Chapter 286
jingle--
The wind chimes jingled as they struck the door. Xie Xubai picked up Ping An with one arm and pushed open the door of the dessert shop.
A fire was burning in the stove inside, and the warm heat wafted in, keeping the cold wind and dampness out.
Xie Xubai smelled the sweet aroma of butter being baked at high temperature, along with the rich fragrance of caramel mixed with nuts—a scent he hadn't tasted in many years.
He was somewhat dazed, and subconsciously twitched his nose. Realizing what had happened, he casually rubbed his nose. In the blink of an eye, a tall, muscular man stood before him, his gaze deep and unfathomable.
The man had the typical three-dimensional features of Europeans, light-colored short hair, dark brown pupils, and a broad back and thick waist. He had a sharp, ruthless aura that had been etched into his bones through years of tempering, and even wearing a rubber duck apron did not reveal any softness.
The moment Xie Xubai's eyes met, the man suddenly lowered his gaze and naturally bowed.
He suddenly became very docile, like a fierce stone giant obediently squatting down and spreading his palms to welcome the grown-up prince who was going to war.
Then the little yellow duck on the apron wobbled and became even more adorable.
“Benvenuti,” the man said with a rhythmic smile, “meaning ‘Welcome’ in Italian. I’m the manager, Ogutov. How can I help you, esteemed guest?”
Xie Xubai snapped out of his daze and patted the whimpering Ping An in his arms: "Give this little guy a pet goat milk pudding."
He paused, then took out the game cartridge and tentatively asked, "Do you have any consoles or screens that are compatible with it?"
That sounds like nitpicking; even in a specialized electronics market, you might not be able to find a compatible model.
But Ogutov simply smiled and replied, "As long as you need it."
The shop was packed with people, each with two drinks in front of them, staring intently at each one, trying to distinguish the difference.
The fire was burning brightly, and many people had beads of sweat on their foreheads, but their faces were unusually pale.
The moment Xie Xubai entered, someone suddenly looked over like a startled bird, but upon seeing that the newcomer was just an NPC with mediocre stats, they turned their head back.
Xie Xubai was led by Augutov to the only single sofa in the store, with a flat-screen TV directly in front of him. The seat was soft and comfortable, and the cat-shaped cushion supported his waist perfectly, as if it had been tailor-made for him.
He felt an increasingly strange sense of familiarity, but his body honestly sank into it, letting out a sigh of comfort.
Ogutov placed a glass of sweet milk on the coffee table in front of him and said, "Be careful, it's hot." He then opened a jar of goat milk pudding, put it in a small bowl, and placed it in front of Ping An.
This action once again drew attention from others, but no one paid much attention to it.
Xie Xubai saw the promotional poster on the wall, which introduced the store's opening event, called "Dessert Poison: Choose One". Within a limited time, you can choose a dessert for free and receive a beautiful little gift made by the store manager.
Xie Xubai guessed there would be a punishment if there was only a reward, and asked curiously, "What is it?"
Ogutov walked to the cabinet and rummaged through it. It was full of pots and pans, but then he magically pulled out an old-fashioned computer: "Isn't the poison enough?"
Xie Xubai thought to himself that it couldn't possibly be real poison, nor could it be croton or anything like that; it wouldn't pass the food safety test.
Perhaps he was thinking too seriously and without any attempt to hide it, because Ogutov found it intriguing and a hint of a smile appeared in his eyes: "What do you think I would add?"
Xie Xubai casually replied, "That kind of chili water that has no color or smell."
After thinking about it, he realized this wasn't scary enough, at least not enough to make a large group of customers feel like they were facing a major threat. He emphasized, "Extra spicy."
Ogutov couldn't help but laugh again: "You guessed right, you're really amazing."
No sooner had he finished speaking than a creaking sound came from the side. Someone had kicked off a stool out of control, smashing a cup on the ground and shards of glass flying everywhere. His face turned red and blue as he coughed violently, his mouth agape, looking extremely pained.
He drank poison!
In an instant, everyone looked at that person; some felt pity, while others were terrified.
Xie Xubai could only imagine that the spiciest food would make him blush, but he never expected the store manager to be so daring with the dosage. In that instant, he even pressed 120 (emergency services).
But the person involved waved their hands frantically. When they let go, they revealed swollen, fiery red lips, and with tears welling up in their eyes, they shouted, "It's nothing! I'm nothing!"
Pointing excitedly at the drink, he exclaimed, "Lajiu! It really is Lajiu!"
Upon hearing this, the others were overjoyed and immediately raised their glasses to down their drinks in one gulp, not wanting to be even a little slow.
As a result, some people gasped for breath and were delighted even after drinking the "poison," while others grinned from ear to ear as they received "small gifts" from the store manager.
They left one after another. Ogutov hung up a "Closed for Business" sign at the door and heard one of the customers call out to him from behind: "The progress bar is almost finished. We're about to launch a full-scale attack on the Abyss. Ogutov, you have to come with us."
Ogutov said, "According to the rules, I can only be your enemy."
The guest remained silent, his eyes deep and unfathomable: "Can I still believe that you stand on the side of humanity?"
“There was one person who firmly believed that I was always there,” Ogutov said, “so I never left.”
Laughter drifted from afar. The guest's expression changed slightly. He glanced at Ogutov, said nothing more, nodded, and quickly walked away.
Laughter grew louder as the cold mist dissipated from the street. Several children skipped and hopped up to Ogutov, asking innocently in Italian, "What's good to eat today?"
They noticed the sign: "Why are you closed? We want to come inside and play."
“Not these next few days.” Ogutov offered them candy. “I have a very important guest to entertain.”
"An important guest?" A child's eyes darted around as he peered through the window, his gaze immediately locking onto Xie Xubai. "Oh, is that him?!"
They became even more enthusiastic, their feet disappeared, their bodies turned into gray mist, floating in the air and circling around Ogutov joyfully: "Let us in."
"We want to see him!"
Let's all play together!
Ogutov still looked at them with a gentle smile and an unquestionable gaze.
Gradually, the children shuddered under his gaze, timidly backed away, and pouted, "Okay."
"knew."
"That's someone who's very important to you."
"Don't bully them."
They ran back to the street, laughing and joking.
Their misty bodies stretched and elongated, their limbs touching the ground, growing hooves, manes, and a spiraling horn. They opened their mouths and spewed out turbid air carrying sparks, their eyes were bloodshot, and a dozen or so of them rode in a group, stomping heavily on the stone bricks when they landed.
Someone who saw this was horrified: "A ghost unicorn!"
"Get away from them! Don't touch them! They'll lead you to your death!"
"The gates to the abyss are about to open. The magnetic field in H City is in disarray, which can cause these strange and unexpected situations. Everyone, please be on guard!"
Ogutov remained motionless, looking up at the dark red sky.
Because most souls are integrated into the system, he can directly see a deeper level of reality. Apart from sentient beings, the entire world is a distorted and writhing stream of data. H City is slightly better, with golden light and pitch-black tentacles intertwining and weaving through it, like the roots of a large tree extending outwards, maintaining basic stability.
Ogutov looked at his hands, which, like the twisted buildings, were woven from a jumble of ever-changing characters—in short, a bloody, shapeless lump of asphalt.
This dark-toned world, along with the dark-toned bodies, can feel somewhat oppressive after a while.
Turning my head, a golden light appeared in my dim vision.
Unlike the power of rules that permeates buildings, the radiance of Xie Xubai's soul is a more dazzling and translucent gold, reminding Ogutov of Lake Garda under the midsummer sun.
The young man was unaware that his tone of voice exuded a unique calmness, his eyes were slightly upturned, and his gaze was shimmering, as if small hooks were reaching out from them, gently stealing the hearts of others and making them willingly be manipulated by him.
He's more attractive than ever, perhaps because he's on his way to godhood.
There were still customers in the shop. He sensed something from Xie Xubai and Ogutov's seemingly magical conversation, and his face turned even redder than when he drank the chili water. He grabbed Xie Xubai's hand and said, "Don't worry, we will definitely get you out! Wait for us, you must wait for us!"
He had encountered this situation before, except that Xie Xubai's personality power was taken away, and only a small part of his remnant soul and obsession wandered outside. Thinking about it made him even more heartbroken.
Xie Xubai: "..."
Cen Haiyue has also been acting strangely lately, and his speech is just as difficult to understand.
Xie Xubai had experience in dealing with such situations. He knew that refuting or expressing doubt would only make the other person more grief-stricken or even in pain, so he nodded and said, "Okay, good luck to you guys, I'll be waiting for you."
Looking into Xie Xubai's gentle and encouraging eyes, the man's eyes instantly reddened, sparkling and brimming with tears.
He sobbed, pulled out a small notebook from somewhere, and stammered with anticipation, "Could you...could you sign your name for me? I...I've admired you for so long!"
Xie Xubai took it, then remembered to ask, "What's your name?"
The man said, "Deng Gaoyang!"
Xie Xubai then wrote: "Xie Xubai wishes Deng Gaoyang all his wishes come true and that he will achieve immediate success."
The moment the text took shape, an extremely high attribute boost buff descended, and Deng Gaoyang was so excited holding the notebook that he almost fell over.
Unexpectedly, he could one day cosplay a celebrity without batting an eye. Just as Xie Xubai was about to return the pen to him, a business card was suddenly thrust in front of him. Augutov smiled and said, "Sign one for me too. In return, all your future purchases will be on the house."
Xie Xubai said embarrassedly, "Wouldn't that be taking advantage of you?"
“I didn’t really get a good deal,” Ogutov said tactfully. “I’m going home soon and haven’t bought any new ingredients, so they’ll probably expire tomorrow. And you’re the last customer today.”
Xie Xubai: "..."
Satisfied, Ogutov placed the signed business card in the pocket of his wallet, then put the wallet inside his coat, humming a tune as he pulled out the power cord to install the game console on the LCD TV.
Ping An had just finished eating the goat milk pudding and was happily licking her lips. Xie Xubai glanced at the outer packaging in the trash can; the shelf life seemed quite long.
He then looked at the sweet milk in his hand, hazelnut chocolate flavored, freshly made, its rich aroma making his mouth water.
Xie Xubai thought it shouldn't kill anyone, so he mustered up his courage, took a small sip, and paused slightly.
It's still very fresh.
The shop was empty, with orange lights shining down from the ceiling. Outside, a cold wind was blowing, but inside, the fireplace quietly radiated warmth, and the occasional crackling of burning firewood could be heard.
Augutov connected the console, inserted the game cartridge, washed and cleaned his hands, and naturally took a thick fleece blanket to cover Xie Xubai, then placed the controller in his palm.
“We can begin,” he said. “I’ll go make something to eat; would you like some orange cake?”
Xie Xubai nodded and pressed the start button.
The screen lit up, and the blood-red title text "Infinite Game" appeared before his eyes.
Like flipping a switch, a violent explosion suddenly came from outside the window, and the terrified screams and high-pitched commands from the crowd rose and fell, like lightning piercing the gloomy sky.
Just as Xie Xubai was about to get up, he saw Ogutov close the doors and windows tightly.
“You should trust them,” Ogutov said. “Besides, your battlefield isn’t there.”
Something was about to pop into my head.
It was like a force, or a will, sensing the right moment, constantly crashing against the barrier, frantically trying to break through the soil.
Xie Xubai calmly looked at Ogutov's face and suddenly asked, "How long have we known each other?"
Ogutov added grated orange zest to the low-gluten flour and laughed, “Shorter than the destruction of the earth, longer than a lifetime.”
OK.
Xie Xubai thought to himself expressionlessly, "It's a good thing this glib-tongued fellow wasn't born in England, or he'd be a Shakespeare."
Ogutov was very familiar with this expression, especially when he forcibly took away the fifteenth bottle of potent mental restoration potion that a certain workaholic commander was about to drink: "You must be cursing me in your heart again."
Xie Xubai reflexively replied, "No, how could that be?"
This interruption gradually calmed the commotion outside, and amidst shouts of relief, it seemed that someone had worked together to avert the danger.
But soon another storm arose, and with a deafening roar, the earth shook, and they were plunged into a new battle once again.
It's time to begin.
Without Ogutov urging him, the thought spontaneously popped into Xie Xubai's mind.
He clicked on the title to load, and a blinding white light shone from the host camera, illuminating his face.
The screen displays the following text reminder: "To provide you with the best gaming experience, we will use facial features captured by the camera to generate your character's appearance."
Please do not move during filming.
Accompanied by a pleasant background sound, Xie Xubai entered the game.
The art style is very much in line with his basic impression of RPG games in the early 2000s: side-scrolling gameplay and pixelated graphics, which was due to the weak graphics processing capabilities and low screen resolution of early home consoles and handheld devices.
The corresponding options are also very simple, with only "Start - Enter New Game" and "Load Save", but the workmanship and details are surprisingly excellent.
The creators specially selected a scene from the game and placed it in the lower left corner of the title as a background. The game's protagonist, a pixelated male, stands on a wide, blue asphalt street. He wears a white shirt and a black tie, has short, messy hair, and carries a briefcase, a typical office worker.
Behind the office workers are old residential buildings, and from left to right are trash cans, a green belt, and a vendor selling fried dough sticks. The shouts of vendors, the honking of car horns, and the conversations of passersby mingle together, creating a lively and bustling atmosphere.
As Xie Xubai controlled the controller, the background in the lower left corner suddenly expanded to cover the entire screen, and the office worker who was standing still moved to the left and right as he operated it.
Arriving at the entrance of the residential building to the left, the little figure stopped and refused to go in. A white bubble with black text appeared above its head: "[I woke up too late today, I'll be late for work if I don't go now!]"
A ticking timer pops up in the upper left corner, accompanied by a constantly flashing red warning light.
Xie Xubai controlled the commuter to dart back to the intersection to the right, then jogged to a cracked park wall. Approaching it, a notification popped up: "[A shortcut that someone smashed open; I often take this route home from work to save time.]"
Should we go in?
Xie Xubai chose to enter.
The park is connected to a construction site, and people are usually not allowed to enter during the day due to construction work, so they have to take a detour, but there was no one there today.
[Phew, I'm so lucky, this saved me a lot of time, I can take it slower now.]
Passing through the construction site, you'll find yourself in a cluster of tenement buildings. The alleyways narrow, and the crooked old brick houses on both sides block the sunlight overhead, gradually darkening the view.
There were several eerie alleyways in the middle, and the little man stopped at one of them with practiced ease. The ground here was uneven, the streetlights were broken, plastic bags were scattered everywhere, and there was a sticky yellow-black vomit and dark red traces of what appeared to be blood.
Sensing someone's arrival, a scarlet, ferocious beastly eye emerged from the darkness, baring its teeth and growling in a threatening manner.
"Woof!" Ping An, who was beside him, suddenly barked uneasily.
Xie Xubai reached out and rubbed it, then manipulated the little figure to throw a meat bun into the alley.
The roar suddenly stopped.
A few seconds later, a furry dog's head emerged from the shadows. It tilted its chin up and looked at Xie Xubai for a while, then finally condescended to lower its head, sniffed the meat bun, and began to devour it.
At this moment, a question arose in the little man's mind: [There seems to be something else in the briefcase's hidden compartment.]
The little figure automatically took it out; it was a custom-made red collar.
The image is magnified as if a lens has zoomed in, and the text on the collar, including his name and contact information, can be clearly seen.
Office worker: [It's been staying here and won't leave, but the neighbors hate stray cats and dogs. Maybe wearing this will make things a little better.]
Office worker: [I want to keep it as a pet, and I hope it will like this gift.]
Who knew that a glance out of the corner of his eye would reveal the stray dog with the collar suddenly turning ferocious and barking wildly at him!
The office worker, caught off guard, stumbled backward and bumped into the wall, her heart pounding with anxiety: [It doesn't like it? No, this isn't just simple dislike; did the last person who put the collar on it abuse it? Oh no, it's trying to attack me! What should I do?]
Before he could react, the stray dog had already rushed up, baring its teeth and trying to pounce on him. Midway, it crashed to the ground with a loud thud, as if it had hit an invisible wall. This situation made the stray dog even more agitated, its eyes turning bloodshot.
It roared again, and an eerie hurricane swept in from nowhere, leaving the office workers behind.
The little man had a scratch on his arm and his clothes were covered in dust and dirt. When he looked up, the stray dog was gone. He then rushed to the company and was severely criticized by his supervisor for his unkempt appearance, and had three months' salary deducted.
"Waaah—" Ping An whimpered as she climbed onto Xie Xubai's lap, sticking out her tongue and licking his hand with a pained and guilty expression.
Xie Xubai looked at the puppy struggling to please him, then suddenly smiled, lifted it by the scruff of its neck and let it lie completely in his arms, showing its white belly and rubbing it affectionately: "Silly dog, do you know how awful you were back then? I punished you by making you show your belly to two-legged creatures every day, did you hear me?"
The two-legged creature's hands went too far, stroking it from head to tail, rubbing it wildly against the grain.
The little puppy couldn't bear the torment and tearfully begged him to let go, tugging at his finger.
Xie Xubai laughed loudly.
In the game, the office worker who was fined felt depressed and did not go home through the alley that night. The next morning, he was stopped by the construction team. When he went back that night, the stray dog was nowhere to be seen.
For a long time, office workers would still pass by that alley, but they never saw that vicious stray dog again.
The game content turned into mundane daily life, until one day a group of outsiders with different temperaments arrived, and soon after, a roar resounded throughout the district and county, and a dog-shaped monster appeared out of nowhere.
Game over.
Xie Xubai chose to start over.
The first time you restart, the game date changes, and a new location, the pet shop, is unlocked.
Xie Xubai learned his lesson and didn't go in to buy the collar, but unfortunately, during his lunch break, he witnessed the monster supervisor devouring a living person and died.
When the store reopened for the second time, Xie Xubai behaved himself and didn't wander around. He just hurriedly ate a piece of bread at his workstation.
After the lunch break, he found that some people had not returned. The supervisor ordered people to clear their workstations. Less than two hours later, the new employees started working. Sitting in those empty seats, they looked nervous, curious, cautious, and hopeful.
A few days later, someone made a mistake and was called into the supervisor's office alone. Xie Xubai warned him to be careful. Unexpectedly, the person mentioned it to the supervisor, and the supervisor called him in as well.
On the third restart, Xie Xubai was kidnapped by a group of outsiders when he went out. At that moment, the group got into a fight and used a wide-range skill, which alerted the monsters. He was implicated and died.
On the fourth restart, Xie Xubai turned the tables and successfully infiltrated a fairly harmonious team, only to be bitten to death by a vengeful spirit.
The fifth reopening...
“Your orange cake.” Ogutov placed the tray down.
Xie Xubai didn't look up, entering a state of extreme focus, his eyes reflecting the game screen, radiating a cold, inorganic light.
Time passed slowly, the sun and moon shone outside the window, and the sounds of people gradually faded away, making the entire dessert shop seem like an isolated island in another dimension.
Everything seemed to slow down, except for the bloody scenes on the screen, which flashed by like rapidly turning pages of a storybook.
After countless restarts, the little office worker character on the screen suddenly looked up and spoke for the first time, before the story even began: "I feel like I'm living in a bizarre world."
He has evidence.
The stray dog that was intended for adoption gradually grew to be bigger than a small car.
A student I tutored part-time underwent a second puberty and gained 43 teeth.
My beautiful colleague at the next table found it too troublesome, so she simply peeled off her face to apply her eyebrows.
If he stared at the boss for too long, the boss would stand there menacingly.
Slippery, cold tentacles slowly crawled in the enormous shadows, almost covering the entire wall.
The office worker, who had died hundreds or thousands of times, remained extremely calm. Even as the crisis approached, he didn't even flinch. He served his boss a steaming cup of ginger tea, successfully "bribing" him and escaping death.
He also relied on the experience gained from repeatedly reopening the gates to make friends with many tourists from other places who had extraordinary abilities, and gained strange and powerful abilities.
On this day, a giant gate suddenly appeared in the sky, a spectacle unlike anything seen before, even after experiencing so many strange worlds.
Office workers stopped out of curiosity, only to find that all the tourists from out of town were standing still as if they were under a spell.
………
The real world.
The gate to the abyss stood vertically in the player's view, towering over a hundred feet high, its entire body as black as ink, covered with weathered cracks. But upon closer inspection, one would discover that those cracks were actually layers of ancient and intricate patterns.
The crowd stared up at it in horror. A faint light swept across the door, but it seemed to be swallowed up and sink into the sea. An aura more profound than darkness rolled down from it, brushing against their trembling ears and making an excited roar.
It is a living thing.
It keeps whispering.
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