Chapter 138 Weird Online Lover
[This world is inherently in disorder. The sun hangs high above the sky city, and the moon falls forever into the devil city. The gods bestowed supernatural powers on the night watchmen who live in the clouds, but spread monsters to the human world.]
Lu Yan woke up to a barrage of punches and kicks. He opened his eyes with difficulty and felt a splitting headache. The sour smell of the sewer filled his nostrils. Several strong men surrounded him at the entrance of the alley. The fake watch in his arms fell to the ground, dazzling with its golden brilliance.
"Pooh!"
One of them spat fiercely on the ground: "How dare he cheat me for six hours with fake goods? Brothers, kill him for me!"
Devil City is also known as Garbage City. It is the largest gathering place of slums. The order here is chaotic, there is no patrol police, and robberies and murders happen every day. It is obvious that Lu Yan's body hit a wall this time.
One of the burly men with a scar on his face pulled out a dagger and walked towards Lu Yan with a sly look on his face. Just as he raised his hand to kill the "ant" in front of him, the other man suddenly grabbed some dirt from the ground and threw it at his face. The dirt got into his eyes and stung him, causing him to scream in pain: "Ahhhh! My eyes!"
The other companions were furious when they saw the situation and immediately tried to catch Lu Yan. However, the kid who was just beaten to death by them suddenly grabbed the backpack scattered on the ground and nimbly escaped from the alley. One of the big men was quick enough to grab him and broke his fingers with a snap.
The slums, which were as complicated as a spider web, were filled with shouting and chasing sounds:
"Stop right there, you little bastard!"
"Catch him! Don't let him get away!"
Lu Yan ran at the speed of a 100-meter sprint. The wind whistled in his ears and scraped his trachea like a knife. He didn't even have time to see clearly what obstacles were in front of him. He dodged and jumped swiftly based on his instinct. Finally, he shook off the group of big men behind him and hid in the dilapidated, run-down building next to him with a sharp turn.
“Plop!”
Lu Yan fell to the ground, his chest rising and falling like a fish just caught from the shore, desperately trying to take in air. His sweaty black hair stuck tightly to his forehead, and his handsome face looked a little malnourished, making him look a little more stern and bony.
The only sound that could be heard in the dim corridor was his rapid breathing. After an unknown amount of time, the stinging pain in his throat finally subsided, and a black and red heart slowly emerged from the air, with a faint electric current lingering around it, which finally brought some light.
【Long time no see, dear host. 】
The system's low mechanical sound sounds a bit harsh, just like the crackling noise when the signal of an old TV is bad and white snow appears on the screen.
As it greeted him, Lu Yan's brain seemed to be fiercely pried open by a pair of invisible hands, and a bunch of messy things were forced into it, including the memories of his first life, the memories of his second life, the memories of his third life, and the memories of his fourth life...
When it came to this life's turn, it came to an abrupt end.
Lu Yan's temples were aching and swollen, and it was difficult to digest those huge memories. He looked at the black-hearted system in front of him and couldn't help but whispered a curse: "Fuck, you are playing tricks on me!"
Isn't he the cancer patient Lu Yan? Why did the system erase his memory and give him a bunch of messy identities?
The system said "oh" faintly, and listening carefully, it seemed to be looking forward to a good show: [You remember everything? ]
Lu Yan remained silent, his eyes alert. He felt like he was trapped in a huge trap. "What on earth do you want to do? Why do you want to erase my memory?"
The system flew around him: [You voluntarily exchanged these memories with me so that you can spend the rest of your life with those humans. Have you forgotten? ]
Those ones?
Lu Yan seemed to be amused by this word, and asked back with hidden ulterior motive: "Are you sure they are not the same person?"
Now it was the system that froze. He was somewhat surprised at Lu Yan's sharpness, but upon closer thought, he felt that this was as it should be. Otherwise, how could they be entangled with each other for lifetime after lifetime.
The system said in a crackling mechanical voice: [This is not important.]
Lu Yan asked in a deep voice: "Why did you give me those fake identities?"
The system seems to be very natural: [Of course it is to make you feel more involved in the game. If you don’t feel involved, how can you survive? ]
Lu Yan was silent for a moment before asking, "...Who am I?"
Since his later identity was fake, could the identity in the first interface also be fake? Lu Yan always had an inexplicable premonition that his identity might not be simple.
[I can't tell you. You will know when the time comes. What I can tell you is that this world is very dangerous. The memory you have recovered now will disappear soon. It is best to use your points to exchange for some life-saving items.]
In the third life, Lu Yan obtained a true heart. At the end of the fourth life, he obtained another true heart. Now he has a total of 20,000 points, which is enough to do many things.
Hearing this, Lu Yan stood up from the ground with difficulty. He was dressed in gray, and his body was covered with bruises and bloodstains due to the chaos at the alley just now. There was a tattoo on his right wrist that looked like a digital watch, and the numbers on it actually moved.
Lu Yan looked at the numbers that kept passing by and squinted his eyes: "What is this?"
The system flew in front of him, and its voice was low, yet inexplicably creepy: [This is your life. Do you see the number above? You have 144 hours left. After 144 hours, you will die immediately.]
[People here have life monitors from birth. The initial limit for babies is 18 years, and 24 hours are consumed every day. When they grow up, they must start working and use their labor to exchange for life. Banknotes are just garbage in this world. Their real trading currency is time.]
[You originally had only 138 hours left to live, but you just sold a fake watch and tricked the man into giving you 6 hours.]
Suddenly, a transparent, invisible hand appeared in the air and pushed Lu Yan to the door. He looked up towards the dazzling sunlight and saw a magnificent city above the clouds, with white buildings, warm sunlight, and flying starships. It was like a utopia that existed only in imagination.
The system's tone was indifferent and cruel:
[This is the Sky City. Those who can live in it are all the strongest at the top of the pyramid. They have infinite life, powerful superpowers, the most advanced technology, and the most extravagant life. The lower class poor can never set foot there.]
Lu Yan suddenly asked: "Am I a poor person?"
The system was very satisfied with his self-awareness: [The place below the clouds is called Devil City, where all the poor people gather. The order is upside down, there is no law or fairness, people die every day, and it is worse than primitive society.]
Lu Yan admitted this, after all, he was almost beaten to death by that group of people just now: "What else?"
System: [The strong people living in the clouds will never lower their noble heads. The poor people in the Devil City dream of touching the prosperity above their heads. The people in the Sky City and the Devil City will never meet. The only thing that can tie them together is the network.]
The invisible hand in the air continued to push Lu Yan upstairs. When he reached the fifteenth floor, he seemed to have muscle memory and uncontrollably took out the key from his pocket and opened the old wooden door. Perhaps the sound was too quiet and the people inside did not notice.
In the narrow living room, a young man was sitting in front of a computer, wearing headphones and chatting. The sound of his keyboard jamming kept ringing, and it didn't sound very smooth.
The system said: [He is your brother who depends on you for everything, and he is a college student.]
Oh...college student.
Lu Yan's tone was somewhat intriguing: "What about me? I am also a college student?"
System: [You are a scumbag who likes online dating. ]
Lu Yan: “…”
System: [You dreamed of having an online romance with someone who lived in Cloud City, but you never succeeded. However, your younger brother successfully had an online romance with a Cloud City warrior and developed deep feelings for him. When they were about to meet offline, you deliberately replaced your younger brother and then flew to the top and became a phoenix.]
The ending of the story shouldn't be so good, it doesn't seem like the system's style.
Lu Yan continued to ask: "And then?"
System: [Then you accidentally revealed your true identity while chatting, and were strangled by that strong man, and turned to ashes.]
Lu Yan: “…”
Damn, I knew this shit system doesn’t care about human affairs.
Lu Yan heard from the system that the Devil City is full of dangers. Every night, countless ghosts will come out to hunt for food and devour living people. They can disguise themselves into any appearance, but they have no feet and can only float in the air, so they are called "Wanderers."
All in all, this world is more dangerous than we imagined.
Lu Yan immediately used his points to exchange for a lightning power, and then for a restart card. After doing all this, he clearly felt that the memories of his previous four lives in his mind began to become confused, like an animation fading frame by frame.
Lu Yan's pupils dilated for a moment, and it took about a few dozen seconds for them to slowly regain clarity. He could clearly feel that his memories of his past life were disappearing. In his mind, only the memories of this body that the system told him were becoming clearer and clearer...
Lu Yan entered the room carrying the old backpack, and then closed the door. The dull sound made Lu Xiaozhao, who was sitting in front of the computer, turn around. He was wearing an old and bulky pair of black headphones. His skin was fair and clean, but he was a little thin. He wore a pair of glasses with a slightly high degree on his nose. He looked quite bookish, but the word "otaku" was written all over him.
"Brother, you're back?"
As soon as Lu Xiaozhao finished speaking, he suddenly noticed the injuries on Lu Yan's body. He subconsciously stood up from his chair, rolled up his sleeves, and angrily said, "How did you get hurt? Who hit you?! I'm going to take care of them!"
Lu Yan licked his cheeks lightly with the tip of his tongue and tasted the blood: "They were beaten by Scar and his gang. There are four of them. They should still be nearby. You can run into them when you go downstairs. Go quickly."
When Lu Xiaozhao heard that there were four people, he immediately sank back onto the stool and said with a wry smile, "Well... I didn't have enough to eat today. If I run into them some other day, I'll definitely teach them a lesson!"
Lu Yan raised his eyelids and smiled: "Then why don't you heat up the rice and go downstairs when you are full?"
Lu Xiaozhao: “…”
Lu Yan walked into the bedroom, found two pieces of clothes that were so old that they couldn't be any older, and went to the bathroom to take a shower. The heat spread, gradually blurring Lu Yan's figure, and his appearance was also quietly changing, just like his own body.
When Lu Yan changed his clothes and came out, Lu Xiaozhao had already heated up the meal. Two steamed buns from the previous night were still steaming.
Lu Yan took a bite of the steamed bun. It tasted sour and rancid. He had only one thought in his mind: it was fucking disgusting.
"Is there nothing else in the house except steamed buns?"
Lu Xiaozhao said eagerly, "There's still half a jar of pickled vegetables, but I can't open it."
Lu Yan: “…”
The fate of Lu Yan's brothers is usually not very good. They are either stripped of their titles and imprisoned, or suffer from kidney disease. This is the first time I have met such a stupid college student.
From the original body's memory, we know that their parents died when they were young, and the two brothers make a living by selling fake watches and counterfeit goods. Lu Yan goes out on the 1st, 3rd and 5th, and Lu Xiaozhao goes out on the 2nd, 4th and 6th. The people at home can't sit idle either, and have to promote and cheat online.
The original person had just gone out to sell watches and had managed to fool people for six hours, but it turned out to be a fake and he was nearly beaten to death.
Lu Yan stood up, picked up a bottle of pickles from the shelf, and opened it with a twist. He was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, and his white arms were exposed. When he exerted force, clear muscle lines could be seen, and the blue veins on the back of his hands were clean and beautiful. When others saw his hands, they knew that he was definitely a handsome guy.
Lu Yan threw the can of pickled vegetables on the table: "Eat it."
Lu Xiaozhao was very particular about status, biting his chopsticks and saying eagerly, "Brother, you eat first."
Lu Yan: "I won't eat it, you just eat it."
Lu Xiaozhao: “Why?”
Lu Yan: “It’s moldy.”
Lu Xiaozhao: “…”
Lu Yan ignored the white mold in the can, sat down, picked up the steamed bun and continued eating. He was an adult, and the bun was only half the size of his palm, so he finished it in two or three bites.
Still hungry.
The computer next to him kept flashing, and a lot of information popped up. Lu Xiaozhao drank a glass of cold water, and when he saw that the time was almost up, he took the remaining half of the steamed bun and went into the house and said, "Brother, I'm going back to study. I'll leave the rest to you."
Lu Yan groaned lazily, walked to the computer and sat down. The account was shared by the two of them, and whoever was free would chat. Lu Xiaozhao's ID name was something vulgar, "185 introverted, socially anxious, pure-hearted male college student". The chat page was crowded with people, at least fifty or so, all of whom were Lu Xiaozhao's recent catches. If one out of ten people was willing to buy their fake gold watches, they would be considered to have made a profit.
I don’t know if the strong man who lives in the Sky City is in the chat list, so I have to avoid him no matter what.
“Ding ding!”
An avatar with the name "Fat Fish Brother" by Lu Xiaozhao suddenly lit up. The person sent a message to Lu Yan, saying something so corny that it would give one goosebumps:
[Have you finished your meal, Xiaozhao? I miss you so much that I can’t sleep. When can we meet again? ]
Lu Yan flipped through the cheesy chat records, thinking that Lu Xiaozhao was too reckless. He typed out a line of words with a blank expression and finally clicked send:
[Brother Feiyu, my relative is sick and needs surgery urgently, but I’m a bit short on cash recently. Can I exchange my ancestral gold watch for a few hours with you?]
Fat Fish Brother looked like he was not going to be fooled: [I have already bought several, and now you don’t even want to meet me, how can I know if you are lying to me.]
Lu Yan patiently continued chatting: [It's dark now, it's not convenient for me to go out, and the journey is long. It would be bad if I ran into a wanderer. How about you send me the time first, and I'll send the watch to you.]
Brother Fat Fish said something surprising: [It’s okay, I can come to see you, open the window and take a look, I’m already downstairs.]
Mist grass!!!
Lu Yan was shocked when he heard this and immediately slid his chair to the window. He saw a short and fat black figure appear under the rusty and broken street lamp. Because of the light, he couldn't see the other person's face clearly. He could only see the black coat and hood on the person, which was exactly the same as Fat Fish Brother's profile picture.
Are you crazy?
This sentence popped up in Lu Yan's mind inexplicably. He looked at the screen in doubt. Brother Fat Fish was still sending messages:
[Come down quickly! If you don’t come down, I will go up.]
[Which floor do you live on? Let me see the express number...Oh, the 15th floor.]
Lu Xiaozhao is such an idiot, he actually used his real address when sending express delivery!
[Brother Xiaozhao, here I come~]
Every time the other party sent a message, his figure would move closer to the building. Half a minute ago, he was standing under the street light, and now he has walked downstairs. I don’t know if he noticed Lu Yan hiding behind the curtain and peeking at him, but Brother Feiyu raised his head and smiled at him, revealing a mouthful of sharp white teeth.
“…”
Lu Yan instinctively wanted to call the police, but he suddenly remembered that there were no police in Devil City, so he could only get up and take a knife from the kitchen and hide it in his sleeve, then continue to sit in front of the computer and reply to the message: [It's too late now, I don't want to go out, you go back, we can talk about meeting later. ]
The computer that had been popping up messages finally went silent, and there was no reply for a long time.
Lu Yan stood up and walked to the window, looking down inconspicuously, and found that the black figure had disappeared from the street, leaving only a rusty street lamp standing on the side of the road, the light flickering.
He heaved a sigh of relief, threw the knife on the table, and was about to delete this psychopath, when suddenly another message popped up on the screen. It only had one line of simple words, which made people shudder in the middle of the night:
【I'm at your door.】
Lu Yan: “…”
Lu Yan walked to the door with a knife in hand, and looked out through the cat's eyes. He was caught off guard by a pair of blood-red eyes.
The man was also staring at him.
A dull laugh came through the door, making people shudder:
"Brother Xiaozhao, I'm here to see you~"
Seeing this, Lu Yan took two steps back with a solemn expression, wondering what kind of mental illness this person had. As if the system didn't think the situation was chaotic enough, it popped up a "ding":
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for triggering the side quest! ]
[There is a perverted killer outside the door who may break in at any time. You have the following three choices. If you answer correctly and survive successfully, you will be rewarded with 1,000 points. If you answer incorrectly and fail to survive, you will be killed immediately. Please choose:
A. Open the door and kill him.
B. Open the door and kowtow to him three times.
C. The mop was covered with shit, and when the door was opened, it splashed all over his face. 】
Lu Yan: “…”
Lu Yan had not expected the system to suddenly issue a task at this time, and none of the three options were reliable. Veins on his forehead throbbed, and he said in a bad tone: "Are you deliberately making trouble for me?"
The system said calmly: [Host, please answer as soon as possible. If you do not make a choice within one minute, the system will randomly select one of the options and force it to execute.]
Lu Yan looked at the options again, his eyelids twitching wildly: "Is there no option to not open the door?"
System: [Yes, jump out of the window.]
Lu Yan: "This is the fucking 15th floor!"
System: [So we suggest that the host go out and kowtow to him three times.]
Lu Yan: “…”
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