Ch118 - A Strange Scent

tw: unsavory descriptions of a corpse

The apartment was a one-bedroom design. The living room was filled with gaming equipment and garbage.

It could be said that the living room was dirty and messy, but compared to the bedroom, it was much better.

The bedroom wasn’t very big. Other than the bed and wardrobe and such, there was only a simple study desk and chair.

It was just that the roo m was not as empty as Ding Hongyang had insisted. There was a corpse that was sitting there quietly which had already begun to swell and rot.

The weather in summer was already hot. After being stuck inside for three days without anyone knowing, it was no wonder there was a stench inside the room.

Ding Hongyang looked at that blue and purple, swollen face, and could vaguely recognise his own appearance underneath it all.

They were wearing the same set of lounge clothes, and even their socks had the same exact holes in them.

No one could keep their calm when faced with their own corpse right in front of them. Ding Hongyang was the same.

He unconsciously went to ask Lu Xu and Ji Xiunian for help, pointing to the corpse to ask exactly what was going on: “It can’t be me, aren’t I standing here looking perfectly fine? I haven’t even left the house in three days, I have no idea how he got in here…”

Ding Hongyang no longer had the calmness he displayed earlier.

He pointed at the corpse and wanted to cry. He even wanted to call the police. His mental state was obviously on the verge of collapse.

“Calm down, think about what you were doing three days ago.” Lu Xu opened his mouth to interrupt his breakdown, making him think back to the situation that had happened.

“What I was doing three days ago…” Ding Hongyang tried his best to calm himself down and think, following Lu Xu’s guidance. “Three days ago, I had just completed a new challenge, gaming for 48 hours straight…”

As a gaming streamer, staying up all night was as common as homestyle cooking for Ding Hongyang.

It was normal for him to not sleep all day and night, but this was the first time he had stayed up for 48 hours straight.

Only the heavens knew how sleepy Ding Hongyang was. He could only refresh himself by pouring coffee or with other methods. The ‘staying up late’ style of live broadcast was also something that could be called a trend. The platform gave Ding Hongyang a recommendation as a result, and his number of online viewers and rewards were much better than before.

After staying up for two days, Ding Hongyang only felt that his entire brain was empty.

But it was just that 48 hours was not that long. He wanted to rest a bit and then continue streaming, striking at the iron while it was still hot.

He remembered that on that day, he had gotten up from the computer, yawning as he went to the bedroom to look for something to revive himself. But as soon as he opened up the drawer, he had felt extremely tired, so he had sat down in the chair to rest for a bit.

In his memories, he had only rested for a little while, before getting up to continue gaming.

“Don’t continue repeating your false memories.” Lu Xu pursed his lips and directly interrupted his false reminiscences. “Close your eyes, and remember how you truly felt at that point.”

Ding Hongyang originally didn’t think there was anything wrong with his recollections, but after Lu Xu said this, he unconsciously recalled the situation once more. Slowly, he pieced together a sense of discordance.

In reality, he had really felt very tired and he had actually leaned against the chair, wanting to take a rest. But due to his sudden relaxation after being overly tired, Ding Hongyang closed his eyes and never woke up again.

It was just that he had been too tired at the time and couldn’t accept the reality that he had left this world. Thus, his ghost continued to believe that he was still alive.

So just like this, he completely didn’t recognise his own death. Coincidentally, there happened to be an error in the system, so he had lived for three days in his ghostly body.

After noticing that he had died, it was as if all the strength had been sucked out of Ding Hongyao’s body. He muttered to himself in a daze, “I just fell asleep, how did I die…?”

Ji Xiunian recalled the events leading up to this, and could not help but shoot back after hearing Ding Hongyang say that. “It’s exactly because you never slept.”

The human body was like a well-oiled machine. It needed to be put to work, but it also needed ample time to rest.

Too many people thought that pulling all-nighters would have no consequence, not knowing that they were sacrificing their own life force.

Like Ding Hongyang, who was a classic case of someone mistaking their youth for courage, not knowing that their body had already reached its limits.

“All right, if there’s no mistake then we can be on our way.” Lu Xu was used to matters of life and death, and he had seen people’s regret after their death countless times, so he did not think there was much of a problem.

Even though Ding Hongyang was finding it difficult to come to terms with it, dead was dead. All he could do was obediently walk the Yellow River Road.

The two of them sent their report, and prepared to leave.

Ji Xiunian could not help but glance at Ding Hongyang’s workstation, wondering if the overworking was worth it.

“His corpse…”

“Someone will come right along and take care of it.” As he spoke, Lu Xu took Ji Xiunian’s hand and teleported. “Find some time later and I’ll teach you how to teleport. That way, it’ll be more convenient when you start working on your own…”

Not long after they had left, the apartment manager came knocking on Ding Hongyang’s door.

Lately, there had been numerous complaints about the strong odor coming from this particular home, and they wanted to take a look. No one answered the door even after knocking for a good while, but the smell was getting more and more pungent.

The apartment manager started to think that something was off, so he grabbed the master key to open the door. After apprising the situation within the home, he immediately called the police. “Hello? Someone has died here…”

On the other side, Yao Yulong was still guarding the toilet.

He was praying that no one would come by, while also glancing at the time again and again and wondering when the two of them would come out.

Occasionally, a couple of trainees would pass by, and Yao Yulong would grit his teeth, saying the toilet was under repairs, hoping they would leave.

“Are they done or not…” Yao Yulong could not help but complain. Just as he was thinking about what to do, Xu Lele suddenly appeared.

“Eh? Didn’t you say you were going to the toilet earlier? Why are you still here?” Xu Lele had a bright and open personality, so he did not act strangely around Yao Yulong when he spoke, he just asked directly.

“Uh…” Yao Yulong thought about the situation inside, and raised his voice, wanting to remind the other trainees again. “The toilet is under repairs right now, you have to go somewhere else.”

Xu lele was not taken aback by that, instead he just smiled brightly and said, “That’s all right, I don’t need to use the toilet, I just need to wash my hands.” With that, Xu Lele had already slipped past the dazed Yao Yulong, and headed right inside the bathroom.