PFRG: Chapter 74

Just as Song Xuefeng was listless and wanted to go back to sleep, he suddenly heard the player next to him exclaim, “Oh, by the way, I was just thinking that I forgot something! Brother Song, I almost forgot to tell you. These new players seem to know you!”

The players from the 13th World knew Song Xuefeng?

Upon hearing this, Rong Jie turned his head in confusion.

Song Xuefeng was obviously stunned for a moment before slowly opening his aqua eyes.

At this time, he instinctively ignored Rong Jie’s gaze, and his eyes fell on the figure at the door again.

He stared for a long time before finally confirming that he indeed wasn’t dreaming.

He first looked at Chi Ting and then Ji Xingque. Finally, he said with a somewhat confused and complicated expression, “Ah…”

“Ahh what? Old Song, I didn’t expect it was really you!” Ji Xingque took the lead and ran over from the door. 

Seeing that he was about to pounce directly, Song Xuefeng’s figure swayed slightly. He looked like he hadn’t woken up, but he dodged very accurately and neatly.

He turned sideways and bypassed the enthusiastic bear hug. Then he walked toward the door step by step.

“D*mn, why are you still so disrespectful?” Ji Xingque fell through the air, staggered violently, and looked back angrily. He saw that Song Xuefeng had already walked up to Chi Ting.

The corners of his mouth moved, but he still couldn’t say anything.

Chi Ting stood at the door and smiled slightly when he met Song Xuefeng’s gaze, “Old Song, long time no see.”

“It is really you…” Compared to Ji Xingque’s excitement, Song Xuefeng’s first reaction when facing a reunion after a long separation was to look Chi Ting up and down before nodding. “Based on this human content, it has indeed been a long time.”

This sentence made Yue Ren, who had been quietly standing beside him, stare deeply at Chi Ting’s back.

Chi Ting naturally understood what Song Xuefeng was referring to and also knew what this person wanted to express was indeed the literal meaning and not sarcastic. Thus, he smiled noncommittally.

The surroundings fell into a brief silence again.

Ji Xingque stood there, looking between Chi Ting and Song Xuefeng. He finally couldn’t stand such an atmosphere. “Are you done now? What’s next? Shouldn’t you be excited to meet again after a long separation? Are you excited?!”

He jumped toward Song Xuefeng in a few steps and pointed at himself, “Old Song, please see clearly. It is me. We actually met again!”

“I see.” Song Xuefeng obviously had no interest in joining him. He just nodded and commented lazily, “It’s pretty good.”

“……” Ji Xingque recalled the overwhelming excitement when he and the captain first met. He felt like he was about to burst into pieces at the reaction of the man in front of him. “That’s it?”

“It isn’t enough?” Song Xuefeng looked at Ji Xingque strangely. He thought for a moment before adding sincerely, “In fact, I am indeed very happy. After all, the captain is here. The next thing in the instance can be completely handed over to you.”

Having said this, a heartfelt smile appeared on his face, and he emphasized, “I am very happy.”

The smile made the veins on Ji Xingque’s forehead pulse crazily. “I knew that you are the most heartless among everyone. Ahhhh, the most satisfying thing for you is that you can act lazy with confidence?”

Song Xuefeng rubbed his head with a distressed expression. “Otherwise?”

He was so confident that Ji Xingque couldn’t refute it at all. He could only look at Ji Xingque angrily while holding his breath, “Captain!”

Chi Ting smiled and comforted him. “Don’t you know what type of person Old Song is? Don’t be like him.”

Song Xuefeng yawned very cooperatively.

Ji Xingque snorted. “Hmph! QAQ.”

Chi Ting rubbed Ji Xingque’s pink hair. Just as he was about to say something else, he saw the person in front of him flicker. In the blink of an eye, Yue Ren had arrived in front of Song Xuefeng and stretched out his hand very politely. “Old Song, right? I have admired your name for a long time.”

Song Xuefeng instinctively reached out and shook it, “You are?”

He naturally noticed Yue Ren just now, but the instance was always filled with players from all over the world. Facing this eye-catching but unfamiliar face, he subconsciously regarded him as an ordinary passerby player. Now it seemed that this person was with his captain.

Yue Ren’s self-introduction was quite polite and appropriate. “Yue Ren, a new teammate who will fight alongside you in the future. I look forward to creating new glory together in this unlimited world in the future.”

Song Xuefeng finally showed a slightly surprised expression. “Captain picked up someone again?”

Yue Ren smiled. “You can understand it like that.”

Chi Ting paused before nodding. “……”

To be honest, Yue Ren’s behavior was indeed not the reaction he expected. He glanced over in confusion because he couldn’t figure out what this person was thinking for a while. In the end, he withdrew his gaze and turned toward the Captain Rong who had been standing silently in the room.

Since just now, Rong Jie had been quietly observing from behind.

Originally, he didn’t have much hope when he heard that these players were from the 13th World. But now that Song Xuefeng seemed very familiar with these people, it aroused his curiosity again. He looked at the three people at the door carefully.

Rong Jie’s mood was very complicated.

On the one hand, he naturally hoped that they would help everyone leave this instance. On the other hand, his purpose of entering this instance was to get closer to Song Xuefeng. At this time, he saw the healing player he was interested in being so familiar with players whose origins were unknown and had a bad premonition.

After all, he was the captain of a team who had been in the Sanctuary for a long time. Rong Jie soon calmed down. He noticed Chi Ting’s gaze and went up to him. “This is the first time we are meeting. I am Rong Jie, the captain of the Watchtower team. We are ranked 28th in the team ranking and 33rd in the individual ranking. Which team are you from?”

“Oh, hello.” Chi Ting reached out and shook his hand politely. “We are players from the 13th World. As long as this instance goes well, we can probably go to the Sanctuary to register a new team.”

Rong Jie had already made some assumptions based on the previous information, but hearing this man introduce himself without changing his expression or heartbeat, Rong Jie still felt slightly choked up. For a moment, he didn’t know what else to say. He instinctively looked at Song Xuefeng.

Even if they came from the 13th World, it could originally be understood as them entering from the Sanctuary, but they chose to enter this instance from the small world.

But now listening to the meaning behind these words, was it true that they hadn’t even entered the top 1,000 of the rankings?

However, Song Xuefeng obviously didn’t notice Rong Jie’s questioning look at this time.

He vaguely understood the meaning of Chi Ting’s words and completely woke up from his sleepy state. “Register a new team? Ah, could it be…?”

“Yes, the Dawn team. What a handsome name. How about it? Are you joining?” Ji Xingque asked.

Rong Jie’s eyelids twitched fiercely when he heard this.

Then before he could speak, he heard Song Xuefeng answer very naturally, “I’ll join.”

This back and forth completely silenced Rong Jie, who didn’t have time to interject at all.

He was still trying every means to win over Song Xuefeng. He never expected that a new team that hadn’t even been established yet would appear and just book the person directly?

The whole corner of the wall was moved away before he could even swing his hoe!

Ji Xingque was also puzzled when he heard Song Xuefeng’s straightforward answer. He turned around and saw Rong Jie, who looked to be struck by lightning. He felt sympathy and asked thoughtfully, “Old Song, haven’t you joined the Watchtower team now? Is it okay to join directly?”

Song Xuefeng glanced at him with an expression that was even more puzzled than Ji Xingque’s expression. “There are so many troublesome things about a team. How could I join? If there is time to hit the rankings, isn’t it better to use it to sleep a bit longer? It is already miserable enough to be pulled into this unlimited world. Having to fight hard in it… I never even thought about it.”

Rong Jie: “……”

He was caught off guard by the knife again and silently covered his chest.

Just as Rong Jie was about to completely shut down, he vaguely heard someone calling him., “Captain Rong.”

He looked up and happened to meet Chi Ting’s smiling gaze. Chi Ting asked very directly, “Captain Rong, I heard that you have been in this instance for a long time. Can you tell me the specific situation here?”

Rong Jie was slightly stunned before nodding. “…Uh, absolutely.”

Chi Ting had already asked the players before, but they obviously didn’t know much.

At present, it seemed that it was probably due to Song Xuefeng’s credit that the captain of the Watchtower team managed to push the progress to Area B while still in good shape. If the captain was willing to reveal information, it should save them a lot of effort in repeating the search for clues.

Rong Jie didn’t trust the novice players of the 13th World too much, but for the sake of Song Xuefeng’s attitude toward them, he still stated their details after entering the instance in great detail.

“This instance is a very typical game that relies on development to promote progress. As researchers in the laboratory, our ultimate goal is to develop the volunteers we are in charge of to 100%. In fact, we studied the strategy guide before entering the instance. It should’ve been possible to clear the instance and leave very smoothly, but…”

What he said was of great importance. During the introduction, Rong Jie didn’t forget to avoid the ordinary players who stayed in Area D. He smiled bitterly when he thought about the cruel reality he just confirmed today. “We just discovered that the clearance method of this instance has been wiped out in advance. In other words, we could originally reduce our alienation degree while simultaneously advancing the research progress. But now, we can only take the risk of increasing the alienation level to 80% to forcefully clear the instance.”

As he spoke, Rong Jie rolled up his trousers and allowed Chi Ting to see the almost fully wooden structure below. “The four members of our team have all advanced to Area B at present, and the development level has reached around 70%. On the other hand, our own alienation value is also very high. Xuefeng helped us out and tried to control it according to instructions, but pollution is unavoidable in the process of coming into contact with these volunteers. So far, except for my 47% alienation, the other team members have exceeded 50%.”

Chi Ting suddenly asked, “Are your team members above 50% okay now?”

Rong Jie shook his head. “Their condition isn’t good. I’ve asked them to avoid taking action unless necessary.”

Chi Ting was silent for a moment before saying sincerely, “Thank you for your hard work.”

Rong Jie was slightly stunned. He immediately understood the meaning of the words.

He let the team members with an alienation level of over 50% rest, but it was obvious that he was already at a very dangerous critical line with an alienation level of 47%. However, in order to clear the instance, he had to fight at the forefront as the captain.

After a few short seconds, Rong Jie smiled helplessly. “After all, I brought them into this instance. I always have to find a way to take them out.”

“Don’t worry. Old Song is here. At the very least, you won’t have any problems in this instance.” Chi Ting felt the same sense of responsibility and nodded in agreement. “Isn’t that right, Old Song?”

Song Xuefeng sat next to him in a daze. He heard this and responded in a low voice, “Yes.”

Rong Jie was moved by Chi Ting’s previous comfort. Then in the next second, he was heartbroken by this behavior of completely regarding Song Xuefeng as one of his team members.

But he was physically and mentally exhausted after entering the instance. Compared to poaching people, it was obviously more important to figure out how to clear the instance. “In short, there is no need for any investigation in the areas below Area B. We have basically searched every place possible. The only remaining area is probably Area A.”

He looked at Chi Ting. He didn’t have much hope, but he still asked, “So is there anything you can do about the current situation?”

“There is probably a way,” Chi Ting replied.

Rong Jie originally asked the question with a mentality of trying anything. Then his heart skipped a beat when he heard the answer. “What way?”

Chi Ting smiled. “Since you have already looked for it outside, why not go directly to Area A to take a look?”

Rong Jie was stunned for over ten seconds before his mind returned. “Where are you going?”

“Area A.” Chi Ting looked at him strangely. “Is there something wrong?”

This person actually asked if there was something wrong?

The biggest problem was that wasn’t it only possible to enter Area A with a high degree of alienation?

Rong Jie instinctively looked at Song Xuefeng. He saw that the man who had been urging them to lie down and give up struggling was calmly nodding at him. “We should go to Area A to take a look.”

Rong Jie: “……”

He didn’t have this attitude when advising them to enjoy their time in the past, right?

Each statement was more understated than the last. This caused Rong Jie to vaguely be in a trance when he left.

It had to be known that after their Watchtower team entered the instance, it took over a week to adapt to such a gradual increase in alienation with the assistance of Song Xuefeng. They forced themselves to go crazy every day before entering Area C.

Chi Ting saw Song Xuefeng tonight and roughly clarified the situation of the instance. Chi Ting was in a good mood.

At this time, he glanced at the time and declared, “Let’s go back to sleep first. After waking up, we will see if we can open the permissions of Area C.”

Since everyone’s staff lounges were in different locations, there were gradually fewer people walking together on the way back.

Once Ji Xingque and Song Xuefeng left, only Chi Ting and Yue Ren were together for a while. Their clear footsteps fell in the empty environment and caused some faint echoes.

It wasn’t until they finally reached the fork in the path where they were going to separate that Chi Ting remembered one thing. “Wait for me a bit when you go to the laboratory tomorrow.”

“Why are you suddenly asking me to wait for you?”

Chi Ting glanced at him. “Entering Area C requires a development degree of 40%. According to the method we used to enter Area D, it is likely to cause rapid alienation if we advance too quickly. It doesn’t matter for me, but you and Little Bird have just passed 30% when it comes to alienation level. There are risks at this stage. Tomorrow, Old Song will accompany Little Bird in completing the experiment. After that, I will ask him to accompany you.”

“No, I can do it myself.” Yue Ren refused without any hesitation. He met Chi Ting’s gaze and sighed with some emotion, “I thought you wanted to accompany me to do the experiment. It would be good if that is the case.”

“I don’t have the ability of the healing department, or do you want me to use the bone bead?” Chi Ting thought for a while. “Oh, it isn’t impossible.”

“It isn’t that troublesome. You just have to come, stand there and watch. You don’t need to use any abilities.” Yue Ren narrowed his eyes slightly and met Chi Ting’s gaze. “I heard you guys talking so much today. It made me more and more curious about the process of alienation. Physical changes combined with a mental shock? It sounds very interesting, right? So now, I want to experience the feeling of alienation.”

As he spoke, a hint of overflowing expectations gradually emerged in his expression. “My current alienation level is 32%, right? I wonder if this dose of strong medicine will increase it to over 40%? The pink hair said that the subtle alienation process is a double process of mind and body. I think it will be a very interesting experience if I can quickly advance to the next stage in a short period of time.”

Chi Ting had never seen a guy who wanted to actively embrace alienation with such anticipation.

The corners of his mouth moved, and he complained in a complicated mood, “…You really aren’t afraid of going completely crazy.”

Yue Ren smiled noncommittally. “What is there to be afraid of? If I was to go crazy, I would’ve already gone crazy.”

At this moment, his deep eyes were full of madness.

Chi Ting met such a gaze steadily. Then he withdrew his eyes after a moment. “As you like. It is time to rest. See  you tomorrow.”

He took a few steps forward as he spoke.

Yue Ren stood in place and smiled. “See you tomorrow.”

The light falling from the roof fell on his body, casting slowly swaying shadows at the soles of his feet.

It wasn’t until the figure at the end completely disappeared that he silently lowered his eyes, turned, and left.

Just now, he actually didn’t finish his words.

Even if I can really break through the 40% alienation value so quickly, there is still a long way to go before the 74% value. So when will I have the honor of fully experiencing the path you have traveled… I really can’t wait, Captain Chi!

White Lily

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