“Tell me, Great Master, you aren’t actually a loli-con, are you?”
As Tian Zheng rose, choosing an optimal angle to cross the floating bridge before them, Bai Xia wasn’t truly so terrified that her eyes wouldn’t open. She simply lacked confidence in her ability to cross, and to say she was ‘too scared’ wasn’t quite right; at most, she worried about getting distracted and stumbling into the abyss below.
Thus, even as Tian Zheng navigated the perilous path, she found herself pondering other matters.
The unfortunate result of her distraction was his foot slipping, nearly sending both of them plummeting into the chasm!
Having barely managed to regain his balance, Tian Zheng felt a bead of cold sweat trickle down his forehead.
Witnessing his dramatic reaction, Bai Xia, instead, found amusement, teasing, “Wow, such a strong emotional fluctuation. Could it be that I hit the nail on the head?”
“Why do you insist on calling me Great Master?”
Sighing, Tian Zheng chose his angle, sprinted a short distance, and leaped onto the next stone. It seemed as though he was changing the subject… which, in fact, he was.
Naturally, he was quite curious about the question itself, as Bai Xia had consistently addressed him as ‘Great Master.’ Yet, Tian Zheng considered himself nothing more than an ordinary player.
Bai Xia, however, paid no mind to Tian Zheng’s obvious attempt to divert the conversation. Tilting her head, she mused, “Otherwise, what should I call you, Great Master? Onii-chan?”
“Hmm, ‘Onii-chan’ it is then… Alright, I’m just kidding. Please remove that knife from my neck.”
Bai Xia gave a light huff before reluctantly moving her weapon, though she staunchly protested such overbearing behavior. With a hint of malice, she added, “You really are a perverted loli-con, Great Master, making me call you Onii-chan!”
“…Didn’t you suggest it yourself? And how is being a loli-con perverse? Wait, when did I become a loli-con?”
“Every inch of you screams ‘shota-con’… no, wait, ‘loli-con’!”
‘Don’t assume I don’t understand,’ Tian Zheng thought, both exasperated and amused. He didn’t take her words to heart, instead changing the subject once more: “Are you really so determined to believe I’m a loli-con?”
“No, I’d rather you be gay… Ugh, you just pinched my butt!”
Before she could even finish her sentence, Bai Xia felt a firm pinch on her backside. Her expression instantly shifted, and then she heard the man calmly state, “I was merely demonstrating that my sexual orientation is perfectly normal. That’s all.”
“…Truly befitting of the Great Master, even when acting like a hooligan, you speak with such grace.”
Bai Xia’s face was etched with disdain, yet Tian Zheng remained entirely unfazed. Amidst their idle chatter, he swiftly traversed the seemingly precarious floating platforms, effortlessly landing on the opposite side.
No sooner had his front foot touched solid ground than Bai Xia followed, leaping down right after him. Standing on stable terrain, the tension she had unconsciously held finally dissipated. In truth, part of her earlier banter with Tian Zheng stemmed from curiosity, but a larger part was simply to distract herself.
Once composed, however, Bai Xia’s attention was quickly drawn, entirely, to the ruins ahead.
‘What could possibly be inside?’ she wondered. Though it remained unclear, the system’s warning about unknown dangers necessitated constant vigilance. Given the ruins clearly predated their time, there was no telling what might emerge; it wouldn’t be surprising if a Godzilla suddenly appeared and stomped them to death.
With a grim resolve, Bai Xia and Tian Zheng approached the cluster of ancient structures, only to find themselves destined for disappointment.
Although the system had hinted at potential dangers, their progress revealed nothing that could genuinely be termed a threat.
As far as the eye could see, collapsed buildings lay everywhere, strewn with countless broken swords and armor, tattered and corroded steel crossbow bolts, and cannonball fragments deeply embedded in the earth.
The ruins seemed to have endured a great war, utterly devastated, yet, eerily, not a single bone—be it human or of any other race—could be found.
[Rotten Greatsword]: Unusable, irreparable. A greatsword whose power has completely vanished, corroded by time. Its sole value lies in testifying to the glory of bygone eras.
Picking up a broken weapon from the ground, faint traces of blood could still be discerned upon it. Yet, this once-divine armament was now nothing more than scrap metal.
Everything else in the vicinity was the same; whether knives, swords, crossbows, or staves, all had completely lost their power, rendered utterly valueless.
Bai Xia glanced at it before casually tossing it aside, a hint of dissatisfaction in her voice: “There won’t just be this scrap metal here, will there? No, wait, scrap metal can at least be sold for some money. These are clearly just trash!”
“Let’s keep looking. Don’t be careless.”
Tian Zheng surveyed the surrounding junk, then led Bai Xia cautiously deeper into the ruins. However, the entire site was devoid of the rampant monsters they might have imagined, and there were no intricate traps scattered throughout. It was quiet to the point of utter deadness, as if only he and Bai Xia, the two outsiders, remained alive within this ancient city.
After an extensive search, the result remained the same: nothing was here.
Inside or outside the buildings, apart from the structures themselves and various jumbled, unusable weapons and armor, nothing else could be found.
“…What happened to the promised dungeon? Even if there aren’t any divine artifacts left, there should at least be something of value!”
Standing amidst the eerily silent underground ruins, Bai Xia’s initial enthusiasm was rapidly fading.
After all, if everything within this so-called underground ruin had turned to refuse under the erosion of time, what was the point of risking so much to explore it? Was it merely for fun or sightseeing?
However, the game’s official description of ruins, while mentioning countless treasures from thousands of years ago, never explicitly guaranteed that valuable items would always be found within them.
So, it was technically normal for there to be nothing here… ‘Normal, my foot! This is a complete scam!’
Throwing the rusted shield she had picked up far away, Bai Xia felt a throbbing headache, even though she no longer possessed the anatomical parts typically associated with that idiom.
Of course, she hadn’t given up entirely. If no good things were found in this destroyed area, wasn’t there still an intact half on the other side? If there was nothing here, perhaps there would be something there.
‘Yes, I need to be more optimistic.’
So, Bai Xia forced herself to focus, no longer wandering aimlessly through the ruins. Instead, she headed directly towards the intact area, following the route she had observed from above.
Tian Zheng offered no objection. Compared to Bai Xia’s disappointment, his emotions remained remarkably stable. Unlike the young woman, who clearly had a hoarding tendency and was a bit of a money-grubber, he played games more for relaxation and enjoyment.
He didn’t solely value the achievements gained; more importantly, he cherished the adventurous processes and experiences encountered on the journey to those achievements.
It was for this very reason that ‘Otherworld,’ in Tian Zheng’s view, was a truly captivating game, filled with an almost magical allure that drew players in.
Moreover, with ‘Otherworld’ currently dominating the entire market, he believed the game would undoubtedly attract even more players over time, becoming even more popular!
‘So, should I do something about it sooner rather than later?’
While not purely a businessman, he couldn’t help but feel it was a shame for such an interesting game to be used merely as a tool for passing time.
As Bai Xia, pouting slightly, led the way, preparing to traverse the ruins to explore the other side, Tian Zheng was lost in his own thoughts.
****
****
The underground ruins were vast; or, more precisely, they were simply too enormous. Even with Bai Xia and Tian Zheng walking in a straight line, they still hadn’t reached the other area after several hours.
Finally, seeing that it was getting late, they had no choice but to log off temporarily to rest and continue their journey the next day. Here, one couldn’t help but lament the inconvenience of not having mounts or teleportation scrolls. However, they were still in the novice village, so any distant journey had to be made on foot.
After logging off, Bai Xia took off her helmet and was about to head to the restroom when she noticed it was raining heavily outside, accompanied by unnerving flashes of lightning and rumbling thunder.
Fortunately, no clothes or blankets had been left out to dry, and the windows and doors were securely shut, so the fierce wind and rain outside didn’t concern Bai Xia. However, with the rain, she felt the chill of late autumn deepen.
Just as she finished washing up and was about to head to the fridge for a snack, her Tianxun, which she had placed aside, suddenly rang.
“Hmm?”
Blinking, she picked up her Tianxun and put it on, only to realize someone was calling her!
‘A call?’
Bai Xia paused, remembering that her Tianxun was completely blank, without a single contact. In the past half-month, only food delivery services had sent her messages.
Since she hadn’t ordered any takeout in the middle of the night, it clearly couldn’t be a delivery call.
‘Did someone dial the wrong number?’
“Oh… Unknown?”
Opening her Tianxun, Bai Xia felt an even greater sense of unease. All the caller information was ‘Unknown’! Not only was the name absent, but even the Tianxun number wasn’t displayed—just the prominent words ‘Unknown.’
‘What’s going on? Is my Tianxun broken?’
Bai Xia hesitated for a moment before deciding to answer the call:
– Hello, who is this?
– …
– Hello? Are you there?
– …
– Could you please speak?
– …
Silence, a prolonged silence.
Even Bai Xia, known for her stoic demeanor in real life, couldn’t help but frown deeply. “If you don’t speak, I’m hanging up.”
Still, there was no response.
Bai Xia expressionlessly closed the communication interface, gazing at the strange contact that didn’t even display a number, and tilted her head.
‘It must be that my Tianxun is broken, right?’
To be honest, despite having familiarized herself with most of the Tianxun’s functions over the past half-month, Bai Xia still didn’t fully understand the device. It worked fine when there were no issues, but once a problem arose, it became a real headache.
However, after a brief inspection, Bai Xia found that apart from that strange number, her Tianxun had no other problems. Of course, since she had no other contacts, she couldn’t yet test whether the call function itself was faulty.
“Forget it.”
Shaking her head, Bai Xia, unable to figure out what was going on, simply pushed the strange incident to the back of her mind and shuffled in her slippers towards the refrigerator.
Indeed, compared to that inexplicable phone call, filling her stomach was far more important.
Creepy