The rain in S City came swiftly and fiercely. Within minutes, the streets were flooded, resembling rivers that had breached their banks. Wherever the storm passed, even the parked motorcycles on the roadside sounded urgent alarms.
Lin Huai: “…”
He glanced down at his shirt, pants, and leather shoes.
“Based on the current rainfall per second and the maximum drainage speed of the manhole covers, the street water level could reach at least ten centimeters within an hour…” He looked at the three-hour weather forecast on his phone, his eyes filled with despair. “In this situation, the probability of stepping outside in leather shoes without ruining my clothes is…”
“No way, it’s zero!” He threw his phone into Pikachu’s arms. “The one time I forget my umbrella, I run into such a heavy rainstorm. This is pure malice from the heavens…”
“No, no matter what, I can’t stay here alone with an orange cat…” He bravely pondered. “At this point, carrying an umbrella is pointless. Besides, I can borrow one… And from a financial and time perspective, the cost of getting sick once is acceptable.”
While others might consider how uncomfortable it is to walk in the rain with wet clothes, Lin Huai’s thoughts took a different turn. First, he considered the likelihood of getting sick from walking three kilometers in the rain and the potential duration and severity of the illness. Second, he thought about the financial and time costs associated with getting sick. Finally, after calculating, he concluded that if he didn’t buy new computer parts for the next month, the cost was entirely acceptable.
This clearly showed that his thought process was slightly different from most people’s. After triple-checking his calculations, Lin Huai put on a perfect professional smile when Tian Chu reappeared before him: “Since the manuscript is fine, it’s time for me to leave… Could I trouble you to lend me an umbrella? I forgot mine today.”
The other person was surprised: “You’re leaving now? In this weather?”
Lin Huai nodded firmly.
“…”
Before he could react, a hand touched his forehead. Lin Huai was caught off guard by the sudden contact, his eyes widening. The other person removed their hand, touched their own forehead, and muttered, “No fever. Huh, if you’re not sick, why are you talking nonsense?”
“You… I…”
After a moment of speechlessness, Lin Huai insisted under the other’s incredulous gaze: “Haha, you might think this is a spur-of-the-moment idea, but I’ve done a thorough calculation while you were carrying the cat upstairs… Based on my calculations, the cost of walking back to school is completely acceptable, so…”
The other person gave him a “you must be an idiot” look and sighed: “There’s a flaw in your reasoning.”
“What?”
“That is, whether the USB drive can still be used after getting wet,” the other said coldly. “If the USB drive gets wet on the way, you’ll have to come back tomorrow. Oh, no, the day after tomorrow, since it’s still going to rain heavily tomorrow.”
Lin Huai: “…”
Reluctantly, Lin Huai had to accept Tian Chu’s invitation to stay overnight. When he went downstairs, he instinctively looked toward the third floor. There was a door between the third and second floors, and he guessed the orange cat must be locked up there.
He breathed a sigh of relief. Tian Chu walked ahead of him without turning back: “The cat won’t come downstairs, don’t worry, temporary little editor who’s scared of cats.”
Lin Huai: “…”
“Scared of cats? How could I be scared of cats?” Even as he sat at the dining table, Lin Huai continued to argue expressionlessly. “I’m not scared of cats at all. What’s there to be scared of about those fluffy little creatures with one tail, two ears, and four paws? Haha…”
Tian Chu served him a bowl of the noodles he had cooked: “You’ve been talking for over ten minutes since coming downstairs…”
“I just don’t get along well with felines, but I’m not scared of cats,” Lin Huai emphasized, only to have a piece of ham thrown into his bowl.
“Got it, got it,” the other said helplessly. “If you keep talking, I’ll eat the egg in your bowl.”
Lin Huai guiltily touched his chin and quietly ate his noodles. Before Tian Chu started cooking, Lin Huai had tried to help in the kitchen by cracking eggs and chopping cabbage, but he was kicked out with the reason, “With your knife skills, even the cabbage would die with its eyes open.” After being banished from the kitchen, he listened to the sounds of rummaging inside, wondering what kind of wet garbage the man would cook up.
Unexpectedly, the noodles were snow white, the tomatoes bright red, the fried egg golden, and the chopped green onions vibrant. Just the sight and smell made his mouth water.
“…I didn’t expect Teacher Tian Chu’s noodles to be so good.”
“Cooking noodles is an essential skill for every otaku scientist during the Spring Festival when takeout isn’t available,” the other said while twirling the noodles onto his chopsticks and eating them like cotton candy.
“The Spring Festival… Shouldn’t you go home for the Spring Festival? Why cook outside?”
“Afraid of being dragged back to inherit the family business,” the other replied without hesitation. “By the way, stop calling me Teacher Tian Chu. Call me by my real name.”
“What’s your real name?”
“Three characters,” the other squinted and smiled. “Chu Tianshu.”
“‘Crossing the vast Yangtze River, gazing at the boundless sky’? That name sounds familiar…” Lin Huai felt like he had heard the name somewhere before. “It’s a very grand name…”
“I have a younger brother named Chu Tiankuo. He’s probably the one inheriting the family business now…” The other finished his noodles and pushed the bowl forward.
“Quite a complex family structure…”
“Actually, I have an older brother named Chu Tiange, who’s into music… Okay, that’s a joke.”
After sharing some terrible cold jokes, the two cleaned up the dishes and officially entered the night. Lin Huai stayed on the second floor watching horror movies, while Chu Tianshu went upstairs to feed the cat.
As soon as Lin Huai sat on the sofa, he felt a burning sensation in his chest, and his phone in his pocket buzzed with a message notification. He opened the message to find a black-background letter quietly sitting in his inbox.
“The third Game will start at 8 AM tomorrow. Please be prepared.”
‘No other hints…’ Lin Huai touched his chin. ‘Does this mean that after becoming a qualified player, the difficulty of the Game has increased? As for 8 AM tomorrow… Every time I come out of the Game, only ten minutes pass in the real world. I’ll just find a room to hide in at 8 AM tomorrow…’
When Chu Tianshu came down from the third floor, he saw the young editor surnamed Lin curled up on the sofa, his eyes fixed on the screen. On the screen, a college student was screaming as a Red-Clothed Vicious Ghost chased him. Lin Huai clenched his fists, muttering as if cheering for the student.
When Chu Tianshu approached, he heard Lin Huai’s voice: “Go! Fierce Ghost! You can do it!”
Chu Tianshu: “…”
He stared at the person for a while, then went into the study to code. Soon, the penguin icon in the bottom right corner of the computer began to blink. A window popped up.
The person messaging him was named Du Chongshan, a subordinate of Chen Liexue, the leader of Chenxing.
Chu Tianshu narrowed his eyes, picked up a lollipop, and looked at the small window on another monitor.
In the small window, the young man on the sofa was staring at the screen, hugging a pillow, completely absorbed.
Du Chongshan: Are you there, are you there, are you there?
Du Chongshan: [Window shake]
Tian Chu: Yes.
The Game forbids participants from mentioning the Game outside of it, and it even holds some power in reality—it can make participants forget the appearance of other participants or other identifiable details, and even distort the voices of participants when they speak about the Game in reality.
But just as internet users have continually updated and mastered methods to bypass censorship over the years, Game participants—especially those in the Advanced Zone—have also found ways to mention the Game in reality and use it for private communication or transactions.
Du Chongshan: I’ve been trying to reach you for ages.
Du Chongshan: You’ve been playing dead since you left the team.
Du Chongshan: Are you taking jobs or not? If not, just say so.
Tian Chu: Busy.
Tian Chu: No time.
Du Chongshan: Damn, can’t you say more than two words?
Tian Chu: No, haha.
Du Chongshan: …Tian Chu, go die.
Tian Chu: …You seem really angry.
Du Chongshan: Damn, you don’t even know. Recently, the boss’s younger brother went crazy again. He’s been in a bad mood, and everyone’s suffering. At least when you were around, you could lighten the mood, but now… Well, who told you to go hide in the Low-level instance and hand in that half-hearted resignation. Anyway, I’m off to work.
Tian Chu: Huh? What are you doing?
Du Chongshan: Looking for someone, looking for the Crow. The boss gave a strict order to find him. Everyone else wants to ask him what happened inside the door.
Tian Chu: Has anyone found him?
Du Chongshan: Who could find him? He disappeared after going in, and he’s always been mysterious. No one’s ever seen his face. Who knows if he died inside or escaped the Game.
Du Chongshan: By the way, I remember the boss sent you to the ‘Civilized World’ to hunt him down. You must have met him there. Do you have any clues?
Chu Tianshu’s fingers paused on the keyboard. The computer light reflected on his face, his expression unreadable.
After a moment, his face relaxed into a smile, and he typed two words.
Tian Chu: No.
Du Chongshan: Oh, I almost forgot. You were knocked out by him and slept through his entry into the ‘Civilized World’? Got time? Let’s play a round of PUBG.
Tian Chu: …Going to sleep.
Du Chongshan: It’s only 10 PM, isn’t it? Huh?
Tian Chu: Beauty sleep.
After saying this, Chu Tianshu closed the computer with the lollipop in his mouth. He held the lollipop and let out a long sigh.
On the other monitor, the scene in the living room was still displayed. Amid the rumbling rain, the new young editor hugged a pillow, his chin nodding as if he was about to fall asleep.
He flipped the corkboard in front of him, and what appeared were several ambiguous pictures and some texts written in strange codes.
He picked up a red pen and drew a line between two pictures.
When Chu Tianshu left the study, the person in the living room was already asleep.
He was curled up on the sofa, breathing evenly. His bangs fell over his eyes, making him look gentle and harmless, with a satisfied smile on his lips.
Whether out of extreme confidence in his abilities or sheer carelessness, he had fallen asleep like this.
The screen still showed the final scene of the horror movie. After 120 minutes, the Fierce Ghost had finally wiped out the main cast.
Chu Tianshu stared at him for a while, then fetched a Pikachu blanket from the study and draped it over him.
The next morning.
At 7:45, Lin Huai opened his eyes on time.
It was still raining heavily outside. He rubbed his head and found a yellow blanket covering him.
He tossed the blanket aside and quietly inspected the second floor. There were no signs of activity, so he assumed Chu Tianshu had gone up to the third floor to sleep.
The time conversion between the Game and reality was highly unscientific. If a participant left the Instance immediately after the Game ended, no matter how long they spent in the Game, only five minutes would pass in reality.
Conversely, if a participant chose to stay after the Game ended, the time would be converted at a rate of 10,000:1. The maximum stay could not exceed two months.
“So studying in the Game is actually quite cost-effective…” After confirming that Chu Tianshu wasn’t on the second floor, Lin Huai sneakily moved to a blind spot of the surveillance camera to prepare for teleportation. “Disappear for five minutes, then come back…”
At 7:59, his chest began to heat up, and a countdown echoed in his mind.
“Twenty, nineteen, eighteen…”
Just as he patiently waited for the countdown to end, something unexpected happened!
The sound of a door opening came from the third floor. Chu Tianshu, descending the stairs, and Lin Huai, hiding in the corner, locked eyes.
‘I, I calculated that it’s impossible to see this spot at a glance…’
“You…”
“Ten, nine, eight…”
Before Lin Huai could say anything, he saw the man walking toward him.
“Three, two, one…”
As the white light flashed, he saw the man grab the hem of his clothes.
He wore a “no way, this can’t be happening” expression of despair.
Volume 3: The Village Tyrant Uproots the Willow Tree
