Chapter 50: Loyal Friend Lin Xuefeng

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At eight o’clock that evening, I finally succumbed to the fierce backlash of the Temple of the Five Viscera, logging out right in the corridor of the White Cloud Mine District. I hadn’t expected that fighting for six hours straight in the virtual world would feel so much like reality. The moment I stepped out of the gaming pod, an overwhelming wave of exhaustion crashed over me, impossible to resist.

Fortunately, my body in the real world was not as frail as my in-game avatar.

Drawing in a deep breath, I felt much of the fatigue quickly dissipate—this level of exertion was nothing unusual for me. Even after more than a year on this scavenger planet, I had never slackened in my rigorous training, so this kind of tiredness was hardly enough to lay me low.

As I left my bedroom, Little Rascal’s voice sounded in my ear—unusually proper for once—as she said, “Master, you received three calls and two messages during your six hours in the game. Would you like to listen to them now?”

I remembered calling Lin Xuefeng around one in the afternoon, so, heading toward the bathroom, I replied, “Run a bath for me first… we’ll deal with the messages while I soak.”

It was just as well—having some messages and calls to go over would be enough to distract Little Rascal from her usual mischief, so I could enjoy a peaceful soak without her ‘disturbing’ me.

…

As I’d planned, Little Rascal didn’t get the chance to harass me this time. When I entered the bathroom, the water was ready.

The near-freezing water jolted me awake the moment I slipped in, my mind instantly cleared. I sank swiftly into the small bath, letting the icy chill seep through my pores and into my body, my blood vessels contracting rapidly…

But soon, my body adjusted to the abrupt cold, my blood vessels expanding once more, and a faint warmth began to spread from within, reaching every corner of me.

Ah—bliss!

Taking cold baths had been a habit of mine since childhood, but ice baths only became routine after Little Rascal arrived. Without them, I might not have had the mental fortitude to resist the seductive avatars she conjured up.

Really, she forced me into it!

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Over time, I grew to love ice baths. For one thing, this planet’s climate alternated constantly between extreme cold and heat—scorching during the day and dropping to minus tens or even dozens of degrees at night. Ice baths not only toughened my body, but also greatly improved my ability to adapt to temperature swings.

On this world of alternating heat and cold, colds, fevers, and chills were rampant among scavengers—even I wasn’t immune. But since I’d made ice baths a habit, my resistance had increased considerably, and I’d hardly fallen ill since.

Thinking of this, I couldn’t help but wonder if Little Rascal had deliberately introduced this habit to toughen me up, helping me survive in this harsh environment.

But I quickly dismissed the thought—Little Rascal had never missed a chance to tease me, so it was unlikely she’d done it out of any real concern.

I chuckled to myself, scooping up icy water from the bath to quickly wash away the sweat and fatigue from my time in the game.

Just then, Little Rascal’s voice sounded again, this time matter-of-factly reporting the day’s three calls: “At 3 p.m., the after-sales department of Era Group called, hoping to conduct a satisfaction survey regarding your experience with ‘Era of Magic.’ They also left a message stating that in twenty-eight days, the guild service will be launched—please watch the official website for specific announcements.”

I was momentarily surprised—Guilds? Weren’t those basically the ancient equivalent of gangs? But wasn’t there already a mercenary system?

“In addition, at 4 p.m. sharp, the Scavenger Management Association called with a reply. Considering your consistent service over the past year without a single day off, they have approved your sick leave request. You are permitted to take a one-month break. During this period, the association will send flowers daily, wishing you a speedy recovery. However, they are quite curious—your body is stronger than an ox, so how could you possibly be ill? Humans truly are strange…”

Little Rascal’s commentary at the end made my eyes roll. For being the pinnacle of 789th Era artificial intelligence, she really had a way of comparing human health to cattle. Wasn’t that just plain rude? Unbelievable…

“Report the next message,” I interrupted her, feigning annoyance.

“All messages have been reported! Would you like any repeated?”

“Uh…” Only then did I realize she’d said from the start there were just two messages—one from Era Group, one from the Scavenger Management Association…

“What about Xuefeng? Lin Xuefeng didn’t leave a message?”

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“There was a call from him, just half an hour ago, but he didn’t leave a message,” Little Rascal replied.

It was now eight o’clock—half an hour earlier would have been seven-thirty, right around Lin Xuefeng’s dinnertime. After a moment’s thought, I instructed, “Connect the call!”

“One moment, please…”

Soon after, Little Rascal’s mischievous, sultry voice returned, “The line is connected. The other party is requesting a video call. Do you accept?”

“No!” I replied without hesitation. I was a pure-hearted young man of seventeen or eighteen, loyal to my nation, with perfectly normal preferences—I had no intention of playing any ‘special’ games with that rascal Lin Xuefeng.

…

Once connected, Lin Xuefeng’s familiar teasing tone came through, “Lin, why refuse a video call? Hiding a woman at home, are you?”

“Just taking a bath… But if you’re really interested in your big brother’s body, I wouldn’t mind giving you a look,” I shot back without missing a beat.

He let out a dramatic cry, “Come on, I don’t want to go blind! All right, let’s get to the point. You called me at noon—what’s up? If I recall, one o’clock is usually your nap time…”

“Oh, it’s just that I hadn’t heard from you in a couple days, so I called to see what you’ve been up to.”

“What else? Still busy with the game!” There was a faint note of resignation in Lin Xuefeng’s voice. “I took on a quest recently and took quite a hit. I’m grinding levels like crazy right now.”

Yeah, right. He almost sounded convincing—if I hadn’t already heard about his in-game situation from other trainees, I might have been fooled by his nonchalant tone.