Chapter 57: He’s Amazing
Tang Yu’an wasn’t afraid of mirages; he knew they were illusions, always receding as you approached, offering false hope.
But this familiar scene, like a spatial loop… made his hair stand on end. He felt like someone was watching him, a malicious entity toying with him like an ant trapped in a circle.
They reached the building, the same building, the employees inside still working, Wei Langxing’s discarded monitor still on the floor, making him feel like he had never left.
Since this direction didn’t work, they tried another, walking in the opposite direction.
Wei Langxing didn’t question his decision, unfazed by returning to the starting point, happy simply to be with him.
The same scenery never seemed to bore him.
He had stared at a few computer screens for ten years; how could he be bored by the vastness of the outside world?
Ten minutes later, they were back at the building again.
Tang Yu’an felt like the building was following him, a sentient entity, making him uneasy.
Wei Langxing, having learned about human behavior from movies, suggested taking a break.
Tang Yu’an, needing to clear his mind, agreed.
But he hadn’t expected Wei Langxing to take him to the bakery he had seen earlier.
The bakery was empty, no power, yet the display cases were filled with pastries, their aroma filling the air.
This might have seemed strange to others, but Tang Yu’an, exhausted by the spatial loop, didn’t question it.
He looked at the cupcakes, taking a bite.
It was surprisingly delicious, just like in the real world.
Wei Langxing, seeing his thoughts, chuckled: “Isn’t it realistic? The signals sent to your brain make it almost indistinguishable from reality.”
He seemed perfectly comfortable in this virtual world, even joking: “If there’s something you can’t eat in the real world, you can try it here. It’s all about the experience, reality is what you make it.”
Tang Yu’an put down his fork, a sense of unease settling in his stomach: “It’s too realistic, that’s what’s wrong…”
The sweet taste lingered in his mouth. The bakery even played his favorite music.
Such a comfortable environment could make you forget about danger, so he was even more wary.
Wei Langxing, however, disagreed: “What’s wrong? We have food, we have scenery, isn’t this good?”
Tang Yu’an didn’t know how to respond: “But we have to go back eventually…”
Wei Langxing asked: “Why?”
Tang Yu’an looked up at him, startled: “You… don’t want to go back?”
Wei Langxing slowly ate a strawberry: “I don’t see the point. In this place, there’s no illness, no pain, no danger, we don’t have to work, we don’t have to deal with other people… Time is also extended here. We can stay like this forever. Isn’t that good?”
Forever, such a definite, heavy word.
Few people could make such a promise – I’ll be with you forever. Even if they did, it was rarely believable. People changed, today’s treasure becoming tomorrow’s trash. Who could guarantee their feelings would remain unchanged over time?
But Wei Langxing’s words were sincere. He knew he was telling the truth.
In this space, everything could remain static, even emotions.
If he could stay in this perfect moment, why press play?
Tang Yu’an opened his mouth, then closed it, unable to speak.
After a long pause, he finally said: “You have parents, a sister, are you going to abandon them?”
“That person you’re talking about is Wei Langxing, the Bureau officer, not me.”
He spoke about himself as if he was a stranger.
Tang Yu’an frowned: “You are Wei Langxing. You’ve seen the photos, the records, you’re the same person.”
But Wei Langxing shook his head resolutely: “No, I’m just a consciousness formed from data… I might have been Employee 672 before, but now, I’m a new, independent person.”
He said his past was irrelevant, he didn’t care what happened to the real Wei Langxing, he just wanted to live his own life in his own world.
Tang Yu’an felt a sense of helplessness: “You… you’ve just lost your memory. When you remember, you’ll want to go back with me, we still have so much to do…”
Wei Langxing offered him another cupcake: “On the contrary, I’m not leaving, and neither are you.”
These words struck Tang Yu’an, the protagonist suddenly seeming like a stranger.
“Wha… what do you mean?”
Wei Langxing explained that this loop was designed to trap their consciousness, to prevent the corporation’s free labor force from escaping.
Tang Yu’an, not giving up, asked: “What if we die in the virtual world? Will we automatically return?”
He was afraid of heights, but if it meant escaping, he would jump from the highest building.
Wei Langxing, however, said: “If your consciousness dies, you die.”
Tang Yu’an fell silent, the background music in the bakery like a funeral march.
He shook his head, speechless.
Wei Langxing poured him a glass of juice: “The movies say sweet things improve your mood.”
His mood couldn’t be improved. He was here to rescue someone, only to be told that he and the protagonist were trapped, perhaps forever.
He asked desperately: “Is there really no way out?”
Wei Langxing apologized for dragging him into this.
Tang Yu’an didn’t blame him, only himself for being unprepared.
He tried walking around the building again, but they always ended up back at the starting point.
Wei Langxing patiently accompanied him.
I have all the time in the world, he thought.
There was no day or night here. Tang Yu’an didn’t even know how long he had been here, sitting by a fountain in the park, exhausted.
Wei Langxing sat beside him, still not understanding his aversion to this place.
From the movies, he had learned that the outside world wasn’t perfect, filled with violence, war, betrayal, and death.
Even romanticized love stories depicted suffering, let alone reality.
All these hardships were absent here. To him, this was paradise.
He didn’t understand Tang Yu’an’s despair.
He bought two ice cream cones from a nearby stall, crouching down and asking with a smile: “Matcha or vanilla?”
Tang Yu’an took the vanilla cone numbly, taking a bite, then said: “You know, I had a friend who loved making ice cream.”
This was the first time he had mentioned anyone else. Wei Langxing listened intently.
Tang Yu’an said his friend had been forced to do bad things.
Wei Langxing asked who forced him.
Tang Yu’an took another bite, the coldness calming his mind, his thoughts flowing like a quiet river at night.
“Bad people, of course,” he said, then hesitated. “Or perhaps… just the world. I’m not sure.”
He seemed melancholic when he wasn’t smiling. Wei Langxing felt a pang in his chest, a strangely real sensation despite knowing it was just data.
He said: “Doesn’t that just prove how terrible the outside world is? None of that exists here. We can do whatever we want. Isn’t that good?”
Tang Yu’an’s eyelashes fluttered: “But there are people worth meeting out there.”
No one was perfect, but he had seen genuine kindness beneath the flaws.
The shrewd but responsible Pang Jin, the aloof but dependable Zuo Tinghan, and the frivolous but surprisingly thoughtful Xie Cun.
Although he knew these connections would eventually fade, he couldn’t abandon them, not before completing his mission.
Wei Langxing, intrigued, asked: “What about Wei Langxing? What kind of person is he?”
Tang Yu’an didn’t correct him, a faint smile appearing on his face, softening his features.
“He’s… always worrying about everything, a terrible cook, very talkative, he’d come looking for me if I didn’t reply to his messages immediately…”
His smile faded, and he said seriously: “But he’s an excellent Bureau officer, a responsible captain.”
Wei Langxing pressed: “What about you? What does he mean to you?”
He desperately wanted to know their relationship, what made Tang Yu’an risk his life to save him.
He’s the protagonist I need to assist, the reason I’m here, Tang Yu’an thought.
But he couldn’t reveal this, so he simply said: “He’s very important to me.”
He had expected Wei Langxing to be pleased, thinking he had gained a friend, but Wei Langxing froze, his expression hardening.
After a long pause, he forced a smile, like a crack in a stone.
“Is that so?” he said, his tone strangely bitter. “He’s amazing, then, to be so important to you.”
Tang Yu’an: “?”
What’s wrong with him now?
