GRMFBS CH208

Nie Yu didn’t reply immediately.

The Dawn World was rather special; external network signals were shielded, making it impossible to communicate with the outside world from within. However, Wan Shitong and Qi Ye could, perhaps because the two of them were the original architects of the game world.

Currently, the two were researching whether they could use their abilities to create a special communicator, so as to avoid being delayed by a lack of communication in case of an emergency.

While Zhan Yan was scrolling through the gossip threads, the threads on his sister’s end were also refreshing.

[Zhan Suiru pulled back the curtain on the sculpture rack to show them to Yang Ran.]

[Yang Ran was repulsed by the ugliness.]

[Yang Ran couldn’t accept that he had actually made so many ugly sculptures right in front of Sui Sui-jie.]

Zhan Yan then saw his sister show Yang Ran screenshots of the audience’s comments online.

Yang Ran’s sculptures were like an encrypted article, and Ji Lele had used his camera lens to decrypt them.

Beneath the ugliness, the audience read a struggling soul, making it unforgettable.

They liked his sculptures.

Yang Ran’s eyes sparkled brightly.

The secret room in his sister’s workshop hadn’t been built yet, so for now, they could only rely on the inhibitor. As time passed, Yang Ran’s inhibitor became increasingly unstable.

“This world accepts us.” Zhan Suiru gently stroked the inhibitor on his neck. “Sleep.”

To be liked, to be accepted, for his soul to receive the kind nourishment of a new world—the layers of scars would eventually heal one day.

Just like the love she received in her new family, which helped her endure one long, dark night after another.

“Mhm.” Yang Ran smiled and closed his eyes.

Zhan Suiru gently removed his inhibitor.

The soul fell into a deep slumber within the core, and the program initiated once again. The gears hidden beneath the synthetic pupils paused for a few seconds before resuming their rotation at a steady speed.

The puppet butler stood up, turned around, and walked towards the door.

“Where are you going?” Zhan Suiru asked.

The puppet butler: “To bake little cookies.”

Zhan Suiru couldn’t help but smile.

She stretched, lay down on the sofa, closed her eyes, and entered the Dawn World.

The current Dawn World existed somewhere between illusion and reality; there was no longer a need to enter it through the network.

The eyes of the puppet butler, who was mixing flour in the kitchen, flashed twice. A mechanical arm on the workbench automatically extended, picked up a thin blanket draped over a coat rack, and covered Zhan Suiru with it.

Zhan Yan looked at the melon and sighed. Sigh, his sister could also enter the Dawn World, and his network-type identity intersected with his sister’s network-type identity. But he just couldn’t go ask his sister for help, because he had no valid reason to know that Red Crystal could enter the Dawn World.

He’d better just wait for Nie Yu’s reply.

Zhan Yan opened his sister’s gossip threads as well, using them to farm some EXP while he waited.

The advantage of AFK farming was that he could directly absorb the EXP, but the downside was that he had to keep the Gossip System open constantly, which weirdly blocked his vision.

The Gossip System couldn’t be minimized, so Zhan Yan dragged the system interface to the back of his head.

Done!

With his brother’s Bread Meatballs on hand, he could sustain his AFK farming indefinitely!

Zhan Yan prepared to grab two pieces of bread from the fridge. As soon as he opened his door, he heard Xingxing’s meows.

Gu Jiancheng was in the living room playing with Xingxing using a cat teaser.

He was squatting on the floor, one hand resting on his knee while the other leisurely waved the cat teaser.

Xingxing was already having the time of his life. His pupils dilated and contracted with excitement as he pounced back and forth across the floor, the warm light illuminating his fluffy fur.

Zhan Yan felt that Gu Jiancheng’s eyelashes were also quite fluffy.

Hearing the noise, Gu Jiancheng turned his head. Seeing Zhan Yan, his eyes lit up: “Yan Yan, do you want some water?”

Those fluffy eyelashes fluttered, and for a moment, Zhan Yan was speechless.

Xingxing caught the cat teaser. Seeing that it had stopped moving, he meowed dissatisfiedly at Gu Jiancheng and reached out a paw to bat at him.

We were having so much fun, why did you stop? Keep going!

Zhan Yan waved his hand at Gu Jiancheng: “You guys keep playing. I’m just grabbing something to eat.”

Gu Jiancheng didn’t want to play with the cat anymore; he wanted to play with Yan Yan.

But Xingxing refused to let him go.

Gu Jiancheng: …Fine, coax the kitty first.

Gu Jiancheng split his focus.

He was still thinking about Zhan Yan’s sister’s supernatural identity. He wasn’t skilled in this type of ability, but if he asked someone else to investigate, it might expose Zhan Yan’s sister’s ordinary-person persona, which would definitely forge a grudge.

He had to investigate in a roundabout way.

Hmm… she could make items that alleviated his mental aftereffects, and she had come into contact with his “Deep Shadow” identity. He wondered if he could use these two conditions to directly track down her supernatural identity. He’d ask Approaching Science to help him check later.

Zhan Yan took a sweet bread roll and some water back to his room to roll into Bread Meatballs. He had only taken a few bites when he received a message from Luan San, Luan Jin.

Luan Jin was messaging to thank him after receiving the grapes.

Luan Jin: “Hey, your family’s grapes are seriously delicious. Have you ever considered turning them into wine?”

His old man loved them, and his friend Yu Xia—who looked exactly like his white moonlight—loved them too.

Luan Jin had already placed an order and bought a ton himself. He gifted a portion and planned to use the rest in his art salon.

But no matter how high-end grapes were, they still had a price ceiling. Wine was different. Cheap ones could be very cheap, but expensive ones had no upper limit.

Zhan Yan: “We’re researching it, but I don’t know when we’ll have results. The grape juice factory is almost ready though, do you want grape juice?”

Luan Jin was extremely disdainful:

“Who drinks that kid stuff?”

He got excited chatting with Zhan Yan and pulled him into eating a melon together.

Luan Jin: “Hey, do you know about the corporate spy gossip recently?”

Zhan Yan: “What corporate spy?”

Luan Jin: “It’s a trending post that blew up online recently, I’ll forward it to you.”

“[Link]”

Zhan Yan clicked the link and read it.

[What is the most terrifying thing you guys have ever seen?]

OP:

The most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen was the “mirage” a while back.

Anyone who saw it with their own eyes definitely knows that those monsters looked completely alive, and they were incredibly close! I even heard the monsters’ voices. At the time, I thought I was going to die there.

That thing absolutely could not have been a mirage!

3L:

I keep seeing you guys talk about how terrifying the “mirage” was, but I’ve never seen a picture. Are there any artists around?

4L:

Didn’t they say the meteorological conditions were special this time, making it impossible to capture on camera?

7L:

If it can’t be captured, we can’t discuss it. We can’t just imagine it out of thin air either.

8L:

The most terrifying thing I’ve seen recently is that newly released movie Creepy School. Ji Lele is absolutely brilliant at shooting horror films!

There’s a sculpture prop in it that looks practically alive, it’s super terrifying. I kept feeling like it would grow on its own. Seeing the scene later where the sculpture was in the fire, I actually cried.

10L:

Right, right! I saw Creepy School too!

That sculpture is especially ugly but also somehow beautiful. You can’t look away once you see it, and for some reason, you just feel sad.

12L:

Are there pictures? I haven’t gone to see the movie yet.

15L:

I think there are movie stills, let me check.

16L:

[Image][Image][Image]

18L:

This is way too blurry… you can’t see a thing.

19L:

You can’t see it clearly here, but the movie has clear shots.

22L:

Exhales.

If we’re talking about terrifying sculptures, then I have to share my experience.

I’m a locksmith. A while ago, I encountered a case where a corporate spy infiltrated someone else’s company and accidentally locked himself in a room.

The boss of that company has a room specifically for collecting terrifying sculptures. The corporate spy didn’t know and thought there were secrets inside. As a result, he was scared senseless and ended up smashing the lock entirely. Later, they had to call the firefighters to forcefully pry it off.

The corporate spy was inside crying his eyes out.

23L:

Hahaha, for real? Is there really a corporate spy that stupid?

24L:

What you think corporate warfare is: deception, covert struggles, company acquisitions, shorting stocks…

What corporate warfare actually is: storming the company with a longsword to snatch the official seal, bribing the cleaning lady to unplug the network cable every few hours…

26L:

How terrifying must that sculpture be? Describe what it looks like for us.

27L:

Hahahaha, which company was it?

29L:

I can’t say which company. I didn’t see the sculptures either, the corporate spy was so scared he called the police.

The police came, went in to take a look, and came out looking a bit pale.

32L:

Hahahahaha

The more Zhan Yan read this post, the more familiar it seemed.

Luan Jin: “I really want to know which boss that is. I want to go see those sculptures.”

Zhan Yan immediately recommended Creepy School to him. After all, those sculptures were all made by Yang Ran.

Luan Jin hadn’t watched many horror movies, but he heard that watching horror films was a great way to showcase masculinity.

He sent a message to Yu Xia: “You there? I heard this recent movie is pretty popular, want to go watch it together?”

His main goal wasn’t even to showcase his masculinity; he just felt watching a movie alone was boring.

An hour later, Zhan Yan swiped to Luan Jin’s gossip thread:

[Luan Jin’s teeth were chattering while watching the movie.]

[Yu Xia asked him: “Are you alright?”]

[Luan Jin puffed out his chest and said stiffly: “I-I’m fine, I’m not scared at all… not at all!”]

[“Creepy School” played a jump scare scene right at the camera.]

[Luan Jin let out a shriek, hugged Yu Xia’s arm in a death grip, buried his face in the other’s shoulder, and started crying.]

[“Wuwuwu, why is it so scary…”]

Zhan Yan: …Pfft.

That evening, Nie Yu finally replied to Zhan Yan.

Administrator Lingyu: “Sure. Whenever you have time, I’ll take you.”

Nie Yu’s heart was currently filled with chaotic shock.

Normally, Approaching Science’s request would never be approved.

The Dawn World was highly important, and Approaching Science’s identity remained a mystery. This meant that if Approaching Science did something malicious, they would have a very hard time even tracking him down.

After receiving Approaching Science’s message, Nie Yu went straight to ask Deputy Bureau Chief Ning Xi. Ning Xi agreed without the slightest hesitation.

Nie Yu’s eyes widened a full circle.

Deputy Bureau Chief, your character setting has collapsed!

Ning Xi was very busy and waved his hand to shoo her back to work: “Go continue exploring the Dawn World. Try to understand this world as soon as possible. And remember to bring back the results of Approaching Science’s collection efforts.”

Nie Yu walked away in a daze.

She ran into her brother, Nie Ling, on the way. Nie Ling grabbed her by the collar and hauled her away from the edge of the stairs: “Not watching where you’re going?”

Nie Yu: “Brother, I suspect Approaching Science is the Deputy Bureau Chief’s illegitimate son.”

Nie Ling: …

Nie Yu: “Brother, why are you looking at me like that? You have no idea, just now…”

“What doesn’t he have any idea about?” Ning Xi’s voice drifted over from behind her.

Nie Yu shuddered and slowly turned her head.

Ning Xi was looking at her unfathomably.

Nie Yu put on a miserable face: “N-nothing, Deputy Bureau Chief, I’m going to work right now!”

She hunched over, trying to slip away under her brother’s arm. Nie Ling discreetly turned his body, making room for her to pass.

Ning Xi: “Wait.”

Nie Yu stopped dejectedly, turned around, lowered her head, and obediently admitted her mistake: “I was wrong, Deputy Bureau Chief, I shouldn’t have…”

Ning Xi interrupted her: “Go check on Red Crystal. Has she still not appeared?”

Red Crystal had previously set up a barrier outside the game world. After the apocalyptic world merged, the barrier disappeared. There had been no news of Red Crystal up until now, which was highly abnormal.

Nie Yu: “Understood!”

Upon receiving her new task, Nie Yu quickly slipped away. A moment later, she received a message from her brother.

Nie Ling: “So what exactly happened?”

Nie Yu immediately activated gossip mode with her brother.

After recounting the events, she continued complaining:

“Brother, with our Deputy Bureau Chief’s personality, even if he doesn’t dig up someone’s ancestors to the eighteenth generation, he should at least sign a supernatural contract for security, right? Without any of that, how could he let an outsider participate in such an important mission?”

Nie Ling: “So you suspect the Deputy Bureau Chief is Approaching Science’s biological father?”

Nie Yu: “I was just saying… but it’s not entirely impossible. Approaching Science’s information ability is absurdly strong; it’s either a mutation or some insanely powerful inherited genetics.”

“If our Deputy Bureau Chief hadn’t had an accident, who else could surp—”

Nie Yu stopped typing halfway through. She felt as if she vaguely guessed something, but she couldn’t quite piece it all together.

A new message popped up on her communicator.

Nie Ling: “You can talk about it, just don’t say it in front of the Deputy Bureau Chief next time.”

Nie Yu: …

She deleted the content in her input box and retyped:

“I didn’t know the Deputy Bureau Chief was right behind me!”

Nie Yu turned off her communicator, logged onto the forum, and replied to Approaching Science.

She rested her face in one hand, tapping her cheek with her fingers.

The illegitimate son theory was unreliable, but why on earth was the Deputy Bureau Chief making a special exception for Approaching Science?

Could it be that the Deputy Bureau Chief already knew who Approaching Science was?

Before she could guess further, a forum private message reply arrived.

Approaching Science: “I have time right now.”

“Is ten minutes from now okay?”

Zhan Yan prepared to go to the bathroom to wash up. After washing, he would tell the others he was going to sleep early tonight, and then he could lie in bed and dive into the network.

In the living room.

Gu Jiancheng would play with Xingxing for a bit, then glance at his watch, play for a bit more, and glance at his watch again.

How is this cat’s stamina so good? Yan Yan will go to sleep in another two hours.

Should he carry Xingxing and go find Yan Yan? No! Xingxing was even clingier with Yan Yan than he was, and Yan Yan had no resistance to the cat acting cute.

Gu Jiancheng pondered for a moment, then knocked on Bao Qingshan’s door.

Bao Qingshan looked at him in confusion: “What’s up?”

Gu Jiancheng shoved the cat teaser into his hand: “Hold this, shake it.”

Bao Qingshan reflexively obeyed.

Xingxing let out a “Meow” and pounced on it.

Gu Jiancheng was very satisfied. He turned and prepared to knock on Zhan Yan’s door.

Bao Qingshan: …?

Zhan Yan opened his door, ready to go to the bathroom to wash up. Xingxing immediately abandoned Bao Qingshan, ran over to Zhan Yan, and rubbed back and forth against his ankles, acting coquettishly.

Zhan Yan: Crap, I haven’t had time to make Xingxing’s cat food today!

Gu Jiancheng also leaned in close: “Yan Yan…”

Zhan Yan’s eyes lit up, and he gave him an incredibly gentle smile: “I’m tired today and want to sleep early. I’ll send you the recipe, could you help me make Xingxing’s cat food?”

Gu Jiancheng was dizzy with infatuation. He smiled along and nodded repeatedly as he smiled.

Zhan Yan thus happily forwarded the cat food recipe to Gu Jiancheng: “The apron is on the hook on the side of the fridge, and the induction cooker is next to the fridge.”

He stuffed a handful of Bread Meatballs into his mouth, moved the Gossip System from the back of his head back to the front, and returned to his room to lie down and log onto the network.

Wearing a sweet, blissful smile, Gu Jiancheng put on the apron, took the ingredients out of the fridge, washed them, chopped them, turned on the induction cooker, and placed the pot on it…

Holding the handle of the pot, Gu Jiancheng suddenly froze. He turned his head and saw that Zhan Yan’s door was already closed. Xingxing was currently squatting at his feet.

Gu Jiancheng looked down at Xingxing, his gaze filled with intense reluctance: …Why do I still have to keep the cat company?

Xingxing looked up at Gu Jiancheng, his gaze filled with intense skepticism: …Are your cat food cooking skills up to standard?

Zhan Yan had been curious about the Dawn World for a long time.

Back when it was still just a game world, Zhan Yan had been looking forward to it.

This was a holographic online game exclusively for network-types! You can’t fly into the sky or burrow into the earth in real life, but you can experience all of that in a holographic online game! How could he not give it a proper try!

After logging in, Zhan Yan rushed to the perimeter of the Dawn World.

Nie Yu received him at the entrance, where a circular door had been opened: “Over here, come this way.”

Just as Zhan Yan was about to enter, he suddenly stopped.

Nie Yu: “What’s wrong?”

Zhan Yan: “After you guys go in, do you all have to pinch a face (create an avatar) for yourselves?”

Network-types didn’t have a concrete physical appearance when moving through the network; even when they used a human form, it was just a mass of humanoid data. They couldn’t possibly keep that appearance upon entering the Dawn World, right?

Nie Yu: “Right, you can create a character. It’s similar to the process in standard online games; you go in and create an avatar first.”

Zhan Yan: “Can I create whatever I want?”

Nie Yu: “Yes, wait… what do you want to create?”

She couldn’t call him back in time. Hearing the “Yes,” Zhan Yan charged straight into the entrance.

Nie Yu followed closely behind him. A moment later, a circular white magical array appeared at the entrance. As the radiance dissipated, a towering, two-meter-tall burly man sporting a dragon head was revealed inside.

Nie Yu: …?

“Ap-Approaching Science?”

The dragon head moved around, exceedingly joyful: “Wow, this head must have nearly a 300-degree field of vision, right? This is amazing!”

Nie Yu: “…You only get one chance to create your character’s appearance. Once it’s set, it can’t be changed.”

Zhan Yan’s dragon eyes widened: “Ah?”

Nie Yu gloated: “Regretting it now? Who told you to rush in so fast? I couldn’t even pull you back.”

Zhan Yan felt deep regret: “If I had known, I would have added a pair of giant wings. If the dragon head I created can change my field of vision, then a pair of giant wings should let me fly, right?”

Nie Yu: …?

Alright, she now knew that Approaching Science’s brain circuitry was definitely abnormal.