There is always a gap between how Wen Shi sees himself and how others see him.
While Song Yan was shaping him into a myth, Wen Shi was carefully studying the scarecrow. The straw was reddish in color, a skin color he had never seen before.
Wen Shi tried to talk: "My soul is not with me at the moment."
Doesn't meet Scarecrow's criteria for prey.
Without any transition, the demon walked directly in front of him. The straw was obviously dry, but when they met face to face, the rough and messy body suddenly felt sticky.
The last time, the straw demon spat a lot of wood ash on his face. When the distance got closer, Wen Shi subconsciously turned his face away to prevent being sprayed again.
However, the next moment his body stiffened, as if it was frozen.
Wen Shi was stunned for a moment, and he was sure that only his eyeballs could move.
Through the shadow on the wall, Wen Shi watched a straw sink into his head.
grass.
Very grassy.
His lips could not move and his expression was dazed, as if he had been hastily thrown into the old times.
Please return to the hospital as soon as possible.
[Special note: the time flow rate inside and outside this scene is consistent]
The more powerful the time travel is, the shorter the time difference between the two sides will be. However, Wen Shi always feels that something is wrong. He wants to take a closer look at this straw demon who can achieve a one-to-one speed.
Everything in front of him had disappeared, and Wen Shi's eyes went dark as he fell rapidly downwards.
The teleportation time and landing height were much shorter than expected. After only a few seconds, Wen Shi stepped on the ground again. He slowly opened his eyes, his mind was a little confused, and he habitually summarized his current state first.
I was in a square and there were people around. Passersby were not surprised by the sudden appearance of a living person.
It was late at night, and the light from the projection behind him shone on half of his face. Wen Shi turned around and saw that the giant screen behind him was full of player numbers, which were generally much smaller than the current numbers.
"Virtual Plaza?"
He was actually teleported to a square in the virtual world. The difference was that the square at this time was somewhat different from the one in his memory. There was a sculpture of a book in the middle of the square, which gave people a solemn feeling.
The players coming and going had long been accustomed to this layout and didn't pay much attention to the sculptures. However, Wen Shi immediately thought of the Bible. At this time, the virtual world should still be centered around the Ten Commandments.
If I really go back to this time period, doesn't that mean...
"As the strongest newcomer, you can definitely use your influence to unite everyone. As newcomers, why do you have to watch us get bullied by veteran players?"
Wen Shi looked in the direction of the voice and ignored the person who asked the question. The lighting effect of the virtual square at night was very good. He saw a familiar handsome face, "Old..."
Wen Shi almost blurted out a cry, and although he quickly stopped shouting, the man still glanced over here, and Wen Shi hid behind the sculpture in time.
The most taboo thing in time travel is changing the past. Wen Shi can be sure that they have never met their father before he adopted him.
When he grew up, he often heard the latter mutter: "The old man downstairs said that children who are beautiful when they are young tend to be ugly when they grow up. Isn't this nonsense? My child is getting better and better as he grows up."
It's completely scaled up.
If Dad had any impression of this face, he would definitely mention it.
There was a steady stream of accusations from the new players.
Wen Shi hid behind the sculpture and curled his lips. The strongest newcomer would only be coveted by countless people for his wealth. The other party had a lot of troubles to solve, so how could they have the time to be a savior
It is difficult to develop a mutual assistance model between new and old players in the game. There is only one way to get out of trouble, which is to complete the skill field task. As long as you gain skills, you can improve the current situation.
Wen Shi later read the "Virtual World Guide" and found out that activating skill tasks would increase the difficulty, and players could also voluntarily choose to give up.
Only he had no option to refuse.
"You dare to complain, you probably think I'm a good person and won't take it seriously, right?"
The man's voice was a little low, but deep and clear, giving people a very reassuring feeling.
The player's face turned ugly when he heard this, and he could only utter three words in the end: "You have changed."
They were from the same group of players who entered the game. The man was quite talkative at that time and even took the initiative to help several players including himself. Unexpectedly, he has become so cold-blooded and heartless now.
"My character is okay," the man said with a cold look in his eyes, "but I have a bad temper."
The opposing player wanted to say a few words to save his situation, but he was stared at with such a cold gaze that he couldn't open his mouth until the opponent walked past him.
Wen Shi hurriedly followed quietly behind.
The virtual world, which was always filled with fog, was now covered in snow. Wen Shi was shivering with cold, and he suspected that every time the game changed its theme, the season in the virtual world would change accordingly.
He took out his [small cloak]. Today's invisibility time had been used up when he killed Ao, and now it only had the functions of keeping warm and concealing one's breath.
Wen Shi heard the man mutter to himself as he walked: "Monsters are easier to deal with than people."
Wen Shi was silent for a moment. His father didn't have many friends and never took the initiative to make friends. In his words, when he thought that he might pass away at any time, he was too lazy to contact others, which would only increase his sadness.
Now it seems that the reason is that I have come into contact with thousands of people with different faces in the game.
There are special rental offices in the virtual world, and the fees are not low.
The man rented a standard apartment with average security. Wen Shi didn't dare to follow too closely until he heard the door close, then he confirmed the room number through the slightly trembling wooden board.
Wen Shi began to feel troubled. The backtracking node would not be set at this time for no reason. If he wanted to leave, he would definitely have to make a breakthrough from his father, but he couldn't deal with him with his current face.
Disguise
How can you get close to someone after you have changed your appearance? You also have to find the right opportunity, create a fictitious identity, etc.
Finally, Wen Shi made a bold attempt.
He was not sure if he could transform normally in the virtual world. His transformed body did not have the ability to actively attack. Maybe it would work
"I hope there are no current players who have completely transformed their bodies..." Otherwise, the player's identity will be exposed in an instant.
Knock knock.
Paws knocking on the door.
The man in the house who was about to pour water opened the door and his sight dropped from mid-air to his feet. A black cat in a cloak was looking up at him.
After the last evolution, the cloak gained an additional attribute feature, which is to change the size according to the user's status. Now it is also suitable for the little black cat. There are no living creatures such as cats and dogs in the virtual world, so the appearance of this thing is abnormal at first glance.
The man closed the door indifferently.
Wen Shi lay calmly in the corridor.
Within three seconds, the door opened again. The man took out a detection instrument and scanned it to make sure it did not contain any explosives or eavesdropping devices. After looking around, he picked up the black cat and said, "It was stolen."
"… "
Wen Shi successfully entered the room.
"No matter who sent you here, you'd better stay like this." The man said as he poured water. "Looking cute will help you avoid being beaten to death by me."
Wen Shi knew clearly why his father brought him in. Having an unknown source of danger right under his nose would at least be controllable.
The man turned around and looked at it. "A pet must have a name. Choose one yourself."
There were many items in the house, and the man asked him to choose any of them.
Wen Shicai would never be fooled like this. When choosing things, he would subconsciously choose something related to himself. For example, he would definitely choose a watch. If he was guided step by step, it would not be surprising if his real name was revealed one day.
Quite smart.
The man raised his eyebrows. A battle pet? If a player really had a battle pet, they wouldn't be willing to send it out to monitor him. Judging from its appearance and structure, it couldn't be a robot either. The latter point could be confirmed.
"I heard that cats need to be sterilized."
There was no trace of nervousness in the clear cat's eyes, and the black cat even yawned out of boredom.
Don't challenge it in the professional field.
The man narrowed his eyes upon seeing this. It was this kind of arrogance and laziness that was just perfect for him.
The man never underestimated himself, but he was not arrogant either. He threw out something similar to a collar, which turned into a circle with a diameter of about two meters after landing. As long as the latter ran out of the range, he would receive a prompt.
There are very few props that can play a role in the virtual world. Wen Shi was curious and wanted to touch it with his claws, but he finally held back.
After arranging everything, the man went to the inner room, turned off the lights and went to sleep. Before that, Wen Shi glanced at the time on the clock. It was 0:20 midnight, which was indeed not much different from the time in the copy.
The apartment fell into dead silence.
Wen Shi used the cloak as a small blanket and lay down directly in it. He remained alert for about an hour, but nothing happened.
Monsters, ghosts, thieves and killers... none of them existed. Everything seemed just as No. 51 said. His mission was not difficult and he just had to enjoy the process.
"The last meal of a death row inmate." The hairy head was buried in the cloak, and his big eyes narrowed.
Eating is not dangerous, the real danger is the shot at the execution ground. The ticking sound of the clock kept ringing in his ears, and the black cat moved his paws, wondering when the last shot would be fired at him.
Wen Shi has always been very obedient to others' advice.
He decided to listen to No. 51's advice, and when the sun rose again the next day, Wen Shi no longer deliberately looked for clues.
The man did not prepare to play the game today, so he prepared two breakfasts. During this time, Wen Shi continued to change his body. This trip back in time could be called a burning of points.
The man was reading a book, and the black cat was staring at the window. The man was washing dishes, and the black cat was handing him dish towels. At dusk, the man suddenly lifted the black cat's neck, looked into its mandarin duck eyes, and said, "I suddenly have some doubts. Are you sent to assassinate me?"
He paused for a moment and said, "The way you look at me seems a little sad."
The black cat looked a little listless when it lowered its head.
It’s probably like a child who is running around outside and doesn’t mind how he gets beaten, but when he returns home and sees his parents and elders, he will inexplicably feel wronged.
Time flies and it is almost midnight.
Wen glanced at the wall clock from time to time. Jian Qingrong's delaying tactics were obviously very successful. He was fine until now, which meant that No. 51 was still playing a cat-and-mouse game in the hospital.
Squeak.
A short rubbing sound was heard.
"I'm going to go out and smoke a cigarette," he said to the black cat as he was about to get up from the sofa, "Don't run around."
Unexpectedly, the black cat's fur trembled, and it suddenly jumped onto the sofa and directly pressed the man's hand.
"What's wrong?" The man looked at her big eyes with concern, and said with a half-smile: "Are you a dumb cat trying to say that smoking is harmful to health?"
He has a rare disease and his health is long gone.
Not backtracking.
When Wen Shi habitually stopped the other person from smoking, he was shocked to find that there was alcohol but no cigarettes in the virtual world.
When he heard it for the first time, he was a little surprised. Later he heard that it was because players were under a lot of pressure and many were addicted to smoking. If tobacco was launched, the game would also have to add an air purification program.
"Illusion." He suddenly realized a possibility.
On the fifth floor, the strange straw demon with unique abilities may not have existed from the beginning.
This would explain why the Straw Demon placed the teleportation point in the virtual square so carelessly, without worrying about meeting his father at the beginning.
The speed of time flowing inside and outside is one-to-one, which is not a level that the straw demon can achieve.
Wenshi has only experienced one time-free backtracking, which was in the quality inspection area of a large factory. That time was when the game was released, but even so, there were still some deviations in time, and it was impossible to achieve consistency.
He immediately tried to activate the skill [A Wise Man Does Not Fall in Love]. According to the skill introduction, except for special maps, all obstacles can be broken in this state.
[Tip: Special map detected, skill usage failed.]
"… "
—If you want, the survival rate is almost 100%.
Number 51's words came to mind.
So the way to break the illusion is to eliminate the source
Wen Shi subconsciously looked at the man.
Time seemed to stand still, and the man sat there motionless, maintaining the same expression and movements as before.
The hand that was held down by the cat's claws began to show red veins like a spider web. Not only on the hand, but similar red lines appeared all over the man's body. The lines gradually stretched out from the skin, extending like criss-crossing paths, shooting out in all directions.
The entire world visible to the naked eye was glowing with a faint red light. From the ceiling to the sky outside, it was all covered with a layer of flesh membrane, on which were cocoon-like pieces of flesh.
This scene seemed familiar, and was very similar to the brain monster seen in the basement of the plastic surgery hospital.
The difference is that all the tendons in the brain monster are connected to a mirror, with the mirror as the origin, and all the red lines here are centered on Dad.
Wen Shi’s face darkened.
The monster stole Dad's brain, and what Ao desperately wanted to find should be Dad's brain.
The system's cold prompt tone suddenly sounded, repeating a warm main task:
[On the fifth day, you start looking for an important item in the hospital]
[Congratulations, you have found it]
[Destroy it and you will leave the illusion immediately]
The effect of the body transformation has passed and the temperature has not been renewed.
He lowered his head slightly, and the hair on his forehead fell down, hiding the slight chill in his eyes.
The monsters are respecting the wishes of the deceased, but are also carrying out a form of revenge.
When Dad was alive, he believed that everyone had the right to choose life or death. He chose to follow the principles of birth, aging, sickness and death. As he was the other party's only hope for survival, the monsters handed the butcher knife to him.
Destroyed the brain, destroyed the bit of consciousness they had tried every means to preserve, and turned Dad into dust completely.
These monsters seemed intent on putting themselves in their place, making him experience firsthand the feeling of powerlessness.
Wen Shi chuckled, "Are you kidding me?"
Accepting the fact that a loved one has passed away is not the same as removing the oxygen tube with one's own hands. Moreover, once he really does this, the doctor-patient relationship will probably always be in a state of rejection and confrontation.
The clock on the wall had reached eleven fifty-five. In five minutes, even if he did nothing, as long as No. 51 did not destroy the item where the soul was stored, the game would be judged as his victory.
“Wen Shi,” he raised his eyes again and looked at the man entangled by the red thread, “My name is Wen Shi. This is the name you gave me. You said that we are racing against death all our lives, and you hope that time will favor me.”
Listening to the swing of the pendulum, Wen Shi smiled and said, "This time, I can also win."
Hospital.
Jian Qingrong has no way to retreat.
No. 51 stood opposite him, smiling coldly: "You are very difficult."
He was one of the toughest opponents he had ever encountered.
Before yesterday, No. 51 had been almost asleep. After he came out, he took the time to collect clues and check the players one by one.
The game ensures relative fairness. The content of the last game of doctor-patient relationship was determined by them a long time ago. The patients in the ghost world have fallen into a deep sleep since then, waiting for this day to come.
However, they woke up briefly twice in the middle. One was the day Wen Shi entered the game, and the other was in Fengguan Village. After Wen Shi entered the Haunted Highway, through the images given by the true spirit, they had a general understanding of this child.
For No. 51, it is not difficult to find out who has the soul carrier.
As long as he uses his own split soul to suppress the target for one minute, he can determine whether the other party has the soul breath of other people.
All patients in the ghost world have different means of reconnaissance and can also start this task.
Wen Shi chose No. 51, which was both the best and the worst choice. No. 51 was relatively soft-hearted, but his soul detection skills were the best among all the ghost patients.
"You are too gullible." Jian Qingrong said lightly.
In the past 24 hours, Jian Qingrong first controlled the patients in the same four-layer crack zone to hold No. 51 back, and then used the little octopus as a cover to confuse No. 51 into thinking that the real soul carrier was in the little octopus. Finally, with the help of the host and Yu Xingzhou and others, he slowed down No. 51 again. In the middle of the process, Ao was made into a pollution source bomb by him and exploded once.
Although No. 51 is powerful, he is constrained by the rules. At least in this game, he cannot mobilize the surrounding forces to the maximum extent like Jian Qingrong.
The phantom of the soul was pressing towards Jian Qingrong at this moment.
No one could help him at this time.
Not far away, Yu Xingzhou and Li Nan were suppressed by No. 51's body and could not move. The high-risk patient was restricted to the same extent as Ao. At least on the fifth day, he could not directly kill the players like the patients on the first and second floors.
But trapping players isn't a problem.
Jian Qingrong's body turned into black gas, and he forcibly resisted the soul body that was pressing down on him.
No. 51 suddenly frowned, something was strange.
There are only three minutes left until midnight. The strength disparity between the two sides is so great that this resistance is completely ineffective.
His soul body could sense emotions during suppression... No. 51 was sure that he did not sense any fear or tension from Jian Qingrong.
Now the two of them are standing outside Wen Shi’s office. From No. 51’s perspective, they can see the hole in the secret room that was blown out.
"It's dark under the lamp."
No. 51 suddenly grasped the crux of the matter. The other party could control the patients on the fourth floor. Although he had checked those patients and confirmed that none of them had given their souls to Wen Shi, there was still a possibility that the soul carrier was secretly placed in the patient's own ward.
No. 51 is leaving immediately.
Jian Qingrong tried to stop them, even if it was just to delay for a few seconds, but Yu Xingzhou and Li Nan broke free from control and blocked their way.
Unfortunately, they couldn't delay two No. 51s at the same time. The moment the main body was delayed, the soul body flashed and returned to the rift area at the speed of a gust of wind.
After the soul arrived at the ward, it did not try to sense the atmosphere, and its eyes were fixed on the bedside table.
The books placed there are a little crooked. No. 51 has obsessive-compulsive disorder and cannot tolerate books being placed in a crooked position.
"You'll have to pay the price, cunning boy."
The soul walked over and opened the book. There was an extra photo where the photo was originally placed. When he saw the picture on it, his cold smile suddenly froze.
This is a photo that Wen Shi asked the photographer to take. In the photo, Wen Shi is sitting in the middle, with Song Yan on one side, the host on the other side, and a wandering corpse sitting in the middle.
The entire arrangement of the front row was exactly the same as the "family portrait" he treasured.
When Song Yan was suppressed, No. 51 felt the same aura as the Mirror Spirit in his soul.
Back then, the True Spirit had casually mentioned that he would send his clone to contact the child first. Maybe the child would have been killed before the other party came to the hospital.
By analogy, it is not difficult to guess who took the photo with Wen Shi.
The two photos are put together, similar yet different.
The dean and the two true spirits, the children raised by the dean himself and the clones of the two true spirits, the switching of subject and object seems like a cycle of life.
For a moment, the soul body didn't have the heart to tear up the photo.
Inside the ward, only half of the curtains were hung on the window. Jian Qingrong's brain turned into a shadow, hiding nearby to prevent the other party from taking action.
Shadow was watching the scene indifferently at this moment.
Wen Shi chose Patient No. 51 to start the mission because Patient No. 233 said he was the softest-hearted.
The monster's soft-heartedness can be completely ignored, so even Patient No. 233 who was answering the question thought Wen Shi's question was ridiculous.
In fact, it's not ridiculous at all.
Just find the point that can make the other person soften his heart and stab him.
While the soul body was in a trance, the shadow was concentrating on capturing every sound in the air.
One second, two seconds, three seconds... He seemed to finally hear—
In the dark corridor, the clock hanging above the nurses' station made a crisp "tick" sound, and the hands intersected at the twelve o'clock mark, officially announcing the end of the day.
(End of this chapter)