Chapter 155
Chapter 155
Rao Lin had run into this Judge several times over the past two months.
To be honest, his first impression of this Judge was neither good nor bad: he was good-looking, and he handled things with crisp efficiency.
Rao Lin had seen plenty of Clowns, but this one alone had bone structure that perfectly suited his tastes. Even the way he moved while carrying out missions was clean and decisive. Unlike other Judges who liked to add a little extra performance for themselves, he really did just carry out the job, kill the target, and leave without lingering for a second.
In the university Script, when Rao Lin saw that Judge without the Clown makeup, he wasn’t entirely sure whether it was the same one he remembered.
So he decided to test him.
His luck was pretty good. Judging from the NPC’s reaction, it really was him.
The Clown even worked part-time as an NPC?
After teasing him, Rao Lin stretched lazily and entered the next Script.
It was an Ancient Castle Script where Vampires roamed about. Rao Lin had entered the Script in disguise as a Vampire hunter, and the main quest was to awaken the Human Clan princess sleeping deep within the Ancient Castle.
While inwardly complaining that this was some kind of Sleeping Beauty Script, he casually greeted the passing Vampires. But the moment he stepped through the main gates of the Ancient Castle, Rao Lin stopped short.
In front of him was a staircase that turned at a right angle and rose upward. Standing at the landing was 001, whom he had only said goodbye to not long ago, looking at him.
“Hello.”
Dressed as a Butler, 001 held a scalpel that gleamed with a cold light. Rao Lin had the distinct feeling that in the very next second, just like in the last Script, 001 was going to drive that scalpel straight into his heart.
But 001 only lifted the scalpel and waved it in front of him before turning and leaving.
As Rao Lin thought over that action, a bizarre guess surfaced in his mind: was this Clown deliberately trying to scare him?
Though he barely showed any expression, somehow… he seemed a little cute.
At the time, that was what Rao Lin thought.
After being repeatedly nailed by 001 for OOC details, Rao Lin stopped finding him cute.
At the end of that Script, the awakened princess was supposed to sprinkle the blood from the blood pool surrounding her onto all the Players. The one carrying it out was her Butler, 001, who was filling in.
Rao Lin still had wounds on him from where 001’s scalpel had cut him earlier while picking apart his OOC details.
Which also meant he had successfully given off the “smell of human blood.”
001 thought that as long as he finished the duty he was filling in for-namely, the final step of splashing blood onto all the Players-the main quest would be complete, and that would be the end of things between him and Rao Lin.
Until the moment he splashed blood onto Rao Lin, and Rao Lin backhanded the container, overturning it right onto 001 instead.
001: “…”
And Rao Lin just happened to be the last Player who needed to go through this ceremonial bit of formalism. The moment it was done, the main quest was completed, and the option to exit the Script popped up in front of every Player.
And so the grudge was forged. For the next two months, Rao Lin ran, 001 chased, and Rao Lin did everything he could to get away.
In the third Script, with no NPCs around, Rao Lin sat on the balcony railing and looked back at 001 with a half-smile.
“Teacher Song, while you really are exactly my type, if you keep chasing me around like this, you’re going to give me the wrong idea.”
Rao Lin already had the kind of face that looked naturally amorous. When his tone turned soft and lingering, it was hard for anyone not to be drawn in by the ambiguity in his words.
001 coldly flicked a scalpel at him.
“What wrong idea?”
Jumping up and dodging the blade flying toward his face at the same time, Rao Lin laughed.
“No wrong idea. Not anymore.”
When he saw the blood on 001’s face, Rao Lin reflexively reached out to wipe it away, but the scalpel left a thin bloody line along the side of his finger.
Rao Lin rubbed the blood on his finger and inwardly mocked himself. He had actually wanted to play the emotional card with the System.
Although 001 seemed very human, in the end, he was still a creation of the System, an executor of the System’s will.
Thinking that, Rao Lin concealed the deeper look in his eyes. Catching sight of an NPC walking this way from the corner of his eye, he adjusted himself and said, “Until next time, Teacher Song.”
Less than two hours later, the main quest was complete, and Rao Lin exited the Script.
001 tightened his grip on the scalpel in his hand and, alone, thought about that “wrong idea” Rao Lin had mentioned.
After a long while, he raised a hand and lightly brushed the spot Rao Lin had wiped just now with his fingertip.
Before he had truly gotten to know this person, 001 really had been somewhat taken in by his looks.
Romantic and affectionate, graceful in every situation.
But after actually getting to know him, he found that this man was a lunatic who could still do something idiotic even with a Ghost/Monster’s claws already at his throat. Sometimes it was hard to tell whether he should praise him for being absurdly relaxed or say he was far too oblivious.
And yet, someone like that was far more vivid than the figure he had seen in the mirror.
After that, 001 seemed to have found a new way to pass the time. Whether he had business or not, he kept going to find Rao Lin, to the point that Rao Lin occasionally felt like the two of them were some kind of rivals locked in mutual destruction.
Once, by sheer coincidence, he even ran into one of 001’s colleagues. There was a letter Y on that colleague’s wrist, exactly like 001’s Z.
That colleague looked Rao Lin over, then asked 001, “So this is why you’ve been running to Zone F lately?”
001’s voice was cool and flat.
“This Player is very interesting.”
“That’s rare. Hearing any kind of evaluation of someone else come out of your mouth at all.”
The Player 001 had called “very interesting” arched a brow and swept a curved blade horizontally between the two Judges.
“When you’re discussing someone, maybe you should pay attention to the fact that the person you’re talking about is still standing right here?”
The Judge they had only just met clicked his tongue. “Tch. If I weren’t the Judge this round, I’d definitely show you what I’m capable of.”
In a PvE Script, Clowns couldn’t casually harm Players. That was exactly why Rao Lin dared to brandish blades and flaunt force between the two Judges.
After that Clown finished judging the Murderer NPC for this round, he turned back to size Rao Lin up before leaving. It was as if he couldn’t find anything to criticize him for, so he turned and mocked 001 instead. “Don’t tell me you ran into this guy, then went to ask my brother what a good name would be.”
“You’re not thinking of naming yourself because of him, are you?”
“Getting personally friendly with a Player? That’s so like you, 001.”
After tossing out those vague, loaded remarks, the Clown vanished from where he stood. Rao Lin had no idea who that person was, nor what sort of relationship he had with 001.
But he caught onto another key point.
Things had finally eased up a little between him and the Judge. Smiling with curved eyes, Rao Lin asked, “Teacher Song, what name did you pick?”
001 only glanced at him before turning to leave.
He didn’t know why he had suddenly gone to ask Shu Xiao what good names there were for the surname Song. He also didn’t know whether that urge to choose a name had anything to do with Rao Lin.
After all, it had only been a very ordinary afternoon after he exited a Script. Ordinary enough that when 001 returned to the Main God Space, he merely happened to run into Shu Xiao. He hadn’t even thought of Rao Lin at all, and yet, as if possessed, 001 asked first, “Shu Xiao, if the surname is Song… are there any good names for it?”
Hearing that, Shu Xiao set down what he was holding and looked at 001 in surprise. “Our cold and unfeeling Z suddenly wants a name? Who got through to you?”
“And this is the first time you’ve called me by my name. Before this, you always used my code number.”
Faced with Shu Xiao’s teasing expression, 001 avoided his gaze. “…Forget it. There’s nothing worth naming.”
“Don’t be like that.” Propping up his chin, Shu Xiao smiled. “Song Zhu. How about that?”
001 frowned. “Which zhu? Does it mean something?”
Shu Xiao’s eyes curved with a smile. “The zhu from zhuqing-zhu as in giving voice to one’s feelings.”
Zhu means the same as shu: to express, to let emotion be carried outward.
For perhaps the first time, he had feelings he wasn’t even consciously aware of. Since he was reserved by nature, then let those feelings be quietly written into his name instead.
The Judges all had access to the System database. If Shu Xiao knew it, then Song Zhu could search it up as well.
After a moment of silence, he looked at Shu Xiao seriously. “Thank you.”
Song Zhu liked that name very much.
But when Rao Lin asked about it, perhaps because of his pride, or perhaps because he worried Rao Lin might also read into the hidden feelings that even he himself found hard to explain-
In any case, Song Zhu didn’t want to tell him just yet.
Rao Lin, however, refused to let it go. “We’ve known each other for quite a while now. Sure, we practically start fighting every time we meet, but that doesn’t mean you can’t tell me your name, right? Or is it…”
He reached for Song Zhu’s wrist. “Just like that gentleman said-your name… is it because of me?”
Song Zhu left. Before he did, though, he left behind a slip of paper with his name written on it.
Rao Lin read it softly. “Song Zhu.”
It was a pretty nice name. Just from hearing it, it didn’t sound like something Teacher Song would choose.
But it did suit Teacher Song.
Rao Lin waited for their next meeting, but after several more Scripts, Song Zhu never came again.
The slip of paper still lay quietly in his Backpack, secretly bearing witness to all those past encounters.
Rao Lin lay on his bed, silently staring at that piece of paper.
Song Zhu hadn’t come for a very long time.
Rao Lin knew what he felt for Song Zhu. After all, they had been crossing swords in Script after Script for so long.
But their positions were different, and he had no reason to voice those feelings.
Rao Lin let out a long breath and tucked the note back into his Backpack. Just then, a System prompt suddenly popped up before his eyes.
[Hello, Player. Congratulations, you have received a letter titled “A Gift from the System”]
It was those four Hidden Rules.
And they weren’t aimed at any single Player. Judging by the form of address, they had probably been sent to the entire server.
Rao Lin frowned. How could the System possibly have a sudden attack of kindness and send Hidden Rules to everyone for no reason?
But everyone really had received the mail. Rao Lin pushed open the window and clearly heard the cheers of countless Players.
Against the fireworks backdrop unique to the Fiery Trees and Silver Flowers Rest Area, the joy on the Players’ faces reflected in Rao Lin’s eyes.
But no matter how lively it was outside, that warmth didn’t reach the room. Inside, everything was quiet, and all of a sudden, Rao Lin missed Song Zhu terribly.
At that exact moment, someone knocked on the door.
The knocking wasn’t rhythmic. It wasn’t an NPC.
Rao Lin knew very well that he had lost his memories. The unfamiliar names in his contact list had all turned gray, a sign that those people were dead.
So now, no one had any personal ties with Rao Lin. Which also meant hardly anyone would come knocking at his door.
Looking at it that way, Song Zhu was actually the one who had come and gone the most.
The moment he thought of Song Zhu, Rao Lin’s heartbeat started racing faster and faster. He immediately went to open the door.
The instant it opened, a cool fragrance tinged with blood washed over him.
“I don’t really have anywhere else to go. Please, let me stay with you for a while.” The person he had thought about countless times over the past few months stood there, exhaustion written all over him, as he made his first-ever request to Rao Lin.