Chapter 89: Frost River Road (1/2)
Translator: Sarah
Along with the warning sound, Luo Nan’s account at the ‘Frost River Reality’ had many of its privileges temporarily locked away and shown as ‘restricted’. Even the peripheral equipment that was given to him were different from everyone else.
Everyone in the room looked at each other.
“Really, the longer one lives, the more one sees. Something like this can happen?” even the expert Mo Cheng had never seen this type of situation, causing him to be amazed for a second.
Luo Nan was calm. The scanning result was one thing but the most important thing was that his medical history from Renai Hospital had also been entered into the database. This situation could only occur if both things came together.
He couldn’t say the ‘Frost River Reality’ did him wrong. Many haptic games nowadays stimulated the nervous system to a small degree in order to achieve the best effect. This was extremely dangerous to Luo Nan whose nervous system operated with high load.
Mo Cheng checked through the specified restrictions and nodded. “You can’t go into Area A or B; you could only play in Area C…”
The gaming areas in the ‘Frost River Reality’ were divided into three levels. Area A the ‘Engraved Reality’, Area B the ‘Immersed Reality’ and Area C the ‘Reality Experience’. The intensity of stimulation to the nervous system decrease with each level along with playability.
Players in Area C were usually old people, children or young people who just wanted to chill. Young players that liked the thrill of virtual reality usually looked down on this area.
Luo Nan had actually brought up the problem regarding the intensity of the game with Mo Peng before they came. However, no one could have imagined that the ‘Frost River Reality’ and the hospital had gone to such lengths. Mo Peng reacted responded loyally:
“How about this, I’ll go with Nanster to Area C to help him practice his Wilderness skills. You guys go to where you want to go.”
Luo Nan exited the scanning area and shook his head whilst wearing his combat-style peripherals. “You don’t need to come with me; you can go play with Brother Seven and the others.”
Mo Peng was an avid player. Since he was finally able to come here, he must really want to play in Area A. This was because that area was the most stimulating and the place where he could get the best ‘Reality’ experience.
Mo Peng hesitated and Tian Si laughed while raising her hand. “I’m not good at games and can’t do things that are too stimulating. I’ll just stay at Area C.”
Since she opened up the option, Mo Qiu also laughed. “I’ll also stay in Area C. Everyone else can go play where they want to; just stay safe. Cheng Seven, don’t go too crazy and watch out for everyone.”
“No problem!” Mo Cheng replied, but it was hard to tell how much of the words stuck.
Chen Xiaolin was not actually very interested but was dragged to Area B by Mo Han and Thirteenth Sister Mo Rui.
Tian Qi also looked preoccupied. However, this natural third wheel must be dealt with in haste. He was immediately dragged to Area A by Mo Tao and Mo Peng and like this, everyone was assigned into their groups and left.
“Nanster, where do you want to play?” Mo Qiu asked for Luo Nan’s opinion in a ‘caring’ way. The problem was that he was closer to Tian Si.
It seemed like he really felt something towards Tian Si. His harsh words to Huang Bingzhen before hadn’t created much impact.
Luo Nan did not want to be a third wheel and gave a random excuse. “Third Brother, you don’t need to care for me. I’ll go to the ‘Ten Days in the Wilderness’ to do some basic practice and train my body.”
“By yourself?”
“Nah, even in Area A, Mo Peng can turn on the guidance mode. I’ll call him when I get there.”
As Luo Nan spoke, he received a call coming from his wristband. It was an unknown number. As he wanted to widen the distance from the two main get-together targets, he raised his hand in signal and turned away:
“Hello…”
“Hello Mr. Luo, I am Bai Xinyan.”
Luo Nan was stupefied for a moment before coming to his senses. Bai Xinyan? Wasn’t she the prized student of Doctor Clay that Octopus brother had spoken of? The one that came to Xia City especially to help him with preliminary treatment as well as gather data?
She was also the daughter of Mr. Bai…
Luo Nan quickly extended his greetings, “Hello, Ms. Bai.”
Bai Xinyan’s voice was deep and gentle. It was extremely pleasant to the ears. “Mr. Luo, the body checks will commence tomorrow night but I just retrieved your information from Renai Hospital and the Society. I saw the results from the auto test results from last night that there seems to be signs of relapse. How are you feeling right now?”
Luo Nan silently admired her stoic attitude. In the end, he couldn't tell her that it was the Wraith Sign's fault, so he just vaguely replied, “It’s true, I don’t feel too well, it feels as if the pressure has increased…”
“Perhaps the power of your soul has grown again. Between the before and after of an ability user’s awakening, there are bound to be periods of intense growth. However, this is not good news for your current state.”
Bai Xinyan was very direct and very honest.
But Luo Nan was mentally prepared.
Bai Xinyan continued, “I require newer data in order to continue to the next step in your treatment. I ask for your cooperation, Mr. Luo.”
“Uh, do I need to go back to the hospital?”
“No need, I noticed that around five minutes ago the Frozen Star System had retrieved your detail from Renai Hospital.”
“The Frozen Star System?”
“That is the main system that the Frost River Reality employs. It is located in the super computer the ‘Black Dome’, which is the medium for a few experimental projects by the Star Alliance, the military, and the ability user society. You’re at the Frost River Reality, right? Center of the city, Fudong Main Street?”
He was caught!
Luo Nan was a bit embarrassed and could only try to explain himself. “I’m in Area C, and all my privileges have been locked…”
“No, Mr Luo, you cannot remain in Area C. I need you to go to Area A now.”
“…”
“In the tournament space in Area A of the Frost River Reality, there is a classic tournament event called the ‘Frost River Waterway’. You must have heard of it before, the Frost River Reality was named after it.”
“Yes, I know.” Luo Nan not only knew about it but he had actually experienced it. Mo Peng and Luo Nan had called Mo Han ‘Sister Pomegranate’ there and gotten a rough beating. He was simply beaten to a sorry state, even thinking about it now made him feel fearful.
“The Frost River Waterway is actually a project to test the human limits that was initiated by our lab. It is equipped with data harvesting devices which can be used as a detection instrument to re-amend the relevant data.”
“Then…” Just as Luo Nan was going to ask, his wristband vibrated. He received a notification in his inbox which contained a digital key and its instructions.
Bai Xinyan’s deep pleasant voice lingered in his ear. “This is a temporary privilege to the Frost River Waterway and through this; you can enter into Area A. After that, you just need to follow the requests of the system. Join and try to endure until the end of the game.”
“That’s it?”
“Yes, I will arrive approximately two hours later to retrieve the data. In the meantime, if Mr. Luo is up for it, you can do it a few times to let the system collect more comprehensive data.”
Luo Nan was surprised. “Ms. Bai, you have already arrived in Xia City?”
“I arrived not too long ago.”
Bai Xinyan didn’t speak much more. “I look forward to our meeting, and I hope you enjoy playing.”
The call ended and Luo Nan stared at his bracelet. He felt that something was off but he couldn’t quite seem to put a finger on it… Wait, the Frozen River Waterway. Doing it a few more times?
In an instant, Luo Nan felt like his spine was going to be frozen.