Chapter 379

Chapter 379: Chapter 376: "According to Ms. Lin Yin......

"Excuse me," what is chocolate?"

"Chocolate? So you guys don’t have chocolate here. Let me tell you, chocolate is a very delicious snack, sweet with a slight bitterness, it feels very silky when you eat it..."

"Is it like grass candy?"

"Er, it’s much tastier than the grass candy you have here. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring any chocolate with me this time, otherwise, I could have let you try some..."

"This time? So, do you also have a world used for resting?"

"Well, you could say that..."

In the side hall of the central royal palace, a girl with jet-black hair was conversing with a knight at the entrance.

Lin Yin originally just wanted to visit the Royal City. After all, the base was surrounded by the Soul Hunt, and no Player dared to get close, so it was in a very safe state.

She didn’t expect that upon arriving, she wouldn’t see Su Ming’an and Noel, but instead, she met Sherrod, who was guarding the door.

He approached her with curiosity like a baby and kept asking her about her world.

Lin Yin was somewhat surprised and thought that might just be this NPC’s setting, so she chatted with him.

"Our world for resting, it’s very large, very grand. The buildings aren’t man-made; they are already nicely placed there. Food doesn’t need farming to get, and fish don’t need catching from the sea; you just use Points earned to exchange for them in the store. Things are very cheap, a few Points are enough to live very comfortably..." Lin Yin explained.

"There is no war?" Sherrod listened with a hint of envy in his eyes.

"That world for resting should have no war," Lin Yin said. "It prohibits strife, forbids direct attacks. Of course, there are still some people who look for loopholes, using indirect attacks to harm others. But overall, it is very peaceful, and my family also lives very well there."

"That sounds like a wonderful world," Sherrod remarked.

Lin Yin smiled.

"But after all, it is not my hometown," Lin Yin said. "...It’s just a place used to numb us, to divide us, to make people lose their motivation and drive, nothing more than a comfortable den."

She sounded somewhat disheartened as she said this.

"Sorry," Sherrod immediately said.

"Why are you apologizing? It’s not your fault," Lin Yin lightly patted his shoulder. "If there’s someone to blame, it’s those damn Organizers. They are the true invaders... By the way, there’s something you might find interesting: normally, we do some live streaming..."

"Live streaming?" Sherrod sounded puzzled.

"It’s like sharing our vision with people like us." Lin Yin pointed to her eyes. "See my eyes here? If I start live streaming, lots of people will be watching you with me."

Sherrod’s expression grew serious.

He immediately straightened up, staring into Lin Yin’s dark eyes.

Under Lin Yin’s somewhat astonished gaze, he raised his hand, standing straight, and saluted.

With a "swish," his armor made a neat, clanking sound, and those green, glowing eyes meticulously examined Lin Yin’s eyes.

"Hello there," he greeted with utmost seriousness.

Lin Yin was taken aback for a moment.

After she realized what was happening, she burst into laughter with a ’pfft’ sound.

In her not-so-busy live stream, the barrage of comments flowed with goodwill:

Watching Sherrod standing before her, giving a solemn salute to her eyes, Lin Yin laughed out loud.

"Hahahahaha... No need, no need, Sherrod, you are really amusing..."

She waved her hand, resting it on his arm, prompting him to lower his saluting arm.

"You truly are a very, very standard Knight of Light," Lin Yin chuckled.

"...’Standard’?" Sherrod’s tone was slightly disheartened.

He looked down at the notebook in his hands.

This was his record book for increasing his understanding of "Otherworld travelers." In it, he had noted down many interesting things about other worlds.

There were already quite a few fragmented notes in it:

[... According to Miss Lin Yin, there is a snack that tastes better than grass sugar, called "chocolate," which has both sweet and bitter flavors... I fail to grasp what this taste is like; aren’t sweet and bitter mutually exclusive?

She said she didn’t bring any chocolate, so I can’t verify the accuracy of her description.]

Seeing Lin Yin’s smile, he picked up the pen and continued writing in the notebook:

"And there’s more,"

Lin Yin added: "Sherrod, I’ll tell you, in our world, someone with your appearance would have a catchphrase."

"What?" Sherrod was a bit confused but quickly caught on: "Something like... a Knight’s code of sorts?"

"No, not that. Cough, cough!" Lin Yin coughed deliberately in an official manner.

She stepped back half a step like a gentleman inviting a lady to dance at a ball, bowed slightly, and extended her hand.

Jet black hair brushed against her cheeks as she slowly lifted her head.

"Guns and roses, always at the princess’s command," she said softly. "Love and tenderness, eternal for Her Highness."

Sherrod’s eyes widened slightly.

He was somewhat taken aback by the hand the girl extended toward him, and the deep affection in her eyes.

The pen in his hand, having recorded half a sentence, stopped.

He saw her slightly drooping eyelashes, which under the room’s light, resembled a light butterfly poised to take flight.

After an eerie silence, Lin Yin suddenly burst into hearty laughter.

She straightened up, withdrew her hand, and laughed until tears nearly spilled from her eyes.

"Hahaha... This joke never gets old, especially in front of a real knight. Your reaction, hahaha..." She wiped the tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes with her finger.

Now her eyes were crystal clear, the feigned depth of emotion gone, a classic example of hit-and-run humor.

She hammered Sherrod’s shoulder eagerly, as if to verify her prior act:

"—So, it’s true knights would never say such a thing, right? They really wouldn’t say it, would they?"

Sherrod nodded.

"Generally, knights cannot carry guns within the Royal City, and besides, I have never heard of roses..." he responded softly.

He did not deny the latter part.

"Haha, I knew it. That guy in our class group who was spouting nonsense to me, he is indeed non-recyclable trash..." Lin Yin laughed merrily, but suddenly noticed Sherrod was still writing.

"Hey, hey, you’re not going to write down that entire conversation, are you..." She watched as Sherrod continued to pen:

[Miss Lin Yin stated that in their world, knights would declare to their sworn fealty:

["Guns and roses, always at the princess’s command."

"Love and tenderness, eternal for Her Highness."]]

"—Lin Yin."

With a bang, the door was kicked open, and the newcomer was in a state of emergency.

"What’s wrong, Noel?" Lin Yin glanced at Noel who rushed in.

"I’m taking you to the Royal City Dungeon, the safest place in all Pulaya," Noel said.

"Why? Is it unsafe elsewhere?" Lin Yin asked, puzzled.

"Yes," Noel nodded.

"What happened?"

"..." Noel took a deep breath.

"Sea monsters are coming."

He said, "This group of sea monsters...are much faster than I imagined. The barrier can’t hold any longer. I’ll take you to the safest place."

"What about Su Ming’an? What about Lv Shu? No one is watching over the princess now, so what should we do?" Lin Yin glanced back at Sherrod as they walked.

"..." Noel didn’t reply.

Behind them, sensing something was amiss, Sherrod followed a few steps and asked, "Leken, where are you taking Miss Lin Yin?"

Noel turned around.

In his eyes, there was a fleeting glint of blood-red light.

"But what if,"

"—we have found your mother who was selected for the game?"

In the wooden cabin, a strong scent of blood permeated the air.

Standing among the trembling players, Gao De faced the young man who raised his sword at him and smiled.

"You guys really are resourceful," Su Ming’an said.

"We just want to help you," Gao De said. "A mother holds no overnight grudges against her child, does she? Parents ultimately love their children. What conflicts can’t be resolved? If your mother saw how you are now, she would certainly be proud of you."

"Where is she now?" Su Ming’an asked.

Gao De revealed a smile.

His somewhat plump face, with the corners of his eyes crinkling like bun creases, had an exceptionally kind and honest smile.

"Due to some mental illness, she is now living in the mental healing institution of the United Group’s Eastern District," he said softly. "When we found her, we were surprised by her poor mental state, very poor, yet she still insisted on coming to us for help. We didn’t confirm her information at first, until she filled in the family member’s name. That’s when we noticed, she wrote down your name."

"Your birthday is in a few days, isn’t it?" Gao De said. "Your nineteenth birthday. Such an important day—don’t you want to spend it with your mother?"

"Number One Player," Gao De said. "No matter what conflicts you had in the past, a mother must love her child. Now that the world has changed so much, why not let go of past conflicts and reconcile? You’re only eighteen. It’s one thing not to have found your mother before, but now, she’s in the hospital waiting for you. Why can’t you go—"

"—Of course he can’t go, you foolish man. I pity your actions," a voice interrupted.

Gao De’s eyes widened slightly.

The one who made this reply was not the Number One Player standing in front of him, but a figure standing outside the cabin.

The man was dressed in priest’s attire, with the originally pure white color seemingly deliberately dyed with blood, appearing wholly red. As he slowly approached, he was also holding a small silver cross in the palm of his hand.

Boris, who had suddenly returned, glanced at the cabin filled with corpses and blood, revealing a look of pity.

"...As expected," he said. "In the end, Augustus paid the price for his recklessness and stupidity. I was really looking forward to seeing his face filled with despair when he thought everything was accomplished..."

"Are you Boris?" Gao De recognized the sick man who was fanatically preaching in channel chats and was hyped up by a crowd of players.

His kind smile faded, and his eyes darkened. "This is the family affair of the Number One Player. You’ve no place in it."

"Is that so?" Boris leaned against the doorway, raising his hand with the forefinger and middle finger extended, the other three fingers curled, forming a gesture similar to rabbit ears.

He looked at the "rabbit ears" formed by his own right-hand fingers, his tone turning slightly mournful. "Hey, Number One Player, that’s your mother we’re talking about. Why can’t you forgive her? No matter that she hit you, insulted you, abused you as a child, smashed your hands with the piano case when you played a wrong note, broke your bones, left you battered and bruised, you should still forgive her—because she’s your dear mother! The one who gave birth to you but didn’t raise you! Although this is your family business, we just have to intervene, we just have to make you enter our very ’safe’ United Group Headquarters, we just want you to leave an image of a get-together with us before the eyes of the whole world..."