Chapter 23: The Eerily Vanished

The chat channel was flooded with question marks. Everyone thought they had misheard. Could they really go home after only a few days?

Ning Yun immediately messaged Xiao Qichen, "Is this true? Can we really return to the real world?" She was ecstatic, yet a voice in her heart kept telling her that something was wrong—that there was a problem.

Xiao Qichen’s reaction was the complete opposite of everyone else’s. There was not a trace of a smile on his face; instead, his expression grew increasingly heavy. It shouldn't be like this. In his previous life, the people of Blue Star entered the game together, and because they were completely ignorant, many died in the first few days. It wasn't until he survived to the later stages of the game that he learned about the existence of a closed beta test. A top-fifty player, who lacked for nothing in terms of food and drink, had ended up taking his own life. Before he died, he wrote a long message on the world channel, mentioning the closed beta. Most of what Xiao Qichen knew about the closed beta came from that person. However, those who participated in the closed beta had transitioned almost seamlessly into the open beta; there had been no opportunity to go home.

What was wrong? How could there be such a significant discrepancy? Xiao Qichen couldn't make sense of it, but he had heard the game official's words clearly. "The officials do not lie." That was a known fact in his previous life.

When Ning Yun received this information, her heart skipped a beat. "Does that mean we can really return to reality? I truly have a chance to say goodbye to my grandfather?"

Xiao Qichen’s mind was razor-sharp at this moment. "It’s unlikely that everyone can return." He remembered clearly that the official had said, "Some players can go home." This meant that not everyone would be able to return to reality. "There must be conditions."

Just as Xiao Qichen suspected, the panels of all players automatically popped up, revealing a list. There were only five ID numbers on it: "666, 356, 12, 244, 98." Ning Yun was chosen, but Xiao Qichen was not.

Player 356 was a well-known "lucky star" to everyone. The other three were rarely seen in the chat channel, and no one knew who they were. "Was this chosen at random?" Ning Yun wondered, unable to explain why she had been selected while Xiao Qichen had not. Xiao Qichen didn't know either. "There must be special conditions; it might be related to the supplies a player possesses." Since all his supplies were with Ning Yun, he hadn't been selected, while Ning Yun was at the top of the list.

As they speculated, many other players in the chat channel were doing the same.

"What does this mean? Only five people can go back? What about us?"
"I’ve discovered that this game discriminates against the unlucky. Why is 356 even on there?"
"Exactly! @GameOfficial, I demand a redraw!"
"@Player 356, Boss, if you make it back to reality, can you help me deliver a message to my parents? My home is at Unit 2, Building 5, Wenboyuan Residential Complex, Wutong City, 301."
"@Player 356, Boss, please help me send a message too. My home is at..."

Perhaps because the lucky star 356 was relatively active in the chat channel, many people reached out to him, hoping he would report their safety to their families. His chat notifications were being blown up. Forced into a corner, he had to quickly post in the chat channel: "There are too many people! I can't remember all of this. My brothers and sisters, please, stop sending messages! I really can't keep up with them all."

Once he said that, others turned to the other four people. Ning Yun’s friend requests also nearly blinded her. Fortunately, she wouldn't have to worry for long, because a countdown appeared before her: "10, 9, 8..."

What was this countdown? Was it for her return to reality? Was it happening this fast? Before she could think, the countdown reached "0!" A flash of white light blinded her, and Ning Yun immediately lost all consciousness. In her haze, she seemed to hear a voice: "In 3 days, the game will officially launch~"

Xiao Qichen tried to send her a message, but it was rejected. A notification appeared: "Player is in a special area, please try again later."

***

Meanwhile, on Blue Star, in the X City Public Security Bureau, Cheng Minghui had a headache. Five days ago, their bureau had received two missing persons cases. Such cases were not particularly difficult for them, especially with the prevalence of surveillance cameras and the "Sky Eye" network. As long as the missing person wasn't in a remote village, they could usually be found.

But strangely, both missing persons were young people—one male and one female—and they had disappeared around the same time. Neither the Sky Eye nor any cameras had captured anything. In the case of the woman, Ren Keke, she shared an apartment with another girl and kept two cats. There was a camera in their living room specifically to monitor the cats. The person who reported the case was her roommate.

"I’ve shared an apartment with Ren Keke for over a year. She has a good temper, and we get along well. Sometimes, we eat together in the living room."
"That night, we finished dinner and went back to our respective rooms. The next morning, I went to work."
"When I came home, I didn't see Ren Keke all night!"
"Her door wasn't locked. I knocked, but there was no response. I pushed the door open, and there was no one inside."

The police investigated Ren Keke’s room and found no signs of a struggle, nor any footprints or fingerprints of others. They also investigated the roommate’s social circle and found that she had no contact with suspicious individuals and no close male relations, allowing them to temporarily rule her out as a suspect. Most importantly, the police checked the living room surveillance, which had a clear view of her bedroom door. Just as the roommate had said, they had eaten dinner and returned to their rooms. The next day, the roommate went to work as usual, but Ren Keke’s door never opened again until the roommate returned that evening, noticed something was wrong, checked the room, and called the police.

"How could Ren Keke just vanish into thin air? The nearby surveillance cameras didn't catch anything." Cheng Minghui had been a police officer for several years, and this was the first time he had encountered such a bizarre case. Besides Ren Keke, the other missing young man was in a similar situation. Even more eerily, these disappearances were not limited to X City. Similar cases were occurring in provinces and cities across the country. The missing individuals were almost all young men and women, and surveillance could not track their movements.

What gave Cheng Minghui the biggest headache was that these strange disappearances were being widely reported by the media, causing widespread public concern. Some said they had been kidnapped by UFOs; others claimed they had been captured by a mysterious organization. Due to the immense public pressure, his superiors demanded they solve the case quickly.

However, Cheng Minghui had a gut feeling that these disappearances were not that simple. That was until a police officer suddenly pushed the door open and shouted, "Cheng Minghui, the missing young man has returned! He’s on his way to the police station right now!"

Cheng Minghui didn't even bother to push his chair back; he stood up immediately and rushed out.