Chapter 101

Chapter 101

"Thank you."

Feeling the sincerity in those two words, the girl smiled and shook her head. "You're too kind."

After filling his stomach with the delicacies cooked from anomalous creatures at the long table, Ji Xinghai felt seven-tenths full. But he wasn't thanking her for that; he was thanking her and the other students who made the same choice.

Thank you for your trust.

"Now announcing the final results: within thirty minutes, the Red Team consumed 107 kilograms of food, while the Blue Team consumed zero kilograms. The Red Team wins..."

"Xinghai Ji!"

As the scales were still announcing the final results, the girl suddenly spoke up.

"You will definitely lead us to victory, right?"

Ji Xinghai nodded slightly.

"Heh." She laughed and then promptly fainted.

Ji Xinghai caught her in time and carried her away like a small chicken, placing her on the platform specially prepared by Bai Zi Fang.

The platform of the White Faction was similar to that of the Black Faction, except the decorations were white pawns instead of black ones, and the color scheme was predominantly white.

Speaking of which, the mission rules didn't specify that replicas were white pawns and originals were black pawns. They just woke up on platforms with distinct decorative features, so they assumed their respective sides.

If...

"Heh, Xinghai Ji."

Interrupted from his thoughts, Ji Xinghai turned around and saw 'himself' standing there, expressionless but with a hint of resignation, while a brown-haired young man with an especially bright smile waved enthusiastically at him.

"Oh my gosh, I finally got to talk to you! I tried to squeeze in earlier, but you were so popular, buddy. By the way, how did you set up those rules? Oh, sorry, it's your secret. Sorry, I'm just really excited. My parents always said I..."

The young man talked and gestured, utterly thrilled.

Ji Xinghai remained silent.

He had mentally added punctuation to that string of words, as the person spoke like drumming, bang bang bang, without pausing for breath.

He looked at 'Ji Xinghai,' whose eyes held a hint of confusion. 'Ji Xinghai' silently returned his gaze, indicating he had nothing to say.

In this brief exchange, the young man had already gone from praising Ji Xinghai's performance in the previous three instances to how exciting and thrilling the matches in this instance would be with his participation.

It seemed he hadn't missed a single match involving Ji Xinghai. This was rare, considering each viewing cost one point.

Points were hard to come by in the Hunger Game, yet this young man had already spent over ten points watching him.

Everyone watching speculated that he must be a fan of Ji Xinghai, perhaps even idolizing him, given how well-versed he was in his matches.

After all, inside the instance, they couldn't use the internet to gather videos and information about Ji Xinghai. At most, they could get some information through national communications, but everything else had to be collected personally.

This level of attention was surely a sign of true admiration.

Whether it was true admiration or not, Ji Xinghai didn't care. He needed to choose his next challenger.

The young man didn't linger, saying, "I'll keep watching your matches until the end, looking forward to our final match."

The audience found this statement a bit odd, but before they could ponder it further, their attention shifted to Ji Xinghai's new match.

Time passed quickly yet slowly. For those not following the live streams, it was just another ordinary day, but for those waiting eagerly, every minute felt long.

They usually stuck to one live stream but often inquired about the status of other students.

Most of the time, the Black Faction won, but occasionally, there were exceptions, keeping everyone on edge.

Finally, at three in the morning on the second day of the exam, the Black Faction had barely lost any members, while almost all of the White Faction had been 'knocked out,' leaving only 'Ji Xinghai' and the enthusiastic young man.

The students of the Black Faction were excited; they saw the light at the end of the tunnel.

If this ended now, the game would be shorter than the third instance, setting a new record.

"I didn't expect it to take so long. I thought it would be faster."

"Except for Ji Xinghai, most others only participated in three or four matches, mostly just once. With such high stakes, those lacking confidence didn't dare participate, so it took until now to reach 98 points. It was quite precarious. If we fell short by one, both sides might have failed and been eliminated."

Given the nature of the Hungry Academy, it was entirely possible they would do something like that.

"So now it's a match between Hai Ge and Hai Ge? Wow."

The audience had a hunch that Ji Xinghai wouldn't deliberately choose the young man and let the others eliminate themselves.

"Once they decide, should we give it a try?"

Sure enough, Ji Xinghai had already invited himself.

The young man looked at this Ji Xinghai and then at the other 'Ji Xinghai,' his white teeth gleaming. "Looks like I can't just watch this time. Anyone want to choose me?"

"I'll do it." A student from the Black Faction stepped forward, also an exceptionally talented official candidate.

These two entered the game. At this point, the condition of 'no other opponents' had been met, allowing Ji Xinghai to choose his replica.

"What kind of match do you want to set up?"

"Are you sure you want to know beforehand?"

"Never mind." Spoilers ruin the fun, even if it's just half a minute early.

They entered the competition while talking, and the remaining students from The Black Faction saw that Ji Xinghai was competing against himself. How could they be stingy with just one point?

Of course not.

So as soon as Ji Xinghai's figure disappeared, the rest of the students followed, paying to enter the spectator area.

"Chirp chirp, chirp chirp chirp."

"Beep—beep beep."

"Tinkle tinkle."

Before they could see the competition venue, they heard several clear and melodious bird calls. In the distance, there were honking car horns, and nearby, the rustling of leaves in the wind and the tinkling of wind chimes. A beam of light pierced through the darkness, illuminating their vision, and the world suddenly opened up.

"Huh?"

This seemed to be an old residential area, with balconies enclosed by iron railings bathed in morning light. Glass wind chimes cast dreamy rays of light, tinkling softly as they danced in the breeze.

The light spots swayed with the wind, also moving over the plants and fish tanks on the windowsill.

These were carefully tended plants, and upon closer inspection, one could identify them: cherry tomatoes, chili peppers, scallions...

They were all planted in various reused containers, gathered haphazardly yet harmoniously at one corner of the windowsill, leaving a small space for fighting fish freshly caught from the river. The finger-length fighting fish, with red and blue stripes, swam vigorously in the water.

Several branches of street trees extended into the slightly rusted stainless steel railings. Peering out, one could see pedestrians walking below. Their figures were blurry, some carrying bags or breakfast, their shadows falling on cracked tiles, bringing a bustling, everyday life vibe.

"Mew." A plump old cat entered the frame, its fur quivering, stepping lightly from the washing machine on the balcony to the windowsill. Its paws crossed, it stared at the glass jar containing the fighting fish, its whiskers twitching.

Foreigners might not feel it, but people from JiuZhou found it exceptionally familiar.

It was lively yet peaceful, as if they had returned to before the great pollution.

But what was this scene for?

"Oh, it's like this."

Turning around, there was a frosted glass door. Through it, a shadow could be seen moving, and faint voices could be heard, though indistinct. Ji Xinghai hesitated, not daring to approach. The discordant notes from his dreams came together to form this scene.

"Competition, competition." 'Ji Xinghai' walked over, holding a yellowed workbook labeled "Unified Practice Book for Provincial Education Department," saying, "Let's fold paper airplanes and see whose flies farther."

Seeing Ji Xinghai staring blankly, he flicked his forehead: "Daydreaming?"

Ji Xinghai clutched his forehead, his eyes widening, resembling the old cat that turned to look at him.

JiuZhou.

"A-Cheng! A-Cheng!" The female host's trembling voice betrayed her agitation. The male host, busy in the kitchen, came out with a spatula, thinking something had happened.

"What...?" His voice trailed off as he saw the image on the wall.

"Look, doesn't it resemble the old neighborhood where we used to live?"

To send their child to a good school, they lived in the old neighborhood for a long time, in houses built two or three decades ago, without elevators, but still expensive.

They lived on the third floor, facing the street, with tree branches often reaching into the balcony, which fortunately was trimmed annually.

"Do you remember? We planted some vegetables on the balcony, and the cat... the cat wasn't ours; it belonged to the old lady next door but visited frequently. The fish in the glass jar were caught by Xing from the river, he..."

The female host suddenly remembered something: "I have photos, let me find them."

They hurriedly rummaged through shoeboxes for old photos, looking up at the wall and down at the photos.

In the livestream, the two youths, mirroring each other, tore a page from the practice book and started folding paper airplanes, pressing the creases with their fingers while chatting.

"I wonder if my paper airplane skills have deteriorated." Ji Xinghai examined his handiwork, checking both sides for perfect folds.

"You'll know when you try." 'Ji Xinghai' had already finished folding his paper airplane. He raised his arm and threw it hard through the gap in the railing, toward the sky outside.

The triangular paper airplane flew out of the balcony, passing over wild-growing branches, busy pedestrians, and brick-red sidewalks. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew it around, and it slowly landed on the gray concrete ground.

The wind continued to blow, swirling leaves, and the paper airplane rolled into a pile of dead leaves.

"Looks like you're not very good at this." Ji Xinghai gently blew on his paper airplane, sending it out with the wind.

This attracted the old cat, which shifted its attention from the fish tank, leaping up and trying to catch it with its paws. But the paper airplane flew away.

"It flew away."

"Yeah."

"Seems farther than yours."

"Yeah."

Both leaned their hands on the marble ledge of the balcony, watching the paper airplane fly away.

JiuZhou.

"Look." The female host held up a photo.

It was taken at the balcony entrance, with a large orange cat in the center of the frame. Behind it, one could vaguely see green plants and a hanging glass wind chime. Next to the washing machine was a glass jar with a small fish inside.

Actually, it wasn't exactly the same as the livestream scene.

The placement of items differed, the shape of the balcony railings was different, the washing machine was different, and the plants in the photo didn't grow as well because both were too busy to care for them.

Even the glass wind chime was different, with hand-drawn patterns, crooked and uneven.

The large orange cat wasn't as plump as the one in the livestream.

But the mistress clutched the photo tightly, as if it were a piece of driftwood in water: "Ah Cheng, look, isn't it the same?"

Their little Xingxing also loved folding paper airplanes, tearing page after page from unused exercise books. Because of this, she had to take him to apologize to the downstairs neighbors, as the first-floor residents often had to clean up the trash at their doorstep.

"You think, is there any possibility..." The mistress paused. She had never believed in ghosts and gods before, but now she was willing to believe anything.

The master was no calmer; he felt as if he had pulled three all-nighters in a row, his steps unsteady. He felt detached from the world, everything like a dream.

"Let's call Minister Li. When we wait for our Xingxing, when the trainee comes out of the game, can we get in touch with him?" Finally, the dream ended, and he found his voice again.

"Ah Cheng," the mistress grabbed his hand, "we still don't know what happened. Take it slowly, don't put pressure on him."

"I understand."

It's too precious; even a breath could harm it. How dare we be reckless?

"I understand."