Yan Xiu raised an eyebrow.
Seeing his reaction, as if Shen Lin had just been caught with the most embarrassing secret of his entire adolescence, blushed to the roots of his ears. He snatched the bookmark back from Yan Xiu’s hand.
“Thanks for helping me pick up the book,” Shen Lin said, stuffing the book and bookmark back into his backpack. He clutched the bag and kept a vigilant eye on Yan Xiu.
Yan Xiu chuckled at Shen Lin’s hamster-like appearance. His cold features softened slightly, becoming unreasonably attractive.
Shen Lin averted his eyes, and the stomachache that returned made his face turn pale. He rummaged through his backpack, revealing only an empty bottle.
“You’re sick,” Yan Xiu’s voice lowered, “you should get treatment.”
Shen Lin remained silent. His stomach medicine had run out, a special medication his mother brought back from abroad.
Yan Xiu fumbled in his pocket and pulled out two individually wrapped cookies, each no larger than half a fingertip. He handed them to Shen Lin, saying, “Have these to fill your stomach, I’ll go buy you something to eat.”
Shen Lin didn’t take them.
Yan Xiu’s voice suddenly turned cold, “Listen.”
He hesitated, wondering how this person dared to talk to him in this tone. But with a fierce look and a cold voice, Shen Lin bit his lip, took the cookies from Yan Xiu’s hand.
This type of snack looked like it was placed outside a store to keep customers waiting. Shen Lin held it in his hand, still polite, and said to Yan Xiu, “Thank you.”
“I’ll be back soon.” Yan Xiu repeated. After changing into his clothes, he covered Shen Lin with a down jacket, gently patted his head, and left, pushing the door.
Once he left, Shen Lin stared at the cookies for a while. It was an unknown brand, made from very cheap raw materials. A certain lady considered them a forbidden three-nothing product, not to be touched by him.
Shen Lin: “……”
He decided to give it a try.
He opened the cookies cautiously, took a bite, and the milky fragrance spread between his lips and teeth. Shen Lin’s eyes welled up with tears of happiness, and he ate the cookies with satisfaction.
One piece remained.
Shen Lin: “……”
Shen Lin fell silent and uncontrollably dismantled the cookie, eating it. In a hoarse voice, he muttered, “Why didn’t I find these things delicious before?”
He felt the warmth left by the man’s touch on top of his head.
Shen Lin sniffed, tucked back into bed, and the down jacket was too warm. His body was too tired, and he gradually sank into darkness before falling asleep again.
When he woke up again, he found himself sleeping in a warm embrace. The train roared, and sunlight peeked through the gaps in the tattered curtains, casting straight lines of light. There was the aroma of porridge in the air.
His body was stiff, and he slowly raised his head, seeing a slightly stubbled chin. When the man slept quietly, he looked like a fallen prince, with handsome and deep features, exuding a mysterious and unpredictable aura.
…But the problem now was how did he end up sleeping in this person’s arms?!
“Awake?” At this moment, a low nasal sound came from above. Shen Lin saw that he looked calm, and he tried to control the turmoil in his heart. He put on a calm expression.
Yan Xiu released his embrace and sat up. He was tall, leaning slightly forward with half of his body hanging on the bed edge, his long legs slightly bent and resting on the ground. His light-colored, cold eyes looked at Shen Lin.
“You fell asleep last night and couldn’t be woken up, and you were too cold.”
Shen Lin: “Oh.”
Yan Xiu: “Get up and have some porridge.”
He shook his head, “I need to brush my teeth first.”
“How spoiled.” Yan Xiu chuckled.
After Yan Xiu waited for him to finish washing up, he served him a bowl of white porridge. Shen Lin only took a sip and said with a satisfied and happy face, “This porridge is delicious.”
Yan Xiu smiled, “The rice wasn’t good, soaked in water for a while.”
“You cook well.” Shen Lin praised surprisingly, “Where did the rice cooker come from?”
Yan Xiu: “It’s okay, borrowed from the aunt next door. I said my younger brother was sick.”
Shen Lin: “Oh.”
The two chatted half-heartedly. Yan Xiu asked, “You’re not an adult yet, why are you going so far? Running away from home?”
Shen Lin paused in his motion of drinking porridge. He straightforwardly admitted, “I’m going on a pilgrimage.”
“Pilgrimage?” Yan Xiu looked at him puzzledly. “Is it a game for young people?”
Ignoring him, Shen Lin asked, “And you?”
Yan Xiu fell silent. He sat on the opposite bunk, the curtain pulled halfway, allowing half of the sunlight to illuminate his face, casting a mysterious aura. His entire being seemed to be filled with stories.
“I don’t remember,” Yan Xiu suddenly said, “I lost some memories. I used to be a soldier, but I retired. I don’t have any memories before retiring.”
“Selective amnesia?” Shen Lin earnestly guessed, “It’s a common symptom of PTSD. People tend to subconsciously avoid pain. You must have encountered something when you were in the military. Heartbreak? Definitely not, who would you date while in the army… A comrade’s death? A major illness struck? Or…” He asked mysteriously, “Power struggle?”
Yan Xiu was amused by him, “You have a good imagination.”
Shen Lin: “…” This didn’t sound much like a compliment.
Putting down the bowl, he sighed deeply, “Losing memory is quite good. Sometimes, I also want to forget. Not recognizing everyone, many troubles would be gone. No need to pretend, no need to force oneself to please. Unfortunately, I have a good memory, and everything is remembered clearly.”
“Conceited.”
“Really,” Shen Lin said indignantly, “I could easily choose Tsinghua or Peking University in China.”
Yan Xiu looked at him unexpectedly, a mix of envy and admiration in his eyes. “Impressive, I’m not good at studying.”
“Memorization is something anyone can do…” Under such sincere eyes, Shen Lin felt a bit embarrassed. He pulled out a leaflet from his bag and spread it out for Yan Xiu to see.
It was a promotional poster produced by a school club, A4-sized, filled with text of various sizes. Shen Lin explained, “The train we’re currently on is going along the world’s longest railway. This railway, built in the 19th century, spans over nine thousand kilometers, crossing 1/4 of the Earth’s circumference. It passes through cities, grasslands, coniferous forests, traverses mountains, jungles, snowfields, and returns to the city. It seems to symbolize the cyclical nature of the journey with its starting point and endpoint, yet the scenery along the way is ever-changing. Many people consider it a pilgrimage route to find inner peace. Judging by the time, we should be in the grasslands now. Look—”
Shen Lin stood up, walked to the window, and with a swift motion, he pulled the half-opened curtain down. “This grassland is famous—wait! Wait, wait, wait—” His voice suddenly rose, and he stared at the world outside the window in horror.
It was an endless expanse of pitch-black, and luminous flora and fauna floating in the dark emitted light, scattering sporadically in this dim world. The train continued to roar, and just one door away, someone was speaking rapidly on the phone in a local dialect, the tones and rhythms of their speech firmly rooted in the real world.
Shen Lin rubbed his eyes, looking outside again.
A group of glowing jellyfish swam in formation, illuminating the surreal world before him. Sea plants undulated in the dark green sea, and colorful schools of fish moved through bizarre-shaped reefs.
In the distance, there seemed to be a massive palace submerged deep in the sea. It only appeared in a flash during the moments when light passed through, revealing an indescribable corner. These were several giant stone pillars extending towards the ceiling, interspersed with dense green mud. Just a glance at it made his heart start pounding uncontrollably, as if there was something mysteriously horrifying behind the mud.
Shen Lin was shocked beyond words.
Yan Xiu asked, “Does this railway have an underwater tunnel?”
Shen Lin, like a puppet, shook his head stiffly. “No.”
Yan Xiu furrowed his brows. “Then what is this?”
“Even if there were, it wouldn’t be such a deep underwater tunnel. Did you see that fish hiding among the rocks just now? That’s an anglerfish, it lives in the depths of the ocean! Are you crazy, or am I crazy?”
Yan Xiu: “…”
Yan Xiu’s mind was in chaos. “I can’t understand the current situation.”
Shen Lin, in the process of digesting the facts before him, took out his phone. The signal on the screen dropped to zero, and the battery was rapidly depleting before his eyes. He rolled up his sleeves, glanced at the watch dial where the hour, minute, and second hands were spinning at an incomprehensible speed, and with a crisp sound, the sapphire surface, second only to diamond in hardness, cracked into a spider web pattern without experiencing any external force. The shattered fragments even floated against gravity.
“Oh my god.” Shen Lin felt like all the years he spent studying science were in vain.
“Look at this.” Yan Xiu suddenly shouted.
Shen Lin, hearing the sound, looked outside. Something was floating towards them in the dark ocean world. It looked like a shapeless, almost melting sludge in the water. When it got a bit closer, the squid-like outline became vaguely discernible. Before Shen Lin could carefully identify what it was, it slammed into the train window, suction cups firmly attaching to it. It lifted the entire train like playing with mud, tossing the nineteen-carriage train high into the air.
In that moment, Shen Lin seemed to hear a voice from the depths of the ocean. He wasn’t sure if it was really a voice, but for now, he gave it such a definition. It echoed clearly in his mind, accompanied by a chilling laughter.
It said—
“Welcome to the game room of the Arbiters. I will grant you the chance of life.”
His consciousness gradually faded.
On the isolated island, the sound of waves was clearly audible, and the earth trembled.
Six people sat around a table with a dice.
In front of them, the rule card clearly stated:
“Welcome to the game room of Luck Supremacy. The rules of the game are as follows:
Dice determines everything, including your initial attributes;
Free world, explore as you wish;
Either escape from here, or die.”
When Shen Lin opened his eyes again, this was the scene that greeted him. He and five others all wore inexplicable expressions.
He felt that this journey was beyond disastrous, but what comforted him was that the stranger he met on the train—Yan Xiu—was also among these six people.
“Uh…” After a period of eerie silence, the bespectacled man sitting opposite Shen Lin asked quietly, “Does anyone know what’s happening? What’s the situation now?”
No one spoke because no one knew what was happening.
Until someone broke the silence again.
“Guess.”
Shen Lin: “…………”
Brother, this isn’t a joke; you’re just asking for a beating.
