life copy game

Chapter 1626 Fragments (Long Chapter, Requesting Monthly Tickets)

"Wait, so what are you talking about?" Finn asked again, bewildered.

“Simply put,” Heo looked at him and explained, “someone is playing hide-and-seek with us, and we have to catch him.”

"So what are we supposed to do?" Finn asked again, still confused.

“Let’s find a pond,” He Ao turned his head and glanced at both sides. “I know where there’s a pond. Let’s go back first.”

The three followed He Ao's footsteps and quickly arrived at the back door, which was the entrance patrolled by security guards.

He Ao slowly opened the door a crack again and looked out at the pond.

The area in front of this door is low-lying and has a large area of ​​standing water. Loren used to love squatting in front of this door on rainy days to watch the raindrops hit the water.

There are no waterlogged areas in front of the main entrance or side entrance. If you leave the building far away, you are likely to encounter a 'ghost' and have no chance to come back.

The ghost's 'sight' is an instant-death attack.

In comparison, the behavior patterns of the security guards at the back door are easier to predict.

"Look at the reflection."

He Ao pointed to the flooded area and whispered.

The two people behind him lowered their heads and looked at the pond.

Raindrops fell on the pond, creating ripples.

And in those ripples, a somewhat old building was reflected.

The sky had already darkened, and the reflections of the buildings rippled in the water, appearing even more blurred.

“That building in the reflection doesn’t seem quite the same as the real building,” Reed, standing next to Heo, pondered.

“It seems a bit older,” Finn pondered, looking at the blurry reflection. “There’s a layer of hazy gray on it.”

thump—

Just then, they heard light footsteps ahead.

Everyone immediately shrank back, waiting for the security guards to come over.

He Ao then reached into his pocket and pulled out a black fragment.

“If the reflection in the pond is the inner space,” Reed said in a low voice as he waited for the security guard’s footsteps to pass, “we still can’t get in. We’ve stepped into the pond from the outside and haven’t fallen directly into the inner space. To enter this space, we must have to meet some special rules.”

“Yes.” He Ao nodded, then turned to the side, reached out of the water, pinched the black fragment in his hand, and slowly lowered it downwards.

As he moved, half of the black fragment gradually disappeared into the water.

"This fragment can enter the inner space?" Reed's eyes widened upon seeing this.

"Where?" Finn poked his head out from the side. "How did you know?"

“Look at the part of the fragment that’s submerged in the water,” He Ao said slowly, staring at the fragment in his hand. “Normally, when a piece of material is submerged in water, it will refract. You’ll see that the part submerged and the part above the water are slightly bent.”

He continued what he was doing, “But you see, after this fragment went into the water, its reflection in the water didn’t bend.”

“That’s right,” Finn’s eyes widened, “this fragment fell into the water and it just floated in the air, without changing anything, as if it passed through a layer of air…”

He paused, momentarily unable to recall the words to describe the scene.

"barrier."

He Ao picked up where he left off, pressing his hand down, but only touching the ground beneath the water's surface, where even the black fragments showed refracted light.

He quickly grabbed the shards, pulled his hand back, wiped the water stains off his clothes, closed the door, and pulled the other two away.

Soon, a footstep slowly stopped outside the door, looking into the room through the window.

After noticing the empty doorway, he looked away and continued forward.

The three people inside the house had already run into the corridor.

“We don’t have enough fragments,” He Ao said slowly, picking up the black fragment in his hand. “One fragment isn’t enough for us to open the passage to the inner space.”

"So, Loren, where did you get this fragment?" Finn asked, somewhat puzzled.

“The child who was caught by the ‘ghost’ fell down,” Heo said slowly. “I went out earlier to retrieve it.”

"That child's?" Finn asked, scratching his head. "Do I have it too?"

He turned around, looked around, and quickly found a black fragment under the hem of his clothes. "I really do have one!"

He handed the fragment to He Ao, "Are two pieces enough?"

“That shouldn’t be enough,” Heo shook his head slightly, looking at Finn. “We need more fragments, and I need you to do me a favor.”

"Just tell me," Finn said readily, looking at Heo as if he had already guessed what Heo was thinking.

“I need you to get me the fragments from the other children,” He Ao looked at him, paused for a moment, and said slowly, “You know, I don’t get along with them…”

“It’s alright,” Finn laughed, “Leave it to me.”

Then he paused, thinking, and said, "Most of the children are decorating the welcome classroom, where there are no teachers, so it should be easy to get them. But there are also a few children in the kitchen helping the teachers prepare meals."

He looked at He Ao and said, "Once you're in the kitchen, you can't run around or talk nonsense, or you'll be punished by the teacher."

“The kitchen should be a restricted area,” Reed pondered, “any unusual behavior could be ‘punished’.”

“Let’s leave the kitchen for now,” Heo shook his head, looked at Finn, and said seriously, “I’ll leave the classroom stuff to you.”

“Of course,” Finn patted his chest, “this is the first time you’ve asked me to do something, I guarantee I’ll complete the task.”

After saying that, he walked directly into the depths of the corridor.

Reed watched Finn happily stride into the corridor, then turned to Heo and asked, "Does he think of you as some kind of romanceable character in a dating sim? He gets this excited over just one mission?"

He Ao:

He glanced at Reed. "What games did you play when you were young?"

“Who hasn’t been young?” Reed shook his head and laughed.

His chubby, adorable face, coupled with his mature and sophisticated manner, seemed a little out of place.

“To be honest,” Reed said, watching Finn walk away, “do you really think he’s trustworthy? He’s an anomaly.”

“I don’t know,” He Ao shook his head, “but the characters in the anomaly may still have their own feelings.”

Reed looked up and glanced at Heo.

He suddenly remembered that when he came, 'Loren' had brought the little doll girl named 'Siwei' directly with him.

Siwei is also an existence within the 'abnormal' category.

“Perhaps you have a completely different perspective from us,” he sighed softly, “after all, you’re used to communicating with beings within the anomalies.”

At this point, he glanced down the corridor. "Besides, you're already familiar with this place."

From a purely unfamiliar perspective, this anomaly, even on the seemingly 'peaceful' surface, is extremely dangerous.

The 'ghost' roaming the square, indiscriminately killing people, the 'security guards' with keen intuition who can enforce punishments, and even a seemingly 'cute' child like Finn, may all carry some kind of dangerous rules within them.

But 'Loren' managed to make himself at home here by relying on his 'familiarity' with the place and his own identity.

Although in a sense, this place did indeed serve as Loren's 'temporary home' for a period of time.

“Actually, it’s my identity that’s important,” Heo said casually as he watched Finn walk into the classroom in the corner. “This orphanage still ‘remembers’ me, and the children here still consider me their ‘comrade.’ That’s why I can move around freely here.”

He said calmly, “This ‘orphanage’ still has a ‘vacancy’ reserved for me.”

Upon hearing this, Reed paused slightly, realizing something.

He Ao had already turned his gaze to the other side of the corridor. "Let's go. There's a fragment that might require our cooperation to retrieve."

"In the kitchen?" Reed pondered.

“No, outside.” He Ao shook his head.

He walked quickly and soon reached a spot in the middle of the corridor. "But first, we need to find another 'teammate'."

He looked up at the large, fat man hanging on the wall.

"Uh-huh--"

The fat man stared at He Ao with anger on his face. His mouth was taped shut, and his body was shaking violently, as if he had a lot to say to He Ao.

"Can you please keep quiet for now?" He Ao looked at him and said slowly.

"Ugh ugh ugh—" The fat man continued to struggle violently.

“Keep quiet first, then we can discuss putting you down,” He Ao continued.

The fat man stared at He Ao, hesitated for a moment, then slowly stopped struggling and fell silent.

“We’re going to do something in a bit, and we need your cooperation. Also, I need that piece of metal from your waist,” He Ao said directly, looking at him. “If you’re willing to cooperate, I’ll put you down, but you have to promise that you won’t tell the teacher or betray us.”

"Mmm-mmm-mmm—" The fat man looked at He Ao and immediately became excited, starting to mumble again.

"Nod if you agree, shake your head if you disagree," He Ao said directly, looking at him.

The fat man paused for a moment, then nodded slightly.

Then Heo gestured for Reed to step back, and he also moved away, raising the folding knife in his hand.

boom--

Accompanied by the crisp sound of the folding blade slicing through the air and striking the button.

click -

The lock that was holding the fat man loosened, and the fat man fell to the ground.

He Ao walked over and reached out to help the fat man up.

Fatty looked at He Ao and subconsciously tried to break free, but found that his hand was as if it were firmly stuck in a hydraulic clamp and he could not move. On the contrary, because of his struggle, He Ao's grip tightened and squeezed his wrist until it turned red.

He looked at the 'thin' He Ao and shrank back.

“Now you should keep your promise,” He Ao said directly, glancing at the fragments at his waist.

The fat man hesitated for a moment, then took the fragment from his waist and handed it to He Ao.

He Ao put away the fragments, glanced at Reed who had walked behind the fat man, and then looked back at the fat man. "Come with us."

The fat man hesitated for a moment, glanced back at Reed who was blocking his way from behind, and followed Heo's steps.

The group continued forward and soon arrived at the porch where He Ao had first entered.

He Ao glanced at the open small door.

It was quiet and empty outside the door; the little girl in the white dress, the 'ghost,' had vanished without a trace.

He Ao turned around, looked at the fat man, and said slowly, "You wait here for us to come back. We'll go and make some preparations first."

After saying that, he ripped the tape off the fat man's mouth, put it in his pocket, gave a knowing look, and then turned and walked back into the corridor.

Reed followed Heo and quickly walked into the corridor.

Only then did he slowly ask, "Why did you save him? This kid doesn't seem honest."

"That depends on him," He Ao said casually.

Reed glanced back at the long, narrow corridor, which was empty and quiet.

The fat man didn't run away immediately after they left.

Soon, they arrived at the door of a classroom.

He Ao reached out and pushed open the classroom door.

A dozen or so old electronic drawing boards, several sheets of drawing paper scattered on the ground, and a pile of paint palettes came into Reed's view.

"What is this place? Is it an art studio?" Reed asked curiously. "Does this orphanage have such advanced facilities?"

“Yes,” He Ao glanced at the canvases and nodded slightly. “I set it up when I first arrived. It was supposedly donated by an art education institution. They donated some old equipment and some old drawing paper. Many of the functions were no longer usable, but the director still managed to create an art studio.”

He walked slowly forward, his thin figure passing through the electronic drawing boards. "In the first month, the teachers organized everyone to draw a lot of pictures. Then it seems that people from the municipal government came to inspect something and took pictures. After that, the art studio was never used again."

"It sounds like the review process for an orphanage applying for government subsidies," Reed sighed softly.

"Hmm." He Ao nodded gently, stopping outside a closed window.

He stood by the window and glanced at the quiet square outside in the rain.

Then he reached out, unlocked the latch, and pushed open the window.

He leaned out and climbed over the window.

Seeing this, Reed followed Heo and climbed out of the window, but he was smaller and it took him a bit of effort to climb over the windowsill.

As soon as he landed, just as he was about to say something, he saw He Ao make a shushing gesture at him.

Then he saw a little girl in a white dress standing to the side of the open door, looking at it from a distance.

Seeing this scene, he felt a chill run down his spine. If they had come out directly through that small door, they would have been caught red-handed by the little girl in the white dress.

At that very moment, the little girl in the white dress seemed to sense something.

Reed felt his hand being grabbed, and with a quick roll, he hid behind a trash can not far away, getting stuck in the white-dressed girl's blind spot.

At this moment, the girl in the white dress turned her gaze over and looked in their direction.

She glanced at the empty area, then looked away.

It was then that Reed realized that Heo had closed all the open windows at some point.

Just then, He Ao gently patted his shoulder, gestured for him to stay, and then slowly walked towards the edge of the trash can.

Requesting monthly tickets at the beginning of the month