Chapter 35

Chapter 35 This Is My Boyfriend.

After the two bells rolled out, Ning Rong looked at her palm in slight surprise.

As her most commonly used skill, [Money Can Make Ghosts Turn Millstones] was so useful that she rarely spent much thought on her other skills. But this time, she discovered the special aspect of [Smash People With Money].

The uniqueness of this skill should lie in the word smash.

Just now, she had clearly sensed that the game coins she threw had struck something.

If [Money Can Make Ghosts Turn Millstones] used game coins to tempt NPCs and make them switch sides, then [Smash People With Money] was more like using game coins to knock NPCs dizzy, making them defect while confused and dazed.

In other words, the latter could also be used as a physical attack.

While Ning Rong was thinking, Zhou Yujing had already picked up the two bells and handed them to her.

One bell was shell white, the other star-shine black. Both were clearly custom-made, and each had words engraved on them.

The white bell was engraved with 2216, Little White.

The black bell was engraved with 2216, Little Black.

Little White and Little Black were probably the pets' names, while 2216 was likely the year.

Ning Rong kept the white bell and gave the black one to Zhou Yujing.

"Although we still don't know what the bells are for, carry them first."

"Okay."

Just after the two of them put the bells away, the group they had met earlier happened to arrive as well.

The middle-aged man was likely the spokesperson of the team. Seeing Ning Rong and Zhou Yujing also in the small garden, he politely asked,

"Can we exchange clues?"

Without waiting for Ning Rong to answer, he continued,

"The reliable clue we obtained is—The Correct Timeline."

"Clearly, we are currently outside the timeline where the story took place, which is why useful clues are especially scarce."

"Based on our analysis and guesses, what we should do now is return to the correct timeline."

[Members of the National Main Team really are reliable.]

[True, when they have information, they really share it.]

[Don't be fooled by how careless 01 always looks. He's saved a lot of players in games. Some players even affectionately call him Holy Father, because players like him who save others regardless of cost are far too rare.]

[As a pure viewer, I think 01 really does save people, but Holy Father is too much. He saves people more because he pursues the thrill of surviving in the face of death.]

[In a certain sense, 01 really is pretty crazy.]

Ning Rong was somewhat surprised, but she did not immediately choose to believe them.

She only asked, "How do I know the information you're giving is real?"

This time, it was 01 who spoke.

"My skill is [Key Information]. It can extract important elements needed to clear a game."

After speaking, 01 tilted his head and observed Ning Rong's expression.

His skill was not much of a secret among players.

It could be said that anyone who paid even slight attention to the forums knew it belonged to him.

As long as someone was not a true complete newcomer, they should have heard of his codename.

To say something shameless, he was also considered a super popular player on the forums.

Whenever he entered games before, he did not even need to give his name. Many players would immediately recognize who he was.

But he saw no special reaction on Ning Rong's face.

After hearing him, she only nodded calmly.

"We got two bells from that pile of old belongings. They have 2216 engraved on them, along with the pets' names."

01's gaze swept toward the pile of old items.

"You're sure the bells are useful?"

Ning Rong said, "Of course."

"Thanks."

They had searched the small garden thoroughly enough. Just as Ning Rong was about to leave together with Zhou Yujing, 01 suddenly asked,

"Is this your lackey?"

[???]

[What do you mean by that???]

[Expressionless King really does look like Big Sister's lackey? Hmm... actually kind of true.]

[What lackey? This is Big Sister's number one loyal dog.]

Ning Rong said flatly,

"No."

Just as 01 was about to ask something else, Ning Rong continued,

"This is my boyfriend."

After saying that, she took Zhou Yujing's hand and planned to head to the private swimming pool. That was the only part of the map they had not searched yet.

01 gave an oh.

As soon as they left, Uncle Zhong immediately looked at 01 with a gossiping expression.

"Why did you ask that just now?"

01 put one hand in his pocket and walked toward the pile of old pet belongings.

"Just curious."

Uncle Zhong and the young girl: ...

[Curiosity is the beginning of love.]

[You're done for, you've fallen into love. (crossed out)]

[01's romance ended before it even began. (mocking)]

After looking around the private swimming pool once, they still found no useful clues. Just as Ning Rong stood up, she saw the deranged player they had met before stumbling toward them.

"Don't chase me! Stop chasing me!"

Ning Rong took the initiative to step forward.

"Senior."

Unfortunately, after several more hours, this senior was even crazier than the last time they met. The other party was already in a state of complete mental chaos.

Ning Rong asked in a low voice,

"Senior, what did you experience before this?"

What answered Ning Rong was the sight of that player jumping into the swimming pool without hesitation.

The moment the player jumped into the pool, all surviving players simultaneously heard the system notification in their minds—

[Player Yu Ku has died.]

Watching a fellow member of the player camp die right in front of her, even someone as mentally strong as Ning Rong fell into speechlessness and silence for a moment.

They were playing a horror game.

But players were living, breathing people.

Zhou Yujing approached from behind and placed his face close to hers.

"Rongrong."

Warm body heat passed over, and Ning Rong quickly regained herself.

"What do you think about the clue we exchanged with them just now?"

Zhou Yujing lowered his eyes.

"If I'm not mistaken, the one whose skill was [Key Information] should be veteran player 01. If it's him, then the clue is trustworthy."

After pausing, Zhou Yujing continued,

"As for the timeline, I do have a guess."

Ning Rong made a sound of acknowledgment, signaling him to continue.

Zhou Yujing analyzed,

"Why have so many players fallen into mental confusion?"

"I suspect that once someone enters the wrong timeline, they lose memories or fall into chaos. If they enter the correct timeline, this problem probably won't happen."

"As for how to get to the correct timeline..."

"I think it's through the correct token."

Zhou Yujing's guess was almost the same as Ning Rong's.

The bells she obtained earlier through [Smash People With Money] were likely the correct tokens.

And the notebook they had found earlier was likely the wrong token. Not only would it fail to provide useful information, it would also bring danger to players.

As for whether their guesses were accurate, once the safe time ended, the truth would become clear.

At the very first second after the safe time ended, Ning Rong sensed a subtle difference.

She and Zhou Yujing had remained near the swimming pool the whole time.

The previous pool had clearly not had its water changed for a long time. The bottom was full of sludge, and the surface was covered with dead branches and fallen leaves.

But now, the pool water was clean, and there was even a cute inflatable swim ring floating on the surface.

Ning Rong stood up and looked over the villa behind her.

Zhou Yujing said softly, “The villa looks much newer.”

Ning Rong gave a hum, and the two of them walked toward the inside of the villa.

Just as they got close, a white cat meowed and ran past them.

Ning Rong thought of something and suddenly called out, “Little White?”

The white cat paused hesitantly for a moment, looked at her in confusion, then quickly ran off again.

It was confirmed.

They had returned to several years ago, to the time when the owner of this villa still had pets alive.

The moment Ning Rong stepped into the villa, that feeling became even more obvious.

The previous villa had all its furniture covered in a thick layer of dust, but the furniture here was still very new, and the entire villa had been cleaned spotless.

Ning Rong called out, “Hello, is anyone here?”

Her voice slowly echoed throughout the whole villa, but unfortunately, no reply came for a long time.

At this moment, the system notification sound that had never appeared before finally rang out.

[Welcome players to A-rank game — “Amnesia.”

Main mission: Survive; uncover the story that once happened inside this villa.

Number of players: 18/21

Clear reward: Special.]

Seeing the last line, Ning Rong was a little surprised.

So this was the difference between an A-rank instance and a B-rank instance?

B-rank instances had never had main mission rewards, but A-rank instances had special rewards.

Could it be related to items?

Ning Rong only thought about it casually and did not dwell on it. She said to Zhou Yujing, “Let’s search for clues first.”

At this time, the villa district in the year 2222 welcomed three new players.

The moment they entered the game, one of the players said with a grave face, “Wasn’t it supposed to be a B-rank instance? How did it become an A-rank instance?”

Another player also looked full of surprise. “Yeah, did the game bug out?”

Noticing the commotion here, 01 and his two teammates walked over.

Their safe time had not passed yet, so they were still on this timeline.

The moment he saw the three of them, 01 smiled with interest. “What now? Have the newcomers lately become especially fond of crowding into A-rank instances?”

Running into two players who had not even left newcomer protection before was one thing, but now three more had arrived at once.

What was wrong with the newcomers these days? Each one liked challenging themselves this much?

Each one treating A-rank games like nothing, huh?

A female player who looked rather steady said, “We probably ran into a game bug.”

A game bug?

Although this horror game rarely acted like a decent thing, bugs really did seem never to have appeared before.

01 gave a lazy smile and could not be bothered to explain.

If they could not even figure out what game they had entered, what was there to say?

At this time, the female player who was clearly taking the lead among the three stepped forward and said, “You just said newcomers lately especially like crowding into A-rank instances? Besides us, who else have you met?”

Hearing her ask that, 01 looked at her in surprise.

“How so?”

The female player smiled sweetly. “I am Chi Juan, nickname Juanjuan, a member of the National Team. I came to support my companion.”

Support?

[She really understands the art of wording.]

[Big Sister needs your support?]

The moment the name Chi Juan came out, Uncle Zhong and the young girl both showed slight surprise.

The girl was obviously a qualified gossip watcher. She teased, “You came to support Zhou Yujing?”

Juanjuan admitted it openly. “Yes.”

The girl’s eyes widened slightly. “Could it be… the Juan-Yu couple is real?”

Juanjuan was just about to continue speaking when 01 unexpectedly cut in, “Doesn’t he already have a girlfriend? You came to support him—did his girlfriend agree?”

Everyone: …

Audience: !!!

[So satisfying, so satisfying!]

[No, but Juanjuan is way too persistent, right? What is she thinking? She lost three teammates before, and she already pulled herself together this fast and chased after him again?]

[The previous fixed-team item already expired. Did she get another one now?]

[She should be using a different item this time. After all, the game has already been going on for more than a day. She’s probably using something like a “Lock-On” item now.]

[Brothers, this perseverance… I truly admire it.]