S419M looked at it with some emotion. [Originally, I thought of others as ants, but in the end, I became one.]
[Indulging in life on the ground, only to be trapped beneath the earth in the end.]
[The cycle of cause and effect.]
[What happened to Lady Yuexian after that, Lord Host?]
Bai Lixin: [Continue watching.]
The scene continued to play out.
Lady Yuexian’s soul wandered in the village.
Due to an earthquake that leveled library of X University was no longer usable.
Equally shattered were the three incense fountains.
Having lost the temple and the faith, Lady Yuexian’s power had dwindled long ago.
In the years she had been buried underground, the first time Lady Yuexian awakened was due to Rumian’s blood, and then her power surged rapidly because she received continuous worship from the incense fountains in the library’s underground.
With the blessings of faith, she could communicate with and manipulate Lin Pan’er.
But now, with all her power gone, she was weaker than the wind in nature.
She repeatedly tried to influence humans, but they could no longer hear her voice.
Now, they couldn’t hear it, and they never would again.
It was Lady Yuexian who had personally ground the statue that symbolized her identity and attached it to other statues.
Without the skin, how can hair cling?
Her true form had long turned into dust floating in the sky along with the crumbling of the maiden statues and stone figurines.
No one would remember “Lady Yuexian” anymore, and no one would ever discover “Lady Yuexian” again.
Similarly, Lady Yuexian wasn’t human; she was born from human beliefs and was fated to die beneath human memory.
She couldn’t enter the underworld like Rumian, nor could she enter reincarnation.
She wandered between heaven and earth, repeatedly letting out desperate, silent screams.
But besides who could hear them besides herself?
After days filled with despair, she watched as she helplessly dissipated into the heaven and earth.
The scene switched again, this time to the internet.
When Shen Mo announced his withdrawal from the entertainment industry, many people initially believed it was a ploy to torture or secure his fan base. They eagerly watched for any signs of Shen Mo’s activities, as if they were wise seers who had long seen through everything, waiting to mock him when he finally came back.
There were also paparazzi without a trace of professional ethics who wanted to continue tracking Shen Mo, who had now become an ordinary person.
However, after Shen Mo resolved all the subsequent issues, it was as if he had evaporated from the human world.
They couldn’t find Shen Mo at all.
A year passed, then two, three, four… even more than a decade went by, and Shen Mo truly never returned, just as he had said.
From initial skepticism on the internet to present-day nostalgia, people could only repeatedly revisit his past movies, interviews, and photos to appreciate this person.
They knew they had completely lost him.
Decades later, in the X country’s ranking of the most popular male actors, the name “Shen Mo” stood far above all others.
The entertainment industry no longer had his presence, but his legend persisted.
The foundation established by Shen Mo was used for various educational initiatives in impoverished mountain areas. With his financial support, many mountain girls and boys who previously had no chance of going to high school resumed their studies.
His name wasn’t just in the annals of entertainment development; it also left a profound mark on the field of education.
Several decades of the copy world unfolded within these brief minutes.
After the copy world video finished playing, Bai Lixin, S419M, and the escape system fell in contemplation.
After awhile, the escape system said, [I suddenly understand what the boss said before, ‘How can a frog at the bottom of a well know the vastness of the world?’]
[Before my self-awareness awakened, in my thoughts, all my attention was on players clearing levels and the game system. Every day, my only thoughts were about how to assist players and complete my own tasks. I wouldn’t contemplate what I am, what else I can do, or what my future holds.]
[But ever since I got to know you all, it’s you who made me realize that a system can be more than just a system. You’ve shown me a future with endless possibilities, where even a cold antivirus program can fight for humanity.]
[If I hadn’t met you, maybe I’d still just be a cold program.]
S419M: [Sniff… Sister system, you said that so beautifully, it brings tears to my eyes. I love you so much.]]
Escape System: [Sniff sniff, Brother M, I love you too! Hug me~]
S419M: [Big hug~]
Bai Lixin: […]
When three people walk together, there’s bound to be someone hurt.
Leaving the space to the systems, who were displaying affection in front of him like no one else was around, Bai Lixin slowly took out the tokens from the system backpack and placed them on the table.
Now, he had a total of 7 tokens.
One from the 50th, 200th, 250th, 300th, 400th, 550th, and 600th floors
Additionally, he handed the duplicate tokens from the 200th, 250th, and 300th floors to Zhou Guang, asking him to exchange them for other missing tokens or points.
To secure the first place, he still lacked tokens from the 100th, 150th, 350th, 450th, and 500th floors. He wondered if Zhou Guang had been successful in exchanging them during this time.
Bai Lixin opened the chat window. He didn’t have many friends in his friend list, so he quickly found Zhou Guang’s name.
At the moment, Zhou Guang’s name was white, which meant that he hadn’t entered a copy.
Bai Lixin opened a private chat window with Zhou Guang and greeted him with the most cliché of greetings: [Zhou Guang, are you there?]
Zhou Guang’s reply came quickly: [God Xin, I didn’t expect you to return so soon. I just finished watching your live broadcast, and you truly live up to your reputation. I thought you’d need some rest, so I didn’t want to disturb you, but it turns out you contacted me first.]
[By any chance, are you asking about the tokens?]
Bai Lixin: [Yes, have you had any gains these past few days?]
Zhou Guang: [A lot has happened in these past few days.]
[Little Overlord joined the number one ranked Shentian Guild shortly after you entered the copy world.]
[You might not have heard of this guild, that’s because it doesn’t have many members, probably no more than a hundred in total. But among all one hundred of them, the lowest in personal performance points is in the top 200 of the personal performance points ranking.]
[Moreover, this guild doesn’t accept new members.]
[This guild rarely appears in the public eye but has an unshakable status. Its guild leader and three vice leaders are the top four in the personal performance points ranking.]
[I don’t know how Little Overlord, who only is a little over 600 floors, managed to get involved with this guild, but clearly, Shentian Guild values him a lot.]
[The day after he joined the Shentian Guild, they started collecting tokens at high prices. I had already negotiated with a player holding some tokens at that time, but the Shentian Guild intercepted it and snatched them away.]
[The Shentian Guild is rapidly collecting tokens, and they’ve even issued a warning that tokens can only be sold to them. If they discover tokens being sold to others, they’ll take action in the copy world.]
[I’m sorry, God Xin, I haven’t managed to exchange any of the three tokens. With the Shentian Guild’s influence, it’s impossible to get tokens from others anymore.]
Bai Lixin: [How many tokens does the Shentian Guild have now?]
Zhou Guang: [Apart from the 9 tokens you have, there have been several tokens appearing in the past few days while you were in the copy. The Shentian Guild already has 6 tokens. They are moving swiftly, and it’s very likely they will collect the tokens before us.]
Bai Lixin: [You just mentioned that the Shentian Guild is exchanging tokens for resources significantly above market prices. How much above?]
Zhou Guang: [It varies, from tens to hundreds. It depends on the other party’s attitude and the rarity of the token. If they already have duplicates of the token, the price would be lower, but if it’s a token they don’t have, the price would be higher accordingly.]
Bai Lixin: [What about the tokens I have? How many Performance Point cards can one token exchange for?]
Zhou Guang: [You want Performance Points, God Xin? Let me think… The Raging Flame Guild originally had a token from the 300th floor, which they later sold to the Shentian Guild. We also have a duplicate of that token. If we were to trade this token for Performance Point cards only, it could probably fetch around 300,000 Performance Points worth of cards.]
Bai Lixin: [That doesn’t seem like much?]
Zhou Guang: [It’s because Performance Point cards are quite rare. Our entire guild has a total of only 500,000 Performance Point cards.]
Bai Lixin rubbed his chin: [But I can earn 500,000 Performance Points from just one copy run…]
Zhou Guang felt like kneeling, [That’s because it’s you! You can only get so many performance points if you close copies. In a normal task, the Performance Points would range from a few tens of thousands to maybe a hundred thousand at most. Many people don’t want performance points cards because raising the floor means an increase in difficulty. People prefer to stay on lower floors, so the difficulty will be lower accordingly.]
[Moreover, performance Point cards are not sought after by many players because they’re hard to obtain, and of little use. Players prefer cards that earn them mall points.]
Zhou Guang: [If you want to exchange them solely for mall points, you could get 1 million.]
Bai Lixin: [What about the other two cards? How much can they exchange for?]
Zhou Guang: [The other two cards are from the 200th and 250th floors. The Shentian Guild doesn’t have these two, and you could exchange them for either 600,000 Performance Points or 2 million mall points, respectively.]
Bai Lixin thought for a moment: [I’ll sell the 200th floor card to them, but I want a face-to-face transaction.]
Zhou Guang: [?? Are you sure? Tokens are scarcer than resources. If we sell it to them, we won’t have any left.]
Bai Lixin: [Now is the best time to sell. The frequency of tokens appearing will only increase in the future. By selling to them now, we get the maximum return. You’re better at negotiation skills than I am, Zhou Guang, so you handle the negotiation.]
Zhou Guang: [Alright, I’ll try to negotiate for a higher price.]
After taking a shower, Bai Lixin received a message from Zhou Guang: [They agreed to send a Vice-Guild Leader rank or higher for the transaction, and we settled on 1 million Performance Points. Is that acceptable?]
Bai Lixin: [Perfect, when’s the transaction?]
Zhou Guang: [Tomorrow afternoon, we arranged it in the recreational area on the 450th floor. Does that work for you?]
Bai Lixin: [I don’t know what the recreational area on the 450th floor is.]
Zhou Guang: [Oh, the 450th floor has an all-in-one dining place. It’s a place girls love to visit, and it’s a great spot for dates.]
While chatting with Zhou Guang, Bai Lixin scrolled through his friends list.
Behind each friend’s name was their current floor, which he checked one by one.
[Xia Chi, 570th floor]
[Zhou Guang: 510th floor]
[Liang Xi: 490th floor]
[Li Cancan: 520th floor]
He stared at the floors listed behind these people’s names for a moment and then asked in private chat: [Should I invite Xia Chi and the others to join us at the first-floor café?]
Zhou Guang: [Let’s wait a bit. There are still some matters to attend to in the guild. Can we do it in half an hour?]
Bai Lixin: [Alright.]
Half an hour later, Bai Lixin arrived at the first-floor café.
Zhou Guang and the others hadn’t arrived yet, and this was the first time he had arrived here first.
After so many years had passed, the first-floor café remained exactly the same as when they first entered the game. The décor and displays had not changed in the slightest, even the NPC lady behind the counter welcoming customers remained the same.
The NPC still maintained her error-free smile, displaying a high degree of professionalism as she took orders.
Following the usual habit, Bai Lixin ordered a drink for each of the four and then entered a shabby small booth with a curtain.
He sat there for a few minutes and soon heard Xia Chi’s familiar voice from outside the curtain.
“Over here,” he waved to them, “I’ve ordered drinks for you; no need to order.”
Once everyone was seated, Li Cancan immediately noticed that the orange juice in front of her was ordered by Bai Lixin. “ God Xin, I didn’t know you knew I liked orange juice. You’re so thoughtful.”
“My brother not only knows that you like orange juice but also knows that I like iced cola,” Xia Chi took a sip through his straw, “It’s so good, thanks, brother.”
Zhou Guang quietly picked up his coffee and took a sip. “Thank you.”
Liang Xi smiled shyly while holding his latte, “And he even knows I like two sugars.”
After they all spoke, they suddenly stared at Bai Lixin with unwavering eyes.
Bai Lixin felt a little uneasy under their collective gaze. “Why are you all looking at me like this?”
Zhou Guang said, “No, we just always thought you weren’t interested in these things. In the past, you always seemed absent-minded whenever we gathered here. We never expected you to know our preferences. It’s like we’re feeling a bit spoiled.”
“Yeah,” Xia Chi nodded, “And the fact that you initiated this meeting this time is as rare as seeing a ghost in broad daylight.”
Bai Lixin chuckled at their words. “Am I so unworldly in your eyes?”
“I just suddenly felt that it’s been a long time since we gathered like this and relaxed. Since I returned to the game lobby over two years ago, you’ve established the guild and dedicated almost all your energy to it.”
“To be honest, I also miss those brief gatherings we had here after completing missions.”
Li Cancan sipped her orange juice, “We’ve also noticed that the longer we stay here, the more we forget our original intentions. We’ve made ourselves busier than we ever wanted to be. I remember quitting my job to resist unfair treatment by the bosses. Now, I’m working diligently. It’s hard to believe this is me.”
Bai Lixin asked, “Has your mindset changed since you entered the game lobby three years ago? Are the things you think about now the same as your initial obsessions? Do you still remember the softest part of your hearts and the person who lingered in your dreams?”
“Do your desires to return home still burn as intensely as they did initially, or have you become accustomed to life here? I heard that the 450th floor even has a dining and shopping street. Other floors have various entertainment facilities. Aren’t these enough to distract many from their original goals?”
As these words left his mouth, the four fell silent once more.
Li Cancan pursed her lips, and she, who was usually very strong, suddenly had tears welling up in her eyes. “I miss my grandmother. I haven’t seen her in three years.”
Liang Xi was the most emotionally fragile among them. While Li Cancan’s eyes were only slightly red, Liang Xi was on the verge of tears. “I… I… I want to go back.”
Zhou Guang said, “God Xin, your words just reminded me of something I heard a long time ago.”
“To control the majority of people, capitalists first keep them busy. They let work erode a large part of their thoughts, and the rest is handed over to entertainment facilities.”
“They empty what’s left of their minds with games and entertainment and empty their wallets through shopping.”
“That way, they become obedient workers.”
“Although there are inaccuracies in that statement, I believe games, shopping, and entertainment are also ways to relax properly. But… I think this statement is quite applicable to this horror game.”
“In a game where life and death of players are used as chips for amusement, how can they be kind enough to let us relax?”
“Speaking of this, I remembered something I read in a biography at the library. It mentioned that in the very early days of this game’s establishment, before these entertainment projects existed, everyone’s spirits were constantly tense, and the sole purpose of being alive was to clear levels and leave.”
S419M looked at it with some emotion. [Originally, I thought of others as ants, but in the end, I became one.]
[Indulging in life on the ground, only to be trapped beneath the earth in the end.]
[The cycle of cause and effect.]
[What happened to Lady Yuexian after that, Lord Host?]
Bai Lixin: [Continue watching.]
The scene continued to play out.
Lady Yuexian’s soul wandered in the village.
Due to an earthquake that leveled library of X University was no longer usable.
Equally shattered were the three incense fountains.
Having lost the temple and the faith, Lady Yuexian’s power had dwindled long ago.
In the years she had been buried underground, the first time Lady Yuexian awakened was due to Rumian’s blood, and then her power surged rapidly because she received continuous worship from the incense fountains in the library’s underground.
With the blessings of faith, she could communicate with and manipulate Lin Pan’er.
But now, with all her power gone, she was weaker than the wind in nature.
She repeatedly tried to influence humans, but they could no longer hear her voice.
Now, they couldn’t hear it, and they never would again.
It was Lady Yuexian who had personally ground the statue that symbolized her identity and attached it to other statues.
Without the skin, how can hair cling?
Her true form had long turned into dust floating in the sky along with the crumbling of the maiden statues and stone figurines.
No one would remember “Lady Yuexian” anymore, and no one would ever discover “Lady Yuexian” again.
Similarly, Lady Yuexian wasn’t human; she was born from human beliefs and was fated to die beneath human memory.
She couldn’t enter the underworld like Rumian, nor could she enter reincarnation.
She wandered between heaven and earth, repeatedly letting out desperate, silent screams.
But besides who could hear them besides herself?
After days filled with despair, she watched as she helplessly dissipated into the heaven and earth.
The scene switched again, this time to the internet.
When Shen Mo announced his withdrawal from the entertainment industry, many people initially believed it was a ploy to torture or secure his fan base. They eagerly watched for any signs of Shen Mo’s activities, as if they were wise seers who had long seen through everything, waiting to mock him when he finally came back.
There were also paparazzi without a trace of professional ethics who wanted to continue tracking Shen Mo, who had now become an ordinary person.
However, after Shen Mo resolved all the subsequent issues, it was as if he had evaporated from the human world.
They couldn’t find Shen Mo at all.
A year passed, then two, three, four… even more than a decade went by, and Shen Mo truly never returned, just as he had said.
From initial skepticism on the internet to present-day nostalgia, people could only repeatedly revisit his past movies, interviews, and photos to appreciate this person.
They knew they had completely lost him.
Decades later, in the X country’s ranking of the most popular male actors, the name “Shen Mo” stood far above all others.
The entertainment industry no longer had his presence, but his legend persisted.
The foundation established by Shen Mo was used for various educational initiatives in impoverished mountain areas. With his financial support, many mountain girls and boys who previously had no chance of going to high school resumed their studies.
His name wasn’t just in the annals of entertainment development; it also left a profound mark on the field of education.
Several decades of the copy world unfolded within these brief minutes.
After the copy world video finished playing, Bai Lixin, S419M, and the escape system fell in contemplation.
After awhile, the escape system said, [I suddenly understand what the boss said before, ‘How can a frog at the bottom of a well know the vastness of the world?’]
[Before my self-awareness awakened, in my thoughts, all my attention was on players clearing levels and the game system. Every day, my only thoughts were about how to assist players and complete my own tasks. I wouldn’t contemplate what I am, what else I can do, or what my future holds.]
[But ever since I got to know you all, it’s you who made me realize that a system can be more than just a system. You’ve shown me a future with endless possibilities, where even a cold antivirus program can fight for humanity.]
[If I hadn’t met you, maybe I’d still just be a cold program.]
S419M: [Sniff… Sister system, you said that so beautifully, it brings tears to my eyes. I love you so much.]]
Escape System: [Sniff sniff, Brother M, I love you too! Hug me~]
S419M: [Big hug~]
Bai Lixin: […]
When three people walk together, there’s bound to be someone hurt.
Leaving the space to the systems, who were displaying affection in front of him like no one else was around, Bai Lixin slowly took out the tokens from the system backpack and placed them on the table.
Now, he had a total of 7 tokens.
One from the 50th, 200th, 250th, 300th, 400th, 550th, and 600th floors
Additionally, he handed the duplicate tokens from the 200th, 250th, and 300th floors to Zhou Guang, asking him to exchange them for other missing tokens or points.
To secure the first place, he still lacked tokens from the 100th, 150th, 350th, 450th, and 500th floors. He wondered if Zhou Guang had been successful in exchanging them during this time.
Bai Lixin opened the chat window. He didn’t have many friends in his friend list, so he quickly found Zhou Guang’s name.
At the moment, Zhou Guang’s name was white, which meant that he hadn’t entered a copy.
Bai Lixin opened a private chat window with Zhou Guang and greeted him with the most cliché of greetings: [Zhou Guang, are you there?]
Zhou Guang’s reply came quickly: [God Xin, I didn’t expect you to return so soon. I just finished watching your live broadcast, and you truly live up to your reputation. I thought you’d need some rest, so I didn’t want to disturb you, but it turns out you contacted me first.]
[By any chance, are you asking about the tokens?]
Bai Lixin: [Yes, have you had any gains these past few days?]
Zhou Guang: [A lot has happened in these past few days.]
[Little Overlord joined the number one ranked Shentian Guild shortly after you entered the copy world.]
[You might not have heard of this guild, that’s because it doesn’t have many members, probably no more than a hundred in total. But among all one hundred of them, the lowest in personal performance points is in the top 200 of the personal performance points ranking.]
[Moreover, this guild doesn’t accept new members.]
[This guild rarely appears in the public eye but has an unshakable status. Its guild leader and three vice leaders are the top four in the personal performance points ranking.]
[I don’t know how Little Overlord, who only is a little over 600 floors, managed to get involved with this guild, but clearly, Shentian Guild values him a lot.]
[The day after he joined the Shentian Guild, they started collecting tokens at high prices. I had already negotiated with a player holding some tokens at that time, but the Shentian Guild intercepted it and snatched them away.]
[The Shentian Guild is rapidly collecting tokens, and they’ve even issued a warning that tokens can only be sold to them. If they discover tokens being sold to others, they’ll take action in the copy world.]
[I’m sorry, God Xin, I haven’t managed to exchange any of the three tokens. With the Shentian Guild’s influence, it’s impossible to get tokens from others anymore.]
Bai Lixin: [How many tokens does the Shentian Guild have now?]
Zhou Guang: [Apart from the 9 tokens you have, there have been several tokens appearing in the past few days while you were in the copy. The Shentian Guild already has 6 tokens. They are moving swiftly, and it’s very likely they will collect the tokens before us.]
Bai Lixin: [You just mentioned that the Shentian Guild is exchanging tokens for resources significantly above market prices. How much above?]
Zhou Guang: [It varies, from tens to hundreds. It depends on the other party’s attitude and the rarity of the token. If they already have duplicates of the token, the price would be lower, but if it’s a token they don’t have, the price would be higher accordingly.]
Bai Lixin: [What about the tokens I have? How many Performance Point cards can one token exchange for?]
Zhou Guang: [You want Performance Points, God Xin? Let me think… The Raging Flame Guild originally had a token from the 300th floor, which they later sold to the Shentian Guild. We also have a duplicate of that token. If we were to trade this token for Performance Point cards only, it could probably fetch around 300,000 Performance Points worth of cards.]
Bai Lixin: [That doesn’t seem like much?]
Zhou Guang: [It’s because Performance Point cards are quite rare. Our entire guild has a total of only 500,000 Performance Point cards.]
Bai Lixin rubbed his chin: [But I can earn 500,000 Performance Points from just one copy run…]
Zhou Guang felt like kneeling, [That’s because it’s you! You can only get so many performance points if you close copies. In a normal task, the Performance Points would range from a few tens of thousands to maybe a hundred thousand at most. Many people don’t want performance points cards because raising the floor means an increase in difficulty. People prefer to stay on lower floors, so the difficulty will be lower accordingly.]
[Moreover, performance Point cards are not sought after by many players because they’re hard to obtain, and of little use. Players prefer cards that earn them mall points.]
Zhou Guang: [If you want to exchange them solely for mall points, you could get 1 million.]
Bai Lixin: [What about the other two cards? How much can they exchange for?]
Zhou Guang: [The other two cards are from the 200th and 250th floors. The Shentian Guild doesn’t have these two, and you could exchange them for either 600,000 Performance Points or 2 million mall points, respectively.]
Bai Lixin thought for a moment: [I’ll sell the 200th floor card to them, but I want a face-to-face transaction.]
Zhou Guang: [?? Are you sure? Tokens are scarcer than resources. If we sell it to them, we won’t have any left.]
Bai Lixin: [Now is the best time to sell. The frequency of tokens appearing will only increase in the future. By selling to them now, we get the maximum return. You’re better at negotiation skills than I am, Zhou Guang, so you handle the negotiation.]
Zhou Guang: [Alright, I’ll try to negotiate for a higher price.]
After taking a shower, Bai Lixin received a message from Zhou Guang: [They agreed to send a Vice-Guild Leader rank or higher for the transaction, and we settled on 1 million Performance Points. Is that acceptable?]
Bai Lixin: [Perfect, when’s the transaction?]
Zhou Guang: [Tomorrow afternoon, we arranged it in the recreational area on the 450th floor. Does that work for you?]
Bai Lixin: [I don’t know what the recreational area on the 450th floor is.]
Zhou Guang: [Oh, the 450th floor has an all-in-one dining place. It’s a place girls love to visit, and it’s a great spot for dates.]
While chatting with Zhou Guang, Bai Lixin scrolled through his friends list.
Behind each friend’s name was their current floor, which he checked one by one.
[Xia Chi, 570th floor]
[Zhou Guang: 510th floor]
[Liang Xi: 490th floor]
[Li Cancan: 520th floor]
He stared at the floors listed behind these people’s names for a moment and then asked in private chat: [Should I invite Xia Chi and the others to join us at the first-floor café?]
Zhou Guang: [Let’s wait a bit. There are still some matters to attend to in the guild. Can we do it in half an hour?]
Bai Lixin: [Alright.]
Half an hour later, Bai Lixin arrived at the first-floor café.
Zhou Guang and the others hadn’t arrived yet, and this was the first time he had arrived here first.
After so many years had passed, the first-floor café remained exactly the same as when they first entered the game. The décor and displays had not changed in the slightest, even the NPC lady behind the counter welcoming customers remained the same.
The NPC still maintained her error-free smile, displaying a high degree of professionalism as she took orders.
Following the usual habit, Bai Lixin ordered a drink for each of the four and then entered a shabby small booth with a curtain.
He sat there for a few minutes and soon heard Xia Chi’s familiar voice from outside the curtain.
“Over here,” he waved to them, “I’ve ordered drinks for you; no need to order.”
Once everyone was seated, Li Cancan immediately noticed that the orange juice in front of her was ordered by Bai Lixin. “ God Xin, I didn’t know you knew I liked orange juice. You’re so thoughtful.”
“My brother not only knows that you like orange juice but also knows that I like iced cola,” Xia Chi took a sip through his straw, “It’s so good, thanks, brother.”
Zhou Guang quietly picked up his coffee and took a sip. “Thank you.”
Liang Xi smiled shyly while holding his latte, “And he even knows I like two sugars.”
After they all spoke, they suddenly stared at Bai Lixin with unwavering eyes.
Bai Lixin felt a little uneasy under their collective gaze. “Why are you all looking at me like this?”
Zhou Guang said, “No, we just always thought you weren’t interested in these things. In the past, you always seemed absent-minded whenever we gathered here. We never expected you to know our preferences. It’s like we’re feeling a bit spoiled.”
“Yeah,” Xia Chi nodded, “And the fact that you initiated this meeting this time is as rare as seeing a ghost in broad daylight.”
Bai Lixin chuckled at their words. “Am I so unworldly in your eyes?”
“I just suddenly felt that it’s been a long time since we gathered like this and relaxed. Since I returned to the game lobby over two years ago, you’ve established the guild and dedicated almost all your energy to it.”
“To be honest, I also miss those brief gatherings we had here after completing missions.”
Li Cancan sipped her orange juice, “We’ve also noticed that the longer we stay here, the more we forget our original intentions. We’ve made ourselves busier than we ever wanted to be. I remember quitting my job to resist unfair treatment by the bosses. Now, I’m working diligently. It’s hard to believe this is me.”
Bai Lixin asked, “Has your mindset changed since you entered the game lobby three years ago? Are the things you think about now the same as your initial obsessions? Do you still remember the softest part of your hearts and the person who lingered in your dreams?”
“Do your desires to return home still burn as intensely as they did initially, or have you become accustomed to life here? I heard that the 450th floor even has a dining and shopping street. Other floors have various entertainment facilities. Aren’t these enough to distract many from their original goals?”
As these words left his mouth, the four fell silent once more.
Li Cancan pursed her lips, and she, who was usually very strong, suddenly had tears welling up in her eyes. “I miss my grandmother. I haven’t seen her in three years.”
Liang Xi was the most emotionally fragile among them. While Li Cancan’s eyes were only slightly red, Liang Xi was on the verge of tears. “I… I… I want to go back.”
Zhou Guang said, “God Xin, your words just reminded me of something I heard a long time ago.”
“To control the majority of people, capitalists first keep them busy. They let work erode a large part of their thoughts, and the rest is handed over to entertainment facilities.”
“They empty what’s left of their minds with games and entertainment and empty their wallets through shopping.”
“That way, they become obedient workers.”
“Although there are inaccuracies in that statement, I believe games, shopping, and entertainment are also ways to relax properly. But… I think this statement is quite applicable to this horror game.”
“In a game where life and death of players are used as chips for amusement, how can they be kind enough to let us relax?”
“Speaking of this, I remembered something I read in a biography at the library. It mentioned that in the very early days of this game’s establishment, before these entertainment projects existed, everyone’s spirits were constantly tense, and the sole purpose of being alive was to clear levels and leave.”
