It's not a dream!!! Please stop saying the ending is a dream! If it's a dream, how would Lin Qiushi (Ling Jiushi in the show) know the faces and names of people in the actual world he never met before. That's not how dreams work! It's not his imagination either!
World explanation: The game, Ling Jing, was created by Gao DaWei but it got terrorized so GDW sent a copy to his best friend, LQS, to help him "cleanse" the game. Ling Jing was created by GDW using LQS's ideas when they were dorm mates. GDW couldn't communicate with LQS directly so he could only drop hints through the door games (like A'hui in Sister's Drum is based on LQS's appearance).
GDW's intention for creating RNZ was exactly that of an NPC - assist and guide the protagonist, LQS, to end game -- "cleansing" it. He never expected his creation, RNZ, to develop human feelings and especially not for RNZ and LQS to fall in love :3
When LQS got hit by the car in the real world (world #1), he enters a door and consequently enters the "Ling Jing's game world" (world #2) where he meets RNZ and everyone at Obsidian. Think of this as another universe -- the game's universe. Anyone who played that game in the actual world (world #1) also got teleported into the game world (world #2), such as the twins, Tan Zaozao, Li Dongyuan, etc.
In world #2, LQS enters the doors one by one (the snow village, Waverly hospital, etc. -- this is world #3). The games are doors within a door. When LQS and RNZ complete a door level, we see them "leave" but they never actually returned to the real world (world #1). They are still in world #2.
LQS sees everyone after he left the hospital except for RNZ because RNZ is an NPC and cannot exist in world #1. He can only exist in world #2 and #3, the game worlds. Any interactions LQS has with RNZ throughout the show proves that LQS is still in the game.
The only time LQS is out of the game completely (world #1) is the very beginning and very end. So yes, the twist is 99% of the show takes place inside a game. (If you've read the novel, this is also how the book is laid out -- doors within door). After the game was cleansed, LQS along with other human players (not RNZ) were transported back to world #1. They all lost their memories of being transported except for LQS who remembers everything.
The ending: LQS spent 50 years recreating the game, essentially reopening the door between the real world and Ling Jing (world #1 and world #2). He uploaded his memories of his friends into the revived Ling Jing game (so the people we see at the end are models of the real people besides RNZ). RNZ remained in the game to wait for LQS to reopen the portal and return. We see LQS and RNZ reunite inside Obsidian's headquarters. At the end he says "welcome to the world of Ling Jing" as opposed to "welcome to the world of doors" as these doors (world #3) do not exist anymore after the game has been cleansed. The only worlds that exist now are world #1 and world #2. LQS decides he wants to be in world #2 forever, as he mentioned in an earlier episode "whichever world you're in, I'll be there."
World explanation: The game, Ling Jing, was created by Gao DaWei but it got terrorized so GDW sent a copy to his best friend, LQS, to help him "cleanse" the game. Ling Jing was created by GDW using LQS's ideas when they were dorm mates. GDW couldn't communicate with LQS directly so he could only drop hints through the door games (like A'hui in Sister's Drum is based on LQS's appearance).
GDW's intention for creating RNZ was exactly that of an NPC - assist and guide the protagonist, LQS, to end game -- "cleansing" it. He never expected his creation, RNZ, to develop human feelings and especially not for RNZ and LQS to fall in love :3
When LQS got hit by the car in the real world (world #1), he enters a door and consequently enters the "Ling Jing's game world" (world #2) where he meets RNZ and everyone at Obsidian. Think of this as another universe -- the game's universe. Anyone who played that game in the actual world (world #1) also got teleported into the game world (world #2), such as the twins, Tan Zaozao, Li Dongyuan, etc.
In world #2, LQS enters the doors one by one (the snow village, Waverly hospital, etc. -- this is world #3). The games are doors within a door. When LQS and RNZ complete a door level, we see them "leave" but they never actually returned to the real world (world #1). They are still in world #2.
LQS sees everyone after he left the hospital except for RNZ because RNZ is an NPC and cannot exist in world #1. He can only exist in world #2 and #3, the game worlds. Any interactions LQS has with RNZ throughout the show proves that LQS is still in the game.
The only time LQS is out of the game completely (world #1) is the very beginning and very end. So yes, the twist is 99% of the show takes place inside a game. (If you've read the novel, this is also how the book is laid out -- doors within door). After the game was cleansed, LQS along with other human players (not RNZ) were transported back to world #1. They all lost their memories of being transported except for LQS who remembers everything.
The ending: LQS spent 50 years recreating the game, essentially reopening the door between the real world and Ling Jing (world #1 and world #2). He uploaded his memories of his friends into the revived Ling Jing game (so the people we see at the end are models of the real people besides RNZ). RNZ remained in the game to wait for LQS to reopen the portal and return. We see LQS and RNZ reunite inside Obsidian's headquarters. At the end he says "welcome to the world of Ling Jing" as opposed to "welcome to the world of doors" as these doors (world #3) do not exist anymore after the game has been cleansed. The only worlds that exist now are world #1 and world #2. LQS decides he wants to be in world #2 forever, as he mentioned in an earlier episode "whichever world you're in, I'll be there."