Volume 2: Winter’s End
“I won’t just give him the potion and the raw stone; at least wait until I’ve had my say!” Lie Yang persisted in his indignant complaint. Although the group hadn’t been together for long, sometimes certain people just inexplicably clicked with each other, and no one could quite explain why.
Obviously, there were quite a few people who shared Lie Yang’s thoughts, especially after learning about the potential effects of the LP Potion. Excitement was nearly uncontrollable; if this potion could indeed have a real-world impact, it would drive countless people crazy!
In the live broadcast room:
“Why waste a potion and a raw stone? Bring them back for research, and then exploit this planet. That’s the normal way of thinking for a sensible person!”
“I just want to know, how many potions are left? Can we buy them?”
“If it can truly lead to a breakthrough for evolved races! Then, the rewards indeed live up to the unprecedented standards the officials mentioned. It’s simply heaven-defying!”
“Highly priced potion! Buying potion!”
“Why hasn’t the game been cleared yet? What are the clearance conditions?”
“I was dumbfounded when I ran over with the vibe of searching for treasure and kicked Qu Yan. Why hasn’t the clearance been achieved yet?”
“Why did Qu Yan conceal his identity? Why not just directly state that he’s a native?!”
“How old is the person above? The first time we met, my God Ye was in the form of a giant wolf, and the little bun was still nestled in his ear. It was obvious that something wasn’t normal! No wonder Qu Yan seemed unfamiliar with God Ye’s appearance initially. However, being able to react so quickly and take actions that didn’t arouse suspicion but guided God Ye and the little dumpling to make their own judgments within such a short time, thinking back, it’s truly horrifying!”
“I agree! I went to check the video of the first encounter with Qu Yan and the resting in the cave. I shockingly discovered that every move he made, every word he said, seemed so normal yet full of guidance. Too powerful!”
“I still think the potion is a bit of a waste! It’s a potion that can affect evolved races!”
“I don’t think so. Although the potion is precious, it comes from the Blue Amber Crystal, and Qu Yan, being a native, has the right to take it away. Moreover, he has helped a lot along the way.”
In the room:
Shu Xun propped up his little head and said, “I owed Qing Mo a can of life-saving peach canned food, but I’ve returned the life-saving potion and raw stone. What’s wrong with that?”
Upon hearing this, Lie Yang suddenly fell silent, then laughed heartily, finally feeling relieved. The lively discussion in the live broadcast room, which had been intense just moments ago, also fell into a brief silence. Suddenly, someone remembered the time when Ye Qian and Shu Xun almost starved to death in the Micro Lake villa area, and it was Qing Mo’s canned food that saved their lives.
“So, um… what about the clearance conditions?” Gray asked with confusion.
Shu Xun shook his little head. “Perhaps it’s to find the invaders, but the information is obviously insufficient. This condition is almost impossible to fulfill, especially with the possibility of the involvement of a third-party force. The situation is too complicated. If the speculation of the blue-eyed person just now is correct, even if we take the LP Potion, we won’t be able to survive in the absolute ice for too long, similar to the Blue Butterflies. The clearance is likely to fail.”
Shu Xun’s words made the mood of the people who originally thought they were about to clear the game heavy once again. The situation was indeed as Shu Xun said. Perhaps everyone had suspicions, but without concrete evidence, everything seemed futile.
Invaders with such high mental power, besides the Phantom Clan, have not been discovered among the races in the universe. However, just like the Blue Butterflies in this world, there are numerous newly born races. In the vast universe, there are too many miracles, and even in this era, what they see is only a corner of the universe.
Regarding the initial invaders, Shu Xun also suspected the Phantom Clan, as there were too many similarities between the Phantom Clan and the Blue Butterflies. As for the third-party force, it’s probably the black butterfly drawn by Qing Meng, the strange energy entity that can also cause people to disappear. Why does Qing Meng, as a blue-eyed individual, have a favorable impression of its existence? Shu Xun also understood that with the destruction of a world, many truths would be obliterated, and they couldn’t possibly discover all the truths.
Before the group could speculate on the clearance conditions, the Absolute Ice Seal had already descended. Of course, before that, they had clashed with other teams a few times. Clearly, as time approached, all players fell into extreme distress. This was probably the most deadly realistic survival game to date, and it was also the most frustrating game for players to die.
Under the Absolute Ice Seal, except for Ye Qian and others who took the potion, most other players, regardless of their race, were almost instantly frozen in place.
Although Ye Qian and the others were extremely uncomfortable in the piercing cold, their bodies were not affected. Obviously, there were no more clues on the island. Helpless, the group could only choose to leave, but they didn’t know where the next destination was.
In the end, the group decided to explore various locations recorded in the archives related to traces of extraterrestrial invasion. Although they didn’t know if this choice was correct and were uncertain about how long the LP Potion could keep them alive in this absolute ice, the sea outside had already frozen entirely, rendering the icebreaker useless. The group could only choose to leave the island on foot.
About five days later, the group finally emerged from the frozen ocean, and the mood of everyone had transformed from despair to relaxation and acceptance. The reason was quite simple—because there was a little dumpling trying hard to learn ice skating but always stumbling cutely. When Shu Xun could finally glide smoothly on the ice, the joyous little figure could infect everyone. At the same time, the group realized that regardless of success or failure, this game had taught them a profound lesson. Whether they succeeded or not, there was no regret. After all, they now had a significant gain compared to other frozen game players— the positive impact brought by the LP Potion.
In the past few days, the LP Potion had been gradually transforming the bodies of everyone. All confirmed that the potion indeed affected their mental strength and even further modified their physical bodies in reality. Continuing on this path, a breakthrough seemed not impossible.
Setting foot on solid ground once again, the group moved in a certain direction, and unexpectedly, the game’s clearance came without warning. During dinner, members of the two teams were having a meal in an apartment when suddenly, in the minds of Ye Qian, Shu Xun, Lie Yang, and Gray, there appeared a game clearance prompt, asking players to prepare to log out, followed by a sixty-second countdown.
At the moment of the clearance prompt, except for the poker-faced Ye Qian, the expressions of the other three were incredibly diverse—shock, confusion, and stupefaction blended together. The sudden appearance of the countdown seemed to disrupt something, leaving them with a bewildering sense of déjà vu, as if the countdown had shattered an immersion into the game world.
Bai Ya and the others naturally noticed the abnormal reactions of Shu Xun and the others. They looked at each other, and Bai Ya leaped up excitedly. “Cleared?! Hurry, hurry! Prompt! Prompt!”
Bai Ya’s excited reaction brought Shu Xun and the others back to their senses. However, apart from the logout prompt and countdown, there was no indication of what conditions they had fulfilled to clear the game. Lie Yang was still lying in a state of inexplicable surprise, Gray looked completely clueless, having no idea what had happened.
Ye Qian and Shu Xun, however, after a brief moment of distraction, simultaneously took out a vial of potion and a piece of blue amber crystal from their inventories. Seeing this, Shu Xun scratched his head and retrieved an extra set, and Ye Qian had already thrown the potion and raw stone into Bai Ya’s arms. “Save the native frozen.”
As soon as the words fell, a faint light glowed, and Ye Qian and the others disappeared from their original location, leaving behind a dumbfounded Bai Ya’s team and a chaotic audience.
At the moment they received the clearance prompt, the atmosphere in the live stream room, which was originally filled with laughter, instantly exploded. Countless expressions of shock overwhelmed the screen. Obviously, many people were even more bewildered than Lie Yang. Until Ye Qian logged out of the game and returned to the virtual live stream room, the astonished expressions kept refreshing.
“Why did it clear! How did it clear!”
“What happened? I just went to the bathroom. Did I miss a year?”
“What’s going on? Did the game system crash? How was the clearance condition determined? Clearing the game just by having dinner? Did Ye Qian have something strange to eat?”
“I speculate that Qu Yan returned to Micro Lake. Judging by the time, although the return journey couldn’t be done by boat, Qu Yan’s speed isn’t slow. Coupled with the absence of a blizzard during the absolute ice seal, there should be enough time to rush back to Micro Lake. Then, he used the Blue Amber Crystal and the potion to resurrect Qing Mo. That’s why the game cleared. Other than this, I can’t think of any variables or possibilities!”
“The analysis above makes sense. Ye Qian indeed threw the elixir and the stone to Bai Ya, probably for this reason.”
“Wow, wow, wow, my God Ye is still as powerful as ever. But does this count as lying down and winning? Because it seems that Qu Yan’s elixir was given by Shu Xun.”
“Little Dumpling! Little Dumpling! It ended so suddenly, Little Dumpling disappeared so unexpectedly! I don’t know if I can see him again in the future. I suddenly feel that life is so desperate!”
“The calmness of the one above, you have to believe, there must be someone now more desperate than you, already stiff like a stone!”
“Yes, my God Ye has been standing stiff for two minutes. I guess God Ye’s heart is already angry enough to want to dismantle the game developer! Hahaha…”
Amidst a cheerful atmosphere, Ye Qian, who had stood stiff for two minutes, stood stiff again for three minutes, and then, under the excited gaze of the audience, ended the live stream.
Audience: “…”
There was an instant outcry in the live stream room, but apparently, the aloof Ye Qian had completely disregarded them, going off somewhere without knowing what to do.
On the other hand, Shu Xun also logged out of the game, looking at the familiar nutrient pod in front of him, sighing with a bun-faced appearance full of the weariness of age. Unexpectedly, the clearance condition was to save the blue-eyed individual trapped in the ice. Thinking of the decision of the man with blue eyes and Qu Yan, who chose to live alone in the frozen world rather than return as a butterfly, Shu Xun didn’t know what to say for a moment. The Blue Amber Stone couldn’t express itself in words but had been guarding with consciousness. The blue-eyed one was never abandoned; it was because of having too strong an obsession that he couldn’t be summoned back.
Like Qing Mo, who starved to death with the persistent unwillingness to let go of Qu Yan, and like the blue-eyed girl who awaited his parents’ return with persistence, because of their unwavering determination, they lingered in the world of Winter’s End. The consciousness of the world never gave up its efforts, allowing these outsiders to roam freely in the frozen world. The Winter’s End is irreversible, but what can be saved is its children. Saving them is saving the Winter’s End.
