bookrebus Chapter 75: Is the game fun?
Chapter 75: Is the game fun?
"Mr. Xu, Mr. Xu..."
"Mr. Xu, wake up..."
The incessant noise around him made Xu Zhang frown, and he opened his eyes impatiently.
What comes into view is an old, unfamiliar ceiling.
This isn't his home... then this is—
Terrifying memories suddenly resurfaced: Xiao Fang, sitting blankly on the sofa watching TV in the middle of the night, was suddenly shown a terrifying program on a TV that wasn't plugged in and had no signal; Xiao Fang's face and voice suddenly changed; the terrifying figure of a woman in red chasing after him...
"what!"
Xu Zhang sat up abruptly and immediately looked around.
After a long while, he let out a heavy sigh.
That's great, he's still in the house, and he's still on the bed, covered with a thin blanket.
The sky outside the window was already fully bright.
Is this... a whole night has passed?
Could it be that... everything that happened to him last night was just a dream?
"Mr. Xu, are you alright?"
A cautious voice came from the side. It seemed that his sudden movements had startled someone. When Xu Zhang turned his head to look, Xiao Fang looked very flustered.
By the way, Xiao Fang...
Thinking that it was Xiao Fang who had scared him half to death last night, Xu Zhang couldn't help but carefully examine Xiao Fang from head to toe, trying to see something out of him.
Only when Xiao Fang's expression grew increasingly uneasy did he slowly speak: "Xiao Fang..."
"How did you sleep last night?"
"Huh?" Xiao Fang was taken aback, as if she didn't know why the topic had jumped to him. After a moment of reaction, she replied, still confused, "I slept...slept quite well, Mr. Xu..."
"Did you have any dreams?" Xu Zhang pressed on, unwilling to give up.
"N-nothing..." Xiao Fang's tone grew increasingly trembling. "Mr. Xu,...something must have happened?"
From the moment Xiao Fang began to speak, Xu Zhang kept a close eye on Xiao Fang's expression; only after confirming that Xiao Fang was not lying did he mercifully remove his gaze from Xiao Fang, who was becoming increasingly frightened.
It seems... what happened to him last night was indeed a dream.
What bad luck...
Xu Zhang cursed inwardly.
I don't know what the guy in red was thinking. Setting a random sleep time in the game is one thing, but instead of letting players relax and rest, this sleep time also arranged such a terrifying dream! He felt even more tired after waking up!
This is utterly upside down!
While inwardly cursing the woman in red for causing trouble, Xu Zhang withdrew his gaze, opened the game panel, and thought, "Nothing much..."
"I just realized I have some things to take care of, so I need to log out of the game first."
"Oh, really?"
Xu Zhang grunted in agreement, found the "Exit Game" button on the game panel, and was about to press it when he suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, right, this is for you..." He took a black watch off his wrist.
This is a copy of the software they managed to bring in by exploiting a game vulnerability, disguised as a decorative item.
Xu Zhang handed the watch aside without looking up. "Here you go. I won't be able to re-enter (this game) after I log out, so you guys will handle the code copying."
A hand took the black watch.
"Okay, Mr. Xu."
"Then I'll quit the game."
As he spoke, Xu Zhang reached out and pressed the "Exit Game" button.
one second.
two seconds.
three seconds.
……
Ten seconds had passed, and he was still sitting in the same spot, still sitting on the bed in the cramped little room.
How could this happen?!
Xu Zhang stared in disbelief, his heart pounding uncontrollably.
Is it stuck?
He tried to close the game interface, and it closed very smoothly; he then tried to pull the game interface back up, and it appeared very smoothly.
There was no freeze, not even the slightest delay.
Is there another bug?!
Xu Zhang, his face deathly pale, clicked the "Exit Game" button on the game interface faster and faster, with increasing force; if a camera were filming him at this moment, it would appear as if he were going crazy over thin air.
Why?!
Why can't he exit the game?!
Didn't he already escape that terrifying nightmare from yesterday?!
His heart was pounding in his ears, making Xu Zhang's vision go black.
"No...no...no, it's not like that, it's not true..." He muttered incoherently, his mind a complete mess, utterly clueless about what to do.
Yes, that's right!
Xu Zhang suddenly remembered that unlike last night, he wasn't alone now! Xiao Fang! Xiao Fang was right next to him! He could ask Xiao Fang to try logging out of the game! To see if it was a problem with the game or a bug in his account!
"Xiao Fang, try it quickly and see if you can quit—Xiao, Xiao Fang?"
His words trailed off, Xu Zhang's voice trembling almost imperceptibly: "Little Fang, what's wrong?"
Xiao Fang didn't say anything.
He simply stood quietly by the bed, looking at Xu Zhang with a strange smile.
Xu Zhang felt as if all the blood in his body had frozen.
That smile, that smile… he felt like he'd seen it before! Right now, right now—
As if considerately wanting to help Xu Zhang verify his thoughts, Xiao Fang, who had been quiet all along, suddenly spoke up at this moment: "Mr. Xu, what's wrong?"
His voice still carried the lingering laughter, but Xu Zhang felt a sudden, intense dizziness—
Because of the sound coming from Xiao Fang's mouth...
It's a female voice.
It was still Xiao Fang's face and body, but "he" now exuded a completely unfamiliar and chilling aura.
A thick, chilling fear climbed onto his skin, seeping into his bones bit by bit, and finally turned into icy despair. For the first time, Xu Zhang realized that when a person is in extreme fear, they are actually unable to react at all.
He opened his mouth, but found that he couldn't make a sound. His throat felt like it was filled with lead, heavy and he couldn't utter a single word.
"Exit the game?"
The female voice continued, and even Xiao Fang's smile seemed to deepen slightly, "Why do you want to quit the game?"
"Aren't games fun?"
"Mr. Xu?"
hum-
The string in Xu Zhang's mind, stretched to its limit, finally snapped.
His eyes rolled upwards, like a puppet whose strings had been suddenly pulled out, the last bit of strength drained from his body. He fell straight backwards with a thud, his head hitting the hard wooden bed, and he completely lost consciousness.