【I can’t see their face, who is Beauty holding! 】
【Beauty, how could you hug other people, God 7 is going to spank you! 】
【 God 7, look at this hat, it's round and green~ 】
【Ahhhh, I thought you were definitely going to pass, what’s with this turn of events? 】
【 Why didn’t you read the terminal information? Why didn’t you get out of the car? Why did you tell God 7 to see you later? Why go back? Ah ah ah, let a great god analyze it, I’m so confused I feel like an idiot! 】
【 I don’t understand, please help this child 1551 】
【 At present, on the surface there don’t seem to be many clues, yet they can’t be connected together. I was a little surprised when I saw that he was about to pass the copy, but now there was a twist, it seems more reasonable. 】
【 Continuing from upstairs, here’s a brief analysis. First of all, the difficulty issue; a death that can be easily predicted in advance is definitely not worthy of a high-difficulty special copy;
Second, there are a lot of suspicious points in the station. There are xenophobic townspeople, scarecrows, and smiling faces similar to the train attendants. There are no meaningless things in copies, especially considering how these things are full of coincidences.
FInally, the anchor Shen Meiren is playing using a new profession. Those who have watched the live broadcasts of the previous copies should know that the blood of this profession inherently restrains ghosts, but did you notice that on the night that those two players violated the rules, Shen Meiren’s blood failed?
There are some other small details I will not go into right now. Let’s see if the next developments give us any new clues. 】
【 Although I still don’t know why, I know that this copy has not ended yet, and my Beauty can continue display his love with God 7! Thank you, straight-dage! 】
【 …You’re welcome, you should ship less and do more observation. 】
Shen Qingcheng didn’t know the audience in the live broadcast room had analyzed the copy. In fact, since he signed the default live broadcast agreement, he had never heard about the live broadcast again, so he had forgotten about it.
The analyst’s thinking was similar to his, but he first doubted the authenticity of the copy when he discovered that his blood had failed.
As Lu Qi on the train had said, if he couldn’t kill the ghost, the only possibility was that the ghost didn’t exist.
His blood was useless, so it could only be that there were no ghosts at that time.
Once he first questioned the authenticity of the copy, Shen Qingcheng kept recalling everything that had happened since entering the copy.
Since when had he fallen into the illusion created by ghosts?
During this period, his yinyang eyes had seen Lu Qi appearing outside the car window and standing on the platform. That was the real Lu Qi according to his yinyang eyes, so he must have fallen into the illusion before that.
There were two suspicious moments in his mind.
The first was at the station entrance of Fengshan South Station.
There must have been a period of time between entering the copy and falling into the illusion. Each of the players had checked the relevant information and clearance conditions of the copy at the station gate.
He had learned from the copy information that it was a special copy, and the customs clearance condition was to successfully reach the last stop, “Tushan Station”.
The second point of suspicion was when he had descended the stairs.
After he went down the stairs, he met a ghost in the guise of Lu Qi, and Lu Qi also met a ghost pretending to be “Shen Meiren”. They had both seen through the ghosts’ tricks.
But it was also possible that that disguise had just been a cover, and he had actually fallen into an illusion.
Both points in time indicated that what he had experienced after boarding the train was just an illusion the ghost wanted him to see.
So Shen Qingcheng asked the question, “What is the name of this copy?”
It was “Death Route”.
It was the death route designed by the ghost for the player.
The players thought they were taking the train and approaching the final stop step by step, but did they know that they were getting closer to death?
He really couldn’t tell which of the two Lu Qis outside the car was real and which was fake, but he could be sure that the Lu Qi outside the car was not fake.
So Shen Qingcheng made a decision.
He did not read the customs clearance information of the copy, nor did he get off the train with the crowd, but turned around, closed his eyes, and walked towards the back door of the car.
The way forward led to death, so it was right to go backward.
He was right.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The powerful sound of a heartbeat permeated his chest and vibrated through his eardrums.
Shen Qingcheng didn’t open his eyes, his vision dark.
His forehead rested on the man’s hard chest, and a faint scent of cold rosin wafted into his nose.
The corners of his mouth twitched, “Let me guess who you are.”
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.
Coafg akb rfmbcvr, j ibk jcv rafjvs wjif nblmf mjwf ogbw jybnf tlr tfjv, “Ktfc uefrr.”
“I guess…” Shen Qingcheng originally wanted to say his name directly, but just as he was about to say it, he suddenly remembered something. His eyes were half-opened, and the curve of his lips suddenly became more malicious.
Lf xfqa tlr jgwr jgbecv atf wjc’r kjlra, jcv qjaafv atf wjc’r yjmx klat tlr gluta tjcv, “Pr beg meggfca qbrf ojwliljg?”
Ktf wjc’r ybvs ogbhf jcv tlr ygbkr vgfk abufatfg bc tlr batfgklrf mjiw ojmf. Lf ugjyyfv atf tjcv bc atf yjmx bo tlr kjlra, jcv rjlv ilutais, “Gbc’a wjxf agbeyif.”
Shen Qingcheng, who had removed his hands and retreated, didn’t let it go so easily. He raised his gaze and looked at the person in front of him. He was very familiar with this person, because they had talked on the train a minute ago.
Naturally, this person was Lu Qi.
Lu Qi was still wearing the clothes they had worn the day they entered the copy, a black long-sleeved top and trousers with camouflage-like patterning.
There was a suitcase at his feet, not a woven bag.
It seemed that the time he fell into the illusion was at the entrance of Fengshan South Station.
After all, when he had gone down the stairs, he had carried Lu Qi’s luggage while Lu Qi carried the woven bag.
Shen Qingcheng asked, “How long has it been?”
Observing him and seeing that he looked fine other than being a little tired, Lu Qi replied, “Half a day.”
He had spent almost 7 days in the illusion, but only half a day had passed in actual time.
Shen Qingcheng was surprised, “Did you wait for me for a long time?”
The man lowered his gaze, “No, I woke up a little earlier than you.”
Half a day had passed since the copy had started, and he had waited for nearly four hours.
Shen Qingcheng did not continue to ask questions, but returned to the previous topic, asking with a half-smile, “You haven’t answered my question just now, is this pose familiar?”
Lu Qi was confused.
Shen Qingcheng: “You’re not familiar with it, but I’m too familiar with it!”
He was still very angry when he thought about it, and he spilled the whole story, positing, “We should have fallen into an illusion at the gate of the station, right?
“I didn’t realize it at the time that we had to take the stairs down to the platform, so I went down first with the light things I had, with the idea that I could put those things away first and then go back to help you.
“But just after putting it away, as soon as I turned around, you were standing right behind me!
“At that time, I felt that something was wrong. The wooden boards of the stairs were old and weathered, and they creaked when they were walked over, yet you hadn’t made any sound when you came down?
“Then you took the initiative to tell me that my forehead was sweating. After careful observation, I’ll admit that it was, but is my Lu-dage the type to take the initiative to say those words?
“No! Is he the type to take the initiative to wipe my sweat with his hands?
“No!”
The more he spoke, the more excited he became, and his lips, which were somewhat white due to exhaustion, reddened.
Lu Qi listened silently. When he heard that he had wiped his sweat, his eyebrows moved slightly, but he never revealed any impatience.
Shen Qingcheng’s complaint continued:
“I know you so well, Lu-dage, I immediately knew that the person in front of me wasn’t you, especially when the copy reminded us that the ghost in the copy was good at disguising, and I immediately determined that that Lu Qi was fake!”
He finished his sentence in one breath, then raised his head and asked unsteadily, “I immediately recognized that it wasn’t you, aren’t I amazing?”
Lu Qi played along, “En, amazing.”
Who would have thought that Shen Qingcheng hadn’t just been fishing for compliments? Hearing this, he didn’t cock his fox’s tail proudly, but rather flashed his claws first.
He smiled and said, “I was very impressive compared to you. After all, when I saw you, you were holding a pirated copy of me! En, the way I just held you.”
Lu Qi: “Then?”
“You hugged him then stabbed him.” Shen Qingcheng pouted, “Couldn’t you just stab him directly, did you have to do that?”
He hadn’t seen the knife at first, and was almost angered to death at the scene he had witnessed.
He knew Lu Qi so well, but Lu Qi didn’t know him at all, and was casually deceived by a fake!
Lu Qi raised his brows lightly, “If I had found out that something was wrong, I would have killed him directly. It wouldn’t be so complicated.”
Shen Qingcheng fell silent after hearing this.
Lu Qi asked him, “Why did it take you so long to wake up?”
Shen Qingcheng: “I trusted you too much.”
When he said this, his tone was very serious.
Shen Qingcheng was accustomed to seeing the world through his yinyang eyes, which could see through everything related to ghosts at a glance, making his observation ability far superior to Lu Qi’s.
He trusted Lu Qi too much. After confirming that Lu Qi wasn’t a ghost in disguise, Lu Qi didn’t say anything particularly wrong, so he subconsciously hadn’t doubted him.
So if he hadn’t discovered later on that his blood didn’t work, maybe he would’ve been so stupid as to get out of the car.
Lu Qi: “…”
He said, “In the illusion, except for yourself, the characters, behaviors, and reactions of other people were all projected based on the memory and cognition of the protagonist. Based on what you had experienced before, every player was a human, and there were no ghosts. That was right.”
Lu Qi repeated, “But under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t do that in such a complicated way.” He was very resistant to physical contact.
Translating Lu Qi’s words, he meant that in the illusion, apart from himself, each players’ character was set based on his own memory.
Shen Qingcheng said softly, “You mean I’m too dramatic, so I added drama to you, right?”
Lu Qi chose to shut up.
Shen Qingcheng recalled carefully: he had seen through the disguised “Lu Qi” on the platform, Lu Qi had killed the disguised “Shen Qingcheng”, and three unknown players died.
He had thought that the light on the platform meant that the ghost’s short-lived disguise was over, but in fact, as early as the station gate, he had fallen into a series of traps.
The clever thing about the ghost was that it had used the platform’s superficial and easily-seen-through disguises and the behavior that constantly led him to doubt whether the players around him were actually his companions after getting on the train in order to cover up the truth of the entire illusion.
He asked, “What was the purpose of the ghost? He designed such a complex process just to let each of us players unknowingly follow the route it has planned for our deaths?”
Lu Qi didn’t answer directly, but looked behind Shen Qingcheng and said, “Turn around.”
Shen Qingcheng’s impression, before closing his eyes, was that he was in one of the Harmony’s train cars, with Lu Qi behind him.
After he opened his eyes, he now stood on the bright, clean platform with Lu Qi in front of him.
The Lu Qi behind him was the projection of his cognition and memory, the Lu Qi in front of him was a real existence, and the seemingly empty station was actually crowded with ghosts.
He really hadn’t looked around at what was behind him since he had “woken up” from the illusion.
Shen Qingcheng turned around and looked at the situation behind him, his gaze turning surprised.
A step in front of him, the platform was divided into two. The side he and Lu Qi were on was clean and bright, but the opposite side was gloomy and dark, and it was engulfed in a thick fog.
Eight familiar-looking figures in the fog had their backs turned to them; one of them was a woman with a child on her chest.
All of them walked forward slowly, step by step.
In front of them, the rust-stained train with vermilion patent leather was traveling quickly along the tracks, silently and at a searing speed.
Shen Qingcheng recognized it. In his dream, only 11 players had survived to reach the final stop.
Those players had gotten off the car and disappeared in several flashes of light.
He said, “How come there are only 9? Doesn’t each dream exist independently?”
He and Lu Qi woke up. The number of remaining players should be 17; even if you counted the three who had died on the platform, there should be 14.
And these people happened to be the last people who had survived in his illusion, what a coincidence.
Lu Qi: “Independent and connected.”
Shen Qingcheng: “? Did you ever sit in row 11?”
Lu Qi: “…No.”
Shen Qingcheng: “…”
Okay, he got it, he added drama again, thinking everyone was targeting him; he had a persecution complex.
Lu Qi: “Keep watching.”
Shen Qingcheng couldn’t see the expressions of the players, only noticing that some of them were fast and some were slow.
The direction they were heading was towards the train, which was traveling at a high speed and didn’t seem to have an end. The fastest people were getting very close.
Shen Qingcheng could even see the wind caused by the train blowing one of the players’ hair into disarray.
He chuckled lightly, “Yo, isn’t this Jin-daye?”
Lu Qi didn’t know why he called Jin Da “Jin-daye“, but it was probably that Shen Meiren had been bored and found someone to pass the time.
Seeing him pat the invisible barrier, like a wall of air, that was in front of him, he explained, “You can’t get through unless the person on the other side wakes up.”
Shen Qingcheng asked curiously, “Before, was I like them, going forward with all my strength, like I had lost my mind?”
Lu Qi glanced at him sideways, “You turned around.”
“I saw you,” Shen Qingcheng said. At that moment, his yinyang eyes had returned to normal, and he had seen the real Lu Qi standing amidst countless ghosts. “You asked me to get off.”
Lu Qi: “En.”
Shen Qingcheng: “How could you tell me to get off, you should have told me to turn around! What if I had actually gotten off when I arrived at the station?”
Lu Qi pursed his lips and said nothing.
When Shen Meiren had turned back, he had been no further from the train than Jin Da was now.
Shen Qingcheng, who was staring at the thick fog with his eyebrows furrowed, didn’t notice this strange silence.
Jin Da was getting closer and closer to the train, and a tall, thin ghost gradually emerged from the thick fog on his left.
The ghostly figure was tall, its clothes unable to hide its slight, bamboo-like body. It had an extremely ugly face, a flat nose, two long slits for eyes. The corners of its mouth were raised high.
It silently watched Jin Da, who was closest to the train, until Jin Da crossed the line.
Bang!
Large gushes of blood splattered everywhere, and in the distance, Jin Da’s body fell to the ground like a rag doll.
The ghost’s smiling face was very happy at the moment. It walked slowly to the corpse, its footsteps a steady tap, tap, tap…
A rope was looped around Jin Da’s neck, and the ghost wrenched a bamboo pole out from the edge of the track under the moving train.
The bamboo pole was somehow stuck to the ground, and Jin Da’s tattered body was hung on the top of the pole, facing the Harmony, which was speeding by.
This scene very resembled a corpse hanging on the back door of the train car, as well as a scarecrow that could be seen outside the train window.
Shen Qingcheng: “In other words, if a player doesn’t wake up and gets hit by a moving train, they’ll die that way in the other players’ illusions?”
The method of death was being killed by a fast-moving train, but the reason for the death was different in the other players’ illusions.
It might be that they had voted against other players, or they might have been suspected by the majority, or they might have violated the rules.
In short, they would die.
Lu Qi said that each player’s dream was independent and connected. The independence was because the characters, words, and deeds of other people in the dream existed according to the subjective expectations of the protagonist, and the connection was because the deaths were in common.
He knew Lu Qi, so Lu Qi would react and behave according to the image in his subjective cognition.
He didn’t know the other people, so the other people would behave according to his superficial first impressions.
It was this knowledge and lack of knowledge that made it difficult for the players to discover something was wrong, because to the player everything was “real” and “normal”.
If he hadn’t doubted the authenticity of the illusion because of the failure of his blood, he would have started from the station gate, strolled down the stairs, reached the platform, and walked step by step towards the train, just like those on the opposite side.
If he hadn’t turned around in the illusion, if he’d gotten out of the car, then in reality he would be hit by the train just like Jin Da, and his body would be hung on the bamboo pole after his death.
In the other peoples’ illusions, “Shen Meiren” would be unlucky enough to sit at the back one night.
The next day, when they woke up in the morning, they would see the body of “Shen Meiren” hanging from the ceiling of the back of the car.
If the illusion was likened to a movie, then the ghosts controlled the plot and the player controlled the persona of each character.
The main plotline would be the same, but the story was slightly different for each player due to the different personalities of the characters.
The stronger the player’s memory and observation skills were, the more real the fantasy they would experience, and the more difficult it would be to wake up.
Speaking of memory and observation, Lu Qi was definitely the most powerful of all the players!
In other words, the illusion that Lu Qi had experienced was the most real, the most difficult, and the hardest to wake up from.
But Lu Qi had been the first player to wake up.
Shen Qingcheng began to wonder how Lu Qi could react so quickly. Could it be that the Shen Meiren in the illusion had been too “active?
At this time, the ghost in the thick fog suddenly looked at him. It was covered with blood, some from Jin Da, some from the previous players, dripping wetly down its cuffs.
Shen Qingcheng: “!”
He completely ignored the ghostly figure, turning around and asking quickly, “There were actually a lot of clues and bits of information in the illusion, right?”
“Like the small town at a stop, the scarecrows and weird smiling faces–although the illusion was dangerous, it was also actually related to us finding the real last stop, Tushan!”
After speaking, Shen Qingcheng realized that something was wrong, and looked at the man opposite him suspiciously. “It’s not like you didn’t notice this. Why didn’t you choose to wake up after the train in the illusion arrived at the station?”
Like him: he had just turned around and walked backwards when he arrived at the station, and he had gained a ton of clues on the way!
Very complicated
……what?🙂 That went over my head….
Thanks for the chapter!
Ahahah, real monologue by our Beauty there he do everything by himself
Thank you for your translation 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
The author made this one really complicated. Thank you for the chapter!!!!♪ヽ(･ˇ∀ˇ･ゞ)
Meiran guess…. have you been too “active”? insert sus face because I can’t access emoji combos rn
Woooww thank you for the chapter!!! So complicated this time! I wonder what Lu Qi saw in his illusion?
Thanks for the chapter!
Actually, I’ve already read the spoiler so I kind of know what’s going to happen.
But reading this chapter gave me chills!
Thank you for the chapter.
ohhhh it was a dream- kinda-
very interesting 😀
thank you for the chapter!!