Chapter 126 Alienation

Then I stayed in the room and looked at the scenery for three days.

Most people did not act rashly. A month was plenty of time, and the transparent door made people feel insecure. Some people had tried to cover the door, but it would either be removed manually the next day or the prop would become ineffective.

So that's one of the rules, it's a bit like being a fish to behold to be honest.

The transparent door cannot be blocked, but people can come and go freely. No one even cares whether anyone lives here or not. However, according to my observation, those who go out and do not come back at night have never appeared again without exception, including the four people who left at the beginning.

Because they are all veterans, those who act rashly are still a minority.

Many of them have already begun to study how to alienate.

But no one came near me.

Damn, my popularity is so bad. Is there any way for me to fit in and stop being excluded?

Try wearing glasses and become a happy complainer. At least they won't have the "dislike" buff.

I:……

Thank you, I see my repaired glasses are waiting for me here!

"Super new glasses"

I feel so relaxed after putting it on. I don’t even want to go swimming in the pool across the street.

…

Yes, why, I have always wanted to take a dip in that pool?!

I stood up, opened the door, and walked out. This was the first time I stepped out of this room. My presence was very weak now, but I found that some people had begun to become alienated.

Their faces were the most direct proof. One of them, who looked very much like a researcher, had his skin color turned pale and bluish, with scales growing on his face and along his neck. He was immersed in a pool of water, surrounded by a group of people.

The mutant was not at all panicked and seemed to be still saying something.

I slowly approached.

"...The pool is connected to the ocean. A day ago, I tried to drink a sip of this water. It was 100% seawater. Then my alienation accelerated. Now, I am most comfortable only in this pool..."

He saw me come in and was a little surprised, with a curious look in his eyes.

"We have new friends coming."

Several others turned to look at me.

I took out my notebook.

[Hello everyone, I am Shi-san.]

The glasses blocked my presence and made it difficult for them to see my face, but without exception, they all saw confusion.

Compared to this group of veteran contestants, my presence was a little too weak.

It's good for me.

"Your face looks familiar. What's your relationship with Shi Qing?" the person in the water asked me directly, "Or is this not your real face?"

Brother, are you being a little too sharp?

【Your vest is at risk.】

Nonsense, I don't have a pseudonym! My name is Shi Sang, and I'll stick with it.

[He is my brother.]

Then, to prove this point, I also revealed the knife belonging to Shi Qing on my lower back.

The scrutiny continued, but it was clear that the knife alone was enough to prove my identity.

"I'm Yang Muqi, your brother's former teammate."

He supported himself on the edge of the pool with his hands. I noticed that his hands seemed to contain some sticky liquid. With a force, he climbed out of the pool.

The clothes he was wearing were probably some kind of props. After he came up, the water on his body dried up quickly. Apart from the strange look on his face and wet hair, there was no sign that he had been soaking in the pool before.

...Look at him, he is indeed a veteran contestant and a former member of the championship team. Unlike me, I just came here wearing big shorts.

"Captain Yang...he..."

Someone nearby seemed to want to say something but was stopped by Yang Muqi, "He didn't lie, he is Shi Qing's younger brother."

"That knife is unique in the entire overlapping space, and it cannot be copied."

He said this while wiping his head with a towel, then sat on the bed and looked at me, "Why did your brother let you come alone?"

I don't know why, but facing him always feels like facing the dean of studies, even though I'm already past that age.

Now when I hold my notebook, I feel like there are afterimages when I write.

[He said he couldn't enter this instance, so he and Sister A'ran went to another one.]

Yes, it’s all true. I just concealed some of the reasons why I couldn’t enter. I believe the man opposite me wouldn’t ask this question. After all, I guess Shi Qing being sliced and targeted definitely didn’t start when I came.

I guess something similar happened a long time ago.

Sure enough, Yang Muqi fell silent, obviously thinking of something.

Even his expression was weird.

...I guess I guessed it right. How much was Shi Qing targeted in the past?

"...I see. He used to have a very unlucky physique." Then he looked at me and said, "I don't know if he knows I came in here, but I owe him my life, so I will get you out of this dungeon safely."

"These are the members of my current team. You can call them Uncle Liu, Sister Yu, Wenwen, and Xiao Zhang."

…

What a sudden turn of events! I'm finally getting some support.

The glasses must be good.

I always feel that he just thinks there is something wrong with you and can't let you run around.

I understand, but it doesn’t matter. After all, the fact that Shi Qing let me come here alone is already suspicious.

But I have confidence, I'm not a killer like the protagonist.

Yang Muqi: "We plan to enter the seabed in two weeks. Judging from the degree of alienation, that should be enough time."

"Can you fight?"

I nodded.

"That's right. Shi Qing is relieved that you came here alone." There seemed to be something else behind his words.

He took out a nautical chart with several locations circled in red.

——How did he get it? I’m the only one who’s really slacking off, right?

"This is the sea chart Wenwen brought back. This is where we are now, and this is where we are going, which is where the so-called sea goddess Arinea is."

I looked at the place he pointed to. It was more than 100 kilometers away from the island and more than 12,000 meters deep. It was a place that no technology could reach.

And I guess some props in overlapping spaces may not be usable either.

Otherwise, Yang Muqi would not have started trying to alienate so early.

"They have already entered the first stage of alienation, and I have entered the second stage. If you want to keep up with us, we must reach the second stage of alienation within three days." He looked at me, "You should have already started alienation?"

I paused and felt a little itchy on my cheeks. The scales that had disappeared before seemed to appear again.

"You're alienating faster than I thought." He moved closer to me as if to examine my face carefully. "And you're not the same as us."

He stretched out his hand and then retracted it.

Surprise flashed across his expression for a moment.

Wait a minute, buddy, what did you find out? Don’t make me read your micro-expressions——

Should I guess the best or the worst next?

I am now like a husky that has strayed into a wolf pack, forced to be the villain, feeling guilty but unable to be discovered!

[How should I put it? It's been a while since I've heard you rant so energetically. Wearing glasses is definitely a good idea. I feel full of energy now, and I can even fix the phone lines~]

Forget about your phone line.

Is it the phone line thing now?

"Come with me for a walk outside. You probably haven't met the locals yet." He put away the nautical chart and said to me, then looked at the four people next to him, "Leave this child to me. Don't worry about him."

The four of them nodded, but their eyes on me were still full of consideration. I was very familiar with this look. My teammates looked at me the same way when we were in the overlapping space before.

Looking at it this way, after being in this world for so long, it turns out that Yang Muqi is the one who treats me the most fairly and impartially.

What kind of high IQ character is this that prioritizes reason over instinct?

In another world, he would definitely be the protagonist.

[…You’re now so accepting of other people’s instinctive dislike for you???]

Haha, the main feature of us adult office workers is the ability to withstand stress and have strong adaptability.

…

I followed Yang Muqi out to where the locals lived. They were not surprised to see us, and many of them waved at us.

I thought about what the system told me: these people would die in a month - and they all knew it, but just looking at the living environment here, it doesn't look like they just arrived.

So every ten years, a group of people start living here, then sink to the bottom of the ocean during the Sea Festival? Is the world's population high enough?

Even if only 20% of the planet is land, the population of this planet is far beyond your imagination. This island can only accommodate tens of thousands of people, and the human population is very fast.

Then I saw the contestants who had left earlier in the crowd. They had changed into local people's clothes and seemed to have integrated into the place. I pulled on the corner of Yang Muqi's clothes.

He noticed my gaze and looked over.

"It's easy to become alienated in overlapping spaces, so they want to choose another path," he whispered to me. "Not completing the competition mission is equivalent to giving up. Many contestants will choose this method and use the opportunity to give up at the end."

"You won't die if you give up, but each contestant only has three chances to give up per season." He looked me over as he spoke. "It seems Shi Qing hasn't told you a lot. I heard Shi Qing mention that he has a younger brother before... So you were only drafted in this season?"

I nodded, but paid more attention to his first few words.

In other words, these people who choose not to become priests will not be alienated, and will be ready to give up at the end of the entire copy.

——But they don’t know that the sea will submerge the island, and everyone on the island will be sacrificed. The only chance of survival is alienation. If they cannot breathe underwater, they will 100% die.

There is nothing safe about this copy at all.

No, they could still leave by boat, but they didn't know that, and the locals wouldn't tell them.

Isn't this a sure kill situation?

Even the underwater breathing props can only last for a few hours at most. It is not known whether they can be used. It is hard to say when this copy will end - and the situation in the sea is too complicated.

"This island has a long history and a diverse population. Theoretically, with such a long history, the population should be relatively homogenous," Yang Muqi said. "So I suspect this island has close ties with other islands, but I haven't seen any ships coming or going in the past few days."

Me: Of course not. After all, this group of people first came to the island ten years ago, and they come from all over the world. They plan to join together in a month. They are incredibly united and will definitely not reveal anything that shouldn’t be revealed to us as outsiders.

...I suddenly understood why I couldn't speak, damn.

If I could talk, I would definitely not be able to resist giving them spoilers.

After all, even I feel compassion sometimes.

But now I could only look at him blankly. He shook his head and said, "I have some guesses, but we may have to wait until we can enter the sea to confirm them."

"But I brought you out today for something else. Come with me." He led me through several settlements and finally stopped in front of a thatched hut, which seemed to contain a stone statue.

There were many local people kneeling around and praying to the stone statue.

There is a stone plate in front of the statue, which contains some sapphires or transparent blue gravel soaked in sea water.

Yang Muqi walked forward with ease and said something to the local person in front. She was a middle-aged woman who looked to be in her forties or fifties. She glanced at me, took out a piece of gravel from the stone plate and held it in her hand.

"Young priest, put your blood on it."

I looked at the stone, not knowing for a moment whether I should do it or not.

I feel guilty.

If something inexplicable happens after my blood is applied——

"Don't worry, I won't."

…

I said there was a stalker, right?

When did you start staring at me?

I silently looked at the pager at my waist that was flashing a sea-blue light, and almost couldn't hold it in.

Then he cut his finger with the knife at his waist.

The blood drop on my finger seemed to have a hint of blue. I don’t know if it was my illusion. Before anyone else noticed, I pressed the blood drop on the blue gravel.

Then the blood was sucked in, and the woman holding the gravel tied the gravel with a rope made of something unknown, and then hung it around my neck.

"Lord Poseidon will bless you."

The gravel shone with a bright blue light, and through the irregular edges, it created ripple-like patterns on my body.

My neck is itchy.

Maybe it's time to grow cheeks.

——So this is a collecting game. Staying in the room will also cause alienation, but going out to find various things can accelerate this alienation.

Before Yang Muqi took me away, I took a look at the blocked stone statue.

It’s wrong for my biological brother, whom I’ve never met, to be a stalker.

"Then Ah-Sang, please come quickly. Your followers are too annoying."

…Then you let him go!!!

Don’t look down on someone and not let him go!!!

"But if I let him go, Ah Sang might not come... After all, you trust him more than I trust us."

Thank you, please don't make such remarks that everyone knows.

You guys are so schizophrenic you could almost form a football team. How can you compare with my top student from a prestigious university, the glorious people's policeman Villar?

『…』

"A-Sang, I will wait for you."

Then the ocean-blue light went out.

That last sentence was a complete attempt to cover up his dissatisfaction and forcibly change the subject to elevate his already low status, right?

[…Host, I now feel that you bear a great responsibility for the local specialty being imprisoned.]