A flash of white light passed, and Lu Mi heard the bustle of the Public Rest Area for the first time in a while.
He still remembered being warned by a guard on his first visit, so he quickly pulled Roman away. "Don't block the exit."
"Okay." Roman seemed delighted. Lu Mi glanced over and found the guy staring at their joined hands.
"Your hand-right, are those fingernails still there?" Before Roman could answer, Lu Mi already knew. Even through the thick glove, he could feel those disgusting growths on Roman's skin.
Without another word, Lu Mi headed for the Healing Area.
"It makes me so happy that you care about me this much," Roman said.
"Well, you've helped me so much."
"That's true. Then can I have a little reward?" It was as though an invisible tail were wagging behind Roman.
"Always saying weird things. Let go!"
"No. You're the one who took my hand first."
The entrance to the Healing Area was just ahead. The next second, something hurtling toward them knocked their clasped hands apart.
It was a tall girl dragging a man covered in blood. Without looking back, she beat them into the Healing Area.
Roman's expression visibly darkened.
"Don't get mad. Her teammate's badly injured." Lu Mi patted him. "Let's go in."
Lu Mi had wanted to hear what the Healing Area's staff had to say in person, but the moment they stepped through the door, they were forced apart.
Lu Mi repeatedly stressed that he was only accompanying someone, but the staff member was adamant. "Everyone who comes in must receive healing."
In the end, Lu Mi lay in a cramped, pure-white space, feeling baffled. He figured he would just have to ask Roman himself afterward.
The equipment beside him guided him: "Close your eyes-breathe out-breathe in-"
Gentle golden light shone down, and a wave of comfort washed through Lu Mi's entire body.
This feels good. So good-! A wondrous sensation suddenly came over him, as though his meridians had been cleared and no challenge could stand in his way.
The equipment was still telling him to breathe deeply when he abruptly opened his eyes, turned his palm upward, and summoned a ball of water that kept spilling blue light!
At the same moment, in the monitoring room, a staff member shot to his feet and sounded the alarm.
The others receiving healing had never encountered anything like this. Though confused, they hurriedly interrupted their sessions and got off their beds, ready to leave.
In the corridor, staff members wearing communicators hurried back and forth, urging them, "Please continue receiving healing! Don't leave!"
Someone pointed at the alarm flashing red and cursed, "Are you kidding me? This is another new game those damn Ghost Spectators came up with, isn't it? To see what choices us ants make!"
A staff member did his best to explain that they could ignore it. The man looked around, then pointed at someone by the entrance. "Even the deputy administrator's here, and you're still trying to fool me?"
With a grave expression, 2044 verified his fingerprint, walked straight into an elevator, and reached the monitoring room, where he smacked a file down on the staff member's head.
"Look carefully! That's just a little kitty who's recovered his spiritual power!"
The staff member pressed his face close to the screen, but still couldn't see how the boy playing with a ball of water resembled a little kitty.
"But the administrator said this sort of situation counts as an unstable factor and has to be eliminated..."
"Let him play. Don't you understand?"
The staff member was scared witless. He had never seen 2044 so irritable, and he fumbled to shut off the alarm.
He asked tentatively, "What if staff members who don't recognize him see him using his ability... and what about the boss..."
2044 waved a hand. "Display photos of everyone on the rankings on the screen in the plaza, and have all the staff memorize them. Can't you show a little flexibility over something this simple?"
The Healing Area finally returned to normal.
After confirming that he could summon water, Lu Mi quickly reined himself in and continued receiving healing.
After all, he was a good boy who followed the rules.
When the healing ended, he gave the alarm in the corner a puzzled glance. The moment he opened the door, he found a man standing ramrod straight in front of him.
The man seemed a little awkward. "Lu Mi, do you remember me? I'm Jiang Mu."
"I remember, 2044." Lu Mi pointed inside. "That alarm of yours seems broken. I didn't see the power light blinking. You'd better check it."
2044 responded with a chuckle.
Better not tell him that the alarm in this room was broken by the water he summoned.
Lu Mi said goodbye and was about to leave, only to discover a mass of guards outside the exit.
2044 hurriedly explained, "They're holding a fire drill."
Lu Mi said okay.
"Well... the temperature in the rest area is set a little low today." 2044 looked as though he wanted to say something but couldn't bring himself to do it. Lu Mi wanted to leave, but felt that 2044 had something to tell him. And so they both fell into a strange silence.
Until a voice called out, "Lu Mi!"
Roman strode over and planted himself between them. "It's done. Let's go."
Seeing Roman reminded Lu Mi of the fingernails growing on his body, and he asked 2044 whether he knew what was going on.
2044 and Roman stared at each other in silence for several seconds.
He had already seen what Roman had done in the video, but now he could only grit his teeth. "No idea. Perhaps certain people know better themselves."
Even after they left the Healing Area, Roman kept flatly denying it. "I don't know. He's talking nonsense. Anyway, they're gone now, so stop worrying about it."
An appetizing aroma drifted from a nearby building.
A crowd had gathered outside, noisily asking, "What's the occasion today? How'd we get so lucky?"
Roman wanted to change the subject anyway, so he said he wanted to take a look.
Lu Mi had been inside that building last time. It served as a cafeteria. But when he saw that a plate of greens and two little fish cost fifty gold coins, he had turned around and left.
Fifty gold coins were equivalent to 0.5 points!
So for his meals over the next few days, he had bought cheaper ingredients from the shopping center and cooked for himself.
Many people thought the same way as Lu Mi. Rather than satisfy their appetites for the moment, they preferred to save their hard-earned gold coins and exchange them for points that could get them out of the game.
It was rare to see so many people gathered outside the cafeteria, so Lu Mi also went over, curious about what this stroke of luck could be.
Through the bustling crowd, he saw a banner that read: Today's delicious dishes can be purchased with Popularity Value!
"Sure, Popularity Value counts toward the overall rankings, but it's not much use otherwise. Gold coins, though—I really can't bear to spend those."
"Sounds pretty good. Let's go in and have a look."
Another group surged in from behind, pushing him into the cafeteria. Roman kept a firm grip on him the whole time and was pulled inside along with him.
They hurriedly found an empty corner to sit in and checked the prices. Everything was within Lu Mi's budget.
"I have a little over eight hundred Popularity Value now. What about you?" Only after asking did Lu Mi remember that this guy couldn't read and might not even recognize numbers.
Roman told him that his Popularity Value was in the triple digits.
"Didn't you ask me for a reward? I'll cover your meals in the Public Rest Area." Lu Mi slapped the table generously and made his decision.
Roman looked unenthusiastic, clearly not very pleased with this reward. "You seem to have forgotten that I don't need to eat."
"Ah, that's a shame. I ordered a whole big fried chicken. I'll just have to tearfully enjoy it all by myself." Lu Mi had actually been hoping to use their meal together as a chance to see what Roman looked like without his mask.
The fried chicken had thin skin and plenty of meat. Its golden, crispy coating was sprinkled with fragrant cumin, enough to make anyone's mouth water.
"You don't need to eat, but you can still eat, right?" Lu Mi couldn't quite bring himself to keep it all to himself, so he asked.
Before you continue