Edited by Jules
Taking advantage of the slight chaos in the classroom, Xiao Lan pretended to also be looking at the excitement, but in reality was observing the students present.
Previously, the headmistress Madam Wilder said Kriv had been established for special children, but aside from some who looked to have physical disabilities or slight intelligence impediments, most of the students looked very normal.
So much so that in the current situation alone, they all had the liveliness and enthusiasm of teenagers. Their interactions with their classmates were also very natural, which didn’t fit with Xiao Lan’s original conjecture that they might have psychological issues.
For now, he couldn’t tell what made these students special.
The sound of glasses being knocked over rang out again and again as various disorderly situations emerged non-stop. Luo strode over swiftly on his long legs and shuttled between the seats like a bustling lifeguard.
His smile didn’t waver as he swiftly handled with propriety the situations caused by the students, yet in his heart emerged a new understanding about the enigma that was humans —
Sure enough, humans were creatures that were very hard to understand.
The students became more and more enthusiastic in creating accidents. Finally, Madam Wilder had no choice but to announce that those who made too many mistakes in class would be given demerits, before the students stopped trying to create explosions in their beakers.
When class ended, Xiao Lan and the students tidied up their tabletops and left.
And Luo left together with the headmistress.
It seemed that the two wouldn’t have a chance to act together for the time being, but searching for clues from two angles like this was also pretty good. After all, there were several restrictions on what students could do on campus.
Upon returning to his dormitory.
Kriv’s dormitories were all single rooms, so there was no issue of students bothering each other at night. The inside of the dorm was very peaceful, and it seemed that Xiao Lan would be able to sleep well.
After showering, Xiao Lan lay down in bed, and suddenly felt that the room was a little too quiet.
When he was in a game, he always operated together with Luo. Even when sleeping, they were, for the most part, together. In the real world or the player hub, both of them would only be separated by a wall.
Being completely apart like this seemed to be a very rare experience.
Xiao Lan suddenly felt that he was a little unaccustomed to it.
Habits truly couldn’t be any more terrifying.
Lying down in bed, Xiao Lan took out from the storage space the envelope from when he first met Luo. The envelope was still the same: an European style, fairly plain paper, and the very familiar handwriting on it which said ‘Luo’.
It was just that after clearing their first game, the item description turned from ‘This is Zhang Dong’s acknowledgement of you since you’re poorer than him, but this envelope simply looks like a randomly picked supermarket unsaleable item’ to ‘You will always have me in your life to accompany you until the end of everything’.
Xiao Lan’s fingertips caressed the surface of the envelope as he recalled the moment the two of them met. At that time, he was just a newbie with a stupefied expression, and Luo was also just a pitch-black shadow.
Thinking of this, it seemed a very long time ago, but in reality, it hadn’t been more than a few months.
Xiao Lan was staring at the envelope, lost in thought, when the writing on the envelope suddenly changed:
【Something the matter, sir?】
Xiao Lan was taken aback. He didn’t think he would suddenly be faced with this question; he felt slightly guilty for no reason, as if he had been caught red-handed doing something bad, yet he also didn’t quite understand what he was feeling guilty about.
Seeing that Xiao Lan didn’t reply, the handwriting changed again:
【The inside of the letter has a part of my main body. If there is anything which concerns you, you can write on the letter to communicate with me. I will be able to sense it】
【But sounds can’t be transmitted】
Luo had told Xiao Lan previously about the envelope containing part of him, but Xiao Lan hadn’t thought much of it at the time.
Now that he was reminded, he finally reacted. If part of Luo was in the envelope, then just now, wouldn’t he have been touching…
Not only that, Xiao Lan wrote on the envelope earlier. Bringing Luo’s face and body into it, that image couldn’t help being a little too stimulating.
Hurry up and stop… Don’t think too much…
Xiao Lan patted his face and quickly stopped his thoughts from scurrying in a strange direction.
He hastily found a corner of the envelope and wrote:
【It’s nothing, I just accidentally took out the envelope】
【Goodnight】
After writing that, he regretted it a little. Goodnight, his ass. Luo didn’t need to sleep; what goodnight was there in his life? If it truly was goodnight, that would mean something had happened to Luo.
After a moment, Luo’s writing appeared unhurriedly, and he didn’t mind the goodnight issue at all:
【Goodnight, sir. I wish you sweet dreams】
“Huu…” Xiao Lan sighed in relief.
He returned the envelope to the storage space, lay back down in bed contentedly, and closed his eyes. “It’s still better to be good and sleep ba.”
Xiao Lan’s sleep quality had always been very good; even with what had happened before bed, he very quickly fell into a deep sleep.
Xiao Lan rarely dreamt, but this time was an exception.
His vision gradually cleared in the dark, and what greeted his eyes was the familiar gothic hallway.
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.
Why was it still this instance, even in his dreams? Xiao Lan was a little puzzled.
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That was…
Xiao Lan thought back to when he was fifteen. Because of his father’s disappearance along with his mother’s sudden illness, his life turned into a mess. He had no choice but to try and cook himself.
However, cooking probably wasn’t in his nature. The first time he cooked, he hurt himself; the burn on his wrist was especially severe, and a deep scar was left even after it healed. Even now, he still had it.
Why would he dream of his fifteen-year-old self?
Could it be that his thoughts during the day followed him into his dreams at night?
But before he could think it through, dream-Xiao Lan had already begun moving. Looking at his surroundings, he was probably planning to head to his dormitory.
But several teenagers also dressed in uniform appeared on the path up ahead.
They gazed at Xiao Lan with ridicule and mockery, acting as if they were watching a good show.
“Look guys, it’s an unlucky newbie.”
“This kid truly hasn’t even matured yet, but he actually entered a game round of this difficulty, haha.”
“Do you sympathise with him? How about you go and tell him the rules?”
“I definitely won’t. In any case, newbies will die sooner or later.”
“Want to guess how he’ll die?”
“I’m guessing that he’ll die by some random little death trap.”
“I feel like he’ll die at the hands of an NPC.”
“Perhaps he’ll die at the hands of those lunatics…”
“Tsk, if he falls into the hands of those lunatics, he’s better off committing suicide.”
These people didn’t suppress their voices at all when they discussed him. Their malicious and unperturbed tones didn’t hide anything and were completely unmasked.
Xiao Lan could feel the doubts and terror in his dream-self.
He didn’t understand why he had appeared here, and why he had been arranged to enter this strange school. What in the world were those people talking about?
What newbie, what game round, what rules…
And who were the lunatics they were talking about?
Dream-Xiao Lan walked over to them in an attempt to gain answers, but he then saw them scatter haphazardly. They were unimaginably fast, and even he who was usually first place in a sports competition wasn’t able to catch up at all; he could only stand in place, alone.
“How… how can they run so fast?” dream-Xiao Lan wondered.
However, no one came out to solve his confusion. He could only head to the dormitory the teacher had mentioned to rest.
At that moment, Xiao Lan was in a very strange state. He was able to use his dreamself’s viewpoint and sense his emotions, but he was completely unable to control his own movements.
He seemed to be both the protagonist and an outsider.
Observing and pondering, yet unable to participate.
The situation his dreamself was in made him recall what Cheng Wenyi had said before about the past Advent World.
According to Cheng Wenyi, at that time, there was no ranking of players and instances; there was no newbie round, and it was very common for players to kill each other.
It was very similar to the current situation.
In the dream, young Xiao Lan was still moving forward.
All of a sudden, there was a burst of running footsteps behind him.
The youth subconsciously looked back.
But he abruptly felt an ice-cold, solid, rust-smelling chain wrap around his neck. The power wrapped around his neck was incredibly strong, and he instantly felt the threat of death.
“Hahahahahaha, I can’t survive anyway… newbies… newbies can’t survive too…
“I might as well send you on your way!”
A husky male voice rang out behind Xiao Lan’s head; the insanity and iciness in his tone made a chill run down Xiao Lan’s spine.
The chain around his neck grew tighter, and Xiao Lan’s face turned completely red from the choking sensation. It felt like his head was about to explode, and each throbbing of his blood vessels was like a loud rumble.
The youth tried to struggle.
He was very good at exercising and was considered to have impressive combat skills among his peers. However, how could an underaged ordinary person be a match for a player who had gotten stronger through the games?
The person in front of him was probably just a pitiful creature who had no hope of clearing the game and had been driven mad by the pressure of death.
“Struggle! Go on ah! Again! Again! Hahahaha, I like looking at little bugs like you struggle!”
As if pleased by the teenager’s struggles, the chain around Xiao Lan’s neck abruptly loosened, then tightened once more after he took a small gasp.
“Wu —” The youth let out a muffled, pained groan. He felt as if his neck was about to be snapped by the chain.
He now understood. The lunatics mentioned by those people most likely included the guy who was now choking him.
“Hahahahahaha…” In the face of the youth’s suffering, the attacker grew increasingly delighted.
As if only a prey’s dying struggle was able to make him feel his greatness and quash the fear of death in his heart.
The teenager on the verge of death also realised this.
As he was choking, he feigned that he was about to die in an attempt to steal a moment’s chance to gasp for breath.
Sure enough, seeing that his prey was about to die, the man who hadn’t had his fill yet loosened the chain that he was holding.
Seizing this chance, the youth violently slammed the top of his head into the other’s jaw.
The fierce collision dazed the attacker for one moment, and his hands couldn’t help falling slack again.
The teenager seized this chance and fled from the man’s chain.
He didn’t have time to check his injury, and simply turned his head back for a hasty glimpse as he memorised the other’s tall and muscular figure before using all his strength to find a random direction to escape in.
By the time the attacker recovered from his dizziness, his prey had already escaped from sight.
“Pah —” The large attacker spat out a mouthful of bloody spit. There was a cut in his mouth from the collision, and he gloomily surveyed his surroundings. “You can’t run, little bitch.”
In a panic, the youth ran, heedless of the direction.
En route, he saw one of the people who had been gesticulating at him before. He reached out, wanting to ask for help —
But met a pair of eyes filled with derision.
The teenager paused. Looking at those eyes, it was very obvious that this person wouldn’t help him.
That person also truly had no intention of helping out. He folded his arms and leaned against the wall, his voice filled with sarcasm. “You’re pretty lucky, little guy. Who knows if your luck will hold next time. Those lunatics don’t give up so easily.”
The youth turned his head back to look at the completely empty path as unease and terror howled in his heart.
He gritted his teeth. He was thoroughly exhausted after running for his life, but he didn’t dare stop. The teenager shot a glance at that indifferent passerby, then switched to a direction that the other wasn’t clear on, and continued running.
Who knew how long he ran; the sky had already turned dark.
Yet the youth was astonished to realise that he was completely unable to leave this institute.
Whether he climbed over the wall or the gate, it was like there was some invisible barrier that solidly cut off this institute from the outside.
The exhausted youth found an empty room and hid inside for the time being.
“Cough cough cough…” He clutched his throat and couldn’t help coughing. His entire throat burned with pain; the sensation of nearly being strangled to death wasn’t wonderful at all.
The youth who had finally caught his breath now felt both cold and hungry. He searched the room, trying to find something that could fill his stomach or warm himself up.
However, who knew how long this room had been empty; aside from dust and junk, there was nothing at all.
Slightly dispirited, the youth opened the final cupboard, and all he got was dust raining down from the top of the cupboard door.
“Cough cough…” The teenager choking on the dust tried to close the cupboard, but noticed a card that didn’t have dust on it in the corner. In such an environment, something that wasn’t covered in dust looked a little conspicuous.
He reached out and picked up the card. The moment he touched the card, handwriting appeared on it.
【Name: Poverty is unable to restrict my imagination (Bound)】
【Ability: 1. Imagine an ability, and it will be bestowed upon you for five minutes. The poorer you are, the greater the ability (Unactivated, activation requires poverty value of 20 million) 2. The player’s physical qualities are boosted according to the degree of poverty (Passive, unactivated)】
【Cooldown period: 24h】
【Explanation: Even if I’m broke, I can still have a dream ah! This is a broke person’s ultimate obstinacy】
The instant he saw the card clearly, it disappeared.
At the same time, he felt a skill added to his mind, which was the strange thing he had just seen.
“Skill… This is a game?” The youth’s brow furrowed slightly; he still only had a smattering of knowledge about the current situation. “And to activate it… what’s poverty value?”
He tried to imagine an ability based on what the skill said, but unfortunately, there wasn’t any reaction at all.
“Looks like it can only be used after being activated.” The youth covered in dust sighed, and sat down in dismay.
Spectator-Xiao Lan, however, was extremely surprised — his ability! Why would it appear here?!
It was his dream and he could supplement it with things he was familiar with, so this wasn’t much of an issue, but this dream really was too coherent; it was simply like it had genuinely happened.
He began to wonder: was this truly just a dream?
Time in the dream passed.
The moon had already emerged, but was half-concealed by thick clouds, so it only gave off a faint light.
The cold and hungry teenager looked out the window.
Things couldn’t go on like this. He had to find some food.
He was originally at the stage of puberty where it was easy to get hungry; skipping even a single meal would make him painfully hungry.
Furthermore, he was now being hunted, and had run for a good while. He had long overstretched his strength, and his entire stomach was empty and rumbled occasionally.
The youth even suspected that if this continued, just the sounds his stomach made would be enough to attract the guy who had attacked him.
The youth carefully poked his head out. After carefully surveying his surroundings, he walked towards where the headmistress had said the cafeteria was.
He did his best to conceal his tracks in the shelter of the buildings as he moved forward.
Finally, the cafeteria was right in front of him, and a hopeful gleam appeared in the youth’s eyes —
“I’ve — caught — you —”
A tall figure that the youth had only seen once appeared at the corner up ahead. He looked like he had been waiting here for a long time, and he smiled sinisterly at the teenager, a thick iron chain in his hand.
The youth sucked in a cold breath of air.
He also didn’t speak nonsense with the other person, and simply turned around and ran.
“This time, you can’t run.” A crazed and murderous voice came from behind him, followed by extremely quick running footsteps.
The youth didn’t dare turn around and just ran with all his might.
He knew very well that if he was just a little slower, he might not have another chance to escape.
The two once again began a chase under the moonlight. The campus late at night was very quiet, and not a figure could be seen.
But the youth truly was too tired, and the last of his strength couldn’t support him much longer. He distinctly felt his body become heavier.
In contrast, the attacker behind him had already rested for a very long time, and had even eaten a leisurely meal, so he was brimming with energy. Coupled with how he originally had a sturdy body, chasing after a practically spent teenager wasn’t much effort at all.
Rather than chasing, it was better to call it just experiencing the pleasure of his prey running like his life depended on it.
Finally, the pursuing attacker swung his chain and instantly knocked down the teenager ahead of him in a hallway.
“Wu —” The teenager landed heavily on the floor with a bang; it sounded very painful.
“Heehee, I’ve also just about had enough of playing, so just obediently go die ba.” The attacker slowly approached the youth.
The youth fell prostrate on the floor, but still tried to prop himself up and put some distance between them.
“If you want to blame someone, then blame the Advent World ba —” The attacker raised his chain again.
The youth, who had been whipped once before, knew how painful it would be. He used all his strength to roll to the side, and barely avoided this attack.
Continuous attacks lashed out at him and the youth barely evaded them.
Unfortunately, there was little room to manoeuvre around in the hallway. The teenager had already been forced to the end of the hallway, and apart from a sealed wooden door, there was no other way for him to retreat.
“Hahaha —” The attacker roared with laughter, then swung his chain with his greatest strength.
Boom — the heavy chain smashed the wooden door to pieces.
The youth shrunk in on himself at the last moment, curling up at the corner of the door and avoiding the attack. With the destruction of the door, however, the youth also fell through the doorway.
The light in the room shone on the youth, and also illuminated the deadly crisis behind him.
An ice-cold chain wrapped around his neck once again, and the pain of suffocation struck him once more.
In a trance, the teenager thought he smelled the fragrance of black tea.
“You’ve disturbed me.” A deep and magnetic male voice rang out unhurriedly in a tone so elegant it was like he was at an evening tea party.
“Fuck off! Don’t stick your nose in laozi’s business!” the attacker yelled rudely at the other. “Pretty boy, later laozi will kill you too!”
“Oh, then looks like I have no choice but to defend myself.” The elegant male voice rang out again.
“Pei! Laozi is warning you —”
The next instant, the youth felt the strength which he was practically unable to endure disappear.
The teenager lowered his head and saw the hands grasping the chain on the side disappear at a visible speed.
When he turned his head, he realised that the guy who had been relentlessly chasing him was swiftly fading before his eyes, as if he had been struck by a magic spell.
The teenager who had survived by the skin of his teeth gasped rapidly, breathing in large mouthfuls of long-absent air. He propped himself up on the floor with a lot of difficulty, and felt like he practically had no strength left.
Leather shoes slapped on the floor as they approached the youth step by step.
And finally stopped near him.
“Truly an unfortunate child. Do you want to come in and have some tea?”
The youth lifted his head at the voice, and saw shiny, black shoes, slender and long legs, a teacher uniform similar to formal attire —
After that was a face with handsome features: light gold irises, a small, elegant smile on the lips, and a straight nose with gold-rimmed glasses on a chain perched atop it.
That person had a hand stretched out to him.
Xiao Lan, who was watching the dream, felt his mind explode loudly; he couldn’t be any more familiar with that face.
This person was — Luo.
Baobao Notes
Oh!!!! What’s this? Part of the backstory or just an effect of the instance? I’m so excited!!!
Is This What I Think It IS?
Oh my god he’s been in the Advent World before!! And he’s met Luo before!!! Maybe Xiao Lan’s dad traded their positions and made him forget, and thus disappeared because he took Xiao Lan’s place?!? Xiao Lan’s father just wanted his son to be safe until he had no choice but to be sent to the Advent World, but only when he was strong and broke enough to activate the skill he picked up before!!!! AHHHH
Xiao Lan’s skill wasn’t tailored for him, HE was grommets to fit the skill!!!! Conspiracy intensifies
Groomed**
But he said his dad had already disappeared, though since his debt wasn’t too big yet maybe his dad didn’t know he had entered the game yet?
But then he somehow took him out/something happened to him so that’s when his dad made the debt arrangements?
conspiracy intensifies +1
(also, are you excited for the Luo&XL backstory? They are one of my favourite duos and I just finished my morning coffee so I’m very excited and need to tell someone 😅)
The debt was arranged for Xiao Lan by his father!! Remember? “This is a gift for my son” OR SOMETHING, and his dad was already in the advent world when he prepared this “gift” for his son… Conspiracy further intensifies
It does seem like he was in the game for quite a while before meeting Cheng shao and having him give XL crippling debt as a “gift”. What I wonder is, if these flashbacks are indeed real, did the dad somehow know about what ability XL would get beforehand or only made the arrangements once XL got the skill? If it was beforehand, then how did he know?
I’m nitpicking, but I’m really curious. conspiracy intensifies even more
Conspiracy intensifies.
This is how his dad knew what his ability was– he had already entered the Advent World in its earlier stages! I suspect his memories were tampered with, though I can’t imagine just why
But this is how he met Luo, it seems! I’m so excited for next chapter and to see if this is true– wait. I had a wild thought.
You know how how that Cheng guy said the Rebel (can’t remember the name, but the one cooperating with Wushu) could’ve been an npc? What if, he was an npc but then gained more self-awareness/autonomy thanks to XL somehow? And something happened in this instance (or another one?) that drove XL to forget about the game and made Luo rebel??
I know, my brainhole is amazing, but what if 🤔
I would definitely vaguely guess something like that so don’t worry your brain circuit also applies to me, but I wouldn’t say Insurgent (that guy in Wushe) is an NPC, cuz he just seems more powerful than that, and I just overall think Insurgent would be like part of the system or like a powerful figure/entity in the Advent World rather then simply being an NPC in a instance (maybe he could be sealed there) especially since that Insurgent guy has a high chance of being Lou(?)
So this is the reason the instance felt familiar… But is it real or only an effect of the instance QAQ I’m so curious
Thank you for the chapter!!! ❤️❤️
Hmm interesting…
Thank you for the chapter ❤️
AAAAAAAAAAh!
So they were in this instance before, they met here!
XL is probably the reason Luo was helping his dad!
I wonder who made XL forget – was it Luo or external power?
And we know Luo forgot ’cause he was broken into pieces.
So exciting!!!!
I also think that Luo decided to somewhat help XL dad just because he want to meet XL again. Or not. But I definitely feel like Luo in this dream are player
Ohhh, so excited!
thanks for the chapter~
Thanks for the chapter! ^^)❤
Oh, oh, ooohhhh, so exciting >____<
Thx for the ch (ㅅ˘ㅂ˘)
HOLY this came outta no where….I originally thought the deja vu was a ploy on part of the instance but now IM SHOCKEDD
if this acc happened then it seems to be the beginning of an explanation to a lot…like how Xiao Lan’s dad knew about the skill and why Luos envelope responded to Xiao Lan in the beginning
but also poor XL? the kid was only 15 :'( really can’t wait to see what happens in the next chapter and if XL will tell Luo about this memory (?)
If this dream was actually real and his memory had been tempered, that means Xiao Lan and Luo already met! I just wonder if Luo here is a player or the instance’s boss?
OMG?!
I am also curious about it! Is it really a dream? Is it the past? How did they forget meeting and the advent world?
thanks for the chapter! <3
Nani the f*ck?! 😱😱😱
It turns out that Xiao Lan has already entered the Advent world and became a player since long ago! Oh My Lord… 15 😰😨
woah things just got complicated @_@
also, Luo!!! how can you still be so suave?!
(heart eyes while drooling.jpg)
Thank you for the chapter!
Oh my gosh!!!! Was I right before?!!! It must be that Xiao Lan truly was in the Advent World before and somehow wound up in the school instance as his first world, acquired his ability that he couldn’t use, met Luo, and then somehow survived the instance. Then, his dad probably discovered what had happened and managed to somehow delay Xiao Lan’s entrance to the Advent World, suppressed his memory of it, and started piling debts upon debts on his son so his ability would be activated and he could protect himself on his return to the game!!!!Wow!! Talk about a plot twist!!!
Omg I know it! He’s been on the game before! Maybe he got his memory altered
And maybe Lou tearing himself apart has something to do with Xiao Lan…
I bet my non-existent money that this is not just some instance effect, this is REAL.
And the debt that Xiao Chengyan ask Cheng Wenyi to set for Xiao Lan, there is a possibility that something happened with Xiao Lan memory? But, not for really bad intention … maybe?
💜💜💜
This is getting even more interesting. It feels like this is an actual memory rather than something done by the instance. It also makes it easier to understand how the dad knew about his skill getting better the bigger his debt was.
Is this the ‘first time’ he’s in the instant?
N Luo still have that rich aura lmao
oh? interesting… i have my thoughts… i’ll just sip my tea and watch ba!