V3C2

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Lin Jue was submerged in this unspeakable fear for a long time. Like a frightened bird, he watched everyone who passed by him: a trendy girl with dyed hair and nail polish; a pack of boys who walked past, laughing and joking; a nerdy student with a thick pair of glasses hurrying towards the library…

Everyone seemed to be carrying a horrible secret.

Every look that landed on them seemed to carry a frightening meaningfulness.

They were alive and everywhere, but he didn’t know what these human-like things were.

Lin Jue shivered as he stared at his phone. After the end of the first game, he had called home once. That voice which had chatted with him so intimately, asking him if he had enough money, was that really his mother?”

That overwhelming feeling of having nowhere to run to flooded through Lin Jue like the crashing tide: he felt like he was already drowning.

“Aren’t you scared?” Lin Jue’s voice warped uncontrollably as he asked Song Hanzhang.

That man he saw as faith itself sat opposite to him, as steady as a rock.

“I was. To me, the unknown is far more terrifying than any possible reality; when I was speculating on the potential realities, I was afraid beyond myself, but once I had verified which possibility it was, I stopped caring. To add to that, I had experienced this feeling before in the mirror world as well,” Song Hanzhang said calmly.

Lin Jue was stunned. It was true; when Song Hanzhang made a deal with Lilith to enter the mirror world to covertle give him hints, what Song Hanzhang had faced was an endless make-believe world, a vivid fabrication of everything around him. They were the only two real things in that world.

What kind of mindset had Song Hanzhang been in? How much courage had he needed to save him through that all-consuming comprehension?

“The mirror world made me realize: what state are we ‘living’ in as we play this game in this false world? We were brought here from the real world and pushed into one ‘campus’ after the other, so do our bodies still exist? Or have we been downgraded into a string of zeros and ones, tossed from one world to another until our data is finally no longer able to pass the test and permanently deleted? Can we really return to the real world?” Song Hanzhang asked.

This question was too dangerous; the more they thought, the closer they approached the abyss. The darkness watching, they stood on the verge of being swallowed by an incomprehensible power.

They became silent once again until an expected uninvited guest appeared.

Lu Ren appeared silently from behind Lin Jue, placing his tray next to him. Lin Jue’s tense nerves jerked and he almost jumped back, only to have his shoulder squeezed firmly by a hand, forcing him to sit back down.

“Your rabbit seems a little stressed? Don’t forget to feed him more vegetables,” Lu Ren said lazily.

Song Hanzhang glanced at him lightly. “I have a few theories to tell you about.”

Lu Ren grabbed a bun and chewed as he looked at him. “Go on.”

Lin Jue was forced to listen to Song Hanzhang’s speculations once more, experiencing again the bone-chilling fear which came from that mad world it spun, but also… from Lu Ren.

In contrast to Lin Jue, Lu Ren listened to Song Hanzhang’s explanation, enjoying his breakfast with not a shred of his appetite lost, a strange and amused smile appeared at the corners of his mouth. Even his eyes faintly shone with a feverish glow.

By the time he had finished, Song Hanzhang had also finished speaking. Lu Ren licked the corner of his mouth and looked around.

People came and went; everything went about as usual.

But underneath that veneer, something brewed in the dark.

That scent was familiar to Lu Ren. He liked that scent, so similar to an ancient forest undisturbed by the civilization of humanity, governed by another primitive law. Behind the fresh, natural shadows of trees, lakes, and rocks, there was the scent of murder, ready to pounce at any moment.

“I assume that there is an order to the fabricated reality. It works like a program: as long as we don’t disrupt it, it will continue working until the beginning of the next game,” Song Hanzhang said.

“What will happen if we disrupt it?” Lin Jue asked, shifting in his seat.

“I haven’t tested it out yet, but the simulation should have the ability to recover itself to a certain degree; it will logically attempt to respond to our actions, and as long as our actions don’t exceed a certain threshold, the order will not collapse. Once it passes the threshold though… no one knows what will happen.”

“Sounds interesting.” Lu Ren rested his face on his hands and looked around, an excited air about him. “Then where do you think this threshold will be?”

“I don’t want to tell you just yet, in case you get overexcited. You can attempt something mild first, but as for the other… Wait until I’ve contacted the other survivors first,” Song Hanzhang said.

Lu Ren looked at the people coming and going around him and showed a bored smile. “Then I suppose I’ll give it a try.”

“Hey, you, over here!” Lu Ren waved at a young man not too far from him, a bright smile on his face.

The young man pointed at himself in confusion and walked over. “Were you calling me? Is something wrong?”

Lu Ren nodded heavily, revealed a brilliant smile, and swung his fist at the young man’s nose without warning!

The unfortunate man screamed and crouched down, covering his nose which was bleeding furiously. “Holy shit, what the fuck are you doing?”

Lu Ren crushed his head onto the ground with his foot, looking over his bloody face with the eyes of a predator, smiling. “It’s fun, just giving it a try.”

The surrounding crowd stared at Lu Ren as if looking at a psychopath, whispering to each other, but no-one dared to come up.

Lu Ren finally raised his foot and splayed his hands at the curious and shocked crowd. “Wanna fight? I’m in a good mood today, so I’ll fight ’til the end~”

Lin Jue didn’t know what expression he was supposed to look upon this with. Song Hanzhang picked up his tray and pulled Lin Jue away by his wrist. “Let’s go.”

Lin Jue picked up his dinner tray and quickly left the scene. Just as they left through the gates of the canteen, he saw security guards hurrying over…

He silently wished Lu Ren luck.

No, he should be wishing the security guards good luck.

That wasn’t right either; it was better to wish himself luck.

As they left the canteen, Song Hanzhang’s phone rang. It was an unknown number. He picked up the phone and from the other side came Gu Fengyi’s voice. “Song Hanzhang?”

“It’s me.” Song Hanzhang didn’t ask where she had gotten the number from. They were from the same school after all, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to get each other’s numbers.

“Do you have time for tea with Qingqing and I? Along with Lin Jue and Lu Ren. There’s something I’d like to talk about with you, related to the game,” Gu Fengyi said, straight to the point.

Lin Jue could faintly hear the voice from where he was and lamented about Gu Fengyi and Liu Qingqing surviving the last frenzy of army ants- he still held a grudge against the two for setting fire to the beehive, almost suffocating them.

Unfortunately, Song Hanzhang was not as emotionally involved as him and calmly agreed on a time and place with Gu Fengyi.

That afternoon, the four met up in a cafe outside the campus.

“Song Hanzhang, Lin Jue, over here!” Liu Qingqing smiled as she waved at the two at the door, dressed in a snow-white long-sleeved dress.

Lin Jue’s eyes however were instantly attracted to Gu Fengyi by her. There was a magic to her that made people notice her at first glance, even in the middle of a crowd. It wasn’t only the charisma of a pretty face; more than anything, it was an intimidating aura, like she was a luminous body, born to attract attention.

Gu Fengyi rested her cheek on one hand as she flipped through the menu. Seeing the two walking over, she nodded politely at them. “What would you like to drink?”

The four of them tacitly agreed not to talk directly about the game. The coffees and desserts ordered were served; Lin Jue had no special liking for desserts and only took a small sip from his coffee, but Liu Qingqing had an unusual enthusiasm for cakes, quickly finishing her mousse with graceful movements. Gu Fengyi looked at her cake that she had only taken one scoop out of and said helplessly, “Take this one as well.”

Liu Qingqing smiled, abashed. “Cakes are just too good, I’ll eat as many as I can get.”

“Is there anything that you wouldn’t eat as much as you’re given? When have you ever gone to a buffet and not thrown up? Last time you even threw up in the car, and the cost of cleaning it was enough for you to go eat again! I’m so done with you.” Gu Fengyi had alway known that Liu Qingqing had an almost morbid enthusiasm for eating and had never tried to hide her gluttonous habits. Even though they were both dance students, they were completely different on this issue. Gu Fengyi was extremely strict on all aspects of her life, and her diet was no exception; Liu Qingqing was extremely indulgent, but her weak stomach meant that she would never gain weight no matter how much she ate!

Outside the window, a couple walked up to the front of the shop, took a look at the door, and turned away again. Lin Jue couldn’t help but ask in confusion. “Isn’t this shop very popular? Why is it empty today?”

“That… For the sake of convenience, I told the owner to clear the shop, and to bill me for all the other customers,” Liu Qingqing smiled shyly.

Truly, the definition of ‘money is key’. Lin Jue finally took a closer look at Liu Qingqing. His impression of her from the last round was a shadow always behind Gu Fengyi, but now that he took a closer look, her clothes and accessories were all very refined, not the type to be bought at streetside stores, and the phone on the table was also the newest edition which had recently come out last month; she was indeed a classy girl with a very nice personality.

“Fengyi and I1 mostly wanted to talk to you two about what we just went through… The next round should be in a few days, right?” Liu Qingqing asked, slightly uneasy.

“Alright. Since you wanted to talk, then let’s talk,” Song Hanzhang said calmly.

For some reason, Gu Fengyi and Liu Qingqing were able to hear in his words the calm before the storm…

Lin Jue looked at the coffee cup in his hand, his eyes firm.

Even though they were afraid, even though they were anxious, they were more awake than ever, and closer to the truth than ever.

One day… they would return to reality.

The conversation in the cafe continued for an entire afternoon and Gu Fengyi and Liu Qingqing’s expressions turned from their original shock to their final numbness. Even though they had realized that this game wasn’t one which would end after one round, they still felt a bone-deep fear after finding out that they might no longer exist in the real world.

The mid-autumn afternoon sun was so warm as it shone on the four through the windows of the cafe; it was a genuine warmth. The sky outside was blue without a blemish, leaves fluttered down from the wutong trees by the road as young students walked through the dried leaves underneath, the crunch covered by the gentle music of the cafe, the world shrouded in a blanket of tenderness.

Who could believe it? That all of this was fake?

This sun and its warmth was fake, the wutong tree outside the window was fake, the passing pedestrians were fake, this cafe, this beautiful song, was also fake. In a trance, it was as if all this peace and tranquility had been unmasked, the beautiful skin peeled off, revealing the cruel fangs of reality.

What sort of world were they living in? Lin Jue couldn’t help but feel a wave of sorrowful despair.

All these people coming and going, just what were they? Underneath those delicate, perfect human skins, just what sort of demons were they? In those corners he couldn’t see, they… with what sort of eyes did they use to watch everything?

That mind-blowing, unnerving, sinister truth made one want to end it all with death.

But he couldn’t, he had to live.

Lin Jue said goodbye to the two girls in a friendly manner. Liu Qingqing’s face was pale as she held onto Gu Fengyi’s arm, walking outside on shaking legs, refusing to leave the side of her companion for even a moment. Gu Fengyi comforted her in a low voice as the two got into their car and drove towards the school dormitories.

“Xuezhang… Do you have any plans right now?” Lin Jue asked.

Song Hanzhang leaned back into the sofa, his eyes closed.

“Lilith didn’t appear,” he said.

Lin Jue was dazed for a moment before he remembered Lilith meeting on the plaza after the end of the last round.

“I’m not sure if she decided to avoid us because we discovered the problem of this world,” Song Hanzhang opened his eyes and said, looking at the sky outside the window.

“We only had a break for three days last time, it might be the same this time too. Do we need to prepare anything right now?” Lin Jue asked.

“I want to leave this place.”

“Leave?” Lin Jue was stunned for a moment before realizing that what Song Hanzhang had meant by ‘leave’ was to leave the school, or maybe even leave this city.

“I should’ve checked after round one. Let’s go and try to see how far we can get,” Song Hanzhang said and stood up from the soft sofa.

Lin Jue immediately stood up as well. He looked outside the window; it was still a typical school day. He shivered, but suddenly summoned up a surge of courage. He would follow the footsteps of this man beside him, marching fearlessly into the darkness and unknown.

***

1A fun note: in Chinese, most people list out names as ‘me and A’, but Liu Qingqing uses ‘A and I’.

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