Chapter 2

"Yan Zhun, how did you lose half your health?" Luo Qingshan asked, looking at the bottom left corner.

Yan Zhun said, "Hit a tree."

Luo Qingshan laughed. "Even an expert like you hits trees... But baby, how do you know Zhun's name?"

Pei Ran loaded his M416. "I heard you call him."

Luo Qingshan opened his inventory. "All right. The AK has more recoil, so you probably aren't used to it either. Here, pick up that stock on the ground and put it on your gun."

"No need." Copying what Yan Zhun had done earlier, Pei Ran vaulted out the window. "The gun Yan Zhun gave me is fully equipped."

Yan Zhun parked beneath a tree, picked up the bottled water beside him, and unscrewed the cap to take a sip.

The zone had shifted to a very unfriendly location. Luo Qingshan opened the map and checked it. They would have to cross more than half the map to reach the safe zone.

Most infuriating of all, it wasn't just the vehicle he had been riding in. Someone had shot out the tires of the other vehicles along the road too.

"Fuck, what asshole shot out all the tires?!" Luo Qingshan cursed as he ran for the zone. "Didn't we wipe out all the teams at the military base? Did a lone wolf get away?"

"You always shoot out the tires of vehicles along the road when you're running for the zone too," Su Nian said.

"Shit," Luo Qingshan laughed, only then noticing that the number two marker was still at the military base. "Baby, what are you doing? Why aren't you running?"

When he received no reply for a long while, Luo Qingshan checked his health. "Su Nian, go in first. He might've disconnected. I'll go back and revive him. If you find a vehicle on the way, drive back and pick us up..."

Pei Ran hung up the phone. "No need. I'm back. Keep going."

Luo Qingshan asked, "Do you have meds?"

"Yes." Pei Ran used a first aid kit.

Only then did Luo Qingshan relax. He glanced at the map. "Yan Zhun, didn't you see any cars along the way?"

"No."

"Then at least pick one of us up. What's the point of going into the zone alone?"

"Coming." Yan Zhun turned his motorcycle around.

Su Nian was the closest to him. When the motorcycle approached, Su Nian stopped specifically to get on, only to see it shoot straight past him without slowing at all.

Pei Ran watched Yan Zhun's motorcycle fly over the hill, its rear swinging out beautifully as he braked.

"Get on."

Pei Ran hurriedly climbed on. "Thank you."

That was the third time he had said "thank you" to Yan Zhun.

Yan Zhun drove the motorcycle fast and steadily. With nothing to do, Pei Ran switched to first-person view. It looked pretty thrilling.

Pei Ran reached the safe zone safely with Yan Zhun. Before they could find somewhere to settle, something happened on Luo Qingshan's end.

He and Su Nian had almost made it into the zone when a team lying in ambush at its edge took them out with a few shots. Pei Ran and Yan Zhun were the only survivors on their team.

"I knew it..." Luo Qingshan irritably ran a hand through his hair. "Shouldn't have entered from there... You two hide somewhere. Play it safe for a bit. I'm having a smoke."

Su Nian said, "Don't. When I come over later, the whole room will smell like smoke again."

"We've got the window open."

"It still stinks."

"Aren't you precious. What time are you coming? I'm starving."

"Eight thirty, probably. Oh, bro, check WeChat. I just saw a really funny video and shared it with you."

Pei Ran left his character lying prone inside a house and switched out of the game to lower his computer's volume.

When he switched back, someone shot him in the head, and his character abruptly dropped.

"Wait for me." Yan Zhun turned on his mic.

Strangely enough, Luo Qingshan and Su Nian were still chatting over voice, almost drowning Yan Zhun out, yet Pei Ran heard him perfectly clearly.

Although Pei Ran wasn't good at the game, he wasn't a complete newbie either. He quickly spotted the enemy who had sniped him. "Don't come over. There are at least two of them, and they're watching me."

"Hide in the corner," Yan Zhun said again. "Wait for me."

Unfortunately, Pei Ran was in a bad position, and his character moved especially slowly while knocked down. He wanted to hide, but the enemy gave him no chance, finishing him off with several consecutive sniper shots.

Pei Ran clicked to spectate.

Yan Zhun had arrived a moment too late and was now standing in front of his loot crate.

"They can shoot you from across the way there," Pei Ran reminded him. "There's nothing worth looting in my crate. I don't even have meds."

Yan Zhun acknowledged him, but his character made a looting motion.

Pei Ran leaned back. He wasn't familiar enough with the game to tell what attachments or guns Yan Zhun had taken from him.

"Su Nian, I transferred you the money for dinner. Accept it..." Before Luo Qingshan finished, he suddenly let out a brief laugh. "Wait, Yan Zhun, why are you looting my baby's clothes? Sick of wearing expensive clothes and want to try the default outfit?"

Pei Ran raised an eyebrow. Sure enough, Yan Zhun's character had changed into the default white T-shirt.

Yan Zhun repositioned and said succinctly, "Misclicked."

Pei Ran was in a bad mood and had intended to close the game, but after watching Yan Zhun's perspective for a long while without pressing quit, he simply kept watching.

He thought Yan Zhun would run. After all, he was the only one left on the team. But Yan Zhun didn't. He moved to another house and began trading sniper fire with the people opposite him.

Only after Yan Zhun knocked an enemy down for the fourth time did they finally decide on a tactical retreat. But the moment the player jumped down from upstairs, Yan Zhun switched guns and killed them with a burst of fire.

Even a novice like Pei Ran could tell that Yan Zhun was genuinely good. If he didn't live with Luo Qingshan, Pei Ran would have suspected he was a professional player.

But however good he was, the enemies had teammates who could keep reviving them when they were knocked down. Actually eliminating them would be extremely difficult.

"Forget it, Zhun. Get into the zone first. You can't keep wasting time with them. Can you even tank this zone damage?" Luo Qingshan advised him. "Go find a good position inside. There are only a dozen or so people left."

Just as Luo Qingshan finished speaking, Yan Zhun leaned right and fired another shot at the enemy.

"Not going," Yan Zhun said. "They're dying here."

A few minutes later, three elimination notifications from the zone popped up in rapid succession in the upper right corner.

Yan Zhun had stalled that three-person team until they died.

"Nice," Su Nian said, a little excited. "Yan Zhun, heal up! Do you still have meds?"

Yan Zhun stood still and didn't answer him. A dozen seconds later, he died to the zone, and the game ended.

Pei Ran was a little dazed. It was his first time spectating such a thrilling perspective.

So much so that even after they returned to the lobby, Pei Ran's eyes remained on Yan Zhun's character.

"All right, I'm done. Playing's made me a little dizzy." Luo Qingshan stretched. "Baby, come on. Let's video call."

Yan Zhun's character abruptly disappeared-he had left the team.

Pei Ran had just closed the game when Luo Qingshan's video call popped up.

Luo Qingshan had a roguish sort of good looks. He hadn't been a good student in high school, smoking and drinking and everything else. Later, he had even beaten someone up for Pei Ran. He had done most of the bad things there were to do.

Only after getting together with Pei Ran had he learned to behave. To get into the same university as Pei Ran, he had studied like his life depended on it. Now that the pressure was gone, he was showing signs of reverting to his old ways.

"Baby." Luo Qingshan stood on the balcony. "When are you coming back to school? I'll pick you up."

Pei Ran said, "My ride's tomorrow afternoon."

"Afternoon?" Luo Qingshan frowned.

"What is it?"

"Nothing..." Luo Qingshan hesitated for a long while. "It's just that I already arranged to play basketball with Su Nian tomorrow afternoon."

Pei Ran's phone was set at an awkward angle. At that, he glanced at the screen.

"You don't need to pick me up. I won't have any luggage."

"No way. I'll cancel the game in a bit."

"No need," Pei Ran said. "Go play. I'll come find you after I arrive tomorrow."

After ending the video call, Pei Ran got up and took a shower. When he came out, he lay on the bed and casually scrolled through his Moments.

[Luo Qingshan: [Image] The poverty of today's male college students.]

The picture showed Luo Qingshan's dinner: a container of rice, two containers of meat dishes, and a serving of greens beside them.

The post was new, and all the comments beneath it came from one person.

[sn: You've got vegetables and meat. What poverty? [Angry]]

[sn: So I'm providing poverty relief? [Laughing through tears]]

As if sensing something, Pei Ran refreshed the feed. Sure enough, another Moments post appeared.

[sn: Complains about it, then digs right in. [Image] [Emoji]]

It was a photo of Luo Qingshan with his head down, eating.

Pei Ran watched coldly for a few seconds, then opened "sn"'s contact profile and carefully changed his contact name to "Su Nian."

By the time Pei Ran arrived at school, it was completely dark. Standing on the sparsely occupied basketball court, he called Luo Qingshan, who was still panting when he answered.

"Baby... you're here?"

Pei Ran hummed. "I don't see you."

"Su Nian twisted his ankle playing basketball just now, so I brought him to the campus clinic. They're putting medicine on it now," Luo Qingshan said. "Why don't you wait in my room? Someone from next door is borrowing my computer. The door's open."

When Pei Ran reached the dorm room, the door was only lightly pushed to, not fully closed.

Since Luo Qingshan had told him beforehand, Pei Ran didn't knock and pushed the door open, walking straight in.

At the same moment, someone pushed open the bathroom's plastic-framed door. Steam spilled out in a rush, followed by a person.

Yan Zhun had only a bathrobe loosely wrapped around his lower half. He had an outstanding build, with firm, smooth lines along his abdomen and water droplets still clinging to his skin. Hearing the noise, he instinctively turned his head.

They stared blankly at each other for a few seconds.

Pei Ran immediately lowered his eyes. "Sorry... I saw the door wasn't closed, so I came straight in."

Yan Zhun's surprise passed in an instant. He nodded, walked to his bedside with complete ease, picked up a T-shirt, and pulled it on.

Once dressed, Yan Zhun looked at him again. "Why are you standing there? Come in."

The steam left Pei Ran feeling a little hot.

The air was filled with Yan Zhun's scent, carrying a hint of cologne-the scent of a common men's body wash.

For a fleeting moment, Pei Ran even had the illusion that the person he had come to see wasn't Luo Qingshan, but Yan Zhun.