by N. Heller
Perhaps he thought Lin Sanjiu still couldn't understand what he said, as he added, "When the past clashes with the current, all of the time points will merge and become a human-train… I bet you have already seen it, right? Yep, that's what you will become when you cannot outrun Time."
There were still some points that Lin Sanjiu couldn't understand, but she decided to leave the mental work aside until she had finished the race. She looked at the other contenders who were catching up to them and yelled to no. 17, "How do you know so many things?"
"You can refer to the wall after you have finished the footrace. It will tell you everything." After being overtaken by a woman, the tanned-skin man pulled a pen out of thin air and began to draw on the back of his hand. He kept darting a glance at Lin Sanjiu's rocket as he scribbled the pattern. It was as if he was taking reference from her rocket.
"Can you tell me where the finish line is?" Seeing that he was getting ready to begin sprinting again, Lin Sanjiu quickly asked, "I'm safe now, but I need to know how long I have to keep this up!"
"You're safe now?" Contender no. 17 was a little taken aback. He raised his eyes from his hand and laughed at Lin Sanjiu as if he had listened to the funniest joke in the world. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot. You are new here. We are just halfway through the race. You can consider yourself safe only after you survived the second half of the race."
"What do you mean?"
"Look over there," the youth pointed his finger to the front, "Can you see the shot-putter in the distance?"
Squinting her eyes, Lin Sanjiu looked ahead and nodded. The players in the distance were as small as ants. She wouldn't have even known they were the contenders for shot-put if the youth had not told her.
"Well, good luck to you. They are not shooting aimlessly, per se. We are their targets," the youth said matter-of-factly. "Then there is archery, shooting games, swimming… In a sense, all of the games in the Olympics are connected. All of us are competing against each other."
Lin Sanjiu was so shocked that she was at a loss for words. After the youth had finished drawing the pattern on his hand, he nodded to Lin Sanjiu and said, "I'm going off now. Good luck! Time will be here soon!"
"Wait!"
Before Lin Sanjiu could finish her sentence, contender no. 17 waved his hand, kicked the ground, and disappeared from her sight. The only thing that remained in the air was his fading voice, "Remember! Don't go too fast!"
Chapter 608 - You Always Forget What Kind Of Person He Is
Contender no. 17 was getting further and further away. Lin Sanjiu stared ahead as the youth's signature afro grew smaller until it turned into a little black dot in her vision. She shook her head and slowed down.
The wind ripped past like a polished blade. Lin Sanjiu heard footfalls pitter patting amidst the symphony of her ragged breathing, fl.u.s.tered footsteps, and racing heartbeats. The contenders were catching up as they overtook her one by one.
She raised her eyelids, which were as heavy as two stones, and looked around. The number of contenders had reduced from 45 to mere 20 or so. More than half of the contenders had fallen like the first snow of winter.
Lin Sanjiu had no idea how many of them were dead because of her reckless action.
As Lin Sanjiu sighed inwardly, a figure materialized like a bubble in the air ahead of her. Then, the bearded man came into her sight.
It was then that Lin Sanjiu realized she could not judge a book by its cover. Although the bearded man looked unpromising, he seemed to hold out pretty well. Not only did he survive the onslaught of Time, but he also still had the luxury to nod at her when he ran past her.
The other young contender was not that friendly. The moment he overtook Lin Sanjiu, he yelled at her with exaggerated sarcasm, "Thanks for your treat!" Apparently, he almost got consumed by Time. However, most of the contenders just put on an impassive expression. They were so physically worn out that they had no energy left to take care of other things. They did not even bat an eyelid when they saw Lin Sanjiu, the main culprit who caused Time to speed up exponentially—and just went past her as if she were invisible.
Perhaps contender no. 17 warned her not to run so fast in order to eliminate a potential competitor, but Lin Sanjiu planned to do so anyway. She purposely slowed down and put herself close to the tail of the crowd because she wanted to see what the other leading contenders would do in the second half of the race. Right now, she was about a minute away from Time.
Lying listlessly on the rocket suit, Soulsqn stared at the ripple of light. Time scintillated and moved as if it were a snake going on a hunting spree, preparing to strike and gobble down whoever was unfortunate enough to step into its way.
"Hmm?"
After a while, she emitted a strange sound.
"What's wrong?"
"That guy over there. He looks so familiar…" Soulsqn tilted her head, and after she had a clearer view of the figure, she yelled in amazement, "It's that fatty! He's still alive!"
Hearing this, Lin Sanjiu almost tripped over her own feet. She quickly looked behind her with renewed composure, but she could not see the fatty anywhere. Then, when she caught a glimpse of the figure Soulsqn was talking about, her eyes grew large in astonishment. "What the hell is this?"
An identical fat, fair-skinned man was dragging himself behind another contender. Undoubtedly, he was the fatty that was "killed" twice by Time. The only thing different about him was that he had diminished dramatically in size compared to the second time they saw him. It was no wonder that Soulsqn could not identify him at first. Right now, he was about 160 cm tall, and his head, body, arms, and legs had all shrunk in a particular proportion.
No contender could survive after being touched by Time, except this fatty, who seemed to have cheated death twice through unknown means.
The moment the thought flashed across Lin Sanjiu's mind, she saw the fatty wave his arm at her.
"Is he calling us?" Soulsqn queried uncertainly as she stared at the fatty.
Her doubt was soon answered. Squeezing out whatever strength that remained in his body, the fatty darted forward and shortened the distance between them by a little. His loose skin and excessive fat swung like a tidal wave while his distant voice was filled with desperation, "Please, please help me!"
Lin Sanjiu looked at him, and before she could reply, the fatty's pleas wafted into her ears like a staccato as he charged headlong towards her. "Please, please, I beg you. You're the only one who can save me. I can't run anymore."
She averted her gaze away from him and looked behind, hesitating for a moment.
Time, which was in the form of a ripple of light, flickered as it continued to move forward, mowing down everything in its way. The ground was deformed, and the surroundings seemed askew as if she were peering through a layer of water. She did not know how many lives Time had consumed since the beginning of the game and how many of them had died because of her.
Setting her jaw, Lin Sanjiu asked the fatty, "How can I help you?"
"Just... just carry me on your back." After the fatty came closer, Lin Sanjiu finally had a clearer view of his face. He had jowly cheeks, an aquiline nose, two sunken eyes, and grayish-blue irises. "I promise I won't drag you down."
Carrying Soulsqn was easy since the Souls had no weight, but Lin Sanjiu was not so sure about a 160cm tall a.d.u.l.t man. Maybe she could carry him on her back with ease thanks to her superhuman strength, but what if she could not? What if the man was too heavy for her to bear? Time would catch up to them very quickly, and all of them would die! Seeing Lin Sanjiu shake her head profusely, the fatty immediately added, "Then… then… just pulling me will do. You don't have to carry me on your back. Please, I beg you!"
"What an ignorant fool! Look at us, and then look at yourself." Soulsqn scoffed. "Don't you realize that your request is taking it a step too far? If we let you hitch a ride, then we would…"
Alas, she never finished her sentence! The fatty suddenly gritted his teeth as he bent over
and opened his body from his midriff.
As his old body plopped onto the ground, another fatty, much smaller than the 160cm tall fatty, appeared from within. The new fatty stood only at her waist, but he still had a flabby body. His voice, on the other hand, had become much sharper. "Please wait for me."
Then, the fatty repeated the same series of actions.
This time, the fatty that came out of his old body was only as large as Lin Sanjiu's calf.
Lin Sanjiu stared in awe at the two bodies on the ground as her brain came to a halt. If not for the fatty's shout, she would not have come around so fast. She quickly scooped the fatty up from the ground.
Since he had become so small, Lin Sanjiu was confident that he would definitely be devoured by Time if she did not help him. The silver lining was that the fatty did not pose any burden to her with his current body size and weight. She hurled him to Soulsqn and asked, "What's that? Did you escape Time because of this?"
The fatty heaved a great sigh of relief after narrowly escaping death again. It was a long time before he finally calmed down. "Yes. This is my ability. If it weren't for this, I would've died when Time first caught me."
[Matryoshka Doll]
This is an ability exclusive to Russians. The moment the ability is activated, the user will inadvertently become a Russian doll with many layers of himself. With each increase in level, one more layer will be added to the user. Which one is the real deal, you ask? Don't bother asking. All of them are real.
On regular occasions, all damages received will be absorbed by the outermost layer. The user will not die unless there is an attack that can bypass all layers and deal a direct blow to the core. I'm not going to give you an example of that.
"Oh, my!" Soulsqn exclaimed as she eyed the fatty from head to toe. "Your ability is akin to mine."
"Are you Russian, too?" the fatty asked. Although Lin Sanjiu thought he was a Russian, his voice did not have a Russian accent at all.
"Nope, but I love to wear different clothes." Lying on the rocket suit, the flesh worm's expression changed gradually as she continued to study the fatty. "I wonder what would happen if I wore you as my human pouch."
Stunned, before the fatty could say anything, there was a commotion from the crowd of contenders ahead. The three of them dropped their conversation and listened carefully. Then, contender no. 17's voice wafted into their ears, "On your guard, guys! We are approaching the Twelve World Centrum zone. The shot put is about to start!"
Lin Sanjiu was grateful that he was willing to notify the other contenders who fell behind him of the danger ahead. She peered ahead, and her heart stopped beating for a second.
Since the Twelve World Centrum zone contained the highest number of contenders, there were a lot of players despite shot put being rather unpopular compared to the other games. There were so many of them that Lin Sanjiu could only see a sea of blackness, and the clearing between the running tracks and them was filled with thousands of millions of lead balls.
Judging by the sheer amount of lead balls, Lin Sanjiu felt they needed more than just speed to survive the second half of the race.
Right now, they only had two to three minutes before entering the shot put zone.
"Let me reiterate," a cold, aloof, and deep voice rang out from the shot put area ahead. The voice was not loud, but it echoed clearly as if he was whispering right into their ears, "I don't care if you die, but don't test my patience. You don't mean anything to me. The only thing you should do is listen to what I say and finish the game. Maybe I'll turn you all into puppets, maybe I'll spare you all, but that isn't what you guys should be worried about."
After a short pause, the cold voice giggled grimly. "All of you have to do is surrender yourself. Bow to me, and devote yourselves entirely to me."
Chapter 609 - A Grand Debut
Sometimes, being smart was not always a good thing. Compared to the other three, Ji Shanqing might be a tad too clever. Lin Sanjiu would never believe that this was the reason she could not locate her grand prize and Puppeteer.
When they escaped from the Data Stream Library, neither the grand prize or Puppeteer ended up in the same place, which was a relief for the grand prize. However, his bliss was short-lived, as he never once expected that he would bump into Puppeteer first when wandering around looking for his sister. It was already too late by the time he saw him. Inwardly chiding his bad luck, there was nothing the grand prize could do besides bear the lion in his den and go up to Puppeteer.
Likewise, Puppeteer's expression was sour when he saw the grand prize.
Since both of them had the same goal, which was to find Lin Sanjiu, they decided to set aside their prejudice, however reluctant they were, and form a temporary alliance.
Then, what happened next was pretty much similar to Lin Sanjiu's side. After getting some information about the Olympics from the stone tablet, both of them then traversed across the land to the wall. As they were registering as contenders, Ji Shanqing suddenly stepped forward and stopped Puppeteer when the wall asked them about their last visited apocalyptic world.
"What if I make up the name of an apocalyptic world? Would it make me a winner?" asked the grand prize, furrowing his brows.
"Negative. We can tell from the information you carry whether or not you've been to the apocalyptic world you mentioned."
The grand prize gave a little start. He subconsciously glanced at the tall figure next to him. Then, he averted his gaze back to the wall. "In other words, there's no way I can trick my way into victory?"
"Affirmative."
"How would you know whether or not I'm lying then?"
"Although this has nothing to do with the game, I'll tell you anyway. In short, people are closely related to the environment. You'll carry some signs or marks when you depart from an apocalyptic world."
Then, the wall fell silent. The grand prize waited for a moment, but the unhelpful wall was not going to disclose any more information to him. Feeling dejected, the grand prize muttered something under his breath, "What would happen if I say the apocalyptic world that I last visited was the Meat Elysium?"
"Information received. Inputting data: Meat Elysium."
"No, no, hold on!" Ji Shanqing stopped the wall. "Give us more time. We will tell you after we've finished discussing."
"What's the fuss about?" Puppeteer asked, raising one of his brows. He stared at the grand prize with emotionless eyes. "There's nothing to discuss. Just tell the wall we came from the Salvation of God!"
"Listen to me," Ji Shanqing said, taking a deep breath and calming himself down as he ignored the killing intent that hung heavily in the air. "The Data Stream Library is not a library."
"What?"
"I finally get it now," Ji Shanqing remonstrated again, "It's not a library. Its name has misled us."
"What is it then?" Puppeteer asked softly. The more impatient he had become, the softer his voice was.
Ji Shanqing seemed pale as he looked around at his surroundings. Although he spotted no one around, he lowered his voice. "First things first, do you know what the Olympics is? Yes, there is no doubt that it's an apocalyptic world, but before that, it must be…" When he reached this part of his sentence, he stomped his feet twice. "It has to be a planet first, right?"
Puppeteer stared at the wall, falling into deep thought.
"Then, what is the Salvation of God? It's also a planet." He paused, reveling in the great suspense as his confidence gradually returned to him. "The Data Stream Library is a dimension that is as vast as the universe, and there are at least two planets connected in this dimension. It's pretty simple. A creature that looks like a dog, barks like a dog and behaves like a dog is, without a doubt, a dog.
"If it's a cosmic space, how could we have survived in there?"
"We can't. There's no way any living organism can survive in a place without air," Ji Shanqing said, "But right now, this universe is inhabited by the Veda. I bet they must have done something to it to ma
ke it inhabitable."
"Then, how about the other apocalyptic worlds? Are they part of this universe?"
The grand prize was puzzled. He contemplated for a moment before answering, "No, I don't think so. I believe you've heard about the parallel universe theory. Some of the posthumans utilize that theory to explain the existence of multiple apocalyptic worlds. I think it's safe to say that the other apocalyptic worlds are distributed in different universes."
Sensing that his argument was not strong enough to convince Puppeteer, the grand prize added, "There's one more thing. We did not leave the previous apocalyptic world because our time was up, which was, you know, 14 months. We just strayed into another planet in the same universe, which happens to be an apocalyptic world as well. If my theory is correct, both my sister's and your transfer time won't begin from scratch. This is because you haven't stayed for 14 months in this universe yet."
The grand prize was too immersed in his thought that the words "my sister" slipped past his lips unknowingly. By the time he realized what he said, all the hairs on his back bristled. He darted a surreptitious glance at Puppeteer, and upon seeing the latter's face, he heaved a sigh of relief.
It seemed that Puppeteer did not notice the underlying meaning of his words. Immersed in his thoughts with knotted brows, he seemed to have trouble comprehending the hefty amount of explanation.
"So, you're saying that… If a posthuman enters another apocalyptic world in the same universe before 14 months is up, it won't reset the counter?"
"That's right." The grand prize nodded in assent as he examined Puppeteer's expression. He felt even more relieved when he saw that Puppeteer did not look at him. He continued to speak, "Needless to say, we can't ignore the fact that there will also be posthumans that are transferred from the Salvation of God to the Olympics. Then, that will be a different matter."