Chapter 899: Try Both
"Yes." Jiang Ruoxue interjected before I could answer, "He was friends with Zhichun."
I looked at Jiang Ruoxue, then gave a helpless smile. I had been worried about how she would react to hearing about Bái Yáng, but here she was speaking well of him in front of others.
"Are you kidding...?" Gu Yu wore an expression of utter disbelief. "You're saying 'the Zodiac' are friends?"
"No wonder you don't believe it." Jiang Ruoxue said. "You're from 'Jade City,' and you stayed in 'Whirlpool City' for a long time. Naturally, you wouldn't think anyone could be friends with 'the Zodiac.' Haven't you always wanted to ask me about 'the Zodiac'? I can tell you now."
What Jiang Ruoxue said next repeatedly shocked Gu Yu.
She told Gu Yu about the emergence of 'the Zodiac' and some of the promotion rules.
Yes, such a simple and obvious truth, yet he had never realized it. Anyone would find this reality hard to accept.
"So as long as you put on the mask, you become a 'Zodiac'..." Gu Yu's lips trembled slightly. "Without even needing assessment or training...? No higher-ups selecting candidates... no interviewers...?"
"Exactly." Jiang Ruoxue said. "Just now, Zhichun said you should stay here... Don't you know what 'stay here' means?"
"What...?" Gu Yu was stunned. "Stay here... meaning I should become..."
"Otherwise?" Jiang Ruoxue said. "The room you're in can't change candidates, so if you want to stay, you have to take another path. That's what Zhichun meant."
Wait... Ruoxue might not know...
As far as I recall, I had switched rooms once before.
It seemed I had fallen into another thinking trap. Because I had changed rooms myself, I naturally assumed it wasn't difficult for others to do the same...
But now that some cities had been destroyed, I boldly guessed that perhaps nine out of ten people died from gambling their lives, while those left in the rooms would be trapped there forever, unable to leave.
This would result in no 'living people' on the streets, and all 'Zodiacs' could be evacuated from the city.
Only 'natives' wandering the streets would remain. These 'natives' would go through the motions based on their memories of life, making the place seem at a glance like a real city.
Unfortunately, there was no food in that city. Eventually, all the 'natives' would be killed by their own subconscious due to starvation.
If it were really possible to exchange rooms... then everything would have a solution.
Other cities should have sent massive numbers of 'refugees' to 'Tao City,' but that situation never occurred.
The people of 'Tao City' had always been in 'Tao City.' I had never heard of anyone crossing cities to change rooms.
But if that's the case... why did I... end up in my current room?
My interview rooms changed from 'Sheep,' 'Dog,' 'Sheep' to 'Tiger,' 'Rabbit,' 'Snake.' Was this Bái Yáng's doing again?
Could he even change my room...?
No. Among all the 'Earth-level Zodiacs' I knew, no one could have such authority. The person who changed my room could only be someone higher up.
Thinking like this, Bái Yáng must have made some kind of deal with them... ultimately freeing me.
Only that made sense. If there was anything about me that differed from other 'participants,' it was that I knew Bái Yáng and had agreed to work for him.
I didn't know how Bái Yáng managed it, but I suddenly thought of something unrelated.
I had once said that my memories were altered, but the one who altered them failed.
That person didn't understand me, so they gave me an implausible life, which made me see the discrepancy immediately.
Now my life was being altered again...
But this time, it wasn't my life in the 'real world' but my life in the 'Endless Land,' where I had been cycling through reincarnations.
Thinking about this, I suddenly had a bold idea... Were these memories real?
Did I really meet Bái Yáng, Sheepdog, Sha Pi Dog, and Zhang Qiang in that room?
Even if Zhang Qiang stayed in the interview room and Sha Pi Dog died, there was still Sheepdog who should have been in the city. I should have had a chance to hear about or see him.
But Bái Yáng told me he was dead too.
How bizarre. From my own perspective... aside from Bái Yáng, everyone else seemed to have vanished.
Since the day I parted ways with Bái Yáng, I had never seen anyone else.
"Me, become a 'Zodiac'... are you kidding..." Gu Yu snapped back to reality, muttering to himself. "Almost everyone who disappeared around us was killed by the 'Zodiac'... How could I become a 'Zodiac'...?"
"You're wrong." Jiang Ruoxue said. "The people around you were never killed by 'the Zodiac.' They were killed by the person you call Wan Cai."
Gu Yu slowly lowered his head. He knew Wan Cai was the root of all evil, but few people in that city hated him.
Hating a city's leader alone would make them outcasts, so they passively shifted their hatred onto the 'Zodiac.'
"The same goes for 'Whirlpool City.'" Jiang Ruoxue said. "No matter how unreasonable it sounds, the one who killed everyone in the city wasn't 'the Zodiac' but Nie Bei."
After hearing this, Gu Yu stood up, his expression somewhat desperate as he looked at me and Jiang Ruoxue. "So... if I want to leave 'Jade City,' I have no choice but to become a 'Zodiac'?"
After much deliberation, I swallowed the fact that I had changed rooms.
I didn't really know Gu Yu, but I knew Bái Yáng wouldn't do anything for him unconditionally.
"Theoretically, yes." I said. "There's a safest way for you to become a 'Zodiac' without taking risks, but whether you'll face dangers after becoming one... that's beyond my control."
"What method...?"
"Go back to 'Whirlpool City.' There should be a large number of abandoned masks there." I said. "Choose a type you can handle, then become the corresponding 'Zodiac.'"
Gu Yu looked up at me, paused slightly, and said, "But I can't choose to become a Zodiac in 'Whirlpool City'... It's too dangerous there... Could I bring the mask back to 'Tao City'?"
I shook my head. "None of us have ever become 'Zodiacs,' so I'm not sure, but theoretically possible. After you put on the 'mask,' the nearest building to you will become your 'game field,' and you'll need to complete the game content as soon as possible."
"I see..." Gu Yu's eyes seemed resolute. He nodded and said, "Sister Xue, Sister Zhichun, you've given me two paths—'go back' or 'become a Zodiac.' I plan to try both. That's the only way I won't have regrets."