Chapter 274 Heroes of the Later Era

Chapter 274: The Hero of the Later Era

The student from Honghuai No. 1 Middle School who appeared on the bridge was none other than Su Bai, who had changed out of his pajamas and headed out. Perhaps already aware that his memory was indeed faltering, Su Bai wanted to fulfill the promises he'd made to Yao while he could still recall them.

Although ordinary people in the real world shouldn't be able to perceive Eerie Entities, if he wanted all the eerie beings from the "Evil Ghost Puzzle" to manifest in the real world, he still sought a secluded spot where he could fully enjoy his time with the Puzzles without interruption.

Thus, after unexpectedly discovering this abandoned park with its beautiful lake, Su Bai spent a pleasant time with the Puzzles that had emerged from the "door." It was near the end of this "outing" that Su Bai noticed other humans approaching their lakeside area.

Just as Su Bai could find this abandoned park, so too could others, which didn't particularly surprise him. What did surprise Su Bai was that one of the figures in the distance seemed utterly terrified, as if, upon looking in their direction, they had witnessed something unbearable for an ordinary person.

It seemed this person could perceive the presence of Eerie Entities.

Such individuals were rare but not unheard of; otherwise, rumors and horror stories about "seeing ghosts" or "yin-yang eyes" wouldn’t be so widely circulated in the real world. They were, in essence, a rare breed.

Just as Su Bai was about to greet this rare specimen, he noticed the Puzzles around him unanimously making shushing gestures with mischievous grins. To an ordinary person, this scene wouldn't just resemble ferocious, man-eating demons from a horror movie—it could be described as a night parade of a hundred demons.

Faced with the Puzzles’ childish antics, Su Bai could only sigh helplessly. These creatures likely just wanted to linger a little longer under the beautiful moonlight of the real world and harbored no genuine malice. However, the rare specimen on the distant shore still appeared thoroughly frightened, frozen stiff with terror.

Su Bai’s body and senses had been enhanced by the lingering power of the red moon. His eyes could clearly discern the figures of the two humans on the shore, the school uniforms they wore, and the red and yellow hair on their heads. The human who had been terrified by the Puzzles looked strangely familiar to Su Bai.

Su Bai had initially thought the two humans would quickly flee in fear, but to his surprise, the one who hadn’t been scared actually ran toward him, even loudly urging him to leave the abandoned park together. The one who ran over first clearly wasn’t adept at concealing his emotions; his tone was not only urgent but also cautiously tactful, as if worried Su Bai might do something regrettable.

Glancing at the moonlit reflection on the lake and then at the two approaching him, Su Bai mused that they might suspect he intended to jump off the bridge.

However…

When the two finally stood before Su Bai, he realized that the boy who had been scared by the Puzzles looked more and more familiar the longer he looked, and a name subconsciously slipped out—

"Lin Wenhua?"

Hearing the name, the both familiar and strange boy in front of him also showed a shocked expression, confirming Su Bai’s guess.

This lifetime was Su Bai’s first time meeting Lin Wenhua, but in his previous life, the player named "Lin Wenhua" had been hailed as the "Hero of the Later Era" by other human players. If Su Bai remembered correctly, although Lin Wenhua had entered the Nightmare World early, he only gained fame during the so-called "Later Era," when large numbers of human players from the White Faction poured into the Nightmare World.

Su Bai took another look at Lin Wenhua’s fiery red hair and the various nose rings and lip piercings on his youthful face, understanding why he hadn’t recognized Lin Wenhua’s identity at first glance.

When Su Bai had known Lin Wenhua in his previous life, it was already during the so-called Later Era. By then, Lin Wenhua was no longer a student with youthful immaturity; he had neither red hair nor flashy accessories. Instead, he carried the world-weariness of someone who'd experienced much, with hair that had already turned gray in his twenties.

Just by standing there, that person commanded enough charisma to make other players set aside their differences and hatred to follow him, fighting together against the Eerie Entities.

That person was the Hero of the Later Era, a lone operator who belonged to no organization or faction, yet always stood on the front lines of the black-and-white battlefield.

However, before the Later Era arrived, Lin Wenhua had remained relatively unknown, his power and reputation not even matching a single feather of the Phoenix Lady. Players who had once cleared games with Lin Wenhua said that he had been a player who simply got by—not making friends, not particularly kind-hearted, not brave or strong, and not even exceptionally clever.

Such players were all too common in the Nightmare World. Out of every ten veteran players who died daily, seven or eight might have had such personalities. The Lin Wenhua of the past had been just that unremarkable. Back then, Lin Wenhua’s ability was called "Super Vision," relying on his eyes’ ability to see through things and aim to serve as the sniper in his team. It was a not-so-powerful ability that required him to wield long-range weapon items to be effective in combat.

But by the time Su Bai met Lin Wenhua, he was already known as the Hero of the Later Era and had acquired his second ability—Impenetrable Defense.

It was almost impossible for ordinary players to develop a second ability, but nearly all players knew of the powerful defensive ability that had protected Lin Wenhua and even the players behind him throughout the Later Era. That never-breached Impenetrable Defense wasn’t Lin Wenhua’s own ability but a gift from his close friend who had died in the Nightmare World.

Lin Wenhua’s unnamed close friend had died in the game before the Later Era arrived, but that friend had used a special item to leave his strength and ability to Lin Wenhua. From that moment on, Lin Wenhua journeyed alone, with no one by his side, yet he used his power to guard the battlefield and save countless players in peril.

He said it was what his foolish departed friend had always wanted to do.

Su Bai ended his reminiscence and instinctively looked at the boy with dyed yellow hair standing beside Lin Wenhua. Though taller and stronger than Lin Wenhua, with a demeanor and expression that made him look like a street hoodlum, his eyes held a certain purity.

Was he the one who had run over first, fearing Su Bai might jump off the bridge?

Could it be that he was that fool?

"You know me?" The Lin Wenhua before him snapped back to reality, eyeing Su Bai warily.

Huang Qi, standing nearby, lacked such caution. Instead, his eyes lit up as he said with a laugh, "Brother Lin, you’re something else! Even the top student from No. 1 Middle School knows your name. Maybe next time we can recruit a few underlings from No. 1 Middle School and take them out to relax and stretch their legs."

"..." Having known Huang Qi for so long, Lin Wenhua had long given up trying to correct Huang Qi’s mistaken perception of his identity.

"We might have met somewhere before?" Su Bai naturally couldn’t bring up the previous life. Blurting out the other’s name had already been careless.

After all, aside from both being players, he and Lin Wenhua shared a special connection.

Su Bai’s mother, Lin Wan, was the unfilial daughter who had cut ties with the Lin family—Lin Wenhua’s biological aunt. And Lin Wenhua’s grandfather was also Su Bai’s never-met maternal grandfather.

In other words, Su Bai had to address Lin Wenhua, who was born a few days earlier than him, as "cousin."

In his previous life, Su Bai and Lin Wenhua had accidentally discovered this. However, for Su Bai, who had lost his mother early in that life, he no longer had any relatives or attachments in the real world. Anyone from the Lin family was irrelevant to him.

In this life, Su Bai felt a sense of kinship as he looked at Lin Wenhua’s young and inexperienced face.