Chapter 14, Wild Boss in the Realm of Gods...
The wild boss in the God's Realm hadn't respawned yet. Zhao Zhinian followed Zhou Zekai around for a while, but gradually got a little bored. After all, she wasn't familiar with the God's Realm, and the account she had was already at the maximum level. She didn't feel a sense of belonging to it. According to her learning progress, it would be more appropriate to go back to the tenth server to level up.
"Um... Zhou Zekai," she said somewhat embarrassedly, "I don't know what to do in the God's Domain... I'd better go back to the Tenth District to level up first."
Zhou Zekai nodded: "Okay." He paused and added: "I'll call you if there's any news."
"Mmm!" Zhao Zhinian logged out of the [Liuyue] account and switched to the account card of the tenth server [Yizhiyinian].
As soon as he logged on, the message notification sound went off like crazy, a barrage of private messages from [Lone Drinker], the guild leader of the Reincarnation Guild in the tenth server. After spending some time together in the tenth server, Zhao Zhinian and this guild leader had become quite familiar with each other. After all, the two legendary figures had an idol aura, making Zhao Zhinian, a newbie, much easier to get along with. Lone Drinker had originally planned to "take a roundabout approach," but after spending time together and collecting quite a few of Zhao Zhinian's manuscripts, he gradually became acquainted with her.
[Lonely Drinker]: "Sister Nian! Sister Nian! You're finally online!"
[Lone Drinker]: "I've heard about it! You went to the Realm of Gods with Captain Zhou and Vice Captain Jiang, didn't you!"
[Lone Drinker]: "Those guys from the God's Domain were bragging to me! They said the captain and vice-captain led them to steal the BOSS! As if no one hadn't tried to steal the BOSS from them before!"
[Lonely Drinker]: "Will you... will you come back? If you do, will you still love District 10?"
Seeing Gu Yin's comical reaction, Zhao Zhinian's playful nature was aroused, and she deliberately teased him by slowly typing a reply.
【一知一念】: "I'm back now."
[One Knowledge, One Thought]: "As for the other two masters... well, that's hard to say~"
As soon as the message was sent, Lonely Drinker's crying emoji immediately flooded the screen, showing that his focus was indeed entirely on the two gaming legends he admired.
[Lonely Drinker]: "Ahhh! No! Are Captain Zhou and Vice Captain Jiang really not coming back?"
[Lone Drinker]: "The tenth district needs them! Everyone in the Samsara Guild needs them! And I need them even more!"
【Lone Drinker】: "The tenth district without a master is like a hot pot without chili peppers, or a steamed bun without vinegar—it has no soul!"
His reaction successfully amused Zhao Zhinian, who pretended to be sad and continued to cause trouble.
【One Thought】: "Guild Leader, you only care about those two big shots and completely ignore me. I'm heartbroken! Goodbye! I'm not coming back! I'm leaving! Don't try to stop me!"
She chuckled and nudged Zhou Zekai's arm, tilting the screen towards him: "Because he's worried that you two will never return to District 10 once you go to the Realm of Gods, Gu Yin has gone completely mad."
Zhou Zekai leaned closer, quickly glanced through the chat history, and when he saw Zhao Zhinian's last sentence, "I'm not coming back either," he smiled slightly and said in a low voice, "If you come back, I'll come back." He looked at Zhao Zhinian with a clear and serious gaze, adding weight to Zhao Zhinian's "guild status": "Tell him."
Of course, she wouldn't relay Zhou Zekai's words to Gu Yin. She coughed lightly, turned back to the screen, and Gu Yin was already tearfully trying to persuade her to stay. She casually replied to Gu Yin with a few jokes to soothe the president's fragile little heart.
Then she began her leveling journey. Now Zhao Zhinian has gradually gotten the hang of it. After all, she has the personal guidance of the captain and vice-captain of Samsara Guild, as well as the help of so many elite players in Samsara Guild. Naturally, she avoids many detours compared to ordinary newbies. After playing for a while, it was lunchtime.
Zhou Zekai shut down his computer and looked at Zhao Zhinian: "Want to eat out?"
Zhao Zhinian shook her head: "Let's not go out. I want to try your Samsara Cafeteria! Is that okay?" She was very curious about the life of a professional esports team, and the opportunity to experience Samsara Cafeteria was not very common.
Zhou Zekai nodded: "Okay."
The two arrived at the Reincarnation Club's cafeteria. It was summer break, so only a few windows were open, making it seem rather deserted. Zhou Zekai, familiar with the place, led her to a window: "This is delicious."
The cafeteria lady clearly knew Zhou Zekai well, greeting him with a smile: "Little Zhou's here? No training today, yet you're here for lunch?" When her gaze fell on Zhao Zhinian beside him, her face immediately lit up with a surprised and enthusiastic smile, "Oh my, this girl is so pretty! Is she new to our team?"
The e-sports club has a surprisingly high gender ratio. The cafeteria auntie rarely sees such a pretty and charming young girl following Zhou Zekai around, and she speaks to her with extra enthusiasm.
Zhao Zhinian was a little embarrassed by the aunt's praise and quickly waved her hand: "Hello, Auntie, I'm not a team member, I'm... Zhou Zekai's friend."
"Hello, friend!" The aunt smiled kindly, giving Zhao Zhinian extra portions when serving her food. "Come on, girl, eat more! There's fruit over there too, Xiao Zhou, take good care of your friend! Give the young lady some more!"
After getting their food, the two found a quiet, secluded spot to sit down. Although it was summer break, there were still staff members on duty at the club and guild. Occasionally, staff members would pass by, and seeing Zhou Zekai eating with a pretty, unfamiliar girl, they couldn't help but cast curious and inquisitive glances. However, someone in the know would quickly explain, "She's a reporter here to interview you," so they would just pass by and look, without approaching.
The food at the Reincarnation Cafeteria was indeed delicious, and Zhao Zhinian ate to her heart's content.
After finishing her meal and returning to the training room, perhaps because the aunt had hit her too hard, Zhao Zhinian began to feel her eyelids getting heavy. After eating, all the blood rushed to her stomach, and drowsiness instantly overwhelmed her. She yawned, and tears uncontrollably welled up in her eyes.
"I can't take it anymore! I can't take it anymore!" she muttered, rubbing her eyes. "I'm a 'never-can't-need-a-nap' person, I have to lie down for a while." Anyway, it was just her and Zhou Zekai in the training room. As she spoke, she pushed the keyboard and mouse in front of her to the side, making room for her to take a nap on the table.
Seeing this, Zhou Zekai hesitated for a moment before saying, "I have a bed in my dorm room." After saying that, he felt a little presumptuous, and his ears turned slightly red.
Zhao Zhinian's drowsiness vanished instantly, and she quickly and solemnly refused, "No, no, no! No need! I'll just lie here for a bit! This place is perfect!"
Seeing her resolute attitude, Zhou Zekai stopped insisting. He glanced at the direction of the air conditioner vent, got up, picked up his team uniform jacket draped over the back of the chair, and handed it to her: "Wear this, it'll be chilly when you sleep."
As if afraid she would find it offensive, Zhou Zekai quickly added, "It's new, I've never worn it."
Zhao Zhinian was surprised by Zhou Zekai's thoughtfulness and obediently took the drape and put it on, saying, "Thank you."
The training room was unusually quiet, save for the sounds of the computers and the air conditioning vents. Zhao Zhinian lay on the table, a large coat draped over her shoulders, glancing at Zhou Zekai, who seemed ready to continue playing the game.
“Zhou Zekai,” she said softly, her voice tinged with sleepiness and unusually gentle, “Do I look like someone who sleeps on their desk during lunch break in high school?”
Zhou Zekai paused for a moment while operating the mouse, and turned to look at her. They were very close, and he could clearly see the weariness and longing in her eyes.
"Hmm." He felt a little nervous being stared at like that by Zhao Zhinian.
"Right!" Zhao Zhinian's lips curled up. "I remember you always catching up on sleep while lying down in high school. Were you secretly staying up late playing Honor of Kings?"
“…Hmm.” Zhou Zekai’s voice was even lower, with a hint of shyness as his past “misdeeds” were exposed.
“I never expected this,” Zhao Zhinian exclaimed. “Back then, ‘Brother Kai’ who stayed up all night playing games actually became a professional Glory player and is now the captain of a championship team… I never expected that I would be learning to play Glory from you now and striving to become a host focused on esports.”
Reflecting on the fact that neither of them had spent much time in high school, she couldn't help but think of her long-lost high school classmates: "After going abroad, I lost touch with many of them. I only keep in touch with Lin An'an; she's still in graduate school, spending all her time in the lab, so busy she's practically dizzy, and we can only occasionally meet up for a meal... What about you?"
Zhou Zekai shook his head. Because he had joined the Glory team's youth training program a long time ago, his path had long since diverged from that of his classmates. Coupled with his rather introverted personality, he had basically stopped contacting his classmates.
Her voice gradually faded, tinged with a hint of wistfulness: "It's quite amazing to think about it. After losing contact for several years while I was abroad, we actually met again in Shanghai and can even sit together and play games like this... It's quite a coincidence."
Finally, Zhao Zhinian murmured softly, as if in a dream, "Good afternoon... Brother Kai..."
After saying that, she turned her head to the other side, found a more comfortable position, and prepared to fall asleep.
Just as she was drifting off to sleep, she suddenly heard a slight noise from her left side, and she instinctively turned her head in the direction of the sound.
Zhou Zekai even moved his own keyboard and mouse away and, imitating her, lay down on the table.
The two of them instantly found themselves lying face to face. Her sudden turn of the head brought them extremely close, close enough for her to clearly see his thick eyelashes and the subtle fluctuations and tension in his eyes.
The training room was so quiet you could almost hear each other's heartbeats.
Zhou Zekai looked at her suddenly widened eyes, still hazy with sleepiness. He was too close, but he didn't want to back away. He lowered his voice and softly responded to her greeting: "Good afternoon, Chinen."
Zhao Zhinian was completely stunned, all sleepiness gone. Faced with that impeccably handsome face suddenly magnified before her eyes, and that deep, gentle "Zhinian," her heart felt as if it had been struck by something, and began to beat uncontrollably faster.
The next second, her face turned bright red, and she turned her head to the other side in a panic, burying her burning cheeks in her arms, leaving only the back of her head facing him. Because she buried her head so deep, her muffled voice stammered, "I...I'm asleep!" She subconsciously tightened the coat she was wearing, as if it could hide her shyness and nervousness.
She turned her head too quickly, her hair brushing lightly against Zhou Zekai's face. Zhou Zekai looked at her red ear tips and her back draped in his oversized team uniform jacket, a gentle and satisfied smile spreading across his eyes. He didn't say anything more and slowly closed his eyes.
A note from the author:
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