I have every form you desire

Xing Ye also felt that having the “Hearts connected as one”, allowed him to contact Lu Mingze anytime, anywhere, without needing to glance at the mirror now and then. Being able to know his safety at all times felt truly reassuring.

Although they had talked a lot, in reality Xing Ye had only just walked past Car 9 and reached the junction with Car 8 when he saw a passenger sitting by the door staring at him with a strange expression.

Xing Ye had hidden behind a seat before using the “Repainting Brush” precisely to guard against the presence of other players in the carriage, using the seat as cover so no one could see him activate his initial skill.

Seeing this passenger’s gaze, Xing Ye said nothing, pretending to know nothing and continuing toward the dining car — but the man actually followed him and stopped him in front of the sink.

On a high-speed rail train, there are many passengers; the quietest places are the smoking area between two cars and the space before the sink, and more hidden still are the restrooms. Thus it was perfectly normal for players to converse in front of the sink. For Xing Ye, this was ideal — it was the best location for the little mirror to use its skill.

The passenger who stopped Xing Ye looked scholarly and gentle, a bit thin. When Xing Ye turned around, the man took a piece of cotton candy from his pocket and put it into his mouth.

This movement made Xing Ye’s pupils contract slightly, reminding him of an old friend. Fortunately, with the cap and mask covering him, the man could not see any change in Xing Ye’s expression or eyes; in the scholarly man’s view, he remained calm throughout.

“You’re a player, right?” the man said while eating cotton candy. “Want to team up with me? I know information about the player who’s worth thirty million.”

“No need,” Xing Ye replied in a low voice.

The scholarly player looked at Xing Ye, narrowed his eyes, and said: “I think the best way to identify the thirty-million target in this game is to team up. I just tested it with other players: team-ups created by the system are all temporary and can be dissolved at any time. While teamed up, players can’t attack each other, but once the team is dissolved, you can attack former teammates. That’s the best mechanic.”

“The most interesting part is that someone who is already in a team can simultaneously team up with two, three, or even multiple teams, as long as they know how many they’ve joined. And the only person who cannot team up with anyone… is the thirty-million player.

“If you don’t plan to team up with me to verify identities, then I’ll have no choice but to treat you as a hunting target.”

As he spoke, he leisurely put a piece of chocolate into his mouth, holding his phone in the other hand as though ready to attack at any moment.

“Eating sweets like this… could he be Shao Lin?” Lu Mingze looked at the man’s familiar movements through the mirror by the sink and spoke to Xing Ye. “Do you want me to control him so we can finish him off while no one’s around?”

Xing Ye stopped Lu Mingze. “Don’t rush. Watch first.”

“Well?” The man who seemed like Shao Lin stepped closer. “Your method of taking down those two players was clever. But this time, we won’t give you a chance to scream for help.”

His words carried two meanings: first, “we” implied that there were more players in Car 9; second, it showed that they, like Xing Ye, had seen through the loopholes in the rules and would use control-type attacks, avoiding being caught by the train police again.

Xing Ye had already guessed that Car 9 likely contained more than one player. After all, he was in Car 12, and hunters could check the distance to the thirty-million target once every ten minutes. In Cars 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14, the distance wouldn’t refresh.

To determine the location of the thirty-million target, the best method was to wait between Cars 9 and 10 for two refreshes. After two updates, one could deduce that the target was very likely in Car 12.

Thus, most players would gather in Cars 9, 10, 14, and 15. In this carriage, every movement required extreme caution.

While Xing Ye was dealing with those two players earlier, he had already acted with utmost care, keeping everything hidden and never showing his face, maintaining the cap-and-mask disguise the whole time.

He expected to meet other players — but he had not expected to meet someone so similar to Shao Lin.

By all logic, Shao Lin should still be paying off his eternal, unrepayable debt in the cruise ship casino; he shouldn’t appear in this world at all.

According to reason, Shao Lin should be in the cruise ship casino repaying a debt that he could never possibly finish paying, and originally should not appear in this world.

But the interest on the cruise ship casino debt was something the game could set however it wanted, and could of course change however it wanted. The system could completely stop calculating Shao Lin’s interest, and give him a task that allowed him to repay thirty million points at once, transferring Shao Lin into this world.

Of course, it was also possible that Shao Lin had tricked a player and found a way to transfer his debt onto that person, thus obtaining the chance to leave the game world.

The probability that Shao Lin was in this world exceeded 80%.

But—Xing Ye sized up this chocolate-eating player from top to bottom and silently shook his head in his heart—this person would not be Shao Lin.

If Shao Lin really suspected that he was the thirty-million, then he would definitely hide in the shadows, let the men he had deceived approach Xing Ye, use sweets to confuse Xing Ye, create the psychological pressure of “I have returned for revenge,” stimulate Xing Ye into taking action first, and make it convenient for Shao Lin to hunt from the dark.

Xing Ye took out his phone and said: “Alright, I’ll team up with you, but there’s one condition. I want to first look at who your teammates are. Since it’s a temporary team, of course I need to know whom I can attack and whom I cannot. That’s not too much, right?”

The chocolate man froze slightly, frowned in thought, and said: “This… should… be fine?”

“Then let me see your phone.” Xing Ye turned on his own phone, revealing the interface of the hunting app, but did not open it. He shook it in front of the chocolate man, then turned off the screen.

Lu Mingze, who had been observing through the mirror, had already confirmed it. He quietly said to Xing Ye: “He’s not Shao Lin. He should just be one of the teammates Shao Lin roped in. I feel he’s a fate-following player without strong attack skills, but he might rely on luck using some special QR codes.”

“Shao Lin must be secretly watching this place.” Xing Ye scanned the passengers in Carriage No. 9, and while the chocolate man lowered his head to flip through his phone, Xing Ye suddenly shut the carriage door.

The washbasin and smoking area of the train were connected, and there was a door between them and the carriage. Previously it had been open, so passengers inside the carriage could see the washbasin at a glance—though from that angle they could not see the mirror.

Now that Xing Ye suddenly closed the door, he startled the chocolate man. The man raised his head to look at Xing Ye and stammered: “Y-you, what are you doing?”

“Didn’t you say we were forming a team?” Xing Ye said calmly. “It wouldn’t be good if passengers saw, right? You need some quiet too, don’t you?”

“Well… that’s true…” the chocolate man nodded, but his gaze kept drifting toward Carriage No. 9, as if searching for help.
As expected, anyone who could be fooled by Shao Lin into becoming his scapegoat within an hour would be someone without their own judgment—once things went beyond expectation, they would struggle to think independently.

After the carriage door closed, he became extremely nervous. At this moment, Xing Ye took out a surgical knife—this was a surgeon’s scalpel. Xing Ye had drawn quite a few and carried them on him for self-defense.

Holding the knife, he said: “Come, let me see your phone. We’re teaming up, aren’t we?”

The chocolate man stepped back, forcing himself to stay calm: “If you first team up with us, I will show you the team information. Also, don’t think you can threaten me just by closing the door. We—”

Before he finished speaking, the chocolate man’s head suddenly stiffened, becoming dazed and vacant.

The “Hypnosis” QR code had taken effect.

“It really works!” Lu Mingze said excitedly. “I can use the ‘Repainting Brush’ ability too!”

Just now, while Xing Ye was confronting the chocolate man, he had silently told Lu Mingze a plan, letting him test it. If the experiment succeeded, they might end up with a double set of “Repainting Brush” abilities.

The key was the QR code “I have every form you desire”. This QR code was the one Lu Mingze had seen inside Xing Ye’s mind in the Mountain God world— it was a system QR code that could only be used once, and Xing Ye could not redraw it using the Repainting Brush.

The effect of this QR code was said to be able to create another version of oneself, allowing Xing Ye to leave the game. Xing Ye of course had not fallen for it.

He had always been thinking about the genuine function of the “I have every form you desire” QR code. Based on the game’s description and the fact that it was found inside Xing Ye’s mind, it was actually a system power used to control Xing Ye’s consciousness—like creating another version of himself inside his mind.

Xing Ye guessed that if this QR code were used to copy himself, the result would likely not be to find a substitute while he escaped the game. Instead, the QR-copy might replace him, while his real self became trapped in the game.

After all, the QR code’s original power was to control Xing Ye’s thoughts and manipulate his body.

So using “I have every form you desire” to copy another self was extremely dangerous—but thinking from another angle, it could be used in a different way.

If they only copied the “Repainting Brush” ability, and the user was not Xing Ye but Lu Mingze, what would happen?

The “I have every form you desire” QR code was obtained when Lu Mingze saw it inside Xing Ye’s mind, then used “Eye of Truth” to display it on a mirror, and Xing Ye scanned it with his bracelet. It was the only QR code Xing Ye possessed. As Xing Ye’s fate following tool, with intimacy level 100, Lu Mingze could use Xing Ye’s points and QR codes—so the “I have every form you desire” code could also be given to Lu Mingze to strengthen himself.

Thus, under Xing Ye’s speculation, the two boldly conducted an experiment.

Lu Mingze used “I have every form you desire” to copy the “Repainting Brush,” and applied the copied “Repainting Brush” to himself, obtaining the ability to use the Repainting Brush ten times in this world!

Added to Lu Mingze’s “Eye of Truth”—which was originally the fused ability of the “Eye of Impression,” allowing any QR code that had ever appeared before the mirror to be stored inside it.

Lu Mingze first used the Eye of Truth to copy the “Hypnosis” QR code, then used the Repainting Brush, linking the two abilities—and unexpectedly, it worked!

This meant that Lu Mingze could use ten QR codes that Xing Ye had previously seen in this world.

The chocolate man did not know what had happened and was controlled by Lu Mingze.

Xing Ye took out the makeup mirror and let the chocolate man see it. The user of “Hypnosis” was the little mirror; only Lu Mingze could hypnotize the chocolate man.

Lu Mingze said: “Take these two surgical knives. Open the carriage door. Do you see the teammates on your phone? As soon as you see them, hack them with the knives. Go, and don’t cut the wrong ones.”

The chocolate man nodded in confusion, took the two scalpels from Xing Ye’s hand, opened the carriage door, and walked inside.

 

Translator : DarNan