My Romance Game Updated – Chapter 33

by Little Panda

Debuff

Hey, hey, hey! Who’s following you now!

Ren Chenxi was very unhappy with Mu Ning for acting on her own initiative,¹ but with Fan Juntian present, she could only remain silent. There was nothing she could do. No matter how much she resisted Mu Ning, she still despised the despicable, disgusting, and vile scumbag Fan Juntian even more. In front of a scumbag like him, Ren Chenxi couldn’t possibly have a falling out with Mu Ning.

“Following you?” Facing Mu Ning, Fan Juntian once again put on a sickeningly affectionate expression. “Mu Ning, don’t misunderstand. I just saw that it’s not easy for her as a girl, so I wanted to take care of her. But… Mu Ning, you all have an injured person to look after already, and now there’s one more… Hey, why isn’t that piece of trash Ren Muhui taking care of his own sister?”

Fan Juntian’s last question was a very obvious probe.

Mu Ning paid no mind to his probing. With a cold face, she tugged again at Ren Chenxi, who was restlessly trying to slip away, before answering in a frigid tone, “Ren Muhui isn’t here, so naturally, I will be the one to take care of his sister!”

Is Ren Muhui just not here? Or is he dead? So his own sister has to be entrusted to someone else’s care? Fan Juntian’s eyes darted back and forth between Mu Ning and Ren Chenxi. Seeing that Mu Ning was starting to look impatient, he finally smiled and continued his affectionate act.² “Oh, oh, I see. But Mu Ning, I just noticed, you brought back more than one person today! Aren’t many of these people our junior schoolmates? I’ll say it again, if you need my help, I will definitely do my best to help you! Mu Ning, you know, all these years, my feelings for you…”

“That’s enough. Stop with the phony act. If you really care about our Boss, then manage your lackeys!³ Stop treating our Boss like a reservoir every single day, shamelessly⁴ coming over to beg for water!” Chen Gu, standing to the side, couldn’t listen anymore and cut Fan Juntian off with a dark expression. “This is the apocalypse, you get it? Water is a precious resource, okay! Please don’t come to our Boss even for water to flush the toilet, alright! If they really don’t have water, tell them to go take care of it in the wild, can’t they?”

“You!” Just as he was about to properly express his intense feelings, he was cut off before he could even get the words out. This made Fan Juntian very displeased. But with Mu Ning present, he had no choice but to swallow his anger and pretend to ask Chen Gu with concern, “Huh? Which one of my brothers was so thoughtless? Ai, I’ve been so busy lately, I haven’t been managing them much… I’m so sorry, I’ll definitely have a good talk with them when I get back!”

“Tch, keep pretending! Li Jie and Liao Lan came to ask for water, was it really not on your orders? For all we know, some of that toilet-flushing water was for you!” Chen Gu shot him a huge eye-roll.

“…” Fan Juntian clenched his fists. After taking two deep breaths, he put on a smile again and said with great innocence, “I really didn’t know about this! Maybe Liao Lan wanted it for himself? I’m telling you, Mu Ning, you shouldn’t be too generous with Liao Lan. Even if he used to be close with Ren Muhui, this precious water really shouldn’t be wasted!”

Saying that water was precious in one breath while emphasizing Liao Lan’s closeness to Ren Muhui in the next… this guy…

Chen Gu and the others’ faces all darkened.

Mu Ning couldn’t be bothered to look at Fan Juntian’s hypocritical face any longer. She dropped a single sentence, “I have to take them to register, I don’t have time to chitchat with you,” and pulled Ren Chenxi toward a building on the other side of the base gate.

Watching Mu Ning’s group walk away, Fan Juntian’s expression turned sinister once more.

“Hmph! Acting so high and mighty. So what if you’re a water-system esper? Just you wait! One of these days, laozi will have you under me!”

When Ren Chenxi turned her head back, she happened to see the venomous, cold glint in the narrow eyes on Fan Juntian’s twisted face.

“Actually… my brother’s relationship with that Liao Lan was very bad,” Ren Chenxi suddenly blurted out while they were waiting in line to register.

Although she no longer liked Mu Ning and didn’t want too much contact with her, seeing Mu Ning provide an unlimited supply of water to a former roommate who merely claimed to be her brother’s friend made her extremely unhappy. Even more unhappy than when Mu Ning had told Fan Juntian that she would take care of her.

“?” Ren Chenxi’s sudden, out-of-the-blue sentence left Mu Ning momentarily confused. Throughout their journey, Ren Chenxi had never initiated a conversation with her. Mu Ning even wondered if Ren Chenxi was actually talking to her.

In contrast to Mu Ning’s momentary daze, Chen Gu, who was behind them, reacted immediately. “Xi-jie, Xi-jie, are you saying that your brother and that Liao Lan didn’t get along, so our Boss shouldn’t give them any more water?”

“Mm…” Ren Chenxi reluctantly agreed.

“How do you know Ren Muhui and Liao Lan didn’t get along?” But Mu Ning’s focus wasn’t on Ren Chenxi’s intention.

“…” This person. I’m kindly reminding her that she doesn’t have to keep being a water reservoir for others, and she’s questioning me instead? Truly, no good deed goes unpunished!⁵ Ren Chenxi’s face soured. She really wanted to snap back, “None of your fucking business,” but under the pleading gazes of Chen Gu and the others, she held it in and explained with a huff, “My brother told me. He said his relationship with his former roommates was just so-so, otherwise why would he have moved out later? As for that Liao Lan, he had some bad habits in the dorm. He’d use other people’s body wash, shampoo, and toothpaste without asking, and he’d use other people’s washbasins to soak his feet. One time, another roommate said something that offended him, so he used that person’s toothbrush to scrub the squat toilet…”⁶

“Blegh…” The few girls listening to the gossip were utterly disgusted.

“That’s not all. The guy’s hands weren’t clean either;⁷ he’d swipe any spare change left in the dorm. But since the amounts were too small, everyone just let it go and didn’t report it to the student counselor. Anyway, my brother couldn’t stand him, so he moved out.”

Ren Chenxi wasn’t making this up. In the game’s settings, this Liao Lan really did have these little flaws. On the first day Ren Chenxi played the game for her brother, she saw Liao Lan use her toothpaste with a completely unconcerned air.

That was why Ren Chenxi had been in such a hurry to move out of the dorm the next day. On one hand, she was afraid her gender would be discovered, and on the other… she was rather disgusted by Liao Lan’s nasty habits.

“Ugh… That guy is really awful!”

“So, Boss, if Liao Lan brings other people to ask for water again, don’t give him any! Look at that guy Jiao Xueyi. Apart from the tasks to supply the base with water, anyone who wants water from him has to trade crystal cores for it!” As Chen Gu spoke, he thoughtfully explained to the young newcomers that Jiao Xueyi was the other water-system esper in their base.

Nanhai Base was a relatively large survivor base, yet it only had four water-system espers. Natural-type espers were rare to begin with, and water-system espers were even rarer. This was also why, even though Fan Juntian’s entire family had already seized control of half the power in the base and Fan Juntian himself had coveted Mu Ning, the goddess of S University, for so long, he didn’t dare to use any overt, forceful methods to seize her.⁸

After all, the founder of Nanhai Base, Qi Sheng, who was currently the base’s nominal top leader,⁹ highly valued Mu Ning, a 5th-order water-wood dual-system esper.

While Chen Gu was briefing the newcomers on the current situation and the two major factions in Nanhai Base, Mu Ning was staring intently at Ren Chenxi, pressing on, “But it was Liao Lan who told me back then that Ren Muhui had gone to H City for a trip. He said he and Ren Muhui were very close, and that’s why Ren Muhui told him.”

Hearing this, Ren Chenxi curled her lip in disdain. Tsk, this Liao Lan is truly disgusting. Before the apocalypse, he liked to take advantage of others, and after the apocalypse, he’s still using other people’s names to take advantage!

“Give me a break. That Liao Lan claims to be close with everyone! My brother did think about going to H City for a trip, but he didn’t tell him. He told a few friends, and this Liao Lan just happened to overhear. Besides, isn’t my brother not in H City? So Liao Lan’s intel was wrong. My brother went to the great grasslands first, then traveled all the way south to Y Province…”

“Then… why didn’t he come back to school when the semester started?”

“…” Because he was having too much fun and forgot the time, obviously! Ren Chenxi turned her face away, avoiding Mu Ning’s gaze, and said in a stiff voice, “How should I know what my brother was thinking! He’s not around anymore, so why do you care so much!”

“…” Reminded once again of the “fact” of Ren Muhui’s death, Mu Ning’s spirits sank.

Over on the side, Chen Gu had finished explaining the base’s two major factions. Finally, he specifically emphasized and warned the newcomers that people like them, who had just arrived,¹⁰ must never, ever provoke anyone from Fan Juntian’s faction, nor should they mix with them.

“The people who hang around Fan Juntian are all psychos and lunatics!”

Hearing Chen Gu’s words, Ren Chenxi subconsciously asked, “Is it because they all do drugs?”

Before the apocalypse, Fan Juntian had used dirty tricks on her, and Ren Chenxi had made him reap what he sowed.¹¹ Later, Fan Juntian publicly claimed he was taking a leave of absence from school due to illness, but Ren Chenxi was certain he had been sent to mandatory drug rehab. But, was a drug addiction that easy to kick? Ren Chenxi didn’t believe for a second that someone like Fan Juntian had strong enough willpower to fight a drug addiction.

Ren Chenxi was certain that Fan Juntian hadn’t kicked his addiction at all. On the contrary, it had gotten worse. Never mind that after two years, despite still having good living conditions, Fan Juntian had lost a significant amount of weight, had dark circles under his eyes, sunken eye sockets, and a sallow complexion. Just by looking at the debuff¹² next to Fan Juntian’s health bar, Ren Chenxi could determine that he was definitely still using drugs.

The debuff displayed “Drug Addiction,” and in the bottom right corner was a small number “5.” A five-stack drug addiction debuff.

The moment Ren Chenxi’s words fell, the surroundings were plunged into silence. The newcomers were shocked by her question. Even after surviving two years in the apocalypse and witnessing all sorts of weirdos and scum, drug use… was something they had never actually encountered.

As for Chen Gu and his group, they were stunned by Ren Chenxi’s sharp perception. To be honest, while they knew that Fan Juntian and his cronies were using drugs, most of the other survivors in the base were completely unaware.

So, the question was, if the base’s survivors didn’t know about Fan Juntian’s drug use, how could a newcomer like Ren Chenxi possibly know?

The author has something to say:

Happy Chuxi (Chinese New Year’s Eve), everyone~ At this hour, I bet you’ve all finished your reunion dinner and are watching the Spring Festival Gala with your families hahahaha~¹³

This author is keeping their promise~ A double update tonight~

Footnotes

The original phrase is 自作主张 (zì zuò zhǔ zhāng), an idiom for making a decision without consulting others or seeking permission.
The original phrase is 惺惺作态 (xīng xīng zuò tài), an idiom for feigning or putting on an act, often of affection or concern.
The original term is 狗腿子 (gǒu tuǐ zi), lit. ‘dog legs,’ a derogatory term for a henchman or follower.
The original phrase is 没脸没皮 (méi liǎn méi pí), lit. ‘no face, no skin,’ an idiom meaning shameless or thick-skinned.
The original phrase is 好心没好报 (hǎo xīn méi hǎo bào), an idiom meaning that good intentions are not rewarded.
A squat toilet is a type of toilet used in a squatting position, common in many parts of Asia.
The original phrase is 手脚还不干净 (shǒu jiǎo hái bù gān jìng), lit. ‘hands and feet are not clean,’ an idiom for being prone to stealing.
The original phrase is 强取豪夺 (qiáng qǔ háo duó), an idiom meaning to seize something by force or plunder.
The original term is 一把手 (yī bǎ shǒu), lit. ‘number one hand,’ a colloquial term for the person in charge.
The original phrase is 初来乍到 (chū lái zhà dào), an idiom for being a newcomer to a place.
The original phrase is 自食其果 (zì shí qí guǒ), lit. ‘to eat one’s own fruit,’ an idiom meaning to suffer the consequences of one’s own actions.
A term from gaming that refers to a negative status effect applied to a character, weakening them in some way.
Chuxi is Chinese New Year’s Eve. It is traditionally celebrated with a large family reunion dinner (nianyefan) and by watching the Spring Festival Gala (Chunwan), a popular televised event.

Footnotes

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