Get me down!

"Would you stop yelling?" Fu Jie heard a voice that shocked him. He looked down in search of the owner of the voice, but was unable to find him.

With an expression of pure fear, Fu Jie responded to the voice, stuttering as he spoke, "W-where a-are you..?"

"I am not a person whom you should look down upon so of course, you'd have to look up to find the great me." The voice replied without much thought.

"W-what?" Fu Jie hesitantly turned his face upwards and right above him was a man sitting leisurely on the branch, his feet dangling in a carefree manner, adorned in turquoise-colored traditional garments. Fu Jie was stunned for a while before he responded to the man's sudden appearance, "W-who are you?"

"I have been waiting for you here for quite some time and you're arrogant enough to ask me who I am?" the man responded arrogantly.

"How am I supposed to know who you are?" Fu Jie snapped back, still hugging the tree for dear life.

"You insolent fool!" the man stood up and jumped down from the branch onto the ground easily and effortlessly as if having done this a thousand times before. Only now had Fu Jie caught a clear glance of the man's face which could be defined as beautiful yet sharp, soft yet not delicate, pure but sinister. In the next moment the man smiled, his eyes forming two crescents, and the previous sharpness and sinister aura was gone as if it had been just an illusion, only softness remaining.

"Just....kidding." the man burst out laughing.

Being laughed at like this for the first time made his ears turn bright red from embarrassment and Fu Jie couldn't help but angrily ask, "Are you making fun of me?"

"Of course not!" the man answered with a face that said otherwise, "I am called Bai Ling. Nice to finally meet you."

"Bai Ling? Are you joking with me? Bai Ling is a fictional character that died thousands of years ago."

The man named Bai Ling looked at him innocently, "But I really am Bai Ling. I have not lied to you."

"Bullsh*t! Bai Ling doesn't exist... Wait! Are you the author of the midnight musician? That Bai Ling?" As he spoke, Fu Jie's irritability also grew when he considered the possibility of the latter being the case.

"Bingo!" Bai Ling exclaimed.

Liu Fu Jie, "...."

"Little brother, why are you looking at me with such hostility? When did I offend you?" Bai Ling asked, clueless about Fu Jie's situation.

"You motherf***ing dumb sh**head! Pig! How dare you appear in front of me?! You ^*%$^$%&*&%^$#$%" Fu Jie's loose mouth had habitually started verbally abusing the innocent man.

Bai Ling, "Wait! Little brother, I think there has been a misunderstanding here."

"You ass***e! Eat dog sh*t! What misunderstanding?! You better pray I don't get down from here or I'll personally chop you into bits. Where the f**k is my gear?!"

"Rest assured, I have no idea what you are talking about. Calm down first, let's discuss this issue with a clear head." Bai Ling helplessly tried to relieve the situation.

Fu Jie, "give me my crimson gear and we'll talk!"

"Brother, I have no idea what crimson gear you are referring to."

"Don't joke around with me! Aren't you the creator of the crimson sky?"

"Crimson sky? The game?"

"So, you know!" Fu Jie yelled out accusingly.

"But the crimson gear is owned by all players who have completed the final level of the game and our system doesn't seem to have any errors. Only two people have ever managed to reach the last level." Bai Ling replied.

Fu Jie whined, "You promised me the crimson gear if I won the super-sky event!"

Bai Ling, "I did no such thing!"

"..."

"But...."

Fu Jie, "But what?"

"Since you are already here, you have a fair chance of winning the crimson gear. Does that count as me promising you the crimson gear? But it's still only a chance. Attaining that gear depends completely on your own skills." Bai Ling explained.

With big, hopeful eyes Fu Jie looked at the man and asked, "... What do you mean?"

"Ah? I'm sure you have realized by now....?"

"Realised what?" Fu Jie asked in confusion.

Bai Ling, "Look around, little brother. Where do you think you are?"

"Where I am?" he looked around but as far as his eyes could see, he only found vegetation: trees, grass, plants, and a clear river running amidst it. He was in the middle of nowhere, or at least, he couldn't figure out where this place was.

"Little brother is surely a bit slow."

"Who the hell is your little brother?!" Fu Jie tried to kick the man only to realize he was still on top of the tree and could lose his balance and fall to his death before he could even realize where he was. He clutched onto the tree tighter and gave up on the idea of kicking this man.

Bai Ling flashed his warm smile once again before responding, "Player 19061, The Great Mo, Liu Fu Jie, The winner of the super-sky event.... Welcome to the final level of The Crimson Sky."

Fu Jie, "..."

Bai Ling, "Are you ready to get down now?"

Fu Jie, "..."

Bai Ling, "Or do you prefer staying there?"

"Get me down!!"

Bai Ling beamed, "Jump."

"What?"

"I said jump." Bai Ling responded with that same warm smile that seemed to put the sun to shame.

"No way!"

"Consider it as a trust exercise. Jump if you trust me." Bai Ling tried to reassure him.

"..." Fu Jie dare not move.

Bai Ling, "I guess little brother prefers getting down on his own?"

"No! No. Wait... you'll catch me? Right?"

"..." Bai Ling said nothing and only smiled in response.

Fu Jie slowly closed his eyes and let go of the tree, jumping down and praying to be fortunate enough to leave with only a few broken bones. With each passing millisecond, he could feel himself getting one step closer to death. In his mind, he made his final wish: to be able to attain the crimson gear.

He stopped right before he could hit the ground. He felt as if he was covered in cotton, his body feeling completely calm yet his heart beating like crazy. He opened his eyes to peek at the situation. He was hanging in midair, his body only a few feet above the ground, his clothes fluttering with the wind. For a second, he could not believe his eyes but this was not the only shocking thing that happened today and some part of his mind had already concluded all of this to be a dream so he decided to just accept whatever was happening.

"How are you doing this?" Fu Jie asked.

"Not too difficult. It's my world. Of course, I can do anything." With a flick of his hand, the magic that had seemed to engulf Fu Jie and safeguarded him had disappeared and he fell flat on his face.

"That f***ing hurt!" Fu Jie complained as he climbed up to his feet, "Now explain what you were just saying. Where are we?"

Bai Ling, "Did you not hear me the first time? Well, no worries. I'll explain it again." The man smiled at Fu Jie, "Welcome to the final level of The Crimson Sky. The special prize for the super-sky event was an invitation to the final level of the game, a one in a million chance to get direct access to become a top sky player."

This information shocked Fu Jie's little heart uncontrollably. The previous anger of getting fooled was forgotten and he could simply not believe his ears.

The Crimson Sky had more than a thousand levels. If one were to complete all of them; it would at least take them more than ten years of constant hard work and professional skills. Completing one level alone took more than a month and a lot of luck. Even though Liu Fu Jie was considered as the top player of the crimson sky in his country, he was still at the 160th level and he had already been playing this game for two and a half years. The higher the level, the more difficult it was to level up. Getting from 159th to 160th alone took him two months. To actually get a chance to play the final level, was beyond unbelievable. Only two people in the entire world had ever reached this level and won the crimson gear, one was the creator of the game and the other was an anonymous beta player who had been playing this game even before the official launch of the game.

Never in his wildest dreams would he have expected to find such a treasure. Fu Jie suddenly felt guilty for all the times he cursed the game's creator and the girl at the helpdesk.

"But.... wait! I don't understand this at all!" Fu Jie suddenly yelled.

Bai Ling, "What do you not understand?"

Fu Jie, "How am I here? I'm sure crimson sky wasn't a VR game so why does everything feel real? And since when did VR technology get so advanced?"

"You are indeed at the final level of the crimson sky and this is no VR technology."

"Then how?"

"..."

"Am I inside the game?!"

Bai Ling once again flashed him a smile instead of giving him an answer.

"No Way!" Fu Jie couldn't believe it. That one smile plastered on Bai Ling's face alone said a lot and whatever it said, Fu Jie dare not believe it, "This ain't a book, it's real life! How can I transmigrate into a game?"

"I'm sure you've heard the rumors about our game. Isn't that why you love this game? Because you like its unpredictability?"

Fu Jie wanted to grab the man's collar and punch him but before he could do so, the man had already stepped aside and avoided his fist by a few inches.

Bai Ling, "Why don't we try controlling your anger issues first."

"I want to go back!" Fu Jie exclaimed in anger.

Bai Ling, "You would have to successfully complete the game."

Fu Jie, ".... and what if I fail?"

"You'd be stuck here forever," Bai Ling took a short break before continuing, "but the chances of that happening are near zero because if you fail, it means you died..."

"A-and what if I die?"

Bai Ling, "Did it hurt when you fell from the tree?"

"Of course, it did, you assh**e!"

"Then what do you think happens if you died here?"

"..."

For the first time, Bai Ling stopped smiling and spoke with an utmost serious face, "Do not, for a second, think this isn't real. If you die here, there's nothing more to it. You just simply die."

Liu Fu Jie, "....what about my world? My family? My friends?"

"You cease to exist for them."

"D-don't joke around. You're scaring me."

Bai Ling, "I'm not joking. The moment you entered the final level, you ceased to exist in your world, your friends, family, lover, acquaintances, no matter whom you knew, they would not remember you. If you ever want to go back, you'd have to successfully complete this level and of course, it works both ways. Once you leave this place and go back to your world, you would cease to exist in this world. After all, you only have one soul and body, and 'you' can only exist in one of the worlds."

"...." Fu Jie watched the man in horror as a deep sense of fear started budding in his heart and mind, "W-what are my chances of going back?"

Bai Ling, "..."

"Aren't you also one of the players who completed this level? Shouldn't you know?"

"I'm afraid I can't say anything right now. Like I said before, it totally depends upon the person and the task needed to be completed in this level."

"What do you mean?"

Bai Ling, "This world is constantly changing and even I have no idea how to complete this level. Beating the crimson dragon living atop the eastern mountains should be enough for you to attain the crimson gear and complete this level, at least that was the case for me."

"So you're telling me that's all I have to do?"

"Let me tell you, once again, I'm not sure."

"Why are you not sure? Aren't you the creator?"

Bai Ling, "...."

"How did the other guy go back?"

"...."

Fu Jie, "Speak!"

"That's classified information."

"Then how am I supposed to slay the crimson dragon?"

"With your current soul force, you can't. When you have enough soul force, it depends on your luck."

Fu Jie, "...."

Bai Ling, "..."

Fu Jie, "I really want to kill you for making such a sh**ty game."

"Yet you still enjoy this sh**ty game."

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