CH 47

After a leisurely two days in reality, Xiao Lan and Luo returned to the Advent world.

Seeing the sky cut to pieces by the unscientific skyscrapers, looking around at the flashing neon signs and stepping on the waterlogged ground beneath her feet, Xiao Lan surprisingly felt a sense of familiarity and belonging.

He probably understands Wang Taidi's comment that "people who are used to the world of descent have a hard time returning to reality".

The peace and tranquillity of the real world can seem like a dangerous trap for players who are often on the edge of life and death. Sometimes a leaf falls overhead and Xiao Lan's keen instincts detect it and he ducks out of the way.

It was clear that it was something that would not cause harm, but the body still involuntarily chose to dodge in the face of the object that suddenly appeared in front of it.

Players may be slowly being assimilated into the Advent world.

What is the situation with those indentured players? Do they belong to the players, or have they become part of the game.

Back in his room, and with at least twenty days to go before the next game, Xiao Lan decided to take the opportunity to practice his skills and fighting techniques.

He had noticed when he fought He Haochuan that he was not as fast or as strong as Xiao Lan, yet he was able to block Xiao Lan's first slash with his fighting instincts. If he had been armed with a prop weapon, Xiao Lan would not have been able to finish the fight in seconds.

Xiao Lan is still too inexperienced in player-to-player combat.

Xiao Lan: " Luo, I'm going to go over to the training ground in the next few days to hone my fighting skills, do you have any recommendations?"

Luo handed over a cup of tea: "I still have some moves left in my memory, I can draw them for you."

A minute has passed ......

Five minutes have passed ......

Ten minutes have passed ......

Xiao Lan looks at the familiar, sketchy matchmaker that Luo has placed in front of him, both legs not the same length, and gets lost in a reflection on society and life.

Was he too lacking in the toxic beatings of society? Why would he pin his hopes on an ex-convict soul painter?

Xiao Lan made a sobering resolve: "A children's painting class, I'll sign you up for one next time I'm back in reality."

Luo: "......"

The smile fades away.

--

The rest of Xiao Lan's time was spent on the training ground.

The training ground covers a very large area with countless rooms inside. Once each player enters, the room is locked and the scene inside changes according to the player's choice, allowing any different combat environment to be simulated at any time.

The world of Advent has always been generous with its player residences, and in the training ground, players can choose who they want to fight to simulate their training. A wide range of subjects can be chosen, not only people who exist in the real world, but also well-known martial artists who have passed away, and even some gods of war who exist in legends or literary works.

Of course if you don't think twice about choosing a legendary opponent, you can just experience the joy of ascending to heaven with one move.

Don't ask Xiao Lan how she knows, but her face hurts. Luckily, the injuries in the training ground recover instantly after the battle, but they still hurt a lot!

Xiao Lan later chose an athletic, bald man in black.

Then 30 seconds into the opening game he was cool again.

Xiao Lan's fists and daggers could not touch his opponent, let alone do any damage. For the first time, Xiao Lan felt so vulnerable in the face of his superior and professional fighting skills.

What follows is a constant cycle of fighting, getting knocked down, and finding opportunities again ......

It lasted for many days.

After being hammered for the 326th time by a professional killer who was actually part of a secret service, Xiao Lan finally found his first chance to kill back.

The figure of the killer in black faded away and the chaotic battle scene simulated in the room returned to its original form. Xiao Lan lay on the floor not wanting to move at all, although his physical injuries would recover, the accumulated mental exhaustion was pushing him to his limits.

Now he just wants to be a salty fish and sleep well for a few days.

Within the first seven days of entering the game, Xiao Lan had a vague feeling in his mind that he would open the next game at some point.

For the last three days, Xiao Lan basically lived like a pig in a poke in a player's room, enjoying a massage from Luo, eating restaurant takeaways brought by Luo and drinking nutritious drinks specially ordered by Luo.

Life is so good, and human beings, so easily fallen.

When silence fell around them and the familiar darkness filled the room, Xiao Lan and Luo looked at each other.

The game, it's on.

--

The world around you slowly clears up.

What Xiao Lan perceives before the sight of it is a sour "creaking" sound, like old metal plates rubbing together, harsh and annoying enough to raise goose bumps on your hands.

The first thing Xiao Lan saw was an old lift compartment.

The buttons are all glued on with clear glue. Even the doors of the lift are still very old, gates that passengers had to pull open manually themselves, and most of the paint on the doors is peeling off, mottled to reveal the iron-grey colour inside.

Every movement of the people in the lift elicits a creaking sound from this old lift.

All around, there are a variety of small, spicy advertisements, some of which are old and even yellowed. On the floor is a thick layer of black dirt that has accumulated over the years without being cleaned, giving off a distinctive smell of old stains.

The lift seemed to have malfunctioned and stopped motionless.

This time there are seven people in the lift, three men and two women in addition to Xiao Lan and Luo.

One of them, a slightly chubby, pleasant looking man in casual clothes, was the first to speak up, "My name is He Rui, I've been promoted to intermediate level for quite some time now, so I suggest we all team up together this time?"

Hearing his words, the tall imperial girl in a long red dress and dark curly hair beside Xiao Lan spoke up, "Everyone who can make it to the intermediate level has their own way of getting through, so why do you have to team up with someone you can't trust?"

"It's safer to team up, after all." He Rui said, and swept a glance in the direction of the few people on the other side who hadn't spoken.

The red royal snorted, "Who knows if people who are keen to team up but don't have a few teammates around them are screwing their own teammates over."

She also scanned the few people He Rui had looked at earlier, meaning it, "There are no righteous seniors in the Advent world."

At this point another tall man in a black vest also spoke up, pointing to the red clad imperial girl from before, "I agree with her, I'm not teaming up either."

The royal lady in red hid her lips in a smile, "Clever."

He Rui waved his hand, "Don't be so wary of me, I'm just trying to make it safer for everyone to be in the same boat."

The atmosphere in the lift was a little stiff for a moment, when a man stepped forward and raised his hand, "My name is Meng Ze, and I'm teaming up with you."

The other woman looked at him, seemed to hesitate, and also said, "My name is Duan Xueyin, and so am I."

He Rui turned his attention back to Xiao Lan and Luo: "What about you?"

Xiao Lan shook his head, "Thanks, we're used to two people teaming up."

He Rui seemed to want to say something, he looked at Xiao Lan and then at Luo before finally giving up on continuing to persuade the pair.

Not long after, the lift began to move slowly, easing upwards with a harsh scraping sound.

The directions inside the lift had broken down, and not knowing what floor it was on, the lift suddenly stopped.

A mother and daughter walk in, the mother looks thin and sickly, the little girl on the other hand looks very lively.

The lift doors closed, the mother pressed the button for the fourth floor and the lift continued its slow ascent again.

The little girl, probably bored, started counting the people in the lift: "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10."

The players frowned slightly, seven players here plus the two mothers and daughters were only nine people, where did ten people come from?

When she saw that the few people riding in the lift with her looked bad, the thin mother hurriedly squatted down and whispered to her daughter, "Good girl, there are only nine people here, oh, you're counting wrong."

The little girl seemed a little confused as she held out her fingers towards the people in the lift and counted them one by one: "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 ......10, mummy I didn't count wrong."

The crowd fell silent as they looked at the empty spot where her finger was pointing.

The mother also found the situation a little odd and grabbed her own child and took a step back, again without speaking again.

The lift was still rising slowly, and it was not clear how high the building was, or if it was going too slowly, and every minute seemed extraordinarily long in this depressing atmosphere.

Suddenly, the stained white light box at the top of the lift suddenly flashed for a split second.

The crowd looked up, but just in time to see the shadow left by a hand, that shadow was fleeting, but the players could still see it, it was Little Xiao's hand, like a child's hand.

The mother and daughter had obviously seen it too, and the mother, her eyes rounded and afraid to make a sound, reached out her arms and held her child firmly to her side, holding her head down to stop her looking upwards.

Players are rather calm, after all, every copy is always so some sudden shock, scared and frightened also ...... within the heart of a group of panic, but the face without fluctuations.

In an eerie silence, a "ding-" sounded and the lift finally reached the fourth floor.