Looking past the dilapidated bus stop in the direction indicated by the weathered road sign, the Chaosheng Apartments complex stood not far away.
It was an old six-story residential building. The exterior walls were peeling and mottled, with large patches of plaster fallen off to expose the dark red bricks underneath. Thick dust covered some of the window panes, while a few others were crudely patched up with plastic sheets.
The group walked toward the apartments, stepping over the uneven concrete ground below the platform. After only a few steps, the rhythmic sound of crashing waves echoed in their ears.
Bai Ci turned her head and saw that the apartments were separated from the sea only by a two-lane road. Across the street lay a low seawall. Although it wasn't extremely close, they could clearly see the churning white foam. Against the backdrop of the leaden sky, the murky seawater gleamed with a dull, dark light.
“So that's how Chaosheng Apartments got its name. The sound of the tide is really loud,” Zhao Lei couldn't help but mutter.
“Being so close to the sea is why the air is so damp,” Wang Qiang agreed, nodding as he turned to look at everyone. “Now that we've arrived, let's get our stories straight before we look for the manager, just so we don't slip up later.”
Bai Ci had already thought of this, so she immediately chimed in, “I came up with a cover story on the way here. We can pretend to be colleagues from the same company who agreed to rent a place together. The excuse can be that renting as a group helps us negotiate a better deal with the landlord, and we can commute together and look out for one another.”
She paused, looking at the others. “This explanation is quite natural, and it also explains why we showed up together. What do you think?”
“Works for me!” Zhao Lei was the first to agree. “But I've never worked a job before. What do you office folks think?”
Lin Wenyu leaned against an old locust tree by the roadside, her hands tucked into her leather jacket pockets. She gave a slight nod of approval without speaking, her eyes conveying agreement.
Wang Qiang didn't object either and added, “We'll say we work at a standard office building downtown. No need to go into detail about the company name; if anyone asks, just say it's a 'small company, not worth mentioning' to avoid making mistakes. Also, we've already confirmed each other's names, so make sure not to use the wrong ones when the time comes.”
Su Xiao quietly repeated the details a few times under her breath, only nodding gently once she was sure she had memorized them.
Wang Qiang looked at the two of them, then at Bai Ci and Lin Wenyu. “Are you two good with this?”
“No problem,” Bai Ci replied.
Lin Wenyu finally spoke up as well. Her tone was still cold, but her pace was slightly faster than before. “Yes, no problem.” As she said this, she seemed to subconsciously straighten her posture.
The group went over their story a couple more times. Once they were sure everyone had it down, they resumed walking toward the apartments.
Suddenly, Zhao Lei let out an exclamation and slapped his forehead, a look of panic washing over his face. “Oh no! I forgot something really important!”
Startled by his outburst, Su Xiao instinctively shrank closer to Wang Qiang.
Wang Qiang frowned and asked, “What is it? Why the panic?”
“The rent!” Zhao Lei stamped his foot. “We're renting a place, so we need money, right? Aside from the business card and notebook the instance gave me, I don't have a single cent on me! We can't exactly tell the landlord we'll pay them later. Do you guys have any money?”
At his words, Su Xiao also panicked. She instinctively clutched her canvas bag, her face turning even paler. “I... I don't have any money either.”
Seeing this, Wang Qiang couldn't help but chuckle. He pulled a black smartphone from his pocket and held it out to Zhao Lei. “Don't panic. These instance games usually provide us with supplies matching our identities. Check your pockets; you should have a phone too.”
Half-skeptical, Zhao Lei reached into his tracksuit pocket and indeed pulled out a standard-looking smartphone.
“There's actually money!” Zhao Lei let out a sigh of relief, his face lighting up with excitement again. “1,500 yuan! That's enough to rent a small single room for ten days to half a month!”
“Everyone's budget should be the same. Check yours,” Wang Qiang said.
Bai Ci and Su Xiao retrieved their phones as well. Sure enough, their digital wallets each contained 1,500 yuan of instance currency.
Lin Wenyu merely tapped the phone in her pocket casually without pulling it out, clearly having known about this beforehand.
“Now that the money issue is solved, let's go find the manager to rent some rooms first.” Wang Qiang put away his phone and looked up at the apartment building in front of them. “This is an old-style tenement building, five stories high, and it looks quite dated. We only need to rent two rooms—one for the guys and one for the girls. That way, we can look out for each other while still having our own space.”
Zhao Lei raised both hands in agreement. “No problem! I'll share a room with Brother Wang, and Sister Bai, Sister Lin, and little sister Su can share the other. Perfect!”
Su Xiao also gave a quiet nod, raising no objections to the arrangement.
Just then, Lin Wenyu, who had been mostly quiet, spoke up. Her tone remained cold, but it carried a touch more firmness than before. “No, I'll rent a room by myself.”
Zhao Lei blinked, asking in confusion, “Sister Lin, you want to live alone? Isn't that a bit of a waste of money? Plus, it's safer for us to stay together since there are more of us.”
Wang Qiang also frowned and advised, “Xiao Lin, we're operating as a team, so staying close makes it easier to look out for each other. If you live alone, what if you run into danger?”
Lin Wenyu pulled a silver card from her pocket and waved it in front of them. “I have this. You don't need to worry about my rent.”
The others looked curiously at the card. It bore no patterns or text and looked entirely ordinary, except for a faint blue glow outlining its edges. It was clearly a game item.
“This is a Universal Bank Card item. It can generate extra instance currency of a corresponding value, which is more than enough for me to rent a room on my own,” Lin Wenyu explained quickly before putting the card away, seemingly reluctant to elaborate.
“There's an item like that? That's awesome!” Zhao Lei's eyes went wide with envy. “Sister Lin, how did you get this item? Was it an instance reward?”
Lin Wenyu didn't answer his question. She simply turned her head slightly, avoiding his gaze, her tone remaining detached. “Don't worry about it. I'll just stay in a room by myself. You guys rent yours.”
Bai Ci watched Lin Wenyu, her eyes flickering slightly. Although Lin Wenyu hadn't spoken much and had a cold demeanor, she had been cooperative with the team's arrangements up until now. Her sudden demand to live alone was indeed somewhat unusual.
However, she didn't pry. Everyone had their secrets. In an instance where life and death hung in the balance, as long as it didn't affect their cooperation, there was no need to dig into someone else's private affairs. Still, if Lin Wenyu lived alone, Bai Ci would have to shoulder more responsibility in looking after Su Xiao.
Tsk...
“Since you have a way to cover your rent, I'll respect your choice. I'll keep an eye on Su Xiao,” Bai Ci said, breaking the silence. “But don't stay too far away. It's best if we're on the same floor so we can reach each other quickly if anything happens.”
Lin Wenyu hadn't expected Bai Ci to agree so readily. She was taken aback for a moment before nodding. “Alright.”
Seeing Lin Wenyu's resolve and with Bai Ci's agreement, Wang Qiang stopped trying to persuade her. After all, everyone had their own habits and concerns. Since Lin Wenyu could afford to rent a room alone and insisted on doing so, they couldn't interfere too much.
He simply advised her, “Just stay safe, then. Contact us immediately if anything happens.”
Rate on N.U.
