Volume 8 : Hunting Thirty Million

 

Congratulations to player X8205 for reaching an intimacy level of 100 with the item.

 

This time, Lu Mingze entered the game together with Xing Ye, from outside the mirror.

At midnight, he stepped out of the mirror as usual, worked out for an hour, then lay on the sofa enjoying a massage. At exactly 1:30, Xing Ye held the mirror, and Lu Mingze wrapped his arms around Xing Ye’s waist, waiting for the game to begin.

This was Lu Mingze’s own idea — he wanted to test whether entering the game in this state would make any difference.

Xing Ye reasoned that even if Lu Mingze’s body was outside the mirror, he should still be able to enter the game space, since this was an ability derived from a QR code, and therefore didn’t violate the rules.

Once that was confirmed, Lu Mingze boldly proposed waiting for the game to start outside the mirror — maybe there would be some unexpected benefit.

Xing Ye agreed, but he gripped Lu Mingze’s arm tightly, his slightly pale fingertips revealing how nervous he was.

He worried that doing this might put Lu Mingze in danger — for instance, that once he entered the game, he might not be able to return to the mirror, existing only in the form of a consciousness body. If that happened, it could be extremely dangerous, since in higher-level worlds, there existed QR codes capable of erasing the consciousness of items.

The mirror, though a restriction, was also a protection. When Lu Mingze was inside it, he could completely hide himself; only when he wanted others to see him could they do so. Combined with his ability to transfer consciousness, even Xing Ye sometimes couldn’t find which mirror Lu Mingze was hiding in.

If he ever lost the ability to enter the mirror and could only exist as a consciousness body, he would lose his hiding place.

But Lu Mingze was very optimistic. He felt that his luck was exceptionally good, and that nothing bad would happen. Since he was determined, Xing Ye respected his decision.

When the game link was tapped on the phone at 1:30 and they entered the game space, Xing Ye noticed that Lu Mingze had entered in physical form, still holding his arm.

“Eh? I really came in with my body this time!” Lu Mingze said excitedly, spinning around once. “Let me see if I can enter the mirror.”

The phone case in Xing Ye’s hand was still mirrored; Lu Mingze focused his mind, and in an instant appeared inside it.

From within the mirror, he said joyfully, “See? I knew I could get in!”

Then, thinking for a moment, he popped right back out into the system space. “I came out again! Does this mean I can freely enter and leave the mirror now?”

“You must be joking. In the game world, items can only exist as items. The reason you can enter and exit freely right now is because we’re in the system space,” said a black-and-white cube that suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

It appeared so abruptly that Lu Mingze was startled. He hid behind Xing Ye, peeking out half of his face to look at the cube.

Xing Ye patted Lu Mingze’s head and said unhappily, “You scared him.”

The black-and-white cube replied emotionlessly, “I am the representative of the Challenging Fate Game system — in real-world terms, the game’s administrator, customer service, or GM. I’ve always existed in the system space; I didn’t appear suddenly just to frighten anyone.”

Xing Ye glanced at the black-and-white cube. This time, it didn’t assemble two giant black eyes to stare at him — it had returned to a calm state.

It seemed to have figured out how to deal with him.

Xing Ye asked, “What will happen to Lu Mingze in the game world?”

The cube answered, “The same as before. Nothing will change. However, in the game space, he can freely enter and exit the item.”

“That’s great!” Lu Mingze exclaimed, stepping out from behind Xing Ye. “The game space has no concept of time — after the game ends, I can stay a bit longer in the system space. That way, we’ll have more time together!”

As he said this, he hugged Xing Ye, blushing slightly.

In a soft voice, he said, “These past seven days, I’ve been counting the hours until midnight, just so I could come out for those two hours. But those two hours always pass so fast — like the blink of an eye — while the remaining twenty-two hours feel so hard to endure.”

Lu Mingze stretched out his hand, intertwined his fingers with Xing Ye’s — their ten fingers locked together.

Ever since being able to step out of the mirror, Lu Mingze loved physical contact with Xing Ye. It seemed to reassure him that he was truly alive.

Having stayed inside mirrors for so long, Lu Mingze felt that human warmth was truly wonderful — so much better than the cold surface of glass.

Xing Ye also held Lu Mingze’s hand in return and gently kissed his forehead —
a kiss without any trace of desire, filled only with tenderness and pity.

Xing Ye had never liked the system space; here, there were only two colours — black and white.
Staying too long could be harmful to both the eyes and the mind.
But now that Lu Mingze was by his side, Xing Ye felt as though flowers were blooming all around the system space.

Thinking carefully, white flowers were beautiful, and black flowers were rare — if one imagined the system space as a garden, the environment didn’t seem so bad after all.

At that moment, Xing Ye truly understood what it meant by the saying: “Wherever you are, even the desert can bloom with flowers.” (NT: expression meaning that when someone you love is with you, even a harsh or desolate place becomes warm and beautiful.)

The system space itself was not frightening — what was truly frightening was loneliness without companionship.

After being kissed, Lu Mingze felt a burst of happiness. He tiptoed and planted a quick kiss on Xing Ye’s cheek, then, a little embarrassed, buried his head in Xing Ye’s chest.

Hmm… being able to hear another person’s heartbeat was such a joy.
Lu Mingze no longer had one himself, but hearing Xing Ye’s made him feel as if he were still alive.

Lu Mingze was facing away from the black-and-white cube, while Xing Ye faced it directly.
After a few moments of affectionate intimacy, Xing Ye suddenly sensed something odd.
When he looked up, he saw that the cube had once again turned into its “two giant eyes” mode — but this time, the entire surface was black, and only the two eyes were white.

Seeing that Xing Ye was finally looking at it, the black-and-white cube said: “Player X8205, please note that this is the Challenging Fate Game, not a dating show.
Please respect the game appropriately, and refrain from displaying affection within the system space.”

“In front of you, I can’t help feeling awkward either,” Lu Mingze stuck out his tongue at the cube and said, “Just generate the world already — we’ll talk after the game ends.”

The black-and-white cube replied, “Then I wish Player X8205 a safe return to the system space.”

With that, it began to spin wildly, preparing to generate a new world.

Hearing the cube’s tone, Xing Ye and Lu Mingze exchanged glances — both had the sense that this time, the cube had come prepared. There must be some hidden scheme waiting in the world ahead.

Sure enough, when the QR code of the new world was generated and Xing Ye scanned it,
the game description appeared — and even Xing Ye couldn’t help but sigh. This time, the game had truly gone too far.

The new world’s description read:

Game Title: Hunting Thirty Million
Game Type: Pursuit / Chase

Player Roles: Passengers
Participants: 20 (over the normal limit)

Winning Conditions:
Among the 20 players, one possesses 30 million game points.
Whoever successfully hunts down and kills this player will receive the 30 million points.
There are no teams in this game — each player acts independently.
Players may temporarily form alliances via the in-game team-up function, and if they succeed in killing the target, the 30 million points will be split evenly among the team.

The single player who starts with 30 million points cannot form teams, and must personally eliminate all 19 other players to win.

Rewards and Penalties:
The victor will draw one special QR code card at random, and obtain the initial skill and game items of the 30-million-point player.
If the 30-million-point player wins, they will receive an invitation card to the Final Stage.

Notes:
Due to the excess number of participants, all players in this round are considered to have taken part in two consecutive worlds.
After the game ends — win or lose — each player will be allowed to rest in the real world for 14 days before reentering the game.

Xing Ye: “…”

Reading along on the phone, Lu Mingze exploded in anger: “System, don’t you have any shame? According to my experience, once a player perfectly clears three advanced worlds with game-rule interference, they earn the right to challenge the Final Stage. Xing Ye has already achieved two perfect clears — only one more would open the path to the Final Stage. And now, right before that, you make him the target of everyone’s hunt? Isn’t that going too far?”

Lu Mingze was truly furious.
He had followed Xing Ye from the very first stage till now, and in every single world, Xing Ye’s difficulty was many times higher than any other player’s.
There had never been an easy round for him — he had to tread cautiously every step, like dancing on the tip of a knife and walking a tightrope over a thousand-foot cliff (NT: idiom: living on the edge, one mistake leading to ruin).
Even the slightest misstep would mean total destruction.

After all the hardship, Xing Ye’s starting skill had finally evolved, he had memorized many QR codes, and his teammates had grown stronger. Lu Mingze had thought that, with Cao Xi, Yan Hebi, and Qian Jinlai cooperating, this world might finally be a little easier.
But who could have guessed the game would pull something like this!
The temptation of 30 million points, the restriction of not forming teams — could Xing Ye still trust his comrades who had once lived and died with him?
Did the system really have to push him to a dead end?

Lu Mingze’s eyes reddened as he glared at the black-and-white cube — angry for Xing Ye, and aching for him.

Only Lu Mingze knew the burden Xing Ye carried in this game, and how immense the pressure truly was.
Even so, Xing Ye never showed despair in real life — he stayed strong, he kept going. But that didn’t mean he never got tired.

Xing Ye placed his hands on Lu Mingze’s shoulders, turning him gently to face forward. The handkerchief in his pocket hadn’t entered the game with him, so he could only use his fingers to wipe away Lu Mingze’s tears and pull him into his arms.

“Don’t worry,” Xing Ye said softly, patting his shoulder. “Look on the bright side — the rules this time mean it’s not just a game-rule-interference world. This is a world entirely generated by the game itself, a full battle royale. In the past, games were constructed from smaller worlds, with complete world-views and characters. But this time, the game controls all the rules directly — that means the world won’t be as complete. It’s forcibly dragging in twenty players; even the system said it’s over capacity. I believe a hastily formed world like this must have loopholes. It might not be as hard to clear as it looks.

“Besides, once I defeat the other nineteen players, I’ll reach the Final Stage. We’ve come all this way to the end — we should be happy.”

Lu Mingze sniffled twice, pressing his face against Xing Ye’s chest and muttering, “I know… but my heart aches for you. I’m angry.”

Xing Ye smiled. He rubbed his chin against Lu Mingze’s soft hair and said gently, “And I’m happy — happy that you care so much about me.”

At that moment, Xing Ye’s black-and-white phone lit up, as if notifying him of something.

Both turned to look.
A pop-up appeared on the screen, and when Xing Ye tapped it open, it read:

Congratulations, Player X8205!
Your intimacy level with your item has reached 100.
Titles unlocked: “ Love stronger than gold” and “Unwavering until death.

Achievement title unlocked for the compliant item Lu Mingze: “Turning misfortune into blessing” .

Joint skill unlocked: “Hearts connected as on”.

Function: Telepathic communication and mind connection.

Note: This skill can only be used when intimacy level remains at 100.

 

Translator : DarNan