Is it not him?
If it’s not Shentu Kou, then it must be another NPC.
“Could there be some special mission?” Xin Meng turned to exchange a glance with You Yi.
However, in that brief moment, another mirror ghost suddenly appeared in the water!
Xin Meng recognized it; it was none he had seen before. The hair was messy and yellow, looking like a failed dye job. Was this Li Yan’s or Olivia’s?
“You…”
Before Xin Meng could finish his question, the yellow-haired mirror ghost hurriedly interrupted him, its voice hoarse as it shouted, “They’ve been taken away! Other players have intruded into this game and taken them all away!”
Both of them were stunned, and Xin Meng widened his eyes, “You mean… other players? Not from this team?”
The yellow-haired mirror ghost nodded vigorously, “Yes, I don’t know how they got in! As soon as they arrived, they started causing havoc in the game. Although the protector has followed them, but they… Xiao Li and Xiao Tong have become their hostages! They could be killed at any moment!”
Its voice was so frantic that it became pitchy, but Xin Meng suddenly asked, “Why?”
The yellow-haired ghost suddenly froze, its expression contorted with anxiety.
It understood what Xin Meng meant.
Words like “players,” “protectors,” and “game” were definitely not something a programmed, ignorant NPC should know or say.
It lowered its head, its messy long hair covering half its face, yet it was still secretly glancing up to cautiously observe Xin Meng. The sight of such a terrifying ghost acting like a frightened little girl sent chills down one’s spine.
Seeing that Xin Meng was just staring at it, his gaze filled with scrutiny, showing no intention of rescuing anyone before asking for the reason, the yellow-haired ghost was almost driven to madness. Ultimately, it helplessly confessed, “I… I don’t know what’s going on. Gradually, I can remember many things, I’ve discovered that the world keeps repeating in cycles, and I’ve noticed that each time the people coming in are different. I overheard those people… talking about ‘players’…”
Another mirror ghost nearby looked at it in confusion, completely not understanding what it was saying, and blankly asked, “Did you get your revenge?”
The yellow-haired ghost ignored it, anxiously watching Xin Meng. Even though it was just a reflection on the water’s surface, one could still feel its unease.
“I know my programming has issues. I… I’m willing to accept ‘correction,’ but… but can you save them first?” the yellow-haired ghost pleaded, “Those intruders have destructive items. If they kill an NPC with that, the NPC will really die and will never respawn!”
“Are you close to them?” Xin Meng didn’t delve deeper into its words but instead raised a seemingly unimportant question.
The yellow-haired ghost lowered its head, pursed its lips, and said dejectedly, “That’s right, they are just like me.”
It realized that even if it accepted the system’s “correction,” or what could be called “refreshing,” it was still better than complete annihilation.
Back then, when it learned all the truths, what filled its heart was endless hatred for the system—
The system gave it a tragic experience, a cruel setting. It had to be constantly abandoned by those it trusted, then killed, repeatedly becoming a mirror ghost, seeking revenge on others, sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing, and then closing its eyes only to open them again, abandoned once more.
This endless cycle was despairing.
It had even thought that if only there were no system, or if the system collapsed, even if something went wrong that allowed them to break out of this cycle, how wonderful that would be.
But now what it had hoped for finally arrived, yet the outcome was not as beautiful as it imagined.
It finally understood that the system was their home, their very essence.
Without the system, they would cease to exist.
It believed that Xiao Li and Xiao Tong would understand its decision.
Unexpectedly, Xin Meng again did not probe further, nor did he immediately refresh its database and erase its will as it had imagined. Instead, he calmly nodded and turned to leave with the man.
“You…”
It couldn’t help but change its address to a more respectful one, wanting to ask something, but could only watch as the two figures quickly disappeared, its outstretched hand frozen in mid-air, ultimately retracting helplessly to its side.
Another mirror ghost suddenly spoke up, “The weather is about to change.”
The yellow-haired ghost turned sharply to look at it, shocked to find its expression had completely faded, its dark eyes brightening, revealing a hint of spirit.
……
Xin Meng still used the system function to locate the positions of the two female student NPCs, but when he tried to locate the intruding players, he failed.
He couldn’t find any other players.
He frowned.
You Yi keenly noticed that his expression was off, “What’s wrong?”
“I can find local NPCs and the GM, but I can’t locate the players who intruded,” Xin Meng said, puzzled. “The search results are completely empty.”
“Do they have special items?” You Yi quickly asked.
Xin Meng understood what he meant and shook his head, “There are no items in the game that can evade the system’s search function.”
If Dou Dou and Jie Zi, who once caused a “no such person” result, were here and heard this from Xin Meng, they would probably shout “unbelievable” again.
As they discussed, they moved forward. At a crossroads, Xin Meng suddenly paused and stopped.
“Which way?” You Yi asked.
Xin Meng looked at the paths extending to the left and right, raised an eyebrow, and said in surprise, “The GM actually split into two directions? Now there are two groups of people, fewer on the left, more on the right, with one NPC on each side. What’s going on?”
Could it be that they also couldn’t find the intruding players, so they split up to search?
Regardless, the NPCs should be safe.
“Let’s go find out what’s going on,” You Yi decisively said, “You go left, I’ll go right.”
“Okay, be careful,” Xin Meng tugged at You Yi’s hand and then let go.
At this moment, You Yi felt very reassured about Xin Meng, only saying, “Wait for me to find you,” before stepping ahead.
Xin Meng stood in place, watching You Yi’s broad and sturdy back gradually fade away, his feelings were indescribably complex.
At first, they rarely separated; from their first encounter, they had been inseparable like conjoined twins.
However, separation was inevitable.
Whether it was brief, long, unexpected, or destined, unlike his discomfort, You Yi… probably had already gotten used to it.
Even if the outcome was still holding hands, the twists and turns along the way, the forgetfulness, the loss, were all unavoidable. Even if You Yi’s heart was as steadfast as a rock, Xin Meng feared that there would come a day when he would feel weary, unwilling to continue searching for himself, waiting for himself to slowly regain the memories of their love.
Whenever he thought of this, Xin Meng felt a wave of unease. If You Yi really stopped appearing, he would inevitably start to forget, forget that he had already understood human emotions, forget that he still had a lover, and live alone in this game for thousands of years.
What a terrifying thing.
But fortunately…
Xin Meng lowered his head, looking at his smooth, unmarked palm, slowly closing his fingers, stepping forward in the opposite direction, one step, one step, without hesitation.
In his eyes, devoid of all emotion, a cold light of data flashed, which was the reality that would never be seen by You Yi.
Fortunately, the other party could never leave the game for eternity, always within… his control.
As long as he was unwilling, the other could go nowhere.
He would never let him go free.
……
“Damn, stop crying, it’s annoying!”
Wan Xing kicked Xiao Tong, who had been crying since the beginning. Xiao Tong was tied up with ropes, losing her balance and falling to the side, unable to get up for a long time. She watched the weapon flickering with eerie blue light sway near her neck, trembling all over, no longer daring to deliberately whimper for help.
“If you cry again, I’ll just kill you. One less person doesn’t matter!” Wan Xing had no sympathy, and when he saw she had stopped crying, he didn’t help her up, cursing as he walked back to his companions, returning the weapon to the leading man.
“Li Ge, should we go support Zhang Ge? Those idiots keep biting at us. Can six of them really hold us off?” he asked somewhat ingratiatingly.
The leader, Li Chu, sat on the highest rock, took the weapon, hung it back at his waist, and casually said, “No problem. Zhang Jingli is not easy to mess with; if it comes to a fight, one can take on three.”
Sitting next to him, Zhang Qinghe sighed, “There used to be a popular saying, ‘We are of the same root, why should we hasten to harm each other?’ Although the situation is a bit different, we are all trapped here and can’t get out. I really don’t understand why those people insist on stopping us. Wouldn’t it be better to join forces to destroy the system’s mainframe and leave here, returning to the real world? Who likes this creepy, terrifying place!”
On a smaller rock nearby sat two women. Cheng Jiali said to Li Chu, “Li Ge, why don’t we go persuade them again?”
“Pah!” Wan Xing spat, “They’re just dogs eating shit, how could they understand human words! A bunch of system lackeys!”
“Can’t explain it,” Li Chu also said, “Being a GM in the game has one advantage: you don’t have to worry about lifespan. As long as the system exists, you can live forever, which is a huge temptation for many. Something that even Qin Shi Huang couldn’t achieve, yet they’ve managed to do it themselves. Who wouldn’t be happy? If you persuade them to destroy the system, in a way, it’s equivalent to asking for their lives. No matter how eloquently you speak, they won’t agree.”
Cheng Jiali lowered her head in disappointment, “Who doesn’t want to live forever? But I still have people I can’t let go of in reality. My parents, my brother, and my boyfriend… We were about to get married. If it weren’t for being dragged into this game, we’d probably have kids running around by now. What about you?”
She turned to ask the other girl, who had been silent beside her. The girl was taken aback for a moment, then nodded, revealing a melancholic expression, hesitating as she said, “I… feel the same.”
“Someone’s coming!”
Suddenly, the agile Zhang Qinghe moved his ears, standing up in a flash. Hearing him, the others quickly entered a state of alert, tightly watching the path beside them.
At the end of the path, a figure gradually appeared, it was Xin Meng, walking slowly towards them.
