A Survival Game Where You Have to Fall in Love with a Madman - Chapter 9

In the next second, the world spun upside down.

When You Yan opened his eyes again, he was already standing on an unfamiliar street.

A late-night rain drizzled down, casting a dim, yellowish glow from the streetlamps onto the wet pavement. Not far away stood his familiar, run-down apartment building, but something was different the entire world seemed to be blanketed under a faint, reddish filter.

“This is…”

“The Rest Area,” He Yanqing said, releasing his grip on You Yan’s wrist. “A buffer zone between the game instances and reality.”

He pointed toward You Yan’s apartment. “You can still go back for now, but…” He suddenly leaned in close to You Yan’s ear, his breath hot. “Aren’t you going to invite me up for a drink?”

You Yan pushed him away. “Get lost.”

“How heartless,” He Yanqing murmured, clutching his chest in mock heartbreak. “Who was it that just saved your little life?”

“And who was it that dragged me into this mess in the first place?”

He Yanqing burst out laughing, his laughter echoing down the empty street. “I love your temper, Little Crow.”

With a magician’s flourish, he produced a key the key to You Yan’s apartment. “Though, you might be needing this.”

You Yan reached into his own pocket; as expected, it was completely empty. He bit his lip, turned around, and walked toward the apartment building.

He Yanqing followed behind him like a large dog, his leather boots making loud splashing sounds as he stepped into the puddles.

The elevator was broken, leaving them with no choice but to take the stairs.

You Yan lived on the seventh floor. By the time they reached the fifth, his body began to turn translucent again, his right-hand flickering rapidly like a malfunctioning display screen.

“Interesting,” He Yanqing said, grabbing his wrist to examine it closely. “You share some sort of connection with the System.”

You Yan yanked his hand back. “What do you mean?”

“It means, my dear, that you might not be human at all.” He Yanqing’s smile made You Yan want to punch him. “At least, not entirely.”

The door plate for Room 701 hung askew. You Yan used the key to open the door.

The cramped apartment was exactly as it had been when he left an unmade bed, leftover instant noodles, and design drafts scattered across the desk.

He Yanqing let out a low whistle. “A textbook bachelor’s pad.”

“Shut up.” You Yan pulled some clean clothes from his closet and threw them at him. “The bathroom is over there.”

He Yanqing caught the clothes but stayed rooted to the spot. “Aren’t we washing together? You’re covered in blood.”

You Yan shot him a ‘keep dreaming’ look, walked straight into the kitchen, and pulled two cans of beer out of the fridge. Only when the ice-cold liquid slid down his throat did he feel a slight semblance of coming back to life.

As the sound of rushing water echoed from the bathroom, You Yan sat by the window, staring out at the city lights blurred by the rain. His right hand had completely materialized back into solid form, but the agonizing sensation of being torn apart remained fresh in his memory.

He Yanqing’s words echoed in his mind: “You might not be human at all.”

Perhaps players weren’t necessarily players, and monsters weren’t necessarily monsters.

The water stopped running. He Yanqing walked out while drying his hair. He wore nothing but a pair of jeans, leaving his upper body bare to show off his lean, toned muscles and several fresh scars.

You Yan averted his gaze and slid the other can of beer toward him.

“Tell me about this game,” You Yan said, cutting straight to the chase.

He Yanqing cracked open the tab and took a massive gulp. “To put it simply, we’ve been dragged into an infinite flow universe. Completing instances earns you points, and points can be exchanged for absolutely anything money, power, or even resurrecting the dead.”

He pointed a finger at You Yan. “But you are an exception. I have never seen a case where an NPC turns into a player.”

“I am not an NPC,” You Yan frowned. “I just worked at an escape room.”

“Oh, really?” He Yanqing suddenly grabbed his left hand, flipping it over to expose the inside of his wrist. A faint blue barcode had appeared there at some unknown point. “Then what is this?”

You Yan stared at the barcode as a sudden chill crept up his spine. He had no recollection of ever having such a mark.

“A System Brand,” He Yanqing said, his thumb brushing over the barcode. “Proof that you are its property.”

You Yan pulled his hand back. “How do I get rid of it?”

“Die, or clear every single Main God instance and kill the Main God itself,” He Yanqing shrugged. “So far, no one has ever succeeded.”

“Or, how about I take you to the Game Lobby to take a look? It’s perfectly safe there.” Without waiting for You Yan’s reply, He Yanqing pulled him along as they entered the ‘Main God Instance Player Gathering Hub.’

Following a flash of white light, You Yan stood frozen as he took in his new surroundings. He was standing directly atop the crater of an active volcano; everything felt terrifyingly real.

An ethereal, blistering wave of heat erupted violently as scorching magma surged right beneath his feet. You Yan instinctively stepped back, bumping straight into He Yanqing’s chest.

“Don’t be scared, my little theorist. This is all just an illusion.” He Yanqing held him firmly by both shoulders to steady him, leading him around the Survival Game Lobby.

“Players from all over the world gather here, and you can form teams freely,” He Yanqing explained as they walked.

When volcanic ash began to drift down and settle onto You Yan’s shoulders, he finally couldn’t take it anymore. He slapped He Yanqing’s hand away. “This is the ‘safe zone’ you were talking about?”

With magma churning beneath them, He Yanqing walked forward by stepping onto the illusory volcanic rocks suspended in mid-air. His combat boot kicked a piece of debris loose; it plunged into the sea of fire, vanishing instantly without even producing a trail of smoke.

“It’s just a virtual projection.” He turned around to walk backward, spreading his arms wide. “The Main God’s welcoming ceremony for newbies—whoa!”

You Yan watched coldly as the other man stepped into empty air. Just as He Yanqing was about to plunge into the magma, You Yan suddenly reached out.

However, he ended up grabbing a wristband that the other man had prepared in advance the guy had been standing on solid ground all along.

“The Little Crow actually saved me?” Utilizing You Yan’s leverage, He Yanqing flipped himself back up onto the platform, the tip of his nose nearly brushing against You Yan’s eyelashes.

You Yan let go of his grip and wiped his palm against He Yanqing’s white lab coat. “I was just afraid that if you died, I wouldn’t have anyone left to use as a meat shield.”

The volcanic crater suddenly inverted, and the surrounding scenery rapidly restructured itself.

The true Game Lobby unfolded amidst a sea of neon lights. Massive, hovering holographic screens scrolled through instance information while hundreds of players milled about. The air was thick with the scent of blood and the robotic drone of electronic announcements. The illusory environment flickered occasionally, shifting between a volcano and a starry night sky.

“Gaffer He!” A frail, bespectacled man rushed over from the crowd, his mechanical prosthetic eye flashing with a crimson light. “I heard you took a newbie to grind an A-rank instance?” He looked toward You Yan and suddenly choked on his words. “Wait, isn’t this the one whose capability assessment was—”

Before the man could finish, He Yanqing’s dagger was already pressed against his Adam’s apple. “Call him Brother You.”

Whispers began to break out from all directions:

“Holy shit, it really is them!”

“Wow, they look way hotter in person than they did on the livestream.”

“The real You Yan looks ten times colder than he does in the System’s footage…”

A short-haired woman chewing gum squeezed through the crowd, her mechanical arm shifting with a loud clack into a scanner. “Body fat percentage at 12%, abnormal muscle density… how could these stats possibly yield an assessment score of 0?”

Suddenly meeting You Yan’s gaze, she sheepishly pulled her device back. “…Sorry to bother you.”

A young girl dressed in a kimono bowed while holding a katana. “Senior! Could you please share your strategy for breaking the layout of the Children’s Ward?” By the time she looked up, You Yan had already walked far ahead.

He Yanqing laughed loudly as he caught up. “Don’t mind them, my little theorist is just shy around strangers.”

“Who belongs to your house?” You Yan stopped in front of a giant screen, frowning as he stared at a certain scenery playing out in the void. “Utterly gaudy.”

The surrounding area instantly fell dead silent.

The nearby players stole glances at them, whispering under their breaths:

“I heard that guy ripped out the Director’s heart with his bare hands…”

“Didn’t Gaffer He call him ‘Mr. NPC’ during the livestream?”

“Are they together in the Klein Instance…?”*

“Want some ice cream?” He Yanqing suddenly pointed toward a floating dessert station. “They have magma flavor.”

Looking at the writhing blob of “magma,” You Yan finally showed his first facial expression since returning a deep frown of pure disgust. “Have your tastebuds been assimilated by a monster?”

Just then, a wave of screams erupted inside the Rest Area.

The two of them turned around to see a bald man who had accidentally opened their instance playback. The screen was frozen exactly on the frame where You Yan had pressed a scalpel firmly against He Yanqing’s waist.

“Let’s go,” You Yan turned around, the back of his neck flushing a faint shade of red.

By the time they teleported back to the rented apartment, He Yanqing was mocking the tone of the live comments: “Help me, what kind of flirting is this~”

He didn’t even get mad when a pillow smacked him squarely in the face. Instead, he caught You Yan by the wrist. “In all seriousness, want to team up?”

A split second before You Yan slammed the door in his face, He Yanqing caught a very soft response:

“Yeah.”

He smiled at the closed door, twirling his dagger in his hand as it sliced through the air. The neon lights outside the window reflected off the surface of the blade, exposing a glimpse of the true, unadulterated madness in his eyes that he never showed to anyone else.