Chapter 87.1 Unique game (5)
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Lin Zhaohe looked at Lin Yan skeptically and asked, “Are you here to promote that game?”
Lin Yan: “? Are they lacking people without you?”
“Then why do you refuse to tell me the server’s address? What are you really here for?”
“I’m here to save lost souls,” declared Lin Yan, taking a sip of his tea.
The Lin Yan before him appeared strange. He seemed much calmer now compared to their previous meeting when he exuded an air of frenzy. Lin Yan’s current attitude carried a touch of detachment, similar to the Lin Yan he used to know. He sipped his tea, lit a cigarette, and remained silent, displaying an indifferent expression.
Observing him, Lin Zhaohe couldn’t help but feel that he no longer resembled the Lin Yan he once knew. Instead, he appeared more like a wise old monk who had seen through the worldly affairs.
Lin Zhaohe couldn’t resist asking him, “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” Lin Yan said. “You’re a good person, and you’re innocent.”
This statement seemed nonsensical to Lin Zhaohe, leaving him confused. “What do you mean? Are you giving me a ‘Good Person’ card?”
“Did you enter the fusion zone?” Lin Yan asked. “What did you see in there?”
Lin Zhaohe did enter the fusion zone on Min’an Street. Not only did he go inside, but he also discovered a library that belonged solely to him.
The books inside the library became an enigma for Lin Zhaohe. While he had already published some of his works, he couldn’t understand why some books contained content he had never encountered. What did these books signify? Could it be that they were a tangible manifestation of his subconscious? Lin Zhaohe didn’t dare to share these thoughts with anyone, but judging by Lin Yan’s expression, it seemed like he had already foreseen it.
“Did you see yourself in there?” Lin Yan asked.
“No, I just saw some things about myself,” replied Lin Zhaohe.
“Did you see Zhuang Lao?”
“Yes, I did,” confirmed Lin Zhaohe. He had indeed seen himself and Zhuang Lao, their expressions displaying an intimate connection like long-time lovers.
Lin Yan acknowledged with a nod and took another sip of his tea.
“So, why did you act the way you did back then?” Lin Zhaohe asked. “Was there a necessary reason to become a murderer?”
Lin Yan calmly said, “Do you know about the God Creation Plan?”
Lin Zhaohe didn’t expect to hear this term from him. The project was supposed to be strictly confidential, known only to the government. It never crossed his mind that Lin Yan would also be aware of it. He suddenly felt like the whole world knew, except for himself.
“It seems you know,” Lin Yan said slowly. “What do you think, if this project were to be implemented, would it be a good thing or a bad thing?”
Lin Zhaohe instinctively said it would be a bad thing.
Lin Yan: “Why would it be a bad thing?”
“Because…” Lin Zhaohe’s words got stuck in his throat as he stared blankly at the person in front of him. It was because the person standing before him was the perfect example.
It was a bad thing because Lin Yan was the living proof. He was demonstrating with his own actions that no matter how good and kind a person may be, they could still commit uncontrollable acts. Lin Yan was the evidence that the God Creation Plan was destined to fail. As long as he existed, the project could never be implemented without serious consequences. The great disaster would strike unsuspecting people, and they would forever be wary, unable to place their trust entirely in fictional characters from the 2D world.
“You, because of the God Creation Plan… No, it can’t be,” Lin Zhaohe felt that something was amiss. When Lin Yan appeared, the fusion with the 2D world had only recently begun. At that time, people shouldn’t have even proposed such a project. In other words, Lin Yan was foreseeing the future.
“Is that the future?” Lin Zhaohe was startled by his own thoughts.
Lin Yan didn’t respond immediately. After exhaling a puff of smoke, his face appeared hazy behind the mist. “Actually, when I first arrived in this world, my memories were in disarray.”
Lin Zhaohe asked, “Disarray?” He recalled the memories he had seen about Lin Yan from the witch, Qi Mola. Zhuang Lao’s face indeed appeared in those memories, but it felt strangely unfamiliar to Lin Zhaohe, as if he had never seen it before.
“Zhuang Lao appeared in my memories,” as expected, Lin Yan revealed what Lin Zhaohe had already guessed. “But I have never actually met Zhuang Lao.”
Why would a completely unfamiliar person randomly appear in his memories? Lin Yan was utterly confused. His animosity towards Zhuang Lao seemed to emerge out of thin air, as if the moment he arrived in this world, his mind was filled with memories that didn’t belong here.
Zhuang Lao, Zhuang Lao, Zhuang Lao—this name echoed in Lin Yan’s mind like a haunting spell. He couldn’t even recall his appearance clearly, but the wariness towards him was deeply ingrained.
“What is the connection between you and Zhuang Lao?” Lin Zhaohe asked.
“I don’t know,” Lin Yan said. “He appears in my memories, likely related to the God Creation Plan, perhaps the mastermind behind it… but…”
However, reality and his memories had subtle differences.
The chaotic memories caused a significant change in Lin Yan’s personality. He couldn’t distinguish which parts of his memories were real and which were fabricated. These memories disrupted his behavior and led him to commit extreme actions, but throughout it all, Lin Yan never believed he was wrong.
He, who had sold his love to the witch, seemed to have lost a crucial part of himself. Those things had once been the driving force propelling him forward, but now that energy had been replaced by something else.
Zhuang Lao was the mastermind behind the God Creation Plan? Lin Zhaohe had never considered this possibility. At least for now, when they were trying to stop the game “Earth Online,” Zhuang Lao hadn’t shown any unusual behavior.
“I have found the location of the server,” Lin Yan said. “If you want to know, you have to promise that Zhuang Lao won’t find out.”
Lin Zhaohe naturally couldn’t guarantee such a thing. Despite Lin Yan telling him many things, he couldn’t simply choose not to believe Zhuang Lao and trust an enemy he barely knew.
In this matter, Lin Zhaohe was well aware that no matter how persuasive the words may sound, they lacked tangible actions to be trusted. The Lin Yan before him, no matter how reasonable he seemed, was a killer with blood on his hands. He had even attempted to kill Lin Zhaohe on several occasions.
Lin Zhaohe wasn’t foolish enough to believe a few words simply because they were spoken. As for Lin Yan’s claim of finding the server’s location, Lin Zhaohe had doubts. However, as long as Lin Yan didn’t harm him and he could gather more information, it wasn’t a bad thing.
Lin Yan said, “That’s all I have to say. Let’s exchange contact information. When you have made up your mind, let me know. But time waits for no one. I hope you won’t hesitate for too long.”
Each day delayed would mean an increase in the game’s user base. If they waited until the server was shut down, it might be too late for everything.
Lin Zhaohe agreed. He had thought Lin Yan had more to say, but to his surprise, he stood up and left swiftly.
“No need,” Lin Yan turned around.
Lin Zhaohe, still in his pajamas, had no intention of seeing him off. He watched as Lin Yan’s figure disappeared down the corridor and let out a slight sigh of relief. Pondering over Lin Yan’s words, he turned back into the room. After rummaging around, he found his long-unused laptop.
Ever since the fusion, Lin Zhaohe hadn’t opened his laptop.
He had used this computer when he was writing novels. Inside it were several unpublished manuscripts. After the fusion, it was impossible for the novels to be published, and with the tragic death of Lu Feihe, Lin Zhaohe, consumed by guilt, completely sealed away his skill of writing novels.
He didn’t dare to write, nor did he dare to think. He wouldn’t even allow himself to glance at them for too long.
Now, as he reopened the notebook, Lin Zhaohe saw a few documents on the desktop. The names on the documents stirred up dusty memories. Lin Zhaohe remained silent, let out a gentle sigh, and moved them all to the recycle bin. Then, he opened a web page and entered a URL, starting the game download.
The waiting time felt endless. Suddenly, Lin Zhaohe’s communicator chimed. He picked it up to see a message from Zhuang Lao, accompanied by a cute emoji: ????? What are you doing?
It contrasted with Zhuang Lao’s usual seriousness, causing Lin Zhaohe to involuntarily smile. “Just getting ready for bed.”
Zhuang Lao: “Going to bed so early? Not going to watch TV for a while?”
Lin Zhaohe: “The TV is all about that game. There’s nothing interesting to watch.”
While some TV programs criticized the game and others praised it, the truth was that people were driven by curiosity. The more it was talked about, the more interested everyone became. It was said that the online player count for this game, which hadn’t shut down, had already exceeded three hundred million.
With a chime, the twenty-gigabyte game finished downloading. Lin Zhaohe clicked on the icon and skillfully created a character.
It had been a full three years since he last played a computer game. Lin Zhaohe randomly created a character and entered the game.
The graphics were exquisite, and the controls were smooth. Lin Zhaohe watched as his character stood in the bustling newbie village and took on his first quest.
The quest was to pull out radishes. Following the quest prompts, Lin Zhaohe began the task.
The pace of this game was very slow. After several hours of effort, Lin Zhaohe’s character had only reached level two.
However, in just a short few hours, Lin Zhaohe had already noticed that this game’s style was quite different from the online games he had played before. It didn’t seem to follow the typical monster-slaying mode. On the contrary, there were no monsters at all, at most just some small squirrels, rabbits, slimes, and such. Even if they were killed, no experience points were dropped, and there weren’t many materials to gather.
Lin Zhaohe noticed that there were many characters wandering around in the game, not in a hurry to level up, just idling around with no purpose. Lin Zhaohe casually approached a passerby and asked what they planned to do.
That passerby was already level eleven and had a mild demeanor. He said that he had just reached level ten and planned to leave the newbie village to wander around.
Lin Zhaohe asked how long it took him to reach level ten, and he said it took about half a month.
Hearing this, Lin Zhaohe became anxious, thinking about how slow it was to level up in this game.
Seeing Lin Zhaohe’s urgency, the passerby quickly explained that it wasn’t that the game leveling was slow, but rather that he himself spent his days idling around in the game, dragging his feet, which was why it took him half a month. For those who were in a rush to progress, it would probably only take about a week to reach level ten.
Only then did Lin Zhaohe feel relieved.
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