But at this moment, Fu Songcheng chose to accept.
[Ding. You have added player ‘Lu Xiao’ as a friend.]
[Ding. You have added player ‘Du Yunhao’ as a friend.]
[Ding. You have added player ‘Zhu Xiang’ as a friend.]
This was probably the first batch of players since he’d entered the game who could truly be called “friends.”
“Alright, don’t make it out like a life-and-death parting.”
Yu Huaiting clapped his hands. “Go back and rest, all of you. This broken game—surviving today is already a win.”
The group exchanged smiles and each pressed the button to return to the rest area.
White light flashed, and the settlement space fell back into silence.
Opening his eyes, he saw the familiar, somewhat chilly apartment ceiling of the rest area.
Fu Songcheng sat up from the sofa and rubbed his faintly swollen temples. He habitually opened the system interface, and his gaze landed on the time in the lower right corner.
A full five days had passed since they’d entered the Fierce Souls Burning with Resentment instance. He’d spent less than seven hours inside—from dawn to dusk—but in the rest area, five days had already elapsed.
Fu Songcheng frowned and opened his unread messages list.
[Chen Ke (two days ago): Mr. Fu, I saw you enter an instance. Bai Mu and the others and I have entered a seven-day instance mission. Looking forward to next time.]
Fu Songcheng could only regret missing the instance timing this time and replied perfunctorily:
[Okay.]
He closed the interface and turned to look beside him.
Yu Huaiting was sprawled on the bed, tilting his head to look at him, a faint, unreadable smile at the corner of his mouth—clearly very satisfied with this haul.
Fu Songcheng sat on the edge of the bed and touched Yu Huaiting’s somewhat stiff white hair. “I’m a little tired.”
“Then sleep a while. I’ll keep watch.”
Yu Huaiting pulled Fu Songcheng, and Fu Songcheng went along, lying down beside him, the two falling asleep in each other’s arms.
His consciousness gradually sank. In the haze, Fu Songcheng seemed to receive a special invitation message, and he subconsciously pressed accept.
When he opened his eyes again, he was already standing in Source Star’s control room.
Unlike the previous times, behind the massive curved desk, Shen Ning was holding a cup of coffee, watching him at her leisure.
“Long time no see.”
Fu Songcheng said in a low voice, “Long time no see.”
He walked straight to the chair opposite her and sat down, legs crossed, his posture relaxed yet maintaining absolute defense. “Looks like you made quite a profit this time.”
“Quite good indeed.” Shen Ning set down her coffee cup and leaned forward, hands crossed on the desktop. “Perfect exploration rating. Do you know how many peak viewers your livestream reached?”
“Don’t care.”
Fu Songcheng cut her off coldly. “I only want to know what’s in your next version update.”
Shen Ning was choked off for a moment, but instead of getting angry, she laughed even louder. “Fu Songcheng, it’s only because I have a good temper. If Quan Heng were still here, you two would’ve started arguing.”
“5.0 will first open experience slots to some players. Source Star people can enter the game through bionic bodies—just like how you’re also a bionic body on Source Star.”
Shen Ning recalled. “Also, the emotional interference module will be optimized.”
“How optimized?”
“The current desired effect is to be able to stimulate emotions with greater force. After all, Source Star people watch the livestream because they want to entertain themselves.”
Shen Ning snapped her fingers, and a small screen beside her lit up, displaying complex bar charts and soaring numbers. “Tips, ad placements… Death Party has already started turning a profit.”
Fu Songcheng looked at those filthy figures bought with Blue Star players’ lives and said calmly, “Congratulations.”
Shen Ning gave Fu Songcheng a deep look. “For the next instance, you and Yu Huaiting will need to interact with Source Star viewers. Keep him in check.”
Fu Songcheng hated this client-like tone of Shen Ning’s, but he had no choice but to cooperate with her in expanding Death Party’s popularity and reach. “Understood.”
“Ten minutes are almost up.”
Shen Ning glanced at the screen, stood, walked to Fu Songcheng’s side, and looked down at him. “Actually, I’m rather looking forward to seeing how far you and Yu Huaiting can go.”
Fu Songcheng stood, smoothed his not-at-all-rumpled shirt hem, and looked straight into Shen Ning’s eyes. “We definitely can’t compare to President Shen.”
Can’t compare to how fast Shen Ning will die.
Can’t compare to how fast every person who takes pleasure in others’ lives will die.
Facing Source Star, the fury in Fu Songcheng’s heart grew day by day, churning ceaselessly. But the angrier he got, the kinder and colder he appeared on the surface, silently accumulating his own storm.
…
His consciousness returned to his body.
Fu Songcheng opened his eyes, the dim lighting of the rest area leaving him briefly dazed.
A rustling sound came from beside him.
He turned his head and found that Yu Huaiting had woken at some point and was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, watching him quietly in the dark.
Yu Huaiting was a total night owl, which had thrown Fu Songcheng’s schedule somewhat off too.
“You went ‘over there’ again.”
Yu Huaiting’s voice sounded especially clear in the silent room, carrying a declarative certainty.
“Mm.”
Fu Songcheng didn’t deny it. He’d just raised a hand to rub the back of his neck when Yu Huaiting leaned in to do it for him.
“What did you see?”
Fu Songcheng turned to look at him.
But in the end, he said nothing.
He didn’t tell Yu Huaiting about his current collusion with Shen Ning, didn’t mention the Source Star NPCs in the 4.0 version, and didn’t mention the Source Star players descending in 5.0.
First, Yu Huaiting’s temper was too hot, and he couldn’t keep things bottled up. If he knew the truth, Fu Songcheng wasn’t sure Yu Huaiting could restrain himself from killing those people.
Second…
Fu Songcheng looked at Yu Huaiting’s face.
He now knew about Yu Huaiting’s past in the real world—the reason he wrapped himself in a careless, mad exterior.
The things Yu Huaiting didn’t want to tell him, he was willing to pretend he still didn’t know. Similarly, to protect Yu Huaiting, some things Fu Songcheng chose to bear alone.
His puppy only needed to happily follow orders and live and die together with his master.
Seeing Fu Songcheng’s silence, Yu Huaiting pursed his lips, not pressing for answers. He reached out, circled Fu Songcheng’s waist, and buried his face in the hollow of his neck.
Fu Songcheng could clearly feel Yu Huaiting’s warm breath spraying against the back of his neck.
“It’s fine if you don’t tell me,” Yu Huaiting’s voice came muffled. “I said wherever you go, I go—I wasn’t lying. If you want me to fall with you, I won’t flinch.”
He took a deep breath. “If only you could love me the way I love you.”
Fu Songcheng’s heart softened violently. His hand landed gently on Yu Huaiting’s back, soothing him in idle, absent strokes.
“I do like you,” Fu Songcheng’s voice carried a gentleness and helplessness even he hadn’t noticed. “We’ve even slept together—what are you twisting yourself up over?”
Leave a Reply