Chapter 919: Chapter 916 - ’Ming’an’s College Entrance Exam.
The performance of this Vice Sect Hierarch surprised everyone.
[Old Day Church·Vice Sect Hierarch: @Nalfas. Existence is reasonable? I think your existence is quite unreasonable, are you out of your mind?凸(艹皿艹)]
[Old Day Church·Vice Sect Hierarch: @Lian Baifeng. Are you just the Union Government’s lapdog? The first Dream Patrol Family is one of the few Awakeners now, can’t you stand up straight?ㄟ(▔,▔)ㄏ]
[Old Day Church·Vice Sect Hierarch: @Jing Hongfei. Want you to lose fans, want you to step back? Do you even deserve that? What are you, daring to question the First Dream Patrol Family? A key costs three yuan, two keys for five yuan, how many can you afford?]
...
Under the shocked gazes of netizens, the Vice Sect Hierarch, speaking for the first time online, astonishingly ranted from beginning to end, tagging each person opposing the First Dream Patrol Family and outright cursing them. But deterred by the notorious reputation of the Old Day Church, the trolls didn’t dare to retort and could only simmer in silence.
... Who would dare to have a shouting match with the Vice Sect Hierarch of the Old Day Church? Are you tired of living?
He leads a group of anti-social elements that even the military can’t handle. You dare to argue with the Vice Sect Hierarch today, and your home might get slaughtered tomorrow, who dares to speak up?
Under Xiao Jingsan’s imposing stance of one against ten thousand, no one dared to attack the First Dream Patrol Family anymore, and the internet unexpectedly calmed down. Xiao Jingsan directly dominated the online troll realm.
When the time approached midnight, Su Ming’an finally heard about this.
... What exactly is going through this person’s mind?
Su Ming’an didn’t understand what Xiao Jingsan was thinking, but his deeds indeed served a good purpose.
For some unknown reason today, the game ’Louyue Nation’ displayed "Under maintenance update", temporarily inaccessible. Su Ming’an entered ’Girl’s Dream Project’, arranging Alice’s curriculum for the third semester, continuing the study of swordsmanship.
Alice was already thirteen and a half years old. After learning swordsmanship, her attribute "The Way of Attack" increased to 50, but it still remained at the level of an ordinary person. It was hard for Su Ming’an to judge whether she was capable enough to face the upcoming crisis.
Since nothing significant was happening with Alice, Su Ming’an soon bid her farewell and exited the game.
Ending the game at one in the morning, he took off the Dream Patrol Helmet, lay on the bed, intending to sleep until daylight.
He closed his eyes, covered himself with the blanket, and fell into a deep sleep.
Outside, the ginkgo leaves rustled softly in the gentle night breeze.
After falling asleep, Su Ming’an suddenly opened his eyes again, staring at the ceiling of the room.
"Hmm...?"
"Su Ming’an" threw off the blanket and got up. He looked down, touched his arm, and then his face.
"What’s the deal with this Tenth World, why am I possessing another player... and only able to control the body when he falls asleep?," "Su Ming’an" muttered to himself, "This player is odd too, sleeping in the real world for the first time, spending all prior sleeps inside the Dream Patrol game, giving me my first chance to act now."
He named Chang Ge, an Adventurer Player. When the Tenth World began, he received the system notification:
...
[Due to the special nature of the Tenth World, you have been assigned the identity of "Night". You will share a body with another player. You can only use this body when the other player falls asleep in the real world.]
[Please cooperate with this player to complete the clearance together.]
...
When Chang Ge first saw this system prompt, he didn’t quite understand what it meant. Until the Tenth World started, he suddenly lost consciousness.
For these few days, his consciousness fluctuated, unaware of what was happening outside. Not until Su Ming’an fell asleep did Chang Ge regain clarity.
"I know nothing about this world now... What day of Replica Activation is this?" Chang Ge moved his legs, familiarizing himself with this body, "Judging by the task prompt, I should be inclined to a support role, as I can only replace him when the player sleeps."
He pondered for a moment: "Yet I still don’t know who this player is, if he’s a crappy player, then it’s troublesome."
If this player is too incompetent, he can easily die during the day, rendering all his night efforts useless.
He looked around and finally found a mirror in the room. He turned on the lights, stood in front of the mirror, wanting to see his reflection.
"Click." The sound of the lights turning on.
Chang Ge gazed into the mirror.
The person in the mirror—black hair, black eyes, a face with soft lines. The most striking feature is his calm gaze, making you feel equally observed even when looking in the mirror.
This is a face that doesn’t look overly stunning but is enough to cause a stir. No matter where in the world game, people appear to always notice him. Unbeknownst to them, many already have this face imprinted in their minds, able to sketch it even while their eyes are closed.
This face, Chang Ge has seen countless times. Whether on the World Forum or in broadcasting rooms of people.
"..."
Chang Ge stared at the mirror in a daze.
He rubbed his eyes, and rubbed them again.
He scrubbed his face, wiped the mirror furiously with a cloth, and carefully looked back at the mirror—
It was still that same face.
No matter where, saying anything, that person capable of stirring waves was the reflection.
He wasn’t mistaken.
Chang Ge was momentarily speechless. He stared at the mirror, emotions like a flood; he even thought he might still be dreaming, but no matter how much he confirmed—rubbing his eyes, wiping the mirror, scratching his face—he found out that indeed the body he shared belonged to—
Su Ming’an.
Such a low probability, he coincidentally became Su Ming’an’s "Night" identity.
Though unable to see Su Ming’an’s live broadcast room, Chang Ge thought, even though the room was empty, his body must be gathered with billions of eyes. At this moment, billions of viewers were watching him panic in the room.
Originally thinking he would need to carry another player, the other player turned out to be Su Ming’an.
——What does this mean?
Smooth sailing, unperturbed, god-like clearance ability.
He was blessed with immense fortune, becoming Su Ming’an’s "Night" identity. No need to worry too much, just follow Su Ming’an, and he can experience a perfect replica journey.
The "Night" identity in the Tenth World surely has its function, otherwise, it wouldn’t assign him such a role. Perhaps he can indeed assist Su Ming’an.
"I’ll... hold steady and not wander around, avoiding triggering danger and dragging down Su Ming’an," Chang Ge thought and returned to bed.
He looked at his system prompt:
[You have officially awakened, you can observe the actions of another player during the day. You will constantly share the view and senses of this body.]
With this, even if Su Ming’an wakes up, Chang Ge won’t have to return to that muddled conscious state, he can observe.
"Hmm? It seems I’ve mastered some extra information... Was it given by the system?" Chang Ge looked at his system panel, which displayed some new information: "Inform Su Ming’an during the day."
Just right, his ability is more inclined towards the Healing Series. If Su Ming’an ever needs it, he can heal him.
He sat on the bed, maintaining a vigilant posture, prepared to sit through the night to ensure safety until Su Ming’an wakes up.
...
Midnight, at the frontlines.
"——Ladies and gentlemen, what we’re witnessing now is the scene after the Black Mist has receded." The TV station’s female reporter held a microphone, introducing the frontline situation to the viewers.
After the Black Mist receded, humanity’s former homeland gradually revealed itself. Many cities still retained their pre-evacuation appearance; buildings and high-speed rail tracks remained intact, but there was no life anymore, only empty cities. It gave off a bizarre sense of human collective disappearance.
The military has already stepped onto this land and is carrying out radiation elimination work. It won’t be long before humans settle back in.
However, the female reporter’s focus wasn’t on these cities. As the camera slightly moved downwards, people saw underground structures, resembling tunnels, exposed to the surface.
The female reporter excitedly introduced to the people:
"——This is the underground construction we discovered after the Black Mist receded. The detector has been placed inside, and it can be preliminarily determined that the tunnel is likely an Underground City from hundreds of years ago. The Union Government has named it —— [Relics]!"
A lot of comments filled the live broadcast room:
[The Underground City from hundreds of years ago!]
[Human history has always had only a few decades of records, with the earliest being ancient records from thousands of years ago. A thousand years in the middle are completely lost without any knowledge of how humans lived through them. Now there’s finally a clue.]
[What would humans from hundreds of years ago be like? Was it an era of men plowing while women weaving? Or the era of ancient emperors?]
[Relics, surely there are many antiques and treasures there.]
In the night, Shadow rode a mechanical wheel towards the Union Government, happening to pass by this area. He looked down to find it quite lively below.
"Hey, what’s going on here? Is it a broadcast?" Shadow muttered to himself.
Below, the female reporter was leading the TV station’s camera closer to the tunnel, wanting to show the audience the entrance to the relics. There were still many soldiers and workers around recovering the city.
Shadow suddenly jumped off the wheel, landing with a "bang" and kicking up dust.
"Who, who are you?" The female reporter was startled. How did someone suddenly fall from the sky? Upon a closer look, this face — isn’t it the Eldest Prince’s face?
——Is it the first Dream Patrol Family? Has he finally appeared in reality?
The female reporter was so thrilled she trembled all over; she had come into contact with the first Dream Patrol Family!
"First Dream Patrol Family, may I interview you?" The female reporter immediately extended her microphone.
With people’s astonished glances, Shadow pushed aside the female reporter and, before anyone could react, smiled and waved at the camera:
"Hey everyone, I’m Su Ming’an, and I’ll be going to the execution ground tomorrow at noon to create a stir in the Union Government and beat up Mizushima Kawa Sora. Welcome to watch the live broadcast, mwah."
Before the people could be shocked, Shadow hastily climbed back onto the mechanical wheel, ready to speed away.
"Wait, First Dream Patrol Family, is your statement now indicating your stance to oppose the Union Government?" The female reporter shouted wildly below.
Shadow flew into the sky, turned back, and smiled distantly at the camera:
"Not at all."
"I am only opposed to all scheming individuals and all those who lack vision."
"I detest all blindly ignorant people, detest all shortsighted people, detest all superficial people."
The female reporter still wanted to ask more questions, but Shadow was gone quickly, disappearing in no time.
...
Replica Activation on the fourth day, seven-thirty in the morning.
Su Ming’an woke from his sleep, packed his school bag, printed his admission ticket, and headed to the high school examination venue.
Su Luoluo and Lv Shu saw him off, while Jiang Xiaosan from the church, carrying a school bag, accompanied him to the examination venue.
The high school examination lasted a day, with the culture knowledge test from nine to eleven in the morning and the talisman application test from three to five in the afternoon. Su Ming’an moved with the crowd, seeing many parents with children, teachers seeing off students, soldiers keeping order, and exam candidates gripping plastic-wrapped pen bags.
Sunlight pierced through the parasol trees, filling the air with the scent of leaves and the scorching flavor of sunlight. The sun caressed Su Ming’an’s forehead, making him feel a bit glum as if he had returned to last June, moving among the crowd, his youth flowing forward through the pen tip to an unknown distance.
Only that time, no one saw him off. This time, there were many people around him.
[All soldiers of Dao Ya City in the Ubang Nation wish every candidate success and distinction at the examination, fulfilling their youth, achieving top honors, and making the honor list!]
[Twelve years of hard study, now finally bearing fruit! May you close the pen cap with pride like a warrior sheathing the sword!]
Bright red banners hung above the roads, contrasting the city’s ruins, imbued with the weight of life.
In front of the high school examination gates, Jiang Xiaosan handed Su Ming’an a blue bracelet, adorned with a cute and trendy little rabbit.
Jiang Xiaosan said, "Wensheng brother, this is Tao Meng’s favorite bracelet."
Su Ming’an took the bracelet, puzzled, "What’s up?"
Jiang Xiaosan’s gaze flickered slightly; amidst the bustling crowd, she lowered her voice, tinged with a bit of hoarseness:
"Tao Meng said that once she finishes her high school exam and achieves top honors, she would... wear this bracelet and come to you."
"She has liked you for a long time, we all know, only you don’t."
"Every time you came to church, she was the first to look at you, even though you never met her gaze, she would always be the first to look at you."
"..." Su Ming’an was stunned.
"She said if she didn’t manage to make it until the high school exam day, let me give the bracelet directly to you —— she can never spread her wings again, she hopes you can carry her bracelet, fly out of this barren small town, towards a flourishing city, towards lofty realms, towards... the sky above." Jiang Xiaosan said:
"Fly beyond where she can never see, fly to where you truly belong."
"You don’t need to respond to her, she does not ask for a response."
"She only said, ’Your path is certainly very long and long, go forward boldly.’"
Su Ming’an clenched the bracelet tightly.
He raised his head, looked at the high school exam gates, their steel spread under the dazzling sun, like a golden bridge connecting past and future.
This end to the other side, so far away, so long.