Chapter 26: An Old Acquaintance? Part 1

Zhang Hengheng suddenly understood why this Alice could coast to victory.

Alright, he admitted it. He was shallow. He was all about looks. He simply went by appearance.

If he were a powerful player and encountered a player like this in a game, he’d be willing to lend a hand too, as long as it didn’t harm his own interests.

Provided the face beneath that mask wasn’t a pig-nosed, split-mouthed horror.

“Hello, hello there.” The baseball cap considered himself a model youth of the new era, one who respected the elderly and cared for the weak. Seeing a peer with limited mobility, his conditioned response was pure politeness. “What would you like to drink? I’ll order it for you.”

Wait, what am I saying?

The baseball cap’s right hand, already extended for a handshake, trembled slightly.

This wasn’t a cup of bubble tea for seven bucks outside the school gate. A wallet has feelings too, and it would cry.

Fortunately, the new player touched his extended hand briefly and pulled away. “Thank you. I’m not well, so I don’t drink coffee.”

“Oh, oh, okay.” Zhang Hengheng felt a wave of coldness brush his skin before vanishing instantly.

That was great! Alice, you really were an angel. It’s wonderful that you don’t drink coffee. Wu wu wu.

Ying Zixin discreetly observed the new player, then glanced at the tall, strong man pushing the wheelchair who resembled a bodyguard. He believed about half of what was said.

“Should we move to another location?” Yin Luo smiled faintly. “It might be a bit inconvenient to talk here.”

The baseball cap glanced around. The newcomer’s arrival had indeed drawn the attention of many nearby customers. Numerous gazes were directed their way. If the bodyguard behind him weren’t so intimidating, the stares would likely be even more intense.

Wow, could this guy actually be someone important?

Had Ying Zixin’s ridiculously inconsistent luck finally taken a turn for the better?

“Sure.”

Zhang Hengheng naturally didn’t mind.

If the person was just an ordinary individual, as a player, he had methods to escape any potential schemes.

If the person was a hidden expert player, it was even less likely they’d waste effort on two small fry like them.

Ying Zixin nodded, signaling his agreement.

Yin Luo was actually visiting this mall for the first time. When the center’s dome had first been planned, he was still a child, and construction had only just begun a few years ago.

But by the time he finally had the chance to come, countless buildings had already sprung up, making the city he grew up in feel strangely unfamiliar.

It was precisely this desire to see more of the place that made him instruct his driver to circle around Rongcheng, witnessing the city’s growth over the years, which was why he arrived just on time.

He seemed to have grown accustomed to darkness and silence. His first reaction upon suddenly facing the bustling crowd wasn’t joy, but an urge to escape.

To Zhang Hengheng and Ying Zixin, the new player appeared somewhat taciturn and shy. He smiled at them briefly before leading them toward a private tea room not open to the public.

“I bet even if he doesn’t own this place, Alice is definitely a rich young master,” the baseball cap whispered. “You’ve latched onto a wealthy heir.”

Ying Zixin replied, “…It’s his family’s business.”

In truth, the buzz-cut youth was only maintaining a calm facade. He was actually quite bewildered himself.

His luck was strange. At times, it was extraordinarily good; at other times, it was terribly bad.

Could this be the silver lining after being thrown off the high-speed train?

The two followed Yin Luo into the private tea room and sat down. Zhang Hengheng touched and prodded everything. He had searched Baidu extensively, but no one had ever mentioned this place in the Dome Mall.

“Brother Shen, I’d like to speak with them alone,” Yin Luo said, smiling with narrowed eyes at Wang Shen, who had been waiting there for some time.

His reason for meeting people was simply the classic excuse of meeting an online friend.

Yes, an online friend.

Wang Shen glanced at him, swallowed the words he was about to say, and nodded. “Alright. We’ll be right outside. Call if you need anything.”

Once Wang Shen and the driver, who doubled as a bodyguard, had left, Yin Luo removed his mask in front of the two players and smiled. “Please, have some tea.”

Good heavens, he was even better-looking than Zhang Hengheng had imagined, like a major celebrity.

Were rich young masters these days even competing on looks now?

Zhang Hengheng had never met a player face-to-face under such circumstances and for a moment didn’t know what to do with his hands and feet.

The new player across from him had a very pleasant demeanor. “I’m sorry, I’m not quite the same in person as I am online. I’m not much of a talker. Please let me know if anything makes you uncomfortable.”

“No, not at all.” Zhang Hengheng thought to himself that if you spoke with that online tone while having this face, that would truly be unsettling. He quickly adjusted his mindset and got straight to the point. “Right, did you find any information about that photo?”

Time was limited. Matters regarding Alice’s real-life identity could wait. What was important now was the Reality Quest.

This was also the sincerity the other party needed to show.

Yin Luo brought out a tablet and pre-printed documents, giving a definite answer. “You could say I found something.”

He certainly didn’t need to frantically search in a browser like the baseball cap, while also worrying about accidentally clicking a strange ad and dying of social embarrassment. A single instruction from him would set many people to work.

To be honest, Yin Luo always felt that Wang Shen was far more than just a psychologist. He probably doubled as a nanny, secretary, and other roles. After all, what psychologist needed to accompany their employer everywhere? And aside from his appearance, he didn’t resemble a psychologist in the slightest.

Unfortunately, Yin Luo’s physical condition was still unstable. His limited energy could only be devoted to the things that interested him most. Everything else had to be pushed aside.

Yin Luo pulled out the white rabbit plushie he had brought along after all and placed it in his lap. Ignoring the strange looks from the two players, he spoke clearly. “Dome Mall is just a common local name. The official name is different, but that’s not important. The point is that mannequins in modern clothing stores aren’t actually very common anymore. They’re usually placed in shop windows or entrances, and most are headless or simply lack facial features, differing greatly from realistic human forms.”

“Logically, such a scene couldn’t possibly be photographed in the Dome Mall, nor could there be so many of those seemingly discarded, old-fashioned, realistic plastic mannequins.”

“So I dug deeper. The Circle Center Shopping Mall was actually built on the site of an old structure. That old mall opened thirty-five years ago, selling all kinds of goods including clothing. It was called Center Department Store.”

“But this shopping center, a favorite of the older generation in Rongcheng, suffered a massive fire twenty years ago. The flames burned from inside out, consuming the entire building. Losses were immense, and the thick smoke was clearly visible from over a dozen kilometers away.”

“In that era, there was no security camera footage to speak of. Because the fire ignited suddenly late at night, no one knew its exact cause. Furthermore, there were no casualties, so the official conclusion was simply an accidental fire caused by a short circuit.”

Yin Luo flipped a page in the documents, revealing a blurry long-distance photograph of the fire. He continued, “This means the scene captured in that photo isn’t from the Dome Mall, but from the Center Department Store decades ago.”

It was quite a coincidence. The background for both game tasks he had encountered involved fires.

He handed the printed documents to Ying Zixin and Zhang Hengheng. They contained not only the information he had just recited verbally but also old photos of the Center Department Store and surviving floor plans.

The extended talking had tired the young man out, so he closed his eyes to rest briefly, granting the two players time to think.

This was undoubtedly a substantial gesture of goodwill. Zhang Hengheng’s already positive impression of the new player rose even higher.

In truth, he already had a hunch the moment he saw the strange photo.

The real world wasn’t an Instance World. There were no supernatural phenomena or ghosts here. Their quest location naturally couldn’t truly exist in the real world.

Rather, it was more likely a bridge—using a location in the real world to enter the true quest location.

That place might resemble the real world. It might be a parallel world, or perhaps the past or future. But ultimately, it would be absurd and bizarre, fraught with crisis and unknown horror. So it absolutely couldn’t be reality.

“Then that settles it. The game notified us to reach the fourth floor of the Dome Mall before midnight tonight. We’ll probably enter that decades-old mall from there,” Zhang Hengheng said with a whistle.

“Enter the mall from decades ago directly?” The new player’s eyelashes fluttered. He seemed embarrassed, a faint pink blush appearing at the tips of his ears. “Sorry, could you explain this Reality Quest? I don’t quite understand.”

“Ah, no problem. You can think of a Reality Quest as a random encounter or a secret realm in an online game. It’s triggered in the real world, but you actually enter another world through a special passage.”

The baseball cap was very frank. “You know what? Just read the posts on the forum. There are official tutorials specifically for new players there. It’ll be clearer than anything I can say verbally.”

“The APP? Okay, sure,” Yin Luo smiled, lowering his head to re-download the app he had previously deleted.

“Um…” Zhang Hengheng wanted to call him Alice but intuitively felt the other party might not like that name. Out of the goodness of his heart, he defended the game. “Game nicknames can be changed. You get one chance to change it after completing a single Instance Quest. If there’s a cooperative quest, the list will show your APP nickname. It’s partly to protect players.”

“Is that so? That’s wonderful.” Yin Luo had finally found a reason to let this APP live.

Perhaps due to the sincerity in the other’s tone, the baseball cap couldn’t help but reveal more. “The random forum nicknames are usually related to a player’s initial ability. It’s a kind of hint. But because the game has a mischievous sense of humor, it uses all sorts of strange metaphors. Anyway, you don’t need to worry too much about it.”

“I see. Thank you.” The new player nodded, flashing him another faint smile.

Alice?

Like Alice in Wonderland?

A metaphor implying that, like Alice, he would enter strange and bizarre worlds to embark on adventures after falling asleep?

Should he be grateful he hadn’t been given a name like Snow Queen or something?

Yin Luo tightened his grip on Little Bear’s ear and clicked into the All Beings APP.

Unlike the mysterious and unfathomable game, the APP’s design was very simple—downright plain, one might say.

It was as if he had accidentally opened some pirated software, liable to have a dubious pop-up window appear at any moment.

The main page only had two sections: Forum and Personal Center.