Translator-Rhapsodite
Editor-PerpetualMreow, Proofreader-adjective
When Ji Dong came out of the small black room in the Colosseum, Ren Jianmo and Mo Tiangen were already waiting for him on the first floor.
According to Teacher Dagen, the Fan siblings just came out a while ago, but they were exhausted, and just returned to the apartment to rest.
As the three of them walked back along the central hall, they chatted casually, exchanging a few words here and there.
Ever since Ji Dong had watched the promotional video for “Brave Adventurer,” he had some strange thoughts in his mind.
But this was the [Peach Blossom Spring] and every participant was accompanied by an omnipresent artificial intelligence. Every move and word is monitored, so certain things could not be said casually.
Because of this, while he was normally quite talkative,, he didn’t seem very interested in taking part in the chatter at that moment. He only used one ear to listen to Mo Tiangen’s rambling and occasionally responded with a few “uh-huh” and “yeah.”
Teacher Dagen quickly noticed that Ji Xiao’niao wasn’t present-minded.
But he thought that Ji Dong might just be tired. After all, last night he and Ren Jianmo went to two haunted locations together, pushing themselves to the limit. Even though his physical injuries could fully recover upon returning to the [Peach Blossom Spring], the mental exhaustion wasn’t as easy to bounce back from.
The three of them returned to the apartment, agreeing on a time and place to meet later in the evening. They each took the elevator back to their rooms.
Ji Xiao’niao’s room remained the same as when he left, except that the dirty clothes he had thrown into the laundry basket before leaving had mysteriously disappeared. In their place were neatly ironed new clothes, all organized in the wardrobe according to his preferences.
Ji Dong casually grabbed a set of clean and soft cotton pajamas and then headed into the bathroom for a relaxing hot bath.
Afterward, he ordered a lamb chop and tried a glass of sparkling champagne from a world-renowned winery for the first time. Once he was full and satisfied, he happily rolled into the soft bed, cuddling the blanket as he started to drift off to sleep.
However, even though Ji Xiao’niao usually slept well, this time he found himself staring at the ceiling, with a flurry of thoughts racing through his mind, making it impossible for him to find peace and fall asleep.
After watching the promotional video for “Brave Adventurer” in the small dark room, Ji Dong suddenly realized that the participants of the [Peach Blossom Spring], at their core, were no different from the contestants in the twelve seasons of the game.
They were limited by the rules, even during the breaks between the two [Films] and even when they returned to the safe [Peach Blossom Spring] they had to prepare for the upcoming challenges. Faced with the pressure of death, they could only focus their energy on becoming stronger and surviving…
So, what exactly was the [Peach Blossom Spring]?
Ji Dong realized that he had never deeply pondered this question before.
After experiencing various wonders and anomalies, the participants would quickly be completely controlled by the [Peach Blossom Spring], living comfortably in cozy rooms, eating delicious food, wearing well-fitting clothes, and enjoying all the resources it provided.
At the same time, because they knew they were powerless to resist, and could only silently abide by the rules like a herd of donkeys, they strived towards the dangling carrot called “breaking through the SS-level difficulty” in front of them…
“This won’t do…”
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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Ji Dong knew that he was still too weak and ignorant at the moment.
And that the surveillance of the [Peach Blossom Spring] was everywhere.
Therefore, until he had cultivated enough ability to do something, he should not reveal a single word to anyone.
——————–
Ji Dong didn’t sleep very soundly.
He had a very chaotic dream.
In the dream, he seemed to enter a strange [Film] unprepared, without any companions, and couldn’t even see a single human being.
He was forced to run through a jungle, chased by a large group of strange creatures, running around in all directions.
And what was even scarier was that Ji Dong noticed a shadow in the corner of his eye, a shadow with an indiscernible face. It seemed like a person, always following him, constantly trailing behind.
But every time he turned around to look, the shadow would disappear.
But as soon as he turned his head back, in the next moment of carelessness, just as his gaze shifted, that figure would reappear in his peripheral vision.
In the dream, Ji Dong, feeling almost desperate from the constant surveillance, was on the verge of mental exhaustion. Dealing with the endless stream of monsters alone had already pushed him to his limits. Several times, his life hung by a thread, and he was just narrowly escaping death. He didn’t have any time to think about how to deal with the shadow that only existed in his peripheral vision.
In the end, Ji Dong lost one of his arms in the dream, as well as his precious longbow. His thighs were covered in deep wounds, almost exposing the bones. If it weren’t for the lack of pain in the dream, suffering such severe injuries would have surely rendered him unable to move due to the pain and blood loss.
Just as Ji Dong was exhausted and on the verge of despair, a mutated toad, taller than a person, leaped out from the dense banana leaves. It instantly knocked him down to the ground, and he didn’t even have time to draw his sword with his remaining hand to defend himself. A long tongue, covered in spikes, shot towards his forehead.
Ji Dong instinctively closed his eyes.
And in that moment, the corner of his eye caught a final glimpse of the shadow that had been following him all along.
The shadow was right beside him, bending down and looming over him, staring down as he faced an impending death…
………………..
But that sharp frog tongue didn’t ultimately pierce Ji Dong’s forehead because he woke up at that moment.
“Ha!”
He suddenly opened his eyes and saw the pristine white ceiling of his room, along with a softly glowing round ceiling light.
For a full half minute, Ji Dong lay on the bed, completely stunned, as if he were frozen in place. His whole body was rigid, unable to move a muscle.
It wasn’t until his heart rate, which had skyrocketed to 120, gradually calmed down that he forcefully blinked his eyes, shook off the beads of sweat clinging to his eyelashes, and sat up slowly, eventually getting out of bed.
Ji Dong grabbed a towel, wiped the cold sweat off his face and neck, and glanced at the digital clock resting on the bedside table.
The projection above showed that it was 4:30 in the afternoon. It was still a whole hour away from his usual dinner time, and even earlier than the planned meet-up with his friends.
Ji Dong anxiously tugged at his soft wool curls.
He wandered around his room for a while and finally grabbed some potato chips and a cola. He entered the study area, sat down at the large desk, and picked up a book he had been wanting to read for a while. Like a completely unassuming otaku, he nibbled on junk food while leisurely flipping through the pages.
Ji Dong chose the latest installment from a highly acclaimed series of modern and bizarre novels. The previous books were even made into movies, with a beautiful and spirited female police officer as the protagonist, who was the goddess in Ji Dong’s eyes.
But this time, perhaps because he had someone he truly admired in his heart, the image of the handsome female police officer in the book inexplicably overlapped with another person’s figure.
Ji Dong was staring at the book when he got distracted.
His gaze drifted away from the words on the pages and landed on the communicator beside him.
——Maybe… I should give him a call.
Ji Dong heard his voice suggesting this in his mind.
——No, no, no. It’s still early, what if Ren Jianmo is still resting?
——And besides, it’s almost time for the meeting. Are you going to dwell on this?
Even though he tried to convince himself, like any lovestruck teenager, once the thought of hearing the voice of the person he liked came up, it wasn’t easy for rationality to push it down.
Ji Dong stared at the communicator, silently struggling for three minutes, and finally dialed a room number hesitantly, [Wisteria 0010].
The call was quickly answered.
“Xiao’niao?”
Ren Jianmo’s voice came through the phone.
“Do you need something?”
——Holy crap!
Ji Dong was stunned.
Just now, he just wanted to hear Ren Jianmo’s voice. He impulsively made the call without even thinking about finding a reason to contact him in advance.
He couldn’t just confess and say, “Because I miss you, I couldn’t wait for two hours and had to call you in advance!”
In his desperation, Ji Dong’s gaze wandered around, and he caught sight of a transparent glass box on the corner of the table, with a small card underneath it.
“Here’s the thing…”
He hurriedly grabbed the box and opened it while saying:
“I brought back a collectible from [Strange Tales at 24:00]. There’s a card inside…”
As he spoke, he hastily pulled out the card that was placed in the box and glanced at the words on it. He felt surprised but also secretly relieved.
——That’s awesome! I accidentally stumbled upon a topic!
Ji Dong felt like his brain had never been so agile before. In an instant, he had already organized his lines:
“That card is like a ‘user manual,’ and it contains something very special. It doesn’t seem appropriate to take it to Yao Wanguan for appraisal, so I thought it would be necessary to inform you in advance.”
“Really?”
Ren Jianmo paused on the other end of the communicator, “In that case, I’ll come over and take a look now.”
“What?”
Ji Dong was stunned for a moment.
Then, a visit request popped up on his communication terminal, and Ren Jianmo himself had sent it.
Classmate Xiao’niao’s had never expected Ren Jianmo’s response to be so direct, saying that he would come to his room right away.
He quickly pressed the “Agree” button, then jumped up like a rabbit, sweeping all the potato chip crumbs and cola cups on the table into the trash can. Then, like an arrow, he rushed to the edge of the bed and straightened out the messy blanket.
Even though his actions were very swift, he only had time to do those two things.
Because of the unique structure of the apartment locks and elevator cabins, it was really just a matter of stepping into the elevator and stepping out to visit each other’s rooms.
The door opened.
Ren Jianmo walked in and saw classmate Xiao’niao standing next to the large bed in the middle of the room, wearing white cotton pajamas, with curly hair as messy as a bird’s nest.
time for some comfort 🙏