(NT: idiom meaning swap things secretly)

 

One plus one is always greater than one

How exactly it would work, Xing Ye himself couldn’t say clearly. He was only making a reasonable deduction based on the clues and plot so far.

But now, everyone was already completely convinced. The new teammate, Qian Daniu, had even become a brainless “Xing-fan” because of Xing Ye’s reasoning.

Trusting Xing Ye was something very easy to do—after all, an overwhelming superiority in intelligence was simply too convincing.

When Xing Ye suggested that they should still go out to eat and also look for the village party secretary, Qian Daniu frowned miserably and said: “Then how are we supposed to go out? The sun is so fierce… I could go out by myself, that would be fine, but I don’t dare go out together with the three of you. Why don’t we just wait until night? Going hungry for one day—I can endure that.”

Yet she was the only one among the three who was a fate-following player , the only one not under control. So why was she the one suffering the most?

Xing Ye said: “Night won’t work. Our bodies are already weak. If we starve for an entire day, we won’t be able to resist danger at all. I have an idea we can try. Back in the spiritual world, I memorized a QR code called ‘Empathy,’ which can link the emotions of two people. I don’t know if this method can resist the control that comes from the sunlight.”

Everyone turned to look at Xing Ye. There was a move like that too?

Xing Ye’s idea was to use “Empathy” between himself and Lu Mingze, then walk out of the house. He would tie a rope around himself, and if anything went wrong, Cao Qian would pull him back.

If it was confirmed that “Empathy” could resist that control, then they would be able to move during the day. They would only need to refresh the QR code every five minutes. For Xing Ye, that was no problem.

“There’s really such an operation…” Qian Daniu muttered. “I feel like you’re about to break QR codes with how much you abuse them. I never knew they could even be used this way.”

“That’s because the QR codes in your hands are one-use only, and you don’t know the effect before using them,” Xing Ye replied.

Still, even if you could use QR codes infinitely, who would ever drop pianos like rain?

After using “Empathy” to link his emotions with the little mirror, Xing Ye felt Lu Mingze’s worry.

“Don’t worry, I believe in you,” Xing Ye said while holding the mirror.

Lu Mingze replied: “But even with your strong willpower, you’ll still be controlled. I’m afraid I can’t help you.”

Xing Ye smiled: “Your conviction is stronger than mine. Don’t you know that?”

Lu Mingze was slightly stunned. Through “Empathy,” he could clearly feel Xing Ye’s emotions—Xing Ye truly, completely trusted him.

Why? Lu Mingze was confused.

While he was still wondering, Xing Ye once again bravely stepped out of the house.

An ordinary person, after being controlled, would probably grow fearful of sunlight. Even if they tried, they would feel fearful. But Xing Ye did not. He had great confidence in both Lu Mingze and his own deductions. He believed overcoming this kind of mental control was a rare challenge. He wasn’t afraid—he was even a little excited.

Sensing Xing Ye’s rare fighting spirit, Lu Mingze also clenched his little fists tightly inside the mirror. He would definitely protect Xing Ye’s consciousness!

As soon as he stepped out, the sunlight fell upon him. That controlling will once again surged in his mind, trying to force him back into the sacrificial courtyard.

But at that very moment, in Xing Ye’s spiritual world, a mirror appeared to block that will. Through “Empathy,” Lu Mingze’s protective feelings warmly wrapped around Xing Ye’s consciousness, pressing down the subconscious compulsion.

Xing Ye turned back and saw his companions anxiously waiting inside the house. He smiled slightly. To prove he hadn’t been controlled, he didn’t need to say anything—just a simple action would do.

He walked back into the house purely by his own willpower and said to the three, who were watching with delight: “It works.”

“That’s great!” Qian Daniu was the happiest—she never wanted to have her legs broken again!

Xing Ye took out the little mirror and asked: “Do you feel tired?”

Lu Mingze shook his head inside the mirror: “No. I just want to protect you. Combined with your own strength, we don’t need to fear that will at all—it can’t even get close to us.”

Xing Ye recalled the experience and murmured: “One person can’t clear the game. One plus one will always be greater than one.” (NT: idiom meaning that cooperation always surpasses going alone.)

After reaching the advanced worlds, the words his younger brother Xing Shuo had said in the cemetery were being proven true one by one: the game never intended for a single player to clear it alone. Those fate-following players who looked down on the fate-defying players, and those fate-defying players who dismissed the tools of the fate-followers —none of them could pass worlds that had game rules intervening.

“There’s one more thing,” Lu Mingze mentioned. “Just now, in your consciousness—while we were using Empathy and resisting that subconscious together—I think I saw a QR code.”

Everyone turned to the mirror.

Lu Mingze frowned: “How should I put it… all the game’s special abilities appear in the form of QR codes, right? Then could it be that the force controlling your minds is also a QR code?”

“Do you still remember what it looked like?” Xing Ye asked.

Lu Mingze replied: “I don’t have your terrifying memory.”

Hearing this, the others were a little discouraged. True, who could match Xing Ye’s monstrous memory?

But Lu Mingze wasn’t done: “However, you gave me the ‘Eye of Impression,’ which combined with my ‘Eye of Truth’ into the ‘Magic Mirror of Truth.’ This skill merges all the strengths of our two starting skills. I can use the mirror to reproduce the image of that QR code.”

As he finished speaking, a QR code appeared in the mirror. Xing Ye seized the moment, used his wristband to scan it, and unexpectedly, the wristband displayed a description.

“I have every form you desire” — A rare, mysterious QR code from the Advanced World. One of the system’s exclusive QR codes, not meant for players. Cannot be redrawn with the ‘Pen of Redrawing.’ Each player may only use it once.
This QR code allows the player to create a duplicate identical to themselves, who can replace them in doing anything. Even if the player leaves their duplicate behind in the system’s space and permanently withdraws from the game, it works. A permanent QR code, no time limit.

Congratulations to the player for stealing a special ability from the system for the first time. Combined with the way you entered the game, you have unlocked the achievement title: “Stealing the Sky and Swapping the Sun”

Achievement Title: “Stealing the Sky and Swapping the Sun.”
With this title, the player may use the skill once per world. As the name suggests, as long as the player has enough intelligence to devise a reasonable method, they can change reality itself. Even if they truly wanted to replace the sky with the sun, as long as it was logically sound, it could be achieved.

Xing Ye stared at the two descriptions for a long time, unable to speak.

He still remembered that Xing Shuo’s achievement titles had been “failure at the final step” and “ to cross the river secretly at Chen Cang” ( NT: comes from a famous military stratagem, means to advance by a hidden path).

His deceased younger brother Xing Shuo had used the arrangements he left behind during his lifetime to smuggle Xing Ye into this world. And now, with the help of the little mirror, Xing Ye had obtained such a powerful achievement title himself.

It was truly one link tightly connected to the next.

“What’s wrong?” The teammates grew concerned when they saw Xing Ye staring silently at his wristband.

In a world without cell phones, aside from the player themselves, no one else could see what was displayed on a wristband.

Xing Ye shook his head and said: “Nothing. Just that I’m even more certain now—we can defeat this game.”

The others didn’t understand what he meant, but Lu Mingze, who could read all of Xing Ye’s information, did.

Everything had been destined. From the moment Xing Shuo died, from the moment Xing Ye refused to give up investigating his brother’s death, from the moment he inherited his brother’s will and entered the game—victory was already inevitable.

“We will definitely win!” Lu Mingze said excitedly from within the mirror. “Not just in this world, but in the entire game.”

When Xing Ye explained to everyone the heaven-defying power of the QR code “I Have Every Form You Desire”, Qian Daniu said in shock: “Doesn’t that mean, as long as you make a double of yourself, you can just leave here?”

Xing Ye shook his head: “I won’t leave like that. Not until I’ve beaten the game, until I’ve cleared the true final level. And I would never create another being that thinks exactly like me—that would be too dangerous. Even if I use this ability, I won’t create a conscious person. I don’t have the right to create life.”

“You already know how to use this QR code?” Cao Qian asked, gazing at Xing Ye, suspicion forming in her heart.

“Yes,” Xing Ye nodded. “If I’m not mistaken, this QR code is the only condition by which we can win in the Mountain God Village world. If I use it to escape the game, then this world can never be won.”

The system was truly despicable. It kept tempting players, luring them to choose the easier path—to abandon companions, abandon the game, abandon victory.

Qian Daniu asked, puzzled: “Since the game is so dangerous, if there’s a way to permanently leave it, why don’t you take it? Even if you left, if you left behind a person with your same level of intelligence, we could still clear the level.”

Xing Ye shook his head: “The duplicate created by a me who chose to escape would inevitably inherit the thought of ‘abandoning my companions to survive alone.’ At the final moment, he would only run away by himself and give up on all of you. That’s the trap the system has set. If I did that, I would have truly lost—lost to the system, and lost to my own weakness.”

Qian Daniu looked at Xing Ye, then at Cao Qian and Yan Hebi—who both wore expressions of complete trust in Xing Ye, willing to follow him unto death. Something different stirred in her heart.

This feeling made her start crying uncontrollably. She wiped her tears with her sleeve, shook her head, and said: “Just now I suddenly got hot-headed and wanted to go with you to pierce the sky. I must be crazy.”

Cao Qian gently patted her head and said seriously: “You’re not crazy. We really are going to pierce the sky of Mountain God Village, so that no one will be controlled anymore. That’s the true perfect victory of this world.”

Yan Hebi said to Xing Ye: “Use ‘Empathy’ on us. We’ll go find the village secretary and get the key information out of him!”

Cao Qian added: “I can link with Linlin using Empathy. Her willpower isn’t as strong as the little mirror’s, but her self-hypnosis ability is very powerful. I believe she can protect me.”

The swan crystal in her pocket made a dissatisfied noise: “Gu-ga gu-ga gu-ga!”

Yan Hebi said: “I’ll use Empathy with Qian Daniu. She isn’t controlled by the sunlight, and I also have the ‘Friend of Women’ title. It’ll definitely work.”

Looking at his determined teammates, Xing Ye gave a slight smile, nodded, and said: “Alright.”

 

Translator : DarNan