Ning Su picked up Pang Yang’s notebook and started drawing.
When the two ghost children presented the drawing to the old man, Ning Su gave the backpack boy a detailed hand-drawn map of Jin University.
“Jin University is quite large. It will take some time to familiarize yourself with each department. Here’s a map for you.”
The boy looked at the intricate map in surprise, then glanced at the seemingly sixteen or seventeen-year-old youth. “Are you a senior?”
It’s not surprising he asked. This map was incredibly detailed and lifelike, not only depicting the conditions of each department but also detailing which cafeteria served delicious dishes, and on which days special dishes were available.
Ning Su remained silent.
He thought, ‘You’re the senior here, or rather, my senior from over twenty years ago.’
Without speaking, Ning Su tacitly accepted the assumption.
The boy looked at him with excitement and somewhat awkwardly said, “Senior, can you tell me about Jin University? I’m in the special training class and will choose my major after a year.”
“Sure.” Ning Su was here to share this information.
Ning Su climbed onto his bed, and the two young men sat on the bed, leaning against the ship’s wall, discussing the campus map.
They talked about the library’s collection, the number of couples at the lake on campus, the delicious options in the cafeteria, and the affordable and tasty nearby self-service restaurants.
They discussed teachers, past deans, and campus culture.
Their eyes sparkled, pointing in different directions inside the cabin, as if they were not on a ghost-infested gloomy ship but in a bright and beautiful campus.
“Senior, your vivid storytelling makes it feel so real. I can almost smell the fragrance of books and meals. It’s like I’ve been to the school and walked around several times already.”
Ning Su pressed his lips together, smiling.
“Senior, if only we were in the same class and dormitory. I really want to go to the library and have meals in the cafeteria with you.”
Who wouldn’t want that?
Ning Su thought.
Their chilly arms leaned against each other, and neither of them would find fault with the other. There were no outsiders here.
Ning Su jumped from the boy’s bed. The two children were still leaning on the old man’s legs, watching the painting while listening to the old man talk about his daughter and grandson.
As he grew older, he became particularly fond of sharing these stories, but it had been a very long time since anyone had listened.
After observing for a while, Ning Su left the two children there and went back to take a nap.
When Ling Xiao opened his eyes, there were two little heads by the bedside.
Two uniquely different children stood there, holding onto the bed railing, only showing their little heads, staring at him with big eyes.
Upon seeing him open his eyes, there was a moment of panic, quickly followed by composure.
The little girl pushed a piece of paper towards him, and the two children swiftly pulled back their heads and left.
Ling Xiao picked up the paper.
On the paper was a drawing.
The drawing depicted a total of two big and two small “figures.”
The two small ones stood in the middle, and the two big ones stood on either side, each holding a small one.
The little girl wore a dress with lingxiao vines depicted on it.
The little boy’s two eyes were slightly different.
One big figure wore a loose white t-shirt with a crooked collar.
The other big figure wore a black windbreaker, holding a blood flower in hand.
They walked back home under the blood-red sunset.
After looking for a while, Ling Xiao received another crumpled piece of paper.
[Player Ning Su cordially invites Player Ling Xiao to the deck for fishing.]
From a certain someone who had just woken up.
Even during the day, it was dim here, barely enough to see things.
The deck’s fishy breeze was neither too strong nor too weak, enough to lift the corners of clothes and sway hair, but not strong enough to be uncomfortable.
Ning Su looked at those foolish fish, jumping onto Ling Xiao’s fishing rod one after another. After a moment of silence, he simply threw the fishing rod away, sat next to Ling Xiao, and said, “Player Ling Xiao, let’s discuss the instance, shall we?”
Ling Xiao: “...”
Ning Su asked, “What do you think the identities of the ghosts on our ship are?”
Ling Xiao answered without hesitation, “Mostly players.”
“How do you know?”
“I’ve seen them.”
“In what capacity have you seen them?”
“...”
The conversation abruptly ended.
The one who ended the conversation seemed unaware, and after a while, said, “I also guessed a bit. You know, when I was on the spirit bus heading to the instance, I saw a line of buses carrying corpses in the opposite direction.”
Ling Xiao asked, “What is a spirit bus?”
“...”
Players in the game base referred to the vehicle that transported them into the game as a spirit bus because the same vehicle on the opposite side carried the dead.
This was common knowledge in the base; everyone knew it, even the ghosts.
Ning Su moved a bit closer, gazing at him with beautiful peach blossom eyes. “If you don’t know what a spirit bus is, you’re not a real player.”
He leaned in very close.
They were almost about to be pressed together.
Their clothes intertwined much like their breaths.
Ling Xiao had never experienced being so close to someone, and it was happening with the young man in front of him.
He should have resisted, as no one had ever come so close to him before.
But the young man in front of him was an exception.
In a strangely mystical way, the young man’s body housed his heart, and his energy flowed within him.
Sometimes, he would wonder if his heart hadn’t been taken away and sewn into this young man’s body, but rather, the young man before him was his heart spontaneously growing into a person.
A part of his own body.
That’s why he allowed him to get close without any resistance.
“I am a real player,” he said, shifting his gaze away from the young man’s face.
Ning Su suspiciously looked at him. “You’re lying; your heart just skipped a beat.”
“Don’t lie. Your heart is currently in my body.”
Ling Xiao: “It’s your heart that’s beating.”
Ning Su: “It’s yours.”
“Yours.”
“Yours.”
“...”
The conversation came to an end again.
Not sure whose it was, but they both heard the beating sound, anyway.
After a while, Ning Su realized that the conversation had veered off, and he was supposed to discuss the instance with Ling Xiao.
Ning Su continued with the topic. “We took the spirit bus to the base gate. When I got off, I happened to see a female player who had just cleared customs. She was holding a photo, and I saw the man in the picture on those buses.”
“She said that the man died in the dungeon, but I clearly saw that he turned into a corpse and didn’t know where he was being transported.”
Ning Su looked at Ling Xiao, “Do players who die in dungeons really just die?”
Ling Xiao said, “They might just die, or they might be transformed into NPCs, possibly even becoming ghost masters.”
Ning Su pursed his lips and said, “Then is there a possibility that they’ll be transported back to their original world?”
Ling Xiao hesitated for a moment, squinted his eyes as if contemplating something.
Both of them tacitly chose not to delve deeper into this topic, sensing its potential danger.
Ning Su picked up Pang Yang’s notebook and started drawing.
When the two ghost children presented the drawing to the old man, Ning Su gave the backpack boy a detailed hand-drawn map of Jin University.
“Jin University is quite large. It will take some time to familiarize yourself with each department. Here’s a map for you.”
The boy looked at the intricate map in surprise, then glanced at the seemingly sixteen or seventeen-year-old youth. “Are you a senior?”
It’s not surprising he asked. This map was incredibly detailed and lifelike, not only depicting the conditions of each department but also detailing which cafeteria served delicious dishes, and on which days special dishes were available.
Ning Su remained silent.
He thought, ‘You’re the senior here, or rather, my senior from over twenty years ago.’
Without speaking, Ning Su tacitly accepted the assumption.
The boy looked at him with excitement and somewhat awkwardly said, “Senior, can you tell me about Jin University? I’m in the special training class and will choose my major after a year.”
“Sure.” Ning Su was here to share this information.
Ning Su climbed onto his bed, and the two young men sat on the bed, leaning against the ship’s wall, discussing the campus map.
They talked about the library’s collection, the number of couples at the lake on campus, the delicious options in the cafeteria, and the affordable and tasty nearby self-service restaurants.
They discussed teachers, past deans, and campus culture.
Their eyes sparkled, pointing in different directions inside the cabin, as if they were not on a ghost-infested gloomy ship but in a bright and beautiful campus.
“Senior, your vivid storytelling makes it feel so real. I can almost smell the fragrance of books and meals. It’s like I’ve been to the school and walked around several times already.”
Ning Su pressed his lips together, smiling.
“Senior, if only we were in the same class and dormitory. I really want to go to the library and have meals in the cafeteria with you.”
Who wouldn’t want that?
Ning Su thought.
Their chilly arms leaned against each other, and neither of them would find fault with the other. There were no outsiders here.
Ning Su jumped from the boy’s bed. The two children were still leaning on the old man’s legs, watching the painting while listening to the old man talk about his daughter and grandson.
As he grew older, he became particularly fond of sharing these stories, but it had been a very long time since anyone had listened.
After observing for a while, Ning Su left the two children there and went back to take a nap.
When Ling Xiao opened his eyes, there were two little heads by the bedside.
Two uniquely different children stood there, holding onto the bed railing, only showing their little heads, staring at him with big eyes.
Upon seeing him open his eyes, there was a moment of panic, quickly followed by composure.
The little girl pushed a piece of paper towards him, and the two children swiftly pulled back their heads and left.
Ling Xiao picked up the paper.
On the paper was a drawing.
The drawing depicted a total of two big and two small “figures.”
The two small ones stood in the middle, and the two big ones stood on either side, each holding a small one.
The little girl wore a dress with lingxiao vines depicted on it.
The little boy’s two eyes were slightly different.
One big figure wore a loose white t-shirt with a crooked collar.
The other big figure wore a black windbreaker, holding a blood flower in hand.
They walked back home under the blood-red sunset.
After looking for a while, Ling Xiao received another crumpled piece of paper.
[Player Ning Su cordially invites Player Ling Xiao to the deck for fishing.]
From a certain someone who had just woken up.
Even during the day, it was dim here, barely enough to see things.
The deck’s fishy breeze was neither too strong nor too weak, enough to lift the corners of clothes and sway hair, but not strong enough to be uncomfortable.
Ning Su looked at those foolish fish, jumping onto Ling Xiao’s fishing rod one after another. After a moment of silence, he simply threw the fishing rod away, sat next to Ling Xiao, and said, “Player Ling Xiao, let’s discuss the instance, shall we?”
Ling Xiao: “...”
Ning Su asked, “What do you think the identities of the ghosts on our ship are?”
Ling Xiao answered without hesitation, “Mostly players.”
“How do you know?”
“I’ve seen them.”
“In what capacity have you seen them?”
“...”
The conversation abruptly ended.
The one who ended the conversation seemed unaware, and after a while, said, “I also guessed a bit. You know, when I was on the spirit bus heading to the instance, I saw a line of buses carrying corpses in the opposite direction.”
Ling Xiao asked, “What is a spirit bus?”
“...”
Players in the game base referred to the vehicle that transported them into the game as a spirit bus because the same vehicle on the opposite side carried the dead.
This was common knowledge in the base; everyone knew it, even the ghosts.
Ning Su moved a bit closer, gazing at him with beautiful peach blossom eyes. “If you don’t know what a spirit bus is, you’re not a real player.”
He leaned in very close.
They were almost about to be pressed together.
Their clothes intertwined much like their breaths.
Ling Xiao had never experienced being so close to someone, and it was happening with the young man in front of him.
He should have resisted, as no one had ever come so close to him before.
But the young man in front of him was an exception.
In a strangely mystical way, the young man’s body housed his heart, and his energy flowed within him.
Sometimes, he would wonder if his heart hadn’t been taken away and sewn into this young man’s body, but rather, the young man before him was his heart spontaneously growing into a person.
A part of his own body.
That’s why he allowed him to get close without any resistance.
“I am a real player,” he said, shifting his gaze away from the young man’s face.
Ning Su suspiciously looked at him. “You’re lying; your heart just skipped a beat.”
“Don’t lie. Your heart is currently in my body.”
Ling Xiao: “It’s your heart that’s beating.”
Ning Su: “It’s yours.”
“Yours.”
“Yours.”
“...”
The conversation came to an end again.
Not sure whose it was, but they both heard the beating sound, anyway.
After a while, Ning Su realized that the conversation had veered off, and he was supposed to discuss the instance with Ling Xiao.
Ning Su continued with the topic. “We took the spirit bus to the base gate. When I got off, I happened to see a female player who had just cleared customs. She was holding a photo, and I saw the man in the picture on those buses.”
“She said that the man died in the dungeon, but I clearly saw that he turned into a corpse and didn’t know where he was being transported.”
Ning Su looked at Ling Xiao, “Do players who die in dungeons really just die?”
Ling Xiao said, “They might just die, or they might be transformed into NPCs, possibly even becoming ghost masters.”
Ning Su pursed his lips and said, “Then is there a possibility that they’ll be transported back to their original world?”
Ling Xiao hesitated for a moment, squinted his eyes as if contemplating something.
Both of them tacitly chose not to delve deeper into this topic, sensing its potential danger.
