I encourage everyone to post on the Open Thread. I’m reviewing this episode because I have time before my annual physical check-up. I can’t promise to do a write-up for each episode as I have other dramas to write on. 🙂

The Plot

Our heroine, Hu Xiu, gets dumped on her engagement party. A month later, still suffering from depression, her best friend takes her to a virtual-reality attraction called “Midnight” where they’ll be role-playing as cast in a murder mystery game. With the help of virtual-reality goggles, they’ll pretend to ride on the Midnight Train, arrive at a fictional city named Rong set in the Republican era, get sequestered when the city lord is assassinated, and assist in replacing the dead ruler with one of members in their group/faction. Once they complete their assigned mission in installing their faction leader as new city lord, they can successfully leave the virtual city.

Since she isn’t interested in playing the game to begin with, Hu Xiu makes a lot of rookie mistakes. The most fatal one is that she naively trusts the wrong guy, the handsome Non-Player Character (or NPC) dressed in military uniform, Qin Xiao Yi. Not only does she hand him the chemical formula which is in her safekeeping, she also gets shot by him afterwards.

She only finds out about his dirty trick the morning after. You see, she missed the debriefing that typically happens at the end of the game. It’s her best friend who fills her in.

Angry that she’s once again fooled by a guy – remember, she still hasn’t gotten over the public embarrassment of being jilted at her own engagement party – she intends to take revenge. In her words, “There are too many people I can’t fight in real life. But at least in this game, I’ll make those who cross me pay.”

Obviously, this cdrama is selling to its viewers the merits of playing virtual reality games. According to the show, virtual reality games can boost confidence when the player a) gains incremental wins, b) overcomes obstacles, and c) achieves the mission with persistence. This confidence, along with the development of problem-solving skills, can spill over to success in real life.

In the case of Hu Xiu, the virtual reality game pulled her out of her deep blue funk and got her spirit back.

My Highlights

1. Hawthorn candies

She’s hungry because she hasn’t eaten well in days. So, when she joins Qin Xiao Yi at his table in the café, she asks him if she can eat his prop. Then, without her noticing it, he pushes the plate closer to her so she can eat some more.

Later, when the city police chief wants to investigate her, she chokes on the hawthorn candy in her mouth. Qin Xiao Yi and the police chief, both of whom are NPCs, break out of character because of this hiccup…errr… glitch in the game.

Why is this a highlight for me? Because it foreshadows Hu Xiu’s uncanny ability to disrupt Xiao Zhi Yu’s life and Xiao Zhi Yu succumbing to her cuteness. Lol.

These people are all one and the same: Xiao Zhi Yu (in real life) = Xiao Yu (in the apartment) = Qin Xiao Yi (in the game) = pushover for Hu Xiu

2. The opium

Hu Xiu wants to get rid of the opium she’s carrying around but doesn’t know how.

QXY: Miss Sun (Hu Xiu’s name in the game), what do you plan to do with the opium?
HX: (matter-of-factly) It’s contraband. You can confiscate it.
QXY: It is indeed contraband in Rong City. But to me, it’s irrelevant. I only focus on what I want. Miss Sun, do you know what you want?

He walks away.

But his words stays with her. She slowly realizes that, in real life, she’s also been carrying “opium,” in the form of unfulfilled dreams.

Like, she dreamt of studying architecture abroad after graduation, and designing a residence for her parents. But her father had an accident that derailed her dream. Then, she wanted to transfer to the Design Department but she’s stuck being an administrative assistant. She wanted a simple life with her husband-to-be, but her fiancé ran away.

She thinks to herself, “When have I ever truly gotten what I want? Can’t I even win once in a game?”

She then reads her mission card. To her surprise, she learns that she can exchange the opium for diamonds.

See the obvious symbolism there?

Opium = unfulfilled dreams and goals that she’s forgotten/buried away
Diamond = the dreams and goals if she acts to turn them into reality

3. The double cross

Qin Xiao Yi knows that Hu Xiu (that is, her character Miss Sun) is the most important link in the game. Her team can’t win without acquiring the formula from her, and she won’t just hand over the formula to anybody. So, he pretends to be on her side to get the formula.

To add insult to injury, when she checks the group chat, she discovers that Qin Xiao Yi always fires two shots when executing enemies. Indeed, she was shot twice.

HX: Liar! He was planning to silence me, and I acted like an idiot, thanking him!

How she thinks she looked like.

How she actually looked like back then.

In her mind, she looked like a simpering idiot. But in reality, she looked breathtakingly lovely when she thanked him.