Chapter 59

Chapter 59

When Ji Mian opened his eyes again, he did not directly enter the next world.

He gazed at the endless white void, "System?"

"I'm here. Wait a few minutes. I’ve reported the data anomaly to headquarters, and we’ll get a response within ten minutes."

"What data anomaly?"

The system was preoccupied with something, and after a while, it replied, "Take a look at your Affection Points Breakdown."

Ji Mian mentally opened the points panel and glanced at it.

The current total points had already surpassed twenty thousand, with the number fixed at 20,300 points.

He recalled that at the end of the first world, it was under eight thousand. In the last world, with the Double Points Bonus, it surged by over thirteen thousand points.

["Double Points Bonus" is a rule set by the Main System considering the difficulty of the small world, but in the last world, Lu Ge alone had contributed over ten thousand points, far exceeding Xu Zhixia, who was the protagonist.]

"Is that unusual?"

"Yes. Not just Lu Ge, even Duan Zhuo’s points contribution in your first mission struck me as odd."

"Why?" Ji Mian tilted his head.

The system didn’t directly answer his question but said, "The two worlds you’ve experienced are actually virtual worlds replicated by the Main System, not real entities."

Ji Mian was stunned, "Virtual?"

"Mhm. Haven’t you ever wondered why a newcomer like you would be sent to a real world, consequences unconsidered..."

"...No."

The system paused, "You’re remarkably nonchalant."

Ji Mian’s eyelashes lowered, and his gaze showed a hint of confusion.

As the system said, inserting a human soul into a new world was utterly absurd.

He had been thrust into the new world unknowingly, devoid of past memories. Logically, he should’ve been wary...

But from the moment he bonded with the system, he’d never questioned it. It all seemed perfectly natural.

But why did he feel it was natural?

As if... in those forgotten, sealed memories, he instinctively knew the answer. Even when the system uttered 'virtual world,' he wasn’t particularly surprised.

Ji Mian blinked. —Subconscious knowledge.

"017..." He repeated his former name, searching for a clue.

But ultimately, he found nothing.

Ji Mian had to momentarily shelve the question of his past. He had a more pressing question, "What about my brother? Is he fake too?"

The system paused, sensing the answer would be too harsh for Ji Mian.

But it eventually revealed the truth: "Everyone in the virtual world is a projection from a real, parallel world. You can think of them as not entirely fake, but they’re definitely not real."

Ji Mian nodded, a little regretful: "I see..."

"Duan Zhuo isn’t real. Doesn’t that make you sad?"

"Why should I be sad?" Ji Mian smiled a bit foolishly, "Even if my brother were a robot, I’d still love him."

"Whatever makes you happy."

Regardless, seeing Ji Mian's reaction, the system breathed a sigh of relief: "I didn’t tell you earlier because some kids, once they find out they’re in a virtual world, go wild and mess up the storyline, making it a huge pain to patch up the world’s glitches later. Virtual worlds also cost money to maintain!"

It further explained: "The main reason we travel through different worlds and complete tasks is simple: to harvest emotional energy from humans. Affection Points are just one type; there’s also Admiration, Hatred, and more."

"The energy we collect can be used for tons of things: rewinding time, jumping through space, or even changing the timeline to save the world from future extinction. Even bringing you back to life is just one way to use the energy. This is just a small reward for all the time you’ve spent gathering energy in these worlds."

Saving... the world...

Ji Mian felt a little overwhelmed, realizing for the first time he was doing something pretty huge.

"In short, the energy from emotions people ignore and let fade away is massive and powerful. Even in a virtual world, it can generate 30% of the energy of the real world."

"That’s exactly why we build virtual worlds. A virtual world can be fixed and reused over and over, like setting up a sustainable energy farm for emotions, without messing with the real world."

"There are systems in the real world too, but they don’t work like we do. They’ve got way more rules and restrictions to deal with." The system paused here, "Never mind, it’s not worth explaining."

Ji Mian almost understood.

He hadn’t forgotten the question he started the conversation with: "System, you just said that you think there’s something wrong with my brother and Mr. Lu’s data?"

"Yes. The Affection Points from Duan Zhuo and Lu Ge are way above the normal 30%... Ah, the headquarters has replied."

After checking the message, the system summarized the reply in three words: No anomaly.

It informed Ji Mian of the result, who relaxed a bit upon hearing the answer.

But the system felt something was off.

The "No anomaly" response from the headquarters didn’t convince it.

How could there be absolutely no anomaly? The emotional value of those two far exceeded other characters in the virtual world, even reaching the threshold of the real world.

Not only that... the system looked at Ji Mian, who seemed relaxed in the void.

Most importantly, it now suspected that there might be some connection between Duan Zhuo and Lu Ge.

Better not tell him yet. This guy turns into a total fool the moment Duan Zhuo comes up.

"For the next world, I suggest you enter early to grasp the character setup in advance."

"Why?"

"Because the character setup in the next world requires you to break through some psychological barriers."

"?"

"You’ll have to curse a little."

Ji Mian: ...

*

The fourth floor of University A's male dormitory was lively with the arrival of freshmen, their luggage and washbasins cluttered the hallway, making it somewhat crowded.

Xie Hang carried a lightweight suitcase, easily found his dorm room number on the system, and pushed open the door.

The dormitory beds were numbered clockwise, starting from the left side of the entrance.

Xie Hang's bed was number two.

The two beds nearest the entrance were already taken, with suitcases and assorted items piled in the aisle.

On the right, bed number four, a guy spreading a bedsheet heard Xie Hang enter and looked down, saying, "Hold on, man, I'll come down and clear some space for you."

The guy, named Chen Xu, had a good sense of style and was kind of handsome at first glance, though he wasn't great at taking care of himself, and his tidying up was pretty messy.

After climbing down from the bed, he took a look at Xie Hang and exclaimed, "Whoa, dude, you're tall! Almost six-three, right?"

Then he got a look at his face.

Damn, this guy is ridiculously good-looking!

After recovering from his surprise, he quickly cleared some space, glancing back at Xie Hang as he did, and remarked, "Man, you're really good-looking. I thought Xiao Zhou was already good-looking enough!"

Xie Hang gave a polite smile but didn't say anything, nor did he seem curious about who "Xiao Zhou" was.

Seeing this, Chen Xu touched the tip of his nose and kept quiet, thinking to himself: This guy seems a bit aloof...

The guy on bed number one to the left was also there, but clearly much more reserved, only glancing back at Xie Hang a few times without saying a word.

Once Chen Xu cleared the aisle, Xie Hang stepped over with his suitcase.

Once he reached his spot, Xie Hang realized he was the last one to arrive in the dorm.

The bed across from his, number three, was unoccupied, but everything was neatly arranged, with items on the desk organized and a basketball hanging by the cabinet.

The floor around, likely cleaned by the other person, was spotless, including under Xie Hang's bed.

"Oh, right," Chen Xu from bed four said, remembering something, "The storage rack inside is for you and Lu Zhou. You can put your suitcase and stuff there."

Lu Zhou must be the "Xiao Zhou" he mentioned earlier.

Xie Hang noticed the familiarity in Chen Xu's tone and raised an eyebrow.

Some people's social efficiency is surprisingly high; it hadn't even been half a day since arriving at school, and they were already familiar.

He said, "Okay, thanks."

Glancing at the storage rack, it was still empty, with two suitcases placed beside it but not on it, probably waiting for the other user of the rack to arrive before deciding how to use it.

Quite thoughtful...

Xie Hang withdrew his gaze, no longer pondering, and started unpacking his suitcase.

By evening, he had finished tidying up and cleaning, and the mess in the aisle between beds one and four was also cleared.

The dormitory finally started to feel livable.

At that moment, the dormitory door was pushed open, and with the window open, a sudden gust of wind swept through.

Xie Hang looked in the direction of the wind.

The boy who entered had an athletic look, dressed in a bright white and green short-sleeved shirt. He was tall with long legs, and beneath his shorts were a pair of straight, well-defined calves with smooth and attractive muscle lines.

Looking up, his face was youthful with a high nose, deep-set eyebrows, long and thick eyelashes, and very fair skin. A silver earring on his left ear sparkled under the light, and a faint smile lingered on his lips as he entered, giving off a slightly carefree vibe, but clearly the kind of appearance that girls would like.

"Lu Zhou," Chen Xu, who was playing a game, leaned back slightly, "Where have you been?"

"Just walked around campus a bit," "Lu Zhou" casually closed the door behind him, "Our school’s library is really nice, and the sports facilities aren’t bad either."

"You’ve got so much energy, I’m impressed. I was almost wiped out after finishing my stuff!"

"By the way, you haven't met Xie Hang yet," Chen Xu suddenly remembered and pointed in Xie Hang's direction, "Just like you, a total hottie."

Chen Xu's tone was drawn out, and "Lu Zhou" shot back with a laugh:

"Idiot."

After saying that, he seemed to be amused by himself, and his smile widened even more. When he turned to look at Xie Hang under the second bunk, "Lu Zhou's" bright black eyes still sparkled.

Their eyes met, and Xie Hang nodded at him.

He was definitely good-looking.