Chapter 61:

Without logging in, Yun Shan immediately becomes idle. Day after day, she idles away her time, relying on chatting with the group for entertainment.

“I Love Construction: Two camps going all out, it’s a real fight to the finish!”

“Distressed: Clearly, at times like this, I should log off for safety, so why can’t I control the urge to join the battle? Now, a mistake led to a fatal injury, and I won’t be able to play the game anymore… crying in frustration.”

“Spectator: Blue Cedar Camp had many four-star powerhouses, firmly holding the upper hand. But then, Red Maple Camp pulled out a big move – deploying the Lord – instantly turning the tide. It’s expected that the war will end soon.”

“OMG: After playing for so long, I finally see the true appearance of the Lord. Wow, so handsome! Whose template was used for the modeling?”

Yun Shan scrolled through the messages, finding it amusing to see her group members praising Lu Ming in various ways.

***

The fifth day offline.

During a midday nap, Yun Shan had a rare dream.

In the dream, her relationship with Lu Ming was sometimes close and sometimes distant. Sometimes Lu Ming would avoid her, and other times she would be engrossed in her projects, immersed in construction work.

Once, when Lu Ming was in a bad mood, he suddenly asked her why she was always in the game or circling around him.

“Because I’m your personal doctor, here to cure your illness,” Yun Shan innocently replied.

“A doctor?” Lu Ming smirked, “You do have a sense of responsibility.”

“Who made me covet your beauty,” Yun Shan sighed.

After saying this, she noticed Lu Ming’s strange expression and realized she had slipped up.

Yun Shan: “…”

A moment of verbal slip.

Social death.

Lu Ming: “You already know this is a different world, and we won’t have a good outcome. Why do you let yourself sink deeper and deeper?”

At first, Yun Shan responded, “I’m trying to restrain myself, I’ll be able to break free soon.”

Later, when asked, she said, “Once I have a new goal, my attention will naturally shift.”

When asked again, she became angry, “I’m willing to! Do you have any say in it?!”

Seeing Yun Shan’s stubbornness, Lu Ming took a firm stance, pressing her to take responsibility for her words.

In the end, the two became a couple.

This relationship is not stable.

Once Lu Ming dies or the system disappears, they will have no further connection.

Alternatively, if Yun Shan’s feelings change, she meets with an accident in reality, or her consciousness projection is destroyed, they will never see each other again.

One year into their relationship.

Lu Ming asks, “Do you still want to leave me and run away now?”

Yun Shan: “I don’t have that thought for the time being.”

“It seems you might change your mind in the future,” Lu Ming’s expression turns cold.

Yun Shan: “Every year on our anniversary, you repeat the same question. When I reply ‘no’ 70 times, would that prove that my feelings for you are genuine?”

That night, Lu Ming didn’t sleep at all. The next morning, he asked Yun Shan, “If given the chance, would you want to meet?”

Yun Shan: ?

“If possible, it would be good,” she said.

If she could, she wanted to experience love like a normal person.

Having a boyfriend only existing in the virtual world or another realm was just plain odd.

“I have a solution,” Lu Ming told her, “time regression, starting a new game, let everything begin anew.”

“After starting over, then what?” Yun Shan asked.

“Each encounter with trouble is equivalent to an event. Based on how it’s handled and the outcome, the system will give a rating of ‘fail’, ‘pass’, ‘good’, ‘excellent’, or ‘perfect’. The higher the rating, the more achievement points you receive.”

“What are achievement points used for?”

“You can exchange them for special rewards,” Lu Ming paused slightly before saying, “including awakening new abilities, allowing me to traverse time and space to go to your world.”

“Why can’t you do that now?”

“Poor completion, haven’t accumulated enough achievement points.”

After a moment, Yun Shan gathered her thoughts, “So, using achievement points to exchange rewards, going back in time, replaying the game. If things go smoothly and enough achievement points are accumulated, in this new game, we can truly meet.”

“That’s correct,” Lu Ming nodded.

“But if there are mistakes along the way, it could lead to different outcomes. Like the host’s death, like the player’s consciousness projection being destroyed, like not accumulating enough achievement points, or even being unable to start the third round.” A spherical mechanical ball suddenly appeared.

Yun Shan: “… What is this?”

Lu Ming: “It’s the system’s conscious manifestation.”

The mechanical ball is very polite, “Hello, I am System 999.”

“So,” Yun Shan looked at the mechanical ball, “there are risks in starting the second round, and the choice needs to be cautious?”

System 999 bobbed up and down, as if nodding.

“Can you bring memories back?” Yun Shan inquired.

System 999: “You can exchange for the ‘memory’ reward.”

“Then let’s replay,” Yun Shan said without hesitation.

Lu Ming hesitated to speak.

System 999 whispered secretly, “He’s a five-star! It will cost a lot of energy to send him back! Spending all achievement points, at most, he can only go back to September 2207.”

“The activity has a time limit. Only by resolving events within three years of the system’s activation can achievement points be obtained, from January 1, 2205, to December 31, 2207.”

Yun Shan, “…”

Is it really this complicated?

“And,” System 999 added, “even if you exchange for the ‘memory’ reward, you will only remember the experiences between January 1, 2205, and December 31, 2207.”

“To retrieve all memories, you need to exchange for the ‘complete first-round memory’ reward in the second round.”

“I think.” Yun Shan said expressionlessly. “You’re just finding ways to drain (achievement points) from us.”

“How can you call it draining when you do it willingly?” System 999 strongly disagreed.

Yun Shan: “Spending all my wealth, only able to go back to September 2207, unable to earn it back, and you say you’re not draining?”

System 999: “He’s a five-star! Someone like you, a three-star, can be sent back to January 2206!”

Yun Shan, “Doomsday Camp” top player, with three-star, four-star, and five-star battle pets under her command, yet her own level remains three-star.

Yun Shan paused, “It doesn’t have to be Lu Ming, can you send me back?”

“That’s why I contacted you today,” Lu Ming looked at Yun Shan, his eyes deep, “Do you want to go back?”

“Yes,” Yun Shan replied decisively.

“Great spirit!” System 999 displayed the exchange list enthusiastically, “The ‘memory’ reward includes all memories between January 1, 2205, and December 31, 2207.”

“The ‘event reset’ reward, buying it allows you to go back in time, re-solve events, strive for high completion, and earn rich achievement points!”

“Just going back to 2206 seems quite late,” Yun Shan pondered, resting her chin on her hand, and after a while, asked, “Can you send me back to March 2205?”

System 999: “Insufficient achievement points, unable to purchase all events between March 2205 and December 31, 2207.”

Yun Shan: “If I don’t purchase all events, can I skip and just buy key events?”

System 999: “…”

This idea is quite wild.

It’s so wild that in its many previous hosts, it has never encountered such a novel (crazy) idea.

System 999: “In theory, it’s possible, but in practice, it’s not feasible. Between two events, theoretically, without purchasing the reset reward, one cannot interfere with the game or change its course. However, in reality, you can’t stay offline, and as soon as you go online, unknown changes will occur.”

“So generally, you exchange for memories, spending achievement points to go back to the earliest possible time, and then start over…”

“I won’t meet Lu Ming until 2206, it’ll be too late,” Yun Shan muttered.

Then, a flash of inspiration struck her, her eyes lit up, “What if I could stay offline between events? For example, arrange a car accident, get myself into the hospital, force myself into a deep sleep/standby mode? And then, when the next event starts, wake me up again?”

System 999: “…”

This put the system in a difficult position.

However, Yun Shan’s mind was racing, her ideas becoming increasingly wild, “If it’s possible, buy all the key events and participate in a skipping manner. Let me calculate… get into a dozen car accidents, standby a dozen times, it should almost lead to the end of the second round.”

System 999: The former hosts often said that the summoned players were all crazy, I didn’t believe it. Now looking back, using the term “crazy” was hardly enough to describe even a thousandth of the players’ madness!

“If only the previous hosts had earned more achievement points, we wouldn’t be so entangled now,” System 999 shouted at the host.

With enough achievement points in place, everything falls into place.

No need for the current meticulous calculations and considerations.

Lu Ming: “If there were enough achievement points, I would directly exchange for abilities, traverse time and space, and wouldn’t choose to start the second round.”

System 999: “…”

Alright, this problem has no solution.

“Exchange as I said,” Yun Shan said confidently, “Then play the game again. On the second round’s today, the wish will definitely come true.”

“No.” System 999 protested loudly.

Sending someone to the hospital, not affecting their physical health, but inducing a vegetative state multiple times—what kind of devilish operation is this?

Moreover—

“After so many car accidents, are you sure you’d continue playing the game? What if you decide to quit?”

This is indeed a problem.

Yun Shan pondered that too many accidents might be misconstrued as in-game grudges, leading someone to intentionally assassinate her in reality.

“It’s unlikely.” she said. “Paying to change fate, even though achievement points are insufficient and can only change half, it’s still better than not changing at all.”

“You have to take care of the battle pets,” Lu Ming reminded her. “Being offline for long periods will make the battle pets uneasy.”

And he couldn’t bear multiple separations either.

Yun Shan also thought about it, “Then just one car accident?”

System 999 went crazy, “Why does it have to be a car accident? Can’t you exchange for something more ordinary?”

Yun Shan: “Do you think I enjoy this? It’s like seeking treatment for an illness early, for the sake of recovery.”

By the time she regained her memory in 2206, Lu Ming was already very ill.

On the other hand, multiple assassination attempts would make Lu Ming wary of players. Entering the game earlier, meeting sooner, would help gain trust.

Or…

Yun Shan suggested, “How about you also exchange for ‘memory’?”

In that case, starting the second round in 2206 wouldn’t be impossible.

Lu Ming: “…It’s expensive for me.”

System 999: “Once he exchanges, he’ll have to start from July 2206.”

Yun Shan: “…Never mind, don’t exchange.”

Their resources were limited and couldn’t afford to squander it.

Following that, there was an intense debate between Yun Shan and System 999 on “the most economical, practical, and effective design.”

Watching from the side, Lu Ming felt the entire conversation revealed bitterness and poverty.

After what seemed like a long time, Yun Shan and the system finally settled on a plan.

Lu Ming advised, “Rest well. When you wake up tomorrow, you’ll see a new world.”

Yun Shan earnestly assured him, “Leave it to me. With memory and gaming experience, I guarantee outstanding mission completion.”

And so, the two parted ways.

System 999 confirmed with the host, “Should we proceed with the exchange as Yun Shan suggested?”

Lu Ming opted for the more affordable “Preserve (someone’s) favorability” reward and readjusted the timing of the car accident before finally pressing “confirm.”

System 999: “…Host, if she finds out about this, she’ll go flying.”

“Everything else doesn’t matter, I just don’t want to give up my feelings for her,” Lu Ming’s eyes were chilling, “During the monster wave, she almost got into trouble, almost lost her gaming qualification. Even I can’t summon the same player twice. To ensure everything goes smoothly, the best way is to set the time for her awakening after the big battle.”

…

Yun Shan woke up from her dream, feeling as though the dream had been all too real, as if everything had truly happened.

It’s also possible that someone exchanged for the “complete first-round memory” reward and returned her lost memories.

As she contemplated, a line of text appeared, [Lu Ming: I’ve come to find you.]

There was also a transparent arrow pointing outside the window.

Yun Shan opened the window and saw Lu Ming standing below, waving at her.