novelraw Chapter 178 : Sometimes It Feels Good to Have a Pet
Chapter 178 : Sometimes It Feels Good to Have a Pet
One of the classic thriller tropes in horror movies is when you turn your head and find an ugly, disgusting face pressed tightly against the glass, its features distorted from the proximity, staring at the camera with resentful, hateful eyes.
Facts have proven that this kind of trope doesn't only appear in horror movies; it also appears during monthly exams.
Lin Li pretended not to see Zhou Baowei's face. After checking one last time that his student ID and name were written correctly, he also handed in his paper early.
With the Photographic Memory cheat, the History exam was simply too easy.
After handing in the paper, Task Four wasn't completed. He probably had to wait until the sect competition officially ended to complete it.
"Lin Li!!"
As soon as he stepped out of the exam room, Zhou Baowei gave him a bear hug and growled in a low voice.
"Baowei, my Genshin Impact guide is missing. Do you have any idea where it went?" The two of them tacitly left the exam room area and headed to the stairwell, where Lin Li struck first.
"You dare to play the victim?! I'll kill you! Lin Li! You're really seven grams of gold, over four thousand!" Zhou Baowei grew even angrier.
"It was all well-intentioned, all for your own good. You'll understand when you grow up."
Lin Li emphasized while dodging Zhou Baowei's attacks.
"Forget it, I guess it's a blessing in disguise. I'll let you off this once," Zhou Baowei, panting heavily, showed great mercy.
The primary reason was that Master Zhou was kind-hearted; the secondary reason was that Master Zhou couldn't catch Lin Li.
"What happened?" Seeing there was a hidden story, Lin Li asked curiously.
Soon after, his unbridled laughter echoed in the stairwell. After hearing the story, Lin Li patted Zhou Baowei heavily on the shoulder: "Baowei, I saved you."
"Fuck, but during that exam, the teacher kept looking at me with the eyes of a poet! Does that count as saving me?!"
"A poet? 'Breaking a halberd, holding wine, recognizing a sand wall,' right? Hahahahaha."
(Translator's Note: A pun on a famous poem, where "sha bi" / sand wall sounds like "shabi" / idiot).
The joys and sorrows of humans are not connected. Lin Li just felt that Baowei naturally didn't like to smile.
"Sigh, looks like my feast is a lost cause. Heartbroken September. I hope next month treats me a little better," Zhou Baowei sighed deeply.
"Still hoping, huh? You're just like Misa Amane, hoping every month treats you a little better, but in reality, you're just an extra-large, extra-thick, fleece-lined L, and every month wants to kill you," Lin Li sneered.
(Translator's Note: A reference to Death Note, where Misa Amane loves Light Yagami, but L wants to catch/kill him. "L" is also a pun on "Lao Se Pi" / old pervert).
Zhou Baowei: "..."
Damn, Lin Li, your words are so fucking hurtful.
"I don't want to live anymore. I'm going to commit suicide. I'm going to jump off the building right now, you have to stop me," Zhou Baowei gave up on himself, squatting dejectedly at the stairwell, looking depressed.
"Let's not even mention that you brought this upon yourself. If you had just memorized a little bit seriously, you wouldn't be in this miserable state. Besides, a little setback like this knocked you down? Try harder on the next exam," Lin Li felt frustrated at his lack of resilience.
"What kind of resilience against setbacks can a kid have who, when playing 7K7K flash games, always prioritized the invincible versions?" Zhou Baowei still didn't cheer up, and even retorted with confidence.
Lin Li: "?"
Can't even argue with that. He really can't handle any setbacks.
"You played 7K7K? Not 4399? 7K7K is all little girl games!" But right now, Lin Li felt there was something more important to argue about.
"7K7K used to have porn games a long time ago," Zhou Baowei said concisely.
Well then.
It definitely destroyed 4399.
It seems my enlightenment was a bit late.
"Then why didn't you play on 3366 and 2144? When I was a kid, I used to blow up girls' skirts on there every day, and play spot-the-difference with pictures of beautiful women. It was fun, I loved playing it." Bai Bufan, who had also handed in his paper and come out, immediately joined the conversation upon hearing this, speaking with great enthusiasm.
"Hello, Teacher." However, Lin Li didn't respond. Looking nervous, he nodded respectfully toward the stairwell.
Bai Bufan: "?"
He turned and ran.
Zhou Baowei looked up at the empty stairwell with no one there, and then at Bai Bufan, who had already run far away, terrified of being seen by the "teacher." After realizing what happened, he gave Lin Li a thumbs up:
"I really like a quote from Hu Yifei: With so many weapons, Lin Li, you don't learn them, you insist on learning the sword (jian/bitch). You don't practice the upper sword, you practice the lower sword (xia jian/despicable). You don't practice the iron sword, you practice the silver sword (yin jian/slutty). You're a natural-born sword seed (jian zhong/bastard). Can't even argue with that."
Look how scared Bai Bufan got.
...
Lin Li and Zhou Baowei returned to the door of Class 4.
There were only a few examinees left in the Class 4 classroom still holding on.
The people in the hallway were basically all Class 4 students.
Everyone tacitly returned to the classroom, not because they had agreed to, but simply because the school gates wouldn't open until the exam officially ended. Since they couldn't go home, they might as well go back to the classroom and put their exam papers away, saving themselves the trouble of being scolded by the teacher later if they couldn't find them.
"Wang Yuezhi, are you ready to call me Daddy?" Seeing Wang Yuezhi in the hallway, Lin Li put his hands on his hips and laughed loudly, looking very much like a villain.
"I don't know who gave you the courage to say that after the exam," Wang Yuezhi expressed his disdain, believing the advantage was his.
Lin Li: "The courage given to me by the Class Rep's careful, gentle, and dedicated tutoring over the past month."
Wang Yuezhi turned and walked away, as if he had made some kind of resolution, without a trace of hesitation.
Even though Class 4 was his home.
Why did he have to leave his hometown?
For some reason, his back looked somewhat desolate.
Class 4 was the fifth exam room—the first exam room was the school auditorium.
And the closer you got to the front exam rooms, the more likely you were to find students who truly wanted to take the exam until the very last second.
Class 4 was one of them.
"Ring—"
The bell signaling the end of the exam rang, and those few scattered students were finally willing to hand in their papers.
[Task Four has been completed.]
[You have received rewards: Physique Improvement: Comprehension increased by 10%; Random System-Oriented Reward: 1; System Currency: 100]
While carrying his desk and chair back into the classroom, Lin Li looked at the message popping up from the system.
His mind became a bit clearer again, and he felt that he now had new ways of understanding some problems that he used to easily get stuck on.
[You have opened the Random System-Oriented Reward. You have obtained a Random Reward Doubling Card (3/3) 1.]
[Random Reward Doubling Card (3/3): When completing a system task, you can choose to use this card. One random reward from the task rewards will be doubled. This card can be used three times, limited to one use per task.]
For Lin Li, who was currently lacking everything, this was a pretty good item. It could double three rewards.
Just taking the recent sect competition task as an example, as long as the results came out and he was in the top 100, then [Physique Improvement: Comprehension increased by 20%; Divine Sense and Spirit increased by 100%; Random Magical Treasure 1]—no matter which of these three rewards was doubled, the benefit to Lin Li would be significant.
Comprehension meant wisdom, Divine Sense would allow him to use abilities and magical treasures more easily, and a magical treasure itself was a treasure.
After moving his desk and putting away his exam papers, Lin Li returned home.
After eating dinner, Lin Li sat at home, suddenly feeling a bit at a loss for what to do.
Although this was just a small monthly exam, it felt no different to Lin Li than a final exam.
To be honest, Lin Li had never put in this level of effort even for final exams before.
He had been studying intensely for the past few days, and now that there was suddenly no need for it, Lin Li hadn't even brought his textbooks back. He actually felt a bit empty.
Humans really are too masochistic.
Lin Li took out the "Flask of Hidden Passions." The white cracks on it were already densely packed.
Lin Li continued to use it to absorb his own emotions and then feed them back to himself.
Crack.
After playing with himself like this for half an hour, the "Flask of Hidden Passions," which was already on the verge of breaking, reached its limit. Lin Li felt his connection with it sever, and the flask was covered entirely in white lines.
The "Flask of Hidden Passions" still maintained its flask shape. Lin Li, who had prepared in advance, took several boxes of duck blood from the fridge, poured them into a basin, and buried the flask directly inside.
I hope the Boss Flask can overcome the illness soon.
Now Lin Li truly had nothing to do.
Looks like I can only play that game.
Sleep Roulette: Without setting an alarm, go take a nap. Will you sleep for twenty minutes? Or a few hours? Or maybe you won't wake up until tomorrow? No one knows. That's the thrill and danger of it.
...
Lin Li opened his eyes, still feeling a bit sleepy and dizzy.
When he went to sleep, the sky was still very bright, but now it was a pure, grayish darkness.
After sitting up and recovering for a while, Lin Li took out his phone.
9:10 PM.
Perhaps because he had suddenly unloaded the burden of studying, or perhaps because of the exhaustion from using the "Flask of Hidden Passions" over the past few days, Lin Li's "little nap" lasted for a full three hours.
Lin Li pulled down the status bar on his phone.
Not a single message.
Lin Li stood up and opened the curtains. Outside the window, the lights of thousands of homes were lit. At this hour, there was actually still the smell of food, and occasionally he could hear the cheerful laughter of neighbors.
Turning back, his home was empty and silent.
Maybe I should watch a horror movie too. Occasionally, I feel a bit lost and empty.
Do abstract kids get sad too?
"Wait!"
"Why hasn't the Daily Coupon Welfare Bot sent me a message? I don't think I blocked him." Lin Li, with his improved comprehension, immediately spotted the blind spot.
He opened WeChat.
And saw that WeChat suddenly started spinning a loading circle.
This meant it hadn't been receiving messages at all earlier.
So Lin Li felt a bit expectant and nervous.
When the circle finished spinning.
[Daily Coupon Welfare Bot: Come get your coupons...] (2)
[Men Gotta Fight: @All Members...] (99+)
[Three Men and a Dog: Someone @ me...] (99+)
[...]
[Bai Bufan: ?] (99+)
[Chen Yuying: It looks like it's going to rain tomorrow.] (6)
Fuck the loss and emptiness. Looking at the little red dots on the screen, Lin Li felt like he had come back to life.
Lin Li opened Chen Yuying's messages first.
Chen Yuying didn't have anything planned for tomorrow. She originally wanted to ask Lin Li if he wanted to teach her how to ride a bike tomorrow, but then she saw the weather forecast said it was going to rain.
Rain was completely unsuitable for learning how to ride a bike.
[Lin Li: I'm free tomorrow, but if it rains, let's just plan for the National Day holiday.]
[Chen Yuying: Okay.]
[Chen Yuying: Why did it take you so long to reply?]
[Lin Li: I planned to take a little nap after getting home, but ended up sleeping until now. Sorry.]
[Chen Yuying: Oh, oh, it's fine. I was just asking. [Puppy Nodding Emoji]]
[...]
After chatting with Chen Yuying, Lin Li planned to see how this bastard Bai Bufan managed to generate 99+ messages all by himself.
[Bai Bufan: I'm home. Let's play games, let's play games! If you still say you want to study after the exams are over, Lin Li, you're a 4M, even more awesome than a 3A.]
[Bai Bufan: Private Lin Li, step forward!]
[...]
[Bai Bufan: Where the fuck are you? If you're dead, at least visit me in a dream! Can I use your ashes to mix with my rice for a late-night snack tonight?]
[Bai Bufan: ?] 20
[...]
[Bai Bufan missed call]
[Bai Bufan: Answer the phone, you dog!]
[Bai Bufan: [Dragon Meme: I really need to control you]] 18
[Bai Bufan: [Dragon Meme: I am very angry]] 20
[Bai Bufan: Dear Student Lin Li, unfortunately passed away on the night of the 27th of this month, at the age of 17.5...]
[...]
[Bai Bufan: Resurrect! My love!]
[Bai Bufan: ?]
Although most of it was insulting him, reading this chat log made Lin Li very happy.
Sometimes, he was really glad to know Bai Bufan.
[Lin Li: I was sleeping. What the fuck are you yapping about?]
[Bai Bufan: You don't know to report to me before going to sleep? Your wings have really grown hard, Lin Li.]
[Lin Li: My wings aren't hard. I just woke up. You know exactly what's hard.]
[Bai Bufan: Suck it for me.]
[Lin Li: You little glutton, I really can't do anything with you.]
After typing this line with a smile, Lin Li thought about it, but still edited and sent another message.
[Lin Li: Seriously, Bufan, knowing a bastard bro like you, sometimes I'm really happy.]
Bai Bufan didn't reply immediately. It took nearly half a minute:
[Bai Bufan: ?]
[You recalled a message.]
[Lin Li: Sorry, I was possessed by a ghost just now.]
[Bai Bufan: Scared me. Damn, I thought your next sentence was going to be a confession. I already had my wedding dress on.]
[Lin Li: Alright, didn't you ask me to play games? Are we still playing?]
To be honest, after a month of training by the system, Lin Li didn't have much desire for games anymore. At the same time, worried that he might get addicted again, Lin Li was indeed actively restraining himself.
But just for the emotional value Bai Bufan provided him tonight, playing a game with him or something was an absolute duty.
[Bai Bufan: OK. But let me tell you first, I'm at my hometown right now, and the internet isn't very good. Don't scold me if I play badly.]
[Lin Li: Don't worry. Tonight, I'm your gaming companion, and you're the boss. What kind of gaming companion scolds the boss? Log on!]
[Bai Bufan: Alright! Logging on!]
...
10:20 PM.
[Lin Li: Bai Bufan, why the fuck don't you go play games in a graveyard?!]
[Lin Li: Why didn't your hometown let you die of old age?!]
[Lin Li: I finally wanted to play a game, and you made me lose this badly?!]
[Bai Bufan: ...You promised not to scold me.]
[Lin Li: Just because I promised not to scold you means I won't scold you?! I told you to play properly, why didn't you play properly?! Now you know how to listen?! What were you doing earlier?!]
[Bai Bufan: Lin Li, you have to remember, you are currently in the role of a gaming companion...]
[Lin Li: Companion your mom!]
[Bai Bufan: I am the boss!]
[Lin Li: Boss your mom!]
[Bai Bufan: Fuck!]
Lin Li had actually been worried he would become obsessed with playing games again.
He was truly overthinking it.
When it came to curing internet addiction, Dr. Bai was truly an expert in the field.
(End of Chapter)