High Energy QR Code

“Maze of Doom” is an enormous labyrinth that can appear in a confined space. The labyrinth was extremely complicated and it was impossible for the average person to escape. The system will show a map of the labyrinth to the QR code’s holder for ten seconds but a picture of the map cannot be taken. Please memorize it in the ten seconds provided. The labyrinth will be active for one hour. Friendly reminder: If you aren’t extremely lucky or don’t have a photographic memory, please don’t use this QR code rashly.

“Ahhhh!” Yan Hebi wailed when he saw the description on his phone, “Don’t use this QR code rashly? How would I know it’d be like this! The preview clearly said ‘This is a solid wall that can keep dangers out’, so I thought it’d make a wall appear between the doctor and the monster! How did I end up trapping us in a labyrinth instead? I can’t memorize such a complicated map in 10 seconds!”

“I’ve memorized it.” Xing Ye said simply behind him.

Yan Hebi was speechless.

Xing Ye closed his eyes and thought back to the map he saw on Yan Hebi’s phone before opening them again, “Guan Ling’s luck isn’t bad, there’s a wall right between him and the monster. On the other hand, our luck’s quite bad. We’ll run into the monster right after we turn the corner there.”

Cao Qian and Yan Hebi both fell speechless.

But in a vicious way, it did make sense. They were 3 following fate players. Their luck values combined would be 1% x 1% x 1%, equalling 0.001%. Something like this happening would be right on target.

“Push Cao Qian and follow me!”

Xing Ye ordered before turning and running. Yan Hebi pushed Cao Qian’s wheelchair, about to follow when he suddenly saw the monster charging around the corner. He hastily ran after Xing Ye, going through many twists and turns before finally arriving at the men’s washroom, where Guan Ling was still trembling under the sink.  

“Sob, thank god you found me…” Guan Ling bawled, “Boss, you… you look so pretty, sob…”

Xing Ye looked a size smaller than how he did in the campus world and even looked like a pretty girl with a slender waist and long legs. Guan Ling didn’t know if he was happy or regretful as he cried.

Xing Ye was speechless.

“Stop crying. If that monster has a good sense of smell, it’ll easily be able to track our scent through the labyrinth. It’s a good thing I bought perfume.” Xing Ye took out a bottle of expensive perfume from his bag.

Cao Qian and Guan Ling: “...”

The unaware Yan Hebi clapped his hands happily, “Yiyi, you’re so smart! The perfume can disguise our scents.”

“Yi… Yiyi?” Guan Ling asked dumbly as he was doused in perfume.

The boss’s outfits emitted a bright and youthful air. Combined with his expensive perfume, he was a soul-stirring sight.

The four sprayed themselves in perfume. Guan Ling and Yan Hebi pushed Cao Qian’s wheelchair and followed Xing Ye. Xing Ye held the perfume, spraying it at every dead end in each fork of the road. When they finally arrived at the staircase marking the end of the labyrinth, Xing Ye raised the perfume bottle. He was about to throw it in the dead end opposite of them when Cao Qian reached out.

“Give me the perfume.”

Xing Ye was skeptical, but gave Cao Qian the perfume. Her thin, ordinary-looking arm made a light toss, easily throwing the perfume bottle into a dead end tens of meters away. If the parasitic monster really followed the perfume’s scent, it probably won’t ever escape the labyrinth.

Guan Ling gave a sigh of relief as they safely arrived at the exit and closed the door.

He looked at Xing Ye’s youthful ponytail and long legs and swallowed. Cao Qian patted his face, “Stop staring and heal me already.”

“Oh.” Guan Ling distractedly looked away and used A Shattered Mirror Put Together on Cao Qian.

Cao Qian jumped up from the chair and tried a few kicks in the air. Xing Ye didn’t doubt the force of those kicks could break through a wall.

“I can finally move again.” Cao Qian put her hands on the wheelchair, angrily crushing the handles until they were deformed.

Cao Qian saw Xing Ye staring at her hands and remembered he lost his memory. She explained, “My starting abilities are ‘Extraordinary Strength’ and ‘High Agility’. Although these just enhance my basic stats, you said that if I use my abilities properly, I’ll be able to become the strongest attacker. My starting abilities don’t cost much points or have a cooldown so as long as I have enough points, I can always keep my starting abilities activated.

“I’ve always been dejected about my starting abilities. I thought I had nothing special, so I allowed myself to be cannon fodder for others. After meeting you, you told me to believe in myself and taught me how to think. That’s why I’m willing to be your teammate: you can treat me as a teammate or a subordinate, anything is fine with me.”

She also reminded Guan Ling, “Xing Ye is challenging the world on hard mode, so he lost all of his memories. He doesn’t remember you, go introduce yourself.”

Guan Ling suddenly realized and hurriedly stood straight in front of Xing Ye, “Boss, it was you that helped me break away from an opposing fate member’s control and taught me that I didn’t need to act as another person’s ATM. Boss, you told me that until it reaches the very end, there will always be hope. That’s why I’m also willing to be your teammate. You can just treat me as a subordinate if you want, I’m used to it anyways.”

Yan Hebi’s mouth was wide as he stared at the three. He noticed Xing Ye looking at him and immediately fixed his expression, going back to a handsome appearance, “I, I thought you were just an amnesiac beauty and wanted to carry you as an experienced player, but who would’ve thought I’d be the one getting carried instead. Yiyi… cough, Miss Ye, let’s form a temporary alliance in this world, okay?”

“Miss… Ye?” Guan Ling questioned, a difficult expression on his face.  

Xing Ye glared at him and said calmly, “We can team up for now, but my memory resets every day. I’ll need you guys to remind me tomorrow.”

“No problem!” Guan Ling and Cao Qian chorused.

Yan Hebi tilted his head and watched him, envy in his voice, “You guys really have a good relationship.”

“Don’t you have teammates?” Xing Ye asked, “There’s no way you got more than 40,000 points without any teammates.”

Yan Hebi sighed, “I have teammates, I have a lot and they’re all good people. I fought with them since the novice world but while they went to high level worlds, I had to restart from the novice world and meet a new group of people. It’s been around… 3-4 groups by now. In the last world, the rest of my team became high level players. I was the only one left behind, just because I was lacking 50 points!”

Such a story… was truly sad beyond words. It couldn’t be any more tragic.

“But what could I do? I just had to be an opposing fate player. Most of my teammates were following fate players.” Yan Hebi said dejectedly.

Cao Qian comforted him, “It doesn’t matter, your teammates this time are almost all opposing fate players. Our luck values are the same.”

Yan Hebi was speechless.

Was Cao Qian really trying to comfort him?

“Alright then,” Xing Ye said expressionlessly, “It’s 4 am right now. Our time’s limited, so we need to find clues as fast as possible. Tell me everything you’ve found in the past two days and I’ll analyze it. Guan Ling, you start.”

Guan Ling heard the boss’s question and immediately grew spirited, “Boss… Miss Ye, good thing you asked me to start first! The last two days have just been crazy. After I arrived in this world yesterday, it was the middle of the night and I was in the nursing station in the hospital’s infectious disease department. I thought the nurse and hospital director were having an affair and sneaked up to listen. Instead, I heard the director tell the nurse to gather saliva or respiratory droplets from patients with chickenpox, measles, mumps, and other infectious diseases, and sneak them into the drinks of the other hospital staff.”