Chapter 30 Questioning the Real World
The warden was furious. He led the guards and outside help to finally get rid of the corpses, but they found that they couldn't completely kill them. The corpses even differentiated after death.
It all seemed to be the work of prisoners in the central area of the island, so the warden led a team into the center of the island and captured most of the prisoners. From them, he learned that the corpses appeared very suddenly.
It had nothing to do with the prisoners. They had no supplies in the center of the island and relied entirely on the land for sustenance. When they were hungry, they even wanted to eat the soil and rocks. Fortunately, after they organized themselves, they slowly survived by relying on the botanical garden they left behind.
The corpse monsters appeared suddenly. They hid for a long time, but their numbers continued to increase. Once they could no longer be controlled, the corpses started to run away.
After forensic examination, it was discovered that the corpses appeared to be transformed from other bodies, and from their faces and blood tests, the warden found that they matched those of the victims killed by the prisoners.
In other words, the victims who should have died appeared on the island in another form and indiscriminately killed people.
It seems that the prisoners missed their carefree lives so much that the thoughts of the victims surfaced in their minds. These thoughts had no independent consciousness; they were simply the boundless malice in the prisoners' hearts.
With no other options, the warden devised the Innocent City plan, which drove all the corpses back to the center of the island, and the prisoners returned to the prison. However, the corpses could not be ignored, so initially, the Innocent City was designed to allow prisoners to enter and kill the corpses again, with their sentences reduced based on the number of corpses killed.
The prisoners were overjoyed. They already took pleasure in killing, and killing their own victims again was incredibly exciting.
As the number of corpses increased, they couldn't all be thrown into the sea to feed the fish, so they were put to many uses, such as the corpse oil botanical garden and leather workshop that Wu Wangwang and Ling Yuanshan saw.
Nevertheless, prisoners get tired. The endless stream of corpses to kill every day drove some prisoners insane after more than ten years, and they never came out of the central area of the island again. In order to prevent the guards from getting infected, the warden has stopped the guards from entering the area since the City of Innocence was isolated.
The old town was built by prisoners. A group of old prisoners couldn't stand going in and killing corpses that would never die, so they decided to stay and build a new line of defense. They decided to live here from then on and never go out, since they would be locked up anyway.
Instead of running around every day, I might as well just stay at the door.
That's why the old city is full of ruins; they were part of their daily lives.
But this prison had both men and women. Without the prison's zoning and control, they gradually formed families. Their children were not sent out and continued to live inside. Occasionally, inmates would bring them things, and that's how they survived.
As the number of prisoners' descendants grew, they began to feel that they belonged there and started building their own homes, including the descendants of high-IQ criminals who used their superior intelligence to try to solve problems.
After many years of research, they discovered that these corpses all came from the malice in the prisoners' hearts. In other words, as long as there are prisoners here, these corpses will not disappear, but they can be controlled.
A steady stream of highly intelligent prisoners offered suggestions, and the final decision was made to split the prisoners' evil thoughts, separating their complete ideas so that they could not form complete corpses, but rather monsters possessing only certain traits.
How can we distinguish their malice?
Psychological prisoners offered assistance—nighttime is when the human mind is most vulnerable yet most active, providing them with the perfect opportunity for psychological suggestion.
Therefore, every batch of people entering the prison will be subjected to psychological suggestion at night. However, this method cannot be used on normal players, otherwise the mortality rate would be too high. The purpose of the Night of Return of Souls is to bring back the soul, not simply to kill the player. As a result, what the player sees are various different monsters, which are the contents seen after the mental split.
Normal prisoner NPCs first see hallucinations, and they may not actually meet the monsters in the City of Innocence. After they do meet them, they will accept the advice offered by the City of Innocence: stay in prison from now on, atone for their sins, and keep catching those monsters or criminals. They will not be able to leave.
However, in order to suppress the evil thoughts of the prisoners, identity is very important in the City of Innocence. People born in the City of Innocence are no longer very human. They are more like products of coexistence with monsters. The evil thoughts that have been stripped away form monsters that crawl around in the streets or are locked in the municipal building.
Once the residents' identities and beliefs change, they will also turn into monsters; this is to prevent the original corpses from reappearing.
The idea that prisoners can't take off their prison uniforms is an illusion. The only thing that can be taken off is self-awareness, believing oneself to be completely innocent and without evil intentions, so that one will not be affected by the rules of the city of innocence.
Those who inherently lack evil intentions cannot, of course, shed evil thoughts and become people of the city of innocence.
This is the complete rule of the City of Innocence. Every prisoner who enters here has already written his own ending. How could a person not have evil thoughts?
But once you shed evil thoughts, you're no longer a complete person. How do you leave the City of Innocence and pass the level?
If you don't try to find a way out in the city of innocence and just stay in prison, and because you're a serious offender you can't get through quickly, and you slowly try to reduce your sentence by living that kind of life day after day, after decades, your body and mind will be too old to live. Can you still live in the real world?
Moreover, players who can get their sentences reduced are basically limited to areas with lighter sentences like the 19th and 20th districts. Players from other areas might spend their whole lives in the game and still not be able to finish it.
To some extent, the dungeon does offer a way out, but that way out depends entirely on the identity you receive when you enter.
Criminals like Ling Yuanshan and Wu Wangwang, who have received special sentences, are basically unlikely to be released, which is why Ling Yuanshan was so angry.
After reviewing the documents related to the City of Innocence, Wu Wangwang looked up at Ling Yuanshan, then back at the documents. She thought for a moment and said, "But we weren't affected."
Ling Yuanshan was stunned for a moment: "What?"
Wu Wangwang pointed to one of the lines of text and said, “It says here that those who have evil thoughts in their hearts will have their evil thoughts stripped away after entering the City of Innocence, and will become new monsters. Prisoners who have lost their evil thoughts will become new residents of the City of Innocence. But we have not had our evil thoughts stripped away, nor have we become residents.”
If they became residents, they would have become monsters when the buildings were demolished and the city walls were blown up. Other prisoners were also careful not to commit serious crimes, and they never took off their prison uniforms, so they could still move around in the city of no crime by virtue of their prisoner status.
But Ling Yuanshan and Wu Wangwang did a lot of things, but they didn't become residents or disappear, as if they encountered some kind of bug.
Even after releasing so many imprisoned monsters, they still did not accumulate sin.
Ling Yuanshan quickly read the contents again: "That's right, this is the City of Innocence, we weren't found guilty, so does that mean..."
Ling Yuanshan then got up and went to the office again. Facing the warden, he asked directly, "Is the judgment of the City of Innocence absolutely accurate?"
The warden raised an eyebrow: "It seems you've been discovered. But let me remind you, although the judgment of the City of Innocence applies to the soul, your status is still that of prisoners. Prisoners cannot leave the island."
Ling Yuanshan was silent for a moment, then asked, "Do prison guards have holidays? How often does the boat come?"
"If I told you everything, I would have just let you pass through customs directly. Why would I need to ask here?" the warden replied with amusement.
Seeing that he couldn't get any more information, Ling Yuanshan directly pulled Wu Wangwang to the opening they had climbed up earlier: "I understand. The most important thing in this instance is identity. We can't get out as prisoners, but we are now wearing residents' clothes. The original residents have disappeared, which means we need to change our identities to prison guards in the City of Innocence. We can leave when the ship comes."
Wu Wangwang understood. All the information before actually revealed one point—identity is very important. Whether you are in the City of Innocence or in prison, what kind of identity you have and where you live determines what kind of treatment you receive.
"So, the death rule in the dungeon is actually malice. You can survive without having malice. That's too difficult." Wu Wangwang frowned slightly, thinking of those players who directly attacked Ling Yuanshan. They should have been marked by the City of Innocence from the moment they attacked. I wonder how long it will take to completely rid themselves of malice.
Ling Yuanshan had already lowered the rope: "That's how the Night of Return of the Soul works. When a person dies, their soul returns on the seventh day after death and is allowed to return to their hometown to see their family one more time. If they have evil thoughts during this period, they will be a ghost forever. If they are not caught by the ghost messengers, it's fine. But if they are caught, they will have to go to hell to atone for their sins."
So even in a game, you have to control yourself and not think that just because it's all data, you can ignore it. After all, no one knows if you will encounter a dungeon where the weight of your sins is the standard for passing the dungeon.
The ropes were lowered down one section at a time. They met the prison guards who had arrived earlier on the 37th floor. There were quite a few of them, so they waited on the 38th floor. The prison guards would have to climb up one by one, so there had to be someone to scout the situation and lower the rope ladder.
Ling Yuanshan and Wu Wangwang knocked out the first two who went up and put them aside. Then they changed their clothes. The situation was as they expected. After changing their clothes, if they had no sins, they would just disappear. The island would definitely not let the prison guards get into trouble. It is estimated that the dungeon was recycled according to the rules and they will be released after the dungeon ends.
After changing into prison guard uniforms, Ling Yuanshan and Wu Wangwang's identities were completely altered; they now used prison guard numbers and names.
For the next three months, they worked as prison guards in the City of Innocence. During this time, they met He Ju and Ji Ruo. When they had the list, they learned that He Ju was a girl and that she was in District 17 with a very minor crime. No wonder she dared to stay in the City of Innocence on the first day to look for clues.
They provided a lot of directions. Ling Yuanshan and Wu Wangwang both took the opportunity to send them messages, but unfortunately, He Ju was unable to change into a prison guard uniform because of the murder she had committed in the City of Innocence. Ji Ruo, on the other hand, was able to change into a new prison guard uniform. She dared not go anywhere every day and carefully hid in the prison.
Three months later, a new batch of prisoners arrived by ship, and it was finally time for the prison guards to change shifts. Ling Yuanshan and Wu Wangwang boarded the ship, along with four other players, including Ji Ruo. The six of them didn't have any wicked thoughts, so they made it out of the instance alive.
As the ship sailed on the sea, Ling Yuanshan, before leaving the game, pulled Wu Wangwang to a secluded corner and told her, "When we get back, you can't tell anyone about me entering the game, and you can't tell anyone about yours either."
Wu Wangwang understood, but still asked, "Why?"
Ling Yuanshan looked somewhat sad: "Because I discovered that anyone who knows about the Night of Return of the Soul will soon have an accident, be on the verge of death, and will definitely enter the game."
This was the first time Wu Wangwang had heard of this, and she was extremely shocked: "What? This... why? Young Master, how did you know?"
"Initially, I had a serious tumor and was being treated in the hospital..." Ling Yuanshan said vaguely as he recalled this past event.
For a long time, he dared not recall the past, nor dared to say a single word about it to anyone, for fear of harming others.
The doctor said that some people have bad genes, so they are prone to certain diseases. Ling Yuanshan's mother was in poor health. Although her parents were loving, they had not been able to have children for a long time. Later, her mother suddenly became pregnant, and both families were very happy and took great care of her.
Ling Yuanshan was born healthy, but his wife's health deteriorated significantly, and she also had some mental health issues. She had been resting for nineteen years, but her condition did not improve.
Everyone thought Ling Yuanshan was perfectly healthy, and he had undergone numerous checkups. However, when he was sixteen, he suddenly had a nosebleed and fainted during class. When he was taken to the hospital, they said he had malignant tumors in his brain and lungs, and even surgery might not save him.
Ling Yuanshan's parents were on the verge of collapse. They never expected that their son, whom they had raised with such care for sixteen years, would have such a problem, and it wasn't something that money could solve.
The hospital kept discussing safer solutions, and Ling Yuanshan was admitted to the emergency room time and time again. Once, his condition was extremely dangerous, and he was not even aware of it. He only remembered having a dream in a daze. In the dream, he was very healthy and could run and jump, but he had to participate in a game.
That was Ling Yuanshan's first dungeon. If he didn't clear it, it meant the emergency treatment had failed, and he would die before the surgery could be performed.
Ling Yuanshan will always remember the content of the game: it was called Black and White Match. If your palm is facing up, it's white; if it's facing down, it's black. All children knew how to play it.
When playing black and white, the color with fewer pieces is eliminated. When only two pieces remain, they play rock-paper-scissors, best of three, until a final winner is determined.
The regular black-and-white match is fine, but in the game, you have to play a game of black-and-white match every day. The winner of the day is safe and can hide inside the house, while the loser has to stay outside for the night and may encounter ghosts. In addition, other players cannot open the door, and those who are set to open the door will be caught and killed by the ghosts.
Ling Yuanshan was completely clueless when he first entered the dungeon. He survived the early stages of the Black and White Match purely by luck. In the end, only three people remained, and they could play Black and White Match one more time. Finally, two people were left with rock-paper-scissors.
Fortunately, Ling Yuanshan still won. The next day, he lost to the remaining players in a game of rock-paper-scissors. He was terrified, thinking he was going to die.
He ran all night without stopping for a moment, and with the information he had gathered, he evaded the ghost's pursuit time and time again, delaying until dawn. But in the end, the referee announced that only he had won, because the last round was not black and white, but rock-paper-scissors, so the players hiding in the house were not absolutely safe, unlike before.
Ling Yuanshan felt the malice of the game at this moment, and the chill that lingered over him never dispelled even after returning to reality.
In the doctor's eyes, he was someone who was critically ill and then resuscitated. He was in a daze, unsure whether those things were a dream or reality. So, while taking a walk in the hospital, he told a fellow patient about it. The other person was a cheerful boy who was much younger than Ling Yuanshan.
Fellow patients said that Ling Yuanshan was dreaming. When a person is undergoing surgery and resuscitation, they lose consciousness for a moment, and their brain makes up random memories, just like in a dream. The brain deceives itself, making it feel very real, as if it were a personal experience.
When Ling Yuanshan heard him say that, he just thought he had an exaggerated dream. Soon his treatment plan came out. He needed to have surgery. After losing consciousness in the hospital bed, he entered the game again. This time, among the players were his fellow patients.
The patient, who was entering the game for the first time, didn't believe it at all. Plus, he was young, and no matter what Ling Yuanshan said to him, he wouldn't listen. In the end, he died in the dungeon.
After struggling to emerge from the dungeon, Ling Yuanshan received two pieces of news: First, the tumor in his lung was found to be not very harmful after being cut open, and the removal went very smoothly and would not cause him any additional problems; second, the fellow patient who had only broken his ribs and was hospitalized had died.
Ling Yuanshan was so shocked that he fainted. When he woke up again, his fellow patients had already completed their death certificates. He pretended to be a friend and asked his father to help with the condolences. He learned that his fellow patient had slipped and fallen in the bathroom, and the ribs with steel nails had broken again, piercing into his lungs. He died despite all efforts to save him.
Such a bizarre way of dying makes it hard not to think things through. Ling Yuanshan's fear grew, and he suspected that his fellow patient had died because he knew about him.
But Ling Yuanshan didn't dare to actually risk human lives, so he kept it bottled up inside. Not long after, he went into the operating room again, and then he entered the dungeon again.
With the experience from the previous two times, Ling Yuanshan had a much smoother time. Not every dungeon was that difficult; sometimes he would encounter very simple dungeons, which were essentially just a matter of going in, running through the story, and then coming out.
When Ling Yuanshan realized that the storyline might not be that difficult, he couldn't help but have some ideas. But each dungeon is random. What if he brought someone into the most difficult dungeon?
Ling Yuanshan hesitated to experiment until the day of the surgery. He knew that once he was on the operating table, he would enter a dungeon. He kept his mouth tightly shut on the operating table, afraid of saying anything. But after the anesthesia was administered, he entered the dungeon and saw the anesthesiologist.
The anesthesiologist was completely bewildered. He only recognized one person, Ling Yuanshan, and wondered if he had injected himself with the anesthetic.
Ling Yuanshan was even more astonished to see the other person and asked him how he got in. The anesthesiologist didn't know. The two checked the situation and found that the anesthesiologist had heard Ling Yuanshan's dazed words after anesthetizing him.
Everyone who is under anesthesia is prone to uttering random things. Recently, Ling Yuanshan has been thinking about games every day, so he naturally uttered these things after falling into a deep sleep. The anesthesiologist, who was monitoring his pulse closely and was closest to him, heard it.
Ling Yuanshan didn't know what chaos was going on outside. This time, he repeatedly emphasized the special nature of the game to the anesthesiologist and even brought up the matter of his fellow patients. Fortunately, the anesthesiologist was a calm person. Although he didn't quite believe it, it was always better to be cautious for the sake of his life.
Thanks to the skills and knowledge of the anesthesiologist, coupled with Ling Yuanshan's experience, they were able to emerge safely.
It was only after they came out that they learned that after the anesthesiologist finished anesthetizing Ling Yuanshan, he was about to sit down next to her when he suddenly slipped and pricked his own neck with the needle, turning the operating room into two patients at once.
They all came back alive, but they lived very cautiously. Ling Yuanshan, in particular, didn't want to have any contact with others after being discharged from the hospital, afraid that others would hear him talking in his sleep.
This information was obtained at the cost of human lives. Ling Yuanshan was extremely careful. He never expected that he could get in even if he fell and died with Wu Wangwang, and that he had dragged another innocent person into the game. He felt very guilty, which is why he had been trying his best to protect Wu Wangwang.
Now, I just hope that Wu Wangwang won't say anything reckless after he goes out, so as to avoid killing more people.
After listening, Wu Wangwang looked up hesitantly: "Young Master, if you say that, you won't ask Madam to fire me, will you?"
Ling Yuanshan smiled helplessly: "No, I wouldn't dare. I've brought you in, so I have to take responsibility. Don't worry, I'll protect you until I find a way to leave the game. If anything unexpected happens, remember to let me know. As long as you let me know, I can immediately find a way to enter the dungeon with you."
Having confirmed that she wouldn't be fired, Wu Wangwang breathed a sigh of relief. She took out the pair of rings and said, "Thank you, young master. You must keep your word and not fire me. Also, this is my seventh time entering the dungeon. I'm sorry I didn't mention it at the beginning."
Upon seeing the rings, which were clearly game props, Ling Yuanshan's eyes widened suddenly. He reached out and grabbed Wu Wangwang's arm: "You—"
Unable to utter another word, they turned their gazes back to the azure sky. Ling Yuanshan stared blankly at the sky, blood continuously flowing from his mouth, with another person pressed against his chest.
Wu Wangwang stirred, raised her hand to cover her chest, and felt her heart still beating.
Ling Yuanshan forced himself to finish speaking: "You lied to me..."
“I didn’t lie, you just didn’t ask,” Wu Wangwang said matter-of-factly.
Then Ling Yuanshan fainted from anger, and nearby teachers quickly arrived and took them to the hospital.
Wu Wangwang and Ling Yuanshan were both sent to the hospital for treatment. Thanks to Ling Yuanshan, Wu Wangwang also got a private room. The Ling family came to handle the matter and expelled the boys who caused trouble and beat people. They had to be held accountable.
When Ling Yuanshan woke up again, the first thing he asked was where Wu Wangwang was, and he had someone push him to see her.
At this moment, Wu Wangwang was sitting in the ward drinking porridge. She was cushioned by a piece of flesh, so her injuries were much lighter than Ling Yuanshan's. While Ling Yuanshan was unconscious, she had already woken up and was able to drink porridge by herself.
The ward door was pushed open with a bang. Wu Wangwang looked up and saw Ling Yuanshan looking aggressive. If he hadn't been sitting in a wheelchair, he would have been quite intimidating.
The woman pushing Ling Yuanshan over was his wife. She wanted to come in, but Ling Yuanshan refused. He closed the door and didn't even lock it.
Seeing Ling Yuanshan push his wheelchair over himself, Wu Wangwang kindly reminded him, "Your arm is also broken, so don't exert any force. It won't heal properly, and your two arms will be different lengths."
Ling Yuanshan sneered: "I didn't see you caring about me like this in the dungeon? How dare you lie to me? I was afraid something would happen to you, I risked my life the whole time, and I even gave you items, and this is how you treat me?"
-----------------------
Author's Note: [End of Chapter]
Ling Yuanshan: You deceived my feelings! You betrayed my love! [Angry][Clown]
Wu Wangwang: I've been burdened with a debt of conscience?
Ling Yuanshan: I'm not singing a duet with you! Be serious!
————————
Thank you for watching, and I hope you enjoyed the article.
————————
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
