Chapter 127: Save the Brain dead lover (6)
Chapter 127: Save the Brain dead lover (6)
Yi Xiao led Ren Zhu to the medical room, and all the way there, his mouth never stopped. His expression, as he held Ren Zhu, could be described as ferocious, making passing students think he was looking for trouble. But if you could hear the constant stream of words he was muttering all along, you would never think that way.
Just when Ren Zhu felt he could hardly bear the piercing sound any longer, they finally arrived at the medical room. Fortunately, his wrist was only swollen, not a major issue. The medical teacher in the room used their healing-type psychic power to treat him, and soon his wrist returned to its original slender and delicate state.
Afterward, Yi Xiao naturally led Ren Zhu to have dinner again. Dinner was slightly simpler than lunch, but it still left little Ren Zhu feeling satisfied.
During dinner, coincidentally, they saw those three individuals led by Qiaozhi Souya again. When the three of them, Qiaozhi Souya and his companions, saw that Ren Zhu was sitting there eating calmly, as if nothing had happened, their faces darkened instantly. Especially Peter, who blurted out, “This can’t be possible! I clearly had those four, take action. They’re all power-type Ability Users. How could they fail to deal with someone as weak as an E-level loser?”
It was Song Ze, however, who shook his head beside them and reminded them, “Didn’t you see Yi Xiao sitting beside him? Yi Xiao must know that this kid is important to him, so he probably wants to protect him.”
Peter’s face turned dark. “So, we won’t be able to do anything about him later?”
“How’s that possible?” Song Ze smiled. “He’s just one person. Can he protect him for a moment and even a lifetime? He’s just an eight-year-old kid. He’ll eventually be alone.”
Hearing this, Qiaozhi Souya and Peter’s expressions returned to normal. While these three were discussing how to deal with Ren Zhu and Yi Xiao, they didn’t know that at this moment, Ren Zhu and Yi Xiao were discussing them as well.
“You said you’re going to beat up those four tomorrow, so you must know who those four are,” Ren Zhu asked Yi Xiao while eating the bamboo shoots soup.
Yi Xiao looked at him enjoying the food and couldn’t help but smirk slightly, then pursed his lips. “Those four guys are notorious troublemakers in our grade. They specialize in bullying the weak and fearing the strong. They take all kinds of commissions and tasks, as long as they earn credits. Let them do anything.”
“This time they must have been instigated by someone to provoke you. Otherwise, they never had any interaction with you before. You’re not a foolish person with extra money to spend. They wouldn’t have come otherwise. And I can probably guess who’s behind them bullying you. Truly unrepentant,” Yi Xiao said, a cold and stern look flashing in his eyes. The spiritual energy around them seemed to fluctuate again. Ren Zhu quickly changed the subject, “Is it your three arch-enemies? The three who triggered your psychic outburst?”
Yi Xiao nodded. “Definitely them. I suppose they thought you were important to me, so that’s why they’re causing you trouble.” After saying this, Yi Xiao paused for a moment, and then his ears turned slightly red. He quickly glanced at Ren Zhu and coughed forcefully. “Their minds are messed up. Don’t think about it so much! But since it’s true that you inadvertently calmed my psychic outburst before, I will protect you if anything happens in the future.”
Looking at his reddening ears, Ren Zhu squinted and smiled. “Thank you for that then.”
Yi Xiao felt that Ren Zhu’s obsequious smile was as if he was trying to flatter him by doing that. His ears turned even redder. “Even though I’ll protect you, don’t let that get to your head! The weak have no rights or choices! Only when you become strong can you survive well in this world.”
Hearing these words, Ren Zhu’s eyes flashed. He realized that Yi Xiao in this life seemed to hold a significant bias and hostility towards the weak. As if the weak had committed something morally unforgivable, making him feel intense disgust. But in this world, it was impossible for there to be only the strong and no weak; all things have their strengths and weaknesses, softness and hardness, to maintain balance. Moreover, the division between strength and weakness couldn’t always be so clear-cut.
Yi Xiao’s way of thinking was incorrect, but why did he think that way? Could this be a part of what he wanted to save? He needed to find an opportunity to understand. While Ren Zhu pondered this, Yi Xiao, not getting a response, shot him a glare. “Don’t daydream during meals! Eat properly. What if you choke? They say your brain doesn’t function well, yet you’re daydreaming so intensely. What if you end up breaking your brain? Anyway, no matter how much you think, it’s useless. It’s better to focus on improving your physical strength so you won’t be so weak.”
Ren Zhu silently glanced at him and quietly took out a small notebook, then drew another line.
Seeing that small notebook, Yi Xiao’s eyelids couldn’t help but twitch. He resisted twice but couldn’t hold back any longer. He asked, “What’s that small notebook for? Why do you draw lines on it from time to time? Is there something you absolutely need to note down? Is it that important?”
Ren Zhu looked enigmatic and nodded, “Yes, very important. It’s related to my future happiness.” Then, in his mind, he added silently, it’s also related to your future happiness, brain not functioning well? Hehe! Let’s see who has a poorly functioning brain after all!
Yi Xiao looked at Ren Zhu’s expression and felt that this small notebook was especially, especially ominous.
Because the two of them shared a dormitory, they left the cafeteria together after dinner. When they returned to the dormitory, Ren Zhu noticed that the three members of the Bu Lu trio seemed rather dispirited. He raised an eyebrow and mentally lit a candle for these three individuals, then smiled, waiting for them to come to their senses later.
When it was time to sleep tonight, Ren Zhu originally planned to go back to the corner to find a bed, but Yi Xiao held him back, “Why did you run so far? Since I said I’ll protect you, until you become strong, you can stick with me. At night, to prevent someone from putting a sack over you and giving you a beating, just sleep next to me. You better be grateful, not everyone can sleep in this position.”
Ren Zhu raised an eyebrow, “I remember you threw me off your bed yesterday.”
Upon hearing this, Yi Xiao felt a bit awkward. He had an inexplicable urge to go back to yesterday and stop himself. But he still managed to say, “Who asked you to sleep on my bed yesterday? I allow you to sleep next to me, but not on my bed.”
Ren Zhu looked at the beds here. Because of the advanced technology in this world, the beds in this room were attached to the walls, folding up when not in use. The beddings were high-tech too, changing every day. There wasn’t a rule about who had to sleep on which bed. So, using strong and unreasonable words to explain himself really fit the “chuunibyou” vibe.
“Ahem! Don’t stand there like a fool. Go freshen up and go to bed.” Yi Xiao probably also felt his words weren’t very believable and rushed him.
Ren Zhu shrugged and decided not to argue with this guy. He really went to freshen up. However, after he finished, it was only 8 o’clock, far from bedtime. So Ren Zhu thought for a moment and pressed a button at the head of the bed.
In the next moment, a light-colored, square tent-like structure descended from the ceiling, creating a small space around his bed and its surroundings.
Ren Zhu planned to browse the Alliance’s planetary network before sleeping. Although he wasn’t an avid internet user, he had never seen a large-scale network that connected different planets before. This was the legendary StarNet! During this time, he could explore the network, get a better understanding of this world, and perhaps find some ways to earn credits. He didn’t have many credits left, and if he just relied on others for food, he might end up hungry again within two days. Yi Xiao seemed like he wanted to say something, but Ren Zhu interrupted him, “I can’t rely on you for every meal. Even if you’re going to look out for me, it doesn’t mean you’ll be providing all my meals. Just as you said, the weak have no rights or future. I need to support myself.”
Yi Xiao looked at Ren Zhu’s serious expression and suddenly found this little bamboo slightly more agreeable than before. He cleared his throat, “Then come with me. I’ll take you somewhere. There, you might find some high-paying jobs, but it’s a bit chaotic, and going alone is not advisable.”
Upon hearing this, Ren Zhu’s face brightened. But then he hesitated, “How do I follow you? Can you find me on the StarNet?”
Yi Xiao turned to him, looking at him as if he were an idiot. After a while, he sighed, “Your brain isn’t functioning well, after all. We’re both students at Stellar Academy, and we live so close. Unless you buy a virtual house on the StarNet and live in it. Otherwise, both of us should log in from locations that are very close. As long as I know the username you use on StarNet, that’s enough. This is basic knowledge, you know. You really don’t admit that you’re a bit of a fool.”
Ren Zhu “…”
Ren Zhu curled his lips, thinking he shouldn’t have taken this blame. But he didn’t say anything in the end, as he could just wait until Yi Xiao remembered, then he wouldn’t need to say anything at all.
“What’s your username?” Ren Zhu asked. Yi Xiao, surprisingly, hesitated for a moment and then coughed lightly, “Invincible.”
Ren Zhu “…” This name really suited Yi Xiao’s current situation. If he added “Forever” in front of “Invincible,” the name would be perfect.
Ren Zhu had definitely logged into StarNet before, but he didn’t quite remember the username he had chosen. However, once he connected to the terminal and logged onto StarNet using his mental energy, he realized he had no right to mock Yi Xiao’s name. That was because his StarNet username was “God Forsaker.”
Ren Zhu curled his lips and promptly changed the name. Even though he had lived this long, he still remained an atheist. Even if he had encountered ghosts before, he still didn’t worship any gods. Instead of wasting time praying for divine blessings, he would rather be resolute in his efforts to change his life. But considering his past self was just an eight-year-old child, it was impossible for him to think so far. He sighed inwardly.
After changing the name, Ren Zhu looked around and quickly spotted “Invincible,” whose expression was like someone saying, “I’m super awesome, mess with me and I’ll punch you to death.” He walked over and initiated communication, his StarNet avatar spoke, “Yi Xiao?”
It took Yi Xiao quite a while to respond to him, “This name of yours… is really not endearing.”
Ren Zhu thought with an inward chuckle, I’m willing to use my not-so-endearing name to educate every brat out there, thank you.
“Cough, alright, come with me. I’ll take you to Adventure Street,” Yi Xiao said as he started walking forward, then he reminded Ren Zhu, “You can enable auto-follow. The StarNet is semi-automated; various programs make it very user-friendly and convenient.”
With a thought, Ren Zhu enabled the auto-follow feature. Then he found the StarNet user manual and began reading.
Yi Xiao turned to see Ren Zhu reading the manual, and his expression seemed a bit subtle. Nevertheless, he continued leading the way. If this had been in the past, he definitely wouldn’t have walked with someone who seemed quite foolish. Who knew if stupidity was contagious.
After about ten minutes, Yi Xiao led Ren Zhu to Adventure Street. Ren Zhu had also finished skimming through the StarNet user manual, learning some basic operations and precautions. Therefore, he knew that Adventure Street wasn’t a place one could just casually enter. StarNet was like another world within the Alliance, and while many things were virtual, tasks and items posted there could be connected to the offline world. Many tasks that were difficult to complete offline had people posting them on StarNet. It was similar to online shopping or problem-solving. Once tasks were posted, anyone who accepted and completed them could earn StarCoins on StarNet.
StarCoins earned on StarNet could be exchanged for Alliance currency in the real world at a one-to-one ratio. Therefore, StarNet was an essential presence for the entire Alliance’s ten major planets.
Convenient, fast, and almost all-encompassing, it was an essential choice for everyday life and travel.
At the same time, StarNet was also a place for gray areas, anonymous individuals, and hidden experts to be active. Due to the Alliance’s focus on privacy and security, unless someone was looking for criminals, using fake identities on StarNet was not allowed. This aspect was strictly managed by the central brain.
Upon reading this, Ren Zhu felt somewhat relieved. He couldn’t help but sigh in admiration; StarNet was truly convenient.
“Don’t dawdle. Ahead is the ranking board for Adventure Street’s tasks. You can go take a look and see if there are any tasks available. Entering Adventure Street requires a recommendation. After you finish a task, come with me to register, and then you can enter on your own in the future,” Yi Xiao said, pushing Ren Zhu forward.
Ren Zhu paused, “Are there tasks on the ranking board that I can do?” He had some doubts; after all, his mental energy and physical strength were both only at level E.
Yi Xiao looked at his name and twitched the corner of his mouth, “There are. Just based on your name, you can find tasks.”
Ren Zhu, the Class Teacher, “? ? ?”
Five minutes later, he looked at the string of task requests in front of him and realized he indeed could find tasks. Moreover, these tasks seemed to be very “suitable” for him:
[Task 08009: First-grade Mental Energy Summary Essay Seeking Ghostwriter. Task Reward: Ten StarCoins.]
[Task 08010: Second-grade Alliance History Question Set Seeking Answers. Task Reward: Fifteen StarCoins. Special Requirement: Finish within one day.]
[Task 08011: First-grade Basic Mathematics Question Set Seeking Answers. Task Reward: Eighteen StarCoins. Special Requirement: Finish within one day.]
[Task 09111: Skipped School for a Week, Haven’t Learned the Third Unit of Mental Energy Usage in Third Grade, Seeking One-on-One Teaching. Task Reward: Thirty StarCoins. Special Requirement: Keep it simple and understandable; no payment if I don’t understand.]