Volume 8 - CH 153.1

Escape

Translated by boilpoil

Edited by boilpoil

Lin Qin is quite irritated.

Xü Beijin is inexplicably out for the count again, just like that time in the labyrinth in his Nightmare.

Lin Qin knows he’s probably dealing with something serious, but this is still worrying.

With Xü Beijin in his lap, he carefully lays him on the bed.

Xie Zhijin, meanwhile, quite the astute observer that he is, has gone downstairs to spend time squeezing together with the unresponsive madmen.

Lin Qin sits at the bedside quietly, watching over Xü Beijin, noting his pale face, and the scars left on his mostly healed wounds. The massive loss of blood still left its impact on him.

Lin Qin is unhappy. He touches Xü Beijin’s lips gently.

He hates this——He hates it when Xü Beijin is lying on the bed, looking all silent and lifeless.

Please wake up.

Before this happens, though, Lin Qin has to welcome the Missiontakers and Actors who are returning from the Ultimate Nightmare.

And many more, too – those who headed to the Ultimate Nightmare from the grey fog, who succumbed in the past.

They appear outside the Tower, where the grey fog once covered.

‘Once,’ because the grey fog has dissipated entirely.

No one knows when it did, but before anyone knew, the grey fog was gone.

The ground is bare, barren, blighted. It hosts countless crowds of people on it, squeezing together like ants.

Lin Qin gave it a dispassionate glance before retracting his gaze.

Outside the bookstore are yelps, possibly because the madmen who’ve exited the Ultimate Nightmare in the first wave have already exhausted all the space on the bottom floor.

Meaning there’s nowhere for those returning from the Ultimate Nightmare to stand.

Never mind Respawn Avenue, which can’t even host dozens of people without overcrowding.

They just appeared wherever on the bottom floor, falling right into the midst of the madmen.

It’s chaotic, but as some people manage to squeeze into their residences, and open their doors to accommodate some of the madmen, the situation is improving generally.

Not that that’s anything to do with Lin Qin, as he is still waiting for Xü Beijin to wake up.

Looking at Xü Beijin’s lips, after a long, long period of waiting, Lin Qin is entertaining the idea of using a true love’s kiss to wake up his beloved.

Before he can put it into practice, though, Xü Beijin suddenly wakes up.

It was a moment when everyone felt like there was suddenly life anew in the entire Tower, feeling like even the stains of mould on the walls are gone for a second.

Though nothing seems to have changed when they look more carefully.

The Tower has definitely changed, though, with people having left the Tower and discovered all these madmen inside——

It makes them expectant.

Was the choice they made in the Ultimate Nightmare correct? Is the game finally coming to an end? Are they going to leave this true nightmare that has imprisoned them for countless years?

Everyone is hopeful, waiting for a result, an announcement, or any form of feedback…

People are holding their breath after the initial excitement. Did they succeed?

As soon as Xü Beijin wakes up, he hugs Lin Qin. Then, he immediately gets to contacting the contacts and Guarantors of each floor, to inform the public that they have all done what they needed.

Now, they simply have to wait.

‘Wait’?

Some people are still expectantly holding their heads high, but some appear to worry. There are even some who appear to feel betrayed and angry.

The general mood is starting to go downhill, but Xü Beijin no longer cares.

He looks back at his stream.

Lots of comments are still floating past, but Xü Beijin doesn’t have the time to read them carefully. He gets in touch with the Maerton delegate, who soon replies that they’ll take action as soon as possible.

Then Xü Beijin also starts waiting, anxiously.

His plan is for the Maertons to use this opportunity of NE being downed, to pretend to be it and access then attack the Fy’ecan network via the data ports.

Now that the game ‘Escape’ has lost its game Server entirely, it is practically a defenceless fortress. The Fy’ecas’ enemies will be invading from here.

Then, war will be waged across the virtual world.

Of course Xü Beijin is worried. There is no telling that this war will definitely end up the way Xü Beijin wants it to.

Even though he’s confident.

He defeated NE, and had control over all four data ports in this game. He will let the Maertons use them to attack the Fy’ecan network; he knew from the very beginning that, despite the massive amount of useless data generated because of Missiontakers and Actors succumbing, it is nowhere near enough to cause damage to the Fy’ecan network.

His whole purpose has been to simply gather the four data ports leading directly into the network – which is something that the Maertons have always wanted. They’ve never been able to secure a route to initiate an attack where it mattered, and Xü Beijin is here to provide.

With NE downed and Xü Beijin as ‘NE,’ he will permit all Maerton traffic towards the Fy’ecas. He is the one letting them through to attack.

It’s almost like working with a dangerous animal.

Humans really are too weak and insignificant. If it weren’t for the Maertons having prisoners of war held by the Fy’ecas and locked up similarly in arenas like ‘Escape,’ he isn’t sure if the Maertons would have ever found him credible enough to work with.

Why would the Maertons want to save humanity? Only when there are strategic gains to be made, that’s all.

Xü Beijin takes another deep breath. He is still restless.

He doesn’t know what’s happening outside, what the Maertons will actually do. He doesn’t even know if there is a war in the Fy’ecan network going on… like the one he’s imagining.

A war. It’s really only really dawned on him that this is a war. The Fy’ecas are their enemies, and the Maertons are erstwhile allies…

Perhaps not even ‘allies,’ since humanity is nowhere near equal footing to these giants of the universe.

Though that said, humans have become a significant factor that could have turned the tide of this war.

A tiny, weak, imprisoned, despised subordinate species of the Fy’ecas.

Xü Beijin is smiling rather coldly right now.

Though Lin Qin then puts his finger on his lips.

So Xü Beijin decides to just relax and let his weight onto Lin Qin’s lap. With his eyes half shut, he mumbles, “little apple…”

“Yeah?”

“I’m getting nervous from all this waiting.”

“You’ve done everything you can.”

“Yes, but I’m still wondering…” Xü Beijin explains, “if the humans trapped in this game can really survive, and even live outside, in the universe.”

“But you did not make the choice for them,” Lin Qin replies, “they made their own choice in the Ultimate Nightmare already.”

Xü Beijin stays quiet.

Lin Qin already understands what was happening in the Ultimate Nightmare and the Tower all along, now, because Xü Beijin has told him after everything is set in stone.

Those people who made their choice in the Ultimate Nightmare, were the ones still awake and conscious.

This means, they must also understand the choice they’re making.

They do not want to stay in the Tower any longer, to stay in this safe but isolated quarter of the world and live forever. They want out from the AI’s ‘protection.’

Xü Beijin doesn’t know if this game has a ‘good’ and ‘bad’ ending, but he has lived to see the choice of all the players.

The endings actually gave them plenty of hints, too. The Tower is certainly safe, and at least the game is, because the Fy’ecas aren’t going to intrude on their lives here anymore; they’ve probably forgotten about them altogether.

So they can, just as the game’s plot says, to continue living here.

To forget about the people outside the Tower——Not just those inside the grey fog, but also any humans that may have remained outside of the game.

Maybe they’ve forgotten about them, too.

They had a real alternative choice, and ‘escape’ wasn’t the only option on the table.