Hi, thanks to Green KiTea and Chi for the ko-fis, combined, we’re uploading a total of 18 bonus chapters for the week! Thanks for the support! Nine chapters will be uploaded today, another nine tomorrow and then the scheduled chapters after that.

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As long as a player is in the game, they must have a terminal device to perform certain operations; after all, the terminal displays the player’s account, resources, and data.

If there’s no terminal, it means the person isn’t in the game…

No, that’s impossible!

Just thinking about it seemed absurd to Jian Xingyi.

Everyone had been searching for a solution for so long; there was no way he could have succeeded just by randomly entering a dungeon—he hadn’t done anything at all.

Perhaps this was some kind of special dungeon or memory bubble?

Without the terminal system, Jian Xingyi couldn’t activate his skills to collect essence points, nor could he check if nearby land was for sale. Of course, his immediate priority was to find a way out, so he could only wander around and observe.

Jian Xingyi pushed through the tall grass, and his view suddenly opened up.

The layout around him was the same as when he’d entered the dungeon before—dense forests of trees—but aside from their density, size, and height, their shapes and colors had changed.

In the dungeon, the trees had bizarre shapes and dazzling colors, but now they looked normal, much like ordinary trees in the real world, and their colors had returned to a lush green.

Jian Xingyi glanced behind him, then looked ahead.

How strange…

It was almost like a transition between the virtual world and reality.

Even stranger was the appearance of an air wall not far away.

And now, since there seemed to be no way through the air wall, Jian Xingyi curiously stepped forward and poked it with his finger.

Crash—

……

When Jian Xingyi opened his eyes and regained consciousness, he found himself lying on a soft cushion, sealed inside a glass dome.

……?!!

This was terrifying.

Jian Xingyi sucked in a sharp breath and frantically pushed against the glass dome in front of him, trying to get up.

Fortunately, the dome was very lightweight. Only after sitting up did Jian Xingyi realize he had been lying in a hibernation pod.

He was in a room filled with hibernation pods, computers, and monitors. The room was neither too large nor too small, dimly lit, with only the blue glow of the instruments softly illuminating the space.

Everywhere he looked were instruments he couldn’t understand, nearly filling the entire space, and amidst the pile of equipment, a man poked his head out.

“Huh…?”

Jian Xingyi was dumbfounded.

Never mind how he’d ended up here—wasn’t this man… the “Doctor” he’d seen before in the memory bubble at Peace Mountain?!

He’d seen the young Doctor before, and he’d seen the middle-aged Doctor with a thick beard, but the Doctor before him now… his hair was streaked with gray, his face lined with wrinkles—he’d grown even older.

But the Doctor’s gaze was clear and bright, as if they were both still teenagers. The Doctor smiled. “Xinghe…? How did you end up here?”

Jian Xingyi stammered, “Where is this?”

“Oh? It seems… You don’t recognize me yet.” The Doctor stroked his chin. “Then I won’t say much more.”

Huh?

Jian Xingyi paused, then asked patiently, “Doctor, could you tell me how to leave this place and return to where I came from?”

The doctor chuckled. “First of all, where exactly did you come from?”

Jian Xingyi was at a loss.

Good question—how was he supposed to answer that?

The Doctor said, “How about this: one answer for one question. I have questions for you, too. For example, how did you end up here?”

Jian Xingyi told him the truth.

The Doctor muttered under his breath, “Oh… it seems there was a glitch in the data… I was originally just planning to insert some ‘data’ into the guild dungeon, but I accidentally connected the two sides.”

After asking a few more questions, the Doctor said with a tone of confirmation, “So you’re about to face a second zombie wave?”

“Yes.”

“In that case…” the Doctor said, “it’s simple. Don’t you remember what that hibernation pod is? Just lie back down in it.”

Jian Xingyi took a closer look at the hibernation pod and immediately felt a chill run down his spine.

Of course, he recognized this hibernation pod—or rather, every player of *Dawnbreaker* did. Wasn’t this the equipment used to enter the holographic game?!

Jian Xingyi seemed to realize something; his hunch had finally been confirmed, and his voice rose significantly. “This is reality?!”

The Doctor nodded.

Jian Xingyi said, “Then, then…”

Doesn’t that mean he’s found a way back to reality?

The Doctor seemed to know what he was about to say and explained, “This isn’t a way back. You just happened to get stuck here due to a bug. If you restarted, you might not end up here. Besides, you’re a ‘special’ person—it’s no surprise you were teleported here by a bug. Others aren’t allowed; they can’t even pass through an air wall, so it’s useless.”

Special?

Jian Xingyi furrowed his brow. What did that mean?

The Doctor continued, “And… you didn’t wake up in your own hibernation pod. It doesn’t count as a true awakening or return. You can’t stay here long.”

Jian Xingyi looked down and saw his body beginning to fade.

It was a familiar sight; Jian Xingyi was already used to it, so he didn’t panic this time.

Since the Doctor said he just needed to lie back down in the hibernation pod, then…

Jian Xingyi turned to head back, but the Doctor called him to a halt. “It’s rare for you to come back. Would you like to try something that probably doesn’t exist in the post-apocalyptic world… an ice pop? I estimate your body will remain ethereal for another hour or so, so there’s no need to rush.”

?

Jian Xingyi: “Sure? Thanks?”

Two minutes later, the Doctor dug a mini-fridge out from among the pile of equipment and handed Jian Xingyi a popsicle.

Jian Xingyi sat obediently on the hibernation pod, licking it.

It was ice-cold and sweet—so delicious…!

The Doctor smiled warmly, a touch of tenderness in his eyes.

“Boom—!”

Just then, a loud crash suddenly echoed from the ceiling above them, and Jian Xingyi felt everything around him shake.

But that sound… something was off.

Why did it feel like this room was a basement, with metal walls all around? There was even an echo when it was struck.

Jian Xingyi asked, “This is reality, right?”

The Doctor: “Yes, and no.”

“……So are we in a basement?”

“Yes.”

“Can I go up to the surface to take a look?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“I can’t say.”

“……”

Jian Xingyi sighed, “I’ve seen you several times now, and every time you’re just a riddle.”

The Doctor spread his hands. “The time isn’t right yet.”

“Then, when will the time be right?”

The Doctor pondered for a moment, then took out paper and pen, scribbled a bunch of notes, stuffed them into an envelope, and handed it to Jian Xingyi. “If you manage to survive this zombie horde, go to the Forbidden Mountain. Open this envelope only when you arrive there. Don’t open it before then—it won’t do you any good. When the time is right, you’ll understand everything.”

“Oh…”

Jian Xingyi tucked the envelope into his pocket, half-convinced.

At Dawnbreaker, the entire map consists of eight regions. The westernmost is Peace Mountain, followed by Lava Volcano, Flag-Raising Mountain, Thousand Bells Snow Mountain, and Rainforest Mountain, with the difficulty gradually increasing.

As you move eastward past Rainforest Mountain, the difficulty gradually decreases, leading to Wave Mountain and Peaceful Mountain.

Beyond Peaceful Mountain lies Forbidden Mountain, but this area is off-limits to players. It was originally slated to open in a future update, but since the game stopped receiving updates after players logged in, Forbidden Mountain has remained locked inside.

Realizing this, Jian Xingyi asked in confusion, “But isn’t Forbidden Mountain closed off?”

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. “If you can get through an invisible wall, what are you afraid of with the Forbidden Mountain?”

“……”

But to reach Forbidden Mountain, Jian Xingyi would have to traverse seven maps, passing through the high-difficulty Thousand Bells Snow Mountain and Rainforest Mountain.

This was quite a feat…

Jian Xingyi scratched his head. After finishing his popsicle, no matter how much he pressed the Doctor, he wouldn’t say another word, so Jian Xingyi had no choice but to lie down in the hibernation pod.

Before the Doctor closed the glass dome for him, Jian Xingyi asked, “Will I meet you in the game?”

“If fate allows, maybe. Goodbye, Xinghe.”

Jian Xingyi lost consciousness before he could say goodbye.

……

……

When Jian Xingyi opened his eyes again, the first thing he saw was a familiar ceiling.

…… His home in the game!

Jian Xingyi sprang to his feet with a “snap!” and opened his terminal.

The terminal was on, and there was a flood of messages inside, including system rewards from the guild battle and greetings from everyone.

Shanhai: 【Where are you?】

Heiye: 【Huh?? Where’d you go??】

Lone Wolf: 【Holy crap, where’d you go?! Where are you?!】

……

Jian Xingyi swiped through the messages—so many people had sent him notifications.

Jian Xingyi sent a 【.】 to Shanhai and posted it in the guild chat.

Shanhai: 【Where?】

Xinghe: 【Home】

Everyone in the guild channel was asking what was going on, but since this wasn’t the Liberation Plan group, Jian Xingyi didn’t say much.

Xinghe: 【I got teleported into the dungeon space. It was probably a bug. I’ve been teleported back home now. I’m not hurt, so everyone don’t worry.】

As for Shanhai, Jian Xingyi didn’t explain much, because he knew Shanhai… would definitely come looking for him.

Heiye: 【That’s good, that’s good…! As long as you’re not hurt, that’s the best!】

Lone Wolf: 【You have no idea how close Shanhai was to tearing the dungeon apart!】

Haihai: 【Yeah, did you tell him? He seems so anxious. Even though his face is cold, he just looks so scary and frantic.】

Jian Xingyi paused. Huh?

At that very moment, Shanhai knocked on his door. When Jian Xingyi opened it, he saw Shanhai standing expressionless on the other side.

Jian Xingyi blinked. “I…”

Finally, he gave a dry laugh. “I guess you’ll have to get used to this… I seem to keep getting dragged off to random places for no reason…”

Seeing no reaction from Shanhai, Jian Xingyi barely managed to lower his head.

The two stood in silence for a long moment before Shanhai spread his arms wide and said, “Alright, give me a hug.”

Jian Xingyi: “……!”

The tall, imposing man, whose face was usually as cold as ice, was now expressionlessly asking for a hug.

Jian Xingyi’s heart melted completely, and he nestled himself into Shanhai’s embrace.

Shanhai said, “You’ve been gone for a day.”

“Huh…?” Jian Xingyi froze. That long?

What kind of ‘a day in heaven is a year on earth’ effect is this…!

Jian Xingyi pulled Shanhai into the house and explained the situation to him in detail.

Shanhai was also a bit puzzled.

It felt like they were getting closer to the truth.

Shanhai said, “Once the zombie tide is over, it looks like we’ll have to make a trip to the Forbidden Mountain. I’ll go with you.”

“Okay!”

Jian Xingyi took a deep breath. If a day had already passed, then there was less than a day left until the zombie tide. He had something very important to do…

Listing items!

Time is running out…!