Xing Ye's face was as gloomy as water, and he quickly drew the QR code in the air.
He adjusted the time slightly forward by a few seconds and started looking at the pocket watch absorbing the core. This time, Xing Ye focused on observing the hands of the pocket watch.
When the core was completely absorbed and the pocket watch stopped ticking, Xing Ye said, "The time on the pocket watch has gone back three minutes."
At this time, the time around them was still stopped. Randy took back the pocket watch. There was no expression on the puppet's face. He made a "tsk" sound and seemed dissatisfied.
Randy picked up the pocket watch and changed his previous leisurely look. He began to run quickly into the depths of the tunnel. Wherever he passed, the time of all the robots stopped.
After running frantically for a minute, Randy muttered in dissatisfaction, "This body runs too slowly."
As he went deeper, everyone saw Randy walk into a room with countless machines. There was a puppet with a big beard standing in front of a transparent glass container with a heart in it.
Randy wanted to break the glass to get the heart, but the glass was very strong and he, an old-fashioned puppet, couldn't break it at all.
Xing Ye noticed that Randy did not use any initial skills or QR codes, and he only had the pocket watch in his hand.
He tried to take tools from the room to attack the glass, but all the firearms were installed on the robot, and Randy couldn't control it, and the iron rod couldn't break the solid glass at all.
The time on the pocket watch has gone two minutes, and there is only one minute left to reach the original time.
"Damn, it'll take another minute to run out! This loser's life is only worth three minutes!" Randy roared, glanced at his heart, turned around and ran out.
This time he was even faster. After running out of the robots' encirclement, the pocket watch still had 2 seconds left from the original time. Randy pressed the stop button, the pocket watch stopped moving, and the robot not far away regained its mobility.
Randy bolted for the exit.
The QR code expired at this point, and the projector disappeared. Xing Ye stopped using the redraw pen and said to the other two, "No matter what happens, even if you're killed by other players or the puppet, don't agree to anything Randy asks!"
Guan Ling nodded repeatedly, and Cao Qian blinked because her neck was not moving easily.
The three of them and the mirror pretended nothing had happened and returned to the place where they had first separated from Randy. They leaned against each other and said nothing.
The mine was deep, and it took Randy over half an hour to reach the battle site, so it would take him a while to escape. The others waited another ten minutes before Randy finally emerged from the cave.
"Run!" he said to Xing Ye and the others, "There are robots inside that are more powerful than we can even imagine. The city lord's son has been killed by robots. They chased me all the way. I barely escaped. I wonder if they followed me."
This is true. The last image on the projector was of the robot chasing Randy. He did not use any special QR code. I don't know if it was because he was too confident or the number of QR codes was limited, so he tried to save as much as possible.
"They may not chase us out," Xing Ye said calmly. "Among the large forces sent by the city lord, the people guarding the gate survived and were able to return to the city to report the news. This means the robots won't harm those outside the mine. Besides, we're very slow, and if they do chase us out, they may not be able to outrun the robots. It's better to be prepared and wait and see what happens than to flee hastily."
"But no one escaped at that time. What if they would chase us? Let's go!" Randy said anxiously.
None of the four people who watched him kill the city lord's son moved.
Cao Qian put her hands behind her back to prevent Randy from noticing that a boxing glove had appeared on the stick figure's tiny fist.
"Glorious Fist," a QR code Cao Qian had received as a reward in the campus hidden object world, had been verified by Xing Ye as a power-up item. It contained boxing gloves with a strength-boosting effect, increasing the wearer's strength by more than three times within an hour. Cao Qian was currently using discounted boxing gloves redesigned by Xing Ye, which only increased their strength by 1.5 times for half an hour.
This glove was originally taken out to guard against Randy. If it really came under attack, it could also be used on the robot. Xing Ye and others saw the robot's combat effectiveness through the projector. Compared with Cao Qian's strength in the campus world, it was not certain which one was stronger, so they did not need to flee in a panic in the middle of the night.
At this time, a robot ran out. It ignored Xing Ye and others and attacked Randy directly.
It seems the robots only attack people who enter the mine. There must be a secret inside that they don't want anyone to discover. Xing Ye thought of the heart in the glass container and pondered quietly.
Three robots rushed out of the mine and surrounded Randy. Seeing that Xing Ye and others had no intention of taking action, Randy finally clicked on the bracelet reluctantly and used the special QR code.
A big knife appeared in his hand. It looked very heavy, but the little puppet man could lift it easily. After the knife chopped three times in the air, the three robots turned into ashes and the knife disappeared.
A powerful prop-type QR code should have a fatal effect without burdening the user, but the number of uses or the time of use are very limited.
Xing Ye quickly analyzed the purpose of the broadsword, but unfortunately he couldn't see the QR code and couldn't redraw it.
After the three robots were shattered, no more pursuers emerged from the mine. Randy angrily said to Xing Ye and the others, "You dare not enter the mine, and you are unwilling to rescue people in danger. I risked my life to obtain important clues from the mine, but don't expect me to tell you."
Xing Ye could see that Randy was pretending to be angry. He was actually taking this opportunity to tell them that he had discovered something very important and they would have to pay a price if they wanted to know.
Sorry, they already know.
"There's nothing we can do," Xing Ye said, spreading his hands. "My initial skills are supportive, so I can't fight. Besides, you can see how poor Stickman and I are. We're just unlucky players without QR codes."
Guan Ling also spread his hands: "Although I am a player who obeys fate, my initial skills are auxiliary, and I don't have many QR codes. I have to protect myself."
Mirror... Mirror still remembered that he was an NPC in front of Cao Qian and Guan Ling, but a submissive player in front of Randy, so he had no choice but to follow their example and spread his hands.
Randy's previous anger was just a disguise. Now seeing the four people looking like "I'm single, who am I afraid of?", he was really angry.
But he didn't attack. Instead, he held his breath and said, "Come back to me when you want to know what's going on in the mine. Of course, if you're brave enough, you can go in on your own!"
Of course you have to go in, there are raw ores all over the floor.
"We'll wait until daybreak and go in, and stick to the original plan," Xing Ye said.
Randy wasn't sure they had a way to deal with the robots, and he wanted to follow them back inside, hoping there might be more important clues. He hadn't had time to search the room thoroughly. With that thought in mind, Randy swallowed his anger and sat down somewhere away from Xing Ye and the others, observing them from the side.
They looked at each other, their hearts full of doubts, but they said nothing.
It was silent until dawn. Xing Ye and others walked into the mine, picked up a sack of raw ore on the periphery, and did not go any deeper, happily preparing to return home.
Since they were only active on the outskirts of the mine and had not entered the core area at all, they did not alarm the robots.
"You... aren't going to investigate anymore?" Randy was really shocked this time. He had never seen such a Buddhist and fate-defying player.
Xing Ye said slowly, "I think picking up so much raw ore is enough for this harvest. You know we could lose energy at any time, so we can't rush into anything. Anyway, it's still early, so it's best to take the raw ore back to the city, replenish energy, pay off debts, and then have the body inspected, oiled, and rust-removed. We also need to make a decent set of clothes. We can come back after we're fully prepared."
"There are still two players who are obedient to their fate. Aren't you afraid that if you continue to slack off, by the time you finish all this, those two players who are obedient to their fate will have completed their mission?" Randy asked.
Xing Ye: "I'm worried too, but going in without preparation will also result in death faster. It's better to be safe."
In short, we are Buddhist players and are not in a hurry.
Randy seemed to want the heart in the mine very much, but he didn't want to go in alone. Seeing that Xing Ye and the others had really left, he walked around the mine, turned around angrily and followed Xing Ye and the others.
After walking for ten hours back to the city, we arrived at Puppet City just before the city gate closed.
On the way, Xing Ye picked up some smelly scraps of copper and iron and put them on top of a sack. When he entered the city for inspection, the city gate officer took a casual look and saw that it was the puppet who often went out to pick up scraps, so he let him pass.
A piece of ore used as an equivalent exchange is about half the size of a fist. Xing Ye's sack is filled with hundreds of pieces of various sizes. The purity is higher than that of ordinary ore, almost one to ten. Five or six pieces are enough to pay off the debt, and the rest are all money!
After entering the city, Randy wanted to follow them, but Xing Ye said, "We are going to Old Nick's house to pay back the money, so it seems inconvenient to take you with us."
It was clear that he wanted to draw a line between himself and Randy. Randy had no reason to continue following him, so he turned and left.
Finally getting rid of this person, Xing Ye and others breathed a sigh of relief.
Instead of returning to Old Nick's house immediately, they ran to Xing Ye's small warehouse to hold a meeting.
It was already dark and all the shops in Puppet City were closed. If you wanted to spend money to change the appearance of your house, you would have to wait until tomorrow.
"There's definitely something wrong with this Randy!" Guan Ling said hastily. "He's a high-level player, so he must have plenty of points and QR codes. Why didn't he use them in the mine? He could have gotten the heart if he had. Why did he have to follow us?"
"It's a wise decision not to take the heart," Xing Ye said. "This isn't a campus hidden object quest; we can't just take anything we see. We know nothing about the plot right now, and acting rashly could backfire. Most importantly, we're looking for the puppet who's telling the truth. The heart doesn't seem to be necessarily connected to him, so we shouldn't add any unnecessary complications for now."
After hitting it a few times, Randy decisively gave up on taking the heart, proving that he is a cautious and careful player.
"What should we do next?" Guan Ling asked bewilderedly. "I don't know why, but I have a feeling the City Lord's son hasn't simply failed in a game. I'm a little scared of that Randy. What on earth does he want to do?"
"We must do what needs to be done," Xing Ye said. "We must carefully investigate the clues, find the puppet that tells the truth, investigate his relationship with Benedict, understand his true wishes, and help him realize them. During this time, we may encounter Randy countless times. Remember to be on guard against him and don't make any promises to him like you did to the city lord's son."
While everyone was discussing, Jingzi had something to say. He held it in for a long time and kept looking at Xing Ye. When he heard Randy, Jingzi couldn't help it and secretly kicked Xing Ye.
The sound of "clang" attracted the attention of Guan Ling and Cao Qian, and it was not quiet at all.
Xing Ye wanted to protect Jingzi, but one lie often requires countless lies to cover it up. Their initial lie was full of mistakes and omissions. Cao Qian and Guan Ling were not fools, so how could they not be suspicious?
"Say whatever you want to say," Xing Ye said. "Don't ask me about the identity of the Bronze Mirror Man, and I won't tell you. Just remember that he's my companion, and even if I die, he can't die. That's all that's needed."
Just survive this world for now, and in the next world, let the mirror be a quiet makeup mirror!
After receiving permission, Mirror couldn't wait to speak: "I suspect Randy is not a player who returned from the advanced world, but a reincarnation player!"
Reincarnation? Xing Ye thought of the word "reincarnation" that appeared on his bookshelf. Could it be related to this?
Mirror continued, "After reaching 50,000 points in the Melee World, players can enter the Advanced World. Once they meet certain requirements in the Advanced World, they are eligible to challenge the final stage. However, the prerequisite for challenging the final stage is to obtain five or more storybooks, meaning they must have five perfect endings in the Novice World and the Melee World. To meet these requirements, advanced players must return to the Melee World to complete the endings and obtain the storybooks. At this point, they become reincarnation players. Reincarnation players can only use three QR codes and three initial skills in each world, so they must be cautious and not use their skills until the most critical moment."
Guan Ling suddenly realized, "So, those players who earn points by hunting large numbers of players instead of achieving perfect endings, even if they meet the requirements for entering the final level in the advanced world, will be forced to return to the melee world to challenge the more difficult mode. Is this karma?"
Cao Qian asked, "What's with that pocket watch? I don't think it's a base skill or a QR code, so there's no limit on how many times it can be used. That's why he's more inclined to use it."
Cao Qian's guess coincides with Xing Ye's, she is growing very fast.
"It would be great if we knew the real identity of the city lord's son, so that we can make sure whether he is safe in the real world." Guan Ling said uneasily.
He has not lost his conscience and cares about the player's safety in the real world.
Speaking of the pocket watch, Xing Ye felt more and more uncomfortable. He had an idea, but he didn't dare to believe his own speculation.
Mirror noticed that Xing Ye was in a bad mood and grabbed his hand tightly.
Xing Ye said with difficulty: "I need to be alone for a while. It's not too late now. Can you go home first?"
Cao Qian and Guan Ling were very puzzled, but they still considerately said that they would go back to rest.
For safety reasons, Cao Qian decided to stay at Old Nick's house with Guan Ling for one night so that they could always have someone to look after them.
They agreed to meet at the repair shop the next day, and then they left Xing Ye's cabin.
Looking at their receding backs, Xing Ye finally couldn't hold on any longer and slowly slid down against the wall.
Jingzi circled around Xing Ye restlessly, not understanding why Xing Ye suddenly looked so fragile and emotional, and even drove Guan Ling and Cao Qian away. This was not the Xing Ye who would always force himself to stay strong no matter how sad he was!
He was very worried, but didn't know whether he should ask, and seemed particularly confused.
Xing Ye raised his head and saw the miserable appearance of the little wooden puppet in the bronze mirror in the moonlight.
"Let's close the door first." Xing Ye said.
He stood up, picked up the door panel, closed the door with the help of the mirror, hid in the dark room, and curled himself into a ball.
The mirror accompanied him quietly, which was very considerate.
After a long while, Xing Ye slowly spoke: "Do you remember my brother? He went to the same high school as you. His name is Xing Shuo."
"I remember." Jingzi whispered. He still remembered the bullied boy. After meeting Xing Ye, Jingzi always regretted why he did not lend a helping hand to the boy.
Xing Ye clenched his fist and continued, "He passed away a few days ago from sudden cardiac death. I couldn't believe he, who had always been healthy, would die of illness. I desperately investigated the cause of his death, and finally recalled the QR code on his phone. I drew the pattern and entered the game world."
Jingzi never thought that someone could participate in the game in this way, but this was not the time to be surprised at Xing Ye's memory. All he could do was reach out and hug the little puppet's shoulders.
"After I joined the game, I discovered that according to the rules of the game, players cannot die. Even as a prop, your body is not completely dead."
Xing Ye didn't continue speaking, and the mirror understood what he meant.
After seeing Randy's actions today, Xing Ye realized that his brother was very likely to be killed in this world because of a certain ability of a certain player, and he felt very painful.
"No, that's not necessarily the case!" the mirror stammered, comforting, "Maybe..."
He was stuck. What could it be? Perhaps the city lord's son wasn't dead, but simply failed the game and returned to the system space? Or perhaps Xing Shuo had truly passed away from illness?
Whatever the cause, death is despairing.
"Silly mirror."
In the darkness, Xing Ye suddenly said this.
"Huh?" Jingzi was very confused. Why did Xing Ye suddenly talk about him?
Xing Ye didn't answer, but just leaned against the mirror quietly.
The cold metal has no temperature and cannot warm Xing Ye's icy heart, but relying on it can give people strength.
It's not just Xing Shuo's death, but also the pocket watch I saw today.
Randy's performance told Xing Ye that the pocket watch was definitely not an initial skill or a special QR code, so what kind of prop would the pocket watch be?
Cao Qian and Guan Ling didn't know the true identity of the mirror, so of course they had no way of guessing, but Xing Ye was different.
Apart from the QR code and the initial skills, the only items are the items that the player becomes by following his fate!
Xing Ye had wondered countless times what would happen if the mirror was destroyed in the game world. For example, in the first Magic Mirror World, Xing Ye failed his mission, and Claire and the mirror fell into the hands of the Queen. Claire simply died, lost half her points, and immediately entered the next Novice World. But what about the mirror?
He no longer had any points and had simply become a prop rated half a point by the system. If the prop was destroyed, would his soul disappear? What would happen to his mirror body in the real world?