Translator-Rhapsodite
Editor-Yui, Proofreader-Woojoo
After a short break, Nan Zhou was ready to continue the game.
They were running out of time, and they still had two more doors to go through.
Since the door with the eyes peeping through the keyhole was still firmly sealed, there was only one door left for them to enter.
As soon as the door was pushed inward, a damp and cool sea breeze blew out.
The fishy stench emanating from the ocean made Li Yinhang’s stomach churn for a while before she managed to hold her ground.
The game’s landscape gradually came into focus and fanned out in front of their eyes.
They were in the middle of a vast ocean, isolated from everything.
All three of them were standing atop separate reefs.
There were four reefs forming a rectangle with almost equal distance of fifteen meters away from one another preventing them from touching each other.
In addition to them, there was a fourth person sitting on the reef beside them.
It was a young and beautiful girl with a tender countenance, and her long, seaweed-like hair cascaded down to her waist. Her eyes were the most prominent part of her appearance; they were particularly lovely and bewitching as though the color of the ocean is reflected in them.
Her lower body was immersed in the sea but instead of a pair of legs, a fish tail that was about a meter and a half long could be seen. The very tip of the fish tail was as clear as a wedding veil, and it was floating in the seawater like silk.
With the perfect amount of moonlight, and the lighthouse in the distance, the little mermaid’s skin appeared as pure white as snow.
She propped her hands on the rocks behind her, gazed at the three players, and gently said, “…… Hello, players.”
The figure in front of their eyes was so obvious that none of the three asked who she was. Like “Little Red Riding Hood,” it’s a long-standing classic story that doesn’t require any introduction.
The only question now was which functional block in the brain this door represents.
Nan Zhou traced the shape of the rock he was on with his fingertips.
In the midst of the sea lay a pitch-black reef riddled with holes due to the corrosive waters.
But its outline was quite clear.
It was the shape of a seahorse.
—— …Is it the Hippocampus?
—— A repository for memories?
Moonlight fell like silver snow, illuminating Nan Zhou’s long eyelashes, which were drooped while he was deep in thought.
The sea breeze at night was still cold.
A gust of wind passed by, causing Li Yinhang to shiver.
Seemingly sensing Li Yinhang’s shivering, the little mermaid lifted her beautiful tail and gently struck the surface of the sea, creating a circular splash.
The sea breeze immediately stopped.
The sea seemed like a picture of Eden embodied on a postcard, with the water as transparent as an emerald crystal.
Li Yinhang looked down and noticed a clump of light about the size of her feet not too far from her.
At first, she thought it was a glowing fish like an anglerfish. However, when she looked closely the hairs on her body stood up.
——It’s an open fish eye.
Fortunately, the nameless giant fish showed no interest in her. It simply threw a brief glance at her and turned over swiftly and quietly, slipping into the oceanic abyss.
While Li Yinhang’s goosebumps erupted, the little mermaid opened her mouth gently again.
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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“This sea is my home, and every piece of bubble in it is a memory left behind by a player.”
“After dawn, I will also turn into foam.” The little mermaid said, “So, before dawn, I want to play a game with you.”
…… Very open and honest.
This is indeed the Hippocampus part of the brain that is associated with memory.
After a few brief instructions, she threw a drift bottle into the water.
The pieces of paper in the drifting bottle were rolled into tubes and tied around the middle with thin colored threads.
Nobody knew what was written on the notes.
The glass bottle was held by the waves, floating and sinking.
The bottle kept spinning, reflecting the enchanting and beautiful light under the moonlight.
The little mermaid continued to explain, “The waves of the water are all unpredictable, and the questions are all random.”
“When the waves cease and the bottle l stills, whoever the bottle’s mouth is pointing to will be the one to answer a question”
“This game is all about players giving answers based on the questions in the bottle.”
“Don’t worry, these are questions that the Sea of Memory read and analyzed after confirming that you can answer them. Therefore, answers such as ‘don’t know’, ‘don’t know much’, ‘no’, etc. are non-compliant and wrong answers.”
“The Sea of Memory will make a fair decision whether the answer is correct or not.”
“Please give your answers honestly, based on your memories.”
…… So it’s like the game of “beat the drum and pass the flower”, but the rule is to state the truth only?
Li Yinhang’s mind eased up.
This is excessively simple, right?
After experiencing the three copies of the witch stepmother who disguised herself as Snow White, the big gray wolf who did not reveal his true face from beginning to end, and the brother and sister in the candy house, the little mermaid’s unpretentious attitude, like the tin soldier’s in the library, gave a sense of comfort.
And, probably because of the influence of the sea of memories, she was even more honest than the tin soldier.
She said, “But the game also has a penalty.”
“There can be no mistake in the judgement of the Sea of Memory.”
“So, if you violate the principle of honesty, fail to give the correct answer according to your memory, or think for more than 15 minutes, your answer will be considered as wrong.”
“As punishment, a body part of the person who answered incorrectly will be replaced with a puppet of the same size and proportion.”
“If a player gets the question wrong more than five times, they will become a part of the sea of memory.”
“I’m sorry, but that’s what the rules say.”
Nan Zhou was listening to the little mermaid, but his eyes were on the isolated island with a lighthouse not far away.
At first glance, the island body was dark and ominous with high and low curvature, like a small human corpse lying quietly on the surface of the water.
But it wasn’t just an ordinary island.
……That was a pedestal made of bodies.
Dense wooden sculptures stood upright in the water like meerkats, guarding the lighthouse.
——It can’t be simple.
The number of players who failed here was quite a lot.
Jiang Fang was thinking the same thing as him.
Even if he didn’t see the lighthouse island filled with countless players’ corpses, his natural vigilance would never allow him to take it lightly.
As for Li Yinhang, although she thought the game was simple, as a person who had experienced at least compulsory education, she understood that giving “fifteen minutes” to answer the questions was generally the finale.
As a result, none of them lowered their guard against the game.
There was no need for repetitive explanations because the game’s rules were too brief and direct. The game’s hostess, the mermaid, officially started the game.
After composing the drift bottles used for demonstration, large pods of drifting bottles wobbled towards the little mermaid like fish affected by the tide.
She picked one of the countless drift bottles and threw it to the center of the reef formation.
The bottle was swarmed by the sea tide, up and down, up and down.
Finally, the mouth of the bottle was aimed straight at Li Yinhang.
She became “the first person to eat crabs.”
Her back was stiff and she became extremely cautious in an instant.
Watching the drifting bottle as if it was a small fish drifting towards her, it finally stopped in front of the reef. Li Yinhang picked it up, unplugged the bottle, and unfolded the paper.
The question on the paper was, “What is the name of your best friend of the same sex in real life? “
Li Yinhang read it word-for-word, “This same-sex friend, does it refer to an intimate relationship that is beyond the basic definition? Such as relatives, or lovers?”
The little mermaid patiently replied, “‘Friend’, refers to the definition of an ordinary and usual friend in your social circle. If it refers to other relationships, it will be referred to by other nouns.”
When Nan Zhou heard this, he furrowed his brow.
This definition made him quite puzzled.
Since they are friends, how can they not involve “intimacy”?
But it was Li Yinhang’s turn to answer, she didn’t want her words to cloud her judgement.
Li Yinhang thought back carefully.
Except for winning the grand prize and entering [Gravity], her life was quite ordinary.
She had many friends, but most of them were ordinary people. They occasionally enjoyed a drink and watched a few movies together.
There was nothing remarkable, nor did they experience any life-or-death trials, so overall, it was just “ordinary”.
Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang are both of the opposite sex, so they are not within the scope of the answer, otherwise, she would like to brazenly count Nan Zhou.
……Even if Nan Zhou only treats her as a teammate.
After a short period of reflection, Li Yinhang answered.
“Che Jie.”
This was her colleague, and also her roommate who unfortunately went missing when the large-scale disappearances broke out.
The two of them were originally college classmates and neighbors. After graduation, they entered the same company and lived together for two years. They had a good relationship and only occasionally quarrelled.
In other words, if one of them became ill, the other would take the sick person to the hospital even if it was late at night.
Che Jie could be considered as her best friend in her adulthood .
Hearing Li Yinhang’s answer, Nan zhou frowned subtly and did not speak.
The little mermaid’s scale-covered ears twitched gently, as if listening to the ocean’s admonition.
A few moments later, she helplessly and gently spat out a word, “No.”
Li Yinhang couldn’t understand for a while, and was stunned. “…Huh?”
“…… no.” The little mermaid said with certainty, “She is not your best friend.”
Li Yinhang was stunned, and a chill went straight through her body, “……Why not?”
“It’s not me who judged it. It’s the verdict of the Sea of Memories.”
The little mermaid’s voice was soft.
A few moments later, she gave the ocean’s feedback, “Your best friend is called Xia Yushi.”
Li Yinhang: “……?”
It took her some time to remember who Xia Yushi was.
It was a classmate she had lived in the dorm with for a year during her sophomore year.
Because two roommates in her original dormitory had applied to attend school as day students, Li Yinhang moved to a new dormitory.
In the beginning, she didn’t know Miss Xia’s situation, and she didn’t understand why the other roommates ignored Miss Xia.
Just after moving into the dormitory, Li Yinhang and Miss Xia, who was usually reserved, talked enthusiastically.
It was only when she got involved with her that Li Yinhang learned that because of her family problems, she suffered from a serious mental illness.
She was unpredictable. When she was in a good mood, she was always kind. But when she had a bad temper, she would smash glasses in the dormitory and cry herself to exhaustion.
She was very dependent on people, so she immediately stuck to Li Yinhang who showed her affection.
After getting along with her that year, Li Yinhang was both worried and afraid that she would be upset, exhausted, and depressed once their relationship ended.
Later, because her condition was too serious, the school suspended her.
After dropping out of school, Miss Xia still persevered and wrote to her frequently.
This situation did not improve until Li Yinhang went away to university.
The little mermaid said, “According to the hormones you secrete when you are with her, the emotional value you have for her, and other factors, after comprehensive evaluation of the score, the Sea of Memory said that she is your best friend.”
Li Yinhang still wanted to argue: “But……”
“Your memory will deceive you,” the little mermaid said “But the sea of memories will not.”
Before the words left her mouth, Li Yinhang felt her legs abruptly go wooden.
She looked down in fear and saw that a part of her calf could no longer move.
She frantically placed her hand over it as intense panic took hold of her.
Her legs felt cold and lifeless like those of a puppet.
——Memory is a strange thing.
——It can’t be seen, it can’t be touched, it can embellish something that you want to remember, and it can fade something that you deliberately want to forget.
In the end, what appears in the mind is just a chaotic illusion.
And they wanted to discover the truth behind the illusion that has been formed in their minds that they had believed completely.
…Even though this kind of truth was formed by stacking various objective data that had nothing to do with emotion.
The game continued.
A new drift bottle entered the reef formation.
After shaking and floating for a while, the mouth of the bottle aimed at Nan Zhou.
Nan Zhou calmly picked up the drift bottle, unsealed it, and unfolded the question inside.
The question on it was, “What is the happiest thing you have done together with your same-sex friend?”
I cannot express how much I’ve missed this story. I’m so glad you are back. Thank you!!!
<3
Same sex friends are very popular today
Thank you for your translation 🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡