Chapter 26: An Old Acquaintance? Part 2

Looking at the three characters “Alice” in parentheses below the Personal Center, Yin Luo didn’t hesitate to click into the Forum.

[Rose Werewolf Manor Instance recruiting players! Have a dedicated Instance Key. Form a team to go directly. No limit on numbers. More people coming to die is also excellent.]

[AAAAAHHH Why did the difficulty of that damned Lingchuan Earth God Temple instance increase AGAIN?! Which idiot is selling fake guides?!]

[Squad urgently seeking healer. By which I mean someone who can take hits and still wield a blade. Aftereffects to be discussed later.]

It was like entering a real gaming forum. A motley crew of players was frantically spamming threads.

Who would have thought these players had such good mental fortitude? Perhaps after playing games with their lives enough times, life itself started to seem less important?

Yin Luo scrolled down. Judging by the replies on these posts, the number of players might not be large, but it certainly wasn’t as small as he had imagined. Did these people also gain supernatural powers after returning from Instance Worlds?

After all, there was no Reincarnation Space like in the novels here.

Could players who crawled out of bizarre worlds where life and death blurred truly adapt to this peaceful and stable reality?

The baseball cap misinterpreted the new player’s thoughts and conscientiously continued to advise, “Don’t worry. Just take those posts with a grain of salt. Apart from the official game posts and the guaranteed quests or exchange sections in the Personal Center, there’s no need to trust the rest completely. Everyone can post freely, and there’s no moderation.”

Yin Luo looked up at him. “So what they say might be lies?”

“It’s possible. Some want to form groups. Some want to trap others. And some might just be using it as a way to vent the pressure from Instance Worlds.” Zhang Hengheng shrugged. “After all, we were all pulled into the game world when we were on the verge of death. If you fail a quest, at worst, you just go back to your original trajectory and face death directly.”

His tone was remarkably calm and straightforward, a stark contrast to his boisterous appearance.

All players were on the brink of death?

Yin Luo lowered his eyes, realizing the gains from this meeting were likely far more than he had anticipated.

“Anyway, just look at the stickied, high-quality posts. Especially the ones with red titles, those are officially published by All Beings. Many of them are very useful game guides for new players.”

“For example, the distinction between Reality Quests and Instance Quests, the levels of ghosts and monsters, and so on. You can also study the Quest and Exchange sections in your Personal Center. But to be honest, Al—… you’re still a novice. Many require permission to unlock. For now, the best you can do is look around more.”

“I understand. Thank you so much. This is very helpful.” The new player’s eyes curved into crescents. He was completely non-aggressive, like a piece of jade polished to a gentle luster.

“Cough, this is all basic stuff. In theory, experienced players should tell newcomers, as there are even point rewards for doing so. And the information you provided is very helpful to us. So I consider this a very pleasant cooperation.”

Zhang Hengheng coughed dryly, couldn’t help but pull his baseball cap lower, and then elbowed Ying Zixin. “Right?”

The buzz-cut youth had remained silent until now. It was as if he had finally booted up, his language functions now operational. He spoke his first sentence. “I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before.”

Yin Luo paused.

Zhang Hengheng, who was expecting some polite small talk, was dumbfounded.

Good grief. Ying Zixin, you look so serious on the surface, but who knew you were this kind of person deep down?

Was this what they called being struck by lust? Saying something like this on someone else’s turf, weren’t you afraid of being thrown out?!

And your pickup line is way too outdated!

Ying Zixin, unaware of his companion’s inner turmoil, remained focused on the new player.

Yin Luo tilted his head and, without anger, replied in a very good-natured manner, “Is that so? That’s quite a coincidence. May I ask where you might have seen me?”

To his surprise, the buzz-cut youth pondered for a long while before shaking his head. “I can’t recall. It just feels very familiar.”

Bro, you sound like a total creep saying that!

Zhang Hengheng stood up, covered his companion’s mouth, and laughed stiffly. “He means you look like a celebrity, so you seem familiar.”

“Oh? Like which celebrity?” A flicker of interest glimmered in the eyes of the young man in the wheelchair.

How am I supposed to know that?! Why are you suddenly taking this seriously?!

Zhang Hengheng felt awkward. He desperately tried to recall the name of an exceptionally handsome celebrity.

“Like Luo Xian,” Ying Zixin suddenly said.

“Ah, right, right.” The baseball cap felt the topic was veering further and further off course. He was about to casually agree and steer things back. “Yes, a bit like her, haha… wait, holy crap, he really does?!”

He didn’t pay much attention to the entertainment industry and didn’t know many celebrities. But even he had heard of Luo Xian. In fact, there were few people who didn’t know Luo Xian.

He looked again more carefully. The young man before him indeed bore about fifty to sixty percent resemblance to that famous Best Actress, especially in the brow and eyes.

“You…”

“She’s my mother,” the new player admitted very readily.

“Holy crap?!” The baseball cap didn’t know what to say, finally squeezing out three words. “Awesome, awesome, awesome.”

So he wasn’t just a rich young master; he was the child of a superstar. The baseball cap smacked his lips, having no choice but to admire his companion’s freakish luck.

He genuinely hadn’t recognized it at first. After all, when most people see someone who resembles a big star, their first reaction is simply, “Wow, you look so alike!” rather than the bizarre leap of logic, “You guys couldn’t be mother and child, right?”

“Then you should hide your appearance when entering instances. It wouldn’t be a good thing for some players to know your real identity,” Ying Zixin advised.

“It’s fine.” Yin Luo shook his head and smiled meaningfully. “Very few people would connect the me in the instance world to the real me.”

Huh?

Zhang Hengheng’s curiosity was piqued. He was about to ask more when the conversation was seamlessly steered by his companion.

The initially tight-lipped Ying Zixin suddenly became more talkative. “My name is Ying Zixin. My real name.”

The new player paused, as if caught off guard. “Hello, you can call me Yin Luo.”

The buzz-cut youth nodded. “Let’s add each other as forum friends. I’ll send you the Reality Quest information.”

“Sure.”

So he just gave his real name like that?

And they were adding each other?

“Hai, since you guys are giving your real names, it would make me look disloyal if I only gave you a codename.” Zhang Hengheng took off his cap and introduced himself as well. “I’m Zhang Hengheng. Let’s add each other as in-game friends too. You can chat on the APP. Xiao Yin, if you have any questions, feel free to ask me.”

“Alright, thank you both.”

Ying Zixin’s ID was “Ying”, very simple. Zhang Hengheng’s was “Hmph Zhang.” Yin Luo glanced again at his own “Alice” and for a moment was utterly speechless.

He forcefully shifted his attention to the quest Ying Zixin had shared.

The APP was designed rather thoughtfully. Shared quests, even without being accepted, would display a brief introduction.

[Quest Name: Guess Where I Am?]

[Quest Entrance: Fourth Floor Corner, East Staircase, Rongcheng Circle Center Mall.]

[Quest Difficulty: Normal]

It also included the photo Ying Zixin had sent earlier. This should be the basic information provided by the game.

If he remembered correctly, Yin Luo recalled that the difficulty of his previous instance, [Pearl’s Bedroom], had only been Novice.

It seemed the difficulty of Normal instances was higher than Novice ones.

Ying Zixin said, “I suggest you don’t accept this quest. The rewards from Reality Quests aren’t as good as Instance Quests. You’ve only survived your first Novice Instance. It’s best to first adapt and practice your new ability in preparation for the next mandatory Instance. This difficulty level is too high for you.”

“Besides, time in a Reality Quest is synchronized with the real world. I don’t think you’re prepared.” The buzz-cut youth glanced at Wang Shen and the driver standing guard outside the door.

“Also, Xiao Yin,” Zhang Hengheng interjected, “your physical condition isn’t great. Don’t take this the wrong way. It’s just that Ying Zixin’s and my abilities are both attack-oriented. We won’t be able to protect you, whether we’re running for our lives or fighting.”

They sounded like Bronze-tier players trying to dissuade a Bronze player from entering a Gold-tier match. We two Platinums can’t carry you.

Yin Luo clearly understood they were earnestly advising him out of goodwill. After all, why should others care whether he lived or died? The game had never required teammates to help each other, be united, or friendly.

In fact, once he understood what a Reality Quest entailed, he hadn’t planned on participating with them either. He preferred to wait for the next Instance.

It had nothing to do with the rewards. It was just that Yin Luo’s identity was somewhat troublesome. If he actually ran off with them, the entire city of Rong would likely be turned upside down searching for him that very night.

His body was too weak. For someone his age, being gone for a single night might be excused as going out to play. But if he vanished for a whole night, his mother would probably be searching the morgue for him the next day.

Yin Luo sighed, feeling true helplessness for the first time.

“Don’t worry. I don’t plan on going. I’m happy just to be able to help you.” The new player smiled, then had someone escort Ying Zixin and Zhang Hengheng out.

The east staircase was usually locked. Without his help, the two would probably have had to break in.

“Bye! Safe travels!”

The baseball cap and the buzz-cut youth waved, their steps light and carefree, as if heading to a banquet.

No one knew if they would ever meet again after this departure.

Yin Luo was now alone in the tea room. He browsed the forum, rapidly absorbing the information into his mind.

Around nine in the evening, Yin Luo yawned, feeling a wave of drowsiness.

Wang Shen, worried about him, had been urging him to go home.

“Forget it, let’s go.” The young man stretched, preparing to head back and check on the two’s situation tomorrow.

Wang Shen immediately breathed a sigh of relief and pushed him out the door.

They hadn’t gone more than a few meters when the light suddenly dimmed. The wheelchair stopped moving.

Yin Luo sensed something was wrong. He looked up at the scene before him, his expression hardening.

He turned around. Wang Shen was gone. The door was gone, too.

“……”

He turned back again. The surrounding light was faint. The air was stale, as if every breath filled half a lung with dust. The floor was the terrazzo style popular over a decade ago. The storefronts were crowded, and just a few meters away, directly facing him, was an old-fashioned plastic mannequin.

Yin Luo fell into silence.