Territory Awareness

On the Rooftop, after Li Nian slammed the Rooftop door shut, she looked at Lin Yu, who was now acting as "Zhu Ming".

Since experiencing the train Instance together, Li Nian, though not explicitly saying so, had already regarded "Zhu Ming" as one of her own and a friend.

Therefore, Lin Yu had not seen Li Nian show this kind of attitude towards him for a long time—warn, cautious, and defensive.

"What do you want by coming directly to my school?"

Li Nian, like an animal whose territory had been invaded, asked Lin Yu with great vigilance.

Lin Yu, on the other hand, looked quite relaxed.

"Didn't you say you were busy with finals? So I came to your school in person to collect my payment, saving you the trouble of making a trip and wasting your precious study time."

Lin Yu explained.

Li Nian didn't doubt this explanation, after all, Lin Yu's "Zhu Ming" persona did indeed seem like he would do such a thing.

However, believing that Zhu Ming had no ill intentions does not mean that Li Nian has let go of her grudges at this moment.

"Didn't I tell you to wait for my news...? Why did you come to my school?!"

Li Nian's voice already carried a hint of displeasure.

Lin Yu raised an eyebrow. "I've been to your house before, and there weren't any problems."

Li Nian immediately said, "Then you can't sneak into my house either—don't do it again!"

"Besides, my family is usually home alone, so it might not be a problem... but the school is a crowded and noisy place. What if someone sees me there!"

Her explanation was somewhat contradictory, and to Lin Yu it sounded even weaker.

Of course... Lin Yu had already figured out why the little girl's attitude was so strange before Li Nian explained.

Lin Yu had already asked a question he knew the answer to when he mentioned that he had broken into her house before.

"It seems Li Nian actually identifies more with the school..."

Lin Yu thought to himself.

Lin Yu noticed that a significant number of Player, after being drawn into the "Death game," tend to strictly distinguish and draw a clear line between "real life" and "Game," and even separate their own identities—this separation is much clearer than the usual separation between "work" and "life," or "online" and "offline."

After all, for most people, the "Death game" is an extremely high-pressure environment that is unimaginable in their past lives. Every week, they have to go to another bizarre world and bear the burden of "dying if they fail" to Game, while they may have just been ordinary office workers or students before.

Furthermore, those chosen to enter the "Death game" all share the characteristic of "exceptionally not wanting to die," making the pressure of "dying" an exceptionally heavy burden for this group...

Therefore, as a self- Protection Mechanism from a psychological health perspective, many Player choose to completely separate everything related to "Game" from their "real life."

They will join "organizations" and attend offline "gatherings," but they will be very careful about their privacy...

The vast majority of Player will not reveal their true identities within the Player community, and even if they become friends with other Player, they rarely have gatherings or meals together.

On the one hand, it's for security reasons, similar to the "dark Law of the Jungle," since the fact that "Heavenly Artisan" Chen Zhitie was killed after Lin Yu discovered his identity is a good example.

However, many Player do this... not only for safety reasons, but also because they are consciously creating "segments".

In fact, if Player happen to encounter other Player in real life, it could escalate into a situation where they harm each other—the game "Order" records many such cases.

Lin Yu originally thought that Li Nian was not this type of Player, after all, he had gone to Li Nian's house and the girl did not have any stress response.

But now it seems...

"For Li Nian, home is not an inviolable part of her 'real life,' but school does fall into that category."

This can be seen from the fact that the atmosphere at her school was completely different from what Lin Yu had seen before.

At home, Li Nian still resembles "A Nian" from "Death game" and "Master Thief" from "Freedom Alliance".

But at school... Lin Yu almost didn't recognize her.

Just this discovery alone made Lin Yu feel... this trip was worthwhile!

"You have a real talent for psychological analysis. Why don't you consider joining the 'Psychology Society' and giving it a try?" Old Zheng replied, while also giving Li Nian a more professional definition. "This girl seems to be the type whose parents are both absent... Let me guess, she's probably the type whose parents are both highly educated and who are often away from home, neglecting her care but also frequently disciplining her strictly, right?"

Upon hearing Old Zheng's words, Lin Yu gave an affirmative answer.

"From my observation, it's pretty much the same."

Upon hearing Lin Yu's approval, Old Zheng immediately egged him on, saying, "Oh, so this is your forte, caring for loveless girls and all that. I think you did a pretty good job at the City That Never Sleeps..."

Lin Yu listened to Old Zheng's teasing with a sense of helplessness.

Recently, Old Zheng and I have become increasingly familiar with each other, which is a good thing—although Old Zheng is just my Summoned Creature, it's easy to see that there are many benefits to building a good relationship with this former Psychology Society ".

However, Lin Yu discovered that after getting to know Old Zheng better, he sometimes spoke in a rather abstract way.

Coupled with his superb psychological skills, his words, while abstract, could also precisely strike at Lin Yu's sore spots—not the excruciating pain of a breakdown, but rather an uncomfortable, lingering ache.

It's like a slightly pungent orange; you can swallow it, it's harmless, but it's still very unpleasant.

Fortunately, Lin Yu also had his own solution.

"Don't open your mouth unless I ask, or I'll slap you."

In just one sentence, physics declared a resounding victory over psychology.

Then, sensing that Old Zheng had shut up, Lin Yu turned his attention back to Li Nian in front of him.

"Okay, you seem really bothered by me coming to the school to see you—sorry, I was being presumptuous this time, this won't happen again."

In this situation, the best approach is, of course, to...

I sincerely apologize!

After saying this, Lin Yu walked past Li Nian and headed towards the entrance to the Rooftop.

"I'm leaving now, A Nian. Just message me when you have time."

"You decide the location."

Lin Yu said calmly, reaching for the doorknob on the Rooftop while silently counting in his mind.

"One, two..."

Before he could even count to three, Lin Yu heard the expected voice coming from behind him.

"Etc."

Li Nian sighed and spoke.

Lin Yu turned around and looked at Li Nian, who was scratching her hair. She sighed helplessly and spoke.

"Never mind, you're here anyway..."

"Since you're already here... right?"