First Time Fate-defying victory

At 8 a.m. on the final day, before the end, Xing Ye went to the exchange centre and converted all his chips into points.

Yan Hebi’s decision surprised him greatly. He had thought that even if Yan Hebi resisted converting them to cash, he would still take a large number of points. After all, those points were a safety net in the advanced world—having points would prevent him from being sent back to the novice or melee worlds.

But unexpectedly, Yan Hebi ended up only taking 200,000 points.

He explained it like this: “Since I don’t plan to convert them to money, there’s no point in taking so many points. Boss, you gave me 15 million points. If I lose in the next world, I’d lose at least 7.5 million points—that’s too huge a loss. I think those points would be more useful in your hands. I’ll just take 200,000 points—even if I lose in two consecutive worlds, I’ll still have 50,000 left. That’ll last me at least half a month without worry. Besides, if I really do run out of points, Boss wouldn’t just watch me get sent back to the novice world, right?”

As he said that, he even cheekily winked, looking completely at ease.

Xing Ye still remembered that when he first met Yan Hebi, he had this cheerful personality—spending more than 60 worlds stuck in the melee world, watching teammates leave for the advanced world one after another, yet never complaining about fate. He was an incredibly optimistic person.

But in the casino world, Yan Hebi had clearly been filled with confusion. The cruelty and mutual betrayal of the advanced world had left him at a loss—unsure whether to go with the flow or stay true to himself.

But from the moment Yan Hebi decided to forgo the points, Xing Ye knew he had made his choice.

Staying true to oneself is a difficult path. As people grow and enter society—the great dye vat—one cannot adapt without smoothing out the sharp edges and corners. In the end, everyone becomes round pebbles, indistinguishable from one another. But some people, even after being polished smooth, manage to retain their colour and protect their last shred of conviction, becoming a unique pebble among many.

And now, Yan Hebi—who chose this path—would be a comrade Xing Ye could trust.

Before exchanging points, Xing Ye returned the chips to Yan Hebi through a gambling game.

Xing Ye had originally planned to redeem some people's QR codes or initial skills. But thanks to Shao Lin, the two eliminated Green Team members—Liu Yi and Mu Ba—were both disqualified for cheating. Their QR codes and skills were directly reclaimed by the system.

As for the Red Team, all four owed Shao Lin chips. After they were eliminated, their initial skills and QR codes belonged to Shao Lin and would only be redeemable on the final day. But because Shao Lin owed the casino a massive debt, those special abilities were automatically seized to pay off what he owed and reclaimed by the system.

In the end, Xing Ye gained nothing.

After exchanging for over 30 million points, Xing Ye couldn’t help but sigh. Shao Lin was indeed a formidable opponent. Unfortunately, they walked different paths and were destined to be enemies.

Song Er was extremely indignant. Xing Ye had won so many points, but not a single one belonged to him. But what could he do? From the start, Xing Ye had told him that if he left his chips with Xing Ye, he would be compensated. But Song Er had been determined to protect himself from the beginning, unwilling to take any risks—what right did he have to ask Xing Ye for chips now?

At 9 a.m. on the final day, the cruise ship announced it had docked and instructed all passengers to disembark. The remaining three Green Team members knew their time in this world had come to an end.

Yan Hebi and Xing Ye had already exchanged their points and were sitting on the couch waiting for the game to end. After the ship’s prompt sounded, Yan Hebi felt someone staring at him. He turned his head and saw Lin Jingxue walking with a sharp-looking professional woman. Unlike Lin Jingxue’s alluring elegance, this woman had eyes like blades and a commanding aura.

It was she who had been staring at Yan Hebi earlier, and her gaze made him instinctively shrink his neck, completely subdued by her presence.

Lin Jingxue tugged at the capable woman and whispered something with a smile. The fierce-looking woman furrowed her brow slightly but ultimately gave in, nodding in agreement.

Lin Jingxue then led the woman over to Yan Hebi, pinched his chin lightly with her fragrant hand, and said with a smile, “Time to get off the ship.”

In that moment of being pinched, Yan Hebi felt like two steel knives had chopped down on his jawbone. That sense of pressure came from the sharp woman’s gaze.

“Don’t bristle at everyone you meet,” Lin Jingxue said to her friend with a laugh. “They’re all friends.”

She then said to Yan Hebi, “This is my lawyer friend, surname Liu—you can call her Lawyer Liu. She really wanted to meet your... boss. She admires Xing Ye’s mind.”

Xing Ye had never directly interacted with Lin Jingxue before—he had always communicated through Yan Hebi. Today was the first time he saw her in person.

And the moment he saw Lin Jingxue and Lawyer Liu, even someone as calm as Xing Ye couldn’t help his pupils contracting slightly. He barely maintained his composure.

Although they were older now, those two faces—he would never forget them.

Lawyer Liu handed Xing Ye a business card and said, “I hope we have the chance to cooperate again in the future.”

Xing Ye took the card and saw the name on it—Liu Muqing.

He was about to say something when the system prompt sounded in his ear:

“Gamble Cruise has ended. Congratulations to players Xing Ye, Yan Hebi, and Song Er for leading the Green Team to victory. Rewards have been distributed. Please return to the system space to draw your QR codes.”

Before Xing Ye could say anything more to Liu Muqing, he was transported back to the system space.

*

As Xing Ye regained awareness, he saw the Black-and-White Rubik’s Cube staring at him with a very strange expression.

No one knew how it adjusted its black and white tiles, but the whole face of the cube was white now, with two irregular black circles in the centre—looking just like someone wide-eyed and blankly staring at Xing Ye.

Even someone as calm as Xing Ye was startled by the cube’s expression and instinctively stepped back two paces.

The black-and-white Rubik’s Cube “stared” at Xing Ye for a while, then said weakly, “Congratulations to player x8205 on your victory. Do you need to convert your points to money?”

This cube, which had made no effort to hide its hostility at the beginning, had now learned to restrain its emotions in front of Xing Ye and obediently perform its role as a system tool.

“No need,” Xing Ye replied. “I’m not short on money for now.”

Although he had already decided not to convert his points to money, he still wanted to retain the right to do so in front of the system.

The Rubik’s Cube changed its expression, revealing a polite smile: “Player x8205, you are truly outstanding. The system has never encountered someone like you before.”

“Not really,” Xing Ye replied, “I wouldn’t have made it this far without my partner.”

In the mirror, his partner Lu Mingze puffed out his chest proudly.

Although he felt a little jealous that Xing Ye had just won over 30 million points in one go, when he thought about how it was a result of their teamwork—even if his own contribution was just a tiny part—it was still something to be proud of!

The Rubik’s Cube asked, “Do you need to spend some time bonding with your tool?”

It asked this every time Xing Ye returned to the system space, and the Rubik’s Cube had gradually gotten used to it.

Xing Ye did indeed have things he wanted to say to Lu Mingze, but not now, and certainly not in the system’s presence.

“Not at the moment,” Xing Ye replied simply.

Lu Mingze actually really wanted to chat with Xing Ye, but now was the time to support his teammate, so he stayed quiet.

The Rubik’s Cube said, “Then let’s proceed with reward settlement. Congratulations to player x8205 for achieving a Perfect Victory in the advanced world. Please draw your reward QR code.”

“Perfect victory?” Xing Ye noted the phrase. “Getting the true ending in the melee world is considered a perfect clear. What does ‘perfect victory’ mean in the advanced world? Why add the word ‘perfect’?”

The Rubik’s Cube replied, “Why don’t you take a look at your points—if that’s not a perfect victory, then what is?”

Xing Ye thought for a moment and said, “No, it can’t just be about the number of points. Lu Mingze once told me that sometimes in the advanced world he only got ten or twenty thousand points, while other times he could get over a million. That’s definitely not just luck. A perfect victory... my guess is that it means I didn’t just beat the players—I beat the system.”

If the casino represented the system, then this time Xing Ye had teamed up with the external gamblers and delivered a massive blow to the house. Even if it didn’t go bankrupt, it was severely wounded.

In the melee world, Xing Ye had followed the clues given by the system to uncover the truths the system had deliberately hidden. But he was still operating within its control. In the advanced world, for the first time, he had used his own strength to strike the system hard and win a huge amount of points from it. That’s why this time it was called a “perfect” victory.

Xing Ye said to the Rubik’s Cube, “Only a ‘perfect’ victory can earn a massive amount of points. Only then does it truly count as ‘fate defying’. That’s the real purpose of the game. Am I right?”

The Rubik’s Cube replied wearily, “No comment. You’re so clever, player—you can figure it out yourself. Even if you guess wrong, it won’t affect anything, and the system won’t be held responsible.”

Xing Ye: “…”

Ever since the rules were changed in the casino—or rather, since they entered the graveyard from the spiritual world—the system had started acting unpredictably.

“In a perfect clear you get to choose a tool. What about a perfect victory? Is there no extra reward?” Xing Ye asked again.

The Rubik’s Cube said, “Would you choose it if there were?”

Xing Ye: “…Fine. I’ll take the QR code.”

The Rubik’s Cube said, “There is a hidden reward, but the conditions to view it haven’t been met. Once you meet them, it will be unlocked. Now initiating QR code draw.”

Xing Ye was quite interested in the new QR code for the little mirror. In the previous world, he had decisively destroyed the “Consciousness Erasure QR Code.” Even if the system wanted to stir up trouble, it wouldn’t give him a similar code again so soon—this one should be to enhance Lu Mingze’s abilities.

After scanning the drawn QR code, a description appeared on the phone:

Welfare-type Tool Equipment QR Code:
A tool equipped with this QR code can experience the pleasures of eating and sleeping. Food from the game world can be “offered” to the consciousness within the tool, and its essence will be absorbed, making the food lose its energy-providing properties. Players who eat it afterward will not feel full. Since the food is not real, it does not cause metabolism. Both eating and sleeping provide only psychological satisfaction and have no practical effect.

“I can eat and sleep now!” Lu Mingze said joyfully from within the mirror.

While the system judged the QR code to have “no effect,” for Lu Mingze it was incredibly useful. From now on, he wouldn’t have to spend lonely nights alone anymore.

Xing Ye, thinking of Lu Mingze lying awake all night unable to sleep, showed a satisfied smile.

 

Translator : DarNan