Chapter 148

Chapter 148

This resource space was as beautiful as a fairy tale. But everyone knows that fairy tales are fake, so this place must be fake too.

Ji Xinghai only realized he was in a dream when he tried to fish by the lake. Everything before his eyes was an illusion, no, a dream.

Because normally, even if he had a fishing rod, he wouldn't catch any fish. But now, as soon as he approached the lake, fish were jumping eagerly.

It's all fake.

No wonder this world seemed unrealistically perfect—lush plants everywhere without a single withered leaf.

This dream seemed considerate, fulfilling every subconscious desire.

Apart from the lack of tangible objects, everything appeared perfect.

But Ji Xinghai knew the truth, while the audience remained enchanted by the dreamlike scenery. They watched him step into the lake as if bewitched by a wild fox spirit.

The live stream erupted in chaos. Fortunately, some calm viewers quickly noticed something odd.

"Strange, it looks like green screen acting. Brother Hai doesn't seem to be really entering the water; his clothes aren't even wet."

Top-notch illusions could deceive the human brain and make the body react as if drowning. But Ji Xinghai had already seen through the illusion, so his breathing remained smooth, his hair didn't float, and there was no sign of drowning.

To the audience, it looked exactly like a movie scene with poor special effects.

The viewers calmed down, watching Ji Xinghai walk on air to the bottom of the lake, where a ten-meter-long white snake lay coiled, its head biting its tail. It had been sleeping soundly but now opened its eyes.

The world transformed momentarily.

Still blue skies and white clouds, colorful cube buildings forming a beautiful campus, the ground paved with colorful marble in playful shapes. Three children laughed and played on the rainbow staircase.

"Ooh—" The elephant statue in the fountain sprayed high jets of water, which landed on the back of a turtle basking on the terrace, making it stretch out its head contentedly to greet the artificial drizzle.

"Xingxing, we've come to pick you up."

Ji Xinghai turned around. The school gate, painted like piano keys, compressed slowly, revealing a young couple who looked like a perfect match, holding hands intimately, bathed in a golden glow.

The three students, who had just stepped out of their rooms, were assigned roles: ...

Ji Xinghai: ... Does it think he's so childish that he needs care from a kindergarten?

"Ao!"

With a powerful punch, all the illusions shattered. The blue skies, green mountains, clear waters, and rainbow kindergarten dissolved into nothingness. Yet they were always nothingness, manifestations of the giant snake's dream.

"Ho!"

"Ah!"

"Ya!"

Ji Xinghai, one hand gripping the white snake's head and the other swinging a fist, turned to see the people emerging from the three doors huddled together, looking at the empty void beneath them with horror: My goodness, would they fall into an abyss if they moved?

"This is an illusion. If you're afraid of being deceived, close your eyes and rush back to your rooms," he warned, then turned back, digging his fingers into the struggling snake's skin.

This world was fake, but the white snake was real.

Drag it away for an extra meal.

The three students, terrified, didn't dare ask what was happening; they closed their eyes and hurried back to their rooms.

After all, the water had receded, and if this resource door was gone, there were still three others.

When Ji Xinghai looked back again, the three doors were tightly shut.

That was for the best.

If the students had worked hard here, believing they had found a rich and safe space, only to discover at the end of the day that their spoils had vanished, they would break down.

The worst thing wasn't never having something, but gaining it and then losing it, wasting a whole day. Time was life.

Similarly, the white snake had also realized that these students were not to be trifled with. It was an intangible creature born in the gaps of dreams, yet when caught by this human, its form became tangible.

It felt like 'time being seized,' equally unbelievable.

"Was it you who set up the illusion? Was it you who peeked into my mind and created a kindergarten illusion?" This smiling human asked each question with a punch, each blow carrying immense force, the first time it had ever been hit solidly.

Amid the stars in its vision, it felt a strange satisfaction—so this was pain?

In that moment of daze, Ji Xinghai seized the opportunity and bit down.

"You can't eat me!" the white snake screamed, feeling energy draining but unable to escape, "You need me! The Rubik's Cube Building is in a chaotic spatial zone, with all spaces changing randomly daily. Room numbers are the only coordinates. Without knowing your room number, rescue teams can't find you!"

Ji Xinghai remained unmoved as energy surged towards him like a tide.

"The resource space is closing, and the supplies available to students will decrease. The Rubik's Cube Building cannot survive another cycle of seasons. But I can take you out of here!"

The information was crucial, but Ji Xinghai had already anticipated this and did not trust NPCs outside his control, so he increased the speed of his consumption.

"Ah, and the rescue team, me." The voice abruptly stopped.

Within minutes, the white snake's body disappeared, leaving only a tail.

The tail continued to repeat, "You can't kill me," writhing and shouting, but the voice was so faint, probably audible only to crickets.

Ji Xinghai carried it back to his room to the disheveled blond vampire: "You've been busy. Here's a souvenir."

The blond vampire, looking like he had just crawled out of a trash bin: ... A worm? Who wants such a souvenir!

"The snake was so thick and long; in a TV drama, it would have at least a thousand years of cultivation. Never thought it would meet its end today. Truly, alas."

"All are great demons; some snakes become the White Lady, while others become a dish on the plate. Sigh..."

"Upstairs, stop sighing. Want some snake soup? It’s said to give you good dreams."

"Eat."

Ji Xinghai had nothing to show for his efforts yesterday, but today he struck gold. He ate most of it himself and left the tail for the blond vampire who had just finished cleaning the room.

The blond vampire's eyes turned red with 'emotion': "I don’t eat this kind of thing!" With that, he returned to the book.

"Why? Is it because you’re ugly?" Ji Xinghai looked at the dangling snake tail, puzzled. With so much energy, why not eat it?

Snake tail: Bad luck!

"I’ll eat it then."

Snake tail: !

After eating the tail, he was about to open the second door when he suddenly remembered something and asked, "Which room are you in?"

Slowly, words appeared on the ceiling of the first floor: "Master, I am Room 99."

"Alright, I got it."

With a full stomach, Ji Xinghai went to the space beyond the second door.

Ah, sky and sea.

Ah, rocks and beach.

If it weren't for the fact that the coastal space was still in the book, he might have thought he was meeting an old friend.

Turning back, he saw only one door. He wondered how few students there must be now, allowing him to monopolize an entire resource space.

There were rocks and the sea here, which should mean plenty of seafood. But Ji Xinghai sensed something subtly wrong. The salty sea breeze mixed with another foul odor, and the energy in the air seemed restless, ready to go berserk at any moment.

"Friend, you can take anything you want, but do not leave anything behind."

Dialogue box, space rules—long time no see.

He frowned at the mess by the door. Did this count as 'leaving'?

Seemed like it did.

Breaking the rules was bad, but he already bothered the vampire once and didn’t want to do it again.

"This time, it’s you, werewolf."

The two-meter-tall muscular werewolf: ...Do something humane.

Under the contract's compulsion, the werewolf cleaned up the mess, including outside the other two doors. Ji Xinghai was satisfied, but then he heard sobbing mixed with the wind.

"You should leave quickly; this place is dying." The dialogue box appeared again, bringing strange information.

Why say it’s dying? Is it the beach that’s dying?

Ji Xinghai looked down. Wet seawater covered granular sand and shell-covered rocks, with seaweed growing everywhere. When the waves came in, they left fish on the beach, attracting seabirds to feed.

"Friend, what happened to you? Is there anything I can help with?" Ji Xinghai never took free food; things without a cost often hid traps. So instead of gathering resources, he stayed to chat with the space.

It was worse when he spoke; the sobbing intensified.

"Leave here; this is a cursed sea."

The dialogue box appeared again, urging Ji Xinghai to leave.

"Since I’m already in this game, I don’t mind adding a curse." Ji Xinghai found a slightly dry rock to sit on. "Besides, I have nothing else to do. Let’s chat?"

The sobbing in the wind faded, and a pale golden mermaid appeared before him.

However, two-thirds of the mermaid’s body was covered in pus-filled sores. Its beautiful face was half gone, with one eye hanging out, and its skin looked like it had been burned and infested with maggots. Many sores had burst, oozing pus, and several parasites wriggled in the wounds.

"..." Ji Xinghai was silent.

"Do your examiners always go to such lengths for tests?"

"Sorry for showing myself like this." As the mermaid spoke, its sores split open, spraying brownish pus. Energy surged from its body, turning the sea into roaring waves, each higher than the last, almost covering the shore and dragging them into the deep sea.

Ji Xinghai noticed something being tossed by the waves onto the rocks—a deformed marine creature, possibly a seal or a sea lion, with multiple pus-filled sores.

He looked around. The oysters that used to grow on the rocks were now gray shells. The surviving shells were twisted.

"You should leave quickly; the longer you stay, the more affected you will be," the mermaid said.

Each abnormal creature had its own personality. Ji Xinghai had encountered many odd types, even those uninterested in humans, but this was the first time he met one that remained kind.

Of course, seeing someone in such a miserable state was also a first.

He was starting to equate kindness with misery.

"Don’t worry, I’m fine." Ji Xinghai had already laid a thin layer of energy over his body to block negative influences.

The mermaid shook its head: "The light, the air, everything here is cursed. Leave quickly."

Having been warned repeatedly, and not wanting to be ungrateful, he stood up to leave.

Just as he stepped through the door, Ji Xinghai felt something. He turned and saw the sea behind the mermaid transformed into a different scene. Countless rotting corpses and monsters overlapped, surging forward, desperately trying to grab the sand and stay on the shore, but an invisible force dragged them back down.

The mermaid looked at them coldly, no longer bearing the kindness from the conversation with Ji Xinghai.

"Since you left what should not have been left behind, stay here forever."

Noticing that Ji Xinghai had not closed the door, the mermaid turned around, once again adopting that gentle demeanor: "Thank you for protecting this place."

"…You're welcome."

"Are you waiting for the rescue team? Don’t worry, they respond very quickly."

The mermaid smiled and nodded at him. The door closed automatically, leaving Ji Xinghai facing the large door. He picked up on an interesting piece of information: "Dispatch, it requires an alarm to dispatch. Did someone call for help?"