Tang Xiao had no idea what happened after that.
At some point after 428’s hyphae entered his wound, the game interface before Tang Xiao suddenly began to lag. It flickered like an aging television screen, and then everything went black.
When he opened his eyes again, he saw a shocking sight before him.
In the pitch-black surroundings, a flash of light suddenly flickered. Tang Xiao instinctively looked over, and once he did, he couldn’t tear his gaze away.
It was an enormous “tree.”
Its entire body was emerald green, yet it had no leaves or the rough bark of a real-world “tree.” It was as transparent as colored glass, and he could even see the countless golden veins within. Strange and sacred, it stretched like roots at either end, connecting heaven and earth.
He instinctively held his breath, but before he could take in the whole “tree,” he was kicked out of the game.
“What happened? Did a bug occur???” Tang Xiao sat at the login screen, looking utterly dejected.
What exactly had that thing at the end been? Had he failed or succeeded? What had 428 done?
Tang Xiao wanted to log back into the game immediately so he could find out how everything had ended. But when he tried to load his save, he saw that the game was updating and wouldn’t be available for another 72 hours.
Tang Xiao: “... Fine.”
It was already one in the morning in the real world.
Because of his bet with his father, Tang Xiao now obediently attended class whenever he had a lecture. He only logged into the game at night, then slept through his easier classes.
Time-management master.jpg.
He had logged off early today, so after thinking it over, he went online again to look for news about the game.
As expected, every trace of the game had vanished from the internet, including the picture of the little monster Tang Xiao had seen before. Everything returned a merciless 404.
With no information about the game to be found and his big brother back at work and once again out of contact, Tang Xiao had no choice but to put the game aside for now and obediently go to class the next day.
Thanks to the “leveling up” in the game, the material in Tang Xiao’s classes no longer felt difficult. He treated the lectures as a way to relax, and after reviewing the material once before doing his assignments, his understanding deepened even further. His study efficiency kept climbing. Compared with before, it felt as satisfying as using a double EXP card in a game, and Tang Xiao couldn’t get enough of it.
Apparently, he had startled his roommates. All three of them came over to ask what was going on, and even Li Mu heard about it and hurried over, leaving Tang Xiao both amused and helpless.
“Are you really okay? Or did you get flamed online?”
Li Mu rushed into Tang Xiao’s dorm room and looked him over from every angle. He asked suspiciously, “What’s going on?”
Li Mu and Tang Xiao had been friends since childhood. Li Mu was a year older and attended the same university. He was already working as a lab researcher and might continue down that career path in the future.
Tang Xiao said helplessly, “I’m really fine. I just promised my dad I’d do well on my final exams so he wouldn’t interfere with my gaming.”
The explanation made perfect sense, and Li Mu couldn’t think of anything to say. He picked up Tang Xiao’s homework and looked it over, then raised his head with a strange expression, hesitating as though he wanted to say something.
“Spit it out.”
“Xiaoxiao, I feel guilty.”
“?”
“You really are a top student. I feel guilty for not offering you up to the country...”
“Get lost.” Tang Xiao was speechless.
“You really don’t want to join the lab? Listen, the big shots in your biology department just started a joint project with a top researcher from an overseas university. They’re short on people...”
“Not interested. Besides, the game update is almost finished.”
Li Mu froze for a moment, then suddenly understood. “No wonder you’ve been doing your homework. It’s because you can’t get into the game. I thought you’d changed your ways.”
Once Li Mu confirmed that his friend was fine, he trotted off. Tang Xiao, speechless, lent his homework to his other roommates for reference.
Three days flew by. When the time was about right, Tang Xiao returned to his rented apartment.
As soon as he reached the game’s login screen, several pop-up windows appeared.
[Game update complete. Dear player, welcome back to the Fungal Era.]
Log in.
When he opened his eyes, Tang Xiao sat up. The first thing he did was look around. The walls were covered in soft, bulging padding, and he was lying on something resembling an examination table, his bare chest covered in electrode pads and other instruments.
“Where am I?”
“Don’t be nervous, Researcher Tang.” A calm, gentle female voice came from a speaker in the corner. “You’re still in the Third Eye. You lost consciousness during the Returnist Church’s attack. Three days have passed since you fainted, and you’ve only just woken up. If you experience any discomfort, such as heart palpitations or anxiety, try taking a few deep breaths...”
Tang Xiao didn’t feel any of those symptoms, but he followed her instructions anyway to go along with the scene.
Once he had calmed down, a group of medical staff in white coats quickly entered. They brought an assortment of instruments and ran all kinds of tests, including drawing blood.
No matter how many questions Tang Xiao asked, they gave him no answers. After they left, another group of people in uniform came in some time later. The person leading them was someone Tang Xiao had met before.
“Dr. Feng?” Tang Xiao stared at her in surprise.
Feng Shuyun smiled warmly and sat down beside him. “How are you feeling? Is anything bothering you?”
Tang Xiao moved his body, then glanced at the game interface. There were no negative status effects, so he shook his head.
“Good. I’m glad you’re all right,” said the middle-aged man beside her. “Do you remember what happened before you lost consciousness?”
Tang Xiao glanced at him and pretended to think back. “I remember a little. I think I was infected with zombie fungus.”
As he spoke, Tang Xiao’s expression suddenly changed. He lowered his head and looked at his hands.
“You’re all right now. You’ve recovered.” Feng Shuyun remembered that Tang Xiao had been infected because of her. She couldn’t help taking his hand and patting the back of it. “Don’t worry. We gave you a thorough examination, and you’re perfectly healthy.”
“What exactly happened...” Tang Xiao asked, looking at Feng Shuyun in confusion.
“That’s what we’d like to ask you,” the middle-aged man beside them said. “Do you remember what happened after you were infected with zombie fungus?”
“I was in the hall. When my consciousness was hazy, I seemed to see a gigantic monster...” Since he didn’t know what the Third Eye had done afterward or how much they had seen, Tang Xiao only mentioned a few vague details. “Then I passed out and don’t remember anything else.”
That was true. He had only concealed the one sentence he had exchanged with 428.
Since the main quest wasn’t showing as failed, 428 had probably made it through safely. Considering that he had somehow recovered from zombie fungus, which should have been incurable, it was very likely that 428 had something to do with it.
“That monster... was it 428? What happened to it afterward?”
“It’s fine. It’s in a cocoon now, and we don’t know when it’ll emerge. If you want to see it, you can go later.”
The uniformed men exchanged glances and were about to ask something else, but Feng Shuyun cut in firmly. “Can’t you see he just woke up? Is this how you treat a hero?”
“Of course not,” the middle-aged man said with a wry smile. “All right, all right. We won’t ask anything else for now. But you’ll at least let us finish this task, won’t you?”
“A task?” Tang Xiao asked in confusion.
Feng Shuyun patted him reassuringly on the back. “Don’t worry. It’s nothing bad. The head of the Third Eye wants to speak with you.”
“With... me?”
“That’s right.” Feng Shuyun patted Tang Xiao’s hand. “Don’t worry, it’s a good thing. The head hasn’t appeared in front of outsiders for a long time. He’s in poor health, but after hearing what you did, he wanted to meet you. It’ll be over a video call, of course.”
After saying that, the middle-aged man carried a laptop over to Tang Xiao. A moment later, the screen lit up.
Tang Xiao saw an old man who looked to be in his late eighties or early nineties reclining in a hospital bed. On the small screen, countless machines could be seen connected behind him. His head was tilted at an odd angle, making him look a little like a famous scientist from Earth. His deeply wrinkled face struggled to form a smile. “Hello. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Manfred Dalton, head of the Third Eye.”
“Hello. I’m Tang Xiao.”
“I know who you are, Tang,” Dalton said with a smile. “First, I want to thank you for your help. Without you, I think this disaster would have been much worse.”
“No, I didn’t do anything,” Tang Xiao hurriedly demurred. “I only made a suggestion to Dr. Feng.”
“If you hadn’t suggested using the detector, many more people would have suffered,” Dalton said softly. “And then there’s experimental subject 428... It was because you stood your ground that we discovered its immense potential.”
“On behalf of everyone, I want to thank you, Tang. Thank you for standing your ground, and for your contributions to research.”
Tang Xiao’s eyes lit up. “Does that mean my paper...”
“Of course. You’ve proven that you were right. Just as you wrote in your paper, 428’s growth and development are beyond our ability to predict. Perhaps we shouldn’t have been so quick to judge it. There may be things hidden within it that we still don’t know about. The Level Five project will be restarted.”
At least all that effort hadn’t been for nothing.
Tang Xiao breathed a sigh of relief.
“Besides that, I think there may be some debate over the Best Achievement Award at the results presentation...” Dalton glanced mischievously at Feng Shuyun. Dr. Feng smiled faintly, completely unaffected by his teasing. “All right, but there’s no question the Best Newcomer Award is yours... Cough, cough! Cough, cough, cough!”
As Dalton spoke, his face suddenly flushed red and he began coughing uncontrollably. The readings on several machines in the video shot up, and the doctor waiting beside him urged him anxiously, “Doctor, you need to rest!”
“I think I’m feeling pretty good today,” Dalton muttered. He looked at Tang Xiao. “All right, Tang. It seems our conversation will have to end here. Cough, cough! I look forward to seeing what you do next. May you forge ahead in your research... And enjoy your moment in the spotlight.”
The computer screen went black again. The middle-aged man smiled. “That’s what the head wanted to say.”
Tang Xiao hesitated for a moment before asking, “The head... is he all right?”
“He’s fine,” the middle-aged man replied with a strained smile. “Well, not entirely fine, but the head is over ninety now. At that age, it’s easy to be plagued by illness. Today has actually been a pretty good day for him.”
Over ninety... No wonder.
Tang Xiao remembered what the masked man had told him in the previous loop and couldn’t help asking, “Is the head the founder of the Third Eye?”
“Yes, though he’s old now and hasn’t been involved in the organization’s affairs for a long time,” the middle-aged man said vaguely. Feng Shuyun nodded and added, “The head was the one who first proposed the King of Fungi hypothesis. You’ve probably heard of him. He was one of the greatest scientists of the last century.”
Tang Xiao was stunned.
He really had read about him in Bard’s project files.
The King of Fungi hypothesis was, roughly speaking, a theory about the social structure of fungal communities. In 1970, Dalton proposed that fungi had a figure similar to a “queen bee.” But the King of Fungi had far greater control over fungi than a queen bee had over a hive. It could even be said that the King of Fungi was an extension of the will of all fungi. The sudden invasion and parasitism of other species by fungi a hundred years ago may well have been the King of Fungi’s doing.
In addition, by observing fungi, Dalton had deduced the general division of labor and operational structure within the Fungal Kingdom, as well as the existence of a fungal network. He had helped survivors avoid countless disasters and was truly remarkable in that chaotic era.
It made sense. If he weren’t a major figure in his field, how could he have built an academic organization like the Third Eye?
The middle-aged man said, “All right, I’ve finished my task. I should be going. Researcher Tang, the head has high hopes for you. He hopes you’ll continue to make great contributions.”
“I will... Researcher?” Tang Xiao nodded, then suddenly realized what he had heard. “Researcher? Aren’t I an assistant?”
“Oh...” The middle-aged man glanced at Feng Shuyun, only to receive another glare. “I was supposed to be the one to tell you.”
“I’m sorry, truly sorry,” the middle-aged man said with an awkward smile, repeatedly cupping his hands in apology. Under Feng Shuyun’s resentful gaze, he offered Tang Xiao a few perfunctory words of congratulations, then hurriedly left with the others.
After the middle-aged man left, Tang Xiao turned to Feng Shuyun. She sighed. “I was hoping to surprise you.”
“Congratulations. Your paper has been approved by the higher-ups. After two days of discussion, they’ve decided to promote you to full researcher.”
Tang Xiao froze slightly, then instinctively opened his character status page.
Sure enough, his occupation had been upgraded from assistant researcher to full researcher. He had also received five freely allocated attribute points and 2,000 points of subject experience.
Tang Xiao decided to save them for now and think about where to allocate them later.
“Besides that, I want to thank you personally.” Feng Shuyun stood up from her stool and bowed slightly to Tang Xiao. “For your help with my paper, and for saving my life twice. I don’t know how to express my gratitude.”
“What are you doing?” Tang Xiao was startled. He awkwardly shifted on the hospital bed to avoid the bow. “Please, you shouldn’t bow to me like that. I only did what I should have. Your research can save so many people and prevent countless disasters. Anyone in my position would have made the same choice.”
Feng Shuyun shook her head. “You still saved my life. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be here now. You deserve to be thanked. And if you hadn’t warned me, I wouldn’t have discovered the trap those awful people had set. There would’ve been a whole dispute over the patent rights. So I want to give you a one-percent share of the profits.”
“No, no. I can’t accept that.” Tang Xiao shook his head repeatedly. He hadn’t been the one to discover the problem in the first place. He had only managed to convince Feng Shuyun because she had guided him at the end of the previous loop.
He had only learned all this because he had the advantage of reloading his save. Even if it was just a game, accepting the money would make him feel awkward. After all, he hadn’t really done anything.
No matter how much Feng Shuyun tried to persuade him, Tang Xiao kept shaking his head. Helpless, she sighed. “Do you have any idea how much money that is...? Never mind. If you don’t want it, I can’t force it on you.”
Tang Xiao had just breathed a sigh of relief when his wristband chimed with a transfer notification: 200,000 points.
“But I can force this little bit of money on you.” Feng Shuyun fiddled with her wristband. Before Tang Xiao could say anything, she added, “You don’t think my life is worth even that many points, do you? Just think of it as pocket money.”
Tang Xiao fell silent. After a moment’s hesitation, he said, “Thank you, Dr. Feng.”
It wasn’t a Lunar New Year red envelope. Why had he refused so many times?
Seeing that Tang Xiao had accepted, Feng Shuyun smiled like a grandmother who had successfully slipped a red envelope to her grandchild. She affectionately ruffled his hair. “By the way, don’t forget to get ready for the banquet tonight. You’re one of the stars of the show.”
“Mm... Hm? What banquet?” Tang Xiao asked blankly.
“There’s an awards ceremony after the results presentation, as usual. The scholars who win awards usually give speeches.” Feng Shuyun winked playfully. “In the words of your younger generation, if you don’t show off after accomplishing something, you might as well not have accomplished it.”
Tang Xiao gave an awkward laugh. “...You’re very up to date.”
“This banquet is a little different, though. Because of this incident, the results presentation was suspended. For the past three days, the organization has been under lockdown while you were unconscious. No one was allowed to leave without permission. They could only release their results online, and they kept having to deal with staff inspections... Anyway, it’s been one headache after another, and the scholars are fed up.”
Feng Shuyun shrugged. “So they started protesting, and the higher-ups had no choice but to turn the awards ceremony into an academic banquet. The award-winning scholars will each give a short presentation there.”
Tang Xiao opened his mouth. “Is that safe? What if the disaster happens again?”
“It’s fine. The Returnist Church wanted to stop my results from getting out, but they’ve already failed. Everyone involved has been thoroughly vetted over the past two days, and they’ve caught quite a few moles.”
“Besides, they’ve been rushing to produce the detectors these past few days, so every corner of the venue will be covered with them.” Feng Shuyun chuckled. “This may sound bad, but because of this incident, my results went through the patent approval process very quickly.”
Tang Xiao couldn’t help twitching the corner of his mouth. “Congratulations...”
“I should be thanking you,” Feng Shuyun said with a smile as she stood up. “All right, I won’t disturb you any longer. Get ready for tonight’s awards ceremony. Experimental subject 428 has been the biggest topic in academia lately, and lots of people are curious about you. I imagine quite a few people will come tonight just for your sake.”
“All right... Hm??? Tonight?!”
“See? You woke up at just the right time.” Feng Shuyun patted Tang Xiao’s shoulder, her eyes full of expectation for the promising young researcher. “Enjoy this moment.”
Watching Feng Shuyun leave, Tang Xiao sat frozen in place.
Give a presentation? In front of so many scholars??
Could he still lie back down and pretend to be unconscious?!