“Game creator?” Tang Mianmian was taken aback for a moment, “…Are you serious?”
Xiao Tangqiu nodded, “Of course I’m serious. Let’s go!”
Tang Mianmian, “…Do you know the maker of this game?”
Xiao Tangqiu, “I don’t know, don’t you know?”
Tang Mianmian’s mouth twitched, “Of course I don’t know!”
Xiao Tangqiu turned to look at Meng Xinghe again, “Then do you know?”
Meng Xinghe shook his head, “I am hearing about it for the first time.”
Xiao Tangqiu frowned, “Doesn’t anyone know?”
They as gaming hosts often streamed games made by niche individuals. For those game creators who only made games out of interest and had no money or couldn’t afford to spend on marketing and advertising, it could be regarded as a free advertisement for them. With this way of connecting, many gaming hosts and individual producers were privately friends. So didn’t anyone know the creator of Abyss?
Tang Mianmian shook his head, “This creator is a rookie who has just emerged, they’re very mysterious. It seems like they don’t even have a public social media account.”
Xiao Tangqiu touched his chin, “Really no one knows him? Doesn’t his personal website have any personal information?” As he spoke, he flipped through the game dev’s official website, but he found nothing. The creator themself was just as mysterious as the game.
He continued to ponder, “Can you check the IP of this creator?”
Tang Mianmian’s mouth twitched, “Are you a hacker?”
Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously said, “I’m not, but…” Xue Junli was a hacker!
But he suddenly paused and remembered that Xue Junli was not here.
“…Don’t you guys know a hacker or something?”
Tang Mianmian murmured, “Who knows hackers so casually?”
Xiao Tangqiu was a little discouraged but very unresigned. At this moment, Tang Mianmian glanced at the time and then called out, “It’s too late, I’m going home to sleep! I still have to join a crew tomorrow morning! It took me so much work to pass the audition last month to get a male No. 3 with lines and a storyline. I have been running around for so many years as background characters, and I still hope to rely on this role to turn around! Don’t say anymore! I need to go!”
Xiao Tangqiu then remembered that Tang Mianmian was forced to travel to the horror game world, and indeed just won the role of a male No. 3, he smiled, “Good luck. See you.”
“Don’t worry! I will definitely be able to turn around with this role, no more salted fish, become popular overnight, beat the male protagonist, and soar from the ground! From then on, I will become a big star and reach the pinnacle of my life! I will wholesale hundreds of autographs for you, you take it back and sell it slowly, and you won’t have to worry about eating and drinking for the rest of your life!”
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.
Kjcu Zljcwljc rjlv j ofk kbgvr atfc kjnfv ja Wljb Kjcudle jcv ifoa atf Pcafgcfa mjof.
Cr rbbc jr tlr yjmx vlrjqqfjgfv, Wljb Kjcudle ifa bea j ygfjat jcv riewqfv lc tlr rfja.
Wljb Kjcudle bglulcjiis atbeuta atja atlr kbgiv’r Kjcu Zljcwljc wluta yf tlr jiis. Lf vlvc’a fzqfma la ab cba yf rb, ktlmt wjvf tlw j ilaaif vlrmbegjufv.
“Do you still want to stay in the internet cafe and play games?” asked Meng Xinghe.
Xiao Tangqiu said casually, “What? Are you also going to work tomorrow?”
Meng Xinghe sighed softly, “Have you forgotten? We are all streamers and don’t need to go to work, but we have fixed live stream hours every day. If you don’t go to bed earlier, you won’t be able to make it to the streaming time tomorrow morning.”
Xiao Tangqiu laid on the table of the internet cafe with his head on his arms and looked at Meng Xinghe, “We stream together every day? Together?”
Meng Xinghe nodded, “Together.”
Xiao Tangqiu tilted its head and asked, “What games do you usually live stream?”
Meng Xinghe smiled lightly, “It’s usually horror games, but there’s also mainstream popular games, both offline and online games too.”
Xiao Tangqiu was in a trance, if Meng Xinghe was really alive, maybe he and Meng Xinghe would indeed be like this. When he was doing live streams by himself occasionally, he couldn’t help but think that if Meng Xinghe was still alive, he would probably accompany him as well…
Xiao Tangqiu suddenly asked, “What about my parents? Can they accept me as a gaming host?” His parents in the real world didn’t actually approve of him being a streamer. Most parents wanted their children to have a stable job after all. If he hadn’t been immersed in the trauma of Meng Xinghe’s car accident all these years, they wouldn’t have turned a blind eye. So what about his parents in this world?
Meng Xinghe smiled, “They couldn’t accept it at first, but you were very persistent, and because I was with you, they finally gave in.”
“What do you mean because you were with me? Do you mean that even good students like you are willing to degenerate to become a gaming host, so my parents let it go?” Xiao Tangqiu raised his eyebrows. Suddenly the conversation changed, “What about your mom? Your mom couldn’t have allowed you to be a gaming host.”
Meng Xinghe’s mother was very demanding of her only son, plus she was an intellectual. No matter how you looked at it, it was impossible for Meng Xinghe to be a gaming host.
Meng Xinghe paused for a few seconds before slowly saying, “She didn’t agree either, but I insisted, so she gave in.”
Xiao Tangqiu, “Hey, this reason is too perfunctory…”
Meng Xinghe smiled, “You haven’t been home for a while. Why don’t we go back to your house tomorrow morning to see your parents? They must miss you.”
Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a while. Before he crossed into the horror game world, he hadn’t gone home to see his parents for a long time. Plus he passed two years in the horror game world, he hadn’t seen his parents in a long, long time.
“It just so happens that we are about to buy a place, you can ask your parents to help take a look. The elders are always more experienced, letting them help navigate it will help us avoid a lot of confusion.”
Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a long time before he suddenly said, “…If this world is real, then it’s fine, everything is just as I wish for. You didn’t die in a car accident and everyone is fine. If only this world is real, I want to stay here.”
Meng Xinghe paused and said, “This world is real, you can stay here.”
Xiao Tangqiu shook his head, “You should at least erase my memory first, or did you think I would be so confused by such a fantasy that I once yearned for that I won’t even care about the truth in my memory?”
Meng Xinghe took a deep look at Xiao Tangqiu and was about to speak, but was interrupted by Xiao Tangqiu.
“I want to go to A City’s cemetery.”
Meng Xinghe paused, “A City’s cemetery? What are you doing in the cemetery?”
Xiao Tangqiu stared into Meng Xinghe’s eyes, “What are you afraid of?”
Meng Xinghe smiled and asked rhetorically, “What am I afraid of?”
Xiao Tangqiu stood up, “Since you’re not afraid, then take me to the cemetery.”
“It’s already so late…” Meng Xinghe paused, “It’s not good to go to the cemetery at night, let’s go tomorrow morning.”
“No, I’m going now,” Xiao Tangqiu said without hesitation, “What time is tomorrow morning?”
Meng Xinghe raised his eyebrows as if he didn’t understand the meaning of Xiao Tangqiu’s words, “What time?”
“You have mentioned tomorrow morning three times just now. What time will it be tomorrow morning?” Xiao Tangqiu asked Meng Xinghe’s eyes, “When will this illusion end? If I can’t escape from here before this time, will I be trapped in this fantasy forever?”
Meng Xinghe sighed, “…I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
Xiao Tangqiu turned around and walked out of the Internet cafe, Meng Xinghe quickly caught up, “Where are you going?”
Xiao Tangqiu said coldly, “A City’s cemetery!”
But Meng Xinghe was right, it was already midnight, there were few cars on the road and it was far from the cemetery. Xiao Tangqiu tried to call a taxi while walking, but no car came.
Although he beckoned desperately, no car stopped, and in the end there was not even a car on the street. He gritted his teeth and decided to walk over.
Meng Xinghe sighed, “Let’s go back, it’s getting late…”
Xiao Tangqiu ignored Meng Xinghe’s obstruction and continued to walk in the direction of City A’s cemetery.
The cars on the road disappeared, and even the pedestrians disappeared. The big road became empty, leaving only him and Meng Xinghe.
“Tomorrow morning we will be live streaming. Did you forget that you said you were going to give gifts to fans?
“You haven’t gone back to see your parents for a long time, don’t you want to go home to see your parents?”
…
Along the way, although Meng Xinghe occasionally spoke up to persuade Xiao Tangqiu, he did not really stop him. Xiao Tangqiu was a little wary at first, but gradually relaxed and continued to walk towards the cemetery wholeheartedly.
Walking from the internet cafe in the city center to the cemetery on the outskirts of the city was indeed a very long distance. Xiao Tangqiu began to become a little faint by the end, and Meng Xinghe also stopped persuading and gradually became silent. Fortunately, he made it to the cemetery with his last breath.
By this time, it was almost dawn.
Without hesitation, he walked towards the tomb that he would sweep every year. It was both unexpected and expected to see that familiar gravestone.
—The Grave of Meng Xinghe.
Xiao Tangqiu sighed.
…As expected.
At this moment, Meng Xinghe, who had been silent all the time, suddenly took a step forward and sighed softly, “Isn’t it good to stay in this world? Everything is as you like, everything is what you yearn for… Don’t you like this world?”
Xiao Tangqiu nodded without hesitation, “I really like this world.”
He paused for a moment before continuing, “If it was two years ago, maybe I would have chosen to stay without hesitation… But now, I am no longer like that.”
“Goodbye, Meng Xinghe.”
Meng Xinghe’s voice suddenly disappeared.
Xiao Tangqiu looked back and saw that Meng Xinghe had disappeared.
There was no one behind him, only the first rays of the morning sun shone quietly at his feet.
It was daybreak.
Defeating yourself and your selfishness is the most difficult test
Thank you very much for the translation
Thank you so much for translating! <3