CH 28

After Luo left, Xiao Lan went to the room’s own bathroom to take a hot shower.

The bathroom, which looks like a wall from the outside, opens into a small, separate space from the inside of the room, and it is always a sobering moment to realise that this is not reality.

Xiao Lan’s body gradually relaxed under the hot water and his muscles, which had been tense for a long time, were slowly relieved, and he missed the hot spring pools in the Sixth Avenue Spa, but unfortunately he was unable to take a dip in them.

After taking a shower, Xiao Lan sits down on Little Xiao’s bed in her room to rest.

The chase with Gu Mo was exhausting, not only was it a long and furious run, but the nerves were on edge all the time. Xiao Lan looks out of the window at the flashing neon lights and the night sky cut into small pieces by countless skyscrapers, his head is empty for a while and his thoughts seem to drift far away.

“Ding dong–”

A system alert sounded abruptly, followed by a snap, and a square object landed out of nowhere at Xiao Lan’s bedside.

He turned his head to see that it was actually a mobile phone-like object.

How come Advent World not only includes food and accommodation, but now comes with a free mobile phone? This is some kind of poverty alleviation organisation that has touched the world, even those foundations that spread love everywhere are not so generous.

Xiao Lan picks up the phone in confusion and turns it on. The phone interface is different from normal and there are no applications.

The motivation for descending into the world is puzzling; after all, the player’s mobile phone has been virtually useless since entering here, with no internet or ability to make calls, or to play the occasional single-player game or use it in place of a torch.

Why did you send him a mobile phone, did you feel sympathy seeing that he had lost it in the game?

…… not so much.

Xiao Lan did not stay in her room for the next few days.

He left his room and went out to wander around the players’ quarters, familiarising himself with the terrain and gathering information as well. Knowing quite a few things, such as the skill training room.

Wang Taidi, the unreliable guide, didn’t even mention that there was such a thing as a skills training room!

While it’s also true that the likelihood of a novice having skills is low, there’s another possibility – Wang Taidi, a stale rookie who hasn’t been able to activate skills for three years, has completely forgotten that such places exist.

The cooldown of skills is not calculated during training, meaning you can practice your skills as many times as your body can afford, making it the perfect place to get familiar with mastering your skills.

In a separate training room.

Xiao Lan closed his eyes and silently conceived the skills in his head as he began to try out the possibilities.

[Batman’s Abilities

“Skill composition failed, wake up you don’t have any money at all.”

[One-Punch Man’s Ability]

“Skill composition failed, Xiao Lan seems to be poor to the point of delirium.”

[Ability to leave the Advent World]

“Skills constitute failure and it’s always good to have a dream.”

[Ability to break the barriers of a copy of the game]

“Skill composition failed, warning! Please do not make the offending attempt!”

……

After some experimentation, Xiao Lan has basically concluded that abilities that are the opposite of what is required for the [Poverty Can’t Limit My Imagination] skill are unattainable, such as the ability to make money out of dirt and turn stone into gold. According to the traditional formula of “the rich rely on technology, the poor rely on mutation”, this makes perfect sense.

The second is that skills that exceed the player’s ability limit cannot be achieved, which is something that is still to be worked out, as Xiao Lan has not yet been exposed to advanced players and has little idea of how strong a player can be.

Finally the ability to involve the Advent World itself is not allowed, and even more attempts are warned that the Advent World seems to reject anyone probing into its origin.

Xiao Lan looked at the back of his skill (lv.1), and wondered when this skill could be upgraded and how much poverty value was needed to upgrade it, there was no hint in the skill description at all, did he have to lose 100 million first?

I want to be poor. Poverty is what makes me happy.

Feeling the power that emerged in my body after the increase in poverty value, it was not a dream to keep breaking boulders in my chest like this.

Bah, who wants such dreams anymore!

Just outside the skills room, Xiao Lan saw the little brown curls bouncing around in the sunshine.

Wang Taidi is as cheerful as ever, with an unusual amount of body language.

He was followed by a small fat man with a pale face and wandering eyes who couldn’t walk very well, probably on another assignment to guide newcomers.

When he saw Xiao Lan, Wang Taidi waved at him from a distance and said something to the chubby boy next to him, who nodded numbly and stood still before Wang Taidi came bouncing to life.

Wang Taidi smiled brightly: ” Xiao Lan!”

Xiao Lan gives him a smile in return and a nod as a greeting.

Wang Taidi pulled out a familiar mobile phone and said in the tone of an old lady chatting about gossip in her neighbourhood, “A few days ago, the Advent World unified the distribution of mobile phones, replacing all the mobile phones that players brought with them, you know that, right?”

Xiao Lan : “Hmm? What’s wrong?”

Wang Taidi : “Isn’t it curious why it has to give players a uniform issue when it’s clear that mobile phones are of little use in the Advent world?”

“Well, indeed.” Xiao Lan inquired cooperatively.

Wang Taidi smiled smugly: “Hey, this has shaken up the entire player community. According to my brother’s information, there is widespread speculation in advanced player circles that a player’s own mobile phone is getting in the way of the game. I don’t know what kind of black tech big shot it is, but that phone must be super powerful to make the Advent Worlds change their rules for him.”

“There are quite a few player organisations that have put out the word that they want to recruit that mysterious big man.”

“What a ruthless man who made the game change the rules by himself, super to meet.”

Xiao Lan agrees, lamenting, “I wish I knew you.”

“But who exactly is that person? After all, very few people besides newcomers bring their phones into the replica anymore either, as some bosses use them as a medium to find players. Intermediate and advanced players usually leave their phones in the room, and only the silly newbies retain their phone dependency.” Wang Taidi picks at his chin, “Right?”

Silly newcomer Xiao Lan : “……”

Let’s throw the phone in the cupboard when we get back later.

At the same time he thought of his phone that unfortunately had a black screen after running the app, somehow it was also a hindrance to the game, shouldn’t Advent World ……

Haha, it can’t be.

Having satisfied his gossipy soul with the latest news, Wang Taidi was concerned about Xiao Lan’s latest news: “I haven’t seen you for a few days, have you entered a new game?”

Xiao Lan nodded, “It’s a copy of a place called Rokudo Onsen.”

“Crap! Sixth Avenue Hot Springs!” Wang Taidi glared and said as he walked around Xiao Lan like he was visiting some human tragedy, “You’re so unlucky, it’s known as a crematorium for newbies, one in ten for newbies going in, and one of the top ten most unforgettable replicas!”

Xiao Lan raised her eyebrows slightly: “That good?”

Wang Taidi: “Yeah, that boss Sister Xiao is really mean and likes to keep players with good talent to build her ideal world. I think you’ve seen it before, it’s the dense group she leads, she’s strong herself, and she plays with a sea of people, my brother almost fell to her back then.”

Xiao Lan recalls the feeling of being surrounded by countless numbing silhouettes with a sense of relief: “It was indeed ferocious, my teleportation through the game was interrupted by her.”

He always felt, though, that Gu Mo’s move to leave him behind should not have been done out of malice, but more like she had built a haven in a bad world and she wanted to house anyone she thought was a good person.

But in a vicious way.

Wang Taidi was stunned: “She she he …… has also evolved?!!!”

Xiao Lan also froze, “Isn’t that what you mean by ferocious?”

Wang Taidi scratched his head, “Not that of course, something’s not right with her, normally a boss wouldn’t have the power to override the descent world.”

“Once something like this occurs which is a game exploit, Advent World should soon dispatch contracted players to deal with it. Contracted players are very strong and they basically just crush for primary field bosses.”

Then Wang Taidi looked around, leaned closer to Xiao Lan and lowered his voice: “But recently there have been a number of vulnerabilities in the playground that have not been fixed in time.”

“According to the senior players, probably a few months ago, something may have gone wrong with the descent world and the indentured players were all dispatched to sort it out and are mostly unseen until now.”

“Maybe it’s some big, big problem, I’ve only heard of it this one time in the three years since I’ve been in the game.”

After that, Wang Taidi rubbed his little curls with a sense of relief.

Xiao Lan : “Did they say exactly what the reason was?”

Wang Taidi shook his head, “Pact players are in a different circle to other players, even senior players only know a little of their movements.”

Xiao Lan wondered what could be the problem that could affect this seemingly omnipotent Advent world. But on the other hand, since something can affect it, it means that it is not as invincible as one might think.

He looked up at the blue sky, which was the same as in reality, and gazed around him at the people who were hurrying on their feet, looking nervous and cold, and it was a terrible feeling to be in the hands of a strange being who was completely in control of life and death. Who wouldn’t want to leave this place if they had the chance?

Wang Taidi slapped his head: “Oops, I’ve been talking to you for so long that I’ve forgotten the new person I’m guiding!”

“I’ll leave you to it, let’s continue to talk when you have time!”

Xiao Lan waved at him, “Goodbye.”

Wang Taidi waved at Xiao Lan and, having done so, ran in a panic towards the poor little fat man cowering in the corner, who looked pitiful, weak and helpless, but who filled the corner with his bulk, leaving not a single gap.

Wang Taidi ran over and apologised to the little fat man, then took him on a tour of the players’ quarters, saying something to lighten the mood and naturally mentioning his brother: “Eh, I’ll tell you what, you know my brother he-”

“Boom…”

Before Wang Taidi could say anything else, a figure suddenly fell from the sky, seemingly leaping from the window of a building several dozen storeys up, his clothes blowing in the wind – it was Wang Ke.

It seems that the fitness of senior players is really extraordinary.

Wang Ke leapt straight down towards Wang Taidi, picking him up by the collar with one hand just as he landed, decisively interrupting his brother’s attempt to expose him, and then hurried away as if a million evil spirits were chasing him behind him.

The movement was heartbreakingly skilled, and I don’t know how many times it was repeated.

Wang Taidi held out his hand to the little fat man, “Hey hey hey, brother I’m on a mission-”

Wang Ke gritted his teeth, “I’ll get someone to help him.”

A dumbfounded plus vegetable-coloured little fatty was left standing in the same place, picked up by players who arrived later.

Xiao Lan laments: It’s not easy to bring up a child.

Wang Taidi said at the time that it was Wang Ke who looked after Brother Gu after their parents died in a car accident.

Wang Taidi’s age, and the fact that they had been in the Advent world for three years, meant that Wang Ke himself was still a teenager at that time, yet he was able to take care of his brother so well, even in this dangerous world, without abandoning his brother whose skills could not be activated.

That’s what a blood relative should be like, right?

But is it an illusion, Wang Ke seems a little taller than the last time we met?

After bidding farewell to Wang Taidi, Xiao Lan walks in the direction of her room.

Without Wang Taidi’s vibrant atmosphere, there is a renewed sense of impending tension in the streets, where people come and go in a hurry, with a defensive look in their eyes.

The streets are lined with Little Xiao shops, like in the real world, with signs and neon lights on the front, but with completely different messages on them: “Exclusive weapon customization”, “High-class handmade meals”, “Group copy reception”, etc. “Group copy reception” …… and so on.

The people moving from shop to shop don’t have the same comfort and relaxation on their faces as those shopping in reality, and they even talk in hushed tones, avoiding people.

As he walked, Xiao Lan suddenly felt an unspeakable sense of isolation, as if his connection to the world was being severed little by little.

His senses, which had become acute after two games, told him that the sounds around him were slowly diminishing and that a faint darkness seemed to be spreading in the distant sky.

This feeling – a harbinger of the game about to begin.

Xiao Lan picks up his pace and returns to his room where he sits quietly on his bed, waiting for darkness to fall.

After a few moments, there is a silence around them, and darkness wraps itself around all of Xiao Lan’s consciousness, sinking deeper into the depths.

The world around you is clear once more.

The first thing Xiao Lan saw was the superbly textured carpet, with an extremely delicate and intricate pattern that had to be handcrafted with a great deal of time and a touch of money.

The walls next to it are also covered in magnificent and elaborate wallpaper, not only with exquisite patterns but also decorated with fine gold threads that even shimmer a little in the candlelight. Even the ceiling is beautifully frescoed and carved, and there is an elegant scent in the air, everything revealing an air of aristocratic extravagance.

And this is just a corridor.

What an enjoyable experience it would be to turn them all into poverty values. But spoiling the scene so early in the game that it attracts the attention of the bosses would be asking for death.

Xiao Lan looked around him, behind him was an elaborate but thick, tightly closed door.

He reached out and tried to push, but it wouldn’t budge, not because the door was tightly shut, but rather like the toilet door that had closed in front of him during the first game, the power of the game preventing the player from opening him up.

Exhaling, Xiao Lan turned towards the other end of the corridor, an unreadable haze ahead in the dim candlelight.

Xiao Lan’s footsteps made no sound and the corridor was silent as he moved forward in silence, like a pantomime.

In a sea of wavering candlelight, a humanoid shadow slowly emerges in the distance.

The figure stood motionless in front of him, without the slightest intention of advancing, but he occupied the very middle of the corridor, and if Xiao Lan wanted to pass, he would have to meet him in a tight spot.

Xiao Lan stopped in his tracks and watched the other man.

The other side remained unmoving, as if a dummy.

The two sides stalled for a while, and Xiao Lan was pondering whether the thing was a person or not, when the figure moved, approaching him little by little with an unhurried speed.

As we approached, in the light of the candlelight Xiao Lan found a young man, whose age was hard to tell, with a young-looking figure and an erect stance, but with an air of restraint and composure, without the kind of bravado and sharpness that comes with youth.

He was dressed in a well-tailored three-piece black suit without a single extra wrinkle, and his straight, slender legs with understated black leather shoes were particularly elegant and refined.

A little closer, Xiao Lan could see his face clearly.

I don’t know if it was the dim candlelight, but his hair looked an overly dark black, and not even the candlelight could give it a warm tinge.

The man’s eyes were pale gold, his nose straight, his lips tipped with just the right amount of smile, and with his handsome features, his whole person exuded a svelte yet ascetic air.

Those eyes, for no apparent reason, remind one of a black cat.

The man finally came up to Xiao Lan.

With his left hand on the right side of his chest, he bows to Xiao Lan in a standard chivalrous salute.

“Sir.”

The voice is low and magnetic, it is – Luo’s voice.

Xiao Lan was slightly surprised: “Luo?”

Luo got up and smiled at Xiao Lan, “I’ve been waiting for you.”

Xiao Lan looked at Luo’s svelte, handsome human form and slapped his brain’s concerns about the dark-skinned, bald-headed hunk into the trash. How did this guy, a soul painter, manage to make himself look like this?

Is this a miracle of science or an incredible piece of art?

His gaze went down to Luo’s long, straight legs, which were perfectly formed and looked like artisanal works of art under his trousers.

Well …… this time both feet are on a level.

The human form is incredibly perfect compared to the last square-headed black cat with uncoordinated limbs, and Luo’s progress is amazing.

But then there’s a slight loss in my heart, no more fluffy belly to touch ……

At Xiao Lan’s reaction, Luo tilted his head in confusion: “Sir, is there something wrong with me?”

Xiao Lan put aside thoughts that had gone too far, “No, it looks fine, but how did you come up with the idea of taking human form?”

Luo’s eyes were filled with a gentle smile: “It is more convenient to appear at your side in this form, I can disguise myself as a player and play with you.”

In this way, I can stand by your side with honour.

The author has something to say.

Luo : 28 chapters in and I finally have a proper face for the first time.

Xiao Lan : I miss my furry.