Chapter 12: Hometown (End)

Chapter 12: Hometown (End)

◎ It caught a black butterfly... ◎

On the other side of the reservoir, an equally massive shadow appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.

Compared to the previous terrifying creature, this one was more human-like. It was covered in purple-black unknown plants, lacking those chilling eyes. Its features were blurred but complete, with short black hair. If still, it could be mistaken for a stone statue in the mountains.

Yet, it moved.

At first, it just rotated its eyeballs motionlessly, seemingly searching for something. Then, as if finding its target, those dark, deep eyes stared straight past them at the glowing exit behind them and the terrifying creature in the center of the reservoir...

It moved swiftly!

Heading straight for the creature that seemed to be of its own kind!

Feng Bin watched this scene intently.

The creature with silver hair seemed utterly unaware of the other’s presence behind it. After crushing the tombstone, it lifted its foot, advancing towards the three of them...

"What do we do?" Guo Yalan murmured, "We were so close... so close..."

As the creature approached them directly, unable to move or resist, they felt like lambs awaiting slaughter, helplessly watching the blade fall...

Listening to his teammate's pained groans, Feng Bin wanted to do something, but his consciousness uncontrollably blurred, his eyes straining to open, the more he tried, the blurrier his vision became...

He began to feel very hot, as if his blood was boiling, something seemed to be growing inside his body...

What was growing?

What can grow out of a human body?

Suddenly, Feng Bin recalled information he had heard from a veteran player before entering this level – about a player who entered the final level in S025 year and left a message before death.

...It was said to be the last words of the only player who was about to collect all the chess pieces.

"Body temperature," "plants," "vision," "contamination"...

All this... only It could do!

— The mysterious evil deity hidden in the deepest part of the game!

"We’ll be contaminated if this continues..." With all his might, Feng Bin bit off a piece of his tongue, spat out blood, and finally snapped out of it. He yelled at the others, "Don't get lost in it! Think of the real world! Pinch or bite yourself! It hasn’t completely arrived yet! Try moving with all your might..."

"No, it's no use..." Guo Yalan breathed tiredly, "I can’t... move at all..."

"Don’t give up! Try again!" His voice broke as he screamed, "Try again!!!"

"Boom—"

Dust billowed.

The feet that had been approaching them finally arrived and slowly lifted.

"Whimper..."

"We're going to die... we're all going to die..."

"There's no going back... we can't go back at all..."

However, the next moment, the wailing was drowned out by a sudden splash of water.

It seemed like a long time had passed, yet it also felt like just a second.

Heavy breathing rose and fell intermittently, the sobbing growing fainter.

A mist hung in the air, and the three previously immobilized people opened their eyes, staring blankly at everything before them.

They were... still alive!

And not a single hair was missing!

The “monster’s” foot that had lifted earlier had already stepped over them, crushing the humanoid creature hidden in the mud at the exit into dust...

"Heaven... this isn’t a dream, right...?"

"Its target wasn't us from the start!" Feng Bin intently watched the creature, "It seems like it's destroying the last trap of the level..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the creature’s silvery white hair swirled, striking towards the chessboard, swiftly sweeping away five black chess pieces.

Feng Bin: "..."

Yu Ze/Guo Yalan: "..."

The towering creature, like a black tower, ignored them and turned, rumbling away.

"We're safe, we're safe!" Yu Ze and Guo Yalan cried with joy, holding hands as they ran towards the exit. Upon reaching it and noticing Feng Bin hadn't followed, they looked back and called, "Aren’t you coming?"

Feng Bin stood there as if soulless, staring blankly at the scene ahead.

Yu Ze and Guo Yalan also curiously followed his gaze.

...The two terrifying colossi had encountered each other!

They were very close now, with the latter attempting to approach the silver-haired one, only to be unceremoniously pushed away with a palm.

Oh no! They're going to fight!

This was the thought that instinctively crossed Yu Ze's mind.

But in reality... the pushed-away colossus, far from getting angry, even stepped back and then followed behind the silver-haired one.

“……”

Thousands of black butterflies passed through the forest, swirling around the silver hair of the leading creature, until its owner reached the center of the mountain and sat down, turning around.

Feng Bin furrowed his brow, for a moment he thought the mountain... looked like a throne!

"We can't stay any longer!" Yu Ze grabbed the remaining four black chess pieces on the board, handed them to Feng Bin while forcefully pulling him along, "Let's go!"

As if awakening from a dream, Feng Bin shivered. He handed half of the black chess pieces to the other, about to say something when the system's voice blared again!

The volume was so loud this time that it made them instinctively cover their ears.

"Alert—Alert... This level has been invaded by an external entity, the program is in disorder. All players, please exit within one minute! All players, please exit within one minute! The level will be destroyed in one minute! Countdown begins: sixty, fifty-nine, fifty-eight..."

Guo Yalan waved frantically at the exit: "Hurry!"

This time, no one hesitated and they all ran.

As the system said, the world began to collapse. As they rushed towards the exit to the outside world, continuous crashing noises followed from behind.

Feng Bin looked back— it was a scene of apocalyptic destruction.

The mountain facing the exit still stood tall, just like the black tower-like creature.

As he was about to look away, in the corner of his eye, he saw the silver-haired creature raise its hand.

That hand had always been tightly clenched, as if holding something. Now, it opened, and whatever was in its palm fell. The item was too small to be seen as it dropped, and the creature seemed unaware of its loss, lifting its fingers to wave at a black butterfly, which fluttered away as if dodging.

Feng Bin's pupils constricted, staring in disbelief at the scene before him.

What had fallen from the creature's palm was a white, oval-shaped cup... precisely Shi Youqing's thermos.

Atop the mountain, It continued to swat at the black butterflies.

"My mother loved the story of Liang Zhu. She said there was a Liang Zhu-themed park in the neighboring city, full of beautiful butterflies in spring. She planned to take me there next spring... I dreamt that night of a world filled with butterflies of all colors, so beautiful."

"After waking up, I decided that I must see those butterflies next spring..."

The black butterflies danced between Its fingers.

"Twenty seconds left!" Yu Ze shouted in his ear, "Do you really want to die here?!"

"It... he doesn't seem like a monster!" Feng Bin shook his head, pointing at the colossal figure in the distance, his eyes seemingly moist, "Look, isn’t he... catching butterflies?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?!"

"He's catching butterflies! He..."

Before he could finish, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck.

Yu Ze had knocked him out.

The system's countdown continued in his mind: "Eleven, ten, nine, eight..."

In his last moments of consciousness, Feng Bin only remembered being dragged away and the final scene on the distant mountain:

It caught a black butterfly...

*

When he woke up, Feng Bin had a severe headache.

Instinctively wanting to press his temples, he lifted both hands, but then his arms froze. Slowly, Feng Bin opened his eyes.

His right hand was intact.

Clearly, he had successfully exited the game.

Physical injuries in the game never carried over to the real world, though the same couldn't be said for psychological trauma.

Getting out of bed, Feng Bin took out the three black chess pieces he had newly acquired from his pocket, tossed them on the table, and then raised his head, disoriented, surveying the room he had lived in all his life.

The house was eerily quiet.

With his grandmother and brother gone, if he were to die in a game level one day, his decomposing body in this real-world room might go unnoticed until it started to stink...

He was hungry, but had no appetite. His mind was filled with everything that had happened in Chenggu Town. Turning on the computer, he began searching for the Liang Zhu-themed park Shi Youqing had mentioned.

It was indeed in the neighboring city!

Remembering the disappearance of the other's mother, Feng Bin searched several related keywords. Oddly, there were no missing person cases or notices matching her description in Ruocheng for the past six months...

Perhaps it wasn't posted online?

With this thought, he instinctively searched for "Tan Hua Syndrome."

...There was no such disease in the world!

How could this be?

Stunned, until the last rays of the sunset disappeared outside the window, Feng Bin clenched his fists, pushing down his doubts, and directly booked a high-speed train ticket to the neighboring city.

Despite his rational mind constantly reminding him that Shi Youqing was dead, that what he had seen before leaving the level was just a forced connection in his muddled state, after all, it wasn't impossible for the creature in the level to take the deceased's belongings. And the butterfly catching... perhaps it was just his own interpretation?

Yet, a voice inside seemed to say, "His wish is still there; if he came out, he would definitely go."

[Author's Note]

In the next chapter, we return to Qingqing's perspective!

"Thank you to the angel who launched a rocket: --Waiting for the Aurora-- 1 rocket."

Thanks to the angel who threw a grenade: Can't Get Stuck Here! 1;

Thanks to the angel who planted a mine: Can't Get Stuck Here! 1;

Thanks to the angels who irrigated with nutrient solution: Is Reporting G Orphan 10 bottles; A Bai 5 bottles; Can't Get Stuck Here! 4 bottles; Jue, Eating Oranges Without Spitting Out Seeds 1 bottle;

"Thank you all for your support. I will continue to work hard!"