GRMFBS CH221

Gu Jiancheng was not there. He hadn’t been sleeping when the “Deep Shadow” NPC was acting. Yan Yan wasn’t by his side anyway, so why bother sleeping?

Not to mention he didn’t need sleep at all now—even in the past, Gu Jiancheng had been a certified night owl.

Youth was so fleeting, why sleep when you could stay up and party!

After hanging up on Zhuo Xun, Gu Jiancheng began browsing the forum.

Approaching Science reached out again, what’s up?

Gu Jiancheng tapped open his private messages and saw the thread link Approaching Science had sent him.

Clicking in, the posts from the crowd lusting over his bounty points read just like a bunch of creepy perverts.

Heh, how boring.

Considering Approaching Science had just offered timely help in a pinch, Gu Jiancheng decided not to reply for the moment.

He scrolled through the forum and found the threads discussing him.

Gu Jiancheng clicked into the tallest building of a mega-thread.

The beginning was filled with wild guesses, but toward the latter half, people who actually knew about him started chiming in. One look at the content and he knew it was that bunch of retired players.

However, up to this point, no heavyweight figure had appeared in the thread yet, and the earlier replies from those players were even being questioned.

The reason this thread’s popularity suddenly skyrocketed into a skyscraper was that Approaching Science had shown up and replied.

The information provided by Approaching Science had never once been wrong; using his own fame, credibility, and reputation, he proved that Deep Shadow was indeed a guiltless hero.

Before long, the detailed explanatory statement from the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau was released as well.

The statement made no mention of Infinite or Reincarnation, but it confirmed that Deep Shadow had once made tremendous contributions to the world. It explained that because he was very likely carrying severe contamination and all three parties had been unable to locate him, the wanted posters had been issued. Now that it had been verified he posed no harm to the public, the wanted posters were officially revoked.

Once the detailed explanation came out, the thread began stacking floors at lightning speed.

The corners of Gu Jiancheng’s mouth curled higher and higher. I told you I just saved the world!

After finishing the thread, he opened his private messages with Approaching Science.

I Just Saved the World!: [Thanks.]

He stopped looking at the threads, turned off his phone screen, and lay flat on the ocean surface.

Looking up, the river of stars stretched above.

With his eyes open, scenes of first entering Infinite, the first dungeon, the amusement park, the apocalypse, the gambling tables of Infinite… all kinds of past memories drifted through his mind.

Player, Top 1, three-party wanted notices… just some meaningless labels of identity.

The ocean mirrored the starry sky. He let out a light laugh, countless glittering stars reflecting in his pitch-black eyes.

Mmm… I miss Yan Yan so much. I want to tell Yan Yan so badly. So, so badly. I want to take him traveling to all kinds of places right now. To the novel places he likes, to places surrounded by stars, to the forest, to the deep sea, to the sky, to every place that is free.

The waves rose and fell gently.

But Yan Yan is asleep.

Maybe I should sleep too.

Gu Jiancheng closed his eyes, resting his head on one hand, while his other hand—wearing an athletic smartband—rested lightly over his chest.

…

The moment things wrapped up on Zhan Yan and Zhan Suiru’s end, the “Deep Shadow” NPC blocking Wan Shitong vanished into thin air.

Wan Shitong was completely baffled. Entering the core zone to take a look, he saw Zhan Yan was still lingering inside and hadn’t left.

“It’s you. Have you been here this whole time?” Wan Shitong asked.

Zhan Yan said vaguely, “Mhm, hung around for a bit.”

Wan Shitong: “No wonder. I was thinking, why did that NPC block me from coming in just now?”

Only then did Zhan Yan realize that the Deep Shadow NPC had blocked Wan Shitong from entering. Ah, he’s so sweet!

The next time classmate Xiao Gu chuckled coldly at him, he wouldn’t come play with the “Deep Shadow” NPC anymore.

He could just go play with classmate Xiao Gu directly!

Wan Shitong was still lamenting: “His favorability toward you must be pretty high. How did you manage that?”

He wanted to learn too! Back then, a slip of his hand had cranked the difficulty of gaining this NPC’s favorability straight to the max; to this day, he had never received a single pleasant look from the “Deep Shadow” NPC.

He was ridiculed by the boss in reality, so why did he have to walk on eggshells around the boss’s face in the world he built himself?

The look Wan Shitong gave Zhan Yan was dripping with envy, jealousy, and sheer indignance.

Why couldn’t he have an amiable, approachable boss?

Zhan Yan didn’t pay attention to Wan Shitong’s petty sulking; he wanted to take a walk around Dawn World now.

Speaking of which, out of the few times he had entered Dawn World, he had only looked around the novice village at the very beginning; afterward, he had practically spent all his time in the core zone.

He still needed to collect other categories of information words inside Dawn World.

“I’m heading out to explore on my own,” Zhan Yan called out to Wan Shitong, preparing to leave.

He teleported straight out of the core zone. Zhan Yan didn’t plan on exploring Dawn World alongside Wan Shitong and the others. He could directly harvest the information words from their explorations through the gossip strips anyway; tagging along in person would just be an inefficient waste of time.

He randomly teleported to a location outside the core zone.

When his vision cleared, he found himself inside a forest.

Dense woods surrounded him, ancient trees coated in thick green moss, vines trailing down from their branches. Time inside Dawn World was not synchronized with the outside world; right now, the sun was high in the sky above, but beneath the canopy, it was dim and gloomy. Every single plant was doing its utmost to scramble for sunlight, leaving only thin, murky scattered light filtering down to the forest floor.

Zhan Yan tilted his head to look up, spotting the “Deep Shadow” NPC perched on a tree trunk.

The lighting was too dim, so Zhan Yan didn’t recognize him at first glance and jumped in fright.

Why was this NPC popping up again? Was it a coincidence, or had he sought him out on purpose?

“Is something the matter?” Zhan Yan asked.

The “Deep Shadow” NPC didn’t speak, merely reaching a hand out toward him.

Zhan Yan: “…I don’t know how to climb trees.”

The “Deep Shadow” NPC hopped down from the tree and stood before him: “Where do you want to go?”

Zhan Yan: “Nowhere in particular. I just want to visit places they haven’t been to, and meet more people.”

Aside from the “Anomaly” column, the collection of information words across the other tabs on his information plate always revolved around people and locations.

Why did the “Deep Shadow” NPC ask that? Did he want to guide him?

Gu Jiancheng was dreaming again.

He dreamed that inside a lush forest, Yan Yan was waiting for him. He could take Yan Yan traveling, going to all sorts of novel places he wanted to see. How wonderful!

Perched in the tree, he finally didn’t have to look up at the 2.3-meter-tall Dragon Head Yan Yan.

Except Dragon Head Yan Yan couldn’t climb trees.

Whatever, looking up it was.

Zhan Yan watched as the “Deep Shadow” NPC actually began leading the way.

The trails in the woods were rough, so the “Deep Shadow” NPC blazed a path ahead for him.

Stepping in the footprints of the “Deep Shadow” NPC, Zhan Yan deeply felt that he should figure out how to level up in Dawn World first. Why was simply walking so exhausting?

Keeping the item description function active, Zhan Yan gathered quite a few new “Object” category information words.

[This is a Big Puffshroom. Stepping on it will release rainbow-colored smoke.]

Curious, Zhan Yan stepped on it.

The top of the Big Puffshroom popped open, puffing out a plume of iridescent smoke.

The “Deep Shadow” NPC paused, waiting for him to finish playing before moving on. He guided Zhan Yan out onto an open forest trail.

There were no towering trees here, only low shrubs and wild grasses. Along the center of the path that was frequently trodden, the weeds barely reached half a palm high, making it effortless to walk along.

[This is a trail cleared by forest giants, leading toward their camp.]

The “Deep Shadow” NPC glanced back at him: “Walk here.”

Zhan Yan couldn’t help but marvel at how thoughtful the “Deep Shadow” NPC was. Having him lead the way was countless times easier than blundering blindly through the woods on his own.

He watched with satisfaction as the energy gauges across various columns in the Gossip System climbed steadily.

As they walked, a colossal sound of weeping drifted from up ahead, rumbling like distant thunder.

“What’s that?” he couldn’t resist asking.

The “Deep Shadow” NPC still popped words out in three-syllable bursts: “Living area.”

Pushing forward, what lay ahead was the camp where the forest giants dwelt.

A five-meter-tall giant clad in grass-woven garments sat on a boulder, bawling his eyes out.

[This is a tearful Forest Giant NPC, currently possessed by the soul of Xi Man.]

Xi Man? Isn’t that the strongest mental-type supernatural user in my sister’s Hope Base besides herself?

“Um, why are you crying?” Zhan Yan stepped forward to ask.

He started searching the gossip strips.

The sorrowful Forest Giant · Xi Man opened his hands toward Zhan Yan. A ruffled, bristling sprite was revealed inside his palms; this tiny sprite, barely half the height of the forest giant’s finger, looked utterly furious, gnawing madly at Xi Man’s finger.

“I fell in love with a sprite. He’s way too tiny, but I love him so much, wuwuwuwu.” Xi Man remained devastated. “I really love him so much, but he’s just too tiny, wuwuwuwu.”

Zhan Yan’s gossip strip refreshed as well:

[Xi Man’s soul possesses the NPC “Tearful Forest Giant,” while his lover Ge Yi’s soul possesses the NPC “Furious Vanilla Sprite.” After arduous efforts to find Ge Yi, Xi Man was heartbroken to discover their enormous difference in size. Influenced by the NPC’s persona, Xi Man couldn’t hold back his grievances and broke into loud wails.]

Zhan Yan: Ah… that really is pretty tragic.

Back when the apocalyptic world merged in, there was neither the time nor the ability to arrange every soul properly. They had only managed a rough categorization so the souls of sapient beings wouldn’t end up possessing small animal NPCs like cats or dogs, after which they were simply scattered haphazardly.

Ge Yi flew up to Xi Man’s ear, tugging at the outer ear flap and shouting at the top of his lungs: “So what if I’m tiny? You’re huge and I still love you, stop crying!”

These damaged souls had all lost their memories upon possessing NPCs; for these two to find one another again amidst total amnesia had been anything but easy. Could he help them swap into different NPC shells?

Zhan Yan turned back toward the “Deep Shadow” NPC, intending to ask him.

Xi Man was still bawling loudly: “Wuwuwu, dating is impossible if our sizes don’t match!”

Right before Zhan Yan’s eyes, the “Deep Shadow” NPC stared at him with violently trembling pupils, then vanished on the spot.

Zhan Yan: ???

Why did you run? Did Xi Man’s bawling scare you? Or did I scare you?

Gu Jiancheng jolted awake.

Lying on the ocean with its rolling, gentle waves beneath the tranquil night sky, the loud wails of the forest giant seemed to still echo in his ears: “Dating is impossible if our sizes don’t match!”

In reality, those words held zero meaning for him, but in the dream, right under the gaze of the 2.3-meter-tall Dragon Head Yan Yan, everything took on a completely different flavor.

He had dreamed of taking Yan Yan on a trip, planning visits to forests, deep oceans, and skies—everything was great, perfectly matching his hopes. But why on earth was he dreaming of Dragon Head Yan Yan again?

Gu Jiancheng couldn’t help but fall into deep contemplation.

Could it be that staying in Infinite for too long had warped his subconscious aesthetic standards?

Zhan Yan logged out of Dawn World. It was already late, and he needed to sleep; his parents were both coming home tomorrow.

Before closing the Gossip System, Zhan Yan checked into how to swap sizes for Xi Man and Ge Yi.

He discovered his sister had already tried. She had previously searched for her old friends in Dawn World and found that they had all lost their memories, just like her own first few years arriving in this world.

These souls needed recuperation and couldn’t recklessly switch vessels. So… Xi Man and Ge Yi would just have to date like this for the time being.

Zhan Yan shut down the Gossip System and went to sleep.

The next morning, he woke up early as usual. Before heading downstairs to exercise, and taking advantage of his brother and sister not being awake yet, he packed up a portion of the pastries Aunt Bai had given them to mail to Gu Jiancheng.

Arriving at the courier pickup station, Zhan Yan looked at the firmly locked doors and only then remembered it was too early; they hadn’t opened for business yet.

Carry it back? Wouldn’t that mean he’d dodged his brother and sister for nothing?

Zhan Yan stood at the entrance of the courier station in dismay.

Zhao Wen strolled by walking their family’s Da Mao, calling out to him: “Hey, you’re on break?”

Zhan Yan greeted her: “Morning, Wenwen-jie.”

Da Mao took a look at him, leaned closer to sniff, and immediately began nuzzling up against him.

Zhao Wen looked astonished: “You didn’t do a neutering surgery this semester?”

Zhan Yan petted Da Mao with a grin. Heheh, his animal-attracting constitution was back~

Spotting the packaged parcel in his hand and glancing at the locked doors of the courier station, Zhao Wen chuckled: “You came too early?”

Zhan Yan groaned: “Yeah, if I take it back, I’ll have to make another trip later today.”

Zhao Wen: “What is it? If it’s not too much trouble, I can mail it for you.”

Zhan Yan’s eyes lit up: “Just some snacks, sending them to a friend. Thanks a bunch, Wenwen-jie!”

Oh yeah! This way, my brother and sister won’t get a chance to grill me about Xiao Gu’s situation!

Zhan Yan handed the package over to Zhao Wen and briskly headed off to the small square for his morning exercise.

The morning workout crowd in the residential compound greeted him with abundant warmth.

“Xiao Yan is back!”

“Finally on break, look at you, worked so hard you’ve gotten thin.”

“Let’s work out together, come see if my form is standard.”

“Hey, Xiao Yan, when is your dad coming back? Without him, we can’t get a clean sweep against the arts troupe next door!”

“Your dad sings way too well, even audio recordings just can’t match up.”

The uncles, aunties, grandpas, and grandmas of the senior arts troupe missed Zhan Yunkai terribly.

Little Teacher Zhan sang so wonderfully, and he was so patient when teaching them. Blame that person who tried to sell Zhan Yunkai’s information last time; it made him hesitant to come to the troupe regularly.

Zhan Yan thought to himself: Do you folks just want to hear songs, or do you want to win against the arts troupe next door? Listening to the Chongming Demon King sing live—other demon kings wouldn’t even dare dream of such treatment.

“My dad should be back within a day or two, but it’s not certain if he can make it. There are still people keeping eyes on him online.” Zhan Yan let out a sigh, preemptively giving them a polite vaccine against his dad’s potential rejection.

He got the sense his dad wanted to use this opportunity to withdraw from the arts troupe and might not be willing to come back anyway. Saying people were monitoring him online wasn’t an exaggeration either. Videos of Zhan Yunkai singing in the troupe had now become prime material for major music content creators; whenever lackluster songs came out in the entertainment industry, they would edit Zhan Yunkai’s “Sunset Glow” alongside those tracks. The contrast was brutal, dripping with mockery.

Having wrapped up his morning workout, Zhan Yan carried freshly ground soy milk, deep-fried dough sticks, and side dishes bought at the compound entrance back home. Pushing the door open, he saw his dad, Zhan Yunkai, was already back. Having just slipped on an apron, he was currently washing vegetables.

Zhan Yan’s eyes sparkled: “Woah, Dad! You’re back so early!”

Mom wasn’t due back until the afternoon; he originally assumed Dad would wait until the afternoon to return as well. Who knew he’d arrive this early and even plan to make them breakfast!

Pure bliss, pure bliss! Dad is the best!

Zhan Yan leaned in for a hug.

Zhan Yunkai raised his hands to keep Zhan Yan from touching his wet palms, looking at him with a beaming smile: “Just got back from morning exercise?”

Zhan Yan: …

Hmph!

Thinking about this made him feel aggrieved. Previously, his dad thought his physical fitness was lacking and forced him to train hard. The excuse was that his fitness was the worst in the whole family, unable to match even the strength of a girl like his sister.

Back then, he had believed it wholeheartedly. Looking at it now, was there a single ordinary human in their household? Even if an arm-wrestling world champion showed up, they still wouldn’t beat them, alright!

“Trained, totally trained. Look at these muscles!” Zhan Yan flexed his bicep toward his dad.

Just looking at the muscles was enough, absolutely no arm-wrestling. Otherwise, he wouldn’t pass muster for the rest of his life.

“Very good, very good,” Zhan Yunkai encouraged.

Zhan Yan grinned proudly. Judging by muscle definition, he was definitely up to standard!

Not knowing what Dad planned to cook for breakfast, Zhan Yan poked his head forward and saw five massive marrow soup bones sitting in the sink. He asked, “Dad, you’re making marrow soup bones early in the morning?”

Zhan Yunkai: “Who makes soup bones first thing in the morning? Didn’t you buy breakfast? These are for brewing broth. Simmering them now means it’ll be ready to drink by the afternoon.”

In the afternoon.

In the afternoon, Mom is coming home.

Oh. So that’s the whole reason you rushed back so early in the morning, Dad.