CH 24

The soft gold of dusk trickled over the horizon, dyeing the ocean into the colour of honey over which seagulls glided. Salty-cool breezes caressed the land with its delicate limbs and swept away all worry, leaving behind only dazed captivation and a gentle blanket of warmth.

QiLeren found himself momentarily disorientated. Where were they? What happened to the shelter? He looked around; the buildings and scenery were clearly not of the real world but rather similar to that of the industrial revolution, amateurish works of intertwined timber and metal looming over its inhabitants. All around them was the magnificent presence of steampunk technology – windmills, engines, exposed gears, seaplanes. When QiLeren looked up at a shadow that befell him, a colossal metal airship greeted him with its unique rumble as it sailed overhead.

It was…familiar. QiLeren stared into the horizon, suddenly at a loss for words.

Eventually, SuHe stepped forward. Illuminated by the sunset behind him, he flashed the trio a comfortable smile. “Welcome to Eventide Village.”

Eventide. It was as if someone had struck QiLeren in the chest, giving him pain, giving him terror.

“It is one of the two major strongholds of humanity in the Nightmare World, named Eventide after its eternal sunset.” SuHe’s voice was feathery light, dancing upon the salty sea breeze.

Dr Lu retreated half a step back. “Who are you? Why do you know this?”

SuHe’s eyes shone with humour as he looked into QiLeren’s unfocused ones.

“I’ll…tell you a little secret of mine when we leave this place.”

That’s right. He’d said that, hadn’t he?

Now QiLeren knows.

“Please allow me to introduce myself again. My name is SuHe, a player in this game just like you, only I entered quite a bit earlier. Less than a day ago I received an urgent quest to investigate the abnormally high death rate in a certain tutorial village – I suppose the system may have suspected that it was the fault of a bug. I quickly found out after arriving that it was in fact another player who was causing the deaths, which was unfortunately out of the system’s jurisdiction.”

XueYingying’s jaw was seconds away from dropping to the ground.

Silhouette softened by the sunset, SuHe continued. “Due to the special condition of the quest, I was to leave the tutorial village as soon as the investigation was completed. My original plan was to fall off the ceiling and fake my death, which would prevent you from discovering my identity – a requirement of the quest along with being unable to provide assistance – but QiLeren truly surprised me.” SuHe shifted his gaze onto QiLeren’s face, which was tinged red by the lighting. The soft affection and slight amusement proved to be too much, forcing QiLeren to turn away. “I didn’t expect him to risk his life for mine, even if it was just a moment of impulse – for that, I owe you my gratitude. It was this sincerity that convinced me to stay and guide you through the tutorial village.”

“But you did help us,” XueYingying mumbled quietly.

“Well, you’ll find that the system is quite inflexible sometimes. Its definition of help did not extend to this type of help.” Here, he tapped his temple.

“So that’s why you were even more of a dead weight than me with fighting!” Dr Lu blurted, suddenly enlightened. “So that stuff you said about not having any skill cards…?”

“I apologise for lying to you about that. I couldn’t use any of them, but I do indeed have many skill cards. However, if I revealed this then I would’ve been forced to use them at some point, which would violate the quest conditions. Again, I’m very sorry.”

XueYingying refused to accept SuHe’s apology. “Please don’t be sorry!” she exclaimed, hands floundering. “It’s us who have to be apologise for being so useless – without you we’d all be dead!”

QiLeren was still lost in his own thoughts. He hadn’t believed SuHe at the time, but he was a “programmer” indeed.

Something occurred to him.

The three goldfish were representing him, Dr Lu and XueYingying. As for SuHe, he was the one who “did not exist”.

So that’s why, QiLeren thought mutely. That’s why.

With all their secrets out in the open, the atmosphere between them reverted back to the relaxed air it always had been. Dr Lu leaned forward from his position on a half-metre deep dam, whipping his head back and forth to drink in the view. “This place looks like something out of a fantasy novel! Is this the second instance dungeon?” He paused, then corrected himself. “No, wait, the system hasn’t given us any new notifications yet, has it? I got ten days of lifespan though. What’s that?”

Having never played «The Nightmare Games», Dr Lu’s confusion at Eventide was to be expected. The oppressive feeling from earlier came flooding back; this land of eternal sunset was one of the last remaining strongholds humanity possessed in this world. Taking a single step outside its protection would land one in demon territory, where humans lived as prey in days without hope nor refuge. QiLeren had spawned in Eventide at the start of his playthrough, where he took finally discovered the main quest after taking on many sidequests. His experience ended shortly after with his reception of a bad ending and the subsequent death of his laptop while trying to load a save.

From the looks of it, he was the only one who had any knowledge of the game.

“We call this place the Nightmare World. Technically speaking, this isn’t an instance but rather the overworld. Quests you receive can vary in location with both the overworld and instances, type, difficulty…” SuHe shook his head. “There are too many to talk about here. Shall I take you to the player hub? It’s on the island just ahead of us. I’d like to treat you all to a meal if it isn’t too much to ask for – think of it as an apology for my dishonesty.”

At the mention of food, Dr Lu’s eyes lit up. XueYingying likewise gulped, stomach growling. QiLeren couldn’t find any reason to turn the offer down, settling for an abashed “You’re too generous.”

SuHe’s captivating smile drew the attention of two people hurrying past. One of them – a young girl – murmured quietly to her companion. “Are those newbies? Should we go be “tour guides”?”

“No, the ship is leaving soon,” the older woman replied, though her gaze lingered on them for a few seconds longer. Her precise features betrayed no emotions, considering the group before her as a merchant would their goods before giving a negative conclusion.

The girl was evidently displeased with this answer, turning back to give SuHe a friendly smile before being tugged away by what seemed to be her sister.

“Tour guide?” Dr Lu asked SuHe.

“Some players may offer to explain some things to new players, though most of them tend to charge for the service,” SuHe explained.

“Charge? I think I might have a bit of cash on me, does this place take card?” XueYingying patted her pockets and pulled out a few notes she had prepared for the abortion.

SuHe chuckled. “The currency we use here isn’t money, nor is it precious metals.”

“What do you use then?” XueYingying asked, curious.

“Here,” he answered, giving them a deep look, “we trade with our lifespans.”