Chapter 131: Shorty and Luo Hanyai

"Huh? Something feels different?" Luo Hanye suddenly gave a start, feeling as though the temperature had dropped significantly.

Suddenly, the system prompt tone rang out:
[Scenario completed, tallying rewards.]
[Experience points obtained: 70,000; Game coins: 10,000]
[Items/Equipment obtained: None]
[Quests completed/accepted: 1/1]
[Special ending reward: None]
[Special/Hidden quest completed: None]
[Your scenario rating is A.]
[Achievement points obtained: 10,000]
[Achievement point bonus experience: 10,000; Game coins: 0]
[Scenario clearance reward: Tarot Card (The Madman)]
[Tally completed, please proceed.]
You have leveled up to level seventeen, and your maximum Health limit has increased.

[Name: Tarot Card (The Madman)]
[Type: Special Item]
[Quality: Perfect]
[Effect: Instantly applies the Madman buff to yourself, lasting for one minute. When used, it massively increases movement speed and attack power while granting extreme calmness. After the buff ends, your psyche will fall into a state of madness.]
[Description: The madman on the tarot card has been watching you all along. He mutters that the madman is actually the calmest one, waiting for you to plunge into madness together with him.]

"Is it over just like that? Or did someone deliberately pull me out early?" A pillar of white light enveloped Luo Hanye, teleporting him away.

Mental exhaustion washed over him like successive giant waves, battering Luo Hanye's mind.

"Sigh... I might as well log off." Although Luo Hanye had many questions about this game, he knew very well that staying here would not solve anything, so he decisively and cleanly chose to log off.
............

Luo Hanye stepped out of the gaming pod, feeling as though every ounce of strength had been drained from his body. He slumped weakly against the wall, his eyes seemingly struggling to adjust to clear images. He slowly massaged his eyes, though in reality, his gaze never left the gaming pod for even a second.

"Woof woof woof!" Shorty seemed to have been waiting for Luo Hanye all along. Seeing him looking so listless and acting rather strangely, it ran up to him and sized Luo Hanye up with its dark, glossy eyes.

"Sigh... What a baffling mess." Luo Hanye gently patted Shorty's head, his mood far too heavy for him to have the energy to deal with this little creature running back and forth in front of him.

"Woof woof woof!" Shorty seemed to get angry, leaping directly onto Luo Hanye's body and swatting at his cheeks with its front paws.

"Hey! Shorty, what are you slapping my face with your paws for..."

"Woof woof woof!" Shorty let out a few triumphant barks, thinking this would get Luo Hanye to turn and play along, thereby diverting him from his heavy mood.

"Stop messing around, I really don't have the heart to play with you right now..." Unexpectedly, Luo Hanye remained just as listless, not even using his hands to stop Shorty's antics.

Shorty stared at Luo Hanye in confusion, tilting its little head slightly as if pondering why Luo Hanye was so dejected.

Luo Hanye pulled Shorty into his arms, his eyes still fixed on the gaming pod as he muttered in a trance-like state, "Tell me, if one day you suddenly found out that you weren't really you, but rather a complete stranger, what would you do?"

"Heh... I really must be crazy. How could it possibly talk back?" Luo Hanye suddenly gave a bitter laugh, patting his own head helplessly. He blinked at Shorty, stroked its head, rubbed its chubby face, and forced out a smile that looked far worse than crying. "It's fine, go play for a bit first. I have things I need to think through carefully."

Shorty unexpectedly grew quiet. It just lay motionlessly on Luo Hanye's body, its dark, glossy eyes staring into Luo Hanye's vacant gaze, as though it could see straight through his soul.

"Woof woof woof!" Shorty barked a few more times at Luo Hanye, then pressed its ear flat against Luo Hanye's chest.

"You mean you want me to tell you what's been bothering me?" Luo Hanye looked into Shorty's eyes, feeling a sudden, slight lift in his chest as he voiced his guess with some uncertainty.

"Woof woof woof!" Shorty barked happily a few times, confirming Luo Hanye's conjecture.

Luo Hanye closed his eyes, hugging Shorty tightly to his chest, and began rambling in a disjointed stream of consciousness about the story he had concocted.

"You know what? I've been playing a game these past few days, right inside this big guy in front of you."

"I experienced a lot in there and encountered many things."

"Just a moment ago, a character in that game told me that it wasn't just a game, and that everything in it is actually connected to reality."

"Heh, don't you think that's insane? A game that so many people are playing, and suddenly I run into a guy claiming the game is linked to reality."

"You know what? Haha, he even tried to threaten me back then, trying to make me afraid of death."

"Right! Usually, I'm quite afraid of dying! I've said more than once that I'm a coward!"

"Yet he wanted me to surrender under those circumstances? To make me play the turtle hiding in its shell? I'm timid, but I'm not someone you can boss around! At that time, I just thought, who the hell do you think you are?"

"So I picked a fight with him and blew him up."

"Yet everything remains so illusory, the truth is still as mysterious as ever, separated from me by countless veils."

"And there are still some higher-ups stirring up trouble."

Luo Hanye opened his eyes, glanced casually at the ceiling, scratched Shorty lightly under the chin, and a smile curled the corner of his mouth.

"I also met a girl, you know? She is so beautiful, just like the image of the goddess I imagined in ordinary days."

"Woof woof woof!" Shorty kicked unhappily against Luo Hanye, seemingly condemning his behavior of rubbing salt into the wounds of the single.

"Hhahaha, I'm a single dog too, I was just admiring a goddess, wasn't I?" Luo Hanye froze for a second, then burst out laughing.

Shorty wriggled out of Luo Hanye's arms, shook its head with a hint of disdain, and looked down at Luo Hanye from above, as if declaring that it was not a single dog.

"Huh?" Luo Hanye's expression turned quite colorful. He braced himself against the wall, stood up, and stretched his sore neck.

He walked over to the window, gazing blankly at the vibrant, lively scene outside, while in his mind echoed the words Shui Yue had spoken to him—"No one dares to treat you as a chess piece."

"Little Luoluo~ Dinner is ready~" A familiar voice interrupted Luo Hanye's reverie. Luo Hanye pressed hard on his temples, temporarily banishing the wild thoughts from his mind.

Luo Hanye didn't rush downstairs; instead, he adjusted himself in front of the mirror for a moment, trying to make himself appear as natural as usual so as not to worry his parents...

"Let's go, Shorty, time to eat."

"Woof woof woof!"

"Ouch! You bit me!"

............