Chapter 609: Method of Resurrection

Chapter 609 Method Of Resurrection 

“Chen Xiaolian, you bastard!”

When Chen Xiaolian appeared before Roddy, before a hotel in Bucharest, he received a punch to his chest.

Roddy was not done. After punching Chen Xialian, he reached out with his hands to grab Chen Xiaolian by his collars and shook him. “I am going to Bran, you say. We’ll meet up again in Bucharest, you say. What took you so long?! It is one thing to switch off your phone, but I can’t even contact you through the guild channel. If not for the absence of the system prompt stating that the Guild Leader had died, I would really have thought that someone had killed you!”

“I… … forgot to tell you about it, my bad…” Chen Xiaolian apologized with a smile. Despite Roddy’s harsh attitude, Chen Xiaolian was clear that this was entirely out of concern for him. “In Bran… I entered an instance dungeon. That was why I could not contact you.”

“Instance dungeon?” Roddy was stunned. “You were selected by the system? Why didn’t you call me? And the others… … wait, is there an instance dungeon that allows the participation of the Guild Leader alone?”

“No, it is not the system’s selection. It is… … an instance dungeon that has been taken over by two old monsters. They are using it as a sanctuary… say, you really want me to talk all about it in front of a hotel?” Chen Xiaolian sent a blunt stare at Roddy.

“Ah… right!”

They entered the hotel. After entering their room, Chen Xiaolian began re-telling what happened within the Bran Castle instance dungeon to Roddy.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa… … wait, just wait!” Halfway through, Roddy’s palm shot up before Chen Xiaolian. With bulging eyes, he said, “You are saying Tian Lie is not dead?”

“To be exact, it is not that he is not dead. Rather… he was resurrected. Like us, he has become an Irregularity.” Chen Xiaolian smiled. “Besides, you know him.”

“Nonsense! Back in the Tokyo instance dungeon, he beat us up so badly, our brain matter nearly fell out. Could we not know him?” Roddy threw Chen Xiaolian a look.

“No, I mean to say… … you are quite familiar with him. More accurately, he is quite well acquainted with every one in our guild,” said Chen Xiaolian with a smile. “In fact, before we came to Romania, not too long ago, you have been having your meals together with him every day.”

“You… … what kind of nonsense are you spouting?” asked Roddy with widened eyes.

“Tian Lie, that fellow… … after dying, he was refreshed into an ordinary human who became our friend.” Chen Xiaolian shrugged. “Now that I have said that, surely, you can already figure out who I am talking about, right?” 

“You… could you be talking about…” Roddy stuttered. “Da Gang?”

Chen Xiaolian nodded. As for Roddy, his eyes were bulging so much it appeared as though they might pop out of their sockets. “You are saying… … that Da Gang, whom you brought back with you from Hangzhou, that thin and wooden looking fellow… … … is Tian Lie? Chen Xiaolian, are you pulling my leg here?”

“Am I someone who would do something as pointless as that?” Chen Xiaolian rolled his eyes. “Enough, rein in your shock first. Grab your chin tightly. What I am going to say next… the shock from it might cause it to fall to the floor.”

“Could there me anything more shocking that Da Gang being Tian Lie?” Roddy pursed his lips to the side. “Say it, then.”

“In the instance dungeon, besides Tian Lie, I also met someone else. Likewise, this person was once an Awakened who died and was resurrected.” Chen Xiaolian gave a faint smile and continued, “Do you want to guess who?”

“Guess what? Can’t you just… … wait!” Roddy abruptly jumped up from the sofa and stared intently at Chen Xiaolian. “You… you, you, you, you mean … … Nicole?”

“Are you happy?” Chen Xiaolian looked at Roddy with a smile.

“Oh… dayum!”

Panting for breath, Roddy abruptly raised his hands as he danced around with joy for a good five minutes before stopping.

“Childish.”

Soo Soo, who had been playing a game on her mobile phone while seated in the corner of another sofa, looked at Roddy and muttered coldly. After that, she lowered her head once more to face her phone screen.

“Pei! What could a little girl like you know?” Roddy grabbed hold of Chen Xiaolian’s sleeve and said, “Then… … where is she? Why didn’t you bring her to see me?”

“See you? What for?” Chen Xiaolian rolled his eyes again. “Yours is just a one-sided love for her anyways. She is not interested in you. Should I have dragged her over? Besides, when we were sent out of the instance dungeon, we were sent to different locations. I don’t even know where she is.”

Seeing the deflated look on Roddy’s face, Chen Xiaolian smiled and added, “Still… … it is not like you won’t have the chance to see her again in the future. Like Da Gang, Nicole had been… … by our side.”

“Who? Who?” Roddy became near mad with excitement.

“That yoga instructor working in the yoga studio opposite our fitness centre base. I think her name is… what was it again?” Chen Xiaolian deliberately put on a pondering look.

“Ye… Yezi? That girl with a smoking hot body and an average looking face? She is Nicole?” Roddy seemed on the verge of fainting.

“Mm, I believe that is the name she used.”

“She… just what is she thinking?” Roddy shouted. “After getting resurrected, hiding her identity and secretly approaching us without informing us…”

“How would I know.” Chen Xiaolian spread his hands and said, “She did say something. However, I hope you won’t feel too sad after hearing what she said.”

“You… … go ahead.”

“She said: I, understand Roddy’s thoughts. However, I have yet to make a decision on that. I do not know how I should face him. You know too… … we do not actually have a deep relationship. We only knew each other for a short time. Although it was a life and death connection, it was just a few days’ time. Mm… … I keep feeling awkward. If he had remained deeply in love with me while I don’t think that deeply of him, meeting him… maybe, not meeting him would be better.”

After saying that, Chen Xiaolian watched as the expression on Roddy’s face deflated even further. Roddy sat down on the sofa limply.

“Hey, I told you not to feel too sad.”

“I know. The problem is, this is not something that I can control!”

“At least she did appear beside you. It is not as though you have no chance at all.”

“Mm…”

“Then… … let me give you another good news.”

“Go ahead…”

“I… have acquired a way to resurrect Qiao Qiao.”

“Ohh… … aaah!!!”

Roddy, who was leaning back on the sofa, had initially responded half-heartedly. Next, a look of shock slammed his face and he jumped to his feet. “You, you, you… you acquired a way to resurrect Qiao Qiao?”

Chen Xiaolian smiled and said, “In that instance dungeon.”

“But…” Roddy kneaded his face forcefully before continuing, “Last time you came back from Zero City, you just said there is a possibility for that! How… … so fast? Besides, we did not come to Romania for Qiao Qiao’s matter!” 

“I can only say… I got lucky. Truth be told, even though I met up with Phoenix and Great Teacher Sawakita, I still do not understand what Mr San wanted us to do. Acquiring a way to resurrect Qiao Qiao should be something of an unexpected harvest. Not to mention… … although there is already a way, I believe it will be somewhat troublesome.”

“What kind of troublesome?”

“Forget it… let us not talk about it first. It is just my own concerns.” Chen Xiaolian shook his head. “Let me first tell you about the resurrection method.”

Soo Soo, who was seated in the corner, had at an unknown moment, put down her mobile phone. She looked at Chen Xiaolian quietly.

“Do you remember the Lifehymn Music Score fragment we obtained in the Jerusalem instance dungeon?”

“I remember.” Roddy nodded. “That prop can store lives to allow game participants the chance to be resurrected.”

“I met two old monsters in the instance dungeon. When I say old, I mean, really, really old.” Chen Xiaolian then pulled out the Lifehymn Music Score and placed it on the table before him. “One of them helped me restore it to its complete state and further made some improvements to it.”

“What improvements?”

“The maximum time limit for resurrection now exceeds the system’s undeclared resolution period.”

“I… … do not get it.”

“Take the Lifehymn Music Score and you will be able to see its description.”

Roddy nodded and picked up the Lifehymn Music Score from the table.

The moment he picked it up, a system prompt appeared in his interface screen.

[System prompt: You have picked up a special prop: Lifehymn Music Score.

[Lifehymn Music Score: Record down the name of a designated person and the designated person’s life will be temporarily stored within this music score. The designated person’s outside body will become a puppet, under the control of the designated person but only capable of unleashing 90 % of his or her full power. After the puppet dies, the one holding this music score may choose to resurrect the person stored inside it.

[This prop can store a maximum of (0/3) lives. 

[System prompt: Lifehymn Music Score’s cell 1 has entered a cool down period. Before the cool down is over, no new life may be stored inside. Cool down timer: 12 hours 21 minutes.

[Rules for life storage are as follows:

[1 . The number of lives stored cannot exceed three.

[2 . Storing of lives: Each single usage will cost 200 points. A single usage is defined as the act of ‘storing --- resurrect / cancel resurrection / cancel storage’.

[3 . After storing, there is a time limit of 240 hours for storage. After this time limit is exceeded, every extra hour will consume an additional 100 points. This cost will be calculated using hours. Even if less than an hour had passed in the end, the cost of one hour will be charged. If there are insufficient points on the stored life’s person, the stored life will be exterminated. If, after 100 hours, you have yet to make the choice of whether to resurrect or cancel storage, the amount of points on the stored life notwithstanding, the stored life will be automatically exterminated. The different rate of time flow between the time inside an instance dungeon and the time outside an instance dungeon will be ignored. The timer used by the system will be used as the standard.]

[4 . During the storage period, the prop holder may cancel storage at any given moment. After storage is cancelled, the puppet will transform back to the person’s original body and that person will regain his or her full combat power.

[5 . Every time a storage cell is used, this prop will enter a cool down period of 24 hours. When it is in the cool down period, it cannot be used. The storage time limit and the cool down period will be calculated separately.

[6 . When storing a person’s life, that person’s attributes and state, positive and negative included, will be completely stored. During the storage period, all effects, positive or negative, that the puppet undergoes will be ignored. After resurrection or cancel of storage, the previous state of that person – before his or her life was stored – will be used as a point of reference.]

“Wait… wait… I do not understand this part!” Roddy went through the system’s description in detail. Then, he uttered in a baffled manner. “If the time limit for storage is 240 hours, why did it say it would exterminate the stored life after 100 hours? What about the 140 hours in between? Is that for decoration?”

Chen Xiaolian smiled and said, “This is the upgraded version. You need to understand who decided on the 100 hours’ limit.”

“Could it be… … it is not this Lifehymn Music Score?” asked Roddy with a frown.

Chen Xiaolian shook his head. “No, the 100 hours’ time limit is the restriction placed by the system. Everyone, be they Players, Awakened ones, ordinary humans, even Irregularities like us, once they are dead for over 100 hours, they will be determined as truly dead. No resurrection prop can be used on them and they will be automatically exterminated.

“We do not know where Players will go after their deaths. That is a matter which involves the Upper Plane. For Awakened ones, they will be refreshed into ordinary humans. That is something we all know. Those two types should not enter the Recycle Bin. However, if some ordinary human dies, the system will have to initiate a ‘delete’ process for those ordinary humans. It is the equivalent of how we use the computer.”

Chen Xiaolian recounted the red-haired woman’s analogy for the Recycle Bin to Roddy.

“I think I understand.” Roddy nodded. “However… … Recycle Bin is something that will be emptied. Are you certain that… … Qiao Qiao is still inside it?”

“I cannot.” Chen Xiaolian spread both his hands. “We do not know the system’s schedule for emptying the Recycle Bin. We also do not know when it would empty it. It could be in one month’s time, it could be in one year’s time, or it could be… … tomorrow.”

“Then maybe… … it is already emptied?” Roddy frantically wrung his hands. “What are you waiting for? If Qiao Qiao is already…” 

“You think I am not feeling anxious about it? In the instance dungeon, I had to use the prop once. It is now in a cool down period and it will be a while before my name can be written on it.” Chen Xiaolian smiled ruefully and continued, “I have already tried it. Each of the life cells in the Lifehymn Music Score may have its own cool down timer, but that is for different people. After using it once, within the 24 hours cool down period, I cannot put my name in another life cell, even though the life cell is not in a cool down period.”

“I understand.” Roddy nodded his head. “However, if that is the case, how are you going to bring Qiao Qiao back? She is already dead. Even if you put her name on this score, it would not work, would it?”

“Naturally, it is not dependent on having someone in the outside world write down her name. Although I myself do not know how, there must surely be a way. I can only slowly figure it out after I reach the Recycle Bin.”

“You are that confident?”

“Mm, I already have confirmation that someone did it before. 100 per cent.”

“You mean to say, someone had actually entered the Recycle Bin and… … brought back a dead Irregularity?” Roddy was surprised. “Who?”

“Right.” Chen Xiaolian nodded his head. A look of exhaustion suddenly appeared on his face. “Enough, let’s leave it at that. I need to rest up first.”

Without waiting for Roddy’s protest, Chen Xiaolian got up and walked toward the bedroom. He did not answer Roddy’s second question.

…

The initial description of the Lifehymn Music Score (fragment) is in Chapter 477.