Edited by Jules
Cheng Wenyi put down his glass and looked at his assistant. “When did Fei Luo join? Why haven’t I seen him before?”
The gorgeous assistant replied, “It was about a month ago. He was recommended by three senior VIP members, but today is his first time here.”
Cheng Wenyi thought about it. About a month ago, he had something to do and had chosen to stay in the Advent World, so he hadn’t returned to the real world. Furthermore, he had never had any interest in voting on admitting new members, so it was no wonder he had no idea that Fei Luo had unexpectedly become a member here.
This guy whose background couldn’t be found out truly was a troublesome opponent.
He waved his hand, indicating that the assistant could leave.
•
The other side.
After Luo revealed his status as a member, Xiao Lan and Fei Luo headed towards the room Cheng Wenyi was in under Wang Shiqi’s guidance.
The interior decor here went the route of low-key luxury; there weren’t any flashy golden-bright and dazzling decor, but the design in every detail and the quality of the materials were absolutely extraordinary; even those who were ignorant could discern the attention to detail.
The air was filled with a light woody fragrance that wasn’t intense; there was just the sense it was there, like an intangible adornment, which added to the entire environment.
The room Cheng Wenyi was in had the best view here, and there was even a private swimming pool on the side.
Xiao Lan’s gaze carelessly shifted towards the swimming pool, but he unexpectedly glimpsed a familiar figure — Mu Yang.
The punk youth didn’t look good at the moment. He was sitting at a table by the swimming pool, a stack of blank essay papers beside him. In the light of a lamp, Mu Yang was writing at a tremendous speed. It was incredibly fast, his pen practically blurring.
In front of him, a brand new Switch in its package was being held in the hand of a man in a suit; in his other hand, the man held a timer.
Right at that moment, the timer hit zero.
Mu Yang froze.
The man in the suit put down the timer and heartlessly said, “Over the time limit.”
After that, he opened the Switch package before Mu Yang’s reluctant eyes, booted it up to show him that it was in perfect condition, then —
Splash —
Tossed it into the pool.
“Sss —” That sight made Mu Yang’s heart ache so badly he clutched his chest.
After the game ended, he had returned to check his video games whose causal links to him had been severed. Sure enough, all of them were accidentally broken due to various problems or freakish reasons, and couldn’t be fixed at all.
Losing almost all of his video games after the last instance already gave Mu Yang a lot of heartache, yet now he had to watch helplessly as a brand new game console was tossed into the water. This was simply immense torture to game lovers.
Clearly, this was the result Cheng Wenyi wanted.
The man in the suit expressionlessly picked up a similarly packaged, brand new PS4 from the table beside him, and pressed the timer again. “40 minutes have started. According to Cheng shao’s orders, if you complete the essay, this belongs to you. If you haven’t finished by the end of the time limit, this will be the next one to go into the pool.”
Hearing this, Mu Yang no longer had the time to be distressed over the already deceased Switch. He hastily snatched up the pen and attempted to save this PS4 in front of him.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Xiao Lan glanced to the side of the man in the suit. There were still several types of game consoles there, as well as a few gaming laptops that didn’t look cheap.
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At that moment, Xiao Lan’s heart was filled with sympathy.
•
“Cheng shao, Mr Xiao and Mr Fei have arrived.” Wang Shiqi knocked on the door.
“Come in ba.” Cheng Wenyi’s voice came through the door.
Entering the room, Xiao Lan noticed that the style was different from the low-key luxury outside. The entire place was mainly white in color; while there weren’t any gold or diamonds of the nouveau riche, the entire design was clearly a little more high-class, revealing a style similar to Cheng Wenyi himself.
Cheng Wenyi sat by the window; he was once again wearing a white haute couture suit that was different from before, looking as flamboyantly handsome as always.
He raised his glass to greet Xiao Lan and Luo. “Welcome.”
Xiao Lan nodded at him. “You’ve waited a long time.”
Luo also nodded at him in greeting.
When the two sat down, the assistant served them tea and refreshments before quietly withdrawing, leaving the space to the three of them.
Cheng Wenyi reclined against the sofa, his posture looking very relaxed. He looked at Xiao Lan. “Before discussing Xiao Chengyan, you can ask me about any misgivings you have. After that, you won’t necessarily be in the same mood.”
Xiao Lan also appeared very calm, and didn’t have any intention of rushing to ask about Xiao Chengyan right away. “Might as well talk about things relevant to you first ba.”
Cheng Wenyi raised his eyebrows. “Me?”
Xiao Lan smiled. “I’m very interested in both you and Lunhui. As a player organisation, Lunhui’s methods are very unique.”
Cheng Wenyi didn’t plan to avoid discussing Lunhui. He asked in return, “Do you know what players have in common?”
Xiao Lan gave Luo a meaningful look.
Luo instantly understood and said unhurriedly in his deep and magnetic voice, “After suddenly disappearing and then reemerging not long after, they will generally resign and live alone, becoming estranged from their past relationships as much as possible, as well as reducing contact with other people. After this, their whereabouts become intermittent, up until — they completely became a missing person one day.”
“Yes. It’s precisely because of this that their connection with reality is forced to become more and more distant, but people have their concerns, after all.” Cheng Wenyi sipped his wine. “However, the Advent World doesn’t allow players to exploit the strength bestowed in the games in the real world. In the past, there were some — because they felt that they had no hope of clearing games — who took a risk out of desperation and chose to commit a violation in the real world in order to leave some money for their family members. In the end, they were dealt with on the orders of the Advent World as an example.
“But I’m different. Thanks to my original family background, I can provide them all the help they need; exchanging it later for some benefits can’t be much cause for criticism, right?”
Xiao Lan stared into his eyes. “According to your personality, this method seems too kind. The Cheng Wenyi I know isn’t such a philanthropist.”
Cheng Wenyi smiled. “Of course, I can also use my influence in the real world to threaten them into working for me; in the past, there were people who tried this, but they all died. Most of them died when their subordinates revolted in the games. No one would be perfectly happy to be suppressed; the heavier the oppression, the more unwilling they would be. Only interests are the most stable connection.
“Staff are like cattle. Rear them in an enclosure with a comfortable environment, and they’ll produce unending value for you. This is sustainable development.
“All I do is help their families in the real world; the price is paid in the game,” Cheng Wenyi said. “In any case, with my status, I don’t need to rely on the help of players in reality.”
If Mu Yang was here, he would definitely say, “Boss, you’re flaunting your wealth again.” Unfortunately, the youth was now fighting for his video games, and was too busy to roast his family’s boss.
Making use of his power in the real world, Cheng Wenyi plucked the wool of the Advent World. It had to be said that Cheng Wenyi truly was daring; he was very clearly feeling out the extent of the Advent World’s tolerance.
He gathered players, but didn’t use their strength to affect the real world; in reality, he was just like a philanthropist who helped the poor. In the Advent World, these people who had gathered together for the sake of real-world benefits then formed a powerful player organisation.
It was also because of Cheng Wenyi’s own financial ability that Lunhui was very hard to replace, and the loyalty of the organisation members were even stronger.
After all, other player organisations couldn’t find such a rich and overbearing boss to take care of their family members.
Xiao Lan summed it up: “This is the so-called difference in price earned by the middleman?”
Cheng Wenyi: “…”
Why did he suddenly feel like his pretentious style had disappeared, and he was akin to a secondhand dealer?
Xiao Lan asked, “I hear that Lunhui members are a little unscrupulous in the way they do things?”
“That’s not under my orders.” Cheng Wenyi expressed his own innocence. “The KPI itself is a system formulated to encourage employees; the greater the results, the better the rewards, so isn’t spending a bit more thought and effort for your goal very normal? Sometimes, though, they will be a little too excessive in their efforts.”
In short — company slaves who strove for KPI couldn’t be defeated.
Seeing Xiao Lan looking at him like he was a black-hearted boss, Cheng Wenyi’s lips quirked. “It’s precisely because they are this hardworking that Lunhui has information which most organisations don’t.”
Xiao Lan remained unperturbed. “I’d like to hear the details.”
This was the attitude of “since you want to say it so much, then I’ll mercifully lend an ear”.
Cheng Wenyi saw that Xiao Lan was still indifferent, and very nonchalantly said, “Lunhui once tried to put together a game guide.”
Xiao Lan had wondered before that with so many instances as well as the chance that players would enter the same instance, why hadn’t he heard of something like a guide? Hearing Cheng Wenyi’s words now, it seemed there was an inside story.
Xiao Lan grasped the keywords in his sentence. “Once?”
Cheng Wenyi nodded. “At that time, Lunhui recorded 1258 instances in total. This is still just a small portion of all the instances; no one knows how many Advent World game rounds there are.
“However, when we summarised the records, we realised — the guides put together by different people in the same game but different rounds all had differences; there were even some that were complete opposites. Moreover, it wasn’t just a particular round; Lunhui members who entered several of the game rounds discovered this was the case.”
Xiao Lan: “The instance changes?”
Cheng Wenyi: “Correct. The same instance, and the same mission, but there’s a chance that the details of the requirements are completely different, to the point that a safe choice in record A could be a death trap in B.”
Xiao Lan said, “So this means that a guide cannot be compiled at all.”
Cheng Wenyi looked out the window. “Correct. The Advent World is a world that is constantly changing. Don’t treat it as an inflexible system; this is the final conclusion gleaned from Lunhui’s data.”
What on earth was the Advent World? This nightmare-like shroud over the heads of all the players was powerful, mysterious, and hard to pin down.
Both sides didn’t speak for a time, and the room sank into a short silence.
At that moment, there was a slight sound from the window.
Shirley, who had previously run out to play, just happened to enter through the window. A snow-white fluffball gracefully landed on the floor like a feather.
“Meow~” Shirley greeted its owner.
Turning its head, it saw Xiao Lan and also called out to him. “Meow~”
This conversely made Xiao Lan think of what Diyi Fugui once said, that the Lunhui boss had brought a cat out from a game. However, Diyi Fugui never mentioned that this cat could come and go freely in both the games and the real world. He had never thought that the aforementioned cat would be Shirley.
Xiao Lan looked at Cheng Wenyi. “This is Shirley?”
Cheng Wenyi put down his glass. “Shirley is a test product which I tried to separate from the Advent World. Although it could leave the game, it wasn’t a complete success. Its connection with the Advent World still exists, and when entering games, it’ll still follow me in.”
Shirley looked at Luo. Because Luo was being suppressed in the real world, the cat felt that the big beast now wasn’t as scary as before.
Gathering its courage, Shirley tried to walk over to Xiao Lan’s side and rub its furry head against his pant leg. “Meow~”
Seeing that Shirley unexpectedly wasn’t afraid of approaching him, Xiao Lan couldn’t help reaching out to stroke its snow-white fur.
Shirley’s fur was fluffy and soft, and was smoother than satin. It was warm to the touch, and he could even feel Shirley’s happy little purr; this was simply the height of mortal pleasure.
Shirley raised its little head and tilted it to give Xiao Lan an earnest look. After verifying that the other also liked it a lot, it directly leapt into Xiao Lan’s lap gracefully.
And rolled over to reveal its belly to him.
One would like to ask, that furry, soft belly and pink little paw pads, paired with large eyes looking straight at you – how many people in the world could refuse?
On this side, Xiao Lan and Shirley played very cheerfully.
On the other side, Luo’s expression was a little dark.
He had a strong sense of crisis, as if… his status as a pet was being challenged.
Very good, truly worthy of being his strongest opponent since the beginning of history.
Seeing the scene of ‘I love you but you love it’ playing out opposite and Luo’s pitch-black expression, Cheng Wenyi suddenly felt a little invigorated, as if he had finally turned the tables.
His gaze towards Shirley also became especially benevolent, even though all he could see at the moment was just a round and furry butt.
How should Shirley be rewarded? A month of canned food?
No no no, canned food was too ordinary.
Cheng Wenyi remembered that Shirley liked to eat tuna; he decided to tell his assistant to prepare a sufficient amount of atlantic bluefin tuna to be directly flown in by air, and it had to be the freshest so that Shirley could eat to its heart’s content.
As if sensing its owner’s gaze, Shirley turned its head. “Meow~”
It was then met with Cheng Wenyi’s smile, which contained a practically unimaginable level of kindness. If that smile was seen by his subordinates, they might think that their family’s boss had finally gone mad.
Shirley tilted its head, large, blue eyes filled with deep mistrust. “Mrph?”
The author has something to say:
Today’s Play of The Day — Shirley
Shirley (raises its small head): Meow~
Baobao Notes
As someone who heavily researched cat behaviours because I was taking in a very wary stray cat, if the cat turns to reveal its belly at you, it’s not an invitation to pet it. It’s a show of trust, and if you pet it the cat will probably be offended or pissed. My cat, Lady, does reveal her belly to me on very special occasions when she deigns to lower her dignity to mortal levels.
Extra Kofi chapter!
I love cats and I especially love Shirley making Luo jealous lol.
Thanks for the chapter! <3
+1 LMAO 😂, but unfortunately, the cats doesn’t seem to like me 🙁
My pet cat always jumps at me and scratch me whenever I approach it T-T
I see… The last time a cat revealed its belly to me, I ended up getting several shots of anti rabies. And yes, I thought it wanted belly rubs 😂😂😂
Anyway, Thank you very much for the chapter and thank you for the additional information ❤️❤️❤️
About cat, I think it’s depend on the cat. I had 2 cats who were the kitten from my first cat that would let me give them belly rubs almost all the time. But the mommy only let me hold her belly/put my hand on her belly, no rubs.
Thank you for the chapter ❤️
of course there are always exceptions to every rule! but usually, especially for stray cats, belly rubs are a nono. cats that were raised domestically since birth are likely to be less against it though ^^
Luo, be more careful with your expressions, CWY is already catching on x’D
Thx for the bonus ch ٩( >ヮ<)۶
Thanks for the chapter! ^^)❤
LMAO Luo 🤣
God damned rich people 🤧(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻
Thank you for the chapter!
I have 3 cats. One like woman of easy virtue – you can pet her like you want, even belly. Second one is purest fluffy soul – very likes when you pet him and have nothing against rub his belly. And third one is total tsundere (but only for me, for others she very good girl) – when I’am trying to pet her, she very against it, but in the next second when I stop trying to touch her and go, she like “HOW DARE YOU!!!”.
The funny thing: all three are siblings
thanks for the chapter~
But I am a cat lover and if any kitten shows tummy I would rub rub and rub
There was not a case when they were against it
Anyone noticed that Luo declared himself as Xiao Lan’s pet? It’s fine, Luo. Because later you’ll be Xiao Lan’s husband 😉😉
Who needs a character to kick puppies to establish their villainy when they can instead destroy perfectly good technology for no reason? Well played, author haha
Thank you so much for translating! <3
💜💜💜
Lmao everyone always days that but my cat loves belly rubbs 😂😂
My cats love when I pet their belly. Had some cats who hated it tho. It depends on the cat I guess, they’re cute either way
HE WAS FINALLY ABLE TO PET THE CAT AAAAA (☆▽☆)
When my cat shows me his belly I scratch him behind the ears and he turns into a motorboat, very adorable! Even though he’s white he not as fluffy as Shirley though T-T
As a fellow game lover I feel you Mu Yang, your pain is my pain brother
Why do I feel like lighting a candle for Shirley 😅 I feel like Lou wants to turn into a rabid dog in an instant And rip this white fluff into shred hahaha 😂
Luo gege you aren’t a pet!! do you see yourself as one?????
but ah! it’s so cute! he was able to pet the cat QAQ