Lian Qiao was really stunned. The key is actually in Little Apple's hands?
The key is actually in the hands of Little. Apple?!
Why!
Lian Qiao didn't hide his shock, with a "what are you, how could he entrust you with such an important prop" written all over his face. However, when Little Apple took out the shiny brass key from his pocket, Lian Qiao finally had to give in.
I lost!
RenDong actually hid the crucial key with a supporting role like Little Apple!
Explain! How far has your relationship developed behind my back?!
Lian Qiao was so shocked that his jaw looked as though it had been dislocated. Little Apple looked at his expression like he was eating shit and felt elated that she had achieved her big revenge. She felt extremely happy.
Lian Qiao held the key, still feeling unreal, and asked Little Apple in a trance: "How could he give you this…"
"…" These words seemed to touch the softest part of Little Apple's heart. She unconsciously looked away and the smile on her face gradually became tinged with bitterness.
"?" Lian Qiao looked at her suspiciously. "Could it be that you did some kind of deal behind my back?"
Little Apple took a deep breath. After being mentally prepared, she finally opened her eyes and stared at him steadfastly.
"Because I like you."
Lian Qiao: "…"
Little Apple gave an answer that Lian Qiao wouldn't have expected in a thousand years. It's not that he didn't know that Little Apple had a crush on him, but he was just surprised that Little Apple actually confessed.
As Schrödinger would have said: As long as you don't confess, there's always room for maneuver. Not only for him, but Little Apple can also withdraw at any time. But once the confession was made, everyone is now embarrassed. Some relationships turn sour once they are brought to light.
Lian Qiao didn't know what to say for a moment. Seeing his dazed look, Little Apple seemed very satisfied and immediately attacked him for the second time.
"He knows I like you so feels at ease when giving me the key. You definitely won't suspect me. He thought I would never let you use the key."
Lian Qiao said blankly: "Then why did you change your mind?"
Little Apple smiled and admired his silly expression. However her eyes gradually became moist: "Because I also want to get out. In the end, I also want to get out."
She repeated the phrase "want to get out" twice, deliberately emphasizing it, as if deliberately avoiding saying something else.
Lian Qiao was in a complicated mood.
Sometimes he is very angry with himself. Why he is so sensitive that he can accurately hear the subtext of other people's words?
But even though he can hear it, he can't respond to the other party's emotions, and the other party feels uncomfortable, and then he would feel guilty. So why bother?
…
"It's late." Lian Qiao took a deep breath and drove the complicated emotions out of his mind. "RenDong is going to be out of class soon so I have to do it quickly."
Little Apple was taken aback: "Here? Speaking of which, I've always been curious, how does this key work?"
She saw Lian Qiao holding the key, inserting and twisting it casually in mid-air: "…that's how it works."
Little Apple: "Is it so casual!"
Before Little Apple finished complaining, he heard a "click" sound from the front of the key, as if a box had been opened. Then, the key fell to the ground like dew in the morning, shattered into tens of thousands of dots and disappeared in an instant.
Little Apple watched nervously. Lian Qiao raised his head slightly, spread his palms, and caught a note that fell from the sky.
"Is it a clue?" Little Apple's eyes lit up, "A new clue?!"
"Perhaps."
"What's written on it?" Little Apple hurried over.
Lian Qiao glanced at it and his eyebrows furrowed. Then he showed the note to Little Apple.
"Debug?" Little Apple read out the above words, stunned. "Debug?"
Lian Qiao didn't answer, just turned the note over and over again. The paper is ordinary white paper and the characters are also the most common type of written printing. Black and white, nothing but the five letters "debug".
A flimsy piece of paper, held in his hand, as light as nothing.
But both Lian Qiao and Little Apple felt a little heavy.
Debug means to eliminate errors. It was originally a utility program on the computer, used by programmers to facilitate debugging. It can examine bytes anywhere in memory and modify them.
Lian Qiao and Little Apple reacted to this word because it has a special meaning inside games.
Some games can directly call the internal debug program without tools. The debug program at this time is also called "console". Players call it a console. Of course, they don't use it to check whether there are any bugs in the running of the program but use it mainly to modify the game program.
Simply put, it is a cheat program.
The two senior gamers are well aware of this but they never expected to see this familiar word in this kind of place.
"Is this instance really a game?" Little Apple muttered to herself with a pale face, "Could it be that we are all in a virtual world? Is it so old-fashioned?"
Lian Qiao didn't reply so she continued to ask and answer herself.
"No, people who die inside the instance will also die when they go out… Could it be that the outside world is virtual?"
The more she thought about it, the more confused she became. Little Apple stared blankly at Lian Qiao, hoping that he could give her an answer.
Lian Qiao had been staring at the note in thought. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of something and the muscles at the corners of his eyes twitched almost imperceptibly. Immediately after that, he put away the note, put his right hand in his pocket and said calmly, "Let's go back first."
Seeing that he turned around and left without hesitation. Little Apple's heart skipped a beat.
"Hey, you…" She was a little nervous, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"Then the so-called price you need to pay…?"
Lian Qiao smiled: "I don't know either. Anyway, I don't feel much different so far. Let's go, RenDong is about to finish class."
Looking at his calm and breezy smiling face, Little Apple's heart was shaken for a moment.
Is Lian Qiao lying? Is he really all right?
…Could Lian Qiao have been lying from the beginning and that using the key has no side effects at all? He was lying to Xu RenDong?
She couldn't figure it out. Little Apple felt a headache and decided not to think about it.
On the way to the hotel, the two were still discussing the note in low voices.
"This clue doesn't seem to have anything to do with Xu RenDong." Little Apple said, looking around carefully. There are already more college students on the road at this moment and it's probably past the end of class time. Xu RenDong might suddenly appear at any moment.
Lian Qiao didn't answer. He was just lost in his own thoughts, muttering to himself.
"Debug… what happens after you fix the bug? The button or the elevator? Or…"
Little Apple continued: "It's probably the button. Isn't the clue in the elevator when RenDong turns 28 years old."
"But why use the word 'debug'?" Lian Qiao frowned slightly…. and then figured it out.
Because this is his key.
After getting the key, his memory gradually awakened and he knew that only he could use this key. In the hands of others, this thing was just an ordinary metal block. Even if they turned it in thin air like he just did, it would not trigger any events.
Correspondingly, he happened to be able to understand the clues to unlock the key. If you change to an ordinary person who doesn't play games, or if you really change to a programmer, you will have a different understanding.
This clue was literally made just for him.
Lian Qiao felt more and more strange: everything was arranged.
So, what kind of ending was it arranging?
He unconsciously shook his right hand hidden in his pocket. No pain, no itching, no special discomfort. But it's clear that…
His time was running out.
Lian Qiao walked unhurriedly towards the hotel. The setting sun cast a layer of soft gold on his face. Although the changes in his fingers continued, there was no worry in his eyes. He just took a deep breath and returned his attention to the clues again.
Think about it, what is the so-called bug?
If everything is arranged… When it comes to bugs, the first thing he thinks of is RenDong.
RenDong is so weird. After entering this instance, his temperament changed drastically and his mood was extremely unstable. He often does unreasonable and sensible things, and it can even be said that he has been hindering him from finding a way to pass the level.
In a word, it is OOC. Out of character. His character setting collapsed.
Could it be—
A ridiculous and terrifying idea suddenly appeared in Lian Qiao's mind. He thought for a moment, then turned to Little Apple and asked, "Did you know RenDong before?"
"Ah?" Little Apple didn't expect him to come up with a sentence like this after thinking for a long time. She couldn't help being surprised but still replied, "Don't know him."
"Think about it carefully, have you ever met anyone similar to RenDong on the internet?" Lian Qiao guided, "For example, with his personality, voice or work…do you know what he does?"
"I know. Isn't he in finance?" Little Apple tilted her head to think for a moment. Then, as if she had realized something, she immediately added, "But I only found this out recently. After all, he said that the elevator may appear on the day he is 28 years old. That it would appear downstairs from his company at 10 o'clock in the evening."
"Are you sure you haven't contacted RenDong before?"
"I'm sure. Your RenDong is so handsome, if I see him, how can I not remember?"
"..." It's really true.
RenDong will impress people who come into contact with him for the first time, whether it is his appearance, figure, voice or personality. Under Lian Qiao's guidance, Little Apple still can't remember any contact with RenDong. They probably really haven't met before entering the instance.
That's weird.
Lian Qiao stopped, looked at Little Apple and said in confusion: "Then why did he say you are a good person?"
Little Apple was shocked: "Huh?! Am I not a good person?!"
"No, that's not what I meant. I remember the first time he said this was when…" Lian Qiao unconsciously rubbed his temples and began to recall, "It was in the orphanage. After all our teammates died."
When debating whether to use the principal and the children to fill the death quota, RenDong said that Little Apple was a good girl. At that time, Lian Qiao felt very strange and didn't understand where the "good" came from.
Because, before that, Little Apple had almost no part in the show.
Moreover, RenDong was still young at that time and was held in his arms every day. He was inseparable from him and so didn't have time to get to know Little Apple.
They didn't know each other before entering the instance and no special plot was triggered after entering the instance, so how did RenDong come to the conclusion that "Little Apple is a good girl"?
Could it be that...
Lian Qiao couldn't help rubbing his temples, feeling that the answer was just before him. Seeing that his brows were tightly furrowed, Little Apple couldn't help worrying: "You won't have another headache, will you?"
"It's fine. No…huh?"
Lian Qiao originally wanted to say that it didn't hurt out of habit but he suddenly realized that this time it really didn't hurt.
He rubbed the back of his head in disbelief, then shook his head again. Really, it doesn't hurt at all. In the past, every time he thought about things related to RenDong, there would be a severe pain that burned his brain with a red wire. However it did not occur at this time.
Why?
Speaking of which, what was that unusually severe pain?
He has been able to determine the inducement, which is: "recalling things related to RenDong". If it is a disease, there's no way it can be triggered by this specific event, so this means it should still be related to the instance. It is a specific mechanism.
Why?
…Wait, it's better to think in reverse. What happens after a headache strikes?
He would be in pain, he would be weak… he would be forced to stop remembering and stop thinking…
Correct! That's it!
A flash of light flashed in Lian Qiao's mind and he felt that all the clues were connected in series at once. He was overjoyed and excitedly said to Little Apple: "I know! I know what the bug is!"
Little Apple also had bright eyes and was about to ask a question, but a cold and calm voice suddenly came from behind.
"What are you doing?"
Little Apple and Lian Qiao were startled and turned around at the same time. They saw that Xu RenDong, who was holding a stack of books, had unexpectedly arrived behind them at some point, staring at the two of them quietly.
His eyes were as black as ink, making it impossible to see to the bottom at a glance and it was impossible to guess his emotions.
Little Apple unconsciously had a stiff expression, hesitating how to answer. Fortunately, Lian Qiao was quick to respond and greeted him joyfully, "RenDong! I found a clue!"
As he said that, he showed him the note with "debug" written on it and explained in his mouth: "This means 'eliminate bugs'. You know bugs, it's like…"
"A clue?" RenDong's gaze moved slowly, focusing on Lian Qiao's face like a sniper scope, "Where did it come from?"
"…I got it from a side mission!" Lian Qiao's heart was beating wildly but he didn't dare to show the slightest abnormality on his face. He tried to put on a proud expression asking for praise, "It's an old man NPC in the corner. He let me help him run errands and, after the run, he praised me as a good person who respects the old and loves the young, so he gave me this clue! Let me tell you that this NPC is well hidden and, if it weren't for my keen observation skills…"
RenDong just listened to his nonsense. His gaze moved down a little bit and landed on Lian Qiao's right hand that was always hidden in his pocket.
"You used the key?" RenDong asked.
Lian Qiao's pupils shrank slightly and the smile on his face wavered for a moment.
"No, no." Little Apple hurried out to smooth things over, "Didn't he promise you that he wouldn't use the keys? How could he mess around if he promised you. I stayed with him all afternoon and I was the one who ran the errands for the side mission. Yes, I'm so exhausted…"
RenDong suddenly raised the corners of his mouth and cast a glance at Little Apple. That glance made Little Apple startled.
What kind of eyes are those… deep and desperate, like being poured lead water from the mouth, blocking the throat and being thrown into the deep sea. Bitterly cold, unable to call for help, the despair of dying quietly alone at the bottom of the sea.
RenDong was obviously smiling but his eyes were full of despair.
"Where is the key?" he asked.
***
The author has something to say: Machete warning ahead.
He is coming, be careful.