This is a world that requires rationality.

 

After dealing with the cockroach, Cao Qian came out, and before leaving, her antennae moved as if she were scouting the situation outside, like a genuine ant.

Feeling guilty, Cao Qian said, “I closed the toilet lid and let her sit on it. It seems she’s not dead yet. Cockroaches are very resilient.”

She had struck an ordinary person in this world and almost killed her, mistaking her for a monster. She felt quite embarrassed.

Xing Ye remembered when he first met Cao Qian in the campus world. Her eyes were full of cynicism, distrustful of others, and careless with herself, even throwing things from high places. But now, her mental state was noticeably different. She looked energetic, treating each world as a challenge rather than a burden.

At this moment, she even felt guilty for accidentally hurting an ordinary person. She must have become more positive in real life.

“Is there surveillance outside? Should I jump out the window?” Cao Qian asked.

The hospital world's surveillance made Cao Qian realize the world is full of eyes and she could be discovered at any moment.

Xing Ye had no solution for this. He said, “Even if you jump out the window, you’ve already been recorded entering the restroom, and it would be suspicious not to have footage of you leaving. You’re wearing a mask and a standard hat, and there were multiple people entering the restroom during that time. They might not suspect you. Even if the police investigate, it will take some time, and we might have completed our task and left by then. Don’t worry.”

“Oh, okay.” Cao Qian followed Xing Ye out of the restroom, put the gloves, hat, mop, and other tools back in the utility room, and asked, “What should we do next?”

“Go downstairs and check outside,” Xing Ye pointed out the window.

In the previous worlds, they were confined to specific scenarios. Although they could go outside the Puppet City, they couldn’t go past the illegal mine.

Since they needed to figure out their location in this world, it was best to check outside the office building.

Through her phone, Cao Qian found out she was a 55-year-old cleaning lady, a single mother earning a meagre salary, still supporting her son in college. Her son’s monthly living expenses were higher than her salary, and she had no savings left, struggling every month.

“So pitiful,” Cao Qian said after analysing the character’s economic situation from the phone information.

Her phone was likely a hand-me-down from her son, very slow. If not for the “Challenging Fate” game app that slightly upgraded her phone for better performance, it would take her a minute just to open WeChat, causing extreme frustration.

Every time Xing Ye thought his situation was bad, Cao Qian would show him what real misery was. In Puppet City, he was poor, but Cao Qian was fragile and easily injured; in the hospital, he was amnesiac and crazy, while Cao Qian was 1.5 meters tall and had amputated limbs; now, he was poor with a low salary, but at least he could feed himself, whereas Cao Qian was burdened with being a mother.

Despite her miserable situation, Cao Qian was still the team’s main fighter, as brave as ever.

Xing Ye was destined to leave his teammates and enter the high level world first. However, Guan Ling and Cao Qian were now very strong, with good mindsets and actively analysing the plot (Cao Qian was better at this than Guan Ling). Even if he left the chaotic world, their team would be fine.

As they walked towards the elevator, Xing Ye saw a beverage machine opposite an office, far from the restroom, completely out of his way.

Xing Ye had a rough idea of Housefly Liao’s character: someone who loved to take small advantages from colleagues, even forcibly.

They were on the 17th floor of the office building. Xing Ye pressed the elevator button. Cao Qian asked, “Why not take the stairs?”

The previous world’s experience made her afraid to take the elevator.

Xing Ye shook his head, “No need. The two worlds are different. In the last world, we knew there were parasitic monsters in the hospital, and taking the stairs was to facilitate escape. In this world, we don’t know anything. Encountering danger in the elevator is better for us. We need to know what kind of place this is, and danger can be a clue.”

Cao Qian nodded and took notes on her phone, planning to write them down in a notebook later.

The elevator was pitch black, like a black hole. Xing Ye and Cao Qian entered and found the air inside very thin, making it hard to breathe. There was no light and oxygen was scarce. In just two minutes, they felt like they had gone through a tough battle. When they stepped out, Xing Ye could still stand firmly, but Cao Qian had to support herself against the elevator wall, her legs trembling as she walked out slowly.

Xing Ye took a deep breath to compensate for the lack of oxygen. He squinted at the elevator, puzzled.

“If the elevator was dangerous, it wouldn’t be to this extent; but if it’s not, a commercial building with an elevator of this quality wouldn’t be rented out.” Xing Ye frowned.

Cao Qian caught her breath and said, "Didn't you feel uncomfortable? In the elevator, I felt like I was going crazy. I desperately wanted to scratch the elevator walls, pry it open, and escape. It was so dark and oppressive, breathing was difficult, and I felt lost. All I wanted was to escape to an open, empty place."

"I felt it too," Xing Ye replied, "but I can overcome it."

Actually, his feelings were similar to Cao Qian's, but Xing Ye had a determined personality. He understood that this fear wasn't due to his own weakness but rather the influence of this world. He fought against this feeling and forced himself to endure the discomfort.

"Feeling better? If so, let's go outside. It seems we can walk out." Xing Ye looked at the glass door, seeing the bustling traffic and lively scene outside.

They walked to the door, Xing Ye swiped the employee card, the automatic door opened, and they stepped out.

As soon as they exited, a wave of heat enveloped them. Cao Qian and Xing Ye's clothes were instantly soaked with sweat, making them want to rush back into the building with its central air conditioning...

Wait a minute!

Enduring the heat, Xing Ye said, "Let’s not focus on why we, as ants, are sweating. Just look at the temperature outside. I checked the computer today; it's April, a time of blooming flowers and warm spring days. Why is it hotter than summer?"

"Can we use the real-world seasons to deduce the game world?" Cao Qian asked.

Xing Ye responded, "Look at what people outside are wearing."

The streets were filled with people, some dressed in trench coats, others in long-sleeve t-shirts, and some even in heavy coats, similar to the eclectic spring fashion of the real world in April and May.

"Looking at their clothes, it shouldn't be this hot..." Cao Qian said, "Why do I want to go back to the company so badly, even if it's just to hide in the restroom? This is unbearable..."

Cao Qian's mental state was off, and Xing Ye himself felt extraordinarily irritable, unable to find the small mirror anywhere, which drove him to near madness.

He pounded his chest and opened his phone, discovering a small line of text had appeared in the game's background.

Story Background: Is this world unbearable? Don’t be afraid, there’s more to come.[Note]

Xing Ye clicked on the note, which read:

Note: The longer you stay in this strange world, the less sanity you have. Fear, anxiety, sadness, depression, pain, and irritability will all trouble you. How long can you stay sane?

This note seemed to indicate that sanity in this world was like a life meter, with countless events depleting it. If they didn’t find an exit before their sanity ran out, the players would all go insane.

Xing Ye remembered that Cao Qian had mentioned if players couldn't complete the task within the allotted time, they would be trapped in this world forever.

In this world, once their sanity was exhausted, they might not even remember how to kill themselves, becoming a group of lunatics.

Xing Ye's constant anxiety about not finding the small mirror was eroding his sanity bit by bit.

He had once said that as long as he retained his intelligence and sanity, he feared no world. But now, the system had thrown this challenge at him.

Luckily, he didn't choose hard mode; otherwise, he might have gone mad as soon as he arrived in this world.

"Cao Qian," Xing Ye handed her the phone, "look at the information on this."

Cao Qian sat on the ground, hugging her arms. She swatted Xing Ye's phone away, saying irritably, "I don't want to look! I want to go back! I don't want to stay outside!"

She then ran back, and Xing Ye couldn't stop her.

Earlier, when Cao Qian said she had stuffed the cockroach person's head into the toilet, Xing Ye found it slightly strange. Cao Qian was very brave; even if she feared cockroaches, she could usually control herself. In the campus world, she could charge at the disgusting monsters without hesitation, so why did she lose control over a cockroach person?

However, many people are not afraid of ghosts but fear cockroaches; fear can be inexplicable.

But Xing Ye felt he had overlooked something. Cao Qian mentioned that since arriving in this world, she had been hiding in the restroom stall, only coming out after knocking down the cockroach person.

Yet, for a whole 50 minutes, it was unlikely the cockroach person stayed in the restroom that long. Xing Ye speculated that the cockroach person had entered the restroom before leaving work, and Cao Qian, hiding in the stall, had seen them.

In other words, before 6 PM, Cao Qian had been hiding in the restroom, not coming out, and she didn't even realize how long she had been there.

It can't be said that Cao Qian was completely insane; she probably felt safe in the restroom stall and didn't want to come out or face the world.

Thinking of this, Xing Ye suddenly felt that it wasn't as hot outside. He even sensed a bit of coolness. It was already 6:30 PM, night was falling, and the spring breeze was slightly chilly—this was the expected climate for now.

Xing Ye thought, "Why did it suddenly not feel hot or uncomfortable? Because I realized that the feeling of heat was psychological, not physical. I was internally agitated, worried about the small mirror still being trapped in this building, and didn't want to go outside. The environment of this world responded to something I wasn't even conscious of, making the outside unbearable. Similarly, both Cao Qian and I were wary of monsters appearing in the elevator, making the elevator environment intolerable."

This was an extremely idealistic world.

Cao Qian had already disappeared, and Xing Ye didn't rush to chase her because he couldn't catch up. He walked into the restroom on the first floor and, before looking in the mirror, thought, "I am human. Everything in this world is normal; everyone is human."

As he thought this, his reflection in the mirror changed from an ant to a young man, about twenty-three or twenty-four, with glasses, resembling Xing Ye about fifty percent.

He looked a bit like Xing Shuo.

Xing Ye recalled that when he first saw Ren Tingman, she was a smart and sophisticated woman, and the office was full of people. But when Ren Tingman walked arrogantly past his desk, Xing Ye instinctively analysed her personality, finding her somewhat cold-blooded, and everyone in the office changed appearance.

However, if this world was entirely based on one's thoughts, then his and Cao Qian's perceptions should be different, as a thousand people have a thousand Hamlets in their hearts.

Yet, their feelings and views of the world were the same—the darkness in the elevator and the heat outside were identical.

"This isn't a world constructed by my senses, but a world where my emotions and thoughts trigger certain phenomena," Xing Ye thought. "A world where maintaining absolute rationality is necessary to see the true nature, but being in this world continuously depletes one's rationality."

It seemed that he must always maintain a positive mindset, not get anxious or discouraged, and avoid any negative emotions.

In fact, this was exactly the kind of world where he needed the small mirror, but he couldn't find it. Why was that?

Xing Ye opened the makeup mirror again and asked, "Lu Mingze, are you there?"

The mirror remained unresponsive; Lu Mingze was not there.

Xing Ye stared at the mirror for a while and suddenly thought, this isn't right.

Before finding the mirror in his pocket, he had "believed" it would appear there as a makeup mirror, just like in the past. So, when he reached into his pocket, he found the mirror.

When he looked into the mirror, thinking about what kind of animal he would be, he saw an ant. He "felt" that there should be a mirror in his coat pocket, and thus, there was a mirror identical to the one in his memory.

Xing Ye closed his eyes and thought: Maybe this is just my imagination. This isn't where Lu Mingze is hiding.

When he opened his eyes again, the makeup mirror was gone, and his palm was empty.

Was it his imagination that made the mirror appear, or was it his imagination that made the mirror disappear? It was impossible to tell. Was anything in this world real?

No, thinking this way would lead to questioning everything and falling into a labyrinth of thoughts. Doubt was an emotion that consumed rationality, so he couldn't think like this.

Xing Ye forced himself to calm down. His top priority now was to find Cao Qian.

The danger in this world was unlike that of other worlds, tangible and visible. The danger here was invisible and sometimes might even be a product of one's own imagination.

Xing Ye tried to reason: Cao Qian had stayed in the restroom stall for more than half an hour initially, so she must have felt that place was very safe to stay there so long. To find her, he probably had to search the women's restroom.

Having worn women's clothing and climbed into the girls' dormitory in several worlds, Xing Ye had no qualms about checking the women's restroom.

He first went to the 17th floor, where he initially found Cao Qian. He only saw an unconscious woman in one stall, likely the one knocked out by Cao Qian, who mistook her for a cockroach.

Cao Qian wasn't on the 17th floor, so he could only search floor by floor, which was very time-consuming.

He also needed to find the small mirror, feeling anxious about wasting time on this task. Fortunately, he noticed his anxiety and suppressed it.

He couldn't rush; rushing was also a negative emotion.

All feelings had to be suppressed and not shown. He had to smile and appear very calm, even if he felt like smashing a window. He had to endure.

Xing Ye told himself to search each floor carefully. He might not only find Cao Qian but also discover other players. Surprises could be hidden in every corner of life, so he had to pay attention to every detail.

He took the elevator to the top floor and began searching from there.

The building had 34 floors, with the top floor housing the executive offices of other companies. There probably wouldn't be any public restrooms here, as the executive offices would have private facilities.

Nevertheless, Xing Ye went up and saw that a certain company's president's office had its lights on, and the door was open, with a strong smell of smoke wafting out.

"Open!" A loud shout came from the office.

Xing Ye approached the door and saw seven or eight people gathered around the desk, playing... poker?

"Two aces, I won! Hahahaha! President Guan, you lost. You've already bet your position as general manager. What else do you have to wager?" The group laughed uproariously.

President Guan's eyes were bloodshot. Rolling up his sleeves, he said, "I still have my hands!"

"No, I don't want your hands. I want your wife. She's fair-skinned, beautiful, long-legged, and slim-waisted. I've wanted to sleep with her for a long time. Hahahaha!"

"No, no," President Guan took two steps back, shaking his head frantically, "I'd rather die than bet my wife. You might as well kill me and take my life."

"Then I won't be polite." The man pulled a gun from President Guan's waist and aimed it at his forehead.

The gun was the Hundred Percent Hit Gun with 4 bullets and a 50% accuracy rate.

Xing Ye walked into the office and said, "Guan Ling, it's me, Xing Ye."

President Guan saw Xing Ye and, shouting "Boss!", snapped out of his near-death state, jumping from his chair onto the desk. He yelled at the group, "This is my boss! If you want to kill me, you have to ask him first!"

Xing Ye didn’t get angry. Guan Ling had always depended on him, and in this irrational state, it was natural for him to seek Xing Ye's help.

Xing Ye addressed the group of indistinct faces, "I'll gamble with you."

"Boss, I suspect they’re cheating," Guan Ling whispered, his eyes bloodshot and on the brink of madness.

Xing Ye thought, if that shot had killed Guan Ling, would he have died, failed, and left this world?

Xing Ye never touched gambling or drugs and had no idea what game they were playing, but he told Guan Ling, "Trust me. Have I ever lost?"

Guan Ling’s eyes lit up, and the redness diminished. Right, the boss never loses; he must be a gambling god.

As the next round of cards was dealt, Guan Ling’s eyes shone with excitement. He clenched his fists and cheered, "Ace, Ace, Ace!"

"Looking for an ace?" one of the gamblers pulled out their hidden card and said, "I have it here."

Seeing the ace of hearts on the opposite side, Guan Ling looked defeated.

Xing Ye sighed and said to him, "They’re cheating. That ace is fake. If you rub the surface, it will change from an ace to a two. Try it."

Guan Ling obediently tried, and indeed, as Xing Ye said, the ace turned into a two without any scientific explanation. The last card Xing Ye received was the ace he had expected.

"I win," Xing Ye laid out his cards and said, "Shouldn't you return everything that belongs to President Guan and leave?"

The faceless gambler smiled and said, "A bet is a bet. Take your stuff."

Then, the wallet, phone, Hundred Percent Hit Gun, and the general manager’s nameplate were thrown onto the table, and the seven or eight people suddenly vanished, along with the smoke.

Guan Ling rubbed his eyes and said, "Weird, where did they go? Can they fly? Boss, were they ghosts?"

"They were your imagination," Xing Ye replied, "It seems your gambling spirit is undying; even in this world, you can't forget to gamble."

Guan Ling didn’t understand what Xing Ye meant. As they headed downstairs to find Cao Qian, Xing Ye explained the important things about this world to Guan Ling.

"You must control your emotions, or your imagination here can really kill you," Xing Ye warned. "The wallet is fake, the general manager is fake, but the Hundred Percent Hit Gun is real. If I hadn’t intervened, you’d have been shot in the head."

Guan Ling, still scared, said, "Thanks to you, Boss. We need to find Cao Qian quickly. She’s the stubborn type; I’m worried something might happen to her."

"Agreed."

Xing Ye was also very worried. Cao Qian's personality appeared calm, but in certain situations, she could become particularly extreme and careless with herself. She viewed herself as a tool, ready to sacrifice an arm or a leg at any time.

From the 34th floor down to the 27th, they finally heard an unusual noise coming from a women's restroom stall.

"Boss," Guan Ling pointed to the floor where blood was seeping out from under the stall door.

Xing Ye kicked the stall door open and saw Cao Qian, who had somehow found a knife, had already cut off her left arm and was now working on her leg.

Seeing Xing Ye, she looked up and said, "Xing Ye, wait a moment. I'll cut off the extra leg, and then I won't be an ant anymore."

Xing Ye sighed deeply. It was only 7 PM, and they had been in this world for less than two hours. One teammate was self-mutilating, and the other was on the verge of suicide.

"Help treat Cao Qian," Xing Ye instructed Guan Ling.

Guan Ling nodded frantically.

 

Translator : DarNan