Chapter 200: Goodbye, Seventh Grade

Chapter 200: Chapter 200: Goodbye, Seventh Grade

Shi Zhile was completely buried in garbage. By the time she dug her way out of the trash heap, the flying saucer had already vanished without a trace.

The trash clinging to her reeked of a sour stench. It wasn’t the fermented smell of food, but an indescribable mix of sweat and stinky feet.

She sat on the pile of trash and carefully examined the garbage beneath her.

Suddenly, a square box tumbled down. With a CLICK, the box opened. A white piece of clothing, its style unclear, fell out.

’A white dress shirt or a white T-shirt?’

She slid down the mountain of trash and went to pick it up.

The moment she picked it up, a panel popped up.

[Combat Suit: A combat suit made of special material, possessing absolute defensive capabilities. Unfortunately, it is already damaged. Energy resistance function reduced by 30%, contamination resistance reduced by 50%. (Damage is irreparable).]

It was a jumpsuit, damaged in several places on the shoulders and chest. Its surface was a bit grimy, but the dirt came right off with a light wipe of her hand.

The material was unknown. It felt soft to the touch but was exceptionally tough. She tried to rip it with her hands, but the fabric didn’t tear or even stretch.

’A combat suit that can defend against energy. Even though it’s damaged, it’s still functional. Could this be the gift from Jiang Yuxing?’

Whether it was or not, this kind of material was rare.

Without hesitating, she put the combat suit back in the box and stored the box and all in her backpack.

There were a great many such boxes on the garbage mountain. Shi Zhile opened two nearby, finding two pairs of boots and two more combat suits.

The boots and combat suits were all damaged to varying degrees. Anyone who used a combat suit must have needed to go to a battlefield.

She guessed that the batch of items just dropped by the flying saucer must be discarded military supplies.

But if they were discarded military supplies, the quantity didn’t add up.

’Whatever. They’re all useful anyway. I can stash them in my backpack for now. Once I’m back in the game, I’ll take one out to study it. I need to make sure there are no viruses before I decide whether to use them.’

She picked all the boxes out of the trash heap and, after checking the contents of each one, stored them in her backpack.

An unknown amount of time passed. Shi Zhile’s stomach rumbled, and when she opened her panel to check, she saw it was already three in the afternoon.

She washed her hands, disinfected them, and ate.

After filling her stomach, she continued to collect supplies. Whenever she came across the wreckage of machines or chips, she collected them separately.

Another three hours passed, but the sky was still bright.

The dormant system let out a piercing shriek.

[Host, no wonder I couldn’t find you. You... how did you end up on a garbage mountain?]

Shi Zhile said, "The interstellar coordinates led here."

[Impossible! You and I entered the teleportation point at the same time. The moment I entered interstellar space, I saw Jiang Yuxing... No! It was Xi Nan’s dead-man face. There’s no reason you’d be dumped here.]

Shi Zhile sat in the pile of trash and continued to dig through it.

She no longer cared where she had been transported to. What she cared about was how to get back.

"I forgot to ask before. The interstellar coordinate point is a one-time-use item. How do I get back into the game?"

System: [I’ll scan the surrounding space first. It’s strange... ever since I got to this garbage mountain, my energy has actually increased.]

A moment later, it spoke again, its tone serious.

[Host, I’ve discovered a very serious problem. Your current body isn’t yours.]

"What do you mean? What do you mean my body isn’t mine?"

[My scan shows that your current body’s heartbeat is zero, and your height has increased by 0.5 centimeters compared to when you were in the game.]

[According to the rules of the human body, a body with no heartbeat is a corpse. And due to muscle contraction, a corpse’s height will be 0.7 to 1.7 centimeters shorter than it was in life.]

[Although a small number of cases show an increase, the body will still shorten over time. My data tells me that either you are already dead, or this body you are in is not yours.]

Shi Zhile took a mirror out of her storage and looked at her face.

"It’s my face."

She then felt for her pulse. Her once strong and steady pulse was like a pool of stagnant water, without the slightest beat.

She placed her hand on her chest, trying to feel her heartbeat. As her chest rose and fell with her breaths, all she could feel was that her once-thrumming heart had gone silent.

"No pulse, no heartbeat, but I’m still breathing... what does that make me? A zombie?"

"So... am I dead?"

[I currently detect no separation of the Host’s consciousness. However, I am detecting another energy source nearby. You can head in its direction and search for it.]

Shi Zhile thought for a moment, stored the remaining nearby boxes, and had the system give her directions as she made her way over.

She clambered over mountains of trash, collecting any rare items she occasionally found in her backpack. After several more hours of walking and stopping, Shi Zhile finally spotted a small hut at the foot of a garbage mountain.

[This is the source of the energy. The energy is abundant, but it’s strongly rejecting my presence.]

[I need to go into hibernation. Host, be careful.]

With that, the system fell completely silent.

Shi Zhile took out her axe and cautiously approached.

Before she could get close, a tall figure walked out of the room.

He was wearing a white combat suit, his expression icy.

"You’re finally here."

Shi Zhile took a step back, watching him warily.

It wasn’t hard to tell from his words that this person had been waiting for her, but she was certain she didn’t know him.

’A player who knows me... and is in interstellar space...’

"You’re Chuyi?"

Chuyi nodded. "It’s me.

Jiang Yuxing sent you the interstellar coordinates, didn’t he? Did you know that coming out of the coordinate point means you’ve completely left the game? And that when the game was first created, you were designated as its endpoint."

Shi Zhile didn’t quite understand, and she didn’t let down her guard.

"Jiang Yuxing said he didn’t know the game’s direction, and he couldn’t decide its endpoint. I don’t believe him, but I don’t believe you either."

Chuyi turned and walked into the hut, looking back to say, "Whether you believe me is your business. But if you don’t want to be discovered and captured by the interstellar people for research, you’d better come inside."

Shi Zhile stepped into the hut.

Just as she’d imagined, the hut was tiny, with only a few daily necessities inside.

When she saw the neatly folded quilt, creased into a perfect square, Shi Zhile paused.

Chuyi sat on the edge of the bed and offered the only chair to Shi Zhile.

"Jiang Yuxing didn’t lie to you. When the game started, it needed to be bound to a player for closed beta testing. The person the interstellar side selected was you."

"You’ve probably had dreams about island survival—sometimes on a deserted island, sometimes out at sea—but no matter how hard you tried, you always faced a crisis and ended up dying. Those weren’t dreams. They were the results of the game’s closed beta."

"Traveling through the wormhole is real. Me, Jiang Yuxing, and Wang Peng—the three of us came from the future. Jiang Yuxing was convinced that you are the most rational kind of madman, the type of person who would be best at surviving for the sake of living, so he chose you for the beta test."

"Ninety-nine closed betas, ninety-nine deaths. After confirming you couldn’t clear the game, they pulled all the players in for the 100th time."