Sad.

In the darkened room, the clock ticked away.

It was already dark, pulling on a thin veil of day. The lights of the busy city shone into the house through the window veil, illuminating a layer of faint dark light on the floor of the living room. The whole house was so quiet that it was scary, the cell phone was dropped on the floor, and a mouse was also dropped on the floor, cracked a few times, obviously it was dropped by someone.

The kitchen hand faucet slowly dripped a drop of water.

"Snap-"

At the sound, the body of the tall, thin young man curled up in the corner of the bedroom shook, and then he buried his head in his legs again, trembling all over.

In a classroom of the 80th Middle School in Chaoyang District, Li Miaomiao was lying on her desk, her voice calmly narrating, "That copy is the strangest copy Qi Heng and I have ever seen. There was no boss, nor any other Black Tower monsters. After entering the copy, the Black Tower only told us to find a way out of the copy, and didn't give us any other conditions." Li Miaomiao said slowly, "At first, Qi Heng and I were very wary of the human that appeared in the copy, but gradually we realized that he couldn't see us, and we couldn't touch him."

"He is 'official player Wang Zexin '."

The Transparent Man could appear again at any time, and maybe the next one to appear would be a powerful Transparent Man with a higher ranking. Li Miaomiao briefly recounted the scene he saw in that copy. A dimly lit house, as if time had stood still. At first, the player named Wang Zexin thought about contacting the outside world and escaping. But it was impossible for him to escape.

The windows were sealed, the glass became steel and could not be smashed.

Can't open the door.

When you call the phone, it just says "not in service area". There is also no Internet connection, so you can't communicate with the outside world.

Li Miaomiao: "The time was from 7:00 p.m. on the 17th, to 7:00 a.m. the next morning, which was 7:00 a.m. on the 18th. This was the first night that Qi Heng and I did nothing but simply observe the copy. In the morning the neighbor across the street went out, and Wang Zexin kept banging on the security door, but the person across the street couldn't hear him."

Ruan Wangshu : "This copy is equivalent to separating that house from the outside world, making it a separate copy. It is impossible to leave the copy without passing the game."

As the words fell out of his mouth, Ruan Wangshu glanced up at Tang Mo.

Tang Mo stood in the center of the classroom, looking calm. Ruan Wangshu had heard Qi Heng say that Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo had once tried to enter Wang Zexin's house, and that they should know Wang Zexin, or even be friends. But now Tang Mo didn't show any abnormality, maybe he hid it well, or maybe he was really just an ordinary friend.

Tang Mo : "At 8am on the 18th, did he disappear? Entered the world of the transparent?"

Li Miaomiao shook his head, "No. He's not a Transparent, and he's not an official player. Since he's only halfway through that Black Tower game, he's really dead."

Li Miaomiao knew that this person was a friend of Tang Mo's, but she didn't care about her so-called friend's emotions as she directly said, "Qi Heng and I stayed in that copy for a total of five nights, or 60 hours, repeating over and over again the last day before Wang Zexin died. At the end of the day, we finally realized that there was something a little strange about the clock on the living room wall."

Tang Mo froze, "...... clock?"

Li Miaomiao's injuries seem to be healing as she sits up from the table. Her face was still stained with blood, and her body was hanging on to a lot of injuries. When she looked at Tang Mo with those bloodshot eyes, there was a surprising hint of gloating. Li Miaomiao said, "Beijing time, November 18th, 2017, 8:00 am, Earth went online. One minute no more, one minute no less. The moment Earth went live, the Black Tower sent out an announcement to the world that all humans who didn't manage to load into the game all disappeared into the world of the Transparent. This is a fact we already know."

Fu Wenduo: "So that copy has something to do with time?"

Li Miaomiao sat upright, "Qi Heng and I spent sixty hours in there trying to guess those two words. Over and over again, I saw that Wang Zexin die, and over and over again, I saw him enter the room. The word is time. Wang Zexin participated in a Black Tower game before returning to the room, in which he competed with another player to take each other's time. That's what we were told by the Black Tower after the copy was cleared, that Wang Zexin won five seconds of the other player's time in that game. The other player was eliminated by him, and then he returned to Earth."

Tang Mo's body shook as he slowly raised his head and looked towards Li Miaomiao.

The people of the Chosen Organization have known the truth about this copy for a long time, and Chen Shanshan, one of Tang Mo's four, is slowly understanding the answer.

Li Miaomiao looked at them like that and smiled, shaking his head, "Yes, you guessed right Tang Mo, your friend died in those five seconds he got. He won, five seconds. After he 'left the game' and returned to Earth, he also got an extra five seconds of time. During those sixty hours, the Dark Tower came online four times, and Qi Heng and I had absolutely no idea what the Dark Tower wanted us to do, what it was thinking. It wasn't until the third time the Earth came online, when Wang Zexin disappeared, that I realized he turned his head hard as he was dying, looking in the direction of the living room. I think he realized at the end that he had been given five seconds, because the clock on the wall of the ...... living room showed 8:05 seconds."

At the end of his life, when Wang Zexin heard the Black Tower's beep, he suddenly realized what he had been missing all along.

He's a smart guy, or he wouldn't have won that Black Tower game and become a half full player. But he lacked information. The second he stepped into the house, he didn't know that he had five more seconds of life than the outside world, and he didn't know why he was suddenly in such a strange place.

He knew, however, that three days ago at exactly 8:00 a.m., the Black Tower made its first sound, announcing that Earth was online.

Now that the black tower was making another sound, he watched his body slowly disappear as countless thoughts flashed through his mind. In a flash, he realized the truth and desperately turned his head to see that clock that was five seconds faster than the outside world. But it was already too late, he only had one head and one pair of eyes left, it was impossible for him to turn that time around.

So he watched the clock and then died.

Tang Mo quietly looked at Li Miaomiao: "So if you adjust that time back, you win?"

"Yeah, Qi Heng and I took that clock off the wall and set the second hand back five more seconds ...... then we passed the copy. Originally, I didn't understand why this kind of thing had to be made into a separate copy, this Wang Zexin just encountered a very peculiar copy. But then Mu Huixue passes the fourth floor of the Black Tower abort I realized that the Black Tower was reminding surviving players that this could happen in the Black Tower game."

Li Miaomiao summarized, "This reality copy doesn't have any meaning, the only purpose is to give players a warning to always pay attention to whether they have actually passed the game or not." After a moment, looking at Tang Mo's calm demeanor, Li Miaomiao deliberately laughed, "Aren't you sad, I thought that was your friend."

Tang Mo: "Sad."

The crowd looked at Tang Mo in surprise, wondering how he could suddenly say what he was feeling, when he had been acting so calmly. Even Fu Wenduo didn't expect Tang Mo to answer this question, he looked at Tang Mo in surprise, thinking that Tang Mo wouldn't pay attention to Li Miaomiao's words.

The female doctor also looked stunned, and after a long moment, she said, "I'm sorry."

Tang Mo spoke calmly and looked towards Ruan Wangshu: "I see what you mean. Whether or not the Black Tower game ends, it is likely to affect the player's reality. In ......" Tang Mo continued after a pause, "In Wang Zexin's copy, he thought he had passed the mysterious game and returned to Earth, but in fact the game had not yet ended. His time was misplaced, so he was blocked in that space, and he needed to make a move to return to the correct timeline for the game to be truly over. Mu Huixue too?"

Ruan Wangshu : "Yes, Mu Huixue is probably the same. This would explain why Heita suddenly said that she opened the 4.0 update and then suddenly aborted it. It's because moments after finishing one game, she opened another. She doesn't count as having actually cleared Black Tower IV, and perhaps until now, she was still looking for a way to clear the game. When she completely passes the fourth floor of the Black Tower, version 4.0 will open."

Tang Mo pulled up a chair and sat across from Ruan Wangshu.

Chen Shanshan spoke for the second time, "So for now, there are two things we need to pay attention to. First, capture the Transparent People who have fallen behind. Kill as many Transparent People as possible before they all realize that the two worlds are merging and drop their guard against us now. Second, raid the fourth floor of the Black Tower." After a pause, the little girl's gaze swept over the several Chosen members in the classroom one by one, "The people in this classroom should be the core members of the Chosen?"

Ruan Wangshu: "Chosen started with six people, practicing Yu Zheng was a later addition, then Qi Heng was removed, and now there are still six people."

Chen Shanshan : "All through three levels?"

Ruan Wangshu nods, "Li Miaomiao is the second floor."

Chen Shanshan turned his head to look at Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo, and after receiving their approval, he then looked at Ruan Wangshu: "There is something we didn't mention just now. Major Fu received an extra reward from the Black Tower when he cleared the third floor of the Black Tower earlier, and the Black Tower suggested that the surviving players immediately raid the fourth floor of the Black Tower. The Black Tower generally speaks very little nonsense, and at most, it plays with words in a cryptic manner. This time its advice is most likely related to the Transparent Man."

After Chen Shanshan's words, Ruan Wangshu fell into an eerie silence.

Tang Mo instantly noticed the other party's strange expression, only to hear the voice of Practitioner Yu Zheng ring out, "We didn't say anything about this just now. When I was clearing the third floor of the Black Tower, I also heard a Black Tower BOSS say that it would be best to hurry up and clear the fourth floor of the Black Tower. The other party's exact words were 'You're all dying anyway, and none of you have cleared the fourth floor, so I won't bother with a bunch of dead people'."

Tang Mo bristled and turned his head to look at Fu Wenduo, and their eyes locked.

After a few seconds, Tang Mo quickly made a decision, "The matter of teaming up to attack the Transparent Man can be finalized, as for raiding the fourth floor of the Black Tower, it's a matter for each of us. The Transparent Man's appearance has been irregular, and it's impossible for us to find Su Xiao, so what's more important now is killing the Transparent Man and clearing the fourth floor."

Ruan Wangshu : "Chosen has an intelligence network in Beijing."

"Good, then we can share information."

After briefly exchanging the information they had, Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo decided to leave the area first and rendezvous with Fu Wen Sheng. Although neither of them thought that this invitation to practice Yu Zheng was a trap, just in case, they asked Fu Xiaodi to hide in a safe place and wait for news from them. With only Chen Shanshan alone, they could leave the Chosen Base Camp safely with the little girl, the extra Fu Xiaodi made it difficult.

After determining a rough cooperation plan, Tang Mo turned around and wanted to leave. At this moment, a voice rang out from behind him, "Tang Mo, Fu Wenduo, are you guys thinking of directly raiding the fourth floor of the Black Tower when you return this time?"

Tang Mo's footsteps stopped as he turned his head to look at the pale-faced teenager.

Tang Mo did not deny it.

Ruan Wangshu said, "You and Major Fu, you should be the two to challenge the fourth floor of the Black Tower together. With your strategy and force, you really don't have too much of a problem and have hopes of clearing the level. There is a boy in your team who is younger than me, he should have a healing ability? But it's obvious that he can't do it with force, otherwise you guys wouldn't have not brought him today."

Fu Wenduo lowered his eyes, "What are you trying to say?"

"How about adding one more?"

Tang Mo smiled, "Plus you?"

The next moment, Ruan Wangshu gently shook his head, "Plus her."

Li Miaomiao, who was pointed at, also looked shocked as she wondered, "Head?!"

Ruan Wangshu did not reply. He flipped his palm and a small knife appeared in his hand. No one expected his sudden movement, and without hesitation, he slashed at his own wrist. Blood splashed out, but Ruan Wangshu didn't even blink. The broken hand fell to the ground, and Ruan Wangshu held out his bleeding wrist to Li Miaomiao.

"...... head?"

Answering Li Miaomiao was Ruan Wangshu's cold stare.

Li Miaomiao's face changed and she clenched her teeth. After a few seconds, she reached out her hand, mumbled inaudible words, and pressed it against Ruan Wangshu's broken wrist.

Thick clouds were blown away by the wind, and moonlight shone on Ruan Wangshu's broken wrist. At a speed visible to the naked eye, blood vessels and skin were rapidly created, and a brand new hand appeared on the cross-section of the broken wrist. Tang Mo was shocked, he turned back to Li Miaomiao, but he saw that a hand had suddenly disappeared from Li Miaomiao's wrist. There was no blood coming out, but her face was a bit ugly, as if she was enduring the pain. But after half a minute, her hand also gradually grew.

Ten minutes later, Li Miaomiao raises his left hand, and nothing is different.

Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo looked at each other, and they instantly understood each other's meaning.

Fu Wenduo possesses the "genetic reorganization" ability, which allows him to quickly grow new limbs after they are severed. But his speed is definitely not that fast. Meanwhile, Li Miaomiao's hand is not his own, but Ruan Wangshu's hand.

Ruan Wangshu: "This is her psychic ability. You guys only know the first effect of her powers. Not only can she transfer pain to others by hurting herself, but she can also transfer wounds from others to herself, and then recover through her own powerful self-healing ability. Li Miaomiao Go, and each of you will have one more life. She is only the second level of the Black Tower and will not raise the difficulty of your copies. Other than that ......"

Ruan Wangshu pulls a golden coin from his pocket and tosses it to Li Miaomiao.

Li Miaomiao rushed to catch it, "Head? This is for me too?"

"She also has the king's gold coins." Ruan Wangshu coldly said, "The Transparent is too powerful than us, we must quickly raid the fourth floor of the Black Tower. I'm badly injured and need to rest for a few more days." So, it's over to you guys.

Tang Mo's gaze swept over Ruan Wangshu and Li Miaomiao. After a long time, he smiled and nodded, "Good."

One day later--

"Dingdong! The fourth floor of the Black Tower (Normal Mode) is officially open, team games are beginning to load ......"

"Sandbox Generation ......"

"Data loading complete ......"

"Welcome to Schrödinger's Steel Forest!"