Chapter 716 438: The Essence of Existence (Part 2)

After the conversation ended, the medical team kept Su Mo under observation for a while. Once they confirmed his vital signs were stable, they sent him home to recuperate on his own.

After returning home, Su Mo was in a daze and slept until the next morning.

In the early morning, he sat at the dining table, eating the breakfast his mom had made.

As he ate, he instinctively looked up and asked, "Aren't Dongdong and the others up yet?"

As soon as he spoke, the dining room fell silent. Su Xun and Li Huishu exchanged glances, and Su Mo himself fell into silence.

Li Huishu looked at the dazed and desolate child, wanting to say something, but Su Xun shook his head at her quietly.

Su Xun then cleared his throat and gently changed the subject, "Son, today is Saturday. How about your mom and I take you out for a walk? Or you can go out and have fun by yourself. It's important to get out and about, especially at times like this."

Li Huishu chimed in, "Hey, didn't Coco and the others just come to visit you a few days ago, when you hadn't woken up yet?"

"Son, you remember Coco and the others, right? Your closest college friends. Throughout your illness, they visited you often and said to let them know when you woke up."

Su Xun laughed and said, "Then hurry and contact them. They left their numbers for you. Son, they care so much about you; you should cherish this friendship."

After breakfast, Su Xun and Li Huishu informed those close friends about their son's recovery. After communicating over the phone, they planned to come and take Su Mo out for some fun at noon.

Su Mo's closest college friends were mainly three people: Squid, Fatty, and Coco.

In the previous 'Beacon Incident,' these three appeared in the form of illusions.

Now, they appeared again, but no longer as illusions, rather as real, tangible people.

At the noon meetup, Squid and Fatty, being men, handled it better, but Coco, being a girl, immediately hugged Su Mo's arm and burst into tears, tears of joy after a long-awaited reunion.

The four of them used to go out together frequently during their college days, but the activities were quite limited, essentially always either an internet café or an internet café, or still an internet café.

Today was no exception.

The four of them went to an internet café and got a booth, starting with a few rounds of team-based competitive gaming.

Among them, Su Mo used to be the undeniable carry. Want to rank up? Just support Su Mo mindlessly.

But Su Mo's performance today was bad, making frequent mistakes, and the others couldn't carry as well, losing game after game.

After finishing the current game, Coco lay on the table and moaned like a dead fish, "Ah~ five losses in a row."

Su Mo apologized, "Sorry, I'm off my game today, feeling a bit dizzy."

Coco waved her hand, "It's fine, it's fine. Oh, Ink, after three years of sleep, why so polite all of a sudden? It's making me nervous."

Squid suggested, "Maybe Ink should take a break first, and the three of us can start a game."

Coco rolled her eyes, "Without Ink leading, I'm not queuing with you two noobs. Anyway, I'm tired of gaming; let's all play our own thing for a while. I'll go grind 'Dawn' for a bit."

Fatty suddenly remembered something, "If I recall correctly, Ink had won a spot in 'Dawn's' beta testing back in the day, right?"

Su Mo looked at the familiar UI icon on the computer screen and absentmindedly asked, "Dawn... how's it doing now?"

Coco laughed and said, "The official version was released ages ago and won the TGA Game of the Year award, among various other awards, still popular even after three years, hailed as the light of national single-player games."

Seeing Su Mo deeply engrossed, Squid nudged Coco's waist, "Stop only talking; turn on the speaker, and play it for him directly."

Coco switched on the speaker and entered Dawn, as the game loaded, that familiar world surged toward Su Mo once more.

Coco controlled the protagonist, running around and explaining to Su Mo about New Moon City appearing before them.

As they ran, suddenly, a trash can by the roadside was toppled over, and a small figure rushed out from it, "I'll hit you!!!"

Coco shrieked and dodged while laughing heartily, "I knew Dongzai was lurking, just because I kicked her in passing before, is it worth chasing me till now."

"This character is so fun, a tsundere, and you can pursue a relationship with her."

She controlled the protagonist to flip Dongdong over and then smirked mischievously, "Come on, Ink, let me show you something."

She opened the backpack and threw a pile of cash on the ground.

Seeing the cash on the ground, Dongdong, infuriated, kicked it aside, cursing, "Get lost! I don't want your money!"

Coco controlled the protagonist to walk away, crouching and hiding in a corner.

Watching Dongdong curse and swear, declaring revenge for next time, she hadn't walked far when she turned back, obediently picking up the money on the ground, muttering, "Don't fuss over money, don't fuss over money."

Outside the screen, Coco and the others laughed so hard, slapping their thighs, "Ink, did the test version you played of Dongdong have this AI logic?"

Having said that, they noticed Su Mo didn't react, so they turned their heads towards him.

The sight gave them a start; they saw Su Mo staring blankly at the game screen, tears rolling down uncontrollably, unaware of his wet cheeks.

Coco and the others knew Su Mo had been ill, but they didn't know about the details of the consciousness cyclical reconstruction therapy, let alone that he had "traveled" to the Dawn Realm, left bewildered, not understanding why he was crying.

"Ink?..."

Su Mo gradually came back to his senses, wiping his tears clumsily, smiling reluctantly, "Oh, it's nothing... nothing... the doctor said there might be side effects on the tear glands after treatment... it's nothing, nothing..."

Coco and the others weren't sure if he was telling the truth, and seeing himclaim it was fine, they continued playing Dawn.

Squid sat beside Coco, asking with interest, "Which playthrough are you on?"

Coco: "I've completed three times before; this is my fourth."

Squid: "What endings did you get before?"

Coco: "All three times were the 'World's End Ending.'"

Fatty mocked, "Women, truly terrifying."

Coco blushed and said, "I didn't mean to! I wanted a good ending, too, but somehow I always end up with the world's end, got tired of being stabbed by construct embryos."

Squid questioned in confusion, "Aren't the other endings not that hard to get? Are you making random choices in the storyline?"

Coco: "I just... play as I feel, choosing whichever option I like."

Squid: "Were you doing evil things in the storyline? Did the researchers fool you into performing a vivisection on the construct embryo, and you really did it?"

Coco: "Yes, because the rewards were plentiful..."

Squid: "Then how did you choose the plot options in your second playthrough?"

Coco: "Same as the first."

Squid: "And the third playthrough?"

Coco: "Also the same as the first."

Squid laughed in anger, "Coco, are you an idiot? You're choosing the same plot options each time and wondering why you can't get other endings, isn't that obviously why?"

"Same choices, same process, the result is, of course, the same."

Coco naively tapped her head, "Oh, is that how it goes?"

Squid rolled his eyes, "I really have to hand it to you, you big fool. Every game works this way, what else would you expect?"

"Boom!"

Suddenly, they heard the sound of a chair being knocked over.

Turning their heads, they saw Su Mo standing up, having used too much force, knocking the chair over, his eyes wide open staring at Squid.

"Squid, what did you just say?"

Squid was taken aback for a moment, "I said every game works this way, what else?"

Su Mo: "No, no, no, the words before that."

Squid: "Before... uh... I really have to hand it to you, you big fool?"

Su Mo: "No, no, no, no, no! Before that!"

"Before that..." Squid pondered for a while, somewhat puzzled, "Same choices, same process, the result is, of course, the same. You mean this sentence?"

Su Mo: "That's it!"

He paced back and forth, muttering under his breath, "Same choices, same process, the result is, of course, the same..."

He repeated the phrase over and over, dozens of times.

Seeing Su Mo's erratic behavior, Coco wondered if he was spellbound, nervously saying, "Maybe... we should stop playing Dawn."

Squid: "Agreed."

Fatty: "Agreed."

At this time, Su Mo was still muttering the same phrase over and over.

"Same choices, same process, the result is, of course, the same..."

The confusion and darkness that had lingered in his eyes since he awoke suddenly vanished, like a flame ignited, burning with unprecedented hope.

"I know how to go back..."