Having lost control of the bald security guard, Lin Qiye was ultimately killed by the nearly unsolvable group photo + wink, just like Shen Qingzhu, and dissolved into a flash of blood-red light on the stage.
After dying in the game, Lin Qiye's consciousness suddenly kept falling. When he opened his eyes again, he was already back beside the hospital bed.
In the pale hospital room, a sphere of dark green code slowly rotated beneath the ceiling. A line of code wound around Yurina Takishiro's wrist on the bed like a ribbon. His eyes were closed, as if he had fallen asleep.
Lin Qiye turned his head in confusion and saw Shen Qingzhu standing by the corridor window with a cigarette silently clenched between his lips, while Guan Zai sat on a bench with his head lowered, his hands rapidly typing into the void.
"Why did we come out?" Lin Qiye asked in confusion. "Wasn't it not over yet?"
Guan Zai slowly raised his head, his eyes already bloodshot.
"The game isn't over... but it has nothing to do with you anymore..."
"Why?"
Guan Zai raised a hand and pointed at the hospital bed.
"His lifespan won't last until you revive."
As if realizing something, Lin Qiye abruptly turned toward the bed. Yurina Takishiro's face was deathly pale, and at some point, IV drips and monitoring lines had been attached to him again. Two doctors stood around him, frowning as they spoke in hushed voices.
"There aren't even ten minutes left? We were only in there for less than an hour... Didn't you say he could hold on for a few more days?"
Guan Zai shook his head. "Your consciousnesses only spent an hour in the game, but two days have already passed outside."
Lin Qiye stood frozen in place.