Chapter 224-3: Ninth-Generation Precognition, Ferocious Newbie (3) |
Every day he spent massive time in Monster World’s livestream rooms and even on the forum’s discussion boards, indirectly experiencing the game content as a guest.
More than once he had dreamed of successfully getting a game qualification, only to wake up to empty joy.
Each time, it felt as if the whole world dimmed in that instant.
Now, finally, the qualification issuance time had come again. He was tormented inside, terrified of missing out once more.
His gaze locked on the still-ticking countdown, but his sense of time grew blurry.
“Hello, your Rainbow Heart Soup Set.” The delivery robot arrived then, laying out his ordered set on the table.
Jiang Luo’s eyes remained fixed on the countdown. By reflex, he picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a slice of meat drenched in spices, and popped it into his mouth.
The delicacy he once loved tasted like nothing at this moment. His mind held only two words flashing again and again: game qualification.
Time slipped by. With each tick of the digits on the screen, Jiang Luo’s heart pounded heavily against his chest.
He could even hear the blood surging in his temples, like a rising tide, wave after wave.
Overwrought nerves even brought on tinnitus.
With two minutes left on the countdown, Jiang Luo’s fingertips tingled. A thin sweat seeped along his back, sticking to his clothes.
The final minute.
Jiang Luo clamped his lower lip hard, his breathing turning rapid.
Unthinkingly he lifted his head to look outside the window. The whole world had gone incomparably quiet.
In the restaurant there were only rough breaths. Even the Spice race chefs behind the transparent glass next door had stopped working.
He lowered his head again. The digits on the screen seemed infinitely stretched.
59, 58, 57… every second felt as long as a century.
In the last ten seconds, a droning filled Jiang Luo’s ears, as if countless bees were buzzing.
Emotionally taut like a fully drawn bow, every muscle in his body was braced.
3, 2, 1.
His vision blurred from excessive tension. He nearly crushed the phone. His knuckles whitened, and his palm was slick with cold sweat.
Suddenly, the page refreshed.
[Congratulations, you have obtained a Monster World game qualification.]
“Holy crap, hahahaha.”
Seeing the prompt, Jiang Luo sprang to his feet and let out a jubilant laugh.
He could not help pinching his cheek hard.
He feared this was another dream of empty joy, that upon waking he would still be that humble guest typing in livestreams and often getting his messages auto-muted.
Confirming that he had truly snatched a game qualification, joy ignited his heart in an instant, and Jiang Luo could not suppress the triumphant shout.
At the same time, the previously quiet restaurant was instantly filled with a cacophony.
Nearby diners erupted with curses.
“Stupid Lunar Eclipse race, didn’t give it to me again. How many times is this now? I XXX your XXX.”
“My good mood for the next few days is ruined. Why are Monster World’s game qualifications issued so slowly? I can’t stand it. I’m furious. The stupid Lunar Eclipse race is really annoying.”
“Which brat next door hit the jackpot? Fine, you got it, but what’s with shouting it out? I strongly suspect you’re provoking me. I’m coming over to beat you.”
“Count me in. Beat that lucky piece of crap next door, or we’ll take it out on you.”
“Add me too…”
Jiang Luo was still immersed in the joy of gaining qualification.
Just then, he suddenly noticed the surroundings had fallen quiet again.
He looked up to see the table ringed by members of different races, faces openly filled with jealousy.
“Human kid, be low-key when you’re outside. Take this as a lesson.”
With that, an alien nearly three meters tall rolled up his sleeves.
“Get him.”
—
“Authentication passed. Welcome home, Master.”
Pushing the door open, the lights inside came on automatically. The still-busy cleaning robot automatically returned to the ‘nest’ and entered sleep mode.
Closing the door, Jiang Luo went back to his room and stood before the mirror.
The man in the mirror had a bruised and swollen face.
As it turned out, scrambling for a Monster World game qualification was not something to do outside.
The joy after success was impossible to suppress, making it easy to get beaten up by jealous passersby and used as a punching bag.
In the previous round of qualification issuance, he had seen a news story.
A man of the Breakers race held his phone high in the street, cheering that he had snatched a game qualification.
Then he was pinned to the ground and beaten by passing racial members nearby. It was miserable.
During the incident, a kind passerby came to ask what was going on and tried to mediate.
After learning the man being beaten had gotten a Monster World qualification, that passerby also went over and gave him a couple of kicks to vent.
When he had seen that news, he felt it was absurd. Even if getting a qualification was infuriating to others, passersby would hardly resort to fists.
This is a law-based society now. Hitting people is a crime.
Until a similar incident truly happened to him.
Staring at his own bedraggled image in the mirror, Jiang Luo could not help grinning.
This bit of pain was negligible in the face of a Monster World game qualification.
He took a spray from the medical kit and applied it to the bruises. Then Jiang Luo pulled out his phone from his pocket and dialed his buddy Mahua.
Before long, the video call connected.
In the frame, Mahua was hauling a nutrient canister on one shoulder, going upstairs.
Seeing Jiang Luo’s bruised face, Mahua in the video looked very surprised.
“Great Luo, weren’t you out for a midnight snack… did you eat fists?”
“That’s right, truly delicious.” Jiang Luo could not help rolling his eyes. Just as he was about to speak, his gaze fixed on the nutrient canister in Mahua’s hand.
“What are you doing, lugging a nutrient canister in the middle of the night?”
“Of course I’m changing the nutrient solution. I have a tiny joy to share with you, but I don’t know how to say it.”
Jiang Luo’s heart tightened.
“You punk, you didn’t snatch a Monster World game qualification too, did you?”
“Heh heh, yesterday my mom went to the Starnet temple next door and lit a stick of incense to Starnet for me. I didn’t expect to really hit today. Cyber deities are indeed more reliable than true gods, because cyber deities truly exist.”
At this, Mahua suddenly frowned, looking very puzzled.
“What now?” Jiang Luo asked.
“Where’s your emotional value?”
“What emotional value.”
“Based on what I know of you, upon hearing this news you’d want to kill me. First you’d tilt and break down, then you’d curse me out, maybe even flop on the ground and roll, like a shrew scolding in the street… Your calm now makes me suspect you’ve been possessed.”
With that, Mahua’s face moved close to the camera.
“You’re not normal.”
Hearing this, Jiang Luo grinned and said.
“Isn’t there a possibility that I also snatched a Monster World game qualification.”
“Holy crap, really?”
Jiang Luo did not explain. He shared a screenshot saved in his gallery.
“Because of this, I got too excited and shouted a bit loud, and ended up eating a beating from passersby.”
“Hahaha, Great Luo, we can play together again. Get online quick.”
“Mm. I’ll change my nutrient solution in a bit and get online to pioneer together.”
After hanging up, Jiang Luo felt deliciously pleased.
From now on he would have a name of his own on the Monster World forum, instead of the guest prefix plus a string of numbers.
In the future he could speak louder on the forum and in livestreams.
At the very least he would no longer be called a cloud player, and there would be no such thing as getting one-click muted across all messages.
Just thinking about it felt great.
His desire to enter the game kept surging, and he immediately got busy.
Monster World’s playtime is measured in days. The game pod must have nutrient solution installed in advance, at minimum ensuring over a week’s worth of consumption.
Otherwise having to log off frequently to replace it is truly troublesome. That was why Mahua prepared a nutrient canister in advance.
Without a home robot to assist, he could only handle this kind of work himself.
Before entering the game, he called his parents.
He said that he would not log off for the next few days. If nothing was wrong, they should not call him with urgent calls, to avoid affecting his game experience.
Upon learning that he had snatched a Monster World game qualification, his parents’ expressions on the video were quite a sight.
Especially his father, who was happy for him yet seemed very depressed, saying he had already tried several rounds and still could not get a game qualification.
Finally, his father said.
“I will monitor the game pod’s maintenance via phone. You just fight on in the game. If you have not logged off after a week, I will come over to help you replace the nutrient solution. What you need to do is earn more sacrificial power in Monster World before your old man gets a qualification. When the time comes, carry your dad to take off.”
“Right, remember to start a livestream when you enter the game. Your dad loves watching.”
After one more call with his best buddy Mahua to agree on the rendezvous point for the new map, Jiang Luo entered the game pod.
As the translucent canopy lowered, his excitement surged beyond measure.