Chapter 68

Jiang Yunu didn't know that before she logged off the online game, she had once again passed by a team that looked familiar to her.

After defeating the mini-boss on the map, there is still time left, but it is not much, obviously not enough to explore the open map or open another boss monster.

It was the member of the Crystal Core Team who was more likely to explain things to his friends who suggested, "Why don't we take our junior to look at the map of the nearest main city?"

Jiang Yunu: "Is there a map of the main city?"

Faced with a game world with massive and rich content, Jiang Yunu has come into contact with too little so far.

The remaining game time was not enough to do anything serious, so it was just right to take her to the nearest main city, which was also a place where online players tended to gather.

The team leader thought the team members' suggestions were good, and Jiang Yunu was obviously eager to try out another new map, so the team leader used a collective teleportation prop to teleport the four people to the nearest main city.

Jiang Yunu experienced shopping in the gaming world.

This main city has a "European retro style", and the streets and buildings have a Western style that dates back who knows how many centuries. As soon as Jiang Yunu stepped into here, in addition to being attracted by the buildings with Gothic spires on both sides, he also clearly felt the change in the flow of people - looking around, there were people in the streets and alleys, and there were even crowds of people in front of some buildings.

It is completely different from the previous feeling of not seeing anyone for half a day in the novice trial map and grassland!

For some reason, this change in the flow of people made Jiang Yunu feel a little familiar.

The members of the Crystal Core Team were in charge of explaining the situation. They led her around the city and told her which building was where weapons and armor were refined, which building was the exchange, which was the ordinary item store, and which were ordinary NPC residences... The team members also told her seriously that residences must never be entered casually. As a player, you must not see an NPC residence and want to go in and search and pick things up, and then take some things away. Doing so will immediately trigger the main city guards, and the guards NPCs with full combat power will beat them all the way out of the main city.

Jiang Yunu: "It sounds like someone has done this before."

"There are 'quite a few people,'" the team member corrected her.

In an open-world game, can any player resist the temptation to rummage through a house, poke around in an empty room, or even dig through the trash cans outside people's houses? No, humans have been doing this since the dawn of time, playing flat-screen video games.

This holographic game is well aware of players' love for taking things everywhere, so it has specially made a restriction order in the main city that "it is forbidden to empty NPC houses at will."

Jiang Yunu had no intention of simply emptying other people's houses. She just stopped in front of a house and poked her head inside out of curiosity.

"Why!"

The leader of the Crystal Core team nervously pulled her back and whispered, "The owner of this house is the famous 'Crazy Old Lady.' She particularly hates unruly players standing outside her door and looking around. If she sees you, even if you haven't done anything wrong, you'll easily be dragged to see the guards!"

The leader's advice was very sincere, but it was a little late. Jiang Yunu had already poked his head past the door frame and was meeting the eyes of a white-haired old lady sitting on a wicker armchair in the middle of the room.

The gray-haired old lady had deep wrinkles on her face and looked at Jiang Yunu expressionlessly. It was impossible to tell whether she was frowning or not.

The other two members of the Crystal Core Team closed their eyes silently, thinking that they would definitely have to meet the guard again today.

At this time, Jiang Yunu took the initiative to greet the "Crazy Grandma": "Hello, Grandma, I saw the morning glory on the outer wall of the house is blooming very beautifully. May I be lucky enough to get a flower from you?"

Crystal Core Team: "..."

Not only did Jiang Xuemei's voice suddenly become very pleasant, she was not at all as rough as she was when she was fighting the boss before.

She also has a sweet smile and a lively tone!

What's even more bizarre is that the "crazy old lady" recognized by the players in the main city is not crazy anymore today!

The gray-haired old woman stood up slowly, then walked slowly to the door, and then with an expression that said "It would be better if all annoying players died outside the main city", she actually picked a pink and purple morning glory from the outer wall of the house.

The old man placed the morning glory into Jiang Yunu's palm, which had been opened and waiting in advance.

Jiang Yunu: "Thank you, grandma!"

In response to her, the old man slowly walked back into the house and slammed the door in her face.

Jiang Yunu held the flowers that she had obtained with her sweet talk and smile, and turned around to show them to the three people from the Crystal Core Group.

"Grandma is not as fierce as you say," she said.

“…”

All the members of the Crystal Core Team didn't quite understand how that scene just happened.

After two seconds, Jiang Yunu analyzed himself again: "However, she must have been disturbed by us. Closing the door means that I can take the flowers and leave quickly, right? Let's go, our game time is running out."

Jiang Yunu's invisible skill of "being good at winning the favor of the same sex" seemed to be working stably in the game today.

She put the morning glory she received from the old lady into her backpack, and a line of small notes appeared next to the prop: [A gift from the bad-tempered old lady that very few people can get].

Jiang Yunu couldn’t see what use it had for the time being, but she was happy to hold it simply as a prop.

The team that seemed familiar to her entered the street at this time. They entered the city from the gate on the other side of the main city, and their destination was the exchange in the city.

When Jiang Yunu walked to the outside of the courtyard wall of the "crazy old lady's" hut, a light effect flashed faintly in the corner of her eyes - a countdown pop-up window appeared.

"I'm starting the countdown." Jiang Yunu reported to his teammates.

The three members of the Crystal Core Team entered the simulation cabin a minute or two later than Jiang Yunu. After a while, the team leader said, "I'm starting too."

Then there's "heterophobia" and his friends.

Five minutes of game time was obviously not enough to play anything else. When Jiang Yunu heard other people's "announcement", he knew that he only had three minutes left online.

In the last three minutes, she simply observed the pedestrians on the street, trying to distinguish whether each person passing by her was an NPC or a player.

Some people are sensitive to gazes and will quickly look towards her, while others are completely unaware and just pass by the white-haired girl standing on the street.

Jiang Yunu had just turned his gaze to a group of people who seemed to have come from outside the city, and watched them slowly walk into the inner street with the flow of people entering the city.

Before she could see the faces of the people in the group clearly, the countdown in the translucent pop-up window in her field of vision returned to zero, and the scene in front of her turned into small pixel blocks in an instant.

The pixel blocks dissipated like dust in the wind, and finally the surrounding scene returned to the interior of the simulation cabin.

Jiang Yunu shrugged as he looked at the inner wall of the simulation cabin that had returned to its original appearance, feeling inexplicably regretful for the few people whose faces he didn't see clearly in the end.

So is it the player or the NPC?

With such questions in mind, Jiang Yunu left the simulation cabin.

——At the same time, in the game.

The black-haired player carrying a long sword walked to the door of a residential building and suddenly stopped on his way to the exchange.

"Team?"

His companion called out to him in confusion.

He stared at the morning glory wall in front of him, hesitated for two seconds, then took two steps closer, then stood in front of the outer wall and looked left and right.

He always felt that not long ago, from a distance, he seemed to have seen a familiar figure again - like the NPC that his team had accidentally "injured" before.

"Team," his companion whispered to him, "It seems we shouldn't stay here for long. This is..."

Before he could finish his words, the door of the small house behind the morning glory wall suddenly opened, and the "Crazy Old Lady" well-known among the player community walked out.

"What are you doing standing at my door?" the old woman said fiercely, approaching the wall. "And you, what are you looking at? Guard! Guard!"

The "crazy old lady" frantically called on the guards to drive people away, and what happened afterwards was naturally unknown to Jiang Yunu, who had already logged off.

This online experience was truly enjoyable. Jiang Yunu was reluctant to leave the simulation cabin and return to reality. She felt that if the conditions were not limiting, she could continue to play the game for another two hours.

But this feeling did not last long. She returned to the dormitory area and went up to the second floor of the building quietly so as not to wake up her roommates.

After returning to the room, he opened his personal terminal and checked the greeting message sent by Zhou Jinxue in the midst of his busy schedule. As soon as Jiang Yunu saw the message from his senior sister, all his desire to relax and play games disappeared.

[Zhu Ming Ying Xue]: How are your preparations for the competition and exam review going?

Zhou Jinxue's gentle greeting made Jiang Yunu, who had indulged in games for a while tonight, instantly behave himself.

Jiang Yunu knew Zhou Jinxue's daily routine. According to the time she returned from the plane at night, she would have already gone to bed.

Therefore, in order not to disturb others' sleep, Jiang Yunu sent a reply early the next morning.

[User 24071523]: Starting this week, I will enter the state of full sprint review preparation. I will report the progress to my senior on time!

It was Zhou Jinxue who took the initiative to bring up the matter of reporting progress.

The senior was busy herself, but she was deeply attentive to the junior she was tasked with mentoring. Jiang Yunuo was called in twice a week by Teacher Reiss Daniel to check on her competition preparations, and Zhou Jinxue, finding a time when both she and Jiang Yunuo were free, would flexibly intersperse this with checking on the junior's progress, balancing competitions and midterm exams.

Considering that there were only two weeks left before the school competition, Jiang Yunu applied for another leave. She did not return to Chat City during this month's half-month leave.

When the two children went back last time, Qiao Daisi knew that Jiang Yunuo was going to participate in an important competition and might be able to join the Engel school team and participate in this year's inter-school competition.

Aunt Daisy took the initiative to call and greet Jiang Yunu, telling her not to worry, and said she was waiting at home for the good news of her winning the award.

Jiang Yunu, who received the call, said, "...It's like this, Aunt Daisy. Hearing you say that, I seem to have some new pressures beyond not going home."

Aunt Daisy laughed from behind the video window: "Don't you have the confidence to bring back a good ranking and show it to me?"

Jiang Yunu blinked his eyes: "Of course, there is."

Two weeks passed quickly.

It seemed like just a blink of an eye, and Jiang Yunu was about to participate in the school competition.