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Chapter 20
Who did you send that closed beta account to?
Guards of the city militia would patrol along a specific route within the city, mobile at all times. Their positions were not fixed.
The number of guards was innumerable. Ordinarily, if one wanted to meet someone by pure chance, it would indeed be quite challenging.
……However, this was no match for money that could make the Devil turn millstones.[1]
Escape Empath chose sentries for the gang and rashly smashed money to buy the two most expensive guards, one of which coincidentally was the mission NPC they had been looking for.
Jiang Chen had been unconventional for so long. This was the first time krypton gold[2] changed his fate. For a short while, he felt it was a bit fantastical.
The guard also did not dare to believe.
He excitedly tugged at the metal pendant hanging from Jiang Chen’s belt and examined it closely. With a trembling voice, he said, “Rest assured, this is Ling Huai’s. Where did you get it? Did you see her?”
Jiang Chen did not need to make a choice. The system directly gave a ready-made answer.
He replied, “She’s making me help her find Jiali. Do you recognize the name?”
The guard muttered, “Jiali?”
He unknowingly cried as he smiled, his face twisting for a moment. He hoarsely said, “Do you have liquor?”
What was wrong; what could be said only after drinking liquor in advance?
Jiang Chen looked at the new “Find Liquor” mission that appeared. He and Fang Jingxing spent half the day walking through the city to find liquor. When they came back, they saw the guard was no longer at the gate of the gang.
He asked, “Are hidden plots all so cheap?”
Fang Jingxing said with a smile, “They can be a bit difficult. That one from the closed beta, they had hit it for over twenty days without clearing it.”
Jiang Chen immediately fell into a bad mood.
Fang Jingxing said, “A’Yi[3] should have kept watch for us.”
Just as his voice fell, he saw a head peek out of the gate, a pair of furry tiger ears atop this head. King Flying Bird had been waiting for them at the command of his deputy guild leader. Seeing them, he pointed inside. “NPC went in.”
Fang Jingxing smiled. “Let’s go see.”
Jiang Chen was barely satisfied, but he still carried the liquor into the gang.
Passing through the garden, he arrived at a row of housings reportedly for guild members to rest in. He saw that the guard had climbed up a ladder to the roof at some point. Just sitting and staring out into the distance. He appeared to have layer upon layer of worries on his mind.
King Flying Bird did not know the plot details and was very curious about this. “What is his situation?”
Jiang Chen coldly evaluated, “Staring up at the sky at a 45° angle is probably so his tears won’t fall.”
Fang Jingxing could not help laughing.
The gang members within the courtyard were silent as they collectively glanced at him.
King Flying Bird was then very frank. “Ah? Really?”
Jiang Chen said, “You try.”
He threw out this line and then went up the roof with Fang Jingxing. One sat on the left of the guard while the other sat on the right. He handed over a cup of wine to the other party. The guard accepted the cup, raised his head, and downed the three mouthfuls of wine. Suddenly, his eyes reddened, crying with snot and tears dribbling down. He seemed to be recollecting the past and did not talk at all for a long while.
Jiang Chen endured it for two minutes before giving him a kick, causing the other’s leg to rock slightly.
The two of them were stunned simultaneously.
Generally speaking, NPCs did not move when kicked. Didn’t you see those NPCs in the territory; even if a sea of people flooded the area, they were motionlessly issuing missions to players, still as high and mighty as ever.
Then how come this one could be moved?
Fang Jingxing also tried to kick his leg and saw the leg on his side sway as well.
But that was all. Although the guard had this bit of movement design, he was still weeping, unshaken by thunder.[4]
Noon approached. Members of As One Wishes who left the game running returned and saw this scene. They said in surprise, “What’s up with the gate-watching uncle?”
Escape Empath was not happy hearing this. “What gate-watching uncle? This is the sentry guard.”
He had personally chosen this person, so they were not allowed to insult his aesthetics. He retorted, “Besides, isn’t it just a bit of stubble? Obviously, it is a sexy uncle.”
The guild members said, “Hah, it doesn’t make any difference.”
They asked again, “What’s wrong with him?”
Escape Empath stared at the roof. “Don’t know, he’s been crying for almost ten minutes.”
Jiang Chen sat woodenly on the roof. He sensed the AI call for him to go offline, and his patience had been thoroughly exhausted. He got up and moved behind the guard. His foot then met the guard’s back.
In a flash, an “ao—” could be seen leaving the guard’s throat. His body pitched forward, and he tumbled headfirst down the roof, assuming a 大 appearance when he landed on the ground.
Escape Empath: “……”
The other guild members: “……”
Uncle!
Luckily, money was not spent in vain. The most powerful guard did not die from falling like this. He crawled up exasperatingly slow.
In deathly silence, Jiang Chen walked back and sat down. “I’m going offline and will be leaving the game running. You watch him cry, okay.”
Everyone stirred.
Brushing at his clothes once the matter was over, hiding deeply from fame and honor.
This was far more than a Wolf Annihilator; this was a Wolf Blazer[5] ah!
Replaced with anyone else, who would dare to kick? How could they really kick their gate-watching uncle to death?
The Wolf Blazer took off his eyeglasses and threw them to the side. He was accompanied by the little nurse as he walked outside.
The little nurse followed him blindly. Seeing he was walking faster than usual, it reached out to tug him back, making him slow down a bit. Jiang Chen thus slowed down and ordered 《 Sutra 》.
The two little nurses were extremely obedient. One followed him, while the other sang “Namo Amitabha Buddha.”
Captain Jiang silently meditated the entire trip and felt at peace with himself. He would not go take the life of a living creature.
Both his hands were stuffed into his pockets as he unhurriedly walked back. Just as he entered the hall, he heard some noise down the corridor. He turned his head to take a look.
The cryonics team had done research for several months, digging out detail after detail. Today, they at last attempted to lift the ban on the fifth person.
They had been busy from half-past eight until close to noon, being very cautious with each step. They had tried everything they could but were unfortunately still unable to bring the person back to life. The exhausted personnel stepped out of the operation room and raised their heads to see Jiang Chen standing over there. For a short while, their eyes turned green.
Jiang Chen unobtrusively retreated half a step.
The cryonics team members walked over, blocking their ears and not listening to the irresistibly quirky music. They just kept staring at this sole survivor, wishing they could place him inside a safe but being unable to.
The team leader subconsciously thought about stroking the other’s head but was afraid of his hand being unclean, so he withdrew it. He hoarsely asked, “Have you eaten?”
Jiang Chen replied, “Just about to eat.”
The team leader nodded. “Go, lots……eat lots.”
Jiang Chen sized up this déjà vu state of theirs and guessed another person had died.
He suddenly felt things were all right.
Even if his luck for the rest of this life had really been used up in cryostasis, he also deserved it. At least he was still alive.
After realizing this point, his mood immediately stabilized, and he ate an extra one-half bowl of rice during lunch.
⬖ ⬩F⬩L⬩Y⬩ ⬗
In the game, the Seal Master had finished speaking and went afk, taking a seat and remaining motionless.
The gate-watching uncle’s wine cup had broken. He wiped away his tears and climbed up the roof again, sitting where he had just earlier. Finally, he gave a reaction. He choked out amidst sobs, “I apologize, I forgot myself.”
Fang Jingxing had no one to accompany him to play, so his interest had lowered drastically.
His tone was extremely tender and considerate. “It’s all right. It is no problem if you continue crying as well.”
But the guard had become cool-headed because of that kick and began a long-winded tale about old affairs.
Members of As One Wishes were still in an uproar.
They deeply felt that the taste of demonic brute[6] was very harmonious with the aura of their gang. They asked, “Awesome, Ah Escape. How did you pull this boss in?”
Escape Empath was very modest. “It was all fated.”
The members raised their chins at the Master of Darkness on the roof. “What about this person’s temperament?”
Escape Empath said, “Looks like a good person.”
The members asked, “Looks?”
Escape Empath elaborated, “For the majority of situations, his temperament is great. As long as no one deliberately provokes him, it is fine.”
He looked at this group of exotic flowers[7] and salted fishes that made up his subordinates and educated them with meaningful and heartfelt words, “So live carefully and don’t be offensive. If you really ruffle his feathers, you are courting death.”
The members trusted him and nodded their heads in unison.
Escape Empath once again looked at the roof and saw the guard walk away with a face full of grief after he finished speaking. He said, “This money was spent at a loss.”
The members asked, “Ah?”
Escape Empath commented, “You guys think for a moment. After this hidden plot strategy spreads around, each person hitting it will come to our gate to find him. Every day, he will cry several times. When will he have the time to watch the gate?”
“……” The members exclaimed, “Right ah!”
Escape Empath pondered about whether to wait until their gang members finished hitting this plot before dismissing the guard, or to collect a toll in the future. He saw his friend not come down but go up instead. Glancing at the Seal Master over there, he asked, “Did he really leave the game running?”
Fang Jingxing said with a smile, “Really. He goes offline every day at this time.”
Speaking of which, it was also strange. This boy was obviously not someone who would willingly be obedient and do as he was told, so why did he maintain such a strict work-rest schedule every day? Also, he would go offline at half-past nine every night and reportedly goes to bed at exactly ten. How many youngsters nowadays could go to sleep so early?
Escape Empath said, “This little friend of yours is very interesting.”
Fang Jingxing smiled with an “En,” and asked, “How is the situation I asked you to inquire about?”
Escape Empath reported, “Asked around, and those who received invites basically entered on the first day of the closed beta. None fit the conditions.”
He stretched his legs and placed his hands behind his body. “Us asking around procured nothing, so there can only be one possibility. He is not on the official list of names and received a closed beta account due to connections.”
Fang Jingxing nodded and suddenly recalled something. He stroked his chin. “I remember Chengyan also managed to get a closed beta account.”
Escape Empath said, “En, didn’t he have something and couldn’t play?”
Fang Jingxing said, “He said he gave it to someone.”
When he had heard about this, he did not ask in detail.
Now that he had learned the Seal Master’s closed beta account was most likely obtained due to connections, he unobtrusively asked two questions and then sent Xie Chengyan a message.
Fang Jingxing: Who did you send that closed beta account to?
Xie Chengyan was in the middle of eating lunch and responded promptly: Don’t know, my mom said her friend wanted to play, so she took it away.
Fang Jingxing: When was it gifted?
Xie Chengyan: Gifted not long after I separated from you while abroad.
Fang Jingxing’s heart immediately skipped a beat.
Then as it turned out, it was just when he returned to the country.
Then when he entered the closed beta after returning to the country, at that time……the Seal Master had also just begun playing.
Coincidence?
No, that boy was obviously not a star chaser, but after hearing Xie Chengyan’s persuasion, that boy easily forgave him.
At that time, the entry point for him to confirm Xie Chengyan’s identity just happened to be Jiang Shilan. The closed beta account was also taken away by Jiang Shilan.
Fang Jingxing suddenly discovered that after searching in such a large circle, the person might be close by his side.
He quickly replied: After the equipment was returned, did you look at the username inside?
Xie Chengyan: No.
Fang Jingxing: Look now, have your mom help you look.
Xie Chengyan: I bound it to my iris. She can’t open it.
Fang Jingxing: ……
Xie Chengyan: What’s up?
Fang Jingxing: I suspect that Seal Master’s closed beta account was precisely your gift.
Xie Chengyan: !!!???
⬖ ⬩F⬩L⬩Y⬩ ⬗
The author has something to say:
Thanking everyone for their overlord tickets and nutrient solutions, muah~
Footnotes:
[1] money that could make the Devil turn millstones: (fig.) with money, you can do anything you like
[2] 氪金 (the phonetic translation from the Japanese term 課金) is literally translated as krypton gold, but means to make an in-app purchase in a game. In other words, to top-up or charge money. I kept it as krypton gold because it fits the diction style of the webnovel and flows better.
[3] 阿 a(h) is used as an affectionate prefix used before monosyllabic names to denote familiarity with a person
逸 Yi has been translated into “Escape” — thus the one being addressed is Escape Empath, and what is being implied is a close relationship between Fang Jingxing and Escape Empath. However, [1]Yi is also part of Escape Empath’s actual name, so the translation was kept as A’Yi.
[4] unshaken by thunder: adhering rigidly to regulations/duty/task regardless of whatever happens
[5] the ultimate form beyond Wolf Annihilator; aka the most ruthless wolf ever
[6] demonic brute: originally a Japanese term (きちく) that describes a person who does cruel and ruthless deeds
[7] exotic flowers: weirdos
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yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssss so smart
He figured it out!!!!