I'm Done Playing

Someone stepped in front of Chen Ming. Without hesitation, he barreled into the person blocking his way and knocked him down.

"Ah! Watch where you're going, kid! Can't you see me?"

The man who'd been knocked down flew into a rage. He got to his feet, grabbed Chen Ming by the collar, and shouted furiously. Chen Ming abruptly reached out and pried his hand off.

"Ah! That hurts, that hurts!"

The man let out one pained cry after another as Chen Ming gripped his hand. The Golden Dragon King's strength was nothing to scoff at.

"If my eyes are the problem, then your brain must be, too. There's a whole plaza, but you just had to stand in front of me and get yourself hit. You wouldn't happen to have a masochistic streak, would you?"

Chen Ming wasn't about to be polite to someone who'd inexplicably come looking for trouble. If he didn't show some strength, people would think he was an easy target.

"That hurts! Let go!"

The man kept howling as Chen Ming held on to him, and the commotion drew a crowd of onlookers.

"You bastard! You dare bully someone from Class One? You're dead!"

Just then, a boy from Class One summoned his Martial Soul. It was a purple long saber, and a Yellow Soul Ring encircled him. He swung it straight at Chen Ming.

"Don't you dare hurt my brother!"

Blue light flashed as Lei Yuan used Martial Soul Possession and kicked away the attacker. At the same time, their other two roommates hurried to Chen Ming's side.

Chen Ming and his three roommates faced off against seven or eight students from Class One. The other side had more people, but it wouldn't be good if they attracted a teacher's attention.

"Boy, you've got some nerve, going after a girl from Class One!"

"Know what's good for you and get lost! Otherwise, we'll make you!"

As things got more and more heated, they could only resort to a few threats. If they actually started fighting, the whole situation would take a different turn.

"First, Lan Mengqin, Dong Qianqiu, and I are just friends. There's nothing between us."

"Second, who do you useless idiots think you are? You think you can threaten me?"

Chen Ming spoke sharply and fearlessly, even in the face of everyone from Class One. His words stunned his roommates and enraged the students from Class One.

"You're asking for it!"

The students from Class One immediately used Martial Soul Possession and rushed at him, apparently having lost their reason.

"Old Chen, watch out!"

"Don't worry. They're a bunch of useless idiots."

Huo Tian called out a warning, but Chen Ming remained completely calm. He pulled out a Level Three Weakness Potion that lasted ten minutes, then kicked the Class One student he was holding straight at the others and tossed the potion after him.

The man flew into the crowd and knocked three or four of them down. The potion shattered at the same time, splashing everywhere.

In an instant, everyone from Class One felt their strength drain away and collapsed to the ground. The sight left the crowd stunned. What was going on?

"Trash belongs in the trash can. You can't even take one hit from me. What a bunch of losers."

Chen Ming strolled over and planted his foot on the face of the Freshman Class One boy who'd been shouting the loudest.

The students from Class One who'd been knocked out by the potion were so weak they couldn't even speak. Just breathing was almost too much for them.

"I'll say this one last time: they're just friends I recently met. There's nothing else between us. If you blind fools come looking for trouble again for no reason, I have ten thousand ways to make you regret it."

After Chen Ming finished speaking, he turned to leave. As he passed his roommates, he called out casually.

"Let's go."

"Oh, right."

"Coming, coming!"

"Holy crap, Old Chen, you were so damn cool! I think I'm about to fall in love with you."

"Get lost!"

Chen Ming and the others walked away, chatting and laughing. Meanwhile, the students from Class One were carried to the infirmary. The final diagnosis was exhaustion.

The school doctor who gave them the diagnosis looked like he wanted to say something. He glanced at the boys lying in their beds. Were they already doing that at such a young age? And in a group, too?

Elsewhere, Chen Ming and the others returned to their dorm. His roommates were still marveling at how cool he'd looked.

"Old Chen, how'd you do that?"

"Yeah, you took out all those Class One guys in one move."

"It's just an ability of my Martial Soul. Nothing special."

Chen Ming waved it off, saying it was no big deal. His roommates didn't press him for details. Later that night, he used blocks to screen off his bed, then entered My World.

As soon as he released Di Qiu'er, he saw her lying there, bored, scrolling through videos on her phone. The moment she realized she'd been let out, she started complaining.

"You finally remembered me?! I was so bored I could've died!"

"Here. These are egg yolk pastries I made just for you."

The little Auspicious Beast was still unhappy, but all it took was food to cheer her up. At Chen Ming's words, Di Qiu'er's expression changed instantly. She took the plate of pastries, and her tone did a complete about-face.

"Since you've apologized so sincerely, this Auspicious Beast will magnanimously forgive you."

As she spoke, she picked up an egg yolk pastry and started eating. All her resentment over being left in the Pokeball vanished.

"I'm going to take a shower. You can do whatever you like. If you get hungry, there's food in the fridge. Help yourself."

Chen Ming waved and headed toward the bathroom in the bedroom. Di Qiu'er nodded, scrambled off the bed, and eagerly scampered over to the fridge.

Before long, they'd both finished showering. Di Qiu'er lay on the bed, scrolling through videos while eating pastries.

Chen Ming sat nearby opening loot chests. He'd collected four so far, mostly because he'd been grinding mobs a lot recently.

He had about a stack of Four-leaf Clovers, though.

"Let's open some!"

Chen Ming selected a Four-leaf Clover and started opening the mystery boxes. The first gave him a leaf block, the second a piece of quartz, and the third a piece of coal.

He frowned. How could he be this unlucky? He was already halfway through, and all he'd gotten was junk. Was his luck really that bad?

Speaking of luck... he immediately turned to look at the shut-in, Di Qiu'er. She was watching videos and laughing to herself.

"Quit laughing. Help me open one of these."

Chen Ming climbed onto the bed, grabbed Di Qiu'er's hand, and put a Four-leaf Clover in it.

"Hm? A Four-leaf Clover mystery box? Let me see..."

Di Qiu'er focused, and an iron block appeared in her hand. Chen Ming fell silent for a moment, then opened another Four-leaf Clover. A piece of Rotten Flesh appeared in his hand.

Di Qiu'er opened another Four-leaf Clover, and a gold block appeared. Chen Ming opened one, too. It was a clock. His face instantly flushed red with fury.

This time, Di Qiu'er held a Four-leaf Clover in each hand. With a single thought, a diamond block and a Netherite block appeared.

Chen Ming looked at the glass in his hand, then slammed the Four-leaf Clover to the floor and shouted:

"I'm done playing! You play by yourself!"

[Chen Ming left the game]

"Hehe, someone's having a meltdown. I won't say who."

Di Qiu'er picked up the Four-leaf Clovers. She had about ten left, so she decided to open them.

An Enchanting Table, a bookshelf, a lapis lazuli block, a case of cola, a case of Sprite, a case of orange juice, a case of potato chips, a case of wafer cookies, a box of candy, and a case of Golden Cream Fruit.

"Whoa! You can actually get snacks from these! Who said Four-leaf Clovers were no good? They're amazing!"

Delighted, Di Qiu'er put several cases of snacks into her Inventory. She'd been craving snacks from Chen Ming's world for ages.

[Chen Ming joined the game]

PS: Fifth update for February 24, bringing the total to 10,000 words.

PS: I signed a contract today, so here's another update.