Next, Jiang Yuanrou told Mo Yi what happened.
In the last instance she and Jiang Yuanbai experienced, although they didn’t open the side quest line, they still managed to survive until the end of the countdown. However, when the instance was about to end, Jiang Yuanbai suddenly turned pale and murmured He said to himself:
“What… I haven’t finished—!”
Before he finished speaking, and before Jiang Yuanrou had any time to react, the countdown of that instance reached zero, and when she opened her eyes again, she had already returned to the real world—
But Jiang Yuanbai did not.
So, Jiang Yuanrou began to search. Although she has been gradually transferring her authority over the past few years, she still had a lot of resources and manpower that can be mobilised. It was only for a brief moment that Jiang Yuanbai was able to keep Jiang Yuanrou in the dark. Under her relentless all-out search, she quickly found out his past whereabouts.
—Shortly after Mo Yi left City A, he had also booked a plane ticket to City A.
Everything became clear.
Her previous concerns could no longer stop her. Jiang Yuanrou searched for the actual location corresponding to the instance she had personally experienced back then, desperately and without hesitation.
And so, she also became a candidate for the Senior Member Club.
After listening to Jiang Yuanrou’s narration, Mo Yi suddenly thought of something. He frowned.
“So… which option did you choose for the membership test? Did you start it immediately or chose to enter it later?”
Jiang Yuanrou showed a wry smile. “I didn’t choose.”
Mo Yi was stunned. “Didn’t choose?”
Jiang Yuanrou nodded. She lowered her head to take a sip of cooled water, her face several degrees paler than the white cup in her hands.
“Yes, I figured that there might be a trap in this question, so I didn’t make a choice. As a result, it kept repeating the same question in my mind over and over again without stopping—whether I would like to open the membership test in my next instance.
It’s so noisy that I couldn’t sleep for the past two days.”
Looking at her tired face and the dark eye circles, Mo Yi sighed and refilled her half-empty cup.
Jiang Yuanrou placed the cup in her hand on the table. It made a crisp sound. She raised her eyes and looked at Mo Yi solemnly. Her light brown eyes seemed to be half hoping and half worried. She took a deep breath, and then hesitantly spoke.
“Would you join me in the next instance… to help me and also save Yuanbai?”
Mo Yi furrowed his brows, puzzled.
“Wait, save him? How do you know that Jiang Yuanbai is still alive?”
Jiang Yuanrou readily took out a small dusty box from her pocket, and opened the lid, revealing a glass bead which looked exactly the same as the one Mo Yi had received before—except that this one appeared a little cloudy, as if covered by dust, and there was a faint red light inside it.
She explained, “This is an in-game prop. Yuanbai and I each have one. If it is black, it means that the other party is dead, and the colour red means that the other party is in a dangerous state.”
Jiang Yuanrou’s gaze as she looked at the glass bead was a little complicated.
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.
“Pa tjr yffc ilxf atlr rlcmf P gfaegcfv ab atf gfji kbgiv…”
Vtf mibrfv atf ybz lc tfg tjcv, jcv geyyfv la aklmf klat tfg ktlaf jcv rifcvfg olcufgr, tjio cbrajiulm jcv tjio gfiemajca, atfc qea la yjmx lcab tfg qbmxfa.
Aljcu Tejcgbe rtbkfv j aklrafvis mjiw fzqgfrrlbc ktlmt bcis rtf mbeiv qeii boo, jcv mbcalcefv rqfjxlcu lc j vlragjmafv abcf.
“Besides, I have done more in these past few days since my return than what I had just mentioned,”
Mo Yi became interested, gently arching his brows. “What else?”
“Do you remember what I said before, about having friends who disappeared after investigating the truth? I sent someone to investigate them and found a lot of interesting things—
Most of them died in the game, just like any other average player, and the memory of the people around them were gradually blurred, to the point where they don’t even remember that these people ever existed. However… There were still a few people whose relatives and friends still remember them, and were even searching for them with missing people posters.”
Jiang Yuanrou leaned forward, staring at Mo Yi with burning eyes, her breathing rapid.
“Yuanbai belongs to this second type.
Other than us players, the other ordinary people still remember him.”
Mo Yi frowned noncommittally. A pair of dark eyes narrowed thoughtfully on his pale face.
“But how can you be sure Jiang Yuanbai will also be in your next instance?”
Jiang Yuanrou’s shoulders slumped. She closed her eyes tiredly, her petite body sinking further into the dark sofa, making her look thinner and more fragile. Even her voice grew a little erratic.
“…I’m not sure.”
Mo Yi pursed his lips, knowing that she must have more to say. After all, for Jiang Yuanrou, a person with such status and ability, to take a gamble to come see him in such a state of vulnerability to ask him to enter the next instance with her, she probably had something up her sleeve.
Jiang Yuanrou’s eyelashes trembled. She opened and closed her bloodless lips a few times, inhaled deeply, then said in a low voice.
“Do you remember the prop I mentioned before? The one where you can use to enter instances with other players.
The one I used this time with Yuanbai was supposed to be the last one in my stock, but I happened to see two more when I refreshed the store before my last instance.”
She bit her lip, staining it with a hint of red. Her voice was a little hoarse.
“It’s just that… I’m not sure if it will be of use in our current situation.”
Mo Yi lowered his eyes—he understood what Jiang Yuanrou meant.
The life and death of Jiang Yuanbai who was idle in the instance remained unknown. Moreover, whether this item would take effect was also still unknown.
What’s more… In order to know why Jiang Yuanbai didn’t leave the instance, Jiang Yuanrou chose to become a candidate member of the senior member club. Although she has yet to choose when to undertake the exam, she would have to make a choice sooner or later under such high-intensity harassment.
And according to Mo Yi’s past experiences in the instances, no matter which choice Jiang Yuanrou ended up making, her next instance would definitely not be an easy one.
Jiang Yuanrou must also understand this point. Her petite figure was bent down, her tired and pale face buried in her cold hands, her entire figure seeming sad and depressed.
But when she lifted her face again, she seemed to have stepped back into the persona of the eldest sister of the Jiang family who had grown the entire Jiang family enterprise at a young age, decisive and confident.
Jiang Yuanrou took a deep breath, her big light brown eyes regaining a glimmer of strength and resolve. She looked at Mo Yi, her voice soft yet firm.
“I only have this one younger brother. I owe him a lot since we were children. No matter how little hope there is, I still can’t choose to give up.”
Mo Yi squinted his eyes and looked at Jiang Yuanrou’s resolved expression, and admiration flitted across his eyes.
Jiang Yuanrou straightened her posture. Her straight back was like a javelin, without any hints of her previous depressed slump.
Now, she leaned forward, her dark brown hair slid down her slender neck like waves. Her eyes were full of sincerity.
“You are the first player I have ever seen who’s still alive after becoming a candidate member. This is why I came to you this time. I am asking for your help in my own name, in the name of Jiang Yuanrou.”
Jiang Yuanrou paused, then continued, “Props purchased in the game cannot be exchanged between players. However, points can be transferred to other players.”
Although Mo Yi’s expression remained calm, he was undeniably shocked in his heart.
Jiang Yuanrou slightly lowered her eyes, her calm face showing the reason and prudence unique to a businessman.
“Of course, the permission to transfer points is also something that has to be exchanged—I am willing to give you seventy percent of all my points if you accompany me into the next instance. Furthermore. if I am able to rescue Yuanbai, I will give you fifty percent of the points I get from all my future instances.”
This condition was not unfavourable—in fact, it could even be regarded as a massive loss for her.
After finishing speaking, Jiang Yuanrou took out another small dusty box from her pocket. She opened it, revealing a small glass ball with a radiant glow.
She glanced up at Mo Yi.
“This is an item exchanged in the game. It is a contract. It can guarantee the fulfilment of my promise in the future, and guarantee that I will not do anything that hinders the contract—such as harming you.”
Mo Yi lowered his gaze. He traced his finger along the warm and delicate rim of the cup, then replied abruptly.
“Keep your existing points.”
Jiang Yuanrou was initially startled. She didn’t expect that there would be people who’d bargain down their own benefits. Soon after, she seemed to have finally realised what the other person meant, and a trace of emotion appeared on her face.
“…does this mean that you agree?”
Mo Yi nodded. He raised his eyes to look at Jiang Yuanrou. There was a slight smile in his eyes.
“No matter how you look at it, Jiang Yuanbai can be regarded as my friend.”
After the negotiation ended, Jiang Yuanrou drove Mo Yi back to his apartment and drove off after the lights in his room were turned on.
Mo Yi removed his thin windbreaker, hung it on a hanger, then with an indifferent expression, he parted the curtain a fraction with his fingertips, and watched Jiang Yuanrou’s car lights moving further away.
A familiar deep voice came from behind him.
“Your decision was very interesting.”
Mo Yi turned his head when he heard the voice, only to see Wen Chen standing at the doorway of the room, staring deeply at him with those light grey eyes.
With his tall and slender physique and the bright lights pouring down from the top of his head accentuating the deep contours of his handsome and classical facial features, he resembled a stone sculpture with a compelling mix of evil and aggression.
Mo Yi smiled slightly in response, but didn’t answer. Instead, he simply withdrew from the curtains and sat down on the couch.
Wen Chen strode over and sat beside him, looking at him intently with light-coloured eyes.
Mo Yi stared at his pale fingertips and replied casually, “The existence of Jiang Yuanrou is a representation of resources, whether it is in reality or in the game. Just by accepting the share of her future points is equivalent to binding her to my side, and she would even owe me a favour. Why would I refuse her?”
His tone was calm and rational, and even held a little flippant fickleness.
Wen Chen suddenly leaned forward. His handsome face drew closer, those light-coloured eyes with metallic lustre staring right into Mo Yi’s eyes, as if trying to penetrate his soul.
His voice was like a blade, cutting through all the superficial illusions.
“—you don’t care about those points.”
The smile on Mo Yi’s face subsided a little. He looked back, with an unreadable expression on his handsome face.
Wen Chen’s deep voice rippled in the air, its ending as blurred as the night.
“You don’t care about life and death. The only reason you want to leave the game is because you don’t want to be controlled, not because of the fear of death.”
His volume was low, as though he was talking to himself, yet the meaning behind his words appeared to be vast yet vague.
Wen Chen stretched out his palm. He gingerly touched Mo Yi’s face with his cold fingertips, as if he was touching some delicate and fragile glass product.
“You like danger, that’s why you would accept the binding between us without any reservations.”
The fingertips withdrew as soon as they made contact. However, the cold feeling still lingered on Mo Yi’s cheeks, slowly seeping into the skin and flesh, spreading down into the bones.
“It’s really…”
The rest of his sentence was suddenly blurred. The following words could not be heard clearly, as if they had been cut off, leaving behind only a lingering sound.
Wen Chen straightened up suddenly and backed away a little, pulling away from Mo Yi just like the fog blown away from the pine forest after rain.
Under the bright light, his light-coloured eyes glowed with a lustre and his well-defined lips formed a graceful arc. He said calmly and monotonously.
“—The porridge is ready. Let’s have dinner.”
Mo Yi’s expression, which had always been indifferent and distant, was one of surprise.
It was only then that he noticed the thick and sweet aroma of rice radiating from the kitchen, along with the sound of the porridge gurgling in the background of the silent room. It sounded homely, warm.
Completely separate note, but the way mist imagery is used with everything Wen Chen does is pretty cool, definitely gives me more to imagine him as a supernatural being with. Or rather, it keeps up the atmosphere of his existence as a supernatural being, something I think many other stories kind of drop the ball with until “supernatural” becomes more flavor text than identity. Anyway, I like it a lot! Very well done
Thank you so much for translating! <3
I like this dynamic between them
Thank you for your translation 💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝