Chapter 26
At the exit of the Secret Room, Xia Zheng and the other three emerged one after another.
Their faces were etched with the exhaustion and weariness of having narrowly escaped danger, a stark contrast to the eager anticipation they had shown upon entering.
If only there were a way to capture a before-and-after video of players entering and exiting the Secret Room, Tong Yu mused with a mischievous grin, the effect would surely be spectacular.
"Congratulations on clearing the level."
Hearing Tong Yu's voice, the four finally snapped back to reality, realizing that upon leaving the Secret Room, their first instinct was to touch their own heads.
Liu Mingjie: Is my head still open?
Xia Zheng & Bystanders: My bald head!
Elena: I don't know why, but my head feels a bit chilly.
Fortunately, everything that happened inside the Secret Room would automatically reset upon leaving, except for the energy value that had been depleted and the psychological trauma of the players!
Considering that players emerging from the "Ghost Bride" scenario always craved something warm to drink, Tong Yu, aiming to enhance the service, had placed eight cups of milk tea on a table by the exit, though now only four could be given out.
"Have something warm, here's some milk tea, a reward for clearing the level."
Whether it was a reward or not, the group didn't care much, but their chilled spirits indeed needed something warm to feel a bit more comfortable.
Each of the four took a cup of milk tea, inserted a straw, and took a sip. The warm, sweet liquid instantly brought a sparkle to their previously dazed eyes.
"What is this? It's so good!" Elena exclaimed, having never tasted such a delightful drink before. The warm, sweet flavor not only warmed her stomach but seemed to soothe her very spirit.
This wasn't an exaggeration. Ever since entering the game, her energy value had been steadily dropping, and her Mental Sea had been in a constant state of tension, which was one reason they all looked so exhausted upon exiting. Although Contractors hoped to deplete more mental energy, continuous release would tire the Mental Sea. The Mental Sea, located within the brain, couldn't be soothed by any means or medication, only through rest, allowing the brain to adjust itself. Yet, just one sip of milk tea seemed to relax her Mental Sea a bit.
"Milk tea," Tong Yu explained with a smile, "is made by blending fresh milk and tea, with added sugar. It can lift your spirits and is a unique reward for clearing this Secret Room."
"Just milk and tea can make something this delicious?" Liu Mingjie was skeptical. "I've had milk before, and it tasted fishy, nothing like this fragrance."
"Of course, there's a little secret ingredient," Tong Yu said, though in reality, there was no secret ingredient. He had tasted milk in the interstellar era, and honestly, it was unpleasantly fishy. But this was a virtual world, where everything was created with mental power.
As a traveler from another world, Tong Yu's milk tea was naturally modeled after the milk tea he had enjoyed on Earth. He had considered recreating it in the real world, but alas, he could only consume, not create, so he could only rely on mental power to craft it in the virtual world. Perhaps if enough people drank it, some culinary genius might figure it out in reality.
By this time, Zhang Xin had recovered from the tragic love story of Hannibal and Stalin. He approached Xia Zheng, hoping to establish a rapport and see if Xia Zheng could help promote the game afterward. After all, a single endorsement from Xia Zheng could be worth millions in advertising.
"Xia Zheng, about this Secret Room…" Zhang Xin began, but before he could finish, Xia Zheng suddenly vanished in a flash of white light, leaving behind a half-drunk cup of milk tea that fell to the ground with a thud.
Logged out?! Was this a sign of not wanting to engage?
Zhang Xin was infuriated. Just because he's a movie star, does that mean he can ignore someone greeting him and log out without a glance? Does being a star give him the right to litter?
In the real world.
In a luxurious hotel room, Xia Zheng removed his helmet, drenched in cold sweat, and rushed out of the room.
In the suite's living room, Xia Zheng's manager and assistant were present. They had been watching the live stream and were just wondering if Xia Zheng should log out when they saw him dash out of the room.
"Xia Zheng, what's wrong?" The manager immediately noticed something was off with Xia Zheng.
"My Mental Sea is vibrating," Xia Zheng said, his expression pained.
"What?!" A vibrating Mental Sea was no small issue. The manager was startled and supported Xia Zheng while shouting at the assistant, who was frozen in shock, "Call a car, we're going to the hospital!"
Being a public figure, Xia Zheng couldn't even go shopping without making entertainment news. This time, the Secret Room live stream was broadcasted simultaneously on the Star Network, and reporters, smelling a story, had been waiting downstairs, eager to interview him about his experience with Hannibal.
But instead of seeing Xia Zheng come down, they watched as an ambulance arrived to take him to the hospital!
Xia Zheng was hospitalized?
Xia Zheng was taken to the hospital right after the live stream?
Did Hannibal dig out Xia Zheng's brain?!
Of course, the last one was pure rumor, but not entirely baseless. The virtual world was accessed through mental power, which originated from the Mental Sea, the most mysterious part of the brain.
In the just-concluded live stream, out of eight players, four logged out, and the remaining four had an average energy value consumption of 180,000 B. A game lasting only three hours had drained so much energy value from the players, could it really have no impact on the Mental Sea?
From the end of the live stream to the news of Xia Zheng's hospitalization spreading, it was only a matter of minutes before the Secret Room game's reputation took a nosedive.
「I knew it, how could there be a game that depletes mental power so quickly? I didn't expect it to be achieved by damaging the Mental Sea.」
「Oh my God, this game damages the Mental Sea, and it was streamed live, with millions watching.」
「If it really affects the Mental Sea, the consequences are unimaginable.」
「But millions watched, and only Xia Zheng had an issue. Maybe it's just an isolated incident, no need to panic.」 Some were panicking, while others remained rational, though they were quickly drowned out by the uproar.
「Regardless of whether it's isolated, a game with potential risks shouldn't be released.」
「Why rush? We don't even know Xia Zheng's exact condition yet. Let's wait for his statement.」
「Xia Zheng's Mental Sea might be damaged, he could become a fool, and you're waiting for his statement.」
「Don't curse our idol.」
「Form an investigation team to look into Blue Ocean Group and the game developers.」
……
In the Secret Room, Zhang Xin had already logged out and held several meetings, yet found no solution. In the end, he returned to Tong Yu: "Does your game damage the Mental Sea?"
Tong Yu was even more bewildered than Zhang Xin. He had only been dealing with the concept of the Mental Sea for less than a month, how could he possibly know?
"As far as I know, there were no issues during my tests. Have any other players had problems?" The presence of issues would depend on other evidence.
"No, Derek, Liu Mingjie, none of them had issues, just some headaches, which is a normal aftereffect of excessive mental power release," Zhang Xin replied. "But I've still sent them to the hospital for further checks, just in case."
"What about the 'Ghost Bride' scenario? It's been running for so long, with tens of thousands of players clearing it. Have there been any issues with the Mental Sea?" Tong Yu asked.
"I hadn't heard of any before today, but after today, who knows?" Zhang Xin's face was filled with worry.
With Xia Zheng's incident and the claims about the Secret Room game damaging the Mental Sea, any discomfort experienced by players could be attributed to this. If not handled well, Blue Ocean Group could face huge losses.
"Can we get a certification from a relevant authority?" Tong Yu suggested.
"We'll do that, but it won't calm the public. They'll suspect we paid the experts for PR," Zhang Xin said.
"Then we'll have to wait for the results from Xia Zheng's side." Tong Yu frowned. At first, he wasn't worried when the issue arose, since escape rooms had been popular on Earth for so many years without anyone losing their mind. But later, he became uncertain, considering that most people in the virtual world were Contractors. Their Mental Seas weren't activated, but they did have Mental Contracts.
Could it be that the Mental Contract was somehow affected?
"That's all we can do. I'll go urge the PR department again." Zhang Xin was about to log out when a video call came in from a colleague in the PR department.
"Xiao Zhao, any news from Xia Zheng's side?" Zhang Xin eagerly asked, knowing the PR department would only contact him about this matter.
"Mr. Zhang, check Xia Zheng's personal account, quickly! Xia Zheng is fine." Xiao Zhao excitedly shouted over the phone.
He's fine?
Zhang Xin quickly ended the call and searched Xia Zheng's personal account. There, on an account with nearly a hundred million followers, was a brief line, seemingly posted in haste: 【The Mental Sea isn't damaged, it's awakened.】
What?!
Mental power awakened?
Zhang Xin felt his mind buzz, yet he couldn't quite believe it. He quickly scrolled through the comments section.
「Did I just see that? Our idol's mental power awakened? One in a million natural awakening, our idol awakened?」
「I always knew our idol would awaken. His capacity has been close to 300,000 for a while.」
「So 'Hannibal' didn't damage Xia Zheng's Mental Sea, but helped him awaken?」
「It might not have been 'Hannibal'. Xia Zheng's capacity reached the threshold years ago.」
「But you said it yourself, he reached the threshold years ago, why didn't he awaken earlier or later, but right now?」
「By the way, as a mere viewer, I lost nearly 80,000 energy value watching the live stream, but felt no discomfort. Isn't that strange? Previously, if I lost more than 50,000 energy value in a short time, my head would swell.」
「Now that you mention it… I didn't have a headache either.」
「Me too, me too…」
……
With Xia Zheng unharmed, rational netizens who had been silenced by Xia Zheng's die-hard fans finally spoke up.
The evaluation of "Hannibal" once again reversed, even veering into a more miraculous direction, though Tong Yu and Zhang Xin paid little attention to that. As long as the game wasn't problematic, they were content. Helping someone awaken was beyond their wildest dreams, surely just a coincidence.
"With Xia Zheng fine, this crisis is over, but the trial operation of 'Hannibal' will have to be postponed for a few days until things completely settle down," Zhang Xin said. "The company has already hired experts in mental power to evaluate the game. Since we've hired them, we might as well wait for the evaluation results before resuming operations, so everyone can be at ease."
Tong Yu naturally had no objections. With the Secret Room closed, he had nothing to do, giving him a chance to log out and rest for a while.
After logging out and getting a good night's sleep, Tong Yu felt refreshed the next day and decided to go shopping. Last time he went out, he only bought a virtual helmet due to limited funds. This time, he planned to indulge a bit.
Why earn money if not to spend it?
However, stepping outside was a shock.
Tong Yu knew his game had been trending online recently, but he hadn't expected it to be this popular. Six out of ten virtual display screens on the street were replaying "Hannibal", and even the salespeople in the mall had adopted the lines: "Honored guest, it would be my life's honor to introduce you to this product."
"Honored guest, if you could purchase it, it would be my life's honor."
"Beautiful lady/handsome gentleman, if I could show you around our store, it would be my life's honor."
Tong Yu: "……"
Had all these people's brains been dug out by Hannibal?
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