Chapter 60 Critical Region (12)
The boy was forced to recall the bad things he had done recently, and finally said hesitantly, "Big brother, when I was riding my bicycle home after my exam, I lazily rode against the flow of traffic. Does that count?"
After saying that, he immediately added, "It's just a short distance, I swear it's really only a tiny bit. You have no idea, if I went around on the other side, it would take me ten more minutes to ride home. This road design is so unreasonable!"
The boy admitted his mistake while complaining.
Bai Ye knew, of course, that the road from his home was a one-way street, requiring him to go around for two kilometers before he could see a two-way street. And most of the time, whether riding a bicycle or an electric scooter, people would choose to take the shortcut.
This problem was not resolved until the year he graduated from university, when the town's roads were redesigned.
The boy was a bit eccentric, but quick-witted and soon realized the problem.
"Brother, why are you asking me these questions? Was I chosen because I went against the flow? Oh no, was I exiled here because I made a mistake?"
“Exile?” Bai Ye pondered the word and nodded, “That’s quite an apt description.”
The boy immediately became listless; this was a way of entering the virtual world he had never imagined.
"No way, that's too much."
"You should be glad that you only made a small mistake, otherwise you would have been arrested by the Order Keepers long ago."
"Orderers?"
“People like me, patrolling the streets of the city, will be eliminated first if they violate the city’s order, but that will only take your life temporarily. As for where you will be taken afterward, I don’t know.”
Within the glare, the driver, struck between the eyebrows, should be dead.
However, two law enforcement officers came over and dragged away the already dead driver, following proper procedures.
Bai Ye had some understanding of the work of the Order Keepers and roughly guessed that the driver would have to face trial later.
However, he, as a junior intern who had just been promoted to a full-time position, had no way of knowing the specifics of the situation.
Bai Ye watched for a while longer by the pool. Most of the scenes showed people who broke the rules in the boy's real world being lured into the small world of the dungeon by a light gray phantom.
These people don't match the bewildered drivers who appeared on the three main roads due to the change in environment.
Bai Ye speculated that the drivers who were just observing or those who called 120 were in a similar situation to the teenager. They might have made minor mistakes, but they didn't cause any harm to innocent people.
They shouldn't have been lured in by the light gray phantom; it's more like... they were pulled in for no reason after the opening was torn open.
Bai Ye turned and left.
In his mind, the boy shouted anxiously, "Big brother, why did you stop watching? Maybe there's something even more exciting coming up!"
"I've seen everything I needed to see."
"Brother, do you know the specifics of what happened?"
"have no idea."
The boy had a lot to say, but it got stuck in his throat, and he couldn't say anything.
Once back at the post, Bai Ye dutifully continued his work.
The boy seemed bored and tried to break free from the doll. "Sigh, the world is so big, I want to go see it."
Bai Ye's teeth ached from hearing this. "Don't be so artsy; it can easily bring disaster."
Just like him, why would he quit his job if he had nothing to do? He quit his job to pursue his dreams.
As it turned out, just as his dream was taking off, he suddenly passed away. He ended up in this bizarre, foggy world, racking his brains every day to work and earn money to survive.
The boy thought this would trigger some mechanism in the virtual world, so he obediently shut up. Besides, it seemed that nothing but darkness and unseen evil things were roaming everywhere, and there was no entertainment at the bottom of the cliff, so the boy decided to sleep for the time being.
The voice in my mind finally quieted down.
Bai Ye adapted to the solitude of being alone and stood guard at the first outpost for three consecutive days.
Until a whistle blew—
The voice came from above, calling for a companion to come up and relieve them.
"So three days have already passed?" Bai Ye was alone in the darkness, and his sense of time was somewhat hazy.
Once we reached the top of the cliff and stood on the ground again, the thick and thin fog in front of us had dissipated considerably.
The road leading to the city center was faintly gleaming.
Bai Ye asked the people next to him if they had seen anything strange, but the other order-keepers all shook their heads, looking exhausted.
The faint light on the ground continued and kept spreading. Bai Ye felt uneasy and took the opportunity to go find the team leader.
Upon hearing this, the team leader's expression changed drastically. "What did you say?"
"There are some faint lights that are moving from the edge of the city toward the city center. I feel something is wrong, what's going on?"
"Oh no!"
The team leader cursed under his breath, offered no explanation, and disappeared without a trace.
At 1 p.m., an emergency notice was issued to six locations, ordering the immediate return of some security personnel to the city for a large-scale cleanup.
"A major cleanup?"
When Bai Ye was chosen and got into the car, she couldn't help but ask, "What is the Great Cleanup?"
"One of the six openings has been completely torn open, which means those things inside have escaped. They've transformed into the shape of light and are trying to infiltrate the city."
The order-keeper standing nearby sighed, "If they all ran in, wouldn't the city be in chaos? Even though we're physically strong, we can't withstand being torn apart again and again, and there aren't enough doctors in the hospitals to save us."
The other Order Keeper knew more, and his expression was noticeably worse. "If only they were coming for us. I'm afraid their motives aren't pure; they're after the Three Great Paths."
"The Three Great Paths?" Bai Ye thought of something and couldn't help but say, "I heard from my colleague that it's easy to be sucked into the Three Great Paths and enter the world of those things."
That's what they say, but so far, no Order members have been sucked in.
The people in the car fell silent, each one with a heavy heart.
Bai Ye touched the doll, her heart pounding, and the feeling of unease grew stronger.
Ten minutes later, the car returned to the city.
They didn't even have time to return to the General Affairs Office before receiving orders to immediately go to their respective duty stations to carry out cleaning operations.
This time, instead of choosing a specific extraction method, each person received an urn.
Bai Ye was also given one, and before they separated, she was told how to use it.
"102, open the cover at the duty station, sense for traces of those things, and eliminate them immediately once caught."
Bai Ye held the urn and watched the other orderlies scatter and run away. They were so fast that they were no less than the vehicles on the road.
The boy was seeing this for the first time and was astonished. "Is this the bizarre speed? It's so fast!"
Bai Ye snapped out of his daze, grabbed the urn, and started running as well. He didn't go anywhere else, heading straight for the Third Avenue.
Before heading to the six entrances, he remembered the captain saying that the three main roads would not be managed for the time being.
In other words, the area is currently in a no-man's-land, and is therefore very likely to become a gathering place for those who violate the law.
When Bai Ye arrived at the Third Avenue, the situation was unexpected; there were actually people on duty.
Upon closer inspection, the person turned out to be a familiar face.
"Captain?" Bai Ye was somewhat surprised to see Chang Sheng.
When Chang Sheng saw his team members, he remained calm and even pointed to a location, saying, "Bai Ye, go there and keep watch. If anything tries to escape, eliminate it immediately."
"Captain, what's going on? Why are things coming out of the opening and running into the city? What... what are they?"
This was the only thing that Bai Ye was most curious about.
However, Chang Sheng did not answer, but focused on searching for those darting things.
Bai Ye had no choice but to get back to work.
With the urn in hand, it's easy to spot the traces of those things. It's like a magic mirror, able to accurately reveal the hiding places of those things.
They seemed eager to escape through the three main roads, and even knowing the possibility of being wiped out, they rushed forward without hesitation, despite seeing the orderly guards standing guard.
One after another, they were completely fearless.
At first, Bai Ye would hold back, thinking he wouldn't kill them. But as the number increased, he unconsciously began to increase the force with which he swung his whip.
Until the very end, every lash of the whip accurately killed something, and those ethereal things gradually materialized and fell from mid-air.
The boy, inside the doll, witnessed this scene and was completely terrified.
"B-Big brother, what the hell are these things?" They're even more terrifying than the supernatural.
Bai Ye lashed out with his whip again, his emotions becoming somewhat volatile. "I don't know, there are so many, and I can't seem to get rid of them all."
"Big brother, are you angry?"
"No, I'm on duty."
"But brother, your tone sounds increasingly fierce. And... you're cracking your whip more violently, like a god of war."
A casual remark from a young man stirred up a huge wave of discussion.
Bai Ye froze, looking at the black whip in his hand.
In just the past hour, how many things have I destroyed?
Why are my emotions getting worse and worse? Why am I increasingly tempted to kill?
"hiss!"
Bai Ye suddenly woke up, so frightened that he almost dropped the whip in his hand.
"Big brother, what's wrong?"
"It's [weird], pure and simple is malice, it wants to assimilate me."
Bai Ye recalled what the rice ghost had said at the beginning: if one actively devours something, one will not be harmed, but one will automatically become the evil one.
Advanced players aim to slay the supernatural, and killing can be addictive. It can also lead to downfall and corruption…
“Strange, you want to completely assimilate me.” Bai Ye’s tone was certain.
Almost simultaneously, Bai Ye retracted the black whip in his hand and let those things pass by him.
He turned around and looked at where Captain Chang Sheng was standing. His passive resistance had not attracted any attention from him at all.
This is very unusual. Logically, the captain should have been highly vigilant and should have warned him long ago.
"Strange, is there something else hidden in this instance world?" Bai Ye held the urn, staring at the patterns, the words he wanted to say stuck in his throat.
However, before he could speak, a mechanical voice sounded:
[Congratulations to the player for unlocking the hidden dungeon and searching for lost truth, goodness, and beauty.]
[A player mission has been issued: Find the innocent and send them back to their original world.]
[Player quest issued: Find the sinner and send them back to their original world.]
Two tasks, but they should be the same thing.
Bai Ye just didn't expect that, besides the criminals, there were also innocent people caught up in this dungeon world.
"Does 'innocent' refer to...those who have been harmed by criminals?"
[Congratulations player, your answer is correct.]
The mechanical voice seemed quite pleased; the player's cleverness delighted it.
Bai Ye felt a chill run down his spine. Those were all victims, the most innocent group of people. They were brought into the small world of the instance. Where would they end up?
"Big brother, I'm wondering if those things that emerged from under the cliff are the innocent ones?" the boy began to speculate.
Bai Ye shook his head. "No, those things that emerged from underground are too malicious. They can't be innocent."
"But brother, you have no evidence."
The boy couldn't see the things running around, but he had his own theory: "You told me before that these lawbreakers would be eliminated, that death wasn't the end, and that they would eventually face their final judgment. These are very likely the criminals."
"But brother, don't forget that those innocent people were also tempted before they died. The fact that they were able to harbor thoughts of revenge shows that they had a lot of resentment before they died."
“I’m putting myself in their shoes. If I were to be harmed for no reason, I would be filled with resentment before I die. I would want to drag the person who hurt me down to hell. I would make sure that person suffers even more severe harm than I have, a hundred or a thousand times worse, before I can vent my hatred.”
Bai Ye's heart was filled with turmoil.
The boy continued, "Look how strong the resentment is! According to my grandma, people who die with resentment will become vengeful ghosts. They're very vicious."
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