Chapter 18

Chapter 18 This Is Exciting, Brothers. [Minor Revision]

When Ning Rong left Room 103, several players just happened to flee out of the room in a sorry state.

Their faces carried the wild joy of surviving disaster, along with fear of the future. Some of them had completely mentally collapsed, becoming hysterical.

“I don’t want to play the game! Why choose me? Why?!”

“I want to go home! Home!”

Looking at those crying, miserable faces one after another, Ning Rong once again felt the game’s mockery toward players.

The audience admired the ugly states of the human players and immersed themselves in it. They were like hunters chasing prey, watching the prey make fools of themselves.

All human players were perhaps only one part of that group of otherworldly people’s entertainment.

After realizing this, Ning Rong’s back became even straighter as she left, and her steps became even calmer. Her walking speed was neither fast nor slow, and she carried her own presence. As she passed by, that group of players subconsciously lowered their voices.

There was no helping it.

Among players who were either pale-faced or filled with despair, she was simply too distinctive.

Only after leaving that building and breathing the cool fresh night air did Ning Rong finally feel that she had truly returned to the real world.

Clearly she had only entered the game for three days, yet it felt as if a very long time had passed.

At this moment, there were many thoughts in her mind that needed sorting out. Because of that, she did not take a taxi, but leisurely walked alone through the streets before dawn.

When she came across a twenty-four-hour convenience store, she went in to buy something to eat, eating while thinking about this so-called game.

What Ning Rong lacked most now was information.

What she most needed to understand was also information about the game.

At the pure newcomer stage, fortunately, she had met Lu Wen, which helped her avoid many detours.

It was already late, and this convenience store was relatively remote, so at this hour she was the only customer inside. It was rather peaceful.

While she ate, players who had heard the news constantly sent frantic requests to add her as a friend.

Among them were most of the players in the top ten of the newcomer rankings.

Ning Rong stopped after eating until half full. She glanced at the list and found that the note sent by one player named Late Sleeper was the most distinctive.

[I heard you’re strong?]

Another player named Eats Pretty Well was asking whether she was male or female.

In addition, some players were asking whether Lu Wen was her little brother.

Ning Rong: ???

She accepted the friend requests of players whose names looked familiar.

[Late Sleeper: Strongest newcomer?]

[Eats Pretty Well: Pretty impressive, huh? Already collecting little brothers this fast? How old are you? Male or female?]

Ning Rong: …

She went to check the chat screen with Lu Wen and only then discovered that he had sent her a message fifteen minutes earlier.

[Lu Wen: Sis, I told them I’m your little brother. That’s okay, right?]

Ning Rong looked at the screenshot he sent and only then understood what had happened.

So it was because Lu Wen had been boasting on the forum about his relationship with her that so many people came to ask about the little brother matter.

Ning Rong had not expected that although Lu Wen looked to be in his early twenties, the way he handled things was still like an elementary school student—wanting to show off the moment anything happened.

She replied with “It’s fine,” and let him do as he pleased.

Anyway, the other players did not know her.

What was more, she did not dislike Lu Wen. If her existence could let Lu Wen live a little better, then she was more than willing.

As for the messages sent by Late Sleeper and Eats Pretty Well, after thinking for a long time, she still decided to set them aside for now.

Perhaps in the future, they could become friends, but right now, building ties with high-end players was not within her short-term plans.

Because she did not have that much time to manage those relationships.

—

Only after eating did Ning Rong unhurriedly return to the rental apartment where she lived together with Zhou Yujing.

The room was pitch black.

No one was there.

Just now, Zhou Yujing told her that he would be moving back to the school dormitory to live for the time being.

As for the reason, he did not say.

But because she already knew about the game and Juanjuan’s existence, she had her own guess in mind.

He was probably afraid Juanjuan would come to his door and keep pestering him.

There were many people in the school dormitory, so the other party would at least have some scruples.

Ning Rong entered the bathroom expressionlessly.

After washing up, she lay down on the bed.

Although Zhou Yujing had moved back to school, the traces of his presence were still there. The quilt still carried a faint scent of sunshine, clearly having been regularly aired out.

Surrounded by that familiar scent, she quickly fell asleep.

While she slept soundly through the night, the player forum stayed awake all night because of her.

[Moonlight posted one reply and then completely disappeared! I suspect this big shot is no longer on the forum!]

[Is this the mentality of the strongest newcomer? If it were me, I’d probably be jumping around the forum all night, crazily seeking attention to satisfy my vanity!]

[And that is why you can’t become the strongest newcomer.]

[Has anyone found out more information about the strongest newcomer? If I’m lucky enough to meet her in a game, I can hug her thigh in time!]

[Nope. Not one useful bit of information was revealed. That Lu Wen knows nothing except how to show off!]

After Lu Wen saw that, he provocatively replied, [I’m my sis’s little brother. I’m proud, I’m honored! Stay away from us!]

—

At the same time.

A University boys’ dormitory.

Zhou Yujing kept rereading the few short messages Ning Rong had sent him, as if trying to read flowers out of those lines.

Compared with before, she had spoken much less this time. He did not know why, but he always felt that her mood had not been very good lately.

But when he asked, she did not say much and casually brushed him off.

As long as she wanted to, she could fool him very easily.

Zhou Yujing pressed his lips together and lay on the bed scrolling through their old chat records and photos together.

That night, he did not sleep.

Instead, he spent the entire night going through all their shared memories.

Seeing how they once seemed to have endless things to say, along with countless check-in couple photos at scenic spots, the corners of his lips unconsciously lifted slightly.

Those sweet memories felt as if they had happened yesterday.

But the appearance of the game had turned his life upside down.

His finger brushed across Ning Rong’s lips in the photo.

Unfortunately, what had once been a distance within reach had now become very far away.

Zhou Yujing pressed his thin lips together.

Only when dawn was almost breaking could he not help sending Ning Rong another message.

“Baby, I miss you.”

Unlike before, when she would reply instantly, this time the other side did not respond for a long while.

That was obviously very unusual.

In the past, this was almost impossible.

This time, the situation was truly severe.

Zhou Yujing gripped his phone tightly, seized by the impulse to immediately rush to the neighboring city to see Ning Rong.

Even if they could not meet face to face, just seeing her from afar would be enough.

His roommate, who was preparing for an interview, got up quietly at five-thirty in the morning.

Using the light coming in from outside, he saw the glow of a phone from Zhou Yujing’s bed.

He casually asked, “Awake?”

Zhou Yujing gave a soft grunt in reply.

His voice was too clear. It did not sound like someone who had just woken up, but like someone who had not slept all night.

The roommate sighed and thoughtfully did not ask anything more.

Zhou Yujing and Ning Rong had not appeared together for far too long, which already said a lot.

One could only wish him good luck.

—

When Ning Rong woke up, it was already noon the next day.

Seeing the message Zhou Yujing had sent, she chose to read it and not reply.

She really wanted to know—if she had not come looking for him, was he planning to never come see her?

As long as the game did not end, would he keep refusing to tell the truth?

Just because he was afraid she would discover something?

If that was the case, then they might as well not meet.

Anyway, she did not particularly want to see him right now.

When they got into the game, she would have a “good” face-to-face talk with him then.

What she did not know was that Zhou Yujing was already on his way to the neighboring city at this moment, simply because she had not replied to his message.

And Zhou Yujing’s trip to the neighboring city was destined to be in vain.

—

That afternoon, Ning Rong cleaned the apartment, learned everything she could about the game, added Qin Jue as a friend, chatted with Lu Wen for a bit, and after peacefully eating a hearty dinner, she finally prepared to enter the game for the second time.

The game invitation letter was currently in her possession.

She had the right to choose when to enter the game.

Coincidentally, she also really wanted to meet a certain member of the National Team, for example—

Juanjuan.

Before entering the game, she checked the construction status of Su Mountain Resort in her personal space. Twenty-four hours had passed, and the resort had already been completed, so she chose to open it for business.

Whether she could achieve financial freedom or not would depend on whether the resort was capable enough.

After the resort began operating, she used the Personal Space function to withdraw some game coins from the black game card for backup use.

Once she was fully prepared, she found the option marked Enter Game.

[After verification, this game invitation currently has two owners. If one party enters the game, the other party will enter by default as well. Both may teleport into the game anytime, anywhere. Please confirm: Enter game?]

[Yes]

[No]

From this line, Ning Rong learned that for the second time entering the game, there was no need to return to that building.

As long as she chose Enter Game, she could begin a new round anytime.

Ning Rong selected Yes.

The next second, darkness swallowed her vision.

When she opened her eyes again, she was already in a dim and vast small forest.

—

At the same time.

Seeing that the house Ning Rong rented in A City had remained dark with no lights on, Zhou Yujing truly could not restrain himself any longer.

He no longer cared whether the red thread on his hand would be discovered by Ning Rong or not.

Right now, he only wanted to see her immediately.

Just as he was about to go upstairs and knock on the door to check the situation, his whole body was suddenly transmitted into the game.

Zhou Yujing: ???

What was going on?

He had not chosen to enter the game at all!

Had the game bugged out?!

And Juanjuan, who had used an item to deliberately bind herself to Zhou Yujing, also entered the game.

The binding item cost 1,666 game coins. After choosing a target, it could be used four times total.

This just happened to be the final use.

From a cost-performance perspective, it was not bad at all.

It was just that not many players could afford this kind of item.

The four people protecting her naturally entered the new game together as well.

When Teacher Dan, Gu Yu, and the others entered the game at the same time, their faces were full of confusion.

“What’s going on? Why are we back in so quickly? Don’t we need any rest at all?”

Juanjuan’s expression was not very pleasant either.

Before entering, she had been having a heart-to-heart talk with her father. The father and daughter had only spoken for a short while before she was teleported into the game.

Teacher Dan looked around.

“Only me, you, and Gu Yu were sent here. The others should be scattered in other parts of the small forest. Let’s go find them.”

Juanjuan gave a soft hum in reply.

With a stern face, she followed Teacher Dan and the others to look for the rest of their companions.

Zhou Yujing had only been out of the game for one day before entering again.

Was he trying to hurry and clear four games so he could shake her off?

If that was the plan he was making, then she could only say that he had calculated wrong.

What she lacked the least was binding items.

—

While the players were still scattered apart, the game’s mechanical voice impatiently rang in every player’s ears.

[This game is called One Thirty.]

[Main mission: Survive.]

[Game difficulty: B-rank.]

[Number of players: Twelve.]

[We wish all players an enjoyable game.]

Another B-rank instance.

Ning Rong was not too surprised by this. After all, the first instance she entered had also been B-rank.

Generally speaking, the difficulty of games players were matched into would only grow higher, not lower.

The first day of the game was meant for gathering information.

But Ning Rong currently had no plans to gather information.

She only wanted to find Zhou Yujing.

He probably still did not know that she had entered the game too.

At this moment, the audience members who had just flooded into Ning Rong’s livestream room: !!!

[My god, look what I found!]

[The little newcomer, Zhou Yujing, Juanjuan, and her bodyguards are all gathered in one game?!]

[This is exciting, brothers!]