Chapter 44: Cui Xiaoyu

It was a little past eight o'clock the next morning when Mo Dan woke up. Having a naturally very regular daily routine, he had slept for nearly an hour longer than usual. The main reason for this was naturally "The Continent of Innocence," which had been slightly captivating him these past few days. The game capsule's arousal function inevitably affects one's biological clock to some extent; after all, humans are among the most easily dependent creatures, especially toward things that make life significantly more convenient.

Just like how one's manual dexterity deteriorates after getting used to some bizarre fully automatic toilet...

Ahem, I shall exercise restraint.

Anyway, Mo Dan noticed this as well, but he didn't pay it much mind. After all, a relatively stable routine didn't mean much to this active college student who hadn't shown his face at school in ages. Moreover, he had basically been playing games lately with no other arrangements, so sleeping in and staying up late by a few hours posed no problem at all.

Especially since his personality at this moment happened to be the most accommodating one...

"It seems I was indeed sleeping obediently earlier," Mo Dan muttered, sitting up in bed with messy hair. It was evident that not waking up to find himself lying inside the game capsule brought him immense relief.

Like most of us, he indulgently let himself fall back onto the bed, hugging his phone to dawdle for quite a while before sluggishly putting on his clothes. He unwillingly walked into the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face, during which time his eyes were barely open almost the entire process...

Then he walked into the kitchen. After briefly assessing the remaining ingredients at home, he began preparing his breakfast while calculating when he needed to go grocery shopping. Subconsciously, he also started computing his daily consumption and the expiration dates of discounted foods.

As mentioned earlier, Mo Dan lived a relatively frugal life. To be honest, such a lifestyle is quite reasonable for any young person living alone while still in school, but it did seem slightly out of character when applied to him.

After all, setting everything else aside, just his hacking skills and his ability to engage in extortion under certain states would be enough to keep Mo Dan well-fed and worry-free...

This issue is simple. First, he was already well-fed and worry-free anyway; no one had ever seen Mo Dan go hungry or freeze.

Secondly, although Mo Dan had numerous ways to make money, he also had several fixed expenses of substantial amounts. Chief among these was his extreme computer setup. Simply updating the hardware every so often was no small sum, not to mention that a certain second-hand dealer he was familiar with usually hooked him up with whatever was most expensive...

Lastly, there was the matter of his personality.

To put it simply, Mo Dan in the state of [Chaotic Neutral] cared most about spiritual pleasure rather than truffles, foie gras, or caviar. A bottle of 1982 Lafite and a bag of 8.2-yuan coffee made very little difference to him. He didn't mind material comforts, but he would never actively strive for them either, because such things held no "fun" to speak of. Of course, if there was something that interested him and required money, he would never hesitate...

Then there was [Orderly Good]. When Mo Dan was in this state, he almost never pursued any material possessions. Although the reasons differed from the aforementioned state, he was also the type to pursue a certain kind of "spiritual food."

Finally, there was the [Absolute Neutral] personality state Mo Dan was currently in. At this time, he was no different from ordinary people: if there was good food, he didn't want to eat unpalatable things; if he could make himself more comfortable, he wouldn't want to suffer. Those luxury cars, villas, and pretty girls (crossed out) were actually things he quite yearned for...

But at the same time, he had plenty of misgivings and was sufficiently accepting of whatever life brought. While he hoped to have more cash on hand, he steered clear of things that carried some risk or brought him too much pressure. Besides, he didn't mind his current life; after all, it allowed him to keep a low profile...

There are no people without desires in this world, but everyone's needs are different. At least for Mo Dan, this rhythm of life was just fine.

Of course, people are fickle, and Mo Dan, who was deeply self-contradictory, was no exception. So there was no telling when he might suddenly get a whim to mess around wildly, amass a huge fortune, and then hook himself up with some luxury cars, villas, and beauties...

Anyway, you probably won't get to see that in this book.

Well then, enough of the detours, let's get back to the point.

Just as Mo Dan finished his breakfast and turned on his computer to browse forums and watch anime, his doorbell rang.

"Hey, buddy! I brought a friend over to hang out with you!"

Yi Dong's voice rang out from outside the door.

So, Mo Dan adjusted his mental state, then sluggishly got up to open the door...

"Yo, you guys have gotten this close already." Opening the door, Mo Dan looked somewhat surprised at Yi Dong and Wan Yang, whom he had met at the gathering that day, and then smiled at another person he hadn't seen before: "And this is?"

This fellow was probably close to one meter ninety tall, with a very solid build. Unlike Wan Yang, who was similarly tall and robust, not only did he lack that slightly rebellious aura, but he even gave off a very introverted vibe. He had a rather delicate and refined face, wearing a pair of black-framed glasses, and looked quite sunny and intellectual...

For some reason, though, Mo Dan always felt he exuded a sort of... uh... Sister Xianglin vibe...

"Let us in first~" Yi Dong shrugged. "I've been dragging these two around outside for almost the whole morning."

Mo Dan nodded, ushered the group into the living room, and then brought over a few cups and a bottle of juice that was about to expire but hadn't yet. He sat down around the tea table with the three of them.

"Hey!" Wan Yang blinked at him. "Long time no see~ Although it hasn't actually been many days."

Mo Dan smiled warmly at him; Wan Yang had left a good impression on him that day~

"Nice to meet you." The unfamiliar guy from earlier extended his hand to Mo Dan. "I'm Cui Xiaoyu. I was supposed to go to the gathering that day, but I was delayed due to some uncontrollable reasons."

Yi Dong leaned his head over to supplement: "Xiao as in cute, Yu as in sleet."

Mo Dan's smile instantly stiffened.

Cui Xiaoyu...

This fellow's name didn't match his appearance at all!

"Uh..." Cui Xiaoyu gave a dry laugh and spread his hands. "My parents originally wanted to name me Cui Xiaoyu (萧禹), but it seems the person registered it wrong when filing our household registration, and so..."

Mo Dan raised an index finger to scratch his cheek: "Surely it can be changed, right?"

"Yeah, it can be changed. My dad originally intended to go change it right away." Cui Xiaoyu sighed. "As it happened, a somewhat eccentric grandfather of mine was having a meal at our house at the time and gave me a fortune-telling. And so, Cui Xiaoyu—Great Fortune."

Mo Dan felt his worldview cracking a little...

"And then your old man compromised?" Yi Dong asked, holding back a laugh. This was the first time he had heard this story from his newly acquainted friend.

Cui Xiaoyu shook his head with a bitter face. "No, I heard my mom compromised, but my old man still wasn't resigned, so..."

"So?" The curiosity of all three was piqued.

"So, rumor has it he also did some mystical fortune-telling for this name of mine myself." Cui Xiaoyu wore a look of utter despair. "And then he compromised."

...

The atmosphere was heavy for a moment...

If this brother were scholarly and gentle, or even a bit feminine, it would be fine. But with such a drastically jarring appearance sitting right here, anyone would harbor a bit of psychological trauma!

"Ahem." Mo Dan quickly changed the subject and asked Yi Dong, "You've been pretty free lately, huh."

Yi Dong half-reclined on the sofa and laughed, "Sort of. The family elders' gatherings aren't over yet. Xiaoyu only came over yesterday, and when I picked him up at the station, I felt his mood wasn't very good. Today, I asked Wan Yang to accompany him around for a bit, and we just happened to pass by your place."

"I'm finding the daytime way too boring now." Wan Yang spread his hands. "Playing The Continent of Innocence at night is fulfilling to the extreme, though."

Yi Dong's eyes lit up instantly as well: "Right! My nightlife has never been this rich!"

The three of them fell silent for a moment, and then...

"The Continent of Innocence, huh." Cui Xiaoyu suddenly sighed desolately. "No fun at all."

Wan Yang was taken aback: "You play too?"

"Heh." Cui Xiaoyu, instantly transformed into Sister Xianglin, seemed to have tangible resentment lurking behind him as he gave a dry laugh. "Loved and lost..."

Then, as if entering a sage mode, he lowered his head and fiddled with his phone.

"Speaking of which, you've been way too busy lately." Yi Dong rolled his eyes at Mo Dan. "You promised to meet in the public space last time and stood me up, though I can understand it, of course."

He knew most of Mo Dan's circumstances, so he was indeed quite understanding.

"I even added you several times." Wan Yang chimed in. "Every time it said there was no corresponding online character. Mo Dan, are you afraid you've quit the game?"

Mo Dan immediately shook his head. "No, I've just been busy with some other things lately and haven't had much time to play games. I'll add you guys next time I log on. You two are probably on every day~"

The two of them nodded.

"I used to be on every day too." Cui Xiaoyu's tone was filled with despair as he muttered and shook his head vigorously. "Quit, I've quit..."

All three wisely chose not to press further, and then chatted casually. During this process, Mo Dan discovered quite a coincidental thing.

Remember when he was using the character "Tan Mo" and, in order to provoke Shuang Ye, deliberately misidentified someone in the public space? The red-haired beastman he grabbed right off the bat turned out to be Wan Yang.

The latter regarded this as having run into a mental patient and had just complained about it for quite a while...

Of course, in a sense, he wasn't entirely wrong.

By afternoon, the three of them said their goodbyes and left. Throughout this time, Cui Xiaoyu had maintained a look of utter despair. Although he chatted plenty and left a good impression, that mournful and vicissitudinous aura lingered around him constantly. To Mo Dan, his departing back looked just like Sister Xianglin's...

Half an hour later, Mo Dan, having undergone another personality shift, went out to feed the stray cats and dogs before returning home to browse the forums.

His mood was somewhat troubled, and the cause was his previous hypothesis regarding the "missing two hours." If "that possibility" were real, he had to find a way to resolve it. Thus, as soon as he got back, he immediately began searching for relevant information in the forums of "The Continent of Innocence"...

As a result, he didn't find the specific information he was looking for, but in the process, he spotted a heavily pinned post right at the top of the general section.

The title was: 《Malice from All Over the World》, and the author's ID was: Killed by God-like Slaughter.

Clicking into it, oh! Mo Dan realized he had actually seen this author's post before. It was a popular science post about death penalties from a few days ago.

It briefly outlined the price of dying in the Continent of Innocence, which basically equated to deleting the character and starting over. The system would randomly assign a new race and initial respawn point to the dead player, and all previous items and experience would completely vanish—severe to the absolute extreme.

Today's post, however, was an emotional vent piece. It basically talked about how miserable, pitiful, and unlucky this author was, detailing how many tear-jerking tragedies he had experienced from the day the game launched until now, and finally declaring his decision to AFK, cherishing life and staying away from online games henceforth.

However...

Because he received massive amounts of support and encouragement within just a few hours of posting, the author seemed slightly revived in his latest reply, stating that he might consider giving this game another chance.

Mo Dan felt he couldn't just let this unlucky kid suddenly lose his dream, so he simply replied to the top comment. The general gist of it was along the lines of: "When heaven is about to place a great responsibility on a person, it will surely torment him, disgust him, break him, and harm him," hoping that this author would believe that as long as he kept fighting despite repeated failures, he would eventually taste sweetness after bitterness...

After that, he continued his intelligence gathering. After spending two fruitless hours, he closed the computer and lay down into the game capsule.

...

[Mental connection detected, verifying personal information...]

[Connection complete, reading character information...]

[Welcome back, Orderly Good Mo. You are about to enter the Continent of Innocence. Have a good night.]

When Mo Dan appeared in a certain corner of the Anka Bazaar, this largest trading area on the Northwestern Continent was already wide awake. Merchants and travelers came and went in an endless stream, making it exceptionally bustling and lively.

There were still two days left until the time mentioned by the Elf Elder for someone to come pick him up. Mo Dan intended to stay far away from danger during this period, hoping to steadily complete that world quest.

At the same time, he also hoped to slightly enhance his strength. After all, both Tan Mo and Heifan were currently much stronger than Mo, especially since the former had just completed the unique quest "Destroying 'Hero' Dave," which directly boosted his Trickster class to level 5, whereas his current character was still only a level 1 warrior...

Suddenly feeling deeply exhausted, Mo Dan pondered for a moment before walking toward the Adventurers' Guild, secretly resolving to properly complete a few quests today!

Just at that moment, he suddenly heard a loud, approaching, drawn-out, crisp, melodious, and utterly adorable... call.

"Woof!!"

Chapter 44: End