Congratulations on Your Successful Escape

Mo Yi was taken aback.

Only then did he remember that after the last copy, when Jiang Yuanrou had come to him, she had mentioned that the reason she knew that Shen Lei had come out safely from within the copy was because — Shen Lei had been brought into the business by her. 

It was not surprising that the two had a personal relationship.

But in a few seconds, his train of thought had already circled about in his mind. Mo Yi swiftly curbed the blank look on his face, and nodded at Shen Lei, expression indifferent, showing a restrained and polite smile. “Yes. Long time no see.”

After speaking, he pulled open the car door behind him and got in. The car door at his side closed with a shallow, muffled thud, instantly blocking out the noise and voices outside the window. The heat that had been rising suddenly disappeared, leaving only the coolness of the air conditioning inside the car.

There was a strong scent of tobacco in the car. Mo Yi was caught off guard and choked, coughing several times. 

While starting the car, Shen Lei looked at him through the rearview mirror, put out the cigarette butt, and smiled. “Can’t stand the smell of smoke? Then I’ll pinch it.”

Mo Yi suppressed the sounds of coughing, voice somewhat hoarse. “… Thanks.”

The window was slightly rolled down a crack by Shen Lei, the clean and fresh air outside the car rushed in with the even speed of the car, dispelling the slightly muddy grass scent inside the car.

For the rest of the journey, the two didn’t talk.

Mo Yi couldn’t figure out what Jiang Yuanrou’s purpose was in having Shen Lei pick him up. And Shen Lei seemed to have come to simply be a chauffeur, earnestly driving the car the whole way, not saying much.

Silence enveloped the car, and all Mo Yi could hear was the steady rumble of the car driving across the road, coupled with the hustle and bustle of vehicles within the city walls, seeming particularly fuzzy due to the window separating them.
It was at this point that a familiar strange movement gently prodded his fingers.

His palm, which was placed on his knee, was faintly touched, similar to a very light wisp of wind, restless and itchy against the hollows of his palm.

Mo Yi’s palm subconsciously closed, eyebrows slightly furrowed. 

He raised his eyes and looked at Shen Lei who was driving, only to see that he was still focused on the conditions of the road, not at all noticing the strange movements behind him.

Mo Yi gritted his teeth.

He had to suspect that the mist was being deliberate — Either it showed up when it was inconvenient for him to talk, or after it showed up, it would quickly become dormant. It was too cunning, ba!

That familiar touch came from his hand again. 

— It seemed more courageous than before.

It no longer just curled around his fingers, but moved up a little bit, softly encircling the prominent contours of the bones of Mo Yi’s wrist, affixed to the smooth lines of the back of his hand.

A few wisps of mist traced the indentations on the back of his hand and into the gaps between his fingers, rubbing against his palm.

Mo Yi’s expression was a bit subtle. 

Not knowing whether it was an illusion of his or not, but he always felt as if … his fingers were intertwined with someones.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

He freed his fingers and felt the air, hands not at all sluggish. There was no sensation of being bound.

Zb Tl’r ilqr qegrfv, abrrlcu atf ragjcuf offilcu lc tlr tfjga ab atf yjmx bo tlr wlcv, jcv gfjmtfv bea tlr tjcv, ajxlcu bea atf mfii qtbcf ogbw tlr qjcar qbmxfa.

— Kegcfv bc Vcjxf. 

Ktfc, atf mfii qtbcf kjr qijmfv lc atf vglnfg’r yilcv rqba.

Mbg j gjgf wbwfca, atf atlc, tjhs ijsfg bo wlra ogbhf.

Mo Yi raised his eyebrows, somewhat puzzled: “Huh? Did he understand it wrong? Didn’t it want to play games?

At this moment, the car slowly jolted, then came to a stop. Shen Lei turned to look at Mo Yi, smiled, and said, “We’ve arrived.” 

Mo Yi, without batting an eyelid, turned off the cell phone screen, and then placed it back into his pocket and looked out the car window, only to see an exquisite little villa which exuded an inviting feeling. It stood tall and upright amongst the layers of greenery, appearing especially beautiful under the dazzling midday sun.

Shen Lei’s voice came again, “You go in first, ba. I’ll drive the car into the garage.”

Mo Yi nodded. “Okay.”

He opened the car door and stepped down, heading into the villa. 

As soon as he entered the door, Mo Yi was taken aback.

The entire structure of the villa inside seemed to have changed. It was completely different from the last time he was here. The originally delicate and elegant interior seemed to have been torn down, replaced by a minimalistic black and white style. There was a sign at the door, and on it was a sketch of something.

Before Mo Yi could walk over and clearly see what was written on it, he at once heard a familiar voice come from his side, “Brother Mo?”

Mo Yi was startled and followed the voice, only to see a figure appearing at the entrance of the corridor next to him. The man reached out his hand and nudged his glasses and showed a cautious smile at Mo Yi. 

Wang Zezhi.

Mo Yi wasn’t very surprised. His eyes merely curved a bit as he smiled at him. “Just call me by name. Brother Mo is too unfamiliar.”

Wang Zezhi shook his head repeatedly and said, “No, no. Brother Mo, you’re really amazing. If it weren’t for you, I would never be able to return from that copy!”

He suddenly seemed to recall something, teeth somewhat gritted, fuming with rage, and said, “This copy definitely can’t be an ordinary low difficulty copy! There was fewer people and more time, but the difficulty was not low at all! What a garbage game!” 

Mo Yi: … Actually, this time, the pot really wasn’t the games.

At this moment, Mo Yi seemed to have noticed Wang Zezhi’s odd attire — He was wearing a close-fitting white vest and sports shorts, revealing pale limbs that hadn’t seen the sun for a long time. A white towel was draped over his shoulders and on his forehead were beads of sweat. It looked like he had just finished exercising.

Mo Yi hesitated for a few seconds, then somewhat hesitantly asked, “Um… Are you just getting back from your run?”

Hearing Mo Yi’s words, Wang Zezhi’s expression instantly collapsed. His eyes behind the lenses glistened with tears. He looked at Mo Yi pitifully and slightly stuttering, said, “He … he said that my body was too weak …” 

A bad feeling instantly rushed into Mo Yi’s heart.

In the next second, his unknown premonition came true.

He heard Shen Lei’s clear and vigorous voice from behind, “Since everyone has met, I will reintroduce myself. I am the fitness coach that Jiang Yuanrou has invited to help with your special training and also a part time nutritionist. After all, proper exercise is the only way to increase the rate of survival in the copy!”

Mo Yi’s body froze. 

He recalled the evaluation Shen Lei had given him in the first copy, “Young man, your body is too weak. Even if you are in the office, you can’t lack exercise. It’s easy to die in the game.”

Turned out … it was unexpectedly … professional habit…

Shen Lei walked forward as if oblivious, passing between Mo Yi and Wang Zezhi and walked in front of the two, hands stretched out and pushed open the door that Wang Zezhi had just come out of.
The minimalistic, metal-decorated room was filled with high-end exercise equipment in a wide range of styles, a dazzling array of beautiful things. It was like stepping into a high-end, top-of-the-line gym.

— The rich and imposing Jiang Yuanrou had actually turned the entire villa into a private gym. 

Under the despairing gazes of Mo Yi and Wang Zezhi, Shen Lei gave them a good natured smile, white teeth gleaming in his opened mouth. “Let’s start, ba.”

In the following week, Jiang Yuanrou and Jiang Yuanbai still hadn’t returned.

People who died in the game, without exception, would become a missing person in reality — It was like they had vanished from the face of the world, disappearing without a trace on earth.

The whole world seemed to have forgotten them. 

Jiang Yuanrou had said that once players died in the game, they would slowly be forgotten by the real world, as if these people had been erased from the world. Their friends and relatives would only have a vague impression of them, so much so that it would be quite difficult for them to actively remember their existence.

Up until Mo Yi was about to enter the game, Jiang Yuanbai and Jiang Yuanrou still had not returned to reality.

Mo Yi had already packed everything important he needed in his backpack very early on.

He stood in the middle of his room and looked around the familiar room, his eyes finally settling on the clock hanging on the wall: 

There was still five minutes.

He very much hoped that Jiang Yuanbai and Jiang Yuanrou were not dead. After all, according to Jiang Yuanrou, this game also had copies that were up to ten and a half days long. Although the probability of them encountering this was quite slim, it was not impossible.

Mo Yi lowered his eyes and stared at the backpack placed at his feet.

The dark creases on the backpack looked like deep scars under the light, carved onto the nylon fabric. One couldn’t help but feel a burst of oppression from the bottom of their heart. 

Moreover, in the past few days, the mist had never reappeared.

It was like it had sunk into a deep sleep. There was no sign of it even when he softly called out.

Mo Yi looked up again at the clock on the wall: There were three minutes left.

He gripped the strap of the backpack with his fingers, pulled, and finally carried it on his back, and breathed out a long sigh of relief, taking great effort to relax himself. 

This time the copy was the “Membership Initiation Test.”

It was as if a dense mist lay between him and the road ahead, making it impossible for him to glimpse the fate ahead.

A strong uneasiness bubbled forth from the bottom of his heart, weighing heavily on his heart, casting his heart down towards a bottomless abyss.

Mo Yi took one last look at the watch on his wrist — 

Time was up.

In the next second, it went dark before his eyes. The surrounding scene abruptly changed, and he stepped into empty darkness once again.

The mechanical female voice came again — “Welcome back to the game candidate member Mo Yi. Points are being settled …”

Mo Yi took note of the change of his title in the game system and couldn’t help his eyes from narrowing. 

“Successful settlement! Congratulations to candidate member Mo Yi for perfectly completing the b (a+) level hidden mission, “Freedom”. Rewarding 4000 (7000) points. The game store is opening.”

This time, while the female voice was speaking, fluorescent blue writing simultaneously appeared in the dark void.

It was followed by red writing in parenthesis, burning and stinging Mo Yi’s eyes

He breathed a small sigh of relief. 

After the difficulty was increased, the points were settled according to the increased difficulty. Otherwise, it would be a big loss.

In the next second, the scene in front of Mo Yi changed again. He was transported from a pitch-black nothingness to an azure technological space. Countless icons floated before his eyes.

This time, it could clearly be seen that there were twice as many visible rows as last time, however the other rows were still invisible and greyish white.

Mo Yi gave a quick cursory sweep of the available goods for purchase and found that basically none of the goods he saw last time had appeared. The goods in front of him were a completely new batch. 

This time he was very cautious, confirming again and again that there were no props that would use up the number of his purchases, picking and selecting props that altogether were worth more than 1000 points.

The moment the payment key was pressed, the female voice came once again, “The props were purchased successfully! They have been successfully sent to the Player’s backpack. Wish you a happy game!”

The azure colour was once again swallowed by a dark nothingness, and the female voice seemed  boundless, “Game transmission in progress ……”

The Author has Something to Say: 

Mo Yi: Here’s the cell phone. Go play Snakes and don’t bother me. Good boy.

The Mist, “…” Are you coaxing a child! Collapses!