บท 21: Chapter 16: The Seed of Resentment Turns Out to Be Myself
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After sending off the delivery guy, Lu Zhixing heaved a sigh of relief.
This social death had come even earlier than expected...
But there was no other way; for the sake of material, some sacrifices had to be made. He had even played a tree before, what else was there to be afraid of?
Lu Zhixing took out the disguise props he had prepared in advance: brand new masks of different colors, a duckbill cap, and a hoodie.
He dared not wear the previous outfit again, planning to donate it to a clothing donation spot at the first opportunity, destroying the evidence to avoid any future troubles.
Of course, even after changing to a different colored mask and duckbill cap, there was still a possibility he could be recognized, as his body shape wouldn't change that much. But no matter what, it was better to have this disguise than none at all.
Fully armed, Lu Zhixing sat in the wheelchair and tried to spin the wheels.
Turns out, it was quite nimble and didn't take much effort at all.
He tried wheeling around in the living room but the space was too small to maneuver properly.
At that moment, he saw the progress bar for "Paralytic Patient" increase imperceptibly, and furthermore, in the points column, a +1 popped up.
It worked!
Lu Zhixing had tried before; he had attempted to lie on the sofa browsing his phone, or lie in bed trying to convey the state of a high-level paraplegic, but to no avail. The progress bar for his portrayal didn't grow in the slightest.
Clearly, this "Life Role-Playing Game" was very smart and easily discerned his act.
Thinking it was that simple to complete a role-playing task? Wishful thinking.
Because of this, Lu Zhixing also realized that for the sake of these rewards, he might have to suffer social death a few more times.
"Let's go out!"
Lu Zhixing looked at himself in the mirror, confirming that his disguise was basically in place, then wheeled himself out the door.
And there, the threshold of his home immediately stumped him.
"One, two, three, go!"
"One, two, three, go!"
"Go... I can't get over it!"
Lu Zhixing was speechless. The threshold of the security door in the rental wasn't particularly high, normally one wouldn't even notice it when coming and going, but with the wheelchair, it was like an insurmountable barrier.
The wheels were solidly stuck against it each time, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get over it.
At this point, Lu Zhixing really wanted to just stand up and push the wheelchair over, but after a second thought, he decided against it.
There would definitely be various thresholds outside, and he might even encounter steps. It wasn't feasible to perform a "medical miracle" every time he came across an obstacle, right?
That would be way too bizarre!
If he were a real wheelchair user, he might not attract much attention on the street; but if a wheelchair user got up to push his wheelchair after every few steps, that would be an absurd sight, unbearable to witness.
"If I've decided to play a wheelchair user, then I must play it to the end!"
Lu Zhixing made up his mind and gritted his teeth with effort.
With a "clunk," he made it over!
"Not bad, not bad, it's all about the knack. It wasn't as difficult as I had imagined."
Lu Zhixing stretched his arms with difficulty to lock the door well, preparing to leave the neighborhood and take a short stroll on the nearby streets.
Inside the community, he didn't encounter any new challenges. While cleaning out the rental house before, he had moved many large items with a trolley, so he was quite familiar with the barrier-free routes of the neighborhood.
However, soon after reaching the main street, Lu Zhixing encountered a new, daunting problem.
At least seventy to eighty percent of the people on the street were casting attentive glances at him!
Lu Zhixing was puzzled: "Why do I feel like the rate of people turning their heads now is higher than when I played a tree? This is unscientific..."
All these looks made him extremely uncomfortable, as if he was running naked on the street.
Even, through these gazes, he could infer some of their thoughts.
"This young man, so young and already in a wheelchair, how pitiful."
"This young man is paralyzed? It doesn't look like it."
"Why cause trouble for people by going out when in this condition? Isn't it better to stay at home obediently if you are crippled?"
Originally, Lu Zhixing only wanted to stroll leisurely and collect Role-playing Points, but the ubiquitous glances made him so uncomfortable that he involuntarily quickened his arm movements, trying to escape their field of vision.
It wasn't long before his arms started to feel sore and swollen.
"Using a wheelchair is quite tiring as well, not any easier than walking...
"Maybe it's because my arms aren't quite used to it yet. It should be much easier once they adapt.
"...Forget it, I better not get used to it."
Lu Zhixing wheeled out of the neighborhood, subconsciously heading towards less populated areas, and finally, after more than ten minutes, he arrived at a relatively quiet street.
Hiding behind a large tree for a moment, he could finally catch his breath.
"Strange, why is everyone on the street looking at me, is it really that exaggerated...
"Wait a minute, could it be because of that skill?"
Lu Zhixing suddenly remembered something and quickly opened the game panel in his field of vision to check the skill for the "Paralytic Patient" role he was playing.
[Role-Playing Skill 3 - Keen Perception: Your ability to perceive the outside world is comprehensively enhanced.]
"So that's it, this is not so much a skill as it is a DEBUFF!"
Going out on the street in a wheelchair was bound to draw lots of looks, but it shouldn't be to the extent of feeling utterly exposed.
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Lu Zhixing felt that everyone on the street was looking at him, and he could even vaguely guess their thoughts because his role-playing skill had comprehensively enhanced his perception of the external world.
"Damn, this role-playing task is much harder than I imagined!"
Although pretending to be a tree was socially mortifying, it was over in less than an hour, essentially a brief agony.
But this time, the progress bar for the main role-playing task was growing so slowly it was ridiculous. Lu Zhixing had been out for less than half an hour, and the progress bar had only advanced less than 5%. When would he ever complete the role-play, in the Year of the Monkey?
What made it worse was that Lu Zhixing found that after settling down in this secluded corner, both the progress bar and points accumulation had slowed down, even showing signs of stagnation.
It made sense, though. When role-playing as a tree, one could stay in a quiet corner because trees do not move; but pretending to be a paralytic patient was different — even if they used a wheelchair, they had to live normally and generally wouldn't be inactive in the same spot for a long time.
Helplessly, Lu Zhixing had no choice but to wheel himself over to a nearby newsstand.
Sure enough, after casually buying two magazines about game software and placing them on his wheelchair, the progress bar for his role-playing character started to increase again.
"So, I need to role-play in crowded places as much as possible and engage in various non-repetitive role-playing actions for the progress bar to rise quickly?
"Isn't this killing me!"
It was already difficult enough, and now with the negative status of 'Keen Perception,' every second of role-playing was torture.
"Wait a second, didn't I have a skill before?"
A lightbulb went off in Lu Zhixing's head. He quickly opened the Points Mall and found the skill he had previously mocked as "only a sap would spend 50 points to buy."
[Role-Playing Skill - I Am A Tree (Enhanced Version): Empty your thoughts, clear your mind; remain still, stop all movements. (Enhanced effect: Greatly reduces your presence.)]
Even though this skill couldn't be active consistently and only worked when one was stationary, it still greatly helped in reducing one's presence.
For instance, on buses or subways, while waiting for elevators, or queuing outside... with this skill, life became much more comfortable.
"Well, it turns out I am the sap..."
Lu Zhixing looked at the 50 points he had accumulated only after enduring the pain of social death and quietly clicked the "Redeem" button.
…
…
Friday.
Lu Zhixing, holding the design draft of "Ordinary Life," arrived outside Professor He Cheng's office.
This time, Professor He was spot-checking only a dozen or so design drafts, and Lu Zhixing was lucky enough to be one of them.
Of course, this wasn't due to good luck, but because he had made a certain impression on Professor He during class, and thus received "special care."
Just as Lu Zhixing was about to knock on the door, it opened by itself.
He saw a male student from his major stepping out of the office with a dejected look like a defeated rooster; he seemed to have been harshly criticized by Professor He.
Lu Zhixing instinctively grew solemn: trouble was coming! Professor He was indeed not easy to fool.
But then he realized that he was, in fact, the one coming.
Just as Lu Zhixing thought to knock, someone suddenly hurried from behind, knocking and entering Professor He's office before him.
"Sorry, urgent matter, please make way."
Though he apologized with his words, his actions were quite unapologetic, as he boldly cut in line.
Lu Zhixing slightly frowned; the man looked to be in his thirties, sharply dressed, not seeming like a student from Jinghai University.
But Lu Zhixing didn't dwell on that, merely waiting by the door for a short while.
The queue-jumper approached Professor He, all smiles: "Professor He, about the design draft for the game related to 'Campus Talent Show' we discussed last time, may I know how it's going on your end..."
Professor He looked at him with slight impatience, then picked up a document from the side: "It's done. I'll have my students send you the electronic version later."
The man beamed with joy, "That's great, I knew this was an easy task for you. I won't disturb you any further, please continue with your work. But, if there are any further changes needed, I'll still need your assistance..."
Professor He waved his hand dismissively, "I know."
Happy with the outcome, the queue-jumper left.
Professor He had already noticed Lu Zhixing waiting at the door and gestured for him to come in.
Lu Zhixing closed the door behind him and passed the design concept draft of "Ordinary Life" over to Professor He: "Professor He, this is the game I designed, 'Ordinary Life'."
Professor He took it and immediately noticed the difference in weight.
"Hmm?"
He glanced at the first page, confirming that Lu Zhixing's document complied with the font and font size requirements, without any attempts to bulk up the page count using large fonts, and then slightly nodded his head.
He had previously reviewed the assignments of six other students and was dissatisfied with all of them.
Setting aside the quality of the content, just the word count alone was subpar!
A design concept draft, even though it doesn't need to detail everything in the game, should give an overall and comprehensive explanation of the whole game.
The content that needs to be laid out clearly must be laid out clearly.
A mere two to three thousand words, what can they express? It doesn't even cover the gameplay!
And among those students, the one with the highest word count had only slightly more than five thousand words. In Professor He's opinion, this wasn't near the length a concept draft should have.
However, Lu Zhixing's document, just by holding it in his hand, felt several times richer in content than those of the other students, at least around twenty thousand words!
This at least showed that Lu Zhixing had the most correct attitude and was the most prepared.
Of course, as to whether these twenty thousand words were substantial or fluffed, that remained to be seen after reviewing the content.
Professor He began to read the specifics of the design draft.
But the more he read, the deeper his brow furrowed.
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