"Yan Zhun, how did you lose half your health?" Luo Qingshan asked, looking at the bottom-left corner.

Yan Zhun: "Hit a tree."

Luo Qingshan let out a laugh. "An expert like you hits trees too... But Babe, how do you know Little Zhun's name?"

Pei Ran loaded his M416. "I heard you say it."

Luo Qingshan opened his inventory. "Alright then, the AK has a lot of recoil, so you might not be used to it. Here, pick up the gun stock on the ground and attach it to your gun."

"No need." Pei Ran mimicked Yan Zhun's earlier move and vaulted out of the house window. "The gun Yan Zhun gave me is fully kitted."

Yan Zhun parked the car under a tree, picked up a bottle of mineral water beside him, twisted it open, and took a sip.

The zone shift was very unfriendly. Luo Qingshan opened the map for a look; they had to cross more than half the map to get into the Safe Zone.

The most infuriating thing was that it wasn't just the car he had been in; all the other vehicles on the road had their tires shot out too.

"Fuck, who the hell is so shameless, shooting out all the tires?!" Luo Qingshan cursed as he ran from the zone. "Didn't we wipe the team at the airport? Could a lone wolf have gotten away?"

"Don't you always shoot out the tires of cars on the roadside when you're running from the zone?" Su Nian said.

Luo Qingshan laughed and cursed, "Fuck." Only then did he realize that the number two icon was still at the airport. "Babe, what are you doing? Still not running from the zone?"

After getting no response for a while, Luo Qingshan glanced at his health bar. "Su Nian, you go in first. He might have disconnected. I'll go back to revive him. If you find a car on the way, drive back to pick us up..."

Pei Ran hung up the phone. "No need, I'm back. You guys run first."

Luo Qingshan asked, "Do you have any meds?"

"Yes." Pei Ran used a First-Aid Kit.

Luo Qingshan was finally relieved. He glanced at the map. "Yan Zhun, you didn't see any four-wheelers on the way?"

"No."

"Then you should have at least picked one of us up. What's the point of running into the circle by yourself?"

"Coming." Yan Zhun turned his motorcycle around.

The person closest to him was Su Nian. When the motorcycle approached, Su Nian deliberately stopped to get on, only to see the motorcycle pass right by him without slowing down at all.

Pei Ran watched as Yan Zhun's motorcycle flew off the hilltop, doing a neat tail drift as it braked.

"Get on."

Pei Ran quickly got on. "Thanks."

This was the third time he had said "thanks" to Yan Zhun.

Yan Zhun rode the motorcycle both fast and steady. Bored, Pei Ran switched to the first-person view, which looked quite thrilling.

Pei Ran followed Yan Zhun and arrived safely in the Safe Zone. Before they could even find a spot to settle, something happened on Luo Qingshan's end.

Just as he and Su Nian were about to run into the circle, they were taken out in a few shots by a team ambushing them at the edge. The only ones left alive on the team were Pei Ran and Yan Zhun.

"I knew it..." Luo Qingshan ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "If I'd known, I wouldn't have entered the circle from there... You two just hide. Lay low for a bit, I'm going for a smoke."

Su Nian said, "Don't smoke. When I come over later, the room will reek of smoke again."

"The window's open in our dorm."

"It'll still stink."

"You're pretty high-maintenance. What time are you coming over? I'm starving to death."

"Around eight-thirty. By the way, bro, check WeChat. I just saw a really funny video and shared it with you."

Pei Ran left his game character prone inside a house, tabbed out, and lowered his computer's volume.

When he tabbed back in, he had been headshot by someone, and his character collapsed to the ground.

"Wait for me." Yan Zhun turned on his mic.

Strangely, Luo Qingshan and Su Nian were still chatting in voice chat, their voices almost drowning out Yan Zhun's, yet Pei Ran heard him crystal clear.

Although Pei Ran wasn't a good player, he wasn't a complete newbie either. He quickly spotted the enemy who had sniped him. "Don't come over. There are at least two of them, and they're holding me down."

"Hide in the corner," Yan Zhun said again. "Wait for me."

Unfortunately, Pei Ran was in a bad position, and a character's movement speed is extremely slow after being knocked down. He wanted to hide, but the enemy didn't give him a chance, finishing him off with a few consecutive sniper shots.

Pei Ran clicked to spectate.

Yan Zhun was a step too late and was now standing in front of his box.

"The enemy can shoot you from this position," Pei Ran reminded him. "There's nothing good to loot in my box, not even meds."

Yan Zhun grunted in acknowledgment, but his game character performed the action of looting the box.

Pei Ran leaned back. He wasn't too familiar with the game and couldn't tell what attachments or guns Yan Zhun had taken from him.

"Su Nian, I transferred the money for the meal to you, go accept it..." Before Luo Qingshan could finish, he suddenly let out a short laugh. "Hey, wait a minute, Yan Zhun, why are you looting my Babe's clothes? Got tired of wearing expensive clothes and want to see what the starter outfit tastes like?"

Pei Ran raised an eyebrow and, sure enough, saw that the clothes on Yan Zhun's character had changed to the default white T-shirt.

Yan Zhun moved to a new position and said succinctly, "Misclicked."

Pei Ran was in a bad mood and had originally planned to close the game, but he watched Yan Zhun's perspective for a long time without pressing the exit key, deciding to just keep watching.

He thought Yan Zhun would run, since he was the only one left on the team. But Yan Zhun didn't. He moved to a different house and started a sniper duel with the enemy team.

It wasn't until Yan Zhun knocked down an enemy for the fourth time that they finally decided on a strategic retreat. But just as the person jumped down from the upper floor, Yan Zhun switched guns and sprayed him down.

Even a newbie like Pei Ran could tell that Yan Zhun was truly strong. If it weren't for the fact that he lived with Luo Qingshan, he would have suspected him of being a professional player.

But as strong as he was, the enemy had teammates. They could keep reviving each other when knocked down, making it very difficult to actually eliminate them.

"Forget it, Little Zhun. Just get in the circle first. It's not worth it to keep fighting them. Can you even afford to take this next zone's damage?" Luo Qingshan advised him. "Get in the circle, find a good position. There are only about ten people left."

The moment Luo Qingshan finished speaking, Yan Zhun peeked right and fired another shot at the enemy.

"Not going in," Yan Zhun said. "Just let them die here."

A few minutes later, three elimination messages from the Safe Zone popped up in the top-right corner.

That three-man team on the other side had been worn down to death by Yan Zhun, just like that.

"Amazing," Su Nian said, a little excited. "Yan Zhun, heal up quickly. Do you still have any meds?"

Yan Zhun stood still without moving or responding to him, until a dozen or so seconds later, when he died to the zone, and the game ended.

Pei Ran was a bit dazed. It was the first time he had ever spectated such a thrilling perspective.

So much so that after returning to the game lobby, Pei Ran's gaze was still fixed on Yan Zhun's game character.

"Alright, I'm done playing. My head's a little dizzy from playing." Luo Qingshan stretched. "Babe, come on, let's video call."

Yan Zhun's game character suddenly disappeared—he had left the party.

Pei Ran had just closed the game when a video call from Luo Qingshan popped up.

Luo Qingshan was the roguishly handsome type. He hadn't been a good student in high school, indulging in smoking and drinking without missing a beat. He even got into a fight for Pei Ran later on, so he'd pretty much done all sorts of bad things.

Only after getting together with Pei Ran did he learn to behave. In order to get into the same university as Pei Ran, he studied like his life depended on it. Now that the pressure was off, it seemed he was starting to revert to his old ways.

"Babe." Luo Qingshan was standing on the balcony. "When are you coming back to school? I'll come pick you up."

Pei Ran said, "Tomorrow afternoon."

"The afternoon?" Luo Qingshan frowned.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing..." Luo Qingshan hesitated for a long time. "It's just that I had plans to play ball with Su Nian tomorrow afternoon."

Pei Ran's phone wasn't placed straight. Hearing this, he glanced at the screen.

"You don't have to pick me up. I don't have any luggage."

"No way. I'll postpone the game in a bit."

"No need," Pei Ran said. "You go ahead. When I get there tomorrow, I'll come find you."

After hanging up the video call, Pei Ran got up to take a shower. When he came out, he lay on his bed and casually scrolled through his Moments.

【Luo Qingshan: [Image] The impoverished state of a modern male university student.】

The picture showed Luo Qingshan's dinner: a box of rice, two boxes of meat dishes, and a side of green vegetables.

The Moments post had just been published, and all the comments below were from one person.

【sn: There's meat and vegetables, what's so impoverished about that [angry]】

【sn: Are you implying I'm the one giving poverty relief? [laughing-crying]】

Pei Ran seemed to have a premonition. He refreshed again and, sure enough, a new Moments post appeared.

【sn: Complaining on the one hand, but really enjoying it on the other [Image][Emoticon]】

The post was a photo of Luo Qingshan burying his head in his food as he ate.

Pei Ran stared at it coldly for a few seconds, then clicked on "sn's" profile and properly changed their contact name to "Su Nian."

-

It was already completely dark by the time Pei Ran arrived at school. He stood on the sparsely populated court and called Luo Qingshan, who was still panting when he picked up.

"Babe... you're here?"

Pei Ran hummed in affirmation. "I don't see you."

"Su Nian twisted his ankle just now while playing ball. I brought him to the School Clinic, and he's getting medicine put on right now," Luo Qingshan said. "Why don't you go to my dorm and wait first? The guys from the dorm next door are borrowing my computer, so the door is open."

When Pei Ran arrived at the dorm, the door was slightly ajar, not fully closed.

Because Luo Qingshan had told him beforehand, Pei Ran didn't bother knocking and pushed the door open to enter.

At the same time, the plastic-steel door of the bathroom was pushed open. Hot steam rushed out, followed by a person.

Yan Zhun only had a bathrobe loosely wrapped around his lower body. He had an outstanding figure: the lines of his abs were smooth and firm, and his body was still beaded with water. Hearing the sound, he subconsciously turned his head.

The two stared at each other blankly for a few seconds.

Pei Ran immediately lowered his eyes. "Sorry... I saw the door was unlocked, so I came straight in."

Yan Zhun's shock passed in an instant. He nodded, walked over to his own bedside very naturally, picked up a T-shirt, and pulled it on.

After getting dressed, Yan Zhun looked at him again. "What are you standing there for? Come in."

The steam was making Pei Ran feel a little hot.

The air was now filled with Yan Zhun's scent, a hint of cologne, the familiar smell of a men's body wash.

In a daze, Pei Ran even had the illusion that the person he had come all this way to find wasn't Luo Qingshan, but Yan Zhun.