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After Saving The Universe A Thousand Times: Chapter 24
Chapter 24: Mirage 1
Under Lei Ming’s nerve-wracking blessing, the seven-day rest period finally came to an end.
When Dong Jin regained consciousness and woke up, he found himself standing on the deck of a luxurious cruise ship, gazing into the distance.
In the next moment, a verdant island surrounded by sea on all sides entered his view.
At the same time, the young men and women around him, each with their unique styles, raised their selfie sticks and began talking to the cameras attached to their phones:
“Dear viewers in the live chat, we’re about to arrive at Mirage Island!”
“I’ve always heard that people and monsters coexist harmoniously on Mirage Island. I’ll take you to see if that’s true in a bit. What? You’re telling me not to fall for anyone on the island? Of course, I won’t! No matter how beautiful or handsome those humanoid monsters are.”
“Relax. Not only those monsters, but even when facing humans like me, I’ll remain completely heartless. After all, I’m here for the ‘No Heartbeat 1’ challenge. How could I possibly fall in love so easily?”
“The only ones who could make me fall in love are you, my dear viewers in the live chat! So, my darlings, please help me gain more popularity over the next ten days. My life is in your hands…”
In this chaotic and noisy environment, Dong Jin glanced at the live-streaming phone in his hand.
After piecing together bits of information from the overly loud conversations around him and the sparse clues revealed in the comments section of his own live chat, Dong Jin barely managed to figure out his current situation.
In this instance, he seemed to be a streamer traveling to Mirage Island to broadcast his experience.
Mirage Island, renowned as a “vacation paradise,” was reportedly going to be submerged by a massive tsunami in ten days.
Thus, an unconventional organizer had invited 1,000 streamers, ranging from famous to obscure, to participate in a ten-day No Heartbeat Challenge under the theme: Will you suddenly fall for someone before the end of the world?
During these ten days, streamers could use the popularity points earned from their live chats to redeem anything money could buy—including tickets for ships and planes, entire cruise ships, or even helicopters.
As for what would happen to those with high emotional fluctuation scores or insufficient popularity by the end of the ten days… Who knew?
Perhaps they’d be taken away by the organizer, or perhaps they’d remain on the island to be submerged with it.
As a trial participant, Dong Jin didn’t even need to think about it to know that the latter was the more likely outcome.
While Dong Jin assessed the situation, the cruise ship continued speeding ahead. In less than a minute, Mirage Island was already in sight.
Quickly grabbing the backpack beside him, Dong Jin took a few steps off the ship and stopped not far from the stairs.
He wanted to try using the “Eye of Truth” to count how many of the 1,000 streamers disembarking with him were also trial participants.
However, due to the sheer number of people on the cruise ship blocking his view, Dong Jin could only make a rough estimate of about 100 after scanning the disembarking crowd.
Seeing this, Dong Jin casually pulled down the brim of the baseball cap he had taken from his backpack.
Now, his face was practically world-renowned outside the instance. Even though he had only shown it briefly just now, many trial participants had keenly noticed his presence.
Under such circumstances, where everyone silently regarded him as a target, this time, his clearance process would definitely not be as smooth as the previous solo instance.
But Dong Jin didn’t care.
From the moment he chose to participate in the Divine Selection and aimed to achieve MVP, he had already mentally prepared himself to be an enemy of the world.
What did a few stares matter now?
At this moment, he simply gazed calmly at the instance details that instantly refreshed on his game panel the moment he set foot on Mirage Island.
[Instance Name: Mirage] [Instance Type: Multiplayer Instance] [Instance Background: You are an unknown streamer who has just arrived on Mirage Island. In pursuit of overnight fame, you are willing to risk death to join 999 other streamers in a No Heartbeat Challenge on this island where humans and monsters coexist.] [Main Task: Escape the island within 10 days.] [Side Task 1: Maintain the top popularity rank at the end of daily settlement at midnight.] [Clearance Reward: Determined by clearance evaluation.]Mirage? Dong Jin unconsciously furrowed his brows upon seeing the instance’s name.
Mirage, also known as Shenjing 2.
Given that the entire instance took place on Mirage Island, naming it this way didn’t seem problematic.
However, recalling how the previous instance deliberately named itself Descent of the Gods and the subtle irony embedded within, Dong Jin couldn’t help but feel there was something strange about this instance’s name as well.
Forget it. Without clues, overthinking would be nothing more than blind speculation.
Letting go of that fleeting thought, Dong Jin lifted his gaze, scanning the rows of guesthouses ahead, and then, following the address pinned at the top of his live chat, walked directly toward his residence for the next ten days.
His accommodation was located at the very front of all the guesthouses, the one closest to the sea.
Moreover, he was staying on the top floor of the guesthouse.
As for why he was assigned to this room… Dong Jin scrolled through a barrage of comments on his phone calling him “husband” or “wife” and eventually fixed his gaze on the Popularity NO. 1 label adorned with a pure gold crown at the top of his live chat, his expression remaining devoid of any surprise.
Because even if he made no effort to interact with the audience, even if he deliberately wore pure black contact lenses to obscure his original eye color, anyone with functioning eyes could not overlook his face.
This face, forged over twenty years and completing a chain of evolution spanning millions of years, was beautiful to the point of surpassing the limits of humanity.
Just based on that face, which defies description even with the sun, moon, and stars, his position as No. 1 on the first day would remain unshaken.
The “Side Mission 1” on his panel earlier was likely triggered because of this.
Of course, relying solely on looks to reach the top would only work for the first day.
Dong Jin was far from foolish enough to underestimate the abilities of the other trial participants.
As the 1,000 streamers were dispersed to various homestays, fewer people accompanied Dong Jin toward the front, allowing him a broader view. This was when he spotted a familiar face in the crowd—Fei Lin.
To encounter each other in the same trial among countless trial participants was already rare. Judging from their routes, it seemed highly likely they would be staying in the same homestay. Such a coincidence felt almost too deliberate.
It seemed he and this lady truly had some fate as teammates.
However, this instance likely wouldn’t require mind-reading skills, and she didn’t seem keen to associate with someone like him, a target for all.
With this thought, Dong Jin abandoned the idea of initiating a greeting and merely passed by Fei Lin, who was staying on the first floor, as if they were strangers meeting by chance.
When he climbed the wooden stairs to the top floor and was about to unlock the door, he suddenly heard a clicking sound from the door behind him—a lock being turned from the inside.
Dong Jin hadn’t walked slowly earlier. He was certain no other streamer could have reached the top floor of the homestay ahead of him, let alone finished unpacking and come out by now.
Thus, whoever was behind him now had to be someone originally residing there.
Perhaps it wasn’t even human.
Recalling a headline he had glimpsed earlier while searching tsunami news on his phone—《Global Spiritual Energy Revival: Humans and Monsters Should Coexist》—it wouldn’t be surprising if what emerged from that door now was a monster.
Facing such a potentially dangerous individual, Dong Jin didn’t rush to enter his room.
Though he had already turned the key in the lock, he pretended to drop it. As he bent to pick up the key, he seized the moment to glance at the tenant approaching him from behind.
From his angle, the first thing he saw was a pair of sharp-toed black leather shoes, followed by black suit pants, a black shirt, then hair streaked with black and gold, and finally, a pair of dark golden eyes—eyes he had seen countless times in his midnight dreams.
The moment Dong Jin recognized the face, he swiftly picked up the key, turned the doorknob, and entered his room.
—Because it was Lei Ming.
Even if his hair was no longer silver-gray, even if he no longer wore that eerie mask, how could Dong Jin possibly fail to recognize him?
[???: Male, adult monster.] [He revels in the night and adores drama.] [He possesses a body forged in fire and blood.] [Every muscle fiber radiates the ultimate terror.] [With sheer physical strength alone, ten of you wouldn’t match him in a single round.] [But due to some unspeakable secrets, his current condition seems to be less than optimal.] [Perhaps in the coming days, under the stage of daytime, it might just be the best time to deal with him.]Thanks to the comprehensive enhancements from the last trial, Dong Jin’s use of the “Eye of Truth” now revealed far more information than before.
Previously, he had been puzzled as to why Lei Ming had walked past him without so much as a glance, wearing that desolate expression that seemed to reach into his very bones—a look that suggested he hadn’t recognized him at all. This was someone who, even with the gaze of viewers separated by an entire planet, could immediately pinpoint Dong Jin’s existence. Could he truly be so blind now?
But it couldn’t be that Lei Ming was deliberately keeping his distance to help conceal Dong Jin’s identity.
Because that guy didn’t have the acting skills for that.
Eliminating all impossibilities, only one likely explanation remained: he had sealed away his past memories.
The place in the “Eye of Truth” where “Lei Ming” should have appeared now displayed “??,” and the phrase “unspeakable secrets” mentioned in the sixth line further corroborated Dong Jin’s hypothesis.
Lei Ming’s memory loss was practically a foregone conclusion.
The question now was, how did he lose his memory?
Though Lei Ming had recently reported Kai on the grounds that “Kai regained his memory in the instance and tried to descend as a god,” the God of Night and Drama was hardly a rule-abiding figure.
To put it bluntly, there was no way Lei Ming would honestly seal his memories to enter the instance!
If he truly intended to play by the rules, why wouldn’t he have mentioned anything about it yesterday on Calamity Star?
So the memory loss was most likely an accident.
Thinking of that God of Revelry, now stuck on the commentator’s seat thanks to Lei Ming, Dong Jin suddenly had a flash of insight:
Could it be that Lei Ming, while trying to exploit a loophole, got caught in one of Kai’s traps instead? Could this have resulted in Lei Ming losing his memory upon entering the instance?
If that’s the case, when will this endless cycle of revenge between these two ever end…
Amid this rapid mental deduction, Dong Jin’s gaze shifted momentarily to the heart rate monitor on his wrist.
When he suddenly saw Lei Ming earlier, even though he quickly suppressed his surprise, there had still been a slight fluctuation in his heart rate. Until he fully understood the specific rules of the instance, he would have to be more cautious in the future to avoid overreacting like that.
As for Lei Ming, since he had no memories, they were strangers.
Dong Jin only needed to treat him as an ordinary BOSS with maxed-out combat stats.
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