A world that has existed for only fourteen days.

 

Xing Ye had originally harboured some hostility toward Xing Ye B—not hostility stirred up by the system’s manipulation, but the instinctive resistance anyone would feel toward the existence of another self in the same world, especially when that self had taken away what rightfully belonged to Xing Ye: his abilities. With his rationality, Xing Ye could suppress and conceal that hostility, but now he genuinely no longer regarded Xing Ye B as an enemy.

After all, it was Xing Ye B who had saved the little mirror from the system.

Xing Ye B was unaware of Xing Ye’s thoughts and said, “When I saw that one of the skills I obtained was ‘Kuafu Chasing the Sun’, I already felt something was strange. ‘Kuafu Chasing the Sun’ is my younger brother’s initial skill—why would it appear on that monster?

“Also, ‘Stealing the Sky and Swapping the Sun’ was an ability I gained after completing a certain mission, yet that monster dropped the exact same skill I possess. And then there was that sentient item—why would it appear on the monster?

“At first, I guessed that the monster was a non-human being fabricated by the system by fusing data from my brother and me, which would explain its terrifying strength and enormous points. But the item description made me reject that theory.

“Based on the method required to obtain the item’s power, it’s clear that the monster I killed in the game was willing to give everything for the mirror item, which is why it obtained it. A monster capable of forming such a deep bond with an item— even if it were non-human—must possess an extremely human nature.”

Xing Ye B drank his tea as he spoke, calmly and methodically recounting what happened next.

Once he began suspecting that the monster might be a person with emotions, Xing Ye B grew wary of the system. Not long after, his brother Xing Shuo contacted him and told him that another person claiming to be Xing Ye had appeared. When “Xing Shuo” also concluded that this person was Xing Ye from another world, Xing Ye B began to suspect that this individual was the monster the system wanted him to hunt down.

As a result, Xing Ye B instructed “Xing Shuo” to contact Xing Ye, hoping the two could meet.

As for testing Xing Ye, that was “Xing Shuo’s” own idea. He could not allow someone harbouring malicious intent to meet his brother, so he took the initiative to negotiate with Xing Ye himself.

Xing Ye B concluded, “I don’t know what your objective is, but I’ve always had the feeling that I shouldn’t kill you rashly.”

After listening patiently to Xing Ye B’s account, Xing Ye frowned and asked, “When you were explaining things earlier, you didn’t go into detail about how you completed the game missions. You also didn’t explain when ‘Xing Shuo’ was revived, nor where Lu Mingze was trapped by the game, or how you woke him up.”

He noticed that Xing Ye B glossed over these details with only passing mentions, yet Xing Ye found them crucial.

Xing Ye B said, “‘Xing Shuo’ was—”

He paused, then said uncertainly, “‘Xing Shuo’ was revived after I completed a mission in some high-rise building… I think?”

Even Xing Ye B himself wasn’t sure. He looked toward “Xing Shuo,” who shook his head and said, “After being revived, my memories became chaotic. I only remember playing the game and having died once, but as for when I was revived exactly…”

Xing Ye then asked “Xing Shuo,” “You previously told me you still had to return to school, but judging by the timeline, you’ve already graduated. According to the original trajectory, you should be working at a museum now. Are you working?”

“Xing Shuo” frowned deeply. In the end, he slowly shook his head and said, “I don’t remember.”

Xing Ye continued, “What about Lu Mingze—when did he recover? Why does he clearly also have the game app, yet unlike you, he doesn’t remember the person who saved him?”

Xing Ye B looked into Xing Ye’s serious eyes, his expression gradually turning grave. He slowly shook his head and said, “I… remember that Lu Mingze once did me a favour. I encountered him in the book during my first mission, helped him leave the book, and then he woke up.”

“When were your parents revived? Where are they now? When we were at the police station earlier, the police tried calling them, but couldn’t get through,” Xing Ye asked.

Xing Ye B curled his fingers and tapped his forehead twice, uncertainly saying, “My parents… were revived together with ‘Xing Shuo’?”

“After they were revived, were they always abroad? Your parents, whom you hadn’t seen for nine years, came back to life—yet you never video-called them? You just let them stay overseas all this time?”

Each of Xing Ye’s questions struck directly at Xing Ye B’s heart. His face gradually paled, yet he still shook his head. “No video calls. It’s like… I knew they were living well abroad, so there was no need to contact them.”

“What about Lu Mingze? What kind of feelings do you have toward him? A brief acquaintance, a friend, or…?”

This time, Xing Ye B answered decisively. “I fell in love with him in the game and planned to pursue him, but some reasons held me back. I was planning to—planning to confess to him after leaving the game.”

“You only had contact with Lu Mingze nine years ago. Even meeting again in the game was just a single mission. Why would such deep feelings suddenly develop?” Xing Ye asked. “Think carefully—after which mission did you realize you had fallen in love with Lu Mingze?”

“After leaving that hospital full of parasitic monsters,” Xing Ye B recalled carefully. “Strange… why did I suddenly fall in love with someone?”

At this point, Xing Ye fully understood. He let out a soft, bitter smile.

Even Lu Mingze had already guessed what was going on with Xing Ye B and “Xing Shuo.” In his mind, he said to Xing Ye, “Why is it like this? I thought this world was at least… a parallel world.”

Xing Ye shook his head. “I initially thought the same—that at the very least, this world was generated when I first entered the game. But that’s not the case. No wonder the Black-and-White Cube didn’t randomly generate a world before the final stage.”

After the Train World ended, Xing Ye obtained a final-stage invitation card. In the lower-right corner of the card was a tiny QR code. Fourteen days later, he scanned it and entered the final stage.

“This world was created after the Train World ended—a world that has existed for only fourteen days,” Xing Ye said. “And the system clearly lacks the ability to create a complete world. It cannot fabricate history or things that never existed, so it can only implant memories different from reality into the minds of key individuals. And those fabricated memories are merely vague impressions—things that never actually happened.”

What Xing Ye could deduce, Xing Ye B naturally deduced as well. He sat silently on the sofa, and Xing Ye did not disturb him.

It was already midnight when Xing Ye arrived to meet Xing Ye B. By the time Xing Ye B finished thinking, dawn had arrived.

He rubbed his face hard, let out a long sigh, and said, “So… I’m the fake one.”

He looked at Xing Ye and said, “I originally thought you were someone the system brought in to seize everything from me—that whoever won between us would be the one allowed to remain in this world.”

“Xing Shuo” stayed with Xing Ye B through the entire night. With a hoarse voice, he asked, “In your world, I died as well, didn’t I? I wasn’t revived, right?”

Xing Ye slowly nodded and said, “The dead do not return to life.”

Unless they are data within the game.

Just as the system copied Xing Ye B using Xing Ye’s data, the “Xing Shuo” standing before them was also created by extracting the in-game data of the deceased Xing Shuo.

“Xing Shuo” snatched Xing Ye’s phone, opened the app, and after seeing the mission prompts on the screen, said, “Regarding me, there are two tasks: one is to gain my trust, and the other is to kill me. So my role is to provide you with enough points to contend with my brother, and to intensify the conflict and generate hatred. This is the system’s purpose in reviving me in this world—it wants to use me to make you and my brother kill each other.”

Xing Ye B also picked up his phone and said, “And on my side, it should be to erase the consciousness of the item, thereby drawing your hatred. Who is the consciousness inside the mirror item? He and you are in a relationship of mutual total devotion, giving everything to each other. Rather than companions, you’re more like lovers. And I inexplicably fell in love with Lu Mingze… could the consciousness inside the mirror be Lu Mingze?”

Even though they were merely copied data, Xing Ye B and “Xing Shuo” possessed formidable reasoning abilities and reaction speed. With just a few hints, they were able to infer the truth.

At that moment, all three of their phones chimed simultaneously—it was the app’s mission notification sound.

Xing Ye’s mission was: “Kill the other Xing Ye to leave the final stage.”

Xing Ye B’s and “Xing Shuo’s” mission was: “Kill the outsider Xing Ye, and the world will become a real world.”

 

Translator : DarNan