It's so painful! So hard! So difficult!

"Besides, if he can live, then he can live. If he can't, then it's none of my business. I was the one who saved him in the first place. You can't blame me if I accidentally killed him."

"You, why do you talk about life so casually?"

Firefox questioned Bai Lin angrily. Bai Lin smiled and said,

"You're not so casual, so why not see if you can get him back to your base while he's still alive? You're the only one here with such a kind heart, and we won't just sit there and wait for you to come back. Besides, even if you go back and forth alone, you might not be able to save him."

"I……"

Fire Fox was stunned for a moment by this, then turned his head away in disgust.

"Whatever you want, I don't know where I got the heart to save you. This is seriously the worst decision I've made today."

"Alright, you two, stop arguing. Rin is also using her own way and experience to wake someone up, it just seems more casual."

Katie Pello immediately interjected to smooth things over, while Firefox replied in disbelief,

"How can this possibly wake up a dying person—"

"Cough cough cough..."

At this moment, the man suddenly started coughing violently, as if choked. Then, he slowly opened his eyes with great difficulty.

"Office slaves are like this. They are creatures with tenacious vitality. Every day, they are forced to work hard by life, crushed back and forth by the wheel of fate, and they have to wait until 8 am to get to work. They only stay up late and work overtime because they deceive themselves that their hard work will eventually pay off."

"He's willing to go to work rather than die, so his desire to live must be extremely strong."

Bai Lin said this with a slight smile, and the office worker he was evaluating ruffled his non-existent hair, then wiped the corner of his mouth with foam, and said with difficulty, hoarseness, but firmly,

"You're wrong. We're not lying to ourselves. Something real is driving me, and that's why I'm still alive today. We tell ourselves we can hold on, we can get through every day. That's why we can bow and scrape to leaders who ramble on and on, but say nothing useful. That's how we can get through countless days and nights without even realizing our bodies are breaking down."

When he said this, his temperament, which had seemed extremely weak due to his thinning hair, suddenly seemed to brighten up, making people feel that he was a little handsome. However, the next second——

"But damn, how can you casually judge a stranger the same way you would an animal? Are we that familiar, huh?"

It's reasonable to assume that office workers are indifferent to everything, a form of numbness to human emotions. But in reality, it's precisely because of long periods of repression that people, on the brink of death, become incredibly sensitive and resilient. Imagine someone learning they have a terminal illness—would they still tolerate bullying from their colleagues and boss? Absolutely not!

"Stop talking nonsense, you balding middle-aged bastard! I'm your savior, and can't you just give me a few words of praise?"

"Oh, you saved me. It's okay then. Thank God, and thank you so much."

Within a second, the situation was reversed. Bai Lin certainly wouldn't give in to anyone else, and when the office worker heard what had happened, he instantly forgot about what had just happened. The two looked at each other and laughed.

Yes, that's the trade-off adults make. Dignity is important, but it's different from gratitude. Back in school, high school and college boys probably had countless "sons." But in reality, being that "adopted son" can sometimes be much more satisfying than being a father.

Of course, this is also a kind of indifference.

Seeing Bai Lin patting the other person's shoulder, stuffing the food in his hand into his hand, and saying "brother, take your time eating" as he exchanged pleasantries, Firefox couldn't help but feel that his already tangled thoughts became even more confused.

"They...seem to have a very good relationship."

"Just chatting. Some creatures are naturally more compatible with each other."

Katie replied with a sideways look, and Firefox was naturally more willing to chat with this only "normal person". She coughed twice and said,

"In that case, as a welcome after-dinner treat and as a token of my gratitude for this meal, please feel free to ask me any questions you may have."

"Then let's start by introducing ourselves!"

Bai Lin's voice was so sudden,

"Who wants to introduce themselves?! What's important right now is information, information exchange. This isn't some social gathering."

"Really? I think chatting with each other before doing something together can help build relationships and trust. I think there are often such plots in games and movies, right? It makes me feel warm."

Chapter 1096 Where did you come from?

"Uncle, what do you think?"

"Huh? As for me... I feel like this kind of heart-to-heart conversation between the team is more like a flag. It's inevitable that someone will sacrifice themselves afterwards. It's basically like this in all the games I've played."

"Uncle, what era are you from? That kind of thing is no longer popular."

"Please be considerate of the fact that the last time I played a game was thirty years ago, young brat!"

The uncle said this to Bai Lin in a bad mood. They were chatting happily, but Firefox on the other side was even more confused. There were a lot of nouns in it that made her feel incredible. However, she still caught the key words,

"Wait a minute, who said I'd be moving with you guys later?"

"But there's no harm in that, right? There's no conflict of interest between us. We just need to clear the level here, no competition required. Wouldn't it be nice to go together?"

Bai Lin raised his eyes, and this time he finally said something nice to Firefox.

"Of course, I wouldn't bother to keep you if you don't want to join me. Let's part ways amicably after this meal and go about our business. What about you, uncle? Don't you want to join us...?"

"As for me, although I want to say that you three are young girls and must be protected by reliable adults! But this place is really not normal, and to be honest, I am a little helpless. Rather than protecting you, it's me who was saved from a desperate situation by you."

The uncle crossed his legs, took the food handed to him by Bai Lin, took a bite, then put his hands on his legs and said solemnly,

"After all, if we walk together and help each other, it will be safer, right?"

"Indeed, but everyone has their own reasons for choosing."

Katie Pello smiled faintly, agreeing with the other party's idea, and stretched out her hand to Firefox.

"Anyway, it's nice to meet you. My name is Al, and I'm a human magician. I'm currently working hard to complete this fatal game."

After so many words, and with Al, who made the best impression on him, inviting him, Firefox had no reason to refuse.

"My name is Ba, and I'm a warrior from the Flame Fox clan. Please take care of me."

"Why do I feel like you're the kind of person who gets pulled up on stage at the beginning of the school year to introduce themselves, barely says a few words, and then runs off. Do you really not want to chat with us?"

As soon as the words fell, Bai Lin started to complain again. She had been disgusted by others before, so she naturally knew how to disgust others. Ba couldn't help it in an instant,

"I really don't want to chat with you. All you say is nonsense and words I can't understand. Talking to you is simply torture."

"Thank you. Well, my name is Rin. I'm a spirit and an adventurer. I came here to conquer this maze."

After Bai Lin finished speaking, he looked at the uncle. The uncle scratched his chin, feeling that he didn't fit in with these three young and energetic girls, but he also spoke politely,

"Honestly, I don't remember my name... but I'm 48, a corporate slave, and I work 150 hours a week. The last thing I remember was when I was on my way to work and suddenly saw a flash of white light, and then I came here. I must have traveled through time."

"However, my purpose is different from yours. I'm here to look for someone."

"Oh? You came in suddenly, but you're looking for someone?"

"Well, I can feel that someone I know is inside this maze. Maybe that's where it's going. Following this feeling, I've rarely reached a dead end. But the situation here is too difficult for me to handle. Just trying to find the right path is exhausting."

The uncle replied to Bai Lin's question. Bai Lin quickly realized the situation and continued to talk about the other party's situation. Tomoe, on the other hand, had a very suspicious expression.

First, she couldn't see through the identity of the man before her. Although he looked human, his essence was vastly different from that of El beside him. She couldn't sense any magical energy flowing from him. His clothes were made of flimsy fabric, and even his muscles were flabby. He looked unhealthy, as if he could die at any moment. He was a complete weakling.

But it was precisely this that made it so hard to see through. He had arrived here "suddenly," unlike everyone else. "Finding people" and "feelings"—these guiding abilities were too subtle and far-fetched.

It was like telling myself that if I followed him, I would be able to get out of this maze. Is it normal for such a person to suddenly appear in a maze?

Not at all.

"By the way, I was a little out of breath just now. The air here doesn't seem very healthy. Are you all okay? Is it because I traveled through another world?"

The uncle asked this, and Katie Pello answered patiently.

"This place will continue to deplete your oxygen reserves, uncle. But it's okay, I've used magic to help you stay alive."

"Oh, thank you so much."

"Speaking of which, uncle, your tolerance for this place is quite high, isn't it? For someone who last played a game thirty years ago?"

"Hahaha, but if you don't accept the current situation and keep going, you won't be able to survive, and you won't be able to find the person you're looking for, right?"

The uncle replied with a laugh, and Firefox couldn't see any falsehood in his expression. But the more he spoke, the more confused she became.

Could it be that this is a new doll made by the maze master? I really don't understand, I'll just take a look.

"Okay, then let's rest for a while and then we'll set off. Uncle, you were just injured, and although you've been treated, you still need to recover for a while. We'll set off when you feel you're ready. It's relatively safe here, and you don't have to worry about delaying us for too long. After all, I'm also impressed by your ability to lead the way."

"Hey, little girl, you're really straightforward. I prefer people who speak directly. In the workplace, people always beat around the bush. Anyway, thank you so much."

"It's okay. What about you? If you want to leave, go quickly."

Bai Lin looked at Ba, and Ba casually lifted the end of his hair.

"I'll just walk along the way with you guys for a while, just for a while."

"All right, just change your mind. Come or leave as you please."

Bai Lin ignored Ba's anger, and everyone took a short break. Not long after, they once again stepped into the dangerous maze.

Chapter 1097 Author's B Words

Hello everyone, besides updating, I’m here to say some irrelevant things.

Just think of it as the extra stuff drawn by the author that appears on the cover page of a comic. If you don't want to read it, just skip it.

Lately, I haven't seen much improvement physically. When I think my headache might be gone and it's time to work harder and do things like before, it always wakes me up to let me know that I'm not well.

I went to several hospitals for a specific diagnosis. One said it was a neuralgic headache, but I've taken all the medication the doctor prescribed and haven't felt any improvement. If that's the cause, painkillers should be effective, but I've taken ibuprofen and it's completely ineffective. I'm not sure if headache powder is any help; I haven't noticed. Another diagnosis was a mental illness, which I don't understand, but it seems unreliable to me.

The author's previous post also mentioned the issue of illness. Actually, back in July, I wrote a 10,000-word short story that touched on this topic while discussing Bai Lin's story, almost as a side story. However, since it would contain spoilers, I'm not posting it here.

At the time, I said to myself, using Bai Lin's tone, "Let's check it again first," something like that. Now it seems that it's not as simple as just checking it.

Oh, the things in my head are really troublesome.

Let’s go back to why I wanted to write this today.

I don't know if you've noticed a dip in the quality of my work lately. I do, but it's a bit of a downturn. Ever since the author's last comment, I've been experiencing the "Yuyu syndrome" described as "not wanting to do anything, having no interest in anything." It's been going on for almost two days now, and I've been feeling incredibly high for no apparent reason. Even though I'm sleep deprived and have a headache, I feel like I'm in great shape.

Since I was feeling so good, I felt like going to the hospital for another checkup. The doctor said I was experiencing mania and prescribed some medication. I took it, and it worked wonders. The next day, I slept for 15 hours straight and couldn't even keep my eyes open...

I guess this is a cure, though I definitely can't take that medicine often. After all, I still have to make a living, so how can I possibly sleep 15 hours a day? But I kind of regret it. If I really did have mania, that state would have made me feel better and kept my creative drive normal. Even with a headache, I could still write smoothly, feeling like I was stepping back in time.

I personally have a lot of bad habits, including smoking and drinking. Bai Lin has quit smoking, so I don't have any reason to. But I don't have the habit of getting high before writing. However, through this incident, I can probably understand why some so-called artists indulge before creating. I feel like I'm just like that, my mind is full of greed and desire.

But for me, just like I smoke and drink, I'm not overly concerned about overindulgence. While I don't smoke a lot, I smoke and drink whenever I feel like it. The longest I've ever been sober was to take medication. In recent years, my lifestyle has remained consistent, following my own whims. So I began to wonder if taking that pill that day was a mistake.

What should I do next? I was actually a little scared, because psychiatric drugs generally have serious side effects. If the headaches were truly caused by mental illness, could I really bear taking them like this? I began to wonder if I was using drugs to erase myself.

I feel like I'm no longer as strong as I used to be, and have become more fragile. I used to have complete faith in myself, but now even that sometimes I can't quite figure out. I really don't know what to do anymore, so my creative work is probably fluctuating a lot.

Back to the works. Lately, I've been looking back at past content: the poet, Xiao Nuo, Fei'er, and everyone else, their experiences with Bai Lin, and their own, have been increasingly moving and touching. Sometimes I wonder, "What kind of CS author wrote them so miserably?" I often criticize myself, but I know best that giving them a preconceived ending, rather than just slapping it in, is the best approach.

Like Fei'er, as soon as this character appeared, I had already decided that she would die. For the poet, before I even had a name in mind, I had already completely defined the character outline. Her and Bai Lin's journey was written with hospice in mind from the very beginning. I wonder if any readers will find it a bit embarrassing that this character who suddenly appeared out of nowhere is so close to the protagonist. But this was all planned long ago. As the author, I was responsible for creating the outline and writing it bit by bit. I can guarantee that every prominent character who died in this book was carefully prepared, and it is impossible for them to be discarded casually. This is my identity as an author. It is my duty, and it is a sense of responsibility that will not go against my conscience.

But in recent content, we've noticed a lack of these long-term character insertions. I've always been very narrow-minded, believing that "as long as they have enough screen time, anyone can write a good love story," and that writing these things well isn't a big deal. So, looking back, I'm probably not entirely satisfied with my own short stories. I'd rather each character inspire the same kind of emotion I felt for the poet, Xiao Nuo. Of course, looking at many road-themed cartoons, dramas, and novels, you'll find that even excellent works struggle to achieve this. The emphasis on road stories isn't really on nuanced character development.

So I can't do it, and that's understandable. But I'm still itching to try. Katie's character arc is already so full, and she and Bai Lin seem like such an old married couple. A reader commented before that there's too little daily life, but I think it's plenty. The world setting of this work is so chaotic and tense, there's no room for sweetness on the road to saving the world. For a couple like them to be able to hold hands in this tragic and stinking world, it feels like "The view at the bottom of the valley is starless, I'm making pudding with you in the midst of misery, and living in a garbage station is also cozy," and that's great for me.

It’s good to have you.

But I can't write too much about this, or it'll get boring. But I can't not write about Bai Lin and Katie's trip either, right? Katie's been the main character for so long, so why highlight her for a second? That goes against my outline a bit.

In fact, Bai Lin is now approaching the stage of growth that will propel the main storyline to its conclusion. At this point, it's time to move on to the main storyline. I deliberately left this final growth-related journey in the outline because I felt we hadn't seen enough. We haven't seen enough of Bai Lin and the others helping each other and redeeming each other.

However, starting from the poet's side, Bai Lin has already tended to grow up in a state of unilateral redemption. She will eventually grow up, and like the protagonist who has grown to this point, it is time to portray the emotions of other characters.

But there's not much to write about Katie, and just writing about her as a casual character in a short story wouldn't be satisfying. Plus, I've been in poor health lately, so the content would probably be a mess. I've thought of a few feasible options, but I need to think about them further.

All in all, the amount of abuse Bai Lin receives has significantly decreased, which is commendable. She's becoming more and more like a true "hero," but again, I'm not satisfied with just seeing her saving others, and I can't possibly dumb her down; she's a hero worth everyone's efforts. If I had to be more satisfied, I could have expanded on the story. I've been skipping around a lot during the journey, so there's a lot I could have covered.

Alas, but I really want to write the ending quickly. I’m really conflicted.

Can you please stop saving the world and save me? Sometimes, I think about this too. I love this protagonist deeply, not in that emotional way, but I love watching her rise from desperate situations time and time again, and watching her support each other through the scars.

It's really confusing.

That being said, I'm not here to ask for your opinions. Perhaps I'm just trying to excuse my own somewhat subpar writing. I think the story of The House of the Rising Sun is, overall, just average. There are some downsides, but there are also some commendable moments. The quality of subsequent content will generally be higher (probably).

All in all, there are too many things that I can’t figure out, but the content of this book will definitely be written normally.

I'm actually a little curious about how readers feel about these important characters who have departed. For example, when I designed the poet, I anticipated she would be controversial, and the final twist wouldn't be to everyone's liking. From my perspective as the author, she's always been great, but that might not necessarily be the case for readers.

Needless to say, I find Xiao Nuo quite disappointing, not to mention that I was too casual with the villains before, and now I'm just filling in some fragmented stories, which isn't handled very well. Vandortino is probably the most fully developed villain, and the one who best reflects the conflicts and contradictions of the Twilight God group.

As for Faye, looking back at the second volume now, I can still see some immaturity, and the handling was a bit hasty. But I still find it deeply moving, even though she has her own controversial elements. The mutual redemption she brought, and every memory she left behind, are incredibly real.

Interested readers can share their own thoughts on this. Although I think not many people have read this far, I am really asking out of curiosity.

Chapter 1098: This party will not improve any related matters as a result

The maze's paths were still densely packed with traps, but for these four, it might not have been too daunting. As they advanced, Tomoe seemed concerned for the others. As a veteran, she drew on her experience, patiently warning everyone of potential traps and leading the way. She would often take the initiative to destroy traps, clearing obstacles for everyone.

After finishing the job, he said, "I didn't do this for you. I just want to move forward together. I don't want you to hold me back."

"Watching the person you saved die in front of you would give you nightmares, right?"