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After Bai Liu finished speaking, he lowered his head to continue tying his tie. Meanwhile, Mu Sicheng was taken aback.
During the conversation between the two, Mu Ke cried while lying on the bed. He woke up with his hands sweaty and feet twitching. He sat up and trembled violently. He subconsciously hugged Bai Liu’s white shirt in his arms. He gasped with blank eyes while still shedding tears. It was as if he hadn’t woken up from the aftermath of a nightmare.
Bai Liu whispered to him, “Mu Ke, you are alive. Calm down.”
Focus slowly returned to Mu Ke’s blank eyes. He stared at Bai Liu in front of him, tears accumulating bit by bit in his red eyes. The white shirt held tightly in his hands was also released by him. Bai Liu noticed that this person wanted to pounce on him and stepped back slightly, patting Mu Ke’s shoulder comfortably. “Now you are back in reality.”
“Bai Liu, wooo, Bai Liu.” Mu Ke howled like a water pipe torn off by excessive fear. Only seeing Bai Liu could make him calmer. His hands firmly grasped the corner of Bai Liu’s clothes as he looked up at Bai Liu, tears gushing down.
Mu Ke’s voice was hoarse. “I thought I would die in that school! They wanted to strangle me!”
Bai Liu lowered his eyes and spoke softly, “However, you didn’t die so you did a good job. You survived. It is over, Mu Ke.”
Mu Ke cried non-stop, his chest moving violently up and down. Halfway through his crying, he hiccuped. Then he raised his wet eyelashes to look at Bai Liu, asking very lightly and cautiously. “I passed the instance according to what you said. I am qualified right? You will try to help me survive in the game as much as possible, right?”
“I will do my best to train you so you can grow stronger and survive on your own,” Bai Liu answered readily. Then his tone changed and became a lot crueler. “However, if you just want to rely on me then you will become more worthless. I promise that I will quickly give up my investment in you. Do you understand, Mu Ke? I don’t like wasting energy on things that don’t pay off.”
The tearful Mu Ke nodded frantically. He choked up, his beautiful eyes filled with tears like a good-for-nothing child who was finally acknowledged. “I will! I promise I will, Bai Liu!”
“I want to arrange for you to follow me in the next game.” Bai Liu handed a piece of toilet paper to Mu Ke who was still crying. He squinted at Mu Ke. “If you are willing to follow me then we will clear 50 instances in 60 days. I want to take you to the league but at the same time, I need you to grow up quickly.”
Mu Ke took the toilet paper that Bai Liu handed over and raised his head in amazement. Bai Liu looked at him without any fluctuations. “Can you do it? If you can’t, I’ll arrange other routes for you to train. You don’t have to follow me.”
Before Bai Liu’s words had finished, Mu Ke bit his lower lip. His grip tightened on the toilet paper Bai Liu handed him and his shoulders trembled as he spoke. “You need me to do this? Then I can do it.”
“Mu Ke, have you really thought about it?” Bai Liu asked in a flat tone. “Mu Ke, I am used to people looking directly at me when discussing things. Lift your head.”
Mu Ke slowly raised his head with some trembling. Bai Liu clearly saw the expression that Mu Ke wanted to hide.
The young man who had a heart disease kneeled on Bai Liu’s bed with red eyes. His hands were clenched into fists on his knees and his body trembled a bit uncontrollably as he looked up at Bai Liu in a pitiful manner. Mu Ke was obviously scared by Bai Liu’s words about 50 instances in 60 days. His uncontrollable fear made his eyes fill with tears and he was barely holding back from crying.
In the eyes of ordinary people, this miserable young man was a good-looking and pitiful person. Everyone would feel soft when seeing him but Bai Liu just asked calmly, “Mu Ke, you have other choices. In this game, there are many players who get points from the audience by relying on their appearance. You can also take this road. It will be very hard if you follow me. Mu Ke, think about it before answering me.”
“Follow me to play in the league or become a good-looking player relying on charged points with my help. You can survive both ways. Which way do you choose?”
Bai Liu’s eyes widened as he looked at the stunned Mu Ke. “Follow me and you will grow very quickly. From the perspective of personal needs and your own abilities development, my suggestion is that you try and follow me first to raise your panel attributes. It is best to follow me into the league. If you can’t follow me, you can help me in other places. I can find other players for the league. You are just one of my backup options. I am simply making up the numbers with you.”
“So your choice?” Bai Liu extended a hand to Mu Ke. He looked at Mu Ke quietly, waiting for Mu Ke’s answer.
Mu Ke knew about the league. He had also seen the fireworks and system notifications when he came out of the game. However, he came out quickly because he was too scared after clearing the game.
Any newcomer would want to quickly escape the game after clearing it. Only Bai Liu with his problematic brain circuits would wander slowly to collect information. Mu Ke’s psychological quality meant he couldn’t maintain a relatively peaceful state of mind after clearing the instance.
After clearing the game, the feeling of drowning made Mu Ke recall the suffocating feeling of drowning in Siren Town and there was no Bai Liu to hold out a hand to him.
The environment without Bai Liu made Mu Ke too scared. Bai Liu had rescued him from the bottom of the sea and gave Mu Ke a strong psychological support and influence. In Mu Ke’s mind, Bai Liu was higher than the game. Bai Liu could even cross the system barrier to save him and this gave Mu Ke an unparalleled sense of security. So when Mu Ke encountered a scene that almost killed him again, he had a subconscious need for a safe environment. The mentally collapsed Mu Ke logged out to Bai Liu’s place in a dazed state.
Mu Ke was afraid of the league. He knew this must be a game scene tens of thousands of times more dangerous than the single player game he had just passed. A newcomer like him must die in the game.
Mu Ke blinked his red eyes. His heart beat quickly and his long eyelashes were stained with tears. He looked at Bai Liu’s hand and his heartbeat gradually became faster. Mu Ke knew that Bai Liu was a very cold person and this person wouldn’t save him every time. The first time he saved Mu Ke was for the added value of the Merfolk Amulet. Now this thing had been used up by Bai Liu.
Bai Liu wasn’t a good man but he was a very trustworthy person.
Mu Ke stared up at Bai Liu, his eyes vigilant and tentative like a small animal encountering a threatening scene. “If I follow you, will you guarantee to keep me alive in the game as much as possible?”
Bai Liu whispered patiently, “I promise.”
All of Mu Ke’s sense of security toward Bai Liu originated from this. As long as this person uttered a promise, he would never break the promise no matter how desperate the situation. Bai Liu promised that he wouldn’t give up on Mu Ke easily and would try his best to keep Mu Ke alive. The league might sound terrible but—
“Then I will play with you in the league.” Mu Ke placed his hand lightly in Bai Liu’s hand. He answered in a small voice that was weepy and nasal. There was a bit of complaint and grievance in it. “I don’t want to play the game alone.”
Bai Liu lightly shook Mu Ke’s hand and let go. It meant that they had reached a cooperation. He said softly, “Yes, I see.”
Then Bai Liu soon put away his fake business face that was used to convince others to cooperate with him. He quickly entered the mode of discussing business with Mu Ke.
“Mu Ke, when will you be ready? After the next time we go in, it is likely that we won’t come out for a long time.” Bai Liu asked Mu Ke. “You seem to need a good rest and you are going to disappear for around two months. Shouldn’t you talk to the people around you?”
“However, we don’t have time to prepare.” Bai Liu looked at Mu Ke. “I can give you at most one day to prepare. Can you?”
Mu Ke’s lips trembled slightly. He was a bit uncomfortable to enter this high-intensity mode immediately. Yet under Bai Liu’s calm gaze, Mu Ke quickly responded. “…Okay.”
“Go home now Mu Ke.” Bai Liu picked up his mobile phone and called his boss. As he called, he glanced at Mu Ke. “I will inform the boss to pick you up now. You have my address and phone number. Once you are ready, call me. You can come directly. Or do you need me to pick you up? What is the meeting mode?”
“C-Can I come to you?” Mu Ke asked carefully as he watched Bai Liu.
“Yes.” Bai Liu didn’t care.
Bai Liu called his boss and the boss soon came over. This was the second time he had been to Bai Liu’s small rental house to pick up the young master Mu Ke and he was familiar with it. Although the boss’ eyes were still strange, he respectfully greeted Bai Liu. Then he entered the room and saw Mu Ke sitting on the bed with eyes red from crying. The boss couldn’t bear it and his expression twisted slightly.
There were still marks on the poor young master’s hands and feet as if he had been tied up by something (marks left by the game).
However, this wasn’t what stunned the boss the most. The most shocking thing was that a tired, good-looking male university student was sleeping on the table (he fell asleep while waiting for Bai Liu to negotiate with Mu Ke and was wearing clothes with his university’s logo). Mu Sicheng also had Bai Liu’s coat over his shoulders. This male university student slept soundly as if he hadn’t slept all night and there were still dark circles under his eyes.
The boss had a distorted expression as he looked at Bai Liu who was calm but had faint dark circles under his eyes. ‘How many men did you play with in one night, you beast?!’
The moment Bai Liu turned his head, he met the eyes of the boss who looked like he was overloaded with too much information. It was just that Bai Liu never understood the boss’ mind so he guided Mu Ke past as if he didn’t see it.
Mu Ke followed the boss in an absent-minded manner. The boss thought of the shocking scene he had just seen and couldn’t endure his curiosity.
After walking out of Bai Liu’s small rental house, the boss coughed twice and pretended to ask casually. “Mu Ke, the person in Bai Liu’s room just now looks like a university student. What is your relationship with him?”
“Oh, that man.” Mu Ke’s mood was a bit complicated and sour as he thought of Mu Sicheng.
Mu Ke knew about Mu Sicheng, the fourth ranked person in the rising stars rankings. Mu Sicheng was stronger than him and obviously more useful. Mu Sicheng must have a different meaning to Bai Liu and had a better relationship with Bai Liu. It could be seen from Bai Liu’s attitude toward Mu Sicheng.
The moment Mu Sicheng fell asleep, Bai Liu actually placed a coat over Mu Sicheng and he lowered his voice a lot when talking with Mu Ke. It seemed he was afraid of waking up the other person. Mu Ke had stared at Mu Sicheng and Bai Liu explained that Mu Sicheng was exhausted from the game so let him sleep.
…This was treatment that Mu Ke had never received from Bai Liu.
Mu Ke was a young master and had received special treatment from everyone. Bai Liu had been indifferent to him since the beginning and there was a bit of boredom. Mu Ke also noticed that Bai Liu treated Mu Sicheng, the great player, completely differently. This difference in attitude made Mu Ke a bit sour.
He snorted with a bit of resentment. “Him? He is just like me, one of Bai Liu’s game partners. One day, I will surpass his position with Bai Liu! I will make Bai Liu prefer to play the game with me! I will play games with Bai Liu every day starting from tomorrow! How can he be better than me?!”
“……” The boss listened with a wooden expression and was shocked inside.
Was the competition so fierce among you M? Playing a game to compete for the job?! In addition, there was no need to work so hard! Could his body support playing ‘games’ with Bai Liu every day?
“…You should pay attention to your body and not overdo it.” The boss coughed awkwardly and euphemistically advised with an extremely complicated expression, “Playing that hurts a lot. You should have more rest.”
“No,” Mu Ke replied in a daze. “Bai Liu has given me a task. For the next two months, I will play 50 games with him. We will also play the game with a total of five people. I don’t know if I can physically handle it and I haven’t played with others. Eh, Bai Liu only gave me half a day of rest. It is about to start…”
The completely dumbfounded boss, “……”
The task given by this ‘master’ was too fucking ridiculous! 50 games in two months? It was also a damn multiplayer game!
Bai Liu needed to take holidays when he went to work as a social animal yet now he didn’t even give Mu Ke any holidays! Mu Ke had to work overtime with him to play ‘multiplayer games’. What a scumbag!
The boss thought bitterly, ‘Bai Liu, you beast. You are actually implementing the 996 system.’
Proofreader: Purichan