Someone Outside the Door

“Little Bunny, aren’t you living in the dorm?”

Another Taoist player from the same guild spoke up on the voice channel.

“The dorms should be pretty safe, right?”

“I’m not there anymore.”

“I had a conflict with my roommate, so I moved out to live on my own.”

Xu Shuche felt extremely uneasy.

While talking with them, he stood up and turned on every light in the house.

He looked up at the peephole on the door.

After hesitating for a long time, he still didn’t dare walk over to check what was outside.

“Little Bunny, you really have to be careful living alone.”

Someone in the chat left a message.

“Especially in those old neighborhoods without property management. Anyone can get in. It’s really unsafe.”

“Little Bunny?”

JuJu’s voice was full of worry.

“Are you okay?”

After thinking again and again, Xu Shuche finally clenched his teeth and looked through the peephole.

The corridor outside the door was still dark.

Only a single ceiling light flickered with a buzzing “zzzt-zzzt” sound, clearly making poor contact.

The couple next door had stopped arguing as well.

The hallway was completely silent.

Xu Shuche let out a small sigh of relief.

He covered the peephole again and returned to his computer.

“It’s fine.”

“I didn’t see anyone.”

JuJu started giving him suggestions over the microphone.

She told him to buy a small camera and install it above the door.

Even if it didn’t capture anything, it could still act as a deterrent.

Xu Shuche thought it sounded reasonable.

He casually opened a shopping app and searched for “home security camera.”

He had barely begun browsing when a private message suddenly popped up in the game.

【Little Bear Cheese】: Baby, are we starting the dungeon this weekend?

It was the Longyuan dungeon JuJu had mentioned earlier.

Originally he was supposed to go with Jian Yixun and the basketball team this weekend.

But now that he and Jian Yixun had argued, there was no need for him to go with them anymore.

“I should be free,” he replied.

“Let’s do it.”

An invitation to join a party popped up from the other side.

He clicked accept.

His character was immediately teleported beside Little Bear Cheese’s character.

The Taoist character had flowing white hair and looked like an immortal.

Brilliant blue light surrounded him—equipment worth 880,000 Hongfu points.

Among ordinary players, he stood out especially clearly.

“What’s up?”

Xu Shuche typed two words and poured himself a glass of water.

“If nothing’s going on, I’m logging off.”

“I still haven’t finished my paper.”

Little Bear Cheese typed “QAQ” in the team chat.

“Which is more important, your paper or me?”

Xu Shuche laughed helplessly.

“You’re important.”

“Alright?”

Only then did the other person seem satisfied.

He pulled Xu Shuche onto a silver-white carriage obtained from a New Year event reward and drove along the main road of Jinling City.

Xu Shuche rested his chin on his hand while watching the screen.

Inside the game, the Taoist character was holding the blue-clad swordsman’s hand while sitting in the carriage.

They looked sweet and intimate.

“What kind of person do you think I am?” he suddenly asked.

Little Bear Cheese was caught completely off guard.

“Huh?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…” Xu Shuche typed slowly.

“What kind of person do you think I am?”

“After all, we’re separated by a screen.”

“No one can see what the other person is really like.”

“So in your imagination… what kind of person should I be?”

Little Bear Cheese was silent for a long time.

Only after the carriage stopped under the Three-Life Tree did he reply.

“I don’t think I can describe it.”

“We’ve been game partners for a year.”

“And you can’t even say what kind of person I am?”

Xu Shuche pretended to be angry, breaking the strange atmosphere.

“Idiot.”

“I’ll hit you.”

“No, no, that’s not what I meant.”

“What I mean is… I can’t define you.”

Even though Xu Shuche couldn’t see Little Bear Cheese’s face, he could almost imagine how embarrassed and nervous he must look.

“I just think you’re really good.”

“Even if I don’t like the way you are now, someone else will definitely like you the way you are.”

“Does that sound confusing?”

The white-haired Taoist stepped down from the carriage and carefully helped the blue-clad swordsman down as well.

“What I mean is…”

“You’re a really good person.”

“No matter what, there will always be someone who likes you.”

“Today marks 365 days of our Love Lock.”

“Let’s upgrade it.”

“Now we have a golden lock.”

“What if I quit the game?”

Xu Shuche couldn’t help asking.

“If I quit, would you still remember me?”

“Of course.”

Little Bear Cheese didn’t seem to think mentioning quitting the game was depressing at all.

“You see people in the world chat waiting for their friends to come back every day.”

“And many of them do come back eventually.”

The golden lock upgrade succeeded.

A pink announcement floated across the top of the world channel.

“Like golden wind and jade dew meeting once, surpassing countless moments in the mortal world. Congratulations to Little Bear Cheese and Little Bunny Rice Ball for being partners for 365 days.”

Xu Shuche looked at the two characters on the screen holding hands.

The words he had been about to say were swallowed back down.

Wasn’t this kind of life already good enough?

Then let it stay this way.

After all, he had only wanted someone to accompany him in playing games.

If the day ever came when he could no longer hide his real gender…

He would deal with it then.

The next morning, Xu Shuche woke up feeling extremely tired.

The night before, he had dreamed a terrible dream.

In the first half, his secret of using a voice changer while playing a female character had been exposed.

His friends distanced themselves from him.

Players on the same server gossiped about him behind his back, just like the gossip about the third-ranked donor.

Then the dream suddenly shifted.

The disgusting face of Wang Shimei appeared.

He was grinning viciously while pressing a cigarette butt onto Xu Shuche’s skin.

The background sound became a relentless doorbell ringing like a death sentence.

When Xu Shuche woke up, his heart was racing.

Looking in the mirror, he saw dark circles under his eyes.

He had no appetite for breakfast.

He only poured himself a glass of hot water before preparing to leave for school.

When locking the door, he suddenly felt something under his foot.

He lowered his head.

Three cigarette butts lay there.

Although he didn’t smoke, he had often accompanied his advisor before and was familiar with cigarette brands and prices.

Xu Shuche narrowed his eyes and carefully examined the mark on the filter tip.

He recognized it as one of the cheapest brands of low-quality cigarettes.

The smoke was harsh and choking.

Even smelling it once felt like it could cause lung cancer.

Who had such poor manners to smoke outside his door?

Xu Shuche frowned and silently cursed.

Just as he wrapped the cigarette butts in tissue to throw them away, he suddenly noticed something nearby.

An empty cigarette pack.

And a transparent plastic wrapper.

The strange creaking sound he heard the night before suddenly resurfaced in his memory.

Cold sweat ran down the back of his neck.

Would someone deliberately stand outside another person’s door just to smoke?

But if someone had been waiting for him…

Or scouting the place…

Then smoking there would make perfect sense.

Alarm bells rang loudly in Xu Shuche’s mind.

He quickly threw the cigarette butts and the cigarette pack into the trash.

After confirming that his door was locked, he practically ran down the stairs.

There was no group meeting today.

But several members were still in the research room working.

They looked up and greeted him when they saw him.

Xu Shuche nodded politely.

He went to the table in the farthest corner of the room and sat down.

With walls behind and beside him, he finally felt slightly safer.

Jian Yixun yawned as he passed by the research room.

He originally planned to greet Feng Zhou.

But his gaze shifted and landed on Xu Shuche sitting quietly in the corner.

Senior looked like he hadn’t rested well.

Did he eat breakfast?

Probably not.

Jian Yixun clicked his tongue softly.

He paced back and forth outside the research room door.

He wanted to go inside and greet him.

But he was afraid Xu Shuche would ignore him.

Guan Jingshan looked up and noticed someone suspiciously pacing outside the door.

After squinting for a while, he realized it was Jian Yixun.

He quietly told the student beside him to continue reading the article.

Then he walked softly toward the door.

Jian Yixun was already annoyed when someone suddenly tapped his shoulder.

“Brother Xun.”

“What are you doing?”

“Damn!”

Jian Yixun was startled.

“Why don’t you make any sound when you walk?”

“You’ve been standing here for a while.”

Guan Jingshan looked him up and down.

“What’s wrong?”

“Did you do something guilty?”

“No.”

For once, Jian Yixun didn’t snap back at the insult.

Instead he stammered awkwardly for a long time without saying anything useful.

Guan Jingshan became impatient.

“If you have something to say, say it.”

“If not, I’m leaving.”

“Wait.”

Jian Yixun suddenly pulled several crumpled bills from his pocket and stuffed them into Guan Jingshan’s hand.

“Senior probably didn’t eat breakfast.”

“Go buy something for him.”

Guan Jingshan raised an eyebrow.

“Oh?”

“Didn’t you warn me yesterday not to think about your senior?”

“That was yesterday.”

Jian Yixun spoke shamelessly and confidently.

“Yesterday’s matters are cleared today.”

Guan Jingshan sneered lightly.

“Fine.”

“Then you can go.”

“Wait.”

Jian Yixun grabbed his arm again.

“Listen carefully.”

“Senior has a weak stomach and can’t eat spicy food.”

“It’s best if you heat the food before giving it to him.”

“He doesn’t like fish, especially tuna.”

“So don’t buy tuna sandwiches.”

“He likes strawberry milk or chocolate milk.”

“And also—”

Guan Jingshan stared at him.

For the first time, he felt he might have underestimated something.

Jian Yixun didn’t look like a straight guy at all.

What kind of straight man would remember someone else’s preferences so clearly?

“Did you remember all that?” Jian Yixun asked.

Then he released his arm.

“This time I’m letting you off.”

“Go.”

“And don’t tell him I asked you to buy it.”

Guan Jingshan returned to his senses and smiled meaningfully.

“Alright.”

“Then thank you very much, Brother Xun.”

Jian Yixun clicked his tongue in irritation.

He watched Guan Jingshan walk toward the supermarket and sighed softly.

Then he tightened the strap of his backpack and turned away.

Xu Shuche hadn’t eaten breakfast.

On the way to school he had only eaten a piece of candy.

Now his stomach felt uncomfortable.

He was just thinking about going to the supermarket to buy something when a plastic bag suddenly appeared in front of him.

“Senior.”

“You must be hungry.”

Guan Jingshan smiled politely.

“I just bought this from the supermarket next door.”

“Eat something first.”

Seeing Xu Shuche about to thank him, Guan Jingshan spoke first.

“No need to thank me.”

“Jian Yixun asked me to buy it for you.”

“If you want to thank someone, thank him.”

Ridiculous.

When pursuing someone, it should depend on one’s own ability.

Did he really need Jian Yixun to give him an advantage?