This was the fifth time.
You Li lay on the treatment chair. The timing was just right. The doctor instructed him to take his medicine, and fifteen minutes later, as the effects of the medication gradually began to take hold, he was lulled into sleep by the exhaustion that followed the treatment.
Because of the lingering pain, his complexion looked somewhat pale even after he had fallen asleep.
The doctor wiped his face with a handkerchief before administering an intravenous glucose solution to replenish his body’s energy and restore his strength.
Even in his sleep, You Li could feel the cold, stinging pain.
He wanted to wake up, but instead, he sank into an even deeper dream.
He hadn’t dreamed in a long time.
The exhaustion brought on by the dungeon meant that his body desperately needed rest, and whenever You Li fell asleep, he always slept deeply.
This seemed to be his dream.
And yet, it wasn’t his dream.
The dream was a scene he had never seen before.
He was surrounded by pitch-black darkness, and when he opened his eyes, all he could see was darkness.
You Li walked through the darkness for a very long time.
He felt neither hungry nor tired, so he simply kept walking.
But no matter how far he went, he could never find a way out.
It was like an endless cage.
There was nothing here.
Only emptiness and endless darkness.
It was so dark.
So incredibly dark.
Which direction should he go to get out?
Was he trapped here?
Had someone locked him away?
You Li walked aimlessly through the darkness.
He walked for an unknown amount of time.
As time passed, he became increasingly panicked, increasingly helpless, increasingly depressed, increasingly lost, and increasingly afraid of the darkness surrounding him.
You Li began to fear the dark.
He started pacing back and forth in the darkness, but eventually, exhaustion overcame him, and he could only sit down to rest.
He seemed to be becoming more and more tired.
More and more weary.
The darkness seemed to be reaching toward him, wanting to engulf him, devour him, and make him disappear into some forgotten corner where he would never see the light again.
He could feel his consciousness gradually becoming sluggish.
You Li obediently assumed that once he disappeared completely into the darkness, he would wake from the dream.
And then he was completely swallowed by darkness.
He opened his eyes.
He woke up.
But he found himself still inside the dream.
Only this time, he no longer seemed to be standing in the darkness.
Instead, he was looking at everything from the perspective of an outsider.
He had no physical form.
He could only follow and watch the person who was now trapped in the darkness.
Was this the same person from before?
It seemed so.
And yet, it also seemed different.
They were both trying to find a way out of the darkness, but the other person seemed much shorter than him.
Like a child.
You Li could only see a shadow.
It was too dark. He couldn’t see the person’s face or make out any of their features.
He could only vaguely sense that the other person had somehow blended into the darkness, yet at the same time, seemed to exist independently from it.
The other person remained silent throughout.
Not a single word was spoken.
At first, You Li simply stood there and waited.
He waited for a very, very long time, without even knowing who he was waiting for.
There was nothing in this dark, prison-like place.
You Li felt as though an unimaginably long time had passed.
A year.
Two years.
Or perhaps countless years.
He began to rise higher, and as time continued to pass, his world remained nothing but darkness.
You Li watched him.
At first, he simply watched.
Later, he wanted to hug him.
Because the other person seemed to be waiting so patiently.
He didn’t know why.
After some time, the other person began searching for a way out of the darkness, just as You Li had done before.
You Li searched alongside him.
The figure gradually became thinner and more slender, as though an extremely long time had passed.
Yet he never gave up.
You Li felt an inexplicable sadness.
Because he already knew the ending.
There was no way out of this darkness.
The darkness would eventually devour anyone trapped inside it.
But there was nothing either of them could do.
They could only watch as the other person, just like himself, grew heavier and weaker with every step.
Yet there was something different between them.
You Li could feel that the other person was truly disappearing.
Pieces of his body were missing here and there.
His consciousness was being devoured by the darkness bit by bit.
His figure became hollow.
Pale.
Transparent.
Until eventually, he was completely erased.
Every trace of him disappeared.
You Li seemed to empathize with him.
A deep sense of powerlessness washed over him, leaving him unbearably uncomfortable.
He didn’t know how much time had passed.
Eventually, the darkness returned to silence.
He disappeared.
You Li wanted to save him.
But there was nothing he could do.
It was only much later that a single tear slipped down his face.
Then another.
The tears gradually became a torrent, overflowing even as he remained trapped in sleep.
It hurt so much.
You Li struggled desperately to wake up, but he couldn’t.
He could only vaguely feel someone wiping away his tears, gently caressing him, and slowly licking the tears from his face.
For some inexplicable reason, You Li was able to fall asleep peacefully, sinking into an even deeper sleep in which he no longer dreamed at all.
He slept for a very long time before finally waking up.
There was only the doctor in the ward.
You Li subconsciously glanced at the back of her hand, where several faint purplish marks from the needles were still visible.
“Doctor,” he said, “it was a glucose injection, not an anesthetic.” He paused for a moment before adding, “Come and eat something.”
You Li was quietly being fed, still immersed in the emotions left behind by his dream, and his mood was rather low.
After You Li finished eating, he pursed his lips and asked, “Where did he go?”
The doctor glanced at him, seemingly surprised that You Li had taken the initiative to ask about the clown’s whereabouts. He checked the time and didn’t hide anything from him.
“The dungeon is almost over. He went to finish things up.”
Finish things up?
Finish up what?
What else was there to do to wrap things up?
Of course, it was about dealing with the other players.
You Li’s first thought was whether Chen Shuang had found a way to complete the game after obtaining the clue in the consultation room.
If she had found a way, would she have immediately gone to complete it?
Was she still inside the instance because she wanted to save him, or had she simply not found a way to clear the dungeon yet?
Would she be killed by the clown?
Had she already,
He didn’t dare to think any further.
He immediately began thinking of ways to save her, but then he remembered that these two dungeon bosses did not seem like the kind of people who would show mercy.
You Li couldn’t eat anymore.
After hesitating for a moment, he asked in a voice so quiet that it was barely audible, “Could you let her go…?”
The doctor lifted his eyelids and looked at him.
“If you can’t find a way to pass the level, the final outcome is that you’ll be cleared by the dungeon.”
“If we can find her, she won’t be eliminated,” You Li said. “Being killed is different from dying due to force majeure.”
The doctor looked at him for a long time before finally speaking gently.
“I’ve already said that.”
What had she said?
Did he have to pay the price for whatever he wanted?
He wanted to make a deal with them, but before he could do that, he had to show them what he was willing to offer.
Was it about the value of the transaction?
What did he have to give up?
The scene in the bathroom just now was still vivid in his mind.
You Li lowered his eyes and thought for a long time. Then, after hesitating for a while, he slowly closed his eyes, as though he had gone through an enormous internal struggle.
Finally, he reached out and took the doctor’s hand, awkwardly pulling him toward him.
Then he looked up, carefully watching the doctor’s reaction.
The doctor did not respond.
You Li didn’t know what else he could do.
Just as he had done before, he took the doctor’s hand and pressed it against his face.
He awkwardly rubbed his soft cheek against his palm.
As he squeezed closer, the soft flesh of his lips accidentally brushed against the lines in the middle of his palm.
He simply continued rubbing his face against the doctor’s hand, even circling his cheek around his palm.
The doctor sighed.
“I didn’t intend to kill anyone; I was just doing it for the dungeon.”
You Li froze for a moment.
He watched as the doctor draped a white coat over him.
“If you don’t believe me, go find it yourself.”
“I’ll give you half an hour to stop him.”
You Li hurriedly climbed down from the hospital bed.
“Thank you, thank you, Doctor.”
He ran out of the room and headed straight toward the recreation room.
Chen Shuang would only go there if she wanted to find him.
The journey was long, especially since You Li had only been recovering for a few days. He couldn’t walk for very long, and whenever he tried to run with large strides, his movements became uncoordinated.
The doctor had told him that he didn’t intend to kill anyone.
The clown had only used the NPC’s corpse to deceive him into killing the remaining players.
Although the doctor had not promised that the clown wouldn’t kill anyone else, at the very least, he wasn’t as vicious as You Li had imagined.
You Li wanted to believe the doctor’s words.
He wasn’t running very fast, but even moving forward at an ordinary pace took a great deal of effort. His heart was beating rapidly, and he was so nervous that he could barely breathe.
He pushed open the door to the recreation room.
The room was empty.
Only traces of blood remained.
You Li’s breath caught in his throat. He couldn’t see the body, and he couldn’t tell whether he had arrived too late or whether nothing had happened here at all.
He could only look around in a panic before following the trail of blood and running out of the room.
With his heart rate already exceeding its limits, You Li’s breathing became increasingly labored. The symptoms of his hyperventilation syndrome showed signs of returning.
He could only slow down and follow the trail of blood through the smooth corridors of the hospital.
The fluorescent lights flickered overhead.
The smell of disinfectant and blood lingered heavily in the air.
At first, the bloodstains were plentiful. Then they gradually became sparse, appearing only as individual drops along the floor.
But toward the end, they became more numerous again.
A loud bang suddenly rang out.
It was the dull, heavy sound of a human body striking the ground.
There was also a suppressed cry of pain, rapid breathing, and the chaotic sounds of a struggle.
You Li hurried around the corner and suddenly saw Chen Shuang.
She was almost on the verge of death, struggling desperately to push herself up from the ground.
Compared to her disheveled state, the clown stood calmly nearby.
Blood dripped from his scalpel.
Apart from the bloodstains covering his clothes, his appearance remained immaculate. There wasn’t even a trace of disarray.
The difference in their combat strength was an overwhelming, complete defeat.
It was almost like a game that had been decided from the very beginning, leaving no room for a satisfying outcome.
As Chen Shuang struggled to get back up, she seemed to catch sight of You Li running toward her.
She desperately twisted herself away from the clown’s next attack and suddenly lunged forward.
Then, without warning, You Li heard the sound of the blade piercing through flesh and plunging into her internal organs.
Before You Li could even open his mouth, he froze.
His vision blurred, and he couldn’t see anything clearly.
All he could see was a large pool of blood spreading rapidly across the smooth hospital floor.
The last thing he saw was Chen Shuang’s eyes turning sideways to look at him.
She was almost completely covered in blood. Blood poured from her mouth as she coughed violently, yet there was a faint sense of relief in her expression as she released the prop she had been holding.
Her lips moved.
She stared intently at You Li, silently repeating something over and over until almost all the blood had drained from her body.
Fake.
Fake, fake, fake!
She kept her eyes open until the moment she died.
It was as though she had died with her eyes wide open in disbelief.
……Fake?
What was fake?
Dead silence.
The clown crouched down.
After a moment, he pulled his dagger free and stood silently where he was.
You Li felt dizzy.
His vision went black.
His breathing began accelerating uncontrollably.
You lied to me again.
You lied to me again.
The claim that you didn’t intend to kill anyone was all a lie.
They had all been lying to him.
What else was fake?
What else was fake?
The clown turned around.
He paused when he saw You Li.
Then he casually shook the blood from his knife before walking toward him.
Not long after You Li had finally managed to calm himself down, the fear that had only just subsided surged back with even greater force.
A blinding crimson flashed before his eyes.
His heart pounded violently, each beat making his head throb and his thoughts spin.
It hurt so much.
It hurt so much.
You Li wanted to retreat, but his legs had only recently undergone rehabilitation. In his distracted and panicked state, they suddenly lost all strength.
He fell to the ground.
Tears immediately streamed down his face from the pain.
They continued falling unconsciously, while his expression remained blank with shock.
He could only repeat the same words over and over, his voice trembling as he muttered,
“Don’t come any closer. Don’t come any closer-“
The clown paused for a moment.
Then he half-crouched down and reached out to hug him.
You Li repeatedly pushed him away.
Again and again.
Finally, seemingly somewhat annoyed, the clown simply picked You Li up and held him firmly in his arms.
The boy’s tears and sobs were muffled against his shoulder.
The clown tried to comfort him for a while, but it was useless.
In the end, he could only say helplessly,
“She walked right into my knife!”
✦ ✧ ✦
Nycreth
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
The translator has been bribed with exactly zero coffees so far. Fix this. 😭
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
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ChaptersChapter 1 · I have amnesia (1)Chapter 2 · I have amnesia (2)Chapter 3 · I have amnesia (3)Chapter 4 · I have amnesia (4)Chapter 5 · I have amnesia (5)Chapter 6 · I have amnesia (6)Chapter 7 · I have amnesia (7)Chapter 8 · I have amnesia (8)Chapter 9 · I have amnesia (9)Chapter 10 · I have amnesia (10)Chapter 11 · I have amnesia (11)Chapter 12 · I have amnesia (12)Chapter 13 · I have amnesia (14)Chapter 14 · I have amnesia (14)Chapter 15 · I have amnesia (15)Chapter 16 · I have amnesia (16)Chapter 17 · I have amnesia (17)Chapter 18 · I have amnesia (18)Chapter 19 · I have amnesia (19)Chapter 20 · I have amnesia (20)Chapter 21 · I have amnesia (21)Chapter 22 · I have amnesia (22)Chapter 23 · I have amnesia (23)Chapter 24 · I have amnesia (24)Chapter 25 · I have amnesia (25)Chapter 26 · I have amnesia (26)Chapter 27 · I have amnesia (27)Chapter 28 · I have amnesia (28)Chapter 29 · Desert Highway (1)Chapter 30 · Desert Highway (2)Chapter 31 · Desert Highway (3)Chapter 32 · Desert Highway (4)Chapter 33 · Desert Highway (5)Chapter 34 · Desert Highway (6)Chapter 35 · Desert Highway (7)Chapter 36 · Desert Highway (8)Chapter 37 · Desert Highway (9)Chapter 38 · Desert Highway (10)Chapter 39 · Desert Highway (11)Chapter 40 · Desert Highway (12)Chapter 41 · Desert Highway (13)Chapter 42 · Desert Highway (14)Chapter 43 · Desert Highway (15)