NOVEL NEXT Chapter 38: Awakening
"So, Gaia's power given to her subordinates can cross the Starry Abyss and spacetime, reaching us directly?"
"We don't know, Lord Oushen," the administrator replied helplessly. "Your Excellency Lai Anding has already gone to question the 'planner'. We can only hope for some results by then."
"Tsk, Earthlings... Can they ultimately not be trusted?"
Long Yuqiong clicked his tongue:
"An accident involving 98 people is no small matter, especially since these people were brave and battle-hardened Spiritual Warriors. We can't even officially mourn them — how the hell did that bastard's secret manage this."
"No, it's 99 people," another administrator said.
"What did you say?" Long Yuqiong froze for a moment. "I have 98 people here — wait, could it be Ms. Xia Yubing? We can't do without her."
"No, it's not her. That young girl just couldn't bear the nausea and logged off after the fight."
The administrator pulled up the background data:
"This girl should've been part of your team. Don't you have any recollection?"
Long Yuqiong looked at the data the counterpart showed and shook his head:
"I remember, but I'm not familiar with her, she's not particularly brilliant."
"Is that so, what a pity, some deities don't even get mourned after their death."
The administrator put away the tablet and cleared Yutianxiao's online status:
"A synthetic memory was implanted in him so the server won't need to shut down for maintenance, you can execute your task without worry."
"Thank you for your hard work," Long Yuqiong nodded. "We didn't handle the problem well, causing additional workload for you."
The administrator shook his head indifferently:
"It's not hard work. We slave labor deities were born to do this. Just like cannon fodder deities, we are good for nothing but fighting. As specialized deities, we are quite pure."
"... Pure?"
Long Yuqiong put one hand on his hip, looking at the dead body of the [Hairdresser]. The poison blood from the Ether had already evaporated, and although it seemed like a tragic death, it actually caused the greatest loss since the launch of "Starry Abyss".
He couldn't help but murmur:
"Is it more important not to be forgotten about myself, or is it more important to be purely focused and fulfill the mission?"
Dingdong—!
Jiaozi Niu stood at the entrance of the single dormitory, holding a grilled meat meal in one hand and looking at the word 'offline' on his terminal with the other.
He raised his head, looking at the tightly shut dormitory door, scratching his head with the terminal.
"Seems like Azi isn't home at the moment."
He said as he glanced at the sign on the dormitory door:
Room 6002
Resident: Lin Ranxia
Beside it was a photo of the resident, a girl who looked about eighteen or nineteen with slender eyebrows and shoulder-length short hair.
"Hmm—Lin Ranxia, huh."
Jiaozi Niu looked at the photo, his face slightly flushed, and he leaned against the door and sat down, smiling as he said:
"Azi... your real name is quite nice."
Azi's offline status remained on the terminal.
Jiaozi Niu wasn't in a hurry, just waiting there.
"But I never thought you actually look so pure in real life, almost like my—uh, not quite there yet. Right, I'm not at that point yet, but you're really cute and pretty... cough."
His old habit of talking to himself started acting up again, although it never happened when playing games with Cumin Powder.
"Now that I think about it, I could set foot on the professional gaming path, and Azi really helped a lot. Besides Li Aozi, in real life, Azi was the one who helped me the most and cared about me the most. But I've never been able to help in any way."
He turned his head, criticizing himself:
"I'm sorry, Azi, I didn't take revenge for you — it really pisses me off, that forced in-game plot kill, I was so close to taking out all those Secret Councilors, we were all in an advantageous position. True General even became a big monster, and Severston was formidable, and Yueyue kept playing the firefighter role..."
To pass the time, Jiaozi Niu began talking to himself, gradually starting to chat with the imagined Cumin Powder.
"Azi, the people you chose for our team are really excellent, but without you, the team really struggles. I've always thought, if you were here, the team wouldn't lack damage. As long as it's Cumin Powder, we can be at ease, because you're the best Ranger in the world, those idiots from [Qiongyu] are blind..."
He paused, lowered his head, and said:
"Also, you were the first person to praise me. Shall we play games together again? I'll create a new account and start over with you, or now that I've grown stronger, I can carry you and mow down enemies with ease."
"I think without you, the game would be a lot less fun. This version really requires output, and without you, I'd be a sitting duck, but with a 'cellmate', even if it feels like being jailed, I'd be willing."
"I seem to gradually develop a habitual dependency on you, Azi."
He hugged his knees, quietly waiting.
When the meteor streaked across the night sky, he said:
"The roast meat rice must be cold by now, right? If you don't come back, I'm going to eat it."
Until a sliver of dawn lightened the East, Jiaozi Niu looked down at his terminal with red eyes:
Cumin Powder—Offline
The last message remained from a day ago, when she was introducing Severston and Lanan as teammates to him.
The forum started discussing the dullness of this plot, the high repetition rate of monsters, and someone was bragging about their foresight in leaving early with Li Aozi, now enjoying friendly exchanges with pirates in the universe.
Jiaozi Niu, unusually, didn't browse his favorite Game Forum for a whole day, nor was he eager to go back online.
After a few hours, he couldn't hold on any longer, gobbling down the cold roast meat rice voraciously. When he went to throw out the trash at the east end of the hallway, Jiaozi Niu almost looked back every three steps, afraid of missing any message of her return.
Until the sunset once again lowered, Jiaozi Niu's legs were already numb. He looked at the gray-white avatar on his phone and fell into silence for a long time.
"Is that so? It seems Azi went on a trip to relax, she'll be back in a while, right?"
Jiaozi Niu stood up, found a reason to reassure himself, and turned to leave.
"Azi definitely wouldn't want me to be affected. I have to keep fighting and get revenge on her account as soon as possible—let's go, let's go, after all, Starry Abyss suits me—Abyssal God! Activate."
He stuffed his phone into his clothes pocket, the screen suddenly woke up, displaying a message:
"Obituary: Former [XXG] team professional player Lin Ranxia (ID: Cumin Powder), fell into a coma due to a sudden heart attack, failed to be resuscitated, passed away yesterday at 3:22 PM."
"Lin Ranxia, 19 years old, a first-level Fiery Summer e-sports athlete, once won the runner-up in the World FPS (First-Person Shooter Tournament) capability competition, and was the winner of the target shooting match."
"May you be able to raise your beloved guns again in another world and hit your desired target once more."
"Note: Low battery, clearing junk messages and background data..."
"Shutting down."
Jiaozi Niu inserted his hands into his pockets, perhaps without any awareness of what was on the terminal.
He merely hummed a tune, encouraging himself to cheer up, and walked all the way back to his home.
"VT, give me three big bowls of fried rice!"
"Welcome home, Mr. Jiaozi Niu—you seem to be in a bad mood, was your date unsuccessful?"
"Hahaha, I got stood up."
Jiaozi Niu waved his hand, grinning:
"I realized women are totally unreliable, after all... playing games is the best."
The android looked at him, its eyes constantly blinking, seemingly analyzing the issue.
"Hurry and cook, I still want to play games, there's so much I haven't experienced in the new version of Starry Abyss."
Jiaozi Niu acted as if no one else was around, sitting at the dining table, shouting:
"I'm starving to death, what are we eating today? Curry beef? Or congee?"
"Mr. Jiaozi Niu, you just ordered fried rice."
"Oh? Did I say that? Oh dear, I must be so hungry I forgot. Anyway, whatever, just serve it up, I can't wait, haha..."
The android butler lowered its head, slowly walking over to Jiaozi Niu, placing its hands on his shoulders:
"Jiaozi Niu, I'm sorry, I'm just a caretaker android, I don't know how to comfort humans—but, I heard in TV shows they say: if you have grievances or sadness, it might be better to talk about it."
"I'm fine."
Jiaozi Niu's eyes were bloodshot, yet he smiled brightly:
"I'm just in a hurry to come back and play games—in a hurry to level up quickly, to become stronger, to have the ability to protect others—that's all, isn't that how all gaming addicts are? Hahaha...hahahahaha..."
His laughter was hearty, yet his expression seemed out of control, as if his facial muscles were tightened like a zombie's, eyes staring forward, fingers clenched tightly, causing the table to violently shake with a 'bang-bang'.
VT's gaze flickered, it leaned down and gently soothed Jiaozi Niu's back from behind.
After a long silence, Jiaozi Niu suddenly became extraordinarily calm.
"...I think I understand now who the real enemy was."
"All along, I've been led by others, thinking Li Aozi would help me unconditionally because of our good relationship, but Li Aozi has his own worldview and experiences, yet I called him a butcher."
"Azi helped me enter the professional arena, yet she herself didn't get the chance to stand out, I thought such days would always continue, but I was wrong, no one will be with me forever."
"I was always relying on others, never considering what I would do without them."
Jiaozi Niu's eyes glimmered with a faint green glow, without a trace of agitation, he said calmly and serenely:
"From now on, I won't let those around me fall anymore."