The Lonely Rose

When Wei Zitong woke up again, he was already in the real world, surrounded by a group of people – all his companions from the Xiong Bing Lian, along with Jace, Ryze the Wanderer, and Miss.

His first words upon waking were, "Did everyone pass?"

Du Qiangwei's eyes were red-rimmed, Lena's expression was grim, and Rui Mengmeng was sobbing uncontrollably. The others were all sighing.

Seeing this, Wei Zitong's heart sank by half.

As expected, after Ryze the Wanderer sighed and bid Miss farewell, Jace said with a stern face, "Because of Wei Zitong's death, all regions have been reset. We'll continue tomorrow!"

"Damn it, this is unfair!" Zhao Xin quickly stood up and yelled, "I worked so hard to defeat Zhao Zilong!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Liu Chuang also stood up and protested loudly, "We weren't even on the same team as Zitong?"

"You want fairness?" Jace's expression immediately turned ugly, and he roared, "Do you still remember what a soldier's mission is?"

"To obey orders!" Du Qiangwei answered loudly, her eyes red-rimmed. She was the only one who answered.

"Right!" Jace didn't care how many people answered and continued to roar, "My order is that if you didn't pass, no one passes! Look at yourselves, what are you guys like? If you hadn't insisted on individual duels and had just pushed through as a team, which map could have stopped you?"

He scanned the heads bowed low and continued to roar, "None! You lack a collective consciousness, you lack unity! This is the army! Not a competition arena! Here, the goal is to achieve objectives with the highest efficiency! Not for you to play around or duel!"

He then looked at Du Qiangwei and said, "And you, Du Qiangwei! Do you think you're so great just because you come from a military family? Do you look down on your comrades because your gene development is higher than theirs? Look at yourself now. Everyone else passed, but you didn't. Do you understand?"

"I understand!" Du Qiangwei shouted tremblingly, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.

"So then..." Jace stared intently at their faces, which were filled with shame, and continued to scold loudly, "So you want fairness? I'm telling you, my words are orders! They are fairness! Do you understand?"

"We understand..." everyone replied dejectedly.

"Louder!" Jace was furious at their listless tone and bellowed, "Do you understand?"

"We understand!" everyone roared in unison.

"Very good!" Jace nodded, his tone softening. He waved his hand and said, "Everyone is tired today. Go back and rest."

After Jace left, the others also dispersed. As they were leaving the Virtual Reality Arena, Du Qiangwei called out to Wei Zitong.

"Walk with me," Du Qiangwei said softly.

Wei Zitong hesitated slightly, as Ge Xiaolun was staring at him eagerly, his eyes clearly conveying: Refuse! Refuse quickly!

Ge Xiaolun was already feeling dejected because he hadn't been the one to take the damage for Du Qiangwei. Now, seeing Du Qiangwei wanting to walk with Wei Zitong alone, he felt completely lost and empty inside.

Lena was more direct. She hooked her arm through Wei Zitong's and announced loudly, "He's this goddess's white horse. Did you get this goddess's permission to walk with him alone?" She stared intently at Du Qiangwei, her challenge evident!

"Uh, Qiangwei, how about I walk with you..." Ge Xiaolun finally mustered up the courage, but his words were cut short by Du Qiangwei's icy gaze.

"Hey, let's go, Xiaolun..." Zhao Xin put an arm around Ge Xiaolun's shoulders and patted him, about to drag him away. But Ge Xiaolun's feet seemed rooted to the ground, unmoving!

"Let's go, Xiaolun!" Zhao Xin said with more emphasis when he couldn't budge Ge Xiaolun.

"I'm not going!" Ge Xiaolun growled hoarsely.

"What the hell are you staying here for?" Zhao Xin, for some reason, felt indignant at Ge Xiaolun's personality and situation. He said sternly, "To be a third wheel or to eat dog food? What good does this do you? Do you know you're a coward? If you've got the guts, then confess to her!"

Everyone watching this scene had complex expressions, and no one spoke.

"Okay!" Ge Xiaolun growled hoarsely again, then turned to look at Du Qiangwei. But the moment their eyes met, his hard-won courage vanished instantly. He fidgeted with his hands and mumbled, "So, uh, Qiangwei, can I fight alongside you?"

Seeing Ge Xiaolun like this, Zhao Xin couldn't help but cover his forehead and darted far away, deciding to distance himself from this idiot for a while to avoid catching his foolishness.

"You can when we need to fight side-by-side," Du Qiangwei said indifferently.

Ge Xiaolun was overjoyed, feeling like he had taken a crucial step. He continued to ask, "Then when we're not fighting, can we..."

"You want to sleep together, don't you?" Du Qiangwei interrupted him unceremoniously.

"No, no, it's not like that..." Ge Xiaolun was startled and waved his hands repeatedly.

"If you don't even want to sleep together, then what are you making all this fuss for?" Du Qiangwei interrupted him again.

"I do, I do..." Ge Xiaolun regretted it immensely and quickly added.

"That's enough! Go back and rest!" Du Qiangwei said, "This is purely a pointless effort!" Without paying any attention to the flustered Ge Xiaolun, she walked alone towards the dormitory building.

"Qiangwei, I, I, you, wait for me..." Ge Xiaolun stammered as he walked forward, wanting to catch up to Du Qiangwei, but he was stopped by her sharp reprimand.

"Don't follow me!" Du Qiangwei turned around coldly, a hint of killing intent unconsciously appearing in her eyes!

Everyone was stunned by Du Qiangwei's sudden change in demeanor. Even the usually fearless Lena was momentarily shaken by the invisible, biting chill in the air!

"Qiangwei!" Wei Zitong took a step forward, trying to call out to the receding, graceful figure.

"You should go accompany your goddess. Why are you calling me?" The figure didn't turn back but responded emotionlessly.

Wei Zitong closed his eyes in pain. Ignoring Lena's expectant gaze, he also left alone, though his direction was slightly different from Du Qiangwei's – he was heading back to the male dormitories.

"Let's go, let's go!" After witnessing this scene, everyone's mood was somewhat subdued. The usual laughter and chatter were gone. Even Liu Chuang only called out a couple of times before jogging to catch up with Wei Zitong.

"Hey, you guys, white horse..." Lena was a bit anxious, stamping her feet in frustration. She completely failed to understand the development of events and had no idea why things had turned out this way.

Qilin and Rui Mengmeng were equally confused. After watching everyone's reactions for a while, they pulled Lena, who was continuously cursing "stinky horse, dead horse," towards the girls' dormitory area.

Du Qiangwei didn't return to her dorm. Instead, she went to the rooftop where she often trained. Leaning against the edge of the roof, she hugged her knees and sobbed softly.

She wouldn't curse like Lena, calling him "stinky horse, dead horse." She just wanted to silently endure this pain, to savor this bitterness...

But…

It was so bitter, she could barely swallow…

Soldier, warrior, lonely—she kept repeating these three words.

Lover, beloved, man—she kept savoring these three words.

The night wind blew, scattering her long brown hair. The tips, slightly damp, brushed against her cheek. She suddenly realized her arms, knees, and cheeks felt cool and clammy. She must have cried a lot, she thought with self-mockery. What a weakling!

Gazing at the starry night sky, she softly began to sing a song. Her voice was mournful and lonely, yet it struck a deep chord…

"Dark, dark the sky hangs low, bright, bright the stars follow, little bugs fly, little bugs fly, who are you missing…"

"Stars in the sky shed tears, roses on the ground wither, cold wind blows, cold wind blows, as long as you are with me…"

"…"