Standing behind him is the person in charge of this crazy battle royale game and the mastermind behind the game.
…That’s another “Zhong San”.
"What a weird thing?" The game manager said, "He was the one who sent Feng Qing back."
The tone of the game leader was cold and rigid, as if he didn't even notice the existence of his other self: "I gave him a chance."
Zhong San stood there motionless, unable to move, the color draining from his face.
"What's going on..."
Zhong San's lips moved. His voice was so hoarse that it almost sounded like it was squeezed out of his chest. "What's going on?"
He met the eyes of the game master, and almost instantly, sharp pain exploded in his brain.
Zhong San groaned, and beads of cold sweat rolled down his cheeks.
Without giving him any chance to resist, strange memories flooded into his mind in an instant.
…
"This is what you did before."
The game leader said: "Once, twice, three times..."
For the first time, Zhong San watched Feng Qing die at the age of seventeen.
He was determined to take revenge, so he bought the technology company a few years later, continued the business of selling people with special powers, and personally sent the purchased number 13 into the game.
He tried every shady trick he could think of, and finally took the opportunity of receiving a prize to successfully enter the evil control room.
"What did you see?" Zhong San's chest rose and fell, and his voice was too low to be heard clearly. "What's in that control room?"
Game Master: “Nothing.”
Zhong San's pupils contracted slightly.
He shook, as if all his strength had been drained away, and he became paler and paler.
…
In the first reincarnation, Zhong San entered the game control room, but could not see anything.
There is only a huge, automatically running mainframe in there, and everything in the game world is a pre-set program.
Zhong San was trapped in the main control room.
As if the host had known he would come, an extremely tempting option popped up on the screen.
… This is a tryout.
The selection is about to officially begin, and we need a reviewer, someone who will control the entire game behind the scenes.
As long as he is willing to be a reviewer and agrees to be the person in charge behind the game, Feng Qing will get a chance to be reborn.
Zhong San agreed to the deal.
He underwent dimensional upgrading and became an "auditor".
The low-dimensional particles belonging to him were stripped out and handed over to a terminal that came from nowhere, which stayed behind the scenes to control this battle royale game.
…But he didn’t expect that the terminal deceived him.
After his rebirth, Zhong San's memory was also reset. He did not remember the mistakes he had made, nor did he remember the choices he was destined to regret.
He once again watched Feng Qing disappear at the age of seventeen, and once again chose revenge at any means necessary.
After his rebirth, Zhong Sanju sent Feng Qing into the battle royale game again.
"This cycle has never ended." said the game director.
The new Zhong San used No. 13 to kill the old Zhong San who had become the person in charge of the game. After learning the truth, he chose to become the next person in charge of the game.
The next reincarnation will be the same, over and over again.
…
“We need to end this vicious cycle.”
The person in charge of the game said: "The only way is to completely turn Feng Qing into the game world and end the reincarnation."
Game leader: "This is also the only way to free Feng Qing..."
"No way!" Zhong San said sternly, "There must be another way, obviously—"
He stopped talking halfway, opened his mouth, but no sound came out, and cold sweat rolled down his face.
Zhong San’s face turned pale and he stood there in a daze.
"You can't think of any other solution, can you?" said the game leader, "Because you are the same."
Zhong San, who had just learned everything and was heartbroken and wished he could die immediately, must have firmly believed that there was another way.
He will use every means he can think of, search every corner, and be willing to pay any price to correct his mistakes.
… Slowly, he will realize that not everything can be regretted.
This is a dead end. Once you come this far, you can't turn back. At the end is a bottomless abyss.
Zhong San seemed to have forgotten to breathe.
He seemed to be just a dark shadow left, standing there motionless for a long time: "What have you done?"
The game leader looked over.
Only at this moment did the game leader's cold tone seem to soften: "Xiao Feng."
A shadow slowly appeared beside him.
He was a man in black who looked like Feng Qing. His body was not very solid, and he stood neatly behind the person in charge of the game with his hands hanging down.
The man in black had empty eyes and his figure appeared and disappeared from time to time, like an obedient ghost.
"This game world is not complete yet." The person in charge of the game said, "Once the world is formed, the world consciousness will also be completely solidified... It will be ready when the time comes."
Zhong San spoke with difficulty: "... is it all right?"
The game leader nodded.
The game director looked at Zhong San as if he was looking at his past self: "Since you let No. 13 enter the game, this game world has begun its final evolution... This evolution is irreversible and cannot be stopped."
The game world is Feng Qing's territory, and this territory will swallow up the last of Feng Qing's particles.
Zhong San shook his head.
He was speechless, and staggered to the front of the man in black, calling him in a hoarse voice: "Xiao Feng?"
The man in black did not react at all and floated meekly behind the game leader.
"Come back." Zhong San begged him hoarsely, "Come back... Aren't you going to open a company to support you?"
Zhong San reached out to grab the arm of the man in black, but his world consciousness had not yet solidified. He tried several times, but could only grab the empty sleeve.
"I won't seek revenge anymore. I don't care about anything anymore."
Zhong San: "Come back, I'll take you home, okay?"
"Come home with me." Zhong San said, "I will never seek revenge again, nor do business anymore..."
…
The game leader retracted his gaze.
He himself is Zhong San, and he understands Zhong San's current despair better than anyone else.
The human heart is like this, after realizing they have made a mistake they always start to blame themselves, immersed in regret that is enough to overwhelm everything, until they realize that there is no way to make amends.
What he was doing was the only way to rescue Feng Qing.
"I don't know why you come out to cause trouble."
The game leader turned around and looked at Yu Tang: "You are the electronic storm that the terminal wants to capture."
Yu Tang raised his eyebrows.
"As long as Xiao Feng completes his evolution, he will become a particle-level existence, and will have the ability to penetrate the eye of the storm and devour you."
"You worry that you will become the nourishment of this world, just like those players who were thrown into it."
The game leader said: "I have to promise that I will not order Xiao Feng to do this."
"There are many people who use the terminal to trade, maybe one of them is Zhan Chen you mentioned." The game manager said, "... I will help you get his life back."
Game manager: "He can go back and live the life he had before being extracted and replaced."
Yu Tang asked: "What do you want to do?"
"You have the power to compress the world into a singularity, don't you?"
The person in charge of the game said: "When the eye of the storm has evolved and those people have been completely assimilated as nutrients, you will compress this world and send them out."
Game leader: "In return, I will hand over the human you like to me."
Yu Tang shook his head: "The human that you like is right in the eye of your evolving artificial storm."
"It doesn't matter." The game leader said unhappily, "Just reset the time again... and give Feng Qing's last particle to me."
The person in charge of the game walked towards Yu Tang. He stretched out his hand, wanting to take the particle from Yu Tang, but suddenly stopped.
The man in black, who had always been docile and obedient, reached out and grabbed him.
His movements were very slow, as if he was bearing almost irresistible resistance, but he still tried his best to close his fingers little by little and hold the wrist of the person in charge of the game.
The man in black shook his head slowly.
"Xiao Feng, be obedient." The game leader frowned, "I am trying to save you."
The man in black opened his mouth with difficulty.
He could no longer make human sounds. The sound he made was strange, like countless sounds from different times overlapping together, turning into a hissing sound with an almost metallic tone.
Yu Tang: "He's begging you not to."
The pupils of the game leader trembled secretly.
"Particle-level civilizations can communicate with each other through the eye of the storm. There is no time dimension in there, so no one can understand what he is saying."
Yu Tang said: "He said he didn't want to devour those people."
"He doesn't want to become the world, nor does he want to become an artificial electronic storm."
"He's afraid of enclosed spaces, he wants to get out."
Yu Tang: "He begged you to let him go... He begged you to let him die."
"Nonsense!" The game leader suddenly became furious. "You're not going to listen to me lying here?! I don't know what you're thinking!"
"No one can stop the evolution of the world!"
"The eye of the storm has completed its growth. No one can enter or leave... The people inside can't get out, and you can't go back either. You will end up like me!"
The person in charge of the game was almost a little crazy, his eyes were bloodshot, and his tone was paranoid and fierce: "This is the only way! We have used that console to deduce hundreds of thousands of times, and there is no exception. Other methods will fall back into this dead loop..."
"You use the console to deduce." Yu Tang said, "Do you know why the console cannot control the game automatically? You must find a human to be in charge?"
The voice of the game leader suddenly paused.
He seemed to be aware of something suddenly, his breath stuck in his chest, and his face turned paler.
"Because programs can never fully simulate human nature."
"Particle-level civilizations cannot be captured by the program. If it weren't for you, Feng Qing would have been free long ago."
“Particles are free and can easily escape the dragnet of data.”
Yu Tang: "Only humans can capture a storm of electrons."
The game leader's body suddenly began to tremble uncontrollably.
He looked as if he was still extremely calm, but also as if he had gone crazy. He turned around and grabbed the man in black's hand tightly: "Don't believe him... Xiao Feng, don't believe what he said."
The game leader whispered, "Believe me, I'm saving you."
"I'm saving you. Only I can save you." The game leader said, "It's okay. Just listen. I'll set you free..."
He put his hand into his glove pocket, but his expression suddenly changed.
"Are you looking for this?" Yu Tang asked.
The game leader turned around suddenly and stared at him closely.
Yu Tang raised his hand, holding a translucent card between his fingers: "I told you before that particles are free."
The person in charge of the game let go of his hand and rushed forward desperately, but missed.
The ground beneath his feet was leveled and replaced with a new piece of land. Yu Tang still stood there, raised his right hand, and let the card float in his palm.
This is a poker-shaped card. It should have a joker on it, but instead it has a clown with intricate patterns on it.
The clown's mouth was wide open, his eyes were cold, and an arrogant look hung on his pale face.
Yu Tang took a quick look and was about to wave it away.
"You're crazy!" the game director shouted, "If you destroy this card, you'll be trapped in the game forever! Give it back to me—"
Yu Tang: "Tell Feng Qing what this card is called."
The game leader shuddered, and his voice instantly died in his throat.
"Game over." Yu Tang said, "The game is over."
Yu Tang: "You've wanted to end this game for a long time, right?"
The game leader stared at the card, his eyes bloodshot, and murmured hoarsely: "Give it back to me, or I'll be trapped in the game... You don't know how long I've been trapped here... There's a madman who keeps exchanging asteroids at the second-to-last level, and he can't wait for the next one to come and kill him..."
The man in black slowly reached out his hand, trying to grab him again, but the person in charge of the game dodged.
The figure of the man in black suddenly became blurred, his shadow shook, and then he struggled to condense bit by bit.
"You have arranged two escape routes for yourself."
Yu Tang said: "The game world is evolving smoothly. You can use this world as a support and trade with the terminal to let it give you freedom."
Yu Tang: "If the evolution fails, you can use the card left for you by the terminal to end the game and escape on your own."
"Do you know how many times he has reset?" The game leader looked at Yu Tang, "Higher dimensions will not reset together. Every time he comes, we will find a way to make him die seventeen times, but he will still come back every time, and we will never escape..."
The voice of the game leader suddenly stopped.
One of his shoulders was pierced by the spike used to threaten Zhong San. Blood was dripping down and his face suddenly distorted.
Yu Tang didn't look at him and walked towards the eye of the storm.
"You can't get in!"
The game leader pressed the wound on his shoulder, struggled a few steps, and said in a hoarse voice: "That space has been completely sealed, no one can enter it again! I have seen the results of this game countless times, there is no way it can be wrong... Give the card back to me!"
Yu Tang tilted his head and dispersed all the particles of the card in front of him.
The game leader's gaze suddenly froze.
Yu Tang asked: "Have you ever watched a science fiction movie?"
The game leader's face turned blue with pain: "What...?"
"Under what circumstances will the parallel world collapse?"
Yu Tang said: "When the same object on two timelines overlaps."
The game leader had no idea what he was talking about. He frowned and looked at him exhaustedly.
"There's a spring here," Yu Tang said, "It was given to you by the first human you met when you discovered that your core particles had been stolen and came to your world to look for them."
Yu Tang: "His name is Zhan Chen, and he was maintaining his guns at that time."
At that time, he was just a small ball of light, and he couldn't help being attracted to these shiny things. Zhan Chen never allowed him to touch the spring, which made him always angry.
Later, Zhan Chen died.
Zhan Chen left the spring in the gun to him.
Zhan Chen reset time countless times, and a person repeated this cycle countless times, but he never looked for him again.
Zhan Chen wanted to let him go and let him create the freest electronic storm.
He had never known any of this. After suffering a concussion, he had been sleeping in the eye of the storm and had evolved into a powerful ball of light.
Until one day, he was drowned by the overwhelming flyers. He left the eye of the storm and re-entered the game as a host.
"I have a spring given to me by my favorite human."
Yu Tang said: "He also had a spring in his timeline, which he hadn't released yet."
"Time does not flow in the eye of the storm. These closed spaces are the fears that have been rooted in Feng Qing's heart at different times."
Yu Tang narrowed his eyes. He seemed to be looking at a transparent map, and his fingertips pointed along the lines one by one.
“Villas, containers, hospitals, sleeping cabins, toilets, orphanages…”
Yu Tang: "Laboratory."
The game leader moved with difficulty: "What are you talking about?"
“This is where that lab is located.”
Yu Tang's fingers continued to move in the air. "This is the dormitory for the experimental subjects under observation. Go 17 street lamps forward from the laboratory. There is a window facing the street lamp."
"The curtains of this window are never drawn. There is a desk lamp inside. The light is very warm, and it is the color I have never seen in the universe before."
"Someone was sitting under the window loading a gun."
Yu Tang half-knelt down and measured the distance: "His gun is silver-gray, very beautiful, I want to steal a part."
"I've got my eyes on that spring in the corner."
Yu Tang put the spring down: "He found it, and he said..."
His voice overlapped with another voice without any difference: "This won't work. I need it more."
The springs of the two different timelines overlapped, and the originally completely closed space shook, with that point at the center, and it cracked like a spider web.
Like an invisible wall disappearing quietly, Zhan Chen raised his head and looked at Yu Tang, with a hint of sadness in his black eyes.
"It's you!" The game leader's eyes were fixed fiercely, "You two lunatics... You are looking for death!"
The game leader pressed his wound, panting with sweat on his forehead: "This world has the property of 'swallowing'. Even if it is an electronic storm, you can't get out after entering..."
"Those are the rules of the terminal."
Yu Tang: "From now on, the rules of the game are determined by you."
The person in charge of the game had lost his mind. He shook his head with difficulty, muttered to himself, and struggled to get back the card that had already been analyzed by Yu Tang.
Yu Tang didn't waste any more time, stood up, and stepped into the space that had been repaired at a rapid speed in the blink of an eye.
…
The color on Zhan Chen's body has become very dim.
In this space, more and more players have turned into transparent lines.
Zhan Chen's body was originally just data. Without the support of particles, he could not last very long.
"Wait a minute, little light ball."
Zhan Chen stretched out his arm and caught Yu Tang: "Go and add some color, soon-"
Yu Tang: "I don't want to wait any longer."
Zhan Chen was slightly stunned.
He lowered his head and was about to ask Electronic Storm if there was any better solution, but his body suddenly felt warm.
Yu Tang hugged him tightly, lowered his head, and bit Zhan Chen's neck firmly.