Chapter 63 Making Ice from Boiled Water (1)
Shu Ningmiao slept until she naturally woke up. Lin Lu didn't contact her afterward, probably because she was looking for other solutions.
She pushed open the door and saw that Erice's dormitory door was slightly ajar.
Hearing the door open, Erice emerged from behind it. Seeing that it was her, he stood still for a moment before walking towards her.
The girl was wearing her school uniform, her left hand tightly gripping her right wrist. The whites of her eyes were tinged with a pale yellow, mixed with some bloodshot veins, and her unkempt, fluffy curly hair made her look even more haggard.
She forced a smile, but couldn't manage a full one, and looked utterly exhausted.
Seeing the dark circles under her eyes, Shu Ningmiao knew that she hadn't returned home all night and had probably just arrived at the dormitory.
Chris came back from drinking all night and looked much like her in the morning.
“I heard from Linlu… Thank you for your concern.” Erice said softly, her intertwined fingers constantly tapping together. “It was too late yesterday, so I stayed outside to rest. The terminal ran out of battery…”
Her device was a secondhand purchase; the battery was old and unreliable, often turning black on its own. It stopped working as soon as she left Cornunos.
"What did Su Ni say to you?" Shu Ningmiao leaned against the doorframe, still wearing her morning robe, her hair simply tied up, and without any jewelry, yet she still made people afraid to approach her. "Did he take you to see Prometheus?"
Hearing those words from Shu Ningmiao's mouth terrified her more than anything else; it was as if a camera had been installed on her.
"No, we just...we just went shopping." Erice turned her head away, her guilty conscience practically written all over her face: "We didn't go anywhere."
“Su Ni’s approach to you was always purposeful.”
Shu Ningmiao didn't have the time to be her confidante, so she spoke quite bluntly without any beating around the bush: "If Prometheus's motives are not problematic, he has no reason to hide it from you."
"But……"
"No matter what they told you or what they promised you," Shu Ningmiao turned around, tapped her head, and stated bluntly, "Think about your own life first."
She's already said all that; if Erice doesn't want to listen, so be it.
She had only reminded Erici because she didn't want Prometheus to succeed.
According to the original game storyline, after her death, Erigee most likely joined Prometheus.
After all, she and Su Ni were still "friends" at that time.
Eric stood still, struggling to move two steps, then suddenly stepped forward and grabbed her wrist. When he raised his face, his eyes were a little red: "Listen to me, they told me everything."
Her hand, which was holding Shu Ningmiao's wrist, was trembling slightly, her palms were covered in cold sweat, and her heart was pounding in her chest. Su Ni had just warned her that she must keep this secret, and that she couldn't even tell Lin Lu, otherwise everyone in Prometheus would be in danger.
“Prometheus isn’t what you think.” Eric didn’t dare take his eyes off Shu Ningmiao’s face, constantly observing her reaction.
She didn't want to talk about this with Shu Ningmiao, but after hearing her guess, she couldn't help but want to refute her misunderstanding.
In any case, there were some things she had to say.
“The government of Pinheis is lying to us! They are telling us all lies. Teacher Yelüqi’s illness is not a common gastrointestinal disease at all.”
Eric kept glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, and seeing that she was still listening, he breathed a sigh of relief: "I really have seen other patients like the teacher... I'm not lying, I saw them when I was very young, I don't remember very clearly before that."
Contrary to her expectations, Shu Ningmiao neither questioned nor mocked her; she simply asked lightly, "In New Land?"
“Yes.” Erice’s hands, hanging by his sides, trembled slightly.
She wanted to tell Shu Ningmiao about a dream she had forgotten for a long time.
These children are not allowed to leave the orphanage alone without their mother's permission.
When she was a child, she was the leader of the kids in the courtyard. She was very noisy. The wall in the backyard of the orphanage was dilapidated, and the drainage pipes were exposed. The base of the wall was wet from being washed. She could easily poke it with her index finger and a small section of it would collapse.
Curious, she lay down on the ground, trying to see the view outside through the small hole.
The scene outside wasn't scary, just dirty. Foul-smelling water mixed with quicksand, and half of the narrow field of vision was filled with carelessly dumped garbage. It wasn't very interesting.
But the orphanage was just as boring. Erice loved reading, but she had already worn out the few books in the orphanage.
It rained that noon, and water accumulated in the yard, forming shallow puddles that overflowed the drainpipes. The children were splashing and playing in the puddles.
Eric stood there and noticed a few black streaks in the puddle at his feet. They were quickly washed away by the flowing water and no one paid any attention to them.
Is it oil? Or some kind of wastewater?
Eric couldn't tell; the backyard often smelled bad, and they were used to it.
Curious, she followed the direction of the black liquid and discovered that it was flowing from the corner of the collapsed wall.
Not yet aware of fear, she slowly crouched down and peered out through a hole in the broken wall, witnessing the shocking scene.
The thick, black liquid slowly dissolved in the murky water, and as soon as it gushed out, it was washed away by the water in the drainpipe.
There was a person lying outside the orphanage.
Erice stared blankly at the person lying on the ground. The person was still alive, weakly raising their eyes to meet hers. The blood vessels in their eyes were black.
His lips moved, he smiled slightly, but he seemed too weak to speak and slowly stopped breathing.
To this day, all she remembers are those eyes.
Although she couldn't understand the meaning behind the person's gaze, she clearly remembered those eyes that were slowly losing focus.
That is death.
Eric had nightmares all night, and when he woke up, he found that the base of the backyard wall had been repaired.
The water on the ground was swept clean.
Several adults in white robes appeared in the hall, their faces obscured. She felt terrified. The nun hugged her, comforted her, and told her that they were priests from the Church of Praise.
Is someone dead?
She wanted to ask, but didn't bring herself to.
Her dreams often repeated the same scene: torrential rain poured down to her feet, sewage and black liquid mingled together, and she huddled in a corner, screaming in agony.
—The indistinct figure staggered through the rain, trying to grab her hand, but always collapsed in front of her before he could even touch her.
Thick, black liquid spread from beneath the corpse, growing larger and larger.
Whenever she had a nightmare, she would develop a high fever and remain in a daze for many days, as if she were possessed by something bad.
Her mother had no choice but to stay with her while she slept. She had nightmares on and off for many years, and the scenes in her dreams became increasingly blurry, but her reactions remained intense.
The dream suddenly disappeared on the day she awakened her superpowers.
She gradually discovered her special ability, "Light," which could dispel negative states and help treat simple injuries to the children in the orphanage.
The String Light Academy sent me an admission letter.
In the years leading up to adulthood, she had long forgotten that nightmare.
Until those people brought it up again.
She then remembered that she had seen Yelü Qi's illness before.
“Su Ni told me that he didn’t know about my special ability at first, but after he found out, he kept trying to invite me.” Eric said softly, his head lowered. “My awakened special ability can help everyone.”
Shu Ningmiao withdrew her hand, already showing signs of impatience.
The ability is already fixed on the day it awakens. After that, at most, everyone's proficiency in mastering the ability will differ, unlike a game where it can be continuously upgraded and expanded.
No matter how hard Eric tries, his superpowers are limited, and his "light" is limited; he will never be able to purify patients and contaminated bodies.
Su Ni is her teammate, so knowing this is like Prometheus knowing it too.
Although we don't know what they're thinking, Achini's scheme is definitely not as simple as turning Erigi into a teammate.
Seeing her resolute expression, Shu Ningmiao turned and left.
Eric looked anxious for a moment and tried to grab her hand, but Shu Ningmiao raised her wrist, causing her to miss.
"Whatever Su Ni says goes?" Shu Ningmiao reached out and covered her forehead, preventing her from getting any closer: "And what about yourself? Why did you join Prometheus? Just because you thought you might be useful?"
“Because if we let Pandora continue to be mined, everyone is very likely to get sick.” Erici looked incredulous. “Prometheus is right. We have to do something for the future.”
"Does it mean causing destruction everywhere, blowing up overpasses, and attacking people randomly?" Shu Ningmiao crossed her arms.
"No!" Erici's face flushed instantly, and he stammered, "As long as you are willing to join Prometheus, you can get the Symbol of Life. There are many factions within Prometheus, and not everyone is so extreme... Everyone's ultimate goal is to save humanity."
"Save humanity." Shu Ningmiao repeated, her tone calm, it was hard to tell whether it was sarcasm or something else.
“Isn’t it right to help others?” She clenched her fingers, slowly raised her head, her eyes still a little red, but much more determined than usual: “I just want to do something meaningful.”
Her future was predictable; she wasn't good at fighting and couldn't join the army; her grades were above average, but she couldn't even get close to the National Research Center, and at best, she could only do some busy, ordinary work.
Rather than staying in Pines, he wanted to go back and help at the orphanage, but he was reluctant to do so.
I finally managed to get out of this mess, but now I don't know what to do next.
Going to school, eating, repeating the same muddled life every day, I'll probably live out my life in a daze.
She longed to do something, though the desire wasn't initially strong. But Prometheus had already extended an olive branch to her, and she had no reason not to accept it.
If we could change Pine's current situation, we could not only save many lives and help her friends—by not mining Pandora, there would be no more waste dumped into the new land, but we could also indirectly save the place where she was born.
“Do you think…” Erice bravely raised her head: “Is what Pine did right?”
A cold smile appeared in Shu Ningmiao's eyes: "So what have they changed so far?"
Aside from the unfortunate souls who were killed in the bombing, Pigne remained prosperous and glamorous.
The pipes above the city continue to transport Pandora day and night, and the city still shines with layers of lights at night as bright as day.
“Precisely because nothing has changed,” Erice turned his face away, “that we are needed even more.”
Shu Ningmiao didn't want to talk to her anymore, and placed her hand on the door: "Whatever."
When Eric saw the weariness and indifference on her face, he suddenly realized that all he had said was useless.
Shu Ningmiao is right. She is indeed no different from the others in Kornunos. As a beneficiary, she always adopts a self-preservation attitude when faced with disasters that will not befall them.
"After saying all that..." Erici's fighting spirit, which had just been high, seemed to have been doused with cold water, and he felt a tightness in his chest: "You don't care about anything at all, you only care about yourself."
"Of course I only care about myself." Shu Ningmiao peeked out from the half-closed door, turned around at the doorway, and glanced back at her: "Before saving the world, I need to save myself first."
Shu Ningmiao smiled faintly: "If everyone could manage their own affairs, the planet would spin much faster than it is now."
Seeing Shu Ningmiao slam the door shut in front of her without any mercy, Ai Ruiji stomped her foot and left as well.
Shu Ningmiao opened the game on the terminal again and stared at the game's title cover for a long time before finally figuring out what the game meant.
The so-called "villainous roles" are mostly characters who play the opposite side of the protagonist in games.
If Erigee joins Prometheus, isn't she destined to be a villain?
Is this game really a dating game...? Based on her observations so far, no matter who Eric chooses to pursue, she always ends up being deceived by these same people, even Weston can't outsmart her.
None of these five characters are good people; it seems that only in this way can the heroine's redemptive attribute be demonstrated. Anyway, they are just characters in a game.
Shu Ningmiao tapped the screen. Apart from the time she stopped Lian Nagi from killing her, the terminal hadn't displayed any survival tips for a long time.
She was absolutely certain that Rennagi was probably an important NPC in the game, which was why the game popped up a prompt at that time.
True to the game system's usual style, at this point, it should have offered a survival tip: make her submit to Prometheus and join him alongside the female protagonist.
But the game remained completely still, stuck on the title screen, without any changes.
She stared at it for a long time.
Whether it was her eyes playing tricks on her or the game lag, the screen suddenly distorted for a moment.
Shu Ningmiao looked again and realized that the seemingly illusion she had just seen was actually unchanged.
She blinked her dry eyes again, wanting to open the plot again to review it and see if she could find any clues, but found that the screen was unresponsive.
The title screen froze again, stuck on a frame, the image splitting into several segments that slowly receded.
The black squares overlapped with the image, making it look completely broken.
Shu Ningmiao subconsciously tried to press the restart button, but there was still no response.
The terminal started vibrating wildly in her hand as if it had gone out of control. Shu Ningmiao frowned; she had clearly set it to silent.
A dialog box, obscured by large black blocks, popped up on the screen.
"There's too much time in the stream."
Shu Ningmiao gripped the terminal tightly, her back suddenly slamming against the door.
This wasn't the usual text from a game system; she'd seen it once before.
The tone, the words, and the timing of its appearance were completely unlike any other system that was normally like an artificially disabled AI.
The last time this dialog box appeared, it said—
Fate has always watched your death.
But this time, the message popped up saying that time was running out?
Does this mean she doesn't have much time left before she dies? Shu Ningmiao felt a chill run down her spine.
The box didn't disappear as quickly as it did last time; instead, a new dialog box popped up.
『小心阝可葜尼』
Shu Ningmiao stared at the terminal for a long time before she understood what this sentence meant—Beware of Achini.
It's too late to say that now.
Shu Ningmiao couldn't help but ask, "How can there still be typos?"
If this is some higher-dimensional being, how could it possibly make a spelling mistake?
The dialog box slowly appeared with an answer as she asked her question, which sounded like she was talking to herself.
"To avoid the larvae"
Avoid? Upon hearing this word, Shu Ningmiao instantly understood its meaning.
As Wei Shengqianheng once said, the people of the new land would use the Intorini word "manra" instead of "pandora" to avoid being monitored by the Pinheid government.
The same principle applies to replacing it with a misspelled word.
The people of the new land are afraid of the Pinheid government, so what is the game system afraid of?
Or is this thing that allows her to talk really a game system?
The screen, covered in black blocks, looked very unstable. Fearing the chat box might disappear at any moment, Shu Ningmiao quickly asked, "Who are you?"
The "Cannot Speak" dialog box slowly appeared.
"Then what are you here for?" Since the topic of avoidance was brought up, Shu Ningmiao could understand, but since this thing had appeared, it must want to say something to her: "What can you say?"
'Shut up'
The dialog box repeated, as if to emphasize: "噅了救亻尔"
"Why did you save me?" Shu Ningmiao was still not quite convinced.
"Cannot speak"
Okay, Shu Ningmiao finally understood. The five chapters of vague spoilers she could only see were probably due to the "cannot be said" rule at work.
"Who killed me in that game's ending, Achini?" Staring at the words on the dialog box, Shu Ningmiao's mind became clearer.
'Shuo Shi'
Is it considered as such? It is or it isn't, so why would it be considered as such?
Most of the notifications in the dialog box were too late; even if she were a fool, she should know to be wary of Achini by now: "I'll be careful."
The dialog box paused for a moment, then a head-shaking emoticon appeared.
"Not enough"
The dialog box popped up much faster: "Very dangerous, you need to save your game."
Having understood what the other party meant, Shu Ningmiao gripped the terminal tightly. Of course, she wanted to use the save and load function in the game, but saving wasn't always possible, and she had no idea about the conditions.
The last time I saved my game was when I was kicked out of the combat simulation system.
From then on, no matter how many times she tried to save, the save point would not respond, showing that it was not at a save point.
If she wanted to use the save/load function, she could only load saves from her superpower practice a few months ago.
Without understanding the conditions and costs, there's no need to even try it; it should only be used as a last resort.
"Do you know the conditions for saving?"
A dialog box appeared in front of her: "I can't say, but you can find me."
She still has no clue, how could she possibly find it so easily? "Can you give me a hint? I'll even guess."
The dialog box hesitated for a long time before finally adding a sentence.
"crow"
Even with such a vague prompt, the screen jerked violently after it finished displaying, and for a moment, the black blocks on the screen seemed to surge wildly.
Shu Ningmiao knew she couldn't ask any more questions. She raised her hand, stared at the chat box for a while, and sighed: "Is fate something you're trying to avoid?"
'Shuo Shi'
Again, it's true that it always gives such vague answers to questions that are simply yes or no.
I can't say.
"Okay." Shu Ningmiao sat down against the door and slowly asked, "Did you make this game?"
'Shuo Shi'
Before Shu Ningmiao could explode, another message popped up in the chat box: "A portion."
Shu Ningmiao took a deep breath: "I only have one question for you: is this game set in the future or the past?"
The dialog box remained silent for a long time without her reply.
Shu Ningmiao just stared at it like that.
The dialog box pops up again.
It's reality.
Shu Ningmiao glanced at the dialog box the moment it appeared.
The next second, the unevenly distributed black blocks on the screen suddenly twitched, and the screen went black instantly.
It felt as if something very hot had burned her palm, and Shu Ningmiao hissed softly as she released her grip.
The terminal fell to the ground. She opened her hand, and her palm was completely unharmed, without even a trace of redness or swelling.
Is it a hallucination?
She picked up the terminal again, and the screen had returned to its usual display. Petals floated above the Zhunti Pagoda on the game cover, creating a serene and peaceful scene.
Shu Ningmiao clicked on the save/load option. The operation was smooth, and the save content still showed the scene from several months ago.
The dialog box says that "crow" is a clue to the save file, but how is she supposed to find it?
Can we just grab a crow and see if it can help her save the game?
She then checked the favorability ratings of several male leads. You An's favorability rating had already reached the level of friendship, while Su Ni's favorability rating remained unchanged, showing no improvement compared to last time.
After the delay, it was almost time for class. With no time to think it over, Shu Ningmiao quickly put on her clothes and rushed to the classroom.
The atmosphere in the classroom was already quite lively, even unusually so.
Shu Ningmiao put down her textbook, and Chris next to her patted her shoulder: "Honey, why do you look so tired?"
She said, pointing her fingernails, "Weston just came over and told us that the second ability test is in three weeks."
No wonder the classroom was so noisy. Shu Ningmiao was stunned for a moment. No wonder the game reminded her that "time is running out".
The second test of superpowers is coming, which means the death ending in the game is imminent.
She must find a way to archive the records beforehand to avoid any potential accidents.
Shu Ningmiao turned her head to look at the eerily quiet place in the back row.
The two people who are usually inseparable are now sitting on opposite sides of the table, one on the far left and the other on the far right.
Shu Ningmiao asked, "Did those two have a fight?"
"Hmm." Chris absentmindedly picked at her nails: "I'm really surprised that I've been friends with Linlu for so long."
Linlu lowered her head, her expression gloomy, while Erice on the other side also looked unwell. Shu Ningmiao looked away.
Lin Chuxu, who was sitting next to her, covered her mouth with her textbook and quietly leaned closer: "Actually, I heard them arguing when I came to the teaching building this morning."
"Why are you here so early?" Chris couldn't get up and angrily pointed at her: "Traitor."
"Shut up." Lin Chuxu glared at her and lowered his voice to imitate the two people's tone.
First came Linlu: "I told you not to associate with Su Ni too often. He took you out all night, but he's the Shu family's precious son and nothing happened to him. What about you?"
Then came Eric's voice: "I won't do it again."
"In the future?" Linlu's voice rose considerably because of her apology: "If Shu Ningmiao had told Weston yesterday, there would be no future. Could you have taken those words? If it were anyone else, I wouldn't be worried, but you're different. As long as there's a loophole, people will rush to bully you. Is it worth it for Su Ni?"
“I didn’t do it for Su Ni.” Eric’s voice was still weak.
"Whether it's for him or not, to put it bluntly, he and you are from two different worlds."
After a long silence, Erice finally choked up and said, "Then what about us? We're from two different worlds too."
"—That's not what I meant." Lin Lu was so angry she almost fell over, her voice suddenly dropping to a low hue: "I think Su Ni is an ingrate, he's impossible to please, you know? No matter how good you are to him, he won't take it to heart."
“You guys…” Erice turned his head away: “You always misunderstand him. He’s not that kind of person.”
Lin Lu's voice was filled with anger, and she couldn't suppress her temper from speaking in a gentle tone: "Can't you see that he likes his older sister? As long as Shu Ningmiao beckons, he'll wag his tail and come running. How could he possibly care about you... Waaah—waaah."
Lin Chuxu's imitation ended when Chris forcibly covered his mouth.
Shu Ningmiao frowned in disgust: "So they had a fight."
“Yes.” Lin Chuxu nodded: “Linlu said, ‘I’m not going to care about you anymore.’ Eric came in after looking dejected for a while. He didn’t take the initiative to make peace. He’s quite principled.”
Shu Ningmiao remained silent, her fingertips idly turning the pages of her textbook, seemingly lost in thought. When the bell rang, she closed her textbook and prepared to leave the classroom.
Chris asked her, "Where are you going?"
"Class C," Shu Ningmiao waved her hand, "You guys go first."
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