Volume 9 : The Final Stage

 

No system, no starting skills, no little mirror.

 

During the days of rest, Xing Ye tried his best to take Lu Mingze out for more walks, adjusted his workload to be as light as possible, and even took him to soak in a hot spring once over the weekend.

They waited until Lu Mingze emerged from the mirror before soaking. Xing Ye booked a private hot spring, so there was no need to worry about anyone coming in.

Lu Mingze entered the hot spring wearing clothes. He was now an entity of consciousness, and the clothes were merely imagined by him, so they did not affect the hot spring bathing at all.

Immersed in the warm hot spring, Lu Mingze gently closed his eyes, let out a long breath, and said, “This feels so comfortable. I haven’t felt this free and at ease for a very, very long time.”

“It will get even better in the future,” Xing Ye said softly as he looked at him.

Lu Mingze scooped up a handful of water. There was no reflection of him in the water, just like in the very first Magic Mirror world where he met Xing Ye—where all the water had been polluted by the Queen and could not reflect human faces.

And as an entity of consciousness, apart from the mirror he resided in, Lu Mingze’s reflection could not appear on any other object.

Xing Ye also scooped up some water, his palm tilting slightly as he watched it drip down from his hand. He said firmly, “Next time, I’ll bring the fully recovered you here to soak in the hot spring.”

Lu Mingze looked at him, revealed a clean, bright smile, and said proudly, “Then who knows when that will be—you’ll have to chase after me all over again.”

Xing Ye held his hand and said, “Look, our relationship is already so good now. How about giving me some hints in advance?”

Lu Mingze asked, “What kind of hints?”

“What do you like? How do you want someone to pursue you?” Xing Ye asked.

“How can that count as giving hints?” Lu Mingze said. “Pursuing someone is about sincerity. It’s not about what I like, but what you’re willing to give for me, what kind of effort you’re willing to make to understand me. Of course I can’t leak the answers—ah, you’re so cunning!”

Because he shared a telepathic connection with Xing Ye, the moment Xing Ye asked the question, Lu Mingze instinctively thought of some romantic scenes. Naturally, those thoughts were involuntarily perceived by Xing Ye.

So by the time Xing Ye suggested “giving hints,” the answer had already been transmitted.

Lu Mingze glared at Xing Ye angrily—he had been done again.

But Xing Ye himself was now frowning. The romance in Lu Mingze’s mind was different from what he was familiar with.

Going with Xing Ye to listen to his mother’s lecture? Secretly watching Xing Ye read and work? Standing together in front of a mirror to compare who was more handsome?

Would their reflections appear together in the mirror?

Xing Ye chuckled softly, reached out to wrap an arm around Lu Mingze’s shoulders, and kissed his hair—which wouldn’t get wet even while soaking in the hot spring.

“When you recover your human form, we’ll stand in front of a mirror together. You’ll definitely be the most beautiful,” Xing Ye said in a low voice.

Lu Mingze originally wanted to say, Y”ou’re peeking at my thoughts”, but after hearing Xing Ye’s words, he couldn’t help lowering his head and softly responding with a “Mm.”

“If only Linlin, Guan Ling, Cao Qian, Yan Hebi, the Fate-following player who turned into a camera in the previous world, and the countless players trapped in the game could all gain their freedom,” Lu Mingze said. “After the final stage ends, we’ll sit at the same table and toast to victory.”

“I will do my best,” Xing Ye said solemnly.

On the night before the final stage, Xing Ye and Lu Mingze came to the cemetery late at night. It might sound frightening, but the two of them were no longer afraid. They knew that there were places in this world far more terrifying than a cemetery at night.

After midnight passed, Lu Mingze left the mirror and stood before the graves.

Holding Lu Mingze’s hand, Xing Ye said before the grave, “Dad, Mom, this is the person I love the most. I’ve brought him to meet you.”

Lu Mingze shyly placed the flowers before the grave and said softly, “Uncle, Auntie, I really like Xing Ye. I hope you can like me too.”

The night breeze gently brushed the flowers, and the bouquet Lu Mingze had placed before the grave actually made a motion resembling a nod. Seeing this, Lu Mingze widened his eyes in surprise and said, “Uncle, Auntie—are you nodding in agreement?”

Xing Ye didn’t know whether to call it a coincidence or say that Lu Mingze’s luck was truly that good—even the wind was cooperating with his words.

“You’re so good-looking, my parents would definitely be very happy,” Xing Ye said. “I remember they were both very open-minded people. When I was in college, I had no interest in dating. There were girls who pursued me, but I ignored them all. Back then, my mom was especially worried that I might be asexual. She said they didn’t care whether my partner was male or female—what mattered most was that I’d be happy, and that I wouldn’t spend my whole life falling in love with my own intelligence.”

Lu Mingze: “……”

He suddenly understood why Xing Ye was so firmly convinced of the idea that self-love = confidence = the ability to love others. Xing Ye was essentially also a self-infatuated person. The difference was that Lu Mingze loved his own face, while Xing Ye loved his own intelligence.

Thinking this way, Lu Mingze didn’t get angry at all—he actually felt a little happy.

The two of them were originally people who loved themselves the most, yet they were able to wholeheartedly fall in love with another person. Wasn’t that, in itself, proof of having overcome oneself?

After introducing Lu Mingze to his parents, Xing Ye looked toward his younger brother’s gravestone and said, “Xing Shuo, I’m going to avenge you.”

The cemetery was completely still, without the slightest breeze—nothing like how it had cooperated with Lu Mingze earlier.

Xing Ye recalled the younger brother he had seen behind the door—the Xing Shuo he truly faced, not the weak and obedient younger brother from his memories.

He had once believed that his brother’s failure to let him scan the QR code was a silent cry for help. But in reality, after Xing Shuo failed, what he handed over to him was the relay baton.

“Kuafu Chasing the Sun” was Xing Shuo’s initial skill. His brother regarded him as the sun. Yet the true ability of “Kuafu Chasing the Sun” was to preserve time so that one could surpass time, surpass the sun—the essence of this ability was victory, not pursuit.

After understanding this, Xing Ye stood up, looked down at his brother’s gravestone, and said, “Xing Shuo, I’m going to challenge the final stage that you failed to overcome. I will win and become the sun you will never be able to catch.”

As soon as his words fell, the night wind stirred, and the leaves of the tree beside the grave rustled. It was as if they were responding to Xing Ye, or as if they were saying, “Come on.”

The final stage was the unsolved problem Xing Shuo had failed to complete. He left this question to Xing Ye and said to him, “Come prove that you’re worthy of being the one I chase.”

Xing Ye shook his head and chuckled softly, then said to Lu Mingze, “So the well-behaved younger brother I remembered was just an act he put on for me.”

Lu Mingze said, “But he believed you would win.”

As they spoke, the time reached 1:30 a.m. The phone screen lit up. Xing Ye opened the Challenging Fate app, and a dialog box popped up—

Player x8205, after clicking to enter, you will challenge the final stage of this game. If you fail, there will be no second chance, and your physical body in reality will also die. Click “Yes” to enter the final stage. Click “No” to lose all points and return to the beginner stage.

“At a time like this, you’re still giving me a choice?” Xing Ye clicked “Yes” without hesitation. “After coming this far, no one would choose to retreat!”

The phone glowed brightly as he and Lu Mingze entered the system space together. Before them stood the black-and-white cube, still maintaining its white appearance.

“Welcome, x8205, to challenge the final stage. The system applauds your courage and wisdom, and also hopes that you will maintain your original intention throughout the game and never lose yourself,” the black-and-white cube said politely—its attitude unusually courteous this time.

Xing Ye glanced at his phone and said to the cube, “Wait a moment. I seem to have quite a few unread messages.”

The unread messages were from Guan Ling. For Xing Ye, Cao Qian, and Yan Hebi, the previous world was equivalent to two worlds, and they had rested for fourteen days. But Guan Ling was different—seven days ago, he had gone through another world.

Guan Ling: “Boss ahhhhh!! I got the true ending again! I already have five world items now! Even though they’re all one-time-use, am I a bit too strong? I’ve got fifty thousand points now—next world is a high-level world! What should I do?!”

Guan Ling: “Boss, why aren’t you replying? Are you okay? Could it be that this world… oh, I remember—you’re resting for one world, so this time it’s only me fighting, right? See you next world.”

The next message wasn’t from Guan Ling, but from Cao Qian.

Cao Qian: “1xxxxxxxxxx, this is my phone number. I know you can remember it. After the final stage, I hope we can meet. Remember to bring Little Mirror—I want the real, physical version. I want to see just how good-looking he really is.”

Yan Hebi: “Boss, I’m giving you my phone number too. After you clear the final stage, let’s grab a drink together!”

Qian Jinlai: “Boss, although it’s a bit embarrassing to say, I still hope to meet you in real life. I know you must be an incredible person in reality. Going absolutely crazy cheering for the boss!”

Guan Ling: “Boss, I’m back again! These days I bought a stall at the night market and plan to sell snacks. In the previous world, I learned an amazing snack recipe in the game world. I swear I’ll live upright and earn money honestly to pay off my debts. Even if I reach a high-level world, I’ll never exchange points for money or take shortcuts. So… after the final stage ends, can we meet in the real world? If you don’t mind, could you guide me a bit on the secrets of doing business…?”

Seeing all these messages, Xing Ye replied to every single one with just one word:

“Okay.”

Only by defeating three worlds governed by system rules could one challenge the true final stage. Although Yan Hebi had gone through all three worlds together with Xing Ye, in the latter two worlds he was not on the same team as Xing Ye, and the game outcomes were both failures, making him unable to challenge the final stage.

Cao Qian and Qian Daniu had only experienced two worlds, and the Train World was also a failure, so they were likewise unable to challenge it.

From the very beginning, the system had already calculated everything. The rules of the Train World itself strictly limited the number of participants—there was only one person who could challenge the final stage: Xing Ye.

Lu Mingze had also said that when challenging the final stage, there would be only one challenger. And in Lu Mingze’s view, the final stage was not difficult at all—compared to the other worlds, it was even simple. This was because the final stage had no complicated plot and no other players. From beginning to end, there was only the challenger alone.

After replying to the messages, Xing Ye said to the black-and-white cube, “Alright, you can start generating the world now.”

The black-and-white cube replied, “There’s no need to generate it. After your previous world ended, the system had already generated the final stage. Look at the lower-right corner of your final-stage invitation card—there should be a QR code. Just scan it to enter.”

Xing Ye took out the invitation card. Sure enough, in the white section at the lower-right corner, there was a small QR code. When he had just received the invitation card after the previous world ended, this QR code hadn’t been there.

Xing Ye scanned the QR code with his phone and looked at the game information that appeared on the screen—

Game Name: Final Stage
Game Content: Unknown
Player Role: Unknown
Number of Participants: 1 Challenger
Victory Condition: Unknown
Rewards & Penalties: Achievement Title

Staring at the description on the phone, Xing Ye frowned slightly. This time, the hints provided by the system were unprecedentedly sparse.

In previous games, although the information prompts were filled with verbal traps, there was always some information—at the very least, one could tell what kind of world it was, and the reward information was quite clear. But what was this? Winning would only grant an unknown achievement title?

Lu Mingze said, “These were also the hints I got when I challenged my final stage—mysterious and secretive, as if they were afraid the player might find out the content. I think everyone’s final stage must be different. Mine was all mirrors—choosing the correct mirror was enough to win. What will yours be like?”

This wasn’t what Xing Ye was focused on. He said to the black-and-white cube, “What abilities does this achievement title have? Can it restore Lu Mingze? And what about the reward QR code?”

The black-and-white cube replied, “Player x8205, this is already the final stage—why would you still need QR codes? Everything you want can be obtained after victory. Please enter the game as soon as possible. The game has been waiting for you to challenge the final stage for a very long time.”

It seemed the black-and-white cube was not going to reveal any information at all. Xing Ye exchanged a glance with Lu Mingze. Lu Mingze nodded and returned to the phone case. Xing Ye clicked to enter the game.

No matter what kind of game it was, they would face it together.

After the teleportation, Xing Ye opened his eyes and felt a chill.

Everything around him was pitch-black—it was nighttime. A rustling sound came from above. Xing Ye looked up and saw a large tree, its leaves already yellowing. Autumn had arrived.

A withered yellow leaf fell onto Xing Ye’s head. He removed it and saw his own hands—dry, cracked, and full of mud.

Xing Ye sat up and saw that his body was covered with cardboard boxes. He was lying on a long bench, wearing tattered clothes, and the shoes on his feet were so broken that his toes were exposed.

Beside his head was also a metal lunch box, with loose coins inside.

Had he transmigrated into a homeless person this time? Xing Ye frowned inwardly.

A homeless person wouldn’t have a phone—then he could only use the wristband. Xing Ye raised his wrist, but there was no wristband there.

He tapped his head. No button for an initial skill appeared in his mind.

Xing Ye then thought inwardly, “Lu Mingze? Little Mirror, are you there?”

The little mirror that had once been connected with him was also gone.

Gone. Everything was gone.

No system.
No initial skills.
No little mirror.

 

Translator : DarNan