Chapter 354
Chapter 354
The autobiography had contained a great deal, and naturally no one had been able to read it all at once. One thing was certain, however: there had been no account of bankruptcy and suicide by jumping from a building. After the crisis before his college entrance exams, Qi Xu’s life had gone remarkably smoothly. But now that this episode of Escape Room was over, the autobiography had updated.
In it, Qi Xu had endured a miserable childhood, nearly killed himself before his entrance exams, and later achieved modest success. Just as his career was taking off, however, malicious people framed him, sending his life plummeting once more.
“It’s much the same as what the female ghost in red said,” Mu Xin told them.
The autobiography was more detailed, though.
For instance, Qi Xu had invested in the office building because his friends urged him to.
He trusted those friends quite a lot, which was why he invested. Of course, the sum involved was not enough to cause him serious financial harm.
It could only be said that Qi Xu was truly unlucky.
Just before the trouble broke, he had put his funds into research on new technology, leaving him temporarily short of cash.
In the autobiography, he had indeed suffered the disasters described by the female ghost in red: migrant workers demanding their wages, his business being smeared, and so on. To get through the crisis, he had sold quite a few assets cheaply. But he had not gone bankrupt.
Even so, it had been a devastating blow to him at the time, and Qi Xu climbed to the roof of the office building.
Yet when he looked down at everything beneath his feet, he suddenly saw a way forward again.
After coming down from the building, he sold more of his assets. Then, regardless of what anyone said, he resolutely threw himself into his research.
Three years later, that research bore fruit, taking the technology of the time into an entirely new era. From then on, he became an untouchable figure in the business world, single-handedly clearing his name.
Qi Xu remained a brilliantly successful genius, someone everyone else could only look up to.
“I think I’ve got it now. All Qi Xu has to do is stand somewhere high up, and everything becomes clear,” Qin Nan joked.
They were also beginning to see how the autobiography and Escape Room fit together.
In Escape Room, Qi Xu killed himself, then took revenge after death. In the autobiography, he was bound to change his mind at the very last moment and stage a perfect comeback.
“But I still don’t understand what Qi Xu has to do with this world,” Mu Xin said, puzzled.
For now, they could call it the variety show world. But what was the point of filming these shows? Besides following the robot’s demands, how were they supposed to solve it?
“Qi Xu works in computing.” A possibility suddenly occurred to Qin Nan. “The robot sends Players into variety shows to take part in the filming. Do you think Qi Xu developed this thing?”
“You mean this lounge is something Qi Xu made?” For once, Lu Jing managed to keep up with their train of thought.
Jian Fan nodded. “It’s possible.”
“But that doesn’t help us at the moment,” Qin Weiyi said.
At that, Qin Nan deflated a little. Well, that was discouraging.
“I have something more important to warn you about,” Qin Weiyi said.
Jian Fan and the other two looked over.
“The ghosts in the shows can kill people,” Qin Weiyi told them.
Qin Nan and Mu Xin were both startled. Jian Fan, however, looked as though he had expected as much.
“Remember the ghost you met outside the company? He swallowed the other four NPC guests whole. If the female ghost in red hadn’t saved you, the three of you might be gone by now too,” Qin Weiyi said.
“Holy shit.” Qin Nan had not realized any of that had happened. Remembering the robot’s warning, he said, “So we just got ridiculously lucky and happened to avoid the danger?”
Qin Weiyi nodded. “I think that’s what the female ghost in red is there for.”
Because of her, the first episode had gone smoothly, and so had the second. Without her, they might not have escaped the first dark figure. They might have run into all sorts of other dangers as well.
“There’s something strange about her too,” Mu Xin said.
Jian Fan nodded.
Qi Xu had appeared in both episodes, and the female ghost in red had been there throughout as well. She seemed to serve as an NPC who explained the story; much of their information had come from her. But if she were only there to provide information, how could she have helped them so much, even keeping them out of danger?
Since when had the Realm of Death been so kind?
“If she’s in the next episode, we need to feel her out first,” Mu Xin said.
“She should be an NPC we can get information from,” Jian Fan said. Then he added, “The rest of her behavior probably has to do with how much she likes us.”
The female ghost in red had not been trying to meddle. She had simply wanted to help Mu Xin. The rest of them had only benefited by association.
Remembering the stream of flattery Mu Xin had showered on her, everyone silently gave Mu Xin a look that said, You’re incredible.
Mu Xin had thought nothing of it while doing it, but now their looks made her rather embarrassed.
“The next episode is the last one,” Lu Jing suddenly reminded them.
He might not be as clever as the others, but even he could see how little information they had gathered in this world. The inability to communicate during the shows had severely limited what they could do.
Their words and actions were restricted. Although all of them were still alive and had not faced much danger so far, in all fairness, this was the world that had targeted them most severely.
It had almost stripped them of even the chance to communicate. And although some would be able to leave at the end, the outcome would kill half the Players outright.
Everyone understood Lu Jing’s point. There was simply nothing they could do about it.
Fortunately, their Popularity was probably the highest at present. To some extent, that meant they were safe. But… what about the others?
Even setting everyone else aside, what about Yellow Hair and Lin Junruo?
They had been working together for quite some time. Were they really going to stand by and watch those two be erased in this world?
“The Copy Card,” Jian Fan suddenly said.
“What about it?” Qin Nan asked.
“Whoever has the highest Popularity after the second episode can choose a member of another group to join them,” Jian Fan said. “Could the Copy Card duplicate that slot?”
Everyone: “?”
Was it really all right to think of such a sneaky approach?
It was more than all right!
“If it works, we can take two people with us!” Qin Nan thought that was excellent news.
That way, they could bring both Yellow Hair and Lin Junruo over. As for everyone else… regrettable as it was, given the choice, they would naturally favor the two they knew better.
Of course, they would not simply give up on the others. But at least they could guarantee the survival of their seven-person team.