RPGCh18 - Prisoner and Prison (IX)

Second chapter of the double update! Remember to read chap 17 first~

Edited by Izrate Pth5Lm

“What the fuck!!!”

Shan Ziwei leaped off the bed, yanking off his game equipment and throwing it onto the covers. He stared at the RPG game equipment, breathing heavily as expressions flew across his face rapidly.

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At the thought of what had just happened in-game, Shan Ziwei’s entire body swayed as if he couldn’t take it, slowly curling into himself and bending to bury his head against his knees. His ears burned red under his black hair – compared to anger, that bright hue seemed more like it indicated a shy desire.

Shan Ziwei had always known that RPG’s spiritual breakdown was rather fucked up, and he had seen plenty of bloody, raw examples. This hypersexual thought that he’d have some sort of resistance to it, but he had never expected that when spiritual breakdown happened to him, the game development team’s limits were far beyond what he could take. hxNtmU

When his Hearts SP hit zero, Shan Ziwei knew it was over for him. His unresponsive body and the red in his vision had all keyed him in on the fact that he was in spiritual breakdown.

The Shan Ziwei back then was furious. He had wanted nothing more than to lunge at host and take the other down with him. However, under spiritual breakdown, he couldn’t control his own body. All he could do was stare at host.

Weren’t you meant to go crazy in spiritual breakdown!? Hurry and turn into a monster like the Mr. White Rabbit and mirror images from before and fight that Ultraman over there!

As Shan Ziwei ground his teeth together in anger, the system seemed to finally notice his blazing rage, guiding his body to walk towards host – just like how the system would guide his body into performing the motions required to activate skills. Shan Ziwei felt like he had become a vegetable. He was conscious and he could feel everything, but he couldn’t move by himself. The system moved him around like a puppet.

Host stood there unmoving, allowing Shan Ziwei to approach. The white-haired young man’s eyes were like blood, gazing at the black-haired young man unblinkingly and reaching out with his hands as if he was going to strangle the other.

And then Shan Ziwei saw his hands cup host’s face and heard his voice ask, “Do you like me?”

……………………….. What the actual fuck!?!?!

Shan Ziwei felt like he had just been struck by lightning, but this wasn’t the end of it. His fingers stroked host’s face of their own volition, his voice so soft, almost like he was pouting. mBtnLG

“Won’t you love me, please?”

Mum! Mum! Please believe me when I say that the pervert who is trying to seduce the enemy right now isn’t actually your son!!!

Shan Ziwei wanted to throttle this shameless version of himself right now. If he could move, he would chop off those two claws that were taking advantage of host right now and then slap that mouth that was begging the other to shower him with love. This hypersexual no longer had a damn to give for revenge, instead he began begging host with his eyes to finish him off quickly.

It’s disgusting to get felt up by a guy, right! So, hurry and use your death powder to send this disgusting guy out of the chessboard!!!! QAQ sM38vu

Amidst the blood red, host’s expression was blurred. He didn’t finish off Shan Ziwei, nor did he turn to leave.

Despairingly, Shan Ziwei wondered if host had used up all his death powder. Then he felt “himself” grow disappointed at host’s lack of reaction, slowly lowering his hand.

“If I gave you my heart, would you love me then?”

Shan Ziwei didn’t even have the time to figure out what this meant before he felt his chest erupt with pain. He held a bright red, beating thing in his hands, offering it up like a sacrifice to the black-haired young man. Lw nG8

–– Please like me.

The white-haired young man didn’t speak, because he had died the moment he had cut out his own heart. The black-haired young man gazed silently at that empty shell, before bowing down and kissing that heart that was as soft as its owner.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

“You said it. I like you.”

After returning to his personal space, Shan Ziwei had sat dumbly on his red and gold throne. Though the pain of having his chest cut open was almost unbearable, it had only been present for a moment. As soon as he had returned to his personal space, all that pain had vanished like an illusion, thus it was anger and frustration that featured itself most prominently in a certain hypersexual. ES1QNZ

The frustrated Shan Ziwei hadn’t wanted to stay in the game at all. He had logged out immediately and yanked off his equipment, throwing it onto the covers.

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.

“What the fuck!!!”

Qtja xlcv bo ugevuf vlv atlr ujwf tjnf jujlcra tlw! Ktlr rqlglaeji ygfjxvbkc atlcu kjr lctewjcf!

Vtjc Ilkfl abbx vffq ygfjatr klat tlr tfjv yeglfv jujlcra tlr xcffr, yjgfis wjcjulcu ab reqqgfrr atf fwyfgr bo fwyjggjrrwfca jcv jcufg lcrlvf tlw. ImdiO9

Coafg tlr fwbalbcji fgeqalbc, Vtjc Ilkfl oibqqfv yjmx bcab atf yfv, ijcvlcu ojmf ab ojmf klat atf EUX ibub bc tlr ujwf fdelqwfca. Ktf fwbalbcifrr ojmf bc atfgf ibbxfv pera ilxf tbra’r fzqgfrrlbc.

After all that had happened, Shan Ziwei felt even more conflicted about host.

At first, he had admired the other. After host helped him so many times, Shan Ziwei had begun to think of him as a friend. That was why he was so angry when host killed him; he would rather have died at Unparalleled Dragon King’s hands – he would only feel anger at Unparalleled Dragon King killing him. On the other hand, dying to host meant that the pain of betrayal would burn simultaneously with his anger. And now…

Shan Ziwei bowed his head slightly. The change in angle had the logo changing expression, with half its face crying. MhD6U7

This embarrassing experience would become the one and only perpetual source of pain for a certain hypersexual.

Shan Ziwei turned, not wanting to recall his embarrassment, and laid flat on the bed to reflect over his first chessboard.

The chessboard could be summarized as failing at the last leg of the race. The last scenario clearly hoped for them to kill one another. Unparalleled Dragon King’s target was the murderer (host), while host was set after the scammer (him). His target was the rapist (Rice Lover), so, clearly, Rice Lover must’ve had a scenario to kill the robber (Unparalleled Dragon King). However, as he had lied from the beginning and said he was a murderer, he had become the target of both host and Unparalleled Dragon King – as the real murderer, host would naturally be able to guess his identity of the scammer.

Shan Ziwei didn’t know his luck was so terrific. He had just said something random and had hit the jackpot. In reality, if he calmed down and considered it carefully, neither Unparalleled Dragon King nor host had done anything wrong. This was just a game. There was nothing wrong with going by the rules of the game. He was taking it too seriously. pM3l6R

Shan Ziwei covered his eyes with the back of his hand, laughing somewhat bitterly. As a twenty-first century hypersexual, he couldn’t help it – he had only ever played mouse and keyboard games. All he had to do was operate his mouse and keyboard while facing his screen. He didn’t need to interact with others or watch their attitudes and emotions. Each word and sentence was clear, even expressions were just symbols.

However, in RPG, everything was too real. He knew it was just a game, but this realistic environment lured him into over-immersion. Not only did this mean that he’d have trouble with role playing a different character, it would also influence the grasp and control he had over the game.

In that moment, Shan Ziwei doubted himself – could he really master RPG?

He immediately extinguished the thought the moment it popped into mind. Shan Ziwei lowered his hand, sat up properly on the bed, and set his mouth in a tight, stubborn line. qHumVA

If you asked Shan Ziwei what his hobbies and specialities were, his only answer would be “online games”.

Shan Ziwei loved to game online because in the twenty-first century, his hypersexuality kept him at home. This left him wirh no other method of communication or interaction in his world but the internet. Amidst everything, online games were the best way of interacting and making friends with others. Shan Ziwei was good at online games because in them, so long as you were skilled and became a god-tier player, you would have admirers no matter what game you played.

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Shan Ziwei wished for companionship, thus he spent immense effort on honing his skills. In other words, Shan Ziwei loved online games because he wanted to make friends, and he was good at online games so he could make friends. In the end, this had become his pride and persistence.

Shan Ziwei carefully picked up the RPG game equipment, raising it up to eye-level and making eye contact with the expression-changing logo. iG3Aeo

If it was an online game, he could master it!

Now determined, Shan Ziwei got up and ate dinner. He was still thinking of his plans for the future when he lay in bed, about to go to sleep.

Perhaps, he thought, he could use the same method as he had used before.

After he had breakfast the following morning, Shan Ziwei called a jellyfish shaped terminal inside, planning to take out a loan from the Alliance Bank. As he had no credit, he could only borrow very little money. Shan Ziwei looked over his shopping list: one nutri-tank, one computer, one synchron equipment set and books about virtual technology and current computing (maybe) … LwhAW0

Amongst them, the nutri-tank and computer were the most expensive. Shan Ziwei added up the numbers: if he wanted to buy everything on the list, he’d have to wait for next month’s paycheck to afford it, even with the loan.

The broke Shan Ziwei struggled for a bit before helplessly deciding to delay the purchase of a computer and synchron set. To master an online game, you had to spend time on the game, thus Shan Ziwei’s priority was to purchase a nutri-tank. RPG’s max consecutive play time was twelve hours, and it wasn’t like in other games where you could play as your body and mind rested in sleep. That meant that the twelve hours spent in RPG was spent under completely conscious brain training. With the addition of that “after you log out you have to wait eight hours to log back in” limit, it made things difficult as hell – to continue gaming or to go and eat? That would be an issue. Thus, a company began to sell nutri-tanks to complement the game. If you lay inside, it’d automatically feed you nutrition supplements on a schedule.

After ordering the nutri-tank, Shan Ziwei only had a fifth of his money remaining. He then opened a book website and began looking through books on current computing. Shan Ziwei had always been a programmer. When the fifteen-year-old Shan Ziwei, who couldn’t go to school due to his hypersexuality, picked up Introduction to Programming by chance while at home, his future as a programmer was set. When God closes a door, he opens a window. This hypersexual discovered he had an acute sense for programming. Thus, games were his love and programming became the way he supported his own life.

Shan Ziwei’s plan was simple. He wouldn’t be able to buy a computer until next month, so he’d spend this month revising the two hundred years of information he had missed out on. In the past, he had been able to make a name for himself as a self-taught programmer, so now he would definitely be able to learn the computing knowledge of the current era – even just the basics was good. He wanted to create a training software like he had done in the past to simulate RPG so he could train his skills. Gl4BL5

What did a player require to become good at a game? There were many answers to that question by all kinds of different people, but the two basic aspects that were widely acknowledged and approved were the following: a gaming mindset, and gaming skill.

A gaming mindset included the ability to see the bigger picture, as well as understanding of the game and the ability to respond and analyse. For example, it would refer to one’s grasp of pathing and the ongoing situation in MOBAs, the ability to calculate and strategize moves in RPGs, judgement on enemy position and possible future steps in FPSs. Gaming skill typically referred to a player’s mechanics. For example, taking the kills in MOBAs, comboing skills in RPGs, headshots in FPSs, etc. If one’s mindset determined the upper bounds of one’s ability, then skill would determine the lower bounds. If someone wanted to become an expert in gaming, they couldn’t lack either.

The twenty-first century Shan Ziwei had never thought that his gaming skill would plummet to rock bottom due to the changing of eras. As his in-game time was limited, yet he wanted to get used to RPG as soon as possible, a certain hypersexual decided to create an offline software to train his skills like a student who goes to cram school to keep up with the class.

Suddenly, a book name came into view and Shan Ziwei’s fingers paused in their scrolling of his holographic screen, lightly resting against it. l5vuGp

The Product of a Miracle: Gaia

RPG’s server was the central computer. If he could understand the way the central computer operated, then it would definitely help him. Shan Ziwei resolutely tapped it with his finger, adding the book to his shopping cart.

“Ring – “

It had to be said that the twenty-third century’s technology made things really fast. Shan Ziwei had only just ordered his books when the nutri-tank arrived. While the engineers installed his nutri-tank, a certain hypersexual hid in the kitchen, using this time to create a daily schedule for himself. He allocated twelve hours each day to gaming, eight hours to sleeping, three hours to studying and an hour to exercising each day. All Shan Ziwei was missing was a ribbon around his head with the words “YOU CAN DO IT!!!” on it. 1P5cg4

“We hope you’ll continue to frequent our products!”

“You have one parcel that needs to be signed for~”

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Sweating, Shan Ziwei sent off the engineers who kept trying to shake his hand enthusiastically in farewell, and then his books arrived. Luckily, it was delivered by a fast-track delivery robot. Shan Ziwei moved the books into his room and sighed in satisfaction at the changes.

Now that he had finished half his prep work, it was time to game. b 5c80

[Quantum Terminal now connected, loading data.]

[Welcome to RPG.]

After he logged in, the first thing Shan Ziwei saw upon opening his eyes was Little Gaia spitting out text bubbles in loneliness.

[G] xJCp r

[Shanzi]

[GShanzi?]

[GShanzi]

… cTgEJ0

As if afraid the person in its speech bubbles would run away, the silver-haired, black-robed doll would leap onto and pop each bubble after spitting them out. The last bubble just so happened to drift next to Shan Ziwei’s foot. Little Gaia threw itself at the bubble, bursting it with a pop and putting its little arms around Shan Ziwei’s lower leg in the process.

#Every time I come online I see my Toybox being adorable#

Shan Ziwei habitually picked Little Gaia up then asked it for his completion report.

“Give me the completion report.” tpedL3

Little Gaia spat out the report docilely. It was, once again, a sheepskin scroll with writing on both sides.

Shan Ziwei opened it and suddenly, like he had opened a bag of fireflies, countless sparks of blue light drifted out of the scroll and into his body.

[Congratulations on reaching level 2!] The system voice he hadn’t heard in a while came out to congratulate him. [Your max Mentality Points have increased to 150.]

Little Gaia wore a happy mask as it applauded for him. As its hands were covered by its long sleeves, no matter how hard it clapped, it could only make muffled, cloth-like sounds. fdesui

Shan Ziwei couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks.”

His low spirits from before began to disappear. Shan Ziwei placed Little Gaia on his shoulder so that the other could read his completion report with him.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

[《Completion Report》

Chessboard: Wuwang Prison cleGsA

Chessboard Completion Score: D

Experience Gained: 119/220

Chessboard Completion Rewards: Pawn Chess Piece x3]

… a completion score of “D” was something that would make anyone who heard or saw it cry. Shan Ziwei honestly didn’t want to know what the lowest score you could get in RPG was, after all, he hadn’t even actually completed the stage. He had gained quite a lot of experience points though; then again, he had ran this chessboard with that crazy 100 percent pain setting and even got to experience the pain of cutting out one’s own heart! N7hJej

Shan Ziwei subconsciously rubbed his chest. Honestly, if it wasn’t for his level up just now, he’d consider turning down the pain level. Though it was only an instant, it was still one of the most important organs in the human body. That momentary experience would be forever etched into his mind.

The whole cutting out heart thing brought his embarrassing experience to mind by association. The hypersexual breathed deeply to calm his boiling blood.

This game was so immense, there was no way he’d meet host again, right…? No, he was begging to never see him again!

Shan Ziwei mumbled a little as he turned the sheepskin scroll over. Like last time, there were words written there in elegant cursive. p8qENb

[A prison is for guarding prisoners.

It deprives prisoners of their freedom, isolating them from society and preventing them from escaping.

I think I understand what you mean now.

I just want you to stay with me, to not interact with others, to not run away. fPHNWr

Is that why you say I imprison you like a prisoner in a prison?

I understand.

For you, I shall erect the most wonderful prison this world has ever seen.

Please don’t be angry with me anymore.] 298nNU

Two mindsets on completely different wavelengths were vividly scrawled on this scroll, silly and preposterous, yet Shan Ziwei couldn’t bring himself to laugh at all. He scrunched the scroll up into a ball. His chest felt heavy. It was like there was a foul sludge sitting there, disgusting him and making each breath feel stifled.

The words hadn’t been spoken to him, but they kept repeating in his head like a brainwashing catchy tune. The cacophony in his mind had Shan Ziwei covering his ears, yet the moment he did, all that white noise blurred into a low, raspy voice, whispering:

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–– I will watch you, always be watching you.

Shan Ziwei leaped out, looking around in a wild panic to try and find the source of the voice. All he saw, however, was the same bird cage-like personal space. The black walls surrounded him on all sides just like the scroll had said – it imprisoned him. Fx3Mo2

This association had Shan Ziwei’s panic swelling higher and higher. He didn’t want to stay here for another second, practically running towards the only open ceiling height window at two o’clock and leaping into the screen of light.

[The current chessboard is in adventure mode. Enter?]

“Yes!”

Beams of bright light swayed to and fro over Shan Ziwei’s body before retreating like the waves of the tide. Shan Ziwei then realized that not only was his vision swaying, his entire body was also being jostled. His nostrils were filled with the faint scent of gasoline and rubber. Shan Ziwei steadied himself against the wall to prevent himself from falling and he confirmed his current location by listening to the rumbling roar of his surroundings. E5Y18Q

He was… in a car?

Clarification on the name of the game cause I realized it might confuse people: The full name of the game is Role Playing, but its abbreviation is RPG, thus it’ll sometimes also be called Role Playing Game. The Chinese does not make this distinction, as in Chinese, people do refer to RPGs omitting the “game” from “role playing game” so in Chinese its just “role playing”, and for an abbreviation (which isn’t used in this novel) they use the English “RPG”.

I chose to translate it this way as the gaming category “role-playing game” is abbreviated as “RPG”, almost never abbreviated as “RP” and generally not referred to as “role playing”. Also RPG just sounds more epic haha. Thus, these terms will be used interchangeably to refer to the game, but the official, full name of the game is, in fact, “Role Playing”.

Next up, Scenario Nineteen: Monster Hunter (1) ht3dad