Chapter 16: Warnings from the Tachycardia Gene
When Gao Mengtang woke up, the world was in chaos.
The news anchor reported robotically: "The number of cases of intentional homicide continues to increase... Some of the people who went missing in the morning have been found, while others are dead. The death toll is still being counted..."
The missing people in the early morning should be the public beta players who joined the "Black Tower" game.
Those who are retrieved are those who completed the game alive, and those who died are those who failed the game.
As for intentional homicide, Gao Mengtang didn't know what was going on. He wasn't very interested and made a dinner of vegetable salad without any seasoning, which was actually just vegetable leaves mixed together.
The enemy rabbit jumped onto the table and ate the same dinner as him.
The countryside was isolated and news was hard to come by. Gao Mengtang didn't know how much trouble the black tower had caused. When the evening news came, the host suddenly announced with a smile that public security was good and the people were at peace. A certain leader had visited a certain village and won the love of the people.
Oh, this is bad. The cover-up is starting.
It was one or two in the morning again. Gao Mengtang was getting ready to go to bed. He picked up his phone and saw that there were more than 300 unread messages and more than 20 missed calls. All from the same person.
He called back and heard He Lun's anxious voice: "Brother, why don't you answer the phone? You don't reply to my messages. Are you in danger? Which state are you in? Where are you? I'll pick you up!"
Gao Mengtang paused for a second and gave a series of replies: "My phone is always on silent and I don't check it normally. It's not dangerous. I'm in Nanzhou, in the countryside. Why did you pick me up?"
"Don't you know?" He Lun sounded anxious, "The monster in the black tower has appeared in reality! People are running everywhere. My whole family fled the city overnight to find a safe shelter. Brother, send me the coordinates and I will pick you up."
Gao Mengtang sent the coordinates, and half an hour later, a majestic Mercedes-Benz G63 stopped on the bumpy country road.
"Didn't you say that you were an internet addict, obsessed with games, and didn't get your diploma?" Gao Mengtang looked at the car in surprise.
"Yes." He Lun deftly moved Gao Mengtang's small suitcase into the car.
Gao Mengtang: "What about your car?"
He Lun: "I got the full amount at the age of 24, not by myself, but by my parents."
…Turns out he’s a rich second generation.
Gao Mengtang: "Why didn't your parents spend money to get you into a prestigious university?"
He Lun looked very sad: "I'm stupid. They knew I wasn't good at studying since I was little, but my parents are smart."
Gao Mengtang: "Family counseling?"
"No," He Lun shook his index finger, "They practiced a trumpet again."
Gao Mengtang: “…”
"I have a younger sister named Hei Yi. She is super smart and is a sophomore in high school. Her goal is to get into the top 1 Zhongzhou University."
Zhongzhou University. It was the university where his brother graduated. Gao Mengtang glanced at the short tombstone.
As he spoke, He Lun placed the enemy rabbit on the back seat, stuffed the blueberry tree that had spread its roots into the trunk, then picked up Gao Mengtang and carried him to the passenger seat.
"Why are you holding me? I can walk by myself." Gao Mengtang protested, but He Lun had already carried him into the car and fastened his seat belt.
He Lun: "Your eyesight is not good. This road is full of potholes. You will fall again."
Gao Mengtang was speechless for a while: "The one with poor eyesight is [000 blind person], in reality my vision is 5.1."
The engine of the G-Class hummed as it flew close to the ground on the bumpy dirt road. He Lun controlled the steering wheel with one hand and scratched his head awkwardly: "Uh, yeah. This game is becoming more and more like reality. I can't tell the difference."
Passing through a small town, the street lights were dimly lit and the sidewalks were littered with corpses.
A teacher was wandering in the bloody empty campus. He Lun's car drove past, and the teacher's 50-meter-long neck stretched out from the school gate and looked out from the car window.
He Lun screamed in fear, stepped on the accelerator and sped away.
Five minutes later, they passed an abandoned department store and a brown residential building.
Gao Mengtang opened his eyes slightly when he saw the brown residential building. It was the building in the dungeon [8th floor]. They had seen the window in the stairwell hundreds of times and there was no way they could make a mistake.
The blueberry tree stretched out a branch, and the blueberries on the branch turned into eyeballs, staring at the brown residential building without blinking.
Heron: "Twenty years ago, a shooting occurred here. The murderer was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to life imprisonment."
Gao Mengtang: "Did the story on the 8th floor really happen?"
He Lun nodded heavily: "Now it seems that it is true."
The Hundred-Eyed Wizard shook its leaves and rubbed the back of Gao Mengtang's head with blueberries. After the enemy rabbit ate three of its leaves, it reluctantly retreated into the trunk.
"Brother, are you really a god from the other world?"
"Huh? What a strange question. Did I hear it wrong?" Gao Mengtang was a little sleepy. He yawned, and the hazy water vapor made his eyes look brighter.
He Lun fidgeted and shifted his body uncomfortably, unconsciously turning his head to look at the person in the passenger seat: "They said you can control your mind."
"Really? Why do you say that..."
He Lun repeated a lot of reasoning from the Black Tower Forum. Their conclusions were outrageous yet also had a hint of rationality. In short, they were able to find a sufficient explanation for Gao Mengtang's peculiarity.
"The only ones who can control the mind are the gods of the other world," He Lun said cautiously.
“…”
"And I really feel like you've controlled me. The first time I saw you, I wanted to protect you and take care of you. Brother, did you plant some ancient god tentacles in me or something like that?"
He talked a lot and when he turned around, Gao Mengtang had fallen asleep.
Her long and thick eyelashes drooped quietly, her cheek tilted towards him, slightly deformed by the seat. Her breathing was steady and long, and this simple rhythm alone had the magic of soothing people.
He Lun gently pushed the loose hair on both sides of his ears behind his ears. When his nails touched Gao Mengtang's skin, his heartbeat suddenly accelerated.
It wasn't the lingering heartbeat of lust when seeing a beautiful woman, nor was it the violent beating of the heart when in extreme panic. This accelerated heartbeat was more like a warning, a signal sent by biological instinct:
You shouldn't touch him.
In a trance, He Lun thought it was an illusion. Seeing Gao Mengtang sleeping soundly, he plucked up his courage and gently touched his face.
My heartbeat quickened again, and the smartwatch emitted a beeping warning sound, indicating that my heart rate exceeded 120 beats per minute.
It wasn't his illusion.
After I moved my hand away, my heartbeat returned to normal after a while.
He Lun was surprised by his discovery, and the car turned a corner and drove forward in a straight line. He glanced several times, and saw that Gao Mengtang did not open his eyes, so he mustered up the courage and reached out to him for the third time.
As if a switch had been turned on, his heart rate quickly rose to around 120, and He Lun was sure of his pattern. Recalling the physical contact in the dungeon, it seemed that his heart rate always accelerated.
But He Lun was a thick-skinned man, and 120 beats per minute was not a fatal speed. If one was not careful, one would not notice it at all.
Moreover, in the dungeon, everyone was nervous and their heartbeats were very fast. He completely ignored this abnormality.
He Lun found it incredible and wanted to go against the warning in his genes and do something even more extreme.
His hand slid down the side of his face and touched the side of his neck, where it was scratched by the black gem snake ring, leaving a few faint bloodstains. His fingertips slowly applied force and felt the throbbing carotid artery under the warm skin.
The heartbeat tends to speed up again.
"He Lun," Gao Mengtang asked without warning, his eyes still closed, "Is there something on my face?"
Crack. His heart froze and stopped beating immediately, and He Lun's whole body turned into stone.
After a long time, he finally found his voice: "Brother, did I wake you up?"
Gao Mengtang opened his eyes and stared at him in the dim light: "You haven't fallen asleep yet. Close your eyes and rest."
The Mercedes-Benz G-Class crashed directly into the street lamp.
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