The mission completion beep sounded in both of their minds at the same time, followed by an unexpected string of new mission prompts:
[The player passively triggered the second loop of the serial quest: The Truth of the Disappearance; find out the many secrets hidden in the Sif Opera House; reveal the past to the world; and bring back the truth of history.]
[Note: There may be uncontrollable obstacles in the process; please protect yourself.].
[Since this mission was the passive trigger target of the first loop “Finding the Invisible Door,” the player who accepts the mission is bound to the player of the first loop, and players cannot be changed, added, or removed.]
[The rewards for this side quest will increase according to the players’ completion level.]
[Wishing you a happy game!]
Feng Huai knew that Yu Rui must have heard the system’s prompt; he thought a little and said, “The completion point of this mission is to reveal the truth to the public, which is the most crucial part and will inevitably also be the most dangerous part.”
“On the other hand, the content of this mission sounds more on the side of an Easter egg, with as many rewards for as much as can be uncovered, with rewards based on what can be discovered, and there are no fixed hard standards. Does this also indicate that the difficulty level of the task will be higher than before?”
Yu Rui nodded slightly in approval. “That’s why the front branch quest set a reward of four points; even though the danger level of the [Searching for the Invisible Door] quest didn’t reach that level, it was a preparatory ambush for the serial branch quests that came after it.”
“Luckily, I pulled you into the water.” Feng Huai inclined his head to look at Yu Rui, the corners of his mouth lifting up as he smiled nonchalantly.
“Thanks for allowing me to sink with you.” Yu Rui smiled faintly.
Feng Huai: “……”
[Ah, boss Yu seems to be really sultry.]
[It’s too much.]
[There is no such thing as a sultry boss, Yu, in my impression.]
[Indeed, back in the day, he was the cold flower of the forest.]
[He’d say a word or two to his partner, but he wasn’t as flirty as he is now.]
[Boss Yu’s partner hasn’t come out for a long time. I heard something happen to him in the last copy of the game.]
[It seems so.]
[Both boss Yu and his partner were able to advance to the game realm, but they ended up going back to the lowest copy. Boss Yu started over, but his partner is nowhere to be found.]
[Maybe they changed their face, so we can’t recognize them.]
[It’s not a big deal; they can just start all over again. With those two working together, it’ll be a matter of minutes before they’re back to the highest level.]
[The higher the level, the more expensive the viewing cost is, and it’s impossible to even catch up with live streaming.]
[It’s hard to find a replay clip of boss Yu’s gameplay; I don’t know what happened back then.]
[Tsk, god Yu’s glorious era… There weren’t as many people watching live broadcasts as there are now. If it had had the current traffic, there would have been a few stolen recordings and pirated versions long ago…
Unfortunately, it’s a pity.]
Feng Huai also reviewed the main task content, including the few words “search for the source of the Phantom” and a pitiful 10-point reward.
He couldn’t help but purse his lips and sneer, “The branch line is so complex, but the background of the main line’s clues is so barren that it seems like its existence has been forgotten. Even the rewards given are pitifully small. I hope the game can make adjustments for this imbalanced weight.”
Yu Rui laughed and said, “Trust me, it’s never repentant.”
Game: ……
“The main quest “The Source of the Phantom” is somewhat related to our branch content, and it’s likely that the main quest completion node will be triggered while completing the branch quest.” Returning to the main topic, Yu Rui reminded him, “After completing the main quest, players are only allowed to stay in the game copy world for 48 hours.”
“In other words, if the side quests haven’t been completed yet, the time left for us is very limited.” Feng Huai understood; he nodded and said, “In that case, our steps should be reversed instead.”
“First, we should set up the public revelation of the truth in advance, and it’s best to remotely manipulate the release with one click. That way, even if we’re strapped for time, we won’t get stuck and waste it at this stage.”
As he said that, he thought of something else; his eyes lit up slightly, and he spoke quickly: “If our public disclosure method is different from the norm, we might be able to circumvent the blocking link; after all, the game is dead and people are alive.”
Yu Rui looked at Feng Huai with interest, his eyes plainly conveying a layer of meaning: another mischievous idea?
“This perspective of thinking is something that can be shared and referenced; it’s up to you to implement it.” Feng Huai generously lent out his idea.
Yu Rui let out a laugh. Not surprised at all, he responded good-naturedly, “Okay.”
“Got an idea?” Feng Huai couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow when he saw him agree so readily.
“Uh-huh. When the time comes, I need you to cooperate with my performance. I believe you’ll be able to understand it once you see it.” Yu Rui said.
Feng Huai choked slightly at his words, understanding that the implication of Yu Rui’s words was that he didn’t intend to reveal it now.
He tsked softly and narrowed his eyes at him.
He guessed that perhaps right at the same time the mission released the chain of side quests, this person had already thought 123456 steps ahead.
As for why he didn’t say anything, presumably he was testing his teammate’s ability and also weighing the value of cooperation.
Feng Huai snorted coldly.
Yu Rui naturally didn’t miss Feng Huai’s grunt, but as for the reason for the other party’s dissatisfaction, Yu Rui only thought that it was because of the little bit of suspense he had left behind.
It wasn’t that he was deliberately being cryptic, but the game setting was really a pain to deal with. Perhaps because of his disclosure, the setting would change in advance.
It wasn’t like it hadn’t been encountered before.
Yu Rui smiled helplessly and followed the angered Feng Huai, saying, “I can’t tell you now because there’s a reason. I’ll tell you after the task is completed.”
Feng Huai choked at the meaning in the other party’s words; it was as if he were coaxing a child. He raised his eyes and glared at the other party. Was he pouting over such a thing?
“Forget it; let’s not talk about it.” Feng Huai waved his hand, not wanting to get involved. “Let’s find Tan Lin; he might have something to do with Nolan’s accident back then.”
Unsurprisingly, Tan Lin was still in the opera house, but it was hard to say what the situation was.
Although the bleeding wound on his head and neck wasn’t fatal, an individual couldn’t withstand constant blo*od loss.
In the game, all the game props related to healing were very precious, like the [Infinity Strap] that Feng Huai had drawn; it was already considered very lucky.
After Tan Lin exchanged the substitute doll, he probably didn’t have room to exchange another healing prop.
“If Tan Lin wanted to leave, he wouldn’t go through the dark passage. Not to mention that we’ve already walked through the dark passage, and other than the section near the top, we didn’t find any blo*odstains elsewhere, indicating that Tan Lin indeed didn’t leave through the dark passage.” Yu Rui said.
“Combined with the wounds, he couldn’t have gotten far.”
The two of them retraced their steps back to the stage waiting area, where they had first discovered Tan Lin’s replacement doll.
When they had first discovered this place, their focus hadn’t been on Tan Lin, and they hadn’t considered looking for Tan Lin’s whereabouts; it came down to the fact that it wasn’t of interest then.
And this time they doubled back to get a clue to their mission from Tan Lin, so they paid extra attention to their surroundings.
The Sif Opera House had already closed to the public after the police had finished taking evidence, and the lights in the stage waiting area were in a completely off state.
Turning on the lights might attract the night watchman to chase after them, so Yu Rui and Feng Huai had to use a flashlight to feel their way around the waiting area.
The beam of the flashlight illuminated the field within ten meters in distance.
On the field, dust danced up and down in the beam of light.
The two of them walked past Tan Lin’s stand-in figure and went a few more meters deeper into the stage waiting area.
Just as they suspected, they gradually noticed dried blo*od-stained shoe prints appearing at intervals and finally disappearing where they walked down the steps.
Feng Huai frowned slightly and swept his flashlight under the stairs.
Underneath the pitch-black hallway was a cramped, narrow space that was being used to pile up cleaning debris.
Feng Huai’s flashlight beam swung hastily for a moment, then suddenly lurched and violently swung back.
The beam focused on the back of a pile of cleaning buckets, and a greenish-white face was seen hiding behind it, almost invisible.
Feng Huai sucked in a breath and called out to Yu Rui in a low voice, “We’ve found Tan Lin!”
Yu Rui came over with big strides, and seeing Tan Lin leaning lifelessly against the back of the stairs with his eyes closed, he immediately moved away the clutter in front of Tan Lin and moved the person out.
Tan Lin’s white collar had been completely saturated with bl*ood and was dry and hard.
The wound at the neck had been treated urgently by Tan Lin himself, and cigarette ash was sprinkled on the wound to stop the bleeding. This wasn’t an encouraging approach, but it was a choice Tan Lin had to make to survive in order to stop bleeding.
Obviously, the area around the treated wound was pus-filled and infected, but fortunately, Tan Lin’s chest was still undulating.
“He’s still breathing.” Feng Huai said in a deep voice, “But the wound is badly infected and his body temperature is alarmingly high; any further delay will cause serious complications.”
The two men exchanged glances and lifted Tan Lin up as fast as they could, slowly moving to where the door was.
Feng Huai gently pushed open the doorway and looked out at the corridor through the crack.
He had just breathed a sigh of relief that there seemed to be no movement outside the door when, the next second, the door was kicked hard, causing the frame to clang loudly.
“Get the hell out! I know you guys are in there! Three little mongrels! Get the hell out!” The Night Watchman’s furious roar resounded behind the door.
Feng Huai’s expression became extremely ugly as he looked towards Yu Rui.
Yu Rui signaled to Feng Huai, “Take Tan Lin to the front stage and go out through the main door of the performance hall.”
Feng Huai pressed against the clanging and shaking door behind him, listening to Yu Rui continue quickly, “You know the route; run out of the opera house in one breath; don’t stop and don’t look back; do not stop.”
“What about you?” Feng Huai abruptly furrowed his brows.
“I’ll stop him. Anyway, don’t let him catch you and shout your name, and you’ll be fine. I’ll buy you guys some time.” Yu Rui said.
He swept his eyes over the unconscious Tan Lin and frowned slightly. Carrying a grown man was an extremely heavy burden.
As he was thinking this, he saw Feng Huai sling Tan Lin over his shoulder as if he were carrying a sandbag.
“Be careful then.” Feng Huai said, “Meet up with us as soon as possible.”
“Okay.”
Feng Huai paused and added, “I’ll wait for you outside the Opera House.”
Yu Rui’s eyes flooded with a little smile; he nodded and answered again, “Okay.”
Feng Huai glanced at the door that had been kicked in and rattled. Knowing that there wasn’t much time left for them, he pursed up his lips slightly, and without hesitation, he turned around and entered behind the curtain.
They went through the main entrance of the performance hall, which happened to be in a completely different direction from the night watchman.
Separated by a long corridor with a semi-circular arc, it was almost impossible for the night watchman to shake off Yu Rui and catch up with them.
Feng Huai had just run out of the performance hall when he heard a loud bang from behind him, accompanied by the Nightwatchman’s jarring roar, “Got you! Damn stray fish!”
Feng Huai’s pupils contracted viciously.