This Game Is Too Real

"This is the end."

In the gym on the lower deck, "Luo Yi," floating at the entrance of the room, raised the gun in his hand.

The source of the electronic warfare invasion was right in front of him.

A vast stream of data was continuously attacking the Orion Missile Cruiser's onboard server through the communication module of the landing craft in front of him.

Prior to this, it was precisely through this backdoor that he and his comrades had seized control of this starship.

Yet, this little mouse was ultimately one step too slow.

No matter how flashy a hacker is, they can't block a bullet to the forehead.

Though it took 200 years, and despite numerous obstacles, he at last fulfilled the comrades' long-cherished wish.

This time there would be no more surprises—

He glided past the obstacle hanging in the air and floated into the room.

Just as he was about to move in to finish the final blow, the surrounding magnetic field suddenly became as agitated as boiling lava.

Sensing the abrupt change in the magnetic field nearby, "Luo Yi" was suddenly alarmed, but it was already too late to dodge.

As soon as he turned his head, the floating alloy fragments and debris were yanked fiercely to his side as if grabbed by an invisible hand!

"Luo Yi" instinctively raised his alloy arms and knees to shield himself, followed by a crisp "clang!" that resonated through his entire body, sending him flying away like a baseball!

His back crashed heavily against the wall, and sensors throughout his body trembled, nearly causing his electronic components to short-circuit.

Seeing the steel frame that was like a chain stuck on him, "Luo Yi" felt both shocked and angry, trying desperately to push it away, only to find that not only the steel debris but even his own body had been magnetically stuck to the alloy bulkhead behind him.

Aware of the static crackling behind him, he instantly understood what was happening.

"So that's it... Inducing a magnetic field via electric current."

"But expecting a magnetic field of this degree to trap me is overly naive."

He sneered coldly as nitrogen from the jet pack behind him surged out, propelling his entire body forward.

Meanwhile, he, now accustomed to the resistance, began to exert his hands, dismantling the magnets attached to his body and the wall behind him.

This was probably the last trap.

Just as he thought this, he saw a figure standing in the dark room.

It was a teenager, about seventeen or eighteen years old.

In his hand, he held a generic model of a nuclear battery, likely pulled from some power armor.

Seeing his hair rising due to static electricity, he immediately realized where the frenzied current came from.

But what shocked him wasn't just that; it was that this person, like himself, could move freely in a vacuum without protective gear!

He's a bionic being too?!

Realizing the danger, "Luo Yi" immediately maximized the output power of all motors, trying to break free from the steel debris imprisoning him.

Soon, however, he frightfully discovered that the magnetic field surrounding him suddenly intensified.

Not only that—

The massive magnetic field was also violently fluctuating!

Energy was being terrifyingly accumulated between the peaks and troughs of those high-frequency changes!

"Luo Yi's" consciousness hazed for a moment, and then the image captured by the video sensor displayed noticeable lag and tear marks.

Unlike organic matter.

Though bionic beings can ignore the damage from neutron plumes, they cannot be immune to the effects of the magnetic field!

The more precise and miniaturized the components, the greater the effect!

"...High-frequency fluctuating magnetic field...will destroy your...control circuit..."

"...Quickly...stop..."

Though his consciousness was staggered, "Luo Yi's" pupils were fixated on the boy at the center of the magnetic storm, urging him to stop and simultaneously raising the gun in his hand.

However, the interference from the magnetic field on the sensors caused the gun muzzle to keep jittering, making it impossible to aim accurately at the guy not far from him.

"Bang—!"

He eventually pulled the trigger, firing multiple shots, but the person standing before him appeared unfazed.

Suddenly, "Luo Yi" saw the bullets exiting the chamber, suspended in mid-air as if caught in an invisible web!

While trapping him, did this guy still have remaining computational power to manipulate the magnetic field to defend himself against attacks!

"Luo Yi's" pupils flickered with disbelief, dumbstruck as he looked at the young man amidst the magnetic storm.

"...What...are you...exactly..."

The person did not answer his question but instead looked down at him emotionlessly.

Tiny metal fragments floated beside him, linked by silver snake-like arcs, along with the bullets shot earlier.

The gaze seemed to penetrate its circuit board, evoking an inexplicable fear from its void-like soul—

"Die—"

"You fraud!"

The violent current contracted instantly, electromagnetically accelerated projectiles stormed down on "Luo Yi," pinned by the steel debris against the wall, shredding him to pieces!

The robust alloy shell and bionic skin were crushed under the railgun's barrage, shattering into fragments that splattered in all directions.

Night Ten did not halt his actions nor provide his opponent any chance to breathe but instead channeled all his fury into the erupting metal storm.

He drained the last bits of power from the nuclear battery in his hand, smashing every possible projectile around him until the capacitor in his own prosthetic overloaded, sparking silver arcs!

As for "Luo Yi" at the heart of that tumultuous firepower, he was utterly smashed into scrap.

When the last projectile nailed into his chest, his once indestructible iron body had now become a shabby, twisted rag hanging unconscious on the perforated alloy wall, twitching intermittently under the influence of static electricity.

It's over...

Luckily, he made it just in time.

Seeing "Luo Yi" completely incapacitated, Night Ten felt as if all the strength in his body had been drained, and he relaxed entirely.

The nuclear battery in his hand drifted from his fingertips, rolling into a corner of the room like an empty Can.

There was a series of numbers printed on the battery casing.

Though he wasn't sure to which Warrior these numbers belonged, it must have been one of the 3,000 warriors aboard the Orion Missile Cruiser.

"Thank you..."

Recalling those familiar faces, Night Ten silently uttered in his heart.

Indeed.

Time is irreversible.

Their existence ultimately vanished in this universe, along with the plan named "Dawn."

However, he didn't think their decision in those final moments was in vain.

Without that experience, he would probably wander blindly in this unfamiliar Maze, rather than calmly searching for the Maze's exit as he was doing now.

Moreover, the Maze's map seemed imprinted in his mind, making him feel even more familiar with it than the one who called himself "Luo Yi."

Mysteriously, he subconsciously realized something.

In the entire event or scenario, something had actually traversed time, influencing both the past and the future simultaneously.

But his mind was currently very muddled, still entangled in the sense of temporal disarray, unable to articulate the vague perceptions in his mind into words.

Nevertheless, when all this is over, he will write about this legendary experience on the Forum and share it with others who are interested.

Not just this incredible experience,

but also the 3,000 crew members of the Orion Missile Cruiser, along with the plan codenamed "Dawn."

History should have a page belonging to them.

At the moment the long night was approaching, a group of idealists made an unanimous choice—

What they left facing death was hope.

They selflessly left the chance to live for the survivors.

The only regret is, the "reunion after 200 years" agreement ended up being postponed...

Just as Night Ten was struggling with his feelings, he suddenly noticed something floating up from the remains of the bionic being out of the corner of his eye.

It was a silver-white metal fragment, with a chain of delicate links dangling from it.

This bionic being had been clutching it tightly in its hand, and due to weightlessness and static interference, it drifted out through the open fingers.

Gazing at the slowly floating metal fragment, Night Ten suddenly felt a twitch in his heart.

Almost instinctively, he reached out and grabbed it.

It seemed to be an identity badge, with a line of small text engraved on its front.

[Luo Yi, Sergeant]

The moment he saw this line of characters, Night Ten felt his heartbeat slow by half a beat, and an unprecedented thrill surged from within his chest.

They didn't break their promise!

They have been here all along!

They finally met!

"I didn't expect... such a reunion."

Gradually understanding everything, Night Ten wanted to take a deep breath to suppress the emotions he could no longer hold back, but found he couldn't breathe. All he could do was clutch that military tag tightly in his palm.

At that moment, a faint signal floated out on the communication channel.

This signal seemed to be emitted by that scrapped bionic being.

After taking quite a beating from himself, the only thing left working on its entire body was the communication module.

"...Do you...know me?"

Night Ten originally didn't want to respond, but since this guy was already speaking on its own, he impatiently replied.

"I don't know you."

With a drooping, damaged head, it asked urgently in a halting voice.

"Then...do you know...the owner of this military tag?"

"Yes." Night Ten said straightforwardly, "I have met him once. He is a respectable person...completely different from a half-baked counterfeit like you."

Upon hearing the word "counterfeit," the signal in the communication channel wavered slightly.

It seemed very resistant to this term.

However, nailed to the wall, it could do nothing but mentally object.

"That's impossible...I...don't know you."

"Is that so? That just proves you're a counterfeit," Night Ten retorted with a sneer, "I don't know how the celestial beings created you, but I suppose, besides looking exactly like Luo Yi, you couldn't possibly have his memories."

The bionic being nailed to the wall couldn't argue back.

It indeed didn't possess that thing.

"The celestial beings" told it that its name was Luo Yi, rank: Sergeant, crew member of the Orion Missile Cruiser, who became a digital ghost losing its body due to a revolt... besides that, it had nothing else.

The part of its memory that was missing was precisely what it had been striving to find all along.

It wanted to become him!

Yet at this moment, it fell into unprecedented confusion.

A young man claiming to know Luo Yi stood before it, while it was just a counterfeit.

"This doesn't make sense...I...he...died 200 years ago, how could you have known him, are you lying to me? No, you must be lying to me..."

"Believe it or not, it's up to you."

Looking at this incessantly chattering fellow, Night Ten impatiently tossed out this remark.

He had no obligation to explain to it, nor did he care to clarify so much.

Yet the bionic being's head seemed to have malfunctioned, falling into a loop of self-doubt.

Moments later, it only murmured, repeatedly uttering one sentence.

"...Who am I?"

"Just ask yourself."

Night Ten couldn't help but quip, severing the never-ending signal source.

If nothing unexpected, the Jiang Xuezhou he was looking for should be on this unfamiliar spacecraft right before him.

As for why she was here, he assumed she would explain after waking up.

At this time, the originally pitch-black room suddenly lit up.

In fact, not just this room, even the corridor outside, like a deep well, became illuminated.

The suddenly bright light was like the pale white of dawn breaking the long night.

At the same time, his communication module received a strange broadcast signal.

It seemed to be issued by the central broadcast of the Orion Missile Cruiser.

"System reset complete, new commander biometric information has been logged, notes number... Captain Jiang Xuezhou, Executive Officer Night Ten."

"Reactor operation status check completed, low power warning lifted, lower deck power supply is recovering...

"Artificial gravity system is restarting...this ship will enter low gravity mode in 5 minutes, all units please prepare."

Hearing that gentle electronic voice, an involuntary joy filled Night Ten's heart.

Undoubtedly—

That was Xuezhou's handiwork!

Maybe not just her—

Just as he battled against Luo Yi's replica, she successfully breached the Orion Missile Cruiser's firewall, reclaiming the starship control rights that had fallen into the Lagrange Point Space Station!

"Well done!"

He couldn't help but clench his fist in a cheer, then released arcs from his palm, drifting towards the spaceship embedded in the ship's armor under the traction of electromagnetic force.

The half-open cabin door was effortlessly torn off by him, yet when he saw the scarlet sleep cabin, his heartbeat involuntarily froze.

"No—"

The excitement plunged into the abyss in an instant, he fell despondently onto the sleep cabin door.

That door, which should have been transparent, seemed as if covered by a layer of red frost, with even freshly coagulated blood clinging to its edges.

Rage surged to his head in an instant, he wished to turn around and return to the previous room, utterly obliterating that already smashed into bits counterfeit!

Just as Night Ten was burning with impatience, a recording pen inserted next to the sleep cabin suddenly caught his attention.

It wasn't just the recording pen.

Right next to the recording pen, on the silver metal tray, were a few rock-hard frozen plastic bags.

A sticky note was affixed to a plastic bag, with a row of hastily written scrawls on the note.

"Rescue needs to be conducted in a room temperature and pressure environment, please close the cockpit door first, and manually activate the emergency airlock of the landing craft cockpit according to the instructions in the recording."

Everything seemed ready as if prepared.

The key to opening the door was placed where his eyes could reach.

Just like when he ventured out for the first time, with the luggage his mother had prepared for him in advance.

Without a moment of hesitation, Night Ten immediately turned back and tightly closed the already warped and misshaped door, then dashed to find the emergency airlock in the cockpit with urgency.

Unfortunately, he was a complete novice at piloting spacecraft, and after searching for a long time, he couldn't find where the switch was.

It was not until then that he suddenly remembered that recording pen, obediently returning next to the "mission hint."

Just as he pulled a data cable from his neck and plugged it into the recording pen, a familiar voice drifted into his ears, causing his dazed consciousness to unwittingly float back to that frozen slice of time and space.

"My time is running out, so I'll keep it short. I hope you listen carefully..."

"About the method of defrosting haemostatic gel..."