Uncomfortable, Jian Lin curled his hands around the blanket and looked at him again. “Why… Why are you asking this?”
“Well, I don’t like how relaxed you are”, Professor Han said with a shrug, but there was a gleam in his eyes. “You play alone. It is easier to die when you’re on your own, and yet not only do you do it, you’ve also got your pain synchronisation up high. You’re not even a ranker, who uses the pain as a gauge for danger.”
Many rankers did that. Pain was a warning sign of the body, so feeling pain meant you had a better grasp on how bad your injuries were and how you could continue to fight. This was a thing rankers preferred, because it gave them more control during combat. These minor differences could mean a lot during a tournament.
The youth opened his mouth but didn’t talk.
“Moreover, you just experienced a drowning. And yet, here you are – all ready to go back in. You’re pretty relaxed for someone who just lost his life, in a way. A tad bit too motivated to go back into the game. You say you like the game being realistic, but I ask why?” The man blinked, his expression a curious neutral. “Do you still know where your true life starts and ends, Jian Lin?”
A single word shot through the young man’s head.
Self-harm.
The psychologist was checking whether he had suicidal or self-harming tendencies that he was living out through the game.
The thought was scarier than the death he had just experienced. Jian Lin shook his head like a rattle-drum, ignoring how dizzy it made him feel, and flapped his mouth open and shut.
That wasn’t it!
He never thought about wanting to die or hurting himself!
He liked Haven for what it was – a fantasy. He liked the impossibility of the world, he liked the dungeons, he liked the monsters. It was like entering a book. The charm was that you could experience it whenever you wanted, but you could also put it away at any time.
Haven was a beautiful place, and he loved it. It was a place where he didn’t have to remember his uncomfortable childhood and where he didn’t feel like he stuck out.
He knew it was dangerous to let his anxiety grow. This was why he joined Haven in the first place – so he’d not completely stop interacting with others. So he’d go outside in a way, be with other people.
And it had helped. He did go out to buy his breakfast, and sometimes did other stuff. Not a lot, but much more than before he had played the game.
And about the pain…
It was because he did not want to grow numb to it.
If he treated Haven like a second world, he was worried that he might grow too accustomed to being injured without pain. Because he could feel this pain, he tried to avoid it as much as possible. He didn’t want to not die because he’d lose experience; it was because it was painful.
He did not want to lose that connection.
But it was ultimately a game, so he could handle the pain output and play normally.
As for right now-
As for why he wanted to return and could ignore the experience he just had-
I want to see my friend 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.
I want to find out what’s in that abyss. I want to find out why that man looked like me. I want to find out the truth about that castle.
I want to know the story.
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Qtja obiibkfv kjr cba wemt kbgrf atjc atf qjclm jaajmxr tf tjv tjv yfobgf. Fcmbwobgajyif, yea cbatlcu atja mbeiv rabq tlw. Rba ja atlr qblca.
Not when he wanted to know the conclusion.
A panic attack was not enough to stop him from entering the game again.
The pain tolerance and resilience he had built from fighting alone – it was not fictional.
Just as Jian Lin struggled putting his thoughts into words, Doctor Wei spoke up with a frown. “I understand the need to ask these questions, but would you please wait until he has settled down? Unless there is a reason to assume that he is a danger to himself right now, I would like for you to postpone this.”
Professor Han laughed softly. “Alright, alright. He is clear-minded and responding well. I can also tell he’s quite shocked at my assumption, so I’ll give him the benefit of doubt for now. I will talk to you later.”
The man snatched another apple as he left. Jian Lin heard Doctor Wei huff, clearly a bit annoyed. Then his focus was back on what she was doing.
When his grandfather rushed in, he was covered in cables and connected to a number of machines that monitored him closely. Brain waves, heartbeat, temperature. Anything that might get out of order due to his shock state.
He felt much better now that the room was warm and bright, so he was told that he could leave in the evening unless his condition worsened.
Grandfather Jian looked close to tears. He did not say anything, merely stared at Jian Lin for a couple of seconds. The old man pulled his grandson into a tight hug, shaky breath exhaling next to his ear.
“I’m fine”, Jian Lin promised, patting his grandfather’s back. “It wasn’t that bad. It was like a panic attack.”
The old man frowned deeply as he pulled away. He touched his grandson’s cheek and hands nervously. “That is bad enough. Are you sure you’re alright? Your parents wanted to fly right over, but I told them to wait until I know more. Do you want them to come?”
Jian Lin shook his head.
“Fine, but I’ll stay at your place for a couple of days. Or at least nearby. And I’ll be there when you go into that capsule again – don’t even try to convince me otherwise.” Grandfather Jian truly knew his family the best. He was well aware that there was no pulling Jian Lin away from the fascinating technology. He also knew it was usually safe, but…
He had heard the story.
He’d tell it exactly to his daughter and son-in-law.
Let’s see how that stupid manufacturer is going to get out of the lawsuit when he is going to have to fight against an international lawyer! Hmpf! No one was allowed to hurt his grandson like this!
While Grandfather Jian Lin was planning his revenge, the victim fished out his grandfather’s phone from the other’s pocket and dialed a number.
A half sobbing, obviously panicked voice came from the other side. “Yes? Mister Jian?”
“It’s me”, Jian Lin responded.
The female voice did a hiccup. “Oh my god! Jian Lin! Oh my god, are you alright? We got the report, and- and- and-”
The person on the other side started bawling. Jian Lin knew that Zhang Ziyi was a crybaby, so he put the phone away from his ear and turned on the loudspeaker modus.
Zhang Ziyi was pretty much his manager – she was the employee responsible for contacting him, taking care of his contracts and being the middlewoman if Jian Lin needed anything from Lusanna Corp. Most of these “managers” took care of several people, but Zhang Ziyi only had a couple of newbies that she didn’t need to spend a lot of time on and Jian Lin.
It couldn’t be said that they were especially close, but Zhang Ziyi had somewhat earned his trust with her honesty. He also knew she was constantly supporting and worrying for him.
“Are you hurt?”
The young man had a feeling he was going to answer this question many more times. “No. I’m okay. But I need a new capsule.”
“Of course! We will send it over free of charge, the newest model, and I’ll personally check that it’s alright!”
“Don’t”, Jian Lin interjected quickly. She was more likely to mess the delicate wirework up than find an issue. “I’d… I’d prefer if you could find out whether there was a bug?”
“A bug?”
“Yes. With the castle and…”
“Ah, I see. Well – it was a possible security risk so we already got personnel to check up on everything. There’s no bug. Tiamat is a dragon, so her stats are kind of off the charts. She’s an NPC, so it’s not like she’s an enemy, but she will attack depending on the circumstances. She’s kind of hostile.” Rustling came through the phone. Zhang Ziyi was probably holding a report in paper-form. “Uhm, actually you’re not supposed to be able to get to her like this yet, because the castle inhabitants are supposed to stop you from reaching the platform but… It seems your title made the castle owner recognize you as a friend and not an intruder.”
For a moment, Jian Lin was stunned silence. A dragon! Haven had a legitimiate, breathing dragon!
Well, not that he had seen her in the darkness, but she existed, which was enough to get his gamer heart soaring. In truth, he had wanted to meet a dragon too, especially if it was an NPC and not a mob. There were still more pressing issues than this, though.
Jian Lin licked his lips. “The castle owner… Looks like me. The real me, I mean.”
Zhang Ziyi cleared her throat. “Don’t tell anyone I said this, but… It seems there are cases where actual people were duplicated into the game. The AI was supposed to newly generate all NPC appearances, but we found traces that the user database was accessed to set up some NPCs of newer areas… They are working hard on redoing all of those, but it’s actually quite troublesome to change NPC data.”
“Oh”, Jian Lin said, relaxing muscles he hadn’t known he had tensed.
Somehow, the psychologist’s words came back to him. Did he know where reality started and ended? Was he about to assume that the appearance of the NPC was somehow special?
Nonsense.
“Anyway, I’m glad to hear you’re fine. The company is currently working out how to deal with the whole situation, so I’ll contact you sometime later!”
“I’ll be waiting.”
Jian Lin held the phone to his grandfather, who shook his head. “I’m sure you must be bored. Why don’t you keep it while I go ask that doctor about your release? I also want to talk to that psychologist.”
“Okay.”
Jian Lian wasn’t going to deny his own grandfather the kindness. He sank lower into the mattress, enjoying its cozy warmth and mindlessly scrolling through social media.
Advertisements for Haven were everywhere. Most of them were about events or new cash items, as the game itself really didn’t need to be advertised anymore. Instead there were posters, merchandise, videos, interviews…
A bit bored, Jian Lin opened up an interview.
He was surprised to see three familiar faces on screen – they were the top three players of the game. It was hard to get them together, so the interview – which was ingame – must have been planned forever.
There was the number two player, White Light Shining Down, a human knight with a polite smile.
On his left was the number three player – an elven assassin, Crystal. She was smiling as well, but there was something dangerous about it – as if she might pull a knife any second.
And to the right…
Jian Lin involuntarily lowered his head between his shoulders.
The top one player.
Although Haven was currently not accessible worldwide and was only available in this country, it still had an astounding number of players. Being at the top was anything other than easy.
The player with the highest level in the game was a warrior beastman. While originally of the reptile kind, he had found a legendary bloodline – the wyvern.
He could not fly, but his skin was hard and his fingernails were deadly weapons. He was as swift as an assassin, but as strong as a warrior. Paired with him using a mighty weapon and his skill, there was no surprise that he kept the top of the highscore.
Many complained that the might of a legendary bloodline was too much, but Jian Lin knew that this wasn’t all.
There was a whole guild focused on gathering resources for him. There were even times when he seemed to know suspiciously much about things, as if someone in the company had leaked info to him. And then there was the fact that he threw enormous amounts of money into the game to use the teleportation scrolls to their fullest.
Jian Lin had met Woodcutter once. He didn’t know why, but the player was incredibly hostile towards Bloody and, by extension, towards him.
On the screen, Woodcutter looked overbearing and haughty as always. Jian Lin closed the interview with a sigh, locked the phone and placed it to the side.
Author’s Note
Throwing in info to confuse people is awesome. Poor baby Ice needs a little break.
Little Theater
Bloody: sobbing
Bloody: “You want to come back? For me?”
Ice: “(………Why does it feel like I should think about what to answer here very seriously?)”
OMG A DRAGON!!! Also, is Zhang Ziyi spilling the info a bit? XD
Hmmm maybe the AI likes Jian Lin’s original form~~~
We all like handsome dudes.
thank you for the chapter~
Not really liking this woodcutter guy ack
also the fact that the ice emperor’s appearance looks like Jian Lin is really sus..
I wonder if this has to do with the title, Life is a Game. I wanna know the connection between Jian Lin’s current reality and Haven aa
It’s a mystery~~~~~~
Hmm, is Tiamat maaaaaybe Ice’s future ‘mount’? It’d be too cool :3 Or if he could at least be friends with it.
Oho, new guy? Woodcutter, old enemy of Bloody maybe? I guess we will find out later.
That picture is an epitome of intelligence xDDD
Thx for the ch (ㅅ˘ㅂ˘)
Bloody was a happy and slightly stupid baby…
Thank you for the chapter <3
thanks for the chapter <3
New reader here. Thank you.
I haven’t commented much yet, but the chibi slays! Dying of meng.