Song Gui’s tone was calm, and the smile on his face was as usual, indistinguishable from his everyday demeanor. However, his words left Lu Chu deeply shocked.
Lu Chu wanted to ask more questions, but the time on his wristband had run out. Before Song Gui pushed him through the door, he only had time to hear Song Gui’s last words: “Live well, I’ll be waiting for you to come back next time, then tell me who you are and what you’ve been through.”
Back in the white space where he was alone, Lu Chu still recalled Song Gui’s words.
Song Gui had seen him before.
Or rather, Song Gui had seen another version of him.
Lu Chu thought about the rules—each player could only enter the same “round” once, but different players could go through the same “round.”
The clues for tasks in these identical “rounds” were the same. Therefore, the task environments and the events that would happen inside were naturally the same. When a “round” ended, it often meant that this “round” was on the verge of collapse. The “rules” did not recycle these “rounds” but created countless identical worlds, allowing the creatures inside to live and develop along the same life trajectories, waiting for players to arrive and then descend into chaos and destruction.
One collapses and is abandoned.
Another “Lu Chu” could be understood as him living in a parallel universe.
Lu Chu had once wondered if there were countless versions of himself.
He had also imagined more than once what kind of lives and futures those people named “Lu Chu” were experiencing, but he never expected that someone who had encountered another “Lu Chu” was right beside him.
With this understanding, Lu Chu could also comprehend why Song Gui, upon meeting him for the first time, kept talking to him despite not knowing him well. Later, Song Gui even clung to him, wanting to do tasks together. During tasks, Song Gui would frequently cast probing glances at him—glances that Lu Chu, being particularly sensitive, could always feel.
It turned out that Song Gui knew his secret.
Imagine seeing an NPC, who should be quietly awaiting death in the “round,” appearing before you and accepting and completing tasks like a normal player. Anyone would think there must be something extraordinary about him that allowed him to escape the original path and survive the preset doom.
Lu Chu didn’t know what was special about him, but he knew that his survival must have something to do with 7. Moreover, Lu Chu had a vague feeling that his parents must have done something for him.
According to Song Gui, he should have lived a normal life, with healthy eyes, good health, and parents alive, indistinguishable from others. When the city fell into a state of sensory deprivation, he should have been consumed by intense panic and then died in some unknown corner.
But in reality, Lu Chu was born blind and different from normal people since childhood. He was already accustomed to darkness. Under the deliberate guidance and education of his parents, he learned the knowledge and literacy of normal people, mastered many basic life skills, and even got used to walking the town roads weekly with a radish. All these seemed like preparations, helping him escape the frenzied town during the sensory deprivation and later, after his eyes recovered and he became a player.
And his loving parents, who had always invisibly guided him, suddenly fell ill and died when he was in his teens, repeatedly telling him before their death—to survive.
Did his parents really know something?
Lu Chu then thought of 7.
As a remover, perhaps 7 could answer some of his doubts.
After much contemplation, the most pressing matter now was to enter the “round” and meet 7.
Thinking of 7, Lu Chu naturally remembered his sudden kiss, causing his ears to blush again.
Shaking off his excessive thoughts, he walked towards the floating rectangular screen in the space, checking the single-player tasks displayed on it.
Having completed a multiplayer task, the difficulty of single-player tasks should logically be simpler for him, but Lu Chu still didn’t dare to let his guard down and choose a task casually. None of the games in the “round” were easy to complete, each fraught with deadly dangers. To survive, every step had to be taken with caution.
Although 7 knew these single-player tasks inside out, 7 was Lu Chu’s support, not an excuse for him to cower in fear and hide behind others.
Soon, Lu Chu’s gaze fell on one of the tasks.
“Requirement: Sever marriage ties
Clue: None
Hint: Bone corpse”
Bone corpse…
Lu Chu pondered, what was that?
It sounded like something related to ghosts or gods. Lu Chu revered but did not fear ghosts or gods. The few “rounds” he had experienced were all related to ghosts and gods. Given his sensitive sense of smell and hearing, he was particularly sharp when dealing with ghosts. Unconsciously, he leaned towards choosing this “round.”
With a decision made, Lu Chu no longer hesitated and made his choice directly.
A door appeared.
Familiar with the process, Lu Chu stepped through the door without any hesitation.
The next moment, Lu Chu felt a buzzing in his ears, as if someone was chattering incessantly.
Focusing his attention, he shook his head, gradually gathering his thoughts.
Looking around, he found himself sitting in the back row of a spacious lecture hall.
At the front, the calculus teacher was emphasizing the key points of limits and derivatives, repeatedly stressing that they were likely to be on the exam and urging students to pay attention if they didn’t want to fail.
The boy next to Lu Chu poked his arm with a pen, “Did you note down the exam points Liu Jiaqiang highlighted?”
Lu Chu turned to him, “Liu Jiaqiang?”
“Our calculus teacher!” The boy replied, then added, “Never mind, it’s understandable if you don’t remember. We’ve been sitting in the back row doing nothing but skipping classes. I bet you don’t even remember what our calculus teacher looks like.”
After speaking, the boy started to worry again, “Ah, what are we going to do about the finals?”
A boy in the row ahead, overhearing their conversation, turned around and laughed, “What’s there to worry about? Just one leap off the comprehensive building will solve all your worries.”
The boy next to Lu Chu hit him, “Go, leap yourself. I’m going to make sure I pass this exam with some cheat sheets. I don’t want to come back early for a retake.”
The boy in front lowered his voice, “Let me tell you, I’ve set up a discussion group and pulled in the class top student. They said if the exam monitoring is lax, they’ll pass us the answers…”
The other boy immediately got excited, “Quick, quick! Add me in too.” Turning to Lu Chu, he asked, “Want to join?”
Lu Chu was still dazed, and before he could respond, the two boys said, “You’re in!”
After two classes, Lu Chu finally figured out his current situation.
He was now a college student in the first semester of his freshman year, with finals coming up in a week. This calculus class was the last one, with the teacher highlighting exam points.
Lu Chu had never been to college, but under his parents’ guidance, he had learned what he needed. He hadn’t studied specific professional knowledge, but his parents had taught him the basics, like calculus.
Thus, listening to the conversation between the two boys, Lu Chu felt a strange sense of familiarity.
On the other hand, he thought about the university campus in the illusion earlier. Now, in this “round,” his identity was a college student. It felt like a fateful coincidence.
The boy next to Lu Chu was named Gao Yong, and the boy in front who talked to them was Tang Shizhe. They were both Lu Chu’s roommates. Most university dorms were four-person rooms with an upper bed and a lower desk. Lu Chu’s dorm was full with four people, but the fourth person was a social butterfly, currently sticking with his girlfriend in a corner.
Tang Shizhe sighed, “Being single is tough. Just freed from cramming for exams, now I need the comfort of love.”
Gao Yong replied mysteriously, “When are you going home?”
Tang Shizhe looked at him, “January 19th, three days after the exams.”
“That’s fine,” Gao Yong continued, “Let me tell you, there’s a joint event with the art school the day after the exams. The girls are all beautiful and classy… How about it, want to go?”
“Yes, yes!” Tang Shizhe quickly agreed, “Of course, remind me when the time comes.”
“Got it!” Gao Yong then turned to Lu Chu, “Want to join, bro?”
Still figuring out the situation of this “round,” Lu Chu replied, “I’ll see.”
Gao Yong put an arm around his shoulder, “Alright, I’ll ask you again after the exams.”
Lu Chu nodded.
After class, Lu Chu followed Gao Yong and the others to the cafeteria for lunch and then returned to the dorm.
They had no afternoon classes. Due to the upcoming exams, even slackers like Gao Yong and Tang Shizhe were trying to study in the library, despite probably not absorbing much. It was more a psychological comfort.
Lu Chu, however, stayed in the dorm, claiming he wasn’t feeling well.
Lu Chu sorted through the belongings of the original owner of this body to understand the current situation better.
Suddenly, a melodious ringtone sounded. Lu Chu paused and then looked at the vibrating phone on the desk.
He picked it up and saw “Mom” flashing on the screen. Pressing the answer button, he heard an elderly woman’s voice, “Hello, Xiao Chu?”
Lu Chu instinctively responded, “Yes, Mom.”
“Have you eaten?”
“Just did.”
“You said you bought a train ticket for the 18th to come home, right? Finally, the holidays are here. Come back soon. Your grandma’s been thinking about you… How’s your studying going…”
Lu Chu chatted with the body’s mother for a long time, smoothly extracting a lot of important information from the conversation.
