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Happy Doomsday - Chapter 101

Published at 22nd of August 2022 12:07:18 PM


Chapter 101

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Ruan Xian had a long dream.

There wasn’t anything special about the dream itself. It was just a chaotic amalgamation of various fragments from the past few days. He dreamed of a cool, air-conditioned carriage where Tang Yibu was sleeping on his shoulder, and he turned his head slightly to see the beautiful facial contours of the android. He dreamed that they had found nothing in the burned warehouse and had to move towards Petri Dish No. 2217—The Glass Conservatory.

In that jumbled dream, he once again contacted Guan Haiming, who was still in the Shade Refuge. Ruan Xian didn’t need to divert the topic from Tang Yibu this time. He preemptively threw out the restored recording. In the next few minutes, Guan Haiming’s attention was completely pinned on it.

“Teacher has done some research on Petri Dish No. 2217,” Guan Haiming said, his dark circles almost disappearing on the flickering light screen. “As far as we know, it’s one of the largest petri dishes in existence, not much smaller than the scale of the Underground City. However, the flow of survivors in the Underground City is normal, but few people leave No. 2217… So there’s not much information about it.”

He took the hot tea handed by his assistant, Ding Zepeng, smiled at him, and then continued, “Teacher and I mentioned a little about this. It almost maintains the appearance before the end of the world. There are very few people who have left, and it’s hard enough to survive in the external environment. In contrast, it’s extremely difficult for people to get in. He once said he wanted to investigate. ‘If you find a stable way to sneak in, it will be a good place for concealment’… That’s what teacher said. If the information provided is true, I think the possibility of teacher going there is extremely high.

Guan Haiming glanced at the time and increased his speed of speech.

“It’s not without precedent. Four years ago, one person in the rebel army successfully infiltrated 2217, but since then, the external signal connection has basically been disconnected, leaving only a life response. We only know that he’s still alive but no other information can be obtained… If I know teacher, he should be able to get in. As far as I know, even if his state isn’t right, he will take the opportunity to confirm the situation of this person. Intelligence is always the most valuable.”

After that, he moved his finger and passed a piece of information to Ruan Xian’s electronic wristband. “That person’s name is Luo Jian, 47 years old. He’s the former infiltration master of the rebel army, and he’s also a genius. All his relatives were killed by the Mainbrain, so the possibility of betrayal is very low. If you want to find teacher, you can use him as a breakthrough point.”

“Do you have any thoughts on Ruan Xian’s restoration of his ability to travel freely?”

“Unfortunately, no.” Guan Haiming looked almost as confused as Tang Yibu. “Teacher mentioned his physical condition. He can only guarantee that his condition will not deteriorate. If there’s a way to recover, it’s impossible for him not to tell me. I…”

Unfortunately, even though Guan Haiming’s spoke faster than pouring beans, it was already at the zero point. With another round of “updates” from Major Ding, the contact was suddenly cut off.

Although the truth was still confusing, this contact had at least reduced the difficulty of their search—According to Guan Haiming, Luo Jian had lived in 2217 for four years, which was theoretically better than trying to find Ruan Xian, who they didn’t know if he was still in The Glass Conservatory.

This time, Tang Yibu was surprisingly quiet from start to finish. When Guan Haiming disappeared on the light screen, he put his head back on Ruan Xian’s shoulders again. Ruan Xian just wanted to touch the soft black hair that was hanging down with his fingers, when the weight on his shoulders disappeared again.

Tang Yibu sighed. “Mr. Ruan…”

Then everything became blurry, as if covered with a thick layer of mist.

The next moment, a clear light poured down through his eyelids, and a soft birdsong sounded in his ears. The dream had completely ended. Ruan Xian realized that he was awake. He shook his head and got up from the bed.

The bed was soft and clean, with a strange refreshing aroma. The sheets were fluffy and delicate to the touch. The window was slightly ajar, and the warm wind gently raised the curtains, revealing a pleasant emerald green outside.

A peaceful scene.

Ruan Xian pressed his forehead. He desperately recalled the dream just now, but that dream, like most of the familiar dreams, began to disappear irreversibly after opening his eyes. Ten seconds had passed, leaving only vague impressions.

He looked at his hands again.

His skin was fair, and there were no callouses anywhere. His nails were short and clean. Except for the old scars on his wrist, everything was normal. Ruan Xian stared at the scars for a while and frowned.

“Blood pressure, heartbeat, and body temperature are normal. Have a nice day.”

A soft voice came from his left. Ruan Xian turned his head, and a light blue translucent light screen floated lightly in the air, with the date, time, and weather overview displayed on it. In addition to those normal messages, there was also a small mark in the upper right corner of the screen.

[Bed 231]

Ruan Xian slowly exhaled. Not knowing why, he subconsciously touched his electronic wristband. It could be regarded as the only imperfect thing in this perfect world—there were many scratches on the surface of the wristband, and even some bump marks.

“Please take your medicine. Breakfast will be provided after the initial consultation,” the soft voice continued.

An inverted teardrop-like machine floated up and took out two light green pills from its body.

“Common tranquilizer, drug number RL-099789. Take it orally with warm water. Do not crush it.”

For some reason, this scene was a bit familiar.

His mind was terribly empty, he seemed to remember nothing. However, all kinds of habits and knowledge were still floating in his head, with a little fragment that may have belonged to the past. He was able to extract a little information from those fragments, but…

Ruan Xian put the pill into his mouth and drank two mouthfuls of warm water from the machine. When the thing left, he subconsciously vomited the medicine stuck in his throat.

It was almost like some kind of instinct.

“The counselor, Mr. Gong Siyi, is waiting for you at G-902, with the mechanical device code PES-A type 665s290.”

Another inverted teardrop glided over. Compared to the light blue medicine delivery machine just now, this one was painted bright orange, which was very dazzling.

“You still have ten minutes to wash up. Please act as soon as possible.”

Ruan Xian finished washing in front of the sink, trying his best to ignore the news scrolling on the mirror. The person in the mirror was full of energy, and his hair was trimmed very neatly. His dry bangs hung down, and he looked a lot younger.

But Ruan Xian’s attention was all on his clothes.

This was the first time he noticed what he was wearing.

The familiar pure white made him subconsciously ignore them at first, but now facing the mirror, he confirmed the style of the clothes for the first time—the white clothes weren’t tight but not loose either. The sleeves were too long, and there were many metal devices that emit soft blue light embedded in the sleeves and chest. A small metal device was connected with a thumb-sized black decoration. Ruan Xian took a closer look before discovering that it was a tightly rolled strap.

Very… Bizarre clothes, yet he felt familiar with them.

However, there was a floating machine staring at his ass, so Ruan Xian couldn’t stay in front of the mirror for too long. Although he was confused about his situation, when he left, he subconsciously hid a shorthand pen into his crevice of his sleeve.

“Mr. Ruan, have a seat.”

The layout of the consultation room was comfortable and relaxing, like a living room specially designed by a home designer. Coupled with the early morning sun, it was as perfect as a set in a household goods advertisement.

The counselor was also very young and beautiful. When Ruan Xian stepped into the room, he was wearing a long white coat and was pouring iced lemonade into a cup.

Ruan Xian’s gaze stayed on the other party’s white coat for a moment.

“Don’t be formal.” Counselor Gong Siyi pushed the lemonade in the direction of Ruan Xian, showing a perfect smile. His voice was extremely gentle, and he looked at most thirty. “There’s no need to be nervous. Today is just the first session. Just think of it as a casual chat. Let me see… Mr. Ruan Lijie?”

Ruan Xian wasn’t formal or nervous. He lowered his gaze and sat down in the seat closest to the door.

“Do you remember your admission to the hospital yesterday?” Gong Siyi asked softly.

“I don’t remember.”

“Normal.” The counselor smiled. “You took an overdose of memory suppressant, and it was still in the process of taking effect at that time, but in the face of memory impairment, you are the calmest I have ever seen… Remarkable, remarkable.”

“Memory suppressant?” Ruan Xian raised his eyes.

“Yes, if you take a normal dose, it will only suppress the memory specified by the user, so as to provide a more perfect experience. Everyone understands that the first contact with any beautiful thing is always the most impressive, and it can give people countless ‘first’. But as far as I know, some people use it to suppress some of the less beautiful memories… Don’t worry, even if it’s excessive, it’ll not have irreversible effects.”

The handsome consultant continued to smile. “But it caused us a little trouble. We cannot obtain your identity information from your relevant memory, and your electronic wristband has also been emptied. We can only trace the name of the registrant to ‘Ruan Lijie’.”

“I see,” Ruan Xian replied simply.

“Can you remember anything now? About yourself, about the past. Anything is fine. Although your memory should recover by itself after a week, it’s always a good thing to contact your relatives and friends as soon as possible.” Gong Siyi took a sip of lemonade and casually called out a light screen. “…Why don’t we try this. Let me give you a hint.”

‘At least his name is not “Ruan Lijie”,’ Ruan Xian thought, but he didn’t want to give up his name easily. This strange environment was perfect, but he had an instinctive aversion to it.

So he continued to remain silent.

“When we found you, your condition wasn’t very good. Your clothes were dirty and shabby, as if they had experienced something bad. As far as my personal speculation is concerned, your situation may not be good. You accidentally took a lot of memory suppressants to ensure that your mind wouldn’t collapse.”

Facing the silent Ruan Xian, Gong Siyi wasn’t discouraged.

“The police have already stepped in to investigate. At present, it seems that the possibility of imprisonment or kidnapping is the highest. There are nanomechanical components in your blood that are similar to the original version of α-092, but there are some differences and they may not be provided by formal medical institutions.”

“Overall, it’s something similar to the strengthening of primary perception. It’s conservatively estimated that they have been around for more than ten years, and the manufacturing date was even before the Prototype was introduced. You may be one of the first people to undergo underground transformation.”

These terms were a bit familiar, but Ruan Xian continued to remain silent.

“You are now about 28 years old. Going back in time, you were probably no older than 18 when you underwent nanobot transformation. In those days, your family must’ve been quite well-off and had enough money and freedom…”

Gong Siyi paused for a moment to observe Ruan Xian’s reaction. Unfortunately, all he got was blankness.

“We only found this component, which means that in the next ten years, you didn’t strengthen yourself again. This is a bit inconsistent with our inference.”

“I don’t remember.” Ruan Xian slowed down his speech, giving a thoughtful look. “I just remember that this place is good, and the environment was one of the best in the world before the doomsday. Now it seems that this is true.”

The person in front of him spoke politely and had a very good attitude, so much so, no one could pick out any fault. However, Ruan Xian just had an indescribable sense of irritability, and the other party’s overly standard smile made him uncomfortable. Listening to Gong Siyi’s long-windedness for half a day, Ruan Xian decided to use the fragments in his mind to take the initiative to test it.

“…And I remember that I didn’t come here alone. Is my companion here too?”

“Companion? Unfortunately, we only found you alone.” Gong Siyi looked a little surprised. “Also regarding the doomsday, can you tell me in more details?”

“It’s just a vague impression.”

Ruan Xian said half-truthfully. He found that he was extremely good at lying—lies didn’t cause him any emotional distress.

“Isn’t humanity pretty much destroyed? It was MUL-01…or something… In any case, it was something like that. I can’t remember.”

“Tell me about it.”

“For example, in the Sea of Ruins, the ruins of many buildings are crowded together as they floated in the sky.” Ruan Xian tried to make his tone sound plain. He chose the two locations with the largest turnover of people in his memory. “There’s also an Underground City, buried deep in the ground that was quite large.”

Gong Siyi’s expression gradually became solemn. He silently recorded something on the light screen, and then called out another light screen.

“This is the real-time news broadcast now. You can look for yourself.” He sighed. “…It was our testing error. Unfortunately, yesterday’s sample has been contaminated by novices. It’ll be a few days before the next sampling permit comes down. Now it seems that what you’re facing may not be simple memory suppression.”

“Hmm.” Ruan Xian motioned to the other party to continue.

“Look.” Gong Siyi casually flicked the light screen broadcasting real-time news closer to Ruan Xian.

On the light screen, reporters from all over the world were standing in different locations, reporting local news in different languages. Although the weather in the background was different, counting the time difference, the dates were all highly synchronized. The appearance of the cities in the background was also different from that of his own fragmented memories. They looked a little more developed, and high-tech products could be seen everywhere.

“You still have certain delusional symptoms,” the counselor concluded. “There has never been any ‘doomsday’, Mr. Ruan.”

The author has something to say:

Hm (?

Next, answering two small questions XD

① Why did the S-type Prototype cure Ruan Xian’s disease, but didn’t remove his old scars?

The Prototype removed lesions, but the old scars are similar to moles that are not cancerous. They are subjective things that may affect beauty but are not harmful to health. It’s not within the scope of repair for the Prototype. Take a step back. Even if it’s harmful to health to a certain extent, let’s assume that he’s a fat man (…), the Prototype will not take the initiative to help him lose weight. Its main function is to repair lesions and abnormalities.

② Regarding α-092

Why the Shade Refuge and the people there made a misjudgment. I will talk about it later, don’t worry XD

Kinky Thoughts:

So I haven’t released anything in 2 weeks, mainly because I’ve been reproofing my translations due to some constructive criticism I recently received, which I’m very thankful for (no sarcasm intended). I realized that my work had a lot of errors, so I apologize to those who have read my translations before the fix. I hope those errors (grammar, typos, spelling, ect.) didn’t affect your reading experience too much. Going forward releases should (hopefully) have less errors. As of this posting, only Happy Doomsday and Stray have been properly fixed (to the best of my ability). Bu Tian Gang and YRILGPED is a WIP and will take some time to complete…

I like to put out a request if there are any masters of English out there to please contact me or DM me on Discord. There are a few grammar questions I have and can help improve my translation if I can get some guidance.

On a final note, I hope you won’t think that due to my frequent releases, I strive for quantity over quality. Let’s just say that I have a lot of free time on my hands and have developed a (very unhealthy) obsession to doing this, thus the speed of releases. I do put a lot of effort into my work, and I would like to think they aren’t half-baked attempts. I hope I’m not being self-delusional in thinking it’s at least better than just straight up MTLing (which is why I welcome the criticism). At the end of the day though, unfortunately, I’m not a genius scientist like Ruan Xian, or a super android like Tang Yibu, and am only an average human, so while going forward these releases should have significantly fewer errors, there will still be some, nonetheless. I hope you can point them out so I can fix them.

To make up for the lack of releases in these last few weeks, here’s the entire next arc of Happy Doomsday. Happy reading.




Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!