Bai Youwei finally understood. Those people who had first been turned into dolls — they had been perfectly fine, eating their meals, taking walks, chatting, strolling down streets, cooking in their kitchens, sleeping in their beds… so how had they ended up as dolls?

So that was it…

So that’s how it was.

“What about those who pass the beta test?” she asked. “Can they survive?”

The rabbit-headed figure gently tilted its head and looked at her.

“Games in the beta testing phase are unstable in every respect. The possibility of clearing is virtually nil, and even if by some miracle someone does clear it… they become part of the game.”

Bai Youwei’s brow furrowed. “What does that mean?”

The supervisor: “Their existence in the objective world disappears, but their consciousness is preserved — absorbed into the game, endowing it with a richer and more varied vitality.”

Bai Youwei’s heart sank.

If that was the case, then the consciousness of those people being absorbed into the game — didn’t that mean… the NPCs in the game?

The Duke in the manor, Mali in the amusement park — they… they were actually people?

Yu Yaqing asked aloud what everyone was silently wondering:

“You’re saying the NPCs in the game are actually human beings?!”

“Are they? Or are they not?” The rabbit-headed figure smiled and said: “What is humanity’s definition of existence? That is something I too would very much like to know.

“As supervisors, we endow the characters we design in our games with a set of base attributes. Once design is complete, the characters gradually complete and enrich themselves through their operation — and the beta test players provided excellent nourishment for them.

“So — you may think of them as proof of a fragment of human existence, or you may think of them as… functional instruments that have absorbed human consciousness.”

“…Instruments?” Yu Yaqing was dumbfounded, her expression dazed as she murmured in disbelief. “Living human lives — in your eyes they’re nothing but… functional instruments? That’s too cruel…”

“I’m sorry to have disturbed your feelings.” The rabbit-headed figure’s tone remained calm and warm. “I hope it won’t affect your performance in the game.”

It bowed slightly in a gentlemanly manner.

“It seems I’ve said far too much off the subject. Then — wishing you a good time.”

As its final words fell, it donned its top hat, and its entire form vanished in an instant — as though it had stepped right into the hat!

And the remaining black top hat, after spinning a few circles in midair, also disappeared without a trace —

The group stood where they were and waited a moment, the surroundings remaining completely silent throughout.

The supervisor did not appear again.

The plump and pale Zhao Mingdeng stepped forward and said: “By the looks of it, the game has officially begun. Does everyone see that clock over there?”

He pointed into the distance.

The amusement park was enormous. Right at the center stood a tall clock tower, its clock face visible in all four directions — north, south, east, and west.

At that moment, the hour hand pointed to twelve.

Zhao Mingdeng spoke with the air of someone seasoned and experienced: “The supervisor just said six hours of day, six hours of night — meaning that when the clock hand points to six, it will grow dark.

“We now have six hours to familiarize ourselves with the grounds, find hiding spots, and discuss how to kill Mali and the cat.

“I suggest we spend the first two hours doing a quick sweep of the park to get a preliminary sense of the environment, then regroup here after two hours to discuss how to clear the game together, and use the final hour to find cover.”

He finished, swept his gaze around the group, then continued with a hint of self-satisfaction: “If anyone has a better idea, feel free to speak up.”

Bai Youwei said: “The park is too large — two hours will only be enough for a rough pass. What if we split into zones to explore? We divide into three groups, with each group responsible for two themed sections. That way we can be more thorough, and we can search for hiding spots along the way.”

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