Chapter 21: Miss “Sweet Wind”

As Lin Kuo saw the person catch up, he averted his gaze.

The bronze city gate in front of him seemed to be embedded in the wall.

On the bronze gate were two beast-shaped knockers holding rings.

Before Sheng Sheng and Guan Miao arrived, Lin Kuo had tried pulling them and found that he could easily open the huge gate with almost no effort.

Guan Miao, unaware that Lin Kuo was waiting for someone, asked in confusion, “Can’t open the door? That shouldn’t be right.”

The newbies whose identities had been confirmed had also been recognized by the Main God System.

The gates to their respective districts should have opened for them.

Lin Kuo paused and said in a low voice, “…I’ll try again.”

After speaking, he pulled the knockers again.

His arms pulled back horizontally, and the knockers opened the entire gate with a roar.

The scene of Lower B District suddenly unfolded before them.

Lin Kuo glanced at the scenery inside the city.

The city gate wasn’t really a portal.

It was more like an actual, traditional city gate.

There was a natural transition from the gate to the district, unlike the abruptness of a teleportation door.

Seeing Lin Kuo open the door, Guan Miao let out a sigh of relief and looked down at Sheng Sheng.

“Let’s go.”

Sheng Sheng nodded nervously.

The three of them entered the city.

When the last person’s foot crossed the threshold, the bronze gate closed on its own.

Lin Kuo thought of something, turned around, and pushed the door, only to find that it wouldn’t budge.

Seeing this, Guan Miao explained, “All doors can only be entered, not exited.”

Lin Kuo retracted his hand.

“All of them?”

Guan Miao nodded.

“Generally speaking, each district has two gates: one for entering from a lower district, and one for going to a higher district. Besides the first rating, if you want to go to a higher district, you can only upgrade step by step, according to district order.”

Lin Kuo said nothing.

Guan Miao thought Lin Kuo was unhappy and gave a dry laugh.

“Although the instance point rewards in the lower districts aren’t much, they have their advantages. For example, the cost of living in the lower districts isn’t as high as in the higher districts, and the instance difficulty is manageable.”

The instance difficulty determined the survival rate.

Staying alive was more important than point rewards.

But Lin Kuo asked, “In that case, wouldn’t it be fine to live in the lower districts forever?”

Guan Miao shook his head.

“I just mentioned the fog in the Walled City crevice. The fog occasionally spreads. If you don’t go to the higher districts and the fog expands, the lower districts on the outskirts of the Walled City will be affected. There’s no air in the fog.”

Once there was no air, it would be another inescapable death.

Lin Kuo thought of a game he occasionally played called PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.

The poison circle in the game and the fog here were more or less the same—just a system mechanism to force people in one direction.

Lin Kuo thought, this damn system probably doesn’t like slackers who just want to coast by, which is why it set up the fog.

At that moment, Lin Kuo was truly unhappy.

He pursed his lips and said no more.

Guan Miao thought to himself that he would never agree to Sheng Wen’s request again.

He was a little afraid of Lin Kuo.

He scratched his head awkwardly and said stiffly, “Besides that, there are many other reasons to go to higher-level districts… ummm, let me take you to the residential area first.”

Lin Kuo remained silent.

The first instance seemed to have exhausted all his words for a lifetime.

At this moment, Lin Kuo just wanted to be quiet.

After following Guan Miao for more than ten minutes, although Lin Kuo wasn’t looking around like Sheng Sheng, he had still taken in most of the surrounding scenery.

The district didn’t seem much different from the real world.

There were concrete buildings and passersby.

The only difference was that the main color of the district was darker, and, coupled with the misty sky above, it made the people in the district look pale.

After a few more minutes, Guan Miao stopped and said, “We’re here.”

Lin Kuo looked up.

In front of him was a seven-story building that looked like something from the 80s.

Each floor had at least seven or eight rooms.

Except for the first floor, all the other floors had narrow corridors.

Guan Miao took out his phone and fiddled with it for a long time, then said, “7th floor—708 just became available.”

Lin Kuo didn’t delve into the meaning of just became available.

He didn’t need to guess what had happened to the previous occupant of 7-708.

The three of them walked up the only staircase in the building.

The people coming down didn’t show any interest in them, just lowered their heads and silently made way.

When they reached 7-708, Guan Miao operated his phone again for a while.

With a clang, the door opened.

The furnishings inside were simple: two narrow single beds, a wooden table and chair, and a basic clothes rack made of two poles.

There was nothing else.

Although it was simple, at least it was tidy.

Lin Kuo walked into the room, his eyes scanning around, trying to see if the previous occupant had left anything behind.

Guan Miao took the initiative to explain, “If an instance fails, the system will clear all traces.”

That was why the room was so tidy.

Seeing Lin Kuo stop, Guan Miao pointed to a small door in the room.

“The toilet is here.”

“Mmm.”

“I’ve already added you on Walled City Chat. If you have any questions, ask me there. You… get familiar with the place first. I’ll take Sheng Sheng to his room.”

Lin Kuo’s Adam’s apple moved slightly.

“…There are two beds here.”

Guan Miao didn’t understand what Lin Kuo meant.

He only remembered Sheng Wen’s request and said half-truthfully, “Mmm, mmm. Lower B District rooms are all two-person. But there have been very few newbies entering Lower B District recently, so you can live alone for now.”

Lin Kuo looked at Guan Miao.

“I’ve already registered your residential information. The room doesn’t need a key—only you can open it.”

Guan Miao smiled and patted Sheng Sheng’s little head.

“Let’s go, Sheng Sheng.”

Saying this, he was about to take Sheng Sheng away.

“Wait.”

Lin Kuo stopped them, his face unnatural.

“It’s empty anyway.”

Guan Miao smiled.

“What?”

Lin Kuo wanted to hit someone.

Sheng Sheng shook Guan Miao’s arm.

“Big brother Guan Miao, big brother Lin Kuo is willing to live with me. Can I live with big brother Lin Kuo?”

Lin Kuo stiffly turned his head away.

Only then did Guan Miao realize what Lin Kuo meant.

“Is that so?”

He thought, Since it’s Lin Kuo’s wish, then so be it.

He stared at Lin Kuo.

“Alright, then… should I register Sheng Sheng’s residential information for 7-708 as well?”

Lin Kuo was still stiff.

“Mmm.”

“Thank you, big brother Guan Miao.”

Guan Miao operated his phone, and the registration was successful after a short while.

He wanted to tell Lin Kuo a few more things to note, but then thought there wasn’t much else to say.

He gave an awkward smile.

“Then you two stay here for now. I still need to go to other districts to register information, so I’ll… be going first.”

“Mmm.”

“Goodbye, big brother Guan Miao.”

Guan Miao opened the door.

“I’m leaving. Contact me on Walled City Chat if you have any problems.”

For the third time, Lin Kuo said, “Mmm.”

Guan Miao left 7-708, even closing the door for them on his way out.

After the door closed, Guan Miao stood with his back to the door of 708 for a while and sent a message to Sheng Wen:

[Guan Miao]: The thing you asked for is done.
[Sheng Wen]: (*￣︶￣)
[Guan Miao]: ??? Put away that disgusting expression.
[Sheng Wen]: Okay.
[Sheng Wen]: No need for thanks for a great favor. Busy now. I’ll treat you to a meal some other day. Talk later.
[Guan Miao]: …

Sheng Wen really didn’t reply again.

Guan Miao was also glad for the peace and quiet and went on with his work.

Inside 7-708, Sheng Sheng still couldn’t figure out whether Lin Kuo liked him or not.

He asked Lin Kuo ingratiatingly, “Big brother Lin Kuo, which bed do you want to sleep in?”

Whatever Lin Kuo chose, Sheng Sheng had already decided to take the one Lin Kuo left.

Lin Kuo said, “Whatever.”

 “…”

Lin Kuo pulled out a chair and sat down, then took out his phone.

Now that his own stream had ended, he could watch other people’s streams through the Walled City Livestream.

He randomly clicked into a stream.

The person on the main camera was actively discussing clues about the instance with their teammates.

He glanced at the stream information.

As a viewer, Lin Kuo found the viewer interface much more complicated than the streamer interface.

He could see information about the current stream’s instance.

For example, the one he was watching now was a one-star puzzle-solving instance.

In addition, there was a small line of text in the lower-right corner of the stream which read:

You are currently watching a Lower C District stream.

The bullet chat was sparse, and even the number of viewers was pitifully low.

But Lin Kuo wasn’t really watching the stream.

He studied it for a while and found the donation channel.

In the stream’s donation interface, Lin Kuo saw what he wanted to see:

_____________________________________________________________________

[Fireworks — 2000 points each]
[Level-One Food Item Gift Package (with random small item) — 1800 points/package]

_____________________________________________________________________

Lin Kuo found his own homepage:

_____________________________________________________________________

[Name: Lin Kuo]
[District: Lower District, Area B]
[Residential Information: B District, Building 23, 7-708]
[Personal Abilities] [+] (Click to expand details)
[Points Information] [+] (Click to expand details)

_____________________________________________________________________

Lin Kuo clicked on his points information:

_____________________________________________________________________

[Points Balance: 2300]
[Points Ranking: 74325]

_____________________________________________________________________

“ …”

If he remembered correctly, Sweet as the Wind had set off three fireworks for him, which was 6000 points.

Adding the food package, the total cost was 7800.

He had originally thought of returning the points Sweet as the Wind had spent on him, but now it seemed he couldn’t afford to repay them at all…

Just then, a message came in on Walled City Chat.

Lin Kuo opened it and saw that it was from Sweet as the Wind.

[Sweet as the Wind]: Big brother~
[Sweet as the Wind]: Congratulations on successfully passing the first instance, big brother. Scattering flowers, scattering flowers.

Sweet as the Wind was overly enthusiastic, while Lin Kuo was still immersed in the sorrow of being heavily in debt.

For a moment, he didn’t know how to reply.

While thinking, Lin Kuo caught sight of Sheng Sheng, who had been standing beside him.

The child was looking at him uneasily.

Lin Kuo then asked, “What’s wrong?”

Sheng Sheng looked a little aggrieved.

“My legs are a bit sore.”

“Sit down and rest.”

Sheng Sheng’s eyes reddened.

“But… but I don’t know which bed big brother Lin Kuo wants, so I don’t dare to sit.”

Lin Kuo was stunned for a moment.

Realizing he had made a mistake, he said awkwardly, “I’ll take the left one.”

Sheng Sheng said happily, “Then I’ll take the right one.”

“Okay.”

After getting Lin Kuo’s okay, Sheng Sheng pounced onto the bed.

He also took out his own phone.

He was young and not yet of the age to use a phone.

The phone he had now was one configured for him by the system after he was dragged into the Walled City.

Sheng Sheng held his phone, seemingly sending a voice message to someone:

“Mommy, I…”

Seeing Sheng Sheng doing his own thing, Lin Kuo finally lowered his head and stared at the screen, thinking about how to tactfully tell Sweet as the

Wind that he couldn’t repay so many points for now.

He also wanted to ask whether Sweet as the Wind would accept repayment in installments.

While he was thinking, his phone buzzed continuously.

Looking at the messages one by one, Lin Kuo still didn’t know how to start—he just felt anxious.

At this moment, Sheng Wen in the Upper District was feeling a little uneasy.

All the messages he had sent had sunk like stones into the sea.

This made Sheng Wen nervous.

Had the little streamer discovered something?

Or was he not used to life in the Walled City?

Or maybe… was he dissatisfied with his rating?

With these thoughts, Sheng Wen sent a few more messages:

[Sweet as the Wind]: Big brother’s rating is so great!
[Sweet as the Wind]: Has big brother arrived at your residence? Are you used to it yet?
[Sweet as the Wind]: Oh right, let me tell you a secret, big brother. All my friends around me are talking about you.

Sheng Wen wasn’t lying to the little streamer.

These days, whenever he entered a Lower District stream, he would see one or two bullet comments related to Lin Kuo.

Those who had watched Lin Kuo’s stream seemed to be unable to forget him, always saying things like:

Bring on the dog streamer” or “Even the dog streamer’s stream was more interesting than yours.

In the chat interface, the little streamer still hadn’t replied.

Sheng Wen listlessly exited Walled City Chat, preparing to find a random stream to pass the time.

He browsed the Lower District category listlessly.

None of the stream titles caught his interest.

He scrolled all the way to the bottom.

Suddenly, a stream title caught his eye.

Sheng Wen was stunned for a moment:

[A stream that ‘I don’t need you to watch’] — 12 viewers.

Just as he was hesitating whether to click in, the number of viewers began increasing rapidly:

120 → 1200 → 12,000

Sheng Wen finally clicked in.

The stream had just been established, and the camera was still a pitch-black screen, but the bullet chat was already filled with comments:

[What’s there to learn? Learning from the dog streamer?]
[Going against the grain, do you even have the dog streamer’s ability? :)]
[So disgusting, don’t follow trends, okay?!]
[Bandwagon dog, bandwagon dog.]
[The dog streamer is a dog—you’re not even a dog!]
[I’m speechless. This streamer doesn’t think this will attract viewers, does he? Sorry, I’m leaving your room after I’m done scolding you. I won’t give you the chance to earn points by racking up view time, hehe.]
[Is God S here?]
[Ahhh, I’m so mad. Did this streamer figure out God S’s viewing preferences and deliberately do this?]

Sheng Wen waited for a while, but the stream still hadn’t started.

His patience was about to run out when the stream finally got a camera feed.

After seeing the person on the screen, Sheng Wen froze.

Lin Kuo glanced at the bullet chat and said with a blank expression, “Did I beg you to come in?”

The bullet chat froze for 3 seconds:

[Damn.]
[???]
[Dog streamer, as expected of you!]
[If I remember correctly, it hasn’t even been 10 hours since the dog streamer finished the last instance, right?]
[So hardworking? Why?]
[Don’t just talk big. If you want us, just say it. I’m waiting to laugh at you.]
[Some of the bullet comments are so shameless. As the only normal person here, I think he’s just missing the rich lady “Sweet as the Wind.”]

Lin Kuo’s face flushed. “It’s none of your business.”

Lin Kuo’s last sentence before putting down his phone:  “Mind your own business.”