Downstairs, Ren Tingman's howls echoed through the air. Xing Ye quickly put away the dical records and said to the others, "Upstairs, let's head to the 34th floor."
The elevator was no longer functional, so they had to run. Despite her severe injuries, Cao Qian still managed to lead the way.
After sprinting up more than ten floors, everyone was out of breath, but fortunately, their physical condition was good, and they moved quickly.
"Why would he jump from my office?" Guan Ling asked in confusion, "I didn't do anything to him."
Xing Ye replied, "The dical records didn't ntion the reason. Maybe he liked being at the highest point, or maybe your office was the biggest and quietest."
The door to Guan Ling's office was ajar. He turned on the light and walked in, noticing that a piece of glass was missing.
His office was on the top floor, with floor-to-ceiling windows made entirely of tempered glass. Unless soone had Cao Qian's strength, there was no way to break it.
"It was cut with a glass cutter," Xing Ye observed after inspecting the glass. He then went to the door. "This door was also pried open."
Guan Ling remarked, "Xiao Hei was really resourceful, doing all this in the middle of the night—picking the lock and cutting the glass. How did he manage it? Wasn't there an alarm?"
Xing Ye explained, "The dical records state that the patient was extrely intelligent—he was a top student in the School of Electronic Engineering. But after starting his internship, he was relegated to basic cleaning tasks and was not valued. I think he chose to die here not only to end his life but also to prove his worth one last ti."
"Wasn't he uninterested in everything? Why would he want to prove his worth?"
"Human hearts are complicated," Xing Ye replied. "Who knows what was going through his mind."
Wei Miao asked, "So how can we leave this world? What good is knowing how the owner of this world died?"
Xing Ye asked, "What did suicide an to Xiao Hei?"
Cao Qian thought for a mont and said, "Release, perhaps. No longer having to face the unpredictable world or the inscrutable hearts of others. Jumping down would an freedom."
"Exactly," Xing Ye said. "So I suspect that if we jump from the sa spot, we'll be able to leave this world. The player on the 20th floor before us was probably a player who went with the flow. After discovering Xiao Hei's information, he hurriedly left the classroom after class, went to the 34th floor, and jumped to leave. We were searching for Cao Qian at the ti, so we missed him."
"Jump...?" Wei Miao looked down and felt a bit dizzy. "What if we die?"
Xing Ye replied, "I think there are conditions. You likely need to be in a state of collective imagination when you jump. In that state, Xiao Hei didn't see it as death—he saw it as a way to escape his predicant."
"But it's still... scary," Guan Ling said. "I'm afraid of heights..."
"It's okay, just close your eyes, and I'll push you," Cao Qian said. "Hurry, I think I hear the sound of the building being torn apart."
Xing Ye said, "It should be Ren Tingman. Normally, she wouldn't be able to beco that big; my imagination doesn't have that kind of power. It must be the world's consciousness realizing that I've figured out how to leave, so it's concentrating all its strength on Ren Tingman to stop us from escaping.
"Jump now. The first ones can cover their eyes and have soone push them, but the last one will have to jump on their own."
"I-I'll jump first!" Guan Ling raised his hand. "I trust the boss, and I believe we'll get out of here. I'll be waiting for you outside."
With that, he braced himself, stood in front of the window with his eyes closed, and spread his arms. "Sister Cao, go ahead!"
Xing Ye added, "Rember to keep yourself in a negative emotional state, so you're in the collective imagination."
"Alright, I'm about to cry. I’m seconds away from wanting grilled fish, boohoo..." Guan Ling cried out, "Just get it over with! I'm afraid I’ll wet my pants in front of you all!"
Cao Qian promptly kicked Guan Ling, sending him tumbling down. They heard his screams, but within a few seconds, they faded away.
Seeing that soone had really jumped, Wei Miao volunteered, "We're dead either way, I’ll jump too!"
Cao Qian did the sa to Wei Miao, kicking him down as well.
Finally, she turned to Xing Ye. "Should I kick you too?"
Xing Ye smiled lightly, "You go ahead. I'll help you. No one isn’t afraid of death—it's easier to take it if you're pushed rather than jumping yourself. If your wounds are still there when we get out, let Guan Ling treat you. Don't drag it out."
Cao Qian glanced at Xing Ye and nodded. She was actually even more frightened, so she tore a strip of cloth from her clothes and tied it over her eyes.
Xing Ye pushed her down. Cao Qian bit her lip hard, stubbornly refusing to cry out.
Finally, it was Xing Ye's turn. He looked down and, truth be told, was quite scared himself. Just standing by the window made his legs feel weak and his palms sweat. He had to rember to keep himself in a negative emotional state, aning he couldn’t even rally his spirits to encourage himself.
Xing Ye thought for a mont, then turned around to face the office door, with his back to the window.
As soon as he turned, he saw Ren Tingman, now a giant lizard, climbing up. She had grown even larger, though how she managed to climb to the 34th floor was a mystery.
"Xing Ye, get back here and work overti!" Ren Tingman roared, foul breath wafting from her mouth.
"No, do your own work. Stop bullying newcors," Xing Ye bluntly refused, then let himself fall backward. Like a kite with a broken string, he plumted headfirst.
The feeling of weightlessness was terrifying, with no ground beneath his feet, leaving him feeling helpless. It was the unbearable lightness of being—a sensation that was both terrifying and thrilling.
However, Xing Ye didn’t experience a harsh impact. Instead, at the mont of landing, his body felt light, as if so force had gently placed him on the ground.
He found himself in an empty room, devoid of anything, not even a mirror.
There was only one door, with a note pinned to it that read, "Congratulations, you guessed correctly. Open this door, and you will have won."
Xing Ye believed the ssage. After all, opening the door would lead to the end, signaling victory. Discovering that the building was a ntal construct and successfully escaping it aligned perfectly with the system's description, earning him 100 points.
Unfortunately, he still hadn’t found the mirror, so he couldn’t exit through the door.
If everyone landed in the sa place, Guan Ling and Cao Qian should have been waiting for him, but he was alone, indicating they had been separated.
The room had only a door, no windows, so it seed that the only way out was through the door.
Xing Ye stared at the door for a while, then carefully examined the surrounding walls. However, the walls were all the sa, with no visible chanisms.
"An empty room with not even a light—where’s the light coming from?" Xing Ye muttered to himself.
Other than leaking through the walls, where else could it co from?
He reached out to touch the wall, and suddenly, the realistic wall vanished, revealing the true nature of the room. He found himself in a vast, empty space with countless doors in front of him.
Two of these doors had Guan Ling and Cao Qian standing before them. They hadn't opened the doors yet, likely waiting for him. It seed they couldn’t see him, as their vision was blocked by the illusory walls.
Wei Miao was nowhere to be seen, and one of the doors was slightly ajar, indicating that he had chosen to leave through the standard ending.
It was strange—soone had reached the standard ending, yet the ga world hadn’t ended, and they were still able to continue. This was different from how things usually worked.
Xing Ye walked over to Guan Ling and Cao Qian, pulling them out of the illusionary room.
Without offering any explanation, he began searching the room for a mirror.
"Mirror, if you can see , respond," Xing Ye murmured.
At that mont, he felt a slight movent in his chest pocket. Xing Ye then realized he wasn’t wearing glasses but could still see everything clearly, and his clothes had also changed.
He reached into his jacket pocket and took out the tiny makeup mirror, about the size of a bottle cap.
In that instant, Xing Ye felt as if he had the entire world in his grasp.
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