Rubik’s Cube

Chapter 73

The origins of the two were unknown so everyone raised their alertness.

Upon seeing this, the chubby middle-aged man smiled, “Are you Guardians from our country’s Tianqiong?”

Song Qinglan asked back without any politeness, “You are?”

The middle-aged man said, “Don’t be nervous. We’re just passing by.”

In this ‘Rubik’s Cube’ which connected various times and spaces, talking about the era in which they came from was something unavoidable.

It was just that, as Guardians, no matter which era or world they came from, there was something that they shared in common —– They were all hijacked by Tianqiong to complete its mission.

But these two seemed to be different.

Different from the trained and fearless Guardians, their temperament seemed to be more peaceful, making people feel less nervous. It was as if this place wasn’t a dangerous place for them.

The gentleman with glasses saw the marks on the ground and asked, “I noticed that the rooms are decreasing and marks like these are increasing. Are you joining it?”

Those marks were made by Ji Yushi. Except for himself and Big Beard, no one else should understand it.

It was unknown what the stranger’s intentions were so no one spoke.

The unfamiliar gentleman didn’t mind their attitude. He just smiled gently, “If it’s you, then you are really amazing.”

His gaze passed through the people standing in the room and stopped at Ji Yushi who was sitting on the floor.

Song Qinglan followed his gaze and proceeded to frown deeply.

Ji Yushi’s face was extremely pale, and he appeared to be in a state of panic. For some reason, his condition appeared to be worse than before. He sat on the floor and didn’t even make an attempt to stand as he stared at the two strangers.

No, he was more precisely staring at the bespectacled man.

Ji Yushi was rarely like this. He even belonged to the socially inactive type.

Not only Song Qinglan, even Duan Wen and Zhou Mingxuan noticed that something wasn’t right with Ji Yushi.

“Advisor Ji?”

The stranger was almost middle-aged and appeared to be well educated.

Despite the stare and his expression, he nodded politely at Ji Yushi.

Seeing the black and white console in Ji Yushi’s hand, he even said, “What a coincidence. My son also has a similar game console to the one this young brother has.”

Ji Yushi’s game console was already very old.

It didn’t belong to his time. It was a product from the past.

Did these two strangers come from a long time ago?

Everyone guessed inside.

“It really is.” Ji Yushi spoke up.

For some reason, there seemed to be a thick film covering his originally cold voice. It didn’t sound bad, but it made it sound indistinct.

Ji Yushi continued to stare at the other party in complete daze.

He resembled the people who had lost their way in this ‘Rubik’s Cube’; mentally exhausted to the point of almost collapsing.

The two had said that they were just passing by, and it really seemed to be the case. They had no other purpose, and they also didn’t have anything else to say to the four Guardians.

They retrieved the blue ball floating in the air and, after checking the colours of the surrounding rooms, they eventually picked one to leave through.

The chubby middle-aged man left first. He climbed the ladder with great effort and moved rather slowly.

The gentleman with glasses waited patiently.

As if noticing something, he looked back at Ji Yushi in the corner.

Ji Yushi had his head lowered. His thin profile was straight, he was no longer looking at the man.

It was just that he was still gripping tightly onto his game console. It was so hard, the tips of his fingers turned white.

The gentleman’s companion called out, “Old Sheng! Come over!”

The man said, “Coming!”

“Beep—–“

The round hole closed.

The two outsiders disappeared behind the wall.

“What were those two doing?” Duan Wen was puzzled, “Why are they wandering around like they’re window shopping?”

“I don’t know.” Zhou Mingxuan also found it strange. He joked, “Maybe they’re some commoner traversers. Haven’t you heard? Our mysterious profession is actually a dream job for many people. There are many who illegally traverse in private.”

Ji Yushi spoke, “Let’s go.”

Ji Yushi’s voice seemed to be better than before, but it still sounded different.

When he raised his head, everyone saw that his face was so pale, it was almost transparent. If not for the redness at the corner of his eyes, he would’ve looked calmer and saner.

Duan Wen: “Advisor Ji, you don’t look very good.”

Zhou Mingxuan, “Didn’t we only just get here? Let’s rest a little longer.”

“How are you feeling?”

Song Qinglan asked. He clearly didn’t agree with leaving with Ji Yushi in his current condition.

They had just argued about this issue not long ago.

“I’m fine.” Ji Yushi answered as per usual.

Song Qinglan watched him stand up and retrieve the blue ball that had returned to the centre of the room.

He suddenly felt that the back of the bespectacled man in the white shirt looked familiar —- If Ji Yushi was still wearing the same white shirt he wore when they first met, that is.

Song Qinglan was keenly aware that something was off.

Ji Yushi’s reaction just now may be related to that person. That person possibly came from a time earlier than theirs. Could Ji Yushi have met the other person during one of his missions as a Recorder? Song Qinglan wanted to ask but Ji Yushi had already opened a new door.

Despite Song Qinglan’s strong request for him to take a break, Ji Yushi showed no signs of relenting.

He just said to the others, “Go this way.”

Song Qinglan lowered his eyes to cover the emotions in his eyes and said to his other teammates, “Let’s go.”

*

Setting off again this time, their process of joining the rooms was clearly a lot faster and more efficient than before.

Apart from performing his calculations, testing the rooms and talking about the mission, Ji Yushi almost didn’t say anything else.

Everyone noticed this change in him and thought that it was because he was too eager to complete the mission. Only Song Qinglan noticed that Ji Yushi seemed to be suppressing the urge to turn back despite that room already having moved to who knows where.

“Yellow.” Ji Yushi said mechanically, “Twentieth.”

They left the yellow room that had been successfully joined with twenty rooms and got ready to enter a new blue room.

The blue room before them was densely filled with marks left by different people. The blanks were almost completely filled up by them.

“Beep—–”

Someone on the other end also opened a hole on the wall.

It was a group of unfamiliar traversers. They looked at each other from opposite ends with the blue room between them.

With the rooms becoming fewer, every one of the rooms filled with numerous marks may possibly be the last room. The seventh squad found themselves facing their very first competition.

The blue room still had the recording from before playing.

The team standing in the room seemed to be the very team looking at them from the other hole across the room.

“You should give up!” someone yelled in English, “We have already figured out the time difference in this blue room, so we specially came back. We have a better chance of succeeding than you!”

Duan Wen replied, “Why should we give up?!”

The other party took out a gun, “Please?”

Duan Wen: “Fuck!”

“Let them.” Ji Yushi said, “This is not the last one.”

Song Qinglan asked, “What did you see?”

Ji Yushi said, “The ‘29’ mark inside, it was the one I wrote last time to confuse the other group. It definitely isn’t the last blue room.”

They had been tricked once in the super slow blue room and Ji Yushi at the time had retaliated a little against them.

It was just two ordinary numbers but when Ji Yushi wrote it, he had specially imitated the other groups handwriting. At the very least, for people other than him, there was no difference at all.

But if Ji Yushi said it wasn’t, then it most definitely wasn’t.

Duan Wen immediately turned around and told the group, “You can have it!”

Ji Yushi had already chosen another route, “It’s purple here. The total number of rooms joined together is only second to blue. We should hurry.”

Everyone immediately followed him.

Following this, the seventh team experienced several similar incidents.

They gave up red, yellow and then another yellow. Every time they gave in, Duan Wen and Zhou Mingxuan became more and more anxious. Ji Yushi’s expression however remained calm the entire time. After walking a few laps, just when it was very obvious that the number of rooms had become much fewer, they ran into Lin Xinlan again.

The ninth squad had all gathered together. Their luck wasn’t just a little bit better than theirs.

“54 red!” Lin Xinlan shouted to them from the room below, “Cap Song, between you and me who do you think will complete this mission?”

Lin Xinlan’s teammates seemed to have been wandering around the red area the entire time.

It seems that Lin Xinlan had also been to the centre block. Although he didn’t understand the principles behind it, he managed to make a few guesses based on the information he got from Ji Yushi’s analysis and the rooms becoming fewer and fewer.

Song Qinglan looked down at them and said coldly, “Not me, it’s us. We will be the ones to complete the mission.”

Lin Xinlan laughed, “Is that right? Why don’t we make a bet?”

These words sounded familiar.

As expected of the Double Lan Duo. Song Qinglan had also said something like this to Ji Yushi before.

Lin Xinlan: “If you lose, you promise me one thing. If I lose, I’ll tell you a secret.”

Song Qinglan, “Not interested.”

Lin Xinlan was unconcerned about his attitude and just said, “Say hello to Advisor Ji for me.”

Everyone: “……..”

Ji Yushi stood up, “Let’s go.”

The round hole closed.

On the other side, another round hole opened. Two identical faces appeared, “Cap Song!!!”

It was Tang Qi and Tang Le!

The moment Tang Le saw his captain and everyone else in the squad, he almost burst into tears. He quickly climbed down the ladder.

Tang Qi followed closely behind but he instead asked, “Where’s Li Chun?”

Song Qinglan’s expression was serious. He seemed to have noticed that something wasn’t right, “Advisor Ji said that he was with you.”

Tang Qi gritted his teeth, “Dammit. He went out of his way to help an injured girl and we got separated!”

Everyone: “……..”

As expected of Li Chun.

Everyone scolded and cursed Li Chun out. Even Song Qingan was a little angry—-They were just about to complete the mission. If it was according to the rules given by Tianqiong, those who were eliminated would not be considered as having successfully completed the mission.

Ji Yushi turned on his communicator and looked at the simulated cube he had drawn on the holographic projection. He then interrupted their complaints, “We now have six people. We can move separately.”

Song Qinglan, “Move separately?”

“Move separately?!”

“It might not be a good idea?”

“What if something happens? How would we get back together?”

“I will send everyone a copy of the diagram.”

Ji Yushi was anxious. Everyone could see this, and they could tell that his condition was quite bad.

But they also knew that Ji Yushi wasn’t the irresponsible type of person who would make rash decisions.

Ji Yushi told everyone calmly, “We have already analysed that this is a multiplayer mission and that teams with a larger number of people have a higher chance of succeeding. There are too many rooms and too few people. Now that we have six people, we can have each of us follow each route separately. There are very few rooms left around us so we can separate and scout out the routes separately to save time.”

“Alright.” Song Qinglan pondered for a few seconds, “Different from the other groups, there is no need to compete between us. There is only one goal and that is to join the rooms together. Don’t worry if your path is blocked, safety comes first. You can always give up the current path and go to another.”

The longer they delay it, the more likely they would lose.

Moving separately was undoubtedly a risky move.

No one in the seventh squad was a coward. For the sake of succeeding, for the sake of being able to return home, they had already sacrificed too much.

Ji Yushi sent a copy of his diagram to everyone’s communicator. The colours around the rooms were different. They first divided into two groups and separated.

They said goodbye to each other in this room.

Duan Wen, Tang Qi and Tang Le formed one group.

Zhou Mingxuan, Song Qinglan and Ji Yushi formed the other group.

After entering the second room, Zhou Mingxuan separated from them.

Song Qinglan and Ji Yushi separated at the fourth room. After going through three rooms alone, they met again before once again separating in the new room.

The reduction in the number of rooms made it easier for them to meet up again.

Once, Duan Wen said, “Those ninth squad bastards. I’ve already encountered them twice, but why haven’t I encountered those other two?”

He was talking about the two men who didn’t look like traversers.

Song Qinglan glanced at Ji Yushi. The latter had already recovered his usual calmness, “You won’t see them again.”

They continued with their mission, repeating the process of separating, meeting and then exchanging information.

They would meet different teammates in different rooms, and they would also run into more and more traversers.

Finally, they noticed that the blue rooms had disappeared.

On the six sides of the cube, one side had a dark void appear and that side soon turned into dark nothingness. At the same time, Duan Wen who joined the blue rooms disappeared.

Before Ji Yushi entered the last room with the red ball, he ran into Song Qinglan again.

The room had recorded an earlier traverser’s death process.

She knelt on the ground, her skin slowly peeling from her body until her bones were revealed underneath.

She cried out in agony. The short blond hair falling from her scalp and the gun in her hand…..all of it allowed Ji Yushi to recognise her.

After Zoe separated from him, she had chosen a red room again.

She was bold and courageous, but she had failed to make it to the end.

The two stood together on the ladder. Song Qinglan was able to take in Ji Yushi’s reaction.

Song Qinglan grabbed his shoulder and said in a low voice, “Don’t look. I’ll go this way.”

Ji Yushi however didn’t mind.

The two stood very close. He spoke up but what he said was, “Cap Song, I have already reminded you earlier.”

Song Qinglan found breathing difficult.

The other party’s state wasn’t good. It could be said that it had worsened considerably in a very short amount of time.

Song Qinglan took in the other party’s pale face and sweaty forehead as well as the slightly quivering eyelashes and unwavering resoluteness.

“Ji Yushi!”

Without giving him a chance to stop him, Ji Yushi quickly climbed down the ladder and entered the room.

“Beep——”

The round hole closed.

The ball that was originally in Ji Yushi’s hand returned to its original position.

With Ji Yushi gone, Song Qinglan could only watch himself be moved in another direction together with the room: “……..”

In this labyrinth-like cube, he could no longer see Ji Yushi’s figure.

*

In the darkness, a new figure emerged.

The teammates in the centre block waited eagerly for their comrade who managed to successfully join the rooms.

The man was tall and straight and his skin was pale. His appearance easily attracted everyone’s attention.

“It’s Advisor Ji!” Duan Wen shouted, “Only Cap Song is left.”

In addition to Duan Wen, Tang Qi, Tang Le and Zhou Mingxuan were all there. There were also more than a dozen unfamiliar traversers.

They were all people who had completed the joining.

Ji Yushi walked over. There was still some doubt in his expression.

He already knew that as the rooms moved, there would be people dying due to a calculation error in the time difference between the rooms and that some traversers would cooperate and form a team to complete the mission. The chances of all six timelines being completed by the seventh squad was very small. With so many people here, he didn’t understand how Tianqiong would calculate the completion of this so-called Super S-level multiplayer mission.

Groups of people whispered to each other in twos or threes.

Every time a traverser entered the centre block, their expression would change.

Everyone stood together and waited for a while before Song Qinglan finally emerged from the darkness — He had successfully joined the very last colour.

“Congratulations, you have completed the new Super S-level mission, 【Rubik’s Cube】.”

Unpretentiously, Tianqiong’s gentle female voice sounded. When it reached their ears, it automatically switched to their language.

All the traversers stopped talking.

“Guardians from Star Era 1456, congratulations on completing the multiplayer mission together with traversers from other times and spaces. You have completed the Rubik’s Cube mission outstandingly and are the winners of this mission.”

At this very moment, everyone felt emotional.

It turns out that the squad who joined the most room wins. Only they will be given the credit.

Those unfamiliar traversers around them disappeared one after another. They were sent back to their original time and space by Tianqiong.

The seventh squad was extremely envious of this.

What they wanted wasn’t the reward, but to return to their own time and space, just like those innocent traversers who had been unfortunately implicated.

But Tianqiong’s words following this left everyone in disbelief.

“You have completed all the missions that I have prepared for you.”

“You have the right to save your reward and continue to the next mission or return to your time and space and use your reward immediately.”

Everyone in the seventh squad was stunned.

They can…..go home?

*

The silence lasted for several minutes.

Fantasy, lies, reality, no one was able to truly believe in those words.

But, going home. It was like hanging a plump pancake in front of a starving man. It was something they truly desired.

Would it be true this time?

Would they finally be free?

As if it knew what they were thinking, Tianqiong said, “This time you will truly return.”

After the emphasis, everyone couldn’t help but believe.

Could they finally return back to the third second after setting off, back to their original era?

Tianqiong continued to clear up their confusions, “Unfortunately, because a time anchor could not be set for the ‘Rubik’s Cube’ mission and in order to ensure the integrity of time and space, the return time will be adjusted to 17 March, 1456. Furthermore, because a teammate of yours failed to complete this mission, you will not be able to return to your original transition time together as a group. You will have to return separately.”

Someone failed to complete the mission?

Duan Wen’s expression changed, “Li Chun?!”

Tianqiong: “Yes, but don’t worry, he just needs to complete a simple B-level mission to make up for it and then he can go back home.”

“Dammit!! What kind of rule is that?”

“Do you think you’re the teacher who wrote the test and can change it just because you want to change it?! You’re just a damned system!”

“Can I swap my reward in exchange for Li Chun’s return?”

Tianqiong, “Sorry, I cannot do that exchange. The mission is not dangerous, please rest assured.”

Everyone cursed.

What missions could Li Chun complete alone?

Sure enough, Tianqiong continued, “In order to ensure that the new mission is successfully completed as soon as possible, you can choose to leave a team member behind to assist him in completing the mission.”

Everyone, “……..”

What a damned scammer!

How shameless could this broken system get?!

“At most we can just all stay behind.” Tang Qi said, “It’s just one more mission.”

“I will definitely beat him to death this time.”

As the rest of the squad chattered, Ji Yushi didn’t speak.

“Alright.” Song Qinglan interrupted them. His eyes swept across them, “You can all go back. I’ll stay behind.”

“If we’re staying behind then we will all stay behind.”

“The sooner it’s done, the sooner we can go home!”

“No, if you’re staying, we’re staying too!”

Song Qinglan raised his eyes and once again looked at Ji Yushi, “It’s just a B-level mission, me alone will be enough. You all have things you want to do. The sooner you return, the sooner you will finish the report and psychological assessment.”

Song Qinglan said, “Or are you saying that I can’t even complete a normal mission myself? I’m not reliable?”

Everyone was silent.

Zhou Mingxuan immediately said, “Then, since I have nothing much for me when I go back anyway, I’ll go with you.”

Song Qinglan hooked up his lips, “Okay, Old Zhou can stay. The rest are not needed.”

Tianqiong spoke in due course, “Song Qinglan, Zhou Mingxuan, you are welcome to stay and complete the B-level mission. Your rewards will be saved.”

Very clearly, this was what Tianqiong wanted. Everyone began to curse.

The group surrounded Song Qinglan and Zhou Mingxuan.

With the two of them together, they should be able to somehow complete the B-level mission with Li Chun.

From the beginning until now, 【Ouroboros】, 【Chaos】, 【Who am I】 and 【Rubik’s Cube】, everyone went through these difficult missions as a united team.

Every one of them had a strong desire to return home. Tang Le had an urge to cry and was comforted by Tang Qi who embraced his head.

Even Duan Wen’s eyes had reddened.

“Control your tears. Maybe we’ll be back just a few seconds after you return.”

Song Qinglan threw this out casually. His ruthless words successfully contained the emotional scene.

And then, in front of everyone, Song Qinglan turned to Ji Yushi and said, “Advisor Ji.”

For Ji Yushi, more than ten hours had passed since he and Song Qinglan separated.

Song Qinglan’s words made his heart skip a beat. He looked up and was met with the other party’s eyes which held some difficult to describe emotions. He seemed to be angry, or even frustrated, but in any case, that look of his made Ji Yushi feel that something about Song Qinglan had changed during those few hours.

“After I return, I have something to say to you.” Song Qinglan spoke a little fiercely but his words didn’t contain the commanding tone that belonged to a captain, “There is something I hope you can consider very seriously.”

Everyone was confused.

Cap Song didn’t sound like he wanted to ask Advisor Ji again to stay in their squad.

On the contrary, there was a sense of burning all his bridges as well as resoluteness after having made up his mind. The teammates couldn’t help but exchange looks with each other.

Ji Yushi: “…..I don’t know where I will be then.”

Song Qinglan almost immediately understood what he meant by that.

Ten years ago…..that incident.

Song Qinglan said bluntly, “Don’t go back yet.”

The bright lights forming the timelines made Ji Yushi’s pale complexion appear very cold, just like how it was when they first met.

He didn’t directly answer and just said, “I miss my cat(s).”

There were four capsules not far away faintly emitting a glow.

Ji Yushi wasn’t able to take more than a few steps before Song Qinglan grabbed his shoulder.

The handsome young man’s face was covered in stubble, giving off a ruffian-like air. That oppressiveness made it difficult for others to look at him in the eyes for more than a few seconds.

Ji Yushi wanted to avert his , but he heard him say, “Wait for me. I will go with you.”

Ji Yushi’s heart pounded very rapidly.

He knew that his teammates were watching them, but Song Qinglan didn’t seem to care.

He didn’t know what this situation looked like to them. Before he could speak, Song Qinglan forced through gritted teeth, “Ji Yushi, do you hear me? That year, I will go with you.”

Ji Yushi didn’t answer.

Those few seconds of silence seemed like it lasted for several years. It was so long that Song Qinglan thought that Ji Yushi would refuse, so long that Song Qinglan almost wanted to harden his heart and make Ji Yushi replace Zhou Mingxuan to accompany him through the next unknown mission instead.

But Song Qinglan couldn’t do it.

It was too cruel for Ji Yushi.

At this moment, Ji Yushi raised his beautiful eyes and said something: “Hasolamu.”

The strange pronunciation surprised Song Qinglan, “What does it mean?”

He very quickly realised that this was Big Beard’s language.

Ji Yushi blinked a few times and said, “I hope everything goes well for you in the B-level mission.”