Chapter 41
After Shan Yu logged off, a huge golden firework suddenly exploded in the sky above the instance!
Chengmei looked up in confusion and exclaimed, "What? What's going on? A grand celebration... and an impending arrest?"
Three seconds later, the Cat Lover Live Assistant fully recovered, and all the streamers in the dungeons exclaimed in unison: "Huh? How did it suddenly recover?... What did you say? Shan Yu got captured?"
Wen Zheng's comments suddenly returned to normal, because there were so many dense messages that it was impossible to see what was being said.
A red, flashing special effects barrage suddenly streaked across the screen:
[Remember me, ambassador of love and peace, shout my name, Queen Wendy—]
Wen Zheng: "..."
Wendy made another move, and Wen Zheng's live stream chat suddenly appeared in mid-air, like a giant arena screen, which all three of them could see clearly.
That's amazing!
Congratulations! Confessions! Hooray!
-Z, can you see us now?! Holy crap... I still can't process what happened!
-z, could you please tell me the origin of Chengmei's weapon? Is it also part of an Outstanding Contribution Award? I didn't see it clearly just now.
So was all of this planned tonight? Who is this Queen Wendy?
-I just want to know, did Z contact the headquarters of ShengKong and get their approval before doing this? If that's true, ShengKong could have simply not cooperated with this performance... Although catching bad guys is very exciting, doesn't that damage the game's credibility?
-But they definitely agreed, otherwise how could they have broadcast it from beginning to end like that?
Hey z big z big z big z big ball, answer me! I'm dying of curiosity! My cat's been staring at the computer for an hour! He seems to be dying of curiosity too!
-So, does the cat-loving livestream know about this? Who caused the malfunction in the livestream assistant, Wendy?
-Holy crap, this is terrifying to think about... If Sheng Kong didn't know about this beforehand, and it was entirely orchestrated by Z and a mastermind named Wendy... how are they still standing here unharmed?! They should have been arrested long ago!
-Unless Z and the hacker have some unknown, impressive background.
Holy crap, that's awesome!
-I believe it
-The headquarters of LifeSky not only didn't stop it, but they were actually watching the show with glee. Don't believe me? Go check out Rick's social media accounts...
- Hahaha, Rick, hahaha
-But wasn't the domestic police response a bit too quick? Even though ShengKong's parent company is powerful, it's still just a game company, right...?
-No matter what, today was an awesome day.
How did Z find out Shan Yu was cheating? Did he just happen to choose this dungeon? Holy crap, I'm totally stunned by how cool Z was, completely ignoring us was so awesome...
- Agreed. It's true, Mingzhu's cooperation was crucial; they must have been in contact privately.
Congratulations in advance on winning first place!
Hahaha, who cares about first place now?
I'm following! I've been sending gifts!! Friends, whether you're male or female, old or young, as long as you send your precious gifts, we're like brothers and sisters!!!
As soon as these words were spoken, the screen was suddenly filled with gifts, and the special effects were so numerous that they were a real challenge to the display devices of the viewers.
Chengmei still hasn't figured out what's going on, and keeps muttering something. She's been watching the comments for ages and she's getting dizzy.
"Hey big brother," she snatched a microphone from a reporter on the sidelines and shoved it in front of Wen Zheng, "please have some mercy and give your completely clueless teammate a break, okay?"
Wen Zheng stopped looking at the comments and walked towards the backstage preparation room, gesturing to the King as he went.
“My uncle, who is about to cause a storm, works at the Xia Kingdom branch of the Survival Space.” Wen Zheng explained simply: “The uncle and nephew work together. One leaks the questions, and the other cheats. They read and prepare all the new copy materials, and then memorize the answers to the important puzzles in advance, so they can appear smarter than normal people.”
Chengmei was shocked: "You can do that... So how did you know?"
Wen Zheng didn't go into details: "I ran into his uncle offline by chance and overheard it. Later, a hacker friend of mine helped me get the information and sent a report email to the headquarters of Shengkong."
"I see..." Chengmei nodded profoundly: "So, headquarters cooperated with your performance in order to obtain firsthand evidence?"
Wen Zheng didn't say yes or no. Seeing that the king had already opened the last door and was waiting for him, he went straight in.
The world seemed to freeze in time, the protagonist in a wheelchair pouring powder into a blue kettle. The instant Wen Zheng stepped through the door, time began to flow again, and the protagonist was startled, his face turning deathly pale.
"Who are you..." his voice trembled, "How did you get in!"
The king followed Wen Zheng in, seemingly still reeling from Cheng Mei's attack on him, his expression displeased.
"It doesn't matter how we got in. If we don't come in, are you going to kill us?"
"No..." The protagonist suddenly pushed the kettle over and screamed hysterically, "I didn't want to kill anyone! I didn't! These, these are just stimulant drugs..."
The king interrupted him: "Alright, that's enough. We've already caught you in the act, so you're just trying to surrender."
After he finished speaking, the protagonist remained standing still, covering his face. The king picked up the water bottle from the ground and pushed the wheelchair again, only to find that the brakes were engaged and it wouldn't move. He was furious: "What, do you want me to lift him up?!"
Up to the password, Wen Zheng hadn't looked at the rest of the information, and the King certainly wouldn't know. New players to this game can easily get stuck on the plot. Cheng Mei and Wen Zheng both wanted to laugh, but they restrained themselves.
Chengmei stepped forward and asked a few questions before letting the protagonist continue recounting his personal journey.
Wen Zheng patiently instructed the king: "Generally, when you encounter this situation, such as the protagonist not moving, it means that his story has not yet come to an end. You need to be patient, ask him all sorts of questions, and follow his words. Once all the information has been revealed, the ending will naturally follow."
The king listened and, for the first time ever, nodded, though his brows were still slightly furrowed, as if to say: Humans are such a nuisance.
After Chengmei finished her conversation, the protagonist began a long speech, and all three of them lost focus.
"Hey Z, can we be friends?" Chengmei asked, bouncing over. "I heard you don't add fans from your live stream, but I'm not from your live stream, so can I be an exception?"
Chengmei's box had reverted to the shape of a greatsword, which she carried on her back. Wen Zheng paused for a moment before asking, "What is your special weapon?"
Chengmei: "Wow, is this a trade-off?"
Before Wen Zheng could answer, she said with a grin, "Hey, I can tell you even if you don't agree. This is Pandora's box."
Pandora's Box.
The barrage of comments that Wen Zheng hadn't seen exploded in an instant.
She is May!
Holy crap! ? may·yu?
-What...what are you talking about?
-Isn't God May a man?!
-But the Pandora's Box award record is indeed recorded on the screen, and the names are clearly visible! The annual special contribution award is partly given to testers, which is not public, but May received the award from the architect team. They're practically filming a promotional video at headquarters!
-Are architects really that rare? Hundreds of submissions are accepted every year, so becoming an architect isn't that special...
-Are you serious?! There are plenty of architects, but not many can create platinum-rated dungeons and participate in the mechanical design. And May has already participated in the creation of three! Besides, do you think any architect can get the Outstanding Contribution Award?
-And May is from the Xia Kingdom.
Is God May male or female?
-Holy crap, I never expected Narumi to be May!? And... could she really be a loli? I don't believe it.
-Wait, he hasn't admitted it yet! Maybe it's not the original Pandora's Box?
-It doesn't look like it at all. Legend has it that May is very aloof.
Wen Zheng didn't know much about this. When the name Pandora's Box was mentioned, he felt that it sounded somewhat familiar, but he didn't ask any further questions and added Cheng Mei as a friend.
At this point, the protagonist had finished analyzing his inner thoughts and finally started moving the electric wheelchair outside, preparing to confess to his teammates that his ugly heart had been corrupted by jealousy.
“Everyone has regrets,” he said. “When we regret something, what we should do is not try to destroy others, but change ourselves.”
The three followed behind the wheelchair, remaining silent for a moment.
The king showed a slightly confused expression, but quickly hid himself.
Under the bright sunshine on the track, behind the starting line, his teammate whom he had saved was nervously crouching down, his hands touching the ground, in a starting position.
As the gun fired, a line of athletes shot forward like arrows, the wind they created seeming to dispel all gloom and brighten the protagonist's eyes.
This concludes the instance and enters the ending sequence.
The protagonist confided his dark thoughts to his teammates, and was ultimately forgiven by them. Everyone wished him a new life, so he left the sports center he never wanted to leave, went back to school, entered university, and eventually became a doctor of sports injury medicine.
At the age of thirty, he underwent surgery and, after a long period of rehabilitation, was able to get rid of his wheelchair and crutches and walk freely. Although he could not engage in strenuous exercise, it no longer hindered his daily life.
The teammates he saved went on to win numerous international awards in the following five years, fulfilling the long-cherished dream of many young people.
After watching this perfect happy ending, Wen Zheng opened his eyes and landed in the lounge.
The king watched the short film obediently and came in shortly after him.
Wen Zheng didn't see Cheng Mei. He glanced at the messages and saw that she had skipped the ending theme and logged off early, telling Wen Zheng to take the beauty out and have fun. Before he could reply, messages from Deng Puyue and Wendy came in one after the other.
Wendy said that Rick had contacted her and invited her to dinner the next day, her words brimming with smugness and joy.
Deng Puyue, on the other hand, was very resentful, saying that you all abandoned me and weren't even in a hurry, but were leisurely watching the happy ending...
Wen Zheng stood reading the message, while the King sat quietly on the sofa, staring at the fireplace with its warm, flickering flames.
He was quite quiet today, unlike the previous times when his emotions were always on his face.
Her profile was bathed in orange light, and her slightly drooping eyelashes obscured most of her bright eyes. Even when she was nestled in the sofa, she looked as beautiful as an expensive painting.
At this moment, he remained silent and still, as if he had shed some pretense.
Wen Zheng subconsciously said goodbye to the live stream and exited the live stream, instinctively not wanting others to share too much of the king's state.
The king snapped out of his daze: "Is it over?"
"Mmm." Wen Zheng sat down next to him, the sofa sinking in. "Are you hungry?"
"?" The king was taken aback, a hint of doubt in his eyes, but he still thought about the question for a moment: "...I'm a little hungry."
"Let's log off and get something to eat," Wen Zheng said quietly.
The king stared at him for several seconds, made no agreement on when he would log back in, and then exited the game with a flash of blue light.
Wen Zheng lightly pinched the pendant on his chest, and a long list of incoming calls came through the external phone notifications that had been turned off.
He messaged Deng Puyue saying he'd contact her later, cleared his notification list, silently counted to half a minute, and took off his glasses. Dahei had already jumped off the bed and was squatting at the bedroom door.
Wen Zheng came down barefoot and asked naturally, "What's wrong? Is Dahei hungry?"
The big black tail swayed, but before it could give a majestic reply, the stupid human had already walked straight into the kitchen.