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quazartranslates · 3 years

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Welcome to the Nightmare Game - CH108

**This is an edited machine translation. For more information, please [click here]**

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Chapter 108: Slaughter Secret Society (X)

"Good, good evening..." Qi Leren, who came out of the basement after completing today's training task, glanced over and saw Ning Zhou sitting on the sofa. The uninvited guest sat straight on the soft sofa, who knows how long he’d been waiting.

Qi Leren, who was covered in sweat, subconsciously looked down at his clothes. This time he was fine, wearing a sports vest, and finally he was not curious-looking: "I’ll take a shower and be right back!"

With that said, Qi Leren ran upstairs to first wash himself quickly.

Perched on the coat rack, the big black bird let out a strange laugh and seemed to laugh at Ning Zhou, this master of its that had been left on the sofa. The latter gave it a blank look, and under the deterrent of its master's eyes, it made a whistling sound and looked in all directions casually.

After a quick shower, Qi Leren ran down the stairs with a boiling hot water kettle, and poured Ning Zhou and himself a glass of water. The big black bird that was not entertained rattled discontentedly, and Qi Leren had no choice but to pour it a cup. Unexpectedly, the bird was brazen and pushed its luck: "I'm hungry, I want something delicious!"

It also coveted the few rations Qi Leren had left!

Qi Leren was distressed. There weren’t many "pleasing rations". By now, they had all been fed to this bird... But this was Ning Zhou's bird. Right now, he had to count on Ning Zhou for help. Alright, let's feed…

"Ignore it." Before Qi Leren took out the food, Ning Zhou made a noise to stop him.

Qi Leren retracted the hand he’d been about to feed it with in good faith.

The big black bird looked at its master resentfully, pecked his ear discontentedly, and flapped its wings to fly away.

"Your bird has character... but its very smart. What's its name and breed?" Qi Leren asked.

Even outside of the mission, where Ning Zhou was no longer equipped with the Closed Meditation skill, he was still quiet, rarely saying anything: "It has no name, the species is an eagle, and its habitat is in the Jinghai Desert."

Qi Leren's regional understanding of the Nightmare World basically comes from his playing Nightmare Game, and he vaguely remembered that the Jinghai Desert was the location of the Underground Ant City, hiding the nest-like underground world under its scorching and horrible desert, as well as the scorching Purgatory deep underground, which was a place where demons ran rampant.

There were really too few topics between the two. They’d hardly talked during the Witchcraft Sacrifice. After that, every time they met, the unique circumstances hadn’t allowed them to sit down and chat, but now they were a little embarrassed.

"If it’s an eagle, then doessn’t it speak eagle (English)?" Qi Leren told a pun.*

*{E/N: Ning Zhou says his bird is an eagle (语鹰 yu ying), and Qi Leren tries to joke by saying oh, then wont it speak the language of the eagles (ying yu 鹰语; the same characters but switched), which is a homonym for english (英语 ying yu) }

Ning Zhou gave him a calm, blank look, giving no indication of laughing.

Qi Leren froze, forgetting that Ning Zhou was not a person from the real world. He didn't know what English was!

"Ahem, in the outside world, there is a common language called English. We sometimes use it when we talk. What is Hello, Happy, Hani... Ahem, it’s nothing special, pretend I didn’t say anything." Qi Leren felt that he had suddenly become an emperor of silence, and his heart was in tears. Why was it that he could easily talk to sinister killers when he was acting as Red? Yet now, in the face of his own kind, he often made stupid mistakes?

In fact, he didn’t know what to say to the other party. Why did he say such a thing? Ning Zhou: "...Oh."

For some reason, this silent scene reminded Qi Leren of a long time ago. At that time, he had not yet entered the Nightmare Game, and he was still an unemployed youth who was looking for a job everywhere shortly after graduation. His parents introduced him to a friend's daughter. This sister was dignified and beautiful, that is, she was a little cold. After the exchange of "um, ah, oh, ok, thank you, you're welcome", there was no more…

At this moment, the scene was similar to the picture of that blind date, except the one on the opposite sofa wasn’t quite the right gender.

"I..." Qi Leren was ready to talk about the Slaughter Secret Society.

"You..." Ning Zhou also happened to speak.

The two voices collided.

"You go first."

Two voices collided again, and they went silent at the same time.

Qi Leren began to sweat again. It won't work! This communication is totally impossible! It's embarrassing to sit and talk!

"Are you hungry? I'll make some fried rice." Qi Leren was really a little hungry. It would be better to communicate at the dinner table.

"I don't..." "I'm hungry! I’m so hungry! I'm starving!" Ning Zhou had just said two words when his bird screamed at the top of its lungs, startling Qi Leren.

After being interrupted by it, the atmosphere in the room was finally better. Qi Leren showed a big smile and looked at it gratefully: "If it can eat, I’ll make three servings. Cooking at home is much cheaper than eating outside. Paying the bill when you eat out hurts."

Seeing Qi Leren’s offer, Ning Zhou didn't refuse and silently followed him into the kitchen... A win.

Qi Leren’s mood became complicated when he saw Ning Zhou cutting tomatoes with a kitchen knife. It felt like seeing Dr. Lu approach him; he always felt that the skill points were a little biased.

A pan of fried rice and a pot of soup were finished quickly, and Qi Leren's craftsmanship was OK. After all, he lived alone all the year round, and he would have to eat instant noodles every day if he couldn't cook with his own hands. Ning Zhou, though, seemed almost like a chef, and Qi Leren felt distressed when he thought of his own life experience.

But there was a feeling of friendliness with this chef, and the atmosphere was much better when the two people sat at the dinner table. Qi Leren told Ning Zhou about the Slaughter Secret Society while eating, and how when he saw Ning Zhou listed as the mission goal for the selection ceremony to decide the holder, he’d almost fallen into the trap. Ning Zhou gave him a deep look.

Qi Leren choked for a moment, and he found it was easy to misunderstand, but the explanation made it worse and worse, so he had to bury his head in his food, burping from the anxiety. He was ridiculed by the eagle, who was tasting its unfamiliar fried rice.

After eating, Qi Leren revived his spirits and began to tell Ning Zhou about his plan: "The Slaughter Secret Society’s internal struggle is fierce. The Court always suspected that they could catch Kunagshan because the present keeper agent Lie Yang (Luo Yishan) had secretly leaked his whereabouts, because once the keeper dies, the memento ring will fall into the hands of the keeper agent. Right now, the ring has lost its binding. No matter whose hands it falls into, anyone can use it, but the functions of the half-field are incomplete. The acting ring holder also has the right to hold a selection ceremony to elect the next ring holder, and the new ring holder binds the ring to restore all functions in the half-field. But my presence broke his calculations. He must be worried that I’ll find you before him and sacrifice you to the Lord of Slaughter to become the new holder, so he needs to find a way to get rid of me and hold another selection ceremony. There are too many variables now. So I guess he’ll get rid of me before I finish the task. When there’s only one competitor left, whether the task is completed or not, he’ll become the ring holder. "

Qi Leren's situation at this time was undoubtedly dangerous, but he felt quite safe in this house. After all, the Court’s people shadowed him all the time. It was very difficult for Yang to kill him here. If Yang was being careful, he wouldn’t assassinate him here. The place was too unfamiliar, and his likelihood of failing would be very high. Once he failed, Red would be more vigilant.

In order to assassinate the demonized Red, it was necessary to kill him with one swift and resolute blow and end the battle before he awakened his demonization. The best way was to carry it out in the field. When you entered the field with full confidence and wanted to complete the sacrifice and seize the memento ring…

"There’s a good chance that he’ll rally his men to attack me suddenly and get rid of me after I enter the field. I’ve heard that in many selection ceremonies, it was quite common for candidates to kill each other. The Devil of Slaughter is indifferent to this group of believers, looking at them as no different from beggars. He just likes to watch them kill indiscriminately," Qi Leren said with a frown.

"What are you going to do?" Ning Zhou asked.

Qi Leren glanced at Ning Zhou with trepidation: "This... requires you to be sacrificed..."

Ning Zhou: "..." He had a bad feeling.

Qi Leren was really becoming more and more skilled at convincing his teammates.

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Editor’s Notes: A thank you as always to Miko for explaining untranslatable stuff ^_^”

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#Welcome to the Nightmare Game #欢迎来到噩梦游戏 #danmei

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the-truth-just-sounds-bette-blog · 7 years

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The Fall of the Roman Empire & its Correlation to America Today

This bit of writing grew out of my own curiosity and after hours of reading + research, I ended up with a huge binder full of notes and a mind full of observations I had made somewhere along the way. I read and reread heaps of pages and paragraphs here and there. I questioned the questionable and sought answers for that which did not sit right with my soul. I thought and rethought the matters at hand as objectively as possible and I even unlearned a few prior beliefs I held as I cracked open different history books and made sense of the sentence combinations on each page in my own way. I checked out words I wasn't completely familiar with in both small, large and digital dictionaries over and over again. And I wrote it all down.. now the sum of those ideas has been condensed here. In full disclosure, the topic I am choosing to address both deeply fascinates me and also terrifies me. I want to share these findings with you not only because I find them to be genuinely interesting, but also to summarize what I have learned into one physical space & strengthen my own way of understanding it all. I'm now able to read this collective information and reflect on what I have studied, I'm also able to acknowledge what is still just a part of the unknown. I believe that American and Western culture of the twenty first century is crucially similar to that of the Roman culture thousands of years ago. There are undoubtedly major and significant differences between these eras, but the existing parallels that do exist between the times only seem to grow more glaringly obvious over time. These signs should bring even a casual observer to notice. I fully acknowledge that the vast differences between Roman era and America today are wide, including but not limited to; technological advancement, abundance, slavery, government, social class, democracy, entrepreneurship, economic dynamism, social equality, etc. But today, I am writing specifically to go over the sameness. To touch the patterns. Both Rome and America were destined to become world empires, in amazingly short periods of time in both cases. The Roman Empire was probably the closest the world has come to world government until the United Nations was established in 1945. There are many reasons for Romes fall; military overreach, invasion, inflation, corruption and political incompetence are just a few of a much longer list. I myself think that less talked about environmental factors (such as deforestation and the salinization of soil) also played a profoundly significant role in the empires final breaths. It is important to note that the Roman Empires peak of power would come about only centuries after the Republic Era. Many Roman writers and historians would look back on earlier era with fondness and nostalgia for a simpler/less brutal time as the ideal of a good government. To me, this is eerily similar to Americans who often look back positively to the period of our founding fathers as a source of inspiration. The truth becomes tainted by memories and hearsay of "the good old days." If one were to take a mere moment to study history and the 'discovery' of the states, it wouldn't take long to find that every single state is built upon someone else's broken back. POLITICAL CORRUPTION in Rome was rife, much like present day politics. The corruption of these Roman leaders was practically legendary. Domestic violence, substance abuse, assassinations and sexual abuse were almost staples of Roman leaders during the Empire period. If this doesn't sound like a familiar story to you, perhaps you should close this page out and go surf your Facebook timeline instead. Hopefully you survived the indoctrination enough to raise an eyebrow of interest if you do choose to read on. It is a well known fact that the political corruption in the USA has come to the point where most people don't trust our government at all anymore. I too, fear that the days of a government for the people by the people are long gone. I think that they've been absent for quite some time now although I guess in the end it's better to wake up late than never at all. Much like our elected 'leaders' today, Roman public politicians had great difficultly differentiating between public and private responsibility, as well as public and private resources. After time, the pockets of both public offices and their sponsors, grew larger at the expense of common citizens. All the while public services declined. Money talks: currencies have always talked and always will talk until the very last day they exist on the earth. Its influence back then upon political parties or candidates was massively influenced by the size and weight of financial ($) donation to said political party or candidate. Not much has changed today. Numerous reforms were attempted to curb excesses, but echoing the same battle within American government today, these reforms were often resisted or immediately dismissed by the patrician class. The transfer of jobs to cheap overseas (slave) labor played a large role in the COLLAPSE OF THE MIDDLE CLASS. Increased trade with China and India through the Silk Road caused crippling trade imbalance and all but crushed the Roman middle class slowly. The same issues greatly threaten Americas middle class today. In the last ten years there has been an enormous technological move to SouthEast Asia. Yes, America does currently have a large population and a sophisticated military, and while it does hold a top spot among world leaders in science, technology + business.. we must be realistic and acknowledge that many other nations are rising up and our 'focus' as a country is just simply not in favor of its own people. There are more PHD students in China at this very moment than the USA has ever had in its history. The US still leads in amount of world class universities but this number is bound to fall as other countries develop their own. Surely a large amount of people in China already fully believe that they are the new world leaders. And why shouldn't they: they literally own us. The LOSS OF POLITICAL COMPROMISE has not made it hard for anyone living in our time to see that present day 'republicans' and 'democrats' no longer have the open desire and/or ability to actually work together in order to achieve best results for the greater good of its people. Similar to the Roman Republic parties which opposed one another (Optimates/Aristocrates vs Populares/Populists), Americas present day party system is also dangerously zeroed in on personal political gain over everything. The absence of compromise between parties led to the imposition of Caesar as dictator and later the end of the Republic. Despite the fact that HEALTHCARE in the United States is among the most expensive in the world, the coverage available is merely mediocre by many current Western world standards. Citizens are brainwashed into believing that the state of the 'economy' is to blame for lack of affordable health care, yet they don't think twice when billions of their tax dollars are pumped into the war machine year after year. We bully the world, treat others with no humanity and expect a great life in return. What's wrong with this picture? Historically the civilization with the most powerful army dominates the world. It is also common practice for the most advanced technology to be developed and applied by the military before being put to use to aid the people. Many Americans will say things like 'our economy needs work' or the economy this and that but most do not truly think about 'our' economic impact or lack there of from a rational or worldly point of view. Sadly most of Americas citizens of all kinds don't even remotely see the actual and very real present day danger of an ECONOMIC COLLAPSE within the United States. The majority of us are taught/led to believe that Rome fell because it was engaged in regular wars and constant overspending. The USA has relentlessly bombed, attacked and invaded dozens of countries all throughout its history. We are currently breaking world records because we're trillions upon trillions of dollars in debt as a nation. Back in Roman days corrupt officials displaced loyal ones and drastically raised taxes to serve Self interests, the Roman Empire continued to decline as a result. The same applies now. Decisions based on greed made by these selfish 'leaders' eventually resulted in the complete dying out of the middle class. Among those who suffered were laborers, teachers, merchants, artisans.. you know - regular people. Donald Trump capitalized politically by campaigning to win back job losses particularly in the manufacturing industry. He fear mongered every day citizens into believing that under his leadership, America would be great again and that foreign trade reform would take precedent. He rallied for the troops return, then shamelessly sent thousands more overseas to fight a losing battle based on lies. I'm sure their boots are made in China too. Onto the next similarity in times: DECLINE OF MORALS AND VALUES. Once crimes of violence on large city streets began to make Rome unsafe, the empire could no longer be maintained. The morals and values which once kept Roman legions safe began to crumble. Emperors (part. Nero and Caligula) were well known for wasting money on lavish parties. Same as the political fundraisers and exclusive elite dinners held today by those who pull all strings, gluttony and booze became number one. Entertainment today has also grown increasingly more vulgar and degrading. We see a sameness to Rome in our sporting/entertainment facets daily with the rise of sports scandals, casino entertainment, violent video games, dramatized wrestling/boxing matches etc. The most populist amusement during the Roman Era was watching the gladiatorial combats at the Colosseum. These gladiator fights were regularly attended by both the rich and the poor, and often the emperor himself. One contest after another was staged (mass distraction + massive waste of money) within the course of a single day. Should the ground become too soaked with blood, it would soon be covered over with a fresh layer of sand and the performance went on. Sound familiar? It should. INFLATION: In our present day the price of food/water/clothing/living continues to rise. Those who have retired and paid into social security for years, have not received a cost of living raise for years. After the reign of Marcus Aurelius, the Romans stopped conquering new lands and in turn the flow of gold coming into the Roman Empire decreased. Due to this change, their economy began to suffer from inflation, this inflation caused in increase in all prices. After time, the amount of actual gold used to make a single coin decreased.. and soon the coin itself becomes less valuable. In response merchants then raise their prices on goods sold to the people to make up for value lost. When things became truly grim people began to barter with others instead of even using coins at all. Salaries were paid out in food and clothing and even taxes were collected in fruits and vegetables. I don't what it will take for our generation to realize that a dollar is simply a piece of paper. And that piece of paper is printed by our government. The same government that is trillions of dollars in debt. URBAN DECAY played into the fall hand in hand with inflation, these facts are unignorable. Think of the wealthy Romans as today's 1% - these were the rich and the elite: the privileged. Most Romans, like most Americans today, were not at all rich with no savings or safety net to fall back on. The wealthy (1%) Romans lived in houses (dorms) made of marble walls/floors and intricate tiles/glass windows. The rest of the people lives in small, smelly rooms in "islands" that soon took over the city walls of Rome. These 6 story apartments were made of shakey wood and if you lived in one of the +45,000 'apartment homes,' the more stairs you had to climb to reach home - the cheaper your rent was. Many Romans rented apartments vs. owning their own homes just like life today. Often times they did not prepare their own food and went out for 'fast food.' As "island" life grew the cities eventually started to decay. This life was hot, dirty, crowded and dangerous. Those unable to pay rent were forced to move out onto crime infested streets, thus crime increased as survival was threatened. As far as MILITARY SPENDING.. well I think it's obvious even to a blind man that America wildly overspends but let's see what other things we have in common with the Romans.. For Rome, like America, the military didn't start out as a huge standing army. It was made up of the men of the Republic who would take up arms against an enemy in the case of an emergency. Rome was ultimately waned and overtaken by a series of military losses to Germanic tribes. A Germanic warrior named Odacer led a revolt in 476 from within against Emporor Romulus Augustulus. The defeat of Augustulus made him the last Roman emperor to rule Italy from Rome. The eastern part of the empire later fell to the Ottoman Empire, but remarkably survived until 1453. Prior to being overtaken completely, hopeless Romans began to lose their desire to defend the Empire, they lost their will to maintain an army that would defend its borders from barbarian attacks. This put a constant strain on the government and the increased military spending left fewer and fewer resources for other vital activities. The Empire began hiring soldiers recruited from unemployed city mobs and foreign counties to fight for them. This system for 'security' quickly grew unreliable and expensive. The DECLINE IN FAMILY parallel shared between Rome and America is so deeply concerning. A British anthropologist named Joseph Daniel Unwin chronicled the historical decline of numerous cultures (including Roman Empire) in his 1934 book titled Sex and Culture. He found that cultures which held to a strong sexual ethic thrived and were more productive than cultures that were 'sexually free.' Another profoundly interesting book, Our Dance Has Turned To Death by Carl Wilson, identifies the common patterns of families decline in civilizations like the Roman Empire. The seven stages he addresses hauntingly mirror what's happening in America today. You are entitled to completely disagree that these stages are in fact relevant to present day times - I only know what I see with my own eyes for sure and this is something I have watched unfold right before me over the course of the +25 years I have lived in the states. Stage 1) Men cease to lead families to worship, this spiritual and moral development become secondary. The families view of God becomes mathematical and mechanical. Stage 2) Men selfishly neglect care of their wives and children to pursue material wealth, this can also be political and/or military power. Material values begin to dominate thought. Stage 3) Change in men's sexual values turn into men who are now preoccupied with their word/business/war and these men are more likely to neglect their wives sexually and stray to other women or men. Stage 4) The role of women in the home has lost value and status. Women were neglected thus their roles in turn have been devalued, soon they revolt to gain access to material wealth as well as seek freedom for pleasurable sexual experiences outside of their marriage. The emphasis on sex for pleasure minimizes the intent of having sex to conceive children. Stage 5) Husbands and wives often end up competing against each other for ultimate reign over money, home leadership, career success, and most sadly - the affection of their shared children. The more marriages that end in separation and divorce, the higher the risk is for children's frustrations or hostility. This can result in their distrust/disinterest in traditional heterosexual relationships and/or eventual marriage. Stage 6: Society has become broken up into smaller group loyalties because selfish individualism has grown to an all time high. Our nation has not only become more vulnerable to its enemies but the decrease of birthdate has also produced an older population that has less ability to defend itself. Technology has only aided in the decline of respect for family by practically diminishing parental authority. Kids today are widely addicted to social media and many stare at screens for multiple hours a day. Their respect for authority has decreased along with their ability to effectively communicate face to face and/or expand social skills with peers. In a two plus two can equal five world, ethical and moral principles have all but disappeared. Political correctness takes precedent to truth even though the fact is: just because you think one way or another does not you honest or true. And it definitely doesn't make you right or just. Speaking of political correctness let's brush on religion for a moment. In America today, God has been ushered out of schools and government. What was once a Christian nation has become a secular and humanistic nation. Political correctness > everything. Over rational and critical thought. Now while famously borrowed from the Greeks, the Romans too were known for their elaborate views of mythology. One could say the way people currently idolize political heroes, celebrities and athletes today, is quite similar to the awe struck belief which ancients once felt for mythology. All the missions during the 1960's American space programs were named after Roman Gods and Goddesses; Mercury, Apollo, Gemini etc. Even present day architectural similarities are practically exact replicas of ancient Roman government buildings and temples; Supreme Court, Congress, White House etc. Yes, these two different eras are certainly not identical by any means - but how could they be? And although the Romans didn't have telephones, internet or TV their communication skills were absolutely relevant to the time period which they occupied. They were the first civilization to have daily newspapers as well and repositories of information at libraries. I have personally found that the similarities between Ancient Rome and present day USA are not only eye opening, but also that the shared commonalities greatly outweigh their differences. I do not believe that 'history repeats itself' as many others do, but rather that people continue on and make the same mistakes again.

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