2.1 Crushing Hunger

A/N: Welcome to the second arc! From now on, author will keep the narrator's name Lu Yizhou except when the story is told from another's perspective. Enjoy~

Arc 2: Your Wish Is My Command

"I want nothing except you so... don't you dare let go of me."

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When Lu Yizhou opened his eyes again, he was faced with a familiar ceiling. He turned his head stiffly and saw the scene he thought he could never see again; his room. His house. The place he lived in for more than ten years in real life.

Slowly, he sat up and the bed creaked underneath him. Everything was exactly the same as how he left. The bloodied shirt on the clothes hanger, the empty mini bed for his cat, the newly washed bowl and the broken shards of glass on the pantry floor.

It was as if his life as CEO Lu Yizhou for twelve years was merely a dream. Lu Yizhou's mind turned blank for a moment. What happened? Was everything just a dream? His suicide, the simulator system, Ren Zexi… was everything just a fantasy he conjured in his sleep?

He clenched his fists as his heart slowly turned cold.

How could that be…? He could still vividly remember the sensation of losing his breath, the abnormal palpitations and chill that gradually seeped from his fingertips to his whole body. It was so, so cold that he involuntarily gave a shudder.

If everything was just a dream, then…

—the thing he ought to do was to make it into reality.

He had just wanted to get off the bed when a familiar shriek echoed in his mind.

[666: HOST, YOU'RE AWAKEE!!!]

Lu Yizhou froze and slowly, his body relaxed and he let go of the breath he was holding. "...Where am I? This is not my house, isn't it?"

[666: No-pe! ^^ Welcome to the rest station. You have successfully completed the first mission so you can rest here for a while until you're ready to go again. Everyone's rest station looks different because the simulator extracts your memory and recreates the place that's the most intimate and comfortable to you! BUT, you can only stay in this space, other places are off limits!]

The place that was the most intimate and comfortable to him? Lu Yizhou lowered his eyes, the corner of his eyes lifted slightly into a sardonic smile. This was none other than the place he used to sleep but to think that it had become the most intimate place according to the simulator which messed with his brainwaves...it was quite laughable.

He glanced out of the window and saw, as 666 said, the off-limit space that was covered by a vast expanse of whiteness. Well, it wasn't like he was curious enough to venture outside nor did he want to know more.

[666: Host…? Are you not satisfied with this place? Shall 666 change it for you?]

"No need," he said quietly. "Everywhere is the same. How long am I going to stay here?"

[666: For first timers, you're given seven days' off but after that, you can only rest for three days. Now, Host, let's enjoy this vacation to your heart's content! Do you have something you want to do or maybe, food you want to eat? Everything is free of charge!]

"How kind of you." Lu Yizhou said in an impassive tone.

[666: You're very welcome!]

...He meant it to be sarcastic. Well, whatever. Lu Yizhou sighed. "I can have whatever I want? Then first, give me junk food, whatever you have in store." He didn't expect how much he craved those things either. Try to live as a congenital heart disease patient who even had to measure water intake for twelve years and you would know how Lu Yizhou felt.

[666: Bon appetit~]

Poof! A table of food appeared in front of Lu Yizhou. From golden crisp fried chicken, hamburger, fish and chips, bacon, pizza, soft drinks, to cake and biscuits, chocolate, sweets, everything was present. Lu Yizhou nodded in satisfaction and started to dig in.

[666: While you eat, 666 will calculate the reward for you!]

[System notification: Ding! Processing the data... Calculating the first simulation's result…]

[Successfully completed the mission +1000 points, received additional rewards Effective Sleeping Pills x 30 and Permanent Skill "360 Beauty Pack Filter"! This is a special reward for your generous purchase in our store. No one has ever received it before oh~]

Lu Yizhou's hand holding the chicken drumstick paused. What did it say? 360...Beauty Pack Filter? What the fuck was that?

[Fulfilled the villain's wish +500 points, received additional reward Permanent Skill "Devil's Whisper"! This is a special reward for your generous purchase in our store. No one has ever received it before oh~]

[666: Oh my Admin God, Host! You're so lucky! The purchase last time isn't a waste at all! It becomes your permanent skill instead ahhh!!! 666 is so excited!!!]

Lu Yizhou wasn't given any chance to react when the familiar chime rang once again.

[System Notification: Ding! Calculating the Host's willmeter…]

A long bar appeared in front of Lu Yizhou. It was similar to the HP Bar that was often found in games. The willmeter slowly rose. 1%...5%...7%...

[666: Oh, oh, oh! This is the most anticipated moment in 666's life. Judging from how you're so bent on failing, Host, 666 never expected that your willmeter would go past 10% only in the first world—ah, wait a minute! What is that?! How...How can there be two different colors?!]

The cool, deep blue shining like brilliant sapphire slowly rose until 4% before another color appeared; a blazing gold like boiling molten lava with faint streaks of red to it. They complemented each other and pushed the willmeter up until it gradually stopped at 12%.

[666: Ah...? 666 has never seen something like this before. Should I go and ask Admin God for—]

[System notification: Warning! An anomaly is detected! The willmeter is depleting 12%...11%...10%...]

The molten lava that served as the base quickly plummeted whilst the sapphire blue remained the same.

[666: AAAAH!! What happened?! 666 has never heard that the willmeter can go down like this!!! Stop! Stop decreasing!!]

As if heeding 666's words, the willmeter slowly stopped at 7%. 666 let out a loud sigh of relief, its emotion fluctuated madly like a rollercoaster, making its processor grow hot again due to overload.

Lu Yizhou, who was silent, suddenly spoke. "This has never happened before?"

[666: No! Once the willmeter goes up, it won't sink down again! It is programmed this way from the start so there must be some kind of bug here! No, 666 must report it to Admin God!]

Lu Yizhou only hummed, lowered his head and continued eating. However, his speed was much lower than usual as his mind wandered off somewhere. He filled his tummy until he was satisfied and stood up. "Let's go."

[666: Ah? Go—Go where?]

"To the next world."

[666: N—Nanii?! ヽ(°〇°)ﾉHost, you haven't even rested for a day and you already want to go?!]

"Shut up." Lu Yizhou hissed. "I have said it since the beginning but you're truly noisy. Is every system as noisy as you?"

[666: Nooo QAQ how can we be the same? 666 is the cutest, most handsome and unique system! Just look at my codename: 666! That's very 666[1]!]

Lu Yizhou pretended as if he heard nothing. "What's the next world about? Another modern? Or apocalypse?"

Albeit sobbing, 666 still obediently answered. [666 doesn't know either. The simulator is completely random and the plot will only be given to 666 after we arrive. If Host is ready then... let's go!]

In the next second, a familiar vertigo overwhelmed Lu Yizhou and he shut his eyes firmly, jaws tightening. His back abruptly bumped against a solid and rough surface and a faint breeze carrying the heavy scent of grass and soil drifted into his nose. He bent over, panting, and a strange heavy sensation fell over his shoulders like a bowl of silk. Nonetheless, Lu Yizhou couldn't care less about that or even about his surroundings as all his senses were wholly focused on crushing, earth-shattering hunger that nearly consumed his mind.

So hungry! So hungry! So hungry! So hungry!

He wanted to eat! Anything was fine as long as he could pad his stomach. This was the first time Lu Yizhou knew that someone could starve like this. It was as if he hadn't eaten for thousands of years.

How could it be?! He had just eaten less than two minutes ago!

He retched yet nothing came out of his awfully parched throat. With his mind fuzzy, he reached out to hold onto the nearest thing to him for support. However, his hand barely pressed on the rough, solid surface beside him when it instantly crumbled to chunks like a mash potato. As a result, Lu Yizhou stumbled and fell onto the ground, his sight blurry.

[666: Oh my Admin God!!! Host, what happened to you?! ARE YOU OKAY?!!]

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[1] In China, 666 means 'cool' or 'swag' so 666 means that it's a very cool and swag system :)