The task, which was originally in the corner in a translucent form, was now marked as completed.
Then, it suddenly shattered into dots of golden light and blended into the air. At that moment, dots of light blurred across the screen into a rainbow of colours, like the tail of the sun inadvertently sweeping by.
Li Shuoxing turned his phone around in his fingertips, pondering.
Okay.
This trip is interesting.
Just from the exquisite care of this UI design, we can see that this realistic travel scene definitely wasnât made by the game designers on a whim. This scene is really quite profoundâŚ
This line is well buried.
Li Shuoxing was rarely intrigued by one of the gameâs designs. He used his brain a little to gather and analyse all kinds of trivial clues about the trip today.
The first was the plane ticket. The plane ticket was a golden item won from the lottery, with a note that said âdestination unknownâ. It could be inferred:
<ol>The plane ticket was precious. There was more than one travel location.</ol>
Secondly, after arriving at the travel destination, Su Mingqian had said âI feel like Iâve seen these beforeâ. It could be inferred:
<ol>A memory fragment had been acquired. A hidden plotline about memory had unfolded.</ol>
Furthermore, considering that the realistic texture mapping wasnât an extremely low-level mistake by the game designers, he could continue to infer:
<ol>The realistic texture mapping had a necessary significance. Perhaps the in-game reality could interact with the actual reality. The realistic texture mapping might not be abrupt, but rather ahead of its time. Based on the fact that it was natural for any production to keep the overall art style consistent, perhaps in the future of memory unlocking, the art style of the little person would also change from chibi to realistic.</ol>
After a brief analysis of the clues he had so far, Li Shuoxing basically guessed what the designers had in mind when creating the travel system. He grasped the spinning phone and fell deep in thought.
EmmâŚ
He had to say, the design of this game was pretty good.
Regarding the amnesia trope, Su Mingqian had said it at the beginning of the game, but Li Shuoxing didnât really care.
After all, he had seen this cliche amnesia trope so many times and had tasted all the classics of various themes. What else could a game scriptwriter write? If the game had focused on the main story from the start, he would most likely have been completely uninterested and just skipped skipped skipped, skipping the whole story.
But now it was different.
Now that heâd established a stable relationship with the little person, heâd grown interested in all aspects of him, and, of course, had the patience to read all sorts of backstories about him.
And at that moment, the system had sent him a plane ticketâŚ
Thatâs right. Li Shuoxing now felt that this plane ticket wasnât a lucky draw at all, but directly sent to him by the system through the back door. The purpose was to tell him:
Super large hidden plot, breathtaking new setting, all in the travel system!
Dear, would you like a plane ticket?
What else could he do?
Li Shuoxing thought with a smile.
Of course, I choose to buy it.
Itâs rare, so itâs noble.
The analysis was quite long to list out, but in reality it only took thirty to fifty seconds to cross his mind.
In less than a minute, Li Shuoxing had already made his decision.
Thinking about the travel system was like talking face to face with the game designers.
He was convinced by the design.
He decided to take the initiative to explore and participate. He began to answer, trying to trigger relevant plot clues, âIt seems like this trip is very meaningful to you.â
The appearance of the light screen brought Su Mingqian back to his senses.
The familiar feeling that touched the nerves was like a shock, disappearing without a trace and hiding away somewhere.
But Su Mingqian still felt good.
He felt better than ever.
Just now, he had found some familiarity in this strange world. Although this familiarity was vague and distant, it was like a seed thatâd landed and taken root, giving him a sudden down to earth feeling.
The world was no longer so unreal.
In addition to Ximu, this real person, he had found something equally real.
His past.
He had found a way to find his memories.
Su Mingqian unconsciously smiled at the light screen, his smile directed at the person behind it.
A number jumped out of his head.
Massive +50!
Then he restrained his smile and looked straight at the light screen, asking seriously, âXimu, I have some questions. I hope you can answer me.â
With that, without waiting for the light screen to flash with new content, Su Mingqian spoke again, asking in detail.
âBefore we came on our trip, who were the âyou guysâ in that email? How do you get a plane ticket to a travel destination? How much do you know about this world? Where on earth are you and how do you see me?â
Again, open subjective questions.
Li Shuoxing had never seen the three ABC options in this game. From this perspective, the designers were odd. He thought calmly and answered steadily, turning the gameâs gameplay into words Su Mingqian could understand.
âI also donât know who exactly the âyou guysâ in that email are. I can only broadly call them manipulators. Because they control not only your world, but also part of my actions. Iâm sure youâre somewhat aware of this as well. At basically all times, they contact me unilaterally. Otherwise, I wouldnât have sent the email to you.â
âAs for the plane ticket to here, and a lot of the stuff⌠basically everything you use. All those items that appeared and disappeared out of nowhere were also put into the store by them.â
Su Mingqian murmured, âStore?â
âRight.â Making up stories was Li Shuoxingâs profession. The more he talked, the smoother it got. He made a game system so plausible that he almost believed it himself. âThey split the store into two parts, giving you the right to stock it and me the right to buy from it. So before, when I wanted to buy you something specific, I needed you to make a wish for it before the store would put the item on sale. But sometimes, the store automatically puts some other items on sale as well. I havenât completely figured out how the rules work here.â
Half of the four questions were answered. Li Shuoxing eased his passionately typing hands before continuing. He was careful not to use direct spoiler words like âsystemâ or âgame worldâ in the chat, but wasnât afraid about using non-unique terms like âstoreâ and âlotteryâ.
âThe plane ticket wasnât bought from the store. Itâs sort of a probability event. Normally, every seven days, I can get a lottery ticket for a lottery with many possible prizes, such as the perfume sample you used earlier. The plane ticket should be one of the more valuable ones.â
âAbout the place where you are.â Li Shuoxing cautiously gave âthis worldâ a different name. âIâm still figuring it out too, but I think it may be bigger than we imagine.â
âAs for meâŚâ
How should he answer the last question?
Li Shuoxing thought about it and decided to tell the truth. The key to harmonious communication between two parties was to not lie for no reason.
Besides, why would he lie to the little person?
He had omitted keywords like system and game just because he thought that with the dirty heart of the designers, once he revealed that it was a game, they would probably do something as sickening as instantly clearing the favourability or even killing the little person.
âIâm at home. I see you through a screen.â
It was a long passage.
But at last, it was over.
Su Mingqian was silent, reading the sentences that appeared on the light screen extremely attentively from beginning to end.
Todayâs experience had given him a new guess about this place.
There was no need to release him from mere imprisonment, and there was so much high-tech equipment around him that was by no means simple to put together. By all accounts, if this was a cage, it was a little too luxurious.
In any case, there were still many doubts here that he would need to look into at a later time. He was now more concerned about another matter.
Since Ximu didnât know this place very well either, thenâŚ
Su Mingqian: âDid they threaten you? Threaten you to take care of me, threaten you to watch me.â
The light screen flashed.
Long sentences were replaced by an emoticon full of question marks.
Then the other understood what he meant and said, âDonât think too much, Iâm completely willing. Iâm very happy and pleasantly surprised to see you.â
Su Mingqian: âMmâŚâ
Me too.
He swallowed the half-sentence and asked as if nothing had happened, âCan you touch my hand?â
The next second, Su Mingqian felt his hand being touched.
She really reached out and touched him.
His wrist trembled and he tried to hold it back, but the strength dissipated in the blink of an eye.
A little regretful and embarrassed, he put his hand behind his back and steered the conversation back on track. âWhat should we do now?â
That was a question Li Shuoxing could answer!
When the travel task disappeared, he noticed an extra return button on the screen, presumably for them to return with one click. âNow that weâve watched the sunrise, we can go straight back. Of course, we can stay here longer if you want.â
After he sent those words, the little person on the screen turned his head to the distance again.
He gazed long into the sunrise. He clearly had a 2D body, but Li Shuoxing actually felt he could vaguely see something deep in him.
âŚThis game went a long way in terms of pretending to be high-grade.
After not too long of a wait, a text bubble appeared again. The little person said, âThatâs about it. Thereâs no need to stop again. Letâs go back.â
Li Shuoxing pressed the return button.
The screen went black.
After it blackened, a familiar screen burst into view.
He and Su Mingqian had returned home. Everything remained unchanged, only there was suddenly a thick leather journal on the table in the room. He tapped it and the book opened. The left side was pasted with a photo of the Grand Canyon sunrise. Underneath was the date and three lines of text, the lines flowing, slightly revealing the penmanship.
Whatâs this?
Li Shuoxing glanced over it and was about to type, but when he opened the chat box, his finger accidentally tapped on the blank right side of the journal. In an instant, a menu popped up with many photos arranged inside. All of them were of realistic scenery plus the chibi little person, which were screenshots from when they were travelling in the canyon just earlier.
[Name]: Grand Canyon Sunrise Sticker
[Price]: 1 favourability point per piece
[Use]: It can be pasted in the blank space on the right side of the âCanyon Sunriseâ page in the journal.