ITOTIABSAM | Infinite Flow | 182
Gu Cong found it difficult to put into words the emotions he felt in that moment.
Taking large strides forward, he reached out and pulled Xie Ye, who was bidding farewell to the black cat, to his feet. "Let's go, I'll take you out of here."
The escape door deployed by the system stood tall, allowing players from any direction in the instance to gather towards it. By the time Xie Ye and Gu Cong arrived, most of the people had already left, leaving only Cheng Xiaorong and Zhao Dong nearby, craning their necks and looking around.
"Hurry up!" Cheng Xiaorong immediately waved her hand when she saw the two figures running towards them, urging, "There's only one minute left, just you two left!"
Gu Cong's stamina was needless to say, and Xie Ye was just a ghost, his face remaining unchanged, not even out of breath.
With the escape door, marked with a bright red countdown, within reach, Gu Cong furrowed his brow slightly. "Why don't you go first?"
"We came together, so we should leave together," Xie Ye replied, pushing Zhao Dong towards the door. Cheng Xiaorong smiled, "Although this instance is weird, and everyone survived..."
Her words abruptly stopped, and everyone walked through the door together.
Each time, he wandered aimlessly in the dark fog, searching for a glimmer of light that might appear. It was the first time for Xie Ye to walk in such a brightly lit place, yet it wasn't dazzling; it was gentle, like water, softly enveloping him.
"Sizzle... Sizzle..."
The wristwatch, which had behaved peacefully for days, seemed to malfunction, the electric sound intermittent, accompanied by the flickering of light from the door, reminiscent of a classic scene from a horror movie where the light is affected by ghostly presence.
Xie Ye didn't look back.
He just gripped Gu Cong's hand tighter.
He could guess that behind him, there might be endless darkness surging forth, baring its fangs and claws, permeating the light, trying to drag him back.
But this time, Xie Ye didn't die, nor was he restarted. He was consciously seeking another world.
The world of players.
Pop.
Like passing through a transparent film, or like the burst of a bubble, Xie Ye's consciousness flickered for a moment, and then scenes reminiscent of a movie floated before his eyes in large patches.
Among the characters, there were unfamiliar faces, looking terrified as they pounded on the bathroom door, but to no avail, as their hair hung suspended along the wall.
There were also middle-aged men, whom Xie Ye had seen before, sharing a room with Xiao Baimao. In the scene, he appeared younger, shoulder to shoulder with several players whose features were blurred, drunkenly gambling, then a slender figure dashed out, his fist barely reaching the middle-aged man's face before being subdued by the casino security.
The "movie" was silent, but Xie Ye could barely make out a few lines through lip reading. The boy, who looked about his age, had his face pressed against the ground, struggling, shouting, "You lied to me! You all lied to me!"
In response, there was only silent laughter from five grinning mouths.
"A newbie..."
"Not the first time..."
"If it were a girl..."
Scattered interpretations of the phrases, even for Xie Ye, could guess the meaning behind them. Without waiting for him to close his eyes in disgust, the scene shifted to Sun Pengyu, who looked emaciated, stumbling and desperately evading the pursuit of monsters.
He wanted to survive, but his body, weakened by lack of food and filled only with water, couldn't keep up. He relied entirely on another player dragging him forward. The nauseating stench of blood grew closer, and suddenly he clenched his teeth and forcefully pulled his arm back, using inertia to viciously throw his unsuspecting teammate behind.
"S-Save..."
Blood splattered as the man fell to the ground, immediately surrounded by monsters, with only a hand reaching out desperately, soon to be devoured by claw-like jaws, leaving nothing but bones.
After that, there were long stretches of monotonous blank space. Xie Ye guessed that this was perhaps his own "good deed" - with limited deceased players, the system lacked material for playback.
With this in mind, Xie Ye lowered his gaze slightly, feeling a twinge of guilt, and missed the scene in the "movie" where he and "Jiang Chuan" left side by side, with the magician tipping his hat from afar.
Buzz buzz buzz. The wristwatch vibrated three times in succession, gradually accompanied by a noisy chatter, not the chaotic murmurs of madness, but rather cheerful conversations.
The soft white light suddenly intensified, causing Xie Ye to briefly close his eyes. When he opened them again, he found himself in a spacious and brightly lit hall, adorned with various simple and easy-to-understand directional signs.
If he were a player, he might immediately associate this place with an airport or train station. But he wasn't.
So instinctively, he tightened his grip on Gu Cong's fingers.
Cheng Xiaorong's exclamation filled the air: "Pah! They all look decent on the outside, but rotten to the core inside! I'm even afraid of a dirty cat's mouth, let alone letting a cat get diarrhea!"
"Oh, what's going on here? Who's made our unlucky little one upset again?" A teasing voice chimed in, and Xie Ye turned to see a young man with fox-like eyes.
Feeling touched by the sensitive spot being poked, Cheng Xiaorong immediately punched him: "Cheng Qing! Don't touch my sore spot! Can't you see how lucky I've been this time? All I've been doing is eating and sleeping!"
"Ohh," the young man with fox-like eyes drew out the sound, nodding as if he understood, "So it's Little Piggy."
Thud.
Another punch landed on his slender shoulder.
Xie Ye suddenly felt a bit at a loss because he could clearly sense the atmosphere among these people in front of him, like an invisible barrier, devoid of malice and even unintentionally, pushing him away.
And it seemed like men couldn't casually hold hands with each other.
At least, none of the players he had seen before had done so.
Trying to discreetly loosen his fingers without disturbing anyone, Xie Ye hadn't even fully withdrawn his hand when it was grasped again by someone in return.
Not too heavy, not too light, like a reassurance.
"Cheng Qing," proactively, Gu Cong introduced, "Like Xiao Rong and Zhao Dong, he's my teammate."
Acknowledging the call of his name, the young man stopped bantering with Cheng Xiaorong and stood respectfully. "Captain."
"Meng Jie and the others are all in the instance, so this time I'm the only one here to pick up people."
With the formalities done, unable to conceal his curiosity, Cheng Qing asked, "And who is this..." His gaze deliberately avoided the interlocked fingers of Xie Ye and Gu Cong.
He could tell that the coat worn by Xie Ye in front of him was the same as the one worn by their captain when he entered the instance. But the newcomer seemed a bit reserved, not quite suitable for too much teasing.
"Xie Ye," succinctly, Gu Cong explained, "A friend I met in the instance, he will be staying at our base for the next few days."
"Xie Ye is joining in? That's great!" Completely oblivious to any potential issues with the captain's decision, Cheng Xiaorong exclaimed excitedly, "I know how tough the newbie period can be. You haven't had a chance to explore the transit station properly have you?"
Xie Ye honestly replied with a sound of agreement.
"In that case, let me show you around," lowering her voice as if conspiring, Cheng Xiaorong continued, "With a level 7 difficulty instance, the points you earn will be enough to rest up for a while."
Zhao Dong chimed in with a grin, "You're really lucky this time. I made a lot of money."
Amidst their playful banter, Xie Ye smoothly integrated into Gu Cong's team. Although players collectively referred to the area for entering and exiting instances as the transit station, once they left the lobby, Xie Ye discovered it was more like a city.
A bustling and vast city.
Their location seemed to be in the central area, bustling with activity. The surrounding buildings were grand and filled with a sense of technology. Apart from the players who had just exited the instance, most people were neatly dressed, almost making one forget they were in a game where lives were at stake.
As if seeing through the surface, the man had been holding Xie Ye's hand all along, and he didn't let go even when they stepped outside.
Not long after, Xie Ye heard someone exclaim in surprise, "Holy crap! The leaderboard moved! JC! Tenth place!"
This was followed by more discussions:
"Is it real? The top ten hasn't changed in years. I thought the system was just messing with us."
"He's too strong."
"He's only been in the game for a year and a half."
"Does this mean he can challenge the final instance and return to reality?"
"Don't overthink it. There are still nine others above him who are stronger."
The leaderboard in the infinite game could display real names, pseudonyms, or chosen nicknames, so none of the players recognized the group that had just walked out of the lobby as the newly ranked tenth.
Busy chatting and bantering, Zhao Dong and the others completely forgot about this matter.
When they moved a bit away, Cheng Xiaorong used a voice filled with concern to ask, "Boss, is it true?"
Gu Cong nodded, "Yes."
"Yay yay yay!" Overflowing with excitement and nowhere to vent, Cheng Xiaorong waved her fist, "I'm so happy!!"
Even though she knew clearly that the final copy was extremely dangerous; even though she knew that after the captain left, no one would heroically risk their lives to fish them out of the copy.
But Cheng Xiaorong was still happy.
Because she saw hope.
Hope to return to normal, to return to reality.
Xie Ye was similarly infected by this cheerful atmosphere, unconsciously curling his lips.
However, Gu Cong looked over in the next second.
The emotions in his eyes, rather than joy, seemed more like worry.
Thinking that the other party was afraid of being left out, Xie Ye raised his gaze and emphasized, "I'm also very happy."
"Really."
Even though he was a ghost or a boss, he should still have the right to be happy for the players.
0028: "He's so silly."
Although he knew that the condition for players to return to reality was his death.
Gu Cong said, "That won't happen."
"Yeah," he ruffled Xie Ye's hair with his empty hand, Gu Cong said, "I'll treat you to a big meal tonight."
Cheng Xiaorong suddenly chuckled, remembering that Xie Ye was brought back by their captain with a few pieces of chocolate.
And also her and Zhao Dong's energy bars.
"Hotpot, barbecue, skewers..." wiping away the nonexistent drool, Cheng Xiaorong recommended to Xie Ye, "The ingredients sold at the transfer station are fresh and cheap, and the best part is, you won't gain weight. We can eat to our heart's content."
Unlike in the copy, where the system store is closed and we can only eat some fast food.
"Xie Ye, are you new here?" Kindly, Cheng Qing advised, "You probably haven't been to the outer city yet. It's chaotic there, so try to stay in the inner city area, it's safer."
Although everything is cheap in the transfer station, there are always people who can't even come up with a single credit point, forced to live in the dilapidated "slums".
There, it's like a real survival game, gathering all sorts of desperados. Newcomers are often deceived by the false glamour of the inner city area, mistakenly thinking that the transfer station is a civilized world where reason prevails.
Xie Ye, who had already experienced human malice: In fact, it was very difficult to kill him.
But he still nodded earnestly, "Thank you."
"Alright." Pinching Xie Ye's fingertips and drawing back his attention, Gu Cong completely unaware of how childish he appeared at this moment, solemnly said:
"Let's go home first."
Author's note:
Gu Cong: Jealous.
Gu Cong: What should I do if my wife is always chatting with others?
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