Chapter 170

Chapter 170: Chapter 168: "Everyone Has Gone Mad, So Have I"Ruohuo, just listen to your mother and hand over the Number... Now, my former colleagues and leaders have all spoken, and I simply can’t get past this..."

In the room where the windows were nailed shut with wooden boards, a woman with long black hair hung her head.

In the darkness where no light entered, she sat alone, her bangs, which she had no mood to trim, vaguely covering her eyes.

Her head lowered, her expression was extremely bleak. In one hand, she twirled a gun of ice-white color, the weapon casting a faint chill at her fingertips.

"Ruohuo, consider it your mother begging you. I know you’ve teamed up with the Number One Player before, but he’s not your teammate anymore. A single Number—the United Group and the Ancient Martial Families have offered a hefty sum of Points. Just name it, and our family can spend the rest of the year comfortably..."

The phone’s screen was lit, becoming the only source of light in the dim room.

On speakerphone, her mother’s voice came through crystal clear, echoing in the gloomy space.

"Click."

She put down the handgun and stared at the lit screen, her eyes becoming somewhat murky.

"Ruohuo, Ruohuo... Are you listening? Hello?" Her mother’s voice came through, now tinged with anxiety.

Yu Ruohuo stared at the screen, her tongue stiff, her throat rough.

"I’m listening."

She said, the mere three words sharp and short like a piercing cry.

After pushing the words out from her throat, she felt a chill down her spine and her entire body soaked in stickiness.

"Ruohuo, your mother isn’t completely detached from reality. I’ve been on that World Forum and know about you and the Number One Player, but ultimately, he’s teamed up with Lv Shu from the top of the leaderboard. Even if he’s saved you, your debt should be paid off. Just disclose his Number, get some Points for our family, then stay safe until the game ends, alright?" On the other end, her mother kept speaking earnestly, "It’s not a bad thing for the organizations to look for the Number One Player. It’s just a Number, maybe he doesn’t even care about it?"

"Mother." Yu Ruohuo said, "Only Lv Shu and I know his Number. If it gets out, he’ll suspect me first."

"Ruohuo." Her mother persisted, "The Main God Space is vast. There are so many World Replicas. Report the Number, and he won’t be able to find you. Instead of watching you venture alone into those perilous places, you should just disclose the Number... Wouldn’t it be nicer for us to reunite as a family? You’re not getting any younger, yet you insist on getting involved with such a controversial figure..."

"Mother, once the World Game began, Zhai Xing wasn’t the same person anymore." Yu Ruohuo said, "All order has been disrupted and rearranged. Those organizations, the United Group, are actually meaningless. Personal strength overwhelmingly surpasses group power now, and the world can’t be viewed with the same old perspectives. If I offend Su Ming’an, even if the game ends, we still won’t be spared."

"..." There was a brief silence on the other end.

Then, Yu Ruohuo heard a slight shuffle of footsteps, and the phone seemed to be taken by another person.

"Ruohuo."

A somewhat stern voice came through; it was her father.

"Listen to your mother, answer the call of the organization." Father said, his demeanor was as always, believing a deeper tone alone could make her submit.

It almost made her laugh—such a posture had been dominating her for nearly twenty-five years. After her special forces boyfriend died, he had given orders with the same commanding tone, telling her to hurry up and marry a safe civil servant.

Previously, she would have obediently followed suit, abandoned her desire to solve cases with her boyfriend, found a white-collar job, squeezed onto the subway, ordered takeouts, lived a 996 lifestyle, and earned a modestly stable salary.

But now, Zhai Xing was no longer the same world, where her accounting and reporting skills, of which she was proud, were totally useless. Instead, it was the shooting skills she learned on a whim from her boyfriend that allowed her to survive.

Her father... still held onto the old generational views. Could such changes in the world not have made him see clearly yet?

Even if they managed to survive the year, and all of humanity met the Point threshold, the rule defining status by Points inevitably meant a great reshuffle of everything that came before. There could never be a world dominated by groups, no exception, even if they had many individuals like Edward.

In the face of absolute strength, betrayal becomes a simple matter. The United Group supporting Edward would sooner or later be backstabbed by the likes of Edward.

To her, the United Group was just an organization where a bunch of far-sighted Players came together to squeeze points out of the lower-level players, and not at all the United Group from Zhai Xing that was dedicated to upholding the interests of all humanity.

Not everyone has the will and mindset of a soldier. When faced with quantifiable values, petty people far outnumber the great ones.

"Father, I believe you see it clearly," Yu Ruohuo was uncompromising, her voice somewhat sharp as she spoke into the phone, "Su Ming’an’s value far exceeds those organizations."

"—Nonsense!"

Her father’s stern voice burst through the screen like thunder, making her body jolt violently.

"A person is part of society, and no one can exist separately from it," her father’s tone was extremely cold. "The likes of him are indeed very impressive, but they’re just arrogant children, individuals on their own. Blindly seeking to be exceptional and isolating oneself is a sure path to a dead end. A year’s time, dozens of World Replicas, for one failure his strength would be completely wiped clean, how could that compare to the safety and stability of someone groomed by a group... Ruohuo, be obedient, report the number, it’s better for everyone."

Yu Ruohuo’s eyelids drooped, and she felt as if a tragic, thick barrier had gradually risen between her and her parents, one that she could no longer make sense of.

Previously, this barrier hadn’t been so evident, at most just a generation gap, but now, that gap had been stretched wider and wider, with every ideological clash being magnified indefinitely.

She had run out of things to say.

"Ruohuo, haven’t you heard the latest news?" Her mother’s words came through, full of grave concern. "The Iris of Yu Country has failed in the Fifth World Replica—this is only the fifth replica... Ruohuo, there’s still a long road ahead, and placing all your bets on a child who has just come of age, expecting him to keep winning, is simply irrational. Mom knows that because of your involvement with him in the First World, you trust him deeply—but haven’t you seen what they are saying on the forum? Everyone is saying you are throwing yourself at him, believing that you’re selfish and incompetent. But Mom knows that our daughter is not that kind of person..."

Yu Ruohuo clenched her fists tightly, blinked, and felt stray tears welling up in her eyes.

"Mom may have been a bit harsh, but getting involved with someone like him has no benefits for us... He is certainly very capable, but we’re just an ordinary family," her mother sighed. "He is the Number One Player, he’s not petty, he won’t blame you, report the number, listen to Mom, okay?"

A few sounds of inhaling and exhaling rose, muffled through the screen, and Yu Ruohuo knew that her father had started smoking again.

She was a late-life child for her mother, and now both her parents were approaching sixty, her father had always been fond of smoking, severely damaging his lungs, leading to multiple trips to the hospital, creating an atmosphere of gloom in the home.

Whenever this happened, her mother would weep in front of the calendar, lamenting that if they were to pass away early without seeing Yu Ruohuo get married, she didn’t know what she would do by herself in this world.

In order to take care of their daughter for a little longer, her old-smoking father had quit smoking with great effort, forcing himself to exercise every day to improve his physique slightly.

Then, the World Game began.

Her parents, nearing the end of their days, suddenly became radiant, youth restored.

Father, with his newly acquired strong body, began smoking again.

Father always said, if those high-dimensional beings had no ill intentions and could make him decades younger, that would be more than wonderful.

Father said that if he could get the neighbors, old Wang who played chess with him and old lady Li, to be selected as well and become young together, that would be even better.

Father also said that if his daughter could find someone she liked during this year, walk out from the shadows, marry into a good family, and have a grandchild for him to hold, then he would die content.

Yu Ruohuo was once very happy, she had specifically bought a small western-style house with a garden for her parents in the Main God Space, where the family enjoyed a life they never had on Zhai Xing. They no longer had to live cramped in a box-like house, pinching pennies for a bit of vegetable money, but could grow flowers and tend to the garden, experiencing the kind of life they had envied the rich for—such happiness was something they had never experienced before.

She had thought that she was right, that by sticking with Su Ming’an and gripping onto his coattails, she could sail smoothly, amassing a lot of points. Even if he disliked her, she could care for him, because she was one of the very lucky ones, one who knew him from the start.

But now, everyone was telling her she was wrong.

Even if he had no one else around, she shouldn’t be the one by his side, because of stability, because of safety... because of her parents.

She should betray his trust, and then hide in the Main God Space, peacefully witnessing his failure.

She should let everyone see—that a Number One Player who has separated from the collective is worthless.

She should give up the number,

She should delete this Number One Player as a friend, and disappear from his life,

She should step forward and stretch out her hands,

— and then push this person into a deeper abyss.

She listened to the breathing over the screen and then stared at the coffee on the desk.

There was a violently swirling vortex, as if a black hole was dragging people down, emitting a hysterical and desperate aura.

She saw her own shadow in it.

It was as if she were trapped inside this white porcelain cup, the whirlpool-like coffee surface pulling her in to drown.

"Ruohuo, mom isn’t overthinking, we really must trust in the United Group’s strength. Maybe they genuinely want to cooperate with the Number One Player, right? Don’t think too much, just give out that Number sequence..."

"I know."

Yu Ruohuo suddenly spoke up.

"...What, Ruohuo?" came the ecstatic voice from her mother, "You agreed?"

"...I know," Yu Ruohuo repeated, her tone abrupt, each syllable heavy with her increasingly labored breathing, as she stared at the coffee surface, suddenly curving her lips into a smile that wasn’t quite a smile.

"I know."

She repeated again, her voice hoarse, like the struggle of a drowning person at the surface of a lake.

"Ruohuo, then quickly recite the Number sequence and then we can all meet up as a family," her mother was still rambling on, "You chose not to participate in the Fifth World, which was correct, everyone analyzed that there was something not quite right with that World... It’s good that you’re fine now. Come over, we’ll have a meal, the family next door wants to meet you too..."

After a moment of silence, Yu Ruohuo squeezed out a word from her throat:

"Okay."

She said, reaching out her hand.

After pressing the bright red "End Call," she swallowed hard, feeling the taste of her gulp was like swallowing her own blood.

The dim room once again became utterly silent.

She got up, took out a hammer, and then began to smash the windows she had once sealed shut.

The golden simulated sunlight from the square flooded in instantly, searing into her stinging eyes.

She looked at the statue of the rabbit boss by the fountain, bathed in an array of colorful lights.

She had seen a similar statue at the entrance of Zhai Xing’s community. The extreme similarity yet distinct difference gave a sense of disorientation as if from another world.

She suddenly found herself in tears.

"Everyone’s gone mad." She murmured to herself, tears smearing her cheeks, "...me too."

Her mouth agape, her face abnormally flushed. Her lips were so pale, they were almost transparent.

Her voice was short and sharp, like the last cry of a thrush before death.

"—The so-called Awakening is the ritual of the soul affirming and recognizing its own abilities, thereby gaining the right to use them. The elements involved always exist and do not need a specific time to be initiated."

Su Ming’an stood on the platform, addressing the thousands of Revolutionary Army soldiers, reciting theories once written by Qin Wang in his notebook.

"Some of you have not undergone an Awakening, not because you lack talent, but because the latent elements within your body have not been awakened. And now— I am going to use a method to actively bring out these elements."

As he spoke, he cut his palm with a dagger and let the blood drip into the Array that had just been drawn on the ground.

The moment the blood touched the Array, it lit up with a blood-red glow. The massive Array instantly enveloped the entire square in front of him, wrapping all the Revolutionary Army soldiers within it.

"Ah, what is this...?"

"I, I feel it—"

"I have abilities now! I’ve Awakened! God, it really worked—"

The moment the Array lit up, a mix of high and low exclamations burst forth. Despite people trying to keep their voices down, the square became an ocean of joy. Many wept with joy, embracing each other, clear marks evident on their wrists—a symbol representing Strength.

Su Ming’an watched this scene as blood continued to flow from his hand. He was using Qin Wang’s unfinished experiment results to enhance the power of these Revolutionary Army soldiers—although the final product was incomplete, using his blood could accelerate their development, making the improvement swift yet brief.

There were side effects, and a lot of his blood was needed. The Regular Army was working on the final breakthrough, hoping to make these enhancements more durable and reduce dependency on his blood.

He felt his body growing cold, but he couldn’t stop providing the blood. As he began to feel dizzy, he heard the girl’s somewhat deep voice.

"How are you feeling?" Dan Shuang leaned in, speaking close to his ear, "If you feel unwell, you can stop."

"Tomorrow is the eighth day, the Army will be departing." Su Ming’an smiled at her, "Let’s hurry and get this finished."

The girl placed her hand on his back, a faint warmth passing into him.

She watched the jubilant crowd, her eyes filled with a hint of reminiscence.

"You truly deserve to be our future leader." She said, her gaze falling.

"I’m just fighting to survive," Su Ming’an replied, observing the excited NPCs, unaffected at heart.

"Dan Shuang, is there a stove?"

"Didn’t you say that was useless?"

"...Right, I’m about to freeze to death."

"It will get better," Dan Shuang assured him, "Once everything is settled... everything will warm up."

"Two more days."

"Yes," her tone was a bit heavy but laced with a hint of excitement,

"Two more days— and we will achieve the ultimate victory under your leadership."

She smiled, her expression brilliant as fireworks.

"Sometimes I feel we’re really lucky," she said, her voice filled with sincere conviction,

"—It’s rare to encounter someone as magnificent as you."