Mother Tang and Big Brother Tang almost couldn’t hold back their laughter at the dinner table, but both sides tried to maintain their facial nerves for the sake of everyone’s face.
Tang Xiao smiled. “Then… My business…”
“I won’t say anything more, as long as you can keep that score in the future.” Father Tang waved his hand. He hadn’t given up the idea of letting his youngest son turn back to the shore, but there was no hurry for that.
Tang Xiao got this guarantee and thought he would be happy. However, he couldn’t be happy when he thought of that weird game. He ate the entire meal absent-mindedly, thinking about what happened in the game.
Father Tang was very happy with Tang Xiao’s change this semester. He opened an extra bottle of expensive wine and planned to drink with his wife. The two children wisely retreated in advance after eating, leaving the candlelight dinner time for this couple who had gone through thousands of sails and were still loving.
“Xiaoxiao.”
Before Tang Xiao closed the door to his room, his big brother stopped him. His eyebrows and eyes raised slightly. “Did you encounter anything unhappy? I feel that you were absent-minded during dinner.”
“It’s nothing.” Tang Xiao subconsciously replied, but when he thought of that weird game, he suddenly fell silent.
For some time before dinner, he also tried to look for traces of the company behind this game on the Internet, but strangely, he couldn’t find it. He even asked a friend who studied computer science, but the other party investigated and mysteriously told him that he couldn’t help in this matter.
With the lawless character of the other party, it was hard to imagine what he would not dare to do. Unless it was…
Thinking of this, Tang Xiao subconsciously glanced at Tang Chen. The other party was still standing quietly in place. Under the light of the corridor, the tall figure cut the dividing line between light and shadow, full of oppression. The shadows fell under his deep eyebrows, but his gaze was still gentle and tolerant when looking at Tang Xiao.
Big Brother Tang had a very mysterious job. After he was discharged from the army, he joined a secret organization that was said to be a national background. He didn’t stay at home too much on weekdays, and even his parents did not know what was his job.
Entangled for a moment, Tang Xiao finally summoned up the courage to raise his eyes and stare intently at Tang Chen. “Big brother, do you know the game <Mushroom Era>?”
He couldn’t see much expression on Tang Chen’s face. “No. What’s wrong?”
“I received an invitation to the game, tried it out, and then realized it was a little weird…” Tang Xiao said, finally seeing a crack in Tang Chen’s mask-like perfect expression management.
“You got an invitation too? What now? Is the game over?” Tang Chen, who had always been calm, finally couldn’t help but ask.
“En? It’s not over.” Tang Xiao said. Oh no, the first game did end quickly, but he could open it again for a few games. As long as he wanted to continue, the game would not end so quickly, right?
Hearing this, Tang Chen breathed a sigh of relief visible to the naked eye. He looked at Tang Xiao’s curious eyes and also realized that he had overreacted a bit just now.
Tang Chen weighed his words and said vaguely on the edge of not stepping on the line. “This game, well, it’s really not as simple as you think. However, you don’t have to worry about it too much. It’s not a bad thing.”
“What do you mean?” Tang Xiao couldn’t help but ask.
“I can’t say much… Just play it as a normal game.” Tang Chen was silent for a while, but still said, “Don’t be too nervous, but survive as long as possible.”
In an instant, all kinds of speculations appeared in Tang Xiao’s mind. Sure enough, it was not that he had a problem with learning new knowledge in the game, but that there was a problem with this game!
Thinking of the words of his previous computer science friend, as well as his big brother’s evasive eyes at this moment, the owner behind, as expected, is the government, right?
So this game is a project launched by the government? But why only get some people to test it? Or is it confidential?
Tang Xiao had all kinds of wild speculations in his mind. Of course, he wouldn’t be stupid enough to ask. Looking at his brother’s expression, this project must still be a secret among secrets. Even his brother didn’t know that he had also received the beta test qualification.
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.
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As soon as he thought that he was about to participate in such a big event, and in his favorite field of gaming, Tang Xiao’s original concerns were swept away. He even felt endless enthusiasm.
“Brother, don’t worry! I’ll definitely try my best to play through this game!” Tang Xiao said firmly, “This brother of yours can’t do anything else, but I’m good at playing games!”
“No need!” Tang Chen’s voice suddenly raised.
Tang Xiao:?
Tang Chen also realized that he had lost control of his emotions just now. His expression eased down. “I mean, you don’t need to be so aggressive. Compared to the strategy game, the first thing is to ensure your own safety in the game. Do you understand?”
“Oh…” Tang Xiao blinked thoughtfully. “Aside from safety, is there anything else Big Brother has to tell me?”
“… Little quick-witted,” Tang Chen poked his head helplessly. “Okay. One more thing, it’s best if you can awaken superpowers. If not, stay away from those superpowers’ people.”
“Superpower?!” Tang Xiao’s eyes lit up. “Does this game still have superpower templates? What are the conditions for awakening?”
“Only a few people can awaken superpowers. Generally speaking, the greater the stimulation, the greater the likelihood of awakening, such as near death.” Tang Chen’s expression was serious. “But you should never try to awaken your superpower just for the sake of awakening it. Be careful of losing your life.”
Tang Xiao believed he had died many times without awakening. It seemed unlikely that he would ever awaken. He decided to forget about it and focus on completing the main task.
Tang Chen stretched out his hand to rub his little brother’s furry head, and repeatedly instructed, “Be obedient. It’s great to survive until the end. Xiaoxiao is so smart. You must know what I mean, right?”
Tang Xiao nodded.
“Oka. Go back to our room.”
Seeing Tang Xiao close the door, there was a melancholy in Tang Chen’s face as he turned around to go back to his room.
But instead of rushing to rest, he took out another black mobile phone from the drawer in his pocket. It was not equipped with any software, only a call function. He made a call silently.
“Brother Tang, what’s wrong? Aren’t you on vacation?”
“Xiao Che… My family received the beta test for that game.”
“Ah…” There was a few seconds of silence on the other side of the phone. For a moment, he didn’t know what to say.
Tang Chen stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the night outside the villa with a furrowed brow.
The person on the other side was silent for a moment and tried to comfort him. “It’s okay. Since it’s brother Tang’s family, it’ll be fine.”
“I hope so.” Tang Chen said softly with his eyes closed.
But he couldn’t help but think of the old days.
He left his parents a long time ago for the passion in his heart and went to the army alone to experience, even lost contact for three years for various reasons. He also knew how anxious and worried his parents were in the past three years. However, thanks to his little brother accompanying his parents, they were able to recover.
Therefore, when his little brother grew his wings and chose to pursue his dream, Tang Chen did not hesitate to choose to support him.
It was just that the accident came so quickly and too suddenly.
Tang Chen was familiar with the game called <Mushroom Era> and understood that everything in the game was incredibly realistic, surpassing the capabilities of artificial intelligence. Some players had successfully brought certain technologies from the game into reality, which was why the country took notice.
The country should have banned citizens from logging into the game and investigated the truth gradually. However, the government allowed a select few from the private sector to conduct a beta test and did not interfere with their decisions. Instead, they set up a special organization to study the game’s content.
Tang Chen was one of the insiders, but he had not officially joined this institution, so he didn’t know a lot. He was still hesitant, but now that he knew that his family was already involved, there was nothing to hesitate about.
“Xiao Che, I agree to your invitation.”
“If it had been half an hour ago, I would have jumped with joy.” The voice on the other side of the phone said, “But now, it’s not as happy as it could be… but don’t worry, Brother Tang, I really didn’t lie to you. Your family will be fine.”
“Okay, I believe you.”
Tang Chen put away his phone, his eyes still gazing into the starless night outside.
The lights in Tang Xiao’s room were always on. He knew that his brother had logged on to that mysterious game, but didn’t know the truth about it.
………
Tang Xiao in the room, on the other hand, didn’t think about it that much. After getting the information from his big brother, he had no more worries about this game. He put on his helmet, logged into the game, and directly loaded the archive from when he logged out earlier.
Opening his eyes, he saw a familiar computer screen, on which an email from Lodge was still showing the content of the little monster’s project that had been suspended.
It was still difficult to comprehend with Lv1 biology knowledge. Tang Xiao was aware that the game was not easy. He forced himself to read, despite not understanding many terms. Eventually, he grasped the overall concept of the project.
Just as Tang Xiao wondered whether to exchange all of his favorability points for biology knowledge, suddenly a reminder of the drastic rise and fall of favorability rang in his ears.
[428 Favorability: -10]
[428 Favorability: +2]
[428 Favorability: -6]
Tang Xiao:? What is this roller coaster ride here?
He watched the favorability that had risen with great difficulty rise and fall, and finally even began to move towards a tendency of zero.
Although the favorability points he had earned would not be deducted, it was the favorability that he had managed to gain with great difficulty!
Tang Xiao leaped out of bed and quickly got dressed. He slipped on his shoes and donned a white coat. With determination, he headed towards the laboratory.
He wanted to see what had made the little monster’s favorability go up and down so much.
At this time, it was already past 11 in the evening, but when Tang Xiao walked to the research institute, the lights were still bright. The busy scientific research workers seemed to have no time to rest, just like the worker ants in the ant nest searching and working diligently.
Before approaching the laboratory, he heard the sound of laughter coming from inside.
“Is this monster really intelligent?”
“That’s true. How else did it escape before? Testing the intelligence of the experimental subject is also part of the experiment. Hehe, look at me.”
“Hey, is it okay to go that far?”
“Put your heart in mind. It was meant to be weakened periodically as well. Do you guys still want a repeat of what happened before?”
“Make sense.”
‘Sizzle——’
There was a sound of electricity inside, followed by the sound of something snapping against the floor. The laughter of the crowd:
“Haha, it’s so fun. It got electrocuted and bounced around.”
“What about your mighty before? Try to escape and we’ll see?”
“Xi….xi…”
“Oh? Does it also make sounds?”
“Yes. However, at most, it’s just a few syllables. This monster’s intelligence isn’t high enough to speak.”
Tang Xiao’s ominous feeling grew stronger as he hastened his steps to glance inside, his expression darkening.
It is unclear when 428 was moved from the enclosed cell to an observation room similar to the one with the clear glass window that was used during the first meeting. The materials here should have all been changed and now have electrified features.
Several newcomer researchers were tinkering with the newly sent console. An electric gun capable of emitting an electric current protruded from the laboratory, aiming to keep firing at 428, who had a hard time dodging the electric current.
It was clear that several people were taking advantage of the test opportunity to wait for a chance for revenge.
Not that the blood-red little monster no longer had the mycelium that covered the entire cell that Tang Xiao saw when he entered before. It had become a very small mass, and he didn’t know if he was deliberately hiding it or injured.
Tang Xiao only felt his scalp tingle. He couldn’t sit idly by, because, at the moment he probed, several researchers with their backs to him might not have noticed, but the eyes spread out in all corners of the little monster’s body had definitely locked onto his position.
The proof was that as soon as he probed, the favorability that had just halted began to swipe continuously, as if by magic.
Tang Xiao regretted that he had come here. Perhaps it was a smart choice to pretend he didn’t see it. He was also a researcher, wearing a white coat, and this identity in itself would cause 428’s natural hatred.
Just like now, the repressed hostility and anger in the plural orange-yellow pupils almost burst out of the glass walls.
The favorability that was originally hovering on the edge of 5 fell directly to 0.
Tang Xiao: …Oh, oh no.
It’s so hard for him to gain favorability ah!
Hi Oyen… There’s a little typo up there : Oka. 🙈
Yikes… So gege is sort of involved in it too 🤔
Thank you for the chapter!~
Thanks for the update.
Poor 428à
I think Tang and his brother were talking on completely different wavelength. 😂
Oo based on gege’s reaction I wonder if some have died in the game in real life or something like that? Like why so anxious about mc dieing in game?
Thanks for translating
Thanks for the chapter♡
Thank you for the chapter 😍 ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
Arigathanks gozaimuch for the translation 💞 💞 💞