Ordinary Chapter 24: Dream of No Solution

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: KarateChopMonkey

 

Zeng Ren ran fast, but a runner could never match a flyer. He was quickly caught and stumbled to the ground as he was pulled by the corner of his clothes.

When Shen Si caught up with him, this was the scene he saw.

Zeng Ren rolled on the ground like a large silkworm chrysalis, covered with dirt, white filaments wrapped around his body. There were wisps of white smoke coming out, while Zeng Ren clutched the trigram in his arms, which the white mist seemed to be targeting.

Zeng Ren saw Shen Si through the white silk, and even through the layer of white silk Shen Si could see Zeng Ren’s red eyes, “Shen Si, help me! Let go! You monster, let go of my things!”

Because of the violent struggles, Shen Si could see Zeng Ren’s palm became blood red because of friction. The next moment, the white silk instantly pulled into a ball, wrapping around Zeng Ren’s trigram that dissolved in the air. Zeng Ren opened his eyes wide and kept making hoarse sounds, as if he had lost something precious.

“My trigram disc! Give it back to me!” Zeng Ren struggled to chase after it, but couldn’t find the white figure at all. “Why didn’t you come to help me just now? If you had helped me, my things would not have been taken away!” Zeng Ren’s eyes were covered with red blood, and as he tugged at Shen Si’s collar, his voice became sharp and unpleasant, “Now, my things are lost, it’s all your fault!”

Shen Si glanced at him subtly, “Blaming me?”

As if suddenly reacting, Zeng Ren’s face was white as he let go, then he took two steps back, before squatting down, looking aggrieved and weak, “I’m sorry.”

“Is that important?”

“Yes, it’s important!” Zeng Ren lowered his head, looking a little sad, “It was a relic left to me by my master, I’ve been carrying it with me since my master died, I didn’t want it to leave my side, because it’s too important, so I lost my temper when it was taken away, it’s not your fault, I didn’t protect it well enough…”

Shen Si nodded, “So you want the item back?”

“Yes! I think he must be at the place where we were before, that white pillar of light!” Zeng Ren looked at Shen Si with a pleading look in his eyes, “I know it’s dangerous, but it’s the most important thing to me, I must get it back, you wait for me here.”

“Wait here for you?”

“Yes!” Zeng Ren replied seriously, “It’s too dangerous there, and you’re injured, so let me go alone!”

Finding a clean bench, Shen Si sat down, “Okay, I’ll wait for you for half an hour, go by yourself.”

Zeng Ren: … 

What’s wrong with this guy? He didn’t even ask to go with me, but agreed to stay here and wait?

He didn’t say that just to make Shen Si stay here, what he wanted was for Shen Si to leave with him and then block the disaster for him at that place, only then could he fully take the luck from this person and also leave the playfield safely.

Originally it was actually no problem to be in any place, as long as he had the props in his hand, who would have thought that the damn thing would have taken his props away from him.

Unforgivable!

Yes, that thing was not just a trigram, but the prop he used to exchange luck with other people. He has long tied the contract to Shen Si and as long as the prop was within the specified range, Shen Si would become more and more unlucky. Then his own luck would increase, and as long as Shen Si died, he would definitely survive.

Now he must get the prop back, and Shen Si must stay within the prop’s designated range.

“Indeed, I know very well that this is my business and should not have dragged others into it in the first place.” Zeng Ren let out a bitter smile, “Shen Si it is normal for you to make such a decision.”

“I’m a little dizzy.” Shen Si closed his eyes with some difficulty, “So you say it clearly, and don’t beat around the bush.”

Zeng Ren: … 

“I’m a little scared.” Zeng Ren spoke in a small voice, “That thing is very important to me, although I know it is a bit selfish, can you accompany me?”

“Of course not.”

A voice came from behind, and Zeng Ren’s eyes widened slightly, as he jerked his head up, like a mouse that saw a cat behind him. His face filled with panic. Even the dizzy Shen Si could see his reaction clearly. Shen Si looked back behind them, and near the dark fog, wearing all black, was a sickly looking man, not having even the slightest sense of presence.

It was Jian Nian.

“…Jian Nian,” Zeng Ren quickly distanced himself from him, “Why are you here?”

“For the same reason as you, of course.”

Zeng Ren’s face instantly turned ugly, he looked at Jian Nian with gloomy eyes, and then glanced at the man behind him, “So the Survivor who was distrusted by his employer is you, Night surprisingly didn’t mention this to me.”

If he had known that Jian Nian was here, Zeng Ren wouldn’t have come, no matter how much he was getting paid!

He and Jian Nian had a history, and as usual, Zeng Ren was looking for a new partner every time he entered a new playfield. In that playfield, he had his eye on Jian Nian, who looked weak and powerless. He was right in the beginning and Jian Nian didn’t suspect him at all, he smiled and accepted him as a partner to go through the playfield together with, but just when he was about to use props to attach the contract to Jian Nian, Jian Nian actually said to him: Finally caught you in the act.

Jian Nian didn’t actually believe him, and he was full of smiles, like an mischievous little brat, he stomped his prop into pieces. In the end, Zeng Ren escaped by binding the contract to a passerby, which saved his life and from then on, he avoided Jian Nian.

Jian Nian would not let go of people who intended to cheat him, and Zeng Ren wouldn’t be foolish enough to mess with Jian Nian again. S-Rank Survivors were not existences one could mess with.

“Since we took the same job, how about we cooperate?” Zeng Ren quickly compromised, “All I want is this person’s luck, haven’t you always disregarded the death of an ordinary person?”

Jian Nian smiled and walked up to Shen Si, his dark eyes full of danger, “I only care about this person.”

Zeng Ren quickly realized that he had chosen the wrong person. He thought that Jian Nian didn’t have friends and family in the real world, how could he have unconsciously chosen someone Jian Nian knew? Zeng Ren subconsciously stepped back, he stared closely at Shen Si’s movements, afraid that he would suddenly attack.

“Got it.” Zeng Ren stepped back, “I’ll leave now.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Zeng Ren quickly turned around and ran away, his movements so fast that his figure disappeared from Shen Si’s sight in an instant.

Jian Nian did not intend to chase after him, he only coldly looked at the direction Zeng Ren left, and remained like that for three seconds before turning around. He walked to Shen Si and sank down on his knees in front of him, still with a smile on his face, and even his pale face couldn’t hide the pleasure in his smile, resembling the sunshine in spring.

“It’s okay.” Jian Nian fished out a packet of small wet wipes from his pocket, he took one out and carefully wiped the blood off Shen Si’s face, “Why do you look such a mess? Avoid that man later.”

“Who is he?”

“He calls himself Zeng Ren, right? He is a famous doomsayer among Survivors, seeing that you are not a Survivor, he has been lying to you.” Jian Nian seriously stared into Shen Si’s eyes, “Don’t believe anything that guy says, all of his words are lies to keep himself alive.”

Shen Si reached out and grabbed the wet wipes in Jian Nian’s hand, “Why do you have this with you?”

“Because I’m a patient, and a clean freak.” Jian Nian smiled gently, but the more he smiled, the more his body seemed to be carrying the air of sickness. “Never mind why I carry this thing, Shen Si, in the playfield you have to remember not to trust anyone, you are too easy to trust others.”

Shen Si looked at him, “Including you?”

“Don’t always say such harsh words to me, I will also feel sad.” Jian Nian grabbed Shen Si’s hand, “I haven’t done anything to hurt you since the beginning, even if you break up with me for such a reason, how about trusting me a little?”

“Do you know what this playfield is?”

“No, I haven’t experienced all the playfields,” Jian Nian shook his head, “But we can work together to destroy this playfield, I believe you will be fine, Shen Si.”

Shen Si moved his hand and used a wet towel to wipe the blood off his face with a normal expression.

Helplessly standing up, Jian Nian didn’t continue to ask Shen Si to follow him as they pulled away from each other.

“Why is he so calm?” The man behind Jian Nian asked Jian Nian in a very small voice, and because his voice was too small and the distance was a bit far, Shen Si didn’t hear him.

“That man just now was his partner, right? Suddenly learning that his partner is actually an evil person and intends to do him harm, why would this person be so calm?” The man frowned slightly, “I can’t understand, does it mean that he knew from the beginning that the man was a liar?”

“Not really.” Jian Nian replied with a smile, “Shen Si just trusts people very easily.”

The man shook his head, “Since he easily trusts anyone, won’t he be upset after being betrayed?”

“No way, this is Shen Si,” Jian Nian put his hands in his pockets, “When making judgments, Shen Si will often choose to believe others. For him, between believing and not believing, he would choose the former. It’s easier to believe, so he very easily trusts others. However, if believing is the wrong choice and he is betrayed, he will never be upset because he never expected his trust to be rewarded in the first place. This is Shen Si, a rational and desireless man.”

The man looked at Jian Nian with some surprise, then stared at Shen Si peculiarly right after, staying that way for about ten seconds before he murmured, “Incomprehensible.”

The man was born in a wealthy family and had to struggle with his father’s illegitimate sons since he was a child, and the environment he was in caused his ** and good will to be strong. He had never seen a person like Shen Si, who chose to believe in things, but would not be upset after being betrayed, not expecting nor indulging.

So there really was such a person.

Wiping the blood on his face, the white wet wipes soon turned dark brown. Shen Si took his phone out of his pocket and set it to selfie mode to check his face. When the camera turned to his shoulder, Shen Si paused. In the camera, a white shadow was slowly creeping up his shoulders.

Like someone who was afraid of the cold, the white shadow was lying on Shen Si’s shoulder, as if to hold him tightly.

Shen Si looked back at his shoulders. His empty shoulders could even feel the flow of cold air, but it didn’t look like anything was there at all. He returned his eyes to the phone screen, and in the front camera, the white mist could be seen stretching out his arms around Shen Si’s waist, completely giving a pampered look.

What was this… thing?

“Shen Si?” Jian Nian, who had been watching Shen Si, noticed that something was wrong and he slowly walked over, “What’s wrong?”

Shen Si opened his mouth, but before he could speak, he clearly felt his waist being forcefully yanked. Shen Si lowered his head, in reality he also saw the white mist, and Jian Nian obviously saw it as well. He reached out his hands, and Shen Si could feel those arms get tighter and tighter because of Jian Nian’s presence.

Just then, he was directly pulled away, making Shen Si almost fall to the ground, but there was no pain coming from his body, instead, the cold wind blew and he was carried out by the fog, floating in the air.

“Damn it!” Jian Nian stepped on the bench and jumped up, he coalesced a long black knife in his hand, the knife avoided Shen Si and directly cut the white fog into two halves instead.

But in the next instant, the white mist quickly fused back, it turned into a human shape, hollow eyes and mouth facing Jian Nian, hand tightly wrapped around Shen Si. Shen Si struggled a little, but found that the mist was like a ball of rubber cement, physical attacks were completely ineffective.

“Useless?” Jian Nian looked at the knife in his hand strangely, “Why is it useless?”

He rushed up and slashed again, and just like earlier, the white fog directly condensed and reshaped, carrying Shen Si into the sky, finally placing him into the cage again.

Shen Si was puzzled as he looked at the white figure floating outside the cage. The white figure stared fixedly at Shen Si, a moment later put his hand into the cage, the cold fog touched Shen Si’s face, the movement not being threatening at all. Shen Si looked at it, a moment later he opened the camera to look, his face was still not wiped of blood.

“What… What the hell is that?” On the ground, Jian Nian looked at the white figure in the air. Even he could tell that this thing was not malicious to Shen Si, only, why was the knife ineffective? Was it not a ghost or a monster?

“Is it that your knife doesn’t work here?”

“Impossible.” Jian Nian put away his rarely changing smile. He looked at his knife with complex eyes, “This knife is not an ordinary knife. I used a first layer playfield boss to refine it into a ghost blade. Even if it has left the unlimited flow world, it can also be effective, so, this thing should not be a ghost.”

The man looked up at the white shadow in the air, “It seems as if it’s guarding, not resembling a ghost at all.”

The body composed of white mist, the face that could not be seen clearly, seemed to not pose danger, which was unlike any severe ghost. Just then, there was a bang, a piercing explosion sounded in the distance, and the black mist was blown apart, blowing even the cage away.

“What? Who is it? So deadly.” Jian Nian looked to the side, “Even though they do not know what playfield this is, they dare to use explosives. Was this a guy who didn’t read the survival manual?”

Just like Jian Nian said, the white mist dissipated directly from in front of Shen Si in the next instant. In just a few seconds, a few screams came from the distance. Jian Nian narrowed his eyes, moved his body, then turned around to look for a ladder. 

“It doesn’t look aggressive, but while it’s gone we need to find a ladder to get  Shen Si down.”

The man looked at Shen Si blankly, “Shouldn’t you just jump up there and tear the cage open with your hand to get him out?”

“What? Do you think I have the stamina? I’m just a patient, and what you described is not very human-like, it’s more like a gorilla.” Jian Nian waved his hand, “Hurry up, hurry up, find a ladder!”

The man eventually had to help Jian Nian find a ladder. Watching Jian Nian setting up the ladder he found then climbing up, his heart’s view on S-Rank Survivors shattered to the ground.

…That said, of the three S-Rank Survivors, it was true that only Jian Nian’s ability was unknown, each Survivor would have a unique ability, so what about Jian Nian? What exactly were the abilities that supported him to become an S-Rank Survivor?

… 

In the Special Unit, Ning Yangze and Xia Leyu anxiously waited for the test results from the Inspection Unit, and they sat quietly in their seats until the computer made a beep.

“Here it comes!” Xia Leyu rushed over, and the joy on his face gradually turned empty as he opened the message sent by the Inspection Unit.

“What’s the playfield?” Ning Yangze came up behind him and looked at the computer screen, “…What? Random playfield?!”

Xia Leyu nodded helplessly, “It looks like we don’t have a chance to participate this time, if it is a random playfield, not even the Inspection Unit can determine the situation inside, we can only hope that the people playing can save themselves. Team Leader, what should we do?”

Ning Yangze frowned slightly, “Which random playfield is it?”

“Dream.”

Xia Leyu read the description on the results, “Random playfield: dream. This playfield will randomly choose someone to create a world according to their dream. In this world, everything is based on the tone of the owner’s dream, in other words, if the dreamer likes Gundam, maybe this playfield will reflect the world of Gundam.”

“…Understood, and then what?” Ning Yangze gestured for him to continue.

“The owner of the dream will not realize that he is dreaming, he can even move around at will, so the first stage is to find the dreamer and wake them up from their sleep. Otherwise the evil spirit bred by the dream will kill the people in the playfield one by one, and when the dreamer is awakened it will enter the second stage. The evil spirit shaped by the dream will fuse with the dream owner to form a second dream world, in which everyone will experience part of the dream owner’s experience, which may be distorted.”

Ning Yangze pondered for a moment, “Did the Inspection Unit give a clearance method?”

“Not really, or rather, there is no unified clearance method at all.” Xia Leyu helplessly spoke, “Because whether they clear it or not is up to the dream master, but the dream master and the dream of the fusion of the evil spirit will suppress the dream master’s consciousness, so, whether they pass all depends on the dream master’s subconscious. This is simply the same as the name of this playfield, a dream-like unsolvable problem.”

Ning Yangze lowered his head and seemed to be thinking about something, and only after a moment did he speak, “What if… and I say if the dream master chosen at random by the playfield is a Survivor…”

Xia Leyu looked desperate, “That’s right, then an ordinary person caught in the playfield may experience another playfield in the playfield, it’s really exciting.”

…But no one wanted to experience such excitement.