Chapter 49 - New Life

“You’re right, but that’s just the surface.

The deeper meaning is development.

We need to constantly replenish with fresh blood from independent travelers.

We need to get some resources from other guild merchants, and we need to hasten the development of ourselves.

Anyway, why am I explaining so much to you?

You wouldn’t understand.

Just do as I say.”

Zinuo looked Su Mo up and down with some puzzlement, feeling that something was off.

After pondering for a while, she finally realized what it was.

There was something off about Su Mo’s reaction.

They were all beauties, after all, and normal guys would be drooling over them to the point of giving them the creeps.

But Su Mo hardly spoke unless he had to; she did all the talking until her mouth was dry.

At that moment, Su Mo spoke up, “Do you have any food and water?”

Zinuo’s expression was a sight to behold; she didn’t even know how to describe Su Mo, asking a girl for food.

“Here.”

She pulled out a bottle of purified water and beef jerky from her small backpack.

Su Mo didn’t stand on ceremony and began eating on his own.

Zinuo was left speechless.

“Alright, I’ve told you everything I can.

The rest I’ll introduce to you after you officially join the guild.

I’m telling you, so many people want to join our guild but don’t get the chance, so don’t take advantage and act coy.

By the way, what’s your Micro Chat number?

I’ll add you to the guild group later.”

“I don’t have one.”

Su Mo replied casually.

Zinuo was taken aback as if looking at some oddity.

“Just register one with the phone number you used to sign up, that’ll do.”

“Oh, I’m going to log off now.”

Having finished the food and water and feeling tired, Su Mo lifted his head and responded.

“Here is my phone number; if you make up your mind, just send me a message or give me a call.

But I have one piece of advice for you: consider the consequences carefully before making a decision.”

Zinuo wrote down her number on a slip of paper and seriously warned Su Mo.

“Hmm.”

Su Mo nodded slightly and then logged out of the game.

Zinuo touched her forehead, wondering whether this guy was genuinely aloof or had some issues with emotional intelligence.

He hardly said a few words the whole time, a true example of the strong, silent type.

After a dizzying sensation, Su Mo opened his eyes inside the game cabin and rose to leave the private room.

He quickly went to the front desk.

Xiao Kui greeted Su Mo with a sweet smile, “How may I assist you, Mr.

Su Mo?”

“I’m checking out.”

“Okay, as a valued VIP customer, do you need us to hold the room for you?”

Xiao Kui inquired.

“No need for now.”

“Alright then, please take care.”

After a series of operations, Xiao Kui replied with a smile.

“Hmm!”

Su Mo turned and walked away.

In the silence of the room, Su Mo sat in front of the computer, lost in thought.

“To go or not to go.”

He pondered for a long time, still feeling very conflicted inside.

Truth be told, since he came from over the wall to this place, he had never left the village within the city.

He hadn’t attended any school either, and the farthest he’d been was to Xin Street.

Now, he faced not just stepping out of the old city district but leaving Demon City to head for Imperial City.

For him, this was an unprecedented change.

He was indeed a bit lost and uneasy inside.

The night grew deeper.

But Su Mo remained sleepless throughout the night.

After agonizing for an indeterminate length of time, Su Mo’s gaze settled on the photograph of his grandfather on the table.

Unbidden, his mind recalled a question his grandfather had asked him before he passed away.

Su Mo had a vague memory of that moment.

Under the bright moonlight, his grandfather, Su He, with a pale face, held his hand and looked up into the sky as he asked,

“Su Mo, do you know what people are truly seeking in their entire lives?”

Without thinking, Su Mo had replied to him.

“Money, power, beautiful women, glory!”

But his grandfather just turned his head to look deeply at Su Mo and then smiled faintly and said,

“You’re right, but also not completely.”

Confused, Su Mo asked after hearing this.

“Then what is it that we are truly seeking?”

After listening, his grandfather stroked Su Mo’s head and said with a big laugh,

“Silly child, in this world, everyone is different, and so are their pursuits.”

Immediately curious, Su Mo pressed him.

“So, what are you seeking, Grandpa?”

After hearing Su Mo’s question, his grandfather fell into a deep reverie.

After a long while, he sighed wistfully, affectionately took Su Mo’s hand, and replied meaningfully,

“In my life, there were two things I sought: a sense of value and a sense of belonging.

The sense of value comes from affirmation by loved ones, and belonging comes from being loved and wanting the care of family.”

“Oh!”

After hearing this, Su Mo also felt deeply moved and couldn’t help but grip his grandfather’s aged hand tightly.

That’s when his grandfather suddenly posed a question to Su Mo.

“Child, what are you seeking in your life?”

The question caught Su Mo off guard in an instant.

Seeing his reaction, Grandpa Su He did not press further but just smiled affectionately.

“Ha ha~”

At that moment, Su Mo remembered what Sun Duoxiang had said to him: if one doesn’t want to be lonely and isolated, perhaps a change really was necessary.

No matter how much he resisted internally, it was unavoidable.

“Sigh~”

“Well, if that’s the case, then let’s go,” he decided.

Su Mo took a deep breath and finally made up his mind.

He picked up his phone to compose a message to Lin Zinuo, sending it, and then casually sent another to Uncle Wang.

Then, Su Mo booked the earliest train ticket to Imperial City for the following day online.

Early the next morning, Su Mo got up early.

He packed some clothes into a bag, making sure to also turn off all the water and electricity switches.

He walked to his computer desk, picked up the wallet laying there, and took out a Black Diamond Bank Card and a Colorful Diamond Card his grandfather had left him and never used, putting them all in the drawer.

He left only a thousand yuan in cash inside the wallet.

Then, Su Mo picked up his phone again and unlinked all the bank cards bound to it.

He had realized that in life, you always need to make changes and try new things.

He decided to go out and see the world, which was also a challenge to himself.

To start anew as an ordinary person and try out a new life.

Of course, if one day he re-linked the bank cards to his phone and used the money in them, that would mean the challenge had failed.

After everything was done, Su Mo closed the door behind him and left, carrying the bag.

He left the urban village where he was born and bred.

A short while later, Su Mo emerged from the old district, surrounded by towering buildings and highly developed public facilities, the ground spotlessly clean.

Vehicles crowded the roads and well-dressed men and women hurried along the sidewalks on their way to work.

Despite the huge success of the Star Ring Game, life and work had to go on in reality.

This was partly because the death rate in the game was so high, and partly because the game was too mysterious.

No one could guarantee continued good luck and staying alive.

If anyone was foolish enough to quit their job to play full-time, their end was likely to be very bleak.