Chapter 12

Back to School (Debugging)

Oh, so this was the second time this guy had left a comment on his posts.

Chao Musheng sent back an emoji and closed his social feed, only to find his roommates tagging him in the group chat.

Nominally asking when he was coming back to school. Actually angling for the local specialty foods he'd be bringing.

He thought of the suitcase his grandparents had packed to bursting before he left, and felt a wave of speechlessness wash over him.

[ChaoChaoMuMu: Relax. Grandma and Grandpa refuse to let you animals starve.]

[Eldest: Our grandma and grandpa are the best.]

[Second: Our grandma and grandpa are the best.]

[Third: Our grandma and grandpa are the best.]

Your grandma and grandpa — as if. Don't just go claiming people.

Chao Musheng put his phone away and clipped the keychain Xiao You had given him onto his backpack.

The high-speed train still had five or six hours to go. He was going to sleep.

He'd been up until the middle of the night catching thieves, and exhaustion had long since caught up with him.

In the haze between waking and sleep, he heard a food cart trundle past in the corridor, its wheels making a low rumbling sound.

But he was too tired to care. He sank into dreams quickly.

In the dream he was bone-tired, as though he had been walking for a very long time across a barren desert.

Ahead of him appeared an enormous hourglass. Inside it tumbled countless glass beads in every color, flickering with light more beautiful than any gem in the world.

His hands reached for it of their own accord. The instant he touched it, the hourglass flipped — out of his control — and a few beads slipped through the narrow passage at its center, dissolving into streams of light that spiraled around him and vanished.

*

The Infinite Player Space.

Several players had noticed that a handful of game instances had suddenly disappeared. Before they could even make it to the player forums to discuss it, the system issued an announcement: those instances were permanently closed.

A wave of commotion swept through the player community as everyone scrambled to find out what had happened.

[Greetings, players. A new dimensional exploration instance will open in two days. Players who successfully complete it will receive ten times the standard reward points, two S-rank premium items, and a permanent +5 to constitution.]

On the anonymous player forums, discussion of the closed instances gradually shifted toward the exploration instance. Speculation ran rampant, and the extravagant rewards had players itching to sign up.

Thread OP: What's the deal with this new dimensional exploration instance? What could it possibly be to make the Main God throw around rewards like this?

Amid the avalanche of guesses in the comments, Post 444 stood out:

Post 444: I'll keep it brief. Just a heads-up for anyone upthread thinking about signing up: this new dimension has already run three exploration instances. First run: three players entered. Second run: five entered. Third run: seven entered. Zero survivors, every time.

Post 445: Holy — sounds like you know something, senior. Please, we're begging you, elaborate.

Post 445 waited a long time for a reply that never came. When they refreshed the page, Post 444 had been deleted.

Post 445: Confused. Total party wipes happen every day — why would the Main God be sensitive about that? What was so worth censoring about Post 444?

*

Chao Musheng woke with fifty minutes to go before the train pulled in. He wasn't sure if it was the afterglow of a good deed well done, but his mood was still inexplicably excellent.

He opened his phone to find that his dear mother had transferred him money. His mood got even better.

[ChaoChaoMuMu: Thanks, Mum! Love you~]

[Mrs. Chao: Come home for dinner tomorrow. Your dad will make something good.]

[ChaoChaoMuMu: Sure thing.]

So his parents were back from their trip.

He accepted the maternal windfall at lightning speed, tucked everything away, and was about to open a couple of games to pass the remaining time when his phone rang. His academic advisor.

Chao Musheng answered. Her voice came through immediately, urgent and clipped.

"Musheng, something's come up — I need to know if you can make it back to campus before the semester starts the day after tomorrow."

"What's happened, Advisor?"

She was not the patient type, and without waiting to hear whether he agreed, she launched straight into it.

"After the holiday, a group of about a dozen students from other universities are coming to our school for a ten-day study visit. The school needs to arrange a few students to handle the welcome and hosting duties. I've secured you a spot." She sounded thoroughly pleased with herself. "Who can compete with me when I put my mind to something?"

Chao Musheng's appearance, bearing, and record of straight top-scholarship grades every semester made him the obvious choice. Stack him against the other male students put forward from various departments and it wasn't even a competition.

"Thank you, Advisor." Chao Musheng wasn't naive — if she was making this much of the spot, there was definitely more to it.

"I just got word: Kunlun Enterprises is providing our school with several dozen summer internship placements for undergraduates this year. The six students selected for the hosting duties will be directly fast-tracked into headquarters internships." Her voice practically vibrated with excitement. "If you're on board, I'll put your name forward right now."

"Thank you so much, Advisor. You're the best."

"You've earned it on your own merits." Pleased that he was cooperating, she was in high spirits. "Right then — make sure you're back on time, and travel safely."

With Chao Musheng's record at school, he'd have been among the first candidates Kunlun considered even without this. The real stakes for her were internal — inter-advisor competition over placement quotas. She wanted him to take this assignment even more than he did.

*

Chao Musheng had barely stepped through the dormitory door before all three roommates descended on him, eyes fixed on his suitcase with a feverish gleam.

"You three go off traveling and come back looking worse than refugees." He watched them grab the braised duck he'd brought and tear into it. They'd each gone a full shade darker. "Want some loquats?"

"Yes, yes, give them here." Eldest washed down a huge mouthful of water, then went straight back to gnawing on the duck's head. "Fourth, if you'd taken any longer, we'd have starved."

Second nodded: "We haven't had meat in three meals."

"Did you burn through your living allowances?" Chao Musheng got up and went to wash a bowl of cherries for them. "I'm staying at home tonight and coming back tomorrow afternoon — I'll bring emergency rations."

"We maybe spent just a tiny little bit too much. Fourth, you are our savior!"

Chao Musheng divided up the fruit and snacks he'd brought among the three professionally suffering roommates. "Cherries go off fast — eat them now. I need to head home."

"Fourth." Third slung an arm around his shoulders. "You made a whole extra trip to school just to bring us food. You are truly our brother from another mother!"

"Get off!" Chao Musheng peeled Third's arm away with distaste — his hands were slick with grease. "I'm going."

"Hang on." Eldest held out a bag. "That's our souvenir for you. And tomorrow afternoon, remember — bring more food."

Chao Musheng: "..."

Food. It's always about food.

*

Jinghua University had a long history and spread over an enormous campus.

Chao Musheng left the dormitory building, scanned a shared bike from the rack downstairs, and pedaled leisurely toward the exit.

"Excuse me, student — sorry to bother you."

A middle-aged man had stepped out of a black sedan parked by the road and was smiling politely at him. "Could you tell me where the president's office is?"

He got a car onto campus and doesn't know where the president's office is?

"Turn left at the red teaching building up ahead. It'll have a sign." Chao Musheng added, "If you're not sure of the route, you can use your phone's navigation."

"Thank you, thank you." The man expressed his thanks several times and turned back to the car.

"You're welcome." Chao Musheng pedaled off.

From behind him, a low, quiet voice: "Thank you."

He glanced back. The rear window of the sedan had been lowered — it seemed the other person in the car was addressing him?

Never mind. Going home for dinner.

The breeze at this speed was wonderful.

He got home, ate the dinner his father had made, came out of a hot shower, and found his parents being scolded by Grandma via video call. He hurried to press his face into the camera frame, and it took a solid few minutes of coaxing before the old couple were mollified enough to hang up.

"You little wretch." His mother gave him a smack on the arm. "You told us you were going to travel with your roommates over the holiday, and then you snuck off to your grandma's without a word. Got me an earful."

"Mum, that hurt — I'm your own flesh and blood, be gentle." Chao Musheng rubbed his arm. "Besides, I just helped plead your case, didn't I?"

His father stood in the kitchen doorway with a smile that belonged in a warm afternoon, watching the two of them bicker. He carried out a plate of watermelon. "Just bought it this afternoon. Try some."

"It's sweet!" Chao Musheng gave a thumbs-up. "Dad, your watermelon-picking instincts are unmatched."

"Finish the fruit and get to bed early." His father's quiet, easy manner had always been the kind that made the air around him feel gentler. "Staying up all night helping the village catch thieves, then sitting on a train for hours — are you tired?"

"Not too bad. I slept most of the journey." Chao Musheng glanced at his parents — two people clearly in no need of a third presence — and dutifully took himself off to bed.

His mother looked at his closed door and sighed. "He's getting bolder by the day. Taking on a thief with a knife — honestly."

His father smiled. "Musheng takes after you. Bold, careful, and sharp."

His mother accepted this with full conviction. "That's true. All the good genes he got are from me."

Chao Musheng had no idea his parents were debating the source of his superior genetics. He spent one pleasant day eating well and enjoying himself at home, then lugged bags of supplies back to continue feeding his materially deprived roommates.

That evening, his advisor added him to a group chat containing the other students assigned to the hosting duties. Everyone exchanged a few polite words, then went quiet.

*

Monday morning, nine o'clock. Chao Musheng and five other students gathered at the main school gate.

Three women, three men — each of them, by the standards of their respective departments, a standout.

[Instance imminent. Players, prepare yourselves. Once the instance begins, do not allow NPCs to detect anything unusual about you.]

[Instance objectives: 1. Obtain an affinity rating of 85 or above from at least twenty NPCs. 2. Earn the president's trust and obtain the student registry and official seal.]

[Reminder: This is an exploration instance. Players are advised to exercise extreme caution and value their lives.]

Affinity ratings from NPCs?

Every player who had just entered the instance turned as one to look at a single male player standing in the corner — with a look of envy so pure it bordered on resentment.

For that particular player, farming NPC affinity was presumably trivial.

The player in question blinked his hazy eyes: innocent, slightly forlorn. Something stirred in the other players almost against their will.

A beat later, they caught themselves, skin prickling. A player with a universal charm skill — truly terrifying.

Faced with an unfamiliar exploration instance, no one said anything. They stepped off the bus in silence and stood before a sweeping white university gate.

The players tilted their heads back to take in the imposing entrance. Since when did campus instances come with gates this grand?

"Hello everyone, and welcome to Jinghua University. We're the students assigned to host your visit. Please scan the code to join the group chat — it'll make it easier for you to reach us."

The players obediently scanned and joined, having no desire to antagonize the NPCs before they understood what they were dealing with.

"Please follow us."

As they walked, the players listened to the NPC students deliver a running commentary on the university's history and culture — a steady stream of phrases like "ranked first nationally," "leading the field by a wide margin," "research breakthroughs," "historical legacy," "internationally recognized" — and exchanged quietly puzzled glances.

Shouldn't the NPCs be threatening them right now? Setting down rules and consequences?

Why had the entire thing so far been a lecture on how exceptional and influential this school was?

Was this seriously a normal instance script?

Thud. Someone hit the ground.

Chao Musheng and all five of his fellow students stopped.

The visiting students had submitted health reports before entering campus — everyone had cleared their checks without issue.

"Sorry — I wasn't watching where I was going." The fallen student's skin was luminously pale. He was extremely thin, almost to the point of looking unwell.

He shifted his legs experimentally, apparently trying to arrange himself into a more attractively disheveled pose, then lifted his face and blinked his oversized eyes at them — once, twice — with an expression of wide-eyed uncertainty. Something in his eye, maybe.

The Jinghua students, pretending not to notice any of this, maintained their polished, courteous smiles. Guests deserved hospitality; composure and professionalism were non-negotiable regardless of circumstance.

The pale student looked up with an expression of exquisite pathos, clearly waiting for someone to rush forward and fuss over him.

The Jinghua students: ...

This one is a little strange.