Chapter 15

Translator: Lordbluefire

In the beginning, Qing Chen had only wanted to worm some information out of Nan Gengchen, but he didn’t expect the latter’s attitude to change so quickly.

It was just a moment ago when Qing Chen had witnessed him being apprehensive, but after just a lesson passed, Nan Gengchen was already planning on becoming the world’s protagonist.

What could Qing Chen say? As long as he was happy.

Right now, Nan Gengchen started having a serious discussion with Qing Chen. “If — just an if — I could transmigrate, then does that mean I could bring some advanced technology items back to sell?”

“I don’t know that,” replied Qing Chen. “You may not be able to.”

“But see, they already brought back their mechanical limbs and such.” Nan Gengchen continued, “Don’t worry, if I strike it rich, I will treat you to a scrumptious meal.”

Qing Chen knew that the world was dangerous and as a friend, though they had to keep some secrets, he would ultimately hope that the Nan Gengchen could return safely. Hence, he advised with good intentions, “Didn’t you hear several transmigrators mentioning the dangers they faced? So, you should still be cautious. Stop being fixated on striking it rich.”

Nan Gengchen stayed quiet for a few seconds and then spoke up, “What do you want to eat when the time comes?”

Qing Chen: “…”

Nan Gengchen was inwardly panning out his dream after becoming rich. However, only Qing Chen knew he wouldn’t be able to carry anything with him when he returned.

It would truly be a scene of jubilation if Nan Gengchen snapped his arm out to thump the counter for two bowls of Dandan noodles* when he invited Qing Chen out to dinner.

Suddenly, someone in class questioned, “What exactly is the rule for transmigration? How come so many people have transmigrated but not us?”

At the side, Nan Gengchen muttered under his breath, “Perhaps only people who are exceptionally gifted can…”

Qing Chen raised his eyebrows when he heard it.

There was increasing news about transmigrators, from locals to foreigners.

Slowly, Qing Chen deducted two rules:

One, all transmigrators had six hours to their countdown for their first trip and the return countdown was 48 hours.

This meant that it standardized the time of transmigration for everyone, and it was the same for their return.

Then, after watching the news of transmigration, some people came out to say that they had not transmigrated before, but a 48 hours countdown had appeared on their forearm at midnight too.

They should be the second batch.

The next time, both the first and second batch would transmigrate at the same time.

The second rule was that those who transmigrated were all young. For now, the age range seemed to be between 10 and 35 years old.

Out of the blue, a girl said, “An anchor claimed he is a transmigrator and is broadcasting live to showcase his mechanical arm. I’ll send the link in the group chat.”

Every student in this era had a phone, making it easier to communicate.

Hence, everyone clicked on the link to watch. Shockingly, there was an outdoor anchor who was showcasing his mechanical limb.

Qing Chen found something amiss because he had never seen such a plastic-like mechanical limb…

In the end, it was two minutes before a snap sounded and the mechanical arm fell onto the ground…

“They are wearing a damn replica model to piggyback on this topic’s popularity!”

Qing Chen was almost between laughter and tears. Once such a hot topic arose, all sorts of characters would make their appearance.

At that moment, he guessed that Nan Gengchen wasn’t from last midnight’s batch but only had a new countdown appear in the morning. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be this shocked by Jacob’s press conference.

Hence, there were now two possibilities: One, there was a fixed number of transmigrators. New transmigrators would enter when their deaths occur.

The other possibility was that the number of transmigrators was ever-expanding, and there would be more and more of them in the future.

At this point, Qing Chen couldn’t estimate how many transmigrators there were in the entire country.

Gradually, the students in the class were all in attendance. Someone exclaimed, “A transmigrator has appeared in Luo City. I came across it in my Moments*; someone filmed it!”

After hearing this, the students all crowded over.

In the video on Moments, a young man looked frantic. There was a strange mechanical pattern on his cheek, giving off a unique and aesthetic sense of science and technology.

At that moment, someone realized the gray steel ankles which were exposed as the man was walking.

The person who was following seemed to wish to continue filming, but the young man suddenly leaped four to five meters high onto a rooftop along the road and disappeared without a trace.

A female classmate whispered, “So cool.”

“It’ll be good if our school has a transmigrator like that, then we can just ask them anything relating to that world.”

It was then when Qing Chen recalled that there was someone who had transmigrated with him from this school. The son of Eternal Profit Conglomerate’s president, Huang Jixian.

If he didn’t remember wrongly, Huang Jixian should be from Freshman Class 7.

After the other party’s meltdown, the robot guards took him away, and he never appeared again. According to logic, he should have already returned. Even if he was dead, his body would still return.

When Qing Chen thought of this, he made use of the ten minutes before class started and headed toward the freshman classes downstairs.

Luo City Foreign Language School was bustling at the moment. Everyone was discussing transmigrators, and even the teachers Qing Chen passed were swiping on their phones.

I’m afraid no one even imagined that a certain transmigrator is in their midst.

Qing Chen watched these people and felt an inexplicable sense of estrangement. It was as though he had become a little different from an unknown point onward.

In the past, he would think about studying and diligently revising for the next lesson when he had the time, all to get into a good university far away from his hometown.

Now, however, that path didn’t seem to exist anymore.

Qing Chen reached Freshman Class 7’s entrance. Seemingly inadvertent, he stopped a boy with glasses and asked, “Hello, may I know if Huang Jixian came to school today?”

“No, I haven’t seen him yet,” the male student answered.

“Oh.” Qing Chen nodded. “Do you know where he lives?”

“All I know is that he lives in Yinrun Central Garden, but I don’t know the specific location. Is there something you need from him?” asked the male student. “I’ll help you convey the message when he arrives.”

“Never mind, thank you.” Qing Chen guessed that Huang Jixian might not be able to come to class anymore.

The young man’s mental state had received significant damage; he might have gone insane.

Qing Chen looked pensive when he returned to his classroom. Almost nobody had the mind to study during the first period of mathematics.

During the latter half of the class, the young mathematics teacher, Tian Hailong, noticed that everyone was distracted, and he candidly joked, “None of you have your attention focused on me now. It seems like I’ll have to get myself a mechanical arm or something, so you guys will listen to my class in peace.”

The students in the class burst into laughter, then Tian Hailong started discussing this hot topic instead and stopped teaching.

If it was just a regular point of interest, the students and teachers would not have gone as far as this. However, things that were happening now were different because they could change this world.

Nan Gengchen kept swiping on his phone throughout the class. After class, he abruptly showed Qing Chen his phone. “He Xiaoxiao published a guide!”

“He Xiaoxiao?” Qing Chen asked, puzzled.

“He’s a major streamer of the game genre and is regarded as a high-level gamer in the gaming world. Also, he would often find Easter eggs and details in the game, such as teaching you how to find hidden plots, hidden top weapons, and hidden occupations. He has quite a number of fans,” Nan Gengchen explained. He knew that Qing Chen didn’t really play games, and so he was sure that the latter had never paid attention to such a broadcast by He Xiaoxiao.

Nan Gengchen continued, “He published a game guide a few hours ago, but to begin with, no one has seen the type of game that he spoke of. However, he still did his guide earnestly. Now that the transmigration issue has blown up, everyone suddenly realized that the game guide he was giving might relate to that world. After all, he was one of the transmigrators as well.”

There was no imagery in the video, only white words on a black background.

In the video, a young yet magnetizing male voice spoke, “Because this game genre is slightly more unique, I’m not able to play the video of the game on the screen. I call this game… Otherworld.

“And the world we are living in is called Surface World.”

They heard He Xiaoxiao continuing calmly, “Regarding this game, I have only just entered as well, so the information I received is very limited.

“For now, I have not found the way to receive hidden top weapons. So far, there are three known career paths. The first is to use technology to transform yourself, which you can purchase from the Mechanical Hospital.

“The cost of mechanical limbs is relatively expensive and since I have yet to find a money-modifying bug, I am not able to try it yet. Selling your organs seems to be the easiest way to get money here, but I don’t recommend it.

“The second is to join the Forbidden Judicatory. Here, you can get injected with a genetic drug to become a neo-human. However, I haven’t found any NPC related to this organization. The organization is more mysterious.

“The third known career path is in No. 18 Prison. After entering the prison, you will need to find an NPC named Li Shutong. So far, this is the known career path with the highest potential.

“I will continue to share with everyone if there are any other career paths in the future.”

It increasingly startled Qing Chen the longer he watched the video.

He was certain that the world was real. If the bruise he had pinched on himself returned with him, then what was it if not a real world?

But this He Xiaoxiao acted like he was obsessed, treating that world as a game!

Moreover, he even pinned Li Shutong as an NPC to give out career missions!

Qing Chen didn’t know what identity Li Shutong had in the Otherworld, but the only thing he was certain of was that Li Shutong was indeed a well-known figure if He Xiaoxiao had heard about him within 48 hours.

And now, He Xiaoxiao already treated Li Shutong as the highest potential character for career paths.

Nan Gengchen, who was watching the video beside Qing Chen, muttered after it ended, “Didn’t that amount to nothing? It takes money to buy mechanical limbs, and he can’t find the Forbidden Judicatory yet. Finding No. 18 Prison might be possible, but he said nothing about how to get in.”

Qing Chen suddenly remembered that the influence of this video was pretty significant. During his return in two days, would there really be people rushing over to No.18 Prison for Li Shutong’s route?!

If someone treated Li Shutong like an NPC, then he was afraid they’d face terrible consequences. Li Shutong would probably be confused as well.

The topic of transmigration bustled till afternoon.

Until a news article appeared: A certain young man abroad, confirmed to be a transmigrator, was found dead at home. Someone had cut off his mechanical legs shown in the original video, and they were currently missing.

The new article was like a dark cloud, abruptly shrouding everyone’s enthusiasm.

Footnote:

[1] Dandan noodles are a type of Sichuan noodles with spicy and numbing sauce

[2] Moments is a social networking function of the smartphone app WeChat. It is akin to a Facebook post, and a Moments feed is like a Facebook timeline.