Chapter 48 - Mastermo Wants To Slap Himself

The dream didn't affect Zhihao at all. He remembered it for some time and tried to interpret his dream, but eventually, the dream had been forgotten like always, and once again, he didn't know who the kid was. 

The next day went surprisingly plain with Zhihao sometimes trying to log into T.I.A.D. only to find that the server was closed down with the same notice on top that showed the date that the server will finally reopen. 

Ten days was a lot of time and just one day in, Zhihao was already badly missing the game. He didn't know what type of magic spell the game had cast on him—the magic had to be strong for him to be so obsessed over it. 

Zhihao was a hardcore gamer and he had played a lot of games before, but never in his life had he fallen so deeply in love with a game like this. 

T..I.A.D. was different than the rest, maybe because of its unpredictable nature or maybe because of its anti cheating policies. Zhihao couldn't pinpoint it, but he loved exploring the game. It was like no matter how much you played, you would never become an expert. Zhihao could confidently say that maybe even the Gamemaster didn't know what new things the game might throw at them. 

It was exciting no matter what. The game kept you guessing and you would never get tired of playing it. Even if the one million dollar cash prize was canceled, Zhihao would still remain and play the game without any complaints, and maybe the other players felt the same way1. 

He tried to log into the game again and again for almost three times now, always forgetting that the server was closed down. 

Zhihao sighed as he felt dejected when he saw the same message appear on the screen. He tried to play some other game but he could not last for more than twenty minutes, he would let his thoughts wander away from the game and he would lose the game. This kept on happening and people were sure that there was something wrong with Mastermo.

Mastermo's account really seemed to be hacked. 

Zhihao didn't want to half-hearted continue playing the game with an unfocused mind. 

He sighed as he leaned back on his chair and looked up at his ceiling, it was white with nothing interesting to see but for some reason, Zhihao found it really fascinating, or at least, it looked like he did.

A minute passed and his mind was still empty. He missed the game, he missed it too much. He missed T.I.A.D! He missed Li Ling!

Zhihao suddenly woke up from his thoughts. 

With wide eyes, he looked at the black screen in front of him that reflected back his own shocked face. 

"What do you mean you miss Li Ling?!" He asked his reflection on the black screen and naturally, got no response. 

"Get your head straight. You just miss playing together with him." Zhihao scolded the reflection.

"..."

"What the hell am I doing?" Zhihao ruffled his hair up, "Have I finally lost it? Arghhhhh..."

He didn't know what he was feeling. His heart was at an unsettling place as if he was deprived of something he considered a part of his daily routine, something that he would not be able to live without. He sighed, feeling frustrated at himself. "It was just game" he reminded himself but to no use. 

Zhihao was addicted to games but since he had made it his career, he would never openly admit to it. He considered being called an addict as humiliating because if you were an addict, you weren't the one in control, it was your addiction that controlled you like a dog on a leash. You'll be a slave to your addiction. Zhihao would never call himself an addict as he still wanted to believe that he could quit gaming anytime he wanted. 

Zhihao was suddenly startled as his phone came to life with that familiar upbeat ringtone. 

"Hello" Zhihao didn't waste any time before picking up as he read the caller ID, his voice sounding a bit too enthusiastic. 

"Come out."

"Huh?"

"Come out, I'm waiting."

"..." Zhihao stood up in an instant and asked once again, "What do you mean you're waiting?"

"I'm waiting outside your house. Come out." Li Ling's voice answered patiently. 

Zhihao fumbled around with his words as the man had suddenly caught him out of the blue, "Outside? What do you mean?"

"I'll be here. Come fast."

"What do you-" Zhihao couldn't complete his sentence as the phone was abruptly hung up from the other side. 

Zhihao stood on the spot, not daring to move an inch, too out of words and reactions on what to do.

Zhihao.exe had officially stopped working. 

From outside his house came a faint, familiar voice of a man, "Come out."

Zhihao mustered up the courage to walk a few steps towards his window, he peeked through the gap between the curtains and looked down only to find Li Ling standing there with a wide smile on his face. 

"Oh shit-" Zhihao couldn't help but curse out loud as he saw the man appear outside his house without any prior notice. 

Just why did the man have to appear right now of all times? Just a few minutes ago, Zhihao had gone a bit crazy and had started missing the man, his sudden appearance really gave people the wrong impression. 

Zhihao stumbled towards his closet and pulled out a jacket, put it on, and fixed his hair, staring at his reflection in the mirror, making sure he looked somewhat presentable. When he looked at his reflection and fixed his hair, he suddenly wanted to slap himself. 

"Who are you trying to impress?" He scolded his reflection for the second time in a day. 

He took his phone with him and left his room, running down the stairs as he headed straight for the main door of his house. 

His little brother was also downstairs and as Huang Zhen saw his brother suddenly run out the door, he yelled, "Gege, where are you running off to?"

He was ignored but didn't seem to mind too much about it as he was already staring at his phone, chatting with someone. 

Zhihao opened the door and speed-walked towards Li Ling. 

When Li Ling saw the man walking toward him in less than a minute from the call, he couldn't help but smile, "Get inside the car."

Zhihao looked at the man, "What are you doing here?"

"I missed you."

"..."

Zhihao didn't know how to respond. His face betrayed nothing but his ears turned a bright color of red wine. He wanted to respond to the man but what was he supposed to do? Say he missed him too? That would be too absurd! 

In the end, Zhihao decided to push it aside, awkwardly grinning, "I am quite missable, aren't I?"

Li Ling laughed at the cute awkwardness of the man, "I don't think that is a word but I'll agree. You are missable."

Zhihao's ears turned even brighter, he felt the atmosphere turn hot and tried to look away, avoiding eye contact. 

"So?"

"So what?" Zhihao asked back.

"Are you going to get in the car?" Li Ling asked.

Zhihao looked behind the man and was even more confused

"Where is the car?" He asked.

Li Ling smiled and pointed towards the rightward direction, "There"

"..."

Zhihao didn't know how to react. The man had pointed at a car alright, but the car wasn't his. It was Zhihao's car parked in front of his house. 

"Keys please."

"..."

Zhihao wanted to laugh yet he couldn't. 

He lightly chuckled and sighed, giving in to the shameless man, "Let me go get it."

"I'll wait." Li Ling beamed and Zhihao looked away immediately, too afraid that if he continued to look at that face, he'll go down a path with no return. 

When Huang Zhen saw his brother returning only to go straight to his room and return with his car keys clutched in his hand, the boy had no reaction. Huang Zhen had already peeked outside the window, curious to know what his brother was rushing for, and had discovered Li Ling standing outside waiting for Zhihao. 

The situation was as clear as day. Li Ling gege was planning on taking his brother out for a date.

Li Ling also noticed the boy who peeked through the window and he waved at him, smiling as he did. Huang Zhen gave a 'thumps up' and wished the man "all the best"

Li Ling was shocked to see that Huang Zhen wasn't as dense as his older brother, the child had already guessed the situation better than Zhihao. 

Huang Zhen left the two alone to do whatever they were planning on doing and focused all his attention back on his phone that dinged with a new message from Li Ying. When Huang Zhen read the message that the girl had sent him, he laughed at it, finding it very amusing. 

Zhihao got his car keys and rushed out of the house once again, still not fully comprehending the situation. 

At this moment, it was safe to assume that gaming had decreased Zhihao's mental capability. His brain had become too accustomed to gaming that once he was out of the game, his brain would not be able to cope up with anything, it had already decided that games can be predicted but real life was filled with unpredictable outcomes so why bother? 

Li Ling saw the man coming and happily reached out to take the keys from his hands but all his hand grasped was empty air. 

"Huh?"

Zhihao moved the keys away, "I'll drive, where do you want to go?"

"Come on, A-Zhi." Li Ling laughed, "I have a drivers license, I'm not that bad at driving. You can trust me."

"I'll drive." Zhihao was adamant about his decision. This wasn't because he didn't trust Li ing but it was simply because Zhihao loved his car too much. The car was somewhat sacred to him and Zhihao would never give over the keys to someone else no matter how close he was to them. 

Even his family was banned from touching the steering wheel of the car. Getting a ride in the car was already a blessing. 

"You don't know the way." Li Ling responded as he once again reached for the keys but Zhihao hid them behind him. 

Zhihao, "You can navigate, I'll drive."

Li Ling felt like he was suddenly dealing with a kid who was too spoiled and would not let others touch his toys—this was not entirely false in Zhihao's case. Growing up, Zhihao was always spoiled with a lot of toys and he was quite possessive over them. 

Li Ling looked at Zhihao with puppy eyes, "I want to drive."

It was hard for Zhihao to say no to the man. Li Ling's eyes were innocently looking at him with such a pitiful expression but this was still not enough to convince Mastermo. 

Zhihao, "I also want to drive."

Li Ling stepped forward and Zhihao didn't step back. The two were so close that Zhihao could almost feel the body heat the man emitted—both the heat and the aura. 

"A-Zhi" Li Ling leaned closer to Zhihao's ears and whispered the rest, "Don't be so stubborn. It makes me want to spank you."

"..."

What the hell?!

I'll spank you, little brat!

Zhihao was too shocked and his face turned red with anger and embarrassment mixed together. He didn't dare move from the spot and Li Ling took this chance to put his hands around the man, half-hugging him and stealing the keys away. 

"You!" Zhihao wanted to say something but his brain couldn't process the words it needed to produce at the moment. 

Li Ling strutted towards the car with the keys in hand, he seemed to be a bit too happy with himself, and Zhihao couldn't do anything but follow the man with not a word of complaint. 

From the window, a camera had captured the two men almost hugging and Huang Zhen sent the captured footage to Li Ying who had suddenly found the best blackmailing material against her brother.