The night was as dark as ink, so thick it was impossible to see through.
At the end of the alley, a crescent moon hung on the eaves, like a cold pancake that had been bitten, gleaming with a bluish-white light.
Li Qiyang continued walking forward with the old man, but his heartbeat gradually calmed down.
He looked up at the sky and suddenly realized that the stars were exceptionally bright tonight. How come he hadn't noticed them before?
The tiny specks of light were densely scattered across the night sky, like someone had accidentally spilled a box of silver powder.
“Strange…” he muttered to himself, “The starry sky in this game is actually quite realistic.”
The old man heard this, and without turning his head, he scoffed, "Young man, what are you saying? Heaven is heaven, why distinguish between truth and falsehood?"
Li Qiyang was taken aback.
The night breeze brushed against his cheeks, carrying the scent of earth and grass.
A few barks came from afar, and crickets chirped in the cracks of the wall nearby.
It all felt unbelievably real.
He suddenly realized that he had never seriously observed the details of this world before.
Every time I enter the game, my mind is filled with thoughts like "I'm going to die, I'm going to die," "How do I follow the protagonist to complete the game," and "Where is the boss?"
The glow of the kerosene lamp flickered on the stone path, illuminating a few wildflowers that had sprouted from the cracks in the bricks.
Li Qiyang squatted down and, as if possessed, picked a small white flower.
The petals were soft and cool, covered with night dew, and trembled gently on his fingertips.
"Young man, what are you doing?" the old man asked.
"Coming, coming." Li Qiyang stuffed the little flower into his pocket and quickly followed.
For some reason, he felt something loosening in his chest, like a stone that had been pressing down for a long time slowly cracking.
As we turned a corner, a cheerful flute melody suddenly drifted from afar.
To Li Qiyang's surprise, a red lantern was lit at the end of the alley, and several children were chasing and playing in the open space.
This scene is completely out of place with the gloomy and terrifying town setting, yet it inexplicably warms one's heart.
"That is..."
"Oh, there's a wedding in town tonight," the old man explained, rarely. "The Bai family's daughter is getting married."
Li Qiyang's eyes widened.
Will there be happy events in the game?
Just then, a little girl with pigtails skipped over and shoved a wild chrysanthemum into Li Qiyang's hand: "Here you go! Big brother from the new place!"
Li Qiyang was stunned.
The little girl's hands were warm, and the dewdrops on the flowers shimmered in the lantern light.
He suddenly remembered his sister in the real world. Every time he left home to go to college in another city, his sister would give him a small flower picked from the roadside.
"Thank you..." His voice was choked with emotion.
The little girl giggled and ran away.
Li Qiyang stood there, looking at the wild chrysanthemum in his hand, a strange feeling welling up in his heart.
The fear remains, but it no longer seems so suffocating.
A gentle night breeze carried the cheerful flute music and children's laughter far, far away.
Unbeknownst to Li Qiyang, at that very moment, a player who was trembling and hiding from Granny Zhen suddenly raised their head; a player whose brain was nearly exhausted from racking their brains for a solution to the quest blinked; and a player who was about to give up hope clenched their fist…
Like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, ripples spread silently from him.
Meanwhile, at the data level, which is invisible to everyone, an error message suddenly popped up inside the game:
[Warning: Player's emotional fluctuation value exceeds the threshold]
[A reassessment of global stability is underway...]
No response
[A renewed reassessment of global stability...]
No response
…
Ignore the warning and continue running.
…
Li Yuheng looked around and noticed a semi-transparent display screen faintly flickering in a dark corner.
He quietly got up, walked to the screen, and gently touched it with his fingertips.
The screen lights up, displaying several options:
【West Wind (Game Guide)】
【Lady Bai (First Dungeon Boss)】
[Mr. Xiang & Mrs. Zhen (Second Dungeon Boss)]
Li Yuheng chose the west wind without hesitation.
The screen flickered a few times, and Xifeng's颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a state of being decadent, dispirited, or颓废) yet handsome face appeared on the screen.
His dull, gray-blue eyes were half-open. He paused slightly when he saw it was Li Yuheng, then regained his composure and asked calmly, "What is it?"
Li Yuheng raised an eyebrow: "Aren't you surprised to see me?"
Xifeng yawned: "Speak quickly if you have something to say, I want to sleep."
Li Yuheng narrowed his eyes: "When will the third dungeon open?"
"Today is only the... oh... the third day, it's the last day." Xifeng rubbed his eyes. "It won't open until noon tomorrow."
Li Yuheng: "..."
His lips twitched: "Your game is really inefficient."
Xifeng stared at him with dead fish eyes: "You think I wanted this? This is how the system is set up."
Li Yuheng suddenly leaned closer and lowered his voice: "Hey, Lao Dong, I have a question for you."
Old Dong?
Are they calling him?
West Wind asked warily, "...What?"
"Is being a game guide... fun?"
West Wind: "..."
A hint of speechlessness flashed in his grey-blue eyes: "What do you think?"
Li Yuheng stroked his chin and looked him up and down: "Judging from your dark circles, you're probably not too happy."
Xifeng sighed: "You already know, why ask?"
Li Yuheng said earnestly, "Old Dong, do you want to change jobs?"
Xifeng looked at him suspiciously: "First of all, my name isn't Lao Dong, it's Xifeng... What does that mean?"
Li Yuheng smiled mysteriously: "How about I take you out to have some fun after I clear the game?"
Xifeng's eyes flickered slightly, but quickly returned to their lifeless state: "...Don't joke around. There's no way out of this game."
“Who said there isn’t one?” Li Yuheng raised an eyebrow. “You just haven’t found it yet.”
After a moment of silence, Xifeng suddenly asked, "Who exactly are you?"
Li Yuheng grinned, revealing eight gleaming teeth: "Guess?"
West Wind: "..."
"Hey Dongfeng, don't you have three brothers?"
Xifeng's grey-blue eyes widened slightly, and for the first time, a crack appeared in his lifeless expression: "How did you know?"
Li Yuheng said smugly, "I guessed it. You're called East Wind, so there must also be West Wind, South Wind, and North Wind. That makes a whole mahjong set!"
Xi Feng's dead fish eyes twitched slightly: "...My name is Xi Feng, and my three brothers are Xi Diao, Xi Yu, and Xi Shun."
Li Yuheng: "Pfft—"
He couldn't help but burst out laughing, quickly covering his mouth, his shoulders shaking like a leaf: "Xi... Xi Diao? Xi Yu? Xi Shun? Did you name your family according to 'favorable weather for crops'?"
Xifeng watched him laugh until he hiccuped with a blank expression, his gray-blue eyes saying, "This guy must be an idiot."
West Wind prepared to hang up: "I'm going to sleep."
Li Yuheng shouted at him, "Consider my offer! It includes meals and accommodation, five social insurances and one housing fund, and annual leave!"
The screen is off.
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