Star Abyss: I Went on a Killing Spree!

"You..."

I was overjoyed and exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"

"Actually, I wanted to ask that same question: What are you doing here?" Lin Qingying still looked surprised.

I coughed and said, "I have a best friend I grew up with, named Fatty. After I came from Jiangning City, I stayed with him. He happens to live in this neighborhood. What about you?"

I live here.

Lin Qingying pointed to the building on the right.

It turns out that she lived in building 13, while Fatty and I lived in building 14, just one entrance to the complex apart!

"What a coincidence!"

"Yes..."

I looked at her and asked with a smile, "Just got off work?"

"Um."

She involuntarily lowered her head, gripped the keys, and said, "Ding Han, do you know? Grandpa Li, Li Xiang, and Grandpa Li also live in this neighborhood. Do you want to go and visit them?"

"Good."

I followed behind her and saw a familiar-looking convenience store. There were still two arcade machines in front of the store, and a chubby little boy was playing Knights of Valour in front of them!

"Li Xiang, look who's here!" Lin Qingying said with a smile.

"Ah?!"

Li Xiang turned around, his body trembling at first, then his eyes filled with tears. He suddenly stood up, rushed over and hugged me, crying, "Brother Ding Han, we all thought something happened to you in Creek City. We thought we'd never see you again..."

"Silly boy!"

I ruffled his chubby head and laughed, "A man doesn't easily shed tears, so hurry up and wipe them away. Besides, you haven't even mastered your Zhuge Liang Ice Sword Infinite Combo, how can I be at ease?"

"Uh-huh!"

Li Xiang quickly wiped away his tears, revealing his gap-toothed smile, and gave a very sunny laugh.

"Hey, isn't this Ding Han?"

Inside the convenience store, Grandpa Li stared in disbelief, then hurriedly shouted, "Old woman, old woman, come out and see! Ding Han is back!"

"Ah?!"

Grandma Li hurriedly came out, grabbing my hand with a joyful expression. "Ding Han, I heard they said you had an accident. It's so good that you're back, so good that you're home..."

For no reason at all, I suddenly felt a pang of sadness, and for some reason, I actually felt the warmth of home here.

Afterwards, I ruffled Li Xiang's hair and said to Lin Qingying, "You haven't eaten yet, have you? I'll treat you to dinner. Do you have any rice noodles here?"

"There is one! There is one!"

Li Xiang raised his hand, eager to try.

"Would you do me the honor?" I asked Lin Qingying.

"Um."

She smiled and nodded gently.

Afterwards, the three of us walked out of the residential area together, and sure enough, there was a rice noodle shop along the street, even bigger than the one in Creek City. I felt that I could still eat a little more, so I ordered a bowl of pickled fish rice noodles.

After eating and drinking his fill, Li Xiang went home with a satisfied burp.

Lin Qingying and I walked side by side in the residential area.

Knowing I had doubts, she explained, "After the localized war in Creek City, Jiangning Province actively accepted refugees in accordance with the policies of higher authorities. Grandpa Li, Grandpa Li, and Li Xiang met the requirements for housing, so these old houses were allocated to them by the Huaining City, which solved their immediate problem."

"I see..."

"Um."

She didn't say much, but when they reached the bottom of Building 13, she finally spoke, "When I left Creek City, I took some of your things with me. Do you want to come up and get them?"

"Good."

So, she went upstairs with Lin Qingying, who took out her key and opened the door to room 401.

As I pushed open the door and entered the living room, I was momentarily dazed. This house was very similar to the one in Creek City, with two bedrooms and a living room. One room faced the sun, and the other was shady. The living room connected to the balcony, and a guitar hung on the wall—the very one that Milo had left me.

"Did you bring your guitar?" I asked.

"Um."

Lin Qingying nodded. "And this too."

She went back to her room and took out a skateboard, the very same Flying Fire Meteor that I had won from Li Xiang.

I asked with a laugh, "Have you been practicing secretly?"

"Without."

Her face was slightly flushed for some reason.

"Oh, right."

Lin Qingying walked to the balcony and picked up a flowerpot containing a cactus. "And this."

"Ah?"

I was shocked. "You brought Zhang Wansen back too?"

"Um."

Lin Qingying said very seriously, "You said back in Creek City that Zhang Wansen was very important to you, so I brought him back to Huaining with me before I left."

"It is indeed very important."

I took the cactus, and then the atmosphere suddenly became awkward. Logically, I should have left after receiving the item, but Lin Qingying didn't try to stop me; there was no reason for me to stay any longer.

"This house..."

I've finally come up with another topic.

"I've already bought it."

Lin Qingying said, "This community is very close to my workplace, and the layout is very similar to the one in Creek City. I'm used to living here, so I bought it."

"So..."

I turned around and saw her white Bentley parked downstairs. Yes, money really can buy you anything.

"Were you looking at the Message Wall in the community just now? Were you looking for an apartment or a job?"

After a full few seconds, just as I was about to feel awkward, she finally spoke again, "If you're looking for a job, I can help you with that."

"I've already found a job."

I looked out the window and said, "I'm currently living with my best friend, Fatty, but I found out he has a girlfriend after starting my new job today. So, I'm worried that I might affect his relationship with his girlfriend, and I'm thinking of moving out. Yes... I was just looking at rental listings."

"Oh."

She simply responded with an "oh," and said nothing more.

I'm leaving now.

I picked up my guitar, skateboard, and cactus, then glanced at the door of the shady room and said, "See you next time."

"Okay, see you next time."

Holding the cactus, I went downstairs.

I went downstairs again to look at the available properties, but unfortunately, they were either too small or inconveniently located, and all too expensive. I couldn't make a decision right away.

There's no other way, I'll just have to squeeze in with the fat guy for now.

Around 10 PM.

The fat man is finally back, beaming with smugness. That womanizing scoundrel!

"Ding Han."

He was carrying a small case of canned beer and some duck necks, and said with a smile, "Want to grab a late-night snack?"

"OK!"

I immediately got up, munching on a duck neck and drinking beer; it felt somewhat comfortable.

"Shen Yue seems like a nice person, you should get along with her."

"Um."

The fat man nodded. "Actually, I know my own situation very well. Although I am handsome, I just can't lose any weight. It's already very difficult for me to have a girl who genuinely likes me."

"Really."

I took a swig of beer. "I'll move out in a while and clear this place out for you and Shen Yue, so you two can have some alone time."

"Damn, what are you talking about!"

The fat man retorted, "Damn it, would I abandon my brother for a woman?"

"One thing at a time."

I smiled knowingly and said, "Sex is the sublimation of love. If you restrain yourself when the passion is intense, it would be against the natural order. Besides, you should think about Shen Yue, even if you don't think about yourself. She's a young woman in the prime of her life, and she must be feeling very repressed."

"Too..."

The fat guy raised his beer and clinked it against mine, then we both broke into shameless grins.

"However, dating is one thing, but don't let it interfere with your work."

I added seriously, "I only have one thing to say: don't neglect your game. Your class is Firepower Specialist, which is an advantageous class in the early to mid-game. You need to keep up with your level, skills, and attributes. I don't care how you date, but if it conflicts with the game, I hope you can prioritize the game. Only when you have enough strength can you protect yourself and your woman."

"Brother, I'll remember that!"

The fat man said seriously, "Xie Xie you for reminding me!"

The two continued drinking.

"Have you got any ideas about going out of town to level up?"

"Anytime is fine."

I checked my character's status; the near-death and critically Severely Injured state had been refreshed, and my attributes had now returned to peak. Only my chest armor and shield were gone; everything else was still there.

"I'll contact my other three teammates in the next few days. Once we've prepared everything, we can leave Huaining City through the Phase Teleportation Array to explore other maps."

"OK!"

The fat man nodded emphatically.

The stars were shining brightly outside, and two grown men were lying in bed.

"Ding Han, there's really no rush to move out. Yueyue doesn't seem to be in a hurry either. The main thing is... we're in the honeymoon phase right now, and if she hasn't said anything, I feel awkward bringing her home!"

"You decide what to do."

I picked up my phone and created a small group chat. Besides Fatty, there was Ruolin, Cai Cai, and Kou Mei, making a perfect five-person team.

"Boss, what's this?" Kou Mei was the first to speak.

"And who is this gentleman?"

Cai Cai tagged Fatty's WeChat.

"He's Chasing Light, nicknamed Fatty, my best friend I grew up with."

I said, "The reason I created this small group is to let everyone know that we can start preparing for going out to level up. I think the 1.0 Dark Tide Origins version is about to end, so everyone should try to reach level 30 and advance to the third-tier class before version 2.0 arrives."

"Can!"

Ruolin said, "In that case, the group name needs to be changed."

"Sure, feel free to use your imagination. The group name isn't that important."

The next moment, messages started popping up in the group chat.

What should I eat? I want a bite too! (The group name has been changed to "Want to eat Chongqing hot pot".)

Ruolin changed the group name to "I'll Explosive Kill everything in the Star Abyss".

Chasing Light changed the group name to "Killing monsters is fine, but safety must come first".

I'm Bad But Can Talk Trash I changed the group name to "Star Abyss's Five Strongest Players".

It seems unlikely that this group will reach a consensus anytime soon.

Just as several people in the group were frantically changing their names, each thinking their chosen group name was brilliant, my phone suddenly beeped. A WeChat message came from Lin Qingying, who was only a hundred meters away from me:

"How about... you move in with me? The other room is currently empty."