CH 93

(Borrowing a Bug to Kill)

Ding ling ling— 

After a burst of the bell ringing, the train decreased in speed as it slowly entered the train station.

Zhou Wenyan and Shen Dongqing stood in front of the door, waiting for it to open.

There was a player standing at the side, holding onto his train ticket as he asked: “Did you find your train ticket?”

Shen Dongqing shook his head. “Nope.” 

The player froze momentarily, “But the players who don’t have train tickets are…”

Prior to this, the players that were still on the train had seen the ending of the player who arbitrarily alighted, and it was so miserable that they could not bear to look at it directly.

Shen Dongqing: “It’s fine, it’s a small problem.”

The train finally stopped at the fourth train station.

The player with a train ticket in hand stepped off the train, and their figure disappeared from the train station very quickly.

Zhou Wenyan also got off the train, then he turned around and extended his hand towards the person in the train.

Shen Dongqing slipped his own hand into his, borrowing some support from him as he jumped down. Before he landed on the ground, he took an involuntary step forward, jumping into Zhou Wenyan’s embrace.

Zhou Wenyan happened to catch him in his arms. 

Shen Dongqing raised his head, grinning at him.

They did not disappear from where they stood like the player who had a ticket.

The train did not drive off, so the players on the train looked at them in concern. Apart from the players, the Train Attendant that had been tormented a few times was also looking outside the window, and her eyes were brimming with schadenfreude.

Players without train tickets were bound to die, and even these two people were not an exception to that rule, because this was a rule that established the game. 

The Train Attendant could not wait to see the pair in absolute despair.

Her face was firmly pasted to the window as the corners of her scarlet-red lips raised uncontrollably.

However, the Train Attendant was fated for disappointment.

Not long after Shen Dongqing regained his balance, the ghost hand hiding in the shadows began to stir before they surged up, wanting to drag the pair underneath the train. 

But before the ghost hand could touch the corner of their shirt, it was stepped on by Shen Dongqing.

“What is this?” Shen Dongqing picked up one ghost hand.

The ghost hand was a long line, stretching out from the shadows. It was like a squid as it wriggled and flopped about.

Once he thought of squids, Shen Dongqing became hungry. 

Shen Dongqing pinched the erratic ghost hand, eager to give it a try. “Can I eat it?”

Zhou Wenyan was helpless. Why was it so hard to change his bad habit of eating indiscriminately?

“No.” He pressed down Shen Dongqing’s hand.

Shen Dongqing: “Fine.” 

However, he did not relax his grip immediately because he wanted to see what the ghost hand was growing on. He pulled forcefully, but the creature that had entrenched itself in the shadows was quite big, so it did not move an inch.

Shen Dongqing stopped briefly, took a deep breath, then exerted his strength again—

Kacha!

The sound of something snapping travelled out from the shadow. 

Because the force he had used was too abrupt and violent, and he had lost the opposing force, Shen Dongqing had to take a few steps back as he was holding the ghost hand that had snapped from down the middle.

Fortunately, Zhou Wenyan had stretched his arm to wrap around Shen Dongqing’s waist, which stopped any tragedy from happening.

Leaning against Zhou Wenyan’s body, Shen Dongqing looked at the broken arm in his arm before he threw it aside resentfully.

The ghost hand spasmed on the ground nonstop like a dead fish, completely deprived of its fighting capabilities. 

It was possible that the creature in the shadow had been frightened by his actions as it did not attack again.

The players on the train went silly from the scene.

The ghost hand that had just subdued a player with a raise of its hand, why was it being so easily subdued now?

The Train Attendant was not reconciled, and she glared vehemently at the pair’s figure like a poisonous snake. 

Sensing something, Shen Dongqing turned his head back.

The Train Attendant immediately performed a fancy face-changing trick, revealing a flattering smile. However, the venom in her eyes did not dissipate, and with the two different expressions being squeezed on a single face, she looked rather comical.

Fortunately, the Train Attendant did not have to stay comical for long because the train started moving again, heading for the next stop.

After the train sped away, the entire train station quietened down. 

Shen Dongqing peered at the broken hand that was still leaping and frisking about. “Is it just the two of us?”

Zhou Wenyan nodded his head, “That should be the case, yes.”

The train station was otherwise empty, probably because players without a train ticket or had the wrong ticket would be instantaneously slaughtered once they got off the train. Hence, there wasn’t a single human figure in sight.

Shen Dongqing pointed at the nearby staircase, saying, “Shall we go up and look?” 

Zhou Wenyan and Shen Dongqing walked up the stairs.

This train station was constructed to be completely identical to a train station in real life, and the only difference was that there was no one around.

Following the staircase upwards, they arrived at a waiting lounge. An electronic screen was hung on the wall, suitable for displaying rows upon rows of information about the trains, but this train only had one train berth.

The pair walked around the entire, large waiting lounge, and they found a vending machine. 

It was unknown if anyone had used this vending machine, but unexpectedly, there were beverages and snacks inside.

Shen Dongqing pressed on the vending machine twice, and after two resounding beeps, it did not even ask for money before a bag of potato chips dropped down with a series of crinkling noises.

Kfjglcu bqfc atf yju, Vtfc Gbcudlcu yla lcab bcf mtlqjr tf wewyifv bea j defralbc: “Glv sbe olcv atf fzla?”

Itbe Qfcsjc’r nblmf jcrkfgfv ogbw atf batfg fcv. “Mbecv la.” 

Vtfc Gbcudlcu teuufv tlr qbajab mtlqr jcv kjixfv bnfg.

Ktf wjlc vbbgr ab atf agjlc rajalbc kjr klvf-bqfc, jcv la mbeiv yf rffc atja la kjr mbwqifafis vfnblv bo qfbqif bearlvf.

The pair only took two steps out before a mass of thick fog surged forward, blocking their path out. Owing to the sheer density of the fog, they couldn’t see the situation inside the fog at all.

Zhou Wenyan stopped, picking up a rock and throwing it inside. 

Just as the rock made contact with the fog, it did not manage to land on the ground before it turned into nothingness in an instant, unable to issue a single sound.

Zhou Wenyan: “This is the outskirts of the game.”

Game copies were not complete worlds, most of it was just an area or a location. Therefore, apart from the game premise, all of it was nothingness. Since it was nothingness, they had no way of cutting across it.

Shen Dongqing slanted his head. “Which means that we can’t leave?” 

Zhou Wenyan: “Let’s go back first.”

After returning to the train station, the pair sat down in the waiting lounge.

The screen on the wall constantly flipped through the train information, but none of them reached the station, nor was there a single traveller in this waiting lounge.

Shen Dongqing finished one bag of potato chips and proceeded to run to get another bag. 

The only good news was probably the fact that the automatic dispenser did not require any money to buy the items.

By the time he finished his second bag of potato chips, Shen Dongqing felt a little drowsy, so he twisted his body and leaned on Zhou Wenyan’s shoulder.

In the limbo of his dreams and consciousness, he heard a low and deep voice beside his ear.

“Are you afraid?” 

Shen Dongqing yawned, shaking his head. “…… You’re here.”

As long as you are around, there is nothing to be afraid of.

If there were other players present, they would definitely insult them.

What do either of you have to be afraid of? The ones who are supposed to be afraid are the ghosts in the train station ah. 

Regardless of their location, Shen Dongqing had always been without a heart or liver; even though they were currently trapped inside the game, he did not have the slightest turmoil in his heart, and he managed to fall asleep in a moment’s work.

Zhou Wenyan used one hand to hold him, patting his back in a slow rhythm.

It seemed like they had genuinely fallen into difficulty right now.

Even Zhou Wenyan could not think of a way to exit this game, nor did he expect that the game would employ such a tactic. 

According to the original principles of fairness and impartiality, the game was not allowed to kill players in an open and blatant manner. It could only throw the players into dangerous copies and allow the ghosts and monsters in the copies to do the work.

However, not only did Shen Dongqing and Zhou Wenyan not get killed by the ghosts and monsters, they had even broken a few copies instead.

In this instance, the game had drilled a loophole with the bug, then made Zhou Wenyan and Shen Dongqing become players who were not bound by the conventional rules since they were dissociated from the copies, and yet still trapping them inside.

Time passed by the minute and second. 

In the end, it was hard to sleep well on a chair, and Shen Dongqing only took a short nap before he woke up.

Shen Dongqing rubbed his eyes. Probably because he had just woken up, his voice was slightly soft and weak like honey. “What should we do now?”

Zhou Wenyan: “Haven’t thought of it.”

Shen Dongqing looked at him blurrily, “You don’t know either?” 

Zhou Wenyan found Shen Dongqing incredibly adorable so he could not resist teasing him: “If you kiss me, maybe I’ll think of it.”

Shen Dongqing braced himself on Zhou Wenyan’s shoulders, straightening his body and leaning over to give him a messy kiss. He was not accurate on his first try, but he managed to kiss the right place on his second attempt.

He blinked owlishly, staring straight at Zhou Wenyan.

Laughing softly, Zhou Wenyan raised his hand to cover his eyes before he took it a step further. 

Ding ling ling—

At this moment, a familiar noise came from below the train station.

Shen Dongqing corrected his sitting posture, “Did the train come back again?”

Zhou Wenyan: “Get on the train first.” 

At least there was food to eat on the train.

Shen Dongqing nodded. Just as he was about to climb down the stairs, he seemed to think of something, so he ran back to the large waiting lounge. After some time, he ran back with a few bags of potato chips in his arms.

Perhaps the train and train station functioned on different times, because the train that had just left returned, except the players on the train had changed to a different batch.

The Train Attendant stood at the entrance of the train, wearing a sweet and beautiful smile on her face: “We have reached the station, travellers please alight at your designated stop…” 

Before the players on the train had the time to get off, someone got on the train instead.

Train Attendant: “Traveller…”

Once she received a clear view of the newly arrived people, the smile on the Train Attendant’s visage stiffened, “Why is it the two of you?!”

Shen Dongqing: “You’re not going to welcome us?” 

The Train Attendant still remembered the terror of being tormented by Shen Dongqing in the previous round of the game, and she could only force herself to say, “Welcome, welcome.”

The players on the train looked at the pair quizzically.

They actually came from the train station, they were definitely not normal players.

Shen Dongqing tightened the grip of his arms as he spoke in a warning tone: “These are my potato chips.” 

Players: ……

Listen to my explanation, we don’t actually want your potato chips…

Shen Dongqing kept getting the sense that the gazes directed towards them were quite strange, hence he hugged his potato chips and went to the next carriage to look for a place to sit down.

Thankfully, the new group of players also reached their destinations and alighted the train, which meant that both parties did not interact over much. 

Once the players alighted the train, the train started moving again, continuing on its journey that had no end.

Pushing her dining cart, the Train Attendant walked in, but for the sake of avoiding conversation with Shen Dongqing, she kept her head down the entire time, like she wanted to pretend that she did not exist at all.

Despite that, she still failed to avoid him; when she was passing by his seat, that familiar question rang out again.

Shen Dongqing: “I’d like to ask a question.” 

The Train Attendant squeezed out a smile. “Ask, please ask.”

Shen Dongqing: “Are there fruits?”

The Train Attendant failed to react momentarily. “Ah?”

Shen Dongqing: “I’m sick of eating potato chips, I’d like to eat some fruits.” 

Train Attendant: ……

Were they here to clear the game or take a vacation? Other players were bullied by the ghosts to the point where they were fleeing in disarray, whilst these two individuals proved to be something else altogether, and he was asking her if there were any fruits?

But the Train Attendant did not dare to voice that thought, merely taking out a fruit plate, feeling aggrieved.

Shen Dongqing gave the Train Attendant a sincere gaze. “One isn’t really enough.” 

Still aggrieved, the Train Attendant took out a second plate, not daring to ask for money.

Shen Dongqing opened the fruit plate, forked up a piece of cut fruit and started eating happily. He did not look like he was being forcibly trapped in this game copy at all.

After eating two pieces, Shen Dongqing realised that Zhou Wenyan was not moving so he forked up a fruit and sent it to his mouth.

Upon lowering his head, Zhou Wenyan saw the fruit that Shen Dongqing was offering. 

Shen Dongqing: “Don’t worry.”

Zhou Wenyan lowered his eyes, “It’s nothing.”

He was merely thinking about how to get out.

After playing so many games, it was usually Zhou Wenyan who was scheming against the game, and he did not anticipate that he would be falling into the pit dug by the game this time around. Despite thinking of one idea after another, each and every one of them were rejected. It seemed like it was a hopeless situation in this instance, and they had no way of leaving. 

However, Shen Dongqing did not feel like ‘it was nothing’ as he looked at Zhou Wenyan’s expression, and it became his turn to comfort him. “It doesn’t really matter even if we’re trapped here. Either way, we won’t starve, there’s food and drinks, it’s just…” He stuck out his tongue, “It tastes a little bad.”

Shen Dongqing held Zhou Wenyan’s hand, making it apparent that he was very open-minded, “It’s enough as long as we’re together.”

Zhou Wenyan stared at him, going silent for a moment. Suddenly, he chuckled, “Okay.”

They would be fine no matter where they were, as long as they were together. 

Zhou Wenyan put down his troubles for the time being, feeding each other bites of the fruits alternatively.

The bear child lying in the luggage compartment covered his eyes silently.

Not long after, the train welcomed another batch of players.

Shen Dongqing and Zhou Wenyan did not expose their own identities, nor did they have any intention to help them, so they pretended to be NPCs as they stayed in their seats, and they actually managed to deceive the players. 

After sending away the players, Shen Dongqing smiled with crinkled eyes as he commented: “Being an NPC is quite fun too.”

Truth be told, Shen Dongqing still felt that being on this train was quite boring, but in order to stop Zhou Wenyan from thinking too much, he offered a rare lie.

And how could Zhou Wenyan not see through it? However, he did not expose him verbally, merely humming in response.

It was at this moment where another voice suddenly rang out in the train carriage. “Brother Shen, can you hear me?” 

Shen Dongqing: “Huh? Who’s talking?” It sounded slightly familiar.

That voice rang out again. “It’s me ah, Xiao Fang. I’m asking for external assistance.”

Shen Dongqing: “Ah?” He glanced at Zhou Wenyan. “Can you hear him?”

Zhou Wenyan: “I heard him.” 

Fang Qi’s voice was tinged with anxiety, “I don’t have the time to explain, please come over first!”

Just as his voice landed, the scenery in front of them changed. They were no longer in the train carriage, but a large hall decked out in gold and jade with glorious splendour. It was decorated in a luxurious and lavish fashion, and under the gigantic chandelier lights, most of the areas were doused in pitch-black darkness apart from the gambling table where the illumination was gathered on.

Two people were seated at the gambling table.

One of them was an impeccably attired and smiling handsome young man. There was a name card hanging in front of his chest, which had ‘Casino 002’ inscribed on top. Sitting opposite of him was Fang Qi. Fang Qi’s state of being was not the best by comparison since his right leg had completely disappeared, only leaving blood to trickle down from the missing section. Furthermore, everything under his left wrist was also gone. 

But the bizarre thing was that, despite his current circumstances, he was still gambling with the other person in front of him.

Once Fang Qi saw the pair, he heaved out a sigh of relief immediately, then explained the current situation with due haste.

Fang Qi’s luck was decent in the sense that he managed to survive until now by hugging their thighs. After the resting period ended, he was sent into another game, but this copy was more special by comparison, since the game premise was a casino.

The danger that the players had to face in this copy were not ghosts or monsters, but the staff in this casino. Every player had to gamble with the staff once every day, but instead of betting money, the players were betting on their own bodies. 

Fang Qi’s voice was trembling slightly, “I’ve already lost an arm and a hand today. If I lose again, my internal organs are going to be forfeit.”

Losing a leg and a hand would only make moving inconvenient, but even a player would struggle to survive if they lost their internal organs.

Therefore, under such dire straits, Fang Qi used a S-level prop card. This was a special prop, and Fang Qi had obtained it with his bastardly luck.

The usage of the prop card “External Assistance” allowed him to invite a player that was not in the game to enter the premise to help him. 

Fang Qi’s first reaction was to find Shen Dongqing.

Shen Dongqing’s current state did not count as being in-game, so he was chosen by the prop card, and since Zhou Wenyan and Shen Dongqing were bound to each other, they happened to arrive together.

Fang Qi was still shivering as he finished his explanation: “The next round is going to begin soon, Brother Shen, save me!”

Shen Dongqing replied honestly, “I don’t know how to play this.” 

Fang Qi: “You’re just throwing the dice and comparing how large your number is with the person opposite of you. It’s very simple, you just need to compare numbers, my luck sucks, and I’ve lost two rounds in a row!”

Zhou Wenyan walked up to the table, his tone of voice heavy. “I’ll play.”

Fang Qi released an audible exhale.

Although Shen Dongqing would usually take up the labour of resolving some matters in a resolute and direct manner, Zhou Wenyan should not be underestimated either. Once he stepped up to the plate, Fang Qi felt his heart settle. 

002 did not show any reaction to the change of opponents as he said coldly. “The third round shall begin now.”

Zhou Wenyan held the dice cup on the table, opened it, and looked. There were three dice inside. He picked up one of the dice to inspect it briefly. There were six faces, it did not look special by any means.

“3, 2, 1, start.”

Zhou Wenyan and 002 shook their dice cups simultaneously, causing the sound of mutual collision to ring out from the gambling table, and it sounded rather nice. 

Thirty seconds later, 002 stopped first, and Zhou Wenyan also stopped soon after.

Neither of them opened their dice cup.

Fang Qi swallowed his saliva. “Can you do it? My life is being gambled by your hands, Brother!”

002: “Let’s open it together.” 

Zhou Wenyan held down his dice cup. “Hold on.”

002 reminded: “On the gambling table, you cannot renege on a bet.”

Zhou Wenyan stared at him. “You cheated.”

Although 002’s movements were incredibly fast, Zhou Wenyan still noticed it. 

002’s dead face finally showed some changes in expression as he smiled slyly, “The game rules didn’t stipulate that cheating isn’t allowed.”

Fang Qi nearly stood up. “Fuck! That explains why my luck was so poor, it turns out you were cheating! Bastard game, bastard NPCs!”

Unfortunately for him, however, he stumbled and sat down again just as he was standing up because he was missing one leg, and he could only puff hard from his seat.

Zhou Wenyan: “We lost.” 

002 smiled and nodded. “All of you have lost, open your dice cup.”

Fang Qi wanted to cry but he had no tears. “Brother, no, father, I’ve already used my uncommon prop to request for help, why am I still going to belch now? Logically speaking, you’re supposed to try hard to save a desperate crisis!”

Zhou Wenyan pushed his hands. “His number will definitely be larger than mine, I’m not good at playing dice.”

Fang Qi felt his vision darken as he verged on fainting, but then he heard Zhou Wenyan state: “However, they didn’t say we have to play by the rules…” 

This single sentence made Fang Qi come back to life. He forced himself to open his eyes, to which he saw Shen Dongqing rolling up his sleeves and walking over.

002: “No, you can’t do this!”

But resistance was futile; Shen Dongqing proceeded to chop him with the side of his hand in a direct but efficient manner.

Hence, 002’s body softened and collapsed on the betting table. 

Shen Dongqing: “What should we do now?”

Zhou Wenyan laughed, saying, “If my guess isn’t wrong, the judgement on who won or lost can only be made when both sides open their dice cup, which means you can open his dice cup, and then…”

The rest required no further explanation since Shen Dongqing understood the fist. He opened 002’s dice cup. The three dice inside were all sixes. Most players were not gambling gods, and the probability of shaking out three sixes was probably less than one percent. In the end, the casino would definitely win.

But 002 had terrible luck because he met Shen Dongqing. 

Shen Dongqing flipped the dice, thus turning the three sixes into three ones.

“Done.”

Zhou Wenyan also opened his cup. There was one six and two fours lying inside.

Initially, 002 had cheated to attain the greatest number possible. No matter how many points the other party had, he had the highest probability of winning, and the worst-case scenario was a draw. However, he did not expect that the other party would use such an upsetting hand. 

Fang Qi was dumbstruck. “That works too?”

Zhou Wenyan swiped up the dice with one hand and casually threw it, causing the dice to randomly roll about on the table surface.

Lazily, he said: “There isn’t a single clause in the regulations that states that this isn’t allowed, right?”

Fang Qi thought back about it carefully. “There really isn’t.” 

There was only one rule in the casino, which was that the players had to gamble with the staff every day. The contents of the gamble were different every day, but it did not issue a direct death penalty to the gambling players.

Fang Qi had been here for two days and he thought that this was a game of luck. Consequently, the thought of the NPCs cheating as well never occurred to him, but thanks to his quick wits during an emergency, he called for external assistance.

However, the truth was that most players could not afford to play in such a manner.

Touching the NPCs without the appropriate amount of strength was a death wish, and it was only these two players who had the capital to adopt such measures. Not only did they use such a method once, they had always played like this time and time again. 

He could only say, they deserved to be called Big Bosses.

After 002 lost, the lights in the darkness flickered a few times before it lit up the entire large hall.

The leg and hand that Fang Qi lost also returned. In a lively manner, he stood up and turned his head back to glance at them. “Brother Zhou, Brother Shen, why are the  both of you still here?”

According to the introduction of the prop card, the duration of the external assistance was very short. Once the help request was fulfilled, the beckoned player would be sent back to the place they came from immediately. 

But why were these two still standing here?

Shen Dongqing leaned against the betting table as he played with the dice, causing the sound of crisp collision to sound out. Once Fang Qi heard that noise, he felt his legs weaken.

Zhou Wenyan touched on the subject briefly with one sentence, “Our situation is special.”

They had been trapped in the train game copy, but they were not considered as the players there either. The game had borrowed the pretext of eliminating a bug to send them inside, but now that they had left the premises, they could not go in again. 

That being said, it was not like they were called over from the resting area, so they had to wait for this game to conclude before they could go back.

Speaking of which, this was also luck.

Fang Qi had met with danger inside another copy, happened to have that particular prop card, and happened to choose them. It seems like they had not taken this vegetable-chicken[1] along for nothing.

Fang Qi did not understand. 

Shen Dongqing put down the dice to pat his shoulder. “You don’t need to understand, you just need to know that we’ll be covering you for this game.”

Fang Qi: “Lying down and winning? I know how to do this!”

Not only was he capable of it, he was a master at it.

[1] 菜鸡 (pinyin: cai ji) – noob; amateur.