Survivorship Bias

Can I return to reality every time the game ends?

Zhong Yirou looked at An Wujiu and then at Shen Ti’s mask.

“You two are playing with me.”

“No.” An Wujiu shook his head with a solemn expression.

Zhong Yirou stared at him suspiciously. An Wujiu bent down and picked up the wine bottle, only to find that he was holding a bottle of champagne. Zhong Yirou asked, somewhat incredulously, “Where did this come from? I recall there were none in the supplies.”

An Wujiu pointed at Shen Ti with the bottle and answered honestly, “His.”

“You dare drink what’s his. What if it was poison?” Zhong Yirou almost rolled her eyes, feeling that the little white rabbit-like boy in front of her didn’t resemble the person Yang Ming described.

He shouldn’t be a fraud, picking a beginning point and eliminating each target.

An Wujiu explained, “I only drank it after he drank it.”

“Okay…” Zhong Yirou understood and looked at Shen Ti. “Then where did you get it?”

Questioned, Shen Tiao retrieved the virtual panel, turned to the interface of points exchange, slid his fingers around, found the same champagne, and showed it to both of them.

An Wujiu could perceive a hint of pride in his actions.

Zhong Yirou’s reaction was more intense than An Wujiu imagined. “Are you crazy? Everyone gets a chance to exchange for something in each round, and you use it to buy wine?”

She glanced at the price tag under the champagne on the screen and wanted to pinch herself. “This bottle of wine sells for 3,000 holy coins! I got 5,000 coins in the last game. Why grab it when the price is outrageous?”

With that, she made an angry gesture. “No, don’t lose your temper. It’s not elegant.”

Shen Ti shrugged and slid his fingers casually as if showing her other product interfaces.

An Wujiu paid close attention and understood why Shen Ti didn’t buy anything else. They were most likely unable to purchase the food and drinks on the products page due to the nature of the game. The only item available for purchase was this high-priced wine.

“It’s so expensive.” He muttered to himself and then took the initiative to hand the wine in his hand back to Shen Ti. If not for the injury to his right hand, he would have given it back with both hands. “Sorry, I… just took a sip.”

But Shen Ti only stared at An Wujiu’s hand, then raised his head and crossed his hands, expressing his refusal to accept it.

“It must be that he’s not used to drinking. What a loser.” Zhong Yirou shook her head and said to An Wujiu, “You take it. You don’t have any other supplies either.”

Her tone made An Wujiu think for a moment. It sounded both comforting and a little apologetic.

After speaking, Zhong Yirou tapped An Wujiu’s cheek with her slender fingers. “I want to ask, what’s wrong with your face? It’s so red, and there are fingerprints on it.” She leaned closer. An Wujiu’s skin was too white and thin. She didn’t know how much power the other party had, leaving conspicuous marks.

“Nothing.” An Wujiu shook his head gently.

Zhong Yirou didn’t believe it, and she raised an eyebrow. “Someone is bullying you!”

An Wujiu didn’t reply. He stared at Zhong Yirou’s face.

He didn’t say it was a display of power, but he hoped to show his vulnerability and innocence in front of the people targeting him.

He could sense resentment and loyalty on her face, but he wasn’t sure whether this woman would be convinced. However, if he measured the current perception, the [trusted] side should have tilted slightly.

If becoming isolated under the direction of Yang Ming was inevitable, then An Wujiu needed to use this isolation to create the illusion of being unable to resist.

In the end, An Wujiu did not respond to Zhong Yirou’s words but instead asked another question, “Why did you guys enter this game?”

Zhong Yirou raised her eyes and glanced at him, then corrected, “It’s not ‘you,’ it’s us.”

Because of An Wujiu’s statement, she seemed to accept the possibility of his amnesia, and her face relaxed. “Everyone comes in for different purposes. Some are for money, wanting to live in a rich area, breathe clean air, and see the sun. Then there are those who want to save other people’s lives and save their own…”

She smiled. “It’s all the same. It’s all about satisfying oneself’s desire.”

Save.

This keyword drew An Wujii’s attention.

He guessed that the purpose of his initial entry was most likely to save his mother, who was on her deathbed. He was a little surprised since he expected many of these participating players had been forced to enter, yet they all participated voluntarily.

Was it the same for him at that time?

Regular medical resources were astronomical for ordinary people, and a terminally ill mother could only spend lots of money if she wanted to survive.

It might have been his only option.

“Did you know? After I won the first game and returned to reality, I converted all my holy coins into money, a full 20,000 yuan, which I took to buy beautiful clothes and have a big meal.” Zhong Yirou’s face was not as happy and excited as her words. “It was the first time I had a real steak, not a cheap synthetic protein but meat. I also opened a bottle of wine and had the special luxury of pouring two glasses full and one on the floor.” With a small expression of fear of being called wasteful, she explained, “For my friend.”

“Sorry.” An Wujiu said softly.

Zhong Yirou smiled, “Why are you apologizing? It has nothing to do with you.”

An Wujiu asked again, “Can I return to reality every time the game ends?”

Zhong Yirou nodded. “Yes. But only for 24 hours. You’ll be executed if you don’t return after that time.” She stretched out her finger and tapped her forehead, “Remember the man before the warm-up game, the same fate.”

24 hours

At least they could see each other.

Zhong Yirou crossed her arms and glanced at An Wujiu’s raised hand, “How did you get your injury? You don’t remember?”

An Wujiu returned to his senses and shook his head at her.

“How tragic was the last level to suffer such a serious injury.”

The entire right arm had severe contusions, and the flesh on the right wrist was split open. The wound was neat yet jagged as if sawed through with a chainsaw. An Wujiu’s hand would have been gone if it hadn’t been for the metal skeleton.

Zhong Yirou said something, but An Wujiu fell into deep thought.

If, as Yang Ming said, they were on the same level and he was the one who controlled the entire situation to achieve the best victory, why was he gravely wounded while Yang Ming was fine, his suit showing no signs of damage?

It was unreasonable. But if what Yang Ming said was a lie, it would be difficult to disguise the terror in his eyes.

When he looked up, An Wujiu noticed Zhong Yirou’s slightly narrowed eyes. She stared at his wrist, frowning, more precisely, at the mechanical wrist bone.

It was an expression of discovery.

But she quickly raised her hand, found a reason to turn away, then looked to Shen Ti silently standing nearby and said, “By the way, I want to go to your room to take a look.” She walked to Room 7 and couldn’t move the handle.

An Wujiu said to her calmly, “You forgot the rules.”

“Right.” Zhong Yirou swatted her head. “You can’t enter other rooms arbitrarily.”

Her strange behavior made the balance in An Wujiu’s heart tilt towards [distrust] again.

But, among these people, he considered Shen Ti, who acted oddly and did not talk, to be even less trustworthy. However, Shen Ti was standing in front, not taking a single step.

An Wujiu thought he was already very tall, but he didn’t expect that Shen Ti was half a head taller than him. Shen Ti constantly dressed tightly, even his hands wore gloves, and only his neck showed.

An Wujiu suddenly noticed a design imprinted on his Adam’s apple — a sun tattoo, but the center was an eye.

Hearing a sigh, An Wujiu turned his eyes away and saw Zhong Yi Rou taking off the rolled bag on her back.

“I can’t give you supplies. It’s a clear stand which is equivalent to dying,” Zhong Yirou said pragmatically, “But I can help you with your injuries, consider it a favor.”

She hooked the corners of her mouth and smiled beautifully. “Remember to pay it back.”

Zhong Yirou opened the rolled bag, and inside was a surprisingly complete row of tools, from scalpels to screwdrivers and even pipe wrenches.

An Wujiu only frowned slightly.

When Zhong Yirou stretched out her hand, An Wujiu realized her left palm had been severely damaged and replaced with artificial skin. Embedded in the center of her palm was a circular mirror. The metal circle and the skin’s sketched edges were crudely blended. Presumably, because she disliked it, she dyed the artificial skin of her entire palm fluorescent pink, producing some bizarre beauty.

“Why install a mirror?” An Wujiu asked softly.

“Because of the love of beauty.” Zhong Yirou pointed her left palm at herself. “It’s very convenient.”

After speaking, she lowered her hand and took out a small spray bottle of disinfectant. “I’m a professional prosthetic doctor. There’ll be a bit of pain. Please bear with it.”

Even though An Wujiu had a close guess, he was still surprised by her candid help.

Zhong Yirou sterilized An Wujiu’s wrist neatly and muttered, “This injury is really… If only there were debriding micro-robots.”

“Hey, masked man.” She called to Shen Ti, found a small flashlight, and threw it into his arms. “Do me a favor and shine the light.”

“How are you so white?” Zhong Yirou lowered her head and stared at An Wujiu’s forearm. “I wouldn’t be this white if I was dead for three days.”

Shen Ti coughed in the mask as though choked by Zhong Yirou’s words and laughed softly. Just listening to the laughter, he didn’t seem so strange anymore.

He turned on his flashlight and aimed it at An Wujiu’s wrist, shivering afterward as if frightened by the injury.

After sterilizing the suture needle, Zhong Yirou pursed her lips, and her expression grew serious.

“There’s no anesthesia needle. I’ll sew it up quickly.”

“Mm, thank you.” An Wujiu’s face was calm, and he even concentrated on observing the process of being healed, watching how the thin needle pierced his skin and threaded the needle to sew up the wounded flesh.

“What happened to your wrist bone?” Zhong Yirou’s eyes remained on the wound as she stitched it up, but she inquired about An Wujiu’s past, even though he probably couldn’t respond.

“I don’t remember,” replied An Wujiu.

“Ordinary people don’t replace their intact wrist bones with mechanical ones. This operation is dangerous.” She sewed carefully, not wanting to leave conspicuous scars on the person in front of her. “Unless…”

An Wujiu asked, “Unless what?”

Standing beside him, Shen Ti extended his arm and waved it between them, but his cuff concealed his gloved hand.

Zhong Yirou raised her eyes and nodded. “A disabled person.” But soon, she denied the possibility. “But your hand isn’t a complete prosthesis. The skin and muscle tissues are naturally growing. The severed hand couldn’t have directly connected to a new one.”

It was strange.

“What is this…” Zhong Yirou opened An Wujiu’s arm to check the inside and found a very thin old wound, a scar with a slight protrusion, going up along the bone. She rolled up his sleeve, and the trace continued upwards.

“Let me see.” She took An Wujiu’s other arm and continued to check, then frowned and asked with a serious face, “An Wujiu, you really don’t remember anything? Do you know who you are or where you’re from?”

An Wujiu was certain Zhong Yirou had found something, but he honestly had no memory.

“I forgot how I entered the game and what happened after I entered the game. But I have memories from birth to before I entered. I come from an ordinary background, and my mother raised my sister and me alone. The education I received as a child came from my mother, and then I became an adult, went to a normal university, and when I was a sophomore, my mother became seriously ill.”

Zhong Yirou asked again, “What kind of illness?”

An Wujiu tried hard to recall, and it seemed that he finally found an electronic medical record from his memory.

“Brain tumor… She has hallucinations and auditory hallucinations, and she’s blind.”

Zhong Yirou fell into silence.

“You didn’t have the money to treat her, so you came in.” She came to this conclusion and stared at him suspiciously. “You really aren’t lying?”

An Wujiu shook his head.

Shen Ti stood aside and shook his head. An Wujiu didn’t know if he had listened to these conversations, but he cooperated with the atmosphere.

However, An Wujiu was stunned.

He had just heard a sound that reminded him of the crash of wind chimes made of shells he had seen as a child, but it was extremely faint, nearly inaudible.

Following the noise, An Wu Jiu looked at Shen Ti wearing the mask.

But Shen Ti acted seriously on the operating table, head lowered, reflecting the light.