Seven Days, Seven Nights

Chapter 011 – Continuation

Ji Heng opened his hand, and two brooches studded with rubies appeared in his palm.

Zhao Sanliang said next to him: “This is probably the only type of prop allowed to be taken out of the game.”

Su Er didn’t refute, but he was sure that it was not the only one. At least the taser in his pocket was a perfect exception.

According to Ji Heng’s instructions, Su Er pinned the brooch to his chest. He didn’t know if it was a psychological effect, but there was an overall scalding feeling. (1)

Soon, he found that it wasn’t an illusion. The heat of the brooch seemed to scorch directly through his skin and into his heart. Everything around him was still. Zhao Sanliang stood nearest to him, still wearing a smirk on his face. Su Er caught a glimpse of his own shadow disappearing little by little. As the burning waves swept alongside the flow of blood throughout his body, he finally lost consciousness completely.

When he opened his eyes again, he felt pain all over his body. Su Er reluctantly bore the pain and lifted his sleeves. His arms were covered in red and swollen scars as if he had been severely beaten before.

And his force value had dropped to 49.

He realized that he was kneeling, and there were faint groans of pain around him. Observing his surroundings, he found that six other people were kneeling like him. They all had badges, so it was easy to tell that they were players.

Ji Heng was next to him. Su Er thought he would be the first to stand up, but the other party knelt very calmly and didn’t move.

“What’s going on?” Someone hissed. He stood up, stretched his body a bit, and asked, “Have your force value decreased?.”  (2)

“I didn’t say anything when it was lowered by 10. Don’t make an uproar.” (3)

Another said, “I also lowered a little.”

…

After confirming that he was kneeling in a place similar to an ancestral hall, Su Er insisted on not saying a word. With his back straightened, he knelt using Ji Heng’s posture as a standard.

He saw two or three other people also silently maintaining a kneeling posture.

“Ji Heng!”

Some players discovered Ji Heng’s existence and afterward shouted, but they soon realized that something was wrong. This time, there were too many big shots. In addition to Ji Heng, there was also Wan Yi and Shen Jiangbei. However, they didn’t make any other moves. (4)

The man who stood up first changed his face in an instant and hurried to kneel again. (5)

“Still don’t know how to repent!” An angry voice caught them off guard.

The door of the ancestral hall was opened, and a man crossed the threshold and fixed his eyes on the previously standing player. (6)

A long whip flew over and hit the player accurately. Su Er caught a glimpse of the man’s badge. His force value was 142, and his reaction ability should be far beyond that of ordinary people. When the whip fell, he had the intention to dodge, but something firmly held him in place.

“Dare to hide?” The visitor narrowed his eyes and immediately whipped him two more times. The man suppressed his subconscious behavior, and with a whoosh, the clothes on his chest were torn, leaving terrifying bloody marks.

Only then was the man satisfied.

“Two more.” One person was standing behind the lasher, but most of his thin body was hidden. He pointed towards the row of kneeling heads.

A gust of wind blew past Su Er’s ear, but he didn’t turn around. The whip fell on the man on his left side. Just now, this player had only exchanged a sentence about the reduction of his strength value. He didn’t expect that he would also be punished.

After him, someone else was whipped.

The visitor stopped whipping and said in a softer tone, “Get up, all of you.”

Ji Heng stood up first, and Su Er followed without hesitation. He looked at the two men up and down.

The whipper was about 40 years old, with almost no wrinkles visible on his clothes. The fine lines around his eyes all reveal an unbridled harshness. The person behind him looked very refined and wore a long mandarin coat. (7)

“Do not bring shame to the village.” The first man cracked his whip in warning. Not willing to look at them again, he turned to the man in the mandarin coat: “I’m sorry to trouble you.”

As the footsteps gradually faded away, the man in the long mandarin coat glanced at the players in the ancestral hall and said very staidly: “Welcome to the world of Seven Days, Seven Nights.” From his mouth, the same opening remarks sounded more like chanted scriptures.

“I am the host of this game, Mr. Shuhai.”

Mr. Shuhai did not have the exaggerated expressiveness of the Rose Gentleman: “Confirming the number of players who have crossed into this world is seven… This place worships order. You are currently in a quiet village where everyone abides by the rules and regulations. The annual selection of the chief guard is about to begin, and the players who vote correctly will pass the level.” (8)

“How long do we have to make the choice?” The senior players always ask the right questions. (9)

Mr. Shuhai: “Six days. The relevant identification material is in your pockets.”

The one thing that was surprisingly consistent with the Rose Gentleman was that after the introduction, he hid himself in the shadows. The Host seemed to have some kind of attribute that weakened their presence. When not speaking, players could even ignore their existence.

Su Er read the material. The game had arranged an identity for him this time. He was an orphan in the village and grew up in the Educational Hall since he was a child. The Educational Hall was the equivalent to an orphanage, but there is no humanity in it, and some of its regulations are stricter than outside. (10)

All players had the same orphan status, and even their age setting was forcibly unified to 20 years old.

“The one who just came here to beat people should be the Chief Guard.” Su Er said to Ji Heng. “His eyes are not very good.”

Some of the players don’t look like 20 year olds.

Ji Heng: “This kind of thing is very common in games. For example, the aboriginals in the game will subconsciously ignore the player’s badge.” 

When he mentioned the name badge, Su Er immediately received several unkind gazes.

“59,” someone stared at his badge and said in a strange voice: “It’s very high.”

Su Er frowned, but looked away silently after seeing the other’s charm value of 4… It’s really hard to blame them.

Before being further provoked, he kindly reminded him, “you better change your dirty clothes first. You’ve just been whipped. What if it affects your charm value…” (11)

That person’s complexion changed. Who knows how the charm value was measured? Once it fell to 1, wouldn’t it be over?

They all walked out of the ancestral temple, one after another.

Perhaps it had something to do with his long legs. When he walked out, Ji Heng only took a few steps, and he already distanced himself from the others. As a member of his team, Su Er naturally followed him and observed the surrounding environment: “It’s much better than I thought.”

He had thought that because of his charm points, many players would openly vent their anger on him.

“All of them are old players. If they have any complaints, they will only cheat you when it’s convenient.” Hi Heng said quietly. “They have to be scrupulous of the 【Femme Beauty】 achievement.”

Su Er wondered whether to explain briefly, and Ji Heng continued: “There was a player who tried to kill all the others in a game.”

Su Er nodded, indicating that he remembered Zhao Sanliang had mentioned it. 

“It was a big game with twenty people. He killed the other nineteen players and even trapped the boss, but he didn’t get any achievement points.”

“…”

Yet for a young player, the tutorial had deliberately emphasized the words “Femme Beauty.” This is a little intriguing. (12)

Su Er rubbed the tip of his nose and decided to use his actions in this game to reverse these rumors.

According to the address provided by their notes, they finally found their residence. Everyone lived in a small dilapidated yard, which was assigned by the Education Hall, but they had to find a new place to live after turning 23 years old.

At this moment, everyone gathered in the courtyard to sort out the current clues.

In order to eradicate evil, this world (13) had set up strict rules and regulations. The chief guard was responsible for punishments. Any violations will be punished. There was a unified ancestral hall in the town, which enshrined the chief guards of the past generations. All punishments had to be executed in the ancestral hall.

They were whipped only because they drank some wine secretly. According to the rules, in order to prevent people from losing control after getting drunk, the quota for drinking every month was limited, and they must apply in advance.

One player couldn’t help muttering: “If Li Bai lived here, he’d kill himself.” (14)

“It’s better to focus on the immediate problems.” When a tall man opened his mouth, several players were listening to him carefully. (15)

Su Er look at the other party’s badge: Shen Jiangbei.

Ji Heng popularized him: “Shen Jiangbei is another organization captain, and next to him is Wan Yi. They’re in the same team.” (16)

Su Er paid more attention to these two people. Those who could be specially pointed out by Ji Heng must be very capable.

Wan Yi added afterwards, “Yes, it won’t be easy to get through the remaining days.”

Someone realized something, his face paling slightly. According to the information revealed by the host, the result from the voting for the Chief Guard will be announced at least 6 days later.

“There are only seven days in total,” Ge Xuyan, who had just changed his clothes, shivered: “Does that mean there is no possibility of clearing in advance?” (17)

As they all knew, the longer you stayed in a game world, the greater the risk.

“This is most like a medium to high-difficulty game.” One of the two female players pursed he lips and said, “This time the luck is really bad.”

The other female player named Wen Buyu was more practical, and, looking at the host in the shadows, asked softly, “Are there any special rules?”

Mr. Shuhai replied in a dull tone: “No.”

Su Er keenly sensed that the atmosphere froze immediately after he said that. Ji Heng’s complexion did not change much. Although he was taciturn, he still fulfilled his responsibility as captain, and took the initiative to explain when Su Er showed confusion: “There are no rules on the surface, but don’t forget there are rules everywhere in this village.” (18)

They would be sent to the ancestral hall to be whipped if they even drank a little. If the violation was a little more serious, it might be fatal. When comparing the two, Su Er suddenly felt that the rookie game where you were just not able to go out at night was very kind, and he couldn’t help but mutter: “I should be nicer to the Rose Gentleman.”

Wan Yi who was not far from his left heard this whisper and tossed Su Er a strange look.

He was not like the others who had hidden hostility towards Su Er. Instead, he joked: “There are many hosts in the games. If nothing unexpected happens, I’m afraid you’re unlikely to meet again.”

Su Er said nothing.

Wan Yi teased: “It’s a pity?”

Su Er shook his head and looked somewhere in the shadows: “Deeply I sigh for the flowers fallen in vain…” When reciting, he unconsciously put his hand in his pocket, and the cold shell of the taser made him feel at ease. He broke into a gentle smile: “It’s better to feel pity for the person in front of you.” (19)

Mr. Shuhai seemed to feel something. He turned and abruptly met Su Er’s eyes midair.

The author has something to say:

Su Er: I want to turn my debt to the Rose Gentleman into a double favor to make up for the latecomers. (20)
Mr. Shuhai:

FOOTNOTES

总觉得那里一片滚烫筋骨 – could mean “muscle and bones;” I’ve also seen it translate to “courage.”嚷嚷 – “yell,” “shout,” “uproar.” They’re saying their force value also decreased, but they didn’t complain about it, so the first speaker should stop making a fuss over it.万亿 – Trillions, pinyin “Wàn Yì.” 沈江北 – pinyin “Shěn Jiāngběi”In previous chapters, “character changed his face” was used a lot too. I guess it generally means when a character’s mood changes. Like, when they encounter something that makes their mood worsen or encounter something dangerous that makes them more alert of other parties or their surroundings. For example: a character’s face becomes pale realizing a terrible event had taken place? If that makes sense… I swore I’ve seen it a lot of times in other CN novels, but I haven’t had much luck looking up the phrase directly online Both the character who entered the ancestral hall and the player who had stood up previously were referred to as “man,” so to make it a little less confusing I changed it to “player”长马褂 – long mandarin coat – imageIf they voted for the candidate who wins at the end, they have successfully cleared this game一针见血 – “hit the nail on the head”育堂 – yù táng – Yutang – Educational HallAgain, this is all speculation by the players.The copy deliberately emphasized two words 蛇蝎 – “snakes and scorpions.” What they mean is that it’s suspicious and curious how a newbie could obtain an achievement point in the tutorial. The older players are more cautious around Su Er because they value learning how he got the achievement point more than beating him up for causing the charm value precedent. I don’t think the author ever mentioned why, but reminder that no one could see what happened within the Rose Gentleman’s room through the water curtain.I believe they mean just the village, but the village is the entirety of the player’s conception of this “world”Li Bai (701–762) was a Chinese poet whose writings commemorated “the pleasures of friendship, the depth of nature, solitude, and the joys of drinking wine.” He supposedly drowned when he fell off a boat one night after getting really drunk. Hello tall man #2. At least he got named immediately afterwards.Popularize: to make a complicated matter simpler and easier to understand for the average person; 沉江北是问世的队长 – “Shen Jiangbei is a captain who came out”Ge Xuyan is the guy who had a charm value of 4.There are many hidden rules in this game that could cost you your life.“落花风雨更伤春” – Excerpt from 《浣溪沙》(Pinyin “Huanxisha;” translated “Silk-Washing Stream”) by Yan Shu. I found two translations for this line. One was “How can I bear the fallen blooms in wind and rain!” and the other was “Deeply I sigh for the fallen flowers in vain.” This was an example of Ci poetry, which is a type of lyric poetry. Yan Shu’s poetry mainly focused on the lives of the wealthy, joys of drinking wine (like Li Bai), the scenery of the four seasons and the romance between men and women (Rose Gentleman: end my misery)Latecomers probably refers to strangers idk