The Protagonist Has No Time to Tremble at Dusk

Silver Wolf sat on the living room sofa, a hamburger in one hand while the other casually flipped through game materials she had gotten from who knew where. Yet her gaze remained fixed on Chen Anshun beside her.

"Compared to the game," Silver Wolf said after taking a bite of her burger, "the real you has a lot less spirit."

Chen Anshun froze for a moment, then awkwardly scratched his head. "I really didn't expect you to come to my house, Wolf Venerable. If you'd told me earlier, I definitely would've..."

"Stop!" Silver Wolf cut him off before he could finish. "Don't start flattering me. I'm not interested in that corporate nonsense."

Chen Anshun hurriedly shook his head. "No, no, that's not it. I just feel like I look a little... disheveled right now."

That was true enough.

The bodies in the game were fundamentally generated by the system. Their appearance, physique, even their condition had all been optimized and adjusted.

What players saw of themselves in the game was beautified to some extent.

Reality was different. Maintaining a good state took time.

And Chen Anshun had clearly poured a great deal of his time into "Echoes of the Boundary."

"Don't tell me you only properly groom yourself when you go out?"

Chen Anshun fell silent for a second. "...You got me."

"That's certainly energy-efficient." Silver Wolf wore a look of disgust.

Chen Anshun smiled helplessly, but soon asked what he had really wanted to ask. "Did you come to see me for something, Wolf Venerable?"

"No." Silver Wolf took another bite of her burger and thought about it. "I just came to see you."

"Me? What about me? I'm doing fine. Why look at me?"

Silver Wolf gave him a once-over, then mercilessly said, "You call this fine? Go look in a mirror and see if that's convincing at all."

Chen Anshun: "..."

Though reluctant, he still headed for the bathroom.

His reflection came into view in the mirror—heavy dark circles beneath his eyes, bloodshot pupils.

Chapped lips, a somewhat pale complexion.

No matter how he looked at it, he did not resemble someone with a normal schedule.

The only thing that had not changed was his eyes. Even through the exhaustion, they still carried an almost stubborn resolve.

Chen Anshun stood there, stunned. "Since when did I..."

Even he had not realized he had become this exhausted.

Chen Anshun turned on the faucet and splashed his face with cold water. The icy stimulation cleared his head a little.

When he returned to the living room,

Silver Wolf spoke first. "Don't log in tonight. Get some proper rest."

"No." Chen Anshun directly rejected her suggestion.

Silver Wolf raised a brow. "Are you serious? How long do you think you can keep going in that condition?"

Chen Anshun did not answer.

Silver Wolf continued, "I know you're in a hurry, but being in a hurry doesn't mean you can keep suppressing yourself. Your body is your capital."

"Wolf Venerable..." Chen Anshun did not dare look at Silver Wolf. After sitting on the sofa, he lowered his head and stared at the floor. After a long silence, he finally said, "If our world really is going to be eroded by the Abyss, Wolf Venerable..."

"You want to ask me to intervene?"

"No, I want you not to intervene." Chen Anshun's answer came as a surprise.

"Why?" Silver Wolf was intrigued. She could not bear to watch a world be destroyed before her eyes, but she would not help for no reason either. What did Chen Anshun mean by asking her not to intervene?

Chen Anshun suddenly raised his head and met Silver Wolf's eyes. "We have a way to solve this. Everything has only just begun, and our story has only just opened."

Silver Wolf narrowed her eyes at the confident Chen Anshun and asked with a chuckle, "So you mean you want to be the [protagonist]?"

"No... we are the [protagonists]."

Silver Wolf smiled at the confident Chen Anshun and remained silent for a long while. "Your name."

"Chen Anshun."

"Then I'd better remember it—the name of a [protagonist]." Silver Wolf took a huge gulp of cola. "[Protagonists] need to rest too."

Chen Anshun said nothing.

"Fine, then let's play a game." Silver Wolf raised her hand and produced two game consoles. "These are game consoles. You've played them before, right?"

"You pick a game. Best two out of three. If I win, you go get some proper rest. If I lose, I can grant you one request."

Chen Anshun did not accept immediately, instead asking, "Why?"

He did not understand why Silver Wolf was doing this. None of this had anything to do with her. Neither of their worlds had anything to do with her. Silver Wolf was a true traveler of the cosmos.

"What? You've got a problem with how I do things?" Naturally, Silver Wolf did not give Chen Anshun a pleasant look.

Chen Anshun looked at the floating game consoles before him and fell silent for several seconds. "We're really doing this?"

"Of course." Silver Wolf answered as though it were only natural.

Chen Anshun looked at her, then finally compromised and began browsing the consoles.

There were not many games in the library, but each one seemed to have been carefully selected by Silver Wolf. There were no recent blockbusters, only old classics.

Racing games, shooters, fighting games, and even some titles he had played as a child.

"Pick one." Silver Wolf leaned back on the sofa, eating fries. "Didn't you say you could keep fighting? Then prove it."

Chen Anshun picked up one of the consoles and thought for a moment.

In the end, he chose a game that felt somewhat dated. "Road Rash."

Silver Wolf paused. "That one?"

"Yeah." Chen Anshun smiled. "I used to play it all the time as a kid, though I haven't touched it in years."

Silver Wolf glanced at the game cover, then nodded. "Fine."

Silver Wolf held up two fingers. "Remember, best two out of three."

"Then let's begin."

—An intense game—

Silver Wolf demonstrated her gaming skill, while also proving that not everyone was as good as Windchaser. Everyone's talents were different, and Vernacular Poet's talent was merely ordinary.

"So," Silver Wolf said as she put away the consoles, "go to sleep now."

Chen Anshun opened his mouth. "I lost."

"Mm."

"But I still think..."

"Think about it tomorrow." Silver Wolf cut him off directly as she rose to her feet. "Keep this up, and your body won't be able to take it."

Chen Anshun fell silent for a moment before finally nodding. "Got it."

He stood and prepared to return to his room, but stopped abruptly at the door. "Silver Wolf."

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

Silver Wolf did not turn around. "Don't get the wrong idea."

"I just think someone preparing to become a [protagonist] shouldn't suddenly drop dead."

Chen Anshun smiled. "You really know how to put things."

"Of course." Silver Wolf waved a hand. "Go sleep."

Chen Anshun returned to his room. Before long,

the door closed, and the living room became quiet again.

Silver Wolf sat back down on the sofa, the smile slowly fading from her face.

She looked at the information she had scanned.

[Target: Chen Anshun]

[Status: Long-term fatigue]

[Mental burden: Extremely high]

Silver Wolf was silent for a while. "He really is putting his body through the wringer."

She had only wanted to see what a player's life was like in reality.

Instead, she had run into someone who was clearly terrified, yet still wanted to protect others.

"[Protagonist]..." Silver Wolf chuckled softly. "Gray Hair's origins are anything but simple."

She extended a hand, and silver-blue streams of data appeared at her fingertips, leaving an extremely faint safeguard on Chen Anshun.

If Chen Anshun encountered a mental shock beyond what he could endure in the future, and his physical condition fell into a dangerous state,

this safeguard would protect him and also let Silver Wolf know immediately.

"But as my gaming buddy, suddenly dropping dead would fit Fool's Tavern's jokes a little too well. That won't do."

Silver Wolf stood and glanced toward Chen Anshun's room. After thinking for a moment, she thought, All bark and no bite. You sounded pretty bold when you called yourself a protagonist, but you're actually still scared, aren't you?