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“‘Draw the Land as a Prison’?” Qin Xunfeng naturally recognized this card. He remarked, “‘External Strength with Internal Weakness’ seals execution value, and ‘Draw the Land as a Prison’ seals construction value. Are you completely giving up your own skills? The negative effects of these two cards last for a long time.”
Qin Xunfeng’s gaze was complicated, containing not only admiration but also a hint of envy. Mo Qi had so many cards; he had already used two SR Cards in such a short time.
“I know what I’m doing,” Mo Qi said.
He approached Xia Yao and asked, “Were you trying to imprison me or kill me just now?”
Xia Yao, also affected by Mo Qi’s “Long-Lasting Affection,” looked at Mo Qi with a captivated gaze before closing his eyes tightly and shaking his head. He then answered, “I wanted to imprison you in the mirror forever.”
“Oh, I see,” Mo Qi replied, his voice carrying a hint of disappointment.
He actually hoped to encounter someone with a strong intent to kill him, always looking for an opportunity to take his life.
“Do you want to kill me?” Mo Qi asked Qin Xunfeng.
Qin Xunfeng quickly waved his hands. “How could that be! Why would you think that?”
“It’s nothing,” Mo Qi shook his head.
Liao Ruxue, Mo Xiaohong, and Xiaocao never concealed their killing intent in front of him. He believed that the characters in the painting were straightforward people; even if they wanted to kill him, they wouldn’t lie about it.
It seemed that there really were no fragments in this SR-level task. Mo Qi sighed slightly.
Seeing Mo Qi question Xia Yao, Qin Xunfeng thought it was time for an interrogation and followed up with his own question: “Mo Qi says you’re his classmate and a member of the student council. How do you possess such terrifying power?”
Xia Yao rolled his eyes at Qin Xunfeng and ignored him.
Mo Qi speculated, “Maybe he encountered a key item related to the task’s core, or perhaps his level of distortion is so high that he can become a minor boss for the task.”
They had encountered similar situations before. At the end of the Wish Box world, Xiang Wansi’s power was unbelievably strong. If it weren’t for Xiaocao, they would have had a hard time winning.
But Xiang Wansi’s power increase was because the task had reached its final step, with all four wishes of the Wish Box gathered at the last moment. Xia Yao clearly had control over the power of the Mirror Maze. Could it be that their task progress was that fast?
Mo Qi carefully recalled the sequence of events. From the moment he entered the game to when the mirror image of Rong Feng summoned back Xia Yao and the other mirror images, about half an hour had passed.
“How long have you been in the Mirror Maze?” Mo Qi asked Xia Yao.
Xia Yao glanced at Mo Qi, seemingly unwilling to answer. Noticing the obsession in Xia Yao’s eyes, Mo Qi turned to Qin Xunfeng and asked, “Do you have a weapon?”
“Oh, yes,” Qin Xunfeng replied, pulling a grenade out from his pocket.
Mo Qi sighed, “Something with less power, enough to just scratch someone up a bit. Where did you get that thing?”
Qin Xunfeng scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed. “I, uh, picked it up from another task when I cleared it. I have an SR-level task card that can store items from other worlds. The capacity isn’t large, but it’s quite handy.”
If you could obtain some powerful weapons from Task A and store them to use in Task B, it would indeed be a very useful item card. Moreover, since it’s a task card, the negative effects wouldn’t be too severe. Quite convenient.
“But there’s a limit to what I can take,” Qin Xunfeng explained. “Some items with superpowers from certain tasks can’t be taken; I can only store things that exist in the real world and are not beyond their time, like poisons or firearms. I store those whenever I come across them. Plus, I can only store two types of items at a time. If I want to store something new, I have to discard all items of one type. What kind of low-damage weapon do you need? Will this work?”
He pulled out a keychain from his waist. Attached to the keys were an ear pick, a nail clipper, and a small folding knife.
The folding knife was only two knuckles long and very blunt. Mo Qi spent a while grinding the blade before he managed to make a small cut on his finger, causing a bit of blood to flow.
He raised his hand, cuffed and bleeding, in front of Xia Yao. Xia Yao’s expression visibly wavered as “Tender Heart” took effect.
Mo Qi said, “I have no other purpose. I just want to bring Rong Feng and the others out of the Mirror Maze so we can all drive back to school together. Can you help me?”
Xia Yao’s eyes were filled with struggle. He looked at Mo Qi with distrust. “It’s your group that has the problem. I put Rong Feng and the others in the mirror to protect them.”
“So that’s what you think,” Mo Qi said. “Tell me, what did you encounter? How long have you been in the Mirror Maze?”
Xia Yao couldn’t stand the sight of Mo Qi’s cuffed hands and the blood on his fingertip any longer and finally relented. “I’ve been in the Mirror Maze for two whole days. Everything outside has changed. The Mirror Maze protected me. When Rong Feng found me, he told me you all were just starting a picnic in the wilderness. How is that possible? I’ve been through two days already! So, it must be that you’ve been unconscious for two days and don’t remember what happened before!”
“What’s going on?” Qin Xunfeng, who had only been involved in a single task, asked. “How did two days pass on his end while it’s only been a little over an hour for us? Is his time wrong, or is ours?”
Mo Qi pondered for a moment. “It’s likely that time flows differently inside the Mirror Maze compared to the outside. It’s not uncommon for different areas within these tasks to operate on separate time scales. This could explain the discrepancy.”
Mo Qi then turned back to Xia Yao. “Thank you for telling us. Now we need your help to get Rong Feng and the others out of the Mirror Maze safely. Can you guide us?”
“Neither side is wrong,” Mo Qi said. “Remember, this is a movie.”
With Mo Qi’s reminder, Qin Xunfeng immediately understood. The flow of time in movies is different from reality; sometimes ten seconds can depict half an hour, while at other times, a single second can span several years.
Mo Qi had been in the task for less than a minute when he noticed that the number of players had decreased by one. At the time, he wondered what kind of task could be so difficult that a player would die right at the start. Now he realized that it wasn’t that the task was hard; it’s just that for players in another sub-task, a lot more time had passed.
“Given this situation,” Mo Qi continued, “it makes sense that time in the Mirror Maze and outside of it would flow differently. Xia Yao, since you’ve been inside for two days, you must have valuable information. Can you guide us to get Rong Feng and the others out of the Mirror Maze safely?”
Xia Yao hesitated but then nodded slowly. “Alright, I’ll help you. But remember, the maze can be unpredictable, and the paths might change.”
When he first entered the game, even though mobile phones were usable in this world, the system required him to spend 1,000 points to exchange for an automatic mode switch. It turns out this was the reason.
Different movies have different time and space dimensions. In some dimensions, mobile phones exist; in others, they do not. Only with such a flexible switching mode can one adapt to these composite tasks.
In contrast, scene cards are no longer suitable for such composite tasks.
Mo Qi currently has two scene cards: “Wish Campus” and “Yin-Yang Ancient Town.” Each scene card can be used once per task. The more scene cards Mo Qi has, the greater his advantage. However, in a composite world, even if he uses a scene card in one task, it will become wasted once the task shifts. This to some extent limits Mo Qi’s abilities.
It seems the game is targeting Mo Qi specifically.
Mo Qi said to Qin Xunfeng, “The SSR-level task is mine. You only need to clear this SR-level task; you don’t have to follow me into the Mirror Maze. I must complete the entire composite task and bring Rong Feng and the others back. You can stay here and wait for me.”
Qin Xunfeng felt he was being dragged into the SSR-level task because of Mo Qi, and he didn’t see the need to take such risks.
“But you’ve had your construction value and execution value sealed for this world, so you don’t have much self-defense capability left, right?” Qin Xunfeng said.
“You don’t need to worry about that,” Mo Qi replied. “I have my own way of handling it.”
Qin Xunfeng hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. “Ultimately, this is my task. I feel really bad about making you search for the five missing people alone. Besides, I have a teammate in another task. He came here with a team but got separated. His task might also involve some crossover between tasks, and without you, the initiator, he might not even know what’s happening. The entire ‘Big Data’ team gathered based on my data analysis. Now that the game has compromised my database and put the ‘Big Data’ members in danger, I have to take responsibility.”
“This is an SSR-level task,” Mo Qi said. “Based on my past experience, the difficulty of SSR tasks is completely unpredictable. Moreover, according to your database, this task will be even harder than any I’ve faced before. I might not be able to protect you effectively.”
“This is my first time encountering an SSR-level task, especially a composite one. Although I’m quite timid, having an opportunity to collect data is also a chance for me to enhance my strength,” Qin Xunfeng said.
Mo Qi didn’t try to stop Qin Xunfeng any longer. Instead, he said, “In that case, we must trust each other in this game. I need to know about your skills so we can cooperate more effectively. Your skills seem quite unique.”
Qin Xunfeng hesitated a bit when it came to revealing his skills and attributes. However, after some thought, he decided to share.
Seeing that he was about to speak, Mo Qi used an R card, “□□,” targeting Xia Yao to prevent him from overhearing their conversation. The card’s negative effect caused a slight ringing in the ears but didn’t impair hearing.
Qin Xunfeng began, “My personal attribute card is called ‘Mathematician,’ and it’s SR-level. It’s quite an unusual card. The initial attribute value was 80, with 70 points in construction value, and execution value and affinity value were each 5. Although I’m not particularly strong, I excel at exploiting data loopholes and have cleared tasks many times. My attribute card has upgraded three times, so it’s now level 4. The total attribute value is 116, with construction value at 98, and execution value and affinity value both at 9.”
“As for my abilities,” Qin Xunfeng continued, “they involve collecting and manipulating data. The more data I collect, the more data I can manipulate.
“For example, when the car tires exploded earlier, it was because I altered the tire pressure values. The reason the car doors wouldn’t open was because I modified the resistance of the door locks. When Xia Yao used the mirror images to attack me, the sudden reduction in the number of people holding me was also due to my manipulation of the numerical data of the reflections in the mirror.”
Mo Qi was astonished. “Your ability is quite powerful.”
It’s surprising that such a strong ability is only SR-level?
Qin Xunfeng explained, “It’s not that powerful. There are many limitations. First of all, I can only manipulate numbers that I already know. For instance, numbers like the value of π, which is an infinite decimal, cannot be altered. Additionally, in the mirror, there were countless reflections due to the continuous bouncing between two mirrors. The resulting number is infinite, and I can’t manipulate infinite numbers. Initially, Xia Yao only controlled three mirror images, which is why I could change the numbers. But once the number of reflections becomes infinite, I can’t alter it anymore.”
“If I’m up against another player, I can’t alter numbers that exceed my own. For example, if my construction value is 98 and the opponent’s construction value is below 98, I can change theirs to 1. However, my execution value and affinity value are relatively low, so I can hardly modify anyone’s numbers. Additionally, changing a player’s numbers comes with a cost—whatever value I subtract from the opponent, I must subtract the same amount from myself. This means I need teammates.
“Moreover, I can only alter physical variables that are controllable, such as tire pressure, resistance, or wind speed, but only within a certain range. I’m not sure what the exact standards for this range are. Each time I use my skill, a range appears in front of me, and I can’t change numbers beyond that range. However, I can’t manipulate quantities like time or space.”
“The numbers I alter also randomly affect me. For instance, when I changed the tire pressure earlier, the atmospheric pressure around me increased accordingly, nearly making me feel suffocated. When I altered the car’s resistance, the gravity under my feet also increased. However, these effects are within a controllable range. Feeling uncomfortable for a while and quickly changing my location helps me avoid these side effects.
“Finally, the number of changes I can make is related to the special numbers I collect in tasks. I can’t predict what these special numbers will be—sometimes it’s the number of leaves on a tree, other times it’s the speed of a car in the task. Initially, I didn’t know what constituted a special number, so I’d quickly note down any numbers I came across, casting a wide net. This habit sparked my interest in data and eventually led to the creation of ‘Big Data.’ Later, I obtained a task card that alerts me to the location of special data, which makes things much easier.”
Qin Xunfeng’s ability was indeed complex, and explaining it was a bit laborious, but Mo Qi understood it as a fascinating and practical power.
“Have you collected any special data in this task?” Mo Qi asked.
“I’ve collected the number of student council members, which is 20. There’s another piece of data I haven’t collected yet. Could you tell me what it is?” Qin Xunfeng chuckled.
“Does it relate to me? What data are you referring to?” Mo Qi inquired.
“Your account balance,” Qin Xunfeng said, “I don’t know why this data is needed either.”
Mo Qi responded, “I only have one bank card, with a balance of 2437.17, which I earned from working over the summer.”
Qin Xunfeng paused, seemingly collecting the data, and then said, “That number doesn’t match.”
Mo Qi added, “…I still owe 5000 yuan for this semester’s tuition.”
“−2562.83, that’s correct,” Qin Xunfeng said, casting a furtive glance at Mo Qi. “You’re a bit short on cash.”
“I’m aware of that without you pointing it out,” Mo Qi replied.
“Oh, I just submitted some data, and it asked me for another piece of information: How old is Mo Qi this year? It needs to be precise to the month,” Qin Xunfeng added.
Mo Qi answered, “…20 years and 5 months.”
“You have a birthday in April,” Qin Xunfeng said casually. “I’ve submitted the data. Hmm? Another piece of data just came up—Mo Qi’s height and weight. This one…”
“Are you very interested in my abilities?” Mo Qi asked.
“It’s not about your ability,” Qin Xunfeng quickly shook his head. “It’s a card, called ‘Data Collector,’ which I got from an SR-level task.”
“Height 182 cm, weight… 121 jin,” Mo Qi said.
“121 jin… You’re a bit on the slim side,” Qin Xunfeng remarked.
The intense combination of work and study, along with careful budgeting of food, meant that Mo Qi remained quite slim.
Qin Xunfeng suddenly looked up at Mo Qi, and said nervously, “Uh, another piece of data just came up, and it’s still related to you.”
“What is it?” Mo Qi noticed something odd about Qin Xunfeng’s expression.
Qin Xunfeng stammered, “It—It’s asking… how long Mo Qi’s lifespan is. How do you collect that data?”
Hearing this, Mo Qi didn’t get angry but instead smiled with satisfaction. He extended his hand to Qin Xunfeng and said, “Let me see that card.”
“This card is very helpful for my abilities; you must return it to me,” Qin Xunfeng said reluctantly as he handed the card over to Mo Qi.
As soon as Mo Qi received the card, he felt a warmth in his chest, unsure if it was the necklace heating up or the chest wound burning.
The card’s design featured a machine resembling a satellite, emitting countless scanning signals. A very subtle blemish on the machine’s surface resembled a bullet mark.
Mo Qi ran his fingers over the card’s surface, chuckling helplessly, “You always find a way to hide everywhere. How am I supposed to find you if you keep hiding like this?”
Mo Qi thought about how Qin Xunfeng managed to hide everywhere: the president, the plants in the task, the key items, and now even within the card. It seemed he was always finding new places to conceal himself.
Seeing Mo Qi’s interest in the card, Qin Xunfeng timidly added, “The card… you’ll have to return it to me.”
Mo Qi did feel a bit reluctant to part with the card, but Qin Xunfeng was right; it was irreplaceable to him.
With a sigh, Mo Qi said, “Let’s be friends.”
Mo Qi thought to himself that if he ever encountered a card that could replace this one, he would definitely trade it with Qin Xunfeng.
“Oh, sure!” Qin Xunfeng quickly snatched the card back, clearly afraid that Mo Qi might decide not to return it. He felt he might not be able to refuse Mo Qi if it came to that.
Mo Qi added, “I’m still a bit concerned. What if something happens to you, and this card gets reclaimed by the game? How about this: you designate it as a gift. If you die, the card will become mine. I’ll cover the 200 points for the gift.”
This is a game ability somewhat similar to a will. The mortality rate in this game is quite high, and items on a player will disappear upon death. If a player is reluctant to part with a high-level card, they can use the gift function. By deducting 200 points, the player can designate the card to be given to another player, which also serves as a form of commitment and hope between teammates.
“Leaving a will seems a bit ominous…” Qin Xunfeng muttered.
However, Qin Xunfeng couldn’t bring himself to refuse Mo Qi’s request. For something that wouldn’t endanger his life, he had no objections at all.
After writing the note of transfer, Mo Qi sent Qin Xunfeng 200 points.
If Qin Xunfeng were to die, this card would belong to Mo Qi. Of course, Qin Xunfeng might not die; this is just a precaution.
“You’re not going to kill me for this card, are you?” Qin Xunfeng couldn’t help but shiver.
“Not at all,” Mo Qi replied. “I’m more worried that you’ll be controlled by that card and end up killing me instead.”
“Cards don’t have that kind of power,” Qin Xunfeng said, thinking Mo Qi was joking. Although it wasn’t funny, he still chuckled a few times.
“Who knows,” Mo Qi pressed his hand to his chest. “I’m starting to suspect that you’ll be involved in this composite task, and that card definitely plays a part.”
In each world, he encounters fragments. It must be that this bullet, in some mysterious way, attracts and repels each of the fragments, leading to this situation.