Chapter 86
Mo Yi turned on the faucet. The cold water splashed continuously into the smooth porcelain white sink, the crystal clear water droplets reflecting the lights above his head. He slid his palm into the column of water and the cold water trickled between his fingers and along his knuckles, the impact against his skin bringing slight twinges of pain.
The water slowly became warm, then hot.
Snow-white water vapour rose slowly from the water collecting in the basin. The back of his pale hands and fingertips were slightly reddened by the temperature.
Mo Yi scooped the water to wash his face. The moderately hot water awakened every inch of skin on his face, the heat slowly diffusing deep into the flesh along the places of contact between his fingertips and face.
Even after leaving the instance, the bone-deep chill resulting from extreme blood loss still had yet to disappear. The cold felt as if it came from within him, as if the insides of his body were still exposed to a bout of whistling cold wind, as if his soul was still being eroded by exhaustion and pain.
This was the result of a near-death experience.
His endurance was strong enough to make him appear unaffected before others, even if his cold fingertips were trembling.
Mo Yi took the towel hanging next to the sink and wiped his face hastily. Feeling his nerves being warmed up by the hot water, he exhaled deeply then took off his clothes.
The warm water vapour condensed on his skin, forming tiny glistening water droplets.
Mo Yi’s eyes froze. His gaze landed on a specific location in the mirror—the ribbon that was a gift package for beginners was still wrapped around his wrist.
Lowering his head, he untied the ribbon.
The texture of the cloth was as smooth as flowing water, and with it being warmed from his body temperature, it was increasingly easy to untie.
Mo Yi paused when he was just about to put it on the washstand beside him.
The silver-white cloth rippled with his movement, revealing a bloodstain. It resembled a sudden hint of crimson seeping into gentle white snow, or the vermillion tail of a red fish tumbling in the snow-white waves.
He was taken aback: rationally speaking, blood from injuries sustained in the instance would not be left on the player’s clothes when they returned to the real world.
Mo Yi unfolded the long ribbon. There were several bright red threads running through the shiny silver-white surface, from one end all the way to the other, which looked extraordinarily beautiful.
He counted, there were three red threads in total.
—And he happened to have entered three instances.
Mo Yi pursed his pale lips. The steam had imbued his bloodless face with a sickly flush, and his deep black eyes with a film of moisture.
Interesting.
He hooked the corners of his lips up. Placing the ribbon on the washstand, he stepped in and turned on the shower.
The rushing current of water fell on the top of his head, warming his body up as it dispelled the sticky feeling of sweat on his body.
Mo Yi opened the door, dripping water from the strands of wet black hair clinging to his cheeks. The warm water vapour and the faint scent of shampoo escaped through the gap.
He looked to his bedside.
The Mist was still sitting there. His aggressive facial features were expressionless, his eyelids drooping slightly, and his pale slender fingers were sliding across the lit screen.
Sound effects from Snakes blared loudly through the empty room.
Mo Yi didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. He honestly didn’t expect that the other party would really obediently play Snakes while waiting for him to finish taking a bath.
Having noticed the door opening, the Mist glanced over. His fingers halted and the sound of a snake biting its tail followed—GAME OVER.
Mo Yi felt his interest piqued. He tossed the towel on his head, casually wiping his dripping hair as he walked over to the Mist and pulled his mobile phone out from the opponent’s hand.
He gestured with his chin. “Shift a little over.”
Stunned, the Mist numbly moved.
Mo Yi sat down next to him. Holding the cold metal case of the phone with fingers warmed by the water vapour, he tapped the screen with his slender fingers and restarted Snakes.
The moist fingertips were a light shade of pink from the shower. They danced flexibly on the screen of the phone, their reaction speed surprisingly quick.
The Mist’s light grey eyes darkened, staring at him intently.
Mo Yi had his head lowered, his damp black hair sticking to his fair profile, his lips pursed into a tight line. Light and shadow flashed across his dark eyes along with the movements on the small screen in his hand.
The clean scent from his body mixed with the light fragrance of his shampoo, resembled the calming smell of grass in the forest after a bout of rain, warm and intoxicating.
There was a flicker in the depths of the Mist’s eyes, and he imperceptibly drew a little closer.
A brief heat came from the point of contact between their limbs. He could hear Mo Yi’s shallow and regular breathing, see the fine hairs on the man’s profile, dyed golden in the morning light.
A small smile flitted across the Mist’s eyes. He lowered his head to focus on the flickering screen in Mo Yi’s hand.
It seemed rather comical. The monotonous sound effects of the game filled the silent room.
Two normal-sized adults were squeezed together on the same bed, both staring intently at the monochromatic Snake interface on the screen, one playing and the other watching.
Mo Yi’s finger flicked across the screen a few times. The long monochromatic body of the greedy snake finally filled the entire screen, and a cheerful jingle leapt out as the game interface flickered.
YOU WIN!
Mo Yi raised the corners of his lips, showing a smile, and raised his hand to show the Mist the screen in his hand.
His dark eyes were lit up with a simple child-like happiness.
He tossed his heated phone back to the Mist, then stood up and? rolled his somewhat stiff shoulders.
“This kind of graphics game is more comfortable to play on the old-fashioned flip phone. It’s a pity that flip phones and this game are gone now.”
Mo Yi paused, and then continued to explain.
“The Snake in my phone was programmed and imported by myself. Though it might be quite difficult to play it on the touch screen interface, it’s still pretty doable after getting used to it.”
Mo Yi bent at the waist, picking up the wet towel that he had tossed on the bed earlier, and frowned at the resulting wet patch left on the wrinkled and soft bed.
He seemed to think of something, and looked at the Mist. “Do you want it? A mobile phone?”
Mo Yi paused, then added, “Don’t worry about money.”
As an ex-top hacker in the world, money was just a bunch of meaningless numbers in his bank account. He didn’t even need to do anything more, the money he’d earned before his retirement was enough for him to squander for several lifetimes.
It was just that he didn’t have much material desire so he hadn’t used much in the past few years.
Yet before the Mist could answer, Mo Yi had already shaken his head.
“The ones sold on the market are too restrictive and unsafe. I’d better go and customise one for you.”
There was a hint of a suppressed smile in the depths of the Mist’s eyes. He stood up, taking the wet towel from Mo Yi. With a slight movement from his slender fingers, the dampness evaporated instantly, leaving the surface of the towel dry and soft again.
He placed the dry towel back on Mo Yi’s head and wiped his damp hair.
“Can it be the same as yours?”
Mo Yi was stunned by the towel suddenly landing on his head and subconsciously leaned away, avoiding the hands reaching out to him.
“That’s… That’s fine.”
The Mist’s stern facial features softened, his light grey eyes narrowing in satisfaction.
“That’s good.”
Mo Yi subconsciously wiped at his half-dry hair with the towel on his head, then pulled the dried towel away and held it up between his fingers curiously.
“You dried this?”
The Mist nodded.
A hint of interest flashed across Mo Yi’s face. He looked up at the Mist and continued asking curiously, “Apart from this, what else can you do in the real world?”
The other party shook his head and replied calmly, “Nothing else. In the real world, my strength is insufficient. Maintaining this appearance is already a challenge.”
Mo Yi regretfully touched the half-dry towel in his hand. He did not continue to pursue this topic but just casually slung the towel over his shoulder, and asked as he walked away, “Do you need to eat anything in this state?”
A magnetic voice that seemed to have a metallic texture came from behind him. “No need.”
Mo Yi’s footsteps halted. As though he had just recalled something, he turned back to the Mist who was still standing by the bed, perplexed.
“Since we will be bound together for a long time, how should I address you in the future?”
He still remembered that at the beginning of the last dungeon, he asked Misty’s name, and his answer at that time was:
【I don’t have a name. 】
The Mist had his back to the window. The sunlight streaming in blurred the outline of his slender and straight figure. Chuckling, he replied.
“Anything you want.”
Mo Yi furrowed his brows, pretending to be guileless as he pressed on.
“I remember that in the first instance, the hint about you in the game was that you were the nameless fog, but…you aren’t the outer god in the Cthulhu mythology, right?”
The Mist nodded.
Mo Yi breathed a sigh of relief and he lowered the guard he had raised since the first instance—according to his understanding of the various aspects of the Cthulhu mythology, if the other party was really the nameless fog in it, then what he should be worried about would be the fate of the entire human race.
He had originally intended to continue inquiring further on this topic, but after he opened his mouth, he realised that he couldn’t continue to speak.
—This game was prohibiting him from delving deeper.
Mo Yi’s expression darkened. However, he had just answered a nagging question which had plagued him for a long time, so he was in a good mood.
He quickly adjusted his mentality and changed the subject.
“Then… perhaps you can think of a name yourself?”
The Mist still had a calm and indifferent expression, but the pair of light grey eyes focusing solely on Mo Yi were now laced with the hint of a slight smile.
“Or, you could give me one.”
The author has something to say:
Greedy Snake: You two childish brats.
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