She had no idea how long it had been when Rosie finally tore herself free from that endless nightmare.
Her mind was blank, unable to retain the memory of what had happened. The human brain, after all, was not made to hold horrors of that scale. Her body refused to think about it, instinctively rejecting the memory of pain.
It was pitch-black around her. Someone pressed a flashlight into her hand.
The gentle beam of light cast across the face of the person beside her. He leaned down slightly and patted her cheek, as though to remind her that the nightmare was over now.
Rosie stared at him. Something about that face stirred a sense of familiarity, though she couldn’t remember where she had seen him before.
“You’re…” she murmured uncertainly.
The man smiled faintly. “My name’s Ye Jing. I just happened to be passing through.”
Rosie steadied herself against the cold stone wall, her body trembling as she forced herself upright. She swept the flashlight over her surroundings, inspecting the area carefully. After a moment, she turned to him, confusion flickering in her eyes. “How… How did I end up here? Where are the others?”
Ye Jinran, who had introduced himself as Ye Jing, watched her with an expression of mild amusement. A spark of mischief crossed his gaze. “What others? Were you with someone? I haven’t seen anyone else.”
Rosie’s face went blank. She frowned, trying to recall, but her memories dissolved like smoke. “I… I think I was with someone… but I don’t know who.”
She lowered her eyes to her own body and froze.
Her skin was covered in shallow cuts and bruises. Her clothes were soaked through with sweat, clinging to her like a second skin. She looked as though she had been dragged through hours, maybe days, of torment.
The moment she moved, pain flared through every muscle. Her body sent waves of protest to her brain, aching so fiercely it felt as if she were about to fall apart.
Ye Jinran reached out and gently brushed aside the damp strands of hair sticking to her forehead, revealing the dazed eyes beneath. “Don’t be afraid. Do you still remember who you are?”
“I… I’m Rosie. I came here to… work. I have to live. I need to survive.”
Her voice trembled, her expression lost but determined. The will to live burned faintly in her, overpowering every other instinct left in her body.
Ye Jinran had assumed his earlier mental suggestion hadn’t taken hold. He’d repeated it several times, just to be sure, not expecting it to take root so perfectly. With the help of her nightmare, her mental defenses had crumbled, letting the seed he planted grow unchecked. Unfortunately, it had devoured too many unnecessary memories along the way.
“Don’t worry,” he said softly, his tone patient and soothing, the way he always spoke to panicked players, “You’re safe here. Just follow me out in a bit. The paths underground are complicated and if you don’t hold onto me, you might get lost.”
He reached for her hand, grasping only her fingers to keep a respectful distance.
But the moment their skin touched, Rosie flinched and clutched his hand tightly, gripping so hard her knuckles turned white.
Ye Jinran blinked in surprise, then decided to let her hold on.
The silence that followed was long and heavy. Their footsteps echoed clearly in the narrow tunnel as they walked.
Rosie held the flashlight awkwardly, the beam shaking with her unsteady movements. The ground beneath them was uneven and strange, unlike any rock surface she had seen before. She nearly tripped more than once.
Following the light, Ye Jinran glanced down. The bones that had once covered the floor were buried beneath centuries of sediment, no longer recognizable. At least that spared Rosie from another shock, her nerves could not withstand any more trauma.
In the long darkness, every sound became painfully clear, their footsteps, their breathing, even the faint rhythm of their heartbeats.
Rosie didn’t know who the man leading her was. Every instinct screamed that this place was dangerous, that the air itself carried hidden threats. Yet the only thing that gave her a sense of safety was this mysterious stranger.
It wasn’t the light in her hand that calmed her, it was him.
He was her one fragile hope and all she could do was cling to that hope and pray they would make it out alive.
She felt as though she’d gone mad. The old Rosie would never have trusted anyone so easily. The oppressive fear of the place must have clouded her judgment.
Her reason whispered that something was wrong, but her body had already chosen. She had no other choice.
Ye Jinran suddenly stopped. Lost in her thoughts, Rosie almost collided with his back.
“Someone’s coming,” he said quietly, his voice lowering.
Rosie instinctively raised the flashlight and shone it ahead, but the beam reached only darkness. Confused, she opened her mouth to ask what he meant, then froze as several shadows appeared in the distance.
She stared, stunned. Could he really have known beforehand?
Ye Jinran stepped slightly in front of her, shielding her with an effortless motion. His tone was calm, almost lazy, “Who’s there?”
The sudden beam of light made the four figures ahead squint and raise their hands. When their eyes adjusted and they saw the two before them, shock spread across their faces.
“Rosie! Is that you?” Zhao Qian shouted first.
Rosie flinched and instinctively retreated behind Ye Jinran, pressing herself into the shadows. She didn’t answer. The man’s voice was unfamiliar yet he had called her by name. A chill of suspicion crept up her spine, her sense of wariness finally returning.
The tall woman among the group called out anxiously, “Rosie, come here! It’s dangerous there!”
The young high-school boy almost rushed forward but Zhao Qian caught him by the arm.
“She’s not right,” Zhao Qian said sharply, keeping his voice low. He turned his gaze to the man standing in front of her, his expression hardening. “Who are you? Why are you here?”
A blunt, straightforward challenge. Ye Jinran sighed inwardly. He hated repeating the same lie twice, it was tedious.
He turned slightly, his shadow stretching over the trembling girl behind him and said playfully, “They seem to want to take you away. Could they be bad people? You don’t have to go with them if you don’t want to…”
A flash of cold light streaked across the air.
There was a sharp crack as Rosie startled, her hand jerking. The flashlight slipped from her grip and fell to the ground.
A heavy iron shovel was frozen in midair just inches away from Ye Jinran’s chest, halted by an invisible barrier. For a few seconds, time itself seemed to stop. Then, under everyone’s horrified gaze, the weapon shattered, crushed into fine gray dust.
Ye Jinran smiled faintly. Finally, someone had taken the bait. Of course he wouldn’t appear before players without a few precautions.
The shovel had been thrown by the thin, wiry man named Ah Peng. His pupils contracted, horror dawning on him. He had just attacked something far beyond his power to fight, like an ant trying to challenge a mountain. As the invisible force of dread crashed down on him, his entire body went rigid with fear.
“He’s the enemy!” Zhao Qian shouted, pulling his teammates into formation. That defensive ability was not something an ordinary person could possess. It had to be magic and in this game, only cultists or aberrations used magic. Either way, there would be no chance for negotiation.
Ye Jinran sighed softly and turned to Rosie, adopting a wounded, innocent tone. “See? They didn’t even ask before attacking me and I just saved you.”
He slipped an arm around her shoulders and leaned down, whispering beside her ear, “I can’t fight them, you know. But you should be able to. You have that thing, don’t you? The one that can make your wishes come true, the one with magic…”
Rosie’s pupils dilated slightly. Her mind struggled to process his words.
Ye Jinran put on an exaggerated look of helplessness, as though bullied and outnumbered.
“Yes… that thing…” Rosie murmured, her voice dazed. Her fingers moved automatically, summoning the system’s shop interface. The motion was smooth and practiced. As a professional explorer, she had long been trained to purchase the necessary tools instantly in times of crisis.
Ye Jinran’s lips curved. Even the corners of his eyes were smiling now.
He subtly changed his grip, sliding his hand down from hers until he caught her wrist, guiding her through the interface. Under his control, she clicked “buy.”
A pistol materialized in her hand.
It wasn’t an ordinary gun, no weapon from the system shop ever was. It granted its wielder near-perfect accuracy. Even a complete beginner could shoot with deadly precision.
Ye Jinran had chosen it deliberately. It required little strength, had high penetration, fast reload and devastating effect. Perfect for hunting monsters or shooting allies.
Not every player in real life had handled a gun before. Inside the game, firearms were among the few powerful weapons humans could use, but without experience, accuracy often failed them. Friendly fire incidents were common.
Ye Jinran wasn’t worried. He could simply keep hold of Rosie’s hand, guiding her aim to ensure every bullet hit its target.
But he didn’t plan to do that.
Rosie’s lips trembled as she watched him release her hand and take a few steps back.
The faint sense of safety she’d been clinging to shattered completely. The darkness that had been lurking at the edges now surged forward, swallowing her whole. Her lungs seemed to close, suffocating her.
“Shoot,” Ye Jinran said softly.
He stood directly before her, perfectly within range, in a spot where the bullet was guaranteed to hit.
The choice was hers now, to trust the teammates who had called her name or the stranger who had pulled her out of the dark.
Her hands shook uncontrollably around the gun. The figures before her wavered, their shapes blurring.
In confusion and fear, she squeezed her eyes shut and pulled the trigger.
The shot exploded through the tunnel, echoing harshly against the stone walls.
But the sound of a body falling never came.
Rosie opened her eyes, trembling.
The bullet had hit. The fabric over Zhao Qian’s chest was scorched and torn, but beneath it, the bullet had lodged harmlessly in a layer of black material.
A bulletproof vest.
It looked absurdly out of place beneath his otherwise plain, ancient-style clothing, as if it didn’t belong in this world at all.
Because it didn’t.
Ye Jinran immediately understood what had happened. The instant Zhao Qian saw the gun, he must have opened his own system shop and purchased protective gear.
The team had assumed this dungeon took place in an ancient setting and hadn’t prepared for modern threats. None of them carried equipment suited for gunfire. Ye Jinran had checked their personal inventories earlier; he knew exactly what they had.
Only the tall woman and the skinny man were armed, if one could count a shovel as a weapon.
Ye Jinran felt a rush of satisfaction. Two emergency purchases meant two fresh point transactions, both flowing directly into his account. Those points would be reinvested later, perhaps into another “beneficial” monthly pass deal, to keep the players spending.
The Main God, he knew, enjoyed watching this kind of chaos. Player against player, betrayal, the breakdown of trust, it was all entertainment to that higher power. Maybe, just maybe, it would keep his superior in a good mood long enough to ease the pressure on him.
He was about to speak again, a smile already forming, when it faltered.
He froze for a fraction of a second.
Before Rosie had lost her memory, he’d never planned to do something like this to her. In fact, he’d felt a trace of guilt, even sympathy. He’d come to find her because he genuinely intended to help her escape the dream.
But somewhere along the way, without realizing it, something inside him had shifted. A strange impulse had taken over, guiding his every move.
When he came back to his senses, everything had already been done.
Something’s wrong with me, Ye Jinran thought numbly.
But that thought was quickly pushed down, buried before it could surface again.
✦ ✧ ✦
Nycreth
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
You made it to the end. The translator would like a tiny coffee. ☕
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
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ChaptersChapter 1 · Blood Moon Town: ShhhChapter 2 · The Mist of Nanjin Village (1)Chapter 3 · The Mist of Nanjin Village (2)Chapter 4 · The Mist of Nanjin Village (3)Chapter 5 · The Mist of Nanjin Village (4)Chapter 6 · The Mist of Nanjin Village (7)Chapter 7 · The Mist of Nanjin Village (6)Chapter 8 · The mist over Nanjin Village (7)Chapter 9 · The Mystery of Nanjin Village (The End)Chapter 10 · Real WorldChapter 11 · Riding The Wind (1)Chapter 12 · Riding The Wind (2)Chapter 13 · Riding The Wind (3)Chapter 14 · Riding The Wind (4)Chapter 15 · Riding The Wind (5)Chapter 16 · Riding The Wind (6)Chapter 17 · Riding The Wind (7)Chapter 18 · Riding The Wind (8)Chapter 19 · Riding The Wind (9)Chapter 20 · Riding The Wind (10)Chapter 21 Part 1 · Riding The Wind (11)Chapter 21 Part 2 · Riding The Wind (11)Chapter 22 · Real World (1)Chapter 23 · Real World (2)Chapter 24 · Golden Sands Fade Away (1)Chapter 25 · Golden Sands Fade Away (2)Chapter 26 · Golden Sands Fade Away (3)Chapter 27 · Golden Sands Fade Away (4)Chapter 28 · Golden Sands Fade Away (5)Chapter 29 · Golden Sands Fade Away (6)Chapter 30 · Golden Sands Fade Away (7)Chapter 31 · Golden Sands Fade Away (8)Chapter 32 · Golden Sands Fade Away (9)Chapter 33 · Golden Sands Fade Away (10)Chapter 34 · Golden Sands Fade Away (11)Chapter 35 · Golden Sands Fade Away (12)Chapter 36 · Golden Sands Fade Away (13)Chapter 37 · Golden Sands Fade Away (14)Chapter 38 · Golden Sands Fade Away (15)Chapter 39 · Golden Sands Fade Away (16)Chapter 40 · Golden Sands Fade Away (17)Chapter 41 · Golden Sands Fade Away (18)Chapter 42 · Golden Sands Fade Away (19)Chapter 43 · Golden Sands Fade Away (20)Chapter 44 · Golden Sands Fade Away (21)Chapter 45 · Golden Sands Fade Away (22)Chapter 46 · Golden Sands Fade Away (23)Chapter 47 · Golden Sands Fade Away (24)Chapter 48 · Golden Sands Fade Away (25) The EndChapter 49 · Main God’s DomainChapter 50 · Anomaly Investigation Bureau (1)Chapter 51 · Anomaly Investigation Bureau (2)Chapter 52 · Item FactoryChapter 53 · Defrosted Friendship (1)Chapter 54 · Defrosted Friendship (2)Chapter 55 · Defrosted Friendship (3)Chapter 56 · Defrosted Friendship (4)Chapter 57 · Defrosted Friendship (5)Chapter 58 · Defrosted Friendship (6)Chapter 59 · Defrosted Friendship (7)Chapter 60 · Defrosted Friendship (8)Chapter 61 · Defrosted Friendship (9)Chapter 62 · Defrosted Friendship (10)Chapter 63 · Defrosted Friendship (11)Chapter 64 · Defrosted Friendship (12)Chapter 65 · Defrosted Friendship (13)Chapter 66 · Defrosted Friendship (14)Chapter 67 · Defrosted Friendship (15)Chapter 68 · Defrosted Friendship (16)Chapter 69 · Defrosted Friendship (End)Chapter 70 · The Real WorldChapter 71 · Matching TimeChapter 72 · The Meaning of Endless Abundance (1)Chapter 73 · The Meaning of Endless Abundance (2)Chapter 74 · The Meaning of Endless Abundance (3)Chapter 75 · The Meaning of Endless Abundance (4)Chapter 76 · The Meaning of Endless Abundance (5)Chapter 77 · The Meaning of Endless Abundance (6)Chapter 78 · The Meaning of Endless Abundance (7)Chapter 79 · The Meaning of Endless Abundance (8)Chapter 80 · The Meaning of Endless Abundance (9)Chapter 81 · The Meaning of Endless Abundance (10)Chapter 82 · The Meaning of Endless Abundance (11)Chapter 83 · The Meaning of Endless Abundance (12)Chapter 84 · The Meaning of Endless Abundance (13)Chapter 85 · The Meaning of Endless Abundance (14)Chapter 86 · The Meaning of Endless Abundance (15)Chapter 87 · The Meaning of Endless Abundance (16)Chapter 88 · The Meaning of Endless Abundance (17)Chapter 89 · The Meaning of Endless Abundance (18)Chapter 90 · The Meaning of Endless Abundance (19)Chapter 91 · The Meaning of Endless Abundance (20)Chapter 92 · The Meaning of Endless Abundance (21)Chapter 93 · The Meaning of Endless Abundance (22)Chapter 94 · The Meaning of Endless Abundance (23)Chapter 95 · The Meaning of Endless Abundance (Complete)Chapter 96 · The Main God Invites You for TeaChapter 97 · The Player ForumChapter 98 · Training GroundChapter 99 · Eternal Night – The Stone-Striker (1)Chapter 100 · Eternal Night – The Stone-Striker (2)Chapter 101 · Eternal Night – The Stone-Striker (3)Chapter 102 · Eternal Night · The One Who Strikes the Stone (Finale)