A knock at the door from outside interrupted the trio’s reunion.
Sun Jingqiu seemed somewhat content with their life inside and didn’t ask about what was happening outside or what was going on.
Perhaps since the birth of the instance, she had always remained there. Everything related to the past and the director had been the “setting” the instance provided her; she had never personally experienced it.
Also, Xiao Ling couldn’t be considered her biological daughter, as both were creations of the instance.
But it didn’t matter; wherever people felt safe and comfortable was home.
Gu Zhan bid them farewell and returned to his room.
Indeed, someone was knocking at the door; he thought it was his delivery arriving.
When the door opened, an unexpected person was standing outside.
It was Yu Yezhou, someone he had met once before.
The man wore a sly smile and said, “I finally found you! So you really live here.”
Gu Zhan: “…”
This fox-like smile reminded him of Miyamoto Satoshi, who had just completed a dungeon… He quickly shut the door again, pretending he hadn’t seen him.
Yu Yezhou: “…”
Why so cold?!
He had inquired for a long time in Area A and finally learned from the restaurant owner downstairs that Gu Zhan lived here. He had bribed the guards at the entrance with a lot of money to find out the room number!
But within two seconds, Gu Zhan opened the door again.
Yu Yezhou smiled again, thinking that Gu Zhan wouldn’t leave him out in the cold!
However, Gu Zhan's gaze moved past him, looking behind him, and he said, “Move aside.”
Yu Yezhou turned around and found a pure white guard standing behind him, holding a large package.
He asked familiarly, “Did you order something?”
Gu Zhan predictably didn’t answer and instead focused on signing for the package, preparing to shut the door again.
“Hey, hey, hey! Don’t close the door!” Yu Yezhou had finally made his way here; he couldn’t let Gu Zhan shut him out. He squeezed and pushed his way inside.
Gu Zhan had no choice but to let him in.
His expression was neutral, not revealing whether he was happy or unhappy, and he asked indifferently, “What do you want?”
Yu Yezhou chuckled, “Just making friends! Are you cooking? I can help you out.”
Since he couldn’t be driven away, Gu Zhan gave in: “Whatever, just take off your shoes at the door.”
Only then did Yu Yezhou finally step inside.
Gu Zhan's home surprised him. He had thought that someone as taciturn and uninterested in socializing as Gu Zhan would have a cold, sterile home, like a model apartment.
However, to his surprise, the room was decorated with several small items. Even the leftover sweet potato tops from last time were being grown in a cup, the vines trailing long, with a string specially hung for them to climb.
Yu Yezhou exclaimed, “You must have just moved in, right?”
“Yeah.” Gu Zhan knew that Yu Yezhou had probably seen his livestream to find him.
This place had everything good, except for the forced livestreaming of dungeons, which left no privacy. He didn’t hide this and said straightforwardly, “I’ve only cleared two dungeons.”
Seeing his calm demeanor in the dungeons and hearing that he had only cleared two, Yu Yezhou was astonished. Then he thought, if he had only been here for two dungeons, that meant he had been living here for at most half a month… Half a month… Could someone really set up a home like this in that time?
Gu Zhan ignored him and let him sit in the living room while he opened the box that had just been delivered, taking out the items one by one and placing them on the floor.
Seeing him setting things up like a stall, Yu Yezhou couldn’t help but say, “Life here is very convenient; you can buy what you need right away, no need to stockpile so much.”
You could order daily supplies and have them delivered within ten minutes after waking up in the morning.
Since it was the pure white guards doing the work, no one minded the workload.
Gu Zhan, however, replied, “I enjoy it.”
Yu Yezhou showed an expression of surprise, unable to imagine that “I enjoy it” would come out of Gu Zhan’s mouth.
After Gu Zhan finished counting the items in the box, he picked them up one by one and headed to the kitchen to cook.
Seeing him actually starting to cook, Yu Yezhou was surprised that this person was acting as if he didn’t exist.
But that was fine; he could take advantage of it and grab a meal.
Half an hour later, Gu Zhan came out holding a bowl of plain noodles he had made for himself.
Yu Yezhou looked at him in disbelief.
He could really leave a living person in his house and only make himself a bowl of noodles!
Although Gu Zhan had already made it clear that he didn’t want to find teammates, Yu Yezhou had worked hard to come here, so he wouldn’t give up because of this little hurdle. He insisted on sitting on the sofa and chatting with Gu Zhan.
“Everyone is guessing about your talent; is it related to your sanity value? Do you know anything about it?”
“Why?” Gu Zhan asked, genuinely intrigued.
Talent related to the sanity value was worth such attention?
Yu Yezhou made an exaggerated expression: “You really don’t know? If you open the store, there’s a small icon in the upper right corner, and it leads to a forum.”
Gu Zhan followed his instructions to open the store and indeed saw a forum in the corner.
He clicked in, and various random titles filled his view.
【Hot~ The strongest dungeon has been released? It’s said that even the top of the leaderboard stumbled! Those who have seen it say it’s terrifying!】
【New dungeon difficulty exceeds standards; players entering have no survivors!】
【Record post: When can we buy that escape scroll?!】
【Hot~ Come in to share how everyone was tricked into this app!】
Gu Zhan opened the first one, but the comments were all over the place, with no focus whatsoever.
Seeing his expression, Yu Yezhou laughed, “No need to read this; discussing dungeon content is prohibited in the game, so there won’t be anything useful. You might as well check the leaderboard.”
Gu Zhan browsed through the top title bar and soon saw the leaderboard.
He clicked in, and a list of names appeared before him.
First place: Jue.
Talent apparently increases sanity value limit; when the sanity value exceeds the normal level, it will increase corresponding physical points.
Second place: …
…
Gu Zhan asked, “Is talent related to sanity value very rare?”
Yu Yezhou replied, “Of course! The most important thing in this game is the sanity value. Injuries from dungeons can be recovered after you come out, but if your sanity value reaches zero, you’ll become a monster, and you’ll never be able to leave the dungeon! Even if you don’t die, it’s the same as being dead.”
Gu Zhan continued scrolling down, seeing various talents that were all different, with some even unclear, simply labeled “Unknown.”
He then asked, “How does the leaderboard know about other people's talents?”
Yu Yezhou said, "The dungeon will be live-streamed, so using it will expose us. But it's all just guesses; there's no official evidence for this leaderboard—it's all created by the players."
Upon hearing this, Gu Zhan understood.
As a game hub where players could settle down, Chun Bai Cheng had a more complete ecosystem than Gu Zhan had imagined.
Gu Zhan asked, "You came to find me because you think my talent is related to my sanity points?"
Yu Yezhou smiled and replied, "Don’t say it like that. Your talent was only speculated after this dungeon, but I came to you earlier, purely because I found you likable and wanted to invite you to join our team. Is that wrong?"
Gu Zhan replied indifferently, "Your team doesn’t have many members, right?"
"..." Caught out, Yu Yezhou's face stiffened for a moment, then quickly turned dejected. "Why say it like that?"
Gu Zhan said, "You personally came to recruit me, which indicates you have a certain authority in the team. I’ve already declined your invitation, and you still insisted on coming over, which only shows that your team has no newcomers."
Yu Yezhou was silent for a long time.
Finally, he laughed and said, "You’ve figured me out so well; why don’t we have a chat?"
Gu Zhan remained silent, eating his noodles, but Yu Yezhou felt that his attitude seemed to soften a little.
So he pressed on, "I can tell you really enjoy the feeling in the dungeon, but some dungeons still require teammates, allowing you to explore more side quests. Besides, having friends can lead to more experiences, right? With teammates, your chances of survival will increase."
"You’re here alone, and you don’t know anyone. Life can be lonely. Even going out for a meal together would be more lively with someone to accompany you. We actually have a few people in our team; maybe you’d get along with them."
"No need for that." Gu Zhan finished eating, put down his chopsticks, and said blandly, "I don't have a need for socializing."
"…Don’t put it so harshly," Yu Yezhou said softly.
Gu Zhan replied, "But what you said makes sense. Knowing some people does have its advantages. Where are the other members of your team? Maybe I can meet them."
Yu Yezhou was surprised that Gu Zhan had agreed so quickly. "Great! Shall we go now?"
"No." Gu Zhan said, "I’ll go after I clean up the bowls and chopsticks."
---
On the way, during casual conversation, Gu Zhan learned that Yu Yezhou also lived in District A Hive, and most of his team members were from District A.
"Chun Bai Cheng is huge. It takes over an hour to drive from District A to the nearest district. When everyone comes out of the dungeon, every minute is precious, so they usually don’t go far."
"But some large guilds have teleportation devices and don’t care where their members are from... You won’t join a large guild, will you? They have a lot of rules, and you definitely won’t adapt."
Gu Zhan hadn’t originally thought about joining a large guild.
But after Yu Yezhou said that, he instead asked, "Will the large guilds poach your members?"
Yu Yezhou replied, "Of course, since they’re large guilds, the benefits are better..."
He stopped suddenly, realizing he had said too much.
What if Gu Zhan also thought that the large guild's benefits were good and changed his mind?
When Gu Zhan first met Yu Yezhou, he thought his behavior was overly polished, which he didn’t like. He didn't appreciate the type of personality that thrived in crowds.
Only "normal" people could receive the welcome of more "normal people." He was on the opposite end of the spectrum, making it hard for him to gain the favor of such people.
But now it seemed that even "normal" had subtle classifications.
People were ultimately different. Gu Zhan's elusive concept of "normal" seemed to be breaking down into something more specific and vivid.
When "that type of person who mingles effortlessly in crowds" suddenly became someone specific, he didn't find it so annoying anymore.
Gu Zhan didn't respond, and Yu Yezhou smartly didn’t continue the conversation.
Soon, they arrived at the bar where Gu Zhan had sat the other day.
Gu Zhan was surprised. "Why are we coming here?"
The bar was nearly empty during the day. Yu Yezhou led him inside and said, "The team needs a place to settle, right? Since we didn’t register a guild, we’ve rented a private room here permanently; we just show up here."
"So I said... you don’t have to worry about causing too much trouble for yourself." Yu Yezhou took him upstairs and stopped outside a door. "Without a guild, you can come and go as you please—it's very free."
As he spoke, he pushed the door open.
Though it was called a private room, the space inside was quite large.
Chun Bai Cheng seemed to lack neither resources nor space. The points spent here were surely for the highest quality goods and services.
The outermost part of the room was empty, with an exquisite carpet laid on the floor, adorned with patterns Gu Zhan didn’t understand. Inside was a partitioned area with a large conference table that could seat over ten people.
Next to the conference table was a whiteboard with some messy notes remaining.
Gu Zhan glanced over and saw that it was about naming the team.
Among the names, "Invincible Hero Dungeon Clearing Team" and "Chun Bai Cheng Strongest Player" were the top choices that made him feel dizzy.
Gu Zhan asked, "Have you decided on the name for your team?"
Yu Yezhou picked up a chair that was blocking his way and said, "Not yet. They couldn’t agree and almost got into a fight. They decided to discuss it again in a few days."
"That’s good." Gu Zhan sighed in relief.
"Huh?" Yu Yezhou turned back, confused. "What’s wrong?"
"Nothing." If they had decided on a name, he would have to consider backing out.
Behind the chair, there was a small door. Yu Yezhou opened it, revealing a small room.
Compared to the large conference room outside, this small room felt much cozier.
It had a sofa, a single bed, a bookshelf, a rack full of snacks, and a beanbag on the floor.
There was also someone sitting on the sofa.
“Yang Lin? You’re here.” Yu Yezhou greeted the person, “Why aren’t you coming out? What are you hiding in there for?”
Yang Lin’s gaze fell on Gu Zhan, surprised. “You really brought him here?”
The young woman looked very youthful, with a curvy figure and striking features. She wore a black-and-white long dress, got up, and walked around Gu Zhan twice. With a smile, she came to Yu Yezhou's side, patted his shoulder, and said, “It’s not easy, huh?”
“He hasn’t agreed yet; he just came to take a look,” Yu Yezhou casually picked up a book that was lying on the ground and turned to Gu Zhan. “We currently have five members in our team: me, Yang Lin, and three others who haven’t arrived yet. Two of them are in a dungeon... I’ll introduce them to you another day.”
After saying that, he turned to Yang Lin and said, “Send a message to Xu Yu, tell him to come over.”
Before Yang Lin could move, Gu Zhan interjected, “No, it’s fine. I just came to take a look; there’s no need to disturb everyone.”
Yang Lin made a teasing expression, indicating that it seemed like they hadn't completely won him over yet.
Unable to hold back, Yu Yezhou playfully nudged her. This whole situation, which was originally quite normal, was becoming awkward because of her antics.
Yang Lin was just joking; she had a good sense of boundaries and quickly collected herself, turning to Gu Zhan and saying, “Would you like something to drink? I’ll go prepare it.”
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