Doomsday Jigsaw Puzzle

Chapter 599: Chapter 216: The City of Sickness

Well World’s fifth layer, Baichuan City.

After walking out of the residential complex, Bai Wu originally wanted to observe more of this world.

He actually wanted to question someone specifically, like that boy who appeared to be in his teens.

"How did you manage to have such a grown son in his thirties?"

He also wanted to ask that old woman wearing a construction safety helmet if she could really handle working on a construction site at her age.

But he didn’t speak up.

Because as time ticked by second by second, he was going to be late.

This was a very peculiar thing.

Bai Wu certainly wasn’t the type who saw 996 as a blessing; he didn’t even care about work to begin with.

But the problem was, as the time approached the deadline for clocking in to work, an inexplicable anxiety grew within him.

Thus, without saying or asking anything, Bai Wu quickened his pace.

This sensation felt extremely strange.

Ever since Yan Jiu called him "dear," Bai Wu had this odd feeling.

It was as if he had instantly accepted that he was Yan Jiu’s man, and he even had to play this role well.

He had experienced such role-playing games before, in Violet’s Manor.

Back then, if one did not play their part well, they would face some painful consequences.

Nearly everything had to follow a set procedure, or one would be punished.

But now it was different...

When Bai Wu left, he didn’t kiss Yan Jiu, nor was there any punishment.

Yet he felt that everything had become more terrifying.

"In the Manor, even though everything was forced, the resistance in my heart was real."

"But now... my heart doesn’t reject it at all, and it even feels like it’s the right thing to do..."

Bai Wu now possessed a powerful spiritual strength, and there was even a ceiling to that spiritual power within him.

Despite this, he still felt that he had subconsciously accepted this setup, which meant one could imagine... others were probably completely hypnotized.

No need for punishment, once they entered the city, their identities and social relations were all set in stone.

And their hearts too, would be influenced by some force, fully accepting this setup.

It seemed, for now... the disadvantages brought by this distortion hadn’t fully manifested yet.

The nightmare-like bizarre urban experience was just about to begin.

At the gate of the residential complex, Bai Wu’s car had recently been scratched by Yan Jiu and was still being repaired.

He found this memory odd; an image suddenly surfaced in his mind, a major traffic accident in the city center.

At this point, Bai Wu still hadn’t realized why the traffic accident happened.

It was only after he called for a ride-sharing service at the gate of the complex.

There were quite a few people waiting for rides; the elevator wasn’t crowded, Bai Wu didn’t notice at the time, but now he realized...

Among those waiting, there were also quite a few Evil Fallen.

About half of these Evil Fallen were missing limbs, and the people did not find it strange to see them.

It was Bai Wu, however, who was particularly concerned about why so many of these Evil Fallen and people were mutilated.

After getting into the car, Bai Wu naturally gave the address, the taxi driver yawned and said in an extremely tired tone,

"Alright... make sure you’re seated securely."

That familiar voice was again Zheng Yue.

Bai Wu was taken aback, everything really did resemble Zhou Zeshui’s memory.

Yan Jiu was his wife, and Zheng Yue had become a taxi driver.

So, was there also the brand ambassador Lin Wurou coming up next?

But before he had time to complain too much, Bai Wu noticed something was wrong.

Zheng Yue floored the accelerator and kept it down, the speed of the car kept increasing.

And as they left the neighborhood, the number of vehicles on the road also began to increase.

Every single car... was speeding to the max!

Under Bai Wu’s current dynamic vision, even the cars speeding at full throttle seemed practically stationary to him.

But this did not mean that the events currently unfolding were unworthy of attention.

"Hey... have you tried, you know, driving slower?"

Zheng Yue did not respond to Bai Wu, because even though Zheng Yue’s foot was on the steering wheel, his upper body was almost slumped over it.

He... had fallen asleep.

This was very Zheng Yue—this man was always half-awake, with eye bags so big they could each hold a watermelon.

But, for Zheng Yue to fall asleep at such a critical moment, Bai Wu truly hadn’t seen that coming.

And through the car window, such oddities weren’t limited to Zheng Yue alone. There were children too small to hold the steering wheel driving, even with pacifiers in their mouths; heavens knew how these kids were pressing the accelerator!

There were also people with poor eyesight, driving with reading glasses on, while the expressions of their passengers appeared both genuine... and bizarre.

Bai Wu could see the panic on these passengers’ faces.

But the passengers’ only choice was to buckle up and then wait for death.

Indeed, it was waiting for death—in such a traffic environment, with driving while extremely fatigued, children operating large vehicles, visually impaired individuals behind the wheel... it would be odd if major traffic accidents didn’t occur.

Yet, once these passengers got into a car... it was as if they accepted the role of passenger and finishing by buckling up was all that was required.

They were clearly scared to death, yet none of them screamed out...

It was as if they were riding in a perfectly normal car.

So, on the overpass, another car accident belonging to this city happened.

A series of car accidents occurred, a major traffic incident on the overpass.

Countless drivers, passengers, humans, and Evil Fallen were shaken out of their cars, thrown dozens of meters away by the impact.

Bai Wu thought this was a scene he’d only witness in San Andreas or Los Santos... yet he had seen a real-life version right here.

Zheng Yue’s car was deformed from being hit.

Zheng Yue himself was covered in blood. After looking at the shattered glass of the car, he wiped the blood from his face, yawned, and fell back asleep.

Bai Wu could only look up at the pages above his head, hoping for some clarification.

This time, the pages weren’t stingy at all and did reveal some of the game’s rules.

[The car door is open; evidently, this vehicle hasn’t completed its task. After the countdown ends, it might be assigned to an even more miserable identity.

However, Bai Wu’s brief identity as a passenger has come to an end. He did well, not shouting or even showing a look of terror.

Although he didn’t kiss his wife this morning, which meant he didn’t do a good enough job in the role of husband, he still had a chance to make it up in the evening. He could do some things that even the World Will wouldn’t permit to be described.]

Bai Wu understood...

Everyone takes on many identities every day.

When you return home, you become a member of your family, such as a son, father, daughter, mother.

Or husband, wife.

But when you go to different places, your identity changes.

At school, you become a teacher or student; at the company, a boss or subordinate.

On a car, a passenger or driver...

However, no matter what, once any identity is established, you must play your part well...

According to the description on the pages, the countdown might be an evaluation period.

If the countdown ends and the role-playing ceases, players’ performances during that time determine their new identities.

Some people might gain a better identity; others, a more wretched one.

[The Dragon Slayer felt that this world seemed not too bad—in fact, it gave everyone a chance, unlike the real world where the paths to more wealth were all blocked by the capitalists...

As long as you play the roles of employee, husband, and every role around you well, you can get a better identity and a more comfortable life. What a perfect world!]

As these words appeared on the page, the same thoughts surfaced in Bai Wu’s mind, as though they had entered his consciousness.

But soon, he noticed this mental intrusion:

"You can’t change my will, so save your effort."

Getting out of the smashed, deformed car door, Bai Wu, with his robust constitution, naturally didn’t care about such trifle swelling. His skin hadn’t even been scraped.

He was even surprised that Zheng Yue would actually bleed.

But the moment he stepped out of the car, Bai Wu still felt the distortion and collapse of this world.

On the overpass, there were vehicles everywhere that had crashed at high speed and become deformed, with more vehicles continuously converging.

Once the identity of a passenger ended, many people began calling for help.

But those around were extremely indifferent, no one came to the rescue because they were busy going to work, needing to play their roles well.

But is there really someone in this world who can play every role in life well?

Bai Wu believed the answer was no.

Someone may have played the role of a boss or a hero well, but to the woman desperately waiting for him, he wasn’t even an adequate boyfriend.

A father might work hard to provide better living conditions for his children but might also neglect the discipline of the children as a result.

The identities of people... are often very complicated.

Who is to judge whether an identity is played well? Who has the right to comment?

Standing on the complex overpass, watching some people wipe the blood from their faces, dragging their battered bodies, expressionless, towards their companies...

Watching as vehicles behind continued to crash at full speed, watching as pedestrians left indifferently, watching as someone finally couldn’t take it anymore, their survival instinct making them abandon their roles to call for help...

Bai Wu, among the vast crowd in the center of the city... saw a profoundly sick and distorted city.

In the construction sites, many elderly people were unable to bear the heavy physical labor and collapsed to the ground.

And the various managers, because the managers were children who had been assigned management roles in the last countdown, neglected their duties, causing many buildings to start having problems.

Fires, sewage systems reeking to high heaven, car accidents, power outages in tall buildings...

All sorts of accidents kept happening, all corners of the city were plagued by confusion over identities...

Causing a slew of issues to emerge.

To play every role well in such a city... how could it be easy?

In the end, Bai Wu did not choose to save anyone. He was convinced that this was the norm for this city; if he did not find the source twisting everything... he could not truly save these people.

Otherwise, they would still die in various accidents tomorrow.

Bai Wu took a stride forward, just like those indifferent people, heading towards the company.

Yet deep inside, a rage was beginning to smolder...

...

...

Baichuan City, an unknown corner.

In a dark alley, a child held a knife to the chin of an old man.

"So much fun! So much fun! I wished for the identity of a chivalrous swordsman last time! I really got it!"

"I want to rob the rich to aid the poor!"

The child’s excited cries could be heard outside the alley.

However, no one outside the alley wanted to meddle in others’ affairs.

Next time the child’s identity is assigned, some memories will be erased, and some will be retained.

Maybe he will remember the thrill of doing evil, and in the next round, he could become an even more perverted villain.

But no one cared; everyone hoped to play their identity well before the countdown.

If one rashly gets involved in something, a new identity could just as rashly be generated.

Just like the convenience store outside the alley, the owner got a pretty good identity this time; he was assigned the role of an orphan with no wife, no children.

He didn’t even have many friends, just running a simple convenience store, all he needed to do was play the role of the store owner.

If he went to help the old man being "robbed to aid the poor," he would have to take on an additional role of "concerned citizen" temporarily.

Who knows if this identity would bring trouble to himself?

As long as he minded his own business... when the countdown arrived, he could get a better identity.

Just a poor old man and a corrupted child, it’s not worth his involvement.

"Hurry up, give me your money, hahaha... Don’t resist! Old thing, the role I’m playing allows me to stab you to death, you know!"

The blade nearly pierced into the dry skin of the old man.

The child’s face was filled with a perverse frenzy.

A few days ago, he had watched TV and liked those heroes who wielded swords and roamed the world, robbing the rich to help the poor. Although... he ended up being assigned the role of a "thug," in his eyes, he was a hero.

This old man’s money is greedy, ill-gotten gains! He was doing a good deed!

"Should I try killing someone? It’s not really a big deal, right? Even if I do such a thing in this identity... I’ll be a good person again in the next one, won’t I?"

An even crazier idea began to sprout in the child’s mind.

"I’ve changed my mind! I’m going to kill you, hahahaha, I’ll kill you!"

Tears of turbidity squeezed from the old man’s eyes...

He suddenly regretted it; he should not have wished for the identity of a lonely old man.

He originally had a son who sponged off him and a spouse who wanted him to die sooner so they could split the inheritance.

Such a son and spouse were naturally a reflection of his failed life, so he hoped he could be all alone in the next identity, free and unencumbered.

Now he had achieved it; truly alone. In this time of crisis, there wasn’t even anyone willing to help him.

He was about to die, feeling the tip of the knife penetrating little by little and his blood draining away... Panic filled his heart.

In this city, there was no real death; death was only counted as failure... In the next identity switch, one might be assigned an even worse identity.

He feared such a life... He only hoped that in the next identity assignment, his memory from the last identity would be completely erased.

But just as the knife was about to truly pierce his throat, the tip of the knife... suddenly moved away.

"Let me go! Let me go!" The boy’s eyes widened in anger as he looked at the man who was only a head taller than him yet seemed to have inexhaustible strength.

"I’m killing a bad guy! I’m robbing the rich to help the poor! I am a hero!"

The act of "robbing the rich to help the poor" being thwarted, the child playing the thug flew into a furious rage.

"Don’t insult the word ’hero’." freewebnoveℓ.com

The man already had an imposing demeanor, and when he got angry, his gaze became even more terrifying.

Slap, he smacked the troublesome child so hard that his front teeth flew out.

Slap slap slap slap...

A series of slaps followed, each with precise control, making the child’s face swell like a pig’s head.

Then he nodded to the old man:

"You can go now."

"Th-thank you!"

The old man sincerely thanked him; he had never expected anyone to come to his rescue.

Every time they switched identities, they would lose a lot of memories.

It was like starting over completely, with only the deep understanding in their hearts that...

They must play each identity well, otherwise they would receive a very painful one next time.

Over time, everyone hoped that their identities would be simpler and the roles they played not too complicated...

Nobody loved to meddle in others’ business.

So being rescued by someone came as a surprise to the old man...

Was this young man who looked to be only 1.6 meters tall new here?

Out of gratitude and because the other person had saved him, he decided to impart some knowledge on how to survive in this world:

"Young man, I thank you today, but in this city, you have to learn not to meddle in others’ business... otherwise, you might encounter some really troublesome matters, which will bring you some very troublesome identities..."

This man was none other than Wu Jiu.

Wu Jiu was playing the role of a chef this time, and his restaurant was nearby.

At this moment, much of his memory had been erased, and he was not like Bai Wu, who could retain his memories.

Still, Wu Jiu felt that he had something very important to do and someone very important to protect.

Unable to shake off this feeling, he tried hard to remember, to understand who exactly he was supposed to protect...

Unable to figure it out, he went outside to get some fresh air and stumbled upon the child playing the role of a robber, robbing the rich to help the poor in the alley.

Although many memories had been erased, Wu Jiu’s inner self remained Wu Jiu.

Hearing the old man’s words, Wu Jiu frowned with a touch of disdain:

"I don’t care about the identity, you’re not young anymore, before you play all sorts of identities well, I hope you can first learn to play the role of a person well."