Chapter 34: Reality
“My personal skill.” Bai Liu smiled weakly at him. “If you are curious, do you need me to show you my personal skill again? My physical strength is now zero. If you give me a bottle of physical strength recovery agent then I’ll show it to you again.”
“Of course, I won’t take your physical strength recovery agent for free.” Bai Liu repeated the old trick and took out a one point coin with a laugh. “How about exchanging it with you for one point?”
Mu Sicheng, “……”
Only a ghost would exchange with him!
One minute later.
[System alert: The transaction is established and the wanderer Bai Liu has received a bottle of physical strength recovery agent.]
[System reminder: Player Mu Sicheng has given player Bai Liu a bottle of physical strength recovery agent valued at 180 points. It can restore 90 points of physical strength to the player.]
Mu Sicheng was simply going crazy. He wanted to ride on Bai Liu’s back to strangle Bai Liu who was lazily drinking the recovery agent. He viciously asked Bai Liu, “How on earth did you do it! It is forbidden to steal or rob a player here! Players are only allowed to trade and give away items to each other! You can’t steal from my game warehouse!”
It happened in front of him! Twice! He has always been the one stealing from others. It was the first time he fucking had something stolen by someone else.
“Personal skill.” Bai Liu raised his head while drinking the physical strength recovery agent. He felt strength returning to his hands and feet and smiled at Mu Sicheng. “If you want me to show it to you again then I can…”
“No need.” Mu Sicheng interrupted Bai Liu’s words in an expressionless manner. He would be a fool if he fell for this person’s tricks again.
“Ah, the residency fee I paid yesterday is due. I have to quit the game first.” Wang Shun said goodbye to Bai Liu and prepared to quit the game. He also reminded Bai Liu, “Bai Liu, you need to pay a residency fee to the system every day if you want to stay in this game hall. The player’s residency fee for each level is the same. At your current level, you need to pay 100 points every day.”
“My payment is due. I’m going first. See you next time.” Wang Shun politely bid farewell to Bai Liu and Mu Sicheng.
“Hey, I’m going too.” Mu Sicheng glanced at his watch and then at Bai Liu. “I have something in the real world. I’ll come find you next time, Bai Liu.”
“Next time, I will come to you to play a game.” Mu Sicheng suddenly showed a nasty smile. “You cheated things away from me today. I will get them back, Bai Liu.”
After saying this, the two people disappeared from the game hall. Bai Liu took the path that Wang Shun previously showed him to return to the newcomer district. He found Mu Ke trembling in a corner of the exit, his face covered in tears.
This young master actually looked quite good. He had a very delicate body structure like a Japanese bishounen. The soft look with red eyes and tears would make many girls feel distressed and say, ‘Mother loves you.’
Bai Liu was a male game designer who only loved money and he gave his small amount of maternal love to money and the horror game bosses he designed. He lacked a basic empathy for the appearance of humans. At the very least, a beauty on the level of the Siren King was needed to move him.
Bai Liu crouched down and Mu Ke shrank back vigilantly like thorns were standing up all over his body. There were still tears in his eyes as he made a courageous and rude expression. “Go away!”
“This is the first time, no, second time we are meeting, Young Master Mu.” Mu Ke was completely stunned the moment Bai Liu spoke. He stared up at Bai Liu in a dazed manner, tears dripping from his eyelashes onto the ground. He cried but didn’t ask Bai Liu to get lost. He just stared blankly at Bai Liu.
Mu Ke knew this voice. It was the voice that saved his life when he was about to die. He bought Mu Ke’s soul for 200 hundred points and easily burned those monsters that Mu Ke couldn’t get rid of. He claimed to be a poor wanderer and a devil.
Bai Liu calmly looked down at Mu Ke. “This is the second time you’ve seen me but it seems you don’t remember me. It doesn’t matter. After all, we are now in a completely new relationship.”
“Then Mu Ke, consider it as our first meeting. I am the owner of your soul debt. My name is Bai Liu.” Bai Liu reached out to Mu Ke.
After a long time, Mu Ke, who seemed depressed to the extreme, cried out. He rushed to Bai Liu and hugged him, the tears he had been holding back for a long time gushing out again. Mu Ke seemed like a child who hadn’t seen his parents in a long time.
“Why are you here?!”
Currently, Mu Ke thought he was embracing a devil he had no choice but to rely on. It was a long time before Mu Ke knew he was embracing a god disguised as a devil. He gave his faith and soul to Bai Liu and Bai Liu gave him a new heart and new life.
Bai Liu took Mu Ke to log out of the game. The log out location was Bai Liu’s house.
It was almost midnight when he logged out. The young master’s eyes were simply like a fountain. Once he came out, he cried all night long. He cried until he passed out and even then he was still clinging onto Bai Liu’s sleeves. The moment Bai Liu had told him to go home, the cries of the young master could lift up the roof. He didn’t want to go back. He had sold his soul to Bai Liu yet Bai Liu was driving him away!
Mu Ke spoke forcefully and was full of convictions.
Bai Liu felt it was the chick imprinting effect and the suspension bridge effect. The young master had a strong sense of security toward Bai Liu, the devil who should be playing the role of a villain. In short, if Mu Ke couldn’t wake up from his fear then it wouldn’t be easy for him to leave Bai Liu’s house.
However, Bai Liu didn’t want to keep Mu Ke in his house. The reason was very simple. This young master cried too much. Therefore, five minutes after Mu Ke fell asleep, he called his previous boss and asked him to pick up the big boss’ son. Mu Ke was currently at his house and didn’t want to leave.
The moment Bai Liu’s boss received the call, he was so shocked that he spilled coffee on the computer keyboard.
He had never liked Bai Liu very much. It was mainly because Bai Liu had his own ideas when making games. Every time he asked Bai Liu to add something to follow the market trends, Bai Liu would directly say that the game design was full. If this plot was added, there would be bugs and so on. He refused to add it.
In fact, adding it or not adding it wasn’t a big deal but the boss didn’t like Bai Liu’s disobedient attitude. Someone who worked for him just needed to do what he asked. Bai Liu made so many excuses to seem noble.
Then Mu Ke took over for Bai Liu and hardly did anything. The boss had to wipe the young master’s butt and take over Bai Liu’s work. Only then did he find out that Bai Liu wasn’t disobedient and wasn’t making excuses. He was just telling the truth.
Now it was his turn to do Bai Liu’s work and the person who was critical became Mu Ke. Mu Ke had three or four ideas a day and tortured the boss incessantly. Sometimes he said he couldn’t add it. Then Mu Ke would sneer and say, ‘If you don’t listen to my advice, I will change your position with someone who will listen.’
Now the boss’ position was at stake but he didn’t know where the young master disappeared to for a day. He hadn’t expected the young master to be at Bai Liu’s house!
The boss couldn’t help thinking more. What was the relationship between Bai Liu and this young master… however, thinking about it was useless. He was nominally Mu Ke’s boss but he was more like Mu Ke’s babysitter. He had to go and pick up this person.
The boss came to Bai Liu’s house while Mu Ke was still sleeping. The boss felt a bit guilty and embarrassed when he saw Bai Liu but Bai Liu didn’t feel anything. Before he came out, he exchanged his points for 100,000 yuan. The points in this game were quite valuable and the exchange ratio with RMB was 1000: 1. 100 points could be exchanged for 100,000 yuan.
Bai Liu had money in hand and looked at everyone calmly. Even if he saw this boss who didn’t understand anything and liked to tell others what to do, Bai Liu just politely opened the door to let him in, saying, “Mu Ke is sleeping. He cried all night and just went to sleep. Don’t wake him up.”
Bai Liu originally didn’t want to wake up Mu Ke because his continuous crying made Bai Liu’s head hurt. However, Mu Ke grabbed Bai Liu’s shirt (Bai Liu directly took off the shirt to get away from Mu Ke) and curled up insecurely in a small ball on the bed, his eyes and nose red and there were some suspicious bruises on his body (aftermath of the game). Combined with Bai Liu’s words just now— The boss accepted the amount of information that came in at once and stiffly said, “Oh.”
It turned out that Bai Liu and Mu Ke had this type of relationship! Why didn’t Bai Liu tell him earlier! Then he would’ve fired anyone except for Bai Liu!
“Or should we let Mu Ke continue sleeping with you, Bai Liu?” In fact, the boss didn’t dare to wake up Mu Ke. This young master was very angry when awakened from a nap, let alone after he was tossed all night in this way.
The boss also found it a bit strange. Bai Liu tossed the young master in bed in this way and after finishing, he called for the boss to pick him up. Why did it feel like a bit of a scumbag…
Bai Liu naturally refused. “No, take him away. His crying is too annoying.”
The boss, “!!!”
What a scumbag! This type of scumbag infuriating remark, how could Bai Liu say it so seriously?!
Mu Ke was awakened by the voices of the two men. His eyelashes trembled and before he woke up completely, he hugged Bai Liu’s shirt in his arms and whispered, “Bai Liu…”
Seeing this scene, the boss’ expression became even more difficult to describe. He stared at Bai Liu with an expression of condemnation but Bai Liu didn’t care. Every time he worked, the boss always looked at him like he did something wrong. Bai Liu has been used to it for a long time.
He called out very calmly, “Mu Ke, get up. Someone came to pick you up.”
Mu Ke slowly woke up. Then once he saw the boss by the bed, he understood that Bai Liu had called someone to come and pick him up. Mu Ke reacted violently. He instinctively tried to grab Bai Liu’s hand while scolding the boss irritably. His back arched and he bared his teeth like a cat being taken to a place he didn’t like. “Go away! I won’t go back. I will stay here!”
“This is my place.” Bai Liu’s attitude was light and he avoided Mu Ke trying to grab his hand. “I don’t allow you to stay here. Mu Ke, go back.”
Mu Ke stiffened. He turned to look at Bai Liu and the hand that wanted to grab Bai Liu’s hand fell down. Mu Ke’s eyes turned red again and his lips moved. “Bai Liu, I will be very good. Don’t drive me away.”
“I’m ordering you based on the relationship between us, Mu Ke.” Bai Liu spoke quietly. “You don’t have the right to refuse.”
Bai Liu could actually understand why Mu Ke didn’t want to leave. This person had a strong desire to survive and Bai Liu had saved him. Mu Ke subconsciously equated ‘stay with Bai Liu’ to ‘can live’. It was better to say that Mu Ke was dependent on Bai Liu now. Mu Ke was afraid of an environment without Bai Liu’s protection.
Mu Ke’s tears fell. He bit his lower lip and stared at Bai Liu for a long time before finally getting out of bed obediently. Mu Ke stood behind the boss with a pale face and trembling body, his fear obvious on his face.
Bai Liu saw Mu Ke like this and felt it was necessary to give this player a certain level of guidance, just like the system did for players.
“Mu Ke, if you are so vulnerable that you can’t live without me then you are useless to me.” Bai Liu spoke softly. “Then I will soon abandon you, understand? It is because I can gain many people like you but you only have me.”
“I-I know.” Mu Ke’s lips were white as he replied. He lowered his head and wiped his eyes, controlling his tears. “I will try and be useful to you.”
The boss who had been watching the entire process looked awkward. He felt like he had watched a cruel and heartless drama with a scumbag gong. His face was shaken as he looked at Bai Liu with a bit of fear.
Bai Liu actually dared to talk like this to the young master Mu Ke! What was his identity?!
Mu Ke followed behind the boss in a trance. The moment they got out the door, the boss couldn’t stand it anymore and asked, “Young Master Mu, what is the relationship between you and Bai Liu?”
“What is the relationship?” Mu Ke’s eyes were empty and he seemed to be talking to himself. “I belong to him. He owns my soul and is my master.”
The boss, “……”
What the hell were they playing?
He didn’t expect Bai Liu, who was handsome with thick eyebrows and big eyes, to actually be an S&M master. He was a top S who actually trained Mu Ke, the arrogant young master, into this obedient little cat…
The boss shuddered and led away the trembling Mu Ke who wasn’t crying any longer.
He felt like he had fired a terrible person.
Once Mu Ke left, Bai Liu opened the Alien laptop that Mu Ke had bought him as compensation and started to inquire about information related to Siren Town.
He used a forward search, reverse search and even searched the names Jeff and Andre without getting any matching information. Bai Liu rubbed his stiff neck and thought about it. It seemed that the game was indeed not a real product. However, if it was a virtual product then—
Bai Liu’s eyes became deep and he pulled the thread hanging around his neck with his index finger. There was a coin with a square hole in the middle. This was his game manager. Bai Liu flipped the coin a few times in his hand like he was playing with it but the coin didn’t respond. The game panel didn’t pop up. Bai Liu was thoughtful.
If the game was a completely virtual product then how did this thing follow him into reality?
In addition, Bai Liu fiddled with the coin and a scale as thin as a cicada’s wing separated from it. A translucent fish scale with a texture like ice was threaded through the string and hung around Bai Liu’s neck. It stuck to the coin and exuded a faintly colorful light.
Bai Liu hadn’t realized until he came out that there was a scale around his neck. If he guessed right, this was the item he got, the Siren King’s Reverse Scale. He hadn’t taken it out but it followed him out of the game.
Then he thought about the system’s advice for this item, ‘It represents the Siren King’s reply to your love, hoping that the player will wear it for a long time.’ After wearing it for a night, Bai Liu found there were no abnormalities so he let it go.
However, this made Bai Liu think. It was unreasonable to virtualize the game into something similar to the ‘thinking palace’ which was composed of human consciousness. It was because there were real things such as the coin and scale. This meant the game should be an objective and real existence.
There should be signs of its existence but Bai Liu hadn’t found any signs of the game on the Internet. This was very strange.
Apart from Bai Liu, there must be other players who have entered the game. After all, 100 players were logged in at a time. As long as one or two survived, they would make a forum post, Weibo post or a Moments related to the game. This type of data flow was extremely fast. In the era of big data, Bai Liu should find it but he didn’t find anything similar to this game concept.
There must be traces of things that existed… Bai Liu thought about it. The only reason there would be no traces—
Was if the traces were erased.
Bai Liu’s eyes narrowed. He opened Weibo, wrote a specific message about the Siren Town game and clicked to send it. As a result, he watched with his own eyes the sent Weibo post fade and disappear.
Proofreader: Purichan