Smiley City, game hall.
Of the more than one hundred surviving players, half stopped at the entrance of the mysterious phantom corridor and did not dare to step in easily.
The other half had already poured into the corridor.
They looked around and talked in low voices.
"What the hell is this place?"
"Is this a new trick in Smiley City?"
"Not really."
"It felt like watching a movie."
Some people even walked directly through the iron bars, entered the cell, and stood in front of the phantom people, but still failed to attract the other party's attention.
Gradually, many people began to realize...
The appearance of this corridor may be a bug.
Someone is trying to transform Smiley City.
The spatial distortion just now and the phantom display at this moment might all be bugs created accidentally by the other party.
Here comes the problem.
Are these phantoms fake, or simply accidental images generated by the collision of "data"?
Or did these phantoms at this moment actually exist somewhere in this world?
Looking at the faces in the cells that were so real that they gave them goosebumps, the players quickly came to a conclusion.
...I'm afraid it's the latter.
This also means that in the past, unknown to them, Smiley City may have already appeared.
There has long been a group of players who have been "kidnapped" by this strange world.
…
Lu Chenfei and his group noticed that Song Yang was standing still in front of them and walked over quickly.
When they saw the young man in the cell, they were stunned.
Lu Chenfei lowered his voice and asked, "...Is this place the Smiley Face City from four years ago?"
Song Yang looked at Xia Jing in the cell and said, "I'm afraid so."
Lu Chenfei frowned and looked around.
There is a corridor with about fifty cells.
These cells lock the players in and separate them.
In this kind of room, players seem to be unable to do anything other than sleeping.
This environment is too depressing.
They always say that Smiley City is very malicious towards players, but compared to this place four years ago, Smiley City is even friendly to their current group of players. It provides players with personal space and such a large game hall.
Lu Chenfei really found it hard to imagine how Xia Jing had survived alone in such a haunted place four years ago.
…
Song Yang took a step forward, passed through the iron bars, and entered the cell.
He came to the front of Phantom Xia Jing in silence.
The handsome young man was tilting his head, looking ahead with interest.
Song Yang turned his head following his gaze.
In the cell opposite, a middle-aged man was kneeling on the ground.
On the ground in front of the middle-aged man were a tie, a belt, and a pair of leather shoes.
He seemed to regard these three things as the numbers 1, 2, and 3 respectively, and was counting his troops among the three with a solemn and pious expression, as if he was performing some important prayer ceremony.
The scene looked weird and funny. As Xia Jing watched, his narrow eyes narrowed into a smile.
Song Yang turned around and looked at Xia Jing like this, and couldn't help but curl the corners of his lips.
He half-knelt down and glanced at Xia Jing.
When he entered the corridor just now, he noticed that those "players" had score numbers appearing on different parts of their bodies.
But there was no trace of any part of Phantom Xia Jing's exposed body.
"Are you able to transfer the points to your soul at this stage?" Song Yang said softly to the young man in front of him.
Phantom Xia Jing naturally couldn't answer him.
The handsome young man seemed to sense something and slowly sat up straight.
He looked outside the cell with a calmer yet sharper gaze.
Song Yang knew very well that this was the look Xia Jing showed when he was waiting for his prey to appear.
He chuckled and said, "As expected of you, Xia Xia."
The next second, there was a cry of surprise from the corridor outside.
It seemed like something strange happened suddenly, scaring everyone.
Phantom Xia Jing stood up and walked towards the cell door with some excitement.
Song Yang also stood up.
He stood beside the phantom Xia Jing and raised his head just like Lu Chenfei and the others outside.
In this corridor, a rotating holographic text suddenly popped up every five meters.
--film.
"Shadow?" Lu Chenfei asked suspiciously, "Is this the name of a dungeon?"
Soon, his guess was overturned.
Under the tense gazes of all the phantom men and the puzzled eyes of all the players at this moment, the huge word "Shadow" rotated for a few seconds and then disappeared on the spot.
The text that replaced it is -
"Today's three copies are:"
"1. Supernova (0/11)
2. Island of Eyes (0/11)
3. Wandering Light (0/13)
"Clearing Dungeon 1 earns you 15 points, clearing Dungeon 2 earns you 20 points, and clearing Dungeon 3 earns you 10 points."
"Players who wish to enter the dungeon, please recite the dungeon number silently in your mind."
"Remember, you can leave Shadow City once you accumulate 5,000 points!"
After these lines of words flashed one by one, the corridor immediately became noisy.
The phantoms in the cells were calling out to each other.
"Hey, does anyone want to participate in these three dungeons today?"
"Lao Feng, are you going out today? If you come in, I'll go with you!"
"The points for clearing Dungeon 2 are 20? That's a lot! This dungeon must be very difficult!"
Hearing these chattering sounds, the players were all shocked.
The first thing they noticed was of course the copy of "Isle of Eyes".
"Isn't 'Isle of Eyes' the first four-star dungeon that opened yesterday?"
"20 points for clearing a level is considered a lot?! The maximum points for clearing a four-star dungeon here are 80!"
Others noticed more information.
"Shadow City? So 'Shadow' is the real name of the former Smiley City?"
"Can we leave this place if we meet 5,000 points? Their requirements are much lower than ours!"
"Are you stupid? Their clearance scores are so much lower than ours!"
There is no star classification, only different clearance score settings.
Without a holographic screen, players have to communicate by shouting.
There also seems to be no monster props.
Once the first groups of players were formed, they disappeared into their own rooms.
The words "Copy No. 1 in progress" popped up in the corridor.
Song Yang quickly determined that in the "Shadow City", players could only obtain props after entering the dungeon.
It is impossible to not give any props at all, and most players cannot kill monsters with their bare hands.
What's more, in the copy of "How to Kill Him", he and Xia Jing did find two shovels that met the specifications of Smiley City four years ago.
Song Yang turned his head again to look at the phantom Xia Jing.
Phantom Xia Jing doesn't seem to have any intention of entering any copy for the time being.
Based on the behavior of the middle-aged man in the cell opposite who had selected the numbers "1", "2" and "3" in advance, Song Yang could basically infer that there were probably only three copies of "Shadow City" every day.
Once three copies are completed by players, no more copies will be generated on the same day.
Given Xia Jing's personality, would he choose to stand by and watch?
No way.
This young man will eventually enter a certain copy.
But at this moment, Phantom Xia Jing seemed to be waiting for someone.
Five minutes later, the holographic text in the corridor changed again.
"Instance 3 is in progress."
"Instance 1 has been closed."
Jia Qing was surprised. "Only five minutes have passed, and Dungeon 1 is already closed? Is this dungeon too easy, or is the flow of time in these dungeons four years ago so different from the real world?"
Feng Shi frowned: "It should be the latter... because copy number 1 doesn't look simple."
——Of the eleven players who disappeared from the cell after entering copy No. 1, four have returned to the cell.
They were all sweating profusely and kneeling on the ground with pale faces, their faces full of relief at having survived the disaster.
The seven who did not return must have died in the copy.
11 dead and 7 dead, how could this be a simple copy?
Jia Qing swallowed.
On the side, Song Yang noticed that some of the cells that were originally empty began to have people appear one after another.
Players in Shadow City may be similar to those in Smile City in this respect. They can all freely choose the time to log in.
And suddenly, the phantom Xia Jing looked diagonally across.
His goal seemed to finally appear.
Song Yang looked over and his pupils suddenly contracted.
A tall, thin man with a slightly hunched back appeared in the room.
His hair covered his eyes. He raised his eyes and looked outside cautiously.
Those timid eyes, yet flashing with a strange light, made him look like a rat living in a dark corner.
Noticing Xia Jing, he opened his mouth and seemed very excited: "Xia Jing, you, you are here."
Phantom Xia Jing narrowed his eyes and smiled: "Good evening, Jiang Ying."
…
Of course, the group that the more than one hundred players were most concerned about at this time was Song Yang and Lu Chenfei.
They all know that these people are the top players.
Even the person who ranks first in the player points ranking is probably between Song Yang and Lu Chenfei.
Just now, when someone noticed that Song Yang and the others stopped at the door of a cell, they became curious, but because they were not familiar with Song Yang and the others, they were embarrassed to get close.
But at this moment, someone noticed that something seemed to be happening over there, and finally couldn't help but walk over.
It wasn't until they saw the phantom of Xia Jing that they exclaimed in surprise.
"...Isn't this the beautiful manager of the safe house?"
"Why is he here?"
"...He was also a player of Shadow City in the past?!"
Many people's expressions changed slightly, and many things instantly came to their minds.
At this point, Song Yang had no way to prevent others from discovering the secret.
The conversation between Phantom Xia Jing and Phantom Jiang Ying continues.
Phantom Jiang Ying pointed to the lines of holographic text rotating in the corridor and said to Xia Jing, "Only copy No. 2 is left... Xia Jing, are you still planning to go in tonight?"
Phantom Xia Jing put his hands behind his back.
He smiled at Jiang Ying: "Of course, but the number of people in copy No. 2 has not been full yet, I'm still waiting."
Jiang Ying rubbed his fingers and blurted out, "Then, I'll go in with you."
Xia Jing paused.
Then, his smile deepened.
The handsome young man opened his lips slightly and uttered two meaningful words: "Okay."
Song Yang glanced at Xia Jing sensitively.
Xia Jing was clearly waiting for Jiang Ying to come online, but Jiang Ying didn't seem to realize it.
Of course, Song Yang would not think that Xia Jing stayed here to wait for people just to take care of Jiang Ying.
He quickly thought of—
——Could it be that Xia Jing had already realized the strangeness of Jiang Ying at this time?
This young man has already locked onto the target at this time?
...Although he had long known that Xia Jing was shockingly smart, at this moment, Song Yang was still amazed by this guy.
Diagonally across from him, Jiang Ying, who had made an appointment with Xia Jing, excitedly clenched his fists and quietly took a step back.
He retreated into the shadows.
At this moment, many players were looking at him and Xia Jing suspiciously.
Therefore, many people saw Jiang Ying raising his right hand.
He stared at the inside of his right arm, and a second later, the number "986" appeared on that piece of skin.
Someone exclaimed in astonishment: "He managed to... conjure up the numbers?!"
"Wait, could it be that he transferred this number from another part of his body? There should be someone who can do something like this, right?"
"It doesn't make sense. We usually cover up or move our points numbers to prevent others from seeing them. But why did he move them to his right arm? It's such a conspicuous place!"
"This guy is clearly disguising himself. He wants to pretend to be a weak person!"
Soon, an even stranger scene occurred.
Jiang Ying stared at the number "986" and never took his eyes off it.
Then, the number became "988", then "989"... until it became "1002". Jiang Ying seemed to have finally adjusted to a "correct" number, breathed a sigh of relief, and put down his arms.
In the corridor, all the players who witnessed this scene were shocked.
"Who on earth is this person...what's going on?!"
Lu Chenfei's face darkened. He asked Song Yang, "What did Xia Jing call this guy just now?!"
Song Yang said slowly: "...Jiangying."
Jiangying.
film.
Countless players changed their expressions.
They quickly gathered at the door of Jiang Ying's cell, their faces becoming extremely terrifying.
"Points are nothing but toys to him. He can make them as big or small as he wants. What player can do such a thing?!"
"No one can do this, this guy's identity is wrong!"
"Is he a mutant?!"
"It's impossible for a superpower to change the points, unless his superpower can directly create the entire Smiley City or Shadow City. In that case, he is the boss here, and of course he can do whatever he wants!"
At this point, everyone fell silent.
Then, someone gnashed their teeth and said, "...You're not going to tell me that this guy is the culprit behind all this?!"
…
In the dark chaotic world.
A house was quietly suspended in it.
The light from inside the house was projected out through the window, but it could not reach more than half a meter before being completely swallowed up by the darkness.
A figure stood by the window.
Xia Jing stared out the window, and the darkness outside the window also stared back at him.
At this moment, time seemed to disappear from here, everything solidified and turned into a permanent freeze-frame picture.
I don't know how long it took.
Xia Jing seemed to suddenly sense something, raised his hand and stroked his face.
Tuanzi stood up in panic, walked to Xia Jing, looked up at him worriedly, and whimpered softly.
Xia Jing said thoughtfully: "...are you going to start moving again?"
…
Game lobby.
The players started to stir.
They angrily broke into Jiang Ying's cell and surrounded the phantom.
Someone couldn't help but reach out, but their hand went straight through Jiang Ying's body and they didn't catch anything.
"Where is this man now? Is he still alive?"
"Since Smiley City still exists, it means this person is still alive!"
"What about the safe house manager? Is there a problem with his identity?"
"No, I think the store manager looks like he's planning to deal with Jiang Ying. The store manager and Jiang Ying are probably not from the same camp!"
"But why did the store manager end up like this... Could it be that Jiang Ying did something to the store manager that made him unable to leave Smiley Face City?"
"Will we end up like the beautiful store manager, stuck here forever, transformed into something neither human nor monster?!"
"Find this Jiang Ying and kill him!"
"Hey, Jiang Ying, you are here now, right? Come out if you have the guts!"
…
When the players were filled with rage, the ground beneath their feet suddenly began to shake again.
Everyone was shocked.
The phantoms around him began to dissipate like smoke.
The corridor disappeared, the iron bars disappeared, and the phantom players disappeared.
Xia Jing disappeared, and Jiang Ying also disappeared.
Amidst screams, the vortex appeared in the game hall again.
——The people behind Smiley City seem to have started taking action again!
This time, the vortex is even larger than the last one, and its destructive power is even more terrifying!
Everything turned into afterimages, and more than a hundred players were instantly lifted into the void and caught in the wind!
A player was swept to the edge of the vortex. He screamed for help in fear, but in the blink of an eye he was torn into pieces by the wind blades, and blood splattered everywhere.
The terrifying scene sent chills down the spines of countless players.
Song Yang's face darkened. He grabbed Jia Qing and Feng Shi in the wind and said sternly, "Just like before, everyone hold on to the people around you!"
Lu Chenfei, Li Mian, Fei Shengxiao, Bian Ya, You Ye, Sun Qianqian, Tang Yi, Zheng Shu——
They reached out and grabbed each other tightly.
Players were constantly being swept away by the wind and cut into pieces.
Feng Shi discovered a pattern and said into the fierce wind, "Many of those swept away were those who didn't even make it to the four-star dungeon!"
Jia Qing shouted in panic, "Then those of us who have entered the four-star dungeon won't die, right?!"
The moment he finished speaking, a bloody mark was cut on Song Yang's face by the wind blade.
——I'm afraid that once all the players who have never entered the four-star dungeon are killed, it will be their turn!
what to do?
What should they do?
More than a hundred players were like fish on a chopping block.
The enemy seemed to be standing right in front of them, holding a knife, leisurely planning how to kill them.
But they couldn't see or touch each other, and could only wait in fear for the invisible knife to chop their necks!
The wind blades scraped against Song Yang's body one by one, and more and more bloodstains appeared on his body. The others were the same as him.
Someone was roaring at the top of his lungs, and everyone was almost unable to hold on any longer!
Song Yang clenched his teeth.
Is there really no way?
He closed his eyes and saw Xia Jing's figure in his mind.
The young man stared at him as always and reminded him in a gentle voice: "Song Yang, calm down."
Song Yang's heart was beating heavily.
He opened his eyes, his dark pupils calm.
——No, there must be a way.
The person behind Smiley City today is most likely still a person with superpowers. People with superpowers are also human, and human abilities are limited.
It is impossible for humans to become gods and become invulnerable.
Thinking of this, an idea flashed through Song Yang's mind.
He said, "Take out the space bag and blow it up. This vortex is caused by the spatial distortion of Smiley City. If you want to disrupt it, you need to use the same method!"
The distorted space caused by the explosion of the space bag may interfere with this space vortex.
After realizing this, Lu Chenfei and the others immediately took out the space bag.
They threw it hard towards the edge of the vortex, where the wind blade flashed!
The space bag was caught in the wind blade and shattered in an instant.
And right at that place, the wind blade disappeared!
It works, this method works!
When the other players saw this, they all followed their example and threw their space bags out one by one.
The sounds of "bang", "bang", and "bang" rang out everywhere, and all the wind blades were broken up!
At a certain moment, all the players fell from the vortex and screamed!
They fell straight onto an invisible "ground" and were knocked to the ground.
Immediately afterwards, the "space" above pressed down heavily, making it impossible for them to straighten their backs or raise their heads.
Lu Chenfei gritted his teeth and said, "Damn... the space in this place... is completely messed up! What on earth do you want... to do!"
Song Yang supported himself on the ground with both hands.
He exerted so much force in his arms that veins popped out.
He panted and slowly raised his upper body.
Drops of blood slid down his face and fell down.
He couldn't lift his head and couldn't see what was around him.
His vision was limited to the tiny corner in front of him.
There was darkness in front, below, and on both sides.
Song Yang's black eyes turned rapidly, and he quickly made a judgment in his mind.
Is this the chaotic zone that Xia Jing mentioned?
Then the safe house and Xia Jing——
Just as this thought came to mind, a pair of feet suddenly appeared in Song Yang's sight.
Someone came out of the darkness.
The other party seemed to be completely unaffected by the pressure of the space above him. With a completely different posture from all of them, he walked step by step to Song Yang and stopped.
Then, he bent down, stretched out his hand, and gently pressed Song Yang's shoulder.
Song Yang stilled his body.
The familiar breath made his voice hoarse: "...Xia Xia?"
...What's going on? Isn't it impossible for Xia Jing to open the door of the safe house and step into the chaos?
Xia Jing's voice fell from above his head, gentle and calm.
"You all should go to the safe house and take shelter first."
The next second, everyone's vision changed.
They screamed and were dragged to a brightly lit place - it was a safe house!
The pressure of gravity suddenly disappeared, and more than a hundred players were finally able to breathe.
They lay on the ground, some groaning in pain, some crying.
Song Yang was helped up.
He held Xia Jing's arm and raised his head, and the scene in front of him made him suddenly freeze.
Xia Jing's body, like the entire safe house, was covered with cracks.