Room Zero

“Now is not the best time for you to indulge in these emotions,” Zero City said in a stiff tone. “I must remind you that you have just completed an identification test. There may be more important things for you to do next.”

Chen Xiaolian took two deep breaths and raised his head. “Such as?”

“Such as permissions.”

“Why the Qin Emperor’s Tomb Instance?”

“I thought you should know the reason,” Zero City said lightly. “Or perhaps, your human emotions and habits lead you to speak in this manner, as a form of retreat?”

“…I really dislike the tone of your speech,” Chen Xiaolian sighed.

“I do not need to do any embellishments or concealments,” Zero City replied stiffly.

“Well, then, the reason I think is… Bai Qi, right?” Chen Xiaolian exclaimed loudly. “It’s Bai Qi, isn’t it?”

“Yes, in your memory scan, I obtained information about Bai Qi, and from my data matching, the presence of your War Soul Bai Qi is an abnormal state, and it meets certain matching conditions, possessing one of the founder’s permissions… Even, its matching degree, in some aspects, is higher than yours.”

“So, your identification test made me go through the Qin Emperor’s Tomb Instance again?”

Silence. After more than ten seconds of silence, Zero City finally spoke.

“Because the Bai Qi within your system is not complete. And the way it exists makes me very puzzled. I need to re-examine everything from the source. Initially, the Bai Qi War Soul I saw in your system was not complete. Therefore, I chose the Qin Emperor’s Tomb Instance for the identification test, the place where you obtained it.”

Suddenly, Chen Xiaolian remembered that in the historical Instance of the Qin Emperor’s Tomb, the Bai Qi that appeared at that time was a white Bai Qi, to be precise, a Bai Qi revived by seizing the vitality of Qiu Yun.

And in the recent Instance, the BOSS Bai Qi was a complete undead, a creature of death.

“So… is Bai Qi complete now?”

“…I can only say that it’s much more complete than before. Although it hasn’t reached the level I think it should, it has improved a lot,” Zero City’s answer made Chen Xiaolian’s heart jump.

“At least, it has reached the standard where it can use permissions.”

Chen Xiaolian’s mind raced.

Mr. San is a founder, and Bai Qi is also a founder…

And Mr. San and the others… are earlier glitchers than himself.

So, the Bai Qi from back then was also a glitcher!

Then…

Is Bai Qi dead or not?

“According to the form in the Qin Emperor’s Tomb Instance, Bai Qi is in a state of death, categorized by the system as a creature of death, without a doubt. What puzzles me, however, is how it reached this state. What baffles me even more is that the Bai Qi War Soul you obtained, from a certain perspective, exhibits attributes of a living being—I sense vitality from it. It is no longer purely a creature of death, which contradicts the system rules I know, hence my profound confusion.”

Chen Xiaolian’s heart began to pound!

As his heart raced faster and faster, he felt his mouth dry up and took a deep breath.

“Am I understanding correctly… that Bai Qi died, but… was resurrected?!” he exclaimed.

Once again, Zero City fell into several seconds of silence, but this time, the answer it gave filled Chen Xiaolian with excitement!

“…Yes, in a certain sense, you are correct. Bai Qi, a founder, died, and then… well, was resurrected.”

“So, it means that system glitchers like me… can actually be resurrected?!” Chen Xiaolian clenched his fists.

“At the moment, it seems to be the case.”

“How can it be done?!” Chen Xiaolian shouted. “If Bai Qi can be resurrected, then Qiao Qiao… should be able to as well!!”

Resurrect Qiao Qiao!

For the first time, Chen Xiaolian glimpsed a glimmer of hope in this matter!

If there was anything Chen Xiaolian was willing to do everything in his power for right now, it was to resurrect Qiao Qiao! For this, he was willing to do anything.

“I do not know how to achieve it,” Zero City’s voice showed the first signs of emotional fluctuation, a tone resembling human perplexity.

“In my existing data, I do not have the answer to how to fulfill such a request. I do not even know how this matter should proceed—so there is only one explanation: the permissions required for this matter must exceed my own,” Zero City explained.

“…Permissions,” Chen Xiaolian gritted his teeth. “But aren’t you part of the main program of this world? You’ve said that you should possess all the abilities of the main world program.”

“However, I have been fragmented,” Zero City said lightly. “I am only a scaled-down version of the main world program. Perhaps some permissions and functions have been truncated, but I am not aware of it myself.

Of course, there is also the possibility that such an event occurred after I was severed from the main program, and later, the highest authority, the development team, developed a new function. As an outdated version that was severed, I naturally do not possess this function,” Zero City patiently explained. “Bai Qi is one of Zero City’s founders. Logically, his death occurred after Zero City’s founding. By then, I had already been severed from the world’s main program, so how he died and how he was transformed into the guardian of the tomb in the Instance, as well as how he was resurrected… These events occurred after my fragmentation, and I have no knowledge of them.

According to my data, I do not possess the permission to turn an awakened individual, glitcher, or any game participant into a game Instance boss… It’s a functionality I do not have.

So I believe that perhaps this is a new function developed by the development team after my fragmentation, a new and special permission that I do not possess.”

Chen Xiaolian lowered his head, clenching his fists gently. His shoulders rose and fell with his breath, clearly taking deep breaths, trying hard to regulate his emotions.

“Are you… disappointed?” Zero City asked.

“…No,” Chen Xiaolian suddenly lifted his head, his eyes gleaming with a peculiar light.

“No! Why should I be disappointed?” Chen Xiaolian’s gaze could even be described as fierce. “At least, I know now that resurrecting glitchers who have died is not entirely impossible! It’s just that I don’t have this permission yet, haven’t found a way! But the fact that it’s feasible, that it can be done—this answer, for me right now, is already very satisfactory!”

That’s what Chen Xiaolian said, and indeed, that’s what he thought!

What he once thought was completely impossible, he now knew was at least possible!

So at least—it wasn’t despair anymore! It was a glimmer of hope.

“It’s best if you can think like that,” Zero City seemed not too concerned about the topic. “So, let’s do what needs to be done now.”

“Obtain the current permissions, right?” Chen Xiaolian’s expression was complex.

“Yes, now you can enter Room Zero.”

Room Zero?

What on earth was this?

Sensing Chen Xiaolian’s confusion, Zero City provided an explanation: “Room Zero is the highest authority room set up by the founders. In this room, you can obtain the same level of permissions as the founders and become… the master of Zero City.”

The master of Zero City!

Just this term alone was enough to excite anyone.

Even though Chen Xiaolian’s heart was currently filled with sorrow, he couldn’t help but be moved.

“So, how do I enter Room Zero…”

Before Chen Xiaolian could finish speaking, a door suddenly appeared in front of him.

This door seemed to appear out of nowhere—more accurately, it couldn’t even be called a door. It was a few pieces of broken stones piled up, barely resembling the outline of a door frame, but so crudely made that it was almost infuriating.

“Do I… need to walk in?” Chen Xiaolian pointed at the door frame, puzzled.

“Of course, only you can enter here,” Zero City’s response was simple.

“What about you?” Chen Xiaolian asked.

“I am part of it.”

Alright.

Chen Xiaolian took a deep breath, hesitated for a moment as he looked at the door in front of him, then took a step forward. When his left foot entered the range of the door frame…

Suddenly, everything lit up before his eyes!

…

The sky was a vivid blue, as if it had been washed with water.

Chen Xiaolian looked down at his feet, then around him, unable to help but smile wryly. “Is this… Room Zero?”

Beneath his feet was a patch of grass.

To be precise, it was really just “a patch” of grass.

Because the grassy area wasn’t large, it was roughly the size of an acre. The grass was lush and walking on it felt incredibly soft with every step.

And beyond the grassy area… was… the sky.

An endless sky.

In this world, up, down, left, right, front, and back, all were filled with that blue sky.

No matter which direction you looked from, you couldn’t see the edge.

In the center of the grassy area was a massive slab of stone. It wasn’t the kind that was neatly cut into a square; rather, it was the primitive, irregular type. It was about five or six meters long, a flat stone situated right in the middle of the grass.

Surrounding the stone slab were several…

Hmm? Were these considered benches?

Chen Xiaolian was somewhat puzzled.

From the layout, it seemed like the stone slab was being used as a table, and the objects surrounding it were meant for people to sit on.

But these “seats” or “benches” were all different.

The closest to Chen Xiaolian was a tree stump, evidently cut, a sturdy but dry stump that was just the right height for an adult to sit on comfortably, with their feet able to touch the ground.

Next to the tree stump was… a giant turtle shell!

Similar in size and volume.

Beside the turtle shell was… a cushion.

Further along was… a saddle!

A pile of rolled-up straw.

A stone stool—thankfully, finally something that looked like a proper seat.

This stone stool was not intricately carved, and it even appeared somewhat rough.

That’s all the “seats” there were.

The tree stump, turtle shell, cushion, saddle, stone stool.

Five seats in total, arranged around the stone slab in the center acting as a table, with plenty of space between them.

“So, this is Room Zero?”

Chen Xiaolian walked around.

He had expected to see a room filled with a futuristic atmosphere.

As he reached the edge of the table and his fingers touched the stone slab…

Suddenly, a strange sensation passed through his fingers.

The stone slab was certainly hard, but the sensation felt as if… there was a faint electric current flowing through his fingers.

Was this… resonance?

Chen Xiaolian looked down.

“What’s going on?”

Chen Xiaolian muttered to himself.

“You need to sit down first,” came Zero City’s voice in his ears. “Sit next to me.”

“Next to you?”

“Of course,” Zero City’s response left Chen Xiaolian stunned. “Your fingers are touching me right now. Now, you can sit down.”

“You… are this stone slab?!” Chen Xiaolian was truly astonished. “Is this your original form? Your true appearance? A piece of stone?!”

Zero City’s response was calm. “No, my original form does not exist in the sense of an external appearance. To be precise, this Room Zero is not any sort of original form, but a form created according to the preferences of the founders.

As for me… once you obtain the permissions, you can transform me into any appearance you desire. Whether it’s a piece of stone, a car, or even a toilet, it makes no difference. Appearance is just appearance.”

Chen Xiaolian was speechless.

After some thought, he asked, “Where should I sit? Pick one out of the five?”

“None of them. You should sit in your own spot,” Zero City provided a peculiar answer.

“My own spot?”

Chen Xiaolian was puzzled.