Chapter 39: Peripheral Gifts

Chapter 39 Peripheral Matters

"Even so, it feels too much like a gamble."

"This is a bet that my earlier deductions might be correct."

"It's also a bet that the hacker will actually show up, ruining the already poorly selling game, drastically reducing the number of players willing to play this Holographic Game, or even making it impossible for players to log in, rendering the game completely unoperable."

"Betting that without Yin Xingyi, the unlucky guy, and with no other standout games, even if Qianxing Game Studio tries its best to salvage and restore that game, it will ultimately be futile."

Even though a solution seems possible, Sheng Qingquan's mood doesn't improve; he can't shake off his gloom.

"It feels like a desperate gambler with little to lose, hoping to turn the tables, so they can only hope for the opponent to suddenly fall ill and collapse at the gambling table, allowing them to snatch victory."

The more he dwells on it, the more uneasy he becomes.

Sheng Qingquan feels this way, and the staff share his unease. They never considered Tianlanxing weak before.

But since the Doomsday crisis hit, it feels like Tianlanxing is constantly walking a tightrope, surrounded by storms. In such precarious times, staying steady, not falling from the suspended tightrope, not being shattered to pieces, not dying in disarray.

It's incredibly tough.

But soon, the staff's fighting spirit reignites.

No matter how tough it is, it must be done. We can't give up, no matter what.

If the tightrope is too thin, find a way to make it thicker. If the rope is as wide as four or five meters—like a bridge. Even if it's hanging over a cliff, what's there to fear?

Walking on a wide, stable bridge, there's no fear of falling.

Even in wind and rain, what does it matter? The bridge can have eaves, railings, even houses.

Walking inside, one naturally stays dry, untouched by the wind and rain.

Isn't this exactly what the country is working towards now!

Thinking of the government's efforts to build strength, Sheng Qingquan rubs his face and regains his composure.

"But then,"

Sheng Qingquan suddenly thinks of something.

"That hacker only showed up after Yin Xingyi was captured. So, did he attack the game for other reasons, or is it tied to Yin Xingyi?"

"If it's tied to Yin Xingyi, he attacked the game because he also recognized Yin Xingyi's uniqueness and wanted to save him. Then, if Yin Xingyi hadn't been caught, would he still have attacked the game?"

"If not, could Tianlanxing still count on the game shutting down and going out of business?"

Realizing this, Sheng Qingquan, already in a bad mood, grows even more anxious.

Even Yin Xingyi, upon hearing about his transmigration, hasn't met only bad people; he might have made an alien good friend, who is even willing to risk attacking the game server for him.

While a ray of sunlight penetrates the dark clouds in Yin Xingyi's heart.

He also paradoxically hopes that this hacker has nothing to do with him.

Only then will the other party act as scheduled.

"Anyway, we can't take the risk of letting Yin Xingyi die to push the hacker to take action against the game."

That much is certain.

Everyone nodded in silent agreement.

"Never mind, I'll see if there are any other options. Even if I can't find one, knowing the exact time of the hacker's attack would be helpful."

"That way, we can gauge how much longer Yin Xingyi needs to endure before he might see the light."

Sheng Qingquan was disheartened, and his mood seemed to affect even the lush green leaves on the tree trunk, making them appear to wilt.

"I'm afraid the hacker's attack might come much later, and Yin Xingyi might not hold out until then."

With this thought, Sheng Qingquan controlled the imperial seal and stamped another mark on Yin Xingyi's hand.

"The duration of the seal is becoming increasingly shorter. I'm not sure if adding more seals would make a difference."

"After all, this isn't like famous calligraphy or paintings, where you can add multiple personal seals. Like a certain emperor who covered his artworks with so many seals that there was no blank space left, making it look like a seal collection rather than art. Uninformed viewers might think they were looking at a seal collection rather than art. At most, it would just draw some ridicule."

"On imperial edicts, there's always just one imperial seal."

So Sheng Qingquan didn't believe that adding more seals would be beneficial.

Moreover, he felt a bit uneasy.

"Every time I stamp, the seal's duration decreases. What if stamping a few more times causes the duration to diminish even faster?"

Even though he knew the chances were slim, Sheng Qingquan still couldn't decide.

However, upon hearing Sheng Qingquan's thoughts, Yin Xingyi proposed adding more seals, saying he wanted to give it a try.

As he put it:

"While each seal still lasts over two hours, if we don't try now, it might be too late once the duration shortens further."

Perhaps it was a case of things turning around after hitting the lowest point.

As everyone waited with bated breath,

Sheng Qingquan controlled the imperial seal and stamped a mark on Yin Xingyi's forearm.

The seal, shimmering with golden fragments, successfully materialized on Yin Xingyi's arm.

And the mark on his palm didn't fade at that instant.

"Did it work?"

Everyone had already observed that the seal's duration was closely tied to the depth of the mark. Once the mark faded to the point of being almost invisible and started flickering rapidly, the seal would completely disappear within three seconds.

If a new seal wasn't added in time, Yin Xingyi would be exposed to an unprotected environment.

If the guards weren't constantly on alert, he could face all sorts of bizarre accidents at any moment, potentially leading to death.

Seeing the seal mark remain as it was, hope rose in everyone's hearts.

The staff member who had been timing it all along immediately focused on the time.

"Three hours!"

The staff member announced loudly.

Everyone couldn’t help but smile: "It actually works!"

Previously, each seal only lasted a little over two hours.

But now, the duration has not only stopped decreasing but has actually increased significantly.

Without a word from anyone, Sheng Qingquan quickly took control of the seal and stamped every inch of Yin Xingyi's body.

He even stamped his face.

He stamped each cheek and the forehead.

Surprisingly, it didn’t look silly at all.

Instead, it had an eerie sacredness, like a priest adorned with mystical symbols.

"Phew, this should buy us more time, right?"

With this in mind, Sheng Qingquan kept a sliver of attention on Yin Xingyi to prevent mishaps, while focusing mostly on the novel.

"The time flow isn’t the same on both sides?"

Hearing this, the others reacted as if they’d just received terrible news.

Yin Xingyi’s face turned ashen, lifeless even under the golden seal’s glow.

They had all read novels about holographic online games.

They’d also read fourth calamity novels.

Of course, they knew that in many fourth calamity and game novels, time in holographic games flows differently.

In other words, time in the game moves at a different pace than in reality.

A single day in reality could equal two, three, or even four days in the game.

This lets players make the most of their time, effectively stretching their lives.

If the time difference between Tianlan Star and Qianxing Studio works the same way.

Even if the game isn’t fun, its popularity would skyrocket.

Tianlan Star would inevitably draw more fourth calamities, causing even more destruction.

But the staff and Yin Xingyi weren’t upset about the potential tragedy Tianlan Star might face in the story.

Instead, if this were true, several days on Tianlan Star might equal just one day there.

Yin Xingyi’s wait for the game to shut down would drag on even longer.

If the game collapses in ten days, they’d originally thought enduring ten days would keep Yin Xingyi safe.

But with this time difference, Yin Xingyi’s ordeal could stretch from ten days to thirty, forty, or even a hundred days.

How could they not be terrified?

Can the seal last until then?

Even though Yin Xingyi was covered in stamps from head to toe and in a completely safe environment, he still couldn't shake off the unease in his heart.

Just as everyone was plunging deeper into despair, they heard Sheng Qingquan's thoughts continue.

"The key point isn't that time flows slower on Tianlan Star compared to Qianxing Game Studio, but that time at Qianxing Game Studio is slower than on Tianlan Star."

"And it's significantly slower."

It was a pleasant surprise!

The situation took a turn for the better, and everyone's gloomy expressions suddenly lit up.

They couldn't help but glance at each other, and only after seeing the same joy on others' faces did they dare to believe it was true.

Fantastic!

Not only did the worst-case scenario not happen, but this also meant that Yin Xingyi's ordeal would be much shorter than initially feared.

"It was precisely this fatal flaw that made some at Qianxing Game Studio question whether developing the Tianlan Star game was worth the effort. But by then, they had already discovered Tianlan Star and invested heavily, so they were reluctant to give up."

"Ultimately, the 100% realism feature silenced the critics. It also successfully drew in players, who were willing to overlook this minor flaw."

"Tch!"

Sheng Qingquan was displeased, criticizing Qianxing Game Studio for not abandoning the project.

"If only they had quit back then."

"Despite such a major flaw—playing the game effectively shortens one's lifespan—those players still bought into it. Is 100% holographic really that appealing? Was the hype around the first holographic game really that intense?"

"That lousy Qianxing Game Studio sure knows how to market!"

Sheng Qingquan didn't mince his words. Yet, despite his gripes, he kept reading the novel attentively.

Soon, Sheng Qingquan pinpointed the time of the hacker attack in the story.

Though it wasn't explicitly mentioned in the story, it went like this—

"Yin Xingyi hazily thought to himself: This is the seventh day of his captivity. It might also be his last." This was Yin Xingyi's mindset on the day of the hacker attack, when the game studio's staff relentlessly tormented him, taking out their frustrations on him.

"And indeed, not long after that day, Yin Xingyi completely gave up."

The previous text also mentioned that Yin Xingyi had lived seriously in that holographic game for a year and a half.

At that time, the time flow between that holographic game and reality was also different, with a ratio of 5:1. That is, 5 hours in the game equaled 1 hour in the real world where Qianxing Game Studio was located.

The time in the holographic game was slower than real time, and real time was slower than the time on Tianlan Star.

Counting on fingers, if everything goes smoothly, Yin Xingyi only needs to endure two weeks.

That is, including today, there are 13 days left.

13 days!

Yin Xingyi raised his hand, looking at the stamp marks one after another.

Four hours had passed, and the color of the marks was still quite bright.

Judging from the previous stamp marks, it's clear that the wear is not yet halfway through.

In this way, holding out for 13 days is entirely possible.

He might not necessarily fail to persevere.

Yin Xingyi felt a surge of hope like never before. He could definitely hold on!

The staff instinctively showed smiles, but fortunately, they reacted in time and restrained their overly obvious emotions. Even so, upon hearing Sheng Qingquan's somewhat puzzled voice, the staff were still filled with lingering unease.

"Why do these people look so uncomfortable?"

"Are they still worried about Tianlanxing's future?"

Sheng Qingquan nodded understandingly, there was no land or sandpit here to write on.

Seeing someone with a phone, he quickly reached out with a branch and tapped their hand.

Using their hand, he propped up a finger with a branch and typed on the phone.

He shared the good news with everyone.

As he guided the person's typing, Sheng Qingquan couldn't help complaining.

"This is so tiring. Smartphones aren't great. I wish we had an old-fashioned keypad. I could just poke the keys with a branch. Maybe I'd need a thinner one."

"Not like now, where I need someone else's hand to type."

"It's harder than teaching someone to write by guiding their hand."

"Next time, let's get a keypad phone," a staff member suggested.

Others agreed.

Sheng Qingquan figured the staff saw his struggle and came up with a solution.

He thought they were being thoughtful.

The staff, seeing Sheng Qingquan's message, finally let go of their restraint and laughed freely.

What shocked everyone was that they thought it would take two weeks for Yin Xingyi to be safe.

But by the fifth day, something unexpected happened.

"Has the stamp faded at all today?" a bodyguard asked.

Others felt the same.

"Am I imagining things? Staring too long has messed with my sense of color."

To everyone watching, the stamps on Yin Xingyi looked as fresh as when they were first applied.

"But I think these stamps have been on for three hours, right? We reapplied them this morning. It's almost noon."

"That's exactly what happened."

It couldn't be that everyone's perception was wrong.

Moreover, among them was a specially transferred talent with a keen sense of color perception. This person was a color expert, working at Tianlanxing's top paint company.

No detail, no matter how small, escaped his notice.

He noticed that the color traces remained unchanged.

"So, does this mean Yin Xingyi’s been safe all day since he woke up?"

"Has the game from Qianxing Game Studio failed?"

"Did the hacker move early, or is there another explanation?"

"Whatever the reason, the bottom line is, we made it through another crisis, right?"

Everyone was uncertain.

All eyes subtly shifted to the big tree outside the window.

Noticing the commotion, Sheng Qingquan was overjoyed. He quickly opened the novel to check the details.

Ignoring everything else, Sheng Qingquan’s eyes locked onto the balance.

"The Qiankun Coin balance now showed 11,111 points."

"After purchasing the full novel earlier, the balance had been just 2,223 points. An additional 8,888 Qiankun Coins had been added today."

"The Doomsday crisis is finally over!"

When Sheng Qingquan shared the good news, the room erupted in celebration. Despite being adults, many were so thrilled they couldn’t stop jumping for joy.

Even though they knew they should still monitor Yin Xingyi’s condition, their excitement couldn’t be contained.

"It’s over! Thank goodness—new beginnings!" The most excited was Yin Xingyi.

No more stress or hardship.

He’d always felt that being a corporate drone was draining.

When students acted up, he felt like he was being punished—as if he’d been a murderer in a past life and was now doomed to teach. For the first time, Yin Xingyi realized how wonderful it was to be just an ordinary high school teacher.

Being the main character is no walk in the park!

Especially in a tragic story.

He’s better off living a simple life—he can’t deal with all the drama.

"From now on, I’ll teach without a single complaint. I’ll be as gentle and warm as a spring breeze with my students."

"After class, I’ll make the most of my life."

"For example, now that I've overcome this hurdle, I want to eat the spicy hot pot at the school gate, and also buy some braised food from outside the neighborhood to take home for drinks. Then I'll go eat hot pot at Dongda Road, order the spicy pot, it's strong, and eat to my heart's content!"

Thinking of those delicious foods, even though he had the seal during this period, fearing that food allergies might reappear, no one dared to give him normal meals. Yin Xingyi had been living on nutritional supplements.

Nutritional supplements that were not available on the market, ordinary people had only seen them during the world fusion before. As a result, he had been drinking them every day during this period, almost to the point of vomiting.

His tongue had gone numb from drinking them.

"I’m finally alive again!" When the seal time was up and the seal disappeared, under the care of doctors and bodyguards, Yin Xingyi couldn’t help but tear up with emotion as he took his first bite of spicy hot pot.

Once they confirmed Yin Xingyi was safe, Sheng Qingquan received a bonus gift from the golden finger.

It was a box roughly the size of a bubble tea cup.

"What could be inside the box?"

Curious, Sheng Qingquan opened it.

The staff couldn't help but wonder.

"What kind of treasure could it be this time?"

"What new ability will Sheng Qingquan gain?"

"Whatever it is, the stronger he gets, the better." This was the unanimous belief among all those in the know.

"Too bad it's only a box. I was hoping we could 'snatch' Qianxing Game Studio's game server."

Someone couldn't help but fantasize: "Without the server, what would they have left to rely on? The studio would probably have to shut down, and everyone there would slink back home to fend for themselves."

"Just thinking about it feels so satisfying."

"But the server is so huge, it wouldn't even fit in an entire room, let alone a box. Not much hope for that."

"Besides, the two items Sheng Qingquan has received so far were both small, lightweight, and easy to hide. They don't fit the description of a server."

Someone reasoned logically.

"More importantly, these items automatically recognize Sheng Qingquan as their master upon seeing him. If it were a server, Sheng Qingquan probably wouldn't even be able to give it away even if he wanted to. It's not like we can expect Sheng Qingquan to start studying Holographic Games, right?"

"That's not his area of expertise at all. Not to mention, Sheng Qingquan has more important things to do than spend time studying Holographic Games."

Everyone thought this made sense, and as they chatted, Sheng Qingquan had already opened the little box.

"Is it a toy robot?"

"Only palm-sized, quite mini. It would make a nice desk decoration."

That said, when Sheng Qingquan saw what was inside the box, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

Besides the robot, there was also a piece of paper in the box.

Sheng Qingquan took out the robot, and the paper followed, fluttering to the ground.

Probably a manual, huh?

Normally, he wouldn't bother reading such a manual. If it fell, he'd just pick it up and toss it straight into the trash without a second thought.

But this was a peripheral gift, different from the manuals of ordinary products.

What if there was some important information?

Holding onto a sliver of hope, Sheng Qingquan picked up the paper and took a closer look.

To his surprise, instead of the densely packed small text he expected, filled with various precautions and detailed usage instructions, the paper only had two short lines.

"Qianxing Game Studio"

"Coordinates: #￥%%,……&&**"

Sheng Qingquan's eyes widened in astonishment.

"Even if that little robot is just a regular toy, I wouldn’t regret it."

"This is the best collectible gift!"

The staff couldn’t help but stand up, and someone nearly spilled the water on the table.

"Wait, what?"

"The coordinates of Qianxing Game Studio? Seriously?"

What’s the worst part about seeking revenge?

It’s not about the enemy being strong—it’s about not even knowing where they are.

They already knew the studio’s name and that the two main creators’ names included 'Qian' and 'Xing.'

But in the vast universe, finding someone is like searching for a needle in a galaxy.

Even if Tianlan Star has grown, pouring so much manpower and resources into this feels wasteful. Worse, it’s a waste of effort if they still can’t find the target.

But now, with these coordinates…

Revenge is no longer just talk. Once Tianlan Star rises, they won’t wait for Qianxing Game Studio to make a move—they’ll strike first.

Sheng Qingquan was right—this is the ultimate gift.

Just looking at these coordinates fuels the drive to push for progress. No one can afford to slack off now.

Sheng Qingquan doesn’t know the thoughts of the staff.

Sheng Qingquan tightly clutched the flimsy piece of paper. Even though he couldn’t make sense of the address or its location, he meticulously memorized every character on it.

He dashed to the study, grabbed paper and pen, and jotted it down. One record wasn’t enough, so he made a backup as well.

After finishing, he double-checked to ensure he hadn’t made any mistakes before finally turning his attention to the toy.

Because of the piece of paper, Sheng Qingquan, who had initially thought the toy was a bit small, now found it suddenly more exquisite.

Even without facial features, the little robot struck him as oddly charming.