The room was very quiet.
Jiang Yujin leaned over, opened his eyes slightly, and then exclaimed, "Wow, there are quite a lot of people."
He asked, "Are there mosquitoes in your rooms?"
Xiao Pang and Zhang Xin twitched their eyebrows, and then, not knowing what to say, could only nod.
Chen Jing brought in his elderly father, Jiang Jin.
There are some people who are naturally able to break the silence and stiffness of an atmosphere, making the surrounding air as languid as they are. In the end, there were four people in the room: one sprawled out on the bed, and three others slumped over the table next to the sofa. The high school students hadn't slept for more than a day, and their mental and physical energy had been under constant pressure. After relaxing a little, they fell asleep slumped over the table.
This was the first time high school students had woken up at the same time as adult men.
When he woke up again, it was already bright outside and the sunlight was dazzling. Little Fatty woke up rubbing his sore shoulders and saw the person on the bed sitting up while rubbing his messy hair.
The other person was rubbing their hair, probably having had a good sleep, and seemed to be in a good mood, even saying good morning to him.
The remaining two people also woke up.
Their bodies ached a little, but they slept unusually soundly; they hadn't felt this good in a long time. Zhang Xin glanced at the time as usual after waking up and finally understood why she felt so refreshed.
It was 2 p.m., even past lunchtime. Citizen Jiang was used to getting up after noon, and had already inquired about the hotel's 24-hour breakfast, lunch, and dinner service. Before carrying his pillow back to his room, he handed the menu in the room to several people.
While the three high school students were searching for clues outside, he had thoroughly explored the hotel, especially its dining options, knowing exactly where the menus were kept in the rooms.
The four of them didn't go downstairs; instead, they ate breakfast together in Chen Jing's room, which was actually lunch.
After the meal, Jiang Yujin asked, "Have you finished your research assignment?"
"It's done," said the chubby boy. "We can go back anytime."
Jiang Yujin immediately booked a flight for that evening. There was nothing urgent; it was just that someone had invited him to play mahjong.
There was still a lot to do, and the high school students were eager to go back, especially Xiao Pang, who had to handle a huge pile of documents and didn't have much time left.
They booked their tickets in the afternoon and boarded their flight back that evening. Last night, while crossing the South Pacific, they could still see the clouds drifting overhead. But nobody was looking at the clouds; the adult men were sleeping, and the three high school students were still studying. After a nap this morning, they were feeling quite refreshed, so they wanted to make the most of their time studying.
Halfway through the flight, the person sitting by the window woke up. They wanted to play a match-3 game, but their phone vibrated a few times, indicating that someone had sent them several messages.
The high school students who were looking at their documents heard the person sitting by the window chuckle. Before they could look away, the person turned to look at them and asked, "It's so late, do you need someone to take you home?"
Xiao Pang and Zhang Xin both shook their heads, saying they didn't need it. They had already arranged a car before boarding the plane, so they could take a car directly back after landing.
Chen Jing also booked a ride. After praising the high school students for being reliable, Jiang Yujin typed a reply.
Before leaving, he casually sent a message to his friend who plays Candy Crush, saying that he was taking a flight back that night. His friend just replied and asked if he needed someone to take a few high school students home because it was late.
This was originally a great opportunity for high school students to meet their Candy Crush friends, but unfortunately, the high school students were too reliable.
After getting off the plane and into the car, a citizen who sleeps almost all day long suddenly becomes excited late at night and lies on the sofa to watch the soap opera that just started replaying today.
The high school students seemed very busy, and unusually, they didn't urge him to go to sleep. After returning to his room, he didn't come out again.
The mahjong game they had arranged for the next day was also canceled because one of them was suddenly asked to go to work by his company and went to the company early in the morning, full of resentment. With the original activities canceled and Hao Da'er staying in his room all day, Jiang Yujin went to chat with the barber shop owner downstairs.
It was lunchtime, and the barbershop door was half-closed. When the person inside saw him arrive, they immediately reached out to try and pull the door down completely.
Jiang Yujin, holding onto the door to avoid it closing, said with an incredulous look, "You're so cold-hearted!"
Even though it had been two or three days since they last saw each other, this person didn't miss him at all and even wanted to drive him away.
The door was forcefully opened by the person outside. The barber shop owner, a cigarette dangling from his lips, watched as the person squeezed in. Jiang Yujin waved: "Long time no see."
To be honest, the barbershop owner had just had two days of peace and quiet and didn't want to see this person yet. He let out a sigh and sat down in the chair: "So, what do you want?"
"Look at what you're saying," said Mr. Jiang, a local resident. "I just came to chat with you for a while."
The barbershop owner was skeptical: "Why don't you go talk to Xu Tonggui?"
"He has to go to work."
As Jiang Yujin spoke, he opened his phone and counted the number of digits in the newly added salary card, then put his phone down with a satisfied smile.
Only when the other person works hard will the amount in their salary account increase, and only then will their happiness increase.
The barber shop owner had nothing to say.
"Didn't you ask me before what exactly happened in the end of the game?"
"This time I went to Atsa, the headquarters of Zero, and encountered the alien species I last met in the game."
The barber temporarily took the cigarette from his mouth and said, "Was Xu Tonggui killed by that alien species?"
"No," Jiang Yujin said, "I killed him."
The cigarette burned slowly, and the ash fell to the ground. The barber shop owner didn't move; he just stared at the other person.
Jiang Yujin appeared to be normal, at least on the surface, and said, "Let's call that alien little zero for now."
In the final instance, he and Xu Tonggui jumped into the abyss, where Xiao Ling resided. Or rather, the abyss could be seen as an instance within an instance, a world that existed independently and contained only Xiao Ling.
When they entered, the pile of flesh that filled the entire small world was still changing, gradually condensing into the shape of a mutant. The mutant continued to change, enlarge, and take shape, and was finally sent out of the abyss.
The endless stream of alien species outside originates from Xiao Ling. If every creature in a game must have an origin, then the origin of these alien species is undoubtedly here.
The pile of flesh had a core, hidden within a massive structure. As it constantly broke and reformed, they saw something red and crystalline, which quickly disappeared back into the pile of flesh.
Once you see it, you can't possibly miss it. The process was somewhat complicated and bloody, but in short, they found the red crystals among the piles of flesh.
For various reasons, he couldn't touch this alien species, and this alien species couldn't touch him either, so in the end, the only one who could make a move was Xu Tonggui.
He cleared a bloody path, preparing to destroy the crystal.
The change begins here.
The alien species has its own protective mechanisms. Zero exhibits a very strong exclusivity. Those not recognized as belonging to its side cannot touch the crystal and can only watch as their hands pass through it.
To solve it, one can only become it, either by being parasitized or by being dominated.
In deciding to kill it, you also sealed your own fate.
This was a certain death situation, and Xu Tonggui chose to die together. Neither he nor the mutant would survive.
Human intuition is a terrifying thing. Xu Tonggui seemed to have vaguely foreseen the current situation long ago, and calmly accepted his fate of death.
The brain and body gradually began to lose control. Before he could regain consciousness, the man crushed the crystal and then took out a dagger.
He took the dagger and plunged it into the man's heart.
Jiang Yujin stopped speaking: "You'll know what happened next."
He spoke of a past he had never mentioned to anyone before with ease, and even had time to pour himself a glass of water.
The water was hot, and when he drank it down, he was scalded by the sudden heat and got up to look for cool boiled water.
The barber shop owner just watched him wander around the shop, and after seeing him finally find some cold water to drink, he asked, "Did you ask Xu Tonggui how he survived?"
Jiang Yujin nodded: "I asked."
They thought the game might have survived because of its self-preservation mechanism. Even a mutant knows how to protect itself, so surely a game does too.
If we apply the scenario to a typical game, it might be much easier to explain. A game needs players and NPCs; the players are them, the aliens are the NPCs, and Xiao Ling is the game's NPC database. Whether players or NPCs are missing, the game cannot function properly. If the database is corrupted or even largely deleted, the game will also fail, requiring a save file to be reloaded before it's completely destroyed.
There have been instances of dungeons being restarted in the game before. Although I don't understand the mechanics, this operation is indeed feasible.
Most of the critical databases have been destroyed, and the game has begun to collapse. The game itself may be trying to fix it, but the speed of repair can never keep up with the speed of collapse. The few remaining dungeons are probably the result of the game's efforts to repair them, preventing them from shattering and disappearing like many other dungeons.
The result of this series of changes was that Xu Tonggui and Xiao Ling both survived, but they were not able to fully return to their original state. One was found by the Special Investigation Bureau after falling into a remote corner, and after his identity was recognized, he was secretly hidden in a sanatorium and lay in a coma for several years. The other was in a state of serious injury and was found by Zero's people.
Initially, it might have been the people of Zero who found Zero, but with increasingly in-depth research, Zero had silently become the dominated. What was originally humanity researching the alien species had turned into Zero researching itself, constantly uncovering more of its own abilities.
Judging from the Zero headquarters I visited before, there are very few people left who truly possess self-awareness. The seemingly prosperous and orderly scene in the city is just a constructed illusion, probably designed to lure resentful big bosses like Lu Dongcheng into investing so they can continue their research.
The branch members are still working diligently for headquarters, constantly conducting research, experimenting, releasing mutants, and searching for test subjects. In reality, they are working entirely for a monster.
0 has been dominating and observing humanity, and it's clear that it has learned quite a bit.
After talking for a while, Mr. Jiang took another sip of water. This time he made the right choice; he drank cool boiled water to moisten his throat.
The barber shop owner never believed that this person would come here to tell him so much for no reason. The cigarette he had been smoking had burned out without him noticing, so he stubbed it out and lit another one.
Sure enough, the person opposite him put down his water glass, smiled at him, and said, "I mainly want to ask you for a favor."
Regarding the crystals in the meat pile, Xiao Ling would never expose her weakness in her research. The information obtained by those high school students certainly didn't include this, and if they were to clash, the previous events would repeat themselves.
Both Xiaopang and Zhang Xin have families, and given Hao Da'er's personality, it's not hard to imagine what kind of situation will arise.
He wasn't particularly interested in fighting antisocial organizations or defeating the source of evil, but he had worked hard... or perhaps not so hard, because he couldn't let his beloved son, whom he had raised for so many years, die.
So someone has to tell them this news.
The barber's brow twitched, and he almost stubbed out his cigarette: "How am I supposed to tell them?"
In short, this matter fell to him. The person who assigned the task sipped two cups of water and left easily, saying before leaving, "If you need anything, you can ask Shi Bu. He just got back from a business trip and should be quite free. He'll definitely cooperate if you ask him to do anything."
——
Half of the short holiday has passed, and during this time Chen Jing and Zhang Xin have frequently gone to Xiao Pang's place, with a fixed route but irregular times.
After Xiaopang called to say he had discovered something again, Zhang Xin set off from home once more to go to Xiaopang's place.
She's been going out a lot these past two days since she returned from her trip. Her parents are worried, thinking that she's reached the age where she should be secretly dating.
It started raining heavily in the early hours of the morning and shows no sign of stopping. People walking on the street are holding umbrellas and hurrying past the roadside, splashing water everywhere. All the scenes seem to be blurred.
Two people appeared by the pond in an old park built many years ago, a place usually deserted. They were both holding umbrellas and leaning against the railing. The umbrellas covered their shoulders and above, so she couldn't see them clearly, but they seemed strangely familiar.
I have a vague recollection of it, but I just can't remember where I've seen it before.
As they passed each other, she heard one of them say "Atsha".
Zhang Xin stopped in her tracks.
...
Chen Jing and Xiao Pang, who had arrived at Xiao Pang's house, waited for Zhang Xin for half an hour. When the door opened, Xiao Pang hadn't even had time to put away her umbrella. After confirming that the soundproof door to the small laboratory was closed, she said urgently, "I know what we need to do now."
Instead of continuing their aimless research in various directions, what they need to do is find a way to maintain self-awareness and autonomy after being parasitized or dominated by Zero. In simpler terms, they need to find antibodies.
Compared to wandering around aimlessly before, they are now clearly more purposeful.
Little Fatty asked, "How do you know all this?"
Zhang Xin said she had encountered Shi Bu. She didn't know who the two people standing by the pool were at first, but then she heard one of them say that he had returned from a business trip to Atsha, and that's when she realized that this person might be Shi Bu.
Their subsequent conversation confirmed her suspicions.
Although the two people's question-and-answer session sounded like they were reading in a monotone, it didn't have much of an impact, as long as there was enough information.
Chen Jing asked, "Do you remember the other person?"
Zhang Xin shook her head. She vaguely felt that the figure was familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen it before; she had probably just encountered someone with a similar build somewhere.
She added, "But the voice sounds somewhat familiar."
She felt like she'd heard the name somewhere before, but couldn't quite place it. If she couldn't remember, she didn't need to think about it for now. Finally, she remembered she was still holding a wet umbrella, so she carefully put it away.
——
To be honest, Jiang Yujin had run out of energy in the Candy Crush game, the soap opera wasn't replaying, and his son and the barbershop owner were both out. He had been lying at home all afternoon, watching the sky gradually darken, and finally felt bored.
The rain outside was still pouring down, making it impossible to hold the usual gossip gathering, so it had to be cancelled.
After lying on the sofa for a while with his goose in his arms, Citizen Jiang chose to send money to the Candy Crush game instead of going to his usual pub to chat with the owner or going to sleep.
Just before he was about to successfully deliver the money, there was a knock on the door.
He put on his slippers, got up, and opened the door. The moment the door opened, a sweet scent rushed in along with the cold wind. The man standing outside was holding an umbrella, carrying a pink box, one shoulder of his was mostly wet.
Jiang Yujin let out a sound of surprise, speaking in a leader's voice: "Comrade Xiao Xu is here."
Comrade Xiao Xu handed him the pink box, and the sweet aroma became even stronger as she did so. He said, "I got off work early today and just happened to see this cake on my way home."
He had received a message from this person saying he was bored and, since his son wasn't home, he came over.
Jiang Yujin took the box and gave the other person the slippers they had worn. He placed the sweet and fragrant pink box on the table, glanced at the water on the other person's clothes and hair, and turned to find a new dry towel.
However, since he hadn't done any housework for years, he couldn't find a new towel, so he simply took his own.
He had the guest, Xu, sit on the sofa, then stood behind him, placed a towel directly on Xu's head, and began wiping and wiping. It was not a skillful method, but rather a complete mess. Luckily, Xu's hair was quite strong.
Feeling the messy handwork on his head, the customer looked up and asked, "Boss, when can I expect to receive a notice to start work?"
"Young man, don't be in a hurry," Boss Jiang patted his head and said, "You'll start working once you've built a good relationship with our son."
After he finished speaking, he put down the towel, went back into his room, rummaged through the drawers and cabinets, and came back with a key in his hand—the spare key to the front door. He tossed the key to the other person and said, "Here's an advance on your salary."
Xu Tonggui caught the key steadily and carefully put it into his pocket.
After drying our hair, it was time for the sweet and delicious cake session. The cake boxes were well protected, without a single drop of water, and the cakes were really tasty.
Before his son returned, Xu, who hadn't officially started his job yet, left. Before leaving, he casually took the trash bag from the living room trash can, but as soon as he lifted it, the sound of empty wine cans clinking together rang out.
"..."
The person who had been comfortably lounging on the sofa suddenly became alert and opened their half-closed eyes.
Sure enough, in an instant, the eyes of the people standing not far away turned over.