Mo Yi raised his head and glanced at the sky. A bright blue countdown timer was hanging in the pitch-black darkness, its numbers slowly sliding towards the finish line, counting the passage of time in an orderly manner:
00:03 : 21
This instance was finally coming to an end.
Mo Yi let out a long breath. His cold limbs were sore and limp, and the sheer clothing damp with drying blood was uncomfortably crusted to his body like a second skin.
He shifted his fingers, feeling as though he’d recovered a little. At least there was some heat in his palm, and it was not as cold and numb as before.
Furthermore, there was still that warm, salty, and rusty taste lingering in the mouth.
Mo Yi lowered his gaze with mixed feelings in his heart.
Taking in a deep breath, he climbed to his feet, staggering and wobbling.
Mo Yi shook his head, declining Zhou Yunchen’s outstretched hand. He walked up to Yu Ran who was half lying on the ground and asked in a hoarse voice, “Are you okay?”
Yu Ran glanced up with a weak smile.
“I’m fine, I won’t be dying yet.”
Mo Yi raked his gaze down to the wound on her body, and he roughly understood what happened.
Although Yu Ran’s injuries were serious, she probably used some small props she’d exchanged with points. In addition, this land no longer actively sucked human blood, so Yu Ran’s wounds were not bleeding much anymore.
And perhaps it was because of the difference in their physical conditions, Yu Ran who’d lost nearly half of her body, still looked to be in a better shape than Mo Yi.
Mo Yi’s expressionless face softened slightly, and he lowered his voice to Yu Ran.
“Thank you.”
It wasn’t easy for Yu Ran to cast aside all her doubts in such a dangerous situation earlier and choose to blindly follow his suggestions.
Mo Yi knew better than anyone else how much courage and trust one had to muster up just for it.
Yu Ran smiled, staring up at him closely with her dark brown eyes and a serious expression on her pale face.
“We should be the ones thanking you.”
Her eyes were as bright as a mirror.
“Without you, we wouldn’t have been able to find any clues in this instance, let alone having so many players survive until the end.”
The player who was supporting Yu Ran to her feet subconsciously trembled at the memory, fear clouding his eyes.
The degree of danger in this instance was far beyond the imagination of many players. Yet somehow, despite the insurmountable difficulty, other than the one player who had his limbs chopped off by Ivy and his blood sucked dry by the soil, all the other players were actually still alive.
And the reason for this was Mo Yi.
A complicated expression flitted over the eyes of that player supporting Yu Ran. His throat bobbed, not knowing what to say.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Mo Yi didn’t know what to say to her, so he merely stared into her pitch-black eyes in silence.
A smile appeared on Ivy’s lifeless and ashen face.
“…It seems I’m not as foolish as I thought I was.”
Mo Yi froze. He lowered his eyes, long eyelashes fanning over his dark eyes, and answered her with a seemingly unrelated platitude.
“Those who believe in hope will never be foolish.”
The scorched shell slowly patched itself back onto Ivy’s body, and an unpleasant smell of burnt flesh began emanating from her. This time, the burnt marks slowly snaked up onto her features too, carving deep marks into her cheeks as they spread across the rest of her body.
Yet her expression remained calm, maybe even a little relieved.
“I am a product of this sacrificial ceremony. If this ritual disappears, I will disappear too.”
—This result was not surprising to Mo Yi.
He subconsciously pursed his lips and stayed silent.
Ivy lowered her face. She gathered the dismembered body parts into her arms with her scorched and twisted palms, as if she was tucking them in.
Her voice was hoarse and harsh, like fingernails scraping across glass, but the underlying emotion was clear in every single syllable.
“I’m a murderer. I will be going to hell, but these children should stay with God.”
…we will never meet again in life or in death.
There were no more traces of unblemished skin left on Ivy’s face. She now resembled a twisted, burnt corpse.
Just when she finished speaking, the scorched tar covering her skin cracked, splitting apart with several large gaps. Then, with a soft rustle, her carbonised body dissolved, crumbling into a pile of dark residue onto the scarlet soil.
Mo Yi took in the sight of the black and red land.
Then he exhaled a long breath of foul air and turned his gaze back up to the glowing blue countdown suspended overhead.
3
2
1
Right when the last digit of the countdown changed into 0, Mo Yi’s vision went dark, and his limbs promptly lost strength. All the sounds around him disappeared, leaving only the familiar robotic music chimed in the ears.
“Congratulations on your successful escape!”
After a long unknown period which could have been a mere second or a long century, Mo Yi slowly opened his eyes.
Unlike the previous two instances where he was back in reality upon opening his eyes, this time Mo Yi found himself still enveloped in darkness.
He blinked his eyes in a daze. However no matter whether he kept his eyes open or closed, there was still no light in his retinas and he did not know where he was or what time it was.
It even took Mo Yi a long time to realise that he had regained his consciousness.
He tried to move his arms. There was still sensation in his limbs, but his body seemed to be surrounded by some sort of warm liquid, suspending him in mid-air.
Just when Mo Yi was taking stock of his situation, a female voice suddenly sounded in the empty darkness.
It was different from the robotic female voice which always appeared in the instance. Although this voice was still calm and indifferent, it sounded like that of a real human.
“Congratulations to player Mo Yi for passing the membership test dungeon. You have now successfully joined the Senior Member Club.”
Mo Yi’s breathing stagnated. A thousand of bizarre conjectures about the Senior Member Club emerged in his mind.
The voice continued.
“The results of the instance are being calculated…”
Fluorescent blue spots which were extraordinarily clear in the thick and endless darkness appeared before his eyes, gathering to form characters.
[Difficulty of this dungeon is A+]
[Comprehensive evaluation of player ability: S-]
The voice rang again.
“According to the comprehensive evaluation of the three dungeons you have experienced, your exceptional skills have advanced you into a B-level senior. Please continue working hard.”
Mo Yi, who was floating in the darkness, stretched his limbs into a comfortable position, and asked, “How many levels are there in the Senior Member Club?”
The voice replied without hesitation, “S, A, B, C, and D. There are five levels, and the new members of the club are all at D-level.”
Mo Yi nodded thoughtfully: it seems that he became a B-level as soon as he came in. This was indeed a large advancement.
He continued to ask, “How many people are there in the Senior Member Club?”
The voice replied without hesitation, “Insufficient permission.”
Mo Yi did not trust the honesty of the system anyway, so he quickly changed the subject, and continued asking, “What permissions do B-level members currently possess?”
The darkness before him was instantly lighted up by fluorescent blue. The dots of light converged, forming a magnificent scene, and the intensity of the light caused tears to well up in the eyes of Mo Yi, who had yet to adjust to the brightness.
The voice sounded again.
“The main privileges of B-level members of the Senior Member Club are:
The B-level member store is officially open for you, and you can choose to visit it before entering the instance.
After the instance begins, you will get one chance to use the store. Purchased items will be delivered to you immediately without any delays.
And there are more benefits waiting for you to discover!”
Along with this robotic female voice, the fluorescent blue spots in the sky change rapidly, forming different illustrations one after another. The layout felt just like a ridiculous promotional brochure.
Mo Yi paused, and finally voiced the question which had troubled him for a long time.
“Before the membership test copy was opened, there was a mention of a final prize. What’s the final prize?”
The voice replied without hesitation, “Insufficient permission ”
Mo Yi furrowed his brows—this game is really too stingy. The information is so closely guarded, and even the rewards and privileges after becoming a B-level member still had their own set of restrictions and further conditions.
Without waiting for Mo Yi’s response, the voice continued speaking into his ear. It vibrated into his eardrums and the mass of coloured spots before his eyes parted. All other lights and shadows, sounds and colours in this space felt as though they dimmed and muffled, as though they were suddenly plunged into the deep and cold ocean, and separated from his consciousness by a membrane. Only the amplified voice was still crystal clear.
“The three questions limit for new members of the Senior Member Club have been exhausted, and the player will now be transmitted back to reality…”
There was a limit of only three questions?!
And even the two with ‘insufficient permission’ were counted too?!
What sort of shitty game is this?!
Mo Yi’s vision went dark, as if his thoughts were suddenly yanked out of his mind and tossed into the spinning drum of a washing machine.
He couldn’t see anything, couldn’t touch or feel anything.
After an unknown period of time, Mo Yi woke up from the dense darkness. The scorching sun shining through the half-covered curtains fell upon his eyelids, penetrating into his retina with a dazzling crimson that made him squint involuntarily.
He could smell the familiar scent of his room, and feel the soft bed under his body—
This bed was like a respawn point in an online game. No matter where he was teleported from, he would always wake up here.
Mo Yi blinked his eyes wearily. He felt a familiar cold and sticky feeling from his body. It was the uncomfortable sensation of having his sweaty shirt sticking to his body. Frowning, he sat up from the bed.
Following almost immediately was an unexpected voice in his ear, blasting his thoughts into a muddy mess.
“You are awake?”
Mo Yi turned his neck stiffly, looking towards the direction of the voice—
And his gaze collided into a pair of familiar light grey eyes, so deep, condensed, and frigid, akin to a ravine shrouded in a layer of clouds.
T/N: Bonus chapter for this week because it’s the last chapter of this arc and I didn’t want to leave it on a cliffhanger. Enjoy! (The next chapter will be Mo Yi’s third return to reality, and the next instance arc will be starting around chapter 91)
The Mist has manifested properly! I wonder to what extent he’s limited in the real world and if Mo Yi will finally be able to ask a few more questions haha
Thank you so much for translating! And for giving us the full end of the arc as a bonus, too <3
Thanks for the update
We are home, finally!!!!!
Thank you for your translation 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚
Mist!!!! Cutie appeared!
Thank youuuuuuuuu
AHHHH WE CAN SEE OUR MISTY BOY IRL!!!!!!!
THANK YOU SO MUCH REINA-NIM!!!!!!