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Chapter 6

Wandering Dream’s Virtual Reality edition, servers officially opened.

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Jiang Chen stayed in the sterile ward for twenty days.

He had undergone surgery during this time, and the problem of his relapse was resolved. But once this period of torment passed, the small bit of meat that he had gained with great difficulty disappeared.

The research team felt distressed. Finding it unacceptable, they had two customized AIs stare at him as he ate.

Anxious that he would be addicted to gaming, they returned it to him with a stipulation: two hours in the morning and one hour in the afternoon, bedtime at eight o’clock.

Jiang Chen felt that this “eight o’clock” was too inhuman and asked, “You all go to sleep at eight o’clock?”

The staff member did not respond, grabbed a mirror, and faced it directly at him, letting him see the wasted away and sickly face of his.

Jiang Chen stared and commented, “Attractiveness index still beats out 90% of the population.”

“……” The staff member unexpectedly could not retort at the moment, so they directly rummaged for an old photo of him. He handed it to him as a reference, so he would not swell up too much.

Jiang Chen was silent for a moment. “Nine-thirty.”

The staff member said, “Eight-thirty.”

Jiang Chen said, “Ten o’clock.”

Staff member: “……”

Haggling could also be like this?

He looked to the two AIs to the side and ordered, “Cry.”

The little nurses immediately began crying loudly——wa.

The sounds of weeping repeated continuously, the efficacy multiplied. 

Jiang Chen: “……”

Both sides retreated a step, ultimately finalizing on a nine o’clock bedtime.

However, he could still not play the game at night; they were afraid he would be stimulated too much, which would reduce his sleep quality. He could watch movies, listen to music, and have the AIs read to him from a selection. 

Jiang Chen nodded in agreement and put on the long-missed eyeglasses, entering the closed beta.

Before his eyes were familiar high mountains. The fireworks at the base of the cliff had long disappeared. Probably because it was set down for too long, the system withdrew them. Another possibility was that a certain person set them off.

He chose a field area and leisurely walked over. He had not gone on in twenty days; that guy “ah” as well as the hapless Divine Warrior and Swordsman had probably all left the territory. This place was now desolate and uninhabited. He fought monsters for half a day and did not see another living person. He then straightforwardly went to run missions. In any case, he could listen to the NPC talk.

Two hours flashed by, and he was called offline by the little nurse. He went outside for a walk with them.

Twenty-some minutes later, a familiar figure appeared in the Demon race territory.

Fang Jingxing unhurriedly turned around. Still not seeing that Seal Master, he took off his eyeglasses to go eat.

“five of love” dropped from the hot search, and he stopped caring.

True, he could forward that status update and aggressively ask, “Do you not dare to see me?” But he understood the principle too far was as bad as not enough. Saying so much could appear deliberate and cause suspicions to befall his person.

Besides, this was also unnecessary.

Like he had said to Xie Chengyan that day, if that Seal Master was not tremendous, he would not lose much due to this squandered time. For the same reason, if he could not find this person, then it also would not be much of a loss.

The players’ strengths of his family’s club were all not weak. The training camp also had a few gifted newcomers. It was not that the Seal Master was the only one; so, if he could sign, then sign. If he could not sign, then he would not insist.

The relationship between people was carefully chosen by fate; some people were destined to not be brought together by fate.

Fang Jingxing’s viewpoint was very penetrating. He was not someone who would penetrate into a bull’s horn.^[1] He only recalled on occasion that Seal Master’s appearance of handling a butcher’s cleaver with ease and felt a bit of pity. Thus, he would come to this site to stroll when he had the time.

He thought about several possibilities.

First was that the boy was busy and did not have the time to go online; second was that he saw the hot search, but due to some kind of reason did not want to respond; and third was that he did not see the hot search, was not busy and did not disappear either — rather……they did not encounter each other.

Did not encounter — he wanted to add that Seal Master as a friend, so he could only search for the ID.

However, he could not remember that person’s ID.

They had just met at that time, so he had only casually glanced at it. From the start, he had not noted it in his heart, and the result was a tragedy.

Luckily, he had a somewhat vague impression, so he tried various permutations into the search bar. What a pity that until now, he had not been successful. With no other choice, he could only roam around during his free time, wishing for a chance encounter.

However, this probability was very low, because Wandering Dream really was too big.

Each race’s territory had one main palace and three subsidiary towns, not including the vast public areas outside. Such a big map, with only a thousand players at present, without any contact details, he could only rely on luck for a chance encounter. It was simply as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Not only was he distressed; TQ’s two newcomers were also distressed.

Fang Jingxing had specifically pulled them into a small chat and indicated to them to squeak if they saw the person. The two newcomers did not dare to disobey and agreed.

These days, they had communicated less and less; the intervals between chats also grew longer and longer.

He knew that after waiting for a while, when the regrets in his heart would disappear, he would stop roaming around.

He also did not know what the Seal Master’s situation was.

Captain Fang sat in the dining room, waiting for his meal, his chin propped up as he thought helplessly.

At this time, Jiang Chen was in the middle of eating.

After eating, he listened to the little nurse read a poem and then played a song. Afterward, he went to take his lunchtime nap. After waking up, he continued to play.

A daily schedule for work and rest gradually became habitual; the body slowly recovered. His complexion was getting better day by day. In the game, he had also risen by thirty levels. The only flaw he could think of was —— he was playing solo in the closed beta.

As an internet-addicted youth, he knew the people in the circle were night owls. In the morning, they were basically in a coma. They got up at or after noon bit by bit and ate take out. Afterward, they would crawl online, half-awake, half-stupid. At night, they would be completely invigorated —— their gaming times and his were perfectly staggered.

Occasionally, he also could see people bubbling on the world channel, but before he decided whether to interrupt, the subject ended, and the channel once again became peaceful. This happened three times before he stopped being interested in reading the channel.

Perhaps because his luck was bad, perhaps because the road he walked was too narrow, or more likely — the time he played the game was too limited every day; he had played the game for close to a month, and the number of people he saw could be counted on one hand. In addition, each time, the person would be busy and hurry past, leaving him with only a cold shoulder.

Soon, the closed beta was on the verge of ending. He did not feel like training and tried to find a nice landscape map, treating it as a tour. 

Compared to his self-exile, Fang Jingxing’s closed beta life was very rich and colorful. He had a lot of friends and always had someone to accompany him in whatever task he was doing. Originally, he came on in the morning to search for someone, but after being shunned coldly and cheerlessly, he switched online times to the night — though he did not stay up late.

Today, he left the friend group and prepared to go offline to sleep. Before leaving, he habitually wrote a string of symbols without much thought and pressed search.

Instantly, he saw a transparent screen appear before his eyes. At the very top was a simple introduction.

ID: {xu-5cc靉の！

Profession: Seal Master

Level: 53

Online Status: No

Fang Jingxing: “……”

Trying for so long, he had carried no hopes and didn’t expect to actually reach a new peak on this twisting mountain road.^[2]

He looked at this pitiful Level 53 and guessed that the boy really was not online much. He hastily checked the offline time and saw that it was at 4 o’clock in the afternoon.

This meant he might come online soon to play.

Captain Fang’s cooled thoughts immediately revitalized.

He met him just as he entered the game. Even though he was lost during the intermediate period, his search was returned when the closed beta was ending. This was a continuation of fate after separation.

As soon as Jiang Chen went online, he received an unread message.

He reached out to open it and was faced with a transparent screen.

Player 「 ah 」 requested to add you as a friend.

Accept | Reject

Note: I have been looking for you all this time.

Jiang Chen raised a brow.

Indeed…… I have been alone and desolate for a long time; seeing this thing now, I think he has kind brows and pleasant eyes.^[3] 

He subconsciously wanted to agree, but he had second thoughts. The closed beta was ending today, and this equipment would be returned to his family’s sister’s son.

He did not know whether the data in the closed beta could be preserved, and there was no need to add a friend. Besides, the last time they separated, it wasn’t pleasant. Who knew what this thing had in mind while looking for him. He might try to find his nephew to make trouble.

He thus clicked reject.

Note: duck no need.^[4]

Fang Jingxing had intentionally gone online this morning. Seeing his reply, he opened up a private chat.

ah: Where are you? Face-to-face.

Jiang Chen pretended to not see the message.

Two minutes later, a second message came.

ah: Do you want to play professionally?

Jiang Chen’s gaze focused on the message, gaining understanding.

This thing saw his strength last time and wanted to rope him in.

He gave a reply: if you want to pull me into a team, no need to chat.

ah:  you already signed with a club?

Jiang Chen replied no and saw the other party asking again. He then became a bit depressed. He also did not know when he could compete again. He should make things clear: We slipped past each other, okay; if we have fate, see each other in the new server.

ah: Okay, ten servers are opening that day, which one will you join?

Fang Jingxing pressed send, and an exclamation mark popped up.

—— The other party had blacklisted you.

Fang Jingxing: “……”

For a split second, Captain Fang thought about pressing this boy and rubbing him against the ground. He was unreconciled with such a miss and had gone searching all over the place. Unfortunately, his luck was too lacking. Up until the Seal Master went offline, he could not find the other party.

At midnight, the test server was shut down.

In this following period, the game company would integrate the players’ feedback and continue mending and debugging.

From the start of summer to the end of summer, Jiang Chen ate well and drank well, being nurtured carefully for three months. At last, the meat returned to his body. He went to find a staff member, wanting to chat.

As a result, just as he opened the door, he received a gift.

The people in the research team were standing outside, smiling as they handed over a box to him. On top was a familiar game logo.

Jiang Chen stared blankly and then accepted it. “I can play as I wish?”

“……” Everyone simultaneously spoke, “No!”

However, the time restrictions could be suitably relaxed a bit, but he was still not allowed to stay up all night.

Jiang Chen haggled with them for a while before carrying the box back inside, satisfied.

A week passed by in the blink of an eye. Today, Jiang Chen finished eating breakfast and then put on the eyeglasses, waiting for the countdown.

September 5, 9:00 AM

Wandering Dream’s Virtual Reality edition, servers officially opened.

⬖ ⬩F⬩L⬩Y⬩ ⬗

The author has something to say:

So many people are curious about how he could suddenly type out the name correctly, so I had no choice but to write an explanation.

The writing is very clear: “Luckily, he had a somewhat vague impression, so he tried various permutations into the search bar.” 

“Before leaving, he habitually wrote a string of symbols without much thought and pressed search.”

—— Continuously arranging permutations for a month, at last guessing correctly; what issue is there?

Expressing thanks to everyone for their overlord tickets and nutrient solutions, muah~

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Footnotes:

[1]penetrate into a bull’s horn: to waste time on an insoluble or insignificant problem

[2]new peak on this twisting mountain road: have an opportunity come unexpectedly

[3]kind brows and pleasant eyes: amiable looking, benign-faced

[4] “大可不必” dàkěbùbì – unnecessary, need not
鸭 yā (duck)
丫 yā (sfx)
“你丫不必”。nǐyābùbì – you don’t need to
and thus the origin of “duck no need”

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