Chapter 1 - Novice Copy (1)

Hongyi Amusement Park

Chapter 1 — Second Game (1)

Jiang Xiaoli was only an ordinary salted fish 1 .

She graduated from university but she had no job. She relied on writing official documents for at least three companies, advertisements, recommendations and so on to be able to barely provide for herself. For her to receive official documents, she was naturally able to substitute a writer for all types of work, such as a thesis. Even to the extent that close to her rented house near the university, she would relieve a lesson for someone every day when she had nothing to do.

As for her parents……Jiang Xiaoli looked at her Moments 2 , they were still on a holiday in Guangdong province.

Based on the keywords, she wrote an article with a lot of ass-kissing to give to the products of a rich daddy 3 . Jiang Xiaoli closed her computer and fell asleep after her head touched the pillow on the bed.

—— In the future, Jiang Xiaoli had countless regrets:

Before sleeping, I must go to the bathroom first! Must absolutely go to the bathroom first!

Jiang Xiaoli woke up from holding her pee.

She was in a daze as she crawled out of bed with her eyes closed, she felt around to walk to the bathroom. This house was also not big. She felt her way around for more than a hundred times already and there was no whatsoever problem at all. It’s just that today didn’t seem to be the same?

As for what was different, Jiang Xiaoli’s muddled mind had not reacted yet. It was until she pushed open the door and suddenly sank down. Only then did she react when she felt it, she knew after. Why was the door in my house glowing red?!

[Welcome to the escape game!]

[Currently extracting a copy……]

[Ding! Welcome to: Hongyi 4 Amusement Park~]

“Jiang Xiaoli! Go stand at the back!” A raging voice. Jiang Xiaoli trembled from head to toe and she suddenly stood from her seat. Her eyes widened as she noticed a solemn female teacher in front of her, rolling up a test paper into a stick, in a posture that wanted to hit her head into squash.

Jiang Xiaoli stared. What was on the table? A mathematics book? All sorts of thick stacks of study guides and test papers? What did she see? Three years of university entrance exams, five years of tests?! 5 Jiang Xiaoli suspected that she had not slept. The reason was no other than because she did not have an impression of this teacher at all!

“Jiang Xiaoli! Are you deaf? Scram to the back and stand there!” The teacher ruthlessly threw the book on her desk. Jiang Xiaoli did not dare to be in a daze and promptly got up to head over to the last row. She was made to stand as a punishment? That’s not right. Was she not a salted fish, a recluse? How did she go back to the third year of high school and it was not even the one she attended! She was not even familiar with a single classmate in her surroundings but a portion of them were stifling their laughter and a portion of them were outright laughing.

No, did I not just go to the bathroom? How did I get sent back to get re-educated? Could it be that she held in her pee to death? It should not be so!

Escape game, if an escape game happens, shouldn’t it be dead people who participate? And after this copy, they would be able to revive and what not? Wasn’t the pattern all like this? As for her who didn’t do anything, how did she mysteriously? Just because she opened a glowing red bathroom door?

Calm down, calm down……Jiang Xiaoli stood up as straight as a ramrod, sizing up the classroom. Very good. She didn’t recognise a single person. She was not reborn. Escape game, it was bound to be dangerous from the sound of the name. Since it was an escape game, in that case, the task should be to survive? But where was the danger on this campus? A serial killer? Jiang Xiaoli thought deeply and linked it to the name of this copy, ‘Hongyi Amusement Park’. Campus, amusement park? It didn’t match. Red clothes……refers to that she should wear red clothes? The killer wears clothes?

Jiang Xiaoli who was prosperous, democratic, civilised and harmonious 6 , completely did not think in the direction of supernatural spirits and demons. She also missed out on the obvious ‘red-clothed ferocious ghost’ hint dedicated to newcomers.

The countdown to the finals for third years…… good luck for the university entrance exams was also drawn on the blackboard announcement at the back. That teacher called her Jiang Xiaoli, indicating the identity of this body was her original name. Third year, Hongyi Amusement Park……

Because there was too much pressure so she should go to the amusement park to play? Relax? Wear red clothes when going to the amusement park? Jiang Xiaoli’s head was full of questions. She sighed internally and felt that she was not at all suited for logical deduction. She was a person who did not even read a detective novel, where would she know what this escape game meant?

Jiang Xiaoli’s train of thought strayed as she could not think of it. If she died in this extracted copy, would she not suddenly die in the real world? She racked her brains to think of the novels she read in the past, it seemed……there was also the kind of unlucky people who got chosen and without any rhythm or reason, had to continuously escape. If they died, they really died. Yet, didn’t those tasks have a lot of pitfully teammates? Wasn’t the protagonist able to fall in love? So where was her love? NPC?

—— Perhaps she wasn’t the protagonist.

Jiang Xiaoli could not help but to scratch her hair, she caught sight of a white curve striking over 7 in her peripheral vision along with the angry shriek of the teacher, “Jiang Xiaoli! You don’t know how to stand as a punishment? What about your test paper! You’re already in your third year!”

Jiang Xiaoli left the third year of high school for such a long time and got scolded right in the face like this until she trembled with fear. She hurried to her seat to grab her test paper. Even though she didn’t know which set of paper the teacher was talking about, she grabbed the set of paper on the top which had no notes to take a look. Glancing at the results, 104? Wasn’t this a pass?

Embracing this mentality, Jiang Xiaoli carefully looked at the test paper of the girl at the last row —— 126?

The 8th row.

What kind of class was this? Her being here……did she still have to complete the university entrance exam?

The bell finally rang, signalling the end of the class. Jiang Xiaoli was dying to return to her seat to rest but the teacher on the platform 8 had not finished talking about the question. Although this female teacher was good-looking, she was fierce, very fierce. It evoked the feelings when Jiang Xiaoli faced her form teacher in those days. She only could continue to stand obediently at the back as she felt that her legs weren’t like her own anymore.

Only when the teacher left the classroom did she sigh in relief. Jiang Xiaoli hurried back to her seat. Coincidentally, the girl in front appeared to have stood up and wanted to go out. Jiang Xiaoli’s legs were numbed and her whole body pounced towards that girl, knocking the girl against the desk without a word. Her knees came into contact with the floor as she directly bowed to the girl.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. My legs were numb.” Jiang Xiaoli apologised profusely. She wanted to get up from the floor but to no avail as her legs wouldn’t listen to her orders. Even though she felt like that just now, her legs were numbed to the point she didn’t feel pain.

“……It’s fine.” The girl’s voice was a little soft. Her thick fringe nearly covered her eyes. Jiang Xiaoli raised her head to look at her. Under the black frame of her spectacles, the girl seemed to have smiled a bit and looked very nice.

……Wait a minute, was this a ugly duckling story? The sort where the ugly bookworm girl was exclusively bullied on the campus. All of a sudden after pulling back her fringe and taking off her spectacles, she would surprise people when meeting them? Jiang Xiaoli’s expression was complicated. Don’t tell me, she’s a poisonous villainess?

[This is an escape game, the player should please treat it seriously!] That electronic sound suddenly appeared in Jiang Xiaoli’s ear when she was pushing the door, shocking her.

[If you die within the escape game, you will also die in reality.]

Then how do I play this game? What do I need to do? Won’t you give me a hint or something? Jiang Xiaoli promptly asked but that voice didn’t speak anymore.

She did not take note of when the voice of the system appeared, that sweet sounding female bookworm’s eye darkened and the corners of her mouth rose in an instant.

It’s really a pity, the newcomer sent this time had a protection period and was also on her own. Thinking up to here, she licked the corner of her lower lip. It was not enough to eat.

Identity! You have to give me my identity, right? Jiang Xiaoli was still there probing that mysterious voice and paid no attention to how long she had kneeled.

“Jiang, Jiang Xiaoli, why are you kneeling to Li Hongying?!” She did not recognise the student who spoke. In any case, the expressions of those students watching the excitement and how people made a fool out of themselves was too obvious. She could not help but to think again, Li Hongying, this name had the word for red in it. It would be great if she was called Li Hongyi and she would bring her to the amusement park tomorrow to play around.

But Jiang Xiaoli came back to her senses, this Li Hongyi……oh no, why did classmate Li Hongying not help her up?! “That, classmate Li, my legs are numb, I really can’t stand up, could you……help me up?”

All of a sudden, the classroom was quiet.

No, it could even be said to be deadly silent. This caused Jiang Xiaoli’s heart to palpitate, she, did she say anything wrong? Li Hongyi bent over to support her and even used an arm to circle around her waist and lifted her up. Not only that, Li Hongying even brought her back to her seat.

This campus is very weird.

Jiang Xiaoli thought about the hand Li Hongying used to support her, it was ice-cold. She fumbled in her drawer and fished out a mobile phone. It was April, the weather should not be too chilly……maybe that classmate was in poor health. It was only two months until the university entrance exam. Escape game……

She should first figure out her own identity.

Jiang Xiaoli, a third year transfer student in the second semester 9 . After coming to class, she requested a leave of absence practically every day and her grades in this class were in the lower-middle range……lower-middle?! Jiang Xiaoli almost dropped her phone as she looked at the information in it. Ok. The lower-middle range is generally better than being dead last? The class Jiang Xiaoli was in was also not a good one either, a good class wasn’t that easy to squeeze into. Her parents were divorced. Her father had an illegitimate daughter and only cared about money and not about people. As for her mother, it wasn’t known where she went……Wasn’t this share of information too elaborate? In short, with this identity she had, she didn’t have to worry about her family. Her family members didn’t care about her and only about money but the matter of having a leave of absence practically every day, was known by her father. He drove her back to school and threatened her that if she didn’t dwell at school obediently, he would not give her money. Even the house keys were confiscated and the house Jiang Xiaoli rented outside was also returned. Thereupon, Jiang Xiaoli could only be well-behaved and come to school to attend classes. This was her second day. The school teacher……doesn’t like her very much either.

After the introduction, there was still a small [7]. Jiang Xiaoli clicked it but there weren’t any hints to get redirected to.

In that case, what about Li Hongying?

Maybe it was because she was a transfer student, on top of that, she constantly played truancy so it’s quite normal for her not to know this so she struck up a conversation with the student in front of her; and that student told her.

Li Hongying, grades in the middle range, ordinary looking, habitually silent, from a poor family and was a disgusting pervert.

—Pervert?

“I heard that she’s a lesbian……”

No, why are the NPC in this game so old-fashioned? What year was this? Jiang Xiaoli had a puzzled look on her face.

“I heard that she likes to steal things. In any case, no one is willing to play with her.”

“So it’s like so……” Jiang Xiaoli nodded her head and didn’t ask any more questions.

Li Hongying……and Hongyi Amusement Park, what does it have to do with her? Jiang Xiaoli thought. Perhaps, she ought to see for herself if there’s a student called ‘Hongyi’ on the campus? At noon, she followed the crowd of people to go to the canteen to have a meal. She went for a walk and arrived at the school gate. This was a school in seclusion 10 , limited to a visit home once a month. For the third years, it was fine even if they didn’t go home. She tried to go to the school gate but in the end, a transparent barrier blocked her. Looking at the traffic outside the school gates, Jiang Xiaoli felt around for a long time before she confirmed that there really was this trick of an ‘invisible barrier’ 11 .

So as to say, it wasn’t an amusement park? Her map only consisted of a school? Or was it only like this for the first day? Jiang Xiaoli took out her phone and tapped to open the map. She searched for Hongyi Amusement Park and noticed that this place didn’t exist at all.

Jiang Xiaoli was at a loss once again.

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Footnotes

咸鱼 xián yú : A person without any ambition and does not want to do anything. 朋友圈 péng yǒu quān : It is a function on WeChat. It is also known as Friends’ circle. It’s like a story status in Whatsapp/Instagram to look at but only for family and friends. 金主爸爸 (jīn zhǔ bà ba) : A financial backer or someone rich that gives her cash for promoting their (company’s) products. 红衣 hóng yī : This means red clothes but it’ll be weird to have a Red Clothes Amusement Park~ so I kept it in pinyin. ‘ 三年高考五年模拟’ sān nián gāo kǎo wǔ nián mó nǐ is a real textbook for preparing for university entrance exams. China’s university entrance exams are extremely competitive and stressful; You should see those heaps of books on their tables. OMO 富强民主文明和谐 fù qiáng mín zhǔ wén míng hé xié : A part of the 12 Core Socialist Values, the 4 national values of ‘prosperity, ‘democracy’, ‘civility’ and ‘harmony’. +1 chalk was thrown over It seems that some classrooms in China have a small area of raised flooring at the front, in front of the blackboard, for teachers to stand on. Technically, it can be considered to be a mini-stage for teachers to teach. 下学期 xià xué qí : The academic year in China is divided into two semesters; The first semester is usually from autumn up to winter vacation and the second semester, from spring up to summer vacation. 封闭式教育 fēng bì shì jiào yù : The school is isolated from society and has very little contact with it to ensure a relatively conducive and closed environment to study in. 空气墙 kōng qì qiáng : Think of it as that barrier that blocks a player from going out of the set boundaries in a video game.