Before Zhu Yao could even observe her surroundings, she was dragged to Yu Nan by two people dressed in dark red uniforms and wearing masks.
She looked up and saw Yu Nan's indifferent expression, and her heart skipped a beat for no reason.
"Don't you recognize me, Yu Nan?" she asked in her dream, her voice trembling with tears. "I entered the instance you went into, and I only got in by finding the back door you left behind!"
"Who is Yu Nan? How could she leave a backdoor in my space?" The woman with wine-red hair suddenly grabbed Zhu Yao by the neck and lifted her into the air.
Zhu Yao was almost suffocating and couldn't speak.
"Forget it, just a low-level player. Let's eliminate him." With that, Yu Nan playfully placed her hand on her forehead and squeezed hard. "But how come there's a backdoor here? Did Mao Yuan do this...?"
Zhu Yao felt as if her head had been crushed, experiencing excruciating pain from the depths of her soul. A strange feeling of utter despair, a feeling of utter despair that seemed to surpass even the death of her heart, spread through her. In her dream, she didn't even resist, remaining motionless as Yu Nan cruelly attacked her.
Wake up! Wake up! This is a dream! Wake up!
But dreams don't hurt!
Normally, once Zhu Yao realizes she is dreaming, she can take control of the dream and wake up at any time; this is lucid dreaming.
But now, it's as if her soul has been paused, and she can only watch everything from God's perspective.
Only excruciating pain and a deep-seated fear of Yu Nan.
Immediately afterwards, all the pain disappeared, as if she had died in the dream.
Her soul was imprisoned in her shattered head, placed on a shelf in the study by Yu Nan in her dream.
Zhu Yao gazed at Yu Nan's study from the shelf.
This has been going on for many years, so long that the concept of time has become blurred...
Initially, Yu Nan in the dream rarely came to the study, leaving only her head in the room, facing a fixed angle like a surveillance camera.
Occasionally, she would see Yu Nan drunk in the study, or see her playing the guitar and singing to herself. So she knew how to play an instrument.
Zhu Yao watched as Yu Nan gradually became busier than before, and his expression changed from nonchalant to exhausted.
Later, Yu Nan, with her wine-red hair, started spending all her time in the study, her hair disheveled and her eyes bloodshot.
She worked tirelessly, as if investigating something. At first, she searched on electronic screens, but later Yu Nan began frantically flipping through books and using paper and pen to deduce formulas.
"It seems that Yu Nan in my dreams is also a workaholic who forgets to eat and sleep," Zhu Yao thought. "And she won't die suddenly; she can even lift me up with one arm!"
After a long period of observation, in her dream, her feelings for Yu Nan had transformed from initial fear into dependence.
After all, Yu Nan was the only thing she could see that would change.
Guessing what Yu Nan is doing becomes the only pleasure for her silent soul in the long years of watching.
One day, Yu Nan walked up to herself, picked up her head, and placed it in front of a mirror.
Zhu Yao then saw that she was a skull with a deformed skull in the mirror.
Exhausted, Yu Nan wrote a few words and gestured for herself to see them—
"Once you become a player, never enter the study."
The next second, Zhu Yao saw the skull in the mirror, and Yu Nan, who was standing behind the mirror holding her skull, turn into ashes, which scattered like thousands of fireflies.
"Whoa!" Zhu Yao suddenly sat up in bed.
She woke up…
Wait, what did she just dream about?
The memory of that dream faded away like a receding tide, leaving her with only a fragment that resembled a fluorescent dot.
"Don't...go into...the study..." Zhu Yao murmured absentmindedly.
Author's Note:
A major foreshadowing was laid.
Just treat it as an ordinary dream!
Chapter 12 Put on some clothes!
"No... what do you mean?"
Zhu Yao felt a little confused about herself just now. She glanced at the time and saw that it was already 10 p.m.
Time to get up.
Zhu Yao seemed to have completely forgotten the dream.
Perhaps there was still a lingering fear of Yu Nan, but that fear was worn away by the long hours spent in the dream.
In my dream, I seemed to have a special relationship with Yu Nan. Whenever I saw Yu Nan, I would feel bitterness in my heart—like the bitterness of unrequited love, like the pain of gaining and then losing.
After washing up, Zhu Yao went into the basement and saw that Yu Nan was already playing games there.
On the screen is a rice paddy, with a boy in a black cloak and a red fox standing in the middle of the paddy, the wind blowing through the wheat to form undulating golden waves of rice.
The boy's cloak remained completely still.
"You're awake?" Yu Nan put down the controller and exited the game.
Zhu Yao saw a page on the screen running code, and then Yu Nan closed that page.
"I need to do some research before starting the game."
Yu Nan, wearing a dark red bathrobe, sat on the sofa, facing Zhu Yao.
Yu Nan seems to really like wearing bathrobes at home; she was wearing the same one when she scared her last time.
At this moment, Yu Nan was wearing a pair of black glasses with gold rims, holding a tablet and half-lying on a beanbag chair, her legs casually crossed. The usually alluring and charming Yu Nan had a touch of asceticism about her at this moment.
The bathrobe was rather loose, revealing Yu Nan's long legs and a hint of... wait, was she not wearing a bra?
Zhu Yao really wanted to tell Yu Nan that not all women in this world are straight.
You straight women should be mindful of the impact this has on you!
Although Zhu Yao has been pretending to be straight, she has her own bottom line.
1. They don't easily call others "darling," "baby," "wife," or "wife."
2. He will not look at girls' bodies, nor will he expose his own body.
When Yu Nan saw Zhu Yao standing there looking embarrassed, she assumed that Zhu Yao didn't know where she could sit.
Just find a chair and sit down. I'm just the landlord, I'm not going to eat you.
Yu Nan chuckled inwardly. Seeing the "girl next door" who was four years older than her looking around for something, she suddenly had a wicked idea. She patted her thigh, indicating that Zhu Yao could sit down directly.
Zhu Yao fell silent.
Straight girl, you're playing with fire!
Zhu Yao quickly looked around and saw a blanket draped over the back of the gaming chair. She walked over, picked up the blanket, and covered Yu Nan's chest with it.
Put on some clothes!
Zhu Yao gritted her teeth and said, "You're not feeling well, and the temperature is low at night. Cover yourself with a blanket so you don't catch a cold."
Yu Nan then realized that her attire was too casual.
She always dressed casually—since she rarely left the house, she didn't have to worry about anyone coming to visit.
Yu Nan never even changes into casual clothes, always staying at home in a bathrobe; occasionally, when Li Yue brings Gu Wanqiu to her house, she's used to her attire.
Tsk, I'm used to being alone at home and having a carefree life, I almost forgot I have a roommate now.
But how can a 27-year-old be so naive?
Or are people born four years ago more conservative?
I only had my collar open a bit, I didn't expose anything—I was much more conservative than the characters in some domestic pay-to-win games.
"Have you ever had a boyfriend?" Yu Nan suddenly asked, as if she had just thought of something.
Zhu Yao was taken aback. "I've never paid for it."
She's been gay since she was little. All the teachers she liked were female, and all the classmates she got along with were female. If there were any male classmates, it was always because their sisters or mothers were very beautiful.
"Never been in a relationship since birth?" Yu Nan squinted and raised an eyebrow at her teasingly.
Zhu Yao thought to herself: Even if I've had girlfriends, I can't tell you!
Moreover, what happened in college wasn't really a "relationship"; I was just being played by a straight girl.
Therefore, Zhu Yao simply remained silent, neither admitting nor denying.
Yu Nan seemed to have discovered something new. She took off the blanket wrapped around herself, pulled Zhu Yao to sit on the beanbag chair next to her, and moved closer to Zhu Yao.
“We’re both women, you have what I have. Are you shy?” Yu Nan stared at Zhu Yao’s face, which was turning visibly red, and said with a smile, “Are you some Southerner who’s never been to a public bathhouse?”
Stereotype! Northerners don't necessarily bathe in public bathhouses!
Zhu Yao shoved Yu Nan away, "Miss Yu, you're so rich, you wouldn't leave your private bathtub in the bedroom unused, would you go to a public bathhouse to investigate local customs?"
Yu Nan was pushed to the other side of the sofa, her face showing an expression that said, "You've missed out on so much," and she shrugged helplessly.
"To correct you, I am not Miss Yu. I have an older brother."
"And, I don't come from a wealthy or noble family, I'm just an ordinary person."
Zhu Yao was slightly speechless. Ordinary people living in such luxurious villas... well, then she must be among the extremely poor.
Yu Nan stopped teasing Zhu Yao. She sat back on the sofa, straightened up, straightened her bathrobe, sealed the collar so that only her neck was exposed, and neatly put her legs together.
I'm not an exhibitionist, and I don't want others to look at my body so casually.
However, Zhu Yao's reaction just now was quite interesting, especially her blushing face, which made her want to tease her.
Even straight women who call everyone "sister" or "brother" can get shy...
Great, next time she shouts at me randomly, I'll tease her like I did today.
"Come on, let's get down to business."
Yu Nan took out her stylus and turned on the tablet.
Zhu Yao glanced at the tablet and saw that it was full of questions written by Yu Nan.