The Platform 4

[89 Days Remaining]

The countdown changed. The white lights came on. A new day had begun.

Xiao Chun looked haggard as he stared at the holographic projection overhead.

Last night, Yu Gu had said he suspected that surviving ninety days would clear the game. But that was only the completion condition. To get out safely, they also had to obtain the Easter egg.

Xiao Chun had no idea what the Easter egg was. When he asked how Yu Gu knew about it, Yu Gu said nothing more.

He had also asked why Yu Gu seemed to know what he was thinking. Yu Gu had offered no explanation for that, either.

Yu Gu was hiding something. Of that, there was no doubt. But Xiao Chun had no other way to discern why.

Survive ninety days.

Yet by only the second day, Xiao Chun was already close to breaking down. There were no doors or windows here, no way to tell the time. Trapped in a place this insane, thinking that he might starve to death next month, his mind was in turmoil, packed full of fear and anxiety. He simply could not rest.

And Yu Gu had said the enforcers were coming today. Xiao Chun had stayed awake all night, with no sleep left in him at all.

Rumble—

The thunderous scrape jolted Xiao Chun back to himself. Looking up, he saw the platform slowly descending from above. There seemed to be something black hanging beneath it, but it was too far away to make out.

He turned and looked at Yu Gu, who was bright-eyed and full of energy.

The man was carefully grooming himself before the sink, using a shard of glass as a razor. His gaze met Xiao Chun's through the shattered mirror. Yu Gu lifted one sharply shaped brow in a silent question: What?

Xiao Chun drifted for a moment, his eyes involuntarily settling on Yu Gu's ear. There was a tiny, vivid red mole on his right earlobe.

Yu Gu really was handsome.

Xiao Chun cupped some water in his hands and washed up too. The icy water splashed over his face and dripped from his jaw, clearing some of the fog from his exhausted, sleep-deprived mind.

He took a deep breath and braced both hands on the edge of the sink. From the side, Yu Gu's hand reached over and, as naturally as if it were nothing, wiped away a drop of water caught beneath his lashes.

Xiao Chun instinctively leaned back slightly to avoid him, looking at Yu Gu in bafflement. Yu Gu looked back, his expression calm.

All at once, Xiao Chun realized that the intense emotion he had seen in Yu Gu's eyes when they first met had never appeared again. He did not know whether he had imagined it then, but ever since, Yu Gu had been composed, as if he were merely a passerby whose conscience had prompted him to save someone.

"You said you only came down here to escape the enforcers?"

Yu Gu nodded. "Yeah."

"Then why aren't you running now?"

Yu Gu stared steadily at Xiao Chun. Just as Xiao Chun thought he was about to reveal some earth-shattering secret, Yu Gu said, "Before, I was alone. I couldn't beat them."

Xiao Chun: "..."

Xiao Chun: "???"

And I can?!

The words nearly flew out of Xiao Chun's mouth. But the proud, image-conscious "Mr. Xiao" would never easily admit that he was scared out of his mind—so scared he had tossed and turned all night.

He curled one corner of his mouth into something between a smile and a sneer. He thought he had his expression perfectly under control, but the young man in the mirror looked even paler, his lips trembling, as though he might smile or cry at any moment.

Xiao Chun was no less handsome than Yu Gu. Yu Gu had the kind of looks that stunned at first glance: flirtatious peach-blossom eyes, sharp brows that tempered the air of a libertine, and eyes that were especially captivating when filled with killing intent—strikingly handsome and lushly beautiful. Xiao Chun's good looks, by contrast, were quieter, seeping in unnoticed.

Since childhood, people had called him the living embodiment of "a gentleman like jade." Gentle and refined, never showing an edge; when he smiled faintly, there was a hint of helplessness about him, as though he would cradle someone in his palm and spend a lifetime patiently coaxing them.

His black hair was a little long, with a slight curl to the fringe. His eyes were rounder, the corners dipping just a little, bringing to mind an innocent puppy. His thin lips were pale; he had the clear grace of a breeze after rain and a bright moon, elegant and aloof, as though he would never lose his temper with anyone.

The side of him that belonged to "Mr. Xiao" was always brimming with certainty, used to having the final say. But now the man in the mirror was frightened and lost, completely unsure of what came next. This weakness, this pathetic state, disgusted even Xiao Chun himself.

Yet Yu Gu seemed somehow pleased by it, looking inexplicably happy.

"Scared?" He tilted his head, watching Xiao Chun.

Xiao Chun flicked his hand. Droplets scattered over Yu Gu's face, one landing right at the corner of his lips. Yu Gu's lips were as sharp in shape as his brows, with a defined lip line; red lips and white teeth gave him, from certain angles, an almost coldly glamorous look.

Xiao Chun reached out and, copying Yu Gu, wiped away that bead of water with his thumb. Yu Gu's whole body stiffened. The tips of his ears flushed red at once, the color already threatening to spread down his neck.

Xiao Chun: "?"

What are you blushing for?

Still, he had finally won back a little initiative, and a vengeful lightness eased into his heart. Before coming here, he had just learned the truth of his parentage. He had been thoroughly despondent, dejected, and bedraggled; when he went to the company to hand things over, he had been surrounded by reporters. No matter how calm and forceful he looked, he could not hide the fact that he had become the Xiao family's only stain.

The more brilliant he had once been, the more he now resembled a clown.

Remembering the pairs of eyes behind those cameras that seemed ready to pierce him through and nail him in place, Xiao Chun hooked his lips in a smile that did not reach his eyes. "It's only death. What's there to be afraid of?"

......

The food platform was about to arrive.

Xiao Chun readied himself, checking again and again that the strips of cloth were tightly wrapped around his palms. He gripped the shard, repeatedly testing how to hold it most comfortably.

Yu Gu flipped his bed over and pulled out the black steel support strip beneath the bedframe. At last, Xiao Chun knew where his black steel strip had come from.

Yu Gu tossed the strip to Xiao Chun. With a shard in one hand and the steel strip in the other, Xiao Chun felt both bewildered and absurdly amused.

Like some kind of black comedy.

He could not help glancing into the shattered mirror: a man in a light-colored trench coat, its hem speckled with dried blood gone dark; his shirt collar open, his fringe damp, a swollen bump still on his forehead, stubble unshaven, dark circles beneath his eyes. Weapons in both hands—where was the steady man from before yesterday, seated in a high-end office building with fountain pen in hand, signing documents?

How violently did a person's fortunes have to rise and fall for him to end up like this—spending the first part of his life with every wind at his back, an object of others' envy, only to take a sudden turn and plunge into boundless darkness? A literal plunge into darkness. There was no darkness deeper than this.

"Th-they're on the thirty-fourth floor."

"Right there!"

"Someone went yesterday, b-but they were k-killed by them!"

Voices came from upstairs, trembling with fear, stammering again and again. "I-I-I..."

But no one on the platform answered. A moment later, the explanatory voice suddenly changed, turning panicked and wretched. "N-no, no, no—!!!"

"Aaaaaah—!!!"

By the end, the screams barely sounded human. Xiao Chun shuddered, goosebumps rising all over his body.

He looked up. This time, he finally saw what the black thing hanging beneath the platform was: a dismembered corpse. Like a puzzle, it had been cut apart and then pieced together beneath the platform, tied up with strips torn from bedsheets. Bright blood stained the white cloth red and was still dripping down.

There was no stench of decay. The corpse still wore the look of terror and pleading it had borne in life; there were even tears on its face.

It was a "player," just like him.

An ordinary person killed and dismembered by the enforcers.

Xiao Chun's pupils constricted. He could not help taking a step back, his stomach churning violently. In the end, he could not hold it in and began to dry heave.

He had eaten nothing from yesterday to today, and all he brought up was a puddle of water.

As if he had expected it, Yu Gu dampened a strip of cloth and wiped the cold sweat from Xiao Chun's forehead.

"Are you okay?" He looked at Xiao Chun, his concern completely undisguised.

Xiao Chun shook his head. No matter how stormy his heart was, he was used to not showing it in front of others. Even though he could barely stay on his feet, he forced himself to say, "I-I'm fine. I'll get used to it after seeing it a few more times."

Yu Gu tilted his head again, a touch of helplessness in his eyes, and gently patted his back.

"I was joking with you. You don't need to deal with it. I'll go. You hide under the sink."

Xiao Chun frowned. "How can I? Just stand there and watch you get..." He pointed at the pile of puzzle-piece-like chunks of flesh. "I can't do that."

Yu Gu looked troubled, but did not try to persuade him further. Looking up at the platform hanging above them, he said, "By the four-above rule, there shouldn't have been only that one NPC coming down yesterday. There should have been four. The other three broke the rules and will be punished by the enforcers."

Xiao Chun was stunned. "They get punished for that too?"

"Those are the rules."

The screams above grew ever more deafening, one after another. Xiao Chun swallowed, seeming to understand what Yu Gu had meant before by saying that the enforcers' excessive harshness had led people to resist.

"If they were NPCs, they shouldn't make that kind of mistake. So the ones who didn't come down were actually..." Xiao Chun pressed his lips together, unable to finish.

Yu Gu confirmed it. "People like us."

Four people. If only one was an NPC, then the other three above were all ordinary people. Add the one hanging beneath the platform, and four people had already died first thing this morning.

Rumble—

The platform moved again. Xiao Chun's breathing quickened, and he could feel the muscles around his eyes tightening uncontrollably.

He watched the naked, dismembered male body swing past his eyes. Then the platform appeared before him in its entirety.

Yesterday, because he had fought with his former "cellmate," he had not been able to inspect the platform closely. This time, he saw it clearly.

The platform was covered in delicious food, laid out on gorgeous, beautiful tableware: cakes, roast chicken, seafood, roast lamb, fried rice, pasta, steak, soup, every kind of bread, cookies, candy, salad, yogurt, fried chicken, hamburgers, soup rice, foie gras, steamed meat, red wine, baijiu, beer, drinks in every color...

But now it had all been trampled to mush.

Shards from broken bowls, plates, and glasses were mixed in with the food. In the middle of the platform stood a huge "thing," its bare feet carelessly treading on steak, salad, hamburgers, and fries. The cake in the center had been completely ruined.

"People always prize freedom." The thing spoke—and it was not, in fact, a person.

Xiao Chun stared blankly at it, not even knowing where to look.

It was a "bright red ball of flesh," huge and brawny, with three heads where its neck should have been, six arms, and six legs. Like a grotesque ball of flesh bristling with limbs, its body was round and bloated. Several hearts hung in its exposed chest cavity. It had no skin; fascia covered its bright red flesh, and with every heartbeat, Xiao Chun could see its blood and organs at work.

The head on the left was speaking. Its face had been burned beyond recognition; neither its features nor even its gender could be made out.

"We respect each individual's free will, but fairness requires surrendering a measure of freedom as its price." Its voice was soft and hoarse, yet Xiao Chun could hear every word distinctly. Stranger still, its tone carried a trace of gentleness and compassion. "You broke the rules. We regret that. Before carrying out your death sentences, we respect your basic rights. Eat whatever you want."

Perhaps because it was all too absurd and shocking, Xiao Chun's reason had fled at that very moment.

He actually overcame his fear and blurted out, "Is execution your only form of punishment?"

The enforcer had clearly never been questioned like this. There had been plenty of people who begged, regretted, and raged, but no one had ever challenged its methods.

The three heads turned toward one another. The middle head spoke, its voice unlike the left one's—clear and shrill. "There are many different ways to die."

"For example? Are there specific ways to die for different types of violations? And who supervises that?"

"...If you don't wish to eat, then forget it." The middle head sounded displeased. "Don't waste time."

Xiao Chun said, "If you're going to be fair, then even death should be fair. How can it just be whatever you say?"

"... "

On Xiao Chun's other side, Yu Gu let out a snort of laughter.

Out of the corner of his eye, Xiao Chun saw Yu Gu's peach-blossom eyes shine as he laughed, his red lips curving pleasantly, his thick brows relaxing. He looked like a handsome young gentleman carved from jade... No. With that steel strip in his hand, he looked more like a dashing jade-faced general.

While the flesh mass considered Xiao Chun's words, Yu Gu leaped straight onto the platform.

He drove the steel strip cleanly into the flesh mass's thigh, then yanked it free and sprang behind it. His anticipation was so precise: the flesh mass's other leg immediately kicked after him, but struck empty air. All three heads roared at once.

Foul-smelling liquid sprayed from its open mouths as it roared. Xiao Chun hurriedly dodged aside, then, gritting his teeth and clutching the shard, jumped up after Yu Gu.