Chapter 124

Chapter 124

The first visitor was Jiang Shu from Zone C.

She was a physician.

The moment she saw Ning Shuo, she forcibly swallowed back the greeting and question already at her lips. “…This may be a little rude, but would it be convenient for you to sit down right now?”

Having his status as a bottom seen through at a glance, Ning Shuo rarely wore a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “It’s fine. I’ll stand.”

Ning Wang was in the inner room, ordered by Ning Shuo to reflect on his actions. For once, he wasn’t strutting around like a peacock, flamboyantly telling everyone about his relationship with Ning Shuo.

Though with just his toes, Ning Shuo could guess that Ning Wang would only reflect on what he hadn’t “done” well enough, then keep improving next time.

Jiang Shu had come to ask about Ying Jian.

Although she’d seen Ying Jian in the spectator stands of Zone F, because of the rule that “Players and spectators may not interact in private,” Jiang Shu still hadn’t gone to look for him.

The reason was simple: she was still a contestant, while Ying Jian was currently only a spectator.

If the System really decided to make a move, Ying Jian would obviously be the one at greater risk.

Zone C had gotten an unlucky draw in the first round and ended up against Zone A.

Although the gap in strength between the two sides wasn’t large, Zone A still had a slight edge.

Zone A and Zone C had received the Notary Office’s information at almost the same time, but Zone C was delayed on the way by Zone A, with Rong Xi specifically tying them down. Fu Xing and another Player fought hard to send Ah Shu out through the encirclement, and only then did they manage to complete the Accusation and fulfill Zone C’s Innocent mission.

In the first round, both Zone A and Zone C each lost one Murderer.

Ning Shuo seemed thoughtful. “Rong Xi alone held up the six people on your team?”

To be precise, it should originally have been seven. Fu Xing and the others had put in a great deal of effort before they managed to get her out.

After confirming that, Ning Shuo thought to himself: impressive.

My Knight is finally going to have an opponent.

Jiang Shu didn’t say much more about opponents. That was partly out of respect for other Players, and partly because there was no need.

Scripts were always changing, and tactics naturally changed with them. As for Zone A, if Zone F wanted to investigate, they could do so through the Forum or various private channels. There was no need for other Star Zones to interfere.

Ning Shuo had Ying Jian on his friends list. Although spectators couldn’t enter the Players’ Rest Area, the Central Zone Rest Area was so large that if a spectator and a Player happened to run into each other while wandering outside, what exactly could the System punish them for?

After giving Jiang Shu an address, he went back, then sent that address to Ying Jian and told him to go take a walk there.

Ah Shu: ?

Ah Shu: Why?

Naturally, codenames could overlap between different Star Zones. After all, contestants’ codenames would have the prefix “Zone X-” added to them.

But after meeting the real Ah Shu, when he looked at Ying Jian’s codename again, Ning Shuo always felt a subtle sense of dissonance.

Ning Banxian: Just go take a look. I heard the scenery there is nice. Maybe you’ll get a surprise. And if nothing else, just treat it as a way to clear your head.

Looking at the word “surprise” on the Virtual Screen, Ying Jian’s heartbeat inexplicably began to quicken.

He suddenly thought of Ah Shu on the arena stage, really standing there in the distance.

Not a dream. Not a hallucination.

The real Ah Shu.

Ying Jian had wanted to rush down from the spectator stands right then and there, only for an invisible barrier to appear in front of him: spectators were forbidden from making private contact with contestants.

Right. They were both arena contestants…

Thinking of a certain possibility, Ying Jian’s heart beat faster and faster. He grabbed his coat and headed out, sending Ning Shuo a restrained little “thanks” on the way.

Ning Shuo didn’t reply, and Ying Jian didn’t mind.

Still, he circled around the coordinates Ning Shuo had given him several times without ever seeing the person he wanted to see.

But Ying Jian had an extremely strong feeling.

He kept feeling that Ah Shu was here.

—

Standing before the floor-to-ceiling window, Ning Shuo watched the two people downstairs. They were clearly standing face-to-face, yet still milling around like headless flies, as if they couldn’t see each other at all.

He had given Ah Shu the location in person rather than through the Virtual Screen, and in-person communication was within the Water Moon Mirror’s Shielded Space.

But as for Ying Jian…

Tch. That damn Main God.
He didn’t let even the slightest chance for contact slip by.

Ning Shuo exchanged for a pair of binoculars and, while keeping an eye on the two of them through them, openly sent them messages.

Ning Banxian: Ying Jian, turn left.

Ning Banxian: Jiang Shu, hold out your hand.

In the end, with only a barrier between them, their hands pressed together once more.

Ning Banxian: Ningning! Quick, take the picture!

Ning Wang found the absolute limit of a distance where he could still get both of them in the same shot without the Main God adding another barrier, snapped several photos of them together, and sent them to Ning Shuo, who then forwarded them to the two people standing face-to-face yet unable to communicate.

Since he’d already gone this far helping them, Ning Shuo called Ning Wang back. “Ningning, I’m a little sore, and it kind of hurts too. Massage me.”

He meant his legs and waist.

But Ning Wang focused on something else. “I bought some ointment. Do you want me to put it on for you?”

“…No need. Just massage my waist.”

Ning Wang looked concerned on the surface, but in truth he was testing the limits of Ning Shuo’s shamelessness. “King, you really don’t need the ointment? It’s all red. When I cleaned you up, I saw it was a little swollen too.”

“…”

In the end, Ning Wang still applied the ointment to him.

The second visitor was Yu Min.

To be precise, he had been driven here by relentless pestering.

The Main God’s barrier really was something. Two people in love couldn’t meet no matter what, but when it came to dog-blood drama, it seemed to love watching it and didn’t even bother putting up a barrier.

It was doing it purely to disgust people.

Yu Min’s expression was grim. “Do you know Shen Xiao?”

Faced with a former partner, Ning Shuo played dumb. “Shen Xiao? Yeah, I know him. What about it? What’s your relationship with him?”

Yu Min let out a cold laugh. “If I could travel back to the year I first met him, our relationship would be that I’d kill him without making a sound.”

“…” Ning Shuo immediately denied it. “Good thing we only crossed paths in one Script, and after that we never had any further association.”

Yu Min was only half convinced. “…I see.”

Since they wouldn’t become opponents later anyway, Yu Min sat down in the reception room. “I’m just being annoyed to death, and you can’t kill people in the Rest Area, so I came here to hide and get some peace and quiet.”

Ning Shuo smiled. “Why not hide out with your teammates instead? Where’s Jiang Zong? Chen Qu’an and the others?”

Seeing Yu Min keep his face stiff and say nothing, Ning Shuo tried to reassure him. “You don’t have to be so triggered over this. Not everyone is Shen Xiao, and you don’t need to be afraid of getting close to other people.”

Of course, Yu Min understood the logic. But instinctive emotions weren’t something he could just avoid.

After a long while, he let out a breath. “I’ll do my best.”

He really shouldn’t let someone unimportant trap him like this, much less make things difficult for friends who were sincerely good to him.

Yu Min had just been about to say something else when he noticed Ning Shuo leaning against the wall, changing posture several times, yet refusing to sit on the empty sofa.

“…Why aren’t you sitting down?”

Seeing from Yu Min’s puzzled expression that he clearly hadn’t realized the reason for his odd behavior, Ning Shuo gave a light cough and straightened his back. “This King looks more regal standing.”

Yu Min: “…Oh.”

He glanced out the window. Shen Xiao was still wandering around outside.

Yu Min rubbed his forehead, and then a book suddenly appeared in front of him. “One look at you and I can tell you’re not the type who knows how to curse people out. I just exchanged for this Encyclopedia of Insults. Go study it. Learn a few lines before heading back down.”

If the absolutely safe Rest Area wouldn’t let him hit anyone…

Then couldn’t he at least curse them out?

As he was leaving, Yu Min suddenly turned back, puzzled. “I don’t think I ever told you I was married.”

Much less that Ning Shuo seemed to know quite a lot about what had happened between him and Shen Xiao.

If so, then the only way he could have known was from Shen Xiao.

Two people who could both talk with him about Yu Min’s marriage had only a shallow acquaintance?

Ning Shuo smiled back at him, looking utterly fearless.

After a moment, Yu Min shook the book in his hand and put it into his Backpack. “If we ever get out of here one day, I’ll treat you to a meal.”

“This King will give you that chance.”