Volume 1: Days Moving Bricks at the Construction Site
Neglectful Madness
Goddess? Xiaolou???
I should be under the car, not inside the car.
Clearly, it is a performance for three people, and I still can’t have a nameā¦
Shen Mao Mao felt she was out of her mind to accompany her best friend to see her best friend’s friend.
As they say, one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers; you can only have one best friend. From the looks of it just now, that person is certainly not her.
She was supposed to stay and observe the rich woman master to see where she was not normal, but she really couldn’t stay in that awkward atmosphere just now.
Anyway, the opposite party already caught her to be a substitute, so in a short time, there should not be any more actions.
After returning to school, she started searching online for the game, wanting to see if there were other people with the same experience as her, but predictably, nothing came up.
ćConfession Gameć seems to be named after Catholicism’s sacrament of confession, also called the sacrament of reconciliation or repentance. According to their saying: God established the sacrament of confession to forgive believers’ committed sins. This sin’s range is very broad, not only including intentional evil but also momentary negligence and doing evil, seeing death and not saving, etc.
The game creator compares themselves to the supreme God, pulling guilty ones into endless fear. But from another perspective, the game harms and kills so many peopleāeven if those people are not good, doesn’t the game’s creator have any sin? They are probably the biggest sinner.
Seeing Xiaolou’s proficiency level, she likely participates in the game often. So, how long has this game been running? How many players are there? Those players who die in the game, how do they die in reality?
After joining the game, she must always play; when will her second instance start? How should she enter? Everything is still unknown.
There are still too many things she doesn’t understand about this game, soā
When exactly will Xiaolou come to find her?! Surely she’s not coming, right?
After leaving the game, her life returned to the right track.
She anxiously and fearfully waited for almost half a month, but neither Xiaolou nor the next instance appeared.
Those bizarre experiences seemed like a dream to her, except for being especially clear, there was no difference from other dreamsāthey were all bubbles that burst with one poke.
The weather at the end of April was changeable; last night was overcast with dark clouds, yet this morning the sky was clear and vast. Students took off their heavy coats and walked around campus in short sleeves.
Shen Maomao specially put on light makeup and wore a newly bought dress to attend her goddess’s signing event.
Her goddess, pen name ćShukuangć (meaning “carefree” or “unrestrained”), is a super popular mystery novelist who has published over ten novels, each a masterpiece. It is said she is only 27 years old this year; clearly, she could rely on her looks for a living, yet she insists on relying on her talent. Which girl who loves mystery novels wouldn’t admire such a talented and beautiful goddess?!
Shukuang’s best-selling new book ćTinglingć (meaning “Resting Spirit” or “Paused Soul”) had its signing event coincidentally set at their school, and she, this lucky goose, only bought one book and got a spot at the signing event. Don’t be too happy!
Ren Yue was not satisfied with being woken up so early by her and reluctantly followed behind her until she saw the signing event scene full of handsome young men, which slightly perked her up a bit.
Through the vast sea of people, Shen Maomao noticed at a glance her own goddess’s side profile as she seriously signed her name.
She intoxicatedly grabbed Ren Yue’s arm and excitedly said, “My goddess is really beautiful! Descending to earth must be very hard work!”
Ren Yue rolled her eyes to the sky: “Quick, go line up. I’ll wait for you here.”
“Okay! I’m going!” Shen Maomao, holding ćTinglingć, stood valiantly and spiritedly at the end of the line.
There were many people at the scene today, and it took more than half an hour for Shen Maomao’s turn.
Shen Maomao placed the book on the table, spread open the title page, and was so excited she couldn’t speak: “Goddessā¦ goddess, thank you for your hard work!”
(If you're not reading on littlepandatranslations.com, it means this has been stolen)
Shukuang had more male fans, and in the long line, there were only three or four girls. Shen Maomao was lucky to be the first in line, naturally attracting the goddess’s great attention.
“Thank you.” Shukuang raised her head and glanced at her, with no expression on her face, casually writing a beautiful cursive “To” on the book’s title page, then asked, “What’s your name?”
!!!
Shen Maomao almost screamed out loud.
She must be a koi reincarnated! Otherwise, how could she be so lucky!
“Shen Maomao!” Shen Maomao said excitedly, “I’m called Shen Maomao (ę²åÆåÆ), the Shen (ę²) with three dots of water (ę°µ), the Mao (åÆ) of the rabbit (zodiac)!”
Shukuang’s writing hand paused, and she looked at her again, adding a dragon-flying-phoenix-dancing1 “Shen Maomao” after the “To,” and below wrote a line of small characters ā “Wish you health and success in your studies.”
Shen Maomao was so happy she almost fainted.
The goddess’s writing matches her name, with a style as unrestrained as Shukuang! Just not sure why it seems a bit familiar, like she’s seen it somewhere before.
After signing, Shukuang tucked the brown bangs that had fallen before her eyes behind her ear, raised her eyes and curved her mouth into a smile at her, then handed the book to her.
“Thank you, goddess!” Shen Maomao felt as if she were walking on clouds, so happily overwhelmed that she stumbled back to Ren Yue’s side.
The signing event lasted over two hours, and after the signing time ended, Shukuang also answered some small questions from fans and the media. This time, Shen Maomao wasn’t selected, but she still very excitedly listened to the whole event.
Ren Yue looked down on her for her lack of composure, helplessly pulling her arm to take her to the cafeteria to eat.
When the hot steaming dishes were served, Shen Maomao carefully placed the book on the chair, afraid that soup or juice would splash on it.
Ren Yue: “Is it necessary?”
Shen Maomao: “You don’t understand!” Her happiness was something Ren Yue couldn’t imagine!
The two people were just eating when a woman wearing sunglasses suddenly walked up to them and asked, “May I sit here?”
Shen Maomao almost couldn’t breathe. She swallowed the food in her mouth and looked wide-eyed at this uninvited woman, with a “goddess” stuck in her throat, unable to say it.
Shukuang raised her index finger to her lips and made a “shh” sound.
Shen Maomao immediately closed her mouth, picked up the ćTinglingć from the seat beside her, and offered the goddess a seat next to her: “Goddess, you sit!”
Shukuang lifted the hem of her clothes and elegantly sat down.
Shen Maomao asked, “Goddess! Are you looking for me?!”
Shukuang lightly nodded.
“Is there something you need from me?!”
Shukuang looked with interest at Ren Yue, and Ren Yue coldly snorted.
On one side is her best friend, and on the other side is the goddess she admires. Even a fool would know how to choose.
Shen Maomao immediately took out fifty yuan and slapped it on the dining table: “Sister! The weather’s hot, I’ll treat you to milk tea! You go back first!”
Ren Yue took the money and, having no objections, said, “You two chat slowly,” then walked out of the cafeteria.
(If you're not reading on littlepandatranslations.com, it means this has been stolen)
Next was her alone time with the goddess, and Shen Maomao was too excited to know what to say.
It was lunchtime, and the cafeteria was crowded, noisy, and chaotic, with various food aromas mixed together. Precisely because there were so many people, no one noticed that the main character from the signing event was sitting right beside them.
Shen Maomao was just about to speak when she heard Shukuang say, “Can’t you hear my voice, or recognize my writing?”
Shen Maomao: “Ah??”
Shukuang took off her sunglasses and raised an eyebrow at her: “Beauty, are you selling your life?”
Shen Maomao: “What the heck???!!!”
Woc???!!!
Xiaolou?!!!!
Shen Maomao was a bit disillusioned.
Her goddess is actually the natural black thigh in the game?! No, Xiaolou is actually her goddess??!
The woman extended her right hand to her and said, “Let’s reintroduce ourselves, I’m Lou Jingmo.”
Shen Maomao shook the goddess’s hand back, still too dumbfounded to function.
Lou Jingmo said, “Let’s go find a place with no people.”
The so-called place with no people is a private room in a hot pot shop behind the school.
Lou Jingmo put her sunglasses on the table and directly said, “I need to know why your face in the game is that of your friend.”
“Aren’t you also not using your own face?”
“You only need to talk about yourself, don’t mind me.”
The familiar commanding tone made Shen Maomao feel like she was back in those days dominated by the big boss, and she immediately recounted everything that happened without missing a point.
More than half a month passed, and she thought she had already forgotten those terrifying experiences. But when mentioning it again, she realized ā she hadn’t forgotten.
She still remembered the tone of that man calling her name and the cold arm placed on her shoulderā¦
After finishing speaking, she asked, “Goddessā¦ no, Sister Lou, do you know what this situation is?”
“I don’t know.” Lou Jingmo’s answer was always very straightforward.
Shen Maomao: “ā¦”
“Butā¦” she shifted her tone, “I need to investigate this matter.”
Replacing someone to enter the game can’t be achieved through a folk remedy for calling souls; the person Shen Maomao replaced likely obtained such an item in the game.
As for whether Shen Maomao needs to keep replacing them to enter or just replace once; and whether she has to keep using Ren Yue’s face after replacement, depends on whether Shen Maomao enters the game again.
Lou Jingmo said, “Generally, first-time players entering the game will start the next game half a month after clearing it. Your second game is these days, so I came directly to find you.”
At this point, she revealed a playful smile: “I just didn’t expect you to be my fan.”
(If you're not reading on littlepandatranslations.com, it means this has been stolen)
Not just a fan, she’s also a super fan indeed.
Shen Maomao covered her face.
Embarrassing, too embarrassing.
Seeing the situation was good, Xiaolou stopped and said to her, “While I’m in a good mood, if you have any questions, quickly ask me.”
Shen Maomao had too many questions: “Sister Lou, I want to ask, will you go with me to the next game?”
Lou Jingmo: “Nonsense.”
Shen Maomao’s eyes brightened: “Then I have no more questions.”
Lou Jingmo: “ā¦” No prospects like that.
Shen Maomao understood the disdain in her eyes and quickly raised another question: “Sister Lou, how can you be sure I can enter the same instance with you? Can we still form a team?” After asking this question, she felt so stupid, wondering how Yun Shengjin and the others entered the game together if they couldn’t form a team.
Xiaolou also looked at her with an expression as if looking at an idiot.
She didn’t answer this dumb question, instead, asked Shen Maomao: “Do you want to know what happened after you left?”
Footnotes
- Dragon-flying-phoenix-dancing: A Chinese idiom used to describe a style of calligraphy that is dynamic, lively, and full of flourish.