Chapter 117: Sausage Lips

Lin Jia, having no idea when he had drifted off into a daze, slowly began to wake up. As soon as he opened his eyes, he found Mei Mei staring blankly at him with her large, round eyes. Upon realizing that Lin Jia had awakened, Mei Mei froze. After a few seconds of locking eyes with him, she suddenly shrieked, sprang up from his arms, and fled as fast as she could.

Lin Jia remained lying on the floor, unable to process what had happened for quite some time. When it finally clicked, he tried to sit up, but the numbness in his body caused him to collapse back down heavily. His entire left side had lost all sensation; his left arm, in particular, felt as if it no longer belonged to him—he couldn't feel it at all.

Startled, Lin Jia used his right hand to grab his cold left hand and shook it for a long while until feeling finally began to return, accompanied by a stinging, aching numbness. He recalled that before falling asleep, he had been leaning against the sofa, holding Mei Mei to comfort her. He must have slumped onto the floor after drifting off, causing Mei Mei’s body to pin his arm and cut off the circulation.

He struggled to get up, but as he licked his parched lips, a sharp pain made him wince; his mouth was filled with the metallic taste of blood. Touching his mouth, he discovered it had swollen like a sausage. Dazed, he tugged at his crumpled undershirt, unsure of what to make of the situation. What did Mei Mei’s sudden flight mean? Was she angry or not?

With his mind in a fog, Lin Jia gave up on the wild speculation—whatever happens, happens. Checking the time on the computer, he saw it was already past 6:00 AM, so he decided to head home.

As he descended from the second floor, Old Zhao, the night attendant, stared at him with a stunned expression. This made Lin Jia nervous—did Old Zhao know about him "molesting" Mei Mei? Lin Jia’s face flushed red, but Old Zhao asked in surprise, "Young man, what happened to your face? Did you get a nosebleed from gaming? Go wash up quickly!" Lin Jia was dumbfounded. Had Old Zhao just woken up and missed Mei Mei running out? Or did he not even know when they had returned last night?

He reached up to touch his face and scraped off several dried scabs. Rushing into the stairwell restroom to check the mirror, he was shocked by his own reflection. The nosebleed from the previous night had covered his face in dried, crusty blood, making him look like a ghost. He peeled off the scabs, which fell away in flakes. After washing his face, he realized that apart from his severely swollen lip, there were no other injuries. He hadn't been disfigured, at least. Recalling his ghastly appearance, he suspected that Mei Mei might have simply been frightened by him.

Outside the restroom, Old Zhao handed him a cigarette and asked curiously, "What happened to you? Did you get into a fight last night? Where is that girl, Mei Mei? And your two friends haven't returned either? Just you?" It seemed Old Zhao had indeed been asleep and knew nothing.

Lin Jia lit the cigarette with Old Zhao's lighter and took a drag, though his swollen lip throbbed in protest. He evaded the question: "They drank too much last night, so I took them home. When I came back to play, the alcohol hit me, and I fell asleep at the desk and bumped my head! Just close out my tab."

Old Zhao laughed, "You're tough! You can sleep through that! Why didn't you wake me up when you came back? Your friends paid for the whole night and didn't even use it; if it’s recorded in the management software, I have to charge for it!"

Lin Jia waved his hand, puffing on his cigarette gloomily. He wasn't very good at smoking yet and didn't dare speak while inhaling. Once he exhaled, he said, "Charge it, then. Didn't we just deposit 400 yuan for VIP fees? Doesn't that come with a bunch of free overnight sessions? Just deduct it from that!" With that, he waved goodbye to Old Zhao and headed home.

His mouth hurt too much to eat breakfast, so Lin Jia went straight home. His father happened to be in, and he was startled to see Lin Jia's swollen lip. "Did you get into a fight?"

As Lin Jia peeled off his stale-smelling T-shirt, he pulled at the corner of his mouth and smiled. "No! I fell while skating at the Cultural Center with Hong Bin and the others yesterday. Then I came back to play games, and it swelled up by morning. I think I bit through the skin..." He had no choice but to lie; could he really tell his father he had tried to molest Mei Mei and ended up being bitten by her instead?

Ever since his last argument with his parents, they hadn't strongly opposed him going to the internet cafe by the lake in the residential complex, though they would occasionally nag him. His father muttered about him "running out to act wild" while finding some toothpaste to help Lin Jia reduce the swelling on his wound.

Lin Jia stayed home for two days and didn't go to the cafe. When the "Boss" and "Number Four" called, he made excuses about being unable to go. It wasn't until the swelling in his mouth subsided that he finally returned to the battlefield.

Upon arriving at the internet cafe, he heard that Mei Mei had called in to take a week off. This left Lin Jia feeling unsettled, terrified that something might have happened to her. However, he didn't have her phone number, so with a heavy heart, he went upstairs to find the Boss and Number Four.

When he pushed open the door to their private room, both of them turned around in surprise. The Boss exclaimed, "Hey! Why are you here today? Where have you been these past two days?"

Lin Jia replied vaguely, "Things came up at home; my parents wouldn't let me out! What level are you guys? Did you level up?" As he spoke, he couldn't help but guiltily glance at the sofa in the corner of the room.

The others didn't notice his strange behavior. They said excitedly, "The Boss and I both leveled up! Now you're the only one stuck at level 24. But so many people have passed us already! Damn it! We wasted so much time leveling up lately; they've overtaken us!"

Lin Jia hurriedly logged on. His Mage character, "Crazy Ling Jia," had an almost full experience bar and was close to leveling up. Meanwhile, Number Four’s Warrior, having reached level 25, had finally equipped the "Frost" sword—a weapon requiring level 25. With an attack stat of 10-13, Number Four’s damage output had taken a significant leap. Although the maximum attack was 3 points lower than the 5-16 "Slayer" he had been using, the minimum attack had increased by half.

The Boss added excitedly, "You didn't come for the last two days, and the game had a small update. The system announcement says players can now form guilds! They say you have to go to the Woma Temple in the Woma Forest, kill the boss called the 'Woma Cult Leader,' and loot a quest item called the 'Woma Horn.' Then you can go to the Biche Palace and apply to the King to start a guild, and you can recruit people! Later on, when there are more guilds, they'll hold guild tournaments to fight for Sabac City! Whoever wins gets to manage the city! How cool is that? Let's go kill the boss and start a guild!"

Lin Jia said somewhat distractedly, "Can we wait until I hit level 25?"

The Boss and Number Four were impatient, insisting that they could level up while fighting their way through the Woma Temple. They dragged Lin Jia along to buy supplies before heading toward Biche.