Chapter 1808: Chapter 1034: Sending You Home
Nishimura Yuna was like a punctured ball, head drooping as she followed behind Jiu Shan Sha Yue. She had originally wanted to explain something, but then felt there was no need—some things, the two of them understood without saying.
This was the most suffocating meal Nishimura Yuna had eaten in her life, and the situation only eased slightly after Yang Xiao returned.
"Mr. Yang, did you find a new lead?" On the way back, Sato Shouta asked.
"I did, but I’m not sure if it’s right or not. We’ll have to gamble on it." Yang Xiao’s voice sounded slightly unnatural.
Driving, Jiu Shan Sha Yue glanced at Yang Xiao through the rearview mirror and saw him turning his head to look out the window, only half of his profile left in view.
And Nishimura Yuna, who was also sitting in the back seat with Yang Xiao, looked as if she’d fallen into utter despair. Her head was slightly lowered, her eyes dull and murky, and she said nothing at all.
When the car stopped in front of the hotel, Yang Xiao raised his head and glanced at the sun. It was already sinking slowly toward the west; in at most two hours it would be dark. Some things—it was time to bring them to an end.
He first took Sato Shouta and Nishimura Yuna back to the hotel, returning to the room they had stayed in the previous night. The atmosphere in the room was somewhat oppressive now; even Sato Shouta, slow on the uptake, could feel it. That heavy air had already appeared on the way back.
"Mr. Yang, where’s Miss Xin Yuan, why didn’t she come with us?" Sato Shouta asked curiously.
Before Yang Xiao could answer, he noticed Nishimura Yuna sitting on the edge of the bed. Nishimura Yuna was lowering her head, her body trembling slightly, accompanied by forcibly suppressed sobs. This girl wasn’t stupid; she had already guessed what her ending would be.
But the more it was like this, the more stifled Yang Xiao felt inside, even if none of this had anything to do with him.
"Miss Xicun, you... why are you crying, don’t be like this, today we..."
While Sato Shouta was still trying to think of a way to comfort her, the door was pushed open. Jiu Shan Sha Yue walked in expressionlessly, carrying a black suitcase in her hand.
The instant he saw the suitcase clearly, Sato Shouta’s pupils contracted sharply. Then he turned to Yang Xiao with an expression of utter disbelief.
Yang Xiao instinctively avoided his gaze. That reaction made Sato Shouta’s heart plunge straight into an abyss, and he remembered Nishimura Yuna’s words.
"Mr. Yang, this isn’t real, right?" Sato Shouta forced out a smile, barely holding himself together. "You... you’re joking, you’re trying to scare us, right?"
"I know, I know—you’re worried we’ll leak things about Qingshui Cangjie and Heize Lin, right?"
"Don’t worry, we won’t. I won’t, and Miss Xicun... Miss Xicun won’t either. You two saved us, we would never betray you." Sato Shouta spoke faster and faster, as if anxious to prove his sincerity.
At this moment Nishimura Yuna could no longer hold back. She covered her face and began to cry out loud, tears pouring down like a breached dam. She didn’t beg for mercy, because she knew very clearly that these two in front of her would never change their minds.
"Do you tell him, or should I?" Jiu Shan Sha Yue put the suitcase on the floor and turned to look at Yang Xiao.
"Mr. Sato, I once told you I wanted to share a secret with you. Now... it’s time to reveal that secret." Yang Xiao summoned his courage and looked at Sato Shouta. The complexity and despair in the latter’s eyes stabbed straight into his heart. "You don’t need to be confused, and you don’t need to be afraid. Once I’m done, you’ll understand everything."
As he walked toward Sato Shouta, Yang Xiao casually pulled over a chair and sat down facing him. He lifted his head, his gaze pained yet firm. "Mr. Sato, you’re already dead. You, Miss Xicun, and the vast majority of people in this run, including Qingshui Cangjie and Heize Lin—you’re all dead. The you that exists now is only a wisp of obsession lingering in this Nightmare World."
"You died here a long time ago and were assimilated by this world. On this run, only a few of us are outsiders."
"Miss Xin Yuan and I have known each other for a while, and there are Tong Han and Beiyu Ye as well—we’ve been together from the start. We’re the only ones who are alive."
"Your original team had twelve people, but unfortunately you were wiped out. This run isn’t low difficulty, and there was too much internal conflict in your group, which caused a lot of unnecessary casualties."
"Miss Xicun, you’re a veteran player too. Think back—have you ever joined, or heard of, a Nightmare mission with sixteen participants?"
"And do you remember? When we disembarked, the snakehead said the headcount didn’t match. That was because we joined abruptly from the outside. That’s one of the flaws left in this world."
"Because it’s fake, it isn’t perfect. The Nightmare glitched when it tried to integrate everything."
"You’re already dead. The outside world no longer belongs to you. The only thing I can do is help you find release."
"Whether the mission succeeds or fails, you’ll die—because you’ve already died once." Yang Xiao tried to explain in as calm a tone as possible.
"We’re already dead..." Sato Shouta lowered his head and looked at his own body. Then he raised his hand, feeling the flow in every vein, the pulse of every muscle. It all felt so real, so distinct.
The next second, all the emotion Sato Shouta had been bottling up exploded. He grabbed Yang Xiao’s hand. "Mr. Yang, Mr. Yang, look at me. I’m not fake. I’m not dead. I’m alive. Look, look at my hand, look at my face!"
