Doll Survival Game - Chapter 133
The magician stood in front of the car where Luo Yiran was seated. He stared at Luo Yiran for a moment before stepping onto the vehicle and sitting beside him. He muttered to himself, “Hmm, I think you must be looking for me.”
Although it was true, Luo Yiran didn’t realize that the magician was right next to him. Earlier, due to being “corrected,” he had lost the ability to perceive the magician’s gaze.
Still, he knew the magician would definitely follow him.
“…”
Thinking back now, the words the magician had spoken on the seventh floor of Baige Tower seemed to carry a different meaning.
“No matter where you are, I will find you.”
“I will never let you leave.”
If that was the case, then the magician must be here.
Luo Yiran felt an unusual surge of confidence.
But.
Luo Yiran’s expression turned subtle. He still remembered how, back then, he had replied to the magician with a hint of deliberate provocation, knowing how difficult it was for the magician to reach his reality-
“Then I’ll wait for you.”
…Tsk.
Perhaps it was because there was no one else around, or perhaps it was due to the frustration caused by the person who designed this illusion, but Luo Yiran’s expressions were more varied than usual.
The magician extended his hand, brushing past Luo Yiran’s cheek. He looked at his own hand for a moment before withdrawing it.
Raising his eyes to gaze at Luo Yiran’s profile, the magician thought that his current expression seemed far more genuine than the ones he had while interacting with Xia Lang and the others. Perhaps, even before fully understanding what felt off, Luo Yiran’s subconscious had already sensed something was amiss.
After all, for Luo Yiran, the ability to perceive temperature and normal taste wasn’t the most important thing. The most crucial thing was sensing emotions.
This time, Luo Yiran’s ability to remain conscious might have something to do with this. His body clearly tasted the rich flavor of food, but he couldn’t sense the normal emotions that should accompany it.
“…”
The magician paused slightly.
Speaking of which, what kind of feeling is it to know what normal emotions are like but be unable to perceive them?
The magician stared at Luo Yiran’s furrowed profile.
-Especially since Luo Yiran was the type to overthink.
Qiu Qiu’s emotions had almost caused Luo Yiran to fall into them. At least for a moment, he must have been shaken by Qiu Qiu’s feelings.
And if one day, Luo Yiran truly and wholeheartedly felt someone else’s emotions toward him…
For someone who had always been on the receiving end, unable to give back, if forced into fairness under such an extremely unfair circumstance…
The magician lowered his gaze.
Beside him, Luo Yiran’s frown deepened. Suddenly, he stood up, his lips moving slightly.
The magician followed his movements with his eyes, and for some reason, he suddenly felt that Luo Yiran wanted to call out to him but refrained from doing so, knowing that speaking aloud would trigger a “correction.”
Hmm, adorable.
He really wanted to appear before him, but it wasn’t possible. They had only managed to enter because of Dead Woman’s pass.
And once inside, they were set into this state.
However.
The magician looked at the world in front of him, manipulated by Luo Yiran-this illusion didn’t contain anything that could directly threaten life.
…Except for players encountering natural disasters or accidents within the illusion and then believing they would die because of it. If they truly accepted the idea of their own death, then actual death would follow.
But for Luo Yiran, who had already uncovered the truth about how this world was constructed, the concept of death had become almost unbelievable to him.
Thus, this illusion posed no threat to Luo Yiran anymore.
The magician felt a subtle sense of joy at Luo Yiran’s discovery of the truth, but he also realized that the reduced danger of the truth made the possibility of breaking the illusion and leaving…
Even lower.
Although this instance was labeled as a cooperative instance, ninety percent of it was orchestrated by Dead Woman.
Baige Tower was originally an independent instance, belonging to Dead Woman.
But now it had become part of another instance, which reduced the difficulty of Baige Tower itself.
The magician watched as Luo Yiran’s frown deepened.
However, the details of this instance were only revealed to him after Luo Yiran and the others entered the illusion.
It was Dead Woman who told him.
Though he truly didn’t understand Dead Woman, before the minor instance, he only knew that she was the only person in “World Human” who had experienced a life that was “ordinary and mundane.”
She was completely out of place with all the players and bosses, except for Demon, who often visited her and added some twists to her instances.
And the reason he was able to learn about this was because of that monster communicator. After Luo Yiran and the others entered the illusion, Demon had openly criticized Dead Woman for discarding the gift he had given her.
Unable to bear the noise, Dead Woman asked for it back.
The magician’s condition for returning the monster communicator was learning about this instance.
According to Dead Woman, Baige Tower was indeed just a full-immersion game. The game was called Monster World and told a story of escape.
Within this full-immersion game, there were other locations similar to Baige Tower, but only Luo Yiran and his group were unaware that Baige Tower was part of a full-immersion game. They were separated from other players.
And their tasks were different.
Luo Yiran and his group’s true task was [Escape the Basement].
And the basement was located in the so-called “reality” where Xia Lang currently was.
It was also the place where they entered Monster World.
As for Xia Lang, whether he was fortunate or unfortunate remained unclear.
His first logout was due to an accident, but based on what Dead Woman had said, staying awake in the basement wasn’t safe at all.
“……”
The magician truly disliked Xia Lang, so he quickly withdrew his thoughts.
The main issue was the young master.
The magician watched as Luo Yiran stood up. After a two-second pause, he jumped off the car. The magician followed Luo Yiran, and as he walked up beside him, he heard the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves.
He turned his head and saw the entire world come alive again.
Car horns, voices, light and shadow, the movement of the wind.
In an instant, the world, which had been so silent it felt deserted, erupted into noise. The sense of the mundane world came rushing back all at once.
“……” The magician placed a hand on his chest.
Luo Yiran was truly remarkable. Even though the principles were clear, being able to manipulate this world so effortlessly, to distinguish between truth and illusion with such clarity-it was truly impressive.
The magician’s crystalline eyes curved slightly.
But. The magician watched as Luo Yiran, amidst the crowd, put on a smile again and entered a shop. -Young master, have you noticed that in this illusion, nothing truly fatal has occurred so far?
If you don’t imagine or believe in danger, you can continue to live peacefully.
“Forever.”
Until you naturally grow old, or until you find a reason to convince yourself of immortality, and then “forever” “live on.”
You could call it fake, but from another perspective, what you believe in could also be real. And living out a lifetime like this might not be so bad.
After all, reality is far less accommodating than this place.
Moreover, the chances of leaving here are incredibly slim… even slimmer than the chance of the young master falling in love with him.
The magician thought this with an impassive expression.
Then he sighed softly.
The main issue was that the illusion itself was designed to confine, not to take lives. Moreover, it used “danger” to reinforce a more secure “confinement.” The system had determined that this illusion posed no “danger,” so the possibility of escape was effectively blocked.
The Demon had once said that this was the gentlest setting in “World Human.”
The magician watched as Luo Yiran came out carrying some noodles. After walking a short distance, Luo Yiran’s expression began to take on a slightly terrifying edge.
But this setting, for him and Luo Yiran, was anything but gentle.
The magician reached out and mimed patting Luo Yiran’s head in the void.
The Dead Woman hadn’t told him how to escape the illusion. Not that it would have mattered, as he couldn’t communicate it anyway.
The magician watched as Luo Yiran’s expression grew increasingly grim. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him.
Perhaps he was worried about Xia Lang.
“……” The magician clicked his tongue.
Luo Yiran truly couldn’t find a way out. The magician watched as the days passed, and as Luo Yiran began to tinker with this world.
He imagined all sorts of bizarre creatures wandering this world and even imagined himself re-entering “World Human.”
But as he had predicted, everything became dull.
Luo Yiran knew there had to be a way out.
But he couldn’t find it.
Or rather, there was no way to find it.
Luo Yiran sat on the rooftop of the school. A massive dragon coiled around the building beneath him, yet no one cast a strange glance his way.
More than three months had passed. He had tried countless methods but still couldn’t leave.
Tiny green tracking blips bounced around him, then lined up and jumped off the building one by one.
Imagination and belief were the keys to construction. Luo Yiran looked down at the schoolyard, where Xia Lang was walking with Via.
Luo Yiran understood Xia Lang’s current state. It was the state Xia Lang longed for.
Happiness and ease.
“Ah-” Luo Yiran relaxed and fell backward, landing on a fluffy white ball. He gazed at the fiery red birds flying across the sky.
This was the world he had envisioned and invested his belief in. Naturally, there was no way to leave-unless…
He stopped “thinking.”
But that was impossible. Humans think even in their dreams.
Even if one doesn’t actively think, the brain will. That’s what daydreaming is.
Unless he died.
But Luo Yiran had a very strong intuition that if he sought death, he would truly die.
“……”
He wanted to curse.
Luo Yiran stared at the sky with a blank expression. -What a godforsaken place.
He tried to think of any other clues. It was impossible for there to be no flaws. Also, the flow of time here should differ from the outside world. If it were the same, then he had already been here for over three months.
Though that wasn’t entirely impossible, given that this illusion was designed to trap…
Crack-
Crack? What was that crack?
Luo Yiran froze. He tilted his head upward.
And then he saw the sky splitting apart. Sticky green goo seeped through the cracks.
…What was that?
The strange creatures around him began to vanish. Luo Yiran lowered his head and watched as the dragon coiled around the school building disappeared. At the same time, his peripheral vision caught something outside his dormitory.
His gaze paused.
Outside their small window, he saw a sea of red roses.
