Chapter 226

Chapter 226: At Both Ends of the Scale 07

After a whole day’s busyness, Kui Xin finally completed her tasks.

She had signed a lease agreement with her landlord, received the house keys, and moved some of her belongings in. The rental prices in this area were still reasonable, as many students and those preparing for exams lived nearby. The students above and below her were all from the same university, but it was rare for a freshman like her to live off-campus right when the semester started.

Kui Xin wasn’t a solitary person before, but since attending university, she had to start considering the issue of social interactions. For her now, socializing unquestionably felt like a troublesome matter. She lacked the energy to maintain a friendship and found it difficult to invest time and sincerity into it.

If the Second World had a negative impact on Kui Xin, it was that it made her don an invisible mask, wearing a facade when interacting with others, maintaining an unbridgeable sense of distance with everyone.

Kui Xin grew weary of the problem of university socialization. The worst-case scenario would be that she went through it alone. After all, everyone was here to study; as long as she maintained good grades and graduated smoothly to obtain her diploma, making friends and establishing a network was something to leave to fate.

It was now evening, and the rental arrangements had delayed her plans to visit the sick. She had to postpone that plan until tomorrow.

She sat in the school cafeteria, had a light meal, and messaged Xi Liang: “Are you free? Let’s talk.”

“Absolutely!” Xi Liang replied immediately, “Where does senior want to talk? I know a few quieter spots.”

Xi Liang had been in a state of panic all afternoon, fluctuating between anxiety and hope. He took out his phone repeatedly, typed and deleted several messages in an attempt to inquire more about Kui Xin, worried it might irritate her.

“Then you pick a less crowded place,” Kui Xin said.

“The third playground has few people; let’s go there,” Xi Liang suggested.

Xi Liang was cautious. While the third playground was indeed less crowded, there were still people around. The playground could be considered a public space, and there were cameras at the entrance, so he wasn’t afraid of any accidents. He vaguely knew Kui Xin wouldn’t do anything to him, but it was wise to take precautions.

After eating, Kui Xin made her way to the third playground as Xi Liang suggested. There were indeed very few people there; only a small team was playing soccer on the lawn, with a handful of others jogging around the playground.

She waited a short while at the entrance when she spotted Xi Liang jogging towards her, carrying two cups of milk tea. One of them was a pale pink, seemingly the peach flavor that Kui Xin liked.

Stopping in front of Kui Xin, Xi Liang accurately handed her the peach milk tea: “Good evening, senior. I passed by the milk tea shop and decided to grab a cup. Liu Boyi mentioned you liked peach flavor.”

Kui Xin: “…Thanks.”

This kid was quite considerate, knowing to ask his buddies for information about her. It was the same with Liu Boyi; they had shared meals at their homeroom teacher’s house during their second and third years in high school. He had once ordered her a cup of milk tea whenever he went out for takeout after meals, and she always ordered the peach flavor. He had actually remembered that.

When Xi Liang approached Liu Boyi for Kui Xin’s contact details earlier, Liu Boyi asked, “Why do you need her contact?”

Xi Liang, consumed by anxiety and shock, came up with a casual excuse: “Just… want to make a friend.”

Liu Boyi was clearly unconvinced. “Then I need to ask her first if she’s okay with it before passing along the contact.”

“Could you hurry and ask her?” Xi Liang urged.

Kui Xin naturally agreed. As Xi Liang sighed in relief, he became even more anxious and asked Liu Boyi, “How long have you known Kui Xin?”

“Yeah, my mom is Kui Xin’s teacher,” Liu Boyi replied.

“And what kind of person do you think Kui Xin is?” Xi Liang inquired cautiously.

Liu Boyi looked at his good friend in confusion, then surprise, and finally with encouragement. “You’ll find out what kind of person she is after getting to know her for a while. What I say doesn’t count; it’s what you see that matters.”

Suddenly, Xi Liang realized he had misunderstood something: “Wait, I…”

“I won’t say much about her; that’s her privacy. You can find out for yourself,” Liu Boyi said with a smile before leaving. “But I can tell you one thing: she likes peach-flavored milk tea. Good luck.”

Xi Liang: “…”

So that evening, Xi Liang brought the peach milk tea to Kui Xin.

It’s not that he truly had feelings for her, but he felt it polite to bring something. After all, during group activities at university, the class committee would also order dozens of cups of milk tea to hand out to classmates!

“Let’s walk and talk,” Kui Xin suggested.

Xi Liang nodded vigorously, like a young student, and followed closely behind Kui Xin as they circled the playground track. They kept a safe distance from the other students, so there was no need to worry about being overheard.

Kui Xin asked, “Are you feeling better?”

“I’m good now. I went to the gate to let the old doctor give me a massage, and I was fine instantly.” Xi Liang’s face turned red, and embarrassed, he changed the subject. “When I saw you today, I was surprised. I didn’t expect such a coincidence; both worlds have the same school, but it seems like the ages are reversed…”

Kui Xin pondered, “How much do you know about me?”

“I always thought you were a native of the Second World,” Xi Liang scratched his head. “When we first met, I told you to be like Lei Feng, and later I discovered that there’s no such person in that world. It scared me; I feared exposing myself.”

“It was from that sentence that I figured out your identity,” Kui Xin replied.

Xi Liang chuckled awkwardly: “When no one arrested me for a while, I thought you hadn’t noticed that offhand comment and felt quite smug. If it weren’t for you, I might have been dead by now. When I went to the Investigation Bureau with you to give a statement, the security officer relaxed when he heard that the robbers were dealt with by the Investigation Bureau. He let me off lightly and hardly asked me anything. Thinking back, if he had pressed me a little more, one wrong word could have raised suspicion.”

“How much more do you know about me?” Kui Xin continued to ask.

Xi Liang pressed his lips together, his voice dropping significantly: “I know you are dead in the Second World…”

“How do you know that?” Kui Xin inquired.

“At first, I wanted to ask you about enrollment at the Black Sea Academy, but then I found out no one was living in your house. I thought you had moved away, but right after I went downstairs, I ran into one of your colleagues, who said he was your friend.” Xi Liang recalled the scene. “I asked him where you were, and he said you died, and that there were loans that hadn’t been paid off, so they were selling the house to settle the loan. You didn’t have any family with you, so he helped arrange your affairs. Oh, and by the way, his name is Lan Lan.”

Kui Xin fell silent, not speaking for a long while.

She never expected to learn about her teammate’s situation again from Xi Liang.

That was merely a false identity, a fabricated one by Mechanized Dawn; the person named “Kui Xin” hadn’t really existed. The so-called house, loans, worn-out furniture, and personal belongings… all those traces that proved a person’s existence were completely fake.

Her former teammate had been busy handling the affairs of a fictitious person… Kui Xin couldn’t help but feel a whirlwind of emotions.

“When I learned about your death, I felt a bit regretful,” Xi Liang said. “Because I thought you were very kind to me and gave me a lot of advice. Now that I see you’re okay, I feel relieved.”

He chose his words carefully, fearing he might say something wrong: “I know it’s not easy for people like us to survive there. You work in that terrifying organization, so you must have gone through a lot of hardships and faced crises of exposure. You changing your identity to ‘die’ must have counted as escaping a disaster, right? You must be in a more dangerous situation than I am. I understand; I won’t speak carelessly.”

“You’re a very rational person, Xi Liang,” Kui Xin said. “Now, let’s talk about you. What have you encountered in that world?”

“I…” Xi Liang said softly, “My parents are actually both deceased; they died in a car accident, and my uncle took care of me. The senior should have seen the posts, right? Some people have identical parents in both worlds. I’m one of them; in that world, I saw my deceased mom and dad. Though I encountered some unfortunate events, I’ve never lost hope.”

“Hmm, I can somewhat understand your feelings,” Kui Xin said in a flat tone. “What I want to ask is something else. You’re lucky, Xi Liang, you’ve survived from the first week until now. The Black Sea City Rick Technology Company was cleansed by the Federation; you should know that. The news channels broadcasted it for several days. Rick Technology Company is the one that signed the talent development agreement with you at that time.”

“Did you know the inside story of the Investigation Bureau cleansing Rick Technology Company?” Xi Liang asked.

“I know part of it,” Kui Xin turned to look at Xi Liang. “You’ve been targeted and recruited by a terrorist organization, Xi Liang. It can only be said that you’re incredibly lucky; the power of Rick Technology Company has pulled out of Black Sea City, and they didn’t have time to complete your recruitment. Moreover, your recruiting value is relatively low, still in a developmental stage, which made you dispensable to them, so they let you go lightly… but next time, you may not be that lucky. You’re on the list of that terrorist organization, and they have the capability to monitor you in real-time and confirm your status.”

Xi Liang’s complexion subtly paled; he took a deep breath, his voice trembling slightly: “Actually, I know.”

Kui Xin raised an eyebrow: “You know?”

“I know, I’ve been in a state of surveillance all along,” Xi Liang muttered. “They installed prosthetic limbs for me, and that set of prosthetics… it has a backdoor in its operational sensing system. Third parties can control my prosthetic limbs through this system, even controlling my actions. There are listening devices installed in the prosthetics…”

“Well, congratulations; you discovered this early and made reasonable responses, thereby saving your life,” Kui Xin said, looking deeply at him.

“But it’s useless, senior, how can I escape this surveillance? I can’t let go of my parents from the Second World; they treated me well, and their personalities and hobbies are similar to my parents in this world.” Xi Liang sighed, “To avoid being detected as unusual, I’m constantly pretending, acting like a normal person living an ordinary life. I even developed an inherent talent for ‘imitation’ in just a few weeks… this life is unbearable! I suspect the players who’ve managed to survive until now are all average performers!”

Kui Xin remarked oddly, “I agree with that.”