Real Game

Lu Mingfei had no idea how long Uncle would need to soothe Aunt after she flew into a rage and started hurling insults.

Luckily, he had pulled back that punch yesterday and hadn't hit her. Otherwise, of the three living members left in the Lu family, two might have been at the police station arranging to have their household registrations canceled.

The second semester of senior year was nearly over... Unlike the previous year and a half, over these past six months, he had leveled up enough in his dreams and picked up enough equipment to clear entire maps solo.

Thinking of that, Lu Mingfei lay facedown on his faintly lit desk, reached out to pull the window shut until only a narrow gap remained for the summer breeze, and watched the wind chimes beneath the third-floor eaves sway softly.

Outside the window, warning banners trimmed in gold and red hung between the alumni statues of the private aristocratic high school, rippling with their folds.

Of course, those words hadn't been left behind by any famous alumni. The gaps between the statues were simply too large, so the director of logistics had to stick something there for appearances, making it seem like, "This gap was deliberately left by yours truly out of great foresight, definitely not because I wanted to pocket the statue-buying budget."

A poorly hung banner, put up with corners cut between the statues, had curled up, its lines of text fluttering in the wind.

"Don't skip class during the best years of your life. Pick up the books of your dreams."

"Become addicted to online games, and you'll miss out on a precious life."

"No matter how powerful you are in games, it's all fake."

Lu Mingfei, who spent every day killing Deadpools until he had dark circles under his eyes, pursed his lips. Campus life was like an oasis in a mirage—seemingly close, yet somehow forever beyond his reach.

It was such a strange, painful feeling. He wanted to unlock the door and escape, yet he couldn't bear to leave. You never knew what was outside, but once you pushed open a door, it felt as though everything inside no longer belonged to you.

"Still, that reminds me of something."

He muttered to himself as his body rose on its own.

"It's been ages since I skipped class to play StarCraft."

Doing what you wanted was the first step toward breaking free from all that inner conflict and hesitation.

Some cold-faced bitch had told him that in a dream. Back then, the four of them had been trapped in an elevator at Genji Heavy Industries, all on the verge of death, huddled together like dying fish.

As the cold-faced bitch said it, Blondie had been half-dead as he pried open an aluminum tube to take out a cigar, rasping out with his last breath that they should smoke what real men smoked before dying. Justice Bro said nothing as he adjusted the elevator's music.

In the end, the elevator had been torn open by a tide of Deadpools. The four grown men looked at one another and helplessly kicked the bucket together to Ultraman's righteous theme music.

Whenever he recalled that memory, it was filled with the smell of cigars.

If you wanted to do it, then go do it.

Having found himself an excuse, Lu Mingfei took a deep breath with perfect justification.

"Old Tang, an overseas Chinese? That's interesting. He even announced his identity before coming to challenge him. Seems like he's got some fame in our StarCraft scene."

"He actually wants another round? That's five straight losses. He probably doesn't know Brother Lu beat him with red dots last game."

"You two, keep it down. Don't disturb God Lu."

Three hours later, in the eastern part of a small coastal city, at a StarCraft internet café.

In a corner of the café hall, Lu Mingfei had a box of Colonel Chicken Nuggets given to him by a fan from the next table clenched between his teeth. After finishing them, he took a swig of Nutritional Express, his eyes locked on the screen as he gave his opponent the chance to willingly type "gg" and concede.

The facts proved that even though he hadn't had much time to play lately, his standing in StarCraft remained at Dugu Qiubai's level.

Dugu Qiubai strummed an ancient zither atop a towering mountain, taking small sips of Nutritional Express as he waited for the endless stream of swordsmen coming up from below to challenge him.

Every young swordsman had once dreamed of riding a fine horse in splendid clothes and making his name known across the world, but there had always been only one Dugu Qiubai at the summit.

This guy called Old Tang was undoubtedly one of the most unyielding among those young swordsmen, and he truly had some skill.

Though they had only just met, Lu Mingfei had already begun to feel a faint appreciation for talent.

Honestly, there were only a handful of people in the entire channel who could fight him to this extent.

If his style hadn't been countered, Old Tang might very well have beaten him even when he was using red dots.

After spending so long around those three violent maniacs, Lu Mingfei's temperament and playstyle had changed somewhat. Compared to before, his gameplay had become less cautious and more decisive, and he had begun pursuing quick, decisive victories.

They were birds of a feather. The more they talked, the more they hit it off, and before long they were in cahoots, calling each other brothers.

A panda avatar shook, and a message arrived.

"Too scared to keep playing, Mingming? Got something on your mind?"

Lu Mingfei paused. He typed, deleted it, then finally sent, "How could you tell?"

His online handle was Mingming.

Old Tang: "I could tell while playing against you. Experts like us are lonely as snow. Every move between us is like scrubbing each other's backs; it's our souls battling and communicating. You can completely sense whether your opponent is fully focused."

What kind of mystical idealist bullshit was that? He could feel that too?

And what the hell was "like scrubbing each other's backs"? Brother, did you mean "like polishing and honing each other," but didn't know how to type it?

Lu Mingfei blinked.

Old Tang: "I don't think you truly wanted to play StarCraft. There's something you really want to do. You only came to StarCraft to calm down. You needed some breathing room to make up your mind."

Old Tang: "You weren't playing me wholeheartedly. You were distracted, thinking."

Seeing those messages, Lu Mingfei was startled. Could this bastard be a gut worm from my heart that cultivated into human form, then fled to America to apply for animal protection asylum because creatures weren't allowed to become spirits after the founding of the nation?

Lu Mingfei: "Old Tang, your guess was pretty accurate. I'm impressed."

Old Tang: "Hehe, my adoptive father might as well not exist... So I have no parents and no brothers. Even chatting with you through a screen feels familiar. I can use my own mindset to infer yours. Logical reasoning is a required course in our line of work."

"Judging by your reaction, I really guessed right. Could we be brothers separated for years?"

"The kind with different fathers and mothers?"

Lu Mingfei smiled. He knew it was just a joke.

"I got a strange little job. Time to work. Mingming, let's set a time for another match next time."

"Sure, sure. We've already added each other on QQ. How about ten-thirty tomorrow?"

"Mm... I can finish a small job in one day. Don't stand me up."

After closing the chat window, Lu Mingfei stared blankly at the screen for a while, then painfully pulled out one crumpled ten-yuan bill and two less-wrinkled five-yuan bills. He asked the owner for a small private booth in the internet café so he could rest.

Yes, the game he had truly skipped class to play wasn't StarCraft.

Yesterday, he had completed the novice mission and left the village, successfully unlocking a new dungeon in his dream: "Beijing Subway Station."

He wasn't planning to check out the new dungeon immediately.

It was true that he had cleared the "Genji Heavy Industries" dungeon many times. A few months ago, he had already been able to escape perfectly on his own, but he had never managed to save all three of those damned teammates. That wasn't a perfect ending.

Looking back over his eighteen years of life, both his greatest strength and greatest flaw were his hidden stubbornness—stubbornness ingrained in his bones.

He might have had a lingering air of bad luck in other fields, but when it came to games like StarCraft, he was a genuine god.

In games, he insisted on achieving the perfect ending. Back then, in order to get the happy ending in Kalpa of Heaven and Earth, he had spent two months studying guides, constantly trying again and using SAVE/LOAD until he finally synthesized the key item, Seven-Colored Yingluo, and got treated to the male and female leads' lovey-dovey display.

Outside the screen showing "end" in Kalpa of Heaven and Earth, fifteen-year-old Lu Mingfei watched them whisper sweet nothings beneath flowers and moonlight, dark circles beneath his eyes as he wore a hollow, helpless, balls-aching auntie smile.

There was nothing to be done. That was just the kind of person he was.

So... in a world where he could grind levels and restart infinitely, was he really supposed to admit defeat?

Inside the internet café booth, Lu Mingfei lay prone as his consciousness gradually blurred, only to snap awake once he reached a certain threshold.

A mess of chaotic, panicked sounds reached his ears.

Electric serpents darted through black clouds. The distant sky seemed ready to split apart, while Tokyo trembled like a giant terrified of divine punishment as earthquake waves struck one after another.

"Earthquake warning. A shallow earthquake occurred in Tokyo fifteen seconds ago, with an estimated magnitude of 6.5. The seismic waves will reach Saitama Prefecture in five seconds, and Yokohama and Osaka in thirty seconds. Residents, please prepare."

The amplitude exceeded one meter. This Genji Heavy Industries building swayed from side to side along with everyone inside it. Metal screamed. Faint sparks illuminated the enclosed yet relatively spacious room. Amid the panic, someone struck a hibi aromatic match, while the female operators called frantically for help, their faces pale.

The earthquake was far from over on the fourteenth floor of Genji Heavy Industries.

Amid the restless crowd, Lu Mingfei opened his pale golden eyes and pressed down on the two silver-gray Desert Eagles at his waist.

[Challenger, be advised: Hard Mode has been activated. In this mode, dungeon monsters will receive a 175% base stat bonus.]

Instance 701. Instance reset.

Genji Heavy Industries, initiate.

A fairly simple personal status panel appeared beside him.

[Lu Mingfei]

[Rank: S-Rank Mixed-Blood (Bloodline Experience: 8658/10000)]

[Authority: None]

[Word Spirit: Blood Sickle]

[Item Inventory: Level 7 (Capacity: 500 slots)]

[Luck: E+ (Below the average of a normal human)]

[Offense: S+ (Far beyond the actual limits of pure-blooded humans)]

[Speed: S+ (Far beyond the actual limits of pure-blooded humans)]

[Constitution: SS- (Far beyond the actual limits of pure-blooded humans)]

[Combat Skill: A- (No systematic combat training. After hundreds of life-or-death battles, his knife skills have barely reached the threshold of world-class elite standards)]

[Firearms Skill: SS+ (You basically have nothing to do with humans anymore)]

[Subjective Evaluation: In terms of stats alone, you are undoubtedly among the best of S-Rank Mixed-Bloods. However, your luck and willpower leave much to be desired. You are like an underage driver operating a BTR armored vehicle: whenever you should be charging forward and shouting "Forward," your teeth chatter and your hands fumble for the seat belt. No matter how fierce or badass the armored vehicle is, it's useless if the underage driver doesn't dare step on the gas.]

[Objective Evaluation: The "Novice Village" point-stealing king, Deadpools' strictest ghost father, the only true Amaterasu in Genji Heavy Industries, the man a level-six earthquake cannot defeat, Tokyo indoor marathon champion]

[Inner Motto: Another wonderful day of happily eating bloodline experience. Why can't this stupid game let me upgrade my base and build Zerglings and Hydralisks? Sob, sob. Can killing Deadpools alone get me into a good university?]