Chapter 11
Wen Rong didn’t sleep a wink all night.
He was already feeling crushed, and after being tormented by that lunatic Shi Ye, his mood had hit rock bottom.
Whoosh, whoosh.
The wind blew past the window, leaving behind an eerie, piercing sound.
It was now five o’clock in the morning. He remained curled up in his quilt, his eyes dull like frosted glass beads.
The System finally couldn’t help but ask: [Host, aren’t you going out?]
Wen Rong buried his face in the quilt. “I want to stay under the covers a little longer.”
[The Host needs to go out to trigger tasks. If you don’t have enough points, you cannot exchange them for the opportunity to live in this world.]
[You will die immediately when the time comes.]
Death.
Having died once already, Wen Rong felt strange about this word. He didn’t remember the earthquake at all, nor did he remember how his life had slowly slipped away while buried in the earth.
“What does death feel like?”
[There is nothing left.]
“What does ‘nothing left’ mean?”
[Your parents from your previous life, relatives, friends, car, house, and achievements will all disappear. Everything is gone.]
“But I didn’t have any of those things to begin with.” Wen Rong was quiet for a moment. “I’m already dead, aren’t I?”
Its Host was cowardly and timid, but also a very, very obedient child. After suffering a blow and having the only thing he was proud of questioned, he would only hide under the covers and grieve in secret.
The System couldn’t help but paint a rosy picture: [Host, perhaps you didn’t have those things before, but being alive itself represents infinite hope.]
[If that earthquake hadn’t happened, perhaps you would have found your mom and dad, perhaps you could have gone to the Tsinghua or Peking University you longed for, perhaps you would have had a normal university life.]
“But the earthquake already happened.”
[But you are alive again. Now you have the chance to pursue these beautiful things.]
Wen Rong stared blankly at the window. After a long while, he hid his head completely under the quilt.
His muffled voice passed through the blanket to every corner of the room. “I’m too terrible. I can’t pursue them.”
[Is the Host still sad about what happened last night?]
“Mm… mhm.”
[Host, don’t worry. You have an Exclusive Mall where every item can make up for your shortcomings. If you feel your talent in mathematics isn’t enough, items in the mall can help increase your talent. If you feel you don’t have money, the mall can also exchange for lots and lots of money.]
Wen Rong popped half his head out of the quilt. As if the System were squatting by the bed coaxing him, he looked forward and asked obediently, “Can it really give me talent?”
[Little System wouldn’t lie to you. I’ll take you to see it right now.]
As soon as the words fell, Wen Rong’s body suddenly felt weightless, falling into a dark cavern.
He blinked. Boundless strings of data gradually lit up around him. Each string contained only “0” or “1”. Wen Rong could see the arrangement order of the mysterious numbers clearly and accidentally memorized them.
Soon, he realized the combinations he had memorized were flying upward one by one.
When his feet touched the ground and the sensation of weightlessness disappeared, he realized it wasn’t the numbers moving; he had been falling.
Swish, swish, swish.
Square windows, like computer screens, flew to his side.
[These are all things the Host can exchange for using points.]
Wen Rong looked down at the windows and read their names: “Strength to hold on no matter what you endure, knees that won’t hurt no matter how long you kneel…”
In Wen Rong’s understanding, these things had nothing to do with talent or money. But then he thought about how he didn’t even know what the IMO or summer camps were, so the problem was probably with him.
So he didn’t ask further and continued looking.
The last window had no text, only a giant question mark.
“Gege, what is this question mark?”
Receiving no answer, Wen Rong called out softly, “Gege?”
[It is, it is…]
[It is…]
System: Did I catch a virus?
Although different scripts and different Hosts would have different exchange items, why did its pure and innocent Host—a little Jade Magnolia who didn’t even know he was secretly crushed on—get stuck with these abnormal items?
The Exclusive Mall should contain what the Host needs most! Like awesome stuff to boost IQ to 100.
“Hm?”
The entire System felt numb. [It is the thing the Host desires most!]
“What does ‘most desired thing’ mean? Is it math talent? Or money…”
[ Whatever the Host wants most, anything can be realized.]
“…”
Wen Rong quieted down. He tilted his head, thinking seriously. Perhaps there were too many things he hoped for, so he needed to think a bit to know what he truly wanted most.
A moment later, he pressed his palms together, lifted his small face, and looked up from below.
His thin figure looked as if he were standing before a Buddha, his eyes full of piety: “Mom and Dad… is that okay?”
“You said last time that this world adopts my growth history, so the Mom and Dad from my world must exist too, right? I want them.”
[Yes.] The System answered Wen Rong affirmatively.
The System couldn’t say for sure about the other items, but the Mystery Grand Prize was always the thing the Host desired most; that was correct.
“Really?”
[Really.]
The light returned to the eyes behind Wen Rong’s glasses. He bit his lip tightly and asked again, “Will you give me a Dad who rides a big motorcycle? And a Mom who cooks really delicious food?”
The System felt it had lost all face.
What a morally upright Host. After suffering so much, the thing he desired most wasn’t sudden wealth or the destruction of the world, but simply wanting Mom and Dad.
So why did the Exclusive Mall turn into something suitable only for adults?!
“Gege?”
“Gege? Can I not have Mom and Dad?”
The System performed a one-click memory cleanup, forgetting the messy Exclusive Mall, and answered Wen Rong seriously: [If the Host’s final task points are sufficient to exchange for the Mystery Grand Prize, the System will fulfill the wish for the Host.]
It’s true!
This time he really wasn’t lied to.
He could have a Mom and Dad!
The emotion dragging Wen Rong toward death dispersed instantly.
The lights in the dark world suddenly turned on, and Wen Rong opened his eyes to see the ceiling.
He suddenly felt that beneath him was very soft; the mattress supported his body like a cloud. The quilt was light and warm, wrapping around him like the sun. Taking a breath, he couldn’t smell the stinky socks of other “permanent residents.”
So good.
Even though Shi Ye was weird and perverted, and his own grades weren’t worth mentioning here, living conditions like this were what he had dreamed of.
Wen Rong successfully coaxed himself into happiness once again.
He sat up in bed. “Good morning, Gege!”
Seeing the mood value on the Host’s numeric panel soar, the System responded: [Good morning.]
“Today we must complete the tasks properly!”
[Fighting.]
Wen Rong finished washing up, changed his clothes, and went out.
Still hunching his back, observing all directions and listening to all sounds, he ran nervously all the way to the cafeteria for breakfast.
Early morning. The dining hall had just opened.
Leon was enjoying a quiet breakfast alone, just like at home.
Click, click, click.
Click, click, click.
After two students entered, the dining hall, which had been quiet enough to hear the clinking of cutlery, gained the sound of objects rubbing together.
Leon, annoyed by the disturbance, looked up to see that one of them wasn’t really eating but was obsessively playing with a 6×6 Rubik’s Cube.
That thing had no difficulty; he had stopped playing with it when he was seven.
He intended to leave, but suddenly saw a small figure sneak in at the door. Not daring to look up, the figure walked quickly to the dining table nearest the entrance.
“Why is blind solving so hard?”
“Just practice slowly, memorize the formulas.”
“So annoying.”
“Why did you suddenly want to play this? It’s just a Rubik’s Cube, not that interesting.”
“My family accepted a gig for me on a show to display high IQ. They want to edit some clips of me solving a cube like a retard to tell the commoners I’m smart… Do I, a genius studying at Floriman Academy, need to rely on editing to cheat?”
“Done eating yet? I’m going to be late for early class.”
“Wait until I twist this finished, with my eyes closed!”
“Do it on the way, don’t waste time.”
The two hurriedly stood up and walked toward the cafeteria exit.
Leon watched the person solving the cube with eyes closed. His steps were drifting, and the more he twisted the cube, the more excited he got.
Foreseeing what would happen next, he propped his cheek on his hand, a smile spilling from his eyes.
“Holy shit.”
The student solving the cube with eyes closed rushed onto the “sidewalk” like a car driving wildly on the road, crashing straight into the Special Recruit who wasn’t wearing a uniform.
The Rubik’s Cube flew out, rolling several times on the ground. The Special Recruit was also knocked sideways, disappearing from Leon’s field of view.
A moment later, like a little flower sprouting from the ground, Wen Rong grew taller and taller until his upper body was finally visible.
He bowed and apologized, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s my problem. I won’t blind solve while walking agai— Y-Y-You are the Special Recruit.” The boy’s attitude did a 180-degree turn, stomping his foot in anxiety. “Do you not have fucking eyes when you walk?”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
The boy pointed at the Rubik’s Cube that had rolled far away. “Pick it up for me.”
Wen Rong, likely tortured too much by Shi Ye, was accustomed to the boy’s attitude. He squatted down to pick up the cube, held it with both hands, and offered it to the boy, apologizing once again, “I’m sorry.”
Leon watched the show with interest.
Judging by Shi Ye’s reaction last night, he probably hadn’t truly angered Wen Rong.
Now, this person hadn’t angered Wen Rong either.
What would it take to make him lose his temper? Was his temper a bit too soft?
The boy probably didn’t expect Wen Rong’s attitude to be so good, like punching cotton, so he became somewhat angry out of shame. “Put it back together for me.”
“Huh?”
Wen Rong’s hands holding the cube dropped a bit, and he tilted his head, as if he didn’t understand.
The boy was even more furious. “If you can’t put it back together, eat it for me.”
The person next to him spoke up. “Forget it, he’s a commoner, how would he know how to play with this kind of thing.”
Pausing, he continued, “Just let him eat it directly. Don’t waste time, I have to get to early class.”
“You go if you want. He has to put it back together for me today. If he can’t, he eats it.”
The boy who was in a rush stopped leaving, crossing his arms and looking at Wen Rong with amusement. “Special Recruit, hurry up and eat. Don’t waste everyone’s time.”
Wen Rong stood there all alone, looking a bit weak and isolated in contrast to the two of them.
Leon guessed he was crying.
Next, he would probably continue to say sorry and bow again.
Let’s end it here. This inexplicable bullying should end.
“Are you letting me play with it?”
An incredible voice, struggling to suppress excitement, drifted through the air.
Leon stopped in his tracks.
The two boys choked simultaneously.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Wen Rong was oblivious to everything. He shouted “Thank you,” lowered his head, and click, click, click, began twisting the Rubik’s Cube.
His back was terrifyingly thin; his shoulder blades projected the shape of butterfly wings under his white T-shirt.
Click, click, click, click.
The friction noise was faster than the ticking of the second hand on a watch.
1
2
…
Leon counted his own heartbeats.
51
52
…
56
Wen Rong raised the Rubik’s Cube with both hands, offering it politely and rigidly to the other person. “Thank you for sharing. This is my first time playing with a Rubik’s Cube! I’m so happy!”
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