Xia Linyin looked at him in confusion. Was Su Jinyan wishing her that she would definitely return to reality?
But his expression and tone didn't seem to indicate that; rather, it sounded like he was telling her a result. Why was he so certain?
She will definitely return to reality.
"I've discovered some secrets about the game."
Su Jinyan reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind Xia Linyin's ear. Xia Linyin tilted her head slightly, a little uncomfortable.
Su Jinyan withdrew his hand, ignoring Xia Linyin's evasiveness, and merely curved the corners of his lips into a slight smile.
Xia Linyin knew that Su Jinyan had been investigating the game and researching the truth behind it, and her throat tightened slightly. "What secret?"
"You'll know when you get back to reality."
Su Jinyan said unhurriedly, "If you can't return to reality and eventually die in the game, what's the point of knowing the game's secrets?"
Xia Linyin retorted, "At least I can die knowing the truth."
Su Jinyan smiled, her eyes filled with doting affection, "Alright, then I'll tell you about one of my discoveries."
"You've been injected with the X virus, haven't you? I've been injected with it too. And it's not just me; other players have been injected with the X virus in different games."
"You mean, the game injected every player with the X virus?"
"I can't say for everyone, but most players have been injected. Sometimes the reagent isn't called X Virus, but its effect is similar to X Virus."
After much thought, Xia Linyin asked, "Is each game world another real world created by the game, or is the game world just fake, just... data?"
"What you really want to ask is, is Li Luo a person created by the game, or is he just a string of data?"
Xia Linyin kept her head down and didn't speak. If the mastermind behind the game was a god, then the NPCs he created were people.
If the game is created by a human, then the NPCs he creates are data. The game world they inhabit, including Area B and Area A, is all data. From the moment they enter the game, they enter a world constructed from data.
If the mastermind behind the game is God, then what she found unsettling before was that if the game can create a real world and real people, then which world is real?
Is the real world they thought it was really the real world?
Or is the real world simply a world created by the game, and the so-called players are actually just NPCs?
After all, games can alter people's memories. When she played the Ghost in the Castle game, the names of strangers were implanted in her mind.
If everything she experienced was fake, if she was the NPC whose memories were constantly being refreshed...
Xia Linyin dared not think any further.
"What difference does it make?" Su Jinyan's tone was cold and almost cruel. "Linyin, you and he can never be together."
Su Jinyan opened his arms and pulled Xia Linyin into his embrace, whispering three words in her ear, "I'll wait for you."
Then he released Xia Linyin, took a step, stepped into the teleportation array, and disappeared into the beam of light.
After Su Jinyan disappeared, the ground returned to its original state.
"Is it impossible for us to be together?" Xia Linyin murmured, taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling.
Why does the game require the vast majority of players to be injected with the X virus?
What is the purpose of this game?
Su Jinyan revealed some of his findings to Xia Linyin, but this only brought her more questions.
——This is the dividing line for the ninth game——
Her stomach was cramping in waves, her limbs felt weak and powerless, and the hunger emanating from her abdomen made Xia Linyin wish she could bang her head against the wall to relieve the tormenting hunger with the intense pain.
Her heart felt like it was hanging in mid-air, unable to find a place to land. Xia Linyin finally understood what it meant to be extremely hungry, so hungry that her heart was racing.
Her fingers trembled uncontrollably, and Xia Linyin couldn't help but curl up, clutching her abdomen and groaning in pain.
"Sister, you're finally awake!" came the man's excited and joyful voice, which was hoarse beyond recognition.
Xia Linyin looked up, her vision blurring, and it took her a while to focus her gaze on the other person's face.
After identifying it for a moment, he asked in surprise, "Li Luo?"
Xia Linyin had never seen Li Luo so disheveled.
The man before me was so thin that his cheeks were sunken, his beard was stubble, his lips were chapped and peeling, his hair was dry like weeds, his eyes were bloodshot, and there were dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept for days and nights.
If Xia Linyin hadn't been so familiar with Li Luo's features, she would hardly have recognized him.
A look of surprise flashed across the man's face. He helped Xia Linyin sit up and placed a dirty, worn-out cushion that hadn't been washed for who knows how many years behind her.
Xia Linyin glanced around at the surroundings. They were in what looked like the ruins after an earthquake, with sunlight streaming in through the gaps between the stones, the beams of light filled with dust.
It was cramped and narrow, cluttered with miscellaneous items, and the air was stuffy.
Her hands were thin and bony, her wrists so thin they looked like they would break at any moment, and her fingernails were covered in grime, black as if she had just been handling coal dust. Her clothes were so worn that their original color was no longer recognizable.
The man picked up a strangely shaped container from a nearby table; calling it a table was a stretch; it was more like a flat, large rock.
The man opened the container and brought the opening to Xia Linyin's lips. Xia Linyin glanced inside and saw that it was filled with water.
She quickly opened her mouth and drank it. The water tasted of rust and had an indescribable flavor. To be honest, it was hard to drink, but for Xia Linyin at that moment, it was like the finest nectar.
The cool, clear water flowed down my throat, like water finally flowing into parched, cracked fields.
Xia Linyin swallowed almost impatiently, but choked because she drank too fast.
"Cough cough—"
The man patted Xia Linyin on the back with his large hand, then pulled out a greasy cloth bag from his pocket. He opened the cloth to reveal a piece of roasted meat about the size of his palm.
Xia Linyin no longer cared about how the piece of roasted meat was so dark and burnt; she was staring intently at the piece of roasted meat in the man's hand.
When the man handed her the grilled meat, Xia Linyin grabbed it and, her fingers trembling, wolfed it down.
Without bothering to chew the meat thoroughly, he took two bites and swallowed it. This body seemed to be used to being hungry. Although he only ate half of the roasted meat, the agonizing hunger that was driving him crazy was finally not so intense after he finished eating half of the roasted meat.
Only then did Xia Linyin let the piece of meat she had bitten off stay in her mouth for a little longer.
Because it had been held in the man's arms the whole time, the roasted meat still carried the warmth of his body, and there seemed to be a sour taste in the meat.
For some reason, Xia Linyin suddenly felt nauseous, and her throat involuntarily gushed with acid.
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