The system showed him a world that could be described as the happiness Xing Ye had always dreamed of.

 

As early as when they were at the police station, Xing Ye already knew that his younger brother was lying.

If he had truly gone missing for an entire night, whether it was his family or his company, they would definitely have reported it to the police. They would not have delayed. When Xing Shuo arrived at the police station and saw Xing Ye, he lightly pushed his glasses. This was one of Xing Shuo’s habitual gestures. In the past, Xing Ye had always thought it was because the glasses had slipped, but thinking about it now, that gesture carried another meaning—using it to conceal his emotions.

At that moment, Xing Ye became certain of one thing: his younger brother did not believe his identity. And if he had truly gone missing, even if Xing Shuo did not believe it, he would at least have shown some agitation. But Xing Shuo’s reaction was far too calm. Therefore, Xing Ye concluded that beside Xing Shuo and the rest of the family, there was still another Xing Ye present.

The QR code “I have everything you want” let Xing Ye know that the system was capable of copying a version of himself. That meant the Xing Ye by his family’s side was identical to him in every way, making it nearly impossible to distinguish between them. Xing Shuo could not possibly believe him.

Even so, Xing Ye still followed the younger brother before him out of the police station. First, to continue completing the task; second, to use this opportunity to further understand his brother.

According to Xing Ye’s speculation, the system would not give him a version of his brother that differed too greatly. The Xing Shuo standing before him now was the most authentic state of his brother before death.

Even if this brother was fake, it was still a chance to understand his family. Xing Ye did not wish to become enemies with his family, and he also wanted to get along well with his brother—even if he was merely an illusion.

Thinking of this, Xing Ye could not help but give a bitter smile. As expected of the final stage, after passing through so many worlds, the system had already scanned him thoroughly and knew exactly what his weak point was.

After hearing Xing Ye’s words, a trace of confusion flashed through Xing Shuo’s eyes. Leaning back against the sofa, he said, “Alright. I believe you. Tell me what happened to you, so I can help you.”

Xing Ye looked at him for a moment, then shook his head. “You don’t believe me.”

Xing Shuo narrowed his eyes slightly, as if considering his next move.

Xing Ye sat beside him and tried to undo the golden, glowing rope bound around Xing Shuo. Unfortunately, this QR code seemed impossible to be cancelled using ordinary means, so it could only remain tied.

“Don’t bother undoing it. Just leave it like this for now,” Xing Shuo shifted his posture. “Anyway, it’ll automatically untie in five minutes. Tell me what’s really going on, so I can help you deal with my fake brother.”

When he said “fake brother,” Xing Shuo’s gaze never left Xing Ye, as though those words were directed at him.

Xing Ye shook his head. “No matter how I explain it, you won’t believe me. You’ve always been someone with your own judgment. I don’t want to influence your thinking. You only need to know that there might be another person who is your brother—that’s enough.”

After hearing this, Xing Shuo frowned. “Then what are you going to do?”

“I want to borrow your car,” Xing Ye said seriously. “If not, lending me some money would also be fine. I need to go somewhere.”

Xing Shuo: “……”

Xing Ye believed that deliberately explaining everything to his brother would only make things worse. And asking questions would only make his brother feel that he was trying to pry for information.

He trusted his brother’s judgment. Xing Ye laid out the doubts in front of Xing Shuo. Whether or not to believe him was Xing Shuo’s decision.

And Xing Ye had more important things to do.

“…The car keys are on the table. You can take them yourself,” Xing Shuo said.

“Thank you,” Xing Ye replied. “I’ll call you after I’m done using it.”

With that, Xing Ye took the car keys and left the room, going downstairs, leaving Xing Shuo behind, frowning in deep thought.

Xing Ye drove toward the sanatorium where Lu Mingze lay dormant in the real world. It was only the first day since he had entered the game world; many things did not need to be rushed. Although the game would issue tasks, he could not let the system lead him by the nose. He needed to maintain his own rhythm.

The most important thing at the moment was to find the missing item.

Choosing to search for his lover instead of striving for his brother’s trust was not because Xing Ye valued romance over friendship. Rather, Xing Shuo could not possibly deny another extremely real “brother” based solely on his words. Xing Ye could not trap himself in this task.

Moreover, in the game world, everything could be false—except for his and Lu Mingze’s consciousness, which was real.

After arriving at the sanatorium and checking the inpatient registry, Lu Mingze’s name was not listed. However, Xing Ye had visited the sanatorium many times before and was very familiar with its internal layout and shift changes. Taking advantage of the shift handover, he slipped inside and found Lu Mingze’s room in the real world—it was empty.

Xing Ye left the sanatorium, parked the car by the roadside, thought for a moment, then took out his phone to look up information about Lu Mingze’s mother.

Lu Mingze’s mother was a well-known professor. Her official lecture website usually announced upcoming talks in advance, and recordings were available afterward. Xing Ye logged onto the website and saw that she had been giving lectures continuously during this period, rather than being on extended medical leave due to a heart stent surgery as in the real world.

There was no information about Lu Mingze online. Did this world even contain a person named Lu Mingze?

After some thought, Xing Ye sent a message to his brother Xing Shuo:

“Nine years ago, when you were in high school, did you have a classmate named Lu Mingze? In my memory, he was kidnapped, and I rescued him.”

Xing Ye did not explain why he had some memories yet could not confirm others. He left that headache for Xing Shuo to deal with—after all, he was smart enough.

After a long silence, Xing Shuo finally replied: “I did have a classmate named Lu Mingze, but he wasn’t kidnapped. My brother shouldn’t have known him.”

Xing Ye asked again: “Then are our parents still alive? And am I currently working at the company, or am I still pursuing the path of science and discussing state affairs ?”

Xing Shuo remained silent for a long while before responding: “You claim to be my brother, yet you don’t even know whether our parents are alive?”

Xing Ye replied: “In my memory, even you died in 2019. Our parents died ten years ago.”

Xing Shuo: “…Our parents didn’t die. But the company has already been handed over to my brother. Our parents are currently on vacation abroad.”

So that was it.

In Xing Ye’s memory, the chain of events behind Lu Mingze’s kidnapping was as follows:
Xing Ye’s parents died → Xing Ye faced financial difficulties and needed investment → to meet Lu Mingze’s father, Xing Ye had someone beat up Lu Mingze → Xing Ye hired thugs to lure away Lu Mingze’s bodyguards → Lu Mingze was kidnapped.

Following this logic, if Xing Ye’s parents had not died, then Lu Mingze’s kidnapping would not have occurred.

But something was still wrong. Even if Xing Ye had not lured away the bodyguards, the kidnappers still existed. As long as their criminal intent remained, the hidden danger surrounding Lu Mingze would never truly be eliminated.

This world felt riddled with logical inconsistencies, as though something had been added while certain events were deliberately avoided.

Xing Ye sent another message: “Have you ever experienced campus bullying?”

Xing Shuo: “No.”

In the world of the final stage, Xing Ye’s family was still alive. They had not experienced hardship. Everything went smoothly and he had become a corporate manager. His younger brother Xing Shuo had also never suffered campus bullying. Everything was perfect.

The system gave him the identity of a homeless man with nothing at all, yet also set up another version of himself in this world who possessed everything. Why?

In this world, the only thing that “Xing Ye” did not seem to have was the lover named Lu Mingze.

Although the system’s purpose was unclear, the breakthrough point had to be Lu Mingze. There were simply too many contradictions surrounding him.

Xing Ye asked: “Do you have Lu Mingze’s contact information?”

On the other end, Xing Shuo remained silent even longer than before. It was not until more than half an hour later that he sent over a contact and added: “You keep asking about Lu Mingze. Could he be your lover?”

Xing Ye replied: “Yes.”

Not long after sending this message, his phone let out a “ding”—the notification sound of the Challenging Fate game app. Xing Ye opened it and saw the words “Task completed.”

Xing Ye had not explained anything to his brother, yet Xing Shuo had believed his identity.

Why?

Xing Ye tried to think from his brother’s perspective and analyse the situation:

You suddenly receive a call from the police saying your brother is at the station. You bring home a person who has the same fingerprints as your brother, the same appearance, only much thinner and weaker. This person never once says that the current brother beside you is fake; he only insists, again and again, “I am your brother,” and claims to have secrets he cannot speak of. In his memories, the entire family has died, and he has a lover—one who has never had any intersection with the brother you remember.

If this were a lie meant to deceive, it would be far too easy to expose. Moreover, the “brother” standing before you gives off an inexplicable sense of familiarity, one that does not seem fake.

Based on all of this, if the suddenly appearing brother were truly real, then there was only one possible answer: he came from a parallel world.

A “Xing Ye” from a parallel world who did not live well, who lost his parents and his younger brother, and became gaunt and haggard.

In the real world, no one would believe in parallel worlds—but this place was different. If even skills from a mobile game could be released in reality, then parallel worlds did not seem so hard to accept.

Although he had gained his brother’s trust, completed a task, and received points and a QR code, Xing Ye was not happy.

He sat in the car, one hand pressed against his forehead, his mind full of doubts.

The system had shown him what could be called Xing Ye’s dream version of a happy world. It could have used this world to confuse him, to deceive him into believing that this was the reward for completing the task—a brand-new life. Yet it deliberately did not do so. Instead, it introduced a mobile system that continuously issued tasks and even allowed his brother Xing Shuo to possess a system and fight as well.

A gentle breeze drifted through the car window, softly brushing Xing Ye’s forehead. The chill of autumn made him slightly more clear-headed.

He already had a hypothesis in his mind and had vaguely grasped the system’s purpose. If his guess was correct, then the real Lu Mingze could only be in one place.

 

Translator : DarNan