Alvia's voice was so low, and the words almost disappeared in the wind that Zhou Zhou couldn't help but turn his head to look at him.
Everything around was collapsing, and Al, who was covered in scars, seemed more and more unreal. The expression on his face was covered by scars and stains, and only his blue eyes seemed to be the only light in the world.
Zhou Zhou opened his mouth, wanting to say that he did not let go, but looking at the pair of eyes that were staring at him, he inexplicably felt that there was a hint of pleading in them.
Even though his fingers had turned white due to the other party's force, he still tried to hold the other party tightly: "Yeah!"
The whole world was collapsing, and strange scenes around them became fragmented. Finally, after an unknown amount of time, the world returned to darkness.
At this moment, a mirror suddenly appeared in front of them. Zhou Zhou saw from the mirror that the drivers were waving at him happily and kept saying something. Although he couldn't hear what they were saying, Zhou Zhou could tell from their lip movements that they were shouting for him to come out quickly.
Zhou Zhou looked at Al beside him. Al was only about twelve or thirteen years old at this moment, with scars all over his body and even blood oozing from his occasional movements.
"Let's go out together. It won't hurt anymore."
Zhou Zhou held Al's hand and walked out of the mirror with him firmly.
"They are out now. I said they must be fine."
"It was me who suggested it. Luckily, Tang Chu and Zhou Zhou were allowed to try it, otherwise we would be in trouble."
"Just come out."
As soon as he came out of the mirror, he heard the voices of the drivers. Zhou Zhou was concerned about the injuries on Al's body and immediately turned to look at him.
Although their hands were still tightly clasped, Al had already returned to his grown-up appearance, all the scars had disappeared, and his expression was very natural.
Feeling Zhou Zhou's gaze, Elvia looked back calmly.
What's wrong? The meaning in his eyes was obvious.
Zhou Zhou originally wanted to ask whether those hallucinations were real things that happened when he was a child, but seeing that Al was calm and seemed to have no recollection of it at all, he suddenly didn't want to ask anymore. No matter what, as long as it was okay, it was good.
"It's okay. Do you want to eat lamb skewers?" Zhou Zhou asked, holding up a handful of lamb skewers that driver No. 2 had just stuffed into his other hand.
The drivers were still a little scared of Elvia. After all, she had fallen into a deep hallucination in their copy and almost got into trouble. In addition, everyone had purple eye sockets given by the other party on their face. For a moment, they didn't dare to go up and talk to him. They could only surround Zhou Zhou and look at him with a bit of flattering attitude.
Alvia said nothing. She looked at the skewers of meat held in front of her and reached out to take one.
The drivers quickly asked the two to sit on chairs and enthusiastically offered them food and drinks.
Zhou Zhou always felt that the attitudes of these drivers were a bit strange. Although they were very enthusiastic towards him before, they were even more attentive at this time. A group of people surrounded him and Alvia. Even the hypocritical and somewhat arrogant driver No. 6 put on an awkward smile and circled around them.
Although Alvia saw it and guessed what they wanted to do, she did not say anything. Instead, she slowly ate the skewers with Zhou Zhou.
Finally, the drivers were the first to lose their temper.
Driver No. 1 couldn't help rubbing his hands and said, "Um, Zhou Zhou, can you guys not tell anyone about this after you get out?"
"What?" Zhou Zhou didn't react to what was happening.
"That's right, it's about your boyfriend falling into a deep hallucination." Driver No. 2 said hesitantly. Seeing that the two were holding hands and did not let go after they came out of the mirror, the drivers thought they were a couple.
My, boyfriend?
Zhou Zhou blinked, then looked at Al, who was still eating the skewers as if he had heard nothing, and then looked at their hands, which had not been separated.
Um……
He frowned slightly as if thinking about something. After a moment, Zhou Zhou neither admitted nor denied it, but continued to ask Driver No. 2: "Why can't you say it?"
Driver No. 3 blushed and said embarrassedly, "Because if there is a problem with the copy, it is likely to affect the later scoring and settlement."
"Oh." So that's how it is. Zhou Zhou glanced at Al again, then asked the driver who was staring at him intently, "What if other people have the same problem? What if they don't have a companion?"
Although Zhou Zhou has a soft personality, he is not a brainless saint. Besides, he has entered Al's hallucination and knows how painful little Al is in. There is something wrong with this copy itself, as it digs out the fear and pain hidden deep in people's hearts and makes them repeat everything they have experienced before.
Although the copy of Nightmare City did not seem scary to him, many people were scared and screamed. He had seen in the forums that many players said they were timid and were scared every time they entered a dungeon, but they would still enter it next time. Some of them did so to make money and improve their mental strength, but most of them did so because they enjoyed playing. Even if they were so scared this time that they said they would never play again, they would go back to play after a few days. Many people ridiculed themselves for being bad at playing but still loved to play.
It’s the same principle as loving to watch horror movies. Even though you’re obviously scared, you still can’t help but be curious and can’t help but continue watching next time.
This short-lived terror is different from the horrific memories buried in people's memories.
One is scary, the other is revealing.
What if the player encounters this situation next time and falls into an illusion and cannot get out of it? Can I only wake up by force? Isn’t it said that this method will have an impact on people?
The drivers were speechless for a moment. In fact, his boyfriend's situation could be said to be an extremely rare exception. It would not happen to ordinary people, but this incident had actually happened after all. They also knew that since this kind of thing had happened in the copy, it proved that there were loopholes in the design of the copy.
"Well, forget it." Driver No. 6 couldn't help but roll his eyes at his companion, then strode to stand in front of Elvia. Looking at the cold-faced man looking at him, he suddenly felt a dull pain in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, the problem with the copy is our fault. We will submit it to the system for reset. If you feel physically or otherwise uncomfortable, we will definitely compensate you."
Driver No. 6 was used to speaking coldly, so he always felt awkward saying such things. Besides, this man didn't talk much. If it weren't for his aura being so strong that they dared not speak, they wouldn't have directed their energy at Zhou Zhou.
The other drivers looked at each other and came to Elvia to apologize.
Alvia put down the skewers in her hand and looked at the guilty drivers: "No need."
"You mean, we won't pursue this matter anymore?" Driver No. 5's eyes lit up and he asked cautiously.
"I accept the apology, but even if we don't tell anyone about the copy, do you think we can hide it from Zeus?"
The entire game is under Zeus' control, and every copy is within his detection range. Especially this copy has him and Zhou Zhou in it, so how could Zeus not pay attention?
He could almost imagine Zeus sneaking by somewhere to see what he and Zhou Zhou were doing.
Zeus will definitely deal with the problematic copies as soon as possible. It is estimated that after they get out of this copy, Zeus will send a processing notice to these people.
The drivers were stunned. They belonged to a minority race and their planet was located in a remote area of the empire.
Although they became citizens of the empire a hundred years ago, their lives have hardly changed, and the technology and networks they use are still very old equipment.
It was not until recent years, with the support of various policies of the empire, that they began to use new optical computers and other new equipment. Although they had heard of the reputation of Zeus, they always felt that it had nothing to do with them. Now after hearing what Elvia said, they remembered that the Nightmare City was managed by the artificial intelligence Zeus, so their actions might have been reported long ago.
These people were usually law-abiding people, but when they thought about "bribing" the players under Zeus' nose and trying to keep them from telling anyone, their faces turned red with embarrassment.
Alvia continued, "But nothing has happened yet. We just need to redesign the relevant plot. The punishment afterwards should not be too severe."
Elvia's words were so convincing that the drivers all breathed a sigh of relief.
Afterwards, he continued to treat Zhou Zhou and Elvia to food and drinks.
However, Zhou Zhou wanted to get out quickly. Elvia seemed very calm on the surface. It was not clear whether he would have any sequelae, so he still had to find a doctor to check it out.
After telling the drivers his thoughts, they finally remembered that the two players were here to complete the game.
"Although I really want to open the back door and let you out directly, you still have to go through the dungeon design process. The last level is actually very simple. Find the driver who brought you here and have him take you back to Xuanle Street. That will be considered a successful clearance."
Driver No. 4 said.
So that's why there are 6 identical drivers here?
Zhou Zhou looked at them. Although these drivers had different personalities, they actually didn’t know the driver very well. In terms of personality, driver No. 6 was the closest, but the others were also possible.
Zhou Zhou stared at these people carefully. After looking at them several times, he still didn't find any other differences between them except their personalities. After all, even their voices were the same.
Driver No. 3 chuckled and said, "Our appearance is all copied from the mirror. It's impossible to find it by looking at the outside."
Zhou Zhou couldn't tell the difference, so he turned to ask Al: "Which one do you think it is?"
Alvia shook her head: "I don't know."
Okay, it seems I still have to rely on him. Zhou Zhou sighed, feeling that he had a great responsibility. He would not fail to pass the level if he guessed wrong.
After staring at the drivers for ten minutes, they were still very cooperative and turned around, allowing Zhou Zhou to see them from a 360-degree angle.
Zhou Zhou rubbed his eyes and muttered, "Why do I feel like none of you are?"
The drivers' expressions froze, and Alvia knew that Zhou Zhou had guessed right.
"How do you know?" asked Driver No. 6.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Zhou directly said: "Feeling."
Drivers: “…”
Okay, this feeling is pretty accurate.
"Since none of you are here, how are we going to get back to Xuanle Street?" Zhou Zhou hasn't forgotten the way to pass the level they talked about before.
"Over there, just go there to look for someone. The driver is hiding there, and when you find him, he will take you to Xuanle Street." Driver No. 1 pointed to a depression not far from the foot of the mountain. The area was covered by layers of tall weeds, and nothing could be seen at all.
"The car is there too." Driver No. 6 added.
After thanking the drivers, Zhou Zhou and Elvia walked in the direction they pointed.
It wasn't far away, only about a hundred meters away. No one knew whether the two had forgotten or didn't want to say it out loud, but at this time their hands had not loosened and were still holding each other tightly.
Zhou Zhou didn't care. He had confessed to Al a long time ago, but was rejected by him.
They are holding hands all the time now, are they a couple?
Zhou Zhou didn’t know if it was inappropriate for them to hold hands if they weren’t a couple, but he remembered that it was Al who took the initiative to hold his hand this time and didn’t let him let go, so they should be considered a couple if we round it off.
Thinking of this, Zhou Zhou's eyebrows curved and he smiled with his lips pursed.
The little mouse, who looked like it had stolen oil and was so smug about having taken advantage, looked very cute.
Elvia glanced at him from time to time, and the memories hidden deep in her mind kept surging out. Some of them had actually happened, while some happened in hallucinations. The dark memories seemed less disgusting because of Zhou Zhou's intrusion.
He recalled those memories that had been left behind for a long time, and was a little absent-minded for a moment, but his feet followed Zhou Zhou's steps and kept moving forward.
After crossing the wild grass, Zhou Zhou did see the car behind him. It was still the old and shabby car. So they did not have a car accident at all and the car was fine.
But where is the driver?
Zhou Zhou looked left and right, but didn't see any trace of the driver. He only saw a group of sheep grazing nearby.
sheep?
Zhou Zhou suddenly stared at the sheep and looked at them carefully one by one. The sheep did not seem to be afraid of people and were grazing leisurely near them.
He suddenly took Elvia towards somewhere and finally stood next to a sheep.
"Hello, can you take us to Xuanle Street?" Zhou Zhou said, staring at the sheep.
The sheep that was grazing suddenly turned back into a driver and stared at Zhou Zhou in disbelief: "How did you know?"
Zhou Zhou: "The other sheep were eating grass, but you were sneaking around with your mouth open without eating. And the biscuit crumbs on your chest were too obvious."
The driver said that he was not a real sheep so how could he eat grass? Of course he was just pretending. When he looked down, he saw that there were indeed several biscuit crumbs on his chest. What kind of look was that? How could he see such a small amount?
Zhou Zhou did not say that when the driver went down to catch the sheep, the one who came back was not him, but No. 6. The sheep that was also brought back was the real driver. When he was in the trunk, he had already seen the biscuit crumbs hanging on the sheep.
But before they could say these things, they fell off the cliff.
"Okay, you passed, let's go!"
The driver waved and got in the car first.
Zhou Zhou also quickly pulled Elvi into the car.
There was a whole car of people when they came here, but now there are only two of them left.
Zhou Zhou and Alvia sat side by side in the car. Zhou Zhou looked at their hands, which had not yet separated, and said happily, "We are dating, right?"
Alvia was still sorting out her memories and hadn't come back to her senses. She asked reflexively, "Dating? When?"
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