Like Worlds Apart (Part 1)

The third matter Chu Xuan mentioned was far more shocking than the first two combined. Everyone stared at him blankly, their eyes filled with an indescribable fervor. It was understandable; after experiencing such life-or-death horror, no matter how disappointed a person was with the real world, they would absolutely yearn to return rather than continue suffering in this endless terror.

Zheng Zha's eyes were full of doubt. He stared at Chu Xuan and said cautiously, "You have too many schemes in your mind. I really suspect you have some ulterior motive... Tell us, how do we get back to the real world."

Chu Xuan smiled faintly. "I'm not asking you to do anything. Whether to return to the real world is entirely your choice... Zhang Jie, you definitely didn't look closely at the detailed exchange options for survival days. I checked carefully yesterday and found that not only can you exchange survival days for the Horror Movie worlds you've experienced, but you can also return to the real world."

Zhang Jie snorted. "Do I need you to tell me that? Anyone can go back if they have fifty thousand Reward Points. Do you think we have fifty thousand Reward Points? You're not playing games with us like this, are you?"

Chu Xuan glanced at him. "Did I say we could go back permanently? When exchanging for normal survival days, I discovered a record function. It recorded A Nightmare on Elm Street 1, Scream 2, Final Destination 1, Resident Evil 1, and Alien One. Besides these five Horror Movie worlds, there was another world in this record: the real world!"

Upon hearing these names, Zhang Jie's face turned ashen. He mumbled, "Damn it, these are all Horror Movies I've experienced. How could there be these records? What about the old records?"

Chu Xuan shook his head. "There are no old records. They were probably deleted by the Main God. After all, you're the only one among us who has survived five Horror Movies. That record was probably about you. That's not the point. The point is that we can activate the recorded Horror Movie worlds and the real world. Once activated, we can enter any Horror Movie world at will, including the real world. This is the third thing I wanted to talk about!"

"It only takes one D-class Side Story to activate a previously recorded Horror Movie world. And to exchange for survival days within an activated Horror Movie world, it costs five times the Reward Points, meaning a steep price of fifty Reward Points per day. In other words, to return to the real world briefly, two conditions must be met: one, a D-class Side Story, and two, a hefty amount of Reward Points. Neither can be missing."

Everyone fell silent. Zhang Jie had already told them how precious Side Stories were. If Zheng Zha hadn't obtained internal force and the vampire mutated bloodline, he wouldn't have survived Alien One. Side Stories were truly life-saving items; who would dare use them carelessly? Moreover, not only was a D-class Side Story required, but also a large number of Reward Points. This was an incredibly luxurious matter for them. Just to return to the real world for a few days, such a price seemed hardly worth it.

Seeing everyone fall silent, Chu Xuan shook his head. "I don't intend for you to waste Reward Points and Side Stories. In fact, returning to the real world briefly, at least one of us being able to go back, is actually a very urgent matter. I don't know if you've had any thoughts or speculations about this space. At least I have two different guesses about this space. First, our spiritual bodies enter this world, while our physical bodies remain before the computer. Second, our spiritual bodies and physical bodies enter this space together. I think you've all heard information from your respective women: no matter how much time passes in the Horror Movies, we return to this space after one day and one night... or we die. In other words, the Main God can control the passage of time in different spatial segments. This is truly..."

"Truly a god!" Chu Xuan thought for a long time before finding such a word. He murmured, "Perhaps you don't think it matters. Being able to control time and space, create independent worlds and completely living beings, I can only think of the word 'god'. This is the important matter I'm talking about. If only our spiritual bodies enter this world, then all the enhancements and such are completely illusory. Such a world is close to a network simulation. This would also reasonably explain why so many almost impossible situations occur. Similarly, our physical bodies might be in a vegetative state after entering this world. If we don't hurry back to the real world to confirm, our physical bodies might be destroyed by people who don't know."

"Of course, if our physical bodies and spiritual bodies enter this world together... this is a world of true 'gods'. No matter how absurd things are, I can imagine them. And if that's the case, those legendary body enhancements... they are simply countless possibilities for human evolution, infinite possibilities! As long as we can survive, we will definitely become true gods in the future!"

Zheng Zha rubbed his head. "The topic of becoming gods is too far-fetched. I think I understand what you mean. If our physical bodies and spirits enter this world together, then before returning to the real world, we can completely ignore everything over there and just focus on surviving here. But if only our spiritual bodies enter this world, it means nothing here can be brought back to the real world, and our physical bodies might be destroyed. Is that what you mean?"

Chu Xuan snapped his fingers. "Exactly, that's the gist of it. So my proposal is, we should choose someone to return to the real world. Even if it's just for one day. The most crucial thing is to verify whether it's just our spiritual bodies entering this world, or our spiritual bodies and physical bodies entering together. This is actually the matter most related to our life safety. What do you all think?"

Zheng Zha exchanged glances with the people around him. They all agreed with Chu Xuan's statement. Only Zheng Zha sighed. "Although there's no reason or evidence, I still feel like you're holding something back, as if some scheme is waiting for us to fall into it... No, it should be an open scheme. You always state things directly, which forces us to follow your lead. So, do you think I should go back to the real world?"

Chu Xuan nodded faintly. Zhang Jie, however, was unconvinced. "Hey, Chu Xuan, why should Zheng Zha waste his time? If it weren't for him this time, we would all be dead. Right, Zheng Zha, how many Reward Points did you spend to repair your body? We can't let you be the only one at a loss. How much did you spend? We'll pool our resources to buy you some equipment as compensation for the Reward Points spent on body repair."

Zheng Zha smiled at Zhang Jie. "There's no need for that. After all, I killed the Queen and got three thousand Reward Points. After deducting repair costs, there's still quite a bit left... As for why it's me going back, it's because I'm the only one among us who has strengthened internal force and the vampire mutated bloodline. When I go back, I can also prove whether the abilities here can be brought back. Also, I'm the person who needs Side Stories the least compared to you all. At least, I don't need them as urgently as you do, as you need them to strengthen your attributes. So, if someone really needs to return to the real world, that person should be me."

The rest of the matter was relatively simple. After confirming they really needed to return to the real world, Zhang Jie proposed that everyone pool their resources to get Zheng Zha a standard set of equipment. Of course, he would have to exchange for the more expensive items himself, but at least they bought him a new bulletproof vest, a pair of shoes that could cushion landing impact, a compact new submachine gun, and a High-vibration particle cutting dagger.

Everyone exchanged one piece of equipment for him, but the dagger was the most expensive item, worth over six hundred Reward Points. It was a near-sci-fi weapon, a High-tech Weapon that hadn't even been researched and manufactured in the real world yet. This most expensive weapon was actually exchanged by Chu Xuan for him, which made Zheng Zha even more confused. He increasingly believed that Chu Xuan must have devised some scheme, but it just hadn't been revealed yet.

During dinner, everyone gathered at Zhang Jie's house for a meal. Again, there were all sorts of precious ingredients, and with the cooking skills of the classical beauty surpassing even a master chef, everyone's eating could be described as gluttonous and silly. Even the usually aloof Chu Xuan was the same, even belonging to the most ferocious eaters among them.

After dinner, everyone proposed to gather at the plaza at ten o'clock the next morning to send Zheng Zha back to the real world... Even a brief return to the real world was a near-impossible hope for those living in terror. Compared to horror, peace was like heaven.

Another night passed without incident, with only groans filling the room...

At ten o'clock the next day, everyone stood silently in the plaza, looking at each other. Zheng Zha closed his eyes and was communicating with the Main God. After a moment, he raised his left hand and looked at his storage ring. The people around him were puzzled, only Chu Xuan asked faintly, "Did you exchange something and put it in the storage ring?"

"En, I exchanged one cubic meter of platinum," Zheng Zha said with a helpless smile. "My family isn't wealthy. My parents' retirement pensions are just enough to get by. Anyway, it's worth a try. If these things can be brought back to the real world, at least I can leave some pension for my parents. And Lily's parents spent a lot of money to treat her illness, and their financial situation hasn't been good all along... Anyway, I have to try. If I can make my parents and family secure, I can struggle in the Horror Movies with peace of mind."

Loli stood obediently beside Zheng Zha. When she heard about her parents' situation, the little girl's eyes immediately turned red. Zhan Lan, who was nearby, was thoughtful. She took out a handkerchief and gently handed it to Loli. The little girl immediately gave her a grateful smile.

Zheng Zha smiled wryly and took Loli's hand. He carefully checked the items he needed to carry: the submachine gun and ammunition, the dagger, the bulletproof vest, and some leftover hemostatic agents and bandages. These were all placed in the storage ring, along with one cubic meter of platinum. The entire storage ring was almost full. As for the shock-absorbing shoes, he wore them on his feet. He basically brought everything he could. Now he just needed to confirm whether the items here could be brought back to the real world... this included Loli.

This was also one of the important reasons why he agreed to go back: to confirm whether Loli could return to the real world, not just be a phantom created by the Main God. Dreams were good, but they would eventually end. Rather than invest emotions and then be sad, it was better to get it over with in one go. He needed to know if all of this was an illusion!

"Then... let's go!"

Zheng Zha exchanged thirty days of survival time in the real world, which was 1500 Reward Points. He originally had 4170 Reward Points. Excluding these 1500 Reward Points, he had 2670 Reward Points left. He had spent 10 Reward Points to exchange for one cubic meter of platinum earlier. He had also strengthened his Nerve Reaction Speed and Muscle Strength by one hundred points each, leaving him with 660 Reward Points.

Previously, his attributes were Intelligence 187, Mental Power 232, Cell Vitality 321, Nerve Reaction Speed 287, Muscle Strength 302, and Immunity Strength 331. After the enhancement, his Nerve Reaction Speed and Muscle Strength had become 387 and 402 points respectively. In simpler terms, he was four times stronger than an ordinary person in these two attributes.

Putting these matters aside for now, Zheng Zha tightly held Loli's small hand, even the grip was a little uncontrollable. He closed his eyes and contacted the "Main God." After strengthening his physical attributes, he finally exchanged for the option to return to the real world, for a duration of thirty days!

Zheng Zha only felt a flash before his eyes, and he entered a semi-conscious state again. He didn't know how long it took, maybe an instant, maybe a long time. When he regained his senses, he was standing in a rather small office. This was where he worked in the real world. And beside him...

Loli's eyes were teary, yet she smiled charmingly. Their hands were still tightly clasped, never separating even a bit.

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Student Living with Teacher