Preparation Complete (2)

Good people deserved candy. Good people deserved happiness... But was he still a good person?

Zheng Zha knew he was not a good person. Loli's death had dealt him too devastating a blow. After that, he had almost completely sunk into depravity. A black-and-white life: online games, bars when he was tired, one-night stands, work, rest, high school girls he met online, drugs, deflowering...

He knew he was no longer a good person. When the beam of light he wanted fell upon him, it illuminated nothing but the pus and stench covering his body. He no longer dared to look up at that light. Perhaps darkness suited him better now.

Zheng Zha could not and did not dare imagine how Loli would react when she learned how he had spent these past years. She was so pure, like flawless crystal. All his filth was reflected before her, so clear and distinct that even his darkest, dirtiest places seemed completely exposed.

Zheng Zha had already prepared himself for the worst. Sitting on the sofa, he lit a cigarette and was about to tell Loli everything that had happened over the years in painstaking detail when she suddenly stood up and snorted. "Enough, enough. Hmph, just looking at that lost-soul expression of yours, I can guess what kind of life you've lived these years. I don't want to hear it. I'll only make myself angry if I do."

Loli brought her face close to Zheng Zha's. "Big pervert, listen carefully now. This young lady is back, so from now on, forget all those messy memories in that head of yours. Those women, those other girls, wives—forget every last one of them! Standing before you is Loli. Only Loli, the one and only Loli. Got it?"

As she spoke, the little girl suddenly began to cry. She hugged Zheng Zha tightly and wept, saying, "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry. I didn't keep our promise. We promised we'd grow old together, and then, just like in that song, hold each other as we slowly remembered our childhood. I'd rather forget you and forget those memories than forget that promise... You must have been so sad all these years, right? I was so selfish, leaving you alone to bear everything. I'm sorry... I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

Without saying a word, Zheng Zha hugged her back tightly. The girl's sobbing was the only sound left in the room, lingering for a long, long time. Yet they both knew that after grief had been cried out, what remained was hope. The past was already past. What lay before them was a future of infinite possibilities—and the hope they both wanted to grasp.

Happy times always passed quickly. During the day, Zheng Zha desperately trained in all kinds of survival skills, especially the control and recovery of Internal Force. Then he searched the Main God for items that could be exchanged. At night, he held Loli while they watched Horror Movies... Yes, Horror Movies. Zheng Zha had only just learned that Horror Movies could also be exchanged from the Main God. Any Horror Movie could be obtained, and they were not expensive either. One Reward Point could buy fifty Horror Movies. For people like them who had to experience Horror Movies, becoming familiar with the plot was more important than anything!

As for after watching Horror Movies, Zheng Zha always found some way to carry Loli back into the room. Though the little girl loudly protested every time, in the end she could only obediently let herself be carried inside. What followed was a grueling battle lasting half the night. Fortunately, Internal Force could rapidly restore physical strength, allowing Zheng Zha to get up at seven every morning.

This life continued for nine days. Today was the last day the four of them would spend in this space. After discussing it, they decided not to train today and instead rest properly for the day. At dusk, they would be transported into the next Horror Movie. Before then, they had one final chance to make sure their preparations were complete.

It was past eleven in the morning. Zheng Zha was still lying in bed talking with Loli in his arms. They had both awakened long ago, but after a round of lovemaking, neither of them felt like getting up, so they kept talking until noon.

"...So, you're leaving today?"

Loli lay on Zheng Zha's chest and murmured to herself. Her voice was so soft that even when Zheng Zha listened closely, he could only make out the general meaning.

Zheng Zha's mood was heavy as well. He did not know what the next Horror Movie would bring. Perhaps some kind of virus, perhaps a monster, perhaps a high-tech creature, or perhaps an alien invasion. Once he was sent into a Horror Movie, whether he lived or died was uncertain. So he did not answer. He only tightened his embrace around the beauty in his arms.

"Our promise... No matter what, we have to grow old together. We have to sit together and slowly remember our childhood. You have to hold me and tell me stories. We have to travel in the outside world. You have to take me to see the auroras at the poles, lie on a deck with me and watch the stars over the Pacific Ocean, take me to see the stone statues on Easter Island, stand with me in Pigeon Square and chase great flocks of pigeons, stand beneath the broken walls of ancient Greek buildings and imagine ancient times and those myths... There are so, so many promises. Tell me, you'll definitely come back. You'll definitely complete all these promises with me?"

Loli raised her head and looked seriously into Zheng Zha's eyes. Only after he nodded heavily did she lie back down on his chest.

"...The love between two people is like building a sandcastle on a beach. It accumulates bit by bit, and you must be careful not to let the waves wash it down. It's difficult and tiring, but only after the castle has been completely built do we realize how beautiful it is, and how worth protecting with so very much..."

Zheng Zha had not heard those words in ten years. She had always liked saying them before, then looking at him with a certain expectant gaze. Back then, he had not valued those words all that much. But hearing them again after losing them for ten years sent an enormous shock through him.

"Then... please make sure we finish building the castle. This time, we'll both keep our promise."

Zheng Zha closed his eyes. When he opened them again, there was nothing left in his gaze but incomparable resolve. No matter what, he had to survive. No matter what!

"That's basically it. Everyone carries three grenades, a bottle of hemostatic first-aid spray, a bottle of oral Detoxification Potion, a roll of high-efficiency bandages, and a single-use Malicious Talisman. Hahaha, we really have to thank Zheng Zha. This already costs more than a hundred Reward Points. We really couldn't afford to exchange for all this ourselves."

At the center of the square, Zheng Zha used his remaining thousand Reward Points to exchange for more than a dozen single-use grenades, along with some medicine and high-efficiency bandages. Besides that, he had specifically exchanged for several single-use Malicious Talismans. Their effect was to burn in advance as a warning when evil spirits attacked. Before the talismans finished burning, evil spirits could not harm their holders.

Zheng Zha smiled bitterly as he checked his remaining Reward Points. He had originally had 6,502 Reward Points, but only 276 remained now. It pained him greatly, but when he looked at all the supplementary items in his Storage Ring, he felt somewhat better.

Zhang Jie finished organizing his belongings, then put them all into the inner pockets of his clothes. He said, "Although we only had a few days, we've basically trained everything we needed to train. In any case, remember this when we enter Horror Movies: anything can happen. We have no safety guarantee whatsoever, so we must be careful—extremely careful. And... help the other teammates whenever possible, but if someone endangers the safety of the whole team, kill him!"

Zhan Lan and Li Xiaoyi were clearly still hesitant. Only Zheng Zha nodded silently. Then he asked, "How do we enter Horror Movies? Do we just suddenly disappear again?"

Zhang Jie shook his head. "No. When the time comes, the Main God will cast down twenty pillars of light. You just need to find one and stand inside it. It's roughly the same every time we enter a Horror Movie."

As the four talked, they all sat directly on the floor of the square. One strange thing was that Loli and the other two girls were unwilling to come out to see them off. Perhaps girls worried about their lovers in exactly the same way. They simply did not dare come to say goodbye. This kind of parting was far too heartbreaking.

About ten minutes later, the glowing sphere of the Main God above the square became increasingly dazzling. Its intense radiance grew hot and brilliant like the sun. Then twenty pillars of light shot down from it and appeared across the square, and all four heard the same voice in their minds.

"Enter the pillars of light within thirty seconds. Transfer target locked. Alien One transmission commencing..."