Chapter 142: The Way Out

Page 1/3

Upon seeing the visitor’s true face, Vivian’s face immediately blossomed into a beautiful smile, and she stepped out from behind Chen Hao. “Big sister, what are you doing here?”

The speaker was, of course, Dong Xin. However, in the game, Dong Xin had not chosen her real-life appearance for her character, instead opting for a completely different look.

Chen Hao had already heard from Vivian that it was Dong Xin who had safely escorted her to the Forest of Elves and had assured her that she bore no ill intentions.

But Chen Hao was not so easily convinced. Who knew if she was merely pretending, perhaps casting a long line to catch a bigger fish? So when Vivian was about to step forward, Chen Hao reached out to stop her and also positioned Zhuge Taxue behind himself.

Seeing Chen Hao’s wary actions, Dong Xin showed no surprise. Yet she now noticed there was someone else behind Chen Hao—a stunningly beautiful woman, unlike anyone she had seen before.

Damn! This brat had already hooked another woman so quickly, and such a peerless beauty at that? That scoundrel had just been inseparable with Fan Yirou, and now, barely having left her side, he was cozying up to another woman?

Well... it didn’t seem that intimate after all. Judging by their demeanor, it wasn’t particularly close. So who was this woman? Was she another player Chen Hao had brought into the game, or had he discovered some awakened NPC with self-awareness?

But if she were an NPC, she should know her own beauty. More importantly, this woman’s attire was clearly not something typical in the game world.

So Dong Xin was fairly certain that this woman was also a player who, like Chen Hao, had entered the game. What puzzled Dong Xin, however, was why Chen Hao had brought this woman into the game instead of Gu Mengyan or Fan Yirou?

According to her information, the only women close to Chen Hao were Gu Mengyan and Fan Yirou; this breathtaking woman was not recorded anywhere.

Though curious about her, Dong Xin didn’t come to chat idly. She nodded at Vivian. “Hello, Vivian. Long time no see. You still don’t listen to me, sneaking out like this?”

“Hehe...” Vivian smiled sheepishly, completely forgetting how unpleasant their previous meeting had been—such a carefree little girl.

Chen Hao frowned and stepped forward. “Can we be straightforward now, Miss Dong Xin?”

“Hmm...” Dong Xin furrowed her brow as well. “Looks like you’ve already guessed.”

Chen Hao shrugged but said nothing.

“Is she Dong Xin?” Zhuge Taxue poked her head out from behind Chen Hao. “Is this the girl the big guy fancies? She’s not as pretty as she says.”

Dong Xin felt like vomiting blood. What did she mean ‘not that pretty’? This wasn’t even her true appearance! But... looking at the other woman’s face, even if this were Dong Xin’s real look, she couldn’t compare. So saying she wasn’t very pretty wasn’t entirely wrong.

But who was this ‘big guy’ she liked? Surely not that irritating Guo Yunhai? Did she even know Guo Yunhai? And it seemed Chen Hao knew him too? What on earth was going on?

Page 2/3

“Ahem!” Noticing Dong Xin was lost in thought, Chen Hao cleared his throat twice to bring her back. “Dong Xin, please be clear: what exactly is your purpose in following me while hiding your identity?

Also, before you were intent on capturing me and Vivian, so why the sudden change of heart?”

“That’s a long story,” Dong Xin shook her head. “I’ll explain when there’s a chance later. I came to you this time because it’s very important.”

“Important?” Chen Hao was puzzled. “Weren’t you with Mengyan and Yirou shopping? How come you suddenly say there’s something urgent? Where are they now? Back at the hotel?”

“No,” Dong Xin shook her head. “I’ll explain everything when you log out of the game and we meet. I asked Mengyan and Yirou to call you, but the calls never went through.”

Chen Hao’s unease grew. He began to worry for Gu Mengyan and Fan Yirou’s safety. “What’s going on? Are Mengyan and Yirou okay?”

“They’re fine—very safe at the moment. But if you don’t log out quickly and listen to me, I can’t guarantee their safety later,” Dong Xin said anxiously. “I’m not threatening you; I’m serious. In fact, it’s not only them—everyone in Crystal is in deep danger.

I came to ask for your help. Please log out of the game immediately!”

Dong Xin’s expression was anxious, clearly not joking. Chen Hao was puzzled about what serious matter could make her so tense.

Even if what she said were true, frankly, he didn’t know how to exit the game! The first time he logged out had been mysterious and involuntary—he had done nothing but suddenly went offline at Vivian’s home.

The second time was because his character had been blown up in the game, which was also beyond his control. So now, even if he wanted to log out, he didn’t know how.

“Where are you now?” Dong Xin, surprised at Chen Hao’s predicament, asked. “I’ll come find you as soon as you log out.”

“Uh...” Chen Hao looked embarrassed. “Dong Xin... I think there’s some misunderstanding here...”

“What misunderstanding?” Dong Xin snapped impatiently. “Is logging out really that hard for you? If you’re still mad at me, I apologize. I’ll do whatever it takes to make it up to you, but things are urgent, so please stop messing around!”

Chen Hao looked both innocent and aggrieved. “I’m certainly not petty. For our past acquaintance, I wouldn’t stay mad at you. It’s just some technical issues... You’re right to say logging out is difficult—because I have no idea how to exit the game!”

“I...” Dong Xin was stunned. So that was what he meant. What the hell? Easy to enter the game but can’t exit? It seemed Chen Hao’s way of entering was very different from what she had imagined.

No wonder, despite checking network ports, she found no trace of physical intrusion from Chen Hao, only some attempts by others to hack into the Unreal company’s internal network from outside.

But those intruders were redirected to backup ports by a simple code she had implemented. There, although they barely entered the game, all data was fixed—just game scenes she had designed: some were the Forest of Elves, others different locations.

But all shared one thing—no NPCs or GMs were present, let alone intelligent NPCs like Vivian.

Page 3/3

Zhuge Taxue was one such NPC, though there were too many like her for Dong Xin to investigate individually. They had been collectively sent to backup network ports, so Dong Xin didn’t know Zhuge Taxue personally.

But Chen Hao was clearly not one of these people. When he entered the game, her physical network port neither sent him to her designed locations nor triggered any alarms. She couldn’t figure out how he did it, assuming it was because he worked in Unreal’s tech department and found some network loophole to enter the game.

But no matter how, entering naturally meant he could exit. It was a simple truth—like knowing how to put on clothes but not how to take them off? Impossible!

Yet Chen Hao was not lying; he genuinely did not know how to log out. This gave Dong Xin reason to suspect that Chen Hao’s entry into the game was beyond his own control.

Now this raised even more questions! Dong Xin wanted to calmly ask Chen Hao about his situation, but time did not allow it. So she proposed a solution: “After our last meeting, after that explosion, did you log out then?”

Chen Hao nodded. “Yes. You don’t mean...”

Dong Xin did not deny it. “Exactly. No matter what, you’re a player character once inside the game. When a player dies, their data reverts to the central processor. I think if we cause your character to die, that should log you out.”

“Are you sure?” Chen Hao hesitated. “What if it doesn’t work?”

“That’s unlikely. Though I don’t know how you entered, this logout method should work. I sometimes use it to force logout,” Dong Xin said.

“Are you two going out?” Just as Chen Hao hesitated, Vivian suddenly spoke.

Chen Hao and Dong Xin had been so absorbed in their conversation they had forgotten Vivian was there—a newly self-aware NPC who did not realize her world was far from reality.

They were fortunate she didn’t understand their words, or explaining them would have been difficult.

Chen Hao looked apologetic at Vivian. “Sorry, Vivian. We just met, but we have to leave soon. I can’t stay to chat properly this time.”

Vivian smiled sweetly. “It’s okay. Just seeing you safe again is enough. I’ll wait for your next visit to the Forest of Elves to chat!

And big sisters, next time let’s all come together! I want to hear you talk about the human world properly!”