Chapter 23 - What’s a Genius? I’d Rather Discuss the Game

Translator: Noodletown Translations Editor: Noodletown Translations

For the players in this world, Resident Evil One was on the same level as epic poetry!

Its plot was simple, but it played on classic heroism, in which a player went in to save all his or her teammates. Popular novels weren’t even brave enough to make their main characters so audacious because the slightest writing mistake would make the entire novel seem unrealistic.

However, Resident Evil One was different; its progress depended on the players themselves, making it incredibly easy to believe!

Moreover, the details were amazing, and each character was depicted perfectly!

After Fang Qi passed the game, the others continued their paths toward the end. Every experience they encountered and every teammate they met were as real as it could be.

Bravo Team’s medic, Rebecca, was a typical example. This seemingly weak young woman was intelligent and extremely helpful throughout the game. She would provide medical assistance and could create any type of medicine. She even helped the main characters during the process of mystery solving.

Barry, who came with Jill, was extremely strong as well. He had a powerful Magnum Revolver and was an experienced middle-aged man who helped Jill out whenever she was in trouble.

There was also Richard, who risked his life to save the player. His death brought tears to both the female and male players’ eyes.

During this time, game forums didn’t exist. Nevertheless, it didn’t stop the players in this world from discussing the plot of the game.

To them, the world that Resident Evil was set in was bizarre and grotesque, making them more curious and more adventurous than ever.

Moreover, the hard-to-achieve levels were highly topical.

– Wind and Moon Pavilion –

Yunshan Tavern and the Wind and Moon Pavilion were both restaurants, but the latter was one of the best in Jiuhua City.

This pavilion was located in the busiest part of the city. The tables and chairs were made of thousand-year pear wood, and the restaurant was both elegant and flashy. All customers were either rich or of prestigious backgrounds. Even a few cultivators could be seen in there.

“Zixin, you don’t usually come here; why did you pick this restaurant today?” A young girl in a green dress sat down across from Xu Zixin; it was Shen Qingqing. She muttered quietly, “I’m so mad. I can’t believe that they ran out of spots so early in the morning!”

“Don’t mention it!” Xu Zixin picked up her teacup and took a small sip. The Longjing tea leaves were extremely fresh and fragrant, and it somewhat ameliorated her depressed mood as she glanced out the window.

“Then, let’s talk about Resident Evil,” Shen Qingqing chuckled, “You never told me how those zombies came to be.”

“Oh, that...” It was obvious that Xu Zixin wasn’t against this topic. Plus, it seemed like the perfect way to pass time at this moment. “I think it was because of a really powerful virus called the T-Virus... All animals, plants, and humans that were infected by this virus will mutate.”

“It’s so powerful...” Shen Qingqing couldn’t help but look worried. “Will that virus spread? If it does, everyone in Racoon City will suffer, right...”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Didn’t you see the ending when the owner was playing?” Xu Zixin couldn’t help but laugh. “That mansion exploded, so the virus can’t spread anymore.”

“You’re right!” Upon hearing this, Shen Qingqing felt more at ease.

Not far away from them, a couple people were discussing Resident Evil as well.

From their age and outfits, one could tell that they were students of Lingyun Academy as well.

A young man in white was sitting with a girl in white and a few other people. If Song Qingfeng saw these two in white, he would immediately recognize them; they were Xi Qi and Xi Xiaoyun.

“Song Qingfeng and the others went so early!” Xi Qi said as he slapped the table angrily. “Shame on Origins Internet Club for running out of seats so early in the morning! How are there so many people?”

“Young Master Xi, forget about it,” a square-faced young man said, “They can only play for six hours a day. Let’s go later; there’s bound to be seats for us then.”

“Why can’t the owner set the f*cking playtime to one hour?” Xi Qi said unhappily.

“If he can restrict Song Qingfeng and the others’ time to one hour and let us play for 12 hours a day, hahaha... It makes me happy just thinking about it!” The square-faced young man began fantasizing.

“If that is the case...” Xi Qi smiled as well as his mood lightened up. “You’re right; they only have six hours. By then, they’ll have to hand their seats over to us.”

“Oh, Wang Yuanjiang, where are you at in the game?” He looked at the square-faced man and asked, “Let’s talk about the techniques and skills in Resident Evil; we can’t let Song Qingfeng and the others take all the glory!”

Game forums didn’t exist right now, so they discussed amongst themselves like little offline forums.

“Resident Evil? Origins?” a man around 30 years of age, sitting not far from the group of people, repeated in confusion, “What a weird name...”

He casually ate his dishes as he listened to them talk about something he never heard of.

Nalan Mingxue, who was in Class A of the Huang House at Lingyun Academy, was known as an unprecedented talent who came by once in a century by all the teachers at the academy!

(TL NOTE: As we mentioned before, there are four houses, Heaven House, Earth House, Xuan House, and Huang House. They are similar to grades in school; Huang House is the lowest grade, and Heaven House is the highest grade. Also, there four are four classes, A, B, C, D. Class A had the best students and Class D had the worst students.)

People like Song Qingfeng, who had just broken through his Body-Forging Realm and became a warrior, were already considered the pride of Lingyun Academy. Nalan Mingxue, however, was at the late-stage of the Warrior Realm and was about to advance to the Master Warrior Realm!

None of the other students could compare to her horrific talent! She was bound to be promoted to the Xuan House, sooner or later!

Her eyes sparkled, and her teeth and skin were white and pearly.

Unlike normal pretty girls whose lips were light pink, her lips were pale and snow-white.

However, she didn’t look weak or sickly. Rather, her lips made her look cold and elegant.

Her expression was as cold as the snow, and her entire body emitted an icy chill, stopping those who wanted to approach her.

If the students of Class A were stars, then she would be the moon, shaming all the stars as it shone brightly in the sky!

Students like her usually lived deep within the city and rarely showed themselves. Whenever she appeared in public, she would immediately become the center of attention.

However, she noticed that things were different from her expectations today.

Over the past few days, the students had only been talking about things like ‘tyrant’, ‘rocket launcher’, and ‘zombies’. She didn’t understand what they were talking about!

Now, a dozen or so students were gathered at Wind and Moon Pavilion, talking about these topics loudly, as if no one else was there.

“These people are blind!” A girl in black sitting beside Nalan Mingxue snorted in disdain as she glared at these students. “Ms. Nalan, let’s go.”

“No.” Nalan Mingxue shook her head gently; she didn’t want to leave because she thought what they were talking about was interesting.

Usually, all the other students would suck up to a genius like her; they shouldn’t be treating her as if she didn’t exist!

Although she only recently enrolled in Lingyun Academy, she was an ambitious woman. She thought that with her skills, all she needed to do was to exert some effort before all the so-called geniuses of Class A would listen to her. But now...

“Let’s go listen to what they’re talking about.”

Curious, she stopped before the students.

“I think we need to marry a woman like Rebecca in the future. She’s gentle, caring, smart, and cute...” a square-faced young man blabbed on and on.

“Hahaha! Are you seriously lusting after Rebecca? I think the female zombie suits you best!”

“A female hunter’s not bad, either!”

“Screw you guys!” The young man was immediately furious from embarrassment. “Once I get the rocket launcher, I’m going to blow you guys up into pieces!”

“The owner said that we have to use Chris or Jill to get the Tyrant into the Second Form before we can get the rocket launcher. Otherwise, even if you obtain it, you won’t get the chance to use it. With your skills, you’re going to need another hundred years of practice! Get the shotgun first before fantasizing about the rocket launcher!”

“Oh, did you hear that Song Qingfeng and his buddies figured out how to obtain the shotgun and Magnum Revolver?”

“They figured that out so fast?”

“It’s not fast at all! I heard Song Qingfeng and the others used all sorts of methods to try to get the shotgun, including stopping the door. But, they always fell into the trap and died. In the end, Wang Tai told them how to do it... I guess they gave him something in return...”

“That’s good enough for me! The Magnum Revolver is the ultimate weapon the owner used to fight the Tyrant!”

Nalan Mingxue’s curved eyebrows furrowed upon hearing all this.

“I’m sorry, may I interrupt?” The girl in black quickly went up to ask the group, “What are you all talking about?”

“We’re talking about a game at Origins Internet Club, located in the east of the city.” Upon seeing Nalan Mingxue, the square-faced young man immediately turned around in shock and replied politely.

“Game?” Nalan Mingxue frowned; this answer was completely out of her expectations.

“They’re paying excessive attention to games!” The girl in black looked at the group of people in disdain before sneering, “As talents of Lingyun Academy, I can’t believe how much they’re slacking off! Ms. Nalan, let’s ignore them!”

“No,” Nalan Mingxue smiled, “It’s weird.”

“Weird?” The girl in black repeated, “What’s weird?”

Nalan Mingxue’s eyes emitted the lights of wisdom. “If it’s just a couple of people who are paying excessive attention to games, then the majority of the people shouldn’t be talking about the same thing. It must be more than a game.”

She would understand if only one or two people were obsessed with a game. But right now, so many students were addicted to it!

It was somewhat hard to believe.

“Let’s go sometime.”

“You want to go there?” The girl in black immediately became anxious. “You shouldn’t go to a place that has already bewitched so many people! It’s too risky; let me go instead.”

“What’s there to worry about? It’s in the city,” Nalan Mingxue lightly smiled and said, “Don’t worry, let’s go check it out tomorrow. Lanyan, come with me, okay?”

...