Yan Wei scratched Yan Mingguang’s palm again.
His tone was neither heavy nor light, paired with this seemingly absent, almost imperceptible little action. It didn’t seem like he was confronting someone with a serious accusation, but rather like a kitten throwing a tantrum after having its belly touched.
This time, Yan Mingguang really couldn’t stand it anymore and didn’t let Yan Wei continue his actions. Before Yan Wei’s fingers, which were scratching his palm, could withdraw, the man suddenly grabbed his hand, not giving him any chance to pull away.
Yan Wei’s hand was enveloped by the warmth of Yan Mingguang’s palm. He blinked, his gaze wandering as he said, “Let go.”
“Mm.”
As he spoke, Yan Mingguang tightened his grip on Yan Wei’s hand.
Yan Wei: “…”
“Let go first, I’m confronting you with a serious— Mmm!”
The rest of his words were drowned in Yan Mingguang’s sudden kiss.
The man firmly held his hand, taking advantage of the softness of the sofa to press forward, pushing Yan Wei halfway into the sofa. Yan Wei had no chance to get up, as the slightly damp warmth from their lips occupied his full attention, instantly lifting him to the clouds.
This touch was different from when Yan Mingguang had entered the door earlier.
It was also different from those tentative kisses before, and even more so from when Yan Mingguang had sneakily kissed the corner of his eye before entering the instance.
Before he regained his memories, those kisses had been mere tentative pecks, cautious and unfamiliar approaches. When Yan Mingguang entered the door earlier, it had been like a long-awaited greeting, swift and intense.
But now, it was an unceasing approach.
Filled with familiarity and longing.
Their physical qualities were already far superior to ordinary people. Despite Yan Mingguang’s increasingly fierce assault, Yan Wei only blushed from his neck to his ears, breathing lightly. One hand was tightly held by Yan Mingguang, while the other still rested on Yan Mingguang’s shoulder, his fingertips exerting slight pressure as he kissed back.
He was intimately familiar with everything about this person.
So familiar that there was no need to hold back. Every subtle action and closeness could predict the other’s reaction, yet he still looked forward to it immensely.
It was a subconscious closeness, actions he would instinctively take without thinking. They had teetered on the brink of life and death together, wandered through filthy bloodshed, and now, kissed in quiet moments like this.
Yan Wei didn’t think about anything, instinctively cooperating with the other.
After a while.
His rationality slowly returned, his face flushed, just about to push Yan Mingguang away when the man preemptively let go. Yan Mingguang seemed to abruptly restrain himself, all actions halting in an instant.
Yan Wei opened his eyes, watching the man retreat slightly, then couldn’t resist leaning forward to kiss the corner of his mouth.
His eyes shifted, and he said in a low voice, “I’m settling accounts with you, Mr. Yan.”
“Mm.” Yan Mingguang’s expression remained cold, but his tone was serious and sincere. “I know I was wrong.”
Yan Wei was momentarily speechless.
This man was doing it on purpose, only admitting his mistake after kissing and having his fill.
He slightly lowered his head, reaching up to touch the warmth on his cheek, still blushing as he said, “Just admitting your mistake? I’m making a big deal out of this, can’t you tell?”
Yan Mingguang looked at him.
The man had already withdrawn his hand, sitting upright just as before, as if nothing had happened.
Yan Wei said, “When I made a big deal out of things to tease you before, you always… Why didn’t the format erase your duplicity, but instead made you more of a hypocrite?”
“Before, you said you wouldn’t get close to me because you didn’t want me, without my memories, to like you just because I knew you had liked me before. But now that I’ve regained my memories, why are you still so reserved? Who are you putting on this act for?”
Yan Mingguang’s gaze darkened.
He said, “You need to rest well and recover your strength.”
Yan Wei opened his mouth, about to argue, but Yan Mingguang’s next words immediately silenced him.
“Don’t provoke me.”
Yan Wei pouted, then said, “I really am tired, I want to sleep for a while.”
Yan Mingguang immediately stood up, effortlessly picking Yan Wei up in a princess carry, heading towards the bedroom, calmly saying the words he had uttered countless times before, “I’ll accompany you.”
The next afternoon, at the time Yan Wei had arranged, Lin Zhen came alone.
Yan Mingguang had gone to other parts of the Tower World early in the morning to investigate the current situation of high-level players and various organizations. In the vast apartment, only Yan Wei was in the living room.
The apartment door was wide open, so Lin Zhen didn’t need to knock, walking straight in. He saw Yan Wei sitting on the carpet, hugging a pillow, looking up at some instance records projected on the wall.
With just a glance, it was clear these were a few of the classic high-level instances.
The window was open, letting in a cool breeze, with sunlight spilling in, yet it didn’t feel very bright. Outside, the pure black Endless Stone Tablet seemed to devour all the light.
Lin Zhen had seen such scenes countless times at Lin Qing’s place, so he wasn’t interested in the Endless Stone Tablet. He walked to the coffee table, grabbed a handful of snacks, ate a few, and said, “Little pet, I just came to ask you one thing.”
Yan Wei looked away from the projection, quite surprised. He had thought Lin Zhen would at least ask about not finding anyone yesterday, but not a word was mentioned.
He said, “It was an accident, neither Lin Qing nor I expected it.”
Lin Zhen paused, chuckled, shrugged, put down the snacks, and said, “Then I have no questions, I’m leaving.”
Yan Wei watched his truly indifferent demeanor, calling out as Lin Zhen reached the door, “In the next six months, I might need to rest, and Yan Mingguang will accompany you through the instances. When Lin Qing comes out, you can ask him many things, he should be willing to tell you everything now.”
Lin Zhen waved without looking back, “Alright.”
Soon, he disappeared from Yan Wei’s sight.
Yan Wei gazed at the open apartment door, sighed softly after a while, then looked back, continuing to watch the high-level instance records from the time after his format.
As he watched, the instance records before him had clearly reached a relatively safe stage, yet he couldn’t help but tighten his grip on the remote control.
Actually, after regaining his memories, reviewing these instance records wasn’t very useful; he was already very familiar with them. Lower-level instances mostly followed certain patterns and had clear paths to survival, which he knew well. High-level instances were bizarre and unpredictable; no matter how many you experienced, it didn’t help, as each instance was entirely new.
The reason he was watching these was merely to mask his inner unease.
Yan Wei had felt a faint unease and slight anxiety since the Puppet Castle instance. Only now, with Yan Mingguang absent and him alone, did he dare to let a bit of it show.
This unease stemmed from the top-level instance before his format.
It was the only time he had repeatedly miscalculated. The rules and dangers within the instance were within his expectations, but the other Yan Mingguang arranged by the Tower had caused him to hesitate several times, narrowly escaping death.
In the Puppet Castle instance, the Tower had precisely targeted this weakness, arranging numerous illusions and reality dislocations to mislead him.
Every day he woke up, apart from the high-level players’ corpses floating in the sea of blood and the Ghosts/Monsters hiding in the shadows, he also had to discern the real Yan Mingguang from the fake. Looking back now, his memories from that time were even somewhat disordered; some details he couldn’t recall at all, some experiences were blurry, like smudged paintings, only vaguely recognizable.
The interference from the real and fake was greater than the dangers of the instance, making it impossible for Yan Wei to focus on solving the puzzle, leading to the deaths of players one after another, until only the two of them remained. The hope of destroying the Tower rested entirely on Yan Wei’s shoulders. The pressure during that time had driven him to the brink of mental instability, completely mistaking the fake Yan Mingguang for the real one, being led astray by the fake just as they were about to solve the instance.
But he must have solved it in the end.
Was he formatted while trying to exchange for the magic box after solving the instance?
Thinking of this, Yan Wei’s memories started to jumble again, giving him a headache. He pressed his temples, frowning.
Was it really that difficult?
Before reaching the top, he had never thought he would fail. The Tower was powerful, the instances were dangerous; he had never underestimated his opponent, but at the same time, he looked down on the consciousness born from the Tower.
That thing wasn’t the true Tower, merely something that could wander within the Tower’s rules. “It” didn’t dare to confront him directly in reality, only hiding in the shadows, scheming insidiously. That consciousness was narrow-minded, cowardly, greedy, and filled with malice. Yan Wei didn’t even want to call such a thing an opponent.
Yet he had lost to such a thing in the struggle to reach the top.
Even now, Yan Wei found it hard to believe that, apart from successfully leaving a backdoor, he had failed utterly in every other aspect.
What if they tried again?
Mistakes aren’t necessarily avoided just because you’re aware of them. On the contrary, once you make a mistake, you develop a psychological expectation for it and a deeper fear of the outcome. He wasn’t afraid of that consciousness, but he was terrified of repeating past mistakes.
But this time, the Tower was aware of his and Yan Mingguang’s backdoor. If they failed again, they would either die outright or be formatted once more—leaving nothing behind, completely formatted.
That would be no different from death.
Yan Wei’s eyes slightly unfocused, his gaze empty, lost in thought over these complex yet simple matters.
After a long while, he murmured to himself, “We can’t fail again.”
Five days later, Lin Qing emerged from the 89th-floor instance, bringing with him a Blackbird player. This time, they obtained two invitation letters.
As Yan Wei had anticipated, the Blackbird now possessed three invitation letters to challenge the top level, which would be just right for Yan Wei, Yan Mingguang, and Lin Qing to enter. But if they wanted to bring more people, they would need to enter the 89th-floor instance again.
By this time, Yan Wei had completely cut off contact with everyone, focusing solely on absorbing the stripped data.
The person who told Lin Qing about Yan Wei’s future plans was Yan Mingguang.
The Blackbird’s location was a towering building in the central area, with the pure black Endless Stone Tablet not far away, exuding a silent eeriness.
Lin Qing looked out the window, saying to Yan Mingguang sitting inside, “I don’t think it’s necessary.”
He was referring to Yan Wei wanting to go through the 89th-floor instance again.
“It’s too dangerous for Yan Wei. He’s worked so hard to get here, paying such a heavy price in time and life to start over. He should go straight to the top level; I’ve already prepared the invitation letters.”
Yan Mingguang lifted his eyelids slightly, simply saying, “I’m not here to discuss this with you. I’m here to inform you on Yan Wei’s behalf.”
