novelraw Chapter 565 - 491: End of the Instance, Girls Beneath the Setting Sun
Chapter 565 - 491: End of the Instance, Girls Beneath the Setting Sun
People walked along the tunnel, traversing a field of ruins. The tunnel led to the city’s intricate underground network. Going deeper, they would embrace a new life, but the price of freedom was facing a future completely unknown. No one knew what would happen tomorrow. Perhaps they would scatter like dust in this tunnel, or perhaps, they would turn the pages of history.
But no matter the outcome,
in this age where daylight has yet to break, they would be like a flickering torch before dawn, illuminating the dark fields. Those who shared the same vision would see this flame. Across the expanse of time, even when bodies burn to ashes, there will always be strong hands, firmly taking over this flame, raising the torch, until the fire is passed on.
Some people always say, before dawn arrives, someone needs to light up the darkness.
But the people I love, what is left of a lonely wanderer’s kindled life? Nothing but ashes, silence, and void. The hearts of those crouched at dawn have long been united in a shared vision. Take a good look, before dawn breaks, the war-torn plains are already alight with persistent flame.
"Sir, what’s your name?" Someone noticed Xu Xiaoyou about to leave and hurriedly asked.
Many people stopped, pausing their steps. Many among them had already considered Xu Xiaoyou a savior and leader. It was she who stood up and led them to launch the first shot of resistance. Seeing her about to leave, they were bewildered and anxious, trying to persuade her to stay.
"Of course, I’ll stay," Xu Xiaoyou replied, looking calm and steady.
"But not now, I will return soon. If you have not learned to raise the torch before I return, I will bring it to you."
"If you have already raised the torch, then I will bring you dawn."
"I promise."
The weight of the promise steadied people’s hearts.
"As for my name,"
Xu Xiaoyou closed her eyes, contemplating for a moment,
"Just call me Princess."
...
As the match ended, they secured a victory and returned to Skyline City in their player roles. The big screen broadcasted news of a large-scale Awakener rebellion. After someone fired the first shot, riots broke out in both large and small high-rises, with some being quickly suppressed, while others expanded rapidly during their escape, growing increasingly intense, even occupying some areas as strongholds.
"Look what you’ve done," Bai Youyou glanced at Xu Xiaoyou. "You wouldn’t just leave them after convincing them, right?"
"Of course not," Xu Xiaoyou shook her head. "According to the official schedule, there’s one last instance in the Skyline City map. Unless something unexpected happens, we’ll participate in our roles then, and I’ll keep my promise."
"Sometimes, even before a full-blown rebellion, people’s thoughts are already aligned. All it takes is a tiny spark to ignite a widespread blaze, and once someone leads, the flame won’t stop."
At this moment, Tang Xin also returned, smiling slightly at everyone.
"By the way, did we forget someone?" Angelina asked.
"Where’s Rice Wine?"
Xu Xiaoyou: "..."
"You!" At this time, a gritty voice came from behind, and they saw a soaking wet red-haired girl rushing over, fiercely pouncing on Xu Xiaoyou, gritting her teeth as if about to fight her.
"I made such a huge contribution to the team, holding off four RoboCops for half a day, and it hurt so much I nearly died, do you know that? And you had the nerve to forget me there!"
"I didn’t forget you, how could it be called forgetting?" Xu Xiaoyou explained, "I believed in your strength, that you could escape on your own, so I temporarily put your matters aside. It was just a slight drop in priority. I was definitely going to find you after everything was done..."
"Not listening, not listening, You preaching nonsense. No, you tell me, what do you mean by priority level??"
After a round of squabbling, Chichu Chun frustratedly crossed her arms and recalled the previous scene: "At that time, I had passed out, a little girl named Le Tong dragged me to a restroom, avoiding the pursuit of the RoboCops. When I woke up, the instance had already ended, and you all had logged out. Not a single person remembered to find me."
Under the brilliant sunset, the golden light spreading from the distant horizon danced between the skyscrapers, softening the clouds on the sky’s edge. Sunshine, fractured by the branches, warmly caressed their faces and was quite pleasant. Several girls walked out of the metro station, Chichu Chun stretching with a yawn, Angelina clutching her head, yawning out of boredom, Bai Youyou trailing steadily behind the others, and Tang Xin suddenly thought of something.
"I more or less understand your method of clearing the level, what makes me curious is, if charm wasn’t enough to convince those RoboCops, how would you deal with the ’Tag Catcher’?"
"Have you ever played dodgeball?" Xu Xiaoyou suddenly asked.
"Dodgeball? I used to love playing it, no one could beat me then!" Chichu Chun said, raising her head proudly.
Xu Xiaoyou’s thoughts seemed pulled into the distance, a calm light in her eyes.
She said, "In my place, when playing dodgeball, the one kicking the ball is the cat, the one dodging is the mouse. The cat can also be eliminated by the mouse."
"When a cat is hit by a ball kicked by another cat, it’s out. Cunning mice take advantage of cats’ lapses, standing in front of a cat and luring other cats to kick the ball at them, dodging while letting the ball hit the cat behind."
"This kind of rule leads some cats and mice to reach a consensus, even deliberately working to knock out their own teammates, often leading to a freestyle fight after being caught during the match."
"Similarly, if charm isn’t enough to convince the RoboCops, then players have to use the ’dodgeball’ method to make the RoboCops’ attacks accidentally hit the Tag Catcher, accumulating damage and slowly killing it."
"This is the kind of victory the instance designer envisaged, or hoped players would achieve."
"Who could have thought that with just a few words, some You would manage to turn an entire train car of people into Awakeners?" Chichu Chun commented.
"What do you mean by just a few words? I put a lot of thought into that final speech, you know? I started planning it from the moment we were at the Huoxun Medical Center."
"And that wasn’t called subverting, that was called resisting, the nature of the two isn’t the same at all, is it?"
"Tch, I won’t argue with you, no matter what, you’ll always find a way to make a counterpoint."
"That’s because I always think things through several times before acting, so I usually don’t make mistakes."
"Look, Sister Tang, here she goes again," Chichu Chun whispered to Tang Xin.
"What do you want to eat tonight?" Tang Xin asked.
"As long as it’s not another ’formal’ dinner," Bai Youyou sighed. "I can accept anything else."
"Is that malt beer machine broken? Why doesn’t it dispense beer anymore?" Angelina pondered, stroking her chin.
"I turned it off," Xu Xiaoyou’s tone was helpless. "The intention was for you to relax, Anya, not for you to be sitting in front of it every day drinking directly from the bottle. Bringing a drunken person into training maps, those team captains would kick me out."
The five of them walked further and further away, sunlight pouring over them, casting long shadows behind the young girls, the wind rustling the leaves like an old-style camera pressing the shutter, coloring the photograph with time.