Chapter 9
Wen Zheng first heard about this from his father.
His memories before the age of five are very vague, but he remembers the ordinary life from when his family moved to Wutongyuan until he was ten.
Wutongyuan is a residential community for faculty and staff of Rongcheng University, located not far away. It has a long history. After his parents retired from the military, they received benefits and chose to return to the university, and bought a house there as well.
In accordance with the confidentiality policy regarding subspace at the time, his parents fully integrated into the environment and spent a year or two completing their previously interrupted studies, enabling them to both stay on as teachers at the university.
From then on, Wen Zheng had parents who were university teachers. His father taught math, and his mother taught classical Chinese. The couple bickered all day long, worrying about trivial matters like firewood, cooking oil, and who would be promoted first. After their bickering, they would sweetly stick together again, saying mushy things like "my darling" and "my precious child."
My dad smokes, and my mom has tried to stop him repeatedly, even buying a huge refrigerator magnet with a "Smoking is harmful to your health" sign while on a trip. It's all to no avail.
For a while, Wen's mother kept a close watch on him, searching him every day. Wen's father would sneak over to Wen Zheng's place and ask his son to help him hide the stolen goods.
With her keen eyes, Mother Wen quickly spotted some clues. She dragged Wen Zheng to the door, held the bamboo cane in her hand, crossed her arms, and asked with a smile, "Little Zheng, is there anything you want to tell me?"
Xiao Zheng... Xiao Zheng quickly betrayed his respected old father.
Wen's mother beat Wen's father so badly that the couple almost tore down the wall. The neighbors complained incessantly and even attracted the police. Later, one day, Wen's father took the little traitor to the garden for interrogation.
"Why did you betray our secrets?" Wen's father asked coldly.
Wen's father is 1.93 meters tall, with long arms and a narrow waist, and a muscular and strong body. He looks fierce when he's not smiling.
But Wen Zheng wasn't afraid of him at all. He made a face with his tongue sticking out and said fiercely, "What else? Ms. Liu heard what you said. What's the use of me keeping it a secret?"
The man was amused by his son's funny faces, and unable to maintain his composure, his expression relaxed and he smiled broadly. His smile completely transformed his cold and stern demeanor, revealing an overflowing gentleness.
"Here's what we'll do: Dad will give you a secret signal, and we'll coordinate so your mom won't find out."
Xiao Wenzheng opened his eyes wide from among the flowers, eagerly urging his father to tell him.
Dad scooped him up and placed him on his shoulder, then jumped and landed on the roof of the pavilion. Little Wen Zheng screamed and laughed, and Dad tickled him, saying, "Don't twist around like that."
"Do you see that sculpture over there?"
"Julius Caesar?"
"Yes. The cipher used by Julius Caesar is called the Caesar cipher..."
...
As the scene receded into the distance, someone pressed tightly against his back. Wen Zheng closed his eyes, listening to the throbbing sound deep in his ears, experiencing the gradually diminishing sense of rejection.
The pendant I redeemed with points around my neck was digging into a small patch of skin on my chest.
No one wants to live alone, without any ties or attachments, and Wen Zheng is no exception. He is not autistic, has no physical illness, and also wants a home, the kind of love that exists between parents, the kind where they can call each other "baby" or "darling."
But "liking someone" is also a skill, and Wen Zheng lacks that skill. But he often thinks that perhaps he hasn't tried hard enough.
Before retiring, he had a crush on a teammate, but the teammate later sacrificed his life. The unspoken feelings he had left behind were buried in the ground along with the flag of the joint forces that was raised.
The storm is brewing; he's not a perfect person, and he's rather tactful.
But he cares about the audience's feelings, speaks gently and patiently, is knowledgeable, and is very protective of people.
Even if Wen Zheng doesn't need such protection, he has to admit that no one dislikes being treated gently.
Wen Zheng endured until the zombies left, and the moment he confirmed that the footsteps had disappeared, he kicked open the cabinet door and gasped for breath.
The storm was brewing, and he patted him on the back with a smile: "Are you feeling stuffy? Actually, it's not so bad."
-Hooray! I'm out of the closet!
Hundreds of millions of people come out of the closet every day in this game, friends, don't overthink it!
-This die-hard fan is frantically making voodoo dolls, wanting to complain that Eel Master is indiscriminately gay!?
-To be honest, I really felt something was off. The eel is usually quite nice, but why do I feel like he's being exceptionally nice to Z?
-It seems that even if Z isn't good at flirting, she won't be destined to be single forever.
-Tragic news! Famous celibate anchor Z-bkc has suddenly been identified as gay! We are about to lose a comrade-in-arms!
-…………
Wen Zheng put aside the unusual palpitations he had just experienced; he was a bit tired and wanted to finish this instance as soon as possible.
After signaling that Shan Yuyu was about to follow, he strode towards Deng Puyue's direction.
Unfortunately, Deng Puyue was also hiding from zombies, perhaps in a bad spot. Dr. Wayne Number Two, refusing to give up easily, swung his drill and vigorously rubbed it against the cabinet. Hearing footsteps behind him, he quickly turned around, his bloodshot eyes gleaming!
"Damn it!" Just as Shan Yu was about to warn Wen Zheng to walk quietly, the other man stepped into the zombie monster's detection range, and Shan Yu couldn't help but curse. He was just about to pull the man back to circle around when, without noticing, he saw Wen Zheng recklessly rush out.
"Little Z!" he exclaimed in surprise. A long, white light flashed in the other person's hand, like a short sword. Before he could see it clearly, Wen Zheng rushed forward, slipped behind the zombie, and kicked it, embedding it in the wall.
A storm is brewing: "…………"
"What happened? Where did you get the sword? Did you find it during the search of the room? Can you add some more?"
Seeing the zombie humbly crawling against the wall, even the tense atmosphere of an impending storm couldn't be tense anymore, and he walked over while asking questions.
Hearing the argument, he didn't answer. Instead, he grabbed Dr. Wayne's white coat by the back of the collar, tore it off the wall, and, avoiding its front, stabbed it with a ruler against his elbow.
The ruler was quite heavy, making a dull thud when it struck the bone. With two sharp cracks, the zombie's hands drooped, only able to twitch slightly. Wen Zheng pressed on, dismantling the hands and feet with natural, fluid movements, like a skilled craftsman.
The skilled worker stepped on the zombie's lower back, grabbed its jawbone with both hands, and pulled hard—
The zombie broke in two, turned into pink smoke with a bang, and dropped an unidentified scroll of paper.
-666666
- I was making "666" sounds while giving Z a tip. I love watching Z fight bosses in the survival mode; it's so much more refined than in battle royale.
-What filter did you use in front of me?
-Looking at it this way, Z has been quite gentle with those props!
After a long silence, as if a storm was brewing, he finally managed to say with difficulty, "...What are you holding in your hand?"
"This?" Wen Zheng picked up the scroll of paper, casually set the measuring ruler to be shared, and released his hand. The prop that emitted white light floated in the air.
The ruler slowly rotates 360 degrees, and a transparent pop-up window appears in the upper right corner.
【Measuring ruler】
Permanent props.
The 17th Survival Space Black Box Test: Outstanding Tester Award.
Usage: Accurately measures the distance between vector line segments of objects. Limitations: Indoors.
A sense of suffocation, like the calm before a storm, was almost unbelievable: "An outstanding tester?"
Wen Zheng grunted in agreement and put the ruler away.
There were several items to choose from at the time, but they weren't very useful. After all, there were clues and puzzles in the dungeon, which could usually be found. If you couldn't figure out the answer, even with the items, you generally couldn't solve the puzzle.
This tool mainly symbolizes honor, so Wen Zheng chose the most "practical" one.
It proved to be very practical, even though he could fight monsters with his bare hands.
The title of Outstanding Tester is awarded to players who have made significant contributions to the game. I know two streamers who both treat this title as a golden brand, bragging about it to everyone they meet, and it works very well.
Xiao Z is a little-known streamer whose points rank outside the top 200 in the survival game section of the cat-loving platform. He only streams two nights a week, and his most famous characteristic is said to be his insistence on not owning a cat.
It turns out he once received the "Outstanding Tester" award!?
Why don't the fans bring this up?
And his fighting skills...
Wen Zheng unfolded the scroll, turned around and saw Shan Yu Yu Lai with a shocked expression, and couldn't help but smile: "Is that strange?"
"No...it actually suits you quite well?" A glint flashed in Shan Yu's eyes. "Have you always dealt with bosses this way?"
“Yes————” Deng Puyue finally poked her head out of the cabinet. Seeing that the zombies were really gone, she excitedly called out to Wen Zheng’s father, over and over again.
The storm was brewing, so he swallowed the words he was about to say.
The scroll indicates which X-ray images to pay attention to; this is likely a hint for players who can't solve the code.
But they had already untied the fear, and the note became useless.
Just as Wen Zheng was about to enter the password, Xuan Yuan Tian Lu arrived late.
His face was gloomy, and Deng Puyue didn't know what she had done to offend him again. She also obediently stopped moving, not really wanting to be nice to him.
“Fear.” Shan Yu said, “Is this the gate of fear? Or is it about breaking through fear?”
Deng Puyue chimed in, "If it's going to be broken, why not call it something like the Gate of Courage?"
"Tch." Xuan Yuan Tianlu spoke up, and the two turned to look at him: "Courage, huh? You really have courage. A grown man like you needs someone else to save you. You're such a coward. In the end, you two hugged each other and left me to fight two against one. Damn it, you beat me up for ages."
Deng Puyue choked: "What do you mean? Can't a man be saved? I want my brother to save me, what's it to you??"
This isn't referring to Deng Puyue's Xuanyuan Heavenly Road: "…………"
He was seething with anger, and with a look of disapproval on the face of someone about to storm up the mountain, he secretly spat.
He's a tough streamer, mostly male, who hates watching streamers hide when they encounter monsters. He had taken a big hook from the safe, thinking he could fight the boss, but he was unlucky and got surrounded by two monsters.
He couldn't beat two opponents at once, so he had to find a place to hide.
Then he was cursed by the audience for his ancestors for eighteen generations.
If he hadn't helped that Z guy when things were about to turn bad, would he have acted like this?
The door of fear opened, and inside came a warm yellow light.
The story of the little girl Susan was shown in holographic film form, and it largely matched their guesses.
Holding the white rabbit, Susan was eventually taken back to Wayne's clinic by her mother, her mouth now filled with a huge black hole where even her gums had disappeared.
She screamed and tried to escape, but was caught and tied up tightly with a rope.
The image disappeared, replaced by a rag doll named Susan, fixed to the examination chair in the center of the room.
Large mechanical telescopic rods appeared at the four corners, all pointing towards the center of the room. The front ends of the rods were empty, and the group quickly made a judgment and attached the tweezers and hooks from the safe to them.
The door slammed shut, the red light flashed, and a countdown timer suddenly appeared above their heads, showing they only had five minutes left!
The background music for the boss battle also started playing, and the tempo was so fast that it made you feel increasingly anxious the more you listened.
"What are you trying to do?!" Deng Puyue was furious, banging on the telescopic pole. The atmosphere was tense. Wen Zheng was sweating and squatted down to examine the button at the base of the telescopic pole.
Upward, forward, downward, contraction.