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Chapter 240 - 237 - ’The Second Night: The Archives

Chapter 240: Chapter 237 - ’The Second Night: The Archives

Su Ming’an walked deeper down the corridor.

First, he had to find his doctor companion, the bizarre fellow who insisted on telling him stories.

He knew where the other’s room was, as the only player he could confirm. By questioning him, he would highly likely know the cause of Lin Jiang’s death.

He needed to know what exactly had happened during her time on the second floor.

But as he moved forward, he stopped.

As always, that ominous instant death light was approaching him.

He still hadn’t obtained the doctor’s identity and wasn’t immune to instant death.

Last time, it was that phony player who, using a skill similar to cloning, had diverted the light.

And now, that phony player had died.

Su Ming’an extended his hand.

A pure white brilliance congealed in front of his eyes, and shortly after, Shadow cast a glance at him.

"Go, draw it away," Su Ming’an said.

"You really are ruthless," Shadow responded.

Su Ming’an knew that the current Shadow was strong.

Unlike him when switching to the Shadow State, Shadow was inherently adept at absorbing surrounding malice to perfect himself.

He at least had some leeway to switch to the Shadow State, while Shadow had always been in that state.

In this environment filled with malice at every moment, which could potentially drive someone insane, Shadow thrived like a fish in water.

Su Ming’an was merely "utilizing" this power, whereas Shadow was more about "adapting" and "fusing" with it.

In other words, Shadow was very "compatible" with this dark environment.

Although he complained verbally, Shadow couldn’t defy his commands.

After seeing Shadow lure the light away, Su Ming’an continued forward and reached the doctor’s door.

He extended his hand, but before he could knock, the door opened on its own.

"You came?"

The young man, with a cigarette and seemingly deeper dark circles, leaned against the door frame and opened the door for him proactively.

"What was the situation earlier?" Su Ming’an asked.

"Ha...I haven’t even started to blame you for revealing my identity, Su Ming’an," the young man laughed. "Just now, Lin Jiang came storming in, hell-bent on killing me, clearly wanting to obtain the ’Doctor’ identity."

"And then?"

"Click." A clear sound rang out as a metal box was struck.

A pale blue flame rose in the darkness, casting its light over the young man’s features, his brows furrowing slightly as his expression grew solemn.

"Then, let me think, what happened afterward..."

The young man lit a cigarette, seemingly pondering, but quickly, the seriousness on his face transformed into a layer of sarcasm.

Leaning against the door frame, he spoke with heavy irony:

"Su Ming’an, has anyone ever told you that you are quite discourteous in speech?"

"..."

"Look," the young man said, "you listened to my story, called it pretentious, sold my information, and made Lin Jiang come to kill me. After her death, you came over and asked me what had happened in between...?"

Slowly and leisurely, he removed the cigarette from his mouth, seemingly wanting to blow a smoke ring: "Su Ming’an, my doctor colleague, my admiration for you has decreased layer by layer since you decided to let Lin Jiang replace me.

To be honest, I think you’re not a person with such low emotional intelligence, yet you did not hide it at all, not showing the slightest concern... Clearly, I underestimated you."

You didn’t even waste a little bit of time on me, not even pretending to care—I mean, you didn’t even ask my name, you had no interest in knowing. Your purposefulness is too intense, Number One Player.

So, even now that you have come to me, I don’t really want to tell you what just happened in full detail..."

"Bang!"

Invisible gravity appeared instantly.

It felt as though a pair of massive hands suddenly pressed down in the air, slamming the young man’s back forcefully to the ground, his knees hitting the floor and cracking it.

Under this pressure, the flying mechanical spheres that had been hovering, now invisible around the young man, also hit the ground in an instant, emitting the sound of shattering.

"Cough!"

The young man seemed to be choked by his own cigarette ash and coughed vigorously several times.

"Hey, you..." he was pressed down, unable to move.

"I have never acknowledged you as my colleague," Su Ming’an reached out his hand, glowing with a layer of blue light.

This was the "Energy Suppression" skill from the "Heart of the Future" equipment acquired in the Fifth World.

The skill was similar to the one Shuhang had, an invisible pressure that was particularly effective against unexpected enemies.

Although his mastery of this skill was limited, and he couldn’t specify a single target for suppression like Shuhang could, simply suppressing the area around him was still manageable.

"Compared to students, killing another doctor carries no burden for me," Su Ming’an said. "The rules stipulate that doctors cannot kill innocent students, but there’s no rule stating that doctors cannot kill other doctors."

"..."

"Tell me what just happened," Su Ming’an said. "You’d better be quick; I’m very irritable right now."

"..." The young man muttered something quietly.

The voice was so soft that Su Ming’an couldn’t hear it.

He squatted down, leaning closer to the other person, listening to their voice.

"...My name is Laine."

Softly, almost whispering, the young man pinned on the ground spoke in an extremely low tone.

"I’m not interested in your name," Su Ming’an said.

"I just... wanted you to remember my name, Number One Player," Laine smiled. "You know, I now hold the winning cards."

"...Although I learned a lot in the Fifth World, what impressed me the most was the various torturous methods in the laboratory," Su Ming’an eyed the young man on the ground. "I haven’t practiced them yet, and you’re eagerly becoming my first test subject."

"Su Ming’an," Laine suddenly said, "do you know whose file I drew on the second night?"

"..."

"Yours," Laine smiled.

Su Ming’an’s eyelids twitched, his heartbeat sped up instantaneously.

A flood of darkness pressed over his clear vision momentarily, he maintained a steady gaze: "The rules state that doctors can only draw students’ files, not other doctors’."

"—What if, the student meant to be executed by the doctor has already been killed by another doctor?" Laine’s face broke into a smile. His tone mixed with a rising inflection: "Then, the target of the doctor’s execution would change to another doctor who broke the rules.

Su Ming’an, Number One Player, do you know what I saw in your file? Truly unexpected, honestly, I never thought your past could be like that..."

"Boom——!"

The suppression suddenly intensified, and Laine’s originally smiling face sank into the floor in an instant.

Blood slowly streamed down his hair as Su Ming’an reached out, grabbed his hair, and violently yanked him up.

Gulping for breath, blood spread slowly over his pale cheeks, but he seemed unfazed by the pain, his eyes blazing like fire.

As he locked eyes with Su Ming’an, he smiled even more brilliantly:

"Su Ming’an, I was born in California, and although I have been involved in some shady businesses, I was fortunate enough to attend a high-profile concert.

At the concert, I saw a pianist from Dragon Country... She played incredibly well.

Though she lacked a certain emotion, her skill was impeccable, and people said that if her hands could impart emotion to the piece, she would be the best pianist in the world.

Su Ming’an, do you know who that woman was..."

"Bang——!"

Su Ming’an, holding his hair, pressed him down into the floor again, creating a loud thud.

"You’ve gone mad," Su Ming’an said. "You were already not right when you started telling me this story, and now it’s gotten even worse. Don’t thank me, I’m sending you back right now."

"...Su Ming’an, are you that afraid to face your past?"

Laine’s muffled voice came through the floor, tinged with a hint of hysteria.

"I’m not afraid," Su Ming’an said. "It’s just, no one wants their private past broadcasted to the whole world."

Laine, struggling for breath, suddenly exerted strength, attempting to rise.

With a pitifully low strength value in the Shadow State, Su Ming’an instantly let go and stepped back, fully preparing the spatial vibration in his hand.

Laine, supporting himself on the bloodied floor, slowly stood up.

Wood chips and blood covered his hospital gown; he wiped the blood smudged below his eye and smiled with bloodshot eyes.

"You wanted to know what just happened, right?" Laine said. "Keep the live broadcast running, let me finish talking, and I’ll tell you how Lin Jiang died."

"Keep the live broadcast running so people can hear you narrate the contents of my file?"

"Yes," Laine said, nodding with a smile.

"Your sick sense of humor matches that story-passer of yours," Su Ming’an said.

His expression gradually became indifferent, as if not quite angered.

"I hate orders from anyone the most," Laine said as he lit another cigarette, the tip glowing orange in the darkness. "Su Ming’an, since it’s already fated in this instance that I will be killed by you, let me vent a bit before I die—you ought to let me have a bit of revenge."

Su Ming’an was silent for a moment.

In his view, the comments were rolling furiously:

[Let him speak, let him speak!!!]

[I want to hear, let me listen!]

[No, you guys, how can you be so excessive, Ming’an already said he doesn’t want it heard...]

[What do I care, why not enjoy the drama.]

[...Actually, I’m really curious about Number One Player’s past.]

[Huh? Isn’t he just an ordinary student?]

[Naïve, isolate him.]

[Ming’an, if you don’t want to listen, then don’t listen! It doesn’t matter if you shut down the live broadcast! After all, Laine doesn’t know, we understand you!]

[Yes! Everyone has a past they can’t face. It’s not a problem if we don’t know the cause of Lin Jiang’s death. Is the lack of this information going to prevent us from passing the level?]

[If Number One Player had any dark history in the past, the World Forum would explode immediately... I’m used to it.]

[Number One Player, don’t mind him, just turn off the broadcast!]

[...]

"Speak."

In the silence, Su Ming’an spoke.

"I wasn’t very opposed to that past, if you could teach me how to face it directly, it wouldn’t matter if you mentioned it in front of the whole world." he said.

Laine extinguished the cigarette in his hand.

"...That really surprises me." he leaned against the wall, his tone very light, "It’s hard to imagine, how you, the person here now, in the past, could coldly watch your mother’s blood gradually drip onto the floor."

The comments exploded instantly.

They were shocked by the enormous amount of information contained in Laine’s brief words.

"Are you done?" Su Ming’an asked.

"...Don’t look at me like that, I didn’t really mean to torment you." Laine raised his hands, "I just wanted to ask, what you think about your mother—I saw in the file, she slit her wrists in front of you, begging you not to leave... Yet you just watched. I’m personally very curious, what were you thinking at the time?"

"Are you here to make a match or do you have a hobby of reading people’s files for comprehension?" Su Ming’an said, "Do you also want to know my feelings?"

"It’s just, Boris keeps mentioning you, wanted me to tell you a story. Now that the story is here, it has piqued my curiosity." Laine said, "I’m naturally curious about all unknown things, only now, it includes you, Number One Player—may I know what you were thinking? Just that."

"If you’re naturally curious, you could try exploring the mysteries of the universe."

"...Don’t joke at a time like this, Su Ming’an."

"..." Su Ming’an paused for a moment, "I have no particular feelings, she was just like that, utterly absurd, always using that tactic to gain my sympathy."

"What?" Laine doubted if he had heard correctly.

"Thanks to her, I used to have no expectations of this world." Su Ming’an said, "She thought that by that method, she could teach me how to infuse feelings into music, and wanted me to stay long-term with her in the piano room. Unfortunately, I have my own life, I am not a toy she cultivated. I love art because of my father, not because of her."

"No way, what kind of mother would try to gain sympathy from her child in this way..." Laine smiled and looked up.

He suddenly saw a quietness in the other’s eyes, like a sunset sinking.

"Now she is in a mental hospital, and I am in the World Game, both of us have found suitable places, no need to torment each other anymore." Su Ming’an looked at him, his tone frighteningly calm, "Are you done asking?"

Laine coughed involuntarily.

He felt as if his gaze was firmly locked by the other, as though the surrounding air had been compressed to nothingness, allowing no room for retreat.

"...I’m done."

"Tell me, what just happened."

"Just, it was Lin Jiang trying to kill me, then I ran to the light spot in the hallway, used a precious Prop to swap places, making the light spot register as having killed her. Then... her attack also landed on the light spot, resetting the instance..."

"Is that all?"

"Yes, that’s the process." Laine nodded.

"Bang!"

His body was forcefully slammed against the wall behind him, his throat firmly locked in the other’s hand, and his whole body lifted into the air.

"Got it." Su Ming’an said, "You can go to die now."