They are not human! (From chapter 61)

181

Wen Qing silently watched Ye Ye, and dryly replied, "Oh."
Ye Ye couldn't help but turn his head and look away, his ears burning.
Bai Tong stopped walking, noticing Ye Ye's reddened ears. He pursed his lips and said, "We'll talk about it when we get back."
Ye Ye responded with a nod and walked ahead quickly.
Wen Qing looked at his somewhat flustered back, puzzled. Why did he feel that Ye Ye was acting strangely?
Was it really just adolescent restlessness?
Most of the buildings on the street remained unchanged, but the dark sky and the faint smell of blood in the air, even through the mask, were noticeable.
Wen Qing exhaled, thinking that Ye Ye's restlessness was quite unique.
...
Returning to the Jixiang Dormitory building, it was pitch dark inside.
Wen Qing vaguely saw a dark figure sitting on the ground, panting and muttering, "So tired, so tired, damn candle is so heavy..."
The voice was very familiar. Wen Qing stopped and tentatively called out, "Li Ran."
The shadow immediately shouted, "Big brother?!"
Wen Qing responded.
Li Ran immediately got up from the ground, picked up a large bag, and stumbled over.
She walked up to the group, looked Wen Qing up and down, and then glanced at Bai Tong and Ye Ye. Seeing that no one was injured, she sighed in relief, "Thank goodness you're alright."
"Several people who went out to find seeds got hurt. The doctor is overwhelmed, and my sister went to help with the injuries."
Li Ran put down the bag she was carrying and continued, "I was just about to deliver candles to them."
Bai Tong frowned and asked, "What's the situation?"
Li Ran said, "Only the main entrance's password lock is working; everything else in the building, like the appliances, is out of order."
"Luckily, the water is still running, and there are some candles and flashlights in the storeroom, which we can use for now."
Bai Tong nodded, picked up the bag on the ground, and said to Li Ran, "You take Wen Qing to rest. I'll go find the doctor."
"Okay," Li Ran wiped her sweat and cheerfully said to Wen Qing, "Big brother, why don't you stay next to my room?"
Wen Qing nodded and didn't refuse.
As they walked up to the fourth floor, he noticed Ye Ye had followed them.
Wen Qing was surprised and asked, "Aren't you going with Bai Tong?"
"Yes," Ye Ye responded, casually adding, "I have some things to take care of."
Wen Qing didn't think much of it and continued following Li Ran.
Li Ran chatted as she walked, "Big brother, you'll stay in 0408. I'm in 07, and Ye Ge is in 10, just a room apart."
At 0408, she tried the door, but it was locked.
"Uh..." Li Ran paused, "I forgot the key. I'll go get it."
"No need." Wen Qing stopped her and used the master key to open the door.
Entering 0408, the living room had floor-to-ceiling windows, with a faint blue glow from outside illuminating the room's furnishings.
Wen Qing turned to close the door, but a leg stepped in.
He paused, and Ye Ye took the opportunity to enter, holding a small glowing nightlight.
Wen Qing looked at him puzzled, "Didn't you have something to do?"
Ye Ye nodded without explaining, then turned to Li Ran and asked, "Aren't you going to help?"
"No—" Li Ran paused, looking between Wen Qing and Ye Ye, realizing Ye Ye was hinting that her presence was unwelcome.
Li Ran quickly said, "Yes, I'm going. See you."
She then hurried out.
Wen Qing looked up at Ye Ye.
Ye Ye clutched the small nightlight and walked inside, "Wen Qing."
Wen Qing responded with a nod, watching him intently.
Ye Ye took a deep breath, his heart racing.
He opened his mouth, clenched and unclenched his fists, and after a while, pushed open the door next to him, "This is the bedroom."
Ye Ye took a few steps forward and opened another door, "This is the study. But the computer doesn't work now, so it's useless."
Wen Qing stood still, quietly watching him.
With the small nightlight, he could clearly see Ye Ye's expression.
His gaze was evasive and unnatural.
Wen Qing hesitated for a moment and directly asked, "Ye Ye, is there something you want to say to me?"
Ye Ye turned his head, looking at Wen Qing. The soft yellow light on his face made his delicate features appear even gentler.
"I...I..."
Wen Qing urged, "You what?"
Ye Ye couldn't get the words out, his cheeks turning red again.
This time, Wen Qing saw it clearly. He frowned and walked up to Ye Ye, "Are you feeling unwell?"
Ye Ye immediately said, "No."
Wen Qing was puzzled, "Then why is your face so red?"
Feeling the heat on his cheeks, Ye Ye bit his lip, "I'm hot!"
Wen Qing blinked, reaching for the small nightlight in Ye Ye's hand, "Let me hold that."
"What do you plan to do?"
"Let's go. I'll accompany you."
Ye Ye's already difficult confession died in his throat due to Wen Qing's words.
Frustrated, he ran a hand through his hair and turned to leave, "I'm going to sleep!"
"Good night!"
Wen Qing stared blankly at Ye Ye's retreating back, mumbling, "Is adolescence really like this?"
He sat on the sofa, took out the seed from his pocket, and placed it under the nightlight.
It was the size of an almond, entirely black, looking like a small stone.
Wen Qing tried tapping it on the coffee table.
"Thud—"
The seed was fine, but the coffee table got a small dent.
So hard.
Wen Qing pressed his lips together, Jiang Yan's words echoing in his mind.
The seed would sprout, would bear fruit...
A game...
Wen Qing's eyelid twitched. The key to the castle contained the other sides of the three gods.
It couldn't have been just Si Kong who merged.
Yu Xing and Ji Yu must have merged with their other sides too.
In that case... Ji Yu shouldn't be that bad, right?
Wen Qing closed his eyes and leaned back on the sofa, falling asleep in a daze.
...
After an unknown amount of time, a knocking sound woke him.
"Knock, knock, knock—"
Wen Qing opened his eyes, bewildered by the dark room.
"Knock, knock, knock—"
"Big brother, are you awake?" Li Ran's voice came from outside the door.
Wen Qing blinked, fully waking up.
He got up to open the door, and a blanket fell to the floor.
Wen Qing paused, looking at the blanket at his feet.
Where did this blanket come from?
Was it originally on the sofa?
Wen Qing picked up the blanket and opened the door for Li Ran.
Li Ran stood at the door, cautiously peeking inside, "Ye Ge isn't here, right?"
"No," Wen Qing replied, puzzled, "Why would he be here?"
Li Ran laughed awkwardly, "Just asking."
She entered and handed Wen Qing a bag, "I brought food."
Wen Qing looked inside, finding bread, milk, and some snacks.
Li Ran said, "Big brother, it's already 6 PM."
Wen Qing was surprised; had he slept that long?
Li Ran urged, "Eat something to fill your stomach."
"We don't know what tomorrow's game will be."
She glanced outside and sighed, "It's just the first day, and already a third of the players are gone."
Wen Qing looked outside, immediately noticing the blue giant statue.
It stood in mid-air, its face shrouded in white mist, vaguely visible, with its head slightly bowed as if watching the changes in the world below.
Wen Qing pressed his lips together and looked at the floating panel.
【Day One】
【Players: 10,420】
Five thousand players were gone.
Li Ran muttered, "It feels like the end of the world. Luckily, there are no monsters or zombies."
"Otherwise, even staying in the building wouldn't be safe."
Monsters...
Wen Qing's eyelid twitched, instinctively touching the seed in his pocket, "Li Ran."
Li Ran looked at him.
Wen Qing forced a smile, "Don't jinx it."
Hearing this familiar phrase, Li Ran's face changed, looking a bit panicked, "Really, big brother?"
"Will there really be those things?"
Wen Qing handed her a bag of chips, trying to distract her.
Li Ran opened the chips and started eating, pouring half the bag into her mouth. After two bites, she stopped talking about monsters.
"I bought these from the supermarket two days ago."
"If I had known the stores would close, I would have bought more bread and biscuits."
"Oh, and flashlights."
"It's ridiculous that there's a power outage in the human world," Li Ran complained while eating, "The main system didn't give any warning. I thought it was just a probability adjustment for the instances, just more rules..."
Wen Qing paused mid-drink, thinking about the warnings...
The main system rarely gave warnings.
But 001 had told him to return to the dormitory and take the master key...
Wen Qing's eyelashes fluttered, and he asked Li Ran, "Did your system say anything to you in the past two days?"
Li Ran turned to him, "System?"
"Big brother, do you mean the personal system?"
Wen Qing nodded.
Li Ran finished the chips, throwing the empty bag into the trash, "No, why would the system talk to me without a reason?"
"Other than telling me about instance results and points spent, it doesn't say anything."
"Even if I try to talk to it, it ignores me."
Wen Qing was stunned, "What about others?"
Li Ran thought for a moment, "It's the same for others. My sister's system is like that too."
"Is your system different, big brother?"
Wen Qing pressed his lips together and slowly said, "It's relatively... talkative."
Li Ran didn't think much of it, drank some water, and got up, "Big brother, you rest. I need to help out."
Wen Qing said, "I'll come too."
"No," Li Ran stopped him, smiling, "Brother Bai said we've found almost all the seeds, so there's no need to go out now."
"There are just a few hours until the second day. You should rest more."
With that, Li Ran left.
Wen Qing hesitated for a moment, then sat back on the sofa and started eating bread.
He called out in his mind, 【001.】
001 responded.
Wen Qing said, 【Thank you.】
If 001 hadn't told him to take the master key, he would have had one less useful item.
And telling him to rest... now it seemed 001 had foreseen something.
001 was silent for a moment before softly asking, 【Just a verbal thank you?】
What else?
Wen Qing took another bite of bread and told it, 【The computer isn't working, so I can't watch videos.】
001: 【...】
【I didn't mean that.】
Wen Qing was even more puzzled, 【Then what do you mean?】
001 gently said, 【We'll talk later.】
Later, when they could talk face-to-face.
Later?
Wen Qing blinked, wondering if it meant later when he could use the computer again.
He couldn't help but marvel at how 001 was still thinking about watching videos at a time like this.
001 truly was a resilient system.