CHAPTER 3.3: GAME START

    They were only on the same bus together, but Zhu Shuangshuang felt a little strangely reluctant for no reason seeing them leave.

    In this weird game, if they met again next time, she didn’t know what it would be like.

    She didn’t know if there would even be a chance that they could see each other again.

    When Zhu Shuangshuang returned to her senses, Ning Su had already disappeared.

    Su Xiangsheng was talking to a man who probably just grabbed him, and the other was trying to scam him.

    Zhu Shuangshuang dragged him over and asked anxiously: “Where is Ning Su?”

    Su Xiangsheng also didn’t notice Ning Su leaving. “I don’t know ah.”

***    

    Ning Su was standing in front of a bun stall that was in front of a hotel. It should be affiliated with the hotel and was moved outside to serve those who were in a hurry and needed to fill their stomachs quickly.

    A large steamed bun just came out of the pan, steaming hot with the aroma of vegetables and meat.

    The players scanned the system to pay without saying a word, took the buns, and left.

    When the players bought almost all of them, the boss smiled and looked at the boy who had been staring at the steamed stuffed bun, and he could tell what was going on with him at a glance, “No points, right?”

    Ning Su nodded, but still did not take his eyes off the bun.

    “There are only two left, so I will make an exception for you. Just exchange whatever you have with me, and I’ll give you the two buns.”

    He’s a newcomer who just got off the bus. He had nothing on him. Not like Zhu Shuangshuang, who had expensive earrings. He was a boy without earrings, and he was still a little poor ghost from the apocalypse.

    But... Ning Su reached into his pocket and took out a small card.

    The card was made of an unknown red material, with a line of shimmering numbers on it: 4-10326.

    The driver stuffed it in his pocket earlier when they were still on the bus.

    Others might have only seen the driver put her hand in his pocket, but did not notice the thing that she stuffed in it.

    “Is this okay?” Ning Su handed the card to the boss.

    The boss looked over lazily. A person who didn’t even have points, he expected nothing from whatever the other took out. But when he saw the thing in Ning Su’s hands, the boss’s pupils shrank suddenly.

    He looked at Ning Su seriously again, trying to steady his voice. “Do you really want to exchange the buns with that card?”

    Ning Su nodded, “Yeah.”

    The boss quickly took the card, put the steamed stuffed bun into a paper bag and put it in his hand. He also handed him a bottle of milk.

    The boss stared at him nervously for fear that he would regret exchanging the card.

    The young man lowered his head slightly, looking at the two steaming white and fat buns in his left hand and a bottle of hot milk in his right hand.

    The soft hair fell on the ends of the eyes, and the steam from the steamed buns floated onto the long eyelashes, making those peach blossom eyes more sparkling.

    Peach blossom eyes should be affectionate and lively, but his eyes are stagnant and quiet, but it still looked very harmonious on his face.

    He blinked slightly, and the boss actually saw a satisfied sense of happiness on his face.

    Boss: “?”

    The boss watched him take a bite of the soft bun in his left hand, then took a sip of the milk in his right hand. He squinted his eyes and left contentedly.

    “How high is his charm value that an NPC gave him an invitation card? Do murderous NPCs even have the desire to fall in love?

    The boss said: “Are there still a few perverted NPCs in the game?”

    He handed him the card. “Hurry and give it to the president!”

    Ning Su didn’t seem to have heard the discussion between the two. He walked slowly as he ate the steamed buns and drank milk.

    After walking for a while, he looked up and saw a place called the game hall.

    Ning Su raised his foot and walked in.

    The game hall was very large. As soon as he entered the door, he saw the light screens on both sides of the hall. There were club rankings and personal rankings on it.

    Ning Su didn’t look at it. He walked to the inner floor, and there were various pictures on the countless light screens, which were the login entrances of each dungeon copy.

    Each dungeon had a 10-second dungeon scene to play. Players could guess the dungeon type based on the 10-second video, and then determine whether to choose to enter this dungeon.

    Ning Su watched a few, and each dungeon had a requirement for the number of people, with a minimum of five each.

    He walked and watched, and when he saw the sixth one, there were many people gathered in front of it.

    Ning Su looked up. The copy of the game was called “Ghost Animal”, number 2-9101.

    He saw several beautiful little houses on the light screen, which were very suitable for his liking.

    “What kind of ghost is a ghost animal? Could it be animals that became ghost?”

    “I think the two words [ghost] and [animal] (*1) should be read separately.”

    “Then, a ghost that is like a beast?”

    “Whatever is it, it has a ghost in it. So, this is a supernatural copy. It’s likely to be a decryption type or a survival type.”

    The video was only 10 seconds long, and it looped automatically after it was played. The second time it was played, while Ning Su was staring at a beautiful house, he heard the person who analyzed the dungeon said “survival type”.

    Due to him living in the apocalypse, the word ‘survival’ caught his attention.

    He seriously asked: “Survival type? If I survive even as a salted fish(*2), can I still pass the level?”

    The game hall was extremely bright, and the walls all had lights. Under such lighting, the pale complexion of the young man was much softer and brighter. The subtle stiffness in his expression couldn’t be hidden.

    He was also holding a bottle of milk, the most common one that could be found on the road without a trademark.

    The people around looked at him like a fool, noticing the slight stiffness in his expression and the bottle of milk. They seemed to be stunned again.

    It’s a pity having that face.

    Someone sighed inwardly, and secretly sympathized with him. Even though he grew up with such a face, his brain had problems. In the game where a person’s shortcomings were infinitely magnified, he didn’t know what would happen to this guy.

    Someone looked at him vaguely, with an indescribable smile on the corner of his mouth.

    Ning Su lowered his head and took a sip of milk.

    An especially tall man in a trench coat looked away from Ning Su’s face and asked the woman beside him, “Are you ready?”

    The woman said, “This dungeon is short of three people.”

    “Start the game first, then let the dungeon summon the remaining players.”

    After the words fell, the 10 people in front of the light screen disappeared at the same time.

Translation Corner

*1 - The Characters used for 'Ghost Animal' was [鬼畜]. If they were read separately, then they would give a different meaning.

*2 - Salted fish is originally a metaphor for a corpse. But now, it's often used as a slang to refer to people who have no intention of doing anything.