A bizarre and terrifying experience; I messed up the dungeon world.

In the scene, Wang Hu is not dead. He has fallen into the sewers at the bottom of the black mist. The sewers are full of corrosive liquids and mutated creatures.

Zhao Qiang and Sun Fei were also inside. They were being devoured by reptiles.

"Those who use their strange appearances to commit evil in reality and the game, I will strip them of their right to die. I will amplify their pain codes tenfold and lock them in this sandbox," Lu Chen said.

Lin Qi nodded. "That's good."

The progress bar on the holographic projection has reached 100%.

Blue dots of light covered the entire Earth model.

"The real world has been restored. The timeline has been reset to the day before the anomaly occurred. Everyone's memories will be preserved. But the spatial rift no longer exists." Lu Chen withdrew his hand. The silver metal retreated back into his body.

"And what about us?" Lin Qi asked.

"Let's go back." Lu Chen looked at her. "I've severed the physical connection between the strange system and reality. This mechanical city will collapse. We'll return to reality as humans."

"Your divine body." Lin Qi pointed to his current body.

"Sleep in the void. The real world doesn't need gods. It only needs people," Lu Chen said.

He made a gesture. The crystal capsule reappeared. He lay down inside and closed his eyes.

The hatch closed.

The black-haired Lu Chen who had been lying on the ground opened his eyes.

He sat up and touched the back of his neck. "Synchronization complete. This body's functions are a bit weak."

Lin Qi walked over and extended his right hand.

Lu Chen grasped her hand and used it to stand up.

"Let's go. The collapse has begun," Lu Chen said.

Cracks appeared in the walls of the ring-shaped space. The void storm outside poured in. The metal plates were torn apart.

Lu Chen tapped the terminal on his left wrist. A teleportation array appeared beneath their feet.

A blue beam of light shot into the sky, enveloping the two of them.

A feeling of weightlessness washed over him. His vision blurred. Lin Qi closed his eyes.

Open your eyes.

Lin Qi smelled car exhaust fumes. He heard car horns.

She was standing at a crossroads. Next to her was a traffic light. The red light had twelve seconds left.

She looked down at herself.

No combat uniform. No knife.

She was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt, light blue jeans, and white canvas shoes.

He was wearing a digital watch on his left wrist.

She touched her lower back. Empty. No handguard for the longsword.

There was no leather cover on the outside of the thigh.

She became an ordinary person.

This was her identity before entering the game. Jiangcheng University. A sophomore majoring in Computer Science.

Lin Qi looked up at the tall buildings across the street. The sunlight was blinding. She squinted.

The green light came on. The crowd moved forward. Lin Qi blended into the crowd and crossed the zebra crossing.

My phone vibrated in my pocket.

She took out her phone. A WeChat message appeared on the screen.

Group name: Dead Silence Squad.

Sender: Wang Jianguo.

"Guys, I was chopping vegetables. The knife fell on my foot. It hurt a lot. But I survived."

The second message. Han Yingying.

"I'm in class. The professor is lecturing on calculus. I'm almost in tears. This is worse than killing beetles. Mom's really back."

The third message. Chen Mo.

"Just checked my sniper rifle case. Inside was a guitar. I forgot I'm a singer in real life. 8 PM. Misty Bar. My treat."

Fourth message. Dazhuang.

"I'm carrying bricks at the construction site. The bricks are so light. But I'm afraid to use force, for fear of crushing them."

Lin Qi stared at her phone screen. Her fingers tapped on the keyboard.

"Received." Lin Qi sent.

There was a two-second silence in the group chat. Then messages started flooding in.

"Seventh Sister!"

"Boss!"

"The thigh is still there!"

Lin Qi put her phone back in her pocket and walked along the street.

She is looking for someone.

Lu Chen didn't speak in the group. He wasn't in this group.

Lin Qi walked to a newsstand. He bought a bottle of mineral water, unscrewed the cap, and took a sip.

The water was cool. It slid down my throat. It was a real, physical sensation.

There was a square in front of us. Many people were feeding pigeons.

Lin Qi saw a man in a black coat standing next to the fountain.

The man was holding a tablet computer. He was looking down at the screen, swiping his fingers across it.

Lin Qi walked over and stood a meter behind him.

"The code is finished," Lin Qi said.

Lu Chen turned around and looked at her.

He wasn't wearing the old terminal. He was holding a regular tablet.

"I'm writing my graduation thesis. I'm defending it tomorrow," Lu Chen said, stuffing his tablet into his backpack.

"What's your major?" Lin Qi asked.

"Artificial intelligence," Lu Chen said.

The two looked at each other.

The fountain spray was blown by the wind and landed on Lin Qi's shoulder, wetting a small patch of his clothes.

"Eight o'clock at night. Misty Bar," Lin Qi said.

"I know. I intercepted the data from the WeChat server," Lu Chen said.

"It's illegal."

"The underlying permissions haven't been completely shut down yet." Lu Chen zipped up his backpack.

"Let's go." Lin Qi turned around.

"Where to?" Lu Chen asked.

"Have a bowl of noodles," Lin Qi said.

Lu Chen followed. The two walked side by side down the street.

7:50 p.m.

The Misty Bar. Located in an alley. One character on the neon sign at the entrance is broken. It now reads "Misty Bar".

Lin Qi pushed open the door. The room was dimly lit. The air smelled of alcohol and tobacco.

There was no one on the stage. Four people sat at a large round table in the corner.

Wang Jianguo was wearing a security guard uniform. He was still as muscular as ever, holding a mug of draft beer in his hand.

Han Yingying was wearing a short skirt and had put on makeup. She was drinking juice with a straw.

Chen Mo was wearing a leather jacket. His hair had grown a little longer. There was a guitar case next to him.

Dazhuang was wearing a gray short-sleeved shirt. The muscles on his arms stretched the cuffs to their maximum.

Lin Qi walked over. Lu Chen followed behind.

Wang Jianguo was the first to see Lin Qi. He stood up too abruptly, knocking over a chair. The chair crashed to the ground with a loud thud.

The people at the other tables in the bar turned to look.

Wang Jianguo ignored him. He stood at attention, ramrod straight.

"Seventh Sister," Wang Jianguo called out. His voice drowned out the background music.

Chen Mo. Han Yingying. Da Zhuang also stood up.

Han Yingying's eyes reddened. "Seventh Sister. I thought I would never see you again."

Lin Qi pulled out a chair and sat down. "Sit."

The four of them sat down obediently, looking at Lin Qi and then at Lu Chen.

"Brother Lu Chen, you're here too. Is that terminal still working?" Da Zhuang asked, staring at Lu Chen's wrist.

"It's ruined," Lu Chen said, sitting down next to Lin Qi.

"Good riddance. Good riddance. I never want to go back to that godforsaken place again in my life." Wang Jianguo picked up his wine glass and took a big gulp. "You guys don't know. When I was chopping vegetables, my hands were shaking when I saw the knife. I was afraid a mechanical dog would suddenly jump out from the side."

"It's safe now. No dungeons. No quests," Chen Mo said, touching the guitar case beside him. "I guess I'm back to my old ways. I'll sing you a song later."

"Where are Wang Hu and the others?" Han Yingying asked, lowering her voice.

"The sewers," Lin Qi said, picking up a glass of water from the table and taking a sip.

The four men exchanged glances. Chen Mo nodded. "Serves them right."