Alternate Dimension Game: Happiness is all that matters!
Chapter 199 - 183: Time Reversal

Chapter 199: Chapter 183: Time Reversal

She took a step back, pressing herself tightly against the rear wall of the elevator.

But the box still touched her, leaning against her arm.

This strange "distortion" seemed to display heightened aggression towards her, writhing in her direction as soon as it entered.

That cold sensation raced up her arm and pierced her crown, a strong sense of panic exploding from within her depths.

Another distortion!

There could be 3 or perhaps 4 distortions, crowding in the cramped elevator.

With this box entering, the space was almost completely filled.

Feng Ling continued to focus her mind and remain calm, holding her breath, closing her eyes, and beginning to play dead.

"I didn’t see it, I didn’t see anything, I saw nothing at all."

But for some reason, the elevator stopped where it was, not continuing downward. The security guard also stood inside, dumbfounded, not pressing any buttons randomly.

As if gaze after gaze was being cast upon her.

These "distortions" were all paying attention to her.

"This can’t be happening, what’s going on?" Feng Ling’s heartbeat quickened dramatically.

seconds later, the box started to move restlessly.

"Whoosh"!

A wet thing slowly emerged from the metal box, staring at her, fixating on her.

A sense of crisis escalated to its limit!

This time, there was no such luck.

Feng Ling fought to suppress her panic; she felt like crying. At her age, she should have been attending college, experiencing a sweet romance, but now she had to endure this horrifying pressure.

She needed to save the world!

She had to travel to parallel worlds!

She had to succeed!

But... was there really no way out?

Biting her lip and steeling herself, she glanced over and saw a completely drenched "person" crawling out of the box.

It was a white man with a bloated, soaked face as if he had been immersed in formaldehyde for decades, his body emitting a putrid medicinal smell.

In the instant that this soaked person crawled out!

The red-clothed woman started searching through the medicine bottles again, their "clattering" sounds crisp in the confined space.

The sound of swallowing "gulps" seemed particularly eerie.

There was another contented long sigh.

Clearly, taking medicine might be an essential part of this distortion’s routine, and it might attack if prevented from doing so.

The security guard was anxiously pacing on the spot, seemingly at a loss.

They are all not human, merely avatars of the rules.

Their thoughts were unpredictable.

They lacked any semblance of empathy.

And the man soaked in formaldehyde, like a robot, initiated the attack, his withered hands, adorned with some black, tangled lines, slowly stretched out towards her...

Feng Ling finally utilized her "Spiritual Vision" ability.

This ability could "frighten off" certain distortions.

She noticed a grey mist in the air; the entity seemed to be laughing or crying, mocking, raging, weeping.

In the end, she was grabbed by that hand and was forcefully stuffed into the strange box.

The security guard started pressing buttons frantically, and with a "squeak", the elevator started moving again.

...

...

[You died.]

[Reason: Asphyxiation.]

"...How can I avoid death? That is the question."

"It seems... rather unlikely! This plot is also weirdly peculiar."

Wang Hao slowly recovered from that immersive gaming experience, annoyed by being grabbed by so many oddities, with some feelings of anger and embarrassment.

And he was somewhat bewildered.

The main character’s power was clearly not very high; the "Spiritual Vision" ability could disperse some weaker distortions, but it was clearly insufficient for those in the elevator.

There could be four distortions in the elevator: the red-clothed woman, the security guard, an invisible black fog, and the creature in the metal box.

The first three didn’t seem very aggressive?

Only after the metal box appeared did the game character get killed.

"Do I have to eliminate this box? It’s not impossible... I wonder how powerful the box is?"

...

...

"It’s finally over..."

Inside the cold metal box filled with corrosive liquid, Feng Ling felt her body dissolving rapidly.

It was not so much painful.

It was just... too dark.

Feng Ling suddenly realized that she was not as fearful as she had imagined.

Perhaps in this mad world, death was not something utterly unacceptable.

Eventually, most of her body disappeared into the corrosive liquid, her bones vanishing as well.

All that remained was a sense of guilt.

The organization had raised her with such difficulty.

There was so much she hadn’t yet managed to do.

Sorry, for not having traveled to another parallel world...

For not being able to truly call for help.

I’m sorry,

Sorry...

...

...

In her final moments, she suddenly saw a strange flame!

It was a dark red flame, moving in an unbelievable dimension, from some distant place, slowly flying into the deepest part of her soul.

A chilling psychic fluctuation emanated from the flames, bringing with it a sense of contradiction.

"You died."

"Do you want a do-over? You’ll need to pay a corresponding price."

Another Demon God?

Or... a force from the Parallel Worlds?

Or could it be... delusion?

Feng Ling pondered, groggy and confused.

"I’m going to become twisted too? Forget it, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Just let it end."

It’s said that many desperate people, at the moment of their demise, glimpse false "hopes."

By clinging to this lifeline, they can attain the most precious "hope!"

But in the end, it’s merely an illusion.

They turn into horrific abominations, further slaughtering humans!

This is what makes the world so terrifying.

The world itself could be a falsehood.

This odd clump of flames, having waited in vain for a response, grew impatient and forcibly barged into Feng Ling’s soul.

"Hey?!," Feng Ling found herself increasingly clear-headed and exclaimed in surprise, "Why the brute force? Then why the pretense of asking me?!"

[...]

(High and cold) (High and cold)

...

...

"It can’t be that just smashing a metal box gets you through the Game, can it? Then what’s the point of solving puzzles?"

Wang Hao stared at the item in his hand, deeply engrossed in thought.

As the training camp grew and the number of Guests increased, so too did the Strange Objects on offer.

Obviously, all these Strange Objects were of the Ordinary Level, still somewhat insufficient for vanquishing the bizarre.

Only through "synthesis" could one craft items of a higher grade!

Take the "Rune Flying Sword," an offensive Strange Object of Rare Level, for example.

"Rune Flying Sword, can it shatter it?"

Who knows.

Or perhaps, the "Holy Water Rune·Super," leveraging the power of God, also a decent offensive Strange Object.

Above "Holy Water Rune·Super" is the "Holy Water Rune·Extreme," even more powerful and more costly.

But Wang Hao didn’t want to pay too high a price because if he couldn’t defeat the Box Monster, his character would perish, losing the Strange Objects in that scene...

One try, losing a "Rune Flying Sword," or using a "Holy Water Rune·Super," was a price too painful to bear.

"Forget it, reviving once only costs a hundred points, not too expensive."

"A Three Stars difficulty scenario surely won’t be like ’Paradise II,’ where you die hundreds of times."

First, find more information, then consider what to do.

...

...

In the next moment, Feng Ling, still resisting the red flames, saw a blur and found herself resurrected, standing in the elevator lobby.

Time... had reversed!

She had actually come back to life!

The terrifying events that had just unfolded seemed now like an ephemeral dream.

"I... I’m not dead!"

"Is this a real resurrection, or... an illusion?"

And what about those red flames?

However, before having time to contemplate too much, a familiar electronic tone sounded in the elevator, "Ding-dong! Basement one, arriving!"

The elevator "clacked," coming to a stop.

Feng Ling took a deep breath.

The elevator doors slowly opened, and in walked a woman in heels dressed in red.

The same scenario as the first Reincarnation unfolded. She, like someone with epilepsy, twitched sporadically in the elevator, frantically rummaging through her purse for a bottle of medicine, and then swallowing with a "gurgle."

Feng Ling inhaled sharply—what a disaster.

Just like the scene that had just transpired!

"If I make the same choice, will it lead to the same outcome?"

"What does it mean? Why was I resurrected?"

"Could it be that ’it’ is toying with me?"

Knowing that this woman was not highly dangerous, Feng Ling didn’t panic like before, but instead, let her mind wander.

She was about to press the elevator button, only to find her body completely beyond her control!

"What is this?!"

It was as though a tremendously powerful will had taken over her body!

This will was so formidable and vast, boundless as the starry cosmos itself, with no end in sight.

In comparison, she was but a tiny worm nestled on a planet, quivering.

"So there’s a price for resurrection... Is this the price? I’m no longer myself..."

Because her adversary was too strong, and she was too weak, Feng Ling panicked for a while, but without hope, she resigned herself to her fate.

After all, things had come to this.

Unable to move a muscle, she might as well consider herself... already dead.

...

Wang Hao, patiently and cautiously, pondered the rules stuck to the piece of paper.

The first half wasn’t much to look at, the instructions there were clear and he’d already experienced them.

Wang Hao focused on the latter half.

(▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ A lot of section crossed out. Faintly visible were the words ’Parallel Worlds▇▇2-6-3-1-5▇▇.’)

(There are only ▇▇ individuals ▇▇▇▇.)

(It abhors ▇▇▇)

(Random attempts will bring ▇▇▇▇ (scratched out).)

(Occasionally, one can enter the second sublevel, it’s not recommended. (The handwriting is neat.))

(▇ An abundance of illegible scrawled text.)