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Chapter 025 Internet Variety

Xia Xinyan didn’t particularly like wearing clothes at home.

…Not to say she never wore clothes, just that she didn’t like wearing pants because she found it to be more comfortable.

Maybe she had gotten used to it, and now that Ling Mo had moved in, she hadn’t quite adjusted yet.

And even if she had adjusted, she probably wouldn’t care.

Although she had previously claimed she didn’t see Ling Mo as another version of herself, given their unique situation, she didn’t treat him as an outsider either. Knowing him so well, she unconsciously relaxed her guard around him.

For example, she felt no qualms about not wearing pants in front of him…

No, no, no, maybe that was a bit inappropriate, huh…

She couldn’t help but recall the thoughts she had last night.

Turning around, she went back to her bedroom, saying, “I’m putting on clothes.”

Until she shut the bedroom door, Ling Mo was still a bit dazed.

Could it be… that this was how Xia Xinyan lived when she was alone?

Maybe she had just forgotten he moved in…

Shaking his head to rid himself of those unnecessary thoughts, Ling Mo took the chance to wash his face in the bathroom and calm down.

Later, during their meal, the atmosphere was quite normal; neither mentioned what had just happened, as if nothing had occurred.

For Xia Xinyan, Ling Mo’s breakfast was a surprise. In her memory, she had only just started learning to cook seriously at this time, since she lived at school and the conditions were limited. Her culinary skills definitely couldn’t be considered great, but the spread Ling Mo prepared was quite tasty.

It exceeded her expectations.

In every way.

It seemed this guy had some basic emotional intelligence and knew to cook to win her favor.

Not bad, not bad.

“Um… how does it taste?” Seeing Xia Xinyan eating with gusto, Ling Mo couldn’t help but ask.

“It’s really good,” Xia Xinyan said after wiping her mouth with a smile, “I didn’t know you could cook too.”

“Ah…” Ling Mo suddenly grinned foolishly, “I learned a bit back home… though I wasn’t very good at it…”

“No, no, you did great,” Xia Xinyan encouraged him again.

Ling Mo’s face turned slightly red: “Thank you.”

“By the way, do you have any plans for today?” Xia Xinyan suddenly asked.

Ling Mo paused and replied, “I have a club meeting this afternoon.”

“Oh, I see,” Xia Xinyan nodded, “Then go ahead, don’t worry about me. If anything comes up, I can just call you.”

“Okay… sounds good.” Ling Mo got up a bit awkwardly and started cleaning the dining table.

He had thought about how to tell Xia Xinyan about his plans for this afternoon yesterday, worried she might want to drag him into playing games instead. He hadn’t expected her to agree so readily and let him go out.

Even though it made him quite happy… it felt a bit strange.

She… seemed to be too nice to him, even making him feel a bit flattered.

To put it plainly, he still wasn’t used to it.

But he didn’t say much more. After cleaning the table, he said goodbye to Xia Xinyan and headed out.

Xia Xinyan didn’t stop him.

To be honest, she actually hoped this guy would go out and socialize more.

Ling Mo had a rather conservative personality; in other words, he couldn’t adapt quickly if the social environment around him changed too abruptly. Now that she had suddenly entered his life, it caused a huge shift in his social setting.

This sense of disconnection might leave Ling Mo in a state of confusion, which could adversely affect their relationship. She didn’t want that, so she decided to give Ling Mo some time to adjust, not forcing him to break away from his original social environment.

At the same time, it gave her some time alone.

There was no rush regarding things in the game; since they successfully cleared the first dungeon in the battle zone yesterday, that was already a good start. They could take their time with the subsequent matters. After all, one couldn’t expect to achieve everything at once, and Ling Mo’s personality needed to be guided gradually.

But now… she needed to start preparing for what was next.

“The Realm of Divine Presence” had been launched for a day, and the first batch of players who received game pods had begun to familiarize themselves with the game. Online opinions about the game had created extreme polarization—players who praised it claimed it was “a miracle, a true second world, a manifestation of the future,” while those who criticized it thought the 70% pain sensitivity setting was ridiculous.

This didn’t surprise Xia Xinyan. At this point in her previous life, the online discourse was similar. The emergence of “The Realm of Divine Presence” truly fulfilled the dreams presented in various sci-fi films and novels. Players could now experience epic scenes in the game, even becoming superheroes themselves. It was an irresistible temptation for anyone.

However, the 70% pain sensitivity setting made it very unfriendly for newcomers just starting with the game. In an era where most people lived in comfort, where even minor injuries were rare, few would have the resilience to bear the pain of deadly injuries, so negative reviews were inevitable.

Then the interesting part came—players who had only played in the Safe Zone started questioning those negative reviews. The content of these comments directly shifted the dissatisfaction of the Battle Zone players into a skirmish between two types of players.

For instance, “No way, no way? There are people who can’t even handle this level of pain? I mean, when I stub my toe it hurts more than when I get killed in the game, right?”

Onlookers, who weren’t familiar with the game, ended up being influenced by this verbal battle. The heat around “The Realm of Divine Presence” even topped the trending chart, attracting passersby to learn more about the game. These newcomers were then lured by the advantages praised by other players, which further encouraged subsequent players to join in.

All in all, it was quite an interesting situation.

It’s worth mentioning that a very small number of players were providing feedback on another issue—the exchange rate of game points to cash.

In the game, the exchange rate for game points to cash is 10:1, but if you want to use cash to recharge game points, it’s a 1:1 rate (10 game points for 1 cash, 1 cash recharges 1 game point).

This is an extremely unreasonable setup, and no legitimate game company would use this method to make money. However, not many players were aware of this at the time; only a few relevant negative reviews were drowned out in the pain sensitivity arguments. By the time most players realized this, they were already engrossed in the game.

Because the allure of this game was something no one could resist.

No, it couldn’t even be called a game anymore; it was a second world.

Well, who cares about spending money? Just exchange game points for cash—this was likely the thought of most people.

As for how the game company profited behind the scenes, besides a few “spiritual shareholders,” most people wouldn’t bother considering that.

In her previous life, Xia Xinyan spent her days online watching dramas before she got to play this game.

But now that she had lived through it again, looking back at the comments and rhythm of today, she had made more discoveries.

For example, among the small group of players discussing the currency exchange issue, many were familiar faces from her last life—frequent top players on the leaderboard later on.

So, from the get-go, it was evident that some degree of skill differentiation was already apparent. These individuals might lack hard skills, but at the very least, they were among the most perceptive, able to quickly see past the miraculous surface of the game to spot the underlying key issues. This would greatly assist them in staying ahead in the future.

Of course, it’s also possible that this group simply wanted to make money through the game and coincidentally hit the jackpot.

 

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