Chapter 6: Someone Knocking on the Door

Wei Tingxia carried his small bundle and casually strolled into the top floor suite.

The gilded faucets in the staff lounge apparently weren’t enough to represent Stardust’s style. Standing before the floor-to-ceiling mirror with its golden decorations, Wei Tingxia thought silently.

The top suites on a luxury cruise liner were priceless, and most required advance reservations. The double-height design paired with smart-tinted floor-to-ceiling windows framed the seascape where ocean met sky like a flowing oil painting. The light passed through special filters, always spreading through the room with just the right gentle touch.

Less than two minutes after check-in, a middle-aged butler dressed in a black tailcoat knocked on the door. This impeccably mannered gentleman introduced the suite’s smart systems with meticulous care, his voice steady and low, as if reading from a classical music score.

Wei Tingxia sank into the sofa, propping his chin with his left hand while his right index finger tapped his knee irregularly.

The butler’s nagging explanation went in one ear and out the other. At that moment, all of Wei Tingxia’s attention was on the data stream flashing wildly before his eyes.

It was the fifth day since entering the mission world, and the turning point had appeared. System 0188 was ready to go.

[I already sampled and analyzed the data. The numbers were still rising when you entered Yan Xinfeng’s suite. The turning point came when you asked him for money.]

In that instant, on the dense line graph, the originally soaring red trajectory came to an abrupt halt, then maintained a strange micro-oscillation.

System 0188 had pulled tens of thousands of world data points for analysis during this time, trying to grasp the essence directly through the phenomenon.

[And after zooming out the display, I found that in a later time segment, the data even dropped back a bit…]

Wei Tingxia unconsciously crossed his legs, his boot heel lightly knocking the edge of the coffee table. The butler paused his explanation and, at his gesture, sat stiffly on the single-seater sofa.

Ahead of him, System 0188 pulled up various interfaces and analysis reports it deemed supportive, listing them out in batches of varying sizes before Wei Tingxia, issuing a [Look at this quick] every two seconds.

This system was going crazy.

Wei Tingxia shook his head helplessly. After giving up the struggle, he listened to the human with one ear and the system’s frenzy with the other.

“…If you have any issues, please contact me directly. I will do my utmost to resolve them for you.”

The butler finished speaking first.

Wei Tingxia temporarily ignored System 0188’s lengthy tirade, straightened up, and asked, “How many days until this cruise reaches its final port?”

That was the only thing he cared about.

The butler paused briefly, then answered smoothly, “Twenty-one days. We will dock near the Faroe Islands.”

Wei Tingxia nodded. It wasn’t a long voyage, but it was enough for him.

“I have nothing else to ask. You can go,” he told the butler.

As the service butler for the top suite on a luxury liner, the man had seen all sorts of guests. Those like Wei Tingxia who disliked disturbances were a dime a dozen; he wasn’t surprised.

After rising, bowing, and saluting, he left the suite briskly.

As soon as he left, System 0188 grew even more excited.

[I’ll be honest with you. At first, I thought it was hopeless. I was ready to submit my resignation. But now I think there’s hope.]

It excitedly output to Wei Tingxia: [You have a shot at holding onto your first place.]

Wei Tingxia stared at the wildly flashing data before him and, after a long moment, responded dryly, “I’m thrilled.”

So, in summary, the turning point in the situation occurred the instant Wei Tingxia started making demands, and from that second on, the world’s collapse progress stabilized without further deterioration.

“But I still don’t understand why,” Wei Tingxia furrowed his brows. “Is this good news?”

[Whether it’s good or bad depends on your judgment.] System 0188 said. [It just gives us a reference for solving the puzzle.]

Wei Tingxia replied, however, “I don’t like this reference.”

[Why?]

System 0188 didn’t understand; this was the first time Wei Tingxia had expressed clear dislike.

“Nothing.” Wei Tingxia brushed it off lightly. “Let’s go with this plan for now.”

As he stood up, the notification sound rang on his newly replaced phone.

The screen showed an unknown number, but the ambiguously worded text message was all too familiar.

It was from Wang Yufei.

Last night, as soon as the cruise docked, the guy had left in a hurry without even a proper goodbye. Wei Tingxia had thought the farce was over, but unexpectedly, after cleaning up his mess, the other man still had the leisure to send this kind of message.

Wei Tingxia stared at the screen and sneered, then casually tossed the phone back onto the bed.

“What a jerk,” he commented offhandedly. “That girl too, getting coaxed so easily.”

[You could add some fuel to the fire.] System 0188 suggested.

“Send it in a few days. Give her some buffer time.”

Staring at infuriating stuff all the time wasn’t good; Wei Tingxia had no intention of harming anyone.

System 0188 understood and went offline.

Wei Tingxia finally gained precious personal space and felt the world quiet down.

…

He didn’t leave the suite for the entire day.

As dusk fell, Wei Tingxia finally opened his eyes from sleep.

The suite’s smart butler could sense the room owner’s physical state. Detecting that Wei Tingxia was asleep, it automatically dimmed the lights, leaving only a few scattered ones to illuminate the floor.

Wei Tingxia lay in bed. In the hazy dimness, he was first drawn to System 0188’s real-world projection.

It was clusters of small blue lights, like scattered droplets of water-formed grapes, drifting aimlessly in the void.

[You’re finally awake.] System 0188 said. [Ready?]

“No.”

Wei Tingxia gazed at the ceiling, his voice light as a sigh. “I keep feeling like this is a dream. At this time, I should be lying in the villa in System Space, counting data points and enjoying retirement.”

But reality was that he was forced back to work, reduced once more to a miserable wage slave, hounded by this score-obsessed system.

[Constant complaining won’t improve your situation. You should take action.]

Wei Tingxia rolled his eyes. “Why don’t you check what time it is?”

What action now? Go to the ship’s kitchen and drug Yan Xinfeng?

Wei Tingxia didn’t want to move, but System 0188 urged him repeatedly, so he reluctantly got out of bed and walked to the suite’s observation deck.

The starry sky at sea wasn’t the same as on land. Vast black waves reflected silvery glows below, and looking up revealed the Milky Way piercing the night.

Wei Tingxia let the wind blow for a while, pretending he was completing System 0188’s task.

Once his hair was thoroughly messed up, he yawned and wanted to head back inside.

Then he saw a flash of light suddenly appear from next door and quickly vanish.

Hm?

His irritation from forced overtime vanished. Wei Tingxia turned sideways and asked System 0188, “Did you see that?”

[I saw it.]

So it wasn’t an illusion.

At three in the morning, even fish were asleep, yet next door was still awake.

“If I remember right…”

Wei Tingxia tapped the railing. “Next door is the young master.”

[Yes,] System 0188 confirmed again. [He’s afraid you’ll harm others, so he’s self-sacrificing.]

“If you can’t speak properly, don’t speak.”

The blue grapes flickered a few times and fell silent.

Wei Tingxia turned and left the observation deck.

…

Meanwhile, Yan Xinfeng set down the phone and downed the last mouthful of cold black coffee. The bitter taste made him frown slightly.

The room was dimly lit, with only the computer screen’s blue glow piercing the darkness. The dense numbers on the quarterly report twisted and distorted after staring too long.

Finally, Yan Xinfeng closed his eyes. His long, distinctly knuckled fingers pressed heavily on his brow bone, with such force it nearly left marks on the skin, as if this could squeeze out the pounding headache.

Before coming here, he had already handled all his work flawlessly. These trivial matters shouldn’t have required his personal attention, but at this moment—rather than letting his thoughts dwell on the inevitably perplexing issue, it was better to divert them to seizing resources.

At least here, every bit of effort translated into tangible numbers.

Yan Xinfeng knew full well he wouldn’t sleep tonight, so he abandoned any illusions.

But memories didn’t stop just because he was realistic and stopped fantasizing.

In one second, Yan Xinfeng still recalled many things.

Wei Tingxia’s brow ridge resembled a wind-eroded cliff break, the faint scar in the middle splitting the outer brow into two segments. His eyes were like a mortal standing at the cliff’s center, beholding the galaxy pouring forth from within.

Once, one of Yan Xinfeng’s great pleasures was filling those eyes with joy, watching the pool ripple because of him. It was an achievement hard to articulate, as if he were at the world’s center.

Their time together wasn’t exactly harmonious, always rife with petty squabbles, but no matter how bad the fights got, they always reconciled. Yan Xinfeng thought such days would continue forever, like the rare orchids in his father’s greenhouse—ever blooming with regular watering.

Until the skyscraper collapsed.

Even today, Yan Xinfeng struggled to recall exactly what happened that day. All specific memories had turned to feeble fragments under the violent emotional impact, not even enough courage to gather for recollection.

He only vaguely remembered that Wei Tingxia left and never came back.

From his father’s death to the company’s bankruptcy, Yan Xinfeng endured many blows in half a year, but only this one sent him straight to the hospital.

From closest kin to most distant spouses. The custom diamond wedding ring hadn’t even arrived; they might not count as spouses, but Wei Tingxia knew exactly how to break him.

Later, when he reclaimed everything, in the hazy thoughts of midnight dreams, Yan Xinfeng vaguely wondered.

He thought Wei Tingxia had left too soon, given up too quickly.

If he had pretended for another half year, everything would have been different.

No one would be ruined, no one would discover their true heart was shit. Wei Tingxia would get his money, he would get Wei Tingxia’s love.

And they’d live out their lives like that, each oblivious to the other’s unwillingness—how tacit.

…

Thud thud thud!

The sound of knuckles rapping on the solid wooden door yanked him back to reality.

Someone was knocking on the door.