Volume 7: Days of Stargazing at the Inn
What time is it?
That voice just now, why did it sound nothing like Qu Jing?
Shen Maomao only knew they were going to climb a mountain to see the stars, not that they were actually going to see the aurora.
Could auroras appear so easily?? The weather in this place didn’t seem like it would allow for seeing an aurora at all.
This instance seemed unremarkable at first glance, but upon careful consideration, one could discover many places filled with a sense of incongruity1.
For example, the various objects around them from jumbled eras2, and then there were the plants from all four seasons outside the hotel…
Perhaps this instance was related to this kind of disorder?
Seeing that the players had almost finished eating, the NPC stood up, her slightly chubby face beaming with a smile: “Alright, everyone gather on the platform outside the door, we’re assembling to head up the mountain!”
The little boy holding a ball looked at her curiously, asking with pleading eyes: “Auntie, where are you guys going to play?”
“Call me Big Sister.” The woman squatted down and pinched his little face, smiling as she said, “We’re going to the observatory on the mountaintop to see the aurora!”
The child was puzzled: “What’s an aurora?”
The woman answered him in the most straightforward terms: “It’s a very beautiful light that can only be seen after dark.”
The little boy’s eyes lit up, and he immediately turned his head to look at his parents: “Mama! I want to see the aurora too!”
The young mother smiled apologetically at the woman and picked up her son: “Xiaobao3, it’s too late now, it’s almost dark. There are big bad wolves on the mountain that eat children, aren’t you afraid of being snatched away by a wolf?”
Xiaobao whined coquettishly: “I’m not afraid! Papa will protect me! Mama, let’s go play together~ Let’s go together, let’s go together! If we go with everyone, the big bad wolf won’t dare to come out!”
Seeing this, the woman suggested: “Since the child wants to go, why not come with us? There are over ten of us, and our equipment is quite complete. We’ll be back by nine or ten o’clock.”
Xiaobao’s mother was still a bit hesitant, but the young couple nearby was the first to be swayed.
The young woman nudged her boyfriend, who immediately understood and said to the lead NPC: “It’s all the same whether you’re herding one sheep or tending to two4, can we tag along too?”
The NPC naturally agreed: “Sure, no problem!”
Xiaobao saw his mother was still hesitating, his eyes darted around, and he suddenly lowered his head in great disappointment, saying in a childlike5 voice: “Forget it, let’s go back to sleep, Mama. I don’t want to go anymore.”
Sometimes, making a retreat in order to advance6 is often more effective in achieving one’s goal than throwing a tantrum.
Xiaobao’s mother’s heart immediately softened. She patted the child’s back and said: “We’ll go too! Let’s take Xiaobao to see the aurora!”
And so, 5 more people were added to the team of 12.
Considering the temperature would be lower after dark, Xiaobao’s mother requested to go back to their room to get a few things. The young couple also indicated they wanted to bring some food and water up the mountain. So, everyone waited for another ten-plus minutes before the large group started climbing the mountain along the small path behind the hotel in a vast and mighty procession.
It was only then that they learned: the lead NPC was called Hong-jie7, Xiaobao’s family surname was Wang8, and in the young couple, the man was named Xi Tian9, and the woman was Qu Jing10.
The sun was sinking, and the sky was beginning to show signs of darkening. The mountain path, like the road they took to the hotel, could only accommodate two people side-by-side. Beside it were waist-high bushes and massive trees that obscured the sky and covered the sun. Everyone consciously stood in a line with their roommates; no one wanted to walk at the very front, and of course, no one wanted to walk at the very back either.
The NPC was the first to step onto the mountain path’s stairs, standing above and looking down at them: “What are you all doing? Hurry up and come on.”
Xiaobao, holding his parents’ hands, rushed up, with the young couple Xi Tian and Qu Jing following closely behind.
Shen Maomao looked towards Lou Jingmo.
Lou Jingmo gave Golden Retriever a push, making him walk under her watchful eye, then she took Shen Maomao’s arm and they walked up together.
With people leading the way, the several players behind swarmed up11, pushing and shoving each other, as no one wanted to be at the very back—everyone knew that the middle of the group was relatively safer.
Hong-jie at the front didn’t notice the silent struggle behind them at all. The players quickly sorted out their positions through sheer force, and the group proceeded in two rows, like… the Greedy Snake Shen Maomao had been playing all afternoon.
Hong-jie used a megaphone to occasionally organize discipline. After climbing for an unknown amount of time, they hadn’t found the stargazing platform, but the sky had already turned dark.
Light-fearing insects all crawled out from the soil, joyfully beginning their raucous concert. When the wind blew through the leaves, it made a rustling sound, shashasha, as if someone was shaking maracas to accompany them.
Not far away were rows of towering, dark-colored trees. Between the trunks of every two trees were pitch-black voids, making one can’t help but suspect that some fierce beast was hidden within that darkness…
“Tszla—tszlala—”12
Hong-jie’s megaphone seemed to encounter some electromagnetic interference and suddenly emitted a very harsh noise.
A young female player with short hair was so scared she let out a short scream, then quickly covered her mouth when everyone looked at her.
Xiaobao’s mom picked Xiaobao up from the ground, patted his shoulder, glanced resentfully at the short-haired woman, and softly comforted the child: “Xiaobao, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid…”
Xiaobao let out a big yawn: “Mama, I’m not afraid. When are we going to arrive? I want to go to the toilet…”
Qu Jing from the young couple also complained: “It’s getting dark so quickly, I can barely see the road.”
“Soon, soon!” Hong-jie slapped her forehead, “Look at my memory, I completely forgot the flashlights!”
Saying this, she opened her backpack, took out two small flashlights, distributed them first to the young couple and the family of three, and then continued to hand them out.
After Xiaobao got a flashlight, he immediately turned it on. A beam of white light appeared, illuminating the small path clearly.
“Wa!” he couldn’t help exclaiming, “This light is so bright!”
Xiaobao’s mom handed the child to his dad, and at the same time called out to Hong-jie who was distributing flashlights: “Hong-jie! My son wants to go to the toilet. Could you wait for us here for a bit? I’ll have my husband take him into the woods.”
Hong-jie said: “Alright, go ahead. Anyone else want to go to the toilet? Go together now while you can. Men to the left, women to the right. After this, we’re heading straight to the top without resting.”
Xiaobao’s dad, holding the child, stepped over the bushes, had Xiaobao illuminate the way with the flashlight, and carefully walked towards those “black holes.”
The short-haired woman who had screamed earlier asked with a trembling voice: “Um… are there any girls who want to go to the toilet?”
No one paid her any attention.
She cast a pleading look at her roommate, but her roommate averted her gaze.
Dai Shiran13 was a bit desperate.
She had genuinely been frightened by the static from the megaphone just now. Her adrenaline had surged due to nervousness, and just as she had managed to calm down, a strong urge to urinate washed over her, making her want to cry.
She scanned her surroundings, looking over all the female players nearby, and realized that no one was willing to accompany her into that forest?
But if she went by herself… she’d probably scare herself to death before she even encountered anything.
Maybe I should just hold it in a bit longer…
Tears welled up in Dai Shiran’s eyes, and she bit her lower lip.
Anyway, Hong-jie said they were almost at the mountaintop… that stargazing platform would surely have toilets built, right?
Just then, a female voice suddenly said: “I want to go to the toilet too. Why don’t we go together?”
Her eyes lit up, but then dimmed again after she clearly saw who was speaking.
Because the person speaking was Qu Jing, from the young couple, an NPC who could be good or bad.
Seeing her hesitation, Qu Jing merely thought she was embarrassed and persuaded: “It’s pitch dark14 out here, you don’t need to be embarrassed.”
Dai Shiran said weakly: “I… I’m just scared…”
“I reckon we still have a ways to go on this path. If you don’t go now, I won’t accompany you later either.” Saying this, Qu Jing shone her flashlight on the path ahead. The beam of light stretched forward along the steps, almost reaching the sky, with no sign of the mountaintop in sight. “If you’re really too scared, let’s not go too far. We can have my boyfriend come with us, and he can stand far away with his back to us…”
Dai Shiran refused without a second thought: “It’s fine… no need for your boyfriend. Let’s just go together.”
Of course, she couldn’t let Xi Tian follow. It wasn’t because of some distinction between men and women or embarrassment, but rather a fear that if these two NPCs weren’t good people, and they ganged up on her when they were alone, she probably wouldn’t even have time to run.
She took a deep breath, pulled out the few small props she had from her inventory, clutched them tightly in her hand, and instantly felt much more at ease: “Let’s go… I’ll hold the flashlight?”
Qu Jing said indifferently: “Sure.” After speaking, she tossed her own flashlight to her boyfriend, Xi Tian.
Dai Shiran handed her bag to her roommate, and the two of them stepped over the bushes, shala shala, walking deeper into the woods.
Before they had gone far, Dai Shiran stopped under a tree and said meekly, “Here… here should be fine, ba?”
From here, they could faintly hear the voices of the group on the main path and see the flickering lights of their flashlights. Hong-jie’s loud voice, amplified by the megaphone, was particularly reassuring.
Qu Jing nodded: “Hurry up then.” After speaking, she cleanly and efficiently pulled down her pants and squatted.
A sound of trickling water, xilili, reached Dai Shiran’s ears. She quickly placed the flashlight on the ground and squatted down too.
Qu Jing finished very quickly, pulling her pants back up in less than ten seconds. She took two steps away, leaving only a light-blurred shadow for Dai Shiran, and said: “I’ll wait for you here. You hurry up.”
Once her full bladder was released, it was a bit hard to stop. The sound of water continued for a long time, so long that Dai Shiran felt a little embarrassed.
Finally, after she had finished, just as she was about to pull up her pants and stand up, she suddenly heard a sentence from beside her—
“What time is it now?”
The good thing about a digital watch is that you can see the time clearly even without light. Dai Shiran looked at her watch out of conditioned reflex, and a time blurted out: “7:59, what’s wrong?”
After saying it, she suddenly realized—Qu Jing also had a watch, why would she ask her for the time?
And that voice just now, why did it sound nothing like Qu Jing?
The author has something to say:
A god-tier comment—Aurora (极光 – jígūang), the light of the Western Paradise of Ultimate Bliss15 (西方极乐世界的光 – Xīfāng Jílè Shìjiè de guāng), shortened to aurora (极光 – jígūang).16
My Journey to the West17 young couple was named long ago for your convenience in remembering them, not to cater to this comment!
So many people are asking me about the card matter, and also about Maomao’s understanding of Lou-jie’s sexual orientation—these were all in previous chapters, but it’s been a while, so you might have forgotten.
Maomao knew from the very beginning that Lou-jie likes women; telling her mother Lou-jie was straight was for convenience in coming out.
Cards are such that everyone has a large card pool. Obtaining props in the game is like drawing cards; there’s a chance a card will appear (besides cards, there are also ordinary props). There are 12 types of cards in the card pool, one of each. Once obtained, they won’t be drawn again. It’s said that collecting all 12 can summon the creator to realize one of your wishes, including escaping the game. Except for Simon Peter, each card can only be used once; it’s scrapped after use but can still be kept as a collectible and counts towards the 12 cards. Scrap cards also have their uses. If the owner dies, the cards drop in reality. Other props, aside from cards, cannot appear in reality. Cards cannot be used in reality. The game has a website and a forum, supporting private player trading.
That’s probably all for now.
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