"Are you ready?"
In a virtual space made up of intersecting lines, three virtual characters stood together. The one who spoke was Xie Kedu. He was dressed in a simple yet elegant green robe, with a long sword at his waist and a conical hat on his head, resembling a chivalrous hero from a martial arts story. His name suited him well—Ling Hu.
Qin Xuezhong, on the other hand, was clad in a highly futuristic exoskeleton suit. The dark, matte armor fit closely against her every curve, looking stunning while exuding an unintentional sense of pressure. Behind her stood Yu Zhezhong. He had transformed into a female character, wearing a full combat armor. Though his body was completely encased, his stance and movements revealed a powerful, panther-like agility. The only indication of his discomfort was his bright, shimmering eyes, which looked uneasily at the two.
Qin Xuezhong found it amusing. Before entering, she had only asked Xie Kedu to let her experience this instance without revealing their true identities. To Xie Kedu, Qin Xuezhong was merely Er Gou, while Yu Zhezhong was the Cat Professor. He hadn't expected both of them to look so good.
In "Dream Labyrinth," a player's avatar could only be adjusted by 5% based on their real-life appearance, so Er Gou and Cat Professor couldn't differ too much in reality. As a typical game-loving otaku who had never been in a relationship, Xie Kedu suddenly found himself at a loss for words. He could only awkwardly ask, "Are you ready?"
After asking, he regretted it. Based on what Kaise had said, Er Gou was likely a good friend of the Ghost and renowned for her elusive stealth skills. Someone like that wouldn't be flustered even on their first visit to this game.
Xie Kedu felt anxious while Yu Zhezhong appeared uneasy. Qin Xuezhong quickly realized what was going on—one was a guy who had never interacted with girls, while the other had just turned into a girl. It was awkward all around.
This generation of men was tough to lead.
She spoke up, "Alright, enough of the daydreaming. The most important thing now is to complete the plan."
As soon as she spoke, both of her companions straightened up, pushing aside their distractions.
"Ling Hu, can you explain how this works?" Qin Xuezhong asked Xie Kedu first.
With a wave of his hand, three glowing spheres appeared before them. He explained, "This labyrinth doesn't have a specific task. The number of players entering will generate an equal number of instances, which will be randomly assigned to all players for them to resolve one by one."
At this point, he emphasized, "Be aware that these instances will create very exaggerated stories based on all players' thoughts and experiences."
"I once experienced one where the main elements were a mathematician and a battle-hardened veteran. I ended up having to solve a math problem I couldn't understand at all on a war front…"
He chuckled ruefully, "I got the lowest score on that one."
Yu Zhezhong asked, "Is there only one way to solve it? What if I get matched with something I don't understand at all? Wouldn't that just end the game?"
Xie Kedu replied, "No, there are usually multiple ways to complete a task, but my situation was really hellish…"
Qin Xuezhong summarized, "So there will be all sorts of strange scenarios, and we have to find our own ways to deal with them?"
"Exactly. Also, sometimes you might share an instance with another player."
"Share? Is it a cooperative or adversarial relationship?"
"Not necessarily; sometimes it might not even matter. We suspect that two players' labyrinths might be too similar, so the system just merges the two instances together, that's all."
"Got it."
"Right," Xie Kedu nodded. "All these instances share a similar core—there will always be a woman involved. Sometimes she's the protagonist, sometimes the antagonist, sometimes just a passerby. If players resolve the instance, they'll definitely receive a piece of information that can help her escape the labyrinth."
"So complicated?" Qin Xuezhong felt overwhelmed by the amount of information and things to focus on.
Xie Kedu shrugged, "That's just the basic rules. Once you're inside, just follow the storyline. You'll gradually understand."
"Okay," Qin Xuezhong agreed.
Yu Zhezhong asked, "How do we identify this woman?"
"There's no way," Xie Kedu said, sounding a bit disheartened. "There are many rumored methods; I can send you the information, but… none are truly reliable."
After discussing for a while, Qin Xuezhong and Yu Zhezhong understood a bit of the basic rules but knew almost nothing about the labyrinth's specifics.
In response, Xie Kedu explained, "That's the core fun of 'Dream Labyrinth'—you never know what kind of story you'll match with, or where that woman will appear. You can only rely on yourself to solve it. The unknown is what makes it interesting."
"Isn't there usually some reward for playing games?" Qin Xuezhong asked.
"Experience points as rewards, which allow for leveling up."
"What's the point of leveling up?"
"Um…" Xie Kedu hesitated, "It's kind of impressive to have a high level?"
Qin Xuezhong glanced at the top of Xie Kedu's head, where a sparkling Lv.76 gleamed, while her and Yu Zhezhong's heads displayed only dull Lv.0s.
Inwardly, she thought—no wonder you're the number one game addict in the office.
"Then let's get started," she said.
Even though she didn't fully understand, Qin Xuezhong was filled with confidence. After all, it was just a game. No matter how mysterious it seemed, consciousness in the virtual realm would always have its ways to act.
The three of them clicked to match at the same time.
Quickly, the system prompted:
[Number of players entering the game: 814. The game is about to begin in 3, 2, 1…]
Qin Xuezhong didn't expect the game to be this boring.
After all, it was a game, and all the perceptions and visuals were quite simple, with time flowing at an astonishing rate of 20 times faster. What felt like only a short time in the real world translated to three days in the game.
Her identity was that of a worker. Even though she had adjusted her appearance once after connecting to the game system, the system had automatically altered her looks again. This meant that even if someone who knew her before entered the game, they would almost certainly fail to recognize her.
For three days in the game, she was just a female assembly line worker, continually producing some mechanical components according to the operating manual. Working 12 hours a day, she returned home exhausted, collapsed into bed, and woke up to go back to work again.
She was on the verge of developing PTSD.
Wasn't this just like her life before her reincarnation?
Apart from the tasks being different, her living conditions and mindset were entirely the same. There were no task lists, no prompts, no guidance—nothing at all. It was simply an excruciatingly boring work simulation.
She even took a half-day off and was only docked half a day's pay; nothing else happened.
Out of sheer boredom, she began to pay attention to everything in the workshop, looking for anything out of the ordinary.
After returning home, she meticulously cleaned everything, recording everything from the clothes in her closet to the food in her refrigerator.
After work today, Qin Xuezhong thought about grabbing a bite at home and then skipping the entire next workday to investigate the protagonist's identity at the security department or the community.
However, as soon as she opened the door, her gaze sharpened.
She noticed that the hydroponic synthetic plant she had placed at the entrance had changed.
She remembered vividly because just yesterday, while taking inventory, she had jokingly recorded how many flowers there were, noting that the water had barely covered one sprout's neck, which was leaning toward the window.
But now, not only had the water level dropped below the sprout, even the sprout's orientation had shifted.
Her first reaction was, "Holy crap, could this be some sort of bioweapon or carnivorous plant?"
According to Xie Kedu, anything outrageous could happen in the Dream Labyrinth.
She felt a bit excited because it seemed she had finally grasped a clue.
For the sake of her own safety, she didn't dare sleep in her room that night.
Instead, she had hidden a camera in her room, pointed at the small vase by the door.
Then, she rented a small apartment.
The night passed uneventfully; the camera recorded no activity.
The next morning, just as she was enjoying a lazy sleep before heading downstairs for breakfast, the camera pinged with an alert: [Motion detected].
Qin Xuezhong quickly clicked to view the footage.
Her door had been quietly opened.
Walking in was an extremely frail-looking woman.
Her steps were somewhat unsteady, yet she moved with familiarity, slipping into the room and quietly closing the door behind her.
The woman first changed into a pair of slippers, then tucked away her own shoes, meticulously wiping away any footprints on the floor.
Next, she pulled out a lump of low-quality synthetic protein from her pocket and devoured it, followed by drinking the water Qin Xuezhong had left in her kettle, carefully refilling it halfway with boiled water.
After completing all of this, the woman pulled a blanket off the sofa and tiredly fell asleep.
Seeing this, Qin Xuezhong began to piece things together.
Because the work hours for the factory workers were very fixed, this woman, whether a fugitive or a homeless person, had taken advantage of the empty time to sneak into someone else's home to rest.
This apartment was cheaper than those in the slum districts; it even had a regular mechanical lock, so she might have some means of breaking in.
The pressing question was whether this woman was good or bad, and if she was indeed the "key woman" Xie Kedu had mentioned.
Qin Xuezhong decided to follow her.
During the day, she didn't go to work at all; instead, she rested in her rental apartment.
When it was time to get off work, the camera alerted her again that there was movement in the room—the woman had woken up.
In the footage, the woman quickly gathered her things and checked for any forgotten items before cautiously switching back into her own shoes and leaving Qin Xuezhong's room.
Waiting nearby, Qin Xuezhong followed her.
The woman was highly alert; there were a few times when Qin Xuezhong got a little too close and almost got caught by the woman glancing back.
This only reinforced Qin Xuezhong's conviction that this woman was no ordinary person.
As she followed along, the woman didn't engage in anything particularly intriguing; she was just constantly stealing food and hiding.
It was clear that the woman's physical condition was terrible; she had to find a bridge underpass or an abandoned building to rest every hour or so.
Seeing this, Qin Xuezhong had a bold idea.
Why not just capture this woman and push the mission forward quickly?