Volume 6 - CH 106.2

Buzzcut agrees with Fei’s suspects for the Nightmare owner, but then he says, “if Xie Ji herself is at the Space Agency, would we have to visit there again this run?”

“I suppose so…” Fei says, “time is of the essence too. It’s the third run, and we don’t know which part may have crumbled.”

“Also, there aren’t any buses from the library to the Space Agency. There’s only the reverse,” laments Wu Jian, “if only there are buses both ways. It’d save time.”

The first run, he saw Fei and some others return from the Space Agency via the bus, passing by a box truck along the way.

Fei seems suddenly reminded of something, and asks Ding Yi, “did you just say, Ke Zhu was going to talk to Xie Ji?”

Ding Yi recalls and then nods affirmatively, “yes. He said he was going to talk to her if he drives past the Space Agency.”

Wu Jian then tells them what he knows, “this is the main way going north-south, and I saw his truck headed north from here, so he will definitely pass by the Space Agency.”

Buzzcut already knows what Fei wanted to say, and asks, “so we’re going to wait for Ke Zhu to come at the Space Agency?”

Then he adds, ” we still need to go to the residential area to confirm which couple it was that argued.”

Fei nods and then concludes, “so we’re splitting into two teams.”

Ding Yi, however, says, “I want to go to the third floor of the library. We heard from Ke Zhu about some… texts? It’s apparently written by some experts. I think it’d be better to take a look.”

There is an implied meaning that the others did not look through the texts thoroughly, but that doesn’t need to be said, nor does she want to put blame on any other Missiontaker.

So they split into three once again.

Fei, Wu Jian and Mr Suicide are going to the Space Agency;

Buzzcut and Ye Lan to the residential area;

And Ding Yi, Mu Jiashi, Lin Qin and He Shujün will stay at the library.

Buzzcut and Ye Lan leave immediately. They have a lot of residents to ask, so they will need to bide their time.

Mu Jiashi, though, stops Fei and Wu Jian for a moment.

Mr Suicide is looking at all this play out quietly. He’s feeling really weird, and also stressed from this Nightmare. It has made him silent and even a bit unsure of himself. He thinks, he might really have died in the Raining Hellfire.

Or at the very least, he’s experienced it.

That is why he seeks death so much——Or rather, he’s looking for the familiar feeling he felt during his death.

One way or another, his instincts are trying to remember things through this. Yet the moment he stepped into this Nightmare, and witnessed the Raining Hellfire, experienced the overwhelming pressure and familiarity, he finds his guts utterly shattered.

He’s suddenly realised, that perhaps having forgotten, is not exactly a bad thing, huh?

So he’s made up his mind; he will refuse to seek and remember the truth. He will go along with the flow, and let the rest of the Missiontakers dictate whatever happens to him.

He knows they’re worried he might look to kill himself, but… but he would probably never do so ever again.

A gamey, largely consequence-free death emboldens people, but what if, that way of death, ended up being exactly how he perished in reality?

Mr Suicide, no longer wants to attempt to commit suicide.

He’s daydreaming, blanking out in a daze. In a daze, where the Nightmare is trying to horrify him.

He can’t help but think, if only he had a utility card that allows forced ejection from the Nightmare…

It’s just a rumour, though. Mr Suicide, in fact, knows a bit more detail than the average Missiontaker. He knows the rumour came about because there was once when a Missiontaker disappeared from a Nightmare entirely.

It’s unbelievable, like someone’s connection has dropped from the game. Everyone, though, knew they cannot ‘log off’ of this damned game named ‘Escape.’

Therefore, there must have been a utility card that can expel themselves from the Nightmare… That’s how the Missiontakers interpreted it, but nobody knows for sure.

Mr Suicide is wallowing in his depression.

He knows he has no way out of his predicament. And what is more hopeless than this, is a realisation sinking in, that he may forever be trapped, helpless, unable to escape like this.

Perhaps, he can already see the far end of his long life, being exactly the same as he is right now.

And he is forever keeping his silence.

Mu Jiashi, meanwhile, is discussing a way out of the Tower with Fei and Wu Jian.

Fei is surprised at his suggestion, “the Nightmare of… that bookstore owner?”

Mu Jiashi nods firmly.

“But… how are you so sure that his Nightmare would be the one to save us?” Asks Fei, “can we even convince him to open his Nightmare to us?”

“Those are two questions, and my answer would both be, I’m not sure,” Mu Jiashi says with a sombre tone. There is a hopelessness in there, stemming from an implicit declaration of a last resort.

His tone grows more firm, however, when he says, “but it is worse just to do nothing, is it not?”

Fei bites her lips. She’s anxious again.

That’s right. They cannot just do nothing, but, what they ought to do, is an important question.

She recalls how she hastily abandoned a line of thought that Xü Beijin and NE’s relationship is… well, it’s probably bollocks, but, what if it is true?

Fei finds herself distracted, only listening to Mu Jiashi absent-mindedly.

Mu Jiashi explains, “I believe it’s pretty safe to say he’s on our side, even if simply considering how he revealed the problem with the identity of the Tower residents to us.

If he holds goodwill, then it becomes exceedingly unusual he would not open his Nightmare up. Therefore, I suspect it must be intricately linked to some kind of… important, or possibly debilitating… secret.”

Wu Jian can’t help but be the devil’s advocate, “it may also simply be your wishful thinking.”

Speaking of a unilateral 'wishful' thinking, Wu Jian can’t help but immediately recall Lin Qin.

He then rubs his nose. Man, why is he recalling their love story when they’re in an important discussion… Wait, their, love, story?

Wu Jian blinks a few times, and suddenly, he thinks he gets it.

He immediately gets to sharing his views, “for the bookstore owner, if he really does hold goodwill for us, he would have already tried everything he can for us, or have opened his Nightmare to help us.

Therefore, I believe that, during all these years, his attitude towards Missiontakers and the Tower instead went from being indifferent to being empathetic; his stance went from neutral to being on our side… The trigger, may be the dalao, Lin Qin.”

Fei and Mu Jiashi look at each other, completely baffled.

They’ve completely ignored the possible role of Lin Qin on this.

Actually, Lin Qin’s attitude towards the Tower and Nightmares also seems to be rather cold and apathetic.

He never looked at all bothered or frustrated at the current situation. He enters Nightmares like he’s taking a stroll, or simply letting off some steam.

The difference in martial prowess meant that Missiontakers have thus ignored his role in largely everything.

Yet, this is the very moment when the other two Missiontakers find that, what Wu Jian is suggesting, may actually be possible.

If Xü Beijin has held goodwill since the very beginning, and wanted to help the Missiontakers——And the Tower residents——

Then why did he not do what he did in the very beginning? Why did he never attempt to open his Nightmare up to the others?

These changes seem to have occurred rapidly after Lin Qin has become close to Xü Beijin and his life.

It means…

Mu Jiashi murmurs, “was he moved by Lin Qin?”

The three remain silent while casting glances at Lin Qin simultaneously; right now, he’s already entering the lobby of the library, giving the other Missiontakers only the silhouette of his firm form. He walks towards the person he likes, and he doesn’t need to notify anyone of that.

Because everyone already knows he likes him.

Mu Jiashi then says, “if that’s true… Then it is more likely I could convince him to open his Nightmare.”

Fei and Wu Jian also nods.

Fei is even thinking deeper. If Xü Beijin really is NE… Then it seems to explain why NE’s stance has perceptibly shifted over recent times.

It is really fortunate that the camera is pointed over at Buzzcut and Ye Lan right now, otherwise Xü Beijin should be burying his face in his hand from frustration listening to the conversation.

The ultimate reason that his attitude has changed is because of the streaming system, not Lin Qin, ok? … Well, yes, maybe Lin Qin did play a role. But, a very, very minor role, you see?

He did not change his attitude simply because of Lin Qin.

And also… Also, because it is time to make a change.

Xü Beijin can sense that, it is not just him, but the entire humanity in the Tower seems to be approaching a breaking point.

They’ve held strong all these years, but nobody has come to save them. They can only save themselves.

Yet, Xü Beijin himself knows, that it would be a true last resort to have people enter his Nightmare; because not even he knows, how his Nightmare might ever be resolved…

Yes, other Tower residents would know how to resolve their own Nightmares for sure, because they are the owners.

But, Xü Beijin’s Nightmare, has no solution.

So, not even he knows, what a True End——or even a Normal End——in his Nightmare would look like.

He cannot even imagine a possibility.

It might be beyond the human capacity for imagination.

Therefore, even if he may have, after deliberation, come to disclose some vague clues regarding his Nightmare to Lin Qin, he is still not yet sure. He will still have to think about it carefully, think about it very deeply, whether there really is a need.

Though really, even if entering his Nightmare is a foolish ‘suicide,’ but staying in the Tower like this, is itself practically a slow, agonising suicide, isn’t it?

So perhaps, in his mind, Xü Beijin already has an answer.