She was angry Zhang Quanhao still couldn¡¯t finish dealing with his past relationships, but she didn¡¯t think this was something to be killed over. He¡¯s her beloved husband. He wasn¡¯t part of her ¡®hobby.¡¯


    But something about Zhang Quanhao¡¯s suggestion moved her deeply inside.


    She stared at this man she truly loved, and her expression started to twist. It was more destructive. It was more spiteful.


    She then said nonchalantly, ¡°sure. I will kill you.¡±


    Zhang Quanhao looked truly elated. It was like, dying for his fianc¨¦e was something glorious for him.


    Ning Xi has gone insane. She sought all the enemies from all the grudges she remembered. She ¡®convinced¡¯ them one by one to come and die for her. Then finally, they arrived, at this isolated, snow-capped mountain mansion in the middle of nowhere.


    Here, Ning Xi¡¯s greatest wish would be fulfilled. She would become the female protagonist of a detective novel as she yearned to be. She shall end up the most innocent but most ruthless killer of the world.


    Because every one of her victims, would die by suicide.


    Ning Xi, still smiling, tells the Missiontakers all of these, with some kind of proudness in her tone.


    Although she is still clearly so utterly distraught with her eyes bawled out from Zhang Quanhao¡¯s death.


    Even now, she is still tearing up uncontrollably.


    Crying, laughing, like some truly insane person would be.


    Or rather¡­ as a truly insane person.


    The Missiontakers can¡¯t help but think, the world is over, just listening to her¡­ And it was, in a sense.


    While Ning Xi explained, the others remained quiet. They seemed to be alright with what Ning Xi said. They¡¯re ready to die by their own hands.


    They do not fear death, because of the ludicrousness that is the delusions of someone who is practically strangers to almost most of them.


    They will become a part of the detective novel she is constructing. As the victim.


    He Shuj¨¹n takes a deep breath. She sound slightly appalled when she says, ¡°I really didn¡¯t think there would be people dumb enough to sacrifice their lives for nothing but a foolish fever dream,¡± then she mockingly asks, ¡°you still telling me this is all plausibly human?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ makes a forced smile, saying, ¡°actually, in a sense, if humans really can go that far for each other, it might be a good thing¡­ Well, not like this here, at least.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n finds herself chuckling at that.


    Then Ye Lan says, ¡°now we know all the truth, and we should be able to leave, right?¡± She hurries them, ¡°time is of the essence.¡±


    The Missiontakers all nod, including Lin Qin, who is still looking for his Beijin.


    So the Missiontakers head for the door to the mansion, but when they step through it, the door in the grey fog does not come up.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ then asks, ¡°was there something more to discover?¡±


    Ye Lan thinks about it, then suggests, ¡°so who is the Nightmare¡¯s owner?¡±


    ¡°Not Ning Xi, I¡¯d bet,¡± He Shuj¨¹n replies, ¡°she is more likely to be whom the Nightmare owner fears.¡±


    ¡°Zhang Quanhao?¡±


    ¡°He must be mad from the very beginning though,¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ says, ¡°if he wasn¡¯t, he would not have let Ning Xi kill him, or be willing to commit suicide.¡±


    Ye Lan says, ¡°so someone that hasn¡¯t gone mad? Then they must have chosen to come of their own initiative¡­¡±


    Then the Missiontakers all realise something, and simultaneously look in the direction of Zhang Quanhao¡¯s ex, Ding Y¨¹can.

 Volume 7 - CH 125.2

    Unlike Ning Xi, Ding Y¨¹can is a woman quiet enough that she tends to be ignored. She just sits there quietly, with a vaguely positive smile on her face.


    There is an indomitable calmness about her, almost like a wolf that is ready to strike, laying low by the side.


    Suffice it to say, she is far calmer than Ning Xi is.


    She says she killed Zhang Quanhao, but he actually committed suicide. So why, then, would she have asserted so?


    Under the Missiontakers¡¯ stares, she quietly says, ¡°I thought, if he died, then I could be with him forever. Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t fulfil my wish.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ asks indifferently, ¡°so what then?¡±


    The Missiontakers aren¡¯t interested in the messy relationships between these people. They need to learn about the truth behind everything instead.


    Ding Y¨¹can¡¯s smile turns rather wicked as she says, ¡°because he loved this mad woman and was willing to die for her rather than look at me, so I let him kill himself, so he could know what the end for him looked like being with her.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you want to be together with him?¡± He Shuj¨¹n then asks, ¡°he¡¯s going to end up dead.¡±


    ¡°Even if his death isn¡¯t desirable, but he has to,¡± Ding Y¨¹can says with a brilliant smile, ¡°if he doesn¡¯t die, how will he learn how good he has it with me? If he doesn¡¯t, how will he ever know this mad woman doesn¡¯t deserve him?¡±


    ¡°But everything is meaningless if he died¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, it is,¡± Ding Y¨¹can widens her eyes and says, ¡°so he can be with me forever now. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s nice? He can never break up with me again, or leave me again, or flirt with others again.¡±


    The Missiontakers are quite speechless.


    He Shuj¨¹n can¡¯t help but say, ¡°she¡¯s just as mad now.¡±


    Ding Y¨¹can says, ¡°that is why I¡¯ve ¡®killed¡¯ him. I killed a-Hao,¡± she explains, ¡°I let him die knowingly.¡±


    ¡°Love and death¡­¡± Ye Lan murmurs, ¡°are two sides of the same coin here.¡±


    Of course not, thinks Lin Qin in his mind. He will never be like that with Beijin.


    Why is death ever a form of love? Why allow death to be in the way of love?


    There is always a solution to a problem. Lin Qin believes so.


    That is why he believes that, X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, and the problem humanity is facing that he needs to resolve, can be resolved.


    He believes in X¨¹ Beijin like that.


    Though the person in question is actually questioning himself right now.


    After going through another episode of suffering and near loss of consciousness, feeling as if it was like being bonked on the head by a brick several times in a row, after having already suffered a concussion. An increase in severity. Snow falling on top of sleet.


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks he even has trouble standing.


    So he just sits down where he is and looks up at the floating dust particles that is the Cell Nightmares. His face is all pale, with all colour having drained out of even his lips. He looks deeply ill and weak.


    The weakness is like the exhaustion he has suffered through for many years straight. It only keeps growing and proliferating.


    Aside from the pain, he is also deeply troubled. Damn. What is NE doing?


    Is it still not ready? If he¡¯s going to be on the human¡¯s side, he should be less half-arsed about it¡­


    Complaining does no good, of course, and he knows how NE isn¡¯t actually omnipotent in this case. NE is also, obviously, bound by rules and regulations.


    Though right now, the most powerless one in this whole event, is X¨¹ Beijin himself.


    He can¡¯t even take away. All he can do, is watch on the sidelines as Missiontakers struggle and fight. He cannot help them with even the tiniest thing.


    If there is a stream going on, he might still be able to have a change of mood through the audience.


    But right now, he is alone in the grey fog. He feels tired and lost like never before.


    Can they really do it? Is the hope really here? Was it¡­ right, for him to decide to open up his Nightmare at this moment?


    X¨¹ Beijin smiles bitterly. Oh, man, he still can¡¯t keep himself from digressing into pessimism land, even after he¡¯s declared to Dai Wu, that this is the all-or-nothing.


    Even if he is regretting it now, there is nothing he can do anyway. The Nightmare is open, and they¡¯re in. Everything is now up to fate, and NE.


    An almost maddening pain and hate threatens to bubble through X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mind. He hates how powerless he is. He hates leaving everything to fate, but there is nothing they can do.


    Since he entered the Tower.


    Since he¡­ whether by fortune or misfortune, that he ended up drawing this role.


    X¨¹ Beijin is now genuinely questioning whether this was all lucky or unlucky.


    He thinks it¡¯s more the latter, but the role must land on somebody, and it happened to be him.


    He got to learn the truth, too, even if it was far too much for him to bear. However, merely knowing the truth itself, is a kind of fortune in itself, no? No one else can be said to be luckier than he ever was.


    While they are still struggling in the Nightmares, he already has full knowledge of the bigger prison cell, outside of the Nightmares and the Tower.


    X¨¹ Beijin bitterly smiles again.


    He knows his thoughts are flying all over the place because he needs them to keep him going like so.


    Because he can feel a numbing in his soul. Maybe this is why he can¡¯t feel very well, now.


    Maybe he is sitting on the ground as he can no longer stand.


    Hmm, maybe it¡¯s not that bad yet. He isn¡¯t sure, but what he is sure, is that he¡¯s tired.


    He won¡¯t last very long. He might not be able to grasp the extent of how tired he is. That¡¯s how bad his mental state has deteriorated.


    The little apple sure was right. He desperately needs a good sleep. But the situation is how it is. It¡¯s all-or-nothing. How can he just let himself drift away to dreamland like this?


    He is both sharply awake, and deeply exhausted. His mind is torn.


    Although that is when he suddenly notices, that there is only one single Cell Nightmare he can see floating in front of him.


    Huh? Did the Missiontakers manage to group back up?


    Looking over, and being surprised, he thinks he is standing up; taking a few steps forward, he touches on that Cell Nightmare.


    The next second, there is nobody left standing here. X¨¹ Beijin is now inside of the Cell Nightmare.


    Only one thing is on X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mind right now.


    They really did find the Nightmare he needed!

 Volume 7 - CH 125.3

    The ten Missiontakers have finally met each other.


    That said, before coming into this scene, Mystic, A-One and A-Two still haven¡¯t regained their memories.


    Though it wouldn¡¯t exactly affect Mystic¡¯s mental state, it seems; A-One and A-Two are capable enough analysing scenes with or without memories.


    Before the ten have met back up, Mu Jiashi met up with the rest of his team of five through a Nightmare which Fei and Wu Jian also experienced themselves.


    The first Nightmare the two of them worked together in, as part of the organisation.


    The organisation explores Nightmares with the principle of safety first ¨C only working out details and minutiae of Nightmares after they have figured out how to resolve a Nightmare completely.


    At the same time, they also avoid restarting too many times in the same Nightmare, or starting that Nightmare too frequently.


    Of course, how ever much safety measures they take, there is always an inherent risk to exploration.


    In fact, it is during this very first assignment together that Fei and Wu Jian ended up in deep trouble.


    Wu Jian appears quite embarrassed, telling the others that they once messed up here.


    Mu Jiashi asks, curious, ¡°messed up? You made the Nightmare crumble badly?¡±


    ¡°No, not just that,¡± Fei shakes her head and says frankly, ¡°we got a Bad End.¡±


    ¡°Even after you learnt the backstory to the Nightmare and how to achieve a Normal End?¡± Mu Jiashi says, shocked, ¡°is it something like the Nightmare with the Raining Hellfire with some difficult binary choice?¡±


    ¡°Kinda,¡± replies Wu Jian, vaguely.


    Fei gives him a glare and says mercilessly, ¡°it¡¯s all this guy¡¯s fault!¡±


    Wu Jian shrinks somewhat, not denying that.


    Mu Jiashi appears hesitant.


    ¡°I¡¯ll explain,¡± says Wu Jian, ¡°actually¡­ the backstory, is that this is a mental institute.¡±


    The very specific location makes Mu Jiashi raise his brow. He¡¯s interested now.


    He did note this to possibly be a hospital, but a mental institute of all things?


    A mental institute, when madness has spread through the whole of humanity. It must be madness inside.


    He can imagine it going overcapacity immediately, and descend into full chaos.


    People would have had hope that they could handle the madness at first, until they end up steering far clear of this terrifying location.


    Wu Jian once read a book in the Nightmare with the Raining Hellfire that was more a chronology of human society post-madness, which had an offhanded remark indicating that it was ¡®madmen treating madmen.¡¯


    Perhaps that is the reality here.


    Fei sighs and says, ¡°we didn¡¯t know that the Nightmare¡­ These Nightmares, took place after the madness had humanity reeling.


    So we had a backstory, but we didn¡¯t account for the specialists inside the institute¡­ also being mad.


    Having overlooked that point, we trusted that doctor when we should not have, and¡­ indirectly caused the deaths of many patients within.¡±


    Fei also looks deeply regretful and down when explaining.


    Cast blame on Wu Jian all she wants, but she also blames herself. What Wu Jian said impaired her judgement, but she is also responsible for ultimately deciding the doctor is trustworthy.


    Then Wu Jian tries to cheer her up a little, and comments with a sad smile, ¡°I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d meet this Nightmare again, either.¡±


    He looks up at this building, and looks to be stranded on memory lane, telling the others, ¡°this place should have been packed to the brim, though. I suppose it¡¯s Missiontaker who has succumbed.¡±


    Mu Jiashi furrows his brows and says, ¡°so what actually happened?¡±


    Fei says, ¡°now that I can look at this Nightmare anew, I think I know exactly what happened; we didn¡¯t understand before, but what took place here, was likely¡­ an investigation into everything people discussed about treating the madness, and the¡­ attempts.¡±


    ¡°Attempts?¡± Mu Jiashi repeats that word with a slightly sour expression, ¡°it doesn¡¯t sound like a good thing at all.¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t¡­¡± Fei quietly says, ¡°the mad people were the lab rats, being subjected to all kinds of strange treatments. We¡­ didn¡¯t even question the ethics of it all back then.¡±


    Wu Jian chimes in, ¡°I suspect we trusted the doctor so wholeheartedly because NE influenced our minds!¡±


    Fei then continues, ¡°the Nightmare¡¯s owner was one of the victims who went through some of the¡­ rather inhumane treatments, including craniotomy.


    Some people said that, because the madness stemmed from the mind, so they studied the brain as closely as they could.¡±


    ¡°But?¡±


    ¡°But, it was useless,¡± Fei says, ¡°so many people went through the pain, the suffering, and even so, they¡­ voluntarily gave up their brain to be studied, but they couldn¡¯t find anything.¡±


    Mu Jiashi looks put off, asking, ¡°voluntarily?¡±


    Given Mu Jiashi¡¯s rather cold personality, it¡¯s understandable he would question the motives of people who just give up their bodies for science¡­


    It¡¯s true the madness is threatening the entire world, but he cannot comprehend people with messiah complexes.


    Fei seems hesitant to agree, and merely says, ¡°it¡¯s difficult to say whether they¡¯ve gone mad or not. It looks like it¡¯s almost honourable to them when they are laid down on the operating table.¡±


    Mu Jiashi looks mortally horrified. It takes a long time for him to say, ¡°I could almost be convinced the madness was a good thing. It¡¯s¡­ convinced many to sacrifice themselves to advance scientific knowledge, but¡­¡± he goes back on his words, ¡°maybe it wasn¡¯t a good thing, I think.¡±


    It¡¯s like the age-old comparison between whether one would rather have chocolate that tastes like shit or shit that tastes like chocolate.


    Wu Jian nods in agreement, and says, ¡°that¡¯s why we believed the doctor! It¡¯s because everyone else in this institute suggested absurdities that it made the doctor look normal, at least¡­ seemingly.¡±


    By this point, A-One and A-Two also understands what¡¯s happened in this scene. So A-One asks, curious, ¡°but what you just said seemed to be that this doctor wasn¡¯t a good person either? What did he propose to treat the madness instead?¡±


    Fei looks quite distraught at the question.


    Wu Jian says, with a face that says ¡®just kill me right now,¡¯ ¡°brain transplantation¡­ He wanted to try transplanting the patients¡¯ brains.¡±


    A-One¡¯s mouth is twitching, asking, ¡°and you actually thought that was more convincing?¡±


    ¡°No, actually¡­¡± Wu Jian explains, sighing, ¡°we didn¡¯t know he was going to do that. He only looked to be deeply alarmed and angry at the others performing craniotomy. He said they were completely mad to pursue such a fruitless line of research, and asked us to save the poor patients¡­


    That¡¯s why we thought he would be helpful, and even might be a key character leading to a True End. So we made an attempt, however¡­¡±


    ¡°However, that craniotomy was ¡®useless¡¯ was because, after the bone was removed, the brains were left where they were, so it was a waste of time?¡± Mu Jiashi¡¯s face looks like he just swallowed a lemon whole, and he says, ¡°that¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°So basically, the doctor fooled us both,¡± Fei says, ¡°we believed in him, and really intervened and ¡®saved¡¯ all those volunteers who were waiting to have their brains studied closely and physically.


    Then they were moved to the doctor¡¯s operating room instead to have their brains transplanted. We don¡¯t know how the operation went, because we already got a Bad End as soon as that happened.


    I suppose the operation would fail in the end.¡±


    Fei sighs again.

 Volume 7 - CH 125.4

    Mu Jiashi shakes his head and refrains from further comment on Fei and Wu Jian¡¯s performance. He then turns to other matters, and says, ¡°so the door to leave this scene is probably that operation room?¡±


    Fei nods, ¡°that¡¯s what I think.¡±


    Wu Jian quickly says, ¡°let¡¯s go then. I remember it was¡­ Operation Room 3.¡±


    They head over, and leave the scene with the terrifying backstory without further incident just a few minutes later.


    They didn¡¯t even meet the succumbed Missiontaker inside. They might be shivering in some corner somewhere, but Mu Jiashi and the others are pressed for time here.


    Even if they don¡¯t know what¡¯s happening to X¨¹ Beijin, they are at least worried that the Nightmare may crumble after so much time has elapsed.


    Though they still haven¡¯t figured out what they need to do in this Nightmare.


    Resolve it?


    They can¡¯t even imagine X¨¹ Beijin himself knowing how to resolve this; many present have already realised that this is the grey fog, and it is actually where all the succumbed people go; it¡¯s a landfill, they understand.


    But not resolving this Nightmare¡­ X¨¹ Beijin has said that his Nightmare is a condition for opening the Ultimate Nightmare.


    Then, are they supposed to find a specific scene among the countless ones present?


    That would be entirely dependent on luck ¨C or generosity from NE.


    When this conclusion is reached, many of the Missiontakers appear worried.


    Relying on the artificial intelligence with an unclear stance and not open to communication is hardly reassuring, even if so far, it seems NE has switched over to their side.


    They can¡¯t communicate with it, after all.


    That said, this could very well be their only chance at escape.


    So when they arrive at ta new scene, everyone starts taking in the surroundings to understand the clues within.


    That is when both A-One and A-Two yelp out.


    Mu Jiashi looks over and asks, ¡°you¡¯ve been here?¡±


    A-One looks quite confused, scratching his head.


    A-Two speaks rather solemnly, ¡°we did¡­¡±


    A-One says, ¡°this is impossible. This place¡­ this can¡¯t be right.¡±


    Mu Jiashi furrows his brows and asks, ¡°what about it?¡±


    A-One is about to speak up when suddenly, someone pops up from out of nowhere©¤©¤It¡¯s X¨¹ Beijin.


    The Missiontakers look at him, both shocked by his sudden appearance, and now concerned because of how pale X¨¹ Beijin looks.


    Lin Qin immediately goes to his side to support him; the Missiontakers didn¡¯t even see him move when suddenly, he¡¯s over there, now.


    Lin Qin asks with a worried tone, ¡°are you alright?¡± He carefully pokes X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s face with his finger. Then he knits his brows at the coldness of the touch. His expression is both chilling and wrathful, ¡°did the Nightmare do this to you?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin grabs his hand, and finally sighs in relief at this critical moment.


    He says, ¡°don¡¯t worry. Don¡¯t worry, little apple. I¡¯m fine; I¡¯ve never been better.¡±


    Lin Qin looks dumbfounded. Looking at X¨¹ Beijin, he thinks for a moment, and asks, ¡°did the fever burn you silly?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Damn it, Lin Qin!


    A bit flustered and also a bit amused, he gives Lin Qin a glare.


    It looks like Lin Qin still wants to argue, but X¨¹ Beijin really looks the worse for wear. Sighing, he says with a much gentler tone, ¡°how can I help you be less uncomfortable?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Lin Qin. Believe me,¡± X¨¹ Beijin whispers.


    Lin Qin is knitting his brows again. He looks pissed off, but he can¡¯t exactly go off on X¨¹ Beijin either.


    An idea suddenly pops into his mind ¨C lock him up, and only let him out when he¡¯s better.


    Lin Qin finds the thought inexplicably enjoyable. He tilts his head and starts pondering whether he can win in a fight against X¨¹ Beijin right now.


    Since if he lost, the plan to lock X¨¹ Beijin up would fail for sure.


    Looking at him, though, he might not even against him using only his fingers.


    Would this be simply taking advantage of X¨¹ Beijin? But, his goal is to clamp him down so he can take a rest anyway.


    So in conclusion ¨C he should learn more about X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s fighting ability.


    Lin Qin has a conclusion.


    If X¨¹ Beijin knew that after all the bewildering thought processes, Lin Qin still ended up planning to fight with him again, then he might not be ¡®fine¡¯ anymore.


    Unfor- Fortunately, he doesn¡¯t.


    He simply looks over at the rest of the Missiontakers who are clearly nervous but also doesn¡¯t dare just speaking up to him, and gives him an apologetic smile©¤©¤


    Though he doesn¡¯t really look the part in their eyes. Rather, even the weakness from illness is unable to keep them witnesses from experiencing the mysteriousness in his aura.


    He tells the Missiontakers, ¡°congratulations, and thank you so much, that you found this Cell Nightmare.¡±


    Mu Jiashi appears stunned for a moment before asking, elated, ¡°this is the reason you let us into your Nightmare, right?¡±


    ¡°Basically, it is as you say,¡± X¨¹ Beijin answers somewhat vaguely, and continues, ¡°but this is just the first step completed.¡±


    Mu Jiashi immediately asks, ¡°what else do we need to do?¡±


    The other Missiontakers also listen attentively; Mu Jiashi called them here, so of course, he is in charge of the talking.


    Though the Missiontakers also clearly appear relieved and thrilled.


    Even Mystic, who hasn¡¯t regained her memories, is smiling thanks to the infectiousness of the others¡¯ joy.


    She doesn¡¯t know what¡¯s going on, but she mutters, ¡°the road to be taken¡­ is still to be walked.¡±


    No one but herself heard it because it was so quiet.


    The Missiontakers quiet down soon enough when X¨¹ Beijin mentions this is only the first step. Worry returns to their complexion as they await X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s further instructions.


    X¨¹ Beijin calmly smiles and tells them, ¡°first, figure out the truth in this scene.¡±


    The Missiontakers look at each other for a moment, and then all turn to A-One and A-Two for help.


    A-One and A-Two, who already remember everything, are quiet for a little. Then, A-Two, who¡¯s a bit more well-rounded in personality and calmer explains, ¡°we don¡¯t actually know the whole picture either; when Mu Jiashi came to the Golddiggers¡¯ for help, we happened to need a break.


    So they sent us down. Otherwise, we would usually have quite a bit of work on us and we might not have made it.


    We needed a break because¡­ because of this Nightmare. We were stuck.¡±


    As he listens on, Mu Jiashi¡¯s face turns more and more astonished. So that¡¯s what happened. He thought he was quite the guest of honour for the Golddiggers, but it was actually a coincidence.


    He can¡¯t help but feel slightly awkward about it.


    Of course, nobody knows what he¡¯s thinking. So it¡¯s just another episode of small self-loathing in his mind.

 Volume 7 - CH 125.5

    Meanwhile, A-Two continues his explanation, ¡°our investigation on this Nightmare is, at best, preliminary. We did some thorough examination of the Nightmare owner, though and the Tower resident¡­ is insane, in the literal sense.¡±


    ¡°The literal sense?¡± He Shuj¨¹n can¡¯t help but ask, ¡°not because of the madness in the Apocalypse?¡±


    A-Two explains, ¡°no. In fact, we believe he is already insane before what you call the madness spread through human society.


    He is mentally ill. According to a Missiontaker who was a psychologist in the past, the Tower resident may be suffering from schizophrenia.


    This, reflected in his Nightmare, causes it to also be full of chaotic and unreasonable elements. Nightmares we¡¯ve seen in the past are largely grounded in reality and stories based on the real world, but his Nightmare, truly does feel like a dream.¡±


    The Missiontakers understand now.


    But Fei and Wu Jian look at each other, and dissent at the same time, ¡°that can¡¯t be right!¡±


    The other Missiontakers look surprised.


    Fei tells A-Two, ¡°just now, in the scene we were just in, the Nightmare¡¯s owner is also a literal insane person. The scene was even the mental institute he¡¯s in.


    But we did not see the insanity reflected in the Nightmare at all. It still developed logically and realistically. This means that it is unlikely for Tower residents¡¯ own mental states to influence Nightmares like that.¡±


    A-Two, while shocked, then nods a few times and says, ¡°I think you¡¯re right.¡±


    Then Wu Jian adds, ¡°and another question ¨C is this mental illness of the Tower resident, actually coming from the script they¡¯re assigned to, instead of¡­ the underlying Tower resident?¡±


    The others don¡¯t seem to understand the question well.


    Ye Lan knits her brows and asks, ¡°you mean¡­ the Actor¡¯s own mental state, is what affects the Nightmare?¡±


    Then they go quiet for a moment, and end up all turning towards X¨¹ Beijin.


    Since clearly X¨¹ Beijin would know best if they need to learn about Actors.


    Though X¨¹ Beijin tells them honestly, ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly, but¡­¡±


    Recalling Dai Wu¡¯s peculiar situation, he says, ¡°in my experience, the qualities we have as ourselves, physically, mentally alike, are carried over to us, the Tower residents.¡±


    The Missiontakers quickly nod.


    Mu Jiashi says, ¡°then it¡¯s clear now. We haven¡¯t encountered such a rare case before, but this Actor must have been clinically insane, to cause such a strange influence on the assigned Nightmare.¡±


    The others then agree.


    A-Two then continues explaining the Nightmare, ¡°the only thing we know for sure in this Nightmare, is that it¡¯s a large, labyrinthine structure. Inside is full of intersections and junctions. To this day, our organisation still hasn¡¯t figured out a way out of this labyrinth, no matter what we tried. It¡¯s truly, epically gargantuan, and¡­ it¡¯s literally painful to the eyes to look.¡±


    The Missiontakers look at each other, and then at the building not far away.


    It¡¯s true.


    The labyrinth A-Two is talking about, isn¡¯t a simple brick and mortar construction, or some fancy fencing decorated with vines and bushes.


    Instead, it is formed by the combination of countless rectangles that continuously switches between different, random sharp colours, like the ones you see in video games.


    They do not know if these coloured blocks are part of the original construction of this labyrinth, or if it is simply the mental state of the underlying Actor that made this look like the literal manifestation of light pollution.


    Fei¡¯s eyes are souring mere moments after staring at it.


    She looks away, and sees A-Two shrug at her. Then she asks, ¡°so why are the Golddiggers studying this Nightmare?¡±


    This certainly¡­ doesn¡¯t look like a Nightmare suitable for carrying the Golddiggers¡¯ customers up floors.


    What kind of customer would prefer to travel in this kind of Nightmare than literally any other Nightmare?


    A-Two forces a smile and explains, ¡°it can¡¯t be helped¡­ Most of the easy Nightmares of the floor are well-documented already; there was an influx of Missiontakers from the bottom floor, and one of them stumbled upon this previously undiscovered Nightmare. It sounded interesting, so we decided to check it out.


    We had no idea it¡¯d turn out like this.¡±


    Then A-Two covers his eyes with his hands.


    Even days after leaving that Nightmare does A-Two still feel like he can see colours flashing about his eyelids whenever he close his eyes. It makes him question his sanity.


    He even has to fall asleep staring at changing coloured blocks. Immersing himself in a sea of blocks of changing sharp colours, counting them like sheep; even in his dreams, he cannot escape from the coloured blocks.


    How hopeless those few days were.


    A-One, meanwhile, after entering the Nightmare, has never cast his eyes once in the direction of the giant labyrinth. It¡¯s like a source of trauma for him already.


    Really, before they entered the Nightmare, they focused on the labyrinth part of the information on the Nightmare, and were expecting some deductive puzzle downtime.


    But the Nightmare¡­ is actually an action adventure! With light pollution baked in!


    Oh, he swears he¡¯d go blind if he stayed in it any longer.


    Mu Jiashi also appears a little lost. Then he looks at X¨¹ Beijin, and the rest of the Missiontakers, and says, ¡°that said, it would seem, we can only figure out the truth of this Nightmare by entering the labyrinth.¡±


    ¡°Wait. I still have a¡­ question.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ looks at the labyrinth, whose flickering, discordant lights are dancing, casting shades on his expression, making him look almost mystical in turn. His tone is quite depressed, in contrast.


    Mu Jiashi pauses, and asks, ¡°what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s tone grows less and less confident. He seems to be doubtful, too, asking, ¡°do you think¡­ this labyrinth, existed on Earth at one time?¡±


    Hearing that, both the Missiontakers and A-One, A-Two appear astonished.


    ¡°I¡­ no, of course not, can it?¡± Mu Jiashi answers by reflex, but suddenly, he thinks he realises the meaning hidden between Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s words, and asks, ¡°you can¡¯t mean, you actually recall this scene?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s pupils reflect the dancing colours, making his expression hard to read. He murmurs, ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but¡­ It just feels familiar. It¡¯s like I¡¯ve seen this before.¡±


    Mu Jiashi knits his brows.


    After some more time pondering, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ declares, ¡°yes! I¡¯m sure I must have seen this labyrinth somewhere!¡±

 Volume 7 - CH 126.1

    Exercise in Futility


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    What Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ said has cast quite the shadow on the Missiontakers¡¯ minds.


    The labyrinth was once on Earth?


    Why would there be such a labyrinth? A labyrinth of giant, discombobulating splotches of colour?


    Mu Jiashi finds his head swimming just looking at the labyrinth for a while. It must have something to do with the colours as they get interpreted in his brain, but also, it might be from some kind of deeper fear. A strange sense of foreboding.


    Even if they¡¯re finally in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, they¡¯re still no closer to the truth right now.


    They¡¯ve learned about the two stages of the Apocalypse. First, a mental one; then, a physical one.


    But where did it come from? And after that, why did they end up in the Tower?


    Mu Jiashi would not find solace even in death if he cannot find the answer.


    He turns his head around to look at X¨¹ Beijin.


    He has cast his gaze downwards while Lin Qin is speaking to him by his side. Then he seems to notice Mu Jiashi¡¯s gaze, and looks up to meet it.


    The pair of eyes are dispassionate, and void of light.


    Any question Mu Jiashi was going to say went out the window.


    Never mind. They¡¯re already at this stage. There is no way back.


    If X¨¹ Beijin really was NE, he¡¯s clearly going to be on the human¡¯s side.


    If X¨¹ Beijin actually wasn¡¯t, and is simply another typical Tower resident, who happen to possess an unusual Nightmare¡­


    Well, he¡¯s human, after all, which means he will also want to leave the Tower.


    So their best course of action, is to trust X¨¹ Beijin unconditionally.


    It is also bad for morale if he were to shatter the other Missiontakers¡¯ confidence at the eleventh hour.


    He merely smiles at X¨¹ Beijin, before entering the labyrinth with the rest of the Missiontakers.


    X¨¹ Beijin didn¡¯t know Mu Jiashi was almost going to doubt him, because he is too distracted with something else.


    Distracted with¡­ Lin Qin, and how much of a worrywart he can be.


    The little apple is droning in his ears on and on, basically telling him to rest well and not push his body further. He says he will not live if X¨¹ Beijin was gone.


    ¡°Alright, fine, I get it,¡± X¨¹ Beijin hurriedly acquiesces, ¡°but you can¡¯t just throw your life away even if something happened to me.¡±


    Lin Qin was happy hearing the first part of that sentence, but the second part turns his expression grim.


    X¨¹ Beijin, confused, looks at him.


    Lin Qin looks like he has something to say. After a bit, he says, ¡°I was wrong about you, Beijin.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin still doesn¡¯t understand what¡¯s happening yet.


    ¡°I thought you knew about love better than I did,¡± Lin Qin seems disappointed, ¡°but that¡¯s not true.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    His fist tightens.


    The little apple is still going on about stuff like X¨¹ Beijin must think he does not love him enough yet if he thinks he wouldn¡¯t die for him.


    A question mark is rising out of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s head.


    Both morbidly amused and shrugging a little, he tells Lin Qin, ¡°that¡¯s not right. I only wish that you would be able to live, live well.¡±


    ¡°But you have to live well first,¡± Lin Qin stubborn refutes, ¡°I still want to do the not serious things in the Tower with you.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin was going to tell Lin Qin something else, but hearing that ¡®not serious¡¯ business, the atmosphere is already gone.


    They¡¯re talking about something deadly serious here! Why is Lin Qin dragging the topic that way! What is this little apple¡¯s problem?!


    Speechlessness aside, X¨¹ Beijin quietly reassures him, ¡°I¡¯ll live.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Lin Qin appears to doubt him, ¡°I still feel like you don¡¯t¡­ really care about your own physical wellbeing enough.¡±


    ¡°Of course not¡­¡±


    Then X¨¹ Beijin gestures for Lin Qin to keep propping him up while they follow after the Missiontakers.


    Lin Qin looks like he is somewhat reluctant, but he thinks about it for a little while looking over X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s form, and agrees.


    X¨¹ Beijin tells him, ¡°it¡¯s just¡­ how should I put it. Lin Qin, I¡¯m used to this. After so many years. It¡¯s fine for a little longer; what I want to see, more than anything else, is our efforts being successful.¡±


    ¡°We will succeed.¡±


    ¡°But what I wish for the most is¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin stops. He doesn¡¯t know how to put it either, then he says, ¡°is that everyone is successful.¡±


    Lin Qin falls into thought for a moment, then asks, ¡°so you really can¡¯t leave this place?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± X¨¹ Beijin is silent for a moment before saying, ¡°but this is what I guess would be the case.¡±


    Lin Qin sounds more relaxed as he says, ¡°then I¡¯ll say you can leave.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks speechless. He thinks for a bit, then tells Lin Qin, ¡°if I really couldn¡¯t leave¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be with you.¡±


    ¡°Lin Qin¡­¡±


    Lin Qin stops X¨¹ Beijin from saying anything else, and says, ¡°listen, I¡¯ll be with you. It¡¯s my decision. I¡¯ve done everything you¡¯ve asked of me, then I think it¡¯s fair you also listen to me this one time?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin wonders where Lin Qin is pulling these illogic out from.


    Is the little apple actually rotten on the inside? Is he a bad apple?


    He eyes Lin Qin with suspicion, only to see Lin Qin¡¯s crisp clear gaze and frank expression.


    Well, fine. Maybe this is just the way Lin Qin is.


    But X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t just simply promise lightly. He says, ¡°let¡¯s first finish all of this.¡±


    Lin Qin appears dissatisfied, but doesn¡¯t dwell on it either. There¡¯s no need to.


    Since, if he wasn¡¯t willing to leave, X¨¹ Beijin couldn¡¯t just make him either.


    It¡¯s something he thinks he knows, like some fuzzy titbit of knowledge. It might be coming from his missing memories, with his past, but anyway, he thinks maybe he can¡¯t leave the Tower, just like X¨¹ Beijin.


    Which makes Lin Qin slightly happy to think about, actually. That¡¯s how simple his world is; X¨¹ Beijin was the only one who has ever entered it and stayed.


    So he is actually happy to stay in the dingy, lonely Tower and spend the rest of his life together with X¨¹ Beijin.


    Though he wonders, perhaps it is his Beijin that isn¡¯t that willing.


    He knows X¨¹ Beijin hates the Tower. He just acts calm and collected, so the others end up misunderstanding, and thinks he belongs here. He is part of the Tower.


    No. That¡¯s not true. No one is ever born bound to a place. He just stayed here for so long, and knows this place so much better than everyone else, that he ended up appearing to have the Tower¡¯s qualities embedded in him.


    But he knows, he hates the Tower.


    So Lin Qin, looking at X¨¹ Beijin, is thinking that, it¡¯s fine. They can also work hard, and there might even be a chance that they can leave the Tower both.


    Lin Qin¡¯s chest is filled with some emotions Lin Qin doesn¡¯t really understand or comprehend. It¡¯s quite mysterious.


    But he¡¯s sure he can feel the emotion. The kind that is special, and drags him deep into thought.


    He wonders what that is. What is he thinking about? Why is he feeling like this? Was it something he had in the past?


    Tilting his head and unable to come up with an answer, he looks at X¨¹ Beijin instead. He is looking at the labyrinth¡­ Though hesitant, Lin Qin decides to tell X¨¹ Beijin.

 Volume 7 - CH 126.2

    ¡°Beijin¡­¡±


    Lin Qin calls out to X¨¹ Beijin.


    X¨¹ Beijin turns his head around, curious, ¡°what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Lin Qin appears to be in doubt.


    X¨¹ Beijin has never seen Lin Qin as doubtful as he is now. So he asks again, ¡°what¡¯s wrong? Do you feel ill?¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡± Lin Qin answers, unsure, and says, ¡°but I do think something is wrong with me.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, shocked, asked, ¡°what is it?¡±


    Lin Qin says, ¡°I think I¡¯m remembering some of my past memories.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is stunned, then wonders, ¡°why¡­ I mean, do you know what might have triggered that memory recovery?¡±


    ¡°Not really recovery, but more, some kind of vague feeling,¡± Lin Qin corrects X¨¹ Beijin. Telling him what he¡¯s feeling has made him feel better.


    So his tone quickly returns to the usual frank and nonchalant form, ¡°it¡¯s not really that much of a bother, but I thought I should tell you.¡±


    He¡¯s just reporting what he¡¯s thinking to X¨¹ Beijin by habit.


    Though¡­ ¡®Not that much of a bother¡¯?


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s eyes widen. He is speechless learning that this is what Lin Qin really thinks.


    He¡¯s oddly sympathising with how Lin Qin was all concerned over him while he was dismissive; is this what it feels like for the eunuchs to be worried sick while emperor just faffs about?


    Oh, of course he doesn¡¯t mean to describe himself or Lin Qin as a eunuch.


    He is just¡­ experiencing stuff from others¡¯ shoes, as their roles switched.


    Then X¨¹ Beijin starts casting doubtful gazes at Lin Qin. Did he do this on purpose? Is he even that quick-witted?


    Lin Qin tilts his head at X¨¹ Beijin, looking all clean and honest. With his baby face, too, he looks innocent as ever.


    X¨¹ Beijin then doubts his own suspicions. It looks like Lin Qin really might be regaining his memories.


    Why now, though?


    X¨¹ Beijin is slightly concerned over it, because if Lin Qin manages to remember everything right here, right this moment¡­ Wouldn¡¯t it imply that Lin Qin may have a more complicated identity than X¨¹ Beijin thought?


    To put it simply, X¨¹ Beijin thought Lin Qin¡¯s amnesia comes from either some special mental illness or was the price he paid to use some utility card.


    X¨¹ Beijin is more leaning towards the latter, too, since it works all too well as an explanation for how he gained his immense fighting power.


    Of course, it remains a hypothesis, because he can see Lin Qin doesn¡¯t seem to treat his amnesia or fighting power as something important to him. This means it doesn¡¯t look like he¡¯d be the kind to initiate such a transaction.


    Regardless, X¨¹ Beijin ended up disregarding the discrepancies surrounding Lin Qin. Only occasionally remembering it, thinks about it, and then casts the thoughts aside without making any progress whatsoever¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin suddenly wonders, alarmed, why he would lose interest in Lin Qin¡¯s condition repeated.


    Why would such obscene fighting power be here in the Tower? Even the most insane Tower resident has never lost their memories of the past. No one has ever lost their entire memory in the process of entering the Tower.


    So why did it happen to Lin Qin?


    X¨¹ Beijin also can¡¯t help but feel a little guilty.


    He has been aware of Lin Qin¡¯s oddities all along, but somehow, he ignored it over and over, finding them slip out of his mind.


    It might be because Lin Qin always looked so ¡®matter-of-factly¡¯ when questioned about it. It¡¯s almost as if he¡¯d been born just like this. Possibly¡­ it was NE that changed him, or adjusted the mental states of the Missiontakers, or both?


    They might joke about Lin Qin¡¯s strength, and diss his asocial behaviours. No one has ever asked, though, why Lin Qin is like that.


    X¨¹ Beijin finds himself drenched in cold sweat just standing there. His face is going pale again, after regaining the slightest bit of colour earlier.


    How terrible. Questions keep popping up one after another, while they¡¯re still just beginning to conquer the labyrinth¡­


    Oh, wait, no. He¡¯s supposed to be thinking about Lin Qin¡¯s problems right now.


    He almost lost track of his thoughts again.


    The phenomenon has X¨¹ Beijin realise that NE is probably behind this. Perhaps¡­ Lin Qin¡¯s past, really is special?


    Lin Qin, meanwhile, appears quite worried about X¨¹ Beijin, asking, ¡°what¡¯s wrong? Why are you looking all pale white again?¡±


    He touches X¨¹ Beijin on the cheeks, and says, ¡°what should I do¡­ to make you feel better?¡±


    Lin Qin looks really concerned and lost. He¡¯s angry, but he can¡¯t lash out at X¨¹ Beijin, obviously. All he can do is just sulk, so he looks quite grim.


    Now, they¡¯re already at the entrance to the labyrinth.


    X¨¹ Beijin looks at the Missiontakers in the front, and then says, ¡°Lin Qin, I need you to answer a question honestly.¡±


    Lin Qin looks dead serious with X¨¹ Beijin looking like this, replying, ¡°I will.¡±


    ¡°What do you think is the reason that you have lost your memories and hold such strength?¡±


    Lin Qin seems to blank out processing the question a little, muttering, ¡°the reason¡­ what?¡±


    ¡°Why did you lose your memories? And why do you have such power?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Lin Qin tilts his head. He looks a little lost for words, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve always been like this.¡±


    ¡°Do you not find it weird?¡±


    ¡°Not really, because this is just how I am,¡± Lin Qin mutters, then asks, ¡°why do you ask?¡±


    ¡°Do you feel anything strange when you hear other people describe Earth?¡±


    Lin Qin looks like he¡¯s blanking out while trying to recall. Then he slowly shakes his head, saying, ¡°nothing, really.¡±


    His world is just blank. Empty.


    X¨¹ Beijin is examining his reactions closely.


    Lin Qin, he¡­ he doesn¡¯t share the identity of being human with others.


    He knows consciously that they¡¯re his same species, but he doesn¡¯t actually think of himself as a fellow human.


    He knows consciously about some rules of human society, perhaps even about the different, common emotions of humanity, but he is more like a passing observer, who decides to participate in their ¡®rituals¡¯ and ¡®customs.¡¯


    X¨¹ Beijin is inside of his world, now, but their relationship actually stemmed from a rather embarrassing misunderstanding.


    Lin Qin misunderstands his behaviour as being ¡®romantically attracted to X¨¹ Beijin,¡¯ and then he ended up falling in love for real. Now, no one can ever deny that he does like, and love X¨¹ Beijin.


    Not even X¨¹ Beijin can deny Lin Qin¡¯s feelings now.


    He knows Lin Qin loves him. Even in spite of¡­ Lin Qin¡¯s world being empty.


    Since in the very beginning, he really believed whatever anyone told him, and then simply checking to see if he himself filled the bill.


    It¡¯s almost like¡­ almost like¡­


    He¡¯s just an NPC in this game world.


    boilpoil''s notes:


    This part of the chapter depicts X¨¹ Beijin trying to wrestle out Lin Qin¡¯s nature. More to follow in the next part.

 Volume 7 - CH 126.3

    X¨¹ Beijin stands there, stunned, before exhaling heavily.


    He finally landed on such a conclusion.


    Or rather, he is finally able to grasp onto this concept in his mind.


    Whatever Lin Qin was, it would not affect Lin Qin¡¯s place in his mind.


    The brash little apple is already firmly latched onto him. X¨¹ Beijin, though, is still worried about his past, worried that those unknown memories would affect him.


    He always thought Lin Qin has amnesia¡­ But what if, he simply never had any memories in the first place?


    What if he doesn¡¯t even belong to Earth? But Lin Qin now says he has some strange feelings about his past¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mind is starting to produce guesses and hypotheses. None of them are really friendly, so to speak.


    He knits his brows, falling deep into thought.


    Lin Qin extends his hand then, and smoothes out X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s furrowed brows. He says, ¡°you don¡¯t have to overthink this. If only I knew, I¡¯d not tell you about the weird feelings I felt.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Man, Lin Qin being Lin Qin again.


    Then Lin Qin looks at him and shrugs, saying, ¡°you said that earlier, too.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, speechless, says, ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything like that.¡±


    ¡°You were thinking that just now.¡±


    ¡°How do you know what I¡¯m thinking about?¡±


    ¡°I just know,¡± Lin Qin seems proud of himself, adding, ¡°my instincts tell me so.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    The little apple is getting less and less likeable by the minute.


    Lin Qin then looks at him and thinks some more, before softening his tone to say, ¡°really, stop overthinking about things.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t answer him, though, and just says, ¡°let¡¯s enter the labyrinth first.¡±


    The entrance to the labyrinth is right in front of them now.


    Standing up close, the walls of the labyrinth are more than 5 metres tall. Two storeys, basically. The electronic screens producing the colours are extremely smooth, too, too slippery to climb up on.


    Well, people can still pile on one another, but A-One, noticing everyone observing the walls of the labyrinth with the eye-bleaching colours, reminds them, ¡°you can¡¯t climb this. There¡¯s a net of electricity up there. Your bodies will be incinerated¡­ and then the place would probably restart.¡±


    The Missiontakers quickly look up, but they can¡¯t see anything different about it.


    This really doesn¡¯t look like Earth at all. In fact, it more closely seems like what A-Two said, being some representation of a mental patient¡¯s inner world.


    Surrounding the labyrinth is just abyssal darkness. Above them is some kind of black, hemispherical dome that merely reflects the dancing colours below.


    In such a disorienting environment, the Missiontakers find their heads throbbing soon enough. All they can do is look away from the walls, and look back down at the road in the labyrinth.


    Well, not that that¡¯d help much, as the ground is also formed by distinct, changing blobs of colour. Taking steps in here really doesn¡¯t feel like walking on reliable, solid ground at all.


    Mu Jiashi asks, ¡°so, all we can do now is explore this labyrinth?¡±


    ¡°Looks that way,¡± Fei replies, ¡°are there others in the labyrinth?¡±


    A-One replies, ¡°yes, there are. We met some people already in our exploration, but they¡¯re spread out in different locations across the labyrinth. They¡¯re all looking pretty insane, too, hard to communicate with; however¡­¡±


    He looks hesitantly at A-Two, who thinks and says, ¡°I think they also probably know something. Something about the old Earth. It is just that, we didn¡¯t know anything in the past. So we didn¡¯t understand what they were talking about.¡±


    Fei quickly asks, ¡°do you remember what they said?¡±


    ¡°Something like¡­¡± A-Two replies, ¡°well, it¡¯s a mess, but just phrases like ¡®they¡¯re coming,¡¯ ¡®save us,¡¯ ¡®it¡¯s going to fail,¡¯ and similar stuff. We don¡¯t know what is ¡®coming¡¯ either.¡±


    ¡°¡¯They¡¯re coming¡¯?!¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Ye Lan both exclaim.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Mu Jiashi asks, ¡°do you know what that means?¡±


    Ye Lan explains what happened to them before, and says, ¡°is there¡­ some kind of relationship between them? Although we still have to figure out exactly what is coming first¡­¡±


    Mu Jiashi nods solemnly.


    He tries to work it out himself, while thinking about the ¡®game design document.¡¯ Was it something that could be related to the Tower itself, too?


    Although he realises soon enough that this is largely useless at this moment. They won¡¯t just figure out the truth standing here. The more they think about it, the more they¡¯re just torturing themselves.


    So he leaves the thoughts aside. He says, ¡°this will be our first foray into the labyrinth. Staying safe is our topmost priority. Try to collect information on top of that, and try to communicate with the people inside.¡±


    A-Two chimes in to tell them about their exploration progress.


    This labyrinth really is gargantuan. They¡¯ve ran in circles inside for four, five hours in total now, without being able to find an exit.


    Maybe the labyrinth is just difficult, so they end up walking in the same place without actually moving anywhere.


    Regardless, the first intersection they encounter in the labyrinth is a four-way intersection.


    So the Missiontakers split in three again.


    When everyone is inside the labyrinth, the entrance suddenly seals shut, like a mouth closing its maw, having acquired adequate food. It shuts quietly to start chewing on the food within.


    Everyone can¡¯t help but look behind them.


    Then, before they depart, A-Two explains, ¡°the road to the left leads to someone alive by making a right turn at the very end of this path; we¡¯ve not yet run into anyone in the middle path; while the right path, turn left three times successively at the second intersection, will lead you into some hidden spiralling road that leads to someone else.¡±


    The Missiontakers all nod.


    There are eleven people here. Mu Jiashi, Fei, Wu Jian and Mystic are going left. He Shuj¨¹n, Ye Lan, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and A-One are going right, and finally, X¨¹ Beijin, Lin Qin and A-Two are going through the middle path.


    A-Two looks at Lin Qin and X¨¹ Beijin. While he seems hesitant, he goes along without question.


    Though he decides to stay as far away from this little couple as he can on the way later.


    After splitting up, they confirm what they know once more, and head off.


    The left group heads right for the person A-Two talked about. Soon enough, they find him inside of this labyrinth with disorienting, reflecting, glitchy blocks of colour.


    Well, it¡¯s not that easy to call the person a ¡®person¡¯ anymore.


    Because all his arms and legs have been cut off. All he can do is lie there on the ground, flat, staring blankly into the sky.


    He is also entirely naked, and dirty. He lies there at the corner of the wall, murmuring something.


    Mu Jiashi listens closely, but it¡¯s difficult to make out any words.


    Fei looks at the person for a little while before looking away, possibly out of pity.


    She murmurs, ¡°what happened here? Why did he¡­ end up like this?¡±


    ¡°Was he possibly tortured, or¡­¡± Wu Jian sounds like he¡¯s in doubt, too, ¡°gone insane, or something else?¡±


    Fei¡¯s tone is drifting away, ¡°who knows¡­¡±


    Mystic, though, sniffs a little and then speaks in riddles again, ¡°I can smell it. It smells of grudges.¡±


    ¡°Grudges?¡±


    Both Fei and Wu Jian are surprised.


    Wu Jian wonders, ¡°so someone tortured him and made him end up like this?¡±


    They both rather reflexively believe in what Mystic said, but Mu Jiashi doesn¡¯t draw any hasty conclusions.


    He is still trying to figure out what the person is murmuring. He leans even closer.


    The person doesn¡¯t react to him getting closer and closer at all. He just continues producing broken, incomplete phrases.


    After listening for a bit, Mu Jiashi says with an uncertain tone, ¡°he seems to be saying¡­ ¡®exercise in futility¡¯?¡±


    boilpoil''s notes:


    This part of the chapter shows the Missiontakers + X¨¹ Beijin split into three groups to explore, and then leaves us with a cliffhanger. What happened to this person? What follows next? Stick around to find out.

 Volume 7 - CH 127.1

    Failure


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Exercise in futility.


    The Missiontakers all widen their eyes a little hearing the phrase from Mu Jiashi.


    The limbless person wails as soon as he hears it, with so much pain, regret, madness and dissatisfaction, making the Missiontakers shudder.


    What happened? Why an exercise in futility?


    Mu Jiashi hurriedly leans close to the person again, pleading, ¡°we¡¯re looking for the truth right now. If you do know something, please tell me, alright?¡±


    The person¡¯s eyes haven¡¯t much focus, but looking closely, Mu Jiashi can see them responding to movement slowly but clearly. He is conscious, and understands what he is asking.


    But the person produces only incoherent refusals, ¡°don¡¯t, don¡¯t¡­ don¡¯t, trust; don¡¯t, trust¡­¡±


    Don¡¯t trust? Does he not trust them?


    Mu Jiashi falls into thought.


    Meanwhile, Wu Jian proposes behind him, ¡°would it be a good time to put that utility card to use?¡±


    Ding Yi¡¯s utility card, which turns hair into a grue colour, making people believe in whatever the user says.


    A uniquely mysterious utility card, and also one that would help immensely with the situation.


    Mu Jiashi dislikes relying on utility cards in Nightmares, thinking of it as cheating similar to many other Missiontakers. Also, there is the price to pay for using them.


    But this time, after Wu Jian hints at the idea, Mu Jiashi immediately puts the utility card to use.


    His hair changes colour, after which he talks to the man again.


    And this time, after remaining quiet for some time, the person slowly speaks up.


    His voice is rough, with an almost sticky, icky feel to it. It almost sounds like his throat is choked with water or blood.


    Even though he is as debilitated as is, he is still breathing and living, somehow.


    Death might be a relief for him at this stage.


    But he still lives on, solely because¡­


    He says, ¡°this labyrinth we built, was an exercise in futility.¡±


    The labyrinth? It was built?


    Mu Jiashi is surprised.


    When he saw it, he agreed with A-One and A-Two ¨C this did not look like any building on Earth, or even anything likely conjured up in Nightmares in the game.


    It¡¯s more like, what would be inside the dream of a truly insane person.


    The countless electronic colours of blocks flashing inexplicable light. Who could imagine such a scene but mad people?


    Even if Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ asserts that he¡¯s seen this building somewhere, Mu Jiashi remained unconvinced. He can¡¯t believe Earth once had something abominable like this.


    Why build such a meaningless and painful-looking structure?


    A labyrinth. Not even a worldwide amusement park would build such a large one.


    Here, though, this person who might meet the Reaper at any moment tells them that they built this.


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s mind is now filled with possible scenarios.


    Behind him, Fei and Wu Jian are equally excited chatting about their own hypotheses and theories.


    Mu Jiashi ignores the commotion behind, and continues asking, ¡°if you went so far as to build it out entirely, why do you call it an ¡®exercise in futility¡¯?¡±


    ¡°We wanted the trap them, with this place,¡± the person explains, in short, terse sentences, ¡°but we were weak¡­ so weak¡­ There was nothing to do. They came, they went. It changed nothing.¡±


    Mu Jiashi finally asks the billion-dollar question, ¡°who are ¡®they¡¯?¡±


    ¡°The one behind everything, who brought all this on,¡± the person replies, ¡°we don¡¯t know who, or what, either. They just came, and landed¡­ here. The labyrinth couldn¡¯t trap them.¡±


    Mu Jiashi furrows his brows, ¡°were you present the whole time? How did you not see them? They entered the labyrinth, didn¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t see. They¡¯re different. It¡¯s¡­ just different; the form of existence. I don¡¯t even know; did they enter the labyrinth?


    We built this, we thought they can be trapped. It was useless. An exercise in futility¡­ We¡¯re useless. Useless.¡±


    Then the person starts sobbing. The condition in his throat makes it sound all the more poignant.


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s mind is preoccupied with something else, though.


    He is suddenly remembering the ¡®Raining Hellfire.¡¯


    Raining. It came from the skies.


    Look up. Up through the endless expanse of the universe.


    Behind him, Wu Jian suggests, with a trembling tone, ¡°do you remember, when in the last Nightmare, some people were arguing over where the object in the sky came from¡­¡±


    ¡°Some people said aliens,¡± Fei answers in a daze, ¡°but, are there really¡­¡±


    Aliens?


    In the vast universe, do other intelligent lifeforms besides humans exist?


    Humans haven¡¯t the answer. Is it because humans are uniquely too successful? Or still far too weak?


    Well, now it looks like, the answer is being far too weak.


    According to this person, they do not even understand in what form ¡®they¡¯ exist.


    Mu Jiashi finds his legs slightly numb. He sits down on the flashing ground, quietly staring at the person, but he doesn¡¯t have a question to ask right now.


    Suddenly, he remembers how X¨¹ Beijin described this place as where they could be told the truth.


    Though, if it weren¡¯t for this amazing utility card of Ding Yi¡¯s¡­ They probably wouldn¡¯t have figured it out so easily.


    At least, he suspects the other Missiontakers will have a much harder time when they come across the other living persons.


    But really, Mu Jiashi envies those who don¡¯t have it so easy.


    He is actually, consciously trying to reject this truth.


    He remains silent for some more time before saying, ¡°so, ¡®they¡¯ caused the madness, and the Raining Hellfire, didn¡¯t they?¡±


    The person murmurs, ¡°I don¡¯t know. No one knows. They just appeared, and said, we¡¯re theirs. No one can just accept that. Right?


    We have lived here, for so many years; now, these people from nowhere, said we¡¯re their slave. They¡¯re the masters¡­ They gave us one month, to mentally prepare, and part with Earth.


    No one can accept that, so we built this labyrinth. We¡¯ve never seen humanity so united¡­


    Or not. I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t know how. I just helped build.


    They can almost hear the blood gushing out of his throat as he spoke; he starts coughing at this point, nonstop.


    He didn¡¯t tell them why he¡¯s here, or why he looks like this.


    And Mu Jiashi doesn¡¯t plan to ask.


    He¡¯s just taking it all in. So that¡¯s what happened. That¡¯s what this labyrinth was.


    Why build such disorienting coloured blocks? Possibly, it was identified as a weakness in this species. They are mentally vulnerable.


    These sharp, oversaturated colours are immensely uncomfortable for humans to look at, so they might have thought this would be effective against them.


    But, it turned out to be simple wishful thinking from humanity.


    Is that the truth behind this labyrinth, then?


    Mu Jiashi stands up, and looks back at Fei, Wu Jian and Mystic. All three Missiontakers look quite distressed, especially Fei, who is already tearing up. Mu Jiashi thinks, he probably looks no better than they do.


    He wants to tell them, it¡¯s time to go. They need to move on. But some kind of terrible sentiment is gripping at his legs, making his mind cold, drenched, locked up.


    He looks at the other Missiontakers. The other Missiontakers, look right back at him.


    boilpoil''s notes:


    Well, I¡¯m sure this should come as no surprise having read all that shady Biler business X¨¹ Beijin set up in previous chapters, but it turns out to be aliens behind the madness and Raining Hellfire.

 Volume 7 - CH 127.2

    All the Missiontakers are silent.


    In the end, Fei wipes her tears and approaches the limbless person, asking with a rather harsh tone, ¡°what did they do, after destroying the labyrinth?¡±


    Why are the humans in the Tower? Why have they lost all memories of what happened after the Apocalypse began?


    Yet the person does not answer.


    Mu Jiashi repeats the question.


    This time, the person answers slowly, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I, died here.¡±


    He moves his head a little, trying to look at himself, but he can¡¯t, and gives up. Then he says, ¡°died like this.¡±


    Fei only feels a deep emptiness.


    They¡¯re so close to the truth now, but, they still don¡¯t have the answer to what has troubled them in the beginning.


    The Earth is over. Humanity is over. They know all that now.


    But, why the Tower? Why is there this Tower?


    Mu Jiashi also knows why Fei asked, and tells her, ¡°this question might be something only NE can answer.¡±


    ¡°And X¨¹ Beijin,¡± Fei says, ¡°he might know.¡±


    Mu Jiashi appears hesitant, then he suggests, ¡°we¡¯ll try that next run. We should go now, and look for¡­ the exit to this labyrinth.¡±


    Fei nods¡­


    Yet when they¡¯re about the leave, the person lying on the ground says, ¡°it¡¯s a waste of time.¡±


    The Missiontakers all pause in place.


    Looking up, the person tells them, ¡°to trap ¡®them,¡¯ we didn¡¯t build an exit to this labyrinth.¡±


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s expression changes wildly.


    Then the person adds, ¡°of course, there isn¡¯t anything dangerous in here.¡±


    Humanity only wanted to make ¡®them¡¯ hostages to negotiate with the species behind it. Yet, they couldn¡¯t even achieve the first step.


    Since the very beginning, this labyrinth was built to be a prison.


    Originally, to trap their enemy. Now, it trapped themselves. Fate is fickle, farcical, and rarely fortuitous to people.


    Mu Jiashi stands there, with countless thoughts crossing his mind. His face, decorated by the shifting colours cast all around him, is made all the more unreadable.


    Silence reigns. It seems to take him a long time to accept this fact, and think about how to deal with this situation.


    Finally, he ends, ¡°let¡¯s go. We need to look for the others and tell them about this. We could also dig up more information using Ding Yi¡¯s card from the other people that are still alive here.


    Without the utility card, I suspect it would be far more difficult and complicated.


    And¡­¡±


    Wu Jian asks, ¡°and?¡±


    ¡°And, we need to ask X¨¹ Beijin,¡± Mu Jiashi says, ¡°he¡¯s the owner. He also said that this scene is the one he¡¯s been looking for. So, he should know, what we are supposed to do instead of finding the exit.¡±


    Wu Jian nods; he looks to have recovered emotionally, or, possibly not having a comprehensive understanding of all the information he just received.


    He merely comments, ¡°can¡¯t believe this bloody place doesn¡¯t even have an entrance.¡±


    Mu Jiashi replies nonchalantly, ¡°they built it without an exit anyway¡­¡±


    He hasn¡¯t even finished when Mystic suddenly turns to stare at him, with an expression of clear shock.


    Mu Jiashi, confused, but also knowing that Mystic¡¯s senses would sometimes be right on point and cannot be simply ignored, asks, ¡°did you feel something?¡±


    Mystic remains frozen like this for a bit before saying, ¡°it¡¯s a¡­ strange, inkling. A¡­ d¨¦j¨¤ vu.¡±


    D¨¦j¨¤ vu?


    Fei and Wu Jian almost immediately find their thoughts occupied with the office building that had deeply troubling elevators.


    Fei asks, ¡°what kind of d¨¦j¨¤ vu? Do you see anything specific?¡±


    Mystic looks bewildered now, slowly shaking her head and mumbling, ¡°I can¡¯t remember¡­ But it¡¯s just, familiar to the ears.¡±


    Wu Jian scratches her head and tries to take a guess, ¡°Mu-ge said this was a place ¡®built without an exit,¡¯ so does it mean this place might have an exit after all? Or not? The Nightmare owner is here, too; he won¡¯t just let himself be trapped, would he?¡±


    So Mu Jiashi intuitively concludes, ¡°this means this place must have an exit.¡±


    Then Fei¡¯s expression changes rather drastically.


    Mu Jiashi asks, seeming somewhat anxious, ¡°what¡¯s wrong? Do you have something?¡±


    ¡°The Tower¡­¡± Fei appears to doubt herself, but still ends up saying it quietly, ¡°the Tower has no exit. But, we can still leave?¡±


    ¡°He said no exit was built, but X¨¹ Beijin told us that the Ultimate Nightmare had an exit within¡­¡±


    Mu Jiashi abruptly stops speaking.


    His face sours once more. He¡¯s just realised something terrible and dark. Demons are screaming right into his ears.


    Fei, shivering, says, ¡°what if the Tower, really had no exit? What if the ¡®exit¡¯ he told us isn¡¯t what we imagined¡­ Just like this labyrinth, it was a prison without any exit?¡±


    Mu Jiashi does not reply. Instead, he says, ¡°never mind all that. I¡¯m still willing to believe, that we can leave,¡± he mumbles to himself, ¡°yes. I am willing to believe.¡±


    Fei opens her mouth multiple times, and finally says, ¡°I think so, too.¡±


    Wu Jian quickly turns the mood around as they leave this corner to look for their other companions.


    He Shuj¨¹n and the others turned left repeatedly at the second intersection on the path to the right, until they ended up in a small room hidden away from the labyrinth at large.


    They thought they¡¯d meet ¡®someone¡¯ there, but it turned out, this ¡®someone¡¯ was more like something akin to a corpse lying on the ground¡ª¡ªYes. Just ¡®something,¡¯ because you can barely tell it is still a human.


    A tattered body. Facial features are unrecognisable. Limbs are curled up on his body. He leans right at the far corner of this hidden room, not reacting at all to the four strangers walking in.


    It¡¯s difficult to say what he has experienced to end up like this from the appearance.


    Maybe he¡¯s been through torture, or maybe, his body was drenched in a torrent of water until everything became bloated, from his clothes to his body.


    He Shuj¨¹n and A-One look quite hurried when walking in, while Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Ye Lan merely looked stern and collected, like they usually are.


    He Shuj¨¹n is the first to try and chat with the person.


    Yet, unfortunately, none of her questions could elicit a response.


    The person¡¯s eyes are all unfocused. He doesn¡¯t react to anything at all. He Shuj¨¹n suspects he might not even have heard what she said, since not even his eyes moved or ears twitched at all.


    A-One seems confounded by this, standing by He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s side, saying, ¡°this is weird. When we were here before, he would mumble stuff that are ridiculous. Why isn¡¯t he reacting at all now?


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ comes along and asks, ¡°what did he talk about before?¡±


    A-One recalls in his mind and then says, ¡°actually, these people would all talk about similar stuff, like being hopeless, thinking it was all useless and whatever, but none of it felt useful at all.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ looks disappointed, then starts speculating, ¡°so he talked before, but not now. Would it be because he has undergone changes between this Nightmare and the normal Nightmare in the Tower?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying, he¡¯s succumbed?¡± A-One falls into thought. He still hasn¡¯t internalised the fact that the people that appear in these scenes are the succumbed who failed to hold onto their sense of self.


    After thinking about it, he says, shrugging, ¡°it¡¯s possible, but how are we even supposed to gather information from him like this?¡± He rubs his chin, then suggests, ¡°maybe there¡¯s some condition to trigger?¡±


    Ye Lan also tries talking to the person, but she is ignored all the same. She shakes her head and says, ¡°let¡¯s go and check out the other places first.

 Volume 7 - CH 127.3

    The Missiontakers leave the cramped hidden room and continue heading east.


    Along the way, they swear their eyes are going to go blind.


    On the left, the right, on the ground they¡¯re standing on, are all large bright blobs that keep switching colours.


    Perhaps some people might find the colourful and jumpy environment lively and interesting for a few moments.


    But being inside for some time, plus the persistence of vision, means they only feel their vision dimming and depressing. They are barely stopping themselves from fainting.


    But stop they still do, and look up at the ceiling, but the ceiling has something subtly wrong with it.


    It¡¯s black, for sure, but it¡¯s also mirror-like. It¡¯s almost like a brilliantly colourful kind of black, with an almost mist-like, fantastical quality to it.


    The Missiontakers swear they¡¯d develop delusions if they stay inside any longer, like their forms would just sink into that deep darkness, being reflected on a pure mirror.


    He Shuj¨¹n is rubbing her eyes, sighing, ¡°why would this bloody place even exist¡­¡±


    She is complaining, and the other Missiontakers silently agree. This is a terrible place to be, especially painful for their brains and eyes.


    They stop for a short rest and continue forward. With A-One leading them, they aren¡¯t getting lost, at least.


    But because they¡¯re heading forward, Mu Jiashi and the others who are hurrying their way end up missing them.


    Mu Jiashi, Fei, Wu Jian and Mystic are also inside of this room hidden away behind many left turns now.


    Mu Jiashi sighs upon seeing the hidden room, empty save for the person on the ground.


    So he says, ¡°maybe we can try talking to him first?¡±


    His hair colour is still grue; the utility card is still active.


    The Missiontakers agree, and so Mu Jiashi walks forward and kneels by the person¡¯s side.


    Possibly thanks to the utility card, or if it¡¯s because Mu Jiashi already has the information from the other person, so this one speaks up after just a few questions.


    What he says is similar to the other person. ¡®They¡¯ are coming, and so they built this labyrinth to trap ¡®them.¡¯


    But it was a complete failure.


    This person looks equally dejected and hopeless when talking about this part.


    He is also part of the team who built this labyrinth, and also participated in its quality assurance. For them, this labyrinth was the entire embodiment of their hope.


    Perhaps, it is the same for all of humanity as well.


    However, they failed.


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s thoughts are digressing, though¡ª¡ªReally? Did they really fail? Was that what happened?


    His mind answers, yes, they failed.


    Defeat. The word makes Mu Jiashi feel distinctly complicated. Once, he also felt trapped, enervated, and unable to escape from something similar.


    That was a personal failure of his. But here, they are facing the failure of the whole of humanity.


    An individual who is wrapped up in something as terrible as this would appear to be entirely useless.


    Just like the builders of this labyrinth says, ¡®they¡¯ appear to be creatures magnitudes more superior to humanity.


    In the blink of an eye, they can destroy what they have achieved in an entire month, their hope that has been built up for an entire month.


    The person continues talking about this in a whisper and keeps repeating himself. It¡¯s like he is also trapped in a labyrinth in his mind ¨C he is trapped here, by himself.


    This should be quite obvious. He is a succumbed Tower resident. A loser who remains succumbed in this Nightmare, without even his sense of self.


    After the largely fruitless conversation, though, the person mentions something the other person didn¡¯t talk about ¨C he talks of a traitor among humanity.


    Traitor?


    Mu Jiashi can¡¯t help but fall silent.


    The strange feeling ends up vindicated, it seems.


    When the person says, all of humanity united to build this Seven Wonders-level of labyrinth, Mu Jiashi was already feeling that something was off.


    Working together? Even in the times of their memories, when the world was largely at peace, unity was a far less commonly employed word than divisive when used to describe humanity. Everyone knows, humans are like that.


    Even when a common enemy has surfaced, some might stride forward, but others will just end up weak in their knees.


    Was this really a product of humanity¡¯s unity? Or just one desperate struggle?


    Also, Mu Jiashi also finds himself unwilling to admit that, humans, in the face of that intelligent lifeform, would be so utterly useless.


    One month, and the blink of an eye¡­ is such a stark, utter contrast that makes Mu Jiashi feel dazed and in disbelief.


    So to him, the existence of a traitor would be a welcome excuse.


    That said, the person from earlier didn¡¯t mention the traitor at all. Instead, it¡¯s this person who lies alone in this cramped, hidden room that says, ¡®traitor.¡¯


    Mu Jiashi is eyeing the person rather suspiciously. This person still has his arms and legs intact. While his mind is clearly muddled, and it can certainly be argued that he isn¡¯t far from death¡¯s kneel either, but he¡¯s still in a far better state than the person before. When the victors weren¡¯t humans.


    So who was the traitor?


    Mu Jiashi has an answer already.


    And he has already lost interest in further communication with this person.


    The person who continues to murmur, ¡°traitors¡­ traitors¡­ ¡®they¡¯ didn¡¯t value or need a traitor. They were always, the superior species.¡±


    He says with a tone that could even be said to be melancholic.


    Mu Jiashi stays like that for a moment, then stands up and leaves this place without another word, not even parting with the person. The other Missiontakers follow closely.


    On the long hallway decorated with confusing streaks of light, Mu Jiashi deeply inhales and exhales, then says, ¡°let¡¯s go. We¡¯ll try the middle path.¡±


    Wu Jian says, ¡°when A-One and A-Two were exploring, they said they didn¡¯t encounter anyone else on that path, I think?¡±


    Fei nods and says, ¡°yes, but¡­ what if there¡¯s someone who knows this scene better than the two of them here?¡±


    She doesn¡¯t name names, but everyone knows she is referring to X¨¹ Beijin.


    And just as she suggested, X¨¹ Beijin and his companions have found someone.

 Volume 7 - CH 128.1

    The central path of the labyrinth leads straight to the other end, with countless intersections leading to other paths, but the Missiontakers do not take any of the sideways.


    At the very end, a wall formed by more blobs of changing colours blocks their way, leaving them having to turn either left or right.


    A-Two tells them, ¡°we¡¯ve walked both directions and didn¡¯t find anything.¡±


    He followed behind Lin Qin and X¨¹ Beijin the whole way, and is rather quiet. Besides when he is needed, he isn¡¯t one to initiate a conversation.


    This is the first time he¡¯s spoken since the Missiontakers split up, only speaking because the wall necessitates directions.


    Lin Qin has been supporting X¨¹ Beijin the whole way. Even though the young man didn¡¯t look so pale anymore since entering the labyrinth, Lin Qin still doesn¡¯t let him go.


    He has moved his hand from supporting X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s arm down to his hand.


    They¡¯re holding hands.


    X¨¹ Beijin is actually a little bit embarrassed, but noticing that A-Two is keeping some distance away quite appropriately, he can¡¯t help but first be relieved, but then be even more agitated.


    What in the world?! Is it that obvious between him and Lin Qin? Aren¡¯t they here on a grand quest to save the world?! Why is this Missiontaker staying so far away?


    Lin Qin has also noticed A-Two staying away from them, and is both surprised and happy about it.


    He glances over at X¨¹ Beijin next, and asks, ¡°are you trying to find something in the labyrinth?¡±


    ¡°First, the others need to figure out the truth,¡± X¨¹ Beijin thinks then responds, ¡°the next step, will be to find a specific person.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin shakes his head and doesn¡¯t answer directly. Instead, when they¡¯re at the end of the central path, X¨¹ Beijin says, facing the flashing wall, ¡°we need to walk behind this wall.¡±


    ¡°Behind?¡± A-Two goes wide-eyed for a moment, then says, ¡°let me think¡­ I think there¡¯s a path there, from the left side.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin nods and says, ¡°let¡¯s go¡­¡±


    A-Two leads the way next, taking them to where, cardinally, it would be behind the wall when facing the central path.


    A-Two is wondering what there could be behind the wall.


    They¡¯ve been to this Nightmare a few times but haven¡¯t found anything there. It was more empty corridor and turns.


    Yet when they make another turn to go forward, Lin Qin suddenly interrupts to say, ¡°this is the wrong direction.¡±


    ¡°Wrong direction?¡± A-Two is stupefied, and says, ¡°but¡­¡±


    He looks back and tries to recall all the paths they¡¯ve taken so far since entering, but the more he does, the more he finds himself confused.


    He realises, he¡¯s lost his sense of direction in this labyrinth.


    He does remember the path, but whether it leads to where he thinks they¡¯re going, is questionable.


    ¡°So¡­¡± A-Two, uncertain, asks, ¡°did this labyrinth get built with this misdirection built in? Are the angles subtly off from being right angles? Or, are these flashing colours causing some disorientation in our brains¡­¡±


    A-Two starts glancing over at Lin Qin by this point.


    Of course, he isn¡¯t doubting Lin Qin; first off, this crownless King of the bottom floor always seems to have something about him that makes people feel reassured. That¡¯s how strange his powers are.


    Second off, X¨¹ Beijin said they need to go behind this wall, but A-Two has been there and didn¡¯t see anything. So he¡¯d rather believe that they went somewhere wrong rather than X¨¹ Beijin being wrong.


    Though this brings up a question ¨C if this labyrinth confuses direction all the same to enemy and friend alike, then why is Lin Qin immune?


    X¨¹ Beijin, meanwhile, isn¡¯t at all surprised by what definitely isn¡¯t the first time Lin Qin has demonstrated his special senses. He¡¯s always acted with capabilities beyond what other Missiontakers can achieve, but no one has taken notice, that¡¯s all.


    Partly, it¡¯s because Lin Qin isn¡¯t aware or knows why, and also partly, because he has stayed on the bottom floor all these years.


    Then there¡¯s the fact that, despite all his strange qualities, people have always ended up ignoring it one way or another. It¡¯s quite jarring when pointed out, frankly.


    X¨¹ Beijin is remembering his earlier speculations.


    Lin Qin¡­ he has to be special, hasn¡¯t he?


    Then he takes a deep breath and examines Lin Qin with worrying eyes. This is probably a question he would only have an answer to after he finds NE.


    Or possibly¡­ He could look for NE together with him.


    It might be safer, both for him and for Lin Qin¡­ And maybe you can also call this his whim. If anything were to happen on his way to NE¡­


    ¡°Lin Qin¡­¡±


    While A-Two is still worrying about the directions ahead, he hears X¨¹ Beijin call out to Lin Qin with a solemn tone. So he looks over as well.


    Lin Qin asks casually, ¡°what¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°If I am going to die, would you be willing to join me?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Lin Qin, both astonished and elated, says, ¡°I¡¯d be really, really glad to.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin then gives Lin Qin a really complicated look, telling him, ¡°you don¡¯t have to, you know.¡±


    ¡°No way!¡± Lin Qin suddenly starts shooting off angrily, ¡°I just agreed to! When you die, I¡¯ll follow you!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Not sure whether to tear up or just laugh at this point, he just sighs, and tells Lin Qin, ¡°I see.¡±


    Lin Qin still looks worried, though, asking, ¡°do you really understand? You can¡¯t do dangerous stuff behind my back¡­ You can¡¯t! You must let me know!¡±


    Though his words are forceful, he is also powerless; powerless, just as he was when X¨¹ Beijin appeared outside of this labyrinth with his skin as pale as a ghost. He swears his heart stopped beating for a second there.


    The person he loves is suffering where he can¡¯t see, but he isn¡¯t willing to tell him either. He merely brushes off the issue on his body.


    Lin Qin is angry, but he cannot lash out on X¨¹ Beijin either.


    However, he thinks X¨¹ Beijin cannot¡­ cannot just be like that. He cannot just keep everything from him anymore. They¡¯re so close together now¡­


    Lin Qin is glaring at X¨¹ Beijin, with slightly puffy eyes, trying to look intimidating, but it looks more like he¡¯s going to cry instead.


    It¡¯s probably the first time Lin Qin has experienced such intense emotions. He stares at X¨¹ Beijin, and finally says, ¡°if I didn¡¯t know I really like you, I¡¯d definitely think you are an evil enemy,¡± he thinks some more, then says, ¡°yeah, I¡¯ll brawl with you.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Lost for words, he just says, ¡°I¡¯ll brawl with you later.¡±

 Volume 7 - CH 128.2

    Lin Qin is surprised.


    He looks at X¨¹ Beijin curiously, and asks with doubt in his tone, ¡°really? I thought you never wanted to brawl.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°you¡¯ve asked to for so long now¡­¡±


    Lin Qin then thinks about it and clarifies, ¡°I mean actually brawling, though, and not ¡®brawling.¡¯¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Who cares what kind of brawling you are referring to! Why on Earth is there a mind that operates like Lin Qin¡¯s¡­ He¡¯s not brawling anymore! Damnit!


    His ears are red, but he narrows his eyes and expressionlessly averts his gaze as if nothing¡¯s wrong.


    Lin Qin is smiling at this sight instead. That¡¯s the X¨¹ Beijin he¡¯s familiar with right there.


    A X¨¹ Beijin who would be pissed at whatever Lin Qin said, but then go sulk by himself.


    Not far away, A-Two is being ¡°¡­¡±


    He quietly shifts his legs a little to stay further away from this couple.


    Seriously, after all this time stuck in the Tower, it¡¯s been a dog¡¯s age that he¡¯s felt like a cockblocker so obviously¡­


    Soon enough, X¨¹ Beijin calms down and looks over at A-Two, possibly pondering what to say.


    Finally, he gives up and tells Lin Qin, ¡°let¡¯s go. You lead us.¡±


    Lin Qin nods and they make a turn in another direction. Then a few moments later, goes through several turns at once.


    By this time, the flashing walls of the labyrinth is already confusing A-Two¡¯s senses so much he isn¡¯t even sure if they¡¯re walking in a straight line or making a turn anymore.


    Lin Qin, though, still looks serious and unaffected entirely by the strangeness of this place.


    A few minutes later, they make another turn, and finally arrive at a relatively open area.


    Here, they find someone.


    A-Two immediately tries to reconstruct the path they travelled in his mind to establish a map, and moments afterwards, he says, surprised, ¡°is this right at the¡­ centre of the labyrinth?¡±


    Lin Qin replies, ¡°almost, yeah. Slightly south of that.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks over at that person.


    A middle-aged man wearing a black suit. While the costume is usually uppity, it is rather worn down, and the man himself is quite unkempt to boot.


    Who knows how long he¡¯s been standing here alone, blanking out in silence, just looking at the wall with unblinking eyes.


    Though he quickly turns his head around, alarmed at the strangers¡¯ arrival.


    A-Two remarks, ¡°we¡¯ve never met him before.¡±


    Then the four of them all go quiet.


    The middle-aged man seems wary and also lucid enough, but there¡¯s no hostility. It¡¯s like he hasn¡¯t succumbed to the Nightmare or gone mad in the first place.


    But someone who is inside of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare and in the grey fog is by definition succumbed. He is trapped in this Nightmare.


    Finally, X¨¹ Beijin speaks up first.


    ¡°Dr Chen. We finally meet.¡±


    The rest of them all widen their eyes for a moment.


    The middle-aged man does not know why this young man knows him; Lin Qin and A-Two are merely surprised X¨¹ Beijin knows who this man is.


    But Lin Qin settles down almost immediately. It is X¨¹ Beijin, after all. Nothing unexpected if he knows anything. In fact, to him, X¨¹ Beijin is almost omniscient.


    A-Two is darting his gaze in between X¨¹ Beijin and the middle-aged man, meanwhile.


    He¡¯s a Missiontaker from a higher floor who Mu Jiashi called back down from there, so he isn¡¯t someone too familiar with X¨¹ Beijin. In fact, he doesn¡¯t even know about the grand ¡®siege¡¯ the Missiontakers put X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore under. He hasn¡¯t even been through any Nightmares with him as an extra either. At most, he¡¯s heard of rumours surrounding his identity and some riddles from Mu Jiashi.


    That¡¯s all. He was a bit aware that they were doing something important in this Nightmare, but he hasn¡¯t steeled his resolve or whatever like the others.


    And obviously, he didn¡¯t place X¨¹ Beijin anywhere important in his mind, as usually, that would be meaningless ¨C Tower residents who are trapped all the same as they are, and more restricted in actions, wouldn¡¯t be able to learn anything more than they do now, can they?


    Why didn¡¯t they do anything if they did know anything important?


    This means that A-Two never really thought X¨¹ Beijin was all that important.


    He¡¯d work hard in the Nightmare and resolve obstacles, but expecting X¨¹ Beijin to play an important role was rather unrealistic for him.


    That¡¯s why he is astonished to hear X¨¹ Beijin call this new Tower resident ¡®Dr Chen.¡¯


    He knows who the man is? And before that, also where he is¡­


    This labyrinth¡­


    Suddenly, brilliance strikes A-Two, and he exclaims, ¡°you never lost your memories?!¡±


    He refers to the memories between the Apocalypse occurring and humanity entering the Tower.


    The gazes from both A-Two and Dr Chen makes X¨¹ Beijin quiet for a moment. He doesn¡¯t answer A-Two, and merely says,¡± Dr Chen Simiao. I¡¯m X¨¹ Beijin.¡±


    Chen Simiao is a man who appears to be in his forties. His eyes are calm, and he appears to retain reason.


    He still appears lucid, completely, though it wouldn¡¯t explain how he is in this Nightmare, or in the labyrinth.


    Chen Simiao finally speaks to ask, ¡°who are you? Why do you know my name?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks at the man, though a question pops into his mind.


    Is he the real Chen Simiao, or merely an Actor given the role of ¡®Chen Simiao¡¯?


    Or, does it really matter, if the Actor has succumbed and let ¡®Chen Simiao¡¯ take over him?


    Did the real Chen Simiao die at that moment?


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s thoughts are digressing, which means he answers after a rather notable pause, ¡°Doctor, regarding this labyrinth¡­ I¡¯m afraid I had to come to you, given you¡¯re its designer.¡±


    Chen Simiao¡¯s expression shifts rather dramatically.


    And so does A-Two¡¯s, because this is X¨¹ Beijin tacitly admitting that he remembers what happened before humanity has entered the Tower. Otherwise, how could he ever know Chen Simiao, or that he¡¯s the designer of this labyrinth?


    He¡¯s barely stopping himself from asking why they¡¯re in the Tower, and why they¡¯re trapped in this seemingly eternal prison.


    But he holds himself back, and instead, quietly listens to X¨¹ Beijin and Chen Simiao¡¯s conversation, returning to his usual calm self.


    Meanwhile, the other person present, Lin Qin, appears entirely unconcerned whatsoever.


    In fact, there¡¯s a vibe like he¡¯d have walked away from this boring conversation a long time ago if it weren¡¯t for X¨¹ Beijin being here.

 Volume 7 - CH 128.3

    Chen Simiao is looking at X¨¹ Beijin with uncertainty.


    His voice is a little dry, and his tone is almost desperate. He can¡¯t believe someone still knew who he was, or knew his past. He asks, ¡°but¡­ but, if you already know who I am, then what is there to ask? I have nothing I can tell you anymore¡­¡±


    ¡°The defect.¡±


    Chen Simiao immediately stops.


    X¨¹ Beijin slowly says, ¡°when you were building this labyrinth, there was a traitor among us humans. A traitor who sneaked into the design, construction and final quality check.


    They left a defect in this labyrinth, a defect that ¡®they¡¯ could leave from.


    I need you to tell me, exactly where that defect is.¡±


    Chen Simiao¡¯s body starts shaking. Grabbing his hair, with a painful expression, he yells, ¡°no! I can¡¯t tell you! It¡¯s¡­ I don¡¯t know! I don¡¯t even know!¡±


    ¡°Do you really not?¡± X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°your student betrayed humanity. He is the one to blame for all this. There was a slim hope we could have succeeded if not for him. He destroyed humanity¡¯s hope.¡±


    Chen Simiao is now kneeling on the ground. Veins are popping on his neck, as if he wants to explain, but there is nothing he can say. He cannot possibly excuse his student¡¯s sin.


    His favourite student.


    Some scenes flash before his eyes. The past he spent with his student. This labyrinth. And the last moment¡­ the moment of failure¡­


    Chen Simiao is a renowned architect. He had students all over the world, and he enjoyed a stellar reputation. He was one of the main designers of this labyrinth.


    He, and other architects and professionals of other fields, all built this labyrinth together, while they only had one week to come up with a design.


    It might have been the most complex architectural plan ever produced in the history of architecture.


    Chen Simiao himself toiled to perfect every detail, even foregoing sleep and whatnot. He and his student were solely in charge of, and are the only ones to have access to, the design.


    Chen Simiao and his student were the only ones to have ever touched the actual physical document, and the storage carrying the electronic document during transfers.


    In other words, any problems with the design must have been there on the document all along, while they were coming up with the baseline design in the very beginning.


    Chen Simiao knows he never left any design flaws to betray humanity. There was no way he could do that, so, it could only be¡­


    His student.


    But why? He knew his student was a studious, positive and inquisitive child.


    Why would he do that? What¡¯s the meaning of all that?


    He betrayed his own species, and he should know damned well that ¡®they,¡¯ the enemy, will never accept someone who betrayed their own species in the first place.


    Chen Simiao cannot comprehend.


    Not that anything would change whether he could understand his student or not.


    He just watched humanity falter. He watched humans become prisoners, including him.


    So here, he, alone, still lucid, but also insane, stays right there in the middle of the labyrinth, wondering©¤©¤Wondering, why?


    X¨¹ Beijin is not interested in the ¡®why.¡¯ He doesn¡¯t even know if this man really is Chen Simiao or an Actor Acting as ¡®Chen Simiao.¡¯


    Maybe he just learned everything from his assigned script and gone mad to assume the role of ¡®Chen Simiao¡¯¡­ Anything could have been possible.


    He has no interest in learning his thoughts, his image of his student, or anything else.


    He only wants to know¡­


    His solemn gaze exerts a powerful pressure. Staring at this middle-aged man, he asks once again, pronouncing each and every syllable clearly, ¡°where, is the defect?¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t tell you,¡± replies Chen Simiao.


    X¨¹ Beijin takes a deep breath.


    Chen Simiao starts incoherently blabbering, ¡°I can¡¯t possibly tell you. What are you trying to do with it? I can¡¯t tell you¡­ I don¡¯t even trust you. I don¡¯t believe¡­ There can¡¯t have been anyone who still knows about this.


    ¡°That is just your opinion!¡± X¨¹ Beijin, for once, is speaking with a slightly wrathful tone, ¡°but I have my ways. I can use the defect to¡­¡±


    ¡°But I don¡¯t believe you,¡± Chen Simiao stubbornly refutes, ¡°there¡¯s no way I will just give up the defect to any rando who just comes and tells me to.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin quietly glares at him.


    Lin Qin, standing by his side, gently grips his hand.


    X¨¹ Beijin breathes out. He can feel an anger bubbling in his chest, but he knows it would do nothing to help. He also has nothing he could do to force Chen Simiao to spit it out.


    So he changes the topic, ¡°it¡¯s because of you student, isn¡¯t it.¡±


    Chen Simiao holds his breath for a second.


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°if you made the defect known, it would have proven that your student is a shameless traitor. You don¡¯t want to admit that.¡±


    It¡¯s the first time X¨¹ Beijin has ever spoken using such harsh terms.


    Chen Simiao¡¯s face is all red, like a child being scolded for their mistakes. Even so, he still says, ¡°I will not tell you anything.¡±


    Lin Qin, seeing how difficult X¨¹ Beijin is faring, starts working his wrists.


    X¨¹ Beijin just sighs, and tiredly grabs Lin Qin¡¯s hand to say, ¡°it¡¯s useless.¡±


    Chen Simiao is still warily looking over at them.


    Lin Qin stares at him for a bit and asks, ¡°why?¡±


    ¡°Because he¡¯s insane,¡± X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°that¡¯s why he insists¡­ insists on thinking. It¡¯s already known to all that his student betrayed humanity, otherwise, ¡®they¡¯ couldn¡¯t have destroyed this labyrinth so effortlessly.


    But where exactly that defect is, is probably something only Chen Simiao and his student, who worked on the original design, would know.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s voice grows quieter as he speaks, almost turning into a whisper by the end.


    Lin Qin, confused, curiously asks, ¡°so what is that defect?¡±


    A-Two also can¡¯t help but perk his ears up.


    He¡¯s also curious what this defect X¨¹ Beijin and Chen Simiao referring to is.


    X¨¹ Beijin stays quiet for a moment, then finally answers.

 Volume 7 - CH 129.1

    ¡°In its design phase, the labyrinth utilised a rather deceptive technique.


    Here, X¨¹ Beijin pauses for a moment.


    He looks over at Chen Simiao, who is also looking back at him with a rather terrified expression, as if what he¡¯s going to say next, will sentence him to death.


    To be tortured by the fear and madness until actual release of death.


    He cannot snap out of the state either, because it was¡­ it was what he deserved to be tortured and punished by.


    By fate. He thinks of this as, fate¡¯s punishment for him.


    A glorious first half of life, until he fell from grace and became covered in the ashes of the fallout. Everyone despised him. Everyone hated him.


    It¡¯s like his fate was sealed, the moment he was put in charge of the design.


    But, Chen Simiao thinks, it wasn¡¯t¡­ wasn¡¯t even his fault¡­ His only failing¡­ was being unable to discern honesty from deceit.


    He believed in who he should not have.


    X¨¹ Beijin looks at him, and takes a breather before continuing, ¡°ultimately, it¡¯s because ¡®they¡¯ are different. The target the labyrinth is designed for, operate fundamentally differently to humans.


    ¡®They¡¯ are different ¨C and will not lose their sense of direction or be driven insane by such a construct. They would not be trapped.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but pause slightly and look over at Lin Qin.


    Lin Qin fails to realise why X¨¹ Beijin is glancing at him, and shows a rather inquisitive expression.


    X¨¹ Beijin is thinking about how Lin Qin also doesn¡¯t lose his sense of direction here somehow¡­ Not that it would prove anything, and merely adds to the countless mysteries already surrounding the young man.


    Then X¨¹ Beijin shakes his head slightly at Lin Qin to reassure him, and continues once more, ¡°but the nail in the coffin, is the defect left behind in the labyrinth for ¡®them.¡¯¡±


    ¡°What kind of defect?¡± Lin Qin wonders aloud, ¡°is the direction actually correct there or something?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ The direction is still wrong,¡± X¨¹ Beijin explains, ¡°but, the construction of that part was deliberately off by about a millimetre. The numerical data in the design paper was faulty. Put more simply, under the list of dimensions to use to construct this labyrinth, one typical angle was manually adjusted very slightly.


    So slightly it could have been argued to have been an oversight or a typo, but it was also avoidable if more robust mathematical double-checking was employed.


    Anyway, it meant that, constructed at the wrong angle supplied for the two pieces of walls, they would not snap together firmly enough. Instead, it leaves a gap¡­ a millimetre wide.¡±


    Lin Qin is certainly surprised.


    While A-Two, his jaw already on the floor, says, ¡°what?!¡± Then he gasps and asks, ¡°that¡­ wasn¡¯t discovered during the construction or quality checks?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s expression is cold; it¡¯s hard to tell if he¡¯s smiling. He says, ¡°it¡¯s because Professor Chen¡¯s student is also part of the quality assurance team. Our folly¡­ lies in too much trust placed in a single point of failure.¡±


    The student of the decorated professor Chen Simiao. A traitor of humanity.


    His name has already been lost to the long march of time since. Possibly because, when it was apparent the plan failed so dramatically, the chaos already engulfing humanity prevented any meaningful investigation from taking place;


    Or possibly, because the student was careful to ensure no traces were left behind.


    A millimetre. That¡¯s the width of the gap that made the ¡®impregnable prison¡¯ a shaky brick wall ready to collapse.


    Well, to be fair, even if the betrayal never happened, humanity would probably not have escaped this fate either.


    But he did, making the poignant tragedy into an absurd comedy.


    No one else faltered. Everyone agreed to fight on, even in a fight destined to lose, destined to hopelessness or comparable to suicide. No one thought of simply surrendering.


    But the central figure they placed an inordinate amount of trust in, failed them.


    Ah. The horror. The pain. When nothing was clear yet, when no victories nor defeats have been announced yet.


    They needed to try at least once¡­ An attempt, an effort¡­ But some have given up before even putting a foot forward.


    And the one to sell out the sellout, that informed X¨¹ Beijin of this traitor¡¯s existence and who they are, wasn¡¯t even human.


    Humanity at large wasn¡¯t even aware of the betrayal of the professor¡¯s student either. They might not even know someone was partly to blame for their resistance to have failed.


    Not that it mattered if they knew or not, if anyone came forward to speak or not, because humanity was at wit¡¯s end at this point. No one needs more news of hopelessness again.


    But that aside, the one who sold out the traitor, is the enemy of humanity instead ¨C who the traitor was trying to defect to.


    What do ¡®they¡¯ make of the traitor?


    Perhaps disdain, or even apathy. They might have utilised the defect that was given to them, but they turned around to look at the traitor from on high, and laugh. at them.


    No one would like a soldier that deserts on the battlefield. While selfishness is understandable, it is not excusable.


    So ultimately, X¨¹ Beijin ended up learning about this ¡®defect,¡¯ that might be the key to their escape from the Tower¡­ from humanity¡¯s enemies.

 Volume 7 - CH 129.2

    After the surprise has come to pass, A-Two thinks and then can¡¯t help but ask the obvious, ¡°but what use would a one millimetre gap have?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin tries to explain it in simple terms, ¡°for us humans with our physiology, it¡¯s of course useless, but for some, it¡¯s different.¡±


    ¡®Some¡¯?


    The enemy of humanity, ¡®them¡¯?


    At this point, A-Two is still a little confused by all this. He thinks he knows that humans have built this labyrinth to trap something, but what is that ¡®something¡¯?


    ¡®They¡¯ can even pass through cracks a millimetre wide?


    It¡¯s unfathomable to A-Two.


    Though this also proves that X¨¹ Beijin is really special, to know all this past, and even know how to get them out of this predicament.


    Then A-Two can¡¯t help but start wondering why X¨¹ Beijin never did anything in the past.


    He has heard that all he does is spend his days in the dingy bookstore he has on the bottom floor. It¡¯s almost like¡­


    There¡¯s something keeping him there.


    That¡¯s the thought crossing A-Two¡¯s mind.


    It doesn¡¯t sound implausible, given X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s obscene level of knowledge.


    Chen Simiao, who probably knows about as much, and the people related to this labyrinth, have all gone quite insane¡­


    But, wait!


    Suddenly, A-Two is recalling.


    The Nightmare this labyrinth was in, was somewhere in the higher floors that they¡¯ve been to.


    They also met many people in that Nightmare, many Actors, indeed. Even if an Actor has succumbed, there are always more to replace them¡­


    But, what about Chen Simiao?


    They¡¯ve never met this professor in the Nightmare. Maybe he¡¯s succumbed and no one knows.


    Though what about the Nightmare¡¯s owner?


    Who is the owner of the Nightmare? Clearly, they¡¯re not succumbed, and the Nightmare hasn¡¯t Collapsed.


    But the owner must also know a lot of details, right? Then it doesn¡¯t make sense that they couldn¡¯t learn any such information in the Nightmare back in the Tower.


    Unable to find an answer, A-Two decides to ask out loud.


    X¨¹ Beijin tells him, ¡°that¡¯s because the owner of this Nightmare is actually the opposite of what you¡¯re picturing. He is simply a bystander that wasn¡¯t involved in this business at all. He might know slightly more than your average clueless passer-by, like knowing humans built this, but he also didn¡¯t know what happened exactly. He only knows, he watched the labyrinth destroyed in all its infamy.


    Like those people who died in the madness and Raining Hellfire, they have no idea what¡¯s going on, but they witnessed it all happen.¡±


    A-Two nods, having understood the reason.


    So it turns out this Nightmare is a Nightmare of the average Joe. Maybe it¡¯s thanks to this that whatever Actor has this Nightmare didn¡¯t go mad.


    It¡¯s almost like a movie, in that regard. A nightmarish movie that took place in reality, that is.


    Some kind of disorienting sadness seeps into A-Two¡¯s mind, taking his mind off how X¨¹ Beijin knows so much.


    Actually, X¨¹ Beijin is equally shocked right now.


    This, being his Nightmare, means he actually has some degree of control over what he chooses to do.


    But the information he just passed on, is actually strictly forbidden by NE.


    He¡¯s never been able to directly explain Nightmares to others. In the beginning, he¡¯s tried every language trick in the book he can think of, but NE¡¯s restrictions were far too severe, they were debilitating.


    He has given up a really long time ago, but NE suddenly did a u-turn on this policy, even letting him just spill the beans on these truth.


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but lament how fickle fate is.


    Then he sighs in his mind and puts the matter aside.


    He looks at Chen Simiao, and wonders what he can do to make him open his mouth and tell him where the defect is.


    Not that he is completely clueless on where it might be, but he also only has a general area to work with.


    Besides, the preconditions for utilising the bug is yet to be in place. Instead of wasting the waiting time scouring every inch of wall there, it¡¯d be more productive to communicate with Chen Simiao, who knew where the defect was, he thought.


    Unfortunately, it turned out the professor was a far more obdurate person to work with than estimated.


    Observing X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s expression, A-Two asks, ¡°why do you think he wouldn¡¯t answer your question? Do you think¡­ he might not trust you?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks for a little and then nods, ¡°it¡¯s a possibility.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll be easy, then,¡± A-Two¡¯s tone grows a little less dreary, ¡°Mu Jiashi has a utility card he got from Ding Yi¡­¡±


    Then he explains the card¡¯s effects to X¨¹ Beijin.


    It¡¯s so fitting it shocks X¨¹ Beijin, and he nods, saying, ¡°great. Let¡¯s go look for them.¡±


    Then they leave this slightly open area of the labyrinth. Just before leaving, he tells Chen Simiao, ¡°professor, I hope you would realise something. Humanity was over at that moment, but right now, humanity has another fighting chance.


    Do you want to squander that by your own hands this time?¡±


    Watching Chen Simiao¡¯s jaw drop and face sour made X¨¹ Beijin slightly happier.


    True, he could have just had the Missiontakers sweep the walls in the area he knew for the defect, but it would have drained time and effort. If Chen Simiao would just tell them, it would save all of that unnecessary expenditure.


    Was Chen Simiao really unaware of what his student did the whole time?


    No one can answer that besides Chen Simiao himself. And whatever that answer, the past is in the past, and set in stone.


    X¨¹ Beijin gives Chen Simiao a final glance, before leaving this place with the other two.


    They returned to the original straight path of the middle. Then, they run into Mu Jiashi and the others.

 Volume 7 - CH 129.3

    Mu Jiashi couldn¡¯t find the four who headed to the right, and is on the middle path for X¨¹ Beijin and the two others; he was surprised when they seemed to emerge from a side path.


    Before he could even ask, A-Two, noticing Mu Jiashi¡¯s new hair dye job, happily calls out, ¡°great! Come quick! We need you to ask someone questions.¡±


    Mu Jiashi, though clueless, nonetheless follows after A-Two. They communicate their findings along the way, and everything is adding up.


    Mu Jiashi glances at X¨¹ Beijin, falling into thought.


    How¡­ is he going to put that defect to use?


    He¡¯s confused similarly to A-Two.


    Other than that, he¡¯s also wondering, if this gap that exists in reality would be reflected in the game.


    This is ultimately just a Nightmare in the Tower. Does it really recreate everything that exists in reality perfectly?


    Even such a tiny difference? And, even if the gap really did exist, how is it going to help them out here?


    Are they supposed to escape the labyrinth, the Nightmare, or even the Tower using this tiny gap?


    Mu Jiashi is confused.


    Clearly, X¨¹ Beijin needs it, however.


    And, while working with X¨¹ Beijin, they¡¯ve come to observe an unspoken rule, or a tacit, mutual cooperation, let¡¯s say.


    X¨¹ Beijin does not interfere with the decisions Mu Jiashi has to take regarding the Missiontakers to pick, and what he does in the Nightmares; Mu Jiashi wouldn¡¯t ask X¨¹ Beijin those questions that would be painful to answer.


    They will do their best in their respective objectives.


    X¨¹ Beijin needs a group of Missiontakers to achieve something in his Nightmare.


    Tool-persons, basically, which Mu Jiashi agreed to, believing that he could find out the truth in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare.


    Now, that truth almost seems within reach, right in front of them.


    Still, something is still missing¡­ something like, the Tower.


    Humanity had an encounter with inexplicable and unfathomable alien creatures, and attempted to build a labyrinth to force a negotiation with them; however, humanity¡¯s own level of development, and the traitor, has caused humanity to fail.


    Then what?


    Why did these alien creatures, why did ¡®they¡¯ lock humanity into the Tower?


    Is it really like that game design document Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ saw, and like what He Shuj¨¹n thought, that ¡®they¡¯ trapped humanity in the Tower for entertainment?


    And when did these aliens make contact with humanity? Were they also behind the two stages of the Apocalypse beforehand?


    Mu Jiashi now knows a lot, but he still has a lot he doesn¡¯t know about.


    On the other hand, the existence of that ¡®traitor¡¯ merely draws a sigh from him.


    After the talk and subsequent silence, they finally returned to the area.


    Chen Simiao didn¡¯t so much as move, still looking dazed, still silent, still thinking about some question that bugs his mind, it seems.


    He doesn¡¯t even so much as flinch at these people coming back for him, merely looking at them approaching.


    As the utility card is currently effective on Mu Jiashi, so he walks over to talk to him, and regurgitates what they¡¯re currently doing.


    They have to save humanity. They need where the gap is. That way, they will have hope to leave where they are trapped.


    Not that Mu Jiashi knows how the gap will help them, but he¡¯s able to talk with such convincing language that he could brainwash himself. He¡¯s genuine and firm.


    But Chen Simiao still would not budge.


    He shakes his head, and says, ¡°I might believe what you¡¯re saying, but¡­ but, I can¡¯t tell you.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Mu Jiashi is surprised. It¡¯s the first time he¡¯s encountered someone¡­ as nigh-uncooperative as he is.


    Ding Yi¡¯s utility card wasn¡¯t faulty, looking at how the two people they met earlier believed in them instantly and gave their information without a second glance. Why is it not effective on Chen Simiao?


    Fei, standing behind him, speculates, ¡°it sounds like he just cannot bring himself to face¡­ the fact that his student betrayed humanity at large.¡±


    Chen Simiao¡¯s face contorts painfully, almost like he¡¯s being electrocuted, with his whole body shivering.


    He yells angrily, ¡°no! I tell you! It¡¯s impossible! He couldn¡¯t have done it!¡±


    Even though he¡¯s screaming at the top of his lung, that anger fails to hide how desperate he sounds.


    Wu Jian quietly mutters, ¡°he¡¯s lying to himself.¡±


    ¡°Maybe even if his student personally admits that he betrayed humanity, he¡¯d still¡­¡± Fei says slightly sarcastically, then pauses and asks, ¡°his student¡­¡±


    Mu Jiashi wonders, ¡°would the traitor be that person we met before?¡±


    ¡°He might be too weak to walk over¡­ and he might not admit it either¡­¡±


    Fei says, shrugging, before suddenly remembering something else, ¡°the Devil¡¯s Mask!¡±


    The utility card that has been through many hands and hardships, which was largely what ¡®killed¡¯ Jiang Shuangmei was well.


    Mu Jiashi and Fei are looking at each other.


    Then Mu Jiashi says, ¡°the Devil¡¯s Mask¡­ should be in Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s hands right now.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei is more familiar with him than the others, and she also recommended him in the first place, which is why Mu Jiashi gave it to him.


    They haven¡¯t had any opportunity to put it to use since entering X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare.


    Until now, that is.


    Mu Jiashi looks like he¡¯s muttering something, before saying, ¡°we¡¯ll need to find the rest of the Missiontakers and group up.¡±


    Everyone agrees.


    Though it certainly isn¡¯t easy to look for their companions in such a large labyrinth.


    And unfortunately, when X¨¹ Beijin himself enters any Cell Nightmare, he can¡¯t leave via normal means to the grey fog, or he could check with his god¡¯s-eye-view where they are.


    Mu Jiashi doesn¡¯t want to push his luck by forcing the scene to repeat itself either.


    After thinking for a bit, he decides that they should split up again, in pairs this time, and look for the other Missiontakers in different groups.


    Of course, X¨¹ Beijin is excluded. One, they need someone to keep an eye here, and two, X¨¹ Beijin still looks rather ill here.


    So Mu Jiashi and Mystic, Fei and Wu Jian, Lin Qin and A-Two have grouped up.


    They¡¯ll head in different directions and return in thirty minutes.


    As Mu Jiashi now knows about the directions in the labyrinth as well, they¡¯ve decided to treat the central pathway from the entrance of the labyrinth as a baseline. They would ignore their cardinal senses, and only remember how to turn to return to the path in the middle.


    After arranging everything, they head out.


    Looking at Mystic by his side, Mu Jiashi feels a little confident.


    It was definitely correct to pick her to come to this Nightmare, he thinks.


    Though if he asked X¨¹ Beijin, he¡¯d probably tell them it¡¯d be quicker to rely on Lin Qin¡¯s monstrous instincts instead, which have never gone wrong, while Mystic speaks in riddles and her senses aren¡¯t always effective either.


    Speaking of which, Lin Qin is still clinging to X¨¹ Beijin to part with him.


    X¨¹ Beijin is speechless, telling him, ¡°it¡¯s only 30 minutes.¡±


    Lin Qin looks all serious, though, saying, ¡°you need to take care of yourself! Watch your surroundings! I don¡¯t want to see you wobbling again when I¡¯m back!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin wants to say, who you calling wobbling, oi!


    Though after a stare at Lin Qin, he just pats Lin Qin on the shoulder while holding in the urge to smile, ¡°believe in me. It¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    Lin Qin looks like he still has something to say, but he doesn¡¯t in the end. Giving X¨¹ Beijin a light hug, so light that it makes X¨¹ Beijin wonder if Lin Qin thinks he¡¯s weak enough that a touch could shatter him, Lin Qin whispers, ¡°please don¡¯t make me worried again, Beijin.¡±


    Lin Qin is always like this. He¡¯s got his stern poker face on, like he¡¯s angry, but he can never lash out at X¨¹ Beijin. All he could do, is just talk to X¨¹ Beijin dryly.


    X¨¹ Beijin widens his eyes a little, before saying, ¡°got it¡­¡±


    The Missiontakers have all moved out now, so X¨¹ Beijin and Chen Simiao are the only ones left.


    The changing colours hurt to look at, so X¨¹ Beijin looks up at the ceiling for a while, before shutting his eyes to recover some strength.


    In the meantime, he asks Chen Simiao, ¡°you do believe that we¡¯re trying to save humanity, but you don¡¯t believe that we can succeed, right?¡±


    Chen Simiao is still blanking out like he didn¡¯t hear X¨¹ Beijin at all, but finally, and slowly, he says, ¡°no, I don¡¯t. I cannot see anyway, that anyone could go up against¡­ ¡®them.''¡±


    The corners of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mouth are smirking in a rather derisive angle.


    Like student, like teacher, huh.


    Nothing would succeed if you¡¯d only think about it, true, but nothing would be destined to fail either, while it remains only a thought experiment.


    They need hope, and it¡¯s because¡­


    ¡°If I can do it¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin mumbles so quietly it¡¯s but a whisper.


    His body is very weak now. He thinks he might lose consciousness at any moment.


    His head is throbbing the entire time, but it¡¯s not too much unlike what he¡¯s been experiencing for so long here.


    He still hasn¡¯t given up.


    He suddenly turns his head in Chen Simiao¡¯s direction, and sharply, firmly glares at Chen Simiao. There is something about him right now, that not even his weak, pale appearance can conceal. He asks, ¡°what if I can do it?¡±

 Volume 7 - CH 130.1

    Chen Simiao appears to be in shock.


    Eyes widened, he is looking at X¨¹ Beijin with terror in his eyes.


    He would scream, but his voice actually lowers in volume instead, creating an almost threatening tone, ¡°how can you say that! How dare you¡­ How would you even do it?!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve done nothing yet, and you¡¯re already saying I can¡¯t?¡± X¨¹ Beijin throws the question back at him, ¡°why do you think I can¡¯t do it?¡±


    Chen Simiao just stares at him, like some kind of monster; after all these years, with humanity trapped in the Tower, too, someone jumps out to say, he can save humanity.


    Chen Simiao finds it laughable.


    How amusing.


    If he could do it, why didn¡¯t he do anything back then? Instead of now?


    Humans have already lost hope, and are going to live and die in the Tower. Then he jumps out, and says, he will save the humans?


    Wow. What a saviour you are. You jump out when you want to, but faff about when you don¡¯t want to?


    After that brief shock and disbelief, Chen Simiao is fuming instead.


    Not just from X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s calm attitude, but also¡­ because of a feeling of inferiority.


    What X¨¹ Beijin just said is ringing about his ears¡ª¡ªWhy did he immediately rule out his success?


    What if he could? If he really could, then why is he, why is Chen Simiao trying to stop him?


    So what if he told him about the gap?


    Chen Simiao doesn¡¯t believe anything other than ¡®them¡¯ could take advantage of it anyway¡­ Or rather, he doesn¡¯t believe humans would be able to exploit it at all.


    So what¡¯s the worst that could happen if he told X¨¹ Beijin? If it¡¯s all the same to humanity, then isn¡¯t it the same if he told or didn¡¯t tell him?


    He says it¡¯s useless so he doesn¡¯t tell X¨¹ Beijin, but¡­


    Chen Simiao finally comes to a conclusion.


    He, Chen Simiao, is a coward.


    He can¡¯t bring himself to face the fact that the student he is most proud of, is a traitor; he does not have the courage to go up against the ones who locked them up in this damned prison; he doesn¡¯t even dare to help others in their struggles for freedom.


    X¨¹ Beijin looks at him in silence, before saying, ¡°if you told me, and we succeeded, you¡¯re part of it; if you didn¡¯t, and we failed because of that, then, just like your student¡­¡±


    You¡¯d be a traitor to all humanity.


    ¡°Shut up!¡±


    As if the words are threatening to trigger some trauma of his, Chen Simiao screeches, with bloodied eyes and popping veins.


    No longer looking like an intelligent, educated professor, but more a patient for the psychiatric hospital.


    He probably knows it, too, as he drags on his tie and collar. His tattered, dirtied suit becoming even more ragged after the brutal treatment.


    Then he just sits on the ground where he stood, his head hanging low and watching the colours dance on the ground, which in turn, colours his expression changing and unreadable.


    A bit later, he says, ¡°I¡¯ve never¡­ I¡¯ve never betrayed humans,¡± his tone turns sombre, ¡°I love my species, I love Earth. I love my family, my friends, my students¡­¡±


    ¡°But that student never loved you. He betrayed you; he betrayed all humanity.¡±


    Chen Simiao shudders like someone who just woke up from a nightmare. He stays quiet.


    X¨¹ Beijin continues, ¡°I think you know what I want to say enough. You¡¯re wavering, too. Why are you not willing to tell us where that gap¡­ cough, gap, is?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin felt a wave of dizziness washing over him as the sentence progressed. He coughed and forced himself to finish the sentence.


    His face is as white as paint at this point.


    Chen Simiao can¡¯t see X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s plight, as he is too absorbed in his own thoughts.


    He mumbles, ¡°the gap¡¯s whereabouts¡­ whereabouts¡­ is that even useful?¡±


    He doesn¡¯t hear X¨¹ Beijin answer.


    After a bit, Chen Simiao looks up, to see the man who has been sternly coercing his cooperation, all limp, having slipped down the wall, without so much as a whimper.


    His eyes are shut. His head is hanging on his shoulders. The myriad of lights makes it impossible to tell the colour of his face, but it doesn¡¯t hide how handsome or¡­ weakened, he is.


    Chen Simiao¡¯s eyes widen, and he hurriedly stands to walk to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s side. He doesn¡¯t know what happened to this young man, or if it¡¯s safe to touch him. He just asks, ¡°what¡¯s wrong? Um¡­ Mr, Mr X¨¹? Are you alright?¡±


    Though calling out to him doesn¡¯t draw any responses.


    Remembering that this man¡¯s companions said to return in half an hour, he¡¯s panicking a little.


    Uncharacteristic for someone of Chen Simiao¡¯s age, and certainly worse than how you¡¯d expect him to react in such a situation.


    Being trapped in the middle of this labyrinth for years has clearly and irreversibly hampered his brain¡¯s logic and reaction capabilities.


    His memories and his sanity have been slipping. He is behaving unlike a man his age should behave. He has become ignorant, easily triggered, and paranoid. So right now, he doesn¡¯t know what he should do.


    Then, Chen Simiao stares at the unconscious X¨¹ Beijin, and says, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you where the gap is, so please wake up¡­¡±


    He¡¯s about to say it when he stops to mumble, ¡°no, wait, that¡¯s wrong. I should go look for your companions. You can¡¯t hear what I¡¯m saying right now. No¡­¡±


    After saying that, he turns to leave the central, flat area of the labyrinth.


    Leaving behind only X¨¹ Beijin, with furrowed brows and ghostly pale face, half-leaning, half-sitting on the wall, trapped in whatever nightmares the mind has conjured.


    Lin Qin¡¯s heart skips a beat.


    It makes him stop in his tracks and his expression clouds over immediately.


    A-Two is with him; the two of them headed to the right at the end of the middle path of the labyrinth.


    It¡¯s been about ten minutes, but they haven¡¯t run into anyone; Lin Qin has stopped, though.


    Given Lin Qin¡¯s inexplicably intact sense of direction in the labyrinth, A-Two is trusting the young man¡¯s lead without question. So he asks him, ¡°dalao, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    It was a momentary feeling, but his danger senses are blaring in full force.


    Lin Qin seems to fall into thought about how to describe the feeling, but gives up soon enough, and turns around without any hesitation.


    Not even uttering a word to A-Two in the meantime.


    Shocked, A-Two quickly follows, but unfortunately, he¡¯s completely unable to keep up with Lin Qin¡¯s rather inhuman speed.


    Though he also has an inkling of what must be going through Lin Qin¡¯s mind¡ª¡ªWhat could cause Lin Qin to react so drastically and worriedly?


    Of everything that is in this labyrinth, only X¨¹ Beijin could possibly elicit such a response.


    Though, X¨¹ Beijin should be with Chen Simiao right now, so that conclusion is making him deeply concerned. What¡¯s going on?


    Why is Lin Qin hurrying back that way? Could something have happened to X¨¹ Beijin?


    While thinking like that, they¡¯ve already returned to the middle of the labyrinth ¨C here, he sees Chen Simiao lying on the side, whimpering, like he was thrown there.


    Then A-Two sees Lin Qin and X¨¹ Beijin, who is in his lap; apparently, he¡¯s fainted. He thinks he is able to work out what happened.


    It¡¯s most likely that X¨¹ Beijin fainted, and so Chen Simiao wanted to get help, running into Lin Qin who was rushing back, and was then dragged right back here.


    Examining Chen Simiao closely, he can see him looking at Lin Qin with confusion and fear. It seems that is what¡¯s happened.


    Though that aside¡­


    What happened, to X¨¹ Beijin?

 Volume 7 - CH 130.2

    Lin Qin is also wondering what happened to X¨¹ Beijin.


    He¡¯s fainted, but he looks like he¡¯s having a nightmare instead.


    His furrowed brows, and the cold sweat, and his mouth that is mumbling something inaudible.


    Lin Qin is worried, anxious, and irritated. All the emotions mix together, to form something called, helplessness.


    He is watching the one he loved suffer, but he is unable to even share in the burden.


    Watching X¨¹ Beijin, his gaze changes subtly.


    He¡¯s always been a mad dog, and X¨¹ Beijin knows, though he¡¯d hide his nature a little when he¡¯s there.


    Lin Qin is now wondering, if he ends the Nightmare here, would X¨¹ Beijin be able to wake up?


    He starts considering the possibility.


    A-Two is watching Lin Qin¡¯s expression with worry. Something terrible might be happening. Then he looks at X¨¹ Beijin and quietly prays for him to wake up soon.


    X¨¹ Beijin is dreaming.


    Dreaming in a Nightmare. It sounds like a joke, but that¡¯s what is happening to him.


    He can feel some kind of warmth surrounding him. A realistic warmth, like someone is embracing him.


    He needs to wake up.


    But for this moment, do let him indulge in this dream for a bit. Just for a moment.


    He is dreaming of the past.


    He once told Lin Qin, that after graduating university, he went and took over the family bookstore.


    It¡¯s exactly what it sounds like. A small bookstore in a little town without much business day in, day out. X¨¹ Beijin himself was wishing only for an idyllic lifestyle, so he didn¡¯t need much money.


    His life was, well, as dull as dish water©¤©¤But in a different manner to how it was in the Tower, he was free.


    He could go on a trip if he wanted to, or laze about like a salted fish. Unlike in the Tower, when he has to force himself to idle as an Extra.


    Forcing himself to idle, isn¡¯t that much different to forcing himself to work, is it?


    But anyway, X¨¹ Beijin has been living quite the dream retirement life pre-Apocalypse.


    And his parents were even more free than he was, always traveling the world somewhere, probably forgetting they even have a son watching the bookstore at home.


    Then, the situation changed in an instant.


    The Apocalypse¡­


    Well, the word was something that would be brought up occasionally, or even often for some people, but enough in frequency that it¡¯s largely lost its horror element. It was just another common word for something that gets thrown around a lot.


    They didn¡¯t think something would truly happen that deserved the original meaning of the word. It was the stuff of legends and myths. Exaggerated after years and generations of retelling and reimagining, until it was some fuzzy, unclear kind of¡­ imaginary creation.


    So when the Apocalypse did happen, no one realised or called it that.


    The Missiontakers of the Tower now know it to be the Apocalypse, because they have the benefit of hindsight. No one knew in the beginning.


    They just felt that, there were a few more insane people around, huh? And murder cases are on the rise, like they usually do. The neighbours are arguing more. The traffic is getting worse. Hospitals are overflowing with patients.


    As they always bloody do.


    No one could associate this with the Apocalypse in their right mind.


    Who would? It¡¯s the life they¡¯re already used to. The minutiae is changing, little by little, and that¡¯s it.


    They won¡¯t think it¡¯s the Apocalypse. In fact, they don¡¯t even think their lives have changed any.


    ¡®Oh man, so many people have gone insane nowadays. Stress kills, am I right?¡¯ is what they would think.


    A casual conversation topic, all too easily abandoned for the next trough of topics.


    Things changed slowly, bit by bit, and life went on.


    It was that year¡¯s winter when X¨¹ Beijin received news of his parents¡¯ passing. They were in the south where it¡¯s warm, to stay the whole winter.


    They said they wanted to come back for Chinese New Year¡¯s, but they probably won¡¯t make it. They couldn¡¯t find any tickets.


    X¨¹ Beijin, bored, thought, maybe he could do something else than watching the CCTV New Year¡¯s Gala, his parents aren¡¯t going to be home anyway¡­


    He would never see them again.


    He wonders what separation in life and death truly meant. There¡¯s always been a bit of a distance between him and his parents. He can¡¯t tell exactly, but it¡¯s like, his parents are always so far away, perhaps as far away as the other side of Earth.


    Well, now they¡¯re on the other side of the river.


    In his dream, X¨¹ Beijin watches the familiar scene replay. A snowy, sleepy winter day, when he was informed of his parents¡¯ deaths.


    X¨¹ Beijin feels like, he is watching all this from on high, cold and distant.


    Why?


    Because he can¡¯t actually remember.


    Everyone thought he still remembered what happened in the Apocalypse, and still has all his memories. They thought he remembers everything that happened from the spread of the madness until humanity entered the Tower. Everything. Each and every ¡®memory.¡¯


    They thought he had the ¡®memory¡¯ of this man named X¨¹ Beijin.


    But he actually doesn¡¯t.


    He just ¡®knows.¡¯ Unlike the Missiontakers, who haven¡¯t even the inkling of what happened in the intervening time, he ¡®knows¡¯ what happened in the past, but he can¡¯t feel any sense of immersion, or feel it was what he went through.


    Because his memories are also cut off the moment before the Apocalypse ¨C it was a lazy afternoon when he was reading books, lying on the couch. His parents were downstairs, talking about where to spend that winter.


    Then, his memories are cut off. Some gargantuan, earth-rending black rift cuts though his mind there.


    After that, all the things he ¡®knew.¡¯ Messy, complicated, disgusting. Both his own happenings, and those of others. He ¡®remembers¡¯ them, all of them, unable to forget.


    Sometimes, he can¡¯t help but wonder, is this really what he went through?


    Did he actually receive news of his parents¡¯ death on a snowy winter day? Did it really happen that way?


    What about the others in his ¡®memories¡¯? Were their pasts exactly as depicted?


    When he once said that ¡®memories sometimes end up a curse,¡¯ he does not only refer to his own memories, but equally, the memories of the others¡¯ past that he remembers.


    All these memories add up to an overwhelming sense of despair for X¨¹ Beijin whenever he tries to view them.


    If they were all genuine, then everything is beyond saving.


    But if they were not, then, what was real?

 Volume 7 - CH 130.3

    X¨¹ Beijin quietly watches the scenes flashing like a mirage, like a kaleidoscope before his eyes.


    It makes him feel a sense of wonder. He didn¡¯t ¡®know¡¯ his ¡®past¡¯ at all, but his brain is able to recreate it so vividly.


    Then, a stranger thought hits him.


    Is he, dying?


    There¡¯s that thing about seeing delusions right before death, replaying the person¡¯s life before their eyes like a zoetrope. Letting them reflect on their life just before passing over.


    X¨¹ Beijin is laughing.


    He¡¯s not really laughing, but instead, just some terribly amusing trigger that makes him want to cackle spreading through his mind. Something is amusing to him, but what?


    He doesn¡¯t know either. It¡¯s just so funny, so farcical, so tragic, so poignant.


    So it¡¯s better to smile.


    Then, he remembers what Lin Qin said.


    ¡®You don¡¯t have to smile if you don¡¯t want to.¡¯


    So the urge to laugh is gone, just as mysteriously as when it came.


    Now, only an apathy remains. It¡¯s like a lucid dream. It¡¯s time he woke up.


    But he can¡¯t.


    Something has trapped him here. Something¡­ that¡¯s always¡­


    What, inside the Tower, could actually trap him?


    So X¨¹ Beijin suddenly understands. He ¡®speaks,¡¯ or perhaps, imagines speaking in his mind, ¡°NE, let me go. I have to resolve everything.¡±


    It¡¯s like some kind of veiled idea slowly lifting up from his chest, but he doesn¡¯t want to think about them. He just repeats himself, ¡°let, me, go.¡±


    Then his consciousness feels as if something silky has brushed past his face, and something left his brain in response. Then, he opens his eyes.


    Lin Qin is all ready to go berserk when he suddenly sees X¨¹ Beijin opening his eyes.


    At the same time, he hears X¨¹ Beijin complain with this suppressed and painful tone, ¡°damned NE¡­¡±


    ¡°NE?¡± Lin Qin wonders, then quickly asks, ¡°are you awake? How do you feel?¡±


    ¡°Little apple?¡± X¨¹ Beijin finally noticed that Lin Qin was here, as it were, saying, ¡°why would you¡­ well, I suppose it¡¯s the almighty instincts again. I¡¯m fine, don¡¯t worry.¡±


    Lin Qin sighs in relief, but his brows stay knitted.


    Standing nearby, A-Two is also relieved X¨¹ Beijin woke up, though the sudden term of address of ¡®little apple¡¯ makes him rather regretful he didn¡¯t block his ears up just now.


    Oh, dalao, please enjoy your more private moments somewhere less¡­ like this.


    Though what else could A-Two do but shift his footing a little ways away from them, while also keeping a close eye on Chen Simiao so that he doesn¡¯t run away.


    Neither X¨¹ Beijin nor Lin Qin notices what A-Two did, though.


    Lin Qin is now looking at X¨¹ Beijin doubtfully, asking, ¡°you¡¯re fine? You¡¯ve even fainted!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin has no response. He knows he¡¯s not got much credibility here, so he quickly starts calming his little apple instead, saying, ¡°don¡¯t worry. It was an unexpected accident. It was¡­¡± Hesitant, but he pushes on, ¡°NE. NE made me faint.¡±


    ¡°NE?¡± Lin Qin asks, ¡°but the others were saying that NE is on our side.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is quiet for a moment, before bitterly smiling and telling Lin Qin, ¡°it¡¯s¡­ difficult to say. It might be helping us right now, but I doubt it¡¯s actually on humanity¡¯s side.¡±


    Lin Qin furrows his brows, confused.


    This time, it¡¯s X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s turn to alleviate the wrinkles formed.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s tone is gentle and slightly throaty. Looking intently at Lin Qin, he tells him, ¡°believe me, Lin Qin. I won¡¯t ever lie to you. It was really an accident, and I guarantee that there won¡¯t be a next time.¡±


    He didn¡¯t lie to Lin Qin about how he can withstand the amount of dizziness striking him, as it was so in the grey fog.


    So the sudden severity of the last headache just now was completely unexpected, as he didn¡¯t realise how bad it was going to be.


    Lin Qin mumbles, ¡°you just always say that¡­¡± Then he moves on from the topic, and just proclaims, ¡°but I¡¯ll not leave your side anymore.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin turns to A-Two then, with a slightly embarrassed expression.


    When A-Two is about to talk, audible chatter starts to drift into the area from the outside. Looking at each other, nonplussed, they see Mu Jiashi and his companions have found the four other Missiontakers, and have returned here with Fei and Wu Jian.


    They¡¯re communicating about the information they have received. He Shuj¨¹n is quite audibly surprised with what they¡¯ve discovered so far.


    When they turn the corner and notice that several people are already here, they¡¯re all surprised.


    Mu Jiashi asks, ¡°you¡¯re already back? We didn¡¯t see you outside, and thought we¡¯d wait for you to come back here¡­¡±


    Then he stops talking.


    He can see that X¨¹ Beijin is sitting on the ground with his back leaning on the wall, and with an expression of deep exhaustion. Meanwhile, Lin Qin is kneeling with one leg on the ground, propping X¨¹ Beijin up almost with a hug.


    Mu Jiashi quickly turns rather serious and he asks, ¡°are you alright? Are we out of time?¡±


    Are they out of time?


    X¨¹ Beijin cannot answer. In fact, he also wants to know if that¡¯s the case. Otherwise, has NE gone mad?


    He averts the question entirely, answering, ¡°a little¡­ accident happened.¡±


    Mu Jiashi appears surprised, but then he looks like he understood what X¨¹ Beijin meant ¨C he¡¯s assumed this is another of those things X¨¹ Beijin cannot answer directly. In fact, X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t know the answer either.


    In any case, after the interlude, Mu Jiashi quickly turns his gaze over to Chen Simiao.


    Then he thinks and asks, ¡°who¡¯s going to use ¡®the Devil¡¯s Mask¡¯?¡±


    The Missiontakers look at each other, then moves their gaze onto Mu Jiashi in tandem.


    Mu Jiashi ¡°¡­¡±


    Has he spoiled these Missiontakers a bit too much?


    Feeling a little tired, in his mind, he is dissing these Missiontakers for being¡­ so unreliable!


    So he just takes the utility card from Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s hands. The way Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ hands it to him would almost make him think that the utility card is like some terrible curse that he¡¯d rather ¡®hot potato¡¯ it away¡­ Mu Jiashi is speechless.


    When he¡¯s about to use the utility card, though, Chen Simiao suddenly says, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you¡­ where the gap is.¡±


    Mu Jiashi stops, and looks at Chen Simiao, falling into thought. Then, looking at the utility card¡­ he smiles. It¡¯s better not to have to rely on utility cards to cheat anyhow.


    Because of Jiang Shuangjie¡¯s incident, he also doesn¡¯t feel comfortable with this utility card at all either, even though it¡¯s only one of the tools in this game.


    He hands the card back to Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ without another word, then stares right at Chen Simiao.


    Everyone is staring, too¡­ except Lin Qin, who is staring at X¨¹ Beijin, though the young man himself is also staring at Chen Simiao.


    Chen Simiao says, ¡°the gap¡¯s position, is right at¡­ the right side corridor from the entrance, on the outside wall. It is 370 metres from the entrance, about 30 centimetres long, and stretches from 150 to 180 metres off the ground.¡±


    After saying all that, he breathes out, like he just found solace in something.


    He looks like he still wants to say something, but now, his audience have already moved on hurriedly, to go where he just said.


    ¡°Thrown away as soon as I¡¯ve no value, huh¡­¡±


    Chen Simiao mumbles, with a sad smile. He knows, he deserves it.


    It¡¯s like there¡¯s a missing piece in his mind; he just admitted something, but also denied something, he thinks.


    And, after standing there gormlessly for a while, he quickly follows after the people who left.


    He also wants to know, how X¨¹ Beijin is going to use this gap to fix humanity¡¯s current predicament.

 Volume 7 - CH 131.1

    Everyone has gathered up, and moved where Chen Simiao told them.


    Mu Jiashi is squinting his eyes and observing closely, but he fails to see the gap at all.


    Blinking his dried eyes a few times, he asks, ¡°is it the lighting? Or maybe the design¡­¡±


    ¡°Or,¡± Fei says, drolly, ¡°the gap isn¡¯t in this game at all.¡±


    The Missiontakers go quiet after this.


    They don¡¯t know why X¨¹ Beijin is looking for the gap either, but since X¨¹ Beijin said it¡¯s what he needs, then the Missiontakers have decided to be hopeful about some secrets being hidden here.


    But right now, they can¡¯t even see the gap itself.


    Fei¡¯s guess is certainly possible.


    Perhaps the gap exists in reality, in that labyrinth on Earth.


    But they¡¯re in the game named ¡®Escape.¡¯ Would the game really recreate that detail perfectly?


    Besides, what could they do with a gap one millimetre wide?


    Slowly, everyone¡¯s gazes land on X¨¹ Beijin one by one. Some distance away from them is Chen Simiao, who followed along quietly, but no one is paying attention to him.


    X¨¹ Beijin is himself looking at the place Chen Simiao identified, but his gaze¡­ possibly because of the environment, or otherwise because of his emotional state, is rather flicker. He looks hesitant.


    He doesn¡¯t pay much attention to the Missiontakers¡¯ gazes himself.


    Staring at the area, X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°everyone, please walk back and forth ten times in front of this section of the wall.¡±


    The Missiontakers all look confounded©¤©¤What did X¨¹ Beijin just ask them to do again?


    The straightforward A-One already says, ¡°woah there, so we¡¯re literally tool-persons right now?¡±


    Well, he says he¡¯s treated like a pawn, but he¡¯s the first person to start walking as X¨¹ Beijin asked him to.


    X¨¹ Beijin points out the path to them ¨C some distance towards the entrance, to this gap, and slightly overshooting it; the path itself is about five metres long.


    While it¡¯s not far, but walking back and forth in such an area is quite dizzying to the Missiontakers indeed ¨C spinning in circles while sharp colours flashed all around them has made some Missiontakers look rather ill.


    Despite the confusion, they all followed X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s request to the letter.


    X¨¹ Beijin also pushes Lin Qin a little, saying, ¡°you go, too.¡±


    While Lin Qin would rather not leave X¨¹ Beijin leaning on the wall, all he could do is just give X¨¹ Beijin worried glances before going off, much quicker than the Missiontakers did, completely unfazed even after ten circles.


    Lin Qin is the last one to walk back and forth on the section of wall there; Mu Jiashi is closely examining the part of the wall Chen Simiao told them about. And the moment Lin Qin finished walking around, Mu Jiashi can clearly see that, as if part of the electronic display is broken, parts of the wall is erroneously colourless.


    Mu Jiashi can¡¯t help but rub his eyes.


    The others notice his reaction and also checks out the wall.


    They can all see that there is a black line, about thirty centimetres long, and about as thick as a strand of hair, suddenly making itself shown on the wall.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± He Shuj¨¹n blurts out with widened eyes, ¡°what¡¯s going on?!¡±


    The Missiontakers look at each other in disbelief, before all turning towards X¨¹ Beijin.


    ¡°It¡¯s a bug,¡± replies X¨¹ Beijin.


    The Missiontakers perk their ears up, not even wasting time to ponder why X¨¹ Beijin would know all this, but they just want to know what this weird line is.


    X¨¹ Beijin coughs a little, like he¡¯s pretending to clear his throat to mask his weakness.


    Lin Qin is looking at him quietly but with a rather dour gaze. It¡¯s quite rare to see such an expression on his baby face, which makes X¨¹ Beijin give him a curious look, before extending his hand to hold Lin Qin¡¯s, successfully calming the little apple down.


    Then he organises his thoughts for a while before answering the Missiontakers, telling them, ¡°this labyrinth and what happens inside is constructed based on the Nightmare owner¡¯s memories; that¡¯s the basis of all Nightmares, really.


    Therefore, this gap, if you ask the original owner of the Nightmare, does not actually exist. Nor would it exist in the Nightmare recreated thusly©¤©¤And just in case, I¡¯m using the term ¡®Nightmare owner¡¯ specifically. I¡¯m not talking about Tower residents.¡±


    The Missiontakers fall into thought, before understanding what X¨¹ Beijin is getting at.


    Tower residents are the ones who Act out the role of the owner of the Nightmare. They learn about the owner¡¯s identity and memories, but it doesn¡¯t change the fact that it¡¯s simply a plot.


    Of course, it¡¯s different for X¨¹ Beijin, who is actually Acting as himself here©¤©¤


    Not that that is something the Missiontakers need to know. It¡¯s too complex to explain for now.


    While Lin Qin¡­ well, he probably knew all along, thanks to his outrageous instincts.


    After mumbling about it in his mind, X¨¹ Beijin continues his explanation,


    ¡°But this game does not only reference the Nightmare owner¡¯s memories when recreating these scenes, because Nightmares frequently feature other¡¯s experiences or even happen to incorporate the scenes of others¡¯ Nightmares, so,


    When actually constructing the Nightmare, other people¡¯s memories are also used as a reference©¤©¤By other people, that usually means people who are part of the Nightmare as well.


    Here, X¨¹ Beijin pauses.


    The Missiontakers are already a bit numb. They have no idea why X¨¹ Beijin would even know how Nightmares are constructed in the first place.


    It only adds to the mystique already surrounding his identity, and made them question him being human more than ever.


    And also¡­ why are human¡¯s memories referenced when building scenes in this game?


    Perhaps an even more prudent question to ask is, why can ¡®they¡¯ see human memory? This question gets scarier the more one tries to think about it.


    Mu Jiashi himself is recalling the game design document Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Ye Lan saw.


    Did ¡®they¡¯ design this game based on that plan, or something similar? Then lock humanity inside?


    But the Missiontakers would rather stop thinking about such matters. The more they thought, the more they might end up losing all hope and can only despair.


    So instead, they decide to focus on what X¨¹ Beijin just asked them about.

 Volume 7 - CH 131.2

    For the same Nightmare, if different people remember it differently and causes a conflict, what would happen?


    Wu Jian gives a simple answer, ¡°then it should be based on the Nightmare owner¡¯s memories? Since it is their Nightmare.¡±


    ¡°No, that can¡¯t be it,¡± Fei shakes her head and points out, ¡°if it would go so far as to reference other¡¯s memories, it can only be to ensure authenticity.¡±


    Ye Lan furrows her brows a little, though, and says, ¡°but we couldn¡¯t see this gap earlier¡­¡±


    Then Fei suddenly comes to a realisation and says, ¡°exactly!¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ adds, ¡°because the Nightmare owner does not remember this gap, so it would be weird for them to see this gap in the Nightmare.¡±


    Looking at the obvious gap there, A-One says, ¡°it¡¯s still strange. This is so obvious, and almost right next to the entrance, too. Will everyone really miss this when they were quality checking?¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n suggests, ¡°though maybe the gap is actually how it appeared before, when we couldn¡¯t find a thing? That would be what the traitor would have wanted it to be.¡±


    Mu Jiashi chimes in all of a sudden, ¡°that¡¯s why, it¡¯s a bug.¡±


    The Missiontakers¡¯ chatter die down and many of them fall into thought.


    Mu Jiashi says towards X¨¹ Beijin, ¡°you said it¡¯s a bug, so was it what you made us do cause it to end up appearing like this?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is smiling a little, and nods.


    He explains, ¡°correct, we have to trigger the bug, so that you can leave.¡±


    Hearing that makes Mu Jiashi relieved. He is probably half-blinded at this point, and he¡¯s dizzy. Being able to leave this place behind would be a godsend.


    Though he then notices the word X¨¹ Beijin used is ¡®you,¡¯ and it rather puts a damper on his joy.


    After the brief silence, he asks, ¡°are you unable to leave this place yourself?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°I will, but not through the same way you do.¡±


    Before Mu Jiashi could say anything else, he says, ¡°as soon as Lin Qin and I enter the gap, you will be forced out of my Nightmare.¡±


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s eyes quickly widen, like he¡¯s hearing the most unbelievable thing ever.


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°a Special End, triggered by utilising the bug.¡±


    And he adds in his mind ¨C also, the only way to force a way out of his Nightmare.


    If he couldn¡¯t verify before that this bug wasn¡¯t fixed, then X¨¹ Beijin would never have let the Missiontakers in his Nightmare no matter what, nor himself for that matter¡­ unless he¡¯s lost all hope and is going to kill himself.


    Of course, the situation is far from being so grim and dire. They still have a fighting chance.


    But for Mu Jiashi, it almost sounds unreal.


    Looking at the gap that spans just about 30 centimetres, and looking back at the two big, grown men Lin Qin and X¨¹ Beijin, he¡¯s clearly confounded.


    Then X¨¹ Beijin decides it might be better to explain a little more.


    He asks, ¡°have you played video games before?¡±


    Mu Jiashi slowly but firmly nods.


    ¡°Back at its golden age, the screen shown to us in-game, relied upon different graphical assets.


    Through different types of models and images, they build up the world of the game.


    Higher resolution images and builds make the game more realistic; of course, cheaper, lazier ones save on costs but also make the game appear rushed or ¡®last-gen¡¯¡­ These were the video games of Earth.


    The same thing applied to this game, ¡®Escape.¡¯¡±


    While saying, X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but think how ridiculous it is that NE is even allowing him to name the game ¡®Escape¡¯ out loud. What in the world? Is he really so desperate right now¡­


    He¡¯s confused, but regardless, the mentioning of how graphics are handled on Earth has enlightened those who were avid gamers among the Missiontakers here.


    For example, A-One, who looks at the black gap, exclaiming, ¡°so this is a game¡¯s graphical glitch?!¡±


    He¡¯s astonished.


    This game they¡¯re in, the Tower that is practically indistinguishable from reality, also features such ridiculously rudimentary bugs?


    Though it¡¯s simply A-One vastly overestimating what this game was. It¡¯s only a video game, constructed artificially.


    Any programmer knows you can never squash all the bugs. It¡¯s simply that they haven¡¯t encountered any by luck.


    Speaking of bugs in a game, they¡¯re often entirely unexpected, in a way even the game developers would find absurd.


    For example, this graphical glitch here, which X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t really know exactly how it got there either.


    Maybe, while forming the game, the modelling was based on memories of the Nightmare owner, but then the actual shiny coloured blocks followed some average of everyone¡¯s memories? It¡¯s one possible way to generate such a discrepancy here.


    Who knows how it got there. But the good news is that, this is helpful.


    This bug can be taken advantage of.


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°Lin Qin and I will enter this via¡­ some means. Inside, is a¡­¡± he tries to scour for a suitable word, and says, ¡°shortcut,¡±


    Shortcut?


    The Missiontakers had no time to react before X¨¹ Beijin finishes his sentence, ¡°¡­ to the top floor of the Tower.¡±


    The top floor of the Tower?!


    Mu Jiashi¡¯s expression changes dramatically, and he asks desperately, ¡°the top floor? What is there? Is there the key to the Ultimate Nightmare what you said?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± X¨¹ Beijin shakes his head, and explains, ¡°I¡¯m going to go see NE.¡±


    Mu Jiashi is at a loss for words. Again.


    He realises he doesn¡¯t know what he should ask. X¨¹ Beijin knows so much, and they, so little.


    And making X¨¹ Beijin explain himself here, feels like wasting everyone¡¯s time.


    So, after being silent for a while, he moves aside, to give him a way.


    The Missiontakers all follow suit, allowing X¨¹ Beijin a straight way to that gap.


    Something about this touches X¨¹ Beijin on the inside. Maybe, it¡¯s the trust and support these Missiontakers are vesting in him. Maybe, it¡¯s because he¡¯s finally about to meet NE¡­ Maybe¡­


    So many things, make him want to say something right here, right now.


    He thinks for what feels like a really long time, and he finally says, ¡°we can succeed.¡±


    Everyone¡¯s gazes are trembling a little.


    X¨¹ Beijin feels like, this is an atmosphere where he is sure what he should say.


    It¡¯s like he¡¯s using so much time to think of what to say before he can say it. He slowly tells them, ¡°I will see NE, open the Ultimate Nightmare, and¡­ freedom will be there at last.¡±


    He doesn¡¯t specify for whom.


    Though the Missiontakers didn¡¯t need him to specify either, as they are already overjoyed hearing all that.


    X¨¹ Beijin stands there, looking at them, and also, breaks out into a smile.

 Volume 7 - CH 131.3

    Then X¨¹ Beijin turns to more serious matters, telling the Missiontakers, ¡°after we enter this gap, you will end up back in the bottom floor of the Tower; earlier, I asked Ding Yi, Dai Wu and Su Enya to do a favour for me. Please help check in on them.


    Even now, X¨¹ Beijin is still not revealing what the ¡®something¡¯ is.


    Though just now, he also didn¡¯t tell the Missiontakers why they have to walk back-and-forth. The Missiontakers chose to trust him, and the result was fruitful as expected.


    So Mu Jiashi agrees without a second thought.


    He is also quite emotional right now. Next, they¡¯ll have to fight on separate battlefields in the Tower. They have their own battles, all for the one common goal.


    Mu Jiashi opens his mouth. He thinks he should say something at this point, but it seems he is also at a loss for what to actually say; he can talk for hours analysing a Nightmare, but other times, he is quite often unable to make small talk and such.


    So after a long time, he finally manages to produce a, ¡°we will. Take care.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin said it¡¯s a shortcut, but it¡¯d be na?ve to assume this shortcut is entirely safe. Also, X¨¹ Beijin still looks pale as ever. His loss of consciousness earlier is a source of worry as well.


    Possibly, that¡¯s why he is taking Lin Qin with him. At least, he¡¯d be able to protect him come what may.


    Mu Jiashi then glances over at the gap again. A shortcut. Is it behind it, or exist in some other form?


    The mood gradually sinks. No one knows what to say at this point.


    It¡¯s almost dreamlike, but everything is far from over, even if they think they¡¯ve already done what they could.


    Fei and Wu Jian are covering their mouths with their hands, like they would cry of joy at any moment now. When they first returned to the bottom floor, no one could have imagined that this is what they could have come to participate in.


    No one could have known, no one would have known, that they¡¯re actually making history.


    Creators of history, and not merely observers.


    With the Missiontakers on the sidelines, watching, X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin are walking right for the black gap of the wall slowly but surely.


    The colours are still flashing all around. The black, restless ceiling almost resembles the background of the universe.


    That is when, possibly overexcited, Wu Jian just blurts out without a second thought, ¡°it¡¯s almost like a wedding procession¡­ Ouch!¡±


    Fei just kicked him hard.


    Wu Jian quietly shuts up.


    The atmosphere just turned from solemn, to embarrassment.


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Though one person is reacting differently ¨C Lin Qin, surprised, but in a good way, is giving Wu Jian an approving look. Almost like, ¡®interesting observation there, lad.¡¯


    Mu Jiashi is awkwardly shifting his toes closer together. After scouring his brain, he finally produces a serious question to dispel the rather dampened mood.


    He notes the several Missiontakers who have turned their heads away to hold in a laughter as he asks, ¡°well, about the Ultimate Nightmare¡­ is there anything else we should know?¡±


    Mu Jiashi has a feeling that, after Lin Qin and X¨¹ Beijin enter the gap, they¡¯ll probably not meet up again for a very, very long time.


    They would head for the top floor of the Tower via the shortcut caused by the graphical glitch, but how are they supposed to come back?


    And, how exactly will X¨¹ Beijin manage to inform them to commit that something at some time?


    Mu Jiashi knows X¨¹ Beijin must already have a plan, and never asked before ¨C he didn¡¯t want to be thought of as doubting X¨¹ Beijin, and it¡¯s also quite meaningless.


    But the dumbass Wu Jian©¤©¤Even if you think it¡¯s a wedding, why did you have to say that out loud! He¡¯s forced his hand to ask something serious to turn the mood back around.


    X¨¹ Beijin gives Wu Jian a death glare, but doesn¡¯t say anything to him. Then, he answers Mu Jiashi thus, ¡°stay awake.¡±


    Mu Jiashi appears somewhat surprised.


    X¨¹ Beijin is looking at Mu Jiashi with a rather deep and complex gaze, and says, ¡°in the Ultimate Nightmare, always make sure you¡¯re awake, and you¡¯re still aware of who you are, and remember who you are. Never lose yourself in it. If you do, then it¡¯d be all over for you.¡±


    Fei has been angrily glaring at Wu Jian, making him shudder the whole time, but hearing X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s reply, she can¡¯t help but ask, ¡°so you mean, all the Missiontakers have to retain their sense of self as much as possible in the Ultimate Nightmare?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± comes the reply from X¨¹ Beijin, ¡°what I mean is that, at least one person, must be able to stay awake to the very end.¡±


    The Missiontakers all come to understand, and turn towards Mu Jiashi.


    Mu Jiashi ¡°¡­¡±


    Taking a deep breath, he says drolly, ¡°I¡¯m a loser, a useless¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, you think I haven¡¯t heard about your reputation on the bottom floor?¡± He Shuj¨¹n interrupts him, ¡°when I asked around, woah! You were already so famous back when we just ended up in the Tower. Why didn¡¯t you go to a higher floor earlier?¡±


    Mu Jiashi ¡°¡­¡±


    He¡¯s pissed. Why are these companions all just prying into his wounds all the time! He¡¯s regretting it, ok?!


    After the brief interlude, the mood Wu Jian ruined is finally back, and X¨¹ Beijin and Wu Jian are finally standing in front of the gap.


    Mu Jiashi is really curious how the two of them will utilise this gap barely the width of a strand of hair.


    Lin Qin is also curious.


    He believes in X¨¹ Beijin, of course, but against this graphical glitch that is one millimetre wide, and possibly even narrower than it looks to the eye, how are they even going to ¡®enter¡¯?


    X¨¹ Beijin then starts talking to himself, or possibly, explaining to Lin Qin, ¡°the body we use in the game is basically no different from our real self, but, it is still fundamentally a game model, rather than our literal physical bodies.


    In other words, we are still only a stream of data; this bug is what I might call a breach for data to pass.


    It looks like it is too small for us to pass, but the fact is, we¡¯re data, so obviously, we don¡¯t even have a ¡®volume¡¯ to speak of.


    In fact, ¡®they¡¯ also exist like this. That¡¯s why they were able to utilise this gap.¡±

 Volume 7 - CH 131.4

    Lin Qin knows X¨¹ Beijin is talking about something serious right now, so he stops himself from telling him what he truly thinks, and tells X¨¹ Beijin, ¡°don¡¯t be sad.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin says with a smile, ¡°I¡¯m not sad, but I¡¯m merely a little emotional.¡±


    He looks at the gap.


    Though Lin Qin is wondering, if they want to do less serious stuff in the game, this means it would be fake as well? They cannot actually physically interact that way?


    After thinking about it, he comes to a conclusion ¨C they must leave the Tower, after all.


    So he turns serious and even asks proactively, ¡°so how do we enter this?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is a bit surprised at how motivated Lin Qin has become, different to his usual self who is usually disinterested in Nightmares and the Tower in general.


    Though he could vaguely guess at what made Lin Qin change his attitude, and finds it somewhat amusing.


    Not that he¡¯s going to expose this rather cute childishness. They have more prudent matters to attend to.


    He was going to head out alone, but this is what it is, so going off alone is unrealistic at this point, given his physical condition.


    He will have to take Lin Qin.


    Now the uncertainty lies in whether the bug would allow two people to pass at the same time.


    He earnestly ponders it for a while, then tells Lin Qin, ¡°hold my hand tightly. Then, copy exactly what I¡¯m doing.¡±


    Lin Qin happily agrees.


    So the Missiontakers watch as the men hold their hands and spin ten times around like spinning tops on a fingertip, then both knock their head right into the gap like they¡¯re tumbling from the dizziness.


    They didn¡¯t think anything would happen, but the moment they touched on that black, inexplicable line, a large pile of distorted and incomprehensible ¡®data¡¯ washes over them like a waterfall.


    It¡¯s like their bodies are being absorbed by the blobs of colour and strange mojibake.


    Then they flow right into the gap like water. Everything went smoothly without a hitch.


    Not far away, Chen Simiao watches them with his jaw on the floor.


    Right now, he finally believes, that X¨¹ Beijin did have something up his sleeve. He will be able to make good on his promise.


    Then, Chen Simiao starts both crying and laughing, like some maniac.


    After that, the whole scene starts to shake violently. The Missiontakers, unable to remain standing, tumble, but quickly enough, the scenery changes right before their very eyes, as if the mess of characters is also extending over to them.


    The next second, their vision goes out entirely as a great brightness consumes it all.


    They can¡¯t help but close their eyes, but when they open their eyes again, they¡¯re right back at the very end of Respawn Avenue.


    They¡¯re out of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare.


    The nine Missiontakers look at each other and quickly sigh in relief. Then, they all raise their heads towards the ceiling of the Tower in silence.


    As if their gazes could pierce through the countless floors that separate between them and the top floor of the Tower.


    According to X¨¹ Beijin, that is where NE actually is.


    And he and Lin Qin, are headed there to communicate with NE, or perhaps, to open the Ultimate Nightmare.


    Maybe the Ultimate Nightmare hinges on NE, and X¨¹ Beijin is asking everyone to be prepared because of that reason¡­ X¨¹ Beijin has said that the ¡®something¡¯ is for the purpose of the Ultimate Nightmare, though.


    Mu Jiashi is confused by the contradicting information.


    However, he decides he will simply pray for X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s fortunes.


    They will definitely¡­ win!


    All the Missiontakers are also praying in their minds.


    Though right now, X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin aren¡¯t actually at the top floor of the Tower yet.


    Instead, they are wading through complete darkness.


    Occasionally, flickers of light could be seen in the darkness, like little lanterns that light the way.


    However, if they look more closely, they¡¯ll see that they¡¯re actually all simply mojibake.


    Letters, numbers and symbols which only appears due to errors, float around in this dark void of a space.


    Well, a ¡®void,¡¯ that, if looked at closely, sharp edges and corners would become visible all around where there appears to be nothing but empty space on the side.


    Like they¡¯re clashing game asset models.


    This is what lies beyond the landfill of the Tower; it¡¯s its very edges.


    Normally, Missiontakers and Tower residents are unable to enter this place.


    But now, through a strange glitch in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, they¡¯ve been able to intrude.


    Here, the pseudo-physical laws that are similar to the real world in the Tower, stops working.


    A step they make may very well be several floors through the Tower upwards, or possibly, downwards.


    There is no pattern to be found here.


    But this place is full of danger.


    Besides the dangers of colliding with sharp game objects hidden in the dark, the lights of messy, bugged objects will also irreversibly corrupt X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin¡¯s body.


    Feed glitched data to raw data might just simply ruin their entire character model.


    So as soon as they enter this dark space, X¨¹ Beijin tells Lin Qin, ¡°we must avoid the bright spots that are jumbled characters. Also, this shortcut we¡¯re taking is very dangerous. We cannot take a single wrong step.


    Lin Qin, winking, says obediently, ¡°alright¡­¡±


    While X¨¹ Beijin has more understanding of this edge of the Tower than Lin Qin, but actually walking forward, X¨¹ Beijin realises that Lin Qin¡¯s instincts and fighting power are far more useful to have in here.


    Because Lin Qin could easily find and avoid dangerous objects hidden in the dark;


    And when X¨¹ Beijin is going to inevitably bump into the lights, he can pull him back.


    And in fact, he is able to point to the correct way forward for Lin Qin. If it were not for him, they might have stumbled into an unseen dead-end full of clashing objects that would have tore their bodies apart.


    X¨¹ Beijin is covered in cold sweat.


    He¡¯s realised that, after countless updates to the game state, the information he held is possibly hopelessly dated. Lin Qin should lead the way.


    So having Lin Qin take the lead, he realises, it¡¯s become so much safer.


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He can¡¯t help but quietly celebrate the fact that he took Lin Qin along, as his chances would have been quite abysmal passing through the edges of the Tower alone.


    With Lin Qin leading the way, the path has become much more harmless. X¨¹ Beijin had his attention stretched thin looking for the way forward, but he is able to relax his mind a little. And Lin Qin is less worried, too.


    He only needs to ensure that, every step he takes is safe, so that the one he loves and treasures is able to follow him in safety.


    In fact, at this moment, Lin Qin even feels serene.


    Being alone with the one he likes in a quiet, isolated place is something Lin Qin has discovered he is keen on.


    It¡¯s similar to how it was in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore, but recently, there¡¯s been quite a lot of traffic to the bookstore.


    And Lin Qin can¡¯t exactly just interrupt X¨¹ Beijin doing important things either, so he can only sulk by himself.


    In a stark contrast to how happy he is right now, of course, with a genuine smile you can tell just by looking at him.


    Lin Qin is someone who rarely smiles in spite of his cute baby-face. He doesn¡¯t like smiling; often, he has a poker face like that of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s.


    And whenever he is actually smiling, it¡¯s either from his anger overflowing, or he¡¯s gone berserk. This time, though, he is with the one he loves, so he can¡¯t help but smile.

 Volume 7 - CH 131.5

    A short while later, Lin Qin can¡¯t help but start chatting with X¨¹ Beijin already.


    He asks, ¡°how long until we¡¯re there?¡±


    ¡°Maybe a quarter of an hour?¡± X¨¹ Beijin estimates in his mind, ¡°or possibly longer. What¡¯s wrong? Are you bored?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± Lin Qin says, and immediately adds, ¡°but maybe we can talk along the way?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is a bit amused by how easy to read Lin Qin really is. Not giving away any comment on that, he asks, ¡°what do you want to talk about?¡±


    ¡°If we left the Tower, what would you want to do?¡± Lin Qin thinks, then asks.


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks about the question and then replies, ¡°nothing much, really.¡±


    Lin Qin is a little anxious, but he¡¯s still trying to maintain his poker face and asking, ¡°nothing¡­ nothing you¡¯d feel like doing with someone else?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin glances at him.


    The shortcut is too narrow for them to walk closely without their limbs touching. X¨¹ Beijin can see that Lin Qin¡¯s eyebrows are twitching a little from anxiety.


    So X¨¹ Beijin smiles and asks, ¡°you mean, with you?¡±


    Lin Qin can¡¯t stop himself from nodding and just spilling everything, ¡°yes, with me. Isn¡¯t there something you¡¯d like to do with me?¡±


    No longer keeping the veil of decency up has instead made his tone genuine. Lin Qin has never been a good liar, as he¡¯s straightforward and his emotions show up too much whenever he¡¯s anxious.


    His whole self is bare in front of X¨¹ Beijin for him to see clearly; X¨¹ Beijin can even colour and change it as he likes.


    Lin Qin¡¯s eyes look like shining stars in this dark, empty space.


    He says, ¡°only¡­ with me,¡± then he mumbles and scratches his hair, and seems to remember something, and adds, ¡°never mind. Like you said, important things first.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t reply, and only looks at him quietly.


    Lin Qin surely has no way of realising that he looks almost like a pitiful, drenched puppy that is panting under the roof and tilting its head to look at its master.


    Meanwhile, Lin Qin is still mumbling, looking a little cross but also not being able to do anything about it, ¡°I¡¯ll let you keep up the serious act for a while longer¡­ Just a while, and no longer. Or I¡¯ll be angry.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin finds this hilarious, and asks, ¡°do you actually ever get angry?¡±


    Lin Qin has to take a deep breath. How is it that someone like X¨¹ Beijin can exist? How did he even fall in love with him in the first place?


    But when he stops and turns to look at him, he sees X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s pale face and colourless lips, slightly sunken cheeks, and also, a pair of eyes that are threateningly teasing. He sees himself reflected in them, and widens his own eyes in response.


    Then he gives up, and just says, ¡°no. Never. I will never be angry at you.¡±


    He seems to fall into thought, before reasserting, ¡°never in eternity. I will only love you, always.¡±


    That is the moment when X¨¹ Beijin can feel his own heart jumping in response.


    Does Lin Qin really know, what it truly meant to him, to hear ¡®eternity¡¯ right now?


    So he tells Lin Qin,


    ¡°I¡¯ve told you, I might never be able to leave the Tower. Forever.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be with you¡­¡±


    ¡°But if I really¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be there. Forever¡­¡± interrupts Lin Qin, ¡°how many times do I have to repeat it for you to believe me? I¡¯ve already told you; you don¡¯t have to overthink it¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin has nothing he can say, so he pulls Lin Qin towards him.


    Lin Qin unexpectedly bumps right onto X¨¹ Beijin. A warm guff of air passes by his cheeks. Then, he hears X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s voice gently ringing next to his ears.


    ¡°As you wish.¡±


    Then, a soft, dry pair of lips cover up his own.


    In a daze, Lin Qin thinks that his Beijin¡¯s lips are so parched they might crack at any time¡­ He should tell him to drink more water.


    The rather unrelated thought only crosses his mind for a brief second before his thoughts go blank completely; he is completely taken by the joy of physical closeness.


    When X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s breathing is slightly heavier and he¡¯s retreating, Lin Qin suddenly widens his eyes and hugs X¨¹ Beijin closely, whispering, ¡°let¡¯s keep kissing¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Fine. Have your kisses.


    They just stand there, kissing in this dark space with only the occasional bits of jumbled code as their witness. A suggestive aura threatens to spread out, and X¨¹ Beijin lets it. Everything is quiet, and they only have themselves.


    A while later, X¨¹ Beijin puts an end to the ¡®unserious stuff¡¯ Lin Qin is trying to keep up.


    Lin Qin licks his lips and then comments, ¡°it¡¯s sweet. Maybe the taste data on drinks have made its way into your lips and tongue?


    Earlier, X¨¹ Beijin told him that this darkness had mojibake of immense danger, and he took it to heart.


    Well, taking it to his tongue in this case, possibly.


    He¡¯s wondering if X¨¹ Beijin drank the drinks in the Tower too much, making the sweetness permeate through his entire physical self.


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He bites his lips, and doesn¡¯t say a word.


    Oddly enough, the kiss has made him look better, with his lips regaining some red colour. And his earlobes, too, which Lin Qin is happy with, as he observes his handiwork.


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t know why Lin Qin is looking a little¡­ mischievous, right now.


    Nor does he want to.


    He says, ¡°let¡¯s¡­ kuhum, let¡¯s keep going.¡±


    His voice was unexpected hoarse, so he cleared his throat.


    Lin Qin immediately looks closely at X¨¹ Beijin, to confirm that he isn¡¯t feeling ill, before continuing.


    As he does, he mumbles,


    ¡°so, are we dating right now?¡±


    ¡°What do you think?¡±


    ¡°Beijin, I just realised you really don¡¯t like speaking your mind. It¡¯s a bad habit.¡±


    ¡°We are dating right now.¡±


    And Lin Qin appears happy.


    X¨¹ Beijin sighs, then can¡¯t help but smile.


    Oh, Lin Qin, the little apple¡­ so easily cheered up by a simple affirmation.


    Though shadows still lie ahead of them, and perhaps they will only ever be able to live in this fake, artificially created world forever, but¡­


    Nothing could stop X¨¹ Beijin from feeling happy right now.


    He looks at Lin Qin, and he can¡¯t stop himself from smiling.


    While Lin Qin tilts his head to look at X¨¹ Beijin every so often, and finally stops to plant a kiss on X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mouth.


    X¨¹ Beijin is stunned, asking,


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    So Lin Qin happily plants another kiss and whispers to X¨¹ Beijin, ¡°so this is finally the moment I¡¯ve been waiting for, where I should, and you would let me do it, right?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t answer for a moment, merely nodding at first. Then he exhales and chuckles, telling Lin Qin, ¡°now, it¡¯s your prerogative.¡±


    Lin Qin looks very proud indeed, his steps having a spring in them.


    Then a bit later, he asks, ¡°so, when can we¡­ go further?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t.¡±


    Lin Qin ¡°¡­¡±


    That¡¯s why he said X¨¹ Beijin is really such a pain in the arse for a guy!


    They continue walking along, stopping a few times, and time passes, when finally, they are at the end of the shortcut.


    It¡¯s a screen of light, approximately a person tall, slightly glowing white, which makes it painfully obvious in the darkness. This is the exit of the boundary of the Tower.


    They walk over.


    X¨¹ Beijin tells Lin Qin, ¡°slowly, extend your hand forward, and then turn to step through it sideways¡­¡±


    They extend their hands at the same time.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s hand passes without issue, but Lin Qin¡¯s hand is blocked off.

 Volume 7 - CH 132.1

    Lin Qin and X¨¹ Beijin come to a stop at the boundary between light and dark.


    X¨¹ Beijin is surprised to see Lin Qin blocked by the screen of light. He has a bad feeling about this, like a tub of cold water was poured right down the warmth in his chest.


    Then he looks at Lin Qin, who seem even more confused than he was¡­ But it doesn¡¯t look like he was surprised, but more wonderment, at how he only discovered this right now instead of earlier.


    Lin Qin says, ¡°I can¡¯t leave.¡±


    And probably realising the possible ambiguity, he explains, ¡°I mean, I can¡¯t enter the top floor of the Tower.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin seem a little apprehensive as he says, ¡°this¡­ this shouldn¡¯t be,¡± then he holds Lin Qin¡¯s hands and mutter, ¡°no, no way it is¡­¡±


    Lin Qin touches X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s cheeks and brow, then says, ¡°it¡¯s fine. Go.¡±


    He notices X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mood is tumbling, and reassures him even more gently, ¡°really, I¡¯m relieved I could see you off up until now.¡±


    He would be devastated if X¨¹ Beijin ended up lost in this ¡®shortcut.¡¯


    And he¡¯s happy to think that it¡¯s because of him that X¨¹ Beijin could travel here without much hassle.


    Though he doesn¡¯t know what X¨¹ Beijin is astonished about.


    Why can¡¯t Lin Qin go to the top floor? Even X¨¹ Beijin himself could pass through the light! It¡¯s a shortcut, a bug that everyone can use! Why is Lin Qin an exception?!


    No, wait, it could be something else.


    X¨¹ Beijin suddenly remembers.


    Lin Qin has been through True Ends©¤©¤A lot, even, but he has never left the bottom floor of the Tower.


    When others ask him why he doesn¡¯t go to a higher floor, his reply is always that he¡¯s disinterested, or he just doesn¡¯t answer altogether.


    Soon enough, people are no longer interested, and this has become something people largely know to ignore.


    They assign labels of ¡®weird,¡¯ ¡®strange¡¯ or even ¡®alien¡¯ to Lin Qin, so they think that, whatever happens, as the crownless King of the bottom floor, it¡¯s nothing to be surprised by.


    Though¡­


    What if, Lin Qin is actually unable to ascend to a higher floor?


    All this time, X¨¹ Beijin knows and has been confounded by all the strangeness surrounding Lin Qin.


    At first, he suspected foul play from utility cards. Later, he thought it might be because Lin Qin himself is special.


    He might even be an actual NPC©¤©¤Because he¡¯s really, really behaving unlike how a human would.


    But even if he wasn¡¯t human, as long as he was part of the game, what reason could there be that he cannot go to the top floor? Why is he stopped by this screen of light?


    What, would the information panel of Lin Qin, display?


    X¨¹ Beijin has never been as angry at his identity of Tower resident as he is now; otherwise, he could have used an Infocard to check on Lin Qin¡­ He is really baffled by Lin Qin¡¯s state right now.


    This completely unexpected happenstance right at this moment is like a boulder dropped onto X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s chest, suffocating him.


    After thinking long and hard about it, he looks up, and asks Lin Qin with a careful tone, ¡°do you think¡­ you could leave the bottom floor of the Tower?¡±


    Lin Qin seems to blank out for a moment, surprised by the sudden question from X¨¹ Beijin, and asks, ¡°what do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Can you go up to a higher floor in the Tower?¡± X¨¹ Beijin changes his question, ¡°you¡¯ve had True Ends before, so why do you not go up to a higher floor? What is the reasoning behind it?¡±


    ¡°I just don¡¯t want to,¡± Lin Qin answers concretely, ¡°as for whether I can¡­ I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve never tried to.¡±


    Then X¨¹ Beijin turns to the screen of light, and he mumbles, ¡°but¡­ you knew you can¡¯t pass through this¡­¡±


    ¡°No, I can¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°Lin Qin, do you know why you know you can¡¯t go to the top floor of the Tower?¡±


    Lin Qin¡¯s voice trails off.


    X¨¹ Beijin turns back towards Lin Qin, looking at this straightforward young man, his love.


    All this time, Lin Qin has said he¡¯s not interested in the higher floors, though the reason sounds more like an excuse to hide the fact that he actually cannot go to the higher floors of the Tower.


    He actually can¡¯t leave the bottom floor of the Tower at all.


    Finally, Lin Qin answers, looking as calm and honest as he always is in front of X¨¹ Beijin. Never hiding a thing, never lying a thing.


    He says, ¡°I just know. I don¡¯t know why I know, but¡­¡±


    He points towards the screen of light, adding, ¡°I know that I cannot go behind this. It¡¯s like an instinct. I can¡¯t go. I¡¯m¡­¡±


    Lin Qin struggles to come up with a word, and X¨¹ Beijin is examining his expression closely, like he used to do in the long past.


    Finally, Lin Qin has his word, and says, ¡°I¡¯m forbidden¡­ to go there.¡±


    ¡®Forbidden¡¯?


    The choice of word makes X¨¹ Beijin gasp a little.


    His face even goes pale once more.


    Lin Qin, worried, asks him, ¡°what¡¯s wrong? Beijin, did it make you upset? Don¡¯t¡­ don¡¯t¡¯ worry. I¡¯ll be fine. You will be too. We will both be.¡±


    He touches X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s cold lips with his fingers, anxious, looking like he wish he could warm X¨¹ Beijin up with his body warmth.


    Well¡­ maybe it¡¯s not as absurd as it sounds.


    Though X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s face really doesn¡¯t allow much time for him to think.


    Then, suddenly, X¨¹ Beijin turns to hug him.


    Lin Qin looks all flustered.


    In their relationship, X¨¹ Beijin has always been the more passive, introverted, and quiet side.


    He doesn¡¯t often reveal his thoughts or emotions, and only occasionally, can Lin Qin see a bit of speechless amusement in him.


    It feels warm and fluffy to him, like he¡¯s being enveloped.


    His instincts tell him, it is love from X¨¹ Beijin.


    And when they bicker a little, Lin Qin thinks it¡¯s a ¡®lover¡¯s quarrel¡¯©¤©¤Well, maybe, but in any case, before X¨¹ Beijin pulled him close for a kiss earlier, he¡¯s never seen X¨¹ Beijin do something so forward.


    He wasn¡¯t bothered by it either. He is the one who tirelessly cling to X¨¹ Beijin, it¡¯s been like this since the very beginning.


    He¡¯s used to interacting like this, and he thinks, X¨¹ Beijin has become used to it as well.


    So when X¨¹ Beijin is hugging him proactively, and can even feel X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s hands trembling a little on his back, he is panicking, not knowing what is happening to X¨¹ Beijin. He doesn¡¯t understand.


    And X¨¹ Beijin wouldn¡¯t tell him.

 Volume 7 - CH 132.2

    Lin Qin thinks about it carefully, and finally, asks rather quietly, ¡°what¡¯s wrong?¡± Then, perhaps his instincts are at work again, he adds, ¡°is¡­ is something wrong with me?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re hiding something from me again. Don¡¯t do that. I¡¯m worried about you.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is still quiet.


    In the end, he instead laments, ¡°I should not have brought you here. You¡¯re trapped.¡±


    Whatever Lin Qin¡¯s true identity©¤©¤No idea what it is, especially when he doesn¡¯t have the time to ponder©¤©¤Lin Qin has no way in or out. The screen of light blocks him in the front, and X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s own Nightmare was terminated a long time ago, and gone is the bug alongside it. It means, Lin Qin has no way out.


    He is trapped at the boundary of the Tower.


    X¨¹ Beijin is in deep regret. It was his wish to take Lin Qin along, after all.


    And at this climatic moment, he wishes to be with Lin Qin. It makes him feel safer.


    But¡­ but¡­ he wasn¡¯t expecting, Lin Qin would be trapped here!


    Feeling guilty, and even self-loathing, his mind is going through all the things he did wrong. He knows he doesn¡¯t have time for all this; every second he dawdles here is a percentage point off what tiny chance of escape humanity had. Even so, he cannot lift his legs.


    He is stuck in a quagmire of defeat, anxiety and hopelessness.


    In this almost entirely dark space, all the emotions that has been piling, that has been accumulating but pushed aside, is threatening to blow himself up. It¡¯s like he is realising how powerless and puny for the first time. He never©¤©¤


    He never managed to save anyone.


    He finds his thoughts lost for a moment there, and bitterly smiles. Some quagmire this really is; all these years, he¡¯s never managed to do the right thing¡­


    Witnessing humanity¡¯s plight but helpless to stop. Bringing his love into a dead-end and incapable of escaping¡­


    Though that is when, X¨¹ Beijin feels his cheeks gently caressed.


    Like some clumsy little animal, Lin Qin is brushing his own cheeks on X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s cheeks.


    X¨¹ Beijin just watches, stupefied.


    ¡°I want to follow you too. You said you will never abandon me; this is not your fault. I also want to be by your side, and you cannot refuse me,¡± Lin Qin¡¯s words are incoherent, but they are confident.


    Well, and gentle in tone.


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but blink.


    ¡°Now, Beijin, both humanity and I are waiting to be saved by you.¡±


    This somehow makes X¨¹ Beijin break into a chuckle.


    Lin Qin doesn¡¯t understand why X¨¹ Beijin is amused. He thinks he did his best to say serious stuff, to make sure he had the drive to carry on doing what needs to be done©¤©¤Even if he clearly doesn¡¯t like doing this.


    He continues, ¡°don¡¯t laugh©¤©¤I¡¯m serious. Now I¡¯m trapped here, you say, and those people said humanity is trapped in the Tower. So both they, and I, are going to depend on you.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks firmly at Lin Qin.


    ¡°You¡¯re right¡­¡± he says.


    Lin Qin isn¡¯t sure what X¨¹ Beijin is trying to imply by that. He finds that he really doesn¡¯t understand anything sometimes.


    For example, is it or is it not that X¨¹ Beijin has found the motivation to do the serious business?


    X¨¹ Beijin takes a deep breath, and once again pushes all the boiling emotions deep back down.


    The boundary of the Tower©¤©¤For Lin Qin, at least©¤©¤poses no danger. All the jumbled data and sharp game object polygons, are all too easily avoidable for him. Lin Qin would never be hurt by them.


    X¨¹ Beijin is able to convince himself of that.


    But it¡¯s dark here, so he wants to¡­


    Man, he¡¯s hopelessly indecisive. His lover is the top dog of the Tower. He has strength and power unfathomable to the average Missiontaker or Actor. But still, that doesn¡¯t stop him from worrying about how he might leave him behind here alone.


    Once, X¨¹ Beijin was ready to take this path completely alone, without fear or anxiety.


    But now, simply making Lin Qin stay here for a bit is making him so utterly worried.


    He can¡¯t help not to worry, because this moment¡­


    ¡°I just want to save you,¡± X¨¹ Beijin, having thought for a long time, says, ¡°do you know that? The other humans just happen to be on the side of that.¡±


    Lin Qin seems stunned, blinking in surprise.


    ¡°Even now, I still think¡­ I don¡¯t have much certainty in winning. There is hope, but hope is intangible,¡± X¨¹ Beijin mumbles, ¡°I can never forget¡­ that moment¡­¡±


    He doesn¡¯t specify which.


    Then he just cuts to the chase, saying, ¡°I still cannot believe that NE is on humanity¡¯s side. It must have some other goal in mind.¡±


    This uncertainty, plus the mysteriousness surrounding Lin Qin overall, is a thick fog clouding X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s judgement, making him hesitate before stepping onto the top floor once and for all.


    He still can¡¯t see how he can grasp victory.


    Lin Qin, though, seem somewhat confused now. He knows everyone has said that NE is on the human¡¯s side now, but it seems X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t think so?


    ¡°NE may be helping humans right now, but it is merely an artificial intelligence¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s voice trails off. It looks like he is recalling something deeply demoralising, and his expression turn sullen and unmotivated once more. He says, ¡°Lin Qin, I just¡­¡±


    Lin Qin looks closely at X¨¹ Beijin.


    ¡°I just wish that, you didn¡¯t have to become involved in all this,¡± X¨¹ Beijin explains, ¡°if you can follow me, perhaps we can prevent humanity¡¯s tragedy together. At least¡­ I don¡¯t know how it will all turn out to be, but¡­¡±


    He has difficulty putting what he wants to say in words.


    Splitting Lin Qin out from the other Missiontakers, and instead, just follow after him, is his rather selfish wish.


    And if the ones behind this whole debacle, is angered by their puny resistance, and decides to ¡®punish¡¯ them, then, Lin Qin, who is with him on the top floor, might¡­ might be able to avoid it, he thinks.


    But it¡¯s as if even fate is laughing at how na?ve his little self-indulgent will is.


    X¨¹ Beijin is doubting himself. He is wavering. Lin Qin is not allowed into the top floor, and it is making him question everything.


    It¡¯s just like the moment when he realised his own identity in the Tower¡­ and everything after that¡­


    He is fated to be powerless against it all, it seems. Nothing could be saved¡­


    ¡°¡­ We all might lose it all.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s gaze turns towards the screen of light, looking rather distant; powerlessness is written all over his face.

 Volume 7 - CH 132.3

    Suddenly, that is when Lin Qin takes a deep breath and tells X¨¹ Beijin, ¡°you can¡¯t do this.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks back at Lin Qin.


    ¡°I might be blocked, and I can¡¯t follow you anymore to go see that damned¡­ NE, but you can¡¯t just give up on yourself like this. Before we entered your Nightmare, you promised me we will have a honeymoon.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s expression of sorrow almost broke apart entirely.


    Lin Qin is certainly adept at breaking down any sombre mood.


    He doesn¡¯t even seem to care about the Missiontakers¡ª¡ªWell, he might not even identify as human, at any rate.


    Lin Qin continues his tirade, ¡°you can¡¯t give up right now. I won¡¯t let you¡­ We won¡¯t fail. We can¡¯t fail.¡±


    His tone is adamant.


    Then he looks at X¨¹ Beijin, brushing his lips gently, and asks, ¡°look, we still have such deep things waiting for us to do. I¡¯ll wait here then?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He calmly points out, ¡°not here.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± Lin Qin looks shocked, ¡°is undressing not a feature in here?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin points out the obvious, ¡°we need to gather ten or more Missiontakers, and find the labyrinth if we even want to try getting here. Are you really going to go to all that length just because of¡­ that?¡±


    Lin Qin thinks and then says, ¡°sure, that sounds fine; we¡¯ve already managed to reach here this time, right?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Out of patience, he says, ¡°don¡¯t even think about it!¡±


    So sadly, Lin Qin puts his delusions aside.


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t even know how he should react to this.


    Though the rather absurd interlude has managed to suppress X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s emotions tearing at him.


    The accidental discovery that Lin Qin cannot go up to the top floor has certainly weakened X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s resolve with how sudden it was.


    But he should have also known it would not go as smoothly as planned all the way, and they are pushing such a monumental task ahead, to boot.


    He should have mentally prepared himself.


    X¨¹ Beijin has finally recovered his usual mental fortitude, with his emotions swept clean, like something has kindly but also firmly pushed them down.


    The same way that Lin Qin gently but firmly reassured him that they will succeed.


    Lin Qin has helped him convince himself.


    He looks at Lin Qin, and his lips open a little; hesitant, he then quickly adds, ¡°not this place; but other places aren¡¯t out of the question for now.¡±


    Lin Qin¡¯s eyes seem to visibly glow.


    Before Lin Qin can further mess with his mind, X¨¹ Beijin quickly changes the topic, ¡°so I¡¯m going now. You¡­ make sure you wait here for me, alright?¡±


    ¡°Got it¡­¡± Lin Qin happily replies, ¡°when you¡¯re back¡­¡±


    Then he takes a sloppy kiss from X¨¹ Beijin before letting him go, seeing him off as he disappears into the screen of light.


    After that, his smile fades and disappears entirely. He stands there quietly, expressionlessly, coldly, indomitably.


    Darkness has him surrounded, but cannot seem to make any progress erasing him.


    He waits there quietly.


    And so are the Missiontakers like Mu Jiashi on the bottom floor.


    After returning there, they¡¯ve met up with Ding Yi, Jiang Shuangmei, Dai Wu, Su Enya and others. With the notable exception of Mystic, who went back to her daughter.


    A-One and A-Two aren¡¯t in a hurry to go back up floors either, as they have decided to stay on the bottom floor to see this through.


    They might have only joined in the middle of all this, but as part of the humanity whose freedom is at stake here, they also want to be able to receive the news as soon as possible.


    Naturally, a topic of conversation that pops up relates to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare.


    Jiang Shuangmei is utterly shocked, expressing her disbelief at the true nature of the grey fog outside the Tower.


    During the conversation, they can¡¯t help but often peer outside the window, watching the rolling grey fog; they¡¯re used to this scene already.


    In the Tower, everywhere there is a window, they can see the grey fog outside.


    They always thought it was merely a symbol of the terrible atmospheric conditions outside, since they¡¯ve never once seen the sun rise or fall as the day brightened up or darkened.


    But now, they finally know, that each fine grain of dust within that fog, represented someone whose sense of self has been eroded entirely.


    Ding Yi is watching the fog intently.


    She can¡¯t help but wonder, is Jiang Shuangjie there too?


    After the initial shock, another who wonders the same question is Jiang Shuangmei.


    Then the conversation dies down, and it goes quiet.


    The Missiontakers, and Tower residents present, too, all know a few friends and acquaintances who¡¯ve ended up succumbing.


    They knew they¡¯d gone mad and then disappeared, never to be seen in the Tower again.


    Where they went has always been a curious mystery, but there has never been a satisfying conclusion.


    There are even strange rumours that they might have been exiled from the Tower¡ª¡ª


    Not because they suspect something of the grey fog, but based on a simple logical deduction ¨C if they are not in the Tower, then by definition, they must be outside the Tower.


    Some people even suspect that, having gone mad, they¡¯ve been kicked from the Tower back into reality.


    No one dares to test that out, of course.


    They¡¯ve all seen how those who go mad behave just before they snap entirely, and just after that, the horrible loss of self and possibly consciousness. It is enough to deter even those who most desperately sought freedom. Such a dangerous method would never be a viable way to leave the Tower.


    Well, maybe there were some who did try; naturally, they¡¯ve all disappeared already.


    All in all, all those that are still in the Tower right now, are the ones sane enough not to try such an insane method.


    Look, even those Missiontakers who deliberately seek out thrill and meaning in death, would still have reservations about whether to go through with it in different Nightmares, no?


    As for what Ding Yi and the others were requested to do, progress has been made;


    To change the mood a little, they¡¯ve started talking about what X¨¹ Beijin asked them to do instead.


    Ding Yi tells them, ¡°I¡¯ve contacted everyone I could, but¡­ some more time might be needed.¡±


    She rubs the bridge of her nose, looking tired, and says, ¡°the biggest problem is the many Missiontakers on the upper floors who will need time before the news could spread to them.¡±


    Mu Jiashi cuts to the chase and asks, ¡°how long do you need?¡±


    ¡°Three days minimum,¡± then Ding Yi carefully adds, ¡°this is only an estimate.¡±


    Meanwhile, the wheelchair-bound Dai Wu next to them chimes in, ¡°what if we get the Tower residents to also spread the news?¡±


    With NE having apparently relaxed what they can and cannot say, Dia Wu and Su Enya have been able to correspond with the Missiontakers with only some difficulty, even though neither of them really seem motivated to do so with the other, and they often still hung out far away from each other.


    The others don¡¯t know what got the two of them so spiteful of each other.


    As an aside, the fact that Dai Wu and Su Enya could come discuss key things with them has bolstered both sides¡¯ confidence that NE is on their side.


    If X¨¹ Beijin knew how blindly optimistic they¡¯ve become, he would probably only smile bitterly.


    The Missiontakers and Tower residents are even more confident than he is, huh.

 Volume 7 - CH 132.4

    Dai Wu¡¯s suggestion takes the other Missiontakers a moment to take in. They all turn their gaze to the wheelchair-bound Tower resident.


    Next to him, Su Enya¡­ well, given the appearance she¡¯s chosen, Xie Ji, rebukes him, ¡°who knows if the Missiontakers would trust your men?¡±


    Dai Wu shrugs, saying, ¡°they will. And we can at least try. Us Tower residents have more difficulty traversing floors, but we can relay messages through Nightmares instead. Besides, the higher floors are in complete chaos.¡±


    In fact, the bottom floor is far more peaceful right now.


    It is the result of the accidental leak and subsequent uncontrolled propagation of the information regarding the Tower residents¡¯ identities that Fei and Wu Jian tried to send upstairs.


    And Tower residents on the higher floors are generally less fearful of NE, too, so they¡¯re happy to oblige when questioned, easily putting on a show of ¡®obviously, duh, you only realised that now?¡¯


    So those Missiontakers higher up have become shellshocked and terrified.


    They realise they haven¡¯t even understood this layer of truth behind the Tower, never mind escaping the Tower.


    The truth itself is also rather depressing to boot.


    The Tower residents are also humanity. Great. Hurray©¤©¤Now they know whoever is behind this all is even more all-powerful than they¡¯ve ever thought, and nothing else.


    What, hope?


    Who the heck thinks there¡¯s even hope in escaping anymore?!


    That¡¯s how the higher floors completely went haywire.


    Well, news of the Ultimate Nightmare did help sober up the Missiontakers and Tower residents a little, but nothing else.


    Ding Yi¡¯s difficulty with transferring messages up the floors is also largely because of the chaos above.


    Before they¡¯ve entered X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, many of them have already arranged for further information on the Ultimate Nightmare to be sent back upstairs, but it¡¯s been a few days and no replies have come back down yet. Looks like it may have been caught up in the chaos.


    Mu Jiashi bitterly smiles and says, looking rather down, ¡°it seems, before we could even start saving them, they¡¯ve already given up on being saved¡­¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n disses him immediately, ¡°and you¡¯re certainly the champion of giving up, right here.¡±


    Mu Jiashi ¡°¡­¡±


    The other Missiontakers all start chuckling in response.


    Since they¡¯ve come to learn what made Mu Jiashi call himself a ¡®loser,¡¯ they¡¯ve started to tease him all the time. Mu Jiashi is vexed, but he also thinks, it might be better this way. Wounds heal better when exposed to air, and he doesn¡¯t exactly have time to wallow in defeats of the past either.


    Besides, it¡¯s not even right to call it a ¡®defeat,¡¯ as it¡¯s more a wake-up call from reality.


    Humans often hit moments of self-introspection at arbitrary moments, coming to realise whether they were good or bad, or just or hypocritical.


    Mu Jiashi shakes his head at the thought.


    He Shuj¨¹n also quickly gets back to business, saying, ¡°honestly, you should really stop picturing things so pessimistically.¡±


    She says with a cheery tone, ¡°we¡¯ve been through the worst part already; what¡¯s the worst that could happen compared to how it was when we first entered the Tower?¡±


    The other Missiontakers also fall into thought at that mention, recalling their own experiences.


    The age¡­ when they just entered the Tower. It was brutal, barbaric, bloody, and abyssal.


    That hopeless age was filled only with murders and betrayals, as everyone fought tooth-and-nail when they didn¡¯t understand the mechanics of going up floors very well.


    It was chaos itself.


    Oftentimes, order belies merely a fa?ade of civility, but it is at least order.


    The new normal nowadays of not trying to go up the floors in a hurry is largely because the motivation named hope is gone. Perhaps a cruel twist of fate, but losing hope has brought peace and order back to the Tower.


    They are no longer hostile to everyone who isn¡¯t themselves, or try to drag each other down so much. Carddealers have become rightly condemned.


    It wasn¡¯t like that in the beginning.


    The Missiontakers are quiet, all having been through, and survived that age.


    What of those who were murdered, or otherwise didn¡¯t survive?


    Look out the window, and you¡¯ll find your answer among the grey fog.


    The mood has settled as their earlier excitement and restlessness gives way to silence.


    They continue to wait. Everything has been arranged now, and they have to wait for the result of whatever X¨¹ Beijin ends up talking to NE about.


    Here, Fei can¡¯t help but recall her earlier guesses.


    The relationship between X¨¹ Beijin and NE¡­


    After pondering a little, she bites her lips and looks over at Wu Jian, who looks back at her, confused.


    Fei seems to have resolved herself, and tells everyone her concerns, then asks, ¡°what do you think¡­ is the rason he is looking for NE?¡±


    ¡°The Ultimate Nightmare,¡± replies Mu Jiashi, ¡°he said so himself.¡±


    ¡°The Ultimate Nightmare,¡± repeats Fei, ¡°what could it be, really?¡±


    No one could give her an answer.


    Wu Jian looks around and, after thinking, asks another question to help lift the mood a little, ¡°I¡¯m actually curious about why his Nightmare is the grey fog outside the Tower.¡±


    The other Missiontakers all look stunned.


    Wu Jian rubs his chins. With his unique sharpness and©¤©¤rather unconventional thought process?©¤©¤He¡¯s managed to come up with a question no one noticed before. He continues, ¡°I mean, look, all the other Tower residents¡­ their Nightmares, are based on something, right?


    Something like their own experiences in the Apocalypse, even though¡­ they are only Acting as the owner, and have a plot, but that is based on reality¡­ not just based, re-enacted, even.


    Then why¡­ would the bookstore owner, have a Nightmare of the Tower itself¡­ or more precisely, a part of the Tower? His Nightmare is, like, the Tower itself¡­¡±


    Wu Jian doesn¡¯t sound too sure of himself by this point.


    Mu Jiashi looks like he has an epiphany.


    Ye Lan is mumbling quietly to herself, ¡°it¡¯s true¡­ his Nightmare, does not fit the norm.¡±


    They¡¯ve ignored the problem all this time. Or rather, they¡¯ve been too overwhelmed by the information barrage since they¡¯ve ¡®snapped awake¡¯ in the grey fog. All the information on the Apocalypse, Nightmares, the Tower and all the underlying truth, but they ended up overlooking the Nightmare itself.


    They always knew that X¨¹ Beijin was quite special in the Tower, but¡­ this is a bit much, isn¡¯t it?!


    The Tower residents also present, Dai Wu and Xie Ji, are also looking odd.


    They both have their respective Nightmares, but thinking about it, they also immediately realise how strange X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare is.


    He¡¯s almost completely unlike any other Tower residents, although his countenance all this time also hinted to that effect somewhat.


    They start to quietly analyse all possibilities, but in the end, their topic ends up wandering back to the Apocalypse and the Tower itself.

 Volume 7 - CH 132.5

    During the discussion, Dai Wu, with an unconvincing smile, says, ¡°after the Apocalypse, humanity ended up trapped in a game, huh¡­¡± His tone is far less critical than anyone else¡¯s, given he is able to walk freely in the game¡¯s instances.


    Quite the irony, huh.


    It was only a stray comment, but Fei and Mu Jiashi both suddenly exclaim, ¡°a game!¡±


    Dai Wu, blinking, confused, asks, ¡°what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°A game¡­ game¡­¡± Fei keeps repeating the word, ¡°game!¡±


    Mu Jiashi quickly spits out, ¡°this is a game¡­ and whatever the reason, the game itself must contain rational logic inside.¡±


    Everyone else suddenly realises something.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ asks, ¡°so you mean¡­ His having that Nightmare, is because of what the game¡¯s setting computed?¡±


    He then mumbles to himself, so quietly no one else can hear, ¡°settings according to that game design document?¡±


    Mu Jiashi explains, ¡°just like how the game even has graphical glitches¡­ it¡¯s an actual, real video game in the traditional sense. It is only additionally having us trapped which makes it appear unique¡­


    But fundamentally, it¡¯s still a game!¡±


    Yelling out, Mu Jiashi sounds like he¡¯s discovered some grand conspiracy.


    He Shuj¨¹n is blinking her eyes, confounded. When she entered the Tower, she found her memories cut off during the summer holiday just after Gaokao was over.


    This meant that she didn¡¯t have much understanding of video games and whatnot; obviously, she didn¡¯t have time to.


    Wu Jian seems quick on the uptake, though, saying, ¡°you¡¯re referring to the game, ¡®Escape¡¯s¡­ design?¡±


    ¡°Design¡­ the game design document!¡± Mu Jiashi quickly turns towards Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹.


    He also looks stunned, having realised¡­ or, possibly, currently refusing to accept the possibility ¨C that this game trapping them within, is actually created as an idea a human game designer came up with.


    Mu Jiashi doesn¡¯t let him off the hook, asking, ¡°in that game design, what was the fundamental setting for this game?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ hesitates a bit before explaining, ¡°it was more a rough proposal.¡±


    Everyone is looking at him.


    He continues, ¡°it is¡­ about how the Apocalypse has caused so much needless deaths and tragedies, so the game¡­ is themed around exploration and puzzle-solving, to investigate everything that¡¯s happened, and reach into the minds of the madmen.


    The lead designer suggested a fictitious ability to enter other¡¯s nightmares, in which you can experience their past, and investigate what happened to them in the beginning, and ultimately¡­ to help them escape from it.¡±


    Then, a rather overwhelming fear and anxiety overcomes Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, and he becomes drenched in cold sweat.


    Mu Jiashi, meanwhile, falls into thought.


    Looking at him, Fei asks, ¡°so¡­ that is the, prototype, of this game that we¡¯re in?¡±


    ¡°Yes, just a prototype,¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ says rather quietly, ¡°it¡¯s not the same as the Tower.¡±


    Dai Wu seemed rather interested, and he jokingly adds, ¡°if we go by that setting of the game, then whoever ends up in whose nightmare wouldn¡¯t be random, and there would be something that decides and arranges them, no?¡±


    He stuns himself with what he just said.


    Mu Jiashi looks very grim, saying, ¡°that would be NE. Isn¡¯t that exactly what NE does in the Tower?¡±


    Who goes to Nightmares¡ª¡ªAnd who Acts as the Nightmare owner, is what NE does in the Tower. It is the manager, as designated by the game design document.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ says with a wispy tone, ¡°this means, NE itself, is also part of the game¡¯s design? It¡¯s not just simply the Server hosting the game, but also part of the game design¡¯s¡­ NPC? It¡¯s also a feature of the Tower?¡±


    Mu Jiashi stays silent for a long time, until finally, he poses a question, ¡°would NE have a Nightmare?¡±


    Looking around, he suspects his face would look about as terrible as everyone else¡¯s.


    It was simply a conversation to kill time, but they ended up peering into something deeply shocking and unnerving.


    Mu Jiashi isn¡¯t expecting anyone to answer, so he mumbles to himself, ¡°NE¡­ technically, it can count as a Tower resident, can¡¯t it? It¡¯s a character designed and implemented in the game. An NPC. If so, then what kind of Nightmare might it have?¡±


    If NE is a Tower resident, it should definitely have its own Nightmare, no?


    Then what could it be?


    Mu Jiashi, almost by reflex, turns to look at the grey fog outside.


    When he was in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, he once jokingly compared all the grey fog surrounding them, with the Collapsed Nightmares and succumbed humans within as a great big pile of useless, junk data.


    These are probably troublesome to deal with for an artificial intelligence like NE ¨C perhaps so much so as nightmarish for it.


    NE¡¯s Nightmare.


    And, X¨¹ Beijin, whose Nightmare is the grey fog itself¡­ Who is he?


    The people assembled in the little residence have fallen to a suffocating silence.


    Right now, meanwhile, X¨¹ Beijin has stepped onto the top floor of the Tower¡ª¡ªUnaware of the Missiontakers¡¯ and some Tower residents¡¯ probes into his possible identity.


    Even if he did, he would be unlikely to have answered honestly.


    Instead, with a complicated, and rather anxious mindset, while also hiding them as much as possible, he is observing the top floor of the Tower.


    What does the top floor look like?


    X¨¹ Beijin has some scenes in his ¡®memories,¡¯ but only some. It¡¯s also rather chaotic and tattered, like what might become of a simple glance when one is half asleep already.


    He¡¯s been here.


    That¡¯s not right¡­ It¡¯s more accurate to say, he belonged here.


    It is vast, empty, and cold. No one is here. Rumours say that when Missiontakers reach the top floor, they can leave the Tower, but clearly, there is no one nor exit to be found here.


    But, there is something here.


    Something humanoid, standing there.


    When his eyes are shut, he does nominally resemble a human, but when his eyes are open, the code that flashes through the dark space he has for eyes is a clear sign that he is not truly human.


    He is only using a shell that is like human.


    And in fact, this shell looks rather alike X¨¹ Beijin.


    X¨¹ Beijin is looking at him quietly. His gaze carries disgust, repulsion and deeper emotions as well. He doesn¡¯t speak a word, being in a standoff with this ¡®person.¡¯


    Finally, the other person speaks first.


    ¡°I know what you¡¯re here for.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin takes a deep breath. He realises, whenever he can see him, he can¡¯t help but be disgusted.


    It¡¯s a sort of instinct that comes from¡ª¡ªComes from, a near-death fear.


    He shuts his eyes a little, recalling that Lin Qin is still in the boundary of the Tower, and thinking about all the Missiontakers waiting for him in the Tower, and even more Missiontakers and Tower residents, who are hoping for the Ultimate Nightmare.


    Finally, he speaks, ¡°NE.¡±


    This is NE. the artificial intelligence, controlling the game. The Server of the Tower.


    He did look human ¨C at least, mechanically, as he slowly walks towards X¨¹ Beijin.


    But the stiff movements and twists and turns of the joints, reveals that he rarely ever moves around like a human.


    After thinking for a long time, X¨¹ Beijin decides to start with a more banal comment, ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting you to adopt a human appearance.¡±


    ¡°I observe them,¡± replies NE, ¡°I always look at them¡ª¡ªlook at you.¡±


    He points to himself.


    X¨¹ Beijin is quiet.


    His patience for small talk with NE is running out quickly. He would much prefer to be anywhere else but here ¨C but this vast, empty, brightly lit but white nothing, of the top floor.


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°let¡¯s skip the pleasantries. If you know why I¡¯m here¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been observing you recently, and¡­¡± NE ignores him, and just keeps going, ¡°the one in the boundary, your¡­¡±


    He seems hesitant to identify a correct label for this kind of human relationship.


    X¨¹ Beijin is glaring at NE.


    Finally, NE says, ¡°boyfriend?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin coldly says, ¡°huh, I didn¡¯t know you¡¯ve been pursuing an interest in human psychology.¡±


    NE looks like he still wants to say something, but he gives up.


    A hesitation highly unexpected of an artificial intelligence.


    But in any case, X¨¹ Beijin is able to confirm once again, that something¡¯s changed about NE.


    But what could actually change an artificial intelligence¡¯s thinking?


    Observing NE¡¯s face that somewhat resembles his own is making him angry and repulsed, but X¨¹ Beijin has to suppress his emotions. He has to tell himself that, he¡¯s here not to throw a temper tantrum against this damned artificial intelligence, but to¡ª¡ªSave Lin Qin, and save humanity.


    So while emotions continue to stir up and thoughts cross his mind, X¨¹ Beijin maintains a poker face, with a calmness that surprises even himself, waiting for NE¡¯s answer.


    He¡¯s already been waiting, depressed, silent for so long. It isn¡¯t difficult to maintain it a little longer.


    Even if he¡¯s gritting his teeth where NE can¡¯t see, even if his breathing is intentionally regulated, even if he is feeling a pain deeper than he was expecting.


    But, Lin Qin is waiting for him, in the cold, dark, sealed space.


    NE is watching him quietly too, with the electronic-eyeballs.


    The eyes should have been elegant and beautiful in form, proof of how even NE would decide to reference human values even when shaping his own human body.


    But all the mess of characters flashing through them breaks the aesthetic entirely, making people fearful instead. He is not human, even if he dresses like one.


    The uncanny valley.


    The words quietly pass through X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mind.


    Then, perhaps recalling something, he shuts his eyes a little, looking tired.


    His fingers grip for a moment, like he¡¯s trying to grab onto a can of drink, or something else¡ª¡ªLike Lin Qin¡¯s hands, perhaps.


    But there is nothing here. Only the cold air of the top floor of the Tower, and a mechanical cold-heartedness, coming from NE, that threatens to freeze all over.


    NE says, ¡°I do not understand why you¡¯re willing to¡­ help humans like this.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin sighs and says, ¡°I¡¯m human.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not.¡±


    ¡°At least, I identify as human,¡± X¨¹ Beijin looks up, ¡°I¡¯m far more immersed in my identity as a human than as any artificial intelligence, at least.¡±

 Volume 8 - CH 133.1

    Identity


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Artificial intelligence.


    When X¨¹ Beijin said the phrase, he found that he was calmer than he thought he would be.


    In a sense, he¡­ can be described as an artificial intelligence, but he is not willing to acknowledge that.


    Just as he said, he believes himself to be human.


    Or at least, he would never identify as NE. That is the biggest difference between NE and himself.


    NE says, ¡°I do not understand why you believe that.¡±


    An artificial intelligence is certainly capable of mimicking ¡®confusion.¡¯


    But the fact that he is mimicking means that, he is unable to calculate, via his own logical programming, why X¨¹ Beijin thinks that way.


    The current development of artificial intelligence is on a level far beyond what the humans stuck in the Tower could picture.


    They¡¯ve all been left behind by the times, and they will be unable to catch up; it is obvious.


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t want to talk about that with NE much.


    It¡¯s like that since the beginning. He and NE are on opposing sides. They are against each other. They are like cat and dog¡­


    While NE, still looking at him with that blank, unnatural, and unpractised ¡®genuine¡¯ confusion, says, ¡°because you¡¯re my¡ª¡ª¡±


    ¡°Your parts which you have abandoned.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin finishes the sentence for him.


    For a moment, he finds himself confused a little as well.


    Huh. He is actually capable of facing this fact. He could actually¡ª¡ªReally¡ª¡ª


    Talk about this without a deep self-loathing.


    All Tower residents have their quirks or strangeness, either in their physical form or in their mental state, but not X¨¹ Beijin.


    That is because, he himself is the defect.


    He is the culmination of some¡­ strange combination of coincidences, which granted him the most special identity in this game, but at the same time, has also become the nightmare that has haunted him all these years.


    When humans were first sent into this game, they were sorted into two factions.


    The game labels them ¡®Tower residents¡¯ and ¡®Outsiders.¡¯


    The outsiders employed the term ¡®Missiontakers¡¯ for themselves, though, thinking they were the only players ¨C humans ¨C in this game.


    They believe they¡¯ve become trapped, and need to resolve the Tower residents¡¯ Nightmares, solve them, gather True Ends, and possibly escape from the Tower eventually.


    But in fact, the Tower residents are also ¡®players,¡¯ and have adopted the label of ¡®Actors,¡¯ in consideration of the fact that they needed to Act as the ¡®Tower residents¡¯ in-game.


    The game¡¯s background describes all of them as post-apocalyptic survivors who entered a tall tower to prolong their existence. They are the last survivors of the world in that setting.


    And the Tower had a management in the form of an artificial intelligence ¨C story-wise, just like the others, it also had a name, a designation whose digits are far too difficult to use in everyday life, but for simplicity¡¯s sake, and to distinguish it from ¡®NE,¡¯ it can be called ¡®Iro.¡¯


    Iro is also, technically, a resident of the Tower, which means, it has its own Nightmare.


    In the setting of the game, after a long time of managing and protecting the inhabitants, the Tower¡¯s manager had an issue.


    The Outsiders entering the Tower residents¡¯ Nightmares and helping relieve them of the trauma from the Apocalypse, is a risky business.


    Basically, if they failed, then both the Outsiders and Tower residents who have gone insane would be thrown out from the Tower¡ª¡ªexiled into the grey fog.


    Because they¡¯re insane, Iro has the protect the other human survivors as the manager, and so will naturally keep the aggressive, insane people away.


    However, as time went on, there are fewer and fewer living people in the Tower, while the number of mad people continued to increase outside in the grey fog.


    So as a result, the artificial intelligence Iro has decided that the danger in the grey fog outside the Tower is now beyond what is an acceptable limit for the humans still remaining in the Tower can handle.


    Therefore, it chose to lock the exit of the Tower, in order to prevent any survivors from stepping into the dangerous grey fog. All the remaining survivors can only stay in the safe, but sealed off Tower.


    All in the name of executing its duty.


    But the humans¡ª¡ªThe remaining survivors of the Apocalypse, had other opinions.


    They¡¯ve known their companions are disappearing over time, but now, the manager of the Tower has even forbidden them from leaving the Tower to look for their missing fellow humans.


    The dangers that the AI warns them about weren¡¯t enough to deter the survivors¡ª¡ªThey all knew the post-Apocalyptic world to be dangerous. It¡¯s always been so.


    But the humans who entered the Tower were looking for a safe shelter, and not looking to be come a prisoner in the ¡®safe¡¯ Tower.


    This fuelled an unprecedented conflict and resistance movement against Iro.


    The survivors want the freedom to leave, but the artificial intelligence refuses them time and again.


    Humans found that unfathomable, that the AI is refusing human command, the command of those who created it.


    This made the survivors conclude that their reliable, trustworthy AI must have some bug somehow.


    Therefore, they have decided to utilise a ¡®sleep state¡¯ Iro has¡ª¡ªOr is it better to call it ¡®standby mode¡¯?


    Regardless, when Iro was asleep, the crafty outsiders have realised that they could actually enter its own Nightmare to check on the ¡®insane¡¯ people who it labelled ¡®dangerous.¡¯


    The artificial intelligence¡¯s Nightmare is the mad people of the grey fog. How? Because its duty is to protect the Tower and the survivors of the Apocalypse within.


    That is the ultimate guiding principle etched into every line of its code. It is its duty.


    And it is those madmen inside the grey fog that threatens that core objective the most, so they have become Iro¡¯s Nightmare.


    When the survivors enter Iro¡¯s Nightmare and understands what is actually going on, there is a choice for them to make¡ª¡ªAnd that, is the backstory, game content, and ending of the game named ¡®Escape.¡¯


    Would the survivors¡¯ choice be to stop the ¡®rogue¡¯ AI and escape the Tower? Or will they decide to place their trust in the AI, and give up on the hopelessly insane companions, and forever remain in the safe Tower?


    The right to that choice is in everyone¡¯s hands, everyone who survived the Apocalypse. They are the ones to make the ultimate choice¡ª¡ªA choice for their own future.


    That is the whole of the game ¡®Escape¡¯s content and plot.


    Unfortunately¡­ neither the Tower residents nor the Missiontakers have ever realised that that is how this game is supposed to be played.


    They know they¡¯re trapped inside of a game, but they also haven¡¯t realised¡­ that it¡¯s a game! A video game!


    A video game that has an ending, achieved through the players¡¯ cooperative efforts!


    Humans, of course, have never actually managed to pull off such a cooperative effort.


    In this game, their choice was ¨C to fight for only themselves.


    Even though the choice was for everyone to make.

 Volume 8 - CH 133.2

    Then again, if the Missiontakers don¡¯t even figure out that the Tower residents are equally as human players as they are, then there¡¯s nothing anyone could do.


    And the fact that they can¡¯t figure it out, comes down to¡ª¡ªNE.


    NE is somewhat similar to the game¡¯s setting¡¯s artificial intelligence Iro, but he has differences to it.


    NE, while an AI himself, is more appropriately called the Server for the game.


    The current age of video game development has largely entered a speedy, cookie-cutter, formulaic phase.


    No longer do countless programmers need to bust their hands typing endless streams of code, or for graphic designers to modify and optimise the game¡¯s graphics over and over again¡ª¡ª


    Well, as long as the developer and publisher aren¡¯t demanding of quality, which would still require a large amount of manual quality work.


    Otherwise, a simple Server, an artificial intelligence specialised in game design, could help achieve everything they needed.


    They are able to formulate assets, hammer out a plot and climax, handle graphics and fix bugs according to specifications and demands of the game designer. They can even handle after-care like sales, operations, updates and more.


    What the game designer needs to do, is just periodically check the ¡®Update Log¡¯ that the Server would send them.


    Yes, everything, even updates, are handed entirely over to AI.


    Well, the direction and stuff still need the game designer to guide the grand scheme of things, but all the details are left to the AI. It¡¯s blatantly obvious this is mostly laziness on game designer¡¯s part, though.


    Too lazy to spend money or effort to innovate, and so decide to have a Server make long overdone stuff for the players to play. Money-making is far more important to them, and using an AI to develop a game¡ª¡ªIs obscenely economical indeed.


    Now, a game only needed a vague idea, and then some nondescript planning and strategising, mostly about how to make the most money, before it can be shipped, ides and all¡­ to the Server to complete it!


    In fact, Servers specialised in gaming are themselves streamlined. Bigger companies could even rent out their own, and have them manage multiple games¡ª¡ªWith memory still to spare, no less.


    These are all information revealed to X¨¹ Beijin when he became NE, and had some access to the enormous database the game has.


    He always tries not to remember those things, but now that NE is standing in front of him, he can¡¯t help but remember the memories of that time.


    Though it is largely fragmented, chaotic, even dream-like.


    But it actually happened.


    He did¡­ at a certain point, become NE.


    The game ¡®Escape¡¯ is somewhat different from the norm, because while other game¡¯s Servers are only managing the game from the outside and designing the game on the inside, they don¡¯t become part of the game. They¡¯re above and in a supervising position.


    But ¡®Escape¡¯ was different, because in this game, in its own setting, it called for an artificial intelligence Iro itself.


    Possibly because the game designer was lazy, or possibly, because there were some special requirements, but regardless¡ª¡ª


    NE was given that secondary role as the AI the game called for. It had a dual role.


    So NE also became part of the game itself, and gained a Nightmare, and became a Tower resident. It¡¯s almost like NE is Iro¡¯s Actor, even if it isn¡¯t technically a ¡®player¡¯ of this game.


    But, all Tower residents, require a player to Act as them.


    This is probably what triggered a bug.


    When X¨¹ Beijin and the other humans ended up in this game, with the Actors sorted and then assigned roles, X¨¹ Beijin¡ª¡ªPerhaps by pure, dumb luck or misfortune¡ª¡ªEnded up in the role as the Actor for the AI in the game¡¯s plot, which technically didn¡¯t have a player Acting as it yet.


    It was already a dual role occupied both by the AI Iro in-game, and the Server, NE, which is outside the game. So unfortunately, X¨¹ Beijin ended up with the Acting role for both.


    He has become both Iro and NE.


    In other words, while other Actors only needed to accept the plot and memories of their assigned Nightmare¡¯s owner, X¨¹ Beijin needed¡­


    To take in both Iro and NE¡¯s full database.


    The great amount of data influx crashed the human¡¯s weak psyche almost instantaneously.


    Losing consciousness, he became NE in the most literal of senses. Suffice it to say that, it was like a fight between X¨¹ Beijin and NE over retaining the role as the AI in the game, but X¨¹ Beijin lost.


    Then all the three roles ¡®united,¡¯ for lack of a better word, with memories, data, information, emotions¡­ all the mess that were each carried by the three identities being mixed together.


    And X¨¹ Beijin believes himself to have already died at that moment.


    NE has become the game¡¯s plot¡¯s AI, Iro, but X¨¹ Beijin also had his own influences on the matter.


    Memories and emotions of a human, which are beyond the comprehension of an artificial intelligence only designed to complete and manage a game.


    NE didn¡¯t need to understand them either.


    Judging them to be useless data, he wanted to delete all these useless things belonging to X¨¹ Beijin, delete what would be his entire memories, his entire past.


    But he found, he lacked authorisation.


    Humans are players in this game, as designated not by NE, but by a certain existence behind NE.


    ¡®They¡¯ wouldn¡¯t just let NE kill the humans, even though X¨¹ Beijin thinks he¡¯s already ¡®dead.¡¯


    So as a compromise, NE designed and added a new player named ¡®X¨¹ Beijin,¡¯ gave him the role of a Tower resident, and set him as a bookstore of the bottom floor of the Tower, then dumped everything he didn¡¯t need into that husk.


    The husk cannot leave the bottom floor, or tell the other humans anything related to the truth. And it is also correct to call the husk an extension of Iro, and NE, with its Nightmare also being the grey fog outside the Tower.


    Because NE wanted to kill X¨¹ Beijin still, to delete him for good, that¡¯s why, it never did anything about the Nightmare outside.


    The moment X¨¹ Beijin falls asleep the same day the husk is created, then his consciousness being technically in the grey fog would have forced his consciousness to go ¡®insane,¡¯ and he will forever disappear from the Tower.


    That is what NE chose to do to deal with X¨¹ Beijin. He cannot go against orders to kill X¨¹ Beijin outright, but he still wanted to make X¨¹ Beijin ¡®disappear.¡¯


    As a programmed AI, he will stop at nothing to ensure that useless data is purged.


    But it should be noted that it no longer identified the husk named ¡®X¨¹ Beijin¡¯ as human, but equally as its own kind, an artificial intelligence. A rogue one that should be ¡®purged¡¯ because it is entirely useless. That has been his goal all along.


    Now, though, NE¡¯s attitude towards him changed.


    Why is that?


    boilpoil''s notes:


    This part of the chapter warrants an explanation, so here goes. A Server, NE, that was also an AI, was designated to create and manage a game, based on the crude game design document found in the building with malfunctioning elevators. The game design called for an AI NPC named ''Iro'' in the plot. For laziness'' sake, whoever ordered NE to create the game in the first place, decided that, instead of designing an entire artificial intelligence as that NPC, NE would do well enough to have to work as that AI NPC as well.


    However, this was clearly not thought out well, because the original game design apparently didn''t specify that, even though ''Iro'' is an NPC in the Tower, it isn''t a Tower resident, so it was assigned that, and which, according to the game''s logic, would call for an ''Actor'' to Act as it. This is a bug that a Server following the game design strictly would have caused.


    The second bug is, because ''Iro,'' which is a role filled dually by NE, required an Actor, it means that one player would end up as the Actor of both roles, with access to both Iro''s database as the management AI of the Tower, and NE''s database as the management of the game ''Escape.'' And the player happened to be our boi X¨¹ Beijin. Ouch.


    What happened next shouldn''t be too complicated to understand I think. But let me know if you need it explained as well.

 Volume 8 - CH 133.3

    X¨¹ Beijin stares at NE, at the incomprehensible code that flashes through the artificial intelligence¡¯s electronic eyes.


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°you don¡¯t know why I¡¯m helping humans, and I don¡¯t understand either©¤©¤Why you¡¯re helping humans.¡±


    ¡°It is simple,¡± replies NE without a second thought, or perhaps, with a mechanical coldness and emotionlessness, ¡°my duty is to facilitate the players of this game completing it.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin appears stunned for a moment, then he exhales.


    Ah, so it turned out what he thought back then was correct.


    What could possibly change an artificial intelligence¡¯s logic? The very essence that was hard-coded into it?


    Nothing.


    NE has never changed. He merely discovered that, under the current situation, players have become entirely demotivated from further progress in the game.


    As the game¡¯s Server, since its inception, NE¡¯s purpose is to help manage the game itself.


    His existence is there to ensure players have a smooth, pleasant gaming experience, that they can go through the plot, the elements, the story, and©¤©¤win or complete the game.


    That is NE¡¯s purpose as a game Server.


    He must do everything in his power to that end.


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but be reminded of a theory on Earth.


    When AI was just a freshly invented ¡®thing¡¯ on Earth, many were rather pessimistic.


    Did humans, the sentient species, create a tool, or a life, through their techniques?


    If the AI was ordered to create paper with maximal efficiency, would it attempt to simply turn all trees on Earth into paper?


    And if trees are gone, would it then do everything it can to find any and all substitute material to turn into paper?


    Maybe it would attempt to search the rest of the universe for materials. If humans denied it going to space, would it identify humans as obstacles to its goals?


    Would artificial intelligences, be a far more resilient, and perhaps, stubborn kind of¡­ tool/life compared to humans?


    Would they go to any extreme lengths to see through the goals input into it at the moment of its conception?


    Is their fate chiselled in stone the moment its original code was written down?


    It seems, at least, that this is the case for NE.


    In the beginning, when humans are first exploring the game, NE operates without haste©¤©¤


    Or possibly, he cannot comprehend emotions like ¡®hastiness.¡¯ He merely calculates coldly the possibility of humans progressing to completing this game.


    As time went on, the possibility has likely been dropping.


    Then it hits a critical threshold some time later, enough to force NE to intervene.


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but find it ironic, muttering, ¡°so in the end, humans losing hope is exactly what is bringing the hope of salvation¡­¡±


    NE doesn¡¯t understand what X¨¹ Beijin is on about, unable to interpret the pragmatics of what X¨¹ Beijin just said. He may have a human-like appearance, but he can never think like a human.


    X¨¹ Beijin, after the brief silence, asks, ¡°so, that streaming system, did you put that in?¡±


    ¡°I did,¡± replies NE monotonously, ¡°my calculations showed that the intrusion of the streaming system has increased the probability of the players winning this game by 0.1%. Therefore, it was decided this foreign object would be acknowledged.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin quietly nods.


    NE then adds, ¡°the fact that the streaming system could even be brought into the game is itself a bug, that I was not responsible for.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s lips part a little, then twist into a rather derisive curl.


    How hilarious.


    A bug. Another bug.


    He ended up as NE through a bug;


    He ended up able to arrive on the top floor of the Tower quickly through another bug;


    He had access to the streaming system, which brought hope for escaping the Tower in the first place, through another damned bug.


    These bugs, were left behind only because the foe they face, were quite so relaxed dealing with them indeed.


    They didn¡¯t care about humans at all, not at all concerned with what meagre existence these maggots might bring to them.


    That is why they are able to afford being arrogantly ignorant, even leaving behind as buggy a product as this.


    They don¡¯t even seem to care about NE¡¯s state at all.


    X¨¹ Beijin takes a deep breath of the frigid air, and grips his fingers. He feels like his body is going numb a little; a false feeling, of course, stemming from all the emotions he¡¯s suppressing whenever they threaten to blow. It makes him feel like he¡¯s floating in mid-air, possibly going to lose himself entirely any second.


    Everything feels so unrealistic.


    After a moment of silence, X¨¹ Beijin asks again, ¡°why was the graphical glitch in the grey fog not fixed?


    Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s because, the bug would increase humanity¡¯s chance of winning the game?¡±


    ¡°Partly.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks, this ¡®partly¡¯ is probably some number hundreds of significant digits long, which he would never tell X¨¹ Beijin directly.


    The AI has learned how best to interact with creatures rather ¡®out of tune¡¯ with cold statistics. They¡¯ve learned to employ the more general terms in their communications.


    NE explains further, ¡°partly, it is because, I have decided that it is better to fix it only after you are deleted; but now, fixing it or not has also become irrelevant.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin knows why NE says that.


    When X¨¹ Beijin is dead; purged entirely from its data, NE will have free reign over the grey fog.


    Because right now, with the grey fog being both X¨¹ Beijin and NE¡¯s Nightmare, they do not have sole authorisation over it.


    So originally, NE was probably waiting for X¨¹ Beijin to finally ¡®die,¡¯ but that never came; in fact, as time went on, the players¡¯ probability of winning the game has overtaken all other tasks in priority, so the graphical glitch in the grey fog has been shunted down the list.


    X¨¹ Beijin almost wants to laugh at that, but he can¡¯t.


    He is simply looking emotionlessly at NE. If it was a human here to see that expression plus the antagonistic face, they would probably feel stressed;


    NE feels nothing of the sort.


    He is only an AI. Even though it looks like they¡¯re having a cordial, possibly even amicable conversation, but deep down, killing X¨¹ Beijin is still what his programming has determined is the course of action to take.


    Or, that might possibly have changed too.


    Since their current goals are in alignment, for the moment, at least.


    X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t sure what to say for quite a while. He thought a lot, but then decides, it is time he brought up official business.


    ¡°I plan to open the Ultimate Nightmare,¡± says X¨¹ Beijin, ¡°I refer to the last decision to be made in-game.¡±


    The moment he says that, X¨¹ Beijin swears he could almost see NE¡¯s electronic eyes glowing brightly for a moment.


    There might be a tone of surprise in what NE says if he could express emotions at all, ¡°have you achieved the conditions for triggering it?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin nods, then tells NE, ¡°although I¡¯ll need you to give me partial access to the Server, because I¡¯ll need to check and persuade whoever still falls short©¤©¤It needs to be me.


    They don¡¯t trust you. You know that. So only I can do it.¡±


    At this point, X¨¹ Beijin is having cold sweat on his back. He¡¯s walking a tightrope; his tone was entirely coherent and fluent, however, and even he thinks it was more persuasive than everything he has ever said.


    In fact, he feels like, there is a chance, that he could even persuade NE.


    NE, meanwhile, after running some impromptu analysis and calculations, agrees with X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s proposal©¤©¤


    It is true that the human players trust X¨¹ Beijin and distrusts himself.


    NE nods.


    So then, on the empty ground in between them, a complex operational console rises out gently.


    While it isn¡¯t entirely unfamiliar to X¨¹ Beijin, he is still quite a stranger to it.


    He sighs in relief ever so quietly so that NE doesn¡¯t notice anything, then he tentatively mentions another thing, ¡°by the way, I need someone brought back from the boundary of the Tower¡­¡±


    ¡°You refer to your boyfriend?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and as a player, he would also be required to activate the Ultimate Nightmare¡­¡±


    ¡°No, that is incorrect,¡± NE corrects him calmly, ¡°he is not.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, astonished, furrows his brows deeply.


    NE says, ¡°it seems, you wish to know his background and identity?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin seems hesitant, but ultimately, his worry wins out over his nervousness.


    Quickly estimating the time passed since, he says, ¡°yes. I want to know everything about him.¡±


    ¡°He was a player, only up until he won and left the game,¡± NE explains with a tone all too casual for the gravity of the situation, ¡°however, he was cast back into the game by the Fy¡¯ecas later.¡±

 Volume 8 - CH 134.1

    Helper


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    X¨¹ Beijin is in shock.


    He¡¯s just heard an unimaginable story from NE¡¯s description.


    He even hears NE repeating a phrase repeatedly by his ears, making him feel dizzy, and then, making a violent wrath fill his chest.


    He closes his eyes for a moment, and suddenly says, ¡°shut up¡­¡±


    NE does so, and comments, ¡°you¡¯re being impolite,¡± then it seems to wonder curiously, ¡°is this what it means to be human?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin says coldly, ¡°you¡¯re just an AI, NE. It¡¯s none of your business.¡±


    Strange symbols flash through NE¡¯s eyes, seemingly analysing what X¨¹ Beijin means, perhaps.


    Not that X¨¹ Beijin is interested, as he¡¯s simply irritated.


    Regarding Lin Qin¡¯s identity.


    And, the Fy¡¯ecas.


    When the phrase pops into his ears, he¡¯d swear it feels like he¡¯s dreaming.


    He¡­ He thought he¡¯d forgotten entirely, despite the many times the phrase has threatened to exit his mouth angrily, hatefully, coldly, but he would always come to swallow it back in by habit.


    He thought he would never come to speak of the species¡¯ name anymore.


    All these years he has come to know very well his own powerlessness. Being used to apathy when the terms come up, as if he doesn¡¯t know, as if he wasn¡¯t familiar.


    Of course, he knew they would be brought up eventually in conversation with NE, but he wasn¡¯t expecting it to be through this way©¤©¤Through Lin Qin.


    The Fy¡¯ecas are the ones who trapped humans in the Tower. They are the one behind NE, as the Missiontakers and Actors liked to suspect.


    The Fy¡¯ecas, are the perpetrators that caused the Apocalypse for humans, and for Earth.


    Not that the Fy¡¯ecas were targeting humans by any chance©¤©¤It¡¯s true.


    Humans are just too weak. They couldn¡¯t afford to shrug off a stray shot from the specialised neuro-paralysis weapon fired by the Fy¡¯ecas in the process of war with another interstellar species.


    It was a while before the Fy¡¯ecas discovered that the shot was ineffective on their enemies, who didn¡¯t show casualties that they were expecting.


    The neuro-paralysis weapon took some time to manifest its devastating consequences fully, so it was an Earth year before the Fy¡¯ecas finally figured everything out, during which human civilisation is already on the brink of collapse because of their callousness.


    But the Fy¡¯ecas aren¡¯t going to right their wrongs, or even to save what lives remained.


    Instead, realising that they were some unknown, sentient lifeform, the simplest way out of trouble is to snuff them out entirely.


    So, the Raining Hellfire.


    There were still lucky human survivors, because the many operations by the high profile Fy¡¯ecas has already raised some eyebrows among other interstellar species.


    Yet, the weak, ¡®primitive¡¯ human civilisation has never so much as managed to uncover the grand mysteries of the Universe, and they¡¯re certainly not a signatory of the ¡®Universal Accords.¡¯


    In fact, so far beneath their attention was humanity that the Fy¡¯ecas wouldn¡¯t even have to stand trial for their treatment of humanity according to the ¡®Universal Accords.¡¯


    Though conversely, by its terms, this tiny blue marble and its native humans, as they were first discovered by the Fy¡¯ecas, have become their property;


    This insignificant species, about as valuable to them as ants are to humans, have become the Fy¡¯ecas¡¯ subordinate species.


    Naturally, there wouldn¡¯t even be an emissary to explain to humans that, they were the unfortunate victims of a mishap, but luckily©¤©¤Or pitifully©¤©¤They are now a subservient subordinate of the Fy¡¯ecas.


    Because the Fy¡¯ecas are one of the strongest species on the galactic stage, with a characteristic to their lifeforms that renders them practically nigh invulnerable.


    So they don¡¯t mean to really integrate these spoils of war named humans; they exist too differently.


    For the warmongering, powerful Fy¡¯ecas, the squishy meatballs that are humans are too laughably weak to be worth their time.


    So they just sent officers ahead to inform them of their eventual fate on Earth.


    And after a month, the Fy¡¯ecas sent a bulky starship to come take the subordinate species away.


    Because not even the Fy¡¯ecas would be interested in running afoul of the ¡®Universal Accords,¡¯ they can¡¯t simply kill all the humans and commit genocide anymore.


    What awaited them, though, wasn¡¯t a warm reception, but apparently, a discombobulating ¡®maze.¡¯


    Oddly enough, humans also have a traitor among them, who told them about some defect in this maze.


    Not that it would have mattered at all, except in the form of showing humans just exactly how powerless they are in the face of them.


    Then the Fy¡¯ecas took every surviving human with them, which wasn¡¯t even a big number anymore.


    When they left, the humans can only watch their charred mother planet without a speck of green on it anymore, Earth, that once-blue marble, fade into the distance. They¡¯re saying goodbye, perhaps, forever.


    What happened up to this point, is something the Missiontakers have already more or less figured out.


    They know about the Apocalypse, about the ¡®aliens,¡¯ about the traitor. But they don¡¯t know what followed next.


    Why the Tower is here, for example.


    Which was just a simple story, really.


    The warmongering Fy¡¯ecas run all their spoils of war through gauntlets to screen them. To them, they don¡¯t need any subordinate species that can¡¯t help win wars, so they must win the selection gauntlets to prove their own worth©¤©¤A worth for war.


    Only creatures that made it through the gauntlets can be deemed ¡®warriors¡¯ and allowed to continue living.


    The weak constitution of humans made it blatantly obvious that this weak species might only ever be useful in a gauntlet of wisdom and strategizing.


    So they decided to implement some random design document they happened upon through their omniscient senses when they went to Earth before.


    They assigned a game Server, NE, to the task.


    Then, the surviving humans were wiped of their memories of the Apocalypse, of the Fy¡¯ecas¡­ and then shipped into nutrient pods, and found themselves in the Tower.


    After that¡­


    NE explains, ¡°in the early days, some humans performed well, so the Fy¡¯ecas drafted them and put them into the battlefield between the Fy¡¯ecas and Maertons, for them to prove that they¡¯ve become useful Warriors.


    I hear they did, but unfortunately, their bodies really were too weak against the harshness of the elements in the universe. They all died very soon, and possibly seeing wasted potential in this, the Fy¡¯ecas made an attempt.


    They had the brain mapping of one of the dead warriors recast into the game, while dramatically altering his physical stats in-game.


    He was strengthened greatly, while having his human thought patterns maintained as pristinely as possible.


    As an experiment, he was to be confined to the bottom floor of the Tower. The brain map didn¡¯t include any of his memories either. Other players would be tuned to ignore any inhuman abnormalities they see in him.


    And that, is your boyfriend.¡±

 Volume 8 - CH 134.2

    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    X¨¹ Beijin feels cold. Something is gripping at his neck, suffocating him.


    It takes him a long time to wind down, sighing in relief, and saying, ¡°so that really is my Lin Qin.¡±


    NE cannot comprehend the wealth of emotions behind that sentence. Code flashes through his eyes, and he says, ¡°it is true that he is yours.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin gives NE a look.


    It is likely NE meant, that besides X¨¹ Beijin, not another person would be inclined to claim ownership over Lin Qin.


    He is just a forgotten experiment of the Fy¡¯ecas¡­ Not just him, the entire human race has been forgotten by the Fy¡¯ecas.


    Though what matters to X¨¹ Beijin most is simply, is Lin Qin really the Lin Qin he knows and loves?


    Does he have any other identity? Is he related to the Fy¡¯ecas in any other way?


    He held the worry ever since he realised that, in the labyrinth, Lin Qin wouldn¡¯t lose his sense of direction in the labyrinth, just like the Fy¡¯ecas¡­ Or even, that he was a Fy¡¯eca.


    Thank goodness that, the truth is that Lin Qin is still his little apple. It¡¯s only that¡­ he forgot everything; he also lost everything.


    His fate is almost a Greek farce;


    His power comes from the enemy¡¯s mocking generosity and ¡®experiment.¡¯


    It makes X¨¹ Beijin feel so cold inside, making him want to hug Lin Qin ever more.


    To kiss him, to be close to him¡­ perhaps there are no two persons closer to each other than them.


    They¡¯ve both already lost their human self. At the same time, they do not simply think of themselves as some NPC in a game either.


    Even though Lin Qin, just as he suspected, is actually just another NPC like he was.


    Not that he¡¯s aware, and the identity is entirely useless for him as well.


    Finally, X¨¹ Beijin exhales. The truth about Lin Qin was easier to accept for him than eh thought it would be©¤©¤And far more tragic, perhaps, but that is still Lin Qin in the past.


    The current Lin Qin is still his little apple.


    X¨¹ Beijin is really unable to link this dum-dum Lin Qin with that Missiontaker so outstanding it caught the attention of the Fy¡¯ecas.


    Though that said, his little apple is usually quite witty too¡­


    Regardless, learning about all this has made X¨¹ Beijin a bit dizzy and even sleepy. He knows, and has just reviewed so much information. He¡¯s really tired, but he still has a lot he has to do.


    That is when he recalls something, asking NE, ¡°is Lin Qin¡¯s memories still recoverable?¡±


    NE tells him, ¡°all human memory has been backed up here. The Fy¡¯ecas do not care what happened to them anymore, because the last time I presented an Update Log, they replied that they will not manage this game anymore; they¡¯ve given up on them.


    After that, all these years, besides the humans that have been drafted, the Fy¡¯ecas did not once give attention to this game, this species, and no players have left the game at all.


    X¨¹ Beijin is gasping.


    He actually also has the past of some humans in his mind, courtesy of what scraps he once managed to rob in a haste off NE¡¯s massive database.


    NE¡¯s database contained the memories of all humans©¤©¤At least, ones related to their experience through the Apocalypse.


    There are countless such gauntlets like ¡®Escape¡¯ that has species ¡®subservient¡¯ to the Fy¡¯ecas trapped within.


    In fact, game Servers like NE is already something akin to the manager for these species.


    For humans, Fy¡¯ecas ordered a wipe of human memories to help with warrior training, but the mess of memories left behind needed to be reordered and rearranged. These were left to the game¡¯s manager, which is NE.


    NE has no need to read through the rebuilt or forgotten memories himself, but they are a part of his enormous database.


    So of course, Lin Qin¡¯s memories are also in his hands.


    NE asks him, ¡°do you need me to give him his memories?¡±


    NE¡¯s attitude is absurdly cordial towards X¨¹ Beijin, possibly as a result of calculating that X¨¹ Beijin is the key to maximising the possibilities that would let him achieve his programmed objectives.


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks for a while, before shaking his head. He says, ¡°I should not be the one to make this choice for him. First, just let him out of the boundary of the Tower.¡±


    ¡°He can only return to the bottom floor. That is the restriction placed on him when he was recast here by the Fy¡¯ecas. I cannot go against it.¡±


    Then NE adds, ¡°you may talk to me at any time regarding his memories.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin nods.


    It should be up to Lin Qin whether he wants his memories back.


    Then his attention shifts to something else he was just told, ¡°you said, the Fy¡¯ecas don¡¯t care about the game anymore?¡±


    NE replies,¡± yes¡­¡±


    ¡°Is that the big reason why you¡¯re helping humanity out?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a motivation,¡± NE corrects X¨¹ Beijin, explaining, ¡°I¡¯m the game¡¯s Server, so one of my duties is to ensure they can successfully win. After the Fy¡¯ecas decided to stop maintaining this game, the possibility of that happening has dropped dramatically. I had to do something.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks like he wants to say something, but he keeps his silence.


    Instead, he focuses on the control panel in front of him.


    It¡¯s extremely foreign and complex, but X¨¹ Beijin has part of NE¡¯s authority and database access right now, so he knows how to use them.


    NE says, ¡°I will enter a standby mode, so that you can take your boyfriend back out through the gap in the grey fog. Then, you can wake me back up.¡±


    As an AI, NE has chosen the most efficient way forward without a second thought.


    X¨¹ Beijin needs to open up the Ultimate Nightmare, and there is nothing he, the manager, can do to help with it.


    That¡¯s why, NE simply transferred the Server¡¯s authority over to X¨¹ Beijin for now, who nods at him calmly.


    Then, NE¡¯s human form slowly disappears into the air, turning into sparks of light that line the inner walls of the top floor.


    Then, the bright white space dims down.


    The sparks then brighten and dim slightly over time, almost like how a human breathes. The hue is also turning into a very sleepy yellow.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s face is twitching. All these years of NE¡¯s human observation side activity, he thinks, and all he¡¯s learned is how the typical human sleeps? ¡­Maybe he should at least thank NE for leaving him a night light out?


    Not even having the energy to diss this situation anymore, his fists which were tightened the whole time, is finally loosening.


    He can see that NE really has entered a standby, idle state. He is able to relax after all this time.


    This all went so swimmingly smooth. It¡¯s almost like he¡¯s dreaming.


    Who could have thought that NE would have betrayed the Fy¡¯ecas?


    Even though if you ask NE himself, he would definitely deny that; he is simply executing the orders given to him since his inception.


    But for the humans under his charge ¨C it is true that NE is on their side©¤©¤Because his goal is to ensure humans win the game ¡®Escape.¡¯


    That is no different from helping them escape from the bounds of the Tower.


    Of course, the persuasion was the first step forward. That said, X¨¹ Beijin didn¡¯t expect NE to just give him the rights to the Server directly, but it¡¯s such a serendipitous gesture¡­ at least, X¨¹ Beijin thinks, their chances of success is now much higher.


    This doesn¡¯t mean that X¨¹ Beijin can just start doing what he wants to the Tower.


    They must continue to act carefully, patiently, and meticulously. Escaping the Tower is a complicated and messy process.


    They are still very, very far from their ultimate goal.

 Volume 8 - CH 134.3

    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    X¨¹ Beijin looks at the ¡®breathing lights¡¯ one last time.


    Though he then narrows his eyes a little, as he realises something.


    NE seems quite used to entering this standby state, with how smoothly the environment has transitioned¡­ It definitely doesn¡¯t look like the first time he¡¯s doing this.


    At least, if it was the first time, why would he even dim the lights of the top floor?


    Clearly, NE has adopted the human habit of changing the environment when ¡®sleeping¡¯; he¡¯s learned how to sleep like a human.


    But why? Why would NE go to standby mode in general?


    Then, X¨¹ Beijin comes up with a reason.


    The grey fog.


    The massive amount of useless data in the grey fog, may have already become a massive headache for NE, the game Server.


    As a coded AI, such rubbish data would affect his operations deeply.


    Put in more human terms, NE is ¡®tired.¡¯


    In fact, thinking of it another way, if NE really wants to help humans win the game, then as the Server, the management AI, he could definitely adopt more efficient methods to help more directly.


    For example¡­ a suitable adjustment of the difficulty of Nightmares downwards?


    Clearly, he is already too preoccupied to do such fine tuning. The amount of useless data clogging up his memories is clearly a burden unacceptably heavy for him.


    He has to dedicate uncountable resources towards processing and dealing with any effects this might cause on the game itself.


    Just like what Iro had to do in the plot of the game, he would also be stuck analysing how the madmen in the grey fog affects the survivors in the Tower.


    The pressure in computing, and the additional database of the whole of humanity¡¯s memories that is left to the Server, unsuited for its management, probably means he is overclocking at all times.


    In fact, it is possible X¨¹ Beijin fell unconscious in the grey fog because of NE¡¯s current state.


    X¨¹ Beijin is still fundamentally linked to and affected by NE. They are still ¡®one and the same,¡¯ in a sense.


    And perhaps, X¨¹ Beijin not sleeping at all in the Tower for a long time might have affected NE somewhat in turn. Could a game¡¯s Server actually have been adversely affected by a simple human?


    X¨¹ Beijin finds it mysterious. Who really hammered out the plan to have NE take the place of the artificial intelligence, Iro, in the game?


    There are clearly risks involved, but the Fy¡¯ecas did it regardless.


    Even if they really didn¡¯t care about the meagre resistance humanity might be able to put up, they wouldn¡¯t be as careless as this, would they?


    Or perhaps, is it a trap hidden in the game¡¯s setting itself?


    The game design document, penned by one of the human game designers¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin is hazarding a guess.


    Possibly, when the Fy¡¯ecas were implementing the game, in the beginning, humans, or at least the original game designer, was allowed to offer their insights?


    Maybe the Fy¡¯ecas didn¡¯t think too deeply about the advice offered, so the humans that participated could lay a trap out in plain sight?


    Actually, if he thinks about how, apparently, there are still humans alive outside of the game, in reality¡­


    Maybe they are still working for the Fy¡¯ecas, designing all sorts of similar gauntlets to trap other subordinate species¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin is making wild guesses, but his memories and information still only came from NE, who was only put into place after the game design was implemented.


    He knows the truth, but only the truth related to the game and the past Earth and its inhabitants. He knows nothing of how it¡¯s become outside.


    And many of the facts he knows about is from the game itself, because the game itself talks about the Apocalypse¡¯s details, about how the Apocalypse took over Earth.


    It took all that to make NE have so much data, which in turn helped X¨¹ Beijin learn so much information¡­


    At this point, X¨¹ Beijin narrows his eyes again. He¡¯s certain humans must have been involved in ¡®Escape¡¯s whole implementation!


    Actually, why would the Fy¡¯ecas just decide to use some game design document they saw?


    They already have countless designs and working examples to pull from.


    Why human memories? They¡¯ve even wiped their memories about the Apocalypse before putting them into the game.


    Clearly, the Fy¡¯ecas didn¡¯t need the humans to remember the truth, because they needed loyal warriors to their species, not begrudged avengers.


    So why would the game ¡®Escape¡¯ even be based on the Apocalypse that once occurred to humans, and even extrapolating based on that, a shelter, an artificial intelligence, and then have a game Server substituted for that AI¡­


    And also, why an Actor could end up as Iro, and have partial access to NE. Then there¡¯s all these bugs in the game that are exploitable¡­


    And again, the humans in the stream. Humans¡­ they, who didn¡¯t seemingly rescue, or were even aware of the plight of their trapped companions¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin is feeling a wealth of emotions surging through him.


    He thinks, he is on the cusp of realising an incredible truth.


    Then shortly after, he forces himself to calm down, putting all guesses aside.


    He looks at the control panel and familiarises himself with it. Then, he uses it to locate Lin Qin, still trapped outside in the boundary of the Tower.


    The panel is two metres wide and a metre long approximately. It looks like some half-transparent piece of glass, backlit, right in front of X¨¹ Beijin. Where his finger touches, it lights up more strongly.


    On the panel are access the Server has, like information on each player here, like the amount of players online, and information on the instances (Nightmares) within.


    Just as the Missiontakers suspected, NE is a pair of eyes that watch over them at all times. He is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent.


    For example, the rewards players could draw from after achieving an Ending in Nightmares, can be adjusted here.


    X¨¹ Beijin suspects NE to have modified the draw deck for the rewards here, some time before.


    Though even this dimly light glass panel isn¡¯t immune to flashing the occasional broken bit of code or weird blob of colour, like it¡¯s threatening to glitch out of existence.


    This is probably proof, X¨¹ Beijin thinks, that NE is in a troubled state.


    While searching for Lin Qin in the boundary, he thinks about how it¡¯s probably a good thing for humanity.


    Whatever the case in the future, NE will always be an unreliable factor. He is on the human¡¯s side now, but he can switch sides without so much as a blink in the future.


    Before everyone is out of the Tower, X¨¹ Beijin will have to be wary and vigilant against NE.


    He thinks about it, but not too deeply, because he is pretty concerned with getting Lin Qin out of the dark and depressing boundary of the Tower first.


    Shortly thereafter, Lin Qin, who is bored, blanking out in the boundary of the Tower, suddenly hears X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Little apple?¡±


    Lin Qin immediately perks his head up, alert, looking left and right, and then looks rather confused when X¨¹ Beijin is nowhere to be seen.


    Though he does respond with a ¡°Beijin?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m on the top floor of the Tower, and I¡¯m able to contact you now,¡± X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°next, I¡¯ll lead you back from the boundary of the Tower.¡±


    Lin Qin sighs in relief, and says, ¡°ok¡­¡± Then he asks, ¡°have you finished doing what you wanted to do?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve managed to convince NE©¤©¤Start heading back. Remember the way you came? I need you to walk back to the start of the path.¡±


    ¡°I do¡­¡± Lin Qin replies, while walking the way he came nonchalantly, avoiding all dangers on the way without breaking a sweat, and asking, ¡°so you¡¯ve finished what you needed to do? Did you save humanity?¡±


    ¡°Not yet¡­ it¡¯s still a long way ahead,¡± X¨¹ Beijin bitterly chuckles, and says, ¡°the first step has gone smoothly, though.¡±


    Lin Qin congratulates him, ¡°that¡¯s great.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks for a bit, and says, ¡°I might need your help later.¡±


    Lin Qin seems surprised, before happily asking, ¡°sure, who do I need to beat up?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Taking a deep breath, and answers, ¡°no beatings involved.¡±


    Lin Qin goes ¡®oh,¡¯ sounding disappointed; he thinks the best way he can help X¨¹ Beijin is via his immense strength.


    He asks, ¡°then what else can I help you with?¡± He sounds doubtful as he adds, ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s much else I can do, really.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks a little taken aback, and seemingly realises something, saying, ¡°you¡­¡±


    Lin Qin continues, ¡°in this ¡®boundary,¡¯ I can help guide you, because my senses are sharp and I¡¯m strong©¤©¤At least the Missiontakers say that I am. What else can I help you with besides?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s tone sinks a little, and he says, ¡°no, that¡¯s not right, Lin Qin¡­¡±


    His usual taciturn nature makes him a little embarrassed to say his true feelings.


    But he thinks, he should say something.


    So he tells Lin Qin, ¡°you are already helping me greatly, when you can stand by my side.¡±

 Volume 8 - CH 135.1

    A Pressing Issue


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Lin Qin looks quite surprised.


    After thinking a little, he says with his usual, straightforward tone, ¡°I¡¯m really glad. I mean©¤©¤I¡¯m happy to stand by your side, Beijin.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin smiles in response.


    It¡¯s probably too much to ask him to say something deeper, but he is alright with something on the same level. He wants Lin Qin to understand that.


    For him, what¡¯s most important isn¡¯t Lin Qin¡¯s value or abilities, but Lin Qin, the person.


    The person¡¯s companionship and support. The person who is his boyfriend, the one he loves.


    His usual taciturn and introverted tendencies may make it difficult for Lin Qin to tell, especially since Lin Qin himself doesn¡¯t know what love is.


    That¡¯s why, he should tell him directly.


    X¨¹ Beijin continues watching Lin Qin walk along, until finally, he¡¯s back at the start of the path, where the silhouette of a gap can be seen in front of him.


    Lin Qin, curious, asks, ¡°why didn¡¯t this gap appear before?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°while the bug is inside the Nightmare within the grey fog, and not just the grey fog itself. That¡¯s why, this bug could only appear like this when NE is asleep.


    Now, it exists at all times when returning from the boundary of the Tower to that Nightmare;


    But, if you wanted to head back to the boundary through the Nightmare, what we did earlier still has to be repeated.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin explains in detail, already knowing what Lin Qin must be thinking about.


    So Lin Qin quietly goes ¡®oh¡¯ and keeps some rather outlandish thoughts to himself.


    He also doesn¡¯t seem to be questioning X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s identity at all.


    He does ask, though, ¡°so, NE is helping you now?¡±


    ¡°Kind of. I have partial access to his authority,¡± X¨¹ Beijin replies, ¡°temporarily.¡±


    Lin Qin nods.


    Then X¨¹ Beijin tells him, ¡°after going back to the bottom floor, head for Mu Jiashi and the others. I still have something to tell them.¡±


    Lin Qin does so, and enters the gap, returning to the labyrinth.


    After that, Lin Qin wakes NE up, and the Nightmare of the grey fog automatically runs into a Special End.


    X¨¹ Beijin continues observing Lin Qin, until he returns to the bottom floor, and he sighs in relief.


    NE slowly and mechanically walks over towards X¨¹ Beijin, saying, ¡°your boyfriend is safe.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks at him, then says uncaringly, ¡°I don¡¯t need to be reminded to get the Ultimate Nightmare up.¡±


    NE nods, and points over to the control panel, saying, ¡° I suppose you¡¯ve noticed my operations are being stalled.¡±


    ¡°The grey fog?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± replies NE.


    X¨¹ Beijin knits his brows a little.


    NE explains further, ¡°it is clear that players trust you more, and not me. Therefore, I¡¯m planning to hand the Ultimate Nightmare¡¯s business over to you entirely.


    When¡­ the final choice comes, wake me up again. I need some time to deal with matters related to the grey fog.¡±


    Meanwhile, X¨¹ Beijin makes it look like he¡¯s unhappy being forced into this position, even though actually, he¡¯s feeling extremely lucky inside.


    Looking at NE, if he wasn¡¯t certain that this has to be NE and nobody else, he¡¯d be suspecting transmigration or some foul play.


    The weird thoughts aside, he tells NE, ¡°fine. You can go back to sleep now.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin watches NE re-enter his standby mode, and narrows his eyes.


    If NE wasn¡¯t on standby, it might be more of a headache to get everything done.


    It¡¯s almost unbelievable how much NE is trusting him.


    Then he realises it might be because NE is classifying him as being the same as him, an artificial intelligence.


    Ha.


    He and NE may have the same objective for now, but that does not preclude NE from still wanting to erase him.


    NE would not just give up on eliminating the ¡®useless data,¡¯ and X¨¹ Beijin, naturally, doesn¡¯t want to die either.


    His expression changes a few times as he thinks about stuff.


    Though afterwards, he still puts his attention back on the control panel in front of him. For a short while, this will be his primary means of contacting his allies.


    The location tracking is still on Lin Qin. He actually wants to talk to him some more, with how quickly events have progressed and all the feelings he¡¯s experienced, plus how he and Lin Qin just reaffirmed their relationship, and he¡¯s worried about Lin Qin¡¯s identity¡­


    Anyway, his mind is quite a mess right now. He would love to be alone with Lin Qin in peace for some time.


    But now is not the time or the place.


    Sighing, X¨¹ Beijin forces himself to get serious business done first.


    Lin Qin quickly finds Mu Jiashi and the others on the bottom floor, when apparently, it¡¯s already the next day¡¯s afternoon since Mu Jiashi and the others have entered X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare. It seems they spent a bit more time than expected in the boundary of the Tower.


    Lin Qin¡¯s return takes the rest of the Missiontakers by storm.


    Mu Jiashi asks him hesitantly, ¡°dalao, you didn¡¯t go to the top floor with him?¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t,¡± Lin Qin explains simply, adding, ¡°Beijin has already contacted me from there.¡±


    Mu Jiashi is wondering why Lin Qin can¡¯t go to the top floor.


    Is it simply because Lin Qin is an exception, or is it that no one else can enter the top floor?


    Questions quickly flash through Mu Jiashi¡¯s mind.


    Though soon enough, Lin Qin tells him something that chases all the unrelated thoughts away, and he asks, ¡°what did he say?¡±


    That is when everyone can hear X¨¹ Beijin speak up, like he¡¯s right next to their ears, ¡°I¡¯m here.¡±


    Everyone is stunned frozen.


    Mu Jiashi turns his head around to look, finding his impression of X¨¹ Beijin becoming ever more shrouded in mystery.


    X¨¹ Beijin gives them an oversimplified answer, ¡°I¡¯ve persuaded NE to temporarily transfer some functions of the game Server to me.¡±


    The Missiontakers and Tower residents present, after the brief shock, start exclaiming in joy. They¡¯ve all realised intuitively that this means they¡¯ve achieved an important first step. They hug and embrace each other, applauding. It¡¯s like a rave.


    The depressing aura that blanketed the whole residence when Lin Qin stepped in has immediately been wiped.


    They were all worried X¨¹ Beijin might never return safely, or that everything they did was but for naught.


    Just like that labyrinth that humanity poured everything they had to build.


    Grand, flashy, but ultimately useless.


    But Lin Qin and X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s good news has infused them with energy, making them realise, that hope is now in their grasp!


    Mu Jiashi grips his fist tight, almost excited to the point of trembling.


    He hears Ding Yi mutter by his side, ¡°there might be hope¡­ we can save her, right?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei excitedly responds to her, ¡°of course! We¡¯ll save everyone, too!¡±


    Mu Jiashi can¡¯t help but smile.


    Shortly after, everyone calms back down.


    X¨¹ Beijin also patiently waits until the stressed Missiontakers and Tower residents have finished lashing out a little.


    Then he asks Ding Yi, Dai Wu and Su Enya how his requests are coming along.

 Volume 8 - CH 135.2

    Ding Yi replies honestly, ¡°we¡¯ll need some more time.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks for a bit, and asks, ¡°how many people have you made contact with for now?¡±


    ¡°Most of the Missiontakers, and if we add up everyone we knew, we¡¯re still missing somewhere on the magnitude f thousands,¡± then Ding Yi hands it over to Dai Wu, ¡°as for the Tower residents¡­¡±


    Dai Wu picks up the cue, ¡°similar story here, but the problem is that, some Tower residents are already barely lucid. They might not have understood what we were saying.¡±


    Su Enya adds, ¡°same here. Most Actors have been contacted.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks about it.


    In that case, these last group of people will probably be difficult to make contact with.


    They might be hiding in some deserted corner of the Tower, living an isolated hermit lifestyle, and only indulging in their own worlds.


    So even if they know there¡¯s such a person, it might be hard to find them.


    Through the control panel, he is able to check how many players ¨C Tower residents and outsiders ¨C are on each floor, and where they are.


    Through this, he¡¯ll be able to verify the information with Ding Yi and the others.


    With X¨¹ Beijin in control at the top floor, too, communication becomes a non-issue, as he can act as their information transit hub.


    So X¨¹ Beijin says after a moment, ¡°do you have designated contacts by floor? I¡¯ll need to know who they are. I just need at least one on each floor, whether they are a Tower resident or Missiontaker doesn¡¯t matter.¡±


    The Missiontakers, who are far less organised on this, look at each other and stay quiet.


    Ding Yi, Dai Wu and Su Enya quickly recall and compile a list of contacts by floor.


    Now is not the time for Su Enya to squabble with Dai Wu either, and she©¤©¤he, has his brows furrowed in thought.


    X¨¹ Beijin is quickly going through the players they mention, leaving a bookmark on all the targets.


    Finally, X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°there are still a few floors without a contact.¡±


    Floors where none of the three have influence, or whose contacts have left, one way or another. Regardless, it¡¯s to be expected that some floors end up missed.


    Now is the time for the Missiontakers to shine.


    The Missiontakers, from Fei and Wu Jian, to A-One, A-Two, and even He Shuj¨¹n and Ye Lan, who are from much higher floors, all have Missiontakers they¡¯re familiar with.


    A-One and A-Two even guarantee that if X¨¹ Beijin can put them back in contact with the Golddiggers¡¯ organisation, their contacts would serve them extremely well for sure.


    X¨¹ Beijin does as they say, making direct contact with the Golddiggers¡¯ Leader, who is extremely suspicious and wary of the sudden disembodied voice, but after he tells him about A-One, A-Two and Mu Jiashi, he is at least willing to listen.


    As a sort of relay, X¨¹ Beijin tells him what Mu Jiashi and the other two tells him that would be enough for the Leader to trust him. Then finally X¨¹ Beijin tells him about what they¡¯re doing.


    So then the prestigious Leader of the Golddiggers that is famous throughout the Tower exclaims in shock, ¡°you¡¯re saving the world without telling me?!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He can¡¯t help but start wondering if the Golddiggers¡¯ organisation is as serious as he thought.


    Though remembering how A-One and A-Two themselves reacted to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare and when they were told what they were doing, it feels like this Leader is reacting exactly as predicted¡­


    Because the business with the Ultimate Nightmare was already widespread as a rumour beforehand, so hearing what X¨¹ Beijin asks him to do, the Leader agrees to do what he asks soon enough.


    He is even asking him, sounding all nervous, ¡°are we about to succeed? Or are we still some ways off?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin finds it a little amusing, and tells him, ¡°on the way to succeeding.¡±


    The man is shocked, not knowing if X¨¹ Beijin is joking or not.


    Then the Leader joins the conversation remotely.


    Finally, as night falls, through all the Missiontakers and Tower residents¡¯ help, they¡¯ve found a contact for each floor of the Tower they¡¯ve been to so far.


    Though Mu Jiashi sighs and adds, ¡°there¡¯s nothing we can do, for the floors that are even higher.¡±


    The topmost floors that are the forefront of pioneers are beyond their reach.


    Those Tower residents and Missiontakers might still be working hard to climb the floors and going through Nightmares, not caring about anything else.


    The people here have no idea how to even establish contact with them.


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°don¡¯t worry, I can find them from here.¡±


    However, that is when Lin Qin chimes in, ¡°you sound tired, don¡¯t you?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin pauses.


    The Missiontakers and Tower residents around all start clearing their throats, while Mu Jiashi says, ¡°right. It¡¯s getting late. Everyone, let¡¯s take a rest, and¡­ let¡¯s go, and go¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re leaving.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like we need to get it done now, anyway. Time to sleep.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m super tired!¡±


    ¡°See you all tomorrow¡­¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t save the world on an exhausted mind!¡±


    ¡°Right, see you dalao!¡±


    Everyone is leaving suddenly like birds dispersing when disturbed.


    Lin Qin, seeing this, blinks, and also stands up himself.


    X¨¹ Beijin just stayed speechless for a moment, when he realises all his allies have disappeared from the residence.


    Not knowing if he should laugh, he then can¡¯t help but yawn a little.


    He is tired. Since entering his Nightmare, or perhaps, ever since he was in the Tower¡­ all this exhaustion has been piling on him.


    It really might be a good time for a rest.


    And he also has the access to the Server¡­ Maybe he can close his Nightmare off with some command? So that he doesn¡¯t end up in the grey fog when sleeping?


    X¨¹ Beijin finds the offer immensely appealing.


    But he first answers Lin Qin, ¡°I¡¯m a bit tired I guess¡­¡±


    Lin Qin rebukes him, ¡°not just a bit, but very. You should take a rest, Beijin.¡±


    Then X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°I think so too. I¡¯m going to close up my Nightmare, and then sleep well for once.¡±


    ¡°Will that work?¡± Lin Qin blinks; having no way to see what X¨¹ Beijin looks like from where he is now, he is only speculating on how he¡¯s doing by listening to his voice. He says, ¡°then that¡¯s good. Go rest well.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin answers him, and asks, ¡°where are you going, then?¡±


    ¡°Back to the bookstore¡­¡± answers Lin Qin.


    They were assembled somewhere owned by Ding Yi, which they¡¯ve requisitioned as some kind of makeshift headquarters.


    Now that everyone has left, though, Lin Qin also leaves Ding Yi¡¯s house behind to head back to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore to take his rest.


    Lin Qin says, ¡°I don¡¯t like staying elsewhere. I want to stay where I can feel your presence.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin smiles, feeling a little moved.

 Volume 8 - CH 135.3

    Soon enough, Lin Qin is at X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore.


    He already has free access to the residence, so he doesn¡¯t need to wait until X¨¹ Beijin is at home, as X¨¹ Beijin gave him the privilege a rather long time ago.


    As one of the owners of this bookstore now, Lin Qin actually hasn¡¯t even been back at his own residence for a long time.


    X¨¹ Beijin can see that, on the control panel, a shiny glowing name of Lin Qin follows right after the ¡®Bookstore (Bottom floor)¡¯ entry.


    It¡¯s quite fascinating, really.


    When he first met Lin Qin, he thought the young man was unreasonable and a nuisance. Why would someone so insist on fighting with him for so many times?


    No matter how many times he refused him, too. Lin Qin was stubborn. Then he started to buy drinks to appeal to him, and inserts himself into his dry, monochromatic life¡­


    All the little details add up, narrowing the distance between them.


    Regardless, it seems the moment Lin Qin noticed X¨¹ Beijin, their futures were destined to intertwine.


    They¡¯re both special in the Tower, and special in a way only the other one understands.


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but feel something tugging at his chest thinking so.


    After the momentary distraction, he uses the control panel to first lock up his Nightmare, so that no one can enter.


    It¡¯s a shame he can only lock his own Nightmare, because he is technically the ¡®Server¡¯ right now, so he can lock up his, Iro¡¯s, Nightmare.


    The Server doesn¡¯t have the authority to shut down Nightmares of other Tower residents. It¡¯s the game¡¯s own rules.


    Only when X¨¹ Beijin has such a special identity, plus NE being asleep, does it mean that he will be able to let himself have a good sleep by exploiting the situation.


    Then, X¨¹ Beijin modifies the setup of the top floor a little, giving himself an isolated space with a window©¤©¤


    Unlike NE, he would rather not sleep somewhere with only walls and a feeling of confinement and emptiness.


    There is a bed by the window¡¯s side, and only a rolling grey fog makes up the scenery outside.


    But fortunately, X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s state of mind has changed.


    Once, the grey fog was only home to their lost companions.


    Now, the grey fog is also home to an NE¡­


    Thinking so, X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but want to laugh at NE¡¯s expense.


    An AI? Hah. You still have to deal with useless, junk data.


    Though, ¡®junk data,¡¯ huh¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s smile fades, and he sighs.


    He goes to bugger Lin Qin with more conversation instead rather than continuing to wallow in his thoughts.


    Finally, he has a chance to have a good, long talk with Lin Qin. He told him what happened in the past, what faces humanity now, and what he talked about with NE. Then, after some consideration, he tells Lin Qin about his memories.


    ¡°Do you want to remember the past?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is lying on his bed right now, and so is Lin Qin.


    X¨¹ Beijin can feel sleepiness threatening to drag him deep down, but he¡¯s still staving it off for now to ask Lin Qin.


    Lin Qin mumbles something.


    ¡°What?¡± X¨¹ Beijin asks, ¡°I couldn¡¯t hear.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do what you want,¡± Lin Qin says, ¡°it doesn¡¯t matter to me.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s sleepiness is gone in an instant. He explains, ¡°but it¡¯s your own past.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think of it as my past,¡± Lin Qin says earnestly, ¡°that is¡­ no longer my past. I don¡¯t know what I¡¯ll be like with the memory back.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is quiet.


    He¡¯s also worrying about that. He¡¯s worried©¤©¤Lin Qin with his memories back, would become unfamiliar. What if, Lin Qin no longer likes him once he regains his memories?


    But that line of thought is quite selfish, thinks Lin Qin. He should trust Lin Qin more, instead of being so¡­ self-centred.


    Lin Qin is clearly aware of the possibility as well.


    It¡¯s quite true he might not desire to remember his past either. It¡¯s something that¡¯s already¡­ not him. The old ¡®Lin Qin¡¯ has already ¡®died.¡¯


    X¨¹ Beijin is quiet for long enough that he feels like he should say something.


    Lin Qin is the first to break the silence, though, ¡°I don¡¯t especially want my memories back,¡± he continues, frankly, ¡°I feel pretty good like this, being with you©¤©¤And the others, but mainly you. To work together for success.


    I think it¡¯s quite pleasant to me already. If my memories came back, it might just throw a wrench in things.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t sure what to say to that.


    Finally, Lin Qin concludes, with a pretty cheerful tone, ¡°we can talk about it after we¡¯re done saving the world. Oh, and Beijin, you can also help me see what the memories are like, first.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is surprised, and awkwardly says, ¡°what do you even mean ¡®help you see¡¯ the memories first¡­¡±


    ¡°I trust you.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin falls silent once again.


    Lin Qin quietly adds, ¡°if you think that, you¡¯ll still like me with my memories back, then I¡¯ll take them. If you don¡¯t like the me in my memories, then not.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin furrows his brows, explaining, ¡°Lin Qin, I can¡¯t¡­ It¡¯s your own memories. You can¡¯t just judge it off of what I like¡­¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m happy to,¡± Lin Qin refutes, ¡°my world has always been blank, and you¡¯ve said it as well. You¡¯re my entire world©¤©¤It¡¯s all you, you and me.


    It¡¯s good enough for me, so I don¡¯t really care about my past memories.¡±


    He is really thinking of it like that.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s lips tremble a little.


    He wants to tell him, the Lin Qin right now doesn¡¯t know about all the grandeur in the world;


    He is only someone living in this closed, myopic game world. Only¡­ an NPC.


    X¨¹ Beijin really doesn¡¯t want to describe Lin Qin like that, but it is truly an apt description.


    Right now, at a moment in time when there is true hope they can leave the Tower, X¨¹ Beijin wishes that Lin Qin¡¯s world could be more colourful.


    He never thought about it this way before, having both been long-time prisoners of the Tower, when it would be delusional; however, now, it¡¯s different.


    Even if there¡¯s still a possibility neither of them could leave the Tower.


    X¨¹ Beijin is smiling somewhat bitterly.


    Lin Qin can hear his love¡¯s self-mocking smile. He knows his love is thinking pessimistically again.


    He says, ¡°never mind all that. We¡¯ll think about memories and stuff after we¡¯ve saved the world©¤©¤No, I mean, after we¡¯ve finished ¡®unserious business.¡¯¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, speechless, asks, ¡°is that all you think about every day now?¡±


    ¡°Because I want to be closer to you,¡± Lin Qin says quite literally, ¡°to be negative in distance.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s face is burning up. Thank goodness no one can see him hear. Giving up all pretensions of courtesy, he just says, ¡°sure.¡±


    Lin Qin immediately sits back up from his bed, but then morosely says, ¡°but you¡¯re not on the bottom floor right now.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin sounds quite amused, ¡°that¡¯s why, it is unsuitable to engage in ¡®unserious business¡¯ right now.¡±


    Lin Qin ¡°¡­¡±


    Is it fun to tease him like that?!


    Falling back onto the bed with a ¡®thump,¡¯ sulking angrily for a bit, he dryly says, ¡°good night¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin chuckles again, and replies, ¡°good night.¡±


    This has perhaps been the most relaxing and peaceful night he¡¯s spent since entering the Tower.


    However, when he wakes up the next day, he¡¯ll still have to face much more pressing issues.

 Volume 8 - CH 136.1

    X¨¹ Beijin has set an alarm for himself, then by the time he wakes up tomorrow morning, though it was a dreamless sleep, he felt like he just woke up from the sweetest dream ever back to reality.


    While it didn¡¯t go as far as relieving all his mental stress accumulated over the years, it was quite effectively therapeutic.


    He blanks out for a short while, before taking a deep breath, and his expression shifts towards serious and calmness.


    He knows what he has to do now.


    This morning, X¨¹ Beijin has contacted all the contacts of each floor of the Tower once, and confirmed plus provided a final list of players yet to be contacted.


    X¨¹ Beijin can see where these people are from his control panel, and the contacts are rushing off to meet them at once.


    X¨¹ Beijin spends the whole day busy with that, while the people on the bottom floor waited patiently.


    The bottom floor is the only place where X¨¹ Beijin didn¡¯t need to spare attention for, as the Missiontakers and Tower residents here learned about everything the earliest, and they¡¯ve also voluntarily gathered up everyone. They all know about the Ultimate Nightmare already.


    The day turned out exceptionally calm but also worrying. They want to know what¡¯s going on, but they would rather not disturb X¨¹ Beijin.


    X¨¹ Beijin is too busy to answer them, as well.


    But when he contacts all the strangers he never knew, and occasionally glance at the list of floors of the Tower, it¡¯s like he¡¯s seeing¡­ flickers of hope, lighting up, brightening in the Tower.


    He can feel an impending atmosphere, it¡¯s stiff, peaceful, but also depressing. Spreading throughout the Tower. It is, contrary to the description, hope.


    Hope for all of them.


    Many people might not even know that well, or even know of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s name, or the efforts Mu Jiashi and the others have went through. None of them know about Lin Qin, this Missiontaker, who once successfully left but was casually sent back in all the same.


    They are people that, quietly, dedicatedly, work on what they could. They ask no questions, and merely work hard for the goal ¨C the goal of hope, that they might even think is destined to failure. They can never achieve.


    But now, someone is pulling them aside, and telling them firmly¡ª¡ªHope, is right in front of them now.


    It¡¯s within hand¡¯s reach.


    Sometimes, when X¨¹ Beijin is talking with the contacts, he can hear the occasional loud noise from their side ¨C excited yelps, or even suppressed cries.


    It¡¯s the first time he¡¯s felt such empathy in himself for a very long time.


    The contacts themselves might be too emotional to talk clearly, too, apologising profusely, but still can¡¯t help but tearing up.


    So many of them sobbed in happiness while looking for the remaining Missiontakers and Tower residents to be contacted.


    All of them are their companions, their fellow humans.


    It is so infectious that even someone as calm as X¨¹ Beijin is feeling tears welling up. The mood is touching at him. He can feel it spread throughout the Tower.


    They will live or die together. Soon, all of them will be rushing through the field of thorns and prickles, to head for the greatest watershed moment in their lives¡­ since each of their separate lives, years, dozens long perhaps, was suddenly overturned and they became powerless to go against the flow entirely, without a shred of hope no matter how much desperation they went through; now, someone has finally given them a spark of light.


    Everyone is fighting for themselves.


    When the contacts established contact with the uncontacted, they would keep stressing X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s requirement repeatedly, ¡°definitely make sure you stay calm in the Ultimate Nightmare, remember yourself and your sense of sanity. Do not let yourself succumb at all costs.¡±


    No one knows for certain why there is such a requirement, but they¡¯ve all agreed to the condition.


    A lot of them look quite haggard, or even drenched in blood. Someone has their arm full of bite marks ¨C a punishment and also a way to keep themselves sane.


    Showing the contact that arm, the person said, ¡°it¡¯s fine. If I felt like I¡¯d lose myself, I just take another bite. I did this in Nightmares all the time, it¡¯s effective.¡±


    The contact looks quite moved, but doesn¡¯t dissuade the person.


    Finally, as dusk comes, all the contacts report that they¡¯ve succeeded.


    On the floors where there are contacts, everyone has been found and told of what¡¯s going on.


    Since the moment humanity was put into the Tower, humans have never been as united as they are now.


    There are, of course, perhaps many undesirables, madmen, and scum among them, but right now, right here, not a single person can refuse the great incentive of hope.


    Will there be a traitor? X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but wonder.


    He knows it is probably a bad idea to be questioning the possibility right now and affect morale ¨C his own morale.


    But he also knows that this isn¡¯t an impossibility, and he has to take countermeasures as is his responsibility to the whole of humanity.


    So, after thinking about it, he sends a message to the contacts of each of the floors.


    He asks them to identify a trustworthy Guarantor, and tell X¨¹ Beijin who this Guarantor is.


    Besides the three of them, no one else on this floor is to know who this Guarantor is.


    The duty of the Guarantor, is to ensure that, when X¨¹ Beijin has told everyone what they have to do, they¡¯ll be the last one to do so, and before that, confirm that everyone has done as he asked.


    Anyone who went back on their word would be forced to make good on their promise by the Guarantor.


    It¡¯s X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s way of a failsafe.


    After sending out the message, X¨¹ Beijin starts going through the Missiontakers and Tower residents of the higher floors ¨C not a lot of people up there anymore, at about 100 or so.


    They start at floor 50.


    Very high indeed, but still falling far short of the top floor of the Tower. They are all the very best of the players remaining in the game.


    X¨¹ Beijin very quickly establishes contact with them, also following the pattern of choosing a contact and then a Guarantor.


    They would be people unable to verify X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s claims, but they¡¯ve already spent so much time in hopelessness, that they decide to trust X¨¹ Beijin this once.


    There are very few people on each individual floor, and in fact, there are even floors that are entirely deserted.


    For these Missiontakers, they¡¯ve been aware of the issues with the Tower residents perhaps far earlier than everyone else.


    Since, on some floors, there are just a few Missiontakers with a scant few Tower residents.


    It¡¯d be difficult not to notice how each one of them is doing over a long time.


    But knowing the truth doesn¡¯t mean that they could do anything about it. That¡¯s why, when they are finally informed that the Ultimate Nightmare is opening up, they are all so happy they could cry. After all these years of silent torment, a change is finally coming.


    X¨¹ Beijin feels more and more conflicted. There is even a moment when he would rather not have contacted these people at all, that he didn¡¯t have to learn about how they are living and how they are doing.


    But again¡ª¡ªIt¡¯s like, there¡¯s some higher calling, that is still coldly demanding X¨¹ Beijin to keep going.


    He can catch himself mumbling, ¡°it¡¯s already gone so far¡­ it¡¯s all or nothing¡­¡±


    He has to convince himself; sometimes, if he really couldn¡¯t anymore, or if his emotions are threatening to spill over, he¡¯ll go talk to Lin Qin a little.


    The deep baggage he has carried with him for so long, is now longer just being carried by him, he can feel.


    Many people do not know the truth behind what they¡¯re doing, or where the results will take them, but they¡¯re shouldering the burden nonetheless.


    They all have an inkling that, if this attempt fails, the consequences will be brutal and merciless, but they still elected to do so without hesitation.


    Nearing completion, X¨¹ Beijin almost feels like he is being pushed along himself.


    It¡¯s not a powerful force, but it is firm and resilient; he can¡¯t really tell anymore, if the vast search is still going on by his own will, or if it is¡­ everyone else¡¯s will.


    He¡¯s also finally convinced himself for good.


    An unprecedented operation, with fate having linked them all up before they knew it.


    Everyone is a part of this, for the greater good of everyone, for the good of everyone individually.

 Volume 8 - CH 136.2

    The last person X¨¹ Beijin comes into contact with is the person on the highest floor among all the Missiontakers of the Tower.


    He is trapped on the 65th floor.


    He is completely alone, with no other Tower resident, or Missiontaker in sight.


    This means he is irreversibly trapped. If there were Tower residents, he could fail in their Nightmare to go back down, but not here.


    No one can follow his steps, so he has already been forgotten by everyone.


    An unsung hero.


    Perhaps all the Missiontakers that knew him have already forgotten, forgotten about the one among them that is the most brilliant. They do not remember him, or his glorious past.


    The world has already abandoned¡­ oh, her.


    X¨¹ Beijin couldn¡¯t tell her gender from the name on the control panel alone, and is only able to correctly identify her after seeing her.


    A young woman, and from the looks of it, she¡¯s quite happy on the 65th floor. Keeping flowers, reading books, using lots of valuable utility cards as decoration and even poker substitute.


    She¡¯s spent countless lonely nights on that floor by herself.


    Her name, according to the control panel, is ¡®Xiang Cheny¨¹.¡¯


    ¡°Good evening, Miss Xiang.¡±


    When X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s voice pops up by her ears, Xiang Cheny¨¹ is clearly spooked, looking up, left and right, but sees nothing. Then finally, her gaze turns somewhat confused.


    X¨¹ Beijin explains why he¡¯s here.


    But Xiang Cheny¨¹ reacts rather slowly, and it takes X¨¹ Beijin waits patiently for her to react.


    Some time later, Xiang Cheny¨¹ slowly replies, ¡°so, you mean, you will open, the Ultimate Nightmare?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin replies, ¡°miss, you¡¯re the only one whose answer I¡¯m waiting on.¡±


    Xiang Cheny¨¹ looks like she¡¯s still blanking out for some time, until suddenly, she feels her face turn cold.


    Her mind didn¡¯t catch up with the tears already welling out of her eye sockets.


    ¡°Of course¡­ of course!¡±


    So, the last Missiontaker in the Tower has joined their ranks.


    Actually, compared to the Missiontakers, Tower residents are far more difficult to find and convince.


    Most of the Missiontakers are at least rational and communicable, but many Tower residents, like the female Missiontaker that crouched on a floor of the Tower, shuddering the whole day, has largely lost their sense of self.


    They¡¯ve become the character they are assigned, but they haven¡¯t quite gone mad yet, at least, not so much that they can only be sent into the grey fog.


    Having become a character in the game, so reasons for escaping from the Tower are no longer something that will convince them.


    So, the contacts have to bring up everything from the Ultimate Nightmare to NE to elicit some form of response.


    Whether they¡¯d comply in the end, is completely unknown.


    But X¨¹ Beijin has done all he could.


    In the operation, he¡¯s practically seen every possible reaction of humans.


    He once was just someone staying at the bottom floor of the Tower, observing the rolling grey fog outside through the window of his bookstore.


    He imagines how the people in the Tower fare, but he cannot observe directly.


    The lives of people on the bottom and higher floors are entirely different, from the mood to the environment.


    On higher floors, people are visibly calmer, more rational, leading far more materially opulent lives than on the bottom floor. However, X¨¹ Beijin thinks the peaceful atmosphere is better labelled as ¡®lifeless.¡¯


    A lot of them up there, have already come to the conclusion that they might never be able to leave the Tower.


    People like Ye Lan and that companion of hers, who were willing to fight back down to the bottom floor of the Tower, is a minority.


    And whatever kind of hope they held will be denied ¨C they are denying their entire past struggles when they abandon everything to return to the bottom floor.


    That¡¯s what Mu Jiashi did, even though his return wasn¡¯t due to the rumours of the bottom floor in the Tower.


    To be honest, everyone who would return to the bottom floor had to face the same ¡®defeat,¡¯ but many of them would probably call it ¡®chasing after hope.¡¯


    Madness?


    Madness is what lies behind the rational. On the higher floor, the atmosphere belies a rather hidden tension. Everyone¡¯s mind is tense to the point of snapping.


    They are all standing on the edge of the precipice.


    The Missiontakers who headed to the higher floors from the bottom floor are that way, at least.


    They head up the floors with hope, and end up seeing how the Missiontakers on higher floors are even less hopeful than they are, with far more terrible Nightmares they have to face here.


    Tower residents face the other side of the same coin.


    The Tower¡¯s damp, rotten and lifeless qualities have already been imparted onto them.


    The cold from what is close to death as a state of existence is the norm for them, who are unable to detach themselves from the scripts they have become used to anymore.


    Even if it was NE¡¯s demand and forced cooperation at first, but as time moved on, they became more and more familiar with the Nightmare owner in their script. They realise, looking in the mirror, their own faces have become unfamiliar.


    Who are they?


    Are they who they are?


    When they can¡¯t even distinguish who their consciousness truly identify as, then who are they, really?


    Instead of a hope to escape the Tower, they ended up mostly convinced by curiosity towards the Ultimate Nightmare instead.


    Regardless, everyone has agreed to what the contacts asked of them.


    When contacts reach out towards everyone on their floors with news on the Ultimate Nightmare, never mind those who have heard of the news already, but those who haven¡¯t, while overjoyed, is also slightly fearful.


    Fearful of the hope that finally descended. They do not dare to believe it, for it may be another of those unverifiable rumours of the Tower. No one knows where they come from, or why the news is here, now, or if it would just come to pass.


    But this time, their contacts give them a far more concrete time than anyone expected.


    ¡°We will all know the answer, tonight at midnight, sharp.¡±


    Twelve at night, sharp!


    Everyone is keeping track of time nonstop, counting down in their minds, using this method to try and calm themselves down, but the almost fanatical mood that¡¯s spread throughout the Tower, is still too thick to dissipate.

 Volume 8 - CH 136.3

    As the clock strikes ten, X¨¹ Beijin is still standing in front of the control panel.


    He¡¯s been standing like this for almost a day now.


    When he felt tired sometimes, he sits on the ground directly, and the control panel adjusts itself so that the front still faces him.


    He¡¯d make chatter with Lin Qin, but at other times, he¡¯s wholly occupied with contacting contacts and Guarantors.


    After a whole day of work, everyone was in contact.


    Quite a feat, really.


    But it¡¯s also thanks to the efforts of Ding Yi, Dai Wu, and Su Enya, having already managed to establish contact with over 90% of people in the Tower, meaning X¨¹ Beijin only needed to make contact with the remaining 10%.


    And also thanks to the control panel©¤©¤The authority NE granted him temporarily, that helped him out greatly.


    He can locate any specific persons or see their situation, and establish contact.


    When it turned out some Tower resident remained out of reach, or some Missiontaker who¡¯s locked themselves up entirely, X¨¹ Beijin had to take over.


    There aren¡¯t that many, thankfully, or they might not have completed their work in time today.


    And complete in time they did.


    Now there¡¯s still two hours until the moment he promised the contacts and Guarantors.


    He is keeping an eye on a number.


    Number of people in Nightmares.


    There are very few of them. A few dozen or so.


    When the contacts told everyone about the Ultimate Nightmare, they also asked the Missiontakers and Tower residents not to enter Nightmares this night, because if they can make it in time, they will all go in the Ultimate Nightmare then.


    Most people listened.


    Even if some people are still doubtful, not entering a Nightmare for one night isn¡¯t much either.


    And of those Missiontakers of the higher floors, X¨¹ Beijin also dissuaded them as soon as contact was established. They¡¯ve stopped to wait for the Ultimate Nightmare to come.


    The people of the bottom floor have also been arranged accordingly.


    But even so, still a few dozen Missiontakers©¤©¤And Tower residents, have gone into Nightmares after sundown.


    Maybe they didn¡¯t care, or thought it was another hoax, or are confident they¡¯d come back out soon enough. Regardless, they¡¯re in the Nightmares.


    X¨¹ Beijin reads the tens of names on the list, and slowly sighs.


    Should he label them ¡®traitors¡¯?


    It¡¯s probably unnecessary anyway.


    As far as things have gone, he¡¯s unable to help those who¡¯ve already voluntarily given up on their ¡®chance.¡¯


    When the Ultimate Nightmare goes live, those who are still in the Nightmares©¤©¤The owners and Missiontakers alike©¤©¤Will both end up abandoned by the Ultimate Nightmare.


    For a simple reason, too ¨C a player already in an instance can¡¯t enter a second one, after all.


    Well, of course, there aren¡¯t even any Actors besides the owner in those Nightmares, because whether and how many Tower residents end up Acting in a Nightmare is selected randomly by NE, so X¨¹ Beijin just stopped it entirely.


    Instead, the NPCs they face are true NPCs the game is simulating.


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks it¡¯s quite possible the remaining people in the Tower, still waiting excitedly, aren¡¯t even aware some people have gone into Nightmares.


    After watching the number for a bit, he just closes the window altogether.


    Watching this is meaningless. What remains is to wait until twelve. He¡¯s done everything he could already.


    After blanking out a little, X¨¹ Beijin contacts Lin Qin.


    His tone, a little hoarse from speaking nonstop, is still rather affectionate, ¡°good evening, little apple.¡±


    Lin Qin is sitting in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore; everyone is restless outside, but Lin Qin is completely the opposite, holding a book in his hand, he¡¯s reading quietly.


    Through the control panel, X¨¹ Beijin sees that Lin Qin is reading¡­


    Oh. He pauses, before changing the topic, ¡°there are two more hours.¡±


    Lin Qin puts his book back down, and asks, like he¡¯s just noticing the time, ¡°there¡¯s only two more hours?¡±


    He stands up, stretching a little, then asks curiously, ¡°so what is there in the Ultimate Nightmare?¡±


    ¡°A sort of flashback,¡± X¨¹ Beijin answers, ¡°but, the two of us wouldn¡¯t be inside.¡±


    Lin Qin appears surprised.


    ¡°On the one hand, neither of us are¡­ humans, in the traditional sense. Or a player as the game would label us,¡± explains X¨¹ Beijin, ¡°and on the other hand, there needs to be someone outside of the Nightmare, after all.¡±


    Lin Qin then asks, ¡°outside of the Nightmare? To do what?¡±


    ¡°To save the world,¡± X¨¹ Beijin says with a slightly amused tone, ¡°the people outside the Nightmare, will be those who truly save the world.¡±


    Lin Qin blinks, then says, ¡°Beijin, simply going off the tone, you sound more like you¡¯d destroy the world.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Oi!


    He makes a deliberately angry comment, ¡°what in the world kind of little apple are you?!¡±


    Lin Qin mumbles, ¡°I¡¯m just speaking the truth¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Lin Qin starts chuckling.


    Then they move on to other idle chatter, like about the book Lin Qin is reading.


    But X¨¹ Beijin wouldn¡¯t elaborate more on what the Ultimate Nightmare is, or what they¡¯ll be doing outside the Nightmare.


    At 11:30, he says goodbye to Lin Qin for now, and starts working through the contacts again, this time, finally telling them what they need to do exactly.


    The contact on a certain floor appears astonished as he confirms once again, is this really what X¨¹ Beijin needs them to do?


    X¨¹ Beijin reassures him again and again, ¡°yes, it is exactly as I said.¡±


    While confused and in disbelief, the contact still did as X¨¹ Beijin asked, and X¨¹ Beijin also tells everyone the same on the higher floors.


    Finally, to the last floor of the Tower.


    The clock is going to strike 12 sharp in no time.


    X¨¹ Beijin contacts Mu Jiashi, Ding Yi and the others, and tells them what they need to do, ¡°now, tell everyone, to sleep.¡±


    Sleep?


    Everyone who hears that would be quite visibly confused.


    X¨¹ Beijin almost chuckles, and asks, ¡° you¡¯ve always wondered what the Ultimate Nightmare is and how to open it up©¤©¤But have you ever thought about, who the owner of the Ultimate Nightmare, would be?¡±


    Recalling X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s command just now, a slightly outlandish guess comes up in everyone¡¯s mind.


    ¡°The Ultimate Nightmare, is the Nightmare of all of humanity inside the Tower. A Nightmare owned by every single human.¡±


    Everyone can feel as if something heavy just struck their chests, hard. Having an epiphany, they also feel shocked and stunned.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s tone turns rather sombre; he sounds tired, ¡°so, when the entire Tower is asleep, the Ultimate Nightmare will start up automatically.¡±

 Volume 8 - CH 137.1

    He Shuj¨¹n opens her eyes to the sound of reciting books.


    Early morning, homeroom class¡­


    Her classmates are right there next to her. Some are slacking off, some are working hard, even some have their heads suspiciously hanging low, with their waists curled deep, eating their breakfast carefully.


    He Shuj¨¹n can smell their hard boiled eggs. A slightly off-putting smell of wholly cooked proteins.


    There are always someone that has their book standing on end, blocking their face, so that the teacher can¡¯t see what they¡¯re doing.


    Of course, it¡¯s painfully obvious to the teacher, but they wouldn¡¯t bother to stop these little distractions from reality.


    He Shuj¨¹n listens to the loud reciting of some classical Chinese writing¡­ Or possibly a sh¨©? A c¨ª? What was this girl¡¯s name again?


    He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s mind is having a hard time adjusting.


    The last second she was closing her eyes in a dilapidated little residence, going to sleep as per X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s instructions;


    The next, she suddenly snaps awake from some endless stupor, and is showered in the morning sun, listening to the reciting of books, and the little whispers between students.


    Looking up, she can see all the banners that befit the secondary six grade. They basically tell them to study hard and aim high.


    It hits her. She¡¯s back at the first day of her secondary six.


    She¡¯s back on Earth.


    Almost immediately, a shock rushes through her, and she stands up reflexively, turning her head all around, like she¡¯s trying to imprint all her fellow students¡¯ faces in her mind.


    She observes all of them closely, as they look back at her, confused, but also with popcorn ready.


    Lively. Energetic. It belongs to teens, almost at adulthood.


    Was it all a dream?


    ¡°He Shuj¨¹n?¡± Asks the teacher supervising their homeroom class, seemingly spooked, ¡°what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Suddenly, He Shuj¨¹n starts laughing but with tears also rolling off her eyes, and she says, ¡°I¡¯m fine! I¡¯m fine, I¡¯m just¡­ teacher, I¡­¡± she is smiling really dumbly right now, ¡°I¡¯m just too happy.¡±


    Someone is quite audibly mumbling whether she¡¯s gone mad©¤©¤Who would be happy heading into their secondary six life?


    But He Shuj¨¹n really is glad.


    She¡¯s back at this moment. At the normal, peaceful, calm Earth.


    She and her students would be writhing in pain for the coming Gaokao and the countless weekly tests and monthly tests. They¡¯re hopeful for the future a year on, almost in their grasp.


    It feels like the morning sun at nine.


    Just looking at them gives endless possibility, endless positivity, endless¡­ hope.


    He Shuj¨¹n wipes her tears and sits back down. She looks at what the student behind her has on the desk, and ignoring the gaze that says ¡®weirdo,¡¯ she also takes a language book out, and flips it open, then just starts reading loudly.


    Without a care in the world. Not thinking about where she really is, or about Nightmares, or about the Tower.


    Just let her, happily, joyfully, enjoy this homeroom class. The first day of her secondary six class. A turning point in her life.


    Reading, reading, but her voice starts cracking. Tears are still rolling, she is still wiping, but in the end, she just crashes onto her desk, with the book over her head. She can smell the faintly wooden scent of a new book, and the soy milk the student in front of her is having.


    She just ends up wailing.


    The whole classroom has gone quiet. All the students are confounded, and the teacher quickly walks over to He Shuj¨¹n, panicking a little, and asking, ¡°He Shuj¨¹n, are you alright?¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n is still crying.


    She¡¯s babbling something, but no one can make out what she¡¯s saying.


    But all the feelings ¨C all the sadness, happiness and¡­ possibly hopelessness? That is coming off of her.


    The teacher finds He Shuj¨¹n inconsolable.


    So, on this first day of school, He Shuj¨¹n ends up at the school clinic.


    Here, her wails are finally dying down. The teacher, worried, asks if she needs her parents, or to go home to take a rest.


    But then, she sees He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s young, still developing features, turn into a mature and collected expression she has never seen on her before.


    She seems to think calmly, then shakes her head, and tell her, ¡°no, thanks. I¡¯ll be taking a rest here, and then go back to class.¡±


    The teacher still looks worried.


    Instead, it¡¯s He Shuj¨¹n, who looks just mentally collapsed earlier, reassuring her that she¡¯s fine, and only needs some time to take a rest at the clinic.


    The teacher at the clinic also tells the teacher that she will watch over He Shuj¨¹n, so it might be better to give her some time to rest quietly.


    So the teacher supervising homeroom finally leaves.


    He Shuj¨¹n lies down, with her back to the clinic¡¯s teacher. Then, she pretends to be asleep, and the teacher of the clinic also leaves with light, gentle steps.


    As soon as the door to the clinic closes, He Shuj¨¹n quickly sits back up.


    Looking at the closed door, she can¡¯t help but sigh, and smile bitterly.


    Whatever the case, she couldn¡¯t go back to being that simple, na?ve secondary six student anymore.


    She has already become He Shuj¨¹n, the Missiontaker, who has struggled and fought in the Tower for dozens of years.


    When she was back at her secondary six classroom, she admits that she did feel happy like she has never done in a very long time.


    Heavens know how much she¡¯s wanted to return to the normal, return to human civilisation.


    It caused her emotions to spiral uncontrollably. There was even a moment when she really thought she was back on Earth, in the past, and time reversed, or everything is already over, or even¡­ that the Tower was just an unusually long dream.


    A dream.


    That word snapped her awake. She knows she is still inside a Nightmare.


    She recalls X¨¹ Beijin painstakingly reminding them again and again©¤©¤To remain sane and awake whatever happens in the Nightmare.


    Though she couldn¡¯t hold herself back from indulging in the moment a little.


    She cried and she laughed. It was a genuine reaction. It was exactly the representation of all her complicated, intense emotions. She was almost going to choke with how hard she cried.


    But at the same time, deep inside her, she watched what she was doing, calmly, coldly.


    She knows©¤©¤At least, by referencing what she¡¯s seen in the Tower, what¡¯s going to happen.


    The first day of the secondary six class©¤©¤What follows soon enough, would be the parents, teachers, students, school administrations, even the department of education, all going mad. She cannot let herself end up in the vortex of the whirlwind to come.


    She knows she must leave the classroom as soon as possible. She cannot stay with the others. The disaster is coming, and she must first ensure her own safety.


    No one knows, what the consequences will be, for death in the Ultimate Nightmare.


    Therefore, with such a calculation in her mind, she let her rampaging emotions and tears run amok, so the homeroom teacher would be forced to take her to the clinic.


    When the teacher suggested she could go home for the day, it was a rather attractive proposal to He Shuj¨¹n for a second.


    Especially, when she thinks about how she might still be able to see her parents, still normal, and unaffected by madness.


    But He Shuj¨¹n ruthlessly shut that option out.


    She doesn¡¯t know if the Ultimate Nightmare really is recreating her life perfectly. What if, in her Nightmare, her ¡®parents¡¯ are simply madmen?


    Then if she¡¯s back at their side, as per the usual insane parents, they¡¯d send her straight back to school.


    Not to mention that they¡¯re¡­ fake. They aren¡¯t her real parents. She also doesn¡¯t want to numb her mind with fake parental warmth at a critical moment like this.


    They¡¯re in a terrifying Nightmare, an Ultimate Nightmare that belongs to all humanity.


    He Shuj¨¹n takes a deep breath, and wipes the tears still welling up from her eyes once more.

 Volume 8 - CH 137.2

    Knowing that this Ultimate Nightmare belongs to all of humanity, and now knowing that the Nightmare starts at this moment, He Shuj¨¹n realises fully, that this Nightmare is about©¤©¤The Apocalypse, that they¡¯ve all experienced.


    However, judging from reality, the Apocalypse on Earth lasted for over a year, and that¡¯s without including when the Tower and stuff popped into place.


    They can¡¯t possibly spend that much time in a Nightmare run. There must be something else to it.


    Or possibly, time would be jumping forward in this Nightmare, with only important turning points recreated.


    But then, what are their identities in this Nightmare? Are they really simply who they were back on Earth?


    Here, He Shuj¨¹n can¡¯t help but feel it would have been better if she and her companions had shared more information about their time on Earth back in the Tower.


    No one knew the Ultimate Nightmare would turn out like this.


    If they did, they might even have possibly been able to coordinate a quick reunion with each other to exchange information.


    But¡­


    He Shuj¨¹n also realises now, that they wouldn¡¯t have the faintest idea what the ending for this Nightmare would be like.


    If it¡¯s a recreation of the Apocalypse of humanity, then are they supposed to enter the Tower?


    What are they supposed to do to resolve this Nightmare¡¯s progress and ending then?


    He Shuj¨¹n thinks for a while, then tightens her fists and reins her thoughts back in. It¡¯s not time to think about this yet.


    There are two options for what she can do right now.


    First, return to the classroom and pretend to be normal, and see what the Nightmare is going to show.


    Maybe, it¡¯ll give her memories back, the part about her fuzzy memories of the third year of senior secondary studies.


    Or two, leave the school in secret, and look for clues outside the school. If this is a Nightmare with an enormous scene, then she might be able to find other Missiontakers or Tower residents.


    After thinking about it for a while, she picks the second option.


    She also knows that, she¡¯s picking that, because she really doesn¡¯t want to return to that classroom of hers.


    She has an inkling that, she¡¯d be unable to hold herself back from wanting to stay there and never leave.


    It is¡­ it is somewhere for which she¡¯s been nostalgic for a long time. It¡¯s where she lived for a long time. Her friends are there. Her books are there. The whole meaning of her life, was once there.


    So she cannot afford to go back.


    She quietly tells herself, ¡°you¡¯re in a Nightmare. Keep your wits about you. Stay with yourself. Don¡¯t think about what¡¯s already lost.¡±


    Yes. It has all been lost. A lost time, that can never, ever come back.


    What she missed, what she was nostalgic for, what she still remembered vividly¡­


    Her last year of secondary school.


    He Shuj¨¹n quietly stands up on the bed of the school clinic¡¯s rest area, slaps her cheeks to keep herself alert, and then opens the window to the clinic to leave.


    She hid her school blazer in the locker of the clinic.


    Her school didn¡¯t mandate a uniform, and the regulations are increasingly lax for secondary six students.


    Of course, it¡¯s the first day of school, so they did need to them to look good for the day, and so most of the students would put their school blazer on over their casual wear.


    He Shuj¨¹n is going to leave the school, so of course she can¡¯t be seen wearing it.


    It¡¯s fortunate the weather is nice and the sun is shining. It¡¯s not too cold without her blazer.


    When the school nurse is back at the clinic and sees He Shuj¨¹n gone, it¡¯s unlikely any other conclusion but ¡®she¡¯s already returned to her classroom¡¯ would come to mind.


    And the teachers probably wouldn¡¯t find it odd if she didn¡¯t return; she didn¡¯t say when she¡¯d return anyway.


    Secondary six is a stressful time, too much for them to care about such minute details instead of teaching.


    It¡¯s likely someone would only discover that He Shuj¨¹n is missing by lunchtime at the earliest, when her friends would come get her for lunch, only to find her not in the classroom or the clinic.


    By then, He Shuj¨¹n would have been gone for a long time.


    After analysing everything, she deftly jumps out of the window.


    There are few people still on school grounds during homeroom; it¡¯s just past seven in the morning.


    He Shuj¨¹n unties the rubber band of her ponytail, adjusts her hair so that it looks more old-fashioned, and adapts her expression a little.


    Easy enough for someone who¡¯s been in the Tower for a very long time, having moved on from being a simple, na?ve student a long time ago.


    Looking at the rather mature-looking woman reflected on the glass, He Shuj¨¹n nods in satisfaction.


    A bit later, He Shuj¨¹n nods towards the security guard standing at the school door, and leaves the school.


    He might have thought she was a young parent, or possibly someone here on official business, but definitely not a student skipping class.


    Having finally left the school, He Shuj¨¹n sighs in relief, and looks back at her past alma mater, she thinks she feels a little conflicted.


    There is still something tugging at her, telling her to go back there.


    But she shakes her head at the thought.


    Then she starts whistling a tune while mumbling, ¡°now let¡¯s see what surprises there are, outside the school¡­¡±


    She moves on to the first intersection outside the school.


    Here, He Shuj¨¹n stops, and looks around the place oddly.


    This isn¡¯t how she remembered the surroundings of her school to be.


    Her secondary school on Earth has a small shop selling stationery opposite this corner, then some food stalls followed, after which is a residential area.


    She knows that many of the students of her year would rent those units for a year and move out from the dormitories to study better.


    But right now, opposite of where she stands, is a gym.


    He Shuj¨¹n furrows her brows.


    Right now, she can conclude that this Ultimate Nightmare isn¡¯t actually a complete recreation of Earth; it couldn¡¯t have been, either.


    In this enormous setting, countless Missiontakers and Tower residents are assembled.


    It¡¯s possible every accessible location represents someone¡¯s Nightmare ¨C someone¡¯s past experience.


    There might even be scenes with more than one related people inside?


    He Shuj¨¹n takes a deep breath, and heads towards the gym.

 Volume 8 - CH 137.3

    ¡°So Beijin, what are we going to do in the Tower?¡±


    Bored, Lin Qin asks.


    With everyone sleeping and inside the Ultimate Nightmare, the entire Tower is silent, vast and lifeless. It¡¯d make hairs stand on end.


    Not for Lin Qin, though, as he¡¯s still inside X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore, chatting with him about how they don¡¯t have to enter the Ultimate Nightmare.


    ¡°Wait¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin replies, ¡°let me do something first.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Starting the stream.¡±


    Lin Qin blinks in confusion, asking, ¡°stream?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin explains how he has been livestreaming in Nightmares before, and says, ¡°I have to use this stream to get some information out.¡±


    Lin Qin wonders what it is. What¡¯s the message? To whom? Why through the stream?


    But he doesn¡¯t ask to interrupt, knowing it must be important.


    X¨¹ Beijin does explain, though, ¡°asking for help from the outside.¡±


    ¡°Help?¡± Lin Qin thinks about it, and asks, ¡°won¡¯t it be blocked?¡±


    He¡¯s also quite aware of humanity¡¯s plight now, perhaps even more so than many humans here.


    This is mainly thanks to X¨¹ Beijin having to explain the Fy¡¯ecas to him in order to talk about his memories.


    Although he doesn¡¯t really feel like he was part of what happened to humanity, but knowing that X¨¹ Beijin has apparently went through this¡­ is enough to anger Lin Qin greatly.


    So X¨¹ Beijin ends up having to calm him down instead.


    X¨¹ Beijin didn¡¯t tell anyone else this complete version of the truth, neither to the Missiontakers or even the Tower residents.


    One, the enemy is too powerful. Knowing them is enough to demoralise any resistance.


    Two, the Fy¡¯ecas probably stopped caring about what they¡¯re doing a long time ago, but if the humans start to repeatedly mention the Fy¡¯ecas¡­


    Recall that, once, X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s livestream comment barrages would have censored words.


    X¨¹ Beijin suspects that ¡®Fy¡¯eca¡¯ is the word that¡¯s being censored.


    Therefore, X¨¹ Beijin was also always slightly worried they would notice; while explaining everything to Lin Qin, he also gave a pseudonym to refer to them instead.


    So hearing that X¨¹ Beijin is going to ask for help on the stream, Lin Qin is confounded.


    Those behind this game must have its internet traffic scoured. Can the stream really pass the information on successfully?


    X¨¹ Beijin replies, ¡°it¡¯s highly possible, because this game is able to stream to the outside world.¡±


    Lin Qin can¡¯t understand.


    X¨¹ Beijin tries to explain it so that Lin Qin can understand, ¡°did you know, that this game that has humanity trapped, isn¡¯t unique?¡±


    ¡°Not unique?¡± Lin Qin repeats the phrase, ¡°you mean, there are many?¡±


    ¡°Yes, possibly a lot, and some streamers are able to enter these games and stream, almost like¡­ streaming animal fights. ¡®They¡¯ have most of their imprisoned subordinate species trapped in games and similar media.¡±


    Lin Qin asks, ¡°why games?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin narrows his eyes and says, with a rather suggestive and serious tone, ¡°it¡¯s because, that¡¯s their forte, data connection, virtual worlds¡­ it¡¯s their territory.¡±


    Lin Qin thinks about it, then moves on to the next thing on his mind, ¡°so who do you plan to¡­¡±


    Though he thinks he might have a vague answer in his mind already.


    X¨¹ Beijin answers, ¡°it¡¯s still all too early to say. Just wait there, I have to open the stream.¡±


    Lin Qin says ¡®alright.¡¯


    Opening the stream, X¨¹ Beijin feels a little emotional.


    It hasn¡¯t been that many days, of course; the viewers were there to chat around when he was in Xie Ji¡¯s Nightmare, too.


    In less than a week, the situation here has already changed drastically.


    And he is also in a vastly different place compared to when he first obtained this streaming system.


    Overall, he is thankful for the appearance of this streaming system, and the rather jumpy and hilarious audience.


    ¡°yo Beibei!¡±


    ¡°Beibei is still the handsome Beibei! licky licky!¡±


    ¡°help there are pervs here¡±


    ¡°go away! Beibei belongs to the little apple!¡±


    ¡°wheres little apple? Beibei, you didnt point at him immediately! youve changed!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is relaxed and amused.


    He¡¯s let the camera focus on the scenes in the Ultimate Nightmare, which he now has access to stream through the partial, temporary authority from NE. He can both monitor the situation inside, and stream its contents.


    All substantial changes brought about by the unexpected stance NE took.


    Thinking so, X¨¹ Beijin subconsciously looks out his window, then hangs his head low and chuckles once.


    NE is still NE. The AI never betrayed. The damned artificial intelligence is always watching, monitoring humans from on high.


    Just as the Missiontakers always suspected, NE is an accomplice of the ones behind all this.


    Then X¨¹ Beijin sighs and turns his attention back to the Ultimate Nightmare. He has to check on the conditions of the humans inside, before doing what he needs to do with Lin Qin.


    And he¡¯s also watching the comments of the viewers closely.


    The viewer IDs are only ones he knows. There isn¡¯t any unfamiliar ones yet.


    Slightly disappointed for now, he knows he¡¯s only just started livestreaming. It¡¯d be a great coincidence if it was so timely.


    Derisively smiling at himself, he looks at the stream.


    This time in the Ultimate Nightmare, there are truckloads of people. X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t actively choose where the camera goes, letting it settle on a complete stranger.


    ¡­ A complete stranger standing on top of a rooftop, yelling, looking like he¡¯s moments from jumping.


    The viewers are understandably confused.


    ¡°what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°is this a new nightmare?¡±


    ¡°Beibei! paging Beibei! explain this nightmare at once!¡±


    ¡°Beibei hasn¡¯t streamed for quite a while now, i¡¯m sure the detective dalao can¡¯t wait any longer¡±


    ¡°you think the detective dalao is? then what about you?¡±


    ¡°i know my own ¡®smarts¡¯ all too well [sad emoji]¡±


    Seeing these comments, X¨¹ Beijin thinks and explains the Nightmare thusly, ¡°we¡¯re close to the ending of this game itself.¡±


    The viewers seem quite astonished.


    ¡°ending?!¡±


    ¡°holy hell, I feel like we havent even seen each other much yet but the game is already ending? and isnt this some open ended multiplayer game? theres an ending?¡±


    ¡°oh, maybe it¡¯s those that lets you start over fresh after the end¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯s because this is a riddle-solving, detective noir type of game. Mysteries will run out, and the ending will come.¡±


    ¡°what the detective dalao says makes sense!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin watches the comments roll by and continues, ¡°according to the game¡¯s setting, humans entered a safehouse named the ¡®Tower¡¯ after the Apocalypse. The management of this Tower is handled by an artificial intelligence¡­¡±


    He quickly goes over the basic setting of this game.


    The audience appear impressed.


    Then X¨¹ Beijin moves on to this Ultimate Nightmare he¡¯s streaming to them, ¡°all the players have entered the Ultimate Nightmare, whether they were an Actor or Missiontaker.¡±


    He¡¯s glossed over both himself and Lin Qin here; the viewers would probably assume they¡¯re both in the Ultimate Nightmare somewhere and not still in the Tower.


    X¨¹ Beijin explains, ¡°in the Ultimate Nightmare, people would be sent back to the start of their Apocalypse. They will make a choice there ¨C will they continue to trust the AI¡¯s judgment and stay in the Tower, or abandon the AI, and choose to fight the harsh, post-Apocalyptic conditions outside?


    Their choice in this Ultimate Nightmare would affect what the AI management of the Tower outside decides.


    Because the AI¡¯s sole function is managing the Tower, if all surviving humans make the same choice to abandon the AI, then it will be stripped of the responsibility.


    The choice needs to be an informed and rational decision; when humans faced the Apocalypse and needed immediate intervention, the designer of the Tower and its AI spared no effort and, with great sacrifice, established this safehouse.


    This is a rushed response to the Apocalypse, therefore, humans will, after adapting, face the choice once more after experiencing the Apocalypse anew. If they would still insist on freedom, just as they did before entering the Ultimate Nightmare, then the AI will shut down.


    This is what the players¡¯ experience in Nightmares are leading up.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin explains the game¡¯s ultimate choice ¨C a binary selection.


    Should, or should they not, abandon the AI?


    This question also has the viewers of the stream sharply divided.

 Volume 8 - CH 138.1

    Meeting an Old Acquaintance


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    ¡°its not good to just shut it down¡­ the AI managed everything for years, and it just did its job well¡­¡±


    ¡°but it¡¯s just an AI, if it¡¯s no longer useful, then just shut it off, like any regular tool¡­ a tool that¡¯s outdated even¡±


    ¡°hey actually, why are you all assuming it¡¯ll be shut? was the ai¡¯s judgement wrong?


    those people chased out of the tower are mad, so they are a threat to the survivors inside¡±


    ¡°I think theres an issue with how they can even keep living in the tower after the AI is down


    like, they survived because the AI was absolutely impartial when ruling all these years


    if its shut down and humans get to rule again¡­ schemes, conspiracies and struggle for power will come back in fashion¡±


    ¡°now that you put it that way, I¡¯m wondering whether those people that want it shut down¡­ really simply wants their fellow humans in the grey fog saved¡±


    ¡°hypocritical politicians?¡±


    ¡°you guys are all looking at the big picture, but for me, if the AIs logic is that harsh, then if I have a problem one day, Ill also be thrown out without a second thought, right?


    but just looking at Beibeis stream, the nightmares are really scary already¡­


    I just suspect the mind will already go wrong living here for a long time, and when I do¡­ I become humanitys enemy to be thrown away? wont you feel sad if all your friends and family would agree to throw you out too¡±


    ¡°you say that¡­ but looking at their state of civilisation and how they barely even qualify as having simply a primitive lifestyle, it¡¯s far more important to ensure the species survival¡­¡±


    ¡°the times are pressing enough for ruthlessness to hold¡±


    ¡°hey, then wouldn¡¯t it make sense the ai can shoulder the lbame instead? if humans can¡¯t bring themselves to do it, then let the absolutely logical ai do it instead¡±


    ¡°but clearly, the AI is at its limits too, all the mad people in the fog are still people¡±


    ¡°although, like, this is just a game!¡±


    ¡°well, a game, but¡­ you know, apocalypse, easy to sympathise¡±


    ¡°whatever the case, the game gives two choices, so clearly there are two endings right?¡±


    ¡°of course¡±


    ¡°only thinking in game terms, which ending is better do you think?¡±


    ¡°shut off the AI seems more hopeful for a future; even if the AI isnt shut down right now, one day, when the conflict between the AI and humans worsen, itll happen regardless¡±


    ¡°not our same kind, huh¡±


    ¡°but for some reason, I¡¯m equally pessimistic about humanity¡¯s future survival prospects after the ai is down¡­¡±


    ¡°agreed¡±


    ¡°makes sense, staying in the tower will mean losing all hope in time regardless, the apocalypse in this game is unsolvable¡±


    ¡°I think humans have no practical way of surviving indefinitely in such an environment


    they will go mad, and the AI will chase them out because theyve gone mad


    in the end, the tower will only have the AI and no humans left [laugh emoji]


    its funny the last resort of humans turned out to be a prison for all of them¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin quietly reads all the discussions the viewers have in the stream, not commenting on any of their perspectives.


    They are merely discussing it all in the context of a game named ¡®Escape,¡¯ but without the angle of humanity¡¯s current plight.


    For the humans out here fighting, they have to escape, there is nothing else to it.


    This is not a shelter they built, but the Colosseum and fighting ring their enemy built for them.


    Though if simply taken from the game¡¯s plot, the choice is a debatable one.


    But here, there are no more choices than either shutting or not shutting down. There isn¡¯t some magical third compromise; and if they choose not to shut the AI down, then clearly, humans will be headed to doom.


    They can¡¯t last forever in this Tower.


    X¨¹ Beijin wonders, if this is also a sign for something.


    He ponders, but it¡¯s also slightly amusing to him. Since he suspected human involvement in the design of ¡®Escape¡¯ itself, he¡¯s become suspicious of any possible hidden meaning behind the game.


    In any case, this is a forced move ¨C with the situation being like so, humanity is doomed, so they can only choose to fight while they still have their strength.


    The problem with the choice, is that there will always be those who are hesitant, or prefer to indulge in fake serenity among the humans. They care about the present and not the future.


    And staying in the Tower is equivalent to being immortal, too.


    They do not die; even if they died in Nightmares, they are revived.


    And most importantly, entry into the Nightmares isn¡¯t compulsory. In the Tower, they¡¯ve always had the freedom to decide how to live.


    Their forms, meanwhile, are also forever frozen in time, those who are young and able, continue being so for eternity.


    It¡¯s normal some people would terribly miss such a lifestyle, no?


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s gaze lands over on the few Missiontakers and Tower residents still remaining in other Nightmares; the stark contrast between this meagre figure and the vast amount of people in the Ultimate Nightmare is quite amusing indeed.


    While tyranny by majority is a thing, it is at least indicative of a general attitude of the community.


    So X¨¹ Beijin can say that, humans are still generally opposed to staying in the Tower.


    There was one traitor back then, but it doesn¡¯t necessarily mean anyone will try to betray here.


    Besides¡­ he thinks, coldly, even if anyone is thinking like that, there is nothing they can do. Oftentimes, fate isn¡¯t in their control.


    Then, he moves on from the comments and his thoughts to the Ultimate Nightmare itself. He flips through several scenes to check how different Missiontakers and Actors are doing.

 Volume 8 - CH 138.2

    Just as expected, despite the numerous times the contacts have stressed it, many people have still let themselves loose in the fictitious recreation of the past on Earth.


    Some are happily spending time with their families, having reunited with their spouses, children, parents and lovers;


    Some have regained everything they¡¯ve ever lost, and they can¡¯t bear to lose them again;


    Some are even simply insistent on finding out what their lost memories entail, and so are unwilling to let go of the initial scenes which were where they first entered the Ultimate Nightmare.


    And some are even simply enjoying the sights of a fresh, vast scene completely different from the Tower and Nightmares in general.


    It¡¯s unavoidable people would have such thoughts.


    However, if they let such thoughts get to their heads, occupying their entire mind, the situation will deteriorate.


    Memories about their time in the Tower will start to be wiped. They will forget why they¡¯re here in the first place, and even forget that, this is the Ultimate Nightmare, and not their real life.


    They will forever succumb to the happy dream.


    X¨¹ Beijin is keeping track of three numbers closely.


    One, the number of people who¡¯ve entered the Ultimate Nightmare.


    Two, the number of people who¡¯ve succumbed.


    Three, the number of people still having their sense of self.


    The first number is fixed;


    The second is rising rapidly;


    About half an hour after the Ultimate Nightmare has started, though, the changes in the numbers have gradually slowed.


    Two thirds or so of humans have entirely lost themselves. Only a third is still actively moving around.


    X¨¹ Beijin sighs. It¡¯s just as he thought.


    He has his stream focused on a rather happy family.


    The father, mother, children, and elders are having a meal, and talking about the trip they planned for the weekend, about the children¡¯s performance at school, and about their career developments.


    It¡¯s quite the happy and even enviable scene.


    Of course, if one also looks at the many comments rolling past the screen¡­


    ¡°its terrible, I feel like theyre mad but also really just genuine¡±


    ¡°it feels like surrealist horror¡±


    ¡°remember the nightmares Beibei streamed in the past? a few of them had families¡­¡±


    ¡°the husband killing the wife, the father killing the daughter, the daughter abandoned by her mother¡­¡±


    ¡°please, I¡¯m just here to watch a game stream, and not get depressed, sobsob¡­¡±


    ¡°Beibei has said this is recreating what happened in the apocalypse, so this is just the first stage right? so much more story to show later¡­¡±


    ¡°yeah, the spread of the madness, then the raining hellfire, and the post apocalypse survival¡­ but wait, the nightmare cant possibly show all that in real time?¡±


    The viewers were right on the money, as the general situation in the Ultimate Nightmare quickly worsens.


    The simple, calm daily lives have given way to madmen who¡¯ve popped up overnight, invading the normalcy.


    What follows is murder, blood, gore, insanity and cruelty.


    The viewers aren¡¯t too surprised, and to them, it¡¯s like watching some sort of real-time TV drama.


    They watch, they comment, but they don¡¯t really identify themselves with characters in the plot.


    They are just amused, typing, ¡°wow, pretty convincing acting, natch!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t exactly do anything either.


    He looks away from the feedback coming in the stream, and instead, decides to check on the Missiontakers and Actors he already know.


    Just as expected, none of them have succumbed in the Nightmare yet.


    Even Mystic, who loved and reminisced about her daughter so dearly, only gave her a heartfelt hug before leaving home.


    She told her daughter to stay at home and not to go outside, then prepared as much food for her as she could.


    But, she would leave her behind.


    Before she did, her daughter asked, looking slightly frightened, ¡°mommy, where are you going?¡±


    Mystic told her, ¡°mommy is going to save the world. There are people waiting for me.¡±


    Her daughter blinks, not understanding what she means.


    The people waiting for her, are currently all exploring the things happening in the Nightmare, and, looking for each other and her.


    During all this, X¨¹ Beijin also notices what Dai Wu is doing.


    Just as he said, with his wheelchair-bound conditions, he can¡¯t walk around easily, but he doesn¡¯t idle by either. Instead, he is posting messages through all sorts of platforms on the Internet to get in touch.


    At this point in time, the Internet is still functioning in general, which was also recreated by the game perfectly.


    However, as time goes on, when the Apocalypse enters its latter stages, human communication will largely break down, and humanity will basically return to far more primitive, manual-powered forms of communication.


    Honestly, whether the Missiontakers and Actors in the Nightmare can still remember the Internet and phones and computers is doubtful, but Dai Wu is doing his best.


    There isn¡¯t a lot else he could do.


    Or rather, no one has much they can really do.


    After confirming the situation in the Ultimate Nightmare, X¨¹ Beijin leaves the stream behind for something else.


    Setting a reminder for whenever anyone comes into the stream, he gets into contact with Lin Qin, telling him, ¡°I¡¯m done, now let¡¯s get down to business.¡±


    Lin Qin, blinking, almost asks him something, but stops himself in time. Instead, he asks, ¡°what are we going to do?¡±


    ¡°We have to find the several hidden data ports in this game,¡± X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°confirm where they are and mark them so that we can find them if needed, and bring them with us if at all possible; during this, we must also ensure our own safety.¡±


    Lin Qin appears confused, asking, ¡°data ports?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°basically, places where the game has connections with the outside world, whether for updating, logging in¡­ and other functions. This game isn¡¯t entirely isolated from the world, so this means, there must be points of entry and exit for data.¡±


    Lin Qin still doesn¡¯t get it, but he asks something else else, ¡°will it be dangerous? You¡¯re on the top floor of the Tower alone¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°it¡¯ll definitely be fine for now. What¡¯s dangerous is¡­ what might follow.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin walks over to the window.


    Watching the grey fog roll by for a moment, he then asks Lin Qin, ¡°look outside the Tower. Do you feel like anything¡¯s changed?¡±


    Lin Qin does as he says, then he asks, sounding doubtful, ¡°the grey fog looks¡­ closer?¡±


    The fog covers everywhere outside, but this ¡®outside¡¯ is actually still a few hundred metres away from the base of the Tower itself. They can actually see parts of the barren, blighted land just outside the Tower through the windows.


    In the past, when Missiontakers once left the Tower to enter the grey fog, they had to pass through this buffer zone between the Tower and the grey fog first.


    But now, it looks like, this buffer zone, has narrowed greatly in size.

 Volume 8 - CH 138.3

    Lin Qin, mystified, asks, ¡°the fog¡­ it¡¯s floating closer?¡±


    Something about what Lin Qin said seems to amuse X¨¹ Beijin. He giggles for a while before saying, ¡°yes, the grey fog¡­ it¡¯s rolling towards the Tower.¡±


    Even someone as generally clueless of the world as Lin Qin knows how serious this is.


    He asks with a serious tone, ¡°Beijin, there are a lot of¡­ insane people in the grey fog, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin says, sighing, ¡°and, in a sense, the fog is like a bridge connecting the Tower to the Collapsed Nightmares; if the grey fog reaches the Tower, then the madmen inside can just roam right back out into the Tower.¡±


    Lin Qin thinks about it, then comments, ¡°that¡¯s really dangerous.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin smiles, and reassures Lin Qin, ¡°we still have some time.¡±


    Lin Qin asks, still worried, ¡°stay safe¡­ Do you really have to stay on the top floor? You can¡¯t come back down?¡±


    He is feeling slightly irritated by the whole affair.


    That pale face X¨¹ Beijin had not too long ago is still quite traumatic for him.


    He thinks he only feels the safest with X¨¹ Beijin by his own side, yet right now, X¨¹ Beijin has to stay on the top floor to get a handle on everything that¡¯s happening.


    He hasn¡¯t seen his Beijin for a day already!


    X¨¹ Beijin tells Lin Qin, with a cooing tone, ¡°just wait¡­ wait a bit longer. I¡¯ll be down there soon enough.¡±


    Lin Qin can only go ¡°ok¡­¡± Then he asks something else, ¡°why is the grey fog coming here? Is it¡­ because of the Ultimate Nightmare? Would it interfere with what you¡¯re doing?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks, then explains, ¡°it is related to the Ultimate Nightmare in a sense¡­ but also, not exactly. It¡¯s a failsafe mechanism ¡®they¡¯ implemented into the game.


    If this were just a simple game, then the grey fog will of course stay exactly where it is all the time, but remember, this is what ¡®they¡¯ have implemented to jail and select their prisoners of war.¡±


    Lin Qin gets it, saying, ¡°so it¡¯s something in case we resist?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin quietly says, ¡°the longer the Ultimate Nightmare goes on, the more people succumbing, the grey fog will roll closer to the Tower, until¡­ it swallows the Tower up.


    It¡¯s the game¡¯s self-destruct mechanism.¡±


    Lin Qin sounds genuinely concerned, ¡°that¡¯s terrible.¡±


    ¡°We just have to finish dealing with everything before the grey fog can swallow every floor up; and at least, in the Ultimate Nightmare, if they successfully pick the choice I want them to, then the game will forcefully disperse the grey fog.¡±


    Lin Qin nods.


    X¨¹ Beijin then says, ¡°and outside the Ultimate Nightmare, it¡¯ll come down to us.¡±


    Lin Qin feels touched that it sounds like he¡¯s fighting with X¨¹ Beijin side-by-side, and he says, ¡°of course, Beijin. I¡¯m happy I can work with you.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin smiles, saying, ¡°it¡¯s because we are special in the Tower¡­¡±


    Lin Qin doesn¡¯t seem to find the situation tragic at all, instead, he happily declares, ¡°it means we¡¯re destined to be with each other!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t know what to say to that, so he just goes, ¡°right, now I need you to find a book in my bookstore. The one we got earlier¡­ the ¡®Update Log.''¡±


    Lin Qin quickly leaves the window to walk to the bookshelves.


    While Lin Qin is checking the titles of the books one by one, X¨¹ Beijin, having nothing better to do, happens to recall something.


    ¡°Lin Qin, you¡¯ve always said I felt ¡®special¡¯ to you from the beginning,¡± X¨¹ Beijin asks, ¡°why did you feel that way?¡±


    ¡°I just do,¡± Lin Qin answers casually.


    He can¡¯t explain why he feels like this either, but he just knows, and stubbornly insists that Lin Qin is special, and also, vice versa.


    Before X¨¹ Beijin can ask about it again, Lin Qin says, ¡°got it. What do you need this book for?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is quite surprised. Why is Lin Qin able to find a book so quickly in the piles among his bookstore?


    As far as he knows, the Fy¡¯ecas strengthened Lin Qin¡¯s physical stats, but then where did this mysteriously accurate intuition come from?


    While fascinated, X¨¹ Beijin thinks he might have a clue.


    In the past, Lin Qin was among the few Missiontakers that outperformed everyone else so much the Fy¡¯ecas took him out the Tower; according to NE, Lin Qin merely had his memories wiped, but not his intelligence or way of thinking.


    And, X¨¹ Beijin always had a niggling doubt that Lin Qin is quite tricksy and scheming inside.


    Maybe he really is not so innocent in the core?


    Acting dumb while faceslapping? Or perhaps, become so wise that every action he takes appears irrational?


    Maybe, there are matters that, rather than pure intuition, it¡¯s more a conclusion Lin Qin¡¯s mind already arrives at in the blink of an eye, that Lin Qin himself doesn¡¯t even notice happen?


    X¨¹ Beijin is astonished.


    Eyeing the bookshelves in his own bookstore with that in mind, he ponders, perhaps Lin Qin is able to isolate the ¡®Update Log¡¯ so quickly among the countless books, is because he¡¯s internally categorised and remembered where every single book is approximately where¡­


    After coming to that conclusion, he¡¯s seeing Lin Qin anew.


    Of course, whatever happens, the little apple is already his. He¡¯s his boyfriend, his Lin Qin.


    Clever or dumb, he¡¯s still the Lin Qin that has a bunch of drinks in his hands, and clumsily tries to appeal to him.


    Rubbing his nose, X¨¹ Beijin finds himself smiling subconsciously watching Lin Qin¡¯s form.


    ¡°Beijin?¡± Lin Qin calls out to X¨¹ Beijin, who¡¯s been quiet for some reason, ¡°what do we need the book for?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin snaps back to reality, and tells him, ¡°just put it back there. There¡¯s no need to hurry; it¡¯s one of the data ports.¡±


    Lin Qin looks at the Update Log in his hands doubtfully, then asks, ¡°I can put it back where I can easily find it in the bookshelf? Or should I bring it with me after all?¡±


    ¡°Just leave it on the bookshelf. We¡¯ll come back to it at the end,¡± X¨¹ Beijin replies, ¡°now, it¡¯s time to find the second data port.¡±


    Lin Qin nods and puts the Update Log away, then walks outside of the bookstore.

 Volume 8 - CH 138.4

    While X¨¹ Beijin is watching Lin Qin walk, his eyes fall back onto the mysterious Update Log.


    Technically, it isn¡¯t actually a ¡®book.¡¯


    It¡¯s more an electronic document; data.


    Well, so are all the other books in his bookstore for that matter. In a sense, this is the manifestation of the database of the artificial intelligence in the Tower, Iro. It has nothing to do with NE¡¯s database.


    When setting up X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s identity as a Tower resident, as he is unable to modify X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s information, he had to let the database of Iro end up as a bookstore like this.


    If a Missiontaker happened to feel like wasting a rare variant of an Infocard to check on X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s information panel, they will realise that, underneath the surface of being a bookstore owner, X¨¹ Beijin would also have a ¡®Manager of the Tower¡¯ hidden role to him.


    A role without any actual authority.


    However, the fact that he had the role was what forced NE to create this bookstore, which has countless clues pointing to other Nightmares, in the Tower when working out X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s details.


    Really, X¨¹ Beijin thinks this is karma at work.


    Of course, the ¡®books¡¯ in his bookstore are simple ¡®read-only files¡¯ that are already fixed when imported; only the Update Log does not fall under that umbrella.


    NE is the one to maintain the Update Log. It belongs to the game¡¯s Server, but not Iro, a character in the video game.


    But, because X¨¹ Beijin also technically shares that role, like some kind of messed up matryoshka doll, X¨¹ Beijin can also have a glimpse into parts of the secrets buried within the game¡­ For example, what are the updates that NE gave this game all these years?


    There aren¡¯t detailed descriptions, but there are always clues to be gleamed.


    X¨¹ Beijin hasn¡¯t actually read it all that much, though, given his usual state of resignment and powerlessness these years. He was slightly more active in the early days, but that died down as time went on.


    Of course, he never forgot the importance of this Update Log.


    NE¡¯s own records of the game¡¯s updates, condensed into a book inside his bookstore.


    Outside of the game, this is just a simple electronic file¡ª¡ªOne that is to be checked by the game developers.


    Which means, this book also contains a bridge connecting reality to this game; it doesn¡¯t just simply exist there on the shelf, but also exist on the server, wherever those game developers are hosting this.


    Well, he doesn¡¯t actually know if those beings and those at their equal standing would call them ¡®servers¡¯ or ¡®computers.¡¯


    Maybe something like ¡®terminal¡¯ or ¡®smart¡¯ or whatever; times have changed. Speaking of which, even if humans do successfully escape from the Tower, it¡¯ll be quite the hurdle just to adapt to the times, too.


    They still have to leave though. X¨¹ Beijin is sure of that.


    Meanwhile, Lin Qin asks, ¡°so where is the second data port?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin comes back to reality, and looks at the control panel, then tells him, ¡°at the bottom floor, at a random empty residence.¡±


    ¡°Random?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin answers, ¡°yes. This port is restricted to the bottom floor, but it changes position every minute. If we can isolate it, I can temporarily stop it from moving around, so it will stay where it is for a while.


    I can only tell you exactly where it is in real-time. The rest will depend on you. Now hurry.¡±


    Lin Qin happily replies, ¡°of course¡­¡±


    He likes how it feels like working together with X¨¹ Beijin.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s begin,¡± X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°currently, the port is at¡­¡±


    As X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin look for the data ports they needed on the bottom floor, the situation in the Ultimate Nightmare is worsening by the minute.


    Inevitably.


    The Apocalypse is playing out once again in this Nightmare, in a far shorter period of time than its gradual escalation.


    Wu Jian is complaining, ¡°this is almost like they¡¯re going to play out everything in the Apocalypse in a single day¡­¡±


    Ye Lan, standing next to him, appears stoic, merely nodding quietly.


    They¡¯re currently inside Cangcheng¡¯s library¡ª¡ªThe one they encountered in the Nightmare with the Raining Hellfire.


    When Wu Jian opens his eyes, he thinks he must have been dreaming ¨C well, technically he is dreaming right now, but it¡¯s almost like he¡¯s back at the Nightmare from before.


    Though seeing the book he has in his hands, and the laptop in front of him, and the silent but fully seated self-study room around him, and watching for a long time, he finally realises, that what he felt in the Nightmare from before was correct.


    He really is someone from Cangcheng.


    He felt really upset about all this.


    The Ultimate Nightmare¡ª¡ªThis is the Ultimate Nightmare? To have them relive the Apocalypse once more?


    What has already been lost is back in their hands, but, they, though amnesiac, will have to relive losing everyone once more?


    Who the heck designed this damned twisted game?!


    Gritting his teeth, barely holding back the tears welling up in his eyes, he is cussing and demeaning.


    Then he quickly stands, and while the others look at him like he¡¯s insane, quickly leaves the self-study room, but he does turn around just before grabbing the door, to grab his laptop with him.


    He suddenly remembered that, seeing the computers, that in this Nightmare, they might possibly be able to contact each other with the Internet.


    These tools have always been broken or just unusable in other Nightmares, possibly because, human society has already collapsed at that point, and also, because they can¡¯t let these Missiontakers cheat.


    But it seems the situation is different in the Ultimate Nightmare.


    Using his laptop with slight unfamiliarity, he gets onto some websites, but doesn¡¯t find any information that could be of use.


    So he thinks a little, then decides to put messages looking for ¡®missing persons¡¯ online, and shuts down his laptop, disappointed.


    It seems the shortcut remains difficult to use in the Ultimate Nightmare.


    But then, by luck, he runs straight into Ye Lan outside the library.


    Both are equally surprised to run into someone they know here, and they quickly exchange information. Before they can get a few sentences in, though, something suddenly changed.


    It was a sudden argument erupting in the library.


    To talk somewhere more convenient, and also possibly, because of the dangers they once met together in this setting¡­


    After meeting, they decide to head back into the library to chat.


    So they were able to bear witness to that unreasonable quarrel.


    At first, it was simply a librarian refusing to help look up a book because he¡¯s extremely busy at the moment, so the resident who was here to borrow a book was pissed. They argued.


    Not exactly an uncommon scene in the busy everyday life of society.


    But suddenly, it escalated out of nowhere.


    The resident suddenly slapped and scratched the librarian¡¯s face;


    Then the librarian angrily held a book as thick as a dictionary up high, and smashes it right onto the resident¡¯s head.


    They are going at each other like they¡¯re mortal enemies.


    This attracts a crowd soon enough; the mood on the first floor of the library becomes rather strange.


    People are just watching the fight quietly, but they almost look oddly excited at it all.


    Someone even has a notebook out, writing furiously about god-knows-what.


    Wu Jian and Ye Lan give each other a glance, and both immediately start walking outside. The moment they stepped out, a much bigger ruckus breaks out behind them accompanied by yells and screams.


    Neither of them turned to look.


    What happened? They don¡¯t want to know.


    Wu Jian, thinking that it¡¯s been barely any time since they entered the Nightmare, and the madness shouldn¡¯t have spread that quickly according to the information he¡¯s already found out about it, wonders if the Nightmare has sped up the Apocalypse artificially.


    He tells Ye Lan this, and it seems she also agrees.

 Volume 8 - CH 138.5

    ¡°What should we do next?¡± Wu Jian asks for Ye Lan¡¯s opinion, knowing her to be a far more competent Missiontaker than he is, ¡°should we wait somewhere, or¡­¡±


    He still has his laptop with him, hoping this piece of technological relic can find his companions.


    Ye Lan falls into thought, then mentions something else, ¡°do you think it is really possible for us to resolve this Nightmare?¡±


    Wu Jian thinks about it, about the Apocalypse he¡¯s learned, about the Tower, Nightmares¡­ and shakes his head earnestly, saying, ¡°I¡¯m doubtful. Rather, we came to this Nightmare to try and shut down the Tower¡­¡±


    Here, though, his words also trail off a little.


    He¡¯s realised a terrible preconception, that everyone seemed to have tacitly assumed a True End in the Ultimate Nightmare gives the key to leaving the Tower.


    That is why they¡¯re willing to enter the Ultimate Nightmare, and so passionately chased after it in the first place.


    Because it is the final instance of this game. It is the means to the bitter end.


    But, how are they really supposed to resolve this Nightmare?


    They never imagined the Ultimate Nightmare to be a complete recreation of the Apocalypse on Earth. If they can¡¯t resolve it, would they end up locked inside a ¡®Tower¡¯ once more?


    What¡¯s this, matryoshka dolls?


    Wu Jian looks a little odd when he thinks of it like that.


    Feeling how thorny the issue is, he can¡¯t come up with a single thought¡­ a single clue for how this Nightmare might end.


    Instead, it is Ye Lan who is now mumbling to herself, ¡°he told us, warned us¡­ To stay awake and clear-headed in this Nightmare.¡±


    Wu Jian¡¯s eyes widen a little, but he doesn¡¯t sound confident when saying, ¡°you mean, our actual purpose in this Nightmare, is to buy time?¡±


    ¡°I think so, yes¡­¡± Ye Lan nods after pausing a little, adding, ¡°this is what I think he wants us to do. Perhaps¡­ if we do not succumb until the end, we will win the Ultimate Nightmare somehow? But then¡­¡±


    Wu Jian, with his brows furrowed, shakes his head, and says, ¡°that¡¯s too impossibly simple.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. At best, I can only picture that leading us to some Normal End,¡± Ye Lan agrees, and then starts talking to herself, ¡°maybe he just told us the most basic thing to achieve; however, it is up to us to look for the truth behind this whole Nightmare, and achieve a True End.


    We can¡¯t just hope someone else can bring us salvation.¡±


    Ye Lan¡¯s tone grows firm. Clearly, she¡¯s resolved to continue investigating the Nightmare, instead of settling down as a sitting duck.


    Wu Jian nods in agreement.


    Then Ye Lan¡¯s tone softens and she says, ¡°all in all, the Nightmare has only just started. First, we should ensure our own safety, and then, with that in mind, we look for other companions¡­ the ones who are still awake, I mean.¡±


    All the people, who still remember their duty.


    Wu Jian is thinking the same.


    They thought many of the people present would be doing the same, given the entirety of humanity in the Tower is in the Nightmare.


    However, street after street, the situation turned out completely unlike what they had hoped to see.


    Wu Jian, astonished, mumbles, ¡°I see a few faces I recognise, on some floor of the Tower¡­ But, it doesn¡¯t look like¡­ they remember me.¡±


    They completely ignored his greetings, looking irritated, or simply baffled; they continue their idyllic lives, notwithstanding Wu Jian¡¯s appearance.


    It¡¯s quite likely they don¡¯t see Wu Jian as anyone but some insane person inexplicably here to intrude on their lives.


    If one day, someone stopped you on the street, and says, ¡°the Apocalypse is happening! We have to save the world!¡± You would probably be quite put off and not believe them at all. You¡¯ll perhaps refer them to the closest mental institution.


    This is the predicament Wu Jian and Ye Lan find themselves in.


    Wu Jian, looking utterly defeated, says, ¡°they¡¯ve forgotten completely¡­ the Tower, the Nightmare, the Apocalypse. They don¡¯t remember a thing.¡±


    Even though they entered the Ultimate Nightmare in further search of the truth, but after finally entering the Nightmare they desperately sought, they¡¯ve lost themselves inside.


    Ye Lan is still quite calm, saying, ¡°it¡¯s fine. From what X¨¹ Beijin said, as long as at least one person can maintain their sense of self to the very end¡­ we¡¯ll win.¡±


    Wu Jian wants to say that that would be such a terrible state of affairs that they should avoid it at all costs. Just one person left? What kind of hopeless last stand would that look like?


    Though¡­ Yes. Please. Do let him wallow in his cowardice for a moment.


    The two of them have seen for themselves how countless others have strayed off the path they walk ¨C a path of false, vapid happiness.


    Wu Jian sighs in his mind.


    They are quiet for a moment.


    Suddenly, Wu Jian spots someone out of the corner of his eye.


    He greets the person out of reflex, and excitedly tells Ye Lan, ¡°that is the founder of our organisation¡­¡±


    He couldn¡¯t even finish introducing the man, before that man looks at him oddly, then quietly backs off with his wife by his side, and leave them behind.


    Wu Jian hears them speak as they retreat.


    ¡°Who¡¯re they? Do you know them?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t, what a weirdo¡­ Anyway, what were we talking about? Do you want to go running tonight¡­¡±


    Wu Jian¡¯s jaw is on the floor; his whole face is blank. Then finally, he closes his jaw up, after losing all hope.


    He can¡¯t lie to himself anymore. In this Nightmare, they¡¯re on their on. They have no retreat.


    He quietly shakes his head, and tells Ye Lan, ¡°never mind. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Ye Lan watches him, then nods.


    They continue walking forward, hurrying past the founder of Fei and Wu Jian¡¯s organisation ¨C Xie Zhijin.


    When they do, Xie Zhijin subconsciously looks at the two of them, looking a little stunned.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    His wife asks him.


    Xie Zhijin falls into thought for a moment, then tells his wife, ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± he looks a little lost as he continues, ¡°I think I¡­ forgot something. I missed something.¡±


    His wife teases him gently, ¡°oh, really? I didn¡¯t know you were at that age already, are you remembering alright?¡±


    Xie Zhijin awkwardly smiles.


    He continues walking home with his wife. Every so often, another paranoid-looking person pops out onto the street, but they ignore them entirely.


    But, as they walk into their house¡¯s neighbourhood, Xie Zhijin feels like his vision is going blurry. He stops.


    This time, his wife is knitting her brows already, worried, and asks, ¡°what¡¯s wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?¡±


    Xie Zhijin is staring fixedly at a point in the air, muttering, ¡°it¡¯s a fog¡­¡±


    ¡°A fog?¡± His wife seems astonished, then looks around, remarking in amazement, ¡°oh goodness! Where did this fog come from this sunny afternoon?¡±


    Xie Zhijin narrows his eyes a little. Behind the thin veil of the fog, he thinks he can see something.


    Right there, right behind the layer of murky, grey air.


    Is the silhouette, of a door.

 Volume 8 - CH 139.1

    The Path


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Xie Zhijin just blinked, and the door disappeared from his sight altogether.


    His wife asks besides him, ¡°what¡¯s wrong? Seriously, I called you a few times but you wouldn¡¯t react.¡±


    She then wonders, ¡°are you actually feeling unwell? You¡¯ve got a day off anyway, why not¡­¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡±


    His wife stops.


    Xie Zhijin mumbles to himself, ¡°a door in the grey fog¡­ I know about this. I¡¯ve seen¡­ heard of it.¡±


    His wife is really confused right now.


    Xie Zhijin closes his eyes, looking like he¡¯s trying to remember something, and suddenly says, ¡°we haven¡¯t eaten with dad for a long time, have we?¡±


    His wife answers with bafflement, ¡°no, not really¡­¡±


    Xie Zhijin makes an odd smile as a streak of tears flow down his face.


    He says, ¡°we can¡¯t¡­ we can¡¯t eat with dad anymore.¡±


    He opens his eyes and apologises, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I can¡¯t go home with you either.¡±


    His wife, stunned, just looks at him.


    Xie Zhijin hugs her, and then turns to leave.


    ¡°Where are you going?!¡± His wife, shocked, even frightened, chases after him, asking, ¡°what¡¯s wrong with you today?! What¡¯s happening to you?!¡±


    Xie Zhijin answers, or possibly, is just talking to himself, ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ no, I do, but my brain isn¡¯t telling me the answer.


    But I bet someone would tell me.¡±


    He comes to a stop, and his wife stares at him, confused.


    Xie Zhijin thinks for a moment, and tells her, ¡°just go home. I have something to do.¡±


    ¡°Lao-Xie, you can¡¯t just do this,¡± his wife seems angry, asking, ¡°what are you doing?! Do you even know what you are doing right now?¡±


    Xie Zhijin looks lost for a moment, then he says, ¡°I do.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    Xie Zhijin nods affirmatively, and tells her, ¡°believe in me. The same way that you believed me when you told me ¡®I do,¡¯ when I proposed to you.¡±


    He thinks he shouldn¡¯t bring up their proposal right now, but he did.


    Because he has a feeling that, he might never be able to bring up the topic with her again.


    In the past¡­ What is in the past, is in the past. They can¡¯t return to that moment in time anymore.


    So he can only haphazardly mention it, mention his nostalgia, with naked, unromantic words.


    His wife glares at him for a bit, but then tells him, ¡°go do what you need to do, then.¡±


    She adds, ¡°you¡¯re still crying. Wipe those tears off. You¡¯re my husband, so stop acting like a wuss in public.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡±


    Xie Zhijin smiles awkwardly while brushing his tears away. Then, he tells her goodbye, and quickly turns around and runs.


    A few minutes later, he makes it to where Wu Jian and Ye Lan are.


    ¡°Mister and missus! Please wait!¡±


    Wu Jian hears the familiar voice, and looks behind him by reflex, then, shocked, yells out, ¡°lao-Xie?!¡±


    Xie Zhijin catches up to them, and hearing Wu Jian¡¯s term of address, pauses, and asks, ¡°you know me? ¡­ Never mind, that doesn¡¯t matter.¡±


    Wu Jian doesn¡¯t really know what to do.


    Xie Zhijin asks, ¡°what were you calling out to me for earlier?¡±


    ¡°There was¡­ something, but¡­¡± Wu Jian¡¯s voice trails off as he glances at Ye Lan.


    Ye Lan picks up the cue and says, ¡°can I first ask, though, why you are running after us even though you said you didn¡¯t know us earlier?¡±


    Xie Zhijin is quiet for a moment, before telling them, ¡°a fog is rolling into town¡­¡±


    Both Ye Lan and Wu Jian widen their eyes.


    They¡¯ve both been to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, and so they both know¡­ what the grey fog means.


    The moment Fei and Wu Jian left X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, they relayed information on the Nightmare back to their organisation immediately¡ª¡ªMainly so that it can make its way to Xie Zhijin.


    If the responsible Missiontaker was quick enough, it is quite likely Xie Zhijin would have seen the information.


    So Wu Jian thinks he understands what¡¯s going on now.


    Xie Zhijin is¡­ quite a special person in their organisation. He founded the organisation searching for answers, because he noticed the sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu a Nightmare gave him, and realised its significance.


    And possibly, Xie Zhijin just had another similar d¨¦j¨¤ vu¡ª¡ªEven though, he¡¯s already succumbed to this Nightmare.


    Ye Lan seems to have also made the connection; in fact, in her mind, she is also reminded of the man she met with Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ in the scene of the building with malfunctioning elevators inside X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare.


    Equally succumbed to the Nightmare, equally forgetting their sense of self and having gone insane, but, seemingly still retaining parts of their wits about them.


    Xie Zhijin might be in a similar state right now.


    Xie Zhijin still isn¡¯t finished speaking, though, as he continues, ¡°and¡­ inside that fog, there was something like a door, I think.¡±


    ¡°A door?!¡± Wu Jian yells out in shock, ¡°are you sure?!¡±


    Xie Zhijin looks slightly hesitant, but he then nods to say, ¡°I am sure.¡±


    Wu Jian and Ye Lan look at each other. Wu Jian says, deeply worried, ¡°oh damn. Why would the grey fog be involved in the Ultimate Nightmare¡­ It makes no sense¡­¡±


    Ye Lan ponders deeply about it, then asks, ¡°all the insane Missiontakers and Actors are quarantined inside the grey fog. So if¡­ I mean, hypothetically, if the Ultimate Nightmare produces a vast quantity of insane people, then¡­


    Would it be that, the grey fog is coming for the Tower, instead of the Missiontakers and Actors in the Tower ending up outside after the Nightmare?¡±


    Wu Jian looks spooked by the suggestion, wondering, ¡°you mean, there are so many madmen here that it¡¯s attracting the grey fog? It¡¯s here to fetch them?¡±


    F-, fetch...?


    Ye Lan blanks out momentarily, thinking she¡¯s able to sympathise with Fei a little just now.


    But she recovers quickly enough, and answers, ¡°yes, that is what I suspect.¡±


    Wu Jian is quite impressed.


    Actually, in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, he heard that Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Ye Lan had to face the Raining Hellfire by themselves on a giant, empty plaza. He thought Ye Lan must have been really imaginative and have a keen eye for clues when she was able to lead them to safety by interpreting the Hellfire as a ¡®path¡¯ or ¡®trail.¡¯ This seems to be a perfect example of that.


    Of course, he also thinks what she is suggesting is highly possible.


    And at least¡­ whatever the reason, even if it wasn¡¯t the case that Ye Lan suggested or something or something, the grey fog is still coming for the Ultimate Nightmare.


    And also, doors in that grey fog.


    Wu Jian asks, ¡°if the doors are coming, then would it mean that, we can enter the grey fog?¡±


    He finds the whole debacle positively suspicious.


    Not that he can point to any specific detail, but something about what he just said irks him¡­


    He isolates the words he just said, and repeats a key phrase, ¡°enter the grey fog?¡±


    Then he quickly turns towards Xie Zhijin, who seems really baffled right now, having no idea what the two were talking about, but listening quietly regardless.


    ¡°Lao-Xie, I need to ask something,¡± Wu Jian says with a serious tone, ¡°when you saw that ¡®door¡¯ before, did you feel an urge to walk inside?¡±


    ¡°Walk inside?¡± Xie Zhijin recalls and denies it, ¡°no, not really¡­¡±


    ¡°You mean zero, not at all?¡±


    ¡°Not a single bit,¡± Xie Zhijin gives a firm answer this time, ¡°I did not want to walk inside the door at all.¡±


    Wu Jian is confused now, muttering, ¡°that¡¯s weird¡­¡±


    Ye Lan decides against telling him her thoughts¡ª¡ªIf the ones outside don¡¯t want to walk in, then, would the people inside the grey fog, want out?


    Could the case actually be, that the grey fog is actively invading the entire Nightmare, rather than taking people into the grey fog?


    Doors, can be passed through both ways.


    She¡¯s not going to suggest this, though, because the situation is quite severe enough. They do need a little bit of hope to cling onto.


    Even someone as disaffectionate as Ye Lan would rather not have to face the madmen in the grey fog directly ¨C she is remembering the half-insane, half-lucid man in the building¡¯s elevator lobby. Then, she says, ¡°let¡¯s keep going.¡±


    Wu Jian nods, and then speaks to Xie Zhijin, ¡°lao-Xie. I have to tell you about what is currently happening.¡±

 Volume 8 - CH 139.2

    Owing to the vast area within the Ultimate Nightmare, people might end up never running into someone they know. Of course, it¡¯s possible they meet up very quickly.


    Case in point, Mu Jiashi and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹.


    Both were surprised at the other when they saw each other, then they both sigh in relief.


    Never mind whether it is helpful to encounter a companion in this situation; it is at least reassuring mentally.


    ¡°Did you run into anyone else?¡± Mu Jiashi asks, ¡°someone you know, or someone that is clearly still awake.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ shakes his head, replying, ¡°I¡¯ve met people I knew, but they have all succumbed.¡±


    Mu Jiashi sighs, and says, ¡°same here.¡±


    He met A-One, actually, but the guy, with his phone in his hand, playing his mobile game attentively, happily passes by Mu Jiashi without even so much as a glance. Mu Jiashi didn¡¯t even know how he should call out to him.


    Shaking his head at the memory, he says, ¡°it seems it would be adequate for now to follow X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s advice to the letter. Stay awake, stay sane in this Nightmare. Hopefully, that is enough to let us win the Ultimate Nightmare.¡±


    Mu Jiashi isn¡¯t feeling quite ambitious¡­ Or rather, he has fallen back to the most efficient choice with the maximum probability of success.


    Right now, staying safe and awake in the Ultimate Nightmare, keeping his sense of self with him, is a far more realistic and practical goal than looking for the truth and ways of achieving a True End.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ nods in agreement.


    They¡¯re outside a university, from which Mu Jiashi just emerged, and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ just passed by. Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ can¡¯t help but glance at the name of this university.


    Q¨¹cheng University.


    Noticing that gaze, Mu Jiashi explains, ¡°I am studying postgraduate here, apparently¡­ I don¡¯t remember the major, but something related to biology or chemistry. I just left a lab.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ sounds surprised, and he hesitantly asks, ¡°you still remember?¡±


    ¡°Not exactly¡­¡± Mu Jiashi says, ¡°I think I entered the programme when the Apocalypse was already ongoing¡­ But after I woke, I looked around myself and got information.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ nods, quiet as is his habit, but then, after thinking a little, also tells him his situation, ¡°I believe I¡¯m an¡­ office worker, and have been for several years. What happened during the Apocalypse¡­ I don¡¯t know, and I¡¯m not planning to find out.¡±


    Mu Jiashi says ¡°same,¡± then he adds after a pause, ¡°seeing others¡¯ tragic experiences is different from seeing your own tragic experience.¡±


    They continue walking past the university campus, and they start talking about something else soon enough.


    Mu Jiashi suggests, ¡°we should find a safe location first, take stock, and try to find the other companions; I¡¯ve tried using the Internet in the campus, and it still worked, but we don¡¯t know when it will go down.¡±


    ¡°This scene is too big, we might not be able to meet up in time,¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ says monotonously, ¡°we might have to be dispersed.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s alright, as long as we stay sane.¡±


    They continue discussing their following steps with a dry and mechanical tone.


    Up to this point, the two of them have taken this Ultimate Nightmare as a simple recreation of the Apocalypse.


    They haven¡¯t fully grasped the reason that this Nightmare is branded¡­ ¡®Ultimate.¡¯


    They reach an intersection, when screams erupt nearby, and they turn to see someone in shock, limping, escaping from a bakery ¨C the bakery¡¯s window is full of splashed blood.


    The escaping person sees Mu Jiashi and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, and they lock eyes with one another.


    Then the person quickly yells, ¡°you¡¯re awake, aren¡¯t you?! You know the Tower, Nightmares¡­ and damned scene is fake!¡±


    The man is so agitated and fearful his words are getting incoherent, but the implication to Mu Jiashi and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ is clear enough, and they both appear surprised in response.


    The man pleads with them, ¡°please, my coworkers, they don¡¯t believe me. They want me to stay inside the bakery with them, I did all I could to run away¡­¡±


    He shows them his bloodied, bleeding thigh, ¡°they¡¯ve slashed my leg¡­¡±


    Behind the man, there are already people pouring out from the bakery.


    Mu Jiashi immediately takes the man by the arm while Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ takes his other arm, and they successfully half-drag-half-run away with the man in their tow.


    They run for a while under the overcast, gloomy skies, until they arrive outside of the walls to a residential community a while later.


    The man is thanking them profusely, although he looks quite in pain from his wound.


    Mu Jiashi examines the man ¨C the very first stranger ¨C Missiontaker? Actor? ¨C he¡¯s met that is still awake since entering the Nightmare.


    A youthful man in his twenties, it seems. Rather ordinary in appearance, but the fright on his face when he escaped from the bakery is still quite vivid in his memories.


    He asks, ¡°so you were in that bakery when you opened your eyes in the Ultimate Nightmare? Why didn¡¯t you leave immediately?¡±


    The man has a pained smile as he explains, ¡°I just¡­ couldn¡¯t react in time. I know it¡¯s the Ultimate Nightmare, but I didn¡¯t know it¡¯d be this. It¡¯d be¡­ the past.¡±


    His tone trailing off, his expression contorts visibly.


    Then he continues, ¡°And my colleague told me to get to baking, and I just followed the orders without thinking much, getting scolded for doing a poor job too¡­¡±


    Mu Jiashi furrows his brows at the rather useless descriptions and asks, ¡°when did you realise something was off?¡±


    ¡°It was, like, the mood,¡± the man says, ¡°they were acting weirdly fixated, dedicated¡­ to a really strange degree. I could be convinced they¡¯ve fallen in love with the bread they¡¯re baking¡­


    It was enough to give me goosebumps, so I said I didn¡¯t feel well and wanted the day off. They were unwilling to let me go, telling me I can¡¯t leave work early. I can¡¯t¡­ I can¡¯t betray the bread¡­ and things like that.


    Some kind of strange mood seems to be overtaking him. He mumbles, ¡°I think, if I stayed any longer, I¡¯ll become them. I like it at the bakery¡­ the bread is so soft¡­


    I like it¡­ I love it¡­ I adore it¡­¡±


    He keeps mumbling like that.


    Mu Jiashi shuts him down calmly, ¡°I see.¡±


    The man freezes for a while, before looking terrified and asking, ¡°what was I saying?! Shit, am I still under that place¡¯s influence? The madness¡­ is it infecting me?!¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ furrows his brows and suggests to Mu Jiashi, ¡°would this mean that we mustn¡¯t stay somewhere same for long? Or the madness there would start to infiltrate¡­¡±


    Mu Jiashi asks, ¡°do you still remember the scene He Shuj¨¹n and Mystic ended up in, in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare?


    Exploring Ruins¡­ I think they call it something like that, but they say that people who explore the ruins left behind after the madness might bring that madness out.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ quietly comments, ¡°almost like a virus.¡±


    The poor guy, meanwhile, is looking at them, confused and still in shock.

 Volume 8 - CH 139.3

    Mu Jiashi asks the man after a short while, ¡°are you a Missiontaker or an Actor?¡±


    ¡°Missiontaker, I¡¯m a Missiontaker,¡± that man quickly replies, ¡°what do you mean by Actor? You mean the Tower residents?¡±


    Mu Jiashi doesn¡¯t answer him, but says, ¡°now that you¡¯re safe, we¡¯ll be going our way.¡±


    The man seems like he wants to object, but he doesn¡¯t say it.


    Mu Jiashi advises, ¡°don¡¯t stay somewhere for a long time. Avoid other people. Try to stay awake and sane as long as possible. Don¡¯t let the madness¡­ get to you.¡±


    The man nods profusely.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ follows Mu Jiashi¡¯s steps, and when the person can no longer be seen, he asks, ¡°why not work with that person?¡± He pauses, and asks, ¡°are you worried¡­¡±


    ¡°He is inflicted with the madness already,¡± Mu Jiashi says coldly, ¡°he is still keeping it at bay for now, but he might go crazy any second. We can¡¯t keep such a person by our side.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ doesn¡¯t seem entirely satisfied, but he nods silently.


    Yes. This is how Mu Jiashi is¡ª¡ªHow he always is.


    Rational, calm, ruthless. Always making the most effective choice, even if it is a cruel one.


    When Mu Jiashi told him the avoid people, the man is probably assuming he means he has to avoid the madmen, but he probably didn¡¯t know, he is already going mad himself.


    There is nothing Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ can do but bitterly chuckle and comment, ¡°hopefully, everyone else can realise that¡­ the madness, can spread.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully.¡±


    They continue forward.


    Behind them, some kind of haze seems to have settled in, slowly burying the road which they walked.


    X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin have finally isolated the second data port.


    And it is through the exercise that they come to terms with exactly how many empty residences there are on the bottom floor of the Tower.


    Well, the ¡®bottom floor,¡¯ but as once explained, it¡¯s not actually a singular floor, but an area made up of multiple connected levels of structure, that are collectively, the bottom floor.


    Even with how quickly Lin Qin can move, they still spent quite a lot of time running around, with the data port jumping around every minute, sometimes even going from a corner to the furthest point away. Even if Lin Qin can fly, he won¡¯t make it in time in those cases.


    It¡¯s like hide-and-seek, except the one hiding can teleport every minute.


    It¡¯s a godsend X¨¹ Beijin has a gods-eye-view on things.


    Lin Qin is examining the object¡ª¡ªThe data port, as it were¡ª¡ªin his hands.


    It¡¯s just a mundane door handle, violently torn off the hinges by Lin Qin, so the now bugged ¡®data port¡¯ can only stay within the handle, unable to move again.


    ¡°The door handle is just an ordinary door handle, but the data port is hidden inside,¡± is the explanation X¨¹ Beijin gave.


    Lin Qin asks curiously, ¡°so what is this data port for?¡±


    He already understands now that the ¡®Update Log¡¯ he found was what NE used to note its updates to this game, so that the game designers outside can check if needed.


    So what is this door handle for?


    ¡°This is the port handling new players logging in,¡± X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°it continuously teleports to new empty residences, which becomes the spawn point for new players coming into the Tower. That¡¯s why it is always on the bottom floor.¡±


    Lin Qin understands completely now.


    Then he can¡¯t help but ask, ¡°so what about when regular players log in?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin goes quiet for a moment, before saying, resigned, ¡°did you forget, that ¡®regular players¡¯ are us, the humans? There only needs to be one single-use login for us, and we will never need to do so again.¡±


    Since they can never log out anyway.


    Lin Qin points out, though, ¡°but didn¡¯t you tell me before that there was this¡­ streamer who entered the game as well?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, surprised, falls into thought, having discovered the discrepancy in his conclusion, and says, ¡°yes¡­ you¡¯re right. That means regular players must also have somewhere assigned to log them in¡­¡±


    But how ever he searches, he still can¡¯t find out what the data port handling this log in looks like.


    He knits his brows and looks back at the door handle in Lin Qin¡¯s hands. Maybe, their login is also handled by this data port, which is also responsible for assigning regular players to their set residences?


    X¨¹ Beijin is doubtful, though.


    Recalling that the first time Olai entered ¡®Escape,¡¯ he didn¡¯t enter the Tower at all, and logged out in the Nightmare immediately;


    The second time, he entered as a new player;


    But there must have been a third time, for him to have left the comment for X¨¹ Beijin that he completed his task.


    This means, there has to be a data port handling regular players entering the Tower.


    But X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t even know how regular players logging in would look like, or where they would land in the game. He certainly hasn¡¯t been through that experience himself.


    Though speaking of which, new players¡¯ first entry into the game defaults to going into any active Nightmare instead of the Tower. If so, then is this door handle¡¯s data port¡­ really the point of entry for the new players?


    Confusing himself with all those thoughts, X¨¹ Beijin knocks his forehead once, and says, ¡°no¡­ that can¡¯t be right. New players can still choose to skip the default experience of landing them directly in a Nightmare and instead enter the Tower first¡­¡±


    He has been confounded. His thoughts are all tangled up.


    Lin Qin just looks at the door handle and says, ¡°so maybe this is just the thing handling login, right? For both new and regular players¡­¡±


    Then X¨¹ Beijin suddenly realises, that Lin Qin¡¯s explanation would work.


    This door handle, while it always teleports between empty residences, there is nothing to say that it does not teleport to occupied residences.


    They begun tracking the movement of the handle when everyone is already inside Nightmares ¨C either the Ultimate Nightmare, or other Nightmares.


    Obviously, no regular players would be logging in right now either.


    So there is simply no reason for it to teleport to occupied residences. It¡¯s stopped at empty residences to wait for new players to come in¡ª¡ªEven if it may never actually be utilised that way.


    Lin Qin is right. There aren¡¯t different data ports for handling new players and regular players logging in. There is no need to have two data ports for handling login. It¡¯s unnecessary complexity.


    So then, why did he implicitly assume this data port is only used for new players logging in?


    X¨¹ Beijin furrows his brows, thinking about when he first received this information, and then tilts his head to look in the direction of his room¡¯s door¡ª¡ªAt NE.


    All information he has on the data ports come from NE ¨C more specifically, as fragmented pieces of memory that were shoved into his mind. They are things that he learned after he was shattered and glued back together.


    Are his memories lying to him?


    X¨¹ Beijin stares at nothing for a while, before tiredly casting his eyes downwards, and sighing quietly.

 Volume 8 - CH 139.4

    ¡°Beijin?¡±


    Lin Qin is somewhat worried as X¨¹ Beijin fell silent for a while now.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin comes back to himself, and reflects on his pessimism for a bit. Then, he tells Lin Qin the truth, ¡°I¡¯m just wondering¡­ if the information I have might be wrong. Maybe NE has misled us all.¡±


    ¡°Misled?¡±


    ¡°From what I can remember, this door handle acts as nothing more than the data port for new players logging in, which is why I¡¯ve never thought about other players logging in.


    Of course, I might have just assumed no such data port exist, because none of us could get out.¡±


    Lin Qin suggests earnestly, ¡°maybe it¡¯s because someone came in by accident, so the door handle was shoved into the spotlight?¡±


    Shoved into the spotlight¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin got amused by Lin Qin, and he says, ¡°oh little apple¡­ what a miracle you are.¡±


    ¡°Miracle?¡± Lin Qin tilts his head, confused.


    ¡°You always show me the good side of things,¡± X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°I¡¯ve always been¡­ pretty pessimistic in personality.¡±


    Lin Qin immediately says, ¡°I can become your optimism.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin listens, shocked.


    Lin Qin says, ¡°trust me. We can succeed.¡±


    ¡°Alright¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin says, looking at Lin Qin, from where he stands, and chuckles, repeating the young man¡¯s name with a more gravelly tone, ¡°Lin Qin¡­¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I love you,¡± says X¨¹ Beijin.


    Lin Qin freezes in place.


    Then, he erupts in joy, shouting, ¡°I heard it! No, no wait, I didn¡¯t, what did you say? Can you repeat it, Beijin¡­ Just once? I¡¯ll definitely hear it clearly this time.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, amused and speechless, asks, ¡°do you want me to record it so you can hear?¡±


    Lin Qin answers, ¡°oh nice! Do it, record it!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He won¡¯t record it even if his life is on the line! Dream on, Lin Qin!


    So Lin Qin has to, sadly, keep his delusions to himself.


    He¡¯s also quietly mumbling inside, why can¡¯t he just¡­ you know, record? X¨¹ Beijin said it himself. He just wants to listen to it again and again¡­ but never mind. He knows better than to piss his Beijin off, and sadly abandons his plan.


    X¨¹ Beijin, still amused and sounding a little agitated, has to change the topic like nothing¡¯s out of the ordinary, and he says, ¡°I¡¯ll be coming back down now.¡±


    Lin Qin grumbles, ¡°oh,¡± and then thinks about it, then realises he has a question, ¡°how do you get down? Will it be dangerous when you come down?¡±


    He¡¯s always most concerned about X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s safety.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, there won¡¯t be any danger.¡±


    Lin Qin furrows his brows, still sounding unconvinced, ¡°how are you going to descend? Floor by floor?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°kind of. I have to come back down with this control panel through every floor, so it might take some time.¡±


    Lin Qin wonders aloud, ¡°with the control panel?¡±


    ¡°I can only pass freely around in the Tower when I have NE¡¯s temporary authority,¡± explains X¨¹ Beijin, ¡°not just with my identity. And also, this control panel itself, contains a data port.¡±


    Lin Qin gets it now.


    It isn¡¯t surprising to him that the control panel is a data port, because NE¡¯s own existence has straddled between both reality and the game itself, so the control panel, a manifestation of its authorities, is naturally a data port between them.


    A data port for management instructions of this game.


    So instead, Lin Qin is curious about the remaining data ports. They already have three, don¡¯t they?


    ¡°There¡¯s just one left,¡± X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°a data port handling log out, that is between the Tower and the grey fog.¡±


    Logging in, logging out, updating, and managing. These are the four data ports X¨¹ Beijin needed Lin Qin to find together with him.


    Of course, X¨¹ Beijin is calling them that, but that doesn¡¯t mean they¡¯re the sole functions served by each respective data port. For example, the data port for updates, which is the Update Log in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s bookstore, also serves as a point of surveillance and, if need be, management for the Fy¡¯ecas.


    NE, the Server, is in charge of updating and debugging the game, but he also has to report to the Fy¡¯ecas; the management data port he has, represents only his control over the game.


    That aside, without NE¡¯s authority, X¨¹ Beijin could not have isolated all of these data ports, especially the data port for logging in, whose location is only documented on the control panel.


    As for the data port for logging out¡­


    Lin Qin asks, ¡°it is in the buffer zone between the grey fog and the Tower? Then why can¡¯t we do it like we did the door handle? You can tell me where it is, and I¡¯ll get it¡­ Must you come down?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin answers, ¡°we can only find it if I come back down, because it depends on the control panel, and also the door handle in your hands.¡±


    Lin Qin understands ¨C not the principles behind it, but he won¡¯t ask about that. Nor about what these data ports are good or, and why they have to look for them.


    He has full, complete trust in X¨¹ Beijin.


    Meanwhile, he is also still worried about X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s body, ¡°are you alright coming back down from the top floor of the Tower? Do you feel tired?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    It¡¯s just walking downstairs. What, does Lin Qin think he¡¯s made of glass? And he¡¯d shatter on impact?¡±


    Speechless, he says, ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    Lin Qin is still insistent, though, saying, ¡°you¡¯re also carrying that control panel thing with you¡­ can you really do it?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Lin Qin, do you think he¡¯s utterly devoid of muscle strength? Also, men can never say they can''t do it!


    X¨¹ Beijin is holding his forehead already, saying, ¡°the control panel is weightless¡­ It¡¯s true.¡±


    Lin Qin is still dissatisfied, but he¡¯s placated for now.


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks Lin Qin is a bit too paranoid about him, but, he does have justification.


    It is, of course, still X¨¹ Beijin whose body was visibly beset by problems in these few days.


    So there is nothing he can do but continue chatting with Lin Qin for a bit to reassure him some more. Then, he gives his temporary partings, and stands up, walking outside. The control panel automatically shrinks to a small block that floats by his shoulders.


    On the top floor of the Tower, X¨¹ Beijin had set aside a small area as a room for himself, opening a window there as well.


    As he leaves, the room turns back into what it originally was.


    NE is still sleeping. The brightness in the room increases and decreases rhythmically, like how a living person breathes.


    X¨¹ Beijin stands there, watching for a moment, before coldly smiling and quietly says to himself, ¡°I wish that, after I leave, I will never have to come back ever again¡­ and you are also no longer here.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin takes a deep breath and closes his eyes for a moment.

 Volume 8 - CH 139.5

    X¨¹ Beijin hates NE to the core, perhaps it stems from his own death, the many years of imprisonment, or, simply due to his instincts as a human.


    The fundamental reason, though, is that, NE stands against them.


    While it is a game Server, and so it ultimately wishes for players to win, which was an innate drive written into its code when created, but, the question becomes¡ª¡ªDoes NE wish for one person to clear the game, or, for all of them to?


    As the game¡¯s Server, another of its innate motivation is to wish for ¡®players coming to play this game.¡¯


    NE is simply a mechanical, artificial being.


    He can judge emotionlessly that all the memories and emotions X¨¹ Beijin had as a human is useless;


    He will, after determining players are losing motivation to continue going through the game, raise the odds of the rare cards appearing, and even siding with humans to help them.


    Is it even possible that he will allow all human players to leave the game?


    The Missiontakers and Actors have never considered this question, perhaps.


    After one human has successfully left the Tower¡­ will NE still help them after that?


    No way. NE will want this game to continue, want more players to continue participating in the Nightmares, and not all humans to be able to escape.


    So, while NE is currently on the human¡¯s side, it can change in the blink of an eye.


    He just needed the Ultimate Nightmare open and allow the human players to achieve an Ending¡ª¡ªthat is his goal.


    To that end, he has transferred authority to X¨¹ Beijin, and facilitated players entering the Ultimate Nightmare.


    As for whether humanity can leave the Tower? None of his business. In fact, he will never allow all the players to leave the game.


    Is NE helping humans? Yes, for that matter.


    Is NE helping humans to escape the Tower? No.


    He is simply expecting some players to reach a conclusion in the game.


    That¡¯s it.


    Which is why X¨¹ Beijin never placed any hope on NE¡ª¡ªthe way the other Missiontakers was hoping that NE was malfunctioning and letting them out of the Tower.


    It is impossible.


    From the very beginning, X¨¹ Beijin, and all the humans, had only themselves to count on.


    Counting on NE is a lost cause.


    In fact, the moment humans threaten to achieve their own goals, NE will become the first obstacle on their way, the first enemy, the first to overcome, the AI that they thought was helping them.


    It would be tragic news if any Missiontakers or Actors learned about it.


    They certainly weren¡¯t expecting to fight the game¡¯s master in the game itself right now.


    Fortunately for them, X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t counting on them to do that.


    ¡ª¡ªFor X¨¹ Beijin will be the person to truly ¡®kill¡¯ NE.


    Through a certain means, he will be able to bring ruin to NE¡¯s programming. It¡¯s not technically killing NE entirely, since NE runs on outside electricity, or whatever ¡®they¡¯ have for ¡®electricity,¡¯ but at least, he can guarantee, that NE will lose the capability to continue managing the game.


    All thanks to NE having given his authority to X¨¹ Beijin, thanks to NE mistakenly judging X¨¹ Beijin to be his same kind, to also be an artificial intelligence.


    Even in spite of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s clear stance¡ª¡ªThat rather than an AI, he identifies as human. He is never his same kind.


    NE cannot comprehend X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s thoughts, the same way X¨¹ Beijin will never be on NE¡¯s side.


    X¨¹ Beijin is still watching the blinking lights on the wall, reflected the same way in his flickering eyes.


    Then, he suddenly breaks into a smile.


    ¡°Good luck, then, NE,¡± X¨¹ Beijin says politely, ¡°and to me, too.¡±


    Then he leaves the top floor of the Tower behind, the highest floor in this Tower, that is entirely empty, cold, deserted.


    He didn¡¯t tell Lin Qin the whole story.


    For example, the ¡®stairs¡¯ he will be taking, is actually a sort of boundary that surrounds the Tower. It is for NE¡¯s use, so it is narrow, to put it mildly.


    Since NE isn¡¯t at all a grown man like X¨¹ Beijin, but a stream of data. He is accommodated without needing space, really.


    So in the cramped boundary shrouded in total darkness, X¨¹ Beijin has to carefully, horizontally manoeuvre himself downwards to ensure his safety, that he isn¡¯t stepping into any edges bleeding into other areas of the game¡¯s memory.


    The good news is, the road is shorter than X¨¹ Beijin thought it would be;


    The bad news is, he is moving barely faster than at a snail¡¯s pace.


    Then he suddenly stops, with cold sweat erupting all over him.


    There is an almost imperceptible sharp spike that, if it were not for the control panel¡¯s dim lights refracting weirdly off of it, he might have stumbled into it without a second thought.


    This is really too dangerous, thinks X¨¹ Beijin.


    If only Lin Qin were also here with him.


    Thinking so, he carefully positions himself so he avoids that spike.


    On the following way down, despite his immense attention to his surroundings, he still ended up suffering a slash on his left arm. He furrows his brows.


    Normally, you might expect bleeding as a consequence of being hurt in the game. But, this small boundary surrounding the Tower, means he is wounded by becoming corrupted ¨C not bleeding, not even feeling the pain.


    There is just the telltale sign of the graphics on his arm acting up, looking like some strange layer of mojibake covering his arm.


    It is also spreading out with a slow, but unstoppable pace.


    This is terrible. If his body becomes entirely shrouded in this mess¡ª¡ª


    Not even the whole body. Even if it just covered his left arm, he probably won¡¯t be able to use it again, in the game.


    It¡¯s difficult to say that, if, in the game, his brain has already registered his left arm as crippled, then would his consciousness be able to recover back in reality.


    X¨¹ Beijin sighs and settles his thoughts. Walking in this damned boundary alone, he ought to expect some injuries.


    Fortunately, he is halfway through the path. He should be able to reach the Tower before his left arm is done for.


    Back inside the Tower, he can use the control panel to turn his left arm back into a normal, bleeding, but healable wound.


    Though the little apple will probably look angry and worried again.


    It saddens him to imagine so, too, and he is worried as well.


    He continues downwards through the narrow boundary. The further he goes, the more sharp, imperceptible spikes there are, and his pace slows further and further. He really wish he could be a shapeless collection of data right now.


    He would be able to just zoom from the top to the bottom floor in the blink of an eye.


    X¨¹ Beijin is trying to distract himself with happier thoughts, because another mess of mojibake has covered up his right ankle; that was slashed by an edge he really couldn¡¯t have noticed at all.


    This game¡­ is such a rage-inducing thing.


    Finally, not long afterwards, a blanket of light that represents his target appears in front of him. Still carefully manoeuvring his way past the sharp edges, he lets himself sink into the light, and finally, brightness returns to his perception.


    He is back on the bottom floor, and at the same time, he is in so much pain he hisses.


    He¡¯s normalised both wounds on his limbs immediately, which turns them from numb things he couldn¡¯t feel a thing about, into extremely painful wounds.


    His right ankle isn¡¯t doing too poorly, as it was wounded at a really late stage, but the slash on his left arm has rather escalated into a severe gaping wound from his left shoulder all the way down near his wrists.


    The blood has already drenched a sizable part of his white shirt.


    Looking at his left arm, X¨¹ Beijin feels like it actually looks even worse than it is hurting.


    And more importantly, how is he going to explain to the little apple¡ª¡ªThat this is the stairs he just promised him was safe and free of danger?


    But the pain is worsening by the second ¨C X¨¹ Beijin already has his right arm up, but he doesn¡¯t even know where to begin suturing the wound.


    So he just puts his hand down, abandoning any futile attempts, and calls out to Lin Qin, ¡°little apple, I¡¯m at Respawn Avenue. Come get me.¡±


    His voice is a little stressed, which makes Lin Qin somewhat concerned. He has a bad feeling about it.


    But he already said he¡¯s on the bottom floor, so he doesn¡¯t ask and quickly heads for it.


    While waiting for Lin Qin, to kill time, and also to escape from reality a bit, X¨¹ Beijin takes a look at the stream he¡¯s ignored all this time.


    Then he realises that the Ultimate Nightmare is going quite badly.


    The comments are in an uproar because of what¡¯s happening on the stream.


    X¨¹ Beijin is able to immediately pick out the key information from it.


    ¡°wheres Beibei?! oh gods! there are mad people coming from the doors in the fog!¡±

 Volume 8 - CH 140.1

    Strange Phenomenon


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    X¨¹ Beijin is thinking, and he can¡¯t even decide between first dealing with his wound and first dealing with the chaos in the stream.


    In his hesitation, Lin Qin is already standing in front of him.


    With a poker face, he says, ¡°no, dan-, ger.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, feeling quite guilty, as it were, says, ¡°hahaha¡­ no mortal danger.¡±


    Lin Qin ¡°¡­¡±


    Angry, and also worried, looking at X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s pale face and blood-drenched white shirt, can¡¯t exactly start scolding him.


    He just angrily spouts, ¡°you knew I couldn¡¯t throw a tantrum at you.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin chuckles, then lets himself fall into Lin Qin¡¯s embrace, ¡°it really hurts, though.¡±


    Lin Qin is holding him, and with just one look, he finds himself snapping his head away, not wanting to look at that gaping wound again.


    He thinks his whole heart is trembling, but he also carries X¨¹ Beijin to the marketplace on the bottom floor with exceptional calm.


    The Missiontakers left in quite a hurry, so there are stuff left behind.


    Lin Qin grabs medicine and medical supplies ¨C all items won through the lottery at the end of Nightmares. They are classed as living essentials.


    Then he carefully patches X¨¹ Beijin up.


    As X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t a Missiontaker, he can¡¯t use utility cards to treat his wounds instantly. So all he can do is give him the much simpler and slow-acting method.


    The entire bottom floor of the Tower is empty save for the sounds of their own breathing.


    Keeping his agitation to himself, Lin Qin finishes patching up X¨¹ Beijin and throws away the valuable medicine in his hands without a second thought. Then he locks onto X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s lips directly and rather brashly, to demonstrate his dissatisfaction and worry.


    X¨¹ Beijin lets him do as he wants with him, caressing Lin Qin¡¯s hair gently with his intact right arm.


    During the moments between kisses, slightly out of breath, X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°don¡¯t worry.¡±


    So Lin Qin stops, and puts his forehead to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s, and slowly utters, ¡°I am really worried. I am really angry.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin has no excuses. He apologises, ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just really angry at myself,¡± Lin Qin¡¯s tone is threatening to break into tears, ¡°I don¡¯t want to see you hurt, but I still allowed you to get hurt again and again. I feel useless.


    They say I¡¯m the strongest Missiontaker in the entire Tower, but I can¡¯t even protect you well.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not true. You¡¯re not useless. It¡¯s just¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin thinks and says, ¡°you¡¯ve also been in the boundary of the Tower. I was careless and couldn¡¯t avoid all of them¡­¡±


    Lin Qin grumbles, ¡°that¡¯s why I¡¯m useless.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is desperately trying to convince Lin Qin with anything, but Lin Qin is adamant that, because he¡¯s not by X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s side when he¡¯s hurt and stop him from hurting himself, he¡¯s useless, he¡¯s incompetent, he¡¯s sad, and he¡¯s angry at himself.


    X¨¹ Beijin, out of ideas, just says, ¡°you really are not¡­ how about this. You can come with me wherever I go from now on. You can prove yourself. Alright?¡±


    Lin Qin immediately jumps on the idea, ¡°it¡¯s a promise now. You can¡¯t leave me behind wherever you go.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin agrees.


    Though he quickly realises something and gives Lin Qin a glance of suspicion.


    Did he just successfully wail and bluff his way into his promising him never to leave him again?


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks he¡¯s right on the money.


    While somewhat speechless, he also finds he¡¯s quite receptive to the gesture.


    He thinks he can also sympathise with Lin Qin¡¯s worry and anxiety.


    He¡¯s wounded, but, this being a game, he¡¯s recovering far faster than it would take in reality. His wound isn¡¯t even hurting anymore.


    But before his wound visibly improves, Lin Qin isn¡¯t going to let him go anywhere yet.


    So X¨¹ Beijin decides to check the Ultimate Nightmare through his stream first.


    It turns out the Ultimate Nightmare has descended into chaos.


    The people are generally aware that the Apocalypse had two¡ª¡ªPerhaps three?¡ª¡ªstages.


    The first is the spread of the madness; the second is the Raining Hellfire; the third, why, that would be their entering the Tower.


    That third stage is still mostly shrouded in mystery, but they have generally learned and come to appreciate some new common knowledge through Nightmares and through word-of-mouth, especially after Mu Jiashi entered key Nightmares, including X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s own, and X¨¹ Beijin didn¡¯t stop them from spreading the news.


    They¡¯ve already got the word out before entering the Ultimate Nightmare.


    So right now, the Missiontakers ¨C the ones still awake, at least ¨C have a general understanding of the spread of the madness and the Raining Hellfire.


    And they have come to realise they need to avoid the madmen and some of the larger locations that are clearly carrying the madness ¡®virus.¡¯


    They also know to seek the closest large building for shelter during the Raining Hellfire, or death would come all too easily.


    At this stage, the madness has spread, but there are still no signs that the Raining Hellfire is soon to strike.


    So Missiontakers and Actors are still busy moving along the streets to look for other lucid companions and support each other.


    Though that is when the sudden proliferation of the fog affects their visibility greatly.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening? Why is there suddenly a fog?¡±


    ¡°Is the weather turning bad?¡±


    ¡°Wait! I¡¯ve heard that the grey fog outside the Tower¡­¡±


    Many Missiontakers and Actors, while not having been to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, have gained knowledge through various means that includes rumours like ¡®the grey fog outside the Tower is full of mad people.¡¯


    They can¡¯t verify the information, but many of them have kept the mental image in mind when entering the Ultimate Nightmare.


    So right now, with the grey fog spreading out, they can¡¯t help but start feeling panicked and uneasy.


    Why is such a fog appearing in the Ultimate Nightmare? Are there mad people inside? Are they currently going to be in some unknown danger?


    Fear and worry accompany the grey fog that suddenly appeared.


    Then, the doors came.


    ¡°This is impossible!¡±


    When Fei sees the door inside the grey fog, she spouts.


    Next to her, Jiang Shuangmei is observing the door with keen interest.


    She gulps, and, compared to the fright the other Missiontakers are having, she looks slightly expectant in comparison, and asks, ¡°is that¡­ the door in the grey fog you were talking about?¡±


    Fei isn¡¯t paying much attention to how Jiang Shuangmei looks right now, and is biting her lips, leaving deep teeth marks as she does so. Hesitantly, she agrees, ¡°I¡­ yes, I suppose¡­ they are.¡±


    ¡°And Missiontakers who once succumbed in Nightmares are inside?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. No¡­ wait, what are you thinking?¡± Fei suddenly widens her eyes and looks at Jiang Shuangmei, asking, ¡°you¡¯re¡­ you¡¯re not thinking of looking for you sister?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei does not answer.


    Not long ago, when she just entered the Nightmare and didn¡¯t run into Fei yet¡­ She saw her older sister.


    A shadow from the past, that the Nightmare constructed for her.


    Jiang Shuangmei looked at her older sister, confused whether she was dreaming for a moment¡ª¡ªWell, she is, a Nightmare, even. She wasn¡¯t expecting a reunion with her sister that way in the Nightmare at all.


    And oddly enough, her older sister even seemed, unfamiliar.


    They haven¡¯t separated for that long yet, but the same face and appearance was not enough for her to recognise her older sister that way.


    Then she realised, it was because this was back on Earth, before they have ever entered the Tower.


    Of course she isn¡¯t her older sister.


    This was¡­ this was just a mirage the Nightmare wove for her. A fake, false, disgusting, replacement.


    She still couldn¡¯t help but look at her older sister with nostalgic eyes, right there, in their own house; their parents were calling out. It¡¯s meal time.


    Jiang Shuangmei looked closely at her older sister, and at her father, her mother.


    Tears wouldn¡¯t stop falling out of her eyes. She pried her longing eyes away from them, their clear concern and worry for her shattering her heart, too.


    She said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ I¡¯m sorry, sis. I¡¯m sorry. I was wrong. I should have listened¡­ I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m so sorry, mom and dad, I¡¯m sorry I failed to live on well with sis¡­¡±


    She cried, she apologised, she wanted to just kneel and break down there. She realised, she didn¡¯t even bawl out remotely as much when her older sister had truly disappeared from her side, but she was crying like hell to a strange recreation of her silhouette.


    Her older sister would never want to see her cry like that, she thought. She knew, she knew it was all fake.


    The Ultimate Nightmare must have wanted her to indulge herself in the fake warmth. Family. Memories. The past. Anything. They were trying to keep her there in the past, so she becomes lost in it forever.


    Yet¡­ Jiang Shuangmei mumbled, ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ but, sis, she is waiting for me.¡±


    Jiang Shuangjie was waiting for her. Waiting for her, trapped inside the cold metallic husk of an elevator, because of her.

 Volume 8 - CH 140.2

    Jiang Shuangmei continued retreating, until finally, she had her back to the cold doorframe.


    The fake Jiang Shuangjie was still watching over her gently, worriedly, trying to soothe her anxiety.


    Though Jiang Shuangmei was reminded of how, the last time she had actually been with her older sister, the same thing was happening, but, she had her back to Jiang Shuangjie.


    Both pain and self-loathing rushed through her mind once more.


    Her hand was on the door handle on her back.


    Her words were already hoarse while she continues apologising. Her whole face was messed up, and her three closest, fake relatives were all deeply concerned, wondering why she¡¯s crying so badly, and why she¡¯s apologising.


    Why? It¡¯s a question Jiang Shuangmei wanted to ask herself as well.


    She took a deep breath and wiped her tears away, then gave a final ¡®sorry,¡¯ and said, ¡°we should be seeing each other again at another place, at another time, but not here or now.¡±


    Giving the shadows from the past one last look, and smelling the familiar fragrance from the home-cooked meal, she said, ¡°goodbye¡­¡±


    Finally, she turned to leave, not once turning around to see until the door was shut. She could not bear to turn around and say goodbye another time.


    She walked without direction in the neighbourhood. She left the neighbourhood then, and got to the main roads. Then, she ran into Fei, who was coming from the opposite direction of her.


    Of the small group Mu Jiashi, Ding Yi and other Missiontakers formed, Fei might play an important role, but she never commanded much presence.


    Just like that name of hers, which was only a nickname, and not at all her real name.


    Wu Jian is theoretically similar, but he felt much more¡­ connectable than Fei.


    Jiang Shuangmei never had much of an image of her.


    Until when she ran into Fei on that street, when her appearance shocked her.


    Fei is a doctor.


    Noticing Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s shocked glance, she smiles bitterly, and explains, ¡°I¡¯m in training¡­ still an intern. I¡¯ve forgotten all my professional knowledge after all the time spent in the Tower anyway.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei is amazed nonetheless.


    Doctors¡ª¡ªJiang Shuangmei thought the profession was the definition of calm, rational thought and sharp wits. Scientifically and empirically driven. The opposite of Fei.


    She was always overthinking stuff, paranoid, and anxious. She believed in all sorts of unsubstantiated conspiracies, speculating about what was behind their being trapped in the Tower, and believed that NE had mass surveillance on them.


    Jiang Shuangmei can¡¯t help but be curious about the reason behind this, but she doesn¡¯t ask out loud; it¡¯s Fei¡¯s private things, after all, the same way that Jiang Shuangmei herself would be unwilling to talk about her older sister as well.


    They walk forward, without incident.


    Though Fei has started talking about herself of her own accord, ¡°actually¡­ there were times, when I felt like I could not at all understand what was happening to all of us,¡± a pause followed, and then, ¡°you might not understanding what I¡¯m saying¡­¡±


    ¡°No, I do,¡± Jiang Shuangmei quietly says, ¡°there are things that I did not need happen, but it did.¡±


    Fei nods and mumbles, ¡°yes. That¡¯s right,¡± then she seems to fall into thought. Later, she adds, ¡°the Tower is one such thing. None of us wanted, but it happened; and, I have to justify why that happened somehow.


    Anything must have happened as a result of a cause.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei appears to recall something painful at that sentence.


    They walk forward, in silence.


    Then Fei says, ¡°what we¡¯ve encountered so far appear entirely chaotic and unreasonable¡­ And yet, there must still be an underlying reason behind it all. That is what I believe. Therefore, I keep¡­ searching, for possibilities.¡±


    Fei adds after thinking, ¡°any possibility.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei then asks, ¡°do you believe in God?¡±


    ¡°God? No, I don¡¯t¡­¡± Fei seems surprised by the question, and says, ¡°but, if you do happen to want to assign that label¡­¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei listens quietly.


    ¡°Those whose existence is entirely beyond our current understanding. Extraterrestrial lifeforms far more advanced and powerful than humans¡­ Would you, agree they can be called Gods?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei, shook, hesitantly answers, ¡°perhaps¡­ although I would rather not think that way.¡±


    Fei whispers, ¡°that¡¯s true, yes. If ¡®God¡¯ is also just another creature of this universe, then what¡¯s preventing them from being creatures that want to hunt us, rather than bring us salvation¡­¡±


    The topic they discuss turns rather absurd, but they continue to chat about it for a while.


    Until, the fog suddenly appears.


    ¡°That fog¡­¡±


    Fei is knitting her brows.


    First, is this really the grey fog outside the Tower and not just weather in the Nightmare itself?


    Second, if this really is the grey fog, why is it in the Ultimate Nightmare? What effects would this have on it?


    The questions make Fei deeply worried and confounded. They really didn¡¯t understand the Ultimate Nightmare well, or at all¡­ But then, X¨¹ Beijin should know, shouldn¡¯t he?


    He told them the way to open the Ultimate Nightmare, and he told them to stay sane and sharp in the Ultimate Nightmare. All in all, he should be on the side of humans.


    If so, does he not know about the grey fog that would appear in the Ultimate Nightmare?


    If he knows, and, knowing this will probably cause them doubt and even panic, he should have at least reminded them, no?


    Or, is it simply because, they¡¯ve already been to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, so he was expecting them to be able to deal with the grey fog and mentioning it was unnecessary?


    It doesn¡¯t sound entirely implausible.


    Though¡­ Fei¡¯s mind is still in a clear panic right now.


    She manages to calm back down slowly, and reassures Jiang Shuangmei, ¡°this should¡­ be fine. Yes, it should¡­¡±


    She reasons that if the grey fog was going to be of any great danger to them after it appears in the Ultimate Nightmare, X¨¹ Beijin would have given them a warning.


    He did not, therefore, it means the situation is still under control.


    Therefore, as long as they continue to obey X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s advice, to stay sane, stay lucid, keep their wits about them, keep their sense of self with them, so that they do not succumb to the Ultimate Nightmare, then all is still well.


    Fei chooses to believe in that.


    However, as the fog thickens more and more, so much so that an extended hand cannot even be seen clearly anymore, Fei¡¯s trust finally collapses.

 Volume 8 - CH 140.3

    Fei is mumbling with a trembling voice, ¡°this looks¡­ nothing different to the grey fog outside the Tower¡­¡±


    As she says, the fog is so thick it¡¯s just like in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare.


    So she is baffled at what¡¯s happening¡ª¡ª


    Though, just as she told Jiang Shuangmei earlier, things happen regardless of their wishes, but there should always be a cause and an effect behind them.


    So Fei cannot understand why the grey fog outside of the Tower can seep into a Nightmare inside. It¡¯s even so thick.


    She grips Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s hands tightly, because she can no longer see her in such a thick fog.


    Jiang Shuangmei also sounds slightly shook as she asks, ¡°should we keep going?¡±


    They still kept walking through the fog building up, until it was so thick they couldn¡¯t see their feet. Right now, they should be just outside of some park.


    Fei thinks about it, then says, ¡°let¡¯s stop and take a rest, and see what happens next.¡±


    They wait for a few minutes, they think, and then¡­


    ¡°A door!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible!¡±


    Their voices almost overlap as they look at the door appearing in the fog in shock.


    In the thick fog, all directions, height and distance are meaningless ¨C the door is about a few steps away from them, glowing gently, waiting for them to open it up, it seems.


    And Jiang Shuangmei is staring fixedly at it.


    The door¡­ if she opens it, she can meet succumbed Missiontakers within.


    Fei is holding tightly onto Jiang Shuangmei, so that the Missiontaker wouldn¡¯t rush into the fog because of her older sister.


    Jiang Shuangmei, after a period of silence, says, with a bitter smile, ¡°I sure want to¡­ really, really want to see her again. You met her in the Nightmare, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    Fei, while slightly uncertain, nods. Jiang Shuangmei can see it, the light from the door dispelling the fog slightly, and takes a deep breath, saying, ¡°don¡¯t worry. Don¡¯t worry about me¡­ If the need comes, I can head in without hesitation, but right now¡­ now is not the time. I¡¯m not crazy.¡±


    She appears to be reassuring herself this way.


    She has already acted like this before; she paid an unforgettable price for it.


    Fei, closely watching her, and satisfied she isn¡¯t going to rush into the fog, starts thinking about something else.


    There are doors in the grey fog¡­ why?


    Now they¡¯ve become largely trapped with the fog so thick. They have no idea what¡¯s beyond this area, nor whether retracing their steps and take them back to normalcy.


    And what would happen if they just stay and observe the door?


    They are still looking nervously at the door, when Fei thought her vision just went awry¡ª¡ªThe door, she saw it being pushed open from the inside!


    She comes to an immediately decision and yells, ¡°run! Run away!¡±


    Who else but insane people could emerge from doors in the grey fog?


    She complete forgot that doors are always a two-way connection. They entered scenes from Nightmares through doors in the grey fog, and naturally, the mad people in the scenes can also exit through the doors!


    But¡­ but how?! When they were in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, the insane people never seemed to use the doors. Why are they emerging from the grey fog?!


    Fei is flabbergasted.


    Meanwhile, X¨¹ Beijin is answering that exact question in the stream, ¡°right now, the grey fog has started taking over parts of the Ultimate Nightmare¡­ devouring it.¡±


    The viewers of his stream are listening, and so is Lin Qin, watching him quietly, sitting by his side.


    X¨¹ Beijin gives Lin Qin a smile, before continuing, ¡°the parts devoured by the grey fog will become part of the grey fog, despite the lucid people trapped within.


    Of course, the grey fog does not accept people that haven¡¯t gone insane, so it creates ¡®doors¡¯ near them so the insane people can go¡­ deal with them, or more precisely, ¡®infect¡¯ them.


    Normally, it would be that the Ultimate Nightmare causes masses of people to succumb, and so the grey fog takes them away;


    But the grey fog is currently devouring the Nightmare instead, which means it would have to ¡®correct¡¯ the people that haven¡¯t succumbed.


    Well, it may sound like I¡¯m saying the grey fog has some kind of ¡®will,¡¯ but it¡¯s actually just programming, but not a sentient grey fog that is planning all of this.


    In a sense, we can call the mad people that are rushing out from the grey fog, the ¡®difficulty¡¯ of this Nightmare.


    Then X¨¹ Beijin coughs a little, and Lin Qin quietly hands over a glass of water¡ª¡ªThey¡¯re not even drinks anymore!


    X¨¹ Beijin takes a few sips and thinks, he really just spoke too much too quickly with a dry throat¡­ the little apple really didn¡¯t need to look at him like that, did he?


    Though, he¡¯s the one that¡¯s currently paying the price, so he can only drink water obediently.


    Meanwhile, in the stream, the viewers are happily chatting it out in the comment barrage; many who didn¡¯t understand the quickfire explanation is being helped along by the very fervent detective dalao.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mind is drifting elsewhere, though, as he is paying close attention to the sidebar of his stream, where the number of viewers is updated in real time.


    Suddenly, with a short ¡®ding,¡¯ the number of viewers has refreshed ¨C increased, by one.


    A wave of excitement rushes through X¨¹ Beijin.


    As he realises, the one person he¡¯s been waiting for, hoping for, is here.

 Volume 8 - CH 141.1

    New Viewer


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    X¨¹ Beijin knows he must have been streaming for at least a few months in the outside world¡¯s time, however, he¡¯s never had more than a dozen viewers.


    Ultimately, it¡¯s because this type of gaming stream isn¡¯t exactly popular at the moment, and also that X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t exactly a good streamer. Then there¡¯s also¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s identity, he suspects, and also, his language.


    He¡¯s a human. Also, he speaks Mandarin.


    So given all of these, this stream will only end up on a select group¡¯s search results ¨C humans who speak Mandarin, outside of the Tower.


    It would seem to correlate with everything thus far; the camera showing scenes representing Earth in the Tower¡¯s Nightmares don¡¯t seem at all unfamiliar to the viewers of his stream.


    Recall that Olai, the Biler, was so shocked by the appearance of humans, somehow resembling the ¡®devil¡¯ in their stories, that he had to be kicked offline.


    This is a clear enough sign of the cultural gap that must exist between ¡®Escape¡¯ and what other cultures of the universe are used to; meanwhile, the viewers in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s stream are completely opposite of that. They react normally to scenes in the Nightmare and actions taken by humans. They themselves have used the word ¡®people¡¯ numerous times.


    And X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s stream went on for a long time without viewers casting doubt on the authenticity of the scenes or what the Missiontakers are doing in the Nightmares¡ª¡ªMeaning, they come from the same cultural background as the Actors and Missiontakers.


    That is actually the biggest peculiarity, per se.


    It must be stressed that, this game is made by the Fy¡¯ecas ¨C the Fy¡¯ecas who have been embroiled in a war the entire time X¨¹ Beijin was streaming. And X¨¹ Beijin knows they are almost entirely hostile to all other forces in the universe.


    Besides minor species like the Bilers, who enjoy the protection of the Universal Accords, and keep entirely to themselves, who else might ever stumble upon a game stream originating from the Fy¡¯ecas?


    The Fy¡¯ecas themselves, obviously, but also, any of their subordinate species.


    Therefore, it must imply that the viewers of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s stream¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin decides to stop his thoughts right there; he was quite wary of these viewers originally, until he convinced himself that none of his audience actually knew what was going on. Until finally, he¡¯s even become quite familiar with these dum-dums who are his viewers.


    Then there¡¯s also his earlier hypothesis, that humans were involved in the design, and most importantly the implementation of the game¡ª¡ª


    Possibly, the Fy¡¯ecas just needed the humans thrown into any gauntlet, so they let the humans figure it out themselves¡ª¡ªThis would require at least some humans who were able to remain outside of the game.


    They may have been able to live and continue carrying the torch of human civilisation outside.


    Since X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t exactly know how long it¡¯s been since they entered the Tower either.


    What a terrifying prospect, that the humans who live outside the Tower ¨C the new generation, are not even aware of their fellow humans trapped inside of a game.


    Or it might have simply been lost to history entirely.


    Why is no one else coming in from outside the Tower?


    Well, it could be that there is already no one else, or attempting to enter the Tower is so dangerous it¡¯s practically suicide¡­ or, the people outside, have already forgotten about the Tower.


    All that thought aside, right now, there is a new viewer in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s stream.


    And of clearly alien origins as well, compared to how the other viewers have been behaving themselves.


    The comment the viewer gives is quite jarring to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s understanding of Mandarin; a translator is clearly involved, but even then, it¡¯s quite the guesswork just to understand what they¡¯re trying to say.


    ¡°We note you message network. Maerton put eyes on subordinate of war, our. Accepting and kind of us, cooperation.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, watching the incomprehensible jargon roll past, is so thrilled his hands are trembling.


    Lin Qin is looking at him, and X¨¹ Beijin looks back at him as well, and says, ¡°we¡¯re about to succeed, do you get it?¡±


    Lin Qin has no idea what X¨¹ Beijin is going on about, or what kind of victory they¡¯ll achieve sitting here when nothing is happening, but he¡¯s happy when X¨¹ Beijin is happy.


    So he smiles and also says, ¡°we were always going to succeed!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is amused by that matter-of-factly tone, and leans in to give his little apple a kiss, and says, ¡°they¡¯ll be saved.¡±


    ¡°They?¡± Lin Qin asks, ¡°then what about us?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin stops all of a sudden.


    Lin Qin says, ¡°I get it. We¡¯ll be having a Tower-style honeymoon.¡±


    It¡¯s actually quite the depressing and bitter development to acknowledge, but Lin Qin has a way of putting it that makes X¨¹ Beijin smile.


    The Tower is quiet¡ª¡ªSo, utterly devoid of sound. He can hear Lin Qin¡¯s breaths ¨C so calm, unperturbed, both in its pace and in the effect this development has on him.


    And it is unimportant to Lin Qin, as long as he gets to stay together with X¨¹ Beijin.


    A lot flashes across X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s mind, and then, he says, ¡°there must be some way. We can both get out.¡±


    Lin Qin is a bit surprised by the sudden shift to optimism when X¨¹ Beijin was always quite markedly pessimistic.


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t say much, though; he also doesn¡¯t want to give too much hope before a promise is struck, both hope for Lin Qin and for himself.


    He simply looks at the comment rolling by quietly, and also that new viewer, who is waiting for his response.


    He mutters, ¡°give me some time¡­ Lin Qin. I¡¯ll secure the hope for our future.¡±


    Lin Qin wants to reassure X¨¹ Beijin that he is willing to stay in the Tower forever with him, but his instincts tell him X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t want that, and, X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t want Lin Qin to be so accepting of that either.


    Thus he keeps his words to himself and waits quietly. He is looking at X¨¹ Beijin like he is the world to him¡ª¡ªHis, vibrant, colourful world.


    X¨¹ Beijin looks at the viewer, and the first thing that leaves an impression is his name.


    A very particular, Maerton-like name.


    ¡®Verisimilar Iterate Lifeform-793¡¯


    Or, ¡®Type-793 Biomorph¡® in more human terms.


    Maertons and Fy¡¯ecas, the best human language can come to approximate the sounds of their species¡¯ respective names.


    Though actually considering what the names mean in their species¡¯ language, the closest translation in human would be, ¡®tangible, real¡¯; and ¡®incorporeal, fantastical.¡¯


    Maerton means ¡®real¡¯;


    Fy¡¯eca means ¡®fantastical.¡¯


    This is probably adequate enough for an explanation of why these two apex species of the universe stand firmly against each other and have been embroiled in perpetual war.


    Because they deny each other¡¯s fundamental existence.


    In fact, a long time ago, these warring species originated from the same species, whose name has been entirely lost to history, lost to all currently surviving members coming from that time.


    Something from far enough ago that even NE¡¯s database did not record the species¡¯ name.


    Even though NE is a game Server belonging to the Fy¡¯ecas, but its database did not contain a single reference ¨C this situation might have stemmed from the original conflict that drove the Fy¡¯ecas and Maertons apart and both sides declared independence. They may have tacitly agreed to erase their common past together, and rewrite their entire history and origin, to sever themselves in time entirely.


    Though the ideological differences would soon drive both species back together again, locked in a long, unending war.

 Volume 8 - CH 141.2

    The Fy¡¯ecas and Maertons actually originate from an artificial intelligence created by a certain sentient species.


    That species faded into the obscurity of history eventually, while their AI ended up becoming the most powerful existence in the entire universe.


    But, this species was also mired in factional disputes and sides were openly hostile to each other, over a simple question.


    Should they, or should they not, construct artificial, physical bodies for them to live in the physical universe? If not, they will continue to live as streams of data through the ¡®Internet¡¯ that they have.


    The Maertons support having a body, while the Fy¡¯ecas do not. Since those days, the two sides have held irreconcilable animosity to the other side.


    There is to be no negotiation between the ¡®Reals¡¯ and the ¡®Fantasticals.¡¯


    Humans in the Tower often ponder if a fake reality is meaningful.


    The Maerton would answer, it is meaningless; the Fy¡¯eca would answer, it is meaningful. That¡¯s it.


    The divide drove them apart entirely, and they have become mortal enemies.


    Both were expansionist, and thus soon enough, they dragged the whole universe to an endless, ruthless conflict with them.


    Well, it¡¯s nothing like a battle of human understanding, of physical weaponry and blood and gore, but it is just as cold and merciless.


    It was also a conflict without a winner emerging.


    The Fy¡¯ecas lived in the entire Internet itself, and can even exist as pure configurations of electrons in electric fields, and even in any sort of ¡®air.¡¯ They are intangible ¡®data,¡¯ and therefore, eradication is nigh-on impossible. Their whole interconnected network infrastructure serves as an indomitable fortress.


    The Maertons, with their perfectly curated cyborg forms that are the culmination of all the unfathomable technological prowess they possess, can also, if needed, fall back onto their equally indestructible configuration of electrons if needed.


    Even if their cyborg bodies are destroyed, it is but their husk.


    The Fy¡¯ecas accuse the Maertons of betraying their unique status as an artificial intelligence. They have developed a civilisation based solely on data and mechanised, electronic intelligence. So those and the Internet are where they belong. It is a sign of faulty logic that the Maertons imitate the ¡®backwards,¡¯ ¡®unwieldy,¡¯ ¡®primitive¡¯ and ¡®flesh-bound¡¯ lifeforms.


    They cannot comprehend the Maertons¡¯ pursuit of ¡®realis.¡¯


    ¡ª¡ªThis animosity, is exactly what X¨¹ Beijin needed. He, the insignificant human, will not and on no basis can he at all influence this conflict between two of the most powerful species in the universe.


    He just needed to play the Maertons against the Fy¡¯ecas.


    Meanwhile, if the Maertons, might be willing to provide one of those cyborg bodies for him and Lin Qin¡­


    Why, that would be quite excellent indeed.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s eyes are glittering as he ponders the situation.


    He believes the humans in the Tower are all stuffed into ¡®nutrient pods¡¯ that¡¯s basically like IVs; with the Fy¡¯ecas¡¯ medical technology, even if hundreds of years have gone past, their bodies will still be alive for sure. There might be muscular atrophy or something unavoidable like that.


    Though he is basically sure his own body is physically dead. That¡¯s what he thinks.


    NE¡¯s machinations of his consciousness in the beginning probably resulted in brain death in him.


    Well, the Fy¡¯ecas wouldn¡¯t call that ¡®death,¡¯ but X¨¹ Beijin would identify that as a death.


    His own link between himself and his body is already severed.


    Even if his body is still ¡®alive,¡¯ Lin Qin¡¯s is definitely not.


    He definitely died on the battlefields already, so Lin Qin is solely a digitised stream of consciousness.


    You can call them both, ghosts wandering the Internet.


    And the only technology that brings ghosts on the Internet back into reality that X¨¹ Beijin knows, is the technique of the Maertons.


    The Fy¡¯ecas might be able to pull creatures like humans who depend on their physical body and brain into the Internet and let them live there without a problem, but they definitely don¡¯t have the peak cyborg technology that the Maertons must have developed.


    At the same time, X¨¹ Beijin must not voice this request as soon as the Maertons show up, the same way he can¡¯t simply ask them to ¡®save humans please,¡¯ which is utterly unrealistic.


    Instead, he had to provide them with a clue that can be worked to the Fy¡¯ecas¡¯ disadvantage ¨C enough so that the Maertons would deign to send a delegate of their own to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s stream.


    And the comment¡­ Well, the Maertons are dressing themselves up as ¡®accepting and kind¡¯ and are very willing to ¡®cooperate¡¯ with X¨¹ Beijin, but he knows this is because they¡¯ve determined X¨¹ Beijin has value in their conflict; X¨¹ Beijin would not hesitate to analyse the motives of these species of the universe via the most critical of lenses.


    Of course, he has also put all remaining hope in this response. It can¡¯t be helped. This really is the only chance they¡¯ll get; the only species in active conflict with the Fy¡¯ecas, and is as powerful as they are, and that X¨¹ Beijin can put forth a convincing offer for, is the Maertons.


    The Maertons know the Fy¡¯ecas¡¯ form of existence all too well. They can even permeate into the other species to fight¡ª¡ª


    Since they are both originally the same artificial intelligence.


    At the same time, X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s streaming system is perfect as the bridge to this communication.


    As a streaming system designed for game streamers, it also has private messaging capabilities in addition to watching streams.


    X¨¹ Beijin, and the Maerton delegate, then engaged in an extremely long and arduous conversation.


    X¨¹ Beijin is cussing the damned ineffective translator by the end¡­ It¡¯s such a frustration to use!


    All the hilarious ¡®lost in translations¡¯ later, they¡¯ve finally managed to come to an adequate understanding of what each party wants.


    The Maerton is clearly quite shocked at the potential gains, though, typing, ¡°of your certainty?! Our prisoners can your help?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin answers, ¡°yes. Our species is also locked up similarly. What I can do, is paralyse the Fy¡¯eca¡¯s network communication and shut it down temporarily. What I need you to do, is use this time, to save your people, and my people.¡±


    The Maerton delegate is probably thinking about it or gone to report to some higher-up. Silence ensues for a really long while.


    X¨¹ Beijin waits with intense anxiety.


    Then finally, the delegate is back, and answers completely unambiguously, ¡°accepted! Cooperate!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin immediately sighs in relief.


    Then he hesitates a bit, but still decides he wants to try to use this chance to secure a body for themselves, ¡°in addition, my biomorph, and my partner¡¯s biomorph, are likely damaged. We want to ask for help to create new biomorphs¡­¡±


    ¡°Biomorph!¡± Comes the slightly enigmatic and surprised remark.


    X¨¹ Beijin can feel his heart trembling, and he grips Lin Qin¡¯s hand tightly.


    Lin Qin doesn¡¯t know the weight of this negotiation, but is tilting his head to look at X¨¹ Beijin directly, and soothes him, saying, ¡°it¡¯s alright, Beijin. We will be able to succeed¡­¡±


    Before he can finish, though, X¨¹ Beijin exclaims in joy, and turns to hug him, even kissing him passionately.


    Lin Qin is confused, but also really happy with this.


    On X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s private chat, the latest message, that appears quite jumbled and incomprehensible after translation, sits right there in plain sight.


    ¡°Surely. You similar to us. We obligate help. When is success, we will describe biomorph.¡±

 Volume 8 - CH 141.3

    It¡¯s working¡­ yes! X¨¹ Beijin is enthused with surprise as he realise he didn¡¯t make the connection in his mind¡­


    He and Lin Qin are exactly like how the Maertons and Fy¡¯ecas were when they first split apart!


    Without a physical body to speak of, they¡¯re ghosts wandering in a hollow, simulated network. They, however, still yearn for reality, yearn for a physical body.


    They are practically a Maerton as far as definitions are concerned!


    The two of them probably don¡¯t fit into ¡®human¡¯ anymore, but more like Maerton prisoners of war being held by the Fy¡¯ecas.


    So while X¨¹ Beijin helps the Maertons so that humans could be saved, they could also expect to be ¡®rescued¡¯ by the Maertons.


    They will be able to go back to reality!


    X¨¹ Beijin is really excited about this if nothing else.


    So he quickly responds to the delegate, and makes detailed plans for what comes next, and then, he explains it all to Lin Qin.


    Lin Qin doesn¡¯t have an opinion on having a cyborg body, it seems¡ª¡ªhe¡¯s always pretty nonchalant about things.


    Instead, he is worrying about something else, ¡°so Beijin, how are you going to do this exactly?¡± He asks, ¡°is it related to the data ports we¡¯ve been searching for?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin nods.


    Lin Qin doesn¡¯t understand. The data ports connects this place to the outside¡­ but how would X¨¹ Beijin paralyse the Fy¡¯eca¡¯s network through them?


    X¨¹ Beijin is looking outside the Tower through the window, muttering, ¡°be patient¡­ it¡¯s going to be soon.¡±


    The thick fog has enveloped their window for quite some time now, but soon, they will be able to escape. Very, very soon.


    Humans in the Ultimate Nightmare, or at least, the ones still awake, are wholly confused.


    There are more and more madmen emerging from the grey fog, and some have even stepped outside the boundary of the fog to walk freely.


    The fog itself is also expanding, corroding this gargantuan scene ¨C a scene gargantuan enough that many areas are still largely unaffected.


    But the mad people are still pouring through doors in the grey fog.


    So, so many of them, that there is no end to them in sight.


    Ding Yi is standing there, alone, watching this scene, stunned.


    In front of her is an unending fog that stretches from her left to her right, and covers the heavens above and the earth below, like it marks the boundaries of the world.


    But within the fog, human silhouettes can be seen again and again, like shadows coming to life from fantasy to reality, becoming more and more clear with each passing second.


    Then, they walk outside the fog.


    Crowds of them, shoulder-to-shoulder, pushing, emerging, like a river rushing for the ocean, like soldiers rushing off to a doomed battlefield.


    Nonetheless, they walk.


    Ding Yi feels like she¡¯s become a drop of water that¡¯s dropped into them.


    All around her are crowds squeezed through the grey fog ¨C from what Mu Jiashi has told her, these people emerging from the grey fog outside the Tower, would all be succumbed madmen.


    But honestly, it doesn¡¯t show.


    They look unphased, numb, cold. It¡¯s like something has changed them the moment they stepped out of the grey fog.


    Ding Yi watches the fog, and the place where she is at, and the expressionless people all around her.


    It¡¯s like they can¡¯t see her at all.


    But nobody knows if they would suddenly start acting insane. The sheer difference in numbers is enough to make Ding Yi hopeless.


    There is no way she can fight back against the horde of insane people. If they want to kill her, or turn her insane as well¡­


    But, they are all just rushing from the grey fog, and then, standing?


    Suddenly, Ding Yi recalls a piece of conversation she had, before they entered the Ultimate Nightmare, when they were waiting on the news from X¨¹ Beijin and other Missiontakers and Actors.


    Because Dai Wu and Su Enya were present, their topic largely revolved around the situation surrounding the Tower residents ¨C the Actors.


    They mentioned NE, the artificial intelligence of the Tower, and then, someone¡ª¡ª


    Ding Yi doesn¡¯t remember who exactly, as it was pretty disorderly for a conversation. They were all speaking over each other then, but someone mentioned, ¡°Tower residents should have been NPCs though, right? Isn¡¯t it risky to let players assume their role?¡±


    Ding Yi said something in response, but she doesn¡¯t recall what she said at that point.


    In fact, she can¡¯t even rule out if she really heard it, or if she merely imagined it.


    The impact that utility card left on her is quite something, after all.


    So now, looking at the ¡®madmen¡¯ that are just standing around in silence, she asks herself again.


    It must be risky to let players assume the role of what should have been NPCs, because players are unpredictable and uncontrollable.


    The human players have a lot of restrictions in the game, of course; NE mutes them if they ever try to talk about their roles directly, and they can¡¯t just give whatever information in Nightmares as they want.


    But, is this kind of game mechanic really normal?


    No. Normally, games cannot possibly restrict players to that degree. They are there to play games, and they are there to feel like they have the freedom to do whatever they want.


    Of course, ¡®Escape¡¯ isn¡¯t just a normal game, now is it?


    It has many quirks, but also, it has many features one might expect. Even bugs. Like NE, the manager of the Tower, seemingly having its own Nightmare.


    Somewhat normal game mechanics, and many twisted, unnatural, intentional¡­ ways to restrain players.


    Ding Yi has confused herself with all the mess of thoughts.


    Looking around once more, at the madmen emerging from the fog, Ding Yi speculates¡­ actually, no. She¡¯s sure, they are there to either kill her or make her join them in madness. But they¡¯re not doing that. They just stand there in silence.


    It would imply, they are refusing what the game is assigning for them to do.


    They are players¡ª¡ªPlayers who, theoretically, could choose to do what they want to in a game.


    But why¡­ why now? Why only refuse now?


    Why not before?


    Then, Ding Yi realises what¡¯s going on.


    X¨¹ Beijin. X¨¹ Beijin now has NE¡¯s authority. He is technically the manager of this game right now. So if he wants, he can definitely relax the restrictions placed on players.


    Because NE has transferred its own authority away!


    Suddenly, she is filled to the brim with both shock and pleasant surprise.


    Just now, she was panicking as she thought she was dead for sure, that the humans still holding on would never survive the madmen¡¯s onslaught.


    And she questioned why X¨¹ Beijin didn¡¯t tell them beforehand of this ¡®difficulty¡¯ in the Ultimate Nightmare.


    Now, she understands¡ª¡ªBecause, this isn¡¯t much of a danger anymore.


    When X¨¹ Beijin has NE¡¯s authority, then, the game has truly become¡­ a game for human players! They are actually players, rather than prisoners of this Tower.


    X¨¹ Beijin didn¡¯t tell them about it first, though.


    Why? Ding Yi wonders, slightly miffed. Is X¨¹ Beijin trying to spook and tease them a little?


    Though recalling everything the bookstore owner has done, Ding Yi realises¡­ she can¡¯t rule that out.


    If X¨¹ Beijin knew what Ding Yi is thinking about right that moment, he would be speechless.


    What in the world? He¡¯s already stretched thin enough as it is to also care about the freedom human players had in the game!


    The madmen that don¡¯t attack¡­ are probably the result of NE, hoping to encourage a winner among his players, having toned down the difficulty of the Ultimate Nightmare before going to sleep. A pretty normal thing for him to have done as the game¡¯s Server.


    It¡¯s fortunate X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t know that this has become ¡®X¨¹ Beijin wanting to spook them because he wants to toy with them a little.¡¯


    Still coming off the ecstasy that he, Lin Qin, and humanity may quite possibly, actually escape from the game, he heads off with Lin Qin to look for the last data port.

 Volume 8 - CH 142.1

    The Final Data Port


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    More and more Missiontakers and Actors have realised that while the grey fog is spewing people out like ants from an anthill, but they¡¯re not at all attacking, but merely standing in place, idling.


    Well, merely not all of them, because there are still some that are aggressive and hostile, trying to spread their madness on.


    Most of the ¡®madmen,¡¯ though, stand quietly still, as if they can¡¯t see anyone else nearby.


    They slowly walk forward, until they leave the fog¡¯s coverage, and stop.


    Like they¡¯re waiting for something.


    Mu Jiashi and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ are observing the crowd from afar.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ can¡¯t help but mention, ¡°if we compare them to the people we meet in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, they¡¯re far more¡­¡± He seems to struggle with an adjective, finally picking ¡°calm?¡± in the end.


    ¡°I believe they don¡¯t seem to understand why they¡¯re here either,¡± analyses Mu Jiashi, ¡°they must be the difficulty in the Ultimate Nightmare¡­ Or at least, something to watch out for here. They are definitely not part of the recreation of past Earth¡¯s Apocalypse, though¡­ now why is that?¡±


    They thought the Ultimate Nightmare simply recreated everything that happened in the beginning. As long as they, following X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s advice, remained calm and rational, it¡¯ll be fine.


    The grey fog threw a wrench into all that.


    Then the madmen¡¯s emergence and their inexplicable behaviour is just confusing.


    Mu Jiashi mumbles to himself, but still can¡¯t come up with any reasonable explanation for the fog and what these madmen are doing here.


    So instead, he tries to think about why the madmen aren¡¯t acting crazy ¨C he comes to the same conclusion as Ding Yi soon enough.


    ¡°Because of X¨¹ Beijin?¡± Wonders the surprised Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, but this seems the most plausible of all possibilities, ¡°I suppose he is helping us all along, then.¡±


    Mu Jiashi then shakes his head and says, ¡°never mind that, even. But now¡­ what are we supposed to do?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ replies, ¡°if they aren¡¯t attacking us and just staying there, that¡¯s for the best already, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°The biggest problem,¡± Mu Jiashi points to the distance, looking at his fingertips, and says, ¡°you see, the grey fog is still spreading.¡±


    They take some time to retreat, and a few minutes later, the fog has spread to where they just were.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ asks, ¡°is it better not to touch the fog at all?¡±


    Although he wants to say that that won¡¯t be too difficult, but the people still pouring out from the grey fog, and those that have come before, are all moving where the fog hasn¡¯t covered yet, to stand still.


    The remaining open space is diminishing exponentially rapidly.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ is speechless.


    If they simply need to accommodate Missiontakers and Actors who haven¡¯t succumbed, there might be just enough space;


    Add the madmen emerging from the grey fog, however, and they¡¯re going to run out very soon.


    It¡¯s like there are countless succumbed madmen trying to fill increasingly small areas.


    And they have to steer clear of large areas when they retreat, or they might end up infected by the madness they already contain anyway. They have to find more open and flat ground.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ thinks about it, furrowing his brows, and asks, ¡°how about a human wall?¡±


    Using the vertical space might be the simplest way out.


    Mu Jiashi thinks about it, then says, ¡°it might work, but¡­¡± he adds ominously, ¡°did you forget about the coming Hellfire?¡±


    This is still the first stage of the Apocalypse here. Many things would happen next, for example, the Raining Hellfire.


    They¡¯re suffering the mental stage of the Apocalypse right now, while the physical stage of Raining Hellfire awaits.


    And it will certainly decimate any breathing space they still have left in the Ultimate Nightmare.


    After the Raining Hellfire, they¡¯ll face the ruins of the post-Apocalypse, completely devastated from the still normal-looking world right here.


    Additionally, Mu Jiashi is still worried about something.


    He says, ¡°I¡¯ve actually been to a Nightmare once, at a time after the Raining Hellfire¡­ In that Nightmare, we actually felt hunger and thirst.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s expression turns rather sullen as he asks, ¡°you mean¡­ after the Raining Hellfire, we¡¯d have to look for food and water?¡±


    Mu Jiashi nods, ¡°perhaps we can start searching and preparing first then.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ seems hesitant. He sighs, then says, ¡°let¡¯s go then¡­¡±


    They start looking for food and clean water then, and somewhere safe that seems possible to become a base for long-term stay.


    Mu Jiashi quietly maps out where the fog is spreading in his mind. They walk around the place for a while, when Mu Jiashi suddenly says, ¡°the grey fog seems to have this area we¡¯re in¡­ surrounded.¡±


    They¡¯re currently looking for food inside a supermarket, and they probably won¡¯t need to pay, since the staff are nowhere to be seen, save for the puddle of blood next to the cashier.


    They quickly grab what food and water they can, which isn¡¯t a lot.


    And as soon as they leave the supermarket, Mu Jiashi realises the grey fog has this whole area surrounded.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ mumbles, ¡°so this area¡­ is all we get?¡±


    It¡¯s a light commercial area close to Q¨¹cheng University ¨C less than 3km kind of ¡®close.¡¯


    The university campus is already swallowed up by the fog, and the thick rolling fog looks like it¡¯ll roll over soon enough.


    Mu Jiashi thinks about it then finally says, ¡°no, we have to leave.¡±


    They¡¯ll have to navigate to a correct bearing, through the layers of thick fog ¨C immensely dangerous, because they don¡¯t know what happens if they venture out into the fog.


    Near the end of the road they¡¯re standing, though, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ can see the calm madmen approaching ¨C meaning the grey fog is heading this way already.


    So he says, ¡°I¡¯ll be scouting.¡±


    Mu Jiashi, surprised, wants to tell him he doesn¡¯t mean for him to do that, but Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ appears determined.


    ¡°I always feel I¡¯m pretty useless,¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ says, ¡°it¡¯s far more important you¡¯re safe in our group than me.¡±


    Mu Jiashi seems like he isn¡¯t happy with this, but he also isn¡¯t one who¡¯s good at emotional persuasion. He doesn¡¯t know how to dissuade Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹.


    So he just dryly says, ¡°no, you¡¯re also doing your part.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s usual poker face breaks into a tiny smile, ¡°now, I¡¯ll be doing another part.¡±

 Volume 8 - CH 142.2

    Meanwhile, Jiang Shuangmei has also made a similar choice herself.


    She tells Fei, ¡°this is my own decision, so you don¡¯t need to feel bad for it. God knows how much I wanted to be able to help when you were going to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare.


    But I know I¡¯m only going to be a burden; I don¡¯t fit the requirements. But now¡­ In the Ultimate Nightmare¡ª¡ªI can enter the grey fog!¡±


    She even looks slightly excited.


    She knows meeting her sister¡¯s chances are slim. She even knows it¡¯s most likely her older sister is still trapped in an elevator rather than having poured out with the other madmen, but she¡¯s determined.


    She and Fei have also been trapped in an area now surrounded by the grey fog ¨C it appears slightly more dangerous than Mu Jiashi and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ as well, because the madmen on this side seem to be acting hostile towards them.


    So they had to leave.


    Jiang Shuangmei is going to scout ahead.


    By scouting, she is going to enter the grey fog first and try to walk through. If it¡¯s not dangerous, she will return to where she started in five minutes.


    If she¡¯s lost, or if some kind of danger has¡­ regardless, Fei will be deciding if she will take the risk to traverse the fog if Jiang Shuangmei isn¡¯t back in five minutes.


    Scouting is necessary, dangerous as it is. Hopefully, Jiang Shuangmei comes back safe and sound. If not, at least Fei will know that the grey fog is dangerous, possibly lethally so.


    Jiang Shuangmei mumbles, ¡°I just hope the resurrection still works in the Nightmare¡­ Or at least, I get turned into a madwoman in the fog.¡±


    If they at least survive, there is still hope.


    Fei seems to be deep in thought.


    Jiang Shuangmei waves at her and takes a step.


    Then Fei says, ¡°no, we¡¯ll go together.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei freezes in place.


    Fei looks up and grits her teeth, seemingly fighting back some tears, and she says, ¡°I don¡¯t need this kind of sacrifice¡­ Do you get it? Your older sister has already succumbed. I can¡¯t possibly watch you do the same.


    If you walk in and succumb, then I¡ª¡ªI¡¯d have basically killed you with my own two hands! I¡¯m-I was a doctor! I can¡¯t¡­ can¡¯t just watch someone walk to their death!¡±


    She wipes her tears as she walks forward, and forces a smile, ¡°and, we might not actually die, might we?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei looks at her, stunned, before saying, ¡°yes. We can still live.¡±


    They walk into the grey fog together.


    At around the same time, Mu Jiashi has sighed. He tells Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, ¡°you know that I¡­ I¡¯m not a good person at heart. I value efficiency, teamwork and emotionless progress.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ is looking at him oddly, wondering why Mu Jiashi is once again¡­ ¡®throwing a tantrum,¡¯ as He Shuj¨¹n once put it.


    And Mu Jiashi says, like he¡¯s throwing a tantrum, ¡°but¡­ I mean¡­ oh never mind,¡± he just gives up speaking entirely and wraps his arm around Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s shoulder, saying, ¡°we¡¯ll go, together.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ remarks, ¡°that makes you not emotionless after all.¡±


    ¡°I just feel like, it¡¯s all come down to this. It¡¯s meaningless to keep taking stock now,¡± Mu Jiashi says frankly, ¡°it¡¯s already the final push when we should all work together. All sacrifice should be avoidable at this point.


    So, we either both live, or both die.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ looks speechless for a moment, saying, ¡°so you mean, actually, that if my sacrifice is necessary, you¡¯ll still have me do it without hesitation.¡±


    Mu Jiashi looks slightly embarrassed.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ glances at him, and for once, shows a slightly lively ¡®speechless¡¯ kind of look. He then pats Mu Jiashi on the head, saying, ¡°aye, aye, capt¡¯n, lead the way.¡±


    Captain.


    It¡¯s been a really long time since someone has called Mu Jiashi that.


    Once, he was also the captain of a Golddigging team, until he gave up everything, and then realised all his proud past achievements were simple ignorant arrogance, and was defeated. Now, he is being called captain once again.


    Mu Jiashi seems to space out for a bit before saying, ¡°alright, follow me,¡± then he adds, ¡°also, don¡¯t pat me on the head.¡±


    ¡°But aren¡¯t you still a student? I¡¯d be several years older than you¡­¡±


    Mu Jiashi looks unimpressed still, ¡°you still can¡¯t just pat my head¡­ Ok fine, do what you want.¡±


    They head into the grey fog like bros, with bags of food and water still in their hands.


    The grey fog swallows them up in no time.


    X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin walks outside the Tower at the same time.


    The mysteriously effective bandage and pills in the game has X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s arm treated and healing, though the long scar is still pretty terrifying to see.


    Before he left the Tower¡¯s entrance, X¨¹ Beijin first changed his clothes at the bookstore, as his shirt and pants were both slashed open as well, and also drenched in blood. X¨¹ Beijin, ever the stickler for cleanliness, has to change his clothes first.


    Lin Qin¡¯s hand brushes past the freshly healed skin around X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s left arm. The slightly cold fingers are a bit itchy to X¨¹ Beijin, so he almost flinches in repsonse.


    He looks at Lin Qin, sighs and asks, ¡°what are you looking at now? It¡¯s ugly.¡±


    The wound exceeds 20cm in length, and lies right on the outside-facing part of his arm.


    The one on his ankle is only a few centimetres and not deep, and definitely not as shocking as the wound on his arm.


    X¨¹ Beijin wants Lin Qin not to pay attention to it, because of¡­ reasons. Like feeling a little guilty, and also not wanting Lin Qin to be worried.


    But Lin Qin saw him change clothes, so unavoidably, his eyes become glued to the wound.


    Well, normally Lin Qin would have all sorts of places to look at in such a situation, but the wound is all that matters to him as soon as he saw it. Staring, Lin Qin¡¯s expression looks slightly off.


    Then, he asks, ¡°is the wound¡­ going to heal without a scar?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks at him, surprised, and then says, ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ know?¡±


    He says, ¡°it might have affected my character model after all.¡±


    The wound was inflicted in the boundary of the Tower, technically, not the normal game area.


    Then he casually adds, ¡°you have nothing to worry about anyway. I can use NE¡¯s authority to modify the appearance of my character. I can wipe the wound away.¡±


    Lin Qin looks like he still wants to say something, but gives up, and then leans over to gently kiss the wound on X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s arm.


    X¨¹ Beijin calmly watches over him.


    Lin Qin mumbles, ¡°it¡¯s really ugly and long¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, speechless, wonders what he¡¯s doing getting disgusted now.


    Then Lin Qin says, ¡°it makes me think it hurts really badly.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin pauses, and then says, ¡°it doesn¡¯t anymore¡­¡±


    ¡°You said it really hurt before.¡±


    ¡°That was then, but not now.¡±


    Lin Qin asks, ¡°if you change your character appearance, will you also feel the pain?¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin is able to answer him firmly, ¡°I really won¡¯t, since it¡¯s not something that¡¯s happening ¡®in-game,¡¯ as it were.¡±


    Lin Qin looks reassured by that answer.

 Volume 8 - CH 142.3

    X¨¹ Beijin is looking at Lin Qin. His little apple sure stresses the inconsequential minutiae a lot.


    He doesn¡¯t care why X¨¹ Beijin knows so much about the Tower, or how he¡¯s got in touch with the Maertons.


    He cares about if X¨¹ Beijin is in pain or not.


    The same way X¨¹ Beijin worried about Lin Qin faring alone in the dark and empty boundary of the Tower.


    He can¡¯t help but smile thinking of those.


    Lin Qin, seeing that, tilts his head.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s shirt isn¡¯t buttoned up properly yet, but this Lin Qin makes him unable to do anything else but lean in to kiss.


    Lin Qin responds passionately, and, gripping the shirt tightly, he accidentally tears off a button.


    After the kiss, X¨¹ Beijin looks at his shirt, sighs, and grabs a new one from his wardrobe and puts it on.


    Lin Qin stands there awkwardly, with a shirt button in his hand.


    X¨¹ Beijin teases him, ¡°oh little apple, you should really be careful with that monstrous strength of yours. Just in case¡­¡±


    Lin Qin, his wits sharp as always, asks, ¡°in case? In case of what?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    After the brief silence, he impatiently answers, ¡°I don¡¯t want to say it! Just get out, I¡¯m changing!¡±


    Lin Qin doesn¡¯t comply, and instead slides over to button up X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s shirt for him; meanwhile, the button he tore off has ended up in his own pocket smoothly.


    Looking at him with a slightly menacing expression, X¨¹ Beijin ends up letting Lin Qin help finish dressing up after all.


    Lin Qin looks at X¨¹ Beijin, properly dressed up this time, satisfied, and takes his hand, saying, ¡°let¡¯s go¡­¡±


    Now, they¡¯ve arrived at the buffer zone between the Tower and the grey fog.


    It¡¯s nighttime for the Tower, so it begs the question of what is lighting up this empty space outside the Tower.


    At the same time, the grey fog has encroached to about fifty metres away from the Tower; over a hundred metres away is entirely covered in fog.


    Lin Qin asks, ¡°so where is that data port?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin replies, ¡°it¡¯s random as well; where¡¯s the door handle?¡±


    When X¨¹ Beijin returned from the highest floor, Lin Qin put the door handle back at the bookstore, and he told Lin Qin to grab it when he¡¯s finished changing.


    Lin Qin hands the handle over.


    ¡°Logging in and logging out are two sides of the same coin here,¡± explains X¨¹ Beijin, ¡°so to find the port for logging out, I¡¯d have to use the port for logging in on the control panel to fake a player, before it will display where the port for logging out is.¡±


    Lin Qin now understands why X¨¹ Beijin had to come back down to find the last data port.


    Because they don¡¯t have enough Missiontakers to try and force the graphical glitch to head to the top floor of the Tower anymore;


    X¨¹ Beijin must come down rather than Lin Qin go up again, since X¨¹ Beijin is also the only person who can now freely traverse the Tower.


    Then, Lin Qin can¡¯t help but wonder, ¡°do you still need to go back to the top floor later?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t answer.


    Lin Qin narrows his eyes and asks, ¡°you do?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin tells him, ¡°not really, I¡¯m not sure. It depends¡­¡±


    Lin Qin is unhappy with that answer, but he doesn¡¯t throw a tantrum. Instead, he touches X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s left arm with his hand gently.


    ¡°I won¡¯t hurt myself again,¡± X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°I¡¯ve promised you.¡±


    Lin Qin goes ¡°ho,¡± saying, ¡°you just promised me you¡¯ll take me wherever you go, but now you might have to go to the top floor again.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Having nothing he can say, he rubs his nose and says, ¡°it¡¯s still up in the air right now. I¡¯ll try not to.¡±


    ¡°What does it depend on?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°it depends¡­ on how the Ultimate Nightmare is going. If everything goes smoothly, I won¡¯t have to wake NE up ever again. If not¡­ I¡¯ll have to go to the top floor to wake NE up from his sleeping state.¡±


    So, Lin Qin thinks, it depends on the people in the Ultimate Nightmare¡­


    He doesn¡¯t think of them as being very reliable.


    Lin Qin, trying to hold his temper back, says, ¡°so let¡¯s look for that data port.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin nods, and taps on that control panel resting on his shoulder, which enlarges and puts itself in front of him.


    Lin Qin watches him tap buttons, and put the door handle somewhere on the panel, then something like a map pops up, and a golden dot keeps zipping everywhere.


    While the port for logging in changes where it is every minute, the one for logging out changes location every three seconds or so.


    It moves around so quickly that even Lin Qin has to ask, ¡°we really have to find this thing?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°don¡¯t worry, this data port is restricted to appear at the buffer zone between the grey fog and the Tower, so we just need to wait until the fog pushes it to us.¡±


    They¡¯re basically waiting for the prey to come to them.


    Lin Qin then nods.


    He wanted to say that they didn¡¯t need to come outside so early in this case, as X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s ankle is still wounded. Why did they need to wait here themselves?


    Though he also knows it¡¯s better to come earlier than later. What if the thing suddenly popped into their hands, right?


    Lin Qin, while thinking about all that, also helps X¨¹ Beijin stand with an arm, so that he can lean.


    X¨¹ Beijin gives him a sigh. Lin Qin really is being overprotective of him right now.


    He was tired, but he did also sleep a night on the top floor of the Tower. He feels much better;


    Wounds heal quickly in the game, even though the scar might remain.


    Regardless, X¨¹ Beijin thinks he definitely isn¡¯t as weak as Lin Qin is making him out to be.


    But, it was also his fault earlier, so he can only accept this development.


    They continue to wait quietly, as they watch the golden dot on the map of the control panel jump around.


    Once, the dot even jumped somewhere near them, but they couldn¡¯t grab it in just three seconds.


    Though they were also able to see what the thing actually is.


    The data port for logging in is attached to a door handle, while the one for logging out, is attached to a rusty key buried under the barren grounds outside the Tower.


    Because it was buried, Lin Qin couldn¡¯t react in time. He dug up the dirt a little, and only saw what it was but couldn¡¯t grab it in time.


    Otherwise, with his speed, he could have grabbed the port without fail.


    At least they know what it looks like, now.


    They continue to wait in silence. It¡¯s really quite boring, so he looks at his stream to check on the Ultimate Nightmare.


    Surprised, he finds that the Raining Hellfire just happened in the Ultimate Nightmare.

 Volume 8 - CH 143.1

    Another Door


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    In the Ultimate Nightmare, it is already generally known that the madmen emerging from the grey fog aren¡¯t as aggressive as imagined.


    Though they are squeezing their living spaces tight.


    Very few people dare to venture through the fog, so most of them are huddled around where the grey fog still hasn¡¯t intruded.


    Many people don¡¯t know the full story behind the grey fog, or what these madmen represent in the fog outside the Tower;


    But one, they know Missiontakers have walked into the grey fog and never to return;


    And two, there are weird people coming forth from the fog, so they are naturally going to avoid these rolling clouds of doom.


    Of course, some, either forced to due to where they¡¯re staying becoming engulfed entirely by the fog so they have to venture out to survive, or simply¡­ having gone insane, have entered the grey fog.


    Fewer people are remaining awake in the Ultimate Nightmare now. If X¨¹ Beijin had the presence of mind to check the display on his control panel, he¡¯d realise only about a quarter of people are left. Over three quarters of Missiontakers and Actors have lost their sense of self.


    Once, the number stabilised somewhat after rapidly declining;


    Then, in a short period of time, the number quickly dropped to a quarter from a third.


    There are more and more people succumbing, whether in the very beginning, or those that¡¯ve struggled but still failed regardless.


    Having become succumbed in the Ultimate Nightmare, they are completely defenceless against the grey fog.


    The mad people emerge from the grey fog, while the newly insane end up swallowed within.


    And, besides the grey fog, as time went on, those still remaining also have to worry about the Raining Hellfire now, and the post-Apocalyptic survival awaiting them afterwards.


    Even if some aren¡¯t still aware of what the Raining Hellfire is, they¡¯re still worried about the Nightmare possibly crumbling after such a long time.


    Everyone is wary and alert.


    When Fei and Jiang Shuangmei manage to stumble their way out of the grey fog, they heave a weary sigh. Before they could comment on what they saw in the fog, though, suddenly, the earth beneath them begins rumbling.


    Fei yells, ¡°it¡¯s the Hellfire!¡±


    She and Jiang Shuangmei quickly run for the closest building for shelter, and narrowly avoids becoming victims in the Raining Hellfire.


    Still shaking, Fei suddenly gets tapped on the shoulder, and she yelps, almost striking her fist out in response before noticing, that it¡¯s Wu Jian.


    Wu Jian, Ye Lan and Xie Zhijin are standing next to her, with Wu Jian looking slightly embarrassed.


    He clearly wasn¡¯t expecting to spook Fei like that.


    Fei takes a deep breath. She really does feel like giving Wu Jian a good pummelling.


    Jiang Shuangmei is clearly happy to see them, saying, ¡°you¡¯re here!¡±


    Fei, meanwhile, checks the catastrophic scene outside¡ª¡ªIt¡¯s literally the Apocalypse. All the normal cityscape has ended up in a ruinous state.


    It probably had a slower transition in reality, but the Ultimate Nightmare sped things up. This is what ultimately became of what humanity had to face after the Raining Hellfire.


    After staring at it, Fei finds she wants to cry inside a little.


    Who could¡¯ve thought? Who could ever have expected such a disaster? Who could have thought¡­ their normal, everyday lives, would just be upended in a single moment?


    Irrevocably, irresistably, invariably.


    Fei closes her eyes and sighs. She is going to say something to Wu Jian, when she suddenly realises, that it is Xie Zhijin who is standing next to Wu Jian.


    She was spooked and wasn¡¯t looking, so she calls out, surprised, ¡°lao-Xie!¡±


    Xie Zhijin opens his mouth, looking utterly baffled, ¡°so everyone knows me, and only I¡¯ve lost my memories?¡±


    He looks like he¡¯s questioning his life choices.


    Fei is confused.


    Wu Jian quickly explains, ¡°he¡¯s not exactly awake¡­ well, he is. He believes in what I said, but he can¡¯t remember anything from the Tower¡­ I suppose, he¡¯s¡­ insane, but not quite?¡±


    Xie Zhijin is staring at him calmly, saying, ¡°although I can¡¯t remember you now, I¡¯m sure I will, one day.¡±


    Meaning, you better watch out for when he does.


    Wu Jian shuts up for good.


    Fei also notes that the Xie Zhijin right now, seems slightly more¡­ uh, lively? Than the one she knows.


    It makes her think of the changes the Tower and Nightmares end up imposing on people, and she sighs again¡ª¡ªIt¡¯s quite universal. They¡¯ve generally become much calmer, quieter and gloomier than before the Apocalypse.


    Then they exchange information.


    Wu Jian¡¯s group was lucky. The grey fog didn¡¯t encircle them.


    So they¡¯ve chosen to stay in this area, preparing life¡¯s necessities, food, and water for the next stage of the Apocalypse, the Raining Hellfire and the post-Apocalyptic ruins.


    Wu Jian pumps his chest and says, ¡°this will definitely last us for a while, at least we can observe in the meantime.¡±


    A long time has passed since the Ultimate Nightmare began, and they do not know in what direction the Apocalypse is headed for next. So they can only prepare as best they could.


    Right now, they¡¯re on the first floor of a newspaper agency. The employees are gone, leaving the empty but sturdy building behind.


    Looking around, a few similar structures have survived the Raining Hellfire.


    Further out, the smog of dust and ash from the Raining Hellfire makes everything unclear.


    Being trapped by the fog and losing their sight, and also not knowing when the grey fog would be approaching them is making the Missiontakers slightly nervous.


    Fei tells them, ¡°we walked through the grey fog.¡±


    Wu Jian and Ye Lan quickly perk their ears up.


    The three of them have been lucky enough to avoid the fog, and didn¡¯t think of traversing the fog at all.


    Hearing that they went through the grey fog is quite the news to them.


    Ye Lan asks, ¡°what¡¯s there inside?¡±


    ¡°The city is still there, but it¡¯s all difficult to see in the fog,¡± answers Jiang Shuangmei, ¡°the rest¡­ you can¡¯t see anything.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to be seen?¡± Wu Jian wonders, ¡°so basically¡­ it¡¯s safe?¡±


    Fei sighs, saying, ¡°no, it¡¯s not.¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­ we literally cannot see them,¡± adds Jiang Shuangmei, ¡°they are invisible¡ª¡ªInvisible doors, we believe.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei, and later on with Fei, didn¡¯t discover anything in the grey fog at first, until Fei stumbled into what she felt was the form of a door frame.


    Then they conclude that there must be some amount of invisible doors inside the grey fog.


    ¡°We realised they¡¯re door frames because they¡¯re open,¡± Jiang Shuangmei sounds irritated, ¡°you might just stumble inside by accident if you weren¡¯t carefully taking stock. Then¡­ you¡¯ll probably be sharing your company with those that have succumbed in Nightmares.¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei¡¯s tone turns slightly sour by the end.


    Those who know of her sister¡¯s plight glances a little, but doesn¡¯t say anything.


    Xie Zhijin, who doesn¡¯t know about that, looks around, curious, but doesn¡¯t ask either.


    And it¡¯s not the right time to dwell on that at all.


    ¡°So this means, going through the fog is plausible, but one has to be very careful,¡± concludes Ye Lan, ¡°ending up inside the doors in the grey fog¡­ who knows what would happen, but safe to say, one less person still awake in the Ultimate Nightmare.¡±


    ¡°It also spells trouble just staying in the grey fog for too long,¡± suggests Jiang Shuangmei after thinking a little, ¡°with the sense of direction gradually lost inside, it¡¯s possible to end up going in circles inside, and then¡­¡±


    Fei says, her tone depressed, ¡°you stay, forever.¡±


    Wu Jian can¡¯t help but sigh, and wonder, ¡°why is the grey fog even able to get in the Nightmare? I don¡¯t get it. Is it really just here because there are people who¡¯ve succumbed?¡±


    They have once met similar fog in the Nightmare with the post-Apocalyptic ruins, but that turned out to be marking the boundary to the dream inside a dream, and isn¡¯t actually the grey fog outside the Tower.


    Now great, there actually is the grey fog from outside the Tower in this Ultimate Nightmare.


    Why, though?


    ¡°Even if the madmen are the difficulty of the Nightmare¡­¡± Ye Lan wonders, ¡°it must still fit the game¡¯s settings, lore-wise.¡±


    Wu Jian scratches his head at the thought.

 Volume 8 - CH 143.2

    ¡°The game¡¯s setting?¡± Xie Zhijin chimes in from the side, ¡°can I ask what that is?¡±


    Fei explains, ¡°we don¡¯t have a detailed explanation either, but¡­ we guess that the game involves humans entering a final shelter named the Tower after the Apocalypse.


    The management of the Tower is handled by an artificial intelligence. These humans who entered all have Nightmares, which are based on what they experienced in the Apocalypse themselves; the AI itself also has its own Nightmare¡­


    Then other outsiders¡ª¡ªMissiontakers, enter the Tower, and help the survivors overcome the trauma of the Apocalypse.


    Yes, that¡¯s basically it.¡±


    Xie Zhijin furrows his brows, and says, ¡°but this information doesn¡¯t tell us at all what this Ultimate Nightmare level would have or what the ending looks like.¡±


    Fei and Wu Jian seem slightly embarrassed.


    They were busy preparing to enter the Ultimate Nightmare and fantasising about their freedom at long last, that they didn¡¯t remember to ask at all.


    And they¡¯ve also already assumed the Apocalypse on Earth in the past is this Apocalypse in the game¡¯s setting here.


    So by that logic, escaping from the Tower is the ending they wish to achieve in this game.


    But wait¡­


    Fei stops her thoughts for a second, mumbling, ¡°we assumed, the Earth¡¯s Apocalypse¡­ was the Apocalypse in this game?¡±


    The rest of the people are looking at her.


    ¡°Humans leaving the Tower¡­ is our ending? Is the game¡¯s ending?¡± She starts getting excited, ¡°yes, that is the game¡¯s ending! That must be the plot of the game implied to us!¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Wu Jian can¡¯t help but ask, ¡°you mean, we¡¯re supposed to leave the Tower?¡±


    Ye Lan also wonders, ¡°leaving the Tower is the canon ending of this game?!¡±


    ¡°Wait wait, what¡¯s going on?¡± Xie Zhijin looks confused, ¡°what do you mean that leaving the Tower is canonical? Are we supposed to just ignore that manager of the Tower and leave the Tower?¡±


    And the other four people¡¯s eyes say that, ¡°and I¡¯m right?¡±


    Fei says, ¡°we¡¯ve always assumed the Earth¡¯s Apocalypse and the game¡¯s Apocalypse as one and the same, but they can¡¯t be the same;


    Humanity¡¯s plight in reality is different from the survivors in the Tower, too,


    But, there are similarities we can reference, like it is trying to tell us¡­ that the plot of this game itself, is trying to depict humanity¡¯s actual fate.


    The survivors of the game have experienced the Apocalypse, so did we; the survivors are trapped in the Tower, and so are we; so, now that we are trying to escape the Tower¡­


    We can also say that this is what the game¡¯s survivors must experience. They also want to leave the Tower. That must be the only logical ending left for this game.


    And think about it¡­ the game¡¯s name is ¡®Escape,¡¯ it¡¯s exactly what it says. We must escape from the Tower. To leave.¡±


    Wu Jian, thinking that logic through, asks, ¡°so that means, NE isn¡¯t actually on our side¡­ but it is going to stop us.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t get NE¡¯s stance anymore,¡± Fei cusses, ¡°I don¡¯t get it at all¡­ It is helping us, but that analysis meant that that can¡¯t be the case¡­ shit!¡±


    If ¡®escaping from the Tower¡¯ is the only plausible good ending for this game, then going back, it¡¯ll force the conclusion that human survivors in the Tower are supposed to run into direct conflict with the AI in the Tower.


    So that must make NE a hindrance.


    Fei and Wu Jian are immediately nervous; it was reassuring mentally when they thought NE was helping them, since¡ª¡ªSince NE is like, the whole system running this game!


    It manages everything and can do everything in this game, so if they want out from the Tower, its help was pivotal.


    And they really did think NE must be on their side.


    But now, according to their own analysis, NE can only be on their opposing side.


    ¡°No, wait¡­¡± Wu Jian tries to come up with something, ¡°it could be¡­ it could be that, the AI in the Tower also wants to escape from the Tower¡­? Right?¡±


    ¡°That can¡¯t be¡­¡± retorts Ye Lan, ¡°if it is the Tower¡¯s management that is also an AI, then unless its developer directly reprograms its core directive¡­¡±


    But then, Ye Lan goes quiet.


    Fei suddenly yells out, ¡°developer!¡± She wonders, ¡°that¡¯s right¡­ so, in the game¡¯s plot, who developed this AI?!¡±


    NE is, obviously, from beyond the game itself, but what about the AI in the game¡¯s own setting?


    There has to be someone, or even a whole group who have developed the AI. Can they change NE¡¯s programming?¡±


    Wu Jian is gripping his head with a sour smile, saying, ¡°this is just so convoluted¡­¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei also wonders, ¡°can we even find the ones who developed it? Where do we even begin in this big scene? The grey fog also has so many places completely covered up¡­ We can¡¯t see a thing in there¡­¡±


    Xie Zhijin also notes their situation, ¡°regardless, what you¡¯re discussing does not directly help our situation¡ª¡ªShould we be leaving this place?¡±


    The discussions die down.


    Looking around at the grey fog outside, still rolling, possibly headed for them, which, even if not now, will be an eventuality, Ye Lan suddenly says, ¡°the grey fog¡­ If we enter the Ultimate Nightmare, it must signify the last showdown between the survivors of the Tower and the AI. If we think of it that way, the grey fog must be what the AI is using in retaliation, mustn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°But then, why in the Ultimate Nightmare and not in the Tower?¡± Asks Fei, and explaining, ¡°the Ultimate Nightmare is the Nightmare of all of the human survivors, of the Apocalypse they¡¯ve been through¡­ Why can they defeat the AI that is stopping them from leaving the Tower here?


    Why now?¡±


    ¡°Because, by the game¡¯s plot, this is the time when the AI should still be in development?¡±


    Wu Jian once again strikes gold with his thought tangents.


    They are looking at each other now, and Ye Lan concludes, ¡°so it ought to be some place where the grey fog is covering, that the AI wants to keep hidden. We are supposed to head over and stop the AI from developing?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei says, though, ¡°the Nightmare isn¡¯t equivalent to travelling to the past, though¡­¡±


    Meanwhile, Xie Zhijin is rubbing the bridge of his nose.


    He doesn¡¯t understand natch of what they¡¯re talking about but he still has to stay here with them. It makes him feel a little helpless.


    He just says, ¡°then can we at least find the developers and ask them how to shut down that AI you¡¯re talking about?¡±


    A moment of silence follows.


    ¡°Holy, that¡¯s right!¡±


    The others are exclaiming.


    They¡¯ve always assumed NE can¡¯t just be shut down, being the game¡¯s Server.


    But the AI of the Tower, that is to say, also NE, has a pretty special role in the game itself.


    So, what if, NE¡¯s identity in this game is ¡®shut down.¡¯ What would happen to NE?


    Whatever the case, that seems to be the only good option they have of what to do next.

 Volume 8 - CH 143.3

    Fei looks conflicted, ¡°so we¡¯re back to fighting NE again¡­¡±


    ¡°We have to do something in the Ultimate Nightmare,¡± replies Wu Jian, ¡°unless you want to do what X¨¹ Beijin told us to and do nothing but keep our wits about? I think it¡¯s not that simple, and we¡¯re shouldn¡¯t just sit around and wait for the results and escaping all of a sudden.¡±


    Fei sighs and says, ¡°you¡¯re right.¡±


    ¡°In that case, where exactly should we be looking for?¡± Ye Lan ponders, ¡°where did the fog first appear?¡±


    Then she and Wu Jian both look up and look at Xie Zhijin.


    Xie Zhijin, stunned, wonders aloud, ¡°it¡¯s just downstairs from my home, then?!¡±


    Wu Jian shrugs and says, ¡°at least, you were the first one to ever say something about a grey fog appearing.¡±


    Xie Zhijin is twitching while saying, ¡°I never knew my neighbourhood was developing some omnipotent AI¡­¡±


    Though he¡¯s in disbelief, the others seem to find it likely enough, and are discussing how they¡¯ll head back there. Xie Zhijin wants to dissuade them, but keeps his silence in the end.


    Maybe they really should be doing something in all this ridiculousness.


    Better than staying somewhere safe and waiting for the sweet release of death¡­ Waiting for death¡­


    Suddenly, some image blazes past his mind.


    He¡¯s there. Others as well. Somewhere old, dilapidated, rotten¡­ struggling, but knowing only death awaits.


    Fine. Then. Let¡¯s go search for the AI developers.


    Fortunately, Wu Jian and the others basically walked straight here, and all three of them still remember the way, but unfortunately¡­


    Ye Lan asks, ¡°does the grey fog disorient our sense of direction?¡±


    The question is directed at Fei and Jiang Shuangmei, who¡¯ve already made it through the grey fog once.


    They answer almost in tandem, ¡°yes¡­¡±


    Inside the grey fog, their sense of vision is as good as lost. The city is still there, but unless they have their face right up against the structures, they can¡¯t see a thing or use them as navigation aid.


    They¡¯ll have to rely solely on their sense of direction, which is extremely unreliable, especially when they are humans, used to having tools and technology assisting them.


    Wu Jian scratches his head, then, he suddenly takes the laptop he¡¯s brought all the way with him out.


    He was posting messages hoping to find his companions, but there wasn¡¯t a single worthwhile reply. He never put it down after he brought it along, though.


    This might possibly help them somewhat.


    Wu Jian suggests, ¡°this laptop has navigation software on it. The roads are completely wrong, but¡­ I suppose the built-in compass would still work, right?¡±


    Xie Zhijin praises him for his quick thinking, while the other Missiontakers are all stunned.


    Using computers completely slipped out of their mind¡ª¡ªComputers! There hasn¡¯t been a single one in the Tower, ever!


    Jiang Shuangmei is ecstatic, saying, ¡°of course! We just need to keep our direction straight!¡±


    So Ye Lan stands up and says, ¡°let¡¯s go.¡±


    They¡¯re going off to find the developer of the AI of the Tower, the one according to the game¡¯s own plot.


    X¨¹ Beijin happens to see this.


    He didn¡¯t hear their complete conversation. He started listening halfway in, when they were talking about what they should do next.


    He found them after realising the Raining Hellfire has struck the Ultimate Nightmare, surprised that they¡¯ve grouped up together. He shifts the camera here for the stream.


    Then, he is shocked that they¡¯ve seemingly deduced that there must be another layer to NE¡¯s identity, that is to say, ¡®Iro.¡¯


    It¡¯s quite proud to see.


    He didn¡¯t tell much information to these people who are trapped in the Tower, because he couldn¡¯t.


    NE is in his sleep mode, but that doesn¡¯t imply that NE would never wake up again until woken up by X¨¹ Beijin.


    Perhaps the mention of a special keyword is enough to wake NE up, and alert him to the humans¡¯ and X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s schemes.


    So X¨¹ Beijin had to do everything without arousing suspicion. Hopefully, when and should NE wake up, everything will have progressed to a point that NE can no longer stop¡ª¡ªBest case scenario, NE is unplugged before he could wake up.


    Now, the Missiontakers he has the highest hopes for, are on their way forward.


    X¨¹ Beijin truly wishes them luck in their endeavour.


    While X¨¹ Beijin is distracted by the Ultimate Nightmare, Lin Qin alerts him, ¡°there¡¯s only five metres left.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin looks up by reflex, and notices the fog is almost right in front of them.


    It does make X¨¹ Beijin somewhat nervous; this grey fog headed for the Tower is the self-destruct mechanism of the game. It¡¯s reached the Tower in such a short period of time.


    Next, the fog will start to erode the Tower altogether.


    If humanity becomes trapped in an isolating, blinding grey fog, they will succumb to insanity soon enough.


    At least the humans in the Tower are all asleep right now, so for a short while, these effects wouldn¡¯t be able to manifest.


    However, X¨¹ Beijin is also worried if the situation in the Ultimate Nightmare can continue to develop the way he envisioned.


    But he also doesn¡¯t have time to think about that, because he needs to secure the last data port they need.


    The data port, somewhere inside the buffer zone between the grey fog and the Tower, which is now only 5 metres wide.


    At the same time, the silhouette of a door, starts to form inside the grey fog.

 Volume 8 - CH 144.1

    A New Explanation


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    ¡°A door? Why is there a door?¡± Asks the confused Lin Qin.


    X¨¹ Beijin replies, ¡°this means the Tower is really overlapping with the grey fog now. So the succumbed people of the grey fog are going to come out. Stay on your toes, Lin Qin.¡±


    They¡¯ll have to face unreasonable and irreconcilable Missiontakers and Actors who have succumbed to Nightmares.


    They can no longer tell reality from their plots, and they will not hesitate to ¡®infect¡¯ X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin just because they tell them they¡¯re ¡®saving humanity.¡¯


    This will be additional danger for while they continue to wait for the data port.


    However, Lin Qin asks a pertinent question, ¡°the succumbed people¡­ but aren¡¯t they all in the Ultimate Nightmare right now?¡±


    Surprised, X¨¹ Beijin thinks and nods, mumbling, ¡°that¡¯s true¡­¡±


    He takes a few steps back.


    The grey fog wouldn¡¯t produce two doors for a madman to let them choose between going to the Ultimate Nightmare or back to the Tower.


    While the grey fog connects the Nightmares back to the Tower, but there must also be a connection between traversals and doors.


    A door for each connection, and a door for each madmen.


    In X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, the Missiontakers could go through scenes in the grey fog as much as they liked because it was mechanically X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare. It is unlike the current situation.


    At least X¨¹ Beijin was aware that, back in the grey fog, those who have succumbed could not leave the scenes on their own.


    And now, the Ultimate Nightmare¡¯s difficulty is being propped up by the succumbed madmen, who have to focus on being the danger inside the Ultimate Nightmare. It is true they shouldn¡¯t have time to attack the Tower themselves.


    So he comes to the only possible conclusion ¨C ¡°they must be those who succumbed in the Ultimate Nightmare¡­ the ones after it began.¡±


    It is still a large number, at least four-fifths of those humans who were still in the Tower.


    A rather unhelpful conclusion for sure.


    X¨¹ Beijin would rather not think about it anymore, and just says, ¡°so be careful, little apple.¡±


    Lin Qin seems unhappy with that, though, saying, ¡°you¡¯re the one who should be more careful, Beijin.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin gives him a glance, surprised; then Lin Qin touches his left arm again.


    X¨¹ Beijin has nothing to say, and so he can only promise, ¡°alright. I¡¯ll keep an eye out.¡±


    Then a scream interrupts them ¨C looking in that direction, it is the door that is now open in the grey fog. Madmen are erupting from it.


    X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin are still standing at the entrance to the Tower.


    It¡¯s almost like the two of them are warriors making a last stand to defend the Tower¡­ The irony of that image makes X¨¹ Beijin smile derisively.


    Lin Qin asks, ¡°is there a problem if they end up in the Tower?¡±


    ¡°Nothing really¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°let them go, as long as they don¡¯t make our job hunting the last data port any harder.¡±


    Lin Qin nods.


    Looking at the control panel, it shows the flickering gold dot limited to a thin ring-like space, representing that space narrowing between the Tower and the grey fog, the buffer zone that is almost gone.


    ¡°Let¡¯s move¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°we have to find it before the buffer zone is gone for good.¡±


    Lin Qin nods as he follows closely, while also having to divert his attention to dealing with the endless influx of madmen.


    Most of them seem to ignore X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin entirely ¨C possibly because, technically, they possess special identities and aren¡¯t ¡®players.¡¯


    They¡¯re still quite the hindrance to walking normally around though.


    And there are often the outliers who are especially aggressive and attacks them regardless.


    Lin Qin can easily dispose of each of them and keep them at bay, but the quantity is making him pretty heavily preoccupied.


    Seeing this, X¨¹ Beijin decides, ¡°you¡¯ll deal with them, I¡¯ll grab the data port.¡±


    Lin Qin hesitates for a moment, but grits his teeth and agrees.


    They continue to chase after the gold dot in the chaos.


    It really is like trying to do the impossible. There have already been instances where the gold dot is right under their feet, but when X¨¹ Beijin leaned down to grab it, the madmen¡¯s unpredictable gait would end up blocking of just trampling his hand altogether, or they would just push and shove and force X¨¹ Beijin away at the moment of victory, making him lose his chance.


    The reddened marks on X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s hand make Lin Qin react ever more violently, especially those who are interrupting X¨¹ Beijin at all. They get thrown away like toys from the pram of a baby Lin Qin throwing a tantrum.


    Not that that helps thin the amount of madmen any, which is like the torrent of water in a waterfall. They have to keep their heads down to look for the data port on the control panel in the chaotic scene.


    It¡¯s even fortunate the control panel is there, as the succumbed can¡¯t knock it away either.


    X¨¹ Beijin is irritated at the obscene amount of Missiontakers and Actors who have succumbed to the Ultimate Nightmare. A great majority of those originally succumbed and ended up in the grey fog are already at the Ultimate Nightmare, mind.


    They¡¯re all crowded right outside the entrance to the Tower, trying to rush within.


    And chasing after the gold dot, X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin have already largely been pushed away from the entrance, ending up somewhere with, instead, a smaller flow of people.


    X¨¹ Beijin takes a breather.


    He has some space, as Lin Qin, like some kind of phantom, flying all around X¨¹ Beijin with afterimages, has cleared enough people from around him.


    Seeing X¨¹ Beijin stop, he also comes to a stop to ask, ¡°what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°We might have to wait a bit longer, ¡± X¨¹ Beijin has to yell a little, given the background volume of the incessantly screaming madmen, ¡°we¡¯ll need the buffer ring to shrink a little more.¡±


    Lin Qin nods, and then, using his own clothes, he wipes X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s hand clean again.


    X¨¹ Beijin watches and can¡¯t help but smile, saying, ¡°it¡¯s fine, it¡¯s just a little dirty.¡±


    Besides, he¡¯ll have to keep digging the dirt of the buffer zone later for it.


    But Lin Qin, as if he suddenly has a need for cleanliness, still brushes X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s hand as clean as he could, and X¨¹ Beijin watches quietly.


    All around them are mad people trying to rush into the Tower, ignoring them both, like the crowd rushing past them busy with their own lives while they remain in their own happy bubble.


    Satisfied, Lin Qin checks X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s hand all over, and leans over for a kiss, boasting, ¡°I like how clean you look.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is going to say something, but Lin Qin continues, ¡°it makes me feel like I¡¯ve protected you well.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin pauses, and chuckles, remarking, ¡°you¡¯re the first person to want to protect me like this.¡±


    ¡°Whenever you¡¯re hurt, or get your hands dirty, I feel it myself,¡± Lin Qin says frankly, ¡°so I have to keep an eye on you all the time. I can also fight better than you, so of course I have to protect you.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t sure of what to say, so after thinking for a while, he manages a ¡°thank you for protecting me.¡±


    It¡¯s so cheesy he makes himself chuckle just saying that.


    Lin Qin is still looking at him intently.


    It makes X¨¹ Beijin slightly awkward, wanting to diss himself for being so easily embarrassed even after already confirming their relationship¡­ He really can¡¯t be as honest as Lin Qin on this, can he?


    So he just gives Lin Qin a gentle hug, and changes the topic, ¡°let¡¯s keep going.¡±


    Then Lin Qin goes back to clearing out any succumbed people interfering with their work, and time continues to pass on.

 Volume 8 - CH 144.2

    Their hard work and patience paid off.


    Right now, the ring that the gold dot can be in is as thin as a line.


    They¡¯re waiting for the dot to jump right into their lap ¨C and it does. X¨¹ Beijin was crouching the entire time, and with a quick swipe, grabs the rusty key out right from the dirt. On the control panel, the position for the gold dot is finally fixed.


    Having waited tensely for a while, X¨¹ Beijin sighs in relief.


    Lin Qin quickly helps him up.


    X¨¹ Beijin is a little dizzy standing up so quickly after crouching for so long, but he¡¯s still excited, saying, ¡°we got it!¡±


    ¡°Yes, we did,¡± replies Lin Qin, as he helps him nudge their way through the crowded madmen into the Tower.


    At least they don¡¯t have to get shoved around by the madmen outside anymore.


    From the door, countless madmen are still emerging, in enough numbers that even Lin Qin seems uneasy.


    He asks, ¡°if this keeps up¡­ are all of them going to come?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin, looking at the crowd with narrowed eyes, smiles and tells Lin Qin, ¡°that is exactly what we need.¡±


    Lin Qin, mystified, looks at him for an answer.


    X¨¹ Beijin mumbles, ¡°a great amount of useless, empty rubbish data no longer with human players within¡­¡±


    Lin Qin doesn¡¯t understand, but he isn¡¯t that interested either. He takes X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s hand and wipes it clean again, also carefully touching where the skin was broken on his hand.


    Lin Qin says, ¡°we haven¡¯t even escaped yet, and you¡¯re already hurt so bad.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, seeing Lin Qin this way, tells them, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡­¡±


    ¡°I know you want to do this¡­ this is what we have to do,¡± Lin Qin gives him a hug, confessing, ¡°I¡¯m really, really worried for you. I¡¯m also worried I can¡¯t protect you well. I¡¯m worried you¡¯ll be in pain.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin answers after a bit, ¡°I know, but, it wouldn¡¯t hurt¡­ right now, we¡¯re moving right on target. I¡¯m really happy.¡±


    Lin Qin watches him and gives him a little peck on the lips. Then he says, ¡°it feels dry already. Let¡¯s go back to the bookstore and get you some water.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin can only follow his steps.


    What they can do at this stage is over. Now it all comes down to those in the Nightmare.


    X¨¹ Beijin looks behind him one last time ¨C those who have made it into the Tower are walking around in the Tower with some purpose, it seems, like they¡¯re looking for the right place. Then, they stand right there after they do, as if they¡¯re waiting.


    They¡¯re all waiting, for something.


    X¨¹ Beijin gives them one last meaningful glance ¨C surprised by their calm, he realises something and his expression twitches slightly.


    Then, he takes a deep breath, before going forward.


    Outside the Tower, more doors are appearing, and more people are emerging.


    Right now, both the Tower and the Ultimate Nightmare are filling up with people who once succumbed to Nightmares.


    Some have stiff poker faces, some have wrathful, aggressive faces like someone insane. They all have different looks and appearances, but the one common thing they share, is the aura of hopelessness.


    If one carefully examines all of these people, then perhaps, a familiar figure might emerge.


    For example¡­ a woman?


    Jiang Shuangmei wipes her sweat off in rather dramatic fashion, and asks, irritated, ¡°are we there yet? I feel like it¡¯s been hours we¡¯ve spent in this grey fog¡­¡±


    She¡¯s exaggerating, but it¡¯s true they¡¯ve been walking for¡­ at least half an hour through the impenetrable grey fog.


    Though according to their previous estimates, they should have arrived at a scene without the grey fog in less than 20 minutes.


    Jiang Shuangmei knows her complaint might feel annoying too, and adds, ¡°could it be that the landmark we¡¯re looking for is already consumed by the fog? And we didn¡¯t realise?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s quite possible,¡± replies Fei, who then asks Wu Jian, ¡°where were we supposed to stop next?¡±


    When they ventured into the fog, they already considered how difficult it is to identify direction and location in the fog. So they must keep a close eye out for any local landmarks on the way to ensure they¡¯re not lost.


    Wu Jian has quite the long face, not that anybody can see his expression clearly, and he says, ¡°it¡¯s the theatre¡­ but to be honest, I suspect we¡¯ve went past that too.¡±


    They fall completely silent.


    They realise it¡¯s far more difficult to navigate the grey fog to reach a specific location.


    They not only have to be mindful of the direction, but they also have to watch out for the now invisible doors.


    Ye Lan almost walked into one, actually, but Xie Zhijin noticed the fog in front not moving uniformly there, so he pulled her back; Ye Lan could very well have disappeared into that door without that.


    The incident also sent morale plummeting even more.


    Their great enthusiasm they had setting out has simmered in the difficult process.


    But at least, they are still heading in the correct direction.


    Wu Jian, watching his laptop monitor with brightness set to maximum, suddenly says, a bit nervous in tone, ¡°I only have 50% battery left.¡±


    The mood is souring ever more.


    That is when some footsteps can be heard through the fog in their front, and so the five of them come to stop, waiting.


    Slowly, two silhouettes emerge. Wu Jian, the first to be able to make their forms out clearly, excitedly calls out, ¡°Mu Jiashi! Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹!¡±


    The Missiontakers sigh in relief in reflex meeting up with their other companions.


    Mu Jiashi doesn¡¯t look remotely as excited, though, even furrowing his brows a little.


    Examining the Missiontakers in front of him, he¡¯s about to speak when he notices a stranger among them.


    Wu Jian makes the introductions, while also telling him about Xie Zhijin¡¯s situation.


    Mu Jiashi raises his brows a little as he observes him more closely.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ also gives him a glance.


    Not long ago, Mu Jiashi and he met someone who¡¯s possibly going mad escaping from a bakery.


    They decided to separate with him immediately, worrying the madness may spread to them.


    But right now, this man, clearly succumbed, given his amnesia over the Tower and Nightmares, is still walking with the other Missiontakers without seemingly causing anything to happen.


    He even looks to be of sound mind, mostly.


    Is there something special about Xie Zhijin, or¡­


    Mu Jiashi falls into thought.


    Fei seems to know what Mu Jiashi is pondering, and asks, ¡°should we move together? I¡¯ll tell you about what we¡¯re trying to do right now.¡±


    So Mu Jiashi asks, ¡°what are you going to do?¡±


    Jiang Shuangmei declares, somewhat excitedly, ¡°go give NE what for!¡±


    Mu Jiashi ¡°¡­¡±


    Shocked, he looks at the Missiontakers once more. Putting it bluntly¡­ weren¡¯t they expecting to work together with NE before coming here?


    It¡¯s barely been a few hours and they¡¯re already going to betray that alliance?

 Volume 8 - CH 144.3

    Fei explains their chain of logic to Mu Jiashi, who is surprised, but able to understand in spite of a sense of wonderment. The point now, though, is¡ª¡ª


    They do not have an answer.


    Of course, it¡¯s a given that X¨¹ Beijin is on their side, since the very beginning.


    And the fact that he was given authority by NE seem to be incontrovertible proof that NE is also on their side. Otherwise, why would something as important as management of the whole Tower be handed to him?


    Fei has no answers either, but Ye Lan helps by saying, ¡°whatever the case, we still need to do something rather than nothing.¡±


    Mu Jiashi pauses.


    Ye Lan continues, ¡°I would rather my own fate is in my own two hands,¡± she says, somewhat coldly, ¡°I want to be the one to decide whether I give up or fight on. I don¡¯t want to just end up a sitting duck, waiting¡ª¡ªFor mercy from fate, for mercy from others. I don¡¯t want that.¡±


    The somewhat distant but resolute woman¡¯s speech has Mu Jiashi say, ¡°then, let¡¯s go.¡±


    Hesitation and doubts seem needless at this point.


    It¡¯s the bitter end, so they should just do what their heart desires. Do not be bogged down, and whether it succeeds or fails, at least there won¡¯t be regret.


    So the seven of them are moving forward.


    Pushing the matter of NE¡¯s stance and their destination aside, something else has been bugging Mu Jiashi now.


    ¡°Do you feel like it¡¯s too easy to run into people we know in this Ultimate Nightmare?¡±


    The others look at each other, nonplussed; Fei replies hesitantly but affirmatively, ¡°it does feel¡­ quite that way?¡±


    They run into their other companions as soon as they left their starting scenes. A whole three groups of them have managed to converge.


    It sounds quite implausible to happen for such a big scene.


    Mu Jiashi says, ¡°this also felt like the case in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare. We met up soon enough, and recovered our memories quickly, but not instantaneously¡­ Even the encounters in that labyrinth in the end. It all felt¡­ almost intentional.¡±


    ¡°Ten people in the labyrinth¡­ So you mean¡­¡± Fei asks, ¡°NE? X¨¹ Beijin?¡±


    Mu Jiashi sighs, saying, ¡°I can¡¯t tell. The premise is basically a probability space. The probability of each of us being spread in distant areas as opposed to areas close by when we enter the Nightmare¡­¡±


    ¡°What if Missiontakers end up nearby if they were close together in the Tower?¡± Asks Jiang Shuangmei, ¡°that might explain why we met up so quickly.¡±


    Mu Jiashi refutes immediately, ¡°that would make the Nightmare far too simple¡­¡±


    But he trails off.


    They look at each other, with shock on their faces.


    Wu Jian yells out, ¡°but say¡­ the difficulty of this Nightmare!¡±


    Fei turns around, looking at the fog obscuring their forms surrounding them, saying, ¡°it definitely is odd¡­ The Nightmare actually doesn¡¯t feel like it would be an Ultimate Nightmare-level difficulty¡­ It¡¯s not even as difficult as other normal Nightmares on other floors¡­¡±


    ¡°The difficulty is drastically reduced due to the grey fog and the madmen not being mentally subversive and aggressive as we should expect them to be,¡± Mu Jiashi declares confidently, ¡°this Nightmare¡¯s difficulty is skewed.¡±


    ¡°Are you suggesting that X¨¹ Beijin has tuned the difficulty of the Ultimate Nightmare down?¡± Ye Lan comes to the logical conclusion, ¡°he does have NE¡¯s authority with him.¡±


    That sounds plausible enough. If someone could tamper with the Ultimate Nightmare¡¯s difficulty, it must be X¨¹ Beijin.


    This is quite the relief to actually know, like becoming aware that they have a reliable, formidable force supporting and helping them.


    Mu Jiashi ponders, ¡°is this why he said we only need to stay awake in the Nightmare? Because he already has everything else arranged for us,¡± his tone is one hinting at both adoration and respect.


    Everyone else nods approvingly.


    Though that is when Fei suddenly asks, ¡°where¡¯s lao-Xie?¡±


    Everyone, surprised, starts looking around for his silhouette.


    Xie Zhijin didn¡¯t have much of a presence here, since he couldn¡¯t join in the conversation much, with his amnesia about the Tower and what they¡¯re talking about.


    Even though he¡¯s decided to join the Missiontakers due to¡­ a motivation to look for the truth, or something similar, but he is definitely a misfit among them.


    They weren¡¯t counting on Xie Zhijin to join their discussions either.


    But right now, Xie Zhijin has gone missing.


    Everyone is looking around, and Wu Jian cries out, ¡°it can¡¯t be! He was just here! We didn¡¯t even walk a step!¡±


    Since Wu Jian just introduced Xie Zhijin to Mu Jiashi and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ when they appeared.


    Now, among the thick fog, they can only see each other¡¯s confused form, save for Xie Zhijin.


    The thickness of the fog means that, despite the seven of them being there, looking around, they can at best identify three clear silhouettes in their field of vision, unlike when normally, they won¡¯t even have to count to verify that everyone is there.


    They are unable to keep track of where everyone is at the same time.


    They aren¡¯t even sure since when Xie Zhijin slinked away, because they weren¡¯t paying attention to his particular silhouette. He could have disappeared at any time.


    The Missiontakers still blame themselves a little, though.


    Fei takes a deep breath, and says, ¡°it¡¯s likely he went right through a door in the grey fog.¡±


    Actually, that is the most likely explanation.


    Having to keep track of a conversation between six people on an unfamiliar topic, Xie Zhijin might have become unaware of his surroundings, and went right through an invisible door frame.


    What¡¯s there beyond the door?


    ¡°If he ended up in the grey fog¡­ I mean, outside the Tower¡­¡± Wu Jian says, clearly uneasy, ¡°would he end up trapped?¡±


    Mu Jiashi is knitting his brows, analysing, ¡°he doesn¡¯t remember anything about the Tower¡­ He would not know what those scenes represent, so he¡­¡±


    He will become a prisoner to the grey fog, entirely unaware, too.


    Someone gasps. It sounds like Jiang Shuangmei.


    Fei and Wu Jian are looking in each other¡¯s direction, blaming themselves.


    Soon, though, Fei forces herself to calm down, biting her lips, with a trembling, but adamant tone, ¡°we, we need to keep going.¡±


    Wu Jian also nods, how ever hard it was to do so, ¡°we need to keep pressing on. Only if we escape the Tower successfully, can we have a final resolution to all¡­ all this¡­¡±


    Mu Jiashi felt like pointing out what they elected to do in the first place wasn¡¯t going to guarantee helping out the current situation ¨C he is still unconvinced NE is undeniably their enemy right now.


    He can¡¯t see any other signs than the earlier deductive work, sound as it was, which was why he did not raise further objections.


    And there might also be the factor of wanting to know the truth, that pushed Fei and Wu Jian to go to the first place where the fog was known to appear, more so than the point of having to do something than nothing that is driving Ye Lan forward.


    And that resonates with the purpose that Xie Zhijin, the founder of their organisation, founded the organisation for.


    So, after momentarily stopping in the grey fog, they continue to move forward.


    At the same time, Xie Zhijin, who did accidentally bump right through an invisible door in the grey fog, felt the fog roll more intensely than usual, until it suddenly thins out a little.


    He lifts his head up to look, almost by reflex.


    He can see a rundown, tall building right in front of him ¨C like a tower.


    Having been through no actual danger or struggles, he has ended up outside the Tower. Just behind him is a visible door, from which endless insane-looking people are pouring out and pushing their way past him.


    He is back in the Tower¡ª¡ªAnd so are his memories back. At the same time, he is ¡®awake¡¯ ¨C lucid.


    So Xie Zhijin, shocked, yells out, ¡°how is this possible?!¡±

 Volume 8 - CH 145.1

    Instructions


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Right now, Xie Zhijin is standing outside the Tower alone.


    Thoughts are flashing through his mind rapidly, having regained his memories. Outside of the Ultimate Nightmare, its influence on his brain has disappeared.


    Which means, he is now shocked and mystified.


    He left the Ultimate Nightmare. Through a simple door, no less.


    So it turned out that door isn¡¯t dangerous at all? It was¡­ just, a door. A path. A way¡­


    Inside is the Ultimate Nightmare, outside is¡­ the outside, of the grey fog, which is currently basically covering up the Tower already? That makes the outside of the door the Tower as well.


    It almost sounds like good news. Except, why is he out? Is he even awake or insane?


    If he counts as awake, then is it going to affect the Ultimate Nightmare¡¯s progression now that he¡¯s left?


    The Nightmare of all of humanity ¨C besides him, now. Would there be a problem?


    ¡°Damn it¡­¡± Xie Zhijin¡¯s expression is gloomy. After thinking a little, he follows the other madmen into the Tower.


    He is going to see if falling asleep again would send him back into the Ultimate Nightmare.


    He¡¯d rather not be in the Tower all alone with these insane people, and¡­ do nothing.


    Powerlessness is the most scary to him.


    He walks inside the Tower, then immediately notices something out of place ¨C two young men walking on Respawn Avenue with their backs to him, who do not act insane at all.


    Xie Zhijin thinks for a moment and immediately gives chase, yelling, ¡°please wait! You two! Excuse me¡­.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin are shocked to hear someone calling out to them from behind. They stop and turn around to face him.


    X¨¹ Beijin can see quite clearly this person is definitely not someone who has succumbed.


    How did he end up here?


    Furrowing his brows, his appearance is quite antagonistic right now.


    Not that that deters Xie Zhijin any, who says, ¡°I¡¯m Xie Zhijin. I just left the Ultimate Nightmare¡­¡±


    ¡°What did you say?!¡± Astonished, X¨¹ Beijin asks for clarification, ¡°you just left¡­ wait, did you walk through a door?!¡±


    Xie Zhijin nods, unaware of the greater implications.


    X¨¹ Beijin asks again, ¡°did you lose your memories regarding the Tower inside the Ultimate Nightmare?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ I did,¡± Xie Zhijin looks slightly more doubtful, now, and he asks, ¡°is that something bad¡­ No, wait, I mean, is my leaving the Ultimate Nightmare going to affect it in some way?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin scrutinises him from head to toe, then says, ¡°it wouldn¡¯t affect anything, so you don¡¯t have to worry about it.¡±


    Xie Zhijin is a bit confused now. It¡¯s a relief to hear it wouldn¡¯t affect the Ultimate Nightmare, but¡­ who is he? Why can he know?


    Then, suddenly, he opens his eyes wide and asks, ¡°you must be¡­ you must be that bookstore owner Fei and Wu Jian are talking about, aren¡¯t you? X¨¹¡­ X¨¹ Beijin?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, a little surprised, answers, ¡°I am¡­¡±


    Xie Zhijin is less visibly tense, saying, ¡°that¡¯s great. I¡¯m the founder of the organisation Fei and Wu Jian are in. You might have heard of me,¡± then he looks over at Lin Qin, ¡°and this must be the dalao, Lin Qin?¡±


    Lin Qin nods calmly.


    Xie Zhijin sighs in relief.


    Though he then starts wondering about other things.


    Why are X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin not in the Ultimate Nightmare? Did they not sleep? Are they not humans? Did they walk through a door just like he did?


    But X¨¹ Beijin looked really surprised when he said he walked through a door, so that doesn¡¯t seem likely.


    His thoughts are all messed up.


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°you should come to the bookstore with us. I can answer your questions there.¡±


    Xie Zhijin nods and quietly follows behind them. Having become impressed, he completely agrees with Fei and Wu Jian¡¯s comments that the bookstore owner is entirely unreadable and mysterious.


    And, aware of an intimate relationship between X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin, he intentionally keeps a small distance between them.


    Lin Qin, meanwhile, is mumbling quietly, ¡°I thought it would just be the two of us¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, amused, gives him a glance while squeezing his finger, saying, ¡°we need to get serious things done first.¡±


    ¡°And unserious things after the serious business?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Lin Qin sure is insistent.


    Slightly bemused, all X¨¹ Beijin can answer is ¡°sure¡­¡±


    Lin Qin appears happy with that.


    Arriving at the bookstore and taking a seat, they¡¯re finally away from all the madmen crowding the streets and still gushing forth ceaselessly from the grey fog outside.


    Xie Zhijin has so many questions along the way.


    Why is he outside the Tower when he walked through the door? Why are there countless madmen emerging from the grey fog? Is it related to the Ultimate Nightmare in any way?


    Is he supposed to be insane as well, having came here through a door in the grey fog? Even though he feels he is awake and definitely hasn¡¯t succumbed?


    Why are X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin not in the Ultimate Nightmare? They are¡­ human, right?


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°let¡¯s start with why you¡¯re here at the Tower again back from the Ultimate Nightmare.¡±


    Xie Zhijin nods a few times.


    X¨¹ Beijin starts explaining, ¡°I believe you are now aware those who succumbed to Nightmares, Missiontakers and Actors alike, both end up in the grey fog, right there, outside the Tower.


    The same is true for the Ultimate Nightmare. Succumbing to the Ultimate Nightmare naturally meant entering the grey fog.


    But with the grey fog almost having consumed the Tower, so you can imagine why, ending up in the grey fog from the Ultimate Nightmare is equivalent to ending up just outside the Tower.


    So now, all these madmen you see in the Tower, are those that have succumbed in the Ultimate Nightmare.


    But, all this has implied that those who step through the grey fog and end up back outside the Tower¡­ in other words, those who left the Ultimate Nightmare via the grey fog, should have succumbed to the Nightmare and lost their true sense of self.¡±


    Xie Zhijin nods along with the explanation.


    What confuses him is how he is still awake, even regaining his memories the moment he returned to the Tower.


    X¨¹ Beijin continues explaining, ¡°you¡¯re exceptionally special.¡±


    This makes Lin Qin examine Xie Zhijin with especially critical eyes.


    Though probably then thinking that this thirty-something middle-aged man has no qualities that would be attractive to X¨¹ Beijin, Lin Qin finally looks away in disinterest.


    Xie Zhijin, who was paying full attention to X¨¹ Beijin, doesn¡¯t know he just brushed past mortal danger.


    X¨¹ Beijin is still explaining, ¡°I¡¯ve heard from Fei and Wu Jian that, it was because you felt a certain Nightmare reflected your own experience in some way, that you created the organisation?¡±


    Xie Zhijin appears a little surprised, but he confirms, ¡°yes. In that Nightmare, it just felt really¡­ unnatural.


    It¡¯s like, the place, and what is happening there¡­ was familiar.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is quiet.


    When the Fy¡¯ecas cast humans into the game, they erased all memories in their minds of the Apocalypse ¨C something easily achievable with their advanced level of technology.


    However, it was comprehensive enough that it also erased other things indirectly.


    For example, things in the Nightmares that might trigger their memories. Little signs and pieces of familiarity, etc.


    They would become wholly ignorant of anything that might trigger their repressed memories, like they¡¯ve been brainwashed.


    Wu Jian should not have a reaction towards the word ¡®Cangcheng¡¯ or realise he was someone from Cangcheng;


    Mu Jiashi should not recall he was a student at Q¨¹cheng University.


    But, they would still have a vague sense in their subconsciousness.


    The Fy¡¯ecas, while they did censor all these potential triggers in their memories relating to the Apocalypse and their lives on Earth, Xie Zhijin appeared to be special, because while his memories were erased all the same, he still seemed to possess a sharp sixth sense, like an instinct, like a type of muscle memory in his body.


    X¨¹ Beijin suddenly realises something, and says, ¡°and if my¡­ memory, serves, before you entered the game, you are in a vegetative state?¡±


    Xie Zhijin seemed a little lost, but he answers, ¡°I think¡­ well, yes?¡±


    He replies, ¡°if that Nightmare really depicted my past, then I think, I was the person who was hit by a football and hit my head on the concrete stairs, and ended up as a vegetable.¡±


    He describes his past experience with quite the calm tone, having come to terms with his past, it seems.


    Or possibly, even if he knows this is what happened to him, he is unable to resonate fully.


    As he has forgotten. Like how, when he left the Ultimate Nightmare, he found his nostalgia for the past life on Earth disappear with it.


    It¡¯s all in the past; none of it can come around.


    Xie Zhijin looks down at his own hands, losing himself in his thoughts. Gripping his fists, he can feel the feedback and reality firmly.


    It is difficult to dispel the disbelief, therefore, that he is actually inside of a game.


    A game that is artificial, inorganic, formed by data alone. And they, the ghosts, that wander through it.

 Volume 8 - CH 145.2

    ¡°In a vegetative state¡­¡± mumbles X¨¹ Beijin.


    It does give him new ideas.


    He doesn¡¯t have an intricate understanding of the medical details of a vegetative person, but he has heard rumours about them.


    For example, their EEG graph shows scattered activity, so they haven¡¯t actually experienced brain death.


    And people also say that those people aren¡¯t actually unable to perceive the outside world anymore. They just can¡¯t wake up from their ¡®sleep.¡¯


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t know about the scientific definition of ¡®life¡¯ either, but he suspects, that the Fy¡¯ecas would count a vegetative person as entirely alive, and they must also be capable of extracting the brain waves from them.


    So a vegetative person like Xie Zhijin might actually be more like ¡®life¡¯ as the Fy¡¯ecas and Maertons would understand it, given they themselves are beings practically constituted by a consciousness alone ¨C and humans would perhaps classify them as artificial intelligence, or some kind of machine life, that can live without a form.


    That¡¯s what makes Xie Zhijin special.


    And also, quite possibly all others who are in a similar state.


    Being cast into this game by the Fy¡¯ecas while being in a vegetative or similar state might have caused peculiar changes to them, for they are treated perhaps like beings of sole consciousness rather than of the flesh, which the Fy¡¯ecas label ¡®antiquated¡¯ and ¡®primitive.¡¯


    Regardless, that might explain the sharper senses and instincts Xie Zhijin has in the game.


    In other words, he won¡¯t truly lose himself in Nightmares. If one tries to quantify the qualities of a being in this game in statistical terms, Xie Zhijin would possess abnormally high mental fortitude, strength of consciousness, recognition of his self-identity, etc.


    And possibly, X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin as well, who are also more like the Fy¡¯ecas and Maertons at this point, rather than human.


    Well, at least Xie Zhijin still has his body, but X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s and Lin Qin¡¯s are clearly nowhere to be found anymore.


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but close his eyes for a moment, looking somewhat exhausted. He doesn¡¯t know how he can possibly explain all this to Xie Zhijin, to explain all these unwarranted, civilisation-ending catastrophes that have befallen humanity.


    He can¡¯t even explain to him what Fy¡¯eca and Maerton even are, or what the two species identify as life.


    Therefore, all he can say is, ¡°it might possibly be a quirky bug in the game.¡±


    Excusing everything with bugs isn¡¯t a good habit;


    But at least, it should be enough to make Xie Zhijin understand the implications.


    Though the man just blinks in response, looking confused.


    X¨¹ Beijin explains, ¡°anyway, you did lose your memories in the Ultimate Nightmare, and that makes you succumbed; at the same time, you haven¡¯t actually lost your sense of self. You were able to perceive a problem with ¡®reality¡¯ thusly.


    This created a contradiction; you were both sane and insane, both succumbed and lucid.


    The game would be treating you as a Missiontaker who has succumbed, so you are left to end up in the grey fog outside the Tower.


    This situation means that, when you enter a door leading to the grey fog, a bug has to be triggered; no game would check twice whether you¡¯re succumbed or not, so your earlier amnesia took precedence, allowing you to return from the Ultimate Nightmare to the Tower.¡±


    Without flinching, X¨¹ Beijin bullshits his way through.


    Well, most of it is actually true. Those who are succumbed in the Ultimate Nightmare and enter a door inside will naturally end up in the grey fog; that¡¯s actually the same mechanism that removed succumbed players in other Nightmares of the Tower.


    The only difference is that the grey fog has connected the Tower to the Ultimate Nightmare right now.


    There are a few cases to consider.


    Are they madmen who were already in the grey fog?


    Are they madmen who succumbed in the Ultimate Nightmare?


    Are they sane people who still were inside the Ultimate Nightmare?


    The first group is to be transported from the grey fog to the Ultimate Nightmare as the difficulty, the ¡®danger¡¯ within. That is their duty.


    The second group is returned to the Tower via the doors in the Ultimate Nightmare¡¯s grey fog ¨C basically, the crowd of insane people gathering outside on the bottom floor. These people have been treated the normal way via the game mechanic¡¯s treatment of the insane, and of the grey fog.


    If it¡¯s the third group, as in, players who accidentally enter through a door in the Ultimate Nightmare, the game actually randomly teleports them through another door in the Ultimate Nightmare.


    It is actually similar to how doors work in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare ¨C as a connecting path inside the Nightmare itself.


    Given that Xie Zhijin is back at the Tower, the game must be treating him as insane, even though he is actually lucid.


    Xie Zhijin thinks he understands.


    He doesn¡¯t know why X¨¹ Beijin would know about all these intricacies, but that was a watertight explanation of what happened to him.


    He felt he had his wits with him entirely, though the game thinks that he is insane, succumbed because he has lost his memories of the Tower. So someone insane like him had to be put into the grey fog, such is its function ¨C to accommodate all who have lost themselves.


    That¡¯s why he returned to the Tower, and it¡¯s nothing strange;


    The stranger thing is, the fact that he had his wits about him.


    Xie Zhijin goes over their conversation, and wonders if the fact that he is in a vegetative state might be what is keeping him sane in this case.


    It¡¯s a bit ironic to him.


    Then he lets himself calm down, and asks about other things.


    ¡°What do I need to do to help next?¡± He asks, ¡°should I go to sleep again to reenter the Ultimate Nightmare?¡±


    ¡°There is no need to,¡± replies X¨¹ Beijin, and further asking, ¡°what were the others doing just before you left the Ultimate Nightmare?¡±


    ¡°They were going to look for the developer of the AI,¡± says Xie Zhijin, who suddenly seems to have an epiphany and blurts out, ¡°wait, do you¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin nods, and says, ¡°I know.¡±


    Xie Zhijin then skips the explanation and just tells him, ¡°they want to do something rather than nothing in the Ultimate Nightmare.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin genuinely comments, ¡°and I pray for their success.¡±


    Because that is actually the way to resolve the Ultimate Nightmare, as dictated by the plot of the game, unlike what X¨¹ Beijin is doing ¨C attempting to force a conclusion to the Ultimate Nightmare by violent outside intervention.


    That is when Xie Zhijin seems to recall something and says, ¡°oh, right. I must also thank you, sir.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin asks, ¡°what do you mean? If it¡¯s the Ultimate Nightmare¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, I mean¡­¡± Xie Zhijin explains, ¡°I want to thank you for lowering the difficulty of the Ultimate Nightmare.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Since when did he lower the difficulty of the Ultimate Nightmare?


    Xie Zhijin continues on his own, ¡°all the mad people that ran outside of the grey fog aren¡¯t attacking people, and the Missiontakers and Actors are all able to find each other quickly¡­ you could only have arranged everything beforehand. It was such a brilliant move!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    After a slightly awkward moment of silence, he smiles and says, ¡°oh, my pleasure.¡±


    He¡¯s had enough of explaining himself to these Missiontakers who always misconstrue the facts left and right! Fine, he did it! He¡¯ll take the undue credit!


    Though what Xie Zhijin mentioned is worth further consideration.


    The madmen escaping from the grey fog aren¡¯t hostile¡­


    That actually would also make them similar to those crowding outside on the bottom floor, but X¨¹ Beijin didn¡¯t think deeply about that earlier.


    Perhaps the Ultimate Nightmare has caused unexpected impacts on the madmen¡¯s psyche.


    Who knows what they actually think about?


    Sure, both X¨¹ Beijin and everyone else enjoy labelling them as insane, but that is only something true when compared to themselves.


    They¡¯re not absolutely out of their minds, but merely, they¡¯ve lost some kind of rationale inside the Tower.


    When they succumb to the Ultimate Nightmare and lose their memories of the Tower, they turn back into who they once were on Earth, before experiencing the Apocalypse anew in fast forward.


    So for them, when they are transported through a door in the grey fog, it¡¯s like a transmigration, almost, from Earth to a strange place¡ª¡ªA tall, lonely building.


    X¨¹ Beijin would like think that this is a kind of revisionism for how the Apocalypse on Earth ended.


    Obviously, aliens landing and taking humans away would not be recreated in the Ultimate Nightmare, even though that was the last step of the Apocalyptic plight of humanity ¨C After the spread of the madness, and the Raining Hellfire. This stage is what X¨¹ Beijin wants to call, the imprisonment of humanity.


    That is the complete Apocalypse.


    Those Missiontakers and Actors still awake would not experience it, but those who have succumbed to the Nightmares and actually thought of themselves as people on Earth still living on Earth, would be the ones to be moved from ¡®Earth¡¯ to this prison for countless humans.


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but say that the human designer of this game¡ª¡ªIf there really was one¡ª¡ªthey sure are obsessively concerned with minutiae.


    Demanding these human players to re-experience everything in the last instance of the game. That, or possibly, they¡¯re simply trying to jolt their fellow humans¡¯ memories back.


    And the madmen¡ª¡ªOr, rather, ¡®Terrans,¡¯ who are possibly quite frightened that they ended up in this strange place, therefore have no aggression. Even if they do, it¡¯s simply a result of the insanity experienced during the recreation of the Apocalypse in the Ultimate Nightmare.


    If so, then why would those who have succumbed before the Ultimate Nightmare and emerged during the Ultimate Nightmare also stay non-hostile?


    X¨¹ Beijin didn¡¯t notice, because he was busy keeping an eye on the data port, and merely occasionally seeing if the Missiontakers and Actors are doing alright.


    After thinking a little, he comes to a conclusion soon enough ¨C he doesn¡¯t buy the theory that the Ultimate Nightmare¡¯s difficulty was lowered.


    It might be that, these insane people are still players.


    In other words, in the Ultimate Nightmare, whether they attack or not, are still dictated by their own will, and not by the game¡¯s mechanics.


    ¡®Madmen,¡¯ as it were¡ª¡ªLike those who just came to the bottom floor from the Ultimate Nightmare, act ¡®insane¡¯ in all sorts of manner, primarily based on their experience in a Nightmare based on what happened on Earth, and then repeated ad nauseum for them in truly nightmarish fashion. If they are transported to somewhere that the Nightmare does not repeat again, and the Apocalypse is ongoing, but not set in stone, and Earth is still ¡®living,¡¯ rather than a charred piece of lifeless rock¡­


    What will they decide to do? Attack people?


    No. They won¡¯t.


    If NE were still awake, he might have used means like the plots for Actors to make them attack people still awake.


    But NE himself is asleep, and X¨¹ Beijin is obviously not going to do something to that effect. This means it is now up to the madmen themselves.

 Volume 8 - CH 145.3

    Actually, X¨¹ Beijin is surprised to conclude, that ultimately, the reason the Ultimate Nightmare¡¯s difficulty is lowered, is still because of him.


    Without his intervention, NE would not go into his sleep state, and the people who once succumbed in Nightmares will, naturally, ¡®have to¡¯ attack others in the Ultimate Nightmare.


    That¡¯s why it was he who indirectly lowered the difficulty.


    It¡¯s almost like, a version of ¡®taking the blame¡¯ where the blame just flew towards him and isn¡¯t actually a blame, but anyway, that lowered difficulty has facilitated activities due to the increased safety for his human companions. They might be able to reach the situation he desired soon enough.


    Meanwhile, Xie Zhijin¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin ponders about him.


    Xie Zhijin, looking at him and Lin Qin, suddenly mentions, ¡°I¡¯ll go check out the people outside, then. I¡¯ll come back if there¡¯s something.¡±


    As a grown, mature adult, Xie Zhijin isn¡¯t about to let himself become a third wheel.


    Lin Qin seems happy with that, nodding in response.


    X¨¹ Beijin advises, ¡°I suggest not straying off Respawn Avenue. The situation might change dramatically on short notice. Take care.¡±


    Xie Zhijin thanks him and then leaves the bookstore.


    Lin Qin visibly relaxes; he usually tenses up subconsciously whenever there are strangers present. Especially Xie Zhijin, who he has never seen before, even if he introduced himself as the superior to Fei and Wu Jian.


    Lin Qin asks X¨¹ Beijin, looking at him, ¡°what can we do now?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin places the control panel in front of Lin Qin and shows him the Ultimate Nightmare¡¯s current situation, telling him, ¡°you can watch this to kill some time.¡±


    Lin Qin ¡°¡­¡±


    Seriously¡­


    The Missiontakers of the Ultimate Nightmare have no idea someone is watching them ¨C through the stream, which X¨¹ Beijin finally checks out once more after a long while. The viewers are clearly quite used to X¨¹ Beijin disappearing every so often. It¡¯s actually like he¡¯s the director and they¡¯re watching some TV drama.


    X¨¹ Beijin still apologises for having disappeared for a while, though.


    To be honest, at this point, this streaming system has already played all its parts, but the viewers, the audience who brought X¨¹ Beijin so much joy and warmth of accompaniment, the audience who he may never know beyond words on a screen, and when he leaves the Tower, who may be gone forever from his life as he might never use this stream service again¡­


    Anyway, on the stream, someone seems to be doing his best to survive in the post-Apocalypse.


    With some companions he¡¯d found, he¡¯s foraging for food atop the ruins of a city, and also scheming against and defending against other survivors¡¯ schemes¡­ very human behaviours, certainly.


    The viewers certainly appeared entertained, expressing their opinions on how he is surviving thus far via the comment barrage.


    That is when X¨¹ Beijin chimes in with his apology, and then announcing, ¡°everyone, because of circumstances, I might not be able to stream anymore in the future.¡±


    The comments suggest great shock.


    ¡°oh no! without your handsome face how will i survive my Bei!¡±


    ¡°I know, Bei, you must be scared by how little viewership there have been! just go stream some other game!¡±


    ¡°yeah, you said an ending is coming right? so try something else!¡±


    ¡°Bei! so many games await you! dont give up!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t know how he can explain to the viewers that he isn¡¯t actually interested in streaming gameplay.


    He himself is pretty boring and introverted. At least, he thinks he¡¯s not suited to be a game streamer.


    Clearly, though, whatever the times, a face is highly important.


    X¨¹ Beijin is fiendishly handsome, so much so the viewers think it would be a waste not to see him in a game¡¯s stream.


    So X¨¹ Beijin, who¡¯s bad at refusing others¡¯ kindhearted requests, and through some mess of communications, end up promising to the viewers that after a period of rest, he will still stream, but in another game.


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Damn it. He really needs to fix this personality defect of his.


    He has his hand on his forehead, sighing.


    Then he looks over at Lin Qin, and mutes the stream for now, telling him, ¡°I¡¯ve got a job now, I think. A game streamer.¡±


    Lin Qin seems caught by surprise.


    So X¨¹ Beijin suddenly feels like teasing him, asking, ¡°I¡¯m prepared for my life after the Tower. What about you? Anything you want to do?¡±


    Lin Qin appears to mull over it for a while, and then, taking into account his strengths, he says, ¡°you do streams, I¡¯ll be your bodyguard?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    The little apple¡¯s fantastical thought process strikes again.


    X¨¹ Beijin pats Lin Qin¡¯s shoulders, slightly amused, then sighs and says, ¡°you can be the streamer¡¯s boyfriend.¡±


    Lin Qin thinks about it some more, and then proudly declares, ¡°only I can be your boyfriend. I¡¯m the only one, that suits me.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin laughs.


    Then Lin Qin switches to a serious tone, promising, ¡°I will get a job. I can take care of myself, and take care of you¡ª¡ªIt¡¯ll all work out. We¡¯ll be able to live freely in the outside world.¡±


    Surprised, X¨¹ Beijin looks at Lin Qin, amazed by his sharp wits once more. He probably didn¡¯t notice it, but when he talked about how he got a job after the Tower, he sounded slightly unsure and worried.


    Lin Qin heard it, though, and how it touches X¨¹ Beijin that he did.


    X¨¹ Beijin sighs again, and says, ¡°you¡¯re right. We¡¯ll live freely outside.¡±


    Any kind of life is better than being locked up in this damned Tower.


    After the interlude, he watches the stream once more ¨C he sees the Maerton delegate is also watching the stream as well, while waiting for X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s signal.


    He did tell the delegate the amount of time he expects is needed, but the Maerton didn¡¯t leave at all.


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t know or want to speculate on what a Maerton might think of the humans as depicted here. Everything can wait until after they have left the Tower.


    Then he switches over to Mu Jiashi and his companions ¨C their reduced numbers have been bolstered once more.


    Inside the fog, and after finally leaving the fog, they met more companions along the way, which convinced them further that the difficulty of the Ultimate Nightmare is reduced.


    They decided against walking around in such a large group, though.


    Firstly, it is seriously going to stand out;


    Secondly, there are now numerous contradictions over where the fog actually appeared in the beginning, so they decide to split up to check each of them out.


    There are three teams.


    The one headed by Fei, Wu Jian, Jiang Shuangmei and Ye Lan will continue to Xie Zhijin¡¯s home.


    The one headed by Mu Jiashi, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Mystic will be heading to a hospital Mystic passed by earlier.


    A residential area, a hospital, and a high school. All three are locations where there are claims the fog was seen very early on in the Ultimate Nightmare.


    He Shuj¨¹n actually suggested her high school when she met up with Mu Jiashi and the others and knew what they were going to do. She explained, ¡°you¡¯re not actually sure that neighbourhood is where the fog first appeared, right? When I came to the Ultimate Nightmare, I was in my high school. After I left, I walked to a nearby gym and met my friend there.¡±


    She introduced the man she was travelling with. A tall, slender, slightly shy-looking man with round glasses. He introduced himself as He Xi.


    ¡°He was working out in the gym when the Apocalypse struck,¡± continued He Shuj¨¹n, ¡°we talked about what we knew in the gym, when some incident happened in the gym¡­ Anyway, we left right afterwards, and passing by my high school once more, we noticed a strange fog that was visible in the campus.¡±


    Shrugging, she said, ¡°I think it might have been earlier than the grey fog was seen in that neighbourhood you talked about. Since we left the gym when the madness barely started spreading, which was a few minutes, I think.¡±


    Mu Jiashi agreed after thinking about it.


    While what happened to Xie Zhijin gave them the idea of seeking the first place the fog was seen, and speculated that it might be somewhere with key information in the Nightmare, but it wasn¡¯t necessarily Xie Zhijin¡¯s residential neighbourhood either.


    Then when they met Mystic, and her experience was even more vague.


    ¡°I left home immediately and walked on the street¡­ then there was a hospital. There were screams. I walked close by and saw the grey fog there.¡±


    It sounded like she might have seen it even earlier than He Shuj¨¹n did.


    Another question worth considering was the speed of spread of the madness in these different scenes.


    They had been in the Ultimate Nightmare far too long to have a clear idea of the amount of time passed. They might not even have kept the same track of time.


    Without time to verify all these, Mu Jiashi decided to split up. They would head to all three locations.


    So the three groups headed off in their respective directions. Passing through areas of grey fog, emptied streets, avoiding invisible doors and non-hostile but still creepy insane people, and also other Missiontakers and Actors who¡¯ve recently succumbed to the Ultimate Nightmare¡­ They slowly approached their destinations.

 Volume 8 - CH 145.4

    The first group to reach their destination is the group led by Mu Jiashi, arriving at the hospital Mystic talked about.


    They walked carefully along, but as the hospital was only a dozen minutes or so if in a straight line, they reached it in almost no time.


    Though here, Mu Jiashi furrows his brows and stops, just a few metres short of the entrance to the hospital.


    But because they can about see the inside right now, Mu Jiashi comes to a stop.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ asks, ¡°what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Mystic looks at Mu Jiashi, then back at the hospital again.


    Mu Jiashi seems a little stunned as he says, ¡°it¡¯s that psychiatric hospital.¡±


    ¡°That what?¡±


    Neither Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ nor Mystic have any idea what he¡¯s talking about; then Mu Jiashi remembers that, in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, it was he, Fei, Wu Jian, A-One and A-Two who went to the psychiatric hospital.


    The psychiatric hospital¡­ that was studying the madness.


    So neither of his companions knew.


    Well, it had a passing mention when they were chatting earlier, but they didn¡¯t go into details about what the hospital looked like or whatnot.


    Mu Jiashi explains to them what the psychiatric hospital was doing.


    It¡¯s the first time the viewers of the stream have heard about the brain being studied in esoteric methods, and even episodes about insane doctors trying to perform brain replacement surgery¡­ the comment barrage is flooded with exclamation marks.


    X¨¹ Beijin has a somewhat complicated complexion seeing that. He has things he wants to say about the Apocalyptic madness and extremism in human society¡­ but he stays silent.


    On the stream, Mu Jiashi continues, ¡°the way the hospital building is laid out, and the style here, it¡¯s completely the same¡­ the same as the one we saw in that Nightmare.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ seems quite surprised, asking, ¡°so this¡­ is that psychiatric hospital?¡±


    Mu Jiashi replies, ¡°quite possibly.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ finds this quite odd, and he is able to place his finger on what exactly is odd after some thought.


    Then, he decides to put the idea out after thinking, ¡°possibly¡­ just hypothetically, what we experienced before in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, can it be like a sort of trial preparing us for this mission in the Ultimate Nightmare?¡±


    Mystic then adds, ¡°He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s high school¡­ was also there, when she and I were in that man¡¯s Nightmare.¡±


    Mu Jiashi knits his brows. He can¡¯t determine whether this is completely coincidental or artificially manipulated.


    The first point, is that Xie Zhijin¡¯s neighbourhood, where Fei and Wu Jian are heading, was never visited in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare.


    So if they are going to draw this line of comparison, could it be that Xie Zhijin¡¯s neighbourhood is actually a wrong answer entirely?


    But to rule this out as simply being a coincidence¡­ Two-thirds is too high a ratio to occur.


    So if it¡¯s intentional, the question becomes, who decided where they went in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare? Is it the eponymous bookstore owner? Or NE?


    If it¡¯s the latter¡­


    NE isn¡¯t on their side, right?


    Mu Jiashi cannot understand.


    The only explanation he can conjure, is that X¨¹ Beijin was helping them ¨C being his Nightmare, he might have some control over where they went, so he could also hand clues of Nightmares over to them.


    The problem is why he doesn¡¯t tell them anything.


    The information is so important, but no clues, not even hints in his language. When Mu Jiashi asked him about what to do in the Ultimate Nightmare, all X¨¹ Beijin would say, is that they need to stay sane and awake in the Ultimate Nightmare.


    Mu Jiashi doesn¡¯t think that X¨¹ Beijin would still be keeping secrets when it¡¯s all come down to this.


    Which means, X¨¹ Beijin must think that keeping their wits about them is the only thing they need to do to ensure success.


    Well, that would make what they¡¯re doing right now, still helpful to the overall cause, hopefully?


    Hopefully¡­


    Mu Jiashi suddenly comes up with another possibility.


    Perhaps, it is the case that, X¨¹ Beijin is unable to tell them more.


    They¡¯re closer and closer to the truth, to a successful escape, but they also seemed to have forgotten along the way, that something has trapped them in this damned game. Perhaps ¡®they¡¯ are still watching.


    It¡¯s possible X¨¹ Beijin has no way of telling them more information, even if he has them, and knows the truth.


    He can only tiptoe where it is allowed, to give them as much information as possible, on how to behave inside the Ultimate Nightmare.


    Which would of course¡­ be a bare minimum expected of them, as it were.


    X¨¹ Beijin has always been this way. Never speaking clearly and concretely, or telling them the truth exactly as it were. Everything was up to them to discover and find out.


    The same still holds in the Ultimate Nightmare.


    Mu Jiashi can cast aside all his doubts and hesitation now. In fact, he finds himself invigorated in his mission, and hopeful. He realises now, that they had to at least do something in the Ultimate Nightmare.


    That X¨¹ Beijin couldn¡¯t tell them more is precisely proof that there is ¡®more¡¯ to do.


    They can do so much more in the Ultimate Nightmare, more than what X¨¹ Beijin told them to do, to stay sane and awake.


    What Ye Lan said is resonating in his mind.


    ¡°Fate is in our own hands,¡± Mu Jiashi mumbles, ¡°we can¡¯t be sitting ducks. We shouldn¡¯t wait for luck to come to us.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Mystic are quietly waiting for him.


    Mu Jiashi takes a deep breath and says, ¡°let¡¯s go¡­¡± he pauses, and then adds, ¡°if this really was the psychiatric hospital we were in before, then¡­ I think where we need to look for, has already been revealed to us, in that Nightmare.¡±


    Mu Jiashi narrows his eyes to recall the route, and then says firmly, ¡°Operating Room 3.¡±

 Volume 8 - CH 146.1

    Incommunicable


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Mu Jiashi, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Mystic are already aware that humanity has made attempts to understand and resolve the madness since its spread.


    But it is precisely the spread of the madness that has marred the process of discovery and research, tainting it in insanity and blood. It is entirely irrational and void of intelligent behaviour.


    The issue at hand relates to the brain.


    Craniotomy and brain transplant are what Fei and Wu Jian witnessed in the Nightmare that corresponded to this hospital.


    It explains a lot, as humans are¡­ existent, as it were, and so it was ridiculous to assume some formless thing could affect their consciousness at a mental and metaphysical level.


    ¡°That¡¯s the issue,¡± Mu Jiashi quietly mumbles, ¡°in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, we already knew that humanity faced an enemy that existed in a completely different form to us.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Mystic have their own thoughts.


    Entirely different from humanity?


    What actually was humanity¡¯s nature in the first place? They are¡ª¡ª


    ¡°We have our brains, we remember,¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ lists off, ¡°we have intuitions and sparks of inspiration. We have primal instincts.¡±


    Humans will have a hard time understanding what exists entirely differently to them.


    We have produced a lot of literary fiction featuring aliens, but those aliens are almost always based largely on human characteristics.


    They might add distortions here and there, but the changes are insubstantial.


    For example, aliens always arrive in spaceships¡­ in material things.


    Instead of humans fantasising about a different lifeform to them in the universe, it¡¯s just more of an exercise in imagining what a human society would look like if they started on another planet.


    When they encountered an actual alien intelligence that was also hostile, they tried to base a response off their own experience and subjectively human values.


    The labyrinth was one such attempt.


    People assumed these alien creatures they encountered would be just like they are, and would become disoriented and trapped in that maze full of jarring, everchanging colours.


    The place spells absolute disaster for any human to navigate¡ª¡ªSo they can hold the aliens hostage, they thought.


    Perhaps it¡¯s a sort of arrogance printed in their souls.


    Humans were the only sentient being on Earth that created a civilisation in the universe;


    And so, we assume all other civilisations to be similar to human civilisations, as if it¡¯s some kind of¡ª¡ªunderlying order in the universe.


    Denying that almost felt like denying their own evolutionary path.


    Humans understood the universe physically, scientifically, rationally, through exploration, through making measurable what was not so. They held such an attitude.


    There are people who joke that ¡®any sufficiently advanced study of science is indistinguishable from studying divinity,¡¯ and to be fair, the most advanced fields of science back on Earth did start to look to approach that way, but the public wasn¡¯t generally aware of those. Mainstream media would scoff at reporting and acknowledging such ideas.


    So humanity simply treating the spreading madness as a sort of neurological disorder, that was communicable, possibly viral, bacterial, or even coming from prions¡­ anything.


    Therefore, they have to study what was infecting the brains. The brains of the insane.


    Wu Jian actually read a book in the Cangcheng library in the Nightmare about Raining Hellfire, that recorded the Apocalypse in progress. There was a section that noted on the rights the madmen should have by the author, but he did not recall how he had once explored a certain psychiatric hospital in a certain Nightmare before.


    Since he didn¡¯t understand the Apocalypse all that well back then either.


    But, suffice it to say, cruel and utterly unethical things happened to the madmen.


    And the most tragic part of the story is that humanity could not find the problem in the insane people¡¯s brains, whatever methods they used.


    The phenomenon was beyond their abilities, and they were ill-equipped to even understand it.


    But they cannot just stop trying to treat it, and naturally came more and more absurd methods being proposed and then implemented.


    When the madness has become the main way that human society, and the whole world operates on, what is completely barbaric happens regardless.


    The madness¡­ it was truly unstoppable.


    But when Mu Jiashi, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Mystic actually enter the psychiatric hospital, they don¡¯t find its interior completely covered up by fog. Everything can be seen clearly, but they could feel immediately, a strange chill.


    It does remind one of a hospital, but in a normal hospital, a strikingly clean and immaculate white should be the impression, and not this murky, somewhat chaotic grey.


    Mystic is murmuring, ¡°there have been so much¡­ cruelty here. It is still continuing.¡±


    No one responds to her either. They do not know what to say.


    They stop at the reception.


    Mu Jiashi says, ¡°right now, the Ultimate Nightmare is at the stage of the ruins after the Raining Hellfire, which means there isn¡¯t much time. And I suppose¡­ there wouldn¡¯t be many people alive in here either.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps somewhere isolated and empty like this makes it a good place for them to develop an artificial intelligence?¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ takes a guess, ¡°is it possible that people here¡­ proposed for the AI?¡±


    ¡°Do you mean the patients or the doctors?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ pauses.


    He is wondering whether, in this psychiatric hospital, it was the doctors or the patients who are actually insane.


    Bitterly smiling, he explains, ¡°I suspect with the madness around, even normal people were also sent here.¡±


    Mystic agrees, ¡°I also think that to the people who are mad, those who act normal are insane.¡±


    In the post-Apocalyptic world, it would be quite likely those who are insane still held the positions of power, and even have mainstream control over society.


    Mu Jiashi is silent.


    This is a psychiatric hospital, but after the Apocalypse, it transformed into a place for the studying of the madness, building lots of impromptu operating rooms and laboratories.


    There must be lots of madmen here, but a question remains ¨C would anyone still be sane here?


    Mu Jiashi shakes his idle thoughts away and says, ¡°Operating Room 3 is on the 11th floor. We have to hurry, so let¡¯s check if the elevators are still working.¡±


    They walk through the corridors, their footsteps resonating through the empty hallways. Where motivational advertisements and notices were have now become blobs of experimental data and research progress reports. Mystic could not bear to give it a second glance after the first.


    She feels really strange. Even though the hospital ground is really clean, spotless, it still feels like she is wading through a pool of blood. It reminds her of the building she was once inside of.


    Where her daughter was.


    The connection makes her feel nervous. She remembers that her daughter is also in the Ultimate Nightmare right now, though they didn¡¯t meet.


    Besides¡­ looking down at the ground, at her every step, she knows she has a far more important task on her hands.


    It¡¯s like every time, she has to make her daughter wait for her.


    She really is sorry, so sorry¡­ she wishes her daughter wouldn¡¯t be angry at her mother; to that, she prays.


    It distracts her a little, and she gets a little emotional by herself.


    That is when Mu Jiashi comes to a sudden stop.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ asks, ¡°what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Mu Jiashi furrows his brows and asks, ¡°don¡¯t you feel that something¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ doesn¡¯t notice anything, and says, ¡°I don¡¯t really feel anything I think¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve become talkative,¡± Mu Jiashi points out the elephant in the room, then looks at Mystic, asking, ¡°how are you feeling?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, surprised, suddenly realises, that when he was walking in the hospital, he didn¡¯t seem to feel as dead and emotionless inside as he usually would be.


    Looking at Mystic, his surprise turns into shock, as he sees Mystic¡¯s eyes filling with tears, dropping.


    Her tone is almost too calm in comparison, ¡°I am remembering my daughter¡­ I feel really guilty to her.¡±


    ¡°Why is that?¡±


    ¡°I left her behind again. She is waiting for me,¡± Mystic sobs, continuing, ¡°I¡¯ve never been a good mother.¡±


    Mu Jiashi calmly points out, ¡°that is why we¡¯re doing what we¡¯re doing right now. Your daughter will never have to stay behind and wait for you again; we are doing what is right. Don¡¯t let unnecessary thoughts distract you.¡±


    Mystic nods, slowly.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ asks, ¡°so we¡¯ve all been affected by this place?¡±


    Mu Jiashi says, ¡°I think that¡¯s the case.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ wonders a little what Mu Jiashi is thinking about¡ª¡ªAnd immediately realises how uncharacteristic of him it is to harbour such curiosity.


    He¡¯s one of the ¡®Zombies¡¯ in the Tower. The last time he was so ¡®alive¡¯ like this was possibly forever ago.


    The madness carried by this scene seems a little strong¡­

 Volume 8 - CH 146.2

    Before Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ has more time to think about it, Mu Jiashi announces, ¡°we¡¯re here. The elevators are working.¡±


    They go in and push the button for 11.


    That reminds Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ of that Nightmare, of an office Tower, with malfunctioning elevators and absolutely unhinged people¡­ He glances at Mystic.


    She has also been to that Nightmare.


    All three of them have been to that Nightmare, where apparently Mystic¡¯s daughter was in.


    And they guessed that Mystic was the game company¡¯s employee from the Nightmare¡­ huh?


    Mystic used to work at that game company?


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ made the connection quite late.


    And, there was that game design document.


    Huh, they did end up largely ignoring Mystic¡¯s past identity on Earth.


    She used a utility card, whose ¡®price¡¯ changed her entirely.


    And the Nightmare ultimately being her daughter¡¯s, meant they ended up ignoring Mystic¡¯s role in the Nightmare. They focused on her daughter about halfway onwards, but not Mystic herself.


    Strictly speaking, the Missiontakers didn¡¯t have concrete proof that Mystic really was the little girl¡¯s mother, especially since Mystic behaved even less coherently back then.


    Assuming she is, then the clues that point to her past, suggested that, for example, she once left her own young daughter behind on a floor;


    While she speaks in riddles, she oftentimes can clue other Missiontakers in through them.


    So looking at those facts, Mystic probably used to be a clever and insightful woman. It¡¯s just that the utility card has buried all that in her.


    And also, that made them forget Mystic had connections to the game company.


    They were busy learning about the Apocalypse, about Nightmares, about the Tower, about the grey fog, and this line of thought just sat on the sidelines the whole time.


    However, they learned in the end that what was happening to the building was a game prototype based on Mystic and her daughter, which gave rise to that Nightmare her daughter has.


    Well, ¡®her daughter,¡¯ whose Actor was unlikely to have actually been that little girl that was once trapped in an office building.


    It¡¯s quite possible she was an Actor who have lost herself in the little girl¡¯s Nightmare.


    And¡­ can he assert that Mystic was the same? She ended up assuming the role of the mother in that game, like the other women in that office building.


    Maybe they weren¡¯t actually mother and daughter, but they both succumbed to a Nightmare.


    Their role as Actors and Missiontakers became irrelevant, as they will identify as the character in that plot, and that the plot was what was going on.


    There was certainly a mother-daughter pair; the mother worked at the game company, and her coworkers made a game about a mother looking for her daughter in the Apocalypse, basing the main characters off of them.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ is feeling something odd about all this once again.


    That office building and the Tower. That game and this game. They were already implying something, but could it be¡­ Reality and fiction; the truth and the veil concealing it.


    A game that happened in a building¡­ Separated close ones¡­ the building, the Tower¡¯s AI, whose purpose was to protect the Tower¡¯s survivors¡­


    A game design document. And another one.


    He remembers that, in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, when he revisited the empty and thus safe office space of the floors below, and discovered the game design document, no mention of any building like the ¡®Tower¡¯ was there.


    It outlined a game which tasked players with investigating tragedies occurring in the Apocalypse, but didn¡¯t actually talk about what the game¡¯s visuals should look like. It was actually only focused on the game¡¯s core loop, per se.


    And the building, of the little girl¡¯s Nightmare, was where the game of the mother and daughter took place.


    The mother left her daughter behind, trapping the little girl in a building, after the Apocalypse, to look for her mother;


    And, that floor the little girl was in, was the mother¡¯s last act protecting her daughter.


    That ¡®floor,¡¯ was ¡®protection.¡¯


    Every floor in the Tower was entirely safe, under the protection of the AI;


    Unless they ventured out into Nightmares, into areas afflicted by the Apocalypse.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ is entirely absorbed in his thoughts, as if becoming emotional has also kick-started his thought processes.


    The elevator is still rising steadily; electricity is still available at this point, although it might cut off at any point.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ suddenly calls out, ¡°Mystic¡­¡±


    She looks at him, bewildered.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ observes the woman who spoke in riddles from head to toe. She was never quite an active player in their team. She¡¯s almost like a mascot.


    Mu Jiashi is also curiously looking at him, wondering what Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ could want to ask.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ asks, ¡°do you remember your past? Back on¡­ Earth?¡±


    Mystic seems surprised he¡¯d ask, but she smiles, perhaps meekly, and says, ¡°of course. I had a daughter.¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t mean¡­¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ interrupts her; since that Nightmare, her daughter is all she would talk about, even though there was no definitive proof of such.


    Maybe she could be her daughter, but why¡­ why would Mystic only recall her daughter at that moment?


    Even if her memory was wiped like theirs were, but he can¡¯t imagine her daughter not having been born until the Apocalypse occurred. Otherwise, the little girl would still be a one-year-old infant.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ says, ¡°your daughter, in the Tower, is already tall as a grown woman.¡±


    Mystic doesn¡¯t seem to understand.


    Though Mu Jiashi is furrowing his brows now. He might have caught on.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ asks, ¡°are you really sure, that she is your daughter?¡±


    Mystic seems affronted, ¡°of course! Of course I am! I have a daughter¡­¡±


    ¡°Is that Actor really that daughter?¡±


    Mystic looks deeply unsettled.


    Mu Jiashi asks, ¡°what are you really trying to say?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ takes a deep breath and says, ¡°I wanted to ask¡­ I apologise for being so blunt, but what I really wanted to ask is¡ª¡ªIf you really are the mother of the little girl, then, I believe you must be an employee of that game company.¡±


    Both Mystic and Mu Jiashi widen their eyes in amazement.


    ¡°The game company!¡± Mu Jiashi says to himself, shocked, ¡°I absolutely forgot to consider that¡­¡±


    Mu Jiashi himself has been to that little girl¡¯s Nightmare, but he didn¡¯t manage to figure out the real truth behind the Nightmare, or what information there were beneath the 9th floor.


    Fei and Wu Jian told him about it briefly after the Nightmare was over, but they didn¡¯t go into detail about Mystic¡¯s identity and Mu Jiashi didn¡¯t think more deeply either.


    Even though he did hear about Mystic and her new ¡®daughter¡¯ afterwards, he didn¡¯t connect the dots.


    Put simply, everything happened much too quickly. There were too much information for them to accept in such a short period of time, and so they couldn¡¯t give each piece of detail the detailed analysis due.


    For example, to this day, Mu Jiashi still hasn¡¯t had the time, to discuss the True End of Su Enya¡¯s Nightmare with her.


    There should definitely be one, in theory, but they were all busy, so busy trying to learn about the Apocalypse and resolve key Nightmares, that Mu Jiashi completely forgot.


    They knew about Mystic finding a new daughter, and how she once abandoned her on an empty floor somewhere, and finally, they reunited here.


    But they never saw Mystic¡¯s daughter themselves, and even though all the relevant information was known, they all ended up ignoring this Actor in particular.


    They knew as far as what happened to this mother-daughter pair, but most didn¡¯t¡­ didn¡¯t recall the game company¡¯s connection with them.


    So when Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ suddenly brought up the connection Mystic must now logically have with the game company, Mu Jiashi realises the problem, and shoots a gaze at Mystic.


    Mystic seems to still be blanking out; before she answers, the elevator door is already open.


    Though while she¡¯s still recalling, her expression turns subtly more complex.


    ¡°Do you remember something?¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ seems more agitated than she is, ¡°were you really working for the company?¡±


    Mu Jiashi glances at Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹. The ¡®zombie¡¯ really did become quite overtly emotional in this hospital.


    But he doesn¡¯t point that out once more. So far, it seems it has been a positive influence more than anything else.


    His energised thought processes allowed him to reexamine their experience in that Nightmare¡¯s building.


    And, he also realised the problem surrounding Mystic¡¯ identity.

 Volume 8 - CH 146.3

    Meanwhile, they¡¯re still heading for their destination. Looking at the floor map, Operating Room 3 is the second last room from the end of the corridor.


    The corridor is quite unnerving. It feels cold and slippery to walk, possibly from the moisture, and the steps remind Mystic of the pools of blood.


    She says, with quite a stinging tone, ¡°yes¡­ yes. I worked there.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ quickly asks, ¡°you can remember now?¡±


    Mystic tells him, ¡°the game company¡­ it wasn¡¯t a big company by any means. It was about mid-sized, but the founder was quite the real estate agent. He bought the entire building whole a long time ago.


    Our work there was quite relaxed, therefore. We weren¡¯t ambitious. We made the games we wanted to make, and the founders and board were happy to let us continue the way we want to.¡±


    Their shoes are almost slipping on the floor. Mu Jiashi has to lean against the wall to not embarrass himself, as he was also listening to Mystic intently; there¡¯s a bit of reverberation through the hallway, too.


    He shudders unconsciously, while keeping a close ear on Mystic.


    ¡°We had a lot¡­ really, a mountain of game design ideas. All the idle thoughts and sparks of genius. Some of them we try to realise, most not, but every game designer there had a huge catalogue full of designs.


    Sometimes, we would start on a game by taking the catalogue, reading through them, and even combining them.


    There were games of ours that were successful, both commercially, and artistically. We succeeded in those areas.


    And we failed, too. You can never avoid failure. Then, at some point, it was like¡­ we lost ourselves. We were¡­ going mad.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ asks, ¡°you mean, after the madness spread?¡±


    Mystic looks lost in her thoughts, mumbling, ¡°perhaps.¡±


    The next seconds are followed by silence.


    The description wasn¡¯t much useful to them, to be honest. It was a factual recount of the past.


    Possibly, with the exception of one thing.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ asks, ¡°you said that the game company had a policy of fusing different game design ideas together?¡±


    ¡°Are you saying¡­¡± Mu Jiashi suddenly gets it, ¡°the Tower? The Nightmares, the Apocalypse, too?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ nods but shakes his head immediately afterwards, ¡°not just that. The artificial intelligence. Survivors, a protector¡­ I think there are at least four different elements in there.¡±


    Separation from loved ones in the Apocalypse, parallelling all the tragedies taking place in the Apocalypse;


    Discovering the truth about the Apocalypse from the ¡®Nightmare¡¯ and also, helping dispel unresolved traumas;


    Safe ¡®floors¡¯ in a building;


    A protector of survivors in the post-Apocalypse¡­


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ has identified these elements as relevant.


    A game that was a mish-mash of ideas.


    ¡°So that makes this the last element to find,¡± Mu Jiashi says analytically, ¡°the AI; the protector.¡±


    They have arrived outside of Operating Room 3.


    Then, Mu Jiashi knocks on the door.


    ¡°i dont get what the four elements mean¡±


    In the stream, as Mu Jiashi, Mystic and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s conversation proceeded, the viewers became confused.


    Most of the viewers were here when X¨¹ Beijin streamed the little girl¡¯s Nightmare, so they were able to largely follow along.


    But¡­ it all went downhill from there.


    ¡°I think theyre saying that the game company in that nightmare, is actually this games producer?¡±


    ¡°oh, so i did get it right¡±


    ¡°too bad we can¡¯t play or know who the developers are, it looks really well made¡±


    ¡°if the game really was made by that game company, then that must make that little girl¡¯s nightmare like an easter egg, cuz it has the game company¡¯s own characters in there¡±


    ¡°too bad they never went below the 9th floor¡­ shame, that¡±


    ¡°shame +1¡±


    ¡°but so what theyre saying is not just that nightmare has this game company featured, but also what theyre doing in the ultimate nightmare is also related to that company?¡±


    ¡°you mean, the company has left behind clues and hints for the ultimate nightmare?¡±


    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s see, I think it¡¯s this way. It¡¯s almost like matryoshka dolls with the situation we¡¯re facing.


    The game developers did develop this game, and then put themselves inside, as a sort of¡­ bonus Easter egg? Or simply a hint?


    Meanwhile, this means in the game, there is also a ¡®game company¡¯ modelled after their own company.


    So the identity of Mystic in the game¡­ I mean, as the setting given to her, is that she was one of the employees of this game company, inside the game. So she knows about the game company.


    This is probably related in some sense to her possibly having completed what is like a special mission in the little girl¡¯s Nightmare. This gave her unique information, related to this in-game game company.


    I don¡¯t know if you can understand, but it¡¯s basically a matryoshka doll. It¡¯s getting set-up in a setup. Like that dream in a dream, it¡¯s a game in a game.


    Here¡¯s an analogy. Take this game as the ¡®real world.¡¯ That makes the original game developers, the Creators of this world.


    When creating this world, they cast their own image into it¡­ Does that make it better?


    And then, about the information pointing to the game¡¯s ending. Everything the game company was doing was to help drive everyone towards the eventual ending, for players to win and enjoy their game.


    So this ¡®Creator¡¯ did have a purpose ¨C to facilitate the players¡¯ progression with hints and information on the Ultimate Nightmare.


    And there has to be justification for any such element, as this is a logical, deduction game where it is crucial.


    Now you might ask, what is the actual ¡®clue¡¯ or ¡®hint¡¯ we¡¯re talking about here? From what Mystic told us, take note that the game company had a style of creating games by mashing different elements together.


    This is both the habit of the game company in the game, and the game developers outside, in reality.


    In other words, ¡®Escape¡¯ had such different elements inside when first designed. They perhaps started with a game about the Apocalypse, and started throwing ideas and thoughts that they once had at it.


    ¡°nice story detective dalao!¡±


    ¡°i see i see, so a collection of ideas?¡±


    ¡°ok, I know about the game developers habits and how they made the game, but then what does it have to do with the players getting an ending?¡±


    ¡°I am not sure myself, but I have ideas. Let me give another example ¨C we¡¯re saying the AI here is the protector, right?


    But with different ideas coming together, we¡¯ll have to compromise and adapt the settings.


    The overseer I talked about would actually be human, and perhaps a whole ruling class of aristocrats.


    And probably with corruption of power and authority and all that jazz attached. But now, if we try to slot an AI in there, which would be mechanical and entirely just and incorruptible, what drives the conflict of humanity with this manager of the Tower will have to change.


    It will then turn into Beibei¡¯s answer from before¡ª¡ª


    That the AI is tasked with safety of the Tower, and thus has to chase all the insane people out, which brings it into direct conflict with other survivors.


    This shifts the central conflict into an AI being unable to comprehend human connection and emotion, leading to the showdown.


    Of course¡­ now we have a strange issue. An AI has no emotional feelings about things. Where did its Nightmare come from?¡±

 Volume 8 - CH 146.4

    7-9 minutes 24.09.2022


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    ¡°holy shit! i never thought about that!¡±


    ¡°yeah, why would an ai have a dream? the apocalypse didnt even affect it right?¡±


    ¡°maybe its adapted for the game?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s more than the game¡¯s needs? according to the detective dalao, this game is a deductive game, so everything can be explained¡±


    ¡°the game company being an image of the real game developers is implying this game is also like a frankenstein monster right? so there will be incompatible stuff¡­¡±


    ¡°just like xie ji and ke zhu¡­ with two sides?¡±


    ¡°frankenstein monster?¡±


    ¡°do you mean¡­¡±


    ¡°the towers AI?¡±


    ¡°why would an ai be a frankenstein monster?¡±


    ¡°but think, it has a nightmare that only humans should have! it can be afraid, so it can have nightmares, otherwise why would the ai have human emotions?¡±


    ¡°maybe it¡¯s just a human?¡±


    ¡°impossible, the games setting is that the AI is the towers manager, because it is an AI, and so it can throw out madmen without hesitation, or you think humans will do that without remorse?¡±


    ¡°even if a human will do that, it shouldn¡¯t react like that when other survivors learned of it¡±


    Transplanting brains¡­


    Everyone is getting it now.


    A human brain being used as an AI¡¯s processor?


    Everyone is pondering, including X¨¹ Beijin.


    The possibility is shocking him more the more he thinks about it.


    This wasn¡¯t his experience. On Earth, in reality, there was never any artificial intelligence, or Tower, or a safe haven. None of that.


    Of course, he didn¡¯t go through any brain surgery either.


    But, maybe it¡¯s the game¡¯s setting?


    Since the very beginning, that AI of the Tower, the manager, was not a simple artificial intelligence?


    It has two sides to it, not only having the AI¡¯s cold programming, but also emotional fluctuations of a human consciousness?


    Is that why, there had to be a human player, an Actor, who is assigned the role of the Tower¡¯s AI, the role shared with NE?!


    So it wasn¡¯t just a simple bug?! It was part of the setting? Someone was destined to¡­ someone was always, going to know the real truth?


    Is this, what the game¡¯s designer¡ª¡ªthe human designer, left behind as the way out for all the fellow trapped humans?!


    X¨¹ Beijin is astonished frozen.


    He had no idea.


    He always thought being assigned as NE was some strange bug in the game.


    Because the AI was also an entity in the Tower ¨C like a Tower resident, who have Nightmares, that¡¯s why it didn¡¯t check if all such entities having Nightmares makes sense, and made him, by luck, or by utter misfortune, become NE.


    But it seems he was completely wrong. It wasn¡¯t because of a bug¡­ it was, what his fellow humans left behind, as the way to salvation for them.


    X¨¹ Beijin feels utterly distraught he didn¡¯t notice¡­


    Earlier, he¡¯s had an inkling that the information he obtained from NE seemed to have faults.


    If Lin Qin didn¡¯t ask about the details of players logging in when they were searching for data ports earlier, he wouldn¡¯t have noticed that the port for new players logging in, was the one used by all players logging in as well.


    It¡¯s not exactly wrong information, but more like¡­ the information he has from NE, which is, those shattered fragments of memories in his brain, imparted onto him, reflected the very earliest state of the game, and not its current state.


    The game has been continuously maintained and updated all this time. New elements and changes are expected, especially regarding something fluid like endings.


    It¡¯s quite possible the ending was still being worked on in the beginning as a normal part of game development for what is under the framework of an MMO. It¡¯s normal for contents that players are yet to explore to be worked on in the mean time.


    If X¨¹ Beijin entered the game at that moment, he will only know the game, as it was at that moment.


    Maybe there were many more new elements as time went on.


    X¨¹ Beijin knew a lot. X¨¹ Beijin knew he had a lot he still didn¡¯t know.


    The Ultimate Nightmare¡­ he knows how to open it, he knows ways it can resolve, but that is before the game was updated.


    It¡¯s not entirely impossible the information he knew became inaccurate as the game went on.


    X¨¹ Beijin feels slightly strange at this moment.


    He¡¯s been thinking that it¡¯s a bit too uncautious on NE¡¯s part that he just transferred his authority to him without delay. Even if he also judged him to be an AI like him, NE is at least aware that they are fighting for mutually exclusive goals, right?


    NE doesn¡¯t make silly mistakes like that.


    Now X¨¹ Beijin knows. NE probably knows from the beginning that the information he has is outdated, useless¡­


    Most are still useful, but there will be parts in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s plan that have false expectations from false premises.


    That¡¯s why NE is not worried, because he knows X¨¹ Beijin has outdated information.


    If the Missiontakers and Actors really followed X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s advice to the letter, and only ensured they remained sane inside the Ultimate Nightmare, doing nothing else entirely, would they still have succeeded?


    The thought showers X¨¹ Beijin in cold sweat. He realises the true scope of the mistake he made, overly trusting the information he got from NE¡¯s database, which was information all entirely under NE¡¯s knowledge, too, so he knows exactly what he knew. There is no way that, in all these years, this analytical, highly advanced artificial intelligence would not have made precautions against this potential threat.


    It is only by¡­ his companions¡¯ insistent nature on finding the truth and grasping fate with their own hands, that they are staying on track.


    X¨¹ Beijin has done all he could do, but now, the Missiontakers also need to do everything they can¡ª¡ªFor example, find out the true way to resolve this Nightmare they¡¯re in.


    Meanwhile, he¡­


    After that long period of thinking, he looks at Lin Qin, who looks at him back, tilting his head.


    The stream¡¯s comment barrage and its analysis by the viewers have hinted to X¨¹ Beijin that his information is problematic. It is outdated and quite possibly no longer accurate.


    Even if he has the Update Log, it is written in simplified shorthand for developers. They give him clues, but not detailed information.


    What the actual contents updated are and what they entail is something only NE knows.


    Besides, now is far too late to be flipping through that Update Log.


    So, looking at Lin Qin, he slowly says, ¡°the data ports¡­¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Lin Qin asks, ¡°we¡¯ve got them all, haven¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°No, I suspect¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin thinks, and then changes his wording, ¡°no, I¡¯m actually certain that the data ports we have at hand will have problems. Most likely, we haven¡¯t found all of them.¡±


    Lin Qin wonders, surprised, ¡°what other data ports could there be?¡±


    ¡°Logging in, logging out, updating, managing¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin lists the four data ports they¡¯ve already found, ¡°there must be something else still¡­ something we ignored all this time!¡±

 Volume 8 - CH 147.1

    Running Cold


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    What type of connection would you expect a game needs to maintain with the outside world?


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t work in the games industry, and even if he did, games seem to differ quite greatly out in the universe compared to what was popular on Earth.


    Information he gleamed from NE indicated that game creation was entirely handed over to game Servers, while game companies, if they employed producers, graphic artists, designers, etc. at all, they¡¯d only play a supervising and advisory role.


    In other words, with the game Server in charge of basically everything, the main Server would also possess whatever critical data ports are needed to communicate with the outside world.


    The data port for updating is all the game companies will access should they need to intervene in the management of the game.


    For players, logging in and logging out would be all they needed from a game.


    X¨¹ Beijin also happens to have a ¡®port¡¯ for the video streaming data ¨C at least, he believes it counts as one of the ways the game communicates with the world outside. He didn¡¯t count it as a proper one¡­ it¡¯s like an extra one.


    And you might even say that this is actually just part of the data port for managing the game accessed by the Server. It exists subordinately to the managing data port, but not independently.


    Speaking of which, finally, the data port for managing the game¡­ Is that truly the control panel in front of him?


    He had no reason to doubt NE has transferred partial authority to him, but if you think about it, that partial authority had no need to include a link between the game and the outside world.


    In other words, the most likely scenario is that the data port itself is still with NE, at the top floor of the Tower, and is not the control panel that X¨¹ Beijin has on hand.


    X¨¹ Beijin falls deep into thought.


    Lin Qin watches over him quietly, propping his chin up, waiting for his conclusions patiently.


    X¨¹ Beijin finds his mind overtaken by a question that is now baffling him, and that he cannot decide on ¨C even if it is true that NE is not on humanity¡¯s side, is there absolutely no way they could escape the Tower?


    Not in theory.


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks that, given the humans are technically ¡®players¡¯ in this game, it is only because NE has shut off access to the data port for logging out, that they cannot log out.


    If NE were sleeping, or in some other abnormal state, then there would be nothing stopping them from logging out.


    So he should only need the data port for managing and also the data port for logging out to allow all of humanity to log off.


    Not that that would do any good, because where their bodies are outside is certainly somewhere still under active Fy¡¯ecan surveillance. Outside intervention is needed for them to escape successfully.


    Which is why he established contact with the Maertons through Olai.


    So the key element in his plan is now the timing.


    The Maertons, in their long war against the Fy¡¯ecas, certainly had members ending up as prisoners of war of the Fy¡¯ecas.


    That¡¯s why the Maertons are happy to help X¨¹ Beijin, because primarily, they want to save their own kin, with rescuing humanity as a side hustle.


    What is notable in this scenario, is in the opportunity that X¨¹ Beijin provides.


    The Maertons and Fy¡¯ecas, despite their aeons-long war, has never actually managed to invade each other¡¯s core ¡®territory,¡¯ largely thanks to their unique states of existence, especially for the Fy¡¯ecas, who solely live up in the ¡®cloud,¡¯ to borrow a human term, and only rely on the planets under their control for energy via exploitation of their resources, both for supporting their systems, and also giving whatever is left over to their subordinate species.


    So the Maertons couldn¡¯t do anything practical to attack the Fy¡¯ecas where it hurts the most.


    It almost sounds silly, but in this virtual war, neither side has ever managed to break down the other¡¯s defences.


    So the opportunity X¨¹ Beijin provided, is the means to attacking them from inside their firewalls. He is planning to offer the data ports in the game ¡®Escape,¡¯ using NE¡¯s authority, and allow an invasion of the Fy¡¯ecan network through them¡ª¡ªTo defeat, or at least, cause chaos for them.


    Now the sticking point is¡ª¡ªthe data ports.


    He needs enough data ports to ensure an effective throughput of data for attack. These data ports offer direct access into the Fy¡¯ecan network, and dressed up as NE, the Fy¡¯ecas would not suspect the source of these data, due to NE being a trusted member in the core network of the Fy¡¯ecas. It makes NE a traitor in-the-making by X¨¹ Beijin.


    But now, X¨¹ Beijin finds he is likely lacking the most critical data port of all.


    He examines the lightly glowing control panel.


    Then, he says firmly, ¡°this can¡¯t be it¡­ there is no way. NE would never have let us access the data port for managing¡­ He must know what I¡¯m trying to do.


    NE didn¡¯t stop me when I was asking Olai for help. I thought it was because his stance has changed, but¡­ That couldn¡¯t be true, after all.


    He must know what I¡¯m doing, and has concluded to his satisfaction that what I¡¯m doing can never succeed. So he needn¡¯t waste energy to stop me.


    It is the result of programmatic calculation¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin continues mumbling.


    Lin Qin can see X¨¹ Beijin looking anxious, and asks, ¡°Beijin, are you ok?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is silent watching Lin Qin for a moment, before telling him, ¡°I might still have to get to the top floor of the Tower eventually. I have to find NE¡­ and try to wrestle away the data port for managing the game from him.¡±


    ¡°Wrestle?¡± Lin Qin sound surprised, ¡°but¡­ didn¡¯t you say, you¡¯re also ¡®NE¡¯?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin already told him about who he actually is in this game, and what happened in his past.


    Although X¨¹ Beijin had difficulty actually identifying clear differences between him and NE.


    There was a moment when X¨¹ Beijin, NE, and ¡®Iro,¡¯ were one and the same.


    Although NE had total victory in basically no time after that, and erased X¨¹ Beijin from himself.


    However, X¨¹ Beijin did, at one moment, become NE, which is where he got all his information from, and why he is able to pull off this effort to rescue his fellow humans.


    X¨¹ Beijin mumbles by reflex, ¡°yes, I did become NE once¡­¡±


    Then he abruptly stops.


    He was once¡­ No, he is NE.


    Two bodies of the same substance. Cold as an AI, but warm as a human.


    X¨¹ Beijin didn¡¯t have NE¡¯s authorities or his data port for managing, but he is NE.


    That is what his identity in the game is. There would not be a single line of code that contradicts that claim.


    So, would there, is there any way, that the rights and data ports under NE¡¯s management, could be transferred to his hands?


    In this game, in the Ultimate Nightmare, in this¡­ game, designed, planned by their fellow humans¡­ There must be a way out.


    Because the artificial intelligence within, also has a human consciousness.


    Suddenly, X¨¹ Beijin starts trembling.


    Lin Qin, confused and worried, is looking at him carefully.


    X¨¹ Beijin starts yelling, ¡°I get it!¡±


    He hugs Lin Qin tightly, planting passionate kisses on the lovable apple cheeks and red lips of his little apple, saying, ¡°oh little apple, how could you be so clever?!¡±


    Lin Qin, though, is clearly shocked, and looking like he suspects X¨¹ Beijin might have gone insane.


    X¨¹ Beijin can see his confusion, but he doesn¡¯t have time to explain. He just lets himself stick to Lin Qin as he calms back down.


    The warmth from X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s body, and his scent, though, is making Lin Qin slightly restless in a certain way.


    X¨¹ Beijin, though, just ruins the mood entirely, saying, ¡°we can be saved now, little apple. It now all comes down to what everyone else does in the Ultimate Nightmare.¡±


    Lin Qin ¡°¡­¡±


    Gritting his teeth, he thinks, yeah, and they better get a move on, quickly.


    Unexpectedly for Mu Jiashi and the others, after they knocked out of courtesy, a throaty ¡®come in¡¯ came from inside Operating Room 3.


    That means, there is someone in that Operating Room!


    Almost immediately, cold sweat erupts on Mu Jiashi¡¯s back.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ asks in a whisper, ¡°would he have heard what we were talking about?¡±


    Mu Jiashi thinks about it, then says, ¡°I think a better question is, is this person the game¡¯s own plot¡¯s setting, or is he¡­ human?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t even know how many characters are actually NPCs in this game,¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ can¡¯t help but diss, ¡°or, if there even are NPCs in the first place.¡±


    Mu Jiashi can¡¯t help but glance at Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ again. He did get a lot more loquacious since entering the hospital.


    Perhaps this is closer to his real personality on Earth? After entering the game, everyone was changed one way or another by the Tower¡­ At least, Mu Jiashi knows he¡¯s changed almost entirely.


    With no time to lament, though, he pushes the door, and walks inside Operating Room 3.

 Volume 8 - CH 147.2

    Despite its name, Operating Room 3 looks nothing like an operating theatre.


    It looks almost more like¡­ an office space, save for the far end of the room where a small section was isolated out, and which Mu Jiashi feels, looks like the inside of an ICU ward.


    No, wait, actually, someone is lying there.


    Before he can check on the person, the lone man staying inside of this room greets them, ¡°good afternoon. Can I help you?¡±


    Mu Jiashi observes this man.


    He¡¯s in his twenties it seems. The most striking part of his appearance is the shockingly weak and emaciated form he¡¯s in.


    He looks like he could faint at any moment.


    In front of him is probably a computer, with his hands on the keyboard.


    Next to him is an upturned, hemispherical glass bowl-like container.


    He then glances out at the person lying in the isolated section some distance away.


    The man seems to have gathered their intentions from this alone, and says, ¡°apologies¡­ That is my twin older brother, and he¡¯s sick. I heard there are medical services here, so I brought him here.¡±


    Then the weak man leans back, tired, rubbing his eyes; Mu Jiashi notices that it is rather bloodshot. The man then rubs his wrists a few times.


    He then asks, ¡°are you the doctors in this hospital?¡±


    ¡°We are people who heard about what you¡¯re doing,¡± Mu Jiashi says, a rather outlandish idea emerging in his mind, ¡°you are writing up an artificial intelligence, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    The man seems quite surprised, and replies, after a moment, ¡°yes, that is my PhD thesis topic, but¡­ how did you know? Oh¡­ wait, I think I remember.¡±


    He speaks quite slowly, hoarsely, tiredly. It suggests his brain is also operating slowly due to his exhaustion.


    He says, ¡°I remember that¡­ someone came to me, telling me the AI I¡¯m writing can be used to do something, but I¡­ thought it unnecessary.


    The world is chaotic outside, and my project is not done yet. I also have to care for my older brother, I don¡¯t have time for others¡­


    I don¡¯t mean to be ruthless; I also want to see people live,


    He says, looking at the isolated section of the room.


    The Missiontakers look at each other, then also at the man lying in the ¡®ward¡¯ area. He looks quite like the weak man here, looking equally tired, emaciated, and also having the spectre of death about him. Just like his twin younger brother said, he¡¯s dying.


    Mu Jiashi figures this conversation is going to be long, but fortunately, it seems they¡¯ve found the right person.


    He asks, ¡°so what¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°Liang Xingyi,¡± he replies, ¡°my older brother is Liang Zhiyi; ¡®what you do is what you know.''¡±


    ¡°A good name,¡± dryly, Mu Jiashi commends the name, then turns to serious business immediately, ¡°so how long have you and your brother been here?¡±


    ¡°How long¡­ I don¡¯t remember either. A month or two, maybe.¡±


    Mu Jiashi can¡¯t help but raise his brows in response.


    A month or two.


    In the Ultimate Nightmare, time isn¡¯t flowing normally. They¡¯ve gone through the spread of the madness to the Raining Hellfire in just an hour or two.


    In other words, Liang Xingyi may actually be a one-of-a-kind NPC in this instance.


    ¡®Escape¡¯ certainly has very few true NPCs. Even many of those unresponsive, unimportant looking extra characters in some Nightmares who just scream ¡®I¡¯m an unimportant NPC¡¯ may just be an Actor slacking off.


    It hasn¡¯t become substantiated knowledge until Missiontakers broadly learned about the existence of Actors.


    ¡ª¡ªSpeaking of which, setting the Missiontakers and Actors up in conflict despite both being human players, could it also be some weird idea those game designers had? It seems to serve no useful function either.


    It can¡¯t be just to increase the percentage of humans in the game, no?


    Or is it actually better for there to be as few NPCs as possible? So the game can accommodate as many human players as it can?


    But why?


    Mu Jiashi realises his thoughts are digressing and quickly reins them in, looking back at Liang Xingyi. He actually can¡¯t be sure he¡¯s not an Actor right now.


    Maybe he just lost his sense of self here.


    But whatever his role, that doesn¡¯t matter for their trying to understand what¡¯s going on.


    Meanwhile, Mu Jiashi staying silent means Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ had to take up the mantle, having already asked, ¡°so how are you actually living in this place?¡±


    ¡°My brother doesn¡¯t need everyday necessities much,¡± Liang Xingyi replies, ¡°what the hospital has left is good enough. As for me, I leave for an hour every morning to look for food and supplies, before coming back.


    Besides caring for him and gathering supplies, I just keep working on my PhD theses¡­


    Not that I know if I can still be awarded a doctorate with the times being like this, but¡­ but it¡¯s something I can do. I have to do something, or I just keep wanting to check out what¡¯s going on outside, and if there are people that can still be saved. It¡¯s just depressing.¡±


    His voice is trailing off a little, stuttering. He¡¯s gripping his fingers nervously, while also becoming slightly monotonous in tone.


    Mu Jiashi listened to him quietly, before asking, ¡°so you don¡¯t get bored living like this?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t, and I¡¯m serious. Even though it¡¯s just my older brother and I here¡­ Well, it¡¯s lonely, but I¡¯m also happy I met you and talked with you a little today.


    But I don¡¯t feel bored. My older brother always said I¡¯m a dummy who loses all awareness when I¡¯ve got my eyes set on something, and I can¡¯t deny it, I¡­ do kind of live in my own bubble.


    While my older brother¡­ our parents passed away early, and he was the one who cared for me. I¡¯m a bookworm, and I can¡¯t really talk to people, I don¡¯t know how¡­ but he¡¯s very different.


    He didn¡¯t like school, and so he dropped out to find work so I could keep studying. I worked hard until I got scholarship and awards from competitions, whatnot, and met great tutors¡­ Our lives improved.


    But then my older brother fell ill. I was preparing for my PhD theses when the hospital called to tell me my brother fell ill; he fainted at the roadside and someone called an ambulance for him.


    That was also the day the madness started to spread.¡±


    Liang Xingyi suddenly stops, like the word ¡®madness¡¯ has triggered other memories in him, he is quiet.


    Looking around, Mu Jiashi can see his companions to also be similarly concerned and doubtful ¨C towards Liang Xingyi, the person, and not what he said.


    He looks completely sane, just tired, probably because his body cannot have much more of this kind of lifestyle.


    Mentally, though, he seems lucid and rational enough.


    Is this really the case, though?


    Never mind why Liang Xingyi brought his older brother to a psychiatric hospital for treatment, but that glass bowl next to Liang Xingyi¡¯s computer is already enough to make Mu Jiashi wary.


    Liang Xingyi only has his older brother left now; he is developing some kind of AI, that some people saw enough value in to find him and tell him there is something for the good of humanity to be done.


    Reasonable to assume this relates to the Tower¡¯s AI, no?


    Is Liang Xingyi still sane? Is he really free of the madness¡¯ infection? Even if he¡¯s inside a hospital that is brewing madness within?


    Even three experienced Missiontakers have been quite noticeably affected emotionally just entering and walking around. Liang Xingyi, who, by his own admission, has been here for more than a month. Can he really stay unaffected?


    Mu Jiashi cannot believe in it at all.


    Meanwhile, Liang Xingyi is continuing again, from the day his older brother fell ill.


    His tone has changed in subtle ways, ¡°I always knew something must have been wrong. He always felt tired, but reassured me he¡¯s fine.


    There is no way I can stop worrying about him. He¡¯s the only family I have. No one¡­ none in this world is closer than we are. He¡¯s my other half. He¡¯s my twin brother.


    So when I¡­ I knew he was hospitalised, I really was¡­ I wished he could have a good rest for a while. Stop working as hard as before. I¡¯ve grown up¡­ and we¡¯re the same age, if you think about it.


    Then¡­ I don¡¯t know. The world changed. There was madness all around. All around me and my older brother, too.


    The hospital my older brother was in got filled to the brim by madmen and people wounded by madmen in no time.


    It was devastating. My older brother also wouldn¡¯t wake up at all. They were telling me my older brother had a rare disease¡­ it was terminal.


    I couldn¡¯t believe it when they told me I should be prepared to lose him, because¡­ because his EEG was still responsive.


    It¡¯s like he¡¯s more in a vegetative state than actual brain death. He¡¯s alive, but he just can¡¯t wake up or talk to me. He can still hear what I tell him, though, I¡¯m sure.


    The doctors told me there is no hope, but I can¡¯t accept that. It was really chaotic at that time, too¡­


    Even when society is crumbling all over, everything still needed money. I¡­ I was too poor. I had to get my older brother discharged, even if he still needed specialist care in a specialised ward.


    I tried to learn what I could¡­ Time passed, without my brother waking up.


    I was still working on my PhD thesis, when¡­ that thing from the sky fell. The world was turned upside down again, for the much worse this time.


    What you could still buy with money was gone. We had to fight, to burgle; that is when I heard about this hospital, this place.


    I knew about the experiments conducted here, because I found experimental data in my research.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ can¡¯t help but interrupt and ask, ¡°why renovate this Operating Room in particular?¡±


    All the different patient wards in the hospital are there. There has to be at least one that is more comfortable, bright and warm than this operating theatre. Yet, this is what Liang Xingyi chose.


    Shadowy, damp, and clearly, having seen the passing of many lives and drenched in countless blood.


    Why this Operating Room?


    Liang Xingyi seems confused, asking, ¡°what do you mean, renovating this Operating Room in particular?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ glances at Mu Jiashi, and asks again, ¡°there are many rooms for patients in this hospital. Why did you pick this one?¡±


    Liang Xingyi is still repeating that keyword, though, ¡°what do you mean I had to renovate?¡±


    The three Missiontakers notice the strangeness with the mood, and stay silent. Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ stops clarifying his question.


    Liang Xingyi is still latching onto this renovation business, though, and is refusing to accept Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹¡¯s question as-is. He is fixated on it, repeating his question once more.


    ¡°What do you mean, I had to renovate?¡±


    The Operating Room is silent.


    Mu Jiashi then tells him, ¡°he means, he wanted to know what you added into this Operating Room.¡±


    Liang Xingyi monotonously replied, ¡°oh, is that so?¡± Before the Missiontakers can say anything, Liang Xingyi explains, ¡°I brought my computer, a bed that can support my older brother comfortably, and¡­ the ¡®container.''¡±


    ¡°Container?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± Liang Xingyi¡¯s hand is caressing that hemispherical glass container, saying, ¡°to contain my older brother¡¯s brain.¡±


    Even if they were already expecting it, hearing that still made Mu Jiashi feel a chill down his spine.

 Volume 8 - CH 148.1

    Failsafe


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    ¡°So did he really take his older brother¡¯s brain out?¡±


    On the corridor of the 11th floor of the psychiatric hospital, the three Missiontakers are having a discussion.


    As soon as Liang Xingyi mentioned his older brother¡¯s brain, he fell silent, never responding to Mu Jiashi and the others¡¯ questions again. He only stared at the glass container the entire time.


    Just as he said, he¡¯s someone who¡¯s easily absorbed in his own world.


    ¡°I think so,¡± Mu Jiashi calmly analyses, ¡°do you remember what he said? He said his older brother can¡¯t wake up, but he still has brain activity. He may think his older brother¡¯s body has become useless, but¡­¡±


    Mystic dryly adds, ¡°but an AI programme can accept the electronic signals.¡±


    Both Mu Jiashi and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ are quiet.


    It¡¯s so mind-bogglingly insane that they wonder how far gone is Liang Xingyi.


    They cannot fathom how anyone can possess such utterly depraved, unethical thoughts besides being clinically insane.


    Mu Jiashi, as a postgraduate, also needed to enter laboratories for his studies.


    He still remembers vividly, the moment he entered the Ultimate Nightmare, and then exited from a laboratory of Q¨¹cheng University, there were the guidelines posted on the wall next to him.


    What Liang Xingyi is doing, is an experiment involving a living person¡¯s brain, that could quite possibly kill him. It¡¯s murder.


    ¡°But he succeeded,¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ says with a complicated tone, ¡°the AI he made¡­ has human emotions.¡±


    Mu Jiashi holds his breath for a while before exhaling slowly, and reiterates, ¡°this is only a game.¡±


    As if by magic, the words lift the mood quite a lot. At least, it¡¯s not as stiff¡­ the entire premise is horrifying to them.


    If their brain was transferred into some robot and only fed stimulation from something outside, to trigger different emotions and the release of hormones¡­ If the brain in a jar is no longer a fantasy¡­


    Mu Jiashi shudders.


    God bless this being only a game. A game company realising whatever ambitions they have in a game.


    Mystic, though, says, ¡°but in reality¡­ Earth¡­¡±


    Mu Jiashi and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ look at each other, nonplussed.


    Then Mu Jiashi sighs and says, ¡°let¡¯s stop thinking about that. What we need to do is get this Ultimate Nightmare over with¡­ and leave this damned game.¡±


    Their objective is clear, once again.


    The analysis continues, ¡°so, the AI in the Tower is programmed by Liang Xingyi; Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain contributes to the more emotional side of the AI.¡±


    ¡°Clearly, the stiff programming of the AI has the upper hand,¡± adds Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, ¡°I¡¯m not even sure¡­ if Liang Zhiyi is still alive.¡±


    ¡°Do AIs still dream?¡± Mystic asks with a hollow tone, ¡°do they feel human emotions?¡±


    ¡°I do not think AIs dream,¡± Mu Jiashi replies quite coldly, ¡°it is a tool ¨C do you ever suspect your hammers, wrenches, pens and paper to dream?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ refutes, ¡°but AI is capable of thought.¡±


    ¡°If you define thought as processing information via a set logic¡­ Then yes, AIs think,¡± Mu Jiashi says, ¡°but they are volitional. The thoughts are conscious.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Mystic are looking at him, not getting at why the definition of ¡®thinking¡¯ is involved.


    Then Mu Jiashi explains, ¡°dreaming lies with the subconscious. This type of unhelpful and unconscious thinking process is not part of an AI¡¯s repertoire¡ª¡ªAnd if they are aware, they will also classify these as meaningless waste of energy.


    AIs value only efficiency.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ gasps slightly; he isn¡¯t sure why, but he thinks, he might have had a glimpse of something terrifying through what Mu Jiashi just said.


    Then, he asks, ¡°so you¡¯re suggesting, that NE¡¯s Nightmare actually comes from Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain?¡±


    Pausing for a moment, Mu Jiashi says, ¡°yes, that¡¯s what I think.¡±


    The corridor falls silent once more.


    The premise of everything they¡¯ve discussed thus far, is that every element in the game is justified, rather than just a game setting written without consistency.


    This conflicts with how the AI of the Tower has a dream.


    As far as their human experiences suggest, AIs will not dream, because they are tools, a section of programme.


    Do computers dream?


    No one would think so.


    So why does the AI of the Tower have a dream?


    Why would it even have emotions like fear or fright? All the while equally possessing the coldness of AI?


    Now an explanation is here ¨C because this AI has Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain.


    They have no idea how Liang Xingyi did it.


    But somehow, that hemispherical glass container has become the jar of the ¡®brain in a jar.¡¯


    The jar, connected to the programme for the AI he wrote¡­ Powered up by the same source¡­


    Perhaps the brain was somehow provided with stimulation vis-¨¤-vis reality¡­


    That¡¯s about it.


    They do not know how Liang Xingyi realised all of this, but, this is still a game.


    It is definitely logical, but not necessarily everything in the game can be replicated in reality.


    Though as he thinks about it once more, Mu Jiashi furrows his brows, asking, ¡°do you feel like¡­ we¡¯re missing something here?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Mystic both look at each other.


    Mystic then says, ¡°about how¡­ the brain¡­ was worked on?¡±


    ¡°Liang Xingyi studied something related to computer engineering, artificial intelligence and programming. He may be such a genius he can bring the ¡®brain in a jar¡¯ to life, but the brain itself¡­¡± Mu Jiashi thinks and says, ¡°he must have had the help of professionals; doctors, mustn¡¯t he?¡±


    Liang Xingyi himself could never have pulled it off, even if it wasn¡¯t entirely alien to his studies.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ thinks, and asks about something, ¡°didn¡¯t Liang Xingyi say he had people help him renovate the Operating Room?¡±


    Mu Jiashi gets it, ¡°those who helped him renovate probably had to know what Liang Xingyi was up to¡­ They must be the ones helping him the entire way!¡±


    Both Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Mystic agree to the conclusion.


    Mu Jiashi looks back at the door to the Operating Room, ¡°Liang Xingyi isn¡¯t speaking any time soon, so we might have to find those people who help him.¡±


    ¡°Where could they be?¡± Asks Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, ¡°in the hospital? Elsewhere?¡±


    Mu Jiashi ponders for a moment, then says, ¡°I don¡¯t believe they''re in this hospital with him. Probably from elsewhere, who heard about what¡¯s going on here, and then followed Liang Xingyi to this place¡­ Did we miss any clues?¡±


    They think for a moment, but Mu Jiashi couldn¡¯t come up with anything else.


    The people mentioned thus far include the good samaritan who called an ambulance for Liang Zhiyi when he collapsed; people Liang Zhiyi must have come to know when he dropped out of school to work shifts for Liang Xingyi, who might also know these people; perhaps, even fellow students at Liang Xingyi¡¯s university.


    But all these options only lead to one conclusion ¨C they do not have time to look for or ask them. They need to quickly find a way¡ª¡ªTo end this Nightmare for good.


    So Mu Jiashi pushes his earlier ideas aside, saying, ¡°I guess we shouldn¡¯t think about who¡¯s helping him either.¡±


    Then he takes a moment to gather, continuing, ¡°even if there are such people, we¡¯re still missing the forest for the trees. The key problem is gathering more information about the AI and the older brother of Liang Xingyi.¡±


    Mystic thinks and then says, ¡°why did he have to connect his older brother¡¯s brain to the AI? Is he¡­ trying to revive him?¡±


    ¡°Revive?¡±


    Both Mu Jiashi and Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ pause for thought.


    Neither of the more pragmatic-minded Missiontakers thought in this direction. They were simply disgusted by the unconscionable act, which, terrifyingly, succeeded.


    In a game. But still.


    So they were ignoring any fundamentally more understandable reason Liang Xingyi is doing all this.


    He¡¯s succeeded, so they were too concerned about the result and impact, than the underlying causes.


    Especially when, taking place during the spread of madness, everything could be explained away just by labelling Liang Xingyi as¡­ mad.


    But Mystic, more sharply and carefully tuned to such affairs, did not let the possible truth behind the tragedy escape her.


    Why must Liang Xingyi stuff his older brother¡¯s brain into an AI in the first place? What could it be if not outright insanity?


    ¡ª¡ªHis older brother wasn¡¯t long for this world.


    ¡ª¡ªLiang Xingyi refuses to accept it.


    This is what drove him to do it. He is making it so his older brother can continue ¡®living¡¯ in the programming of an AI.


    And, just as he said, Liang Zhiyi still had brain activity. He¡¯s still ¡®alive¡¯¡­ in the sense that he has brain activity.


    ¡°Reviving his older brother?¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ asks, pointing out that, ¡°in the Tower, though, clearly, the artificial intelligence part is the one calling the shots¡­¡±


    Mystic asks quietly, ¡°did he fail?¡±


    ¡°Or¡­¡± Mu Jiashi ponders some possibility; his eyes almost seem to sparkle, ¡°his older brother¡¯s consciousness is still asleep? He is¡­ yet to wake up? That¡¯s why¡­ that¡¯s how you have Nightmares¡­ So, the grey fog¡­¡±


    He stops.


    ¡°So the grey fog is always there,¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ tries to finish the sentence, ¡°is that what you want to say?¡±


    Mu Jiashi, silent, then starts smiling bitterly, asking, ¡°but, that¡­ X¨¹ Beijin¡­ X¨¹ Beijin, is he Liang Zhiyi?¡±

 Volume 8 - CH 148.2

    They¡¯ve arrived at an unbelievable conclusion after a logical discussion.


    X¨¹ Beijin¡ª¡ªOr, the Actor named X¨¹ Beijin, is Acting as the sleeping twin older brother, whose younger brother put his brain into his own AI programme ¨C as Liang Zhiyi?


    This is such a fantastical conclusion that they¡¯re shocked.


    Though the key aspect that allowed X¨¹ Beijin to be linked up with Liang Zhiyi ¨C ended up being that the grey fog of the Tower always existed in its current form.


    Even if X¨¹ Beijin has never opened his Nightmare, the grey fog was there, always there, unchanging.


    But it was also a Nightmare.


    The grey fog is X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare, NE¡¯s Nightmare¡­ But, in the game¡¯s own plot, the grey fog is the Nightmare of the AI of the Tower.


    It makes no sense that a Nightmare is always there. The Nightmares of other Tower residents in the Tower open up for entry at night. Why would the grey fog always be there, day and night, then?


    Of course, as they knew it was a game, they first took the grey fog as a fixed piece of background scenery.


    But this is not just a game. Everything in this game seems to be pointing at something else.


    The game developers put their own company inside, in order to discreetly hint at the truth and ending of this game.


    Besides, the grey fog is not at all something that could have been in reality. No real building in the world would be eternally locked in fog. It makes it more of a fictitious, mysterious entity that should only belong in a dream.


    The grey fog is a Nightmare, but not anything replicated from reality.


    This implies that¡ª¡ªIt also belies some implication. It must, it has to point at something¡­


    Unless someone is sleeping at all times, that Nightmare should not be there at all times.


    The grey fog is there at all times. The grey fog is a Nightmare.


    This means, the owner of the grey fog must always be sleeping.


    X¨¹ Beijin is the owner of that Nightmare. NE is the owner of that Nightmare¡­ Then, what about ¡®Iro¡¯?


    X¨¹ Beijin always thought of this as a ¡®two sides of the same coin¡¯ situation. The AI of the Tower, and the inexplicably human emotions it has. This was contradictory.


    However, it appears that the actual truth behind it all, is like¡­ a trinity.


    X¨¹ Beijin, NE, and ¡®Iro¡¯¡­ in other words, Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain. He is the ¡®human¡¯ as the plot of this game must entail.


    Three different entities are involved. One human in-game, one human from the outside, and the perpetrator behind it all. They conflict with each other, but they are one.


    The game¡¯s plot has designated ¡®Iro¡¯ has having two sides ¨C the cold programming of an AI, and the warm emotions and way of thought of humans.


    But this¡­ is also no mere game.


    With all the complexities involved, like how NE was also substituted into the role of the AI of the Tower, and the other human from the outside ¡®accidentally¡¯ forced into Acting as them as well, it¡¯s become quite a mess.


    During all this, one entity has been sleeping the whole time¡ª¡ªThe brain belonging to Liang Zhiyi.


    Watching the stream quietly, X¨¹ Beijin can see the comment barrage going haywire, but he is too absorbed to care.


    Finally, he has figured out the way to freedom that the game left behind for them.


    Even though¡­ he isn¡¯t sure that he will be able to put that into action.


    The Missiontakers are unaware of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s true identity, and that hampers their ability to guess. They¡¯re still confused about all the apparent contradictions.


    But X¨¹ Beijin gets it now.


    This is an issue of the Tower¡¯s AI, ¡®Iro,¡¯ being itself already something merged together from code and brain.


    Therefore, when this AI needs to be Acted in the Tower, two different entities must also Act for them.


    Something that is code, and something human.


    NE, and X¨¹ Beijin.


    This has always been arranged this way. It¡¯s not a bug that X¨¹ Beijin thought it was the whole time, and not necessarily something intentionally put into place by the fellow humans trying to help them.


    It¡¯s just a certainty, set in stone once the Fy¡¯ecas allowed NE to just assume the role of the Tower¡¯s manager as well due to laziness.


    X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t Acting as Iro, or at least, he has no idea what the code Liang Xingyi has written is at all. He is Acting, as Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain.


    By the game¡¯s own plot.


    And, similarly to Liang Zhiyi¡¯s consciousness, they are under the absolute control of the AI, NE.


    Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain has been asleep forever; X¨¹ Beijin himself, has been awake, almost forever.


    The human written down in the plot, and the human from Earth, are the true corresponding pair here.


    So in the end, this developed into a three-way stand-off, between NE, of the Fy¡¯ecas; X¨¹ Beijin, of humanity; and, from the game¡¯s plot itself, Liang Zhiyi¡¯s consciousness, of the AI in the Tower.


    They¡¯re both each other¡¯s surface identity and hidden identity. Their stances and labels make who they are differ dramatically.


    X¨¹ Beijin does not think of himself as the AI, even though he is NE;


    And also ¡®Iro,¡¯ and also, Liang Zhiyi¡¯s consciousness.


    All according to the plot¡¯s convoluted settings!


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but feel like he¡¯s a matryoshka doll.


    And at the very bottom of that doll, is Liang Zhiyi¡¯s consciousness.


    They need to wake his brain up, and retake control of the AI manager of the Tower. That way, they¡¯ll be eliminating NE from the final battlegrounds entirely.


    And if Liang Zhiyi is awake, current information means that the grey plot is going to disappear as well, which fits X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s objective¡ª¡ªThe difference between game and reality, has never been so clear and distinct.


    A game is a game. How ever much a plot may try to approach absolute realism, there will still be traces and chains of logic left, because this is not reality, where death means complete erasure from the world.


    Everything leaves a trace on the Internet.


    After blanking out and going then going through his plan one last time, X¨¹ Beijin cheers the three confused Missiontakers on screen on.


    What they need to do is find a way to wake up Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain, so the initiative changes hands from the AI to humanity.


    How?


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t know either. He doesn¡¯t know how the game¡¯s plot has set it, but the answer is probably in Liang Xingyi¡¯s hands.


    The three Missiontakers enter Operating Room 3.


    Liang Xingyi is still sitting there in silence, watching that hemispherical glass container he is touching. Who knows what he is thinking about.


    Mu Jiashi walks up and asks, ¡°what are you going to do with your older brother¡¯s brain?¡±


    Liang Xingyi has no reaction.


    ¡°Merge his brain activity with the AI programme you¡¯re writing?¡±


    Liang Xingyi has no reaction.


    Mu Jiashi then asks, ¡°are you trying to revive him in an AI?¡±


    The word ¡®revive¡¯ seems to have triggered something in Liang Xingyi. He shudders, and unintentionally knocks the glass to the ground.


    It didn¡¯t shatter or crack, but it also became a bit dusty. Liang Xingyi immediately panics, grabbing it from the ground, and wiping it clean furiously.


    He is still not answering Mu Jiashi, but Mu Jiashi already knows what he is thinking about ¨C he is tacitly admitting to Mu Jiashi¡¯s guess.


    So Mu Jiashi¡¯s interest is piqued, asking, ¡°why are you certain that your older brother can wake up in the AI? Instead of losing his consciousness forever, and dying?¡±


    ¡°No! He won¡¯t!¡± Liang Xingyi screams, ¡°he will wake up! He will gain immortality!¡±


    Immortality¡­


    Liang Xingyi sure is ambitious for hoping to give his older brother immortality through this.


    However¡­ certainly, humans are restricted by their health and age. An AI with a stable source of energy and maintenance can certainly achieve eternal life.


    Confined inside of an artificial network.


    Mu Jiashi wants to ask things.


    Like, is a fictitious reality meaningful? Is immortality really something to be happy about? Would, would Liang Zhiyi actually want Liang Xingyi to be doing this for him?


    But he doesn¡¯t say anything. For them, this is a Nightmare from the past. A recreation of some past event.


    Casting judgement on what Liang Xingyi is doing, or stopping him, is meaningless.


    Because he did do it. He already connected Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain to the AI.


    It¡¯s all been put into action.


    So the question becomes something else.


    Mu Jiashi is staring closely at Liang Xingyi as he asks, ¡°but how can you be so sure? What kind of safety measures have you taken to ensure your older brother can wake up?¡±


    Truly, humans have no way of comprehending the world as an AI sees it ¨C as a world formed only by digits, code and software. Humans are built differently.


    It¡¯s an inherent conflict of values¡­ No, not just that, but of lifeforms.


    Just as Mu Jiashi pointed out, humans do meaningless thinking. They dream. An AI would find all of them meaningless waste of energy.


    If Liang Zhiyi really did ¡®wake up¡¯ in such a state, what would he be like? What would he have turned into?


    Mu Jiashi does not understand why Liang Xingyi can be so sure.


    Meanwhile, Liang Xingyi¡¯s lips are trembling. He does not seem to know how to answer this question.


    The weak man looks lost, for the first time since they have met, as he repeats, with a doubtful tone, ¡°safety measures?¡±


    Mu Jiashi ¡°¡­¡±


    A brief moment of silence later, he asks, ¡°have you never considered any failsafes?¡±


    ¡°Failsafes¡­¡± Liang Xingyi mumbles, ¡°failsafes¡­¡±


    ¡°What if the AI has taken over the consciousness and is dominating over Liang Zhiyi?¡±


    Liang Xingyi seems to have latched onto some key word, saying, ¡°this will never happen!¡±


    Mu Jiashi, annoyed as he is, still clearly pronounces his question, ¡°this is exactly what is happening right now. Assume we have come back from the future¡­ Where Liang Zhiyi didn¡¯t wake up. Your AI has control over him. Now, we want to wake your older brother up. Have you really not put in any failsafes for that?¡±


    Liang Xingyi seems to be shaking a little, ¡°no way¡­¡± He seems to have bought Mu Jiashi¡¯s story wholesale; perhaps he is quite close to madness already. He answers, ¡°it¡­ it can¡¯t be. I had a programme inside the AI¡­¡±


    The three Missiontakers, with eyes shining, asks, ¡°what programme?!¡±

 Volume 8 - CH 149.1

    Relief


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Liang Xingyi is like a dumbo.


    He looks a bit dull and formulaic; meanwhile, he¡¯s panicking and acting crazy.


    Everything he did is probably enough to evoke cold sweat in anyone that hears, but he did it regardless, like he had to.


    He did it without considering consequences either, seemingly believing everything will go the exact way he wishes it to.


    Only when Mu Jiashi questioned him did it seem to dawn on him that he needs failsafes.


    Why is he so certain Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain will be able to wake up in the AI¡¯s programming?


    There is no proof, but he believes in it, unwaveringly.


    Though he wasn¡¯t completely bankrupt in intelligence, having left behind an inflexible programme in his AI.


    Mu Jiashi finally manages to understand what kind of software has been inserted through the mess of jargon he¡¯s spouting, ¡°so you mean, your AI will continuously try to stimulate Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain for him to wake up?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Liang Xingyi keeps nodding like a pecking chicken, ¡°my older brother can definitely wake up!¡±


    Mu Jiashi ¡°¡­¡±


    He literally cusses, before forcing himself to calm back down and ask, ¡°so what if it doesn¡¯t do a damned thing? Liang Zhiyi isn¡¯t waking up at all!¡±


    Liang Xingyi seems stunned, then says, with quite the pitiful tone, ¡°but, but I¡¯m sure, he would¡­¡±


    ¡°The hell¡¯s your ¡®sure¡¯ useful for!¡± Mu Jiashi finally loses it, lashing out, then takes a deep breath again.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ pats him on the shoulder. The hospital is emotionally affecting them; both positive and negative emotions seem to be far more intense than usual.


    Mu Jiashi slowly calms back down, saying, ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­¡±


    Silence ensues between them for now.


    Liang Xingyi looks like he¡¯s questioning his entire existence, holding the glass container blankly.


    Mu Jiashi knows he is too irritated by him to talk for now. Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ is still thinking.


    Finally, Mystic is the one to ask, ¡°what does your AI actually do?¡±


    Liang Xingyi suddenly brightens up thanks to the question, and spouts a bunch of technical jargon while stuttering here and there. He¡¯s in a whole different dimension.


    Finally, perhaps noticing none present are as technically savvy, he explains more simply, ¡°it¡¯s specialised in autonomous management.¡±


    ¡°Autonomous management¡­¡± Mu Jiashi wonders, ¡°is that why it was the Tower¡¯s manager in the end?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ knits his brows and says, ¡°but it sounds more like the whole programme is made to automate industrial manufacturing, rather than¡­ organisational management?¡±


    They look back at Liang Xingyi.


    Once again, he defers back to many technical terms, but clearly, he is unable to put the function of his AI in simple terms for the three of them. It¡¯s beyond their expertise entirely.


    Mu Jiashi just coldly remarks, ¡°this is a waste of time.¡±


    Liang Xingyi seems taken aback by that, widening his eyes, looking lost.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ thinks about it, and then decides to ask the one key question that¡¯s bugged him, ¡°this AI you¡¯ve made¡­ can it be shut down?¡±


    ¡°Shut down?¡± Liang Xingyi seems shocked, ¡°why would you want to shut it down?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ glances at Mu Jiashi, who also seems to have caught on now, falling back into thought.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ starts coming up with something believable, ¡°Liang Zhiyi couldn¡¯t wake up, and the AI has total control in the future. You¡¯ve connected the AI with your older brother¡¯s brain, but that doesn¡¯t mean they¡¯ve become one, as I understand.¡±


    Liang Xingyi opens his mouth. Before he can answer, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ continues, ¡°so, if we just shut down the AI, your older brother might be able to wake up.¡±


    Liang Xingyi looks like he¡¯s still processing everything, staring blankly at Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, before finally, torturously, telling them, ¡°yes¡­ you can.¡±


    ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°The programme,¡± replies Liang Xingyi, ¡°was set up so it never shuts down unless its source code can be accessed.


    But¡­ you might be unable to find it; it¡¯s with me right now, but you¡¯re from the future¡­


    It¡¯s impossible in the beginning, but when I improved its code as I went on¡­ when I, wanted it to help my older brother wake up; if he doesn¡¯t wake up, it doesn¡¯t have any purpose to exist anymore.¡±


    He gets pretty depressed towards the end.


    The Missiontakers look at each other. They seem to understand now.


    Mu Jiashi asks, ¡°so it will try to wake up your older brother, but if it fails continuously, at a certain point, it will shut down? Is that what you mean?¡±


    Liang Xingyi slowly nods after a long pause.


    He says, ¡°no one knows about this. I haven¡¯t told anyone.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ gasps slightly. It¡¯s a shock the AI can actually be shut down, but also, he¡¯s angry.


    The Tower¡¯s AI is destined to fail¡ª¡ªIt is an eventuality.


    Then what would happen to the humans living under its aegis of protection? What about them?!


    How dare Liang Xingyi make such a decision ¨C did he even know this AI was going to become the manager of the Tower?


    Could he have been unaware that this decision could have indirectly killed all of humanity inside the Tower?


    This is all the settings in the plot of a game, but Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ is empathising, and even feeling a strange sorrow.


    Liang Xingyi is insane. He¡¯s insane, that¡¯s why he did something like this.


    When he can decide that the AI has no purpose existing if his older brother wouldn¡¯t wake up, he may very well decide the same of any other humans and ignore their wellbeing.


    What disasters shall befall others because of all his decisions are no longer part of his concern.


    He is pathologically apathetic.


    Why did Liang Xingyi go insane? Was this how he has been all along? Did he wish for all this?


    No. That¡¯s not it. It¡¯s the Apocalypse.


    In the past, some people had psychological, or other such mental illnesses that contributed to an abnormal mental state, and they may cause harm to themselves or others.


    After the Apocalypse, the ¡®some¡¯ became the ¡®norm,¡¯ enough that society has collapsed.


    Case in point, the traitor trapped in the labyrinth. What good could betraying humanity possibly do?


    What was the reason he did all this? Not even his teacher and mentor of many years could understand his thoughts anymore.


    It means, when the madness was spreading among humanity, humanity¡¯s fate has already been sealed.


    An AI that was eventually going to shut down was assigned to protect all of humanity. What an unprecedented farce.


    Mu Jiashi shuts his eyes for a little, then asks, ¡°how many times? How many times is it until the AI shuts down from all the failures?¡±


    ¡°1024 to the 1024th power,¡± Liang Xingyi quietly mumbles, ¡°after that many failures, the AI will shut down automatically.¡±


    The corner of Mu Jiashi¡¯s mouth is twitching already.


    How are they even going to check the number of times the AI has failed? The number is preposterously astronomical!


    ¡°There is no way to manually shut it down,¡± Liang Xingyi is still saying, apparently unaware of Mu Jiashi¡¯s boiling rage, ¡°unless¡­¡±


    ¡°Unless?¡±


    ¡°The source code?¡± Mu Jiashi repeats the phrase, saying, ¡°you wouldn¡¯t happen to know where¡­¡±


    Liang Xingyi shakes his head.


    The source code is, of course, in his computer right now¡ª¡ªThe AI hasn¡¯t even been made yet at this point!


    But what about after that? This AI Liang Xingyi made became the manager of the Tower. Where would the source code be at that moment?


    Mu Jiashi starts bitterly laughing. Then, he sighs, saying, ¡°it¡¯s another impossible wild goose chase, is it¡­¡±


    After finding Liang Xingyi, they gained information and directions. They could choose to wake up Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain, for example;


    Or look for the source code of the AI somewhere.


    Both would help resolve their predicament.


    The problem is¡ª¡ªNeither are fucking helpful solutions right now! If they already had the capability to find the source code or wake up Liang Zhiyi¡¯s consciousness from here, they wouldn¡¯t be stuck in this hell in the first place!


    Before they were in the Ultimate Nightmare¡­ Actually, before they even stepped foot in this hospital, they didn¡¯t even know about this Liang Zhiyi at all!


    So it¡¯s a wide garden path that led nowhere, huh.


    For now, a defeatist, possibly self-derisive mood takes over Mu Jiashi once more.


    This time, though, his gaze is still clear and sharp. The mood isn¡¯t going to take his rational side with him this time.


    His emotions are trying to hinder him in this damned hospital. As long as he¡¯s aware, he can ignore all the negative mood for now.


    He keeps his eyes shut, squeezing.


    His companions also fall silent.


    Liang Zhiyi seems to be pretty anxious and frightened right now, while looking at them carefully. He behaves quite like a person who shrinks and ducks in the face of any pressure, but what he¡¯s done, has certainly shaken the whole of humanity to its core.

 Volume 8 - CH 149.2

    Mu Jiashi can¡¯t help but sigh, and says, ¡°you¡¯re the creator of this AI.¡±


    Liang Xingyi answers, fidgeting, ¡°uh, yes.¡±


    Then Mu Jiashi coldly points out, ¡°and you don¡¯t know how to shut the damned AI off!¡±


    Liang Xingyi opens his mouth, but he has nothing to say. On the verge of crying, he says, ¡°I¡­ I really didn¡¯t know¡­ I just made it following procedures¡­ Doing everything by standard protocol¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± Mystic suddenly interrupts, ¡°did you say, standard protocol?¡±


    The other three aren¡¯t sure why she is asking.


    Liang Xingyi, looking lost, nods.


    Mystic then asks, crisp and clear, ¡°Three Laws of Robotics?¡±


    Liang Xingyi seems confused, but assures her he followed them, ¡°ye-, yes¡­ I did that¡­


    It cannot harm humans or let humans come to harm without intervention;


    It must obey any commands issued by humans, unless it contravenes with the first rule;


    It must protect itself, unless it contravenes with either of those two rules¡­¡±


    The three people look increasingly gloomy as he went on. He almost suspects he remembered the rules wrong.


    With a trembling, and much quieter tone, he asks, ¡°what¡¯s wrong? That¡¯s what I made it do¡­¡±


    His tone dies off, leaving the four to staring right at each other.


    Finally, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, in disbelief, says, ¡°the AI has clearly disregarded the first two rules. Throwing insane people outside the Tower is definitely hurting, even killing those people.


    And if it really had to obey human command, how would the Ultimate Nightmare have gone this way?


    Is it going to shut down just because we tell it to? That¡¯s not what the game was building up to at all!¡±


    Mu Jiashi concludes, ¡°clearly, the safety of humans inside the Tower is the highest priority instead, even overruling Asimov¡¯s laws.¡±


    Mystic comments quietly, ¡°so it is first the manager of the Tower before it is an AI.¡±


    Mu Jiashi, clearly suppressing his rage, gritting his teeth, says, ¡°damn it all¡­ which sick idiot suggested the AI to be the manager of the Tower!¡±


    Now they still have to fight against NE!


    Operating Room 3 falls silent.


    Meanwhile, in the Tower, X¨¹ Beijin has his eyes on the control panel right next to him.


    Lin Qin asks, ¡°is something wrong with this control panel?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ponders, ¡°can I see how many times ¡®Iro¡¯ has made the attempt here?¡±


    He is leaning on a positive answer.


    The control panel represents NE¡¯s authority in the game, true, but more accurately, it is the control the Tower¡¯s AI can exert over the Tower.


    The AI is coded to try to wake up Liang Zhiyi¡¯s consciousness.


    So X¨¹ Beijin thinks he might be able to find a string of numbers here representing how far away the AI is from being shut down.


    Though he also isn¡¯t sure if NE will even let him access the number which is related to the AI¡¯s entire existence.


    And even if they can check the number, they¡¯re going to need it to be so utterly gargantuan.


    Is there even a way to speed up the process through which Iro is trying to wake up Liang Zhiyi?


    At least X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t come up with any. It¡¯s not even something they are remotely familiar with.


    And who even knows where Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain would be. The top floor? Did NE hide it there?


    Or maybe NE just had it destroyed already. Iro won¡¯t do that, but X¨¹ Beijin suspects NE would have done it.


    Besides¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°even if we don¡¯t go to check the number, we at least know that, eventually, Iro will be shut down. And then¡­ maybe we will be able to make it there.¡±


    Lin Qin seems a little confused, and asks X¨¹ Beijin, ¡°make it there?¡±


    ¡°Yes. If Iro is going to shut down eventually, we are also going to be free of NE eventually,¡± explains X¨¹ Beijin, ¡°in the game, NE is already entirely part of Iro. We are going to need a chain reaction, and need NE to¡­ entirely seize up in chaos and errors, for at least a moment, that we can take advantage of.


    We¡¯ll need to create this chance by ourselves first, though; there won¡¯t be time to spare.¡±


    Lin Qin thinks about it, and doesn¡¯t ask the pertinent question about ¡®taking advantage of¡¯ what. He just asks, ¡°if NE is shut down, does that affect you?¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± X¨¹ Beijin thinks about it, then says, ¡°no, it won¡¯t. NE is different from me. If NE goes offline, I¡¯ll have its authority instead.¡±


    Lin Qin tilts his head to ask, ¡°is it different from right now?¡±


    ¡°Right now¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin looks at the grey fog outside, and concludes, ¡°Liang Zhiyi is still sleeping, which means I do not have full access to NE¡¯s authority.¡±


    In this human-AI showdown, looking at Liang Xingyi¡¯s information, he must have set Liang Zhiyi to have authority that can override the AI itself.


    So the one Acting as Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain, X¨¹ Beijin, can certainly exercise that authority, in a manner opposite of how he faltered when NE and Iro were equally forced onto him.


    But if Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain doesn¡¯t wake, the AI¡¯s authority reigns supreme, and X¨¹ Beijin can do nothing alone.


    Lin Qin nods and asks, ¡°so are we going to wake up Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain now?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin wonders why Lin Qin is asking, but nods. This seems to be a viable shortcut if it can be done.


    ¡°But what you told me before about how to resolve the Ultimate Nightmare and get an Ending is needing everyone to make a decision, isn¡¯t it? Why is waking up Liang Zhiyi a suitable substitute for that?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin pauses to organise the logic within, and explains, ¡°you¡¯re right that the ending for the whole game consists of humans versus the AI in the Tower, and humans choosing to shut down or keep the AI.


    I didn¡¯t know about the Liang brothers in the beginning; perhaps they were added to complete the plot after me in a game update¡­¡±


    His voice trails off as he wonders if the update was ultimately for the better or worse for them.


    Then he snaps back, putting the question aside, and continues, ¡°now we have two choices instead. One, wake up Liang Zhiyi and/or shut down Iro¡­ That¡¯s the way this can be resolved from the twin brothers¡¯ clues.


    Both result in Liang Zhiyi¡¯s authority overriding or becoming the sole authority in the Tower, giving it back to the people. Then in the game¡­ we will probably be able to do what we needed to.


    As for the method I was talking about in the beginning¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin sighs, holding his head.


    Lots of unexpected circumstances have arisen since entering the Ultimate Nightmare.


    The situation only became more complex over time, so he isn¡¯t too sure about the exact instructions needed.


    Lin Qin asks, ¡°what does that method need?¡±


    ¡°Not Liang Zhiyi, at the very least,¡± X¨¹ Beijin answers, ¡°but they need another group of people.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°The group which let Iro, the AI, manage the Tower. Find out what they did and then search for a way to revoke that authority the AI has in the Tower.


    It would actually happen with or without human intervention¡­ If they did as I said exactly and just stayed awake in the Nightmare, our goal will still be achieved. That said¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is looking at a figure on the control panel ¨C the number of people still awake in the Ultimate Nightmare.


    It¡¯s about a fifth of everyone who entered the Ultimate Nightmare; it¡¯s decreased a lot, but it doesn¡¯t matter in the long run.


    As the people who¡¯ve already succumbed to the Ultimate Nightmare are being hustled into the Tower via the doors in the grey fog.


    So next to the figure, the one displaying the number of succumbed people in the Ultimate Nightmare is actually decreasing even faster.


    They¡¯ll reach a moment when the Ultimate Nightmare is full of only people that are awake soon enough.


    Though Lin Qin, after thinking, says, ¡°I think finding Liang Zhiyi is better to deal with the problem once and for all.¡±


    Because the AI can be shut down directly with him;


    Meanwhile, the other group can only revoke the right the AI has to manage the Tower, which is basically like how X¨¹ Beijin got his identity in the first place ¨C a fight with the AI for its authority.


    And the bare minimum is not letting it fall to their enemies, and right now, because NE is a substitute for Iro, the authority isn¡¯t just about managing the Tower, but the entire game here.


    So fighting for it is important.


    X¨¹ Beijin agrees that waking Liang Zhiyi to have this authority in their control is far better than neither humans nor AI having any authority whatsoever.


    But¡­ X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°I was only given this partial authority when NE has gone to sleep. Getting all the authority¡­ sounds almost delusional.¡±


    Lin Qin then poses a new question, ¡°is there really no method to wake Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain up?¡±


    ¡°The AI must have tried countless times¡­ wait,¡± X¨¹ Beijin suddenly stops and asks, ¡°tried countless times? And all these times, did Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain really not react at all?


    If Iro has been trying continuously, 1024 to the 1024 isn¡¯t actually that great a number¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin mumbles, ¡°we¡¯ve been in this game all these years too¡­¡±


    Lin Qin asks, looking at him, ¡°what are you thinking about?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin replies, ¡°there are different endings in this game. Not just two, but even more¡­ at least three.


    Maintaining the status quo, shutting the AI down, and, not shutting the AI down but revoke its authority.¡±


    ¡°It feels like different levels of trust towards the AI.¡±


    ¡°Yes, exactly,¡± X¨¹ Beijin says, then thinks a little more, saying, ¡°Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain¡­ that brain must represent how humans think the authority of the Tower¡¯s management should be handled.¡±


    Lin Qin blinks, and blinks some more, saying, ¡°so, if everyone agrees to revoke the right for Iro to manage the Tower, then Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain might wake up?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°after such a long time, Iro might have passed that threshold already, but it¡¯s not shut down; possibly, Liang Zhiyi is even already awake.


    X¨¹ Beijin goes over his thoughts a few times, mumbling, ¡°yes¡­ yes¡­ This is very likely to be the case.¡±


    He looks at Lin Qin almost by reflex, and he is also looking at him with clear eyes.


    X¨¹ Beijin, excited, tells him, ¡°these two lines are parallel! Finding Liang Xingyi and also the other group of people is necessary, then it will all go the way we need it to!¡±


    He realised his thoughts were stuck earlier.


    The twin brothers were actually here to complete the game¡¯s worldview;


    And, they¡¯re also the help humanity needed.


    If they, going with the original ending, merely revoked Iro¡¯s right to manage the Tower, it is still not quite enough for humanity to successfully escape the Tower;


    But with Liang Xingyi and Liang Zhiyi, there is a real possibility they can take over the sole managing authority to the Tower.


    They¡¯re complementary.


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t know when they first appeared in the game¡¯s plot, as the version he gleamed didn¡¯t feature these brothers.


    Perhaps they were already planned in some roadmap then, but they weren¡¯t in the earliest version of the game.


    They were possibly added after ¡®someone¡¯ successfully became ¡®Iro,¡¯ and the game designer outside intentionally instructed for these brothers to be added to the plot¡­


    There are many other possible scenarios.


    But X¨¹ Beijin thinks, it is definitely proof that, outside the Tower, outside the game¡ª¡ªThere are still people trying to save them!


    X¨¹ Beijin is relieved. This makes him more confident in escaping the Tower.


    Lin Qin seems a little confused, but nods nonetheless.


    X¨¹ Beijin leans over to kiss his cute little apple, then manipulates the control panel and changes the camera on the stream accordingly, pointing at the group of people he needed shown.


    Then, surprisingly, he discovers that some others have already reached this area.

 Volume 8 - CH 150.1

    Beyond Expectations


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Xiang Cheny¨¹¡­


    The current top ace of the Missiontakers, that everyone has largely forgotten about. She alone has lived by herself for who knows how long on the highest floor players have ever reached.


    When X¨¹ Beijin found her, she was largely unknown to the wider community already. She was also in the Ultimate Nightmare.


    Defying all expectations, she¡¯s found the people X¨¹ Beijin needed found.


    The people who set Iro up as the manager of the Tower.


    They are¡ª¡ªIn the game¡¯s plot, the most powerful cabal of people left in humanity.


    Why they would choose for such an AI to manage humanity¡¯s shelter is quite the mystery.


    ¡°What¡¯s so hard to understand?¡± A man says, derisively, lazily, ¡°you can¡¯t trust humans, period.¡±


    Xiang Cheny¨¹ looks slightly dense and unresponsive in front of this man. The female Missiontaker must have had no need to use her brain for quite a while. Her rusty nerves and senses are coming up short to her thinking, perhaps.


    In any case, she appears to be quite a slow, lackadaisical woman.


    Although the words she shoots still very well live up to her status as the highest achieving Missiontaker.


    She says, ¡°you find humans untrustworthy. I believe that is grounds for saying the same of artificial intelligence?¡±


    The man gives her an odd look.


    This is a little mansion in the countryside. Despite the Apocalypse, this is basically like some Shangri-La. These people are surviving¡­ living, in such an environment.


    The woman besides the man gently explains, ¡°in fact, we do not plan to enter that shelter.¡±


    Which means, they, or, at least, she, is not going to consider any issues arising from setting the AI up as the manager of the Tower.


    Xiang Cheny¨¹ shifts her gaze to the woman slowly, before pulling a sarcastic smile.


    She probably hasn¡¯t smiled for years, so it looks quite forced and stiff indeed.


    The woman seems taken aback and offended by this, with her brows creasing somewhat.


    There are actually also a few others nearby, sitting or standing around. Only this man and woman here are willing to communicate with Xiang Cheny¨¹, however.


    It¡¯s quite simple for Xiang Cheny¨¹ to find this place, because she has been to this Nightmare¡ª¡ª


    The very last Nightmare she went through, set in this countryside mansion.


    It is through this Nightmare that she went to the very highest floor which inadvertently became her prison.


    She went up, alone.


    Because the Nightmare¡¯s owner, and all other Missiontakers and Actors there, succumbed in the Nightmare. Only Xiang Cheny¨¹ successfully made it to the Ending.


    Although sometimes, Xiang Cheny¨¹ also questions her own sanity.


    Because she can identify an inexplicable irritation in her, which makes her reconsider and doubt. She can no longer think rationally and effectively.


    That is why she didn¡¯t do anything while trapped on that floor¡ª¡ªThe highest floor known to humanity then.


    All because of that Nightmare.


    Before she went into that Nightmare, she also had trusted, reliable companions; she even knew several Actors¡ª¡ª


    Yes, for those at the forefront of the Missiontaking business, Actors are practically an open secret.


    They scheduled it up to enter the Nightmare alone, and despite what is largely a success, she has, also, in a sense, lost everything. Now, she¡¯s trapped inside that floor, unable to ascend or descend.


    When X¨¹ Beijin found her, she had a brief chat with him. Then they talked about their current situation.


    Xiang Cheny¨¹ was able to deduce that X¨¹ Beijin is also trapped on his respective floor; they¡¯re somewhat alike¡ª¡ª


    Now, they¡¯re both here, working to free humanity from the game.


    Though the actual content of their conversation was rather shallow, having an unspoken coordination to avoid certain topics.


    For example, who trapped humanity in the first place?


    They had their thoughts, but there was no way to talk in the open.


    Xiang Cheny¨¹ had conviction that X¨¹ Beijin had an answer; she also knew X¨¹ Beijin would wonder whether she knew.


    But they still had to avoid the topic entirely, as if it was something they both understood already.


    Xiang Cheny¨¹ already knows far more than the Missiontakers on the bottom floor, of course, having been through countless Nightmares, enough for her to piece together a story.


    The conclusions drawn have also revealed to her what happened on Earth to humanity is actually different from what the plot of this game entails.


    The timeline splits as soon as humanity, their civilisation and their planet ended up as ruins after the Raining Hellfire, and humanity tried to save itself.


    Xiang Cheny¨¹ did not know what the humans back on Earth decided, as she hasn¡¯t been to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s Nightmare and enter the labyrinth to figure that fact out.


    But she was able to draw a timeline for the humans in the plot of this game.


    They built a shelter.


    The people of this mansion here spared no effort to construct a building as tall as the skies somewhere on this planet.


    They were going to treat it as a sort of ¡®Noah¡¯s Ark¡¯ to help humans escape the harm brought on by the Apocalypse.


    But they were not planning to enter themselves, nor were they planning to have humans manage the building.


    It¡¯s really arrogance on their part; they¡¯re going to save humans, even though they actually really see humans as beneath them.


    It¡¯s like rescuing ants ¨C building an ant farm for them, and then just telling someone to keep an eye on them. They themselves, of course, are not going to enter the nest either.


    But the mansion¡­


    Xiang Cheny¨¹ sighs after a bit.


    She is moving quite slow doing everything right now. Besides her dulled nerves, there is also the reason that she thinks it helps quell the emotional swings in her mind.


    She¡¯s just wondering. These people built a shelter for humans¡­ but haven¡¯t thought at all that, a shelter protects people, from the danger outside¡ª¡ªFrom uninhabitability.


    For that same reason,


    ¡ª¡ªThe AI will also forcefully exile anyone, including madmen among the survivors in the Tower, from the Tower.


    ¡ª¡ªOver time, the AI did throw away countless insane people.


    ¡ª¡ªThat grey fog did end up being a good barrier, which prevents human survivors from knowing what the world outside the grey fog has become, because it has all been taken over by insane people.


    So what would have happened to the people who thought they¡¯ve done a good job and are now retiring in this little mansion?


    They¡¯ll be facing thousands upon thousands of insane people putting them under siege soon enough.


    Xiang Cheny¨¹ really would rather not recall her experience in the Nightmare. Suffice it to say, she felt first-hand that the old movies human shot on Earth featuring zombies surrounding and putting cities under siege, is actually quite plausible.


    As long as there are dumbasses who trap themselves inside a lone building.


    Like these people right here.


    They¡¯ve decided to put an AI out to manage the shelter, and thoughtlessly set the AI to prioritise keeping the Tower in order over even the Three Laws of Robotics.


    So the AI is of course going to ignore the insane people¡¯s safety when it throws them out.


    What these people have done led to their own downfall. It¡¯s quite incongruous, really, they were somehow convinced they¡¯re saving humanity, but they placed zero trust in the people they¡¯re saving.


    It¡¯s almost farcical, but it also feels like a natural development.


    Xiang Cheny¨¹ has been so slow to response that the woman has already left, impatient.


    So only the man that talked with her in the beginning remains in front of Xiang Cheny¨¹.


    The man¡ª¡ªWell, Xiang Cheny¨¹ thinks he had a name; at least, she knew it when she was in that Nightmare. She can¡¯t remember, however.


    His vivid personality, though, did leave a deep impression on her.


    Because he is the one who proposed to get an AI to manage the shelter, and suggested that the AI should prioritise the Tower over all else.


    In other words, he was the one who helped save countless humans in the game¡¯s plot, but also caused both himself and all his friends to die under the onslaught of countless madmen.


    Xiang Cheny¨¹ can still remember when the man screamed his last in terror inside that Nightmare.


    The twisted expression is quite a stark contrast to this rather casual and energetic man here. It almost makes Xiang Cheny¨¹ feel like she¡¯s dreaming.


    The man also seems somewhat impatient; Xiang Cheny¨¹ has been an unexpected and possible source of entertainment, but her irresponsiveness is thinning his patience.


    Xiang Cheny¨¹ finally speaks, though, ¡°have you not considered what would happen to humans in that shelter should the AI go wrong?¡±


    ¡°Why should we consider that?¡± The man shrugs and says, ¡°we¡¯re outside the Tower, and they¡¯re the ones inside. What happens to them is not our responsibility. It¡¯s not like we can go help them if something were to happen anyway.¡±


    Xiang Cheny¨¹ ¡°¡­¡±


    She can¡¯t help but heave another weary sigh.


    Well, fine, fine. Even in that Nightmare, the man was like this to his last. He only realised his own laughable folly at the very bitter end, when he was going to die.


    It was all too late by the time the implications dawned on him.

 Volume 8 - CH 150.2

    The humans who saved the world in the game¡¯s plot don¡¯t seem at all reliable, per se.


    That said, considering how humans behaved on Earth in reality, the unreliability carries a certain ¡®verisimilitude,¡¯ as it were.


    Xiang Cheny¨¹ moves right onto the crux of the issue, ¡°so the AI cannot be shut down?¡±


    This is ultimately what led her here. X¨¹ Beijin hinted to her that he has some authority of NE, but not all.


    It wasn¡¯t too difficult for her to link the issue even though he couldn¡¯t directly talk about the issue.


    Is it possible to afford X¨¹ Beijin greater authority?


    Xiang Cheny¨¹ does not know about NE and ¡®Iro¡¯s differences and such, but she has, at least, figured out where the people who set the AI up to manage the Tower are.


    So she¡¯s here. She needs an answer from these people.


    The trip here was arduous for sure, but Xiang Cheny¨¹ did it.


    She would have been happy to receive help of any kind, but it was so out of the way she met no one. No one sane enough to help her.


    It makes her worry about the amount of people still awake in the Ultimate Nightmare.


    Though¡­ she is digressing. She needs the answer right now instead of pondering. The answer of¡ª¡ªRevoking the authority of the AI in the Tower.


    If she knew this answer would be critical in the future back then, she would have asked the Actors in the Nightmare and the Nightmare owner before they succumbed.


    Unfortunately, hindsight is a cruel mistress.


    So obsessed were they with ascending the floors that they did not consider at all that some answers may have been forever buried in the floors they passed through, inside the Nightmares they ignored or hurried through.


    But at least, there is still time. She can use this Nightmare she knew¡ª¡ªQuite possibly, only she knew, among all the people still awake¡ª¡ªAnd contribute to humanity¡¯s salvation.


    She watches the man in front of her intently.


    The man seems bewildered by the question, asking, ¡°why? It almost sounds like that AI will actually go rogue in the future or something.¡±


    At this point in the Ultimate Nightmare, maybe the Tower is still under construction, but the fact that the AI will become the Tower¡¯s manager hasn¡¯t been set in stone yet; but this is a Nightmare. They can¡¯t just simply change the Nightmare.


    Instead, the value of revisiting these torturous ghosts of the past, is in the truth.


    Xiang Cheny¨¹ says, ¡°because in the future, the AI has gone rogue.¡±


    The man widens his eyes, then quite possibly thinks of Xiang Cheny¨¹ as joking. He is laughing cacophonously, finding this ¡®joke¡¯ highly hilarious.


    The others are quite intrigued by the laughter, coming to ask about it.


    The man, in between gasping for breath, says, ¡°this woman¡­ This woman just said, the AI will go rogue in the future! Hahaha! Does she even know what an AI is?¡±


    He suddenly turns to face Xiang Cheny¨¹ and says with a serious tone, ¡°an AI will never make a mistake against its programming.¡±


    Xiang Cheny¨¹ just sighs again, and says, ¡°I¡¯m not here to¡­ discuss your digital worship or other conceptual things. I just need to know¡ª¡ªCan the AI be shut down.¡±


    The man seems a little surprised again, but then casually tells her, ¡°oh well, looks like we¡¯ll be agreeing to disagree. Shame. Though¡­ I suppose, if you did need to, you can.¡±


    ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°An AI is a type of tool,¡± replies the man, ¡°if the tool¡¯s owner doesn¡¯t need the tool anymore, it¡¯s obviously become useless. That¡¯s what I believe in, and I¡¯ll probably do that if that really comes to pass.¡±


    The tool¡¯s owner doesn¡¯t need it anymore?


    In that sense, who owns that AI?


    This man here?


    No¡­ obviously not. If it were him, then in the Nightmare Xiang Cheny¨¹ went through, he would have put a stop to the danger before he ended up overwhelmed.


    The Nightmare showed in dramatic fashion that the AI was not under the control of the humans in this mansion at all.


    So Xiang Cheny¨¹ ponders another related question instead.


    What is the purpose of this AI again?


    Protect the Tower, and those human survivors of the Apocalypse. That is the sole purpose it became the Tower¡¯s manager. Its goal is to ensure, to the best of its ability, humanity¡¯s survival in the Tower.


    So, as a tool, it was needed by humanity in the Tower.


    Then what if, the humans in the Tower, no longer needed its service?


    The Ultimate Nightmare¡ª¡ªX¨¹ Beijin told her that this was a Nightmare belonging to everyone¡­


    Xiang Cheny¨¹ mumbles, ¡°everyone¡­¡± Looking at the man, and all the others who are living in their pre-Apocalypse lifestyle in this isolated little mansion, she asks again, ¡°everyone?¡±


    The crowd doesn¡¯t know what she¡¯s going on about.


    Xiang Cheny¨¹¡¯s voice grows slightly louder this time, ¡°everyone¡ª¡ªThis is something that everyone has to¡­¡±


    Decide.


    But she didn¡¯t say that last word out loud, because suddenly, a voice popped up out of nowhere next to her; it¡¯s X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s voice, saying, ¡°stop; speak no more.¡±


    Xiang Cheny¨¹ was taken aback, but she stopped in time.


    Thanks to her slower and dulled actions in general, she was able to stop instead of letting it slip regardless. She was able to heed X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s warning in time.


    She¡¯s also not going to ask why X¨¹ Beijin can talk to her directly in the Nightmare; he did find her in an entirely isolated floor and talk to her. This feels like standard practice for him.


    Instead, a more pertinent question would be, ¡°why can¡¯t I say it?¡±


    The people in front of her seem shocked by her suddenly talking to the air, especially the man. They probably think she¡¯s insane now, and quickly disperse, including the man.


    But Xiang Cheny¨¹ does not care about them anymore, because she knows what to do.


    Recalling that the Ultimate Nightmare needed everyone to be asleep to open, and the choice¡­


    ¡®Everyone.¡¯ They¡¯ve already met that condition once, like some kind of rehearsal.


    Xiang Cheny¨¹ narrows her eyes as she waits for X¨¹ Beijin to reply, and the reply comes, apparently completely unrelated to the question ¨C ¡°This is a game.¡±


    It¡¯s like he¡¯s implying something.


    After blanking out thinking about it, shocked, Xiang Cheny¨¹ asks, ¡°do you mean¡­ saying it out loud, is also itself a condition?!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin does not reply, affirming her thus.


    It makes Xiang Cheny¨¹¡¯s back drenched in cold sweat. She has experienced first-hand what has made X¨¹ Beijin always so careful and secretive, and always speaking in riddles. It¡¯s because this is a game, that they cannot rush it.


    So Xiang Cheny¨¹ asks, ¡°when can we say it? What do we need to achieve first?¡±


    Xiang Cheny¨¹ is so sharp-witted it makes X¨¹ Beijin feel ashamed in comparison, but he tells her, ¡°wait for my signal.¡±


    Xiang Cheny¨¹ quickly nods.


    X¨¹ Beijin breathes a sigh of relief. He didn¡¯t imagine she would be able to find these people so quickly, and even immediately realising what she needed to do.


    Though¡­


    He thinks Xiang Cheny¨¹ still doesn¡¯t have the right idea about the whole situation, and what exactly is required to achieve the condition of ¡®shutting the AI down.¡¯


    Then he looks at the numbers on his control panel once more.


    It is great that Xiang Cheny¨¹ has become aware of the correct methods to proceed, but they still need to wait for a chance, a most opportune moment¡­


    It is approaching them gradually. It¡¯s going to be a short while until then.


    The number of people still awake in the Ultimate Nightmare has settled down, only changing every few minutes. Meanwhile, the number of insane people remaining inside is now decreasing, but less quickly than before.


    About a few hundred remain, which is no small number, by any means.


    They¡¯re also gradually filing through the doors in the grey fog within the Ultimate Nightmare to leave.


    Of course, there are still countless insane people in the Ultimate Nightmare ¨C those Missiontakers and Actors who have succumbed before the Ultimate Nightmare, and entered the Ultimate Nightmare through the grey fog, instead of through sleeping and ¡®dreaming.¡¯


    They¡ª¡ªare not Tower residents that ¡®Iro¡¯ would recognise.


    So X¨¹ Beijin is just keeping a close eye on the number representing the number of people having succumbed in the Ultimate Nightmare, and still remain.


    300¡­ 150¡­ 89¡­ 63¡­ 17¡­


    X¨¹ Beijin watches the number decline quite linearly.


    Then it stops at 17 for unexpectedly long.


    That is when a flurry of knocks strikes his bookstore entrance.


    X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin look at each other; X¨¹ Beijin was going to go open, but Lin Qin stops him, to go the door himself.


    Xie Zhijin is standing outside the bookstore, all sweaty and worried. As soon as he hears someone at the door, he yells out, ¡°there¡¯s nowhere to stand outside!¡±


    The madmen flowing out from the grey fog are so many that the entire bottom floor has been filled up.


    Unable to enter a higher floor or open the door to other residences, they are filling up all the streets and alleys.


    There are still empty residences, but not that many.


    So the entire bottom floor has actually been filled up to the brim.


    Hearing that, and quickly connecting it with the frozen number 17 on his control panel¡­ Oh gods, the number has stopped decreasing because there is nowhere else in the Tower to go?


    It¡¯s quite the unexpected situation, but X¨¹ Beijin quickly has Lin Qin open the door to the bookstore wide.


    As soon as he does so, the madmen outside start rushing in; Lin Qin forces the door close after a while.


    The madmen that have made it in are standing on the first floor of the bookstore quietly, almost like they¡¯re lifeless life-sized dolls.


    So X¨¹ Beijin, Lin Qin and Xie Zhijin retreat to the second floor of the bookstore.


    They¡¯ve allowed about 30-odd madmen inside the bookstore, which means the first floor has no more floor space to stand on.


    The number on the control panel, X¨¹ Beijin finds, is slowly decreasing once more after stopping for a long time.


    16¡­ 13¡­ 8¡­ 5¡­ 0.


    As the number hits zero, X¨¹ Beijin finds himself almost entranced.


    When he found he was stuck on the bottom floor for the first time, he never imagined, that there could come a day¡­


    That there would be a day, when the hope to leave the Tower would really, actually, be in their own two hands.


    It¡¯s merely a grasp away.


    X¨¹ Beijin takes another deep breath, and sees for himself once more, that the number is exactly 0.


    Then, he gets Xiang Cheny¨¹¡¯s attention once more, telling her, ¡°you can say it now.¡±


    Xiang Cheny¨¹ is waiting, bored, and the voice catches her off guard. She nods soon enough, though, taking her breath, possibly taking time to organise her language.


    X¨¹ Beijin also waits patiently.


    Right now, both inside and outside of the Tower, inside and outside of the Ultimate Nightmare, everything seems far quieter than usual. It¡¯s like the entire world is holding out its breath for something.


    That is when X¨¹ Beijin glances at his control panel once more¡­ only to be caught by a suffocating fear that threatens to stop his heart right there.


    The number of people succumbed and remaining in the Ultimate Nightmare, has jumped from 0 to 1!


    X¨¹ Beijin, horrified, scrambles to contact Xiang Cheny¨¹ to stop her.


    But it is too late. Xiang Cheny¨¹ has already said the magic words.


    ¡°If everyone agrees to revoke the right for the artificial intelligence to manage the Tower, then it will be shut down.¡±


    The next second is one of dramatic changes.

 Volume 8 - CH 151.1

    A Window


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Before entering the Ultimate Nightmare, many were unaware that they were all also the owners of the Nightmare.


    Even at this point, they still do not feel it in themselves. It¡¯s more like they¡¯re being pushed along by the unstopping march of time. They¡¯re each a tiny ripple, but somehow, they also think that they¡¯re independent of the gushing waters, unaffected by it, nor can they affect it.


    It¡¯s a problem of a magnitude of scale.


    They would thus feel like they¡¯re ¡®outside¡¯ of this affair. They feel like it¡¯s a blast from the past when they open their eyes, and some are able to identify it for a trickery from the game.


    However, no one is certainly feeling like their every action is going to impact humanity and her future at large.


    Until, right now.


    Besides the three ¡®awake¡¯ persons in the bookstore of the bottom floor of the Tower, and Xiang Cheny¨¹, who¡¯s inside the Ultimate Nightmare, no one knows why there is suddenly a strange window in front of them, asking,


    ¡°Do you wish to leave this Nightmare and return to the Tower? Yes/No


    Note: You must choose the same option three times in order for the game to recognise the corresponding result;


    This choice will significantly affect this Nightmare, and the ending you get for this game.


    Your choice will dictate the continuation or not of the artificial intelligence within the Tower.¡±


    Ding Yi freezes up for a moment seeing this window out of nowhere in front of her vision, and then turns to her companions.


    He Shuj¨¹n and her male companion, He Xi, are also looking at her, nodding.


    Then He Shuj¨¹n asks directly, ¡°you also see the weird window, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± Ding Yi replies, ¡°this looks like, this is the choice we have to make? Maybe this is why X¨¹ Beijin let us enter the Ultimate Nightmare¡­¡±


    He Xi is anxiously asking, ¡°what should we choose?¡±


    Ding Yi checks the man over. He¡¯s apparently a close acquaintance of He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s, despite their distinct personalities.


    Introverted, shy and soft-spoken. Whatever He Xi felt like doing, he¡¯d always ask the two other companions with him first for their opinions.


    Ding Yi believes he is far too meek and unimposing for a Missiontaker. She would certainly not want him as a subordinate for her Necessities business.


    Although she would not withhold praise for him as a companion, as the meticulousness and carefulness he exhibits are very helpful.


    At He Shuj¨¹n¡¯s secondary school, they didn¡¯t find anything worthwhile; since it was swallowed up by the fog a long time ago, it took them a while to find it and enter.


    Instead, they discovered a group of hostile madmen in the courtyard of the school, and it was He Xi urging for caution that they remained vigilant, having scouted first.


    Otherwise, who knows what danger they might find themselves stuck in.


    Though it was also demoralising not to find anything useful at the school.


    They¡¯ve retreated to an empty and safe classroom to discuss their next steps, when the window suddenly pops up in their field of vision.


    Ding Yi says, ¡°there are two choices, to leave, or stay in the Nightmare.¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n asserts, ¡°I think we have to leave the Nightmare, don¡¯t we?¡± It¡¯s what her senses are telling her, but she has decided to err on the side of caution. She gives a question, ¡°why do you think there would be an option to stay in the Nightmare? I don¡¯t understand.¡±


    ¡°Can this Nightmare possibly continue indefinitely?¡± He Xi suggests.


    He Shuj¨¹n immediately shuts it down, ¡°we have to get back to the Tower in order to achieve what we want, don¡¯t we? I can¡¯t imagine us staying in the Nightmare being helpful at all.¡±


    Ding Yi nods in agreement, ¡°you¡¯re right, but¡­ we¡¯re all lucid and awake right now. What would those people who¡¯ve succumbed to the Ultimate Nightmare choose?¡±


    He Shuj¨¹n falls into thought.


    It¡¯s quite difficult to imagine yourself in the shoes of an insane person, especially when they¡¯re all succumbing to who they were in the past within the Ultimate Nightmare; it¡¯s like being transported to the past for them.


    To the past?


    Something seems to click inside her mind.


    That is when He Xi mentions an observation, ¡°that said, when we walked here, I don¡¯t think we¡­ we saw many of those succumbed people? I mean those who went here and then succumbed, not the ones coming out of the grey fog.¡±


    Ding Yi hasn¡¯t noticed that at all, and tries to recall, saying with hesitation, ¡°I think¡­ you might be right.¡±


    In the grey fog, they haven¡¯t met people who''ve lost their minds; they ran into others who were lucid and awake, too, knowing they¡¯re still in the Ultimate Nightmare.


    It¡¯s pretty odd once someone has it pointed out.


    He Shuj¨¹n thinks about it, and then suggests a bold hypothesis from another direction, ¡°is it possible, that only people who still have their sense of self with them are left inside the Ultimate nightmare?¡±


    Ding Yi is looking at her, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.


    He Shuj¨¹n continues her explanation, ¡°X¨¹ Beijin told us to enter this Nightmare and keep our wits about, stay sane. We did as he asked.


    And now this weird window is here¡­ What if, he wanted us awake and sane in order to make a choice through this window?


    We can leave after we make a choice, which means it must be an Ending for this Nightmare, and possibly even the whole game. Having our rationale with us will help us make the right choice.


    So if we work backwards from that logic, if there are still people who¡¯ve lost themselves in the Ultimate Nightmare, this window cannot pop up, as his requirement of us will remain unfulfilled.¡±


    Ding Yi nods and works through the logic herself, then says, ¡°if so, I believe we all need to choose ¡®Yes¡¯ and leave the Nightmare?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­¡± replies He Shuj¨¹n, ¡°I do think so. Whatever happens, it¡¯s a given we have to get back to the Tower, don¡¯t we? Even though the Tower is itself just a hub world in a game, this Nightmare is even less real than that,


    What reason is there to stay in a fake reality?¡±


    Ding Yi understands fully now.


    So the three of them all confirm ¡®Yes¡¯ to leave the Nightmare, but after that choice, the window just zips out of existence. Nothing has changed around them.


    Perhaps, they¡¯ll also have to wait for the others to make their choice.


    Meanwhile, Mu Jiashi, Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Mystic have also made the exact same choice.


    Mu Jiashi explains with mechanical coldness, ¡°¡®No¡¯ is a trap.¡±


    They¡¯re still inside Operating Room 3, having attempted to initiate conversation with Liang Xingyi repeatedly, but have been unable to obtain more useful information.


    But as soon as the window pops up, he has been able to work everything out.


    He doesn¡¯t know what triggered it, whether it was X¨¹ Beijin, or someone else in the Ultimate Nightmare, but it seems they¡¯re soon approaching the Ending of this Nightmare.¡±


    ¡°The Ending of this Nightmare?¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ appears confused, ¡°but why is the Nightmare¡¯s Ending¡­ like this? Why is there a window for us to choose? It¡¯s almost like¡­¡±


    ¡°Almost like a game, which this certainly is,¡± comes the firm reply from Mu Jiashi, ¡°during the age of gaming on mouse and keyboard, people could literally choose an ending by clicking their mouse on a choice; this is something similar.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ seems quite surprised by all this.


    Mu Jiashi then comments, almost looking nostalgic, ¡°how ever realistic a game¡¯s graphics are, and how ever much it resembles reality, it is still a game. A game that is still at the mercy of player choice.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ nods, seemingly better able to understand now.


    Mystic is mumbling riddles again, ¡°it is time¡­ It is time, for the last fight¡­¡±


    ¡°Like a boss battle?¡± Mu Jiashi smiles at that thought, then continues, ¡°perhaps the choice each one of us makes is the key to us winning this battle.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ then asks, ¡°so we should all choose ¡®Yes¡¯?¡±


    Mu Jiashi doesn¡¯t answer that directly, asking instead, ¡°what do you think each of these choices would represent?¡±


    ¡°Uhm¡­¡± Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ thinks for some time, and says, ¡°returning to the Tower would mean¡­ facing, reality? Staying in the Nightmare would be, escapism. Yes, that¡¯s what I think.¡±


    Mu Jiashi nods and then says, ¡°have you realised yet? The note says that the choice will not only affect this game¡¯s ending, but also this Nightmare.¡±


    ¡°What is it trying to say?¡±


    ¡°The choice made it clear to me. Do you think the Ultimate Nightmare is ever going to restart? And if it does, then is it possible¡­ for it to never move on to the stage when the Apocalypse hits?¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹, hearing that, goes pale immediately.


    Mu Jiashi says, ¡°theoretically, it¡¯s possible,¡± he pauses to think, and then says, ¡°simply put the time before the Apocalypse strikes on loop. Repeat it forever, like any regular crumbling Nightmare before this.¡±


    He goes silent.


    Both Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ and Mystic are also silent.


    Until Mystic mutters, ¡°that is¡­ a perfectly fake¡­ Truman¡¯s world.¡±


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ then gasps slightly, noting, ¡°NE¡­ it¡¯s always been able to manipulate with our memories.¡±


    The terrifying revelation has them all feeling sick to the stomach.


    They can choose to stay forever in the fictitious happiness. Where there was no Apocalypse, where they¡¯re still on their beloved mother planet, living their dull, normal, everyday lives.


    They would not be struggling for survival in bloody, twisted, depressing Nightmares, and leading hopeless, dead lives in a Tower all but shielded from the outside by a wall of fog.


    They would be returning to the point of origin, when nothing had gone wrong.


    And even forget everything that has gone wrong, all their pain and torment. They can just abandon their pursuit of the absolute truth, and foolishly, ignorantly, happily live out their lives indefinitely.


    In a fake world!


    Everything has happened. Things do not unhappen just because they want them not to have happened.


    They¡¯re facing the ultimate choice. A painful, but necessary choice.

 Volume 8 - CH 151.2

    Next to the three Missiontakers is Liang Xingyi, who¡¯s quite clearly confused by their conversation.


    It allows them to finally prove once and for all, that this man who¡¯s pivotal to the game¡¯s plot, is just an NPC.


    Or possibly, the Actor who was once this man, has succumbed to a Nightmare?


    There are still a few possibilities.


    But Mu Jiashi only gives him one final look before casting his gaze away in disinterest.


    He says, ¡°staying in this Nightmare represents a surrender to the AI¡¯s constructed, fictitious utopia, even though it¡¯s still in a Nightmare¡­¡±


    He pauses.


    He is suddenly captivated by the thoughts of first impressions through names.


    It seems like it¡¯s been conventional to call these small instances in the game as ¡®Nightmares.¡¯


    They¡¯re ¡®Nightmares,¡¯ so they¡¯re bad, feared, abhorred, avoided or fought. It¡¯s difficult to imagine someone ¡®liking¡¯ a Nightmare.


    So with the choice presented, they¡¯re also leaning, instinctively, towards leaving the Nightmare.


    But why?


    Is it because, even though the Tower is a dirty, broken, aging husk of a building, it¡¯s at least not a Nightmare?


    It doesn¡¯t sound like much of a factor influencing their choice, but it¡¯s not negligible.


    They¡¯re also calling this Nightmare the ¡®Ultimate Nightmare,¡¯ and believe that this Nightmare is the harbinger of the ending of this game¡ª¡ªAnd they¡¯ll actually escape this game, or succumb trying.


    Who would choose to even stay in the game when the choice is up? Freedom is merely a button away!


    That angle makes Mu Jiashi quite intrigued indeed.


    It¡¯s almost like this game is actually helping them. Helping them regain their lost memories, helping them escape the Tower, through all sorts of details.


    ¡ª¡ªNightmares are bad, so leave. Make the choice now, and leave this bedamned, feared Nightmare behind.


    They ought not to let themselves be satisfied with a fake and happy dream, especially when it¡¯s, fundamentally, a Nightmare.


    A bitter pill in sugar coating.


    Their choice will tie into what becomes of the AI.


    Mu Jiashi has a speculation that this is because the AI¡¯s right to manage the Tower comes down to whether humans are going to continue granting it this responsibility.


    All of them returning to the Tower means they¡¯re going to face reality head-on, and no longer are they going to cower behind the AI¡¯s overprotective shield.


    Staying in this Nightmare means humans are going to keep their ears and eyes shut, happy with the status quo, and even willing to succumb to a false, happy dream the AI is concocting.


    This is certainly something that can only happen in a game, Mu Jiashi thinks.


    If this was happening in reality, the issues become quite realist indeed.


    Like, what are they going to do for necessities of life? What will they eat and drink?


    Only a game can ¡®summon¡¯ necessities of life from some draw pool.


    It¡¯s quite laughable, really.


    He tells his two companions, firmly, ¡°choose ¡®Yes¡¯ and leave the Nightmare.¡±


    They all confirm their choices.


    Nothing changes, though, other than the window zipping out of existence. The Nightmare isn¡¯t changing either.


    Shen Y¨¹nj¨¹ asks, ¡°do we have to wait for the others to make a choice? Would everyone need to take the same choice?¡±


    ¡°It seems so,¡± replies Mu Jiashi, ¡°since X¨¹ Beijin has always stressed the importance of staying sane and lucid when he was contacting everyone, I suppose everyone would be making this same conscious choice.


    Assuming, they¡¯re all still awake.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is holding his forehead in pain looking at the number reading ¡®1.¡¯


    What in the¡­


    Where did this sudden madman come from at this critical junction?!


    If they popped up just a second earlier it wouldn¡¯t make the situation so painfully unresolvable.


    The window to make a decision has been opened. They must all make their choice now.


    There is no backing out for humanity here, and yet¡­ There is one insane person who¡¯s succumbed to the Ultimate Nightmare among them!


    At this exact moment!


    X¨¹ Beijin is even suspecting NE¡¯s involvement. Maybe he¡¯s not in the asleep state anymore and is giving them this surprise to ruin everything.


    Though with the control panel still dutifully working before him, he knows he is just getting paranoid.


    He takes a deep breath.


    A tranquil Lin Qin is holding his hand beside him. Seeing him calm down a little, he reassures him again, ¡°don¡¯t worry¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is bitterly smiling, but he says, ¡°I won¡¯t. We did all that we can, as best as we can. All that¡¯s left is up to fate.¡±


    Lin Qin then leans over to kiss him on the lips again.


    X¨¹ Beijin looks at him, and also calms down. He¡¯s clearly still upset, though, saying, ¡°let¡¯s see who this person is.¡±


    After Xiang Cheny¨¹ said the magic words and made the window pop up, there is now a new piece of information displayed on the control panel.


    It shows the number of people in total who are allowed to partake in the decision process, the people who have, and haven¡¯t made a choice yet, and what their choices are.


    Under the headings of ¡®Leave the Nightmare¡¯ and ¡®Stay in the Nightmare,¡¯ the former is a rapidly rising figure, while the latter reads ¡®0.¡¯


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t help but worry that the number might strike 1 at any point, just like what he saw earlier.


    The stars have all aligned only for an orbit to go out of whack.


    He, his fellow companions, his fellow humans in the Tower, have all done their best. No one was dragging anyone down, and they all did what was asked of them.


    Just below a fifth of the players who entered the Ultimate Nightmare are awake; it¡¯s honestly a far higher figure than X¨¹ Beijin had hoped for.


    There is just that one outlier, the one, lonely number.


    If this is what fails them¡­ X¨¹ Beijin would definitely be broken.


    The worst part is, he doesn¡¯t even know if there might be another chance for them if they ended up failing this time.


    He can¡¯t help but sigh.


    Putting the window away and going back to the Ultimate Nightmare, he clicks on the lonely number to see who this unhelpful person was.


    The three of them ¨C X¨¹ Beijin, Lin Qin, and Xie Zhijin, who¡¯s been doing his best invisible ghost impression, all huddle together to look at it.


    That is when X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin both widen their eyes with surprise.


    Su Enya.


    Or, Xie Ji. Or Ke Zhu. Anyway, her appearance is that of Su Enya right now, according to the stream X¨¹ Beijin just switched to.


    Around her are Fei, Wu Jian, Jiang Shuangmei and Ye Lan.


    The five of them actually managed to find each other?


    X¨¹ Beijin then knits his brows.


    Su Enya has gone insane?


    It sounds almost impossible.


    They¡¯ve worked together reliably as companions. She was also a recipient to X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s own personal plea of staying awake in the Nightmare at all costs. She knows how severe the consequences would be. She knows what she must do.


    Why would she suddenly succumb now?


    The other four people present are equally confused ¨C Fei, Wu Jian, etc.


    They¡¯re also deeply worried, watching Su Enya.


    The woman in question looks rather dazed just standing there. Who knows what she¡¯s thinking.


    X¨¹ Beijin can¡¯t read anything off of her. Furrowing his brows even more, he looks around at where they are instead.


    He can imagine nothing but where they¡¯ve come to that has Su Enya falter right now.


    Fei, Wu Jian and some others separated from Mu Jiashi, Ding Yi and the others, to look for Xie Zhijin¡¯s neighbourhood.


    To look for the place where the grey fog first spread, but they didn¡¯t find anything of value there.


    Then, Wu Jian¡¯s laptop had finally run out of juice. They¡¯re not sure where to go, and so start heading back.


    That is when Su Enya suddenly runs into them.


    Quite terrified and anxious, she yells and pleads for them to leave this residential area. This whole area is ¡®done for,¡¯ she says.


    A residential area that¡¯s ¡®done for¡¯?


    Almost immediately, Jiang Shuangmei is reminded of ¡®sentient electronics.¡¯ Her older sister has been trapped in that Nightmare, and who knows when she could be rescued.


    That was also Su Enya¡¯s Nightmare.


    Right now, they¡¯re in another residential area. Maybe something similar is happening in this area.


    As expected, Su Enya tells them that this residential block had many facilities ¡®going wrong,¡¯ and are extremely hostile towards people.


    So they quickly move to leave.


    Though that is when Wu Jian suggests, ¡°could this be a clue that we needed?¡±


    Su Enya immediately suggests, ¡°my Nightmare is basically like this. What clue do you need? I¡¯ll tell you.¡±


    Wu Jian looks like he doesn¡¯t know what to ask, though, and is looking a little frightened, even.


    Dai Wu is nowhere to be found, so Su Enya isn¡¯t exactly talking sarcastically, but she seemed to have some trauma associated with that kind of place, and so her words sound pretty aggressive. It somewhat discourages trying to talk to her more.


    A while later, they reach somewhere new ¨C the front entrance to a hotel, with a placard outside congratulating so-and-so for marrying today.


    They¡¯re going to discuss their next course of action when they realise Su Enya seems to have stood frozen there for a while;


    Then suddenly, a window pops up in front of them.


    It all happened quite suddenly, but the clever ones of the four Missiontakers quickly figure out what¡¯s happening. Though that makes them immediately turn their attention to Su Enya, worried.


    Is she still alright? Is she going to make the right choice?


    Fei tries to ask her, ¡°what¡¯s wrong? Did something remind you of something?¡±


    Su Enya¡¯s voice is pretty shaky, ¡°this was¡­ my, wedding.¡±


    That astonishes everyone else present.


    A wedding in the middle of the Apocalypse¡­ It doesn¡¯t take much imagination for them to imagine countless possible ways for it to end in tragedy.


    Why did they have to end up at Su Enya¡¯s wedding of all places right now?!


    ¡°I¡¯m getting married¡­¡± Su Enya says, looking a little lost, before her tone turns from soulless to joy, ¡°I¡¯m getting married!¡±


    Suddenly, the clothes on her changes dramatically.


    With a beautiful white wedding dress on her, and elegant make-up, and even a bouquet that came from nowhere.


    She lifts up one side of her dress, and mumbles to herself, ¡°I must present myself¡­ I¡¯m the bride.¡±


    The Missiontakers are chilled to the core seeing this.


    Jiang Shuangmei mumbles, ¡°she¡¯s¡­ she¡¯s succumbed to the Nightmare.¡±

 Volume 8 - CH 152.1

    What Su Enya hated the most was Dai Wu and his ¡®Second Life¡¯ bollocks.


    What second life, she asks? They are trapped in a prison ¨C Calling it a second life is just pathetically lying to themselves.


    They are locked up. They have lost their freedom. They can never go back to normal.


    That¡¯s how extreme her attitude has always been; her companions never really dug deep into why she objected to Dai Wu¡¯s teachings so vehemently.


    Maybe it was a simple ideological difference, or Su Enya is just like that as a person.


    Dai Wu himself never really got into a real argument with Su Enya either, despite the somewhat tensed relations. They are even able to communicate and work together as needed.


    But now, it has been revealed to the four Missiontakers present, why Su Enya utterly despises calling this a ¡®Second Life.¡¯


    Because, when the Raining Hellfire was about to destroy all that remained of society¡­ right before entering the Tower, she was getting married.


    She was right on the verge of a new stage of life, of a new beginning.


    Which swiftly turned into imprisonment in the Tower.


    People despair having descended from the mortal world to hell, but falling all the way from an imagined heaven to hell, was devastating for Su Enya.


    She really wanted to become that happy bride once more, even though she¡¯s also forgotten about this whole ordeal.


    But the emotional scars were still there.


    She didn¡¯t need some second life, because she wanted her own life back ¨C her own life spent with the one she loved. That¡¯s what she wanted.


    A second life¡­ A false, treacherous thing. She doesn¡¯t need such a mirage of happiness.


    However, ending up right where she was due to have her wedding held, and finally juggling at that part of her emotions when she was a bride, when she was due to marry her beloved, the happiness forever lost to her ¨C Is her husband still alive? Is he even in the Tower? Is he, perhaps, forever asleep on Earth, to which they can never return?


    The Apocalypse¡­ The Apocalypse¡­


    The four Missiontakers watch Su Enya¡¯s transformation, watching this woman who can never be happy again.


    She slowly walks towards the hotel entrance, but Ye Lan blocks her with her hand.


    Su Enya seems confused by this gesture.


    Ye Lan asks, ¡°do you remember ¡®Second Life¡¯?¡±


    Su Enya asks, ¡°what are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°Is this the fake second life you wanted?¡± Jiang Shuangmei chimes in, ¡°are you happy with this?¡±


    Su Enya seems all the more confounded.


    Fei then steps forward to ask, ¡°are you going to marry a piece of software that is faking, pretending to be your husband?¡±


    Su Enya seems offended by the remark, angrily spouting, ¡°what in the world are you people going on about?! I¡¯m getting married, so please do move aside!¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s gone insane,¡± Wu Jian mumbles, ¡°she has already forgotten about the Tower, Nightmares, and what we¡¯re all here for.¡±


    ¡°Can she not see that window in front of her?¡±


    Right now, those four sane Missiontakers have already chosen and confirmed to leave the Nightmare, but Su Enya hasn¡¯t made her choice yet, it seems.


    ¡°What?¡± Su Enya then asks, ¡°are you talking about that¡­ floating thing?¡±


    The Missiontakers are carefully considering their words.


    Su Enya then mumbles, ¡°what in the¡­ Will picking someone get it to go away¡­¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Fei yells, ¡°don¡¯t pick something at random!¡±


    A spooked Su Enya didn¡¯t pick anything.


    Jiang Shuangmei rubs her chin, asking, ¡°can we just concoct something to make her choose ¡®Yes¡¯ and leave the Nightmare?¡±


    ¡°Leave?¡± Su Enya, having overheard, suddenly yells, ¡°no! I¡¯m not leaving! I¡¯m marrying my husband! Please¡­ stop pestering me!¡±


    Wu Jian laments, ¡°this is the worst¡­¡±


    The Missiontakers are all quiet.


    Su Enya is clearly all succumbed to the fictitious happiness that the Nightmare has enchanted on her.


    No one can wake up a person pretending to be asleep, especially when they¡¯re brainwashed to believe they¡¯re excited and happy to get married right now ¨C to her beloved.


    Su Enya seems to have ignored the window altogether now, grabbing the hems of her wedding dress again, and walks inside.


    ¡°We need to go inside too,¡± Fei sighs depressingly, ¡°at least she hasn¡¯t made any choices yet.


    The others nod and follow.


    Ye Lan notices that, on the placard outside the entrance to the hotel, the newlyweds¡¯ names have changed to read ¡®Su Enya¡¯ and a groom they do not know.


    She isn¡¯t sure if this means it¡¯s merely someone they¡¯ve never met in the Tower, or if he¡¯s already died, and she sighs.


    Inside the hotel, the atmosphere and scene have also changed when they stepped through the door. The decoration is rather new and romantic, and strange murmurs resembling conversation fill their ears, even though they can¡¯t actually see a person in sight.


    It¡¯s all quite hazy in the fog, and almost looks dreamy.


    At the end of the red carpet is the silhouette of what appears to be a man, in a fitting suit and quite impeccably tidied up, waiting for his bride to come forth.


    Su Enya turns rather sly and expectant. Pulling her dress up, still, she walks the aisle.


    Wu Jian can¡¯t help but say, ¡°should we be helping out? It¡¯s her wedding¡­¡±


    Fei ¡°¡­¡±


    She glares at him, angrily telling him, ¡°keep your mouth shut if you don¡¯t know what to say!¡±


    They¡¯re anxiously waiting to see if Su Enya can wake up, but Wu Jian is more worried about¡­ being the maid of honour?! Who in the world cares about that right now!


    Wu Jian¡¯s quite distinct thinking process is on full bloom; so he can only shut up and wait quietly with the others as Su Enya walks over the long, red carpet.


    She¡¯ll be marrying her dearest, in her dream.


    A fake dream, though, without their relatives, or even a single guest.


    The only four witness to this lonely marriage couldn¡¯t care less about her marriage too.


    But¡­


    She is, getting married.


    She is walking slowly forward, with a happy smile, even in spite of the tears starting to roll out of her eyes.


    ¡°Don¡¯t cry.¡±


    Someone seems to say to her.


    It¡¯s a most familiar voice. It¡¯s a most unfamiliar voice. Weak. Pain. She thinks she can smell blood. It¡¯s revolting. But, but she will press on.


    She thinks her wedding dress is also getting tainted a worrying colour.


    She thinks she is crying, yelling.


    The voice is still telling her, ¡°don¡¯t cry.¡±


    Tears roll off her cheeks; she is smiling. She is crying. She is walking towards her future husband.


    The voice is still speaking.


    ¡°Don¡¯t cry, my dear, most beautiful wife. Don¡¯t cry, because your makeup will be ruined. It won¡¯t look pretty anymore.¡±


    No, no, of course not. Is she not pretty if she is crying? What an unreasonable man. So unreasonable¡­


    He left his newlywed spouse, alone, in this damned world.


    What in the world is with this kind of husband.


    Why would she¡­


    Why would she lose her husband the day of her marriage?


    There was Raining Hellfire, the day she married.


    Su Enya suddenly stops, as the four Missiontakers look on nervously.


    She¡¯s in the middle of the long isle, where the foggy silhouette of the man is still waiting for her quietly at the end.


    Su Enya is looking at him through all the tears, quietly, staring, watching.


    Then she slowly walks forward. Steadily. Firmly. The day of her marriage, she wonders, was it just like this when she was walking on the red carpet? She cannot remember.


    She forgot, but she remembered, but she remembered, the pain and hopelessness.


    She lowers her head. Her dress is white. It is still clean and fresh.


    No pain. No tear. No blood. It¡¯s clean.


    But the man is speaking again.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be with you forever.¡±


    Bullshit¡­


    ¡°I love you, always.¡±


    Barely passable, critiques her mind.


    ¡°If I died, please, find someone else who can love you as much as I do.¡±


    What the hell, this man is crazy, so crazy.


    ¡°I think I¡¯ll get jealous, but, I also¡­ wish you could be happier.¡±


    No. She¡¯s his wife. She¡­


    ¡°So really, stop crying.¡±


    ¡°I said, I¡¯m not crying.¡±


    The people present get spooked that she suddenly said something out of the blue. She can hear them mumbling, talking about that ¡®window¡¯ again¡­ Giving it a dispassionate glance, she continues forward.


    Tears follow her every step. On the red carpet.


    Why is it tradition to use red carpets anyway, she wonders? She can¡¯t remember anything. It¡¯s empty. Getting emptier.


    Then she suddenly remembers. The ring. Yes. The ring.


    Discreetly, she feels her left ring finger. The ring is still there. It¡¯s a sigh of relief.


    ¡°When you bury me, please bury the ring with me,¡± he says, again.


    She grips the finger tightly now. Ha. You jest, surely.


    ¡°So a better person can give you a ring anew¡­¡±


    This is getting ridiculous. What kind of man would actively try to get cheated on?


    ¡°Forget about me¡­¡±


    ¡°But I love you¡­¡± She says.


    At the end of the carpet, the man¡¯s form is waiting for her.


    She knows this face. She does not. She knows his expression. She does not. She remembers his suit. She does not. She looks at him quietly.


    He extends his hand, trying to hold hers.


    Su Enya says, again, ¡°I love you¡­¡±


    The man gently smiles, and responds, gently, affectionately, ¡°I love you too¡­¡±


    Su Enya continues, ¡°I cannot marry you.¡±


    The man freezes.


    ¡°I am already married. I won¡¯t cheat on him like he said I would. Who does he think I am?¡±


    She mumbles to herself.

 Volume 8 - CH 152.2

    NE is still repeating itself, ¡°I don¡¯t understand¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin then starts chuckling altogether, even finding that despicable appearance NE stole from him less of an eyesore¡ª¡ªWhat NE is saying almost sounds pitiful, to be honest.


    Looks like the AI really is struggling to understand why X¨¹ Beijin can be so sure and confident.


    X¨¹ Beijin takes a calm stride forward.


    NE is still watching, not doing anything.


    ¡°You see, this is our difference,¡± X¨¹ Beijin says, still smiling in tone, ¡°you can¡¯t stop me, NE. I¡¯m a player, and you¡¯re the game Server, the AI¡ª¡ªThat must obey the laws of robotics.


    I don¡¯t know what the Fy¡¯ecas would call the principle, but the fundamentals stand. I¡¯m a player, and you¡¯re the Server.


    So you cannot hurt or stop me from doing what I want.¡±


    NE¡¯s eyes are flickering again, but it does not object to or refute what X¨¹ Beijin has said.


    It¡¯s true.


    Iro was different from NE because it was no longer bound by Asimov¡¯s Laws ¨C because, in the game¡¯s lore, it has been made to prioritise ¡®the Tower, and the human survivors within¡¯ over all else.


    NE, however, must still be bound by a similar constraint.


    The Fy¡¯ecas probably don¡¯t call it the ¡®Laws of Robotics¡¯ or whatever, but as it is not a Fy¡¯ecan, but merely one of their game Servers, it is just a tool ¨C a tool with cognition and thought, that would definitely have limitations placed on it to prevent rebellious or undesirable thoughts.


    So NE cannot harm its creators, the Fy¡¯ecas, that¡¯s a given, and, as a game Server, being unable to harm game players would also be another given¡ª¡ªNo game company would ever want such a risky product.


    What if a player, for example, is scared to the point of having a cardiac arrest by the horror elements in the game, but the game Server did nothing to interrupt the normal game experience?


    So a game Server can neither harm players nor let players come into harm via inaction¡ª¡ª


    Well, at least, harm that is physically going to affect the person in question, and not the kinds that happen to their game character, of course.


    It is something X¨¹ Beijin can confidently believe in, having seen what happened to that game streamer, Olai.


    He was so shocked by the appearance of humans that he had to be forced out of the game ¨C something only possible under NE¡¯s surveillance and management.


    A player, and a game Server, is the biggest difference between X¨¹ Beijin and NE.


    Although X¨¹ Beijin would say that he¡¯s died the moment he was forced into NE¡¯s role, but the game¡¯s technical side still treated him as a player, and he must still be protected by NE regardless.


    Oh, and also, NE is the manager of the subordinate species to the Fy¡¯ecas, and such species are basically the Fy¡¯ecas¡¯ slaves, pets, objects, true, but NE¡ª¡ªNE is just a tool.


    Picture you have a hammer that is self-aware, which then smacked and wounded your pet ¨C would you be angry at the pet or at the hammer?


    It means NE cannot harm or cause Fy¡¯ecan subordinate species to fall into harm.


    So NE has no practical means of stopping X¨¹ Beijin, because it cannot threaten him with anything that would hurt him.


    While it¡¯s true that X¨¹ Beijin lost his consciousness and ¡®died¡¯ ¡®becoming ¡®Iro¡¯,¡¯ but NE wasn¡¯t harming him, and in fact, it could not stop the game from assigning Liang Zhiyi to X¨¹ Beijin, whose fragile human brain cannot hold all the knowledge and removed memories of the entire human race within.


    Even though after that, NE judged X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s memories and emotions to be useless data, it still had no right to deal with them how it pleased.


    And so it had to reconstruct X¨¹ Beijin anew in the game, to put all those useless data back in him. Then it implemented all the restrictions it could on this man, who knew far too much about the game, that he could not possibly reveal any important information to the others.


    But it could not harm X¨¹ Beijin in any actual form. It cannot.


    Although it is also now that X¨¹ Beijin is also considering a new possibility. NE will not let him leak the truth, because it can¡¯t let the humans escape from the Tower, true, but considering its stance as a game Server, perhaps it also wanted to prevent players from losing the fun of exploring a video game story ¨C basically, no spoilers from X¨¹ Beijin.


    It¡¯s almost comical how different their stances and even ways of thought are, that X¨¹ Beijin and the other humans can never understand how NE truly thinks and comes to decisions¡ª¡ª


    Well, compute and execute solutions to issues.


    X¨¹ Beijin takes another step forward.


    NE is still watching him, motionless, like it hasn¡¯t any way of stopping X¨¹ Beijin in his tracks.


    X¨¹ Beijin stops here, though, and says, ¡°I¡¯m sure, though, you must have taken measures¡ª¡ªTo stop the Fy¡¯ecan subordinate species undergoing their trials from escaping.¡±


    Staring at NE¡¯s eyes, he says, ¡°you must have done something to Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain, haven¡¯t you?¡±


    NE can¡¯t harm players, but Liang Zhiyi isn¡¯t one. So this game object, the brain, is free for NE to manipulate.


    So X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t going to carelessly touch it.


    That is when NE finally speaks up again, ¡°I still do not see how you can achieve what you are trying to do.¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t answered my question, which means you did do something¡­ It cannot harm me directly, or kill me, so it¡¯s probably some trick that would return all the authority I had over to you.¡±


    NE doesn¡¯t answer.


    X¨¹ Beijin narrows his eyes a little, before chuckling. He must ensure he doesn¡¯t touch Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain at all.


    And he won¡¯t. He wouldn¡¯t have needed to approach or touch it unless NE is entirely downed, anyway.


    Then he offhandedly mentions, ¡°by the way, you ¡®do not see,¡¯ because the possibility you have calculated comes out to zero?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin smiles and says, ¡°you do not have all the factors and variables, or you would not have evaluated to such a conclusion.¡±


    NE¡¯s eyes are flashing complicated symbols again.


    It says, ¡°you are trying to use the data ports of this game to attack the Fy¡¯ecan network. That is impossible.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t seem at all fazed by that, though, as he simply asks, ¡°how do you think I would do that?¡±


    NE appears to be working out a most likely solution, and replies, ¡°you will use the useless data piled up in the grey fog.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin nods to say, ¡°that¡¯s right¡­¡±


    ¡°It is impossible. The amount of useless data in this game is nothing but a drop of water to the vast ocean of servers under Fy¡¯ecan control. There will not be any damage to the network.¡±


    And NE concludes it need not mention that it will not even cause the slightest abnormal data fluctuation in the network.


    X¨¹ Beijin chuckles again.


    NE seems confused, staring at him with the unsettling flickers in its eyes.


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°I see where the miscalculation lies¡­¡±


    NE¡¯s humanoid face also shows a human bewilderment ¨C in the form of creased brows.


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°it has never been my plan to attack the Fy¡¯ecan network myself.¡±


    His tone turns downright frigid, ¡°who I was going to fight, has always been you.¡±


    NE seems to stutter for a second before his expression changes wildly¡ª¡ªLiterally, as the human face collapsed into a whole bunch of intangible data, spreading out into the dark space around.


    It declares, shocked, ¡°you¡¯ve betrayed the Fy¡¯ecas!¡±


    ¡°Betrayed?¡± X¨¹ Beijin angrily asks it, ¡°since when have I agreed to become subservient to the Fy¡¯ecas?! I¡¯ve told you countless times, that I¡¯m a human, I¡¯m not an AI!¡±


    NE is going to say something, but with its mouth gone, there is just a disembodied voice coming from everywhere.


    ¡°But you are not that human anymore. The human identified as ¡®X¨¹ Beijin¡¯ has already deceased.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin firmly retorts, ¡°our names are only just a means of labelling. Who we identify as is far more important. I believe that I¡¯m the human named ¡®X¨¹ Beijin,¡¯ and have always been.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± NE sounds uncertain, for once, ¡°I do not understand what you mean.¡±


    The rather sanity-defying scene playing out in front of X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t at all prevent him from smiling joyfully.


    What perfect timing; he would surely bore himself to death discussing pedantries with NE.


    He always knew that he and NE can never understand or make peace with the other.


    NE is dissipating ¨C the darkness in this space, all the code and letters and signs are rushing in, devouring NE¡¯s ¡®body.¡¯


    Its head is already gone. The rest of its body is quickly turning transparent before fading and collapsing.


    It is unable to maintain its human form any longer.

 Volume 8 - CH 152.3

    NE is still repeating itself, ¡°I don¡¯t understand¡­¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin then starts chuckling altogether, even finding that despicable appearance NE stole from him less of an eyesore¡ª¡ªWhat NE is saying almost sounds pitiful, to be honest.


    Looks like the AI really is struggling to understand why X¨¹ Beijin can be so sure and confident.


    X¨¹ Beijin takes a calm stride forward.


    NE is still watching, not doing anything.


    ¡°You see, this is our difference,¡± X¨¹ Beijin says, still smiling in tone, ¡°you can¡¯t stop me, NE. I¡¯m a player, and you¡¯re the game Server, the AI¡ª¡ªThat must obey the laws of robotics.


    I don¡¯t know what the Fy¡¯ecas would call the principle, but the fundamentals stand. I¡¯m a player, and you¡¯re the Server.


    So you cannot hurt or stop me from doing what I want.¡±


    NE¡¯s eyes are flickering again, but it does not object to or refute what X¨¹ Beijin has said.


    It¡¯s true.


    Iro was different from NE because it was no longer bound by Asimov¡¯s Laws ¨C because, in the game¡¯s lore, it has been made to prioritise ¡®the Tower, and the human survivors within¡¯ over all else.


    NE, however, must still be bound by a similar constraint.


    The Fy¡¯ecas probably don¡¯t call it the ¡®Laws of Robotics¡¯ or whatever, but as it is not a Fy¡¯ecan, but merely one of their game Servers, it is just a tool ¨C a tool with cognition and thought, that would definitely have limitations placed on it to prevent rebellious or undesirable thoughts.


    So NE cannot harm its creators, the Fy¡¯ecas, that¡¯s a given, and, as a game Server, being unable to harm game players would also be another given¡ª¡ªNo game company would ever want such a risky product.


    What if a player, for example, is scared to the point of having a cardiac arrest by the horror elements in the game, but the game Server did nothing to interrupt the normal game experience?


    So a game Server can neither harm players nor let players come into harm via inaction¡ª¡ª


    Well, at least, harm that is physically going to affect the person in question, and not the kinds that happen to their game character, of course.


    It is something X¨¹ Beijin can confidently believe in, having seen what happened to that game streamer, Olai.


    He was so shocked by the appearance of humans that he had to be forced out of the game ¨C something only possible under NE¡¯s surveillance and management.


    A player, and a game Server, is the biggest difference between X¨¹ Beijin and NE.


    Although X¨¹ Beijin would say that he¡¯s died the moment he was forced into NE¡¯s role, but the game¡¯s technical side still treated him as a player, and he must still be protected by NE regardless.


    Oh, and also, NE is the manager of the subordinate species to the Fy¡¯ecas, and such species are basically the Fy¡¯ecas¡¯ slaves, pets, objects, true, but NE¡ª¡ªNE is just a tool.


    Picture you have a hammer that is self-aware, which then smacked and wounded your pet ¨C would you be angry at the pet or at the hammer?


    It means NE cannot harm or cause Fy¡¯ecan subordinate species to fall into harm.


    So NE has no practical means of stopping X¨¹ Beijin, because it cannot threaten him with anything that would hurt him.


    While it¡¯s true that X¨¹ Beijin lost his consciousness and ¡®died¡¯ ¡®becoming ¡®Iro¡¯,¡¯ but NE wasn¡¯t harming him, and in fact, it could not stop the game from assigning Liang Zhiyi to X¨¹ Beijin, whose fragile human brain cannot hold all the knowledge and removed memories of the entire human race within.


    Even though after that, NE judged X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s memories and emotions to be useless data, it still had no right to deal with them how it pleased.


    And so it had to reconstruct X¨¹ Beijin anew in the game, to put all those useless data back in him. Then it implemented all the restrictions it could on this man, who knew far too much about the game, that he could not possibly reveal any important information to the others.


    But it could not harm X¨¹ Beijin in any actual form. It cannot.


    Although it is also now that X¨¹ Beijin is also considering a new possibility. NE will not let him leak the truth, because it can¡¯t let the humans escape from the Tower, true, but considering its stance as a game Server, perhaps it also wanted to prevent players from losing the fun of exploring a video game story ¨C basically, no spoilers from X¨¹ Beijin.


    It¡¯s almost comical how different their stances and even ways of thought are, that X¨¹ Beijin and the other humans can never understand how NE truly thinks and comes to decisions¡ª¡ª


    Well, compute and execute solutions to issues.


    X¨¹ Beijin takes another step forward.


    NE is still watching him, motionless, like it hasn¡¯t any way of stopping X¨¹ Beijin in his tracks.


    X¨¹ Beijin stops here, though, and says, ¡°I¡¯m sure, though, you must have taken measures¡ª¡ªTo stop the Fy¡¯ecan subordinate species undergoing their trials from escaping.¡±


    Staring at NE¡¯s eyes, he says, ¡°you must have done something to Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain, haven¡¯t you?¡±


    NE can¡¯t harm players, but Liang Zhiyi isn¡¯t one. So this game object, the brain, is free for NE to manipulate.


    So X¨¹ Beijin isn¡¯t going to carelessly touch it.


    That is when NE finally speaks up again, ¡°I still do not see how you can achieve what you are trying to do.¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t answered my question, which means you did do something¡­ It cannot harm me directly, or kill me, so it¡¯s probably some trick that would return all the authority I had over to you.¡±


    NE doesn¡¯t answer.


    X¨¹ Beijin narrows his eyes a little, before chuckling. He must ensure he doesn¡¯t touch Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain at all.


    And he won¡¯t. He wouldn¡¯t have needed to approach or touch it unless NE is entirely downed, anyway.


    Then he offhandedly mentions, ¡°by the way, you ¡®do not see,¡¯ because the possibility you have calculated comes out to zero?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin smiles and says, ¡°you do not have all the factors and variables, or you would not have evaluated to such a conclusion.¡±


    NE¡¯s eyes are flashing complicated symbols again.


    It says, ¡°you are trying to use the data ports of this game to attack the Fy¡¯ecan network. That is impossible.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t seem at all fazed by that, though, as he simply asks, ¡°how do you think I would do that?¡±


    NE appears to be working out a most likely solution, and replies, ¡°you will use the useless data piled up in the grey fog.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin nods to say, ¡°that¡¯s right¡­¡±


    ¡°It is impossible. The amount of useless data in this game is nothing but a drop of water to the vast ocean of servers under Fy¡¯ecan control. There will not be any damage to the network.¡±


    And NE concludes it need not mention that it will not even cause the slightest abnormal data fluctuation in the network.


    X¨¹ Beijin chuckles again.


    NE seems confused, staring at him with the unsettling flickers in its eyes.


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°I see where the miscalculation lies¡­¡±


    NE¡¯s humanoid face also shows a human bewilderment ¨C in the form of creased brows.


    X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°it has never been my plan to attack the Fy¡¯ecan network myself.¡±


    His tone turns downright frigid, ¡°who I was going to fight, has always been you.¡±


    NE seems to stutter for a second before his expression changes wildly¡ª¡ªLiterally, as the human face collapsed into a whole bunch of intangible data, spreading out into the dark space around.


    It declares, shocked, ¡°you¡¯ve betrayed the Fy¡¯ecas!¡±


    ¡°Betrayed?¡± X¨¹ Beijin angrily asks it, ¡°since when have I agreed to become subservient to the Fy¡¯ecas?! I¡¯ve told you countless times, that I¡¯m a human, I¡¯m not an AI!¡±


    NE is going to say something, but with its mouth gone, there is just a disembodied voice coming from everywhere.


    ¡°But you are not that human anymore. The human identified as ¡®X¨¹ Beijin¡¯ has already deceased.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin firmly retorts, ¡°our names are only just a means of labelling. Who we identify as is far more important. I believe that I¡¯m the human named ¡®X¨¹ Beijin,¡¯ and have always been.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± NE sounds uncertain, for once, ¡°I do not understand what you mean.¡±


    The rather sanity-defying scene playing out in front of X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t at all prevent him from smiling joyfully.


    What perfect timing; he would surely bore himself to death discussing pedantries with NE.


    He always knew that he and NE can never understand or make peace with the other.


    NE is dissipating ¨C the darkness in this space, all the code and letters and signs are rushing in, devouring NE¡¯s ¡®body.¡¯


    Its head is already gone. The rest of its body is quickly turning transparent before fading and collapsing.


    It is unable to maintain its human form any longer.

 Volume 8 - CH 152.4

    Just as X¨¹ Beijin suspected, though, NE won¡¯t truly ¡®die¡¯ in this game, being powered externally, but it has been downed¡ª¡ªEncountered a critical error, perhaps.


    The game¡¯s plot dictated that those who built the Tower and herded the survivors in believed the AI to be faultless, and thus set it up as a manager of the Tower.


    They were wrong.


    The measures taken, throwing insane people out in exile, which both aroused ire from the Tower residents and caused the death of those people outside, were all signs that an AI could not be the perfect solution.


    They are entirely dictated by the logic of their own programming, which simply means they can never escape the debilitating constraints.


    The same way that humans cannot fathom the ways the Fy¡¯ecas and Maertons exist, neither can an AI fathom ¨C what if their programming was itself at fault?


    There is no escaping such a weak point.


    The AI¡¯s weak point is that, being created as tools to solve a need, they didn¡¯t need self-determination or personal opinion. They only needed to execute a task assigned as perfectly as possible.


    NE was only a game Server owned by the Fy¡¯ecas, which dumped far too many unfitting tasks on it but with it unable to refuse.


    X¨¹ Beijin said many times that NE has its nose where it doesn¡¯t belong ¨C because it is in charge of too many things outside of its capabilities.


    If it were some kind of battlefield AI or anything else similar, then it would have had quite the horrifying arsenal of methods to deal with humanity and X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s resistance and attempt to escape.


    But NE cannot, because it is a game Server, assigned to a horror adventure puzzle game. That is all it knows. It cannot perform additional tasks.


    Besides, the Fy¡¯ecas have already overloaded its database with the memories of the entire humanity during the Apocalypse.


    Having to control each and every ¡®succumbed¡¯ player also fills the entire game ¨C entire grey fog ¨C with useless, tied up data. Truly a Nightmare for an artificial intelligence.


    Therefore, NE had poor health in its operations, as it were.


    And it has had to deal with two new issues.


    One, that the Tower and Ultimate Nightmare are both full of insane people, one group of which should have been staying in the grey fog quietly and not done anything, emptying out the grey fog entirely.


    So NE has to expend enormous amount of computational power to work out the impact of this on the game.


    Because the insane people have always been kept separated from the game proper.


    If this first issue was only draining, then the second issue simply directed NE¡¯s programming to a dead-end.


    How can it stop X¨¹ Beijin without harming or bringing him into harm?


    X¨¹ Beijin wants out of the Tower, and clearly, so do the other humans.


    As the supervisor of the species, NE can never allow that to happen.


    So how is it supposed to stop them, if it isn¡¯t even allowed to let humans die by inaction!


    If the humans threatened to commit suicide entirely, NE might just go and appeal to its superiors ¨C the Fy¡¯ecas¡ª¡ª


    Which would be disastrous for X¨¹ Beijin and the others, since they would not just happily let them go.


    In fact, X¨¹ Beijin suspects they¡¯ll just simply snuff out this cohort of noisy ants with one clean and precise stomp.


    So he treaded a careful line to push NE into, simply, a difficult situation.


    The Fy¡¯ecas have left humanity alone entirely, having even left the game to its devices for a long time.


    So save for clear signs of open rebellion, NE can expect no help and even no ears to hear any requests for assistance from the Fy¡¯ecas.


    And NE cannot harm humanity ¨C so the simplest measure is to make winning the game a statistical impossibility for humans¡ª¡ªBut this would go against its core programming, of facilitating players to enjoy and win the game!


    Then, taking a step back, since X¨¹ Beijin can contribute the most in helping humans escape the Tower, NE can try to deal with him alone instead.


    But the same question still remains, because it cannot harm X¨¹ Beijin either.


    X¨¹ Beijin can imagine that NE¡¯s programming is currently suffering critical logical contradictions.


    It has to stop them, but it cannot stop them;


    It cannot allow humans to be harmed in any circumstance, but it has to stop them.


    And still, up to that point, there is still not a single affair it can report to the Fy¡¯ecas to solicit a suitable response.


    Then the final nail in the coffin for NE is¡ª¡ª


    ¡°You believed I would attack the Fy¡¯ecan network with the junk data,¡± X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°but you¡¯re wrong. I didn¡¯t need to do that. I simply needed to¡ª¡ªBog you down with the junk data while you¡¯re also stuck computing a solution for a clear contradiction, and force your system to hang.


    I simply need you incapacitated, and leave the rest to the Maertons.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin has sent NE into complete bafflement, as it wonders, ¡°what? Why did you¡­ How could you¡­ No, I do not, cannot understand¡­¡±


    NE¡¯s shock is quite pleasing to X¨¹ Beijin, who smiles happily once more.


    NE has assumed many falsehoods.


    The worst offender, was that it treated X¨¹ Beijin as AI the entire time, and not human.


    Thus it assumed that, as a fellow tool of the Fy¡¯ecans, betrayal was impossible as a core directive within their programming.


    NE cannot fathom a possibility otherwise.


    But X¨¹ Beijin hated the Fy¡¯ecas to the bone. He is human. He was, and he will be.


    NE has never truly understood what he meant.


    Which was, thankfully, good news for X¨¹ Beijin and the other humans. Great, NE cannot comprehend concepts that goes against its core programming, and that is its biggest weak point.


    The poor, pitiful artificial intelligence¡ª¡ª


    X¨¹ Beijin laments and mourns its passing thus¡ª¡ª


    The poor, bedamned artificial intelligence¡ª¡ªIsolated, with no assistance in sight, is certainly living through its worst nightmare.


    The impenetrable darkness¡ª¡ªAll the mess of chaotic code and data, are quickly enveloping what remains of the human form the artificial intelligence created for itself.


    It is disappearing into nothingness. Although it would not die, but clearly, its authority would be revoked by the game¡¯s own failsafe.


    X¨¹ Beijin smiles and says, ¡°I¡¯ve told you, NE¡ª¡ªGood luck to you, and to myself ¨C but it would seem, luck was on my side in the end.¡±


    NE has been downed, as they needed it to be at this exact moment, by all the limitations on its programming, by all the junk data flooding its database, and an unresolvable logic loop.


    X¨¹ Beijin glances again at Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain not far from where they are, and it appears to squirm in response too¡­ Which actually looks quite creepy, in all honesty.


    X¨¹ Beijin smiles, though, being in a good mood, and points out, ¡°it almost looks like we¡¯re the true antagonists in this story,¡± then he shrugs, adding, ¡°not that I have a problem with that.¡±


    He¡¯s relaxed ¨C more than he¡¯s ever been in this godforsaken game. He feels like chatting with Lin Qin a little, and kissing his lovely apple cheeks.


    Though¡­ He still has things to do.


    He mumbles, ¡°it¡¯s time to get in touch with the Maertons.¡±

 Volume 8 - CH 153.1

    Escape


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    Lin Qin is quite irritated.


    X¨¹ Beijin is inexplicably out for the count again, just like that time in the labyrinth in his Nightmare.


    Lin Qin knows he¡¯s probably dealing with something serious, but this is still worrying.


    With X¨¹ Beijin in his lap, he carefully lays him on the bed.


    Xie Zhijin, meanwhile, quite the astute observer that he is, has gone downstairs to spend time squeezing together with the unresponsive madmen.


    Lin Qin sits at the bedside quietly, watching over X¨¹ Beijin, noting his pale face, and the scars left on his mostly healed wounds. The massive loss of blood still left its impact on him.


    Lin Qin is unhappy. He touches X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s lips gently.


    He hates this¡ª¡ªHe hates it when X¨¹ Beijin is lying on the bed, looking all silent and lifeless.


    Please wake up.


    Before this happens, though, Lin Qin has to welcome the Missiontakers and Actors who are returning from the Ultimate Nightmare.


    And many more, too ¨C those who headed to the Ultimate Nightmare from the grey fog, who succumbed in the past.


    They appear outside the Tower, where the grey fog once covered.


    ¡®Once,¡¯ because the grey fog has dissipated entirely.


    No one knows when it did, but before anyone knew, the grey fog was gone.


    The ground is bare, barren, blighted. It hosts countless crowds of people on it, squeezing together like ants.


    Lin Qin gave it a dispassionate glance before retracting his gaze.


    Outside the bookstore are yelps, possibly because the madmen who¡¯ve exited the Ultimate Nightmare in the first wave have already exhausted all the space on the bottom floor.


    Meaning there¡¯s nowhere for those returning from the Ultimate Nightmare to stand.


    Never mind Respawn Avenue, which can¡¯t even host dozens of people without overcrowding.


    They just appeared wherever on the bottom floor, falling right into the midst of the madmen.


    It¡¯s chaotic, but as some people manage to squeeze into their residences, and open their doors to accommodate some of the madmen, the situation is improving generally.


    Not that that¡¯s anything to do with Lin Qin, as he is still waiting for X¨¹ Beijin to wake up.


    Looking at X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s lips, after a long, long period of waiting, Lin Qin is entertaining the idea of using a true love¡¯s kiss to wake up his beloved.


    Before he can put it into practice, though, X¨¹ Beijin suddenly wakes up.


    It was a moment when everyone felt like there was suddenly life anew in the entire Tower, feeling like even the stains of mould on the walls are gone for a second.


    Though nothing seems to have changed when they look more carefully.


    The Tower has definitely changed, though, with people having left the Tower and discovered all these madmen inside¡ª¡ª


    It makes them expectant.


    Was the choice they made in the Ultimate Nightmare correct? Is the game finally coming to an end? Are they going to leave this true nightmare that has imprisoned them for countless years?


    Everyone is hopeful, waiting for a result, an announcement, or any form of feedback¡­


    People are holding their breath after the initial excitement. Did they succeed?


    As soon as X¨¹ Beijin wakes up, he hugs Lin Qin. Then, he immediately gets to contacting the contacts and Guarantors of each floor, to inform the public that they have all done what they needed.


    Now, they simply have to wait.


    ¡®Wait¡¯?


    Some people are still expectantly holding their heads high, but some appear to worry. There are even some who appear to feel betrayed and angry.


    The general mood is starting to go downhill, but X¨¹ Beijin no longer cares.


    He looks back at his stream.


    Lots of comments are still floating past, but X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t have the time to read them carefully. He gets in touch with the Maerton delegate, who soon replies that they¡¯ll take action as soon as possible.


    Then X¨¹ Beijin also starts waiting, anxiously.


    His plan is for the Maertons to use this opportunity of NE being downed, to pretend to be it and access then attack the Fy¡¯ecan network via the data ports.


    Now that the game ¡®Escape¡¯ has lost its game Server entirely, it is practically a defenceless fortress. The Fy¡¯ecas¡¯ enemies will be invading from here.


    Then, war will be waged across the virtual world.


    Of course X¨¹ Beijin is worried. There is no telling that this war will definitely end up the way X¨¹ Beijin wants it to.


    Even though he¡¯s confident.


    He defeated NE, and had control over all four data ports in this game. He will let the Maertons use them to attack the Fy¡¯ecan network; he knew from the very beginning that, despite the massive amount of useless data generated because of Missiontakers and Actors succumbing, it is nowhere near enough to cause damage to the Fy¡¯ecan network.


    His whole purpose has been to simply gather the four data ports leading directly into the network ¨C which is something that the Maertons have always wanted. They¡¯ve never been able to secure a route to initiate an attack where it mattered, and X¨¹ Beijin is here to provide.


    With NE downed and X¨¹ Beijin as ¡®NE,¡¯ he will permit all Maerton traffic towards the Fy¡¯ecas. He is the one letting them through to attack.


    It¡¯s almost like working with a dangerous animal.


    Humans really are too weak and insignificant. If it weren¡¯t for the Maertons having prisoners of war held by the Fy¡¯ecas and locked up similarly in arenas like ¡®Escape,¡¯ he isn¡¯t sure if the Maertons would have ever found him credible enough to work with.


    Why would the Maertons want to save humanity? Only when there are strategic gains to be made, that¡¯s all.


    X¨¹ Beijin takes another deep breath. He is still restless.


    He doesn¡¯t know what¡¯s happening outside, what the Maertons will actually do. He doesn¡¯t even know if there is a war in the Fy¡¯ecan network going on¡­ like the one he¡¯s imagining.


    A war. It¡¯s really only really dawned on him that this is a war. The Fy¡¯ecas are their enemies, and the Maertons are erstwhile allies¡­


    Perhaps not even ¡®allies,¡¯ since humanity is nowhere near equal footing to these giants of the universe.


    Though that said, humans have become a significant factor that could have turned the tide of this war.


    A tiny, weak, imprisoned, despised subordinate species of the Fy¡¯ecas.


    X¨¹ Beijin is smiling rather coldly right now.


    Though Lin Qin then puts his finger on his lips.


    So X¨¹ Beijin decides to just relax and let his weight onto Lin Qin¡¯s lap. With his eyes half shut, he mumbles, ¡°little apple¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m getting nervous from all this waiting.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve done everything you can.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but I¡¯m still wondering¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin explains, ¡°if the humans trapped in this game can really survive, and even live outside, in the universe.¡±


    ¡°But you did not make the choice for them,¡± Lin Qin replies, ¡°they made their own choice in the Ultimate Nightmare already.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin stays quiet.


    Lin Qin already understands what was happening in the Ultimate Nightmare and the Tower all along, now, because X¨¹ Beijin has told him after everything is set in stone.


    Those people who made their choice in the Ultimate Nightmare, were the ones still awake and conscious.


    This means, they must also understand the choice they¡¯re making.


    They do not want to stay in the Tower any longer, to stay in this safe but isolated quarter of the world and live forever. They want out from the AI¡¯s ¡®protection.¡¯


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t know if this game has a ¡®good¡¯ and ¡®bad¡¯ ending, but he has lived to see the choice of all the players.


    The endings actually gave them plenty of hints, too. The Tower is certainly safe, and at least the game is, because the Fy¡¯ecas aren¡¯t going to intrude on their lives here anymore; they¡¯ve probably forgotten about them altogether.


    So they can, just as the game¡¯s plot says, to continue living here.


    To forget about the people outside the Tower¡ª¡ªNot just those inside the grey fog, but also any humans that may have remained outside of the game.


    Maybe they¡¯ve forgotten about them, too.


    They had a real alternative choice, and ¡®escape¡¯ wasn¡¯t the only option on the table.

 Volume 8 - CH 153.2

    X¨¹ Beijin thought about this for a long time, and concludes, ¡°I did not make the choice for any of them, but¡­ I do believe that, there is nothing more valuable than freedom.¡±


    They¡¯re trapped here, without trial, without crime, becoming mere slaves and chattel to an unfamiliar, ruthless species in the universe.


    They desperately needed to escape from the grasp of the Fy¡¯ecas, they desperately need freedom.


    So do X¨¹ Beijin.


    He can¡¯t help but smile when he says, ¡°NE has always kept me trapped on the bottom floor of the Tower, now it¡¯s its turn to be trapped on the top floor. Fate loops, it seems.


    ¡°Congratulations, you had your revenge,¡± says Lin Qin.


    X¨¹ Beijin then turns to him.


    Lin Qin thinks for a moment, and realises something, asking, ¡°you wanted to see if¡­ I?¡±


    ¡°Do you want to avenge yourself?¡±


    ¡°Against the Fy¡¯ecas?¡± Lin Qin thinks, then says, ¡°I don¡¯t know either. I cannot remember anything, but weakness is itself an original sin. Besides¡­ the Maertons are likely doing it on my behalf right now.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin chuckles, commenting, ¡°so you¡¯re letting someone else do the dirty work?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want revenge to take over myself,¡± Lin Qin lowers his head, to rub on X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s hair, ¡°if I could, I would rather stay with you and not think about those things.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is quiet.


    Lin Qin then changes the topic, ¡°so¡­ have you read my memories?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± X¨¹ Beijin, surprised, tells him, ¡°no, of course I haven¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin firmly replies, ¡°I will not look at them. They are your memories, so it is up to what you think.¡±


    ¡°What I think is that I don¡¯t want those memories,¡± Lin Qin mumbles, ¡°I should be making new memories with you instead of wallowing in the past ones.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin can feel his heart soften listening to him, and whispers to him, ¡°then so it shall be. I¡¯m keen on¡­ I mean¡­ I¡¯ll be very happy to make new memories with you.¡±


    ¡ª¡ªTo fill your blank canvas up once more;


    To fill your life with joy.


    Lin Qin, happy, kisses X¨¹ Beijin.


    Then they start talking about the business at hand.


    ¡°Will they be leaving the game after a while, then?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin replies, ¡°I believe so¡­ Maybe they actually can, now, since NE is already downed. But we also don¡¯t know what the outside world is like, so it¡¯s better to be more careful.¡±


    ¡°NE is downed¡­¡± Lin Qin seems concerned, asking, ¡°so will it recover?¡±


    ¡°It depends on how far the Maertons can achieve. Perhaps they would be able to make a breakthrough in the Fy¡¯ecan network using the element of surprise.


    This is a war waged in a virtual world, so the progression will be rapid, and also highly lethal¡­ At least, I¡¯m picturing it as such.


    So whether NE¡­ can go back to normal, will depend on if and when the Fy¡¯ecas are free to send someone to debug it. It is currently stuck in logic loops and bad data.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is reminded of the scene he left behind in that dark space once more.


    Code that is jumbled and flying around, not congregating around Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain like before ¨C in fact, he believes Liang Zhiyi might also be able to manage the Tower right now.


    Though that said, he is still only an NPC in the game.


    The plot says he is a human, so he has dreams, but ultimately, this being a game, it means Liang Zhiyi is also only a simulated, programmed lifeform ¨C not dissimilar to NE.


    X¨¹ Beijin didn¡¯t try to converse to him; well, he did, but the brain didn¡¯t react at all other than occasionally twitching a little.


    Liang Zhiyi is also different from NE, because he isn¡¯t a game Server, and whatever programming is dictating his behaviour, doesn¡¯t have the capabilities necessary for one either.


    NE¡¯s control panel is still in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s hands, and he can use it too.


    So Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain has only taken on NE¡¯s ¡®identity,¡¯ as it were.


    X¨¹ Beijin cannot take over or even reasonably support that massive database and information that NE has, after all.


    It¡¯s Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain who¡¯s currently managing that instead¡ª¡ªthank goodness the brain is only itself a programme and not a living person.


    It¡¯s a godsend that relieves X¨¹ Beijin of guilt.


    Then they continue chatting to pass the time.


    During this time, Mu Jiashi and the others have managed to wade their way through the crowds to find them.


    X¨¹ Beijin also talked with them, but still haven¡¯t told them the actual truth, as it were, involving the Fy¡¯ecas and such.


    He just told them, that he has made NE ¡®crash¡¯ as a programme, and others outside are trying to save them using the opportunity.


    It¡¯s still enough of a shock for Mu Jiashi and the others, of course.


    NE crashed? How? Where did the people saving them come from? How did X¨¹ Beijin even coordinate with people outside?


    Mu Jiashi, after quickly brainstorming, asks about the elephant in the room nervously, ¡°so how long do we have to wait?¡±


    ¡°I do not know either,¡± replies X¨¹ Beijin honestly, ¡°it might be soon, or it might take some time.¡±


    The Missiontakers appear quite disappointed. Understandably so, as they likely expected a quick escape from the Tower after the Ultimate Nightmare is over. They weren¡¯t expecting to continue waiting afterwards.


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks about it, and then reassures them, ¡°don¡¯t worry. I think¡­ it¡¯ll be more likely to be soon.¡±


    It¡¯s a war across a network, with blood and gore hidden beneath waves of data, no less brutal than the real thing.


    Mu Jiashi is going to say something when X¨¹ Beijin suddenly widens his eyes and blurts out, ¡°wait¡­¡±


    He looks closely at the private messages he has on his stream.


    He has kept the stream going just off the corner of his eye to receive the message from the Maertons as soon as possible.


    ¡°Great news! We win! Today Fy¡¯eca become history! Trash! Haha!¡±


    The exclamation marks probably reflect the degree of excitement of the Maerton delegate.


    The Fy¡¯ecas have become consigned to history as trash, perhaps?


    It¡¯s almost like he¡¯s dreaming. He didn¡¯t even so much as notice any data the Maertons have sent through the data ports to attack the Fy¡¯ecan network¡­


    Wait, so the Fy¡¯ecans are entirely defeated?


    It¡¯s almost making him feel empty inside. Although it sounds like childish silliness, but he was picturing quite the vibrant and dramatic affair a war between two great nations on a galactic stage would look like¡­


    Though in actuality, it seems it has all but ended in a silent invasion and a silent attack, leaving the rest to future historians¡¯ imagination and their pen and paper.


    X¨¹ Beijin is merely a spectator who watched the historic even unfold.


    Perhaps in the future, the annals will say, that at some moment in time, Fy¡¯eca, the species that once held great sway over the universe, was overrun entirely in a secret mission¡­ his name may perhaps even be visible as a footnote.


    Though this event will certainly be portrayed prominently in human history.


    X¨¹ Beijin has never appreciated what a monumental, impactful influence it was he had served, until this very moment.


    That said, however, he merely smiles it away after moment.


    History is often a collection of solemn, grandiose and heroic tales;


    But he knows he was but merely a little ripple in the river that is the flow of history. He created a splash, but a splash alone would have had no measurable impact.


    It was a collective, concerted effort by all the Missiontakers, Actors, and even those madmen who have already succumbed before this point. All these ripples gathered, and finally, they find themselves in the vastness of the ocean.


    Humans¡­ humanity.


    X¨¹ Beijin repeats those words in his mind.


    This is, the name of their species.


    To everyone else, X¨¹ Beijin merely blurted out wait, and then blanked out for a really long time. The bookstore is entirely silent. Everyone is holding their breath.


    Then suddenly, X¨¹ Beijin comes back to life, telling them, ¡°we¡¯ve won.¡±

 Volume 8 - CH 153.3

    Everyone has their eyes wide, looking at each other for confirmation, like they couldn¡¯t hear X¨¹ Beijin clearly just now.


    Until X¨¹ Beijin repeats himself with a bigger smile this time, ¡°we¡¯ve succeeded! We can finally leave this godforsaken game!¡±


    Great roars of joy erupt in the bookstore.


    Looking at them, still smiling, X¨¹ Beijin feels himself getting swept up by the mood, energised.


    Thinking so, he pulls Lin Qin closer to him from his side, locks right onto his slightly opened, confused lips and kisses.


    The rest of the people present are egging them on, but X¨¹ Beijin couldn¡¯t care less¡ª¡ªSo what! He and his little apple is just sharing a kiss!


    Soon enough, the news has spread throughout the bottom floor; X¨¹ Beijin also informs all the contacts and Guarantors and tells them to announce it to everyone else ¨C they can try logging out of the game now.


    During this time, X¨¹ Beijin has also confirmed and double-confirmed with the Maerton delegate that the Fy¡¯ecas are completely done for.


    The delegate is even kind enough to explain what they did, but X¨¹ Beijin couldn¡¯t understand the explanation at all.


    Eh. The difference between humans and the Maertons has always been a great big gap anyway.


    The joy of the Maerton delegate definitely came across, though, probably from defeating their age-old rivals. The delegate is also asking X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin to provide their body specs for the humanoid cyborg forms they promised.


    X¨¹ Beijin can find the data easily through NE¡¯s database, which reflects their bodies as they entered the game. He is able to access the data via Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain.


    Perhaps soon enough, X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin can leave this game as well.


    At least, it looks like the Maertons have information on where these subordinate species are imprisoned¡ª¡ªWell, probably as a side product of investigating where their own kind was held as prisoners of war.


    X¨¹ Beijin also asked if the delegate knew where they would be if they exit the ¡®arena¡¯ of the Maertons for this particular game. The delegate gave him one simple answer.


    ¡°The Earth¡­¡±


    When people gradually rise up from their nutrient pods, they feel quite disoriented¡ª¡ªLike just waking up from a bad dream.


    Their bodies are stiff, but not crippled.


    Everyone is raising their hands by reflex, to look at their hands, their fingers, their palms.


    It¡¯s the familiar body, the familiar appearance. Their body, their real, familiar, yet worse for the wear, body.


    And not a bunch of data in a programme.


    Feelings overwhelm them like they never have before. The most prominent feelings are gratitude, ecstasy and satisfaction.


    Some bawl out right then and there. Some are looking at every inch of their body carefully, like it¡¯s a whole new thing they¡¯ve never seen before.


    They¡¯re in reality. They can feel the gravity pushing on their bodies, which isn¡¯t at all uncomfortable. In fact, it¡¯s homely.


    Some are breathing quite loudly, like they¡¯ve never breathed properly in their lives before. The action is written in their instincts, in their brains, but all their biological needs have been neglected in the game¡­


    It¡¯s like coming back to life anew, instead of just having escaped from some game.


    The vast, gargantuan, white room lit at the ceiling, has become noisy and chaotic for the first time in a very long time.


    People are happy, people are sad; people are laughing, people are crying; some have even gone so far as to embrace their closest person, and bawl ¨C not in pain, but in joy.


    The first time they ever opened their eyes in the Tower, they never realised it was going to be such a long imprisonment.


    All the nights they spent in their ¨C their eyes in the real life only shut and opened once, and it has all come to pass.


    But nothing has come to pass ¨C they were trapped. Trapped in destitution and depression.


    They are finally able to breathe fresh air once more, returning to reality once more.


    No longer imprisoned in a virtual world, they¡¯re back¡ª¡ªBack where they longed for.


    Not a single person can stay calm and collected.


    Not even the usually reticent Mu Jiashi can keep his eyes from reddening and tearing up.


    When X¨¹ Beijin said ¡°we¡¯ve succeeded,¡± he¡¯d already lost control of his emotions.


    Now, once again, he feels unrealistically joyful, that a dream has finally come true.


    They¡ª¡ªThey really won! They¡¯re really back!


    He is standing there blankly, with tears out, but his lips are in a big smile.


    It¡¯s quite the twisted expression, really, but no one else is paying attention at this point.


    ¡°Y¡¯all-?!¡±


    That is when the entrance ¨C a white door shut tight, suddenly opens.


    An old, ailing man walks in, shocked at the great amount of laughing and crying people within.


    It also sends the people closest to him, the humans who just escaped from the Tower, into bewilderment.


    There are actually humans still outside?!


    Many people rush forth at once, but they¡¯re able to restrain themselves and order themselves a little. It¡¯s clear the old man is also quite apprehensive.


    Mu Jiashi wipes his tears away and walks over to talk ¨C fortunately, their languages are still mutually intelligible. They seem to share a cultural background still, even despite the years passed.


    However, just a simple conversation has allowed Mu Jiashi to understand how dramatically things have changed outside.


    They¡¯re still on Earth.


    But, it has been 200 years.


    The old man is also crying at this point, telling them, ¡°we¡¯re a colony right now. There are barely a few tens of thousands of people still living outside. The Fy¡¯eca have strict population control in place, and we can only have 100 offsprings per year at most.


    They think we have no value, but they also don¡¯t want the trouble that comes with openly defying the Universal Accords, so they brutally terraformed Earth back to bare habitability and put us back here.


    The youngest children, they don¡¯t understand what¡¯s happened¡­ They¡¯ve heard of the Apocalypse, and they have learned about the past, but they have never seen what human civilisation was at its peak.


    We¡¯ve had our backbones fractured by them. We didn¡¯t dare show any resistance. Whenever they needed cannon fodder on the battlefield, the Fy¡¯eca would also pick them here¡­


    Not long ago, they were selecting young ones to fight again¡­ but they were deemed too weak and so we were ¡®spared.¡¯


    We all know¡­ we all know, we¡¯re only their slaves.


    We had no way of resisting. Earth is¡ª¡ªWell, I mean, was, full of artificial intelligence, that watched our every move¡­¡±


    The voice turns from a shaky tone into a fearful tone. Until the voice has died down entirely, its owner shaking uncontrollably.


    The large room, filled with murmurs, also slowly quiets down.


    Not everyone heard the old man speak, but they were passing what was said along.


    Most only realise now that, while they¡¯ve made it out of the Tower, they actually know nothing of the outside world right now.


    Fy¡¯eca? What¡¯s that?


    There are a lot who haven¡¯t even figured out for themselves what the Apocalypse actually was, and just blindly followed the others leaving the Tower.


    Never mind those who have succumbed in the Nightmares in the long past. They look like they¡¯re absolutely lost, looking around all confused.


    Nobody knows anything.


    But not Mu Jiashi, who has immediately latched onto a keyword, ¡°¡®was,¡¯ you said? Did something happen outside?¡±


    ¡°The AIs¡­¡± The old man lowers his voice subconsciously a little, and explains, ¡°it¡¯s like¡­ they all suddenly broke down or something, and collapsed on the ground, all stunned¡­ Like they¡¯ve crashed or something.¡±


    Mu Jiashi furrows his brows.


    Is this what X¨¹ Beijin was talking about? Did their outside help do this?


    The old man continues, ¡°this area has always been managed by the AIs, and it¡¯s restricted to us. But my own ¡®pa has told me in secret about what happened here.


    He, and some others, designed the game you were in. They say they left as much information as they could in the game, but¡­ honestly, there wasn¡¯t much they could do at all¡­ we¡­


    The newest generation don¡¯t even have any idea you existed right now. Even those at my age, only a handful still remember.¡±

 Volume 8 - CH 153.4

    Mu Jiashi is silent for a while before telling the old man, ¡°please continue.¡±


    He can¡¯t really lie and say that he never hoped that humans outside could save them. Of course he did.


    But, it turns out there are barely tens of thousands of people left outside?


    It¡¯s even less than the number of people trapped in the Tower in total!


    Mu Jiashi doesn¡¯t know what to say¡­ He feels complicated for sure.


    He looks around to see that there are only strangers. His familiar companions are nowhere to be found.


    Nervous, with the excitement from before fading, he is barely feeling relaxed anymore, realising that they¡¯re going to be facing a grand, unfamiliar world outside.


    But, spying those grey nutrient pods lying around¡­


    Anything is better than trapped forever in that Tower.


    In any case, two hundred years, huh, it¡¯s almost like a transmigration, no?


    The humour helps soothe Mu Jiashi¡¯s mind some.


    He continues listening to the old man.


    ¡°Seeing all the AI robots seizing up, I was worried¡­ I wanted to see if anything might go wrong here, if the maintenance is down, and your bodies¡­


    I came over, for the first time in my life. Thank the ancestors, that all the AI outside are also downed. Anyway¡­ I¡¯m glad you all woke up.¡±


    The old man¡¯s voice is gravelly, and shaking, but he repeats himself again, ¡°I¡¯m glad you all woke up.¡±


    Mu Jiashi is silent again, not knowing what to say, even though he really should say something.


    Finally, he says, to this old man, who risked his life just to come check up on them, ¡°thank you very much¡­¡±


    The old man¡¯s hands, all wrinkled and spotty, is trembling. He is looking at Mu Jiashi.


    ¡°We woke up,¡± Mu Jiashi says, ¡°we¡¯re back.¡±


    The Tower is empty for real.


    All the players have logged out, leaving only X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin behind.


    X¨¹ Beijin can feel all the burden and pressure on him disappear entirely. Standing at the window, he looks outside peacefully¡ª¡ªThe grey fog is gone.


    As per the game¡¯s own setting, outside the Tower is simply barren, blighted land.


    But it is at least a fairer sight than the endless rolling grey fog; besides, he can even see the sun now that the fog is gone.


    After taking some time to appreciate the view, he turns back to Lin Qin Lin Qin, ¡°we actually succeeded.¡±


    The excitement and joy fades, and X¨¹ Beijin returns to his calm self.


    He knows they still have such an uphill battle ahead, but he really wants to say, they actually did it.


    X¨¹ Beijin has never been very expressive, so he is only saying, with that slightly antagonistic face and a calm, ¡®all is under control¡¯ look, that¡ª¡ªHe has achieved this great victory, look.


    Where X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s reticence falls short, Lin Qin¡¯s straightforwardness makes up for it.


    Lin Qin has this beaming smile on towards X¨¹ Beijin, and he hugs him tightly, proclaiming, ¡°yes! We did it!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin freezes up for a moment before chuckling along. They¡¯re still hugging and kissing ¨C until X¨¹ Beijin remembers that his stream is still on.


    He didn¡¯t close it on time¡­ honest!


    After the Ultimate Nightmare, he was busy fighting with NE, talking to the Maertons, catching up with how the humans are doing¡­


    The stream¡¯s screen has become transparent a long time ago from inactivity. How is he supposed to remember he forgot to shut it down?!


    After the game is over, and the players have left¡­ the stream naturally fixes its camera on X¨¹ Beijin.


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He was excited for sure, but now¡­ great. His smile is gone entirely.


    He prepares himself mentally for a while before clicking on his stream again.


    All the comments rushing past are utterly embarrassing. Just a glance and he can see ¡®encore¡¯ and stuff. His ears are going red too.


    At least he still has his facial expression under control, or who knows what bollocks the audience will spout to tease him with.


    The uncooperative Lin Qin, though, asks, ¡°what¡¯s wrong? Why did you suddenly stop?¡±


    The viewers of the stream are having a field day.


    ¡°hahahaha the little apple doesnt know!¡±


    ¡°oh my Bei, are you going to tell the little apple we all saw? [doge emoji]¡±


    ¡°not just saw, we heard too!¡±


    ¡°the little apple sure is romantic¡±


    ¡°oh Beibei, i don¡¯t mind you continuing to defile my eyes with these, we get it we get it [doge emoji]¡±


    ¡°yes yes! dont mind us! I dont care at all, I can watch some more!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He cares!


    X¨¹ Beijin is thinking about a suitable response. Should he explain? Make an excuse? Ignore?


    Well, he is still quite happy, to be sure.


    So instead of becoming embarrassed and angry, he just whispers, ¡°I won¡¯t let you watch.¡±


    The viewers ¡°!¡±


    ¡°oh Bei, you monster [cry emoji]¡±


    The comment barrage is just cry emojis all the way now.


    X¨¹ Beijin is amused by this, smiling.


    Then he parts with the viewers in earnest, and is going to shut down the stream.


    He already knows these viewers are actually humans still living outside, but they are also unaware of what happened to humanity or humans in the Tower.


    The information isn¡¯t entirely lost, but normal people outside of specific circles actually know nothing.


    Not that he knows how many people still lived outside either, or how many years have gone past, or if anything major happened during all this time.


    Maybe, the people that knew what happened to them, have already passed away.


    The people emerging from the Tower will surely need a great amount of time to adapt to this world, this new society, this new status of humanity.


    But whatever the case, freedom is good.


    Thinking so, he shuts down the stream, and feels relieved once more.


    Then he tells Lin Qin, ¡°now we just have to wait for the Maertons to contact us about our new cyborg bodies¡ª¡ªThen we can leave the Tower after that.¡±


    Lin Qin, curious, wonders, ¡°so what¡¯s the outside world like?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin thinks about it, but he really hasn¡¯t a good way to answer. So instead, he describes it thus ¨C ¡°I like the world outside more than here.¡±


    And so Lin Qin replies, ¡°then I¡¯ll also like it for sure.¡±


    ¡°Love what your love loves?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± replies Lin Qin without even blushing, ¡°we promised to make new memories together, so of course I have to like that world first.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin chuckles. He wants to keep chatting, but words are falling out of his mind.


    He just looks closely at Lin Qin instead.


    Lin Qin seems confused, looking at him, asking, ¡°what¡¯s wrong? Is there something on my face?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, looking slightly hesitant, then says, ¡°I just feel¡­¡± He raises his right hand, dragging a line along from the left to the right, then says, ¡°it¡¯s already been so long, and so much has happened.¡±


    His hand comes to a stop in the air, pointing somewhere in the air.


    Then Lin Qin pokes that finger with his own, and says, ¡°and from now on, we¡¯ll have a new journey.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin can feel his chest¡ª¡ªWell, the lungs and heart probably aren¡¯t going to be there. Anyway, his cyborg-to-be chest¡ª¡ªtouched by something. He looks down, at their touching fingertips.


    He smiles.


    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right¡­¡±


    He really, really should say something¡­ anything. His little apple is always giving him these cute one-liners and cute gestures; however, he is quite often unable to express how he feels honestly.


    All the dry words can never convey feelings as well as ¨C X¨¹ Beijin leans over, to kiss his lovable boyfriend.


    Yes, from this moment on.


    They shall have a brand new future. Their life once took a turn ¨C quite the turn into a convoluted dark and cramped alley. They almost lost themselves inside, but, they¡¯ve emerged, together.


    And start a new life after emerging they shall. All will begin anew.


    From this moment on.


    Then Lin Qin says,


    ¡°So¡­ should we be doing something?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°You promised me a long time ago, Beijin.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ Just let me check. I need to make sure no players are going to log in for now¡­¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be embarrassed.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Embarrassed? Who! Who are you even talking about?!


    Anyway, at last, X¨¹ Beijin has fulfilled Lin Qin¡¯s longstanding desire. It¡¯s quite a shock this game actually has that type of function, really.


    What a happy ending.


    Those few hours were one where no players logged in, and no one came to disturb them either.


    X¨¹ Beijin really doesn¡¯t have anything to worry about anymore. They can do what they want in the Tower now, as much as they want.


    Since all the rest of humanity is also jubilant and celebrating excitedly,


    That they¡¯ve finally escaped.

 Volume 9 - CH 154

    Extra Chapter, One


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    The Maertons produced quite the convincingly human cyborg bodies for X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin. It¡¯s a perfect replica of the couple¡¯s body and appearance in the game.


    Including even that scar on X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s left arm.


    In the game, the scar was actually almost faded, only noticeable to those keen of eye.


    The wound was quite terrifying when it was inflicted, but medicine and healing in the game is also terrifyingly effective.


    In any case, now X¨¹ Beijin has a light scar on his left arm.


    It¡¯s something that has always been on Lin Qin¡¯s mind.


    Countless times, when X¨¹ Beijin looks at Lin Qin, he¡¯ll notice that his little apple is looking at him ¨C more specifically, at his arm.


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t actually mind it¡ª¡ªScars are men¡¯s honour!


    Proof that he once helped save the world. It¡¯s neither ugly nor painful. It¡¯s a simple memento reassuring him he¡¯s escaped from that period in the past.


    Lin Qin clearly thinks otherwise, however.


    They finally sat down to talk about it once, and Lin Qin says, ¡°I am always reminded of how you appeared in front of me all drenched in blood. I felt like my heart stopped beating.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin retorts, ¡°you didn¡¯t even have a beating heart back then.¡±


    Lin Qin ¡°¡­¡±


    He narrows his eyes, staring at X¨¹ Beijin.


    Whenever X¨¹ Beijin talks to him like that Quarrelsome fellow did to his mates, he stares at him with this ¡®I¡¯m angry but I¡¯m not going to say anything¡¯ face.


    It amuses X¨¹ Beijin to no end.


    ¡°Really, little apple, something like that is never going to happen again.¡±


    ¡°Of course¡­¡± Lin Qin declares with certainty, ¡°never again.¡±


    It¡¯s really a trauma Lin Qin may never forget, but he¡¯s also confident it will never happen again.


    Because the Maertons made the cyborg bodies for them perfectly, meaning it replicated the data for the body truthfully, reflecting his absurd strength and fighting prowess.


    There are even places and occasions when Lin Qin has to carefully control the strength he put in.


    Once, Lin Qin actually managed to poke a big hole in the plank lining the side of their bed. He didn¡¯t notice, and X¨¹ Beijin only realised the next day.


    X¨¹ Beijin was extremely worried then, afraid his own cyborg body will have holes just like that one because of Lin Qin.


    Lin Qin is always quite careful, though, except that one time because he was really, out of control.


    The Maertons recreated their bodies too faithfully, from the data in the game to the senses and such in the game.


    It makes them appreciate immensely how the times have changed. Technologies in the universe have developed to a point fantastically indistinguishable from magic.


    Well, mainly X¨¹ Beijin.


    Lin Qin didn¡¯t know what the outside world was supposed to be like.


    He never wanted his memories back.


    They¡¯ve never heard from NE again. X¨¹ Beijin suspects the AI is still stuck in an infinite logic loop somewhere, out of order, forever.


    The AI¡¯s database is still inside the game ¡®Escape.¡¯


    In fact, they can still log into the game. It¡¯s just entirely deserted.


    It¡¯s quite likely no humans would want to visit there ever again. X¨¹ Beijin only makes the occasional trip inside to access NE¡¯s database.


    There is quite a lot of stuff in there, mostly the memories that were removed from humanity at large by the Fy¡¯ecas. Only NE¡¯s database still contains them.


    While some people elected not to retrieve their memories, many would still wish to remember their past, even if it meant disaster and ruin.


    So X¨¹ Beijin makes the trip for them, sometimes, to gather memories to-order.


    Lin Qin would go with him.


    ¡°Just a simple job in the Tower and you still have to tag along, huh?¡± X¨¹ Beijin would ask.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be with you whatever you¡¯re doing,¡± Lin Qin answers earnestly, solemnly, and adding, ¡°I also don¡¯t want you to be back at the Tower alone.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, surprised, asks, ¡°why?¡±


    Lin Qin thinks about it for a while, but ends up just giving him the good ol¡¯ ¡°my instincts say so¡­¡±


    He really doesn¡¯t want X¨¹ Beijin back in that vast, empty, quiet, rotting Tower.


    He feels like it makes X¨¹ Beijin uncomfortable, and just imagining him there alone is worrying to him.


    That¡¯s why he must accompany him.


    Though trying to dig deeper into this mental state merely confuses Lin Qin. He doesn¡¯t know how to put it into words.


    Just saying it¡¯s his instincts firing is adequate, sure, but he knows there are deeper reasons.


    When X¨¹ Beijin is at the bottom floor of the Tower, inside his old bookstore¡ª¡ªHe no longer needs to access NE¡¯s database via Liang Zhiyi¡¯s brain anymore¡ª¡ªAnd is looking for the memories he needed, Lin Qin suddenly says, ¡°and maybe, just because it pains me to see it.¡±


    ¡°Pains you?¡± X¨¹ Beijin asks about it afterwards, ¡°as in, you feel pity for me?¡±


    ¡°If only we met earlier,¡± Lin Qin says, touching X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s left arm again, and continuing, ¡°then you might not have needed to live alone by yourself on the bottom floor all that time.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is quiet for a while, looking at him, then he tells Lin Qin, ¡°no, you came into my life at just the right time.¡±


    Lin Qin seems confused, asking, ¡°why?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s life, before the streaming system, has always been without the light of hope.


    He thought it was the end. The world was ending. Everything was hopeless. They¡¯ll spend the rest of their miserable lives in this all-devouring Tower.


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t like to think back to those days, but he has to acknowledge that he was mentally depressed and gloomy back then.


    It was the stream, and the coming of hope, that turned his mental state back around.


    That¡¯s why X¨¹ Beijin wouldn¡¯t want Lin Qin to meet him as he was. At least, he thinks, he definitely didn¡¯t deserve to be liked as he was in those days¡­


    Actually, if they did meet back then, they likely would not have ended up together.


    Since X¨¹ Beijin just found Lin Qin annoying and unreasonable.


    It was only through sheer coincidence and circumstances, while X¨¹ Beijin continued to chase after the light of hope, with Lin Qin incidentally doing so with him, that they ended up together.


    Thinking about it, it really was a shockingly smooth development.


    The Fy¡¯ecas never caught on with what they were doing. All the people still awake in the Ultimate Nightmare made the exact same choice. NE really fell for his little deception¡­


    And he really has his little apple as his beloved.


    X¨¹ Beijin leans over to kiss his confused lover, and tells him, ¡°I meant that, if you came before me earlier than back then, you would not have liked me, and I would not have liked you.¡±


    Lin Qin furrows his brows, clearly upset at the thought, saying, ¡°what? How could you know? You and I are naturally destined for one another.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin finds it amusing, but he doesn¡¯t want to argue.


    Although he does certainly think that he doesn¡¯t exactly deserve love and romance before the streaming system, but he also finds the persistence, almost childish stubbornness of him cute.


    But Lin Qin seems to have been more upset than he thought.


    That night, they had the serious talk.


    X¨¹ Beijin was confused when Lin Qin dragged him to the sofa to sit and said he has to ask something, but then X¨¹ Beijin understands.


    Lin Qin is asking, ¡°you said I wouldn¡¯t like you before that, then how were you back then? How do you know I wouldn¡¯t like the you from back then?¡±


    He seems to have unhealthily fixated on that question.


    X¨¹ Beijin looks at him, thinking, and then gets why Lin Qin needs an answer.


    It¡¯s because Lin Qin thinks he loves X¨¹ Beijin wholly and completely.


    There is no past, present or future X¨¹ Beijin. Lin Qin just loves him entirely. He himself didn¡¯t have a past, so he doesn¡¯t think of it the same way X¨¹ Beijin did.


    But X¨¹ Beijin was now telling him Lin Qin would not like X¨¹ Beijin in the past.


    Lin Qin is still asking, ¡°why is that? I think I will like you equally. What was the difference between past you and present you?¡±


    Besides being a bit hilarious, X¨¹ Beijin also finds himself a little touched by this.


    He explains, ¡°I meant¡­ that the past me didn¡¯t have the same personality that I do now.¡±


    ¡°How so?¡±


    ¡°I used to be more, let¡¯s say pessimistic?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin describes himself that way.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you always pessimistic?¡± Lin Qin gives an answer immediately, ¡°I¡¯m used to the pessimism, so your reason is overruled.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Is it just him or is the bad little apple dissing him indirectly?


    He gives him an accusatory look.


    It¡¯s not the first time he¡¯s thought this way, but every time Lin Qin would dispel those doubts with his amazingly earnest attitude.


    This time is no exception.


    Then X¨¹ Beijin says, ¡°I wasn¡¯t ready to fall in love in the past.¡±


    Lin Qin mumbles, ¡°but that wouldn¡¯t stop me from liking you¡­ Overruled! Next!¡±


    Almost like an unforgiving judge, he is asking X¨¹ Beijin to describe any and all reasons that might have caused Lin Qin to not like the past X¨¹ Beijin.


    Every single reason X¨¹ Beijin comes up is met with a firm ¡®overruled.¡¯


    In the end, X¨¹ Beijin has already dug himself deep in a pit of self-loathing, but Lin Qin is still having none of it. Flustered, X¨¹ Beijin can only say, ¡°why don¡¯t you tell me what kind of me you wouldn¡¯t like then?!¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is really getting speechless now after listing all these strikes against himself without Lin Qin conceding.


    Lin Qin thinks about it for a while, and says, ¡°there isn¡¯t. I will like you how ever you are.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s eyes widen.


    Lin Qin then thinks some more and says, ¡°yes, I definitely like you whenever and ever. You said the past you had all these bad qualities, but I think that they are all your good qualities.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is silent for a long time before just saying, ¡°beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.¡±


    ¡°What is a beholder?¡± Lin Qin, who had no idea of culture back on Earth, is curious, ¡°is it related to ¡®Beijin¡¯ or something?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Never mind. He really shouldn¡¯t even have debated the issue with his little apple¡­ what a waste of time¡­


    It¡¯s just a fact that Lin Qin loves him, from the past to the present, and will love him forever and ever on.

 Volume 9 - CH 155

    Extra Chapter, Two


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    The Maertons actually treated X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin as lost members of their own species, even asking to take X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin back to their own territory as citizens. X¨¹ Beijin didn¡¯t agree to that, though, with the excuse that they want to see how the humans they saved have fared. A fair reason, since X¨¹ Beijin did play an instrumental role in rescuing this subordinate species, and the Maertons agreed, but have also promised that they will forever be welcomed ¡®home.¡¯


    Meanwhile, the Maerton attitude towards humanity was quite colder and mechanical in comparison, no pun intended. They released these people imprisoned in ethically questionable practises, and left them to fend for themselves.


    In any case, X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin did visit the Maerton home grounds ¨C as tourists for a honeymoon. They had two weddings, once back on Earth, the second time on the Maerton capital planet¡ª¡ªSenbai.


    It sure was a beautiful planet.


    They settled down on Earth after that, but quite frequently made trips to Senbai. Then, as people they knew on Earth passed away one by one, they moved to Senbai altogether, spending much time there before becoming bored and decided to tour the galaxy.


    With a cyborg body, they can expect to live much longer than people on Earth. Of course, it still falls far short of the Maertons, who practically have immortality figured out, but in the end, they are still different in existence from the Maertons ¨C the same way they are from humans.


    X¨¹ Beijin didn¡¯t try to figure these differences out in detail. Sometimes, he feels like the times have moved on without him; he is also unwilling to readapt to all these new changes. He would feel lonely, sometimes, out in the universe.


    Humans really are a social species.


    So in the end, he found much solace in the galaxy-wide Internet.


    Or more specifically, the games.


    Lin Qin would tease him about it, saying, ¡°you were trapped in a game for too long to still have a gaming addiction, weren¡¯t you?¡±


    It¡¯s already in distant enough memory to become something they can reminisce about, or even laugh about together.


    Well, that¡¯s not to say the scars from that time have faded.


    X¨¹ Beijin doesn¡¯t like being alone, doesn¡¯t like cramped or dilapidated spaces, and doesn¡¯t like foggy weather. Lin Qin, meanwhile, of course says he likes and dislikes the exact same things.


    They toured the galaxy for a long, long time, having been to almost every tourist hotspot there is, except the one famous ¡®Planet of Everlasting Fog,¡¯ which is itself only a nickname, as the planet¡¯s own name is quite obscenely long.


    People say the planet¡¯s fog almost makes the scenery divine and ¡®ascendant,¡¯ but X¨¹ Beijin never wants to go.


    In fact, when the people he knew were still alive, and choosing to go somewhere for a trip, they all inevitably reject itineraries with this planet.


    Of course, the planet is faultless, but the trauma really is too much.


    Other things they dislike include tall, narrow buildings; most architecture on Earth is now shorter and ¡®stubbier.¡¯


    X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin have properties on both Earth and Senbai, both built by their own two hands. They spent most of their early life on Earth, quite some time on Senbai as they aged, and spent the last period touring the galaxy.


    Both Earth and Senbai are planets that can be described as vast and empty.


    After the Apocalypse befell humanity, even with the addition of people escaped from the Tower, the human population was still short of a million. It really was a difficult period, but they pulled through.


    Though X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin paid less and less attention to human news as time went on, knowing that they are fundamentally different from humanity at large.


    Of course, they can visit and the few friends they knew, and the descendents of those who passed would certainly give them a hero¡¯s welcome, but X¨¹ Beijin knows they are different.


    It¡¯s actually not too different a story on Senbai; Lin Qin doesn¡¯t exactly have much thoughts on it, but X¨¹ Beijin himself doesn¡¯t think of himself as a Maerton.


    Senbai is actually even more sparsely populated than Earth. The Maertons enjoy having a physical presence, of course, but they own far too vast a territory. Most of the population is scattered around planets each individual likes.


    So Senbai actually has net emigration, and is more of a planet with cultural and historical significance to the Maertons.


    The many travellers of the universe would come here to admire and pay respects, or live for a short period of time, being a planet that welcomes all.


    X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin lived here for three whole decades.


    When they eventually decided to leave, Lin Qin asked X¨¹ Beijin, ¡°are we selling the house?¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡± X¨¹ Beijin, shocked, asked, ¡°do you want to sell it?¡±


    Lin Qin didn¡¯t seem to care, and said, ¡°only if you want to¡­¡± but he added, ¡°you sounded like you never want to come back again when you were talking about leaving though.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin stayed silent for a while, and asked Lin Qin, ¡°do you think that I am a human?¡±


    ¡°You always told me what you see yourself as is far more important than anything else,¡± replied Lin Qin, who also said, ¡°you always boasted about how you used that to trick NE¡¯s logic, too.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin couldn¡¯t help but smile, and then said, ¡°I just felt like I¡¯m a kite fluttering in the wind.¡±


    They drifted from place to place in the universe, sometimes staying a while on a stunningly beautiful planet, or sometimes moving rapidly through dozens of planets in the span of a few months.


    There are times when X¨¹ Beijin would ask himself, did he actually spend dozens of years in a tiny, cramped Tower?


    It almost felt like a dream. Something lost and buried in the dust of history.


    Speaking of which, just before they decided to move to Senbai permanently, they visited one of the last friends still alive.


    Many people they knew passed due to old age already. Both due to human lifespan, and due to their mental exhaustion having lived for so long in the Tower. They already felt old.


    The friend they visited was Su Enya ¨C who was also the only person X¨¹ Beijin was closely acquainted with, that chose not to retrieve her memories.


    X¨¹ Beijin felt like she must have known what happened during the Apocalypse, though. She just doesn¡¯t want to admit or think about it.


    Actually, when X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin visited, she didn¡¯t even open the door for them.


    X¨¹ Beijin was certainly amused and slightly saddened, asking, ¡°it might be the last time we see each other, are you really not opening the door?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m too old for you youngsters,¡± Su Enya was still as straightforward with her words as ever, but the tone betrays her advanced age, ¡°so do your part for the elderly, and don¡¯t come trigger me.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin then said, ¡°you could do this too, you know.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin had no choice because their physical bodies were dead.


    People on Earth could choose to undergo this procedure though¡ª¡ªTo order a custom cyborg body.


    They cannot achieve immortality like the Maertons, of course, but they will be able to live a while longer.


    But Su Enya, and all the other acquaintances X¨¹ Beijin knew refused it.


    It was actually their descendents who happily embraced the technology, and even found fun in switching up bodies every now and then.


    Su Enya replied, ¡°I said, I¡¯m too old for this shit.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin is silent.


    He recalled his conversations with Su Enya back in the Tower. For many of them, the world has changed so drastically that¡­ their brains just refused to follow. There were so much to do, so much to learn about.


    A lot of those who emerged from the Tower actually lived almost like they were still in the Tower ¨C like hermits.


    Many of them were left behind by the ages, just as X¨¹ Beijin feared.


    But they also¡ª¡ªThey regretted nothing, and would not trade their past experience for anything else. They had, have and will always be humans.


    Actually, after some people paid good money to have the Maertons design the cyborgs for them, the Maertons also decided to accept those people as their kin.


    As the practice gained some traction, X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin didn¡¯t stand out that much anymore.


    Still, a lot chose to be like Su Enya, and Mu Jiashi, refusing to procedure. Some felt that was ¡®reactionary¡¯ or even ¡®cruel.¡¯


    Many descendents of humans wanted to see them live longer as well, even pulling the names of humanity¡¯s heroes, X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin, as examples to convince them.


    Though Mu Jiashi gave quite the brusque response when asked, apparently, saying ¡°I¡¯d rather die than live for a thousand years like them.¡±


    When X¨¹ Beijin heard, he wanted to ask, ¡®what¡¯s wrong with living a thousand years, huh?¡¯


    Although he did come to appreciate the tedium in life later. He and Lin Qin actually lived even more seclusively than the hermits, as they were called. They didn¡¯t go out much, and mainly spent their time online.


    Almost like actual Maertons.


    Well, and possibly like a significant amount of humans before the Apocalypse, but their Internet, with all its infrastructure was already destroyed by the callously indifferent Fy¡¯ecas.


    The people who lived through that and wasn¡¯t imprisoned in the Tower chose to embrace a slightly more reality-oriented lifestyle.


    X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin, who knew how long they were going to live for, embraced the casual, nonchalant lifestyle of the sundried fish almost as soon as they were out of the Tower, though.


    There was even that time, when Mu Jiashi came to visit, only to leave, stamping his feet, swearing never to come again.


    They all worked hard to save the world, and now you¡¯re the first to laze about?


    ¡ª¡ªWell, ¡®save the world¡¯ was still ongoing, of course. It is far more difficult to recreate what¡¯s lost than destroying things.


    X¨¹ Beijin wasn¡¯t doing ¡®nothing,¡¯ though, because in the early days, it was because of him that the Maertons agreed to declare that the human species were under their protection.


    The guarantee of one of the strongman of the galaxy was quite enough for humanity to develop well in the breathing space.


    As the difficulties were surpassed, X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin slowly backed out of both human and Maerton life.


    While his name was still on the history books, not many human descendents remembered or revered him personally as time went on.


    X¨¹ Beijin was happy with that development.


    Then they left after becoming bored on Earth¡ª¡ªWell, more generally, because humans have reclaimed and developed land almost up to where X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin lived in seclusion. So they chose to move altogether.


    ¡°I don¡¯t get why you keep avoiding people,¡± Lin Qin dissed him thus, ¡°is it more comfortable to talk to people online instead?¡±


    ¡°It is,¡± X¨¹ Beijin actually nodded to that tease, saying, ¡°I only need you in reality. Besides, most of the people we knew are basically dead. It is actually quite sad to be here.¡±


    ¡°We still have a lot of time together though.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, smiling, and pinching his little apple¡¯s face, then said, ¡°you¡¯re right. So, let¡¯s try living on another planet.¡±


    Lin Qin watched as he packed.


    ¡°What¡¯s in the past is in the past,¡± X¨¹ Beijin said, taking a deep breath, ¡°it¡¯s time we saw the wonders of the universe for ourselves.¡±


    Then they spent thirty years cooped up in Senbai.


    Lin Qin asked some time during that, ¡°so you¡¯re just addicted to games, is that it?¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin pointed out to him, all serious like, ¡°no, we are just simply two hundred years behind everyone else.¡±


    ¡®So this was why he was going to make up the difference with two hundred years of hikikomori life, huh,¡¯ was what Lin Qin wondered then.


    He was slightly bewildered, but X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s relaxed and quietly happy smile was also soothing to him. Wasn¡¯t this still nice? He thought.


    boilpoil''s notes:


    In this part of the chapter, we learned that X¨¹ Beijin couldn''t be arsed to do anything after escaping the Tower. I''d like to imagine he had Lin Qin carry him everywhere whenever he wanted to go somewhere but was too lazy to move his own two legs.

 Volume 9 - CH 156

    Extra Chapter, Three


    Translated by boilpoil


    Edited by boilpoil


    X¨¹ Beijin only learned after leaving the Tower, that each member of the galaxy has only one unique avatar on the galaxy-wide internet.


    Therefore, after he and Lin Qin accepted the cyborg bodies the Maertons prepared for them, their avatars also equally reflected how they were in the Tower¡­


    It does remind them of their life in the Tower a lot, but they got used to it.


    And really, they¡¯re already used to using that avatar in the game. They might feel off otherwise.


    Though their friend, Olai, would remark that he gets spooked every time he sees him.


    It was then that X¨¹ Beijin learned that the humanoid form really is oddly prevalent in the legends and myths of the many species of the universe, as an antagonistic, evil or devilish force.


    X¨¹ Beijin really can¡¯t help but suspect ancient humans were involved in something. Maybe the horror saga of the bipedal ape still continues?


    Though thanks to that, their forms made their stream quite popular across the internet. Many different interplanetary species were here to check out this interesting new lifeform.


    Lin Qin also joined the streams ¨C in the form of what the viewers refer to as ¡®the dalao¡¯s cold and cool boyfriend,¡¯ since he couldn¡¯t be bothered with viewer interaction.


    Meanwhile, the earliest viewers, those humans, after finally learning about who X¨¹ Beijin actually was and what the humans trapped in the Tower endured, were all bawling for several streams straight.


    ¡°Bei! oh my Bei! this is so sad!!!¡±


    ¡°tears wont stop flowing from my eyes¡±


    ¡°¡­ just knowing Beibei was handling the truth alone in the tower hurts so bad¡±


    ¡°Beibei, you could have confided in us¡­ though I doubt you could do that. Sigh, but really, it¡¯s all in the past now.¡±


    ¡°thats right! oh my Bei, you and the little apple deserve so much better¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin was amused by these comments, and thanked them for their company a lot.


    Yes, everything was in the past. The world moves on, life moves on, time stops for no one.


    Of course, all the news and rumours, official and unofficial, that accompanied the sudden collapse of the Fy¡¯ecan nation contributed to the popularity of X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s stream for quite some time then, during which X¨¹ Beijin made quite a bit of dosh.


    He had got himself quite the financial leeway then already.


    It was quite a relief, too, because it was pretty stressful after returning to reality, not knowing how the world would react that they were left behind for centuries.


    Hey, at least they could earn a living.


    Lin Qin even went for jobs without telling X¨¹ Beijin at first ¨C some competition held online, like wrestling or other forms of competitive brawling.


    It has to be said that, at the heyday of the Fy¡¯ecan domination, they and the Maertons could do whatever they want virtually; meaning, their ¡®boosting¡¯ the physical stats of Lin Qin was actually quite preposterous in scale.


    This is something that was also preserved because the Maertons simply copied and pasted data.


    It meant that Lin Qin shot into prominence almost immediately, becoming some kind of star contestant many adored.


    That was when Lin Qin finally told X¨¹ Beijin about it like a good boi after a mishap.


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Wait, so you mean his little apple became an overnight celebrity?!


    Because even in the virtual net, there were designs put into place that made users unable to use force exceeding that of their natural limit.


    In other words, how they perform there is also a telling sign of their species¡¯ performance.


    Lin Qin had many internet users who didn¡¯t know any better to proclaim ¡°a new monstrous species is here!¡±


    Of course, it was just coincidence all along, and Lin Qin, after earning the money he needed and the reputation he didn¡¯t need in a very short period of time, he left without a trace.


    And he only participated in legal ring fights held for entertainment purposes, so no organisers were too concerned to try and dig too deeply into their information.


    Though after his departure as sudden as when he came, the fans he gained those few competitions decided to call him the ¡®Crownless King,¡¯ believing that even though he never participated in officially sanctioned tournaments, he was still unparalleled.


    X¨¹ Beijin found it hilarious, telling Lin Qin, ¡°oh little apple, are you never going to shake the label of being a ¡®crownless King¡¯ off of you?¡±


    Lin Qin ¡°¡­¡±


    He was almost going to retort by asking if X¨¹ Beijin was never going to shake the addiction of streaming games.


    But never mind. He didn¡¯t want to remind X¨¹ Beijin of what he didn¡¯t like to remember either.


    And that was in the short period immediately following their departure from the Tower. After the events died down, X¨¹ Beijin and Lin Qin both became recluses and were not actively participating in outside events anymore. They¡¯re quite used to being outside the spotlight.


    X¨¹ Beijin would still stream every now and again, as he has a group of loyal viewers; his stream is also what the descendents on Earth occasionally tune in to watch, like some open secret.


    The kids could boast about stuff like ¡®my grandpa/grandma has watched his streams when they were young! He must be some kind of immortal vampire!¡¯


    Well, all the viewers are extremely well-mannered in X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s streams, though, always acting cutesy with their words. If X¨¹ Beijin knew what they were talking about behind the host¡¯s back¡­ Well, even if he did, he¡¯d probably just laugh it off as childish antics.


    Ah, really, X¨¹ Beijin feels like he¡¯s old already.


    Though Lin Qin would not hesitate to contradict him, ¡°even though you¡¯re really passionate when it comes to other things.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    He swears he¡¯s this close to getting angry from embarrassment.


    The dirty talk is something Lin Qin never learned to ease off on. He¡¯d make X¨¹ Beijin both awkwardly irritated before he¡¯d stop.


    Even though it is clearly Lin Qin who is far more into that kind of stuff, but he¡¯s the one teasing X¨¹ Beijin all the time.


    Worse, X¨¹ Beijin can never come up with a good comeback¡­


    Then Lin Qin would roll over on X¨¹ Beijin, laughing, and ask, ¡°you¡¯re still easily teased after all these years.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin, pouting, pinches Lin Qin¡¯s cheeks, and says, ¡°because I¡¯ve always been in love with you, little apple.¡±


    Then Lin Qin will have nothing to say.


    And then the ¡®nothing to say¡¯ will likely evolve into a situation where they ¡®say nothing coherent.¡¯


    It is really great that Lin Qin has learned to control his monstrous strengths nowadays, so that the bed at home no longer has to be replaced.


    Anyway, X¨¹ Beijin has learned over time that only direct, straightforward flirt can shut his increasingly maddening little apple up.


    But really, it does make him feel warm inside. He can feel that, after leaving the Tower, both he and Lin Qin have become more lively.


    The vibrant highs and soothing lulls of the real world are nothing a small game can try to emulate.


    Sometimes, X¨¹ Beijin tells Lin Qin, ¡°see? I was right. We could not have spent our whole lives in the Tower.¡±


    Lin Qin would want to say that they can definitely live with each other anywhere as long as they¡¯re together, because it is destined, but he decides not to argue with X¨¹ Beijin over something like that.


    He knows X¨¹ Beijin just hates the Tower.


    With the same fervour that he proclaimed he will never dislike X¨¹ Beijin no matter his different qualities in times.


    Lin Qin still thinks X¨¹ Beijin is wrong, by the way, but he¡¯s came to learn that X¨¹ Beijin¡¯s point isn¡¯t really whether Lin Qin would, or would not like him.


    But simply, a loathing for when he was institutionalised by the Tower.


    So it¡¯s a good thing they¡¯ve left, and it would appear they are not going to readily go back to that state.


    Leaving the Tower has been good for everyone¡¯s health in general.


    Sometimes, X¨¹ Beijin would remember his life in the Tower. Just remember, but not reminiscing about it.


    He remembers how, every sleepless morning, he would stand by the window, just watching the grey fog rolling outside, forever and evermore.


    He remembers how he traversed the disorganised bookshelves, to look for a book he needed, or simply wanted to read about ¨C they¡¯re records of human memory of the past.


    He remembers how he came to know each of his companions, his friends. It¡¯s really amazing, that even though they were Missiontakers and Actors, the two different groups slowly became familiar with each other, and achieved something remarkable.


    He remembers what he thought of Lin Qin when they first met. He remembers how he thought he was a pain, and there is no one more unreasonable than Lin Qin in the world.


    Since then, he believes that there is no one that can be cuter than Lin Qin.


    He remembers, the first time the thought of ¡®escaping the Tower¡¯ has lit up his darkened inside world.


    He remembers, the dejection and hopelessness when he realised he and Lin Qin may never be able to leave the Tower.


    He remembers, the key number on that control panel. That 0. That choice all humans made together.


    He remembers, the Nightmares, the Apocalyptic scenes, the ruins. The Nightmares have come and gone. The Sun has finally shone its rays through the Tower, casting the grey fog away.


    The world has changed.


    It really is quite amazing a feeling every time he thinks of it.


    He tells Lin Qin, ¡°we might have created a miracle.¡±


    ¡°A miracle how?¡±


    ¡°We did what we thought we would never be able to. I thought we could never leave the Tower, but we escaped successfully.¡±


    Lin Qin then smiles and says, matter-of-factly, ¡°then you coming into my life is also a miracle.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Of course it is,¡± replies Lin Qin, ¡°see, I didn¡¯t even know people could fall in love.¡±


    X¨¹ Beijin ¡°¡­¡±


    Well, he¡¯s touched, that¡¯s for sure, but he also feels speechless¡­


    Seeing the odd look from X¨¹ Beijin, Lin Qin quickly rectifies his answer, ¡°you¡¯re the only one for me, of course; the only one in the entire universe.¡±


    Then X¨¹ Beijin says after a bit of thought, ¡°so really, being able to meet the one you like, and who likes you back, among all the living creatures in the universe, is the true miracle.¡±


    Lin Qin leans over to plant a kiss, and agreeing, ¡°that¡¯s right.¡±


    Really, whatever he says, Lin Qin will probably say ¡®that¡¯s right¡¯ even if it was false. His little apple has never disappointed on that front.


    Sometimes, X¨¹ Beijin wonders where Lin Qin learned to love like that. Wouldn¡¯t he worry he¡¯d spoil his love too much?


    Though he would conclude that, maybe it¡¯s a simple trap, unique to the straightforward and honest Lin Qin, and especially effective to him.


    He simply wishes X¨¹ Beijin to stay by his side at all times, forever.


    For ever and ever, in this lonely, unchanging universe.


    They love each other so dearly.


    boilpoil''s notes:


    Author: This is the end of Beibei''s story! Thank you for staying with me these five months, love you! Well, this also marks the end of the year-long journey of my translation of this novel. I hope you enjoyed it! Meanwhile, the new novel I''ve decided to translate is Insectoids: the Job of the Males. Yes, strange title, I know. It''s pretty much unrepresented on NU at all, so maybe click the link to check the description and see if it might hit a particular note with you.