Chapter 15
From Xiong Zhong, Jiang Liu finally understood the true rules of the Lost Way Game—
Just as the phrase literally meant, as long as you cleared an instance, you could have your wish granted. No matter what kind of obsession or desire it was, it would be fulfilled for you.
Jiang Liu was half-convinced, half-skeptical.
A terrifying survival game that treated human life like dirt was helping people realize their wishes? That was a bit too ridiculous, wasn’t it?
Seeing Xiong Zhong still rambling on with his story, Jiang Liu couldn’t help but frown and suddenly cut in, “Yang…”
She almost blurted out Yang Caisi’s name, but caught herself and corrected it. “What did the NPC mean by a ‘transaction’?”
Xiong Zhong scratched his head, looking puzzled. “Usually, only people with an obsession come in here, trading the completion of instances for a chance to have their wish fulfilled. Didn’t you know?”
He said it so matter-of-factly, as if Jiang Liu was the odd one out. This made the few others who had also stumbled in cough awkwardly, not knowing what to say.
Xu Shu remained relatively calm, adjusting his glasses and asking nonchalantly, “Does making a wish in your heart count?”
If that were the case, wouldn’t just about anyone be able to enter? Then this game shouldn’t be so obscure.
Xiong Zhong was taken aback by their constant questions. He thought for a long time before shaking his head. “I’ve heard there are all sorts of ways to get in. Maybe it depends on the person.”
“A game where you could lose your life at any moment, would anyone really be willing to come in?”
The one who asked this was the second-year male college student. Xiong Zhong’s gaze lingered on him for a moment before he let out a bitter laugh. “When a person is desperate enough, they’re willing to try anything, even if there’s only a sliver of hope.”
This topic was clearly too heavy. He didn’t want to say more and silently led them to the entrance of a hotel.
Before they even entered, Jiang Liu seemed to sense something and stopped in her tracks. She saw a familiar figure at the front desk.
Yang Caisi was leaning casually against the edge of a sofa, looking down at her phone, her choppy hair falling neatly into her collar.
A thought stirred in Jiang Liu’s heart, and she quickened her pace to approach her. “What a coincidence. Why are you back again?”
Yang Caisi looked up, her body retreating half a step almost imperceptibly, her tone as cold as ever. “I came back to take care of some things.”
She hadn’t noticed before, but now that she was closer, Jiang Liu saw a dark ring on her left ring finger. It shimmered faintly as she moved her hand.
Jiang Liu’s heart skipped a beat. She found it strangely irritating and said pointedly, “So NPCs can get married too? Isn’t being an extra too much of a sacrifice for you?”
She was referring to Chen Si coming to sleep with her every night.
Yang Caisi gave her a surprised look but didn’t answer, just nodding towards the front desk. “Register over there.”
Jiang Liu looked at her cold expression and couldn’t help but mutter under her breath, “She was cuter when she was Chen Si.”
So she really is just an extra, huh? We were sharing a bed just last night, and now that the show’s over, she’s giving me the cold shoulder.
Yang Caisi: “…Cute?”
Her voice was very soft, and Jiang Liu didn’t catch it. Just then, the front desk called for her to register. Jiang Liu gestured for Yang Caisi to wait and quickly ran to the counter, completely oblivious to Zhang Xiaochen staring after her, dumbfounded.
He understood the logic, but why were you flirting with an NPC in public?! He felt like he was going blind!
***
When Gao Yuan walked out of the conference room, he saw Yang Caisi standing there in a daze.
He waved a hand in front of her face, somewhat puzzled. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
As one of the most outstanding employees in The System, Yang Caisi rarely spaced out like this. Most of the time, she was busy running between various instances.
Yang Caisi blinked, then suddenly covered her face with her hands and squatted down, barely managing to control the rising heat in her cheeks.
Jiang Liu called her cute…
Just thinking about that scene made Yang Caisi’s heart flutter like a startled deer.
Gao Yuan looked shocked. “????”
What do you do when your colleague goes crazy while you’re just grabbing a file?!!
At the front desk.
Jiang Liu gave her name. After a moment, she heard a soft exclamation. The girl at the reception desk peeked out from behind her computer to count the people and said in disbelief, “Zhang Xiaochen, Xu Shu, Xu Meng… all seven of you are together?”
“Is there something wrong?” Jiang Liu asked, confused.
The girl rubbed her nose, her professional smile fading as her expression finally became more animated. She looked Jiang Liu up and down for a long time before saying softly, “No wonder Sister Yang came personally to make arrangements. Not many people make it out of her instances alive.”
As soon as Jiang Liu heard Yang Caisi’s name, her interest was piqued. She smiled and leaned forward to ask, “Arrangements? What did she do?”
The front desk girl giggled and turned her computer screen towards her.
The latest page had just popped up, with the text in large, bold red font.
“A friendly reminder from this establishment: Points are hard-earned. Please spend wisely. If you encounter any rule-breaking players who try to scam you out of points under the guise of being a guide, please be cautious and identify them.”
Jiang Liu was stunned. She immediately thought of Xiong Zhong.
She had been so focused on seeing Yang Caisi that she had forgotten about the so-called volunteer. Now that she looked for him, he was nowhere to be found.
“Don’t bother looking, that guy ran off long ago!”
The receptionist shrugged, her eyes still studying Jiang Liu with curiosity. As she processed the check-in, she muttered, “There are plenty of these rule-breaking players, and no one ever does anything about them. I was really surprised when Sister Yang came over today.”
As she spoke, she couldn’t help but look up in Yang Caisi’s direction. Jiang Liu followed her gaze—
Yang Caisi was walking out of the hotel side-by-side with a man, looking quite close.
A strange feeling passed through her heart, and the smile on her lips faded.
“1301 to 1307. The ring is the only pass within The System, remember to wear it.”
The receptionist’s words pulled her back to her senses. She looked down and was stunned.
Seven rings, identical to the one on Yang Caisi’s hand.
Her mouth twitched, and she felt a strange annoyance at her own sarcastic comment.
She thought the woman was married, but it turns out The System gives them out in bulk?
Jiang Liu almost laughed at her own ridiculous thoughts and lowered her head to examine the ring carefully.
She couldn’t tell what material it was made of, only that it felt heavy in her hand. As she tilted it, a dark light seemed to flow across its surface. It could almost be called a work of art.
Jiang Liu held it up to the light. At a certain angle, the ring suddenly flashed, and two numbers appeared on it: 45.
The receptionist helpfully explained, “Those are your points. you can use them to shop at the mall or at the flea market.”
She hesitated for a moment, then, perhaps because she had seen her talking with Yang Caisi, she added in a soft voice, “Points are hard to come by. Be careful not to use them all up.”
***
After days of fear and anxiety, Jiang Liu finally got some much-needed rest. After dinner, she took a comfortable shower and stretched languidly, her long, damp hair hanging loose.
The clothes that smelled of smoke were in the washing machine, leaving only a yellowed piece of paper on the table. Jiang Liu stared at it for a moment, feeling a sense of unease.
It was an old photograph, its edges slightly singed. The woman in the photo was wearing a cheongsam, sitting upright in a chair with a gentle smile. Although the resolution was a bit blurry compared to modern photos, Jiang Liu easily recognized—
It was a picture of her.
In the instant Chen Xiu had thrown herself into the fire, she had tried to stop her, but only managed to touch the corner of her sleeve and catch this photo as it slipped out.
In her memory, she had never taken a similar photo. How could it have appeared out of thin air?
Besides… the woman’s expression, her posture, even the way her hands were placed—it was all completely her own habits.
Jiang Liu hadn’t closed the window. The evening wind on the thirteenth floor carried a desolate chill. Jiang Liu stared at her own face in the photo, and the more she looked, the more unfamiliar it seemed.
What had she forgotten?
She had a dreamless night.
The next morning, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, the alarm clock on the bedside table let out a strange burst of static, accompanied by that electronic voice—
[Player Jiang Liu, please proceed to the North Gate at 3 PM to enter the inst…]
“Clang!”
Before the last two words could be announced, Jiang Liu’s arm had swept across the bedside table. The cheap plastic alarm clock was sent crashing to the floor, shattering into pieces.
Jiang Liu, woken from a deep sleep, cursed this unscrupulous system to death in her heart. After a long while, she finally sat up, rubbing her eyes.
“Three in the afternoon…”
She mumbled as she went to wash up, taking a moment to check the scar on her arm. For some reason, it had already faded quite a bit after her shower last night, and now it was completely healed, without even a red mark left behind.
“Sister Jiang, are you up?”
There was a knock on the door. It was Xu Meng’s voice.
She answered and opened the door to see everyone except Ren Linlin, all dressed and ready, looking at her eagerly.
After a night’s rest, everyone’s spirits had improved considerably.
“We’re entering the instance at three in the afternoon. What about you?” Zhang Xiaochen was still holding the alarm clock, as if considering taking it apart to see its inner workings.
Jiang Liu gestured towards her room with her chin. “Don’t waste your energy. It’s just a normal alarm clock.”
The group followed her gesture and saw the cartoon plastic alarm clock lying battered on the floor, surrounded by what looked like scattered fragments.
Zhang Xiaochen was speechless.
He opened his mouth, but for a moment, he didn’t know what to say.
Jiang Liu casually closed the door. “It’s the same for all of us. Where’s Ren Linlin?”
Xu Meng quickly replied, “I went to her room. I heard she had a bit of a fever last night, probably a side effect of the instance’s formation. She’s still resting.”
After Chen Xiu was burned along with the Theater Garden, Ren Linlin’s sanity had returned.
But after being controlled for so many days, she looked very tired. After a simple thank you to Jiang Liu, she had gone to her room and hadn’t come out since.
Xu Meng was a little worried. “She seems different from before. Should we…”
Jiang Liu shook her head. “Give her some time to recover on her own.”
Going from a normal college student to a puppet in an instance, and then being reborn, it was inevitable that she would mature. This was actually a good thing for Ren Linlin.
As they spoke, they had already entered the elevator. When she saw the person inside, the last bit of sleepiness in Jiang Liu’s eyes vanished.
Yang Caisi was holding a box, her head lowered as if deep in thought.
Jiang Liu’s lips curved into a smile, and she casually approached her to say hello. “Miss Yang, what a coincidence to see you again.”
She winked triumphantly and waved her left hand in front of Yang Caisi’s face.
On her long, beautiful ring finger, the pure black ring shone brightly.
The elevator was already small, and with six or seven people squeezed in, it felt crowded. Jiang Liu was practically pressed against Yang Caisi. She subconsciously lowered her gaze, which landed on Jiang Liu’s fingertips, and for a moment, she couldn’t look away.
The elevator was silent. Gao Yuan, who had been squeezed into a corner the whole time, finally couldn’t take it anymore and spoke up. “I say, folks, can we press the button first before we chat?”
He understood the situation, but what was the point of a group of people just squeezing together like this? Hadn’t they noticed they were still stationary?