Chapter 138
Shen Baizhou sat at his desk, a mountain of test papers in front of him, his pen flying across the pages.
Unlike a year ago, when he would just stare at the exam questions, scratching his head, now, his test papers were filled with answers.
Xing Nuo quietly opened the door and placed a glass of sweet honey water on his brother’s desk.
Seeing his brother’s furrowed brow, his long, slender fingers gripping the pen, writing characters swiftly and confidently, Xing Nuo couldn’t help but feel a surge of admiration.
Big Brother so smart!
Shen Baizhou might have only spent one year in the real world, but having taken hundreds of tests in dungeons, it was equivalent to three more years of high school.
His determination to get into university was truly remarkable.
Shen Yan, leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed, watching Shen Baizhou’s efforts, chuckled and shook his head.
He led Xing Nuo out of the study, closing the door behind them, and whispered:
“This is the best Shen Baizhou can do.”
A fish brain couldn’t compare to a human brain, after all. Shen Baizhou still struggled with math and literature.
Xing Nuo sat on the sofa and, taking out a handmade flower he had been working on, continued his crafting.
He was making this flower for Shen Baizhou, a gift for after his college entrance exam.
A handmade gift was more meaningful, and he had been working on it diligently, afraid of not finishing it in time.
After two days of hard work, he was finally done.
He hid the flower in his backpack and, yawning, decided to wake up early tomorrow and make a “perfect score” fried egg for his brother.
The early summer night was cool and pleasant, a gentle breeze dispelling the day’s heat.
Shen Wen entered Xing Nuo’s bedroom, closed the window, which Xing Nuo had opened, enjoying the cool air, tucked the blanket around him, and kissed his forehead.
Just as he left the room, he sensed an energy fluctuation from the dungeon he had created.
A player challenging my dungeon?
He paused, a figure flashing through his mind, then frowned, dismissing the thought.
He should be dead.
But still, he instinctively returned to his dungeon.
It was daytime in the Tulip Manor.
The tulips, a sea of pink, gold, and the rare purple, bloomed perpetually, a beautiful and dreamlike landscape.
The manor was much larger than the castle, almost like a small town.
Shen Wen, still in his casual clothes from the real world, stood in the center of the manor, looking at the man sitting on a swing, his expression unreadable.
Having challenged the dungeon so many times, Wen Xingxue looked more at home here than Shen Wen, the manor’s owner.
Seeing the maids approaching with trays of refreshments, Wen Xingxue waved his hand, his voice hoarse.
“Leave us. Shen Wen and I need to talk.”
The monster maids exchanged glances, then, remembering Wen Xingxue’s previous violent outbursts, looked at Shen Wen for his approval.
Shen Wen sighed and dismissed them.
“You’re not dead?”
He walked over to Wen Xingxue, his brow furrowed.
Wen Xingxue, sitting still on the swing, not swaying, his back straight, a faint smile on his pale face, said:
“Surprised? I told you, you can’t kill me.”
Shen Wen remembered that time in the castle basement, when he had stabbed Wen Xingxue, but he had still survived.
“Is it your ability? A peculiar one. If other players knew, they would hunt you down.”
Wen Xingxue chuckled wryly.
“Only you know. Will you tell them?”
Shen Wen scoffed, sitting down gracefully on a small, round stool.
“I don’t care about you.”
He wasn’t interested in getting involved in human affairs. They were all so scheming and deceitful.
Wen Xingxue, his expression unreadable, looked at Shen Wen for a long moment, then, under Shen Wen’s increasingly cold gaze, looked away.
“Your neighbor downstairs…he suspects you monsters are planning to invade the real world.”
Shen Wen chuckled coldly, his expression disdainful.
“You humans are not only foolish, but also prone to paranoia.”
“I wouldn’t bother with such a thing. And think about it, the barrier between our worlds, do you really think it’s that easy for monsters to break?”
Wen Xingxue asked, “Even for you?”
Shen Wen nodded. “Even for me. Every world has its own rules and defenses against invaders.”
Initially, it had taken a tremendous amount of energy for Shen Wen to cross the dimensional barrier, and his power had been suppressed in the human world.
But in recent years, the barrier had weakened, making it much easier to travel between worlds.
Wen Xingxue’s eyes narrowed, and he thought for a moment, then looked up sharply.
“So, there’s something wrong with our world?!”
Shen Wen, looking at the blooming tulips, neither confirming nor denying, said calmly:
“How would I know? I’m not from your world.”
Wen Xingxue stood up from the swing and looked at Shen Wen. After a long moment, he said:
“But Xing Nuo is…and so am I.”
He wasn’t sure why he added that last part.
Shen Wen looked up at him, their gazes meeting briefly, then quickly looking away, as if burned.
“Just leave. I don’t have the time or energy to deal with your challenges.”
Wen Xingxue hummed, his ears turning red, his head down, and quickly vanished from the dungeon.
Shen Wen, left alone, sighed softly in relief.
The scorching summer sun beat down mercilessly, the heat making the asphalt shimmer.
Xing Nuo, his face flushed, his forehead covered in a thin layer of sweat,
stood by the road with his brother, holding a handmade flower, waiting for Shen Baizhou to finish his last exam.
The sidewalk was crowded with parents and reporters, sweating but patiently waiting, eager to interview the first students to emerge.
Xing Nuo, unable to bear the heat, crouched down, cupping his cheeks, and looked at a small dog resting in the shade of a tree.
The dog, its tongue lolling out, seeing Xing Nuo, weakly wagged its tail.
Xing Nuo smiled and also stuck his tongue out, trying to cool down.
The dog, puzzled, walked over and circled him.
Not the same kind.
Xing Nuo patted the dog, then, realizing sticking his tongue out wasn’t helping, withdrew his hand and sighed.
“So hot. Little doggie, you hot? After Big Brother’s test…I take you…shave all youw fur…so you no hot.”
The dog, as if understanding him, slapped him with its tail and ran away.
“Ow!” Xing Nuo rubbed his cheek and mumbled, “Mean doggie.”
He had just been trying to help.
Shen Yan, seemingly unaffected by the heat, stood there in his white shirt and jeans, looking cool and collected.
“Shaving won’t help dogs cool down. Their sweat glands are mainly on their tongues and paws…”
He was explaining this to Xing Nuo when a parent nearby, fanning himself frantically, yelled:
“What’s taking so long?! Why aren’t they out yet?!”
The exam should have been over by now!
The reporters and a few internet celebrities, hoping to capitalize on the college entrance exam hype, also looked at the school, puzzled.
“Why isn’t the clock on the school building moving?”
“It’s strangely quiet. Are they really taking a test?”
Xing Nuo also looked at the school building and was trying to squeeze through the crowd when Qi Yao and his team in uniform quickly cordoned off the area.
“Everyone, stay back! No unauthorized personnel beyond this point!”
Xing Nuo’s heart sank, his premonition of something bad happening coming true.
Shen Yan, surprised, picked up Xing Nuo, afraid he would get lost in the crowd, his brow furrowed.
The school dungeon?
That’s not right.
Shen Baizhou had been appearing in the school dungeon frequently, and the vice-principal, eager to use Shen Baizhou’s power to increase the dungeon’s level, hadn’t appeared in the real world for a long time.
The crowd was buzzing with excitement, a few internet celebrities live-streaming, their phones pointed at the school.
“We don’t know why, but a group of people just cordoned off the school! This is a college entrance exam testing site! They should explain what’s going on!”
The college entrance exam was a hot topic, and the live stream quickly attracted viewers.
“I heard a student went crazy and attacked someone in one of the exam rooms. Could it be this school?”
“Oh my god, my nephew is taking the exam here!”
Qi Yao, after securing the perimeter, seeing someone live-streaming, confiscated his phone.
“No live-streaming allowed during this special period.”
The internet celebrity, struggling to get his phone back, started arguing with Qi Yao’s teammate.
“Why not?! What are you hiding?!”
Xing Nuo, looking at the commotion, his heart pounding, said:
“Big Brother’s in there!”
He struggled to get down, wanting to find his brother.
Shen Yan patted his head reassuringly.
“Shen Baizhou will be fine.”
Nothing could happen to Shen Baizhou in that school.
But Xing Nuo, still struggling, almost falling,
suddenly heard a loud boom from the school, and a massive, shadowy figure, its tentacles flailing, appeared above the building, blocking out the sun.
Everyone, stunned, looked up, but the shadowy figure quickly vanished.
An eerie silence, then a cacophony of voices erupted.
“Did you see that?! A giant monster!”
“The apocalypse is here! Or aliens have invaded!”
“What was that?! Did anyone record it?!”
Qi Yao and his teammates had also seen the fleeting shadow. Ordinary people might not have sensed it, but they, as ability users, had felt the immense, terrifying power emanating from it.
Qi Yao now understood what that top-ranked player had meant, about high-level monsters not needing to devour humans.
With that kind of power, humans were probably as insignificant as ants.
