Chapter 157 Lingering Thoughts (Unedited) "Do we know each other?"...
"What's the meaning?"
Liang Jun's stance has begun to crumble.
She instinctively staggered backward, but the table right behind her caught her waist, preventing Liang Yun from continuing to back away.
In the few seconds before answering Zhu Shengqing's question, Liang Xuan quickly thought about everything that had happened to her during this period.
For players like them who have witnessed countless scenes of life and death in rule-based worlds, returning to the real world is indeed a huge reward. Although it is something they deserve, they will still fall into the beautiful fantasy of "returning to peace" for a very short time in the face of such a reward.
Perhaps the system is exploiting this to try and numb the players, making them continue to sink into the fantasy woven by the system.
A belated sense of terror crept up Liang Xun's spine. Her hands, hanging by her sides, gripped the soft fabric of her clothes, then extended to the hard, cold desk in front of her.
These are all real. Not only are these devices that look strangely familiar to her, but even Qin Miao, Xiao Huang, and the security guard—these are the lives she once witnessed dying tragically, and now they have all returned to her.
A bitter smile appeared on Liang Jun's lips. She seemed to be arguing with Zhu Shengqing, but it also seemed like she was trying to numb herself.
"The game never existed, the system never existed, the rule-based world never existed—it's all a dream, none of it actually happened, right?"
Zhu Shengqing simply stood there, looking down at her.
After a long pause, Zhu Shengqing sighed softly, "Liang Jun, are you trying to deceive yourself?"
This was the last straw that broke the camel's back.
Liang Xun gripped the edge of the table tightly with both hands. Her body trembled suddenly in despair. Her light brown hat slipped off her head with her movement, and her smooth hair was freed from its restraint, instantly spreading out beside Liang Xun's ears.
Some unruly strands of hair fell in front of Liang Xuan. When she raised her head again, these strands of black hair acted like a screen between them, creating a black filter through which Liang Xuan looked at the other person.
“You can hear what I’m thinking, so right now you know what I want most.”
With red eyes, Liang Jun cried out hoarsely, "I just want all of this to have never happened! Just treat it as a nightmare, a nightmare that can be swept away. Now that the dream is over, everything is back to normal, and everyone is at peace—isn't that better?!"
Zhu Shengqing calmly observed everything before him.
He admitted that Liang Jun was right in the first half of her statement, so he knew how much psychological pressure Liang Jun must be under at that moment.
But he couldn't bring himself to become an accomplice to Liang Jun's self-deception, watching her fall into a state of emptiness.
“But this isn’t a dream, it’s reality.” Zhu Shengqing’s tone softened further. “Reality is something you can’t shake off, is it?”
As if all her strength had been drained away in an instant, Liang Jun could no longer support herself and had to stagger back to her original position.
Liang Xun took a deep breath, her hands trembling, and gathered all the long hair that was scattered in front of her face behind her ears. Her palms were sweaty, and the hair she had smoothed was damp and stuck together in clumps.
The two people, one in black and one in white, one standing and one sitting.
It is the only remaining scenic view in this huge classroom.
The ticking of the clock in front of the podium was particularly noticeable.
When the ticking of the clock matched her heartbeat, Liang Jun placed her hands behind her ears and looked up again.
"Emotional regulation" is already the course that Liang Jun has mastered the most.
Her gaze had returned to its most common expression; apart from the lingering crimson at the corners of her eyes, there was no trace of collapse on Liang Yun's face.
"After exiting the checkpoint this time, the system did not give me any points as a reward."
Liang Xun took a deep breath and began to sort through the complicated clues in her mind. "After returning to the real world, I was unable to summon the system again, nor could I take out the original items to use again."
She then rested her hands on her chin. "If none of these methods work, how can I verify the hypothesis that 'the game still exists'?"
Zhu Shengqing pulled down the seat in front of her, bringing his gaze back to Liang Jun's level.
"Have the people around you given any clues?"
Liang Xun shook her head helplessly. "If the timeline is correct, this should be the day before the arrival of the rule-based world. Most of the people I've come into contact with have already died in the game. It's as if their memories have been erased by the system; they don't show any unusual behavior."
"Those are the dead, but what about the living?"
Zhu Shengqing removed his black-rimmed glasses from his nose with his slender fingers, and his gaze toward Liang Xun became more direct. "You still retain memories of the dungeon, so your surviving teammates should be the same as you."
"I know, but I can't get in touch with them."
Liang Jun smiled wryly, "All the contact methods we set up before are now useless. Although I've sent them new friend requests, I don't know how things will develop..."
At this point, she suppressed the smile on her lips, "And you? Do you have any concrete clues to prove that we haven't left the game yet?"
She thought she would get an unexpected answer, but to her surprise, Zhu Shengqing frankly shook his head.
"I don't have any either."
Liang Jun was about to sigh, but the next second before she did, Zhu Shengqing continued, "We also tried to contact your teammates, but unfortunately, we couldn't find any trace of them."
Liang Junzi carefully considered the meaning behind Zhu Shengqing's words, but found that, based on her current level of information, she could only understand the meaning of the word "we".
"Is Zhu Bieming also being investigated?" she asked, recalling Zhu Shengqing's earlier introduction. "Where is that old bookstore where he works? I'd like to go find him."
Liang Jun picked up her hat and schoolbag quickly and walked straight out of the classroom.
Zhu Shengqing immediately picked up his backpack and followed behind her. "It's in the old alley behind your school. The shop has a yellow-green sign hanging on it—you should be able to see it when you get there."
The two stepped out of the classroom one after the other. Before turning around and going their separate ways, Zhu Shengqing caught a glimpse of a pot of purplish-red Phalaenopsis orchids placed by the door.
He called out to Liang Jun, "You haven't taken your flowers yet."
"oh!"
Liang Xun, who had already walked quite a distance, turned around and asked, "Could you keep an eye on things for me for a bit?"
Zhu Shengqing didn't answer her directly, as if talking to himself, "There's still an hour until Bie Ming gets off work."
Liang Jun immediately understood his meaning, hurriedly said "Thank you" and then rushed out of the teaching building.
-
Just as Zhu Shengqing said, the bookstore was indeed easy to find.
For Liang Jun, this old alley was not unfamiliar. When she was studying here, she would always come here to buy the best egg pancakes.
As they walked past the old bookstore, Liang Jun also made a point of noticing the egg pancake stall.
The gate over there was tightly closed, and it's uncertain whether it will ever open again.
Liang Jun didn't stop walking; she still lifted the curtain of the old bookstore.
As soon as she entered, the tinkling of wind chimes rang out at the doorway.
A girl in a yellow-green work uniform walked up and said, "Welcome! Would you like to come in and take a look?"
Judging from her appearance, she was about the same age as me, probably a student from the neighborhood who came here for part-time work.
Liang Xun nodded. "I'd like to ask, is Zhu Bieming here?"
"Wishing you a bright future..."
Upon hearing the name, the girl frowned slightly, as if deep in thought, "It seems..."
Then, as if the program had finished inputting, the girl's eyes immediately became clear, and she stopped stammering.
"He just went out to deliver something, he should be back in a bit!" The girl warmly pulled Liang Jun inside. "Why don't you browse around the bookstore for a bit? It won't take up too much of your time!"
Liang Jun couldn't refuse her warm hospitality, so she had no choice but to accept.
This old bookstore has always been in this old alley, and Liang Jun would catch a glimpse of its sign a few times when she came to buy egg pancakes.
I just never had the chance to come in and see it for myself.
This bookstore occupies a small area, but every corner is filled with all kinds of books.
The years have left yellowed marks on the paper, and these brittle yellow pages have come together to form books, which are arranged here, exuding the fresh fragrance of settled ink.
The passageway was so narrow that it was not even wide enough for two people to walk side by side.
Liang Jun wanted to find a quiet place to stay for a while, so she had to avoid the crowds and watch out for the old books scattered on the ground.
She chose the location at the entrance of the stairs leading to the second floor.
This place is mostly filled with old books that no one wants to read. Not only is there little foot traffic, but sitting on the high steps, you can directly face the entrance of the old bookstore. Once Zhu Bieming returns, Liang Jun will be able to notice him immediately.
However, Zhu Bieming's "short time" was taking too long, and Liang Xun was getting quite bored sitting there. So she moved a few places and began to browse the books scattered around her feet.
The paper was thin and brittle; every time Liang Jun turned a page, it was like autumn leaves rustling in her ears.
She dared not move too much, for fear of damaging these books that were older than herself, so she had to treat them with utmost care.
Feeling bored, she noticed the girl who had previously served her was tidying up the books on the floor. There was no need to categorize them; it seemed she simply needed to put them back on the shelves.
Since she had nothing better to do, Liang Jun decided to take the initiative to help the girl with the tidying up of the neighborhood.
She casually pulled out a yellow and red book from the corner, and was about to get up and stuff it into a gap in the bookshelf when someone snatched the thin book away.
"Great! It's the Plum Blossom Divination!"
A voice filled with relief rang out beside Liang Jun, "Thank goodness I found it in this bookstore! Otherwise, I would have had to go to several more!"
Liang Jun subconsciously turned around to look, but what she saw was the other person's two conspicuous buns.
The girl noticed Liang Xun's gaze, smiled at her in a friendly manner, revealing her two cute little tiger teeth, "Thank you for helping me find this book! I'll treat you to a milk tea later!"
Excitement immediately shone in Liang Xun's eyes, "Gu Keke!"
But the next two sentences the other person replied to her struck Liang Jun like a thunderbolt—
"Who are you?"
Do we know each other?
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Author's Note: I'm trying to frantically tie up foreshadowing in these chapters...
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