Why it was such a big deal, Lin Shiyu didn’t understand. If it wasn’t for a particularly close family member or friend, wasting the amount of care would seem contrived.
Yet, not understanding doesn’t always mean disliking.

“It’s not a fat cat head, it’s Hello Kitty,” Lin Shiyu cleared his throat. “My little sister likes it.”

Zhou Qi simply nodded and replied calmly, “I see.”

The elevator door opened, and Zhou Qi led Lin Shiyu to the fish head hot pot restaurant. The place was crowded, and they walked through the corridor until Zhou Qi pushed open the door to a private dining room.

Loud shouting and laughter greeted them. The room was bathed in warm yellow and colorful lights, with strong air conditioning. A long dining table occupied two-thirds of the room, covered with dishes, drinks, scattered utensils, and in the middle of the table, there was a cleared area for playing the game ‘Werewolf.’ There was no alcohol on the table, but it seemed as if the group of friends had already downed a few rounds of baijiu in spirit. Shen Ziyi was gripping Gao Jie’s collar, yelling, “Eat wasabi, quick! It’s your turn to kill me!”

They had ordered several large plates of sushi and squeezed all the wasabi sauce from the packets onto one plate. The loser of each round had to either eat wasabi or jump outside the restaurant door. After playing for a few rounds, more than half of the wasabi on the plate had already been consumed.

Lin Shiyu thought to himself, ‘I shouldn’t have come.’

On one side, they were crying out and eating wasabi; on the other side, Mao Silu and his friends spotted Lin Shiyu and Zhou Qi and waved them over. “Come sit here!”

There were two empty seats next to Mao Silu, and one of them had Zhou Qi’s backpack on it.

Gao Jie, who had been forced to eat wasabi and had a greenish face, saw Lin Shiyu and exclaimed, “Shiyu, come here! You’re the only one who hasn’t had wasabi yet!”

Shen Ziyi said, “Let’s play another round, another round…”

Lin Shiyu said, “You guys go ahead, I’ll eat something first.”

He sat down and looked at the dishes on the table, which had been devoured haphazardly. He reluctantly picked up some sushi with his chopsticks. Mao Silu was dragged away to continue playing ‘Werewolf,’ leaving Zhou Qi sitting next to Lin Shiyu. He was absorbed in his phone and casually asked, “Want me to get you more food?”

“No need.” Lin Shiyu replied. He hadn’t eaten dinner, so he quickly devoured three pieces of sushi before asking Zhou Qi, “Why aren’t you playing?”

Zhou Qi continued to focus on his phone and said, “I always win; it’s not fun.”

Lin Shiyu had nothing to say and looked at Zhou Qi’s phone. He was playing that Fish Island game again.

“Your fish isn’t grown yet?”

“It’s hard to get fish food, and playing solo takes too long.”

Lin Shiyu didn’t understand. “Then what’s fun about this game?”

“You’ll find out in the next level.”

Lin Shiyu, who had never played mobile games before and had never been interested in any games previously, found himself inexplicably watching Zhou Qi play this seemingly boring game twice from start to finish.

After hesitating for a while, he took out his phone from his pocket, turned it on, and asked somewhat awkwardly, “Is it called… Fish Island?”

The little character in Zhou Qi’s game stopped walking. Zhou Qi looked up at him and then at his phone before nodding. “Yeah.”

Lin Shiyu didn’t know why he wanted to download this game. It might have been because he had nothing else to do at the moment, or maybe he found the game’s interface design appealing, or perhaps Zhou Qi’s interest in the game had rubbed off on him. Whatever the reason, it didn’t matter. Lin Shiyu thought, ‘If it’s not fun, I can always delete it. Why overthink it?’

He downloaded the game, and a quirky and cute colored fish icon appeared on his phone. Lin Shiyu suppressed his discomfort and opened the game.

“No characters to choose from?… Not even a gender?”

“Only one initial character model, just give it a name.”

Lin Shiyu typed “Rain” in the ID input box and clicked to enter the game. After a brief tutorial, the character named Rain found himself in a pitch-black firefly forest, looking around just as bewildered as Lin Shiyu.

“So, you can choose an attack or healing profession before entering a dungeon. Otherwise, you’re just an ordinary character,” Lin Shiyu turned the joystick back and forth, puzzled. “So this should be a multiplayer team battle game. How do you play dungeons alone?”

“Of course, it’s faster and more convenient with multiple players, but you can also play solo if you bring enough healing items.” Zhou Qi displayed his game profile and showed it to Lin Shiyu. “This is my game ID.”

Rise.

It took Lin Shiyu a little time to get used to the game’s features and add Zhou Qi as a friend. Zhou Qi then sent a team request and said, “I’m coming to find you.”

Lin Shiyu didn’t understand. “Why are you looking for me?”

Zhou Qi operated his character to run through the map with an expressionless face, “To play with you.”

The firefly forest was the starting point for players. Zhou Qi’s character, Rise, huffed and puffed as he ran over, laboriously climbed up a hill, and arrived in front of Lin Shiyu’s character, Rain. Rise had a much higher level than Rain, but the only difference was that he had a decent set of clothes and hair compared to Rain’s bare appearance and bald head.

Rain looked at himself and asked, “Why don’t I have any clothes? Even hair?”

Zhou Qi remained calm, “You can either buy them with real money or get them as drops in dungeons. No effort, no clothes or hair.”

“What kind of crappy game is this?”

[Rise would like to Hold Hands with you.]

Lin Shiyu: “…”

Zhou Qi: “Hurry up and accept.”

Zhou Qi crossed Lin Shiyu’s arm to forcefully help him accept the request, and then Lin Shiyu saw his character being led in circles around the forest by Zhou Qi’s character. Amidst fireflies and on the grassy field, the two characters happily frolicked, carefree and innocent. One of them had no clothes and was bald.

Lin Shiyu stared at this scene in a daze and was already contemplating uninstalling the game.

“Many veteran players hold hands with new players when they go on missions together. It makes completing tasks faster,” Zhou Qi showed Lin Shiyu. “There are also other actions.”

[Rise hopes to Hug you.]

[Rise hopes to Dance with you.]

[Rise hopes to Fight with you.]

Lin Shiyu: “?”

“In some advanced dungeons, you can find a parachute item as loot. If you pick it up, you can even skydive together,” Zhou Qi explained as their characters rolled around in the grass, playfully fighting. Rise then stood up, holding Rain’s hand again. “I can’t handle the advanced dungeons alone; the monsters deal too much damage.”

Rain was led around the forest by Rise for a while, and Lin Shiyu watched their IDs occasionally bump into each other above their heads. He suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable.

Why did their names look like those of a couple?

The more Lin Shiyu looked at it, the more awkward he felt. He pressed his phone firmly, and Rain let go of Rise’s hand.

Rise looked around after realizing he had lost Rain and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Lin Shiyu asked, “Why did you choose this ID?”

“Because it has the character ‘Qi’ in it.”

“Change it.” Lin Shiyu didn’t notice he was starting to sound unreasonable. “Our IDs look like a couple’s names, it’s weird.”

Zhou Qi put down his phone and replied logically, “I used this ID first.”

Lin Shiyu glared at him. “You have a higher level, so change it.”

“You have a lower level, so delete your account and start over.”

The two were in deadlock when suddenly, Gao Jiayi’s loud voice interrupted them. “What are you two doing in the corner for so long?”

Lin Shiyu raised his head to see that he and Zhou Qi had been playing a mobile game together in a corner without realizing it. Everyone turned to look at them when they heard Gao Jiayi’s voice, and Lin Shiyu suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable.

“We’ve played two rounds already. Shiyu, have you finished eating?” Mao Silu had eaten so much wasabi that he was losing his sanity. “Zhou Qi, didn’t you finish eating a long time ago?”

Ruan Zhikai added, “Come over quickly, or we’ll serve you more wasabi.”

The two of them simultaneously and tacitly quit the game.

 

Edited by: Jaisland

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