Chapter 1
As soon as Jiang Zhong logged into the game, a team invitation popped up on the right side. He clicked “accept” without thinking.
Only after entering the team did he realize that the one who invited him was his roommate, Xi Qin.
The game character controlled by Xi Qin was wearing a black trench coat, which Jiang Zhong was very familiar with.
This familiarity was not because they often played games together—in fact, this was only their second time teaming up.
The first time was when Jiang Zhong played the game for the very first time.
At the end of last semester, after burying himself in studying for weeks and getting through exam week, Jiang Zhong’s roommates suggested they all go out to relax.
When Deng Letian slyly suggested the whole dorm go out for some fun in the evening, Jiang Zhong was inwardly reluctant.
Later, when Deng Letian decided that their relaxation would be an all-night gaming session at an internet café, Jiang Zhong felt a bit ashamed of himself and scolded himself for being too naive.
This decision was unexpectedly agreed by everyone, and even Xi Qin, who rarely stayed in the dorm, joined them.
The only downside was that Jiang Zhong had never played the game they were playing. It just so happened that the game allowed for four-player squads and their dorm had four people. As the saying goes, a “family” should stick together so Deng Letian and Xiao Yuan egged Jiang Zhong on until he registered for an account.
Before the game started, Deng Letian and Xiao Yuan had confidently promised to protect Jiang Zhong and help him learn quickly.
As a result, once they entered the game, they were too busy taking care of themselves, and their earlier promises were long forgotten.
It was at that time that Xi Qin who appeared in a stylish black trench coat, riding a cool mountain bike, performed a perfect drift to stop in front of Jiang Zhong, who had parachuted far away from the marked location…
“Hmm? Is anyone else there with you?” Xi Qin asked again.
“No, it’s just me,” Jiang Zhong snapped back to his senses.
“What map do you want to play?” Xi Qin asked.
“Anything is fine,” Jiang Zhong actually hadn’t figured out the difference between the maps. He had played a few times during the break but he only played on the default map. “Go to a place with fewer people.”
“Alright.”
Xi Qin replaced the jungle map with the island map.
Xi Qin had set up a duo team. And during the game, Jiang Zhong followed closely behind Xi Qin, just like that night at the internet café.
The difference was, back then Xi Qin had told him to follow. This time, Jiang Zhong chose to follow on his own.
“School starts in two days. Are you still going to live off-campus this semester?”
Xi Qin said nothing, so Jiang Zhong couldn’t help but break the silence.
“Yeah, my schedule’s a bit irregular. I’m afraid my late-night gaming would disturb you guys,” Xi Qin replied.
Not long after their freshman military training, Xi Qin had rented a place outside the campus. Although his bed in the dorm was made up, he usually stayed outside the campus and only occasionally returned to sleep for a night or two. The reason was that he was afraid of disturbing the other three people because of his late-night gaming.
But Jiang Zhong didn’t quite believe it. While Xi Qin was great at gaming, his calm demeanor didn’t fit the image of someone who stayed up all night playing.
Besides, Xi Qin rarely spoke and played games quietly, so there was no reason for him to disturb anyone.
Therefore, Jiang Zhong figured that Xi Qin just didn’t like communal living and just found an excuse to move out.
“Got it,” Jiang Zhong said. “Oh, by the way, there’s a class meeting on the afternoon of the first day of school. Don’t forget.”
“Mm.”
Just as Xi Qin finished speaking, Jiang Zhong got shot in the head by someone in the building across from them.
Xi Qin, who had just rolled over into another room ahead of him, immediately ran back along with a cover: “Crawl to the corner, I’ll be right there.”
Between Jiang Zhong and Xi Qin was a window which exposed them from the enemy’s sight.
“Crawl to the other corner,” Xi Qin said again. “I’ll come get you.”
Jiang Zhong obediently followed instructions.
Xi Qin threw a smoke grenade at the window, and using the smoke as cover, quickly ran to Jiang Zhong’s side and revived him.
“Do you have a med kit?” Xi Qin asked.
“Yes,” Jiang Zhong replied honestly, “And bandages. A lot of them.”
Jiang Zhong didn’t know what other beginners do, but he loved picking up med kits, bandages, and energy drinks…
In an outside campus rental apartment near H University.
Xi Qin suddenly chuckled softly. He wasn’t using voice chat in the game, so Jiang Zhong didn’t hear it.
But the laughter was clearly heard in another microphone.
On a live streaming platform, a string of questions marks flooded across the chat screen:
【???】
【Why are you laughing???】
【I told you, something’s off with Xi Shen today】
【Ah! Xi Shen’s laugh is so seductive!】
【…Can you fangirls stop drooling about him? Xi Shen is a skilled streamer…】
—
Unaware of all this, after being revived by Xi Qin, Jiang Zhong crouched in a corner to heal up, and then… continued to squat in the corner, pointing his gun at the window and door where enemies might appear.
“Stay here and hide. I’ll go find that guy who shot you,” Xi Qin said this before leaving.
In fact, he added one more sentence behind it: “Don’t run around, I’ll be back to get you soon.”
Jiang Zhong thought that sentence made him sound like a mischievous five-year-old kid, so he decided to ignore it.
Soon after, gunfire echoed from the building across, and then two lines of text appeared in the top right corner of the game interface:
【xixixi eliminated dabendan with ¹AKM】
【xixixi eliminated xiaoshagua with AKM】
“Impressive,” Jiang Zhong said sincerely.
“Thanks,” Xi Qin replied. “There’s no more enemies. Do you want to ²loot?”
“On my way.”
The two of them played for a few more hours straight, and Jiang Zhong lost track of time.
It wasn’t until Xi Qin asked, “Aren’t you going to eat dinner?”
Only then did Jiang Zhong realized it was almost 8 o’clock in the evening. He had been playing since around 3 in the afternoon but he didn’t feel tired at all.
“I didn’t notice,” Jiang Zhong said. “You didn’t eat either, did you?”
Xi Qin let out a quiet “Mm.” “Let’s finish this match and then go eat.”
“Alright.”
After another ten minutes of gameplay, Xi Qin asked again, “When are you going back to school?”
Jiang Zhong replied, “On the morning of the 1st.”
He lived in the same city as the school, just in a different district. It took a little over an hour by bus, so he always waited until the last minute to go back, even though he was by himself at home alone.
—
¹”AKM” is a modernized version of the AK-47 assault rifle, commonly used in military and combat-based video games. It’s known for its high damage output and is chambered in 7.62mm ammunition. In games, it often has significant recoil but deals strong damage at medium to long range.
²”loot” refers to items or resources that players can collect during the game, such as weapons, armor, health kits, or other supplies. Loot is often found scattered in the game world, and players gather it to improve their chances of survival or success in the game. Just making a note for this, especially if someone out there doesn’t really play games like battle royale.
⁰T/N: The game they played sounds like PUBG (Not sure ‘coz there’s also other games with battle royale)? I never played it but I know about it….