In Virtual Reality

.
why did she do it?” The boy stepped back a few steps, hitting the dusty table corner and murmured in a daze.

With the fragmented information and some reasonable deductions, a clue could be quickly pieced together:

After entering the school, Zhou Xiao Han might have been collecting clues to leave this eerie university and coincidentally met her only familiar classmate, Peng Jia Lang, during the collection process.
For some reason, Zhou Xiao Han, who had abundant resources, had been helping other classmates she could contact, including Peng Jia Lang.

Perhaps during one of the investigations, she learned that Shen Jia, who should have entered Dark Virtue University with them, had not appeared.
Zhou Xiao Han found Shen Jia's file in the archives and knew that if he did not enrol, Shen Jia might die.
But if he registered now, a “death report” would still be issued to Shen Jia.

So she came up with the idea of 'modifying the file.'

However, there were still many doubts.

Xu Jin Yi frowned.

'Hiss, the 'death report' suddenly became more complicated.
Why did it become so convoluted?'

For example, how did Zhou Xiao Han know about Dark Virtue University? To what extent did she understand it? Why did she have a stockpile of food? How did she know that Shen Jia had not enrolled? And how did she get into the archives? The key to the archives was clearly still in the principal's office, and it had not gone missing like the seal.

There were many doubts, and the truth was like a book stained with ink, impossible to discern.

Her hands started to fidget again, wanting to open a new thick notebook to record further information.
But time was running out; let's tackle the first week for now and start a new notebook for the second week.

As Xu Jin Yi was lost in thought, the atmosphere among the group became a bit tense.
Xu Qin scratched his head and said, “I'm not very familiar with Zhou Xiao Han; she didn't ask me for anything.
As for you, Shen Jia, I just simply think you're a bit…weak.”

Indeed, compared to the towering Xu Qin, Shen Jia's height of only about 1.8 meters was not very impressive.
After all, Xu Qin's physique looked like he went to the gym frequently to lift weights.

Shen Jia responded, “…thank you.”

He struggled to say just that one sentence.

“But do you really not know Zhou Xiao Han?” Xu Qin asked curiously.
“A girl who went to such lengths for you, don't you have any impression of her?”

Shen Jia replied, “I am certain that I have never heard this name before.”

Didn't he also want to know?

But even if he racked his brains, he had never heard of this name.

Zhou Xiao Han…Zhou Xiao Han…

He really hadn't heard of her!

“You can think about it some more,” Xu Qin said, leaning back and pushing his hands against the table behind him.

“Hmm?”

It seemed like he pressed on something.
He looked back and saw the light from his phone illuminating a name.

“Hey! It's Silence's file!” Xu Qin's eyes lit up as he picked up the file.
“Senior, can I take a look?”

The person in the hood seemed to be contemplating something and said uninterestedly, “Do as you wish.”

Xu Qin got permission and opened the file with some excitement.

“Uh…is it just me, or is this too empty?”

As the file in front of him came into view, the papers were clean and concise compared to the previous ones.

’

Before he could look closer, a hand snatched the file from Xu Qin's hand.

Xu Jin Yi looked at the file in her hand.
The name on it was marked with a [Silenced/噤] symbol, and the gender column was filled with [none].

Hey!

She couldn't help but chuckle; she had found another BUG!

However…

Xu Jin Yi looked at the name column.

Can the ID be modified?

[Please enter your ID]

It really can be changed!

Her eyes lit up.

The last time she entered her ID, she could not add [prohibited words] and [sensitive words] to her in-game name.

Xu Jin Yi pondered for a moment and then carefully entered —

[Your Mother] (你娘 slang, a vulgar insult that literally means “your mother”)

[Detected sensitive words]

[Your Ancestors] (祖宗 literally means “ancestors”.
However, when used as a slang insult, it is considered impolite and offensive)

[Detected sensitive words]

[Your beloved mother] (你亲爱的妈妈 literally means “your beloved mother”.
However, when used as a slang insult, it is often used sarcastically and implies the opposite of its literal meaning.)

[Detected game player's malicious intentions]

Xu Jin Yi: ???

So intelligent? Could it be manually detected?

Xu Jin Yi was suspicious; she tried several times with a furrowed brow but eventually gave up when she could not succeed.

**

The archive room was hushed.

Through the dim light from his phone, Shen Jia could see Silence, who was holding their file, frowning and lost in thought.
What could be so important on that almost empty sheet of paper?

Standing at their's side, Shen Jia could tell that their gaze was fixed on the name field.
Silence's expression was severe, a rarity for them.
It wasn't anger or pretence, but genuine seriousness…with a hint of pain.

Pain?

Shen Jia was stunned and took a closer look.
Yes, it was pain.

Like pure black pearls, the pair of black eyes were staring absentmindedly at their name, and the eyelashes trembled slightly, inexplicably fragile.

Silence reached out their right hand and gently pressed one finger on their name, whispering something in a very soft voice.

It seemed to be…”I'm so tired?”

Then Silence closed their eyes, and when they opened them again, they had returned to normal.

’

Silence stuffed the file paper into a brown-yellow file and casually threw it aside, appearing very suave.

“It's getting late; let's go back.”

Looking at Silence's particularly suave figure in a pink hoodie, Shen Jia couldn't help but sink into thought.

This university was very mysterious, so what about Silence? What kind of person chose to study here? What was their story?

**

When leaving the archive room, the group did not take the unsealed file of Shen Jia, firstly because they were afraid of alerting the authorities and secondly because they lacked a seal to make it official.

The clock had already struck past 2 am, and all the male students in room 412 had classes in the morning, so they quickly decided to return to their dorms.

However, they didn't expect to be spotted by a patrolling security guard right after leaving the teaching building.
The guard was an intimidating figure, standing three meters tall, and running made the ground shake beneath their feet, adding to their dread.

Thinking on his feet, Shen Jia shouted, “Run!”

Upon hearing this, Xu Jin Yi's eyes lit up.
It was a chase game she loved! “Run to the dormitory!” she yelled, leading the charge.

During the escape, the security guards emerged from all directions, making it nearly impossible for Shen Jia and his two companions to run smoothly like the guards and Hoodie did.

As Xu Jin Yi looked at the wall not too far away, she was about to use a QTE to jump up when she suddenly thought of the unlucky ones behind her.
“Oh, forget it; let's make it a happy ending.” She suddenly stopped, turned around, and grabbed Peng Jia Lang, who couldn't brake in time.
“Let's go!” '

The 1.8-meter-tall male student was thrown up in the air with a confused expression.

Next was Shen Jia.
“Wait, wait–“

Seeing what Xu Jin Yi was doing and hearing the dull thud and cry of pain from the other side of the wall, Shen Jia struggled back.

“What are you waiting for? Waiting for the ghosts to catch you?!” Xu Jin Yi didn't care and grabbed his arm and waist, throwing him up without hesitation.

At the back, Xu Qin sighed, “…” and thought, 'Whatever, struggling was pointless, so it was time to go for it,' he put his head down and rushed forward, then was grabbed by a massive force and tossed up.

As the flashlights from all directions were about to shine on her, Xu Jin Yi remained calm.
She narrowed her eyes and sprinted briefly before pushing off the slightly protruding wall with her foot and leaping up!

In the next second, the blinding white light illuminated the empty wall.

 

 

——— Translator's Notes ———

某 (mǒu) is a Chinese character that is often used in formal or legal contexts to refer to an unspecified or anonymous person or thing.
It can be translated as “a certain” or “an unnamed”, and is often used to protect the identity or privacy of the subject being referred to.
For example, in a legal document, a person's name might be replaced with “某某” (mǒumǒu) to keep their identity confidential.

 

牟润泽 (Móu Rùn Zé): the name can be interpreted as “nourishing and abundant grace”.

牟 (Móu) is a Chinese surname that is not particularly associated with any specific meaning.
barley / to moo / to seek or obtain

润 (Rùn) means “nourishing” or “moistening”, and can also be associated with “grace” or “benevolence”.

泽 (Zé) means “abundance” or “prosperity”, and can also be associated with “grace” or “blessing”.

 

“屏蔽词” and “敏感词”: These terms are related to censorship in online content.
“屏蔽词” refers to prohibited words or phrases, while “敏感词” refers to sensitive or taboo topics that are not allowed to be discussed in online spaces.