Chapter 7: Being Calm in the Hour of Peril – Playing Before the Big Exam
Editor: Noodletown Translations
"Young Master Song, is the game really that good? Why would you wake us up so early in the morning?" The city gates had just opened so there weren't a lot of people out on the wide road yet.
Two young men, one in white and the other in red, walked frantically to catch up to Song Qingfeng's footsteps but failed.
"Slow down, Young Master Song! What are you in such a hurry for?" The young man in red held a fan in his hand; he snapped it shut and hurried behind Song Qingfeng.
"Young Master Song, it's just a tiny shop, why are you so serious about a game?" The young man in red waved the fan in his hands casually. He looked like he was from a prestigious family.
"You didn't even come to the banquet yesterday, that was very uncouth of you," he said.
"He's right!" The young man in white chimed in, "You messed up, Young Master Song."
"Plus, don't you know what day it is today?" the red-robed man added. "Lingyun Academy's exam is today! I know you, my brother, are strong and experienced enough to ignore a big day like this, but both of us want to receive high rankings. How can you ask us to put the exams aside and play games with you?"
"Can't we go at any time during the day? What's the rush?" Song Qingfeng retorted with extreme nonchalance.
"…" He had a point; Lingyun Academy's exam lasted all day, and with their status, nothing would happen even if they arrived later than the rest of the examinees.
"You have a point," the white-robed young man laughed dryly; was that why Song Qingfeng dragged them out to play a game so early in the morning?
"Forget it." The red-robed young man tried to mediate their dispute. "If Young Master Song recommends it, then we might as well go and see."
Fang Qi woke up early in the morning; he looked at the time, it wasn't even 8 AM.
However, it was fine. Since he woke up early, he might as well open his internet café early.
He walked downstairs and unlocked the doors of his shop. Then, he was just about to go out and buy some steamed buns when…
"Young Master Song, how can this place not be open yet? Should I call the owner out?" one of Song Qingfeng's companions asked in a muffled voice behind him, as they stood outside the internet café.
Suddenly, the doors popped open in front of the trio.
Fang Qi froze upon seeing Song Qingfeng and two other young men standing outside his shop.
"You are way too early."
Yes, it really was early.
Song Qingfeng smiled bitterly, "Can I play now?"
"…" After the initial shock, Fang Qi broke out in laughter, "Have you been waiting this entire time?"
Song Qingfeng answered, "The game is too much fun."
"It's not time to open yet…" Fang Qi touched his nose; he didn't expect Song Qingfeng to come so early. "Come in."
"…" Song Qingfeng nodded and walked in, while the two others glanced at each other as if they felt a more profound meaning behind Young Master Song and Fang Qi's conversation just now.
What kind of game was capable of getting Song Qingfeng so addicted that he waited all night to come back and play? They realized that they might have underestimated how important this game was to him.
Therefore, the two of them quickly followed their friend in. As soon as they entered, they saw the small blackboard by the door.
"That's really expensive!" The young men glanced at each other before pointing at Fang Qi. "Are you sure this dude isn't trying to dupe us out of crystals?"
Song Qingfeng, however, opened Resident Evil with familiarity. Then, without looking at either of them, he responded, "You'll know once you try for yourselves."
Fang Qi added, "Remember to pay."
The young men's faces darkened. "Do we look like people who can't afford seven crystals?"
"I'm glad you can," Fang Qi responded, "You have to pay first before playing, that's the rule of the house."
"I can't believe the kind of shop owner you are! I'm going to smash this place into pieces!" They glared at Fang Qi angrily.
At this time, Song Qingfeng placed a small bag of crystals on his computer desk before saying, "I'll pay today, consider this as an apology for disappearing on the two of you yesterday."
The young man in red was called Xu Luo and the one in white was Lin Shao. They were good friends with Song Qingfeng, which was why the latter called them out with him as soon as he got a taste of this game.
They looked inside the coin bag and jumped up in surprise. "Why are you giving him so much!"
There were two of them, which meant an hour's playtime cost 14 crystals. However, there were way more than 14 crystals in that bag.
"Activating your accounts plus six hours of playtime for all three of us is 46 crystals in total."
Fang Qi's eyes almost crossed upon seeing the crystals. He made 50 crystals just a few days after he opened his shop for business!
What did 50 crystals mean? The scale of Wang Tai's family restaurant was considerably big, but they still had to work their asses off for a couple of months to make 50 crystals!
He, however, made that money in merely a few days!
Before the temperature of Fang Qi's hands even warmed up the crystals, everything disappeared!
All the crystals disappeared, just like that!
"What the f*ck do you think you're doing, System!" Fang Qi felt like a hen who had just lost its darling baby chick; what happened just now?
"Creating the game and running the computers require energy, which the system needs," the system's voice rang in his head. "Crystals are prioritized for the system."
…Why are you such a jackass? Fang Qi's face fell as he pointed his middle finger at his head. Tell me when I can earn crystals then!
"The system saved some for the host; it's more than enough for you to live off of."
Fang Qi then looked at the couple of crystals that reappeared in his hand. "What a pretentious douchebag."
"Six hours?" Lin Shao, who was on the other side of the room, immediately protested, "I'm meeting someone at lunch, I don't have that much time to spend with you, Young Master Song!"
He had to at least study for Lingyun Academy's examinations today. How could he ignore the exams and instead run to a random shop just to play six hours of games? Granted, Lin Shao was friends with Song Qingfeng, but he thought his hesitation was justified.
"Never mind it!" Xu Luo said, "Young Master Song paid already, so we have to save face for him. Let's see if this is money well spent. If it is, then great. If it isn't…"
At this, he paused and glared at Fang Qi, "Then don't blame us for not putting Qingfeng's feelings into consideration!"
"If either of you thinks the game isn't worth the money, feel free to smash my shop," Fang Qi said faintly, but with unwavering confidence.
"You said so yourself!" Upon hearing what Fang Qi said, Xu Luo and Lin Shao finally calmed down.
With the help of Song Qingfeng, they both began playing the game.
Life-like animations, weird spiritual artifacts, and a world that didn't look like their own appeared before them.
"This game is basically a tangible novel," Song Qingfeng helped his friends as he explained
the game to the best of his ability, "You guys are now the main characters of these novels."
Xu Luo and Lin Shao were flabbergasted by how real everything looked and exclaimed, "What's… going on?"
This was black technology, something completely out of their imaginations!
Soon, neither of them complained about how expensive it was to play here.
"Weren't you guys wondering how my skills improved so suddenly?" Song Qingfeng smiled mysteriously, "You'll find out once you play this game."
"It's… because of this?" Xu Luo and Lin Shao looked at each other, seeing the astonishment on each other's' faces.
Song Qingfeng smiled upon seeing their surprise. Truth be told, he was equally stunned yesterday!
"But be careful, the monsters in here are really strong," he reminded his friends. "After I spent half a day killing them, I only killed five or six, but died at least ten times!"
"Died?" They both turned around to stare at Song Qingfeng, who explained matter-of-factly, "It's just a game, you can restart after you die."
"You can do that? The game seems so real!" Upon hearing this, their expressions towards Fang Qi changed, immediately finding him unfathomable. Thank goodness they didn't offend the owner just now, he was probably a cultivator! If that was the case, he was probably not a weak cultivator!
They were quickly engrossed in the game, but, like every new player who had played so far, they were gobbled up by the first zombie in Resident Evil!
"Why can't I kill this thing? The more I try, the more agitated it becomes! It looks like it's going berserk!" Resident Evil One had a horrific background setting to begin with; although they could exit the game whenever they wanted to, it was still gross to see their characters' bodies being chewed up into pieces.
Petrified, they were both scared witless by the zombies.
Then, they both shot looks of admiration towards Song Qingfeng. "Young Master Song… you said you killed five or six of these monsters yesterday?"
"Your strength increased under this much pressure?"
Song Qingfeng liked the way they were looking at him and nodded. Then, he said mysteriously, "These monsters are strong, but there's a way to deal with them."
"You have a way?" They exclaimed in surprise; they couldn't kill the zombies, no matter how hard they tried. How did Song Qingfeng find out how to kill monsters that seemingly wouldn't die?
Song Qingfeng nodded, "Of course, it took me a long time yesterday to find the secret to success!"
Both of them pleaded in all seriousness, "Please tell us, Brother!"
"I might as well since you are showing so much sincerity." Song Qingfeng nodded in satisfaction. "I found out by accident yesterday when I was fighting these monsters."
Then, he waved at his friends, gesturing for them to bring their ears closer.
Thanks to Song Qingfeng's 'hint', Lin Shao and Xu Luo's skills improved drastically. They were both born in old and well-known families. Though young, their combat skills were ranked quite high.
They took a while, trying to avoid being scratched by the zombie. Ten or so minutes later, however, they both managed to smash apart its head successfully.
This was their first time playing Resident Evil. They were absolutely terrified by the existence of zombies, even before the storyline progressed!
Upon seeing a fierce enemy die by their hands, Lin Shao and Xu Luo immediately became more confident, the terror inside of them turning into a sense of accomplishment.
"So that's how you kill zombies!"
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone