Ying took the lead, and the rest of the players followed her as though she had beco the unilateral leader of the group. It might have been due to her charisma or because she was the only one Shen Nianzu from Team 14 had spoken to. Whatever it was, Shen Nianzu and Gu Luoxin were more than content to trail behind the others.
Now that they had exited the hospital’s range, Shen Nianzu noticed that they were back in the familiar university corridors, albeit this ti the space seed to have grown larger, making it look like they were steadily inching closer to the core of the labyrinth.
They did not have to fear getting lost, because on each fork, a sign had been left to inform them which way to take. Shen Nianzu surmised that it must be his future self who was paving the way for them.
Excluding the three other players and Grandpa who had entered the ’Frozen in Ti Realm’, there should have been fourteen players left in the labyrinth, not counting Jin Jiuchi. But now, Shen Nianzu did a quick count and noticed that only eight people remained in the group, aning that six were absent with their life and death unknown. Even Brother Zhang’s teammate, who was supposed to enter the ’Mirror Dinsions’ with him, was nowhere to be seen.
Shen Nianzu’s countenance beca grim. The attractions were more dangerous than he had expected. He, too, had died twice in the ’Echo of the Past’ and if not for his past self helping him jolt his mory, he might not have survived.
But what about those missing players’ future selves? Why hadn’t they shown up to assist their own selves like Shen Nianzu had done?
Many questions were churning in Shen Nianzu’s mind, but he was truly reluctant to interrogate these players in his current state, not when he could catch them stealing curious glances at him once in a while. And it was not like he could ask the twins to do the job for him either.
So that left only one option...
Shen Nianzu threw a glance over his shoulder and saw Gu Luoxin walking side by side with the young Noir. Gu Luoxin’s eyes sparkled with fascination as he kept sneaking glances at the boy beside him, his previous sadness forgotten in the presence of Noir version 2.
Suddenly, Noir turned his head and locked eyes with him, shocking him so much that he almost dropped the egg he was carrying. "What," he asked in a deadpan tone, and a suspicious blush blood across Gu Luoxin’s cheeks.
"N–N–Nothing at all!" Gu Luoxin shook his head frantically. "I just want to ask, um... that’s right! How long will you remain in this form?"
Noir turned his gaze to the front, allowing Gu Luoxin to admire his exquisite side profile. Adult Noir was cool, attractive and oozing with a mysterious charm, but young Noir was... ahh, he’s so cute! Look at how soft his cheeks are! His eyes are so round and his lashes— oh my gosh, isn’t it illegal for soone to have such long and beautiful lashes? I really want to pet his hair! It looks so fluffy! Oh Lord help , why is he so beautiful?!!
Noir took his ti to reply, oblivious to Gu Luoxin’s inner fanboying. "Quite so ti, I think. After all, I have been staying in that hospital for two months so it will take a little longer for to return to my forr self, unlike Nian. His mories are fairly intact, and he only needs to wait until his physique returns."
"T–Two months?" Gu Luoxin almost choked on his saliva. "You have been staying there for two months? And wait, you also lost your mories?! Does it an you... you don’t rember ?"
Noir shot him a mildly exasperated glance and stressed, "My mories are quickly returning to ."
"O–Oh..." Gu Luoxin mumbled, still a tad confused. So did Noir rember him or not? Wait a mont, now that Noir had shrunk in size, what about Lucius? Had the black cat also grown smaller? Ah, he really wanted to see! He would do anything if he were allowed to pet a small Lucius, but—
"Xinxin."
"Y–Yes?!" Gu Luoxin yelped and straightened up his spine in response, not unlike how he was called out in class due to daydreaming. However, Noir said nothing more, leaving him bewildered. Why would the Great God call his na— oh! This must be the answer to his previous question.
Noir had called his na to show that he still rembered Gu Luoxin!
The corner of Gu Luoxin’s lips twitched as he fought to suppress the silly grin that almost broke out on his face. Why did this indirect answer feel much better than Noir telling him outright?
Gu Luoxin was imrsed in his own bubbles until he suddenly caught Shen Nianzu’s eyes in midair and realized that the little one had been staring at him since God-knows-when. Gu Luoxin had to clutch his chest to prevent it from leaping out of his mouth, because Little Shen Nianzu was also so incredibly cute ahh!
Overwhelming with brotherly love that had sprung out of nowhere, Gu Luoxin asked softly, "Do you need sothing, Xiao Shen?"
Shen Nianzu crooked his finger at him, and Gu Luoxin had to physically restrain himself from falling to his knees. How could this one gesture be so adorable?! Right now, Little Shen Nianzu looked just like a baby boss. An extrely exquisite and lovely baby boss!
Gu Luoxin trotted forward and bent down to place his ear close to Shen Nianzu’s mouth, nodding at his request. "Roger, Boss!"
He straightened up, took a deep breath and put on the most harmless smile he could muster. Inserting himself into the group ahead, he deliberately spoke in a louder voice so Shen Nianzu could hear him. "Hello, if you don’t mind asking..." he feigned a concerned look. "I noticed that a few people are missing from our group. What happened to them, if I may ask?"
The players’ expression soured almost imdiately, and like a dam bursting, they began to recount everything they had experienced in the ’Unfinished Universe’.
As it turned out, there was a compelling reason why this particular attraction had the highest limit among all – ten players. It was simply because the level was too difficult. As the na implied, they were tossed into an unfinished – or to be exact, fractured – realm as ’chanics’ where they had to nd the broken flow of ti.
Within this realm, they encountered three distinct areas, each demanding repair.
In the first zone, ti moved so excruciatingly slowly that one second would be stretched into half a minute in the real world. Any kind of movent and communication were severely restricted, pushing so players to the brink of madness under the weight of this temporal burden.
The second area was a stark contrast, with one day in reality equating to re seconds within. Those who beca lost there never returned again no matter how long the others waited.
It was in the third area that they discovered an escape route, though by then, many players had already fallen. Shen Nianzu from Team 14 happened to arrive at this critical juncture and guided them out with remarkable efficiency.
Brother Zhang also shared his experience with a remorseful look on his face. "My story is more or less the sa. My teammate and I stumbled upon a world where everything was mirrored, and we even encountered our own mirrored selves inside. However, that version of us were malicious and intended to take our place to exit the attraction. My teammate fell victim to the deception and died. It was fortunate that I found the exit before those sinister mirrored selves could hunt down..."
Everyone let out a collective sigh. None of them had pleasant experiences in the labyrinth.
"Then," Gu Luoxin continued to ask. "Have any of you found the core NPC?"
Shen Nianzu waited with bated breath for the answer and gestured for the twins to stay silent. He had not told anyone about how the two of them had assigned him a task, albeit the details were still unknown. After all, they were not the core NPC, and the real one must exist sowhere in the labyrinth.
All eyes imdiately turned to Ying, and Gu Luoxin also glanced at her, puzzled. "Have you found the core NPC, Ying?"
"No," Ying shook her head in response. "But I might have received so invaluable information. As long as we can make it out of this labyrinth, we will receive the ticket. Most likely, the core NPC is the creator of this labyrinth and their task for us... is to escape."
The crowd fell into a contemplative silence, as it seed like the most logical explanation. Otherwise how were they supposed to find the right NPC in this intricate maze?
"Where did you learn that from?" Shen Nianzu finally opened his mouth to ask, unable to help himself.
Indescribable emotions flashed through Ying’s eyes as she answered, "...My other self."
Indeed, considering that Team 14 of SJG and Noir could exist in this tiline, it was only natural for Ying’s future self to exist too. Shen Nianzu wordlessly nodded, no longer pressing further for answers. Ying did not seem like she was lying, nor was there any reason for her to fabricate such information. They continued on their journey, each dwelling in their own thoughts, until they ca across another fork.
Everyone stopped dead in their tracks, for they finally encountered another sign within the labyrinth.
Left: Forbidden Area – 1800 ters
Middle: Drinking Fountain – 100 ters; Opposite Morality World – 500 ters
Right: The Endless Staircase – 500 ters; Reflection of Emotions – 800 ters
There was a note stuck below the signs, no doubt from Team 14’s Shen Nianzu, but before they could approach it, an inconspicuous speaker on the corner of the wall suddenly buzzed to life, and Momoko’s cheerful voice rang out,
"Well, well, well, look at you! I didn’t expect you to co such a long way here, and you even brought so new people with you!" The twins tensed up and bared their teeth toward the speaker. In response, Shen Nianzu squeezed their hands tighter to calm them down.
Momoko added, "Let’s see... I think I have to congratulate you because you have finally found the best way to escape from this labyrinth and yes, that’s teamwork! I’m not talking about teamwork among yourselves, but it’s the teamwork of tourists from different tilines! Oh my, aren’t the sacrifices beautiful?" She made a sniffling noise as if she was genuinely moved.
At that mont, the egg in Gu Luoxin’s arms started to shake, and faint cracks appeared on its smooth surface. Gu Luoxin cried out in panic and turned to his leader for help. "X–Xiao Shen, it’s going to hatch! What should I do?!"
Momoko was equally surprised as Gu Luoxin, if not more. "What?! You... you guys..." In the next second, a blinding light flashed and a little girl with blue hair tied in twin pigtails sprinted straight toward Gu Luoxin – or to be exact, the egg.
"How did you manage to find Toki?!!" she demanded in utter disbelief.
The other players were dumbfounded as those words sank into their mind. Wait a minute, this big-sized egg was actually their tour guide?!!
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