Chapter 5: Pre-play preparations fell into a deathly silence.
The weight of those eight words was so intense that Liang Jun stammered, unsure of what to say.
She reached out to touch Zhu Bieming in front of her, but her hand passed straight through the white mist.
Aside from the warmth she could feel, she grasped nothing.
Liang Jun was somewhat incredulous, "I can't reach you?"
“In the fog state, we have no physical form,” Zhu Shengqing replied from afar.
Liang Xun was silent for two seconds, then asked, "You're not lying to me, are you?"
The phrase has a double meaning and also encompasses the tragic outcome mentioned earlier.
Zhu Bieming shook his head, as if he were squatting in front of Liang Xun, and the 1.8-meter-tall white mist instantly shrank into a small ball.
“We will not deceive the host.” He looked at Liang Xun with a smile, emphasizing each word, “We are absolutely loyal to the host.”
"Oh well."
After hesitating for a moment, Liang Xun still chose to agree to this seemingly absurd relationship, "I won't kick you out..."
Although passing through the fog had no effect on her, Liang Jun carefully avoided Zhu Bieming, who was huddled in front of her, and headed towards the kitchen.
After all this trouble, she hasn't even had a decent meal yet.
Her energy was critically low, and she had just vomited a lot of it. She didn't want to put on a show of fainting from low blood sugar in front of her guardian spirit.
The kitchen was still filled with the stench of blood.
As soon as Liang Jun stepped into the kitchen, that unpleasant smell of rust hit her again.
The pristine white tiles were now stained with blood, and fragments of human tissue lay scattered around the trash can. Streams of blood trickled down the wall, congealing into a jelly-like paste in the corner.
A severed leg was placed on the stove, right in front of Liang Xuan.
She walked out, leaning against the wall, and vomited violently at the kitchen doorway.
Seeing Liang Jun's strong reaction, Zhu Bieming couldn't bear it and quietly pulled Zhu Shengqing aside.
"Brother, should we help her?"
Zhu Shengqing then said, "Liang Xuan, leave the cleaning of the room to us."
"you?"
Liang Xun weakly straightened up, barely managing to wipe the stains from her lips with her sleeve. "Do you guys clean up too?"
She thought guardian spirits wouldn't do such mundane things.
Zhu Bieming crossed his arms with a hint of smugness, "You're underestimating us a little~"
That's fine too.
Having someone to help out saves a lot of trouble.
Liang Jun breathed a sigh of relief. "I can't let you help me for nothing. I'll treat you to a meal."
Her gaze lingered between the Zhu brothers. "Is there anything you'd like to eat?"
"Um……"
Zhu Bieming didn't know how to answer for a moment, and turned to Zhu Shengqing for help.
Zhu Shengqing maintained his gentlemanly demeanor, saying, "No need to trouble yourself, my brothers and I won't eat."
"Aren't you hungry?" Now it was Liang Xun's turn to be puzzled. "You just used up so much energy, won't you get low blood sugar if you don't eat?"
She didn't know if guardian spirits had the concept of hypoglycemia, nor did she know if the two brothers were just being polite.
Liang Xun narrowed her eyes slightly, "You wouldn't...look down on my cooking, would you?"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Bieming immediately denied it.
"No, no, no, that's not it!" He waved his hand quickly, stirring up the air and creating a gust of wind. "Gaseous guardian spirits don't need to eat. I know you're a great cook, but we really can't eat it..."
"All right."
Liang Jun didn't think about it any further.
The kitchen is a mess, and even if there are ingredients on hand, they're probably unusable now.
Liang Jun's eyes lit up as she remembered that the system seemed to have mentioned something called a "shopping mall".
She manipulated the system in her mind and opened the beginner's guide for the "Shop" module.
The in-game store is a shared resource for all players.
Players can purchase in-game items in the shop as needed. All items are one-time use, and their usage privileges override game rules, except for special items.
[Due to unforeseen circumstances, certain items may be out of stock in the store. Please don't worry, the store will restock randomly. Please keep an eye out for updates.]
Liang Jun understood the gist of it, and then turned to look at the props in the mall.
It's a bit like the online games I played when I was a kid. Item selection buttons are neatly arranged on the shelf, with prices clearly marked in a currency that Liang Jun can't understand.
She clicked on one casually, but a system notification popped up unexpectedly.
Your current points are 0.
[Insufficient points to purchase this item.]
integral?
What points?
This is yet another completely new concept, and Liang Jun feels that it's even more of a headache than taking her major courses.
"You'd better explain to me what points are."
She warned the system, half-threatening and half-joking.
[Points will be automatically awarded to players upon successful completion of the level.]
There are two ways to earn points:
[Points are awarded based on the player's survival time. One point is automatically accumulated for every second a player survives in the game. Players who quit or die will not receive any survival points for that game.]
[Points are awarded based on the player's rule deciphering progress. Players who trigger all hidden rules will be rewarded with 100,000 points. If some rules are not triggered, points will be deducted accordingly based on the deciphering progress.]
Now I understand, it's just the concept of a prize pool.
"Then why don't I have any points now?" Liang Xun poked her "0 points" dialog box. "Didn't I already successfully complete the game?"
The system will refresh daily at 4 AM. Please be patient.
The system responded in a businesslike manner.
Liang Xuan pursed her lips.
She searched through the items in the store and found that they were all game items, none of which were what she wanted.
"Excuse me, don't you sell vegetables here? Don't you have anything to eat?"
The system was silent for two seconds.
[The store only offers in-game items.]
Liang Jun hissed – this is going to be difficult.
Am I really going to have to go out to buy groceries at this crucial moment?
It's an utterly absurd thing to even think about.
The system seemed to have sensed Liang Jun's thoughts and even gave her a somewhat intelligent reminder.
The system will automatically provide protection for players who complete the level early, ensuring they are protected from any harm before the game time ends.
System protection is paramount.
Hearing the system say this, Liang Jun felt a rare sense of joy.
"So that means I can go out normally now?!"
The system stopped responding and fell into complete silence.
Being able to temporarily escape this terrifying world and move around freely was an incredibly tempting prospect for Liang Jun, who hadn't been able to leave her bedroom for six or seven days.
She didn't even have time to change into clean clothes, and before she could even say goodbye to Zhu Shengqing and Zhu Bieming, she hurriedly left home.
Liang Xun's face was filled with excitement and joy until the moment she stepped out of her house, she stepped on something sticky.
She glanced down and saw an eyeball stuck to the skin and flesh. Liang Jun belatedly lifted her foot, only to find the eyeball had already burst under her foot, the fluid stretching down the sole of her shoe.
Liang Jun looked up at the stairwell, her smile growing increasingly stiff.
Human remains were everywhere, and splattered blood covered almost the entire wall.
Liang Jun tiptoed, avoiding the pitiful fragments, and at the entrance of the apartment building, she saw a small, stiff, yellow-haired dog.
That was the little yellow dog that she and Qin Miao usually fed together.
Liang Jun moved to the gate of the residential area, and the old man in the security room also fell into a pool of blood.
With the entrance to the security room as the boundary, Grandpa was cruelly torn in two, his upper body nowhere to be found.
Liang Jun did not feel nauseous or vomit again.
She didn't even realize that she had begun to get used to the bloody scenes.
The market was just a short walk from her home, a five-minute walk, but it felt like an eternity to Liang Jun.
The horrific scenes along the way were too unbearable to witness. Liang Xun even witnessed the monster devouring her; the green-skinned monster seemed to have seen Liang Xun and ran towards her without saying a word.
But system protection is paramount. The monster, having run into a wall, had no choice but to leave dejectedly.
Liang Jun had already anticipated the tragic scene at the market, so she wasn't too surprised when she witnessed the tragedy firsthand.
The system arrived just as the elderly were snapping up discounted vegetables.
The number of surviving lives in the vegetable market has been completely wiped out.
Liang Jun suppressed her racing heartbeat, rummaged through the pile of vegetables and found some uncontaminated ones, then went home somewhat indifferently.
After the door opened, the entire rented room returned to its clean state as it had been six days ago. The bloodstains had completely disappeared, and the pots and pans were back in their normal places.
On the contrary, Liang Jun's tattered, war-damaged pajamas seemed somewhat out of place.
She looked around the room but couldn't see the two wisps of black and white mist.
"Zhu Shengqing?" Liang Jun called out, her voice slightly hoarse. "Zhu Bieming?"
The rented room was empty, just like the one I used to live in alone.
Liang Jun recalled what Zhu Shengqing had said: they would only appear when there was danger, and would stay by her side the rest of the time.
Since that was the case, Liang Jun stopped worrying about their affairs.
She changed into clean clothes, stuffed her pajamas into the trash can, and went into the kitchen to make herself a bowl of fragrant plain noodles.
The late-arriving fatigue left Liang Xun completely exhausted. She didn't even bother to clean up the dishes and went straight back to her room to fall asleep.
This was the most restful sleep she had had in days.
Even the system reminder at four in the morning couldn't wake her. By the time Liang Xun got out of bed, it was almost two in the afternoon.
The system even thoughtfully provided her with supplementary announcements.
[Current progress: Survival days 7/7...]
[Congratulations, player! You have successfully completed the tutorial level: Safe Zone Survival! Score calculation is currently underway, please wait...]
The player survived for a total of 604,800 seconds and earned a total of 604,800 points.
[Player's rule deciphering rate is 88%, totaling 88,000 points.]
Your current points total is 692,800.
The moment she earned the points, Liang Xun opened the shop.
She discovered that the currency devaluation here was severe. Despite having nearly 700,000 points, she could only afford a seemingly useless flashlight.
Liang Xun clicked her tongue and closed the online store page.
After being removed from the system's protection, Liang Jun chose to stay in her rented apartment for the past few days.
In addition to eating and sleeping on time and developing a regular routine, Leung Yung also insists on exercising every day.
She learned firsthand that without a decent physique, it's very difficult to survive in the game.
Moreover, if the beginner level is this difficult, the later levels are even more challenging.
After fourteen days of health training, Liang Jun's physical condition has improved significantly. Before, she would be exhausted from running 800 meters in a physical test, but now she feels that going up and down ten floors is no problem.
On the day when she was required to enter a game level, Liang Jun got up at 3 a.m. to prepare.
In the TV series I've watched before, the main characters would suddenly be pulled out of the current time and space.
Liang Jun felt that being pulled out of one's sleep was neither aesthetically pleasing nor safe. So she went to bed early last night, and even though she woke up this early, her mind didn't feel foggy.
She stared at her electronic alarm clock, and the instant it struck four o'clock, Liang Xuan closed her eyes tightly.
But the feeling of being detached did not come as expected.
Liang Xun opened her eyes curiously and found that she was still standing on the small plot of land in her rented room.
"What's going on?" she asked the system, puzzled. "Isn't it mandatory to not enter the game?"
The system did not respond.
Feeling increasingly uneasy, Liang Jun decided to take action herself first.
She opened the door to the room, wanting to go out and see what was going on.
As soon as the door opened, the blinding sunlight shone directly into Liang Jun's unsuspecting eyes.
She covered her eyes for a while to catch her breath, and when she let go, the rented house behind her had disappeared.
In the distance were buildings resembling medieval European castles, and crowds of people walked past one after another.
Before Liang Jun was a large, open iron gate. She turned her head to look to the side and saw a beautiful and elegant gold-plated plaque hanging on the gatepost.
Liang Xuan read the words aloud.
"Wilson College..."
Just then, the long-lost system voice rang in Liang Jun's mind once again.
Welcome to the first level: Wilson Academy!
A note from the author:
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The early part of the story focuses on explaining the system's background, so the overall pace is rather slow.
From here on, we'll officially enter the main storyline! The pace will pick up, and it won't be as dragging as before!
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