Chapter 35: Find That World!

Chapter 35: Find That World!

The apocalypse is back?!

The staff's faces turned serious, and they all listened attentively. At Sheng Qingquan's exclamation, the already somber mood of the group sank even deeper.

After so many apocalypses, what kind of situation, how severe, could make Sheng Qingquan lose his composure like this?

But Sheng Qingquan didn't dwell on these thoughts.

A long silence followed.

Even the mental chatter stopped, making the staff more anxious.

"Could something have happened to him?" Tao Qingmiao asked her colleague. "Should we check on him?"

A medically trained staff member with emergency experience picked up the first aid kit and stood up. "The first aid kit is only equipped with the basics. Although Sheng Qingquan has medical equipment in his room, it's better to call an ambulance just in case."

"And the medical pod."

"Let's also alert the medical pod team in advance. Ensure he can be treated in the pod immediately upon arrival."

Although they knew Sheng Qingquan, having taken the Gene Serum, was unlikely to be in danger, but what if something went wrong?

They couldn't risk anything.

Just as Tao Qingmiao was about to knock, Sheng Qingquan's voice echoed in her ears.

"This is crazy, how is this possible?"

Hearing Sheng Qingquan's thoughts, everyone sighed in relief.

The collective sigh, though silent, was so synchronized it became audible.

The staff exchanged glances, barely holding back smiles.

But soon, everyone refocused, awaiting the next update.

Sheng Qingquan didn't let them down.

After skimming the start, he sensed something was off.

Sheng Qingquan bought the VIP chapters and skimmed through the plot.

"The protagonist is named Yin Xingyi."

"That name rings a bell—no surprise, it's my neighbor again. No big deal."

Sheng Qingquan accepted this quite normally.

In fact, if it weren't for having experienced what it means to be favored by fortune after obtaining the imperial jade seal, Sheng Qingquan once thought that in his building, apart from him being an extra, the rest might all be protagonists of various sizes.

"Yin Xingyi got into a car accident, couldn't be saved in time, and died on the spot. But after death, he transmigrated into a Holographic Game."

"But because it's a Holographic Game, the simulation rate is as high as 77%."

"A 77% simulation rate, while the highest at the time, isn't particularly high by today's standards."

"But for Yin Xingyi, who had never experienced a holographic game before, this felt just like the real world."

A holographic game? Everyone felt a vague sense of unease.

After realizing their world might be a fusion of many novels, the staff took the time to seriously study popular online novels, treating them like scientific research.

With all they had read and experienced, they immediately considered a possibility when faced with this situation. But they decided to listen to the plot first. Maybe the situation wasn't as bad as they thought.

"He was already dead and had already traveled. Yin Xingyi found it strange that, despite bringing his own body, all his injuries had vanished when he woke up."

"But since he was here, he decided to adapt and make the best of it. Yin Xingyi decided to earn money, find a way to get an identity document, and settle down in this world."

"Maybe after dying, he could return to his original world."

"If his injuries hadn’t vanished and he was still critically injured, Yin Xingyi might have tried to end his life to see if he could return."

"But now that he was unharmed, he couldn’t bring himself to do it."

"Especially the excruciating pain he felt during the car accident, his life slipping away like sand through his fingers—the tighter he clenched, the faster it slipped. That extreme pain and despair left Yin Xingyi with lingering trauma."

"Someone who used to cut his hand while cooking and keep chopping without flinching now couldn’t help but shudder at the memory."

"He had become terrified of pain."

Seeing this, Sheng Qingquan couldn’t help but feel sympathy.

It was easy to imagine the pain. For someone who had died once, being afraid of pain was completely understandable.

"It’s normal to hesitate when it comes to ending your own life. Besides, if he were certain death would send him back, he might have found the courage. But risking it for an uncertain chance, even without the trauma, would be reckless."

So ever since realizing he had time-traveled, Sheng Qingquan had never considered ending his life.

Given a second chance at life, he cherished it more than anyone.

"That holographic game was a space warfare game. For people in that world, it was just a game. But for Yin Xingyi, it felt like he had been thrown into a chaotic galaxy where wars were constant."

"But thanks to this, Yin Xingyi quickly got registered as a war refugee and saved enough money to enroll in school."

"With limited funds, he could only afford to join the mecha program. The frontlines were desperate for soldiers, so combat programs had lower tuition and even offered free room and board. On top of that, the world was in chaos—people died in the streets, and terrorist attacks were common."

"To save money and gain self-defense skills, Yin Xingyi pushed through his fear of pain and enrolled in the mecha program."

"After grueling training to master mecha operation, he was sent to the battlefield before he could even graduate. After barely surviving and earning military honors, just as he was on the verge of a promotion, his existence was flagged."

"The game’s AI detected this anomaly and reported it to the researchers. After observing him for a while, the researchers directly trapped Yin Xingyi for experimentation."

"Yin Xingyi was in despair."

"Damn, I would be in despair too if I were in his shoes!"

Sheng Qingquan couldn’t help but curse softly.

"From Yin Xingyi's perspective, he had been a diligent soldier."

"He had shed blood, sweat, and tears, finally earning military honors, but instead of receiving the rewards he deserved, he was imprisoned by the authorities and became experimental material."

"Who could stand that?!"

"I'd be so mad I'd pass out!"

Sheng Qingquan couldn't help but get worked up. Staff members who've been through the wringer of society would only curse more foully.

After letting off steam with a string of curses, everyone was still indignant and spoke out angrily: "What kind of country treats a hero like this?"

"Isn't this illegal human experimentation? Are aliens so unscrupulous?"

"If this happened on our Sky Blue Planet, everyone would be up in arms!"

"This country's going to hell, no wonder it's always at war!"

...

"Hold on," someone suddenly realized, "The merit was earned in the game, so to people outside the game, no matter how much Yin Xingyi contributed, it's just a game."

"They don't have any qualms about arresting people, nor would they encounter any resistance."

After a while, someone asked, "Were we wrong to curse them?"

"Every last one of these bastards is rotten to the core!"

Sheng Qingquan's voice, filled with anger, rang out.

"When Yin Xingyi questioned them, they made sure he knew he'd been living in a holographic game. They even mocked Yin Xingyi for being a fool who couldn't tell what was real."

"Living in a fake world and not even realizing it."

"Then, in front of Yin Xingyi, they wiped out all the data of his in-game comrades, those NPCs."

"They wiped it so clean there was no way to get it back. Afterward, they deliberately tried to recover the data in front of Yin Xingyi, and then the computer showed that recovery was impossible, failed. Then they tried again, and failed again. Over and over. Crushing any hope Yin Xingyi had left."

"Yin Xingyi just lost it."

"Ahhhhh!"

Sheng Qingquan also lost it. What kind of monsters would do this?

"They're not just killing him, they're destroying his soul!"

"We didn't curse wrongly," Tao Qingmiao suddenly spoke up, looking at the colleague who had cursed the most fiercely, "I think you were holding back, you could've gone all out."

Hell yeah, they deserve every curse we can throw at them!

Other staff members nodded in agreement, but having reached the peak of anger, they found themselves unable to curse anymore.

They were left feeling completely helpless.

Tao Qingmiao sighed: "They're doing this on purpose, they must be after something."

"Turns out, these aliens figured out that Yin Xingyi was the soul of a sentient being."

"What's really interesting is that his soul is still tied to his original world. And from Yin Xingyi's words and actions after appearing in the game, plus the fact that he couldn't even recognize a holographic game, actually living in the holographic game like it was the real deal."

"It just goes to show how primitive Yin Xingyi's original world is."

["This is our big break!" a researcher exclaimed excitedly, gazing at Yin Xingyi, trapped in a data space, like he was staring at his ticket to fame and fortune.]

"The original description is so revolting. It makes me sick!"

"It feels like a swarm of flies buzzing around a tasty dish."

Sheng Qingquan didn't expect the worst was yet to come.

["Shatter his mind, drive him to collapse. When his soul shatters and fades, it will return to its original world. Our task is to track it down."]

["Find that world!"]

["Seize it, confine it, reshape it."]

["Then, our company will have next year's blockbuster game!"]

Reading this, Sheng Qingquan gasped in horror. He felt a lingering fear but was relieved to be here, not in that terrifying interstellar world.

The staff, equally shocked, couldn't help but ask, "What does this mean?"

"It can't mean what I think it does, right?"

Previously, seeing Yin Xingyi enter the Holographic Game after its merge with the ancient world, Tao Qingmiao thought it might merge with the game again.

Others shared the same thought.

They had read many novels, some of which had similar themes.

The fusion of the real and game worlds brings both crises and opportunities.

With careful planning, there might still be a chance to turn things around. Maybe we can achieve a win-win scenario.

They weren't fearless, but the thought of the interstellar game's treasures motivated them. Rather than fear, a powerful motivation surged within them. This drive pushed them to transform the crisis into an opportunity.

But now, if true, the situation was far worse than they had imagined.

Sheng Qingquan struggled even more to accept it.

"How could this be such a coincidence?"

"Recently, netizens were eagerly anticipating the early release of the Holographic Game. Now, before our game even launches, someone else has turned us into their game."

"Back then, netizens joked about the worlds merging, with authorities mining everywhere, likening it to Tianlanxing Online's server merge, complete with a treasure-hunting event. Everyone laughed."

Sheng Qingquan had a good laugh too.

"Now, the harder we laughed then, the harder we're falling apart now."

Sheng Qingquan felt like he'd been struck by lightning.

["100% realism—our company is the first in the industry to achieve this."]

["Exotic scenery, a completely new social background, a unique world setting. No main storyline, complete freedom, players can do whatever they want."]

["You can find a job and work hard, experiencing the life of an office worker in another world. Or you can become an official, climbing to the top. Waking up to control the world, lying drunk with a beauty by your side."]

["You can be a terrorist causing destruction everywhere, or a homeless person lying on the street."]

["You can play prison drama, or be a star enjoying the adoration of others..."]

"That is the players' virtual second world. A world more liberated than reality."

"In reality, we are bound by rules and filled with repression. But in the virtual second world, one can freely release negative emotions, no matter how crazy or wild."

"What a wonderful world it is! Players will undoubtedly flock to it and become obsessed with it!"

"Yes, even I am tempted by this pitch."

"If I were a player, I would be happy to pay for it too."

Sheng Qingquan's face was as calm as water.

"The catch is, this isn't built from the real world. And definitely not a transformation of the world I live in."