Li Yuheng snapped his fingers in his mind: "Little system, it's your turn to work."
0090's mechanical voice was filled with excitement: [Your Highness, the system has successfully connected to the game core and is establishing links with all bosses...]
Previously, in the realm of Shubai, Li Yuheng quietly allowed the system to use the display screen as a springboard to infiltrate the core program of the game.
Now, the time has finally come.
You can pull Xifeng, Madam Bai, Granny Zhen, and Boss Xiang into the third instance.
In fact, Li Yuheng's original plan was much simpler and more brutal. He intended to use ghost power to forcibly transfer all the bosses, and this idea did not change even after he spoke with Xifeng.
However, while half-asleep and embracing Shu Bai, Li Yuheng heard 0090's complaint again, saying that he had so many warning records that he could hardly fit them all in his ears.
In a flash of inspiration, Li Yuheng changed his strategy. He decided to use a more roundabout approach that would both test the actual performance of the upgraded 0090 and give this small system a chance to shine.
He knew very well that simply issuing orders wouldn't be enough to get the system to work willingly.
It needs to experience the benefits, feel a sense of participation, and gain a sense of accomplishment.
In this way, it will be more proactive and willing to do things for him.
After all, it will only work hard if its emotional value is satisfied.
—This is the art of leadership for a male protagonist.
In an instant, the entire old house began to shake violently.
The paper-figure guests all turned their heads in unison, their empty eyes staring at the center of the hall.
The roof of the old house was suddenly ripped off by an invisible force, revealing a blood-red sky.
Four figures descended from the sky and landed steadily in the center of the hall.
Xi Feng's dull, gray-blue eyes widened for once, Madam Bai's silver mask was tilted halfway, and Granny Zhen and Boss Xiang held hands, looking completely bewildered.
"Where...where is this?" Madam Bai adjusted her mask, her voice filled with astonishment.
Xi Feng looked around, his gaze finally settling on Li Yuheng: "Did you do this?"
Li Yuheng shrugged: "Obviously."
A chuckled voice came from beneath Boss Xiang's fox mask: "Young man, are you trying to tear this place down?"
Li Yuheng grinned: "Guess."
Li Qiyang and the three other players stood there dumbfounded, watching as four bosses descended from the sky, their minds completely blank.
The matchmaker's voice trembled: "What...what's going on?"
The accountant's glasses slipped down to the tip of his nose. He mechanically pushed them up, his voice trembling: "Four bosses appearing at once... is this dungeon going to wipe us out?"
The sedan chair carrier muttered, "It's all over... I'm doomed..."
Li Qiyang stared intently at Li Yuheng's retreating figure, when suddenly a thought struck him, and he blurted out, "Master! Are you going to take on four bosses single-handedly?!"
Li Yuheng glanced back at him, his lips twitching: "...Shut up."
Madam Bai realized what was happening, glanced at Xifeng, and elegantly adjusted her skirt: "Little Bai, what are you doing?"
Li Yuheng stepped forward and said with a smile, "Everyone, today is the big day for me and Shu Bai. We have invited you all to our wedding banquet."
West Wind gave a lifeless "Oh": "So?"
Li Yuheng's lips curled into a meaningful smile: "So, since everyone's here, why don't we just break up this stupid game together?"
All four bosses fell silent.
A moment later, Granny Zhen's hoarse voice rang out: "Young man, do you know what you're saying?"
Li Yuheng leaned lazily against Shu Bai: "Of course I know. This game is a vicious cycle. How long have you been trapped here? Ten years? Twenty years? Or even longer?"
Seeing the bewildered looks on the matchmaker and the other three players, Li Qiyang suddenly felt obligated, as the "protagonist's little brother" (self-proclaimed), to explain the current situation.
He cleared his throat and lowered his voice, saying, "Gentlemen, here's the situation—"
The accountant pushed up his glasses: "You seem to know a lot?"
Li Qiyang puffed out his chest and pretended to be profound: "Of course, I followed the master all the way here."
He pointed at Li Yuheng, "See that? That's my master, a cosmic-level handsome guy with unparalleled strength. He can even get his hands on a boss!"
The sedan chair carrier scratched his head: "What? He slept with the boss?"
Li Qiyang nodded mysteriously: "That's right! Didn't you guys notice? That boss in the black wedding robe is the master's wife!"
The matchmaker gasped, "So...we really are just here to attend a wedding?"
“That’s right!” Li Qiyang slapped his thigh. “And the master just said he’s going to dismantle this game!”
The accountant frowned: "Dismantle the game? What do you mean?"
Li Qiyang lowered his voice: "This game is actually an infinitely looping death trap. We are all already dead, but our memories are constantly being reset. Master, you must now break this loop!"
The sedan chair carrier looked shocked: "We...we're all dead?"
Li Qiyang nodded heavily: "Yes. When the plane crashed, we were already..."
The matchmaker suddenly interrupted him: "Wait, if what you say is true, we are all already dead, so what will happen to us after the cycle is broken?"
Li Qiyang was momentarily speechless: "This... uh..."
He stole a glance at Li Yuheng and found that the other was looking at him with a half-smile, which made him shudder.
"Master!" Li Qiyang cried out as if grasping at a straw, "What will happen to us after the cycle is broken?"
Li Yuheng lazily picked at his ear: "You were born into a good family, otherwise what? Staying here for the New Year?"
The four players: "..."
West Wind's grey-blue eyes flickered slightly: "Are you sure you can break the cycle?"
Li Yuheng raised an eyebrow: "What? You don't believe me?"
Shu Bai suddenly spoke up: "I believe him."
The four bosses looked at Shu Bai simultaneously, their expressions complex.
Madam Bai spoke first: "Young man, how do you plan to break this cycle?"
Li Yuheng suddenly looked up at the virtual screen in the air, a playful smile playing on his lips: "Didn't you guys ever think of just smashing this thing?"
Grandma Zhen shook her head: "That's virtual, how can you smash it?"
Li Yuheng said meaningfully, "Fear is also virtual, and you believe it too, don't you?"
He casually picked up a pebble from the ground, twirled it between his fingers, and suddenly hurled it at the virtual screen in the air!
"Smack!"
The pebble hit the center of the screen precisely, creating a tiny crack in the virtual interface!
"Holy crap?!" Li Qiyang blurted out, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.
The four bosses looked up at the crack in shock.
The blood-red sky seeped from the cracks, like blood flowing from a wound.
“This is impossible…” Xifeng murmured, “How could a virtual interface be hit by a physical object?”
Li Yuheng clapped his hands: "What's impossible? You've been trapped here for so long that you've forgotten even the most basic laws of physics?"
He looked around, his gaze sweeping across everyone's faces: "Fear is virtual, and so is hope. But you chose to believe in the former and doubt the latter."
Shu Bai stood beside him, a strange light flashing in her dark eyes.
He raised his hand, and a cloud of black mist solidified, transforming into a pitch-black dagger.
Li Yuheng took the dagger, weighed it in his hand, and suddenly grinned: "Everyone, shall we all come and cause trouble?"
He turned to face the four players and handed the dagger to Li Qiyang: "Li Qiyang, do you want to give it a try?"
Li Qiyang swallowed hard, his hands trembling as he took the dagger: "I...can I really do this?"
“Of course.” Li Yuheng raised an eyebrow. “Remember, what you threw out wasn’t a dagger, but your accustomed fear.”
Li Qiyang took a deep breath and forcefully threw the dagger at the screen.
"Snap—"
The crack widened a little.
The matchmaker suddenly stepped forward, took off the pearl hairpin from her head, and said, "I'll join too!"
She threw the beaded flower hard at the screen, and the flower turned into a streak of light in mid-air.
The accountant pushed up his glasses and pulled an abacus from his sleeve: "To hell with this bullshit game!"
The abacus slammed onto the screen, making a crisp cracking sound.
The sedan chair carrier scratched his head, then suddenly pulled a wine flask from his pocket: "Me too!"
The wine jug traced an arc in the air, spilling wine that corroded a small hole in the virtual screen.
Xifeng's gray-blue eyes widened slightly. He remained silent for a moment, then suddenly removed the game guide badge from his chest.
"Screw 996."
The badge shot out like a bullet, leaving a perfect circular hole on the screen.
Lady White gracefully removed her silver mask, revealing a scarred face: "For freedom."
The mask spun and flew toward the screen, just as a silver moon crashed into the blood-red sky.
The mother-in-law and the boss exchanged a glance and simultaneously removed their wedding rings.
"For a new beginning."
The two rings collided in mid-air, sparking dazzling sparks, and the crack on the screen instantly spread to the edge.
Shu Bai stood beside Li Yuheng, his dark eyes reflecting the shattered sky.
He raised his hand, and the puppy doll appeared in his hand.
"So that I will no longer be alone."
The doll is in the center of the screen.
"boom--!!!"
The virtual screen shattered with a deafening roar, and countless fragments fell like rain, only to dissipate into starlight upon touching the ground.
The crimson sky began to collapse, revealing the pitch-black void behind it.
Li Yuheng grabbed Shu Bai's hand and turned to shout to the others, "Run!"
As if waking from a dream, everyone followed Li Yuheng and rushed towards the gate.
The old house began to collapse, the paper guests turned to ashes, and the red lanterns went out one by one.
Li Qiyang, panting heavily, glanced back and asked, "Master! Which way are we going?"
Li Yuheng didn't even turn his head: "Just keep running forward."
"But there's a wall in front of us!"
"Then let's ram it!"
Li Qiyang gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and rushed towards the wall.
The expected pain did not come.
He opened his eyes and found himself standing in a pure white space.
Others also passed through the wall and entered this strange space.
Xi Feng looked around, and for the first time, a glimmer of light appeared in his lifeless eyes: "Where...is this?"
Countless light screens appeared all around, each displaying a different scene.
There's the passenger cabin before the plane crash, the blood-red hall, Lady White's castle, the silent town, and that eerie old house.
These are…
“Memory fragments,” Li Yuheng explained. “All the players’ memories and all the bosses’ experiences are stored here.”
Madam Bai reached out with trembling hands and touched one of the light screens: "Is this my...first cycle?"
The screen displayed a scene from when she was still a player. The young Tan Wantang stood in the blood-red hall in terror, listening to Xifeng explain the game rules.
Grandma Zhen and Boss Xiang also found their own memory screens and embraced each other, weeping.
Shu Bai stood quietly to the side, his dark eyes deep.
Li Yuheng walked to his side and said softly, "Aren't you going to look at yours?"
Shu Bai shook his head: "No need."
He remembers it all too clearly.
In a dizzying moment, everyone suddenly returned to the ten seconds before the plane crashed.
The cabin shook violently, oxygen masks were deployed, and screams from the passengers filled the air.
Li Yuheng sat in his seat, stretched out his hand to Shu Bai who was standing in the aisle, and had that familiar roguish smile on his lips: "Little Shu Bai, why are you staring at me? Haven't you ever seen a brother as handsome as me in the universe? But this time I didn't take your seat."
Shu Bai looked down at the outstretched hand, a complex emotion flashing in his dark eyes, and slowly placed his hand on it.
Li Yuheng gripped his hand tightly, laughing carefree: "Fear is like a fart; the more you hold it in, the stinkier it gets. Just let it out."
Shu Bai: "...Why did you have to bring this up at this time?"
On the other side of the cabin, Li Qiyang, tears streaming down his face, grabbed Li Yuheng's other hand and Xifeng's wrist, wailing, "I'll never fly again!!!"
Xi Feng rolled his eyes, a rare occurrence for him, but he didn't shake off Li Qiyang's hand: "It's finally over."
Tan Wantang chuckled and grabbed Xifeng's hand: "Little Xifeng, I'll treat you to milk tea after we go out."
Zhen Ning and Xiang Youwei held hands, their wrinkled faces beaming with relieved smiles.
The other players were also in tears, and one by one they took the hands of the person next to them.
The cabin alarms blared, and red warning lights flashed wildly.
"Attention passengers, the plane is about to—"
The broadcast abruptly stopped.
Everyone rushed towards death.
...
In the face of utter despair, the only hope is the trust in each other's hands.
...
(World Two - The End)
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