Chapter 77
Chapter 77
Snow whirled through the air, leaving trails of footprints across the white ground. Ning Wang pushed open the door to the wooden cabin and saw the young man inside with his back to him, warming himself by the stove.
The young man’s hair had grown a little long. Hearing the noise, he turned around, revealing a face identical to Ning Wang’s. “You’re back? How did this batch of NPCs test out?”
Ning Wang blocked the wind as he came in, then quickly shut the door behind him. “No good. The ones the Main God made are all more fragile than the last.”
“You’re just too good at fighting.”
Ning Wang walked over and took his hand. “You’re sitting right by the stove. Why are your hands still this cold?”
The man smiled. “This body only just became like this. It’d be strange if it was fine already.”
He was clearly beside the stove, but Ning Wang felt a chill sweep through his heart.
He heard himself ask in a joking tone, “Hey, don’t tell me you’re going to die before we even get out of here?”
“Try wishing me something better, would you?”
That voice gradually blurred, as if a cloth had been draped over it. Ning Wang woke with a start, the leftover ache in his heart still cold.
He had dreamed of Ning Shuo again.
This was the third time since returning to the System.
The first two times had only been scattered words and fragments, but this time, he had seen his face directly.
And setting the dreams aside, in that hospital Script, when Ning Shuo had invited him to confirm their relationship…
Ning Wang had also seen an incredibly familiar scene. So familiar that he had wanted, at all costs, to ask Ning Shuo for an official status, just to fill in that inexplicable sense of insecurity that had suddenly appeared-
Though Ning Shuo had beaten him to it.
In the Scripts afterward, some passed without incident, while others felt like reenactments of certain scenes, allowing him to glimpse bits of memories he had forgotten.
Ning Wang had tried bringing it up with Ning Shuo, but every time the words reached his lips, he had no idea where to start. The memories were too fragmented-so fragmented that countless shards even overlapped. Before long, he would only remember a few words.
Compared to those, the scenes in his dreams were much more complete.
After recording what he could still remember from this dream, Ning Wang rubbed his arm.
The cold from the dream seemed to still be there.
He turned to look at Ning Shuo. After covering him with a thin blanket, he brushed aside his hair and kissed his cheek.
Ning Shuo was sleeping deeply, utterly unguarded.
Ning Wang glanced at the time, then simply got out of bed, washed up, and went to the small kitchen to make breakfast.
—
Ning Shuo had slept quite comfortably.
After two months of day-and-night, high-intensity Script training with barely any rest, Ning Shuo had arrived at the Central Zone competition grounds and fallen asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.
He only forced himself out from under the soft blankets when he had slept long enough to give himself a headache.
Mainly because he smelled something good.
After washing up, Ning Shuo went to the small kitchen and leaned against the doorframe, calm and unhurried as he watched the person busy inside. “What suddenly made you think of cooking?”
Their living habits were similar, but they both enjoyed the clinginess of being a couple. Even when they were both awake, Ning Shuo was usually the one who took the initiative to act clingy. This included but was not limited to lazing in bed, murmuring that he wanted five more minutes when Ning Wang called him to log into a Script, or trying to muddle through with a good-morning kiss. Ning Wang was very susceptible to that trick.
Ning Wang said, “I was looking for a fire to warm up by.”
Ning Shuo: ?
He glanced out the window. “It’s late spring. What exactly are you warming up from?”
Ning Wang thought for a moment. “Warming myself with the warmth of marrying you?”
“…” Ning Shuo asked, “Which story did you read that one in?”
“Teacher Qianqian wrote it on the Zone F Forum. It was pretty good, actually. I even anonymously commissioned a ch-”
Quietly glancing at Ning Shuo, Ning Wang cleared his throat and calmly corrected himself. “A completely heartwarming romantic slice-of-life.”
Ning Shuo looked perfectly at ease. “Don’t you think that description sounds weird?”
“What’s weird about it?”
“You know perfectly well.”
“I know perfectly well what? Are you going to say I went out of my way to buy smut so I could study it?”
“Hah, mm~ Ningning, you just exposed yourself.”
“Very funny. I would never.”
“Stop being so stubborn.”
“I’m serious.”
“All right, all right. Even though you’ve learned plenty of dating experience and date-night routines from forum posts over the past two months, you would absolutely never buy smut to study. Why would our Ningning need to learn? You’re obviously self-taught~”
Ning Wang fell silent for a moment, carried two servings of breakfast to the dining table, and childishly placed Ning Shuo’s portion far away from him.
The aroma drifted into Ning Shuo’s nose. “…Ningning, don’t be so childish.”
“Then come get it.”
Ning Shuo rose suspiciously. The moment he reached out, his hand was caught and pressed against the dining table.
Warmth touched his lips. The good-morning kiss was gentle, lingering softly for only a few seconds before pulling away.
In an excellent mood, Ning Wang speared a piece of egg pancake with his fork and fed it to Ning Shuo’s lips, then even set his breakfast properly in front of him. “Mm. Your mouth really isn’t that stubborn.”
Ning Shuo: “…What an old trick.”
They were about to let the smut topic pass when Ning Wang suddenly thought of something. “You’re this practiced. Did you write a lot of modern ones?”
Ning Shuo swallowed his last bite and was just about to leave quietly when Ning Wang grabbed him and pulled him back. “Why is Teacher in such a hurry?”
Ning Shuo remained composed. “I’ve written plenty. What are you referring to?”
Ning Wang let out a muffled laugh and did not answer directly. “Since Teacher has written so much, I’ll have to trouble you to give me proper guidance in the future.”
…
After a rare day off, they went to meet up with the rest of the group.
Before the semi-finals began, the main thing they needed to do was download a few competition Scripts from previous seasons so the two special guest Players could get some practice.
The competition Scripts that had not been eliminated were cooperative-style Scripts combining PvE and PvP, and their rules took both into account.
[Welcome, Player Ning Banxian, to the Script “Beware the Ghost Bride”]
[Detected that this is the Player’s first time logging into an arena-style Script. The rules will now be introduced to the Player.]
[1. An arena-style Script is a competitive Script in which two teams of Players oppose each other. The hidden identities are Innocent and Murderer. Each team has one Murderer and multiple Innocents;
2. Innocents must meet up with the Murderer on their own team before they can learn each other’s identities. As with PvP, all Players may lie;
3. The Murderer must still kill and evade Accusation by the Innocents. If the Murderers from both teams complete their Murder Cases, the winning Murderer task will be determined by the number of rounds in which the Murderer evaded Accusation;
4. As with PVP Mode, Innocents must find the Notary Office and make an Accusation to the Clown against the opposing team’s Murderer. If the Accusation succeeds, the Innocent task will be judged victorious;
5. In addition to System tasks, all Players must complete the Script’s main storyline tasks. Among the surviving members, the team whose members are first to complete all tasks will win the arena Script;
6. Please note that the Hidden Rule remains in effect;
Friendly reminder: Because those logging into arena Scripts are the cream of each Star Zone, in order to preserve their true combat power during the arena while also motivating ordinary Players to improve, during the competition preparation period, whether ordinary Players or Team Players, the Clown will not directly take lives during the Accusation process, regardless of whether the Accusation is correct. Of course, nothing else is guaranteed;
Additional Rule: During the operation of the Script, highly dangerous weapons may not be used, especially swords.]
[Next, part of the plot of the Script “Beware the Ghost Bride” will be introduced to you.]
[Your identity: a bride sold by her parents to a remote mountain village.]
Reading up to this point, Ning Shuo: ?
Say that again. I’m who?