Chapter 46: Cui Xiaoyu
Mo Tan woke up at around 8 AM the next morning. He usually kept a very regular schedule but had slept nearly an hour longer than usual. The main reason for this was naturally Innocent World, which he had been somewhat engrossed in these past few days. The game pod's wake-up function inevitably affected his biological clock, as humans are one of the most prone to developing dependencies, especially on things that make their lives significantly easier.
For example, after getting used to a certain bizarre fully automatic toilet, one's manual dexterity might regress...
Ahem, I'll compose myself.
In any case, Mo Tan also noticed this, but he didn't pay much attention to it. After all, a relatively stable routine wasn't very important for a current university student who rarely showed up at school. Moreover, he had mostly been playing games recently and had no other plans, so sleeping and waking a few hours later posed no problem.
What's more, his current personality was the most amenable one...
“It seems I really did sleep well before.” Mo Tan sat up on the bed, his hair a mess, and mumbled. It was clear that not waking up in the game pod made him very relieved.
Like most of us, he very leniently lay back down on the bed, holding his phone, and took a while to recover before reluctantly getting dressed and unwillingly going to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. During this process, he barely opened his eyes...
Then he walked into the kitchen, and after a brief glance at the remaining ingredients at home, he started preparing breakfast for himself while planning when to go grocery shopping, simultaneously subconsciously calculating his daily expenses and the shelf life of discounted food.
As mentioned before, Mo Tan lived a relatively frugal life. To be honest, this would be quite reasonable for any young person living alone and still in school, but for him, it seemed a bit out of place.
After all, putting everything else aside, his hacking skills and his ability to extort in certain states would be enough to ensure Mo Tan never worried about food or drink...
The answer to this question is simple: first, he never worried about food or drink anyway; no one had ever seen Mo Tan hungry or cold.
Secondly, although Mo Tan had many ways to earn money, he also had several significant fixed expenses. Chief among these was his extreme computer; just the regular hardware updates were no small sum, not to mention that a certain second-hand dealer he was familiar with usually got him the most expensive items...
Finally, there was his personality.
To put it simply, Mo Tan, in his chaotic neutral state, prioritized spiritual pleasure over things like truffle foie gras and caviar. A bottle of '82 Lafite and a bag of coffee costing 8.2 yuan made little difference to him. He didn't mind material comforts but never actively sought them, because such things held no 'fun' for him. Of course, if something he was interested in required money, he would certainly not hold back...
Then there was lawful good. In this state, Mo Tan almost never pursued material things. Although the reasons differed from the previous state, he was still the type to seek a certain 'spiritual sustenance' at this time.
Lastly, there was Mo Tan's current Absolute Neutral personality. In this state, he was no different from an ordinary person: he preferred good food to bad, and if he could be comfortable, he wouldn't want to suffer. He also yearned for luxury cars, villas, and pretty girls (crossed out)...
But similarly, he also had many reservations and was content with his lot. Although he wished to be more financially comfortable, he stayed away from things that were somewhat risky or put too much pressure on him. Besides, he didn't mind his current life, as it allowed him to be more low-key...
There are no people without desires in this world; it's just that everyone's needs are different. At least for Mo Tan, this pace of life was quite good.
Of course, people are fickle, and Mo Tan, being full of self-contradictions, was no different. So, it's hard to say when he might suddenly get a whim to mess around, amass a fortune, and get himself some luxury cars, villas, and beautiful women...
Anyway, it's probably not going to happen in this book.
So, enough detours, let's get back to the main topic.
Just as Mo Tan finished his breakfast and was about to open his computer to browse forums and watch anime, his doorbell rang.
“Buddy! I brought friends to hang out with you!”
Yi Dong's voice rang from outside the door.
So Mo Tan adjusted his mental state, then slowly got up to open the door...
“Oh, you guys are already so close.” After opening the door, Mo Tan looked at Yi Dong and Wan Yang, whom he had seen at the gathering that day, with some surprise, then smiled at another person he hadn't seen before: “And this is?”
This gentleman was probably almost 1.9 meters tall, with a strong build, but unlike the equally tall and robust Wan Yang, he not only lacked that slightly untamed aura but even gave off a very introverted feeling. He had a handsome face and wore black-rimmed glasses, looking quite sunny and intellectual...
It's just that for some reason, Mo Tan always felt he exuded a sense of... uh... Xianglin's Wife...
“Let us in first~” Yi Dong shrugged: “I've been accompanying these two walking around outside for almost a whole morning.”
Mo Tan nodded, let the group into the living room, then brought out a few cups and a bottle of juice that was about to expire but hadn't yet, and sat around the coffee table with the three of them.
“Hey!” Wan Yang winked at him: “Long time no see~ Though it hasn't actually been many days.”
Mo Tan gave him a friendly smile. Wan Yang had left a good impression on him that day~
“Nice to meet you.” The unfamiliar young man extended his hand to Mo Tan: “I'm Cui Xiaoyu. I was supposed to go to the gathering that day, but I was delayed due to some uncontrollable reasons.”
Yi Dong leaned over and added: “Xiaoyu as in 'small' and 'rain and snow'.”
Mo Tan's smile instantly froze.
Cui Xiaoyu...
This gentleman's name didn't quite match his appearance!
“Uh...” Cui Xiaoyu gave a dry laugh and spread his hands: “My parents originally wanted to name me Cui Xiaoyu (Xiao Yu), but it seems they misheard it when registering my household, and so it became...”
Mo Tan scratched his cheek with his index finger: “You can change it, right?”
“Yeah, I can change it. My dad originally planned to just change it for me.” Cui Xiaoyu sighed: “But at that time, my somewhat eccentric grandpa happened to be at home for dinner, and he gave me a fortune-telling. And so, Cui Xiaoyu (light rain) — great fortune.”
Mo Tan felt a bit flustered...
“Then your dad compromised?” Yi Dong asked, suppressing a laugh. This was the first time he had heard this from his recently acquainted friend.
Cui Xiaoyu shook his head with a bitter face: “No, I heard my mom compromised, but my old man was still unwilling, so...”
“So?” The curiosity of the three of them was piqued.
“So, he supposedly also divined the name himself, all mysteriously.” Cui Xiaoyu said with a look of despair: “And then he compromised.”
...
The atmosphere became extremely heavy for a moment...
If this brother were delicate and effeminate, it would be fine, but with his extremely incongruous appearance here, anyone would feel a bit traumatized!
“Ahem.” Mo Tan quickly changed the subject and asked Yi Dong: “You've been quite free lately, huh?”
Yi Dong leaned back on the sofa and chuckled: “I guess so. The family gatherings haven't ended yet. Cui Xiaoyu just arrived yesterday, and when I picked him up, I felt he wasn't in a good mood, so today I called Wan Yang to go around with him. We just happened to pass by your place.”
“Now I feel too bored during the day.” Wan Yang spread his hands: “Playing Innocent World at night is incredibly fulfilling though.”
Yi Dong's eyes also lit up: “Exactly! My nightlife has never been this rich!”
The three were speechless for a moment, and then...
“Innocent World, huh.” Cui Xiaoyu suddenly sighed lifelessly: “It's not fun at all.”
Wan Yang was stunned: “You play too?”
“Heh heh.” Cui Xiaoyu, instantly transformed into Xianglin's Wife, seemed to have a tangible resentment swirling behind him, and dryly chuckled: “I loved it once...”
Then, as if entering sage mode, he lowered his head and fiddled with his phone.
“Speaking of which, you've been too busy lately.” Yi Dong rolled his eyes at Mo Tan: “You promised to meet me in the Public Space last time and stood me up, though I can understand why.”
He knew most of Mo Tan's situations, so he was quite understanding.
“I also added you several times.” Wan Yang echoed: “Each time, it said there was no corresponding online character. Mo Tan, you haven't abandoned the game, have you?”
Mo Tan immediately shook his head: “No, I've just been busy with other things recently and haven't had much time to play. Next time I'm online, I'll add you guys. You two are probably online every day, right?”
The two nodded.
“I used to be online every day too.” Cui Xiaoyu's voice was full of despair, as he murmured and shook his head vigorously: “I've quit, I've quit...”
The three wisely didn't ask further, then chatted casually for a while. During this, Mo Tan discovered a rather coincidental thing.
He remembered that when he was using the character 'Tan Mo' and deliberately mistook someone in the Public Space to provoke Shuang Ye, the red-haired orc he grabbed first was actually Wan Yang.
The latter had treated it as encountering a mentally ill person and had just complained about it for quite a while...
Of course, in a sense, what he said wasn't wrong.
In the afternoon, the three said their goodbyes and left. During this time, Cui Xiaoyu had maintained a look of despair. Although he had chatted quite a bit and left a good impression, he was always enveloped in an aura of sorrow and melancholy. His departing figure, to Mo Tan, looked just like Xianglin's Wife...
About half an hour later, Mo Tan, whose personality had switched once, returned home after feeding the stray cats and dogs, and began browsing the forum.
He felt a bit annoyed, the reason being his previous conjecture about the 'two-hour missing' phenomenon. If 'that possibility' truly existed, he had to find a way to solve it, so he immediately started searching for information in the Innocent World forum as soon as he got home...
He didn't find any relevant information, but in the process, he saw a post that was highly stickied at the very top of the general section.
The title was “Malice from Around the World,” and the OP's ID was: Killed by a Godlike Slaughter.
Upon clicking it, Mo Tan realized he had seen this poster's thread before. It was a Popular Science post about death penalties a few days ago.
It briefly explained the cost of dying in Innocent World, which was essentially like deleting your account and starting over. The system would randomly assign a new race and initial spawn location to the deceased player, with all previous items and experience gone. It was extremely severe.
Today's post, however, was a mood post, basically detailing how miserable, pathetic, and unlucky the poster was, how many tragic and moving events he had experienced from the start of the beta to now, and finally stated that he had decided to AFK, cherishing life and staying away from online games from then on.
However...
Because the post received a large amount of support and encouragement within just a few hours of being published, the poster seemed to have cheered up slightly in his most recent reply, stating that he might consider giving the game another chance.
Mo Tan felt he couldn't let this unlucky child suddenly lose his dreams, so he also replied simply, essentially saying things like 'Great responsibilities fall upon those who are tormented, disgusted, broken, and harmed,' hoping that the poster would believe that as long as he kept fighting despite repeated failures, he would eventually taste success...
Then he continued his information gathering, and after two fruitless hours, he turned off his computer and lay down in the game pod.
...
【Your mental connection has been detected. Personal information is being confirmed...】
【Connection complete. Character information is being read.】
【Welcome back, lawful good Mo. Innocent World is about to load. Good night.】
When Mo Tan appeared in a corner of Anka Market, this largest trading area in the Northwest Continent had already woken up, with a constant stream of merchants and travelers, bustling with activity.
There were still two days until the Forest Sprite elder said someone would pick him up. Mo Tan planned to stay away from danger as much as possible during this time, hoping to complete that world quest safely.
But at the same time, he also hoped to improve his strength a little, as Tan Mo and Black Vatican's characters were now significantly stronger than Mo, especially after the former had just completed the unique quest 'Destroy 'Hero' Dave,' which directly leveled his Deceiver profession to level five, while his current character was still just a level 1 warrior...
Feeling suddenly exhausted, Mo Tan thought for a moment then walked towards the Adventurers' Guild, secretly vowing to complete several legitimate quests today!
Just then, he suddenly heard a loud, approaching, drawn-out, clear, melodious, adorable... call.
“Woof!!”
Chapter 44: End