Chapter Twenty-One: Truth and Falsehood
A pair of options appeared before Xiao Zhang: one was to return to the initial instance, the other to go directly back to My World.
“Momo, where are you planning to go?”
“Of course I’m heading back to our world! Otherwise, if those bastards catch us again, it’s game over.”
“How will we stay in touch, then?”
“Join my squad!”
Ding. Player XXXLMo invites you to join her squad. Do you accept?
Xiao Zhang thought it over and clicked “accept.” “I’m out of here—I really don’t want to run into those guys again!” He felt a surge of relief. Finally, he could go home!
“Okay, okay, I’m slipping away.” Then Momo Kuang’s body started disappearing from her feet up.
Suddenly Xiao Zhang felt a chill, looked down, and saw his lower body fading away at an alarming speed!
At that moment, a prompt appeared before him: Instance mission complete, boss defeated, squad receives instance rewards, player ??? receives kill reward.
Darkness enveloped his vision, as if someone had switched off a screen mid-broadcast—one final flicker, then pitch black…
Xiao Zhang felt his consciousness growing faint, weaker and weaker… That familiar helplessness crept into his heart.
Just then, a tiny spark of light flickered in the darkness.
“Hoo!” Xiao Zhang gasped, snapping awake. He jolted upright from his seat.
“Hey, young man, what’s going on?” His sudden movement startled the aunt sitting nearby.
“Nothing, nothing. Just had a nightmare.”
He was drenched in cold sweat. After regaining his wits, he sat in his seat, glanced around, chest heaving, breaths ragged.
“You’re sweating buckets, young man. Should I call the attendant for you?”
“No need, no need!” Xiao Zhang replied instinctively. He checked his body, felt his chest—no injuries at all. Then he pulled out his phone and saw the train had just departed.
He tried, but nothing would open. He murmured “system inventory” to himself over and over, but still no response.
Could it be… just a dream? Once the suspicion set in, it lodged itself firmly in his mind.
Right… it must have been a dream. Yes, definitely! Just a nightmare.
Sleep paralysis, surely! No, no—definitely a dream! Maybe I just missed home so much I had this absurd nightmare.
Right, right. I should call Da Tang and have them pick me up.
“Hello, who is this?”
“I’m your grandpa!”
“What the hell, grandson—I’m your grandpa.” Zhao Bai retorted, but the voice sounded oddly familiar. “Who are you, really?”
“You brat! You promised to welcome me back—damn it!” Xiao Zhang couldn’t help but curse.
“What the hell, Zhang Dog? You’re back?”
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After shooting the breeze with Zhao Bai for twenty minutes, Xiao Zhang finally asked, “Do you know where my cousin is right now?”
The question caught Zhao Bai off guard. “Why?”
“Nothing, just want to borrow a ToxicMilk account for some fun.”
“Oh, damn, you should’ve said so! I’ll give you mine—got all the chosen ones and divine ones!”
“Alright, I’ll talk to you when I arrive!” Xiao Zhang hung up.
At last, the train reached the station. Xiao Zhang followed the broadcast instructions, got off, and joined the crowd heading out.
He had convinced himself it was just a nightmare, but suddenly his expression tightened!
He spotted someone among the passengers from another carriage—a person he recognized!
“Lilia!”
Though Lilia now looked perfectly normal, Xiao Zhang recognized her face instantly!
His mind buzzed.
He didn’t leave immediately, but walked up to the girl and softly called, “Lilia?”
The girl, absorbed in her phone, paused. “What?”
Xiao Zhang repeated quietly, “Lilia?”
She looked puzzled. “Are you talking to me?”
“No, sorry, I mistook you for someone else.” Xiao Zhang made a quick exit.
With countless questions swirling in his mind, he walked out through the exit…
What was real? What was false? Or had he just endured a nightmare from which he couldn’t wake?
Forget it. No more thinking. At last, he was home. Xiao Zhang dragged his suitcase, hailed a cab, and went home.
Once there, he had the property management fetch the key and open the door. He rushed inside, tossed himself onto the sofa, limbs sprawled wide, and lay there for a while. Night had fully descended. Only then did Xiao Zhang get up, fling his luggage aside.
“Is there anything to eat?” Xiao Zhang opened the long-unused fridge, only to find it fully stocked—much to his surprise! His family worked abroad. Who had filled it? Property management, perhaps?
He took out a can of beer, cracked it open, and gulped down half. The rush nearly knocked him out. Just then, his phone rang.
He checked it—it was Da Tang calling. He answered.
“Hey, you dog, where the hell are you?”
“Huh? Where are you?”
“I’m at the station!”
“Where’d you run off to?”
Drinking his beer as he answered, Xiao Zhang felt utterly relaxed. “Hm? I’m already home!”
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At the exit, Zhao Bai waited like an idiot for Xiao Zhang, only to find the bastard had gone straight home. “Damn it, I waited for you and got two tickets—you're paying me back!”
“Alright, alright! I’ll reimburse you. Come to my place! Hanging up now!” Xiao Zhang tossed his phone onto the sofa, downed the rest of his beer in one gulp, then switched on the TV with the remote.
Just then, he heard: System has restarted—loading…
4%
27%
54%
…
100%
System startup complete.
Xiao Zhang was dumbfounded.
“What the hell is this?!”
“Hey, lapdog, just a few days away and you forget your boss?”
Staring at the silver brick before him, Xiao Zhang’s eyes grew wide. With a shout, he grabbed a wrench and smashed it.
Then another shout—where did the wrench come from?
He threw the wrench away, collapsed onto the sofa, and let out a pig-like scream.
“Ahhh!!!!!!!”
System: (•_•)
This idiot must have missed me so much he’s gone insane…
Meanwhile, Zhao Bai, driving, received a call from a girl.
“Hey, Bai Bai, didn’t you say you’d come see me tonight?”
“Oh, baby…” Zhao Bai was about to decline, but thought better—he’d worked hard to win her, better not mess it up. “Send me your location. I’ll pick you up.”
“Okay~ sending now.”
“Alright, talk to you later, babe, I’m driving.”
“Alright, I’ll be home soon, getting in the elevator.”
“Okay, hanging up.”
He ended the call, opened the navigation, and found the girl lived in the same complex as Xiao Zhang.
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