Chapter 20

At Ease

The players split into groups and combed through every male dormitory building on campus. They found no trace of a room matching the fire from the dream.

With the objective no closer to cracked, one of the shorter-tempered players turned on the prophetic-dream girl and took out his frustrations on her.

She felt this was deeply unfair. She'd offered the lead in good faith — if things had changed, that wasn't her fault. "Nothing stays fixed. A prophecy isn't something that's already happened. Maybe a person or an event shifted the original course of things—"

"How do we know things actually changed," the player shot back, "rather than someone making use of us?"

The argument escalated and ended badly, with everyone going their separate ways.

"And they're already falling apart like this — trying to cooperate after this is going to be impossible." Zhang San stamped some feeling back into his feet. "Shang-bro, Chao Musheng still hasn't called us to help him with those performance costumes?"

"That was just an excuse to lend me a book without making it awkward." Zhao Shang checked his phone. "He won't contact us before dinner."

"Right, he has so many friends — even if he genuinely needed help, he wouldn't need us." Zhang San understood, and felt something complicated move through him. "If only—"

If only we'd met Chao Musheng in the real world.

"Let's go."

"Where?"

"Dining Hall 5. Lunch."

At Window 8, Zhou Yi was on shift again.

When Zhang San and Zhao Shang reached the front of the line, Zhou Yi glanced at them — a proper, unhurried look — and the affinity number above his head glowed a warm gold. His hand was steady as he ladled the meat portions into their trays.

Zhang San noticed with delight that this time there was no trembling hand, no short-changed portions — and the affinity reading, which had been at 15 yesterday, had shot up to 70. That was faster than a helicopter.

Zhou Yi was an extraordinary human being.

[Ding! Congratulations, player — nutritious lunch consumed. Health +1.]

At the notification, Zhao Shang looked up toward Window 8.

Over the past few days, whenever Zhou Yi was on shift they'd made a point of going to his window. But this was the first time eating there without Chao Musheng had generated a health increase.

Even one point — that was enough to confirm it. The health changes were directly tied to NPCs, not just to Chao Musheng specifically.

"Shang-bro, what are you doing after lunch?" Zhang San kept his voice down. "Should we look into that fire from the dream again?"

"I was going to spend some time in the library." Zhao Shang shook his head. "We have afternoon class and we can't be late — Chao Musheng has something on today so he won't be there."

Instinct told him that a classroom without Chao Musheng was a classroom that required twice as much caution.

The thought of the professional course — which had been approximately as comprehensible as a foreign language — made Zhang San's head ache preemptively. "Half a day without Xiao Chao and I already miss him."

The Chao Musheng being missed so earnestly was, at this moment, in his dormitory changing his shirt.

"Look at Fourth — doesn't he clean up well in a white shirt."

"Right? Who says computer science students only come in plaid and thick-framed glasses?"

"This is the real face of our department."

Accustomed to his roommates' running commentary, Chao Musheng fastened his cufflinks and fixed his hair in the mirror. "What do you want to eat this weekend?"

"Lemon chicken feet."

"Fried fish."

He clipped on the host's lanyard his advisor had given him, crossed his arms, and regarded them with theatrical severity. "Outrageous. You dare instruct the pride of the computer science department to carry food for you? Punishable by death."

"Your Majesty, I have always been your most loyal servant — this one beside me is the treacherous villain! Allow me to throw him into the dungeon!" Second shoved Third into the bathroom, then draped himself against the doorframe and stretched one imploring hand toward Chao Musheng, who was already heading out. "Your Majesty — don't forget your humble servant's lemon chicken feet!"

"Wait — they have lemon chicken feet?!" Two neighboring rooms immediately produced a collection of heads in the doorway.

Chao Musheng clocked the expressions of pure yearning and quietly accelerated toward the elevator, not looking back.

Bottomless pits, every one of them. He couldn't afford to feed them all.

The elevator opened. Zhou Yi stepped out carrying a lunch box and two bread rolls. He stopped when he saw Chao Musheng.

"Lao Zhou?" Chao Musheng stared at the lunch box and the bread with undisguised longing.

"You haven't eaten yet?" Zhou Yi held out one of the rolls.

"Just finished class this morning and my advisor called me straight to her office — apparently some guests might arrive ahead of schedule." Chao Musheng took the bread and tore into it. "So I had to rush back and change, no time to eat."

"I've got to run." He backed into the elevator and raised the half-demolished roll in farewell. "Thank you, Lao Zhou — you've saved my life!"

The elevator doors closed. Zhou Yi allowed the corner of his mouth to move, just slightly. He turned and walked back down the corridor, and nearly ran into Chen Er.

"Bringing back the dining hall's leftovers again?" Chen Er planted himself in Zhou Yi's path. He turned to the students behind him. "I've heard that back in the countryside they feed scraps to the pigs and dogs. Sound familiar to anyone?"

The junior student sniggered without committing to a response. The two male students obliged more enthusiastically: "Sure does — pigs and dogs love picking up whatever no one else wants."

Zhou Yi looked at Chen Er without speaking.

Chen Er tried a few more angles and, getting nothing back, began to lose interest. "Don't think that because you're running around with Chao Musheng I won't—"

"Chen Er, what are you all blocking the corridor for?" Third came out with a bucket of laundry. "Some of us need to get through."

Chen Er turned. He recognized the speaker as Chao Musheng's roommate, gave him a look, and took his group upstairs.

"Lao Zhou — you're back." Third sidled over with a humble expression. "Any chance I could borrow your Introduction to AI notes? Fourth isn't around this afternoon, and whether I survive class today is entirely in your hands."

"I'll get them for you." Zhou Yi went back to his room, dug out the notebook, and passed it over. "Just return it before class."

"You're a lifesaver!" Third abandoned his laundry entirely and bolted back to his own room with the notebook pressed to his chest.

Zhou Yi settled into his chair and lifted the lid off his lunch box.

The dining hall auntie had filled it to capacity — steam rising from every grain of rice, each one full and gleaming, the whole thing fragrant and generous.

*

"So you're on the eighth floor, Bro Chen?" The two male students followed Chen Er into his dormitory. Two of the beds were empty, piled with clutter.

Dozens of trainers lay scattered across the floor. They didn't know the brands in this world well enough to risk a comment.

"What about it?" Chen Er kicked a pair of shoes aside. "You two know how to read a room. While you're here, you'll have my protection."

"Thank you, Bro Chen!"

The junior student bent to pick a branded backpack off the floor and placed it carefully on Chen Er's bed. "Bro Chen, Chao Musheng didn't come for us today — I'm guessing Zhou Yi didn't say anything to him."

Chen Er dug two packs of cigarettes from his drawer and threw one to each of the two male students. "You defending Zhou Yi now?"

The junior student denied it immediately.

"There are simple ways to deal with a student like that." The two players opened their cigarette packs — one passing a cigarette to Chen Er's hand, the other producing a lighter. "All we'd need to do is say his food had something wrong with it. That alone would be enough to cause him serious trouble."

"What kind of useless suggestion is that?" Chen Er exhaled slowly. "You think this is whatever backwater you came from? Every food service window in this school is on camera from the kitchen to the counter, all day long. Are you trying to deal with him or trying to get me expelled?"

Both players sat through the faceful of smoke without daring to respond. How were they supposed to know an instance world school would monitor its dining hall this rigorously?

Back in the real world, a dining hall was practically guaranteed to produce the occasional hair or pebble or caterpillar. And other instance dining halls were something else entirely — fingers, eyeballs, all manner of things finding their way into players' bowls as if free of charge.

Experience from elsewhere really could lead you astray.

"Well. What can you expect from visiting students from wherever it is you're from." The players' meek silence had put Chen Er in a better mood. He stubbed out the cigarette. "Don't worry — with me sorting it, I'll make sure your study evaluations come back excellent."

These two were a lot more manageable than the pair always trailing Chao Musheng.

*

As one of the country's foremost universities, Jinghua's two-hundredth anniversary had drawn attention from every direction. Even before the ceremony began, distinguished guests of every variety had arrived.

The invited performers were, without exception, models of discretion — sitting quietly in the backstage area having their makeup done, no jostling, no competition for prominence. In the presence of people of true standing, their place on this stage had been earned through years of careful image management and capable representation.

Backstage was busy, but the faculty and student organizers had it running smoothly — the school's composure and competence evident at every turn.

Chao Musheng and his fellow hosts stood with Director Wang at the red carpet by the main gate, receiving the arriving guests.

The atmosphere was warm, the mood easy. Even the figures who regularly appeared on national television were relaxed and approachable with the students.

Another car rolled up. Before it had fully stopped, Director Wang was already moving forward with a broad smile, personally opening the rear door. "Mr. Xu — a very warm welcome."

The man who stepped out wore rimless silver-framed glasses. The quality of stillness around him — something refined and inherent — drew the eye away from features that were, on their own, almost too striking. It made you instinctively reluctant to look too long or too directly.

"Director Wang." He shook her hand. "It's an honor to be invited to the bicentennial."

"The honor is ours, Mr. Xu — entirely ours." Director Wang's smile was radiant. "You must be tired from the journey. Shall I take you to the rest area first?"

"I've long heard that the campus here is beautiful. It's a regret of mine that I've never had the chance to truly appreciate it." Mr. Xu gave Director Wang a slight, easy smile. "Today seems like a rare occasion for it. I hope it's not too much trouble to have one of your students show me around."

Someone of Mr. Xu's standing — Director Wang would not, regardless of how she read the request, actually send only a single student. She was already turning to select two of the young faculty members behind her to accompany them when Mr. Xu spoke first.

"Today is your school's special day, Director Wang — I wouldn't want to pull people away from their duties on my account." His gaze moved past her to the students behind, and settled, finally, on a young man standing to the left. "Would you be willing to walk with me?"

Chao Musheng glanced quickly left and right. Everyone was looking at him. He confirmed the question was for him and brought up his most composed, professional smile. "It would be my honor."

Director Wang, who had been quietly anxious, looked at which student Mr. Xu had chosen — and immediately felt the tension leave her.

Oh — it's Chao Musheng. That's perfectly fine then.