Volume 7 - The Mountain God's Sacrifice

 

Die right at the beginning?

 

Lu Mingze's allergy symptoms healed after three days. During these days, his consciousness in the mirror had been drinking porridge and soup. Xing Ye found various nutritious porridges and immunity-boosting soups and even made sure to ask about any dietary restrictions. This time, he was determined to make sure Lu Mingze ate to his heart’s content.

Assistant Qi, observing his boss’s increasing appetite, felt a bit concerned. His boss was tall, handsome, cool, and aloof—and had even fallen in love with his own reflection in the mirror. What if he gained weight...

Sigh, he might end up heartbroken.

Though sharp and capable in front of others, Assistant Qi had a sentimental heart.

Three days later, when Xing Ye visited Lu Mingze again, he found that he had gained a bit of weight.

Lu Mingze, who had long been lying in bed and surviving on nutrient solutions, had been steadily losing weight. No matter how meticulously he was cared for, his frailty couldn’t be avoided. However, ever since the mirror-bound Lu Mingze had been able to eat, his body had grown more supple and fair.

On the fourth day, when Xing Ye visited after ensuring Lu Mingze’s seafood allergy had subsided, he found his parents at the bedside, discussing something with a doctor.

This doctor wasn’t the usual attending physician, but a foreign doctor speaking English. As Xing Ye moved closer to listen, he realized the doctor wanted to take Lu Mingze abroad for research, but Lu’s parents were firmly opposed.

The doctor explained that Lu Mingze was showing signs of spontaneous recovery. After reviewing the domestic doctors’ reports, he had been shocked and rushed over, hoping to bring Lu Mingze to receive treatment at the most advanced overseas hospitals.

Chairman Lu outright refused—no negotiation. Transmitting medical records and lab results remotely was acceptable, and they were willing to cooperate with blood draws and such, but taking Lu Mingze out of the country was out of the question.

After listening for a while, Xing Ye felt relieved. Even if the doctor offered sky-high prices, Chairman Lu would never agree. Lu Mingze’s recovery was a good sign. With his parents by his side, they would also feel more at ease. Letting him go abroad, beyond Chairman Lu’s watchful eyes, was simply unthinkable.

The doctor still tried to argue, but Chairman Lu insisted: no matter how much you nag, you’re not getting his case files.

These foreign experts had spent a month researching only to conclude that Lu Mingze was a vegetable. Yet after returning home and receiving thoughtful care, his condition improved. Chairman Lu would have to be out of his mind to let them take Lu Mingze away.

Seeing Xing Ye arrive, Lu’s mother pulled him aside and updated him on Lu Mingze’s recent condition.

According to the doctors, apart from the initial indigestion on the first day, Lu Mingze’s digestive system had been steadily recovering—as if he had already woken up and someone was carefully nourishing him with highly nutritious food. He improved every day, his complexion brightened, and he no longer looked pale, instead gradually gaining colour in his cheeks.

Moreover, although Lu Mingze had been a vegetative patient, his rest hadn’t been good. Various data had shown he remained in a state of mental exhaustion.

But in the past few days, it was as though a patient suffering from chronic insomnia had suddenly improved. After sleeping deeply for three days, his mental state became extraordinarily good.

In short, everything was steadily improving. This gave his parents hope—they believed Lu Mingze would definitely recover. At this point, there was no way they would let foreign doctors take their son away.

Not only had Lu Mingze’s complexion improved, but so had his mother’s. Her smile was no longer just polite, but filled with genuine hope and joy.

After returning from visiting Lu Mingze, Xing Ye said to the mirror, “You will recover. This time it’s not just empty promises—there’s enough evidence.”

In the mirror, Lu Mingze nodded vigorously. Seeing how happy his parents were today lifted his spirits too.

Xing Ye continued: “At first, your body showed no response at all, as if it were simply sleeping. But as your consciousness began to return to the real world, the connection between your body and your awareness deepened. The bodily functions that had declined due to long-term dormancy are now recovering.

“Based on the equipment QR codes I and Cao Qian obtained, I’ve discovered a pattern in the system’s QR codes. First, the system strengthens the item, gradually granting it various abilities to incite greed in the fate defying player. Once both of the item’s initial skills are upgraded, the system introduces QR codes meant to erase the item’s consciousness, tempting the player. But if the player resists that temptation, they’ll draw QR codes that help restore the item’s real-world body.”

Lu Mingze thought it over carefully—it was indeed so.

Xing Ye continued: “Becoming a vegetative patient is truly hopeless in the real world. But in such situations, most families will still choose to treat the patient for a time. The length varies: some may give up in months, others may persist for years.

“As long as the fate defying player and the obedient item build trust quickly and bond deeply, winning in the melee worlds isn’t that difficult. A true ending might be hard, but a normal ending is achievable in a relatively short time. Even if they don’t win every world, after three or four months, there’s a high probability of drawing a QR code that restores the body.”

And for most families—unless they were very poor—caring for a loved one for three or four months was still possible. If signs of recovery appeared after that, even if they couldn’t afford a care facility, the body could slowly recover through the ongoing link with consciousness.

Lu Mingze said gravely, “So, as long as the fate defying player and the obedient item trust each other, the item will eventually recover. Yet the system gave players the option to erase consciousness... Maybe one day, it’ll even tell the player: ‘You could have saved him, but your greed and selfishness killed him.’”

Xing Ye replied, “The system loves to toy with human nature. My earlier suspicions were right—this system is malicious. Just because it claims to support ‘good’ doesn’t mean it isn’t ‘evil’. At every black-and-white crossroads, it pushes players toward evil.”

“But you won’t be deceived by the system. And neither will I,” Lu Mingze said firmly.

Xing Ye gave a soft smile: “I can’t do it without you. But now that you’re here, you’ll always remind me.”

Lu Mingze felt warm inside.

He truly was lucky—to have loving parents, a good background, a smooth journey in the game, and even after becoming an item, to meet someone as smart and kind as Xing Ye.

He silently gave thanks in his heart.

What Lu Mingze didn’t know was that Xing Ye was also secretly grateful—that he had met Lu Mingze in the very first world of the game.

Xing Ye thought of his younger brother Xing Shuo. At their core, they were the same type of person—always wandering between good and evil. If there had been an easier path, either of them could have gone down the dark road.

Fortunately, Xing Ye had met Lu Mingze and remembered their bond from the real world: the real world, the school world, Puppet Town, the hospital world, the mental world… Time and time again, Lu Mingze had pulled Xing Ye back from the edge of moral collapse. They were each other’s salvation.

But Xing Shuo hadn’t been so lucky. He fought alone, making it all the way to the final level, only to fall under fate’s cruel joke.

Even so, Xing Shuo had not despaired. Before dying, he passed information about the game and his initial skills to Xing Ye, giving him new strength.

I will win. Xing Ye encouraged himself in silence.

He carried the legacy. He had been redeemed. He would overcome fate.

*

With that resolve, seven days passed, and Xing Ye and Lu Mingze returned to the system space.

Last time, Xing Ye had fought alone. But this time, their strongest teammate Cao Qian rejoined the team, along with Yan Hebi, who had earned the achievement title “Friend of Women.” Their team had grown stronger once again.

Xing Ye wasn’t worried whether he and his teammates would be on the same side. His true opponent had never been the players—it was always the system. Even if they ended up on opposite sides, with over 3,000 points, he had full confidence he could protect them.

After seven days of adjustment, the black-and-white cube seemed to have recovered quite a bit. It no longer had the terrifying face it showed after the casino world ended—probably because the massive amount of points had dealt a heavy blow to the game.

When the black-and-white cube saw Xing Ye, it pieced together a familiar smile and said, “Player x8205, this is the second world in the advanced stage. Are you ready?”

Xing Ye replied, “That’s a redundant question. Generate the new world.”

The cube said, “The player seems quite enthusiastic. Did the last victory make you overconfident?”

Xing Ye remained calm and said, “You can think of it that way if you like.”

“Player x8205, you must remain calm at all times. The system isn’t afraid of you defeating fate—it even encourages it. After all, this is the ‘Challenging Fate Game’,” the cube said.

Xing Ye didn’t respond. The cube also stopped talking and began spinning rapidly, revealing a new QR code.

After Xing Ye scanned the QR code, the following prompt appeared on his phone:

Game Type: Story-based
Player Role: Human
Number of Participants: Fixed at 10
Victory Condition: Hidden within the story. Players must discover it on their own. The 10 players will be divided into two teams, and only one team will ultimately win.
Rewards and Penalties: Winners randomly draw one special QR code card and receive 10,000 points. Losers will lose half of their current points.

Xing Ye looked at the prompt—it was different from the last time. In the cruise ship world, the game type was “competitive,” but this time it was “story-based.” The rewards and penalties had also changed. Losing meant losing half his points… Clearly, the system couldn’t wait to take back the points he had won.

The cube’s voice became cheerful: “Player, you’re quite lucky. With so many points, even if you lose, you won’t be downgraded to the melee world. If things get dangerous, you can always choose to give up. After all, even in failure, there’s still a chance.”

Xing Ye glanced at the cube—it was trying hard to persuade him to give up and choose failure.

This meant the difficulty level would be high. The game would definitely try to trap him hard this time.

Even so, Xing Ye would never give up.

He clicked “Start Game.” As the familiar sensation of spatial transfer occurred, Xing Ye opened his eyes—only to find someone lying on top of him, holding a sharp pair of scissors in both hands.

Xing Ye: “……”

It was a middle-aged woman who looked mentally unstable. Her hair was a mess, and the veins on the backs of her hands bulged. She babbled crazily at Xing Ye, “If you’re going to suffer, you might as well die! I’ll kill you—you’ll be free!”

With that, she stabbed the scissors at Xing Ye’s throat!

Starting the game with death? Xing Ye didn’t even have time to observe his surroundings before facing a life-or-death crisis. It was obvious: if he died now, the game would definitely be a failure.

However, Xing Ye wasn’t someone who couldn’t handle a half-crazed woman. He rolled to the side, trying to avoid the attack.

But—he couldn’t roll!

His hands and feet were tied! The rope was very strong—even with his strength, he couldn’t break free!

 

Translator : DarNan