Chapter 64 Part 3

“Squeak squeak!” The Octopus immediately pledged loyalty.

Zhong Nian held a hint of smile: “Prove it; words mean nothing.”

The Octopus’s little head was sharp then, jumping into the shadow without further clinging.

Problem solved, Zhong Nian tugged his hat and exited the player’s personal space.

After a flash of white light, he entered the bustling Rest Area.

He wandered aimlessly, clear bright eyes peering from under the brim this way and that.

Tired of walking, he bought sweet water to drink, sat on a bench observing passersby.

After the last Instance, with free time, he’d come out to stroll.

——Mainly hoping to bump into the Masked Guy.

Players couldn’t use friend functions for contacts or chat in Instances; leaving town was rushed, and he’d forgotten to set a Rest Area meetup with the Masked Guy.

So now, just luck it.

But Zhong Nian was open-minded: no meetup, fine—let it be.

In a horror game of life and death, maybe no bonds were better.

Buying another string of Candied Strawberries to eat, Zhong Nian was about to head back when an arm blocked him.

A man in red shirt and sunglasses, thin lips parting to recite digits: “14527.”

Zhong Nian: “?”

Out of nowhere.

Zhong Nian ignored the weirdo, hurrying away.

But the man pursued relentlessly: “Why dodge me, 14527.”

Zhong Nian quickened pace: “Wrong person.”

“How could I mistake you? I recognized you at a glance. You never told me your name, so I had to call you by your ID, 14527.” The man pushed up the sunglasses on his face, revealing a pair of smiling phoenix eyes. “You don’t remember me? I’m Yu Jingshan.”

Zhong Nian: “……Oh, it’s you.”

“Such a cold reaction.” Yu Jingshan feigned grievance. “I’ve been looking for you a lot. It’s not easy to run into you. You don’t know how happy I am. I sent you so many messages, but you didn’t reply.”

Zhong Nian guiltily averted his gaze. “I didn’t notice.”

In fact, he knew all about it. As soon as he exited the instance, the friend messages kept dinging nonstop. His friend list only had Yu Jingshan anyway, and all the messages were meaningless content.

Either showing off how many rare props were in his inventory, or bragging about what impressive achievements he had earned. Zhong Nian wondered why this guy had such a strong need for vanity, always flaunting these things.

The questions were endless too—asking his age, how he entered the instance, his sexual orientation, and even whether he liked daddies or mommies. Utterly boring.

Later, he simply blocked him and enjoyed some peace.

“Fine.” Yu Jingshan shrugged, not blaming him. “By the way, your last instance was with that dog Jie Jialiang, right?”

Zhong Nian was stunned. “How did you know?”

“Saw it on the forum.” Yu Jingshan laughed. “A lot of people were mocking him as a two-faced poser, saying he bossed people around using his status, hypocritical and cunning… Finally, someone sees his true colors. Satisfying.”

“Mm…”

“He didn’t bully you, did he?” Yu Jingshan asked again.

Zhong Nian glanced at him. “I’m not that easy to bully.”

It was a very ordinary sentence, yet it made Yu Jingshan laugh nonstop.

Zhong Nian was a bit speechless and turned to leave.

“Hey! I still have something to tell you!” Yu Jingshan bent down, his collar unbuttoned low, revealing a piece of toned yet aesthetically pleasing chest, along with the jade stone and red rope dangling from it, drawing the eye.

Zhong Nian accidentally glanced over, and Yu Jingshan subtly bent lower without a trace.

“Next time, let’s team up. I guarantee I’m way more reliable than that guy Jie Jialiang.”

This wasn’t the first time Yu Jingshan had brought it up. This time, Zhong Nian didn’t refuse. “Mm.”

He agreed so readily that Yu Jingshan felt it was a bit unreal, like he’d picked up a huge bargain. “Really?”

“Don’t believe me, then.” Zhong Nian bit into a candied strawberry, his lips stained with a bit of crushed sugar. He stuck out his tongue to lick it away.

Yu Jingshan zoned out for a few seconds at that fleeting glimpse of red, then hurriedly said, “I believe you, I believe you. When are you entering next?”

Zhong Nian said, “The day after tomorrow.”

“Then after that, accept my team-up item application.”

Zhong Nian nodded. His lips, stained with strawberry juice and sugar, were especially red, and together with his curved eyes, they made the whole world seem brighter. “See you in the game, bye-bye.”

Yu Jingshan, somewhat dazed by the charm, now only looked forward to entering the game and teaming up with Zhong Nian. He waved his hand and said goodbye. “Okay, okay, see you in the game.”

Little did he know, once Zhong Nian walked far away, he mocked him to the System. “So easy to fool.”

System: “I almost thought you were serious too.”

Until Zhong Nian told Yu Jingshan his game entry time was the day after tomorrow.

No one knew better than the System that Zhong Nian’s real time was tomorrow night.

“No way. He’s a bit too annoying.” Zhong Nian pursed his lips and tossed the eaten stick into the trash bin. “Time to head home.”

If he couldn’t find him, so be it.

However, Yu Jingshan reminded him that the forum existed. Maybe he could try posting there to find someone.

…

【Title: I Am Zhong Nian, Masked Guy from the “Devil Town” Instance—Please Contact Me If You See This】

After posting, Zhong Nian ate a meal before opening it. He jumped in shock.

In less than an hour, his backend was stuffed full of private messages and comments.

He thought someone had been found, but neither the comments nor the private messages had a single one he wanted to see. All sorts of nonsense filled them.

Forum comments:

【Real or fake? The real person?】

【Don’t believe it unless the OP shows a photo.】

【LOL, this is already the twentieth fake post in three days. Why do people keep trying to impersonate my wife to scam money…】

【My Nian Nian Baby has lots of lickdogs, but we’re not idiots, FYI.】

Backend private messages:

【Is it really you, wife? Wife, kiss kiss.】

【DD, I’m the Masked Guy. Wife, I finally found you. I miss you so much. Where are you?】

【Seeking hookup, can exchange photos.】

【Scammer 4K+】

…

Among them were plenty of eye-searing photos or filthy words. Zhong Nian closed it after barely looking.

He never opened it again until entering the instance the next day.