Chapter 46: Good Deeds

After returning to reality, Bai Yan felt that his mind was in a great place.

This game level didn’t even exceed an hour and a half. Moreover, he didn’t exert that much physical effort, so when he came out this time, he wasn’t as tired as a dead dog that needed to immediately lay down on the bed, just like the time before. Rather, he even had enough energy left to hop onto the forum.

“I’m not sure if Su Yize came out of there alive. If he did, he’ll certainly bear a grudge. I need to take some precautionary measures, which means I’ll have to strike first and get the upper hand…”

Bai Yan muttered along as he began to compose a new post on his phone.

Copying Chu Fu’s style of writing, from start to finish, Bai Yan narrated his experiences at the recent level.

Naturally, he conveniently didn’t mention any details that made him look bad and emphasized how Su Yize acted like a detached bystander that didn’t do anything when he was about to die. In the text, he casually mentioned how during a life or death moment in his fourth round, he suddenly had an epiphany and came up with a way out of there alive. Bai Yan gave himself an innocent persona, so in case Su Yize wanted to call him out, he couldn’t since no one would believe his one-sided accounts.

After submitting his post for approval, Bai Yan wasn’t the least bit afraid of Su Yize, even if the fish was dead or the net was broken(1).

When he was typing up the post, he didn’t mention Su Yize’s name nor his appearance, only criticizing his shameless behavior and wanting to have the player community chastise him for it. This way, if Su Yize saw the post, the most he could do was blow his top off and wouldn’t PK(2) him in reality because his personal safety was compromised by Bai Yan.

[The research institute’s walls were impenetrable and heavily guarded. Not only was it the world’s best research institute, but it also housed a small number of refugees. The world was in its final days. Outside the research institute’s walls were filled with roaming ghosts, who slaughtered humans for fun, and humanity couldn’t survive because of them.]

[… (Omitted the use of the ‘n’ word and cleared the level.]

Bai Yan quickly browsed through the contents of the post. The way this player cleared the level was extremely dangerous. The way out was also deeply concealed, but figuring the way out would mean a smooth clearance. Thus, anyone could deduce that she was an incredibly courageous yet careful person from reading the post.

The original poster called herself Miss Y. At the very last part of the game, she discovered that the chief had turned into a malicious ghost and was the main culprit for the strange changes around the research institute.

Miss Y’s mission was to escape from the research institute. After the research institute fell into the enemy’s hands, she teamed up with the other surviving researchers to escape the place. It was then that she was able to leave the game.

Bai Yan had taken interest in this specific gaming experience, but what made him more intrigued was how Miss Y described the level’s backstory.

A doomsday world. Throughout the four levels, he has never experienced a world like that before. Furthermore, in the forum, recorded posts about doomsday worlds were only a handful.

“Miss Y mentioned that other than inside the asylum, the outside world was in its last days. Other places were risky to be in, so it didn’t matter if it was eating out or getting holed up at home, you still wouldn’t be safe overall since the ghosts were everywhere, and it was basically impossible to hide from them.”

“If the starting point wasn’t a refuge, it would’ve been a hell of a problem…” Bai Yan’s heart followed a wild rhythm, “Wait a minute, that hellish problem wouldn’t take place in this world… If the safe drinking water could be cursed by a ghost, a way out of that level would be near to nothing. How could one even get through this level?”

Thinking about the players who have yet to clear this broken level, Bai Yan felt a slight chill running down his spine.

The mysterious gift awaiting them at the end of all the levels was similar to a radish being suspended in the air by a rope and a donkey trying to eat it. When it sees the radish, it automatically thinks that it looks good, but even if the donkey tries to chase after it until death, it still won’t be able to eat it. Looking at it right now, him obtaining the gift was still an uncertain dream.

“Forget about it. Let’s not look at it anymore. Live a day, count it as a day. A person should always have a dream.”

Bai Yan closed his phone and saw that it wasn’t early anymore, so he wantonly grabbed something to eat.

Come 7:30 PM, the sun was setting by the mountains, and as per usual, Bai Yan went out for a nighttime run.

Bai Yan didn’t like running, but after clicking on the app, he had no other choice but to squeeze running into his daily routine.

In the game, even if he had found a way to live, his running speed was also crucial for his survival.

At times, even if you don’t know the way out, as long as you could outrun the others, your life’s safety would be guaranteed.

As he ran twenty laps around the park, Bai Yan slowly changed his running into walking to catch his breath.

After walking for about half a lap, his breath had gradually become steadier.

There were streetlamps located all around the park, so his line of sight was clear and generally, he couldn’t knock into someone else.

However, in front of Bai Yan, there was an old lady who made a startled noise. She suddenly sprained her ankle and fell to the ground, unable to get up.

Upon seeing this, by nature, Bai Yan involuntarily took a step back, vigilance clearly written all over his eyes.

I did not just bump into you, you fraud…

Thinking of meeting that scam of an old lady again made Bai Yan’s teeth feel tart. He still had lingering fears, which made him touch his arms in discomfort. Luckily, his arms were still attached to his hands and they weren’t chopped into half by that formidable old woman.

“Oh… My hip…”

The old woman said softly under her breath as she cried incessantly from the pain.

Bai Yan slowly drew back, not wanting to get into other people’s businesses. He intended to take a detour to avoid the old granny, because who would ever want to meddle in this nonsense?

There were a lot of people that were exercising in the park, and just as Bai Yan stepped aside, everyone had gathered around them and formed a circle. A kind-hearted woman emerged from the crowd and lent a hand to help the old lady up.

Hearing the circling crows applaud, Bai Yan turned around and went back, wanting to see if there was a great show to be discovered.

It was a pity that there weren’t any tricks. Every person in this world didn’t possess a dark heart.

The old granny, who was supported up, gave her heartfelt thanks to the young lady. On the other hand, Bai Yan’s mood turned for the worse when he saw the young woman’s smiling expression after helping someone out.

“Is doing good deeds that enjoyable?”

His heart surged with acid and couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit jealous.

After Wang Ze had died, it has been a long time since he saw another nosy person.

But, this feeling had unexpectedly led him to reminisce.

“Does it always feel meaningful when you do good deeds? Maybe I should give it a try?”

Seeing the girl’s happy expression, Bai Yan couldn’t help but have thoughts on doing the same. It was like someone ate durian, which he detested, and that someone ate it with relish. Even he would start doubting his sense of taste and wonder if durian really tasted good or not.

After a few days, Bai Yan was also caught up in this illusion.

Bai Yan rarely intended to help others out of pleasure, but unfortunately, he walked around the park and didn’t find any chance to help someone out.

Following along the path, Bai Yan felt quite regretful to see that even God didn’t want him to be a good person.

Bai Yan sighed and believed that he wouldn’t have a chance to do good deeds today. Just when he was about to give up, he suddenly saw a weeping little girl up ahead.

The little girl was standing under the streetlamp. She looked roughly eight or nine years old with a body that was clearly not an adult’s.

In the middle of the night, it was extremely dangerous for a child to be left alone. If luck wasn’t on her side, she’d get kidnapped by a child trafficker.

Bai Yan’s eyes twinkled as he quickly walked towards the little girl’s side, and with a smile on his face, he asked her, “Little sister, did you wander off from your family?”

“En. My mom was running all over the place, and I lost sight of her!” The young girl sadly wiped away her tears, “Please don’t get close to me. Mommy doesn’t want me talking to strangers!

Ah. Bai Yan now understood why there wasn’t anyone enthusiastically helping this little girl. It was because of this child, who could suffocate anyone to death. 

However, since the little girl didn’t want his help, she was beyond Bai Yan’s control.

He, Bai Yan, rarely wanted to do good deeds, so even if she didn’t want to accept his help, she still must accept it.

As a result, Bai Yan held the little girl’s hand and squatted down, gently asking her, “When did you last see your mom? I’ll bring you there. Do you know your mom’s cell phone number?”

“Don’t remember! You let go of my hand.” The little girl stared at him wide-eyed, “You’re a complete stranger. I don’t need your help.”

“I won’t.” Bai Yan beamed a smile, “I’ll definitely help you out today!”

“Fine, you wait.” The little girl released an exasperated sigh and said with anger and resentment in her voice, “Save me! Murderer!”

Fortunately, there was no one around, so Bai Yan hurriedly covered the girl’s mouth. With an upcoming headache, he realized that their situation was more akin to a child and a child trafficker.

Doing good deeds wasn’t easy.

Speaking of which, weren’t you crying just now? Why aren’t you crying anymore?

Bai Yan just noticed that there was a significant generation gap between him and the kid, so he definitely couldn’t comprehend the little brat.

“I’ll let go. Don’t scream. I’ll help you find your mother.” Bai Yan let go of his hand, “You’re here all alone, so there’s a chance that the next person you see would be a child trafficker.”

“I think you seem to be the same…” The little girl mumbled to herself, and since she slowly couldn’t find her mother anymore, she was also panicking a bit, reluctantly saying, “I was playing with my mom in the park before. She met a friend of hers and made small talk, while I chased a small kitten until I ran here…”

“Then, that means your mom could still be trying to look for you in the park. You should go back to the park and wait for her.”

Bai Yan led the little girl by the hand and returned to the park. Not a moment too soon, a middle-aged woman whose face was filled with anxiety ran towards them, and when she caught sight of the little girl, she scolded, “Mengmeng, how could you run away willy-nilly like that and make me almost die from worry?”

Bai Yan lowered his head to see the little girl’s expression. Certainly, this wasn’t a human trafficker, so he relinquished his grip and let the little girl go.

The girl’s mother pulled the girl to the side, and after giving her child a tongue lashing, she turned her attention to Bai Yan with a million-watt smile on her face, “Young man, thank you so much! If you weren’t there, who knows where this child would end up!”

“Then, have you eaten yet? If not, please let me treat you to dinner. Thank you! I’m really thankful for what you have done today!”

“No need. Older sister, I’ve already eaten.”

The girl’s mother sincerely expressed her gratitude, leading him to instinctively feel uncomfortable.

The girl’s mother pulled on the girl and kept expressing her thanks, insisting on treating Bai Yan to dinner. Hearing the woman jabber on how grateful she was and seeing how comforted and happy the woman was to find her lost child, Bai Yan couldn’t let himself bear it any longer.

Bai Yan’s face began to turn to white due to a sudden urge to vomit his guts out.

It was too late to bid farewell to the mother-daughter duo, so Bai Yan immediately turned his head and ran away until he ran into a nearby road where he leaned in forward and started to madly throw up on the tree.

It’s disgusting. It truly was too disgusting!

Using his own two eyes, he saw for himself that this truly was a quite disgusting act!

He must have lost his mind. How could he even think of doing good deeds in the first place?

The bile from Bai Yan’s stomach was completely out. He used a tissue to wipe his mouth dry and attentively stared at his hands, with eyes burning fiercely. Falling into a pit three times was foolish. He’s already done it three times, how could he not learn from his lesson?

He would chop off these hands, even if there was nothing wrong with them!

Meals could be eaten indiscriminately, so can’t good deeds be done when one wishes?