10

 Song Yu thought he would leave the first world in such a tragic way tonight.

But apart from those two messages, there seemed to be nothing else.

No, he did... some things.

Still in shock, his phone, which had fallen to the ground, vibrated several times.

[Baby, it's time to go back.]

[The way home is to the left.]

Song Yu felt cold all over. Without thinking, he squatted down, picked up his phone, stuffed it into his coat, and ran towards the light with his weak legs.

Messages kept coming in along the way.

Song Yu didn't dare to look at them and only stopped when he reached the entrance of a convenience store. He bit his lower lip hard, his whole body was covered in cold sweat, and his thin shoulders trembled.

After seeing one or two figures, he shakily took out his phone and opened the ride-hailing app.

The messages that had been coming in non-stop since earlier automatically popped up.

"Song Yu?"

The boy, whose face was pale from the light of the phone screen, looked up. His eyes were red and his eyelashes were wet with tears. He looked pitiful.

"Xie Zhiyan..."

Song Yu's voice trembled with tears.

Meeting an acquaintance at a time like this was like receiving help in a snowstorm; he felt like he'd grasped a lifeline. "It's...it's too dark, I'm a little scared. Could you...could you come back to school with me?"

Xie Zhiyan paused, leaned down, and looked at Song Yu's distressed and vulnerable face, gently comforting him, "The dorms are closed at this time. If you don't mind, let's go to my place. I live nearby."

Song Yu hesitated, but couldn't find a better solution, so he agreed, "Thank you."

Xie Zhiyan smiled gently, then took his hand, concerned, "Your hands are so cold."

The boy's palm was dry and warm, providing a strong sense of security, and Song Yu didn't pull away.

*

Xie Zhiyan lived in apartment 301 of building 12. Song Yu was in a state of confusion and fear, completely forgetting why he had gone out in the first place. It wasn't until the familiar mechanical voice in his head sounded that he realized he had unintentionally completed a mission.

009: [Key mission completed, congratulations, host.]

Song Yu was incredulous, and said fiercely, [You're congratulating me? I almost got killed!] Before being interfered with, 009

had left a video recorder and was now reviewing the footage.

Judging from the height, the stalker was a tall man dressed in all black and wearing a hat.

009 tried to scan the person to identify them, but it displayed an error.

Clearly, someone was interfering behind the scenes.

Meanwhile, Xie Zhiyan got slippers for Song Yu, poured some hot water, and took a dessert from the refrigerator: "Calm your stomach first, I'll make you some noodles." He

then went to the kitchen.

Song Yu, holding the water glass, gradually warmed up and told 009 about being followed. His mind had calmed down: [That person should be the one who sent me the harassing text messages. Last time he texted saying he was angry, and then he kept following me and deliberately scaring me.] 009 wanted to say that the

other person's actions didn't seem like they were intentionally trying to scare him. It was silent for a moment, then checked Song Yu's entire body—thankfully, there was no real harm.

It didn't hide anything anymore: [Host, it seems there is some data in this world that is beyond our control.]

Song Yu nodded in confusion.

009: [These data fragments have developed self-awareness, and sometimes they filter out data of lower level to achieve what they want.]

Song Yu pondered for a few seconds: [So the noise at that time, was it because you were being filtered out by the other party?]

009: [Yes.]

Song Yu whispered: [Are you alright?]

009 paused.

The body felt like it was being swept by a warm current.

[Host.]

A very soft voice.

Song Yu's eyes lit up when he saw the little furball version, but then he felt that this was very immature, so he deliberately didn't look at it: [Are you trying to coax a three-year-old?]

009 took the initiative to rub against his palm, and Song Yu couldn't resist, finally stroking the fur.

[Host, don't worry, all worlds are controlled by the main god. I have already reported it to headquarters, and it will be resolved soon.]

[Our plot progress bar has not been affected and is still moving forward.]

[Our points are also constantly increasing.]

Reassured like this, Song Yu felt much better.

At the same time, the noodles Xie Zhiyan made for him were ready. Served in a small floral bowl, the noodles looked steaming hot.

Song Yu buried his head, slurping the noodles slowly. After finishing, he got up to wash the dishes, but Xie Zhiyan stopped him: "I'll wash them. You go take a shower. I'll find you some clothes to wear as pajamas."

Contrary to his aloof appearance, Xie Zhiyan was actually a very gentle and considerate person.

Song Yu felt guilty.

He was so bad, doing something bad to such a good person.

Soon, Xie Zhiyan came out of the room, handing him a set of casual clothes: "They might be too big for you, but it seems like all the stores are closed now."

Song Yu didn't bother him any further and took them directly: "It's okay, I can wear them."

The hot shower drove away the chill. After showering, Song Yu put on Xie Zhiyan's clothes and found that they were indeed much too big for him.

The top was okay, dragging up to his thighs, but not too much of a hindrance.

The problem was the pants; they were too big at the waist and would slip down with the slightest movement.

But Xie Zhiyan didn't give him any underwear.

Song Yu didn't want to wear his old clothes, so he asked Xie Zhiyan for a safety pin to fasten his pants. After taking care of that, he casually washed his dirty clothes and hung them on the balcony.

There was only one bed in the bedroom, and Xie Zhiyan had originally suggested that he sleep there. But Song Yu felt too guilty and insisted on sleeping on the sofa.

Xie Zhiyan didn't say anything more, and laid out a fleece blanket and an air-conditioning quilt for him, then handed him a tube of ointment: "I see your ankle is bruised, do you want me to put some on for you?"

Song Yu looked down and saw a bruise on his ankle, which he must have bumped when he was running away in a panic.

He could reach his ankle himself, so Song Yu didn't bother Xie Zhiyan: "I'll do it myself, you go and get ready, it's getting late."

Xie Zhiyan put the ointment on the coffee table and went back to his room.

The living room became quiet.

Song Yu had been worried all night and wanted to put on some soothing music, but when he thought of the messages on his phone, he gave up the idea and simply turned off his phone.

He planned to go to sleep after applying the ointment.

The bruise was on his ankle. Song Yu leaned back, propping his right leg up on the sofa.

He hunched over, but his baggy pants kept slipping down within seconds, covering the bruise and making things very inconvenient.

Song Yu glanced towards the bedroom; it was quiet, so the other person must have already gone to sleep.

After a moment, he carefully took off his pants, lifted his foot again, and slowly applied the ointment.

The blurry outline of the boy was reflected in the TV in the living room opposite.

*

Song Yu slept soundly that night and was woken up by Xie Zhiyan the next day.

He changed back into his own clothes, quickly packed his schoolbag, and went back to school with Xie Zhiyan.

On the way, Song Yu sat in the car and turned on his phone, wanting to see if the teacher had assigned any group tasks in the class group.

As soon as he opened WeChat, messages exploded—

almost all from Zhou Yanming, asking where he had gone and why he hadn't returned to the dormitory.

He had also made many phone calls.

Song Yu scrolled down.

Lu Xing also sent him a message with screenshots of two movie tickets: [Bought too many, want to go?]

Song Yu's phone had very little battery left, and he planned to find them in person when he returned to the dormitory. However, when he actually returned to the dormitory, he found that he didn't need to look for them anymore.

Zhou Yanming and Lu Xing were both there.

*

Zhou Yanming had been troubled for a while because of the estrangement between him and his roommate. He had just decided to talk to Song Yu, but the other man didn't come home all night.

Before this, Song Yu was always a homebody and had never been late or absent.

Zhou Yanming was able to sit still at first, but by 10 p.m., he was almost frantic, frantically calling Song Yu. His phone

was always off.

He stayed up all night anxiously, considering whether to call the police, but the next morning, his roommate returned safely.

"Where did you go?" Zhou Yanming excitedly rushed over, pressing his hand tightly on Song Yu's shoulder. "Is something wrong? Are you hurt? Why is your phone off?"

Song Yu felt like he was being surrounded by a large dog whose owner hadn't come home. He reassured him, "I'm fine."

Lu Xing, who was standing nearby, also stared at him. After confirming that Song Yu was alright, Zhou Yanming asked, "Where did you go? Didn't you have class today?"

Song Yu didn't want anyone to know his secret yet, so he replied casually, "Something came up at home, so I went home temporarily."

Zhou Yanming felt a weight lifted from his heart, and his tone was somewhat aggrieved: "It's good that you're alright. I tried calling you yesterday, but your phone was off."

Song Yu looked up and noticed that Zhou Yanming's eyes were bloodshot, clearly indicating that he hadn't slept well. He said apologetically, "I'm sorry, my phone was almost out of battery, so I turned it off... What do you want to eat? I'll buy it for you."

Zhou Yanming's mood immediately brightened, but before he could speak, he was interrupted by another man—

"Going home?" Lu Xing chuckled, a smirk playing on his lips, and took two steps toward Song Yu. "You were wearing this yesterday too, weren't you?"

Song Yu hesitated for a moment, then slowly explained, "I have two of the same ones."

Afraid of being discovered, he immediately changed the subject: "I saw the message you sent me."

Lu Xing's eyelids twitched, then he turned his face away, casually saying "Oh."

"That movie seems pretty good." Song Yu had seen online reviews praising it as a high-quality art film.

This was considered an agreement.

Lu Xing felt lightheaded: "Okay, I'm off then."

Before leaving, he made sure to remember Zhou Yanming's displeased expression.

However, just as he reached the door, he encountered someone—

Xie Zhiyan's gaze passed over him and landed on Song Yu, a gentle smile on his face, his tone unusually tender.

"Xiao Yu."

"I left my keys at my place, I forgot to give them to you earlier.

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