When the instance ended, the members of the four major guild were already waiting at the entrance.
The players who had entered the instance from within the game eventually all appeared there.
However, this was usually the choice of veteran players.
For new players, they would rather stay in the real world for as long as possible even if only for one more second. Some even upon leaving an instance for the first time, chose to give up their existing jobs and lives just to stay with their families.
After all, they could never be sure whether the moment of their death would be the moment they entered the next instance.
Veteran players, especially those who had joined guilds, preferred to enter the instance from within the game and eventually chose to return to it.
This was because what awaited them there were flowers and applause celebrating a successful clear. Many veteran players also chose not to return to the real world immediately but stayed in the game with their companions to review the instance plot and prepare for the next one.
But this time, what awaited them was not flowers and applause, but their guild’s medical team.
The collapse of the instance and the repetitive recovery of its storyline had caused severe damage to their souls. Except for Tao Shi, almost everyone lost consciousness the instant they appeared at the entrance.
Moreover, this time it was not only veteran players who appeared.
To be precise, everyone except Jiang Yan appeared here, including all players and real NPCs, as well as the corpses of the dead new players and Jian Hou, who had always entered the game from home.
It was as if they had all been vomited out here by the collapsing and rebooting game instance.
The moment they appeared, each guild quickly carried its members onto medical stretchers. During the process, some minor conflicts broke out, almost leading to a fight.
Following the barely conscious Tao Shi’s instruction, Jian Hou was taken away by Tao Shi and brought back to the Dawn Guild.
He did not know how long he had been unconscious, nor how difficult it was to repair a damaged soul.
When he finally woke up, he found himself lying in a capsule-shaped glass pod. Around his ears came the beeping of various instruments, and on the glass cover before his eyes, neon-colored text displayed various data about his body.
【Heart rate: 72 beats per minute】
【Blood pressure: systolic 90 mmHg, diastolic 60 mmHg】
【Abnormal data: elevated white blood cells / multiple ligament injuries】
【Vital signs: stable】
【Soul status: intact】
---
Jian Hou coughed a few times. His whole body felt as if it had been torn apart and reassembled. He wanted to call out, but the unfamiliar scene before him made him tense up.
He was inside a glass capsule. The limited view kept him from seeing everything clearly, but he could tell he was in a room with a distinctly cyberpunk look. From his years of watching movies and playing immersive games, he guessed it was some kind of high-tech medical room.
He tried to sit up, but the glass cover stopped him. He pushed at it, but it did not move at all.
Unease began to set in.
He did not understand what was happening. He did not know if he had been rescued after escaping the game, or captured by someone after leaving it, or maybe he had never escaped at all, and this was just another copy.
His thoughts spun wildly.
Should he call out? But who would come, human or something else?
Even if it was human, would they harm him?
Was he going to be sent to another experiment?
Other people... a lab...?
While Jian Hou’s mind raced, he heard a familiar voice outside the door.
"Has he woken up?"
Jian Hou froze. It was Tao Shi.
Hearing that familiar voice calmed him a little, though he still could not tell if he was inside a copy or not. Then a new, unfamiliar voice spoke.
"He is out of danger. He is not exactly a low-level player, but still counts as a newcomer. The recovery drained too much of his mental energy. Let him rest longer. And since the main system has run into a serious problem, no one will be entering any copies for now."
Realizing that he might be safe and possibly out of the copy, Jian Hou quietly let out a breath.
He turned over in the capsule, listening carefully to the conversation outside.
Tao Shi let out a cold laugh. "The main system? The main system is asleep?"
Silence followed.
Tao Shi said, "At this point, there is nothing left you cannot say, is there?"
The other man replied quietly, "God is about to fall."
Tao Shi snapped instantly. "God is about to fall! About to fall! Then what? He fell asleep? God fell asleep? He is still sleeping?!"
"How much do you really know? You are still keeping secrets from me?!"
"The Divine System malfunctioned! The main system fell asleep! Then who is maintaining the game world right now?!"
"You said before that Jiang Yan was the source of the instability. Because the game’s original energy core was lost, everything started collapsing. That is why we have been trapped in there all this time."
"Because Jiang Yan is the game’s original source of energy, everyone feels drawn to him."
"Because he was created by God himself, God wanted him to become the new successor and ruler of the game world. That is why he was given the Divine Godhood System."
"And then what? What is he? Tell me, what is he?!"
Hearing Jiang Yan’s name, Jian Hou froze.
At this point, he understood that Jiang Yan’s uniqueness was far beyond simply being favored by the main god and main system, but he could not make sense of anything Tao Shi said after that.
Outside the door, Tao Shi seemed to have completely lost control. There was a loud thud as something hit the wall.
"Twenty-five years! Boss! Twenty-five years!"
The unfamiliar voice hissed in pain, then spoke calmly. "Tao Shi, calm down."
"Calm down? How can I calm down? That damned copy can still suppress and manipulate human instincts and emotions! When I suddenly remembered that Jiang Yan is twenty-five this year, You expect me to not break down? You expect me to be okay?!"
"His being twenty-five does not mean anything. Your teacher Jian and he..."
Another thud came, followed by a sharp intake of breath.
"Do I still look like a child?!"
"...."
Then came a long silence.
After some time, Jian Hou heard Tao Shi’s trembling voice, choked with emotion.
"Do I still look like a child, boss? I am already forty-three..."
Hearing that, Jian Hou’s pupils contracted sharply
---
The sunlight poured softly into the living room through the white curtains, dust floating gently in the thin air.
On the grassy lawn outside, a golden retriever was playing with a ball by itself. Under the wisteria vines in the garden, a cat was lazily batting at a butterfly.
Jiang Yan sat on the sofa like a cat, holding a glass of matcha milkshake, his face calm and blank.
Everything was quiet and peaceful until a loud crash came from upstairs, shaking the chandelier.
Jiang Yan sighed and said, "Stop making a mess. Leave the housework for Mom and Dad when they come back. Let the housekeeper handle it."
Before he finished speaking, a huge black slime covered in monstrous tentacles slid down the stairs, dragging trails of slime behind it.
Its body was so large that it pressed against the carved handrails of the staircase, making them creak. When it finally squeezed through, the railing cracked with a snap, and the creature almost filled the entire living room.
Jiang Yan, still sitting on the sofa, was half-wrapped in the creature’s cool, soft body.
The tentacles held a rag, a feather duster, and a mop. In the corner, a cleaning robot lay flipped on the floor, its light flickering weakly.
The slime waved its tentacles with the cleaning tools, chirping softly as it worked.
Jiang Yan, surrounded by its cool and soft body, said calmly, "You don’t need to show off your housework skills now. What matters most is not being discovered by the neighbors or our friends."
From the moment they escaped the copy, Jiang Yan had clearly felt the giant that was holding him press something into his abdomen. When he woke up on the bed in his apartment, the slime had grown much larger.
For it, the apartment was far too small.
Fortunately, it could still live inside Jiang Yan’s abdomen. But now that it was bigger, it was far too heavy for him. It felt like carrying a heavy watermelon inside his stomach, making even walking difficult.
So Jiang Yan decided to bring it back to his parents’ home.
His parents lived in a mountainside villa. When they saw their son return safely, they were overjoyed and decided to take a one-month trip to celebrate.
Jiang Yan had never liked going out. Since his parents were at ease leaving, he stayed behind to take care of the house and the family pets.
He did not mind. In fact, that was exactly what he wanted. With his parents away, the villa was large enough to house Yu Xiu.
Before leaving, his mother had asked several times, "You’re alone here. Can you really take care of Fangshan and Xiaomei?"
Fangshan was the family dog, and Xiaomei was the cat.
"Jian Hou will stay with me," Jiang Yan said.
His mother seemed relieved and said, "That’s good. But don’t let him ruin your father’s plants in the yard. Eat on time, follow Auntie’s schedule, and don’t make a mess at home."
Afterward, she called Jian Hou’s parents to let them know, then left for the airport with her luggage.
However, during the following nine days, Jiang Yan never saw Jian Hou.
Or rather, he could not reach him at all. Not only Jian Hou, but even Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng too.
Worried that they were still trapped in the game or had run into trouble, Jiang Yan tried to enter the game again.
But when he opened the interface, there was only one line of glowing red text.
【Login interface under maintenance, please try again later...】
Jiang Yan was silent.
At that moment, he realized that maybe it was not Jian Hou and the others who were trapped inside the game, but him who was trapped outside it.
He was not surprised.
Near the end of the copy, he had already sensed that his identity was unusual. Clearly, the main system, or rather, the unknown force that had pulled him into the game, had noticed too.
Jiang Yan could vaguely sense that there were two or more forces at work behind him.
Some wanted to kill him. Some wanted to protect him.
For now, those who wanted him dead had already failed several times, and those who wanted to protect him had not been very successful either.
As for why, Jiang Yan did not know.
He did not know whether it was related to Yu Xiu. The only thing he was sure of was that he had to protect his family and friends.
That was one of the reasons he brought Yu Xiu back to his parents’ house.
Seeing his parents healthy and still in the mood to travel made him feel at ease. At least, they had not been affected by the game.
Yu Xiu had also grown. Although he caused more trouble, Jiang Yan saw that as a good sign.
It was clear that Yu Xiu’s body was gradually becoming complete. Perhaps once he was fully restored, he would return to normal and stay by Jiang Yan’s side.
Now, what worried Jiang Yan most was Jian Hou.
He did not know whether Jian Hou was in the game lobby or had entered another copy.
But with Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng there, and without Jiang Yan, the so-called bad omen, Jian Hou should be fine.
Even so, Jiang Yan still refreshed the game’s login interface from time to time, but it always showed the same line.
【Login interface under maintenance, please try again later...】
Jiang Yan sat quietly, half-buried in Yu Xiu’s body, drinking his milkshake with a blank expression and sighing softly.
On the large television embedded in the wall, now almost completely covered by Yu Xiu’s form, the news anchor was reporting.
"Recently, multiple rare natural disasters have appeared worldwide. Typhoons, earthquakes, and wildfires are occurring at the same time..."
Jiang Yan listened without expression, then took another slow sip of his milkshake.
To protect his family and friends. That was his only wish.
It was the first time in twenty-five years that Jiang Yan clearly realized he had something called desire.
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