Time travel is risky, and love requires caution

When Ling Qiqi woke up, she was a little dazed and didn't know what year it was.

She looked around. The light was dim and she seemed to be lying on a boat.

Yes, on the boat, not on the bed.

To be precise, it is a long and narrow boat that can only accommodate one person.

There is a lamp on the bow, emitting warm light.

Is there a light? An electric light?

So now it's modern times, and she really wore it back?

Ling Qiqi's heart beat faster and she was a little excited, but she couldn't figure out whether it was because she was leaving or because she came back.

Suddenly, a voice came from somewhere in the boat, startling her.

"The game is over, welcome back. Please stay in the rebirth ship and do not get off the ship midway."

Ling Qiqi found it funny. "The Ship to the Dead"? This game was really mysterious, and it was also very professional, playing the whole game.

It is called a boat, but there is no water around it, it is just a boat-shaped bed.

There was a track under the boat, and the boat was fully equipped with bedding and pillows. Just by looking at the shape of the mattress after sleeping, you could tell that Ling Qiqi had been lying here for quite some time.

Ling Qiqi sat numbly on the boat bed, letting the boat carry her away.

The unmanned boat quickly followed the track to an antique tea stall, where a woman dressed in simple ancient costume was waiting for her.

"Hello, welcome back."

Ling Qiqi looked at the other party blankly and asked:

"Qi Qing?"

"You think I'm a character in the game, right? Some of the characters in our game are modeled after the appearance of some of our staff members."

"Oh, that's a weird imitation, so may I ask who you are?

"I am your exclusive customer service, you can call me Meng Po."

"What kind of name is that? It's so creepy. Whoever dares to ask for your service must be tired of living."

"Meng Po" said very politely:

"I need to conduct a satisfaction survey on the first batch of reviewers. Please cooperate with me. Are you satisfied with our game? Do you have any suggestions or comments for us to improve?"

"Tester? Me?"

"Yes, this theme game of ours was developed not long ago and is currently in the evaluation stage. Guests in the secret room will be randomly selected to experience it. You are very lucky."

"Randomly selected?"

“It’s not completely random, it’s conditionally random.”

"What conditions?"

"Single player."

"How did you know I was single?"

"It's obvious that you're single."

"Then I'm damn lucky.

"You can drink the soup first and talk while you drink it."

Ling Qiqi looked at the large bowl handed to her, feeling that the water was of unknown origin, and asked cautiously:

"What kind of soup is this? Don't tell me this is......"

"Meng Po soup."

"I'm not thirsty. Excuse me, what time is it now? No, what time is it?"

"It was just after nine in the evening."

"Nine o'clock in what year and month?"

"9:00 p.m. on X/X/XX."

"What? I stayed there for eight hours?"

"The game time is indeed a bit long. You should drink some soup first. There are a small amount of nutrients added to it to prevent you from fainting."

Ling Qiqi suddenly felt thirsty, and drank the "Meng Po Soup" in one breath, then wiped her mouth and said:

"I mean, in eight hours, a person's life is over? Well, 'over' is not a derogatory term, it just means literally."

“Every player has a different time.”

"How do you manage to make people live a lifetime in just a few hours?"

"It's pure dry goods. You can fast forward or skip the unimportant plots. It's like a TV series. If each episode is 40 minutes, there are about ten episodes. What's more, it's a single perspective of the player and the plot is compact."

"I haven't eaten or drunk anything for eight hours?"

"People sleep for about eight hours a day. You can think of it as light fasting. It won't affect your health."

"I didn't complete the mission, so I got the lunch box midway. What about the others? They won't be hungry forever, right?"

"We will adjust the difficulty of the mission appropriately to indirectly control the length of the game. If the game lasts more than ten hours, a natural disaster will be inserted to force players to quit."

"Awesome, like God."

“Thank you for your recognition of our game.”

"Am I sure? I'm sorry to bother asking you. Can't this test be purely voluntary? Also, since I took the test without knowing it, can I ask for compensation?"

"...Dear, the development cost of our game is very high. Once it is officially launched, the price of ordinary tickets will be 8888 yuan, and the price of VIP tickets will be higher, and it will be sold in limited quantities. You are now experiencing the new game for free, and it is a VIP limited edition."

"so what?"

“So, we’ve given you a free ticket.”

"Meng Po, this is what's going on. First, I don't want to try it. Who says that people want free things? Is it so easy to get a bargain? Second, did you ask me for my opinion before you asked me to try it? You can't force me to buy or sell, right? Do you respect me? Third, you took up eight hours of my time, eight whole hours. Time is life. Love is worthless, but life is very precious. In a word, I can't work for you for eight hours for nothing."

"...we can pay you up to $100 an hour."

"how much is it?"

"100 yuan an hour."

"100? No, that's too cheap. You just said that this is a VIP limited edition. Have you ever heard of a 100-yuan VIP? Besides, your job is high-risk, so it should be at least 500 yuan an hour."

"It's just a game experience, how can it be considered dangerous? You must be joking."

"If you get too deep into the role and can't get out of it, there will be sequelae, okay? What if you become disappointed with the real world and become depressed? In short, the consequences are very serious."

"We have already thought about this. We have professional psychologists who can provide psychological counseling after the game is over, and can use hypnosis to make players forget their experiences in the game so that they can return to their original lives."

"Forget? Then what's the point of playing games?"

"It's all about the process. Isn't real life the same?"

"That's different. Death doesn't end everything. Other people's lives continue, and someone will remember you. But games are different. When the game ends, it's over."

"The system saves every player's game data, so in a sense, you are not forgotten."

"So what? It's just a game record. It means nothing."

"Others may not have it, but you are different. Your game record is very special. We will conduct a comprehensive study later."

"Special? Me? How special?"