Congratulations on Your Successful Escape

Chapter 36

Mo Yi arched his eyebrows. His general facial features were clear and smooth, and his smile made people subconsciously feel closer.

He seemed to be affected by his demeanor. The other person seemed to be less nervous, facial expression also relaxing.

Mo Yi’s manner was soft, “Your name is Wang Zezhi, right?” He remembered that during the team forming session on the first day of the game, the other person had briefly introduced himself.

Wang Zezhi nodded, somewhat surprised, as if he didn’t expect Mo Yi to actually remember his name.

“This isn’t your first time in the game, right?” Mo Yi smiled and continued to ask.

Wang Zezhi looked a little embarrassed, reached out his hand to nudge his glasses, and replied, “The third time.”

He calmed down and continued, “I made it through the first two times with enough time to spare, but during the last copy, I accidently opened a side mission. Thanks to the help of a senior, I was able to narrowly escape alive with great difficulty. The points store also opened … I know a little bit about the mechanics of this game too.”

Mo Yi raised his eyebrows with interest, waiting for him to continue.

Wang Zezhi unconsciously broke apart the black bread on the plate with his fingers, raised his eyes to look at Mo Yi, lips pursed, and said, “So, I can distinguish which people are really doing the actual work in the copy.”

Suddenly, Mo Yi’s shoulder sank.

He looked to his side, a little surprised, only to see Song Qi pressing down on his shoulder with his palm, entire body drawing closer — through the thin clothing, Mo Yi could almost feel the ice-cold temperature of the hollow of his palm.

Song Qi’s voice was a bit heavier than usual, “So you came here to ask to form a team?”

Mo Yi wrinkled his brows imperceptibly.

He didn’t expect that “Song Qi” would ask the question so pointedly, but also display such obvious hostility. What was going on with him?

Mo Yi couldn’t help but secretly get nervous: After all, the identity and objective of the other party were his greatest hidden dangers. If anything were to happen at this moment, the development of the matter would be beyond his scope of control.

Wang Zezhi, on the contrary, didn’t react much. He smiled and straightforwardly answered, “Yes, that’s right. I help you in this copy as much as possible, assisting you in completing the side mission. It can also be regarded as being mutually beneficial, ba.”

After speaking, Wang Zezhi’s gaze circled a little oddly over the pair. Then, lightly coughing, added, “Also … of course, as a modern person, I’m still very open minded.”

Mo Yi turned his head with a confused look: ???

—Wait, did you misunderstand something?

Song Qi’s facial expression wasn’t as cold and solemn as it was a moment ago. He let go of the palm on top of Mo Yi’s shoulder, and then bowed his head to fiddle with the bread on his plate with a serious face.

Mo Yi returned to his senses and smiled a little helplessly. “You misunderstood, we are just friends.”

Under Mo Yi’s gaze, which was like a spring breeze, Wang Zezhi was forced to nod his head, admitting that he had made a mistake. Then, with his eyes and nose lowered, he concentrated on eating the bread, never looking at Song Qi who had once again regained a low pressure.

A harmonious breakfast period always went by awfully quick.

Mo Yi returned the plate back to the serving table and turned around to leave.

The next second, his steps stopped in place. Mo Yi’s brows creased, quickly walking to the clock behind the serving table.

Just like the last time seeing it, this clock was diligently working, moment by moment. The only difference was that this time … it was moving backwards.

The second hand was little by little rotating backwards, appearing particularly magical.

Mo Yi tightly knitted his brows, quickly calculating in his mind, and abruptly stared blankly. This clock should have started going backwards at the same time he opened the side mission — It was just like a countdown.

In that case, what was going to happen at the end of the countdown?

Wang Zezhi’s voice came from behind, “Are you ready? It’s almost time for class.”

Mo Yi gave the clock one last puzzled glance before turning towards Song Qi and Wang Zezhi who were standing at the entrance of the dining room, replying as he walked, “I’ll be right there.”

Behind Mo Yi, the worn-out, crooked old clock was silently hanging on the wall. The jet-black metal case glowed with a cold light. The broken dial was still running, and the second hand was going counterclockwise bit by bit, appearing particularly strange.

After reaching the library, everyone was once again taken aback.

Just like the dining room, it had also changed beyond recognition.

The benches and long tables were neat and tidily arranged without a trace of dust on them. Every seat had a book spread out in front of it, as if there were still people sitting in them, studying.

Under the bright lights overhead, the bare floors and walls no longer looked unpleasant. Instead, it was somewhat warm.

However, in this game’s copy, such a change could only make everyone tremble with fear.

But, at least from the lessons learned from the dining room, everyone actually adapted quite quickly this time. It didn’t take a long time for the emotion of surprise to disappear from their faces, and they entered the room.

Only, the difference was that this time, everyone was more cautious, no longer walking all over the place. Instead, they found a small seat and sat, content with one’s lot while inwardly praying that nothing strange would happen again, stiffly waiting for the time to end.

Mo Yi looked around at the people who had survived the week and felt his mind clear up a little.

There were four people on Zhao Yicheng’s side. Two seniors and two newcomers. The newcomer who had abruptly questioned him violently before was among them.

The people on both sides were as different as the waters of the Jinghe and the Weihe, sitting quite far away with a bench in between, seeming rather eye-catching.

The newcomer who had once attacked Mo Yi seemed rather restless with anxiety. He was shaking his legs irritability. Although the temperature here was not high, his face was covered with fine beads of sweat. He reached out to touch his cheeks, subconsciously using his fingers to rub it. His skin was rubbed until there were light red marks.

Several of the other people didn’t look very good either. Everyone seemed to be scared by the strange atmosphere in the library. Each and every one’s state of mind appeared to not be attentive. Zhao Yicheng and Sun Xiaoyan had lowered their heads to whisper something. The facial features of the two people were hidden in the darkness, and it was almost impossible to see.

Mo Yi’s line of sight lightly swept over them without pausing in the slightest.

He turned to look at Wang Zezhi. “Stroll around?”

Wang Zezhi nodded and the three of them stood up one after another and began to look in the whole room for clues.

Zhao Yicheng and the others were not to be outdone. Although their complexions were still a little pale, they still followed after and stood up, resembling confused headless flies circling about the room, seemingly wanting to find clues that have still not been discovered.

Mo Yi took the lead to walk to the table where the small poem was once written.

The top of the wood grain table was clean and smooth, looking intact and brand new. The top didn’t have the slightest trace of having been engraved with a knife.

Mo Yi reached his hand under the table and searched.

It was absolutely empty.

Mo Yi straightened up, slowly wrinkling his brows. He quickly walked towards the inner library.

Tidy looking books were arranged on bookshelves which were untainted by even a speck of dust, neatly lined up in perfect order according to alphabetical order.

Mo Yi took out a book to browse in passing, only to see that it was a book of enlightenment that was rather popular at that time period. The interior had traces of having been flipped through by a person, however it could be seen that it was quite well protected, totally not like the last visit where they appeared old and dirty.

Suddenly, at this moment, there was cry of fear not far from behind him

Mo Yi was taken aback, hastily placed the book horizontally on top of the other books, then quickly turned around and walked to the place where the sound came from.

A newcomer who was a young girl was standing by a table with a pale face and was pointing a slightly trembling finger at a book spread out on the table, and shakily said, “I … I was trying to look for clues just now. The moment I turned my head, the pages of the book were being turned!”

Seeing that everyone wasn’t particularly convinced, an expression of wanting to cry appeared on her face. “I swear! Really! Before I turned my head just now, it really wasn’t on this page number!”

Mo Yi pursed his lips, not very interested, and walked back inside the library.

His action of reaching out for the book stopped.

The book he had just recently taken out and thumbed through now happened to be properly inserted on the top of the bookshelf.

Mo Yi withdrew his outstretched palm, lowered his eyes, countenance heavy, mood unable to be made out.

An unknown foreboding lingered on his fingertips and heart like a dense mist after a rain that would not dissipate.

He pursed his lips and said nothing.

— A whole morning of searching and practically ended up empty handed.

The whole room looked like it had been completely swept clean. All the clues, what had been there and what had not been discovered, seemed to have been entirely swept away, thoroughly disappearing. Even if everyone turned the whole room upside down, they still wouldn’t find anything new.

Sun Xiaoyan used a dust covered palm to wipe the sweat from her forehead, leaving behind a trace of dirt on her fair cheek.

.

She straightened her sore waist, turning her head, only to find that everyone was exhausted. Mo Yi was sitting upright on a bench, face calm, reading a book as if the matter did not concern him.

He was seen twirling the pages of the book with his long and slender fingers, and then slowly flipped to the next page. It was like sitting quietly in the library for years instead of being inside a copy of an escape game where danger lurked on every side.

A burst of unknown fire rose within Sun Xiaoyan’s heart. Ablaze with anger, she walked to Mo Yi’s side, and sarcastically said, “You opened the side mission, but the result is that you sit there by yourself doing nothing and let other people help you look for clues?”

Mo Yi’s face was heavy, as if he was still immersed in his own world.

After a while, he looked up.

His eyes were very dark in colour, and when he stared at people, for a moment, it was pitch-black like being submerged in a dark abyss. Sun Xiaoyan couldn’t help but be alarmed.

She listened as Mo Yi paused, face pensive, saying, “My concern is not that there are clues or no clues, but that the lack of clues is itself giving clues.”

…What, what, what, and what?

Sun Xiaoyan was taken aback.

At this moment, the dining bell rang. Not knowing whether or not it was an illusion, it seemed to sound more pleasant than before.

Although everyone still hadn’t given up, they all had no choice or option but to leave the library according to the timetable and walk towards the dining room.

The lunch was more plentiful this time.

Butter and honey were drizzled on golden roasted thighs, exuding an enchanting aroma. Crepes were piled layer upon layer on snow white plates, garnished with a glossy rich strawberry jam. There was pudding and apple pie for dessert.

Mo Yi and his party still sat to the side with ordinary black bread.

While everyone was eating, Mo Yi suddenly put down the small half of the black bread in his hand, raised his head and said, “Today’s afternoon free period, we’ll act separately.”

Wang Zezhi was stunned. “But…”

Mo Yi smiled, allowing no doubt, and interrupted him, “Only after I have shared the clues with you can you officially participate in the side mission. You know this, right ba?”

Wang Zezhi was silent for a while and nodded.

He understood what Mo Yi meant: He needed to prove his worth rather than sharing valuable information.

—Talking to smart people was simple.

A slight smiling expression spread from the corner of Mo Yi’s eyes.

At this moment, Song Qi, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly asked, “What are you going to do this afternoon?”

Mo Yi raised his head, thought about it seriously, and then earnestly said, “I’m going to find a rabbit.”

The author has something to say:

Mo Yi: I think we are just friends.

Song Qi: No, you don’t want to be. (smile)