Chapter 30.2 We are all living beings
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The force of the explosion was extremely powerful. If it weren’t for Zhuang Lao holding him, Lin Zhaohe felt like he would have been blasted away.
“Holy crap!” Yun Yuzi exclaimed in her local dialect, being thrown into the air and landing on the ground. Despite seeing stars, she didn’t forget to curse.
Lin Zhaohe was dumbfounded. “What… what is that thing?” He saw a larger shadow rising from the original shadowed area.
That thing resembled a gigantic eyeball, hovering in mid-air, emanating a dazzling light. It was surrounded by six pairs of enormous, snow-white wings. Bright flames burned upon the wings, and with its ascension, solemn and sacred music filled the air.
It forcefully tore open the belly of the shadow monster, leaving an exaggerated wound. Through the wound, one could even see the pulsating organs— from a certain perspective, the shadow monster seemed to resemble a living being more than the creature before their eyes. It possessed organs and features that at least resembled those of a living being.
“What is that?” Lin Zhaohe asked, stupefied once again.
“That is an angel,” Zhuang Lao reached out, tidying up Lin Zhaohe’s slightly disheveled hair due to the massive explosion, and gently said, “It is also Jiang Guan.”
Jiang Guan—no, the angel mentioned by Zhuang Lao—soared high in the air, wielding its wings and the burning flames from its wings created a scorching wind that ignited the shadow.
This fire, more than being flames, resembled a kind of light that swiftly engulfed the entire body of the shadow. The shadow had no way to escape and let out a piercing scream. It attempted to attack the angel but couldn’t break through the barrier of flames. It could only contort and howl in agony.
Lin Zhaohe saw the head of the shadow monster emerge from the end of the room. It was a massive round head resembling that of a mammalian creature. ɪᴛ ʟᴀᴄᴋᴇᴅ ꜱᴋɪɴ, ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴇxᴘᴏꜱᴇᴅ ʀᴀᴡ ꜰʟᴇꜱʜ ᴇᴍɪᴛᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴀᴜꜱᴇᴀᴛɪɴɢ ꜱᴄᴇɴᴛ ᴏꜰ ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ that Lin Zhaohe had sensed upon entering the room.
The flames caused considerable damage to it. The layer of shadow served as its skin, and after being burned by the flames, the shadow was mercilessly torn apart, revealing the textures underneath. Even a single glance at it was enough to feel intense pain. The monster lifted its head, gazed at the hovering angel above, and let out a roar. It exerted all its strength to break through the barrier of flames, opened its mouth, and attempted to attack the angel.
The angel remained motionless. The pupils in its enormous eyeball sank slowly, coldly gazing at the creature below as if passing judgment on its wickedness. In the face of the monster’s attack, it didn’t even make an evasive movement. It was engulfed by the creature once again.
The onlookers observed this scene in silence. No one spoke. The room felt like the stage for a century-old battle, and everyone awaited the outcome of the fight.
Strictly speaking, however, this was not a battle but a one-sided massacre.
After devouring the angel, the shadow monster became even more tormented. It began to howl and thrash about uncontrollably, as if it had swallowed a scorching fireball rather than an angel.
This intense struggle didn’t last long. A faint light started emanating from the monster’s body, gradually growing brighter until it burst out——
A mournful howl echoed incessantly in the room, piercing the eardrums and causing pain. Lin Zhaohe stared unwaveringly at everything before him, unwilling to divert his gaze even for a moment.
Since the apocalypse, he often felt insignificant, but now this feeling reached its pinnacle. Faced with such a colossal entity, his struggle seemed as futile as a gnat trying to shake a tree.
The angel reappeared once again, in the same position with the same expression. The creature beneath it was now gasping for breath, while the angel remained motionless, projecting a gaze of majestic and icy severity through its jet-black pupils, awaiting the inevitable judgment.
The moment the creature died, the woman and man standing beside Lin Zhaohe collapsed to the ground as well.
Until their final breath, their faces wore expressions of incredulity, clearly unable to accept the outcome before their eyes.
Well, who could have predicted such a scenario… except Zhuang Lao, perhaps.
Lin Zhaohe looked at Zhuang Lao, whose expression remained unchanged, devoid of any hint of emotion. It seemed that nothing could shake his composure and determination.
With the creature’s demise, the room became devoid of its strength. The darkness within it fell away like peeling paint, and the red lights illuminated the room once more.
Lin Zhaohe watched as the flames reduced the massive body of the creature to ashes, leaving behind only tiny remnants. Within the ashes, something emitted an unusual radiance. He focused his gaze and discovered a small scale, a miniature balance, among the ashes.
The silhouette of the angel hovering in mid-air gradually blurred and eventually vanished, making way for the reemergence of Jiang Guan, now transformed back into a human form.
Kneeling beside her were four men dressed in black, the bodyguards Lin Zhaohe had seen earlier. It turned out that the bodyguards were a gift accompanying her all along, which explained Jiang Guan’s lack of concern for their well-being.
After landing, Jiang Guan rushed towards the scale, digging it out from the ashes.
“Found it!” Exclaiming in delight upon obtaining what she desired, Jiang Guan called out, “Quickly, let’s go back—”
Speaking to herself, she ran off with the four men, paying no attention to the three individuals standing nearby.
“Isn’t she a person from the third dimension?” Lin Zhaohe whispered to Zhuang Lao, observing Jiang Guan’s figure. “How can she still transform into an angel?”
Zhuang Lao smiled and replied, “Aren’t you a person from the third dimension too?”
Lin Zhaohe rolled his eyes. “…Okay, I know you’re about to spout some nonsense. Can you please stop?”
Some people can transform into such cool characters, while he himself turned into a magical girl. The disparity between individuals is just too vast, Lin Zhaohe thought despondently. Some people were born in Rome…
Jiang Guan’s footsteps were as light as a cheerful little bird’s, almost skipping her way back to the morgue, where she found Jiang Nan’s body.
However, when it came time to dig out Jiang Nan’s heart, she hesitated for a moment, displaying a troubled expression on her face.
“I can help you,” Zhuang Lao offered considerately. “Sharing the burden for our clients is our company’s responsibility.”
After contemplating for a moment, Jiang Guan hesitated and said, “Never mind, I’ll do it myself.” She couldn’t bear to let anyone else touch Jiang Nan.
Lin Zhaohe didn’t witness the following scene because Jiang Guan asked them to leave.
Standing outside the door, Lin Zhaohe asked, “Boss, if this client dies and comes back to life, do we still have to compensate?”
Zhuang Lao: “…You’ve got me there.”
Technically, if someone died, compensation was required. But if they died and cme back to life, did it still count as death? Or should they be considered an entirely new person?
Lin Zhaohe: “We really need to think this through. It’s a significant legal loophole.”
Zhuang Lao: “Makes sense.”
As they chatted, a sudden sound of crying came from inside the room, startling Lin Zhaohe. He thought there might be another accident. However, upon listening carefully, he realized that the crying didn’t belong to Jiang Guan.
It seemed that Jiang Nan, whom she had been longing for, had finally been resurrected.
The three of them, along with the bodyguards, entered the room. As expected, they saw Jiang Guan holding a young girl in her arms, both of them sobbing uncontrollably. The girl appeared to be around eighteen or nineteen years old. Jiang Guan cradled her, comforting her like one would comfort a child, saying, “Don’t cry, Nannan. Big Sister is here, Big Sister is here.”
“Wuhuhu, wuhuhu,” the girl choked out between sobs. “Sis, they lied to me, they bullied me. This place isn’t fun at all. I don’t want to play games anymore…”
Jiang Guan sighed, “I’ve already told you… Never mind, let’s not talk about this anymore. Come on, Sis will take you out.”
“Mmm.” The young girl’s nose was red, but she had finally been pacified. Jiang Guan held her hand and helped her stand up, noticing the presence of several strangers nearby, which made her a bit embarrassed.
“Let’s go,” Jiang Guan said. “We should go back first.”
On their way back, luck was on their side as the alarm bells did not ring again.
Jiang Guan briefly explained her and her sister’s situation, summarizing the main idea that her sister thought she was amazing and wanted to be as capable as her. So, against her wishes, her sister was lured by some despicable person to play an offline real-life game. However, upon entering, they realized something was amiss. The morgue on this level was completely empty, without a single corpse.
With no corpses, it meant there would be no password refresh, and since they couldn’t find any other passwords, they remained at a standstill for two days. Finally, someone couldn’t bear it any longer and resorted to attacking others, creating a corpse and obtaining the password, thus passing this level.
Jiang Guan’s sister, Jiang Nan, being a weak and defenseless young girl, naturally found it challenging to survive in such circumstances. Fortunately, she had a relatively quick and painless death.
“Who killed you?” Jiang Guan gritted her teeth and asked.
Jiang Nan hesitated, remaining silent for a while.
Jiang Guan said, “Just tell me. Sis will seek revenge for you.”
Jiang Nan hesitated for a moment and whispered, “I…”
Jiang Guan urged, “Speak up! Who’s going to overhear us?”
Jiang Nan, feeling embarrassed, said, “I… When I was running away, I accidentally stepped on someone’s blood and slipped, hitting my head… and it seems like I died…”
Everyone: “…” How on earth did your sister manage to pass the first level?
Jiang Guan was taken aback for a moment, but she quickly shifted her perspective and angrily exclaimed, “Who’s so careless to bleed so much! They really lack manners!”
Lin Zhaohe: “…”
In his heart, he silently applauded Jiang Guan, thinking that finding such an explanation was quite impressive. He resolved to learn from Jiang Guan’s thinking in the future when requesting leave.
Jiang Nan, feeling ashamed, apologized for causing trouble to everyone. Jiang Guan reassured her, “It’s okay. They all volunteered.”
Tears welled up in Lin Zhaohe’s eyes as he said, “That’s right, I volunteered to work.”
Zhuang Lao: “…” I never saw you cry this miserably when you were about to die.
Lin Zhaohe, who volunteered to work, returned to the cleared room.
Lu Pingping, who was shot by Jiang Guan, appeared to be on the verge of death, bleeding profusely on the ground. Although still alive, he seemed to be close to his final breath.
Jiang Guan exchanged a glance with her bodyguard. They took a step forward to lift up the barely conscious Lu Pingping and stated, “He’s still alive.”
“If you’re still alive, stop playing dead,” Jiang Guan said coldly. “Why did you deceive these children and bring them here?”
Lu Pingping remained silent, displaying a hint of defiance in his refusal to speak.
Jiang Guan, already with a short temper, raised her gun and was about to send Lu Pingping to his final journey. However, just as she prepared to pull the trigger, Zhuang Lao intervened.
With his gentle tone that contradicted his words, Zhuang Lao instantly changed Lu Pingping’s expression. Softly, he said, “You wouldn’t want to die here and wait for someone to resurrect you, would you?”
Lu Pingping stuttered, “Wha-what are you talking about…”
“Rest assured,” Zhuang Lao assured him, “I guarantee that even if you die, it will be after completing the game.”
Lu Pingping turned pale, trembling all over like a sieve. “A-Are you… a devil?”
Lin Zhaohe seized the opportunity to add, “He’s a capitalist scarier than any devil!”
Lu Pingping’s mental defenses instantly crumbled. “I… I mean…”
Everyone: “…” Are you also here to work?”
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