/
Seeing Xü Beijin listen quietly without looking impatient or looking annoyed, Olai seems somewhat more relaxed, and he asks, “is there anything else you want to know?”
XĂź Beijin looks Olai over with a rather complicated gaze.
This Biler is the only person from outside the game among all of humanity here.
He might not know about the universe in all that much detail, but he’s free. He’s not trapped in the Tower like all of them.
So after thinking about it, Xü Beijin says, “I want to ask for a favour, to deliver a message, if you’re willing.”
Olai immediately answers, “of course, I’ll definitely finish the job perfectly.”
Xü Beijin is slightly surprised by the attitude, and says, “don’t worry, it’s nothing so dramatic…” He then thinks some more, before carefully telling Olai the message he needed delivered.
Olai is listening, and he suddenly looks rather down. He says, “I can ask the elders if any of them know a Maerton, or have a way to access their network, but they’re extremely isolated and rather xenophobic. With the war raging on, too… I might not be able to…”
“In return…” Xü Beijin says, “I’ll tell you about a Nightmare that has zero dangers and no shocking scenes at all.”
Olai’s attitude immediately turns around, and he says, “I’ll walk to the ends of Hell for you!”
XĂź Beijin is smiling gently. Then, he tells Olai about that Nightmare.
As for whether Olai will really listen to Xü Beijin and deliver the message to the Maertons… Xü Beijin thinks it is pointless to dwell on it. He’s going to leave it up to fate.
It is not that difficult a task, considering it would be fine as long as he can inform any single Maerton individual, or leave a message in their network.
Even if Olai succeeds, whether the Maertons will consider the information important enough to act on, is also unknown. Though, it might be the only way to help humanity out of this prison.
XĂź Beijin can find no better alternative plan that has a greater odds of success for leaving behind this dark, creepy Tower.
After telling Olai to do that, XĂź Beijin then leaves a message in a certain unoccupied house of the bottom floor.
He knows they might never meet ever again, and a ‘Friendlist’ isn’t even a feature in this game. That’s all he could do.
Then XĂź Beijin leaves Olai behind.
A bit later, when Olai is out of sight, the calm XĂź Beijin suddenly stops, and props his hand on the wall to support his form. He looks utterly relieved and also excited.
His mind is filled with countless thoughts, and he looks up, mumbling, “you’re watching, aren’t you, NE? You must have seen what he and I talked about; you must also know what I told him to deliver… but, you did not stop me.”
The Tower remains quiet as always. It’s like nothing has changed.
Xü Beijin says, “so, you did change your modus operandi.”
After that, he waits a short moment, but nothing happens. He seems both surprised and further relieved, as some rather convoluted mood slowly untangles itself from Xü Beijin’s heavy chest, and he stands there, blanking out, as he heaves a weary sigh.
Here, he can finally say, he has a not insignificant chance of success.
Oh, hope, hope. Finally, at long last, he can see hope.
He does not know why NE is switching sides. He does not understand how Olai ended up in this game. He does not have the faintest idea, how the streaming system ended up in his hands.
He only knows, that perhaps, they might actually be able to leave the Tower. Not a fantasy or a dream, or some kind of excuse or lying to themselves to make themselves feel better, but literally, part of the wall has been chiselled through, letting a beacon of hope in.
Right now, Xü Beijin is even feeling a little dizzy. After the joy, comes the even greater sense of anxiety and dread. He’s worried these are all fake.
However, that is also the moment when XĂź Beijin recalls something else, which drains all the remaining happiness from his expression. He stands there expressionlessly, as if it was a psychotic episode he just had where he manically and excitedly trembled; he has recalled something else.
After some more time spent idling in his thoughts, XĂź Beijin finally chuckles bitterly at himself, and takes another step forward.
He knows that everything has been put into motion. It is unstoppable now, so all he can do, is do what he can.
Well, he knows that well enough, but his steps are slowing down again.
His fingers brush past the coarse concrete walls of the Tower. This is the place where he has lived for so, so many years.
He murmurs, “if I really have to stay here my whole life… no, for an eternity…”
His feet stop. His expression is growing grim.
If Olai can see what he looks like right now, with his deathly piercing gaze, his cold appearance, his lips which are curled into an angle of mockery, then the scaredy Biler would certainly have been forced offline once more.
However, soon after, Xü Beijin smiles again, sighing, and mutters to no one in particular again, “I really am a good person, aren’t I? Even if I can’t leave, I should still do what I can to let the others leave.
Isn’t that the right thing to do, NE?”
No answer comes for his question.
Then, XĂź Beijin remembers Lin Qin. What about him, though?
Will he be able to leave the Tower? With his empty memories and experience in life? Why are they empty in the first place?
What, was his past?
Xü Beijin is mocking himself again, going, “look at you, Xü Beijin… you say you can’t feel the little apple’s feelings for you… you’re kidding yourself…”
Then he closes his eyes. His Adam’s apple bobs up and down several times, as he tries to keep his boiling emotions in check.
Then, he finally reopens his eyes, and picks his calm and controlled demeanour back up, as he ghosts through the narrow alleys and passageways through the Tower, reaching the house of Dai Wu’s subordinate in the end.