Day of Imprisonment

The rain outside continued to fall, and looking out through the shop's glass, everything was dim and chaotic. Occasionally, pedestrians in raincoats and holding umbrellas would pass by, but none of them would glance at this peculiar card shop.

The puppy seemed to have slept enough and was now wandering around. After obtaining the shop assistant's permission, Wu Rui took a bag of dog food and fed the dog.

She seemed to really like dogs.

Luo Xi, on the other hand, was chatting with the shop assistant.

They had been talking for over half an hour and were still engrossed in their conversation.

The shop assistant was called Hao Xiuwen.

Actually, this was his shop, and since he was the only one there, he was both the shop assistant and the owner.

"You are different from the other Memory Retrievers I've met," Hao Xiuwen said as he poured Luo Xi a cup of tea.

"Different in what way?" Luo Xi asked casually.

"You're more normal than them."

" . . . "

Luo Xi looked at the other person in a bit of surprise.

Could the word 'normal' really be used to describe him?

"To be honest, I don't have many friends. Don't let my amiable appearance fool you, I'm actually a bit eccentric. But I feel very comfortable chatting with you; we should be kindred spirits." Hao Xiuwen was currently using a pen to sketch a rough outline of several cards on a piece of scrap paper.

He was clearly skilled at drawing.

"What's more, you're also called Luo Xi. 'The World of Players' is my favorite book, and its author is also called Luo Xi. You two wouldn't happen to be the same person, would you?"

"Heh, just kidding."

"I graduated from the Academy of Arts. After leaving school, I couldn't find a job at all. Fortunately, my family has some money, and I'm passionate about this, so I opened this shop to live a life of ease and wait for death. But one day, I discovered that this world is fake, that there is no yesterday, no tomorrow, only today."

"Heh heh, I was about to break down at the time. My parents were away on a business trip, and normally they would be back tomorrow, but do you understand? Because there is no tomorrow, I will never see them again unless I escape from this Day of Confinement. And regarding this, I have actually made some discoveries."

"What? How to escape?" Luo Xi asked.

Wu Rui, who was playing with the puppy over there, immediately perked up her ears.

"Yes, I know how to escape." Hao Xiuwen was somewhat smug, and he deliberately lowered his voice, but his beaming expression betrayed his desire to show off.

"I don't have anything to trade for your information," Luo Xi said, waving his hand.

"No, that's for other people. Now, Luo Xi, you and I are friends. There's no need to be so mercenary with friends."

"Then tell me about it."

"Luo Xi, you know that I rely on this card shop to act as a card exchange for Memory Retrievers, so I've seen many cards and also understand some of the true functions of cards. This thing is a 'bug' in the Day of Confinement, or rather, an indispensable tool. You should know that different cards represent different functions, including creature entry, spells, items, abilities . . ."

"Among them, many cards have very special functions. For example, the Hideout card can open up a special space for Memory Retrievers to enter and hide. There are also Teleportation, Flight, and so on. And I once heard a customer say that there is a legendary card that can allow Memory Retrievers to escape from the 'Day of Confinement.'"

" . . . Just heard about it."

"Yes, but according to the current types and categories of cards that have appeared, as well as their functions and values, I believe that legendary [Escape] card definitely exists. So as long as we find this card, we can leave the Day of Confinement. So essentially, the Day of Confinement is a game, a card collecting game . . . As long as you look at this world from a player's perspective, you will reduce a lot of fear and despair. Every game is a new beginning . . ."

Hao Xiuwen spoke excitedly, his eyebrows dancing, as if he had fallen into some kind of madness.

And that kind of speculation without facts and preconditions actually has no meaning at all, and sometimes it can even produce unpredictable misdirection.

"I have evidence." Hao Xiuwen immediately retorted, perhaps because he felt that this matter was in his area of expertise and was not used to someone contradicting him, or perhaps that legendary card was no longer just a guess, but a part of his spiritual sustenance and hope.

So no one could question it.

With a flip of his hand, a card appeared between his two fingers. With a gentle flick of his finger, swish, the card transformed into a very strange ring.

It looked very thick, like some kind of thick, long beetle curled up. The ring face was an eyeball, very small, but you could tell it was an eyeball.

"Cat's eye?" Jewelry naturally had an attraction for women. At some point, Wu Rui had already sat down next to them, holding the puppy, curiously looking at the ring that Hao Xiuwen had materialized with a card.

"Heh, take a closer look." Hao Xiuwen's expression was somewhat playful.

So Wu Rui continued to get closer. The next moment, she saw the 'eyeball' on the ring suddenly twitch and look at her.

At that moment, it really felt like being stared at by some unknown creature.

Wu Rui's hair stood on end.

She immediately made a violent conditioned reflex, suddenly retreating from the chair, almost falling. The puppy in her arms was also thrown out due to inertia, but the little guy had good balance and landed on the ground, looking at Wu Rui with a confused expression.

It probably couldn't understand why she was suddenly so startled.

"Alive?" Wu Rui calmed herself down at this time.

"Is that strange? You're a newbie, right? By the way, let me popularize something. Among the Memory Retriever group, one indicator to distinguish newbies is whether they have passed three challenge scenarios. But even if you've only passed once, you should have seen some strange and supernatural things."

Hao Xiuwen looked at Luo Xi at this time.

He found that Luo Xi's reaction was very good.

There wasn't the slightest bit of surprise. On the contrary, there was a hint of curiosity in the other person's eyes.

"You were wearing a ring before. I guess rings should be relatively special in the Day of Confinement, or rather, in the card system."

"Not bad, Luo Xi, you have a very strong sense of observation. Rings, in the Day of Confinement card system, represent 'precepts' and 'bestowals.' To put it bluntly, it is a tool that needs to follow its specific rules. There are many types of rings, and the conditions for wearing them are also different, but the 'abilities' they bestow are similar; they are all 'card collection books.' Of course, the types of card collection books are different . . ."

Hao Xiuwen put the strange ring that looked like an eyeball on his finger with this hand.

In an instant, his face twitched, as if he had suddenly endured some kind of pain. And Luo Xi saw clearly that the finger on which he wore the ring immediately turned pale.

Then, he snapped his fingers.

Bang ~

A puff of smoke flashed, and a bizarre yet exquisite card book appeared out of thin air in front of him.

Similar to the Spider Card Book before, but the cover of this card book had even more of a 'Cthulhu' element, with raised, strange flesh, like a combination of blood vessels and muscles, and also, a huge eyeball.

This eyeball looked around, with a hint of malice.

Luo Xi looked at Hao Xiuwen at this time. What he had just said was whether that 'legendary card' existed, and the other person's showing this strange eyeball card book was clearly to prove it.

"Luo Xi, look here." Hao Xiuwen then opened both card books and turned to the last few pages.

On the last few pages, there were many card slots, of course, all empty. Under each card slot, a three-digit number was engraved.

And on the last page, there was a card slot numbered '000.' The one on the Spider Card Book was very normal, but on the Eyeball Card Book, under the last card slot, there was faintly a line of bloodstained text.

"This is a card called 'Escape.'"

That was it, just these few words, and the text was like small tadpoles, constantly twisting and moving, as if they would disappear at any moment.

"Luo Xi, this is the evidence. As long as we can find the '000' card, we can escape from this false world. Therefore, this card is called 'Escape.'"